Author's Notes: It appears I have yet a few more requests to try and get to. Hang in there you little duckies. We'll see what I can cook up as a present for ya.


Chapter 34

"Dreams, Wants, and Fears"

Leon was on again late that evening after a long meet with one of the foster couples. He saw that Riddlez was on, and he went straight for the Voice—but he stopped to think for a minute.

...Suddenly, it's almost like all I ever do is try to see if Riddlez is on. He frowned. Then he blinked, shaking away the image that occurred. Gah! Pull it together, Leon. Without another pause, he clicked it. He was lucky that Riddlez accepted.

"Why did you voice me? I'm tired."

Leon fell silent again.

"...Why are you so opposed to talking to me all of a sudden?"

"I just don't trust people well." Riddlez said. "With well enough reason."

Leon chuckled dryly. "What are you hiding? Just tell me."

"Damn it! Stop reading my mind! Seriously, you keep freaking me out with that."

"Please. Do you know how many people have done that to me?" Leon crossed his arms. "Come on, I'm..." he paused. "...I'm a friend."

"You'll know when you see me." was all Riddlez said. "Don't prod me for this, G, please. I barely kept any of my other friends as it stands now. I have no social life."

"Well, neither do I," snorted Leon. "You're acting like a little kid..."

"I know that!" snapped the voice. "...I know that. But just leave the subject alone and I'll stop. If you're going to chat, let's talk about something else, okay?"

The brunet shook his head. After a moment, he just sighed.

"Whatever makes you happy."

Naminé stirred when she felt the weight of the bed shift several times. She sighed and rolled over, nudging Kairi.

"Go t'bed..." she moaned.

"I'm trying." Kairi hugged one of Sora's pillows. Since there were no spare beds and their father had taken the guest room, Sora's mother suggested they take Sora's room. So now, Kairi found herself sharing a Full-sized bed with her sister—the very same bed that her boyfriend slept in.

Sora's mother washed the sheets. That disappointed her. Now it didn't smell like Sora.

"Well, try harder," grumbled Naminé. "Yer shakin' me."

Kairi groaned and shifted her position in her nightie. She wasn't sleeping very well, even as hard as she tried. She just couldn't get her eyes to close again.

Naminé sighed. "All right, girl, what's on your mind?"

Kairi and Naminé faced one another, and the redhead sighed. "I didn't have a very good dream...yeah...it was a nightmare."

Naminé frowned. "Ain't you too old to be gettin' scared o' monsters under the bed?"

Kairi shook her head. "No, it was...it was about Sora." She bit her lip, licking the surface to wet it. "I dreamt I was with him...in that house. And I saw that man's face, and he did terrible things to Sora." Naminé listened intently to Kairi's dream, as tired as she was. "And right there watching, there was this...this...guy. I don't know," Kairi shook her head, "He looked like some sorta ghost. I thought—no, I felt it—he could do something. I yelled at 'im. 'Why won't you help them!' He didn't answer, so I dove in, and then the man slapped me, and he started choking me. I woke up, an' I was all short of breath..."

Naminé yawned. "Dreams 're jus' dreams, Kairi. Yer just scared for Sora's all...I understand that. But don't let no li'l nightmare get to ya, mm'kay?" She yawned again and rolled over. "G'night, sis."

Kairi turned over also, but she still had a worried look on her face. She chewed thoughtfully on her bottom lip. But it was so vivid, she thought. I ain't been that scared of a dream before since Papa read me Little Red Riding Hood as a kid.

Sighing, Kairi again rolled over and struggled with the absence of sleep. She checked the clock, which read one twenty-two in the morning, and then looked outside at the moon. It was starting to wane. Kairi couldn't help but feel like something ominous was over the horizon; it was just a bad feeling she had, and she didn't like it.

Another quiet moan interrupted his attempts to return to Dreamland.

And this time he knew he'd heard it.

Riku made an "oh, great," sort of face and turned onto his other side, sitting up on his elbows. Being that his night vision was better than his day vision (no thanks to Ansem), he could clearly see in the pitch-black night, with his eyes like a carribean sea, the soft, ever-slight arches and curves of Sora's half-naked body, and the brunet's head nestled into his pillow. He squirmed, and Riku only watched. As of late, he'd been finding Sora more and more interesting. Maybe it was the absence of Tidus. Maybe it was the insanely overwhelming population of toddlers and crybabies. He didn't know. But be it Tidus-less-ness or screeching brats, he didn't care what started it. He was just glad that it had.

For, as Riku liked to think, any sane person still living, straight or gay, would have to admit that there were qualities about Sora that were sexy in their own right.

He felt his eye twitch when Sora cringed in his sleep and made a face. "Nnn..." Sora tossed his head. "Aaah..."

Any naïve, presumptuous person would have assumed it was a pleasurable wet dream. Riku knew better. Those were sounds of pain. Ones he was most attuned to. Besides, he cringed. Who cringes during good sex?

The more he watched it, the more Riku wanted to do something to make it stop. He didn't think it was right to see Sora in pain (after all, if he'd thought it right, he wouldn't have taken him with him during his flee, would he?) and also, it was ruining his sleep.

Nnnn. Wonder if he'll slaughter me when he wakes up in the morning. Riku considered a thought. Sora slept like the dead—that much he'd learned for sure. It would be a pain to wake him up. But...

Well, they say human touch helps. Riku paused, thinking...

Shrugging, Riku crawled over, and dragged Sora to him a little. The brunet whined in protest, clutching his pillow, and ultimately taking it with him as Riku spooned him and wrapped an arm around the brunet's waist. Sora was still making sad little wails in sleep. Riku reached a hand up and stroked his chest.

"Ssshhh."

Sora's hand suddenly flung backwards and smacked Riku in the face. Riku coiled back with a hiss and shook his head, a hand over his nose. Fuck, he almost hits as hard as I do!

The brunet mumbled something incoherent under his breath, squirmed a little, and moments later, he gradually settled down. Riku watched warily, waiting for any more hands to swing back and hit him. When that didn't happen, he smirked.

"Okay, I get it," he whispered. "I do it again and you'll kick me in the balls." He squeezed Sora a little, sighing with content and nuzzling his head against the pillow, his breath warming the back of Sora's neck. Sora smiled slightly in his sleep and made a little purr.

Eeehhh. Riku drifted into sleep, thinking: He'll thank me in the end.