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sokaievents · 9 months

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Compelled to Act

3325 words. Sora/Kairi. Post-Canon. Kairi POV. Grief/Mourning, Survivor's Guilt, Angst, Romance, Hope. For SoKai Day 2023: The Future.

Summary: As Kairi grapples with her grief and guilt, she has a dream about Sora in Quadratum. She might not be able to speak, but he has so many things he wants to say.

What if we don’t succeed?

It was a thought Kairi hardly allowed herself. They would save Sora. They had to. It wasn’t a question of if, but when. To admit otherwise would mean she would have to face her grief, that she couldn’t keep running and hiding, then sleeping and searching, and now pouring herself into her training instead.

“There is no right way to grieve,” her mother had told her the morning after Sora’s disappearance, when she was crying so much she thought she would break into a million pieces and never be whole again. How could she be whole when she’d lost the person she was supposed to spend the rest of her life with? She knew she and Sora were young, that the adults would patronizingly tell them to wait a few more years and see if they could really go the distance with their infuriatingly smug smiles. Young love, it never lasts, they would say. Except sometimes it does. Sometimes you meet the right person young and get to enjoy growing old together. She knew she and Sora truly loved each other and would’ve gone the distance.

“You have to grieve on your own terms,” her mother had said the day after that, when Kairi still didn’t want to get out of bed. “The pain will never fully go away, but it’ll get lighter. You’ll learn to live with it.”

Well, Kairi didn’t want to learn to live without Sora. That was the entire point. And while she knew plenty of people felt irrational guilt over the death of their loved ones, her guilt was entirely rational. It really should have been her instead. The only reason it wasn’t was because Sora had intervened and substituted himself in her place instead.

The tear-streaked faces of their friends made her question his decision. Everyone would be happier if it were me and not you. So why did you do it?

She summoned her Keyblade and focused on the nearby dummy Aqua had set out. A cool evening breeze tugged at her hair and clothes. The Land of Departure was beautiful with its ponds and starlit skies and sprawling castle halls full of history, and she enjoyed living here. It was just strange how the entire universe kept chugging along like one of its brightest lights going missing wasn’t a problem.

A wall of red-hot flames erupted from her Keyblade and struck the dummy. All of her anger and rage at Sora’s disappearance (she couldn’t bring herself to say death) channeled into a nice clean burst of flame. The dummy was well and truly charred afterwards, as was the nearby grass. She examined her handiwork with grim satisfaction. So much for having only a heart of pure light. More like an existence that brings total destruction and death.

That’s all I’m good for, getting the people I love hurt and killed. She was training further so she wouldn’t be such a burden, but what was the point? Even if she did see Sora again, he was better off without her. If he got too close to her again, he’d just get hurt and tormented and tortured and killed. Again.

She lifted her Keyblade once more. It was a good thing Riku was the one who had gone after Sora. He was actually good at saving him. At helping him. For all his issues with darkness, Riku was much better at healing and restoring people than she was.

She smiled wryly. If Riku was what monsters feared, if he was the one who consumed Sora’s nightmares, then she was an angel of death, a siren luring Sora to his doom. Looks and appearances were deceiving. Everyone thought Riku was the villain, the problem. All along it had been her.

A moment later, water shot out of her Keyblade and doused the charred dummy. She absently wondered if all her tears for Sora would match the amount of water that had just swallowed the dummy in its relentless onslaught. There had been so many of them and they’d come in powerful, intense bursts until she’d gone to sleep to search for clues for his whereabouts. Now that she was awake again, there wasn’t as much crying anymore, but grief bursts still hit her every now and then. Still engulfed her in their powerful waves and cast her adrift until she found something to cling to, something to ground her.

She reached into her pocket and grasped the Wayfinder that Aqua had given to her. It was pink and purple and made with care, and feeling its smooth glassy surface kept her in the moment.

Did Sora still have her lucky charm? She could only hope so. Did he even remember who she was? Who he was? That was the question. He was in some other realm, but what was his existence even like? And how was it any different from death, really? Torn apart from all the people he loved and separated from them by a wide gulf. That was what death was, separation of the soul from the body, of the self from one’s loved ones.

She assumed his soul and his body were still one, but he was far from them, so while he might not be truly dead, it didn’t seem like he was really alive, either. And even if Riku did find him, how in the worlds was he supposed to bring Sora back? Sora had broken a nature taboo, and she doubted Death would relinquish its prize without a fight.

Riku, don’t do anything stupid, please, she silently begged. She knew Riku was careful and a lot more measured and guarded than she and Sora were, but she still couldn’t help but worry.

After another round with the dummy that left it electrified and then frozen solid, she decided to give the poor thing a break from her wrath and call it a night. Dinner had happened hours ago with Terra, Aqua, Ven, and Chirithy, so it was time for bed now. She stopped by the castle’s kitchen briefly to grab a quick snack and then trekked up the old, winding stairs to her little room on the second floor.

The extra practice had another purpose beyond honing her skills. If she was tired enough, she would fall asleep quickly instead of tossing and turning for hours on end as sleep eluded her and her fears and regrets haunted her instead.

Of course, sometimes dreaming wasn’t much better. Her dreams, when she remembered them, were either fragmented and disjointed or disturbing and dreadful. The others had had dreams of Sora, and she’d had that single dream that gave them the clue they needed to continue their search. But ever since then he had been absent from her dreams, or if he’d visited, she couldn’t remember upon waking.

Still, that was better than not being able to sleep at all. Thankfully, exhaustion won out tonight, and she soon slipped into sleep, hoping that she wouldn’t remember any of her dreams and would just be able to escape for a little while.

A big, modern city with soaring skyscrapers and winding streets. Water drip, drip, dripping as the light rain covered everything in a wet film. Red and green and yellow lights reflecting off of puddles.

Kairi moved through this realm as if she were floating. There was no sense of time or space, just moving over the pavement without any contact with it. A sign she didn’t belong in this place, perhaps, that to the people she passed she was simply a fiction, a ghost. When she tried to touch things, her hands moved right through them, and when she tried to speak, no one was able to hear her.

The experience made shivers run down her spine. She missed having a body that could interact with the world around her, that could touch and taste and test, feel and sense and caress. She really was beginning to wonder if she was a ghost. Of course, if the people in this realm tried to come to hers, they would probably seem like the ghosts. She sensed some great barrier that was nearly impossible to pass, though Riku had succeeded and Sora had been brought here unwillingly.

Or was it willingly? He had willingly given his life for hers, so it felt strange to speak of him coming here against his will. And yet she couldn’t help but think such thoughts. She knew Sora didn’t want to be apart from her any more than she wanted to be apart from him.

Her wanderings eventually led her to a coffee shop situated in a four-story building with the number four in the address. It had space on all four floors, too. Four, four, four. Everything here reminded her of the unlucky number that sounded like death.

The first floor was where people ordered their coffee from the hard-working baristas, the second and third floors were where they could drink the coffee, either alone or with friends on various tables and couches, and the fourth floor was a rooftop area with a few more seats and a view of the nearby scenery.

She almost didn’t notice him at first. He was seated at one of the tables, an untouched cup of coffee steaming in front of him as he stared into the horizon. His hair looked different, lighter and much less spiky than before, and his back was turned to her and his clothes were more muted, more like what normal people wore. But then he stiffened and glanced back, and his searing blue eyes gave him away.

“Kairi?” he murmured, looking right at her as if he could see her. Gosh, he was more handsome than ever, and he looked older and wiser and world-weary but still with that spark of Sora compassion in his eyes.

Well, she supposed it had been a year. She’d changed and so had he.

So had he. Relief flooded her at the thought. Dead people couldn’t change and grow. Only the living could.

She tried responding, but of course he couldn’t hear her. She was a ghost in this realm. But then how had he sensed her presence? Perhaps it was that gift of his for seeing hearts wherever he went.

His expression softened. “You can’t speak here, can you?” he gently said. “I can’t speak when I visit you in your dreams, so I guess it makes sense the reverse is true too.”

He had visited her in her dreams since that time she’d confronted Xehanort? If only she could remember.

He patted the chair next to him. “Have a seat.”

She floated over and “sat” down as best she could, but of course all she could manage was sort of hovering over the chair. But it wasn’t uncomfortable, and if she really tried she could imagine she and Sora were grabbing a cup of coffee together like they’d done so many times at the cafe on the beach back home.

“There’s so much I want to tell you,” Sora said, his face serious in a very un-Sora like way, like this place dragged his spirit down despite his best efforts. “Even with all the time we got together before we were separated, it still wasn’t enough.”

She agreed. It didn’t matter how much time you got to spend with your loved one before you lost them. The loss still ached like a deep wound that would never fully heal because that person was never meant to be torn from your side like that. She’d often thought to herself, if only I could speak to Sora again. If only I could have just a few more minutes with him. But even if she’d gotten her wish, it would be like sticking a bandaid on a gaping, gushing wound. Because the time would still end, the conversation would be over, and it still wouldn’t be enough. She’d still long to see him again after that.

No, the only true remedy for grief was an eternal reunion. A promise that she’d get to be with him forever. No more separations and sadness, no more sorrow and pain, no more tears and tearing apart of their shared heart.

She hoped the afterlife would be kinder than this life was.

Sora frowned. “I can tell you’re sad. I’m sorry I haven’t found a way back home yet. I’m trying, trust me.” He ran a hand through his hand and sighed. “It’s just a lot more difficult than I’d like.”

She scoffed. He was apologizing to her? It should be the other way around. She would say as much if she had a voice in this world.

Whatever expression was visible on her face seemed to upset him. “Kairi, I know we kinda avoided certain topics before I…you know. I didn’t want you to be sad. But I’m worried about how you’re handling all this.”

She carefully avoided his gaze. Not well. But was there a “good” way to handle grief? It was like her mother had said. There was no “right” way to grieve. Just whatever helped you get through the next hour, the next minute, the next second. Grief was like an unwelcome, unwanted acquaintance she couldn’t get rid of. The best she could do was learn to deal with its constant presence. She’d lost her birth parents and grandmother ages ago, so it wasn’t like she hadn’t dealt with grief before. But every grief is unique, and the grief of Sora’s loss still felt so raw and fresh and wrong.

“You don’t blame yourself for my death, do you?” Sora asked, his voice pained and his eyes anguished as he cut through her thoughts.

She would’ve been silent even if she could’ve spoken to him. He knew her all too well.

His face went pale. “You do,” he said, barely above a whisper. “Kairi, it wasn’t your fault.”

Yes it was. If she hadn’t been so weak, she wouldn’t have gotten kidnapped, and if she hadn’t gotten kidnapped, she wouldn’t have been struck down, and if she hadn’t been struck down, then Sora wouldn’t have had to abuse the Power of Waking to save her.

Honestly, he should’ve just let her be lost forever. She would’ve preferred that to this.

“You don’t believe me,” he said, his voice breaking. He reached for her hand, but of course his hand went right through hers. Frustration and pain flickered across his face, like he couldn’t bear this physical separation any more than she could.

“If you have to blame anyone, blame me,” he said. “I was the one who was reckless with my own life. But I wasn’t reckless for the sake of being reckless. There was just something so much more important at stake.”

Tears blurred her eyes. She wouldn’t be able to shed them or express them here, but they were there all the same.

“I couldn’t abandon you,” Sora said, his eyes filled with tears. “I couldn’t leave you trapped in Xehanort’s grasp forever. Don’t you see? I had no choice but to rescue you. I wouldn’t be myself if I left you to your fate just like you wouldn’t be yourself if you’d let me die at the Keyblade Graveyard. It’s true that we could’ve made other choices, but we never would. That’s what…that’s what love is, Kairi. Always wanting the best for the other person to the point it compels you to act.”

Sora was right. She would never let him die. Except that she had. And she knew how he felt about her. She just felt utterly and completely unworthy of his love because of her failure.

And yet…if she told him that, how would it make him feel? Like she was spitting in his face and saying his sacrifice wasn’t worth it? That he wasn’t worth it? She could never. She struggled to like herself, but Sora she loved with all her heart. Maybe…maybe if he really did see something in her worth loving, then there was something about her worth loving.

“I wish I could hear your voice,” he said sadly. “Your laughter. I really miss your laughter. Your smile, too.”

It struck her that he hadn’t smiled this entire time either. She missed his smile so much.

“I know now’s not really the time for smiles, but maybe…when we meet again…”

She nodded. She didn’t feel like smiling now, but if she could be reunited with Sora in the flesh, she might feel differently.

“I think you’re gonna wake up soon,” he said. “You’re flickering. But this won’t be the end, I swear. We’ll meet again. Either I’ll find a way home or you’ll find a way to me, I just know it.”

She nodded a little more confidently this time. The future was so uncertain, but this strange dream had given her fresh hope.

“Until then,” he said, then leaned close and gently kissed her cheek.

Kairi’s eyes fluttered open. A quick glance out the window told her it was still dark outside, and the flames in her little room’s fireplace had been reduced to glowing embers. She was cold, and yet her cheek felt so warm.

She touched it. Faint memories of Sora flickered through her mind, but they were already slipping out of her grasp. She grabbed the little diary next to her bed and jotted down as many things as she could remember. But it wasn’t much. Just a big city, his blue eyes, a steaming cup of coffee, and a soft, gentle kiss on her cheek.

Well, and one more thing. In her diary she added: I don’t remember the exact words, but I have this deep, lingering sense of peace. Like he loves me and promised we’d meet again. Maybe it’s just my own foolish imagination, but if it helps me feel better, I think it’s okay.

With that she closed the little book and rolled over onto her side, pulling the blanket closer for warmth as she took a few more minutes to rest before getting up. She wished she could remember more details from the dream, but the fact she’d dreamed about him at all brought her great comfort.

Maybe…maybe we will succeed. Maybe I will get to see him again. I just need to be patient and make the most of my life right now.

She was tired of just existing. She wanted to live again. Wanted to enjoy all the little things and appreciate the people in her life right now. And even if she got Sora back and they got their happily ever after, one of them would still outlive the other. There was a phrase that got omitted from modern fairy tales, “until their deaths.” “They lived happily until their deaths” was how the stories always used to end, but at some point someone had decided the “until their deaths” part was too sad to include, so everyone removed it from the ends of stories and replaced it with “ever after” as if that would remove death from reality.

Kairi was beginning to think this was a grave mistake. Pretending death didn’t exist wouldn’t help kids deal with it better. And death was no respecter of persons. It came for the young as well as the old, the healthy as well as the sick, the strong as well as the weak. Might as well help people prepare for that and make the most of the time they have in this life and the most of the time they have with their loved ones.

Sora, if we do get a second chance to be together, I promise I’ll never take a single moment with you for granted again. And I’ll do everything in my power to help you come home.

Satisfied with her promises to him, she got out of bed. Enough waiting and wondering. It was time to act.

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A/N: Thank you for reading! I wanted to explore Kairi's survivor's guilt and grief in more depth, including the different facets and expressions of it. I wanted her to get to be angry and frustrated and sad and hurt, and it was cathartic to write.

I always thought it was interesting how death in the KH universe is defined as the soul (tamashii) and body (nikutai) being separated. Your heart (kokoro) and your body can be separated and you'll continue to exist (granted as a Heartless + Nobody), but if your soul and your body get split up, you'll die for real. (This is all delineated in Secret Ansem's Report #4). So I tried to incorporate that bit of KH lore into the story.

As always I enjoy delving into fairy tale stuff and researching the ways different languages handle the start and end of stories (English of course has the classic "Once upon a time…they all lived happily ever after" formula, but there are other variants like the "they lived happily until their deaths" one).

And then what would one of my KH stories be without an exploration of free will, the nature of existence, and various metaphysical ponderings? That stuff just always slips into my KH fics these days.

Happy SoKai Day!

#sokaiday2023 #sokaiday #sokai #fanfiction #phoenix-downer

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sokaievents · 9 months

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A King's Thone - Sokai Day 2023

Kairi had a comfortable chair in the Mayor’s office. She’d replaced the old one when she was elected, her father’s seat having long since passed its prime. Her new one had a sturdy frame, but also cushy padding, perfect for Kairi to work through the day. The swivel was set just right, rotating as needed so someone could turn their attention to anything on the desk with ease. Even though he’d only sat on it a few times since it was brought in, Sora swore it was one of the best seats he’d ever sat in.

Sora had his own work as her secretary answering questions and listening to the people’s feedback that kept him from her office normally. As comfy as his own chair was at first, all too quickly it became mundane. The routine work wearing out the initial novelty. Not that he was too jealous. Kairi’s work was busy enough with hearings and committees that she had the privilege of using the chair whenever she wanted it or needed it.

Of course, he was probably more drawn to Kairi herself when work was over, rather than the chair. The smile on her face after work made everything worth it. Even the few times she had to make him wait while she was on a meeting call were filled with anticipatory glances at him. He just knew it was the same way for her as she could hardly wait to join him.

Both of them looked forward to two of them walking home hand in hand, talking about their day or their plans for the evening. Plans for dinner, for trips, or nights spent together whispering sweet nothings. All the things a couple dearly in love after years would do.

After everything they had been through, being torn apart, flung across worlds, fighting with their keyblades to protect all they knew and loved, Rescuing one another, they had certainly earned that much at least. On one hand Sora was certainly happy for the freedom to live their lives together. And yet…

As he saw the empty office, Sora’s smile fell as he realized he had to wait. One of Kairi’s hearings probably was taking a little longer than expected. He moved behind her desk and sat down, sighing at the plush feel of the cushion. Given how hard he worked, the comfort of a fine seat was appreciated. Even if desk work wasn’t as demanding as fighting with a keyblade

Not to mention a faint but familiar scent he cherished: a hint of Kairi’s perfume, stirring up memories of moments together. Of reunions, of dates, of a long awaited wedding. Memories that Sora wouldn’t trade for the world.

Even if there was one he might have liked to have. A small silly idea, not worth really getting bent out of shape over. Honestly, it was something that would never really happen no matter what he did.

Still…

“Look at you, sitting there like you’re king.” Kairi’s voice roused him from his thoughts as he met her own adoring gaze. She was standing in the doorway in her violet suit with a smirk.

Sora shrugged and shifted himself up from the slouch his daydreaming left him in. “You’re the mayor, I’m just married to you.”

Shaking her head, she walked up to where Sora was seated and brushed her fingers against his. “Don’t sell yourself short. You do a great job figuring out what people need.”

“Thanks Kairi.” Taking her hand, Sora caressed it as she gave a light giggle. Though the comment earlier stuck slightly in his mind. As it was a bit closer to the mark than he would have expected. Still, if anyone would figure out his unspoken fantasy it would be Kairi. Sora looked to the side with a sigh and a smile. “Still, after everything I’ve been through with an adventure involving saving a princess…”

“Usually that’s the point where the hero becomes King.”

Kairi hit the nail on the head with her guess as Sora mused, “You hear so many versions of the story growing up, the idea sticks with you a little bit.” Bedtime stories of the hero returning triumphant over his trials, wedding the princess, and ascending the throne as the new king. “I can’t say I didn’t think about it when I first got the keyblade. Learning you were a princess of heart also didn’t help.“

Kairi giggled as she leaned forward. “Sounds like the perfect setup if you ask me.”

Sora’s smile fell as he gave her hand a tight squeeze. “But I wouldn’t want you put in danger just so I can get a reward.” Sora never wanted to see Kairi’s life put in jeopardy again after what they had been through. “Not to mention how everyone else was at risk too. It wasn’t just us.”

“But we made it,” Kairi said to him as she reached out with both hands to gently stroke his cheeks. “You did save everyone, and we finally got home.”

“I know. I’m not complaining too seriously,” Sora whispered as he relaxed at her touch. “A title might be nice, but living with you is more than enough.”

Kairi gave Sora a pat on the cheek as she offered, “You know, people would say being mayor is more or less royalty, and we are married.”

Rolling his eyes with a smirk, Sora pointed out, “But I don’t have royal blood. So even if you were queen, I'd be…some title.” He furrowed his brow with a nervous smile as he tried to recall the proper term…

“Prince Consort.” Kairi nodded at him.

Yes, that was it. Sora shrugged with a grin. “Doesn’t sound quite as impressive,”

Kairi moved closer to Sora as she murmured, “Well, you’ll always be a king to me.” With that proclamation, Kairi met Sora’s eyes with hers and whispered, “My king.”

Smirking, Sora ran his hands up Kairi’s arms and murmured,“Then will the queen kiss his majes-” Only to stop as he stumbled on his words, looking aside and muttering, “Your majesty? Her majesty?”

Giggling, Kairi turned his face back to hers and answered, “Yes, she would.”

As his lips met hers, Sora’s heart couldn’t help a small flutter. Years had done nothing to dull the love between him and Kairi. A content hum came from them both, as Kairi gently sat on his lap. He didn’t need to be told to hold her closer as they continued to make out.

Pulling away however, Sora saw that Kairi’s smile had taken on a more wistful look. “I get it, you know?” She gave a small sigh as she recalled, “We pretended who knows how many times that I was a princess to be saved. Learning I was a real one made me think of it.” Leaning her forehead against his, Kairi mused, “Living in a castle, ruling wisely and justly. The king that saved me at my side.”

Sora closed his eyes as he simply felt the warmth from her. “You’ve saved me just as much, you know.”

Kairi let her hands fall from Sora’s face as she agreed, “There’s a lot that goes into a happy ending that stories and games can’t quite get across.” The trials and tribulations they both had faced had pushed Sora and her to the brink. Hugging Sora, she leaned her head on his shoulder. “I’d make you a real king if I could. After everything you’ve done you’ve earned it and more.”

Returning her embrace and patting Kairi’s back, Sora assured her, “Hey, I’m the one who recommended you to run for mayor. You’ve got more of a head for administration and paperwork than me.” Title or not, he couldn’t regret the decision for their campaign as Mayor of Destiny Islands. Not when they worked so well together.

Sora couldn’t see her face, but could imagine the smirk Kairi had as she chided, “Don’t you think home would be a better place to sweet talk me?”

It was a fair point, the sun was already beginning to set. Though Sora couldn’t help himself as he began to grin. “But you’ve got such a nice chair.”

Pulling back in their embrace, Kairi grinned at Sora. “I’m sure we can find a more suitable throne at home, my king.”

Sora nodded as he gave her a gentle squeeze. “Then lead the way, my queen.”

A/N: Special thanks to @currantlee for taking the time to beta read this!

#sokaiday2023 #sokaiday #sokai #fanfiction #pred1059

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sokaievents · 9 months

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SoKai Day is tomorrow (or already starting, depending on your time zone) 🥳

🏙 Tags: #sokaiday, #sokaiday2023

🏙 AO3 Collection

Looking forward to seeing everyone's pieces ❤️

SoKai Day 2023

SoKai Day is September 17, 2023, and the theme is The Future! 🏙 💫 A big thank you to @hallsth-eien for the beautiful promo art ❤️

ソラカイの日は2023年9月17日です！テーマは将来です 🏙 💫

#sokai #sokaiday #sokaiday2023 #sora #kairi #sora x kairi #sora/kairi

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sokaievents · 9 months

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One more week until SoKai Day! Looking forward to everyone's pieces ❤️

SoKai Day 2023

SoKai Day is September 17, 2023, and the theme is The Future! 🏙 💫 A big thank you to @hallsth-eien for the beautiful promo art ❤️

ソラカイの日は2023年9月17日です！テーマは将来です 🏙 💫

#sokai #sokaiday #sokaiday2023

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sokaievents · 10 months

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SoKai Day 2023

SoKai Day is September 17, 2023, and the theme is The Future! 🏙 💫 A big thank you to @hallsth-eien for the beautiful promo art ❤️

ソラカイの日は2023年9月17日です！テーマは将来です 🏙 💫

#sokai #sokaiday #sokaiday2023 #sora #kairi #sora x kairi #sora/kairi #sokai day #sokai day 2023

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sokaievents · 2 years

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for Sokai day 2022 <3

twitter: [X]

#sokaiday2022 #sokaiday #sokai #fanart #cypjj

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sokaievents · 2 years

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SoKai Day 2022: A Wedding Toast

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts

Pairings: Sora/Kairi (SoKai)

Characters: Riku, Sora, Kairi, et al

Rating: G

Summary: Sora and Kairi’s best friend has been witness to their love story from the start to the present. He tells it all in a toast on their wedding day.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts and its characters.

——

Tink-tink-tink

The soft sound of tinkling glass managed to settle down the wedding guests, where they stopped to pay attention to the tall, fit man that stood straight before them. From a table at the center of the reception area, reserved for the newlywed couple and their closest loved ones, the man cleared his throat.

“Thank you. My name is Riku,” the man said. “You may know me as the best friend of the newlyweds.” He gestured with his glass to the couple by his left. Elegant for the occasion and glowing with bliss, Sora and Kairi had managed to turn their attention away from each other long enough to listen to their mutual friend.

“The bride and groom have other best friends, but I knew them first, so I hold seniority. Therefore, I get to sit here,” Riku joked with a gesture to the wedding party’s table. Laughter filled the room at his joke. If anyone had noticed his stilted delivery, they didn’t show it.

“Sora, Kairi, and I have known each other since we were very young. Having known them for so long, I’ve had a front-row seat to their relationship and how it evolved over the years. Practically from day one,” he started. “They hit it off right away. I took a little more time to warm up to you, Kairi, sorry about that. When I was a kid, I thought that Sora was always just that nice and it was easier for him to make friends with new people. But I saw him around you at that time. He wouldn’t nearly jump out of his seat if Tidus was walking into the room, —” The crowd chuckled again. “—And well, I don’t know about you, but Sora’s never smiled like that when he looked at me.” Laughter rippled through the reception hall, as the guests took notice of the groom’s shy smile and his tomato-red face, having been caught looking at his bride.

Keep reading

#sokaiday2022 #sokaiday #sokai #fanfiction #guiltyhearts

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sokaievents · 2 years

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A last minute Axes Femme POETIQUE x KH SoKai to celebrate @sokaievents SoKai day! 💍 Inspired by the gorgeous real life KH dresses that went on sale not long ago. And Kairi’s ring is inspired by a fic also celebrating these two starting a new journey together. You can read it here. Happy sokaiday2022 everyone 💕

#sokaiday2022 #sokaiday #sokai #fanart #fanfiction #lightwithinthedarknessu

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sokaievents · 2 years

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“I can’t believe I really flew! I wonder if she’ll believe me… probably not.”

happy sokai day✨

#sokaiday2022 #sokaiday #sokai #fanart #saharahinfinity

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sokaievents · 2 years

Video

youtube

doing a premiere this year for sokai day

#sokaiday2022 #sokaiday #sokai #video #amv #cindiquilsnivy

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sokaievents · 2 years

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Home is Where the Hearts Is

Summary: Kairi doesn't like Quadratum. SoKai. A fic written for SoKai Day 2022. KHIV fic. Oneshot.

Home is Where the Heart Is

Sora knew almost instantly upon her arriving there, that Kairi didn’t like Quadratum.

And it was something that the kind Princess of Heart hid pretty well, since Sora told her that they would have to stay in Unreality for a few days, in order for him to wrap things up, before they could go home.

The Keyblade Master knew that Kairi was trying to give this new world the chance that Sora had finally done so in the end… but as Kairi gazed at the monochrome buildings all around her on the days they would explore the city, it was almost like they were stealing the light from her usually so vibrant eyes, Sora couldn’t help noticing.

“What is it about this place that grinds your gears so much?” Sora finally found himself asking Kairi, on day three of their adventure, when he couldn’t bear to see her like this any longer, nor to beat around the bush anymore. They were getting an ice cream in Miyashita Park now, so Sora prayed that it would help take the edge off of what might prove to be a tough conversation.

Kairi was trying. She really was. For instance, she’d taken to skateboarding on some of the railings of this world—even though skateboarding was more difficult in Unreality than back home—like the best of them; and curiously enough, Kairi did enjoy the very modern thing called “virtual reality,” but was afraid of many big screen TVs playing around her all at once. But was Kairi happy in this place that was met to be the Child of Destiny’s kingdom, as well of the Realm of Light was? It was clear that she wasn’t.

“I…” Kairi started. After she was done gaping like a fish, for Sora having guessed what her real feelings were, he guessed.

And the brunet wondered if she was going to say that it was the world selection system here that bothered her so. And if she was, Sora certainly couldn’t begrudge Kairi that. It had taken him forever to figure out how to get to Endor, after all. Give him a gummi ship any day, he thought.

But then Kairi said the simple truth that he should have known all along.

“Well, for one thing, it took you away from us for too long, Sora. And as wrong as it is to blame it for that, I find that I do.”

And at once, Sora felt like the biggest jerk in the world, for not having realized that this was where Kairi’s heart lied.

“Oh, Kairi! It’s okay!” Sora exclaimed, bringing the princess into his embrace now, as the two of them got out of the line and stood beside a bench.

And seeming embarrassed—and was he imagining tears streaming from her eyes and now wetting his shirt?—Kairi buried her face against his chest.

Talking about negative emotions was still sometimes hard for Kairi, since she knew that if she didn’t have a special heart, it would have led to darkness within her. And she almost felt like she was betraying her Princess of Heart status by feeling them at all, so then she hated herself for that betrayal. “I promise that it’s okay. You’re allowed to feel these things. And I want you to tell me when you do, okay?” Sora reassured his girlfriend again, running a hand through her lovely red hair as he did so.

Kairi chuckled at his reassurance—or maybe it was just his hand in her hair, perhaps it had tickled her—and that seemed to sober her up some, so that she could talk about another thing that she didn’t like about Quadratum. “I also don’t like that store that says ‘Loser.’ I know it’s not actually a store. It’s really a charity: and it’s trying to encourage people to come in and willingly ‘lose’ some of their money to help the less fortunate out, but you’d think they could have come up with a better name for it.”

“Yeah, they definitely could’ve!” Sora for sure agreed with that one. He’d felt the same way when he’d first come across the place, and it was for that reason he’d partly hoped that Kairi wouldn’t see it. But she’d just happened to see a banner advertising it, when he’d shown her the building he’d stood atop when he fought Yozora the first time.

“And I’ll tell you a reason that I don’t like Quadratum, Kairi: because it’s not home. And that’s definitely something that counts against it, isn’t it?

“In fact, that’s why Riku’s already packed his bags and gone home, in knowing that I’m safe and in good hands with you,” Sora said, as he slumped down in the pretty grass of Miyashita Park and pulled Kairi down with him. She giggled at that. Especially when a butterfly landed on her nose.

“Too true,” his girl agreed. She gazed into Sora’s eyes then, and Sora thought that she was about to say something about him being her true home, anyway, but then seemed to think better of it, since that would be too cheesy. “But I swear I really don’t hate Quadratum, Sora. I may not have yet come to love it like you have, but if nothing else, the sightly lights in the evening speak to my heart.”

Sora looked at Kairi then. Really looked at her. She was so beautiful and amazing, with her poetic words as always. And he would never regret that he had used the Power of Waking to save her and had ended up here in response to that. He would do so again a million times if he had to for her, in fact.

But wanting to be somewhat poetic like Kairi—if he was her mate, and he was—Sora responded to her with, “Then it’s perfect that we’re going to make a portal to go home tonight. You can look at the ‘sightly lights’ one more time, and then back to the Islands it is!” Just like they’d always wanted to return there and stay!

“Back to the islands it is,” Kairi purred, delicately kissing Sora’s cheek upon snuggling into his lap.

And no words had ever sounded so beautiful.

Author's Note: This story was inspired by me honestly not knowing what we would do in Quadratum after a while—so I guess it’s a good thing that we CAN go to other worlds from there—it honestly doesn’t feel very KH-y to me, and there’s a part of me that’s not that excited about it. So I’m also glad that eventually Sora will be going home, of course, and we’ll also be seeing Realm of Light shenanigans throughout. So I decided to write the idea of Kairi not liking Quadratum (I guess Kairi’s basically my spokesperson here). Because while I don’t think Sora will like it at first either, I think he will eventually. He's Sora. Also, though it’s not a place: there IS a sign that says “loser” that you can see when you fight Yozora in the secret episode of Re:Mind. LOL. For the purposes of this story, I decided to turn it into a location. Happy SoKai Day!

#sokaiday2022 #sokaiday #sokai #fanfiction #oveliagirlhaditright

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