Kingdom Hearts: Awakening
Tags:
Characters – Sora, Riku, Kairi, Lea, Roxas, Ienzo, Even, Dilan, Aeleus, Axel, Namine, Xion, Ventus, Aqua, Terra, Master Yen Sid, Xehanort, Braig, Isa, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Hayner, Pence, Olette, other side characters
General – Post DDD, Pre KH3, Canon-Complaint, Third Person Omniscient, Extensive Kingdom Hearts Lore, Character Development, Interesting Character Interactions, Major Spoilers for Kingdom Hearts 1, Re:Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts 2, 358/2 Days, Birth by Sleep, Re:Coded, and 3D: Dream Drop Distance
Settings – Master Yen Sid's Tower, Destiny Islands, Twilight Town, Radiant Garden, Castle Oblivion
Themes – Friendship, Guilt, Introspection, Self-Doubt, Growth, Angst, Moral Dilemmas, Ambiguous Motives, Tension, Mistrust
Summary
Kingdom Hearts: Awakening tells the story of Sora and Riku after the events of Dream Drop Distance, as they continue to train in anticipation of Xehanort's return and the inevitable Keyblade War. Together, they work to train two other guardians of light – their childhood friend, Kairi, and former Organization XIII member, Lea, whose motives remain questionable. As Sora, Riku, and Kairi bounce between home and training, Sora is tormented with painful memories of his Nobody, Roxas, prompting Sora to contemplate ways of bringing Roxas back. All the while, the three friends are forced to acquaint themselves with other former Organization members, leading to tense interactions as the three friends harbor suspicions about their intentions. Sora tries to follow his heart, as he always has, but comes to realize that what's right and what's wrong might not be so simple anymore.
Chapter 1: Preface
Before the story begins, I would like to preface by discussing some of my goals for this story and discussing my personal perspective of Kingdom Hearts. If you want to skip straight to the story, then go to Chapter 2. Feel free to come back and read this preface at any time.
Kingdom Hearts: Awakening is the first in a multiple story series eventually ending with Kingdom Hearts V. I have a basic plot outline that spans across SIX additional stories, making a total of seven. As I write Awakening, I am already thinking about how things will tie together in the later stories. As such, many questions will be left unanswered by the end of Awakening, and are building up the comprehensive narrative of the series. Similar to the actual Kingdom Hearts games, I have dropped small details here and there that will end up becoming important in subsequent stories.
For the most part, I have tried to write a story that resembles a canon Kingdom Hearts plot, nothing too off the beaten path. The goal was to create a story that would be reasonable to imagine happening in an actual Kingdom Hearts game, with some personal liberty of course.
One of my favorite aspects of the Kingdom Hearts series is the attention to detail in each cutscene, especially when it comes to facial expressions. My writing tries to reflect that by describing a character's actions and expressions in great detail. The goal is that while reading my work, you can picture what's happening as if it were an in-game cutscene. In the games, scenes often depict various characters and situations, rather than exclusively focusing on the protagonist. This is the reasoning behind using a third person omniscient perspective, rather than third person limited to Sora.
Though some people mock it, another of my favorite aspects of the Kingdom Hearts series is how cryptic and confusing the plot can be. The reason, I think, is because it reminds me of the mysticism associated with everything in childhood, back when we understood so little and video games – as well as life – were strange and magical. Obviously, a written story can't quite be as esoteric as the Kingdom Hearts plot can be, because it would drive readers insane. However, I still try to mimic the mysticism and mumbo jumbo talk that characterizes Kingdom Hearts, but in a way that is more understandable and tolerable, hopefully.
This story will be canon-compliant up until the 3DS version of Dream Drop Distance. I haven't played Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, so I don't know the story of Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover, 0.2: Birth by Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage, or the extra secret endings added to the HD version of Dream Drop Distance. I'm waiting to experience those stories spoiler-free once I can buy a PS4. Also, I'm not going off of anything seen in the trailers for Kingdom Hearts 3, since it hasn't released and technically isn't "canon" yet. Nevertheless, I might take inspiration from them, such as Sora's KH3 outfit. Once KH3 comes out, however, my story will obviously no longer be canon.
Once I play 2.8, I will probably go back and edit a few things or add in more chapters if necessary, but I'm not going to change the entire story. Square Enix has gotten away with some ridiculous retcon in the Kingdom Hearts storyline, so in the same vein, I'll make up something that ties everything together without having to redo the plot.
I first became interested in the series when I watched speedruns of Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2 during Games Done Quick. Eventually, I became curious about the story and read up summaries of each games plot. I basically spoiled the entire series before realizing how much I liked the games and how much I would have wanted to experience them myself.
The first Kingdom Hearts game I ever played, believe it or not, was 358/2 Days, though I still haven't finished it. The first game I completed was actually Re:Coded, followed recently by Dream Drop Distance and Kingdom Hearts 1. Right now I'm working on finishing 358/2 Days, Re:Chain of Memories, and Kingdom Hearts 2. I'm even playing the mobile game, Kingdom Hearts Union χ Cross, as well. Though I haven't finished Kingdom Hearts 2 myself, I've watched the cutscene compilation on YouTube so many times that I could probably recite the entire plot by memory. In the case of Birth by Sleep, however, I only know the basic summary and haven't watched the cutscenes or played the game, nor have I seen Blank Points. This overview should give you a general idea of which games I am most familiar with and the perspective from which I write.
The main point to note is that this story incorporates nearly every Kingdom Hearts game. Consequently, basic knowledge of each games plot would be best to understand allusions and slight nuances, though it is certainly not necessary to follow along with the story.
Thank you for reading this rather lengthy preface. Please let me know how you feel about my story – any constructive criticism or comments are greatly appreciated!