Yet another fic that started out as a drabble that expanded into more. Hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts

oxo
Sunrise
oxo

Everything was quiet and all Sora could see from the treehouse was the glow of the street lights from the main island. He could hear the waves, of course, but the ground below was pitch black.

Turning back to Kairi, he commented, "This is so weird; knowing everyone over there is sleeping."

"Not everyone," She corrected, "Some people should be getting up for work now."

He gave her a tired stare, "Sure." He looked back out into the night, "I just still can't believe you talked me into this."

"You said you're feeling restless, right? Between having just come back from traveling other worlds and then from school work? This is the most peaceful time on the island; it's the best time to relax." He heard her reply.

Turning back to her again, he answered, "Well, I do feel sleepy…"

Kairi pulled her legs in towards herself and rested her chin atop her knees, "You'll see."

"When'd you do this before?" Sora moved his hands from his lap to his sides, leaning on his left hand so that he tilted closer to her.

"When I got too tired of waiting for you and Riku." She answered honestly, avoiding his eyes as she started but eventually met with them as she finished, "I was really restless and this was the only thing that calmed me down."

He felt a pang of guilt, "I'm sorry."

"I think you've apologized about a million times now. You should know by now that I forgive you." She placed her hand over his with a small smile.

Sora laughed, "I know. I can't help it." He glanced down at their hands, thinking to himself how he liked the feeling of her hand on his as he continued, "I was worried about how you felt when I woke up and I realized how much time had passed. So when you brought it up right off the bat, I knew it was something that hurt you a lot. So… yeah. It's hard to let it go."

"Sorry. I never mean to make you feel guilty, I'm just referencing a point in time." She paused for a moment and peeked outside. Quickly pulling her hand back towards herself, she waved excitedly, "C'mon, it's time to go down to the beach!"

He watched her exit the treehouse before he followed her, calling out, "Okay." By the time he had finished climbing down the ladder, he could see Kairi already seated in the sand; her feet swinging side the side. Taking a place beside her, he asked, "That excited, huh?"

She blinked in confusion before realizing what she was doing with her feet. Stopping and smiling sheepishly, she answered, "Yeah, but not really about the sunrise. Just about showing it to you."

Sora didn't respond, only smiled to himself. As the sun continued to rise over the ocean, he could see how calm the water was; dark purple in color as it gently lapped against the shore. On the main island, the street lights were still on, but he was beginning to recognize other features as well, such as the trail from the dock that would eventually lead him back to his house. The seagulls were beginning to wake up, too; a few crying out as they flew overhead and out over the ocean.

He considered saying something but when he looked over to Kairi and saw how mesmerized she was with her surroundings, he decided to just watch her instead.

When she eventually caught him staring, she quickly looked away again and asked sheepishly, "What?"

"It is really peaceful." He admitted, "But, to be honest, I think being with you and just doing whatever we want, even if it's nothing, is what relaxes me the most." He leaned backwards, putting his hands behind him, "I mean, we had a million things going on, but after we found each other in The Castle That Never Was, I felt so much better. I still wanted to go home, but have you there made it seem a lot closer." He looked back over to her.

Kairi smiled widely and nodded, "Yeah, I can say the same. Home feels much more like home with you and Riku here."

Sora flashed a smile back and looked out to the ocean once more, asking, "Should we leave soon? I might fall asleep on the beach, otherwise."

"You'd fall asleep on the beach even if we hadn't of stayed up all night." Kairi replied with a laugh, "But, yeah, we can head home if you want."

"Alright. Let's get going, then." He stood up and considered offering his hand but by the time he thought to actually act on it, she was already in the process of getting up.

Once they were in the boat and Sora had begun rowing back to the main island, he noticed Kairi starting to doze off. "Hey, be careful. Don't want you to fall into the water." He stopped rowing to gently shake her arm, "Plus you're making me sleepy."

"Sorry." She shook her head to wake herself up.

"You can stay at my house for a while and get some sleep. I know yours is kind of a long walk from the dock." He suggested, beginning to row again.

Blinking repeatedly to keep her eyes open, she answered, "Thanks. Yeah, I might have to."

And she was right; by the time they had gotten out of the boat, she was barely able to walk straight.

"I thought you said you used to do this a lot?" Sora questioned, his arm wrapped around her to keep her upright.

"I didn't sleep so well the night before yesterday but I thought I'd be okay. Sorry, again." She muttered, embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it. Just making sure you're okay." He answered as he guided her towards his house.

Double checking that his mom had already left for work, he led her inside. Once they had made it through the front door, Kairi began to move towards the couch before Sora caught her again, "Nope, you get the bed. The couch is too uncomfortable."

"But it's your house." Kairi argued back only to be spun around.

He put his hands on her back and practically pushed her up the stairs, "It's my house and I choose to sleep on the couch and give you the bed. So just go to sleep, okay?" He finished with a laugh and lingered at the doorway to his room, his hands falling back to his sides.

"Okay." She sighed, twisting her torso slightly to look back at him.

"See you in a few hours. Goodnight." He gave a small wave before heading back downstairs.

"Goodnight." She called after him before slowly making her way towards his bed. Even though she was exhausted, she couldn't help but notice everything smelled exactly like Sora as she slipped underneath the blankets and laid her head on the pillow. It made her blush a little, but in truth it was extremely comforting and she fell asleep within minutes.

Downstairs, Sora grabbed one of the throw pillows and collapsed onto the couch. Though he had to turn over quite a few times, he finally found a comfortable enough spot to drift off to sleep.

When he opened his eyes again, the sun had filled the room and was beating down on his skin through the window, making it unbearably hot. Looking up tiredly, he saw on the clock that it was already past noon.

"Wonder if Kairi left already." He mumbled to himself as he stood up, stretching out his arms and yawning.

Making his way up the stairs, he made sure to be as quiet as possible. Just in case. And sure enough, she was still asleep; the blanket pulled over her head to keep the sunlight out.

Laughing to himself, Sora sat on the foot of the bed. The mattress shifting from his weight, Kairi began to stir a little. As she pulled the blanket down from her face, she gave him a confused look to which he replied, "Good morning."

Kairi sat up and ran a hand through her messy hair, "What time is it?"

"A little past noon."

She blinked in disbelief, "Wow. And honestly, I feel like I could sleep more."

Sora frowned and shifted away from her, "Oops. Guess I shouldn't have woke you up."

She sat up a little more straight, moving closer to him as she reassured, "No, it's good you woke me up. I practically would have lost the whole day if it were any later. So thanks. I just need to go to sleep earlier tonight."

"Did you have anything you needed to do today?" He asked curiously as he turned back towards her, his knee resting on what he assumed was her foot.

She shook her head, "No, do you?"

"I was supposed to meet up with Riku later, sometime. But I dunno. I may just fall asleep once I get to his house." He looked down at his feet, sliding them back and forth against the floor.

"Didn't you tell your mom that you were with him last night?" Kairi asked, amused.

"Yeah, exactly. So I gotta talk to him at least somewhat in case Mom asks him something the next time he's over here." He looked back over at her and asked jokingly, "And weren't you at Selphie's?"

She gave a small mischievous smile, "Yeah…"

Sora laughed, "So what do you want to do while we're still risking getting grounded?"

"I dunno…" She trailed off and looked down at the blankets around her, remembering how nice they smelled. Her cheeks warm and her heart beginning to race, she suggested quietly, "Maybe something worth getting grounded for?"

Catching on, he suddenly felt very nervous and his breath caught in his throat, "Like what?"

Kairi lifted the blanket off of her legs and slid herself closer to him, Sora watching her every move curiously as well as anxiously. Leaning forward and over him, she used his shoulders to support herself as she moved into kiss him.

He was frozen, unsure of what to do and his eyes wide. He'd waited for an opportunity like this for so long and now that it was actually happening, it was almost overwhelming. Still feeling awkward, he closed his eyes and returned the kiss to the best of his ability.

Kairi didn't mind, taking it as slow as possible in order to make him feel more comfortable. After all, she wasn't exactly an expert and it was still surprising to herself that she even managed to make a move in the first place. Gaining confidence, Sora began to deepen the kiss, raising his arms up slightly to hold her waist. She smiled against his lips, loving the warmth she felt from his touch.

After a few more minutes, she had to pull away and catch her breath. She pulled her arms back towards herself, gently brushing her fingers against his shoulders as she did so. Sitting back down she folded her hands into her lap and watched him.

Sora was still in a daze, blinking as if he were trying to wake up. He figured it had to be some sort of dream and he was actually still downstairs on the couch.

"Are you okay?" She asked with a laugh.

His eyes flickering over to her, he grinned and laughed as well, "Yeah. More than okay." He placed his hand over hers, just as she had done earlier this morning, to let it sink in that this was real. She laughed as well, momentarily lifting his hand up so that she could intertwine her fingers with his.

They sat just like that for a while, occasionally looking at each other and catching each other's eyes and laughing but mostly just thinking. Everything had changed since they left the islands and everything was going to continue changing and maybe that wasn't such a bad thing.

"I guess we should go where we're supposed to be before we get into too much trouble." She gently let go of his hand, sliding off the bed and lingering in front of him.

He sighed and stood up as well, "Yeah, probably." Seeing that she was staring at him with a somewhat conflicted expression, he let out a small laugh before motioning her forward. Kairi smiled sheepishly, taking a step closer to him. Lightly cupping the side of her face, he kissed her and whispered sweetly, "I'll see you tomorrow."

She nodded, her eyes still closed.