This is an extremely unhinged story. It has it all: epic battling, action, smut, drama, angst, praise kink, and a really hot version of Sora that I probably need to bring up to my psychologist for finding hot. Some chapters will be longer than others. Trigger warnings will be placed at the top of applicable chapters.

This story is posted on FFN and AO3.

*In this, I increased some of their heights. Sora is a little over 6 feet tall. Kairi is about 5'7". I'm 5'9" myself, so I just…prefer Sora to be taller.

Chapter One

Something is wrong with Sora.

Kairi's sure of it. He's been acting funny ever since he got back from Wonderland, and she knows that there is something wrong with him.

That isn't to say that he's never acted strangely when he returned from a mission or from Wonderland, but this time, she's fairly certain that something must have happened to him there. And she gets her confirmation after a summit meeting with the other Keybearers at Disney Castle.

It's in his eyes.

She's sitting across from him at the round table in the room that she's always thought was underwhelming compared to the rest of the castle's extravagance. Everyone's talking, conversing over one another about the best way to tackle the fact that Nobodies and Heartless keep popping up in worlds that already have their doors sealed, but all Kairi can do is look at Sora.

He's sitting low in his seat, his elbow on the arm of his high-backed wooden chair. He's got his temple propped against his fist while he stares at the whorls in the white wood of the table and even when Riku stands up and leans over him to smack Lea on the back of the head for being a right asshole, he doesn't flinch. His gaze remains glued to the nothing, staring and staring and staring.

And that's just not like him.

Kairi, in contrast, sits rigid in her chair, with her spine perfectly aligned to the back and her chin held high. She's got no reason to look down—no reason to be ashamed anymore for being weak—and she keeps her hands neatly-folded in her lap. She's looking at Sora, watching him like she has been for the past two days, waiting for the veil of his countenance to come down and show her what's wrong.

When Axel and Riku are chastised into surly silence by Donald, Sora finally looks up.

Kairi's eyes meet his, their gazes locking, and she sees it.

A hint of something unknown.

That's not normal. Kairi knows what she's going to see every time she looks into his eyes. There's never been anything spoken between them about it, but when she looks at him, she knows there's something deeper than care there. She can always see it flickering like firelight in the cobalt blue.

But this...this is something else. Something hollow. Empty. Kairi is someone who knows what empty feels like. She's lost her heart and fallen into the void before. So she knows. She knows that Sora has never been empty.

She's known this boy for years. They're both twenty-four. When she looks into his eyes, she should be seeing warmth and light and curiosity and determination.

Why is she seeing nothing?

At the end of the summit, King Mickey assigns everyone to their next missions. The goal is a targeted assault on the spots of darkness in teams of two. Everyone is assigned three worlds and told to report back for their next three when they're done. The missions are to begin the following day.

Kairi is teamed with Sora.

Normally, this wouldn't incite much more than a small flutter in her stomach because she's always a little nervous around him. She's nursed her secret flame for years at this point, and she's simply accepted that he's more interested in meeting new girls between missions at the nightclubs in San Fransokyo than he is in exploring anything that could come to be with her.

Something about this, however, feels wrong.

It fills her stomach with a different feeling—something that sinks and pulls and swells deep within her. Something that tells her he's not himself and that maybe he's in no state to go on a mission.

Maybe he's depressed, she thinks as she pads softly down the blue carpet in the corridor outside the bedrooms. She's lost in her own thoughts, trying to put a name to the weirdness that she saw in his eyes, and she's not paying attention to anything that Yuffie is saying. Yuffie's not happy with Leon, as usual, because he's a shitty boyfriend and she can't stop herself from dumping it on Kairi all the time.

Which she's fine with, usually. Kairi's the type to absorb. She's the type to listen.

It's just that right now, all she can think about is the fact that something is wrong with Sora. So, maybe he's depressed. It's not as out of place on him to be depressed as one would think. She's been on missions with him before where she woke from naps on the gummi ship to find him flying with a blank, forlorn expression on his face. With a slump to his shoulders and an explanation of I'm just tired.

After all, no one's that happy all the time.

This time, though, she's not going to be able to let this one go. There's intuition within her that's telling her that whatever it is she saw in Sora's eyes during that summit is not right. It's not normal. Like seeing a distorted painting, or hearing a song that's just so familiar, but you can never remember the name.

As she finally reaches her bedroom door and cuts into Yuffie's rant to bid her goodnight, Kairi is sure that she's going to find out what's wrong with him soon enough.

She's going to be the one to make sure of it.

Kairi wakes with the same pit in her stomach that she fell asleep with.

She knows. She freaking knows that something's wrong with him. It's not her being crazy and it's not her making it up. There was something in his eyes when they were in that room and no one could see it but her.

So she's going to get to the bottom of it.

In the gummi ship hangar, Sora is there, tinkering on something at the back of the ship. He's got a control panel near the kitchenette open and he's crouched down before it. There's a focused expression on his face that doesn't waver, even as she enters and drops her duffel bag onto the floor.

"Good morning, Sora," Kairi says, her gaze flickering back and forth between his face and the control panel. She clasps her hands behind her back and leans down so she can peer at the wires and lights. "Whacha doin'?"

"Fixing the overhead lights," he says, his tone somewhat flat. Like he has no desire to talk but he's doing it begrudgingly. "Can you handle the lift-off by yourself?"

"Well, I mean...yeah." Kairi bites her lower lip, feeling a small twist of unease in her gut. "I've only flown twice before, though."

"Can you handle it or not?"

His tone is sharp now, the veins on his forearms jutting out as he fiddles with a screw that's on too tight. A rapid rise that doesn't fall, hinging on irritated. Kairi feels it like a whip against her countenance and she flinches.

"Yes, I—"

Sora's gaze snaps upward, hot on hers as he looks at her through his messy hair.

"Then go. We're already running behind schedule."

Kairi feels hurt. Even though she knows that something's wrong—believes it in her heart that it is—she still feels hurt by his attitude. It's like for this slice in time, she's the most annoying person he's ever met and he'd rather die than be in her presence for even a second longer.

That's just not Sora.

She heads up the stairs to the cockpit and the moment she's inside, she feels like she can breathe.

I've never felt that way around him before, she thinks as she flips switches and presses buttons, readying the gummi ship for take-off. Something feels so wrong about him, like he's been taken over by the darkness again. But his eyes were still blue, so it can't be that.

Her thoughts spin and whirl as the ship engine begins its soft rumbling.

Once they break the atmosphere of the planet and shoot off into the stars, Kairi places the ship on autopilot. They have a relatively smooth ride for a little while so she's not worried about letting the ship handle itself while she lets herself get lost in her reverie. Elbows on the panel and chin resting in her hands, she watches the black and faraway galaxies.

What if this isn't as complicated as she's thinking?

Kairi's been to high school. She knows how boys are. She knows how finicky they can be and she knows that Sora's never made any sort of move on her. They're well into their twenties.

Maybe he just doesn't like her.

And he doesn't have to like her. She's got no claim on him. They kissed one time when they were twenty and it was an accident. He'd avoided her for a week afterward. At first, she'd thought it was because he was shy or embarrassed, but when he never mentioned it again, she realized that was likely not the case. He's made it clear through his actions (and lack thereof) that he's not interested in her romantically.

But even if he just doesn't have feelings for me, then does that really give him an excuse to be an asshole to me? I'm still his best friend.

By the time Sora jogs up the stairs to the cockpit, Kairi's not just curious about his personality change.

She's angry.

"Why's it on autopilot?" he asks, voice a bit quiet. He sits down in the co-pilot seat, his brow furrowed as he frowns at the control panel. "We're almost to the asteroid field and the Heartless are thick there. We need to be ready."

"It'll be fine," she says, crossing one leg over the other and folding her arms across her chest. She purses her lips, giving him a once-over. "I told you I'm not used to flying."

"I spent an entire summer teaching you how," he says, still sounding annoyed.

"Or you can just fly it yourself."

"Or you can practice, Kairi."

"Okay, attitude," she shoots back.

His head turns like lightning. "What?"

Kairi can't hold it in. It's not in her nature.

"You're being a jerk, Sora. You've been avoiding me, you barely spoke to me yesterday, and you're ordering me around like I'm some—some freaking crew member!"

He stares at her. "You are a crew member. You're my co-pilot."

"I'm your partner on this mission. And I don't have any issue with flying the ship and doing my part. It's the fact that you're being so rude to me that's bothering me. The way you talked to me down there was disrespectful."

Sora's stare is unwavering.

"What is wrong with you, Sora? Don't you—"

Kairi sucks her breath in as Sora's hand shoots out to the left, across the front of her body. Her heart leaps and stomach flips completely over itself, fear turning her blood to ice. She doesn't know why but her mind is flashing a horrible image in front of her over and over. An image of Sora hurting her, lashing out, striking her.

He would never.

But as she recoils against her seat, watching the unperturbed expression on his face as he turns off the autopilot so he can manually control the ship, she can see that he simply doesn't care. It's like there's a light inside of him that's just...been turned off. One that used to burn so brightly. And it's the thought that Sora's just like any other guy on the street that shatters the last shred of control she has over her emotions.

It's the thought that he's changed even though she asked him not to that breaks her.

Kairi's on her feet in seconds.

"Look, I get it if you don't like me or have feelings for me, or if you have some girlfriend now, or something," Kairi cries, "but that doesn't give you the right to treat me like crap just because you do! We're here to do a job, so why don't you at least treat me with the same cordial respect you would for Riku or Lea or Leon?!"

"I'm not treating you like anything. You're overreacting to whatever it is you think I'm doing."

"I'm not overreacting." Kairi talks with her hands, like she always does when she's passionate about something. She faces him in the pilot's chair, the side of her left palm meeting the breadth of her right. "When I was down there—when I first walked in—I was nice to you. I said good morning and the first thing you do is snip at me. You acted like a jerk. You are being a jerk. And I'm not about to—"

Kairi cuts herself off, studying him.

Sora's got his gaze fixed on the star fields outside, and he's sitting low in his seat. Relaxed and nonchalant. Like he's so uninterested in any of this that he'd rather be asleep. His head is tilted back against the headrest and he's looking down the length of his nose through his lashes. Every movement seems lackadaisical. Uncaring.

This can't possibly be Sora.

After taking a steadying breath, she says, "I don't want to spend this whole flight arguing with you."

"Then go down the fucking stairs," he drawls. "Just get out of here if you've got a problem, Kairi. We have two days of flying ahead of us and I'm not interested in arguing about any of this shit with you."

Sora never curses at her. He never curses.

What's wrong with him?

In a state of complete shock, Kairi turns to face the windshield again. She sits with her hands fidgeting in her lap, her heart pounding as anxiety claws its way through her body. She wants to stay there, to prove a point and try to collect her thoughts and handle this argument, but she can't. Not when her throat aches this badly.

She can't cry. It doesn't seem like it'll do any good. In fact, it seems like it will only make him more irritated. Kairi doesn't want to make things worse.

"I don't have a problem," Kairi says, drawing her shoulders back and settling in her seat.

"Yeah? Because it seems like you got a fucking problem."

Kairi blinks, taken aback. Why is he talking to her like this? This is not the way he talks, nor has he ever talked to her like this before. She feels like she's careening through space outside of the gummi ship, rapidly freezing to ice and suffocating.

But how is she supposed to figure out what's wrong with him if she doesn't stay near him? No, she needs to stay in the cockpit and she needs to glue herself to his side for this entire mission. Every battle, every discussion with the people they meet in the worlds they're headed to. Everywhere.

"I d-don't—" Kairi gathers her strength. "I do not have a problem."

"Are you gonna keep this up, or are you gonna be good and shut your mouth?" Sora snaps. "Because I'm serious—I don't want to deal with any of this during this mission."

She feels like he's taking a blade and sliding it between her ribs repeatedly, piercing her heart intentionally each time. She has never once heard him speaking to her like this, and never once has he said anything like…that. How is she even supposed to respond to it? She's gone her whole life with all of her friends saying how much light is in her heart, how much good exists in her soul, but something about the way he asked—no, demanded that she be "good" is insane. Unhinged.

Part of her wants to see how far she can press his buttons and tell him she'd rather be bad, just to see if she can break through whatever darkness has settled around him. But when his scorching hot gaze snaps to hers and he arches one eyebrow, she realizes that he's waiting for a response, and that pushing his buttons might not be the best idea.

When she answers him, it feels like she's bending the knee for him, and she doesn't like it. Her words are as bitter as ash on her tongue, nearly choking her.

"I'll be…good."

"Then don't say anything until we get to Corona."

Kairi grits her jaw for as long as she can stand before she blurts out a snarky, sarcasm-filled, "Yes, sir."

His response is to give her a sidelong glance and a mildly-incredulous scoff.

Something's definitely wrong with Sora, because this isn't him.

Kairi can't sit in his presence for a second longer. She huffs and gets to her feet, practically stomping down the stairs to the main foyer of the ship. She stands in the large room, her boots sinking into the plush carpet and her gaze sweeping the space. Seeing the kitchenette that she's spent so much time making meals for him and Riku in. The couch she's fallen asleep on countless times, waking up to a blanket tucked around her shoulders every time, without fail. The long hallway that leads to the four different rooms and the bathroom. The large windows that line the walls. The viewing room at the stern of the ship. This ship is like a second home to her.

Once, Sora felt like home. Now, she doesn't know what he makes her feel. Currently it's anger, but what about overall? Things haven't been exactly…peachy between the two of them in the past few months. She doesn't know when they started to drift apart, but she has a feeling it started when he began frequenting San Fransokyo and immersing himself in the nightlife with Riku and the others.

Kairi sighs and plops down on the couch, pouting at the door and watching the lights glow on the panel beside it. They're bright red right now, indicating that the door is safely locked. But Kairi doesn't feel safe at all.

She can't believe she'd actually thought he was going to hit her. Where in the multiverse had that come from? Never in her life would she ever have thought Sora would lash out and strike her. There's no way. Even if he's being a jerk right now, there's just no way in Hades that he'd go that far.

With another frustrated huff, she rests her head on the back of the couch and stares at the ceiling until she drifts off to sleep.

"Hey. Get up."

Kairi feels someone patting her on the side of her thigh. Her eyelids flutter open as she rouses from her rather nice dream about sea salt ice cream and the clock tower in Twilight Town. Her sleep-blurred vision clears to reveal Sora looming over her. He's already so tall now, but the way he towers over her prone position on the couch intimidates her.

His gaze is still as intense as the light of a star as he stares at her. His expression is blank, almost wary. Like he's seconds away from giving her the sort of look the popular girls used to give her at Destiny High. They didn't like her very much.

"What?" she mumbles groggily.

His fingertips linger on the side of her bare thigh, raising confused goosebumps along her flesh. She can't stop herself from looking at his hand, wondering why he's touching her like this. He never has before. He might jostle her shoulder to wake her, or pat her cheek. Not her thigh. Not so close to her…

"I need to sleep," he says, seeming unperturbed by the placement of his touch. "Can you sit in the cockpit?"

"Oh…yeah. Yes. Of course."

She sits up, expecting him to back up on reflex and finding herself surprised when he stays right where he is. She feels her upper arm grazing his abdomen and she stiffens at the intimacy of the proximity. He smells like his usual cologne—a spicy blend of bergamot, cedar, and the ocean, tinged with a citrus hint that reminds her of paopu fruit. The paopu fruit she'd once shared with him.

Kairi runs her fingers through her tangled crimson hair, feeling the strands brushing her elbows as she yawns around a, "How long do you need to nap?"

"A few hours," he responds.

"Okay." She starts to turn, to put her feet on the carpet, but hesitates. She sends a quick glance to his legs, clad in slightly loose black joggers. "Could you maybe give me some room?"

Sora says nothing, merely studying her face like a painting through the strands of chocolate-brown hair that fall into his eyes. His eyes flicker over every inch of it before he holds a lazy hand out. She pauses again before she places hers gingerly upon it. His palm is covered by his leather fingerless gloves, but his slender fingers are soft where she had thought they'd be calloused. Wordlessly, he tugs her to her feet.

She's so close to him that one deep breath will cause her chest to brush against the heat of his. Up this close, the cobalt of his eyes is vivid, and she can see there's flecks of lighter navy threaded throughout. His eyes have always been quite pretty but right now, the way he's looking at her frightens her. It's so intense. Almost searing.

"Um, how—" She clears her throat awkwardly, her hand still trapped in the circle of his hold. "How long until we get there?"

"We won't be there until tomorrow morning," he murmurs, gaze bouncing back and forth between her lips and eyes.

"Okay."

Kairi starts to pull her hand away, but he holds on tight. Almost too tight. An iciness enters his eyes, chilling her to the bone.

"Don't use the auto-pilot," he orders, raising his eyebrows. "Got it?"

"Yes." She tries once again to free herself, but he doesn't let her go.

"I mean it. I don't want to wake up and see you didn't do what I told you to do."

Kairi cranes her neck to maintain eye contact, frowning as she tries to comprehend his tone. It lingers somewhere between an order and a warning. Like she'll regret it if she rebels.

What is wrong with him?

Finally he lets her go, but he doesn't step away from her. She realizes that once again, he's waiting for an answer. It's so bizarre. He's never ordered her around, and he's never demanded verbal confirmation of anything like this before.

"I promise not to use it," she says with an annoyed roll of her eyes.

Suddenly, his hand flashes up, and with guilt coalescing in the pit of her stomach, she flinches again. His fingers curl around the underside of her jaw, fingertips pressing in tight.

"Attitude," he says in a low tone that's a clear warning.

Kairi really, really wants to snark back to him. She wants to bicker with him and stand up for herself. But his hold on her chin is so authoritative and it makes her nerves quiver. When she opens her mouth to defend herself, all that comes out is a squeaky, tiny, "Sorry."

His gaze flickers down toward her body and she feels heat suffusing her cheeks and decolletage. It's like he's seeing past her skin. Past flesh and muscle and bone. Right into the core of her.

"Your legs are shaking," Sora whispers and then, abruptly, he lets her go and walks away.

The moment his bedroom door clicks shut, Kairi lets out a terrified breath.

What the Hell was that?

Kairi's hands tremble and they don't stop trembling even as she sinks down into her seat in the cockpit. Her legs feel like jelly and her heart won't stop fluttering like the wings of a hummingbird. She almost rebels and flicks on the autopilot, but at the last minute, brings her shaky hands to the controls and flies the ship manually. She shoots the guns at the many Heartless ships that come toward their gummi ship, maneuvering around asteroids and wormholes to the best of her ability as her mind wanders.

Is she safe? Is this mission a danger to her? She feels terrible for thinking it, but she's worried. Something is obviously wrong with Sora, and she's concerned that she might not actually be safe with him. She's never once not felt safe with him. But the way he's been looking at her. How he touched her leg and grabbed her chin and ordered her around. How he asked her if she was going to be "good." None of this is normal.

Though she can't deny. There's something other than guilt lurking in her gut. Something confusing and borderline embarrassing. She didn't exactly dislike any of those things. Sure, it frightened her, the sudden change in him and the anxiety of not knowing exactly what it is, but the assertiveness is…something. He's always been a fairly confident boy, but now he's a man and she wonders if the confidence has transcended into something more solid.

And she can't help but wonder as to the reason for the almost pleasant tingle that rushes through her when she thinks about him saying she's good.

The three hours pass too quickly, each second seeming to fly by. She finds herself dreading his return, unsure of how his behavior will be when he wakes. She's hopeful that maybe he's just been tired and cranky. That maybe his rudeness has been because he needed to sleep. Maybe he'll come bouncing up the stairs with the familiar brilliant grin and sparkling blue eyes she knows so well. Maybe everything will be just fine.

Kairi doesn't realize that she's been staring at nothing, lost in a reverie, until arms wrap around the chair from behind and fingers wrap around her hands on the controls. She yelps in surprise, reactively trying to pull herself away but finding his grip to be like a vice. She's caged in.

"Why weren't you paying attention?" Sora says angrily as he jerks the ship out of the way of a massive asteroid. It's so close the entire ship rumbles as the hull scrapes the rock. There's a thick fleet of Heartless ships just in front of them and it's the rapid speed of his thumbs clicking the triggers at the top of the handles that blast them into smithereens. Kairi squeezes her eyes shut as the ship zips through the cloud of debris and flames. "I can't trust you to do anything, can I?"

"Stop it!" Kairi cries out, trying to wrestle her hands out from beneath his as her adrenaline thunders. She's fed up with this and her hopes for a mood change have been shattered. "Stop being so mean to me!"

Sora releases her, puts his hands on the arms of her chair, and spins her around to face him. He bends down, leaning over until he's at eye level with her. He's clearly livid.

"I won't tolerate this," he practically growls. "You could have gotten us killed. Sitting here, lost in la-la land as you do nothing. We haven't even gotten to the first world yet and already, you're pissing me off."

Kairi's eyes sting and her hands curve tight around the front of her seat, beside her quaking thighs. "I'm sorry, okay? I was just lost in thought."

"You weren't thinking," he hisses. "As usual."

"Why are you being like this?! I don't understand!"

"Because you are fucking with our lives, Kairi!" he shouts, causing her to shrink back against the chair. "You shouldn't be going on missions if you can't even fly a damn ship!"

"I can fly a ship, Sora!" she shouts back, powerless to stop the emotion from spilling out and tears to start falling from her eyes. "But you're scaring me, and I can't focus!"

"Stop crying," he snaps, raising his hand. She cringes away, but he ignores it, brushing his knuckles over her cheekbones and disrupting the tear tracks. He still looks mad, but his eyes have softened. Marginally. "Now."

Kairi sniffles, turning her face away and glaring at the aluminum floor of the cockpit. "It's not exactly easy."

Sora sighs heavily and then, his hands cup her face, tilting it up so she's looking in his eyes again. "I'm trying to keep us alive, Kairi, okay?"

She swallows, unused to having his hands on her like this. It's almost mocking, the tenderness of his hold and the wiping of her tears when his eyes are so cold and angry.

"You have to stop being so rude to me," she says, voice thick from keeping herself from sobbing. "You're really scaring me."

He presses his lips together in a thin line, looking at her mouth for a moment, at her trembling chin, before he looks into her eyes again. His hands are warm on her skin as they leave her face and go to her shoulders, sliding down to her biceps and back up. "I'm sorry, all right? I don't mean to scare you."

"Then what's wrong? How can I help you feel better?"

He opens his mouth to reply before he breathes a laugh. "Just sit here and look pretty. I'll fly the ship."

Kairi feels herself blushing at the inadvertent compliment, a shiver running down her spine at the scratchy tenor of his voice. He's so close to her right now that all she would need to do to kiss him is lean forward.

Sora lets go of her arms and goes to his seat. Right as he takes over the controls on his side, the sound of his gummi phone ringtone echoes in the room. He sets it on the console and answers it, putting it on speaker so he can focus on driving. It's Riku.

"You guys handled Corona yet?" Riku asks, his voice sounding strained.

"We aren't there yet, idiot," Sora says. "You know how long it takes."

"Just use a warp drive."

"I didn't fit the ship with one."

"What? Why not?"

"It was having issues and we needed to get launched. I just skipped it."

"Well, Lea and I need your help in La Cíte des Cloches."

"What for?"

"We need Kairi."

"Again, what for?"

"What the fuck, dude. You sound like an asshole."

Sora says nothing.

Riku scowls. "Anyway, we need a girl for this. It's not something we've ever dealt with before, but it's serious business, I think."

Kairi perks up, curious. She leans toward the phone, still out of sight but in range to be able to speak. "Why do you need a girl?"

"Because."

"Is it Heartless?"

"Sort-of…? There are Heartless here, but they're being controlled by someone. We've tracked it back to the owner of a brothel in the Lower Quarter. From what we've been told, the girls there have been taken from their families and sold. When they get there, they're assessed for the light in their hearts. The brothel takes whatever they have and who even knows what they do with it. Leaves the girls bereft."

"That's disgusting."

Sora cuts in. "Why is the guy controlling Heartless?"

"We think it's a combination of controlling the people in the city to keep them from interfering, and keeping the girls in line. Mostly control in the city."

"Wow," Kairi says, shaking her head. "That's just sick."

"I know. That's why we need to get in there and figure out who this guy is, so we can start asking the right questions. Then we can find where he lives and take care of it. Get the girls back to their families if we can, you know?"

"Get in there…?" Kairi asks, her mouth feeling dry as her suspicions bloom heavily in her chest.

"That's why we need you," Riku replies. "We need to send you into the brothel so you can learn who he is."

"Um…what? You want me to go into a brothel?" Kairi's voice cracks with discomfort.

"You don't understand," Riku insists. "You'll blend right in and we'll be right outside. All you have to do is get in there, lay eyes on the guy and find out his name, and then we'll get you out. We'll…I don't know, pretend to buy you, or something."

Kairi glances at Sora, seeing that he's already looking at her. His eyes are narrowed, something calculating visible in their depths. She's never seen that look before. He's not a plotter or a planner, but right now, he looks like he's plotting and planning something.

"This doesn't sound like a good idea, Riku," Kairi says, her lips twisting to the side out of nervousness. "There's a lot that could go wrong."

"No, there isn't. There's no way it could go wrong. You'll literally have three Keyblade Masters right outside."

"I don't know…"

"It's not like you'll be by yourself in there. We've already called for Namine and Aqua. They've got to finish up in Agrabah, and then they're headed here. Can you guys finish Corona up quick, do you think?"

"Dunno," Sora replies. "We haven't gotten there yet. We don't know the situation. I have to see how dire it is, if it's an infestation or a single horde."

"Fine. We can wait two days. Aqua and Namine will probably be here tomorrow, but we'll handle shit outside the city. We—Lea. Lea! Could you maybe not try to burn down every fucking tree you see? Yeah. Thanks." Riku sighs in irritation. "He's such a tool sometimes. You know he likes to set dumpsters on fire in San Fransokyo? Ridiculous. So, yeah, just come in two days. We'll have a plan sorted out by then."

"Cool."

"And don't worry, Kairi," Riku adds. "You're not going to have to…you know. You're going to be in and out, just as soon as you lay eyes on the person that's running the show. I'm sure they don't just throw you in on the first night. There's probably like…guidelines and rules to go over first."

Kairi is the next to sigh. She doesn't like this, not even a little bit, but with so many of her friends there, she thinks she'll be okay. Sora, Riku, Lea, Aqua, and Namine? They'll be fine. Besides, all those girls being taken from their families, having their light taken from them so they can be sold to men every night for Merlin-knows-what? She won't be able to live with herself if she doesn't at least try to help.

"Will you guys be here two days from now, then?"

"Yeah," Sora drawls as though bored. "We'll be there."

"Great. That's good. We'll be able to deal with this in no time if we all work together. All right, I'll see you—"

"Actually, Riku," Kairi says quickly. "Can I call you?"

"Uh…sure?"

"Okay. Hang up, and I'll call you back."

"Yeah. Okay, see you guys in two."

"Peace," Sora says before he ends the call. He glances at Kairi, narrowing his eyes. "Why do you need to call him?"

"I just need to talk to him real quick," Kairi says, getting up and heading for the stairs. She keeps her face and voice neutral. "It's nothing serious. I'll be right back."

She descends the steps before he can say anything more, pulling her gummi phone out of the pouch on her belt. She dials Riku's number, walking into her room and closing the door behind her. She sits down on her bed next to her duffel bag, right as he picks up. His long silver hair is pulled back into a haphazard chignon and he looks concerned.

"Everything okay?" he says immediately, his aquamarine eyes glinting with worry.

"No," Kairi says, her voice breaking. "Something's wrong with Sora."

"Chyeah," Riku huffs. "He sounds like he's in a bad mood."

"You don't understand, Riku. It's more than that. I think something's wrong."

Riku's silent for a second, his brows knitting together on his forehead. "You mean like…darkness-related?"

"I don't know. Maybe? He's being really mean, snapping at me and just being a jerk. But not like he's tired, or mildly annoyed. It's like he's mad at me."

"Have you seen his eyes change color?" Riku's tone turns serious.

"No. Why?"

"It's nothing to worry about then."

"Tell me what you mean!"

Riku sighs. "He's had issues with his Drive Forms in the past, where he'll shift into one and for some reason, the darkness in his heart takes over and he turns into this…thing. It's never for very long and it's really only in battle. I just figured I'd ask."

"Oh. Well, I haven't noticed any eye color changes or darkness coming from him."

"Hmm…then maybe he's just in a really bad mood? Leave him alone for a bit. Let him settle down."

Kairi bites her lips, looking down at her lap. "I'll try."

"...anything I need to know?"

"It's just that…" Kairi trails off, her throat aching from trying not to cry. She doesn't know how to explain the way he's been acting. Not in detail. "I don't know. He's kinda scaring me."

"Want me to beat him up?"

Kairi laughs. "Could you?"

"Soon as I see him." Riku flashes her a bright smile. "I'm sure it's fine. He's probably just irritated with something else. Or stressed. Who knows. Just avoid him, try not to get on his bad side, and when you guys get here, I'll talk to him if it hasn't gotten any better."

"Okay," she mumbles.

"It'll be okay, Kairi. I'll see you soon, yeah?"

"Yeah." She gives him a small smile. "See you soon."

He hangs up and the screen flashes back to the Home Screen. She dejectedly scrolls through her social media for a bit, peeking in on the lives of people back in Destiny Islands. People who get to live normal lives without the threat of battle and Heartless and darkness looming over their heads. She envies them their peaceful existences.

After a few minutes, she presses the button on the side to turn her screen off, setting her gummi phone down on her bedside table. She feels a bit peckish, so she gets up and decides to go to the kitchenette to make some dinner.

Right when she opens her door, she nearly shrieks in shock. Sora's standing there.

Kairi's brow furrows. If they're both not in the cockpit, then no one could possibly be manually operating the ship. Which means Sora's a hypocrite.

"Oh, so you can put the ship on autopilot, and I—"

He advances on her, crowding her and causing her to walk backward into her room. "What were you talking to him about?"

"Nothing," she lies as she stumbles across the room. Her back hits her dresser. Her hand goes to the edge of the top, holding onto it for support as he comes to a stop in front of her.

"Don't lie to me," he says, glaring down at her like she's betrayed him in some way. "You were talking to him about me."

"I have every right to," she shoots back in her indignance. "You're acting like a jerk, so I told him you were. Maybe he can talk some sense into you."

"I've had it up to here with you," he says, slashing a livid hand in the air near their upper bodies. "And I'm tired of arguing with you. So you can just stay in here and let me have some fucking peace and quiet."

With that, he whirls around and storms out of the room, slamming the door so hard that she jumps in fright. She tries to chase after him, but when she tries to turn her doorknob, it doesn't move. It makes clicking noises, jiggling in her hold, but the door remains firmly shut.

Kairi stares at the door in shock.

He locked her inside! Sora actually locked her inside of her room! She's so stunned that her knees go weak and she sinks to the floor right in front of the door.

It's now that she finally bursts into tears.

I have 13 chapters pre-written. I'll throw up a few more right now so there's enough to get sunken in. In a few days, I'll put up more. This fic will have 23 chapters.