A/N: I'm awfully romantic around the holidays. So beware.

Sleep Talking

At Kairi's house, Kairi had been helping Sora all night, mapping and planning Sora's journey to new worlds. Not a wink of sleep in 16 hours had crept over the two. Riku lay completely zonked out beside the coffee table Sora and Kairi had been working at, thunderous snores escaping him with each breath he took.

"So," Sora began before he was interrupted by a yawn that stretched his mouth out painfully. "What worlds have we covered so far?" he asked Kairi doze fully. Kairi herself had been nodding off and awoke with Sora's voice.

"Oh, um" she said sleepily, rustling through a mass of papers as her mouth opened broadly with tiredness. "We've got Twilight Town, Port Royal, Radiant- What's that look for?" Kairi asked Sora who was gazing at her with a doofy grin.

"You know, when someone yawns, if another person yawns after them, it usually means that person likes the original yawner," he explained coyly while trying to impress Kairi with logical speech.

"Oh really? Well, if your hand is as big as your face, it means you have cancer," she remarked, testing his stupidity. He held his hand to his face worriedly. Indeed, his hand span matched that of his face.

"Is there a cure?!?!?!" he asked, panicked at his chronic illness. He couldn't stop checking if his hand really was the size of his face.

"You dope, that's just a fib. You're sickeningly gullible," Kairi relied groggily, yawning hugely once again. Seeing this made Sora yawn himself.

"You see? I don't make these things up! You yawned, I like you, so I yawned, too!" he exclaimed, trying to prove his theory.

"Well then, if you like me so much, you'll lend me your shoulder. Riku hogged all the pillows." Just then, a loud roar passed through Riku's nostrils, making Kairi jump and Sora snigger at Riku's powerful snore. Kairi scooched her way next to Sora and rested her head on his right shoulder and shut her eyes to go to sleep.

"The best things in life cannot be seen. That's why we close our eyes when we wish, dream, and kiss," Sora stated, trailing off shyly at the last suggestion- kissing.

"That's the most ridiculous philosophy I've ever heard. Besides, dissection in 7th grade couldn't have been done with my eyes closed, nor could I have found that snake pit in the woods with my eyes closed," she pointed out, adjusting comfortably to Sora's muscular shoulder.

"You find pleasure in the oddest things," he said, raising a brow. "But think of this, for your fifth birthday, I blind-folded you and-"

"And you...threw me down a hill," Kairi finished for him, pausing to yawn. He yawned right after wards.

"True, but what did you find at the bottom of the hill?" he said, unknowingly stroking her left arm that rest on his chest right now.

Kairi began to smile dreamily, remembering what awaited her at the bottom of the hill.

"You built me a fort for us to play in out of mud and your mother's white table cloth," she said laughing at the thought of Sora's mother's face when she found out.

"And do you remember the fort's name?" he asked her, happy that she had remembered his gift to her.

"Fort Kairi and Sora," she whispered, sounding choked up with the fond memories.

"It took me 3 days to build that, and now my philosophy is stupid to you? Why Kairi, I'm hurt," he told her with mock sadness. Kairi simply nuzzled his neck affectionately and Sora quivered with joy. She was beginning to doze off again, too sleepy to respond with too many words.

"Fine, I believe you," Kairi said, not caring if she lost an argument now. She was too tired to care.

"I'll just let you sleep..." he said, resting his head on hers, and almost instantly, Kairi was just as knocked out as Riku. Only quieter.

Sora sat, stroking the ivory skinned arm that wrapped around his collar bone. Kairi was sound asleep, her serene breathing close to his hear. It made him feel safe, not for himself, but knowing she was there with him where no harm could reach her. He felt safe for her. Then he felt the silky head of hair beneath his cheek move slightly.

Kairi mumbled words that Sora couldn't hear clearly. She mumbled them again and again and they eventually became audible.

"Please don't go, not again...," she said miserably. She became restless in his arms, clutching his shirt tighter with every plead.

"I'm not going anywhere," Sora assured her, embracing her tightly. She was having a nightmare.

"Thank you, thank you," she praised him, thinking his voice was part of this nightmare-gone-dream. Sora felt a tear dampen his shirt and looked down to see that Kairi was crying. She was crying because of a nightmare of him. The idea of this made Sora feel excruciatingly horrible- he himself had caused Kairi torment by not being with her more.

Suddenly, Kairi awoke with a terrified shriek and began to sob. Sora held her, scared at what was wrong with the love of his life.

"You're still here! Oh, thank God!" she cried, collapsing into Sora's arms. "I thought you were gone and I didn't even say good bye! You could never leave without me saying good bye first!" Kairi was hysterical with tears now, barley breathing.

"I know, I know! I wouldn't leave without seeing you first, I wouldn't," Sora comforted her, absolutely petrified as to what Kairi had gone through in her sleep. She began to calm down, breathing steadier with quick, short breaths.

"Kairi, do you always have these nightmares?" Sora asked her, praying to God that the answer was no.

She sat upright, assisting Sora in wiping away her tears. "Not always, no. Just when I know you're about to leave. I don't want you to go, I get scared for you," she shuddered.

"I swear to you, I'll come back when I leave," he said firmly, making sure Kairi knew he would keep his word.

"Promise?"

"Hey, I'm here right now aren't I?" he said with a laugh, trying to lighten the mood. A drowsy yawn followed his gleefull words.

"But you said the best things happen when our eyes our closed," Kairi said glumly, yawning afterwards which made more tears stream down her flushed cheeks. "Like dreaming. That was the worst dream I've had yet. And wishing? Every time you prepare for a journey, I wish on the penny you gave me in 3rd grade that you'll stay and it never works," Kairi broke down, making herself sound like a royal failure.

"But you're forgetting the last thing I said," Sora reminded her with a cheery whisper, realizing that Riku was still asleep. Kairi looked up slowly, her indigo eyes glossy with tears and striking with anguish.

Sora took her by her shoulders and pulled her to him abruptly, actually bumping the coffee table. He pressed his lips to hers compassionately, hoping that Kairi would realize she would never, ever lose him. She relaxed her lips to his, and they were suddenly like one object- the parts could never be apart, and what came together, stayed together. And as Sora's theory stated, both of their eyes were closed.

Once pulled apart, Sora smiled giddily as Kairi looked at him dumbstruck.

"Kissing," he said, finishing the statement he started before his affectionate act. "Our eyes were closed, and underneath that confused look I know you're happy."

Kairi did smile. "Ehm, one thing..."

"What?"

"I peeked," Kairi said, now with a proud grin. She had enjoyed the kiss with her eyes slightly open.

"Well then, I'll just test my theory until it works," and he put his hand over her eyes and kissed her again. This time, the kiss was shorter, for Sora had to pull away to yawn. He hadn't slept at all this whole time. After yawning, he waited for Kairi to.

"Well...?!" he pressured her.

"You yawn, I yawn, Jack," she said, giving in with a smile. At least his yawning theory had prooven accurate. Kairi fell asleep again, her head resting on Sora's chest as Sora cradled her. Sora hung his head down, positioning himself so that his lips were by her neck, and the two dozed off to a secure place in eachother's hearts.