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phoenix-downer · 1 year

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Where I Belong Chapter 3

Fog and Sleep: ~3170 words. After Sora disappears, Kairi spends a year asleep so her heart can be searched for clues. When she awakens, she trains with Aqua until she’s ready for her first mission: a visit to Olympus Coliseum with Donald and Goofy to follow their best lead they have on finding a dead person.

Story Info: Sora/Kairi. Starts during the end of KH3/during ReMind and moves into KH4. Kairi POV. Angst, Romance, Fluff.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5

Kairi was home now. Her world tour with Sora was over, and his time on this world was almost through. They were sitting on the paopu tree as if nothing had happened since the last time they’d sat here and shared the fruit that had altered their destinies.

She wished they could go back to that moment and redo everything that had happened at the Keyblade Graveyard, but they couldn’t.

He was smiling at her with this radiant, serene look on his face, like he couldn’t be happier than to spend his final moments with her. This sunset was one of the most beautiful ones she’d ever seen on Destiny Islands, and yet his focus was completely on her, like he thought she was the most beautiful sight he could possibly see.

She was trying really hard to keep it together. Trying to be brave. Trying not to cry. She didn’t want his last memory of her to be of her sobbing her eyes out. She wanted their parting to be a happy one. Or if not happy, then at least bittersweet.

He tilted his head and sighed. The way he was looking at her…was he gonna try to kiss her? He had that same look in his eyes as before.

But instead he gently squeezed her hand. “I love you,” he said, the words simple but spoken with all his heart. Spoken so softly only she could hear, but with the full force of his confidence behind them. Her eyes widened and her lips parted, then she smiled bigger than ever, a tear rolling down her cheek.

To hear the confirmation in his own words, in his precious voice, made her so happy she could sing; to know it was because he was about to die made her feel like weeping.

Instead she did neither, just smiled a pained, bittersweet smile as he faded away before her very eyes, hoping he’d understand what she didn’t have the words to say. It all happened so quickly, and all too soon he’d vanished like he’d never even been there.

Sora was gone. He was really, truly gone, and the universe felt so hollow and empty without him.

Even though Kairi had had plenty of time to prepare for it, his disappearance still felt like someone had torn her heart out and ripped it into shreds. She slumped and curled in on herself once she no longer had to be brave for him. The sun was gone like it had taken him and all the light in the universe along with it, and a cold wind tore at the leaves of the paopu tree, whipping them back and forth.

The others tried to comfort her, but she barely registered their presence. Nothing could change the fact that Sora was gone. No amount of nice words or warm hugs made any difference.

She cried and cried and cried until she couldn’t cry anymore, then came the numbness like a fog. Everything was pointless, just like Hercules said. Life apart from the person she loved most felt empty.

And like a fool she hadn’t told him she loved him too. He’d told her he loved her as they’d sat on the paopu tree together, and all she could do was smile and cry. He’d wanted to kiss her, too, she just knew he had, but he’d run out of time and chose to tell her he loved her instead. And she didn’t even have the decency to return the favor.

Now she’d never be able to tell him she loved him. If only she’d done so before he’d disappeared.

A part of her hadn’t wanted to tell him, because then it would mean he was gone forever. That she had nothing else to say to him. This way, she had to find him again to tell him what he deserved to hear.

Or maybe he was gone forever without any confirmation she loved him.

No, she couldn’t think like that. Sora deserved better. She’d find him, she had to. And so she volunteered to go to sleep so they could search her heart and memories for any clues as to his whereabouts.

An entire year like this passed till at last they found a lead. But Riku and Riku alone went after Sora. She was scared she’d mess things up again. Afraid she’d be a burden and get Riku killed too. And Riku had concerns of his own about her going with him.

But that didn’t mean she had to passively wait at home. No, she had to get stronger, faster. So she asked to train with Master Aqua. She needed to be better than ever if she wanted to have a shot at helping Sora.

And so the months passed until finally, Master Aqua thought she was ready for a mission. So here she was on the Gummi Ship with Donald and Goofy, accompanying them as they followed their best lead on finding a dead person. The ship whirled and whizzed through the stars, dodging asteroids and battling Heartless ships and collecting treasures.

Donald was driving, which normally would’ve been Sora’s job. Another reminder that he was no longer with them. She and Goofy were on the other two seats flanking the driver’s seat, and she wondered about all the times Sora had ridden in the ship with them. What kinds of jokes they’d told, what they’d talked about. If he’d ever confessed anything about her or—

“Sora took ya to Herc’s world before, right Kairi?” Goofy asked, trying to make small talk with her. She knew she was a bit of a stick in the mud these days, and Goofy’s little moments of kindness cheered her up in spite of herself.

“That’s right,” she replied. “We went before he…disappeared.” She didn’t have the heart to say Sora was dead. She just didn’t.

“I bet it was nice,” Donald said, chiming in. He was carefully maneuvering the ship past a crystalline rock formation, and Kairi sighed and wished she could share this moment with Sora. He’d have some comment to make about its shape, about the way the pink rock shone and sparkled.

“It was,” she said. “It was really nice.” Tears threatened to well up in her eyes again. It had already been a year and a half since he’d disappeared, and yet the pain still felt so fresh sometimes.

Goofy gave her a knowing look. “I’m sorry we’re not goin’ back under better circumstances.”

“It’s okay. I’m just glad I can be useful for once.”

Donald and Goofy exchanged glances. “Kairi…”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to sugarcoat things,” she said, smiling ruefully. “It’s my fault Sora isn’t here. If I had been strong enough, I wouldn’t have gotten kidnapped, and if I hadn’t gotten kidnapped, Xehanort wouldn’t have been able to strike me down, and if Xehanort hadn’t struck me down, Sora wouldn’t have had to—”

“Waaak!” Donald cried, popping out of the driver’s seat and startling her. “Enough of that, it’s not true.”

Goofy nodded. “It’s not. Don’t blame yourself for the things Xehanort did.”

She sighed deeply. Hadn’t she told Sora the exact same thing? Why was she so much harder on herself than she was on everyone else?

Don’t hate yourself, Kairi, she urged as she fiddled with her necklace. Sora didn’t. Doesn’t.

“Besides,” Donald continued, “you’ve been training! You’ve gotten a lot stronger.”

“Ya have!” Goofy nodded. “Aqua’s real proud of ya, a-hyuck.”

“I hope I live up to her faith in me,” Kairi said quietly. She’d let everyone down before. She didn’t want to do it again. And Aqua had poured so much into her training. She couldn’t bear the thought of disappointing her.

“And you know who else has faith in you?” Goofy asked.

“Who?”

“We do!” Donald crowed, and Kairi couldn’t help but smile a little. Donald and Goofy were always so encouraging, so uplifting. No wonder Sora enjoyed traveling with them so much.

“And of course there’s one other person who has faith in ya too,” Goofy said.

“You mean Sora?”

Donald and Goofy nodded. Kairi knew that was true, or at least it had been true. But she and Sora had been separated for a year and a half now. Wherever he was, did he still believe she would find him, or had he given up hope? She felt like Psyche wandering the ends of the earth and for what? Sora was still hidden away from her.

“I just want to see him again, you know?” she mumbled, fiddling with her necklace. “Just one more time…” One more time so she could tell him what she needed to tell him. That was all she asked.

“I’m sure he wants to see you too.” Goofy smiled, and she felt a little less lonely, a little less hopeless.

“And he will when we find him and bring him home,” Donald promised. “The first thing he’ll want to do is give you a big old hug.”

Kairi nodded. That was what they were here for. They all just wanted to find him and bring him home.

After a rocky descent (quite literally considering how close they came to hitting Mount Olympus a few times), Donald parked the Gummi Ship in a lush green meadow outside of Thebes that was full of wildflowers. The ship sputtered as its engines shut down, and Donald and Goofy popped out of their seats.

“Sorry for asking, Donald, but why don’t we just park the ship at the Coliseum?” Kairi asked as they gathered their things and got ready to disembark. That would mean they’d get to their goal (Hercules) a lot faster, but instead Donald had chosen to park in the middle of nowhere.

“The world order!” Donald said, holding a finger up. “The people here aren’t anywhere close to this level of technology, so we gotta hide the ship!”

“Donald’s right,” Goofy said as he grabbed a few extra potions from the ship’s stores and tucked them into his baggy pockets. “We gotta hide the existence of other worlds from most folks, so we hafta sneak around a little, and sometimes that means parkin’ the Gummi Ship in odd places.”

“Ohhhh, okay, gotcha,” Kairi replied. That made sense. When she and Sora had gone on their world tour, he hadn’t held back on using the Power of Waking since he had nothing left to lose, and that meant they got to pop in and out of worlds at their leisure. With the Gummi Ship things were different though.

“I’m guessin’ Sora didn’t explain this to ya?” Goofy asked, and Kairi shook her head.

Donald sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes. “Figures. He never was very good at sticking to the rules. Kept getting confused too and thought I was talking about a world border…”

Kairi giggled into her hand. “That sounds like him.” Man, she missed his dorky self. He’d never been super booksmart, but he made up for it in just how good he was at reading people. He was really good at learning how his enemies fought and using their tactics against them, too. Maybe the teachers at school just didn’t know how to play to his strengths.

Goofy scratched his head. “Hmmm, I don’t know that he was confused about the concept, just how you said it.”

“WAAAAK!” Donald protested, quacking loudly and indignantly. Kairi burst into laughter and Goofy covered his mouth with his hands as he giggled. Donald scowled at them both, fuming, which just made them laugh even harder until he finally relented and joined in their revelry.

When they’d laughed themselves out, Goofy asked if she was ready to go.

“Oh! I just need to grab one more thing.” Her new pink and black coat that the fairies had given her. It was knee-length and paired nicely with her black boots. She put the coat on over her white blouse and black skirt with plaid ruffles, then glanced at her reflection. The passage of time was visible in her appearance: her hair was longer again and she’d gotten taller. Curvier. She was never going to be some leggy, statuesque supermodel, but she wanted to look nice and well put-together. For her own sake, of course, but also because…

If she found Sora, she wanted him to think she was beautiful. She understood why Psyche had looked in that box with Persephone’s beauty in it despite being warned not to. A year and a half away from Sora…what if he’d met someone else? Someone prettier and funnier and cuter? What if he’d rather be with that person instead of her?

“Ready?” Goofy asked again, interrupting her thoughts. This time she nodded. There was no point in torturing herself over things she didn’t have the answer to. All that mattered was finding Sora. The rest could come later, because it was time to go to the Coliseum.

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“You want to go back to the Underworld?” Hercules asked, eyeing their group quizzically. They were at the Coliseum at long last, and he’d just finished a round of training with Phil and Pegasus. Their little group was hanging out in the atrium by the entrance, and a bunch of trophies and awards lined the walls.

Kairi, Donald, and Goofy all nodded.

“Are you crazy?” Phil demanded. “Most people never want to set foot in there even when they’re dead, let alone when they’re alive!”

“Well, Sora’s dead, so we figured that might be a good place to search for clues,” Goofy explained.

“Trust me, we’ve already looked,” Hercules said, his head drooping. “Pegasus, Meg, Phil, and I spent days searching as soon as we heard the news.”

Pegasus nodded, his head drooping too. Kairi gently stroked his forehead, and he whinnied softly. It seemed like just yesterday she and Sora had had their exciting flight on his back.

“Did you talk to Hades?” Donald asked.

Hercules started and rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, um, he doesn’t like me very much. I ruined his plans for world domination, so…”

“A-ha!” Donald cried. “So you haven’t talked to the one person who could help!”

“I tried talking to him, trust me!” Hercules protested. “But you know how he is. He said, ‘You think I’m gonna help my greatest enemy find the little runt who keeps putting a damper on my plans?’ And then he doused his own hair, laughed at his own joke, and disappeared with a puff of smoke. I haven’t been able to find him since. And Meg doesn’t want to work with him again, she was his prisoner for years.”

“That’s okay,” Kairi hurriedly said, waving her hands. “I don’t want Meg to be stuck with him again, and you’ve done all you can to help.” She turned to Donald and Goofy. “That means it’s up to us to find him and talk to him.”

Goofy scratched his cheek. “I don’t know that he likes us much either,” he said, frowning, “but gawrsh, it’d be worth a shot if he could help us find Sora.”

Donald chuckled nervously. “I know he doesn’t like us, but I would do anything to find Sora.”

“Me too,” she said. “Besides, he’s never met me, at least I don’t think he has. Maybe he’ll be curious enough that he’ll give me a chance.”

“Kairi, be careful,” Hercules warned. “The kinds of deals Hades makes…they’re always for his benefit and no one else’s. I only got the better end of the deal because he didn’t count on my godhood being restored after I saved Meg.”

Phil stomped over to her. “Three words, Freckle-Face: Don’t be a schmuck!”

Donald and Goofy tilted their heads and counted the words to see if they matched up with what Phil had said. They did not, which made Donald cackle under his breath and Goofy plaster his hands over his mouth to keep from laughing.

Kairi rested her hand over her heart. “I’ll be careful, I promise. I’m no goddess, but I do have powers beyond what most people have. That might be enough to entice Hades…and keep me safe.”

“Powers? What kind of powers?” Hercules asked, tilting his head.

“She turned Sora from a Heartless into a human again!” Donald crowed.

Goofy nodded vigorously. “And she stopped him from dyin’, too.”

Hercules gave her another look. “Wow, seriously? Now that is impressive, Kairi. Are you sure you’re not a goddess of some kind?”

She waved her hands in front of her. “No no, not at all, I’m just a regular girl. I just so happen to have a Keyblade thanks to my friend Riku, and then I—”

Goofy cupped a hand around his mouth and dropped his voice to a loud whisper. “Kairi here is a Princess of Heart, and her light’s helpin’ hold the worlds together.”

Donald nodded and also dropped his voice to the best approximation of a whisper he could manage. “We think that her heart of pure light combined with her feelings for Sora gives her powers beyond what a normal Princess of Heart has.”

Hercules’s face lit up. “A-ha! The power of love. Never underestimate how strong that is, Kairi. It saved my life, and it saved Meg’s too.”

“You called?” Meg said. She was lounging against the doorway, a half-smile on her face. They all greeted her and caught her up about what was happening, about what they were planning.

“Ugh, sorry you have to deal with the devil,” Meg said, shuddering as a look of pure disgust crossed her face. “I’d offer to help, but I never want to see that snake oil salesman’s ugly mug again.” She looked right at Kairi, her gaze unflinching. “Hercules is right, you’ll need to be careful about what kinds of deals you make with Hades. Under no circumstances should you exchange your freedom or your life for power from him.”

“Got it,” Donald and Goofy said, but Kairi said nothing.

“I know it’ll be tempting to offer your soul in exchange for Sora’s,” Meg continued, and Kairi fidgeted because it was like Meg was seeing right through her and the possible plan she’d cooked up, “but trust me, there are always strings attached to his little deals. You’ll wind up a puppet and a pawn, and Sora’s soul won’t be worth whatever he offers you.”

Kairi hesitated for a moment, then finally said, “Understood.” So her original plan was a no go. That didn’t mean she couldn’t think of something else.

Meg looked to Hercules. “Well, Wonderboy? We might not be able to go with them, but we can take them to the entrance, don’t you think?”

“We can do that much for sure, and we’ll stand guard at the entrance until you return.”

“If you scream IX-I-I, we’ll know to come running,” Phil said, and Pegasus nodded.

“Thank you,” Kairi said, grateful for the help of their friends. Donald and Goofy thanked them too, and with that, their group set off for the Underworld.

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A/N: Thank you all for reading! I really enjoyed writing the Kairi, Donald, and Goofy friendship moments in this chapter. See you next week!

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corderis · 3 months

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( happy birthday to kairi: a little taste of home! | @otlaw )

he approaches the youth with a faint smile playing upon his lips, and gives a small nod when she looks to him. "kairi." he greets with a small bow, hand over his heart. "i overheard the other cursebreakers talking--- its your birthday today, is it?" with the mantle of cid weighing heavy over him, clive did his best to keep the hideaway feeling both valued and closely-knit. and what better way to do that than acknowledging birthdays and anniversaries? reaching into his pocket, he procures a strange fruit he'd never heard of prior; a paopu fruit. a peculiar star-shaped fruit that was meant to hold some sort of power when shared. offering it to her, he smiles. "here. if i heard right, they're something from back home on the island, no?"

she hadn't intended to tell anyone of her upcoming birthday, but it had come up during one of her talks with sora & riku. she had intended it as a throwaway piece of information, a highlight to the way the ache of homesickness had suddenly increased. she hadn't thought that either of them had taken note, but she had been terribly wrong. the entire hideaway had seemed prepared for the day, & she'd gotten more sincere & kind well wishes than she had ever received back in sanbreque. so many of them had been spoken with a secretive tone alongside gazes measuring her up as if for some plan that she wasn't in on. it had left her with chills, even when she was small. here, she had been pulled into hugs, taught of birthday traditions she had never even heard of, & had even received a few gifts! it had made training with the other cursebreakers a bit chaotic, but they had all been dismissed from training early, laughing so hard that kairi's stomach had hurt & her breath had been coming out in sharp wheezes for several minutes afterwards. it was shortly after that clive approached, & she took notice of him at the call of her name. ❛ cid! ❜ she responded with a bow of her own ( hands at her side, bent at the waist, some habits died far too hard for her to fight against ).

his acknowledgment of the day was a bit of a surprise. he was a personable leader, seemingly in tune with every member of the hideaway, but she still felt surprised at being acknowledged. as well as a childlike excitement that reminded her of the way her grandmother smiled at her as she told her happy birthday or an older memory, nearly forgotten, of her being lifted onto the shoulders of a man who's face she could no longer remember but who's laughter rang bright in her ears & left behind a mix of hope & melancholy in her heart.

❛ it is! ❜ she finally responded, shaking off the feelings that had crept up on her in the moment. kairi was trying to find the words to explain, politely, that she hadn't intended to cause such a fuss about the day ( as though a part of her was worried she would get scolded for causing celebration ) but she never got the chance. instead, she was presented with a gift that made stillness wash over her, her gaze lingering on it as if she wasn't sure that it was real

❛ a paopu fruit! ❜ immediately she was swarmed by memories of trips taken to the island with the secret intention of honing her magic under the tutelage of her grandmother. spending time in the villages with the other children who played with her & taught her their stories & welcomed her back for each visit. year after year after year they returned throughout her childhood. ❛ i haven't seen one of these since... ❜ since the last visit she'd taken there, when her grandmother declared her trained well enough to hide her secret in plain sight. she offered no conclusion to her explanation, simply took the fruit with delicate fingers.

already, she had in mind friends she wanted to share it with. though the thought of asking brought a bit of pink to her cheeks, she knew she may not get another opportunity. rare fruits were already scarce from the blight. even if she could make it to the island, there was no guarantee she'd find one. the realization erased any thought of hesitation from her mind. though it was a legend, a superstition, she hoped they would take to it just as she had. kairi bowed to clive again ( a little sharper, a bit more respectful than her first one ).

❛ thank you, cid. ❜ she held the fruit close, taking in the sweet, nostalgic scent. ❛ this is so much more than just a gift. i'll use it well. ❜ to intertwine the destinies of her & the closest friends she'd made in the hideaway. ❛ i promise. ❜

#otlaw #[ and it gave me the chance to worldbuild a little hehe ]#[ this was so sweeeeeeeeeeeet ]#[ V ] ── * FFXVI ( the strength of your will )#[ ❀ ] ── ` ASKS ( message in a bottle )#[ ❀ ] ── ` KAIRI ANSWERS ( the princess' response )

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kingdom-hearts-redux · 1 year

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It’s her! The girl! A (very poorly edited because I lack artistic abilities at the moment) bunny girl! Allow me to tell you about the girl!

~ Kairi ~

Is the Princess of Heart. As such, she was set to begin training at a certain age, but an unexpected tragedy struck her home and she was forced to flee with her best friend Shion under Aqua’s care. She never sees any of her family again but has made/found her own where she ended up on Destiny Islands and wouldn’t trade them for anything.

Knows that Sora has issues with letting himself be taken care of, and has taken small steps in trying to help Sora with it, like asking him about his day, offering to help out with any of his chores, and being kind, gentle and supportive to him when he needed it.

Is happiest when her friends and loved ones are happy too, and works very hard to make sure they are.

Kairi enjoys doing traditionally feminine things (cooking, cleaning, etc.) but is still a strong character. She likes making her friends healthy snacks, living in a clean space, and takes pride in her appearance. However, as time passes she becomes more concerned with it to try and appeal to whatever way she ‘looks best’ to others (specifically Sora and later Shion).

Is very sweet and mild-mannered towards others but books exactly no sass from anybody and is very witty, able to give back what she’s given and is more stubborn than she looks.

Can be surprisingly secretive but doesn’t like lying if she can help it. Wants to make sure that she doesn’t say more than she should and is never really sure when a secret is harmless or not and takes secrets very seriously. Often worries if this facet makes her untrustworthy.

Can be a bit of a troublemaker at times, more as she gets older, and relishes in a bit of harmless mischief.

Likes baking, cooking, cleaning, and is generally a very energetic and capable person.

Is highly dedicated to her goals. Once she decides something, nothing can deter her from it.

Very smart and observant. She and Shion tie for the highest grades in school, and the four of them often have ‘study nights’ (sleepovers) to help each other out with whatever areas they were lacking in- even Riku appreciated the help (but more on this later).

Has a strong sense of right and wrong and tries her best to be the best ‘her’ she can be to make Aqua proud (spoiler: she already is) and so she can help her friends stay on the right path.

Loves flowers and enjoys learning what each one means. Sora taught her how to make flower crowns.

Is very selfless and kind and becomes easily attached to smaller, more vulnerable things than herself because she’s also very empathetic.

Was faking her amnesia because she thought doing so would protect Sora and Riku from the shadows of her past if they ever came back to bite her (which happened anyway oops). The less anybody knew, the better. Part of her also thought of it as keeping her tragic past away from her happy new present.

Is usually more rational than emotional, and can work under pressure.

Very charming; quickly became the most highly-thought-of girl in town since her arrival.

Became friends with Shion while still at her old home in her early childhood. Shion was an orphan girl who she’d see on occasion wandering around town and one day actually snuck out from the castle to play with her. They became very close and Kairi fought tooth and nail to still be able to hang out once it got out that she was being sneaky without supervision and ultimately got her wish.

Loves Shion with all her heart and shared a paopu fruit with her at Shion’s suggestion shortly after hearing the local legend about it so they would always be friends and always be together.

Wakes up early on purpose. On a similar note, she can’t sleep without a night-light and is afraid of the dark and might also occasionally be visited by her sleep paralysis demon. Poor girl. She also has trouble sleeping if someone she trusts isn’t nearby, so Shion and her bunk in the same room on Destiny Islands.

Pink is her favorite color, but yellow and lavender are her second (and third) favorites. Her favorite ways of wearing them are usually ribbons or flowers.

Semi-frequently suffers from nightmares that she wakes from that give her an unshakable feeling of guilt and loneliness even though she knows she has friends who love her. On that note, she also has self-esteem issues, often thinking that she’s not going to be good enough but tries hard to get stronger.

Is really into witchcraft, legends, myths and fairy-tales as well as natural history and believes wholeheartedly in destiny.

Believes wishes can hold real power (and she’s not entirely wrong).

Has a tendency to be very hard on herself since she was the Princess of Heart who didn’t know how to use the Keyblade properly- especially when it mattered- even though she was like 5 years old at the time. Has a love/hate relationship with the Keyblade.

Sees Aqua as a mother figure.

Animal: Bun (specifically a Satin Rabbit)

#text post #Kairi #Kingdom Hearts Redux #my UA #she has a tail too I just forgot to add it and it's very late #and I'm not sure I'd be able to do it justice

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aquafolia · 3 years

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Sokai Day Fic 1: True Love’s Kiss(es)

So yes, I am a Classics/ancient history blog, and this is obviously super different from the content I normally post on this blog. Please forgive me, but I’ve recently become OBSESSED with Kingdom Hearts and I have nowhere else to post this stuff at the moment. So please forgive me, normal content will resume soon!

Anyway, as I said I just started playing the KH games for the first time this summer and it’s been so much fun. And seeing all the amazing stories and artwork in this fandom has inspired me to write some stuff too. Anyway, I’m Holly, and I hope y’all enjoy :)

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True Love’s Kiss(es)

‘Ugh!’ Kairi groaned, unceremoniously setting down the basket she held in her hands. ‘I forgot that when you pick apples, you have to actually carry them all back, too!’

‘Your basket’s not even half full, Kairi,’ Sora remarked, ‘and we’ve only just started!’

She grinned. ‘Well then, it’s a good thing I have a strong, manly boyfriend to help me carry all of these.’

He could hardly argue with that. Sora feigned displeasure by rolling his eyes and letting out a dramatic groan, which made Kairi giggle. But then he walked over to her, grabbing one of the basket’s handles as she grabbed the other, and the pair made their way deeper down the rows of apple trees. They could hear the distant shouts and laughs of their friends echoing through the orchard as they went. Apparently, Twilight Town– a world basically in perpetual autumn– was known for its fall festivities, including its legendary apple orchards. Once they’d visited the orchards, the gang hoped Remi would help them make apple pies, apple cider, and all sorts of goodies during their visit. To that end, the group had decided to break up into teams in order to pick as many apples as they could carry. Today, Sora and Kairi were paired up. But Sora knew that if they only returned with a measly half basket of apples, the others would surely tease them, accuse them of slacking off.

They wouldn’t be totally wrong, Sora thought with a grin. Sure, Kairi was determined to focus on their task: she was deep in concentration, examining each apple carefully before deciding to place it in her basket. Sora, on the other hand, was much more determined to get Kairi off task. It wasn’t that Sora didn’t want to help out, but this was an opportunity for him and Kairi to spend some time alone– that was a temptation greater than any fruit, in Sora’s world.

Kairi set her sights on a shiny red apple that hung high on a nearby tree. She stood up on her tiptoes, making adorable little noises as she tried to grab it. Sora was staring intently, but not at the apple: Kairi’s form was stretched out in front of him as she reached high over her head, accentuating her curves, and Sora was mesmerized. It was only when she said his name that he snapped out of his trance: ‘Sora,’ she called out, not taking her eyes off the fruit, ‘would you come over and help me with this one? You should be able to–’

Kairi shrieked as Sora, having silently moved behind her, wrapped his arms around her legs and hoisted her up onto his shoulder.

‘Tall enough now?’ he asked casually.

Her surprised squeak was the only reply Kairi could muster. Once she’d successfully picked the apple, Sora released her hips. He held her by the waist as her body slid down his until she landed gently on the ground. Even in the autumn chill, Sora could feel his cheeks burning.

Having regained some of her composure, with a giggle, Kairi said, ‘Guess we make a pretty good team, huh?’ before she turned to the next tree. Sora tried to hide it by replying with a level ‘Absolutely,’ but inside, he was beaming: watching the effect he had on Kairi just never got old for him– but given how hard he had to try to appear cool and unfazed, it wasn’t like he was much better than she was.

Now that he’d had his fun, Sora walked up next to Kairi to help out. The pair picked apples side by side, happily chatting and admiring each other's finds, and over time, their basket filled with bright red apples. While they worked, something about the orchard nagged at Sora’s mind, but he couldn't place it. As he studied a large, blood-red apple in his hands, it finally clicked.

‘All these apples remind me of Snow White,’ Sora remarked. ‘Aqua told me how Snow White’s evil stepmother tried to kill her by getting her to eat a poisoned apple. The dwarves thought she was dead, so they placed her in a beautiful glass casket,’ Sora recalled, his eyes still fixed on the apple. He found himself absentmindedly tracing the spot on his chest where a scar marred the skin over his heart: the permanent reminder of his sacrifice for Kairi– well, his first one, anyway.

‘But she wasn’t dead,’ Sora continued, thought bleeding into memory. ‘She was asleep, and she couldn’t wake up…’

‘Until her true love saved her.’

That broke Sora out of his reverie. He looked up to find Kairi already gazing at him, her eyes soft and sincere. Sora replied, ‘Yeah… Reminds me of another princess I know.’

Did she really mean…? They’d talked about their first adventure numerous times before, but she’d never said it like that.

‘I would have killed for a nice bed to sleep on,’ she continued. ‘You and Riku took me on quite a journey– napping peacefully in a meadow sounds pretty good to me,’ Kairi said with a grin.

A breeze drifted through the orchard, rustling the leaves over their heads. ‘I remember your dad telling us all those old fairy tales when we were kids,’ Sora said. ‘After all the adventures we’ve had… it’s strange to think we sort of became one ourselves.’

‘They’re not always as fun to live as they are to hear…’ Kairi remarked, almost to herself, ‘when you don’t know if there’ll be a happy ending after all.’ Her eyes grew distant, drifting aimlessly down the row of apple trees. ‘I… I still remember waking up at Hollow Bastion, seeing that Keyblade in your chest… And then how you–’ she started, but then faltered, unable to bring herself to say what came next.

Sora gently placed a hand on her shoulder, turning her to face him. She still seemed lost in thought, not meeting his eyes. ‘I know what you mean. But we did get one, didn’t we, Kairi? It took a while, and we’ve had to find each other again and again, but now you’re here. And thanks to you, I’m here. We’re finally together, and nothing is ever going to change that. That’s the best ‘happily ever after’ I could have wished for.’

The pair were alone, the trees standing sentry around them, but his voice grew softer all the same: these words were just for her. ‘All that doesn’t really matter anymore,’ Sora continued. ‘What I mean is… what matters is that we’re here now. That means it was all worth it.’ He took her hand, interlacing their fingers. ‘Back at Hollow Bastion, when I saw your eyes open just before mine closed, when I knew your heart was safe… it was worth it, Kairi.’

She finally looked up at him. Sora hoped his eyes conveyed the sincerity of his words: It had all been for her– and it had all been worth it, every moment. Every time Sora got to see her sweet smile, got to hear her lovely laugh, it was worth it. And now, he wasn’t just connected to her across the worlds by promises and oaths– if he wanted to find Kairi, all Sora had to do was reach for her hand. How was that not a dream come true?

A small smile forming on her lips, Kairi gave him a look of such love and gratitude that Sora knew she felt the same. ‘It just makes our time together now even more precious to me,’ she finally said, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. ‘I’m never going to take this for granted.’

Sora decided then to gather her into his arms and bring her close, her head resting in the crook of his neck, his cheek on her soft hair. ‘You know,’ he started after a pause, ‘I have to admit, when I heard Snow White’s story, I got a bit jealous.’

Kairi pulled back just enough to shoot him a quizzical look. ‘Jealous?’

‘Yeah, of Prince Florian. All he had to do to wake up Snow White and save the day was kiss her– pretty nice deal, if you ask me,’ Sora explained. Kairi smiled, but her eyes were still a bit sad. So he continued, a grin spreading across his face, ‘Don’t know why I didn’t think to try that first…’

‘Oh, Sora!’ Kairi giggled, giving Sora a playful smack on his arm, her face brighter. ‘What, does that mean you thought about kissing Ven at some point, too?’ she countered.

‘I was getting so desperate to find the Power of Waking, I just might have!’ Sora replied, and they both laughed again. Keeping one arm around Kairi, he took a bite from the apple still in his hand. It was crisp and fresh, and amazingly sweet– it was just right, like everything else in this moment.

Suddenly, with a smirk on her face, Kairi plucked the half-eaten apple from Sora’s hand. She lifted the fruit to her lips, holding Sora’s gaze as she took a large bite next to where he’d just bitten, a small drop of juice running down her chin as she chewed. All Sora could do was watch her, hopelessly mesmerized. It was bold, yet playful– Kairi to a T. Before Sora’s brain could fully resume normal functioning, Kairi said, feigning innocence, ‘What? Isn’t sharing fruit kind of our thing? It’s no paopu fruit, but still…’

Staring into her eyes, the radiant sunset bathing them in soft, warm light, Sora grew bold himself: They’d spent so long in silence, so long apart, why waste any time? He’d fought so hard to find her, to come back to her, over and over again. She was right here– if he wanted to kiss her, what on earth was there to consider? Sora reached a hand forward to cup her cheek, wiping the juice from the corner of her lip with his thumb. Kairi let the gentle pull of his thumb part her lips. ‘It is pretty good,’ Sora said, ‘but… you definitely taste better.’ And with that, he lowered his head and kissed her. He heard the sound of the apple landing on the ground, utterly forgotten, as Kairi’s arms wound around his neck.

And Sora had to admit, kissing Kairi felt pretty magical– Maybe those fairytales were onto something after all.

But of course, the distant sound of Aqua, Ven, and Riku calling out in search of them forced the pair to break their kiss, albeit begrudgingly. Sora expected Kairi to step away, pick up her basket, maybe call out to their friends– but she didn’t. She stayed as she was in Sora’s arms, one hand resting on his shirt, over the scar. Sora could feel his heartbeat racing under her touch. When she looked up at him again, something in her eyes was different. Still happy, but mixed with something else– not just happiness, but a determination to be so.

‘This is a pretty large orchard,’ Kairi remarked, her eyes bright. ‘Our friends probably won’t find us for a little while longer…’

‘We’d better not make them wait too long, or Axel will use his chakrams to–’

Kairi grabbed Sora’s hoodie with both hands and pulled him back down to her lips. For a moment, Sora stood frozen, eyes wide with shock. But as she melted into him, his eyes fluttered closed and he wound his arms around her, each kiss between them less ‘Fairy Godmother Friendly’ than the last. Traditionally, in all those fairytales, the heroes only ever got one ‘True Love’s Kiss.’ Sora considered himself the luckiest prince of all time– he had a never ending supply.

Twilight Town was always just that– hanging in perpetual dusk. So Sora really didn’t know how long he and Kairi spent like that, lost in laughter and kisses and caresses beneath the trees. But once their friends’ voices grew dangerously close, Sora and Kairi managed to untangle themselves, wiping swollen lips, readjusting ruffled clothing, and fixing disheveled hair (not that Sora’s hair had been tidy in the first place– and Kairi burst out laughing when she realized her attempts to smooth it didn’t do much good, either). As Kairi called out to their friends, Sora picked up her basket, now full of delicious looking apples, and the pair began to head back toward the orchard entrance. They probably hadn’t gathered the most apples– and he was sure their friends would point that fact out– but Sora didn’t care one bit. He wouldn’t have traded this day for anything.

‘Hey Kairi?’ Sora said as they walked, ‘For the record, if I’m ever in a fruit induced coma– or any other kind of coma, really– feel free to make out with me, in order to revive me. Thought I should say so, you know, just in case.’

‘Oh, really?’ She teased back. ‘I’ll make sure to tell Donald– you always complain he never uses Curaga when you need it.’

‘What? No! Ew, gross!’ Sora blanched as Kairi dissolved into laughter. But when his eyes found hers again, he couldn’t help but smile.

As her giggles died out, she replied, 'Okay, I’ll remember that… But that doesn’t mean you can go throw yourself into danger so I’ll kiss you better!’

‘I can’t help it– when you kiss me, I feel like I can do anything,’ Sora answered simply. Kairi’s eyes widened at his remark, and she ducked her head as her cheeks bloomed pink. Sora beamed. He may have been laying it on her thick, but Sora wasn’t lying: He had true love on his side– the most powerful magic of all.

-----

#sokai day 2021 #sokai #kairi #sora #I'm new to this ship but absolutely obsessed #here is my humble addition to sokai day :)#sokaiday

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manygalaxiesinone · 3 years

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Sharing paopu fruit

Peach: “So you and Sora shared the paopu fruit with each other? How romantic!”

Kairi: “Yeah. I knew deep in my heart that I want to stay by his side, more than anything. The effects of the fruit may be just a legend but, I believe will always come back to each other no matter what.”

Samus: "Well, he did bring you here after Sonic pointed out he could so I guess the legend isn't too far fetched."

Kairi: "Really? Then who would you share one with?"

Samus: "Hard to say. I'm more committed to my job so I never gave the idea of dating much thought."

Shantae: "I'm kinda the same, although I do appreciate my friends like Rotty and Bolo a lot."

Palutena: "What about that Ramiz fellow you met before?"

Shantae: *blushes* "W-What are you talking about? We haven't known each other for that long! We're just good friends!"

(Author's note: Read the "Shantae and the Sacred Relics" RP I did with my buddy @astral-multiverse )

Bayonetta: "Those cheeks of yours speak differently."

Shantae: "Shut it!"

Palutena: "How about you Cereza? Anyone you'd like to share the fruit with? Luca perhaps?"

Bayonetta: "Well when you have a long lifespan like I do, it's difficult to get fully attached to someone. Then again, if it binds our very souls then I suppose even immortality isn't much of an issue."

Palutena: "True. At least this way we'd have someone to spend the eons with, ghost or otherwise."

Zelda: "My destiny with Link are already pretty much intertwined with each other. Sharing the fruit now would be kinda pointless I think. How about you Peach?"

Peach: "Me? Well, I don't know. I do appreciate everything Mario has done, I just don't think I'm ready to go that far yet. Besides, he might still have feelings for Ms. Pauline and I don’t want to get in the way of that if he does. How about you Daisy?"

Daisy: "Luigi, obviously."

Kairi: "Wait, your mind's already made up?"

Daisy: "Yeah. He can be a coward sometimes, but he's a decent guy and pretty reliable when you need him, especially if he doesn't have to do anything to help. I can’t think of anyone else I'd rather be with."

Shantae: "What about Waluigi?"

Daisy: "What ABOUT Waluigi?"

#super smash bros ultimate #super smash bros #super mario bros #kingdom hearts #legend of zelda #metroid #bayonetta #shantae #kid icarus

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vannahfanfics · 3 years

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Harmony of Love

Category: Romantic Fluff, Family Fluff

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts

Characters: Kairi, Sora

Hey, everyone! I’m back again for Day 3 of @sokaiweek, this time for the prompt “Melody”! I’m in the mood for baby lovin’ after babysitting some young-uns, so, enjoy this sweet kid fic!

“Shh, shh, shh, shh,” Kairi shushed as she hurried into the room, speaking over her baby’s frantic wails and sobs. She lowered the side of the crib so she could lean down and scoop up her daughter, holding her tenderly to her chest while she slowly rose up. “That’s it, that’s it,” she soothed while she patted her infant’s back. Her little hands pawed at Kairi’s nightgown, bunching the pink fabric in her chubby fingers to ground herself. Kairi bounced her up and down and twisted her body back and forth, and the baby’s loud wails finally settled into pathetic whimpers and sniffles.

“That’s it,” she hummed, pulling back to gently push her daughter’s auburn curls out of her face. “Did you have a nightmare, my love?” Of course, her daughter couldn’t reply, but her wandering gaze and watery eyes were enough of an answer. “I know, my darling, my little Hikari. The world is scary, huh?” Kairi smiled, and her baby just warbled sadly. “I know. I have them too, sometimes. Someday I’ll tell you all about it… About the adventures of your father and I.”

Hikari’s cheeks began to redden as she began to cry again, so Kairi began to tut over her pitiful cries.

“Don’t worry, my love, I’m here.” She guided Hikari’s head to rest on her shoulder, continuing to bob and swish and bounce on her way to the white rocking chair in the corner. “I’m here,” she murmured again while she sank down onto the lace-edged cushion. The wood creaked under her weight, and then the plush stuffing of the pillow relaxed to nestle her in comfort.

“That’s it,” she said again when Hikari finally quieted down, resting against her body and looking up at her with those blue, blue eyes. She’d always thought Hikari had her father’s eyes, blue like the glittering ocean surrounding their island home. Of course, Sora always turned it around on her, saying that Hikari’s eyes were like Kairi’s, the brilliant azure of the sky. Really, Hikari’s eyes were just a representation of everything else she was— their beautiful baby, their perfect union, their gorgeous harmony of love.

“Donna tokidatte, tada hitoride, unmei wasurete, iketekitanoni,” Kairi sang softly. She used her toes to begin gently rocking the chair back and forth. She stroked Hikari’s silky-soft strands of hair as she sang, smiling serenely, and her heart swelled as her daughter’s lips inched up into a smile of her own. “Totsuzen no hikari no naka megasameru, mayonakani.”

Hikari cooed happily as Kairi leaned in to nuzzle her daughter’s nose with her own while she finished the verse. Kairi had known many joys in her life, but Hikari’s bubbly laughter was perhaps one of the greatest. Hikari’s cheek was as smooth as velvet as Kairi stroked it gently with her finger, appreciating the rosy hue of life flooding the skin. Hikari’s eyes gleamed as she watched her mother sing to her in a soft voice, those brilliant blues full of admiration and trust and reverence. It was a look Kairi would never tire of.

“Shizukani, deguchini tatte, kurayami ni hikari wo ute,” she continued, fingers skipping down from her daughter’s face to her little chest, where she tickled her. Hikari squealed before giggling loudly, prompting Kairi to laugh too because those sweet little laughs were just so infectious. She then rubbed Hikari’s belly to settle her back down, continuing to sing, “Imadoki yakusoku nante, fuan ni saseru dakekana, negai wo kuchi ni shitaidake sagasou kunimo, shoukai suruyo kitto umaku ikuyo…”

Finally, Hikari’s eyes began to drift shut. Her breathing evened out even as she fought to stay awake, but Kairi’s melody never failed to lull her daughter back into a restful sleep. Kairi leaned down to kiss her forehead, then sang against her skin, “Donna tokidatte, zutto futaride, donna tokidatte, soba ni irukara kimi to iu hikari ga watashi wo mitsukeru, mayonakani…”

Her voice drifted off into silence, and then the only sound was her daughter’s slow, even breathing. Kairi smiled, tears glittering in her eyes from the sheer amount of love welling up inside her, and then kissed her daughter’s head. Carefully, slowly, she stood up from the chair to walk back to the crib. She laid Hikari down on the plush cushioning and covered her with her baby blanket, then turned on the mobile with palm trees, paopu fruits, and seagulls above her head. A sweet tune began to play from the speakers as colorful lights danced across the plastic. Even after Kairi had pulled the crib’s bars back up, she stood at the side of the crib to watch her daughter sleep.

She had no idea Sora had been standing in the doorway the whole time until he murmured, “I love it when you sing to her.”

She looked over her shoulder with a sweet smile, then looked back to the slumbering Hikari. Sora’s steps were careful as he walked up behind her to wrap his arms around her middle and rest his chin on her shoulder, joining his beloved in watching their daughter sleep. “She looks like an angel,” he smiled, then turned into her neck to lovingly nibble at her skin. Kairi giggled at the ticklish caress, reaching up to play with his sleep-mussed hair, which was even spikier than usual.

“You don’t think she’s much of an angel when you’re changing her diapers,” she joked, and Sora scrunched his nose up in disgust. Changing dirty diapers was an aspect of fatherhood that he was still adjusting to, but she couldn’t blame him; they were pretty stinky. Still, there were a thousand other things about his relationship with Hikari that made up for that. She loved watching him play with her when he gave her a bath, and the way he babbled to her in that sweet sing-song baby talk, and danced with her around the room until she was literally screaming with delight.

“Look, I’m sorry, but whatever comes out of Hikari’s bottom is like toxic waste,” Sora smirked as he nuzzled further into her neck, giving her a squeeze. Kairi just laughed, because she kind of had to agree. “Still an angel, though, even if her diapers are stinky. Our perfect little angel.”

“Our perfect little angel,” she echoed, and despite the circumstances, Kairi’s heart still fluttered at the word “our.” Even now, the idea that she was spending her life with this perfect man, that they had this perfect baby, that they had this perfect life— it just filled her with so much joy that she just had to let it out in the form of tears lest she explode.

“Hey,” Sora crooned when he realized she’d started silently crying again. She sniffed as he turned her face so he could kiss the tears away, smiling all the while. “What is it?”

“I’m just— I’m just so happy,” she laughed, knowing it was kind of silly but unable to help it. Sora would never laugh at her, though, not when he was a big ol’ crybaby himself. Purring, Sora turned her around in his arms so he could press a kiss to her forehead, then her nose, then to each of her cheeks, and then finally her lips. Then he looked at her with those deep blue sea eyes, those eyes like their daughter’s, those eyes full of so much love it was suffocating in the best way.

“I’m happy too, Kairi. I”m so happy I can share this wonderful life with you,” he whispered. He grabbed her hands so he could entwine their fingers together, and then he brought him to his mouth so he could kiss those, too. She couldn’t help but laugh as she lavished her in affection, just like he always did. He was nothing if not full of love.

“Donna tokidatte, tada hitoride, unmei wasurete, iketekitanoni,” he sang in a raspy, kind of off-key voice against her palm, making her snort in laughter. His eyes glittered as he continued to sing in that low voice, and it made her smile so hard that her cheeks ached a little. But like heck she was going to ask him to stop. As he sang the next verse, she sang with him: “Totsuzen no hikari no naka megasameru, mayonakani.”

“Your voice is definitely prettier than mine,” he laughed, and she dropped her head with a snicker. When she looked back up, she pressed a kiss to his chin, making his smile widen.

“I think you still did a good job,” she said, and he preened under her praise. She’d always had such a way of giving him a big head with just the simplest of words. Or maybe it was just every word she said was magic to him, the sap. Oh, but he was her sap, and she was kinda sappy for him, too.

She wasn’t sure if it was the lullaby or just the fact it was the early hours of the morning, but Kairi’s eyes began to droop, too. Sora noticed, and promptly bundled her into his arms, making her jump up to wrap her legs around him. She showered his face in pets and kisses as he carried her out of the nursery back to their shared bedroom.

Just as they were snuggling back into bed, Hikari’s shrill cries echoed through the house, and Kairi had to laugh at the futility of sleep. As she prepared to get back out of bed, Sora pushed on her shoulders to get her to lay back down.

“But she won’t go to sleep without the lullaby,” she said as Sora slipped out of bed, stretching his arms above his head with a yawn.

“I know. I gotta practice, and besides, it’s push-and-pull, right? It ain’t fair if you do all the work.”

“I think you just wanna get out of diaper duty tomorrow,” she teased, and Sora snorted in response.

“Just go to bed,” he laughed while shoving a pillow into her face. Kairi rolled over, hugging the pillow to her chest as she rolled onto her side. She watched Sora walk off back down the hall, and as she melted gratefully into the bed, Hikari’s cries quieted. Soon, they were replaced with the soft voice of Sora singing, and Kairi’s eyes drifted shut with a smile.

Our perfect little life, she thought again, and it really was.

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

#sokai #sokaiweek #sokaiweek2021 #sora x kairi #kairi x sora #kingdom hearts

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tiifalockhart · 3 years

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Missing You

Anonymous asked: Can you please make a KH Sora x female reader oneshot? One where the Sora misses his crush so much that he starts dreaming of seeing her again. As he continues his quest to find the power of waking. He reminds himself that if he continues he’ll see her sooner. The sooner he sees her the sooner he can confess and share the paopu fruit with her. But the organization tells him that they have someone special to him. This causes Sora to get angry and ask them where is she?! They ask him how important is she to him. Sora would do anything for his crush. As soon as Sora sees you in front of Xehnort Sora screams her name. But before he could get to his love it was too late.

Anonymous asked: May I ask for a Sora x normal female reader oneshot? Where she doesn’t know about keyblades or heartless. Sora doesn’t want her to be involved with all of this. Because he’s afraid that she’ll get captured like Kairi does.

Pairing: Sora x Reader

Word Count: 3k

A/N: goodness, I’ve been working on this for about two weeks straight. I decided to mesh these two requests together because based on the content of both asks, I could muster up a pretty decent story from both of them. I hope this is okay!!! I really hope you enjoy reading this, I’ve worked on it for so long now haha

Ao3 || Masterlist

It had been so long since the last time you had properly seen Sora. You remembered the first time he went missing when the two of you were just kids. It was terrifying, he, Kairi and Riku suddenly disappearing without a trace. The fact that this was possible by a few kids was scary enough, but they left behind no clues.

You remembered the adults of the islands were upset over this. They couldn’t seem to figure out why this happened. You found yourself conflicted and confused as well. Your three friends just.. Vanished into thin air. You remembered everyone spent so many days and nights out searching for the three of them, only to continue coming back with nothing. You ended up living in fear. What if they were taken by someone? What if they were coming after everyone on the island? It seemed everyone on the island was paranoid as well.

It wasn’t until Kairi suddenly returned home when everyone’s nerves finally calmed down. You could never find it within yourself to carry on like everyone else, though. You didn’t really understand it, everyone was acting like Sora and Riku never existed. You asked Kairi about this several times; however, she had the same answer every time: ‘I don’t know.’ She’d answer that way to everything you asked. Eventually you and Kairi grew far apart.

It seemed like a lost cause to try and ask around. No one seemed to remember Sora, and Riku ended up never returning. You grew concerned. Something really bad had to of happened, but there wasn’t any way for you to find out.

...Until you started dreaming about it.

Sora couldn’t remember the last time he felt at peace since leaving Destiny Islands. While this adventure was amazing and fun at times, he also missed being home with his family and friends and knowing they were safe. He missed you so much. The day he and the others disappeared from Destiny Islands was probably the most confusing day of his life. He hasn’t been back to Destiny Islands since... And he probably won’t be back for a long time.

By the time Kairi returned to Destiny Islands, Sora was trapped in Castle Oblivion. Having his memories rearranged and changed, he ends up forgetting Kairi. However, an important aspect is overlooked.

Sora had spent so much time trying to protect you without you knowing it. During his adventure so far, he was careful to avoid mentioning your name. He was lucky enough that you happened to stay home that night he and the others disappeared. Not wanting to risk another one of his friends getting hurt, he had to be careful when it came to you.

So Naminé ended up overlooking you in Sora’s memories and focused on Kairi and Riku specifically. Out of every confusing emotion that he had during this time, somehow relief was present. Knowing that you were safe for now made all of this comforting some how.

As the giant doors to the memory pod slowly shut, Sora felt himself begin to drift off to dreamy state. The last thing to cross his mind was you. Every memory of you that remained untouched played through his mind like a movie, from the time you two first met, up until the day he disappeared. He longed to see you again, maybe even share a paopu fruit with you. As he fell asleep, he looked forward to seeing you again.

Somehow, his dreams managed to transfer over to you. As you slept, you began to see something similar to visions. Some of them were hard to decipher. You couldn’t tell if it was the future, or if it was the past. You’d see people you didn’t know and live their lives as if it were your own. You dreamt of fighting and wars that you had never seen before. When you woke up, all of it was gone within an instance.

It was confusing. You didn’t know who’s memories these were, nor why you were seeing them. There was no one to ask, either. If anyone found out, they would think you’re crazy...

You managed to mention it sneakily in a conversation with Kairi. After school one day, as the two of you walked together down the beach, you suddenly turned to her in the middle of talking. “You know... I’ve been having weird dreams lately.” You stated. If anyone were to have answers, it would be her, right?

Kairi simply looked over at you, her expression going blank as you spoke. “Weird dreams?” She asked, raising a brow. “Like what?”

Finally, some progress. You began to explain in detail of what you were seeing. You mentioned seeing Sora and Riku in worlds that didn’t look like Destiny Islands, or seeing people older than the two of you fighting each other. As you explained all of this, Kairi’s expression slowly twisted into one of discomfort. When you realized this, you immediately stopped talking. “I’m sorry, I-” You tried to apologize, but she stopped you.

“It’s alright. It’s getting late, isn’t it?” She pointed out, looking up at the sky. The sun was beginning to set on the distant horizon. You hesitantly nodded and turned towards the small town. “I need to go home before I worry my parents.” She reminded, waving goodbye as she walked off.

A slightly frustrated sigh left you lips as you watched her go, unable to find it in yourself to press the situation further. Kairi’s been through enough by now... She doesn’t need you interrogating her.

Troubled by your overwhelming thoughts and dreams about Sora, you found yourself unable to settle with the fact that he was just... Gone. You were willing to believe anything at this point, you just needed some kind of peace of mind.

That’s when you first met him.

It had been months since your dreams first started occurring. You and Kairi were much older by now, with no sign of Sora or Riku ever returning. Eventually conversation fell off about them. No one seemed to remember them.

You don’t really remember how this man ended up on the island. You remembered he was dressed in a black, weird-looking coat, and his face was hidden by his hood. He was the one that approached you first, his hands clasped behind his back as he silently observed you.

Before you could question him about what he was doing, he interrupted you by simply lifting a hand. “You’re friends with... Sora, aren’t you?” He asked, his voice slightly raspy as he spoke. Something inside of you told you to not answer him, but if he approached you, he already knew the answer, didn’t he?

“...Yes. Who are you?” You questioned, your eyes narrowing slightly. He let out a sly chuckle as he shook his head.

“I’m no enemy of yours. Promise.” He stated, holding out his left pinky. The cloaked man seemed to be expecting you to link your pinky with his; however, you held your suspicious gaze. “You see, a friend of yours sent me to find you. What was his name again? Something like... Riku...” The man explained, causing something inside of you to snap.

“Riku?! Is he okay? Can I see him? Does this mean Sora is okay as well?” You asked, the questions basically spilling out of you. You probably should have left off the last question, you didn’t know who this man was. As far as you knew, he could have been the one responsible for their disappearance. It didn’t matter in the moment, though. You were desperate for answers. You needed to know that Sora was okay.

Unbeknownst to you, you had fallen straight into his trap. You finally established that connection between the two of you. Now they had an opening to attack. “Oh, I thought you knew. We’ve been taking care of Sora for a while now...” He lied smoothly, a twisted smirk forming on his features. “Would you like to see him? I’m sure he misses you a bunch.” The man said, his hand stretching out towards you.

You couldn’t stop yourself from taking his hand. As soon as he held his gloved hand out, you subconsciously reached out, not a single second thought in your mind. The moment your fingertips touched, a pool of darkness formed around your feet. Before you could get a word out, the two of you were consumed by it.

When your eyes opened again, you stood in the middle of a grey room. You quickly backed away from the male, a newfound look of fear in your eyes. “What did you do?!” You demanded, her brows furrowing. Have you succumbed to the same fate as Riku and Sora?

The male let out a low chuckle as he removed his hood. His long black ponytail fell down his back as his smirk was shown in the light of the room. “Oh, I’m sorry, I thought you wanted to see Sora.” He hummed, a sarcastic tone to his voice. “As if.” He stated, summoning a weapon similar to one of a gun. “Walk.” He commanded, gesturing for you to go.

You figured as you were pushed through the twisting halls of this weird building, you’d at least look for a way out. Your eyes scanned the halls, you would stare down every corridor, and you’d examine every opening in the walls. From what you could see, there was really no way out. Each room lead to another room that eventually went in a full circle. The castle was massive, there really was no escape.

Even if there was, the cell that they placed you in was unescapable. It seemed to float in midair, the bars were thick and too close together. You looked around the inside and realized there was no way of getting out except through the bars. A troubled expression formed on your features as you moved to sit against the wall.

How did all of this happen? How did this man know who Sora was? He mentioned Riku too... Does that mean Riku is here? But why would Riku let this happen? Wait... How did you even get here? What is this place? You definitely weren’t at Destiny Islands anymore. How could you be so foolish?

It felt like years had passed by the time Sora woke up again. His body was sore and his mind was filled with thoughts and memories of everyone in his life. He wasn’t really sure how much time had actually passed when he was asleep, but he did know he missed his friends.

His life quickly changed as he eased into being awake again. Organization XIII had been more and more active, Sora was mostly unaware of his previous encounters with them in Castle Oblivion. Mickey and Riku were still gone, and he had no clue when he would be able to return to Destiny Islands to visit you or Kairi.

It wasn’t until he arrived at Hollow Bastion when he came face-to-face with the Organization members. He met one of them, a dark haired male with a long ponytail and an eye patch. This one was pretty much like a huge jerk. He kept taunting and mocking Sora, causing increased frustration with the group, until he mentioned something odd.

“We have something you want.” He dropped between his lines. Sora’s expression contorted into confusion. Something he wants? What could he possibly want from the Organization?

“That’s not true. I don’t want anything from you.” He argued, frowning as he looked up at the older man. Xigbar immediately began to laugh, his yellow eye piercing into Sora’s gaze.

“As if.” He answered, waving him off. “I guess [Name]’s gonna be waiting a little longer, then.” He shrugged, disappearing into a pool of darkness.

For a moment, Sora stood in silence. His expression held confusion, shock and a hint of anger, but he knew he was powerless to stop Xigbar now. His eyes slowly moved to his keyblade. They had you. He worked so hard to avoid bringing you into this... How did this happen?

Throughout his adventure, trying to find the Organization felt impossible. It was frustrating to say the least. He wasn’t sure who to blame. Had he accidentally let it slip? Did Riku or Mickey tell them? Where were they anyways? There were so many confusing questions that probably wouldn’t be answered until a long time from now.

His adventure began to feel like a cat-and-mouse game. He was constantly chasing someone, whether it was Organization XIII, Riku, Mickey, or heartless. It was so exhausting, especially with you constantly on his mind. He couldn’t help but be terrified for you, he was so worried and there wasn’t a waking moment where you weren’t on his mind.

Things finally began to look up when they finally arrived at the World That Never Was. It was time to face the Organization for good, while finding you, Kairi and Riku.

From what you could remember, Kairi somehow ended up in the prison as well. While the two of you were separated, you still could talk. Even if that was the case, there wasn’t much to say. You felt guilty, the blue haired male stopped by occasionally to remind you that you’re the reason why Sora is being lured here. It made you feel so guilty, you hated that you had somehow become a burden in the middle of a bunch of problems you didn’t understand.

You missed him so much. You missed Riku, you missed Kairi, you missed Destiny Islands. Why did everything have to go wrong? Why couldn’t everything just be normal? Nothing made sense anymore.

A shaky sigh left your lips as your eyes shut. With this endless waiting, you found yourself enjoying solitude. There wasn’t much else to do besides wallowing in your guilt. You longed to see Sora again, you missed home so much.

In the middle of your depressed thoughts, you heard some movement from the cell besides yours. You narrowed your eyes as you moved closer to the bars, before widening your eyes at the sight of a... Ghost? She had light colored hair and wore a white dress, but she seemed to be see-through and she stood in the same pool of darkness that the Organization uses. The two of you made eye contact for a moment, before another pool appeared behind you. Kairi seemed to trust her without hesitation, you could only do the same.

When you entered the darkness, you emerged in a long white hall. You hadn’t seen this part of the Castle before, so you weren’t sure of which way to go. The mysterious girl and Kairi seemed to be separated from you, because they have yet to arrive.

This only meant that you were on your own from now on. You weren’t sure which way to go, so you ended up blindly choosing. As you explored the Castle, you suddenly heard some talking. When you finally approached the voices, you saw all three of them. Sora, Riku and Kairi were standing together, reunited and smiling.

Your heart swelled at the sight. They all looked so grown up, they looked so different from the kids you met on the islands. You weren’t sure how to approach them anymore. They were basically different people. You hesitantly took a step closer, noticing how Riku’s gaze moved towards you.

The grey haired male quickly patted Sora’s shoulder and gestured towards you, making the younger male look over at you. A look of relief crossed his features immediately as he ran over to you.

“[Name]....” He whispered, seeming to be unsure of how he should approach you. “We were just about to find you, I was so worried, how did any of this hap-” He was cut off from his rambling when you embraced him tightly, your tears falling down your cheeks finally.

“Sora, I missed you so much...” You whispered, looking up at him and gently cupping his cheeks. “I was so worried, the moment you and Riku never returned, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I kept thinking about you... Everyone else seemed to forget, but I couldn’t.” You explained, shaking your head.

He nodded hesitantly and sighed, shaking his head. “I should have told you what happened, what was going on, I’m sorry that I never could.” He whispered, frowning. “I just wanted to keep you safe.” He murmured, looking down at the floor.

“It’s okay. You have unfinished business, don’t you? We’ll talk about it when we get back to Destiny Islands.” You replied, nodding slowly and taking his hand.

He nodded firmly and turned towards the others. “Then let’s finish this.” He stated.

The entire group ran towards the top of the Castle, preparing to face the final boss. Avoiding obstacles and defeating seemingly endless amounts of heartless and nobodies, you finally arrived at the top. Sora stood in front of you and Kairi protectively. You were basically useless when it came to confronting Xemnas, so you stayed back with a weird looking duck and dog.

Everything seemed to be going well... You weren’t really sure what was happening. You couldn’t believe your eyes for the most part. All you remember was a giant door opening and Sora and Riku disappearing into it. You couldn’t help yourself become nervous at the sight. What if they didn’t return? There was so much on the line. Eventually, you and Kairi were urged to return to Destiny Islands, the small mouse telling you that Sora and Riku would be home soon.

You had no choice but to go with them. Your eyes were glued to the sight of the door beginning to shut behind Sora and Riku. You swore you saw something resembling a smile on Sora’s lips. Nervousness formed on your chest. What if he doesn’t come back? What if you never see him again? You found it hard to breathe as you returned to the beach of Destiny Islands.

You and Kairi waited for so long, neither of you speaking as you waiting at the edge of the coast. You were so anxious as you waited for some kind of answer, or sign that they were alive and well. As the sun began to set, the stars above you began to shine through the clouds. You stared up at the sky for the longest time until something else caught your eyes.

Two shooting stars, side-by-side, fell towards the ocean. As they splashed into the water, you hopped up to your feet and prepared to run out into the water. That’s when you saw his spikey brown hair peek above the water, followed by long silver hair. “Sora!!” You cried out, running into the water. The two men turned towards you and Kairi, eagerly swimming towards the island.

The moment that you and Sora met, the two of you embraced tightly, as if you were afraid something were going to separate you two again. You could feel your own tears running down your face, as well as his falling onto your shoulder. “I missed you so much.” He whispered, pulling away and looking down at you.

“I missed you, too.” You replied quietly, taking his hands and guiding him to the shore. It felt nice being home with everyone again. It had been years since you were all united like this again. You never wanted them to be taken away from you again.

As everyone exchanged their greetings and hugs, you found yourself slowly walking towards the leaning palm tree. Sora managed to catch up to you, a grin on his lips. “Hey, I have something for you.” He explained, pulling you along and hopping up onto the palm tree. He reached up and plucked a couple of star-shaped fruit off of it, handing one to you. “I heard that if you share these, your lives are connected forever.” Sora mentioned, raising a brow and handing one to you.

“Share them?” You asked, taking a seat next to him on the tree. “Where did you hear that?” You asked, a giggle leaving your lips.

He chuckled softly and shrugged. “Some guy named Riku.” He answered, smiling quietly and sighing. He quietly took a bite from one of the fruit, before holding it out towards you. After you took a bite, a soft hum left your lips.

“So... What now?” You asked, looking out towards the sunset. He hesitated, before shrugging.

“I’m not sure. The Organization is defeated, we’ve finished our journey, I think.” He murmured, furrowing his brows. “I guess I can finally tell you about everything that’s happened.” He pointed out, grinned.

You smirked. “You better get started then. You have a lot of explaining to do.” You answered, smiling as he eagerly began to explain everything from the night they left, up to before you found them in the castle.

Honestly, no matter how hard it was getting to this point, you were beyond happy to be next to him again.

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maddrmatt · 3 years

Text

A Beautiful Future: A Premonition or a Punishment?

New to this fanfic? Click here to properly begin!

Greetings, readers and fellow SoKai fans!

Time for a certain Princess of Heart to take the spotlight in this story!

Fair bit of warning though, I sort of used this chapter to showcase a few headcanons and speculations regarding the future of the series.

Also, there’s a little challenge within this chapter that you can take on if you wish.

Enjoy!

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Chapter 3: Writings of a Princess

Land of Departure

Dear Sora,

I know it’s been a while since I last wrote to you. I haven’t really had anything really important to tell you since I came here.

Now something incredible has just happened and I had to tell you first before anyone else. But before that, here’s a few updates on what’s been happening on this side of reality.

I’m still training hard. No offense to Merlin, but I think I’m getting way better with my Keyblade training under Master Aqua than him.

My days here at the Land of Departure are filled with learning various fighting techniques or improving my magic skills. And to test them, I often spar with Aqua, Terra or Ven. One day, I might even get a perfect score against one of them in our matches.

All of three of them and Chirithy have been very good to me. They’ve really made me feel like part of their family.

But as great as it’s been with them, they’re no true replacement for everyone back home. I miss everyone: Mom, Dad, Selphie, Wakka, Tidus, Riku, and you. Especially you.

Sorry, Sora. It’s just so hard every day knowing that you’re trapped in that fictional world. I really wish I could’ve gone there with Riku to save you. But after being out of action for a year and the fact that I couldn’t even land a single blow on that memory of Xehanort, I knew it was the better choice to stay behind and train even if I didn’t like it.

I really hope Riku finds you soon. We’re all so worried about both of you. Since nobody really knows anything about this Quadratum place, we’ve all thought Riku was a little hasty in just taking off there alone.

We still haven’t heard anything from Mickey yet either. Hopefully, he’ll come back soon from Scala Ad Caelum, and he’ll have found something we can use to help you and Riku. Until that happens, all the rest of us can do is wait.

Anyway, time to tell you the real reason for this latest letter, Sora. And you are not going to believe what it is. I can hardly believe it myself.

Last night, I had a dream. It was actually the first dream I’ve had since I came to the Land of Departure.

Not that I’ve minded not having dreams just in case they ended up being recreations of my worst memories. I’ve already watched you vanish twice. I don’t think I could bear to watch it happen again in my dreams.

But the dream I had was nothing like that at all. It was of a wedding, Sora. Our wedding.

It was an amazing sight. It was in this gigantic chapel that looked like it was in Radiant Garden, and it was filled with all your friends from around the worlds.

Many of our fellow Guardians of Light and closest friends made up our wedding party. It was hardly a surprise to see Selphie as my maid of honor or Riku as your best man.

You looked so handsome in the suit you were wearing. And judging from the stunned look on your face when you saw me coming down the aisle, I must’ve looked pretty beautiful to you.

It was truly incredible, Sora. It felt so real and so wonderful. I wished it never ended.

But, unfortunately, as it is with dreams, we all have to wake up eventually. And when I did, the happiness I felt ended up giving way to other emotions as I reflected on the dream.

First of all, I felt a little confused. As good as that dream was, I couldn’t help but wonder why I had it at all. I mean, wouldn’t you find a little strange to have a dream about a wedding especially since we haven’t even had our first kiss yet? It’s kind of rushing things a little.

But don’t get me wrong, Sora. I know, deep down in my heart, how we truly feel about each other. I wouldn’t have shared that paopu fruit with you otherwise. And when the time is right for it, the idea of getting married to you is something I will embrace wholeheartedly.

So, I thought more about the dream and believe it or not, I started to think that it was not merely just a dream. I wonder if what I saw was our future. It definitely did feel like that since there were so many unfamiliar parts in it.

For example, I had no idea there was a tradition in Radiant Garden weddings for the bride and groom to crown each other with symbolic flowers. Then again, I could have known that if the knowledge came from a memory from when I lived there. Maybe I attended a wedding there when I was young.

But what really stood out to me and made me believe that this could be our future was the many unfamiliar guests. I knew that because I’ve been studying the details of your last two journeys from Jiminy’s Journal and the Gummi Phone. And even though the Journal of your first journey was erased (Naminè’s still really sorry about that), I still remember everything about it from being in your heart through it all.

So, I was able to recognize who you had met and who were strangers. They were far too numerous to mention. But here are some examples that really stood out to me.

A tall woman with long black hair wearing a tan colored dress and a beautiful turquoise necklace with a raccoon, a dog and I think I saw a hummingbird flittering around her.

A pair of robots, one yellow and box-shaped, the other white and cylindrical, who were holding hands.

A couple that consisted of a redhaired woman and blonde-haired man who appeared to have some kind of hairless rodent on his shoulder.

A teenage boy and girl along with a younger boy and a company of animals such as a bear with gray fur, a panther, an elephant with a tuft of brown hair and a quartet of vultures.

A large family that appeared to be a mix of humans and skeletons along with a very colorful winged dog and a giant winged cat.

A boy with red hair (whose head looked triangular) along with another boy with green hair and a bunch of other teenagers as well as some kind of strange teal animal that looked like a cross between a duck and a beaver and a man with brown hair, poor posture and wearing a lab coat (who wears that to a wedding?).

A princess dressed in a beautiful green gown accompanied by a prince in a green suit with a blonde woman dressed in pink, a short old woman dressed in white and wearing sunglasses and a snake around her shoulders as well as an alligator who was carrying a trumpet.

A very unusual group consisting of two men and a woman with blue skin and pointy ears along with a dog-sized dragon, a centaur, and a winged lionlike creature with horns and a scorpion’s tail.

A girl with bushy brown hair among what appeared to be a family of giant frogs.

A woman dressed like she was some kind of islander with a burly man with numerous tattoos (I think I saw one of them move) over his body along with a pig and a chicken that didn’t look very smart.

A family who seemed to be some kind of royalty consisting of a princess in a simple green dress with long curly red hair along with three identical boys with the same kind of hair, their big, strong father with a peg leg and their very elegant mother.

A boy and a girl who looked like they were twin siblings who were accompanied by a pair of old men who looked like twins as well.

A redhaired boy in the company of a group of what looked like various human-sized bugs.

There were so many more, but I think I’ll stop here. With the large number of guests at this wedding, I could go on listing them for a long time. But it does seem there’s a lot more friends for you in the future.

Unfortunately, while I was mulling over the dream further, a horrible thought came to me. I started to wonder if the dream, as beautiful as it was, wasn’t meant to bring me happiness at all because it was actually showing the future that we could have had but now would never have. And the true reason of it was to punish me for my failures in the fight against Xehanort.

I know you wouldn’t like to hear this, Sora. But there are still days where I can’t help but feel responsible for your disappearance and think that if I had made some different choices, you’d still be here.

I know it was my choice to fight alongside you because I wanted to keep you safe the same way you’ve always done for me. But looking back, I now see it was foolish to assume that my training alongside Axel would turn me into a Keyblade wielder on yours or Riku’s level. And it was probably an even worse idea for a wielder with very little actual battle experience to go from basic training to a high stakes battle with nothing in between.

We may have been desperate to stop Xehanort before he went after the New Seven Hearts especially since he had already assembled all his darknesses. But we probably could’ve and should’ve explored some other options instead of going to fight the Organization right away after you woke Ven.

Since Ienzo told us that they had a replica body ready before we even left for the Keyblade Graveyard, we could’ve gotten Roxas or maybe even Xion out of your heart before the fight. In Axel’s words, they were the old hands when it came to Keyblades.

We also could have made a bigger effort to find and save Terra first even if our chances were pretty low. That would not only have gotten us a more experienced wielder, but it would’ve also lowered Xehanort’s ranks by one.

Maybe if we had done things that way, we would’ve had more experienced Keyblade wielders to fill out the Seven Guardians of Light. And even if it would be disappointing to be put in the reserves, it would’ve been worth it if it led to you being safe.

So, those are the reasons I believed that dream was a punishment. But you’ll be glad to know, Sora, that I only entertained those beliefs briefly.

After thinking it over some more, I decided that it didn’t matter what that dream’s purpose was. Comfort or punishment, I’m going to actually use it to serve my own purposes instead.

I’m going to let it remind me of what my ultimate goal is and drive me to be the best Keyblade wielder I can be. One that’s going to make the forces of darkness think twice before causing trouble and one that you and Riku will be proud to have fighting alongside you. And hopefully, that will lead us to a future like the one in the dream or at least one that’s pretty close.

In fact, after seeing that dream, I think I may end up actually proposing a couple of ideas to Aqua and Master Yen Sid. I’ve been thinking about them a lot and maybe now is the time to try to put them into action.

Since I need to get some real battle experience to become a stronger Keyblade wielder, I’d like to go on a journey throughout the worlds to gain some. Hopefully, Aqua will think it’s a good idea. And even though there’s been little sign of the Heartless and Nobodies since Xehanort’s defeat, there is one thing I really wish to do.

I’d like to try to find and identify the remaining three of the New Seven Hearts. After all, who’d better to find them than someone who’s part of the same group? And if we knew who they were and what their home worlds were, we’d be in a better position to protect them if someone tried what Maleficent and Xehanort did.

Who knows? Maybe all those unfamiliar faces at the wedding were not only friends you’ll make on future adventures, but ones I’ll make on my own adventures. Maybe even the remaining New Seven Hearts were among them.

I also have an idea that may be able to help in the quest to bring you home. If Fairy Godmother could bring me back to the Final World, I could talk to that girl from Quadratum again. She may not be able to remember certain things. But she might be able to tell us something about that world that could help.

Naminè might even be able to help with this plan. Even if you only met that girl briefly, that may be enough for her to be considered connected to you and therefore, Naminè’s memory powers can work on her.

Hopefully, the Masters will think that these are good plans. I really want to do any part I can to not only help bring you and Riku home, but also to protect the worlds as both a Keyblade wielder and a Princess of Heart. After all, with you two gone, someone’s got to pick up the slack.

Well, I think that’s enough for now. It’s nearly time for breakfast and then it’s training until lunch. But before I go, there’s just one final thing I’d like to say.

Whether that beautiful dream shows a wonderful future that is meant to be or not, it doesn’t matter. Because the only kind of future I’ll ever wish for is one in which we’re safe, we’re happy, and we’re together. That’s all I really need.

See you soon,

Kairi

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Much later, the training hall in the Land of Departure was filled with the sounds of clashing Keyblades and various shouts of magical invocation. While those sounds were nothing uncommon in that location, there was an unusual intensity that day.

As Aqua, Ven and Chirithy watched, a heated sparring match was taking place between Kairi and Terra. But much to their surprise, the more experienced Keyblade wielder was actually struggling as the young rookie was keeping him mostly on the defensive.

“Wow! Kairi’s on fire today!” exclaimed Ven.

“She is, indeed,” concurred Chirithy.

“Well, she has improved a lot in her skills since she came here. But you two are right. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her this driven before,” said Aqua.

“You’ve got that right, Aqua. If she lands one more hit on Terra, this’ll be the first time she’s won by a perfect score,” said Ven.

As the match went on, Terra blocked blow after blow from Kairi. Then, strangely, she ceased her attack.

Terra saw his opportunity and charged toward her with a downward slash. The Princess dodged to the right narrowly avoiding the hit.

“Light!” she cried out as she fired a small but powerful Light spell at Terra’s side. He grunted as the magic struck him and knocked him off his feet.

“Point to Kairi,” declared Aqua.

“That’s three to nothing! Kairi wins!” exclaimed Ven as Chirithy clapped its paws together.

“Well done, Kairi,” said Aqua.

“Thank you, Master Aqua,” Kairi said as she walked over to Terra and helped him up.

After exchanging bows with each other, the Princess of Heart said, “I hope that didn’t hurt you too badly, Terra.”

Terra chuckled. “Not at all. It helps that you’ve learned how to restrain your magic during training. But I’ve got to say, Kairi that I am impressed. That’s the first time since you’ve come here that I’ve been unable to land a single hit on you.”

“You’ve certainly come a long way, Kairi. Today, you showed some truly exceptional skill and strength. You should be very proud of yourself,” said Aqua as she, Ven and Chirithy approached.

“Well, I’ve had a good teacher and some great sparring partners. But I think it really helped that when I woke up today, I just felt a little extra drive,” said Kairi.

“Yes. We noticed,” said Aqua.

“Why is that exactly?” asked Chirithy.

A certain smile came to Kairi’s face which caused her four friends to exchange knowing looks. They had spent plenty of time with her by now to know what exactly brought out that special smile of hers: thoughts of a certain someone close to her heart.

“I had the most amazing dream.”

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Notes from the Mad Doctor:

I thought the best way for Kairi’s spotlight chapter would be to do in the style of one of her letters to Sora. I’ve used it before as readers of my big fic Kairi’s Epic Journey would know.

So, in case it wasn’t obvious, the challenge I mentioned at the start is that list of unknown guests. It was quite a challenge to write all those characters by description alone. I hope you all will take a shot at identifying them. Some are pretty obvious, but some may be a little more difficult.

I hope I did a good job in trying not to make this chapter’s narrative too similar to the previous chapters. I actually tried having Kairi leap to the punishment notion before the premonition notion. But unfortunately, the flow didn’t work right.

Fortunately, the views on the punishment notion are a little different. Sora has absolutely no regrets for what he did and believes that he’s being unfairly punished for breaking rules he had no idea existed. Kairi, however, believes her punishment is deserved since she blames herself for what happened to Sora. Fortunately, both are able to use that dream to keep on fighting.

I hope you all aren’t put off that this is more like a series of one-shots centered around a certain plot device (the wedding dream) instead of a congruent storyline. That was what this project ended up being.

I give my thanks to whoever reads this chapter.

I also give my special thanks to @fandomchanger, @flynn-science, and @ladylucky for their likes on the previous chapters as well as @sokaiweek, @phoenix-downer, and @the-secret-place for reblogging the previous chapter.

Comments, likes and reblogs are much appreciated! Stay tuned for what comes next because it’s going to be a real feel-good chapter!

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Onto the next chapter!

#kingdom hearts #kh fanfiction #sokai #sokaiweek #sokaiweek2021 #kairi #aqua #ventus #chirithy #terra #maddrmatt

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winterstarqueen · 3 years

Text

Sora x Normal reader Headcanons

Being far away from the person he loves the most hurts him. You were back on the islands. The last time he saw you was before he took the test.

Sora would remind himself that you would want him to be happy and continue to fight the darkness.

You are the main reason why he continues to fight. When this battle with Xehnort is all said and done. Sora would return home to you. With every Heartless and Nobody he fought he was another step closer to you.

At times he would imagine what it would be like if you came with him. Sora even imagined dancing with you. During the festival for the lost princess. Just hearing you laugh made him happy. He loves your smile so much. And when the sky was covered with lanterns he sighed. You couldn’t be in a boat with him and admire the lanterns.

“I failed the test. Would (Y/n) still think that I’m strong enough to fight the darkness?” Sora asked himself one night. He couldn’t stop wondering this.

If he heard your name from the Organization he would get really mad and upset. Because just the thought of them finding you worried Sora. You are his everything and if anything happened to you he would feel bad.

Sometimes he would have nightmares about the darkness taking you away. “(Y/N)! Grab my hand!” He would yell in his nightmares. “Sora I can’t reach!” You would yell tears running down your cheeks. You got dragged away from him. “No! (Y/n)!” Sora would scream trying to run after you. However he couldn’t find you. In the distance he could hear you crying. Sora was running as fast as he could. But as soon as poor Sora found you it was too late. The heartless already caught you. “Stop it!” Sora screamed swinging his keyblade. That was when he woke up. “Ow!” Sora rubbed his head for he hit it in sleep. With his own keyblade. “That was only a ....nightmare?” He asked. Sora couldn’t sleep a wink on those nights.

You had your share of issues as well. You didn’t want to forget about him. It happened before. Just the thought of forgetting about him again hurt you. “Sora...” You whispered closing your eyes and putting a hand on your heart. Good you still remembered his name....and his bright smile. You missed him so much. But there are so many hearts connected to his. Those people who are hurting need him. You sat on the tree alone. You grabbed a Paopu fruit. You longed to share one with him. However you didn’t know where he was....or if he loved you.

You have a hard time sleeping because just knowing that at any moment Riku, Kairi or....Sora could get hurt. You had no idea if they lost their hearts or if the darkness got them. “I know that you all really strong. But please stay safe.” You had said looking at the stars. They’re the hearts of all worlds. So they were out there somewhere. You didn’t want to think about the bad stuff. Because you knew that Sora would want you to be happy. “But how can I be happy when you are gone? I miss you so much.” You asked laying down. You could hear Sora’s heart talking to yours. “Please smile for me (Y/n). I can feel your light. It cuts through the darkness. It makes me stronger.”

If he saw you in his station of awakening he would be happy. This place feels so familiar. “Sora is that you?” You asked. He looked different. He even grew a little. Before he could respond you hugged him. “I missed you so much!” You cried. Sora didn’t know what to do at first but then he put his arms around you. “Why are you here?” Sora had asked you. “I don’t know...but I guess that I really wanted to see you. That my heart brought us here.” You responded. “Oh.” Sora said still confused why were you at his station of awakening. You didn’t have that many special powers. “Let’s go home!” You said grabbing his hand. His smile turned into a frown.

“(Y/n) I’m sorry but...I can’t return yet. I still have to save Ventus, Terra and Aqua. And I lost the power of waking. Please forgive me.” Power of waking? Who was Ventus, Terra and Aqua? You had no idea what he was talking about. “I’m not mad. Just please come back soon.” Sora then gave you his classic smile. “I promise.” He said before summoning his keyblade. You saw him disappearing from this place and you knew that you would see him again soon. “Go get them my knight...” You whispered before going back to your home.

#sora x reader #kingdom hearts x reader #kh3 sora #cute #adorable #fluffy

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spacebeyonce · 3 years

Text

this wip wednesday post is for @ride-the-bifrost specifically. because they asked for a sorikai body art au ages ago, and I’m finally working on it but it’s since went and morphed into a mash up of florist/tattoo parlor au meets urban fantasy. I mentioned it uhhh last week? I think?

but anyway - a snippet! I’m still building it up - duh, obviously, but here’s what I have rn.

Riku never paid much mind to the tattoo parlor across from his grandmother’s shop.

That isn’t to say he’s never seen it before, or anything – he still remembers the day it popped up a few years ago, across the street and two buildings over. Synthesize, with its striking midnight blue bricks and bright red door. A lot of people were skeptical of the business, doubtful that it would be there long – himself included - but despite all their doubts, it’s stuck around so far, highly recommended through word of mouth for the high quality of their work. If you wanted a tattoo or piercing as a magic focus, or for protection, or hell, just for a good night’s sleep – Synthesis would always provide.

It has been a while since the Destiny Islands had any kind of person around who’s spell work was primarily through body art; on the cities inland yeah, sure, there’s plenty – but that’s a two-day trip that many don’t feel like taking, at minimum. Here in their little beach town, folks like the ones at Synthesize were a rarity. It’s not like Riku knows the people that worked there, though; he’s rarely seen them, even after moving back home from the mainland – and that wasn’t planned, either. But life never turns out the way you want, even if you plan every possible turn on your path to the letter.

See, Riku was a witch – a witch like his mother and father, and their foremothers and fathers, on and on and on. He was a witch, and when he was seventeen, he had left home - like all good witches are supposed to do - and traveled inland to try and find a place to settle down and call his own. His plan had been to open his own shop to sell his own magical wares and make a name for himself – though what he wanted to sell, he wasn’t really sure. But he would figure it out on his own time. He had been well on his way to it, too – a few apprenticeships under his belt, a growing number of clients – he was doing it. It had been so close.

But then he got a call from his mother. And he had to come back home in August at twenty-two, to help around the house and care for his father, who had fallen ill. And eight months later he had to hold his mother’s hand as they stared out into the sea, draped in mourning white as his father’s ashes were swept away by the tide.

He hasn’t left home since. He hasn’t felt the urge to. Before, he had been so eager to leave home, so ready to just – grow up. But now, he’s not much of anything – not anymore.

Riku wasn’t resentful about staying in the Destiny Islands, not now; in the earlier years, when grief blinded everything, he was – he snapped and lashed out and quickly gave into the dark, bitter ugliness of his heart. But it was fine in the end; he had family to support him and pull him back when he got too into his head – and a grandmother that put him to work so he could get his head out of his ass, forcing him to try his hand at selling green things and potions – a tincture for better health, a bouquet with flowers placed just so to sharpen the mind or brighten a room, ethers to restore a person’s magic when exhausted. He wasn’t as good as his grandmother at first but now – he was decent enough. It was something that would keep him focused, keep him busy, and deal with the stormy turbulence in his heart in other ways.

And then his grandmother up and left the shop in his name a year and a half later when she finally decided to retire – a little apothecary all his own.

He didn’t think he could handle it by himself – a whole shop, belonging to him and him alone? It was too soon. He still felt so unbalanced – so young. He was only twenty-three. He hadn’t been sure. But his grandmother had put her foot down.

“You need this.” She insisted. “You need this, and it will be good for you. Besides – you think I’d let you run this place by yourself? No, no, I’ll be there to help when needed – but that doesn’t mean you get to slack off!”

Time passed, and he slowly settled. Slowly made the apothecary feel more like his, made a name for himself outside of his family. And then – Synthesize.

All he knows about the people that work there is that the artists are around his age, and the owner was a blue haired woman that he’d seen coming and going now and then. That, and the high compliments of their work, he supposed. But other than those things, he knows nothing about them – and he didn’t really mind all that much. Never really noticed, anyway, too caught up in his own work, his own life, filling in the ragged space his father left behind bit by bit. He didn’t really think his path would ever cross with his mysterious neighbors.

But that all changed one cold winter day – that day, he thinks, was the one that set him onto that long, winding path.

He didn’t really mind it that much, in the end.

-o-

It had been a pretty normal start to the day.

Riku arrives to his shop at eight in the morning, as he has done for the past three years, and then he makes his rounds around the shop to check on the plants that filled buckets to bursting and the state of the potions that lined the shelves, taking note on what needed to be restocked for the day. His grandmother wouldn’t be in until noon, and that was alright – the morning hours were slow, with customers few in number - which meant he could take his time.

After taking care of what needed to be restocked, Riku returned to the back rooms of the store to prepare himself for the day. He pulled his apron on and tied it snugly around his waist, adjusting the straps and making sure they weren’t twisted around his neck. He combed his fingers through his long, platinum hair, pulling his hair tie off his wrist and holding it between his teeth as he braided his hair back, ensuring it wouldn’t get in the way. His movements were slow, meditative, and with the added scent of flowers and dried herbs, Riku felt himself slipping into a calm space, muscles relaxing. As he tied the end off, the soft jingle of the bells over the door rang through the air, and Riku raised an eyebrow.

A customer? At this hour?

“Hello?” A man’s voice called out – bright, chipper, but still relatively deep. “Anyone there?”

“Be with you in a moment!” Riku called back, making a face at his reflection and the way his bangs hung in front of his eyes, futilely blowing the hair out the way. He quickly put it aside and left the back room behind, adjusting his apron one last time as he returned to the front area, wondering who could possibly be coming by this early.

A man around his age was waiting at the counter, hands tucked into the pockets of his coat as he looked around the shop. He had spiky brown hair, warm brown skin, and strikingly blue eyes, and when Riku stepped up behind the counter, the man gave him a quick once over before giving him a smile so bright it made him squint a little. It felt fine if he only admitted it to himself, but the man was…cute. “Can I help you?”

“Yes! I was wondering if you had any celebration flowers?”

Riku tilted his head, surveying the buckets of flowers around the room. “Probably, yes.” He mused. “What’s the occasion?”

“Ah, my girlfriend – it’s her birthday today, and I wanted to give her some flowers before work.”

Ah. A girlfriend. Well, no big deal.

He shrugged off the slight sting of disappointment with a smile. “That’s nice of you. Do you know what flowers you wanted to give her?”

“Uhh…”

Sheepish, the man shrugged, his grin turning shy as he reached up to scratch at the back of his head. The sleeve of his coat slips down, just enough so that Riku could see a small paopu fruit tattooed on his wrist. “I didn’t – sorry! I just thought, um, that there would be bouquets that were pre-made?”

Riku breathed out a little laugh. “That’s not how it works here, no. It – alright then. Can you tell me about her?”

“Huh?”

“Your girlfriend.” Riku says, beginning to roll up the sleeves of his sweater. “Can you tell me about her? What’s she like?”

He’s still a little new to this, but he’s worked here long enough that he feels like he’s got a good grip on this now.

“Oh! Um. Well –”

The man scratched at his hair again, and his eyes went soft as he thought over his words. “Kairi, well, she’s – she’s really smart, and nice – but don’t let that fool you! Even though she’s sweet, she’s got a real temper, too. And she’s so – she’s so funny, and competitive, and really hard working! And she always tries to make everyone feel good, and is just – she’s really warm, and welcoming, and – um.”

He smiled dopily. “I, uh. I like her a lot.”

Riku couldn’t help but smile. “I can tell. Alright, then. Give me just a second.”

He marinated over what he’d been told, humming in thought as he wandered around the space, staring at the buckets of flowers. It didn’t have to be a huge bouquet, he thinks – nothing too outlandish. He started off with a few pink carnations as the base, thinking for a second before grabbing a few amaryllis flowers. What else…? Jasmines, Riku decides. And larkspur. Maybe forget-me-nots? Riku wasn’t sure yet, but he felt pretty good about the idea.

So far it was looking good – whites and pinks with a little hint of purple. It felt…fitting. He didn’t know this Kairi person, but this looked like it would suit her well enough.

“So…”

“Hm?” Riku hummed absently, looking around the room.

“How long have you worked here?”

“Oh – um.” He tucked some of his wayward bangs behind his ear, even though he knew the act was futile. “About three years. This shop was – it’s family owned.”

“Really? That’s so cool!”

“You think so? It was my grandmother’s and, well. Now it’s mine.”

“Whaaaat?” The man gaped at him, astounded, and Riku felt prickly heat spread down his neck. “You own this place? But you look like – my age!!”

Riku sharply turned away, pressing the back of his hand against his cheek as he looked over the plants. The bouquet still needed a little – something. He decided to go with the forget-me-nots, after all. “That’s because I probably am your age. Really, it - it’s not that impressive.” Riku mumbles quietly, back turned to the man. “I mean – this place isn’t really mine. It’s not something I made on my own. But – that’s nothing you have to worry about. Sorry.”

How unprofessional of him; what is he thinking, starting to unload his problems on a stranger? Get a grip.

He decided to grab a few leaves of a fern plant, thinking that a touch of green would be good. As he started to head back to the counter he felt – something. A light brush against his senses – a magical aura rubbing against his. It made him shiver a little, hair rising at the nape of his neck, and he cut a glance over at the man, only to notice him staring, blue eyes piercing. It felt like – like he was trying to figure him out.

“I still think it’s great.” He said softly, and he sounded so…sincere. Riku tore his eyes away, letting out a soft laugh of disbelief. “If you say so.”

“Can you do magic, too?” The man asked as Riku returned behind the counter, grabbing some lavender tissue paper to wrap the flowers in.

“I can.” Riku’s hands moved fluidly, tucking the flowers together and wrapping them up, turning some of the blooms just so, so the arrangement looks perfect. “I come from a very long line of witches.”

“Really?? That’s amazing!”

The man looked so amazed, eyes sparkling, and Riku actively had to fight back the heat creeping up his neck. “Thanks.” He mumbled bashfully. “Anyway –”

He wrapped the flowers with a nice white ribbon and held out the bouquet. “You’re all set.”

“Oh! Thank you!” The man carefully takes the flowers, a little awed smile on his face. “They look amazing – and they smell so good! And they feel really – bright! Wow, you’re really good at this!”

“I should hope so.” Riku says dryly, and the man makes a face.

“Sorry, sorry. How much do I owe you? Oh, can I also get a couple ethers, as well?”

He grabbed the bottles of ether before munny exchanged hands, and Riku gave the man his change and receipt with a smile. “Have a good one. I hope Kairi likes the birthday flowers.”

“Thanks! I hope so, too!”

The man grinned brightly at him and took a couple steps back, arms laden with his purchases. He’d started to turn to the door but – stopped. Turned back to face him. “Hey…what’s your name?”

Riku tilted his head a little, bemused. “I’m Riku.”

“Riku.” He repeated slowly, like he was testing the sound of his name, and then he gave him a smile. “I’m Sora! It’s nice to meet you – and thanks for all your help! I’ll probably come around more often.”

Sora gave him one more wave before stepping outside, the door quietly swinging shut behind him. The shop felt – much quieter, with Sora’s presence gone; everything about him was very…bright. Loud. But not in a bad way.

He did say he would come around more often, and Riku, well – he guessed that he wouldn’t mind the noise too much.

Riku stepped around the counter and moved towards the large windows, discreetly staring after Sora as he walked down the street and headed –

To Synthesize.

“Oh.” He said aloud, mouth falling open a little as Sora entered the shop, letting that bright red door close behind him.

He guessed – the little glimpse of a tattoo should’ve made it obvious. But that doesn’t mean Sora works there. Maybe his girlfriend works there? That’s probably it.

It slowly started to sink in how Riku must have looked to others, pressed up against the window and staring after someone he only talked to for five minutes.

Why was he thinking so hard about this? What was there to wonder about? He needs to get it together.

“I have work to do.” He muttered to himself, pushing away from the windows and retreating into the store’s depths.

#wip wednesday #sorikai

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phoenix-downer · 3 years

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The Bucket List

After Sora’s return, Riku helps Naminé fulfill the items on her bucket list.

~2100 words. Post-Kingdom Hearts III and Melody of Memory. Rikunami/Namiku. Romance, Fluff, Friendship. Naminé POV. Written for @memoryofpromises.

Golden light danced along the walls and rested on Naminé’s face. The breeze from the open window brought in the smell of sea-salt, and she sighed deeply. Having a body of her own again was truly special, even though it had been over a year since she’d gotten one. Every day was a new adventure, and she couldn’t wait to see what this one had in store.

“Morning, Naminé,” Kairi said as she yawned and stretched. Her red hair stuck out from all different sides of her head, and she smiled sleepily. “Did you sleep well?”

“I did, thank you.” Naminé sat up and rubbed her eyes. One of Riku’s baggy hoodies served as her nightgown, and her cheeks flushed pink as she thought about the time he’d given it to her to wear. Since then, she had a growing collection of his hoodies and jackets that supplemented her own wardrobe nicely.

“Did you enjoy your first sleepover?” Kairi asked as she swept her hair back into a ponytail.

“I did! It was a lot of fun.”

They’d stayed up late, watching movies, eating candy and popcorn as they talked about all sorts of things. Another item Naminé could cross off of her bucket list. Now that Sora was home, safe and sound, they were all able to focus on just enjoying life again. Soon after they’d gotten him back, Kairi had helped Naminé make the bucket list, and now her friend was helping her do all the things on it, one by one.

“We’ll have to invite the other girls over sometime so we can have a proper slumber party,” Kairi said. “We’ll need to figure out a time that works for everyone, but I’m sure we can make it happen.”

“Thank you, Kairi, really. You don’t have to do all this for me—”

“I know. But I want to. You’re my friend.”

Naminé smiled. It was so nice to have Kairi for a friend. Before, she’d felt so alone, and now she had so many friends that there was never a dull moment. Her Gummiphone was always lighting up with messages and photos and phone calls, and her schedule was filled with school and dates with Riku and plans to hang out with friends.

“So, today you said you wanted to go shopping,” Kairi said as she rummaged through her closet for something to wear. “And that means we can dress up if you’d like.”

“I’d like that very much,” Naminé said as she got up from Kairi’s trundle bed. It was nice to go from having one dress to a full wardrobe of clothes, and now Kairi wanted to take her shopping to get even more clothes.

Together they got ready for the day. Naminé went with a simple blue dress with yellow accents that Kairi let her borrow with sandals to match. That was the nice thing about being Kairi’s (former) Nobody; they could swap clothes no problem. Kairi swept her hair up into a French twist and secured it with a clip, then gave her some paopu fruit earrings to wear. When she was helping Naminé put the finishing touches on her makeup, the doorbell rang.

“Huh, I wonder who that could be,” Kairi said, but there was a mischievous sparkle in her eyes, and her lips were twitching.

“Kairi?”

“Why don’t we go see who it is,” Kairi said as she grabbed Naminé’s hand and led her downstairs. Naminé’s heart pounded; could it be—

“Surprise!” Kairi squealed as she opened the door. Standing there, wearing a nice shirt and slacks, was Riku. He broke into a smile as soon as he saw Naminé, and she felt a blush creep up her cheeks as she returned his smile.

“I assume we’re not going shopping?” she asked Kairi. It was strange but also a little thrilling, how much trouble she had looking away from Riku when he was nearby.

“We can, some other time. But yes, today is supposed to be for the two of you. Riku just wanted it to be a surprise, and he recruited me to help.”

“You don’t know how hard it was not to say anything,” Riku said. “I’m… not very good at keeping secrets. But I wanted to surprise you.”

“You did,” Naminé said. “I didn’t suspect a thing.”

They just smiled at each other for a few moments until Kairi cleared her throat. “Better get going, lovebirds, or you won’t have time to do everything Riku has planned.”

That snapped them out of their reverie, and Riku blushed as Naminé ducked her head and giggled. They hadn’t even left Kairi’s house yet, and they were already getting so distracted. Naminé went back inside to grab her purse, and with that, she and Riku were off.

“Where are you taking me first?” she asked as Riku led her down the winding path away from Kairi’s house on the hill. It was amazing how comfortable it felt to hold his hand like this now. She still remembered the day when he’d first offered his hand and she’d taken it, the day she’d gotten a body of her own again and a precious reminder that she wasn’t alone.

“To the Gummi Ship,” Riku said as he gave her one of his charming half-smiles.

“And after that?”

“You’ll see. And no cheating and looking at my memories,” he teased. “I’ve been to the places I plan on taking you today, so I’m sure you’ll find them in there.”

Her lips twitched. “Me? Look at your memories? I would never.”

“The innocent act doesn’t work so well on me, you know,” Riku said with a laugh. “It might fool Sora and Kairi, but I can see right through it.”

She bit her lip and stopped walking, and Riku turned around to look at her.

“What is it?” he asked, his face twisted into a frown.

“You know I wouldn’t look at your memories without your permission, right?”

His eyes softened. “Yeah, of course. I trust you, Naminé.”

She relaxed at his words. Sometimes she wondered how the others could trust her at all, with the powers she had. But Riku really did mean what he said, of that she was sure. He had always been honest and open with her about his feelings and struggles, so she was trying to do the same.

She found his hand again, and he gave her a reassuring squeeze.

“C’mon, let’s go,” he said, and she nodded and let him lead the way once more.

Their first destination was Twilight Town. Riku took her to Le Grand Bistro, where they ate a delicious lunch consisting of Pumpkin Velouté and Sea Bass en Papillote, with Berries au Fromage for dessert. The weather was perfect as they dined outside, just the right temperature with a light breeze blowing through, and Naminé sighed as she set her fork down and patted her mouth with her napkin.

“Thank you, Riku. The food was delicious.”

“Yeah?”

She nodded. “I used to walk past here sometimes, when we were looking for a way to help Sora. It’s nice to be able to finally eat here myself. It was something I’ve been wanting to do for a while.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” he said, then found her hand again. They just gazed into each other’s eyes for a moment, until Naminé had to look away because she was getting too flustered.

“I’ll go pay up, and then we can go to the next place,” he said.

The next place was still in Twilight Town. The little outdoor theater, to be exact, the one tucked into a side street that showed the latest cartoons and movies. Naminé had never been to a movie theater before, and she watched enraptured as the action unfolded onscreen.

“It’s so big,” she whispered. She knew from Kairi’s memories what a movie theater was like, but seeing one in person was completely different from seeing it in someone else’s memories.

When she glanced at Riku, he wasn’t really watching the movie at all. She caught him looking at her instead, and that just made a blush creep up her cheeks once more. She found his hand again and worked up the courage to lean against his shoulder. Yet another thing on her bucket list she could scratch off.

Wait a moment. Was this… on purpose? Did Riku somehow know about her bucket list? And if he did, was he trying to help her do the things on it, one by one?

She shyly looked up at him, and he smiled again and squeezed her hand. “Enjoying the movie?” he whispered.

She nodded and turned her attention back to the screen. There was only one way to find out if he was, in fact, working off of her bucket list. She’d have to wait and see where he took her next. But if she was right, there was something on the list she wanted to experience, more than anything, and she couldn’t wait to see if it would come true.

When the movie was over, Riku led her up to Sunset Hill. The view from here was as beautiful as it had been the last time she’d seen it. Golden light flooded the sleepy town stretching out below, and the sky above was filled with fluffy clouds tinged purple. Beyond the town were green hills as far as the eye could see, and Naminé found herself longing to sketch the scene before them. They sat on one of the benches and savored the moment till at last Riku spoke up.

“Do you remember the last time we were up here?” he asked. The breeze ruffled through his hair and clothes, and Naminé was very glad he was dressed like himself this time instead of shrouded in a dark cloak. His eyes were their natural green, and he was looking at her in a way that made her heart flutter.

“Yes, of course,” she said, pressing her fingers together. “How could I forget? You spared me and saved my life.”

DiZ had ordered Riku to dispose of her, but Riku had defied his orders, and in doing so, allowed her to escape. That was the first of many times he’d shown her kindness.

His face was very serious when he spoke again. “Of course I did. It was the right thing to do. I knew in my heart that you were your own person, and I couldn’t just ignore what my heart was telling me.”

“This was the first time, wasn’t it?” Naminé said softly. “The first time we realized… there was something more between us. Against all odds, a human and a Nobody had developed feelings for each other.”

“Yeah. I realized I couldn’t bear to lose you. Funny how that meant letting you go.”

Naminé smiled shyly and found his hand. “But now we’re together again, at long last. It all worked out in the end.”

Even after the long separation they’d endured, they’d found each other again. Even after they’d spent more than a year apart, searching for a way to save Sora, their work was done at long last, and they could finally rest side-by-side, hand-in-hand.

Her eyes searched his face. He’d fallen silent, like even a whisper risked ruining such a special moment. Her gaze wandered to his lips, full and soft. How would it feel if he bent down and—

Oh. Oh my. He must’ve been wondering the same thing too, because he was leaning closer and closer, his breath warm on her cheek. She tilted her head and let her eyes flutter shut so she could focus completely on how it felt when their lips met. Despite how sweet and gentle the kiss was, it still felt like an electric jolt went coursing through her body at the connection. To think that kissing could feel so wonderful. No wonder people liked to do it so much.

When it was over, she opened her eyes and smiled. Riku was smiling, too, and he rested his hand against her cheek and gave her a long, lingering kiss on the forehead before straightening. It was funny, how that forehead kiss made her melt even further. She found his hand again, and they sat there, gazing into each other’s eyes, the scenery around them all but forgotten.

As nice as her bucket list ideas were, nothing compared to getting to do them with him. When he was by her side, each moment was a wonderful adventure that would soon become a precious memory.

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A/N: A big thank you to the mods, Kai and Sera, for organizing everything! And thank you to the artists and other writers for creating such beautiful pieces! I really enjoyed being a part of this zine and seeing everyone’s lovely works 💜

#rikunami #namiku #riku #namine #naminé #kingdom hearts #kh fanfiction #phoenix writes #phoenix downer #memory of promises #memory of promises zine #mop zine #mopzine #romance #fluff #friendship #kairi #long post

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thedeliverygod · 3 years

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surprise~ I wrote sokai. actually not a surprise I mentioned writing it after I beat melody of memory, I’ve just been working on it forever since my writing process has been a STRUGGLE lately. my AO3 and fanfiction accounts are linked on my profile if you’d prefer to read there [or just look up thedeliverygod]

Always

Sora blinked his eyes open to see his bedroom, a bright ray of sunlight running through the middle of the floor from where the curtains met. Grunting, he turned over and closed his eyes as he sunk his head down into the pillow again to go back to sleep.

‘Wait… my room?’

The realization clicked and his eyes shot open. As he gazed upon the ship hanging from the ceiling and other odds and ends collected around the room, he knew it had to be his.

“When did I get home?” He sat up and held his head, trying to remember what had happened last.

He had been in Quadratum for some time, but he had eventually met up with Riku and later the rest of their friends. Sora wasn’t used to being the one who had to be saved, but it took everyone’s strength and willpower to bring him back to their reality and the realm of light.

Kairi.

He remembered Kairi comforting him, talking to him softly but he couldn’t remember what she said.

He also remembered being at Yen Sid’s tower and something being mentioned about him needing rest. After that, nothing. Except for waking up here.

He shot upward and immediately felt the muscle aches all over his body as well as a multitude of bruises forming under his skin. Curative spells were amazing, but there was only so much they could do. He sucked in a breath before putting his feet to the floor and forcing himself to stand up despite the pain.

He clung to the banister of the stairs as he made his way down the stairs, but he wasn’t even halfway down before his mom appeared at the foot of them.

“Sora! I’m really glad you’re awake, but do you really think you should be out of bed?” She reached out a hand and took a few steps upward.

“I’m just a little sore, it’s fine.” He waved her off before giving a wide grin, “It’s good to see you, Mom.”

She shook her head but just stared at him with watering eyes as he continued to make his way down the stairs. Once he had reached her, she enveloped him in a tight hug, “I can’t believe how grown up you are.”

“Yeah, me neither.” He answered in a laugh.

“I’ve missed you so much.”

He hugged her tighter, “Me too.”

Hesitantly letting him go, she waved towards the living room, “Let’s go sit down.”

Sora nodded and followed after her, “Okay.” While she took the couch, he took the worn-out arm chair as he always had.

“Kairi filled me on somewhat of all you’ve been through over the past few years. I can’t even begin to imagine…”

“Speaking of Kairi, is she still here?” He asked automatically. After a beat and his cheeks starting to warm, he added, “Or Riku, or anyone else?”

Giving a confused look to his question at first, she realized what he meant and answered, “Oh, you mean on the islands. Yes, Kairi is still here. I believe Riku is still with the others that Kairi mentioned, though I’m not sure where they are.”

He let out a breath and nodded, “Ah, okay.”

His mom looked at him knowingly and smirked, commenting, “Still got it bad for Kairi after all these years, huh?”

Though he made a yelping noise in response to her blunt questioning, he looked away and answered, “Is that surprising?”

“Not at all. And the way she talked about you seemed to be quite different too, so I figured something must have happened. Are you finally dating?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Well, no, not really…” He answered honestly, “It’s hard to really ‘date’ with the life we’ve had.”

“Oh,” She parted her lips and let out a disappointed sigh, “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”

“But,” He started again and she looked back up, intrigued, “Do you remember when we came back to the islands before a big fight before?”

She nodded, “Of course. I was so happy to see you then, too.”

“Well, we shared a paopu fruit when we went out to the play island to watch the sunset like we did as kids. Kairi’s idea, of course.” He flushed again, quickly adding, “N-not that I didn’t want to!”

His mom laughed loudly, “Of course.”

“But it was perfect. I think the paopu helped bring us together again despite the almost impossible odds, just like the legend says.” He gave another soft grin.

“Maybe it did help, but I think a lot of it was just… you two just being who you are, you know?” She gave her own smile in return. Sora didn’t really have the chance to respond before she changed the subject, “So, I suppose you asked about Kairi because you want to go see her, right?”

His face quickly reddening again, he admitted, “Well, yeah. But—”

“You can go.” His mom waved towards the front door, “Just be back before dinner.”

He stared breathlessly for a moment before smiling, “Thanks, Mom.”

“You’re welcome.” She answered as he got up from the chair and slowly made his way to the door.

Once he was outside and off the porch steps, he reached into his pocket for his gummi phone. Unsurprisingly, he had several messages from various people asking for him to call once he had woken up and was feeling better. ‘Well, I still kinda feel awful, honestly.’ He thought to himself, both as a truth and as an excuse to wait to call them later.

He moved to Kairi’s name and hit dial. After a few chirps, he heard her voice ring out through the speaker, “Sora?”

“Kairi!” He answered, grinning widely.

She gave a small laugh, “So you’re finally awake, lazy bum.”

“Yeah. Can’t say the same about my arms and legs, though. They kinda feel like jelly.” He tried to stretch his free arm again and found much of the same feeling as he had when he woken up earlier.

“I’m not surprised, I’m pretty sore too.”

“So… where are you? You’re still on the islands, right?” He bit his lip, hoping he hadn’t missed her.

“Of course. Riku wanted to stay too, but I guess there were some last-minute things King Mickey wanted his help with. Oh, and I’m at my house but I’ll come to yours. You really shouldn’t be pushing yourself so soon.”

He rolled his eyes, “I’m not that out of it. How about we meet halfway? Like around the park, I guess.”

Kairi hummed, “Okay, if you say so.”

“Great. See you soon.” He tapped the red button to end the call and set out on his way.

Pushing himself beyond his limits was nothing new with all of the things he had done on his adventures in the past few years, but he was still bent over in pain by the time he made it to the park.

“I would laugh because I knew you would do this, but you look awful.” Kairi commented as she approached him.

Straightening out and standing up straight, he smiled apologetically, “Yeah, you were right.”

“What a surprise.” She lightly grabbed his hand and tugged him towards a picnic table, “Let’s sit down.”

“Thank you.” He let out, unable to hold it in any longer as he sat down and faced her.

She blinked, “For what?”

“For everything.” He answered automatically. After a moment, he clarified, “For saving me.”

Kairi smiled and shook her head, “It’s like I told you years ago. I couldn’t just let you stay that way and forget about you. That’s the same reason you came after me, right?”

“To be honest, I didn’t really think about it. I just acted. But yeah, I guess that’s the best way to put it.” He admitted with a small laugh.

“That’s such a Sora thing to say.” She reached over to intertwine her hand with his.

He quirked an eyebrow, “I hope that’s a compliment.”

“Of course.” She smiled brightly as she nodded.

“So what’s going on with everyone else?” Sora shifted the topic of conversation, curious, “I know you said Riku stayed behind to do a few last-minute things but honestly my memory is kinda fuzzy about what all happened right before coming home.”

Kairi’s expression dampened somewhat, but she still kept a smile, “Just making sure everything is the way it’s supposed to be. And then we’re supposed to be able to take a break for a little while. Just hang out here on the islands; you, me, and Riku.”

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, “That sounds nice.”

“I’m sure. You’ve been through a lot.”

He opened his eyes and looked at her seriously, answering, “So have you, you know.”

Quietly, she nodded and held his hand a little tighter.

And suddenly, he knew what he had to do.

“Kairi.” He called her name and she looked up curiously.

“Yes?”

“This isn’t really how I ever imagined doing it, but I think this feels right.” He slipped down from the bench and knelt on one knee, with Kairi quickly clasping her hands over her mouth in surprise. “I don’t even know how old I was when I started dreaming about wanting to spend my life with you. And for a long time, it always seemed out of reach; both because I didn’t know how you feel and because of all of the things we’ve been through. But I want to make it real now. No matter what happens next, I want to be by your side, always.”

Kairi nodded vigorously, tears starting to overflow from the corners of her eyes, “That’s what I want too.”

Sora reached out and motioned for her hand, only to pull it towards him and kiss her knuckles. “I’m sorry I don’t have a ring yet. But like I said before, this wasn’t exactly planned so…” They both shared a quick laugh before he smiled widely and asked, “Kairi, will you marry me?”

“Yes.” She slid closer to him and pressed a kiss against him eagerly, “Yes, yes, yes.”

He cupped both sides of her face and grinned against her, “So… when do we let everyone else know?”

“Maybe keep it a secret for a few days or else everyone’s hugs may crush what little solid bones you have left in your body right now.” She gave a gentle squeeze of his arm which he had to admit hurt much more than he expected.

“Ow.” He rubbed the spot she had squeezed, “But that’s a very solid point.”

“Do you need me to carry you back to your house?” Kairi teased with a tilt of her head.

He shook his head, “I dunno, I think it’s poor form to have your new fiancée carry you.”

“Fiancée, huh.” She beamed, humming, “I think I like the sound of that.”

“So do I.” He kissed her again.

#kingdom hearts #sokai #my writing

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miss-tc-nova · 4 years

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Dense as a Brick Wall - Terra x Fem!Reader

First off YEEEESSSSSSS! I NEED MORE DARK ROAD ASAP! Second, Terra is actually one of my favorite characters of the series so I was excited for this request! I admit I struggled a bit but I hope you like it and I’m sorry it took me so long.

~~~~~

I can officially say today has started off wild, but I mean my version of wild—these keyblade wielders apparently find travelling to different worlds pretty normal. First thing in the morning, the trio of Aqua, Ven, and Terra all show up on my doorstep and insist I hang out with them for the day. When I finally relent, that’s when they break the news that we’re going off-world.

So one insane trip later, we end up in this bright, sunshine world of Destiny Islands. It’s gorgeous with its tropical atmosphere and sparkling beach and it’s a shame I didn’t bring my bathing suit. The trio then takes me to the larger island where I meet way more people than I was prepared for. They all seem friendly enough and accept me pretty quickly; also we’re apparently not the only group to travel from another world.

That’s when the inhabitants—Riku, Sora, Kairi, and Namine—announce an activity they’d come up with for the visitors: a photo scavenger hunt. The groups pair up quickly, leaving the four of us from the Land of Departure.

“So how do you guys wanna split up?” Terra asks.

“Oh, I know,” Aqua hums, wandering towards Namine. Once she returns, she presents four pieces of paper in her grasp. “Whoever draws the two with colored ends are partners. You first,” she says, offering the handful to me.

Tugging on a strip, I find it colored red on the bottom. “Oh. Cool.”

She turns to the man beside me. “Alright. Terra.”

He picks a strip and my insides run with ice; they expect me to go on a scavenger hunt, alone, with the only person I’ve ever fallen so hard for.

I don’t even know where to begin with Terra. He’s the biggest sweetheart and I’d have to be wearing fire-retardant pants if I said I never admired those muscles. I know he gets a lot of flak, but the guy can actually be pretty smart when it comes to strategy and situational awareness, though his social skills could use a little work. So, while I can say this about his physical build, it also unfortunately applies to his empathic understanding: he’s as dense as a brick wall.

I’ve done everything just short of saying, “hey, you know what? I have an enormous crush on you.” Well, that and kiss him. I once even held his hand when we were wandering through town, but I think he mistook it for me trying not to get lost in the crowds. For the love of all that is good in existence, I cannot get him to take a hint! That and my dumb ass is too nervous to straight up confess.

“Hey, are you okay with that?”

Snapping back to the present, I look up at those beautiful blue eyes. Blood rushes into my ears, but I smile anyway. “Yeah. This’ll be a piece of cake.”

He smiles back and I feel my self-awareness melt just a little, until I realize I might get lost staring if I don’t look away.

We’re given a list of things to photograph and a deadline to meet back up on the small island and the teams start to go their separate ways. Only a few steps into our adventure, I look back at Aqua and Ven and my heart stops. A smirk sits upon her lips and pinched between her fingers are the remaining two strips of paper: they were all colored on the end. My brain begins screaming bloody murder.

“Woah, hey!” A large hand beneath my arm pulls me to the side just in time to miss walking into one of those mail collection boxes. Face burning, I glance up at my concerned sort-of-hero. “Are you sure you’re okay? If you’re not feeling well, we can go home.”

For the love of the gods, I cannot tell him what Aqua did, but she’s absolutely going to get it later—regardless of whether or not she can destroy me in a heartbeat. “No no! I’m fine. I just got distracted.”

Dark brows furrow, still concerned. “Would rather be partners with someone else?”

“NO!” Okay, I probably didn’t need to respond quite that quickly…or yell. A laugh escapes me in an attempt to regain my composure. “No, it’s okay. I promise. This is going to be fun.”

A big grin crosses his lips and we set off, ignoring the fact this is a set up—or maybe not; who knows.

There are two lists on the paper Kairi had given me: one of object and one of activities. Things such as the beach, something red, and a statue are on the list of objects, but on the other are things such as walking barefoot in the sand, going down the slide in the park, and shaking a stranger’s hand. The thing about the second list is that there has to be photo evidence of each person to get the points. Trailing through the sand and asking a random guy to shake hands with each of us is easy enough and we’ve been having a lot of fun, but poor Terra kind of got stuck in the slide and we lost a couple hours—but I got the evidence at least.

“You sure you’re okay?” I ask for like the tenth time, stupidly fluttering eyelashes at him.

My partner laughs sheepishly. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He’s such a good sport but oblivious as always. “I’m just relieved we didn’t break it.”

“Yeah…I was kinda worried we were gonna have to call the fire department or something—or worse, our friends.”

“I really don’t need another story Aqua’s not gonna let me live down,” he sighs. “What else is on the list?”

Pulling the paper from my pocket, I scan over what’s not marked. “Well, there’s not much more we can do before time’s up…so I guess we head back and hope we see a dog, a sign that starts with the letter V, and a rubber duck—where the hell did they think we were gonna see a rubber duck?”

“Does that count?” Out points his finger to the ocean where a giant, inflatable duck peacefully floats along.

“I don’t think it’s made of rubber, but I’m gonna say yes,” I say, using Terra’s GummiPhone to snap a picture of the ridiculous sight.

So off we go towards the smaller island on one of the rental row boats. For a while, we chat and amble about the beach—and I drop more ridiculous hints—until Terra asks, “Hey, wasn’t there something on the list about food?”

“Um. Try a food neither of us has eaten.”

“I don’t know about you, but I have no idea what that is.” From a crooked tree hangs a bright, yellow fruit.

I laugh, following him towards the stairs leading up to the islet. “You wanna just start eating random fruit?”

“Why not?”

The young man scales along the curved tree until he successfully gets his hand on the star-shaped fruit and returns to sit next to me on the tree. The fruit is broken into two and I get a piece. It’s sweet, almost like a candy and super watery.

“I may be regretting my choice,” Terra murmurs around a mouthful.

“What? This is amazing.” I almost drool in my protest.

“Too sweet.”

“Ah, I forget you don’t like sweets.”

Eyeing up his questionable prize, he ventures another bite.

“You two are here ear—” Looking back reveals the Islanders. Both girls gasp and the guys just gape.

“Hey guys,” I greet. “What’s up?” I take another bite.

Riku is the first to break. “You two have no idea what that is, do you?” A glance is shared with no answer. “That’s a paopu.”

When the only response is staring, Kairi hastily explains, “If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined!”

“So says the legend,” adds Namine.

Terra’s mouthful comes flying back out while I opt to choke on mine. While I’m busy hacking away, the rest of our friends arrive.

“What’s going on here?” Aqua asks as Sora is patting my back.

“According to these two, trying new foods means sharing destinies,” Riku explains, gesturing to the dropped leftovers.

Ven is very poorly containing his laugh. “You guys ate a paopu fruit?”

“We didn’t know what it was,” Terra retorts. It makes me feel somewhat better that his face is probably just as red as mine.

“I told you about those,” Aqua retorts. “Remember? I based our wayfinders off them.”

I eventually breathe fine again and everyone hangs out to share their pictures and just hang out. Xion and Roxas got the most points and win the game while Terra and I get the most teasing for the paopu and the slide. Still, the symbolic meaning of the fruit plagues my thoughts—it’s a nice thought to have Terra as part of my destiny. I’d probably squeal if it weren’t for my new friends sitting around. In my revelations, I can’t help beaming down at the pictures of my partner.

It’s just as we’re all getting ready to head home that Aqua sighs, “It’s a shame that, even after I went through all the trouble to make sure they were partners and neither of them confessed they liked each other.”

A second passes, and then another, but finally, Terra’s eyes widen as he realizes what I’ve known from the beginning. “You rigged the teams?!”

Ven snarks, “She wasn’t exactly subtle.”

My brain carefully scrutinizes the frantic behavior of the young man. “Wh—Bu—How—Why would you do that?!”

“Didn’t you hear me? So you could tell her how you feel,” she states bluntly.

Arms flail and, had anyone been within close proximity, who knows what kind of damage he’d deal. “How could you do that?! I’ve been dying all day trying to figure out how to tell her!”

The analyzing brain blips. Wait…

“It wasn’t really that much of a secret,” his blonde friend mutters, the flustered not hearing him.

“All so you could get a few laughs picking on me?! And I still don’t even know how to tell her how much I like her!”

A jolt ripples through me and my jaw falls open.

“First of all,” Aqua starts. “I didn’t do it to pick on you. Second, it was Ven’s idea.”

The accused adds, “He’s been driving me nuts over it.”

“And third, I’m pretty sure you just confessed.” A finger points to me.

His olive skin goes visibly pale, outrage dropping to instant horror. Those shocked eyes lock onto me; clearly he’d forgotten in his outburst that I was even here to begin with.

With a strange sense of outward confidence, I close the gap between us. My heart is beating deafeningly in my ears as I approach but he doesn’t move even a little, watching me in stunned silence. Fists take hold of his shirt, pulling him down to my level as I stand on tiptoe.

Raging in my gut are the butterflies that have been teasing me all day. I may be on fire right now, but there’s an ocean just over there—it’s fine. And sure, my partner is in a stupor but that doesn’t make my elation any less real. There are no words for how much I needed this.

Leaning back, there’s a lingering taste of that paopu we’d split earlier. I can’t help the resulting smile though Terra looks absolutely bewildered.

“I’ve been dying to do that for months,” I tell him.

“Perhaps my efforts weren’t in vain after all,” giggles Aqua. She gets a raspberry from me.

Terra, with an incredibly ludicrous question, grabs my attention again. “Did you just kiss me?”

My eyes widen before I start laughing. “You really are as dense as a brick wall.”

The shock leaves his face, replaced with a frown. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“She’s been flirting with you hardcore for as long as I can remember,” Ven tells him. “Everyone but you picked up on that.”

“R-Really?” This time, he goes a little red.

Slipping a hand into his, I reply, “Really.”

The free hand meets his face. “Ugh, geeze I’m so dumb.”

“That’s okay. You’re still cute.”

“You’re not supposed to agree with me, you know.”

“Whatever you say, sweetheart.”

Then Aqua gets in another jab. “I think that’s a little unfair, Ven. It’s not like she picked up on his flirting either.”

“Wait, what?!” Eye shoot up to Terra who gives me a smile that I’d die for.

“Guess it’s not just me, huh.”

#kh terra #terra #kingdom hearts terra #terra x reader #novas requests #fem!reader

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cloudofash · 4 years

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Kingdom Hearts - Riku's Possessiveness and Jealousy

This is something that has been talked about to death for those in the fanbase who love Riku's character but it's one I wanted to re-cover as we head into Kingdom Hearts Re:Mind and future titles. The main reason I want to write this is to show that Riku's feelings for Sora have been there since the beginning of the series though Riku exhibited those feelings in a toxic manner. I'm not here to tell anyone they're right or wrong but I'm hoping this will help dwindle down a lot of the comments that flat-out state it's "impossible" that Riku loves Sora for whatever the reason. Hopefully the in-game evidence I provide will be strong enough. There will be some repeated points that others have talked about but I'll strive to also shed some light on details not many have discussed before. Anyways, I don't wanna drag this out any further because this post will be LONG so buckle in and let's go.

Exploring Riku's Jealousy with Extra Depth

We'll start with the scene where Riku's jealousy is the most obvious: the scene where Sora first finds him in Traverse Town after their island was destroyed. When the two first meet Riku is jovial, his tone is upbeat and he's smiling. After Sora wonders if he's dreaming Riku says "I hope not, took forever to find you." He flips his hair playfully (possibly even flirtatiously depending on who you ask). He had spent his time looking for Sora and the extent at which he searched for him is made clear in the conversation with Maleficent following this scene, we'll return back to this in a bit. Sora replies that he had been looking for him everywhere too with Goofy and Donald's help and Riku's demeanor immediately changes. He finally acknowledges Donald and Goofy with a hard side-eye (see the title image above) and asks "Who are they?" He stops smiling, stops playing and when Donald refuses to allow Riku onto their ship he stops talking altogether and leaves silently while Sora argues with Donald.

The jealousy is plain as day but it also crosses over into possessiveness. Many think Donald's rejection of Riku was what made him jealous but Riku was clearly already jealous as soon as he saw the two of them with Sora. Riku shut down as he sees Sora traveling about the galaxy with new companions, disregarding that they could have been nice peop-err...animals. Donald aside, Goofy never said anything bad to Riku to warrant his jealousy. Riku was jealous that these two new beings were by Sora's side in his place, and Donald's remarks towards him only made it worse. Maleficent then plays with Riku's feelings about the matter immediately following. She directly states what Riku is feeling deep down.

Riku wasn't just searching for Sora, he "toiled away" restlessly looking for him. For clarity, the word "toil" means "to work extremely hard or incessantly" meaning Riku went crazy looking for Sora. His fear is clearly stated - he didn't want to be replaced by someone else, he didn't want to see Sora cherish someone else. His sole focus since the island was destroyed was to find his dear friend, not "friends" which implies that it wasn't Kairi who was on the forefront of his mind but Sora and I'll return to this point later on in the next part. It makes me wonder how Maleficent found Riku and what conversations they had up until this point. We see that Maleficent told Riku to stop worrying about Sora and it's implied that he couldn't and searched for him endlessly. We can deduce that Maleficent found Riku shortly after he embraced the darkness and sank into the dark portal and she most likely tried to push him to embrace the darkness from the time she met him but with his thoughts on Sora her efforts didn't work..at least until he grew jealous of Donald and Goofy. She finally succeeded. From this scene on Riku continues his downward spiral into darkness, constantly reappearing to antagonize Sora and guilt him for abandoning him "and Kairi", so Riku says but he himself left Kairi's side multiple times to antagonize Sora and left her vulnerable body with the main villains whom he showed he hardly trusted, especially Maleficent. (This parallels with Sora sleeping in 358/2 Days and Riku refused to disclose his location and trusted hardly anyone with taking care of him and getting his memories back. He would have never left Sora defenseless with a bunch of villains, unlike poor Kairi). His jealousy grows until Ansem seizes complete control of his heart.

So we see Riku's jealousy and possesiveness of Sora is clear, we see how it all started midway through the game but what about Riku's initial darkness? The darkness that surrounded him on Destiny Island? That darkness too most likely stemmed from jealousy but not from anyone Sora met but from who he already knew: Kairi. But how so? Aren't they friends? Didn't Riku say he wanted to confess to her with a paopu fruit? I was going to make one giant post but I'm close to the photo limit of 10 pics so I will continue in a 2nd Part!

#Kingdom Hearts #Riku #jealous #jealously #KH1 #Sora #Possessive #Possessiveness #Maleficent #Donald #Goofy #Donald is a jerk #Roast the Duck #soriku

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vannahfanfics · 3 years

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Eternity

Category: Romantic Fluff

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts

Characters: Sora, Kairi

Hey, hey, everyone! You know what it is— another story for @sokaiweek, today for the prompt “Eternity”! Can you believe it’s almost over? :c I hope at least I’ve given everyone a fill of SoKai lovin’!

She stood a little over knee-deep in the surf, her fingers skimming over the foamy waves as she watched the sun sink toward the horizon. She always stared so thoughtfully at the setting sun, as if it told her secrets. A little smile graced her lips from their silent conversation, like she was chatting with an old friend. However, the strange aura of nostalgia that surrounded Kairi with the sunset was one of so many things that Sora found beautiful about her, and so every day he watched her from the shore while she had her ritualistic discussion with the dusk.

The water kissed the toes of his shoes as he sat just out of reach of the tide. In and out, the water pushed and pulled, dying the fine grains of sand dark brown as the water soaked in. Thalassa shells drifted in the waves, sometimes settling within the sand and sometimes washing back out to sea because they were destined for a journey that was a little longer. Sometimes Sora felt like a thalassa shell born by the waves, drifting between worlds where the tide’s whims carried him— but now, at last, he thought it time to settle upon a shore.

The ring box was heavy in his pocket, the corner digging into his thigh as a careful reminder it was still present. The perfect ring for the perfect woman, nestled in a little tuft of white velvet. He shifted in the sand, impatience eating away at him, but he had not the heart to interrupt Kairi’s vigil. No, she would come in from the water soon enough, and then he would ask.

As if she sensed that today would be different, she looked over her shoulder at him and smiled radiantly.

“Sora!” she called. “Come join me.” Entreatingly, she extended her hand to him, and how could he refuse? Smiling, he pushed himself up, sand raining down from the back of his pants. He kicked off his sneakers and pulled off his socks, then waded out into the surf. The sand still clinging to the dark fabric of his pants swirled away into the waves, settling on the squishy bottom with the rest of their brethren. When Sora slipped his fingers into Kairi’s, the pad of her thumb swept lovingly over the top of his hand before tugging him toward her.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” she murmured as he walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and settling his cheek on the top of her head. He only hummed in agreement because the sunset’s beauty paled in comparison to Kairi’s. Still, it was a gorgeous display— the blue of the sky gradually bled into yellow, then orange, then burning red around the bubbling yellow ball. The wisps of clouds were dyed with the hues, stretching like red yarn over the sky. The ever-shifting waves refracted the dying light like glittering gems, sparkling with a brilliance to rival the stars slowly blotting into existence. Of course, Sora was too captivated by the way the sunbeams played over the auburn of Kairi’s hair to make it shine golden-orange.

“Sora, you’re not looking,” she complained, and when she turned her head to pout, he just buried his face into her gorgeous tresses. She smelled like sea salt and paopu fruit, and it was a scent he could never get enough of.

“I’m looking at something beautiful, just not the sunset,” he smirked into her hair, and his grin widened when he heard her inhale sharply. Even after years together, he could still fluster her so easily. It was so cute.

“Stop teasing,” she groaned, wiggling in his grasp; it only made Sora hug her tighter and nuzzle into her scalp.

“I’m not teasing. I’m serious.” He peered around at her face to see her trying not to smile but dismally failing, and her blush shone opaline pink in the dying rays of the sun. Chuckling, Sora pressed a sweet kiss to her cheek, and she couldn’t help but lean into his touch with a reverent sigh. She turned her face toward him, silently petitioning him, and before giving her what she desired, he kissed the tip of her nose. She scrunched it up with a loud whine, prompting him to chuckle before finally kissing her on the lips.

They kissed there in the waves while the sun bathed them in its warm glow, as if time didn’t exist for them at all. It didn’t, not to Sora, at least; time stretched on for an eternity when he was with Kairi. Every second was an hour for him to savor; every minute was a day to taste the sweetness of her lips; every hour was a week to have her in his arms with her delectable aroma rushing into his nose and her gentle touch sending butterflies fluttering in his stomach.

Even so, Sora wanted to hear her commit to that eternity. He wanted to promise it to her at the altar. He wanted to tell her that he wanted her for an eternity in his vows, and then he wanted to spend that eternity with her.

So, that’s why he found himself huskily whispering against her lips, “I have something for you.”

“You have something for me?” she giggled, and he just responded with a rumbling hum while he fished the ring box out of his pocket. When he pulled back, her eyes were glittering with anticipation and delight. He held the ring box behind his back in one hand while he guided her to turn around with the other, but he couldn’t resist pressing another lingering kiss to her forehead.

“I love you,” he murmured, and he couldn’t put the depth of his love into physical words no matter how hard he tried. “I love you,” he breathed against her skin once more, and this time Kairi giggled and told him to get on with it and that she loved him too. Smiling, he pulled back and then showed her the ring box.

She inhaled sharply, and then exhaled when he flipped open the small box to reveal a silver band inlaid with pink sapphires.

“Sora…”

“I want you for a lifetime, Kairi,” he told her, and she looked up at him with watering eyes. He smiled brightly, tilting his head slightly as he continued, “I want to be with you for a lifetime. I can’t imagine not spending the rest of my life with you by my side, so please… marry me?” Emphatically, he held the ring out a little more, and the sunlight caught on the gemstones to make them gleam. Kairi just stared down at them with tearful eyes while she held her hands over her heart, and he allowed her a moment to find her words though the suspense was literally killing him.

“Of course,” she breathed finally, looking back up at him. “Of course! Oh my goodness! Sora!”

He cried out in alarm when she sprang at him, and he lifted the ring box above his head to keep from dropping it in the water. She latched her arms around his neck while she smothered his face in kisses and tears and giggles, and Sora did his best to try and return the favor though she was all over the place. Finally, she settled down enough to allow him to slide the ring onto her left ring finger, and she took a moment to gaze lovingly down at it.

“It’s beautiful…”

“Sure,” he smiled softly, “but I’m not looking at the ring.”

And he never would, because there was nothing more beautiful to him than the woman he loved with all his heart, nor the beautiful life they were about to spend together.

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