#like riku’s supposed to be having the awakening or something

[daylighteclipsed]

wait why does the voiceless narrator/Mickey at the start of kh1 tell Sora he’s the one who will open the door, but then Riku is the one who opens the door and lets the darkness in that destroys Destiny Islands and stuff

#ig mickey could be talking about another door but what tf other door #kingdom hearts #this also implies the realm of the heart stations is closely related or connected to the realm of darkness #(which does make sense) #bc mickey’s able to communicate w sora here the way he’s able to communicate w riku when riku loses his body and ends up in the rod #but honestly this all just makes me feel like it’s supposed to be riku in sora’s place #like riku’s supposed to be having the awakening or something #or like the voice/mickey is not talking to sora #and since riku is the one who actually possesses the keyblade/the key to the door at this point in time… #hmm #idk it’s weird #was there a good way to open the door that wouldn’t result in everything being destroyed

[hyperionswrath-a]

starter for @nights-fear​ || RIKU

One moment, life had been as it had always been. Or rather, as it had started to be, after his fall. But even with the victory of the opposing forces hard won, their world was already on the brink of the next catastrophe - and this time no one saw it coming, and no one could prevent it. Then, darkness. Long, everlasting and seemingly endless both in its vastness and the amound of time that seemed to pass. A sea in which he drifted along, wondering if this was it, if this was how death felt like. Or any kind of afterlife that would stretch it’s claws out for him. But then light returned, blinding even though it was not bright but dimmed, a world full of ice and cold, and in its midst a massive castle, one like which he remembered from his time serving the sorceress as her knight. How fitting that he would be welcomed by another of her kind - or so it seemed to him when the dark-robed witch approached him, demanding to know what brought him to her palace, and who he was. She seemed much like his former mistress, both in appearance and demeanor, and it was just too easy to fall back into old habits, to be tempted by the promise of glory and heroism. The fact that she seemed to pick up where the other had left off only fastened his believe and thus did he bend the knee, let himself be knighted to her, swearing to bring her plans to fruition. Not long after did she tell him another guest had arrived. He had just fought off the creature that still roamed the halls of Hollow Bastion, claiming it as his, and Seifer had planned to retreat into the library to plan the next steps to bringing the still missing princesses of other worlds into Maleficent’s reach, something that also was very much akin to his former tasks when he was supposed to find a young girl. Instead, he had joined Mal in one of the many countless chambers where a young man, silverhaired and unconscious, not dressed in any ordinary fashion as his clothing was spun over by strange, dark tendrils here and there. A curious sight. ”You will take this one under your wing. Make him a good fighter, worthy to serve me.” She had said to him, and he had simply nodded. Not knowing nor caring for her further plans, the tall blond had crossed his arms over his chest, watching the other one sleep before he shook his head. Whatever was so special about this one he did not understand, however if he was to wip him into shape… fine by him. He had done the same to soldiers before. And… to another one. Pressing his lips thin at the thought of sparrings and shared taunts, he brushed the memories aside and instead slumped into one of the nearby seats, pulling needle and thread from one of his coats pockets before slipping out of it and starting to mend the tattered and torn seams of it. Ideally he would have bought a new coat altogether, but as things were he would have to make do. And his coat had seen better days after what he had been through. Awaiting the others awakening, he made use of the idle time to patch the ragged edges, occasionally glancing over to the bed or tilting his head slightly to listen for the tell tale roars of the Beast approaching, but so far everything was silent, aside from the mechanical sounds the Bastion made by its various mechanics working tirelessly. Seifer idly wondered where this one hailed from, the fact that his own home seemed lost and destroyed leaving him little choice but to follow the path lain out before him. There was nowhere else for him to go anyway, unless Maleficent granted him access to one of her portals. Lost in thoughts like this, he sat, silent and working, waiting for the boy to wake up.

#nights-fear #⦗ 𝕸𝖊𝖊𝖙 𝖒𝖊 𝖔𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝕭𝖆𝖙𝖙𝖑𝖊𝖋𝖎𝖊𝖑𝖉 ╰ ᴅᴇꜱᴛɪɴʏ ᴇɴᴛᴡɪɴᴇᴅ ⦘ #[ aight here we go for real! ] #[ HYPEDDDD ] #[ I already have feels before feels even occured JAHJH ]

[ikeromantic]

Tears of Joy

A Mitsuhide Akechi fanfic - this scene takes place at the end of Ch. 13 in the romantic route. Spoilers! Approx. 2300 words

First: Mitsuhide and the Maiden

Previous: Trust

Mitsuhide worked from the hallway, sending orders and letters through Kyubei to see to the settling of the shogun and his new staff. It was tiring work - but satisfying. Against the odds, he’d succeeded yet again. With help, of course, but it was still remarkable what victory could be pulled from a little wit and a lot of will.

Kyubei arrived with the latest information, his expression one of grim resolve. His hand kept touching the short, dark fuzz at the top of his head. A new nervous gesture, Mitsuhide surmised. The vassal and spy had been uneasy since the shogun’s death. Despite that, he was doing an excellent job teaching Riku how to imitate Yoshiaki and filling him in on things the scribe hadn’t known about his lord.

“What news?” Mitsuhide set down his report from Chugaki and gave his vassal full attention.

Kyubei swallowed. “Ah, it looks like the pirates will be on their way by this evening. Mouri hasn’t announced an official withdrawal, but his warriors are packing up all the weapons and sake they can carry . . .” He paused and glanced toward the closed door behind Mitsuhide. Though he had obvious questions, he continued with his report. “The Ikko Ikki are all but gone. Kennyo and a few of his close confidants remain.”

“As expected. I was unable to embed another pair of eyes with the monks, but we should receive regular reports on the doings of Motonari when he sets sail. Anything else?” Mitsuhide knew there was more. Otherwise Kyubei would have sent information like this in a written report.

Kyubei’s eyes went to the door again. “There were, that is, I overheard some of the pirates discussing the chatelaine. Apparently, some are under the impression she will be leaving with Mouri.”

Mitsuhide’s eyes flashed and his smile turned sharp. “I assure you that is not the case.”

“I didn’t think so, my lord.” He paused again, then bowed. “I - I also wanted to offer my apology. Words are not enough, of course. I will - I will do whatever you think is fitting. But . . . I allowed the chatelaine to come to harm. I tore her clothes and frightened her. I failed to protect her and made her captivity worse. If you hadn’t arrived when you did . . .” His voice cracked and he went silent.

“You believe your choices led her to be captured?” Mitsuhide raised an eyebrow.

“No - not directly. But if I’d warned you of the ninja sooner-”

“I would still have been no more likely to catch him on his way in or out of our blockade.” Mitsuhide frowned. “I knew there was risk in leaving her alone. She did as well. Neither of us has regret.”

Kyubei’s head bobbed, but he still didn’t straighten. “I didn’t help her escape. I was afraid it would expose my mission. She was hurt as a result.”

“Yes,” Mitsuhide said dryly. “And you tore her kimono to make it look as if you’d taken her, yes?”

Kyubei nodded again.

“Also to preserve your cover. And if you had been exposed, she would have been taken to the barracks for their pleasure. I fail to see how that would have improved her situation.”

“But my lord . . . she might have died.” Kyubei’s voice was hoarse and low.

Mitsuhide agreed. “She risked her life for our mission. Do not diminish that by taking her pain as your failure. We all did what we must to see this through.”

“Then I have your forgiveness?”

“There is nothing to be forgiven. Now go - I am sure the shogun has need of you.” Mitsuhide waved him away.

Kyubei bowed even lower before standing and hurrying away.

He sat still as a stone until the sound of his vassal’s footsteps faded to nothing. Then he stood and quietly entered the room. There was a little light from the setting sun outside. The air here smelled of ginger, reeds, and honey - the fragrant parts of the ointment he used on his little one. Mitsuhide sank silently to the floor beside her.

She was still asleep. Deeply so. Her body was recovering from her ordeal. A brutal abduction, a restless day trapped in a store room, and then a near-death experience. She was so fragile, and yet strong.

His hands shook as he tenderly ran his fingers through her hair. She meant so much to him, this sweet little mouse. Mitsuhide was finally forced to acknowledge just how close he’d come to losing her. Or worse. He ran his hand over her shoulders just to reassure himself she was there and whole. The bruises were already fading. Her throat had a thin, dark scab where Yoshiaki’s knife had pressed too close. In a few weeks, this would be only a memory. One he hoped would disappear beneath the joy of their life together.

“M-mitsuhide?” Her lashes fluttered as she tried to open her eyes.

“I am here little one.”

Her hand reached for him, cool fingertips tracing his cheekbones. “Are you crying?”

He was, he realized.

“I’m ok. You - you shouldn’t cry.” She sat up and looked at him. Her eyes were wide in the dim light.

“They are tears of joy. See?” He smiled.

She scooted forward and snuggled into his lap. When she was comfortable again, she looked up at him. “You know I can tell when you’re lying.”

“Then you know I’m not. Or . . . not completely.” Which was true. He was relieved she was alright.

“Mmm. I suppose I will take that. But you know, the crying part is my job. So next time . . .” She brushed a tear from his cheek. “Next time leave it to me. I c-can’t bear to see you look so sad.”

“Nor I, you.”

She quieted down at that, and closed her eyes. Her head rested on his chest, and he could feel the tickle of her steady breath. Mitsuhide might have laid down with her on the futon, but a knock at the door spoiled the moment.

“Enter,” he said, thinking it would be a servant, perhaps with dinner. Instead, it was Kennyo.

The abbot gave him a wary look. “Our alliance is at an end, kitsune. We have what we wanted from this venture.”

“It is. Which begs the question . . . why are you still here?”

Kennyo’s dark gaze fell to the chatelaine. She’d fallen asleep again, and showed no signs of rousing. “How is she? She looks better.”

“She is.”

The abbot seemed to struggle within himself for a moment. Then he took a packet from his robes and held it out to Mitsuhide. “Give this to her when she wakes. It is best to prepare it as a tea, steeped until dark. Then she must drink it while it is still warm.”

Mitsuhide looked at the small, paper packet with some distrust.

“Take it. I would not poison her.”

“Not even for your revenge?” Mitsuhide’s eyebrow rose.

Kennyo’s frown deepened and he met the kitsune warlord’s gaze. After several tense heartbeats, his response rumbled between clenched teeth. “I would not harm her, even for that.”

Mitsuhide took the packet and tucked it into his kimono. “I believe you.”

The abbot gave a brief nod and his eyes fell to the sleeping girl. His expression softened by the barest shadow. “I hope you will take better care of her. Know that I will be watching.”

Then he turned on his heel and left. The door slid shut behind him, fast and silent.

The lovers were alone again.

“It seems you brought a little light to that demon’s heart, mouse.” Mitsuhide kissed her temple. “I would not have thought it possible. But you work miracles. I am proof of that.”

She smiled in her sleep, lulled to sweet dreams by the sound of her soulmate’s heartbeat.

***

Morning came with pale yellow light and the sound of talk, even laughter, from the fortress. People returning to normal after the brief but deadly fighting. Mitsuhide was glad they were able to go back to their lives - or to make a new place for themselves. Something he intended to do as soon as they returned to Azuchi.

His little mouse stirred and yawned. Then she looked around the room with a dazed expression. “Did I sleep the whole night?”

“You did.”

“Just like this?” She ran her fingertip along his collarbone.

Mitsuhide shivered at the touch, feeling it awaken something inside him. A fire he’d kept banked for months now. “Not quite like that,” he grinned. “But in my arms? Yes.”

“What? But . . . did you get any rest?”

“I did. I found watching you sleep to be very restful.” This was truth. He’d spent the night listening to her breath, letting her warmth soak into him.

She frowned. “That’s not what I meant! I mean real sleep. You need to get some too. You are human.”

“Are you sure?” He raised an eyebrow and chuckled as she smacked his arm. “You seem to be feeling better.”

“I am. I’d feel even better with a bath.”

Mitsuhide remembered their last bath, shared at an inn. He’d teased her until they were both desperate, and he’d left them like that. Unwilling to take that final step with her until he was sure he would be there after. “Are you very dirty?” He lifted her enough for his lips to find her neck and nibble the skin just under her ear.

She squealed and pretended to try to escape.

“Mmm, you taste pretty clean to me. But perhaps I need to sample a wider selection.”

“Mitsuhide!” She wriggled, trying to get out of his lap. “You can’t be serious!”

“I am always serious when it comes to you.” He let her out of his grasp and watched as she got up. She didn’t look unsteady, but he still stood and offered her his hand. “I suppose I will have to take your word about the need for a bath. But I think we should return to Kyoto before we indulge.”

His little mouse considered, then nodded. “Yeah. If I take a bath before we ride back, I’ll just be filthy again by the time we get there.” She looked around the room. “Are we leaving here already?”

“We are. Kyubei has things in hand and a longer stay will only raise questions.” He pointed to some clothes folded in the corner. “Get dressed and I’ll send word we are leaving.”

She smiled. “Alright. I’ll try to hurry.”

Mitsuhide left her in the room and went to find a servant. It wasn’t hard to do, and soon enough he was on his way back. He was stopped by the silver gleam of a pistol. At the other end of the barrel, a wobbly Motonari stood, braced against the wall.

“Yer not goin’ back.” His eyes were glazed with heavy drink and he stunk of sweat, gunpowder, and alcohol.

“And I suppose you plan to . . . what? Shoot me? Kidnap my little mouse? Flee to your ship?”

Motonari shrugged. “Maybe. Or maybe I just wanna kill ya. One more enemy crossed off my list.”

Mitsuhide grinned. “I doubt that. This isn’t much of a struggle.” His eyes were hard despite the smile. “And if this is for her . . . you know she would never forgive you.”

“She’d get over it. Women . . .” he belched. “Women always do.”

“My little one isn’t ‘women’,” Mitsuhide replied. “Even you must know that by now. ”

Motonari began to laugh. He waved his gun toward the door. “Ya get in there before ya say anythin’ more stupid than that.” He pushed past Mitsuhide, stumbling down the hall.

Mitsuhide rushed to the room and slid open the door. His little one squeaked and pulled her kimono closed.

“I’m not dressed yet!”

He looked around, reassuring himself that everything was as he’d left it. “Perhaps that is why I hurried back.” Mitsuhide gave her a wicked smile. He didn’t tell her about Motonari in the hall. She didn’t need to know.

“Pffft,” she stuck her tongue out at him, but he could tell the flattery made her happy.

They rode out from the fortress before noon, sharing a saddle. The day felt brighter the further from the fortress they got. Mitsuhide knew he wasn’t the only one that felt that way. He could see it in the set of his lover’s shoulders and in the way she smiled.

Once the bloodstained fortress was only a memory hidden behind the dust of the road, she spoke. “I feel like I am riding toward a whole new life. Like . . . like everything is different. Just because one man died. Isn’t that silly?”

“I don’t think it is.” Mitsuhide rested his chin on her head. “Yoshiaki caused so much death and misery with his ambition. That is why we did what we had to.”

“But there are other people just as bad-”

“And none of them are shogun.” He held the reins with one hand and used the other to hug her closer.

After a long silence, she nodded. “I guess I just feel guilty for being glad he’s dead.”

“Don’t.” He paused, then added, “Besides, shogun Ashikaga is just fine. He’s simply in exile. Staying far away from the capital and politics for the rest of his life.”

“Mmhmm. Poor Riku.” She tapped her chin. “Do you think he’ll do ok?”

“With the help we’ve given him, that scribe will be a much better shogun than Yoshiaki. You’ll see.” Then he moved their conversation to lighter things. “After we arrive at the inn, I will send out for food. What treats would tempt my little mouse?” That was all it took to send her into a monologue of her favorite foods.

She took such delight in the little things. It made Mitsuhide want to have joy in them too. He promised himself he would try. For her - he would do anything. So ran his thoughts as they passed the gate into Kyoto and caught sight of the inn.

Then all he could think of was their bath, and how very much he was looking forward to enjoying it with her.

Next: Delicious SFW/NSFW

#ikemen sengoku #ikesen mitsuhide #mitsuhide akechi #otome guys #otome #fanfiction #fanfic #fluff

[thefrostqueen]

Is Zero the Real Villian?

THIS. Many people, including me, have thought that Zero is the ultimate big bad of the series. Well, episode 17 might have just confirmed that. Zero literally tells Kirinmaru that HE was supposed to kill the girls FOR HER. Zero wants the half-demon princesses dead, probably because of her, and I paraphrase, “past humiliation from Toga.” We don’t know what that entails yet, but Zero bluntly tells Sesshomaru that she wants his whole family to suffer in absolute agony because of it (damn Zero what did Tōga do to you?)

What makes this whole scene even more interesting is Kirinmaru’s response. “Was I?” He is either being sassy or he is dismissing her, because it does not interest him. I mentioned in my episode 15 post that Kirinmaru seems dissasociated from everything going on, like he doesn’t really care. He doesn’t even further question why Sesshomaru didn’t outright kill InuYasha and Kagome, he just lets it go, and doesn’t persue Moroha, who also aligns with the prophecy as stated by Zero.

Zero is the one who repeatedly told her younger brother about the prophecy. In this scene in episode 15, Zero is the one who awakens Kirinmaru, and informs him of the birth of Towa and Setsuna, and the impending birth of Moroha. She gets detailed and reminds Kirinmaru about the prophecy, going so far to even explain what hanyos are to emphasize and heighten the urgency and give a reason for Kirinmaru to kill them. She instills fear in him, reminding him he laughed the prophecy off once, thinking it meaningless, but that it’s reality now. It’s very interesting to note that Zero challenges Kirinmaru by asking him wether he would let Sesshomaru’s honor fall into ruin and devastation. Why would she use that manipulation tactic? Wouldn’t saying the daughters are half demon, which would mean the possibility of his death, be enough to convince Kirinmaru? Why does Sesshomaru matter in that way to be used as a second reason to kill the girls?

My theory, and many other people’s theory, is that Zero is minipulating Kirinmaru to carry out her revenge on the Great Dog Demon’s family. If Kirinmaru is the only other demon equal in strength to Tōga, then it would make sense for Zero to use him to destroy the family, as he is the only one capable of possibly defeating Sesshomaru, and even InuYasha.

We know Kirinmaru’s reason for wanting to kill the girls is because they have the ability, according to the prophecy, to kill him. Now, that seems like something one would be very concerned about, right? Well, that is why Kirinmaru’s lack of aggression towards killing the girls is so weird. He sends off these four perils to get rid of them, but doesn’t even know some of them (wouldn’t you want to know the power your guys have so you know they have the capabilities to kill the people you want dead?) He seems so flippant about it. When he receives news each time a peril is killed thus far, he doesn’t seem very scared, or eager to send out a bigger threat to ensure the princesses’ deaths. In fact, he seems almost impressed and passive, even going so far as to compliment Sesshomaru’s daughters for their power.

In episode 5, the three girls ask Myoga why Kirinmaru wants to distort time and cause death and chaos. Myoga responds by saying that he doesn’t think Kirinmaru would ever do something like that. This is very strange considering TreeKyo seems so adamant that Kirinmaru wants to distort time and cause chaos. She says Kirinmaru and Sesshomaru walk the same bad path. So why does someone so knowledgeable about the Beast Kings, and who knows them personally, seem to think it not in their nature to do that? I always come back to that moment because it reaffirms the oddness of Kirinmaru’s lack of aggression. He was allies with Toga (they destroyed that meteor together) and though he did show disdain for half demons, he still doesn’t seem nearly as intense about it as Riku or Zero. Riku is the one threateningly going “loving a human never ends well. Not for the Great Dog Demon, and not for Sesshomaru.” As well as stating he wants to hurt the girls to get their pearls. And Zero was the one mocking Sesshomaru for having hanyo twins, and trying to kill them with the forest fire.

In episode 18 Kirinmaru will fight the girls, so what he says in those moments will be key to see how “villainous” he really is, or how much he was involved in the previous attempts to kill the girls. Riku said in episode 17 that Kirinmaru is connected to the dream butterflies, and some people have pointed out that Zero could have removed “dreams/memories” from Kirinmaru so that she could control/minipulate him easier. That would be one hell of a connection! It would explain a lot as well.

Note: This is a theory and a theory alone. I did not write this theory to say it’s true, I wrote it because it’s a theory about where the show might be going, not that it will. Also if you want to add something to the theory or want to comment your own in the comments please do!

#yashahime #inuyasha #hanyo no yashahime #sesshomaru #kirinmaru

[phoenix-downer]

See You Soon

~2500 words. Post-Melody of Memory. Contains spoilers. Riku POV, Kairi POV. Introspection and reflection. Implied SoKai. Mostly canon compliant. 

As the wind whistled past Riku’s ears and his Station of Awakening came into view, one thought tumbled over and over through his mind: 

Am I doing the right thing?

He wasn’t sure where that had come from. Saving Sora was the right thing to do, no doubt about it. They’d searched an entire year and finally had a clue. Of course jumping through the portal was the right thing to do. He had to bring Sora back; he owed it to everyone. To Sora himself, of course, but to all their friends as well. Especially Kairi—

Kairi. Try as he might, he couldn’t get her face out of his head. The disappointment in her eyes when he’d told her she should stay behind. 

He touched down on the platform that had his likeness etched in stained glass. Not as he was now, but as he was when he began his journey. The moment his heart awakened to the true nature of reality and of the Keyblade. Purple glass surrounded him, and next to him were the faces of friends and important people he’d met on his journeys. 

Had Kairi gotten to have her awakening yet? Or was she—

“I did the right thing,” he said as he paused to get a feel for his surroundings. “This is what Sora would want. Kairi, safe and sound in the Realm of Light. What would he say if I let anything happen to her, after everything he’s sacrificed for her?” He balled his hand into a fist. “He trusted me to look out for her, after all. And he’d want me to bring him back to her. Right?”

No one answered him; it was dark and silent here in his heart. Not even Ansem Seeker of Darkness lurked around anymore. His image had melted away from the Station after that final battle in the Keyblade Graveyard.

And yet, a small, nagging voice at the back of his mind wouldn’t leave him alone. It pointed out that missing from his reasoning was Kairi herself. What did Kairi want?

“She’s fine with this,” he said as he paced back and forth. “She needs more training, she doesn’t want to be a burden—”

He stopped. His feet were near the image of Mickey’s head, and he sighed deeply.

“I know, I know,” he said, speaking as if his friend was actually here. “It wasn’t my call to make.”

Kairi had quickly masked her true feelings with her usual cheerfulness, but she wasn’t fooling anyone. Being left behind again was hardly what she’d wanted. And yet he’d agreed to leaving her behind because he was in such a rush to save Sora. 

He rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s a little too late to go back now, huh?” 

The Power of Waking was not something he could use lightly. Sora’s disappearance had really driven that lesson home. Doubling back halfway through a dive could be risky. Best to continue on to his destination.

He summoned his Keyblade. It appeared with its usual burst of light, and its steady weight in his grip helped him focus.

“Kairi, I’m sorry for leaving you behind again. I promise it won’t happen next time.” He glanced up at the endless sea of black above him. “Besides, something tells me your heart might be the key. You brought Sora and I back from the Realm of Darkness. Depending on how this goes, we might need another miracle.” 

While Riku hadn’t hesitated to dive in after Sora, he knew there was no guarantee he’d make it back. This portal probably only went one way, knowing his luck. But if anyone could light the way home, it was Kairi. 

He pointed his Keyblade at his Station of Awakening and unlocked it. As his surroundings faded away and a new path appeared before him, he had one last message for Kairi.

“See you soon. And the next time I do, I swear, Sora will be with me.”

Despite all the odds, he wanted to give her this reassurance at least. He wanted to make up for all the tears and pain, the year of her life she spent sleeping away in the hope she might find a clue about Sora. A clue they needed because he’d failed to keep her and Sora safe. This was all his fault. If he’d protected Kairi from Xehanort—if he’d offered to go after her instead of letting Sora go it alone—then maybe, just maybe, Sora would still be here.  

This was his penance; his way of making it up to them both. The debt would only be repaid when the two of them were reunited. And this time, he’d make sure he was there too. No slinking off into the darkness alone. If his journeys had taught him anything, it was that there was nothing more important than being with his friends.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kairi rested her chin on her hand and gazed out the window of the Gummi Ship. She’d seen this view several times now, but she still found herself staring at the sea of stars twinkling like diamonds in the sky. Wherever Sora was, could he see these stars? Did unreality have stars the way reality did?

“Kairi? Whatcha thinkin’ about?”

“Mmmm?” She broke out of her reverie and turned to her companion. Goofy was craning his neck to look at her, a concerned expression on his face.

“Do you think there are stars where Sora is?” she asked him.

He scratched his chin. “Gawrsh, that’s a good question. I’d think so, but who knows what that fiction-place is like.” He turned to Donald, who was currently driving their vessel. “Donald? Whaddya think?”

Donald carefully guided them past a lumpy asteroid before responding. “Who knows. Maybe it has stars, maybe it doesn’t. Probably depends on if the unreality has multiple worlds.” 

Kairi fiddled with her necklace. “I suppose it’s a silly question. I just… I wish I knew he was okay. I don’t want him to be somewhere strange and scary that doesn’t even have stars.”

She hadn’t imagined he’d come to her aid in that dream she’d had of Xehanort, right? One moment, she’d been sprawled on the ground, disarmed, as Xehanort prepared to strike her down again, and then the next—Sora’s Keyblade had appeared in her hand, and she’d felt his presence. He’d fought for her, too. But it was just like Xehanort said—he couldn’t speak. Not a single word to her or to anyone.

Why was he without a voice? Who had taken his voice away? And where was his heart? Why would a vanquished Xehanort who had moved on to the afterlife even care about where his heart was? Unless the person she’d met in her dream wasn’t actually Xehanort—

“Kairi?” Goofy said, breaking her out of her thoughts again.

“Sorry, I just… I dreamed about Sora, but he couldn’t speak to me. I wish I knew what he wanted to tell me—if there was anything he wanted to tell me, that is.”

It was a little presumptuous of her to assume so. He’d said what he’d needed to say before he’d disappeared. Wanting anything else—after everything he’d already done—when so many other people missed him and wanted to talk to him too—

Goofy clapped a hand on her shoulder. “Gawrsh, I’m sure he’s got lots he’d like to tell ya.”

“You really think so?” 

Donald cackled as he dodged around a meteor. “Oh, we know so. And boy do we have the stories to back it up.” 

She tilted her head. “Stories?” What did Donald mean? Stories about Sora, or—

“Gawrsh, Donald, maybe we shouldn’t tell Kairi everything, I think Sora would be kinda embarrassed—”

“You shoulda seen his face any time he saw a happy couple! He’d get all blushy and flustered and giggly because he was thinking of a certain special someone.”

Goofy clasped his hands over his mouth and giggled. His eyes were dancing, and Kairi put two and two together.

“Me? He kept thinking of me?”

Donald and Goofy both nodded, like they were two bobbleheads controlled by the same spring.

She leaned against the window and smiled. “If it’s not too much to ask… Could you tell me more? Stories about Sora, I mean. And your journeys as well. I got to talk to him about his journeys before he disappeared, but I’d like to hear your thoughts and experiences, too.”

Ever since Sora and Riku had come home from their first adventure, she’d gathered stories. Losing her memories once was awful, and she never wanted it to happen again. Chronicling her friend’s memories like this reassured her there was some record out there that didn’t rely solely on something as malleable as memory, and she now had pages and pages of notes.

“Sure thing,” Goofy said, so she dug around in her bag for her notebook and favorite gel pen. Once she was settled in, she took notes as Goofy spoke and Donald chimed in. Hearing stories about Sora helped her feel closer to him. Stories of his (mis)adventures and daring deeds, his moments of vulnerability and happiest memories, his corny jokes and hopeless romantic tendencies. And since she couldn’t go after him herself right now, this was the closest she could get to being close to him. 

Later that evening, as she was poring over her notes and reliving Donald and Goofy’s memories in the privacy of her quarters, she chewed on the end of her pen. Was it wrong to be a little upset at Riku? Upset at herself, too, for caving so easily, for not even fighting for the chance to go with him? For giving up so easily on an opportunity to save Sora? Hearing stories about him just made her want to be with him that much more. Waiting wasn’t good enough. Training wasn’t good enough. How could she even stay behind, safe and sound, while Riku was risking his life to save Sora? And after Sora had sacrificed himself for her. It wasn’t fair. None of this was fair. 

Sora, forgive me, she thought sadly. I wanted to go after you, but after facing off against Xehanort in my dream… Not even being able to handle a dream version of him without your help… I’m scared I’d just let you down again. Or worse, get you hurt or killed for real. And I can’t… I can’t bear to lose you again. So for now, I’ll train with Aqua, okay? That… feels like the right thing to do. I think.

She sighed deeply. No matter how much she tried to convince herself, she was still disappointed she wasn’t searching for Sora with Riku right now. She should be with him. Why did she have to train and train and train when Sora and Riku got to learn by experience? It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair, and she was sick of being shunted to the sidelines. 

“It’s because you’re weak,” she said with a frown as she drew an angry face in the margins of her notes. “You hold everyone else back. And Sora had to pay the price for your weakness. It’s your fault he’s gone.” 

No.

She gasped and dropped the pen. Scrawled on the page in purple ink next to her angry face was the message. N-o. Short, simple, to the point. 

The handwriting was not her own. 

“Sora?” she asked, resting a hand over her heart. But she heard nothing; felt nothing. “Oh, right. Xehanort, or whoever that really was, said you’re without a voice. I wonder what he meant by that.” 

She fumbled around for her pen, then put it to the paper. “Sora? I don’t know how this is possible, but if there’s anything you really want to tell me, um, I don’t mind if you… take over for a little while?”

That was what had happened, right? He’d taken control of her body to fight for her, and his heart had manifested. Somehow. Was a part of his heart inside her? Or had the paopu fruit really bound them together like the stories said it would? 

“Any time now, I promise I don’t mind,” she said, feeling a little silly for talking out loud like this. But if Sora really could hear her, maybe it wasn’t so silly after all.  

She waited, and waited, and waited. The little cuckoo clock in the corner went off, the little cuckoo bird popping out to announce it was past her bedtime, past her bedtime, past her bedtime. She sighed and started doodling again. Little drawings of Sora’s smile because she missed seeing the real thing. But nothing else happened; if he really was the one who’d left her that message earlier, he was either gone or unavailable now. Or maybe… maybe the connection wasn’t strong enough right now. Maybe it went in and out like her Gummiphone’s reception did when Donald drove through a particularly thick asteroid field. 

Was there a way to strengthen the connection so Sora could communicate with her more easily? She combed her brain for answers. He’d manifested the first time to protect her because she was in danger. Then that message had shown up on her notes when she’d been down on herself. 

She tapped her pen on the paper. “The common connection… The common connection… The first time, I needed help, and the second time, I was being down on myself. Maybe it’s linked to my feelings somehow? My heart?”

She flipped to a new page and jotted her thoughts down. Maybe Aqua could help her sort all of this out. Sure, a part of her still wanted to search for Sora with Riku right now, but maybe Sora wasn’t as far away as they’d thought. 

Maybe the key to finding him rested in her heart. Or at least one of the keys. That was what she and Riku and the star-girl they’d met in the Final World were, right? The girl’s key led to the unreality, Quadratum. Riku was following that clue because his key had been those dreams about Quadratum. But the other key… 

She rested her hand over her heart and smiled. For the first time since suggesting she train with Aqua, she had a clear sense of what to do next. She would train with Aqua all right, but not just in fighting and wielding a Keyblade. Aqua was a skilled mage, and if anyone could help Kairi figure this all out, she could. 

Closing the notebook, Kairi lay back on the bed and smiled. “Hang in there, Sora. Riku’s coming for you, and I’ll make my connection to you stronger, I swear.” 

The Gummi Ship would be arriving on the Land of Departure tomorrow, and then her training would begin in earnest. Someday soon Sora would come home to them, of that she was certain. Then they could finally be together like they’d promised. 

She rolled over and stared up at the stars. Whether the unreality had stars or not, she knew all worlds, all realities, shared the same sky.

“See you soon.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: I finished Melody of Memory yesterday, and the plot bunnies soon took hold 😂I wanted to explore Riku and Kairi’s mental states after the events of the game, plus a few plot speculation/headcanon things that popped into my mind, and this was the result. I have some general thoughts on the game overall that I might put together in a separate post, but for now, this is my initial reaction. Thank you for reading! 

#kingdom hearts #melody of memory #riku #kairi #sokai #donald #donald duck #goofy #kh fanfiction #phoenix downer #phoenix writes #post-canon #kingdom hearts melody of memory #long post #melody of memory spoilers #kh spoilers #kingdom hearts spoilers #mom spoilers #friendship #pining

[dark-chibidragoness]

Alright, Here’s my Ballot in it’s entirety. All 7 votes and 7 Characters that I voted for who I like. 

1-Hrid: Okay, I love Hrid and I’m sad that we’ve haven’t seen any version of him since the second NY’s Banner with him on it. And his sister’s have gotten alts after that! (Bride!Fjorm, Summer!Gunnthra and Summer! Ylgr.) And even the Muspell sisters have gotten alt’s since then, too! They have summer versions and Laevatein just got a Ninja alt! WTH.  

I hate it. I want more Hrid. I want another Helbindi. Give my boys more alts than just one!(Not counting their base forms as alts)

He hasn’t even been in any Forging bonds or ANYTHING and his sisters have been in them. Well, Fjorm and Ylgr at least I don’t know about Gunnthra.

And i’m not hating on the girl characters, I like Fjorm and Ylgr and all them I just wish IS would give the guys more love instead of focusing on giving the girls all of the alts. 

They’re all Simps. That’s what they are. SIMPS.  

I have a lot I want to say about Hrid but this will be VERY long and I don’t want it to be longer than It’s going to be. So..moving on for now...

2-Marth: Really, The only reason I voted for marth is because he’s been down in 3rd for the past few years and I really want to see him get his Brave Alt finally.

And then he’ll be out of the Options for Brave units and there can be a lot of other choices.  

And as much as I love Gatekeeper I don’t want him to get in, but  if he does gets in then he won’t be able to come back next year and the slot will be open for someone else.  

If Gatekeeper somehow doesn’t hold second place then people are just going to vote for him next year. 

Well, Back to Marth..I did diverge a bit...I haven’t played the games Marth is from but I know him from Smash, Although that being said I do like Marth and I actually have all versions of him. Normal, Groom, Legendary and Winter Marth. I HAVE THEM ALL. 

I don’t have Resplendant Marth but I probably never will because I don’t pay for this game. F2P Dangit.

Anyway, I really just want to vote marth not just because I want to but because he deserves a Brave alt and he’s gotten robbed of it the last few times we had CYL.

Moving on to my third and I’m probably the only one who voted for him-

3-Ryoma: I love Ryoma. I’ve married him in both Birthright and Revelations, but when I got to the dreaded chapter 25 of Conquest, I probably cried harder than my in-game character did. 

I played Birthright before playing Conquest and I can say if it weren’t for Ryoma’s existence I probably would’ve gone Conquest first. I did buy Conquest first and played through the first few chapters before the split, but when It came to the split I stopped when I realized I couldn’t choose the Hoshido side, and that was one of the things I didn’t like about the game. 

I did eventually finish Conquest, but that’s only after I played through Birthright and...I actually liked the route a lot. Now, Originally I wasn’t going to go with Ryoma, I was actually originally going to marry Kaden or Kaze, but ended up with Ryoma because of his Honor and the way of the Bushido.

I don’t know what it is about characters that have the Honor and Bushido trait, but..I guess that’s my type?? Which is probably why I like 2003′s TMNT Leo a lot.  

Alright again I could go on and on but I don’t want to make this a too long of a post so moving on-

4-Alfonse: Okay, Alright..This one could be long too but I’m going to restrain myself. 

 Well, I’ll say it. I like Alfonse. Especially in book 3 when he stood up to Hel. That was amazing! I hope he does that as well in this Book with Fafnir or..Otr? I guess whichever one. (I did like Otr when he was first shown but now I’m not so sure...)

I really want either a Legendary or Brave Alfonse, and I would love to see what they would do with him.

And this will probably never happen but a Duo alt with Hrid would make me very happy. (Like a Summer Beach Volleyball alt with Alfonse holding a beach-ball and Hrid holding Ice-cream to cool themselves off. Oooo I’d draw that but I’m not a good artist, sooo.)

Okay Okay, I said I would restrain myself and I am. I’m moving on before I rant about Alfonse some more.

And the next vote goes too...OH. The other character I could rant all day about.

5-Grima: Yes, GRIMA. Not the Female Robin Version but Male Robin. 

This is another type I like but It’s nice character’s who’ve been possessed by evil beings, or give themselves to darkness? (Like Jesse/Johan from Yugioh GX?? Or Riku from Kingdom Hearts?!)

Although I actually like the actual Dragon form of Grima more than the Robins and would like him to have his own human form instead of possessing Robin, but i’ve never played Awakening and don’t know if there’s a reason for that.

Having them come out with a Halloween Alt for the Female version makes me a bit hopeful for a Male alt but not a lot because apparently IS just likes to make all the alts for girls and not guys?? Like please I want more of my favorite guy characters with alts. How am I supposed to Simp for my favorite boys when the don’t even give them alts?? Like Hello?? There aren’t just guys in the world who play FEH there’s girls, too??

But let’s be honest, Even if we get another Male Grima will he even have the exposed Tid? I don’t know and that scares me. 

Once again, Just give me my boys, IS!

6-Scarlet: Hoooo Boy Scarlet. So I was a bit jealous of Scarlet in Revelations when she was talking about Ryoma, and then I felt bad a few scenes earlier. 

Which made me wish I had completed her bonding events in Birthright, I only ever got up to C rank.

Uhh, So I voted for Scarlet because I realized I’ve just been voting all guys and even though Eirika and Byleth are in the lead I’m still voting for the characters that I want. 

And scarlet is one of them. I know it wouldn’t be enough to get a brave alt but I wouldn’t mind if IS gave us normal Scarlet or a certain other Alt that comes later in the year but before Brides and Summer that I won’t talk about. 

I did like Scarlet in Birthright and in...Revelations...and after what happened in Revelations I felt really really bad for her? 

I hope she gets in at some point. I would actually summon for Scarlet if they put her in. However she gets in. 

And the final vote iiis(I don’t know why I’m doing this I have the whole battle ballot screenshot shown, so everyone can already see who I voted for)

7-Orochi: Orochi. Needs. To. Be. In. The Game.

Out of all the fates Characters we have, I’m surprised we still don’t have Orochi. I don’t remember well but I think she’s one of Mikoto’s retainers?? It’s been a very long time since I played fates so I don’t know. 

Umm...That’s pretty much the only reason I voted for her. I love Orochi and I’m sad she’s still not in the game yet. 

This is one of the few times I want IS to give me a female character, the other would be Scarlet and probably Nyx if I had another vote. But..well...Hmm..

Okay, That’s all the votes and the rough and hopefully short enough explanation of why I voted for each character. 

I’m tired of writing, my hand’s getting cramped so if there’s something I need to add I’ll do it later. Gotta rest my hands for now and probably watch people try and Summon for Seiros. 

(Who I did not get but I got Legendary Dimitri so I’m happy)

#FEH #Battle Ballot #CYL 5 #All of my votes! #Hrid #Marth #Ryoma #Alfonse #Grima #Scarlet #Orochi #I wanted to vote for so many characters #Like Nyx #And I thought about voting for Marianne but- #Also If Bernie hadn't gotten that Winter alt I would've voted for her too #Fire Emblem Heroes

[shellyb04]

A new week, a few more reviews. I'm working through a backlog now, so it is unlikely I will be posting this many so close together very often.

Thirty but seventeen(Korea): 17 year old girl is in a traffic accident and goes into a coma waking 13 years later. With no sign of her family she returns to her family home only to find it belongs to someone else now. The man now living there has emotionally cut himself off from the world. The two begin to heal together. 9/10 Overall, I really enjoyed it. I found some of the family stuff a bit contrived toward the end. But I love how the past intertwines with the present. Almost all the characters are great, which is a plus.

Emergency couple (Kdrama)- A divorced couple are reunited when they become medical interns at the same ER. 8/10 I love everything to do with the main couple but I find most of the side characters annoying, at least at first. I really don't like either of the moms all that much but they do have some great redemptive stuff toward the end of the drama. Overall, it was pleasant but if I watch again I will skip a lot of the side stories.

The Romance of Tiger and Rose (Cdrama)- A screenwriter fall asleep and wakes up on her newest drama, only she is playing the girl who is supposed to die in episode 3. The only way to survive is to befriend her would be killer...and forced husband. Can this writer live to the end of her own script? 10/10 I loved virtually every minute of this drama and even at 24 episodes I wish it was a little longer. I would have loved one more episode with the ML's family in their town. The characters are enjoyable. I cried, I laughed, I cried again. Seriously, just a fantastic and beautiful story. I heard this is getting another season and I am genuinely excited and curious to see what they do next.

My Girl (Cdrama 2020)- Woman with scar on her face and a problem with delusions falls in love with a makeup CEO who has his own troubled past. 7/10 Nothing really objectionable. I really like a lot of the things in it, especially that the girl I thought was going to be the annoyance became the best friend. All three couples were enjoyable. It was good, just not stupendous. I found myself a bit bored toward the end, even though it was a good story.

Noble Boys (Jdrama)- 4 wealthy heirs go on a reality show to marry "commoners." Naturally, they have no intention of actually falling in love with the three girls on the show. 4/10 Really not good, but it made me smile in places. Riku and Mugi (the leads) are cute and have ok chemistry. The background couples are nice but the plot holes in the story are bad. The plot itself is not very good. I mostly watched it brainlessly and even that was sometimes difficult.

Dalja's Spring (Kdrama)- A woman in her 30s hires a younger man to be her boyfriend for a month. 7/10 The first 15 or 16 episodes are actually way higher ratings for me. But they introduced a new character in the last few episodes. I thought a lot of the last 6 or so episodes were really really dragged out and then the resolution was really quick. I wish the last several eps had been condensed into like 2 with no ex girlfriend plot at all. It would have been better if the break up had been about following dreams and not fear. I did however love the main couple and the twist of Dalja's ex becoming her best friend was really lovely and fun.

Marry Me, Mary or Mary Stayed out all Night(Kdrama)- Mary's father is trying to force her into an arranged marriage. To get him to back off, she gets a lead singer from an indie rock band to fake a marriage with her. Her father, not to be deterred, says if she tries both relationships for 100 days he'll let her go with her choice. 9.5/10 This was a 10 up until the last two episodes. As with any romance there were misunderstandings and annoying side characters, but I loved the main three people in this and could legitimately see Mary falling for either of her husbands. It helps that both are really good guys. The last two eps all happen a bit too fast and are a bit too open ended. I would have liked a bit more closure. Also I could genuinely ship a thruple for this one. I wish the last half of the last episode had been more of the drama. There is something really endearing about the main couple that won me over very quickly. Also the bands music was stuck in my head for weeks afterwards.

Mr Queen (KDrama)- Head chef at the Blue House is framed for a crime. While running from the police he falls into a pool and hits his head. When he awakens, he is in the past in the body of a Queen of Joseon. What's a man to do? 9.5/10 I love everything in about this except for the last episode or two. It gets a bit weak. I like the show overall but for that ending to work I needed to see more of So-young's self coming through or have Jang Bong Hwan stay instead.

#kdrama #jdrama #cdrama #thirty but seventeen #emergency couple #the romance of tiger and rose #my girl 2020 #noble boys #dalja's spring #Mary Stayed Out All Night #Mr. Queen

[is0gild]

Ice Cream and Fire Oven Pizza - Bonus Chapter 2

Pairing: Elsa x Lea/Axel || Side Pairing: Riku x OC

Summary: Modern AU. She's an introvert ball of nerves who works at Ice Palace, a mall food court ice cream shop. He's the outgoing, sassy goofball who works at the Pizza Planet across the way. Hilarity, snark, and fluffy romcom hijinks ensue.

Word Count: 11,634

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

Credit for super friggin’ cute and super friggin’ amazing cover art goes to the super friggin’ talented ky-jane here on tumblr!

“Pssst. Raindrop. Check it out."

I paid little mind to the new conversation apparently taking form in the kitchen behind me.

"Hm…? What is it? What am I looking at here?" A pause, then a tiny gasp. "...is… is that what I think it is?"

I just kept scrolling through my phone from my seat on the couch, only listening with half an ear.

"Mm-hm! Her first one! Ain't it a beaut?"

Riku was currently out for what was looking to be a particularly long day at work for him and seeing as how we both had the day off ourselves, Lea and I had decided to hang out at my apartment and keep Rayne company. We'd settled on watching a movie, but my roommate had paused it to go get herself a drink. A few seconds later, Lea had gotten up as well, claiming to be a bit parched himself.

"Oh my god, it's so cute and little!"

We'd even brought Marshmallow with us for a visit with his auntie, especially considering Saïx would have flayed us alive if we'd stuck him with dog-sitting duty yet again. My fingers absently scritched behind one of his ears as the little pup contentedly rested his head in my lap. Though my use of "little" was strictly in the loosest sense of the term. Having had him for close to two months at this point, he'd grown quite a bit. He still looked like a puppy, mind you… there was just a lot more puppy to love now.

"I know, right? So precious, so smol. Just a wee baby hickey!"

My head jerked up at the last word, eyes wide. Then I hastily twisted around in my seat. The scene that greeted me in the kitchen was that of Lea with one finger hooked into his tee-shirt collar and tugging it down to show Rayne a tiny patch of discoloration on his skin just below and slightly to the right of his collarbone.

"Lea!" I snapped, face reddening while my hand gripped the backrest of the sofa so hard, my knuckles turned white.

They both looked at me and froze, Lea muttering, "Uh-oh."

Dropping my phone onto the cushions, I was on my feet in a heartbeat and charging towards them, "That was supposed to be private!"

"Now now, El," he soothed as he quickly moved to put the kitchen table between me and him, "how was I s'posed to know that? You never said anything about-"

"It was implied, you… you… ugh, come here!" I snarled, running around the table with Marshmallow hot on my heels, barking excitedly. Rayne just sniggered as she sidestepped out of our way.

Lea was easily able to keep ahead of me, maintaining the table as a barrier between us. "Aw, c'mon, babydoll! This was a big step for you! I was just proud of you and wanted others to share in my joy!"

"No!" I slapped one palm down on the dining surface while angrily pointing a finger at him across it. "No others! You can't tell anyone else, you hear me?!"

"Alright, alright, I won't tell any other people, I swear!" he raised both hands in a placating gesture. Then he pursed his lips to one side as his gaze averted. "Well… any more other people…"

I blanched. "...who? Who else did you already tell? Roxas? Xion?"

He scoffed, splaying his hand against his chest in offence. "Please, just what kinda man do you take me for? I'm a gentleman, I don't do any of that locker-room talk bullshit." He crossed his arms over his chest, harrumphing as if the very notion was an insult to everything he stood for. Then he gave a small shrug, "...I just told Anna."

I choked and spluttered, unable to find words for a few seconds. "My… You told my sister?!" I took off after him once more, but curse him and his freakishly long legs, the jerk was able to move fast enough to keep the table between us. Marshmallow kept prancing about down around our feet, just out of his mind and beside himself from the sudden burst of activity. Stopping once more, my hands seized the backrest of the nearest dining chair and squeezed the life out of it as I growled, "Why? Why on earth would you tell my sister?"

"Lookit it this way. See, it's like… baby taking her first steps, ya know? I just want all of baby's family and loved ones to feel included in these special lil milestones! Baby being you, of course!"

Oh, "baby" was so going to murder this boy.

"And may I just take this moment to add," oh dear lord, he did not know when to stop talking, even if his very life depended on it, "what a privilege, nay, honor it has been to have a front row seat to - not to mention be instrumental in - your sexual awakening these past several weeks and-"

I threw a coaster at him.

"Hey now, watch it, those are fragile!" Rayne chided as she scooped the other ones off the table to tuck away safely in a cupboard before taking out a different stack to hand to me. "Use these instead. They're garbage, but hard as rocks!"

"Don't give her more ammo!" Lea yelped and ducked as I rapidly chucked my freshly stocked supply of munitions at him. Once I was out, I made another dash for him. Once again, he tried to bolt. This time however, he tripped and stumbled over Marshmallow with a tiny, "Shit!" He managed to grab the edge of the table and catch himself but he'd already lost his lead, giving me a chance to close the distance. Right before I could deliver my righteous justice however, he scooped up Marshmallow and was suddenly holding the giant, squirming ball of white fluff up between us, desperately asking, "You wouldn't hit a guy holding a stupidly cute puppy, would you?"

Huffing through my nose, I narrowed my eyes on him. "Put the dog down, Lea," I said, my voice dangerously low and even.

"Seeing as how the lil furball is the only thing between me and an untimely date with my maker, I'm gonna hafta give ya a hard pass there," he chuckled weakly, inching back a step. Then he was calling over his shoulder, "Lil help, Raindrop?"

She just grinned and shook her head from where she'd taken a seat at the dining table. "Mm-mm, nope. You're on your own, Red."

"Dude. Harsh. I thought we were frien- ow!" he hissed as I took advantage of his distraction to pinch his arm. Marshmallow came in for the assist, chomping down on Lea's fingers and forcing a yelp out of him as he dropped the puppy. Giving his abused hand a shake, he scowled down at the culprit. "Et tu, Marshmallow?"

In response, he just wagged his poof of a tail and sunk his teeth into Lea's leg.

"Destroyer of Worlds, my ass. More like Destroyer of My Ankles, you lil-" Lea's grumbling died down instantly as he saw me take a menacing step towards him. Gulping, he took several steps backwards, snatching up one of the kitchen chairs to use for a makeshift shield. As I kept stalking towards him, he continued backing up until his rear hit a countertop. Sitting atop it and scooching back even further until his spine was against the wall, he stretched one foot out to press against my stomach, holding me at bay with it while he shoved the chair legs in my directions a couple times, "Back! Back I say!"

I froze, blinking at him a couple times. "...are you seriously lion-taming me right now?"

He frowned, eyes darting down to the chair he was holding, then back up to meet my gaze. "Depends. Is it turning you on, my sexy lioness?"

My eyelids drooped. "Not even a little bit."

"Then nope! No, mm-mm, definitely not what I am doing." Something suddenly started ringing back from the direction of the living room. Lea straightened up, eyes brightening, "Oo! Oo! That's your phone, isn't it? Better go answer it!"

"It can go to voicemail," I ground out through my teeth, shoving his foot off my abdomen and taking another step closer.

Still frantically using the chair to defend himself, he asked, "You sure 'bout that? Could be important!"

"It can wait."

"I'll get it!" Rayne chirped, rising and moving to the couch where I'd left my phone. Picking it up, her thumb swiped the screen and she held it up to her ear, cheerfully greeting, "Elsa's pants, she's not in them right now!"

"Rayne!" I whipped my head around to glare at her. She simply winked and blew me a kiss. Sighing, I muttered, "You're just lucky you're pregnant, otherwise you'd be next up on my kill list."

"Hey, double standards!" Lea huffed. "No fair, I can't get pregnant!"

Palm covering the lower half of the phone so it wouldn't pick up her voice, Rayne whispered, "Maybe you're just not doing it right."

"Huh… I'm game to give it a whirl." He smirked at me, "Go on, El. Put a baby in me."

My answer came in the form of grabbing two of the chair legs and giving them a hard shove, ramming the edge of the backrest into Lea's gut.

He grunted and wheezed, "Don't think that's how that's done, babe."

Before I could make a retort, Rayne was abruptly holding my phone in front of my face. "It's Larxene."

My head rocked back slightly, my anger dispersing in an instant as my eyes darted from the mobile, then to my roomie, then back again. Why was the assistant director calling me? Brow furrowed, I finally took it from her and held it up to my ear with an uncertain, "...hello?"

"Get your ass down here. Now."

"I… o-of course! But-"

Click.

She'd hung up.

Both eyebrows shot up my forehead as I slowly lowered the phone, staring at my reflection in the now blackened screen.

"What's up, El?" Lea asked, voice immediately colored in concern as he dropped the chair and slid off the counter onto his feet.

I shook my head. "...guess I better get my ass down there."

Leaving Marshmallow in Rayne's care, Lea and I were on the road within minutes and heading towards Sunset Hill Auditorium. That was my best guess anyway as to wherever it was that Larxene wanted me to get my ass down to. I tucked in my bottom lip as I watched the buildings rush past, my fingers fidgeting with my braid.

Why was I being called in?

The not knowing had me on edge.

Our grand opening of Wicked had occurred last weekend. As was to be expected, I'd been so nervous I'd practically choked on all those butterflies jam-packed inside my stomach trying to escape. But it'd been a good nervous. An excited nervous. And in the end, it'd been so much fun and the show had gone off without a hitch.

Or at least, so I'd thought…

Maybe that's why Larxene was summoning me. Maybe I'd screwed up big time in my role without even realizing it. And I was part of the chorus no less - just one of many, so it would've had to have been one major flub on my part for her to take notice and zero in on me. We were back around to Friday now, so tonight was supposed to be our next showing, followed by several more weekends to come before the musical closed out. But maybe… if I had royally flopped super hard last week...

...oh god… was she going to kick me out of the show?

I gave a start as Lea's hand suddenly closed around mine, lacing our fingers together and stopping me from getting this close to tearing my hair out. He pulled it over to rest in his lap, brushing his thumb back and forth along my knuckles as he continued to drive one handed. "You're sure she didn't say anything else? Anything at all?"

Grimacing, I shook my head. "Nothing. Just told me to come and to be quick about it." I puffed out a sigh, staring down at my lap. "...I doubt it's anything good though. She sounded mad."

He gave an unimpressed razz of his tongue. "That hag always sounds like someone's spit in her Cheerios, so that's not saying much."

That earned him a feeble smile from me, one that swiftly faded. "...what if…" I began, but then clamped my mouth shut against the words, my frown deepening. "...there's this one scene… you remember, from when you saw it last weekend? The bit with the party, where Elphaba is pranked into wearing the witch hat? There's one part of that whole dance routine where we - the chorus that is… we're supposed to twirl to and fro, and maybe… what if I to'd when I should have fro'd and that's why she's calling me in? I to'd when I should've fro'd and wrecked the whole scene and now she's cutting me and making sure I can never, ever work in theater again and-"

"Nonsense, El," he chuckled, shaking his head as he pulled up my hand to kiss the back of it. "Your to-ing and fro-ing were perfect last week. Perfecter than perfect. Those to's and fro's were so perfect that everyone in the audience was too busy being enchanted by you to even pay any attention to the leads and whatever the hell they were doing. In fact, do you wanna know who was sitting in the very seat next to me during that showing?"

My eyelids drooped at how thick this dork was laying it on. "No, but I get the feeling you're about to tell me," I deadpanned.

He grinned big as he turned the car into a parking spot in front of the auditorium and killed the engine. "Why, it was none other than the Grand High King To-And-Fro Champion of the Universe himself! And he was so stunned, so amazed, so enthralled by your hella sick to-ing and fro-ing skills that I overheard him say," here his voice deepened theatrically, "at long last! I've found a worthy successor to bequeath my bedazzling, golden To-And-Fro Crown to!"

I scoffed, using climbing out of the car as an excuse to hide my small, traitorous smile. "Wow, there's a To-And-Fro Crown?"

"You bet your sweet booty there is!" he chirped as he exited the vehicle himself, slamming the door shut behind him.

An amused little huff escaped my nose as I joined him, slipping my hand back into his before making my way towards the entrance to the building. Then I was shooting him some suspicious side-eye. "...you're planning to make me a crown now, aren't you?"

"I dunno what you're talking about," he said a touch too innocently as we climbed the steps and walked inside.

I shot him a dull look. "Do not make me a crown."

"Oh-ho, you're getting a crown whether you like it or not, babycakes."

A soft snort escaped me as I pulled to a stop alongside the back row of audience seats. Then the chilly anxiety began to creep its way back inside my chest. Wrinkling my nose, I muttered, "It'd probably be best if I didn't take you in back with me, so just… wait here, I suppose. This should only take a few minutes… I hope."

Instead of releasing my hand as I turned to go however, his grip gently tightened as he said, "Wait, you forgot this."

"Wha-?" was all I managed to get out before he was tugging me back to him, cupping my cheek and pressing his lips to mine. For a moment, all thoughts of dread were forgotten, washed away by the waves of icy heat sent cascading throughout my body.

As he pulled away, he pressed his forehead to mine and trailed the pad of his thumb along the curve of my cheekbone, murmuring, "Whatever her High-And-Mighty Bitchiness wants, ya give her hell, you hear me?"

Face a little warm, I gave him a tiny smile and a single hesitant nod. Then I squeezed his hand before disentangling our fingers and heading towards the door that led to the backstage area.

The rooms back here were a ghost town currently. I knew however that in only a few short hours the place would be pure chaos with actors and techies alike rushing about in preparation for tonight's show. I frowned, fidgeting with my fingers as I slowly wandered from room to empty room, curious as to where exactly the fearsome assistant director might be hiding. Just when I was thinking about texting her to be sure this actually was in fact where she'd wanted me to come, I heard muffled voices. I glanced around for a second before making my way towards the dressing room as that seemed to be where they were coming from.

Poking my head through the doorway, I spotted three older women who I knew helped Sally with all the costuming for the shows here. They had a few of the costumes for the musical in hand, waving them about as they talked amongst themselves somewhat frantically. All their words were jumbling together into such a muddle of indecipherable noise, it was a wonder any of them were able to keep up with their own conversation.

Taking in a deep breath to settle my nerves before exhaling, I approached them with a polite, "Hi Flora, Fauna, Merryweather... Would any of you possibly know where Lar-"

"Ah! There you are, dear, and not a moment too soon!" The one in a red knit sweater, Flora, cried as she and the others whirled around to face me. "Come, come, there's too much to do and not enough time to do it all in! So many adjustments to make!"

And then I yelped as the three of them pounced.

Okay, maybe "pounced" was a tad strong. But they came at me brandishing tape measures in their hands and safety pins gripped between their teeth and if I'm being perfectly honest, it was a little distressing to say the least.

"Adjustments? What adj- hey, that tickles!" I squirmed as Flora, the one wearing the green hat, stretched out my arm to measure from wrist to armpit. "Adjustments to what?"

Flora smiled sweetly back at me as she wrapped the tape around my bicep now, "To the costumes, of course dear! What else?"

Well duh, I'd figured that much out! But which-

Oh! Hold on… could it be that…

"...was there an accident with one of my outfits? Did something rip and you just need to fix it?" Was that why I'd been called down here? Because if that's all it was, thank goodness!

The lady sporting a blue scarf, Merryweather, ignored my question as she straightened back up with a scowl after taking my height measurement. "Aww, phooey! You're shorter by five inches! Now we have to take up all the hemlines!"

My eyebrows knit together, "Wha… hemlines? What are you… shorter than what? Just what is going-"

"There you are!" A new voice exasperatedly joined the conversation from behind us and I turned to see Larxene striding into the room bearing a clipboard. Or rather, I tried to turn, only to have Flora flip me back around so she could resume measuring my shoulders. "Finally! You certainly took your sweet damn time!"

Wincing slightly, I began, "I… I got here as fast as I could, I-"

She sighed boredly, "Save it, I don't give a crap." Coming to a stop next to me, she eyed her clipboard as she flipped through a couple of the pages. "I got ahold of the others and they should be here any minute for our dry run. As long as no one fucks anything up, that should leave enough time to finish making sure all your costumes fit, your hair is done, and-"

"My hair? What are you doing with my... Wait, why wouldn't my- stop that," I hissed, shooing Fauna away from getting that tape cord anywhere near my bust before looking at Larxene again. "Why wouldn't my costumes fit? And dry run? What dry run? I didn't know about any more rehearsals being scheduled before the show today."

The assistant director gave me a flat look. "...Marluxia didn't tell you?" When my answer was only a blank stare, she growled in her throat, closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Of course he didn't. Why would he? He's only the damn director, ugh! Leave it to Pinkie to delegate without even bothering to tell me!" Cyan eyes locked on me once more and voice taking on what had to be the most unenthused tone in the entire history of all tones, she informed me, "Congratulations. You're Elphaba."

Sorry, I'm who now?

I blinked. Once, then twice. Then, "I'm…? Elph- Wha? Me? No, that can't- That's not- It doesn't- It's not- There's just- It couldn't- No, no, no, there must be-"

Gosh, I've always had such a way with words.

Pressing my lips together firmly and taking a second to gather my thoughts, I tried again. "Snow White-"

"Snow White has food poisoning and can't go on," Larxene enunciated as if she were explaining to a four-year-old child. "So Pinkie has shoulder-tapped you to step up and fill in. Mazel-fucking-tov, now can we move past this already?"

I frowned, barely even noticing now as the flurry of poking, prodding and measuring continued about my person. "But what about… I mean surely there must be a… an understudy! Or-"

She barked out a laugh. "An understudy? Princess please, this is community theater, what understudy?"

My gaze fell to the floor, a crease forming between my eyebrows. Then I was looking at her again, "But this just doesn't make any sense, there has to be someone else! Someone with… with more experience! Why not Tiana or-"

"Tiana's busy," Larxene rolled her eyes.

I shook my head, "Doing what?"

"Um, playing Glinda? Doi?" she arched an eyebrow at me, then scoffed. "We're not going to play musical goddamn chairs with all the leads just a few hours before the show starts. That'd be a royal shitshow, genius. So why don't I just leave all the prancy-wancy acting… stuff to you while you leave the assistant directing to me, okay?" That last word was dripping with enough sarcasm to fill a whole friggin' bucket.

"Then…" I bit down on my bottom lip, breathing shallow and mind racing, desperate to come up with any other solution. "...then one of the other girls! From the tryouts who aren't in the show! Like, oh, what was her name… Yuna?"

Larxene watched me blankly. Then she was tucking her clipboard into her armpit so she could clap her hands together once and coo in candy-coated sweetness, "Okay, yeah! Let's bring in someone who hasn't been to any rehearsals and doesn't know any of the stage layout or any of the choreography! It's perfect! Gee, why didn't I think of that?"

The mockery was neither appreciated nor lost on me.

"Fine! What about- I said stop!" Fauna had been making another shot for my bust and I stumbled out of that tangled mess of hands and measuring tape, huffing and puffing through my nose as I glanced back at them, "What are you even doing?!"

"Making sure we can get all of Snow White's costumes to fit you, dear! Now hold still, we're almost done," Flora said before they all ambushed me again.

Resigned to my fate for the moment, I turned my attention back to Larxene, "But what about one of the other girl's in the chorus? There has to be- There must be someone else who's more trained or… or would be a better fit or-"

"For fuck's sake, Snowflake, why are you fighting this so hard? Do you really need the validation of having me spell it out for you that badly?" Larxene snapped.

My head rocked back and I stared at her with eyes wide. "Wha… Validation? What are you… That's not-"

"Fine." She thrust up one hand to tick off her pinky finger, "One: you're consistent. Annoyingly so. You're the only chorus member who's shown up to every single damn one of the rehearsals. Maybe because all those other pathetic losers have more of a life than you? Don't know, don't care."

Hey now, I had a life!

...I think… it was still sort of a work in progress...

"Two," up went the next finger, "you know the show front and back and could probably recite the whole damn thing from cover to cover at the drop of a hat. You think we haven't noticed you backstage, mirroring all the other actors' stage directions and dance routines and miming along with all the lines and songs like some dumb parrot?"

Oh gosh, they saw that?! Color me mortified.

"Three, you actually got halfway decent pipes and should be able to handle Elphaba's songs at least well enough to not completely embarrass yourself."

Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence.

Jutting out one hip to plant a fist against it, Larxene stared down her nose at me. "So what's it gonna be, Shortbread? You've put in the time, you know your stuff, you got the voice… question is, you got the balls to actually do it?"

I stiffened, sucking in a breath and holding it. I'd run out of arguments to push back with. And honestly…

...did I really want to be arguing this?

The silence stretched as my heart pounded in my ears. Then finally and at long last, I gave a single yet vigorous nod. "Yes."

She smirked. "Good, cuz that was a trick question. You didn't actually have a choice, bitch."

The door to the room banged open as yet another person abruptly came sprinting into the room. She had long dark red hair beneath her newsboy cap and poking out of her shoulder bag was a crude hand-sewn doll that she was never seen without, though I'd never quite been able to figure out what it was exactly… a cat? A pig? Your guess was as good as mine. As for the girl herself, what I did know about her was that she also helped with costuming. Right now, she came bearing a giant black bottle that she waved high over her head. "Got it! Got th… the hair dye!" she panted out as she came stumbling to a stop and braced her shoulder against the wall for support, looking as if she'd just run a marathon.

"Hair dye?" my hand unconsciously went to my braid.

"Oh don't worry!" she gave an exhausted chuckle as she batted her hand through the air. "It's the kind that washes out, but it'll still look great on you!"

"Alright, wrap this up, ladies, we don't have all fucking day," Larxene snapped her fingers a couple times as she started making her way towards the exit. "Snowflake, your ass better be on stage in five so we can get this damn show on the road, got it?"

"Ah… y-yes, of course, I'll be-"

But she was already gone, slamming the door shut behind her.

"Shiki, be a dear and get these measurements to Sally," Flora finished jotting something down on two slips of paper before handing them both to the redhead. "There's a copy in there for you too, so you can grab Elphaba's nightgown for the Popular scene and start taking in the waist."

"Got it!" Shiki nodded as solemnly as a soldier being sent off to war. I was surprised she didn't salute before she darted out through a door in back that led to a deeper part of the dressing rooms.

The remaining three women were suddenly a red, green and blue whirlwind of activity as they bustled about the room, a cacophony of noise once more, flailing costumes as they went. I just kind of stood off awkwardly to one side, rubbing my elbow. Fauna noticed me long enough for a quick but friendly, "We're done, dear."

"Oh, okay," I nodded as she dashed off.

More awkward standing.

"Go on, shoo!" Merryweather impatiently whipped the outfit she was holding at me as she blurred past.

With a start, I gasped, "Right! I, uh… I'll get out of your way," before hastily retreating out the door.

I was still kind of in a state of shock. Because, come on… that was a lot to happen in the space of five minutes! Here I'd come in expecting to get cut, not to have a friggin' lead part dropped into my lap. None of this felt real. Was this a dream? Or maybe more like a nightmare, considering I'd actually been crazy enough to say yes. Oh dear god, was I even ready for this?

Feet seemingly on autopilot, I hardly realized where I was even going as I numbly walked back out towards the audience seating. Lea was slouched down in one of the chairs in back, lollipop stick poking out of one corner of his mouth and red Converse kicked up onto one of the backrests of the row in front of him as he thumbed through his phone.

Looking up as I approached, he grinned and hopped up to his feet with a chipper, "How did it go with Larxy?" But then he squinted at me with a frown. "...do I need to knock her block off? Cuz I'll do it. I don't care if she's a girl, I'll-" he cut himself off, lips pursing to the left. "Scratch that, that hag scares the everliving crap outta me. But I'll tell you what, I will definitely write her a strongly worded letter, or… ah! Passive aggressive post-it notes! That bitch is gonna be getting so many passive aggressive post-it notes from me, she'll rue the day she ever messed with my boo!"

Shaking my head slowly and still in an almost sort of trance, I said, "They're, uh… they needed to make adjustments."

One of his eyebrows quirked. "Adjustments?"

I nodded, staring off into space, eyes unfocused. "To the, um… the…" I gestured to my clothes by way of explanation. Don't think he got it. I kept going as if he had though. "And there's hair dye. And a dry run. Because of the poison."

"Poison?" he echoed again, this time slightly more alarmed.

"So they asked me to- well, I mean, I told them they should have a- you'd think they would have one, wouldn't you? But apparently no, not for community theater. So I said, well why not Tiana? But.. but Larxene didn't want to play musical chairs, and I suppose she had a point. And Yuna hasn't been around and wouldn't know any of the- not to mention all of the other girls have more of a life, so that apparently makes me the-" I suddenly inhaled sharply, digging my phone out of my pocket. "I should tell Anna."

"What? Tell Anna what?!" he asked, but I had already tapped her name in my contacts and was pressing the phone to my ear as I shushed him. His shoulders slumped and he muttered, "I have no freaking clue what's even happening."

It only rang once before a male voice answered, "City zoo, reindeer speaking."

Rolling my eyes as I also heard Anna's faint snickering in the background on the other end of the line, I said, "Hi Kristoff. Could you put my sister on please?"

Oh yeah, those two were an item now. Well, kind of… it was still new and Anna was taking it slow for once.

They were actually kind of cute together.

Though it was really weird seeing Kristoff smile so much now.

"Dweeb," came a muffled giggle from Anna, which I assumed was more so directed at my coworker than at me. There were some shuffling sounds as the phone presumably exchanged hands before she came in loud and clear in my ear with a bright, "Hey, Sis! What's up?"

At long last, a hint of a smile started to tug at my lips. "Something… something amazing has happened, you'll never guess! I-"

"Oh! I know already, and I am so friggin' proud of you, you have no idea!"

I blinked, tipping my head to one side. "You are? Wait, how could you possibly know already? I just-"

"Lea told me!" My forehead wrinkled at that as my eyes darted to him. Suddenly she let loose a piercing squeal and I flinched, holding the phone away a bit. "Ahhh! Lookit you! My big sis is all growed up and giving her man hickies! 'Bout friggin' time too!"

My right eye twitched.

Ah. Right. That. I'd almost forgotten.

My free hand snaked out to give Lea's arm another pinch and he yelped, lollipop tumbling from his lips. Fumbling to catch it, he grumbled, "Shit, El, what'd I do?"

Jabbing my fingertip against his chest at the exact spot where I'd left my mark under his shirt, I hissed, "You know what you did."

With a tiny sheepish chuckle, he scratched a spot behind his ear. "Oh yeah…"

Oh-ho, he was going to rue the day. And trust me, it wasn't going to be with passive aggressive post-it notes.

I narrowed my eyes on him as I continued my phone conversation, "First of all, I never want to hear the H-word coming out of your mouth again. You're my little sister, it's just… it's too weird." I paused with a small shudder, but then a grin slowly began fighting its way back onto my face. "Second of all… I'm Elphaba."

"...elle-fab-wha?"

I made a noise in my throat that was half sigh, half groan. What, did she sleep through the show when she saw it last week? ...honestly, I wouldn't have been surprised. "A lead. They made me a lead, okay? Th-" a gasp stifled my words as my free hand flew up to cover my mouth. It was finally actually hitting me. This was real. Saying out loud had suddenly made it so very, very real. "Oh my god, they made me a lead."

"They what?!" Anna shrieked in delight at the same time Lea surprised me by hugging my waist, picking me up and spinning me around as he laughed, "Babe, that's amazing!"

As he was putting me back down, I could hear Anna babbling, "How did this happen?! Tell me, I want to know everything! How is this even possible? Aren't all the leads filled?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but Lea started talking as well, "Did one of the stars call in sick? Shit, did she call in dead? You said something about poison, which is a thing I think we sorta glossed over and should circle back to."

Again, I took in a breath to form words. Again, I was cut off. "Did they realize how friggin' talented and beautiful and incredible you are and just write a new leading part specifically for you?"

"Was the actress poisoned? Was she murdered?" Lea then gave a dramatic mock gasp. "...did you murder her for the part?"

"What am I saying? Of course that's what they did, ah! I can't believe they friggin' wrote in a whole new character just for you! Except I can believe it and I do!"

"Cuz if you did, you know you can tell me, right? Your secret is safe with me, just damn, El... who knew beneath that whole sweet, doe-eyed routine of yours beat the heart of a ruthless, cold-blooded killer?"

"Both of you, shush!" I huffed, finally managing to get a word in edgewise. Jeez, I could barely handle one person talking to me on a good day, let alone two at the same time. To my boyfriend, I articulated slowly, "Food poisoning, Lea. Food poisoning." As he just sniggered and shrugged, I spoke into the phone, "And Anna, no, that's not how plays work. Someone fell ill, I'm just filling in." I puffed out a soft breath and hesitated, worrying my bottom lip between my teeth now. "...listen, are you busy tonight? Do you think… Would you be able to make it?"

"You want me there?! Really?" I winced at how shocked she sounded. "I mean, Sis, don't get me wrong, I'd absolutely love to go, but… me being there, that wouldn't, ya know… psych you out or make you feel more pressure?"

Restless fingers fiddling with my braid, I was silent for a few seconds. Then I gave a firm nod even though I knew she couldn't see it. "I would… really like it if you were there. Kristoff can come too, if you want."

Another eardrum bursting squeal. Don't think I was joking either. Pretty sure that was blood I felt trickling out of my ear now. "We are so there! We'll be like your groupies! We'll paint our faces and hold up signs saying how much we heart you and-"

"No!" I said quickly. Because I knew Anna. She wasn't kidding. "No face paint, no signs!"

"Oo, what's this I hear about face paint and signs?" Lea's eyes lit up.

I hung my head, pressing my fingers to the spot between my eyebrows. "Great, now you've gotten Lea's hopes up. You know how he latches on."

Giggling, Anna said, "And don't worry about inviting Mom and Dad, I'll pass the invite along to them for y-"

My shoulders stiffened. "Do not tell them! They won't care."

"But-"

"Just don't, Anna, okay? See you tonight." I scowled as my thumb pressed the 'End Call' button, silencing any further argument from her.

"Don't tell who what?" Lea asked, cocking his head slightly.

With a tiny exhale as I pocketed my phone, I said, "She wanted to invite my parents to tonight's show as well, which is ridiculous. They wouldn't want to come."

He frowned, then crossed his arms as he leaned one hip against an audience seat. "Do you want them there?"

I scrunched up my face. "...I haven't spoken to them in months. Not since that disastrous weekend you and I visited them. If the first thing they heard from me after all this time was to ask them to come see my silly little play… no, they wouldn't be interested. In fact, they'd probably be insulted. You know they discouraged my interest in theater all my life, so this would just be like a slap in the face to them. This is the last place they'd want to be, they wouldn't even be caught dead here. They won't come."

"But do you want them there?" he pressed again.

Hugging myself, I looked down, staring hard at my feet. "...Anna better listen to me. She better not tell them, or I'll-"

"What part of 'ass on stage in five' did you not understand, Princess?!" Larxene's voice was suddenly booming throughout the auditorium. I whirled around to see all the other performers had arrived and were waiting on stage with our illustrious assistant director in the front, glaring daggers at me as she impatiently tapped her foot. "Chop, chop, we don't have all day!"

"C-Coming!" I stammered back, then screwed my eyes shut as another thought struck me. I muttered, "Shoot, I was going to call Rayne too."

"Don't worry, I'll pass the message along. We'll all be there with bells and whistles on," Lea winked. I gave him a quiet thank you as I turned to rush off. Before I could take so much as a step however, Lea stopped me with a, "Hey." I glanced back at him and he grinned softly as he reminded me, "They gave you a lead."

I blinked. Then a huge smile spread across my face.

This was happening.

This was real. Like, really real.

Suddenly bubbling over with excitement and in need of an outlet, I flung myself at Lea and kissed him.

"God fucking damnit, now, Snowflake!" Larxene snapped.

"Be right up!" I called as I released him, tossing him one final hasty wave over my shoulder as I dashed towards the stage.

This wasn't a dream.

This was really happening.

And I couldn't wait to get started.

Scratch that, I could wait.

Maybe hold off for another hour or two? Or, I don't know… twelve? Tomorrow! Yes, tomorrow, would be great. Or better yet, perhaps a week from now? Heck, why not round it up to a nice, even year. Sound good?

If it wasn't obvious, I was having second thoughts. Not to mention third and fourth thoughts to boot.

It was kind of hard not to when I'd made the mistake of peeking out past the curtains to see just how many people were out there. Answer? A lot. So many. Too many. How did they even all fit in there? I could swear I remember the auditorium being a lot smaller… had it grown bigger in the past couple hours? Pretty sure it had grown bigger. I mean, that was the only logical explanation for the sheer amount of people in the audience now, right? Right.

Letting go of the curtain to block out the terrifying sight once more, I drew in a slow breath and held it for a few seconds. There was about fifteen minutes left before the show was to start. Fifteen very few, very short minutes. My face and neck were painted green, along with my hands that currently shook as I wrung them together. My hair was black and still braided and very tempting to tug at, but I resisted. My costume - a formal, blue three piece skirt suit with a knit cap - still didn't quite fit right in some places, but it fit well enough. The costuming ladies had actually done a pretty amazing job in the scant time they'd had to work with, I couldn't even fathom how they'd managed to get everything done. My best guess? Magic. It was the only thing that made sense.

My pulse chugged along at what felt like a billion beats per second and… crud, my palms were clammy. I hoped that wouldn't wipe away the body paint. Ugh, you would think I wouldn't be so nervous. I mean, what was the big deal anyway? So what if I was going to be on stage in front of that huge crowd? You know what, I'd been on stage in front of a huge crowd last week too and I'd handled it just fine. True, I'd just been a part of the chorus then, whereas tonight I was Elphaba, but what was the difference, I mean really? Just a handful of solo songs, a few hundred (or was it thousand?) more lines… then of course so many more eyes focused on me… so many more chances that something could go wrong…

Dammit, I was just being silly! Repeat after me, Elsa: nothing will go wrong. Nothing will go wrong. After all, the dry run had gone smoothly, hadn't it? Almost surprisingly so. Now I just had to do the exact same thing again, only this time in front of a room full of people!

...so many, many people...

Okay, this wasn't helping. I needed to take my mind off all this anxiety and calm down. What was that old trick for dealing with stage fright? ...picture the audience naked?

I hesitated, pursing my lips to one side. Then I poked a finger through the curtains once more to take another quick look. Then I was retracting my hand to my chest, letting the curtains fall shut again.

...yeah, no. Pretending like I was performing for a nudist colony? Not helping.

Now I was only nervous and blushing. Just dandy.

A hand suddenly clapped down on my shoulder, making me jolt and swallow a small yelp.

"Don't worry, you'll be great!" someone whispered next to me. I turned my head to see Tiana smiling brightly at me, looking stunning in her poofy, sparkly Glinda dress with her hair done up in lustrous curls. "Break a leg."

It took a second for my brain to catch up and remember that that was an old theater saying for wishing me luck.

Oh gosh, were we… bonding? I wasn't quite sure, I didn't know what it looked like. Everyone here had always been nice enough to me, of course, but it's not like we interacted all that much outside of rehearsals, not really. I'd been getting slightly better with this whole human interaction thing, but I still wasn't exactly big on the concept. I didn't know what to do with this newfound showman camaraderie.

...at the very least, I should reciprocate, right?

As she moved off to get onto her floating platform that she was supposed to make her grand entrance on at the start of the show, I quietly but hastily called after her, "You, uh… y-you too! Break both of them! And… and an arm as well!" Wait, what? "In fact, I'll break them all for you and-"

Both my hands shot up to gag myself.

For the love of… Learn to quit while your ahead, you stupid useless mouth!

Breathing a muffled sigh into my fingers, I slowly lowered my hands as I glanced up at the clock hanging on the wall. The minutes were ticking by far too quickly. My body was practically vibrating with all the nervous energy coursing through it and not for the first time, I seriously considered making a break for it. I knew where the back exit was to this place and I'd been left unsupervised. Really, that was just asking for trouble. Everyone should know by now what a goddamn friggin' flight risk I was!

I pushed that oh so appealing thought to the back of my mind however, locking it up and throwing away the key. A distraction… that's what I needed right now! But where to find such a thing…?

I looked to the heavy velvet curtain once more, pausing for a few heartbeats.

You'd think I'd have learned my lesson by now, but…

Yet again, I nudged it open a smidge to peek out.

It only took me a few seconds to spot them in the audience, third row from the front and slightly towards the right. Lea, Roxas, and Xion, chatting and laughing about something. Lea abruptly got Roxas in a headlock and started mussing up his hair while Xion just cackled. I hid a tiny grin behind my fingers as I watched Rayne reach across Xion, using her playbill pamphlet to swat at Lea's elbow trying to get him to stop manhandling Roxas.

This was what I'd needed to soothe me. To look out into that sea of people and see the faces of those I cared about.

To Rayne's right, Riku just read his own playbill and wisely stayed out of the mini-brawl that'd broken out. Then next to him were Anna and Kristoff. My sister was currently making a silly face as she took a selfie of the two of them, while he sported a goofy smile and couldn't seem to take his eyes off her.

Yes, exactly what I'd needed. One look at Lea, Roxas, Xion, Rayne, Riku, Anna, Kristoff, and my parents already had me feeling so much-

Wait…

Run that list by me again?

Lea, Roxas, Xion, Rayne, Riku, Anna, Kristoff, and-

I gasped, the curtain escaping my grasp and slipping back into place.

No, no, no, what were they doing here?! They shouldn't be here! They couldn't be here! There had to be some mistake! I must have been seeing things, it must have just been some… some trick of the light! Yeah, that had to be it! All I had to do was pull the curtain aside again and see for myself that it was just some other older couple who looked ridiculously rich, ridiculously out of place, and ridiculously uncomfortable.

Swallowing hard, I tentatively reached for that thick velvet fabric once more, parting it by an inch.

...fudge. No question about it. That was definitely and without a doubt... my parents.

I released the curtains once more, frowning. A few seconds ticked by. Then I poked them to one side again.

Nope. Still there. Still them.

...maybe I should try closing and opening the curtains one more time?

Zip it, brain, you're not helping!

This just… this didn't make any sense! What were they even doing here?!

My anxious eyes darted over a couple seats from them to where Anna was still in selfie mode, finger hooked in her mouth to flash her gums while she stuck out her tongue and crossed her eyes.

My eyelids drooped.

Why that little…

I dashed over to the dressing rooms, snatching my phone out of the locker I was using for my personal items before rushing back over to the curtains, fingers furiously tapping out a text message as I went.

I will END you.

Annnnnnnd send.

Sneaking a glimpse out into the audience once more, I watched as Anna suddenly went very rigid, face pale and wide eyes locked on her phone screen. Then, as if she could sense my icy death glare on her, she looked up and directly at the tiny gap in the curtains through which I was peering. I swiped a finger slowly across my throat. She quite visibly gulped, gaze darting over to our parents. Oh yes. She knew exactly why I was going to murder her. Then her thumbs were a blur as they started tapping at her phone. I felt mine vibrate in my hands and I glanced down at it.

it wsnt me i swear thy just showd up id nevr do that 2 u plz dont kll me i luv u and thnk ur so so pretty

As she then proceeded to spam me with various heart and kiss emojis, a crease formed between my eyebrows and I looked to the crowd once more. My parents wouldn't have known to come on their own, so someone had to have told them.

If not Anna, then who…?

My gaze landed on another certain redhead, currently snickering as his fingers ruffled his hair.

...oh-ho, he wouldn't have much left to snicker about by the time I was through with him.

Glancing to my phone once more, I swapped over to my text conversation with Lea and started typing.

Left backstage door. Now.

I watched long enough to see him pull out his phone, quirk an eyebrow as he read my message, then hop up to his feet to make his way towards the requested rendezvous point. I ran behind stage, turning down a hallway and descending the steps leading to the other side of that same door. As I pulled it open a crack to peer out, I could see Lea standing there with his back to me, hands shoved into his pockets as he idly rocked on his feet while waiting. The audience murmur was dying down as the lights began to dim, indicating the show was about to start. That was okay, that still gave me roughly ten more minutes before I had to be on stage.

More than enough time to hide the body when I was through with my meddling boyfriend.

"Psssst," I hissed to get his attention, opening the door wider.

Lea spun around, took one look at me and snerked, both hands coming up to cup over his mouth. His eyes crinkled as he seemed to take a second to compose himself. Then in a whisper that shook with barely contained laughter, he said, "I'm sorry, but you make… the cutest teenage mutant ninja turtle."

Not wanting to disturb the audience as the first notes of the play's music started up, I simply rolled my eyes, grabbed him by the front of the shirt and yanked him through the door, letting it fall shut behind him.

He stumbled into me, his hands immediately going to my hips as he smirked down the few inches that separated us. "Mmm, so that's what this is? Need me to help you work off some of those pre-show jitters, huh? Wouldn't think you'd have the time to squeeze in a lil makeout sesh, but if you insist…" He gently pressed me up against the wall, pinning my body there with his. Ducking his head down, his lips found my throat as he murmured, "I'll admit, I am pretty curious to find out just how far down this green goes…"

I shivered as his kisses down my neck left a warm tingle in their wake.

...reason…

There'd been a reason I'd wanted to see him, and this wasn't it.

...unless… was it?

Wait! No! Focus, Elsa, focus! I'd wanted to talk to him about, uh… about my, uh…

"Parents!" I breathed out at last, regaining some semblance of thought as I cleared my throat. "It was you who invited my parents here, wasn't it?"

He stilled against my neck. Then he was straightening back up once more and I had to choke back a laugh. Thanks to my body paint, his mouth had now taken on a lovely shade of emerald. "Maybe… who wants to know?" he asked with a playful shrewdness. I narrowed my eyes up at him, to which he grinned, "No seriously, who? I can't tell which one you're supposed to be. Donatello? Raphael?"

"Bold of you to mock someone who's has intimate knowledge of all your weak points," I deadpanned, poking him in the side where I knew he was ticklish. He yelped and squirmed. Ah, sweet sweet vengeance. I then released a grumbling sigh. "...I told you not to tell them."

Lea struck up a finger, "Correction: you told Anna not to tell them. You never said a word about what I myself should or shouldn't do."

"But I said I didn't want them here!" I shot back, mindful to still keep my voice low.

"Did ya though?" he cocked an eyebrow at me. My hand shot out for his ticklish spot again, but he caught it with a triumphant, "Ha! But no really, you didn't. You did however give me an impressive list of excuses as to why you assumed they wouldn't wanna come."

"Because they wouldn't!" I pressed. But then I hesitated, averting my gaze before muttering, "...or rather… I thought they wouldn't." I shook my head. "...what did you even say to them?"

His shoulders gave a small shrug. "Nothing much, I don't even remember really. But cliff notes version? Something along the lines of how important this was to you and if they ever hoped to have even so much as a snowball's chance in hell of being a part of your life ever again, it'd be important to them too."

My face twisted sourly. It was kind of getting hard to stay mad at him. Especially when I had to keep staring at those toad-lips of his. But damned if I wasn't going to try. "So what, you expect me to believe you just called them up and-"

"Oh," he chuckled and shook his head, "no, I didn't call. I mean, I tried to at first, but only got as far as leaving a message with the butler. So figured, hell, got several hours to kill before curtain time... why not take a lil road trip?"

I stared at him, eyes growing round. "Oh no."

Lea beamed, "Oh yes! We had quite the pleasant chat, your folks and I. In the... Jasmine Room I believe it was this time. It was nice. Cozy. There was even tea."

A quiet snort escaped me now as my expression softened, reaching a hand up to touch his cheek. "...that was a very sweet, not to mention a very stupid and overstepping thing to do."

"If by 'stupid and overstepping' you mean 'brilliant and endearing,' then you and I are in total and one hundred percent agreement," one side of his mouth quirked. He then puffed out a smug, lofty sigh, "What can I say, I just can't help being so awesome. Try not to swoon while in the presence of the awe-inspiring greatness that is yours truly."

I gave him a blank look. "Your lips are green."

He blinked, removing one hand from my waist to poke at his lips before pulling his fingertip away to discover it was now a delightful lime color. Then he flashed his dimple, "You say that like it isn't just another example of my awesomeness."

Biting back a small smile, I idly smoothed a thumb at the corner of his mouth. "I will say I am rather fond of the way it brings out the color of your eyes."

"Now ya gone and done it," he hugged me more tightly against him. "This moment right here? You remember it good. Now when I go and start making green lipstick my new aesthetic, just remember that it's all thanks to you telling me that."

"...fudge."

He snerked before leaning his face in closer to mine now, his breath warming my lips as he whispered, "Now whaddya say to me laying some sweet green sugar on ya, babydoll?"

I spluttered in amusement, clamping a hand over his mouth before he could finish closing the distance. "And risk you ruining my makeup even further? I don't think so. Besides, I should get back, I'm sure I must be due on stage any minute."

Pulling his face free of my grasp, he now rested his forehead to mine and nuzzled our noses together. "C'mon, you're fine. One lil smooch or two won't hurt any-"

A sudden loud, ominous crackle filled the air. We both turned our heads to discover now standing at the top of the stairs was a certain assistant director with a homicidal gleam in her eye as she held up a sparking taser. Larxene shut it off, gravely intoning, "Oh you miserable little man. How shall I fry thy lame-o ass for trespassing backstage? Let me count the ways." The taser buzzed with electricity once more.

"Gottarunbabeknock'emdeadoutthere," Lea blurted out, planting a swift peck to my forehead before bolting out the door back to audience seating so fast, you'd have missed if you'd blinked.

Leaving me to face the walking, talking electrocution chair in human form all on my own.

Gee thanks, Lea. So brave. So valiant. My hero.

The big, fat chicken.

I gulped, licking my dry lips and squaring my shoulders. "Larxene, I-"

"Will you just go get ready for your cue?" she huffed, stepping aside and gesturing with the taser for me to get a move on. "I'll chew you out after the show."

Releasing a small breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding, I nodded and ran up the steps past her. As I snatched up and put on my prop glasses, picked up the student briefcase to complete my costume and got into position just offstage, I saw that it was almost time for me to make my entrance. It was just now hitting me that I'd been so distracted by having my little chat with Lea that I'd missed out on precious panicking time. As if my body were trying to make up for it all at once, my heart rate abruptly skyrocketed, blood rushed in my ears and my knees trembled.

But beneath it all was also the teeniest flash of giddiness.

This was it.

There was no time left for freaking out or worrying about what could go wrong or stressing out about my parents being in the audience.

I tensed as I heard my cue, hesitating for a beat.

There was no time left for anything except to just go out there and get on with it.

So I did. I drew in a deep breath and took that first step out onto the stage.

I will never forget those first five minutes.

Everything about it had just been so… different. Being a lead had made it all different. The warmth radiating from the stage lights above had been different. The hush from an auditorium packed with people had been different. Even the very air itself as I'd breathed it into my lungs had felt different.

Those first five minutes would stay with me forever until the day I died. Because those five minutes had been undeniably and without question…

...the absolute worst experience of my whole life.

I'd tripped and stumbled over my own two feet. I'd forgotten simple stage directions. I hadn't talked loud enough at first. When I finally did speak up, I'd stammered through half my lines and completely skipped over others all together. At one point, I'd even accidentally said somebody else's line for them.

It'd been terrible. Simply awful. Literally a nightmare. One I was pretty sure I'd had before. One I'd kept praying to wake up from but never did. I'd wanted to run off the stage. Just flee into the night and never look back. Every last molecule of my being had been all but screaming at me to do so.

But I didn't.

Somehow - and I'm still to this day not quite sure how exactly - I'd stuck it out. I stood fast and stubbornly soldiered through it. And I'm so glad I did.

Because waiting at the end of those infernal five minutes had been my first song.

From the second those opening musical notes filled the air and hit my eardrums, everything had changed. My body began to relax as the tension eased bit by bit. For that tune had reminded me why I was here. That this is something I really, really wanted to do. Had dreamed of doing ever since I was a little girl. Suddenly it no longer mattered that there was an audience out there. It didn't matter that all eyes were on me.

All that mattered was pouring my heart into my song and giving it my all.

After that, everything suddenly seemed to just click. I knew where to go. I knew what to do. I knew what to say as clearly as if I'd had the script on a teleprompter in front of me the whole time that only I could see. I was no longer scared little Elsa trying and failing miserably at playing a role. I was that role. I was Elphaba.

And it was amazing.

Perfect, in fact.

Before long, I was singing my last song with Glinda. Before long, I was making my final exit offstage with the Scarecrow as the curtains closed behind us. Before long, I was stepping out with the rest of the cast to take our bows before the applauding crowd. And before long, it was all over and I was descending down the steps into the audience area…

...where I was immediately all but tackled to the ground by Anna, Rayne, and Xion in a vicious group hug.

"Guys, if you were trying to squeeze the life out of me, you've succeeded," I wheezed, trying to wriggle free. "It's done. There's no life left in me. Now for the love of all that is good and oxygenated, let go!"

Thankfully they released me. Ah, blessed, blessed air, how I missed thee. Xion was the first to pipe up with, "Oh my god, Elsa! You were fantastic! I had no idea you were gonna be so good!"

"Good?! Please," Anna scoffed before grabbing me by the shoulders to excitedly shake me, "Sis, you crushed it!"

"My precious bab is gonna grow up to be a star!" Rayne bawled, pinching both my cheeks.

Baby hormones. Don't mind her.

Pulling my face free of her fingers, I humored them with a shy smile. "You're all very sweet, but it's okay. There's no need to exaggerate."

Anna narrowed her eyes over a grin, "Please, don't even try to give us that BS. You were phenomenal and you know it!"

I gave her a flat look. "Oh yeah, so phenomenal. Especially those first few minutes."

"Shhhh," Xion pressed a finger to my lips with a smirk. "We pretend those minutes don't exist."

A throat cleared, causing the girls to turn and part to reveal the other half of their little group, aka the boys. Lea was front and center, one corner of his lips (oh dear lord, they were still the color of grass) twitching up as he stepped forward with a colorful bouquet in hand.

I fought a losing battle to suppress my growing smile as I took the flowers from him, not failing to notice the winter honeysuckle sprinkled into the mix. Crinkling my eyes up at him, I teased, "What a totally outdated and unnecessary gesture… thanks, I hate it."

"Liar," he snorted, slipping a hand around my waist as he pressed his lips to my hair. "Way to own that stage. I mean it, El. You kicked some serious ass up there."

Anna shook her head with a soft giggle, "That's what we were trying to tell her!"

"But the goob doesn't know how to take a compliment," Rayne tsked, flicking my forehead.

"What? C'mon, don't play coy. You know you were pure awesome incarnate, way better than that other chick that usually plays her," Lea booped his fingertip to my nose.

I suddenly felt very grateful that I was still caked in body paint. All the better to hide my blush with, my dear. I scrunched up my nose and averted my gaze, "You're just saying that because you're biased."

"Oh, one hundred percent. But doesn't make it any less true!" he chirped.

I rolled my eyes.

Time for a topic change.

"Your lips are still green."

Hey, I never said anything about it being a particularly good topic change.

"And this surprises you how? I already told ya, babycakes, this is my new brand. Speaking of, time to apply a fresh coat!" And with that, he began smothering me from temple to cheek to jaw in kisses. I squirmed, smacking him with the bouquet.

"Anyone else up for a late dinner?" Riku chimed in as he joined his wife at her side, hugging an arm around her shoulders and nuzzling her cheek before turning his gaze on me. "You must be starved after blowing away the whole audience like that."

Oh gosh, if one more person complimented me, I fear I might explode. I'd never been built to handle so much attention and praise. It made me uncomfortable and I never knew how to respond, nor did I really want it. All I'd ever wanted to was to simply put on what was hopefully at least a halfway decent show.

As the others rumbled in agreement about finding somewhere to eat that'd still be open this late, I nodded as well, "Just… give me a moment to get changed and clean off all this green."

"No no, my sweet, leave it on… for later," Lea cooed into my ear, waggling his eyebrows.

A huff of a laugh escaped me. "Now you're just making it weird."

Eyes dancing, his mouth opened to retort but before he could make so much as a sound, somebody else was interjecting with, "Pardon us."

I inhaled sharply, my spine snapping ramrod straight at that voice.

Crud, I'd completely forgotten that they were here.

Our whole group suddenly fell very quiet as all eyes turned to a nearby couple standing uncertainly off to one side, watching us all warily.

My parents.

Looking just as uncomfortable and out of place as they had before the show.

As they tentatively began to approach, Roxas and Kristoff shifted to make space for them. Their eyes settled on me at first before briefly flicking over towards Lea, who still had his arms wrapped tightly around me with seemingly zero intention of removing them, propriety be damned. I had to resist the very strong urge to clap my hand over his minty lips, abruptly very aware of the fact that that was probably what'd drawn my parents' fleeting focus to him. Thankfully, they made no comment. I'm not even sure what I would have said if they had.

Looking to me once more, Mother was finally the first to break the silence that somehow felt like it'd already been going for absolute centuries. "Elsa," she began but paused, an unsure frown in place as she seemed to search for the right words. "...you... did very well."

"Yes," Father lifted his chin slightly, the epitome of stiff politeness. "The show was… adequately entertaining."

I felt Lea's muscles go rigid beside me, could see his nostrils flaring out of the corner of my eye. I was quick to place a hand to his chest, speaking up before he could. "Th-thanks… Thank you very much," I told them softly with a small bow of my head.

They looked like they may have wanted to say more, but apparently seemed to think better of it. Instead, Father went with, "It's late. We best be off."

"See you back at home," Mother told Anna, reaching over a hand to lightly brush at her cheek. My sister's eyes darted from her over to me, then back. Then she just gave a tiny nod and said nothing as our parents turned and left.

Once they were out those double doors at the far end of the auditorium, Lea grumbled, "'Adequately entertaining' my ass… what was that bullshit?"

My gaze still on where they'd exited, a slow smile spread across my lips. "That was them trying," I murmured, glancing up at him. "I think maybe I'll give them a call tomorrow."

Author's Note: Ha! You didn't SERIOUSLY think I'd include "Wicked" in this and not let Elsa get to play the role of Elphaba, did you?! For those of you who don't know, Elsa's voice actress Idina Menzel is also famous for being Elphaba in the musical "Wicked"! So of course I couldn't let El's talents be wasted in the chorus for the entire show… our ice queen bab got her time to shine! And if how Elsa came around to getting to play the part sounds possibly far fetched, it's not as much of a stretch at it might seem! I did some research into it and it's true: it's very common in community theater to not have understudies, so if someone gets sick or otherwise can't perform, often the first place they'll look for a replacement is in the chorus! Side note: I for some reason took WAY too much joy in my stupid lil Snow White and food poisoning reference, don't ask me why xD In any case, El got to do one or two more shows as Elphaba (basically finished out that specific weekend's showings) before Snow White was feeling well enough to resume the role. But Elsa definitely had a blast and is eager to hopefully get a bigger part in whatever show her community theater decides to put on next! As for her folks, don't get me wrong, they're still in the dog house and won't be off the hook for a while yet, but the olive branch has been extended, a shaky truce has been formed and an awkward phone call is now made from time to time… for now xD Also - and this won't be any time soon, mind you - but I might have to go back at some point and write out another brief one-shot just for Lea's lil visit with El's folks where he "politely" (ha!) invited them to the show xD

Thanks for reading, I super duper appreciate it! And an extra BIG thank you to those of you who’ve liked, reblogged, and followed so far, seeing those lil notifications always brings the biggest, goofiest smile to my face!

Be back for next week's bonus chapter! In which there will be… BELLS! Do these bells have any particular significance to the plot of next chapter? Or are they just a brief prop and a red herring for this author's note? Stay tuned!

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

#kingdom hearts #frozen #elsa #axel #fanfiction #lea #fanfic #kingdom hearts fanfiction #frozen fanfiction #kh fanfiction #kh fanfic #frozen fanfic #kingdom hearts fanfic #axelsa #fluff #romcom #slow burn #kh3 #my writing #ice cream and fire oven pizza #rare pair #crossover pairing #humor #snark #fake dating au

[minijenn]

Now image an AU where Sora is successful in killing himself and not only are Roxas and Xion free but his own Heart is purged and now all thst is left is the cruel sadistic Soranort. Thus he becomes the thirteenth vessel just as Xehanort wanted and ironically Sora's plan partially backfired. The first people he goes to see are Donald and Goofy who seems happy to see him only to see something is wrong. After a tense talk Soranort revals that Sora had killed himself and ironically had allowed Xehanort's Heart to take over, thus Soranort is now his own person. Donald and Goofy are horrified to learn the fate for their friend but Soranort says that if it's any comfort he said thst he loved them before he died. Soranort then walks over to them revealing that he intends on making sure that his friends join him. He also has the kids as hostages. Axel then comes by and sees them. At first he is happy to see them but then notices something is wrong with Sora. Axel attacks and saves the kids and Donald and Goofy and he asks then what is up. Donald and Goofy are hesitant but Soranort says to Axel that Sora had been keeping a Dark Secret from them and demands that they tell them. Donald and Goofy then tell Axel everything much to his horror. Soranort then says that at least Roxas and Xion are free. Then our hero's now have to fight the creature that has control over Sora's body. However he quickly defeats Sora's friends and revals thar Sora actually never had any intention of telling them and had lied to keep then safe and that he was feeling jealous of Riku and was veen angry at him because he wanted to be leader. So now he will do what the real Sora would never do. Unleash his wrath and vengeance upon them all and plung the world into Darkness. Soranort then leaves, leaving everyone in shock and sadness. Oh AND he takes the Key to Return Hearts and the Keys our hero's already had making things worse as well as making sure that all their work was for nothing. Now as a nod to another retelling called Key to Return Hearts, if the key falls into the hands of Darkness then hearts shall fall to Darkness. So now things are worse with Sora gone, Xehanort in his body,, The Key to Return Hearts in Xehanort's hands, and most if the keys in Xehanort's possession as well. Everyone is Heartbroken and saddened by these turn of events, especially that now they had to fight the body if their former friend. Riku wonders if he can try and use the power of awakening or even stealing the Key to Retun Hearts from Xehanort in order to bring Sora back. Kairi even tries to think of some timgs as well. Whatever happens next is up to you. But there will be a point where Soranort has to fight Kairi and Riku and Soranort even turned Riku's famous quote back on him by saying "Come on Riku! I thought you were stronger then that!" Wh7ch makes him upset. Weather you want Riku to get Sora's Heart back of have him strike down the body of his friend is up to you.

Wow that was... a lot. Though tbh its not very much at all like what’s actually gonna happen next in Keys. A neat AU concept though I suppose. 

[vibranch]

“Stick” Together

Pairing: Sora/Kairi/Riku SRiKai Rating: General Audiences (Pretty inoffensive imo) Word Count: 1,516

AO3 Link Here 

Summary:  Sora is safe and home again after his sudden disappearance from the end of the Keyblade War against Xehanort. And now that Sora's back, he's ready to share the Paopu Fruit his two best friends in all the Worlds. 

Just a short and sweet SoRiKai fic requested by  “Tabula Smaragdina “ on a KH discord I frequent.

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“Where… Am I?” The world around Sora was undefined. His vision was blurred to the point that he could only stare uselessly at the mess of colors and shapes in front of him with unseeing eyes.

“Sora!” a voice called out his name. Was that Kairi? Sora wondered.

“Sora!” another voice shouted. This one was unmistakably Riku’s.

“Where am I?” Sora repeated. His head felt heavy and there was a fog in his mind that made it difficult to think

“Your safe,” Kairi said.

“Your home,” Riku added.

“Safe? Home?” In a weird way, Sora felt like he need some sort of proof before he could honestly believe he still existed. It felt as though a strong breeze could blow by at any moment and scatter him into pieces, as if made from dandelion spores.

Riku and Kairi looked at each other in worry. It had taken them everything they had, but they finally got Sora back in one piece. But as they looked at him, they could barely see their energetic, optimistic friend in this exhausted boy in front of them.

“Don’t you remember, Sora,” Kairi said, placing a hand on Sora’s shoulder. “You sacrificed yourself to save me.”

“You used the power of awakening to save Kairi. But it held a heavy cost, we almost lost you.” Riku said placing his own on Sora’s other shoulder.

Their touch grounded Sora. Blinking a few more times, the world around him suddenly became clear.

Sora suddenly felt the ocean waves on his legs. Only realizing now just how numb he’d been. Looking down, he saw that he was kneeling in the shallows of one of the beaches of his home world.

He could barely believe it. He really was home! Back on his Islands. No, not his Islands. It was their Islands. He couldn’t imagine ever wanting to come home if Kairi and Riku weren’t there. That was why he gave everything to save Kairi, why he wouldn’t return home until he found Riku. And, he realized, that was why they had nearly done the same to save him.

***

It had taken awhile, but Sora was finally starting to feel like he’d gotten his strength back. He was back to running and jumping through the island like he once did. Having just completed the old racecourse that he and Riku had competed on countless times, he stopped when he saw Riku and Kairi sitting together by the Paopu tree.

“Hey guys, what’re you up to?” He said as he ran to meet them.

They both turned around quickly at the sound of his voice. “Hey, Sora!” Riku greeted, “We were just about to come looking for you,” he said, tossing Sora a star shaped fruit.

Sora looked at the item in his hand. “A Paopu? What are you guys doing with one of these?”

Kairi nudged Riku gently with her elbow as she spoke. “Riku was getting jealous that we had all the fun of sharing one together. So, I figured we’d all share one between the three of us.”

Sora looked down at the fruit in his hands. Unlike the Paopu he and Kairi shared, this one was little on the small side. Sora shook his head. “This won’t work at all. C’mon guys, look at it. This thing is tiny!”

“What are we supposed to do?” Riku asked. “You’ve been gone for awhile, Sora. The fruits aren’t in season anymore and that was the biggest one on the tree.”

“There are other trees on this World!” Sora answered. “We’ve gotta find one that’s proportionate to our feelings of each other.” Sora said, tossing the small Paopu into the ocean.

Riku sighed, but couldn’t stop himself from smiling. “I guess I had nothing better to do today.”

“I didn’t even think you knew what the word ‘proportionate’ meant,” Kairi said, giggling at the idea.

“…Donald and Goofy taught it to me,” Sora mumbled to himself. But before Riku or Kairi could ask him what he said, Sora spoke in a louder voice, “Well, let’s go! Time to find a better Paopu tree!”

***

“Yeah, I don’t think you can climb this tree,” Riku said.

Sora dusted himself off the ground. He hated to admit it, but maybe he wasn’t at One-Hundred percent yet after all. He’d never had this much trouble climbing trees.

“You’re going to hurt yourself at this rate.” Kairi added. They both looked a bit worried. Perhaps they also hadn’t realized he wasn’t back to being the same old Sora yet either, or maybe they had a feeling that this was going to happen. Sora couldn’t decide which felt worse.

But Sora wasn’t about to give up. On this tree hung the largest Paopu the three of them had ever seen. But unlike the one they hung out at all the time, this one was strong and stood upright.

“Don’t worry guys, I’ll get it eventually.” Sora said, rubbing his hands together as he prepared to have another go at it. “I just need to come at it with some gusto, or maybe—”

“Sora, stop.” Riku said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Sora looked over at his friend, then quickly towards Kairi as she gripped his hand with her own.

“You don’t have to do everything on your own,” she said. “The whole point of us wanting to share a paopu with you is because we both want to be a part of your life and share in both the good and the bad.” Kairi gave his hand a squeeze, and Sora could feel as Riku moved his hand into Sora’s as well.

“Yeah, and besides,” Riku began, “We just need to work smarter, not harder, to get that Paopu.”

“Oh yeah?” Sora raised an eyebrow at Riku. “And how do you intend to get it, Mr. Smarty Pants?”

Riku smiled at the two of them. “You guys remember how we used to climb over fences as kids?”

Kairi had to stop herself before she started laughing. “Are you talking about the human ladder?!”

Riku’s grin grew wider. “What else? With the three of us combined we should be able to just barely reach it.” Riku stepped back from the tree and measured with his fingers Sora and Kairi’s height. “Yep, we should be able to do it. I’ll be the base, Kairi you be the middle.”

“I think I should be the middle.” Sora said. “I weigh more than Kairi!”

Riku and Kairi looked at Sora. “You’re still pretty emaciated looking, Sora.” Kairi said. “I’m pretty sure I weigh more than you do, right now.”

“Poddledomp,” Sora said.

“What?”

“I can make up words too, you know.” He said, pursing his lips and crossing his arms like a pouting child.

Riku pressed a hand against his forehead. “No Sora, emaciated is a real word. It means you haven’t regained all your strength yet. You’re still really skinny.”

Kairi laughed at the conversation before speaking. “And besides, looking for trees was your idea, Sora. So, we’d like you to be the one to pick the Paopu.”

While wobbly, the human ladder had worked and the three tore the Paopu into three pieces. Sora held his piece of the Paopu in front of himself as he looked to his friends. “Alright, on three everybody!

Kairi and Riku nodded to him, holding their own pieces before themselves as well.

“One…” Sora drawled, stretching the word out until it seemed unbearable.

Following Sora's lead, Riku began to drawl out, “Two…”

“Oh my gosh, really you two?” Kairi said. Neither had a chance to say anything before she cheerfully exclaimed, “Three!”

Almost immediately the three of them started wolfing down their thirds of the Paopu.

When he’d finished, Sora looked at Kairi. He was taken aback by her beauty. Had her hair always been as red as a sunset? And Riku, there was a strength and handsomeness to him that Sora had never notice before. He wondered just how long Riku’s eyes had shimmered like a dew-covered grass field.

Sora couldn’t help but look down at his sticky, juice covered fingers.

“Sora, you okay?” Kairi asked.

“Y-yeah…” Sora said, not looking up. “I’m just scared.”

“Scared of what?” Riku asked, shuffling closer to him.

Sora pressed his fingers and thumb together, letting them stick together for a moment before separating them again. “Is this real? I’m really worried this has all been a dream or something. What if I wake up and I’m back wherever you guys found me?”

Riku took Sora’s hand, not minding the slightest how sticky it was. After all, his were just as sticky. “Don’t worry, Sora. This is real. We’re together again.”

Kairi took his other hand. “We’ll be a part of each other’s lives forever. If something happens to one of us the other two will be here to drag them back.”

“Yeah,” Sora said, feeling a little more at ease. “No more leaving one behind or hiding from the other two.

They smiled and gripped his hand tighter as they nodded.

“The three of us have to stick together.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you for reading all the way to the end of this. If you enjoyed it, I hope you’ll consider liking, reblogging, or leaving a comment or kudo on AO3.

#kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts fanfiction #fanfiction #Sora #Riku #Kairi #SoRiKai #Sora/Riku/Kairi #My writing

[daylighteclipsed]

@generatedreflection Hope you don’t mind if I respond to your tags this way, since my og post is already kind of long! So running on the assumption that KH is a video game, or at least fiction/a story, in-universe and the characters are waking up and changing when they’re not “supposed” to…

I guess it depends on when the initial divergence from fate/the narrative/the program happened and how much it affected. Was Riku supposed to be our player character? If so, did Sora and Riku only swap physical places/external roles, or did their writing or programming adjust their personalities to fit their new places in the story/game so as to keep the narrative from diverging too much? Is this the first run through the story, or have there been multiple past loops we’re not privy to and that the characters don’t consciously remember but which still affect their hearts?

I’m thinking of ReCoded specifically, when Data Sora and Data Riku go on this whole adventure that’s similar to KH1 but different enough to shape them into their own people. Even after they’re reset to follow what’s written in the Journal, we know those memories remain in their hearts and in the hearts of their newfound Disney friends from the ‘real’ world, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. So data KH1 will never truly reflect KH1 as we know it.

If ReCoded is spelling the big picture out for us, do Sora and Riku only start awakening during the one run of KH1 that we play… or have they been waking up because of one or more resets before that we haven’t seen? Is fate, destiny, the narrative, the program trying really hard to make this story play out the way it’s “supposed” to, but the boys keep swerving, developing more awareness and free will with every reset? Or is this the first run where things are different because of something the Master of Masters most likely set in motion? Or maybe what he set in motion has taken all these resets to come to fruition?

It’s a lot to think about. And I don’t have any answers. Certainly it’s interesting to consider all the different ways the story could go/is maybe “supposed” to go… If Sora and Riku’s roles are supposed to be flipped, with Riku as the champion of light and Sora as the one who falls to darkness… then it’s kind of ironic that they seem to be circling back to that now. Like rather than completely changing or swapping destinies, they just took a detour. They took the long way around, but the road still leads to the same place. Fate is fighting to correct course.

But I also think, you know, Sora could’ve always been meant to be the Hero and embody that archetype even if the Keyblade was not “supposed” to be his. I don’t think the one who wields Kingdom Key Light is synonymous necessarily with the Hero of the story or even the main protagonist. It’s also possible for Riku to pass on the Keyblade to Sora without falling to darkness.

Either way, the idea of Riku giving his crown/destiny to Sora, rewriting the story and essentially acting as the narrative for Sora in this sense, usurping fate, is interesting. Especially when you compare this to Data Riku’s role in ReCoded. He’s the vessel for the Journals, for the entire digital universe they create, and he protects it. He protects Sora’s story, the one we see in the games, which plays out how it does because Riku gives Sora the Keyblade.

The one thing I feel for sure — a lot of this, the story changing and characters waking up/coming alive, comes back to Riku. From what we see of him as a little kid, Riku’s always been more “awake,” it seems, than his peers. Always questioning things and possessing a wisdom beyond his years. It’s like he almost knows (or remembers) things he shouldn’t. As Sora puts it, Riku says “some weird stuff sometimes.” And I think Riku is the one who starts waking Sora up. He encourages Sora to think about things that it doesn’t seem Sora would think about on his own. To ask questions. To see their world differently. And to consider worlds beyond their own.

I think he’s why Sora’s first line in the series is about awakening. “I’ve been having these weird thoughts lately. Like — Is any of this for real or not?” And I think Riku’s why Sora’s able to connect with and awaken/bring to life so many characters in the story. That might even be canon, actually, if Riku encouraging Sora to open his heart to Ventus when they’re little kids is what teaches Sora how to... By empowering Sora, Riku is the catalyst for a ripple effect of change that defies destiny and universal law. And it culminates in his KH3 sacrifice which allows Sora to rewrite how the Book of Prophecies ends.

I think that’s what Riku has always represented: Awakening. Truth. The outside world — whether that means adulthood, reality, new perspectives, or lands yet untraveled. He makes the darkness conscious by bringing it to light. Especially for Sora. Riku quite literally wakes Sora up after CoM and in DDD, and his light pulls forgotten/repressed memories up from the depths. Riku’s often associated with the sun — the kind of bright, harsh light that hurts to look at. That makes it hard, if not impossible, to fall back asleep.

Riku’s the sudden light in your eyes that has you groaning and rolling away when someone has to get you out of bed in the morning lol He’s the rude awakening. The truth is often not pleasant or easy. It often hurts. But inevitably, it becomes known. Inevitably, the sun rises and illuminates the dark. Dawn breaks, and the day and all its challenges must be faced. No slacking off. Chop, chop. It’s time to wake up, Sora. Destati!

Even Data Riku in ReCoded is the one who lifts the curtain for Data Sora and ‘reveals the matrix’ so to speak. “It’s time for you to learn the truth.” Riku offers the truth, perhaps quite literally sometimes if that’s what his iconic outstretched hand gesture represents — and it definitely seems to given how KH3’s tutorial/awakening parallels Sora’s dream in the KH1 opening. But it’s up to Sora to accept the truth. To face it. To take Riku’s hand and awaken. It’s Sora’s choice.

Anyway. Whether Riku is “supposed” to be the Hero or was always meant to be the Rival, he’s not supposed to love Sora as much as he does, and certainly not in the romantic way the games suggest he does… I understand your hesitation about gay intent in KH… But it really feels like the “missing”/unspoken piece here that makes so many people scratch their heads over Riku’s character arc. For Sora, it’s less clear (especially in English), but I do think Riku is in love with him. And I truly believe so much of “destiny” changing and characters awakening, Sora awakening, comes back to that.

Destiny in this case would be the typical formula of Disney fairy tales and the expectations of our heteronormative society. And awakening would be developing awareness of these limitations and smashing them… Perhaps reflected through Riku and Sora exposing the flaws in the Light and Dark binary that’s dictated Keyblade society and caused many of the problems their generation has to contend with.

Perhaps the door to the light, to truth, to awakening IS the closet door, then (insert joke here about Riku literally being the gay awakening)… But it’s a lot of other things as well. Awakening is discovering any truth. Every truth. It’s knowledge of the systems that limit and control you, of any unseen force that holds you back. It’s power to see through illusions and lies, distortions and distractions. It’s free will and independent thought. It’s self-actualization and true freedom. After all, you cannot break free of chains you don’t know are there.

That certainly makes the Master of Masters an interesting fellow… It seems like he wants change. He wants the characters to deviate from the script, to awaken, to develop free will… But at the same time, he’s pulling all the strings. He’s the eye always watching them... Does he truly want freedom, or does he want to be the one who decides what freedom looks like?

#I’m just goin all in now. let’s get crazy. #kingdom hearts #soriku #i think kh is the kind of series that demands you be open minded to understand it #if you’re not willing to get deep or crazy or have your perception challenged #you’re gonna be really confused and frustrated lol #i mean there are still things i can’t wrap my head around #but i mostly understand it. recoded is when everything started making sense for me #it was my ‘aha!’ moment

[secret-reports]

Now that the 3rd ReMind trailer is out, let’s talk The Power of Waking baby. This is more like word vomit then a specific, solidified, theory. 

This will be built upon these previous posts: March 6 - May 12 - July 9

The Station of Awakening seems to be for the Power of Waking

In the trailer, Sora says, “Follow my heart... Hearts are all connected.” and he’s using his Keyblade to what looks like travel within Riku’s Station of Awakening, to trace the connection of Riku’s heart to find Kairi’s heart. Here I believe he’s “traversing hearts to reach worlds”, the correct method of the Power of Waking, according to Young Xehanort. This is different from when Sora was using the Stations of Awakening of WORLDS to travel to save the Guardians of Light. We now know that both the hearts of people AND worlds have Stations of Awakening. So it seems using the Power of Waking correctly or incorrectly in Young Xehanort’s eyes depends entirely on which Stations you’re using to travel.

But either way, Nomura, the clever bastard, has finally shown us that the Station of Awakening is called that for a reason. It’s literally a terminal one can travel through so they can reach hearts to awaken them.

Sora has possibly had the potential to use the Power of Waking since he was born

In Birth by Sleep, when Ventus’s heart is shattered, we see Sora, as a brand new heart, find Ven’s Station of Awakening, and literally connect with him. True, Sora did NOT technically use the Power of Waking here, but what he did do, was find a heart in the Station of Awakening. I can’t imagine Sora finding Ventus to be anything but extraordinary and a miracle. It’s not exactly the same as how Sora finds heart with the Stations in KH3, but it comes close, and the connection shouldn’t be ignored in my opinion. Especially since Sora has come back to the Station of Awakening when he was about 5 (BbS when Ven went into his heart) and when he was 14 (KH1′s tutorial, when Sora actually remembers the place, as he doesn’t seem to remember in BbS). 

Sora is possibly connected to significant groups of hearts, if not literally all hearts.

I personally believe Nomura is DEFINITELY planning on explaining why Sora could access the Stations of Awakening of the Princesses of Heart in the beginning of KH1. I believe Sora could have a connection to the 7 Pure Lights within the Princess of Heart, and that could explain why he felt Anna’s pain when Elsa struck her heart with ice, since Anna inherited one of the Pure Lights from the previous Princesses of Hearts.

The 7 Pure Lights could be what Young Xehanort and Xigbar are talking about when they say “Find the hearts joined to yours.” It could be that Sora needs to find the new Princesses of Heart for a particular reason.

How Sora is linked to UX, MoM, Ven, Luxu, etc.

I still want to revert back to Sora finding Ventus when his heart was shattered, and I want to consider the possibility that the people with the hearts joined to him are the Union Leaders of KHUX. I don’t know how much I believe this, but I want to go over all the possible reasons on why Sora found Vens heart as a brand new heart. 

I think the fact that the only two people who told Sora “Find the hearts joined to yours” are both two people under the tutelage of the Master Of Masters is not a coincidence. I am NOT saying Sora is the MoM, frankly I don’t see how that can be possible just yet. HOWEVER, I do believe the MoM is aware of Sora and the power he has. We know Sora is written of in the Book of Prophecies because Sora has medals created of him (and medals are all created from the Book of Prophecies, thats’ why they’re all future characters), so we know the MoM knows of Sora’s existence. 

SO, I state in this post, that I believe the reason Ava killed Strelitzia (not confirmed but that’s what I think) the day after recruiting her was because of something of Luxu told her during their fight. Now I think, Luxu could have been aware of the connection between Sora and Ventus ever since KHX, and that might have been what he told Ava. Either way, I think Luxu told her something that made her realize that Ventus MUST be one of the Union Leaders. He could have also told her that only the Union Leaders can leave the data Daybreak Town, as hinted in a UX update and stated in Observations Excerpt 12. So Ventus being a dandelion alone couldn’t cut it, he had to leave the Data Daybreak Town as one of the Five Union Leaders. And I think it has something to do with either the Book of Prophecies (Ventus could be the one circled in red) or it has to do with Sora.

NOW another reason why I think Luxu knows of the connection with Sora is because Luxu doesn’t just state “Find the hearts joined to yours.” He also states “Accept the power you’re given.” and i think THAT is the key (no pun intended). I think SOMEHOW, the MoM or someone/something else has GIVEN Sora the ability to connect to hearts and reach their Stations of Awakening.

EDIT, DEC 11: I never meant to say that Sora joined his heart with Ventus during KHX, clearly it was during BbS that this happened. What I MEANT to say was that there’s a chance that the Book of Prophecies mentions this, since Ventus, Sora, and even Roxas are all written of in the Book of Prophecies. YES Luxu never got a copy himself, but Luxu clearly knows who the Five Union Leaders are SUPPOSED to be (since he says in Observations 11 that there’s an impostor).

Conclusion

I don’t know how everything connects yet to be honest, this is still just word vomit to help clear my mind. But what I’m trying to say is that I personally believe that ALL these are connected:

Young Xehanort and Luxu (both apprentices of the MoM) telling Sora to “Find the Hearts Joined to Yours”. 

Luxu telling Sora he has to “accept the power [he’s] given”

Evidence to Sora’s connection to the Princess of Heart

Sora, as a brand new heart, finding Ventus, a Union Leader

Sora being able to visit the Station of Awakening his entire life

The Station of Awakening being connected to the Power of Waking “traversing hearts to reach worlds”

#analyses #remind #remind spoilers #re mind spoilers #re:mind spoilers #kh3 dlc spoilers

[oveliagirlhaditright]

Author’s Note: For @palizinhas‘s birthday! Some RiKai, as Kairi goes to a Magic Knight Rayearth world--why I chose that for this, I don’t know (though maybe it’s because this whole thing was supposed to be a world-hopping, multi-chapter--that I don’t know if I’m doing anymore--and with other multi-chapters I’m writing right now, I’m running out of new worlds to send people to). But meh. Also, you don’t have to know MKR to understand this fanfic--but I hope you like it, honey.

I’m meh about this fic. Because it’s not the epic RiKai I promised you long ago--and it’s more Kairi-centric than anything--but I hope it’s still something.

I hope you’re having a great birthday!

-Shanna

Edit: Also, full disclosure that it’s been a while since I’ve watched MKR or read it.

Healing

As it had turned out? Sora, on his second journey, actually had been doing damage to the worlds in unlocking Keyholes (1). And now that he was retired after everything that had happened with the Master of Masters, Kairi and Riku had decided that they would go to the worlds he’d visited and lock them.

And Kairi in being desperate to prove herself, she knew, was the first one to leave in a gummi ship by herself… But since she had never flown one before, she should have accounted for the fact that she’d probably mess up on it.

And that was how she found herself in a new world, that—as far as she knew—none of her friends had ever been to before. And like Sora, Riku, Terra, Ventus, and Aqua had done in the past, she found herself getting involved in the world—Cephiro’s—massive problems and trying to help out there.

But maybe this world was destined to aid her in some ways, too… Because it was when Kairi was in a bath with the main girls involved in this conflict—Hikaru, Umi, Fuu, Caldina, and Presea—that Kairi found her thoughts returning to Riku. She’d liked him for a long time, she knew… But it was only recently that she was starting to think that those feelings had turned to love… kind of like what Hikaru felt for the kind and strong warrior, Lantis, it seemed.

“I think,” said Kairi, as she splashed the girl with the water powers, Umi, to see just how much water she could create to retaliate with, if she got too angry. “That you should be with Lantis then, Miss Hikaru. Life’s too short—and tragedy happens too much—to give up on your dreams.”

But it was here that the woman Presea—who had apparently been a guide to Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu in the past—laid down the law for Kairi, and seemed like she hated herself to do so. “Except that she can’t. Hikaru here might be the next Pillar of Cephiro. And day and night, twenty-four/seven, the Pillar must pray for Cephiro’s well-being. Otherwise, plants will fail to grow… the weather will only be vicious storms, and the country will fall to chaos. And if Hikaru were with Lantis, it could distract her from that… like the situation with Lantis’ deceased brother, Zagato, and the now dead Princess Emeraude.”

And so Kairi sank down in the water and stopped trying to give relationship advice. But if she was being honest with herself, she wasn’t sure she bought all parts of this tale. And with how awful it sounded—apparently Zagato had kidnapped his love, Emeraude, to try and save her from such a terrible fate and she had begged Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu to save her for Cephiro’s sake… only to turn around and try to kill them when they ended up slaying him, so that they had to end her in self-defense—Kairi didn’t know why anyone would want to preserve such a system. But it wasn’t her place to say. And what she needed to focus on was finding the Keyhole of this world…

And that’s how Kairi found herself in Fuu’s mecha with her. She’d reluctantly broken the World Order and told everyone here that she was a Keyblade wielder and looking for this world’s Keyhole in order to save it from Heartless… and Fuu had told her that she could come with her to look for it, while she patrolled against those from other worlds—it seemed—who were now trying to steal Cephiro for their own or to copy the Pillar System. And as they’d gone out into the Other Sky, Kairi and Fuu had witnessed this kitty-cat looking girl attack Hikaru viciously. "Okay... I think I can keep up most of your world’ story," said Kairi now, as she sent a Cure spell Hikaru’s way, and very nearly went outside to deliver some Keyblade action onto cat girl. “But what’s up with that girl who kind of looks like Hikaru, who keeps saying that she loves Hikaru but hates everything that she loves?”

"You're learning most of these answers as we are," Fuu answered, as she sent an impressive gust of wind towards the strange girl, that would have even impressed Ven with his Tornado spell. "I- I guess Hikaru was split in half somehow—because she hates herself for what we did to Emeraude—and Nova's the small part of her left, that feels any self-worth." Being split in two... now she could relate to that. And while she’d somewhat been criticizing this world before… she had to admit that a lot of it actually fit with her and her story. So, could it have been destiny? As a Princess of Hearts, was she supposed to save Hikaru from a terrible fate by adding another terrible fate onto herself?

Deciding to test that theory, as Kairi healed Fuu now—for now Nova’s mecha was coming after her—Kairi asked, "...What if I became Pillar?" "...I definitely, uhh, think you have the pure soul for it, Miss Kairii!” Fuu answered, as she punched this way and kicked that way—that somehow made the robot they were in do the same thing—"but you- you have to be chosen for it." This somewhat took Kairi aback... though, really, she knew she should've known. But she was trying to act like Riku had, when he'd had nothing but had still tried to find a way to save her years ago. But it seemed it wasn’t meant to be… unless she really tried for it, perhaps? Maybe she could stumble her way into some of this, like Sora had with being a Key bearer. "I'll test myself for the role, and see if I have what it takes… I’ll find this toxic water you spoke of earlier—in the chamber of the Pillar—and see if I can wade my way through it.”

And summoning a Corridor of Light through which she could leave—and somewhat ignoring Fuu’s raised eyebrow—Kairi prepared to do just that.

Skillfully, with the kind of jumps that only a wielder could do, Kairi jumped from stone to stone in this water… but it wasn’t enough. Some force was pulling her down, down, down, and she had just enough time to create a barrier around herself and glide away, before something disastrous happened. And atop her barrier, sat a white little creature that had been in the bath with them earlier. Mokona, if Kairi remembered its name right? "I think," the genius animal said, "You're trying to prove to Riku to Riku in particular, that you're strong as he is. But you don't need to be the new Pillar in order to do that. All I ask is that you aid the new Pillar when they awaken.”

Aiding… that was what she’d done on most of Riku and Sora’s quests in the past, huh? And while she hated that about herself—and always thought that she should do more—maybe what she did was for the best. Maybe it was who she was. "I'll just let Hikaru be Pillar," Kairi agreed, in knowing for sure that the Pillar would be her and not these people from other planets wanting to try out for that role. After all, to create such a powerful darkness as Nova, she must have had a wonderful light to her.

And that was exactly what Kairi said to Hikaru when she returned to Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu’s fight with the other nations. Kairi, in space once again, performed her Seven Wishes and Heart of a Princess attack to help even the odds, and was then flying in front of Hikaru’s mecha. "Hikaru… I know it may still be rough. But you need to accept bad things that you think you've done and still find a way to love yourself through them. You… despise yourself for what happened with Emeraude, and so you created Nova. And I- I came to this world I don't belong in, because I didn’t think I did enough for Riku and Sora before and was trying to make up for it here... When, maybe, I should have let myself revel in being the damsel in distress some, so I would have waited for Riku and we’d be here together right now.”

Hikaru must have understood where Kairi was coming from. Because days later, Hikaru—now Pillar—changed the system, so that Cephiro would be upheld by everyone who loved their country. And with her job done, when her own world was trying to call her back home, Hikaru allowed herself to reach for Lantis and tell him that she loved him.

And on that day, Kairi felt a hand with a new cast into it slip into hers. And she heard the words. "Great job, Kai! …But it turns out the whole Keyhole and Gate situation was taken care of long ago. We’re not needed after all. What do you say we go home?” Kairi grinned at Riku—and got so close to him, that wisps of his silver hair fell into her own face—and she tugged on his hand. "Let's."

Author’s Note: That’s based on the KHII manga, where Mushu thinks Sora—in unlocking the Gates—is unsealing the Keyholes from KHI and is upset about it. LOL.

Mokona can talk, because I’m going with the manga version where he’s actually the god of Cephiro… but a much kinder one here. Yep.

#gift #palizinhas #rikai #kaiku #fanfiction #oneshot #crossover #crossover with magic knight rayearth #future fic #canon #au #canon au #my writing #Shanna writes #my work #mine #drabble

[satorisa]

in which Risa gets blindsided, twice, and decides to go with the flow for as long as it will have her.

inspired by this fic by @carebearos

...

Risa stands in front of the Starbucks by the station, checking her phone as the appointed time draws near. She had arrived thirty minutes early,  punctuality driven by the sheer insanity of the situation, dressed in an outfit she would almost wear to see Dark.

She must be out of her mind.

Satoshi invited her out for coffee before the long-awaited weekend, and she said yes without any hesitation. Had he asked before she attempted to treat him for the strawberry milk, she most certainly would’ve declined. But she was intrigued by the Satoshi who joked around, smiling and sarcastic, in those empty hallways after school in front of the vending machine.

Her curiosity might be the end of her, she internally grumbles, as she checks her phone again to see the time. Not even a minute has passed, and she groans before tucking her hands behind her back while she bounces in place. She can’t control the anxiety flowing through her body even though she knows that anyone who would make a big deal about this was busy and as far away from the scene of the crime as possible.

Ding!

She swings her phone back to her face to see a text message from Ritsuko with a selfie of her and some of their classmates. Someone had invited the class out on a whim before the last bell rang, literally right after she made plans with Satoshi, and so those who accepted are taking a day trip away from their small town. Takeshi’s right in the center with Ritsuko, hogging all the attention as usual, and Riku and Daisuke are in the corner of the picture, awkwardly smiling as if Ritsuko had caught them at a bad time.

Bless her best friend for giving her the DaiRiku content that fuels her life.

Risa’s about to reply to Ritsuko’s follow up message about missing her, but her phone rings again. When she sees a message from Satoshi saying he’ll be running a little late, she nearly drops her phone.

Somehow, in the span of an evening, she had completely forgotten that they had exchanged numbers after they confirmed their plans. And this friendly reminder nearly sent her into cardiac arrest.

She might actually die today.

And so, she goes back to jittering in place, garnering attention from passersby as she tries to mentally escape the situation that she’s in.

“Harada.”

The calm, monotonous voice snaps her back into reality. Satoshi now stands in front of her, his hair still damp, wearing a surprisingly snappy ensemble that somehow matches her own outfit.

She’s ready to eat her own foot.

“Sorry I’m late. Something had come up and—”

“There’s no need to apologize; stuff happens.” She smiles, mentally wondering what she’s channeling to be outwardly calm when she’s inwardly screaming. “Come on! Let’s go!”

The smell of coffee hits her when she walks in, and they fall into the short line in front of the cash register.

“What do you want?”

“Um…”

She looks up at the menu, mentally reeling at all the coffee choices. Matcha’s not too appetizing to her either, even if it is blended with enough sugar and cream to last her a lifetime, and she’s feeling lukewarm about everything else on the menu. Risa only ever goes to coffee shops when she’s out with her parents; she’d rather have bubble tea more than anything if she’s going out.

“I can order something for you if you’re having trouble deciding.”

“With your taste buds? No thank you.”

“I’m not going to order you coffee or anything like that. Starbucks just came out with their spring menu, so they have a cherry blossom cream frappucino—”

“That. I want that.”

Satoshi stifles a laugh behind his hand, but she can still see the upturned ends of his lips. She pouts. He’s not allowed to be amused at her predictability.

She digs into her purse to fetch her wallet. “Lemme know how much it is so that—”

“No need, Harada.”

The line moves, and they’re at the register. Satoshi orders and pays for their drinks before she can pay for herself.

“Today is my treat.”

She’s a little confused as to why he invited her out for no reason and decided to pay for—oh my god. Risa glances at Satoshi’s outfit, noting that it’s nicer than the time she’s seen him in casual wear, before looking down at her own outfit.

Oh. My. God.

…is this a date?!

How could she unknowingly go on a date with Satoshi? How could he even ask her on one when he knows that her heart belongs to Dark? Does she—

“Harada, this isn’t a date.”

She stops her mental deliberations before shooting Satoshi a concerned look.

Is he reading her mind or something?

“I just thought you’d like the frappucino is all. Please don’t overthink this.”

“Then why are you treating me?”

He shrugs. “I figured going to Starbucks with me was the last thing you’d want to do on the weekend, so it’s just a small gesture for your time.”

Risa smiles. “I really don’t want to keep being indebted to you, Hiwatari-kun.”

Satoshi smirks. “Just accept it and let it go, Harada.”

They sit in a table along the glass-lined wall of the store. Satoshi doesn’t say anything, quickly busying himself with his phone, so Risa looks outside, watching the bustling street until she sees him put his phone away in her peripheries.

“I have a question for you, Hiwatari-kun.”

“Shoot.”

“Do you actually like black coffee?”

He chuckles. “I do. You can only really discern the taste of the bean when it’s black.”

“So…you’d rather sacrifice sleep for coffee?”

Satoshi tilts his head down and attempts to cover the growing grin with his mouth. He fails, simply because he’s finding this amusing for some unknown reason, and eventually composes himself decently enough to still reply.

That stupid smile is still on his face, though.

“As much as I stay up, I, too, enjoy sleep like everyone else.”

“But isn’t black coffee just…black coffee?”

“The beans and how it’s brewed are important. If I’m craving some good coffee, I’ll grind the beans I have at home and make myself a cup of pour over. If I need to stay up, I’ll just have whatever I can get. After all, the only way to get through a shitty day is with a shitty, bitter cup of coffee.”

Risa blinks, trying to process what he had just said. Did he just—

The barista calls their order before she can even respond to what just occurred. Satoshi gets out of his seat and returns to their table, placing her drink in front of her while he sits down, already sipping on his americano.

“…who are you and what have you done with the Hiwatari-kun I know?”

The unrestrained joy that she’s seen thus far dissipates when she sees the far-off look in his eyes. Just like before, he’s receding away, just like a dream on the cusp of awakening.

For whatever reason, he invited her out today. And perhaps today, only today, is he allowing himself to let down those walls that she’s so familiar with. Risa doesn’t know what to think of the Satoshi in front of her, casually chatting about himself and joking around like they’re good friends, but she at least knows that she likes it.

As strange as everything is, she’ll play along with it just this once.

“This is where you’re supposed to laugh, you know, and not stare off into space as if you’re having an existential crisis.”

“But who doesn’t have a daily existential crisis?”

Risa laughs before sipping her drink, enjoying the sugar and milk that’s sure to lull her into an afternoon nap when she gets home. It’s the perfect thing to chime in the spring season, and she makes a mental note to drop by a corner store on the way back to see whatever seasonal items she can ration until next spring.

“How is it?” Satoshi asks.

“Good! Do you want to try?”

“I’m fine, thank you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. One sip of that will give me a headache.” He sighs. “I don’t understand how you can drink that.”

“Because I’m here to enjoy life. That—” She points to the iced americano in his hand. “—is no fun.”

“It’s fun enough for me.”

“You’re boring.”

He smiles, a small smile, but it’s genuine. “Maybe I am, but I’m content all the same.”

Risa doesn’t quite remember what follows that. Perhaps she was so hung up over how calm and comfortable he was in that moment that it lingered, like a footprint on the sand, on her mind. Either that or all their smiling and laughing had blurred together and overwrote the moments in between.

By the time their conversation had ended, the sun had already set. She remembers almost inviting him out to dinner to prolong this precious moment, but she stopped when she glanced at the messages on her phone. Ritsuko and Riku were already on their way back; it was far too risky for them to be together any longer.

And when they walked out of the Starbucks into the cool, evening air, they unceremoniously said their goodbyes before heading their separate ways.

…

When she arrives at school Monday morning, it’s just like any other morning. She walks into the classroom and settles down into her seat, taking out her things for the first class of the day before hanging her bag on the side of the desk.

Ritsuko’s not there yet, and Riku’s still at lacrosse practice, so she takes out her phone, ready to check her social media when the door opens.

She looks up to see Satoshi walking into the classroom, hair slightly tussled, clothes slightly wrinkled, with that unaffected expression on his face. Their eyes meet, just for a second, but he doesn’t acknowledge her. He stares past her before heading to his seat, acting as if nothing happened.

As if they have no relationship. As if they’re back to what they were before.

With that, her dream ends, and she wakes up in the cold truth of reality.

#DNAngel #satoshi hiwatari #risa harada #satorisa #d.n.angel #dn angel #my writing #fanfiction #i'm a writing fiend and NOTHING can stop me

[phoenix-downer]

49 for the ask meme?

Thank you for the prompt @pearl-nocturna! This one is “A kiss out of necessity.” The idea I went with is similar to “A kiss to wake up” that I got from @dusky-dancing and @captainmaws, so I decided to combine both the ideas into one fic. Hope you enjoy!

A Kiss of Awakening. ~1260 words. Takes place after KH3, Re:Mind, and Limit Cut. 

Find Sora. That was the one goal Kairi had been fixated on for the past year. She’d thrown away everything else in the hopes of saving him. Getting him back safe and sound was all that mattered. She hadn’t thought about the details because the end goal was what was important. 

She skittered to a halt and stared at the sight before her. It was a life-size statue that looked exactly like Sora, as if some master carver had hewn his shape out of pure crystal. His back was arched and his arms were outstretched, like he’d been frozen while trying to move, and she was struck by how… how real he looked.

On a whim, she reached for the crystal’s hand, reminded of the last time she’d held hands with him, right before he’d faded away and disappeared from her life. The crystal’s hand was exactly like his, and as her fingers connected with it, her breath caught in her throat.

“Sora?” 

She’d come all this way, plunged deep into Sora’s dreams and traveled through this strange realm to find him. She’d traversed a city she’d never been to and climbed to the top of this building in the hopes of saving him. And all just to realize the awful truth that was waiting for her at the end of her journey. Perhaps it had been waiting for her all along.

She was too late. Sora was here, but she couldn’t save him.

Her vision blurred, and a lump formed in her throat. “No, this can’t be real—” 

She sank to her knees and let the tears fall freely. Sobs wracked her entire body as she wept and wept and wept. She’d come all this way for nothing; spent so many weeks and months searching for him and pining after him, only to be met with tragedy once more. And worst of all, his crystal towered above her, unmoving, unmoved, so unlike the Sora she knew and loved. He would be the first to comfort her in her misery if he could, and that just made his cold, lifeless form that much difficult to bear. 

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry—”

No. Apologizing wasn’t good enough. She needed to make this right. But what could she do? How was she supposed to save him now? He was a crystal, and no amount of wishing would make him human again. 

“Think, Kairi, think,” she commanded herself as she wiped her eyes. It wasn’t like she’d never heard of this kind of thing before. Legends from long ago spoke of people who were turned into crystals. It happened when they’d done what the gods had asked. And only the gods could reverse the process and make them human again. 

“I’m no goddess,” Kairi said bitterly, though she wished she was, more than anything. Maybe then she could actually do something for Sora besides sit here and cry. “I’m useless and weak, even after all this time.” 

A goddess wouldn’t have gotten kidnapped or had her heart splintered into seven pieces. A goddess wouldn’t need to go to sleep to find her beloved. She could just… bring him back, with no further issues or complications. 

Bring him back. She’d done it once before, when she’d transformed him from a Heartless back into a human. She’d lit his way home from the Realm of Darkness when he’d gotten stuck there with Riku. And she’d kept him alive when he was on the verge of dying, refusing to give him over to death even if it meant defying fate itself.

Maybe… maybe it was possible to bring him back from this, too. There was much she didn’t know about the nature of reality, about the full extent of her powers, about where her abilities as a Princess of Heart ended and her abilities as Kairi began, but she did know one thing. Her bond with Sora was special, and if nothing else, she would put her faith in that. 

She rose to her feet and banished her tears. She wouldn’t cry again until Sora himself could comfort her. Reaching for his face, she gently cupped it in her hands, ignoring how cold it felt against her fingers.

“Sora, come back to me,” she said, then closed her eyes and sealed her warm lips against his cold ones. She poured all of her light and love into the kiss, imagined it filling his heart and spreading all through his body till he was completely human again.    

When she leaned back and opened her eyes again, hoping that she would see his beautiful face, the same crystal greeted her instead. 

Her hands lowered to her sides, and her head drooped. Of course. That kiss was out of desperation and grief, out of a misguided belief that fairy tales really could come true. She turned around, not able to bear looking at him anymore. 

“It didn’t work,” she said, so quietly she knew no one could ever hear her. The tears came back and spilled down her cheeks, but she made no move to wipe them away. 

“Oh, but it did.” 

She froze. No, it couldn’t be. That voice—

She turned around, and sure enough, Sora was standing there with the biggest smile on his face. 

“Kairi, thank you.” 

He held his arms out, and she burst into tears and threw herself into his embrace. How wonderful it felt to be held by him and comforted by him. The reality was better than all of her dreams by far.

“I missed you,” she choked out as he ran his hand over her hair. The tender gesture was just like what he’d done during their last reunion, and it made her heart melt.  

“I missed you too.” His voice was gruffer than she expected it to be, and when she pulled away a little to look in his eyes, they were shining with tears. “Kairi, I’m sorry for leaving you again—”

She shook her head. “No apologies. I’m just glad you’re here.” 

“Yeah, me too.” He cupped her cheek and gently wiped her tears away. “And all because you saved me. I really can’t thank you enough. With you watching my back, I know I’ll be okay.”

She smiled, and her cheeks flushed pink. “It’s like I told you. You’re safe with me.” 

Even as she said the words though, her face fell. He wasn’t safe with her. He’d faded away from the Realm of Light before her very eyes, and all because of her. 

“No apologies. What I got in return for my sacrifice was more than worth it.” He sighed, a happy sigh, a contented sigh. “Especially right now. I know we’ve been through a lot, but what matters is we’re together again.” He searched her eyes as he stroked her cheek. “If it’s okay with you though, I do have one more request.”

“What’s that?”

“Kiss me. Not because you have to so I’ll wake up, but because you want to.” 

That was enough to make her smile return. “Gladly,” she said as she cupped his face and brought her lips to his. He kissed her back, his lips soft and warm against hers as they held each other and savored the moment. She had kissed him to wake him up, but now he was returning the favor, waking something up deep inside her, bringing her heart back to life, showing her how to hope once more. 

And the best part of all? They were together again, and that meant they could kiss any time they wanted. 

——————————————————————————————-

A/N: Thank you again pearl-nocturna, dusky-dancing, and captainmaws! Hope you enjoyed!

I’m still working on the rest of the kiss prompts (thank you to everyone who sent them in!), but if you’d like to read the previous ones, they include, “A kiss to pretend, “A good morning kiss,” “A kiss on a falling tear,” “A kiss in secrecy,” and “A kiss in public.” Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!

#sokai #sora #kairi #kingdom hearts #kh fanfiction #angst #romance #fluff #kissing #crying #tears #hurt/comfort #comfort #awakening #true love's kiss #phoenix writes #phoenix downer #ask meme #writing meme #post-canon #post canon #post kh3 #post re:mind #post limit cut #long post #answer #pearl-nocturna #dusky-dancing #captainmaws

[ladydreilgard]

Post Re:Mind Speculation

Its that time kiddos. The time of year to dissect the latest Kingdom Hearts release for answers to any of the many, many, many, many questions that we have. So, I feel like post Re:Mind there’s three big parts to talk about here, so let’s divvy them up under the break.

Sora, Yozora, and the Nameless Star

Where to begin with all this. So after meeting Yozora Sora mentions a girl who mentioned him and that she had a message for him. Based off this we can assume that the Nameless Star is who he is referring to there. So right off the bat we can discern some interesting facts about Yozora from this. The Nameless Star tells us that Yozora has been transformed and that his heart has been replaced with that of another. But of course this is hardly the first time we’ve heard a story like that. Riku and Terra were both victims of this as a result of Xehanort, and Luxu admitted that he’s been hopping from body to body for years and that Braig/Xigbar is just his most current identity. So then is Yozora a victim of the same technique that Xehanort and Luxu have used? Yozora himself seems surprised that Sora was actually able to recognize him as Yozora, as if he expected himself to look like someone else. 

So first, we gotta work through a question here: is the form we see in Re:Mind pre- or post-possession? It seems to me to make the most sense that the Yozora we see in Re:Mind is his true form, and that whoever’s possessed him has caused him to take on a new form. The dialogue wouldn’t line up otherwise. We can match the appearance to the name thanks to Verum Rex. So what does Yozora look like now? How much was he transformed? It could be as minor as hair and eye color change (re:Terra) or as dramatic as a completely different body (re:Riku). 

Why did we see him as Yozora then? As what he’s supposed to look like. Presumably because the battle takes place in a dream. Yozora tells Sora that “this isn’t the real world”. Sora was last seen stuck in the Final World, the realm of death, which we know crosses over to the realm of sleep. And of course, before the battle arena changes to Shibuya, it first changes to Sora’s Station of Awakening. Chirithy mentioned is Sora’s first visit to the Final World that he had accidentally visited it before through the Station of Awakening, confirming that the Stations can be used as a gateway between dreams and the afterlife. It make sense that in his dreams, that when connecting to Yozora’s heart, Yozora just looks like Yozora, like he’s supposed to. 

But all of this dances around the biggest questions here raised by two quotes: "Why are you using Sora’s name?” “I was told to save Sora”. Why attack Sora if he’s supposed to rescue him? Well, what similar situations do we have to work with in the series? Traditional combat is used to “save” someone when they’ve been taken control of by some outside person/force (Riku, Terra, Aqua, Ven, Xion, etc., etc., etc.) Could the same thing have happened to Sora? It would explain the first quote as well. Being taken control of often comes with a change in physical appearance. If Yozora had never seen Sora before the wording would be different in that quote. “Why are you using Sora’s name?” implies that Yozora knows what Sora’s supposed to look like, that this isn’t it. That his first assumption is “You’re not really Sora, you’re lying. Why are you stealing Sora’s name?” 

The other possibility is that there is a second person named Sora and that Yozora is confusing one for the other. That he knows A Sora but not OUR Sora. I find this unlikely though. First, from a meta perspective, I doubt the series would want to introduce a brand new character with the exact same name as the protagonist. Granted, this is Kingdom Hearts, and its no stranger to needlessly complicated plot points, but I feel like even they have to realize the marketing nightmare that that would be. Having two Ansems was bad enough, but two Soras would be a trip and a half. Secondly though, I feel like from a narrative perspective its the less interesting option. Where does that plot go? Well we figured out there’s another Sora and Yozora was confused because he thought the Sora we knew was the Sora he knew. Now there’s a second character name Sora and Yozora goes off to help them instead and maybe Sora helps too. The other though? That suggests that something happened to Sora. That someone took control of him, or possessed him, or perhaps will in the future. Perhaps Yozora was doing the right thing just at the wrong time. Someone trying to beat up Terra at the beginning of Birth by Sleep because they know he gets possessed but don’t realize he hasn’t already? Or perhaps he’s been lead to believe that Sora has been possessed when really he hasn’t. That has a lot more interesting places that can go. It also allows for Yozora to be in opposition to the player while still being a “good guy”. The two Soras theory could be true, but I feel like its much more straightforward, and has much less narrative potential, while also adding a lot of naming confusion to the series. All of that together makes it feel very unlikely to me. 

Another possibility that just occurred to me as well is that perhaps Yozora simply didn’t expect Sora to be able to retain his body. Most people when they travel to the Final World lose their from and appear merely as floating stars. Yet Sora’s managed to retain his body. Perhaps Yozora expected to find Sora in this state and was taken aback to find that had somehow retained his form. The fight is the only part that doesn’t quite fit with this theory. If he thinks Sora has lost his body and then finds out that he has, then why fight him? Why capture/freeze/crystalize him? Those actions make sense if he thinks Sora’s been taken over by someone or something else. But not so much if Sora is merely more alive then he expected him to be. 

But who told him to save Sora in the first place? After the arena changes to Shibuya he mentions having gone through some trials before being told to save Sora. We can surmise from the Secret Movie that the Master of Masters is also in Shibuya. Perhaps he was the one who appointed this task to Yozora? He mentioned “some trials” and we know that he had his body taken away from him. Perhaps Yozora was competing in some variant of the Reaper’s Game (assuming that Nomura is planning on crossing the streams more between Kingdom Hearts and TWEWY) and saving Sora was his final task? I feel like this part is just kinda grasping around. We have nothing solid to go on. 

So to recap what we can say for sure so far 

"He’s been changed beyond recognition-his heart replaced with another” - Nameless Star in reference to Yozora

Yozora is surprised both that Sora knows him and that he is able to recognize him as Yozora

Yozora arrived in Shibuya went through some sort of trials and then was told to save Sora

Yozora doesn’t recognize Sora to the point of doubting that he is who he says he is 

Yozora has likely never met Sora before (“You know me?” “Sure. I’ve heard of you.”) 

The Secret Episode is likely a shared dream between Yozora and Sora, and/or the two of them connecting to each other through their dreams (Sora’s surprise at being in one piece, Yozora being surprised that he looks like himself, the setting changing from The Final World to the Station of Awakening to Shibuya, the episode ending with us seeing Yozora waking up in the back seat of a car, the talk of dreams in the Limit Cut Episode immediately before)

The Secret Movie “Yozora” is a recurring dream that Riku’s been having (although he does not mention the presence of The Master)

How, exactly, all of these pieces fit together is the tricky part. This is all going much longer then I expected so I’m just gonna end this post here though. The other two portions will be shorter so I’ll probably put them together in another post. If you have any thoughts or theories feel free to let me know. I’ve been puzzling over all of this for days now and I’m sure I’ll still be a year from now XP

#kingdom hearts #remind spoilers #sora #yozora #nameless star #secret episode #remind