Hey guys I wasn't going to update again tonight, but I just felt so bad about leaving you with such a crappy chapter after making you wait, so here ya go. It's fluff-tastic xD

(Lizibeth-chan: I KNOW IT'S CORNY. You don't need to tell me about it. :D)

Disclaimer: If I did, this would have happened.

10. Almost.

"Wait, who's this Mulan?" Axel asked lazily, rubbing his eyes. He yawned once more.

"She lives here," Sora reminded the former Nobody quietly.

"Oh yeah, cross-dresser girl. Think we oughta go find 'er?" Axel asked, summoning his chakrams in a burst of fire. Sora gave him one of his what-an-idiot looks and sped towards the camp where he had first met General Shun-Yu, who was now engaged to Mulan, if Kairi remembered correctly.

"Wait up!!" Mushu called after the spiky-haired keyblader, scurrying as fast as his little legs could carry him. Kairi followed soon after. She crept through the thick undergrowth of bamboo and leaves, crouching down at times so she wouldn't be overcome by the encompassing foliage. A dim light burst through the leaves, making Kairi gasp with pain, her eyes not adjusting fast enough. Closing her eyes before they could be assaulted by the radiance again, she stretched her arms out in front of her so she wouldn't run into anything. It wasn't long before she felt something at her fingertips; a thick fabric. Kairi reopened her eyes and blinked a few times to dissapate the blinding sunlight, only to see Sora in front of her, not moving an inch.

"Sora? What's wrong?" She asked hesitantly, poking him in the back gently. He fell forward, rolling over mid-fall. Kairi let out an earsplitting scream at the sight before her.

Sora's aqua eyes were glazed over, widened in horror and defiance. Two holes glistened damply in his forehead, damp with fresh, oozing blood. Two small pinpricks glowed at his throat, the tiniest drop of the crimson liquid escaping from the one closest to Kairi. A small knife was buried in Sora's chest, the blade sticking out a bit and drenched in blood, which was still pouring out of the wound. It slowly ran down his shirt, soaking the material through.

"Sora!" Kairi choked between sobs, crashing to her feet beside him. At the sound of her voice, Sora's head snapped back to life. He looked at her the same glazed, defiant eyes, though they were laced with a deep maroon-red; hungry. The maroon soon took over his irises until they were glaring pools of bloodshot starvation.

"Kairi..." Sora leered, his upper lip moving to reveal two glistening, sharp fangs. Kairi only screamed louder and louder.

"Kairi..." Sora repeated again, sitting up slowly, the knife still in his chest. The holes in his forehead only produced more blood, which ran down Sora's face and neck. He licked his lips, savoring his own blood on his tongue. It seemed to withdraw the beast inside him. He lunged at Kairi, fangs bared-

"Kairi? KAIRI!"

Someone was slapping her. Kairi sat up with a start, feeling numerous beads of sweat pouring down her forehead. She sat up to see Sora gazing at her, his eyes frightened.

"What... Where..." Kairi began, looking around wildly. Sora put a finger to her lips, pressing down gently.

"You were having a nightmare. I heard you screaming and tried to wake you up, but then you started screaming 'Stop, Sora,' so Riku slapped you a few times," Sora explained, gesturing to the silver-haired keyblader standing beside him.

"It was... a dream?" Kairi asked, wanting so badly for it to be true. Sora nodded, his eyes still worried.

"Riku?" Lifelle called from the cockpit. He glanced swiftly in her direction.

"You gonna be okay?" He whispered to Kairi, who nodded without a thought. Riku got up without another word and went to Lifelle. Sora and Kairi watched him go, their eyes following him like vultures following a dying animal on the plains. As soon as he was out of earshot, Sora started questioning Kairi again.

"What happened in your dream?" He asked, his voice low. Kairi shook her head.

"It was nothing. Just a bad dream..." She murmered, averting her eyes. She knew Sora would be able to tell if she was lying if her could see her traitorous baby-blues.

"You were screaming my name, like... like you were scared of me. Terrified. Please, I need to know what happened," Sora pleaded, the agony in his eyes heartbreaking.

"Okay..." Kairi breathed, unable to tear her eyes from his, "We were in Mulan's world. We had all just come out of the gummi ship, and you were back to normal - you weren't sick anymore. Mushu came running up to you and said that Mulan was. Then Axel asked who she was again, and you explained, then you went through a tunnel to go find her. I followed you and when I came out of the tunnel, you weren't moving. I pushed you a little and you fell to th ground. Th-there were holes in your forehead... and your neck... and a knife in your chest," Kairi breathed deeply, trying to calm herself. Sora waiting, his gaze intent. She shuddered briefly before continuing her narration.

"Then I said your name, and you... came back to life. You started saying my name and you sat up. Y-you had... fangs. You tasted your blood on your lips and your eyes turned red and then... then you attacked me," Kairi finished, ripping her tear-filled eyes from his bewildered ones.

"Kairi..." He whispered, determination coloring his tone. She sniffled and looked back at him.

"It was a dream, Kairi. I promise, no, I swear that I will never, ever hurt you. You believe me... right?" He asked, his ocean eyes probing hers. She thought back to when he had gone into that sick, bloodthirsty Drive in the Coliseum, biting her lip. But then she remembered the way his eyes had been then, wild and feral. They weren't Sora's eyes. And that thing that had almost killed her was not Sora.

"Yes," she whispered. Sora breathed a silent sigh of relief. The two teens hugged, and Kairi felt the atmosphere in the room change. Her hands started to get cold and clammy once more behind Sora's back. Her heartbeat was racing, and she hoped desparately that Sora couldn't hear it. The hug lasted longer than it should have, but Kairi was happy just to be sitting in Sora's arms. She breathed in the smell of his spiky brown hair; it smelled like soap. Regrettably, Sora pulled away, much too soon for Kairi. His eyes were unsure, as if he was going back and forth about something in his head. Kairi didn't even want to think of what, afraid of being wrong. Slowly, he inclined his head towards hers, the unknown conflict going on behind those beautiful eyes resolved. Kairi's breathing became shallow, but she moved her head in as well, just as slowly as he was. Their faces were mere inches apart when Axel walked in the room, coughing in his half-awake state of mind. Kairi pulled away instantly, the familiar blush flooding her cheeks. She looked anywhere but at Sora, who had pulled away at breakneck pace as well.

"Wha?" Axel asked, opening his eyes to see two very red-faced teens sitting on opposite sides of a bed, looking anywhere but at him or each other. A sly grin crossed his face, but he said nothing, thankfully. Still smirking, he walked into the cockpit to talk to Lifelle and Riku. Kairi would have been able to hear him, were it not for the blood roaring in her ears. Sora was the first to speak.

"I'm kinda tired... G'night," he said loudly, getting up quickly and fast-walking back to the sofa he had previously been slumbering in, never once looking a Kairi. She mumbled an unintelligeable "Goodnight" and laid back down, rolling over into a scrunched-up position, facing the window. Stars flitted in front of her eyes. A comforting silence rested in the room. Neither Sora nor Kairi made a single sound, save for the occaisonal creak in bed (or couch) springs when one of them would move an inch or two, each lost in their own thoughts.

It took about half an hour for Kairi's heart to stop trying to leap out of her chest. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she paid no attention to a snickering Axel, who went back to the other room to sleep on a sleeping bag the keybladers had found for him in the storage compartment of the gummi ship the day before.

Kairi knew she wasn't going to get to sleep tonight. And she didn't want to.

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Damn that Axel, ruining the moment like that!

xD

Hope you guys liked the fluffiness. And hope you don't mind the corniness of afforementioned fluffiness :) I just always wanted to write a scene like this. Plus, I thought this story was SERIOUSLY lacking in fluff, so I decided to make it all sappy and romantic for ya.

Please review! If you liked the SoraxKairi fluff, tell me to put more in and I promise I will!

LV-chan.