#i wanted to feel like Yozora. maybe later

[bluepopofanarts]

Me playing again KH2 and seeing Luxord Heartless. A bit familiar by his design with the Lich ? (And by the name because Grim Reaper is also a "Death" vocabulary's family )

The same Heartless that pushed Sora using the power of awakening the time too many and causing him to finish in Quadratum. Where the "Luxord looking driver guy" is ?

Plus they share some same elements:

- the design/name like I said. By the sad eyes with the red version and the Lich.

-the symbolism of cupidity. If Reaper is the Greed of Jack for gold, the Lich is Sora's Greed for his friends. And these two Heartless try to steal it by inducing death to their victims (Jack by keeping the Aztec coffin curse in place and Sora by using a magic that cost him something)

-Reaper appeared in the only world with "real humans" and the Lich is kind of a guardian gates to a "real human world that happens to be imagination but in this world the imagination is Sora's reality". I know there were also Reapers in Dark Road but I don't really remember what kind of Greed they represent (Queen of Heart ? Keyblade Weilders gang greed for I don't remember what ?).

Another hints to link Luxord to the mysterious driver...

That guy is pretty enigmatic. He knows things but nit everything...

...Don't judge me...I'm waiting KH Missing Link and KH4 news the best I can.

[luridaemos]

i know people are tired of versus 13, but i've been thinking about if anything from the trailers will be made relevant to kingdom hearts 4 lately so i want to just dump my thoughts here. also a little bit about the 4 trailer because a certain line is bugging me and i’m going stir crazy waiting for news. like for one "there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so" was so important that it was in all of the trailers until the direction change and could possibly be mentioned by mom or yozora himself. if maybe "the true figure is still hidden in sleep" is still important with how much sleep still seems to be (sora and yozora sharing dreams but also riku’s dreams and sora’s apparent coma upon arriving in quadratum). strelitzia is the new white-robed figure & it’d be so cool to maybe see a variation of yozora vs strelitzia or even sora vs her:

i kind of feel like maybe the conversation between noct and stella might have been mostly scrapped

i think mainly the parts about a select people being able to continuously see a light in the sky after a near death experience from which they gain power from at the cost of another's life. but the stuff about etro opening the door for the dead and a light shining down could easily become “door to kingdom hearts” related or even related to the meteor shower that happened on destiny islands. maybe worked into the characters we know arriving in quadratum the way kairi arrived on destiny islands.

there’s also the whole “eyes that see the light of expiring souls” and “there are things i just ‘know,’ and i have no idea how.” which i guess could now be yozora being able to go to the final world in his dreams. 

plus an conversation that happens directly after noct talks to stella after their first trailer interaction which boils down to a disembodied voice asking who noct is and him responding that he was going to ask them the same thing. a line added in a later trailer is him saying “goodbye. whoever you are.” which i’m thinking could either be now yozora talking to whoever stole his appearance/whoever told him to “save sora” or completely reworked into his meeting with sora in the final world. i think it’d be super interesting if yozora had spoken to the person who stole his appearance before hand and maybe even become friends before it happened, but i’d honestly be okay if that isn’t the case. it being whoever told him to “save sora” could also lead it to him not knowing who stole his look and that maybe the same person took nameless star’s name.

i’m also wondering if “the heart resides within the soul, which in turn is guided by fate to its rightful place.” and “the choice is yours once more.” form the kh4 trailer is related to yozora saying “if you are who you say, and it was fate that brought us here, then... my path is clear.”

i also wonder if “guided by fate to its rightful place” is more related to yozora or sora, or perhaps everyone who isn’t supposed to be in quadratum and it’s clear that it’s up to sora to decide what to do. sorry if this is all something people have already talked about at length. i just figured i might as well use this tumblr dump my hyperfixation thoughts somewhere.

[greetings-inferiors]

Today I fought Xion’s data battle in remind and

HOLY FUCKING SHIT

It goes SO HARD

Like I love Xion but Jesus Christ she might have the best data fight, not only is she just FUCKING BADASS with how she zooms around and shoots pillars at you like it’s a fucking dragon ball fight, but her music is also just really fucking good? Like 100% better than the original, which was already one of the series’ best themes.

And

HER LIGHT PILLARS DECREASE YOUR MAX HEALTH????????????

I kind of wish Xehanort couldn’t do this because I think it would be way cooler if it was unique to Xion (Yozora can keep his, I’ll talk about him later). Overall a fucking fantastic fight, my only wish was that for her dm she turned into a massive mech like in days but instead of being an Ursula ass boss actually be a massive giant fight with mobility and you have to climb her and stuff it’d be sick. Seriously imagine the floor breaks away to reveal the sky of twilight town and she’s flying around as a massive mech as you dodge and try to fight her it’d be sick.

Anyway 10/10 boss fight, only usurped by Yozora, who HOLY SHIT HE’S SO FUCKING GOOD. I HAVEN’T EVEN BEATEN HIM YET. BUT I SPENT ALL DAY FIGHTING HIM AND WANT MORE.

I think this is the closest kingdom hearts has gotten to a perfect fight. My literal only problem with it is that his life/item steal can seem random (sometimes I stop it in one hit and sometimes he takes my entire stock of potions, no inbetween), and I can’t figure out how to escape his dm’s final hit. But those both seem like skill issues, like there’s a way to counter them and i’m just missing it. Oh also the robot attack is lame, it’s a cool reference but the only reason I get hit by it is it’s so easy and long my eyes glaze over and whoops I got hit.

But the rest of the fight is fucking perfection. Every move of his is brutal and fair. Everything can be dodged or blocked, there’s just a tight window, and the way they do his openings are so sick. Basically he knows when he’s open for attack, so before “finishing” his combo he’ll jump back and say “nope” or “no chance” and get out of danger. So if you can predict when he’ll feint and end his combo and chase after him you can get massive damage in, but if you preemptively block you are massively punished. It really feels like an all out brawl with a fighter just as skilled as Sora.

Anyway I’ll try again tomorrow, I got him to his last healthbar on one of my attempts, I just run out of steam and had no recharge and no hi-potions left. I’ve sort of figured out a semi consistent method to deal with the item steal attack, make sure you’re in ultimate form and hit him just as he turns vulnerable but before he sucks your items, but sometimes he still just ignores you and hits you anyway. Firaga spam sometimes works but it seems less consistent. I still haven’t figured out his dm yet, if anyone has any advice for those moves that’d be appreciated but part of me wants to beat the fight on my own. Truth be told it is on standard, so maybe when I eventually replay kh3 I’ll do all of remind in critical. Who knows. (I did do my initial playthrough of kh3 on critical but just wanted to get through remind so replayed it on standard, and I just now returned to it since if i’m not gonna finish the kh marathon may as well play the only story content I haven’t experienced.)

[keybladeboy]

Well I don't just mean the drive forms. I also mean the magic Donald used so you could shape shift! M!a- You get to have the shape shifting magics again! Small caveat, like the other magics you gotta train yourself to do better and longer forms of glamour.

𝐎𝐁𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐃 [Drive Forms: Valor, Wisdom, Limit] 𝐎𝐁𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐃 [World Forms: Lion, Merman, Retro, Data, Toy, Vampire / Christmas, Pirate, Monster]

instinctually, sora knows his abilities have been altered. he doesn't dare test them, not yet. honestly, he's just sitting on the couch. he doesn't want to scare strelitzia while they're enjoying a movie (or god forbid yozora, he might shoot him again) when it really hits him. and indeed, it happens all at once, the feeling of his magic power increasing trifold. it's almost too much — but it's as exciting as it is scary.

it's a feeling he typically chocks up to adrenaline, or donald deeming him worthy of more responsibility, or even the natural evolution of his practical experience. back when things made sense, he'd feel that gut churning after taking down some gargantuan heartless in a strange world he'd only just started exploring. this new lost trio he's found himself in — he, strelitzia, and yozora — haven't encountered that many heartless in the year he's been here, so it honestly leaves him wondering where this sudden burst of power came from. why now? what changed? maybe later, when strelitzia is sound asleep and yozora is off doing... whatever he does at night, sora can explore the city and test his abilities to their ( current ) full extent. sora doesn't like keeping secrets... but it would be hard to explain this sudden burst of magic power. it's not like he'd be able to adequately explain, anyway — someone online did it... maybe? they'd think he's officially lost it. he already won't stop yapping about his old friends, ten times as much as they do. ( strelitzia may find his rambling entertaining, at least. ) distantly, sora wonders if it's the result of his friends reaching out to him in their own ways. maybe they're helping him in spirit, if not in person. is it donald, continuing to protect him with his strong magic? is it yen sid, trying to help him find his way back? is it kairi, ensuring her light shines through to him like it did before? is it riku, using his new strength as a keyblade master to push past the boundaries of the worlds to ensure he's safe? ( he tries not to dwell on all the questions in his head, but admittedly it does help him sleep that night; no matter who is responsible, at the very least, he will be better equipped to protect the people in this strange new world he's in. )

[minijenn]

Anyway now that I am awake fully and coherent, here are some Thoughts (and not all of them are nice): 

I’m very meh on Sora’s new design; his outfit is very simple and bland and nowhere near as memorable as his other designs 

The overall art style is also very meh for me; it doesn’t stand out as much as 3′s does. I’m hoping that look is only really present for Quadratum and things go back to looking a little more Disney-esque outside of that (like Donald and Goofy looked normal at the very least) 

STRELITZIA IM CRYING SHE ACTUALLY LOOKS GREAT AND I CANT WAIT TO WATCH HER AND SORA INTERACT I WANT THEM TO BE BESTIES 

GAMEPLAY LOOKS SICK KEYBLADE TRANSFORMATIONS HHHH GRAPPLING HOOOK KEYBLADE BRUHHHHH

Who the fuck that other black coat wearin motherfucker vibing with MoM? Luxord? Demyx? Some other rando? 

If Quadratum is like the afterlife for Keyblade wielders, then I wonder who else we might see there. Ava maybe? (idk if she’s actually dead but if she turns up there I’d be really hype) 

What the fuck Riku boutta look like in Quadratum tho 

So apparently Donald and Goofy are going to Hades for advice about how to find Sora??? I swear to god if Hades somehow transports them to Quadratum I’m gonna need hyper realistic Donald and Goofy in modern Japanese fashion ASAP 

I’m... worried about if there will be Disney worlds and how they’ll be included; Disney has been putting out a lot of bangers lately and it would be a shame if we had to wait to see the likes of Moana and Zootopia in a later game; granted this is a numbered title so I feel like Disney worlds are a given; I just hope that it’s Sora going to them because I love watching his dumb ass interact with the Disney characters 

Still very worried about how characters like Roxas, Xion, Terra, Namine, ect, will factor into the series moving forward, I’m really worried about them being sidelined and forgotten about 

Another fucking KH prologue mobile game... yay... :/

Dark Road being put off till August is wow like wtf are they putting in this damn thing to need so much time on it 

Very fucking worried this will be a PS5 exclusive no way in hell am I buying a PS5 just for this sorry babes

Not a goddamn Yozora in sight, my life is happy again, now the fandom can maybe shut up about the More Boring Riku for five fucking seconds 

There are CARS IN THIS GAME PLEASE NOMURA LET SORA DRIVE A CAR BADLY 

And finally, never before have I related more to an NPC before in my life: 

[heyitsyn]

5 Hours Is Nothing Compared to 18 Years

Dad!Oikawa Tooru

a/n: can i just say how lucky his daughter would be?

Oikawa Tooru:

"ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴛᴀʀꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴜɴɪᴠᴇʀꜱᴇ ᴍᴀᴅᴇ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ʜᴏᴍᴇ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇʏᴇꜱ ᴏꜰ ᴀɴ ᴀɴɢᴇʟ-ᴍʏ ᴀɴɢᴇʟ"

papa tooru is woken up at night

word count: 1.1K

son: oikawa yozora

daughter: oikawa luna

as you turned on your side, you subconsciously reached over to wrap your arm around your husband when you felt cold sheets rather than his warm body. confused, you flailed around blindly until you gave up and decided to look for yourself. your eyes fluttered open and the darkness of your room greeted your vision but through your open door, you saw there was a faint light from the hallway. at first, you thought it was simply yozora reading his book because he couldn’t sleep. but then you noticed that his room wasn’t on the same side of the hallway. on instinct, you turned to the baby monitor on your bed-side table and noticed the familiar mess of your husband’s hair, watching him rock your daughter with a small smile on your face. of course, still groggy with sleep, you turned to your back and stretched a little bit before sitting up and grabbing your robe to investigate that light. you had a feeling that you would find your missing husband there too.

it was silent in the cottage.

the soft padding of your footsteps softly echoed throughout the hallway and you sniffed at the chilly temperature in the house. you tightened your arms around yourself before yawning then finally arrived at the destination of the light. coincidentally, it was your daughter’s bedroom and you quietly chuckled, knowing tooru probably turned it on when he arrived. 

the door was already opened by an inch so a soft judge from your arm made it swing open and you were greeted with the sight of tooru’s muscular back, slowly swaying left to right and the muscles of his body instinctively flexed to carry the weight of the little girl. deciding to not announce your presence, you kept your arms crossed and leaned against the doorframe to just watch him and let him find you himself.

but he kept his form forward.

then you heard a quiet gurgle and the whispers of your husband filled the silence.

‘i understand it’s hard to sleep, but darling, you’ll suffer later. mama has to take you to the doctor later and you don’t want to be sleeping then, do you?’

to keep yourself from laughing, you bit your lip. it was so uncommon to see and hear tooru talking like that to her. ever since she was born, his voice has taken on a permanent high-pitched baby voice, in reason of wanting to communicate with her, and despite your constant reminders that she’s too young to process it, tooru simply says, ‘i want her to hear her father’s voice’.

you were brought back to reality when you heard her ‘protest’ at her father’s comment and you saw her little feet appear to the side and they wiggled. tooru quietly laughed and he bent down, seemingly giving her a kiss.

‘oh? what did you say? you don’t want to?’

‘eung!’

although it wasn’t technically a word, the 5-month old picked up the habits of her dad after constantly hearing him say it to you and hajime.

‘luna, no ‘eung’. papa wants you to be strong! and healthy! so you must sleep!’

‘(babble)(babble)(babble)’

‘noooo, baby, its not hard. just close your eyes, okay? just close them and you will be sleeping! you’ll meet anpanman there too! you like anpanman, don’t you?’

deciding it was enough, you finally left your spot and wrapped your arms around his waist, feeling him flinch but relax when he heard your voice.

‘she likes it when you sing’

it seems luna heard your voice as well and she looked around, eyes wide in her mission to find her mother. you peaked out from behind tooru and you tiredly grinned at her, a bubble of giggles erupting out of her at the sight of you.

‘remember when i recorded you singing? she only sleeps to that during the daytime. maybe it would work if she has a front-seat view’

your suggestion made tooru nod and you listened to him start his lullaby, your own happiness being obvious by the way you gently rubbed circles around his waist. your face leaned against his bicep and your eyes fixed themselves on your beautiful girl, her inherited brown eyes shimmering from the light of her lamp beside her crib. her h/c hair was a mess and was growing steadily yet she took after her father’s hair texture. if anything, she was truly her papa’s girl at how she was a copy-paste version of tooru with an exception of her mother’s hair color. even as a baby and not even hitting her year-old age, they glinted with the same innocence and happiness you’re familiar with from tooru’s younger self.

those same eyes were steadily closing and small breaths escaped her rosy lips until they fully closed and hid away the beautiful shining orbs of your newborn.

tooru slowly quieted his voice and eventually came to a stop.

for the first time tonight, your eyes drifted up to his and you sighed at the dark circles under his eyes and you felt a slight bit of guilt of being too deep in sleep that he took care of it himself. 

‘tooru, i-’

‘no. you deserve your sleep and no busy schedule will make me not want to go and hold my baby.’

the amount of love in his voice made you smile and you held him tighter.

‘besides, i want to try for her. i want to be the father she and yozora deserve’

you kissed the skin your lips could reach.

‘yozora was also my fault. we were both to blame but we’ve worked it out, haven’t we? we can watch our children grow into great and good people’

he nodded, bring a finger up to softly ghost over her chubby, pink cheeks and tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear.

‘she’s so beautiful, y/n. so beautiful because she looks like you.’

feeling like a schoolgirl again, you hid your face into him and you giggled.

‘oh, tooru. she looks more of you than me and maybe, thats what makes her so beautiful.’

he denied with a shake of his head but he had a smile, a soft smile that would’ve been so alien to him if he was younger but now, it was always there at the mere thought of his princess.

‘you’re right in many things, love, but this is the one time you’re not. you see, she’s especially most beautiful because of her eyes. luna is lucky-so, so lucky-that out of all children, she was picked. a natural beauty since the stars and the universe made their home into the eyes of an angel-my angel.’

the pride and awe radiated from the 6’2 man towards a 25-inch baby made you smile.

tooru’s gaze was now away from the baby and into somewhere else, focus going to the abyss. you were thinking of putting luna back to her crib so tooru could sleep but your husband wanted to hold her a little longer.

‘tooru, you have 18 more years of being able to hold her. 18 years compared to 5 hours of sleep should encourage you to go and rest.’

but your voice fell deaf to his ears and you raised an eyebrow.

‘what are you thinking about, love?’

you asked and softly rubbed his arm. he snapped out of it and looked at you with a serious expression.

‘honey, baby, darling, love of my life, would you be angry if i invest in some samurai swords to ward off future boyfriends? yozora can help too’

oh gosh, there he goes again.

[oveliagirlhaditright]

I'm probably going to get killed for this... but am I the only one who doesn't like Yozora's voice?

And that isn't me knocking Dylan Sprouse or how he voiced him?

I feel like the issue either lies in voice direction, or just what we've seen of Yozora so far, or both.

I think part of my issues with Yozora so far might actually lie with his voice... it just annoys me. It kind of makes me want to punch him in the face.

A lot of that might have to be because of him mocking me while I was losing to him in a fight over and over and over again, though.

But I keep trying to figure out why I loved Versus XIII Noctis from the trailers and hate Yozora, when they're the same character essentially... and I think this is at least part of it.

I also kind of feel like it's maybe too deep? At least with what we know about him so far?

I don't know, maybe we'll learn more about him later and I'll realize it's the perfect fit for him.

Though my hating Yozora thus far also has to do with his ridiculous boss fight, of course, and him crystalizing Sora in the bad ending.

[winterstarqueen]

Hi, can you do an "I'm Sorry" chapter 5 please ?

I’m sorry. (Sora x female reader) part 5.

You were both hit with confusion. You were too lost in thought about Yozora and Sora was just so confused about what his heart wanted. All this time he always chased after Kairi. Because he thought that she was the one for him and maybe that is true. But,for some reason he just can’t push away that weird feeling he got. Maybe if he found Kairi then that would clear things up. She might have the answer. You made dinner in silence. You were too focused on your thoughts to be very talkative tonight. Who was Yozora and how did he know you? Did you meet him before all this? If so when? You couldn’t remember. You were so lost in thought that you accidentally dropped a dish. There was glass everywhere. “Whoa! What was that?” Sora asked going up to you. “S-Stay back! I don’t want you to get hurt.” You said. Thankfully the glass was in big pieces so it was easy to pick up. “Where do you keep the broom?” Sora asked from the other room. “In the closet by the front door.” You said frowning. As Sora was getting the broom it was stuck. He pulled it out to dump over a brown box. “What was that?” You asked frowning. “Um,nothing!” He quickly put the stuff back in. However he saw a small heart shaped box. He quickly put it where he could find it for later. Maybe you could tell him what it is. You picked up the pieces. “I got the broom.” Sora said smiling. You looked at him and then shook your head. “You hold the dust pan. While I’ll sweep it up.” You said. You felt sad. Because here you are trying to make dinner and dropped the bowl. Sora looked at you and looked concerned. “(Y/n) y-you have a cut.” He said before getting up. “Oh?” You asked frowning. “Here. Put this on.” He said taking out a bandage. “T-Thanks...” You said looking away. You couldn’t get attached to the caring boy. You would end up with a broken heart. You couldn’t have that again. You shook your head and put the bandage on. The cut wasn’t too big and there wasn’t glass in it. After you cleaned up and finished dinner you were going to go to bed.

However,Sora stopped you. “Look your favorite movie is on again. Let’s watch it.” Sora suggested. You stood in the doorway. What were you supposed to do? You couldn’t have your heart ripped out again. You didn’t want to admit it. But,you’re kinda afraid of falling into love. Especially when you know that he loves some other girl. You froze in place. “We can make popcorn and have a movie night again.” Sora said trying to spend time with you. “I’m sorry. I’m just a little bit sleepy.” You said trying not sound sad. You knew him all too well. If any one of his friends were sad he would cheer them up. One way or another. Usually at a drop of a hat. “Would you like some tea?” He asked. “No I just need to go to bed.” “Wait! I found this in the closet. Were you looking for it?” Sora said holding out the heart shaped box. You turned around to look at it. Sadness began to swell up inside you. Yuki gave it to you for your birthday one year. “W-Where did you get this?” You asked him. “I found it in the closet. When getting the broom.” “Put it back...” You whispered. Apparently Sora didn’t hear you. Because he was standing there still holding it out. “I said put it back! It’s not important! Nothing in that box is important! So don’t ever ask again!” You yelled crying. “(Y/n)...you’re...” “I know! I know...just please don’t touch anything in that closet again.” You said before turning around. Sora didn’t like seeing you like this. He grabbed your wrist,turning you around and pulled you into a hug. No. You didn’t want this...but,yet you felt like you needed this hug. “I’m sorry that I asked. I didn’t know that it would hurt you.” He whispered. Sora didn’t realize that when he put the box down it opened. Upon hearing the music coming from the small box he sighed. He didn’t understand what you’ve been through. But, he knew that you needed him. You were still crying. “Shh! It’s okay (Y/n). Everything will be okay.” Sora whispered sill hugging you gently. You let go knowing that you probably shouldn’t have hugged him. You went to your room and said good night. Sora went to the guest bedroom and went to sleep. Thinking about you.

Sora was sitting on the weird tree again. He was home now. You actually help him get back and he was glad to be home with Kairi. All that ended quickly when he turned to look at her. He didn’t get that weird feeling again. That feeling that he got when he was with you. It wasn’t in his heart. He looked down. “I’m glad that you came back in one piece.” She said. “I always do thanks to you Kairi.” He said with a smile. “I can’t just forget about you Sora.” Kairi said looking at the sunset. He chuckled. “What’s so funny?” “It’s just. I don’t know how I’m supposed to be feeling. I’m home now. But,I feel like something is...missing. It’s weird. Because I have everything right here. You and all our friends.” Sora said looking at the sunset. He didn’t understand it maybe he had to think about it. “Could you please give me some time to think?” Sora asked. “Yeah. I’ll go talk to Riku.” She said smiling. What was missing? He was back home. He should be happy. But,yet something was wrong. Very wrong. When his friends left he stayed behind and watched the stars. He looked next to him and saw you sitting on the docks. “(Y/n). Is that you?” Sora asked approaching the you. You didn’t say anything as he sat next to you. “Why are you here? Did your home fall to darkness?” He asked you. You didn’t say anything as you looked up at the stars. Sora looked at you. That weird feeling returned. What was this feeling? Again he was confused. But,he liked this feeling. He held your hand and gave it a little squeeze. You didn’t react when he did this. “I have to ask you something. I get this weird feeling lately and I don’t know...” He looked down. To only see your reflection and not his. He shook his head and tried to get your attention. “(Y/n).” He said frowning. “Why am I here? I don’t understand.” You cried before standing up. You were going to run way. But, Sora grabbed your hand. Because he didn’t like seeing you this way. “P-Please don’t cry.” Sora said frowning. You turned around and looked confused. You then took off running. “Wait (Y/n)!” Sora yelled. He didn’t want you to get hurt. The heartless could come. You ran to the secret place. “Why am I here? I have to get back to Yozora.” You asked crying. Sora heard this. You wanted Yozora again? But,why? You didn’t know him at all. You hid in the corner and hugged yourself. Sora reached out to you. He just wanted to hug you and make you feel better. He wanted to see you smile again. Sora was going to hug you. But,for some reason he felt strange again. He felt cold inside again. What was going on? Was this Yozora’s doing? All of this was so confusing. Sora just wanted to make you happy and keep you safe. But, with every step he got more and more frozen. He didn’t care anymore. Your happiness means the world to him. He attempted to hug you. Only to have you not see him at all. “(Y/n)....” He said trying to at least show you some affection. But,all in fail.

Sora opened his eyes to thankfully see the guest bedroom. He couldn’t take this anymore. Sora was going to ask you what that feeling was. You just had to know. He got out of bed and went to the kitchen. You were singing a song while making breakfast. He stop walking and listened. You had a wonderful singing voice. Unfortunately you stopped. “Good morning.” He said. “Morning.” You said. “I’m really sorry about last night.” “Oh? You don’t have to apologize Sora. You didn’t know about that music box.” You said giving him his breakfast. Sora looked at you for a while. “What is it? I would’ve made pancakes again. But,I didn’t have enough ingredients.” “No that’s okay. Actually It’s just. I have been having some weird things happen to me.” Sora said frowning. “Like what?” You asked. Maybe there was something much bigger going on and Sora saw it first. Maybe there was a clue to finding Kairi. “Well,I have this weird feeling.” “Please explain.” “There’s this girl and when I look at her there’s feeling in my heart. I can’t explain it. But, I like being anywhere with her.” Sora said looking at you. “Like you want to do anything with her and you would do anything to protect her?” You asked. “Yes. I don’t care where I am or what I’m doing. As long as I’m with her...I’m happy. Do you know this feeling?” Sora said. You turned around and bit your lip. You couldn’t cry. You didn’t want to look like a bad friend. “It’s called love.” You said not wanting to look at him. “So that’s what it feels like. What happens next? I love (Y/n). Do I tell her and if so when?” Sora thought looking away. He knew what love was. He just didn’t know what it felt like. Until now. He looked at you as you were cleaning up the dishes. “All we have to do is find Kairi and Sora can be happy again. What he has been through he deserves it. But,then what...happens to me? Will I ever find love?” You thought putting the dishes in the dishwasher. This didn’t matter. You didn’t matter right now. Sora had to get home the worlds might be in danger again. Sure there was the other keys. Like Riku and Aqua. But,Sora was just so different from them. “Hey (Y/n). I think your phone is ringing.” Sora said snapping you back into reality. “Huh? I’ll answer it.” You said stopping your house work. You shook your head and went into your room to take the call. “Hello.” You said. You smiled upon hearing the familiar voice.

[atomic-taco-muffin]

May I ask for another part to Riku x shy female reader? When she has flashbacks of Riku and begins to miss him. That was when she sees him in the final world but is still shy. However she lets him hug her. Then she remembered everything as he was stroking her hair.

Riku x Shy!Reader Part 7

Warnings: fluff/angst, more soft!Ansem (yay! I love him!) 

You laid in bed next Yozora. You couldn’t sleep and it was all because of Riku. You didn’t even know who he was and yet your mind was filled with memories of him. You tossed and turned trying to get him out of your head but it wasn’t working. You thought that maybe something to drink would help. You got up and went into the kitchen, not realizing that you woke up Yozora. You grabbed a cup and filled it up with some water. 

“Baby? Why are you up?” Yozora asked as he rubbed his eye. You didn’t hear him walking towards the kitchen so you were shocked. 

“S-sorry, bubs. I-I just w-wanted something t-to d-drink.” you said. 

“It’s okay, baby. I was just wondering why you weren’t in bed. Now let’s go back to bed, I wanna cuddle with you.” (Why must he be so hot?!) 

“O-okay.” You finished your water and went with Yozora back to bed. The next day was worse. Everything that you looked at reminded you of Riku and it was making your head hurt. You tried taking some pain meds but they weren’t working. You told Yozora that you were gonna take a nap and went into the bedroom. You closed the door and held your head. It kept getting worse to the point where it felt like a migraine. You felt dizzy and passed out. When you woke up, you saw that you weren’t in your apartment with Yozora. It was the Final World. You stood up and walked around, trying to find Yozora. You were scared that you wouldn’t find him and hoped that it was all a dream. 

“Please let this be a dream.” you whispered. 

~~~~

Riku was sitting at the dining room table, trying to think of another way to save you. He hasn’t eaten and slept since he lost you in Quadratum. It was scaring Kairi and Ansem. Ansem has seen Riku in pain but not like this. They were about to check up on him until he shot up out of his seat. 

“I got it! One of us will head to the Final World and try and find (Y/N)!” he said. Kairi and Ansem were shocked. How did he know that you might be there? How was he going to get there? 

“Riku, we love the idea. But, uh, how do you know that she might be there and how are you going to get there?” Ansem asked. 

“1. I know she’s there. I can feel it. And 2. I was thinking that you could take me there, Ansem.” Riku said. Kairi and Ansem noticed how tired Riku looked. His hair was all messed up and he had huge eye bags under his eyes. Riku noticed how concerned they looked. 

“I’m going to save her. She’s my girlfriend. I have to save her. Kairi, you’re her sister. You would do the same thing, right?” 

“Yeah, but...what if she’s not there?” 

“She’s. There.” Ansem could feel the darkness radiating off of him and calmed him down the best he could. He agreed to help him find you and they went to work. Ansem was able to create a portal to transport Riku to the Final World. When Riku got there, he started his search. He searched and searched until he found you crying. 

“(Y/N)! You’re here! I knew you’d be here!” he said as he was about to hug you. You shuffled back, scared that he was going to hurt you until the last piece of the puzzle fit into place. 

“R-Riku? I-is that y-you?” you asked. 

“Yeah. It is.” You started crying and hugged him tight. Riku returned the hug while stroking your hair and gently shushing you. 

“I’m so sorry, Riku! I didn’t mean to forget you. I was just confused.” you sobbed. 

“Shhh. It’s alright. All that matters right now is that you’re safe in my arms.” You looked up at him and smiled through your tears. 

“There’s my little bunny.” he said smiling. You giggled and kissed him. He kissed back pulling you in closer. 

“Come on. Let’s go home.” he said. When you two got home, Kairi practically crushed you in a hug. She was just so happy to know that you’re home. When you saw Ansem, you walked up to him and kicked him in the balls. He groaned and toppled over. Riku and Kairi was surprised by how confident you were doing so and laughed. Later that night, you and Riku were getting ready for bed and he hugged you from behind. 

“You have no idea how much I missed you.” he said. You turned around and hugged him. 

“I can tell. Also, Kairi told me how you almost went insane.” you said softly. He was gonna kill Kairi for telling you that. Riku picked you up and brought you to bed. You two cuddled while watching some movies. The two of you went to sleep, knowing that nothing can stop you and Riku from being together. 

[chibi-mushroom]

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.

[herocarved-a]

                    from   @dawnled​ ;   his everything .

❝ I will not stand in front of your happiness. But I will stand in front of every misery that you choose for yourself, or that others choose for you. ❞

               location .   ask meme ;   accepting .

     “ riku ! ”   the name echoes in those empty streets where the neon golds  &&  reds flicker murkily against the puddles of rain water.   it hurts his eyes ---   but then again, what doesn’t hurt ?   his body aches with the memory of his fight with xehanort ;   his throat feels tight with a phantom pressure  &&  his breath stutters against bruised ribs that would have surely cracked had he not been holding the kingdom key.   &&  then to be flung into another fight ---   i lost that one, didn’t it ?   his memories feel as murky as the puddles he steps through.   there’s a chill in the air that he’s not quite sure is just from the recent rain fall.

     &&  then his eyes are drawn to a familiar figure.   suspicion draws his keyblade to his hand --- he lost the power of waking, but how could he lose something gifted to him by the one who loves him most ?  ---  &&  he hesitates to call out again ;   the last time he did...   yozora ?   his grip becomes that much tighter, almost desperately so,  &&  he’s not ready for another fight,   please, just give him a break ---

                                            “ riku ? ”

     his desperation  &&  hope escape as a whisper against the chill in his heart.   this time, it’s him ;   he came.   &&  then, a second later, he chides himself for the venomous doubt he carried until that moment.   he’s slamming into the frame before he’s realized he’s even moved.   there’s relieved laughter bubbling warm past his lips  &&  he nuzzles into the warmth he’s missed.   it’s only as his fingers brush against wings that he pauses.   wings ?  then...

     “ this is a dream... ”   &&  maybe that’s why he didn’t recognize the young man at first ;   maybe that’s why he can’t hear their heartsong even when he feels those familiar fingers coaxing warmth against his cold cheek   (  why is he so cold anyway ? )  &&  why riku feels so, so far away, despite being right here.   both of his hands reach for riku’s.   one curls around his wrist, the other over his knuckles,  &&  he clings like they’re five  &&  six again, as if riku’s the only person that knows how to keep him safe from the monsters in the closet.

     this isn’t exactly a closet, though,  &&  this time, it’s his fault, all his fault.

     “ i’m sorry, riku.   i’m so sorry for not coming home like i promised. ”

     &&  of course his voice cracks with the emotion that engulfs his words.   his eyes take refuge beneath thick lashes as he looks down between their feet to the cracked asphalt.   it’s only when he feels a thumb, calloused  &&  scarred by a war not of their own making, rubs against his cheek in the same way it used to when riku maveled at the freckles that seemed to multiply every summer, that he glances up again.   he expects frustration, resignation, sadness ---   &&  there is sadness, but no anger or accusation.  their foreheads touch  &&  then, a moment later, their lips.

     riku tastes of home.   he’s warm, so warm,  &&  still his ;   he hears the promise whispered between their hearts  &&  leave it to sora to be the one to shed tears in that moment.   he returns to clinging, fingers burying into a jacket that shouldn’t fit with his wings, but do, somehow,  &&  his nose pressed into the crook of his dearly beloved’s neck.   this is a dream, just a dream...   he tries to remind himself, but it’s so hard when he hears those words whispered into his ear  &&  he feels so weak with his relief.

               ‘ i will not stand in front of your happiness.   but i will stand in front of every misery that you choose for yourself, or that others choose for you. ’

     “ i know you will.   i just want to go home, riku. ”   i miss you, i miss you, i miss you ---   &&  then he’s alone in the middle of the empty street, colder than before  &&  left wiping his own tears away with the collar of his shirt.   he touches the crown of his necklace, tries to find comfort in that faraway memory,  &&  bites his lip bloody when that’s not enough.   he whispers into the dark, hopelessly,   “ i love you, riku.   i’ll wait here... ”

[davidmann95]

Your power is mine: thoughts on Kingdom Hearts’ newest, oddest character

Finished Final Fantasy XV over the weekend. Mixed feelings to say the least, but it does give me an excuse to talk about Kingdom Hearts again, specifically this weirdo:

And how it feels like most of the people discussing Yozora and trying to figure out what his deal is are missing half the point. Yes, there’s the apparent connections to Sora and Riku, and there’s his meta association with Noctis and the entire real-life corporate backstory there intertwining with the in-game narrative to an unknown extent. But when he’s discussed as some kind of fusion of Sora and Riku, or a literal reincarnation of Noctis, or that Verum Rex might end up a real game, or something similarly straightforward in terms of “he’s going to be a very important central character going forward”, the ideas or at least the tone of how they’re presented seem to miss an absolutely critical component of how he was introduced to us, in a way that shapes not only him but by extension the entire future of the franchise and its thematic concerns:

We aren’t just supposed to be surprised he’s important because he’s real where we thought he wasn’t. We’re supposed to be surprised because he’s introduced to us as a self-evident gag character.

Not that we’re not supposed to take him seriously where it counts: it’s clear he has an important role going forward and is a force to be reckoned with. But no matter what deep, foreboding connections to the Keyblade and Master of Masters may lie within his backstory that may determine the fate of more universes than one, he will never not have had the hilariously inauspicious beginning of being a toy played by Rex the Dinosaur. He doesn’t even have the dignity of being introduced as a game on one of the plot-heavy original worlds! He’s a throwaway gimmick to spice up one of the filler Disney segments, literally a child’s plaything.

Even before we learn the context he’s being presented in...well, look at him. He’s like Riku, who’s cooler than Sora, and Noctis, a Final Fantasy character and therefore cooler than all this Disney stuff, but also he has a LASER SWORD and a CROSSBOW - that are clearly functioning as cool future tech instead of dopey magical powers - and his eyes are MYSTERIOUS MISMATCHING UNNATURAL COLORS and he fights GIANT ROBOTS with a dude in a fedora in a city straight out of the REAL WORLD to save a helpless lady/prize: truly, let no mistake be made, he is VERY, VERY SERIOUS INDEED, AND ALSO, RAD. TO THE MAX. He’s every attempt at reframing contemporary Final Fantasy as slick and modern and cool dialed up and up and up until the tone breaks, without the barest hint of self-awareness even as it advertises its action figure tie-ins. I don’t think that his little Keyblade pattern on his jacket being near-impossible to spot unless you’re looking for it is just to preserve the surprise, but also because the sight of the big keys with the Mickey Mouse logo on them would be anathema to his entire vibe, so important as it may be it must be squirreled away where it can’t make him look dumb. Heck, when Dylan Spouse announced on Twitter he was playing this major character in a childhood favorite franchise of his, surely knowing more than we do about Yozora, his description of the part was “I have lived out my edgy JRPG character fantasies...I even got to say ‘Sorry, but I don’t lose.’” We’re supposed to receive him off the bat as Square Enix, and more specifically Tetsuya Nomura, poking fun at themselves, going ‘yes, we suppose this is all getting to be a bit much, isn’t it?’

And then he enters the story for real.

Obviously he’s much more than a joke now, but the idea of him as something off, something that doesn’t fit in these games, endures. His episode isn’t just in a modern cityscape but skinned in the graphics of the grittier, more detailed style of the Pirates of the Caribbean world meant to evoke photorealism rather than the look of the rest of the game. He interferes with the gameplay in ways no other enemy does, stealing your items and weapons (we’ll get back to that). When he casts you into a void to be attacked by the mechs, it’s not a pure empty white but a mass of abstract polygonal space, evocative of the visuals of early game development. What details we do get of his backstory frame him as a counterpart to Sora on a parallel journey all his own, but the associations with his other source material in Noctis are considerably more...cutting. Credit to @kitsoa, whose own extensive musings on Kingdom Hearts’ increasingly overt metafictional concerns brought to my attention the obvious parallel: that Yozora being changed ‘beyond recognition’ with his heart replaced by another’s is a reasonable, albeit scathing description of Noctis’s revised character in the shift from the Nomura-helmed Final Fantasy Versus XIII to the largely overhauled Final Fantasy XV (and by the same token, the Nameless Star’s identity being stolen comes across as a shot at Versus XIII’s Stella Nox Fleuret being entirely replaced by Lady Lunafreya. Who, by sheer coincidence, would have been corrupted in planned but cancelled DLC into a monster of darkness).

While the comparisons to his source material are not only intentional but textually overt - his introduction as a real boy is literally scored to the FFXV theme music - so is the distancing from that material, given that if Nomura simply wanted to use Noctis the very premise of Kingdom Hearts as a series could have allowed him to use Noctis, and even change him to fit his original vision however he wished given the design and backstory changes to the other Final Fantasy characters involved. Yozora has a distinct role in which he’s still meant to represent that tone and aesthetic, and all signs point to that being because as that representation, he hardly seems an endorsement. He’s a parody, offered up in a demeaning context and tangled up narratively in real-life creative bitterness before being placed as an antagonist, however well-meaning (though keep in mind every secret boss of his kind before - other than Julius, I suppose - went on to become an endgame boss later on), in the player’s path. He may not be a villain, but all signs seem to indicate he’s a figure to be regarded as a contrast to the heroes.

And it’s in that role as a contrast that I have my own theories about what his deal ultimately is, thematically if not plotwise.

For those who saw this in the Kingdom Hearts tag and aren’t superhero fans, that’s Superdoomsday, introduced in Grant Morrison’s run on Action Comics about 8 years ago. One among many takes on an ‘evil Superman’ from a parallel universe, the twist with his world is that rather than a survivor of Krypton, he is literally the materialized concept of Superman - imagined by his reality’s Clark Kent, Lois Lane, and Jimmy Olsen, who created a machine which could bring ideas to life - that when sold to a corporation was reimagined in service of wide public appeal into an all-powerful, uncompromisingly brutal monstrosity clad in armor somewhere between an iPhone, 90s Rob Liefeld battle gear, and Nazi regalia, who ultimately journeyed into the multiverse to stalk and kill other incarnations of Superman, seeing them as competition to his domination of the ‘market’. “The curse...of Superman...” murmurs the dying Kent of that world, “...he becomes anything you want...him...to be...our world...wanted that...”

Yozora is...probably not exactly a 1:1 to that. But as a counterpart to Sora, it absolutely seems as if the main factor by which he contrasts him is that he’s ostensibly the sleeker, edgier model, new-and-improved. He reworks Sora’s story arc and aesthetic into something theoretically cooler and more palatable, steals his power, ‘saves’ him by sealing him away to presumably fight in his stead and thereby take his place as the lead. He is the protagonist so many feel Kingdom Hearts has needed for years, the somber AMV-ready Secret Movie tone and aesthetic stepping into center stage at last rather than maintaining a sunshiney Disney-esque child hero lead to anchor the assorted conspiracies and horrors of much of the rest of the tale. The manner in which he is presented as to make metatextuality an in-universe concern (to call back to Grant Morrison again, his next work after Action Comics was Multiversity, where a major plot point was that the events of parallel universes were unwittingly documented in each others’ pop culture; in that case comic books, in here video games) for Kingdom Hearts to explore in the next main entry is I believe so as to ask what, in fact, Kingdom Hearts as a series should be; is it a Disney series with some incidental Final Fantasy stuff in it? A Final Fantasy spinoff with some Disney elements cluttering it up that should maybe be discarded as it grows up? Something all its own? Is it time for Kingdom Hearts to get Serious? Even if the Kingdom Hearts as imagined by a marketing executive vision of Verum Rex isn’t what’s next, what is, as things get darker and that vision is now part of the narrative whether for good or ill?

So yeah it looks like Kingdom Hearts IV is Kingdom Hearts vs. its own Gritty Realworld! Urban Fantasy AU fanfiction for the soul of the series, and I am extremely here for it.

[mastrechef]

More Kingdom Hearts stuff just because I feel like it.

“I feel like I should know, that there should still be a connection that I could trace. But there’s nothing there.” Roxas growled and ruffled his hair in frustration. “Dammit, there has to be more I can do besides sit here and feel fucking useless.”

Sitting next to him, Ventus hummed in agreement. “I understand how you feel. I was with him for more than a decade. Sometimes I feel like I know him better than I know myself. Yet when I reach out to find his light...I can’t sense anything.”

For a while after that, the two sat in silence, watching the sunset from the top of Twilight Town’s clock tower. Things had been awkward between them at first, what with being near identical at first glance. There were differences, but they were subtle: the shape of the jaw, the placement of the cheekbones, and Roxas’ eyes were a lighter sapphire to Ven’s royal blue. They probably said no more than three words to each other before returning to their own respective worlds. That changed after Kairi returned and Sora did not, and Ven began to seek out Roxas and Xion as the other two who had once resided in Sora’s heart. All three shared a unique pain at the loss of the boy who had gifted them with a second chance at life; the same boy whom none of them had truly had a chance to speak with.

“You two aren’t still brooding, are you?” The silence was broken by the arrival of Xion, three bars of ice cream in hand.

After a quiet thanks for the ice cream, Roxas smirked at Xion. “Nah, that’s strictly my job. Ven’s not the type to brood.”

“Well what type am I then?”

“You’re the sunshine and rainbows kinda guy. Nothing gets you down for long.”

“That’s not even remotely true,” protested Ven.

“No, I see what Roxas is getting at. If you’re upset about something, you seek out other people to talk to rather than hiding away and isolating yourself.” Xion turned to Ven with a sad smile. “That’s why you came to us in the first place, right?”

The playful atmosphere evaporated and turned pensive. Nothing about their situation was particularly normal, their bond even more so. Before all this, Xion and Roxas had at least been friends, with Ven as the outlier. Yet somehow, the trio fit together like long lost siblings. Now all that was needed was to return their missing brother.

“He’s out there somewhere, I know it. We’ll find him.” Her determination blazed as bright as the sun. Both boys could do nothing less than put all their faith in Xion’s words. So long as there was hope, they wouldn’t give up on the boy who saved them all.

...

There was something strange in the ease with which Yozora found him. Hiding from him was about as easy as trying to hide from a bloodhound. Despite hiding in the upper branches of a haphazardly chosen tree or losing himself amid the maze of clothing racks in some random department store, sure enough, Yozora was there. It was maddening. The only upside to this situation was that Sora felt no need to sleep, so at least he didn’t have to deal with being startled awake only to see Yozora looming over him. Getting knocked out by the guy on a regular basis was bad enough.

Of course there were also the nightmares that had plagued him since the botched Mark of Mastery exam. For a while he’d even been afraid to go to sleep, terrified that Xehanort would be there waiting and trap him again. He had pushed his concerns to the side in favor of more important things. There had been a lot to do to prepare for the final battle and no time to dwell on personal demons.

Being in this realm only allowed him to further ignore those particular demons.

Time passed strangely in this place. It could be hours or days between his meetings with Yozora, but it was impossible to tell for sure, and not just because it was perpetually nighttime. Anytime Sora lost focus or zoned out, he had this sense that time somehow sped up. Yet, whenever he returned to consciousness after a round with Yozora he felt as though no time at all had passed. Was this how Aqua felt stuck in the Realm of Darkness all those years?

There was nothing to do but think and wait for Yozora. He found himself pondering about the other boy’s words. What did he mean by ‘I was told to save Sora’ and what was he supposed to be saving Sora from? It couldn’t be from whatever this place was, since it seemed Yozora was the one ensuring he stayed stuck here. From death? Sora’s already saved himself from that fate once, even if the circumstances were different.

Sora was startled out of his musings by a familiar voice. “Aren’t you looking pathetic.”

He lurched in alarm, flailing his arms as he tried to keep himself from tipping over the edge of the roof he was perched on. He regained his balance and twisted around to see an unexpected figure. “Wha—Vanitas?”

“Did all your ‘friends’ ditch you?” Despite the harsh words, the usual arrogance and anger were absent and instead he just seemed...resigned. All the same, Sora would be on his guard; it was too soon to tell what Vanitas planned to do.

Sora shook his head vehemently. “My friends wouldn’t do that,” he insisted. None of them were the type to do that. (He carefully didn’t think about that brief time he had lost the keyblade in Hollow Bastion. And Riku leaving him behind when he gave in to the darkness didn’t count.) He eyed Vanitas in confusion. “What are you doing here?”

The question got him a bitter laugh. “Did you think I had gone for good? You can’t destroy darkness. It will always be there so long as there is darkness in people’s hearts.”

“I get that.” And he truly did. For all that he fought the darkness, he had come to understand that light could not exist without dark. They were counterpoints meant to balance each other. Just like there was no way to be happy all the time, to eliminate all negative emotions, but those happy moments were made all the more precious by the presence of the downs—so too must light and dark exist in equal measure. Besides, he was no stranger to the reality of the saying ‘bright lights cast deep shadows.’ (Distorted flashes of clawstearrendhungerRAGE came to mind.) “But what I meant was how are you here? This place...it’s...” He trailed off, not really sure what to say. This strange city was a complete unknown, seemingly unconnected to any other world that Sora had visited, except perhaps the Final World; but even so it wasn’t clear how he got from there to here.

“I told you before, didn’t I? I’m your shadow, so of course I’d be drawn to where you are.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. If you were able to find me, shouldn’t the others be able to as well?” There was certainly no shortage of people connected to Sora’s heart, although all his attempts to trace the connection back to them resulted in failure. But if Vanitas could reach him, then maybe it was only his end that was having trouble. Who knew how these things worked when you were technically supposed to be dead.

“If they can’t find you, that’s their problem. Hasn’t got shit to do with me,” he replied, face twisting in a sneer. Apparently fed up with their all too brief interaction, Vanitas started walking away.

“Wait! Vanitas!” A dark corridor appeared and he was gone. Sora slumped back. He wondered if Vanitas was able to leave this place, if he himself was the only one stuck here struggling to escape. He flopped onto his back with a groan. Back to waiting in boredom it was. Funnily enough, he actually wished heartless would show up here; that would at least give him something to do.

Some time later his question was answered in such a way that he almost had a heart attack. Evidently, his concerns about waking up to see Yozora looming over him were the least of his concerns, because waking up to see Vanitas looming over him was much more alarming. Eyes blown wide and heart fluttering like a caged bird, Sora scrambled back to put a little distance between them.

Vanitas only continued to frown at him, brows pinched together.

“You’re still here?” Sora asked after getting himself into some semblance of control.

“I should be asking you that.”

“I can’t leave yet.” Something instinctive told him that leaving wouldn’t be possible until he managed to beat Yozora. So soon after his latest loss, it wasn’t something he cared to think about. Might as well make the most of the other boy’s presence. “Can I ask you something?” A noncommittal grunt was his answer. “Why'd you want to join with Ventus so bad? You and he are two separate people now.”

The look Vanitas gave him openly conveyed his low opinion of Sora’s intelligence. Rude, thought Sora. “I’m nothing more than Ventus’ negative emotions that were pulled out of him. I was never meant to exist to begin with.”

“Yeah, well, neither were nobodies, but that doesn’t make Roxas any less real. He’s not just a part of me—he’s his own person with his own heart. And I don’t believe that you’re nothing but darkness and negativity. Even the deepest darkness has a light that never goes out.”

Vanitas scoffed. “You expect me to listen to your light-side bullshit?”

“I’m not just light, you know,” he snapped, suddenly irritated. “I’ve got my own darkness, same as everybody else. I fought on the light side, yes, but I was just doing what I thought was right. Light and dark...they’re not the same as good and evil—things aren’t so clear cut. Riku’s proof of that. Xehanort was wrong to do what he did, so I stopped him. Simple as that.”

An unreadable look overtook Vanitas’ face. Without a word, he disappeared again.

[thedeliverygod]

Reasons Why I Really Enjoyed Kingdom Hearts III

The music. Every time I listen to the Kingdom Hearts Orchestra -World of Tres- soundtrack, it makes me want to play the game. The music is so much attached to the imagery and gameplay that I can’t seem to separate the two. Granted, I’ve always loved the music of the Kingdom Hearts series. But there is something about hearing music from KH3 that makes me go “wow, I really want to go play in the Kingdom Of Corona right now” etc. That’s something I never really experienced before this game; I of course relate the music to the worlds and moments that they played during, but they’ve never gotten me in the mood to immediately go turn on my console and play. Also, full Kingdom Hearts III soundtrack when??? (I suppose the answer is when all the DLC is released and the soundtrack is considered COMPLETE but... I just really want it okay.)

The visuals. Continuing off the last point... Kingdom Hearts III is G O R G E O U S. I had my doubts about the unreal engine and honestly, I had my doubts about KH getting a more detailed look in general. I enjoyed watching the FMV videos at the beginning and ends of the games but the more cartoony in-game graphics always felt like home to me. It took some time and a lot of trailers to gain my approval, but the final product was gorgeous. Granted... I honestly still have some complaints. Mostly about my old boss, our own King Mickey; I feel the new style doesn’t show his emotions very well but hopefully that’ll improve in time? Moving on from the characters... The worlds. Omg, the worlds. The detail that went into them is astounding; not to mention the effects that magic has on your surroundings when using it! And then of course, there’s the battle animations. Flashy, amusing, and destructive? A win, in my opinion, and definitely true to the Disney name.

World Building. The worlds are finally not lifeless dioramas from the movies! It always bugged me when they’d talk about climbing up a mountain or something like that, and in reality we’d pass through 2 or maybe 3 areas with very gradual elevation changes and the characters would be like “phew what a rough journey” and you’d be like “that literally took one minute but okay”. The North Mountain from Arendelle is a REAL MOUNTAIN. Like the Heartless knocked me off after I had been climbing for like 20 minutes and I felt like I had suffered an actual loss. How dare they make my perilous journey even longer by knocking me off the side of the mountain?! Luckily, I found a shortcut so it was fine, but it actually felt like accomplishing something while climbing that mountain which was... amazing. My other favorite experience was gathering together the green blocks to make the cactaur in Toy Box. Being in that play area made me feel like a kid again, I haven’t been in one of those spaces in so long and it was nostalgic and just so fun to crawl through all of those ball pits and tunnels to find those blocks. Lastly, there were finally citizens in the worlds! Mind you, there were kind of like maybe 5 designs at most that got repeated over and over... but still! It was a vast improvement from what we’ve seen in recent years.

Dialogue & Interaction. Let me tell you how excited I was that there was FINALLY DIALOGUE WHILE EXPLORING! It was so fun listening to the trios conversations and funny quips. Of course, “Look, it’s a lucky emblem!” and “This looks like a good spot to find some ingredients!” did get annoying, especially when I couldn’t find where the heck said things were, but I think an update calmed those exclamations down because I heard them a lot less during my 2nd playthrough. Adding the selfie function the gummi phone? BEST. DECISION. EVER. I had so much fun taking selfies with the various Disney characters and seeing what their reactions to the camera were. Of course, characters like Hiro & Honey Lemon knew what a camera and a selfie were, but Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff? They were just like ummm do I smile for this thing? Okay!!! And then there’s Mike and Sulley who make especially funny faces for the camera. It’s just all around a blast. Moving on to cutscenes, I know there’s been some debate about the voice direction but my personal opinion is this game is the best it’s ever been. The conversations and especially jokes (thank god) finally sound natural. In the past, things have been either just really forced or really cheesy and I’ve just sort of been like “Oh, well it’s Kingdom Hearts/it’s Disney, it’s gonna be cheesy.” But like there’s a right way to be cheesy, and the moments I’m thinking of... aren’t it. KH3 did it right. There’s still a few things that were rough around the edges, like Sora’s “unforgettable... like your face~” to Donald lol it was still really funny but it was also just like “oh my god you nerd”. Also all the jokes about Sora not being a Keyblade Master yet came off as just mean spirited to me, but that’s another subject entirely.

Character Moments. KH3 gave us a lot of what we had been waiting for. Aqua’s reunion with Sora and Riku, the boys she met on Destiny Islands so long ago. Her long awaited return to the realm of light. Aqua and Sora waking Ventus up from his long, deep slumber. Terra’s redemption and reunion with his friends. Aqua, Terra, and Ven getting to see Eraqus again and saying goodbye. Kairi and Lea becoming keyblade wielders (officially). Kairi and Xion facing off in battle. Xion and Roxas brought back to life as replicas and their reunion with Axel/Lea. Sora and Kairi sharing a paopu fruit. Sora and Namine finally getting to talk (at least, somewhat). Namine getting a body through a replica. The return of org members who had vanished after CoM & KH2 (Marluxia, Demyx, Larxene, etc). The return of Replica Riku. Others I’m probably forgetting lol.

Reveals & New Info. With the end of a saga, we have some mysteries finally answered. Of course, this game is also setting us up for a new saga, so we’ve also got a lot of lose ends. Luxu is revealed as Braig/Xigbar. The Master of Masters is shown in the secret ending after vanishing for thousands of years, but who are they? Not to mention the foretellers managed to show up after also being absent for a long period of time as well, minus Ava. What’s she up to? Who’s Yozora and why did he show up as a video game character in Toy Box but also in the same world as Riku in the secret ending? Nomura-san says that the Shibuya shown in the secret ending isn’t the same universe as TWEWY, but why bother introducing the characters and Shibuya itself if it’s not going to tie in later? What exactly is happening at the end of KH3? Is the group looking out over the ocean or looking at the tree where Sora and Kairi are? Are both scenes happening at the same time or at separate times? Why exactly does Sora vanish? What are the exact stipulations and reasonings behind all the warnings Young Xehanort gave Sora? There’s so many things I am so eager to learn about and I can’t wait for DLC and/or the next full game.

The Story Is Not Over. We’ve got DLC coming to us, and from the sound of it, a decent amount of it. At least, enough to keep us satisfied until the next game. And please, no “they should have sold us a complete game” comments. They said multiple times they had to cut content in order to release a game that fit on the disc. Also remember, KH2.8′s Birth by Sleep 0.2 -A Fragmentary Passage- was originally supposed to be the INTRO of KH3. If they fit all the content they wanted to fit into KH3... we would probably be looking at a 2, maybe 3 disc game. Anyway, good things come to those who wait, so that’s all I’ve got to say on that. 

[phoenix-downer]

Christmas Presence

~1400 words. Contains spoilers for Melody of Memory. SoKai. Sora POV, Kairi POV. Romance, Fluff, Pining, Mutual Pining, Christmas, Christmas Fluff. Merry Christmas everyone! 

Christmas was Sora’s favorite day of the year. The festivities, the gift-giving, the celebrations, the food, the time with friends and family. All of it was special, but especially getting to be with Kairi. The last thing he was gonna do was leave her alone on Christmas Eve. 

There was just one catch. He was sort of dead. Well, not dead, not really, but he sure wasn’t in the Realm of Light. And that would make seeing Kairi kinda difficult. He was still wandering around in some place that was like the Final World, and it was dark. The only light was from the stars. 

At least he hadn’t run into that Yozora guy again. He shuddered and sat down. That was the one downside about trying to contact Kairi. There was a 50/50 shot he might wind up in that strange city again (Quadro-something?), face to face with Yozora, who would no doubt try to “save” (more like kill) him… again.

Still, if he could get through to Kairi, this would be worth it. Never again would he leave her in the lurch. He’d promised. He promised he’d protect her, be there for her. He’d failed her once, and he swore on his life he’d never fail her again.

And yeah, it wasn’t like her life was in danger this time around, but… Christmas was important. He’d already missed too many Christmases, and he didn’t want to miss another one. 

He lay back and closed his eyes, resting her lucky charm over his heart. “Kairi, please, hear my voice.” 

The only way he had a shot at this was if she was currently asleep. It was Christmas Eve though, so maybe she would be. 

This was his one Christmas wish. Surely it wasn’t too much to ask. 

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Kairi gazed out the window at the stars. Little snowflakes danced in the air as snow fell on the Land of Departure. Christmas Eve felt strange away from home, but it wouldn’t be much of a celebration with Riku still searching for Sora and Sora himself still MIA. 

“Goodnight Kairi!” Aqua called, poking her head in the room. Kairi had been staying here at the castle since her training commenced a few months ago, and Aqua had kindly provided her with her own room. It got a little drafty up here sometimes, but the cozy fireplace in the corner plus a well-placed Fire spell took care of that.

“Merry Christmas,” Kairi replied, then abandoned her perch by the window to climb into bed. Christmas used to be her favorite time of year, but now that Sora was gone…

She huddled under the blankets and sighed. “Sora, what I wouldn’t give to hear your voice. To see your smile and hear your laughter.” 

But that was impossible. She’d sensed his presence a couple of times since he’d first come to her aid in her dream battle against Xehanort, but never once had he been able to speak. Still, it was worth a try. 

“If you can hear me… I’m listening.”

She let her eyes close. In a world without him, she dreamed of him, and he dreamed of her, and that was where, fate allowing, they would meet again.  

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A huge smile spread across Sora’s face. Kairi was here. She was wandering the Final World, searching for him and calling his name. 

“Kairi!” he cried as he sprang to his feet. Yeah, she couldn’t hear his voice, but her face lit up all the same. She could sense he was here too. 

She paused a few feet away from him, then smiled and spread her arms wide. His body wasn’t really here, but his heart was, and she always let him borrow her body for a little while, much like he’d once sheltered her heart. 

He took a deep breath and called on the connection of their hearts. A moment later, he was materializing around her, able to feel what she felt, see what she saw, hear what she heard. He always tried to be as gentle as possible whenever they did this; she was letting his heart inside her, after all, and it was hard not to be touched by how much she trusted him in order to let that happen.

When the merger was complete, he rested his hand over his heart, moving her arm in the process. Then he hugged himself, giving her the hug he wished he could give her with his own body. 

“I missed you too,” came her voice in his mind. “I was hoping we’d get to meet today. Christmas just isn’t the same without you and Riku around.” 

Ri-ku? Sora signed. Kairi had taught him a few signs from an old book she’d found at the castle on the Land of Departure, and he was able to sort of communicate with her as a result. 

“He’s still looking for you,” Kairi told him. “So it’s me and Aqua and Terra and Ven celebrating together. I hope he has someone to celebrate with. You too.” 

I have you, he signed, and her delightful giggle entered his thoughts. 

“That you do. Thank you for reaching out to me.” 

Want—see—you, he signed, the gestures still awkward for him because he wasn’t used to talking like this yet. But it was worth it, knowing he was able to reach Kairi. 

“I wanted to see you too,” she said. “I’ve been training hard because I have to be ready when you need me. No more weak Kairi holding you back.” 

He shook his head. No. No weak. Kairi… He thought for a moment, then flexed his muscles.

“You really think I’m strong?” she asked softly. 

He nodded. Me, you… He flexed his muscles again. 

“And you feel strong with me.” 

Another nod from him, moving her head.

“You never did stop believing in me,” was her response. “And I won’t ever stop believing in you. Sora, I know we’ll be together again. And if I have anything to say about it… This time, I’ll be the one coming for you.”

He nodded. He wasn’t sure when or how, but he trusted Kairi with his life. 

Feeling a little resistance from her in his right hand, he released his control a little and let her move it to his face.

“Merry Christmas, Sora,” she said, and her words warmed his heart. It would’ve been even better if she could’ve touched his actual face, but this was a pretty good substitute. 

M-e-r-r-y—C-h-r-i-s-t-m-a-s, he signed back. He gently tugged and waited for permission, then brought her hand to his lips and kissed it tenderly. 

Sweet dreams. 

Their time was over; he could feel his connection to her weakening. He could spend every day of the rest of his life with her, and it still wouldn’t be enough. And yet, even being with her for a few fleeting moments in a dream had lifted his spirits more than anything else had in days. 

And that was why he was more determined than ever to see her again with his own two eyes, embrace her with his arms and speak to her with his voice. Nothing else would be enough. 

Then, and only then, would he truly be home. 

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When Kairi awoke the next morning, the Land of Departure was covered in a blanket of snow. A hearty fire was crackling in the fireplace, and Aqua had set out a mug of hot cocoa for her. Smiling, she reached to grab it when she saw her hand and remembered. 

Sora had kissed her. Just on the hand, but his kiss had felt nice all the same. Her hand was still warm too, like a part of him remained with her even though the dream was over. So she brought her hand to her lips and kissed it too. 

“Thanks again,” she told Sora as she sipped her hot cocoa. “That was the nicest Christmas gift I could ask for. You, here with me.” She grinned. “Not a Christmas present so much as a Christmas presence, am I right?”

He always did like silly puns, and she knew he’d be chuckling right now. 

“Seriously though,” she said, “Merry Christmas. Next year, we’ll get to spend it together in person, I just know it.” 

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A/N: This fic is dedicated to Tegan, as it was recently her birthday! Happy Belated Birthday Tegan! And thank you for reading everyone! Merry Christmas! 

[winterstarqueen]

Hey if its not to much to ask do you mind doing a riku x reader x yozora(noctis) where the reader has a crush on riku but thinks he can't reciprocate her feelings( he totally does) sacrifices herself instead of sora and riku and the others go looking for her, in the mean time reader meets yozora who than starts develop feelings for him overtime but grows suspicious about him due to acting like her friend despite their first encounter and barely knowing him, turns out the reader is his reincarnated s/o whom he lost, I would apperiate if you did this you don't have to do if you don't want to.

I thought that you didn’t care. (Riku x female reader x Yozora)

(A/n: This is going to be sad.)

Everyone was in Keyblade Graveyard. “(Y/n) what are you doing?” Riku asked. “What does it look like?I’m saving Kairi.” “If you use the power of waking. We don’t know what will happen. Your heart is still weak from fighting the darkness. Let’s go back to the Mysterious Tower. There has to be a another way to save Kairi.” Riku said looking at you. “If Sora was lost what would you do?” You asked him. Riku already knew the answer. He would bring his friend back. “I have to go. If I do everyone can be happy. You can all go to the islands and have a good time. I want more than anything for all of you to be happy. Even my sister.” You said frowning. “Will you be happy?” Riku asked frowning. “Yes. Because I know that you along with everyone else will be happy. If I save Kairi then I also save Namine. Don’t you want to see her?” You asked. To be honest he kinda wanted to. But he wanted you to stay with him more. “Okay. Go save Kairi.” He said looking away. You pointed your keyblade up and disappeared. “Be careful (Y/n)...” Riku said frowning. Later on you sat down on the beach next to Riku. He smiled at you. You came back in one piece. He held your hand. “(Y/n) there’s something I want to tell you. I was waiting until after we beat Xehnort. We’ve been friends for a long time...” He began but you disappeared. He finished realizing that you disappeared. He looked at his hand that had yours in it not long ago. “If you’re not here (Y/n)...then how can I be happy?” Riku asked frowning.

You woke up in the final world. “At least here...my heart can heal here.. ” You said laying down. You thought about what Riku said. Did he not want to be friends with you anymore? You couldn’t think about that right now. Because you’re heart had to heal. You admired the beautiful stars. “Is there someone here?” A voice asked. “Yeah! I’m over here.” You said getting up. “I see you.” He said. “Are you lost too?” You asked him. “No. I’m looking for someone.” He said. “Oh? If you want I can help you look. My name is (Y/n).” You said smiling. “Wait. You’re (Y/n)?” He asked. “Yeah.” You said. He looked away from you and said something under his breath. “Huh?” You asked. “Nothing. Would you like to come to my home world? I don’t think that this place is suitable for you.” “Oh...um...” You had to think about this. You didn’t know this person at all. But you couldn’t just stay here. Maybe if you were around others your heart would heal faster and you could find a way back home. Besides you felt like you knew him. “Okay. Let’s go.” You said smiling. “Really?” “Yeah. Lead the way!” You said. Right now Riku would probably tell you not to go with him. But you couldn’t help it. You had a warm feeling in your heart. Like you knew him from somewhere. Soon the world around you melted away and you were in a large city. It was a bit too much to take in all at once. You haven’t been to a large city before. So this was new to you. “Are you okay?” “Yes. It’s just...this is the first time I’ve been in a large city.” You said frowning. Well you have been in the World that Never Was. But that was very different because there wasn’t that many people there. “Can I ask you what your name is?” You asked him. “Yozora.” He said.

Meanwhile everyone has been looking for you. The Twilight Town gang was checking around town. Namine was looking through Xion’s and Roxas’ memories. They had a strong connection with you. Mostly Xion. Sora,Donald and Goofy were looking in other worlds. Ven,Terra and Aqua were looking in the realm of darkness. And Ansem was looking in Kairi’s heart. Riku and the King went to the realm of sleep. But,found they found nothing. “Riku, don’t worry. We’ll find her! She’s strong!” Mickey said. “I hope so. (Y/n) maybe strong. But,she’s too trusting. Someone could come and hurt her.” Riku said still a little worried. “If we believe that (Y/n) is okay. Then she’ll be okay.” Mickey said. Riku moved on hoping that you’re okay and that someone will find a clue.

After you got settled in your new apartment Yozora bought you dinner one night. Something was strange. Because he knew your favorite dinner food and your favorite dessert. You didn’t care that much about it. Because you were so hungry. “Thank you for buying me dinner.” You said smiling. “It’s no problem.” He opened the door for you and as soon you walked outside it was raining. Yozora opened an umbrella. “Are you coming? Don’t worry I’ll share my umbrella with you.” Yozora said smiling. You always wanted Riku to share an umbrella with you. When you were in elementary school you purposely forget your umbrella. Just so Riku could offer to share his. But, he didn’t. Instead he would put his umbrella away and walk with you in the rain. You could never understand why he would do that. “What’s wrong?” He asked. “It’s nothing. I-I think that I’ll take you up on that offer.” You said. You were looking down the entire way. Until the two of you stopped in front of a flower shop. That was when you looked up. “They’re so pretty.” You said smiling. “Would you like me to buy you some?” He asked. “You don’t have to.” You said frowning. “No I insist. Anything to make you feel welcome here. (Y/n).” He said opening the door. “Thank you.” You said. Your face lit up upon seeing so many flowers. You went on and on about the different types of flowers. “Are you getting bored listening to me?” You asked. “No. Talk as long as you want.” “Okay.” You said. That was when he asked about some blue flowers. “What kind are these?” “I don’t know....But, they’re beautiful.” You said. He bought you some. “Thank you Yozora. They’re lovely.” You smelled them.

Thanks to Xion and Roxas. Riku finally found where you were. You were in some sort of city in a fictional world. He had a dream about you one night. “Do you have to go?” Kairi asked. “I can’t just leave (Y/n) in a fictional world. I have to find her.” “I’m coming with you Riku!” Sora said. “Sora you have to keep the fort down.Just in case something happens.” Riku said frowning. “But, (Y/n) is my friend too. I want to come.” Sora said. Kairi stopped him. “We’ll be waiting for your return.” Kairi said. Riku nodded and opened a portal. Soon enough he was in the city. Riku immediately started looking for you. He didn’t care if it was late at night. He was going to find you.

The next day. You and Yozora were at the park. Watching the clouds. You told him about all of your friends and your dreams. “Do you remember your past?” He asked. “Yeah.” He looked surprised. “I grew up on the islands with Sora,Riku and Kairi.” You said closing your eyes. You missed the sounds of the waves and the beautiful sunset. “No. I mean do you remember anything else?”Yozora asked you. “No. Why are you being so nice to me? We only just met.” “Have we?” “I don’t remember you.” You said. You thought about Riku for a moment. You loved Riku still. You didn’t remember anything. If only he could jog your memory. Yozora looked at you for a while. You hugged him. Being with Yozora felt right. Even though you don’t remember. Your heart recognized him.

A few weeks went by and you were enjoying your new life in the city. You just went shopping for food.“(Y/n)?” A familiar voice said. You didn’t respond at first because you were thinking about your past. You looked up to see Riku. “Riku?” You asked frowning. “I’m glad that you’re okay! Come on let’s go home.” He said. You didn’t move. “(Y/n)? Aren’t you coming?” “I’m sorry...but,I don’t want to leave. Not yet.” You said frowning. “What? Why not?” He asked. “Because I’m having a weird feeling about Yozora.” You said. Riku was confused. After explaining how you met him and how friendly he was acting. “Do you think that he’s with the darkness?” He asked. “I don’t know. But I feel like I know him from somewhere..” You said frowning.