#final world being where the sea (kairi) mirrors the sky (sora)

[psychopomp-namine]

still chewing on this but I do think there's a lot to be said about sora and kairi mirroring each other (it's more in your face in remind but I think it's something the series has been doing in small doses over multiple games)

[coruscantide]

A Dive into the Heart

The first time you see a hint of Kairi’s heart is in KH1 during Sora’s dive to the heart. During this prophetic dream sequence, he appears to be traversing the hearts of the Princesses of Heart who are technically all connected which is visualized by the staircases. Four of the Stations that appear are of those who’s identity as a princess has been outed. They’re already captured and put into a deep sleep, while the remaining three have yet to be discovered and thus their identities are shrouded in mystery on the single Station meant to be them.

What is a Station of Awakening?

A Station of Awakening is considered to be the ‘core’ representation of a person’s heart, most directly exemplified by Ventus and his struggles with Vanitas. Sora’s own heart manifests as a Station but it also takes on the appearance of Destiny Islands in KH1 during the opening sequence where projections of his friends can be seen, in KH2 where he’s sent when he’s sleeping alongside more projections of his friends until KH2, and in DDD where Roxas, Xion, and Ventus (and Ansem) can be found. It appears to be a ‘level’ above his Station so it may be considered the surface level of his heart. I say this because you only see him really ‘enter/travel’ through the areas of the heart by falling into the ocean in a literal dive to the heart and opening a door of light ( I find it interesting the Station he’s on when that happens represents the hidden princesses, including Kairi, which may have been a little foreshadowing ).

Going off the KH1 opening, the theme of darkness usually being found underneath the light or vice versa, and with Sora inclined toward the light, I abide by an old headcanon that Sora’s darkness is represented by the ocean surrounding the island. It’s lighter near the surface but the further down into the depths you go the darker it appears. Him diving into that ocean, diving into the darkness, brings him into his heart which is illuminated and appears bright against the surrounding abyss. It doesn’t only apply to Sora. We see the dive to heart by falling into a body of water implied to be an ocean occur multiple times for other characters too, like Roxas or the opening scenes in BBS and 0.2. It’s been used to represent a character’s fall into the darkness as well, mostly with the wayfinder trio via themselves or their wayfinders in the openings to BBS and 0.2. As of KH3, we’re aware that sometimes Sora breaches the surface of that ocean and winds up in the Final World, though he doesn’t recall it later, and it happens because sleep is closely associated with both darkness and death with the edges between them blurring at times, allowing the occasional crossover.

What does the inside of Kairi's own heart look like?

Now with Kairi, the outermost surface level also takes on the appearance of Destiny Islands, the place she feels most at ease. However, tying into the times she is seen during these dives to the heart, it usually set under a perpetual sunset with shooting stars streaking across the sky, sometimes appearing as the time of midday.

Unlike Sora though her ocean is… different. The sea and sky are so expansive that it seems to reach out into infinity, and the layer of water is reflective to the point that it resembles a mirror. For some reason, it’s all much more reminiscent of the Final World.

Kairi can’t seem to ‘dive’ like everyone else. With the various openings if you look, whereas other characters are seen sinking into the water and darkness, notice that Kairi NEVER falls in during these instances. She can’t. Her image only ripples and distorts at best and she is always left above to walk on the water’s surface — like in the Final World. You cannot see any darkness beneath because there is nothing really tangible beneath the waves. Just ripples of repressed or lost memories.

If Kairi’s Station appears when she walks far away enough from the island, it simply ripples into existence right under the ocean’s surface with her in the center of it, expanding outwards with doves taking flight and raising higher and higher out of the water. Her surroundings melt away into the flock of doves, transitioning into a blank white void and leaving her with the stained glass the portraits of Sora, Riku, Namine, and Ansem, seeker of darkness beneath her feet, refracting the endless light into a seemingly ever shifting tide of color that’s both beautiful and haunting. If she focuses hard enough, she can trace the connection to the other princesses and staircases will appear to lead her to their heart.

Why the Final World?

In Melody of Memory, a version of the Final World is seen within her heart, a recreation of her memories that she eventually reaches while searching for clues. The thing is… it’s the exact same type of construct on the surface level of her heart as her Destiny Islands. Technically this is a dive to the heart for her like many other people. There is a reason why DESTATI of all songs (the main theme of the Awakening/Dive to the Heart) starts playing during the encounter with Xehanort. He’s the equivalent of the Darkside and Twilight Thorn that Sora and Roxas had to fight. But he’s different somehow. Despite the implied belief of Kairi that he’s nothing but an illusion or memory created from Kairi’s heart, Xehanort’s strangely aware of what’s happening and making comments Kairi herself couldn’t possibly know, like figuring out where Sora is from his abrupt interference in their fight. Unfortunately for Kairi, this Xehanort appears more similar to the Ansem that’s been tormenting Riku for years even after his demise. So, uh, fun times ahead.

But a funny little detail is that at the beginning of this section, while it’s later acknowledged to be taking place within Kairi’s heart, the area gets the same introduction you get whenever you enter a ‘real’ world in the games and when Sora first arrived to the Final World. It seems to be the only occurrence of this within the entire game. I’m not even sure if a dive into a person’s heart transitioned into a world intro like that before.

Because her heart just has to be even more weird, while she’s in this state it manifests itself outside of her body specifically in its flower form and moves independent of her physical body (please note that every(?) other time in the series a heart is separated from the body like that the person basically dies in short order but kairi is. Fine). It breaks itself apart to literally guide her to the answer she seeks. Guys? This isn't normal. She’s interacting with her own heart in such a manner when she’s technically inside it at the moment. It's clearly different from every else who has moved about as a disembodied heart.

This change into a flower is another important detail. Hearts don’t really have a physical form per se, but change their outward appearance when outside the body depending on different factors of how it's removed. It’s natural state is an orb of light. When a person dies as the body and heart perishes at the same time, some persist through a connection keeping them tethered and the hearts take on the appearance of a star of light. If an enemy like the heartless kills someone and steals the heart, it takes on a heart shape. Kairi’s own was seen as an orb of light previously in KH1. However, after KH3 it took on the form of a crystal flower as a result of her being crystallized and shattered. She's not currently dead but being in this deep sleep / almost death-like state and being in a place where the lingering dead reside apparently was enough trigger a change and cause her heart manifest itself in the state it was at the moment of her own death experience. She then tracks down the pieces of her heart, much like when Sora’s heart had to gather his body after he was conceptually broken apart, only it’s reversed now.

It all ties together to imply these events are happening within the real Final World at the same time.

The truth is Kairi’s heart — technically all Princesses of Heart — is likely directly connected to the Final World. The personal versions in their hearts overlap with the real one, making it easy to cross over much like how one can access it from the Sleeping Worlds and the Dive to the Heart. This close connection to the Final World - and therefore the other side - is what enables Sora to appear within her heart at all after a year of radio silence to beat Xehanort’s ass, even if his voice cannot cross the distance. Why would this connection exist though?

Heavy existing star symbolism with Kairi and light in general aside, perhaps it has to do with the nature of the place and the princesses themselves. The Final World is a limbo for the deceased that exists on the border between sleep and death and a border to ‘unreality’. It’s a place of deep connection, and connection is very important to Kingdom Hearts. All hearts return to Kingdom Hearts, aka it is the final resting place. Everything that dies returns to the same place to reconnect and then be reborn. The Final World could be a step down from wherever Kingdom Hearts truly resides. As parts of a whole that exists as a counterpart to Kingdom Hearts itself, it makes morbid sense that the princesses would appear as close as they can to it without actually dying themselves, whether they realize or not.

[synergysilhouette]

"One Sky" concept (AU)

As a big Kingdom Hearts fan, I wanted to hypothesize a situation where all the locations Sora goes to are all in the same world, albeit with original characters and unique interactions. I call it the “One World” concept, but “One Sky” is also cool:

Hollow Bastian–A Japanese-inspired country that’s capital is Radiant Garden. Destiny Islands are islands off the coast and considered a territory that is a part of the country. After fleeing her kingdom, Belle joins Anselm the wise’s reseach group made up of his apprentices. Moana is a tour guide for Destiny Islands, and helps hide the existance of merpeople. Final Fantasy characters also live in the country (frequently visiting Traverse Town, a magical safehaven many characters escape to during the series), and Twilight Town is also part of the nation, albeit close to the capital. The Land of Departure is seen as a semi-mythical location, albeit part of the country. Most of the Disney-inspired locations are now modern, high-fantasy settings. San Fransokyo has close ties to Hollow Bastian due to many immigrants having moved to SF.

No decades-old or centuries-old plotlines. Many events that occured actually happened recently, including Terra’s corruption, along with Elrena and Lauriam becoming nobodies. The wayfinder trio are sacred guardians of Radiant Garden, but they are defeated when Xehanort saps away Ventus’ darkness, creating Vanitas and weakening Ventus, brainwashing Terra, and banishing Aqua to the realm of darkness. It’s only then that Eraqus alerts Yen Sid, who seeks out Kairi, Sora, and Riku.

Seven hearts plot–I’d make the roster mostly the same, albeit replace Alice with Ariel. It’s explained that several of the seven hearts had their worlds sealed off to protect them from being used for evil. The new seven hearts consist of Kairi, Elsa, Anna, Rapunzel, Moana, Pocahontas, and Tiana. (I do also have an alternate secondary roster of Ventus, Bruno, Mulan, Sisu, Quasimodo, Hercules, and Giselle). When the time comes, they actually gift Sora and friends with keyblades that are magically connected to their hearts, allowing them to battle through the keyblade wielders.

Disney villains–This is up to preference. Yzma and Dr. Faciliar are the villains of a country inspired by North and South America, using the power of darkness to steal hearts. In this version, Yzma is much closer to her Kingdom of the Sun counterpart. Maleficent and Ursula also serve as villains, with Maleficent trapping fallen kingdoms in thorns and Ursula seeking to take over the sea. Jafar, Governor Ratcliffe, and Judge Frollo serve as manipulative villains in plain soght, controlling the masses in order to summon their inner darkness (kind of like Almeidrea from “Tales of Arise”).

Organization XVII–In my mind, they aren’t villains so much as antiheroes. Xemnas is a part of Xehanort that he cast away, making him resentful and desperately craves to be whole again, taking Vanitas under his wing, being a father figure to him, Saix, Axel, Roxas, Xion, Marluxia, Larxene, and Zexion–much to Vexen’s jealousy. The rest of the nobodies research matters of the heart as well as light and darkness, though the few Disney villains who are a part of the team (Lady Tremaine, Shan Yu, the Horned King, Gaston, the Evil Queen and her mirror) continually try to manipulate the nobodies, who, devoid of their hearts–or so they believe–crave the ability to feel and belong. In fact, several of them attempt to carve out lives in the human world. This is how Belle manages to stay in contact with Vexen and Zexion in order to better help them restore their hearts without harming anyone. This is the OG O13 roster, along with Xion, Terra, Vanitas, and a reluctant Namine. The Disney villains aren’t counted as part of the roster, working moreso as associates since they aren’t nobodies.

Kairi has bigger involvement–When Sora saves her, she secretly follows him on his journey to find Riku, though O13 continually tries to deter her. She manages to find Sora, albeit after his encasement to restore his memories, and journeys with Riku until KH2. As the series goes on, Namine’s ability to manipulate memories grows stronger, allowing her to restore the memories of the O13 members.

Three Xehanorts (okay four)–I think a human, heartless, and nobody form of Xehanort work just fine. Ignoring the “new vessel” concept of Terra, Xehanort instead just curropts Terra, making him believe in Xehanort’s vision after Terra loses faith in Eraqus when he attempts to kill Ventus. After being brainwashed, Terra kills Eraqus, and he momentarily suffers a breakdown, being rescued by Xemnas and joining the Organization, albeit becoming a bit of a dangerous, broken recluse due to fighting for control.

The Foreteller cult–I do love the deep mythology of the series, albeit less complicated. Following the defeat of Xehanort, Riku absorbs Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, and Xemnas gains a heart of his own. As such, they recall ancient knowledge that Xehanort knew of regarding deities that embodied light and darkness. Xehanort’s death sparked a powerful surge of people who could summon keyblades, with the foretellers, people who claim to be protectors of the light, becoming their leaders, claiming to want to save the world from impending darkness, a stark contrast from the man who wanted to destroy and remake the world. However, Sora and his friends can’t help but feel as though something sinister is bubbling under the surface…

Worlds I’d include in some way, shape or form: Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty, The Black Cauldron, the renaissance-era films, Kingdom of the Sun/Emperor’s New Groove, Atlantis, revival-era films, Enchanted, The Incredibles, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Inside-Out.

Lemme know your thoughts and if you have any questions!

[phoenix-downer]

A Test of Heart

2685 words. Gen, Friendship, Post-Canon. Covers Kairi’s Mark of Mastery exam. Written for @kairizine. A big thank you to the mods for organizing everything! 

Kairi took a deep breath. Colorful light danced along the floor from the stained glass windows, and the scale of the grand throne room she was in right now fully hit her. Countless Keyblade wielders had been here before her, and countless Keyblade wielders would come after her. Her fingers fluttered to her neck and the necklace that even now continued to protect her. That was the proud legacy she was a part of. Much like Aqua had protected her, she would protect the light and people’s hearts, too.

The day had finally arrived for her to prove herself worthy. She pulled herself to her full height as she looked Aqua straight in the eye. 

“Today you will be examined for the Mark of Mastery,” Aqua said, looking very proud as she gazed down at Kairi. Behind her, sitting on two of the three thrones as special guests, were Kairi’s closest friends in all the worlds. Sora and Riku were here to support her, happy that at last she had the chance to join their ranks as a fellow Keyblade Master.

She allowed herself a slight smile as she glanced first at Riku and then at Sora. They were both smiling, and Riku nodded briefly as Sora mouthed, “You got this!” 

Her heart swelling with courage and her nerves easing a little, she turned her attention back to Aqua.

“This is not a test of battle prowess or even of will,” Aqua continued, “but a test of heart. Kairi, are you ready?”

“Yes, I am.”

Aqua smiled and summoned her Keyblade. “Then let the examination begin.”

Pointing her Keyblade above Kairi’s head, Aqua opened up a portal to another realm. Kairi peered up at it, trying to make out what it might be. Golden light shone through it, but other than that, she couldn’t see much else. 

“Take nothing with you but what’s in your heart,” Aqua instructed. “This place may seem familiar, but it isn’t like anywhere else you’ve ever been.”

Kairi tilted her head. “What’s it like, then?”

“That all depends on what’s in your heart. Best of luck, Kairi.”

Kairi took another deep breath and hit the pauldron on her left shoulder. Moments later, her Keyblade armor covered her body and her Keyblade transformed into a glider. She swooped into the air, and with one last glance at Sora and Riku, went through the portal. 

As she emerged on the other side, it took her a few moments to figure out where she was. But the pink sky streaked with purple and the sound of water tumbling in the distance clued her in soon enough, as did all the beautiful flower beds filled with asters and sunflowers and roses and lilies. She disembarked from the glider and switched her Keyblade armor off.

Radiant Garden. Her world of origin if not her current home. Little specks of light drifted through the air and fell to the ground like shooting stars, and she tried to catch a piece of one of them in her hand. It danced in her palm as she stared at it, mesmerized. 

“Kairi,” a voice called, and she turned around.

“Aqua?” 

This wasn’t the Aqua she had just left behind; no, this was an Aqua from her past, from the time when they had first met. Kairi didn’t remember the moment clearly, at least not consciously, but perhaps her heart remembered things her mind had forgotten.

“Tell me, Kairi, what is it you are so afraid of?” Aqua asked, her expression serene.

“What is it… I’m afraid of?” Kairi repeated. Her hand fluttered to her necklace as she considered Aqua’s question. There were a lot of things she supposed she should be afraid of. Death—except she had already faced her own mortality. She’d been kidnapped several times, too, and in years past she’d feared being weak and useless. But her strongest fear of all was something else entirely. 

“Losing the people who are precious to me,” she told Aqua. 

Aqua paced back and forth on the cobblestone path. “Your honesty is admirable, Kairi, but don’t you see how that might impact your ability to be a good Keyblade Master? Fear of loss can lead you to be reckless and to hold too tightly to the past.”

“I suppose,” Kairi said, “but what’s the alternative? To not care at all? I can’t help the scars that are inside my heart, but I can choose what I do about them. Considering my past, I think I’ll always be afraid of losing the people I care about. But I won’t let that fear control me, I promise.”

Aqua smiled. “Very well spoken. The next part of your test awaits you.”

Before Kairi could ask what that meant, the scene around her faded away. New sights and sounds replaced the ones on Radiant Garden—the waves crashing upon the shore, the sun shining bright overhead, cicadas buzzing in the trees, the smell of paopu fruit and coconuts carried by the breeze.

As the scene around her materialized, she found herself sitting on the paopu tree next to Riku, just like how the two of them always used to sit here with Sora, watching the sun set. When she tilted her head to greet him, he gave her one of his classic half-smiles. This was the Riku from her youth, the Riku she’d known shortly after he’d become a Keyblade Master. 

“Kairi, what is the one thing you care about more than anything else?”

“Long walks on the beach, thalassa shell crafts, writing in my diary, sea-salt ice cream…” She grinned at Riku’s expression. “Kidding, silly! I know this is a serious question. Gimme a second to think about it.” 

What did she care about more than anything else? Her friends, of course, but more specifically than that… 

“Being with the people who are dear to my heart.” 

It wasn’t enough to say that they mattered. Of course they did, they meant everything to her, but she’d gone for too long without them to be able to bear any more long separations. 

“And if you can’t be with them?” Riku asked, his voice serious and his eyes a little sad. “If your duties as a Keyblade Master take you away from them?”

“I know, realistically, that I won’t get to spend every day with the people I love. That’s just not how life works. But I won’t accept being left behind anymore.”

“Is that what becoming a Keyblade Master means to you? No longer being left behind?”

Kairi sighed. Riku had her, and she knew it. 

“Partly. I’d be lying if I denied it. But there’s so much more to it than that. I want to protect the people who can’t protect themselves. I want to help heal the damage the darkness has caused.” 

Riku smiled, a full smile this time, and her heart filled with warmth, knowing what that smile meant. He was proud of her, and his approval meant the worlds to her. 

“It’s okay, Kairi,” he said. “No one’s motives for being a Keyblade Master are completely perfect. Not Aqua’s, not mine, not even Sora’s. What matters is the heart behind them.” 

“And my heart?” Kairi asked.

“You’ll see. The next part of your test is up ahead.”

Soon, Destiny Islands faded away, much like Radiant Garden had before it. As it did, a strong breeze picked up and blew through her hair. It lifted her off of her feet till she was flying through the air, and when it set her down again, the water rippling beneath her was a perfect mirror of the sky above. 

“The Final World?” she murmured, remembering the last time she’d been here. She’d already seen Aqua and Riku, and that meant—

“Kairi,” came Sora’s voice from behind her. She turned around, and he looked the same as he did now, perhaps to represent this part of her life. He smiled, and that was enough to ease her nerves.

Aqua, Riku, Sora—they were all rooting for her. They wanted her to succeed. She had to keep that in mind, even when they were testing her. 

“What do you wish?” he asked.

“What do I wish?” she repeated. “Like in general? Or if I become a Keyblade Master?”

He shrugged. “The question is whatever you make of it. It’s meant to reveal what’s inside your heart.”

She had to prove she was a good candidate for the Mark of Mastery. She chose her next words carefully. 

“Then… I suppose… I want to protect my friends. I want to protect the light. I want to use my powers to help people.” 

“Those are all good things, don’t get me wrong, but they’re not your heart’s deepest desire,” Sora said softly. “Let me ask you one more time: what do you wish?”

Her throat went dry and her palms were sweaty. Her heart’s deepest desire? How was she supposed to answer that? The answer was on the tip of her tongue, but actually voicing it was another thing entirely. 

“I want to be loved,” she said at last, her voice small. “I want to feel important.”

She felt Sora’s hand on her shoulder, and she dared to look into his eyes. 

“Don’t we all?” he said, his smile gentle and his eyes warm. “Trust me, Kairi, you are loved. You have the support of Riku and Aqua and the rest of our friends. And you know how much you mean to me, too. We’ve all got your back.” 

“I know,” she said, returning his smile. “It’s just scary to be vulnerable sometimes.”

“Of course it is,” he said. “But by proving you can be, you’re showing your heart’s true strength.”

“Strength through vulnerability, huh?” She gave him a teasing nudge. “Sounds like someone else I know.” 

He laughed at that. “Hey, it’s part of my job as a Keyblade Master now. I’m supposed to pass on what I’ve learned to other people.” 

“And what wisdom do you have to pass on to me, Master Sora?”

His expression grew serious. “My role in your Mark of Mastery is done, actually. I don’t know what else is ahead of you. But know this: you’re not alone,” he said, pointing at her heart. “I’m always with you, and our friends are always with you too. You’ve always been strong, and with our support, you’re that much stronger. Keep going till you reach the end. We’ll be waiting for you on the other side.”

She nodded and took a deep breath. She was getting near to the end of her Mark, she had to be. 

When Sora was gone, she expected this realm to fade away, too. But instead of the scenery around her changing, the sky darkened and the water grew choppy. 

“What’s going on?” she cried as she summoned her Keyblade. “What’s happening?”

A low chuckle sounded out behind her, and she whirled around to face the source of the noise. 

“Xehanort?”

Sure enough, the creepy old man was there, smiling cruelly at her as the wind picked up around them. Her heart sped up, her throat went dry, and her fingers felt numb as her fear and panic took over. 

Her reaction just seemed to amuse him. “After all this time, you are still weak, little princess.” 

His words snapped some sense back into her. Clutching her Keyblade tighter to steady her shaking fingers, she said, “No, I’m not weak, I’m strong! I’ll prove it!” 

The wind howled and rain began to fall as she prepared herself for battle. She’d fought Xehanort before, but she’d had Sora backing her up. Now she was all alone. She had to face him herself. This was the final test, the only thing left between her and the title of Keyblade Master. She had to face her fears from that day, deal with the trauma of seeing the man who was responsible for splitting her heart into pieces, the man who was responsible for Sora’s disappearance and everyone’s suffering—

No, wait. That couldn’t be right. That was what Xehanort wanted her to think—that she was alone and had to face him alone. But it wasn’t true. She wasn’t alone. Sora was with her. Aqua and Riku were with her too. So were the rest of her friends—Naminé, Terra and Ven, Roxas, Axel, and Xion. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, too. With them, she was strong. 

Resting her hand over her heart, she called to the light deep within it. “My friends, I need your help!”

The light from her heart began to glow as she felt the strength from her friends flow through her. Allowing herself a brief smile, she thanked them and pointed her Keyblade at Xehanort.

“You don’t have any power over me anymore,” she said as light gathered at the tip of her Keyblade. “Now leave me alone!” 

A great blast erupted from her Keyblade and hit Xehanort full force. He shielded his face from the light, but he was no match for it. Her strength of heart proved true, and after a few moments of the continuous onslaught, he began to disappear. The waves stilled, the rain stopped, and the sky cleared. Xehanort kept fading away, and the last thing she saw of him was his smirk.

“Perhaps you are not so weak after all,” were his final words, and then he was gone. 

She let out a deep sigh of relief and let her Keyblade disappear. Something tugged at her heart, and the scenery around her began to fade. In its place the Realm of Light appeared, little by little. Before she knew it, she was back in the throne room of the Land of Departure, and Sora, Riku, and Aqua were there waiting for her.

“Kairi!” Sora and Riku cried. Sora enveloped her in a warm hug, and Riku put his arms around them both and awkwardly patted their shoulders. She pulled them both closer and hugged them tightly, glad to be back where she belonged. 

“Are you okay?” Sora asked as he leaned back, his brow furrowed.

“We sensed you were up against Xehanort,” Riku said, and his voice was strained as he searched her face.

“I’m fine,” she said softly. “Thanks to everyone’s help, I was able to face him. Well, whatever version of him lurks in my memories.” 

Sora and Riku both relaxed, and she smiled and nodded. “Thank you both, for everything,” she said, and she knew they understood. Understood that she was thanking them not only for today, but for all the times they’d supported her over the years. 

The three of them turned to face Aqua, who was beaming down at them. 

“Kairi,” she said, her lips twitching despite her best attempts to be serious. 

“Yes, Master?”

Kairi fiddled with her necklace as Aqua drug out the tension for as long as possible. 

“You performed admirably,” Aqua said at last, “showing true strength of heart in the light of challenges from your friends as well as an old enemy.” She allowed herself a radiant smile, and Kairi bit her lip as she tried to hold back a smile of her own. “You have shown the Mark of Mastery, and I declare you our newest Keyblade Master.” 

Kairi’s heart swelled. She hardly heard Aqua’s instructions afterwards; Sora and Riku were cheering too loudly, and she was far too excited herself.

“I did it! I really did it!” she cried as she jumped up and down. It was still sinking in, but the happy expressions on her friends’ faces told her this was real. 

“Congratulations, Master Kairi!” Sora crowed, and Riku grinned and ruffled her hair. 

It had been a long time coming, but at last she had joined them as a fellow Keyblade Master. She would work hard to improve peoples’ lives and do everything she could to protect the worlds. It was both her duty and her privilege as a Princess of Heart and a Keyblade Master, and she was determined to make the most of every opportunity.

Whatever the future had in store, she was ready to face it.

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A/N: Once again, thank you to the mods and other participants of the @kairizine​ for making it such a wonderful experience! If you haven’t had a chance to pick up a copy yet, the store will be open again on July 5th! 

Thanks for reading! 

[cloudofash]

The Future of the Destiny Islands Trio - Part 2

Please read Part 1 here.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

Kairi and Riku : Now

So this section will be far shorter than the last one simply because, once again, Kairi and Riku barely interact throughout the entire game so there unfortunately isn’t much to analyze. I won’t go too in-depth into Kairi and Riku’s relationship in past games since I already wrote a detailed analysis of their relationship in my Jealous Riku series, but I’d like to highlight some points for those who are new to my posts. For one, Riku and Kairi’s relationship has had some tension since the very start of the series. A few cutscenes into KH1, Kairi suggested to Sora that she wanted to take the raft, leave the island and abandon Riku because she sensed that he was “changing” (which was most likely his growing darkness). On the other hand, Riku used Kairi as a tool to guilt Sora for running around the worlds with his new companions, Donald and Goofy, whom he felt replaced him. The conclusion of the analysis of how they treat each other is that they are in the middle of a silent tug o’ war with Sora in the middle. Silent because they don’t outright say they’re against each other but their actions reveal the truth. There is a lot of evidence to support this throughout the series into KH3, even symbolic evidence which I’ll get to towards the end. We will focus on KH3 for this theory but I will reference past games to show that their behavior towards each other isn’t new.

So in KH3, the first time we know Riku and Kairi interact is during the paopu fruit scene. We don’t get to see them interact directly, but when Sora asks why Riku is all alone Kairi responds that he said he needed time to himself so the two must have spoken. Kairi then uses this time to offer Sora a paopu fruit, leaving Riku out of the equation. If we are to believe Kairi and Riku are good friends, wouldn’t she have wanted to share a paopu fruit with him too? Contrary to popular belief the paopu fruit isn’t just a romantic symbol. The paopu fruit intertwines destinies which can be completely platonic as proven by the Wayfinder Trio, their wayfinder is based on the paopu fruit. Even if she intended to share the fruit with Sora romantically, she could have waited until Riku was done spending time with himself to invite him over so he could also share a fruit as a friend.

Say what you will but this behavior is only present in the Destiny Islands Trio group. Aqua, Terra and Ventus all have their own Wayfinder and they all laid them together on Eraqus’ grave, no one was left out. The Twilight Town gang all ate popcicles together, not just the Trio but Hayner, Pence and Olette as well. They even included Isa after kicking his ass around. Yet the Destiny Islands Trio finally have their moment to share a paopu fruit together and Riku is excluded? This was clearly intentional, it’s further evidence of the hidden strain between Riku and Kairi. They’re barely speaking to one another. Kairi acts like a complete opportunist and waits until the exact moment Riku is by himself to share a paopu fruit with just Sora, which mirrors how she wanted to take a raft and runaway with just Sora. When Kairi gets slashed into pieces by Xehanort Riku gasps but barely moves, yet he leaps into action when Sora is blown back by Xehanort. How are we honestly supposed to believe these two are even regular friends, let alone good friends? The story does not set these two up as friends in even the slightest way, at most these two are associates because they both hang around Sora.

Even after Sora is sent off to Limbo, there is no evidence that these two are speaking much. When Leon asks Riku how the others are doing, Riku tells him about the Wayfinder Trio, Twilight Town gang and even Mickey, Donald and Goofy and literally stops there. It takes prodding from Aerith for him to even speak on Kairi. 

This isn’t a small, insignificant detail. Riku doesn’t even think to mention Kairi, could you imagine this happening with any of the other trios? Aqua, Terra and Ventus couldn’t shut up about each other, and neither could Axel, Roxas and Xion once they remembered her. How could Riku “forget” to mention Kairi’s progress, a member of his Trio? These two aren’t thinking about each other at all. We saw Kairi exclude Riku from the paopu fruit scene and now Riku doesn’t even bother to mention her unless someone else brings her up. Aerith isn’t even a part of the Trio, nor has she ever met Kairi in person (that we know of) yet she thinks of Kairi before Riku does? Riku’s connection to Kairi, if there is even one at all, is so weak that characters outside of the Trio seem to have a stronger bond with her than he does. In fact, Riku has a stronger moment with Terra than he does with Kairi. Terra acts like a proud big brother to him when he marvels at how much Riku has grown and that he has gained the strength to protect what matters. 

Hell, Riku has a stronger moment with Roxas than he does with Kairi in the entire game - he literally played tag with him and Terra on the beach in the ending cutscene. This comes after he and Roxas beat the crap outta each other in 358/2 Days, and we never really see the two reconcile or apologize but they seem to be okay enough with each other to race and play.

Sorry for the crappy screenshot quality, it was hard to get since they move fast!

These are the kinds of interactions we need to see with Riku and Kairi. It’s not enough to say they’re friends, if they are truly meant to be friends then it’s time to show it. 

Riku vs Kairi: The Symbolism in Their Names

Aside from the growing amount of evidence in the games that there is subtle tension between Riku and Kairi, we can also point to evidence in their names. No, this isn’t a stretch. Nomura is very careful about naming his characters and Nomura himself explained that he named Sora as he did because the sky represents Sora as a character and his personality. He named Riku and Kairi “land” and “sea” to go along with Sora’s naming convention and to represent their relationships with Sora. 

If we look at the KH3 title screen, we see Sora and Kairi eating their separate paopu fruits and walking off….into the sea. Kairi’s name means “sea/ocean”. What happens when you walk further and further into the ocean? You get further away from land. Riku.

The further Sora goes into the sea, the further he is away from land. The more Sora chases Kairi and centers his world around Kairi, the further Riku is from the trio. And we literally see this in the game. Kairi shares paopu fruits with Sora and leaves Riku out, Sora goes off to save Kairi alone and leaves Riku behind. Both of them have alienated Riku in some way. Riku is accepting this, we see him taking a step back and believing in Sora and Kairi’s relationship.

Riku clearly believes Kairi is what’s best for Sora now, but this goes completely against Riku saying “Sora needs me” in DDD. If we go by the original Japanese dialogue,  Riku’s entire journey was finding the strength to protect his “precious person” (the word used in Japanese is “taisetsu” 大切 which can also translate to “someone dear, beloved”. Ring any bells?), not his friends as a whole but a specific person. That person is obviously Sora, Riku’s journey has been centered around saving Sora. Riku is now at a point where he believes Kairi is the one who is better suited for Sora, to protect him and keep him happy, not him. He’s taking this well and not stooping to jealousy like he did in KH1 but this doesn’t mean that Riku is completely happy about being left out. I will go further in depth for the next part where I’ll focus on Sora and Riku’s relationship.

Kairi and Riku : Future

So where does Riku and Kairi’s relationship go from here? It’s honestly hard to say. If Kairi comes out of her sleep and helps Riku look for Sora, then maybe they’ll finally have moments where they talk and behave like friends. This is assuming Riku decides to include her. After you view the Fairy Godmother scene in the LimitCut episode if you go back into Radiant Garden you’ll have a chance to speak with the FF crew. If you speak to Aerith once or twice she will say “Are you going to tell Kairi?” in reference to his dream being a key to finding Sora. This is an interesting piece of dialogue and it begs the question: why would Aerith ask this unless she had doubts that Riku would tell her? Just something to think about.

There are two ways this can go. Either Riku will not tell Kairi about his dreams and go off on his own to save Sora, or he will tell her and the two will go together. In other words we could end up with either a Riku and Kairi game, or a solo Riku game where he goes to save Sora again possibly Dream Drop Distance style. We will have to see. Thank you all for taking the time to read Part 2, Part 3 will be coming soon!

[khstoryanalysis]

Chapter 12: The Importance of Female Characters

NOTE: The following discussions you are about to read are only assumptions and theories. Only take them with a grain of salt for the time being.

A common theme of mythology is that the gods or goddesses choose their families from beyond the mortal realm. The common mythic image of a goddess is a mother and a spouse, which plays the major role in guiding the chosen hero. In the Kingdom Hearts series, the “goddess” is a female friend or at times a mother figure.

Kingdom Hearts is believed to be once on the sky, and how it connects with everyone through the saying “one sky, one destiny”. Since Keyblades are used to find their wielders based on the strength of their hearts, it is believed that the chosen one shall be related to the air or sky. The names of Sora, Roxas, Ventus and Vanitas have such connections. Sora means “sky”, Roxas means “red dawn of day” or “twilight”, Ventus means “wind”, and Vanitas means “vanity” or “void”.

Water or sea is pretty relevant as well in the series. Since oceans and bodies of water represent the power of creation, it is connected to femininity as women have the ability to bear and nurture children. The main female characters Kairi, Namine, Xion and Aqua all have their names related to that. Kairi means “ocean”, Aqua means “water”, Namine means “ocean wave” and Xion means “tide”.

Just like the sky, the ocean also connects all the worlds. In Kingdom Hearts 2, Kairi sends her letter to Sora in a glass bottle by letting it float across the ocean. The bottle ended up in the Realm of Darkness, where Sora and Riku are after their final battle with Xemnas. King Mickey later sends a letter to Sora using the same method as Kairi’s, and the bottle ends up in Destiny Islands where Sora receives it. These prove that the ocean connects the worlds as well.

This makes sense since the sea or ocean (or generally water) reflects the sky, making the sky and the ocean to have similar abilities when it comes to connections. Furthermore, the horizon is where the sky and the sea meet, symbolizing their inseparable connection. Since Kingdom Hearts has the power of creation, it makes sense as to why oceans and bodies of water represent power of creation as they reflect the sky.

Water plays an extremely important role for a long time. It is used as a tool for guidance as it reflects the sun, helping us to pinpoint our whereabouts without having to look directly at the sun. The presence of water indicates that the land is fertile and life can be sustained. Rain is a cycle that requires the sea and the sky. The rain nourishes and cools the land, forming bodies of water like ponds, swamps, lakes and rivers. This means that major female characters in Kingdom Hearts not just guide the chosen heroes, but other heroes as well.

The land or earth serves as dwellings and battlefields of mortals. Riku and Terra, whose names mean “land” and “earth”, are related to that. Axel or Lea may be an addition since he can control fire, which is something that can bring warmth and destruction.

In mythology, islands are typically the dwellings of mortals. On land, humans have been facing the constant battle of light and darkness. Riku, Terra and Axel/Lea all experience this battle as well. Like the chosen heroes, they need guidance as well.

The chosen heroes, Sora Roxas and Ventus all have female characters to guide and motivate them to do good. Ventus has three characters: Ava who invites him to join the Dandelions and makes him a Union Leader; Skuld who is one of his first friends; and Aqua.

Sora has three as well: Kairi who motivates him throughout his journey and is his strongest memory; Namine who guides Sora to defeat the Organization members in Castle Oblivion and teaches Sora how to overcome pain; and Aqua who reminds Sora to save Riku if he falls into the darkness.

Roxas has two characters: Xion who helps him to discover the truth and defects from Organization XIII; and Namine who helps him to know who he really is and guides him back to Sora.

Vanitas is the only one who does not have anyone to guide him properly. This is why he turns evil and is “the fallen hero”. Moreover, the Badlands, the place he lives before the events of Birth by Sleep, represents his lack of proper nurturing, like the barren wasteland.

As for Terra, Riku and Axel or Lea, they are also guided by the female characters. Riku has three: Kairi; Namine who helps him to control the darkness; and Xion who telepathically tells Riku to stop Roxas from reaching Xemnas. On the other hand, Terra has two characters: Aqua; and Namine who helps him to reach out to Aqua in the Realm of Darkness. Axel has two characters: Xion who nurtures his heart through friendship and Namine who moves his heart. Now as Lea, he is helped by Kairi to remember about Xion.

In many mythological stories, female principle teachings are being mentioned to allow the story narratives to move on. These principle teachings are applied in the Kingdom Hearts series as well. The female principle teachings are unconditional love, boundless compassion, willingness to fight for others who cannot fight for themselves, and the ability to differentiate right from wrong. The main female characters Kairi, Namine, Xion and Aqua all have demonstrated these principle teachings. They are the driving force of the heroes. They motivate them to do good and they act like mirrors to reflect on their actions and decisions. That is why they are important.

[true-intha-blu]

A Fragment of a Fragment; a Vanitas and Sora fanfic. Chapter 1

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17863292/chapters/42154907 ello Readers: I am True-InTha-Blue For those who know me, Why am I not updating FOSTA: Unova? (From Fanfiction) I am still struggling to write for it and I while I wish to go back to it, I am not going to push myself.

So... My other favorite series that I really really have always wanted to write for, is Kingdom Hearts. So after the release of KH3 and playing (and completing) the game, I thought it would be the perfect time to finally start this series. I have had a lot of KH ideas in the past. But I think this is a plot sorely needed in the fanfiction premise.

I've seen a few of these but never really felt natural. This is NOT a Sora OP fic. I want to present new challenges and more emotional turmoil. I still want to keep the charm of KH and hope I can do as service.

Vanitas is a fascinating character. Very unlike other villains in his backstory and motivations. The very nature of him leaves many 'What ifs?' and I like that potential.

I also really like Sora. And Kairi And I want to expand on that. And I desire to make the adventures in the various of Disney worlds, more expansive and more.. actual worlds.

So I hope you enjoy this

This will contain spoilers for Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, and we'll work our way up. Disclaimer: Square Enix Characters belong to Square Enix. And Disney Characters belong to Disney. Nothing belongs to me.

x

A Fragment of a Fragment Chapter 1

x

He was a fading existence.

A fragment of a fragment does not really exist, does it?

After everything. All that pain, suffering... Isolation... Rejection... Sadness.

All for nothing.

A half-complete existence that even the original didn't want. An incomplete heart.

An unaccomplished life.

What a joke.

All his hopes, dreams (if he even had those) and purpose, poured into that X-blade... and even that... didn't want him. It failed.

Looks like he was a puppet after all The old man... Said he could finally become whole by forming it... by fusing with his half. But that didn't work.

He couldn't get his Light... no matter how hard he tried.

He was played. Played to the whims of the old fool.

He was the fool.

Who would want him anyway?

A dark existence who can produce no light of his own.

He was fading...

...

Why?

Why could he not be accepted? Why could he not find his Light?

Why could he not have a whole Heart?

He hoped... that She would make sure the old fool failed.

After all...

He thought to become one with her first...

He if did... things... would... have... been...

...

X

So long.

What was time?

What was what?

These thoughts were not... there...

What was thinking?

Broken...

Fragment...

Damaged...

Pain... and sadness were familiar.

"Oh! You're here too?"

Here? Where?

...

Who?

"You're smaller than the other one? Do... Do you need healing too?"

Healing?...

"...l-light... I just... want... a heart."

A heart of darkness doesn't really make an actual heart.

"You... don't have a heart? Why?"

"B..b-bro-...ken..."

Why was this... talking to him?

No... one... wanted... "You sound even sadder than him... Maybe... I can help you too!" This person sounded so hopeful. So pure.

Maybe he would laugh at it... if he remembered how to laugh.

"H-help...?"

"Yeah! Maybe I can help you find your heart! You can stay here until we do."

"..."

What was this?

This feeling? He was so tired.

So tired of being in pain. So tired of being sad. So tired of being alone.

"...Okay."

For the first time in his existence... Vanitas felt warmth.

x

Warm.

So warm.

Not burning or scorching or pain.

Just warmth.

It was so nice.

This was light.

So much light.

The sound of waves gently greeted his ears. The smell of salt and flora lulled his eyes to open.

The sky was so bright.

The Sun's rays reached to every corner.

He felt his limbs...

Limbs?

He had a form.

He got up, looked at him. Skin covered with a black and red organic material, a second skin almost. He felt metal around his jaw and something over his face but he could see clearly.

Who was he?

The figure got up. Wondering where he was. Everything felt so good here. The air was nice and clean, the sound of waves was calming, soothing.

'I feel like I never had this before.'

The figure looked around, curious. A large sea spread before him with crystal blue waves and an equally expansive sky.

Sand was around his boots, nearly pale white. The wind rustled the bright green trees both palm and bushy. The land was shaped by haphazard wood structures and huts. Ladders were sporadically spread to reach higher platforms. A pool and waterfall sprang forth from the walls. It was quaint, it was peaceful, it was soothing. And the figure knew he had never felt anything like it.

He slowly wandered around, taking his time. He was the one solely there... but it always felt like someone was next to him... welcoming. Inviting him to partake. The slow trail he made for his body felt like things were a dream, light as air, each breath taken with a refreshing briskness that eased his body. Even when he wandered into a shaded path, the coolness even more so felt safe and quiet. His body seemed to become more alive in this shade. A relaxation in his veins.

Then he noticed a small cave covered in moss. It was very dark... but he felt intrigued by it. He crawled in, the spindly path directed by the smooth rocky walls Yet even in this dark corridor with narrow paths and deep somber winds, did a faint light illuminate things clearly.

Almost a blue mist drifted low to the ground. Further in the figure walked, his curiosity growing. Until he walked into a large area with a single ray of light piercing through an opening from the ceiling rocks. The walls were sparsely decorated with nonsensical drawings that were undefined.

Most importantly, there was an opening, like an open doorway.

One into an abyss of darkness.

The figure felt no fear at this darkness.

After all he...

He...

...

'What?... I what... What is I?" Memories were unavailable, everything felt... blank... Except... Except.

Pain and Sadness.

He knew, that he had felt those before... that they were a part of him. So deeply intertwined into the makeup of his being. But why?

That, the figure did not know.

But, what he did know, besides the pain and sadness, was that wherever he was, kept them at bay.

On the other hand... he wanted to figure out what this place was exactly... And who he was.

Frustration... Another familiar emotion.

Without hesitation, he walked into the void.

And stepped into a realm with pillars of glass and the abyss filled with mist and fog, drifting between white and black and grey.

Bright blue stained glass with a rim of black crowns, the center held images of a raft, tribal mask, fishing spears, wrenches, mushrooms, a mobile with fish, stars and moon and in the center of this large platform, was a star-shaped fruit. Around was a scene depicting a familiar beach.

Simple desires. Simple treasure. All so pure in a young heart.

Yet the figure did not know of this.

However, the platform... rang a bell in his head.

He had been to a place like this before... More complicated. More broken.

Why?

The frustration was growing and the dreaming haze of his mind was fading. If went further, if he went deeper... he would know.

He paused.

'Do... Do I want to know?'

A foreboding feeling was beginning to weld up and the warmth of the beach was already sorely missed. For he knew it was not really his to have. His feet moved forward into a path that appeared in the fog, each a square of glass and color. Every step was a small chime and dulled in the abyss. Further and further he passed mirrors of scenes and moving images, surrounded by chains. Most blurred but each emitted light and that familiar warmth glowed whenever he passed them.

However, that frustration and want to know kept the figure from peering into them.

He trudged further, a platform depicting different tropical scenes, each with that stained glass motifs.

Until finally, finally further down where light dimmed, and the fog was thick, did the Figure felt drawn to a shining light in the center. A light that felt different.

And upon reaching it, did it take shape...

Of him. Ventus

And the first thing the figure felt. For sure, for real, and focused his mind:

Was Hatred.

"You." The figure spat at the sight of the peaceful sleeping form of his light half.

The memories were rushing back, all that pain and anger and sadness rushed in over and over and over.

The darkness that was himself. The half-existence. The unwanted fragment.

Empty creature of Ventus Riven...

Vanitas.

It all came rushing back. The fight with the X-Blade. Him... struggling to maintain his existence and Ventus just shattered both their hearts along with the blade.

Rejected!

Like everything else!

His so-called 'life'! The endless cycle of pain that everyone including himself inflicted upon him! The blasted Keyblade War. The Old Fool's plans. Those idiots!

Kingdom Hearts

Vanitas' helmet faded away revealing the hostile yellow eyes and black hair.

"Y-You! YOU!" His rage was so unfathomable that he could hardly speak. Instead, he slashed out his hand expecting Void Gear to appear.

It didn't.

"Huh?" Caught off guard, he stared at the empty hand. He tried again, and again... He could feel the connection to his keyblade... but it wasn't... coming...

He tried getting a blast of fire to throw into his idiot half's face.

Nothing came.

"C'MON!" The dark half snarled frustrated that he had access to nothing to inflict a fraction of the pain he himself suffered upon Ventus.

Too fed up, he rushed at the boy only to find his hands blocked by something very solid and very visible. Briefly, it illuminated as a sphere around Ventus, completely protecting the Wayward Wind wielder.

But still, Vanitas kept banging his fist against it. Over and over and over again.

And again.

And again.

Who knows how long he had been doing this? He kept at it until his fists throbbed in pain, and yet still he weakly beat against the wall while sliding towards his knees. His grunts of frustration and rage turning into small whimpers of tears and desperation.

"WHY?!" Vanitas finally cried out. The first time, he cried out, all his bravado finally gone. There was no one else here... So why hide it?

"WHY CAN'T YOU ACCEPT ME?!" He glared angrily through the tears at the peaceful face of the light half. "NOT EVEN WHEN I WAS A PART OF YOU FROM THE BEGINNING-! DID YOU EVER WANT ME!"

The truth, the full truth, and his feelings came bursting out after so many years of keeping them as controlled as possible. Only the Unversed being the only sign of his true emotions.

"I just wanted to be whole! I JUST WANTED TO HAVE SOMETHING!" He heaved, unused to feeling so desperate, so bare. It felt like the first time the Unversed showed up... when he discovered the full misery of his existence. "You have no idea what it was like! YOU FORGOT! FORGOT ABOUT ALL THAT PAIN! I remember! I remember! All your sadness! All your agony! EVERYTHING YOU DISLIKED! I GOT IT!... Everything."

From even beyond Master Xehanort...That horror of watching everything fade. The prior 'teachings' of the old fool inflicted upon Ventus, Vanitas remembered and felt it all and more.

All bad things Ventus felt in his new life, Vanitas felt it... and had nothing to counter it.

"I just wanted Light... I just wanted to know..." He felt his chest, unsure if there was actually a heart there or not... maybe just a void. "Even just being a small thing of darkness... in your heart... I was happy... I could still at least be near light..." he snarled again. "But no... I couldn't even have that... I didn't want to be created! I DON'T WANT TO LIVE!"

His head fell on the wall with a loud 'thunk', his eyes blurry from all those chaotic emotions he hated so much about himself.

"The X-blade... was my only hope... There was no way... No other way." His words died out, nothing greeted him in this place. Especially, not Ventus.

"I hate you," Vanitas said quietly. "So much... You had... everything. You were happy. You were joyful... You had a life...You were able to forget. I had none of that." The old fool made sure of it. "You're an idiot. A dumb willing pawn of others!" Vanitas was unsure if he was addressing Ventus... or himself. "And yet... Here you are... sleeping peacefully like you always do! While I am still alone! Alone with... nothing!"

Nothing... His own name reflected that.

He had nothing. He gained nothing. He was nothing.

"Why...?" At this point, Vanitas didn't even know what he was asking. "Why am I still here?..." He glared once again at the sleeping teenager. Like it was his fault. "Why are we both still here? You shattered our hearts!" No response.

Sighing he slowly got up. Somehow. Knowing he didn't have an actual body, his formed felt so weary. So tired. He stared at Ventus for a long time.

And nothing changed.

"Somehow... you and I both exist... bet you didn't see that coming..." Vanitas muttered darkly. The platform of glass they were on was nearly blank, only the faintest of colors and outlines could possibly be detected and even then there was no discernible shape. The pillar itself seemed faded in comparison to the previous ones.

"Once again you're the lucky one. Sleeping... like you always seem to. I couldn't even close my eyes most days... I am awake..."

Why was he the one awake? Why couldn't he finally dream? What was it like?

He looked around, seeing the illuminant stained glass of other platforms far away and higher above in the fog, shining dimly.

Vanitas needed to know. "You shattered us... and... I was desperate to keep it together..." Vanitas remembered his pathetic flailing towards the X-blade. His last hope. "I faded... and then..." He couldn't remember, except- "-I was warm. I woke up on that beach."

Was that... Light? This feeling, this aching longing. It wasn't his... but it felt so nice to just... be in it.

Once again he wondered why Ventus or anyone else would not give it to him.

But that begs the question, what is this place?

"A heart." Vanitas suddenly muttered as the words came to him. Like old memories suddenly rising from depths though they were never apart of him in the first place. "A young boy's heart... HIs name is Sora."

So some random little kid was the one who finally gave him a taste of light? Vanitas laughed. Bitterly until he nearly became shaking shudders. "Well! Isn't that just great?! After all of that! Finally!" His words echoed emptily. "A young dumb kid who not only accept you, a stranger... but me. ME! A being of pure darkness! What kind of idiot would-" He stopped abruptly, realizing that he could only exist because of this idiot kid.

A cry of rage erupted from Vanitas. "I DON'T WANT TO EXIST!" He looked around for something to destroy, for anything! To lash out! He was so used to it with the unversed spawning from his emotions that-

...

There was no Unversed.

No matter how much he felt, the torrent of emotions he just felt from rage, sadness, grief, hate, and envy, there came none.

None.

None of those painful reminders that he was a half-baked creation.

No Keyblade No Magic No Unversed

...

He was... powerless. He was... an ordinary... thing.

Vanitas became quiet.

Still.

Why?

Why him? Why Ventus?

Why this boy?

What made them so special?

He was so tired.

"I just... I just..want..."

He didn't know what he wanted anymore.

Everything that made him... HIM, Vanitas, was gone.

That, or nothing to accept him.

No one wanted him.

...

Yet here he was.

Awake, and alone in some idiot boy's heart.

It was probably a fluke.

Probably Ventus' fault.

Once again yellow eyes glared at the peaceful resting face.

Vanitas had no direction. No obstruction. No enemy (at least any he could actually touch). No mission.

No one.

Not even the Unversed.

And yet...

And yet, even in the depths of this heart... he didn't feel alone.

Why?

AND WHY WOULDN'T HE STOP ASKING WHY?

"Snap out of it Vanitas! You're trapped here! LIKE SOME RAT!" The figure snarled, his hands clenching empty air. He wanted to crush something... Or at least have the keyblade in his hand! SOMETHING!

...

He wasn't used to feeling so weak.

He had to be strong. He always had to be strong. Vanitas couldn't afford to be weak. Being defenseless.

That meant... that meant...

His... Memories... were not all together.

There were gaps... A lot of gaps. Specifics eluded him. He remembered... His... Hate. He remembered the hate.

Contempt for the vessel who walked blindly into darkness. Envy and Disdain at his lighter half... his... WEAKER half. And absolute loathing for that Old Goat.

The man who created him.

He remembered that. No names or faces to apply to anyone other than Ventus. But the dark half knew what was done to him by others! All the suffering, all the misery.

Vanitas wanted... he wanted...

He couldn't think properly.

The fact he still existed. Maybe not a physical body but his... fragment of a fragment self... was still here.

Who was this boy?

That question was most prominent. Against his nature, Vanitas forced himself to relax. He couldn't afford to be rash. Never! Not like Ventus... and the others... Who were the others? 'Idiots!' Came his first thought about them.

He had the advantage of keeping his cool. That meant... less unversed. It meant, he still had things underneath his control... meant that old goat...

His mind went blank again. All he knew was that his memories were painful. Nothing pleasant about them... Nothing pleasant about him.

Back on topic.

He was in a heart. Of a young boy, who could... find the shattered hearts of himself and Ventus.

He cast one last glare at the lighter half. "Go ahead! Sleep while you can. I'll figure out a way to get you yet!" With that last threat, he turned back the way he came, in the crumbling paths that lead up to what could only be the foremost levels of the heart.

The dark half passed through the mirrors and chains, this time peering into one. It was a man giving the perspective of the mirror. Small hands from the mirror's perspective reached out to grasp the present. Voices could be heard.

"Here you go, son! Happy Birthday!"

"My own wooden sword? Thanks, dad!"

Vanitas averted his eyes. That empty feeling growing larger.

Typical. Trapped in a little boys heart filled to the brim with that childlike innocence and light.

Only the barest of tiniest of edges of darkness existed in here. Probably like Ventus. Dumb and naive.

Weak.

So why did his feet take him back to the area full to the brim of this light?

Why was he so desperate any slight sliver? Even if it wasn't his?

He reached that strange doorway that led into the misty cave. Past the scribbles and back through the tunnel and past the moss where he found himself in this little seaside beach. A place... so surreal to him. In truth the essence of this boy's heart.

Now it was too bright.

But still so good.

All the bad stuff, the hate and sadness, and grief, slowly dimmed. Still there, still very much a part of him. Yet no longer as hurtful.

Vanitas spotted a shack not too far away from him and decided he would go there. He always worked best hidden.

Although it was dark inside, perfect for someone like him, Vanitas didn't realize he left the door slightly cracked, so that a single ray graced the shade. Finally, he slid down the wall, feeling exhausted from earlier and frustrated at the lack of what he could do.

Sleep beckoned him. And this time...

This time he was not afraid to close his eyes.

End of Chapter 1

x

Enjoy.

[dearlybelovedhearts]

When A Hero Falls Silent

Kairi’s safe... But why do I feel so floaty again? 

Bright blue eyes snap open, only to face the bright blue skies of the Final World. Past the point of death again. So why was he still here? Kairi and Riku must have been holding onto him still. 

He holds a hand up above his face. He’s still here. Not entirely shattered like before. Perhaps he an still get home- He flinches, all the memories flooding back in a nasty sharp wave against his chest, his throat tightens as if he’s being strangled. 

He inhales sharply, sitting bolt upright as he grips his head. He’s safe... He’s okay. He’s... 

He’s dead again though. 

          Again.                   All the pain and punishment was for what? 

At least it’s peaceful. No more overwhelming anger or pain. It’s almost soothing. But it doesn’t help the hammering in his chest or the tightness in his throat. He lets his hand drop into his lap, scanning the horizon. 

All around his spans the bright expanse of mirrored water where the sky and land blend seamlessly. He can see stars, peoples souls, barely here but glittering faintly scattered across the mirrored sea. No Chirithy this time. No fragments of himself. He’s alone for now. 

He finds himself curling in on himself, burying his face in his arms as he cries. The feeling of being forcefully made to let the darkness take you, to have his light stolen, for Kairi to be stolen from him again. He remembers glimmers of a time that he’s not entirely sure is real, Riku throwing himself in to save him, Donald sacrificng himself to take on Xehanort, Lea and Ven cut down like animals only for them all to be swallowed by darkness. Years and years he’d been fighting and for what? To die? To hurt all those people he had unknowingly dragged into it? 

For years he’d been told he was nothing without his friends. He was the second choice, the back up. Without his friends he was nothing. 

          Your heart is a prison.                   There’s no saving you...

Maybe it’s better he doesn’t go ho- 

“Oh! Hello! Why are you crying?” 

The voice makes him jump and flinch away. He looks up, to find a Chirithy stood in front of him. This one seems different though, more worn then the other one he’d seen. A little dirty, a little patch worked but well loved. The purse is on a longer more tarnished chain, the purse at its hip like a little bag. He tries to open his mouth but the feeling of guilt wraps its hands around his throat and mouth and smothers anything that may escape. Instead he looks away, down at his lap and shakes his head. 

“Oh, are you mute too? Can you sign instead?” 

Mute too? Sign? He finds himself looking up curiously but shakes his head. He can’t sign. 

“Oh. Hm... Wait! I have an idea!” The Chirithy rummages in its little purse for a moment. After a moment it pulls out a chalk board and stick of blue chalk, bouncing over to pass it him. “Here! Write it instead!” 

Taking the board and chalk he writes in scruffy hand writing, holding it up for the plush. 

‘I’m Sora. My words seem to be stuck. I’m sorry.’  

The cats eyes squint as if smiling. “It’s okay Sora! I’m Chirithy! Although my owner calls me ‘Cat’. It’s easier for her to sign. Oh! Wait! I might be able to get her here if she’s asleep! Hold on!”  

In a blink, Cat is gone. Right.. the other Chirithy said that he sometimes ended up here when he slept. Although he could never remember it. He scrubs the board off with his hand, doodling a little star in the bottom corner while he waits. 

After around 5 minutes there’s a soft squeak and he looks up to find a woman with long dark hair and a white and blue robe in front of him. She smiles, and gives a little wave. Cat pokes its head out from behind her leg. “Tada! Sora! Meet Silio! Maybe she can teach you a little sign?” 

Silio gives a muted laugh, soft lander eyes crinkling at the corners before sitting down in front of Sora with a little thud. Pulling her own chalk board out she writes in neat handwriting. 

        ‘Hello Sora. I’ve heard a lot about you. You’re a hero. You saved us. Maybe I can help you now?’ 

He looks away, fingers gripping the slate tightly. Why did it feel like he only seemed to get those he loved hurt though? Slowly he writes in a shaky hand; 

‘I’m not a hero. I only get everyone hurt.’ 

Silio huffs softly, tapping her board to get his attention after a moment. He looks up and in not as neat handwriting is scribbled; 

      ‘Your friends knew the dangers. That’s why we have friends, so we don’t carry the weight alone. Let me help you.’ 

‘S o r a’ 

Silio claps and grins broadly at him, nodding encouragingly. 

‘Thank you Silio.’

 It’d been what seemed like hours or days, time having little meaning here. Silio teaching him bit by bit, sign by sign how to talk without talking. Every time he’d tried to force himself to say something, the feeling of guilt had smothered him, closing him off again. So instead of fighting it, he’d let Silio teach him.

‘I think I should go home now.’ 

      ‘I think so too. I will come and find you when we both wake up, Sora.’ 

He stands, helping Silio to her feet. She’s even smaller then him he realises. Smiling brightly, she straightens his clothes and a tight squeeze of his hand before waving.

      ‘See you later, Sora.’ 

He exhales, summoning his keyblade to open the door home before waving at her and stepping through. 

‘Bye Silio’

[tester10001000]

How KH3 could have gone and still been Nomura’s:

I’ve never posted on tumblr before, might never again, but I needed to get this out; for the sake of the catharsis I didn’t receive after 16 years with the end of KH3. The game itself was fine, in fact, I’d even rate it as a ‘great’ up until the Keyblade Graveyard. That’s when things go off the rails. So let’s rethink KH3, keeping all of Nomura’s plot points and intentions, but communicating them in a way that feels, I hope, much more rightful. I hope you enjoy this! First, the good and mostly-good. -Keep Gameplay as is—very nice. Very satisfying. Keep nice world set-up and secrets. Maybe ratchet up difficulty. Make a Coliseum in Zeus’ court to round off the whole thing as a triad. Have Yoko Shimomura write the soundtrack for real life, plz. Keep the lovely humor. Keep Sora’s excellent arc. Keep most worlds as-is: I was pleasantly surprised by how relevant and well-done most of the world’s plots were. -Cut back on the ridiculous amount of minigames that like 5% of people will be invested in and use those resources to make other improvements (like these?).-Rewrite Arendelle and Corona (and maybe Pirates?) to be unique stories–or, at least, only loosely based on the movies, while actually including important plot points. Have Pixar do it, because they kicked butt with their worlds. Include more Disney-bosses and either get rid of 100-Hundred Acre Wood, or do something more with it. -Don’t give Larxene and Marluxia magic cutscene powers like sleep and time-stopping they won’t use elsewhere. Don’t let the others, like Ansem SoD in TT or Luxord in Caribean, became decayed and cheesy versions of their prior threat. Get rid of, or explain better, why there are six new Princesses+Kairi. Explain “the Power of Waking” just a bit better. -Give us scenes between every world with more meaningful stuff re:Kairi and Riku. We haven’t really known them in awhile, so we need to be reacquainted. Have Riku actually do stuff—rather than constantly fail until Sora literally falls from the sky—like, expand on Repliku return? Or involve him in the Maleficent angle, because of his obvious and interesting connection? Maybe follow her around out of suspicion, making the Maleficent stuff feel less-tacked-on?   -Have Kairi do more stuff, with more scenes expanding on her (like that lovely scene where she talks about Namine!), rather than just how Axel sees her as Xion (but still keep that, too—hence, more scenes!) -Insert a mid-climax between Corona and Monstropolis, with a return to Radiant Garden. Seriously needed to unbloat the climax and evenly redistribute the story. You could do some of this: 1. Meet the FF peeps and conclude their plot with RG’s redemption (How cool would be to hear Leon finally say “you can call me Squall”?); see how everyone is doing and how they interact with the people like Ienzo and the apprentices who caused RG to fall. We could setup the replica/sea-salt trio better here (Roxas body/who and how Xion/further Axel redemption), even though it’s probably the best thread currently, behind SDG. The FF folks were foundational to the start, they should at least be acknowledged in the end. 2. Give. Us. Sephiroth version 3.0. and resolution to that thread. 3. Have some seriously needed interaction among the Destiny Trio—(A) as individuals (sorely needed for Riku and Kairi–have her interact with her forgotten home!), (B) as a united friendship (Kairi/Riku, plz!) and © to set up the SoKai stuff better. Like, for real, we need to be able to take selfies with them—seriously, how could we have the phone and NEVER have a change to selfie with our OG friends?!) 4. Save Aqua here (don’t make her passively suck suddenly with OOC decisions) and then Ven; cement their return and relationships to everyone else (so as to stop rushing the finale and let their moment have its own power—just say they need to “rest” till the climax). 5. Tell wtf happens with Demyx. Set up Vexen/Ansem stuff better. Nomura, you could even tease Subject X girl more. C’mon. Have a tease-fight with the Org, rather than saving it all for the end.

6. It would probably be too much to ask to have Kairi and/or Riku accompany Sora the rest of the way, though it would be dearly needed. So have them do something interesting and important with their time post-RG. Make RG/HB the hub world, returning to it for various stuff. Play up Repliku, Namine, and Roxas/Xion in their hearts so we feel more invested in their persons and, thus, more catharsis when they are retrieved. -Expand on the lovely “calm before the storm” moments for our heroes—especially the Destiny Trio. Have the paopu moment, but don’t rush it so much. Have Riku, Sora, and Kairi doing something together. Have Axel engaging with someone about Xion/Roxas—along with the good Isa stuff. Show us what Mickey, Donald, and Goofy are doing -together-. -At Keyblade Graveyard opening, don’t make everyone suddenly suck. Why is Aqua not reacting -at all- to Terranort killing Ventus? What was the point of Kairi’s “infinite time training” if she just stands there so Sora can, also, not draw his Keyblade? Why are Riku and Mickey just twiddling their thumbs? Have everyone be badass, but still get beaten—then do all the interesting Final World stuff, with Riku’s words keeping Sora encouraged in death while SHOWING Kairi, as a PoH, still in the Realm of Light, somewhere in the tornado, ACTIVELY WORKING to keep Sora’s hanging on in the FW, rather than including her passively after. Or show her doing something beforehand. Just show some damn agency and the profound bonds of the Destiny Trio.

-Make the Namine scene here mandatory—I can’t fathom why they’d let that crucial plot point pass as optional.

-Keep sick final-boss rush, but don’t make everyone take a heel-turn redemption (and give us some team-up limits with everyone! Riku/Sora limit! Sora/Kairi limit! Sora/Roxas limit! SoRiKai Limit!). Marluxia and Xemnas needed to be more ambiguous in death. Luxord, Larxene, Xion, Vanitas, YX, Terranort, Xigbar, and Repliku were all great—even perfect. Saix needed to prove himself more, and there’s NO WAY Ansem SoD can suddenly be sympathetic like that. Slow it down. -Give the Xion-return moment to Kairi—not Sora. It’s perfect for her; she’d remember her because she is made of her. Gives Kairi agency and unique engagement for the both of them. Keep giving other characters agency in these moments other than Sora—let Aqua and Ven play centerstage in returning Terra, rather than Sora’s magic. Don’t make Sora the savior of every story—it feels cheap and demeans the character journeys we’ve been invested in for so long when they don’t play an active and significant role in their resolution. -Don’t have Kairi just be kidnapped again after 30-seconds of scripted fighting, after promising to -finally- invest in her immensely untapped potential. Have Saix (+Xemnas?) versus Sora, Xion, Roxas, Kairi, and Axel (also, explain how Axel got his keyblade -back-). Axel, even though he couldn’t face Xemnas, still has -powerful- character moments—at least give Kairi the same respect. Make that the last scripted battle, so that Kairi accompanies Sora to meet Mickey and Riku. -Either have Kairi use her infinite-training to join the fight with Xemnas, Ansem, and YX (to resonate that the whole Destiny Trio is together at the end, evolved, but together) or have her doing something else important (maybe with, I dunno, PoH POWERS?!). Have her ACTIVELY sacrifice herself for Sora, mirroring what he did for her in KH1, rather than MX passively killing her for no good goddamn reason while snarking at the camera that Kairi exists literally only for Sora’s motivation—even though Sora was already charging MX. Also show Riku have some damn emotion about his other best-friend. Sorry, I’m reaallly salty here. -Don’t have MX give up so easily, and get his motivation to work better with what came before in all these years. Don’t swap it out to something else in literally the last 30 minutes of the game. Don’t let the story treat flippantly him being the cause of everyone’s pain and suffering , as he is given a divine “thumbs-up” by turning into a kid with his best bud, giggling, and floating away into the light of Kingdom Hearts. What was that? Xehanort deserves better than that. Have him struggle to the end, and have our heroes really counter him—thematically, emotionally, and physically. Have Eraqus usher him away—stubborn to the end. If you want to redeem him, Nomura, you gotta be setting that stuff up WAAAAAY earlier. -Have anyone, anyone, other than Sora also care that Kairi is now missing. Have Riku and Sora go together to find her—because, you know, they’re BFFs and have the power to. Preferably explain and make it playable how they do that. Then have the lovely ending with Namine returning and with everyone together (except redeem Isa better). Keep everyone’s great new clothes, and have the whole party on the beach—end happily, with everyone (seemingly) together again in satisfied bliss. Wrap up the saga on a cathartic high note, for goodness’ sake. Then, and only then, Nomura gets to keep his ending—but in its proper place, separate in our minds from the ending-ending, in which we can feel full satisfaction for 16 years of investment. -In the Epilogue, before going to the Foretellers, show Sora, Kairi, and Riku leaving the Island. Riku and Kairi are on ahead, everything seems happy and complete (joking about Sora finally getting his mom’s dinner, eh?), when suddenly Sora hears the echo of YX telling him that “there’s a cost for it all” and that “it’s too late for him��—suddenly, Sora fades away. Show Riku/Kairi reactions -together-. Fade his fading into the dust of the Keyblade Graveyard. Do all the Epilogue. Do the Secret Ending. Everything on whatever track Nomura wants—but for us, the audience, all of us, we FINALLY GET SOLID, CATHARTIC CLOSURE FOR EVERYONE IN THIS SAGA AFTER 16 YEARS—WITHOUT IT ALL BEING TEASER BAIT FOR SOME UNION CROSS/TWEWY CROSSOVER COMBINED WITH NOMURA’s OBSESSIVE BITTERNESS OVER FFv13! Sorry, also salty about that. -Secret Ending is Riku AND Kairi going together to find Sora in Shibuya. Boom. -Also, for all our sakes, get rid of the concept of worldlines and minimize the time travel here, plz. That’s the quickest way to undermine the stakes of your story. Tl;dr: Give us more of the characters and their agency, don’t have them act OOC for bad plotting, give us a mid-climax to slow down the rushed 3-hour ending, let us appreciate what’s happening with more characterization, explain some things better, don’t fridge Kairi (and everyone other than Sora, really), give us a real, cathartic ending for 16 years of investment—then tease us in the epilogue/secret. Thoughts? Too much to ask? Too little? I tried only to make only minimal changes to Nomura’s vision, adjusted to some universally shared criticisms among fans. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this and what you liked/didn’t like! If you liked this at all, I’ve been writing Kingdom Hearts at Fanfiction under the name “Marsuvees” (with hopefully increasing quality) for over ten years. I love this series deeply, and hope Nomura can get it back on track next time. He really needs to get other people involved in writing and plotting.

[psychopomp-namine]

thinking again about sora and kairi mirroring each other (see my previous posts and tags 1, 2)

currently thinking about it in the context of their "others" though. initially I was thinking about how the wayfinder trio did a bait-switch where you think ventus is the sora (because he's part of the heart hotel, and he looks like roxas who is a sora, and his name literally means wind) and aqua is the kairi (she says the same line kairi does when waking sora/ventus up, her name means "water" while kairi means "sea," and she's the "girl" — gender neutral — of the trio). but in actuality ventus is the kairi parallel and aqua is the sora parallel.

this happens a lot too with the others. namine is kairi + sora (+ ven, who is essentially also a bait-and-switch sora and kairi). xion is sora + kairi. ventus is a sora-but-actually-kairi parallel. aqua is the kairi-but-actually-sora parallel.

they have the same battle stance and animation in remind. the final world is literally the sea-floor mirroring the sky until it's just one huge world of clouds. even the paopu exchange is them mirroring each other's pose. like, I really do wonder if this meshing together is deliberate, you know? I think often we see their relationship as "sora coming home to kairi" with kairi being the lighthouse or the guiding light, which isn't incorrect per se, but I just want to explore an extra layer to it I suppose, by looking at the one parallel where they both differ and become foils of one another: the year-long sleep.

kairi slept for a year and woke up having already confronted the memories she had to sift through, accepting the reality that the present truly is different now from the past and she can't just change things back to how they were before. they can't undo sora's death; they'll find him and bring him back to the present. as much as I hate that she's still in her training arc, at least she gets to choose who trains her and which direction she'll be taking (aqua makes sense imo, and maybe kairi and ventus and lea would be then ones bringing the mobile games lore to the present)

which is the opposite of sora's arc in com. sora slept for a year and woke up "unchanged" without really confronting any of the memories that he had to sift through, with all his ideas about his friendships and trauma going pretty much unchallenged

I'm also thinking of that jp translation of the tunnel scene which has sora remarking that kairi is (herself) strong, as opposed to the en localization of him saying he's strong when he's with her. a subtle difference. it's a shift from kh1 sora asking kairi to stay so she'd be safe and kind of implying that she'd be in the way

idk, I think there's something to be said about sora and kairi mirroring each other for most of the series and kh3/remind being their physical divergence point (with sora literally going to kingdom hearts purgatory) and melmem being their metaphorical divergence point (with the difference in the way they confront their year long sleep).

now they both have to figure out who they are outside of the pair they make (or trio they make, with riku). they're peter pan and wendy when wendy still wanted to stay as a child, but it begs the question: who's the wendy in this situation who wants to "grow up" between them? I used to think it's sora (since he's the one who goes on adventures while kairi stays in destiny islands) but after watching the melmem cutscene and thinking about how sora has shown over and over that he can't process his hurts/trauma... maybe it's the other way around this time. kairi is, in her own way, moving forward (although I wish nomura wrote it better but this is what I believe her character arc is going) while sora is just constantly repressing his own shit, preventing himself from growing. hence why he never learns the lessons data sora did, he keeps resetting to level 1, his anti/rage form just goes unacknowledged, he breaks down in the keyblade graveyard, etc. and now he's truly alone in quadratum. he's never been alone since he was four years old.

in any case, kairi and sora mirror(ed) each other and I'd like to see them develop more as characters when they're apart. kairi making new friends and learning to lead like a princess of heart maybe? just exercising a lot agency, it's all I ask. meanwhile sora learns to heal and believe in his own strength (e.g. learning the second part of ventus's line: "my friends are my powers and I am theirs"). and I think their separation might be necessary for both of them to move forward and "grow up"

kh being about the growing pains of three best friends who drift apart, and they have to intentionally try to keep that friendship together even if it means that friendship isn't going the be the same as it was before. perhaps keeping that friendship together requires accepting that it has changed and it will continue to change. in fact, it must change, eventually