Yeah, this chapter is pretty long. Think of it as my awesome gift to you guys considering this is the one year anniversary of this story! Yay!

Anyway, there is romantic fluff in this chapter (surprising, I know). Don't let that fool you though. Things take a turn for the worst at the end. And . . . I'm going to stop talking now.

I shudder as Sora's voice breaks through the cracks. "I don't care if she hears. I just don't want her to see us," he says. His voice is muffled by the door but even I can still hear the dark promise behind the warning.

But like a fool I stand there dumbfounded as Riku speaks up, composed and cool as always. "Well, what is it?"

"Go ahead and let it out. You feel like hitting something, right? You have the freedom to do it."

Violence. He doesn't want me to see . . . "What?" I ask but they can't hear me. Of course they can't, my response was too quiet to even be considered a whisper.

"Do you want us to get kicked out? You think I would randomly destroy the property of people who took us in? Seriously, Sora?" Riku sounds so sarcastic right now. I almost want to smile, but that would be terribly inappropriate. This is a serious conversation.

Silence lasts for only a few seconds. "I wasn't talking about the furniture, Riku."

My eyes widen. Something he doesn't want me to see . . . "Oh, Sora." I cover my eyes even though I don't need to and walk down the hallway. I keep moving away from them, moving away from the boys I've known forever and the puppet master who nearly corrupted one of their hearts.

Don't Be a Gentleman: Mind over Physics

I wake up swaddled in a bundle of silk. The soft fabrics draw me in and I hug the blankets closer to myself. They act as a shield, creating a barrier between me and this cold, cold, cold world. Except it's false. I know that the shivers running down my spine would be just as prominent if I let myself out of the blanket's embrace. I guess it's the placebo effect; this action won't protect me from the biting cold, but doing it makes me feel like it will so I'm more comforted in this position versus standing beside the bed and allowing the free wind to hit me.

Right, the mind can be tricky. Like when you wake up from a dream, lost in it's wistful euphoria, basking in a few moments of bliss until you realize that what you went through was only an illusion.

Well . . . if what's happening to me currently a dream, I'm not sure if I want the illusion to break. In front of me, sensuous covered in a tangle of sheets, is Sora. The white sea of blankets stops at his waist and from there only his bare chest greets me. Tan skin framing built muscles. The color is natural and sun-kissed, it's like he hasn't left the beach. His toned arms are crossed over his stomach, his hands positioned in a childlike grip just above his elbows. It's an odd position to me (for sleeping anyway).

I let my eyes skim up his chest to his face. His eyes are closed and his mouth is in a line, neither a frown nor a smile. It's a peaceful expression though, and since I really haven't seen Sora asleep like this up close for a while I take the time to study his face more. It still has a boyish quality to it (particularly with the long eyelashes and pink lips), but it's somewhat more angular now. His nose is sharper and his jaw is little bigger. Not to mention his hair. Those luscious blond strands are sharper as well, the spikes more pronounced with the tips reaching his shoulders (he really should get a haircut soon. Plus, I miss the brown color). I almost didn't notice his eyebrows. Nothing too different with them, they're just a little bushy.

I feel guilty for staring at him like this, but you have to understand. I mean, when will I ever be able to do this? With all the crap we've been through the last time I even sat and talked with him (and I mean truly enjoy it, not the tension-spawned-devil-sidestep that was the conversation at his mother's house) on a casual basis was before Selphie's beach party. Frankly, that was eons ago.

I feel the difference now. Before Riku found us in the hallway we could barely speak to each other. It was incredibly awkward and frustrating, but all I could do was stare at the floor and avoid his questioning eyes. I flinched away from his reaching hands, his request for acknowledgement. Maybe it's because I hurt him, I mean physically hurt him. I still remember that jagged scar, three red lines across his face (I can still see them now, faint as they are). The horror Sora went through being possessed by the puppet master . . . god, I can't imagine going through anything close to that.

I shouldn't avoid speaking to him. That would just make things worse. But . . . at least until I know for sure that it's safe I'll try to keep my distance when it comes to our bodies.

Sheesh, I'm staring at him again . . . this is not going to be easy. But hey, I'm certain this is a dream. If it's not, then . . . well, I'm not going to be the paranoid stress-hog. Holding hands and hugs isn't too much to ask for, right?

Heh . . . I'm not making a good case for myself at all. Humph, you get the picture. Anyway, it's time for Sora to wake up. I have no idea how late it is but we should get started on that idea he was talking about yesterday (if this isn't a dream. Hmmm, I better test this out).

"Sora?" I hesitate to touch his chest (I'm not a fool. Staring at it is bad enough. Temptation isn't getting anything from me today) so I settle for placing my hand against his fingers and shoving. "Come on, we should get up."

Very slowly his arms unravel, now laying on his sides. His left eyebrow twitches slightly then he turns his head, opening up hard blue eyes. I find my voice clogging up in my throat. I swallow and try to shake away the nervousness, but I know it's still there, lingering. Ugh, I'll probably stutter if I start talking again. My cheeks feel pretty hot too, dang it.

He blinks before tilting his head slightly, looking me up and down in a similar way to how I was earlier. I shiver and cover up my chest even though I can still feel my clothes keeping me unexposed. His eyes follow my arms then he looks up at my face, smiling slowly. Great way to help me clear up my throat, sheesh. "Ah . . . so, we should get up now." I chuckle but my muscles make no move to get me out of the bed. The false sense of heat is one factor, the texture of the bed itself is another. It definitely has nothing to do with the love of my life being half naked in front of me. Yep.

Darn . . . even saying it in my head makes me want to choke on bile. What a ridiculous lie.

I didn't notice it before thanks to my blubbering substitute of a brain, but Sora is laughing at me now. Not hard obnoxious laughter, just these soft cute chuckles. Nice. "Okay, okay, enough of the teasing. Sheesh, you're usually a zombie in the morning." I smirk to hide my embarrassment. Hmmm, can I rule out the dream possibility yet? Probably not, time flows differently in dreams after all. I should wait a few more minutes.

I continue musing as Sora finally quiets down, muttering softly. "You seriously have the best facial expressions. It's really adorable."

I blush. "Ah . . . thanks, I guess?" I sit up. "But, we really should be getting up, Sora."

His smile widens and he stares straight at the ceiling, putting his hands behind his head. "Afraid I can't."

"What?" My voice comes out strained and I frown. Sheesh, you're already on a bed, Sora. Don't make it harder for me to resist yo-I mean, Yeah! I just want to start the day! Yeah, that's all I want to do. "Look, I know it's comfortable, but we should get to training. You know, like how you suggested yesterday." I start poking him in the sides, his one weakness that I know he can't fight.

Instead of submitting to a tickling fit and my powerful fingers like he's supposed to, Sora simply turns towards me. He smiles crookedly, eyes sparkling mischievously. "I can't because I'm not Sora." He completes the sentence while wiggling his eyebrows.

I feel the blush creeping back on full force as I gawk in the most unfeminine way possible. "Wha? Not Sora?!" I shake my head briefly then tilt my head, narrowing my eyes. "Wait, if you're not Sora . . . if you're not him then you're . . . you're . . . "

He just stares at me, one eyebrow raised. I watch the muscles in his arms flex briefly with tension and that's when I realize that if I mess up his name he's going to be offended. Crap. "Uh . . . Roxas?" I smile timidly.

His body instantly relaxes and he returns the smile. "Yep."

Wow . . . um, awkward much? "I see . . . so, is Sora letting you be in control? Or maybe it's a onetime thing, or perhaps you're just . . . um . . . " I purse my lips and decide to keep my mouth shut. Anything else would have been random nonsense. I'm horrible at thinking on the dot when I'm flustered (you know, if you didn't catch that by now).

He smirks at me. "Nah, he didn't give me control. Sometimes I'm more aware when he's sleeping. This is actually new for me. Probably a side effect of being in this world." He frowns slightly, face aging somewhat. "It's probably the only reason I've been able to communicate with him."

"Oh, I see." Well, not really. My fusion with Namine had been relatively easy concerning our personalities and whatnot. I've never heard her voice since then. She's just . . . been a part of me. Cliche way to phrase it, but I've never really seen her as a separate person, but it's not like I'm telling him all that. "So, when Sora wakes up I'll see him. Right?"

"Yep. But . . . he's going to be asleep for a while." The crooked smile returns and he stares at me more intently. "I have an idea to wake him up, if you're interested." He brings a hand up, gesturing towards himself with his index finger.

His smile just screams trouble. I bet this will annoy Sora more than anything else. But . . . well, I don't want to wait for Sora to wake up. Not that I don't like Roxas but . . . ergh, you know what, I'm not explaining myself here.

I scoot closer to him, raising a single eyebrow. He rolls his eyes then shifts onto his side, using his right hand to pull me closer by the waist. I gasp loudly as his hand reaches under my shirt, skimming over the trail of bumps I feel forming on my back. "R-Roxas?"

"Sheesh, relax. I'm not going to do anything." He lifts his hands to my shoulders, pushing me closer, nose pressed against my cheek. His other hand bends my head forward, which allows him to whisper something into my ear. I shudder and stare at his exposed chest (it so doesn't help that this is Sora's body) while my mind still tries to hold onto the improbable idea of this all being a dream. It's a futile desire, but I can't help wishing for it.

As I calm down I finally hear what he's actually telling me to do. When he's done I push him and get as far away as the bed will let me. "No! I can't do that!" I say indignantly. My cheeks are literally on fire, ugh! I cross my arms and glare at the wall.

His laughter sends shivers down my spine. When is the last time I've actually heard Sora laugh like that? "It would be fun. Plus, it would wake him up for sure. I guarantee it."

I mumble. "He would be pissed."

"Seriously? No, he wouldn't. Actually, he would love it." I hear the sound of sheets rustling and try not to flinch as he touches my side. "It's okay, Kairi. He'll know it was my idea the moment he wakes up. He won't blame you. I promise."

Ugh, am I that desperate? "I don't know. It's sort of dangerous." I turn to face him and instantly know it's a mistake the moment I do it. His face is so close now, I could kiss him.

His smile is soft, not mocking. "No, it's not. You know inside that you want it, Kairi." He shrugs. "And he wants it too. So, go for it."

I sigh. "Well . . . if you're sure it will wake him . . . "

The smirk returns. "It will."

Yeah . . . I'm going to regret this. "It's wrong."

"Relax. See? I'll just stay still and not move. That way, you'll know when it's him." He obediently closes his eyes, long eyelashes pressed against contrasting skin. His entire body falls limp in the position. Man, he's good. Would've fooled me into thinking he was asleep, sheesh . . .

I take in a deep breath then get in as close as I can, leaning in enough so that I can whisper into his ear. "Sora . . . hey, it's me." Crap, I think I'm going to mess up. This is so embarrassing. "Sora . . . please . . . " I try to make my voice sound softer and I close my eyes. "I want you."

I slowly let my hands travel up his back. It's really smooth, like baby skin. I kiss behind his ear, sucking a little, then I move my mouth down to his jaw line and keep kissing down towards his neck. His body shakes a little but that might have been me. A strong tingling sensation feels up my stomach and I do the best I can to ignore it while kissing up his collar bone.

I let my hands enter his hair, fingers nudging and pulling. I see his eyelids flicker slightly but he doesn't open them and his hands haven't moved from my side yet. Ugh, what if this isn't working?

I fight through the emotion and press my lips against his soft pink ones. I kiss him a few times but he still hasn't responded yet. Hmmm . . . this is getting harder . . . plus my hips have other ideas.

"Sora . . . please . . . " It feels like I'm whining now, but that's how Roxas told me to say it. I go back to kissing his mouth. It's a little weird since he isn't doing anything, guess I should make it a little rougher then.

I move my right hand behind his head so that I can angle him properly. My body is completely pressed against him now. His limp arm is against my side, which shows how he still hasn't moved since I'm the one to erase the distance between us. I suck in a deep breath before licking across his upper lip.

The reaction is instantaneous. I gasp as his hands flash into motion, pushing me against the soft cushions. His hip grinds against mine briefly before he positions himself over me, knees pressed against my thighs, opening my legs up. His fingers shift from digging into my shoulders to running down my arms, leaving endless rows of goosebumps. I don't even get a chance to moan because then he attacks my mouth with his own lips and my voice is completely muffled.

Um . . . I guess that means he's awake.

I refocus my attention on him, trying not to lose myself as he pushes his tongue into my mouth. His kissing is really rough and passionate. It takes seconds and I'm already seeing stars behind my eyelids. Heat flares up at his touch. Each of his fingers leaves an individual trail of fire and that's when I know that my body is actually getting hotter. A combination of that and shivers melt me internally when his hand glides swiftly past my butt, feeling up my thigh and down my leg.

I gasp and he sucks all that air into his mouth, groaning briefly before gripping my hair at the back of my head with his free hand. All I can taste is him, just hot breath and sweet lips exploring me fully. It's completely overwhelming, but when he finally pulls away to breathe I'm able to regain some cognition as I receive that beautiful, natural gift known as oxygen.

"Sora . . . " Ugh, that sounded like a moan. My body is literally throbbing with desire. I need to hurry up and snap him out of this before we do something we both regret. "Hey . . . come on . . . get off of me . . . "

His answer is to reclaim my lips. I shudder and moan, moving my hands up. I shove at his shoulders but he isn't budging. I then move my hands to his hair, pulling hard. This seems to do the opposite of what I want. His kissing is more insistent, needy. I vaguely feel one of his hands reaching under my shirt. My eyes widen and then I quickly scratch his face (lightly, mind you) in the same spot where his faint scar lingers.

I finally see wide, glazed blue eyes stare back at he before he pulls back sharply, sitting right on my waist. I grunt at the pressure, I can't move my hips at all. I feel the blush painting my cheeks and I quickly shake my head, clearing my throat loudly.

When I look back at his face it screams of shock and confusion. "Wow . . . that wasn't very nice . . . " He bottom lip trembles as I watch him touch his cheek. The vulnerable look quickly disappears leaving him looking annoyed. "What the heck, Kairi!"

I grunt, trying to twist my heated hips. "You didn't hear me so . . . uh, yeah." I grin sheepishly at him.

Sora's eyebrows turn down and he frowns. "Didn't hear . . . but you said you wanted me and . . . hmm, you were also talking about ice cream . . . "

"Ice cream?" I try my hardest not to laugh, I swear. A giggle or two pops out anyway. "What?"

His eyes widen. "Wait a minute . . . wait a minute!" His eyes get as wide as possible and suddenly he starts stuttering. "You were . . . he told you . . . and then you . . . crap!" He looks down at his own bare chest and where he's sitting. "Crap! What am I doing?!"

"Well, you're currently sitting on my . . . sensitive areas." My smile is shy now. "So . . . you know, if you could . . . "

All of a sudden his face pales and he instantly moves away from me. "Oh man! Did I crush you! I didn't break anything, did I? Ah crap!" He looks back and forth between my legs and his chest, then his head keeps moving everywhere but my face. "Uh . . . we're actually in a bed . . . this isn't happening." Sora starts chuckling like an erratic dolphin and then the chuckles turn into harsh sounding coughs.

Man . . . he's really nervous. It's been so long since I've seen him like this. Awwww. "Sora," I giggle. "It's okay."

He blinks at me about five time then points directly at my face. "This . . . this is your fault!"

"What?! I didn't want to do it. Really." I hold my hands up in surrender.

"Oh . . . then this is his fault!" Sora's face gets redder with tinges of purple. Dang, he's starting to look ticked.

I knew this would happen. "Well, maybe we're all partly to blame for this." I shrug, moving my legs to the floor and stand up, stretching. "No harm done."

I hear the sound of rustling sheets before Sora's disgruntled stomping approaches me. "For everyone but me. Ugh! Quit laughing!"

I cover my mouth to stifle any escaping giggles. "I'm not."

"Not you! Him!" I hear the stomping again before Sora let's out a long sigh. "Damn moron . . . "

I clap. "I think I'm going to change now."

"Yes!" I turn around and see Sora pointing at me (he does that a lot when he's nervous). "I will leave and you will change! I will not peak!"

I raise an eyebrow. "What even gave you the idea of peaking." I smirk. "Perverted much?"

The look Sora gives me is hard to describe. It's like he's concentrating hard enough to burn a hole somewhere with his eyes. "I'm not a pervert! Roxas was just saying-you know what? Forget him!" He throws his hands up into his hair and groans the entire way to the door and quickly leaves before slamming the door shut.

I shake my head and cover my eyes, finally allowing those captured giggles to embrace the air. Oh Sora . . .

When I finish changing and meet Sora in the café section of the complex his face is still red and a frown messes up his features. Sheesh, is Roxas still teasing him about this morning? I'll admit, that's harsh. Riku would have stopped after a few hours . . .

Riku . . . "Hey there, cutie." I grin at him, trying to implement as much sincerity and understanding into my tone and body language. "Come on, Sora. Smile for me."

Sora grunts and looks away from me, face now in competition with a tomato for color. "We're not supposed to smile here anyhow."

"Right." I sigh. "You should still relax. You're going to train me later, remember?"

Sora stares me straight in the face, looks me up and down, then tilts his head and narrows his eyes. "Eh . . . I don't know . . . "

I let my mouth drop open in shock. "Seriously? Your idea, hello?"

"I know, I know . . . and now I'm rethinking it. Remember the last time we fought?" He looks pained.

"I thought we were past that. You're not possessed. You can't use that argument."

Sora mutters something under his breath.

"What was that?" I cross my arms.

"Nothing." He rubs his eyes. "It's . . . going to be a little hard for me. That's all."

"It's not hard for you to train with Riku."

"Riku isn't a girl."

"Did I hear you right? You're pulling the girl card on me?" Okay, that hurt. "Take that back."

"No! That's not what I meant! Ugh . . . just . . . give me a minute . . . "

I sigh and lean completely into my chair, biting my bottom lip. I hate fighting with him in general, but in this place it feels even worse. It doesn't help that Riku up and left yesterday.

I guess I should explain a little. After Sora and Riku decided they were going to be all macho and beat each other up (classic) I decided to give them their privacy. They didn't care about me hearing, but that doesn't mean cruel things weren't said. All I know is that when Sora walked back toward me he had a . . . composed expression. Most of the time when he wins an argument he starts whistling randomly (like I won't notice he's still upset about it).

"You okay?" I asked him, holding back the selfish part of me that wanted to pry.

Sora shrugged. "Yeah. It was what you'd normally expect. Yelling, Riku being a moron, yelling some more . . . " He scratches his own blonde hair up into anxious knots. "And I kissed him too."

I blinked. "Well . . . that's, um, quite an odd thing to do." That was all I could think of saying. I wasn't really shocked, but . . . yeah.

"Yep."

"Huh . . . well It's only fair since I kissed him too, so . . . yeah, I don't know what to say here." I coughed.

"I didn't kiss him to get back at you for that. I forgave you for that a long time ago." Sora waved his hands in a nonchalant gesture, as if it were offensive of me to even consider him capable of doing something that petty.

"Right." I rubbed my own chin, staring at directly into his eyes. "I'm surprised you told me anything at all."

"Well unlike some people I'm going to start telling the truth." There's a bitter edge to his voice that only comes from a talk with Riku. "I'm through lying. From now on I'm just going to say what I feel otherwise people will keep assuming things." He nods quickly to himself. "So get used to hearing stuff like that."

"What? How many people did you kiss besides us?" I chuckled to hide the nervous energy that I was feeling. It's not like we officially got back together, but I couldn't stop the underlining pangs of jealousy from springing up in my chest.

"No one!" Sora growled at me. "Why do you always have to twist everything like that?"

"Cause you make it easy."

"Well, that was so not what I meant, Kairi."

"Right."

Sora slapped himself in the face. "You guys drive me crazy."

I patted him on the back with a grin. "That's our job. But you know Riku is a . . . sensitive person so you know he's going to take some time to cool off. After all, you forced him to assault you."

Sora held his head up. "He gets one hour and that's me being generous." He crossed his arms. "And then I'm interrogating him."

"Didn't you just do that?"

"No. I gave him a chance to release some gas. Please, you know he's still hiding something."

"Well, he's Riku. I don't think he'll be taking the honesty pledge anytime soon." I smiled sympathetically. "Sora, you know him. That's just what he does. He thinks he's protecting us."

"Yeah, but he's really being stupid."

"How about you let me talk to him this time."

"What? You think I can't get the information myself?" Sora narrowed his eyes at me.

"No, I know you can." I slowly raised my hands up. "I just think he needs a gentle approach this time. You're probably going to give him a heart attack with your techniques."

Sora rolled his eyes. "My techniques are far from dangerous. He'll survive . . . and your attempt at humor wasn't appreciated."

"I wasn't joking. He's sensitive Sora." I poke him in the side and he instantly jumps away from me.

"Whatever. I'm still going in with you."

"That would ruin the whole point of me talking to him. You'd just make him nervous."

"No, I would provide my presence so that Riku doesn't get any funny ideas. Like lying to you." He leaned against the wall in a forcibly casual position. Then he slowly raised two fingers, gesturing between our faces. "See?"

"Yeah . . . he'll be freaking out on the inside and coughing repeatedly in front of us. That won't work, Sora." I smirked at him.

"You're going to keep doing this until I agree to do it your way, huh?"

"See? You know me well." I grinned widely. "Still want to argue or would you like to let out some steam yourself? Your face is just this perfect hue of pink right now." I winked at him. Whatever awkward transition we went through earlier, it seemed like we were returning to normal at this point. Well, we were speaking more freely at least. That counted for something.

"Yeah . . . don't talk to him until I get back. You have to let me eavesdrop at least." He sighed and walked away in a dogged manner. No matter how confident Sora is after a fight he walks like he's endured a train trampling over his body. No one hates confrontations more than Sora.

I waited until he turned the corner before heading back to Riku's door. Another thing I know from years of experience is that when Sora fully uses his powers of persuasion he can hit hard. An argument is draining no matter what way you come at it, but Sora gets . . . emotional. When people attack you with sincerity it can take a toll. I was prepared to cut Riku some slack.

So when he left the room, face as transparent as death, I immediately started with a ice breaker. "You okay, Riku?" I smiled, not too wide, just a soft friendly pull of the lips.

The I've-just-been-torn-by-a-demented-shredder expression instantly disappeared and he shrugged. "Alright I guess."

"Did you actually hit him?" I stared at his hands.

"Yeah . . . sorry."

"You don't need to apologize to me. I mean he asked you, right?"

He laughed but there was no humor apparent in his eyes. "It was an order."

"Well, you didn't have to obey him."

"I didn't obey him. I just didn't want us to get kicked out."

"Right. Well, there was something I wanted to say." I took another step towards him and he took one back, eyes grim and dull.

"Please, Kairi, not now . . . "

"Well, how much time are you going to need?" I rubbed my right elbow absently. "I'm trying to make this easier for you, Riku. You know Sora isn't finished yet. How about you tell me everything else you're hiding so that I can confront Sora about it for you. You'll get more of a break that way." I smiled sympathetically. "Otherwise, prepare to be chewed out in an hour."

Riku smirked. "Nah, I'll settle with you. I'm going to go get a drink though first."

That was a sign. Riku rarely ever drinks directly after a fight with Sora, but I dismissed it. Plus, the tortured look was coming back and I knew if I tried to pry it would be the same thing as pulling teeth. "Right. You do that."

"Thanks, Kairi. I promise that I'll explain everything."

"I know you will."

Yeah . . . Riku did explain everything (in letter form to be precise). Sora was furious with me when he found out about what happened. I tried to calm him down, but he ignored me and refused to talk for about thirty minutes (trust me, that's a long time for him). After the silent treatment Sora kept trying to leave, saying he was going to drag Riku back by the shins, but I encouraged him not to do so. We had no idea where Riku was. Going after him would just get us lost and then Riku would have left in vain. It took hours but eventually Sora caved in. We were both depressed for the rest of the day and we crashed with our new clothes on.

Well, I did. "Kairi, do you mind if I take my shirt off? I won't be able to fall asleep otherwise," He said with a sigh.

That really was the truth. He couldn't. Riku and I proved that about fifteen times back before the fiasco with the heartless (and that only resulted in us all staying up). "Yeah. I don't mind."

And . . . that's how we ended up falling asleep on the same bed, which we had to share cause it was the only room Aqua let us use (Sora was actually willing to sleep on the floor, but I wouldn't let him). And now Sora is staring at me with an odd expression.

"What?" I ask while shrugging.

"You've been ignoring me for the past five minutes. You okay?"

"Yeah . . . just thinking about yesterday."

"Ah . . . about Riku?"

"Yeah," I mumble.

"Well, try to push him out of your head today. I'm not going to let him ruin our focus. Unless you want to imagine hitting him while we spar, then that's fine."

"Oh, so you will train me then?"

Sora gives me his classic stop-arguing-with-me look. "Yes," he says flatly. "Nothing but broken bones and busted egos."

"Perfect," I giggle.

"Yep. Peachy."

"Of course."

We let the silence speak for us and smile cordially at each other. I'm not really sure how this will work, especially with how antsy Sora has been in concerns to touching me (can't say that I blame him). Today we'll be focusing on simple combat swings though. Riku said that he would be gone for a few days (off to see some random King. His letter really didn't make much sense, but we're trying not to think about it. It's bad enough that he's traveling with "Sora's double," as he refers to our esteemed killer).

I don't contemplate over it too long because Terra is walking towards us, carrying a tray with sweets. "Hey, how you guys doing?" He smiles softly at us.

Sora's eyes widen. "English! You're speaking English now!"

I smirk and give Terra a less dramatic response. "We're good. Nice to understand you."

"Oh, don't thank me. This is all Aqua's doing." There's a break in his friendly expression and his eyes darken considerably. But then he closes his eyes, hiding whatever emotion that was struggling to surface. "Thought you guys would be hungry."

Sora smile widens. "You have no idea. I'm starving."

I nod once.

"Alright." Terra sets a decent sized chocolate cake in front of Sora and gives me a bowl overflowing with chocolate ice cream. Well, I'm assuming these are chocolate. They're dark black in color so what other flavor could it be? "Enjoy."

Sora is desperately trying to hide the longing on his face but I know the only thing keeping him from stuffing his face right now is because I've nagged him repeatedly about his table manners. "Ah . . . you serious?" He smiles slowly at Terra before pointing at the cake.

Hmmm, Sora and sweets do not make for a happy combination (for me anyway). "Yeah, this seems a little . . . odd for breakfast food." I want to say "unhealthy" but I'm trying to be polite.

Terra laughs at us. "Yeah, I know they look like sweets. They'll taste like them too, but they're actually supposed to help you guys suppress your light."

"So, I can eat this whole thing?" Sora's eyes are lighting up. Dang, he's going to get really hyper from this.

"Actually, maybe we shouldn't." I glare at Sora. "You know, we have important stuff to do later."

"Kairi, I can not train anyone on an empty stomach." He quickly stabs his fork into the cake, putting a sizable chunk into his mouth. The face he makes is priceless. It's cross between a look of adoration and disgust. He coughs and swallows fast before staring warily at Terra. "Wow . . . um, this is not like any cake I've ever tasted."

Terra smirks. "You don't like dark chocolate?"

Sora wrinkles his nose. "If it's chocolate . . . it's very bitter."

"That's what chocolate is supposed to taste like."

"So, no sugar then?" I actually may be safe after all.

"Oh no, there's boatloads of sugar." Terra chuckles. "We have to mask the darkness in the food. That's as rich as you're going to get . . . unless you want to kill yourself on a sugar high."

Sora opens his mouth, probably to suggest something outrageous like adding more cream, but I beat him to it. "No, we're good. Thanks."

Terra nods once then walks back into the kitchen. Sora pouts but then goes back to eating. "Sheesh, Kairi, I only wanted to put some whipped cream on this."

"It already has frosting." I shake my head, taking a bite of my ice cream. Huh, it is vaguely bitter, but not overpowering. "Forget Riku, you're going to give yourself a heart attack."

"Could we get a little less obsessed with heart jokes please?" Sora winces before swallowing down another piece of cake. "I can't tell if you're doing that to be mean or if you genuinely want to make me laugh."

"Probably both."

"Huh . . . you know, this reminds me of my dream actually."

I raise an eyebrow, swallowing. "Really? What happened?"

Sora gives me a pointed look. "You just want to laugh at me."

"No, I won't! Come on, please tell me!" I smile sweetly.

"No. You always laugh."

I pout. "Only cause of the way you tell it." I sulk and stuff my mouth with a big spoonful of bitter sweetness.

Sora blinks, staring at my mouth. "Well, I guess I can tell it."

"Can you keep it at ten minutes?"

He frowns. "Yes."

"Okay, spill."

"So then!" Sora dramatically places his foot on the chair. He's currently standing in his "hero" pose. "I slayed the dragon with a machete!"

Yeah, sorry if the gap annoyed you. Be happy that I'm skipping here. All you missed was about forty minutes of Sora reminiscing about food in his dream. He wasn't kidding when he said he was hungry earlier. "Right, so that means you beat Riku in the challenge." Strangely, even though I haven't been eating my ice cream, it hasn't melted.

Sora nods eagerly, smirking. "Yep! Which means I got to be in charge of the banquet! So, there was like this football table-"

"Football?"

"Yes! It's what they called it. Kairi that thing was huge! It had everything on there! Cheeseburgers, hot dogs, anchovy pizza, spinach pizza, sausage pizza, hot sauce, chicken, spaghetti with meatballs, and-"

"Okay, I get it." I force myself to smile. "Can we skip past the food please?"

"It's a very important part of the story, Kairi. You see, Riku was mad about me slaying the dragon so he challenged me to an eating contest." Sora's smile was getting wider and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Let me guess, you beat him?" This part of the dream is realistic, actually.

"Yes! Then you, as the princess, wanted to challenge me too! So we went to a completely different table!"

"Right. So what was that table called?"

Sora rolls his eyes. "It didn't have a name. Anyway, that one was full of sweets. So, we had a sundae eating contest."

"Ah! We're getting to the part where the ice cream comes in." I giggle.

Sora blushes. "Yeah, you actually beat me in the contest. Impossible, really, but I was too happy to care. Then you started eating my ice cream." He smirks. "But I totally got it back!"

"How did you get it back if it was in my stomach?" Oh man, I bet this is where the dream gets gross. They always do when it comes to food.

Sora shakes his head. "No, it was still in your mouth. I just kissed you for it."

"You ate the ice cream from inside my mouth?"

"Yes. What? It was good ice cream!"

"That's weird." I chuckle and look away.

"Of course it's weird to you because you don't have a good appreciation of the king of dairy. Case in point." He stares at my 3/4 filled bowl.

"You didn't finish your cake."

"We're talking about ice cream, Kairi." He smirks. "Anyway, we danced together for a while then you left to go in your room. You said you wanted to change but I knew you were lying, Kairi."

"Yeah, I do that sometimes."

"Right. So then, I opened the door and caught you eating my pie!" He points a finger accusingly in my direction. "You rotten thief!"

"Wait a minute, since when did you have a pie?"

"You wanted me to skip the other food parts, sheesh. As I was saying," Sora started making shapes with his hands. "Picture me standing there watching you eat that perfect, gut exploding berry pie made by the queen herself and you were using your little dainty fingers and stuffing your face. Imagine it."

"I am. That's pretty gross." I eat my ice cream sheepishly. He's staring at me like I really did wrong him over this imaginary pie.

"And then you started making these weird moaning sounds. It was totally a low blow. You knew I was watching you and you just stood there, showing off in my face, enjoying my pie. Ooh . . . I better stop talking about it. I'm actually getting angry now."

"You are. Your face is red." I smirk. "I wouldn't be that mean."

"Yeah . . . well, that's the end." Sora coughs, suddenly fully intent on finishing his cake.

Heh, liar. "No it isn't. Something else happened." I grin fully. "Come on, where's that honesty you were talking about earlier?"

"Nothing much happened after that." He fills up his mouth to the point where I know I won't be able to understand him if he talks.

So, being the awesome person I am, I wait until he swallows to attack. "Come on, you forced me to listen to your favorite parts. At least give me something to tease you about."

"Ugh, fine." He lets his eyes wander, still not staring me directly in the face. "We . . . kissed."

"Hmmhmm, and?"

"Uh . . . you were staining my suit with your berry-stealing hands so . . . yeah, I took everything off except for my dress pants . . . can I stop now?"

"It has to be enough for me to legitimately use it for blackmail. You know the rules. Continue."

"Ah . . . so, um, I pushed you into the bed . . . and, uh, you were moaning again . . . um . . . and then you slapped me and I woke up."

"Scratched. Wait, so I wasn't talking about ice cream?"

Sora's eyes pop and he points. "Oh yeah! You were making ice cream come out of your boobs!"

"Okay, too much! I'm done!" I instantly cover up my chest and glare at him as he starts laughing wildly. "Sora, I told you if anything comes out where it's not supposed to come out you stop! Did you forget the storytelling rules?"

Sora smiles sheepishly. "You asked. Besides, that's nothing compared to what Riku did."

"I do not want to know!" I growl at him. "Shut up and eat your damn cake."

"Aw, don't be mean, Kai." He pushes a piece into his mouth with a sad expression, completing the trick with Bambi eyes. "I have feelings."

"You also went past the time limit. Quit being a crybaby." I sigh at my bowl. "I still have a lot to eat."

"Me too. Say, can we switch?"

"No."

"Please? I want to taste yours."

"Keep your eyes on your own prize."

"What? That doesn't make any sense. I didn't win anything." Sora picks at the edges of his cake with his fork. "I don't even like chocolate that much."

"Right. You're killing me here." I take a bite of my ice cream and moan softly. "Just pretend it's something else. You're good at that."

Sora mutters and stares at my food. "That wasn't nice, Kairi."

"What?"

"That sound you made."

"You are too obsessed with food, you know that?"

"Did you have to moan like that?"

"What do you want from me? It's good!" I smirk.

"That so?" He slowly walks towards me, stuffing his hands in his pockets and leans his head down. "Can I just have one small bite?"

"Hmmm, you're getting a little too close there." I make a show out of moving my bowl away before taking another bite for kicks.

His hands push my shoulders into the seat and I freeze up as he quickly smashes his mouth against mine. He easily gets his tongue past my lips, swirling the ice cream in my mouth. I shake and remain completely still as he keeps kissing me and his taste mixes in with the ice cream.

After a few seconds he pulls away, licking his own lips. He tilts his head and nods once. "Yeah, I like yours better."

I slap him on the arm. "You are the rudest person I ever met!"

"It would have been easier if you had just let me have a bite. Hmmm, yours is definitely sweeter . . . or maybe it's just you."

"You know what, that's it." I stand up and cross my arms. "Give me some of that cake. I think you're just messing with me."

"Sure, get yourself some."

"No, put it in your mouth and I'll get it that way."

"It doesn't work that way with solid food, Kai." He says, chuckling nervously.

"Uh huh. I'm still trying it. Come on, you have to do it."

"Argh . . . this is so weird . . . "

"Shut up. This is your idea."

"Yeah, yeah . . . "

"I'm waiting."

"Impatient much?" He gets a small amount on his fork then turns towards me, slowly putting the cake in his mouth and sliding out the fork in a way that makes a snail look fast.

I roll my eyes then kiss him quickly, trying to do it fast. He's right, it is different with solid food. But I couldn't deny that I . . . liked it. Only a little bit though.

There is a sharper taste to the cake overall, but mixed in Sora's mouth it's tamer. The bitter aftertaste surprises me a little and I gasp before pulling away, wiping crumbs from my mouth. "Huh . . . well, it's different."

"Yeah." Sora stares at me but it's like he's looking through me. Like he's thinking hard about something.

I place my hands on my hips and purse my lips. "You know what? We can switch. I like the cake better."

"Really? Yes!"

"You don't have to look so happy about it."

"Doesn't matter. I won! Heck yeah!" He quickly gets in what was previously my seat and fills his mouth up. When he catches me staring he smiles, but from his eyes I can see that he's still concentrating on something else. An internal conversation maybe?

I shrug and smile back before I sit down and dig into his cake.

"You sure it's okay for us to train in here?" I look around at the lavish ballroom, eyes catching all the exquisite details in the construction and the tiled, checkered pattern on the floor. "It's very formal."

"Yeah, Aqua and I developed this room solely for that purpose. It looks fancy but that's just a cover up for when customers want to use this room. Plus, this area is sound proof." Terra smirks. "Trust me, you're not going to want anyone to hear what you're doing."

Sora just shrugs and walks into the center of the room, staring at the murals on the ceiling. I take this chance and turn towards Terra. "Is Aqua okay?"

Terra winces but he's still smiling. "Excuse me?"

"You seem a little down. Did something happen?" I smile reassuringly.

Terra lets his smile drop and closes his eyes. "Nothing happened. She's . . . you know, protecting the atmosphere of this place. She's . . . resorted to using other methods to hide your light."

"Oh. Is . . . she okay?"

"She will be." Terra smiles again but it's strained. "You don't need to worry about that though. She wouldn't want it." Before I can question him further he leaves the room, shutting the door quietly.

"Huh . . . I guess I pushed too hard," I mutter.

"Yeah, you tend to do that." Sora grins next to me and I scowl at him. "What?"

"You know, Sora, I'm starting to get sick of this honesty pledge." I smirk and push him before standing a few feet away. "Okay. Where do we start?"

"Ahem, alright. We should probably get our arms warmed up before we do any major swinging." He starts cracking his knuckles.

Why do all guys feel the need to do that? "Right."

"Yep. So drop and give me twenty."

"Pardon?"

"Push ups, Kairi."

"Yeah, I know what they are. Isn't that going to waste the strength I-"

"Who is the teacher here?" He grunts and starts doing them and I just watch him. When he notices that I'm not he makes an exasperated sound. "Come on, Kairi."

I sigh and get onto the floor. "Sorry, I just don't understand why we're starting with this."

"You're not going to make this easy for me, are you?"

"Nah. It's more fun this way. You know it." I groan through a push up. "You did this first just to piss me off, huh?"

"Less talking, more pushing of the arms, please." He snickers and suddenly I feel a force pressing against my back.

"What the heck? Get your dirty feet off of me!"

He laughs. "Awww, can't handle it?"

"You . . . are . . . annoying . . . " It's all I can manage to say before collapsing onto the floor under his weight.

He chuckles and moves his leg to my side, pushing. "Not bad actually. You lasted a good ten seconds."

"Ugh . . . " I turn over onto my back, glaring at him. "Can we get to the swinging?"

"In time, in time. First, I have to establish a few rules." He lifts an eyebrow. "Care to listen?"

"Depends whether or not this will bore me to death."

"Nice. Anyway, I'm going to have a few code names for some of the moves. Particularly, the upward swings." A white light flashes, blinding me momentarily. I flinch and bring my hand up, blinking repeatedly before my sight becomes stable, white dots flashing in my peripheral vision as his Keyblade surfaces. Sora makes a grunting sound. "Ergh, that actually hurt."

I rub my eyes then summon my own Keyblade. I quickly see what Sora was referring to. The blade burns throughout my arm before appearing in an explosion of hurtful light. I shiver briefly before gripping my weapon tightly, working out the tension in my muscles. "Must be a side effect of this place."

Sora clears his throat. "Yeah . . . anyway, ahem, this is the start position." He goes into a simple stance, holding his Keyblade vertically in front of him. "We'll just call this move the C-Block." He brings his arms up in an arc, elbow sticking out across from his ear while his Keyblade shines, light reflecting off of it while it's in a sideways position. "See? Now you do that."

I copy his motions, trying to get into the same position. Sora frowns. "No, almost but," He tilts his head then walks over towards me, positioning my arms. "Most of the force is going to come in through your wrist if you keep it tense like that. You want the Keyblade to take the brunt of the hit, and you want to be able to hold the attack off without shaking. Got that?"

I nod, trying to avoid shuddering just from the way he grips my arms. "Yeah."

"Okay. Now keep that position." Sora holds his Keyblade out then he slams it roughly against mine. Sparks shatter off the blades and I blink repeatedly from the light it sends off. I shake my head quickly, breathing steadily as he pushes against me more, trying to break my block. I stare into his eyes and hold my ground. Something passes between our eyes that I don't fully understand. All I know is that as I lose myself in how blue his are my legs slowly disintegrate into the consistency of pudding. I'm going to fall, I can literally feel my bones quivering.

Sora's eyes soften a little before he steps back, lowering his blade. "Good," he says, voice husky and he coughs.

"You're not holding back are you?" I smirk and start flipping the Keyblade in my hand.

He smiles crookedly. "Please, all you can do is block." He crosses his arms. "Hmmm, okay. Since you're sort of already doing it we'll practice some windmill spins."

"Windmill . . . awesome code name."

"Shut it." He spins the Keyblade in his hand and keeps moving it in circular patterns, switching hands every few intervals. "This is more of a warm up really. It only helps when it comes to blocking dark firaga attacks . . . of course, you have to spin it faster in order to fully do that."

"Right." Sheesh, his hands are moving so fast I can barely catch them. "Um, I think that's a little too advanced for me."

"Kairi, you're really killing me here. You've been contradicting all day. You wanted hard, so I'm going hard on you." He blinks and flips the Keyblade into the air. I watch it fly before he effortlessly catches it and flips it into circles again.

Show off. "Okay, I'll try."

"Of course. As the sang goes . . . " He leaves his sentence unfinished and smiles at me.

I smile back and get into position.

"Kairi, what are you doing?!"

"Exactly what you said!"

"What kind of pose is that?" Sora is looking at me like I willingly asked him to shove three worms down my throat. "It's completely wrong. Just . . . I don't even know what to tell you right now."

It's hard to pinpoint when things changed, but at this moment I can't look at his face without scowling. We've been training for hours now and so far, according to Sora, I've excelled at defense. When we got to offense . . . well, that's when things fell apart.

Sora sighs. "I told you to do the B-Formation powerhouse kick. You did some weird little foot sweep and now I don't even know what that is!" He gestures vaguely at my entire body, agitation present in every syllable.

"This is the V-Strike pose. What else?" If the names are confusing you don't blame yourself. I've had to deal with about a dozen and they're a lot less relatable and more complex than the C-Block. It's irritating, this whole process has been unnecessarily complicated.

Sora scoffs. "Seems more like a get-my-ass-kicked pose to me. You're completely open."

I take in a deep breath, instilling a calm tone. "Then why don't you show me, Sora," I say flatly.

He glares while standing with his legs apart, holding up the Keyblade sideways from the right side as if he were going to bring it down into an x-shaped attack. "Do you get it now?" He asks.

"Yes! Sheesh, I was doing that!" I growl and throw my Keyblade to the ground. "Ugh!"

"You know what?" Sora slams his Keyblade down in a similar fashion then glares back at me. "I am going to scream."

I lean towards him, widening my eyes and placing my hands on my hips. "Go ahead! I don't care!"

"I'm serious. I really will do it."

"Then do it!"

Sora instantly starts to go pale and I watch as his arms shake and his fingers flex into weird hand positions. His blinks at me once before closing his eyes then he lets out this scream that nearly shatters my eardrums. I cover them and shake as his screaming turns into this gutteral roaring. It feels like everything in the room is shaking with his voice. My heart beats in place with my shaking limbs and I breathe in slowly as his shouting cuts off. When I uncover my ears all I see is his chest oscillating in time with his ragged pants and I bite my bottom lip, not knowing what to say.

After a while he opens his eyes slowly, cheeks flushed with lingering rage, but his voice is quiet when he speaks. "Alright . . . that felt better."

"Really?" I massage my own temple. "You okay now?"

"Yeah . . . " He flops onto the ground, laying with his back on the floor, facing the ceiling. "Uhn . . . I feel like crap . . . "

I walk over to him, nudging his side lightly with my heel. "Sorry."

He shakes his head. "You're not really doing that bad . . . I'm just . . . this is harder than I'd thought it would be." He shifts his head, staring at me with dazed eyes. "I don't like fighting you, even if it's just training."

"Sora . . . we haven't even sparred yet." I sit next to him on the ground. "You don't need to worry so much. This is for us to improve and get better, right?"

"Kairi . . . no matter how much you improve it won't be enough if that thing possesses me again. At least, not with the time we have." He sits up, hugging his knees close and leans his head into them while still looking at me. "I just can't . . . "

My mind is coming up completely blank. I wish I could cheer him up, but right now all I can do is squeeze his shoulder and smile at him without pity. His eyes freeze on my hand then he slowly lifts his head towards my face, blinking. I lean in closer and hug him. "It will be okay. We'll make it through this, right?"

He doesn't say anything but hugs me tightly. I lay my head on his shoulder, happy to enjoy this quiet moment with him. I'm about to close my eyes when the light above us blinks precariously. Both Sora and I gasp before looking up right when the lights shut off, then come back on. Except this time the fluorescent light is purple, making us glow eerily. "Sora?"

He shrugs then jumps as Terra opens the door across from us, yellow eyes wide and bloodshot. "Get up! Quickly!"

We waste no time running towards him and he ushers us out of the room, slamming the door shut, then immediately pushes us down the hallway. "Run! Run!"

Sora sends me a what-the-heck glance and I just shake my head, forcing my legs to move faster. The endless hall stops with a purple window and Terra removes a few loose boards from the floor, opening another pathway that has steps leading downwards. "Go! Now!"

We obey him, running down the stairs quickly. I don't look back even when Terra starts closing up the opening we came through (and this may have been my imagination but it sounded like something broke through the glass up there). The wooden steps turn steeper the farther we get and it takes all of my concentration not to trip and fall or barrel into Sora. We're both panting heavily by the time we reach a teal door.

I'm too tired to do anything other then breathe so Sora takes one step forward and bangs on the door roughly with his fists. It opens up right after the third knock and we jump in, collapsing on the floor and shivering. "Okay . . . okay . . . uhn . . . " I touch my chest where my heart is, moaning as it jams painfully into my fingers. "Oh . . . "

Sora coughs before placing a heavy hand on my shoulder, shaking me. "You okay?" He asks before letting out another harsh cough.

I nod and stare at the door. A loose feeling of dread washes over me as I see Aqua's back. She shuts the door, speaking softly. "Good. You both ate the food." When she turns around I get a full view of her new look. Her yellow eyes are darker now, molding with a sick magenta color. There are black marks that look like scabs, three on each cheek while the rest of her face has these red little stitch lines, scattered randomly across her flesh like chicken pox. She lifts her hands up, holding them together in front of her chest. Her long, curled black nails almost disappear against her dress. It's a long, silky folded strapless one that ripples at the edges, giving us full view of her legs. She's barefoot, but up to her knees her legs are covered in this tar-like substance with purple toe nails providing the only contrast.

I slowly stand and back away. Sora was already standing before me and he shifts a little, shielding me. She smiles sweetly at him before turning to gaze at me. "Well, you both look surprised."

"Are . . . are you okay?" I can't repress a tremor as I ask that.

"Oh, I will be." She leans against the door and slowly lifts her right hand towards Sora. He instantly falls to the floor on his knees, pulling at his own hair. I scream loudly as his entire body lifts off the floor, slamming into the wall behind me. I watch as these sharp purple vines grip his wrists, ankles, and waist to the wall. The vines dig hard enough to draw blood and I immediately turn away from him, bringing my Keyblade out and pointing it at her.

"Let him go," I growl.

Aqua smirks and I watch as purple light ripples near her right hand and a grey-ish Keyblade forms into her hand. "Not just yet. You see, there's a couple things I have to say to you that are pretty important. He'd probably get in the way. This is for his own safety." She raises her blade, pointing it at my face. "But first I'd like to see how well you listened to Sora's instructions in the ballroom."

I barely get the chance to gasp and widen my eyes before she runs at me, bringing her weapon up in a high arc. I instinctively do the C-Block and the clash of our Keyblades sends minute shock waves into my body. I grunt against her force and glare into her eyes. She stares apathetically back at me with a small smile.

We're a lot more alike than you think, Kairi.

You'll realize it soon, even if I have to rip it out of your heart.

I flinch as her voice echoes in my head and yelp when her foot connects with my stomach. I spit and push myself up with my Keyblade in time to block another assault. "I am nothing like you," I say with conviction and push back against her.

Aqua smirks and easily overpowers me, shoving me into the wall. She steps back and I watch in horror as purple vines crawl up her legs and arms, denting her skin with specks of blood. She doesn't even wince as they get tighter around her and she gets into another offensive stance, blood flying off her in droplets as she nods towards me. "Let's find out together, shall we?"

I shudder once before lifting my Keyblade up and slash it forward, gasping loudly as more vines shoot at me, trying to attach themselves to my wrists. I cut them off quickly and point the blade at her heart. "Okay, fine. I'll play it your way." I narrow my eyes and let the light burn out of my arms, channeling through my fingers into my blade before forming into a fireball and slamming into her. I fail to notice her weapon sailing in the air until it's too late and watch it impale me right when I'm blasted back by a harsh, white light.

Um, yep, I am tired. Well, I hope you guys really enjoyed this chapter.

Thank you for all the reviews, favorites, and follows! You guys are always supportive and I could never have done this without you all! Until next time!

Justice T.