AN/ I llloooove this chapter and felt like taking the time to tell you that

Chapter 237: Sanctuary

Getting Namine to the holding cell wasn't a problem. She struggled little, but protested loudly—had Sora not been throwing disapproving glances at Kairi every few seconds, he was certain the two of them would be arguing already. Had Kairi's voice not been strained, he was positive they would be arguing, disapproving glances or no.

Regardless.

Getting Namine restrained was a little harder, but between Sora and Kairi, they managed to force her into the lone chair at the center of the room eventually.

Kairi held Namine to the chair. Sora stood in front of the chair, fingering his—were they his?—chains nervously. (He knew for certain that the chains had been his Shadow's, but since his Shadow was… gone… did that mean the chains belonged to him now?)

"Good job," Alpha said, from the panel in the adjunct room. He nodded at them through the window separating the rooms. "Sora, can you restrain her with those chains?"

Sora licked his lips, eyes trailing over Namine and the chair. It didn't look like it would be hard to do, but…

"Yeah, but I'd have to stay in the room." He turned to look at Alpha. "And stay awake. I can do it, but if this needs to be long term…"

"Well it's a good thing we have another option, then," Alpha said. "Are her hands against the arms of the chair?"

"They are now."

"Got it."

A set of restraints popped out of the chair and clamped around Namine's wrists. Sora banished his chains, seeing as they were no longer of use.

"Can't she still summon lightning?" Kairi asked.

"Not in there." Alpha flashed a smirk at them. "The room's ability-proof."

There was a pause of silence.

Sora looked between Kairi, and then Namine, then Mickey who stood next to Alpha on the other side of the window. Neither Kairi nor Mickey seemed to know what Alpha was saying, and Namine just struggled against her new restraints.

Alpha sent a look between the them, taking a moment to realize that they didn't understand him. Then he sighed.

"It means her abilities are offline while in that room—she's powerless," he explained. "No lightning. No blade. No dark corridors."

"Well, then do we really need to restrain her?" Mickey asked, sounding very worried. "Isn't just leaving her in the room enough?"

"She can put up a pretty good fight even unarmed," Kairi answered. She reached up to touch her still-black eye.

"Is it, uh, just Namine's abilities that don't work in here?" Sora asked, turning to Alpha again. He'd gone to prepare a Cure for Kairi, only to realize that there's a chance it wouldn't work and he'd just waste energy.

"Yes," Alpha replied. "Well, and mine too, if I were to go in there." He shrugged, tapped away at the computer terminal he was at. "But it only works on Replicas. The three of you still have all your abilities in that room—unless, of course… one of you happens to be partial Replica…?"

The teasing in his voice went straight over Sora's head.

He frowned, considering the question. "Uhm… I don't… think any of us are."

Kairi groaned.

"It was a joke, Sora."

"Oh…" Sora sent a look at her, his frown deepening as he thought it over some more. Then he flushed red and rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh! Haha…"

Kairi buried her face in her hands out of embarrassment.

"Now, if you two are done in there… I'd like to lock this place up," Alpha said.

"Oh, right!"

Sora and Kairi both hurried out of the room.

"I suppose you need help locating the Main Room, again?" Alpha asked.

"Probably," Sora and Kairi said in near unison. They sent identical looks at each other, trying not to laugh.

"Right, then it's a good thing that's on my way…"

"Actually, I'd like to go check on Riku," Mickey said.

Alpha gave him a long look that made Sora dread he'd refuse for a second. Finally, however, Alpha nodded. "I can show you where he is."

"Thanks."

Alpha nodded, absently, and then lead them back to the Main Room—the large room with all the couches in it.

"If you two need to find Riku, he's down that hall, first right, third door on the left," Alpha explained, gesturing at the hallway.

"Got it," Sora said. He was sure he'd forget the directions the moment he needed them, and hoped Kairi would be able to remember them better.

"If you need any help, just ask someone," Alpha added. "Ask anyone. No one will mind. Oh." He flagged down one of the Vexen Replicas. "Any chance you could get Kairi here a glass of water? Or something?"

"Of course," the Vexen Replica said, and was gone.

Kairi frowned. "I coulda gotten it myself…" she grumbled.

"Yeah, and gotten lost trying to find the kitchen," Sora joked, elbowing her in the side.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny." She wacked him over the head, and he flinched, but he was grinning.

Alpha and Mickey headed off.

Kairi and Sora exchanged glances, and then came to the same unspoken decision to sit down on the nearest couch together. Sora leaned back against the couch, lacing his hands behind his head. Kairi sat gripping the edge of the couch, and had to look slightly over her shoulder to look at him.

"Are you okay?" she asked, quietly.

Sora nodded.

"Sora. Really."

Sora sighed.

"Look, for right now, yeah," he said. "I'm a little shaken up for a lot of reasons, but I think we all are."

"Your Shadow…"

So she hadn't forgotten.

Sora shook his head. "Later. I wanna tell you now. I do. I do so badly. But, y'know, there's people and—"

"I think we can find somewhere private if we—" her voice cracked, and she cleared her throat.

"And you hardly have a voice," Sora finished, sending her a stern look. "Don't clear your throat too much, either, you know that's no good."

"Sora—"

"I want to talk about it Kairi," Sora interrupted. He sat up straighter with his frustration, removing his hands from behind his head. "I want to talk, I want to be able to say something and not have to cringe when you reply with half a voice, I want to be able to start screaming and not feel bad when you have to scream too."

Kairi leaned back a little, sighing. She looked worriedly at him.

"Is it really that bad?"

"It's horrible Kairi," he replied. Just thinking about it made him shudder with discomfort. Thinking about his Shadow, begging to be killed. Claiming to—

"Uh… Kairi?"

The Vexen Replica had returned with Kairi's water.

Kairi took it gratefully, and after thanking the Replica, he left. She took a few sips of water, sending glances over at Sora every second or so. Sora watched her, shifting a little so he was more comfortable. She had longer hair, he realized, now that he was paying attention. It came down almost past her shoulders. And…

He flushed with embarrassment, and tossed up a Cure for her. He'd meant to do that a while ago, and gotten sidetracked.

Kairi laughed, quietly. At least now she was trying to speak softly. "I don't think that's gonna help my voice."

"No, but it should help your—is that my necklace?"

Kairi grinned wider. "Yeah, hold this a sec." She handed him her water, and then slipped his necklace off.

"Thanks," Sora said, as he took it from her and returned her water. "You been holding onto it this whole time?" he asked, so she didn't feel the need to explain herself and strain her voice any further.

She nodded.

Sora shivered a little as the metal of his necklace settled on his skin. He'd expected it to be cold, but it was actually quite warm—likely from having been around Kairi's neck for the past who knew how long.

"This is really dumb," Kairi said, looking at him. "And I'm so sorry for having to ask it but… have you lost weight?"

Sora snorted. "That is really dumb," he assured her. "Just so you're clear on that."

"Thanks." Kairi rolled her eyes.

"Probably," Sora admitted, shifting his gaze away from her. He laced his hands behind his head again. "But, it's not a surprise. I bet you have too—I mean, we've both been living real rough lately."

"True."

"I mean, be honest, when was the last time you had a good meal?"

"….yesterday," Kairi replied, sheepishly. "I was at Aerith's."

Sora nodded, cutting her off there. Then he grimaced. "Now that I think about it, I've eaten well pretty recently, too. I was staying with Mickey, so…" He sighed. That completely ruined the point he was trying to make. "Well, I was trying to say that you didn't eat well on the move, because I know I didn't. And I certainly didn't eat well when I was staying with Maleficent—"

"Whoa, whoa. Hang on," Kairi interrupted. "I was going to ask about Mickey but I have to ask about Maleficent—"

"She totally kidnapped me," Sora said, before she could get any ideas.

"Kidnapped?"

"Well, she dragged me off against my will and destroyed my only form of transportation, and if that's not kidnapping, I don't know what is."

"Is that where you were all this time?" Kairi asked, laughing and shaking her head. "And—hang on, she actually fed you?"

"If she didn't I'd currently be dead," Sora replied. He flashed Kairi a grin, then admitted: "It wasn't anything fancy, though, and I didn't eat most of it for fear of poison."

"Enchantments would've been worse."

Sora's eyes widened as he considered that.

"Oh gosh they would've been that didn't even occur to me!" he exclaimed, a little panicked.

Kairi just gave him a wry look. "Sora. She's a witch."

"I know I'm ashamed." Sora hung his head, more out of theatrics than anything else. Kairi giggled a little, which was what he'd been hoping for. He straightened, then, and shrugged. "Oh well, at least she's dead now so if she had enchanted my food it, y'know. The spells would've worn off."

"That's good to know!"

They laughed a little more on it, then Kairi sighed.

"I guess a lot has happened, huh?"

Sora nodded. "We have a lot to talk about yeah," he agreed. "But maybe we should wait until your voice gets better."

"So, like, tomorrow."

"Yeah, I guess."

They laughed a little about that, but not much. Sora let out a long breath. He did want to wait, yes, but this was something he couldn't put off any longer. This was something he'd been putting off for at least a month, and sitting here laughing with Kairi without having done it…

"Hey… Kairi?"

"Mm?"

"I'm sorry."

He didn't look at her, right away. He looked down at the floor, his whole body tense. It was only when she spoke did he look up.

"For what?" she asked.

She stared at him so blankly that Sora flushed red. She didn't know what he was talking about. She hadn't caught on. She hadn't been worrying about it like he'd been, then?

He cleared his throat, nervously.

"For, like… three months ago," he answered. Maybe it'd been longer than that, but he wasn't sure and didn't feel like figuring it out. Or asking Kairi.

"Wha? Oh." Realization settled on her face. "When you were being controlled by darkness."

"It wasn't all darkness…" Sora mumbled, his eyes trailing to the floor again, ashamed.

"Yeah, I bet some of it was the food Maleficent gave you—"

"Kairi. I'm trying to be serious."

Kairi sighed. "Well, you're sorry, aren't you?" she asked.

Sora nodded.

"Yeah."

"Then you're forgiven."

He turned to her, a little baffled. He hadn't… He hadn't expected that. Not entirely.

"Really?"

"…you thought I wouldn't forgive you?"

Sora shrugged, uncertainly.

Kairi gaped at him. Then laughed, but it was sharp. Pained. Disbelief. She had to look away from him for a moment.

"Sora it- it doesn't matter to me," she said. "I mean I don't mean to downplay what happened or your feelings but—but it really doesn't matter to me. Not now. Not knowing I have you back. I know you messed up, I know you did some bad things but a lot of it was the darkness and… and…"

She shook her head, mouth working as she searched for the words.

"We're best friends, Sora. Of course I forgive you. I'm? I'm honestly a little hurt that you'd think I wouldn't?"

Kairi broke off, and it wasn't because her voice had given out again. She was choking back tears. Just the sight of it made Sora tear up, too, and as he finished processing her words it only made his tears worse.

How he had he ever expected it to go any other way than this?

He threw his arms around her.

"I'm sorry," he gasped. "I'm sorry I just… I dunno." He shook his head, buried his face in her shoulder. "I dunno if it was the darkness or if I was just being negative but… I'd lost all hope. I thought you'd be furious with me. I thought—"

"Sora you'd have to mess up a lot worse for me to be like, unrepairably angry with you?" Kairi replied, uncertainty in her voice. She was just as much at a loss as he was.

"I know. I should've known. I'm sorry."

Kairi shifted to wrap an arm around him. It was now he remembered she was still holding a glass of water—though, honestly, he wouldn't have minded if she'd spilled it. It would've been his fault, anyway.

"It's okay," she said. "I get it. Hope's easy to lose. I…" She broke off again, and clutched him tightly, trembling. "I spent so long worried you wouldn't even be the same… And, I was mad at you, for a while there. Not for what you did. But for not coming back."

"Sorry," Sora said.

Kairi sighed. "It's fine. You had your reasons. I shouldn't have sat for so long doing nothing, either. I could've gone searching for you so much sooner, if I'd just asked Namine. We could have gone looking together…"

Sora didn't say anything, not really having anything to say. He just held her close.

"…Sora, I'm sorry to ruin the moment but can I set the glass of water down?" Kairi asked. "I really don't want to spill it down your back."

"Yeah sorry."

He let go of her, but the moment she'd set the glass on the ground she'd thrown her arms around him again. She trembled with tears but Sora knew he was crying too, and it was okay. They were happy tears. Kairi forgave him. He was a big idiot for ever thinking she wouldn't but. She did. And that was a good thing.

Someone cleared their throat loudly from behind them.

Sora and Kairi pulled away from each other, each flushing a little red with embarrassment and frantically wiping their eyes. Kairi eyes narrowed a little—more out of confusion than anger, it seemed—when she saw who'd interrupted them. Sora turned so he could see who it was, too, and found Roxas.

Roxas was leaning against an elbow on the back of the couch, drumming his fingers against its side.

"Am I interrupting something?" he asked. He didn't look or sound very sorry, though. "Sorry, I just wanted to know if we were still on for that beach date? If not I totally understand." He sent a glance at Sora, which only confused Sora. Since when had he and Roxas planned a beach date?

Kairi groaned. "It's not technically a beach date," she said, rolling her eyes. Oh! Roxas had been talking to her. "We were just going to hang out together, and we decided the beach because he hasn't been."

And… Kairi was addressing him, now? Whatever, now that Sora had that all straightened out, things made a lot more sense.

"Actually… I have been," Roxas admitted, with an apologetic shrug. "Couldn't remember before, 'cuz I couldn't remember Xion. Still. It'd be nice to go again, if you're up for it!"

Sora decided not to ask about Xion right now. There were more important things at hand.

More important things, like, teasing Kairi.

"Y'know, Kai, if it is a date you don't need to be so worried about it," Sora told her. He was mainly joking—not that he would be upset if it was an actual date. "Roxas seems like a nice guy and—"

"It's not a date!" Kairi protested. Her voice squeaked a little, and Sora broke into a grin at the sound of it, regardless of how hoarse of a squeak it was. He'd missed hearing Kairi squeak in embarrassment.

"Regardless of what it technically is, are we still gonna do it?" Roxas said. He'd dropped his teasing tone.

"Yeah, sure, we can," Kairi replied. "Uhm? I think I'm going to be busy tomorrow, catching up on sleep and all, but maybe the day after? So long as you don't mind Sora there. Though… I'm not going to give you much choice on that."

Sora rolled his eyes. "Really, if you two want to be alone—"

"I SAID I'M NOT GIVING HIM MUCH CHOICE."

Sora and Roxas exchanged a shared smile at Kairi's distress, then Roxas said goodbye for now and was gone.

"We staying until Namine's better, right?" Kairi asked as she reached down to pick up her glass of water.

"Uh-huh."

"Just checkin'."

"…you wanna go check on Riku?" Sora said.

Kairi shrugged. "Guess we got nuttin' better to do, huh?"

"Exactly."