Takes place after Dream Drop Distance and before KH3: A spell goes wary and now Sora is turned into a toddler for 24-hours and is left in the safe care of his friends, Kairi and Riku. How will the two keybearers survive taking care of their happy and enthusiastic friend in this state? Well, I guess you'll just have to read to find out.
I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its content. All rights belong to Disney and Square Enix. I don't own the cover image either.
Enjoy the story!
Indigo and aquamarine stared straight down at an innocent pair of ocean blue ones looking right back up to them, set in an adorable, innocent and young face. Kairi and Riku were staring down at a young Sora, as in possibly six-months or so old. The staring continued for another half a minute or so, until Sora finally giggled and suddenly reached up and yanked down one of Riku's long, silver locks.
"Ow! Ouch! Sora! Stop pulling! Ow," Riku cried out and quickly started untangling Sora's chubby, young hand out of his locks. Kairi and Sora just giggled as he began nursing his sore spots on his scalp.
"Kinda serves you right, Riku. Your hair has been getting really long lately. Maybe it's time you got a haircut," Kairi suggested. Her arms reached down and wrapped around Sora's torso as she lifted him up to her head. He giggled wildly in joy and immediately reached out and latched around her neck. His aqua eyes narrowed in response to Kairi's statement.
"Humph. Maybe." He then looked up at them. "Tell you what. I'll get a haircut while you take care of Sora until I get back. Then I'll be ready to help you. Sound good," he asked. Kairi smiled and nodded.
"Fine. Better cut off some of your hair length. You wouldn't want Sora to start grabbing and pulling on it again, now would you," she playfully teased. He dd a quick eye roll at her before starting towards the door.
"I'll be back in a while. Meanwhile, make sure Sora doesn't get into any trouble. He's bad enough normally, now we've got his toddler self on hand," he said. Kairi giggled before waving towards him.
"Don't worry. I will. See ya in a bit," she called before his form left. Now one of the only two beings left in the room, Kairi's eyes went back to Sora. He was babbling contently in her arms while fiddling around a bit with her necklace. His face turned up though when he noticed that he was the center of attention once more. Kairi grinned widely at him.
"Hey Sora. So what do you want to do now? I'm sure Yen Sid or someone around here has some toys that you can play with," she said as she began walking towards a different room. Sora's eyes looked at her in confusion at the word 'play'. What was 'play'?
Sora shrieked in happiness as he started setting vibrantly colored blocks on top of one another, compliments of the Good Fairies. The pink, blue and green clad ladies had practically swarmed him and poor Kairi once they saw Sora. Kairi had the displeasure of trying to get her request over their heads while they were pinching Sora's cheeks, petting his hair and cooing how adorable he was.
Thankfully, Yen Sid came in and quieted down the commotion. After a brief explanation of what had happened to Sora, a mis-perceived and random spell that had been shot at him by mistake, Yen Sid told the Good Fairies to do as Kairi requested and placed Sora's care in Riku and Kairi's hands while he sought out a counterspell for the situation.
So now Kairi supervised Sora while he played with the different colored and shaped blocks. She praised him when he started giggling on the new addition to his structure. He was every bit as happy and joyful now as he was at his normal age. Even when his building structure fell down, he would laugh gleefully at it and start rebuilding it. She admired how he was so carefree and giddy at such a young age, and how it had continued in him to his normal age. She was glad he started so young so innocent and happy. It was reassuring to know in a way.
Sora placed down a red, triangle block on the topmost yellow rectangular block, sending it off balance and causing the top part of the structure to topple. he laughed out loud and nearly sent himself onto his back as the blocks scattered as they hit the ground.
"Thought I heard laughter in here. What's going on here," came a voice from the doorway. Leaning to the side was a tall man with spiky, red hair and bright green eyes. His eyes were focused on Kairi but turned towards Sora and immediately widened in shock. He got up from his position and over towards Kairi's side.
"Um, who is that," he whispered to her. She smiled and rolled her eyes at him.
"Who do you think," she answered. He took another long look at Sora, who was rebuilding his tower with the multicolored blocks.
"Sora's kid?" Kairi shot him a disbelieving look.
"It is Sora," she replied. He took another long glance at him.
"Are you positive," he asked.
"Yes. It's one-hundred percent Sora. Just way younger."
"What happened?"
"A spell. We're not sure what kind though."
"Who's we?"
"Just Riku, Yen Sid, and I."
"Then where is Riku and Yen Sid?"
Kairi was about to answer when they heard a loud shriek from Sora. Both redheads snapped their heads towards the toddler playing with the blocks. Except now, he wasn't playing with the blocks. Or even near the blocks. Eyes frantically darted around the room, searching for the spiky brunette toddler. A coo from down by their feet turned their focus down towards Axel's feet. A little blue-eyed baby stared back with the biggest grin they ever saw on a child. Both redheads sighed in relief. Axel leaned down until he was near head level with Sora.
"Hey Sora. Do you remember me?" Curious eyes stared blankly back at him. "C'mon, you know. It's Axel! A-X-E-L. Got it memorized," he said, giving his signature catchphrase along with his finger to the forehead. Sora only giggled and started patting Axel's pant legs in response. Axel sighed and lowered his head in defeat.
"Well, at least it's good to know he's still cheerful and carefree at the moment." Kairi nodded and smiled at Sora, who was currently patting Axel's legs and grasping firmly to his pant legs. Axel sighed again and bent down towards Sora and firmly, yet gently scooped him up and held him. Sora squealed with delight and then found amusement in reaching up and pulling Axel's hair spikes.
"Ow, ow, ow! Okay, Sora! Let go," he protested in pain and quickly removed his hands from his hair. His relief, however, soon melted away to worry once he saw Sora's eyes begin to water and his bottom lip began to tremble. Then the loud cries. Axel shut his eyes in pain as his ears vibrated with the extremely loud pitch of the toddler's screams. Kairi covered her ears to quiet the noise down too. Both were so preoccupied with Sora's tantrum to even notice Riku coming into the room until he spoke.
"Sheesh Kai'. If I had known how this would've happened while you were in charge, I would had swapped jobs with you," he said. In his hand, he held a soft, cuddly-looking teddy bear. In three long strides he had crossed the room, took the crying Sora from Axel and presented him with the bear. Sora's screams nearly subsided immediately as he took the bear from Riku and began hugging rubbing his face against the plush soft form. Riku smiled at the now calm toddler before turning his head up back towards the two redheads.
"Another thing. I got a haircut, like you requested," he said while using his free hand to point to his now shortened locks that were just above his neck. Both smiled approvingly.
"Nice cut, Riku," Kairi complimented.
"Yeah. You'll be glad you did once the training amps more," Axel added. He swept a hand through his pin-straight, red locks for emphasis. Riku smirked in reply.
"Yeah. And just how much hair gel did it take to get it like that?" Axel scowled and was about to respond, when Sora beat him to it. The little toddler let out a huge yawn, exposing the little teeth he had, before rubbing his eyes with his free hand and leaning in closer to Riku. Driven by some protective urge, Riku's hand slowly made comforting and soothing circles on Sora's back. His eyes shuttered at the calming touch and his head leaned onto Riku's chest.
"Bedtime, Sora. Go to sleep now, buddy."
Soon, Yen Sid had cast a spell on Sora's bed, putting up cradle bars on the sides of the bed. Sora had been wrapped in a soft, light blue, fleecy blanket with pictures of clouds on it. Ironic, Riku had said, since Sora's name literally meant 'sky'.
Kairi had nearly melted with adorableness when Sora began sucking his thumb. And then she and Axel had nearly laughed out loud when Riku had removed Sora's thumb from his mouth, only to have his own being sucked on instead. When Axel had nearly snorted with laughter from behind his hands on his mouth, Riku had silently threatened to substitute Axel's thumb instead. Thankfully, Kairi had found a pacifier which Sora's promptly sucked on, leaving Riku to wipe his hands on his pants to rid himself of the toddler's saliva.
After setting the toddler down comfortably on his bed, Riku had dimmed the light down, minus Sora's trusty papao fruit nightlight, and silently crept out the door. As he shut it quietly, he made his way to his own room and got into bed, silently praying that Sora would hopefully sleep quietly for the rest of the night and would be back to normal by morning.
Sunlight weakly shone through the blinds in Sora's room. A pair of ocean blue eyes weakly opened as the boy in the makeshift crib awoke. The fifteen, almost sixteen, teenager stretched, only to have his sore limbs bang against the bars around the edges of the bed. He suddenly sat up, feeling quite shocked. He was about to yell out in surprise when he felt something between his lips. He pulled it out and stared at it. An innocent looking, pink-and-red-heart, baby pacifier. His mind raced as his eyes traveled to the blue-with-white-cloud footie pajamas that were way too small that he was clad in.
What in Kingdom Heart's name had happened?
Riku, Kairi and Axel were all at the kitchen table, eating breakfast, drinking coffee or reading a newspaper, when a loud scream followed by a loud thud and the sound of plastic, crib bars falling down, followed by another cry of pain, reached their ears. Kairi just continued eating her meal, Axel continued drinking his caffeinated drink and Riku just sighed while turning a page in the paper.
Sora was back to normal now. The universe was balanced out again.
Hope you enjoyed this, I love writing about babies, so I loved doing this one. I'd appreciate some feedback on my work, reviews are loved and cherished. Thanks for reading. Sincerely, v.t.7