#you can tell how much I love those moments between Sora and Riku

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[tragicclownwrites]

Ciri & Riku: A Comparison

Hello, all!

If you've seen my Reigisa x SquidBob masterpost, you'll realize I am no stranger to comparing characters from totally different franchises. (Yes, I am mentioning that post yet again thank you very much!)

And as the title suggests, that is exactly what I intend to do right here, right now!

I mean, how could I not compare these two? They've each got four letters in their names, for one. Hello!? 😝

No, but in all seriousness, I simply had no choice but to make this post because I would probably go insane otherwise. You may find this insightful, or you may find that I'm living up to my URL. Either way, give it a read below the cut. 🤡⬇️

⚠️WARNING: There will be spoilers in this post

Physical Appearance

While they wouldn't be mistaken as twins or anything, you may have already noticed some physical similarities between Ciri and Riku just from the banner.

Swords drawn, stony expressions, battle stances ready. But most of all... a rather unique hair color. 👩‍🦳

Often a mark of the character having mystical origins, I immediately found it interesting that - despite being somewhat different shades - the ashen/silver hair was a trait that these two characters happened to share.

God they are so pretty

In addition to the hair, they both just happen to have distinctly green eyes. Like their eyes could literally be any other color, but nooo. They both have eye colors that fall within the green spectrum.

Interesting... 🤔

Personality and Defining Characteristics

While I've clowned a bit about their similar physical appearances, the similarities do run much deeper than that. Otherwise, I doubt I'd have much to say in this post - and I do have quite a bit to say.

So, let's start from the beginning, shall we?

Even as children, both Ciri and Riku are shown to have a desire to break free from circumstance and not be restrained. Growing up, their situations seem pretty great. However, neither of them see it that way.

For Ciri, she is actually a princess (which she isn't thrilled about), so she grew up in a royal palace before crossing paths with Geralt. However, traveling along the path like a witcher is what she sees as her ticket to freedom. That's precisely why the Witcher Ciri ending is seen as the "Good" or "Best" ending in the game - and I agree! It truly is. 😊

As for Riku, he grew up on what seems like an island paradise. Yet, he feels trapped and wants to see what else is out there. Namely, he wants to leave the islands and explore other worlds (coincidentally something he and Ciri have done during their respective adventures), which drives his whole narrative arc throughout the Kingdom Hearts series.

Something both Ciri and Riku are known for is their resilience and courage, which is often shown by them risking their lives for those they love and care about. Finding the strength to protect what matters, if you will.

"This is my story, not yours. You must let me finish telling it." (Ciri to Geralt, right before confronting the White Frost)

All in all, they can be fiercely independent and protective, having no issue taking matters into their own hands and doing things alone if it means everyone else will be safe from harm.

Both of them must ultimately face the foe that has haunted them throughout the game(s) - for Ciri, that comes in the form of the White Frost, while Riku must consistently face the Darkness.

Although, while this is primarily an outside threat in Ciri's case, the battle is equally external as it as internal for Riku.

(Riku facing the Demon Tide, moments before sacrificing himself for Sora)

While these two can undoubtedly buckle down and get serious when the time calls for it, Ciri and Riku do have playful and even sassy sides to their personalities - which are often shown by them bantering with and affectionately teasing Geralt and Sora, respectively. Examples here and here.

Side note: Having the option for Ciri to come to Corvo Bianco almost makes me not want to romance Yennifer (sorry Triss x Geralt fans, I'm a Yen x Geralt believer). I just adore their father/daughter banter 🤗

Gameplay

As you can see, Ciri and Riku are both incredibly important characters within their respective games despite not being the main character.

So, while you will spend most of your time playing as Geralt or Sora, there are brief intervals where you actually do get to play as Ciri and Riku.

In The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, there are various opportunities to play as Ciri. These often come in the form of the "Ciri's Story" main quests which detail her adventures as Geralt searches for her.

Meanwhile, you primarily play as Sora throughout the Kingdom Hearts numbered titles and spin-offs (with a few exceptions like 358/2 Days). Ironically enough, it's Kingdom Hearts 3 that enables you to play as Riku during certain story sequences in a similar fashion as Ciri.

Sure, there are other games like Dream Drop Distance and Chain of Memories where you can play as Riku much more extensively. However, the KH3 inclusion is notable as a main game and - technically - also being the third game, like Witcher 3.

He's also temporarily playable at one point during the battle with Xemnas in Kingdom Hearts 2, which kind of reminds me of the character-switching during Witcher 3's "Battle of Kaer Morhen" quest.

And if that wasn't curious enough, even some of their combat moves are similar. For example:

Riku's "Dark Aura" move is very similar to Ciri's "Blink" attack as they both use a teleportation mechanic to attack multiple enemies at once very quickly.

Ciri's "Charge" ability is similar to Riku's "Dark Roll," which allows them to dash out of harm's way in a flash.

As you can see, they both use a combination of magic and swordfighting techniques (or Keyblade, in Riku's case), making it fairly easy to draw comparisons between their fighting styles.

Role in the Story

As I mentioned above, Ciri and Riku aren't the main characters of their games, but they are still very important - both to the actual protagonist and the plot itself.

Essentially, they both have similarities that are woven deep within the story.

Let's dive a little deeper.

Relationship to Protagonist

"If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They'll remain a part of each other's lives... no matter what." (Riku telling Sora about the paopu fruit legend in Kingdom Hearts)

Upon looking at the text, it's clear that Ciri and Riku's destinies are intertwined with those of Geralt and Sora.

While Riku and Sora haven't explicitly shared a paopu fruit, as Riku's quote suggests (unless you count the Gayblade), that doesn't seem to matter as their stories consistently collide as the series progresses.

There have been sooo many analysis posts and videos on the implications of Sora and Riku's relationship - all of which are great!

But as an example, in Melody of Memory, it is Riku's dreams that are destined to lead him to Sora in Quadratum, where he went missing after abusing the Power of Waking.

In Dream Drop Distance, Yen Sid makes it explicitly clear that Riku "stands the better chance" of saving Sora from the darkness. Not Mickey, not Kairi, not anyone else - it has to be Riku.

In Kingdom Hearts, Riku's Keyblade comes to Sora's aid - which seems to be fairly unique to them as far as sharing Keyblades goes (i.e., no other character has done it).

Geralt and Ciri are also brought together by destiny.

Before Ciri's birth, Emhyr (known as "Duny" at the time) was under a curse. Geralt managed to cure him of his curse and when Duny asked what he wanted in return, Geralt invoked The Law of Surprise, which essentially states that he must give him "that which you possess, but do not yet know." Turns out, Pavetta was pregnant with Ciri and, thus, Ciri became Geralt's "Child of Surprise," binding their fates together.

"... Geralt and Ciri, however, are bound by something else. Something stronger than fate itself.” (excerpt from the Witcher series' second book, Sword of Destiny)

What makes this connection that much stronger is that while fate may have brought these characters together, it is ultimately their choice to continue down its path. Their respective love for each other and the bond they share transcends destiny by a long shot. And that is just beautiful. 🩵

I noted before that both Ciri and Riku can be headstrong and willing to face any danger for their friends' (particularly Geralt and Sora) sakes. But of course, they can't do this without their respective protagonists giving them the encouragement they need to persevere in the face of their hardships.

In fact, for Ciri, Geralt's actions towards her actually play a huge role in determining her fate at the end of the game. If Geralt is a bad dad, she can literally die as a result.

Riku's primarily goal throughout the series is to protect Sora - even at the latter's insistence that he doesn't have to do everything on his own. To Riku, "everything is for Sora."

Obviously, the relationships between Riku & Sora and Ciri & Geralt are vastly different in nature.

Ciri and Geralt have a relationship that closely resembles that of a daughter and father, and they sometimes even refer to each other as such and accept that as their relationship.

On the other hand, Riku and Sora are best friends. Oftentimes, their relationship borders on not-so-platonic, with the two of them not even feeling comfortable with defining their bond as brotherly, per the character files.

Despite these differences, it's evident that Ciri and Riku both consider Geralt and Sora to be the person who is most precious to them.

With that said, I do want to segue from our deuteragonists to focus on our main heroes for a sec.

While it would be somewhat humorous to try and compare Geralt and Sora, they do have a common goal: finding Ciri and Riku.

Geralt's primarily quest for much of Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is finding Ciri and protecting her from the dark forces that are after her (will talk about more in the next sub-section).

In Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts 2, Sora is dead-set on finding and rescuing Riku.

Not to throw Kairi under the bus (I swear, I'm a Kairi supporter), but even when she gets captured, Sora doesn't really seem to waver on his goal to find Riku. Yes, he now wants to find both of his friends, but his priorities don't shift away from Riku, despite Kairi being in imminent danger.

And then, when the lost is finally found, there's the emotional reunion. 🥹

I'm just going to put the clips here because they speak for themselves.

I literally tear up every time I watch the scene between Ciri and Geralt here. The momentary despair turned into relief, the flashbacks, the music. Honestly, the buildup to this moment couldn't have been better, in my opinion. 👏

And the reunion between Sora and Riku (and Kairi) is probably the very scene that led me - and many others - to start seeing their relationship romantically. Even if Riku doesn't quite look like himself here, Sora can still see him for who he really is.

Therefore, these reunions are pivotal!

Speaking of which, something else I noticed was the presence of light or how Ciri/Riku are acting as Geralt/Sora's guiding light in the darkness.

I will just link the "Riku is the Light" masterpost by @blowingoffsteam2 for some additional reading, but this essentially details how, throughout the series, Riku has been just as much of a light for Sora as Sora has been for him.

How does this relate to Ciri and Geralt, you may ask?

Leading up to the scene I linked above, Geralt travels to the Isle of Mists to find Ciri, which is not a smooth journey by any means. It's foggy, dark, and generally impossible to navigate on one's own.

Except, Geralt is not alone.

Accompanying him to the Isle of Mists is a tiny ball of light. 🌟

As you may have noticed from the clip above, this ball of light turns out to be part of Ciri herself. Or, in Kingdom Hearts terms, this ball of light could be from her heart.

In Kingdom Hearts, it's heavily implied that Sora was given the Keyblade in the first place when he touched the light of Riku's heart before his fall to darkness.

We've seen very similar imagery of hearts rejoining with the body in Kingdom Hearts, waking the person and making them whole again.

Naturally, in the first game, it's the Disney Princesses getting their hearts back.

Ciri is technically a princess in her own right, but she is also being directly paralleled with Snow White - a Disney Princess and a "Princess of Heart" in KH. Like Snow White, she is trapped in a death slumber while being protected by 7 dwarves, only to be awakened by the power of true (fatherly) love.

(Cry with me 🥹😭)

With the Princess of Heart connection, I suppose this instance could be both a Riku and Kairi parallel. I'm open to that interpretation, but the fact that the light guided Geralt to Ciri (a.k.a. the person most precious to him) makes me primarily connect this with Riku's light guiding Sora, like in the KH3 example below.

(Not to mention the ample Disney Princess parallels between them as well)

Anyways, I hope Riku and Sora get an emotional reunion in Kingdom Hearts 4 that has me absolutely weeping. 🙏

Terra and Geralt

I've mentioned how the relationships between Ciri/Geralt and Riku/Sora differ in nature.

Geralt's connection with Ciri made it possible for her to learn the ways of a witcher and become one herself (sans mutations). Ciri sees Geralt as more of a father than her actual one.

But as it turns out, Riku has also had an older figure in his life that made it possible for him to learn the way of the Keyblade.

Enter Terra!

Terra, unfortunately, hasn't played nearly as big a role in Riku's journey as Geralt has for Ciri. Although, Terra being guided to Destiny Islands by Riku's light and bestowing him with the Keyblade plays a massive role in Riku's story from this point forward.

Now, I sincerely hope you didn't expect to go through this post without some clownery because I am here to deliver! 🤡

One of the reasons Terra didn't have a huge role in training Riku with the Keyblade was because he was overtaken by darkness, specifically Master Xehanort's darkness.

When Terra becomes possessed by Xehanort's heart, turning him into "Terranort," he undergoes a rather interesting transformation.

Yes, that's right. White hair and yellow eyes.

In Kingdom Hearts, these characteristics tend to be attributed to those who have been "Norted" or possessing fragments of Xehanort.

Coincidentally enough, it also seems to describe the appearance of a certain Geralt of Rivia, a witcher who has undergone advanced mutations that also gave him those traits.

*SCREAMING*

I warned you about the clownery here, but... are you kidding me with this!?

I mean, c'mon!

Target of Dark Forces

I've talked a bit about how Ciri and Riku are fighting against the White Frost and the Darkness, respectively, at the climax of their narratives.

However, there are other dark forces in hot pursuit, hoping to use them for their own purposes.

For the majority of Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Ciri is on the run from the titular villains - a group of hostile Aen Elle elves known as the "Wild Hunt" or Dearg Ruadhri (Red Riders). This group is led by Eredin, King of the Wild Hunt.

I will discuss this more in-depth later, but Ciri's abilities come from a gene she possesses known as Elder Blood, which originated with the Aen Elle. Being part of this race, the Wild Hunt want to capture Ciri in order to reintroduce the gene back into their bloodline.

The Wild Hunt are frequently compared to phantoms and shadows, said to be omens of war. Also, they murder unicorns, so they're total dicks.

Sounds kind of like darkness, huh?

In the books, Ciri - albeit reluctantly - does concede and do what they want, before making her escape when it doesn't go according to plan.

During the events of Kingdom Hearts, Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, plays a similar role in trying to compel Riku to the darkness with the goal of using him for his own means. He even goes as far as to take control over Riku's body towards the end of the game.

Unlike Ciri, Riku gives into Ansem's plans more willingly and acts more as an antagonist in this game as a result - a decision he later spends the rest of the series trying to atone for.

But it isn't just Eredin/the Wild Hunt and Ansem trying to get a piece of the Ciri and Riku pie. 🍰

Along Ciri's journey, she encounters a trio of creepy witch sisters known as The Crones. Or the Ladies of the Wood, if you're a naïve villager.

The Crones are... how do I put this?

Grotesque. Morbid. Evil.

(And yes, they eat people. Children, specifically.)

When they come across a weakened Ciri during her journey, they recognize that she possesses Elder Blood. They debate whether to turn her over to Eredin or eat her themselves.

While Ciri manages to escape them before they can turn her into stew (and kills them later on), they are highly calculating and manipulative, preying on the whims and desires of anyone who crosses their path.

"Manipulative," "calculating," and "preying" are words that could also be used to describe another evil witch who intends to use our gifted child for ill will.

Of course I'm referring to Maleficent. The Mistress of Evil, herself.

Throughout the first game, Maleficent preys on Riku's insecurities and the darkness forming in his heart.

Interestingly enough, both Maleficent and The Crones attempt to establish a sense of familiarity with Riku and Ciri. Maleficent uses terms like "dear child" and even refers to Riku as being "like a son" to her. During their encounter with Geralt, the Crones outright claim they cared for Ciri as if she were their own daughter.

As you've likely guessed, all four of these wicked witches have ulterior motives when it comes to our ashen/silver-haired heroes.

Their use of the affectionate "son" and "daughter" terminology is less meant to convey genuine concern over their well-being, but more so used as a guise of their true manipulative and predatory nature.

Both Maleficent and the Crones see Riku and Ciri as pawns to gaining ultimate power and control, and their "protection" of them is purely conditional and twisted.

Just Another INSANE Coincidence (to me)

Now this next comparison is going to be brief but absolutely mind-blowing. I literally could not believe this when I first realized it, it was just that crazy.

So, remember how I mentioned that Ciri is a princess? Her biological mother, Pavetta, was the princess of the kingdom of Cintra and her bio father, Emhyr var Emreis, is the emperor of Nilfgaard - an extremely powerful empire in the Continent.

As you can imagine, Emhyr is pretty set on having his reign continue and tasks Geralt with bringing Ciri back to him to be his successor (of course, if you're like me, you decide "fuck that" and let Ciri be happy).

This isn't shown in the game itself but at some point, Emhyr takes in and marries ew an orphaned girl and passes her off as Ciri. The girl looks similar to Ciri and even takes her name and titles, but she is ultimately still False Ciri.

So, we have a girl bearing a striking resemblance to Ciri, who is believed by everyone to be the real deal despite actually being a "fake."

Hmm. Very interesting.

Ciri has a lookalike.

Almost like... a replica?

I just --🤯

(This quote combined with the wack camera angle never gets old 😂)

The Child of Destiny

If you've made it to this point in the post, congrats!

Before I start headcanoning/theorizing, I want to talk a little bit more about Ciri, her powers, and what makes her generally special.

As I mentioned before, Ciri possesses a magical gift - Elder Blood or Hen Ichaer. This power is also known as the "Lara gene" as it originates with the Aen Elle, specifically their princess - Lara Dorren.

Lara Dorren was a powerful elven sorceress and sage who fell in love with a human mage known as Cregennan of Lod. Tragically, their love was star-crossed, and they both died, leaving their daughter, Riannon, orphaned. Adopted by the Queen and King of Cintra, Riannon then introduced the Elder Blood to the humans, where it eventually reached Ciri.

Therefore, the Elder Blood is very unique, and not many people possess the gene.

As such, Ciri is part of a prophecy, which states that the "Child of the Elder Blood" will save the world from being destroyed by the White Frost.

After Kingdom Hearts Dark Road came out, along with all the theories surrounding it, the prophecy and "Child of the Elder Blood" got me thinking.

Kingdom Hearts X and Kingdom Hearts Union X introduces the Book of Prophecies, which enables Player (because you can have your own character) to harness powers from the future.

With this in mind, it's clear to me now that the Player is paralleling Ithlinne here, who was the prophetess who first spoke of Ciri's prophecy.

The reason I say that is because the Player later takes the form of the "Blue-Cloaked Figure" in Kingdom Hearts Dark Road.

In this game, the Player/Blue-Cloaked Figure arrives on Destiny Islands, where they encounter a little Xehanort. The figure is overjoyed upon finding - who they believe is - the "Child of Destiny."

With this proclamation, the Player fortells of a prophecy in which the "Child of Destiny" (or a child reigning from Destiny Islands) would save the world from being overcome by darkness using the power of light.

The Player also reveals Xehanort as a supposed descendent of Ephemer, which introduces the concept of a special bloodline.

The reason I use the word "supposed" is because, unlike Ithlinne, I think the Player/Blue-Cloaked Figure was completely wrong about Xehanort here.

Obviously, Xehanort does not grow up to save the world from darkness. Rather, he is the villain using the Darkness for his own gain. Therefore, I've seen people say he was the "failed" Child of Destiny or that he somehow lost his destiny when he was tempted by the Darkness.

As for me, I seriously have my doubts that he was ever the Child of Destiny to begin with, and I question if he's even a descendent of Ephemer at all. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Like many people, I - unsurprisingly - believe that Riku (and Sora) is the true Child of Destiny. I don't think I need to repeat what others have said, but this idea certainly makes all the Xehanort and Riku parallels that much more telling.

And honestly? I can't really say I blame the Player for making this mistake.

Xehanort does become a Keyblade Master, he posesses great potential in his heart, and he just so happened to be a kid on Destiny Islands (at the time). He also has white hair, which may not have much to do with the prophecy itself, but could link him to Ephemer, who coincidentally also had silver/white hair.

@violethowler has a great video series breaking down this and other theories, particularly as it pertains to Riku and Sora - here's season one! @andrewwtca also explores this in their essay (on Tumblr and AO3). Also reco reading the Necklace Theory as well, just for funsies.

Like others have said as well, I also don't think it's far-fetched to believe that Riku is actually the one descended from Ephemer. I mean, you certainly don't have to squint as hard to see the physical resemblance. (Not to mention Avallac'h's sketches of Lara, whom Geralt immediately assumed was Ciri.)

TL;DR

The Player/Blue-Cloaked Figure made an oopsie when it came to who the prophecy was about

Xehanort is not the true Child of Destiny and is likely not a descendant of Ephemer either

Riku is most likely the real Child of Destiny and descendant of Ephemer

Sora is also a Child of Destiny due to his strong connection to others, particularly Riku.

And while the exact phrasing of "Child of Destiny" may not always appear in regard to Ciri, the implication is definitely there as well.

Conclusion

Whew, we made it! This post is already super long, so I'll cut to the chase.

Ciri and Riku may not be carbon copies of each other - nor was that my expectation going into the games and creating this post - but they do share very distinct similarities that make for some really thought-provoking parallels between them.

I definitely went ham on the photos/gifs haha it got to the point where Tumblr was all, "okay, you need to stop," and wouldn't let me add more.

Also, sorry to make yet another Riku post but *shakes fist* he's just so damn interesting! I love all of these characters so much!

That all being said, I hope you enjoyed reading my ramblings.

♥️ Tragic🤡

[mythicalartistx]

Soriku in Novels Part 4 — DDD

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 5

The cricket's question made Riku think of Sora. Of course, Riku couldn't tell him everything, but Sora was still a friend with a special place in his heart.

"Yeah... actually I do." Riku closed his eyes and imagined Soras's face for a moment, then looked at Pinocchio and Jiminy. "That stupid grin he's always wearing— he's the best teacher I could ever have."

DDD novel — Riku's side.

I loved this scene during the game and it was clear in DDD he's so gay and he loves Sora so much. A big part of DDD in my perspective was being able to accept yourself/forgive yourself of the darkness of the past and maybe someday open himself up to Sora about his feelings.

And here it shows Sora has a special place in his heart... He definitely likes him. I love how he imagines Sora in the scene, I mean I thought he was thinking of Sora BUT TO EXPLICITLY SAY he imagined Sora's face is another thing.

"He saved me. But you two are nothing alike." Shiki leaned in close to Sora's ear and whispered, "You know, Neku and Riku are really similar."

"Huh?". Surprised, Sora looked at Neku.

Now that you mentioned it, I can see it. They're both a little prickly sometimes, but they have a heart of gold underneath.

"Wh-why are you staring at me..?" Neku returned Sora's gaze uneasily.

"Yeah, you may be onto something."

DDD NOVEL — Sora's Side

This is a nice section that shows a comparison between the characters. Shiki notes how Sora and Riku are nothing alike, but Neku is quite similar to Riku. It's not that Soriku filled, but it's nice to see the comparison with Neku who ends up in his actual game accidentally trading Shiki (who's very important to him/ with no memories at that) to continue to survive another round to be able to return to life.

Also I'd imagined Riku getting flustered if someone stares at him because of one of the kh2 novel states that Riku always won sword fights, but Sora won starring contests. HE PROBABLY GETS FLUSTERED.

"I won't hold back, and I won't underestimate you. I give everything I have to set you free. I was always jealous of you, Sora. I used to feel it all the time, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't still. I believe that feeling was darkness, but now I know it's not.

The truth is, it gave me strength, and so did having someone to challenge me. Light and Darkness are perfect compliments of each other — the shadows are always greatest next to the dark. I know what that means now, truly. When those dark feelings come over you, only your heart can decide whether to let them sink deeper into the darkness or to bring them out into the light of the sun.

Accepting both is what it means to have a heart. It gives us strength. Even a form of pride, in a way. I don't think anyone can honestly say it's not. Same with wanting to be stronger. Joy and Sorrow, Anger and Hatred— whether those feelings become your light or your darkness is for you to decide.

The strength of your darkness is what allows you to choose. That's why I choose to let the light shine onto my own darkness. And Sora that's you."

DDD Novel — Riku Side

I made a post on just this entire statement Riku made before but I had to include it, it's so gay. He's comparing dark and light to him and Sora. He says Sora is his light. He accepts both light and Darkness and because of that it's strength and some sort of pride... Maybe gay pride 🧐🧐🧐

But he realizes his jealousy made him stronger and just shows his development of how he is with darkness and how he is with Sora.

[cloudofash]

Kingdom Hearts 4 - Thoughts, Predictions and Ramblings

I've had a mountain of thoughts collecting in my brain since Melody of Memory but I never could find a way to express them properly. Before I knew it UX had ended, Dark Road came and ended and now Missing Link is on it's way and the only thing I can think is how this all ties together and will lead into Kingdom Hearts 4 and the series going forward. I decided not to wait any longer, sorry if I can't present a coherent post here but I'd rather get all these thoughts out than let them fester any longer! 😆

Melody of Memory

Thanks to MoM's ending we know Riku ventures to Quadratum alone to find Sora, Kairi stays behind to train with Aqua and Donald and Goofy head to the Underworld to most likely ask Hades about Sora's whereabouts.

With Riku, I predict we'll get a Dream Drop style in KH4 where we switch back and forth between him and Sora, though I doubt they'll drop this time and will be very much awake. (Soriku stans we in there ayeee!! DDD 2!!).

If Yozora stands in Sora's way (whether initually or eventually) and traps him in crystal as the bad ending of Limit Cut suggested, that means Riku will most likely be the one to free him. And booooy the implications that has, especially when you consider Disney films like Atlantis the Lost Empire and Frozen where the main character had to fight for their loved one to free them from their frozen state. It would be a glorious parallel and would make for a tender moment between the two, something I believe is much needed after Riku was left out of sharing the Paopu Fruit and his rescue was forgotten by Sora. Not to mention Riku himself believed nothing he did was enough for Sora, not becoming a Keyblade Master, nor becoming a leader amongst his peers or even connecting himself to Sora and dreaming of his exact location for a year after being lost. Riku needs affirmation that he's needed by Sora, and Sora needs a reminder of who his Light is.

I love the idea of Kairi making potential friends outside the trio, thus I love the idea of her spending time with and possibly bonding with Aqua. Hopefully after their training sessions, Kairi will finally become a Team Player no longer dumped to the side. I think this will give her character the desperate boost it needs.

And finally, thanks to context from Dark Road we now know the dead can be contacted from the Underworld. However, I feel only those whose hearts are in The Final World can be contacted, not those whose hearts transferred to the other side of reality. I'd be surprised if Hades could reach hearts even on the opposite side of reality, but I won't completely rule it out. The Underworld could become useful for contacting Nameless Star in the future so they don't have to keep traveling to The Final World, and her human form may be revealed here (as we saw in Dark Road, the dead reappear in their original human forms rather than in the Final World's transparent stars). I expect that her human form won't look the same as her Quadratum form since it appears the "Somebody" who unalived her took "everything about her" which may include her original body, similarly to how Yozora's body was also taken and his heart was replaced.

Only time will tell and I can't wait for KH4 to come! When the next trailer drops I'll probably melt into a bowl of ice cream.🫠

Dark Road / Missing Link

Dark Road had a LOT of content in it but what I want to take away most from it for future titles is reincarnation (player character) and family lineages (Xehanort being Ephemer's great-great grandson or so) which we know will be touched upon in Missing Link (per an interview with Nomura). This can lead to an interesting dynamic between all the characters as we discover who comes from what lineage and which characters may even be distant relatives.

Aside from Xehanort, everyone else's lineage is up in the air aside from one other character, Riku. If the Crown Necklace Theory proves true then that means Riku, who had the Crown Necklace since he was a baby, is of royal blood through one of his parents or at least a descendant of a prestigious family. Given his silver hair and blue eyes, the only line I can imagine he comes from is Ephemer's. And this is also shown through Xehanort who descends from Ephemer and is also constantly represented with a crown.

If Ephemer's line are represented by crowns it's fair to assume he and his descendants are considered "royalty". And what could this mean for Riku in KH4 and the future? As Kingdom Hearts characters are constantly represented by Chess Pieces, the Ephemer descendants are the King pieces of the story so to speak. It all adds up when you consider Riku was not only initially the Keyblade's Chosen and the initial bearer of the Crown Necklace but now Yozora has seemingly come into the series as the opposite King on the chest board from the dimension of fantasy. And who does Yozora resemble most? Riku. Learning Riku's lineage is important as it could very well further point to Riku being the "True King" of the Kingdom Hearts dimension. It'd all tie together. But I have a theory on the Verum Rex, Falsus Rex discussion that I will save for a future time.

Aside from Riku, there aren't any other characters with even a hint about who they might be.

The only other candidate for Royalty is Kairi, not only being a Princess of Heart but she was raised in a castle by her Grandmother who may have been Queen of Radiant Garden, or they were at least of a high social class. If Kairi also comes from Royalty, is it the same Royal line as Ephemer's descendants? Her relationship with Xehanort seems to have started when she was only 4, he chose her as the vessel who would find and connect with the Keyblade Wielder for a reason. It would be interesting if he chose Kairi due to her being from his family line. The only evidence I have that points Kairi to being a Descendant lf Ephemer aside from possibly being royalty is that her Grandmother is the one who retells the story of how the Dandelions scattered across the worlds in search of light. Her Grandmother may have learned that from her ancestors, one being Ephemer, but it's also possible it was just a common children's story told to everyone regardless of lineage. But all of this assumes she descends from Ephemer and not a potential secondary Royal line. Her family is only from Radiant Garden as far as we know not Scala ad Caelum/Daybreak Town so it's very possible she has nothing to do any of the Dandelions and simply descends from the (speculated) Radiant Garden Royal family. Only time will tell and I'm very excited to learn more about her and her family.

As for Sora, there are no hints about his family lineage at all, aside from one line from his mother far back in KH1 we don't know anything about his father or any other family members (if we don't focus on the manga which mentions his uncle). He doesn't have a crown necklace of his own like Riku, he doesn't come from a castle like Kairi so we can assume he doesn't come from any Royalty. For Sora, I can only make an educated guess and I think he may come from Brain's line. If Xehanort and Riku come from Ephemer's line and Eraqus is rumored to have come from Brain's line, then I would expect Sora to also come from Brain's line since Eraqus is to Xehanort what Sora is to Riku, in a sense.

Also in learning which characters descend from which line, we can discover who is related to who. If Riku does in fact also directly descend from Ephemer then that would mean he and Xehanort are relatives - distant cousins. And the same would be true for Eraqus and Sora if they both descend from Brain. And if Kairi descends from either of these lines, that would make her a distant relative of either Sora or Riku. Her being distant cousins with Riku would be very interesting to their relationship, but her being distant cousins with Sora...well, talk about awkward.

But I'm jumping way ahead here. We'll have to wait for Missing Link to come out to see who comes from what family and I absolutely can't wait to see how it all plays out and how it ties to the plot of Kingdom Hearts 4 and the series' future!

[daylighteclipsed]

As someone who only got into KH as an adult, what do you think of Riku's motives during KH1? There's very different opinions from long time fans. From dismissive it's just badly written, he's being petty, it doesn't make sense, he's desperately in love with Kairi so he resent Sora, he's a fuckboy who always want more and never could have enough to it's gay panic from soriku fans. Some even call it plot holes since the games don't state it outright. As a new adult fan how do you see it?

I think Riku is someone very unhappy. He feels left out and forgotten by Sora and Kairi. He's jealous, for multiple reasons, but only understands some of them. He's built his identity around being the more mature, cool older brother figure, which drives an emotional wedge between him and Sora&Kairi who allow themselves to be more childish and carefree. And he doesn't really know who he is outside of this role -- hence, his fear that if Sora and Kairi don't need him anymore, they won't want him around and he won't really have a purpose. But it's a role he doesn't actually enjoy playing, as we see he's much happier when he abandons those expectations in order to follow his heart and be true to himself.

I think those expectations, forcing himself to play that role, is part of why Riku fails to express how he's feeling to his friends and begins retreating from them -- which is the "change" Kairi picks up on, but also, for instance, Selphie notices Riku sitting by himself and staring at the ocean for long periods of time. Riku's always wanted to see other worlds, but I think, by the time KH1 starts, he's started talking about it more frequently. He's started making it happen by building the raft. He is so focused on leaving, he, in his words, hasn’t even thought about what he wants to do when he gets where he’s going. I think he's frustrated that Kairi and Sora aren't really taking the raft seriously -- and though he knows Sora likes to slack off and it's not personal, I think he's hurt especially by Sora's lack of care because this is supposed to be their dream, and Sora seems happier goofing around with Kairi. But Riku tells himself it's fine because once they're sailing everything will be different. Everything will finally change. Right?

Those expectations -- to be the cool older bro figure who's strong and unbeatable and always levelheaded and never needs help, the sort of ideal Sora strives for -- are also, I think, part of why Sora does not reach out to Riku and ignores all the signs that something is really wrong until it is too late. He's used to Riku never needing his help. Even if Sora notices something is up, he's not worried because Riku can handle it on his own -- because he always does. And while Sora does gradually abandon this mindset the more he sees that Riku is capable of being manipulated and defeated -- he's only a year older than Sora, he's a kid, and he needs help sometimes because everyone does -- it's not until the end of KH2 that Sora fully gets this, as Riku lets Sora be his support and admits he's always been jealous of Sora. This is the moment they both really become equals.

What Riku tells Sora about being jealous of Sora’s ability to follow his heart and live more carefree isn't the whole truth, but it is some of it… I personally do think Riku has feelings for Sora. In KH1, I don’t think Riku understands this. A lot of what we see in the beginning of KH1 seem to be relatively new developments. Riku retreating from his friends and becoming obsessed with building the raft and leaving, like I said. But also Riku’s dragging Kairi (as a romantic interest) into his rivalry with Sora and mean-spirited teasing. Based on Sora’s surprised/confused reactions to Riku’s behavior, this has to be relatively new. If I were to speculate… I would say that Riku perhaps noticing or at least perceiving a blossoming romance between Sora and Kairi, which would also have been relatively new, is what spurned this change in behavior from him and the sudden building of the raft instead of just dreaming about it.

And that doesn’t necessarily mean Riku is jealous of Kairi in a romantic sense, as many people can feel jealous or forgotten when their best friend begins dating or hell even just starts spending a lot of time with someone else. We see this kind of jealousy when Riku meets Donald and Goofy, too, and it’s that feeling of abandonment by Sora that even pushes Riku to trust Maleficent. Riku’s mean-spirited teasing about Kairi really could just be because Riku feels like he needs Sora to feel inferior to need Riku around and Riku wants Sora’s attention… But I think there is enough, especially looking at the series collectively, to strongly argue Riku is also jealous of Kairi in KH1 because he has feelings for Sora that he doesn’t understand or know how to handle. You don’t have to like it, but to completely deny it as a possibility at this point is foolish.

There’s also the fact that Riku feels like working with Maleficent is the best move in terms of most quickly saving Kairi. To Riku, it looks like Sora is goofing around in all these different worlds, playing hero with his special sword and his new best friends who think he’s so special. He’s prioritizing people he just met and strangers over Riku and Kairi. For Riku, who seems to have always had Sora as his first priority, and probably just assumed the reverse would be true, that’s gotta feel so insane and when he’s already been feeling like Sora’s not pulling his weight in their friendship lmao… But Riku still offers Sora a chance to help him save Kairi, for them to work together.

Sora turns his blade against him, and Riku realizes Sora can’t do what Riku believes is necessary to save Kairi. Sora is not willing to get his hands dirty to help Kairi... but he is willing to sincerely fight Riku as an enemy. And that’s the breaking point for Riku, I think. That’s when making Sora lose and hurt begins to take precedence over helping Kairi. Riku wants to cram Sora back into that dependent, inferior role that Sora never truly belonged in, was (much like Riku playing the superior) also unhappy in, and certainly by the end of KH1 does not fit in any longer.

KH1 Riku’s also arrogant lmao. He’s not happy playing the repressed but cool older brother, but he is used to always winning and being the best among his peers, so that’s going to affect what he thinks he can/can’t do or handle, like when he shouts that he’s not afraid of the darkness, for instance. His failures in this game (and having his butt handed to him by Sora) definitely humble him.

So we have Riku’s motives. We have an idea of what he’s feeling and thinking: He’s jealous of Sora. He’s jealous of Kairi. He’s jealous of Donald and Goofy. He fears if Sora doesn’t need him around, Sora won’t want him around. He’s unhappy with the role he plays and the way things are and desperately wants everything to change. He feels abandoned by Sora. He feels responsible for Kairi losing her heart and wants to save her as quickly as possible. He’s arrogant. He thinks working with Maleficent is the best move to fix his mistake… and later the best way to hurt Sora, as badly as he feels Sora has hurt him.

Maybe it’s not easy to extrapolate everything from only the first game or even a first run-through of the first game, but I think it all makes sense.

[remmammie]

Hey! I recently got back into Tumblr and I'm so glad I found your content. I'm enjoying it sooo much!

I would like to make a request if that's okay! Is there anyway you can do one of sora x reader (fem or gn) meeting for the first time? Like a love at first site? And one of Riku or Roxas too??? If not it's okay. ❤️❤️❤️

I'm so glad you've enjoyed my content thus far! But I'm also sorry I've left your lovely request for so long!! Despite it being my summer break off of college, I've been super busy, especially now I have a real job!

I apologise that I couldn't think of anything for Roxas, but I had lots of inspiration for Sora and Riku! I’ll definitely fill another request for Roxas, I just felt his would be too similar to the others’. I hope you enjoy it and sorry again for leaving it so long!

Love at First Sight - Sora + Riku (seperate) x Reader HCs

Sora

Sora’s already a very friendly person so, upon meeting someone new and discovering they have a mutual interest in talking and getting to know one another, Sora is already very enthusiastic. He holds his friends very close to his heart and, of course, this mean he already treasures your friendliness at first sight.

However, something strikes Sora as different. He can already grasp the fact that, yes, you are very attractive to him, but moving beyond and understanding the difference between aesthetic attraction and romantic attraction is a barrier for Sora.

This is a very different feeling from when he, say, met Kairi for the first time when she arrived on Destiny Islands. In some ways it was similar: Kairi is was (and still is) a very pretty young lady; he had that feeling of brief anxiety when meeting a new person, assessing whether she intended to bring him any harm or if she was friendly; and the excitement of discovering how interesting her personality was. He went through all of these stages with you too but something was definitely different.

And, in the limited time you’ve known each other, Sora wracks his brain for reasons why you are so “unusual.” Conversations he’s had with people spring into his mind, little talks he’s had with the Princesses of Heart about their princes. Of course, that glorious word crops up a lot too: “love.”

Trying to apply it to a concept he already knows, Sora checks off all of the symptoms like this “love at first sight” phenomenon is akin to an illness: the racing heart, the urge to keep them close, the need to protect them, the pure adoration...the list continues.

Ultimately, all this thinking happens in the silent span of a few seconds and you have to wave Sora out of his little trance. He’s startled, apologising and bright red, not quite sure if he should express how he feels straight away. Give him a bit of time and some special moments together and he’ll wrack up the courage to say those beautiful three words.

Riku

Unlike Sora, Riku doesn’t view the world with the same rose-tinted glasses and, upon meeting a new person, he’s a lot more defensive and secretive. Trusting people always have good intentions has gotten him and his friends into a plethora of dangerous situations and he’d rather not repeat all that.

Still, you get him to crack a smile quicker than anyone else he knows despite his initial attitude and this is extremely confusing for Riku. He knows there’s really no harm in laughing at a stranger’s joke (no matter how terrible it was,) but Riku sees it as a window of vulnerability and is quick to freeze up again.

Thus, your initial meeting with Riku turns into a back and forth of breaking down a brick wall only for him to build it back up again. It’s easy for you to see that this poor boy clearly hasn’t had a great past with trusting strangers so you might decide to take a different approach.

Tell him about yourself, your own struggles with untrustworthy people and with the powers of darkness - Riku will find it a lot easier to trust people he knows has been through the same experiences as him.

And, with his mental barrier separating the both of you finally gone, Riku recognises the feeling hitting him as love. Again, this infatuations scares him, but you’ve lovingly opened your heart to him, so he figures he should do the same.

He doesn’t bare all of his feelings for you straight away, but makes sure that you know how much he admires and trusts you the first time you meet so that, when you next meet, maybe he can tell you how deeply those feelings truly run.

[vannahfanfics]

A Queen and Her King

Category: Friendship Fluff, Puppy Love

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts

Characters: Sora, Kairi

Hey, everyone! I finally decided to try and get back in and participate in full fandom weeks, so here’s a story for Day 1 of @sokaiweek​ for the prompt “King & Queen”! I hope you enjoy this sweet childhood fluff :)

Kairi cooed in delight as she sat back on her heels to admire her artistry— an absolutely splendid sand castle complete with tall towers, a moat with a driftwood drawbridge, and some hermit crab guards that weren’t quite as good at their jobs as she would like. It was an exceptionally large castle, too, one that she could step in! She’d gathered some big palm tree leaves and folded them up to make a nice, comfy throne right in the middle of her castle. She’d made another one right beside it, too, because what was a queen without her king? 

“Wow, Kairi!” She heard someone cry behind her, and she looked over her shoulder to see Sora and Riku dashing over the sandy dunes toward her. Their faces were flushed with exertion and their hands clutched driftwood sticks that had some chips in the bark; no doubt, they’d spent the last thirty minutes or so whacking at one another in a “swordfight.” Sora cast his stick aside as he ran up, and then he squatted down in front of her sand castle to admire the seashells studded into the smooth walls. “It’s amazing!” 

“Thank you very much,” she said, puffing out her chest with pride. Riku tipped his head as he walked a circle around it, inspecting it critically before giving an approving huff. Sora stood up to peer over the edge, squealing happily when he discovered the two makeshift thrones inside. 

“Ahh, are you the queen of the castle, Kairi?” he asked, looking at her with sparkling blue eyes. Kairi’s cheeks flushed a little pink. She’d always thought Sora’s eyes were so pretty, not unlike the glittering sea washing in and out of the shore a few feet away. 

“That’s right,” she said as she stood up. She shyly clasped her hands behind her back and gave him a demure flutter of her lashes. “A castle isn’t complete without a king, though…” 

Bless Sora’s heart, though, he really was an airhead sometimes. The invitation was obvious, but he just gawked stupidly at Kairi while he tried to figure out the meaning behind her cryptic statement. Riku got it just fine, though, prompting him to stomp up and jab his thumb into his sternum in a clear declaration of hubris.

“Why didn’tcha say so, Kairi? I’ll be the king of your castle,” the silver-haired boy declared haughtily. 

“What?” Sora objected. “No way! I’m gonna be the king, Riku, back off!” 

Kairi poked her finger into her cheek as the two began to squabble. She should have known they were going to bicker about it. She hadn’t been on Destiny Islands for very long, but one thing she’d learned very quickly is that despite the two being the very best of friends, Sora and Riku had an intense rivalry about almost anything. She didn’t have the heart to tell Riku that she was really asking Sora to be the king of her castle, but what was she going to do about it? 

“Why don’t we just fight it out, then?” Sora huffed and snatched up his driftwood sword. “Whoever wins gets to be Kairi’s king, and even more, the loser has to marry us!” 

Well, it looks like the two had worked out a solution for themselves— even worse, it was one that had Kairi burying her face into her hands as a blush ran rampant across her cheeks. 

“You’re on!” Riku agreed, brandishing his own stick with a wide smirk. “This’ll be a piece of cake. I beat your butt four times a week.” 

“Yeah, but I win the other three days,” Sora refuted matter-of-factly. Kairi groaned inwardly; those odds weren’t exactly in her favor. She peered through her fingers as the boys marched off to the little island jutting out into the sea with the curvy palm tree in the middle— their favorite battleground. Kairi scurried along after them, nervousness swirling in her belly. Maybe she should have just ruled solo after all…

“You’re going down, Riku!” Sora asserted while pointing his stick at him. 

“Funny, you stole the words right out of my mouth!” Riku taunted back, which made Sora huff indignantly. Kairi crossed between them to sit in the bend of the palm tree, feeling no less than a trophy. It was kind of nice, watching the two boys fight over her; a girl couldn’t help but feel flattered. Still… She’d be a liar if she said she didn’t want Sora to win. 

“Do your best!” she smiled at him, and the brunet looked at her like she’d hung the moon for him. That gave Riku the opportunity to spring at him with a battle cry, and Sora only just managed to throw up his driftwood sword in a block before it whacked him over the head. 

“Hey! No fair!” Sora pouted as he shoved Riku away. 

“What? I was supposed to wait around while you made heart eyes at Kairi?” Riku jeered back, which made both Sora and Kairi flush bright pink. 

With a strangled battle cry, Sora rushed at Riku, swinging his stick wildly back and forth. Riku pranced around on the balls of his feet, parrying each blow. However, Riku underestimated the power behind Sora’s swings, so one of them finally caught him off guard and knocked his stick aside. Riku could only yelp as Sora tackled him to the ground. Driftwood abandoned, they began to wrestle in the sand like a couple of dogs. 

“ I’m gonna be the one to marry Kairi!” Sora insisted as he grabbed Riku by the collar and slammed him into the sand. The spongy surface of the dune absorbed most of the impact, giving Riku the freedom to laugh. 

“I thought it was about being king of the castle?” Riku scorned playfully. Sora had been caught red-handed, making him flush the color of an apple. Kairi was too busy burying her face back into her hands again, both mortified and delighted at the boy’s spontaneous declaration. Riku took advantage of Sora’s shock to try and flip him over, but they ended up just rolling over one another until they plopped right off the edge of the circular island and into the water. 

“Ah!” Kairi exclaimed at the sound of splashing, and she rushed to the edge of the island to peer down into the sea. At first, there were just a bunch of bubbles popping at the surface, but after a few seconds, two heads burst through the surface, spluttering and coughing. Kairi laughed, then squatted down to extend her hands to the two of them before they could start trying to drown each other. 

“You two are so silly,” she chuckled. The boys grabbed one hand each, and she dug her heels into the sand to haul them over the small retaining wall back onto the island. They both collapsed on their backs into the sand, chests heaving with exertion, and Kairi sat between them next to their heads. “Did you decide on a winner?” 

“Just gonna take a breather,” Sora grunted. “Then I’m gonna kick his butt!” 

“Save it,” Riku panted. “As soon as I rest a bit, then I’m gonna kick your butt.” 

Kairi sighed, putting her cheeks in her hands. This was going to take a while. Maybe while these two battled it out, she could find some pretty seaweed to string along her sandcastle walls? Yeah, that sounded like a good idea. 

It was just as she was draping the last bit of seaweed across her sandcastle’s battlements that she heard Sora’s triumphant crow echoing across the island. She glanced up to see him standing triumphantly over a very bitter-looking Riku, who was nursing a goose egg sticking out of his silvery hair. Kairi couldn’t help but smile as he scampered over to her, flinging his driftwood stick aside so he could wrap her up in an excited hug. 

“Didja see that, Kairi? I beat him!” 

“You did!” she praised. Sora pulled back from her, sliding his hands down her arms to shyly hold her hands. 

“And now I get to be your king, right?” he asked bashfully, a smile playing over his lips while he toed at the sand. Kairi nodded meekly, prompting Sora to wiggle his hips in a little happy dance. Kairi giggled, finding herself excited at his enthusiasm. Riku came trudging up behind Sora, still rubbing the top of his head and looking like his ego was a bit bruised. 

“All right, all right. Now I have to marry you two or whatever, right? Darn, and I really wanted to be king…” he muttered under his breath. 

“We’ll build you a nice big castle and you can be our next-door neighbor, Riku!” Sora suggested, and Riku immediately brightened. Kairi felt a little relieved that Riku was more concerned with having a throne than marrying her. She peeked out of the corners of her eyes at Sora, who was looking at her with this big, goofy, dreamy smile on his face again. 

“All right, all right, enough with the heart eyes,” Riku snorted in disgust. “You have crowns, right? You can’t be a king and a queen without crowns!” 

“Oh, right!” Kairi exclaimed. She rushed back to her castle to lean over the edge and retrieve a pair of crowns she’d woven out of fern frowns and tropical flowers. She put one on her head and dropped the other on Sora’s brow, blushing at the absolutely adoring look he was giving her at the moment. Riku crossed his arms impatiently and clicked his teeth as an indication for them to come stand in front of them, so they hurriedly did so, though Sora and Kairi still snuck glances at one another. 

“All right,” Riku said with a roll of his eyes. They weren’t being as sneaky with their glances as they thought, apparently. “Dearly beloved, we gather here today to join these two in marriage, blah, blah, blah,” he said with disinterested gestures of his hands. “Whatever, whatever, Sora, tell Kairi how much you love her or something.” 

“Okay!” he exclaimed with zeal that had Kairi hiding her flushing face in her hands. She squeaked when Sora pulled her hands away from her face to grip them enthusiastically. “Kairi, as your king, I promise to protect you with my life! You’re the most beautifulest girl I’ve ever met and I’m so happy that you’re my queen and you’re gonna rule alongside me!” 

“Sora,” she said quietly. It was so moving that tears had begun to flood her eyes, and with a sweet smile, Sora reached up to thumb them away. “I’m glad you’re my king. I wouldn’t want it any other way.” 

“All right, all right, by the power invested in me or whatever, I pronounce you king and queen. Now kiss, guys!” Riku ordered gleefully, pointing at them with a mischievous grin. Kairi’s mouth dropped open in shock; how had she forgotten the most important part of a wedding? She turned around to see Sora comically puckering his lips and leaning in. She barely had time to clamp her mouth shut before he delivered a sloppy but quick kiss to her mouth. Her face went fiery red at the contact, but… it was kind of nice. 

“Yay!” Sora grinned as he pulled back. “Now, let’s go sit on our thrones, Kairi!” He tugged her to the castle, nearly tripping over his feet and destroying all her hard work in the process— but they managed to step over the wall and plop down on their palm leaf thrones without incident. Sora wiggled on top of the folded leaves with delight, while Kairi rested primly on her knees beside him. Her hermit crab army scuttled around them, as if they were celebrating the arrival of their rulers. 

Of course, Sora got bored of sitting there after about five seconds. 

“All right!” he cried and jumped to his feet. “Riku, let’s build your castle!” he said and clambered back out to run over to his friend. “It can’t be as big as mine, though, because you don’t have a queen.” 

“I could if I wanted to! Maybe I’ll ask Selphie.” 

“Psh, I bet Tidus’ll build a castle and declare war over her!” 

“That sounds like fun, actually. Oi! Tidus! Selphie!” 

As the two boys ran off, Kairi chuckled to herself. They really were a bundle of energy, those two. Kairi reached up to her crown, her fingertips brushing over the petals of the hibiscus flowers woven into it, and she smiled softly. 

I wouldn’t want it any other way… My brave, wonderful king.

Enjoy this oneshot? Here’s Part II! Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

[lightwithinthedarknessu]

A Crown to Adorn

Starting off #sokaiweek2021 with a fluffy one-shot! 

Wrote a little fluffy one-shot for Day 1 of @sokaiweek Prompt: King and Queen. Childhood memories for #sokai and a cute flower date! A time of healing and reminiscence, adorned with flowers fit for a King and Queen.

A03:   https://archiveofourown.org/works/32511775 

Fanfiction. net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13918369/1/A-Crown-to-Adorn

A Crown to Adorn

*.*.*.*

“Wear a crown of flowers on your head, let its roots reach your heart.” – Kabir

*.*.*.*

The smell of the grass, the warmth of the sun on their faces, and the slight scent of honeysuckle wafting through the canopy above was the perfect complement to an otherwise ordinary day. Ordinary, that word seemed to slip into her mind with a lithe bump, nestling into her heart but leaving behind a tinge of anxiety. Was it good to cherish something even if you knew it wouldn’t last? Those words danced within her mind as warm rays of light kissed her cheeks.

Living in the moment. Cherishing those small moments of reprieve-sometimes Kairi had to keep reminding herself to do that. Whether it be taking in deep breaths of the salty air or cherishing the soft sensation of sand squished between her toes- those small insignificant moments she needed to hold close. The way the wind hit her face as Sora and Riku rushed past her in one of their many races or the sensation of cold droplets hitting her face during one of their many water fights. Those moments, they would rush back at her all at once during those times she was alone, listless, and longing for their company.

Somehow, Kairi knew that today would be one of those many moments she held close to her heart. She took in a deep breath, savoring the crisp air hitting her lungs.

The Kingdom of Corona was as beautiful as Sora had claimed it would be. Filled with flora and fauna, clean air, and warm bathes in sunshine. Even the few heartless around were, she had to admit, cute in their own way. Made her almost sad to pummel them, but once she found herself attacking in unison alongside Sora- every thought she had just melted away. He always seemed to do that, make her feel as if she could do anything, be anything. It sounded silly but- his light made hers stronger somehow. It radiated within her a warmth that felt so comforting she never wanted it to leave.  

After clearing the area, they had decided to take a quick swim in the spring nearby and were now sunning themselves like a couple of lizards on the forest floor. They had taken off their shoes and fully let themselves relax for what felt like an eternity. Peaceful, it was so peaceful that Kairi felt she could fall into a sleep here without a care in the world.  

“I’m glad you brought me here. It’s so pretty.” Kairi turned to Sora, her eyes welling with shimmering light. After hours of training, Sora had dropped by unannounced, unattended by the other two little half-pints, to whisk her away for a “well-deserved break” as he put it. At the time he had a shy grin on his face, letting her know that really, he had just wanted to see her. Not that she minded. She wanted to see him too.

“I had to! I mean you love flowers and well the beach back home isn’t as green as this. Heck, I hadn’t even seen some of the plants here before. It’s really something- all those worlds we wanted to see- just there’s always something new.” Sora blurted out, his excitement burgeoning behind an uncontrollable grin. He rubbed the back of his neck and leaned forward. “Sorry, I’m getting a bit too excited. I’ve been wanting to show you all these new things for so long. Every time I see something I think, “Kairi and Riku need to see this!”

Kairi giggled. Sora did seem to be holding in boundless energy every time she saw him. “I want to see it all with you. I mean, we always wanted to travel and learn everything we could. Even just seeing this world makes me want to go to all kinds of places with you- and Riku too…” Kairi tucked a stray piece of hair from her face. She felt almost embarrassed to say anything more- to tell him that really, she wanted to just run away with him right now. Leave it all behind. But that would be selfish, wouldn’t it? They had to face Xehanort. Even if that meant risking their lives. Still, that incredible wanderlust creaked within her bones. Even now her heart began to beat faster at the thought of Sora whisking her away to world after world. She could just picture it-brisk walks on stardust touched beaches, huddling close in frigid snow-kissed air, or dancing on the tips of their toes across warm cobblestones-

Everything. Just experience it all-together- hand in hand in a world all their own.

Kairi felt something lightly fall on her head. A light gasp escaped her lips at the sensation. It tickled her eyelashes as she looked up to greet Sora’s impish grin. Her hand reached up to touch the delicate petals of a ring of flowers he had placed on her head. Her eyes widened. “When did you…”

“Oh just while you were humming to yourself earlier. Did I do a good job? I mean I’m not as good at connecting them together as you…but I did have a good teacher.” Sora winked.

Tears pricked the edges of her eyes. When they were children, Kairi often spent her time near the shore picking small wildflowers and clover. One of the few things she remembered about her grandmother was her love of flowers and the way she used to weave together flower crowns. It used to make her feel like she was almost home again, weaving the flowers together, creating something from nothing. It was cathartic. For hours she would lose herself in the action- maybe that was why piecing shells together also soon became second nature. Once, Sora sat down next to her, and watched intently as she connected each stem of clover flower without asking any questions. When she was done, he told her how pretty it was and how “he wanted one too.”

For a few days after school, they would go down to the shore, make flower crowns, and pretend they were a King and Queen of the flower people. Well, the last part was entirely Sora’s idea. When she thought back on it- Kairi wondered if Sora did that to help her feel better about being homesick. She had missed her grandmother so badly back then. Every day she felt so alone. But then…Sora was there. And Riku…and the three of them found new things to do together.

Back then, Kairi hadn’t paid a second thought to the idea that most boys wouldn’t find what she was doing that interesting. Thinking about it now, Sora probably only said he wanted one too so she wouldn’t feel lonely- after all…she wasn’t the fastest runner or could hold her own at the time in a mock sword fight. What she was good at was making things, connecting flowers, shells, and bits of shattered sea glass into stars shapes or crowns. Her room back home was filled with makeshift stars, unfinished and marred imitations of the charm Sora now held close as an oath to her. Her childish fantasies of an unbreakable connection, made real and whole through a brush of their fingers as she passed the charm to him. Her fingertips warmed as she recalled his touch.

Now, with the newly coronated flower crown atop her reddened locks-Kairi felt that same bubbling joy well up inside her.

Kairi couldn’t believe Sora had still remembered that time or well had even retained his “flower-tying skills” as he used to call it. Sora had remembered a time that even she had pushed back deep into the depths of her heart. “I think that you retained some skill.” Kairi puffed out her chest. “But I think I’m still the master. So, I’m going to work my magic! It’s only fair that you have one to match.”

Sora chuckled and placed both hands behind his head. “Well, I guess we’re off flower picking then huh?” His hips swayed from side to side, his legs acting listless as if they hadn’t moved in hours.

Kairi bounced up on her heels, feeling a renewed vigor in her veins. “Yep! Lead the way, King!”

“King?” Sora’s jaw slacked. “Gosh, when you say it like that it only reminds me of “the King.”

Kairi lightly patted Sora on the shoulder. “Now, now.” Kairi chided. “There can be more than one King and Kings of different things. He may be “the King” but you- you’re my Flower King right?” An impish grin filled her cheeks. Sora blinked a few times before averting his eyes. She could swear a tinge of red was on the tips of his ears.

“Geez flower King? Don’t tell Riku, or Donald or Goofy- I’ll never live that down.”

“But I’m the flower Queen- we have to match!”  Kairi pointed an accusatory finger at him. Sora jumped back a beat, his deep blue eyes tinged with uncertainty. Soon, his eyes swirled with glimmering sunshine, his smile so subtle she found herself itching to gently brush her fingers across his lips. Her cheeks heated at the thought.

“Okay, I mean if you are I have to be then.” Sora put a hand over his mouth to muffle a laugh. Though clearly uncomfortable, there was a hint of joy in those words. Poking fun at him like this was almost too nostalgic. With ease, she slid her hand into his and gave it a tight squeeze. He recoiled slightly before sheepishly squeezing her hand back. His eyes wouldn’t meet hers, but she knew- he was just a tad shy still.

Hand in hand they traversed the woods searching for violet, azure, and fuchsia hues. Their still bare feet brushing against rough patches of dirt and slick grass, staining their toes a light green as they went. The morning dew, still kissing the tips of their hair, kept them cool against the ever-rising sun. Every flower they came across seemed more beautiful than the rest- they gathered until they were spilling out onto the ground beneath them. Sora sneezed a few times, sending them flying much more than he would have liked. The air filled with laughter as they collected them all again, each time regretting having over-prepared their bounty.

They returned to the clearing in no time at all-and she set about her work. Connecting the flowers together wasn’t hard- but choosing which flowers suited Sora best- well that took some thinking. Baby’s breath, delicate and kind, hydrangeas as blue and calming as the sea, red carnations brandishing the passionate courage in his heart, and yellow calla lilies to represent his happy disposition. When she was done- it was a crown only befitting him. When she held it up against the light, the shadows cast across her face danced- truly she could think of it as her best work yet. Smirking and a bit too proud, Kairi stood up and delicately laid the crown atop her “King’s” head.

“I, Flower Queen Kairi dub thee- Sora- Flower King.” In a grand bow, Kairi placed a hand over her heart, glancing up at him with mischief and mirth.

Sora’s wide toothy grin greeted her. “It’s an honor!” He paused, searching his mind before snapping his fingers in the realization of something important. “Does it look Kingly?”

“I think it suits you, just as mine suits me.” Kairi spun on her heels, dancing as she delicately brushed the petals she adorned. She gave Sora a taunting wink as she thrust out her hand. “I’d say a dance is in order, sire.”

A deep laugh escaped his chest as Sora jumped up to grab her hand and pull her close. Their eyes connected as if a thread between them became taught, sure, and certain that the entire world around them could just melt away into nothing, and it would all be alright. One step, then two, a sway and a swish, he even threw in a twirl or two as they danced to the bubbling brook and twilling birds. The melody in their hearts flowed and swirled at a tempo that pulled her into a sense of weightlessness. The countless times she dreamed of the two of them, blissfully dancing, suddenly made it real.

It was real, him, her, this moment. It was a sensation, a scent, a feeling she wanted to bottle up and keep close- like an herbarium filled with preserved flowers. Bright, opulent, and ever so warm. As their dance slowed, and her heart settled, Kairi leaned her head on Sora’s shoulder, letting herself melt into his rising chest. It was then Kairi knew that home wasn’t ever far anymore. That homesickness had long flitted away like petals in the wind once she let Sora into her heart. Now, every time she thought of their memories, these moments, the rise and fall of his chest, his heartbeat…Kairi knew somehow she was always closer to home.

 Years Before

*.*.*.*

The bluff at the edge of town was filled with clover flowers. Though she had been warned with a stern shake of the mayor’s finger, and a disapproving huff or two from the town elders, Kairi always found herself foraging for flowers here. The wind blowing through her hair, and the misty salt air gently caressing her chubby cheeks made her feel more at home here than anywhere else on the island.  In the afternoon quiet, only the rumbling low roar of the waves had been keeping her company. Lightly and carefully, she hummed a melody as she worked, losing herself in knot after knot.

*.*.*.*

“What do you think she’s doing?” Sora muttered in a hushed tone, trying to keep his usually loud voice as quiet as possible. He was huddled on his haunches behind a large hedge, practically wiggling to keep himself from falling over. He and Riku had followed Kairi from a distance like two ducks up the winding hillside. When they had seen her leaving the Mayor’s house she had been stomping and letting out a long-winded sigh or two. Riku had said that she was “probably angry” and that it mostly had to do with her going off alone. Sora, being extremely curious about Kairi ever since she had arrived on the beach, had never not kept watch over her. So, Riku being Riku had suggested they follow her, knowing well that Sora would have found himself trailing after her absentmindedly.

Riku let out a sigh and shook his head. “She’s going to make something again. The last time she came back down from here she had a crown of flowers in her hands. That’s probably what she plans on doing.”

“Hmm, that seems more lonely than fun. She’s all by herself.” Sora pursed his lips, his nose scrunching up. He crossed his arms and readjusted his drooping bum with a light hop. “Seems like it’d be better to do with more people.”

Riku raised a brow, then smirked as he realized something important. “You know, if you want to join her nothing’s stopping you. We can go back to the play island any old time.”

“But it feels like if I go over now, I’d be like- I don’t know- I’d um make her mad…”

“Mad?”

“You always say I talk too much. Kairi seems a bit scared when I do that.” Sora looked down at his fidgeting toes. “Still, I think she’s lonely.”

“She just doesn’t know much about us yet. And well you do talk a lot. My dad says sometimes though that just being near someone without saying anything is enough.” Riku crossed his arms, and nodded, certain his father’s words were true.

“Really Riku?”

“Yeah, Really.” Riku put a hand on Sora’s head and gave his hair a quick ruffle. “Now, no more waiting!” Riku placed both hands on Sora’s back and pushed him forward- not even worried if he would fall over on his face. Usually, he did, and Sora had to brace himself for a fall that didn’t come. Instead, he found himself balancing on one foot and staring into the wide cerulean eyes of a frightened girl.

*.*.*.*

When a rustling bounded behind her Kairi gasped and found herself on her feet, her hands clutched close to her chest. A familiar head of spikes was what first caught her eyes, then the twigs and leaves sticking out every-which-way, followed by the shy grin of a boy caught doing something he shouldn’t.

“Geez, Sora! You scared me!” Kairi tucked her hair behind her ear as if she were suddenly aware of her own messy mop.

“Sorry, Kairi! Me and Riku were just…” Sora paused to look behind him. Not a soul was in sight. “Aw man, where’d he go? We were just talking about…ugh never mind.” Sora stood up straight and puffed out his chest as he shook the stray twigs and leaves from his head. Once he was done, he placed both hands behind his head. “So…what-cha doing?”

“Making flower crowns…” Kairi mumbled under her breath, feeling herself carefully enunciate each word. Sora was nice, after all, he was the one who found her on the beach that day. But a part of her felt scared, nervous, and a bit rumbly in her tummy when she talked to him. He was always so bright, and his grin was wider than his face. Kairi didn’t know how to be around him. Kairi turned her back to him and smoothed the ends of her dress.

“Okay.” Sora uttered. He continued to stare at her, unmoved until she decided to sit back down among her work. As she picked more flowers, she began to take more glances over at Sora. He watched her intently, swaying from side to side on the edges of his sandals. He stayed that way for a beat then promptly plopped down next to her. Kairi’s breath hitched in her throat at the sudden invasion in her little bubble. But Sora didn’t say anything, although his face was twisted into an unnatural frown, alerting her he really did want to say something.

Kairi tried her best to get back to her crown, but she fumbled with shaky fingers as she tied the tiny stems together. Her lips moved into a fine line, her teeth biting down into the corners of her cheeks. Again, soon she became lost in the motions, not even noticing Sora get up and go look around. Moments later he dropped back down next to her, this time, with a handful of clovers.

“It’s really pretty.” Sora blurted out. His eyes were wide, expectant.

A shivering jolt went through her back, and Kairi shyly looked back down at her completed crown. He said it was pretty, what she made. A slight hint of pride wafted through her chest. “Thanks…”

“I-I want one too!” Sora’s voice was louder than he intended, for Kairi almost fell back at the sudden noise. She made sure to quickly put on a smile for the boy looked almost as if he would cry if he knew she was scared.

“Okay, I’ll teach you.” Kairi found a new strength in her voice. She was more confident now. A voice inside her heart, but from where she didn’t know, whispered caressing words.

Whenever you feel lonely, look to the flowers. Surround yourself with them, let them take root in your heart. Every moment may seem small, but you can make them bigger and more beautiful. For those moments when you’re alone, the flowers will remind you of me and of those who love you. That light in your heart will continue to bloom and grow, as long as you let it. Adorn your head with a crown of flowers, my dear. Adorn the head of the one you love. Find that light, never lose sight of it.

  Notes:

Thank you for reading! This fic was inspired by the prompt King and Queen for SoKai Week 2021. Visiting Sora and Kairi's childhood and what they meant to each other during that time was pure joy. I hope that this little bundle of fluff reminds you of the wonder of picking flowers as a child, and how even the smallest acts of kindness can mean the world to someone else. I tried to add in some of Sora's flowers from his herbarium by super groupies as well as flowers that spoke to his personality. Fun fact: Clover flowers were something that I would gather when I was a child, and luckily they do grow at least in Hawaii at high elevations, so it's possible they could be on the mainland in Destiny Islands!

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[databoyreekoo]

thoughts on khmom

this thread contains spoilers for khmom, you have been warned

long story short; i loved it

i’ve always been indifferent about kairi. i don’t like her, but i don’t hate her either. honestly, it’s hard to have any sort of opinion on her when her presence in the story is severely lacking...especially compared to other female characters like aqua, xion and namine, who are all developed and well-rounded. but that’s the thing...it’s just kairi. fans like to jump to “nomura doesn’t know how to write female characters and will never give his female characters anything” when in reality, kairi is just poorly written. (i’d like to add that i’m not saying there aren’t any flaws in the way nomura writes his female characters, but this issue is exclusive to kairi as far as kh is concerned). i mean...even larxene and ava have more depth than kairi, and they haven’t even been featured in as many games as her. this is frustrating for those who already like her, and for those who want to like her. yet...it’s been kinda obvious that nomura a) didn’t really know what to do with her post kh1, and/or b) doesn’t particularly enjoy writing for her.

between kh1, kh2 and ddd, kairi showed only a smidgeon of her desire to fight for and help her friends. however, these moments were immediately countered by her waiting on the islands for sora and riku to return, her getting kidnapped, her getting manipulated by xehanort (and other orgxiii members)...or her getting killed. in kh3, her training was left in the hands of a wizard...not a keyblade master. and yes, even though time doesn’t exist in the secret forest, there’s only so much knowledge axel can pass onto kairi...and without a variety of enemies to fight, there’s only so much experience kairi can gain. she still had a lot to learn but was thrown into a war and expected to hold her own (she did good for what little time she had to prepare, though).

then..remind happened. apart from the lore bits that were added and the plot holes that were addressed, the rest of it felt like fanservice, to be quite honest. it gave the fans everything they had been screaming about since kh3′s initial release, including “kairi development/spotlight.” i’m using quotations because kairi was very inconsistent in remind. one moment she’s blocking xion’s attack and protecting axel (repaying him for protecting her earlier in the KG, regardless if she remembers it or not AND for plot reasons; getting to see xion’s face, all in all this feels good, this feels like natural progression for kairi, love that for her), then...she’s suddenly overpowering XEMNAS of all people after he literally slapped sora, roxas AND xion away like a couple of mosquitos...(thematically, it would’ve made more sense for it to have been xion or roxas getting the upper hand, and it would’ve been in character too since they’re both powerhouses...it just feels like this was compensation or an apology for kairi not doing anything in the base game when xemnas kidnapped her...WHICH STILL HAPPENS BTW making this interaction between xemnas and kairi feel insincere and unrewarding...i want natural progression for kairi, i don’t want her to come off like a mary sue), then later once sora and the guardians bring kairi back, she’s totally clueless as to what sora means by “kairi, are you ready for this?” when she can obviously see darkness swirling above their heads...yet, earlier, she immediately gave axel affirmation when he asks “you with me?” just as they’re about to fight saix and xion...her fight against xehanort was wonderful though, her gameplay suited her very well. i just want consistency and natural progression like the rest of the main cast experienced.

i feel like remind was kinda misleading when it comes to kairi...and a lot of fans just rolled with the hype straight into khmom, believing it to be this huge turning point for kairi...only to be let down by the ending.

however, khmom is a turning point for kairi...but it feels sincere, it feels deserved. it feels natural. she got to address her repressed childhood memories and confront an illusion of xehanort, the embodiment of her suffering. she acknowledged her weakness (in jp, sena translated it different) and how it put sora and everyone else in danger. she showed frustration and anger with the way xehanort used her and altered her fate. she charged in to fight and stand up for herself without a second thought. she’s more assertive and involved now than she ever has been, and her personality is finally showing through and she’s bursting with life. even when she tells riku she wants to go, and he denies her in order to keep her safe (i swear to god, if i see one more person call riku a misogynist for gently putting kairi down because she isn’t experienced enough and doesn’t have the power of waking needed to journey to a dangerous, unknown world i’m gonna lose my mind, sora was literally denied access to the realm of darkness all throughout kh3 because it was too dangerous and he hadn’t regained the power of waking and nobody said a damn thing about that), she acknowledges her lack of experience and tells riku with confidence that she’s going to train hard and get stronger so she can fight alongside sora AND riku...not just sora this time. this is the first time in a long time we’ve seen kairi so vocal and adamant about her training so she can grow stronger and not put herself or anyone else in harms way anymore...instead of her writing it down in an unsent letter or having the game telling us but hardly show it. she even tells yen sid she wants to train under aqua WHICH IS HUGE because not only is it a decision she makes herself (and actually voices this time instead of remaining passive), but she also utilizes magic and speed in combat...training under aqua will help her develop SO MUCH, in both character and skill. this also opens potential friendships between kairi and terra, as well as kairi and ventus.

kairi is finally...FINALLY starting her own journey, and even though her path is different from sora and riku’s right now (which, honestly, will be more beneficial for her in the long run), i have more faith now than ever that kairi’s path will cross with sora and riku’s again and she’ll have the strength she wants in order to stand by their side and support them.

[snowflake-of-destruction]

125 pls💜

Cleaning out old asks afternoon? Cleaning out old asks afternoon. 

125. You’re the one who left it laying around. Grass is Greener. Sora and Riku.

"You're looking through my phone?" Sora was framed in the doorway, striking even in sweatpants with bunched legs that said they were too long, though they tightened over his hips and a faded shirt with a cartoon dragon on it, hair held back by a blue headband that Riku was fairly, though not entirely, certain had been left at the house by a guest a few weeks ago, large green bowl cradled in his arms. Sora had frozen mid-stir, forgetting what he'd been coming in from the kitchen to ask Riku when he'd caught his husband intently scrolling through something on his phone, Riku's own Otter encased cell lying forgotten on the coffee table.

Riku didn't look guilty in the slightest when he glanced up and made no move to set the item in question down or offer it to its owner. "You’re the one who left it laying around. It kept buzzing, so I got curious. Your passcode is the same as your pin. Every pin you've ever set." Riku left it unvoiced that Sora should never again tease him for the time he'd made his email password "E-mailpassword!" when he was almost as bad. "I was going to make sure it wasn't an emergency, and maybe answer whoever it was that you were cooking and would call or text them back later. "

"I guess that makes sense," Sora hemmed, dismayed suspicion that had scrunched his face slowly smoothing out. He had nothing to hide, and few thoughts or conversations that he didn't relate to Riku, period. If anything, Riku sometimes had to cut his sharing off, and remind him that, while he loved to hear about Sora's day, he wasn't required to recount every second they were apart. He didn't even care about privacy. The only reason to be uncomfortable about Riku looking at his phone was the implication that Riku didn't trust him. If Riku was just concerned that he was missing an important phone call, and then maybe got distracted, then that seemed alright. "Who was it?"

"Kairi." Riku frowned over the name and Sora felt a prickle of concern again. "She hung up when she heard my voice. I wonder if she recognized it," he mumbled the last half to himself.

"You know Kairi?" Surprise and curiosity mixed. "You didn't tell me before that you know Kairi!" Sora could only see the fun of the coincidence. It was a shame he hadn't known before though; he'd have used the leverage of Riku and Kairi being friendly to help convince her to consider staying with them during her separation from her husband instead of with her brother.

"I wasn't sure myself until now," Riku set the phone down and rubbed his forehead. Reasonably, he should have known. Sora had mentioned the name of the student in his yoga class he was seeing more than once, mentioned her crumbling marriage too, and Kairi wasn’t the most common name. He’d just been in denial until he saw it laid out.  He let out a puff of breath much like a sigh and raked the same hand through his hair. "She's a patient of mine. She and her husband. I recognized her in her contact picture.

"Oh! Awesome! I should have thought to ask who they were seeing when she told me Vanitas convinced her to give counseling a shot--though I also think I had something to do with that. She was ready to serve him divorce papers before I talked her out of it," Sora babbled happily. He seemed to remember suddenly that he was holding a bowl and held the spoon out to Riku. "Taste the marinade before I put the fish in it? It's honey orange garlic ginger."

Riku shook his head, and not just because the sauce sounded like at least one flavor too many, especially concentrated and raw. "You can't date my patients."

"No, you can't date your patients," Sora stressed, mildly put out about Riku's refusal to play taste tester. "It's not an ethics violation for me, or even a moral one. We were pretty upfront with each other, and I really want Kairi to work through things with Vanitas, no matter what it might mean for me and her."

"My patients are married, sweetheart," Riku pointed out like he wasn't even listening , fond but exasperated to the point of exhaustion.

"So are you and I. Don't you think I take our marriage vows seriously?"

Riku patted the couch cushion next to him. "I know you do. I hope you know I do too. I wasn't finished. The great majority don't have marriages like ours."

Sora glanced into his bowl, mourning his sauce for a moment, before setting it on the coffee table and sitting beside his husband. "They're not happy, and they're not communicating. That's why they come to you."

"They're not any degree of open..."

"...Or honest."

"You know what type of open I'm talking about. Generally, I deal with couples whose marriages are very different from ours...with people in them who are very different from us too. And even those that aren't, need to be concentrating on the relationship between spouses."

"I know that, but Kairi..." Sora started.

Riku held up a hand to halt him. "I'd prefer to assess Kairi for myself in sessions." He preferred to leave it in session too, though he couldn’t help mentally updating the file in his head. There was no way he’d hurt Sora by mentioning it, but he was pretty sure he knew exactly why Kairi had latched onto him if Vanitas wasn’t showing her the attention and affection she needed. They looked strikingly similar. And, oh God, he was just remembering Sora told him his new girlfriend also had a girlfriend of her own. That was more knowledge he didn’t want to have when it only complicated issues if he couldn’t bring it up in session, considering the source of the knowledge and how he should recuse himself, even when it very much needed to be a topic of discussion.

Sora made a disgruntled noise in his throat, but only fumed for a second before shifting to a more thoughtful pout. "Have I come up at all? Not by name, I know, or you wouldn't have been surprised I knew her, but, in general?"

"An affair?" Riku tilted his head so his glasses slid a fraction down his nose and looked at his husband over the frames. It was a low trick. He knew what effect that gesture had on Sora.

"Don't make it sound tawdry."

"It is for her," Riku pressed gently.

"I know her better," Sora still felt inclined to argue.

"You're right," Riku backed off suspiciously easily. "You absolutely do. But I know you best of all, and I know you wouldn't want to be involved with someone who was being dishonest...which I can tell you she is...with her husband and with you."

Riku was right. He was always right. Sora had given Kairi an ultimatum, but he never reached the stage where he followed through with his vow that he wouldn't keep seeing her if she did not tell her husband about him. Kairi and Vanitas had separated and Sora had fooled himself into thinking it wasn't as important then. He'd renewed his insistence when reconciliation had been put on the table, but then he'd agreed it might not be the first thing to bring up when she saw Vanitas.

"I'll talk to her," Sora offered.

"I'm going to ask you to break it off."

Riku seemed to be holding his breath, and noticing it knocked the breath out of Sora's chest too. Was he not sure if Sora would agree? How could he ever doubt?

"Absolutely!" If Riku was no longer comfortable there was no question. "Do you want me to do it now?"

Riku exhaled a long, slow stream and the relief in his face as he combed a hand through his hair again almost broke Sora's heart all over. "No, no need. You want help with dinner?"

"Nah, I got it." Sora started to stand and reach for his bowl. "Do you want to invite Namine over? It's been a long week. I don't mind calling in the backup to help you relax. We can double-team it."

Riku shook his head. "You're all I need."

"That's very sweet, but, oh love of my life, that's inaccurate. No person can be all things to another, and trying to force one person to be all things at all times for you is a surefire way to sow strife and dissatisfaction."

"Now, you sound like the therapist."

"Would you like me to be? Your glasses, a tie, a notepad and nothing else while I make you lie down on the couch and tell me all your fantasies?"

"Fish first."

[sourcherrybomb]

SoKai Week 2020 - Day 6 - One More For the Road

Synopsis: At an unknown time, in an unknown place, Kairi asks Sora for one more of his beloved stories.

(There are two more bonus sketches at the end of the oneshot!)

Sneak Peek: “What are some of the more… romantic ones you know, then?” 

Tags: Romance, All Ages, F/M

Prompt for the Day: Connection / Fate

Words: 1k

Fanart by: Popipapepu (Fiverr)

---

“Hey Sora?” 

“Yeah Kairi?”

“Tell me a story.”

“Right now?”

“Yeah, right now!” 

“Kairi, as much as I’d love to-”

“Oh I know you would.” 

“I’m just not too sure if there’s enough time for that right now.”

“Come on, please?”

“It’s just that I promised everyone that we’d be quick about this, I don’t wanna leave them worried, you know?”

“Listen, everyone’s doing fine right now! I’m sure they wouldn’t mind waiting just a little bit longer.”

“You’re really pushing- Oh come on, don’t give me that face!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Yeah right! That’s the face you always make.”

“Nuh uh.”

“Yuh huh!”

“Sora you might as well just give up now, this face always gets you and you know it!”

“Get real! Look at my face and how your stupid one doesn’t affect me at all!”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“Okay fine, one story!”

“Haha! Score one for Kairi!”

“So which one is it gonna be this time around? Altair and Vega like usual?”

“Sounds tempting, but honestly I think I’d like to hear a new one.”

“A new one, huh? Did I ever tell you about Aquila? How about Endymion or Bismarck?”

“As much as I love hearing you talking about stars and constellations, maybe something from one of the worlds you’ve been to.”

“I mean from our perspective right now, how could you even tell the difference between stars and other worlds?”

“Hey, don’t get smart with me! If I wanted snark I’d talk to Riku or Axel.”

“What can I say, they’ve rubbed off on me. Anyways, what kind of story would you want to listen to anyways?”

“I know I turned it down, but something like Altair and Vega. Except maybe a more happy ending.”

“It always comes back to them, huh?”

“What can I say, I relate to it. Especially after all we’ve been through. A happier ending would be nice, maybe one where the hero and heroine get to stay together.”

“Hmm, I might have to think about this. I’ve heard so many stories from a bunch of different worlds.”

“What are some of the more… romantic ones you know, then?”

“Romantic, huh? With the same vibes as Altair and Vega… Oh, I think I got one!”

“You do? Sweet!”

“Yeah, it’s one my friends Mushu and Mulan told me. It’s called The Story of the Red String of Fate.”

“Sounds mysterious… I like it!”

“I have a feeling you will!”

“Hey now, don’t look all satisfied when you haven’t even told me the story yet.”

“Okay, okay. Let me start then.”

There once was a young noble girl and the son of a stablehand.

Bored with her life, she desired adventure, something the boy and his horses were more than willing to entertain.

Over time, the stablehand became smitten with the noble girl. In secret, she returned his affection.

They kept this romance a secret until they grew into young adults. They planned to elope and leave by horseback when the time came.

However, war broke out in their country. 

The noble girl and stablehand realized that they would be separated. She would have to stay in the safety of her castle while the stablehand would be sent to war.

Wanting him to always have a way to remember her, the noble girl asked the stablehand to close his eyes. Agreeing, she unwound a red string from her royal garments. 

Cutting the thread in half, she tied one piece on her finger and the other on his.

Shocked by this, the stablehand declared that he would come back to her and return the keepsake hundredfold.

After this, the two were separated. For many years the war raged on, the noble girl becoming a noblewoman.

When the war finally came to an end, all the soldiers who survived returned home. In disguise, the noblewoman looked for her lover amongst the common soldiers, but could not find him. 

After days of searching, she resigned herself to the idea that the stablehand had died in battle.

In memory of him, she decided to keep the red string tied on her finger.

The next day, the noblewoman’s father approached her and told her that she was to be wed to one of the war heroes that fought for their country. 

Hiding her dejection, she thanked her father and followed him to meet her future husband. It was a soldier around her age.

When her father left the two alone, the soldier looked at the noblewoman. Smiling, he politely asked her to close her eyes. Uncaringly, she closed them.

When asked to open her eyes, the first thing she saw was a gorgeous red dress made of the finest silk. Surprised, the noblewoman asked the soldier why he had gifted her such an extravagant engagement present.

Laughing, the soldier simply responded that he was only keeping the promise that he made to her.

Briefly confused, it took a moment for the noblewoman to look at the soldier’s hand that was holding the dress. 

On it was a red string, tied on the same finger as the one she had done the same to the stablehand all those years ago.

Realizing who this soldier was, she pulls the former stablehand into an embrace that, to the two, felt like it lasted for ages.

She and her husband would wear the red strings on their hands for the rest of their lives.

“So? How was- Kairi are you okay?”

“Hm? Yeah! Just… Something flew into my eye for a moment. Shouldn’t I be asking you the same?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Geez, just don’t rub your eyes too hard like that. You’ll just make more come out, which will do the same to me.”

“I know, I know…”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“Hey Sora?”

“Yeah Kairi?”

“Thanks for telling me one last story. I can’t help but feel like it’ll be… a while until I could hear another one from you.”

“You’re not wrong about that. You were right about something, though.”

“And what was that?”

“That I love telling you stories like this. I’d love to tell you another one, but I think we’ve run out of the little time we’ve had left at this point…”

“I had a feeling… Hey Sora?”

“Yeah Kairi?”

“Come here for a sec.”

“Sure, but we’re going to have to- mmph?!”

“...”

“...”

“Sorry… Just had to get one for the road. Sora, promise me one thing.”

“Anything…”

“When you come back to me, you better return that a hundredfold. Promise?”

“Promise.”

---

This was another little experiment for my writing. Just dialogue, nothing else. This totally wasn’t a last-minute decision in order to get something out before the deadline for Day 6. Nope, not at all. Still, I had fun writing it.

Just like with my Day 5 entry, I got to make my own spin on a legend. The Red String of Fate is such a prevalent tale in modern romantic media that it’s fun to see how different writers and authors use it (with various success)

As I said, this was my entry for Day 6 of SoKai Week 2020! The themes for the day were “Connection” and/or “Fate”. Once again, shoutout to the Sokai: Destined Oath Discord server, and a special thanks to the server member Gee for acting as my Beta Reader.

Thanks for Reading!

---

*Bonus Sketch Commissions*

[philliamwrites]

Cor Cordium

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts (3)

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Roxas/Sora (one-sided), Axel/Roxas (hinted), Vanitas/Ventus (Hinted), Aqua/Terra (mentioned)

Tags: #character study, #relationship study, #post canon, #post kh3, #spoilers, #mourning, #multiple pov, #little dialogue

Words: 6.9k (nice)

Summary: O heart of hearts, the chalice of love’s fire, Hid round with flowers and all the bounty of bloom; […] It is not the end of his story, only the beginning, but everyone is too occupied with mourning to understand.

Cor Cordium

Tell me, Atlus. What is heavier? The world or its people’s hearts?

        Sora remembers the phantom feeling of sand under his palms, warm little crystals pressing into his skin. He can’t tell if this is really a memory or just a wish. Lately, it’s been difficult to tell them apart, their lines blurring together. Or maybe since he arrived Here, it’s never been clear from the start, and he’s just clinging to shadows dancing in the back of his mind. He is floating. Or at least he thinks he is. A strange sensation tingles through his body, it feels like thousand ants are crawling on his skin, and yet he knows that his body isn’t really here. Wherever Here is. Sora is passably conscious, not asleep but not quite awake either.

         Darkness surrounds him. He can’t see it— it’s more of a feeling, a gentle brush of air against his mind, but it doesn’t scare him. This darkness isn’t the end, it isn’t the beginning either. It is nothing, this blank space between existing and disappearing, and somehow Sora managed to get caught in there. How is he supposed to explain that to Kairi and Riku? And just like that, the warm feeling dissipates, and Sora thinks of his life and his friends, and how both are so closely linked together. One cannot exist without the other. But with each passing moment, Sora feels bits and pieces of him crumbling into dust, scattering like sand swirled by a breeze on a warm summer day.

         Sora is alone. He is cold. He is afraid. He is dimly aware of pain, but mostly of a tremendous fatigue, as if he has been covered in layer upon layer of impossibly heavy blankets. It takes a moment for him to realise the wet drops on his face are his own tears, and he curls into a small ball, clinging to himself. He would give anything to see his friends again.

         Minutes, hours pass. Maybe only seconds. Time is a foreign concept, a construct not applicable to Sora. Oblivion is grey, it eats at Sora’s mind, at his heart, and he wants to fight it because they can take anything from him but his heart; his heart, a place for so many lives; a prison? A fortress filled with light of hopes and promises he’ll never be able to keep. Maybe now he is paying for the sins he doesn’t remember, for the dreams he’s failed to fulfil, hunting him like hungry beasts with sharp claws.

         He’s always known that his most powerful trait was his heart, and so in the end it was only natural that it would be his demise as well. O heart of hearts, beloved of all beloveds is a line from somewhere Sora can’t remember, but he feels it quite fits. He is the core of a small universe in which everyone stretches their hands out to touch him, to take something from him— and Sora wants to give, to give so much that in the end nothing will be left of him. Somehow he thinks that is quite alright, for he is the heart of hearts.

☆

         When Sora disappears, Roxas bolts awake from a restless sleep, tears blurring his vision and burning like acid on his cheeks. He isn’t just crying; Roxas is wheezing, sobbing as his heart breaks, and he realises Sora is gone. He can’t breathe. It feels like something vital is missing—a limb or a sense, and he wonders if this is how Ventus is feeling all the time since Vanitas’ disappearance. He doesn’t hear Axel’s worried voice calling his name over and over again; he doesn’t feel his long, heavy arms around his waist. Roxas only feels this boiling, parching anger at Riku, because out of all people, he must have known what was coming. And he let Sora go.

         Roxas jumps out of bed, long legs tangled in the sheets, and lands face first on the carpet. His cheek burns from the friction, but the pain is nothing compared to what is raging inside his chest. Ever since he’s become his own person, everything has become a little too much. He remembers his first week back in Twilight Town. When he saw Hayner, Pence and Olette, Roxas was so overwhelmed, he thought for a moment he would die because beside all the happiness swelling inside his chest, there was also some sense of immense grief. He mourned for the hours spent without them; he mourned for the person he could have been if he’d been a normal boy, his own person from the very beginning, and he mourned for all the stories and adventures he’s missed because of that.

         And yet, he’s never felt anything like this—not when Xion crumbled into little shards of light in his arms, not when he learnt he’d have to disappear because he didn’t exist in the first place. Roxas has had a front row view to many dire times in his life when happiness was a foreign word he couldn’t explain. But this is something else entirely, something so overwhelming that Roxas is afraid; he’s one raw nerve, burning and sensible to any kind of contact. He’s unsure what exactly he tells Axel, but it’s effective because he helps dressing Roxas, and they’re immediately off to Destiny Islands where they are greeted by the sun blasting down on them. Roxas shields his eyes, scanning the beach for a flash of silver hair. He knows this place like the back of his hand even though he’s only been here once after their victory over the Seekers of Darkness. But every place Sora has visited is engraved in the back of Roxas’ closed eyes, familiar and a second home to his heart.

         “Maybe no one’s home,” Axel says somewhere behind him. He’s looking out at the sea, watches as the waves curl against the white sand. The sun reflecting on the clear water draws bright shapes on his face, catching in his radiant, green eyes.

         “No. He’s here,” Roxas says with a solid certainty, for Destiny Island was always and will always be the place connecting everything. It’s the knot where all strings come together, where each destiny is carved in some way.

         They follow faint footsteps left on the beach, when Roxas notices movement in the corner of his eye. Near the seaside shack, he can see two figures close to each other, but the voices drown in the sound of ocean waves. Roxas speeds up, and when Riku turns, eyes wide and red-rimmed, Roxas doesn’t think twice. His fist connects with Riku’s jaw and hot pain explodes in Roxas’ hand. It’s enough to send Riku to the ground. Roxas follows him.

         “You knew!” he screams, swinging at Riku for a second time. “You fucking knew, and you let him go anyway?!”

         Distantly, he hears Axel calling his name, but Roxas ignores him. He’s very adamant on punching his fist through Riku’s face who puts insult to injury and doesn’t fight back. It only confirms Roxas’ suspicion: Riku knew he’d come for him. It does nothing to diminish Roxas’ anger.

         “Give me one damn reason why I shouldn’t drop you in the darkest pit I can find,” he hisses, grabbing Riku’s collar. Blood runs from his nose over his mouth and chin, but Riku only blinks. The tip of his tongue darts out to clean it from his lips. When he doesn’t answer, Roxas begins to shake him. “Why didn’t you tell us? Why didn’t you tell me?” Someone grabs Roxas’ shoulder, pulling him back, but with more vigour than before, Roxas pulls himself free, and lands another good hit in Riku’s face. “Why didn’t you stop him?” Too many thoughts race in his mind, and he can’t grasp any of them; they slip like sand through his fingers. Finally Axel, that traitor, pulls Roxas off, and Roxas fights with flailing arms and legs. His elbow finds its way in Axel’s side, winning Roxas an opening. He bolts for Riku, stumbling and shaking uncontrollably.

         “How could you?!” Roxas’ voice breaks. He’s grabbing again for Riku’s collar, but his hands betray him as well and search for purchase on his jacket, begging to have a grip on something solid, something that won’t disappear like Sora. “Riku, how could you? Don’t just stare at me, say something. Say something, Riku!”

         He’s still met with silence that is so loud it drives him insane, and Roxas doesn’t know what else to do; what else will make Riku talk and explain.

         Someone tugs on the hem of his west, and Roxas feels Oathkeeper and Oblivion seconds away from finding their way into his hands, ready to cut through anyone trying to stop him from unleashing another wave of fury. But when he sees it’s Kairi holding onto him, that rage dissipates, and makes way for a different feeling he is far more scared of: grief. Seeing Kairi standing in front of him only confirms this reality Roxas refuses to accept. He wants to beg her to let him go, to stop looking at him with those big, teary eyes so similar to Sora’s. Instead he collapses in front of her, and wails a small, painful sound so inhuman it tears through his own ears. Roxas cries.

         She can’t take away that anger from him because without it he doesn’t know what he’s supposed to feel, and feeling itself becomes too much. He knows there is an emptiness waiting for him after all of this, and he’s too afraid to face it.

         Riku’s hand curls around his arm, and then he is kneeling beside Roxas, leaning his forehead against Roxas’ shoulder. Roxas feels more than he hears the sob rolling through his body, and he wants to push Riku away, but he can’t bring himself to do it. He’s cried himself tired already. Hours pass as they stay like this, holding hands and weeping with rasping sobs, as if trying to force air into lungs crushed by grief, until Roxas passes out at some point.

         The next time he wakes up it’s with less tears, but grief is still a cold hook sitting deep under his skin. His face hurts, but no matter how much he splashes cool water on it, the swelling around his eyes doesn’t go away. He finds Axel outside sitting on the big trunk facing the setting sun. Kairi is beside him with eyes fixed on the red horizon, unblinking. Roxas has noticed it before. Since their arrival, Kairi hasn’t said anything.

         “Roxas.” Riku is standing behind him, and Roxas catches the fruit thrown at him with little elegance. Riku’s face looks awful. A dark, ugly bruise colours his right eye purple, rivalled by another one forming on his left, swollen cheek. He’s too smart to ask if Roxas is okay, so instead he settles on a wordless observation. Roxas ignores him. He feels too vulnerable and exposed in front of those keen, cyan eyes. The fruit explodes with a sweet taste in his mouth, reminding Roxas of how much he loves this place. He’s adopted it from Sora; that and many other little traits he still has to sort out who they belong to. Knowing this place will never be the same without Sora opens up a new, fresh wound Roxas knows no Cura or potion is able to heal.

         “What’s the plan?” he asks, wiping his fingers on his pants. When Riku doesn’t answer immediately, Roxas’ fist burns with the need to punch him again. “You do have a plan, don’t you?” he presses further, feeling his irritation grow.

         Eventually, Riku drags a hand over his face, and sighs. “We’ll talk to Mickey. And Master Yen Sid,” he says, avoiding Roxas’ eyes. “Hopefully one of them knows something.”

         “That’s it?” Roxas barely manages to contain his anger from sipping into his voice. “You just hope they know something?”

         “They’ve always helped us, so yes.” Blatant challenge flashes in Riku’s eyes when he finally meets Roxas’. “We will go and see them.”

         A muscle twitches in Roxas’ jaw. “I don’t remember them doing anything to help me, so maybe revaluate who you’re going to ask for help.”

         Riku gives him a sharp glare. “Careful.”

         But Roxas has had his fair share of depending on old guys who used him for whatever ulterior motive they had, and frankly he can do without it. “Sora needs us now. You can sit around if you want, but I’m going to look for him.”

         He’s almost down the gangplank when Riku calls after him. “And where do you think you’re going? You think visiting world after world will bring you closer to find him?”

         Roxas exhales audibly, and wills himself not to turn around, but he’s always been bad at containing all the rage that’s accumulated over the past years. It is this anger that has always set him apart from Sora; that hate towards people who hurt him always drew the clear line between them. This simple black and white was easy to grasp and understand, and even easier to identify with until Sora plunged Roxas’ world into vibrant colours and complex structures, and brought with him so many people Roxas didn’t know and yet meant so much to him. He hates how this even applies to Riku, despite this envy, a churning black storm hidden in his chest. Riku and Sora are inseparable, and Roxas loathes it.

         The only comfort lies in how he loves Sora, for Roxas has loved Sora in a way only Ventus and Xion might understand; in a way that is so unfair to Axel who’s trying his best to become everything for Roxas. But Roxas doesn’t want this. He wants Sora. He wants the world, the heart knowing every part of him. His home. Roxas remembers when he returned to Sora. Trying to do the right even though he knew it would mean his end, but once he found peace within Sora, Roxas understood the meaning of home, and the meaning of people’s destinies intertwining.

         “If aimlessly searching for Sora will eventually lead to find him, then yes.” Roxas says, voice lacking any heat he’d hoped would burn Riku. Instead a strange resignation shackles every breath in his lungs, and he knows he will only be free when he finds Sora. “I will visit world after world, until the end if I have to.”

         Riku drags his eyes from Kairi and Axel back to Roxas, and considers him for a moment in which Roxas tries to see himself through Riku’s perspective— the boy with Sora’s eyes; the Nobody who long ago took something important from Sora, the little piece necessary to complete something far bigger than all of them. A small sighs escapes his lips, and somewhere in there Roxas hears the unspoken You’re just as reckless as Sora. When he closes the distance between them, all muscles in Roxas tense with intuitive caution he can’t get rid of, no matter how often he’s seen Riku by now.

         “I want to get him back more than anything else,” Riku says, and in that small moment Roxas sees his vulnerability for the first time. Something tightens in Roxas’ chest, and he takes a step away from Riku. “It’s been only a couple of hours since Kairi returned. And still, I already see him in everything, and I try to be kind to everything because maybe …” His voice tears on the last word, a ragged note of grief like ripped paper. Riku turns his head away from Roxas, but he doesn’t miss how Riku’s lips close into a tight line. “Stumbling through world after world might end up losing him even more,” he finishes. His calm mask is back, and Roxas just can’t understand how Riku is capable of that.

         “That didn’t stop Sora from looking for you and Kairi,” Roxas throws back, chin raised stubbornly.

         “No, it didn’t.” Riku looks back at Kairi, and that’s when Roxas understands that he’s searching for the right words to tell her that he will leave the Island.

         “Then forget your pride for a second,” Roxas says. “And let us help.”

         Riku looks like he wants to say something, but then he just gives Roxas a little, tight-lipped smile, and turns to join Kairi up on the trunk. Roxas stares holes into his back. He’ll never understand what Sora sees in him.

         He retreats to the shore until cool water sloshes against his feet. A biting cold settles over Roxas, but he knows that doesn’t come from the ocean. Sora has always said how it is a part of the human experience to feel pain, that it is part of a heart, and how it strengthens you, how it connects you, but Roxas dully registers he’d rather have it ripped out of him if it means he’s spared the missing and longing. When he lowers his gaze unto the water, his reflection stares back at him, showing a pale face and golden hair sticking to all sides. His radiant eyes are a beacon, the colour of the sky. A sharp throb drives like a spear through Roxas’ ribs. Everything hurts, he thinks and waits a moment, but his only companion is silence. Sora was a mirror to Roxas, like Ventus to Vanitas. When Roxas said, everything hurts, Sora whispered, but everything can heal. He’s learnt from Sora that hate is a lazy thing, heavy, a burden; but not as heavy or difficult as love so many carry around but are unwilling to practice. Roxas will try better. It’s the least he can do to pay for everything Sora did for him.

         Under the water’s surface he spies a Thalassa Shell. Roxas picks it up, and hopes Xion is doing okay. They will all go and look for Sora, and they will find him. They’ve all deserved their happy end. Standing in the dawn, Roxas vows it on the shell, closing his hand tight around it until the edges cut into his skin.

☆ ☆

         When Sora disappears, Ventus fears Vanitas is also gone forever. There’s a strange tug in his chest, like his heart knows there is a place he’s supposed to be, and wonders why Ventus doesn’t follow this call. It’s different from when he longed for Aqua and Terra. During his search for them he was constantly followed by this certainty that they’ll be reunited. This is different. This is Ventus closing his eyes to a darkness he knows his keyblade won’t be able to slice through. He’s afraid to fall asleep, the only place where he’s had at least a small connection to Vanitas. If that is gone as well, Ventus would rather not wake up at all. It hurts even more since their return to the Land of Departure because Ventus expected only good things to happen from that point on, admittedly now a naive hope quickly quenched by Sora’s fate.

         Ventus is sitting on his bed, a heavy blanket around his shoulders. Thousand stars twinkle above him like tears, and he wonders if the other worlds feel that Sora is gone as well. He wonders if somewhere Kingdom Hearts is crying, having lost such a pure, eminent light. Out of his window he can see the training grounds. In a couple of months, they could be occupied my apprentice keyblade wielders again. Aqua has shown her determination to become the steward and rekindle the original purpose of the castle, and both Terra and Ventus are as eager to help her; Terra even more so. He’s adamant to repent, ignoring Aqua’s and Ventus’ claim that his return is enough. But Terra had shaken his head at that. “It is a debt I will never be able to repay,” he’d said, standing in front of Master Eraqus’ grave. “But I will try. Until my last breath, I will try to set this right.”

         It was difficult to explain how none of this had been Terra’s fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. They were victims of a game no one held control over— pieces on a lethal board with cruel rules no one really knew. It’s a wonder they made it out alive, together and unscathed, and still, they paid a price for that happy end, some more than others. Ventus hasn’t heard from Riku and Kairi in a while, but his comfort lies in how Aqua and Terra keep looking at each other. Strangely, now more than ever before Ventus notices how close they are. It is probably true what they say about being separated. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and if Terra and Aqua think he’s too chaste to figure out the meaning behind the dark spots on Aqua’s neck or below Terra’s ears, they underestimate him severely.

         Once he’s asked Aqua about them, but she only gave him a little, sheepish smile before pushing a loose strand behind his ear. “You’ll learn soon enough,” she’d said. Terra had avoided his eyes, his hands busy with pulling on his keychain, a habit whenever he’s embarrassed. Ventus had just looked at Aqua with a careful, blank expression, and let her believe that he doesn’t touch himself under his blanket to quiet whispers of boy’s names. Ever since he woke up, and spent time with everyone else, he’s noticed how certain things jump right to his attention like a beacon. Terra’s muscles moving during practice. Hayner’s incredibly beautiful eyes, filled with wonder and excitement. Riku’s smooth, flawless skin. Then again, he’s spend so much time inside Sora’s heart who grew up beside Riku, and for Ventus to develop his attraction to boys was only natural. Ventus doesn’t want to remember when he saw Riku for the first time. Dozens of images from Sora’s fantasies flashed before his eyes, and he kept his distance to Riku, unsure how to handle the emotions. It isn’t something bad, that he knows. His friends would never judge him for liking boys. They all love each other too much for such a trivial think to matter, and why should it? It is love nonetheless, and every single one of them is just as much starving for it as they are ready to give.

         And still, Ventus is so insecure, because he always ends up thinking about Vanitas. Vanitas is his mirror, reflecting unspoken pieces of Ventus he himself is afraid to face. If Ventus starts thinking too hard about it, he’ll probably stumble upon answers he wouldn’t even know what to do with. And so he tries to turn away whenever he spies glances of blue turning into intimidating gold, and buries the questions deep into his heart where he hopes they’ll suffocate from the silence.

         A soft knock stops Ventus’ thoughts. His body tenses, and he waits for more to come. Instead, Terra’s voice carries through the door. “Ven? Ven, you awake?”

         He could lie and pretend he isn’t but after days of locking himself in his room, Ventus started missing his friends. His only fear is that if Terra sees his sketches of Vanitas’ key chain and the logo of the Unversed scribbled on paper, he will take them away and burn them between his fingers like Aqua did. Behind the door, Ventus hears shuffling, and the fear that Terra leaves bolts like a hot spell through him. He sits up, and tells Terra to come in. The door opens with a soft click. Light from the outside hall streams into the room, casting away shadows, and once Ventus sees Terra’s broad shoulders filling the door frame, breathing becomes easier.

         “Hey, champ.” Terra gives him a little smile. “Thought you might be hungry.”

         Ventus isn’t, but nods anyway, just to see the little hope in Terra’s eyes— the very first sight of progress he and Aqua managed since Ventus’ withdrawal. He makes room on his bed, and turns on the star shaped lamp sitting beside his bed on a narrow table as Terra crosses the room. A plate with fruits, cheese and meat lands between them while Terra takes a seat on the edge, watching Ventus eagerly. Just to make Terra happy, Ventus picks one grape and puts it in his mouth.

         “How are you?” Terra asks, much more straightforward than Aqua with her careful, quiet words. Ventus thinks about how he doesn’t want to get up forever. How this feeling weighs on him like an anchor pulling him deeper and deeper into darkness. He thinks about lying, but Ventus never wants to be separated from his family ever again— physically and emotionally, so he settles with a neutral, “I don’t know.”

         Terra nods. He leans back on his arms, the skin pulling tight where his muscle tense. Ventus looks away, and stares at the faintly glowing star stickers on his shelf Aqua gave him on his birthday. He wonders if Vanitas ever got a present from Xehanort, and has to bite his lip to conceal a laugh because that is just too ridiculous.

         “—us? Hey, Ven?” Fingers pop in front of Ventus’ eyes, making him flinch. “Just where are you with your head?”

         A strange smile pulls Terra’s face into an expression Ventus is unfamiliar with. Another pang of guilt settles in his chest, and he misses those times when he understood Terra and Aqua without a word.

         “I’m thinking about where Sora is,” Ventus lies. Terra frowns. He must know Ventus isn’t telling the truth but decides to go with it anyway.

         “Don’t worry,” he says, stealing a piece of cheese from Ventus’ plate. “We’ll find him. Since Aqua can’t reach Riku or Kairi, they might have left already.”

         Ventus hums, but somehow he doesn’t think that’s the case. What Sora, Riku and Kairi have; how they are is much more complicated. Ventus even doubts the word love can grasp what they feel for each other. At times, he’s jealous of that connection, and the next moment he is afraid of it. He’s felt it in Sora’s sacrifice back then for Kairi, and in Aqua’s never ending believe in Terra, and what is love if not an immense power capable of pushing people to their limits and beyond, a weapon justifying any sort of destruction. Tightening his blanket around his shoulders, Ventus dugs his head and shuffles closer to Terra.

         “You know, I always keep thinking that maybe … we could have done something,” he confesses. “That if Sora trusted us a little more, he’d asked for our help.”

         “Do you really think Sora didn’t trust us?” Terra asks, leaning back until he’s lying next to Ventus, arms crossed behind his head.

         “Well, what other explanation is there?” Ventus hates that he sounds like a sulking boy, offended because a friend didn’t ask him to join the playing. But he’d always thought the connection between him and Sora was something special, something untouchable and set into stone. He’s protected Sora just as much as Sora has protected him all those years, and Ventus hasn’t thought of stopping once.

         “You don’t really believe that.” The sound of Terra’s little laugh snaps Ventus’ head up. “I know you don’t.”

         “Huh?”

         “We’re not that different from him, Aqua, you and I. We all love too much, but isn’t that better than to have none of it?”

         “So better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all?” Ventus remembers this line from a book in the library he’s read long ago, and back then he didn’t quite understand its meaning. Now, he wonders if love truly is Sora’s greatest fault, but that is hard to understand as well.

         Terra sits up, and ruffles Ventus’ hair, just like the old times when everything was simple and clean. It tightens Ventus’ chest, but this time it’s not a bad feeling at all. “You’ve been in there all this time,” he says, pointing at Ventus’ heart. “So you know the answer to that. Now eat up. And think about joining us sometime. Aqua really misses you.”

         Ventus nods, and takes another fruit. Terra’s smile widens. When he heads for the door, Ventus summons all his courage. It’s time to stop running.

         “Terra,” he calls. Terra stops, and turns around. “You really think we’ll see Sora again one day, right?”

         Terra doesn’t hesitate. “Of course. Our destinies are intertwined. And besides, you never stopped believing in bringing me back home. Now it’s my time to light someone’s way.”

         “And do you think … I’ll see Vanitas again as well some day?”

         That brings Terra’s smile to a full stop. He isn’t happy. Ventus sees it in the way Terra presses his lips into a thin line, and squares his shoulders. He avoids Ventus’ eyes for a split second, a tiny fracture of time in which Ventus stops breathing and waits for the final judgement. Eventually, Terra quickly turns around, checking if someone’s behind him, and Ventus wonders if he’s looking for Aqua.

         Quietly, Terra finally says, “If that is what you wish for, then I will do anything I can to help you fulfil it.”

         The hot sting behind Ventus’ eyes is a clear indicator for tears waiting to escape, so Ventus quickly hides his face in his blanket, shuddering with a silent sob. Only when he hears the door closing, Ventus dares to look up again. His room is dark, and the glowing stars stick out more after bathing in light, capturing Ventus’ attention. He wonders if Vanitas might like them as well.

         Ventus curls into himself and closes his eyes. Into the darkness, he whispers “Vanitas” three times.

         But nobody comes.

         The missing is the worst. All Ventus wants is to crawl inside Vanitas’ skin and stay there. He wants every piece of him to crush into every piece of Vanitas, and become whole again; to become one. He doesn’t want to keep wondering how everyone just can go on as if Vanitas never existed, not when he to Ventus is the world. His heart is still split, an open door ready for darkness to invest, and yet he knows there will only be one certain shadow his heart will allow entrance.

         Ventus blinks through the wall of tears, looking at the stars. He has to focus on Sora first. If he can’t bring him back, then certainly he’ll fail to guide Vanitas home as well. A shooting star splits the heaven in two, burning on its way down. Ventus closes his eyes. In this endless night, he has only one wish: Ventus wishes a shining light will guide Sora through a starless sky, and hopes his journey home will be soft and peaceful.

☆ ☆ ☆

         When Sora disappears, Riku doesn’t cry because he knows once he starts, he won’t be able to stop.

         His only comfort is Kairi, though she doesn’t talk, and only spends hours upon hours writing letters to Sora, all starting with my dearly beloved. Those lines remind Riku of a bittersweet melody he’s heard in a dream once, each wistful tune pulling at his heartstrings. Back then, it had also felt a lot like a farewell to a story he wasn’t yet part of, and now his chest throbs with a low, persistent rhythm of that song.

         But it’s difficult to believe this is the end. Riku is in a strange, blank space between hope and desperation, where it’s hard to look for the light, but also impossible to drown in darkness. Finding home in both, Riku is an unusual dweller cheating through life. He knows it’s more than most people get, and he’s aware of how lucky he is. Maybe that is why the universe decided he’s run out of it now, and Riku thinks how unfair that is. That they live in a universe that doesn’t want them to be together any more. It’s either him gone or Kairi, and now Sora. And so when Roxas and Lea prepared to return to Twilight Town, and Roxas had asked him, “Do you even believe that we’ll find him?” it wasn’t difficult for Riku to be honest. “I believe in a universe that doesn’t care,” he’d said. “And people who do.”

         After that, Riku started avoiding Roxas, Ventus and Xion even though it is not what they deserve after everything they’ve been through. But he can’t see them, and not think of Sora with how many of his habits they’ve inherited. Roxas carries all the anger Sora has swallowed throughout the years. Just thinking back to how Roxas had punched him, his thumb tugged into his fist like Sora always did no matter how often Riku tried to correct him, hurts like a sudden light striking his eyes in the dead of the night. Ventus is the source of Sora’s broad grins and gentle smiles, laughing at everything— a blazing sun casting away any shadows. They both know the power hiding in being soft and kind, to love and forgive. Xion is part Sora, part Kairi with her love for everything that is bright. She uses everything she can find as bookmarks: cups, little stones, little replicas of everyone’s key chains. Just like Sora she wants to be close to anyone, her happiness lies in those of others and nourishes her. They all love fruits, they all hate carrots, they all can fall asleep in the most uncomfortable places like a cat that finds home everywhere. Riku would rather gouge his eyes out than see another pair of those exact radiant, blue eyes, and so he sticks around Destiny Island, and takes care of Kairi, while she takes care of him.

         They live in a strange dynamic, part symbiotic and part parasitic. Riku tells Kairi stories about Sora both remember fondly, and she pays him with a rare smile that dissipates dark clouds in his heart. But Kairi can never truly tell him what exactly happened when Sora brought her back, and Riku is sure she can read the irritation on his face like an open book. Just seeing her is a reminder that someone is missing, the third party in their strange constellation of two, and yet more than ever before, they stick to each other like two pieces of the same soul dwelling in different bodies.

         Riku misses Sora. He misses Sora so much, it physically hurts him. He misses his easy smiles, the jokes. The reassurance that no matter what mistakes Riku has done, it’s fine. He is a good person, deserved of being a Keyblade Master. He misses how Sora was capable of turning every pain and sadness into something bright. Sora was given the rare gift to make gold out of every pain. A purer blessing doesn’t exist. But it’s not only the words Riku misses. He misses Sora’s soft skin, his parched lips mapping Riku’s body. He misses how in Sora’s arms he felt safe and at home, that there was no past, and no future. Just the present with them both as the sole habitants, a population of two and no one else was allowed between them.

         Riku remembers their first kiss. It was in the Secret Place and they were 15. It was nothing but a chaste, quick peck, lips briefly brushing against each other, and yet Sora had giggled so helplessly, cheeks red and happy like it was the most powerful experience he’s ever felt. He didn’t hide his smile, he’d always been so willing to share it with everyone. Riku remembers the jealousy he’d felt, how he thought Sora’s willingness to open up to everyone was so unfair. He made it look so easy, so effortless, like he didn’t need to think at all who might deserve his smiles. His heart was an open door, never closed, never locked. They’d kept their relationship a secret, or rather they tried. Kairi knew. She must have felt something going on between them. Riku never dared to underestimate a Princess of Light again, but it was like a noose being lifted from his neck whenever she gave him this soft, knowing smile.

         Now he tries to think back to the last time they were alone together without any responsibilities weighing on their shoulders. After defeating Ansem and returning to the Island, Mickey’s letter didn’t leave much time to catch up after the year of their separation, and after that, during their Mark of Mastery exam, Riku was everywhere but beside Sora. Now, Riku tries to ignore the little voice telling him that he’ll never see Sora again because he doesn’t believe it. He can’t believe it. Hope has been his constant companion for the last two years, and he’s grown too fond of it. Leaving it behind means to let go of the only rope of salvation Riku is clinging onto, and no matter how much darkness he’s learnt to embrace, he just knows that he will drown in those dark waves crushing upon him with what he can only describe as loneliness.

         But if life is lonely for him, it is far lonelier for Sora. When he tries to imagine in what place he must be now, Riku is quite simply angry. Martyr lies on everyone’s lips, and yet no one dares to speaks it out loud because that would be to acknowledge everyone’s fault. He knows this anger won’t bring him anywhere, but it is just hard to accept a fate that robbed the universe of someone vital to so many people.

         Sora loved like few ever could love, with all and everything; unrepentant and with a passion that burned holes in anyone’s doubt. The sea and the sky will never stop holding his ghost: in each wave Riku can hear the wisp of Sora’s laughter, in each cloud he can see the remnants of Sora’s eyes. So whenever he waits until Kairi falls asleep, trying not to dwell too long on the tears hanging on her wet lashes like dew in the morning hours, Riku then returns to his room where he mourns with the moon and the stars, and it is a bittersweet feeling to share this grief with the world.

         Five days pass, then six. On the seventh day, when he enters Kairi’s room and doesn’t find her sitting on her bed with a stack of papers resting on her thighs like usual, dread sinks in his stomach and he closes his eyes. If he loses her as well, Riku himself will burn down the Islands and start another war. On her table, Riku finds more scribbles of Sora, Donald and Goofy, all three huddled inside the gummi ship. His fingers shake when he takes the pen and draws Sora’s crown necklace in a corner, just focusing on breathing with each stroke on the paper. When his thoughts start to run in painful circles, Riku pushes the tip hard enough to rip the paper. Trying so hard to stay calm, not to cry, he doesn’t notice door opening behind him, until—

         “Riku.”

         He freezes. Behind him, Kairi looks at him with worry and something else in her eyes, but Riku doesn’t read further into it, too occupied with reaching her, holding her, holding her.

         Kairi takes one breath, then a second. Her small hands on his back feel so warm, so secure, and Riku allows himself to be weak for a moment in her arms.

         “It’s time for us, isn’t it?” Riku starts, and just the approving hum from her draws a shudder from him. “We can’t let him wait any longer.”

         “Don’t worry, Riku,” Kairi says, and just like that, the world is tiled back to its original position. “He knows we’re already on our way.”

         Riku leans back, his arms still around Kairi, and he is astonished that someone looking so fragile is so much stronger than him. Kairi considers him for a long moment. She takes Riku’s hand and squeezes tightly, leaning her head into his shoulder. Riku understands, and presses his lips to her forehead. “We’ll find him.”

         It’s not a promise. It’s an oath.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

         Sora opens his eyes. His face is wet, everything is wet and cold, and he faintly remembers the phantom feeling of something warm against his palm. He doesn’t remember what it was. When he tries to get up, his body is there, not broken, not hurt but somehow he hurts inside, and he can’t explain what it is. All around him, the artificial lights of a city illuminate the streets, but wherever he looks, shadows wait in the deepest corners to plunge on him. Something on his left palm burns, and when he looks down, numbers blink up to him in an angry red, running down.

         Instinctively, Sora closes his hand into a fist, so tight that his nails bite into his skin. His mind is foggy, but there’s a feeling that he needs to be somewhere; that he has to return somewhere he can’t name. The closest thing it reminds him of is home, and he will do anything to return. Sora has to go back, to follow this tugging inside his chest aiming for a place he doesn’t remember, for he is the heart of hearts.

               Most importantly love              Like it’s the only thing you know how              At the end of the day all this              Means nothing              […]              Nothing even matters              Except love and human connection              Who you loved              And how deeply you loved them              How you touched the people around you              And how much you gave them

             — rupi kaur

[akari-hope]

Your content always makes me smile & I’d love to hear you infodump about Kingdom Hearts more if you’re down!

JFDHKSNBGFHJDK you say that now-

in all seriousness, i could literally ramble about kh forever, but there’s just so much there that i’m always at a loss whenever someone actually asks me about it without a set direction/topic djfhsbn. i kinda sat here for a while just debating what the hell to ramble about. there’s just so much to this series, and it’s something i’ve loved for so long...

but yk i think that’s really one of the most unique things about kh, at least for me. it’s one of the only things i can think of that’s just so...blatantly emotional. for lack of a better phrase, it really wears its heart on its sleeve. it could 100% be my personal bias, but the games really just encompass feelings extremely well. from general feelings to really specific ones, it’s incredible what these games accomplish. and it’s not even in the big moments, though those are amazing too. it’s all the really quiet moments that really stick with me the most.

like how riku gets separated from everyone he knows, and is gradually consumed by darkness. by the end of the game, he has to stay trapped in the realm of darkness. he wanders alone for so long, that by the time he’s finally reunited with mickey, after he confirms that he’s really there, riku straight up collapses. “ahh...i’m okay. don’t worry. guess i’m just relieved. i’ve...i’ve been alone so long that having someone else around is...is a little...overwhelming.” like, everything else that happens to him up to that point is tragic and makes me incredibly emotional, but that line in particular gets me more than anything.

and i think the secret is that there’s so much emotion stored in the little parts. like yes kh has tons of dialogue about the lore and deep shit and whatever, but that’s really not the part that stands out to me. it’s these little lines of dialogue that sort of just come out of nowhere to stab you in the heart.

i mean the entire intro to kingdom hearts 2 encapsulates the feeling of longing for a past you never had, and the regret you feel for that person you never got to be, and the people you connected with that you inevitably parted ways with, and the quiet heartache of losing something you can’t even put a name to. like, i’m really not kidding - if you’ve never played kh2, it has like a 4-hour intro that follows a kid named roxas’s last week of summer vacation, while his world slowly falls apart, as he remembers that was never really his life, and learns that he no longer gets to exist. bc roxas isn’t even a real person, he’s just the empty shell of one. he’s just holding onto what someone else needs to be whole. in order for sora to wake up, roxas can no longer be himself. all he does in the end is smile and say, “sora...you’re lucky. looks like my summer vacation is...over.” and not long later, when sora is meeting roxas’s old friends, as they all swear they might’ve met before but surely not, sora cries. without even knowing why, he begins to cry. even after they part, all sora can do is stare into the distance. “you know...i’m sad.”

just...little pieces that are representative of the whole...they really make these games...it’s about the implications...

it’s why seemingly innocuous or even humorous lines like “who else will i have ice cream with?” are so heart wrenching. bc of course when the person who’s saying that has only ever experienced “normalcy” or something akin to “happiness” when sharing ice cream together with the person slowly dying in their arms...yeah, takes on a way different tone.

but it’s not just sad ones! there’s really heartwarming ones too!

like when riku and sora reunite, and they’re talking about their rivalry from childhood, how they were always trying to one-up each other, how they were always jealous of the other. and it leads to this exchange, that i’m always crying over:

riku: “what i said back there...about thinking i was better at stuff than you. to tell you the truth, sora...i was jealous of you.” sora: “what for?” riku: “i wished i could live life the way you do. just following my heart.” sora: “yeah, well, i’ve got my share of problems too.” riku: “like what?” sora: “like wanting to be like you.” riku: “well, there is one advantage to being me. something you could never imitate.” sora: “really? what’s that?” riku: “having you for a friend.” sora: “then i guess...i’m okay the way i am. i’ve got something you could never imitate, too.”

like i just...bro...like...bro...

like yeah i could talk about the plot or the aesthetics or the music or whatever, but...man, it’s all about those emotional beats between the characters...it’s all about that...

i will shut up now bc if i don’t i’ll literally talk about the entire series just to talk about one character interaction jfdhsbkngfd. but ty for giving me an excuse to indulge my nonsense! i’m sure none of this is coherent or makes any sense but i had fun writing it!

[starrattlerofprydain]

The Other Girl (Ch. 2)

Summary: What if Roxas met Kairi during his days in the Organization?

AO3 / FF.net

Chapter 2: A Familiar Face (Previous/Next) “Come on, Kairi,” Selphie begged, pulling on the redhead’s wrist. “It’ll be just for today!”

Kairi gave her friend a hesitant look. It’s been a while since the girl had visited the small island where she and her friends always spent their days playing around. She loved it there. However, now that her two closest friends have gone away for some time, Kairi couldn’t help but spend her days waiting there for them to come back.

Day after day, she waited.

And waited.

But no one ever came.

Kairi did this for a while until one day, the memories of her these two friends began to slowly fade away. She could still remember their faces. She knew that there was a silver-haired boy.

Riku, was it? But… the other boy… why can’t I remember his name now?

She wasn’t sure if it was because she was tired after having many sleepless nights, but after spending much of her time waiting and trying to remember the things she had forgotten, Kairi thought it was best to stop going to the island, for her own sake. From there, she went on living her regular life. But somewhere in the back of her mind, she held on to a little bit of hope, knowing that she’ll be able to see those familiar faces again.

Which is why when Selphie tried to convince her to go on this particular day, Kairi felt her stomach flip all of a sudden. Part of her longed to go back, but she still wasn’t sure if it was a good idea.

“I don’t…” The redhead trailed off as she gave it some thought again. It didn’t help that her friend was rather convincing with the puppy-eyed face she was making.

Kairi managed to let out a small laugh at this before she finally ended up giving in. “Okay, fine. I guess it won’t hurt to go for a day.”

“Really?” Selphie’s face brightened as she took both of Kairi’s hands in hers. “Great! I’ll let Tidus and Wakka know so we can start heading over there!”

The redhead smiled at her friend’s enthusiasm, but deep down she hoped that she was making the right decision to go back after all this time.

-----------

“Hey! Wait up, Tidus!” The tall boy called out as he ran after his friend on the island.

The blond looked over his shoulder and laughed, not bothering to slow down. “Try to keep up!”

Behind them were the two girls just strolling by the shore. Normally, they would be spending this time having long conversations about anything and everything, all while enjoying the sights around the small island, but it was quiet between the two of them. Specifically on Kairi’s end, which began to worry Selphie.

“It’s nice to be back, isn’t it?” asked the brunette, in hopes of getting Kairi to speak.

The redhead gave her friend a small smile and shrugged. “I guess so...”

Selphie noticed how off she seemed and stopped walking, turning to look at her with concern. “Hey, is there something wrong?”

Kairi looked at her friend before glancing down to the sandy ground. “I’m fine. It’s just been a while since...”

The girl trailed off just as she noticed some movement from the corner of her left eye. She turned her head in that direction and saw something in black heading towards the secret place. Without hesitation, Kairi left her friend behind and ran after whatever this was. Her stomach flipped at that moment, just like how it did earlier that day as she wondered if there was someone else on the island.

She finally made it to the cave and took a quick glance around to see…

Nothing.

“Is someone there?” Kairi asked, even though she was certain she wouldn’t get a response. She wanted to take a better look around until Selphie called out to her. The redhead bit her lip in disappointment before she began to head out of the dark area. “I’m coming!”

Kairi emerged from the cave within a few moments to find her friend with a surprised look on her face. “What happened? You just ran off all of a sudden!”

A small laugh escaped Kairi’s lips, realizing she must have looked silly chasing after nothing. “Sorry… I thought I saw something.”

Or… someone, she thought.

-----------

After Roxas did what he could to complete his mission, he made his way over to Twilight Town as usual. There, up on the clock tower, waited his red-headed friend who he hadn’t seen since the day before.

“Heya, Roxas,” he greeted with two ice cream bars in his hand. “You made it just in time. Your ice cream’s starting to melt.”

“Oh…” Roxas took his seat next to him and took the ice cream, noticing it began to drip. The boy started to eat it up before it became a mess.

Axel took a bite of his own treat as he looked out at the horizon with a small smile. “So how’d you spend your day off?”

“Not wasting the day away sleeping like you,” Roxas chuckled.

The older Nobody scoffed, playfully shoving Roxas in the process. “Hey c’mon! It’s the least I can do for myself. Feels like it’s been ages since I got a decent amount of rest.”

“I guess so,” the blond shrugged, remembering he didn’t get around to doing much either. “I spent most of the day with Xion. I was hoping she would wake up in time so we can spend it together, but she never did. I guess she still hasn’t woken up today either since she’s not here…”

Roxas looked at his melting ice cream with despair. He was really starting to miss hearing her voice. Axel hesitantly rubbed his neck, noticing the look on his friend’s face

“Just give it some time. She’ll be fine. Before you know it, we’ll all be sitting here together again like the old times.”

“Yeah, I hope so…” Roxas mumbled, looking up at Axel who was now staring out ahead of him. The boy did the same, letting his mind wander.

“I went to a new world for today’s mission.”

“Oh yeah? Where to?”

“Destiny Islands. We promised to go to the beach there together someday, remember?”

Axel glanced over and chuckled softly, “Yeah, of course I remember. I don’t forget things so easily, y’know.”

“Right,” Roxas nodded, looking down to his ice cream. “It’s strange though. Something about that place felt familiar. Almost like I’ve been there or something…” the boy paused and turned to face his friend, “Do you think these are just memories from before I became a Nobody?”

Axel remained silent, recalling he had a similar conversation with Xion one time. Of course that place was going to be familiar to him. He was Sora’s Nobody, after all. He knew that much. He scratched his head and shrugged at Roxas’s question.

“That’s possible.”

“And there was also this girl there who looked a bit like Xion,” Roxas added, vaguely remembering the stranger. “I couldn’t tell for sure but… I just had a feeling.”

The redhead stayed silent again, losing himself in deep thought as a smirk formed on his lips. “A feeling, huh? Seems like you’re forgetting that Nobodies aren’t supposed to feel.”

Roxas can only shrug at this. “It’s just strange, that’s all. Maybe I’m just missing having Xion around.”

Axel lightly patted the boy’s back and chuckled. “You two just can’t stay apart, can you?”

Roxas gave his friend a small smile as he continued to finish up his ice cream. The two Nobodies sat there a while longer, appreciating the sights as they spoke about whatever came to mind before heading back to the castle after their long day.

-----------

Another day, another mission to complete. Today’s mission involved collecting hearts in Agrabah. Not only did Roxas have to deal with the blazing heat from that world, but he ended up getting paired up with Demyx this time around. It definitely wasn’t his favorite combo.

By the time they finished, Roxas had done most of the heart collecting, while Demyx spent most of his time complaining about the unbearable heat. Roxas might as well have been better off on his own on this mission.

“Man, I’m outta here,” Demyx whined as he opened up a dark corridor and disappeared within a matter of seconds.

“Yeah, thanks for nothing,” Roxas grumbled under his breath.

From there, he planned on heading to Twilight Town as usual, but then the thought of going back to Destiny Islands crossed his mind. He considered making a quick stop to pick up some seashells for Xion. And if it were possible, maybe he might see that girl again. But what were the chances of that happening?

Nevertheless, Roxas went through the dark corridor and headed off to his next destination. Eventually he was hit with a familiar sea breeze as he stepped out into the bright, tropical setting. The boy scanned the area before he began to make his way over to the shoreline.

It didn’t take him long to appreciate how peaceful it felt being there on the island. With the sound of the waves filling his ears and the salty breeze blowing through his hair, Roxas felt at ease. It gave him the same warm feeling as sitting up on the clock tower. He could now see why Xion liked coming here. Suddenly, his gaze fell down when he noticed a small object coming into view as the waves rolled out. Roxas bent down and picked up the object from the sand, smiling softly as he gazed at the familiar shape. 

A thalassa shell, similar to one of many seashells currently sitting beside Xion. But unlike the blue and yellow colors that he was used to seeing, this particular shell was a lighter combination of pink and yellow. He tucked it away in his pocket, unaware that someone had been watching him from a short distance.

-----------

It was the first time Kairi was glad her friends had been busy that day, since now it gave her the chance to go to the island on her own. She realized this might have been a bit selfish of her, especially after not going back for many weeks, even though Selphie suggested for them to go plenty of times. But a part of her told her to return as soon as possible. Like there must have been something waiting for her there.

Or someone, she reminded herself. Could it be her friends? The ones she’s been longing to see again?

Kairi soon arrived at the empty island, taking in the sights once more. It was bittersweet being there again. The girl truly missed it, but she knew there was a reason for not coming back. However, she tried to push those thoughts away for the time being.

Out of curiosity, Kairi walked over by the secret place, recalling what had happened the day before. She wasn’t seeing things… was she? She took a deep breath and made her way inside the cave again, only to see nothing unusual. It was still the same old cave she remembered from before. She glanced around, looking at all the chalk drawings surrounding the walls. From there, the redhead spotted a particular drawing. One that she hasn’t seen in a while ever since she stopped coming to the island.

It was a messy drawing of Kairi sharing a paopu fruit with someone special to her. Who this special someone was… well, she knew it had to be the boy she waited for all this time. At times it seemed his name would come to her mind, only for it to slip away again. And sometimes she would see a face, but it became too hazy to remember, almost like a dream. Kairi kneeled down as she stared at the drawing with a sad smile, wishing she could just remember his name and face. The only thing that kept her going was something about a promise they made.

“We made a promise, didn’t we?” She mumbled, pressing her hand up against the cold wall. “I know we did…”

Kairi kept her gaze on the drawing a while longer before she shook her head and stood back up, brushing off the dirt from her outfit. She took another brief look around before she decided to make her way back out of the cave.

As soon as her eyes adjusted to the sunlight, she immediately spotted someone by the shoreline. Someone with blond hair and a black coat. Then realization struck her. Maybe whatever she saw just the day before might have been whoever this was. But… who was this person anyway?

Kairi quietly watched him from a distance as he bent down, probably to pick up a seashell lying in the wet sand. He stood there examining it before tucking it in his coat.

He began to walk off until he suddenly noticed her presence.

And he froze.

And she froze as well.

Just as Kairi was about to approach him, he made a quick run for it, leaving the girl wide-eyed. Then, almost as if it were out of instinct, she quickly followed him.

“Wait! Don’t go!” She called out.

Roxas stopped in his tracks, unsure what to do. Though, he realized running away out in the open was probably a useless thing to do anyway. But he wanted to avoid being seen so he thought of the next best thing. Quickly, Roxas reached over his back and brought the hood of his coat over his head.

Kairi caught up to him, cautiously taking a few steps forward as she stared at the now hooded stranger. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before.”

He turned around slightly, keeping his gaze low. “I’m just… visiting.”

“Oh, I see,” the girl slowly nodded, taking a step closer to him to get a better look at his face.  “By any chance, were you here yesterday too?”

Roxas noticed how much closer she got to him and took a small step back, lifting his head slightly to meet her eyes. And that’s when he realized…

She really does look like her...

Other than her auburn hair being slightly longer than Xion’s, he can definitely see a resemblance.

The redhead pouted and waved a hand in front of his face. “Hellooo? Are you there?”

Roxas snapped out of his thoughts and gazed back down to the sand, attempting to pull the hood further down his face.

Kairi raised a brow before laughing at whatever this boy was trying to do. At this rate, she gained more courage to take another step closer. With her hands behind her back, she lowered her head and peeked up at him with a grin. “I can still see you, you know.”

He sighed to himself and lifted his head as he listened to the girl giggle.

“Come on, let me just…” Without hesitation, she reached out and gradually pulled the hood off from his head, revealing his blond, spiky locks she saw moments ago. Finally, they were both able to see each other’s faces clearly. Roxas curiously stared at her for a long time and noticed she had been staring at him for a while too, almost as if she had been lost in thought, but he wasn’t too sure.

“What?” He questioned, snapping Kairi out of her thoughts.

It took her a moment to realize she was absentmindedly staring at the boy. She didn’t mean to, of course. But she couldn’t help but wonder...

I feel like I’m connected to him somehow… but I’m not sure why...

She shook her head and took a step back. “I’m sorry. Have we… met before?”

Roxas scratched his head, giving the girl a look of confusion. “I don’t think we have…?”

“Right… sorry,” she looked down and fiddled with her fingers. “It’s just… you remind me of someone I know.”

You remind me of someone I know…

Roxas repeated the words in his head. As if it wasn’t already strange enough that this person looked like his friend, apparently now Roxas had someone who looked like him as well. He was confused about whatever was going on, yet he couldn’t help but laugh about the whole situation.

Kairi looked at him, thinking she might have said something wrong. “What is it?”

“It’s weird…” he began as he rubbed his neck, “You remind me of someone I know too.”

The girl stood there in bewilderment before she found herself laughing as well. “That is pretty weird.”

She continued to laugh at this, causing Roxas to laugh along with her as well. It was strange how comfortable they both felt with each other at that moment. Once their laughter died down, the redhead realized she didn’t introduce herself yet.

“I’m Kairi, by the way.”

Kairi… have I heard that name once before...?

He brushed the thought aside and introduced himself as well. “I’m Roxas.”

The girl smiled and began to walk past him, her hands behind her back once more. “So… what brings you here, Roxas? Are you looking for seashells?”

“How’d you know?” His gaze followed her as she walked over to the shoreline. 

She turned back to look at him, the genuine smile never leaving her face. “I saw you picking something up from the sand a while ago. I figured it might have been that.”

Roxas went over to join her by the shoreline and scratched his head. “Well, yeah. It’s for my friend, actually. She hasn't been too well these past days.”

Suddenly, the smile on her face disappeared. “Oh… sorry about that. I hope she gets better.”

“Yeah…”

He stayed silent for a moment before pulling out the seashell he kept in his pocket. “She really likes these though. She brought some for me when I was a little unwell myself.” 

Kairi gave him a curious look. “Your friend was here too?”

Roxas nodded at her question, tucking the small object back in his pocket before realizing he lost track of time. Axel was probably waiting for him on the clock tower with his melting ice cream. “Uh… anyway, I should probably get going. I got some place to be.”

Kairi’s heart suddenly dropped just as he was about to walk off.

“Wait! Umm…” She reached out to grab him, only to retract her hand when he turned to face her with a surprised look. A small smile suddenly formed on the girl’s lips as she thought of an idea. “Tell you what… Why don’t you come back tomorrow? There’s something I wanna show you.”

“Okay…?” Roxas wasn’t sure how to respond to this, but he went along with it anyway. Whatever made her happy, he supposed. After all, he was now curious to get to know her more.

Kairi gave the boy a delighted smile when he agreed to return. Though, she noticed the confused look on his face and laughed softly.

“Trust me, I’m sure your friend would appreciate it.”

[razorblade180]

Ok I gotta ask this now since I just saw your post. How would you have written ddd and kh3 to make it a tighter more impactful plot? (Also would love to know how you would write narusaku or any other naruto ship

[please comment below. This took so much time and it would suck if no one read this😭💀]

I can already tell this will go beyond the line limit so buckle up everyone. We’re only focusing on KH right now. Let’s start with DDD

Dream Drop Distance

Let’s get the major change out of the way, Kairi is on this adventure. Why? Because there’s two previous games where they express how she wants to actively help and KH2 has lines of her saying she refused to be left behind anymore. This works out just fine for Yen Sid, since this test is supposed to be a relatively safe. Sora and Riku are officially taking their mark of mastery exam but for Kairi, this serves as a hands on learning course. Going the sleeping worlds together for them to learn proper keyblade wielding sounds perfectly fine. All three get out on the island, fight Ursula in the tutorial, and then Xehanort starts his shenanigans just like in the game. Here’s the difference! Sora and Kairi are still together, while Riku still accidentally dives into Sora’s dreams.

Immediately the trio would know something isn’t quite right but the only option is press on start figuring things out while completing their task from Yen Sid. This is where gameplay is now a bit different. You play as Sora with one dream eater and Kairi as your support characters while Riku plays the same. The drop system is still the same everything. Sora and Kairi go through worlds together and get to interact. At the beginning Kairi doesn’t know much but gains abilities/confidence as you progress. Sora ends up serving as a mentor for her and guides her through the troubles of going on your first adventure. It’s a good way to put Sora in a more mature role. He’s forced to keep his wits about in order to keep Kairi safe because he doesn’t know the organization is actually after him.

We get a couple of scenes of Kairi getting better and helping Sora through the worlds which still play out the same basically. Bad guys show up and say mysterious things before leaving and the two deal with Disney problems. Riku’s doesn’t change at all because. Things only start to get really different after Symphony of Sorcery. Young Xehanort shows up at the very end of it and goes after Kairi to bait Sora into rushing to save her. Sora ends up getting hurt in the process and Young Xehanort kidnaps him here and immediately leaves before Kairi can do anything. She’s now angry at herself for not being able to apply what Sora had taught her when it truly mattered. She couldn’t protect him or herself. Kairi almost wants to give up but meow-wow lifts her spirits and she finds the resolve to fight before. Sora would never give up, especially when it came to saving his loved ones. Kairi is now a playable character and able to do all the commands that aren’t character exclusive. His dream eaters stick around and become her party members.

You go through The World That Never Was as her back in KH2 attire, fighting her way through it and she’s the one that gets told how the organization has been tracking them and all the other plot things; including why they want Sora. Kairi ends up being the one to have to fight Xemnas and even though she’s outclassed, she’s gonna give him all she’s got. On Riku’s side he sees all the weird dream imagery in Sora’s head since he’s in Sora’s dreams with the added glimpse of Kairi trying her best against Xemnas; motivating him even further to hurry up and make it to her. He still confronts Ansem and makes peace with himself. Riku finally makes it out of Sora’s dreams but retains his dream eater powers like in the game and rushes to help Kairi. He makes it half way through the fight and Kairi tells Riku to back her up. The two of them fight together with you still playing as Kairi and manage to push him back. Riku is extremely surprised by her progress and both of them go together to save Sora because he knows telling her to stay back is not an option. Riku and Kairi both fight Young Xehanort together.

Everything is mostly the same after that in terms of plot and everything that happens in the cutscenes. Including Axel showing up. Riku convinces Kairi to stay when he jumps back into Sora’s dreams, telling her someone has to make sure everything goes fine in the real world and that person has to be her. Riku comes back out after is boss fight and those cutscenes and he sees those two slackers having a tea party. Yen Sid commends all three for their bravery, especially Kairi. He also apologizes. Riku gets named a master, Sora doesn’t. Sora thankd his friends and told Kairi he was proud of her before he left to go thank the dream eaters. Even though she did well, Kairi knew without Riku, the dream eaters, or Sora, she wouldn’t have lasted as long as she did. She wanted to be strong enough to protect herself and others. So Kairi asked Yen Sid if she could have further training. Yen Sid told her and Lea about the dimension where they could train and they both accepted. Riku asked what he should do now and then the 0.2 conversation happens off screen. Boom, DDD rolls it’s credits.

Kingdom Hearts 3 [internal screaming]

Okay! So I gotta tackle this one a little different. First of all, let’s live in a world where ReMind came apart of KH3 (as it should’ve) now let’s put the cutscene between Luxord and Xigbar where it belongs at the beginning of the game, and then let’s put the cutscenes of MoM/ the organization discussing the members somewhere in in middle of the game. Like after Monsters Inc. Because that information had no reason to be hidden. It reveals nothing, but explains how people are back which is important. This knowledge doesn’t even spoil the Luxu reveal!

Second, I have to explain my two major problems that really hurt this game for me. Plot pacing and only setting things up halfway or not at all. So I’m going to tell you what changes narritive and gameplay wise I would’ve changed. Then I’ll go through the game including those changes.

Sora getting his power robbed consequence will be in every world and weigh on him.

The time characters get rescued/revealed

Ventus and Roxas’s heart influence

Isa’s plan

Aqua’s trauma

Xion, Vexen, and Demyx appearances.

Multiple playable characters.

Kairi and Lea contributions.

Also if I don’t mention something then assume it happened just like in the game.

Okay, let’s get started at Olympus. Everything is the same except one thing that I will continue to do for the other worlds. Sora will try to be proactive in stopping an Organization member, triggering a 1v1 boss fight. He’ll fight Xigbar and lose so bad that his friends have to save him. This puts in perspective that Sora really has lost his powers and is frustrated about it. This will do two things. One of them is make him slowly get more upset when someone brings up him failing the exam, being a half pint, or not being able to do things on his own. I’ll come back to the second thing later. Sora is order to continue to gain the power of waking while leaving finding Aqua to Mickey and Riku.

Twilight Town is also basically the same. However, the Demon Tide really roughs him up. Ansem and Xemnas bring up how they hope Roxas didn’t get this weak as well just to anger him. Sora wants to put them in their place but is convinced not to by Donald and Goofy. Now he’s doubting himself internally a little. Also Merlin shows up now instead of later. The trio bump into him and He tells Sora that Lea and Kairi actually are almost done training because they trained in a place where time didn’t matter. The moment they went in should’ve technically they came out but I’m being generous. Sora is shocked to realize his short time at Olympus might’ve equaled months of training for Kairi or even longer.

Toy Box is the same with the addition of fighting Young Xehanort and losing to him before a gigas piloted by his friends intervene. We still get the comment about putting hearts into vessels of their pleasing. When the world is over Kairi calls to tell him she’s finishing training and wants to see him back at Yen Sid’s tower.

Kairi and Lea are both really jazzed about how strong they’ve gotten and ready to help. Before they do, Kairi asks for a friendly spar against Sora. While he does win, he is amazed by how strong she’s gotten. Kairi comments on how she’s still lacking the real battle experience and skill he’s gain over time and he actually starts to feel better, until she asks if she could go to a world with him to get it. He wouldn’t mind it if wasn’t for one thing, he’s worried he might not be enough to save her if she needs help. Not with all his strength gone. He keeps this to himself and Kairi and Lea end up tagging along to Kingdom of Corona. On this world you get the option to be Sora with Rapunzel Flynn has mandatory party members and the choice to choose Kairi and Lea or Donald and Goofy; Or you can play as Kairi which automatically makes the party during gameplay Flynn, Rapunzel, Sora, and Lea. This works out fine because half this world has Rapunzel and Flynn leave your party so the other two characters can fill in during those sections.

So the Disney plot in this world doesn’t have to change one bit. The changes that happen all occur with all the Kingdom hearts characters. For example, Marluxia now meets Sora, Lea, Kairi, Donald and Goofy when he first reveals himself. We get sassy and rude dialogue between Marluxia and Lea about being alive and who’s actually the traitor this time around. Lea can also fill Sora in on CoM since no one does it. What makes this scene important is the moment Marluxia directs his attention towards Kairi, she starts getting really nervous and Namine’s voice comes out unexpectedly, telling him to stay back. It’s Namine who’s actually nervous, terrified even. Sora might not have the memories, but the entire exchange is enough for his heart to remember the intense desire to protect Namine from Marluxia. Sora and Lea get in between the two. Marluxia only looks at everyone and can’t help but get a little nostalgic. “The more things change, the more they stay the same. Except for one...” he says that vague response referring to how Lea and Rikuplica switching sides, then he leaves.

The next major change is Soar and Kairi spend time at the festival together and share a moment during the lantern scene. It’s at this time Sora expresses the doubt he has to protect her and the others with his current strength. Kairi tells Sora that he can do anything he puts his mind to and to never lose that smile of his. She tells him how they will protect each other and that his heart will never steer him wrong. This touching moment is ruined when Donald screams off camera. The Nobodies shown up. Everyone quickly jumps into action when another hooded figure appears. Sora goes off to pursue them triggering Lea to follow him. Sora is evenly matched with the figure back and then hood falls off. It’s Xion. Immediately seeing her causes an intense reaction from Roxas’s heart that screws up Sora in the fight and he his taken out by her. Xion planned to take him but Lea intervenes, causing both of them to get a painful reaction to each other. Marluxia shows up to retrieve Xion, who was sent there for a test run and leaves Axel in pain because Kairi caught up to protect both of them despite the fear from earlier. All he can see is Namine finally taking a real stand against him before finally going. Sora wakes up that morning on the outskirts of the kingdom where he sees Flynn riding Maximus with Lea still out of commission. Donald and Goofy looked after him while Kairi helped resuce Flynn. He tells Sora about what’s happened to Rapunzel and they all go rushing to the tower, except for Kairi who’s understandably tired, and chooses to look after Lea since he’s also still recovering. The rest of the world stays the same.

Sora and the gang try collecting their thoughts and info while in the gummi ship. So many things were happening so fast. Sora tried to apologize to Lea and Kairi but they told him there was no need. They end up going to Yen Sid again for answers to things like the new seven princesses. While there, Donald ends up taking another jab at Sora for still not having the power of waking. Sora actually gets fed up this time around, frustrated with himself mainly. He yells how he’s doing the best he can and it’s not like Donald is being of any real help either. Sora claims that he can do this on his own and takes off to the Gummi Ship before anyone could really get a word in.

Monster Inc ends up being the next world he finds himself in but not by choice. Sora had been so worked up he had forgotten the ship ran on smiles and crash landed to the nearest world. That’s not all, Kairi had actually manage to sneak aboard by surprise. Now he felt bad about endangering her but didn’t get to apologize before Kairi bonked him on the head. She reminded Sora about their conversation on the pier and expressed how determined she was to knock Sora out of his funk. They’d be stranded here otherwise. Through all of that it slipped their minds that they were monsters now and decide to look around. One thing that immediately stirred something within Kairi’s memories was the unversed which convinced them that this place was now definitely worth looking around. The plot points of this world are pretty much the same. As you go through the factory making Boo laugh. Sora is also gaining his cheerfulness back and opening up more to Kairi about how down this situation had gotten him. He was happy she was here to cheer him up. Vanitas shows up and still gets thrown through doors. Sora wonders about his desire to save Aqua so quickly stems from the possibility of Ventus’s heart sleeping in his. Kairi tells Sora about how Namine’s heart reacted to Marluxia which only made his thought more valid. He tells Kairi how he really thinks he can save her and Kairi agrees, but tells Sora it would be easier with more people. He needed to make up with Donald and to some extent, Goofy. As if on que the gummi phone rings with Chip and Dale telling Sora that they’ve lost trace of Riku and Mickey in the Realm of Darkness. What’s worse is Donald and Goofy acted rashly at the news and took Yen Sid’s star shard, sending them to who knows where. It was possible that they actually got sent to the Realm of Darkness! Sora calls Ienzo to ask if he knows a way there but he only knows about the corridors of darkness.

Kairi tells Sora that he really is connected to Ventus then maybe he can open a gate. Even if he can’t, Sora’s connection with his friends might do something. He just has to do what he did to get to Olympus. Sora opened a gate that brought him and Kairi back to Destiny Islands where they found Donald and Goofy. More importantly, an unfimiliar keyblade. Sora uses it to create a door and heads off. The others try to follow him but he tells them that they need to stay behind just in case. He also apologizes for his outburst which prompts Donald and Goofy to apologize for not seeing how much the teasing was getting to him. Kairi tells him to be safe and Sora smiles truthfully. He just has to believe in himself like she said. He can do this. Sora goes through the door.

Sora drops right in the middle of the Riku vs Aqua fight and things play out normally until the halfway point where the darkness in her becomes almost too much for Sora. Just like with Vanitas, Ventus’s heart starts to react to seeing Aqua in such a state. Suddenly Sora summons Master’s Defender again and holds it back handed. Aqua is left shocked, she can only see the friend she promised to wake up. With a heavy heart she manages to ask for help and Sora nods. You play the remainder of the fight with attacks and even a command style used by Ventus. He’s calling the shots now. You beat Aqua and she gets saved. Everyone’s happy, everyone’s crying.

Aqua takes Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kairi to go wake up Ven while Riku and Mickey rest up. Sora gets more strange feelings at the sight of Castle Oblivion. He can’t help but think of Namine, as well as fuzzy memories of Marluxia and a few other people but he keeps it to himself. Aqua remakes the Land of Departure and they make their way to Ven. Vanitas shows up and Aqua challenges him alone. Instead of her loosing because she blocked a fireball with her body, We get Aqua losing because she’s still very tired and the PTSD she has from the realm of darkness. Everyone panics. Sora activates the power of waking to wake Ventus (I’ll cry when he thanks Sora) and he saves Aqua. Vanitas leaves.

Everyone regroups at Yen Sid’s tomorrow again. Finally, progress is being made in collecting guardians. Ventus and Aqua need more time to recover and choose to rest. Kairi keeps them company to learn more about them, her past, skills, and also take a break. All this adventure has gotten her really exhausted. Mickey goes looking for Ansem the Wise and Sora manages to convince Riku to tag along with him. Maybe they’ll find Terra? Onward to frozen!

Sora and the gang meet else Elsa and Riku empathizes with not being able to control power and being scared of hurting people close to him. Sora emphasizes with Anna when it comes wanting to help someone important to you but they keep running away and create things that make it harder to reach them. It’s one big moment of reflection and growth in this world. Larxene still shows up and Sora knows her by name surprisingly. The feelings of anger he gives her is all he needs to know that she cannot be allowed to do whatever she pleases. He tries stopping her but fails. He’s not too upset though. His previous accomplishments and encouraging words from Kairi push him forward. Unknowingly, Vexen shows up and has an argument with Larxene. She complains about why he’s heat and he tells her that he heard memories are extremely malleable here (trolls) and he’s come to look into it before leaving Larxene to her own devices. Elsa starts really thinking her powers are nothing but darkness but Riku convinces her otherwise. Elsa thanks him but that moment of weakness creates the boss of this world. Sora and Riku fight it with Snowball while Elsa goes to save Anna. Things work themselves out the same from there. Riku and Sora feel closer than ever and Riku tells Sora he’s a master in his own right which makes Sora’s day. Vexen got valuable data.

Ventus finally felt like his body was used to moving again and was ready to start getting back in the swing of things, but Aqua was still feeling down. The guilt of taking so long and trauma was weighing on her heart. Kairi tried everything to cheer her up but nothing helped. Kairi has no choice but to pull out the big guns. She called Sora. Through lot of persuading, he convinced her to tag along with him and Ventus to go traveling with him to get them up to speed. Part of the agreement was Riku and Kairi go finding more clues about Terra’s whereabouts so they stayed behind. Checking Radiant Garden again seemed like a good idea. Kairi hadn’t been so it would kill two birds with one stone.

Pirates world was next on the list. This time we there’s four organization members! Luxord goes looking for the box and Demyx is forced to help because Isa wants him to prove his worth or why even be around? They’re on the water so he should be decent muscle. Vexen is intrigued by Davy Jones but also dropped Xion off with Luxord to see if his recent research on memory would have her perform better than earlier. Aqua and Ventus marvel at the stars, thinking of Terra. Sora told the two of them about the first adventure he went on to look for his friends. Sora praises both of them by telling him that he was at least half as skilled as they were back then, telling them that they’ll find Terra way faster than he took finding Riku and Kairi. They came across the waterfall fell. Aqua nearly panicked at the thought of being trapped when they woke up in Davy Jones’s locker but Ventus calmed her down. Sora needed to find a way to build her back up. The plot of this world doesn’t change but gameplay does a little. Ven and Aqua will grant the pirates ship most of its abilities by controlling the wind and sea while Sora navigates. More fights by boat grant them more abilities and gets them back into the swing of things. Ventus and Sora team up during the air skirmish against the flying heartless. This invigorates Aqua not just because she wants to protect them, but they looked like they were having some fun. Yeah they were fighting a heartless but they were doing it together and trusted that they had each other’s back. Aqua had missed that feeling, it had been so long since it wasn’t her vs everything. She quickly got her chance to be apart of a team again in the underwater fight. Her nerves weren’t completely calm but Sora taking her hand and being excited about getting the treasure pushed those feelings away. She had friends again, friends that wanted treasure and to sail the seas with her. How could that not be fun. Sora happily let Aqua take the lead and supported her alongside Ventus.

The crew bumps into Luxord and the black box conversation happens that leads into the race but with the added wager of Luxord willing to tell them about Terra if they win. The race has still has the heartless boats but as well as the water nobodies to personally attack your crew and hinder your abilities. After you win, Luxord still cheats and you have that boss fight. Things change when you board the boat. He still leaves but Demyx and Xion stay behind with some Nobodies to by time. Halfway through the fight, Xion starts clenching her head again and Sora does the same with his chest. Seeing Ventus’s face and feeling Roxas’s presences is just too much. Luxord takes the opportunity of the chaos to nab is companions and attack the ship. Fortunately Aqua was able to protect everyone. Vexen orders Demyx to take Xion back and that he might as well not come back either. Demyx really doesn’t want to face Isa since he was basically told not to comeback without anything useful. So he drops Xion off and plans to avoid him altogether.

After the ship is repaired and Phantom Jack leaves, Aqua takes a minute to think. They were about to head into what sounded like a war. Their fun treasure adventure had turned a serious matter. She confessed that she might not be up to the task. This one, or even the keyblade war. Ventus pulled out his wayfinder and told her even if she decides not to go, she’ll always be fighting beside him as long as he had this. He believed Terra was still fighting and got his strength from them. Aqua pulled out her wayfinder and simply held it to her chest. He wasn’t wrong. All that time in the darkness and a piece of her never felt truly alone as long as she held this. Their unbreakable connection to her friends was something Aqua would never doubt. To top it all off, Sora had remembered he still had Kairi’s good luck charm from before the exams. He said he couldn’t count how many times this simple thing had driven him to keep going. Aqua joined them on the boat. It was only after seeing the other pirates did her resolve really hit its peak. All of them were ready to face staggering odds to fight for what mattered most to them, despite the fear. Aqua was sure of it now, she’d stand with her friends when the fated day came. Aqua raised her keyblade a creates the whirlpool for the Kraken fight. For the first time since she arrived, she looked at Sora and completely immersed herself in the moment. She calls him captain, and says she’s ready whenever he is. He couldn’t be more thrilled and Ventus was happy to see Aqua ready to go. The rest of the world plays out the same all the way until the very end. I would personally add a scene though of three sailing alone for just a little longer. Sora can’t help but think about how this was his dream with Riku and Kairi once. He wondered if is the only one who even rememberers or cares about a thing like this. Suddenly another ship Sails by them. They get ready to fight until they sea a papou fruit flag. Riku and Kairi unexpectedly reveal themselves on it with smiles on their faces. Apparently the gummi phone had really included all of information Jimmy had written. Riku explained that he just knew without question Sora would come here of all places to try and cheer someone up. Riku and Kairi told Aqua they hadn’t found much info on Terra but they did find her armor and keyblade thanks to Kairi’s foggy memory of certain places and Ienzo’s participantion in those lab areas. They all were about to continue their journey but since they were here, something had to be settled. Sora wanted another race to decide who would be captain. Riku laughed and told him they both have ships and that didn’t matter. However, he vaguely mentioned another reason to race, the real reason Sora tried so hard that day on the island. Riku pointed at the symbol on his flag and Sora immediately pouted. He grabbed the wheel of the ship and told Kairi to countdown for the race. No one knew what they were racing for except them and a giggling Kairi, who had a pretty good idea on what it was about. She says go and then the cutscene ends.

Big Hero Six is exactly the same except Sora sees Riku Replica and is pretty sure he’s from castle oblivion. Vexen uses the knowledge Rikuplica favs him about making Baymax filled with suffering so he can fix Xion to her absolute peak. When he’s done, Isa informs him that a Demyx has ran off and orders Vexen to go bring him back. Which is actually code for “good job, now escape while you still can.” Vexen informs him that it would take an extremely strong connection for Xion to have any “unfortunate” memories of the past to resurface. Things play out normally until Zexion meets Ansem the wise. What happens this time? He tells Sora and friends that he’s back with Vexen. (That’s kinda important.)

Everyone rests up for the final battle. The Sora and Kair scene on destiny islands is now longer. Kairi asks if Sora is feeling like his old self again. Sora tells her that he is thanks to her never giving up on her. Both of them get quiet for a moment before Sora speaks again. He does confess that he’s still worried a bit. Every word he went to had one thing or another that ended up being too much for him alone, and couldn’t help but feel like it would’ve been different if he truly regained all of his power. Kairi tells him that he isn’t alone but he shakes his head because she’s missing the point. Sora wasn’t scared of the organization overwhelming him, but he was terrified of that he’d try protecting someone and fail. He admitted he was scared of losing her. Kairi admitted that tomorrow scared her too. Every adventure they went on together was filled with so many enemies and left her exhausted by the end of it. Now she was joining the war. Kairi felt more than a little unprepared despite all the prep she tried squeezing in. Sora tried asking if by any chance at all that she could wait here one more time and she refused outright. No matter how nervous she was about the whole thing, Kairi told Sora that she would never wait again. That they will protect each other no matter what. And for added luck, she hands him a papou fruit. Sora was shocked. Kairi simply smiled and placed it in his hand before grabbing another one. Sora pulled out her good luck charm to give it back but she said it’s basically his at this point. The two smiled gently and finally shared the fruit. You get OathKeeper

Keyblade war time! Woo! This is by far the easiest to put into words. Riku and Kairi are your party members for the 10,000 enemy battle because it’s a literal crime that the Destiny trio didn’t work together. You get past that and Terranort still bodies half the team. Aqua’s resolve starts the crumble as she races to Ven, he isn’t moving at all. Sora is left in a state of disbelief as Goofy and Mickey try getting Donald up, and Kairi checking on Axel. In no time at all, his fear seams to be coming true. They need to regroup. Unfortunately the demon tide appears and blocks the exit. Riku gathers the remaining forces to try and fend it off but seeing Ven taken out by Terra really shook Aqua. We see the shadows turn into Anti-Aquas as the real Aqua starts to slowy panic. She doesn’t even hear the others screaming her name, telling her to look out before Mickey and Goofy try saving her, but they’re all swept up. Now it’s the Destiny Trio vs the Demon Tide in a fight the player is forced to fight, but can’t win. No music plays, just the sound of the fight and the sight of the organization watching from above. Eventually Kairi slips up due to the overwhelming odds. Sora quickly tries to outrun the Demon Tide coming towards her but can’t. Sora screams for Riku’s help but turns to see nothing but his friends hand reaching for him before being swept away. He can’t hold it in anymore, Sora drops to his knees and screams. He wouldn’t have made it this far without all of them, but now they’re gone. Sora drops his keyblade, then is swept away.

He arrives in the final world and gets his task from chirithy. In the beginning he feels so defeated, then encounters Namine. Instead of her telling him that Kairi is keeping him together, Namine says that she can feel everyone connected to him doing their part. Sora has done so much to try and keep everybody safe and spent all this time with them during their adventure that it’s only natural that they would believe in him. Now Sora feels a twinge of guilt, he gave up way too soon. No way he can let that slide. He was going to make it up to them for this second chance. Sora tells Namine about all of these flooding emotions he’s had involving her and everyone else in castle oblivion. Namine is genuinely shocked. Despite the chains being broken, Sora retained the key events. He didn’t look at her like he did back in The World That Never Was. Sora had been talking to her like an old friend he hadn’t seen in years. Sora told Namine that he was going to save everyone, including her. He promised that they were going to get her a body and she had to wait just a bit longer. Namine believed him and said she will try to get in contact with Terra. For a moment it felt like Sora could actually see Namine smile at him instead of just being a star. Sora smiled back and told her thank you, for everything. He ran off to do his job. Namine simply watched and tried not to cry. Their promise really found a way for them to meet again in a way she would’ve never dreamed of. Instead of it fading away. You get oblivion.

Before Sora really starts piecing himself together, he encounters the mystery star, and then an extra star. This extra star follows him around and surprises Sora when it reveals himself to be Roxas. He tells Sora he should’ve expected this since Sora was barely hanging on himself! Sora sheepishly apologizes but Roxas isn’t too bothered by it because he knows it’s temporary. What bothers him is Xion. He tells Sora who she is and the reason he feels hurt when they’re around each other is because of Xion’s connection to himself. Roxas asks Sora to face Xion and embrace that hurt so they can save her. Sora agrees but wonders if he can handle it. So far all fights against her didn’t go well. Roxas tells him not to worry. All he needs Sora to do his try his hardest and Roxas will make up the difference. Sora has no doubt Roxas will and thanks him before heading off. Roxas continues to follow you just so you have someone to talk to. Sora puts himself together and opens a gate to go find the others. Chirihy tells Sora that for future reference not to use the power of waking like he’s about to and explains how incredibly dangerous it is. Sora nods and leaves.

Sora beats up The Lich like usual and Young Xehanort calls him dumb. Everyone gets rescued from the cusp of death, now thoroughly frustrated by how sloppy they were. They’re going full throttle this time.(Oblivion obtained!) The team runs towards the fight again. Aqua and Ven are ready for Terranort but Lingering Will beats them to the punch, taking Terranort away as they fight. The Demon Tide arrives again with heartless and you fight it with the Destiny Trio. The fight has custom team attacks and even a trinity limit. You win and it turns into the hurricane again. Union X keyblades show up. (It’s so cool.) Ventus puts his hand on his heart. He feels oddly happy. All the scenes leading up to the boss rush are the same.

Sora and Riku vs Xigbar and Dark Riku goes off without a hitch. Nothing changes with Xigbar but Dark Riku is different. The original Riku Replica takes over the vessel. It’s clear the other’s could use the help and Vexen is on the good guy’s side so they can make more, is his reasoning. The original Riku goes off to chase Ansem while Rikuplica stays with Sora. He tells Sora it’s nice to see him again and Sora couldn’t agree more. The two of them don’t even have to speak to know exactly where to go next. They rush over to help Mickey, swiftly beating Luxord and freeing him so he can go after Xemnas. Suddenly the war feels like an old grudge match. Sora and Rikuplica vs Larxene and Marluxia. The heroes point their weapons at their foes and tell them this one is for Namine. Marluxia is actually happy Sora finally remembers him. It makes this fight all the sweeter. The fight ends with the heroes win, but at a price. Larxene and Rikuplica had struck each other down at the same time. Sora rushes to his friend who was starting to fade. Rikuplica told him not to feel bad about it. He planned on giving up this vessel after the fight anyway. The only reason he took it was to make sure those two wouldn’t hurt Namine and to fight by Sora’s side again at least once. Rikuplica tells Sora to take care of her before fading away, leaving the vessel. Sora finally remembers Castle Oblivion in its entirety. He simply clenches his fist and accepts the hurt before pressing on.

Ventus and Aqua catch up to Vanitas and Terranort. Aqua demands to know what happened to the armor that appeared earlier and Terranort simply laughs. Enraged, Aqua summons Master’s defender and rushes in to fight. Ventus follows her lead and Sora joins in a few minutes later. While that’s happening, Riku rushes through the maze towards Ansem until he hears a familiar voice. It leads him to dark chains that suspend and crush Lingering Will until he cuts them. The armor is cracked but still functioning. He thanks Riku and starts heading off before Riku stops him. Riku hadn’t told Ven and Aqua but he found something else at Radiant Garden. He pulls out Terra’s wayfinder and gives it to the armor. Riku tells him to go protect what matters and heads off. Things aren’t going to well back at the battle. Terranort manages to break Ven’s keyblade and Vanitas rushes in after Aqua as she tries to save Ven. Sora is quick enough to try and take the hit for both of them but Lingering Will swoops in again to save them. They’re all stunned to see him. Terra thanks Sora for looking after his friends but he can take it from here. Sora nods and manages to escape the battle. Terra tries to convince Ven and Aqua to leave too but they flat out ignore him. They pull out their wayfinders and each one starts to glow. Aqua tells Terra from this point forward they fight as a team. She tosses Ven Master’s Defender and summons her original keyblade. Her and Ventus bring out their armor and stand beside Terra. Now the real fight begins. The fight gives you the same team attacks from the Mirage Arena and each character gets their original command style that transforms into their character exclusive one from bbs. Wingblade, Ghost Drive, and Rockbreaker; while Terranort uses Dark impulse and Vanitas loses his mask and fights like he does in the final phase against Ventus. Vanitas is the first to fall. He nearly beat a Ventus until the boy gained a boost of strength from seemingly nowhere, his swords of light turning into starlight keyblades and striking down Vanitas. He simply laughs, giving Ventus no answer to his many questions about Vanitas. The entire wayfinder trio is know souly focused on Terranort. Refusing to give up, the man summons the chains again and captures them. He goes after Aqua first who almost managed to break free. The others scream her and The Guardian rises from the shadows to save her. It breaks the chains and rips off the bandages. Ven quickly uses the keyblade to wrap Terranort in chains while Lingering Will holds his body down for The Gaurdian to fire his heart out. A massive beam of light shoots up before fading and only leaving the armor. Ven and Aqua are speechless until the armor lifts its helmet to reveal Terra underneath in tears. Ven and Aqua throw their helmets off too and ran into their friends arms. All three of them hugging and crying.

Sora runs right into the middle of Saix and Xion fighting Axel and Kairi. Instinctively he screams out Xion’s name and everything goes quiet. Axel is confused by the name until she finally takes off the hood to reveal the white hair and yellow eyes. His memory starts to reform bit by bit and he grabs his head. Sora and Kairi’s chest both feel heavy but for the first time, Xion doesn’t react. Because of all the experiments, the only thing she has is broken memories and the suffering from them. You begin fighting her alone but to no effect. Sora rememberers Roxas’s words and lets in the pain. Xion comes at him again but stops at the sound of her name, this time with Roxas’s voice coming out of Sora. Xion’s head gets a little fuzzy but it doesn’t break the rampage. Kairi and Axel manage to endure the pain as well and stand with Roxas/Sora. If one voice isn’t enough then they’ll all try calling to her as they knock some sense in into her. Sora/Roxas summons Two Become One. The three are ready. It’s now or never. After an intense 3v2 fight, Xion starts to mentally down in the middle of combat. Then the standard cutscene happens where Xemnas shows up. The only difference being Axel’s keyblade doesn’t break. Xemnas grabs Kairi with his lightning instead of her wrist and leaves. Sora tries running after her best Saix gets in the way until the Seasalt trio pushes him back. Roxas tells Sora to go after Kairi and leave this fight to them. Sora runs off and you basically play the Remind fight but with no Xemnas. It ends the same though.

The battle against the Nort court is the same. Kairi getting shattered is the same, as well as getting into Scala. Xion tells Sora she can still feel Kairi and for him to remember her words. The thirteen armors and Xehanort boss are all the same as well. The only difference I added was a clash that sent both Sora and Xehanort flying backwards. Sora gets up first and has the chance to end it but realizes the good luck charm had fallen to the ground in front of him. Sora picks it up and all the pent up anger frustration he has from Xehanort ruining his and his and friends lives gets put on a leash. Sora remembers Kairi’s words about never losing his smile. He can’t help but get emotional and once again asks Xehanort what was the point of any of this. Xehanort gives his speech about balance and the entire scene and plays out like normal. Next major change is the end. Riku and Mickey convince Sora to not use the Power of Waking right off the bat, fearing the consequences. Sora listens to their idea to see Yen Sid but even he isn’t sure how to get Kairi back but they’ll do their best to find her. Sora leaves to get some air outside. Riku can’t help but follow him outside minutes later and finds Sora looking at his keyblade. He calls out Sora’s name and the boy turns around and does a smile similar to when he released his heart in Hollow Bastion. Riku knows Sora better than he knows himself. He doesn’t even try to stop Sora, but tells him to be careful. Sora puffs out his chest and says he’ll be back with Kairi in no time at all. Sora asks Riku to tell the others thanks and not to worry before opening up a gate and walking through. The ending sequence plays out the same and then the credits roll.

ReMind is a bonus episode after getting the secret reports and nothing in it changes because it’s perfectly fine. The only added thing we get is Sora giving back the lucky charm before he fades away, telling Kairi to be sure and bring it back to him. Limit cut and secret episodes are DLC or more extra stuff but yeah, I’m done.

In Summary:Kingdom Hearts 3, but the characters interact with each other and are allowed to feel multiple emotions at a time for extended periods of time. I know I sound like I’m punching down on this game but I genuinely do love this franchise since forever and I have strong feelings about almost everything to do with it. Which is why I’m bummed that KH3 is like my least favorite kingdom hearts game. It has good things in it but falls short on so many scenes and opportunities. This soft rewrite was literally me taking 92% of what the game already had in it and rearranging it to create various new situations that inevitably end the same way it does in the actual game. So yeah I give this game a 7/13 I’m still buying every game though 💀 (I’m not getting into any of my ideas of how kh3 could’ve gone before we knew too much about it. Now that’s a rewrite!)

[i-believe-in-soriku]

Essay Part 2: The Deepest Relationship

Now that I have explained how Riku is a strong character with is OWN development and his OWN personanity, I can talk about his relationship with Sora. Sora is also a developed character, even if his evolution is less spectacular than Riku's. I'm not here to talk about Sora so I'll probably give you links to wonderful analysis I've read.

If I mention that, it's because I want to point at something which is very important in terms of writing. To write a relationship between two characters (or more, but here it's two), the two characters involved must be developed. That's important to understand the dynamics between them, why they like each other, why their relationship exists and why it works. And this rule applies to all kinds of relationships.

Indeed, those conditions are filled with Sora and Riku's relationship.

Actually, the producer himself admits that their relationship is the very heart of the series:

"The fact is that the main focus of the series is Sora and Riku; how their friendship develops, but also how they grow up."

Now, let's see how their relationship works. Because it works. Whether you see it as friendly or romantic doesn't matter, it works the same.

The two of them were childhood friends. It is told in BBS and KH: they used to spend all their time together, inventing stories and dreaming about adventures. They kind of promised to protect each other at the really early age of 4 and 5.

Aqua: Sora, do you like Riku?

Sora: Of course I like him, he's my best friend!

Aqua: Good. So then, if something happens, and Riku is about to get lost--or say, he starts wandering down a dark path alone--you make sure to stay with him and keep him safe. That's your job, Sora, and I'm counting on you to do it, okay?

*Sora nods*

As they grew up, a distance has settled between them. I have already talked about what caused that distance. KH is not the best moment of their friendship but, believe it or not, it is essential to its development. Both guilt and love pushed Riku to seek to make amends with Sora, to protect him:

Sora, on his side, wasn't resentful against Riku at all -all he wanted was to find his friend back and make things the way they were before.

But it soon became clear to them that such a thing was impossible. Too many things had changed due to Riku's actions and the hardships they had to face. They had to stick the pieces back, and tried their best to do so. Sora tried to find back Riku during CoM and KH2.

Sora (beginning of KH2): Well, I'm gonna go look for Riku. Then he and I can go back to the islands together.

Riku tried to help Sora recover his memories and he watched his friend during his sleep.

And it didn't mattered to them that one year has passed, their goal never changed. When Sora woke up, Riku kept on protecting him, Sora kept on searching for him. Both of them wanted to recover something that mattered to them - that is to say, their best friend. Is it forced? No. It follow the events of KH. It is the consequence of what happened before.

When they finally find each other during the events of KH2, the feelings expressed by Sora (happiness, relief) and by Riku (shame, doubt) underline how much they care about each other.

Sora: Why didn't you let me know you were okay?

That's not like Sora's and Kairi's reunions, where all we can see is a promise - something that Sora and Riku also share - and mere relief, joy. I don't say Sora is not happy to be reunited with Kairi and vice-versa. It's just that when they do, the poor development Kairi is given prevents these scenes from being as powerful as Sora's and Riku's reunion(s).

Indeed, when they found each other in KH2, after a rough fight with Xemnas, what is the first thing that happens between them?

A heart-to-heart conversation.

That is sweet, and illustrates that, yes, they share a special bond. But what I like the most with this scene in the Dark Margin, is that it's the undeniable proof of what I've said before.

Those boys are trying to line the scattered pieces of their frienship up - and the way they do it is simple, touching. They are just being honest with each other while talking about their past feelings for each other - and also the one they experience in the present moment:

Riku: What I said back there...about thinking I was better at stuff than you... To tell you the truth, Sora... I was jealous of you.

Sora: What for?

Riku: I wished I could live life the way you do. Just following my heart.

Sora: Yeah, well, I've got my share of problems, too.

Riku: Like what?

Sora: Like...wanting to be like you.

Riku: Well, there is one advantage to being me... Something you could never imitate.

Sora: Really? What's that?

Riku: Having you for a friend.

Sora: Then I guess...I'm okay the way I am. I've got something you could never imitate too.

That is so sincere that I don't get why people keep on saying that their relation is forced.

Their story, however, is not over yet. Dream Drop Distance is the the highlight for the writing of their common story. I have already written a post about their bonds in KH3D, so I'll resume what I said, and add new elements. DDD is pretty smart because it depicts the link between Sora and Riku even though they're separated during almost the whole game.

At the beginning of the game, Riku and Sora are at Master Yen Sid's Tower, and he says that they have to pass the Mark of Mastery Exam. It is really important to Riku, but for Sora, it is quite useless. Still, Sora decides to pass the exam with Riku in order to motivate and support him.

Sora: But that's a formality, right? I already proved myself. Me and the king, and Riku--we can take on anything. Right, Riku?

Riku: I don't know. I think that in my heart, darkness still has a hold. Walking that path changed me. I'm not sure if I'm ready to wield a Keyblade. Maybe I do need to be tested.

Sora: Riku... Then count me in. Put me through the test! Just watch--me and Riku will pass with flying colors!

This element shows that the two of them trust each other. Which is the proof that their conversation on that dark beach has definitely recovered their bonds - their trust in each other, the fact that they can rely on each other no matter what.

That is an evolution, not just a "return to the way it was before". Because the dynamic between them has changed. Sora is the one Riku rely on. Sora is the one "in advance". Sora is the one confident and cool. (at least in Riku's eyes). But Riku is not jealous anymore. That's different.

The game has also a lot of interesting scenes. In Traverse Town, for instance, we """learn""" (in case it wasn't clear until that moment...) that Sora is Riku's most important person.

Beat: I just...wanna protect the one person who matters.

Riku: I know the feeling.

On Sora's side, by his own words, they are always together, even when they are separated:

Sora: Don't worry. He's with me--even when it might seem like he's not.

In La Cité des Cloches, the Quasimodo/Riku parallel shows that Riku his still holding back stuff inside of him.

Quasimodo: Master Frollo--he made me live inside the bell tower, but the real walls were the ones I built around my heart. You helped me see that, Riku.

Riku: I was...speaking from...personal experience.

Given the context, it is clear that it is a reference to Riku's feelings for Sora, especially if we take a look at Quasimodo's feelings for Esmeralda, and Esmeralda's and Phœbus words.

In Monstro, Riku says that Sora is his conscience, and even talks about "his stupid grin", what's.. extremely tender?!

Jiminy: You must have somebody--a friend you can talk to?

Riku: Yeah...actually, I do. That stupid grin he's always wearing--he's the best teacher I could ever have.

The Symphony Of Sorcery is also full of elements, like the fact that Sora considers that Riku is always there for him...

Sora: Don't worry. I've got a friend out there who will help. He's always picking up the slack for me.

...which was actually proved in game:

So yeah, the game does not only say that Riku is here for Sora, it actually shows that. And the fact that they share a "heart song" is purposely here to illustrate how strong their relationship is.

Mickey: It's like each of you is holding on to a little part of the other. Your hearts are always in tune, so they're free to sing.

Mickey even says that, when they're together, their heart are "free to sing". And it is true: they can be their true selves together, they know they can trust each other, they are comfortable with each other.

Riku being Sora's Dream Eater is a major point in his character but ALSO another proof that he cares really much about Sora and that it is instinctive, natural - he doesn't even realize it until someone points out this """detail""".

Another scene that, for me, is important to proove that their relationship is NOT forced is the moment when Riku is named Master. Sora is not upset, he's sincerely happy for Riku:

Sora: I knew you were gonna pass with flying colors. This is just so awesome!

Watching his reactions, it's easy to see that he knew how important it was to Riku:

And finally, KH3 is the consequence of this development. Riku and Sora have achieved a balance together, between trust in each other and independence. In this game, Sora wants to protect Riku, Riku wants to protect Sora - and he actually found the strenght to do it. Riku cheers Sora up, believes in him, the same way Sora did for him before:

In the end, Riku is, once again, the one who's saving Sora. In fact, I would say they constantly save each other - sometimes save and being saved is the same thing.

So, yeah, I don't know if it was clear... but what I meant is that every single KH game where those boys are present - that is to say the large majority of them - shows how they both evolve individualy but also how their relationship evolves to become something better, something greater. The way it is written follows a perfect logic, a dynamic that corresponds to the state of the two characters and the context in which the action takes place.

Once again, regarding the care that is taken to tell their story, it is unfair to say that their relationship is forced. ESPECIALLY if it is compared to Sora's relation to Kairi. It is simply incomparable.

Intro • Part 1