After Sora disappeared from Kairi's side, she selfishly found herself dreaming of what it would have been like to actually have Sora happily share paopu fruits with her from the get-go.

Could she say that she was really against how the actual moment had transpired? Not really. As Sora had shared them with her in the end, even while looking at her dreamily.

But at the same time… Kairi had somehow expected more: that Sora could have started that moment between them. And that in doing so, he properly would have showed his love for her that he'd displayed in so many other ways in the past.

…If Kairi believed like some, that the World was a giant computer program run by a some computer system, she could have believed that Sora had just been written differently than normal when he'd seemed so shocked by her proposition.

But since that wasn't true of the World at all, and Kairi knew it, she didn't know what had happened to make her favorite spiky-haired brunet seem so distant.

And even years later—after Sora and Kairi were miraculously together again, after everything that had happened (Sora scooping her up in his arms the moment he saw her, awkwardly kissing every inch of her available skin—awkward in that he was new to this—and apologizing and promising he'd be with her forever, as Kairi just held onto him and banished her tears away because Sora deserved to cry more than her)—Kairi still somehow found herself regretting that part of their past.

And so it was, that Kairi later—while everyone was trying to find some coconuts they could use for milk at this makeshift "welcome home" party for the Keyblade hero—found herself fantasizing about Sora having been the one to truly propose the idea of the paopus to her before the Keyblade Graveyard:

She thought that he probably would have nervously picked a paopu fruit from the tree before asking her to join him… That he would have stammered through some long and confusing confession—with hand movements and hair everywhere, as he mussed his spikes in his nervousness… That would have then surprised her with the paopu, as he said he'd seen her addition the drawing and would be honored if she would share it with him now.

And knowing herself… Kairi knew that if that situation had occurred, she would've acted much like a girl getting proposed to:

She would have placed a hand over her heart, had her face light up… and maybe would have even tried to give Sora her ring finger, before realizing this was only paopu sharing and readily took a bite of the one he'd offered her.

And in proving just how much she and Sora were soul mates, because she could be awkward (and lazy) too, Kairi would have then ripped her own paopu fruit down from the tree… and prayed to these gods from Mount Olympus that she didn't also unearth dirt from the tree in doing so, to accidentally get it on Sora.

…After making sure that everything was okay—and that Sora really wanted to do this—Kairi would have helped him get a bite, the way wedding couples smashed cake into each other's faces.

And if she'd been a bit more courageous than she had been in the Keyblade Graveyard—something Kairi still hated herself for, and always would—she may have even kissed Sora…

It wouldn't been a perfect one—since it would have been their first, in this alternate universe—but it still would have been as sweet as the fruit they'd tasted. Kairi knew that for sure.

Then, hand-in-hand, they could have gone and camped out in the Play Island's tree house with Riku… as they all waited for the upcoming War.

…But it hadn't happened that way.

And even as Sora held her in his arms now—as they were in bed together—and tried to hush her tears, as she again reprimanded herself for how she'd fared in the Keyblade Graveyard (and even found herself saying, that maybe she could have fought better for them if she'd felt loved by any Light at all), it somehow wasn't quite enough for Kairi.

She wanted a wish that she wanted granted… To go back to before everything went to Hell, and rather back when Sora and Riku had returned home from defeating Xemnas.

A beautiful wish it was, too, but as many don't… she had no idea just how much she'd pay for it.

But for now—reminding herself she was a Princess of Heart, and they didn't act this way—Kairi better snuggled into Sora, and smooched his forehead and his crown and told him that what they had was beautiful.

Author's Note: A little angsty-er than I intended, but perhaps this can somewhat fit into the "Reunion" category for SoKai Week.

So, to be honest… I kind of went insane after the end of Game of Thrones destroyed me, and deleted all my stuff everywhere (my social media accounts… my fanfictions I'd started on my computer…), and this was one of the few things I had left. So that's why I used it for SoKai Week, and tried to find a way to get it to fit (as I didn't have time to write something completely new, like I did for some of the other days). Otherwise, I might not have used this one… Because for the last day's theme, I probably would have wanted something cheerier. But ehh. It is what it is. And maybe I can work on a more chipper one in the future.

Also… this was a vent piece I did sometime ago. Because, while I am mostly okay with how SoKai was handled in KHIII (okay, not the fridging thing. Never that), I do have some issues with it (moreso Sora suddenly not realizing he was in love with Kairi until the back half, when I feel earlier games contradict that. But it's less so the paopus thing. I think that scene was mostly fine—despite how SoRiku fans try to say Kairi forced him to do it—and I think Sora's reaction is normal, to pretty much getting proposed? to so young, and he quickly did get into it after his initial shock. I also loved that Kairi initiated it…), so I wrote this to go along moreso with how I think we all thought it would happen pre-game.

And, yes: I do have more stories for this, if anyone's interested (I even had written some for it, before I threw it out. But I could always rewrite..).

I also realize Kairi's probably OOC in this… But I kind of don't care? Because this girl's allowed to actually feel things, and be selfish sometimes: Especially after the trauma for her that is KHIII. Honestly, I had no problem with Kairi until Kingdom Hearts III: and before that I even would have told people that she was written well and consistently, and that the problem was that she just needed more screentime and the chance to do something… But now I think she has a whole hell of a lot of writing problems because of this game: Like the fact that Nomura always has her smiling about everything (why, oh why, is Kairi smiling while crying when Sora fades. I get she believes he'll come back… And that maybe he told her something to reassure her, or gave her the Wild Card… and maybe Nomura did this to avoid a complete downer ending, and let us know things would be alright… But no, Kairi didn't need to be smiling there). Don't misunderstand. Her smiling is actually a Kairi trait I LOVE: that even though Sora leaves her for the greater good and it hurts her, she selflessly lets him go, keeps her chin up, knowing he'll always return as she waits for him… But at the same time, that can only go far. And if that's literally all she does all the time, then she becomes stagnant. And especially since KHIII has hurt his poor girl—and Sora, and their relationship: ripping them away from each other in the worst possible way, right that they finally got together—more than anything else, I think she should and needs to break down about it some. I don't care if she's a Princess of Heart. Human is human.