#sokai parents

[sawyarts]

For sokaiweek on twt!

AU where Sora is a prince and Kairi is the newly appointed royal gardener he catches instant feelings for

[confession-of-the-heart]

It was kind of touched on previously, and while I get that this isn’t what shipping culture is about, I still think it’s a shame that SoKai being good people who are bad for each other is so frequently glossed over.

Again, the thing is, Sora and Kairi bring out some of the worst in each other. For Kairi, that is passiveness, and I think it’s because she is too comfortable with Sora because he would do anything for her. Which directly plays into how she brings out his most self-destructive tendencies, and I think that is because despite Kairi being so comfortable with him, she can’t and won’t ever tell him ‘no, stop’. What they have in common is that they are both deeply afraid of losing each other, possibly due to shared trauma.

That is not a healthy dynamic, especially in a romantic context! But it is one with tremendous potential in all sorts of directions. You could go the tragic route and explore how it kind of destroys them both (which is sort of what canon did with KH3 and MoM, though it was pretty subtle). You could also explore how they work through this (but for that, you would have to acknowledge that these unhealthy tendencies exist in the first place). If they work past it at all. Sometimes to love means to let go, and that is also something you could explore with SoKai (and to be fair, I understand why that isn’t going to happen in a shipping context very often).

Instead, what (mostly) SoKai shippers do is… Denying that those unhealthy tendencies exist, for the most part. Or even worse, denying that they are unhealthy in the first place and romanticize them. Like, guys… I know this is an old trope, but Sora giving his life for Kairi is not cute and / or sweet, it is unhealthy! There is a reason why this trope is mostly used for parents sacrificing themselves for their children (e.g. Lily Potter), old people sacrificing themselves for the younger ones (e.g. Gandalf) or in a tragic context (e.g. Jack from Titanic — and canon-SoKai itself), and that is because people sacrificing their life is a very serious deal that is not meant to be romanticized!! The lack of critical thinking there (because KH itself presents all of this with rose-tinted glasses) is honestly astounding.

I get wanting your cute Disney romance with all the fluff, especially since KH is a Disney property, and to be fair, most shipping communities do (for better or for worse). Tbh, I would be less bothered by it if the unhealthy aspects of SoKai were simply not focused on, and to be fair here, there was actually a period around the release of KH3 when Dark!Sora fanon (specifically in the form of Soranort) was very common (and not just in the SoKai community). But SoKai fanworks from the time were usually purely focused on Sora’s unhealthy tendencies (and usually Kairi would be the one to “cure” them with a kiss or something), while Kairi’s own unhealthy tendencies went completely unacknowledged, as did how the relationship brought them out (I can think of ONE exception, and in that case, the exploration was purely focused on Sora, and also kind of proceeded to negate it because in the end it was actually Xehanort all along).

Apart from this trend, the community consensus (in the SoKai community) seems to be that SoKai is the most fluffy and healthy relationship ever, something everyone should strive for, which I find extremely frustrating tbh. It not only ignores so much potential, it also keeps the community from developing, which leads, among other things, to creative bankruptcy in the transformative spaces and community events (which have the additional problem that the moderation for them is pretty conservative). Like, at this point the same old tropes have been reheated for five years or so.

Sorry for this giant essay. TL;DR: I would love if the aspect of SoKai that they bring out some really unhealthy tendencies in each other was discussed / explored more not just in shipping contexts (again, I understand there are different priorities in those), but in general. Because I rarely see it being brought up, not even when people criticize SoKai (and you think this would be used as an argument to do so). And yes, I know and agree, I should just do it myself. That is kind of why I decided to send this beast in tbh

~~~

[organizationhimself]

i want to talk about a phenomenon i keep seeing with regard to shipping that i find super annoying. it's not, strictly speaking, a problem, but i do think it's gotten to this point where it's actively undermining a lot of character analysis and attempts to reconcile narrative theming.

the thing i'm talking about is when every available scrap of characterization MUST support, let's say, the relationship between minor character Blorble and main character Scrunklia. you and i can freely disagree about whether Scrunklia's tragic past is perfectly aligned with Blorble's bitter misanthropy, we're going to see that kind of thing very differently and that's not what i mean. i'm talking about when Blorble is casually late to a team meeting with the rest of the cast and Scrunklia is peeved, and the character analysis gleefully decides that, because Scrunklia's hair is slightly mussed (which gets pointed out later and made a big deal of and leads to her opening up to a different character about her stress levels), this means she and Blorble must have made out before the meeting.

...like. what? it can't be that this character is visibly stressed out about the unfolding plot of the story, which is actively bringing up uncomfortable memories for her that she is working through with a VARIETY of characters on the cast, and the text demonstrates other examples of her expressing her dissatisfaction with Blorble's ability to respect other people's time? that's maybe not the most romantic interpretation but it's going to be more honest to their characters than a variation that specifically hunts for ANYTHING that positively, and only positively associates Scrunklia's every expressed feeling, opinion, and belief with Blorble (and vice versa), regardless of the cost to her emotional depth and arc.

this extrapolation can warp to the point that the analysis triumphantly declares that not only is Blunklia endgame, but it is supported by the overarching narrative themes of the entire work, up to and including the wedding at the end between Scrunklia and Meowmoe where she looks sadly in the direction of the graveyard where her parents are buried, and where she and Blorble had a conversation once, so that actually means she's thinking regretfully of Blorble while she says her vows.

do you see what i mean? and i could even agree with this interpretation at points. i might think that, while Meowmoe is an excellent friend to her, they don't actually know how to handle Scrunklia's ups and downs as effectively as Blorble. i might agree that thematically, it makes sense for Scrunklia to have a relationship with Blorble that is, if not directly romantic, very intensely platonic and he is one of the emotional support beams in her life. but...that doesn't mean everything this character is and was and will be should be DIRECTLY related to this other character and no one else! there are other characters in the story. sometimes it is about them. sometimes it is about only the one character and THEIR past, and THEIR feelings, and it does them a disservice to deliberately twist that to have the most tenuous possible connection with this particular beau. not only that, it weakens the overall understanding and fandom interpretation of that character.

obviously my examples above are fake and don't have any direct correlation to actual characters (that...i'm aware of??) so don't read into that, because i have an actual example, and here's where i know i'm going to be hitting a wasp's nest dead on.

everybody buckled in? ok.

let's talk about soriku.

i want to preface this by saying i have shipped soriku since 2002. i spent my teenage years in lethal combat with the sokais for an embarrassingly long time, so i'm not here to cast stones, i know my sins. and i don't expect this argument that has been raging back and forth for nearly a quarter of a century to ever actually die down.

my issue i'm taking with it is that a lot of the soriku analysis i see these days does what i'm talking about above, and deliberately undermines sora and riku's individual relationships to other characters (whether they're interpreted as romantically charged or not) as well as their own individual characterizations, in order to fit them into this mold where riku is the caretaker of sora and the Most Importantest Specialest brightest light in the whole entire world, and actually kingdom hearts has been about his relationship to sora the entire time and nothing else.

like...do you think for even a minute that riku would appreciate being told he is actually some sort of bright light that eclipses kairi? that eclipses sora? his entire character arc is about finding a way to accept his darkness and grow in spite of and around it. other characters in the series shout in dismay that no one has ever been able to use light and darkness together like he has. why take all that nuance away, why boil all that down, in order to justify him being sora's direct leader and guide to all things and sole confidante? didn't we establish in kh2 already that their relationship has changed? that riku has always wanted to be more like sora, in the same ways that sora has grown up envying riku for his strength and talent, and riku had to grow and set aside his pride in order to not just expect sora to follow him, but to follow sora sometimes? i can't stress enough that this interpretation of riku is actively deconstructing his entire, fascinating character growth back to its foundations to try to reestablish him as sora's fearless leader and the actual bearer of the light with nary a shred of darkness in his heart. the chosen one, magnanimously letting his exalted eyes rest on the ordinary, unremarkable delivery boy.

and this is coming from a really specific place. because kairi is presented as sora's guiding light in so many ways (and i have a different essay about how this is important to them but also a glaring disservice to her), so...if we're going to cleave to the school of thought above and EVERYTHING sora ever does, says, and thinks must naturally draw his eyes back to riku no matter what, then of course any reference to kairi as being remarkable to sora in some way that riku does not share or exceed must be stamped out of relevance or twisted to serve riku instead. (this doesn't necessarily mean that sora can't have a relationship to kairi that's in some ways important, but all the MOST important and emotionally charged bits can only ever belong to riku.)

this includes, of course, the bane of my existence: the meteor shower.

the argument i've seen for why the meteor shower memory must be a real memory is that namine can't just make memories up, she can only alter existing memories. this...is obviously not true? multiple characters talk about how she can just create whatever she wants and rewrite reality to be whatever she needs; marluxia and larxene are explicitly relying on this fact and directly demand it of her in ways that namine never objects to on the basis that she can't do that, and it's demonstrated in the canon. there was never a real little girl on the islands who was friends with sora and riku and kairi and left suddenly. there was never a friend who used to draw pictures of them on the beach while they played.

because namine didn't WANT to replace someone in sora's life, she only ever wanted her own place there (and knew she could never actually have it). if she wanted to, she could have just made it so that she was kairi all along; that kairi was not alone when she arrived during said meteor shower, or else sora suddenly recalls that it wasn't kairi he met with in the caves in traverse town, but a friend who'd left the islands long ago. it wasn't kairi he saved. it wasn't even kairi he parted from at the end of kh1.

the thing is it seems to take namine much less time to create false memories. when she finally starts working with sora's real ones, she indicates to him that it will take some time (and there were other complications but if she needed him to literally go into cryostasis, we're not talking a week or two). it's never suggested that she alters his real memories in the canon; she describes it as taking apart the links in the chain and attaching the new links. the ones she MADE.

but ok, for the sake of argument, let's grant this limitation even though it's not supported by the text. and let's ignore namine's character, too, and say she'd actually do this to sora on purpose because it doesn't actually matter to her to have her own role in her little fantasy of sora being eager to protect her. why doesn't she just replace kairi, from the start? theoretically this would be easier than going through the effort of coming up with her own storyline to explain who she is and where she went.

"namine's only doing it that way so sora doesn't realize his memories are being replaced." would sora not recognize that such an important memory of riku was being replaced? if namine decided instead to replace his memory of kairi washing up on the beach with herself, do you think sora wouldn't find something wrong with that? why would he so easily and cavalierly assume that this again, allegedly so significant and unique event that happened with one of his two best friends in the entire world, just...actually happened between him and this person he only vaguely remembers? doesn't that mean he barely remembers it even before namine gets very deep into his memory, and he doesn't really think of it as significant at all?

furthermore--if we're treating this as "actually it was riku who said he'd protect sora," then why does sora remember this from the wrong perspective? the replica remembers too, but every memory he has is fake, namine has unrestricted access to him, and she can demonstrably rewrite his memories at whim. sora is the one namine is trying to convince! why would she alter the memory to not just directly replace someone in sora's memory (like she has never done with any other memory of his), but replace him in his own memory? if the memory was real and riku was really the one there, what sora should be remembering is namine swearing to protect HIM!

and that's not even the worst of it, because namine has deliberately made these memories to create doubt. she wants sora to question why riku remembers something different. she is doing this to try to save him. but this is being twisted and reimagined so that she's selfishly replacing riku in a memory that actually exists and is precious to sora, so that riku can forever be the person sora's eyes land on. this undermines her character in service to a ship she's not even a part of.

and it undermines sora's character too! both for the reasons above and because his perspective is never actually considered in this interpretation. why would famously adventurous and enthusiastic sora, who expresses interest in going to other worlds, and who doesn't grasp most of physics or consequences until they're actually happening to him, be worried about a meteor hitting the islands in the first place, over being totally gobsmacked at the spectacle?

wouldn't it be more in character for riku to think of that?

when terra meets him on the beach in bbs, riku expresses that he wants to become stronger to protect what matters. this suggests he's been ruminating it for a while, in his serious way, and actually recognizes that there are things out there that need to be protected against (a fact sora doesn't really seem to consider until he actually leaves his island). and we know that even then riku was looking up to sora and didn't feel like he can just follow his heart the way sora does. so why would he go out on a limb, years before the beach scene on kh2 or his conversation at yen sid's with kairi, and say something so...sora-like?

wouldn't it be more in character for endlessly silly, overly confident sora to believe in his entire five-year-old heart that he can totally hit that whole-ass meteor back with his flimsy wooden sword if he really believes?

namine clearly thought so.

clearly kairi is restored to all the places she occupies in sora's memories in the end, and sora never talks about the meteor shower memory again, so just in case it's not already clear because this idea is so widespread, i am asserting that it is a headcanon that isn't directly supported by the text. but that isn't even really my concern; i have plenty of headcanons that aren't even a little bit supported by the text that i totally accept and love. if this one were designed in a way that supported, instead of tore down, the characters of sora, riku, namine, and kairi for that matter, then i would think it was a cute headcanon and probably be all for it, and this post wouldn't exist.

the issue i'm taking with it is that this notion is taking the idea of riku-as-protector and sora-as-emotionally-vulnerable-let's-just-come-out-and-say-UKE-like-it's-2005, and working backwards from that conclusion to establish what happened in canon, instead of extrapolating from canon to build out the characters as they appear there. it's my opinion that doing this actually only hurts the characters, their impact on the narrative, and the ship.

anyway, like i said. not strictly a problem, fandom gonna fandom. it just annoys me, because i'm seeing this in so many ships, so often, and i don't think people even realize they're doing it sometimes.

here's a radical thought: not every romance needs to be star-crossed and "my one true only love i would die for ahead of anyone else, who i could still be happy with if every single other person in my life were dead." sometimes relationships are intense and burn out quick and fast; sometimes they are slow and subtle and last forever; sometimes they are any combination of the above and include permutations i haven't even touched on, romantic or not; sometimes your best friend becomes your rival becomes something more that you don't know how to define, or maybe you do, but all you know for certain is that he will be at your side holding your hand as you reach out to sacrifice your own heart to save the world, never once asking you to turn your back on everyone else you love for his own sake.

so yeah. for the record i still ship soriku (among other things!) and always have. but i also recognize that sora has many other important people and relationships in his life, many of which have absolutely nothing to do with riku, and part of the reason i ship it as hard as i do is because of how much riku has grown and learned to recognize that too.

finally, if so much of the fandom feels the need to alter and reinterpret sora's other significant relationships to be about riku (to remove the "threat"), that's admitting that there isn't enough evidence already in the canon to support soriku as a ship.

and i'm sorry, but i just don't think that's true.

[phoenix-downer]

Enchanted Neighborhood Chapter 4

~2275 words. Sora/Kairi. Post-Canon. Family AU, SoKai Parents AU. Reunions, Fluff, Winnie the Pooh.

This is a sequel to After Ever After and Love’s Cost. There are five chapters total and the story will update weekly on Fridays.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5

Summary: Sora introduces his kids to his friends in The Hundred Acre Wood, and they make new memories together.

Haruto wasn’t sure where to look as he followed Dad, Emi, and Pooh. Having a Keyblade was awesome if it meant they got to go on adventures like this. Up ahead was that table they saw in the book, and at the table were a small pink pig, a mopey donkey, two kangaroos, a rabbit with a scowl on its face, a whistling gopher, a rambling owl, and a purple elephant. 

Cool, more talking animals. It was too bad the animals back home didn’t really talk. Guess these guys in Pooh’s world were more like Uncle Donald and Uncle Goofy than Destiny Islands creatures. 

The rabbit seemed to be scowling at a flash of orange streaking back and forth near the table. “Tigger,” he said as the streak sent everyone’s napkins flying, “stop bouncing around and—”

"The wonderful thing about Tiggers is Tiggers are wonderful things!” the orange and black-striped tiger sang as he bounced on his tail, completely ignoring the rabbit. “Their tops are made out of rubber! Their bottoms are made out of springs!”

“Tigger!” Dad cried, his eyes lighting up, and Tigger stopped bouncing. All the other animals looked at Dad, and their faces brightened and all of them but the donkey smiled. Even the donkey’s eyes got a little brighter though, so Haruto figured that was the best he could do. 

Wow, these talking animals must really, really like Dad for them to all be so happy to see him.

“Sora!” they all cried, and a moment later, Tigger sprung at Dad, knocking him over and making them both roll over the green grass. Dad’s laughter filled the air and when they finally settled, he had a big smile on his face. 

When Dad smiled like that, Haruto felt like everything was gonna be okay. Memories of when he was little and Dad seemed invincible came to mind. But seeing Dad like this really drove home that he’d been a kid once. Which meant maybe he understood all the weird teenage and growing up stuff too. 

The other animals quickly joined Tigger in greeting Dad. Dad got a whole bunch of hugs and head pats as he greeted them all. It helped that he remained on the ground so he was closer to their level. It reminded Haruto of all the times Dad had dropped to his knees to be eye level with him when he was younger. How it made him feel safer and more comfortable. 

“Piglet!” Dad cried. “Rabbit! Kanga and Roo! Gopher! Owl and Lumpy! And Eeyore too! It’s so good to see everyone again.” 

Dad really was good at this stuff, wasn’t he? No wonder he had so many friends. 

“It’s s-so good to see you again t-too, S-Sora,” Piglet said, his little pink face beaming. Dad giggled and lifted Piglet up with ease. 

“Oh man, is it good to see you again, Piglet! You haven’t gotten blown away by any strong breezes recently, have you?” 

Piglet shook his head. “N-No. P-Pooh has kept me very g-grounded.” 

Dad carefully set Piglet down. “Good, glad to hear it. And Rabbit, how are your vegetables doing?”

“There are good days and there are bad days,” Rabbit said. “Maybe they’d grow better if someone stopped bouncing through my fields.” He gave Tigger a pointed look, but Tigger just said hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo and kept bouncing. Did Tigger ever stop bouncing?

“And your tunnels Gopher?” Dad asked. “How are those going?”

“Same as ever, sonny,” Gopher whistled. He dug into the ground to demonstrate, and Dad commented on how awesome his digging was. Again, Haruto was impressed by how Dad knew exactly what to say to his friends. It wasn’t at all like how goofy and awkward Dad could be back home. 

“Owl?” Dad asked next. “How are your relatives?” 

Owl cleared his throat and puffed out his chest. “I’m glad you asked. My Uncle Albert recently went to sea again, and…”

The other animals groaned, and Owl rambled on for a good couple of minutes about Uncle Albert’s misadventures before Dad politely shut him down and turned to the elephant. “Lumpy? How’ve you been?”

“I’ve been great, thank you, Sora,” Lumpy happily trumpeted, and Dad smiled and patted Lumpy’s head. 

“Eeyore?” Dad asked the donkey next.

“My house got knocked over again,” Eeyore replied, his voice dull and lifeless. 

Dad scratched his cheek, a pained smile on his face. “Oh, sorry to hear that.” That was definitely his ‘this is an awkward situation and I don’t really know what to say’ look, but he was trying.

“Don’t be,” Eeyore replied, “it’s probably my fault anyway.” 

Dad didn’t say anything to that, just turned to the two kangaroos. “Kanga? Roo? You doing okay?”

“Better than ever!” Roo said, his little face beaming as he bounced up and down much like Tigger.

“It’s good to see you again, Sora,” Kanga said. “And who are these people with you?”

Dad’s smile got really big, but before he could say anything, Pooh interrupted. “They’re Sora’s children. Sora’s a father.” 

“That’s right,” Sora said, beaming proudly at the three of them. “These are my kids. Kairi and I got married, and I’m a father now. This is Emi, our youngest,” he said, ruffling Emi’s hair. Emi giggled and beamed up at Dad. “She’s eight years old now and very good at hide-and-seek. You’ll have to challenge her to a round.” 

“Yes!” Emi cried. “I’d love to play hide-and-seek!” 

“We can play after tea,” Rabbit said amiably. 

Dad looked to Miyu next, and she cleared her throat and introduced herself. “Oh, I’m Miyu. I’m fifteen, and, um, I like reading books and playing tag?” she offered. The animals all greeted her politely and promised to supply storybooks and play tag after tea.

“Guess it’s my turn,” Haruto said. “My name’s Haruto, and I’m Sora’s son. I like running, painting, and guessing games.” He grinned as the animals greeted him. Was he proud to be Dad’s son? Yeah, yeah he was. And it wasn’t just because Dad was cool now. No, ever since Mom had told them what Dad did for her and then Dad had nearly died saving them, Haruto could deal with a few dorky Dad-isms because Dad was a good guy. And seeing him today, he could see why Dad was so well-loved. 

“Well, shall we?” Pooh asked, gesturing towards the table. The group took their seats, and Miyu was on Haruto’s left and Dad was on his right. To Dad’s right was Emi, and the animals were seated at various other spots at the table. 

Eeyore, who was seated on Miyu’s left, gave her a morose look. “Sorry you have to sit next to me,” he told her in a flat, lifeless tone. 

“Oh, it’s okay,” Miyu replied. She looked at Haruto, clearly trying not to giggle, and he just shrugged.

“Here, dears, have some tea,” Kanga said as she carefully poured them all cups of tea. Roo added cream for them, and Gopher dropped a few sugar cubes in as Owl stirred with one of his claws grasping a spoon. Pooh dropped lumps of honey into the tea with plenty of helpings for himself in between, and Tigger bounded around singing about how delicious a good afternoon tea was. Lumpy used his trunk to carefully place the cups of tea and little plates of cookies in front of them, and Haruto tried to be on his best behavior. Really though he had to sneak a lot of looks at Miyu to remember all those obscure rules Mom and Dad had tried to teach them about fancy dinners and afternoon tea. 

The conversation was lively and the cookies and tea were pretty good. Presently, Dad asked him, “You having fun?” in a low voice. Dad’s eyes were bright and he was taking in everything around them like an eagle watching a field. 

“Yeah, I am.” Haruto said, then frowned. Dad was clearly having fun. A lot of fun seeing friends he hadn’t seen in ages. Haruto thought about his conversation with Miyu earlier. How much fun and how many old friends had Dad given up for their family? 

Of course Dad noticed something was up. “Hey, what’s wrong?” he said under his breath as he reached for his spoon.

“I’m fine,” Haruto said, then caught himself. Nah, he wasn’t fine, he had something on his mind, and it would hurt Dad to push him away. “Um, it’s nothing bad, I just have some stuff I want to ask you. Can we talk about it later?”

Dad’s expression softened. “Sure.” 

The tea party was fun, and Owl regaled them with story after story of his aunts and cousins and uncles and other relatives until Tigger challenged them all to a bouncing match. When they were all bounced out, they took a brief break and then played hide-and-seek and tag. Once they were worn out from that, they returned to the table to read storybooks, paint, and play guess who games. Miyu and Emi both giggled when Dad put on one of those goofy sets of glasses with a fake mustache, and Haruto cracked a grin too. 

Dad laughed and ruffled his hair. It was funny how Dad was just a little shorter than him now but was still acting so Dad-like. “See, the secret to being cool is being willing to make a complete fool of yourself,” he said, gesturing to his goofy glasses. “It’s when you care too much what other people think that you’ll have a hard time.” 

“But you care what we think,” Miyu pointed out.

Dad’s expression softened, and he took off the glasses. “Of course I do. You’re my kids, and I love you with all my heart.” 

Man, didn’t Dad ever get embarrassed about so openly admitting to stuff like that? But he wasn’t embarrassed, he was smiling like he really meant what he said. And Haruto knew he did. Maybe that was why he could say he loved them so easily, so openly.

“We love you too,” Miyu mumbled, her face red, and Haruto nodded.

“We do!” Emi cried. “You’re the bestest Daddy.” 

Dad smiled, but a moment later, a tear ran down his cheek. He started and then chuckled as he wiped his face. “This again, huh? I guess no matter what age I’m still a softie.” He rubbed the back of his neck, smiling awkwardly. 

“You are,” Haruto agreed, “But that’s okay.” It would be weirder if Dad didn’t wear his heart on his sleeve.

“And you shouldn’t change,” Miyu said quietly. “Don’t ever change, okay?”

Dad’s eyes softened. “I won’t. No matter what I look like, I’m still me.” He rested his hand over his heart as if to prove it.

Emi grinned, a mischievous spark in her eyes, and Dad raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Wait till Mommy sees you!”

Dad laughed. “Oh man, she’s gonna be in for the shock of her life. Seeing me like this again, I wonder what she’ll say.” He rested his hand on his chin as he thought about it.

Lumpy’s big ears perked up. “How’s Kairi? Is she doing okay?”

“She’s doing great,” Dad said. “She’s pregnant again, but once the baby’s born, I’ll bring her to visit, I promise.” 

At this revelation, Dad’s friends all cheered and celebrated and congratulated him. Dad couldn’t stop smiling, and it made Haruto excited about meeting his younger brother too. Another younger sister would be cool, but Haruto just had this hunch he was gonna have a younger brother, and he couldn’t wait to meet him.

When Emi was busy playing with Dad’s friends some more, he pulled Haruto and Miyu aside to a nearby creek with a grassy riverbank. 

“Is now a good time to talk?” he asked. “I can tell you both have something on your minds.”

Haruto looked at Miyu, and then they both nodded. The three of them sat down, and Dad took his shoes and socks off and let his feet soak in the cold water. Haruto and Miyu joined him, and Haruto wasn’t really sure how to start. Thankfully, Miyu spoke up.

“It’s just that… meeting your old friends, we’re realizing how much you had to give up for us. For our family.”

“Yeah,” Haruto said. “And also, you were really young when everything happened. I guess in my mind you were always eternally ‘Dad,’ but today I fully realized you were just a kid when a lot of your adventures happened.” 

“I was,” Dad said softly, “and it’s why Mom and I wanted you guys to have a normal childhood. And having a family was something we both wanted. I won’t lie and pretend it wasn’t an adjustment, but you’re our greatest adventure, and we wouldn’t change a thing about our family.”

He smiled and put his arms around each of them. Emi joined in too, giving Dad a hug from behind, and soon all of Dad’s animal friends had joined in. The group sat at the creek and chatted and had fun until the sun sank low in the sky. At that point Haruto felt a strange tingling in his arms and legs, and he looked at Miyu to see if she felt the same thing. The expression on her face told him that yeah she did. 

“Guess it’s time to go,” Dad said as he started fading in and out too. “Pooh, Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Gopher, Owl, Lumpy, we’ll be back soon, okay?”

A chorus of agreement sounded out, and Dad grinned. “And next time, I’ll bring Kairi too!” 

With that they felt themselves being swept out of the book.

[mars00nmar]

I like to imagine that ven does know how to properly wear sunglasses (they go over your ears sweetie)

Instagram , Twitter ✨🌱

[moonferned]

I LOVE KINGDOM HEARTS!!

AND I LOVE THE FANDOM <3

Here's some fandom theories/headcanons/au's that I love:

(Will be updating)

Sleeping realm theory

Roxas being homophobic to Riku and only Riku

Touched starved destiny trio

Destiny trio poly (soriku/sorikai/rikai/sokai are all perfect mwah mwah)

Heart hotel

Vanitus being a rat bastard

Just anything where they are all happy

Trans sora

Trans fem sora

Trans xion

Trans

Kairi having a personality

Sora having braces

Sora and the sorta's being siblings

Anything with Repliku <3

Also, just the teens being teens. Like cmon (let sora say fuck)

Destiny trio having night terrors and then comforting each other

Sora being super clingy cus hes scared of loosing his friends (ie hold hands, share bed etc etc )

Mickey mouse is Riku's new Dad

Donald and Goofy being Sora's parents/uncles

Sora and Max.

cROSS OVERS WITH OTHER PROPERTIES

[minijenn]

Here’s another thing I drew awhile ago that I can now finally share in light of the Grandfather Reveal, the Keys to the Kingdom family tree! If you don’t mind me rambling, allow me to break this down a bit. 

First we got Xehanort’s unnamed Mom who abandoned that uggo baby (accurate with canon as per Dark Road, which I’ve more or less followed unlike other elements of canon lol). Then we got baldy who somehow scored a hottie in his former childhood best friend Thalassa to have Tsuki! On Himari’s side of the family, we have her twin sister Hinata, and their parents Yoru and Hiruma. Unlike on his father’s side of the family, Sora’s maternal grandparents are really chill and cool and totally normal people imo. So then Tsuki and Himari of course had Sora, who obvs is with Riku and Kairi. Glimpse at some fun future Sorikai kids that we’ve HC’ed over on the Discord, you have Yami  and Hikari, who are the Sokai kids and Dawn, who is the Rikai kid. They’re cute, might do somethin with them in the future, idk. We’ll see. 

[lydiaisgeeky]

Meant to Be

Jason x Reader Fanficton

2. Studying (w.c. 1686)



Outside the school was a car and a butler waiting for them. Jason ducked into the car quickly thanking the butler. Dick was casually chatting and explaining the whole ordeal and I was looking at my phone. News of a super villian isn't unusual in Gotham especially on my street but it getting to the point where it's shut down and completely evacuated that is a little more uncommon. Dick turned back to me "Ready to go y/n? Oh right um Alfred this is Y/N, Y/N this is Alfred" I greeted him and got in the car. Jason was keeping his head down and he was turned away.

"So y/n how late can you stay? Did you want to stay for dinner I'm not sure if Bruce will be home for it or not you probably shouldn't stay after nightfall things do get scary after that."

"Umm I don't really know it just depends on how much work gets done I probably won't stay for dinner though."

Dick was just ecstatic and kept rambling on. I felt bad for disliking him in the past. He was just so eager for life. When we pulled up to the manor my jaw dropped. I had no idea people actually lived in these things. Dick turned to me and laughed at my reaction "That was my exact reaction too" I gave him a questioning look "I was adopted a few years ago - Jason was adopted last week" I nodded. "Wait until you see the inside". Dick was right the inside was stunning. Walking through the front door was something from the movies. The tall hallways were memorizing, the entryway done in the most careful fashion. Stairs on both the left and right side of the house and so many doors and archways. I held my books close stood maybe a bit to close to Dick.

Dick put his arm around me and guided me through the house until we made it to the kitchen. There was a small table with some snacks on it. It felt very reminiscent of a normal home. "Feel free to eat what you want. We have plenty. Anyways you and Jason can work here. I need to get some stuff done too but I can work on the island." Dick winked at me and sat down. I was a little confused but I wrote it off as just his flirty nature. Jason slipped into the chair next to mine and opened up his math homework. He finished it quickly same with English, Science, and History.

"I guess you didn't need my help" I said.

"No your notes helped a bit but most of this I already did back at my old school"

"Oh" I grabbed my notes and started to shuffle it all together. I hadn't been over for even 30 minutes. I checked my phone and I saw my street was still shut down and I didn't have any communication from my parents.

"I need a break" Dick whined as he walked over. "Wanna go down to the gym I can try and teach you some tricks... shit no not like that. Like acrobatics."

"Smooth" Jason said while moving to leave.

"Nah you too Jay. You could probably do with something to put your aggression into- do you have any sweats that y/n could borrow"

Jason sized me up "she'll be swimming in them but it will probably work"

"Oh no I couldn't possibly" I chimed in and both Jason and Dick rolled their eyes. Dick and Jason left to go get changed. Jason was the first back tossing me a pair of sweats and a t shirt. "Um is there a place I can change?"

"Right um maybe you can change in my room. I'm sorry I still don't really know the place. We could wait for Dick if you'd like."

"Sure um maybe this is personal and maybe I shouldn't ask but why did Bruce Wayne adopt you and where are you from?"

"Yeah well thats a good question. I'm from Gotham the other side though. I guess Bruce thought I was a good charity case after my dad ended up in jail and my mom passed away."

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that"

"Sokay. I should be happy that this happened a better chance at life and all but I can't help feeling like I just don't belong. This world isn't mine. Mine is the streets of Gotham. Crime alley and all."

"Dick says you drive a motorcycle? I live on the other side of town I just know if I showed up in a fancy car"

"You'd be a target. Along with the books. Wait what's your address?"

"Xxxx Main St. I understand if you can't get me all the way there and it's still shut down you know but it's fine even a close bus stop should work."

"Nah I grew up around there. I can get you home even with the whole shut down. Do you see Batman and Robin in your area often?"

"Yeah I see Robin pretty regularly. I've talked to him a few times too. He's nice wants to help. He says I shouldn't live where I do. I can't help it though."

Dick walked in "Change of plans, y/n Bruce just called you gotta go home. I'm sorry I didn't realize he was planning on having guests. Jason you good to get her home. Front door and everything?"

"If y/n allows me I will walk her in even". Dick gave Jason a look. "How soon do you need me back?"

"You should be fine to comeback whenever. Bruce isn't too concerned about us but his friend wants to meet someone specific and I'm gonna hang to make sure it goes down the right way. Y/n you'll have to come over another time maybe over the weekend and we can have a ton of fun." I turned to leave making it out of the kitchen but not much further. Jason was a few minutes behind.

"Sorry uh this way" He led me out to a garage. "Are you hungry? I just miss this diner on your side and I'd live to go back it's been a couple months going through the legal process and I haven't made it back. I'll pay you don't have to worry."

"I guess but if we do this can you teach me what you did in the math homework. I don't get it." He laughed the most beautiful laugh I had ever heard.

"I think I can manage that". He tossed me a helmet and one of his jackets. "I think Dick might actually kill me if you got even a scratch."

Driving to the diner was uneventful but it was nice to have to hold Jason as we drove. He pull up to a hole in the wall diner. After we sat down I questioned Jason "What did you mean by Dick would kill you if I got a scratch?"

"I haven't known Dick all that long but your name is the name he says most often. And frankly I understand why but you've got him wrapped around your finger. You're smart, pretty, but I know your type isn't either one of us. You are probably in love with a guy who doesn't know you exist"

"That sounds more like a book troupe" I laughed. We chatted over dinner and he taught me the math hack. Before we left my place was still shut down. Jason assured me it would be a non issue. We got closer and I saw Batman and Robin and most of my street on fire.

"I understand that but I think we can make an exception... Put B on the phone... I'll wait I'm not taking her any closer until it's handled and safe for her... She can't get ahold of her parents... That's what I was thinking... I'm just saying what kind of people would we be... you're sure? ... I will see." Jason turned to me covering the microphone of the phone. "How opposed would you be to me staying with you until the street clearance ends or your parents come home?"

"Not at all. I'm not really sure I should go in there"

"Cool let's do it. You could help me with some of my electives if you want Dick told me you took them before. Hold on. Yeah... no I will stay with her... just keep me updated" He turned back to me "Okay we are going to do this. Don't let go of me please."

He quickly pulled us through the insanity and drove the motorcycle up the stairs and pull it into the apartment and proceeded to go around and lock every door and window in the place. My parents were nowhere to be seen. Jason pulled me into the closet and began to explain his electives like there wasn't insanity going on. He did everything he could to distract me from the outside world. Once we exhausted school he painted images from his favorite books. He stayed with me the entire night huddled in the closet.

When I woke up I found it crazy that just yesterday we were strangers. Robin opened the closet door and Jason almost attacked him Robin escorted us out of the building it was maybe 4am. Jason decided to take me back to the manor. He wouldn't let me out of his sight. Almost as if he was studying me. When we got back Jason snuck me into his room through the tree. And showed me the bathroom keeping guard in front of the door. I changed into the sweats from earlier and was eternally grateful for Jason and Dick because without them I probably would have spent the night on the street. We got to school early and Jason stuck by me. Protective like no other. Dick hung around cracking jokes and for the first time I didn't mind. My heart was content being near these people. I was safe with these people.

[confession-of-the-heart]

im a huge soriku shipper 4eva but I wanted to talk, about that I dont like how the games treat sokai

like they are telling them to their faces that their feelings are romantic and not letting them decide that for themselves, they are kids after all, they dont know what they are feeling and probably feel confused, in my eyes atleast

if you want to write a romantic relationship it should be natural to the characters and not like "everyone is telling me this is love so I should probably think they are right"

its like when a guy has girl best friend and their parents are saying they are going to end together when they are older, atleast thats how I see it in the games

im not saying sokai is forced

im saying that the game characters are forcing sokai to sora and kairi at least in kh2

dont know if I prhased that right

🪷

~~~

[oveliagirlhaditright]

I Don’t Think Life is Quite That Simple

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

I Don’t Think Life is Quite That Simple

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[eradicatetehnormal]

Making Assumptions About You Based On Your KH OTP

DISCLAIMER: This is made for jokes, please take this with a grain of salt //mentions of yaoi and Akuroku// SoKai: KH is a very nostalgic series for you. You're a lore purist and you've been wanting Sora and Kairi to get together since you were like, 6. I'm willing to bet you also ship ClErith

SoRiku: You went through a cringey yaoi phase in your teen years and then found out you're queer in your adult years. If there is a straight ship you like, it's probably CloTi

AkuRoku: Same thing as SoRiku, but you mainly ship it out of nostalgia.

Kailette: You think Kairi doesn't get enough screen time in the main series and you want her to be happy, but you're sick of Sora leaving her behind all the time.

Rokushi: Xion is your favorite character, and you just want a happy ending for her! (and who wouldn't?)

Namixi: You think the girls in KH should get more attention (and you're right!)

TerrAqua: You just want Ventus to have his parents (and who wouldn't?)

VanVen: You are a sucker for yin/yang aesthetics and the "opposites attract" trope

Xehaqus: You are a sucker for dramatic irony and the slightly rare "lovers to enemies" trope (which we should get more of)

MickeyRiku: You are either trolling super hard or you are legitimately terrifying and powerful enough to look into the face of the ship wars and say "but what if Mickey and Riku though?" You are also a furry . (You are a dangerous power, I must train to face you)

RokuNami: You did not play 358/2 Days. At least not until way later in life Rikunami: You are heterosexual

RepliNami: You just want the nobodies to be happy! (and why shouldn't you?)

RiKai: You think SoKai is fine, but that Sora lacks that extra *omph* in his character for you to really be sold on the relationship, so you ship her with Riku instead, or you're just shipping it out of spite. (who can blame you though?) Aquarella: You are a female-centric queer with refined taste SoRoku: You are a queer with amazing taste VenSo: You are a queer with exquisite taste

SoXeha: You are h*rny

AquaLarx: You are also h*rny

[phoenix-downer]

Enchanted Neighborhood Chapter 5

~1225 words. Sora/Kairi. Post-Canon. Family AU, SoKai Parents AU. Reunions, Fluff, Winnie the Pooh.

This story is a sequel to After Ever After and Love’s Cost, and this is the final chapter.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5

Summary: Sora and his kids return from their adventure with Pooh and his friends, and Kairi reunites with her family and reminisces with Sora.

Sora landed on the ground of Merlin’s house with a loud thunk, and naturally, his three children wound up piled on top of him: Miyu, then Haruto, then Emi. He groaned deeply because he was still in teenage form and not used to bearing this much weight at once. 

“You guys are too big for this,” he grumbled, earning a few laughs and giggles from his kids. And a shocked giggle that sounded out from somewhere above him, a giggle he knew better than any giggle. He spotted a pair of black boots near his head, and his eyes traveled up Kairi’s long, lovely legs and beautiful figure before meeting her dancing eyes. 

“Kairi!” he said, trying in vain to wiggle out from beneath the dogpile he was trapped under. “How was tea with Aerith? How are you feeling? How’s the baby?”

She just giggled again. “Sora, what on earth happened?”

He scratched his cheek. “Oh, about that. So Merlin accidentally hit me with some spell that de-aged me, and then I got pulled into Pooh’s storybook…” 

“Kids, get off of your father,” Kairi commanded, and the kids quickly obliged. Sora scrambled to his feet, and Kairi just looked at him with a disbelieving smile. He was still taller than her even in this form, but not by much. 

“Seeing you like this… It really takes me back,” she said, her eyes sparkling. 

He grinned. “In a good way, I hope.”

She smiled and cupped his cheek. “Yes. It reminds me of my teenage years, when I spent a lot of time swooning over my not-so-secret crush.” 

“I was pretty bad at hiding my crush too,” he admitted, and Haruto gagged. Sora pouted and ignored his son, and Emi made some comment about how Mommy and Daddy were acting all lovey-dovey. Miyu, he noticed, was blushing. Oh boy, was she thinking about a crush? He’d have to ask Kairi later if she had any info about that. 

He turned back to his beloved wife. “I really wanna kiss you,” he said in that slightly whiny voice she never seemed to mind, “but Merlin should transform me back first,” he finished, rubbing the back of his head. It would be kinda awkward if she kissed his teenage self, especially in front of the kids.

Kairi laughed lightly. “I would prefer that, yes. But no matter what form you take, I’ll always know it’s you,” she said softly, and now he really wanted to kiss her. 

“Merlin, a little help?” he called, and the wizard at last poofed into existence in a cloud of pink smoke. 

“Ah yes, sorry about that, Sora,” he said, then puttered around for the right ingredients and spell, knocking about cabinets and shelves and sundry other places. The kids watched him attentively as he cast the spell in question. Several odd smells and poofs of colorful smoke later, and Sora felt his body transforming into his current self. 

He coughed and tested his arms and legs, wiggling and stretching to make sure they were the right size, the right length. He breathed a sigh of relief. Oh good, he was back to normal. Being young again was fun, but this was how he should be, and now he could kiss Kairi—

As the smoke cleared, the kids laughed hysterically, and Kairi was giggling too. He looked down at himself and groaned. “Really Merlin? You couldn’t transform my clothes at the same time?” he grumbled. He was still stuck in his now way-too-small teenage clothes and looked completely stupid. 

“Sorry, that’s a different spell,” Merlin said, then thumbed through the pages of his spellbook. “Hmmm, let’s see, maybe I can find it here—”

“That’s okay,” Kairi said, waving her hands, “I’ve got a change of clothes for him in my bag.” 

Sora gave her a relieved look. Merlin was a good wizard, but he was an odd duck and sometimes his spells had… interesting results. In this case a regular change of clothes was far safer than random spells.

Wait, Kairi had a change of clothes for him in her bag? Was she hoping they’d—

She smiled and wiggled her eyebrows, and he gave her a knowing grin. She was. 

“Alright, kids, let’s get going,” Kairi said, and the kids dutifully gathered together with some slight herding of Haruto. Sora gave Miyu the keys and told them they could explore the shops in the Main Square, get some ice cream from Scrooge McDuck, and then go on ahead to the Gummi Ship. With that the kids were off. 

Sora glanced at Pooh’s storybook and smiled. The cover had transformed once again to show him and his kids sitting by the creek with all his friends gathered around. Next time he really would have to bring Kairi with him. Then the book would feel complete. 

Now that he and Kairi were finally alone, they went on an impromptu date in the gardens, revisiting old memories and making new ones. Afterwards, as they sat at one of the fountains gushing clear water, she caught him up on how tea time with Aerith had gone and asked about his adventures. 

“How are Pooh and Piglet? Rabbit? The others?”

“They’re all great. It was really nice to see them again. And I promised I’d bring you next time, too.” He stroked her hand and smiled. “It’s not the same without you.” 

She smiled softly. “I’d like to join next time, yeah.” She rested her hand on her belly. “Once the baby is born.” 

“Oh, did Aerith say anything about—”

“We’re having a boy,” Kairi said, beaming happily. He laughed with joy and embraced her, then kissed her deeply. It was still too early to know what the baby would be with conventional medicine, but Aerith had a way of knowing these things, and he and Kairi both knew she was right. She’d been right about the other three, after all. 

Speaking of them, it was time to return to the Gummi Ship. They strolled through the streets of Radiant Garden together while holding hands and boarded the ship, and Miyu, Haruto, and Emi were already dutifully seated and ready for takeoff. Sora was about to sit down when Kairi pulled him in for one more kiss.

“For luck,” she said when she released him, her eyes sparkling. “Drive carefully, you wouldn’t want your wife and son to have a rough journey, would you?” 

She smiled and winked. It took a moment for this information to sink in, then the kids all reacted at once.

“I knew it!” Haruto crowed, punching his hand into the air. “I knew I was gonna have a baby brother!” 

“Oooo, a baby brother?” Emi asked, wiggling excitedly in her seat. She glanced between Sora and Kairi. “I can’t wait to meet him!” 

“Same,” Miyu said, her eyes dancing as she looked to Kairi. “Did Aerith tell you?”

“Mhmmm,” Kairi said, a smile on her face. “Let’s get home, I want to start prepping the nursery.” 

“Home,” Sora repeated. He sat down and powered up the controls. The Gummi Ship whirred and sputtered to life, and a rush of adrenaline poured through him. He couldn’t wait for this next chapter in his family’s life. 

It was like he’d told the kids: every day was an adventure, and this was just the latest chapter of it.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Sorry about the delay on the final chapter, but hope you enjoyed this next entry in my SoKai Family AU. Thank you again to @angel-with-a-pipette and @scoobysnack1107​ for providing inspiration and reading over the story, and thank you everyone for reading! 

[maddrmatt]

The Gift From Beyond (SoKai Week 2022)

New to this fanfic? Click here to properly begin!

Greetings readers and fellow SoKai fans!  Thanks again for coming back for the next instalment.

This one’s going to be the longest chapter since it contains my own take on Kairi’s Radiant Garden roots.  Hope you all like it.

This chapter also contains an interesting concept I came up with that will really come as a surprise to you all.

So, let’s see how this visit with Kairi’s family progresses.  Enjoy!

________________________________________________________________

Chapter 3: Sharing Stories

Radiant Garden

As she continued to be embraced by her birth family, Kairi started to realize how long she had been in this group hug.  ‘Can’t blame them for wanting to make up for lost time.  But I’m sure Joshua didn’t bring them here just for this.’

“Mom?  Dad? Grandma?  Not that I’m not enjoying this, but I think there’s other things we should be doing,” said the Princess of Heart.

Lillie was the first to break off from the embrace. “I’m afraid Kairi’s right.  We’ve got to make the most of this visit and we can’t spend it just doing this.  Especially since we’re leaving Kairi’s husband out of it.”

Grant’s face suddenly became uneasy.  “Husband?” he muttered.

“Yes, dear.  Today is our daughter’s wedding day so a significant other is usually part of the equation,” said Summer.

“Well, all right then,” said Grant as he reluctantly released his daughter and wife who then released each other.

Kairi then turned to the love of her life. “Sora!  You can come over here now!” she called.

‘Well, here goes nothing,’ thought Sora as he approached the group.

As her husband got closer, Kairi could see the anxiety in his eyes.  ‘Can’t really blame him for that.  Mom and Dad don’t exactly know our history so he’s probably afraid they’re going to think he’s not good enough for me.  But they don’t really know me that well either.’

Once Sora had properly joined the group, Kairi’s parents looked him over like her grandmother had done before.  Though Summer regarded Sora with a gentle smile, Grant didn’t look all that impressed but neither did he look disapproving.

“Mom, Dad, this is Sora, my husband,” said Kairi.

“Hello.  It’s a pleasure to meet you both.  You know, Lillie mentioned earlier how Kairi took after you in looks and now that we’ve met, I can see how true that really is.  You definitely must be her parents,” said Sora hoping his statement didn’t sound as awkward as he thought it was.

Kairi winced.  ‘Oh, Sora. I know you’re feeling nervous around my parents.  But that definitely was not your best icebreaker.’

Fortunately, her mother seemed to find it amusing as she chuckled.  “Yes, we truly are, Sora.  And we’re glad to meet you as well.  Right, Grant?” asked Summer.

Grant said nothing.  He still looked at Sora with uncertainty causing the Hero of the Keyblade to feel more uneasy.

Summer noticed and she did not like how her husband was regarding their son-in-law.  She then gave him a small nudge with her elbow in his side.

“Oh.  Uh, right! Likewise!  Very happy to meet you!” Grant blurted out.

An uncomfortable silence then hung between the groom and the bride’s parents.  Kairi then leaned close to her grandmother so she could whisper in her ear.  “Grandma, this doesn’t seem to be off to a good start.”

“I can see that, Kairi.  I actually anticipated something like this would happen on this visit.  Fortunately, I know a way we can fix that,” Lillie whispered back before moving forward, so she was in between Kairi’s parents and Sora.

“It’s clear there’s some there’s a lot of tension here right now. But I believe that’s because we all really don’t know each other too well.  I think the best thing we can do is simply sit down and talk about it,” Lillie stated.

“That sounds like a very good idea, Mother,” said Summer.

Inwardly, Sora breathed a sigh of relief.  ‘Thank you, Lillie.  Once we do that, maybe things won’t feel so awkward.  But we’re going to need a few more things to sit on.’

He then looked around the garden and his eyes soon fell on some patio furniture a short distance away.  There was another two-person bench and a single chair. 

“I’m going to go bring that over here so you all will have a place to sit,” he said as he began to walk in their direction.

“That’s very considerate of you, Sora.  Grant, I think you should go help him,” said Summer.

“Huh?” asked Grant.

“Look, Dad, it’s clear that Sora’s feeling a little pressure. Maybe you could help lessen it by getting a head start on getting to know him,” said Kairi with her mother and grandmother nodding in agreement.

Grant sighed.  “You’re probably right, Kairi.”

He then ran in Sora’s direction.  “Wait up, Sora.  Let me help you.  That bench especially looks like a two-person job.”

“Uh thank you, sir,” said Sora nervously as he and Grant walked side-by-side.

Grant noticed Sora’s tense demeanor.  “Look, Sora, could we clear the air here?”.

“Uh sure,” Sora asked questioningly.

“You probably noticed that I’ve been acting a little odd about everything.  And I just want to say that it’s not that I have anything against you.  It’s just…” said Grant unsure of how to phrase it.

“Say no more, sir.  I think I understand.”

“You do?”

“Yes.  It is a rather unusual situation here, isn’t it?  The last time you and your wife saw Kairi, she was just your newborn baby.  So, going from that to seeing her as a married woman must be hard to reconcile.”

Grant blinked in surprise.  He couldn’t believe how accurate Sora was.  And though he hadn’t known his son-in-law for that very long, he could see that Sora was someone he might be able to trust.

He let out a sigh.  “It is hard, Sora.  Summer may be taking it in stride.  But being able to do that has always been one of her best qualities.  For me, it’s more difficult and it actually bothers me a little knowing that I don’t really know my own daughter,” he said as they finally reached the bench.

As they each took position on either end of the bench, lifted it up and began to walk it back to the others, Sora said, “If you don’t mind, sir, I might be able to tell you a little about Kairi.”

“I guess that could be helpful,” said Grant.

“All right then.  Although, it might be a little difficult because there are no words good enough to describe how amazing she really is.”

Grant gave a small chuckle.  “Go on.”

“Well, for starters, let me just tell you she has one of the strongest and most caring hearts in all the worlds.  I’d never have been able to do my part in protecting the worlds from the forces of darkness without her.  We’ve been best friends for a long time and when we took the step up to being lovers, I couldn’t have asked for a better girlfriend.”

A part of Sora’s statement struck a chord within Grant.  ‘Protecting the worlds from darkness?  What exactly is he involved in?’

Then Sora suddenly frowned.  “However, there are times when I wonder how I managed to win the heart of someone so wonderful because, to be honest, I’ve also wondered if she would’ve been better off finding someone else to love.”

“What do you mean?” Grant asked.

Sora sighed.  “The truth is, sir, Kairi’s been through a lot of bad times, and they’ve happened because of me.  Believe me, it was never intentional and there were other factors at work.  But I still played my part and I’ll never forgive myself for that.  I wouldn’t have blamed her if she ever thought that loving me was more trouble than it’s worth.  But in the end, in spite of everything that’s happened, she still wanted to be with me. Because that’s just the kind of person she is, and I absolutely love her for it.”

As they continued to walk the bench over to the others, Grant considered Sora’s words.  Though he didn’t outright show it, he was impressed by how Sora praised his daughter’s best qualities instead of promoting his own.  And while he still wondered about those bad times and what exactly his daughter and son-in-law’s lives had been like, he had to acknowledge Sora’s integrity in admitting his role in the times Kairi suffered.

Finally, for the first time, Grant gave Sora a smile. “You know, Summer’s and my time with Kairi was pretty brief so we never really considered anything about who she would marry.”

Sora chuckled.  “Well, it was kind of early since she was just a baby.”

Grant chuckled as well.  “Yes.  That is true. But I know that we’d only want the best for her.  And it starting to seem to me like she found it.”

Upon hearing those words from his father-in-law, Sora felt a mix of pride and relief.  It seemed that he and Grant were starting to click.

It wasn’t too long after the end of their conversation that they finally reached the others.  Sora and Grant then placed the bench on the ground near the bench Sora and Kairi had been sitting on earlier.

“I’ll go back and get that chair now.  But I can handle it on my own,” said Sora.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t like any help with it?” asked Grant.

Sora shook his head.  “No.  But thanks for the offer.  See you all in a bit,” he said as he headed back to retrieve the chair.

Kairi walked up to her father.  “You two certainly took your time.”

“Well, you did want me to get a head start on getting to know him and that’s what I was doing,” said Grant.  ‘Although, Sora was actually helping me get to know you better actually.  And he certainly gave me a very good impression of you, precious.’

“I do hope that’s really what you were doing, and you weren’t actually giving him a hard time or trying to intimidate him or something else like that.  Did you, Grant?” asked Lillie.

“Because you never liked that when my own father did that to you,” added Summer.

Grant held up his hands in defense.  “Believe me, I didn’t do anything of the sort.”

Kairi sighed in relief. “Thank you so much for that, Dad. In the early days after we became girlfriend and boyfriend, Sora always felt a little on edge around my adoptive father.  Guess the fact that he was the Islands’ mayor made Sora afraid of displeasing him.”

Grant laughed.  “Well, I guess it’s lucky for him that I don’t wield any kind of political power.”

Then he gave his daughter a gentle smile.  “But I can tell you this, Kairi.  From what I’ve seen of Sora now, you really found someone pretty special.”

Kairi then looked off in the direction where Sora was. A loving look came to her eye as she saw watched Sora bring over the chair.

‘He always has been.  Just can’t believe it took a bunch of crazy adventures for me to realize just how special he really was to me.’

Finally, Sora had returned to them with the chair in hand. He placed it near the two benches, so the three pieces of furniture formed a near triangular arrangement so when everyone would be facing each other once they sat down.

Everyone soon took their places.  Sora and Kairi returned to the bench they had used earlier. Grant and Summer sat on the other bench and Lillie took the chair.

“There we go.  Now that we’re all seated, we’ve got some stories to share,” said Lillie.

“So, darling, who wants to go first?  Us or you?” Summer asked Sora and Kairi.

Kairi then piped up.  “Well, if you don’t mind, since Sora’s and mine is very long, could you tell us about yourselves first?  Like what did you both do for a living and how you met?  I’m sure Grandma might’ve told me before when I was young.  But that was so long ago, my memory may need some refreshing.”

“I guess that’ll do to start things.  Well, Kairi, the story that answers your questions actually begins with your father’s hobby which later became his career.  Grant?” asked Lillie.

Grant cleared his throat.  “I’ve always been an art lover ever since I was a boy and I hoped I could pursue a career in it when I got older.  The hard part was deciding exactly what kind of artist I wanted to be.  A painter?  A sculptor?  There were so many options.  I couldn’t decide until I realized I could blend my love of art with something else I loved.”

“And what was that?” asked Sora.

“Gardening,” said Lillie answering the question on her son’s behalf.  “Aside from being an art lover, Grant also loved to work outside.  Especially with flowers.  When he was young, he would always be my special helper whenever we planted flowers together.  Just like how we used to as well, Kairi.  But I noticed that he went far above simply planting.  He had a talent for arranging them, alongside various structures and ornaments, in ways that resembled great works of art.”

“I will admit it was risky.  I mean, Radiant Garden has so many other talented gardeners so it would be hard for me to make my mark.  But eventually, my talent was recognized, and many started to hire me for my garden designs.  For everyone who hired me, I always made a unique design for them,” said Grant.

“Best exterior designer in all of Radiant Garden,” said Summer.

“Even Ansem the Wise himself hired your father to design a garden for the castle,” said Lillie.

“He did?” asked Kairi.

Grant nodded.  “Who do you think designed this particular garden we’re sitting in?” he asked as he gestured to their surroundings causing Sora and Kairi to gasp in surprise.

“This garden was designed by you?” asked Sora.

“Yes, indeed.  And I can’t believe how little it’s changed even years after we’ve been gone. They’ve even kept using the same flowers and ornaments.”

“I guess the Restoration Committee must’ve liked your design, they couldn’t bear to change it even during the time Ansem was gone,” said Kairi.

Lillie’s eyes widened.  “Restoration Committee?  Something happened to Ansem?  What was it?”

“Well, that’s one part of the very long story and we’ll fill you in on it later.  But he is back now and he’s still ruling this world and researching ways to keep it and the rest of the worlds safe,” said Sora.  ‘And thankfully, he and his apprentices, both old and new, know not to go too far.’

“Well, that’s good to hear,” said Lillie.

“Now getting back to the previous subject, that’s pretty amazing that Dad designed this garden.  It makes me wonder what other gardens here are his works,” said Kairi.

“Well, darling, it has been a long time and I imagine a few of his previous clients may have done something different with their gardens since then.  But his designs were pretty popular so maybe a few still do use them,” said Summer.

“So, how did that lead to you two meeting?” Sora asked.

Summer smiled.  “Well, any artist needs their supplies for their creations.  So, like a painter needs paint, your father needed flowers for his garden designs and that’s what lead him to me.  You see, I was in the business of growing flowers and selling them.”

“So, you were a florist?” asked Sora.

“Not exactly, Sora.  I was more into growing flowers for people to replant in their gardens. I was pretty good at it. Although, it helps that I had the best mentor in that area of expertise, Elmyra Gainsborough.  She taught me everything I know, and she was also a very good friend,” Summer answered.

“Hold it, Mom.  Sorry to interrupt but did you say Gainsborough?” asked Kairi.

Summer looked puzzled.  “Yes, that’s right.  Why do you ask?”

“That’s our friend Aerith’s last name,” said Sora.

“Oh!  You still know Aerith?” asked Lillie.

Kairi became confused as she looked at her grandmother. “Still?  You mean I knew her before?”

“Oh yes.  Despite your difference in age, you two were actually pretty good friends.  She actually was almost like an older sister to you,” said Lillie.

“Now I remember!  Elmyra was raising a little girl that she had adopted.  Well, I’m glad you two became friends,” said Summer.

Now Kairi was even more confused as she turned to Sora. “But that doesn’t make any sense. Why didn’t Aerith recognize me when we met her later?”

“Well, in all fairness to her, it had been a long time since you had seen each other.  And remember, Mickey didn’t remember helping save you until Aqua brought it up.  But I guess we have some things we need to talk to her about,” said Sora.

Upon hearing the exchange between her daughter and her son-in-law, a concerned look came to Summer’s face.  “Kairi, what do you mean someone saved you?”

“Yes.  I’m wondering about that myself.  You never told me about anything like that,” said Lillie giving a bit of a hard stare to her granddaughter.

“And your grandmother also mentioned to us that you went missing from Radiant Garden and she never saw you again.  What exactly has happened to you in your life?” asked Grant.

Kairi let out a sigh.  “Those are all parts of the long story that Sora mentioned.  But we’ll tell you once you and Mom are finished yours. That is, unless you want us to start it now?”

Grant, Summer and Lillie exchanged glances.  When they agreed to this visit, they knew they would have so many questions about Kairi’s life.  And now, it was becoming clear that her life may have contained some very worrisome aspects.

Finally, Summer said, “Okay, Kairi.  We’ll continue.  But maybe it’s best that you and Sora hold off on referring to certain parts of your lives that could cause us to worry.”

“We’ll try,” said Kairi as Sora nodded in agreement.

“All right then.  Honey, would you care to take over from here?” Summer asked her husband.

“Gladly.  Well, one day, I was working on one of my garden projects.  Problem was, it called for a very special kind of flower.  I looked in all of the shops, but I couldn’t find them anywhere.  That is, until I came to Gainsborough Gardening.  I was about to ask about the flowers I needed.  But when I saw this lovely redheaded woman in the shop, I practically forgot what I had come in for,” said Grant as he exchanged a smile with his wife.

“Aww!” Kairi cooed as she instinctively grasped Sora’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.  ‘Looks like it was love at first sight.  Just like us, Sora, even if we didn’t know it at the time.’

Summer let out a giggle. “I must admit, I had never gotten that kind of reaction from someone before.  It felt a little strange but at the same time, I also felt pretty flattered. Eventually, Grant snapped out of it, and I guided him to the flowers he was looking for.  That could have been the only time I ever saw him.  But fortunately, I was wrong.”

Grant chuckled.  “I started to frequent Gainsborough Gardening more than other shop for my supplies.  It may not have been cost effective at times.  But it was worth it to get a chance to talk to Summer.  Eventually, I summoned the courage to ask her out to one of Radiant Garden’s annual festivals.  To both my absolute joy and absolute terror, she said yes.”

“Oh, I remember how nervous you were before that date, Grant. But I also remember how you came home with that look of absolute bliss on your face,” said Lillie eliciting laughs from Sora, Kairi and Summer.

“Ma!” exclaimed Grant as his cheeks reddened.

“It was after that festival date that our courtship truly began.  We did many things together over the next two years.  Then, on the anniversary of the day he first walked into Gainsborough Gardens, Grant invited me to his personal garden to show me a new design he had been working on.  Kairi, you could only imagine my surprise when I saw exactly what it was,” said Summer.

“What was it?” asked Kairi.

“Your father had, with flowers, spelled out the words ‘Marry me, Summer?’.  And when I turned around to face him, he was down on knees and holding out a box with a ring in it.  It took me a few moments to shake off my initial shock.  But in the end, I managed to say yes,” said Summer gazing lovingly at her husband.

“Wow!  You really went all out with that proposal,” said Sora.

“Yours was just as wonderful too, Sora.  Returning my lucky charm with an engagement ring attached to it?  It was so sweet and so you,” said Kairi.

“A few months later, we were married.  And let me just say, Kairi, in that gown you’re wearing, you’re the spitting image of your mother on that day,” said Grant.

“So, I’ve heard,” said Kairi.

“Huh?”

“Grandma sort of told me that earlier.”

Grant looked over to his mother who gave a sheepish shrug. ‘Way to steal my thunder, Ma,’ he thought as he folded his arms with a small huff.

“It was indeed a wonderful ceremony.  I was so proud of my boy.  He and Summer truly had found someone to always treasure and love,” said Lillie as she wiped away a tear.

Then Sora piped up.  “Hold on for a second.  By any chance, was the wedding held in the Angels in Flight Chapel?” he asked.

Summer’s eyes opened in surprise.  “Why, yes Sora.  That is where Grant and I got married.  Why do you…?” Summer responded before her eyes got even wider in realization as did Grant’s.

“Oh my gosh!  That’s where you two got married today, didn’t you?” asked Grant.

Sora nodded.  “Yes, indeed.  After he got news of our engagement, Ansem insisted that we have the ceremony in the finest chapel in Radiant Garden.  I’ve seen some pretty impressive buildings throughout the worlds and the Angels in Flight definitely counts as one of them.”

“It was such a special place to have our wedding. And now it’s even more special knowing that’s where you two got married as well,” Kairi added.

“It’s great to know that, Kairi.  Anyway, after your parents had their honeymoon, they moved into their new home and even asked me to come to live with them,” said Lillie.

“You all lived together, Grandma?” asked Kairi.

“Oh yes.  Your father had lived with me since your grandfather passed.  And even though he now had a wife of his own, he didn’t want me to be alone even though I said I would be fine.  But when Summer insisted as well, I just couldn’t say no,” said Lillie.

“So, there we were.  A married couple with steady and successful jobs starting out on our lives. We thought life couldn’t get any better. That is, until we learned we were expecting our first child,” said Grant.

“And Kairi, the day you were born, well, words can’t describe our joy.  When we first held you in our arms, we felt truly blessed,” said Summer.

“I’ll never forget when we first saw those lovely blue eyes of yours.  True, they were similar to mine and your grandmother’s.  But there was something a little more to them.  They shined in a way that reminded us of the sea,” said Grant.

Kairi gasped.  “Is that why…?”

“Yes, dear.  They decided to give you a name related to the sea.  So, I suggested that they name you Kairi,” said Lillie.

“What was Baby Kairi like?” asked Sora.

“Sora!” exclaimed Kairi.

“What?  My mom’s told you all about how I was when I was baby.  Now it’s my turn to find out about you,” said Sora.

Kairi sighed.  “Very well.  Go ahead.”

“Well, Sora, to answer your question, Kairi was actually a pretty friendly baby.  She rarely cried and she always took to meeting new people so easily,” said Summer.

“But, boy, she was a feisty one once she was able to move on her own.  I never thought something so little could contain so much energy,” added Grant.

Sora laughed.  “Well, you’ll be interested to know that she hasn’t changed that much.”

“Yes.  We were all so happy, the four of us.  The future looked bright, and its possibilities seemed endless,” said Lillie before her face saddened.  “So unfortunate when a twist of fate dashes all that.”

Summer, Grant and Lillie gazed sadly at each other. They knew what part of their story was coming up.  And it obviously wasn’t something they looked forward to telling.

“If this is too uncomfortable for you to tell…,” said Sora.

“You don’t have to…” added Kairi.

“No, Kairi.  You deserve to know what happened.  After all, I was going to tell you someday when you got older,” said Lillie.

“You always told me something bad happened to Mom and Dad and that was why they weren’t around.  But you never told me exactly what,” said Kairi.

“Do you still want to know?” asked Summer.

Kairi thought for a second.  Then she nodded.

“Alright.  Well, Kairi, the day we lost your parents was one of the most horrible days in Radiant Garden’s history.  It started like any other day.  Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  But then all of a sudden, a mysterious explosion came from underground and decimated part of the town.  Many lives were lost and sadly, my beloved son and daughter-in-law were among them,” said Lillie sadly.

“Oh no,” muttered Kairi as Sora squeezed her hand in comfort.

“Did they ever find out what caused that explosion?” asked Sora.

Lillie shook her head.  “I’m afraid they never found the reason for it, Sora.  Although, there were rumors that survivors who had been working underground saw some sort of shadowy figure before the explosion.  But nothing was ever confirmed.”

Sora thought about what he just heard.  ‘A Heartless?  Or maybe it was some other kind of creature from the Darkness?’

Then a horrible thought came to the Hero of Keyblade.  ‘Or worse.  What if it was someone like Xehanort or the Master of Masters and they caused they caused the death of her parents and others to set Kairi on her supposed destined path? I really hope that wasn’t the case because it really makes me angry when someone does these horrible things and justifies them by saying destiny says so.’

Lillie continued with her story. “Regardless of how it happened, the loss of your parents left me devastated.  But my heart especially ached for you, Kairi.  You were so young to be without your parents and now you would never truly know how wonderful they were.  I knew I could never replace them, and an uncertain future lay ahead for both of us.  But, in spite of that, I vowed that no matter what, you have the best childhood and best life that I could give you.”

“Well, I’d say you succeeded with that, Grandma.  From what I can remember, living in Radiant Garden with you was a very happy time in my life.  While there were times you were busy working to provide for us, you always made time to play with me and tell me stories and just be the best grandmother I could ask for,” said Kairi

The Princess of Heart then lowered her head.  “But I never realized how hard it must have been for you.  You must have had to be so strong to do what you had to do for both of us and I never really thanked you for it.”

Lillie gave her granddaughter a gentle smile.  “You never had to, my child.  True, there were times when it felt difficult, and things seemed like they weren’t going to work out.  But you know what always gave me strength to carry on?  You.”

“Me?” asked Kairi.

“Yes.  Whenever things were looking bleak, I just remembered who I was doing it all for.  Through the toughest and darkest times, you, my beloved granddaughter, were my light.”

Sora looked at his wife with a smile.  ‘That’s hardly a surprise.  Kairi can bring light to anyone by just being herself.’

“Well, I guess there’s nothing more to say then.  Now I believe it’s time that you two told us your story,” said Lillie as Grant and Summer nodded in agreement.

“Wait a minute, Grandma.  There’s still one more thing I need to know from you before we start that,” said Kairi.

Lillie gave a perplexed look.  “Oh.  Of course. What is it?”

Kairi took a deep breath before she asked, “What happened to you after I disappeared from Radiant Garden?”

Her grandmother suddenly looked hesitant. “Oh, Kairi, I don’t know if you want to hear that.”

“Why not, Ma?” asked Grant.

“Yes, you didn’t seem to have any trouble telling her about what happened to us,” said Summer.

“This is a different matter.  Kairi, you know when you apologized earlier, and I told you it wasn’t your fault?” Lillie asked her granddaughter.

“Yes?” Kairi responded with confusion in her voice.

“Well, I’m afraid if I tell you what happened to me, you might start to blame yourself for it even though you’re not responsible for it.”

Kairi gasped as horrible thoughts ran through her head.  ‘Did something bad happen to Grandma because I disappeared?’

“Kai, listen to me,” Sora piped up getting his wife’s attention.

He took her hands into his.  “If your disappearance had anything to do with what happened to her, then you know who’s really to blame for it.  You didn’t leave Radiant Garden by choice.  Just remember that.”

Grant looked like he wanted to ask Sora for details on what he meant by that.  But before he could, Summer took his hand and shook her head.

“I know that sounded concerning, honey.  But I’m sure Kairi and Sora will tell us when the time comes,” she whispered to her husband who gave her a nod.

Kairi, in the meantime, finished contemplating her husband’s words.  Then she nodded and then turned back to her grandmother.

“Grandma, please tell me what happened.  I have to know.”

Lillie let out a sigh.  “All right then.  Well, Kairi, though the day you went missing was one I’d rather forget, I unfortunately never can.  Dinnertime had come but you had not returned home.  That was so unlike you.  I thought you may have gotten occupied picking flowers or something and lost track of time, so I left home to look for you.  But you were not in the places you usually were.  I was getting more worried.  I started asking the neighbors and the shopkeepers if they had seen you. I even informed the town constable. But no one had see you.  After I had done all I could, I returned home to wait and hope for your return.”

‘And I never did,’ thought Kairi whose heart was aching for all her grandmother had been through.

“So, what happened next?” Sora asked.

“A few days passed with no sign of her. Then things took another turn for the worse.  Radiant Garden was hit by a storm.  It frightened me.  Not just because I had no idea where Kairi was, but also there was also something unnatural about this storm.  Then, through my window, I saw the creatures.  Dark monsters with glowing yellow eyes prowling around attacking anyone they could find.  Then I remembered the stories.  Stories about worlds falling into the Darkness and I realized that it was now happening to Radiant Garden.  That’s when the sheer enormity of all the tragedy that had occurred in my life finally caught up to me.  The sudden loss of my son and his wife.  The mysterious disappearance of my granddaughter who meant so much to me. And now, my home was being consumed by the Darkness.  It all became too much for me to bear that I lost the will to live and passed away,” said Lillie as she hung her head in sadness.

Sora’s face showed no emotion.  But inside, he was fuming.  Hearing Lillie’s tale made him realize she was another life ruined by Xehanort.  And since he knew by now that Xehanort had been a pawn of his, the Master of Masters was responsible as well.

“Oh Grandma.  I’m sorry you had to go through all that,” said Kairi as she reached over and took her grandmother’s hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.

Lillie’s sadness soon gave way to a smile.  “It’s all right, Kairi.  If it’s any comfort, when I reached the afterlife and reunited with your parents, I learned that you weren’t there yet.  That gave me hope that somewhere, you were alive, safe and in the company of someone good.”

Then Lillie looked to Sora.  “And it looks like that’s what happened,” she said giving her grandson-in-law a smile.

Kairi turned to Sora.  ‘Yes, Grandma.  That’s exactly what happened,’ she thought as she smiled at her husband.

“Well, I guess that’s all we can really say about our stories,” said Lillie

“Which means it’s finally time for you two to tell us yours,” said Summer.

“And don’t hold back on anything, no matter what. We’d like to know everything, the good and the bad,” said Grant firmly.

Sora and Kairi looked at each other.  As much as they’d love to share their story, they knew it also entailed bringing up a few bad memories.  But they also knew this was their only time with Kairi’s family to tell it so they had no other choice.

“Mom, Dad, Grandma, we’re ready to tell you everything.  And it’s a good thing Joshua brought us to this plane where time moves slower,” said Kairi.

“Because the tale we have to tell is long and complicated.  There are even a few parts we barely understand ourselves.  But we’ll do our best,” said Sora.

And so, the newlyweds began their story.  The bride’s family listened with complete attention.  They did not want to miss a single detail that Sora and Kairi had to give.

________________________________________________________________

“And when we finally defeated the final Darkness along with the Master of Masters, we finally entered into the peaceful time we are in now,” said Kairi bring their tale to a close.

The newlyweds gazed at Kairi’s parents and grandmother.  They had remained silent throughout the whole story save for some occasional questions when certain aspects needed clarification.  But now, even though the tale was over, they still were at a loss for words.

“Are you all okay?  I hope we didn’t upset you too much.  I know some parts weren’t very pleasant,” said Sora.

“No, we’re fine, Sora.  I guess we’re still trying to take it all in.  I mean, you and Kairi didn’t have what most people would call a normal life,” said Summer.

Kairi weakly chuckled. “That is true.  We really missed out on that.  Our adventures sure cost us a lot.”

Sora then squeezed Kairi’s hand.  “But we also like to believe we gained a lot too from them.”

“Well, I do have this to say,” said Lillie before fixing her granddaughter with a hard stare.  “Kairi, why in all the worlds, did you never tell me about that incident where Master Aqua and King Mickey saved you from those Unversed creatures? Especially since it led to you accidentally acquiring the power of the Keyblade.”

“I’m sorry, Grandma.  That was so long ago that I can’t remember exactly why I never told you about that.  I guess maybe I didn’t want you to worry too much especially after what happened to Mom and Dad.  And, remember, I didn’t know that I could wield a Keyblade until years later when Riku gave me mine in the Organization’s castle.”

Lillie sighed.  “Well, I guess I can’t be too mad at you for that.  It was so long ago.  And I guess I should be grateful that someone was there to save you. Could you thank Master Aqua and King Mickey on my behalf?”

“We will,” said Sora.

Summer then piped up.  “I still find it amazing that our daughter is so integral to the survival of the worlds’ light since she’s one of these Princesses of Heart.  You know, when Kairi was born, Grant and I felt that there was something special about her.  Who could’ve known how right we really were?”

“Thanks, Mom.  It has been an honor to carry this pure light within my heart and it’s enabled me to do some amazing things once I learned how.  Although, I will admit, there were times when it’s felt more like a curse than an honor,” said Kairi hanging her head.

“I can understand why.  It was because you were one of the Princesses that Xehanort sent you away from Radiant Garden believing you would be drawn to a Keyblade wielder,” said Lillie.

Grant clenched his fist.  “Xehanort,” he growled.

Sora looked a Grant with sympathy.  Kairi’s father had been in that frame of mind ever since they told him of what happened in their final battle against Xehanort.

“Grant, it’s not doing you any good to keep dwelling like that,” said Summer.  

“It was horrible, Dad.  But it really doesn’t matter now since Xehanort’s been long gone. Sora made sure of that,” said Kairi.

“I know, Kairi.  I know.  But I can’t help it.  Sending you away from Radiant Garden was bad enough.  But just picturing what he did to you during this Keyblade War?  Well, he’s lucky I wasn't there, or I would have torn him limb from limb.  That is, if I had some kind of weapon that could best his Keyblade or the χ-blade,” said her father.

“I know how you feel, Grant.  Throughout our last battle, I wanted to make him pay for what he did to her.  I really wanted to shatter his heart into a million pieces the way he just did mine,” said Sora grimly.

Now it was Grant’s turn to give a look of sympathy to his son-in-law.  As horrible as it was for him to learn about Xehanort’s horrible deed, it more horrible for Sora since he had to actually watch it happen.

“And yet, you didn’t, Sora.  Even after he had just apparently taken Kairi’s life in front of you, you managed to keep it together during the battle,” said Grant.

“You didn’t even kill him yourself after it was over,” added Summer.

“It takes a special kind of strength to not give in to that kind of darkness, Sora, and I commend you for that,” said Lillie.

“Believe me, it wasn’t easy.  In previous battles, I had struck down villains such as Maleficent before.  But, except for Davy Jones after he stabbed my friend Will and nearly killed him, none of them had ever made it personal like Xehanort had.  Even after Xion told me Kairi would be okay, I still wanted to avenge her.  But I knew that I couldn’t risk giving into hatred, not when the fate of all the worlds was at stake,” said Sora.

“That’s right, Sora.  If that had happened, Xehanort probably could’ve used it to his advantage and won the fight.  Or worse. You could’ve become a Heartless again,” said Kairi.

“And unlike the first time you changed, you probably would have been no different than any other Heartless.  And Kairi wouldn’t have been around that time to bring you back. You would’ve been lost forever,” said Lillie.

Sora nodded.  “Exactly. But you want to know what else kept me from letting the darkness overcome me?” he asked causing everyone to nod clearly wanting to know.

“It was Kairi. Although she wasn’t there with me, I knew that she wouldn’t want me to sink to Xehanort’s level.  Had I done that, I would only end up betraying everything she ever loved about me.”

Sora then turned to Kairi and smiled.  “After all, you once told me, ‘Sora, don’t ever change.’  And I definitely wasn’t going to start at that moment.”

Kairi smiled; her heart touched by her husband’s words.  “Oh, Sora. I’m glad to hear that my words were able to keep you in the light,” she said causing Sora’s smile to grow bigger.

Then she giggled.  “But seriously?  Sora, we were so young when I told you that and looking back, it was kind of childish to think that nothing would change.  After all, everything does eventually.”

Sora nodded. “Yes, I know, Kai.  We both have changed in so many ways over the years and it was inevitable.  But I like to believe that, in the best ways, we’ve remained the same.”

“And that’s something I heartily agree with you on,” said Kairi squeezing her husband’s hands.

Kairi’s parents and grandmother watched the exchange between the newlyweds.  They found it both amusing and touching.

“Well, aside from all the dark times you both went through, you both seem to have had some amazing adventures,” said Lillie.

“It sounds like you’ve also made a lot of incredible friends. And such a wide variety too,” said Summer.

“Royalty, animals, superheroes, merpeople, pirates, monsters, living toys, computer programs; it absolutely blows my mind. And you say they all came to your wedding?” asked Grant.

“Oh yes.  It took a lot of Gummi Ship trips and some of our guests required some magical assistance. But we managed to make it so all our friends from around the worlds could share this special day with us,” said Kairi.

“And not just from the other worlds.  We also managed to have our friends from the other universes here as well,” chimed in Sora.

“Other universes?  What do you mean by that?” asked Lillie.

“Oh!  We didn’t mention that?” asked Sora to which Lillie, Summer and Grant shook their heads.

“I can’t believe we forgot to mention it since it was such a big adventure even if it was kind of a side story that wasn’t as connected as our other adventures had been.  But since it’s come up, we might as well tell you if you’re interested,” said Kairi to which her parents and grandmother nodded.

“Well, as it turns out, all the worlds and all the realms that we know, including even Quadratum, make up one single universe. And there’s apparently many others each with their own worlds, heroes and villains,” said Sora.

“We all learned about them when Sora, along with the other universes’ greatest heroes, was called upon to fight against two evil entities, one of darkness and one of light,” said Kairi.  ‘And it certainly wasn’t the first time when we learned that light didn’t necessarily mean goodness.’

“This sounds fascinating.  What are some of these other universes like?” asked Grant.

“Well, let’s see.  There’s this one universe that’s essentially a kingdom of mushrooms and it’s always being threatened by a villain who’s a cross between a turtle and a dragon.  And you won’t believe it, but the main hero who protects this kingdom is a plumber,” said Sora.

“A plumber, you say?” asked Lillie.

“Yes.  Heroes really do come in all shapes and sizes.  Especially in this other universe where a crazy doctor tries to conquer the world with machines and he’s constantly thwarted by a group of animals that include a blue hedgehog with super speed, a fox with two tails who can fly, and a red echidna who really packs a punch,” said Kairi.

“What’s an echidna?” asked Grant.

“Well, according to other worlds’ animal knowledge, it’s a kind of mammal that’s a cross between an anteater and a porcupine. And it also lays eggs,” said Kairi. ‘And oddly enough, we ended up befriending another egg-laying mammal on one of the worlds in our universe.  And he’s a secret agent too.’

“Interesting.  Can you tell us about some others?  Maybe some that really stood out to you?” asked Summer.

“Oh yes, there definitely was one that really surprised me because it actually had alternate versions of some of our friends from Radiant Garden.  I couldn’t believe it.  They were pretty similar in appearance.  But their backgrounds and personalities all had some major differences,” said Sora before frowning slightly.  ‘And sadly, one of the biggest differences is that one of them is dead in that universe. But best not to tell them that especially since Lillie knew the version we have here.’

“I definitely need to tell you about one of my favorites. It’s a universe that’s home to an immense variety of amazing creatures.  From ones with various powers over fire, water, earth, and electricity to others that resemble plants, ghosts, bugs and fairies.  They kind of reminded me of the Dream Eaters from the Realm of Sleep. And a lot of them are absolutely adorable!” Kairi exclaimed causing Sora and her family to laugh.

Once their laughing died down, they all gave sighs of contentment.  For a few moments, the five of them just exchanged smiles.

Then Lillie piped up.  “Well, Kairi, Sora, you certainly have told us quite an epic tale. After hearing it, I’d say we now know you both a lot better now.”

“Yes.  When Joshua said he was bringing us to see you, your mother and I were wondering what kind of person our daughter turned out to be.  And now, we can see you turned out to be a very wonderful woman. No parents could be prouder,” said Grant causing Kairi to smile.

“Though it saddens us to know that it wasn’t because we raised you that way ourselves, we’re grateful that you found people who did. You will thank your adoptive parents for us, will you?” asked Summer.

“Of course, Mom,” said Kairi.

“And if it’s worth anything, after getting to know all of you, I’m sure Kairi would’ve turned out just as well had she been raised by you,” said Sora.

Grant smiled at his son-in-law.  “Thank you, Sora.”

“All of us have certainly learned a lot from each other as we talked about our pasts.  But now I think our next topic is learning what Sora and Kairi have planned for their future,” said Lillie.

“Ma’s right.  What are you two going to do now that you’re married?” asked Grant.

Sora and Kairi exchanged glances out of the corner of their eyes.  An air of apprehension hung between them.

“I guess we should have seen this coming, Kai. We have to tell them,” Sora whispered to his wife.

Kairi nodded.  “I know we do, Sora.  I only hope they’ll approve,” she whispered back.

Clearly, something was causing the newlyweds to be hesitant about revealing their plans for the future.  But since there was no chance of avoiding the subject, they had no choice but to be honest and hope that Kairi’s family would understand.

________________________________________________________________

Notes from the Mad Doctor:

Ooh!  Is there something about their future plans that Sora and Kairi are afraid her family will disapprove of?  Or is it something else entirely?  You’ll just have to find out next chapter!

I’m a little unsure if I did a good job in conveying the initial awkwardness that Sora would feel while meeting Kairi’s parents.  It was not an easy thing to write so I can only hope that I succeeded.

I also hope you enjoyed the backstory I came up with Kairi’s grandmother and parents.  It’s highly likely be negated if we ever learn Kairi’s full canon backstory.  Hopefully, someday Tetsuya Nomura will finally see fit to reveal it.

I certainly hope you weren't expecting me to write Sora and Kairi tell their whole story.  It would probably take me over a year or two to write such a thing so I’m sorry to disappoint you LOL!

I can imagine all of us SoKai fans, like Grant, wanted to rip Xehanort apart for denying us a SoKai happy ending.  In fact, when I struck the final blow on him in the game, I was thinking, ‘That was for Kairi!’.

In case it wasn’t blatantly obvious, the concept of alternate universes was a way to tie Super Smash Bros. to Kingdom Hearts.  I know those games cannot possibly be canon to all the franchises represented.  But given Kingdom Hearts is a crossover naturally, it’s not too big a stretch in my opinion. 

Care to guess which universes Sora and Kairi were talking about?  As if, they weren’t obvious as well.

I give my thanks to whoever reads this chapter.

I also give my special thanks to @ultramimicook, @bmc181, @chirithy564, @thepyrolectricfox, @frostdemon38, @fandomchanger and @multifandom-lonnie for liking the previous chapters as well as @sokaiweek, @the-secret-place, and @phoenix-downer for reblogging the previous chapters.

Comments, likes and reblogs are much appreciated!  We’ll find out what Sora and Kairi have planned for their future and what they’re so afraid of revealing to her family next chapter!  Stay tuned!

________________________________________________________________

Onto the next chapter!

[dusky-dancing]

What She Needs

(banner art by mageofspace, shared with permission. You can find her art on Twitter and Instagram!)

Summary: Kairi is one of the bravest people that Sora has ever known, but sometimes a deep terror within her will trigger with little to no warning. Her determination to overcome it despite her missing memories inspires Sora to do everything he can to help her.

Rating: T

Length: ~2k words

Genre: Romance, Canon Compliant, Hurt/Comfort

This piece was done as a part of the One Light One Heart @sokaizine​ I hope you enjoy, and please check out the other artists and writers who contributed their amazing works to this zine!

Also, happy SoKai Week!!!

The first time Kairi's hidden fear showed itself, Sora was too young to know what any of it even meant.

She'd washed ashore Destiny Islands out of nowhere and had made it her home in no time. Sora had found her, but she didn't need his help fitting in. There were so few kids on the island that anyone new was excitedly welcomed, and none of their friends had given a second thought to where she might've come from.

A few weeks after she'd settled in, a game of hide n' seek brought their friends and parents to the Play Island. Sora was "it" as he often was, tasked with finding his friends across the island. As unfair as it was, he focused on finding the new girl first, since she hadn't learned the island's best hiding spots yet.

A shifting box followed by a poorly concealed giggle revealed her choice, the island shack. Sora snuck up slowly, counted to three, and burst through the door, his hands stretched out like claws in front of him.

"I found you, Kairi!"

The noise that followed made him pause. She screamed, but not in a fun, giggly way. She sounded...really scared, and it only continued as she huddled tightly in the corner of the shack, facing away from him.

"Hey, it's okay! It's just Sora, see?" he said as he sat down beside her. When she came out of hiding from behind her hands, he shot her the biggest smile he could. But she couldn't stop crying. "Kairi, what's wrong? Did I hurt you?"

"No. I-I don't know. Please make it stop." She curled in on herself again, hugging her legs and rocking from side to side.

He had no idea how to help but followed her lead by shuffling in closer and hugging her from behind. "Whatever's scaring Kairi, go away!"

They both jumped when the door opened again, but it was Riku and some grown-ups who came running in. Many questions followed, none of which Kairi knew the answer to, and the more that came, the more scared she looked. Her new mom, the mayor, checked her for injuries, Riku punched Sora's shoulder, thinking he was the one who'd scared her, and even more kids crowded around them. The grown-ups spoke amongst themselves where the kids couldn't eavesdrop. All the while, Kairi looked like she'd seen a monster. A big one, maybe invisible too, since Sora never saw it.

Soon, the mayor came and picked Kairi up. "Are you giving me back?" Kairi asked.

"Of course not, dear." The woman kissed her head. "We're just going to see what we can do for you."

Riku intervened before they could leave. "Will Kairi get to play with us again?"

"Absolutely." The woman looked at their group. "Friends are the ones we need most during hard times."

Her words stuck with Sora until his mom tucked him into bed that night. "What did the mayor mean when she said 'hard times?'" he asked. "Kairi just got really scared."

His mother sat beside his bed. "She means that Kairi is new here. It's hard enough being the new girl, but she also can't remember anything about her old home."

"How could that be bothering her if she can't remember?"

"Sometimes our bodies remember before our minds do."

"So how am I supposed to help if she doesn't even know?"

She smoothed his hair flat, but his spikes popped right back up. "That's easy, dear, you just keep being her friend. Don't pry her for answers she's not ready to give, but be there for her when she needs it."

So Sora did exactly as his mother had suggested for the next several years. He paid attention to what made Kairi panic and did his best to prevent it. It only really happened whenever someone loomed right over her, but unfortunately, it happened quite often since she was so little. Standing in front of her seemed to help because of their similar height, but Sora couldn't prevent all of her panic attacks. Despite becoming less frequent as they grew older, something would trigger them once in a while.

One day, when they were all playing frisbee with Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie, it happened again. Selphie threw the frisbee chaotically to avoid being tackled by Riku. Kairi caught it and searched for their nearest goal. When she turned around, however, she faced Wakka's form barrelling towards her, arms wide and ready to stop her.

She didn't throw the frisbee but dropped it right where she stood. Sora watched her body tense up, her smile vanishing in a flash as her eyes grew wide, and fortunately Wakka noticed too before he could tackle her.

Kairi sank to the ground, hugging her knees closely. Riku's response was much more swift and direct than Sora's as he pushed Wakka away and asked what he'd done. Wakka just shrugged his shoulders, and the commotion only caused more eyes to be drawn to the girl sitting in the sand.

But Sora noticed the look in her eyes. Normally such a bright girl who naturally drew the gazes of those around her, she now turned away from the attention. Her eyes locked with his, and he knew that she didn't want this.

"It's not Wakka's fault," she finally said. "Just give me a minute. I'll be fine."

"You sure, Kairi?" Wakka dared to step closer, and Riku begrudgingly allowed him to. "We can find something else to play if it's too much for ya."

"No, don't treat me differently. This—whatever it is—it isn't me. I don't want to coddle it. Please, I just...I just want to overcome it."

A collective silence followed as their friends exchanged looks. Sora still didn't understand much about what was plaguing Kairi, but he remembered his mother's words.

He was beside her in a few steps, extending a hand to help her up. "C'mon, Kairi, you've got this. We'll help you."

Riku nodded. "However long it takes."

Wakka rubbed his head. "Just don't tackle me next time, ya?"

Kairi needed many things from Sora over the years—a hug when she felt down, a word of encouragement, an ear to confide in. But she never needed him to go easy on her. He felt a strange sense of protection towards her, but it wasn't until their island was attacked that he actually feared for her safety.

And it wasn't until he found her again that he ended up being the one who needed protection. He'd thought that losing his heart would've been the end of it. That he'd fade away and only exist as a Shadow mindlessly wandering the halls of the abandoned castle. But his heart heard her calling out to him, and the dark wisp of a body that had replaced his own had enough of a will to follow it.

Her voice grew louder, closer, and he could make out words. Something about protecting him. But why would he need protecting? His heart didn't even exist anymore.

He wanted to yell for her to just run. Instead, her voice cried out to him again, calling his name. An overwhelming warmth surrounded him before he could even try to speak, and a bright light pierced the vast emptiness that he'd faded into. He could see again, and the hands of his reforming body instinctively reached out to meet the welcoming light.

The light consumed him neither forcefully nor violently. His body took shape around something—no, someone—and he didn't have to wait long to know who had brought his heart back. Brought him back.

Before his eyes even opened, he spoke. "Kairi, thank you."

From the evaporating remains of Heartless surrounding them and Donald and Goofy's readiness to fight, Sora knew they'd faced danger solely for his sake instead of running. She'd faced danger head on without even a moment's hesitation. Her eyes showed neither fear nor panic.

It was then that he knew she'd accomplished what she'd wanted to years ago—she'd overcome the fear that had hidden itself deep within her. He would've hugged her again if it hadn't been for the danger pursuing them.

Even though she couldn't be with him on every following adventure, her bravery and determination grew with each reunion. She leapt from balconies to come to his rescue. She embraced her role as both a Princess of Heart and a Guardian of Light. She accepted Axel's friendship despite his actions. She walked side by side with their friends, old and new, to face the Organization.

He knew that together, they were strong enough to face anything, but a sinking feeling still rose in his gut as they stepped forward. If she were to get hurt at all, he'd never forgive himself. It only worsened in a matter of seconds, when the silver-haired man who Ven called "Terra" suddenly struck Ven down.

Then he confirmed Sora's worst fear and went for Kairi. Axel stepped in faster than Sora could, but he wasn't fast enough to protect himself from the man's sheer strength. He too went down.

Kairi was open, unguarded, before a man who was not holding back, and Sora's muscles snapped out of their stasis. Understandably, she froze, but it wasn't with the same shock and confusion that Aqua had after Ven fell. Kairi's arms stiffened at her sides, unable to even call Destiny's Embrace to her aid. Her violet irises blew wide, and her jaw locked open and stiff. He knew that look well, for he'd witnessed it many times.

Calling her name would've wasted the precious energy he needed to get to her quickly. He didn't even have time to summon his Keyblade as Kairi's attacker raised his own, so he did for her exactly what she'd done to bring his heart back without a second thought. His body shielded her, with his back turned to their imminent danger. He'd helped her with an embrace many times throughout their childhood, so he hoped the gesture communicated what he didn't have time to say.

You're not alone, Kairi.

It's okay to be afraid.

Thanks to his friends, Sora never took the strike that had been fated for Kairi, but it did come for her later when Xehanort knew how far to keep them apart. Sora lost count of how many times he'd defied fate that day, but he did it one last time for her. Merlin's voice echoed in his head from many months ago, warning him never to change events that were fated to happen as they stood before the door leading to Mickey's kingdom's past. He threw the wizard's advice aside before jumping through time's gate.

Whether or not Kairi actually knew that Sora had been trying to help her, he didn't know. She rarely spoke of her lost memories outside of when they'd tormented her. What mattered was that he'd helped in some way. Given her what she needed to face her fears head on. Maybe she'd never actually needed him to overcome it.

But as they sat unseen upon the walls surrounding Disney Castle, with fireworks illuminating the night sky with every color imaginable, he didn't care how large a role he'd played in her growth. As long as he could be a part of her life, the rest didn't matter. That's all, she'd said to him while offering a paopu fruit, unaware of just how significant she was.

"You know," she said to break the silence, still staring at the cacophony of colors. "I never did find out what scared me so much as a little girl."

"You don't need to," Sora answered. "You've overcome it all on your own."

"That's true." She smiled before finally turning to him and winking. "Though, maybe not entirely on my own." So she had noticed. The realization left Sora flustered and speechless, and she didn't give him time to recover before speaking again. "I've heard that some people react the same way to fireworks. It isn't the fireworks themselves, but what the sounds and lights remind them of, memories that either haunt them or are lost like mine. Maybe it doesn't matter whether or not I remember, but a part of me is still curious."

Sora glanced down at his hand, hoping it wouldn't begin to fade away soon. He didn't know how much time he had, but he wanted to make the most of it. He moved closer to her, covering her hand with his own.

"Maybe it's not necessary, but if you ever do want those answers, I'll do everything I can to help you find them too."

She giggled with a sweet smile. "I can't keep asking you to save me, Sora."

"You don't have to ask," Sora said, then laughed. "Whatever you need, Kairi, it's yours."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: I came up with this premise pretty much right after the trailer dropped for Melody of Memory. Seeing Kairi's memories of Terra-Xehanort cornering and looming over her reminded me of Kairi freezing before the same man in the Keyblade Graveyard. The revelation—that she froze from resurfaced painful memories—made Sora's hug and sacrifice for her so much deeper. I wanted to expand on Sora and Kairi's connection, specifically with how caring and emotionally aware Sora is of those he cares for. I thought of Sora doing everything in his power to help Kairi, and now here we are! I hope you enjoyed!

I want to extend a big heartfelt 'thank you' to all of the mods and contributors who worked so hard to make the zine as beautiful and amazing as possible! Thank you, @phoenix-downer​, for beta-reading my draft for this story each step of the way, and to mageofspace for the lovely banner art! It was so fun to work with everyone, and I couldn't have asked for a better community to be a part of for my first zine <3

[anchoviesinthenightsky]

Here’s something that came to mind from seeing tangled the series that lives in my head rent free I don’t know what to do with:

Following a year after the movie, Luca comes home for early spring holidays. Alberto’s mood is oddly kinda down in a way him and Massimo hadn’t seen before. Luca and Massimo worry what could be troubling him, as Massimo reveals that he’s been down for a few weeks now since spring really kinda started. Massimo decides to take the boys fishing, thinking it would cheer him up to keep him busy, as Alberto had said he doesn’t know why he’s sad, it just happens every spring and it’ll pass, like seasonal depression. Though while out near the good fishing spot Alberto and Luca had shown early, they couldn’t get Alberto to focus much as he just focused on the island he use to reside from, like a trance.

Is it abandonment issues? Yes. Feel free with whatever ending or style, I know it’s not really Luca x Alberto but I am not good with romance plots I’m so sorry 😞 hope you enjoy it anyway

AN: What a GREAT prompt. I had so much fun writing this. I'm not sure if you meant this, but I took this to imply that Alberto's dad left in the spring. And I was thinking about why that memory would be triggered for a full season, and I landed on the idea that something in the environment (like a particular scent) that Alberto associated with his dad leaving, could make an entire season difficult. So I was playing around with that idea!

______: *✧･ﾟ:*___ >><(((・> ______ >><(((・> ____ _: *✧･ﾟ:*__

Spring was in the air, sweet and verdant, and flower petals floated through the air as Luca stepped off the train and into the Portorosso train station. School was on break for a week for the Easter holidays, and Luca had opted to spend the time back home, while Giulia stayed with her mom.

Luca heaved his travel bag off the train steps and looked around the platform. He saw Alberto and Massimo standing in the corner of the station. Alberto was looking off into the distance, not focused on what or who was in front of him. Massimo was lightly patting him on the shoulder and pointing to Luca.

“Beto!” Luca shouted, trying to get his attention.

Alberto shook his head, like he was clearing his brain of fog, and then locked eyes with Luca. “Luca!”

Alberto’s arms were strong and warm as Luca crashed into them. Luca wrapped his own arms around Alberto and squeezed. “I’ve missed you.”

“I missed you too.” Alberto whispered, hugging Luca tight.

And Luca noticed that something felt off about his friend. Maybe it was in the way he seemed to cling onto Luca for the hug, but barely touched him once they let go.

Maybe it was that there was a hollowness in his voice and a distance in his eyes. Like he was here physically, but not mentally, when he told Luca that he could stay in Massimo’s house, if he wanted. And that he’d already asked Luca’s parents if that was okay, and they said it was.

Luca picked up his bag and followed Alberto and Massimo out of the station. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off about his friend.

[continued below the cut]

___

“Aren’t the flowers beautiful?” Luca asked. He and Alberto were walking under a trellis lined with wisteria and roses. The flowers wept through the openings, trailing down to brush the tops of their heads as they passed. Luca picked one of the wisteria buds and tucked it behind Alberto’s ear. “They’re almost the same color as your scales.”

Alberto pressed his lips together and took the flower from behind his ear. He looked at it for a moment before turning to Luca and putting it behind his hear. “Maybe you should wear it then, so we’ll match.”

“Oh, well,” Luca touched the flower. The delicate petals mixing with his curls. “We could both wear flowers.”

Luca reached up to grab another one, and Alberto stopped him from reaching the wisteria blossoms.

“Please don’t,” Alberto’s voice caught in his throat. He cleared it with a cough. “I don’t really like how they smell.”

“Oh.” Luca said, retracting his hand. “I didn’t know.”

“’’Sokay,” Alberto shrugged. “I’d never told you.”

___

The rocks beneath Luca’s feet clicked together as he followed Massimo away from the boat. He watched Alberto check the fishing nets. From a distance, he looked sure of his actions, like they’d become second nature to him.

“Luca,” Massimo said, putting a hand on Luca’s shoulder. “Have you noticed that Alberto hasn’t been himself?”

“Yeah,” Luca responded slowly. “It’s like he’s not totally here.”

“Yes, exactly.” Massimo said. “He’s been like that for weeks.”

“For weeks?”

Massimo nodded. “Do you know anything that might cause him to be like that?”

“Not that I know of. Maybe it’s seasonal? He was never like this in the summer.”

“Could be.” Massimo said.

‘Do you think it’s something else?”

“I do not know what to think, ragazzo.” Massimo took his hand off Luca’s shoulder. “I just want him to feel better.”

____

Water sloshed around the sides of the Giulietta, as the boat came to a stop at a particularly good fishing spot. Massimo lowered the net into the water and waited for Alberto to drop anchor. When he didn’t Massimo said, “Luca would you mind dropping the anchor.”

“Of course.” Luca stood up, his leg brushing against Alberto’s, and dropped the anchor gently over the side. He imagined it sinking down and the plume of sand that’d follow as it hit the ground.

He sat back down next to Alberto, who was looking toward the island they’d meet. The island looked different in the spring. It was more colorful than Luca remembered. Flowers dotted the island, and on the side of the island opposite the tower, there was a wisteria tree. It was close enough to the water, then some of the branches floated on the surface, rolling with the gentle waves that came to shore.

Alberto’s eyes were unfocused, and Luca nudged him with his shoulder. “What are you looking at?”

Alberto blinked hard, squeezing his eyes shut, before looking down at the water. “Nothing.”

“It didn’t seem like nothing,” Luca said quietly. He placed a hand on Alberto’s knee. “You know you can share things with me, right?”

“I know,” Alberto’s eyes flicked up to Massimo and then back down to the water. “Everything is fine.”

Massimo shifted in his seat, like he was about to speak, but Luca held up a hand to stop him. “What do you say about going on a swim, Alberto?”

“We’re in the middle of fishing.”

“It’s a good idea,” Massimo said. “I can handle the fish.”

“Come on Beto,” Luca tugged on his hand. “The water’s nice.”

“Luca, it’s May. The water’s cold.”

“For humans maybe,” he teased. “Come on.”

Luca slipped into the water, feeling scales shimmer over his body. He splashed his face to finish the change. “It’s really nice Alberto.”

“I don’t know.” Alberto leaned over the edge of the boat to look at Luca.

Luca flicked some water at his face, purple dots appearing where he hit.

“Hey!” Alberto rubbed the scaled away. “What was that for?”

“I just thought it’d be funny.” Luca said, unsure.

“Well, it wasn’t funny, and I don’t want to swim.”

Luca watched as Massimo looked between Alberto and the island. “Alberto,” he said. “You can go swim. I won’t go anywhere. I promise. I’ll be right here when you’re ready to go back home.”

Alberto’s shoulders dropped. His lips pinched together, and he nodded slowly. “You promise?”

“Of course.” Massimo replied.

“Thank you, papa.” Alberto said. He slipped out of the boat and dipped his head under the water, before popping back up to face Luca. “Where to?”

Luca grabbed his hand and pulled him down.

___

They didn’t go so far down that they lost sight of Massimo’s boat, but they were deep enough that the sky distorted under the water and the currents would carry their bodies if they left them.

Luca flipped on his back and put his hands behind his head, letting the water roll over him. Alberto stayed curled up, his tail curling around a leg.

“So, what’s really going on?” Luca asked.

“Nothing, I told you.” Alberto glanced behind him at the island. Luca could see branches of wisteria floating on the water.

“Beto,” Luca flipped over and put a hand on Alberto’s arm, “you’re a terrible liar.”

“I am not.”

“You are, and that’s okay.” Luca smiled a little. “But you’ve been acting out of it, and it seems like something is wrong. You can talk to me. I’m here for you.”

Alberto pressed his lips together and looked off to the side of Luca’s face, as if he couldn’t look him in the eye. “You know my dad?”

“Massimo?”

“No, the other one.”

“Oh.” Luca squeezed Alberto’s shoulder, hoping the touch was reassuring. “What about him.”

“He left in the spring.”

Luca nodded, afraid saying anything would stop Alberto in his tracks.

“It was,” Alberto turned and pointed to the floating petals on the water. “there.”

“Under the wisteria?” Luca asked. Heart dropping as he recalled trying to give Alberto a flower from that same plant.

“Yeah.” Alberto dropped his head. “We were sitting there, under the flowers. It was a nice day, where the weather was finally starting to get warm again. He told me that he was leaving, and that I could watch after myself.”

Alberto’s eyes watered. “And then he left. And I sat under those flowers until the sun went down. I slept under that tree the first night too, and I thought— I thought if I didn’t leave then maybe he’d come back.”

“I’m so sorry Alberto.”

“Me too.” Luca pulled Alberto in for a hug, “You should tell Massimo. He’s been worried about you.”

Alberto shook his head, hiding it in Luca’s neck. He mumbled, “What if I tell him and he thinks my dad was right and leaves me too.”

“No.”

“What?” Alberto lifted his head a little.

“Massimo isn’t like that. You know that.” Luca put a hand on Alberto’s cheek. “You’ve got a Bruno in your head.”

Alberto gave a wet laugh. “Yeah, maybe I do.”

“I know you do.”

[tangledinmdzs]

warmed by you - wen siblings hcs

you time at nightless city is not too lonely, not when you have the wen siblings by your side

Wen Qing

brewing medicine was usually a very solitary task for Wen Qing

knowing all of the herbs in the inventory the best out of the sect and memorizing medical combinations of all other needed herbs by heart

Wen Qing was a sufficient and skilled physician that had long learned how to make due without an assistant

even when her brother had tried to help, she had given him small minimal tasks that essentially didn’t have anything to do with what she was doing anyways

however,

but after catching you watching her work from the sidelines, Wen Qing notices your interest in medicine that’s reminisce of when she was a young girl watching her parents work

it brings back the feelings that she had first felt when she found her passion for medicine

so even though Wen Qing never really had an assistant by her side

she makes room for you 

when you learn beside her,

with the same glittering, amazed sparkle in your eye at every new brew

Wen Qing feels the smallest bits of pride swell up in side her at every practiced stir that you make to a brew

and when you smile up at her, 

whether that be in question or anticipation

Wen Qing smiles back her own small smile, proud of the physician that you are becoming

you are just happy to follow the steps of someone so skilled

hopefully one day, 

when you’re better

you can show Wen Qing the fruits of her efforts for you

»»————-　➴　————-««

Wen Ning

archery practice was where Wen Ning was the most skilled

after coming back from Cloud Recess, he holds the confidence in his skills close to him, 

because Wen Ning has never flaunted, and doesn’t plan on doing that anyhow, not with how the sect that he is currently residing 

naturally mean that is

anyways

when he goes out to archery practices on the occasions where most of the disciples are resting, he’s surprised to find that he isn’t the only one there

he sees you there, practicing how to shoot 

even though you don’t really know how to draw the bow quite yet

he watches you on the sidelines, quietly for a good five minutes until he you draw the bow back wrong and drop the bow in pain

he rushes over to you, dropping his own bow by your feet when he’s beside you

“are you alright?” Wen Ning asks, about to grab your hand but you manage a small,

“uhm, sokay, kind of hurts,” you reply and you let Wen Ning take your hand and unwrap it from your clenched one

there’s a little bit of blood from where the course bow string had nicked on the back of your fingers, but you simply let out an amused huff

“what are you doing?” Wen Ning asks in surprise, when he sees you picking up the bow again after blowing on your small injury for like two seconds

“i need to practice,” you tell him, 

Wen Ning blinks at you, then offers,

“let me help you”

and his words surprise you

but you take it