#kh3countdownchallenge

[kh3countdownchallenge]

Day 30 - Reunion

[phoenix-downer]

Got It Memorized?

For the KH3 Countdown Challenge.

Day 22 - New Friends

“I have something for you.”

Axel sat on the log next to Kairi and handed her a bar of ice cream. Soon the familiar taste of sea-salt filled her mouth, and she sighed in contentment. Nothing beat ice cream after a hard day’s work.

“Thanks, Axel.”

“Don’t mention it.”

They ate in silence, just enjoying the view. Dusk out here was always really pretty, and today was no different. The fading sunlight cast a warm glow over everything and the sky almost looked like it was on fire.

“Whatcha got there?” he asked when they were both finished, gesturing at the paper and clipboard in her lap.

“A letter.”

He raised his eyebrow, a mischievous glint dancing in his eyes. “Gee, I wonder who it’s for.”

“Donald and Goofy, obviously.”

Axel clicked his tongue. “Better not tell Sora that.”

Kairi giggled at this. “Can you imagine how he’d react if I really did write them a letter and not him?”

“If he’s anything like Roxas, I can imagine the pouty face he’d make pretty well, yeah.”

Kairi paused. Axel talked about Roxas a lot, and she wanted to do something to help cheer him up.

“Axel… since I’m writing to Sora, do you want me to pass along a message from you?”

Axel regarded her with a quizzical look. “Sure, I guess. What did you have in mind?”

“If you could say anything to Roxas, what would it be?” she asked as she picked up her pencil again.

Axel hesitated, and his eyes got a faraway look in them. “I…”

“I can’t wait to see you again, maybe?” she suggested. She wasn’t really sure if he and Roxas had been on good terms before Roxas had left the Organization, but she could tell how much Axel wanted to see his friend again.

Sure, Sora would be the one reading the letter, but maybe the message would still reach Roxas, some way, somehow.

Axel shook his head ever so slightly, his eyes focused on something far away. “There was something… something I always used to tell them…”

“Them?” Kairi asked, tilting her head.

“Yeah, Roxas and…”

Kairi’s eyebrows furrowed. “Roxas and who, Axel?”

He turned to look at her like he was seeing her for the first time.

“Axel?” she gently prodded.

She couldn’t have predicted what happened next. Tears welled up in his eyes and spilled down his cheeks as she stared at him with a mixture of surprise and dismay.

“A-Axel?”

“I don’t know,” he said, his shoulders shaking and his voice choked with emotion. “I don’t know who it was. But it’s someone I feel like I’m supposed to remember.” He brought a hand to his face and touched his wet cheek. “Why can’t I remember?”

Her heart sank, the all-too familiar pain of her separation from Sora settling over her again. “I don’t know, but… even if your mind’s forgotten, your heart still remembers.”

He regarded her with a sorrowful look. “Yeah.” He sniffed and wiped his eyes. “You know, sometimes I miss being a Nobody. Things were a lot less complicated when I didn’t have a heart.”

“I think you did have a heart. Otherwise you wouldn’t have tried so hard to get Roxas back. You even told me you missed him, remember?”

“Yeah. Tell him… tell him I’ll see him again soon.”

Kairi nodded and added that to her letter.

“Y’know, if you haven’t told Sora already, you really should let him know how you feel,” he said presently.

She paused and chewed on the eraser. “I think he already knows.”

Her mind went to the cave drawing. Surely he’d seen it before he’d gone off to take his Mark of Mastery exam, right?

“Yeah, but that’s not the same as hearing it from you. You should tell him in case something ever happens to him… or to you.”

Her grip on the pencil tightened. “I won’t let anything happen to either of us. I’ll keep him safe and I won’t let myself get captured again.”

“A noble sentiment, Kairi, but our enemies do not play nice, or haven’t you noticed? They’ll exploit Sora’s feelings for you and they’ll exploit them ruthlessly.”

“They already have,” she said, giving him a pointed look.

He sighed. “Point taken. I’m just saying, what are you waiting for? The perfect moment? I can tell you right now, it doesn’t exist. All you’ve got is now. Don’t wait, act.”

She brought her finger to her temple in his trademark gesture. “I know, I’ve got it memorized.”

He gave her a half smile, and she was glad for that. She didn’t want him to stay down in the dumps like this.

Her eyes wandered to the piece of paper in her lap again. “I just… I don’t want to tell him in a letter, you know? I want to tell him face-to-face.”

“Fair enough. But maybe hint at it at least? Say you’re looking forward to seeing him? Mention what you like the most about him? He could probably really use some encouragement right now.”

Kairi stared off into the sunset. What she liked the most about Sora? Where to even begin?

“Okay, it doesn’t have to be everything or we’ll be here all night. What about him sticks out to you the most?”

“What about him… sticks out to me the most?”

She thought back on her favorite memories of him. There were so many of them, and her heart filled with warmth as she thought about him.

Out of all of those memories, though, one in particular stood out. The moment he’d raced towards her after coming home, face shining like the sun, not even caring when he tripped and fell in the water because he was so happy to see her.

A smile tugged at the corners of her lips. She knew exactly what to write about now. The words came quickly to her after that, and before long, she was putting the finishing touches on her letter.

“So,” Axel said as they finally stood to go. “What did you write?”

She pulled her eyelid down and stuck out her tongue. “Not gonna tell you. It’s between me and him.”

“Boo, you’re no fun.”

She giggled and gave him a playful shove. “You know that’s not true. Race you back!”

As she took off running with him right at her heels, shouting about how he was gonna win this one, she couldn’t help but smile.

Not that long ago she never would’ve thought this kind of situation would even be possible. She hadn’t trusted Axel, and for good reason.

But something had changed. He’d apologized for kidnapping her. He’d done what he could to make things right. And it was nice having someone to confide in, someone to ask for help with training, someone to eat ice cream with at the end of a long day.

And that someone was Axel.

Sometimes, friends really did come from the most unexpected places.

[angel-with-a-pipette]

Title: Same Stance

Summary: “Speaking of the fight, I finally solved the mystery.”

Donald eyed Lea critically.

“What mystery?”

“The mystery of why Kairi's fighting stance seemed so familiar to me! Come on, don't tell me you haven't realized?” Lea's grin widened. “Our Princess here is totally copying her Prince!”

Rating: Teen and up audiences

Genre: Romance

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Disney/Square Enix. This fanfic is for @phoenix-downer . She helped me come up with the idea and was so supportive of this and I can't thank her enough that she's been keeping my sane during my KH3-trailer hiatus. Without her, I would have caved in and watched all the footage, so once again thank you so much ♥ I hope you like it!

I took some creative liberty in naming Lea's Keyblade “Flurry of Flames”. At this point in time, I am not aware of his Keyblade's official name and if I don't forget it, I'll edit the name once it's been revealed in Kingdom Hearts 3!

This was also written for the @kh3countdownchallenge , prompt 17: Discovery

Also available on: ao3 

Please enjoy!

Rougher than usual, the gummi ship finally touched down on Radiant Garden’s brickwork and Sora barely turned off the engine before he stormed out of the ship.

“Sora, wait!”

But he didn't even think about waiting.

“Come on,” he yelled in response, skipping backwards to look at Donald before turning around again, “hurry up!”

“‘Hurry up’?!” Donald imitated him incredulously, quickly flicking his staff in the direction of the gummi ship to hide it before he took off after Sora, “I’ll show you 'hurry up’! Get back here now!”

“Gawrsh, Donald, don’t be so hard on Sora. He’s just excited to finally see Kairi again!”

Heat rose into Sora's face and he managed to stumble over his right foot, resulting in him flailing his arms around desperately to regain his balance. Donald's following snicker didn't make it better and now with a beet-red face, Sora ran off even faster, ignoring the indignant quacks behind him.

By the time he finally reached the Borough and ran down the street leading to Merlin's house, he was severely out of breath, but Sora knew it had nothing to do with his sprint. No, it had everything to do with the way his heart was beating fast in anticipation of seeing Kairi again.

He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he was dying to see her again. Ever since he had seen her own addition to their cave drawing, he was giddy to talk to her about it, but somehow, he had never managed to find the right moment: Either his parents had wanted to make up for lost time, his teachers had wanted to talk about school and his future or his friends had wanted to know what he and Riku had been up to, effectively destroying any possibility for Sora to catch a moment with Kairi alone despite Riku's best attempts to draw the attention to himself – something the boy avoided doing normally – just to help Sora out.

And then the King's letter had arrived and he was forced to leave once again and the right moment passed once more.

So the least he could do is see her again and hope for the best, right?

Wrong, judging by the bothersome Heartless that materialized in front of his path.

“Come on!” Sora grumbled through his teeth as he jumped back and summoned his Keyblade with a flick of his wrist. “I don't have time for this!”

Without hesitation, Sora jumped into the fight, slashing through some of the Heartless before Donald and Goofy caught up with him. Together, they tried to keep the Heartless at bay, but...

“What is goin' on?” Goofy asked, parrying a Shadow's attack with his shield and clubbing another one over the head. “How are there so many?”

“Even the Claymores can barely keep up,” Donald grumbled angrily as he summoned a Thunder attack to take out several Heartless at once, “we need to get to the Restoration Committee, quick!”

“But how?” Sora countered, spinning around to get rid of at least one ring of Heartless that was surrounding him. “We're not making any progress! For every Heartless we defeat, two more appear!” He quickly raised his Keyblade up in defense when a Soldier Heartless tried to jump on him, but to his surprise, a beam of Light defeated it before it managed to touch him.

Confused, Sora looked at Donald who shrugged his shoulders. Then he jumped up in surprise and pointed past Sora.

“Look! Up there!”

Sora turned around and followed Donald's outstretched arm until his eyes fell on two figures standing on the outer wall of the city, Keyblades drawn and hoods covering their heads.

His heart picked up its pace again.

He knew these Keyblades. The taller person's Keyblade resembling a flame was Flurry of Flames, Lea's Keyblade. The short person's Keyblade, adorned with flowers and a paopu fruit as its Keychain –

“See?” Sora's eyes widened upon hearing the sassy, familiar voice and he felt his heart jump into his throat as he saw the figure reach for their hood and lower it slowly. Short red hair, blue eyes with a hint of violet in them, thick, dark eyelashes, button nose, pink lips curled up between a smile and grin.

Kairi! Kairi's here!

“I told you Sora's completely helpless without Riku and me,” she added with a softer voice as she looked him straight into the eyes, her own sparkling with mischief and excitement.

Oh dear. Oh no. No, no, no.

She looked so cute.

“Enough flirting, Princess.”

Lea lowered his hood as well and shook his wild hair before propping up his Keyblade on his shoulder. “Let's get to the rescue!”

As much as Sora tried not to stare, his eyes were glued to Kairi's form as she jumped down, gracefully landing a few meters away from him. She gripped her Keyblade tightly with both of her hands and her face grew serious at once ans she bent her knees slightly to assume a fighting stance. She charged forward and two-handedly crushed her Keyblade into her enemy. Not wasting a single second, she switched to wielding her Keyblade with her right arm only, slashing at a Shadow trying to grab her shoulder before she twirled around, defeating the Heartless closing in on her with one sweep.

Sora swallowed. He had had no idea that Kairi was this graceful, but there she was, running from enemy to enemy, raising her Keyblade, parrying attacks, jumping and cartwheeling one-handed(!!) out of the way, her now short hair sticking cutely to her face. And if that wasn't enough already, there was also her new outfit: Staying true to her color scheme, Kairi was wearing a pink dress with pleats and ruffles that curled and swept around her thighs every time she turned, allowing her to move freely to kick some Heartless butt.

Was it just him or did the sun suddenly start to burn down on his neck?

“Hey Romeo.”

A gloved hand pushed his jaw up close. When had it slackened in the first place?!

“Less staring, more fighting. You can ogle your Princess once we're done here.”

Sora sputtered a little indignantly while Donald and Goofy broke out in snickers.

“I did not,” he growled, but took a deep, calming breath as he raised his Keyblade again. That helped clear the hormone-driven haze in his head, especially when a Neo Shadow tried to attack Kairi from behind. He quickly dashed forward to slash the Heartless away just a blink of a second before Kairi turned around.

“Thank you,” she breathed and a goofy smile spread on Sora's face.

“You're welcome.”

Sora got back into his fighting stance and felt Kairi do the same at his side. They nodded at each other shortly and charged forward, plowing through the horde of Heartless much quicker now that there were five of them. But not only that – he realized how exhilarating it was to have Kairi fight at his side! The two of them immediately clicked and attacked the Heartless in perfect harmony, boosting and defending the other without the need to communicate verbally. Sora stepped to the right, Kairi jumped to the left, their Keyblades slashing at the same enemies without ever hindering the other's movement.

Just when they finally reached Merlin's doorstep, Kairi backed off again. Sora reacted immediately and tried grasping her arm to hold onto her, but she was too quick for him and ran to the middle of the small square.

“Kairi!”

She just winked at him cheekily and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Jumping and twisting her body around at the same time as using the spell “Light!”, tiny balls of light appeared around Kairi's body, growing in size and quickly spreading over the whole borough while she smoothly landed on her feet again.

“Every light attack gives us roughly five seconds before they materialize again,” Lea explained, pushing up Sora's jaw once again before pushing at his and Goofy's shoulders, “so go inside, quick, they can't track us in there!”

Instead of going inside, Sora ducked away and reached for the door, earning him a stern glance by Lea and an offended quack by Donald who he hand nearly stepped on. But Sora ignored both, his eyes focused on Kairi who came running at him and managed to slip inside before new Heartless materialized. Sora quickly pulled the door close and turned back to the others – only to realize that Kairi hadn't moved and stood closer to him than he anticipated, making his mouth run dry.

“Hey.”

Kairi grinned and looked at him shyly from under her lashes, pushing her hands deep into the pockets of her dress.

“Hey,” Sora replied in a low voice, drawing closer to her without noticing. Both breathed heavily, their chest heaving with exertion, but Sora doubted it was purely the result of the Heartless attack.

And since when did he tower over her like that?

A loud 'harrumph' broke the spell between Sora and Kairi and they immediately jumped apart. Sora's face heated up once he realized just how close he had been standing to her.

“What is going on? Why are there so many Heartless around?”

That finally managed to distract Sora from admiring his childhood friend and to focus back on the world order – or what was left of it.

“You know how it is,” Lea started explaining, shrugging his shoulders, “they're after people's hearts and seek out Keyblade wielders. There are currently two Keyblade wielders residing in Radiant Garden, so they're drawn to this place more than before.”

“And if that ain't enough,” Cid grumbled and it was only now that Sora noticed he was even present, “our little Kairi's a Princess of Heart and that alone lures 'em in like crazy. Add a Keyblade Master to the mix and they're havin' a party.”

“So what does that mean for us?” Goofy asked and exchanged a concerned look with Donald.

“Most of all it means that our love birds here,” he nodded towards Sora and Kairi, but Kairi was quick to jab her elbow into his side, making him yelp and glare at her, “aren't allowed to be outside together. In different parts of the city, yes, but,” he walked around the table, putting a considerable distance between him and Kairi, “no dating. At least not until the Claymores have been updated. Cid and Tron are working on them, but they couldn't put the finishing touches on them yet.”

“We should be makin' considerable progress,” Cid remarked, typing away on the huge keyboard in front of him. “Now that we have data on how the Heartless react to a Keyblade Master, we can adjust the Claymores' strength. We can't have them potentially hurting civilians after all. Give me ten minutes and I'll have the new program ready! Get cozy over there.”

Cid waved them off, gesturing to the part of the room that held all of Merlin's furniture and Donald immediately waddled off to jump on one of the wooden chairs. The others followed him, with Lea and Goofy taking the remaining two chairs, leaving Kairi and Sora to sit on Merlin's bed.

“Sooo,” Lea started and propped his arms up on the back of his chair before throwing a suggestive glance over to Sora, “what do you think?”

Sora knitted his eyebrows together in suspicion.

“About what?”

“About Kairi's outfit of course!”

Heat shot back into Sora's head and he was suddenly very aware of the fact that one of his hand resting on the bed was brushing against Kairi's dress.

“Yes!” Kairi chimed in and jumped up, clapping her hands together. “What do you say? The three Good Fairies made this for me!” She gripped the hem of her dress and twirled around twice with a giggle.

“What do you think?”

“I think you're beautiful.”

Kairi's jaw dropped and her cheeks flushed prettily. He stood up and was about to take her hands, dying to pour his heart out to her, when he suddenly grew very aware of three pairs of eyes staring at them. He panicked.

“B-Beautifully prepared!” Sora squeaked out, an octave higher than usual. “Prepared for the fight! You fight good!”

Sora slapped his hands against his face and let himself fall back on the bed, groaning in frustration.

Smooth, Sora. Really smooth.

But Kairi just giggled softly and he felt the bed dip again before she gently pulled his hands away from his face with a wink.

“I think you fight good, too.”

“Speaking of the fight – ”

Kairi let go of Sora's hands immediately and it took every ounce of Sora's self control not to growl at Lea in annoyance, so instead, he did what he did best: He pouted.

“– I finally solved the mystery.”

Donald eyed Lea critically.

“What mystery?”

“The mystery of why Kairi's fighting stance seemed so familiar to me! Come on, don't tell me you haven't realized?” Lea's grin widened. “Our Princess here is totally copying her Prince!”

Sora whipped his head around to face Kairi. She decidedly avoided his eyes as the tips of her ears that peaked out of her hair turned pink.

“You're copying me?” Sora asked quietly, incredulously. But now that he considered it... the way she held her Keyblade and bent her knees... that was the way he did it, right? He wasn't imagining it? That was why fighting together with her was so easy, second nature even! Of course they didn't need to communicate because they moved similarly.

“Lea!”

All five heads turned around to Cid who stared at them grumpily. “Stop torturin' the poor kids and move your butt over here, will ya? And bring Donald and Goofy along, too.”

“Come on, right when it starts to be interesting,” Lea mumbled, but left them alone nevertheless, Goofy and Donald right on his tail after they winked at Sora encouragingly. Sora took a deep breath and turned back to Kairi who now grasped the hem of her skirt tightly.

“Is it true?”

“I tried a different style in the beginning, focused more on blunt force like Lea, but it didn't work out for me. I kept hurting myself and I don't have the physical advantage to pull it off. Merlin focuses more on magic and while I excelled in it, I couldn't get the hang of my Keyblade technique. I was really starting to doubt myself, thinking I'm not cut to be a Keyblade Wielder.”

She looked up at him again and the intensity in her eyes made Sora shiver.

“You suddenly popped into my head.” A grin spread over her lips. “You and and that stupid, happy smile of yours! And the thought of you comforted me. After all, I was doing all of this to finally join you on your quest, to help you and Riku. So I kept thinking about you, about how you wielded your Keyblade, about the way you dodge attacks.” Her cheeks turned pink again. “And I tried to imitate you. And surprisingly, it worked really well. I got the hang of it pretty quickly and soon, Axel had to suffer his first loss in a sparring match all thanks to you! Thank you, Sora.”

Sora felt his own cheeks flush slightly and rubbed his nose in embarrassment.

“Well, I guess that means you don't think I'm a lazy bum any more, huh?”

The color drained from Kairi's face as she stared at him in shock. Sora furrowed his eyebrows in concern.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“You know that I'm not serious about this, right?” Kairi asked instead, her eyes full of worry. “You know I'm just saying it to tease you?”

“Sure, I –“

“You're not a lazy bum,” Kairi interrupted him. “You're not hopeless without us. You saved the worlds twice already and if worst came to worst, I don't have a single doubt you'd manage to do it a third time. You're amazing Sora. I'm proud of you and I admire you.”

Suddenly, she was much closer to him than he had anticipated. Suddenly, her knee was pressed against his and her upper body was completely turned towards him. Thanks to their height difference, Kairi had to crane her neck up to look at Sora and Sora looked down at Kairi, at her half-lidded eyes and her slightly parted lips that took Sora's breath away.

“You inspire me every day, Sora,” Kairi murmured, just loud enough for Sora to hear when he bent his neck a little, drawing closer and closer to her. “You're the one who keeps me going.”

Sora closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was hard to concentrate with such an overload to his senses: She was close enough for Sora to feel the warmth radiating from her, close enough for her breath to fan against his face with just a hint of mint in it, close enough for Sora to hear the shallow breaths she was taking to what he assumed was calm her heart beat – because he knew, his own heart was about to burst out of his chest.

Close enough to wonder about the taste of those tantalizing lips that she just had to lick at this exact moment. Goosebumps spread over his body as he touched her cheek with a trembling hand.

“Kairi...”

“Done!”

Sora pulled his hand away as if he had been burned and slid all the way up to the headboard while Kairi slid to the opposite site of the bed.

“This update should do it. With this, the Claymores will adjust to the new amount of Heartless loiterin' around.”

Cid continued to ramble on, but Sora didn't listen. All he could focus on were Kairi's eyes and the fire in them. The same fire that he knew was in his eyes.

“Earth to Sora!”

“Ahyuck!”

“What?!”

“Don't 'What' us!” Donald chided him, waving his feathery hand around in his face. “Don't forget your manners just because of your hormones! That's 'Excuse me' for you!”

Rolling his eyes, Sora defiantly crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“Fine. 'Excuse me?'” Donald nodded appreciatively, until Sora followed up with a blunt “what” which made the mage glower at him.

“Cid asked us to deliver this to Leon and Tron!” Goofy explained and tugged gently at Sora's hand, pulling him off of the bed to shove him in direction of the door.

“Wait! But what about Kairi-?”

“Nothing about Kairi, she's staying here. Geez, have you already forgotten why you're even delivering this disc to Leon?” Lea shook his head. “Let him install the program and update the Claymores, then you can take Kairi wherever you want outside of training hours. But right now, having a Keyblade Master and a Keyblade wielding Princess of Heart outside at the same time will attract the Heartless like crazy.”

Sora slumped his shoulders until he heard Kairi's giggle.

“I'll see you later, okay?” She asked him and Sora nodded frantically in agreement which made the grin on her lips widen.

Waving one last time at Kairi before Donald and Goofy shoved him out of the door with combined efforts, Sora left Merlin's house, slipped the disc with the update program into his pocket and ran off. He couldn't wait to get Leon to install the program as quickly as possible so he could return to the Borough.

You're the one who keeps me going, too, Kairi.

[phoenix-downer]

Line The Pieces Up

For the KH3 Countdown Challenge.

Day 28 - Healing

“Where… am I?”

His eyes fluttered open. Sky. Blue sky. All around him was blue sky and white clouds.

Huh. This place seemed… calm. Peaceful. Not at all like—

He winced and clutched his heart.

His heart. Why… why did it hurt so bad?

Oh yeah. His heart was in pieces. His soul had been torn from his body. He was dead.

Then how… how had he ended up here?

He stumbled to his feet. All around him were these stone columns and platforms that kinda looked liked clouds and—

Hundreds and hundreds of flickering images of him.

Huh?

He peered closer. One of them was waving his empty hand like it had a Keyblade in it. Another one had his hands behind his neck. A third one was twirling around like—

Like that time he’d danced with—

He couldn’t remember the name. It was gone.

These were… pieces of him? Pieces of his heart, scattered all around? Fragments of his memory?

His hand went to his chest again. It still felt hollow, empty. It ached.

He had to get the pieces back.

He staggered over to the nearest one, a flickering image of him falling to his knees. As soon as he touched it, it disappeared into specs of light, and his heart ached a little less.

“Riku.”

Next he found an image of himself looking at something in his hands. When he touched it, a small surge of energy went through his body.

“Ven.”

He felt a little stronger now. Still shaky and weak, but he didn’t feel like he was gonna pass out anymore.

On to the next one, a little faster this time now that his legs were obeying him better now. When he got that memory back, the one of him sprawled on the ground, a ghost of a smile tugged at his lips.

“Donald. Goofy.”

Slowly, little by little, he collected the memories, his heart getting stronger and stronger with each one. Most of them were just usual, everyday memories of his life back home or day-to-day activities. All the background stuff that made up the bulk of his heart.

But some of them were special. Some of them were really important memories. Like Xion thanking him for saving her. Terra apologizing for attacking him as the Lingering Will. Axel telling him he made him feel like he had a heart.

Somewhere along the way he’d gotten the strength to run and jump and climb. He dove down and collected a whole string of memories floating like they were asleep. Then he rushed through an entire group of them and got a whole bunch back all at once.

His strength was returning, he could feel it. His heart was returning, too.

More memories, he had to get them all. His hand reaching down to pull Aqua out of the water. Holding Roxas’s hands and telling him he was his own person. His pinkie promise with Naminé. The King asking him to help him close the door.

With each one of those his heart got stronger and his soul was getting the life poured back into it.

But something was still missing. Even with all the memories he’d gotten back, something was still gone. Something important, no, someone important—

He had to find this person. His heart wouldn’t be complete without them. Couldn’t be. The hollow ache inside him reached down to the deepest levels of his heart, to his very core. Even with everything else mostly falling into place he still felt broken, incomplete.

“Your name, what’s your name?” came his voice, echoing throughout this empty place. “Please, I have to remember—”

But there was no answer. As far as he could tell he was the only one here.

He kept searching, kept collecting more memories, kept piecing himself back together. He checked new areas he hadn’t been to before. Looked at places he’d already visited. Climbed on top of columns for a better view.

But still this person was just out of reach, their name on the tip of his tongue, their face lurking just out of his vision.

“Where are you? I can’t find you.”

His heart throbbed, crying out for the pieces of it that were still missing. It hurt worse than when he’d barely had any of his heart left at all.

There were gaps, so many gaps in his memories. This person was important. This person was supposed to fill those gaps, he just knew it.

Then why couldn’t he find them?

“Please, help me remember,” he begged, hoping someone, anyone would hear him. “Help me find my memories of you.”

Something caught his eye, a soft light flashing in his pocket.

“Huh?”

He reached down into it. There was something there. Heart pounding, he pulled it out and stared at it.

It was a charm made out of thalassa shells from back home. A charm given to him by—

A soft hand rested over his. “It’s my lucky charm. Be sure to bring it back to me.”

He glanced up, and the person was smiling at him. The person he’d been trying so hard to remember. The person who made up so much of his heart. The person who meant more to him than anything. She was really here. She was really real.

“Kairi.”

His voice was choked with emotion but he didn’t even care. Her smile got bigger as she rested her hand against his cheek and wiped the tears out of his eyes.

“You made me a promise, remember?”

“Yeah.”

Her eyes took on a playful glint and her voice became mock-stern. “You’re not gonna let something like death get in the way of that now, are you?”

He shook his head. “No ma’am.”

How could he, when she was looking at him like that?

Her face relaxed into a smile. “Good.” She stood on her tiptoes and brought her other hand to his face, then gently pulled his lips down to meet hers. His breath caught as the rest of his memories returned all at once in a thrilling rush.

“Come back to me,” she said softly, her breath tickling his cheek as his mind and heart reeled from the kiss. “Come back to all of us.”

When his eyes fluttered open again, she was gone. His breath was the only sound in this realm as his heart raced and his brain tried to figure out what had just happened.

His hand went to his heart. It didn’t hurt anymore. It was completely whole again. And not just that. It was so full it felt like it was gonna burst.

He brought his hand to his lips and giggled. Boy, did it feel good to hear his own laughter again.

Was this what he’d been missing out on all this time? Because man, it was awesome. Why had they waited this long?

As he replayed the memory over and over again in his head, something hit him like a ton of bricks.

He… he wanted to kiss her again.

No, he really wanted to kiss her again.

But to do that, he’d have to find his way back to her, some way, somehow. Yeah, he was dead, but that didn’t seem like such a big problem anymore. Not knowing what waited for him on the other side.

Sheesh, she sure knew how to get him to stop acting like a lazy bum. Riku would call him whipped for sure, and Donald and Goofy would, too, but he didn’t really care. If that was what it took to get him to keep going, to get him to find a way to keep fighting, then that was okay by him.

Plus, the thought of kissing her again more than made up for it.

After one more look at her lucky charm, he returned it to its usual home in his pocket. He couldn’t have wiped the smile off his face if he tried.

His Keyblade appeared in his hands, solid and real. His heart was back and he could fight again.

Pointing it towards the heavens, he shouted, “My name is Sora, and I will return to my friends!”

He grinned as the sky opened up.

It wouldn’t be long now.

[phoenix-downer]

I See The Light

For the KH3 Countdown Challenge.

Day 19 - Wish

Sora leaned back on his hands and sighed. All around them were a bunch of lanterns lighting up the night sky like thousands of stars. Water lapped against the dock where they were sitting, and the way the lanterns reflected off it was like their very own private show. They couldn’t have asked for a better view.

This was what he loved about traveling. This was the kind of thing that made all the time spent away from home worth it. If he had to be away from Kairi and Riku, at least he was making memories like this to share with them when he got back.

“Seeing all these lanterns really reminds me of home,” he said. “The stars reflect off the water at night, and it kinda looks like this.”

“Gawrsh, I bet it’s real pretty, then,” Goofy said.

Donald stared in awe at the light show surrounding them. “Yeah. We have fireworks, but nothing like this.”

As beautiful as the sight was around them, Sora couldn’t help but wish he was back home.

No, that wasn’t exactly it. He liked being here. It was like there was something, or someone, missing—

Jiminy stirred in his hood and perched on his shoulder. “You know what they say about stars, dontcha?”

Sora turned to look at his friend. “That they’re other worlds?”

“Well, that too. On my world though, we say that if you wish upon a star, your dreams will come true.”

“My dreams… will come true?”

“Sure. Why dontcha try it? Maybe it’ll work on lanterns, not just stars.”

He thought about this for a moment. What were his dreams?

Well, he wanted to find a way for Roxas to be his own person. Naminé, too. She deserved to be her own person, too. He wanted to help Terra and Aqua and Ventus get their bodies and their lives back. He wanted to stop Xehanort and keep the worlds safe.

What else. Oh, right. He wanted to see Riku again. Being separated from his best friend all the time kinda sucked. Yeah, Riku had an important job to do, but it didn’t make being apart from him any easier.

His eyes spotted Eugene and Rapunzel together on a boat a little ways away. They both had shy smiles on their faces as they talked about something Sora couldn’t hear. Together they launched a lantern into the air, and Sora couldn’t help but smile, because the two of them together like that made his heart feel all warm.

Love really was a beautiful thing. Time and again he’d watched people fall in love on his journeys, and he never got sick of seeing it. The stolen glances, the blushing and stuttering, the eventual confessions, the first kisses—

Yeah, love was pretty special.

For a moment he didn’t see Rapunzel and Eugene on that boat. For a moment he was in the boat instead, and Kairi was seated across from him. She gazed in wonder at the sight around them, then turned to him and smiled.

“Sora, just think, someday… this could be us.”

“I wish it was,” he said softly. “I wish you were here with me. Then we could finally be together.”

She pulled out a lantern from behind her. “Then let’s make a wish. After all this is over, we’ll come back here. Together.”

She held out the lantern, and he put his hands over hers. His heart sped up a little at that, and Kairi’s smile got bigger. Together they released the lantern into the sky to join all the others, but Sora didn’t let go of her hands.

Her eyes flickered from their hands to his face. “Sora?”

She was so close now, her face just inches from his. His eyes rested on her lips, then darted back up to her eyes. He took a deep breath and swallowed. Her breathing got heavier as he leaned close, her eyes fluttering shut as he—

—tumbled into the water with a loud splash, ruining the moment and his fantasy.

Donald burst out laughing, and Jiminy laughed, too, even though he was still in Sora’s hood and was only kinda shielded from the water.

Sora muttered to himself as he climbed back onto the dock. Talk about embarrassing. He made sure to shake the water from his clothes and hair onto Donald, which didn’t do much to get the duck to shut up.

“You look like a wet cat,” he said in between quacks and cackles.

Sora just glared at him as he took his seat next to him again. “Yeah, well, it happens.”

“You were thinkin’ about Kairi again, weren’t you?” Goofy said, a knowing twinkle in his eye.

Sora wanted to groan. This again. He was never gonna be free of their teasing, was he?

He crossed his arms. “So what? Jiminy said to make a wish, and I did. None of your business if it involves Kairi or not.”

Donald covered his beak with his hands, but a few snickers still escaped, especially when Sora shot him another glare.

“Well, Sora, if you really did make a wish to see her again, I’m sure it’ll come true,” Jiminy said.

As Sora spotted Eugene and Rapunzel again on their boat together like they were in their own world, he couldn’t help but sigh.

He sure wished it would.

I always loved how Sora is a hopeless romantic in KH2 and I’m hoping to see that side of him again in KH3. And I realize I have neglected Jiminy in... pretty much all of my stories, so I figured it was about time I gave him his moment in the spotlight :)

As always, thank you for reading!

[phoenix-downer]

Broken Promise

For the KH3 Countdown Challenge.

'kh3'

Day 13 - Promise

Everyone always told Donald he had a short temper. And sure, it was true, sort of. He couldn’t help that he was more spirited than other folks! Besides, Goofy (and to a lesser extent Sora) were always around to keep him in check.

But today something had happened that had made Donald have to hold Goofy back for once.

The two of them stood there in the aftermath of it all, panting and dirty and banged up from the fight. Xehanort’s cronies were gone now, but the damage had been done. Sora faced away from them, and his shoulders were shaking and his head was hanging low. He wasn’t even trying to hide his quiet sobs from them, either.

Because clutched in his hand were the broken pieces of Kairi’s good luck charm. Xehanort was waging an all out war against his heart, and this was the latest in a long string of casualties.

Donald wouldn’t forget the look in Sora’s eyes or the way he’d cried out when it had happened. As their enemies had disappeared into swirls of black smoke with cruel smirks on their faces afterwards, it had taken all of Donald’s strength to hold Goofy back from jumping in after them.

Sora sniffed, and it snapped Goofy out of his funk. He walked over to Sora and put a hand on his shoulder.

“There now, Sora, I’m sure Kairi can fix it for you—”

“I broke my promise.”

Goofy shot Donald a worried look, and he waddled over to join them. “I’m sure she’ll understand,” Donald said. “It’s not your fault they—”

Sora whirled around to face them, and his eyes were flashing and his fists were clenched. “It is my fault! This is all my fault! I told her we’d be together and then I left her behind again! If we were still together like I’d promised the charm would be safe with her right now!”

No one said anything for a few moments after that, because Xehanort’s manipulation was having its intended effect. Sora’s heart was hurting and they had to do something to fix it before things got any worse.

“Now Sora, she knows you left for a good reason—” Goofy began.

Sora’s shoulders slumped, and his arms lowered to his side. “I know, I know. Because everyone’s counting on me to save them.” He opened his hand to look at the broken charm again. “But did they ever think about what it might cost me?”

Donald’s heart sank. Master Yen Sid had warned him and Goofy that Sora needed their help now more than ever, and he was right. Sora had taken the brunt of all this on his shoulders, and they were awfully young shoulders to bear such a burden.

“How am I gonna face her?” he said, his voice breaking and tears welling up in his eyes again. “All I ever do is break my promises to her. I can’t even return her charm in one piece. She trusted me and I can’t even do that.”

“Sora, it’s not your fault,” Donald said. “Kairi won’t blame you. Sure, it might be hard to tell her, but she’ll understand.”

Goofy nodded and gestured to Sora’s hand. “Besides, you’ve still got the pieces of it. She’s a real crafty gal. I’m sure she’ll come up with somethin’ that can fix it.”

Sora ignored them both, just stared at the ruined charm. “It looks like my promise to her now, doesn’t it? Maybe it’s better this way.”

“Sora, snap out of it!” Donald quacked, tugging on his arm. “Don’t you see this is what Xehanort wants? He wants to break your heart so he can take it over! Don’t let him get between you and Kairi like this!”

“But—”

“Donald’s right, ya know. You gotta have some faith in Kairi. Sure, this charm she made for you is awful nice, but it’s just a symbol. Xehanort can break it all he likes, but it doesn’t change how Kairi feels about you.”

“Or how you feel about her,” Donald added.

Sora just stared at them as if he was seeing something new for the first time. Then he looked at the charm again, his fingers tracing over it like it was the most precious thing in all the worlds.

“Yeah, you’re right. Thanks, guys.” He carefully returned the pieces to his pocket for safekeeping. “Broken or not, a promise is still a promise. Kairi deserves to know the truth. And I can’t let Xehanort get me down.”

“That’s the spirit,” Donald said, and Goofy nodded.

Sora didn’t smile after that. In fact, he was pretty quiet all the way back to the Gummi Ship. But as they took off for the next world, Donald noticed he’d taken out the fragment of the charm with his face on it and had put it where he could see it as he drove.

Well, if Xehanort was going after his heart, it made sense that he would try to strengthen his bond with Kairi. She was his light, after all, and while all his friends helped, Donald got the feeling that Kairi in particular was keeping him from falling into darkness.

Fate really had been cruel to keep them apart for so long. Donald could only hope Sora would get to see her again soon.

[phoenix-downer]

Free

For the KH3 Countdown Challenge.

Day 20 - Confession

Kairi normally tried to give people the benefit of the doubt, but something about the man in front of her told her that was a bad idea.

Maybe it was his snide smile or his cruel sneer. Maybe it was his black coat or the way he towered over her.

Or maybe… maybe it was because he had yellow eyes and pointy ears. Not even his flowing pink hair could disguise that fact.

Her hand twitched, and a moment later, Destiny’s Embrace answered her call.

“Who are you, and what do you want with me?” she demanded. No more kidnappings. No one else was ever gonna take her again, not without a fight.

The man summoned a scythe and lazily swung it behind his shoulder. “I came to see you because I have a message for Naminé.”

“Naminé?”

Kairi glanced behind her, and sure enough, her Nobody had appeared, looking even more like a ghost than she had the last time she’d seen her. She met Kairi’s eyes, and that was when Kairi knew.

She stepped in front of Naminé and held her Keyblade out. “You’re Marluxia! You’re the man who kept Naminé imprisoned!”

Marluxia smiled. “Very good, Kairi. Naminé must have shown you her memories.” He glanced past Kairi. “You did show her everything, didn’t you?”

Kairi didn’t like the way Marluxia had just said “everything.” She kept her Keyblade drawn but stole a glance back at Naminé, who was clutching her arm and staring at the white ground beneath her feet. Kairi recognized this place from Naminé’s memories, though she had never been there herself.

Castle Oblivion. Marluxia had ties to this place, too.

“Oh, you haven’t told her, have you?” he said, his voice making Kairi’s skin crawl.

“Told me what?” she said, her heart pounding as her gaze went from Naminé to him back to Naminé.

“Tell her, Naminé. She deserves to know the truth. Whose fault is it that she forgot about Sora? Whose fault is it that Sora forgot about her?”

Kairi lowered her Keyblade. “Naminé, what is he saying?”  

Naminé hesitated.

“Tell her!”

Naminé winced. “I— Kairi, it was me.”

“That’s right, it was all her fault!”

Kairi whirled around to face him again. “What? That’s crazy, Naminé would never—”

“No, he’s right,” came Naminé’s voice, low but firm, and Kairi had no choice but to face her. “I was the one who tampered with Sora’s memories. I was the one who made him forget you. I replaced all of his memories of you with me. And because of that, you forgot about him, too.”

Kairi couldn’t believe her ears. All this time, she’d thought it was her fault that she’d forgotten Sora. She’d blamed herself for what had happened. Only to find out that… Naminé was the one who had tampered with his memories as well as hers? Her kind Nobody who had done nothing but look out for her?

A gutted feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. “But why? Why would you do that?”

“She was jealous of you,” Marluxia said. “She wanted Sora to look at her the way he looks at you.”

“You were… jealous of me?”

Naminé’s lower lip trembled as tears filled her eyes. “Kairi, I’m so sorry. I wish I’d never made him forget you.”

Kairi’s heart pounded in her chest. Was it really true? Was it really Naminé’s fault she had forgotten Sora? Had Sora really forgotten her, too?

Well, even if it was true, something wasn’t adding up here. The gleam in Marluxia’s eyes hinted that there was more to the story. Eyes narrowing, she regarded him with a cold glare and pointed her Keyblade right at his heart.

“You. Get out of my heart. Whatever this is about, Naminé and I will figure it out together.”

Kairi sent a blast of light in his direction, and he disappeared from the dream. Good riddance. Satisfied that he was gone, Kairi let her weapon disappear and took Naminé’s hands in hers.

“Naminé, tell me what happened. I promise… no matter how bad it is… I’ll listen.”

Naminé nodded. “I should have told you long ago. The truth is, Kairi… I was lonely the moment I was born. I wanted someone to care about me. I can see Sora’s memories, and… I saw the way he looks at you. I wanted what you two share for myself. It wasn’t until later that I realized… the more I tampered with his memories, the stronger his feelings for you became. I could never replace you in his heart, no matter how hard I tried.”

Kairi was silent, not really sure what to say to this. It was a lot to take in. After a few moments of silence, she gave Naminé’s hand a reassuring squeeze, and Naminé continued.

“Marluxia kept me at Castle Oblivion, like I showed you before. He told me he’d keep me locked in the castle forever if I didn’t obey him. My powers over memory were the key to his plan. He wanted to catch Sora and bring him under his control because he wanted the power of the Keyblade for himself. He thought that if I rewrote enough of Sora’s memories, Sora would become his slave.”

As Kairi had suspected. There was more to the story than Marluxia had let on.

“He manipulated and used you, Naminé. What happened isn’t your fault.”

Naminé’s eyebrows furrowed as her eyes searched Kairi’s. “You don’t… blame me? Even though I knew what I was doing was wrong? Even though I wanted Sora for myself?”

Kairi couldn’t help but smile at that. “Any girl would want Sora for herself. I can hardly blame you for that.”

Naminé returned the smile, but there was something a little bittersweet about it. “He only has eyes for you, you know.”

Kairi’s cheeks got a little warmer at Naminé’s words, and there was a knowing twinkle in Naminé’s eyes as she continued.

“Eventually, I couldn’t go against my conscience anymore. I stopped tampering with Sora’s memories, and I told him the truth. Then I promised to make things right. It was the least I could do after all the trouble I caused him. So I told him I would put his memories back together, but there was a catch. He could either remember me, or remember you, but not both of us. And he chose you, Kairi.”

Kairi’s heart thudded in her chest. It was so loud, in this faded memory of a stark white castle that she’d never been to.

“He chose me?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Yes. Even though I had unchained his memories of you, he still wanted you. He wanted what was real, not a fake like me.”

Kairi brought her hand to Naminé’s face, and it was solid and real beneath her touch. “Oh, Naminé. You’re many things, but you’re not a fake. Your heart is as real as mine is.”

Naminé smiled at that. “Thank you, Kairi.”

Kairi let her hand fall to her side as another thought occurred to her. “But does that mean… he doesn’t remember you? He doesn’t remember that you helped him get all his memories of me back?”

Naminé shook her head. “All he knows is that he’s supposed to thank me.”

Something stirred inside Kairi.  “Naminé, we have to help him remember you! He’d be so upset if he realized—” She froze, all thoughts and plans fleeing her head at the sight of the tears shining in Naminé’s eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“You really are too kind,” Naminé said, wiping her eyes. “I was afraid to tell you, and here you are, trying to think of ways for Sora to remember me.”

Kairi’s hand found its way to her necklace. “Well… don’t get me wrong. I’m not happy that you made him forget about me. We can’t ever get back the year we lost, and I’d be lying if I said that doesn’t make me sad. And… I guess… if I’m being completely honest… a little jealous, too.”

It was hard to admit these things to herself, let alone another person. But Kairi knew it was true. The thought of Sora showing interest in another girl made this uneasy feeling settle over her stomach, and she knew what that feeling was.

“But I can’t hold it against you, Naminé. You were in a bad situation and Marluxia was using you as much as he was using Sora. You’re as much a victim as he is.”

Naminé nodded. “It’s true. But not any longer.”

“No, of course not. You’ve done nothing but help him and help me since then. You’re a good person, Naminé. I’m glad you’re my Nobody.” She paused and corrected herself. “No, not my Nobody, my friend.”

“I’m glad you’re my friend, too.”

Kairi smiled and found Naminé’s hands again. “And that means I want Sora to remember you, too. And not just that. You deserve to exist on your own. You have your own memories, your own feelings. And that means you have your own heart, too. I promise, Namine, I’ll find a way to bring you back. You and Roxas both. I know Sora feels the same way. We promised we’d be together so you two could be together, but that isn’t good enough anymore. I want the two of you to be free so you can be together any time you want.”

Naminé smiled again, and this time, there was no trace of sadness in her smile. “Thank you, Kairi.”

As the dream faded away into morning, Kairi couldn’t wait to tell Sora about her new promise. Someday, she would meet Naminé again, face-to-face. Sora would see Roxas face-to-face. He would remember Naminé, and she could introduce herself to Roxas properly, too.

The four of them would be friends, she just knew it.

And until that day came, she would never give up on finding a way for Naminé to be free.

Today’s prompt is dedicated to @anheiressofasoldier and @dusky-dancing :) Months and months ago we had a discussion about what might happen if Kairi and Naminé talked about what happened in Chain of Memories, and I’d been meaning to write something based on those ideas for ages. Well, today was the day and I finally got around to doing it. Thank you for the inspiration, you two, and I hope you enjoyed it!

[phoenix-downer]

First Friend

For the KH3 Countdown Challenge. 

Day 9 - Friendship

It was kinda funny how Sora had never really met his first and oldest friend face-to-face before.

Sure, he had vague, fuzzy memories of talking to Ventus as a kid, but that was different from actually, you know, talking to him. Out loud. In person. Face-to-face. Like how most normal friendships went.

To be fair, though, most of Sora’s friendships were anything but normal these days. How many people had been hanging out inside his heart before he’d begun this rescue mission again? Sheesh, he really could start charging rental space like Donald had suggested. Bunch of freeloaders.

Not that he ever would. They were his freeloaders, and he would give them shelter for as long as they needed. It was the least he could do after Xehanort had ruined their lives. Ruined the lives of his beloved friends that he was determined now more than ever to restore.

And that meant it was time to return Ventus to his rightful body, and that thought both excited him and scared him. Ventus had been with him ever since he was a baby. What kind of person would he be without him?

“What will Ventus think when he sees me?” he couldn’t help but ask.

Because Ventus was this… well, this legendary figure, almost. With him since the day he was born. A Keyblade wielder long before he’d become one. A hero to be admired from afar, even while, ironically enough, he rested inside Sora’s heart.

How was he supposed to approach that reintroduction? Sure, maybe he should be more worried about the fight that was probably gonna happen if he wanted to save Ventus’s body and restore his heart. Getting back each and every one of the people Xehanort had stolen from him hadn’t been easy so far, and Ventus wasn’t about to be an exception.

But for whatever reason, he was more nervous about seeing Ventus face-to-face for the first time than he was about the upcoming battle.

Aqua patted his head and smiled, like she always used to pat Ventus’s head. She’d smiled a lot after her rescue, really.

“He’ll be thrilled to see you, I’m sure,” she said. “And Sora?”

“Yeah?”

“Call him Ven. It’s what all his friends do.”

Sora returned her smile. “Okay.”

[phoenix-downer]

Destinies Intertwined

For the KH3 Countdown Challenge.

Bonus Prompt - Destiny

Alone together for the first time in who knows how long, and Sora didn’t know what to say.

But that was okay. Some things went without saying. And some things were just way beyond words.

Sharing a paopu with Kairi was definitely one of them.

He’d never forget this moment as long as he lived. The sunlight reflecting off her red hair, the huge smile on her face, the sparkle dancing in her eyes, the flush to her cheeks. The piece of paopu in her fingers dripping juice as she gently lifted it to his mouth. The sour-sweet taste of the fruit followed up with her soft lips pressing against his and making everything else melt away.

Then it was her turn. He gave her a piece of the paopu and his heart and soul along with it. As she chewed and swallowed the fruit, he couldn’t help but smile at her.

Their destinies were intertwined now. He’d bound himself to her for as long as they lived. Nothing would keep them apart anymore.

He sealed their oath with another kiss, this one slow, lingering. There was no rush; no more enemies to fight, no more battles to be won, no more separations to endure. Just the two of them fulfilling their vow to each other at long last.

When they finally broke apart, Sora couldn’t help but think he was the luckiest guy in the universe.

And when Kairi kissed him one last time, this time with so much passion it took his breath away and made his heart feel like it was gonna burst?

He knew he was.

This is my final prompt for the challenge! A big, big thank you to everyone who liked, reblogged, and commented on my fics for the challenge. Your support means a lot to me!

No spoilers in the comments, please, but I can’t wait till I’ve finished the game and can share my thoughts and read everyone else’s thoughts, too!

KH3 here we come! :)

[phoenix-downer]

To The Very End

For the KH3 Countdown Challenge.

Day 26 - Darkness

Don’t give in to the darkness. That was the one rule he’d set for himself in all of this. Because if he did, it was all over. Xehanort was still after his heart. He and Roxas were both candidates for the last position on Xehanort’s list. And if there was one thing Sora had learned in all this, it was that Xehanort did not fight fair.

Which meant he was doing everything he could to make the darkness in Sora’s heart take over. Encounter after encounter with his “vessels” had really driven that point home.

And the thing was… a small part of Sora wanted to give in to the darkness. He wanted to rescue Roxas. He wanted to make Xehanort pay for all the hurt he’d caused. He wanted to give in to the shadowy creature that lived inside his heart, the one that only came out during a fight and unleashed his rage on his enemies till Donald and Goofy snapped him back to his senses.

But he couldn’t. He just couldn’t. His heart had to resist. There was no other option.

Until Xehanort targeted Kairi.

Sora knew it was gonna happen sooner or later. Kairi was a Princess of Heart. And not just that. She was the only one of the new group who’d carried over from the old group. She was the only one with a Keyblade, the only one who could be a Guardian of Light, too.

Sora had always known she was special. But now Xehanort did, too.

So when Xehanort looked down at her from up high with that greedy look in his eyes, something inside of Sora snapped.

No more. He’d failed her enough. She’d lost her heart and gotten kidnapped because he couldn’t protect her, and he wasn’t about to let Xehanort take her, too.

Throwing caution to the wind, he jumped in front of her. There. Now Xehanort would have to go through him to get to her. His body, his heart, his soul – it was all a small price to pay for her safety.

Xehanort just smiled. Ugh. Sora lifted his arm to guard her, the darkness inside him spiking to dangerous levels as he glared up at Xehanort.

“The light of the worlds is sustained in all your fellow princesses,” came Xehanort’s annoying voice, “but it seems you, Kairi, are the lynchpin holding it all together.”

“Don’t you lay a finger on her!” Sora yelled up at Xehanort. Dark smoke was coming off his arms in wisps now, but he didn’t even care anymore.

“I don’t have to. All you have to do is hand Roxas over… or yourself.”

Sora froze. So that was what this was all about. Xehanort was gonna make him choose between saving Roxas and protecting Kairi. Either that or—

“Will the king choose to save his knight… or his queen?” Xehanort asked, just to really drive the point home. “Or will he sacrifice himself and lose the game?”

“Why you—”

“Shut up! He won’t do any of that!” came Kairi’s voice from behind him before he could finish his answer.

He glanced back at her, and her fists were clenched and her eyes were narrowed as she glared up at Xehanort. But then she met his gaze, and her eyebrows knitted together and her eyes filled with anguish.

“I won’t let you sacrifice yourself for me, Sora. Not again, please, not again. I can protect myself, I swear!”

How could he explain? It wasn’t that he doubted that. It was just that… losing her…

He’d rather hand himself over to Xehanort than let that happen. He’d rather tear out his own heart again, if it came to that. He’d rather lose his soul and die, leave his heart and body behind and allow Xehanort to do whatever he wanted with them, than lose her again.

“Roxas wouldn’t want this either,” she implored. “We can find another way to help him! Please.”

“Kairi—”

She stepped forward so she was standing beside him. “Sora, your heart is strong. You have to keep fighting the darkness. Don’t give Xehanort what he wants!”

She summoned her Keyblade, and her light glowed a little brighter. Everything else seemed to fade away – Xehanort, the darkness, even the Keyblade Graveyard itself. All that was left was her and him.

“Never forget,” she said, moving into a battle stance, “no matter what happens, I’m always with you!”

The words of their promise snapped him out of his funk. He had his answer. He knew he knew what he had to do.

His Keyblade appeared in his hand with her upgraded lucky charm dangling off the hilt. As their friends joined them and the fight began and reality came crashing down all around them, one last thought went through his head.

No matter what happened, at least he wasn’t alone. Because Kairi was still here. His friends were still here.

And for them, he would fight to the very end.

A big thank you to @rapis-razuri for talking to me about chess imagery a lot and angel-with-a-pipette (not tagging her name for now because spoilers) for inspiring me to write this story based on our conversations!

Hope you enjoyed!

[phoenix-downer]

Light

For the KH3 Countdown Challenge.

Day 25 - Light

Where were all these Heartless even coming from?

Sora had never seen them falling from the sky like this before. The whole world was turning dark, too, as the darkness spread further and further and swallowed everything in its path.

Would the light really expire, just like the prophecy said?

No. No way was he gonna let that happen. He summoned his Keyblade. No matter how bad things got, he would keep on fighting. He had to protect the worlds. He had to protect the light. He had to protect his friends.

He thought of them now as he charged into battle with Donald and Goofy right as his heels. Their faces all flickered through his head as he dove headlong into the fight.

The people he’d met on his travels. His friends back home.

The Heartless just wouldn’t stop coming, wave after wave after wave of them lunged at him and clawed at his legs and back and tried to tear out his heart—

Terra. Aqua and Ven.

There were Unversed here, too, so many of them, choking up the air, choking out the light, draining all hope along with them—

Roxas and Axel and Xion.

And Nobodies, lots of Nobodies, trying to catch him off guard, trying to get him to fall—

Naminé.

The Seekers were the ones behind this, weren’t they, this had their dirty fingerprints written all over it—

Mickey, Donald, and Goofy.

Xehanort really was making good on his promise, he really did want the worlds collapse into darkness, didn’t he—

Riku.

He had to keep fighting, he had to, Riku would tell him not to give up, but maybe it really was useless to resist, maybe fighting was pointless, maybe he should just—

Kairi.

He stared at the horizon. Was that… light?

Yeah, it was. A huge wave of light pushed back the darkness, pushed back the Unversed and Heartless and Nobodies. Sora almost had to cover his eyes, it was so bright.

When the light had faded, a good chunk of their enemies were gone. And in their place, standing a little ways away, was—

No. It couldn’t be.

“Kairi!”

Wow, she looked great. She was even prettier than before, if that was even possible. Her hair was shorter and she was wearing a new outfit, pink and black with a nice skirt that—

Sora watched, stunned, as she kicked a nearby Heartless into the air for Axel to do what he did best— set it on fire. Then she used a smaller burst of light to target one of the bigger Unversed as he caught a group of Nobodies in his flames.

When the smoke had cleared, she finally turned Sora’s way. She flipped her hair and gave him a teasing smile, and he knew he was a goner.

“Sora, pay attention!” Donald scolded, zapping a stray Heartless that had gotten too close.

“They’re comin’ back, Sora,” Goofy shouted,  “you gotta keep fightin’!”

Sora hardly noticed. “Kairi! Kairi’s here!”

“Yes, she’s here!” came Donald’s exasperated voice. “Fight now, talk later!”

Oh, he would fight, all right. He would fight his way to her side until nothing stood in their way anymore.

Because at long last, they could finally be together.

Something tells me that however Sora and Kairi’s reunion goes down in KH3, it’s going to be special. Nomura carefully avoided letting them see each other in 0.2, which is very telling - he wanted to save their big onscreen reunion for KH3, which means he’s got something special planned.

Then I got to thinking about how that reunion might go, exactly, and I thought Kairi swooping into battle to show just how far she’s come during her training would be an awesome way to do that. And thus the idea for this fic was born. I’ve been meaning to write it for a while, actually, and now I finally had the chance :)

Hope you enjoyed!

[phoenix-downer]

Anyone Can Cook

For the KH3 Countdown Challenge.

Day 12 - Fluff

“You’re really doin’ great, Sora,” Goofy said as he watched Sora toss a pan full of meat and vegetables and catch every single one of them with ease.

Sora grinned as he returned the pan to the fire, glancing upwards at the little chef perched on his head. “It’s all thanks to Remy’s help. I was completely hopeless before this. I couldn’t even cook rice without burning it. Kairi used to tease me about it all the time. Riku would have, too, but he’s just as bad as I am. Well, was.”

Remy smiled, his deft paws tugging this way and that at Sora’s hair. “It’s like my hero Auguste Gusteau used to say. Anyone can cook.”

Goofy sorta wondered whether Auguste Gusteau had a rat and a teenage boy working together in mind when he’d said that, but he liked the idea all the same.

Donald hopped off his chair and waddled over to Sora. “Here, Sora, gimme your phone. I can take a picture if you want.”

Sora paused to scratch his cheek. “Oh, actually… I kinda want it to be a surprise.”

Donald looked to Goofy, then turned back to Sora and gave him a sly smile. “You wanna impress Kairi, don’t you?”

Sora’s face flushed, and it probably wasn’t just because of the spurt of fire from the wine he’d just poured onto the meat and vegetables.

“Who’s Kairi?” Remy asked, though the look on his face told Goofy he’d probably figured it out.

“We… um… she… uh… she’s my— she’s my—”

“Your what, Sora?” Donald asked with a teasing grin.

“Sora, eyes on the food!” Remy yanked Sora’s hair to get him to focus again.

When the pan was back under control, Sora finally spoke again. “Okay, fine. You’re right. I want to show her that I’m not a hopeless cook anymore, okay? She always used to cook for me and Riku and we never made anything for her. I just want to return the favor for once.”

If Sora thought that was gonna get Donald off his case, he was wrong. Donald teased him about it until he threatened to burn Donald’s portion. That got Donald to shut up and return to his spot at the table until the food was ready.

“Well, Sora, I think Kairi will really like your surprise,” Goofy said, tucking his napkin into his shirt as Sora served the food. “It’s awful thoughtful of you.”

“Thanks, Goofy.” Sora smiled and took a seat at the table, and Remy sat down at his own tiny table Sora had gotten ready for him. It was on top of the big table, and Sora had set aside a little portion for him, too.

As they all dug in, Goofy didn’t add that it wasn’t about the food, though Kairi was sure to like whatever special meal Remy helped Sora cook up. It wasn’t about the atmosphere, though this restaurant was awful nice and she was sure to like it when Sora brought her here.

No, it was all about the heart and thought behind the act, and Goofy had lived long enough to know that that was what really mattered.

He couldn’t wait till Sora could share his surprise with her.

[phoenix-downer]

Way to the Dawn

For the KH3 Countdown Challenge.

Day 21 - Old Friends

“Mickey, you okay there?”

Mickey’s ears drooped as he tried to pick himself up, only to trip over one of the shattered pieces of Way to the Dawn and tumble to the ground. The cold grainy sand of the Dark Margin stuck to his clothes and face, and he didn’t even bother brushing it off.

Riku offered him a hand up. “Hey, what happened to Aqua isn’t your fault.”

He took Riku’s hand. “Gosh, I don’t know. I think it kinda is my fault. I don’t blame her for holdin’ a grudge against me.”

“Well, if it’s your fault, then it’s mine, too. If she hadn’t sacrificed herself for me, she could have gotten out of the realm of darkness before it was too late.”

Mickey was silent, and Riku didn’t know what else to say.

They’d failed. Master Yen Sid had counted on them to save her, and they couldn’t even do that. Couldn’t even save one person.

Some master he was. Sure, it was his first full assignment, but he was already starting to wonder if he really deserved the title.

“Riku, don’t go blamin’ yourself now,” Mickey said as he searched his face.

Riku nodded. “Yeah. It’s just easy to, you know? Old habits die hard. But we can’t give up hope. We’ll just have to find another way to save her.”

Sure, it wasn’t really his fault, but he still felt bad about Aqua’s fate. She’d chosen to protect him, and now, it was time time he returned the favor. And that meant he couldn’t give up now. They had to keep searching for a way to save her, no matter how hard it might be.

“We’ll just hafta go back to Master Yen Sid and tell him what happened,” Mickey said. “Get new Keyblades and try again.”

“Yeah.”

They couldn’t do too much right now, not after Aqua had stolen Mickey’s Keyblade and shattered his.

He picked its broken hilt up and walked over to the water’s edge. Knowing this was the right thing to do, though he couldn’t fully explain why, he plunged it into the sand.

“Can’t use this Keyblade anymore. Might as well leave it here… in case the other me needs it.”

“Huh?”

Riku just smiled. “There’re a lot of things I didn’t get to tell you about my Mark of Mastery exam. Guess now’s as good a time as any to get you caught up.”

As Riku told the story and they searched for a way out of here, he couldn’t help but think how lucky he was to have Mickey here with him. Even defeat wasn’t so bad if you had a friend to pick you back up afterwards.

Was he sounding more and more like Sora with all this mushy friend stuff?

Yeah, but really, it wasn’t such a bad thing. Not at all.

Mickey and Riku’s friendship is one of my favorite things about the series and I haven’t given it the love it deserves so here is me making up for that. 

Hope you enjoyed!

[phoenix-downer]

We’re Gonna Win

For the KH3 Countdown Challenge. I have not watched the leaked cutscenes, so no spoilers whatsoever, please!

I’m sure these ficlets are well into AU territory at this point, but I am determined to see this challenge through to the end :) A big thank you to everyone who’s been along for the ride, I really appreciate the support! 

Now, without further ado:

Day 29 - Victory

Goofy carefully set Sora’s limp body on the ground. He deserved a proper burial, but somehow Goofy didn’t have the heart in him to do it.

Buryin’ Sora would be like admittin’ defeat. And they still had to face Xehanort, anyway. They were the only ones left who could still do it. Their mournin’ would just hafta wait for now.

Donald crossed Sora’s arms over his heart, then Goofy laid Sora’s jacket over his face. A makeshift burial shroud till they could come back to him.

“We’ll be back soon, Sora,” Goofy said, sniffin’ and wipin’ his eyes. At least like this he could pretend Sora was just takin’ another one of his naps.

“We promise,” Donald added, casting one last Cure spell over him to heal his broken body. The green light glowed bright against the darkness that was coverin’ the land, then it faded.

Their heads drooped and their feet dragged as they walked away, leavin’ Sora behind when both of them wanted nothin’ more than to stay with him.

“We don’t stand a chance,” Donald said. “Not when Xehanort has the χ-Blade.”

“Now don’t say that, Donald. So long as we’ve got each other, there’s still hope,” Goofy said, but the words sounded sorta hollow, even to him.

They needed Sora now more than ever. They needed their other friends, too. But Sora was dead and everyone else was stuck inside the χ-Blade. It was up to them to make things right again.

They paused when they’d reached the portal to wherever it was Xehanort had disappeared to. A big black swirling darkness was before them, and Goofy winced at the thought of jumpin’ into that. Some places you just knew were bad news.

But they had to keep goin’. For their friends. For Sora.

Donald wasn’t a white mage the way the King was, but he knew some white magic spells all the same. He lifted his staff and cast some sort of light magic that pushed back the darkness a little, and Goofy braced himself.

This was it. There was no goin’ back.

“Ready?” Donald asked. “On the count of three.”

“One—” Goofy said.

“Two—”

Goofy’s heart about stopped. Someone’s hand had just landed on his back, and—

“Three!” came a very familiar voice, so full of life and joy that for a second Goofy thought he must be dreamin’.

But then Donald shouted Sora’s name, and Goofy knew it wasn’t a dream. Sora laughed and shoved him and Donald into the portal before jumping in after them with the biggest grin on his face.

“Sora!” Goofy cried as some force picked them up off the ground and flung them higher and higher into the air. He reached for Sora’s hand and grabbed it, and Sora found Donald’s hand, too. Soon they were all linked up together as they kept goin’ higher and higher and higher.

Sora grinned as the wind rushed through his hair and clothes. “You weren’t really gonna go off and fight Xehanort without me, were you?” he shouted.

Donald was having none of Sora’s teasing. “Don’t you dare scare us like that again!” he scolded.

“Hey, it’s not like I wanted to die!” Sora shot back.

Goofy had to choke back more tears. Happy ones this time. Sora and Donald were arguin’, just like old times, and the world felt a little brighter again.

When they had finally landed wherever this new place was, he and Donald both tackled Sora in a hug and didn’t let go for a very long time. Huggin’ him was the only way to ease the hurt of losin’ him. And he hugged them back, sayin’ all sorts of comfortin’ things to them about how he was really alive and really here and really with them.

When their hearts all felt better, he sat back and explained what had happened.

“I was in this mysterious place I’d never been before. It was all just blue sky and clouds and columns everywhere. My memories were scattered all around, and I had to get them back. My heart was aching, and I knew it wouldn’t stop hurting till I was whole again.”

A lump built in Goofy’s throat. Hearing Sora talk about his pain still hurt him, too.

“But even after I’d collected a whole bunch of memories and was feeling like myself again, I still wasn’t whole. Something, no, someone was missing. And that’s when Kairi found me. Her lucky charm really worked. She found me and—”

He blushed, and Goofy had the feelin’ he knew why. But now wasn’t the time for teasin’.

“I couldn’t stay dead,” Sora finished. “I had to come back to you guys. I promised her I would. And… I promised I’d come for her, too.”

Donald pulled out his staff and smiled. “Well? What’re we waiting for? You have a princess to save.”

“You guys are with me, right?” Sora said. “You’ll help me rescue her and the rest of our friends from the χ-Blade, won’t you?”

Goofy nodded as he got out his shield. “We’re with you to the very end, Sora.”

Sora’s eyes got a little watery at that. “Thanks, guys. With you by my side, I know we’re gonna win.”

He summoned his Keyblade. Donald and Goofy gasped because as he did, there was a bright flash of light. His clothes changed and the Kingdom Key transformed into a new form Goofy had never seen before. He had a crown on his head, too. A sign of things to come?

He grinned when he noticed them gawkin’ at him. “What? I told you before: my friends are my power.”

Donald and Goofy couldn’t help but smile back. And with that, they were all ready to fight Xehanort for the last time.

[phoenix-downer]

Sorry

For the KH3 Countdown Challenge. 

Day 4 - Wayfinder Trio (Terra, Aqua, and Ventus)

Sorry. One word Terra wished he could tell them. It was his fault this whole mess had happened in the first place. If only he hadn’t pushed away the very people who could have helped him from succumbing to the darkness. If only he hadn’t listened to Xehanort, fallen for his slick lies and empty half-truths.

He took out his Wayfinder and stared at it. It was a true sign of Aqua’s skill and magic that after all this time it was still in one piece.

His grip around it tightened. Would they still want him anymore, even if he did return to them? If Aqua’s magic worked and brought them all together again? He was the one who had driven them all apart with the way he’d mistrusted Aqua and pushed Ven away.

Well, whether they wanted him or not, at the very least he owed them an apology.

“Aqua, Ven, I’m sorry.”

Sorry. Sorry my sacrifice did nothing to help you, Terra. Sorry I didn’t keep my promise to return to you, Ven. Sorry I’ve been stuck in this miserable place with no way out, this hellish existence with no real hope of freedom.

Aqua’s life was a series of one regret after another, but the worst regrets of all were her broken promises to Terra and Ven. They’d been counting on her to save them, and now she needed saving herself.

She took her Wayfinder out and stared at it. It was still in one piece somehow after all this time, even though the person who had made it was anything but.

How far she had fallen. Once the future had seemed a thing of hope, but now… now… the prospect of any more time spent in this prison was too much to bear.

A tear slid down her cheek. “Terra, Ven, I’m sorry. I can’t… I can’t hold out much longer.”

Sorry. Sorry I’ve been sitting here completely useless as the two of you suffer. Sorry all I can do is sleep as I wait for Sora to finish repairing my heart. Sorry I couldn’t protect you from the man who split my heart in two.

Ven had a lot of regrets, but his biggest one was that the people who had opened their home and their hearts to him had gotten involved with the same twisted man who had ruined his life.

If only he hadn’t lost his memory. If only he could’ve warned them of the true danger Xehanort posed. If only he could have spared them such terrible fates, could have spared himself his fate.

And now Sora and his friends were barreling towards that same danger. Sora, heart so kind it had accepted a stranger’s broken heart soon after birth. Sora, heart so caring it had healed and protected Ven’s for years. Sora, heart so selfless he was convinced Ven’s rescue and Terra and Aqua’s salvation rested on his shoulders.

The worlds were very cruel to people like him.

Ven pulled out his Wayfinder and stared at it, stared at his reflection in the green glass.

“Saving all these people… saving me… what’s it gonna cost him?”

His hand shook and his vision blurred. “I’m sorry, Terra and Aqua, but I can’t… I can’t let him—”

He wiped his eyes. “If you knew him, you’d feel the same. Watching him grow up, seeing the worlds through his eyes, knowing the kind of person he’s become— how could I not care about him?”

He slipped his Wayfinder back into his pocket and thought of his friends, knowing they would understand. And then his thoughts turned to Sora, the person he wanted to apologize to most of all.

“Sora, the road ahead won’t be easy. In fact, it might be more like hell. But just remember… don’t lose heart, because we’re all rooting for you, every step of the way.”

[kh3countdownchallenge]

Day 27 - Loss