FOREWARD
(And a few notes…)

I had planned to put this as a separate chapter, but I note FF's restrictions on using the chapter system for non-story content, so it's been added here instead.

Greetings, lovely readers! Thank you for stopping by to check out my story. I have wanted to write in the Kingdom Hearts space for a long time now, as it is a franchise that I hold very dear to my heart, but it has taken a long time for me to get my head around enough of the lore to really have a solid crack at it.

Whilst the general idea for this story has been bouncing around my head for several years, the final concept was created and outlined in November 2019 – after the release (and multiple play-throughs) of Kingdom Hearts III, but before the official release of Kingdom Hearts re:Mind DLC. Given that this DLC has the potential to confirm and canonise points of Kingdom Hearts lore, this story may therefore contain several points which are, in the grand scheme of things, not wholly true to the universe.

However, if I wait until all the lore is confirmed before I start to write this story it may never get written.

During process of outlining this story, I tried to stay compliant with as much of the available lore as possible. However, as with any fan-authored work, there are some elements of personal interpretation, artistic license and some part of the lore which have been deliberately omitted. This story does not include any reference to the Kingdom Hearts III secret Shibuya ending, and Shibuya will not be a feature of this story.

As with almost every story I have ever tried to write, a simple plot bunny quickly took on a life of its own – helped, of course, by the overwhelming amount of lore, theories and rampant speculation in the fandom. To give you an idea of how large I expect this project to be:

The outline took 4 days to complete, not including preliminary lore research prior to officially starting the outline.

The outline alone is 17,599 words. This does not include supporting notes, summaries and outlines which account for an estimated 2,500 words meaning that this project is already over 20,000 words and counting and I haven't written a single word of the actual story.

Much like the Kingdom Hearts numbered games (1/2/3) focus primarily on Sora, this story will focus primarily on Kairi. My girl was done dirty, and this is my attempt to fix that.

With all that said, I think it's time to get on with the story!

POSTING SCHEDULE

Regrettably I cannot currently confirm a posting schedule. I certainly hope to upload at least once a week, and sooner if possible, however I make no promises. (If you think it's been a while since my last update, leave me a review or send me a DM – sometimes I could use the motivation.)

DISCLAIMER

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the properties, characters, names, places, items or other assets associated with the franchise. These remain the property of their respective owners, license holders or other controllers. I am grateful to the Kingdom Hearts team and associated organisations for their creation of Kingdom Hearts, for without them this story would not exist. This story has been created based on existing established canon lore, numerous fan theories discussed online, and an element of my own imagination. It is in no way designed to be considered canon or an official part of the franchise. This story is being published for entertainment purposes only.

CHAPTER 1 | THE RETURN

The pre-dawn air was warm and gentle, slipping around his ankles and sneaking under the collar of his jacket. The salt stung his nose with a pleasant familiarity as the waves lapped against the sand.

How long had it been since his last visit? Too long, and yet – as always – not long enough. It was painful to come back here without them. Sometimes he wished he could avoid it altogether but fate, as ever, had other plans.

"I can't believe you ever wanted to leave this place."

The tide was out, recently receded, and their bare feet left soggy footprints in their wake as they slowly wandered along the shore. Naminé's eyes were filled with wonder as she stared up at the last of the stars as they were swallowed by the light of the rising sun. Riku huffed a quiet half-laugh.

"Yeah… I can't believe I ever thought of this place as a prison," he murmured. He stared out at the smallest island – their island – his eyes following the curve of the crooked paopu tree. His heart ached painfully, sending tingles through his gut, and he grimaced. "Now I almost wish I'd never left."

"You don't mean that." Her expression was serious but there was a grin tugging at the corner of her lips and her eyes were fixing him with that gaze of hers that said she knew. And she did, perhaps better than any of them. She was right, of course; he would never have appreciated home quite so much if it weren't for everything he'd been through, but he couldn't deny that it hurt not to have them beside him. His gaze drifted to the docks, to the small rowboats that bobbed beside the crooked outcropping. He could practically hear them; her pretending she was too weak to row herself across and him eagerly volunteering.

Naminé's fingers slipped around his wrist and squeezed lightly, pulling him from his thoughts. He nodded his thanks, forcing a smile for her sake. She could see right through it, of course, but sometimes it helped to pretend.

"So," he said as she tucked her hands back in to the pockets of her yellow sundress, "where do you want to go after we've seen the others?" She watched him for a moment, studying him carefully, before she turned her attention out towards the sea.

"I don't know…" she sighed. "Somewhere new. Somewhere we haven't been yet." Riku laughed a little at that, his eyes catching the way she fiddled with the hem of her dress.

"I think we're running out of worlds that we can visit on our own," he answered. "We may need to see if we can sneak Donald away from Daisy for a spell or two to help us blend in." Naminé giggled in to her hand.

"I can't believe he hasn't travelled again. It's been almost three years." She tucked several strands of windswept blonde hair back behind her ear as they started off again, meandering closer to the docks. The tide would be coming in soon; Riku could see it swallowing more of the beach with each wave.

"He blames Daisy. Says she won't let him out of her sight." He paused, feeling a smile pulling at his lips. "I can't say he seems all that disappointed."

"Goofy too. Who knew he had a son? Have you ever met him?"

"Max? Yeah, once or twice in passing. He hangs out with Donald's nephews sometimes." Max was the spitting image of his father, right down to his large eyes and his buck teeth, though his hair was wilder and his limbs lankier. Riku turned to Naminé only to find her several paces behind him, crouched in the foam. Nimble fingers plucked a seashell from the sand and she waited for the tide come back in to wash the silt from its surface. Riku chuckled. "Don't you have enough?" She stood and held the shell towards the lightening sky, examining it from every angle.

"Not like this one," she said. With a satisfied nod she reached for her bag, withdrawing a pouch of shells – one for every beach they'd visited. She added the latest shell to her collection and drew the pouch shut again, storing is securely in her bag alongside her sketchbook and a book of pressed flowers. Both Naminé and Xion had taken to collecting flowers and shells on their travels and trading them whenever their paths crossed. Riku liked to pretend that he didn't know why; that they weren't replacing Sora's lingering memories of violence and darkness and making their own, replacing them with beauty. Riku also liked to ignore that of all the things they could have chosen to collect, they had both chosen things that reminded him – reminded them all – of Kairi.

"We'd better get over to town if we're going to meet the others for breakfast," he said, turning towards the docks and heading for the rowboat Xion had left docked for them. Naminé didn't follow.

"Can… Can we wait a while?" she asked, her voice timid and uncertain. He stopped and turned back to her, waiting for her to continue. "I'd like to watch the sunrise."

The beach on Play Island – the only part of the island that didn't meet the sea in a wall of jagged rock – faced West towards the main islands. With a wave of hillocks and towering trees between them and the Eastern horizon it was perhaps the worst place in all of Destiny Islands to watch the sun come up, but Riku smiled and nodded. Even after three years of freedom, of having her own body and her own voice and her own mind, she was still learning how to look out for her own interests (and who was he to deny such a simple request?).

She was bolstered, no doubt, by the fact that the changing colours of the cloudless sky made for an excellent photo opportunity. As Riku nodded she beamed and rushed forwards, snaring his arm and spinning him around to put the ocean and the sky behind them. She whipped her phone from her bag and leant her head on his shoulder with a smile.

"Say 'cheese'!"

Naminé's phone was filled with pictures. Some were of great monuments, like the golden gates of Olympus or the glistening ice castle in Arrendale. Others focused on the beauty of the moment, such as Corona's Festival of Lights or Notre Dame's Feast of Fools. Mostly the pictures were of people Naminé had met, those who remembered her name and smiled when they saw her face.

"Sometimes," Naminé had said once, "I wish everyone could have a phone like this, so nobody ever had to forget anyone."

The Gummiphone emitted a synthetic whirring sound and Riku blinked several times to clear the flash from his eyes. Naminé giggled as she looked over the picture and Riku snorted.

"You know I don't take good pictures," he said, not quite able to keep from grinning. He leant over her shoulder and risked a glance, bracing himself for the results. His eyes were half-closed, his mouth lopsided, and did his nose really look like that? He ran his fingers over the lump he had acquired over a decade ago when Sora had caught him between the eyes with a wooden sword.

Naminé squinted at the screen, staring intently before letting out a gasp and whirling towards the sea, pointing towards the sky.

"Riku, look! A shooting star!"

Despite his best efforts, Riku hadn't been able to take Naminé to see a star shower (and she desperately wanted to see one first-hand). Every world they visited seemed to have just had one, or never had them to begin with. Aqua, Terra and Ven had hosted them for nearly a month, sitting out under the stars every night in the hopes of catching one.

But something was wrong with this star. The sky was too bright to see the stars anymore, and this star was too big and moving too fast. It seemed to be growing bigger, as if whatever was falling from the sky wasn't going around the world but instead heading straight for it.

"That's not a star," he breathed, though it went unheard as Naminé whimpered. Her phone fell in to the sand as her hands flew to her chest, and her pale skin turned ashen as she began to tremble.

"Riku… something's wrong…"

Riku's stomach plummeted, and by the time his brain had caught up to his body he was waist-deep in the surf and diving into the sea, aware of Naminé calling his name. He barely heard her over the sound of another name resonating in his chest, pounding through his body in time with his racing heart.

Sora.

The star finally hit the water near halfway between the two islands; some several feet from Riku. He saw a brief outline – enough to make out a human silhouette before the figure disappeared in to the water. He dove under the surface, eyes trained on the all-too-familiar black cloak. He was sinking fast and Riku kicked as hard as he could, fighting to close the distance between them before it was too late. He snared Sora's wrist in a too-familiar gesture that Sora didn't return. He was a dead-weight as Riku turned towards the surface, fighting to keep them both from sinking in to the abyss below.

A hand grabbed his and suddenly he had broken the surface. Naminé was there in the rowboat, pulling as hard as she could to pull them both aboard. The boat rocked dangerously, threatening to tip them back under. Naminé held Sora steady as Riku hooked a leg over the side and rolled himself in to the boat. Then, together, they hauled Sora over the edge and pulled him in to the safety of the little canoe.

"Is she breathing?" Naminé asked. Riku frowned, wiping saltwater from his eyes. She? He looked first to Naminé, who was staring at the hooded figure with wide, watery eyes, and then to the figure shrouded in black. He watched the steady rise and fall of a decidedly female chest and his heart plummeted. Not Sora, then. But if it wasn't Sora… He reached out and pulled back the hood, dimly aware of Naminé's tearful gasp as he revealed crimson tresses plastered against a pale face.

They had found Kairi.

And just like that, the story was begun. See you in the next chapter!