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oveliagirlhaditright · 2 years ago

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I Don’t Think Life is Quite That Simple

Summary: While Kairi waits for Sora and Riku a third time, she finds herself thinking that some things don't change at all… but some definitely do. Kairi-centric. Introspective. Kairi character development. SoKai. Riku and Kairi friendship. Post-Melody of Memory. Canon compliant.

I Don’t Think Life is Quite That Simple

In a lot of ways, Kairi found that waiting for Sora—even after he’d faded away—was similar to when she’d had had to hope for his returns before.

For instance, three times now had Kairi found herself standing on some sort of balcony—she was the Juliet in this tale for sure, it would seem.

The first time had been in the Organization's lair of Castle That Never Was, after they'd kidnapped her, and she'd looked down and seen Sora for the first time in a year.

Then during Sora and Riku's Mark of Mastery, when she'd gone over to Riku's parents to give them some moral support by telling them of all of Riku’s triumphs that she knew about (for even though Sora and Riku's parents understood the choices their boys had made, they'd still missed them something fierce after they’d gone to try and save those connected to them), she’d for just a moment found herself creeping out onto Riku's balcony, and wondering in that moment where her best friends were and if they were safe.

And now the Princess was standing on an embankment jutting out of The Land of Departure's castle—staring at the lovely mountains and waterfalls that she could see from this spot—as she pondered if Sora would ever truly be safe in her arms again.

Yes, some things never really changed, Kairi thought with a deep sigh now—as she fell down onto her bottom, and tried to figure out why she hadn't argued the point more, when both Riku and the Fairy Godmother had recently insisted she stay behind again.

But then again... maybe they did, Kairi allowed, with resolving alighting in her eyes now. Perhaps slowly but surely things changed, but alterations were still made.

Because her training was coming along very thoroughly; the Princess of Heart was stronger than she ever had been before, and she knew that nothing would ever trip her up again. She wouldn't allow anything to.

Even more than that, however, was that... "Sora, I may have a theory to save you," Kairi spoke now, placing a hand over her heart. And she hoped that her boyfriend could somehow feel this gesture: that some part of him had somehow remained with her, when he'd recently possessed her body in order to save her life from that awful Master Xehanort.

Now walking away from the balcony(ies) that had held her fate for so long now, Kairi continued to voice her thoughts aloud—all the while that she imagined that Sora was beside her, listening to her thoughts here as she said them. She could just picture what his reactions to them would be, too, and it almost brought a smile to her face. Almost. "The X-Blade is often pronounced 'kye,' right? Well... even though the words are spelled differently, that's the same pronunciation as the first part of my name. I wonder if I have more of a connection to the X-Blade than we initially thought...

"As one of the Seven New Hearts or a Guardian of Light, I'd always be one chosen to help create the X-Blade. ...And in the Keyblade Graveyard, I was the last Key that was used to make the darn thing."

Kairi angrily snapped her fingers at the last thought, as she stopped walking. And she supposed it was her Princess of Heart status that kept her from doing more, like trying to punch through a wall.

She wanted to do more. She wanted to rage about the horrible things that had happened to her there. And it was because of all of that, that Sora had had to disappear. How Kairi wished that she could time travel, or something, to right all of those wrongs.

But knowing those were the kind of thoughts that had led to Sora breaking a nature taboo, so that he then vanished and left his friends here hurting in the process (thought Kairi would never blame Sora for what he'd done for her. Not ever), she nipped that thought in the bud, and instead decided to return to the matter at hand.

After all, she liked to believe that Sora was here waiting for her to finish her point, and that his head was cocked to the side in the cutest, puppy dog-like way. "And Sora... Riku told me that he thinks... Xehanort bequeathed the X-Blade to you before he died. If that's the case, maybe we both have a connection to it and therefore Kingdom Hearts that way. And I'm thinking I can use that connection to get to you in Quadratum, without having the Power of Waking. And I'm going to do it.

"I'm through waiting, dangit! With Riku… I just know he's been gone too long now. And I'm not losing him, too. I’m not! And I just know that I'm ready for this! When Aqua began training me, and saw how much I already knew, she actually wondered why I wanted a teacher at all. So, this time... this time I'll win. I'll win everything for you guys’ sake."

And even though Sora had seen Kairi defeat Xehanort alongside him... she thought that if he was here with here now, he'd be looking at her somewhat dubiously at her last proclamation.

Not in a way to hint that he didn't believe in her strength at all, or that he wanted her to stay behind again, but he would be somewhat doubtful, it was true.

But Kairi was done having her skills questioned, when she finally believed in herself. She would do what no one else could—what she had once believed she'd never be capable of—and bring Sora and Riku both back from this world of Unreality. And when she did, everyone would finally see why it was so important to always be true to one's heart.

"I'm coming to save you two," Kairi promised herself.

And the redhead summoned her Keyblade to hand via a shock of glitter. That, perhaps, with the setting sun lighting up this room in the Land of Departure with the last of its rays, made her blade look a certain shade of green.

Author's Note: The last part can be interpreted as the “sun sets flash of green” thing from Pirates of the Caribbean 3, that—with how much SoKai paralleled Willabeth from that movie—could be hinting that Sora is going to show up right at the ending of this fic, like Will would one day every ten years. Or that Kairi’s Keyblade is turning green like the X-Blade is green, proving her one theory right, or both.

Also, Riku has a balcony outside his room(?), that overlooks the ocean in the KH1 manga, and that helped to inspire this whole thing. Because one night when I was trying to sleep, I thought if I had an excuse to get Kairi to stand there when she was waiting for Sora at one point, then she’s been on three balconies, perhaps, the three times she’s waited for the boys. Because there was the time in the Castle That Never Was, of course and Riku’s, and Land of Departure’s castle has some balconies, too.

Anyway, I decided to write this because I miss SoKai, Kairi, and really just all things Kingdom Hearts--and maybe I'm starting to realize I AM going through a bit of a withdrawal--so here you guys go. LOL

I also thought about introducing my idea for a new Kairi Keyblade "Freedom's Champion" here, but I didn't know if it was the best spot for it, so I didn't. Maybe in another story...

#kairi #sokai #riku and kairi #kh #kingdom hearts #fanfiction #oneshot #canon #canon compliant #introspective #character study #character development #post-melody of memory

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p-artsypants · 2 years ago

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Rage Awakened (11)

In Which Ariel Finds Her Prince

I recently started replaying Kingdom Hearts 2 and got the motivation to work on this fic. I’m not sure how long it will last, but here’s one chapter, at least.

Yes, this is still a Kingdom Hearts fic, but this chapter is a stand alone for something happening in the meantime. I love The Little Mermaid and always wanted to write a fic for it. So two birds, one stone, and all that.

Ten years ago, Terra, Aqua, and Ventus lost their fellow apprentice, Sora, in Deep Jungle. Now, they are to return with two new students, Riku and Kairi, to lock the heart of the world. All the while, something watches from the trees. Feral!Sora AU

FF.net | Ao3

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Atlantica- One month prior

“It really is an honor to have you with us on our humble fishing vessel, your majesty.”

Prince Eric nodded his head. “And I am grateful that you allowed me along. I don’t want to be a distraction.”

“You’re the most exciting thing to happen to our ship in the last year.”

“If you don’t mind, I’d like a very unexciting excursion today. The last time I was out on a ship, it was struck by lightning, caught fire, and sank. I almost drowned! So please, just go about your fishing, I’m just here to enjoy the waves.”

While the crew set about getting the nets and rigging ready, the captain brought over a bottle of wine and two glasses. “If I may, how did you survive that ordeal? Rumor is that you swam three miles to shore. While other crewmen said you fell unconscious overboard. I’ve been wildly curious.”

Prince Eric took the glass with gratitude. “I was saved by a girl. She brought me to shore and sang to me.”

“Must have been a very strong girl to swim with you that far.”

“Indeed.”

“Or…perhaps a mermaid.”

Eric looked at the captain with shock and a little awe. “Could it really have been…?”

The captain shrugged. “Of course, I can’t say for certain. Mermaids are incredibly rare after all.”

“But real?”

“You see a lot working on a fishing vessel, your majesty. I have seen one, once. We let her go, unable to stomach the thought of keeping something so beautiful hostage.”

Eric stared out at the sea. “If they are so rare…I’m sure I’ll never get to thank her properly then.”

“That is a shame,” said the captain. “She must have seen something in you to save you.”

Once the glass of wine was finished, Eric volunteered to help with the work. Despite everyone protesting, he insisted that he wanted to learn the tricks of the trade.

It seemed like everyone came to relax once he got to work. He picked up the routine quickly, and talked casually and equally with everyone.

Prince Eric was not a prince today, but just a young man. He joked and helped, he offered apologies when mistaken, and was gracious when helped. The crew agreed unanimously, the Prince was welcomed to sail with them whenever he wanted.

Perhaps it was divine providence, or perhaps just coincidence, but when the crew pulled up the latest net and let its contents spill across the deck, Eric was struck silent. There, in the middle of a school of wriggling fish, laid a woman, with the teal fins of a fish and hair redder than a sunset. She laid on her stomach, facing away from the crew.

“By God, is that…?” Someone spoke, but no one moved.

The creature rolled over, revealing a terrified young mermaid, holding a yellow flounder.

“What would you do if I wasn’t here?” Asked Eric, to the crew.

“Let her go,” said the captain, eyes locked on the creature.

“That’s what I hoped you’d say.” Eric took a step towards her.

The mermaid threw the fish towards the water, though she missed. A crew member nearby stooped, scooped up the flounder, and threw it overboard, since it looked like that’s what she wanted.

“Is that your friend?” Eric asked.

The mermaid gave a tiny nod.

“It was really brave of you to save him. I have a knife, are you okay if I cut you free?”

Again, the mermaid gave a small nod, and zeroed in on his knife.

Eric approached her carefully and pulled the net away and cut some of the strands. He made his way over her body, gradually freeing her from the net. When he got to her hair, he winced. “Oh, I’m sorry, your hair is really tangled. I might have to cut it.”

“It’s okay,” she whispered.

He startled slightly, surprised to hear her speak. “Okay, I’m going to start cutting.” He took hold of her hair and tugged away from the net, making it go taut. At that point, it was a matter of slicing the bottom few inches of her hair off and she was free.

“There! It’s not even, so you’ll have to trim it on your own.”

The mermaid looked down at the net, where clumps of her hair still lay tangled. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Eric looked around at the crew, seeing that they were still shell shocked. They were watching him, but no one looked ready to intercede.

“Let’s get you back in the water, okay?” Eric stooped and lifted her, one hand around her waist, one under her tail.

The mermaid scrambled to get a hold of him so she didn’t fall. She ended up wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

“I got you,” he assured. He carried her over to the lifeboat, and set her gently inside.

The crew then moved automatically, lowering Eric and the mermaid down to the water.

Once the boat was in the water, Eric helped her to perch on the edge of the boat.

“Hey, you know…” he began, “a few days ago, I was in a boating accident. My ship sank and I almost drowned. A young woman saved me and brought me to shore. She sang to me a song about being part of my world.”

The mermaid stared at him wide eyed.

“Would you happen to know anything about it?”

“It was me,” she said shyly. “I’m not supposed to be around humans, but I couldn’t let anything happen to you. So I brought you to shore…”

“You saved my life.”

“And you just saved mine.”

He shook his head. “This was easy. I still owe you. I’m Eric, by the way.”

“My name is Ariel.”

He smiled, “that’s a lovely name.” He rested his hand on top of hers. “I’d like to make it up to you. There’s a grotto on the south shore.” He pointed at the mainland in the distance. “It’s hidden behind a waterfall. Would you meet me there tomorrow night? We can talk about your reward then.”

“My reward?”

“Yes. You see, I’m a Prince, and I’d like to give you something meaningful. Something your heart desires. So think about it?”

After a moment, she nodded. “Alright Eric, I’ll come tomorrow night.”

“It’s a date then.”

She blushed. “A date! Yes! I’ll see you tomorrow!” Flustered, she shimmied and splashed into the water. Embarrassed, she peeked above the surface at him.

He smiled and wiggled his fingers at her. She returned the gesture, and dove under water.

“Ariel!” Flounder shouted, swimming to her. “I was so worried! I thought they were going to kill you! I was just about to go get your dad!”

“No no, I’m fine!” Her face was warm. “He was so kind.”

“He?”

“Prince Eric,” she beamed. “He wants to see me tomorrow night.”

“You can’t! It’s too dangerous!”

“Oh don’t be such a guppy! He’s a perfect gentleman and everything will be fine!”

Flounder fretted the whole time they swam back home. “Ariel, your hair!”

Ariel ran her fingers through her hair, noticing the ends were uneven. “No one will notice!”

“Don’t count on it!”

—

Ariel got away with it for several hours. She assumed she was in the clear, until dinner came around, at which point one of her sister’s noticed and blurted out, “oh Ariel, what did you do to your hair?”

Ariel fell silent. “I got…snagged on a reef, and had to cut it.”

“Let me see,” Triton demanded.

Ariel rose from her place to float in front of him. “It needs to be evened out, but it’s not that bad…”

“What did you cut it with?” He asked sternly.

“A sharp rock.”

He took her by the shoulder and turned her around gently. Though his hands were gentle, his eyes were passionate. “You’re lying to us, Ariel. You know I don’t like lying.”

Of course she did, but the truth would make him go ballistic.

“The truth, Ariel,” he urged. “I won’t let you leave until I hear it.”

Ariel closed her eyes in defeat. “It’s…a long story. Please don’t be angry.”

Triton frowned harder, but inevitably sighed. “Okay, I’m listening.”

Ariel swallowed. “Flounder got caught in a fishing net, and I tried to save him, but I got caught instead.”

“What!” Triton shouted.

Ariel flinched and spouted out the rest of her story in a rush. “I was pulled up on the ship, but the humans didn’t want me, so they cut me free from the line, cutting my hair; and put me back in the water.”

She peeked her eyes open to see her family staring at her in shock and awe.

“Do you have any idea how lucky you are?!” Attina shouted. “Humans would never let a mermaid go!”

“They did! And they were really nice!”

“It doesn’t make any sense! I’m certain they’d sell a Mermaid for gold!” Said Alana.

Ariel winced again. “Actually…I think he let me go because I saved him from drowning.”

Triton grabbed her arm, not painfully, but strong. “Explain. Now.”

“That storm, a few nights ago? I was out exploring…and I saw him sinking. I just…couldn’t let him die. So I swam him to shore. I stayed for a little while making sure he was breathing, and I sang to him. When I noticed he was conscious, I left. He remembered me, and made sure I was taken care of and released me into the sea. He was so nice, daddy.”

Triton let her go and began to pace back and forth in the chamber. “Ariel, Ariel, Ariel…”

“I know, daddy! But I couldn’t not save Flounder! And I couldn’t bear to see a human die. Not when I could save him! I’m sorry, but I had to!”

Triton pinched the bridge of his nose. “As Attina said, you are extremely lucky to have run into the small minority of humans that weren’t violent and greedy. Next time, you won’t be lucky and who knows what will happen!”

Ariel shamefully held herself.

“What’s more, the humans now know that we exist! They’ll be out with nets for years to come, trying to catch us! You’ve compromised our safety!”

“Oh no no, I don’t think they will. They said they were going to let me go! You could even ask Eric, I’m sure we’re safe!”

“Eric?” Triton asked, his eyes narrowing. “Who is Eric?”

“The young man I saved and cut me free. He’s a prince!” She swallowed. “A-and he said if I met him in a secret place, he’d reward me for saving him.”

“No! Absolutely not! I forbid any more contact with these humans!”

“But daddy—!”

“But nothing, Ariel! I almost lost you today! Who knows what else this so-called Prince is trying to do to you? He’ll probably have an army waiting to take you at this ‘secret place’!”

“If he wanted to take me, he wouldn’t have let me go today!” She argued back. “I know you don’t like humans but can’t you just give him a chance?”

“Why should I?!”

“Because I—“ she stopped and bit her lip terrified of the confession she almost made.

“You what, Ariel?” He asked, dreading the answer.

“I…like him. I want to see him again.”

“You don’t know anything, child.”

“You’re so stubborn! Why can’t you believe there’s at least one human out there that wants to be friends with us? What if you came with me and talked to him?! Wouldn’t it be worthwhile to have an ally on land?”

“Ariel! That’s enough!” The King’s triton glowed in his anger.

Ariel knew it was time to drop it. She bowed her head and stayed quiet.

“I think you’ll find that I’ve been very understanding of late. I welcomed the Key Bearers on your word, something I never would have done before. Now you will have to trust that I know what’s best for you, and contact with humans is not it! End of discussion!”

“Then end of dinner,” Ariel snipped and swam off to sulk.

Triton settled back into his seat as the other girls very quietly finished their meals. In the end, no one spoke and they all slowly trickled away from the table.

—

Ariel sat on her stool, using two mirrors to see her hair. “Oh, it is really obvious, isn’t it? That’s a really straight cut! No wonder he saw right through me!”

For a while, Ariel attempted to trim her hair, but wasn’t successful until her sisters returned from dinner and volunteered to help. She was just thankful none of them had any comments to make about her recklessness. They were all strangely quiet.

Before bed, Attina kissed her forehead and said, “we’re all really happy you’re safe.” And that was it.

In the morning, Ariel awoke from her restless sleep and prepared to join her family for breakfast. She’d eat as quickly and quietly as possible and then hide so she could slip away to meet Eric at sunset.

Her plans changed, however, when she arrived at the breakfast table. Before she even sat down, her father was speaking.

“Ariel, I had a meeting with the council this morning.”

She froze, terrified of what he would say next.

“We came to an agreement. I shared my arguments, as well as yours, and we decided that you have a good point. It would be worthwhile to ally ourselves with at least one kingdom on land. So, tonight, I will accompany you to meet with this Prince Eric.”

“Really?!” She shot out of her seat, sending bubbles everywhere.

“Of course, I will be prepared for the worst. I desperately hope it doesn’t come to that, but if he doesn’t come alone, I will take matters into my own hands.”

“Oh daddy! Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you!!!” She swam to him and kissed his cheek.

The rest of the day, Ariel was floating through air. She picked flowers to adorn her hair, and flipped through her accessories to find what he might like best.

Of course, when you’re the most excited for something, time drags on for too long. Ariel struggled to find ways to occupy her time.

But when the sun started to make its descent, she was at the throne room, eagerly waiting for King Triton to finish his meeting.

He met her eyes and her broad smile and sighed. “A promise is a promise. Lead the way.”

She gave an excited wiggle and started off.

“Oh daddy, he’s so nice! He was so gentle when he put me back in the water, and he’s so handsome! I just know you’ll like him!”

“Ariel, I’m not meeting him to approve a romantic relationship between you. I’d like him as an ally. You’re a mermaid, and he’s a human. No matter how much you like him, you have to remember that.”

Ariel visibly deflated. “But daddy–”

“It’s against the laws of nature, Ariel, not my rules. I just don’t want you to get your hopes up.”

After a moment of contemplation, she nodded sagely. “I understand. It’s just…not fair. I’ve never met anyone like him before.”

“You’re only sixteen, more boys will enter your life.”

“I guess.”

Though this grim thought hung over her head, Ariel was still excited to see Eric again. She led her father to the secluded grotto hidden behind the waterfall on the South side of the mainland, just as Eric had described it. It was small and private. The only ways to get to it are from under water, or walking carefully behind the waterfall.

Eric was already there, sitting on a rock. He straightened his back when Ariel emerged, and his eyes widened when Triton emerged a second later. “Ariel! You came!”

“I said I would.” She eagerly swam over and lifted herself out of the water to sit next to him.

“Ariel…” Triton warned.

“Daddy, this is Prince Eric. Eric, this is my father, King Triton.”

Eric swallowed thickly. “You don’t happen to be the same King Triton that's the son of Poseidon, are you?”

“One and the same.”

Eric blushed but pushed on. “Well, it is an honor to meet you, Your Majesty. Your daughter is so full of compassion and mercy. You must be so proud of her!”

It was Triton’s turn to feel bashful. This young man really was as nice as Ariel said. No matter, he was still a human. “I almost forbade Ariel from this meeting, but she made a compelling argument. Our people need an ally on land. Would your Kingdom consider an alliance with Atlantica?”

Eric’s jaw dropped. “Y-Yes! Yes of course! Well, I don’t know how helpful we would be in underwater aid, but we can do what we can?” He rubbed the back of his neck.

“After Ariel has been seen by humans, I fear human curiosity will be spiked and your kind will try to search us out. If you could keep an ear out for those participating in such actions—“

“Oh! Yes, I understand completely. After we set Ariel free, I talked with the crew on the ship. The older men had had experiences with Mermaids and said they always steer clear of ‘The Children of Posideon’ less tragedy befalls their ship. Being a seaside Kingdom, keeping in his good graces is a fisherman’s duty. They said only a lowlife would hunt a mermaid.”

Triton sighed in relief. “That puts my heart at ease, Prince Eric, thank you.”

“Of course, Your Majesty. And I will stay vigilant and squash any rumors of mermaid sightings I can.” He turned to Ariel. “Now, Ariel, have you decided on a reward?”

“Reward?” Asked Triton.

“For saving my life. Of course, when your grandfather is a god, I’m sure anything your heart desires is a little easier to obtain, but if there’s something, anything I can do for you…”

“You should be even,” said Triton. “You saved her life.”

“That’s what I said!” Ariel laughed.

“Cutting her free from the net was nothing compared to what she did for me. If I hadn’t been there, one of the other crew would have freed her. But if she hadn’t been there that night, I would have drowned. So please, let me thank you.”

“Well,” Ariel began, biting her lip. She bravely reached out and touched his hand. “I’m fascinated with your world. I’ve found so many treasures from wrecks. I had been showing them to my friend Scuttle, a sea gull. But would you share your world with me?”

Triton let out a growl. “Why do you insist on this dangerous hobby of yours? I’ve already told you to stop!”

“But daddy, if I go to Eric, then you know I’m with someone trustworthy! And he can tell me if he’s heard any rumors!”

Eric spoke up, “Ariel, I would love to share my world with you, but your father has to be okay with it first. I don’t want to endanger you by having you sneak out to see me.”

King Triton, as powerful and long lived as he was, was far from ignorant. He knew more about the worlds’ order than most.

He knew his daughter was a Princess of Heart and what that meant. That often meant he was overprotective of her, more so than her sisters. After all, she was a key to so many things, and would be sought after by those who wished to use her.

But that also meant she had a partnering Prince. A man that would put his life on the line to protect her. While the prince wasn’t necessarily free from darkness in his heart, he was more resistant to it than others.

More resistant than even Triton himself.

And as Triton looked between the two, watching the way they shared glances with each other, he could tell that Ariel had found her prince.

He was just hoping it would have been a merman instead.

Triton sighed, shaking his head slightly. “You definitely get your stubbornness from me, Child. Alright. You may visit Prince Eric when you wish. I would like to be told when you are going to see him.”

Ariel lit up like a firework.

“Prince Eric,” Triton addressed him.

“Yes sir.”

“I expect you to educate her well. Keep her safe from all the harmful human items that fall into the sea. And, if anything happens to her while she’s with you…I’ll have your head.”

Eric nodded sagely. “I understand, your majesty.”

“Don’t stay out too late, Ariel.” He bid them both adieu and submerged back underwater.

As he returned to Atlantica, he expected to feel dread and regret at his decision, but instead, he felt rather confident. Perhaps having a trustworthy coach would sate Ariel’s desire for the surface world and she would stop getting into dangerous situations.

But, since her Prince happened to be a human, there would come a day where he would very likely have to give her legs and say goodbye to her.

Hopefully, that time was a long way off.

#kingdom hearts #kh #kh2 #fanfiction #the little mermaid #ariel #disney #rage awakened #tarzanAU #kingdom hearts tarzan AU

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chibi-mushroom · 4 years ago

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Hey everyone! Finally get to post my piece for the memory of promises zine! check out the link here if you want to grab one of your own copies in the leftover sale! I was so happy to be able to join in on this zine, and I hope you guys enjoy all the work that went into it! (Also keep in mind this was written before MoM.)

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Namine rubbed her temples and looked at the clock. Midnight already. DiZ was not going to like this. The next time he came into the white room would bring on some lecture or punishment of some kind. She had been working furiously all afternoon trying to get past this one section of memory, but there was something that was keeping her back. Her pulse began to race. She was feeling sick. The door to the white room opened and with a squeak, Namine ducked under the table, fearing the familiar stride of the man in red.

"It's okay, it's just me. You can come out now." A soft voice sounded in her ears. "You're safe. DiZ said he needed to run an errand and wouldn't be back for a couple of days."

Slowly looking up, Namine could see the outstretched hand of the only comfort she had in this lonely place. "Riku. You're back."

She took his offering and stood up. He hadn't let go of her hand just yet, blindfold still covering those beautiful blue green eyes he had. She was glad it stopped him from seeing things like her girlish blush. He was only offering his hand as a friend. Besides, it was wrong for her to want to be with him- nobodies weren't supposed to feel anything. So why did she?

"You're shaking." Riku stated simply. "Have you eaten anything today?"

So he could even feel the slight tremor in her hands. "No, not exactly."

"Do you want me to get something for you? I think there are some leftovers in the fridge."

"No, I'm alright. I have to get back to work." Namine tried to take her hand from his, but he held onto it all the tighter, leaning down a little to be at eye level with her.

"You were working when I left, and I can tell you haven't gotten any sleep. How are you expecting to take care of Sora when you can't take care of yourself?"

Right. Namine thought. He's just like DiZ. All he cares about is getting Sora restored. You're just a tool.

Still, she couldn't help but notice the way her breath caught in her throat as his blinded eyes sunk to meet her tired ones. Maybe she should take a small break. All of this stress was making her read too much into small gestures.

Namine simply nodded, and Riku left to warm her up some food. Sensing that going back to Sora's memories would be futile, she grabbed her sketch pad and turned it to the very last page. This was her secret page, covered in things she thought about. Mindless doodles she drew when she was waiting for the computer to check on Sora’s physical well-being.

The sketch pad was not necessary for her magic to work. She could rearrange memories- crush the hearts of her poor unsuspecting victims- without it. She used it though to help her concentrate. By visualizing the memories, she was able to make a more convincing edit or capture the feelings that were hiding beneath the surface. So many times she had drawn Sora, Riku and Kairi together. And sure there were strong feelings of both love and jealousy, but had she not had her sketch pad, she might have missed Sora's emotions of gratitude for two stalwart best friends, confusion about school topics they had recently studied, and hope that Kairi would want to go with him to the first school dance, even though he knew they would just go together and bail early to hang out on the play island like they always did whenever the school had some social.

"Here you go. It's nothing special, but it's better than nothing." Riku interrupted her thoughts with a plate of food.

With a gasp, Namine hurried to cover her sketch pad. Even though she knew he couldn't see it, he moved so gracefully that she sometimes wondered if he really was blind. Although those first couple of days made the mansion quite a bit louder with his cries of annoyance as he bumped into furniture. He even fell into the secret compartment that hid the computer lab, but luckily managed to land safely.

"Drawing something you don't want anyone to see?" Riku smirked.

"No!" Namine replied a bit sharper than she thought. "Maybe."

Riku laughed as he set their plates down and pulled a chair over. "I'm only kidding. You don't have to be working on Sora nonstop. If you want to take a moment for yourself, then do it."

"No, I need to be working on Sora. It was my fault he's like this in the first place. I want to keep my promise." Namine picked up the white plastic fork. For once would it hurt to have some color around here?

With a sigh, Riku held his hand out for her to hold. "We've been over this, Nam. What happened wasn't your fault. You were being used." Softly Riku muttered "you still are."

Namine looked at him for a moment and then looked down at her food. She picked at it for a few moments before softly sliding her hand in his and taking a couple of bites. She ate in a comfortable silence, simply feeling the pressure that came from the gentle touch. This sort of thing wasn't unusual for them. They could usually be found in silence with their hands connected. But the mountain of pressure from the recent block in memories and lack of self care was threatening to squish Namine with its enormous weight.

"How's the restoration going?" Riku asked.

Namine's stomach began to twist around itself. "I'm….not sure."

Riku squeezed her hand, urging her to explain. Namine sighed, unsure of how to continue. Would he get mad if she told the truth? He had slowly been becoming more like DiZ, after all. He used to be there with her when she was getting told off. These days, Riku was never usually in the white room for more than five minutes unless it was late at night.

"You remember what Sora's mom used to tell him all the time, right?" Riku recalled.

"Never talk to strangers on the play island?"

Riku chuckled, remembering a secret promise. "A problem shared is a problem halved. If you tell me, it might relieve some of the pressure on you."

There was no avoiding it, not as long as he held her hand.

"It's just that, well-" Namine fumbled for the words. "There's been a bit of a roadblock. I've been doing my best to sort it out, tracing the connections, but it's like the memories slip away as soon as I think I have a grasp on them. I may have gone through half a notebook trying to find a solid piece."

There was a pause, as if Riku were considering what to say.

"I'll go get you a new notebook tomorrow, then. As for the memories, we'll get it figured out. You need to take a break, anyway."

"No!" Namine swallowed back further emotion. Maybe she really did need some sleep. She was being more irrational than she expected. "No, it's fine. I'm sure I'm doing something wrong."

"Don't say stuff like that. If there's anyone who can make this situation right, it's you. Please, just take a few hours to rest tomorrow, okay?" Riku squeezed her hand again.

"I don't really have a choice here, do I?" Namine sighed.

"You always have a choice. I'm just asking you as someone who cares a lot about you."

Someone who cares? Namine thought. She slowly nodded in reply. Maybe a break was exactly what she needed.

"Thank you, Riku."

One Year Later

Again Riku tried to beat Marluxia, and again he was defeated. He only had this last battle to finish, having started against the organization members he recognized or had personally fought against. Which, admittedly wasn't many, but after several attempts, he was down to the last. It frustrated him that he still wasn't quite used to the keyboard controls, and Sora's moves were much less based in strength and relied much more on magic. Riku had never been very good with magic, focusing on perfecting his cure and dark firaga spells instead of learning the large array of magic that his friends had mastered.

Some keyblade master I turned out to be. Riku thought, sitting back in his seat and folding his arms. I can't even stop my two best friends from leaving me again. This is just like back then…

His mind began to drift away with thoughts of Castle Oblivion and Twilight Town. He heard the door open and gentle footsteps move toward him.

"Hey Aerith. We can work on that scarf in a minute. I have to get some more ethers for data Sora first."

"I take it the fight didn't go well then?" A soft voice walked closer.

He closed his eyes and shook his head. Not Aerith.

"Hey Namine. How could you tell?"

Namine placed a hand on his shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. "You're really tense. Besides, I could feel your frustration from a block away."

What anger and annoyance had once plagued Riku's mind had since washed away. All he could register was how reassuring Namine's hand on his shoulder felt. She smelled nice, too. A faint blush warmed his cheeks. Ever since Kairi had insisted on going to sleep and Terra had left for the dark realm with Aqua and Ven, Namine was the only person Riku shared everything with. She had heard him vent several times, and she had been helping Aerith teach him how to knit. It was her delicate fingers that had lead him through the steps of a cable.

"I guess I need a little bit of a break." Riku said with a sigh. "Wanna go get some ice cream or something?"

"Sure." Namine smiled, stepping back so he could get up and stretch. They began to talk as they walked to their usual ice cream shop.

Since Scrooge, Huey and Dewey had returned home, the ice cream shop had been manned by one of the local citizens. He usually gave Riku a discount, so Riku usually put some munny in the tip jar. It had become routine over the past year to go whenever Namine came to visit from Twilight Town.

"How is everything going with Roxas and Xion?" Riku asked, sitting down and unwrapping his fruit bar.

"Slow." Namine replied, taking a small lick from her chocolate cherry ice cream cone. She wanted to try all of the flavors, and this was the last one. "Not too bad, but I think I preferred the strawberry cheesecake the best."

"That was a flavor Kairi always liked." Riku smiled softly.

When he saw the way Namine looked for just the hair of a second, he realized that was probably the wrong thing to say. He inwardly cursed himself and his inability to be the suave guy all the girls had thought he was growing up. Kairi and Namine didn't get much of a chance to talk after she got her replica body, as Kairi had almost immediately asked to be put under. Riku wondered what it was like living inside a heart of pure light. Just like Castle Oblivion, she didn't talk about it much.

"We should get some for her when she wakes up." Namine continued to eat her cone. There was an uncomfortable silence for just a moment before Namine spoke up again. "Who were you fighting when I came in?"

"Marluxia. He was the head of the castle, right?"

Namine nodded.

"I never really got to meet him as I was down in the basement back then. I'm sorry you had to deal with a guy like him."

"It's alright. I...had some support. There was Sora and Donald and Goofy. And despite everything I did to him, there was your replica, too." Namine spoke slowly, choosing her words with care. "But don't feel bad. He made his decisions, like everyone else."

This time, it was Riku's turn to nod in agreement, taking a bite from his treat.

"After the data battles are all said and done, what happens next?" Namine asked softly.

"I...don't know. All I know is that I've been having these weird dreams lately."

"I wondered. You look tired." Namine grabbed on to Riku's hand, intertwining their fingers.

Maybe it was a reflex, maybe it was a force of habit, like how they used to sit back in the old mansion. Either way, the touch on its own was enough to pull Riku away from the dark thoughts that usually sat at the horizon of his mind. He squeezed her hand in response.

"Don't hesitate to call me if you ever need someone to talk to. I miss our little midnight chats." Namine admitted.

"I do too." Riku smiled softly. "They really helped clear my mind back then."

"A problem shared is a problem halved, remember?" Namine was glad she could actually see his eyes as she recalled back to his words that helped her through her time at the old mansion. "Care to share anything?"

Riku paused. He sighed before starting to speak. After he told her of the recurring dream he'd been having with the buildings and the feeling of being watched, he also admitted to the weight that had been pinned on his shoulders.

"I know it might sound silly, but I can't help but wonder if these dreams are connected to Sora somehow. I just wish I could understand it more." Riku finished his bar and set the popsicle stick on the bench beside him.

Namine had just finished her ice cream as well, wiping her face with the napkin. "Maybe it's time you take another journey."

"With the data battle still to fight and Kairi still asleep? I can't leave now."

"Maybe not now, but after the last battle is won." Namine gently pulled his hand close to her and began massaging it. "But that means I can't follow you. Will you be alright on your own? Maybe you can check Kairi's dreams."

"I...don't know. I haven't used my dream eater powers in a long time and the process is still kind of fuzzy for me." He could feel his muscles relax as she worked at his weary hand.

Doubt was rising in his chest. Maybe she was right. Who was he kidding? He wasn't ready for this kind of thing. He wasn't like Sora or Kairi who could follow their hearts at a moment's notice. He couldn't always feel the way it was trying to lead him.

But as he saw Namine patiently working on his hands, the stiff muscles being brought to relax against her fingers, a light shone through the storm of his doubt. How he hadn't realized it before was a mystery. Ever since they had met, she had been the light in the dark, just as he had provided shade for her in the brightest situations. As she finished the massage, she tenderly squeezed his hands, reassuring him that she was there and willing to help. Surely that was love.

He felt love for her, no question. But with Sora and Kairi gone and asleep, there never seemed to be a good moment to tell her what his heart really wanted to say.

"We...we should be getting back." Namine sighed. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"No, but then, I'm not really all that sure of anything anymore."

"If there's anything I know, it's that things will get better. We'll find Sora. I don't know how or when, but we will." Namine took his hand again, standing before him.

Namine took a quick breath and then leaned over, placing a quick kiss atop his head. Ordinarily, she wouldn't be able to reach, but since he was sitting down, she could offer a small token of her affection and confidence in his abilities.

She and Riku's faces filled with blush, although a smile tugged at her lips. Namine didn't have enough courage to kiss him on the lips like she had wanted to for so long, but this was safe. He couldn't spurn her for a harmless kiss to the head. After all, what was some reassurance between friends?

"Thank you, Namine." Riku had a hard time looking at this angel of a woman without his heartbeat increasing.

To think she was willing to be by his side after all this. He decided there and then that he would listen to his heart and tell her of his feelings...after they set everything right. Once Sora and Kairi were home and together, then they could sort out their own relationship. It would give him yet another reason to bring his best friend home.

He could still feel the kiss on his forehead, and it brought a genuine smile to his face. He stood up and began walking away from Merlin's house.

"Don't feel like you have to stop working on the data battles on my account. I just wanted to make sure you were doing alright." Namine stopped for a second.

"We can get back to those soon enough. I need a little longer before I get back into it." He took his trash and threw it into a nearby can. "There are some fountains that are really pretty this time of day nearby if you want to check them out with me."

A smile formed on Namine's lips. "I'd love to, Riku."

#RikuNami #namiku #mopzine #kh fanfiction #riku #namine #post Re:Mind #Pre MoM

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winterstarqueen · 4 years ago

Note

Heyo Kalos ! How are you ? Can I ask you a Sora who falls in love at first sight please ? Thanks !

When our eyes meet. (Sora x Fem reader)

Sora thought that this was a crazy dream. Maybe that was because he just lost his island, got some strange key, and fought off mysterious shadows. But the most recent thing that happened. Was he met her. Just one glance and he immediately fell in love. Of course he didn’t get her name. But boy Sora couldn’t stop thinking about her. Luckily he knew Yuffie and Leon. They knew almost everyone here. So before he was going to leave he just had to ask. “Do you know someone with (H/c) hair and (E/c) eyes?” Sora just had to know her name. “Yeah her name is (Y/n). She lives in a small house. That’s in the third district.” Yuffie said smiling. Sora wanted to go meet this (Y/n) girl. “Let’s go!” Sora said going there. “Stop! We have to start looking for king Mickey!” Donald said frowning. “Yeah...but I want to talk to (Y/n)!” Sora said beginning to argue with the duck. “Well, you have to help us find the king and Ansem’s reports!” Donald yelled. Leon looked like he had a headache. You walked out of the items shop with a bag. You were struggling to carry the large bags. Sora looked up and saw you. He immediately ran up to you and ask. “Can I help you with that?” “You don’t have to. I don’t want to trouble you.” You said frowning. “It’s no trouble at all Miss.” He said remembering his manners for once. Sora took a bag from you and followed you to third district. Luckily there wasn’t any heartless. “Thanks for the help. I didn’t know if could make it in one trip. My name is (Y/n).” You said smiling. “I’m Sora.” He shook your hand. “Hi Sora. Hey is that a keyblade?” You asked seeing it behind him. “Yeah.” “That’s so cool! I haven’t seen one before! You better take care of it! They’re rare. Well it was nice meeting you Sora.” You said smiling. “.....” Sora was saying nothing because he was admiring your beautiful eyes. “Huh? Oh yeah! It was nice meeting you too.” Sora said snapping back into reality. You went inside your home and began putting your things away. You waved to him and smiled. He blushed and waved back. “She’s beautiful....” Sora said. “Are you done?” Donald asked. “I think we should wait a minute. Sora looks like he’s in love.” Goofy said. “Sora! Sora!” Donald said trying to grab his attention. It wasn’t working so he used blizzard. “Ow! That’s cold! What was that for?!” Sora said frowning. “We have to get going! There’s no time to be daydreaming about girls!” Donald yelled. Sora went with him. Still daydreaming about you.

Sometimes when he was sitting inside the gumi ship. Sora would fiddle with a good luck charm. He was going to give it to you. Sora wasn’t good a arts and crafts. But he thinks that he did a good job on this. It was almost done. It just was missing something. Sora sighed and put it away. Soon this would be all over....and he would return to his island. What would happen then? Would he ever see you again? Or was this a good bye forever? He didn’t know why. But he didn’t want to lose you. He wanted you to come with him and go on an adventure. You had told him that you wanted to see the ocean. Just once in your life. So maybe you would like to move to the islands. That way he can play with you, Riku and Kairi. Then the fourteen year old thought of the poapu fruit. One day he would ask you if you wanted to share it. But now wasn’t the time. In fact he hasn’t seen you lately mostly because of the darkness. The heartless were out of control. Sora looked at the unfinished charm. He didn’t have seashells so would you still like it? Sora was very confused about love and so were you. He only knew one thing. That was he’s in love with you. That’s all he needed to know for now. As long as you be yourself and you stay safe. That’s all that mattered. He had to protect that beautiful heart of yours. That was it! He knew what was missing from this charm. Sora took a small heart shaped ruby. That he had found in Agrabah. It was in the treasure room. Immediately it fit. “You can have my heart.” Sora whispered.

You were in Hollow Bastion. “What are you doing here (Y/n)?! It’s dangerous.” Sora said running up to you. “I didn’t want you to go alone Sora! Please turn around and come back to town with me!” You said crying. “But I have to save Riku,Kairi and the princesses.” Sora said frowning. “It’s way to dangerous! Please I don’t want you to get hurt! There has to be another way!” You said breaking down crying. Sora put his arms around you. He dreamt of this moment. Only it wasn’t like this. You were on the islands with him. Putting your feet in the water. You were splashing each other with water. You had fallen into his arms simply because you slipped. This wasn’t like his dream at all. “Shhh...it’s okay. I’ve got this.” He said patting your back. You slowly nodded and kissed him on the cheek. Sora blushed and smiled. He then went to up to see Kairi. You waited for Sora to come back. However you got a glimpse of him fighting. Riku? You didn’t quite know what Riku looked like. After that you were going to congratulate Sora. But before you could get closer to him. He put the dark keyblade in his chest. Sora whispered something looking at you. “At least I have my memories of you. (Y/n).” “Sora!” You screamed trying to hug him. But he disappeared into a hundred lights. Leaving behind a star charm with a heart shaped ruby in the middle. You sobbed while holding it to your heart. “Sora no! You can’t be gone!” You screamed. Everything was a bit of a blur until you saw Ansem. “Do anything you want with me! Take my heart! Put me in the darkness! But bring back Sora!” You screamed. Sora didn’t deserve this ending. Donald,Goofy, Kairi and Riku stopped you from doing anything dumb.

The four of you were going to leave. But you noticed a little shadow holding your charm. The one Sora gave you. You thought that he was going to break it. However he was looking at it almost with curiosity? Like he was confused by it? He looked at you for a long time. Just one glance and this shadow immediately fell in love. The feeling was coming back. The shadow held up your good luck charm. Giving it back. “Thanks you...it’s very important to me. Sora gave it to me. It’s the only thing I have to remember him.” You said. The shadow got very confused. Who was this Sora person? Donald hit the heartless on the head. “Donald stop! This one is different.” You said frowning. Suddenly more heartless came. The shadow was going to jump in front of you. But you turned around and hugged him. “Don’t worry...at least I have my memories of Sora...” You whispered closing your eyes. You thought that you were imagining. Him putting his arms around you. “(Y/n)...I’ll never forget you.” Sora whispered. You looked up. “Sora?” You asked crying. “Thank you (Y/n).” Sora said enjoying this hug. You enjoyed it too. But things had to come to a stop. Because there was heartless surrounding you. Sora summoned his keyblade. Upon seeing him do so. You knew that he was getting stronger. Before he couldn’t summon it. Sora would have it strapped to his belt.

When you returned to town you begged Sora not to leave. Because what happened before it scared you. “Remember when I turned into a heartless. I was starting to forget who I was and my friends. But I looked at you. I immediately knew that you were important to me. Just one glance and I knew you.” “I didn’t want to forget you. Our connection is special to me.” You said. “That’s it! Our hearts are connected.” Sora said. “Are you still leaving?” You asked frowning. “I still have things to take care of.” Sora said looking serious. “If you dive into the darkness you might not...” “Yes I will! I’ll always find my way back to you.” Sora said. “I see there’s no stopping you.” You put something in his hand. “What?” Sora asked looking at the star charm. He opened it up and it played a beautiful music box song. “Please bring it back. It’s my favorite. I had it since I was small.” You asked frowning. “I promise.” Sora said smiling and he put it in his pocket. “Please be careful Sora.” You whispered watching your first love leave into battle. You were holding on to his good luck charm. Hoping that he’ll return to you. The darkness was strong. But Sora’s light was stronger.

#sora x reader #kingdom hearts x reader #kingdom hearts oneshots #cute #love Sora

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kairi-chan · 4 years ago

Note

Anya finds out she has a new psychic power (telekinesis) and tries to practice using it without anyone finding out. Either Becky or Damian catch her in the act. (Author's choice)

Title: MoveIt

Genre: Humor/Family/Friendship

Rating: K

Beta-read by: @borusawa

A/N: Thank you for the prompt! This is my first Spy x Family fic. I hope I do okay. 🙈

...

Anya stared at the bag of peanuts on the top shelf, eyes moist, and a barely contained scowl on her face. Her little fists curled up into balls as her eyes stayed focused on the bag.

“Loid...” Yor touched her lower lip as she watched the little girl hold her arms up and come on her tiptoes, trying to reach the bag. “Maybe we can give her just a bit?”

“No, Yor.” Loid sighed and put his daughter’s test papers down. He rubbed his forehead.

I should have expected her scores, and I did, but I’m still disappointed.

“No more peanuts until she gets her grades up.”

Another Tonitrous Bolt would be disastrous for Operation Strix.

“Maybe if we cut her time watching TV and put it into studying...” he muttered to himself.

The little girl bit her lower lip, and closed her eyes, wishing the bag would just fall into her hands. She hung her head and held her palms up to face her, the tears at the corner of her eyes threatening to spill at the sight of them empty. She heard footsteps approach her, and Anya looked up. “Mamaaaa!” She cried, knowing her mother was softer on her.

“Oh...” Yor felt pity for the girl and looked back at her husband in the living room. “But she has been trying.”

Anya closed her eyes, imagined the peanut bag in her hands, and suddenly, she felt something drop and crackle between them. Her eyelids flung open and widened at the bag in her hands. A wide grin spread on her face and she ripped it open, digging in. “Thanks, Mama!”

Yor looked back at her and blinked. “But I didn’t...”

How did that... How did Anya get the bag?

“Did you give it to her, Yor?” Loid stood up from the couch and walked over to the kitchen. Anya skipped to her room, munching on her peanuts happily. He sighed but looked at her softly. “We can’t keep spoiling her like this.”

“But I... I didn’t...” She tried to explain, confused with how it happened, too. Did she grab it and gave it to Anya without her even knowing? There was no way Anya could have reached for it.

“Give it back, Ewen!” Becky huffed and placed her hands on her hips. “Stop it and give it back!”

Emile snickered and taunted the poor girl further. “Or what?”

“I’ll tell on you!” She pointed a finger at them and then opened up her palm. “My dad gave me that pen!”

Anya held on to the straps of her backpack and watched the exchange with wide eyes before approaching her friend. “What happened?”

“Oh, Anya!” Becky looked at her. “These two won’t hand me my pen back.”

“I’ll get it for you.” Anya approached the two boys, and held her palm open, her attention focused on the gold-colored pen.

That’s a really shiny pen.

She reached her hand forward, but still a few feet away from Ewen.

“What—you think I’ll just hand it to you?” The boy laughed.

“Stop it, you guys,” Damian said cooly. “Don’t waste your time with the—” His eyes widened at what he saw, Anya was already holding on to the pen, she too, looked a little surprised, but grinned upon having it in her possession. Heat crawled up her cheeks and she waved it around before walking back to Becky.

“Here you go!” Anya cheered and handed it over to Becky.

Wow, that was easy. But how did it fly to my hand...

“You’re amazing!” Becky hugged her, happy to have her pen back. “Come on, let’s go before they try anything again.” Anya was pulled away, but even as she walked to match Becky’s pace, her emerald eyes were trained on her small hand.

Have I… Can I finally do it?

Vague flashes of her spending time being observed behind a glass window, wires connected to her head, and a pebble before her on the empty table came racing through her mind. However, before she could recall what the people were muttering amongst themselves on how she could access this power, their teacher had entered the classroom, telling the children to settle down.

I… I have to try when I get home!

Anya had a determined look on her face, easily fooling their teacher that she was into the lecture. But behind her, Damian zoned in on her, finding the earlier events highly suspicious.

“I’m home,” Loid announced as he removed his hat and jacket.

“Welcome home!” Yor called from the kitchen. “Dinner is almost ready. I’ll make you some tea while you wait.”

“Thank you.” He smiled at her and walked into the kitchen, his brow quirking up at seeing Anya sitting on the floor, in front of the center table, a salt shaker in front of her. “Anya?”

“Busy now. I’m constrating, Papa.” Anya didn’t so much as give him a glance, gaze fully focused on the item.

He knew what she meant, but couldn’t help but correct her in his mind as he walked to his bedroom.

It’s concentrating.

“That, too,” Anya mumbled, barely blinking. No matter how much she tried to concentrate on the salt shaker, it wouldn’t budge, not even shake. The more she stared and it remained stationary, the more her frustration grew.

“Constrate. Constrate, Anya!” She rubbed her temples and closed her eyes for a while before slowly opening them again. Her determination only amplified further. “Concentrate!”

Loid had a full day of back to back missions and he was glad for being able to come home before dinner. Yor’s cooking had been improving, and he was glad. There was no problem with him doing most of the cooking and his fair share of chores around the house, but days like these made him thankful to have her around.

His room was tidy and nondescript. But there were a few things around to make it appear normal. Like the picture frame of him and Anya on his desk. It was mostly to show for Yor, even if it wasn’t necessary since she never came into his room… but just in case.

He removed his shirt while closing his eyes. When he opened them again, the picture frame was not in its rightful place. It had moved—or so he would think. It was now at the edge of his desk, and he walked over to pick it up, inspecting it. “That’s not where you were a second ago…” he muttered.

As he uttered the last word, his chair wobbled. Loid quirked a brow up, keeping his cool. That is—until it skidded back a few inches on its own. He gasped, then and jumped back, observing how it shook. He was a spy, trained not to fear anything—not even the supernatural. But this… this was something else. The chair skidded back further and fell over, making Loid shout in surprise.

“Loid?” Yor put the teapot down and walked towards the hallway. “Are you alright? I heard something fall.”

Anya’s brain felt fried, and a small trickle of blood ran down her nose. She felt so tired and fell over on the carpet with her arms spread wide on either side of her. The salt shaker hadn’t moved a centimeter, yet she felt like she had overworked herself.

“There’s—I’m not one to believe but… I think this apartment is haunted.” Loid was pale, as he tried to explain what happened to his wife.

“G-ghosts?!” Yor yelped and covered her mouth with her hands. “Oh dear—no!”

Realizing what panic he had caused, he tried to placate Yor. While the adults were trying to figure what had happened, Anya remained to lie down on the floor, seeing stars. Although she was tired, she lamented and whined to herself, “Why couldn’t I move iiiit?”

Fin.

...

A/N:Thank you so much for reading! I recently finished the manga and fell in love. There aren’t much fics for this fandom (at least, on Ao3??) and I want to help remedy that. Lol. If you have prompts you want me to write drabbles for, do leave me an ask!

If you like what I write, please check out my profile for links to my master post, FFnet, Ao3, Twitter, and Ko-Fi!

All my love,

Kairi

#spy x family #spy family #loid #anya #damian #yor #loid forger #anya forger #becky blackbell #damian desmond #yor briar #fanfiction #spy x family fanfiction #fanfic

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phoenix-downer · 4 years ago

Text

His and Hers

Sora/Kairi. Post-canon. Fluff, romance, teasing, happily married life, and tacky matching t-shirts. ~2300 words. For @angel-with-a-pipette, whose birthday is today!

Kairi liked collecting things. Fun things, pretty things, ridiculous things, practical things, weird things, tacky things. She also liked taking those things and making them into new things. And now that she and Sora shared a home of their own, she wanted to fill it with things that represented the two of them. Gluing thalassa shells to a picture frame she’d found at a flea market and then inserting a picture of her and Sora eating sea-salt ice cream. Making a scrapbook of photos from their wedding and setting it on the coffee table that Sora had repainted. Teaching him how to knit so they could work on a big blanket for the couch together with yarn she’d gotten from an old friend.

Sometimes, however, she found things that were perfect as they were. Today was one of those days. She was shopping for some necessities on the Main Island when she spotted the perfect things hanging proudly in front of one of the many little shops that had recently popped up. No local worth their salt would come here, but now that the Lanes Between had been opened up to commercial flight, the tourists happily would.

She giggled and covered her mouth with her hand. Two t-shirts were hanging side-by-side. One was blue with a white arrow pointing to the right, and the other was pink with a white arrow pointing to the left. The blue one said “I’m hers,” but the pink one didn’t say “I’m his,” it said, “He’s mine,” instead.

She wanted those shirts. They were ridiculous and tacky and perfect for her and Sora.

She blushed and shook her head. “No, I can’t get them, they’re completely impractical.” She started pacing back and forth. “Munny’s a little tight this month, and I promised him I wouldn’t buy any extra stuff today. What would he even think if I got these? We’d never be able to wear them in public, we’d have a good laugh and then never look at them again—”

She fetched her Gummiphone out of her purse. She’d take a picture and show him later. But right as she was about to, the phone started ringing.

“Sora?” she asked as she answered the call. “What’s up?”

“You’re still out shopping, right?”

“I am. I’m about done though.”

“Guess who had a good haul with the Heartless today.”

Her heart pounded in her chest. “You got more munny?”

Ever since she and Sora had gotten married, they’d spent less time fighting as they focused on building a life for themselves on Destiny Islands again, and that meant less munny in their bank accounts. Dropping out of school while they were still teens meant there weren’t a whole lot of job opportunities open to them, and their erratic schedules meant that most places didn’t want to hire them anyway. Sora had become a mercenary of sorts, traveling the worlds and fighting so he could still help people but also get to keep the munny the Heartless and Nobodies dropped. She went on missions of her own too, but they’d agreed that someone should be home whenever possible, and this month was her turn.

“I did,” he said, breaking her out of her thoughts. “I’m gonna talk to Uncle Scrooge about investing some of it with him like we talked about, and the rest we can put in our bank account on one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“You get something nice to treat yourself with. I know this month’s been kinda rough, and I wanna make it up to you.”

She smiled and looked at the t-shirts again. “Thank you.”

They discussed how much she could spend today, how much he would be investing with Uncle Scrooge, and how much would be going to their bank account, and then he ended the call like he always did: with a heartfelt “I love you,” which she returned in kind.

Some careful haggling on her end won her the t-shirts for only 2000 munny, and she still had leftover munny to get something else. Sora had told her to treat herself, but she wanted to treat him, too. She went to the Main Island’s department store and found a good bargain on something she knew would catch his eye.

Satisfied with the day’s purchases, she boarded the ferry to one of the smaller islands where she and Sora lived. It was bigger than the Play Island but much smaller than the Main Island, and it was their little oasis of privacy from the larger world. Their house was the only house on the whole island, and the previous owners had sold it to them for cheap because it needed so much fixing up. Kairi was proud of how good it looked now, of how much hard work she and Sora had put into it. They’d truly made it their own, and coming home to it felt wonderful.

She set the groceries on the counter and started unloading them, and she heard Sora come in when she was done with putting up all the stuff that needed refrigerating. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and sighed.

“I’m back,” he murmured as he kissed her shoulder.

“You’re home,” she said as she set the groceries down and rested her hands over his. Sharing their usual greeting like this would never get old, and she would always drop whatever she was doing to do so. He smelled so good, too, his natural scent mixed with a little sweat from exertion and the breezy smell of the beach.

“I missed you,” he said, and she could hear the pout in his voice as he kissed her neck.

She turned and faced him. “I missed you too.”

He cupped her face and kissed her, slowly and tenderly at first and then more and more passionately as she wrapped her arms around him. The groceries all but forgotten now that they were reunited, he swept her off her feet and carried her to their bedroom so they could pick up where they’d left off.

Afterwards, they cuddled and caught each other up on everything that had happened since they’d parted, then took a quick shower to cool down and clean up. Sora went around the house opening the windows to let in the late afternoon breeze after that, and Kairi returned to the kitchen to finish putting up the groceries and get dinner started.

She caught sight of today’s extra purchases again and smiled and stashed them away for later. Sora popped into the kitchen soon afterwards, and together they made dinner. Fried rice with pineapple, shrimp, chicken, and paopu fruit that they fed to each other with big goofy smiles on their faces as the sun set behind them.

It had taken a long time to reach this point, but Kairi wouldn’t trade their hard-earned life here for anything.

After they’d washed the dishes and put up the food, they cuddled on the couch as they took turns reading each other stories from a book Sora had been given on his latest travels. As Kairi finished up the most recent story, she brushed Sora’s bangs back and kissed his forehead.

“It’s good to have you back,” she said. Even though he’d only been gone a few days, it wasn’t the same without him around.

“It’s good to be home.”

He hummed happily as she played with his hair, then said, “Oh, I forgot to ask, what did you get to treat yourself?”

“Oh! I nearly forgot, too.” She untangled herself from him and went to get the bag out of the corner. “I found these at one of those new little tourist shops today, and I couldn’t say no.”

She pulled the t-shirts out of the bag and showed him, and he burst out laughing. She loved his laugh, loved how it made his entire face light up and how the sound started deep in his belly and echoed across the whole room. Soon she was giggling too, because it was impossible not to join with him. His laughter was contagious and warm and always made everything feel better.

“Kairi, they’re amazing! What a great find.”

“Right? I’ve never stumbled across clothes that suited us so well.”

She tossed the blue one to him and he held it to his body. “Yep, looks like it’s gonna fit.”

As she saw him sizing it up like he was serious about wearing it, her face flushed. “You don’t have to actually wear it, silly. I can take them back if I need to—”

“Don’t. I’m gonna wear this, and I’m gonna wear it proudly.” He looked at her and grinned, and she felt her blush getting darker. “What? It’s true, and I’m proud I’m yours.”

She ducked her face and giggled. “I would’ve gotten one that says, ‘I’m his,’ but they didn’t have any.”

His grin turned into a smirk. “Oh, we both know the ‘He’s mine,’ shirt fits you better anyway. Don’t you even try to deny it.”

“Guilty as charged.” She giggled and reached into the shopping bag for the other thing she’d bought. “I got a little something else, too, something I think you’ll like…”

He perked up as she pretended to rustle around for it.

“I wanted to get something for you, too,” she said, “something to treat you…”

Now she really had his interest. He craned his neck to try to see into the bag, and she shook her head and hid it behind her back.

“You have to guess what it is.”

“Chocolate? Candy?”

She shook her head.

“A new project for us to work on together?”

She shook her head again.

He laughed. “C’mon, gimme a hint please,” he said, putting on his best pout paired with his best puppy dog eyes.

“Starts with an ‘L.’”

He murmured to himself, trying out various L-words, and then paused. A grin spread across his face, a mischievous, playful grin, and he wiggled his eyebrows.

“Oh, I think I know exactly what’s in there, and you’re right, it is a treat for me.” He waited for a moment, building up the tension, and then said, “You got me lemonade, didn’t you?”

She stared at him for a moment and then burst out laughing.

“Just kidding,” he said with a grin, then sprang to his feet and gave her a peck on the cheek. “I’m looking forward to seeing you wear that lingerie for me later, though,” he murmured in her ear. “Tomorrow maybe, when we’re both feeling well-rested.”

“When would you like me to wear it, exactly?” she teased. “The morning, the afternoon, the evening…”

“Surprise me.”

She followed him to the bathroom and then to bed, and they fell asleep soon afterwards. They were both tired, him from his travels, her from the day’s errands. She slept like a baby with him here; not once did she wake up in the middle of the night. It had taken a little while to adjust to sleeping together, but once they had, neither of them slept very soundly without the other.

The next morning, she woke up to an empty bed. Strange. Sora usually preferred to cuddle with her in the morning as they soaked in the sunlight and murmured sweet nothings to each other. She rolled over onto her back, only for him to burst through the door with breakfast for her. Sausage and eggs and pancakes all neatly arranged on a plate her family had gifted them.

“Morning!” he called as he set the food on one of their bedside tables. That was when she realized what he had on.

“You’re actually wearing it. You’re actually wearing the shirt,” she said with a giggle.

“Darn right I am, and you should wear yours today, too.”

“But we were planning on going to the Main Island again today.”

“Exactly.”

“You won’t be embarrassed?”

“No. It’s like I told you, I’ll be proud. How could I not be when you’re my wife? Now eat up, we’ve got a lot to do today.”

They got some really great looks from random tourists they passed by, and Sora even called a few of them out on it and offered to take pictures with them, which made everyone laugh. One couple even took them up on the offer, and Sora charmed them into taking a photo of him and Kairi on his Gummiphone afterwards.

“There, now there’s photographic evidence,” he said very seriously.

“Of what?”

“Of my beautiful wife being as charming as ever.”

They finished up the day’s errands, and once they’d gotten home and had put everything away, Sora turned to her with another one of his mischievous smiles. She knew what he was thinking, and he knew what she was thinking. And not much more needed to be said about the subject.

“Now?” was all he said as he wiggled his eyebrows.

She giggled and nodded. “Now.”

He swooped her into his arms and carried her to their bedroom, and as she did, she couldn’t help but smile. The t-shirts were fun, but the reality behind them was so much better. She and Sora were finally together, and they would always have each other. His, hers, mine, ours, the labels didn’t matter so much as the truth behind them. And because they were so serious about being with each other, they didn’t have to take themselves very seriously at all.

And all the moments of joy and playfulness and teasing that came out of their love and commitment to each other—that was the best part of all.

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A/N: Happy Birthday to @angel-with-a-pipette! Thank you so much for your friendship and support over the past few years! I’m so glad we met and bonded over SoKai. Thank you for all the wonderful memories, all the writing feedback, and all the great conversations and discussions. I hope you enjoyed!

And to everyone else, as always, thank you for reading!

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avionvadion · 4 years ago

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So the first two are some VERY old drawings- like, I was back in high school kinda drawings. Oof. Sorta hurts to look at it, but whatever. XD The next two plus the dancing one are closer together, though still fairly old, and the Ienzo drawing is one I did literally the other night because I was listening to “soldier” nightcore and OH MY GODS.

Because, like, Nobodies grow hearts over time? Well, Irene is crushing on Zexion from the start, and she pretty much just sort of annoys him into falling in love with her- though he doesn’t realize it. He just gets angrier and more flustered, until La City de Cloches happens (right before CoM) and he snaps. (Riku witnesses their friendship in the DDD part of the fanfic, or at least will when I’m able to write ti) Also, while I originally planned on them masquerading as gypsies because it’s fanfiction and I can do that, um, I rewatched Book of Life and realized-! BATTLE DANCE MOVES! Which basically inspired the last page because it’s them fighting and doing a team attack. A dancing team attack.

I’M A ZEXION/IENZO SIMP OKAY I’M SORRY I LOVE ONE MAN AND IT’S HIM HE IS BEST DISNEY PRINCE

Story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12448743/chapters/28327938

Major Fanfic Spoilers below

Anyway, the whole Irene/Ienzo conflict is that Irene was super freaking in love with Zexion, right? She was happy and sweet, and he was calculative and manipulative and smart, and she knew that, and he knew that, and it worked. But then he died. Lexaeus- bodyguard/father figure- died. Everyone at CoM died. Even Xion. But then Roxas defects.

Irene tracks Roxas to Twilight Town after he ran away from the Organization in a desperate attempt to bring him back so to avoid his obliteration. In the process she meets Hayner, Pence, and Olette who mention they just met a blond a day or two ago and wish her luck in finding her friend. She learns of the abandoned mansion and encounters “Ansem” at the gate. She asks him about Roxas, but the only response she got in turn was Soul Eater pointed at her face. Irene tries to go about things peacefully, but when he refuses to put his weapon away Irene summons her own and tells him that she won’t go easy on him for hiding her “brother” from her. Irene wins and manages to break into the mansion.

There she encounters Namine, who is all too aware of who Irene is because of her connection to Roxas and Riku- and therefore her connection to Sora. Namine is surprised, but says that she should have expected Irene to come to the mansion because of how much she cares for Roxas and the other organization members. She then says that she’s always wanted to meet Irene since she found out about her, having learned of her apparent affection towards Nobodies. She explains that Roxas is hidden in a version of Twilight Town DiZ created, but his memories of her were now locked away.

“Without the memories of Kairi… Sora can’t wake up. He needs Roxas.”

“So do we! Roxas is my family; I’m not leaving without him!”

“But… if you take him away, then…”

“Then he gets to live. I am NOT losing him, too. Just take the memories out of him and put them back into Sora!”

“I… I can’t… it’ll take too much time…”

Irene storms out and locates the basement, but during that time Namine panics and tries to mess with her memory. Unfortunately, as a Keeper of Heart Irene’s memories can’t be altered as much as a normal person’s and due to that Irene becomes incredibly dizzy. Having made her way to hidden basement Irene encounters DiZ, who mocks her in her state for caring so much for a being that doesn’t even have feelings. Irene snaps at him, saying that he knows nothing about Nobodies and their feelings, and tells him that the bonds between her and the Nobody friends she made are what keep her going.

“I-I’ve already lost so many… I won’t… let you… take Roxas, too!”

She summons her staff and goes to attack, but “Ansem” arrives in time to protect DiZ. She goes so far as to call them murderers for trying to remove Roxas from the world, but DiZ merely laughs and says that Roxas shouldn’t have even existed in the first place. This only makes Irene more angry and her attacks against a weary “Ansem” become more wild and frustrated.

“You know NOTHING! Of them, of the Organization, of the way they treat each other! One may lack a heart… but the feelings are still there! Wh-When they died… when that girl went missing… Roxas cried! And mourned! And hurt!” Knocks “Ansem” back and switches her illusion staff to her own. “Without being there or witnessing any of it… YOU CAN’T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING ABOUT NOBODIES!”

Goes to swing the staff with a huge surge of light, when Namine started to try and lock up her memories of the Organization- thus causing Irene to fumble. She falls to her knees and begins to panic, knowing SOMETHING was happening to her. Her eyes lock onto the rings and gloves on her hands and she realizes- she couldn’t remember who they were from. A face was starting to fade from her memory, the face of someone very important to her, and she begins to panic- frantically trying to recall the name as she stands and stumbles back into a wall.

Irene begins screaming when her head begins to throb to the point it felt like her skull was splitting into two. Namine’s powers were starting to fail and Irene was on the verge of recalling Zexion’s name when “Ansem” takes the initiative to knock her out. DiZ decides to place her in the virtual Twilight Town with Roxas, removing all the gear the Org members have given her (including her coat), and had Namine alter both her and Roxas memories enough to where they would coincide. However, Namine could only do so much and was unable to “make” new memories for Irene, only able to lock up the majority of them and edit the details of the remaining few.

When Irene woke up she remembered nothing except her sibling status with Roxas. Roxas believed Irene to be his sister and the only remaining survivor of the “accident”. She obtained amnesia since the accident and was brought home only recently since she recovered from hospital. He explained that any gaps in her memory could be because of the head injury she sustained, but Irene couldn’t feel much pain at all aside from a light headache. During the seven days Irene behaved overly doting towards Roxas, taking side-jobs from the help wanted boards in an attempt to help support them so Roxas wasn’t doing things on his own anymore.

Also Struggles with him sometimes to help prepare for the tournament after it gets revealed that she was the one who taught him how to struggle. Is surprised by her own strength. Eventually sometime while hanging up posters for the upcoming struggle match Irene encounters “Ansem” again. He’s just standing there and watching her, and her feeling rather uncomfortable upon noticing him calls him out and tries to strike a conversation.

“Hey~ random person! How you doing? New in Twilight Town?” No answer. “O-kay… well! You want one of these posters? The tournament’s coming up soon and my little bro’s gonna be fighting in it! Well, I say “little” but he’s like fifteen? Also taller than me, which is lame, but hey! You should come watch! You might enjoy it.”

“...”

“No?”

“Ansem” leaves and Irene is left very confused, but also feeling like she should know that person from somewhere because of the coat. Thinking about it makes the pounding in her skull worse, so she stops focusing on it. More time passes and Irene is at the accessory looking for something to help Roxas out a day before the tournament when she catches sight of the rings. Her head starts to hurt again and she wonders why looking at them hurt her heart so much, and why her fingers suddenly felt so exposed. Leaves the shop, only to crash into “Ansem” again who shoves two rings into her hands.

“If they’re so important to you, you should try harder not to lose them.”

Before she could ask what he was talking about he’s gone and Irene is left standing there, staring at the rings in her hands and wondering what he meant by that. She puts on one of the rings and places the other in her pocket, and heads home to get started on another cooking attempt for dinner. Sometime later Roxas comes out of his room- very dazed and confused, not understanding how he got there since he was certain he fell off the clock tower- and after dinner when Irene is putting the dishes away she asks Roxas if he knew why the rings she had were so important to her.

He’s surprised to see them, having believed they were lost in the accident, and hesitantly tells her that the ring she was wearing was given to her by her boyfriend- the same one that died in the accident- and that the other was the ring she gave to him. Irene’s headache gets worse, but she’s just barely able to recall a face. In the mansion DiZ questions “Ansem”, demanding why he intervened, and “Ansem” responds that those rings in particular were something they should have never taken from her. Later that night Irene winds up in her heart, where she is asked a question and is forced to fight a previous Keeper.

During the day of the struggle when time freezes and Roxas is forced to fight the dusks, Irene moves to help him only to be dragged away by “Ansem”. Continuously blocking her way, Irene gets frustrated and in her determination to help her “brother” she summons her weapon. There she fights “Ansem”, but just as she starts to win the world unfreezes and he vanishes into a corridor of darkness. Irene is really confused and her weapon disappears, but quickly runs back to the match and is surprised to find everyone cheering- the dusks nowhere to be seen and Roxas apparently victorious against Vivi. The dusks reminded Irene of something and she passes out after focusing too much on it, and recalls pieces of her conversation with Zexion/Lexaeus after she found out the dusks listened to her.

When the seventh day comes Namine releases the locks on Irene’s memories and the girl goes in desperate search for Roxas, but ends up having to evade the hordes of Nobodies attacking. Memories back she heads to the mansion and finds Roxas just in time, stopping him from calling out to Sora. Roxas apologizes, knowing full well he was causing her and Maria both grief, but tells her about the dreams he had of Sora and that- even if he didn’t want to- Roxas had to do this. So many worlds and people needed Sora. He asks her to respect his decision and to keep smiling, and then fades into Sora. Irene starts to breakdown and panics when Sora starts to wake, running off in an attempt to hide. Unfortunately she slams right into Goofy and Donald who have just woken up, and is almost instantly mistaken as “Mazy” by Goofy who had last seen Maria when she was a young teen. Irene is instantly confused only to remember Maria’s stories about Goofy and realizes mid-bear hug what was happening. He sets her down, only to notice her eyes were brown instead of hazel and that she WASN’T actually Maria, and apologizes. Then asks why she’s so upset, but Irene quickly changes the subject by bringing up Sora and saying something about how “someone was waking up in the next room” and Donald and Goofy run off to find Sora.

Irene makes a break for it, but encounters “Ansem” again. He tosses her bag and white coat at her, all her equipment inside, and tells her to “Go”. Rather than grateful she ends up even more confused and mad at him as he was the reason Roxas was now gone, and she didn’t understand why he was helping her so much, but he says nothing and merely vanishes into a Dark Corridor. “What is wrong with that man?”

Finds a room to hide in and puts her coat on, looking through the bag to find her equipment and is more than alarmed when she finds the bracelet she made for Lexaeus in there. He had worn it to C.O so it should have been there, so why was it in her bag…? Did that man put it there? His weapon looked a little like a keyblade- could he have been the one to kill him? And the photo from Halloween Town with them and Zexion... Irene was just about to open a portal to the castle, ready to resign herself to her fate of having to explain the situation to Maria, when the door slams open and Sora, Donald, and Goofy walk in.

Gets questioned by Donald and reluctantly answers most of them, when Goofy has a realization like, “I get it! The reason you look like lil’ Mazy is ‘cause yer her other half, isn’t it?”

Sora is super duper confused and Donald is in disbelief, and Irene is like, “Er, I mean, I am, but the reason we look alike is because we’re sisters??? Not because we’re both Keepers??? Hi??”

Que Goofy having an excited freak out because holy crap his little Mazy has a little sister he’s so happy for Maria. Asks how she is and what she’s doing, but before Irene could actually answer Donald throws a fit because the King was looking for the other Keeper and she’s right in front of them- they HAVE to bring her along- and Sora is just asking what the heck a “Keeper” is and who “Maria” was. Goofy and Donald explain, then bring up how the Keepers of Heart are supposed to work together with keyblade wielders to free captive hearts, and Sora gets on board with bringing her along because why not?? The more the merrier, right??? And Irene is all types of “Nope” but they aren’t having it. Donald is the most aggressive about it. Irene is cursing her luck as she just wanted to go back to the castle and burrow under the covers like a depressed bunny rabbit.

And now Irene is even more distraught then before. Maria learns that Sora was in C.O and tries to kill him, and Irene attempts to defend him because Roxas was still in there somewhere- she can feel his light- which causes Maria to call her delusional. Maria, feeling betrayed by Irene, tries to kill HER while Sora is unconscious, and Goofy drags Donald and Sora back to the gummi ship. Irene doesn’t fight, instead keeping a shield up the entire time as Maria is wailing on her, until the woman is exhausted. She tells Irene to get out of her sight and she does, and every now-and-then Maria will appear. To simultaneously check up on Irene, to attack her, and to attack Sora.

And though Irene hates Sora for stealing Roxas away, she can’t help but also be friends with him. At least... until Demyx dies. Then she snaps, claiming Maria was right all along, and goes after him- only for “Ansem” to intervene. Sora heads farther into Hollow Bastion and Maria attacks him, thus how she gets her chest scar, and Irene nearly kills “Ansem”. She was seconds away from doing it, but then the hood falls down and she can see his eyes... and realizes that he was a person just like her. Like everyone else. And if she killed him... someone who cared for him would be feeling exactly what she was.

And then “Ansem” won. Her face burned, stomach ripped open and then simultaneously healed/burned shut, he tosses a defeated Irene and Maria somewhere safe where they can talk. And then more org death happens, and the girls are depressed. Luxord was the last for Irene- she couldn’t handle anymore. She gave up and just hid in her old room, even as the castle fell apart. The previous inside her heart eventually opened a light corridor and pulled her through, saving her, and for a long time she just stayed there before accidentally wandering into Destiny Islands where she encounters Riku. Through some things Maria and Irene are able to start working together as sisters and keepers again and make a home in the Radiant Garden castle, helping the restoration committee, until DDD.

Lea is pretty much the same Axel. The personalities don’t differ that much. But Ienzo? Heck, even Irene? They’re not the same as they were. Irene is depressed, traumatized by all the events that occurred in such a short span of time. She’s still grieving. And for a man with the same face and voice as the one she had loved so wholeheartedly before, only to be so DIFFERENT, appearing before her? it hurts. And she’s conflicted. And she’s scared.

And while she wants to protect him, to keep him safe and ensure he lives this time around, she also wants to avoid him at any cost. But Ienzo loves her- he was as much as Zexion as Zexion was him. And Lea tries to help her see this, definitely not as patient as Ienzo and being far more annoyed that the tension in the room was so physically painful he wanted to rip his hair because GOD DAMN IT GIRL JUST ACCEPT HIM ALREADY. YOU KNOW YOU LOVE HIM. It isn’t until after Tangled that she does, witnessing Eugene’s death.

Also Riku feels massive guilt over killing Zexion, especially after becoming friends with Irene (poor girl unaware he was “Ansem”), and witnessing their interactions in La City de Cloches during his exam.

The songs “Haven’t Had Enough” “All to Myself” and “Who Do You Love” by Marianas Trench fit Irene/Ienzo pretty well, actually. Especially if you imagine the PoV shifting back and forth. “Soldier” is more Irene/Zexion to Irene/Ienzo, but... yeah. XD I’m weak, okay? I’m sorry. I love torturing characters.

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okamidensetsu · 5 years ago

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Goodbye Tumblr

Hey everyone, it's been awhile since I added anything over here. My life has changed significantly over the past couple years which in turn caused my posting style to change into what you see recently. Just posts of stuff and junk I've picked up. I wanted this place to be a diary on my travels. And it was for the first 3-4 years. When I came back to California it wasn't supposed to be a long term thing. Then Kairi's epilepsy got worse and we realized there was no way to move her safely overseas. Sara and I ended up getting jobs over here in California while we were figuring things out. Meanwhile I put school on hold, only taking classes to retain credits. During the transition we both ended up with either incredibly well paying jobs or jobs we loved. And sometimes those things just fluctuated from time to time with the same job (for instance I might be quitting my job soon due to burnout - the money is decent though...). But I'm getting off track now...

This blog has meant so much to me. Two years ago I tried to get back into the swing of things and then a month later Tumblr made some sweeping changes that took the wind out of my sails. It halted a lot of projects I had in mind and definitely was the reason I fell silent for so long. This was coupled with other things that were changing at the time and I just couldn't but also really didn't want to make the time to post here anymore. Camera troubles came, a major car accident, and Kairi's epilepsy getting worse did not help me in my desire to want to write and edit photos for my journal postings. So those were put off once again on top of everyone I used to know having bailed after the Tumblr fiasco of December 2018.But I loved this blog and the people I met on here so much so I pretended that keeping this place afloat with brain dead posts was the right move.

As of four months ago, after being in limbo with moving for so, so, so long we have finally settled into our new place. We probably won’t be here long, but I got back into the swing of things in the mean time. I got a new camera, started photographing toys and video games again which I have been posting on instagram under the same banner. Kairi has not had a seizure in over a year! We just had that realization this month as we have to go back to the doctors to renew her prescription. I am back to health, and only feel my ribs hurt when I sneeze. It’s a reminder that a seat belt was the only thing that prevented my face from going into a metal dashboard that day. All of these things coming together has made me realize a few things. First and foremost the only thing I dread now is going to my job. Now that I can pick out with clarity everything that makes me happy I’m well aware the only thing that hurts me is my job. I am just burnt out with education. And this is my dream job! Or was my dream job. So I might take some time off at the end of this school year. I might try and stretch it out for another school year but I will decide that when summer starts to come around.

Unfortunately even when I do have more time, you won’t find me here anymore. With all the clarity I realized I turned this place into something it wasn’t meant to be. I haven’t been here for awhile. And I’m crying as I write this because I can’t tell you how much this place has meant to me. There are blogs I followed and people I met on here that are responsible for me being here today. I joined this place during the worst time of my life. This was my outlet. And it was the people here that saved me. Some of you are still here. Most of you are long gone. But I never really talked about how depressed I was. In fact I don’t think I’ve ever typed that out right on this blog before. This wasn’t the place to express that. I wanted to celebrate little victories, my hobbies, etc. And I feel like this place lost that spirit since I’ve stopped writing and sharing as much personal stuff. I still got to talk about toys and video games but I feel like my posts lost their humanity and definitely humility. So with a heavy heart...this is going to be my last post on tumblr. Maybe in a few years I’ll start a new blog but I won’t be using this one. This is a time capsule for me now. A person I used to be, made from everyone who helped out a long the way.

If you still want to keep up, follow me @okamidensetsu on instagram. And I am trying to learn how to used Twitter under the same name (I just find it a little overwhelming there)!

Thank you again everyone. I love you, and will continue to check in here and again, but I just wanted to say it one last time here.

Bye for now

-Dean

#goodbye tumblr!#im crying but #This was a long time coming #california #okamidensetsu #Sunnyvale

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cutegirlmayra · 5 years ago

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Sokai: Kingdom of Missing Hearts

More Sokai?! You bet’cha!

Prompts are on shutdown! Don’t send any in until the grand reopening is announced :)b

Prompts:

“The light of our hearts...” The mysterious man walked towards Kairi, who just recently, was still within Merlin’s training but had to flee when it was momentarily compromised.

She adjusted herself and summoned her keyblade.

“Is weak when we’re apart.” The black-hooded man finished, seeming to quote something as his mysterious keyblade began to slowly burst out hazy darkness out of it, growing rapidly as he continued. “Though they say that’s not true... I’d like the vow to remain. Let’s let light die within the dark... if we’re ever too far from its spark.”

He finished and gestured to Kairi to listen, “This poem was written by a depressed lover. I find it rather... touching... to disappear within the void of loneliness than to be too far from love’s light.”

“I... I don’t understand. What do you want!?” Kairi bundled a hand into a fist, placing it on her chest as she readied herself to fight if needs be.

“What? Not a lover of poetry?” the man shrugged, but then chuckled. “Shame... I need you to bring someone to me... someone who would come if you were separated from him... I need him to surcome to the light. Wouldn’t be so bad if you did too. I’d reunite him with his light... through the darkness swallowing you both.” he flung his keyblade back, then rapidly dashed towards her.

She went to strike, unafraid, but the image disappeared the second she did so.

“What..?” she looked around, not sure what was going on before something jammed into her side.

“AHH!!...Ahh...haaa...” she collapsed as the darkness that had surrounded the strange and unfamiliar keyblade seeped over her body.

Leaving the Keyblade in, the figure stood up straight, snapping. “One down...” He looked over his shoulder, “One to come...”

-Yen Sid’s Tower-

“Ah! Kairi!” Riku, upon the door opening to reveal Kairi laying unconscious with a strange keyblade stabbed into her side, immediately dashed towards her and gripped the side of the table. “Kairi! Kairi, open your eyes!” When she didn’t respond, his shoulders slumped and his body began to shake, turning violently to Yen Sid. “Who did this!? What did they want?”

“Calm yourself, Riku... A keyblade wielder has trapped Kairi in a never-ending nightmare realm within her heart.” Yen Sid closed his eyes, “I’m afraid if we were to remove the keyblade... her heart would be lost, and the darkness would corrupt her physical form left behind.”

He reopened his eyes and placed his hands into his long sleeves, “It’s unclear... how exactly he was able to summon the power. A forbidden poem triggers the cursed realm, but one can’t simply just utter it to bring it forth... we’re dealing with a powerful new enemy... one who seems to want mischief more than simply just chaos.”

“Isn’t that the same thing!?”

The two now looked to Axel, walking into the room, looking even more hostile than Riku had been.

“Whoever this loser is, I’ve never seen his keyblade before. EVER!” he swiped a hand out, clearly upset. “Which means he’s not apart of the organization. At least, not officially, anyway.”

“They can’t recruit?” Riku glared, but Axel flinched back, a little hurt by his expression.

“Hey! Don’t pin the blame on me! How am I supposed to know what’s going on inside those crazy ol’coots minds now!?”

“Enough. Both of you. I know you care about Kairi... but this is no time to panic.” Yen Sid looked kindly to both men, as they did take heed to his words, and looked down in frustration.

“Is there really nothing we can do? Without risking her heart?” Riku spoke up then, unable to make eye-contact with anyone. He kept his anger fixed on a point on the ground, not wanting to upset Yen Sid again, or inadvertently make Axel feel bad.

“There is a chance... But who knows where Sora has gone off too.” He seemed to be a little hopeless on that last part, but Riku quickly looked up.

“The gummiphone?”

-The Gummi Ship-

“Sora! Look out!” Donald cried out in his signature duck’s voice.

“I’m trying! Err... Hyah!” Steering through the universe to get to another world, Sora’s pocket suddenly came to life with sound.

“Hey, that’s that there Gemmiphone, right?” Goofy bent his head down to look but Donald quickly corrected him.

“Gummiphone!” he quickly jumped out of his chair, but Sora moved the ship and he was squabbling across the floor, sliding to slam his butt against the side of the ship. “Heeeyy!!!” He let out his infamous anger and swung his fists around.

“Gwosh.” Goofy put a finger to his mouth, then looked back to Sora.

“Kinda busy!” he admitted, before finding an astroid to hide behind as he sighed. He put his keyblade down, something he was using to guide them towards the world, then pulled out his phone.

“Riku? Is everything alright?”

“Not really. Before me and Mickey could start our search for Aqua, something came up.”

“Woah, Riku looks pretty serious.” Sora lightly stated to Donald and Goofy, who had come up to look over and down at his Gummiphone.

“Sora... I don’t know what’s going on with you right now, but... It’s Kairi.”

Sora’s eyes widened, bulging at her name.

“What was that? Riku, what happened to Kairi!? Is she alright? She’s with Merlin and Axel, isn’t she!?” He leaned more and more towards the Gummiphone, his worry overtaking him as Donald and Goofy looked to each other, seeing him lose his composure.

“D’wah...”, “Ohh...” the two seemed to share the same reactions.

“Not... quite...”

“Huh? Axel!”

Sora saw Axel enter the frame, scratching the back of his head as Riku adjusted the Gummiphone and tilted it towards him.

“We were compromised. Only for an instant, mind you. Merlin sent us through different portals and the guy followed Kairi, coincidentally.”

“The guy..? Wait, where’s Kairi!?” Sora gripped the phone, his emotions getting the better of him.

The two looked to each other, almost sharing Donald and Goofy’s expressions.

They turned back to Sora, as if making a decision.

“It’s best you head to Master Yen Sid’s, Sora. We think your power could help... it’s got to be you, Sora.” Riku nodded firmly to him.

“My... Power? Ohh...” Sora looked off and let one of his hands go from the phone, looking at it. “But my power’s not back yet... I don’t even know if...” he formed a fist, shaking it as he closed his eyes and tilted his head.

“Don’t worry, Riku! Axel! I’ll be there faster than you can say ‘Sora’s here!’.” He gave a confident smile, but once the Gummiphone was off--and after Riku and Axel nodded to his statement--he felt his whole body fall into the Gummi Ship’s chair.

“What if... I can’t even save Kairi?” He felt his head hang low.

Donald and Goofy shared a look again, before changing it to a fierce look of conviction. “Sora!!!” Donald stomped a foot down, bundling his fists together in front of him. “You can do anything, Sora! You just gotta believe you can!” he stepped back as Goofy also gave it a go, encouraging Sora as well in his own words.

“Yeah, that’s right. We wouldn’t be able to do half of the things we can now without each other. I’m sure Kairi trusts you to help her too.”

“Yeah, we’ll do this together! Like everything else!”

“D’ah! You said it, Donald!”

Sora weakly looked up to them, “Donald... Goofy...”

After giving his friends a quick look, seeing each of their smiling and confident faces towards him, he smacked his hands into his cheeks and perked up a bit. “Right!” he threw a fist up, “Kairi’s saved me so many times! I can’t let her down now!”

“Yeah!” The two cheered together, also raising their fist.

-Back at Yen Sid’s Tower-

It was a minute before Sora and the gang arrived, and when they did, they came bolting in like lightning, heading straight to Kairi.

“Kairi!” Sora raced by Riku and Axel, who let him pass as he barged into the heavy table and looked over Kairi’s state.

The darkness was swarming all around her in a moving, living smoke. The keyblade was securely in her side, but there wasn’t any blood. It was strange... even it’s design was something Sora had never seen before.

He fell to his knees, spending a moment to feel before doing anything further.

Just like Axel and Riku, though... anger filled him and he stood back up, reaching for the keyblade.

“No!” Riku swung an arm out.

“Don’t touch that, Sora!!!”

“I can’t use the power of awakening just yet-! But I can use my own power to save her!” he gripped the keyblade’s handle.

Yen Sid stood up, “Sora! Halt!” he was about to cast a spell when he noticed Sora suddenly overcome by the darkness as well.

“I... I don’t feel... my strength...” Sora, losing his fight, suddenly leaned his head back and collapsed over Kairi.

“Sora!!!” Everyone cried out, racing to his side.

Then... They all heard snoring.

“Wha?” Donald stepped to the side, shaking Sora’s body before noticing he looked asleep.

“He... Couldn’t pull the keyblade out?” Riku looked to Yen Sid, “What’s going on?”

“How... interesting.” Yen Sid lowered his once raised hand, “After being alerted of Kairi’s predicament, I thought he might act hastily. However, I never truly expected him to completely abandon trying to awaken her, and instead, diving into the realm himself...”

“He what!? Listen, not one of the things coming out of your mouth is the same as the other words that came from it just a few moments before.” Axel slightly complained, but Yen Sid seemed relatively calm by his reaction.

“The unusual keyblade tore into Kairi’s heart, which is why her physical body was unharmed. But by means of the curse embued in it, that left Kairi’s heart punctured with darkness that took her mind into another realm within her own heart. This is the reason why she seems to sleep... But her training was not all in vain, as she is filled with a powerful light.” Yen Sid began to explain, which captured everyone’s attention. He looked back to Kairi and Sora, “Kairi possesses a strong, kind heart. I worried that if we were to remove the keyblade, it may cause her to falter to darkness. I took this as an opportunity, although unfortunate, to see if her peril could lead Sora to regaining his lost power.”

“Hold up, you’re telling me you used the situation to your advantage?!” Axel burst from his quiet listening, bending his body as though ready to fight. “You’re just as bad as the organization!”

“Bite your tongue, Axel.” Riku looked back to Axel, scolding him.

“What?! You can’t seriously say you stand to reason for this guy!?” Axel swung a hand in frantic gestures, “What has the world of light come to, huh!?”

“I know it sounds kinda harsh... but it’s true. We need Sora’s power.” Riku looked down, seeming ashamed to admit it, but forcing himself too.

Yen Sid looked down as well, “I know it sounds unorthodox, but any way to help Sora regain that power as soon as possible... is crucial to our purposes in this war.”

The others remained silent, but Axel fumed quietly to himself, turning away from everyone and folding his arms. “Hmph. Nothing you say will change my point of view.”

Sora began to speak in his sleep, and the others quickly turned to listen in.

“Kairi... Wake up... I have so many... adventures... to tell you... zzzz.”

Riku suddenly summoned his keyblade, going over to free their hearts but Yen Sid threw his arm up again, “No, Riku! If they do lose their hearts, it’s over.”

Riku lowered his keyblade, “So we have to just stand here and do nothing!? My friends are trapped in an endless nightmare!” He gestured back to them. “My heart’s already been inside the darkness, maybe I can-”

“I’ll not lose another light.” Yen Sid shook his head, “We must believe in Sora and Kairi’s light. There is a second poem to the first, written by the woman before the first poem was ever conceived. She created it as though knowing her beloved would succumb to torment at her lost.”

He began to recite, as Sora’s heart glowed from the words. “Though light seems to dim and fade, never is it darkness made. Though our hearts be long gone from this world, I still believe in the eternal flame. Light connects even within the night. Let stars collide, and a path be made bright.”

Sora’s heart burst and suddenly he woke up on a stained glass window beneath his feet. It looked like... “Kairi’s heart?”

“Sora!”

He quickly looked up and gasped, a Heartless jumped at him and swiped, as he was knocked back away.

Shaking it off, he looked up to now blurred vision. The floor seemed to shift into many scenes of Kairi’s life and adventures, before being swarmed in darkness and then broken through light.

“What’s... going on?”

Kairi swiped her keyblade at the horde of Heartless that quickly formed again after the explosion of Light from Kairi’s heart.

She looked exhausted, as though she had been fighting for a long time.

“Kairi... she needs me...” He slowly gathered the strength to get up onto one knee. “Kairi!” he called out, desperate to help her. “I’m coming!”

He fell again as another Heartless attacked him, then another, and soon he was piled on by a group of them that kept pummeling into him, ripping at his back.

He tried to endure but just like before, the floor became swarmed in darkness, and then a memory from Kairi’s past broke through the last depiction and burst into light.

For a moment, relief. Sora looked around, seeing there was no more horde and quickly got to his feet, dashing to Kairi who stumbled a moment to stay balanced on her feet.

“Sora...” Her eyes seemed distant, but she reached out to him.

He immediately grabbed her, holding her close as their light combined.

“You called me out of darkness once...” He stated as the Heartless hordes grew in number again. The last memory was being overwhelmed in darkness again, and it seemed as Kairi kept summoning new light from herself, it was quickly overcome time and time again by darkness.

She was running out of happy memories to sustain herself...

Sora looked to the horde, gritted his teeth, and summoned his keyblade. He moved Kairi behind him, letting her lean a little on his shoulder and back, as he glared the massive force of dark enemies down. ‘I can do this.’ he took a deep breath, ‘No matter how long it takes..! I will do this!’

He readied himself for a showdown, his typical positioning of his bent knees and keyblade off to his side in both hands.

“It’s my turn to return the favor!”

“But... Sora... You’re powers...” She worriedly placed a hand on his shoulder, sliding it to touch his neck as he looked down. “You still have them... don’t you?”

“I... I don’t know how to awaken your heart, Kairi.” Admitting that almost broke him. He closed his eyes, unwilling to see what kind of disappointed expression she might make.

But instead, she giggled.

He opened his eyes in shock and turned to her, knowing the horde was about to pounce at any second now, their numbers overwhelming at this point.

“I’ve missed you, Sora.” She lightly smiled to him, then tilted her head in a cute sense of trust. She was unworried, how could that be?

“I meant your other power,... don’t you know? The one you never can lose.”

“H-huh?” Sora tilted a little more towards her, his ear now right up by her mouth as he didn’t notice the proximity at the moment.

The horde jumped forward.

“You really don’t know? It’s your smile, Sora... Darkness just can’t stand to be around it.”

In that moment, light overwhelmed the darkness, and Kairi and Sora’s combined light began to lift them out of the dark nightmare realm that seemed to loop in a continual struggle, due to Kairi’s unfaltering heart.

With Sora’s added strength, the mysterious keyblade began to wobble as though floppy, then stiffen and shift before disappearing in balls of twinkling light.

Sora was the first to wake up, shaking his head before Kairi got up too, placing a hand on his head and grinning kindly to him.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.”

“Ah... Kairi!” his eyes shone at the sight of her.

They embraced.

It was bittersweet though. Although everyone celebrated that the first poem was the counter-spell, Yen Sid still reminded everyone they needed further training, and to be careful.

Merlin put an even more powerful spell, thanks to Yen Sid’s instructions, and hid Kairi and Axel better for their training.

At least it wasn’t the organization... but before they all left back to their tasks, Sora and Kairi spent a second to say...

“You have to continue the fight, Sora! I’ll complete my training, just you wait and see!” With that never-ending supply of positivity, Kairi was bubbly with energy.

“Heh.” Sora flicked his finger under his nose, “You never change, Kairi... Though you do get stronger every time I see you. It’s hard to believe that just a little while ago, you had a keyblade sticking out from your side.”

She confidently put her hands to her hips, mimicking her younger years, and leaning towards him, accusingly. “Are you saying I should be complaining?”

He shook his hands out, “No, no! It’s just... I’m kinda torn.” He looked down, admitting how he really felt.

Kairi straightened up, dropping her playful act a moment and listening to him.

“You want to stay... don’t you, Sora?”

He nodded, “Who wouldn’t want to be... with the people they love more than anything?” he seemed to be referring to Riku too, and she smiled at that innocence.

She didn’t take it the wrong way, but... she knew the feeling... and knew what more to say.

“Tell me all about your adventures when you get back. Don’t miss a detail, okay? I want to know everything.” she put her hands behind her back, tilting her head with a modest nod.

It was heartbreaking, but also sweet.

Sora, wishing he could give her one last hug, stepped forward to try for it but then harshly pivoted, ducking his head from her view to hide the painful realization that if he did so, it may hurt them both worse...

“I promise... Wait for me, Kairi!” he shook a fist and then looked up to give her back a overly happy grin.

“Will do!” she chimed before taking a step forward... and then rushing into him with a big hug.

He was taken aback... maybe they were both stronger than he thought.

He hugged her, knowing she was his true strength.

“So long... Sora.” Was she... gripping him tighter?

He knew exactly what she was feeling now, and pulled her even deeper too, digging his head into her shoulder. “Em... Wait up for me.”

“I’m always with you... in your heart... Sora.” she pulled away, but it was hard for the both of them.

It took them a moment, but they finally looked back into the other’s glossy eyes.

“And I with you... Kairi.”

He began to let her go... slowly... before dashing to the Gummi Ship.

She lingered in the moment, watching him rush up the lowered panel that lead into the Gummi Ship before stopping abruptly... looking back, and giving her an energetic wave.

She giggled, waving back just as much. ‘I’ll always miss you, Sora...’

‘I’ll never, ever forget the strength of your light... The presence of your heart... Kairi.’

They both slowly lowered their hands... their eyes turning kinder, before the two headed off.

“You, uh... You didn’t want to give him the letters?” Axel, feeling a bit like a third wheel, still had a hand up and behind his head.

“They’re more for me, remember?” She just walked right passed him, a smile still apparent on her face. She nodded cheerfully, but he could tell there was a quiet sadness there.

“You know... you don’t always have to be so strong.” He walked after her but stopped when she paused. “Just saying. You’ll miss him, right? So it’s okay to have... a shoulder to cry on.” he patted his shoulder with the hand that was behind his head, winking slightly as though to keep everything light.

The wind of the Gummi Ship taking off blew her hair gently back...

She turned around with a sly look, “You say that as though I need to cry.” She then looked up after the Gummi Ship, “But I know we’ll be together again... maybe not now, or even soon... but we will. We’re connected by an unbreakable bond... Our hearts are always filled with the connection of light. We won’t shut them out in fear of losing that connection, that path towards each other...” she shook her head, closing her eyes a moment in the sunlight, “I’m not sure what darkness thinks it can do... but darkness strives to sever the connection of hearts... that’s why, nothing good can dwell in it.”

As she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see Axel staring at her in the way he used to when reminded of something he forgot.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing! Sorry...” He looked away.

“Axel...” she lightly scolded.

“I mean-! It’s just so wholesome.” He faked it off, pretending it wasn’t the thing he couldn’t remember, but Kairi just smiled and followed after him.

She didn’t look back.

She didn’t need too.

Sora was right here... in her heart. She touched it lightly, and Sora--sitting within the Gummi Ship--touched his too.

Neither would succumb, because love can’t exist in darkness.

#sokai #sokai prompt #soraxkairi #kingdom hearts prompt #cutegirlmayra #kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts shipping

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kyndaris · 5 years ago

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A Tangled Web of Complex Mystery

Though I had purchased the game eons ago, it was not until quite recently that I found the time to slowly go through the backlog of games that I had purchased cheaply on various online stores. This one happened to be on Good Old Games (GOG), but I have an impressive list that spans both Steam and Epic Game Store. After hearing several glowing reviews and urged on by my own innate curiosity when it came to solving mysteries, I started up Return of the Obra Dinn. Being a connoisseur of problem-solving titles, with a deep love of crime, it made sense for me to try my hand at playing detective. After all, I have always prided myself on being observant and great at deducing the facts of the matter. In fact, during my high school years, I always thought of myself to be the next Sherlock Holmes. Barring that, I felt I would have been a great Kudo Shinichi/ Edogawa Conan with my excellent reasoning and analytical mind.

Return of the Obra Dinn puts players into the role of an insurance adjuster as they try to figure out what happened to the crew and passengers of the Obra Dinn, a ghost ship that mysteriously returned to port after missing for several years. Equipped with a journal from Henry Evans and a strange device that allows a person to review the events of the past, I started to try and piece together the events of the game.

The tutorial chapter of the game starts from the end. Though the scenes shown are frozen in time and the dialogue is sparse, it was quite easy to deduce what had happened. Almost immediately, I had identified the Captain. After beating down the remaining crew members that had decided to mutiny, he took his own life in despair. Most revealing, though, was the name “Isabela,” which helped immensely in identifying two characters: the Captain’s wife and the First Mate.

From humble beginnings, however, the story of the Obra Dinn took a much more dramatic turn. Suddenly, I was confronted by a battle at sea. The chapter was titled: The Doom and it was easy to see why. Tentacles rent the air, tossing crewmen overboard. Many were crushed on the gunner’s deck and others were torn asunder. This was where some of the limited choices proved a little frustrating. The depictions of their deaths oft times did not seem to match well with the verbs employed. In fact, I often wished that there was an option to say that a crew member died of blood loss or allowed me to be more specific in terms of their death. Having to say that ‘Jim Doe’ was killed by a sword from ‘Benjamin Smith’ did not fully capture the magnitude and accuracy of what had actually happened. In fact, ‘Jim Doe’ had his leg cut off by ‘Benjamin Smith’ because of reasons X, Y and Z. He thus died of blood loss in the arms of the First Mate.

I remember reading a few forums that said some players wished for the option: they died of stupidity. After playing through the chapters, I could see why. The options available also proved finicky. As did some of the names for a few of the crew members. In the end, though, I managed to brute force my way through a couple by keeping two answers that I knew to be approximately correct and then simply changing the names.

My worst enemy, though, were my own preconceptions. For some reason, I thought the Persian was Indian. There was a small part of me that niggled at the fact that he might perhaps be of a different descent, but it was only after I searched for the answer, to confirm my deductions, that I realised that I had been blinded by my own prejudices and current perception of cultures. For some reason, I assumed the man wearing a turban was of Sikh religion, forgetting that this was set in the 1800s and that there were other ethnic groups that also used such head-wear.

There were also several moments that I googled certain words: knowing that they were not English. In this way, I was able to ascertain the identity of a few more crew members. Accents also proved important. And while I had thought to use the Formosan language to my advantage, I found to my dismay that it wasn’t all Mandarin. A search on the Steam forums revealed that it was pieces of Taiwanese Hokkien. These small touches helped heighten the authenticity of the world in a way not many other games have.

Seeing the narrative of Return of Obra Dinn play out and figuring out what had happened served to be a delightful romp. While my first few hours gave me some very mild motion sickness, I was able to power through by constantly turning my attention away from the screen. I also liked how the game also encouraged use of one’s intuition and allowed me to make educated guesses without much punishment. It was actually quite gratifying seeing my few leaps in logic land when the game confirmed my suspicions.

But the mysteries did not end there. From Return of the Obra Dinn, I moved on to Kingdom Hearts 3. With the drop of the recent DLC Re: Mind, many players were rewarded with several answers to several jaw dropping and head scratching plot holes. Like Xion’s random appearance near the end, did Sora save Kairi and what really happened when Roxas just fell from the sky. I mean, thank goodness there was some more cutscenes to show Kairi being a bit more badass before she was summarily fridged crystallised.

It also gave us new questions to puzzle over. Like: what is going on with Yozora? Is Tetsuya Nomura really that salty about Versus XIII? How does this all tie into Sora and the new battle with the Lost Masters?

WHO IS THE MASTER OF MASTERS?

AND...WHY WERE OUR BELOVED FINAL FANTASY CHARACTERS GIVEN ONLY A MINUTE OR SO OF SCREEN TIME?

Also, am I just supposed to accept that the pairings are: Sora x Kairi, Riku x Namine and Roxas x Xion? I mean, I will. Gladly. But please let us see how Riku and Namine fell in love. Also, how does Xion even work? Is she past Xion? Does that mean her heart, technically, needs to travel back in time to 358/2 Days? Or can she just blissfully live out her life in the future that is Kingdom Hearts 3?

Even though I love Kingdom Hearts with all my heart, I can’t help but find myself a little confused at where the series is going. Til then, I’ll try to delve down deeper and figure out what chaos Nomura has planned for us next.

#video games #return of the obra dinn #kingdom hearts 3 #re:mind dlc

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oveliagirlhaditright · 4 years ago

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Written for Valentine's Day: Terra keeps being shirtless around Aqua, hoping that it might make her realize her feelings for him and want to start dating. A bit more serious than it sounds. Aqua's point-of-view. Canon compliant. Oneshot. Post-Melody of Memory. Fluff. Humor. Rated T.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/29595876

Aqua’s PoV

"Naminé, I need your advice on something..." Aqua told the younger girl, as the two of them sat looking up at the stars in the Land of Departure. "And I hope you can make what’s going on seem more innocent than I’m currently seeing it as," Aqua said, blushing now.

"Of course, Aqua. What is it?" Naminé asked kindly, as she would do to anything

"...I swear Terra's always shirtless around me these days, and I don't know what to make of it! He's like a brother to me, so I want to believe it's nothing, y’know? And I was hoping that talking to you would help me see it that way, since you see the innocence in everything."

But Naminé instantly let Aqua down by giggling. And the dainty way she put a hand over her mouth, and laughed so pearly, reminded Aqua of bubbles on the sea. "Aqua, I think Terra likes you. And I guess it's up to you to decide if you feel the same way or not."

That couldn't be, could it? Sure, they'd kissed that one time... but after that, for certain reasons, Aqua had just assumed that was Terra being a hormonal guy. And Aqua had gotten rid of any feelings she could have had for him, post-haste.

And, of course, it would be when Aqua was trying to prove to Naminé that there was nothing between her and Terra, that the man would show up. And—it really figured, Aqua thought—he was shirtless, dripping in sweat after having sparred with Kairi. And that's what one should have expected from someone in the the Land of Departure, but Aqua still felt flustered... for some reason.

"Hey, Aqua? Do you have any Gatorade? That last sparring session with Kairi really wore me out. I think she's trying to prove something. And you know what? I'm proud of her for it, but exhausted."

"Oh sure, Terra. Let me go look for some." And was Aqua not magicking some right then and there an excuse to leave this awkward situation? Yes.

Aqua made it back into the kitchen as slowly as her feet would carry her, and poured the found drink into a glass, even, to waste even moretime.

To take up another second, Aqua thought about the little two-year-old they had recently adopted, who already seemed to have a connection to the Keyblade. And Aqua beamed for the fact that she was taking well to the cardboard Keyblade they’d made for her. And was already learning how to “fight” with it some.

But with nothing else to do, Aqua finally let herself think back on the time that she and Terra had kissed, as she walked back to him.

"Here you go, Terra," Aqua said, handing her friend the beverage whilst looking anywhere but at him.

Ven, who was now showing Kairi how to run even faster than she already could, wolf-whistled for some reason.

And at that rude hint from Ven, Aqua decided she should face her fear and look into her older brother's face... but was that really how she saw him?

"Aqua, you seem to be acting weird around m-"

Apparently, Aqua wasn't as ready to deal with this as she had thought she was. Because she ended up mumbling, "I'm going to go bake something. Bye!" before just leaving Terra there like he meant absolutely nothing to her.

...

The night before their Mark of Mastery exam... before Ven had come down, Terra and Aqua had already been outside. And somehow and some way, they had ended up kissing. And yes, Terra had been shirtless then too, because he'd come to the summit after going to bed. And Terra slept without a shirt on, apparently.

But Aqua may or may not have given him a sneak peek at the wayfinder charms she had been making for them all... And when Terra had joked that of course they looked like cookies, because she loved baking so much, Aqua had playfully hit Terra... and that had somehow led to her being in his arms and the two of them lip-locking. And, yes: it was every bit as magical as the princesses Aqua would later meet and their princes’ bonds.

But it had ended in disaster... right after Aqua, Terra (and Ventus, too) had had their falling out in Radiant Garden, Aqua had tracked Terra down at the Mirage Arena. He had then decided to hurt her even more than he already had, by saying that he'd never loved her romantically, but had only wanted her for her body.

Later, they had of course made up: in the Keyblade Graveyard twice (once more than a decade ago, and now a year ago), but Aqua had never faulted him for not having feelings for her—as one couldn't control that.

But could it be that Terra did feel for her and had lied about what he’d said in the Mirage of Arena... so when he had been apologizing, he'd also meant to do so for that?

And while Aqua was trying to suss all of this out, she was interrupted by none other than Terra. And, yes: he was shirtless once more. But this time, there seemed to be an excuse for it: he had a massive scar on his chest that needed stitches, which was clearly why he'd come into the infirmary (Aqua was in their right now, because she was trying to use her magic to make some of their medicines even stronger).

"Sorry, Aqua," Terra told the azure-haired girl upon brushing by her to pick up a needle, thread, and some antiseptic. "Sol almost fell off the castle—and I ran and caught her—but in doing so had one of the chains near the mountain go right through my chest."

"Terra!" Aqua exclaimed in pure horror, while she reached for her friend. "I know your Cure spells leave something to be desired, but you don't have to stitch yourself up! Here! Let me heal you. And nice job, saving Sol!"

"Thanks," Terra beamed at Aqua. And at first, she thought he was going to go into a proud fatherly rant about Sol, but instead he seemed to have another train of thought. "Aqua... I think you have feelings for me. Will you admit to that even remotely?"

Thankfully, Aqua wasn't as naive as she was back when Zack asked her out. And not coy or young enough to pretend like she didn't know what Terra was talking about when he said “like”, so she simply told the truth. "Maybe I do... but what of it?"

"'What of it?!' Aqua, we could be happy and together right now. Don't you want that? I don't get why you're shutting me out, after I apologized-"

“Did you really apologize, Terra?! God, give me some time! You really hurt me back then. And you left it open-ended so that I might not even realize you’d tried to say sorry for what happened at the Mirage Arena?! Forgive me if I don’t exactly want to kiss you yet, let alone anything else!” Aqua snapped.

And Terra pulled away from Aqua then, looking like he no longer trusted her to use Curaga on him. And he opened his mouth like he was going to say something… but then he quickly closed it and smiled. “…You’re right, Aqua. And I’m sorry again. I really should have been more clear that I meant to apologize for the things I said in the Mirage Arena… and I wish I could take them all back. I’d say that I subconsciously had realized that Master Xehanort wanted to hurt you and Ven, and was trying to push you away to protect you back then… but I don’t even know if I believe that. Take all the time you need. Or even leave me hanging. The choice is up to you.”

And Terra turned to leave, but not before Aqua let her magic find him to help him.

Terra, whether he realized it or not, had given Aqua a great gift in giving her time to think here. And she planned to do exactly that.

…

It was a little while before Terra broached the subject of “them” again, and Aqua was certainly grateful about it.

Though she continued to see him in normal situations: like as they ran the Land of Departure together and continued to train Ventus, Kairi, and Sol… while Aqua and Terra investigated just how the Land of Departure existed between light and darkness, and as Naminé came over again so Aqua could see if she could use her powers to strengthen the witch’s memory magic, so she might be able to connect to the missing Sora…

But eventually, Terra was curious once more… and yes, he had his shirt off again (and this time, it even made Aqua laugh). But this time, there was a good excuse for it: they were putting a pool into the castle. (And Terra had been good before this, and worn his shirt in all the normal situations they’d been having lately.)

“So, have you made up your mind, Aqua?” Terra asked her now, earnestly. And he took Aqua’s hand into his own when he asked this—as if doing so was the simplest thing in the world; maybe it was—and Aqua found her breath hitching in her throat as he did it. So perhaps this would be easy, after all…

“I have,” Aqua smiled, as she resisted the urge to push Terra back into the pool that he’d just gotten out of. She imagined Kairi might have done that to Sora and/or Riku… but Aqua wasn’t that feisty. Yet. Mayhap she would be soon, for having spent so much time with the younger girl these days.

“And to be honest, Terra… This has been hard for me to wrap my head around. For a while, I was starting to think I saw you as a brother—as a defense mechanism?—but you responding to my anger so gracefully the other day? It showed me just how much you’ve grown. And I like who you were back in the day,.. but I think a love who you are now. But while I do have romantic feelings for you, I wasn’t sure if I had sexual feelings for you… but now I think that I might. And I’d probably be willing to try and have a relationship with you.”

And though Aqua was now looking at Terra with the expression of a love-struck teenager, she was sure, she hated how unfeminine she had just sounded. Or like her feelings for Terra were just a business transaction. Perhaps Terra had been right all those years ago, when he’d said that she was “such a girl” only sometimes…

But then Terra pulled Aqua into a kiss out of the blue. And oh, his hand on her back that was ever slightly going down was good—as was them being pressed flushed against each other, while Terra was shirtless—and the way Terra’s tongue probed Aqua’s mouth in a way she was sure another part of him wanted to was also wonderful; and Aqua felt heat growing in her stomach as they held onto each other and made out even longer. Oh, how Aqua loved that Terra was also sweet—his arms wrapping around her shoulders now, as hers were on his waist—and tasted like sugar.

And when Terra eventually pulled away for air, Aqua knew she was grinning at him like an idiot. But surely it was her turn to act like a silly-goose around him, and not the other way around.

“I think you were right before, Terra,” Aqua told her… boyfriend now, holding both his hands like a young school couple would do—surely taking a page out of Sora and Kairi’s book, as she did so. “Let’s be happy and together. I mean, we pretty much have an adopted daughter in Sol now, so why not go the full nine-yards and get married or something?”

And Sol appeared that very moment, as if to prove Aqua’s words as valid. And she grabbed both of Aqua and Terra’s hands and began pulling them away somewhere.

But Terra kissed Aqua on the head—and oh, how she flushed here—before the two of them could trip over their own two feet after Sol, and made her heart still, like he had been doing since they were teenagers. “Proposal accepted, Aqua.”

Author’s Note: The scene of Terra and Aqua in the Mirage Arena is something I wrote in an old Terqua fic of mine (as is Terra and Aqua kissing the night before their Mark of Mastery, now that I think about it), that I’ve since deleted. And I decided to bring that back here:

)In fact, this entire fic was sort of inspired by that story. Because there was one Terra shirtless scene in that fic. And one reviewer of it loved the story, but thought that was a little fan servicey (LOL)… and I decided to take that up to eleven here, almost as a joke: even though this ended up as a serious story in the end.

The Sol stuff is because I figure Terra and Aqua (and maybe Ven eventually?) will probably start taking up Keyblade apprentices, but I don’t know how young or not young a person is when they’re first taken to the Land of Departure. For this fic, I decided to go with really young for the hell of it (even though I doubt someone would be a potential wielder this young in canon), maybe based on some other KH fanfics I’ve read where that happened. And the little girl being named “Sol” is a reference to Terra and Aqua’s daughter in The Genius Mage’s fic “Birth of the Sun”. “Sol” means “sun” in Latin. And of course, the Wayfinder Trio’s names are Latin.

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kyzveryown · 4 years ago

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Observations: Dark Road #1 [Old Post]

So, this is the very first of many Kingdom Hearts Dark Road, "Observations" posts. These are posts that I initially write for Union Cross, but since KHDR will be the next installment with it's own overarching story, I decided to make one for specifically for KHDR. I spent about an hour or two doing research on the new characters and this is what I have so far.

Urd is one of the three Norns of Norse mythology whose role was to decide the fates of people. Urd, Skuld and Verdandi dictate the destinies of people and determine they're fate. Of the three Norns, Urd represents the past. Skuld represents the future and Verdandi the present.

Vor is the Goddess of Wisdom; also known as "the careful one". She was tasked with finding fresh water. Vor was fascinated by water. She’d spend hours staring into various wells whilst practicing her power to 'see things'; like prophecies of the future and the many mysteries and truths hidden within the darkness. She was able to do this by covering her eyes or wandering into dark places. Vor loves helping people, she’s brutally honest and quick-witted, and she’s known to have a sharp tongue.

Bragi is the skaldic Norse god of poetry. Bragi is known for his excellent wordplay (sly sweet talker), melodic speech and his wisdom. There are three skalds named Bragi however only one of them is relevant - Bragi Boddason whose known as the first skaldic poet.

Hermod is known as the "Messenger of the Gods". His name means "war-spirt". Hermod was a shaman; he could communicate with the spirit world (and possibly the underworld) by altering his consciousness. For example thought not entirely accurate, he could possibly speak to dead people if he fell asleep which sounds suspiciously like Versus XIII Notcis. I don't really know what to make of Hermod aside from that.

Initially, I connected Urd to Luxord because of his title "Gambler of Fate", his affinity for games and recent actions. Games have a fixed number of paths leading either to success or failure, which are dependent upon the choices players make based on the limited number of options they have. In a way, you could say that the Norns (specifically Urd) are like the Composers in The World Ends With You.

Aside from the suspicious Jenova eyes that somewhat match the Master of Masters' Gazing eye, Vor could be Kairi’s Grandmother. This was something I thought about way back when the blurred artwork was released. I’m just glad she’s not Ventus...again. Vor seems like she’ll be good at magic given she’s dressed like a mage. The thing Urd is wearing looks like Vanitas’s helmet with the glass protector off. She also reminds me of a cat.

Bragi seems like a 'cloak-and-dagger' type of character; someone who talks shit but moves in such a way you can never predict their actions. He looks like a mixture of Izaya from Durarara!, Mikoto Suoh from “K” and Loki from (ugh!) Fairy Tail. I sincerely hope that Bragi ends up being the Kingdom Hearts version of Izaya. Hermod reminds me of Ira for some reason. He gives off an authoritative presence. Maybe he’s the class leader.

That’s about it though. If something else comes up, then I’ll write about it other wise that’s it. I’m excited for KHDR’s story.

#old post #kingdom hearts #khdr #khux #kh dark road #observations

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chibi-mushroom · 4 years ago

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Day 1: Reunion

My entry for Rikunami week day 1! *warning*: I do kill off Luxu and Riku gets fairly hurt. Nothing is described in detail though, so take it as you will.

The sound of metal clashed and rang through the air. Sora and Kairi were facing the Master of Masters and the foretellers together high up on the crag that loomed above them while Riku and Yozora had someone else to eradicate: Luxu, otherwise known as Xigbar. Sora and Kairi would be fine, despite the heavy disadvantage in numbers, Riku knew. What he needed to focus on was his battle here and now. He still had the face of Xigbar, someone he had gotten to know of while he was infiltrating the organization. For the most part, Xigbar had been unimpressive and unimportant. If he could just turn back time and warn himself….

"Give it up, kiddo. I believe I have the high ground." Luxu smirked before teleporting away and shooting at them while upside down.

"High ground doesn't matter when your opponent can still move!" Riku growled. He summoned a barrier to surround himself while he leapt at the one-eyed enemy.

Together Riku and Yozora yelled as they brought their swords down toward the man. He was slick and managed to dodge them, preferring to fight from a distance. With a laugh, he shot a pair of lasers that looked more purple than the others. There hadn’t been any time to look at them closely however, as they were homing missiles. In tandem they struck in a wave of flame and burned into the skin on his arm as he tried to deflect them.

It had been a long battle and Riku found he was out of potions. He grit his teeth. His mana was growing low too, and he only had one more ether. With a groan, he chugged it down while Yozora used his crossbow to match Luxu's fighting style. Throwing the bottle aside, Riku charged right back into the action. As long as he could save his magic for healing, then everything would be alright. He hoped. If they couldn't stop Luxu, then Sora and Kairi were done for. All the training, blood, sweat and tears he had shed were all leading to this moment. It was time to use the strength he had cultivated to protect what mattered.

"You're done for!" He called.

Riku swung his heavy keyblade diagonally down at Luxu while Yozora kept him distracted. At least they had numbers to their advantage. Thankfully the attack hit, dropping the enemy to the ground with a hard *plop*. Riku wasted no time in swinging again, but Luxu had rolled over and blocked Riku's attack with a keyblade that had been pulled out of thin air. The shock of the ace up his sleeve had been enough to cause the keyblade master to leap back and take a couple of quick breaths.

Where had that come from?

"I thought I told you pipsqueaks; I'm plenty worthy for one of these. It's no no name, but it'll do."

The blade was dark with a firey looking handguard colored in deep reds while the teeth were a dark blue and in intricate swirls. The keychain had an eye, same as the Master of Master's blade, but instead of the piercing blue, it was the near golden color that Riku had grown to hate. Seeing it could only mean trouble. As he was holding his keyblade aloft to attack one again, the acrid scent of darkness filled Riku's mind. All at once he was back in Castle Oblivion, being followed by a demon. Although he knew he had defeated the shadow, his mind was still there for just a second. A familiar voice called out for him and he turned.

Look out!

"Pay attention!" Yozora chided, pressing his blade against Luxu's. He had blocked the attack.

"The worlds are colliding. Maybe he heard his girlfriend." Luxu laughed. "She's been trying to reach you, you know. Who would have thought she'd become such a powerful witch?"

Riku leapt to the side and slashed at Luxu with a growl. A witch. That was all the organization had ever seen her as. But she was so much more. She was a healer, a listener, a dreamer and a doer. Gone was the small scared girl who obeyed for fear of being alone. She was confident, more mature and wiser now. Atonement had been made and she would never have to go back to that world ever again.

"Riku, if we want any chance to keep the worlds safe, we need to finish him now!" Yozora barked.

"Right!"

A small light appeared from both of them; blue for Riku and red for Yozora. They held their weapons together and took aim. So they were able to link after all that time. Now, Riku could only hope it would strike true. His mana was completely depleted from the attack and his energy would likely be gone afterward. As the laser was coming toward him, Luxu saw his lives before his eyes. This would be the end. But he wasn't going to go alone. He held up his keyblade and shot out a bolt of dark energy, taking aim and letting it loose just as he was hit.

The light encompassed Luxu entirely and all that was left was a small cloud of darkness that dissipated a second later. But it seemed that he would get what he wanted. The dark bolt had a homing spell and it was locked on Riku, striking it's mark in the chest. Incredible pain seared through his body as he dropped from the link attack. The earth was shaking and Yozora rushed to his side.

"Hey, wake up! We did it. You can't die yet!" Yozora shook the keyblade master.

There was a loud crack and the ground beneath Yozora's feet began to split apart. He grabbed Riku and jumped up with what remaining power he had. Neither were in any condition to make it through a world collapsing in on itself. High above them was a light shining. It must have been Sora and Kairi. The worlds were starting to move back to normal. Riku could feel it. They had defeated the one who started all of this and now they could rest for real this time. Not that he was surprised; not by any stretch of the imagination. He believed they could do it. They were strong together. One of the regrets he had was that he wouldn't get to go home with them- not if Yozora was going to make it back to his Sora.

"Make sure Sora and Kairi get home." Riku yelled at his near clone.

“What do you mean?” yozora looked down at him.

“We can’t both make it, and we both know I’m dead weight. Now go before I find some way to blast you into the light!”

Yozora looked down at him with pain in his dual colored eyes. But he also understood. This was a war and war took casualties. It was better that one of them make it back to his own world line than neither of them. With a ‘thank you’ on his lips, Yozora dropped the keyblade master, and he fell into the dark depths of where the land was converging. Using the last of his strength, Yozora pushed himself upwards until he managed to touch the light ahead of him. He was going home.

As he fell, Riku closed his eyes. He had already been heavily injured during the battle with Luxu, and the last hit was enough to end it all. With a resounding clunk, he landed on some dry ground, rocks all around him. By some miracle he hadn’t been crushed, but the earth was still shaking. All he could do was pray. Well, pray and think about what he would have done differently if he had been given the chance. He wished he had been bold enough to tell Namine exactly what he thought of her and the love that had grown in his heart for her over the last two years before he left. She might have known, but it wasn't enough. He needed her to hear it with her own ears. As he closed his eyes, images of her flashed through his mind.

A moment later he awoke, body still heavy from the fall. If he moved too much, he would still feel the pain ringing through his chest. All of his senses were dulled, but he could tell that he was alone. Utterly, absolutely alone. Perhaps it was fitting. Sora and Kairi belonged to the realm of light. They had defeated every one of their foes and finally found their way back to each other. It was about time they were able to go home and be regular kids. There had been enough wandering and adventuring for a long time.

Wasn't this exactly what he had planned for just over a year ago in the rooms of the Twilight Town mansion? Sora and Kairi could be together now while he remained away. Of course, last time Namine hadn’t been left alone. She was inside Kairi’s heart. Now she had a replica body of her own. How ironic that she would be the one with friends and he would be alone. A small chuckle left his throat, followed by heavy coughs. He groaned at the pain that seared through his chest. As he lay in agony, he couldn’t help but wonder if she would weep for his loss. He hoped not.

I wonder if my heart went to the same place yours did.

After the thought crossed his mind, he closed his eyes. He didn’t know how long he was out, but when he opened his eyes again to the same dark and dreary rock-filled landscape, he heard a pair of footsteps. They were light and Riku noticed a dim pillar of light beside whoever was coming. But who was here? He was on a piece of desert in between the world lines. How would they even….

A soft hand brushed his hair before carefully sliding him onto what must have been their lap. One hand threaded itself through his damp locks while the other glowed green over his body. Instantly he could breathe without pain, although he was still drained of energy. The hands that held him were small but coarse.The scent….it was familiar and almost too good to be true. His mind must have been bringing back her memory.

"N-namine…" Riku whispered.

"I'm here.We found you just in time." Namine replied softly.

"Then who…?"

"Your replica. It's a long story, but he helped strengthen the connection between you and I, and helped lead me to you. I got a little lost at the point where the world lines converged though, so I had to look into your more recent memories to get here. I'm sorry."

Riku shook his head. He could barely see his replica anymore, as the light he gave off was fading fast. Wordlessly the spirit placed a hand on Namine's shoulder and pressed his forehead to hers. She closed her eyes and whispered a soft goodbye as a tear fell from her eyes and fell onto Riku's cheek. A second later, the replica was gone and the soft light he gave off had turned to darkness.

The ground beneath Riku felt dusty and dry. It seemed to go on that way for a long time, but at least all of the rocks around them were gone. Instead it was all nothingness; a dreary wasteland of dry ground. While he didn't want to give up hope of getting home, the realist in him figured they'd never see their friends again. He was so tired. At least he had Namine with him. She had a way of grounding him and giving him the will to move on, even if it seemed all hope was lost. He regretted not bringing her with him in the first place on the search for Sora; she was stronger than she looked. But she was here now and that was all that mattered.

Slowly, he moved his hand up to cup her cheek. He didn't have strength to hold it there, but Namine somehow knew what he wanted and held his hand in place, leaning into his touch. She was warm- much warmer than she had ever been in the Castle or Twilight town. He didn’t understand why that particular detail stood out to him so much, perhaps he was losing it faster than he had expected. It could have been days that he had been here and he wouldn’t be able to tell.

"It doesn't matter." She had to have read his mind. "As long as we're together, that's what's important, right?"

“Yeah.” he attempted to look at her through the darkness. It had been a long time since he had been able to see despite being blinded. “Hey Namine, do you believe in fate?”

“No.” She paused. “Do you?”

Now it was Riku’s turn to pause. He had believed in it for a long time. When they had started this adventure, he figured fate was on his side. Then everything had changed for him and he didn’t know what to believe in any more. The only solids he had to go off of were his friendships with Sora, Kairi and Mickey as well as the warm stirrings that tugged at his heart anytime the tiny blond looked at him. With her eyes capturing his, Riku wondered if she hadn’t been aware of the noise it was making.

“Maybe. But even if it’s all a lie, if we ever get back to the islands, let’s share a paopu.” Riku spoke softly.

“Y-you want to share one….with me?”

“Yeah. I do.”

Tears began to fill her eyes. A wide smile crossed her face. Instead of saying anything, she simply beamed at him and shook her head. A single droplet fell on his cheek. But it wasn’t a tear. It was a warmth and light that he was unfamiliar with. He looked up to the heavens to see little drops falling from the sky and breaking through the clouds. All at once they opened up, revealing a bright burst of light. When the darkness was dissipated, the previously dusty and empty grounds were filled with wildflowers of every kind and soft grasses. The world around them had gained new life and a gentle wind blew across the hill. It began to push the clouds away, revealing a beautiful blue sky. Riku knew where they were now. It was on the shores of the mainland on a hill not too far from the ocean.

“Where….?” Namine looked around.

“We’re home. Something brought us back.”

“It must have been your heart. You don’t have to share a paopu with someone to have an unbreakable connection. Sora and Kairi must have been calling out to you.” Namine suggested, looking around. “After all, if I managed to find you when the place you were was falling apart, who’s to say we couldn’t be led back? Maybe it was fate after all.”

She blushed as his hand brought her face back to look at his. The keyblade master looked relieved. He had been so tired during the last two years and Namine had tried to be there for him as much as possible. Perhaps she had been fated to love him from the start. He had loved her other first, but still managed to see her for her, not for Kairi. They had spent many long hours together hoping to find some sort of light to cling to. Somehow they hadn’t realized that it wasn’t light or darkness that they were hanging onto; they were holding onto each other and keeping the other from going too far into one or the other. He loved her despite her darkness and she loved him even though the light blinded her so.

“Hearts and connections are powerful things.” Namine spoke, her voice just above a whisper.

There was one thing her heart was pleading for. She needed him to understand just how much he meant to her. When this part of their adventure began she had told him good luck without obliging her heart for fear of many things- all excuses now, really. She wouldn’t betray it again. Carefully, she leaned down and pressed her lips against his. It was sweet and chaste, not nearly lasting long enough. If he were honest, Riku barely had any time to process what was happening before it had ended. So when she pulled back, he let the weight of his hand pull her back in for another, this time allowing himself to move his lips against hers in ecstasy. No thoughts ran through his mind. He was simply there in the moment, being cradled by the person he wanted to protect the most. The one fate had in mind for him a long time ago.

From off in the distance they heard a voice calling out to them. It caused them to break apart, blushing furiously. Both knew it had to be Sora. He was calling their names, running up the path with Kairi’s hand in his and followed by Donald, Goofy and the King. She cautiously sat him up, and he silently assured her he was okay to do that on his own. As their friends approached, both Riku and Namine saw their friend’s faces all aglow from realizing that everyone was safe at home.

“We thought we lost you there, buddy.” Sora hugged his friend. “If you wanted a little alone time with your girlfriend, just tell us next time.”

Riku began to stutter out some excuse but when he couldn’t find the words, he simply gave sora a playful shove. Kairi hugged him next, and then Mickey. They really were home. Riku looked up to the sky. There was only one sky; one destiny. With the major threats to the universe gone, he could make of it whatever he wanted. Until then, there was this perfect moment; this lasting memory where he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was home and had everything he needed as long as his friends and the girl he loved most by his side. Whether destiny or fate was real or not, he would never need to meet it alone again.

#rikunami week 2020 #rikunami #namiku #day 1 #replinami #hinted at #inspired by ff8 #drawing to come

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