Hey guys! Here's my next chapter - Sorry it's so short. I just wanted to post SOMETHING so that I can read all of your nice (and boo-chan's mean) reviews when I get home from tutoring xD

(Yeah, LV-chan's failing something. Math... Bleh. In the words of Shakespeare, I do indeed bite my thumb at math.)

Disclaimer: If I did, there would be more vampires.

9. Missing.

Sora slept on and off that night. He would wake up suddenly, feverish and panting, and fall back asleep in less than a minute with mumbled nonsense. The few times Kairi could talk to him, she asked him if he was feeling sick, and he replied every time "Nope!" with an idiotic grin on his face. Nevertheless, Kairi stayed by his side to make sure he didn't get any sicker than he looked.

"...Tonight, okay?" She heard Riku say, snapping her out of her worried daydreams.

"Sorry, what?" She asked, yawning. Kairi glanced at her watch - it was 1 am. Riku rolled his eyes before answering.

"I said, I'll drive the ship tonight, okay?"

"Yeah, sounds good," She responded vaguely, shooting an anxious glance at Sora, who had just coughed fitfully. His eyes fluttered for a moment, then he relapsed into his touch-and-go slumber.

"Kairi," Riku said, gently putting a hand on her shoulder, "He'll be okay. Sora's survived much worse than this. Why don't you just get some rest?"

Kairi yawned again and looked at Sora once more. He did seem to be okay, and she was awfully tired...

"Yeah, you're probably right," she nodded her head sluggishly in lazy agreement. Riku smiled and went to the cockpit, relieving a droopy-lidded Lifelle from her driving duties.

Kairi claimed the bed across from Sora quietly, climbing under the covers. She kicked off her shoes, deciding she was too tired to get changed or even retrieve her CD player from the other side of the room. A small clock she had never noticed before ticked loudly on the wall above Sora's head. It was the last thing she saw before plummeting into the sweet black that sleep brought to her mind.

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Kairi awoke the next morning slowly, moving the muscles in her legs and arms lazily as she sped back to conciousness. She got out of bed and stretched, reaching her fingertips almost to the ceiling of the gummi ship.

"Sleeping in your clothes, Kairi? Your mom wouldn't approve," a familiar voice chided her, mock disapproval lacing his tone.

"Sora! Are you feeling any better?" Kairi asked her friend happily, glad to see he had lost the sick, pale color in his face and his eyes wre clear blue again, instead of cloudy like they had been the previous night.

"Much. We're gonna land in like, a minute, just so you know," he replied, looking once again at her rumpled clothing. Bright red splattered Kairi's cheeks and she grabbed her bag swiftly, fast-walking to the bathroom. Sora's echoing chuckles only concentrated those crimson blushed until one blended in with the other, forming a bright bruise-like stain on her cheeks. She changed quickly, eager to get out of her old clothes and into a new, fresh wardrobe. She brushed her teeth and hair carefully, grimacing at the latter before pulling a brush painfully through the tangled mess. It took her about 5 minutes to get it back into recognizeable neatness.

"Wow... a change of clothes sure makes a difference," Sora whistled as Kairi walked back. She smiled shyly, a faint pink creeping into her cheeks once more.

"Landing!" Riku grunted from the pilot's seat. Lifelle walked into the room Sora and Kairi were in swiftly, smiled at each of them and whispering a good morning. Darran followed, his jet-black spikes bouncing a bit as he walked. Last came Axel, who had been sleeping on the floor of Lifelle and Darran's room. He yawned loudly, obviously having just been awoken. Soon the door opened and the keybladers stepped into the foreign world, which was overgrown with bamboo and leaves.

A little red lizard-like creature slithered up to them almost as soon as their feet touched the ground. Kairi recalled it to be Mushu, the dragon who was sent by her ancestors to "protect" her from the dangers of dressing as a man to be in the army.

"Sora! Sora! Thank God you've come!" The little dragon called frantically, his eyes wide and frightened.

"Mushu, what's wrong?" Sora asked, drawing his Olympia-chained keyblade.

"Mulan's gone missing!"

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Cliffhanger! I know, probably one you don't care about, but I like cliff-hangers xD They make me feel important for being the only one who knows what's going to happen next.

And sorry for only having one Axeltastic sentence. (TT)

LV-chan.

P.S. - Sasuke plushies to all my reviewers! (Except for boo, because she doesn't count. She's not cool like that. xD)