Kairi greatly enjoyed being at the Dalmatians' house thus far. She did!
And that puppy running around her, in particular, made the princess feel loved and wanted…
And as the room was covered in a pink carpet, with a piano in the distance… This really should have been her aesthetic.:
Rose had been her color since she'd turned fifteen, and Kairi imagined she could play some music to set to some of her poems… And the idea of being loved by dogs while doing all of this, was just the icing on the cake.
But there was just… something off about this whole experience:
For one thing, Kairi had hazy memories of being here before, that she knew for sure weren't hers.
They weren't Naminé's, either, since Kairi had regained all of Naminé's memories when she had assimilated with her a year ago… But these memories that Kairi saw in her head, had a similar light to Naminé's own heart—and somewhat even her own—so that could really only mean one thing, then:
Xion was the one connected to this.
And now that she'd figured out the mystery and could relax a little, the redhead smiled at this.
…From what Kairi of Xion, she'd never gone to Traverse Town while working for the Organization.
Kairi also figured that she hadn't yet been here since being revived, since the two of them (and Naminé) did try to spend as much time together as possible: in trying to be sisters.
So, what Kai must have been getting from Xion, then, was a dream of hers: What the dog lover who adored Pluto imagined doing this would feel like, from everything she'd heard about it from Sora… and eventually Leon.
But Xion had yet to set foot to really set foot here. Which must have been why, as much as Xion had tried to picture this place right from Sora's memories, she'd gotten some things wrong…
And that explained some of Kairi's headache here as well, because she was seeing Xion's dream and expecting things to be in such a way herself.
"…You okay, Kairi?" Sora asked good-naturedly—nudging Kairi's shoulder, as he seemed about to hand her a puppy that had brown spots on it instead of the black that her siblings had.
Kairi, forgetting her woes for just a second, held her mouth agape at this… And was about to jokingly ask if Perdita had cheated on Progo for this one. But when the poor animal sneezed, all the sand she'd apparently gotten on her from being in a sandbox before, disappeared: revealing that the dear had had black spots, too.
And Kairi laughed out loud—there could have been no other reaction to this humor—and then hugged her new best pal to her chest, for the pup seemed to be a bit embarrassed.
And it was good to focus on this humor, because while Sora was finally back with Kairi like she'd dreamed about… they were having a bit of troubles with their Nobodies again… But it was somewhat different this time.
Like, Kairi had thought that if anyone would absorb Xion again—though gods, did Kairi play that it wouldn't happen!—she thought it would be Sora… and yet Xion seemed closer to her now, and Naminé with Sora.
When Kairi had become disheartened about all of this (as she'd fretted that all they'd done for their Others were for nothing, and they seemed fated to live half-lives) Sora had suggested coming her to cheer her up.
And Kairi was thrilled that he had, because this was the best experience she'd had since Sora had told her he loved her when she found him in Verum Rex.
But it wasn't just for Kairi's self that she felt she had to do this.
…If Xion really was destined to… go away again, then Kairi wanted to do this for her (on the off-chance that she would never get to).
"…I love you, Sora. You know I do," Kairi found herself saying suddenly, just as Sora gave up on seeing how many of the canines he could place atop his head without them jumping off. He'd even been about to do it with Pongo. And Kairi wanted to be here for this light… but she found that she couldn't be. Not right now, anyway. "…And getting to see what you went through on your journeys this way is all I could have ever asked for… But don't you think we're wasting our time here, when we could be fighting to protect our friends?"
And seeming to be weakened by her point, Sora fell to the floor and let all of the puppies willingly crawl all over him now:
To Kairi, he looked a lot like the "ants on a log" type of celery this way. And as she sat down beside him, attempting to put her feet beneath her—but just for some of her new friends to sit there themselves—she imagined she somewhat looked like a mermaid with her tail in the water.
Despite how serious both Kairi and Sora were trying to be now, they both looked a little silly.
And for that reason, Kairi thought that Sora might draw on that and brush the issue aside or go about it in a funny manner.
But proving he had changed a lot with everything he'd been through, he was as stoic as Kairi had ever seen him.
"…Kairi, I know the time is of the essence. But rushing is how I- how I ran into the problem I did with the Power of Waking—though I don't regret it. I never will—so sometimes sitting back and waiting for the best answer to come to you, really is where it's at. And it is what I'm trying to do here."
And to say these truthful—yet unintentionally harsh—words stabbed Kairi in the heart, would have been an understatement.
She gasped loudly for it, and instantly wished she could take it back… Because the way Sora crumpled in on himself at her reaction, was too much for Kairi.
She knew he wasn't blaming her for what had happened… on either account.
But still: seeing Sora's complete and utter candor here—that was still somewhat new to him—spoke of a lot.
Kairi was about to say something to that… Maybe that she supposed that was all well and good, but could they maybe get Merlin and Yen Sid to use their magic on them to get the answer to come sooner? But before she could, a random kittycame through the doggy door and landed in Kairi's lap.
The redhead had heard of this kind of thing happening before, even though she'd never experienced it herself with her own doggy door… But via Kingstagram, Kairi had heard stories about cats that people didn't even own somehow ending up in their homes.
And this instantly made the purple-eyed woman happy—as she always got the sense that she was actually more of a cat person, though she hadn't had much contact with the animals somehow.
And Sora certainly wasn't letting this random—though mayhap important?—moment go.
No. He pulled Kairi into his arms—holding her and the feline both—and whispered, "Notice how white this cat is, Kairi? Well, it speaks of Light to me. It probably came to you because it's destiny… it's telling you not to worry, and that everything's going to be okay."
And sensing some truth to these words—because Kairi had always believed in magic—she leaned back against Sora's shoulder and let herself breathe for a moment.
He was right… She was wasting precious time that they should have been spending together:
Because it wasn't just Naminé, Xion, Roxas, Vanitas, and somewhat Ventus they had to worry about… It was them, too.
The stars had deemed, it would seem, that they could never really be together. And while they had recently been blessed with more time than they'd had in ages… would it really last? Kairi wasn't sure.
But if it didn't… she would make sure it would be no big deal. She would chase Sora down to the ends of the Earth. Again. As she knew he always would for her, too.
As all of the dogs in the room piled up on Sora and Kairi to meet this new friend—and it was great to feel safer and more loved in this massive cuddle, with everyone, than she ever had been before—Kairi came up with two epiphanies:
"You know… maybe part of the reason our Others are returning to us, is because we never tried to differentiate ourselves and them enough. So, if Xion loves canines, I'm going to live felines from now on… Also, maybe we never tried to get together like this—as family does—and to see our similarities, and respect them and the things that make us different as a whole? If that's the answer to all of this, I'm going to focus on all of this and make it happen."
And maybe the way she was getting licked by so many cute beings now, was indication that Kairi was right… Or how Sora had "mmed" at her words, sounding much like a loving pet himself (and if Kairi was being honest with herself, she had often thought of Sora as her humanoid golden retriever that she loved. So that fit)…
But more than anything, maybe their best answer, was that Xion was now agreeing to all of this via gummi phone—had Sora called her for Kairi, when he saw how she was hurting?—and not as a disembodied ghost before her.
Author's Note: I had a bit of trouble with this one. Because I did want to do the Dalmatian's House prompt… but just having Sora and Kairi loving on the puppies for a moment would have been just a few paragraphs long fic. So, I tried to throw some plot into here… And balancing that (the angst), while trying not to lose the fluff and SoKai of this was a bit difficult. But hopefully I did an okay job with it. Thanks for reading!