Change of Focus

Sora had wanted to see fireworks with Kairi, ever since he'd seen them going on during a Struggle Tournament in Twilight Town.

Those hadn't been particularly spectacular, however, as they'd just been pale white fireworks upon a light backdrop. But since they had been the first ones Sora had ever seen-right before he'd found Riku and Kairi at the World That Never Was—they held a special place in his heart.

And so, the Keyblade wielder was thrilled that he was experiencing this with Kairi now (and Chirithy). Sora wanted to give Kairi everything he possibly could—as he'd realized after Kairi had said how excited she was about sailing, on that night long ago—before his time in this world was up... though he refused to think about that part of it, just yet.

"This is so lovely, Sora!" Kairi chirped, as a dark purple firework lit up overhead, to make Kairi even more beautiful in Sora's eyes. "Where did you even learn about fireworks… and get the idea to set them off here?"

It was Sora who had set up the fireworks being used, when Kairi, Chirithy, and himself had first come to Disney Castle—when Sora and Kairi had decided that they wanted to go on a nice date, already, but also wanted to secretly check on their friends as they did so—Sora had found said explosives in Disney Castle, and had gotten them out in the hopes that his friends would set them off... And now they were. And as that fact made this the perfect experience for Kairi and himself in every way imaginable, Sora couldn't have felt more love in his heart now for both his girl and his friends.

"I first saw them in Twilight Town, Kairi," Sora explained, as he took the love of his life's hand in his own and selfishly found himself wishing that Chirithy wasn't with them, after all (if for just a moment), so he could maybe finally kiss her. But Sora let it go, as he lost himself in conversation as he always did. "And they were so cool, I became instantly addicted. Y'know? So I just had to show them to you! And I kinda figured King Mickey deserved ta see 'em with Queen Minnie, too."

And Sora scratched his cheek awkwardly, when he realized that he'd pretty much just compared Kairi and himself to the king and queen—and had admitted without really saying a thing about the matter, that they were dating—but when Kairi giggled, and leaned into Sora so that her head was on his shoulder and her arm around his waist—Sora decided all was right in the world.

She then showed him a glowing stick she'd gotten from Merlin when he'd visited her in the Enchanted Forest.

So, both him and Kairi were showing each other glowing lights… it made Sora happy to know this; and he rested his head atop her own in response.

…

Sora and Kairi weren't exactly acting like the… best surrogate parents to Chirithy, when they visited The Land of Departure again for the first time.

Instead, the two had way too much fun playing on Terra, Ventus, and Aqua's training grounds. Sora splashed Kairi with water, the way that he had Rapunzel here… Kairi gracefully jumped through some loops while summoning water magic there (she was clearly taking a page out of Aqua's book)… and then the two of them were rolling down a hill.

And though Sora accidentally landed on top of Kairi—and they did gaze into each other's eyes longingly for a second when it happened—they didn't lock lips with each other, or anything, like that (that would have scarred Chirithy for life), but they did end up throwing grass at each other... and if Sora dreamed that maybe he could get some of it off of Kairi by using his mouth—what?! Grass was edible!—he kept it to himself.

And it was when Kairi was pulling a shard of blue grass off of Sora's chin, with her lips parted, that he noticed it: Terra, Ventus, and Aqua were solemnly carrying their wayfinders with them towards a makeshift grave made for Master Eraqus.

It was then that Sora and Kairi got up, stopped goofing off, and tried to usher Chirithy towards Ven. Sora in particular was doing this with words, as his little friend continued on trying to fight the natural order of friendship. "Come on, Chirithy. Friends help friends through moments of grief! You being there for Ven is exactly what he needs right now and will help him accept you again!"

"Yes!" Kairi jumped on the bandwagon, as she nodded her head enthusiastically. "If you're kind to Ven, I'm sure he'll remember you! When Sora believed in me when I faced Xehanort, it reminded me of when he said I should pursue drawing when we were young: since I was better at art than him, in his eyes."

For some reason, a slight blush had risen up to stain Kairi's cheeks as she'd said this; that somehow also made her freckles more visible to Sora than they usually were, and he couldn't get over just how cute she was. And Sora could really appreciate it now, because Chirithy had listened to them and was back where he belonged.

And. so Sora took one of Kairi's hands in his own.

…

"I'm more than okay with being in Twilight Town again, Sora. I want to check in on dear Hayner, Pence, and Olette—but if we're going to get ice cream while we're her... Do you mind if we try other flavors, too?"

And after the amazing chocolate that he'd had in San Fransokyo with Big Hero Six, Sora could only say "yes".

He got where Kairi was coming from, after all. The part of him that was still Roxas was fighting this idea in his head tooth and nail... but after having had so much sea salt ice cream from Scrooge McDuck near a year ago, Sora was getting a bit sick of the blue treat himself.

"Yes, Kairi. Anything you want!" Sora assured his girl, as he took her hand in his and she leaned against him.

And they did do anything they wanted to do. Like, in traversing around Twilight Town, Sora and Kairi found something called "Dip 'n Dots", that was apparently the "ice cream of the future"—something Sora was hyped for, even despite the fact he didn't have a future—and it was great!

Though there was some confusion when Hayner, Pence, and Olette came to join them—and some ice cream fell out of Kairi's cup, and Olette thought they were beads from her bracelet and tried to grab them up—but other than that, it was one of Sora's top five instances, for sure.

And after Sora and Kairi bought Olette some gloves, to try and make her cold hands feel better, the couple finally got some sea salt ice cream (having had enough of vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and orange sherbet at this point), and headed up Twilight Town clock tower as far as they could. Sora wanted to "fly" with Kairi again, after all.

And it was when the two of them were nibbling on their second bar of it—…so maybe they'd realized they liked sea salt ice cream more than they were earlier thinking. Stomach aches, be damned—that they noticed Roxas, Lea, Xion, Isa, Hayner, Pence, and Olette all sitting beneath them!

"Do you think we should say anything?" Sora asked, cocking his head to the side: because as nice as Roxas, Axel, Xion, Isa, and the Twilight Town trio's hangout was seeming right now, what if Hayner, Pence, and Olette remembered that Axel had kidnapped Kairi and needed them to step in to tell them everything was alright?!

But Kairi was quick to convince Sora otherwise, as she placed a gentle hand on his own. "This is between all of them, Sora. Bridges need to be mended for them, the way they were for us with Riku. And in that way, it'll be a more real and cherished memory for them that way, when all is said and done."

…And Sora couldn't help wondering if he'd have to find a way to mend bridges with Kairi, if he found a way to become corporeal again in the future and return to her… Probably. And there'd probably be quite a few fights before he could prove himself to her again. But Sora had always enjoyed Kairi's fire, despite everything, and if he had to go through even that to stand by her side again, he gladly would.

And for the first time ever, Sora's lips found Kairi, as he pressed them to her rose red hair.

...

"…Sora, why did you let me get so hung up on seeing the worlds with you?! We've both been remiss on helping Naminé!" Kairi exclaimed, pulling at her hair in an agitated manner, said suddenly to Sora, exited the station together.

"…But why am I placing blame on you, Sora, when it's really my fault? I just... got caught up with everything-and what you said to Chirithy about seeing new places with those you care about-and how there's clearly something wrong with you and you won't tell me why… but can we go to her Replica body now?"

Sora certainly didn't have to be asked twice. He opened a Corridor of Light—something he'd recently learned from being connected to Terra—and pushed Kairi through it: his hand on her back lingering for just a moment, as he tried to use a cure to heal any scar she might have still have there, from… from-

And Kairi must have noticed what Sora had done there, because she rocketed back towards him and kissed him on the cheek.

And if her purity, and the feelings she made him feel, melted Sora into a pile goo and made him realize he could never tell her what was happening to him... well, that was his business and his alone, wasn't it?

…

Sora and Kairi positively ran to Radiant Garden castle—wanting Naminé by their side again instantly—but it ended up being the waiting game, anyway, as Ansem, Ienzo, and Even had to set up the Replica body first.

As so as Sora and Kairi waited, they alternated between running a hand through Naminé's hair here, or massaging her face with a thumb there, and playing paper games together as they waited.

But eventually, the scientists came and joined the pair—telling Kairi they were ready for Naminé's heart—just when Sora began panicking.

Thankfully, the Organization members decided to leave Sora when he began to second-guess himself, so they'd be able to say they hadn't witnessed him lacking tact at all.

"Kairi..." Sora began, hanging his head—as memories of when Xehanort had separated them all heart from body came to mind -"I don't know about this. I don't want to risk hurting your heart!"

But Kairi, as she so often did, knew exactly what Sora needed—and put her hand over his heart, as she looked at him with pure unadulterated love and trust. "But Sora, it has to be you since you care as much about Naminé as I do."

And when Kairi put it like that, there was no way to deny what needed to be done. Was there? More and more memories of Naminé from Castle Oblivion were coming back to Sora now, and he'd do anything to put a smile on that face again. And as for Kairi… well, there were no words to describe just how good she was and what she meant to him. He would die before he ever harmed her. And so Sora would do this, and make sure nothing happened to Kairi or Naminé, because he loved them both, wouldn't he?

…Besides, the way Kairi wanted him to do something as intimate as freeing her heart, and perhaps cradling it in his hands,, spoke of other intimate bonds she'd maybe want them to have in the future... someday. And since Sora was her first love, he didn't want to break this kind of trust in her or him so easily.

So, Sora ushered the scientists even further away from them—because he and Kairi had done everything else alone in the worlds they'd visited, thus far; And Sora at least wanted to pretend that it had been the same way here—and felt for two hearts that were nearly one, and smiled when he was rewarded with then was light.

…And that while they were leaving, that light appeared to find something worthwhile with the dawn.

...

It had been no question to Sora that he would take Kairi home when everything was said and done. He had promised her she could always come back to this place, hadn't he? And he was determined to keep his oaths to Kairi now. And Sora also recalled how he'd told his friends both he and Kairi would come back here safe, before they knew it. And he would keep that promise, too.

The lovers sat on the paopu tree together—where their destinies had first become one—and while Sora could sense his friends behind them and internally marveled at their joy, his real focus was on Kairi's beauty.

And Sora held Kairi's hand in his, tighter than he ever had, as he felt himself begin to fade away.

And as he did, he had to try and reassure her some, via with the truest words he'd ever uttered, and close his eyes against the tear Kairi cried, that he had never wanted to see,

Before Sora was fully gone, he heard a lovely "You're not getting off that easily" from Kairi.

And next thing he knew, he was catching Kairi's tear in the hand that had held hers last… and he was alive and whole again.