Kairi was sitting in the court yard under the shade of a tree, pouting. Sighing, she recalled the King's explanation.

"You have a very special talent, Kairi."

"What kind of talent?"

"You know you have an acute sense of emotion, from having your heart stolen. It also gave you another ability. You can inflict your emotions upon others."

"...I can? How?"

"Sing."

"...I'm sorry?"

"Your voice can express emotion unlike any other when you sing. I'm sure you've heard a moving song before?"

"...yes..."

"Well, think of this: if you were even the least bit sad, anyone who heard you sing would be hard pressed not to cry. If you were happy, you could lift the spirits of person who a moment before thought there was no hope left."

"...wow...but how is that going to help anyone?"

"The Heartless are just that. Without heart. They can't feel emotion, so if you were to inflict emotion upon them, their existance would be turned upside down. It would essentially render them powerless."

"I thought the Heartless were all gone."

"They are, mostly, but this goddess, having had her heart eaten away at by the darkness, is nearly a Heartless herself."

"...oh."

Immensly confused, Kairi had left the library with the others and managed to slip away unnoticed to the courtyard. She needed to think. A quiet voice from just behind her brought her back to reality.

"Kai?" It was Sora. She'd recognize his voice anywhere, and besides, he was the only one who ever called her 'Kai'.

"Hey Sora." She greeted him half-heartedly. He sat down next to her and watched her intently.

"Are you okay?" He asked after a long pause. She contemplated her possible answers. She could tell him she was okay in a miserable attempt to keep him from worrying, she could just not say anything and hope he took no news as good news or she could mumble some incoherent thing and see if he would take it as a yes. She sighed, not liking her choices.

"Do you want the answer that will hopefully keep you from worrying about me or the honest truth?" She asked dejectedly. Sora frowned, putting one arm around her.

"Kai...it's gonna be okay." He whispered into her hair. She snuggled closer to him.

"I have this terrible feeling about it all." She murmured. Suddenly, she looked up at him, her eyes full of fear. "Sora, I don't want to go!"

"Hey, hey, shhh." He whispered comfortingly as he cradled her in his arms. What could be wrong? I've never seen her act like this before. "What's the matter?"

"Remember I told you what Riku said?"

"About not going back to the Islands?"

" I can't help but think it's because we're going to..." she paused, her throat not willing to let the word come out. Sora watched her intently, waiting for her to finish. She looked up at him. "I, I don't wanna die..." she murmured. Sora's arms tightened around her.

"I promise I won't let anything happen to you." He whispered in reply.

"I know it's dumb, but I can't help it. I dunno, I just have this really bad feeling. I'm probably just being paranoid." She said, looking off into the distance. She saw Yuna and Tidus coming towards them. Yuna smiled when she saw them, and looked around a corner and called out to someone just out of Kairi's vision. A few moments later, Paine came around the corner, followed closely by Rikku, who seemed to be annoying the hell out of the poor warrior. Gippal and Baralai came around the corner too, Gippal beginning to tease Rikku about god knows what. Kairi and Sora stood up to meet them. Shading her face from the sunshine, Kairi smiled.

"So? What's up?" She asked. She knew that everyone had gone off to check up on the arrangements for Leon, Yuffie, Areith and Cloud. Tidus grinned.

"It's all good! Nooj seems to be feeling a bit better too, though Leblanc's still fussing over him. Poor guy." He answered, laughing. Sora crossed his arms.

"We might as well wait 'til morning to leave." He observed. "What do you guys want to do for the rest of the day?" He asked, looking at each of them. Gippal grinned.

"Seems to me you would have been quite comfortable spending the rest of the day under that tree there." He said. Kairi grinned.

"But if he did that, then I'd be too busy to save Rikku from you." She noted. Grinning even wider, Gippal grabbed Rikku around the waist, lifting her from the ground as she yelped and giggled. Paine watched them passively.

"I don't think she much wants to be saved." She observed lazily. Kairi grinned at Sora.

"Then I guess I'm free to spend my day with you." She said, her eyes dancing. Sora grinned back at her.

"Well, it's good that you're feeling better." He told her.

"How could I not, with you around to comfort me?" She asked, her voice almost teasing. Sora's arms went around her waist, smiling mischievously.

"Well, I could comfort you some more…" he offered with a sly smile.

"BLEH!" Both of them looked to see what had made that odd noise. Rikku was making a funny face, her tongue stuck out. "Oh get a room, would ya?" She said, sounding thoroughly disgusted. Gippal grinned at her.

"And while we're at it, let's get one ourselves, eh?" He suggested. Rikku giggled. Paine rolled her eyes. Yuna sighed.

"Come on Paine! Have a little fun!" She ordered. Paine shrugged.

"Depends on what you consider to be fun." she replied. Kairi grinned evilly.

"C'mon Paine! Be a fool! I know you thought it was pretty good last time…" she observed. Paine didn't answer, but began to blush profusely. Baralai grinned.

"Dear Paine, you're not blushing, are you?" he asked over-dramatically.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not, why do you ask?" Her reply was surprisingly quiet. Gippal smirked.

"'Cuz Baralai thinks it's hot." He said simply. Rikku, Yuna, Tidus, Kairi, and Sora all burst out laughing. Now it was Baralai's turn to go red.

………..Next day……….

Kairi and Rikku were lying on their backs on the deck of the airship, staring up into the sky as Celcius sped through the clouds. Kairi had her charm in her hand. She sat up and dropped it on Rikku's stomach.

"What do you think I should do with it?" She asked. Rikku looked at her.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, there's supposed to be a piece of a world trapped in it, but how do you think I'm supposed to get it out?" she asked again. Rikku shrugged.

"I dunno." she answered, looking back up at the clouds. She grinned. "Hey, that one kinda looks like a piggy." She decided, pointing. Kairi grinned at looked up at it.

"I think it looks like a palm tree." She answered. Rikku frowned.

"But a palm tree and a piggy don't look the same at all…" she noted. Kairi started to laugh, flopping back down on her back. Suddenly, the bright sky and sun were blocked out by a head right over hers.

"Boo." She yelped in surprise and rolled away. Sora was sitting cross legged on the ground, looking very pleased with himself. Kairi glowered at him.

"What was that for?" She asked. Sora shrugged.

"Nothing I guess." he answered simply. Kairi sighed. Rikku was trying desperately not to laugh. Kairi grinned at her.

"What's so funny?" She asked, sounding rather amused herself. Rikku didn't answer. Sora stood up and brushed himself off.

"Well, I was sent up to tell you guys that you're needed on the bridge." He told them. Kairi took his hand and he pulled her to her feet. Rikku was already getting on the elevator. Kairi started towards the elevator, but Sora grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back to him, smiling slyly. Kairi grinned.

"You didn't by chance say that just to get Rikku to go away, did you?" she asked off-handedly. Sora's smile widened.

"You know me to well." He decided, pushing her hair out of her face. Kairi sat down, pulling Sora down next to her.

"I hope Nooj will be okay." She said. It had been decided that Nooj was not fit to join them on this new 'job' and Leblanc had refused to go anywhere without him, and as such, both had stayed behind. Sora shrugged.

"He said he was getting too old. He didn't seem that old to me." He observed. Kairi gave him a funny look.

"His hair was going grey. How didn't he look old?" She asked disbelievingly. Sora shrugged again, pulling her into his lap with a grin.

Back on the bridge, Rikku was just walking in when she found Brother laughing his head off. She blinked. She'd forgotten about Brother. Had he really been off in some corner sulking this whole time?

"Hey Brother, where've you been?" She asked, walking over to him. He didn't answer, just kept laughing. She raised an eyebrow, looking at Paine. Paine shrugged.

"I have no idea what he finds so funny. I didn't get here until a few minutes ago. He hasn't calmed down enough to tell us yet." She explained. Shinra stood up in his seat.

"Brother's laughing because Cid is going crazy." He said simply. Rikku's interest immediately became apparent.

"Pop's freaking out? 'Bout what?" She asked curiously. Shinra sat back down, hitting a bunch of buttons on his computer.

"About the fact that the Celcius has disappeared off the face of Spira." He answered. A moment later, a video flickered onto the screen. It was Cid, standing in the middle of the Djose Temple, yelling his head off. Rikku started to laugh. Paine even snickered. He was so upset that he was in no way understandable. Rikku started to laugh even harder a moment later, and she started to snort in her laughter. Neither Paine or Shinra had caught what she'd heard and watched her curiously. With tears of laughter still streaming out of her eyes, she hiccupped and calmed down enough to speak.

"He, he thinks, he thinks Gippal's, carried me off somewhere." She answered between fits of laughter. Gippal, who'd been sitting not far away, grinned.

"I didn't carry you off, you followed me willingly." He said. Rikku looked at him, crossing her arms.

"Excuse me? Last time I checked, this was my ship, not yours. You followed me." She replied. Gippal shrugged.

"Whatever." He muttered. Rikku sat down next to him in a huff. He grinned at her. "Why do you let the things I say get to you?" he asked offhandedly. She stared at him.

"That was a weird question." Smiling, he just shrugged again.

"I'm a weird person." He answered simply.

"You're a cute person." She told him with a grin. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Right. How about you don't say that again." He ordered. Rikku's grin widened.

"But you are cute!" She exclaimed. Gippal stared her down.

"What did I just say?" He asked threateningly. Rikku giggled.

"You don't scare me." She told him. He raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yeh?" In one quick move, he grabbed her, pulled her onto his lap and rendered her helpless in his arms. "How 'bout now?" He asked, grinning. Rikku grinned back.

"Not yet." She said in a sing-songy voice. With an evil smile, he started to tickle her. She yelped, trying to flail but only found herself helplessly pinned.

"Now?" He asked. Rikku giggled.

"Not yet." She replied in the same tone of voice as before. He started to trail kisses from her shoulder to her neck, then up to her lips.

"Now?" He asked, this time his voice growing quiet. Rikku grinned.

"Getting there…" she said, her tone turning teasing.

"Get a room." Paine said, looking thoroughly disgusted. Gippal looked at her.

"You're just jealous because Baralai doesn't do this kind of stuff with you." He observed. Paine crossed her arms, about to speak, but Baralai spoke first.

"Is that a challenge, Gippal?" He asked, grinning. Gippal nodded.

"Absolutely." He replied, deciding he wanted to see how this was going to turn out. With almost no warning, Baralai grabbed Paine and kissed her. Paine was surprised, but certainly didn't resist. Tidus and Yuna, who were sitting on the stairs above Gippal and Rikku, both had to bite their tongues to keep from laughing. When Baralai broke away, Paine turned bright red. Rikku was laughing helplessly, though it was hard to tell whether it was from Paine's reaction or because Gippal had started tickling her again. A moment later, Sora and Kairi walked into the room, hand in hand, Kairi smoothing her hair and her cheeks a bit red. Rikku caught sight of them and looked at them suspiciously.

"Hey, what took you guys so long?" she asked, eyeing both of them. Kairi grinned in reply, Sora muttered something incomprehensible and ran his fingers through his hair, smiling sheepishly. Tidus watched the pair suspiciously and then looked at Rikku, grinning.

"I don't think we really want to know what they've been doing, do we?" He asked, turning his attention back to Sora and Kairi. Kairi grinned.

"No, probably not." She admitted, weaving her way down the stairs around the two couples, Sora following close behind.