Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and all related characters are the property of Square Enix and Disney.
Chicken Little Syndrome
Written by RamaLlama
"The sky is falling! The sky is falling!"
After that claim turned out to be false, no one believed Chicken Little ever again.
But, of course, for good reason. She was being foolish. Chicken Little was wrong, so ignoring her would be justified.
Of course.
...
Of course.
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Poor Kairi.
"I'm worried about you two, Sora. I know Riku loves you and everything, but I don't think you two should be together."
That was what she should say, she tells herself.
She knows she's right. She knows how much better everything would be if they listened to her. How much safer.
But it's hard. So so hard. She simply doesn't have the heart to tell something like that to Sora's face. Kairi knows how Riku was the first real relationship he had ever gotten into, and she didn't want him to be crushed. The two of them had just gotten home from their adventure and had been gone for about a year. Saying it was wrong for the two of them to be together was no way to welcome them home.
But she doesn't like the way Riku and Sora walk side-by-side like that.
She knows they shouldn't be together. It was wrong. It should've been illegal.
Why was she the only one who could see that?
Sure, sure. It's a nice and innocent image at first, the two of them, hand-in-hand, walking across the old bridge the three of them discovered, smiling and laughing together.
Being lovey-dovey.
The bridge connects one side of a large river on the island with another one, expanding on for miles and miles, and it's a wonder why they hadn't noticed it there before. The three of them know how wonderful of a thing it is since they can explore even more of the island now, the river no longer one of their obstacles, with its rough and rapid waters and jagged, pointy rocks. Looking at it now, it seems so peaceful and beautiful, with the light reflecting it almost magically.
And yes, the bridge and new couple may seem like pure magic when you first look at everything on the surface, sure. But if you look deeper, into the framework of things, it was actually more sinister and twisted than you might think. She can tell. She has seen signs of it.
She doesn't like it one bit.
"Can't you see their being together is a big mistake?"
Kairi decides to tell Selphie, her best friend, about the situation. She thought she might be able to get her to see things from her side.
Selphie tells her to stop being so damn homophobic and unsupportive. She tells her she should be happy for them.
"You shouldn't judge people," she tells Kairi. "Why can't you be happy for your friends?"
"I am."
"Don't worry. I'll sure you'll get your guy sooner or later."
"That's not the problem, Selphie."
"Then what is?"
"I told you, there are signs."
Selphie looks at her with pity, and Kairi feels like an idiot.
But little by little, Kairi can see it.
A sky is falling.
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She tells her parents what she thinks. She figures she should've gone to them first instead of Selphie, since they probably have more life experience and would know more about these kinds of things. Plus, her foster dad is the mayor of Destiny Islands. He could pass a law making it illegal for Riku and Sora to be together. Or at least get that bridge removed so she would never have to see them cross it together ever again.
They scold her. She feels like a terrible person.
They repeat many of the same things Selphie had said to her. In the midst of their scolding, Kairi gets a revelation and wonders why she didn't think of it before.
It's none of their business, she realizes. Why had she gone to them? What on earth was she thinking? It's none of their business, and now she's being scolded for something that's not their business. She could be so stupid sometimes. It's none of their business, and neither is it Selphie's. They're saying the same thing to her. It's none of her business. But it's none of their business. They tell her that it doesn't matter what gender Riku and Sora are, but it's none of their business. She stomps up to her room, but it's none of their business. She looks over her childhood books--the one with the extra large print and fantastical tales--, still on her bookcase, and one title in particular catches her eye.
"The sky isn't going to fall just because they're going out now, honey."
Kairi feels like just like Chicken Little. Poor, poor Chicken Little.
Squawking the same tune to the same people over and over again. To people who'll never believe her.
She's saying something no one else is saying.
That makes her wrong. That makes people not want to listen.
They don't want it to be another acorn. And she doesn't, either. She won't let it be. So for now, she keeps her mouth shut and keeps the people who aren't involved out of it. It isn't too hard. She's not gonna be the town crier. She keeps everything she knows a secret to the people who don't want to know. She doesn't want to be hated. But she knows she's right.
The sky is falling! The sky is falling!
She can't keep quiet forever.
It's not safe.
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She tells Sora about it. She had debated with herself about it for most of the morning and decided it would be the best thing to do before anyone got hurt.
She tells him exactly what she has been telling other people for the past few days. She tries not to sound harsh or mean. She tries to sound persuasive. Sora is a good listener. He listens to everything she says. He tells her he knew about the signs all along. She doubts it.
With no warning, Sora leans down and hugs her--holds her-- lovingly. He wants to get her to understand the situation, or maybe he just feels like hugging someone. Kairi's so happy about it, she can't see straight.
This is what he means by signs. He's wrong.
Kairi decides that it doesn't matter.
Knee-deep childhood infatuation resurfacing in her veins, she hugs him back as tightly as she can and tries to make it seem as romantic as possible. She enjoys it. She isn't going to lie. She's wanted this for a long time. She's always liked him. Still does. She tries not to make herself look stupid.
"You shouldn't be together. Trust me."
Sora smiles. She says something else.
"Why did you do that?"
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. Why did you do that?"
"I'm lying to him."
"Why did you do that?"
"I gave too much of my heart away."
"Why did you do that?"
"I already gave bits and pieces of my heart away to other people in other worlds. I need to. I'm the Key. I... I love everyone, Kairi. I can't give all of my heart to one particular person. I can't. I need to save everyone. I can't just save one person. I can't love him the way he loves me. I'm lying to him."
"Why did you do that?"
"But you and I once shared a heart. So maybe you're the closest to love I'll ever get. I'm being so hurtful to everyone! Augh! Now I've dragged you into this, too. This isn't your problem. I hate this. I hate making people unhappy. I can't... I can't. Maybe when this Heartless thing is all over and everything is fine, I can. Adventure... What happened to my dream of adventure?"
"Why did you do that?"
"He needs me. I can't leave him, Kairi. He needs me. I'm sorry. I'm not good at this. Don't be homophobic, Kairi. Riku doesn't deserve it. I'm sorry."
Sora stands up and leaves.
Kairi doesn't understand. Sora doesn't understand. He's wrong. He's so so wrong. Why can't he understand that? It's going to come sooner than he thinks.
She closes her eyes and sees a sky that is falling.
Falling fast and falling hard.
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Kairi is wrong.
She walks over to the bridge, the beautiful lighted bridge, hands clasped together like a prayer. She hasn't seen Riku or Sora for the entire day.
She gets a feeling she knows why.
The bridge is no longer there when she gets there. It has broken. A kind of broken that couldn't possibly be repaired just by gluing the pieces back together or by replacing several pieces of boards.The wood is scattered everywhere, all around the area, and the bridge is broken. It looks terrible. She almost feels like collasping herself.
Near the broken pieces and remains of wood, there were large trees. They stretch out their leaves not toward the path, but towards the sides. They're keeping a secret.
She pushes some of the leaves out of the way. There's a homemade sign behind it. With the leaves in front, it's nearly impossible to notice it. It read:
WARNING!
Bridge is unstable. Only one person may cross at a time. Maximum weight is 150 pounds (68 kilograms).
There were similar signs all around the bridge, all covered by leaves. She had noticed them before and tried to tell people. She's tried to tell people for days, but nobody listened. She tried to tell Riku and Sora that they shouldn't have been walking together. The bridge would collapse. But they didn't listen either. She was wrong. Of course she was wrong. She couldn't have been right.
When Kairi sees the the two bodies together, floating in the river, she holds in the urge to say, 'I told you so!' She holds in the urge to make herself believe they're still breathing. Believe there's still a chance. She notices the way their hands are intertwined and feels bad for Sora because she knew he never got his love. Come to think of it, Riku hasn't, either. But the hands are intertwined, and just like Chicken Little, maybe she is wrong. Both of them were smiling so peacefully, so maybe she is. They looked like they were only sleeping, sleeping so soundly and peaceful together, lost in a trance. Maybe she is wrong.
Maybe. For the sake of everything, she hopes she is. She tells no one what she's seen for at least two days.
She closes her eyes and sees a Sky that is falling.
What, did you think she was homophobic or something?
'You shouldn't judge people.'
Lifting her covers and lowering her head to her pillow, she turns off the light, and silently cries to sleep.
(...The end is here!...)
Author's Notes: It's probably very difficult to tell, but this is a parody. It's not supposed to be a funny one, so I didn't put it down as humor. It's not much of a parody, so I didn't put it down as one. It's mocking the RikuSora fics that have Kairi strongly oppose Riku and Sora's new relationship because she is either jealous, homophobic, or both. At the end of these stories, either something really bad happens to Kairi, or she realizes that the two were made for each other and backs off. I don't necessarily hate those types of fics, but I just wanted to play around with the idea that Kairi is against their being together (read: standing next to each other) for a good reason but is horribly misunderstood. Parodies aren't usually this serious, though, and you don't have to view it as one. Just look at what my brain comes up with when I'm in a bad mood. My brain is so depressing.
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Review, please! I'd like to know what you think of this. This is only a quick little thing I decided to write. I'm working on other stories, too! Yay!