a girl with a peaceful heart, who guided her wandering friends home
Kairi doesn't know when they'll be back.
They send messages, sometimes, if they remember. They're long, rambling notes, with two different hands, and blots of ink where one got frustrated and snatched the pen. They stick in pictures, of pretty beaches and bright stars and worlds Kairi hasn't seen yet. There's occasionally a picture of them together, but they're always blurred, one or the other in motion. Kairi tapes them to her mirror, so whenever she looks in it, she's surrounded by her friends.
The messages come few and far between, and Kairi treasures each one, carefully tearing the stamp off and sticking it in a journal before she reads about their adventures. They still battle monsters, and they still antagonize each other, but they're closer now, she can see it in the way they tell their stories and share their memories. She misses them dearly, and watches the stars in the sky, trying to find them, because each star is a different world, isn't it? But she never sees them and eventually, after months, the messages stop.
It's been months since the last letter, and Kairi's started to think they've forgotten about her. She can summon her keyblade now, and she sneaks off to the play island to practice, learning how to move with her weapon. She tells herself once she's strong enough, she'll go find them. Find them and make them take her to all those different, brillant worlds.
There's a flash of silver and a shushed voice behind the paopu tree, and Kairi raises her blade as she launches over the trunk, over what was their spot. She brandishes her keyblade like a warrior, and Sora has to act quickly to block, laughing with a fearful edge, because Kairi has been practicing and she's good. Riku holds up his hands as Kairi stares, breathing hard and crouching low, and her hands shake as she takes them in.
"You haven't sent messages," she accuses, voice choked and soft.
"It was supposed to be a surprise," Sora answers as Kairi dismisses her blade. "We wanted to surprise you. Of course we wouldn't ever forget you, Kairi!"
Riku nods in confirmation, and Kairi laughs as she flings her arms around them, because her boys are back, and they won't be able to leave her alone again. "I missed you," she tells them, tears streaming down her face. "I missed you so much."
"We're home now," they tell her and they hold her tight, their guiding light.