Disclaimer: The Mad Doctor claims no ownership to the Kingdom Hearts franchise. It belongs to Disney and Square Enix.
Notes from the Mad Doctor: Greetings readers. In this chapter, you get to meet my version of Kairi's adoptive mother. I couldn't find or think of any Kingdom Hearts-ish sounding names that would fit her as well as Sora's parents (who are mentioned in this chapter) so I looked to a different source: actors who were recurring faces around Disney's live action films. See if you can guess which actors I'm referring to. Also, this chapter introduces another music feature that I hope will enhance your reading pleasure: Mood Music. I have actually created a playlist of Disney songs that, while are not incorporated into the story themselves like the In-Universe Music, really set the mood for certain scenes. So when you see a Mood Music note (no pun intended), that's when you'll know to play the song (hopefully you can find it on YouTube or somewhere). Enjoy!
Chapter 3: A Talk with Mom
Destiny Islands
It was past sunset when Kairi and Pluto entered her home. The dog wandered off into the house while she took off her shoes and headed for the stairs. All she wanted to do was spend the rest of the evening in her room before going to sleep.
She was halfway up the stairs when she suddenly heard, "You missed dinner again, Kairi."
'Rats!' thought Kairi as she turned and saw a blonde-haired woman with brown eyes and wearing glasses, a green shirt and skirt standing with her arms crossed in front of her. It was her adoptive mother Dorothy.
"Sorry, Mom. I guess I lost track of time."
"You've been doing that a lot lately. Your father and I would like to see you at meals once in a while especially on days that he doesn't have to work late at the office," said Dorothy.
"Is he still up?" asked Kairi.
"No, he went to bed. He has wake up early to travel tomorrow to the north side to oversee a few projects. He would've really liked to see you before he left."
"Again, I'm sorry and I'll apologize to Dad when he comes home. But right now, I really just want to go to my room," said Kairi as she began to ascend the stairs.
"Oh no you don't, young lady. You need to eat something. Besides, you need to feed Pluto as well," said Dorothy indicating with a nod of her head to Pluto who come alongside her with his dog bowl in his mouth.
"Oh. I'm sorry, Pluto. I'll get your food right away," said Kairi as she headed down the stairs, took the dog bowl from Pluto and headed toward the kitchen.
"There you go, Pluto. Eat up," said Kairi as she put the dog bowl, which was now filled with dog food in front of her canine companion. Pluto eagerly dug in.
With the dog fed, Kairi headed to the kitchen table where a bowl of soup was waiting for her. Her mother sat across from her as she began to eat.
"So, what were you doing this afternoon on the Play Island?" asked Dorothy.
"Oh. I was just finishing up a little art project I've been working on throughout the month."
"An art project, you say. Well, it's good to hear that you've been keeping yourself busy. You've been spending so much time over there. What is the project anyway?"
"It's kind of personal so I'd rather not say," said Kairi. 'She'd probably worry more if she knew that I was carving and painting a picture of me and Sora.'
"Well, as long as you're doing something other than just sitting around there, that's good," said Dorothy before she realized something. "Oh! It's the end of the month. Don't you usually send out a letter to Sora?"
Kairi suddenly dropped her spoon. A morose look came over her face. Dorothy became concerned.
"Kairi? Did I say something wrong?"
"I didn't send out a letter at all, Mom."
Dorothy looked surprised. "That's unusual. Why not?"
"I don't know. I must've sat there for at least a half hour with the pen in my hand and the paper in front of me. But I couldn't write anything down and I've never been unable to do that before."
'Then again, aside from completing the picture, there really hasn't been anything worth writing about this month. What would Sora think if I told him that Riku and the others had given up on finding him?'
Dorothy rose from her chair and walked over to the other side of the table. Sitting down in a chair next to her daughter, she put her hand on her shoulder and said, "Kairi, you know your father and I have supported this letter writing because we know what it means to you. So, I know what I'm about to say may not be what you want to hear. But don't you think the reason you couldn't write anything to write to him this time may be a sign that you're starting to accept that he's not coming back?"
Kairi almost burst out with rage. But not wanting to start an argument with her mother, she restrained herself and let her continue.
"I know you've kept hoping that he'll come back, and I know you don't want to accept a world where he's not in it. Believe me, no one here does not even your father and me. It doesn't seem right to not see you, Sora and Riku together like before. But as hard as it is, we all need to adjust no matter how much it hurts to. Even Jones and Hayley have to, and heaven only knows how much they're hurting from the loss of their son."
'I can't lose that hope, Mom. If I do, I don't know what I'll do.'
"We all still can hardly believe what you kids have been through over the past few years since that big storm. If you never showed us those Keyblades of yours and hadn't introduced King Mickey and his friends to us, we probably would have never believed you. I can't even believe that you were actually dead for a time. But I'll always be grateful to Sora for bringing you back even if it cost him more than he anticipated."
'It wouldn't have happened if I had been better and stronger. And then Sora wouldn't have had to sacrifice himself again for me.'
"It's just not fair, Mom. Sora did so much for so many people throughout the worlds. The worlds probably wouldn't even be still standing if it weren't for him. Doesn't he deserve a happy ending of his own?" asked Kairi who on the verge of crying again.
"Yes, I think of all people, he did. I know you were hoping for so much with him, Kairi. When you told your father and me that you shared a paopu fruit with him, we were overjoyed because we always knew there was something special between you two that would have grown into something wonderful. But the sad truth is that we rarely get what we deserve."
"That's certainly true. From what the others told me, after all the pain and suffering he caused, Xehanort's ultimate fate was to journey to the afterlife alongside Master Eraqus, his best friend who he murdered. Why did he get a kind of a happy ending when we didn't?" thought Kairi bitterly as she recalled the man who had scarred her in so many ways.
"All you can do now, Kairi, is make the most of the second chance that Sora gave you. He wouldn't want you to spend the rest of your life miserable."
'No. He'd want me to spend the rest of my life with him.'
"Time heals all wounds, Sweetie. You just have to let it. Now you just finish up your soup and then get yourself to bed."
"Yes, Mom."
Dorothy then got up and left the kitchen. Kairi just sat at the table staring at her dinner. She wasn't feeling very hungry anymore.
(Mood Music: Wherever You Are (End Title) by Barry Coffing and Vonda Shepard from Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin)
Much later, after showering and dressing in her nightgown, Kairi sat on the window box in her room. Pluto was laying down with his head in her lap as she scratched it while gazing out at the starry night.
Despite what her mother had said, Kairi often tried to delay going to sleep as much as she could. This was due to the fact that whenever she let sleep take her, the nightmares would come, and they would always have the same theme.
In all of her dreams, she and Sora would often be doing something together in one of the many worlds he had visited. They would be competing in the games at the Olympus Coliseum, swinging and sliding through the trees of the Deep Jungle or soaring through the skies of Never Land. They would be happy right before he would just vanish and leave her all alone in her sadness.
'As bad as they all are, they were nothing compared to the first one. The one where we were all celebrating on the Play Island and Sora and I were watching the sunset hand-in-hand. He looked so happy and I was so relieved that we had made it that I cried. Then he just faded away.'
Looking out at the stars, Kairi thought about Sora's other friends throughout the worlds. She thought of Rapunzel, Hercules, Jack Skellington, Aladdin, Ariel, Simba, Big Hero 6, Jack Sparrow, Mulan, Tarzan and everyone else and how blissfully unaware that a good friend of theirs was gone.
'I wonder what they would think if they knew. Would they believe that he could be saved? Or would they think he's gone for good?'
Pluto let out a whimper. She met his sympathetic gaze.
"Oh Pluto. I know Mom means well. But she doesn't understand that finding Sora is the only way I can make it up to him. Of course, she doesn't know that I blame myself. I wonder if Riku and the others knew that, would they have reconsidered giving up?"
Pluto just looked at her with an unsure look. Clearly, he didn't have the answer.
Kairi let out a deep sigh. "I don't know what to believe anymore, Pluto. Maybe Mom's right. Maybe I finally am starting to accept that Sora's gone."
She then let out a sob. 'But I can't! I just can't! Because if I do, then I'll never see him again, I'll never be free of the guilt and I'll have wrecked things with my friends all for nothing!'
But on some level, Kairi knew that her hope was at an all time low. Her inability to write a letter was proof of that.
Kairi wiped away her tears. "Come on. Let's go to bed. It looks like my dreams are the only way to see him now even if they all end badly. But it's better than nothing."
Pluto leapt off Kairi's lap as she rose up and walked to her bed. Sadly, she climbed in and pulled the covers up to her chin. Pluto climbed up the foot of the bed and curled up in his usual spot.
With one final sniffle, Kairi finally allowed sleep to take her. As she drifted off, she wondered what dream would haunt her in the midst of her diminishing hope and increasing guilt.
Notes from the Mad Doctor: Hopefully, you were able to find the song because I think that song really fits in with how Kairi's feeling in this scene. Also, I know they say to not explain the in-joke. But in case you guys didn't get it, Kairi's mom is named after Dorothy McGuire who played the mothers in Old Yeller and Swiss Family Robinson. Sora's parents, Hayley and Jones, are named after Hayley Mills from The Parent Trap and Pollyanna (and an extra reference to Haley Joel Osment) and Dean Jones from the Herbie movies. And though he's unnamed here, I've given Kairi's dad the name Parker after Fess Parker who played Davy Crockett and the father of Old Yeller. Also, you'll note that for the purposes of this story, I am treating that last scene from Kingdom Hearts III as a dream of Kairi's. In my opinion, that party on the beach seemed a little in poor taste given Sora imminent demise (not to mention the way it teased us by making it seem we're getting a Disney happy ending and then pulling an Avengers: Infinity War). If it did happen in reality, either Sora had already said his goodbyes and just spent his final moments with Kairi (which I don't find likely) or none of them except for Kairi knew it was going to happen (which is probably more likely). That's just my interpretation of the scene. Feel free to share your own. Anyway, sorry I've been spending so much time on the slow buildup. You'll get a more action-packed chapter in the next update as I put our girl through one doozy of a nightmare. Reviews are much appreciated. Stay tuned!