AN/ This was inspired by a post on tumblr by user paopumilkshake, though I only went with a few of the ideas they suggested. I also referenced a few events that only appear in the novels/manga, so if you're worried about why you didn't get something, that's likely why.
This was a project for #kairineedslove2k15.
Edit: I didn't write this all in one day, I wrote this in two weeks, but waited until I was finished before uploading. Just in case anyone was confused!
Scene 1 - The Exam Begins
Kairi blew a strand of her hair out of her eyes, thinking idly that perhaps she should take a leaf from Riku's book and get it cut soon. Short hair was a good look on Riku. It had been a good look on her, too, plus long hair had proven to get in the way of adventuring. There wasn't time to get it cut now, though, so she had it tied up. Donald and Goofy would be here with the Gummi Ship to pick them all up any minute.
King Mickey's letter had left them all… uneasy, to say the best. The thought of a new threat to face—and so soon after they had defeated the last—wasn't a fun thought to consider. And the King hadn't made this Xehanort guy out to be someone who could be taken lightly. Kairi didn't know who Xehanort was, only that she'd heard his name a time or two, though only in the context of Xehanort's Heartless—or Ansem, as Riku still habitually called him. She'd attempted to pry out more answers, but Sora knew little more than she did, and Riku turned in on himself two questions into the conversation. She'd find out how to bring him back out of the shell eventually, she and Sora both, but at the time, she'd left it alone. Riku deserved some time to rest. They all did.
Besides, she could just as easily ask the King about Xehanort when they got to Master Yen Sid's. There was no need to bother Riku about it before he was ready.
Nor was there time. The Gummi Ship was lowering from the sky and into the shallower water—there was no room for it elsewhere, not on the small play island. Kairi jumped to her feet, not even noticing the sand she kicked up as it hit her ankles. Sora was running down to the shore before long, yelling and waving at his friends aboard. He was already wading into the water when he stopped and realized Kairi was beside him.
"Wait, you're coming too?" he asked.
Kairi rolled her eyes and groaned a little. "Well, duh. I already told you that, remember?" She reached out to knock on his head. He grimaced, though laughing a little, and pushed her off.
"Right, right," he said. "Sorry. Forgot. In all the excitement." He turned and cupped his hands around his mouth. "You coming or what, Riku? The King asked for us both!"
"Hey." Kairi pulled one of his hands away from his mouth and gripped it tightly. His grin fell to surprise as he turned to her. "Listen, I wasn't kidding when I said that wherever you go, I'm coming too, alright? Even if it's dangerous. From now on, whatever we do, we do it together. All three of us." She reached over and grabbed Riku's hand as he neared.
The surprise on Sora's face melted into a smile, not an excited one, just a happy one. Riku looked a little flustered. Donald honked the horn on the ship and told them to get a move on already.
Sora was all smiles for the drive—"This boat runs on happy faces!" he told them, emphatically. He was even smiles through the embarrassing stories Donald and Goofy kept cracking about him, though he complained loudly. His complaints only seemed to make Donald more excited to tell the stories, but Goofy kept talking with the warm expression of a parent who didn't realize how embarrassing their stories actually were.
It wasn't much longer before they all stood in Yen Sid's office. Sora and Riku stood at attention in front of his desk, while Kairi and Donald and Goofy and the King stood to the side, watching earnestly. Kairi's eyes kept flickering to her thalassa charm that hung from Sora's belt—it had seemed weird to accept it back from him after so long, so she'd given it back to him. When she'd noticed Riku watching with a ruffled expression, she'd told him in an exaggerated whisper it was because Sora needed the luck for the exam. Truth was, she felt horrible about not having a charm for Riku, but thalassa shells took a while to collect, and she hadn't had time to collect enough. Her first order of business when they stopped back by home would be to collect enough shells to finish Riku's charm.
They'd all been summoned here so that Sora and Riku could take something called the Mark of Mastery Exam. It was a test to prove that they were worthy to be called Keyblade Masters. A rite of passage, based on what Kairi understood of what Yen Sid said.
Kairi's opinions of Yen Sid were… fragilely good, to say the best. Donald and Goofy and Mickey—and even Sora, to an extent—treated him with reverence, and Kairi was sure he was a respected Master. She just… She had a feeling about him, she didn't like. His eyes were too wide and his lips seemed permanently pursed in a scowl. Perhaps that was just how thick his eyebrows were. Either way, he reminded her too much of her elementary Science teacher for comfort. Too uptight. Too old-fashioned.
"And frankly, too grumpy," she muttered under her breath.
It should've been quiet enough that no one would hear, but the King surprised her by chuckling lightly. "Yen Sid is pretty… intimidating, isn't he?" he asked her, sending her a slight smile. Then he signaled for her to be quiet and listen.
Kairi swallowed, and did, though intimidating certainly wasn't a word she would've picked.
Yen Sid talked about Xehanort, and about how they would need those who the King had mentioned in his letter. She didn't like how he praised Sora and Riku for learning to use the Keyblade on their own before telling them that their previous experience didn't matter—they'd have to start training anew. Kairi gritted her teeth. The only difference between Yen Sid and her Science teacher was that Yen Sid had more hair, it seemed.
"Oh, come on!" Sora groaned, at the news he'd have to start training all over again. "Isn't this just a formality? I mean- I've proved myself, haven't I?" After saving the Worlds twice, Kairi would certainly say he had. "Me 'n the King and Riku—and Kairi." He sent a grin past Riku at her, then turned back to Yen Sid. "We can handle anything!"
Yen Sid's eyes also darted to Kairi, and for a second he regarded her with an almost disapproving stare that made her blood boil.
"I'm… not so sure…" Riku said. It was the gravity of his tone that drew everyone's attention to him more than his words. He reached out and summoned his blade—but not his Keyblade. It was his old blade. Riku took a deep breath, then banished it. "I feel like… like I still have darkness in my heart." He didn't say it, but Kairi could hear the I still have Ansem—no, Xehanort—in me that did not leave his lips. "Maybe I do need to be tested."
Kairi opened her mouth to protest, but Sora beat her to it.
"That settles it, then!" he declared, with a grin that split his face in two. "Put us through the exam. I'm sure we'll both pass with flying colors!" Kairi swallowed her own protest. Sora's method of reassuring Riku was probably better, when it came down to it.
Yen Sid nodded, slowly. "Very well. Then let us begin."
Kairi wasn't sure how speaking for another five minutes equated to beginning the exam, but she supposed Yen Sid was explaining very important parts of the exam. She didn't entirely understand this whole "sleeping worlds" business, though. Maybe she'd ask after the exam began, when Sora and Riku wouldn't be distracted by her. The bit on the Keyblade War was even harder to understand, but she gritted her teeth and said nothing. If Sora and Riku would be sleeping for this exam, there would be plenty of time to ask questions later.
"Are you ready?" Yen Sid asked, finally, at the end of his explanations.
Riku sent a hesitant look at Sora, but Sora was grinning, and he nodded. "Yeah," he said. "I'm ready!"
Riku hesitated a second longer, but then he nodded as well. "Me too."
Kairi could feel the magic Yen Sid cast prickle on her skin. A bright light surrounded Riku and Sora both, and then they crumpled to the ground. Kairi jolted in surprise.
"Gawrsh, don't you think you could've waited until they were comfortable before sending them to the sleeping worlds?" Goofy asked. He sent a hesitant look at Yen Sid.
"Let's just move them," Donald said, his voice more an angry quack than a voice right now. He and Goofy moved to move Sora immediately, leaving Riku for the King and Kairi. After a bit of maneuvering, they finally had the boys in a semi comfortable spot slumped against the wall behind Yen Sid's chair.
"Now what?" Kairi asked.
Yen Sid closed his eyes and ran a hand through his beard.
"We wait."
