AN/ Heya! There used to be a huuuuge block of text here about an event I was doing for the 2nd anniversary of this series! Obviously, that was quite a few years ago now, so we don't need that block of text siting here anymore. If you wanna read the chapters that came out of the event, then check out ASAS chapters 27, 29, and 30!

Sept 2016 notes: Some continuity edits happened here to the Sora scene, and then the Kairi scenes are all brand new, as a part of Kairi Batch 2 edits. This is also the last chapter of Kairi Batch 2 Edits, so. cool.

Chapter 121: Tired

Sora awoke to find that he had inhaled sand, and quickly pushed himself up and coughed a couple times in desperate attempt to get rid of it. He could still hear the wind roaring outside, and the heat was almost unbearable.

"Are… are you okay now?"

Sora turned to look at Aladdin, who had asked the question. Aladdin was kneeling down next to him, looking rather worried.

"What- what happened?" Sora asked.

"You, uh, fainted," Aladdin replied.

"I- I did?"

"Yeah. I asked how you got here, and-"

Sora clutched his head. It was all flooding back to him; following Aladdin to where they were now, the world spinning, worried that he was a burden to Aladdin, Jasmine-

The world started spinning again.

"Ooh… can we talk about something else, please?" he asked, pushing himself into a sitting position.

"Sure," Aladdin said. "What do you want to talk about?"

Sora couldn't think of anything specific, so he just said the most obvious thing that occurred to him: "It's hot."

Aladdin laughed. "We're in a desert, of course it's hot!"

Sora merely grunted, feeling very much like Riku as he did so.

"What's it like where you come from?" Aladdin asked. "If you can answer that," he added, quickly.

"Well, it's not cold," Sora said, finding himself laughing slightly as he did so for some weird reason. "But it's not this hot."

"You get used to the heat."

"I figured."

They were silent for a moment.

"So…" Aladdin said, finally. "Are you feeling better?"

Sora grimaced. "For the most part," he muttered. He certainly didn't feel as sick as he did before, but his head still hurt. And he felt… tired. How long had it been since he had a good night's sleep? Or, for that matter, done anything relatively normal?

"You look tired."

"I feel tired."

"If you want, you can sleep now. There's no telling how long the sandstorm will keep going."

Sora thought about that for a moment. It certainly wouldn't hurt anything if he slept. And… now would be such a good time. Plus, he really wanted sleep, but— He had made Aladdin look after him long enough. As soon as the sandstorm was over, he should let Aladdin get back to his own life.

Besides, what would happen if Aladdin realized sometime while he was sleeping that it was he who had kidnapped Jasmine?

"I'll be okay," Sora said.

"You sure?"

The world spun slightly around him again, but Sora nodded anyway.

Aladdin gave him a look that suggested he didn't quite believe him, but then got up and returned to his chair. Sora slowly did the same, though there was absolutely nothing comforting in the comfortable chair that he had claimed as his. There was something stirring in his heart; something he wished would just shut up and go away.

Not that wishing did him any good.

He grimaced and fought the darkness rising up inside of him back, hoping for once that it would just stay there.

"How long have you been getting sandstorms?" Sora asked suddenly, desperately needing something to break the silence and get his mind off his trivial attempts to hold his darkness back.

Aladdin shrugged. "Off and on for the past few months," he replied simply.

"Oh."

More silence.

Sora shifted uncomfortably.

He had run out of things to talk about, and sitting here without something distracting him just welcomed bad news.

"Can I ask you something?" Aladdin asked.

"Sure."

Anything. Anything to distract him.

"Well…" Aladdin trailed off, almost as if unsure where he meant to go next. "Maybe it's none of my business, but, you were running from someone, when I found you."

Sora's eyes widened in surprise.

Aladdin laughed.

"C'mon, you think I didn't notice?" Then he sobered, addressing Sora very seriously. "Listen, if it's the Palace Guards, I know how to keep out of their way. Maybe I can help you out…?"

Sora scowled and turned away. That wasn't what was going on at all. And there was no way Aladdin could help with Maleficent.

"You're right," he grumbled, sourly. "It is none of your business!"

It was only after he said it that he realized how rude he'd sounded.

His darkness had escaped him, even if only for just a second.

He groaned and clutched his head.

Idiot, idiot, idiot, he scolded, trying to push his darkness back to where it belonged. His bitterness and anger at himself made all attempts pointless, because they just gave the darkness the strength it needed to break free again.

Aladdin merely scratched his head, a bit nervously almost, not even realizing what was going on. "Jeez, no need to be so—hey wait a minute!" His eyes widened in shock. "You- You're that guy! You- You kidnapped Jasmine!"

Sora sighed.

"Yup. Just another big mistake to add to the long list of mistakes I've made," he muttered, angrily, mainly to himself.

"I can't believe I helped you!"

Sora looked up at Aladdin and then stared. "Really?" he asked, in disbelief, and then shook his head. Why should he be surprised? He pushed himself to his feet, staggering slightly as he did so. "Fine then," he said, starting for the door. "I'll just leave, since—"

"Wait!" Aladdin called, getting to his feet and reaching out as if to stop Sora, though Sora was on the other side of the room. "You can't…"

Sora turned to him, eyebrows raised slightly in amusement, though most of him wanted to glare in annoyance.

"I can't let you do that," Aladdin finished.

"And just why not?"

"It's- it's dangerous out there."

Sora laughed slightly, bitterly. "You were just complaining about helping me."

"Well, yeah, but-" Aladdin ran a hand nervously through his hair again. "You can't go. You won't last in a sandstorm like that. No one would."

Sora stared for a second, then his eyes narrowed. "Fine," he said, and sat down where he was. "Then I'll just sit here and leave you alone until it's over, and as soon as it is, you'll never have to see my filthy face again."

There was anger in that, but sorrow, too.

"I didn't mean it like—" Aladdin protested.

"Don't bother." Sora turned his back on Aladdin, hunching over, and started doodling absentmindedly in the sand with a finger. "I don't care anymore."

xxx

Kairi pushed open the door to Riku's room, stepping in with her usual confidence, though she wasn't quite boasting it this time around. Riku sat on his bed. Namine sat in a chair next to it, doodling in her sketchbook.

Kairi went over and plopped herself down at the foot of Riku's bed, pulling up her feet under her.

"Okay, so, I've thought about it," she said, holding her ankles. "And I'm going to go with Tifa."

It seemed like… Well, not the right choice, exactly, but the one she felt the best with. She'd miss Namine and Riku, and she was sure that staying with them wouldn't have been a bad choice, but… She wanted to see Sora. There were so many things between them she wanted to get straight.

"That's great!" Namine told her, smiling. Kairi smiled back—she'd been sure on the decision, but affirmation made her feel better about it, for sure.

She started to say something, but then Namine was bounding to her and throwing her arms around her, squeezing her tight. Laughing breathlessly, Kairi hugged her back.

"I'm gonna miss you, though…" Namine whispered.

"I'm gonna miss you, too."

Namine pulled away, though her hands lingered on Kairi's shoulders for a bit. She smiled, but it was a smile tinged with sadness. She held Kairi's gaze very firmly. "I'll bet you'll have a ton of fun," she said.

"Definitely more fun than you'd have had in Castle Oblivoin," Riku added, laughing, though this was a depreciating laugh, just as it was a depreciating joke.

"Don't bore yourselves to death," Kairi quipped back.

"Oh, we won't," Riku said. There was a glint in his eyes.

Kairi started scooting a little closer to him—she'd get a hug from him before she left, by golly—but then the door was thrown open, and Tifa poked her head in.

"Ah, there you are Kairi," she said. She stepped inside, not at all looking apologetic for interrupting. "Listen, I really hate to pressure you, or anything, but I was thinking about leaving tomorrow morning. If you want to come…"

"That's okay, I already made up my mind," Kairi told her, beaming proudly. "I'm gonna go with you."

"Oh!" Tifa looked surprised for a moment, then she smiled. "Well, that settles things then." Her smile became something more stern. "Now, we're gonna leave bright and early tomorrow, got that?"

Kairi nodded, suppressing a groan at bright and early. "Got it," she said.

Namine giggled into her hand. Kairi shot a death glare at her.

"What's so funny?" Tifa asked.

Kairi tried to tell Namine with her eyes that she better not answer or else.

"Good luck getting her up bright and early," Namine said, anyway, still giggling. "She is not a morning person."

Kairi fumbled to grab Riku's pillow, and chucked it directly at Namine's face. It hit, but Namine just laughed harder.

"I'll be fine," Kairi told Tifa defiantly, cheeks hot. "Promise."

"You better be," Tifa said.

Tifa left, and Kairi rounded on Namine, swinging her feet off the bed. She held herself on the edge of it, leaning towards Namine threateningly.

"Gee thanks!"

Namine just shrugged her shoulders un-apologetically, still giggling.

xxx

Kairi did manage to drag herself out of bed bright and early the next morning, but only with a lot of help from Namine. She got up on time, though. That's what mattered.

She was too excited—or, nervous? Hard to tell—to eat, so she skipped breakfast. Then she and Tifa made sure they had everything they needed packed in their bags, and they said their goodbyes.

Riku'd come downstairs, though he'd been downstairs a lot more frequently the past couple of days anyway. He was healing better, and stuff. And, besides, he and Namine were going to head off, too. They'd gotten the okay from Aerith, and Riku seemed real eager to go.

"Take care of yourselves," Kairi told him and Namine, very seriously.

They nodded.

"We will," Namine said, while Riku gave her a nod and a kind of no-duh look. Namine smiled, again with that slightly sad, slightly wistful smile. "You take care of yourself, too, alright?"

Kairi nodded adamantly. "Yeah! I will."

She and Namine hugged, squeezing each other tight.

"I'm gonna miss you," Kairi whispered.

Namine nodded into her shoulder. "Me too."

They pulled apart, and Kairi turned to Riku, holding her arms out.

"Come on," she said. "Goodbye hug?"

Riku sighed, but moved towards her. "Alright. Just be careful."

Kairi tried not to roll her eyes too hard. Of course, now he'd pull the injured card, even though he acted like he was totally fine the rest of the time. Still, she didn't squeeze him too tight, nor did she hold him for too long.

"I'll miss you, too," Kairi told him sincerely, as they pulled apart. "Don't forget that."

"Y- Yeah," Riku answered, looking a little flustered. "I won't."

They said their final goodbyes, and then Kairi followed Tifa outside.

"So…." she said, drawing the word out, looking curiously up at Tifa. "How does this work?"

"Well…" Tifa smiled, a little bit, like she knew a good secret. "You know how your friends use those things called dark corridors?"

Kairi nodded, a little skeptical now.

Tifa only smiled wider.

"There are corridors of light, too," Tifa said. "I think they're kind of rare, but…" She reached out in a motion similar to one Kairi had seen Namine use a million times. From her fingertips burst forth a doorway of light.

"Whoa…." Kairi stared wide-eyed with awe.

Tifa grinned.

"Come on," she said, with a nod of her head, and stepped through.

Kairi hurriedly followed.