A/N: This story takes place post-KH3, and I'll explain how and why in the story. I just want these kids to be happy, for God's sake! Is that so hard to ask?
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney in any way, shape, or form!
FYI: The characters' surnames that were chosen are all the surnames their Japanese voice actors have. Also, the scenes in present tense (i.e. is/are) are happening in real time, while the scenes written in past tense (i.e. was/were) are flashbacks. Some of you may be confused as to what's going on, but the last scene will hopefully explain things well.
Also, this story is purely meant for group bonding, so pairings aren't really the main focus. That means that you all can pair whoever with whoever. Just keep in mind that Sora and Kairi still shared that paopu fruit in this story.
!~~~K~I~N~G~D~O~M~~H~E~A~R~T~S~~~!
Destiny's Embrace
"It's always about your friends, isn't it?"
"At least I have some! I've become a part of their heart, just as they've become a part of mine. My friends are my power...and I'm theirs!" – Vanitas and Ventus, Birth by Sleep
Kairi knows something's off when she wakes up to a dog's tongue licking her face. She knows it's Pluto (she doesn't know any other dog besides him), but according the last thing she remembers, he wasn't with her.
She then wonders what the last thing she remembers actually is, and when nothing comes to mind, she begins to get concerned.
Her eyes open and something else worrisome jumps out at her. This is obviously her room (it's decorated the way she usually does), but she doesn't remember anything being where she left it.
That is her desk, on which she does homework and writes stories, letters, and poems, but it's not by the window. It's her bed that's by the window, so she can fall asleep while looking at the stars.
That is her turtle plushie, the one her father, the mayor, gave to her after the adoption, but she gave it away to a little boy at the homeless shelter two years later. And yet here it is, lying down on the bed next to her head.
That is her Lucky Charm, resting on her bedside table next to her alarm clock, its appearance exactly how she remembers it, except for one little detail. There's no face drawn on it, when there was normally Sora's poorly drawn face.
Kairi looks into the eyes of Pluto, who is wagging his tail around excitedly, and asks, "What's going on, boy? Do you know?"
The only response she gets is heavy panting.
Just then, a knock comes to her door, and it opens, revealing a familiar face. "Morning, Kai. Breakfast is on the table."
His prescence makes Kairi feel a little better, and she asks with hope in her voice, "Axel?"
He immediately imitates a buzzing sound, making her hope disappear. "Wrong. It's Lea. I told you that 'Axel' is just my stage name that the Destiny Islands' theatre troupe gave me. Remember?"
Wait, what? The name 'Axel' was just a stage name? No, it wasn't. It was his name as a Nobody in the Organization.
Wasn't it?
She must look so lost right now, so it doesn't really surprise her when Axel—no, Lea—asks her, "Are you okay, sis? You didn't hit your head, did you? Lose your memory?" Worry is clearly etched in his voice.
'Sis'? Was he her older brother in this weird world?
"I'm fine, Lea," she replies. "I just remember things being different."
"Nope," he shrugs. "Everything's been the same for years. We're the Uchida siblings, I'm your older brother who is also your legal guardian, and Pluto is still our pet dog. Exactly how I remember it. Are you sure you're okay?"
She tries her best to slap on a smile, "I'm fine, really." As she lets him lead her out of her bedroom and to the kitchen, she then decides to change the subject, "So, what's on the schedule for today?"
"Are you serious?" Lea asks, an amused smile inching its way onto his face. Kairi tilts her head in confusion, as the two reach the kitchen. As they sit at the table, he answers, "Today's the first day of school."
Kairi fakes sudden realization, not wanting to worry him any further, "Oh! Of course! How could I forget?"
"That's what I'm wondering too," Lea quips, before continuing, "Don't be nervous. Our cousins will be in your class this time." His voice goes soft, as he attempts to be comforting, "I know Grandma's passing hit you hard, and us moving away from our friends is probably only making it worse, but being closer to our only remaining family is the main reason we moved."
Kairi is about to ask who their cousins are, but before she can speak, Lea merely points to the mantle over their fireplace, on which a picture frame sits.
She gets up from her seat at the table and walks over to that picture. She hears him breathe an audible sigh of relief when she mutters their names.
"Naminé...and Xion..."
"Yep," Lea confirms. "Now, hurry up and eat your breakfast, before we're late for school."
!~~D~E~S~T~I~N~Y~'~S~~E~M~B~R~A~C~E~~!
On the walk to school, Kairi feels nothing wrong with her. She can still sense the light and darkness within people's hearts, and she can still feel her ability to summon a Keyblade. Nothing's changed in that aspect, and the Destiny Islands (this current town) is still the Destiny Islands she knows and grew up with.
The only two differences she can see are that all the worlds that were once separate (according to her brand new geography book) are now combined into one, and that there's nothing to summon her Keyblade on. Everything's completely peaceful here.
But she keeps a keen eye out for any villains that may have brought her here, just in case.
From the outside, hers and Lea's new high school is pretty big, but inside, it's even bigger. When they are given their schedules for this year, they are also given a map, to which Kairi suspects is a smart move on the faculty's part, because it seems so easy to get lost here if you don't know where you're going.
"Kairi! Lea!" The two redheads turn around, and Kairi breathes a mental sigh of relief when she sees Naminé and Xion running towards them. The two look, and clearly act, here the same as they normally do.
The four all share a short hug. When they break it up, Naminé says, "I see you two already got your schedules."
"Yep," Lea replies.
"Can we see yours, Kairi?" Xion asks. "You, me, and Naminé are all Sophomores. Let's see if we have any of the same classes."
Kairi shows their two cousins her schedule, the top line of which states her name: 'Kairi Uchida'. Naminé and Xion respond by showing her theirs. Like hers, the schedules have their names written on them, and it tells Kairi their surnames: 'Nakahara'. Naminé and Xion have the same surname, so Kairi assumes it's because, in this weird world (or illusion, whatever it is), they're twins.
However, something catches her attention. Xion's name, as indicated by her schedule, is not spelled as 'Xion', but as 'Shion'.
Kairi was told that the X in the Organization XIII's members' names were part of Xehanort's Recusant's Sigil, as a means for Xehanort and all of his incarnations to keep an eye on certain people. Sora was marked with it during his Mark of Mastery exam. The 'X' in Xion's name, the one in Roxas' name, and the one in Lea's former name 'Axel' all served the same purpose.
So, the fact that Xion's name was spelled as 'Shion', without the X, tells Kairi a lot. It tells her that Xehanort either doesn't exist in this world, or he does and he's just not in power anymore (yet, but she doesn't want to think about that).
But Kairi places all of this in the back of her mind. She's just glad that Xion, or rather Shion, can live out the normal life she's always wanted.
"Aww," Shion pouts. "Naminé and I are in the same homeroom, but Kairi's not."
"At least she still has lunch and the last three periods with us," Naminé offers, trying to be optimistic.
"True," Shion replies. "But still. Kairi's new. Who's going to show her to her homeroom if the three of us are in different ones?"
As if on cue, two familiar voices reach Kairi's ears.
"What's this about being in different homerooms?" Someone drapes an arm around Shion's shoulders. Kairi immediately feels a blush come to her face when she lays her eyes on this person.
Sora.
(She wonders if he can feel the same connection that she can, the one strengthened by the paopu fruit they shared, who knows how long ago.)
And sure enough, wherever Sora is, Roxas is sure to be there too. In fact, he's the one who leans an elbow on Naminé's shoulder (who is visibly flustered by this).
The friendly banter these four share in this moment makes Kairi realize that they've been good friends, at the very least, for quite a while now.
Roxas nods his head (on top of which rests a beanie) towards Kairi, "Is this the cousin you were talking about, Nami?"
Naminé's face is red as she nods, "Mm-hmm."
Shion, seeing her twin's (understandable) predicament, speaks up, "Sora, Roxas, this is our cousin, Kairi Uchida. Kairi, these two are Sora and Roxas, the Irino twins."
Kairi doesn't need this introduction. She already knows who they are, but her mind keeps going back to this morning with Lea. She's the only one in this world who remembers things being different, some small (like Shion's name being spelled differently) and some big (like how all the worlds she's been to are now one). Keeping that in mind might be in her best interest, so she chooses to play along with her supposed role of the 'new kid'.
This also tells Kairi the reason her Lucky Charm has no face on it. It's because, in this world, she hasn't met Sora yet.
Shion turns back to Sora, "We were talking about homerooms, because Kairi has a different one that we do."
Roxas lightly winces, "Oh, that's an hour of being lost."
"Exactly!" Shion replies, grateful that someone understands.
"Is Kairi a Sophomore?" Sora asks. Shion nods, and takes Kairi's schedule from the redhead, as Sora brings out his. Kairi smiles when Sora also starts pouting, "Aww, I also have a different homeroom. I'm stuck with Shion and Naminé."
Shion fakes offense to this, jokingly asking him, "What's that supposed to mean? Are you insinuating that my sister and I are not good enough company for you?"
Sora doesn't know how to answer, and Shion starts laughing.
Roxas takes his schedule out of his pocket and starts comparing it to Kairi's, "Worry no longer, Shi. Kairi and I have the first four periods together."
"Oh, thank goodness!" Shion finally breathes a sigh of relief, as Roxas takes Kairi's schedule from her cousin.
He hands it back to her, saying, "I believe this is yours."
Kairi curtseys, "Thank you. So, I just follow you?"
"For your first four periods," Roxas explains. "Sora will be joining us for periods three and four. We'll all meet up for lunch together, and your last three periods will be spent with Shion and Naminé, with Sora, again, joining you for periods six and seven. So, you'll be spending a decent amount of time with all four of us."
Kairi smiles. The last she wants right now is to be all alone. Especially in this strange world, where she's the only one who remembers all kinds of different things being the norm.
(She also briefly wonders if they know they can summon Keyblades too.)
Sora's next comment brings her back to reality, "I'm surprised that the faculty let Roxas and me have two periods together, let alone one. They know how much trouble we can cause, don't they?"
"Well, compare last year's five periods, to this year's mere two," Naminé points out.
Shion adds, "So yes, they've learned their lesson."
Sora and Roxas both chuckle at this. Kairi adds in a giggle, mainly because she's amused, but also because Sora is still Sora, and Roxas is still Roxas, and the two are still as close as they were before this.
Sora lets his laugh die down before he turns to Kairi, "Don't worry, Kairi. If you need anything from any of us, don't be afraid to ask."
"Thank you," she replies. "I'll keep that in mind."
Shion jumps in, "By the way, Kairi, if you're wondering why Roxas is wearing a beanie, it's because he wants to hide his roots in case his real brunette hair starts showing again."
"Excuse you, Shion," Roxas apparently takes offense to this. "I'm a natural blonde! I wear beanies because I like wearing them!"
As he says this, Kairi clearly sees Sora shaking his head, clearly indicating that, despite what Roxas says, both Irino twins are brunette. She starts laughing.
As she does so, she notes that it feels good and liberating to laugh without any worries. She starts to wonder why, since this is a fairly peaceful world. So why is she feeling like she just got freed from prison?
A flurry of footsteps cuts off their conversation. The five Sophomores turn in time to see Ventus hug Sora.
"Always with the hugs, Ven," Sora comments, as he returns the gesture.
"Sorry, I'm just glad to see my cousins," Ventus replies, before dragging Roxas into the same hug.
"Don't suffocate them," comes Vanitas' voice. Kairi is mildly surprised at his appearance. She's heard stories about Vanitas, most from Ven, Aqua, and Terra, so she knows that looking like Sora was something that shocked them all, but this is her first time actually seeing his face.
"I'm not!" Ventus insists.
"Then, let go of them," Vanitas shoots back.
"No!"
Speaking of Terra, his voice sounds next, "Both of you, stop fighting."
Ventus nods, but Vanitas doesn't, "Excuse you. You're not our dad. You're our cousin."
"And your legal guardian," Terra adds. "Both of you, behave yourselves."
Naminé is the one who introduces these three to Kairi, softly explaining, "Ventus and Vanitas are the Uchiyama twins, and the cousins of Sora and Roxas. They're, uh...rather infamous, well known for not being able to get along. Terra, on the other hand, is Sora and Roxas' older brother, and probably the only one in that family who has any common sense."
Roxas hears her, "Hey," and fakes a pout. She merely smiles at him, and he can't help but return that smile with one of his own.
Lea's been fairly quiet up until this point, clearly content with watching his little sister, seeing her make new friends, and making sure she's okay. So, the fact that he steps in front of her now tells her that he doesn't trust one of the three people that just arrived.
"What's wrong, Lea?" Kairi asks.
Lea ignores her, and instead points to Vanitas, "You. I don't trust you, especially not around my sister. You do anything to hurt her, and you will answer to me."
And Kairi knows that he means it. Lea's a force to be reckoned with. To be fair, they all are, all in different ways. But she knows first-hand at how protective Lea can be, and for a good reason (even if that reason is longer the reason in this world).
"Calm down, Lea," Kairi steps in. "He hasn't even said a word to me, yet." She turns to Vanitas with a gentle smile, "Hello, Vanitas. My name is Kairi. I'm new here. It's a pleasure to meet you."
To her surprise, Vanitas genuinely smiles, "Thank you. It's nice to meet you too, Princess. I hope you like it here. Everybody here has their idiot moments, but that doesn't mean they don't have good hearts."
Kairi smiles. Vanitas' heart is still filled with darkness, but it doesn't feel threatening to her. It feels more like Riku's, comfortable, for both the user and for others. This tells Kairi that Vanitas is no longer a bad guy, just someone who wants to live out a normal life like everybody else.
And Kairi is more than happy to let that happen. The least she can do for him is be nice.
Lea sends her a fake 'betrayed' look, as Ventus finally releases Sora and Roxas and walks over to Kairi. The share a handshake as he says, "Hello, Kairi. Pleasure to meet you. I'm Ventus. That big loveable lug over there is Terra."
Before Kairi can say anything else, another familiar face (or two) walks up and asks, "What's going on?"
"RIKU!"
Kairi giggles as Sora suddenly jumps on the newcomer, immediately wrapping him in a hug.
"Sora," Riku quietly says, "we saw each other Saturday. That was two days ago."
It seems that, no matter which world she's in, Sora will always be Sora, and Riku will always be Riku. This makes her feel loads better.
"Who cares?" Sora asks. "Best friends don't!"
"Hey, Riku!" Shion greets, a light blush on her face.
"Hello, Shion," Riku replies with a smile, in the midst of Sora's tight hug.
"Anyways," a mini-Riku starts talking from beside him, "what's all the buzz about over here?"
"Well, Miyanos," Vanitas is the one who answers, "it seems like there's a new kid here."
"Is there?" the mini-Riku asks, and Kairi waves at him with a smile. "Oh, there is. Hi, I'm Mamoru. This is my older brother Riku. It's nice to meet you."
Kairi suddenly remembers Riku telling her about a place called Castle Oblivion, and someone he met there the Organization members there all called 'Riku Replica'. She remembers Naminé confirming this story, and both her and Riku wishing that Riku Replica had a chance at a normal life too, but he ended up sacrificing his one chance for a replica body so Naminé could have it instead.
Like Shion and Vanitas, Kairi is glad that Riku Replica has a fair chance now.
"What am I? Invisible?" Lea asks. "I'm a new kid too."
"Maybe you're just not interesting enough," Kairi teases, which is the normal relationship between her and Lea. The two love to tease each other, but in the end, they were friends and a great tag-team.
Lea starts pinching her cheek in a loving older brother type of way, "Say that again, I dare you."
"Don't you all have a class to get to?" comes Aqua's voice. Sure enough, there she is, with Isa right beside her.
"That's Aqua Toyoguchi," Naminé whispers to Kairi, "a role model for most girls here. The man beside her is her brother Isa Sato. He's adopted, but you'd never know that just from a first impression."
So far, Kairi has realized that the Guardians had remained the same, with the same names, same personalities, and same visual appearances (at least, their eyes, hair, and height). The only changes between them all is their relationships. Some are related when they originally weren't.
Terra greets Aqua with a side-hug. "Terra," she fondly greets.
Meanwhile, Lea greets Isa with a friendly shoulder punch. "Oh, yes," Isa comments, "I forgot you were coming here as well."
"You say that like our childhood friendship means nothing to you," Lea fakes a pout.
Nothing new there, Kairi realizes. Lea and Isa are still childhood friends.
"Now, now, Aqua's right," Mamoru says, clearly the only Freshman here. "I'm going to go find my class before I get lost."
"Behave," Riku calls after him, as the younger of the two Miyano siblings leave. mamoru simply waves it off as he gets farther and farther down the hall.
"We should go too," Ventus says. "All Juniors, let's head out."
"Do we have to?" Vanitas asks, already exhausted, as he and Riku follow Ventus down the hall to their classes.
"Let's go," Terra says to Aqua, Isa, and Lea. "We have a new classmate too, after all."
Before Lea turns to leave with the other Seniors, he turns to Kairi one final time, "If you need anything from me, anything at all, then don't be afraid to text me, even if it's during class."
Kairi resists the temptation to roll her eyes, mostly because it's obvious that he's still concerned about this morning. She instead says, "I told you. I'll be fine."
She then turns around to leave with the other four Sophomores.
As the five walk down the hallway to their two separate classrooms, Sora comments, "I think that's the first time we all had a decent conversation in weeks."
This catches Kairi's attention, "What do you mean?"
Shion explains, "That's right. You and Lea are new, so neither of you know. We've all been friends ever since elementary school, but this is the first conversation we've had in at least twenty weeks that has not involved a legitimate argument in some way."
Roxas and Naminé nod, adding weight to Sora and Shion's statements.
Interesting, so the fighting stopped when Kairi and Lea came into the picture? Was it because the Guardians were now complete?
!~~D~E~S~T~I~N~Y~'~S~~E~M~B~R~A~C~E~~!
As soon as school on her first day lets out, Kairi gains the phone numbers of Sora and Roxas and is added to their rather extensive group of friends. She's not really surprised that Lea has been a part of this group for some time now, even before the two moved here. He did say he was childhood friends with Isa, after all.
She quickly forgets the strangeness of that first morning, even if Lea remembers, and she immediately finds herself settling in. It's probably because she has friends to help her, but it also might be because of something else.
It's at least two weeks before she remembers that there could be a reason she's here at all, whether it's becomes someone placed her here or something else.
They're all at the Irino house for a study date that Saturday, with all their pets having a play date themselves. Pluto now has friends in the Irinos' pet ducks (named Donald and Daisy) and own dog (named Goofy) and the Miyanos' pet mice (named Mickey and Minnie). The room is peaceful and fairly quiet. There are some people talking, helping each other with homework, mostly Aqua helping Sora with his math homework.
Vanitas has just finished his reading for this week and is teaching Mamoru how to play basketball, so the latter has a chance to get on the team when the tryouts arrive later this year.
"How did you side-step me so quickly?" Mamoru asks.
"Oh, the fake-out trick?" Vanitas asks. "It just takes lots of practice."
For some reason, the word 'fake-out' stands out to her, and it won't leave her head, not even after it's time for everybody to leave and go home.
The dream she has that night shakes her up since it feels more like something that actually happened rather than a normal dream (or nightmare).
!~~D~E~S~T~I~N~Y~'~S~~E~M~B~R~A~C~E~~!
The Guardians of Light and their allies were all on the shores of Destiny Islands, celebrating the downfall of their greatest enemy, Xehanort. It was originally Sora's idea, but everybody else quickly agreed to it, and since Destiny Islands' had the best beaches in the universe, it fell on Sora, Kairi, and Riku to set it up.
On the play island, Riku had set up a firepit where they could grill their hamburgers and hotdogs, and had also brought the plates and eating utensils. Sora had brought some games they could play and his mom's famous (read, delicious) homemade cookies. Kairi, meanwhile, had prepared a special surprise.
Paopu fruit ice cream, all made from the same, single fruit, made by Kairi herself.
It was a symbol of them all being linked together, platonically or otherwise, and indeed her idea, and Sora and Riku had quickly agreed to it. Long hours had been poured into this creation, and Kairi was proud of it.
No expense was spared on this celebration. This was a party, and they were going all out. They deserved this, all of them did. They had all chosen the beach, the one place where land, sea, and sky all met, as a symbol of them all moving on their past pain and traumas, a symbol of looking towards the future.
One by one, the other groups came, each of them bringing something (food or something to do) to contribute. Terra, Lea, and Isa started helping Riku with the firepit once they arrived. Ven, Xion, and Mickey helped Sora plan some games. Aqua and Naminé had helped Kairi dish out the paopu ice cream into sundaes.
"The purpose of this party is not to be pessimistic and look back on our past mistakes," Sora said, once everyone had arrived. "It's to be optimistic and look towards the future. So, everybody enjoy themselves, and if you have a problem, don't keep it inside. We're all in this together. From now on, our hearts are all connected. No one has to be alone again."
They were warm and comforting words, and very fitting coming from Sora, the one who once held four separate hearts in his own.
They had all just finished their sundaes made by Kairi (yes, she told them what fruit she made them with and why) when the sky suddenly turned dark. At first, they thought it was a storm, and Riku said that if it started to rain, they could all easily hide and wait out the storm in the Secret Place.
But Kairi quickly stopped them, her heart somehow sensing danger, just like the fateful night that Destiny Islands fell to the darkness. "It's not a storm," she said.
Just as Terra asked her what she meant, a wave of darkness suddenly rushed out of the Secret Place, where the Keyhole was, knocking them all off their feet.
Kairi was the first one on her feet, as she could finally sense a darkness they all thought was long dead at this point.
She summoned Destiny's Embrace, only for the mythical X-Blade to break it in half not even a second later. The same strike forced her to fall back, a slash down her chest.
"KAIRI!" sounded multiple concerned voices.
She saw the others summon their weapons when they recognized the person standing over a now injured Kairi.
"Xehanort!" Sora growled out.
And Kairi wondered if Xehanort faked his own demise at the Guardians' hands just to catch them off-guard later.
!~~D~E~S~T~I~N~Y~'~S~~E~M~B~R~A~C~E~~!
Kairi wakes up the next morning, and the first thing she does is sit up and feel her chest for an open wound there. The dream had felt so real that she's almost convinced that it really just happened.
She breathes a confused sigh of relief when she feels neither open wound, nor scar.
!~~D~E~S~T~I~N~Y~'~S~~E~M~B~R~A~C~E~~!
She doesn't tell anybody about her nightmare. She dares not to. She remembers how worried Lea was that very first morning, over the simple fact over her recalling things differently. She can't imagine how worried he'd be if he ever found out about her seemingly very normal nightmare.
Besides, they might not understand.
She tries to push it to the back of her mind, and it almost works. She nearly forgets about it until her sixth period English class a week after Halloween. Their teacher is lecturing today about William Shakespeare, and how nearly all his plays end in tragedy.
Just like the first time, the word 'tragedy' sticks with her and won't go away, not even after she goes home after school.
Once again, that night, sleep consists of a dream that never once feels like a dream, nor a nightmare, but reality.
!~~D~E~S~T~I~N~Y~'~S~~E~M~B~R~A~C~E~~!
Kairi wondered if Xehanort faked his own demise at the Guardians' hands just to catch them off-guard later.
"Xehanort!" Sora growled out in anger. "I thought we defeated you!"
"Yes," came the old man's raspy voice. "That is what you all indeed thought. Well, you thought wrong."
Kairi could only watch the following go down, helpless to do anything that resembled help.
"What will it take to beat you down once and for all?!" Roxas demanded, and Kairi agreed with his statement and especially how he said it. He was probably the only Guardian that openly let his anger show the second something made him angry.
"Nothing," Xehanort's smug grin suddenly lowered into a glare. He was here for revenge against them all. "Nothing will keep me from claiming Kingdom Hearts."
Sora was the first to attack, and he did so while enraged, as well as desperate to get to Kairi. But he was also the next Guardian to go down.
Xehanort was relentless, and Kairi couldn't do anything to help. She would only watch as, one by one, the other Guardians soon followed Sora in defeat.
The last ones were Aqua and Terra, and together, they managed to put up a decent fight, but even they too fell by Xehanort's hands. It was during this that Kairi to find enough strength to crawl over to where Sora lay, ever so slowly, and try to shake him away.
"Sora...Sora, wake up..." Kairi muttered, her hands stained with blood, and not just her blood.
Sora's too.
Seeing this, she shook him harder in desperation. "Sora, please."
He didn't respond. Only then did the realization hit her.
Aqua and Terra's bodies each fell to the sand next to the others with their own thuds, sounds that snapped Kairi back to reality.
"Now, it's just you, Princess," Xehanort growled. "Let your heart of pure light clash against my darkness and then, we'll see who can claim Kingdom Hearts once and for all."
Sora was gone. He was dead, and so was everybody else.
Everyone else except her.
Their party had turned into a waking nightmare...
!~~D~E~S~T~I~N~Y~'~S~~E~M~B~R~A~C~E~~!
Kairi wakes up the next morning severly shaken up, moreso than the first time. She understands why, because what she saw this time was indeed a 'tragedy'. Her heart beats loud and hard as she tries to sort through what that was.
Whichever universe that Kairi belonged to had gone through utter and absolute hell. She had to watch her friends and family die, in the most brutal way possible. That man had built them up only to tear them all down.
Wherever that Kairi was now, this world's Kairi just hopes that she's in a place where she doesn't have to feel any more pain.
!~~D~E~S~T~I~N~Y~'~S~~E~M~B~R~A~C~E~~!
Again, Kairi tells no single soul about her nightmares. At this point, it's more for her own sanity than anything else, and it's also because she still thinks they won't understand.
She doesn't forget this time (if she did, she'd consider herself a horrible person), but she does manage to push it to the back of her mind and live her life as normally as possible.
It's the day before Winter Break starts when something new in this mystery develops, something that shakes her very core.
The group is in the audience of a play that the theatre troupe Lea is in has worked on since August, when school first started. Roxas, Isa, Shion, Mamoru, and Naminé are also in this group, and they call themselves the 'Organization'.
The Organization Kairi knows is made up of misguided hearts that Xehanort corrupted. This Organization is just a group of wonderful people with a love and talent for acting.
The play is called 'The Caged Bird' and it's about a Princess (played by Naminé) who escapes her castle thanks to the help of her two person knights (played by Roxas and Shion) and finds that the real world isn't as her abusive stepparents have claimed it was. In fact, she makes friends with the kingdom's outlaws (played by the rest of the group), who even try to help her bring down her abusive stepparents.
Now, they've come to the part after the climax. The stepparents have been defeated (though not killed; kids are watching this, after all) and punished accordingly, and now the Princess is now having second thoughts, unsure that she completely erase the damage her stepparents have done to her beloved kingdom.
"What's wrong?" Ienzo's character asks. "We have won."
Naminé's character simply hangs her head, Naminé herself doing a fantastic job conveying the princess's insecurities, "I suppose it's just me. My wicked stepfather has done damage to this kingdom, damage that I am not sure I can fix."
Elrena's character then says, "Don't feel so down, Your Highness. Erase it, then rewrite it. And don't worry, we'll be at your side the entire way."
Naminé's character smiles, and to be honest, Kairi hardly remembers what the narrator's ending speech was after that. She's just thankful that it's the end of the play.
Because like the last two times, the words 'erase it, then rewrite it' stick with her and refuse to leave. But unlike the last two times, the nightmare doesn't come when she's asleep.
This time, it comes almost right away, when she least expects it.
She's in the lobby when she feels a pressure on her consciousness. Her body starts going numb as the colors she sees all around sudden swirl around and combine to make the color black.
It's only when she wakes up that she understands why this one came so fast.
!~~D~E~S~T~I~N~Y~'~S~~E~M~B~R~A~C~E~~!
Sora and Riku were dead, gone for good. So were Roxas, Xion, and Lea. Isa. Naminé. Aqua, Terra, and Ventus. Even King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. Everybody.
And she was the last one standing, all because Xehanort needed her to claim complete ownership over Kingdom Hearts.
Kairi's entire body shook, a part of her refusing to believe it, the other part of her enraged.
"Get up and fight, Princess," Xehanort urged. "It's the only way to save you from your pain."
Her voice was quiet as she asked, "Why do you want Kingdom Hearts so badly...that you're willing to kill a bunch of kids just to get it? How desperate are you?"
Xehanort's voice was also soft, but while hers was clearly filled with rage, his held a tone of sorrow and longing, "A long time ago, I made a mistake that cost people I cared about their lives." He turned his back to her, perhaps to grieve without her watching or to trick her, she didn't know. "Eventually, I learned about Kingdom Hearts, the heart of all worlds, and that whoever gains full control over it is given the power to rewrite the very fabric of reality itself. As a Princess of Heart, you can given anyone access to that power."
If that was true, then there was a possibility that she could give that access to herself...right?
It was worth a shot.
While he said this, she grabbed Sora's Kingdom Key (with his blood staining the handle) and her first strike was repaying the favor.
She shot a Firaga spell at his back. He immediately stumbled, and when forced to his knees, he finally looked behind him, only to see an incensed Kairi, with a murderous look on her face.
With part of his back still burning, she ignored her own injuries and charged at him. This time, she held back nothing. The need to avenge her friends—her family—had completely replaced her insecurities. She moved fast and hit hard, her light and magic still precise and true, but stronger than before. And she made sure not to let him get a single solid hit in.
She would never forgive herself if she let her guard down now.
Eventually, Kairi finally landed the final strike, and Xehanort dropped the X-blade onto the sand below before falling to his knees.
"No! I will not fall here!" He tried to stand back up, but he failed, only falling back down. "I refuse to lose!"
"Accept it," Kairi coldly told him, de-summoning Sora's Kingdom Key. "You'll feel better."
He wisely chose not to say anything. This was her payback, and she was finally getting it after all this time.
This allowed Kairi to continue, her voice still dangerously quiet, "Don't try blaming anybody else for this. You're the one who likes to mess with people's fates. I won't give you the chance to escape your punishment this time by dying. This time, I'm letting you live just so you can see yourself fail."
Xehanort didn't have to ask what she meant. She trusted him to already know (which was probably the only thing she trusted him about).
Kairi's injuries had grown worse during the fight, but she forced herself to limp over to where the X-Blade was lying in the sand, no matter how bad the limp was.
The X-Blade began to glow the moment she picked it up, and she knew she had done it.
She had claimed Kingdom Hearts, and she knew why.
It had chosen he, and the reason why was because she had not taken a single life nor did she destroy worlds or alter fates. Xehanort had destroyed lives and worlds by altering fates, so there was never any chance that Kingdom Hearts would ever respond to him.
Kairi turned to face Xehanort, making sure he was watching, as she lifted the X-Blade straight into the air. A strong beam of light (probably her last) shot from the tip of the blade into the sky above.
The dark clouds faded, revealing the sun, and beam of light sooned turned the entire sky to a bright white that Xehanort shielded his eyes from, but Kairi welcomed.
If Xehanort had just stayed quiet and had given up on Kingdom Hearts, then she'd reconsider. But he had to kill all of her friends, and made Kairi watch as he did so. That was the last mistake Xehanort would ever make, and it would be the last time Kairi ever had to deal with him.
She was erasing this universe, and then rewriting it, not to Xehanort's preferences, but her own.
Most of the Guardians had barely gotten over their trauma or got to live normal lives, and this was her primary motivation right now. She was going to give everyone a second chance at living, and a normal life at that, which none of them got thanks to him.
Even if it killed her...
!~~D~E~S~T~I~N~Y~'~S~~E~M~B~R~A~C~E~~!
Kairi's not dead, fortunately, since she wakes up in a cold sweat six hours later in the hospital, but she may as well be, because she understands everything now, and she wishes she didn't.
"Kairi? You're awake!" comes Lea's relieved voice. His smile fades, however, when she looks into his eyes, a shocked and traumatized look in her eyes. "Kairi? What's wrong?"
She can only shake her head, because she can't believe it.
The Kairi she thought was another universe's iteration of her is this universe's iteration of her.
She's the one who had to watch all of her friends die, while she couldn't do anything to help.
This is not a world designed to trap her. This is a world that she alone created.
Lea is rightfully worried for the next one and a half hours, but doesn't ask her about what's bothering her. Not even once. Most likely because he can tell she is upset and needs time, even if he doesn't know why.
One hour and thirty-two minutes later, the doctor returns and tells them the reason Kairi passed out, and Kairi barely pays any attention to what he has to say. The man chalks the reason up to severe dehydration and encourages Kairi to drink a lot more water from now on.
It's obvious that Lea doesn't believe him, but he wisely chooses not to say anything. Lea can only drive Kairi home, where words spoked aloud become quite scarce in the days that follow.
!~~D~E~S~T~I~N~Y~'~S~~E~M~B~R~A~C~E~~!
If you had talked to Kairi before she entered that theatre, she would have said that she was excited for Winter Break. However, it you talked to her now, a week into Winter Break, she would say that school should be in session right now.
It's true. Just being at home, having nothing to do, is not doing her any favors right now.
Although, to be fair, if she was in school, she doubts she'd be paying any attention. All she's doing is lying on her bed all day, not speaking, only thinking and trapped with her own thoughts, but that's all she wants to do, what she feels like doing.
Lea brings food to her when it's time for her to eat. At first, she doesn't eat anything, but as the fourth day comes and goes, she starts eating a little bit. He also tells her about news and turns of events when there are any.
It's through his daily news deliveries that she knows that the others know only what Lea knows, and that they too are concerned.
Kairi doesn't blame any of them. At this point, she too is worried about herself. She wants to talk to them, but she fears things will only get worse because they won't believe her or understand. That's the only reason she refuses to leave her room.
Today is the seventh day of Winter Break, officially marking it as a week since she found out the truth.
Her door is open, so she can hear Lea speak frantically to their friends over Zoom, "Guys, please help me. She still won't talk. I don't know what to do."
She doesn't hear what the others have to say, because Pluto comes through the door in that moment and steals her attention.
The dog jumps up on the bed and curls up next to her resting form, before laying his head on her stomach. Kairi finally manages a smile, even if it's too small to be properly seen.
"Thanks, Pluto," she softly comments. He can obviously sense how depressed she is. She then holds out her hand out into the air, again. She's done this every now and then all week, at least three times a day, and it always comes to her, but part of her still can't believe that it proves her nightmares to be reality.
The Kingdom Key, the Keyblade she had the moment before this universe was created, flashes into her hand, like it has been since she tried. She still can't believe it answers to her now. The thought if the others can summon their Keyblades too flashes into her mind, but this time, she answers her own question.
Something (the Kingdom Hearts she controls, perhaps) tells her that she's the only one now. Good thing that she made this world peaceful and balanced, right?
She de-summons it before turning back to Pluto, and she's interested immediately when the dog starts wagging his tail, as if happy or excited.
"Pluto..." she softly asks, re-summoning the Kingdom Key as she sat up on her bed, "do you recognize this Keyblade?"
Pluto barks once, his tail still wagging. Kairi understands Pluto well enough to know that this is his way of saying 'yes' (a byproduct of being a Princess of Heart was hearing animals talk). This is the first time she's summoned the Keyblade in front of anyone, let alone an animal. So, if Pluto recognizes it, that means he still remembers his past life.
"Pluto," Kairi is fighting against the hope, "did you know the truth...this entire time?"
Pluto barks again.
Translation: 'Since day one.'
And Kairi feels herself breathing a huge sigh of relief. Finally! Someone she can talk to. Someone who may have answers or advice.
"The others are the exact same people, aren't they?" Kairi asks him, de-summoned the Keyblade once again. "They just don't remember anything."
Pluto barks again. This means 'yes'.
Kairi lowers her gaze to her bedsheets, "They're lucky. I think it's better that they don't remember." She looks back to Pluto, whose tail has stopped wagging and a pout on his face. He's sad again, because she is. "Do you think I should tell them?"
Pluto's stern gaze hides a deeper meaning. 'What do you think?' A rhetorical question.
Kairi grimly smiles, "Of course you'd say that. But I don't know how. I mean, they're all convinced that we've always lived like this. They have no memory of going to a beach party, only to die to Xehanort's hand before they could realize that he had faked his own death just to get the jump on us."
Pluto tilts his head, clearly thinking, before using his teeth to grab something on her dresser. Something she's not expecting him to grab.
Her Lucky Charm.
Of course! Kairi's smile grows wider. It's something that she hasn't shown anyone but herself and to Pluto in this version of the universe. They don't know it exists, but their past selves do, and they are especially familiar with the fruit it's based on. That should be enough to jog their memory. They did just have ice cream made from a single paopu fruit before the ambush, after all.
If that paopu fruit did work on all of them, if it did reply to platonic relationships too, then it would help restore their memories.
But there's just one little problem.
"Hold on, Pluto," Kairi reaches into her desk and pulls out her black and brown markers and yellow construction paper. "Give it here. Something's missing."
Like the dutiful and loyal friend he is, Pluto drops it in her lap. He watches as Kairi fills in the missing piece.
Sora's crudely drawn face and crown emblem.
It takes at least five minutes, but eventually Kairi's masterpiece is truly complete. She hands it back to Pluto, saying, "Don't let it break. Remember to bring it back to me."
Pluto's tail starts wagging again, and after he exits the room, Kairi grabs her shower stuff, as that part's long overdue.
!~~D~E~S~T~I~N~Y~'~S~~E~M~B~R~A~C~E~~!
It's three days later, Christmas Day, before anything develops with Lea. He knocks on her door, and waits for her 'it's open' before entering.
"Hey, Kairi, I'm heading out to the Irino's Christmas party," he says. "You don't have to come with—"
He trails when he notices her wardrobe change. She's wearing, not pajamas, but actual clothes fitting for the outside.
"—me if you don't want to..." Lea finishes. "Do you?" He notes her smile is not completely real, but he hasn't seen a smile from her at all in over a week, so he lets it slide.
"I do," she replies. "It's been a while since I've seen our friends. I miss them."
"We miss you too." It's simple, but it's meaningful, and Kairi knows it's true.
"Then, let's go."
Kairi puts her Lucky Charm in her pocket, not caring if Lea's notices or not. To be honest, she just wants a day with her family, all of them. If they bring up their concern for her, she won't lie and instead be completely open and honest, but she doesn't want to bring it up herself. That would only give her more anxiety and stress.
After hooking the leash to Pluto's collar, the two left the house, Lea locking it after they exit. It's while they're walking down the street (the Irino house is not that far from theirs) that Lea finally says something.
"So what's been bothering you?" he asks. "And made you decide to come today?"
This is exactly what she's talking about. And now that he's brought it up, she has to be honest with him. She promised herself she would.
Besides, she has to find out if the legend of the paopu fruit really does work for platonic relationships.
"I don't know if I can tell you," she decides to say.
And then he asks, "Does the name 'Xehanort' have anything to do with it?"
She immediately freezes up, but not because of trauma. No, she's over that by now (otherwise, she wouldn't be outside right now). It's because he somehow remembers the name of their greatest enemy.
So she asks, hope filling her voice, "It depends. Does that name ring any bell for you?"
"Yeah," Lea replies, before explaining, "he's the teacher-turned-criminal that died last summer by suicide by cop. He used to live here, and teach at the very same school we go to now."
And Kairi hangs her head. So much for the legend. For hope.
And then he says, "But the Xehanort I know...has a very different backstory..."
And her hope comes back.
She immediately turns to him, about to ask him about what he knows about that backstory, but she doesn't get a chance to say anything, because this time, he simply raises his hand and softly tells, "Later. Not now."
Kairi closes her mouth. It's a brief conversation, but it plants a small seed of hope in Kairi's heart.
In the very least, perhaps she can get Lea, the Guardian she lives with in this version of the universe, to fully remember. When that happens, then he can help her get the others to remember. And if not, he, at least, can give her someone to talk to who can actually talk back.
!~~D~E~S~T~I~N~Y~'~S~~E~M~B~R~A~C~E~~!
The two redheaded siblings and their pet dog reach the Irino household just five minutes later, and Terra lets them in with a warm smile. As soon as Kairi steps through the door, Sora immediately envelops her in a tight hug.
This is not one of his usual jump-hugs he gives whenever he's excited to see you, Kairi remembers. This is the type of hug he gives you when he's been worried about you. But there's something else about this hug, she realizes.
It's mixed in with the type of hug he gives you when he feels guilty about something, and it involves you somehow. And this intriques her.
What does he feel guilty about?
His hug is comforting, though, and she accepts it, tears coming to her eyes. Eventually, she feels Riku join in, to which her tears react. It's been a long time since she felt any sort of contact from the boys who found her on that beach so long ago, and she feels like an icicle melting against a heated blanket. It feels good, comforting, like she's back home and nothing has changed.
It's only when the others join, one by one—Terra, Aqua, Ven, Naminé, Shion, Roxas, Isa, Lea, and eventually Vanitas and Mamoru too—when the dam finally breaks. Because it reminds her of the reason she rewrote the universe in the first place.
Sora doesn't stop her from sobbing into his shoulder. In fact, this only makes everyone hug her and each other tighter. And now, Kairi finds herself not caring if the others really remember or not, because as long as they support her during this justifiable—and inevitable—break down, she knows she'll be okay.
After a few minutes of this, of tears and bottled-up emotions, of comfort and wordless support, Kairi sniffs and apologizes, "Sorry for ruining your shirt, Sora."
"It's alright," and she believes him. "You did see us all die, so you have a reason to."
This doesn't slip past her, and she looks at him, half-alarmed, half-hopeful, "You remember?"
Sora doesn't meet her eyes. Fortunately, Riku (from behind her) answers for him, and she turns to face him when he speaks up, "We need to talk about that. All of us."
She turns to Lea, realizing that he had let slip the same indication of remembering earlier. He just nods and says, "Let's all sit down."
All thirteen sit down in a large circle, almost all of synchronated with each other.
Lea, understandably, starts it off, "First, I must confess, Kairi, that I overheard you talking to Pluto the other day." She just nods, not really angry. Not this time. "What you said to him didn't just concern me. It actually made me remember things about...that day...that I wasn't aware I had forgotten about."
"That goes for...pretty much all of us," Terra adds. "Except Kairi..."
"Probably because you guys actually died," Vanitas cuts in. To be fair, his voice is soft when he says this.
Lea continues, "Anyways, Pluto walking up to me with your Lucky Charm in his teeth only helped my memories come back quicker. After a moment of reflection, I called Isa."
"Which in turn helped me remember," Isa confesses. "The two of us took Pluto to everyone else's houses. And from there, it caused a chain reaction."
"That day started out so exciting," Naminé whispers. "For all of us. No one expected it...to go so wrong." Roxas grabs her hand and gently squeezes it for comfort.
"It was supposed to be a day where we all put the past behind us," Sora mutters, "and move on towards the future. A day where we would only focus on strengthening our bonds. That's why we chose the beach."
"We had just finished doing just that," Aqua adds, "the paopu ice cream sundaes...when we were ambushed by...by Xehanort."
It suddenly hits Kairi that they too are trying (and struggling) to process the reality of what happened to them.
"The bastard...actually had the nerve," Roxas growls, "to fake his own death..."
"And he used that against us," Shion finishes.
"'Fake-out'," Kairi mutters the first trigger.
"He took down Kairi first," Ventus recalls, "but he left her alive. Why?"
"Later," Kairi urges. "Keep going."
"Then he took us down, one by one," Riku obeys her request, "when we tried to attack him."
"'Tragedy'," Kairi mutters the second trigger.
"Aqua and I were the last ones standing," Terra explains, "and I remember us putting up a decent fight."
"But even we weren't strong enough," Aqua is quiet. "That's when my memory goes blank."
"Mine too," Terra replies. "That makes Kairi the only person who knows what happened afterwards..."
She snuggles closer to Sora, looking for his comfort and support, and in response, he tightens his grasp on her hand. This gives her the courage she needs to speak up, finally.
"He kept me alive...so he could force me to give him access to a power that Kingdom Hearts could give," she solemnly confesses. "He had explained to me that if given complete control over it, then theoretically, that person had the power to rewrite the entire universe if they wanted to. That was what Xehanort was after, so he could correct a fatal mistake he made in his past."
The others are rather surprised when Kairi then lets a smug smile slip onto her face.
"But he severely understimated just how strong our bond was, and that was ultimately his downfall. I won't apologize for being so brutal, because I really do believe that he deserved it. He deserved to stay alive and helplessly watch as I claimed that power before he did, as I rewrote the universe. 'Erase it, then rewrite it'," she says the third and final trigger, before she slowly repeats, "I...rewrote the universe..."
If the others don't believe her when she says this, they don't say anything, but she doesn't blame them. She still can't believe it herself.
Sora sniffs, and she looks up to see tears in his eyes, "And by doing so, you gave us all a second chance at a normal life, especially those who didn't think they were ever going to get one." He's looking straight at Roxas, Naminé, Xion, Mamoru, and Vanitas when he says this. Kairi follows his gaze, just to realize that they're all crying, even the more stoic ones like Isa and Mamoru. Sora continues, "I said before the party started..." he sniffs again, "that the purpose of that party was to look towards the future, and that our hearts were all connected from that point on, that none of us ever had to be alone again. I meant it." Through the plentiful tears in his eyes, he looks towards the pets—to Donald, Goofy, Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, and Pluto—when he says this. "And now we know that, no matter what happens, nothing will ever break the bond we share." He stands up, and after offering Kairi his hand (which she takes), he helps her stand as well.
Kairi finds herself crying as she looks straight into his eyes, and he into hers, as she says, "And no matter what universe we now live in," she too sniffs back her tears, "we will always be together." She and Sora tearfully look at the other just-as emotional Guardians. "All of us."
Another giant group hug was initiated, and this time, when Kairi cried, she knew they were tears of joy.
They were all just happy to be together again.
!~~~K~I~N~G~D~O~M~~H~E~A~R~T~S~~~!
A/N: In case anyone was wondering, yes, Shion is "Xion" and Mamoru is "Repliku" (the one from CoM). The reason for the name changes is because they weren't created by the Organization in this iteration of the universe. And no, I didn't forget Hayner, Pence, and Olette. They're Sophomores too. I just couldn't find a good place to mention them. Also, the phrase "erase it, then rewrite it" is a line from Fullmetal Alchemist's first anime opening theme (the fourth one; awesome song).
I only planned this as a one-shot, but if you have any questions or ideas for future one-shots, go ahead and send me a PM.