Dream A Little Dream.
sora & rapunzel
( "i've got a dream." )
:: author's note: oh, hey, i've got a dream too. it's that someday they'll make a Tangled level in KH. because that would be effing epic.
this was written all in one day. booyah. ::
disclaimer: not mine.
He travels to a world that's green and alive and bright and beautiful and bursting at the seams with sunlight, and he thinks that he might never want to leave. But he fingers the star-shaped charm in his pocket and remembers that he has a home to go back to, Kairi to go back to, and he knows that he has to leave eventually.
But, hey, he'll cross that bridge when he comes to it.
.
He meets a girl with impossibly long, golden hair, and at first she tries to bash his head in with a cast iron frying pan.
Luckily, this Keyblade-bearer has the reflexes of a ninja.
The impact from the pan hitting his Keyblade shakes him to the core, and he almost drops his weapon. He stumbles backwards a couple of steps and she reels back her arms for another strike with the pan. "Wait! I'm not gonna hurt you," he promises, dismissing his Keyblade and holding up both of his hands in what he hopes is a consoling gesture. She raises one eyebrow suspiciously, but hesitates.
"I know why you're here," she says as she wields her pan as menacingly as she can, wordlessly threatening to attack if he comes any closer.
"You do?" He wonders how in the world she could know.
"Yes, I do. And if you thought that you'd just stroll in here and take me and my hair without a fight, you're very mistaken."
He looks at her incredulously. "Why would I want to take your hair?"
Her eyes grow wide and she falls silent, her arms coming to rest by her sides, the frying pan dangling uselessly from her right hand. "You mean that's not why you're here?" She asks, cocking her head to one side.
He shakes his head. "No, honest." He holds out his hand. "I'm Sora."
She's looking at him suspiciously again, but she places her tiny hand in his and shakes it. "My name is Rapunzel."
He smiles, and he knows that this is the start of something beautiful between them, Sora&Rapunzel. There is something in this girl, in the determined set of her shoulders and stubborn glint in her eye that he admires. Something that makes his heart beat alittlebitalotabit quicker and that makes the room start to spin.
But he's living on borrowed time, and he knows he can't stay here for too long. No matter how much he wants to.
.
He goes on an adventure with Rapunzel and a man named Flynn Rider, and there's also this strange little chameleon and a horse that acts an awful lot like a human, and it's all just so weird.
"So there are other worlds, huh?" The man named Flynn asks as they stroll almost casually through the forest, making their way to the capital city so Rapunzel can see the floating lights that she's always dreamed of.
Sora nods, placing both hands behind his head and leaning back as they walk. "Uh huh. Lots of 'em. And I'm gonna see 'em all."
He doesn't mention that he might not want to anymore, not after coming here and feeling the way he feels right now, the way he feels whenever he's near Rapunzel.
He hasn't decided yet, but he'll let them know when he does.
.
He doesn't know what his dream is.
Rapunzel's is to see the floating lights on her birthday, and Flynn's is to be rich and completely without worries. There's one guy in the Snuggly Duckling that wants to be concert pianist, and another one that wants to fall in love. It seems that everyone here has a dream.
But what's his?
If you had asked him what his dream was before he came here, he would have told you that his dream is home; it's home and Kairi and Riku and togetherforeverfriends. But now that he's tasted this world, now that he knows how it makes him feel, he's kind of not sure anymore.
He doesn't want to think about it, really. He doesn't want to think about anything, not right now. They've been through so much in just the past couple hours; ruffians trying to kill them, guards trying to kill them, Heartless trying to kill them. And after they got past all the things trying to kill them, they ended up almost drowning in a flooded cave.
That's another thing. Her hair glows. And, as proven a couple of minutes ago, it also heals things. Like the cut on Flynn's hand, and the burns on Sora's arm from that Red Nocturne Heartless.
This place is really weird.
And yet... and yet it feels almost like home.
Maybe that's why he wants to stay here so badly.
.
He feels the log he's sitting on creak beside him, and he turns to see Rapunzel watching him expectantly. "Hey," he says, leaning his elbows on his knees and staring into the fire.
"Hi," she returns. She crosses her legs and leans forward, holding out her hands towards the crackling flames. They're the only ones up still; Pascal's curled up close to the fire and Flynn's snoring on the other side of the clearing. "So, I never got a chance to ask you earlier, because of all the..." her voice trails off, and she laughs nervously.
"The things trying to kill us?" He finishes for her, smirking. She nods, and he laughs.
"Anyway," she continues, tucking some of her longlong hair behind one ear, "I never got to ask you... what's your dream, Sora?"
He sits for quietly for a moment, not looking at her and instead looking up at the stars and wondering which one is where Kairi is, waiting for him. "I'm... I'm actually not sure anymore."
"Anymore?"
He nods. "Yeah. I used to think that my dream going home and being with all of my friends again, and forgetting about this chosen Keyblade-bearer stuff."
"But it's not anymore?"
He shakes his head. "I don't think so."
She murmurs and nods slowly. "Well, everyone should have a dream. You should find yours soon, and realize it. Make it come true."
"Why soon?" He asks.
"Because the best part of making your dreams come true," she explains, "is that you get to find a new one after."
.
The city is beautiful.
Rapunzel is like a little girl all over again, rushing from stall to stall in the marketplace, her neck fallingstretchingcraning back to see the tops of the stone buildings, her bare feet scurrying from place to place. Sora finds himself a little in awe of the place too, how innocent it is, and he wonders how something so small and simple can be so beautiful.
It's just like Rapunzel.
(it's also like his home, but he doesn't really realize that.)
Rapunzel grabs both his and Flynn's hands and whisks them off, and he tries his hardest not to blush.
.
The lanterns might be the most beautiful sight he's ever seen. "Whoa," he says, leaning over the side of the boat as his neck cranes to see all of the floating lights, twinkling and winking in the purple evening sky. Rapunzel's right there with him, mouth agape and eyes wide and shining as they watch the lanterns drift further and further into the sky. Flynn leans back in the boat, watching them both with a smile on his face.
He's so mesmerized by the sight that he almost doesn't notice that ohmyGodohmyGod Rapunzel's holding his hand. He looks down at their intertwined fingers and then to her, and it kind of looks like she did it subconsciously, without meaning to, because she's not even looking at him, she's still staring up at the softly glowing sky. But then a lantern floats past them, casting light on her face, and he sees the blush tinting her cheeks.
.
A pathway to another world opens up the next morning, and now he knows that he has to leave. He shakes hands with Flynn and pats Pascal on the head. He throws Max an apple and laughs at how quickly he eats it up. Then he turns to Rapunzel. She's standing there, holding her elbow, looking down at her feet as they scuff at the dirt absentmindedly.
"Well, I guess this is it," he offers as he strides over to her and holds out his hand.
She stares at it, and it's so much like when they first met. Then she grabs his hand and pulls him sharply toward her, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her face into his neck. They stand like that, holding each other, for a long time. "Have you found your dream yet?" She asks into his skin.
He laughs somewhat nervously. "No."
She pulls back so she can look him in the eye. "Well, when you dream... dream of me, okay?"
He nods. "I promise." He holds her shoulders and looks down at her for a moment. "Do you promise to dream of me too?"
She smiles. "I promise. And I never break my promises." She darts up and kisses him quickly on the cheek before releasing him. "Bye, Sora."
He holds is cheek and smiles. "Bye, Rapunzel."
.
He steps into the Gummiship and leaves behind the world of joy and sunshine and her, and he doesn't look back.
Perhaps he was wrong. Or maybe, he was right. Maybe Rapunzel is his dream. Because she is everything that is home to him. She is happiness and friendship and love and light. Home.
So, for her sake, he leaves to realize his dream, which was, is, and always will be, home. His real home. And Kairi and Riku.
(but he'll still dream of her. because he never breaks his promises either.)