Phew! I'm glad I finished this chapter in time. I'm going on vacation tomorrow and I wanted to make sure I got another chapter in before I left. Hope you like the next installment of my crap-tastic story!

Disclaimer: If I did, there'd be a National Axel Day.

11. The Morning After.

Kairi awoke the next morning feeling jumpier than she'd ever felt before. Part of the reason was because of what had happened the night before, and part of the reason was that she had realized and come to terms with the fact that she was completely and utterly head-over-heels in love with Sora. She had known it for a while, but refused to acknowledge it or accept it until last night, when she understood far her predicament had gotten.

She was the first person up, aside from Riku, who was driving the gummi ship dutifully, never taking his eyes off the sky. She heard him yawn loudly from the cockpit. Looking over at Sora, she wasn't surprised to feel her heartbeat pick up significantly just from thinking of what almost happened the night before. (Or was it morning?) Kairi smiled to herself as she watched Sora's hair flutter every time he exhaled. Not wanting to be a freaky stalker/creeper, she rose and walked through the room where Lifelle, Darran, and Axel were sleeping. The latter was stretched out on a sleeping bag, snoring quietly as he slumbered. Kairi hoped that he would have enough sense to not mention what he had witnessed.

Kairi took her time getting changed. She found herself thinking things like "I wonder if Sora would like this," and "Does Sora like green? I forget..." She chided herself for acting so teenage-girlish a moment before she remembered she was a teenage girl. She laughed quietly to herself.

One thing had been bothering Kairi all night. What if Sora hadn't been leaning in to kiss her? What if there was simply an eyelash on her face, and he was leaning in to get it? Kairi felt herself spiraling downward into misery and self-conciousness.

You're an idiot, Namine clarified bluntly. Kairi raised an eyebrow at her reflection in the mirror, just before realizing Namine was completely and totally one-hundered-percent correct.

You're right... there's no way Sora could ever like me like that, she agreed. She felt Namine mentally slap her.

That's not what I meant! I mean you're an idiot because there's no way Sora could not like you like that. He tried to kiss you last night, didn't he?

Ah, but what if that wasn't what that was at all? What if I had something on my face and he was just trying to get it off?

Oh, and I suppose he needed to be three centimeters from your face to see it?

It was dark in there last night, Kairi reminded her Nobody with a tinge of depressed smugness. Namine was just about to retaliate when a light knocking could be heard from the door.

"Kairi? You in there? I know this is really rude and everything, but you've been in that bathroom for like half an hour, changing, and I really hafta... well, you know..." Lifelle murmered from behind the door.

"Oh! Sorry, I was just thinking to myself. I'll be out of here in a sec," She promised, gathering her pajamas and bag. Kairi opened the door to see a relieved-looking Lifelle. She gave her an apologetic smile and shuffled out of the way.

Kairi had taken a lot of thought into what she was going to wear today. She ended up choosing a pair of loose, swishy black capris and a tight-fitting black-and-white diagonally-striped short-sleeved shirt, coupled with simple black flip-flops.

What's with the monochrome? Namine asked.

I remember Sora saying one time that I looked nice in this shirt last year... and these pants go well with it, I think, she explained. She could feel Namine rolling her eyes.

"Morning," Axel greeted her, stretching as he sat up. He had obviously just awoken, yet his vivid red spikes stayed as orderly as ever. A smirk played on his lips and his pretty green eyes sparkled with mischief above his upside-down black triangle tattoos.

"Good morning..." Kairi replied uneasily. She could tell that Axel was enjoying making her nervous to no end.

"Look, Axel, could you just do us both a favor and not mention-" Kairi started, her whispers rushed and low in the hope that she wouldn't wake up Darran, who was still asleep in his bed.

"Don't worry, I'm not that big of a jackass," the formor Nobody assured her. Kairi breathed out a sigh of relief, realizing that the sparkle in Axel's eyes was just a permanent part of his character.

"Thank you," she sighed, bowing her head a bit. Axel just laughed, which unfortunately woke Darran up. He opened his dark, chocolate-brown eyes blearily and yawned, pulling a pillow over his head.

"One more hour..." he mumbled, his voice muffled by the pillow. Lifelle, who came out of the bathroom in time to hear him say this, stole the pillow from him. He only glared at her and rolled over, huffing loudly.

"Lazy, no-good brother of mine..." She mumbled, throwing the pillow at his head.

"Ow!" He grunted, still not rolling over, but tucking the pillow under his head in one fluid movement. Lifelle rolled her eyes in disapproval, sweeping some of her raven-colored hair out of her face.

The four of them sat (well, in Darran's case, slept) in peace for about a minute, each in their own early-morning thoughts, when a loud yawn jerked them to life. Sora stumbled into the room, rubbing his eyes lazily.

"Morning, all," he muttered, his greeting muffled by a yawn.

"Morning," Axel and Lifelle said in unison. Sora opened his eyes. They darted to Kairi, who had been beet red since he walked into the room. Sora flushed at a startling speed and fast-walked to the bathroom without another word. Kairi decided she needed to get out of the room. Fast. Before Sora came out of the bathroom.

"I'm gonna go see if Riku wants me to drive," she told Axel and Lifelle, perhaps a touch louder than she had to. She couldn't stop her eyes from landing on the bathroom door just once.

Ignoring Axel's smirk and Lifelle's questioning look, Kairi got up from the chair she was sitting in and sat next to Riku in the cockpit. The silver-hairied keyblader looked a little worse-for-the-wear. He yawned widely and shook his head a little before noticing Kairi.

"Oh! Hey, you're up," He said in surprise.

"Yep. What, surprised to see me outta bed before noon?" She asked her friend, who nodded sheepishly. She punched him lightly on the arm before speaking, ignoring the indignant "ow!" of pain.

"You look like you could use some sleep," Kairi said, smirking as Riku massaged his arm.

"And and ice pack," He added sternly. Kairi only laughed.

"Anyway, I was thinking I would take over for you," she answered. Riku's eyes widened in alarm.

"Do you even know how to drive this?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Sora showed me how before we left the islands," Kairi nodded, reminiscing for a split second. She remembered how Sora had guided her through the various buttons and controls, smiling and laughing the entire time.

"Alright, that works for me," Riku agreed. He got up without another word, seemingly much more tired than he let on. Kairi shifted a seat over and immediately took control of the would-be steering wheel. It was actually only two connected poles that looked like joysticks. Buttons of various sizes and colors as well as a variety of levers layered the dashboard.

"Okay, I can do this," Kairi told herself. After all, it was her first time flying.

Everything went smoothly for about half an hour. Kairi diligently kept her eyes on the sky, speeding past small asteroids and shooting the lasers once or twice just to see the beam of blue light fly into the black, lost to her sight in a fraction of a second. She could see a large dot strait ahead of her, which she presumed was Land of the Dragons. It slowly, slowly, slowly got larger. Kairi could tell it would take at least another three hours to get there.

She found herself drifting into her thoughts, though she tried not to. The more she thought about it, the more she was sure that Sora didn't like her, like her, at least not in the same way she liked him. Even Namine's constant assurals that she was wrong, and insane for even thinking it for that matter, didn't convince Kairi. Something stopped Kairi's internal argument, however.

A fleet of indescructible-looking heartless ships were bounding towards the gummi ship, painted completely black and sporting massive emblems. Kairi sat up in her seat, forgetting her self-doubt and pity for the moment, feeling the adrenaline course through her veins like a little electric current. She pounded on the lasers, and later the cannons when they didn't do the trick. As if she had made the ships angry, the fleet let loose a breathtaking blast of lasers, lighting up space for a millisecond. The lasers rocked the gummi ship dangerously, and Kairi felt her heart start pounding as a shrill buzzing sounded in her mind.

"Ummm... guys," she called nervously as the ship was assualted once more. Darran, Lifelle, Riku, Axel, and Sora formed as ring around her as watched in horror as the ships sped towards them.

"I think we may have a problem."

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Sorry if i wasn't very long

But! I made it emo-tastic! And Axel-tastic! And angsty-tastic! So there! P

I probably won't be able to post for another week or so, sorry about that.

REVIEW! Review like the wind! And if you want less emo/more emo/less fluff/more fluff, TELL ME and I'll fix it! And I promise to reply back to any and all reviews I get! Thank you and goodnight xD

LV-chan.