The Islands Don't Computer (or Gummiphone) but They Try
A Kingdom Hearts 3 Oneshot
Sora woke up on the cold wet concrete surrounded by tall buildings and lights. The fact that he could actually feel the pavement below him as he pushed himself to his feet was throwing him for a loop. Feeling was something he lacked these days.
He looked around. Didn't see any immediate danger. His hand was on his chest. His empty heart. Ripped apart. Unraveled.
Where had he ended up this time? The only identifier he could see was a building with a big 104 on it. Probably not San Fransokyo.
Ever since he'd rescued Kairi, or rather helped break her out of a death plane, his grip on reality… hadn't been the best. He was pulled from world to world, from plane to plane without warning. If he really focused, he could usually make it back to Riku or Kairi when he started fading. He still wasn't entirely there with them, he'd walked through a few palm trees and could never join in Axel's frisbee games, but most people could see him. Sometimes. Kairi and Riku could even manage to touch him occasionally.
He had no idea when he'd slip away once more. What could he do in an empty city? Hmm… Sora dragged out his gummiphone and took a selfie in front of the 104 building. He was slightly disappointed that he'd blinked and accidentally swiped left when trying to delete the picture.
"Oh." Sora had forgotten that picture. It was a nice one of him and his friends. He quickly swiped through it, not wanting to think about Kairi's face when he'd disappeared on her. Some of his pictures didn't actually look that bad. Maybe he should post a few to that instant graham cracker op thing. It'd been a while since he'd bothered opening it.
He hunted down a couple cool photos. His first selfie he chose was from the final world. He posed with Namine's heart, beaming at her as she twinkled. The sky around them was a really nice color and in the background you could see a Sora fragment wandering around. Oh and Sora himself was mostly a transparent blue. That was cool. He had another that he'd caught of a dancing circle of himself.
It took a while to come up with some decent captions but in the end he felt satisfied. Technology was so neat.
Hmm? Was that Joshua in the distance? Cool! He might as well say hi. It's always nice to see a friend. Sora hoped he'd been alright. Had he been fighting? Sora was pretty sure he saw him holding a gun in his hand…
…
Kairi didn't know what to think about her gummiphone. It was really cool in a sci-fi kind of way- instant communication across the universe was mindblowing. Yet at the same time, it was awkward to integrate into her life. She had to remember to check it, that at any time someone could have sent her a letter (or what Chip and Dale called a "post," she didn't get why there was a difference), and that if she didn't send these posts herself then people worried about her. She'd gotten quite a few concerned messages from the guardians who thought a few days of forgetting her gummiphone in her bag meant she was deep in mourning for Sora.
She was not mourning. Mourning would imply she accepted he was dead. He wasn't dead.
Talking with her friends became an act of theater. Performative, to prove a point, to show them all that she was still alive. The gummiphone became an obligation she didn't want. She was so tempted to throw it in the ocean and have Riku post that it had been an accident. The only reason she restrained herself was that she knew she'd get a replacement within days.
Everyone walked on eggshells around her. And yet not with Riku. It was absolutely frustrating for them to treat her like she was broken and him as if he was completely whole. It seemed no one noticed that he was taking Sora's disappearance as hard as she was. Keyblade master or no, this was still the boy who grew up as Sora's protector. As far as Riku was concerned, he'd failed even more than Kairi.
But everyone's nonchalance towards him was probably for the best. Yup. At least he wouldn't want to smush his gummiphone and see if it burned when up close and personal to a firaga.
She figured she could take care of Riku, he could take care of her, and they both could plot a scheme to tie Sora back to the right plane of existence. No random post letters required. Sora was their responsibility. She wasn't sure who first got it backwards believing that she was the guardians' responsibility but she definitely wanted words with that mistaken individual.
Sliding a finger to unlock the screen, Kairi tapped over to the photo message app. She found the pictures easiest to go through since she just had to pick a few random ones to comment on rather than actually hold a conversation.
Aqua had posted a picture of her craft workshop. Other than wayfinders, she liked to experiment and make enchanted glass accessories. Her latest piece looked like a lotus flower, made of beautiful iridescent lampworked glass.
Aqua: I enchanted it with some sort of -za spell. Does anyone care to see which? #ventus #terra #itsamystery #seeyouintraining
Terra: It's very pretty, Aqua.
Ventus: So did you enchant it to let the user use the spell or is it a timebomb?
Xion: aqua when are you gonna finish that charm we talked about
Axellearate: lol plz invite me for the sho *~( / )ヽ(ﾟﾛﾟ)ﾉ
Aqua: #axellearate no
Kairi slowly typed out 'I bet it's a waterza' after staring at the comments for a while. She scrolled past the daily selfie Xion and Roxas took on the Twilight Town clocktower and checked out Riku's most recent picture. It was a somewhat blurred shot of a fish in the water. Kairi only knew what it was because she was so used to Sora being able to snatch them up with his bare hands. She inhaled deeply and looked at the comments.
Riku: It swim. #fish
Mickey: Gee Riku, what kind of fish is that?
Roxas: would some1 plz teach this old man how 2 post thingz
desTiny islands? moar like no-techKNOWLEGEy islands
get Reckd
Isa: #Axellearate you have been a bad influence on this child.
Roxas If you wouldn't put it on a mission report, don't send it. I know you know how to spell. Do not be some trollish idiot just because Lea thinks it's funny.
Riku: fish, ask Sormeone
Riku: sea bass
Kairi: They taste delicious D:
She felt there was something not quite right about her response but Xion had told her that was how you smiled on the gummiphone so whatever. The gummiphone gave a notification that someone had posted something new. She scrolled up.
She dropped the gummiphone.
It laid on the sand until she could collect herself.
The picture was of a transparent Sora in a sea of sky. He smiled, pointing at a glowing star.
Sora: Hey guys! It's been a while and I'm not sure what else to do in this empty city
So I wanted to post some of my pictures. Here's me and Namine! I really hope
she likes her new body. #thefinalworld #friends #unofficialthankyounamine
Kairi: SORA?!
Kairi had never typed a response faster in her life. That being said it still took a few minutes. By the time she sent it, Sora posted a new photo. This one had an enormous amount of Soras. For someone who currently didn't have enough Soras, Kairi drank it in like a desert getting rain in the summer.
Sora: I guess my body really liked dancing in Corona! Then again quite a few pieces of me liked sliding down rails too. Next time I visit the Final World I should ask Chirity what the deal was with that. #doistillcountasahalfpint #theresalotofme
Kairi: You missed another school dance last week
Chip: #Dale did you know we offered reception here?
And on it went. Sora seemed determined to post every picture he had on his phone and Kairi commented on every single one. It didn't seem like he was reading them. Hopefully he knew how. He was probably just too occupied putting pictures up to check.
The last photo was a selfie where a dark city was visible. Tall building and city lights dotted the surroundings. Sora himself looked tired but he still had the same smile as ever. Tears pricked at Kairi's eyes before she shut it down.
Maybe there was something to this whole gummiphone thing. She took her own selfie, clumsily with half of her face out of frame. She tried again before deciding she wanted another angle. Welp. Time to track down Riku.
She almost asked Selphie when she ran passed her but figured it might be confusing to introduce that particular friend to what a selfie was. Selphie might try to sue Chip and Dale or something for using her name.
The sand crunched under her sandals as she ran. He wasn't at the beach. Riku must have moved on from that fish. Ah! He was perched on their tree. Perfect.
…
Riku thought he was done with Destiny Islands. He was a keyblade master after all, full of important duties and worlds to see. There was no reason to trap himself on these tiny islands.
No reason. None at all. In fact next time Yen Sid called he'd hop in Sora's gummiship and-
Riku groaned and shook his head. It just wasn't fair. He'd worked for all his power, to be able to protect what mattered. Then with who it really mattered, when it really mattered, he'd let Sora slip through his fingers. He'd really believed Sora would come back. He was Sora. In those moments after the battle, adrenaline high and his heart under tight control so he wouldn't fall apart over Kairi, it had made sense to let Sora go alone. His friend needed to see that his power wasn't just his friends, that he performed miracles by himself.
"Riku!" Kairi yelled as she ran across the wooden bridge. "I need you."
"What?"
He stared, confused, at the gummiphone suddenly shoved into his hands. He fumbled and almost dropped it. Kairi excitedly bounced in front of him.
"Help me take a selfie." She mimed a using a camera with her hands. "It's important."
"I think that they're only called selfies when you take them yourself?" Riku managed to juggle her gummiphone into a more natural position. "What's got you excited? I thought gummiphones were worse than, and I quote, 'all the darksides.'" His finger quotes weren't perfect with one hand occupied but given Kairi's blush it was mission accomplished. Her face twisted into a high effort scowl as she tried not to laugh.
"I have changed my mind."
"Really?" Riku crossed his arms and leaned against their tree.
"Really." She lightly booped his nose. "I can do that, you know."
He tried to go for her nose but she was too quick. He shook his head, seemingly conceding defeat. Next time she let down her guard… "But I thought you were always right the first time."
"I'm glad you recognize that," she laughed, bright and clear, "but Riku, this is important. Sora just letter posted."
Riku felt his knees go out and he fell against the tree. Kairi tried to catch him and they both went down like a sack of bricks.
Sora's fading was difficult. Most people would think that he was just imagining Sora's occasional presence, or maybe that they were being haunted. In true Sora fashion, he had no explanation and no matter what they tried they couldn't keep him here for long. Riku had no idea where else Sora went when he wasn't there. Every time he disappeared Riku feared he'd never come back.
It had been weeks.
"His gummiphone works?" Riku cleared his throat, trying to pretend that being in a sandy pile at the bottom of a tree was normal. Kairi untangled herself and grabbed his hand with a smile.
"Where ever he is, we can talk to him."
"He's alive." He whispered, hopefully too low for Kairi to catch.
Kairi dug around in the sand and found where Riku had dropped her gummiphone. "He sent us pictures so let's return the favor. Show him what he needs to come back too."
They both settled against the tree and Kairi switched her gummiphone to camera mode. She handed it to Riku again and did her best to smile. He dutifully snapped a shot. It was slightly blurry but not too bad in his opinion.
Kairi frowned as she looked at the picture. "There's something missing."
"I can take another one."
"No, wait, I got it!" Kairi held up the camera in true selfie mode. Then she stretched her arms and wiggled her position so that Riku was also in frame. "Perfect."
Riku snorted as she pressed the button. "Hey wait, you're blocking out half of my face!"
"That's what you get for being tall! If you wanna look pretty you gotta do some of the work."
He moved and angled himself awkwardly so his face was fully in the shot. Kairi nodded and took another photo.
"Hmm… I'm not sure if that one turned out. Let's just take a lot. Then at least one of them will be good."
"What, you're not going to organize a list? Three profile shots, one funny face picture, two-" Kairi elbowed him in the ribs and he laughed as she took another picture. "You used to be organized, Kairi!"
"And you thought a raft was the best vessel for going off world." She answered primly. She then smiled her patented princess smile. He waited until she was about to press the button and then quickly booped her nose. Sweet payback. The ensuing stream of photos documented the laughter, shrieking, and growing acts of vengeance until Riku was covered in sand and Kairi ended up in the ocean.
"How are we going to pick just one?" Kairi bemoaned as they scrolled through them all. "We got too many good pictures!"
"You could just post them all." Riku shrugged. "Aren't the others always telling you to post more anyways?"
"No one else puts fifty pictures in a row."
"They're for Sora." Riku thought that explained everything. Kairi agreed and cracked her knuckles for the arduous task ahead of her.
"This is gonna be a lot of captions." Kairi commented after managing to put 'Thinking of you whe' on the first picture. Like him, her typing was slow. Each letter was part of a scavenger hunt to find.
"Just tag Sora." Riku said, "that's what's important."
"Yeah." She beamed, "you're right."
And so the app was spammed with fifty-seven, mostly clumsy, selfies of Kairi and Riku with no explanation other than #Sora.
Riku took this time to check out Sora's posts. The pictures tagged #thefinalworld scared him a little, but of course Sora took being on a literal death plane in stride. When he got to the last one of Sora in the city he couldn't help but stare at it for clues. Where could it be? Was it even the realm of light? Meanwhile it looked like it had accumulated some comments.
Sora: New world it looks like! I wonder what friends I can meet here? #cosmopolitan #metropolitan #104building
Kairi: Hold on, I want to send you something.
Namine: Turn on geotagging!
Sora: What is a geotagging?
Namine: Your location!
Sora: But I don't know where I am
Namine: *facepalm* there's a thing on your gummiphone that knows
Sora: I haven't found a map yet
Roxas: yr tech skillz r gonna kill me
Sora: Stay safe please?
Riku: #Namine find him with gummiphone? How
He agonizingly typed out every character and sent it. He needed to find an abbreviation for gummiphone. Maybe next time Roxas visited the islands he'd ask him about 'chat lingo' or whatever the Twilight Town kids used. It was illegible to him but if he learned the secret language perhaps it could up his speed. He was all for optimization.
Kairi had quite a few pictures up by now. Riku decided to snap a quick shot of her and posted it himself.
Riku: #Sora
Roxas: r u ok?
Riku felt surprised when he grinned. He was ok. That hope had come back like a flood of light in his heart. If a gummiphone message of all things could find Sora, then surely with him and Kairi- everyone, all Sora's friends- looking they could find him and find a way to bring him home for good.
Someone had tagged him in a photo. It was one of Riku's favorites of the photoshoot, one where he had his hands back against his head in a classic Sora pose and Kairi did her best to copy it with her one free hand. They both were laughing, Kairi had just told the worst joke he'd heard in years. It was easy to imagine Sora was right by them, mock offended by their impersonation.
Kairi: #Sora
Sora: Hey! That's my thing!
Also Joshua says hi #Riku
Joshua? Joshua. From the sleeping worlds? No wait, yeah, that weird guy in Traverse Town. He said he was from some place with an S. Shibuku? Shinjuya? Something like that. He'd figure it out.
"Kairi!" She snapped up from her phone, giving him her full attention. "I have an idea!"
Her eyes glinted with determination.
"Well, let's get the raft."
A/N: Because the gummiphone can apparently take photos in the afterlife, and everyone seems to use not-Instagram I put two and two together and made this. I figured that at least until Sora gets properly saved he can at least have a long distance relationship with his friends. Something tells me these kids are going to get better with technology fast. Sorry for the rough formatting for the not-Instagram comments.