'Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all

Nothing's like before'

~Utada, Simple and Clean

Naminé

Naminé woke up beside Roxas the next morning, wrapped in his sheets, her pelvis sore, and utterly thrilled. Exuberant and overjoyed and still so tired. She'd never woken up still so tired before. She grinned up at the ceiling as she recalled the source of her weariness the previous night. After years of pent up feelings, kissing had led to making out, and grabbing, and caressing, and clothes thrown on the floor, until there was nothing between them and Naminé had sworn that she would explode right then and there.

She'd only slept with two other men before Roxas, and though somewhere deep down she knew he'd slept with far more than she had, she knew that he was better than anyone she ever had or would sleep with. And it wasn't about skill or size or looks, it all came down to the feelings she had for him. She loved him, and she'd felt that way for as long as she'd known him, and after so many painful years of listening to him ask her for relationship advice and seeing him with other girls, she was waking up next to him. And she refused to even think that this might just be a one night stand. She'd seen how he looked at her, and she'd felt how he'd held her, and it was far different from how she'd seen him with any other girl before. She clung to this moment of calm before she turned to her sleeping angel and decided that they needed to talk through this.

"Roxas, wakey wakey," She murmured, rocking his shoulder gently. He groaned incoherently and shoved his face into the pillow. She rolled her eyes and grabbed her own pillow and whacked his with it. That got him up.

"That was rude!" He exclaimed, sitting up and glaring playfully at her. She shrugged and sat up, pressing the pillow against her chest. He glanced down at the pillow pointedly for a moment, before taking it away. She gaped at him in frustration for a moment before he said, "You don't get to hide yourself. You're beautiful." She felt heat rush to her face and looked away.

There was a moment of silence before Naminé asked, "So…what was that last night? What's this? Is this just a one-time thing or are we together now?" She paused and then decided to add on, "Because I'll be okay if you just want to be friends. I mean I'm just glad I get to see you again and that we're still friends, and-"

"Naminé." Roxas said quietly, "Shut up and kiss me." She stared at him in shock for a moment before she hesitantly leaned in, and he swept her up into one of the best kisses she'd ever had before. She took full advantage of this moment, and drowned herself in his lips.

When they separated he took a moment to catch his breath before glancing at her sheepishly. He took a moment longer to mull over whatever it was that he wanted to say, and finally said, "Don't go. Don't try to just be my friend. I can't do that again. I don't want to try to walk some stupid line between friends and something more. I want you to be mine. I need you to be mine. Because I don't want to go through the past five years over again. I can't. I'll turn into something I don't want to be. I need you to pull me back from the edge. I need you to be there for me every night and every day for the rest of my life. Because I can't do this alone. I can't stop making shit decisions alone."

Naminé felt her eyes sting and her throat tighten. How long had she waited to hear that? How long had she yearned to know that he wanted her as much as she wanted him? She steadily looked him in the eye as she cupped his face in her hands and kissed him. And when they broke away from each other, she asked, "When are Sora and Kairi supposed to be here?" "Noon." He replied.

They did not leave their bed until 11:30.

Riku

Once, when Riku was only six or seven years old, he'd lost his mom during a fair on the beach with thousands of people in attendance. He'd wandered through the sea of taller people for nearly an hour, weeping and calling for his mom, until someone had picked him up and located his mother. That feeling of absolute terror and helplessness could not compare to what he felt like now, rocking back and forth in a waiting room chair between Aqua and Ventus. Terra was talking to the nurse behind the counter, signing papers.

He'd never thought that he could cry so much in one sitting. And no matter what Aqua or Ventus said or did, he could stop that horrifying panic from bubbling up through him every few minutes. Aqua reached over and gripped his hand hard in her own and stroked her thumb over his palm.

"Just wait a little bit more." She whispered, "Only a little longer and we'll get to see her." He nodded numbly, not bothering to correct her that they'd only get to see her if sh wasn't dead. How horrible would it be, if he'd gone through all of that strife and searching, just to watch her die? His heart beat increased even more as he imagined her body, pale an lifeless in a hospital bed. Because he'd been too slow. He could'nt live with that. He would not live with himself if Xion died.

It took hours. Hours, and eventually, the adrenaline that had sprinted through his veins faded out, leaving him exhausted and delirious. He'd blacked out in the waiting room chair, a awoke to Terra jostling his shoulder lightly,

"Get up, man. They're done with Xion. We can go see her, now." Riku was up, ignoring the bout of dizziness he felt from standing so quickly, and starting towards the door that lead into the hospital halls. Aqua caught him by the elbow, and forced him to sign in. The clock told him that it was eight in the morning the next day. How had he managed to sleep until then? Riku's palms shook as the nurse led Aqua, Terra, Ventus, and he through the hallway.

Good god. What would she look like? Furious? Empty? Heartbroken? His mind was still racing when they arrived at Xion's room. The nurse opened the door, and Riku let Aqua, Terra, and Ventus enter before him.

He'd expected confusion or anger or tears. But instead, he came to a girl, though bandaged sporadically and an IV protruding from her arm, sleeping. All of the tension, stress, and melancholy wiped from her face. Instead of harsh emotions, Riku found a girl, peacefully lulled into an escape from the horrors she faced. He saw the girl he fell in love with.

And so with a great sigh, he settled into one of the chairs next to Xion's bed, and looked over her until she woke up

It took a while before Xion woke up, but eventually her eyelids fluttered open, and focused of the light above her. After she'd properly awoken, her eyes flickered to Aqua, and after a moment to Terra, and then Ventus. Of course, eventually she turned to Riku, and her pupils dialated, worry lines worked their way onto her face.

"Hi." He whispered.

"Hi." She muttered back.

Xion looked around the room again, her brows furrowing in confusion, "Why are all of you here?"

Riku blinked at her, feeling his arms fold across his chest.

"For you, of course," exclaimed Aqua, "We had to make sure that you were okay, Xion."

Xion looked down at her hands folded in her lap and blinked furiously. "But I didn't even tell you my real name. You don't know me...and how did you find me?" She directed the last question to Riku. He shook his head and looked into her lovely blue eyes and explained,

"It wasn't easy. It's been a couple weeks now. I thought that you were in trouble. And while I was looking for you, Sora called me, said he was getting the old gang back together, and that I should find you by the month's end. He's getting us jobs, Xion. He's giving us a chance to be together again. And I think you should take the offer...I think you need help getting out of where you are now."

Riku felt his face warm as he thought of he and Xion together again. He'd searched for her, and to think that after all this time that she'd leave him to be on the street made him feel sick. Though he feared that she might. He watched her eyes overflow with silent tears and glance at Aqua, Ven, and Terra. "Could you guys give us a minute, please?" She asked them. They nodded and left the room without and protest. Aqua gave Riku an encouraging smile on the way out.

Once they had left, Riku crossed the room and gathered his friend up in a hug. Though careful as to not cause her pain, he held on as tightly as he could, fearing that he'd lose her. So when he let go of her, he told her, "Scoot over," and they shared the little hospital bed, his arm around her frail shoulders. "Do you want to tell me what's been going on?" He asked gently.

It took a moment for her to speak, but when she did, He let her take her time, laying out what the past five years had been like. She told him about her loneliness, and how she was too scared or self conscious to call anyone. She talked about how she waited for anyone to call her, and how nobody did. She told him about her self harm, and how terrible it had gotten recently. She told him about Luxord, about their relationship and about the drugs. She told him how she'd begun to sell it, and how it had changed her life into a nightmare. She talked about Xaldin. About Luxord's death. About how she'd never slept with a man because she loved him. How she'd slept from place to place after Luxord's death. And finally, how she met Ven.

By the end, Riku found that the both of them were sobbing. Weeping for each other and the time they'd wasted, not talking to the other. For Xion and her horrifying past. And for their future, because it stared them down and promised nothing. But at least they had a future. They had the possibility of a future, and because of that silver lining, Riku tightened his arm around her and held her to his chest while they conveyed with tears what couldn't be spoken through words.

Sora

Sora awoke the next morning to a hand draped over his chest and a sleeping Kairi next to him. Though convinced that he was not dreaming, he still blinked hard and stared at his sleeping angel in amazement. She'd certainly been worth the wait.

"Kairi...Baby, we need to get up." He whispered, kissing along her neck. The sleeping woman stirred, and snuggled deeper into the sheets. Sora smiled to himself, and suddenly flung the sheets off of her, causing her to curl up into a pale ball and shiver. Sora scolded himself once he's sufficiently looked her over longer than was appropriate. He shook her shoulders gently and murmured, "Come on, we need to clean up. We get to see Roxas and Naminé today. Let's go get in the bath."

The red head slowly rose, stretched, and glanced up at him with wide, sleepy eyes. Her hair was a tangled nest, her face flushed, and she had drool dried to one cheek. And Sora couldn't think of anything else he'd want to wake up to in the mornings. He stroked the side of her face and smiled, "We get to see our friends again today, Kai!" She smiled lazily back at him.

Such a beautiful soul. Sora gathered his lover in his arms and headed towards the bathroom. "Are you feeling alright?" He asked her, setting her down on the bathroom counter. She rubbed at her eyes, and nodded,

"Yes, I..." She stopped for a moment and blinked back a sudden rush of moisture from her eyes, "I've never felt so happy the morning after. I feel good." She swallowed hard, and whispered, "It's actually kinda scary." Sora nodded, he knew how she felt. He'd finally been with the woman of his dreams, and he didn't want that to go away. He knew no one else would make him feel so deeply again. But he also knew that so long as he was alive, he'd never be able to let her go. So with shaking hands, he lifted his hips to her's and ran his hands along her back as he told her,

"Kairi, I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you. And as scary as that is to say, I mean it. I really do, and believe me when I say that I'm never leaving you again. I want you with me for the rest of this miserable life of mine."

She wrapped her legs around his middle, a flush creeping across her face, and she kissed him softly. "I love you, too." She murmured. Sora pushed himself into her and let the beautiful woman in front of him consume him, and gave her his heart and soul, and prayed that she wouldn't break it.

But she'd done the same for him. And so he lost himself in her, lost track of the time and the feeling of the room, and the knowledge that he'd be reunited with his friends by the night, and felt nothing but her.