Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any related characters. This was written out of enjoyment of the series, and no profit is being made.

Rating: G.
Genre: Friendship
Spoilers: KHII - The World That Never Was, Hall of Empty Melodies
Ships: (Friendship) Cloud&Kairi

Dreamcatcher

Maleficent's siege on Hollow Bastion (Radiant Garden, she corrected herself. You used to live here, it's not that difficult!) pushed itself into its third week as a clock struck midnight somewhere in the town. Kairi walked through the empty streets, soft blue where the cobblestones glew in the night. A couple of others walked back with her towards Merlin's house, their patrol shift done. Alice watched, enthralled, as Kairi snapped a new Keychain on to her Athena so it reversed to the default Destiny's Light. They met each other's eyes and giggled tiredly.

They came into Merlin's small courtyard, and Kairi was about to unlock the door when a second group arrived down the other path, from the Bailey. Cloud Strife carried his gigantic sword at his side, followed by Hercules and Daisy Duck. "We're expecting more," was all he said.

Kairi nodded silently, pointing the tip of the Keyblade at the lock on the door. It clicked quietly, and the five very different people walked inside.

---

She kept the door of her guest room wide open so she could hear the rest of them moving around. Donald's nephews had discovered some invention of Merlin's that they weren't supposed to, and just about everyone was trying to track them down before something magical and gooey stained the walls.

She however, sat at the end of her bed, staring out the window and reminding herself to finish her tea. She was distracted when one of the triplets (she still felt bad that she couldn't tell them apart) ran by, followed by Yuffie. Cloud appeared just outside the doorway, watching them run deeper into the house. He didn't look like he felt like running through such a cramped space tonight.

He must've felt her eyes regarding him curiously. He turned, and regarded her in what she supposed was the same way. "…Hey," he greeted cautiously.

"Hello," she said, smiling. No point in not being welcoming.

He leaned on the door frame hesitantly, looking for some reason not to chase a duckling around the house. "You should get some sleep."

Somewhere in the house (Kairi thought it was in the direction Yuffie had gone off in), there was the sound of something splattering. There were some clatters and panicked murmurs. "I've been trying," the girl winced as Merlin gave a flustered cry downstairs.

"Hm. I see what you mean."

That wasn't exactly what I meant, she thought, looking thoughtfully down at her cup of tea. "Can I tell you a secret?"

Alright, that was the wrong thing to say. Cloud looked like he was trying to figure out the quickest retreat without being outright rude. "It's nothing big!" she said, trying to reassure him. "Just something I can't tell Riku and Sora. They'd get all protective of me.

"Well, not that you wouldn't get protective, but… It just seems like you'd worry less."

The man deliberated on this. Kairi was a lot less delicate than her two friends seemed to think she was, so whatever was on her mind probably wasn't a big deal. "Sure. Go ahead," he finally said.

"When I said I've been trying to sleep, I mean… I haven't been able to sleep for the past few days. I'm starting to worry that I might, you know, have insomnia. Or something." It was more comfortable for the girl to talk to her teacup at this point.

Cloud walked into the room then, the floorboards creaking under his black boots. "Have you told Merlin?"

Confession passed, Kairi shook her head and looked up. "I have a feeling he'd try and get me to take a potion. I don't need a potion. Not yet, anyway." She tilted her head towards the bed. "You can sit, if you want."

He thought of refusing, saying he'd rather stand, but he had been on his feet all day. He nodded slightly, and sat on the bed, near the pillow, letting her have her space. They both winced as something else downstairs broke. Yuffie's laugh drifted up to them.

"I don't suppose you have any advice, do you? About how I could get back to sleep?" she asked.

"Advice…?" he repeated softly. Hmm. When he and Leon and the others had lost Hollow Bastion all those years ago, they had all had trouble sleeping. Aeris had only needed to curl into his side to get back to sleep. Tifa spent the whole day helping Cid so she could collapse into exhaustion when the sun went down. Yuffie stayed up all night, and he couldn't remember what Leon (or was he still Squall back then?) had done. And Cloud? Well…

"I counted," he said.

Kairi tilted her head again, curious. "As in, counting sheep?"

He smiled and the girl couldn't not blink in surprise. "Memories," he corrected, leaning his chin on his knuckles. "Every night I thought about something that made life worth living, starting with what had happened that day. Then I'd go back to yesterday. And the day before that."

Silence spread into the room as the clouds moved across the sky and moonlight slanted in through the window. It made Cloud's hair look like pale blue gold. "Did you ever have to go back to the very beginning?" she asked quietly.

"Some nights," he replied.

They sat like that for a while as Kairi finished her tea. When her cup emptied and only leaves remained, she lay down on the bed, and started remembering.

---

Hours past and Cloud didn't move, sitting on guard with his back to her.

"Cloud?" Her voice was thick with sleepiness.

"Yeah?"

"Is there such a word as 'chocobo'?"

He blinked, turning his head so he could see behind his shoulder. She was barely awake. "Yeah. They were big birds that used to live around here. Haven't seen any since the Darkness…" He drifted off. She already knew.

She yawned. "Alright. I was just… looking at your hair from this angle…" Another yawn. "And the word came into my head."

Her eyelids drifted shut and his lips quirked again. "'Night, Kairi."