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faraway-wanderer · 4 years ago

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BOOKS BY ASIAN AUTHORS MASTERLIST #stopasianhate

In light of recent events and the growing anti- Asian hate in the US and UK over the course of the pandemic I wanted to put together a masterlist of books by Asian authors. Obviously, it’s not extensive and there are HUNDREDS out there, but supporting art by Asian creators is a way of showing support; read their stories, educate ourselves. It goes without saying that we should all be putting effort into reading stories of POC and by POC because even through fiction we’re learning about different cultures, countries and heritages. So here’s some books to start with by Asian authors!

Here is a link also for resources to educate and petitions to sign (especially if you don’t read haha). It’s important that we educate ourselves and uplift Asian voices right now. Your anti-racism has to include every minority that faces it.

https://anti-asianviolenceresources.carrd.co/

for UK peeps, this is a good read: We may not hear about the anti Asian racism happening here, but it is definitely happening. https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/culture/culture-news/a35692226/its-time-we-stopped-downplaying-the-uks-anti-asian-racism/

THE BOOKS:

· War Cross- Marie Lu ( the worldbuilding in this is IMMENSE.)

For the millions who log in every day, Warcross isn’t just a game—it’s a way of life. The obsession started ten years ago and its fan base now spans the globe, some eager to escape from reality and others hoping to make a profit.

· Star Daughter- Shveta Thakrar

A beautiful story about a girl who is half human and half star, and she must go to the celestial court to try to save her father after he has fallen ill. And before she knows it, she is taking part in a magical competition that she must win!

· These Violent Delights- Chloe Gong (I told my little sister to read this book yesterday bc she has a thing for a Leo as Romeo- so if you want deadly good looking Romeos, badass Juliet’s and to learn about 1920s Shanghai- this is for you.)

The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery. A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. A Romeo and Juliet retelling.

· The Poppy War- R.F Kuang (My fave fantasy series just fyi- it’s soul crushing in the best way. Rebecca Kuang is a god of an author).

A brilliantly imaginative talent makes her exciting debut with this epic historical military fantasy, inspired by the bloody history of China’s twentieth century and filled with treachery and magic, in the tradition of Ken Liu’s Grace of Kings and N.K. Jemisin’s Inheritance Trilogy.

· Loveboat Taipei- Abigail Hing Wen (Really heartwarming and insightful!)

When eighteen-year-old Ever Wong’s parents send her from Ohio to Taiwan to study Mandarin for the summer, she finds herself thrust among the very over-achieving kids her parents have always wanted her to be, including Rick Woo, the Yale-bound prodigy profiled in the Chinese newspapers since they were nine—and her parents’ yardstick for her never-measuring-up life.

· Sorcerer to the Crown- Zen Cho (if anyone is looking for another Howl’s Moving Castle, look no further than this book)

At his wit’s end, Zacharias Wythe, freed slave, eminently proficient magician, and Sorcerer Royal of the Unnatural Philosophers—one of the most respected organizations throughout all of Britain—ventures to the border of Fairyland to discover why England’s magical stocks are drying up.

· Emergency Contact- Mary H.K. Choi (very wholesome and fun rom-com!)

For Penny Lee high school was a total nonevent. When she heads to college in Austin, Texas, to learn how to become a writer, it’s seventy-nine miles and a zillion light years away from everything she can’t wait to leave behind.

· Jade City- Fonda Lee (I am reading this currently and can I just say- I think everyone who loves fantasy and blood feuds in a story should read this.)

JADE CITY is a gripping Godfather-esque saga of intergenerational blood feuds, vicious politics, magic, and kungfu. The Kaul family is one of two crime syndicates that control the island of Kekon. It's the only place in the world that produces rare magical jade, which grants those with the right training and heritage superhuman abilities.

· A Pho Love Story- Loan Le

When Dimple Met Rishi meets Ugly Delicious in this funny, smart romantic comedy, in which two Vietnamese-American teens fall in love and must navigate their newfound relationship amid their families’ age-old feud about their competing, neighbouring restaurants.

· Rebelwing- Andrea Tang

Business is booming for Prudence Wu. A black-market-media smuggler and scholarship student at the prestigious New Columbia Preparatory Academy, Pru is lucky to live in the Barricade Coalition where she is free to study, read, watch, and listen to whatever she wants.

· Wings of the Locust- Joel Donato Ching Jacob

Tuan escapes his mundane and mediocre existence when he is apprenticed to Muhen, a charming barangay wiseman. But, as he delves deeper into the craft of a mambabarang and its applications in espionage, sabotage and assassination, the young apprentice is overcome by conflicting emotions that cause him to question his new life.

· The Travelling Cat Chronicles- Hiro Arikawa

Sometimes you have to leave behind everything you know to find the place you truly belong...

Nana the cat is on a road trip. He is not sure where he's going or why, but it means that he gets to sit in the front seat of a silver van with his beloved owner, Satoru.

· Super Fake Love Song- David Yoon

From the bestselling author of Frankly in Love comes a contemporary YA rom-com where a case of mistaken identity kicks off a string of (fake) events that just may lead to (real) love.

· Parachutes- Kelly Yang

Speak enters the world of Gossip Girl in this modern immigrant story from New York Times bestselling author Kelly Yang about two girls navigating wealth, power, friendship, and trauma.

· The Grace of Kings- Ken Liu ( One of the Time 100 Best Fantasy Books Of All Time!)

Two men rebel together against tyranny—and then become rivals—in this first sweeping book of an epic fantasy series from Ken Liu, recipient of Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy awards.

· Wicked Fox- Kat Cho

A fresh and addictive fantasy-romance set in modern-day Seoul.

· Descendant of the Crane- Joan He

In this shimmering Chinese-inspired fantasy, debut author Joan He introduces a determined and vulnerable young heroine struggling to do right in a world brimming with deception.

· Pachinko- Min Jin Lee

Richly told and profoundly moving, Pachinko is a story of love, sacrifice, ambition, and loyalty. From bustling street markets to the halls of Japan's finest universities to the pachinko parlors of the criminal underworld, Lee's complex and passionate characters--strong, stubborn women, devoted sisters and sons, fathers shaken by moral crisis--survive and thrive against the indifferent arc of history.

· America is in the Heart- Carlos Bulosan

First published in 1946, this autobiography of the well known Filipino poet describes his boyhood in the Philippines, his voyage to America, and his years of hardship and despair as an itinerant laborer following the harvest trail in the rural West.

· Days of Distraction- Alexandra Chang

A wry, tender portrait of a young woman — finally free to decide her own path, but unsure if she knows herself well enough to choose wisely—from a captivating new literary voice.

· The Astonishing Colour of After Emily X.R Pan

Alternating between real and magic, past and present, friendship and romance, hope and despair, The Astonishing Color of After is a novel about finding oneself through family history, art, grief, and love.

· The Gilded Wolves- Roshani Chokshi

It's 1889. The city is on the cusp of industry and power, and the Exposition Universelle has breathed new life into the streets and dredged up ancient secrets. Here, no one keeps tabs on dark truths better than treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier Séverin Montagnet-Alarie. When the elite, ever-powerful Order of Babel coerces him to help them on a mission, Séverin is offered a treasure that he never imagined: his true inheritance.

· When Dimple met Rishi- Sandhya Menon

Dimple and Rishi may think they have each other figured out. But when opposites clash, love works hard to prove itself in the most unexpected ways.

· On Earth we’re briefly Gorgeous- Ocean Vuong

Poet Ocean Vuong's debut novel is a shattering portrait of a family, a first love, and the redemptive power of storytelling.

· Fierce Fairytales- Nikita Gill

Complete with beautifully hand-drawn illustrations by Gill herself, Fierce Fairytales is an empowering collection of poems and stories for a new generation.

BOOKS BEING RELEASED LATER THIS YEAR TO PREORDER:

· Counting down with you- Tashie Bhuiyan- 4th May

A reserved Bangladeshi teenager has twenty-eight days to make the biggest decision of her life after agreeing to fake date her school’s resident bad boy.

How do you make one month last a lifetime?

· Gearbreakers- Zoe Hana Mikuta- June 29th

Two girls on opposite sides of a war discover they're fighting for a common purpose--and falling for each other--in Zoe Hana Mikuta's high-octane debut Gearbreakers, perfect for fans of Pacific Rim, Pierce Brown's Red Rising Saga, and Marie Lu's Legend series

· XOXO- Axie Oh- 13th July

When a relationship means throwing Jenny’s life off the path she’s spent years mapping out, she’ll have to decide once and for all just how much she’s willing to risk for love.

· She who became the sun- Shelley Parker-Chan- 20th July

Mulan meets The Song of Achilles in Shelley Parker-Chan's She Who Became the Sun, a bold, queer, and lyrical reimagining of the rise of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty from an amazing new voice in literary fantasy.

· Jade Fire Gold- June C.L Tan- October 12th

Keep sharing, signing petitions and donating where you can. The more people who are actively anti-racist, the better. And if your anti-racism doesn’t include the Asian community then go and educate yourself! BLM wasn’t a trend and neither is this. We have to stand up against white supremacy, and racism and stereotypes and we have to support the communities that need our support. Part of that can include cultivating your reading so you’re reading more diversely and challenging any stereotypes western society may have given you.

Feel free to reblog and add any more recommendations and resources of course!

#stopasianhate #books by asian authors #anti racism #i'm so sickened by everything that's happening and i hope that this list does encourage people to read books by asian authors!!!#ya #poc authors #fiction #i haven't all of these yet #asian writers #asian authors #masterlist #antiasianracism

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ssson-of-sparda · 3 years ago

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A TRIP TO THE BEACH - PART 2 (DANTE X FEM!READER)

Summary: When Dante shows up, Patty finally learns how things ended between Y/N and him but that's not the kind of ending she likes. (Part 5 of A Tab To Erase) (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4)

Tags: Dante is Tony Redgrave / Love / Angst / Blood and Gore / Minor Character Death / Violence

Author’s note: This is the end! I hope you enjoyed this fan fiction as much as I enjoyed writing it. I can't wait to read your thoughts about it. Is it the end you expected? How did you imagine it? Tell me everything. I'm all ears

Patty dared peeping from above the headrest of the couch when the woman opened the door, definitely curious to see the two adults’ reactions when they would finally see each other – though she still feared Dante’s wrath a little. But when she finally saw them face-to-face, this couple she had been imagining – and rooting for - for weeks, she didn’t care about her friend’s anger or disappointment - He would definitely thank her later - . They looked so perfect, like coming from an episode of one of those telenovelas she loved so much. Dante was towering Y/N perfectly and she was so pretty. And the lighting. Gosh “Like a scene from a movie.” She sighed. If only she could read their minds right now. “There you are, young lady!” Dante declared with a menacing finger as he entered the house “Hi Dante! What are you doing here?” Patty tried to play innocent but there was something in her voice that couldn’t fool Dante. “I’m sorry, Y/N. I never thought this annoying little brat would dare come here … or steal my stuff.” ��That’s alright, Dante. We were having fun actually. And at least, that girl dared visit me … unlike someone else.” Dante definitely felt that sting and he knew he deserved it. “How long has it been?” “A while.” He said, pretending to be casual even though he had the right amount of years and months in mind. “And this day never happened. Come on, Patty. Let’s go.” No, no, no. This couldn’t end like that. Patty thought. Not after all this time. “Can I at least finish my tea please?” “ I’ll buy you a tea on the way back to Red Grave. Let’s go!” Dante insisted as he came closer to the girl to grab her by the arm and drag her away from Y/N’s place as fast as possible. “Right. Like I’m going to believe you. You never buy me anything, even when you owe me.” Y/N smiled while Dante sighed deeply. “Damn it.” “ Plus, you still owe me a trip to the beach.” “ Alright. I’ll take you to the beach. You happy? Now let’s go.” He tried to pull her from the sofa but the girl resisted. “ Or … you can let Y/N finish her story.” Patty suggested. Dante glanced at Y/N whom he hadn’t seen go to the kitchen to prepare him a strawberry sundae. “Actually I’d prefer that. Y/N can you continue your story, please?” “ Well, maybe Dante can tell you so that you can finally erase his tab while I’m making this devil a strawberry sundae. Topped with a cherry and two pink wafers, is that it?” “I don’t know. You’re the pro.” He had a faint smile at her that Patty noticed and beamed at. About time. “Where did you stop you damn story?”

A TRIP TO THE BEACH - Part 2

Dante was sitting at his desk, eyes closed, a magazine covering his face while he was listening to some good old school metal on the jukebox he had just acquired when the damn machine starting to sizzle and shake. “You gotta be kidding me.” Dante complained and, with a deep sigh, got up from his chair to kick the jukebox like Y/N had once taught him. “Funny how those machines always need a good kick to work.” When he thought of his beloved girlfriend and realised how late it was, he wondered how the hell she had not arrived yet. It was very dark outside and the clock was striking one. The restaurant should be closed by now and Y/N should have been in his arms at least an hour ago, naked preferably.

Not sure Patty needs to know that.

Worry tied Dante’s stomach in a knot in spite of his sleepy brain screaming at him not to be paranoid. “Relax, Dante. She’s probably helping clean the kitchen or something”, he told himself And yet, tired of repeating this sentence over and over again in his head, he decided to grab his coat and head to the diner. Better be paranoid and look like fool rather than wait here and worry one more second. Plus, he had waited long enough already and he had made a fool of himself in front of Y/N more than once. So what was one more time, huh?

But when Dante arrived at the restaurant and found it empty and dark, he wished he looked like a paranoid fool. But he was not paranoid and he was not a fool. He was terrified and alert in ways he hadn’t been for years. “Please be okay.” He whispered as he entered the place, feeling once again like a little boy hidden in a cupboard, crying for mommy and his brother. A ghastly feeling for someone who had spent years burying his past deep in his armoured heart as a promise … a dying wish.

Dante climbed the stairs quickly, very quickly and yet not quickly enough to his taste, only to stop and freeze at the sight and smell of warm blood on the wooden floor. But there was not just iron and salt flowing to his nostrils, there was this stench, rotting and disgusting, a stench only his demon sense could pick but that would soon be unbearable for humans too, he was sure of it. The stench of decaying corpses.

The son of Sparda never really liked Y/N’s parents. He actually lost almost all sort of respect for them the second they insulted him and made him understand they would never approve of him or of his relationship with their precious daughter. But when he saw them both, drenched in blood and completely ripped apart, their broken bodies lying on the floor of in their bedroom, he couldn’t help but feel sadness and compassion especially for the woman who was standing in the corner of the room, petrified and in tears, her small feminine frame strongly hold in a demonic grip. A nightmarish vision that had been scaring Dante for too long. “Took you long enough… Son of Sparda.” The demon said with a calm and yet menacing cavernous voice that would make anyone tremble in fear. But that wasn’t the sound of his voice that made Dante afraid – because yes he was afraid –

You? Afraid? Rrr, shut up!

It was the sight of the woman he loved so close to that monster’s sharp claws. The half-demon squinted at the devil before him, at his cloaked silhouette hidden in the darkness, trying to hide his fear, turning it into a nonchalant and over-confident mask he knew how to wear better than anything else (except his red leather jacket) but that somehow didn’t look as convincing as usual. “I’m afraid you’ve got the wrong guy, pal. Sparda may have a son. But that's not me.” “Tony, what’s going on?” Y/N’s voice was shaking just like the rest of her body. “It’s alright, baby. I’ll get you out of here. I promise.” He had too. “You can try and pretend to be someone else. But I know who you are. Dante, Son of Sparda. And soon, your blood will flow for what your father did to my master.” Usually, that same old routine would have made Dante scoff and slice that creature in two for he was used to demons coming at him with pathetic threats and silly villain monologues. But today, what was at stake was simply way too important for impulsiveness. “And who would that master be?” “The one true king of the underworld. Mundus.”

Dante had heard that name before, long ago, in something that was now a long-time memory. Mundus was the villain of his favourite bedtime story, the one his father would always tell him and Vergil before going to sleep, when they were nothing but kids tucked in their beds. Mundus. He remembered how that name would make him fidget and jump in anticipation and how his big brother in the bed under his would always kick him through the mattress to make him stop wriggling like a hyperactive goldfish out of water. Mundus, the so-called Prince of Darkness Sparda had cast away and locked in the underworld a long long time ago to free the human world from his diabolical tyranny. Never thought he would have ever heard about him in another context though.

“Oh. That dude. Thought he would be dead by now… like you soon will be” “Cocky, just like that filthy betrayer Sparda.” The demon smiled, showing short pointy black fangs that yet shone in the dim moonlight. “And in love with a human, just like he was. It would be a shame …” He grabbed a strand of Y/N’s (colour) hair to toy with it with a vicious smirk, making the young woman shiver even more. “… if something were to happen to her the same way something happened to your slut mother” Dante felt his jaw clench tight and his nails pierce the flesh of his palms. The rage, it was slowly yet surely eating at him. “Don’t you dare talk about my mother! And don’t you dare lay even just a finger on Y/N!” Dante growled, not realising he had just given his identity up. But the black demon did and with a satisfied smile, he cupped Y/N’s face in between his vile sharp claws to burry his long nose in Dante lover’s soft hair and smell her human perfume that was oh so exquisite to him. An intended provocation and an effective one. “How chivalrous! How noble! I’m sure your father would have said the same thing…” Dante frowned and clenched his fists even tighter, trying to stay put and in control, trying desperately to resist the powerful will to pounce on that demon and impale him on his sword and spill his guts on the floor. He knew he had too because he knew that the reaction he thought so much about was exactly what that monster wanted. He was trying to infuriate him, to make him reckless and stop thinking rationally so that he would have him at a possible advantage when he let his rage have the best of him. Provocation at its finest. A strategy Dante knew all about. “… had he been here when I and my fellow demons tore her apart.” Yes, he knew all about it and yet... “Mundus says farewell, hybrid filth.” He suddenly stopped caring about what he knew.

Dante jumped and with a scream, unsheathed his sword to slash the arm that was holding Y/N. An impulsive move, a mistake he realised only too late, when the demon pierced the soft neck of the one he loved the most with his sharp claws in an attempt to protect himself from the demonic blade. Everything went so quick to Y/N and yet so slow to Dante. She didn’t scream. She didn’t even have time to realise what was going on or to process the sudden pain. She only understood something was wrong when her body hit the floor and she saw Dante’s icy blue eyes widen and stare at her in horror. Then she felt the blood, her blood she was quite certain of it, running along her pale skin covering it in shades of dark red. Dante screamed like never before, like no human could, so loud the walls trembled and the demon slightly bowed down in fear. He screamed with an anger, a rage he didn’t know he was capable of, something so deep and passionate he never thought was in him. Something fiery … something … demonic. It felt like his skin was burning, like there was a ravaging fire spreading, growing in his body, menacing to burst, to combust him. And it almost did. It almost did but it stopped just when Rebellion sliced the head of the demon open, spilling his brains and his blood on the walls behind him. Then, there was a relief that all this was over. The fight. The fire. The fear… No not the fear!

“Y/N” Dante ran to her and quickly pressed her body against his. His hand found her neck to apply pressure on her bloody wound. She was barely conscious but she was still with him. “I’m so sorry, baby. Hold on, I got you.” He kissed her forehead. It was so cold against his lips. “You’re gonna be okay. I promise.”

Dante stayed by her side for what seemed hours to him, holding her tight against him, trying to keep the weakening life in her safe, when finally blue and red lights began to flicker in the bedroom. What happened next was so blurry. All he could make out were a group of men dragging Y/N from his embrace, saying they would take care of her and that he had to let her go. He didn’t know how he did it but he eventually obeyed those men, in spite of his arms trying to reach for her. He followed them- followed Y/N- to the crowded street where the nearby residents were crammed into, whispering and trying to take a peep at what was going on in this usual very quiet neighbourhood. But he didn’t care about them or their judgmental looks. All he cared about was Y/N being taken away in an ambulance. The paramedics didn’t let him in. And in spite of how much he wanted to fight their decision, Dante chose not to. He couldn’t delay them. Y/N’s life depended on time and too much had been wasted already.

But he found her again, like he would always find her, and he spent days waiting for her to wake up, waiting for her beautiful (colour) eyes to open again, for her sweet voice to say she was alright, his hand holding hers in an eternal grip that only her awakening could break, days in which he had to think about what happened, about what could have happened and what will happen. So many hypothesis, each one worse than the last. And when Y/N finally awoke and, with a soft smile that bear no grudges or hatred, said. “Hey handsome.” He did what he thought he should have done days ago. “We need to end this.”

***

Patty’s eyes were glowing with tears as she was staring at Dante without blinking. This was certainly the saddest love story she had ever heard in her entire life. Even Bolero in Spring had never made her feel so much. “You can’t do that!” She declared as if in denial, as if she could change the past. “The story can’t end like this!” “But it is not a story, Patty. This is not some television show made to satisfy a bunch of hopeless romantic little girls. It’s real life. And real life is tough and …” Dante looked at Y/N, at her sad eyes and at the scar she was trying to conceal under a red silk scarf. “What’s done cannot be undone.” “But you loved each other!” The girl was almost furious, shaking her head nervously. “Patty.” Dante said calmly. “And you still love each other, I’m sure of it. I can tell by the way you both tell your story.” “Patty.” Dante repeated with insistence this time. “I won’t have this ending! No way!” She shouted with a deep frown. “It has already ended!” Dante screamed and Patty froze. He had never screamed at her, never in his entire life, even in times when she was incredibly annoying. He had never screamed at her. “It has ended. And neither you nor anyone can change it, okay? If it doesn’t please you, you can leave, wait in the car and go back to your mushy love series.”

There was a pregnant silence in which Patty stared at Dante with a disappointment he had never witnessed. “Y/N was right. You know how to fight demons. But you don’t know how to fight YOUR demons.” And she got up and left the house to do exactly what her beloved friend had told her, meaning wait in the car to go back to mushy love stories, leaving Dante and Y/N alone in the living room with nothing else but a heavy discomfort.

“I’m sorry for making a scene.” “ Well, you always had a flair for the dramatic.” They both had a conspiratorial smile similar to the ones they used to share when they were younger except it was fainter, sadder. “ She read the letter, the one you wrote me” Dante said staring at his hands in discomfort. He couldn’t look at Y/N, not with all the memories rushing in his head. “ I figured.” But she looked at him, excepting deep down he would say something, anything about what happened.”Never thought you would have kept it though.” “ Why not?” “ You never replied.” And there it was, that disappointment Dante well deserved. “I did reply. I just never sent the letter.” Y/N's eyes slightly widened at this unexpected confession. What did he mean by that? “Huh, words of advice. After writing a letter to someone, you need to mail it.” She declared sarcastically, not really knowing how she managed to crack such a joke. Was it a joke? Maybe, because Dante laughed a bit. “ I had no money to buy a stamp.” The girl scoffed. She knew the man before her all to well to know that this was “Bullshit.” But she had missed it, missed him. “What did it say?” “ Same crap I told you at the hospital. How much I was sorry and … You know what? … There.” He opened his red coat to take a crumpled letter from his inside pocket. It was unsealed, stamped –obviously- and her name and address were written on it. “ I hope Devil May Cry will never provide delivery service cause this has clearly arrived way too late.” However she took it in her hands, gathering all her inner strength not to tremble as she could feel all those emotions shaking inside of her. “ Years too late. You can say it.” Dante smiled as he watched the letter he had kept to himself for so many years finally reaching its long-awaited recipient. “I don’t expect you to read it … or open it. You can actually turn it into a paper plane or shove it down my throat if you want. I won’t fight you.” Of course he had to joke, to play it cool but she didn’t mind. She knew it was just one of his defence mechanism and she couldn’t blame him for it. “ So why giving it to me?” Dante shrugged, refusing to admit he did want her to read what his young 19 years old self had to say, what he still had to say. “You can’t stop with the devil-may-care for a second and admit what you truly want, what you truly feel, can you?” “ Fight my demons, huh?” He quoted her and she nodded. “Yes. Would that be so complicated for a ‘menacing devil hunter’ like yourself?” It was her turn to quote him but that quote made him melancholically happy. “ I guess that’s a challenge I still can not face.” “ Or don’t want to” There was a new pause and as they finally looked at each other’s eyes, they knew they would not fix what had been broken years ago today. He was not ready. Not yet anyway. And that was okay. Y/N was patient. She could wait. She could keep waiting. “Goodbye Y/N” Especially when this time a kiss on her forehead and a hand on her cheek felt more hopeful than ever. “Goodbye, Dante.”

And she watched him leave, again, but certain that someday, one day he would come back to her as he always would. After all, he promised.

#DEVIL MAY CRY #DANTE #DANTE X READER #DMC FANFICTION #DEVIL MAY CRY FANFICTION #A TAB TO ERASE #PATTY LOWELL

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phoenix-downer · 6 years ago

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Orpheus and Eurydice

Orpheus and Eurydice. Of all the stories Sora had heard, he hadn’t thought this would be the one his life would become.

It had all started out innocently enough. He and Donald and Goofy had dropped back by Thebes to check on a few things as a favor to the Moogles so they could get better weapons.

“Hey, Herc, anything we can do to help?” he asked as he found his friend helping clear debris.

Hercules set a broken pillar down and wiped his forehead. “Um, sure. See those vases and bowls over where Meg is? I think that merchant needs help moving them.”

Rebuilding an entire city wasn’t easy, but the people of Thebes had already made a lot of progress since they’d last visited. Sora trotted over to Meg with Donald and Goofy close behind. She gave them her usual half smile when she saw them before telling them where to move everything.

As Donald and Goofy carried a bunch of bowls and plates to the merchant, Sora’s hand rested on a vase. Unlike the other ones, which were all pictures of Herc, this one was different. There was a guy holding some sort of harp-looking thing, and behind him was a woman who kinda looked like a ghost.

“Orpheus and Eurydice,” came Meg’s voice. “Ever heard the tale?”

“No, I haven’t, actually,” Sora said as he dug his Gummiphone out of his pocket so he could take a picture. “What’s it about?”

“Once upon a time, there was a guy named Orpheus who was a killer musician. Son of Apollo. Comes with the territory.”

Sora took a closer look at the drawing. “Oh, is that what the harp’s for?”

Meg gave him an amused smile. “It’s a lyre, but yes. He fell in love with Eurydice, who was supposed to be a real looker.”

Sora grinned. Hearing about people falling in love was the best. Looking at Herc and Meg, hearing about this Orpheus guy and Eurydice— it was something he wished he could have someday, too.

He snapped a quick photo and tucked his phone back in his pocket. “So they were in love— then what happened?”

“The usual. They got married, were as happy as clams, and then—”

“They lived happily ever after?”

“She died.”

Sora’s heart sank. “Oh.” That sure wasn’t how he’d wanted the story to go.

“But the story doesn’t end there. Orpheus, he wasn’t about to let little inconveniences like death keep them apart. So, he went to the Underworld to save her.”

Oh, good. “Sounds like someone else I know,” Sora said with a teasing grin as he glanced in Herc’s direction. “What happened next?”

“He led her spirit out of the Underworld. If he could make it back without turning around, she’d be human again. Right as rain. As real as I am. But he couldn’t hear her behind him. She was still just a shade. No way to talk, no way to touch him, no way to make so much as a peep until they got out of the Underworld. He thought the gods had tricked him. At the last possible moment… he turned and looked around.”

Sora gasped. “Oh no! What happened after that?”

“He could see that she was really there, but her soul went back to the Underworld. He had no way of saving her.”

“Oh no! Did he—”

“He died afterwards, too.”

“Oh.” Sora stared at the vase in his hands. So that was why Eurydice looked like a ghost. And just when Orpheus had almost saved her, too.

“Depressing, isn’t it? I don’t know why all our stories are such Greek tragedies.”

“Yeah, it really is too bad.”

Sora liked stories, but… he really didn’t like the ones with sad endings. It was why he wanted to save Roxas. It wasn’t fair that he couldn’t live his own life. It just wasn’t.

Meg put her hand on his shoulder. “Hey, chin up, slugger. Not all stories have sad endings.”

Sora nodded. “Yeah. You and Herc are proof of that.”

“So are you. You’ll get your lost strength back, I know you will.”

“Thanks, Meg.”

As he followed after her carrying the vase, he couldn’t help but hope she was right.

He did get his strength back. He got it back and then some. But all the strength in the world hadn’t been enough to keep Kairi from dying.

All that power and for nothing. He was still as helpless to protect her as he’d always been. His promise meant nothing. She had kept him safe, kept him from dying, stopped his heart from getting stuck in the Final World, just like she’d said she would.

She was his light in the darkness, just like she’d always been. It really had been her all along. And her act of true love had saved him. He was standing here right now because of her.

And in return, he couldn’t stop Xemnas from kidnapping her. Couldn’t even keep Xehanort from killing her. She’d been scared and in pain and—

He understood now. Understood what would drive Orpheus to go to the Underworld. The kind of grief and sorrow that would drive him to cross over into the realm of the dead for the chance to save his beloved.

“Not for one more second.”

He ignored Mickey’s warning and put Xehanort’s taunts out of his head. He knew what this was gonna cost him, and he was ready to pay the price. He’d made Kairi a promise, after all. He’d vowed to keep her safe, and he was determined to follow through with that.

If that meant searching the universe till he found her, he would. If it meant chasing the lich into the abyss to save her heart, he would. And if it meant crossing over into the Final World to rescue what was left of her body and soul, he would.

Anything. Anything for her. He’d put everything and everyone else above her for way too long. Now it was time he put her first for once.

Xion was right. Kairi wasn’t gone for good. Maybe it was because of the paopu fruit they’d shared, but he could still sense her heart tethered to his. It was faint and it was fading, but it was still there.

He didn’t hesitate. Once the sky was open, he jumped through the entrance his Keyblade had just unlocked, leaving his friends behind. Before, he’d said goodbye to Kairi to save them. Now, it was time to say goodbye to them to save her.

There wasn’t time to think, just act. World after world sprawled out before him as he fell, no, rushed through the darkness towards her, towards her faint light guiding him to her side.

“Kairi, hang in there!” he called as he dove into the first world. “I’m coming!”

“Where… am I?”

Kairi blinked. Not that it made much of a difference. Wherever she was was almost completely dark. Only a faint glow shone from her—

She yelped. Her arm was completely see-through. “What happened to my—”

Her hand flew to her heart. It ached, like someone had—

It all came flooding back. The piercing pain that had shattered her heart and body into a million pieces. How she’d been unable to do a single thing about it, enchanted as she’d been by Xehanort’s sleep spell.

All that training and for nothing. She was just as useless, just as helpless as always. It didn’t matter what she did, how hard she worked to improve. She’d always be a target, a liability. Nothing more.

Why had she even bothered joining the fight? Sora would’ve been better off if she’d stayed at home, or stayed with Merlin, or otherwise stayed far away from him.

Being with her brought him nothing but pain. Their enemies were always going to use her against him, use her to make him suffer. A few stolen moments together was hardly worth a lifetime of anguish.

“I should be dead,” she said out loud, though no one was here with her.

That was the ironic thing about being a Princess of Heart, really. She could save other people from dying, but she couldn’t save herself.

“Then why… why am I still alive?”

She froze. Something had just tugged at her heart. A faint connection, growing stronger by the moment.

It couldn’t be.

“Sora?” she choked out, barely above a whisper.

Had he done the same thing for her that she’d done for him? Used their connection to keep her tethered to this world?

But he didn’t have her powers. He didn’t have her light, he didn’t have anything shielding him from the darkness. If he went through with this, he would—

She struggled to her feet. “Don’t, please!”

But before she could try to stop him, something else caught her attention.

She wasn’t alone.

Something else was down here with her in the abyss.

Her Keyblade appeared in her hand. She might be nothing more than a heart, but at least she could still fight.

“Fire!” she called, trying to light up the area around her. But her magic was weak. She was weak. Barely hanging on to life. The Fire spell barely lit up anything at all.

Her enemy was a Heartless, that much she could gather. There was a heart-shaped hole in its chest, and its yellow eyes glowed in the dim light.

But something about this one was different. Something about this one made her stomach churn and her heart fill with dread.

Maybe it was the way it towered over her. Maybe it was the way the wand in its hand radiated an eerie blue light. Or maybe it was the way it kept staring at her with its soulless eyes.

Whatever happened, she couldn’t let it get too close.

She cast Fire magic at it, and it staggered backwards and disappeared. Whirling around, she cursed the darkness, cursed it for making it nearly impossible to see—

A cold, clammy hand rested on her shoulder, and she screamed and blasted it away with light.

But her light was weak, just like her magic was. Fading away. She wouldn’t be able to keep this up much longer.

Fire magic more powerful than hers came rushing towards her, and she barely rolled out of the way in time. She retaliated with a splash of water magic, only for a blast of water to douse her and send her sprawling.

Without her body, without her strength, she didn’t stand a chance. It would be easier to just give up. Let herself die for good.

But something inside her was screaming at her not to.

Staggering to her feet, she closed her eyes and focused, focused on the darkness. Her vision didn’t do her much good down here, anyway. Maybe, if she tried fighting a different way—

There. She lifted her Keyblade to charge when something wrapped its cold tendrils around her leg and yanked her to the ground. She cried out as the darkness snaked its way up her body and trapped her there.

She called on her light, but it was so weak now, so faint. It pushed back the darkness and briefly formed a barrier around her, but then it was gone, and with it, the rest of her energy.

The Heartless loomed above her now. She could make out its face, make out the skull without a mouth, see the elaborate headdress it wore.

A lich. It was a lich. One of those magicians seeking eternal life, seeking magic at any cost, seeking hearts to fuel its undead existence—

She was tired, so tired. Its staff was mesmerizing. She stared at it, at the heart glowing bright blue…

Yes, that was it. All she had to do was rest. Sleep. There was no point in continuing on. She was dead by rights. What Xehanort had done should’ve killed her. Her time in this world was through.

Her heart floated into the air, and it was like she was floating on the softest bed she’d ever slept on. Sleep and death weren’t so different, anyway. Two sides of the same coin, really. Her soul deserved to rest, deserved to be at peace after everything it had been through.

Maybe… maybe she could see her grandmother again. Her birth parents. In her heart of hearts, she’d never truly believed they were gone for good.

Guess it was time to find out. No one in the living realm would really miss her, anyway. She was a liability, a danger. They were all better off without her.

Especially… especially…

“Kairi!”

Her eyes flew open. “Sora?”

It was him. It was really him. He was flying towards her, and even though he was scared and worried, even though she hadn’t wanted him to come, even though she didn’t deserve this, didn’t deserve to be rescued like this…

She was glad he was here.

“You can’t have her!” he shouted at the lich in a way that made Kairi feel like living again. “I won’t let you take her from me!”

The lich let out an inhuman shriek as Sora struck it with the full force of his Keyblade. There was an explosion of light so bright it lit up the abyss and obliterated Heartless after Heartless lurking in the shadows.

The lich staggered backwards and released her, and with one last howl of rage, it was gone. Its magic no longer holding her heart, she nearly crashed to the ground before Sora caught her in his arms.

He gently lowered them both to the ground, still holding her, and pure relief flooded his face and tears filled his eyes as he gazed into hers.

“I made it in time,” he said, and his voice broke as he brought a trembling hand to her face. “I actually made it in time—”

He pulled her close and hugged her tightly, so tightly that she could sense how hard he was shaking.

“I thought I wasn’t gonna make it in time,” he choked out.

She put her arms around him and hugged him back. He was real, his touch breathing life back into her dying heart. But she couldn’t feel his warmth, couldn’t feel the texture of his shirt or his arms around her. Couldn’t feel much of anything at all without a body.

Still, body or not, just being with him was more than enough.

“You did,” she said, her own voice choked with emotion. “You found me. You kept your promise, Sora. The paopu fruit really worked.”

He was crying now, and she would have been, too, had she had her body.

“You died,” he said with a sob. “I watched you die—”

“I know. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I’m so useless.”

He leaned back to look at her, and his cheeks were streaked with tears. She wished she could wipe them away. It was wrong to see him cry. She wanted to see his smile again. Wanted to hear his laughter once more.

“Why are you apologizing?” he said. “It’s my fault, I should’ve protected you, I promised I’d keep you safe—”

She shook her head. “No. It’s my fault. I was weak, and Xehanort used me to make you suffer.”

All the color drained from his face. “You’re blaming yourself for your death? Kairi, why? Who told you—”

His eyes snapped to something behind them, and his grip around her tightened. “I have to get you out of here. This place isn’t good for anyone’s heart. Not even yours can hold out against the darkness down here forever.”

“But Sora… I’m just a heart. I’m see-through. How can I live without my body and soul?”

He carefully readjusted her weight in his arms and stood. “We’re gonna get them. I know where they are. I just had to come for your heart first.”

“Where are—”

He hissed and winced, and his body briefly flickered as he gripped her tighter.

She froze. “Sora, what’s happening to you?”

He smiled, even as his eyebrows were still knotted together and his teeth were gritted in pain. “I’ll be fine. But we gotta hurry.”

She frowned at that. Would he really be okay after diving into the abyss like this?

Chewing her lip, she placed her hand over his heart and—

“Kairi, no,” he said, shaking his head. “You’ve gotta save your strength.”

“For what?”

“You’ll see. Hang on. I’m gonna get you out of here, I promise.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her face on his shoulder. The way he was looking at her right now, she almost forgot where they were and what had happened to them.

Then they were flying up, up, up, and out of this place. Away from the darkness and into the light. With each passing moment Kairi felt her heart get lighter and her strength return, bit by bit.

She lifted her head to look at Sora again. Sweat dotted his brow and upper lip, and a shudder ran through his body that made him wince.

“Sora?”

He just smiled and squeezed her side. “Hang in there, Kairi.”

Then the light enveloped them both, and it was too bright to see clearly anymore. When Kairi finally could see again, they were in… heaven?

It sure looked like heaven, anyway. Blue sky with lots of clouds floating all around them and nothing beneath them but more sky. Scattered as far as the eye could see were colorless floating stars.

Were those… people? She could sense hearts here, lots and lots of hearts. Was this where her body and soul were? It was true, she could feel them more strongly than before, but—

“You know, for most people one near-death experience is more than enough to last them a lifetime,” came a high-pitched voice from somewhere below them. “And yet you’re back here again already. You are one strange guy.”

Kairi craned her neck to see who was speaking. A small cat-like creature wearing a cape and a pink pouch around its neck was looking up at them, a quizzical look on its face.

“Chirithy, please!” Sora said, his voice pitching higher. “Kairi’s body and soul are in pieces, and we need help finding them!”

Chirithy looked between her and Sora for a few moments before making what she could’ve sworn was a pout.

“Oh, fine. But I don’t do this for just anyone, you know.”

Sora’s grip on her tightened. “Kairi’s a Princess of Heart, the worlds are depending on her to—”

“Oh, I know,” Chirithy said, waving its paw in the air as it took off with Sora following after it. “The worlds would’ve collapsed into darkness if she had fully died before passing on her power to another, you know. Phew, that was a close call. You kept her tethered to life, didn’t you?”

Sora nodded. “I couldn’t just let her go. I promised. I promised she wouldn’t be alone anymore. Not for one more second.”

Something about his words made her feel like crying and smiling at the same time. She reached a weak, see-through hand to his face, wanting to touch him, wanting to feel his warm skin under hers, but she couldn’t feel much of anything. Not without her body.

“Sora—”

Another flicker went through him that made him wince, and—

“There!” he cried before she could say anything else. It was a flickering image of her strolling past. She reached out and touched it, and a spark of warmth shot up her arm as a little bit of her energy returned.

Sora smiled at that. “See? You’ll be as good as new in no time.”

With Chirithy’s help they tracked down dozens of Kairis, walking and running and giggling and charging and dancing and jumping. Flickers of memory, fragments of her body and soul spread out across this strange world where sky met sea. Up pillars of clouds and down again to find the missing pieces of her.

When she had enough of her body back to feel Sora holding her, to experience his warmth and sense his heartbeat, she knew she was ready.

“Sora, I think I’m feeling strong enough now. You can set me down,” she said. Partly because she was, and partly because his footsteps were dragging and his face was pale and covered in sweat. The stronger she got, the weaker he became.

“Okay,” he said, carefully setting her on the ground. He didn’t let go of her hand, and she didn’t let go of his. Her body was mostly visible now; her legs were all that was missing. He was all visible, and yet he kept flickering.

She knew now. He couldn’t hide it any longer. The closer she came back from the edge of death, the closer he got to it. And yet he stayed with her, a big smile on his face like they were just going on a new adventure. Like he wasn’t nearing the end of his life because he’d chosen to save hers.

“I know the circumstances aren’t really the best,” he said after she returned a particularly difficult-to-reach Kairi to her heart, “but this is what I always wanted.”

“Us… together?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I always wanted to see other worlds with you.”

Hot tears stung at her eyes and a lump built in her throat. “I did too.”

He just wrapped his arms around her and brought her close. “Kairi, no time for tears now. If you cry, I’m gonna cry. And I don’t want the rest of our time together to be sad, you know?”

“Yeah.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. Sora wanted her to be brave for him. So she would. She would be brave for his sake.

He leaned back, and his smile was gentle as he gave her hand a squeeze. “Thank you.”

All she could do was nod. She didn’t trust herself not to cry if she spoke.

He glanced out at the world sprawling out below them, at the clouds and sky and sea all blending into one. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

She nodded again. “Beautiful and… sad.”

Those stars… she knew what they were now. The lingering hearts of the dead, clinging to bonds to those still in the land of the living—

“I guess,” Sora said, “but… for me… knowing the people here haven’t let go of the people they love, even in death… it gives me hope.”

His smile was sad, and her promise not to cry just got a whole lot harder.

“Kairi… do you think I’ll still remember? Once I’m…”

Kairi had no good answer to that. She couldn’t give Sora any empty platitudes; that wouldn’t help. Comforting a dying person by saying he would be okay when she had no idea, no way of knowing for sure, if he really would be…

But she could tell him something else. Something she knew was true.

“Even if you don’t, Sora, I’ll still remember you. We all will.”

He nodded at that, tears shining in his eyes now. “Yeah.”

They had to look away from each other, or they were both going to cry. They walked silently, hand-in-hand, because there was nothing else that needed to be said. Kairi almost didn’t want to find the rest of herself now, because that would mean Sora’s time in this world truly would be over. But he led her along until he couldn’t anymore, till she was the one leading him along as he leaned against her for support.

There. The final Kairi was up ahead. A Kairi writing a letter, a letter to the boy she couldn’t remember. A faint smile appeared on Sora’s face at that.

“It all began with a letter, didn’t it?” he said.

Kairi just stared at herself as the memory Kairi’s pen flew across her piece of paper. Writing to the boy everyone had told her didn’t exist. Writing to the boy she knew she’d forgotten. Creating a way for him to come home to her against all odds. Making the impossible possible.

“But it won’t end like this,” Kairi said, her voice low. “I’ll find you, Sora, I swear. This might be goodbye for now, but it’s not goodbye forever.”

“Kairi—”

“Death couldn’t take you from me before, and it sure isn’t going to now. I’ll find a way to get you back. Our friends will help, I know they will.”

Sora just stared at her for a moment.

“What? You don’t believe me?” she asked. If Sora really thought that she was going to let him go now, after all this time—

He shook his head and let out a soft chuckle. “No, I do. It’s just that… I thought I was Orpheus and you were Eurydice. But maybe it’s the other way around.”

“Huh?”

He just shook his head again, his spikes going this way and that. “Ask my friends Herc and Meg about it sometime.” He squeezed her hand, his eyes softening. “I’m ready when you are, Kairi.”

She nodded at that. The letter-writing Kairi glanced up, and a knowing smile spreading across her face as she reconnected with Kairi. At long last, Kairi was whole again, her strength returned, her body and heart and soul reunited once more.

Sora’s smile was radiant, the look on his face like that of a conquering hero, of a victor who had just won it all.

“We did it,” he said, his voice weak but his spirit strong. But still he remained; he didn’t fade away into nothingness; he clung to life.

“We did,” she said with a nod. For now, at least, they were both alive.

Chirithy scuttled up to them, its little purse bobbing up and down and its cape floating out behind it in a way that made Kairi want to scoop it up into a tight hug. The little creature’s dignity probably wouldn’t suffer such an insult, however, so she resisted.

“Huh, so you did,” it said. “Congratulations.”

Sora raised his eyebrow. “What, did you think we wouldn’t pull it off?”

Chirithy just waved its paw. “That’s neither here nor there. It’s time for you two to go home now.”

Kairi looked at Sora. “Home. Together. Just like you promised.”

He nodded before turning back to Chirithy. Kairi helped lower him to the ground so that he was much closer to Chirithy’s eye level.

“Chirithy, you really should find that friend of yours if you can,” he said. “I bet they miss you, and…” his eyes briefly flickered downwards before glancing back up to meet Chirithy’s again. “I won’t be able to come back to visit you. Not for a while, anyway.”

Chirithy scratched behind its ear. “I guess I could try to find him, even if he doesn’t remember…”

Sora nodded. “That’s the spirit. I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you. The mind may forget, but the heart never does.” He looked into Kairi’s eyes and smiled. “Because that’s the heart’s true nature— to never, ever let go.”

She nodded and helped him stand as he wrapped his arm around her and leaned against her for support. His body flickered again as they said goodbye to Chirithy, and then it was time for them to go, too.

“Where to?” she said softly.

“Where else? The place we swore an oath to each other,” he said as he summoned his Keyblade. “Our friends are all waiting. They know we’re coming back.”

He held his Keyblade up to the sky, opening the portal home. Light burst forth from it, enveloping them in its soft glow, and then they were falling home, no, flying home, hand in hand.

And Sora didn’t let go of her hand, not for one second. He held it fast as they sat together on the paopu tree watching the sunset, gave it one last squeeze as he gazed into her eyes once more.

He didn’t say anything because he didn’t have to. The way he was looking at her, the way he was smiling at her – she knew what was on his mind anyway.

It was worth it to him. She was worth it to him.

She couldn’t help the tear that slid down her cheek. It was one thing to be brave in the face of sorrow; it was another thing else entirely to be stoic in the face of love.

And then he flickered again, but this time it wasn’t just a flicker, no, he kept fading, faded like the sun setting over the horizon, the warmth of his hand in hers giving way to the coldness of night and nothingness and emptiness. The wind picked up and she slumped forward, no longer brave, allowed to grieve for him now that he was gone. Her smile gave way to tears as everything hit her all at once.

Sora was dead, and it was all because of her. She knew he would never blame her, but she couldn’t help but blame herself.

As their friends rushed to check on her, to ask what had happened, to see what was going on, to make sure she was she okay… their grief and shock and confusion as they realized what had happened, as they realized what Sora had done, as they realized he was gone, hit her all over again and made her cry that much harder.

No one said anything as Riku hopped up on the tree next to her. Kairi just buried her face in his shoulder and sobbed, and he put his arms around her and brought her close. He didn’t seem to care that she was getting snot and tears all over his shirt, just did his best to comfort her over something that could never be comforted.

When she was about cried out, she felt a hand on her shoulder. The look of empathy Aqua gave her nearly drove her to tears again, and when she saw Naminé – Naminé was here, Naminé was safe! – and Xion there, too, saw the tears in their eyes for her, for Sora, it was too much. It was all too much.

Donald and Goofy were crying, too, and seeing them cry like that, like they’d lost a son… Kairi felt guilty for even existing. And Mickey’s face was forlorn, the tears in his eyes clearly visible when his met hers. Lea and Isa were here, too, and Isa even looked sad about what had happened.

“Kairi, I’m so sorry,” Lea said, the first to break the silence.

“No, I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “I’m sorry I’m here and not him.”

To her surprise, it was Terra who spoke up. “No. It’s not your fault. He made his choice. He wouldn’t want you to blame yourself. He’d just be happy you’re safe.”

Aqua gave him a look at that, and Kairi thought she understood why.

“Kairi, where do you think he—” Roxas asked, his voice low, his eyes meeting hers. So much like Sora’s, and yet so clearly not his.

“I don’t know,” she said, sniffing and wiping her eyes, “but I’ll find him. I promised.”

She felt Riku’s hand on her shoulder. “And I’m going with you.”

She turned to Riku and placed her hand over his, the hand that moments before had been entwined with Sora’s. “I know you will.” She looked at all of them. “I told him you’d all help me get him back.”

“We will,” Ventus said, his voice low as he wiped his nose but his eyes blazing with determination. “It’s the least we can do, after all he’s done for us.”

They all nodded at that and promised to help her find him, whatever it took. And looking at them, knowing she wasn’t alone in her grief, knowing she wasn’t alone in her efforts to find him, Kairi could hope again.

Sora was right. That was the heart’s true nature— to never, ever let go.

She wouldn’t let go, not now, not ever. And until the day they were reunited again, she wouldn’t rest until she’d found him.

“Man, Sora, those friends of yours seem to care about you a lot. It’d be a shame for you to be gone for good, and I guess I do still owe you a favor…”

Joshua stood and allowed himself a slight smirk. It wouldn’t be too hard to pull this off, not at all.

“Hope you enjoy Shibuya.”

Hello everyone! Hope you enjoyed my first (completed) fic since I’ve finished playing KH3.

Some of the more recent news that’s come out since this idea first came to me (as well as clarifications about lore) almost certainly contradicts elements of the story, but I liked the concept too much to abandon it.

Writing it was really cathartic, actually... really helped me sort through my feelings about the game’s ending. Gave me some closure for the stuff we didn’t see on screen (yet?) either.

As I was finishing parts of it up, Pavane for a Dead Princess by Ravel came on on Spotify, and... I think it fits the story quite well, so give it a listen if you’d like.

Reading @rapis-razuri’s fic "The Usual Street" inspired me to finish this one, and she helped me come up with the summary for AO3 and FFN. A big thank you for that!

And as always, thank you for reading!

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