Author's Note: I was supposed to ask in the last chapter if anyone knew what was wrong with Kairi yet. But since this chapter reveals exactly what's wrong, there's no need for that, is there? This is a lengthy chapter, because I actually had to sit and get it like I wanted it. Anyways, I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy this one. Oh, for those SoraxKairi fans, there's a small bit of fluff for you.

Chapter 6

Port Royal

Riku:

It had been almost two weeks since we had last seen Sora. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Not surprisingly, things returned to normal. About as normal as normal can be with a Nobody and a friend that was turning to darkness. After I explained what happened to Axel, we both agreed to keep a closer eye on Kairi. The only thing was that doing this was proving to be extremely difficult.

The memories from nearly two weeks ago haunted me. To think that she would stop me from helping Cloud so that Sora could carry out his own justice. It wasn't her…right? Sora was just using his power to influence her. Even I knew that was a lie. Sora couldn't lie if his heart depended on it. Though he planted the seed, Kairi was doing this of her own accord. My frustration stemmed from not being able to comprehend the situation. With each passing day, I was growing more and more angry.

'Last time I checked, she was your best friend. Maybe now you've grown to like her a little more.'

Hell, was he a mind reader?

Sora hit me with his words. But it was true. During the months, I had grown closer to her, hoping that we could be more than friends. Before Sora showed up, that almost happened. I sighed and walked into Axel's room. Axel was idly twirling his chakrams in the air. With each arc, flames briefly appeared in the air.

"So…what's wrong?" He asked.

"Everything."

Axel waved his hands and the chakrams disappeared.

"Riku, we should take it easy while we can. I know the situation with Kairi was is nerve-wracking, but it is not the end of the worlds," He said seriously.

"You can't begin to understand! I…I love her, Axel. I care so much for her."

"Trust me, Riku. I've been in love before. I know how hard it is."

Kairi:

I just happened to walk by Axel's door…

"Sora's tainting her from the inside. He's manipulating her into turning like him. I don't want to kill her!"

Riku? Yes, that was Riku…and he was talking about me.

Confusion tore through all rational thought. I threw open the door and walked inside.

"How could you?" I asked, my voice quickly reaching a higher pitch mid-sentence.

Axel pasted a neutral expression on his face. Riku simply stared at me.

"What are you talking about?" Axel asked.

"I just overheard your last statement. You knew why I was blacking out and you didn't tell me!"

"How do you think I feel, Kairi? Two weeks ago you stopped me from helping Cloud even as he was being stabbed to death!"

I gasped.

I did that?

"I had no memory of the event," I said quietly.

"Aren't you special? You don't have the weight of death looming over your head. I could have saved Cloud!"

I found myself getting angry.

"It was not my fault!" I screamed.

"Like hell it wasn't! You got corrupted by him and you continued to live on! Maybe you should have killed yourself back then!" Riku shouted and stormed out of the room.

Axel stood up and started towards me. I shook my head and ran out of the room. I continued until I was out of the building. I ran until I couldn't anymore with tears streaming down my face. As I bent over to catch my breath, I noticed that I was on the cliff overlooking the pier. Not only that, but Sora was sitting on the edge, facing the ocean.

"Sora…"

Sora:

"Sora…"

The sound of Kairi's voice shook me out of my trance. I turned around and stared at the red-headed girl.

"Kairi…" I breathed.

"What did you do to me?" She asked bluntly.

"I want you to join me, Kairi. Join me with the darkness. Join me and the child."

Kairi's eyes narrowed in confusion.

"The child?"

I carefully stood up and closed the distance between us.

"Yes, the child I am growing within you. Please Kairi…"

"Sora…"

I reached in and kissed her on the lips gently. Kairi responded with hesitation at first, but then, it grew in passion and intensity. After a moment or two, we separated.

"Come with me, Kairi," I whispered.

"Get away from him!"

Interference.

Axel walked into view, chakrams floating at his side. I actually expected Riku to come around to save the day.

Oh well.

"Axel, what a surprise," I said calmly.

"Riku may not care at the moment, but I do. Kairi, he didn't mean what he said."

"Are you saying that or did he actually say that?"

Kairi's voice was cold and quiet. I didn't know about the previous argument, but something was working in my favor.

"Kairi…please…"

"So what are you going to do?" I asked with a smirk on my face.

"I'm going to fight you, of course."

Typical.

"Allow me to change our surroundings."

I summoned power to my hand and waved it around. All of a sudden, we were on the deck of a ship in the middle of the inlet. Axel started the fight with a large burst of fire. I pushed Kairi aside and ran to the other side of the deck. I drew my keyblade and started towards him. He released another blast of fire in my direction. I released energy in the air and wove it into a Blizzaga spell. My spell wiped out the fire instantly. When the steam cleared, Axel was within walking distance from me.

He performed a sideways swipe with one of his chakrams. I deflected it with my keyblade and went in with another strike. Axel deflected that with his other chakram and backed away. I eased over to the mast and waited for his next move. His next move was yet another fireball. I took the keyblade, cut the rope next to me, and grabbed on for a convenient ride to the top. While I was riding up, I sent a much larger Blizzaga blast. I failed to realize how much danger Kairi was in until after the spell went off.

The tattletale splinter of wood and the lurch of the ship followed it…

Kairi screamed. I turned my gaze to her just as she fell over the side of the ship. Before I could jump after her, the ship split in half, and glanced around. Kairi was sinking underneath the surface on my left. I swam over to her as fast as I could muster. Once I reached her, I grabbed her and swam for the shore. I reached the shore within minutes. With a grunt, I pulled her up on the sand. I glanced over her. She was still breathing, thank god.

But the darkness inside was rapidly weakening. I quickly ran my nail/claw across my wrist and opened Kairi's mouth. I held my wrist to her mouth and allowed the blood to drip down in it. I watched her carefully swallow it with a sigh of relief. I cast Cura on my wrist and sat Kairi up.

"I need to help you feed. We need to get you out of here," I whispered.

"Yes, for our child."