Update Sept 7 2014 - I suppose here is as good of a place as any to mention it. Ch65 of ASAS is a scene I'd like to think happens within Falling to Pieces canon. I don't know where exactly it goes, but it is important, and especially relevant to Kairi's feelings about the events come Dead Inside. You should probably give it a read.

Chapter 18: Big Mistake

"I can tell you're worried about him."

"Wha-" Kairi asked, sitting up straighter and glancing around. In the corner of her room stood a man in a black cloak. "Who are you?"

"Aren't you curious as to what Sora's up to at the moment?" the cloaked man asked.

"No," Kairi said, rather quickly. She knew he was off on an "errand" but didn't want to think much past that. She knew the errand probably involved heartless and was just going to draw Sora closer to the darkness. Of course she was worried, but she didn't need some random stranger bothering her about it.

"What a shame, because, if you where, I could-" the cloaked man shook his head. "No, you aren't interested."

"What?" Kairi asked.

"You said you weren't interested," the cloaked figure shrugged.

"No, what?"

"Well, if you wish, I can show you what he's up to."

Kairi stared at the cloaked man, and slowly hugged her knees to her chest. Did she want that? Did she really want to see what Sora was doing? No, that wasn't the question. The question was; did she want to watch him fall into darkness? No, she didn't. But, maybe… maybe he wouldn't be. And it was probably that slim hope that made her say yes.

The cloaked man pulled a computer out of, well, Kairi assumed his pocket. But the computer was rather large, and how it could fit into anyone's pocket was a mystery. In no time, the computer was set up, and an image flickered to life on the screen.

"Sora," Kairi whispered. The scene before her was one she didn't like. Sora stood in a world, surrounded by heartless. Heartless that weren't attacking him. They just stood there, patient, calm. The sound of dying heartless came from off screen, and then Riku stepped into view.

He held his blade tensely at his side, glaring at Sora.

"Riku," Sora said, simply.

"Sora," Riku replied, with nearly the same inflection. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Sora asked, voice starting to rise with anger. "I'm trying to find a way back home."

Riku scoffed. "And destroying a bunch of other worlds is helping you how, exactly?"

"I'm not destroying-"

"You're letting the Heartless in. That might as well be destroying a world."

Sora tensed.

Kairi tensed also, clenching her fists. She was silently hoping Riku would be able to talk some sense into Sora. She wouldn't give up hope yet.

"Sure, just go ahead and start bossing me around," Sora muttered, looking away.

"Sora, stop it!" Riku called. "You're being ridiculous! I'm not-" he stopped, jumping back. Sora's blade came crashing down right where he had been standing. He turned, readying his blade. "So it's a fight you want?"

"No!" Kairi gasped.

Sora said nothing. He turned, readying his own blade.

"Let me tell you, Sora," Riku said, not one hint of laughter in his voice. He was dead serious. "You're making a big mistake."

"Sora!" Kairi shouted, as the two boys leapt into battle. The screen flickered to black. She turned to glare at the cloaked man, who laughed.

"So, do you still have hope left for your 'hero'?" He spat out the last word as if it were poison, before disappearing. The computer disappeared with him.

"No, Sora," Kairi whispered, a tear slowly rolling down her cheek. "There's got to still be light left in you. There has to be!" she angrily pounded her fist down next to her, before breaking down into tears. Her hope was fading fast.

xxx

"So, I was trying to knock some sense into Sora, when he pulled his blade on me!" Riku was explaining to Namine. They sat in her room, him in the chair and her on the bed, as had become their norm for some reason. "And I was all like: 'That's a bad idea,' but he didn't listen, and attacked anyways. So we fought, and-" he was cut off by the unmistakable sound of a dark corridor opening. They both looked up.

"Vexen?" Namine asked. The word sounded odd in her mouth, as she had used it rarely. She had only learned the name yesterday.

"Replica…" Riku said slowly. "What number are you?" he asked.

"37," the Vexen replica replied, giving them a mock bow. Riku's eyes narrowed. There was something he didn't like about this one. He didn't know what…

"I have just visited your friend, Kairi," 37 said.

"Kairi!" Namine exclaimed. "Where is she? Is she alright?"

37 chuckled darkly. Riku clenched his hand into a fist, fingers itching slightly to summon his blade. 37 definitely wasn't giving him a good first impression.

"I suppose you could say she is alright,"

"What does that mean?" Riku spat. He was starting to get annoyed.

37 looked at Riku, eyebrows raised with interest. "Ah, you must be Riku. I have heard much about you."

"I'll bet you have," Riku sneered.

"However, you are more… feisty than reports would indicate…" 37 mused. "I shall try my best to avoid getting on your bad side."

"Hmph," Riku said. "You might want to start trying harder."

37 smiled. His eyes wandered over to Namine, and widened with interest. "And here we have Namine, the un-catalogued replica. Did the memories stay in place properly? I heard we had issues about that."

"Leave her be!" Riku shouted, jumping to his feet. The air around his fist sparked with unused energy, as he was still debating on whether or not to summon his blade. His body was performing the action readily, he just hadn't put his mind into it yet.

37 couldn't have looked more excited. "So the stories are true!" he laughed. "I thought they were exaggerating. Time to report back to headquarters, I think I've gathered enough data." He opened up a dark corridor behind him, slowly backing into it. He paused about halfway. "I will warn you, though," he glanced at each of them in turn. "We replicas need to be careful about what side we choose. I hope you choose the right one." And with one more step backward, he was gone.

Riku growled, the energy in his hand slowly fizzling out of existence. Namine glanced up at him, worried, but she didn't say anything for a second.

"What did he mean by that?" she asked. "Choosing the right side?"

Riku shrugged, shaking his head. "Not a clue," he muttered.