A/N: Here lies an AU stemming off of Dream Drop Distance, where Kairi is also dragged into the whole Xehanort-induced nightmare mess. Also known as: me giving Kairi the respect she deserves by actually letting her do stuff and actively drive the plot forward.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts in any, way, shape or form.
!~K~I~N~G~D~O~M~~H~E~A~R~T~S~~D~O~N~T~~W~A~K~E~~M~E~~U~P~!
Don't Wake Me Up
Chapter 1: Hiraeth
"A homesickness for a home to which you cannot return or that never was."
The sun was starting to approach the horizon now, which meant that it was time to go home. Meals made by parents awaited, unless you made sure to tell your parents that you wouldn't be able to make it, or that you had prior commitments.
"Kairi, you coming?" Selphie's voice cut through said redhead's thoughts.
Looking over, she noticed the brunette on the docks, waving at her friend, while Tidus and Wakka were already rowing home back to the main island in their own rowboats.
Her new keyblade in hand, she offered a sheepish smile, "Sorry, Selphie, you go on ahead. If it's alright with you, I'd like to stay here a while longer."
Her mother—the mayor—was on a business trip, while the housekeeper was on vacation. So it wasn't like there was anyone waiting for her at home. What was stopping her?
"You sure?" Selphie asked. "We've got a test tomorrow..."
Oh. Right. That.
"It's okay," Kairi replied. "I'll be at school on time, I promise." That was all she ever could do these days, going to school, that is. At least, it sure felt like it.
Selphie fortunately relented, "Okay. Just don't stay out too late. Just because you suddenly have a magic flowery sword now doesn't mean you can deprive yourself of much needed nourishment."
"I won't," Kairi vowed.
She watched her friend row away, and only when the brunette was out of sight did Kairi breathe a sigh of relief. No questions asked meant no awkward lies for answers, and being by herself meant she no longer had an (unwanted) audience. She appreciated the company of her friends, especially since Sora and Riku were both gone (again), but she wanted to be alone right now. There were a lot of thoughts that were running through her mind and she did not want to share any of them.
Holding up the keyblade in her hand, Kairi began studying it up close for the first time.
It had officially been twenty-four hours since Sora and Riku had left the Islands, currently at twenty-eight and counting. They were likely taking that exam that King Mickey had talked about in his letter. Kairi wished she was allowed to go with them, to cheer them on or to start keyblade training—something, anything, that made her feel like she was contributing to the cause and not being left behind again.
But no. Only Sora and Riku were summoned, and her personal feelings meant nothing in the grand scheme of protecting the worlds from darkness and saving the lost hearts of those mentioned in the King's letter. Besides, who would protect the Destiny Islands in their absence if not her?
She could still help, though, by familiarizing herself with the keyblade Riku had given her. If anyone came after her like Axel previously did, then she would at least put up a better fight. If nothing else, she'd go down fighting instead of resigning to her fate.
Just two hours ago, she had managed to summon it without any assistance, using the limited advice Sora and Riku were able to give her before departing. She had been practicing with dismissing it and then summoning it again ever since—just to make sure it would come whenever she needed it to. Now, it was a mixture of instinct and a reflex. She had succeeded in making it an extension of herself, of her heart, and thus now knew its name.
Destiny's Embrace.
It was...oddly fitting for her, considering how she came to possess it in the first place. Where did Riku get it? Did he forge it himself, or did he just come across it randomly and decide to keep it? Whatever the case, the name, the flowers, the wave cross guard, the heart-shaped teeth, the sunset-colored shaft, the paopu fruit keychain strung together by a red string—it was perfect for her.
And beautiful. No matter what Tidus said about how girly he found it (to which Selphie promptly defended said girliness), Kairi didn't mind it. Besides, it would be so satisfying to beat up bad guys with such a flowery object.
(And at least she had a weapon to defend herself, much less a keyblade.)
Kairi took one last look at Destiny's Embrace, before dismissing it. Today was all about making sure it came immediately whenever she called—mission successful. Tomorrow, though, was the hard part: learning how to actually use it.
To be honest, that wasn't particularly true. The hardest part would be the magic (she could already feel the burn marks received by practicing the Fire spell), but unlike Sora and Riku, she had no idea how to move her body to block or avoid attacks, or get in strikes on her opponent. She had watched her boys practice sword-fighting when they were younger, but watching was not the same thing as actually doing.
She could focus on all that tomorrow, though. Right now, it was time to go home and get in some last-minute studying for that test. She promised Selphie, after all.
(Oh, Selphie. Her one rock all throughout the past year. She'd never be able to pay the brunette back for that...)
Kairi, satisfied with her progress and looking forward to making more tomorrow, began her own trek back to the main island. However, the very first step she took, she was brought to her knees as a painful ache in her chest began to manifest.
Something was wrong. Terribly wrong. Sora's heart had just broken, and now she couldn't feel him anymore.
She was always connected to him and Riku, and it comforted her knowing that they were alright, wherever they were and whether she remembered them or not. It also meant that whenever they were danger, she could instinctively send them some of her light to help them.
She felt her light go out to him—again, on instinct—but it didn't reach him. There was too much darkness, she was powerless, she was going to lose him, she couldn't help him, what was she going to do now?! She was panicking now, partly thanks to the darkness enveloping and invading Sora's now broken heart, but mostly due to the fact that one of her greatest fears was about to become a reality.
"Hello, Kairi."
The voice, belonging to seemingly an old man, came out of nowhere. She promptly looked around for the owner of said voice, only to find her own world going black. Darkness, and too much of it. She could feel herself start to become suffocated as an oddly familiar face of an old man came into view.
"My apologies," his gold eyes were piercing her very soul, "but the one you are knocking for is not home at the moment." And she didn't like it, nor did she trust him. This darkness belonged to him.
Wait, what? Sora wasn't home? What did that mean exactly? Her gaze lowered into a glare, "What did you do to him?"
"Now, now, Princess, you don't need to be concerned with that," the old man replied.
That disconcerting smirk on his face hadn't disappeared yet, and that made her very uncomfortable. The way he said 'Princess' only made it worse, because it sounded subtly condescending and also told her that he knew of her status as a Princess of Heart.
"I won't..." Kairi vowed, "I won't abandon them." If Sora's heart had broken, then who was to say that Riku wasn't in the same amount of danger? "Just tell me what you did to Sora!"
Her heart was beating right in her ear, and it was getting louder and faster the longer time she remained in contact with this man. She had to break the connection. Now.
The man suddenly grabbed her wrist. "How rude of you, my dear, to leave without saying 'goodbye'."
As she felt her world suddenly go hazy, Kairi felt her heart instinctively call out to Riku for help. She hoped that he wasn't in danger, or that he at least was in a position to save Sora.
But there was no response. Nothing but silence. She could feel him, unlike Sora, but if he was responding, his voice wasn't reaching her, or her voice had failed to reach him.
Either way, she had never felt so alone before in her entire life. Both Sora and Riku—ripped away from her just like that, so easily like this man didn't have to lift a finger...
The man's smirk was the last thing she saw as she blacked out.
!~~~K~I~N~G~D~O~M~~H~E~A~R~T~S~~~!
Kairi knew her experience would be bad the moment she opened her eyes and realized that, thanks to still being in the black void, she had no idea how long she'd been out. Her sense of time was already shot, and that old man was no longer here. As much as she distrusted him, he knew what was going on. Would he tell her? Probably not, but he knew.
What was going on anyway? How in any of the worlds did she get off the Islands so quickly? Was she kidnapped (again) or something? What about Sora and Riku? Were they safe? She couldn't feel Riku either now, and that scared her.
Then she blinked and suddenly an image of her younger self appeared. She was in a flower patch, absentmindedly picking flowers, as her grandmother watched her. Current Kairi wasn't sure how she knew this, but her younger self had just gotten away from witnessing a fight between two adults, two friends, that her grandmother had intervened in. The two had made up thanks the elderly woman, but the four-year-old girl was still bothered by what she had seen.
"Grandma?" younger-her asked.
"Yes, dear?" The old woman's presence felt comforting, even if this was just a memory.
Little Kairi eyed a red flower, "Why were those two fighting? They...they were friends, right? You told me that friends don't fight." Not that she'd know from experience. She'd always been alone.
(Wait. How did current-Kairi know that?)
"Not normally," her grandmother replied. "But when issues arise, and there is no communication, fights can break out. But sometimes, a fight is necessary to get everything out into the open."
Here, current-Kairi was reminded of Sora and Riku. They were best friends, but sometimes a physical fight was needed for them both to release some steam. Riku was rather bad at expressing his emotions, while Sora excelled in hiding any pain behind his classic smile. It was common for the issue to remain unaddressed until it resulted in the two exchanging blows between toy swords, or keyblades now.
"So," younger-her looked up from the flowers, "it can be a good thing? Is that what those two were doing?"
"Most likely," her grandmother answered. "Sometimes, the conversation needs a slight push to go anywhere, though, which is what I was doing."
That was true, current-Kairi remembered, as the memories of this woman gradually came flooding back. Her grandmother excelled in keeping the peace. Females of all ages looked to her as their example, while males respected her. She also encouraged her granddaughter to be herself and always gave her life lessons, like this one.
Young-Kairi softly smiled. "So even when things seem bad, there's always hope, right?"
"Yes. There will always be a light in the darkness." The smile on the woman's face softened. "Let me tell you a story."
Little-her immediately perked up. "Okay." She loved her grandmother's stories.
The elderly woman began, "Long ago, people lived in peace, bathed in the warmth of light. Everyone loved the light." She turned around, her back facing her granddaughter as the girl got to her feet, concerned by her grandma's sudden solemn demeanor, "Then people began to fight over it. They wanted to keep it for themselves. And darkness was born in their hearts. The darkness spread, swallowing the light and many people's hearts. It covered everything, and the world disappeared." She turned back to young-Kairi with a gentle smile, "But small fragments of light survived...in the hearts of children." Children...like her? "With these fragments of light, children rebuilt the lost world. It's the world we live in now." She took a step closer, "But the true light sleeps, deep within the darkness. That's why the worlds are still scattered, divided from each other—"
There was more to the story, current-Kairi knew, but the words fizzled out for some reason. Then, younger-her faded away as well as the garden they were in. That only left current-Kairi with her grandmother, both standing in the black void now.
The elderly woman was staring straight into her granddaughter's eyes, just like that old man. Unlike him, however, her gaze was warm and currently apologetic.
"I'm sorry, child, for abandoning you that day. I promise, we will meet again, but for now, I am content that you are safe. Just remember, there will always be a light in the darkness, and the only way light can grow is by passing it on."
And she did, once. She had shared the memory of her grandma's beloved story with Sora.
But what 'day' was she talking about?
!~~~K~I~N~G~D~O~M~~H~E~A~R~T~S~~~!
~Destiny Islands, 10 Years Ago~
It had been one year since a now-five-year-old Sora had connected with that boy who was sad (a meeting that was unfortunately now fading from his memory). He and his now-six-year-old best friend Riku were walking back home from a long day on the play island, their parents waiting with dinner ready. It had been a normal day, but after they finished tying their boats to the dock, the darkening sky began to glow as streaks of bright light appeared.
"Woah!" Sora exclaimed, stopping to watch. "It's a meteor shower!" It was very rare for the Islands to see one, much less its residents to see it in person.
Riku had also stopped to watch. He'd never be vocal about it, but he had the same awe that Sora did.
That is, until one of the lights began diving towards them.
"Watch out!" Riku called out as he pulled Sora out of the way, just in time for the meteor to crash into the water right in front of them.
He felt the brunette shaking, albeit subtly, against him. "What was that?"
"A meteor," the elder replied. "It almost hit us. You okay?"
"I am now," Sora offered his trademark smile. "Thanks." He then turned to where the meteor had landed, only to blink in surprise. "Um, Riku, aren't meteors supposed to be...rocks?"
Riku himself was confused until he turned to the impact sight, until he looked where his friend was looking. There was no crater when science normally dictated there would be, and when the light faded, sure enough, Sora was right—this meteor was no meteor at all. Instead of a rock, there was a human girl.
She appeared to be around Sora's age, and her hair was red and she had pale skin. That by itself raised an alarm, because the Islanders didn't normally have that hair color and their skin tones were tanned from the constant sunlight.
The girl was out cold, and if Riku looked closely enough, he could see dried tear stains on her cheeks. What happened to her? It had to be bad if it had made her cry.
Before he knew it, Sora was already kneeling at her side. "Hey," he was gently shaking her awake. Eventually, she opened her eyes (revealing them to be a lovely indigo shade), but it seemed to be difficult for her, like she still wanted to sleep. "Hey, who are you? Where did you come from?"
"Back off, Sora," Riku warned, as the girl slowly lifted herself onto her knees. "Give her some space."
Both boys carefully watched her facial expressions. She was, at first, dazed due to just waking up, but then it began morphing into confusion. But not at either of them. She seemed to be processing Sora's questions of who she was and where she came from. And apparently, she didn't have the answers.
She sniffed, tears flooding her eyes, before they started falling, joining the the previous ones that had long since dried. Sora and Riku both immediately began panicking as the girl was soon wailing. What were they supposed to do? Did they offend her?
Riku got to his feet, "Stay with her, Sora. I'm going to get our parents."
The brunette could only nod as his friend ran off in the direction of their houses. Getting their parents was a smart choice—the adults would know what to do. Sora turned back to the girl, hoping it wasn't him who had made her cry.
"Don't worry," he told her, using his classic smile in an attempt to cheer her up. "Riku's going to get someone. You'll be okay."
The girl sniffed again before nodding, showing him that she understood him. She was still crying, the tears still falling. Sora didn't know what she was upset about, but he got the feeling that it was because her heart was aching, missing something, or someone, that she had just lost.
All three kids missed how her necklace was glowing, but that light gradually dimmed before fading away completely.
(Current-Kairi caught it, though. Her hand wandered up to her own version of that necklace as a blurry memory of a woman in blue came to mind.)
The current memory changed to one Kairi wasn't even aware that she had lost. It wasn't surprising, though—the first twenty-four hours she ever spent on the Destiny Islands were very hazy for her.
She was a mere five-year-old girl that had just washed up on the shores of the main island. She didn't know what had happened to her, but she could remember how she felt. She remembered feeling like she wanted to do nothing but cry, her heart aching due to pain and suffering she couldn't remember at all. The only thing she could remember was her name.
She vaguely remembered being found by Riku and Sora, Riku running off to get an adult, and Sora comforting her. She remembered crying, but stopping the longer time she spent with them. She felt safe with them, a feeling that would linger on into the future.
And not just linger, but also grow stronger.
But she also felt exhausted and unable to think straight, so she had passed out soon after Riku returned with his and Sora's parents.
When Kairi woke up next, she was in a completely white room, which she understood now to be a hospital room. The lights were off, and it was dark outside. The rest of the Islands were just as quiet as her room was, likely sleeping just as she was just a moment ago.
The room was also empty; she was the only occupant. However, the door was propped open, and Kairi could hear some adults talking. As she familiarized herself with the citizens, she learned years later who was in the conversation that day.
"How is she?" The mayor, and her future adoptive mother.
"She had quite a bit of internal bleeding, a mild concussion, and a few lacerations, but nothing serious. She'll be fine. She just needs to rest." The doctor.
"Has she told you anything about where she came from? Riku thinks that she may not remember anything." Sora's dad, who she later learned was a police officer, in charge of keeping the peace. Hence why he was still here when everybody else had left to sleep the rest of the night away.
"She was very delirious, and very out of it due to the concussion," again, the doctor. "But no, she didn't name any names whatsoever. She just kept apologizing."
That caught current-Kairi's attention. She kept apologizing? Why? Did she do something wrong?
"I see," the mayor, again.
"Maybe her memories will return the longer she's awake." Sora's dad.
"Maybe," the doctor, again. "But there's something else that concerns me more. The lacerations are very surgical and only in certain places."
"What does that mean?" The mayor.
The doctor replied with, "Well, I can only think of two possibilities. One, she had a surgery very recently, at least two days ago, but that's unlikely, given their random, various locations."
"And two?" Sora's dad. He sounded like he dreaded what the doctor's answer would be.
"Two, the most likely scenario, she was experimented on."
For some reason, hearing that second option made five-year-old Kairi's stomach plummet in fear. And she didn't know why, not even ten years later when she could understand all the adults' fears about where she came from and what happened to her to cause her amnesia.
The mayor was quiet until this point, and her voice was soft as she replied, "If the second one is the truth, then perhaps it's better if she doesn't remember."
Kairi, both age five and age fifteen, agreed with this.
The mayor continued, this time a little bit louder, "I'll take her in for now while the 'missing' posters circulate the islands. If someone doesn't claim her within the next two weeks, however, then I'm adopting her."
"I don't think anybody will claim her," Sora's dad said. "According to Sora and Riku both, she fell out of the sky."
"Unlikely," the doctor replied. "It's amazing what a child's imagination can come up with. She probably just washed up from a neighboring island." A phenomenon that was quite common on the Destiny Islands, actually.
(Unlike her, however, everyone else this had happened to actually had homes and families to return to.)
Kairi remembered taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, before turning her head to look out the window. She gazed out at the stars in the sky that was painted with dark violet and a little bit of orange as the sun prepared to rise and signal another day.
She remembered feeling uncertain about the future, and wondering if she would actually be adopted by the mayor, if she would see those boys—Riku and Sora—again. She remembered wanting to thank them for finding her.
Would she ever get that chance?
!~~~K~I~N~G~D~O~M~~H~E~A~R~T~S~~~!
Kairi quickly found herself back in the black void, with no one and nothing else here with her. Seriously, what was going on? That old man wasn't helpful at all. Not that she expected him to be, given the vast amount of darkness he had, and that he was the one who had put Sora, and possibly Riku as well, in danger.
What made it all worse was the fact that she couldn't reach out to anybody. She was truly alone. Sora and Riku—nope. The King, Donald, Goofy—not them either. Selphie, Tidus, Wakka—not even them. Naminé—dormant; she hadn't responded yet. Maybe the other six Princesses?
She felt a light on the other end of the connection she just made, and hope began to fill her entire being. Thank goodness, at least one of them could hear her.
In the midst of the darkness, six familiar images began to faintly shine, those of her six fellow Princesses of Heart: Cinderella, Snow White, Alice, Belle, Jasmine, and Aurora. But something felt wrong. Her connections with the other five felt tenuous, but she could hear Snow White clear as day, almost as if someone was interfering with said connections.
"Help me, anybody!" she could hear Snow White cry out. "Please!" She sounded so scared.
Their respective lights were fading, Kairi realized then. Something was very, very wrong. She had to help. Now that she knew her fellow Princesses were in danger, there was no way that she could ignore them.
Her heart instinctively reached out to them further, even if it was only Snow White she managed to latch onto. The other five images faded away as Snow White's turned into her Heart Station. Kairi suddenly felt very dizzy, and her world went black as she entered her friend's heart...
!~~~K~I~N~G~D~O~M~~H~E~A~R~T~S~~~!
~Destiny Islands, 10 Years Ago~
Kairi was released from the hospital the following day after she first woke up. The doctor had kept her for longer just to make sure that she really was going to be okay, before entrusting her to the mayor.
The mayor's house was big, but it wasn't the largest on the island. It was more because of the fact that it was so empty. According to the housekeeper, the mayor never got around to having a family because she had never met anybody who could keep up with her busy schedule. Besides, she was never really interested in romance to begin with. She loved kids, though; that was why she so readily took Kairi in.
The mayor kept the girl at the house until Kairi herself was ready to come outside. The woman always made sure that the housekeeper was watching her, that she was comfortable, and that a therapist checked up on her every week that entire first year.
Said therapist had determined Kairi's continued silence to be a result of trauma. Her amnesia was genuine, so Kairi's voice would return only if she suppressed whatever had happened. It would be unhealthy, though, so he had warned her to remember if she could so she could properly face it head-on.
Kairi was starting to like it here. Her room had a balcony with a lovely view of the entire town, since the house itself sat on top of a hill, as well as the sunrise and sunset. The mayor and housekeeper were both very nice; if she did end up staying with them for the rest of her life, she wouldn't mind it.
She was a bit reluctant to latch onto anyone too soon, though. Even if the memory was gone, she just couldn't get rid of the feeling that whatever had happened to her—and whoever she had lost—could happen again, that history may repeat itself here. And that was the last thing she wanted. She didn't want to be a bad omen...
Her reverie was lost when she heard the front door unlock and then open. The housekeeper briefly peeked her head out of the kitchen just to make sure who was coming inside was exactly who she was expecting it to be. Meanwhile, Kairi glanced up from her blank notepad, given to her by the therapist to jot down anything—writing or drawing—that she managed to remember.
Sure enough, it was the mayor. She was home. After nodding a hello at the housekeeper (who then retreated back into the kitchen), the woman promptly crossed over to the couch, where Kairi was sitting, and sat down next to her.
"Well, Kairi, I've got some news," she said, solemnly, slowly, and carefully. "It's been two weeks, and...no one has come forward to reclaim you. No one remembers you at all, so the most likely scenario is that you and your parents were caught in a storm, and only you survived the resulting boat wreck."
This was the cover story they ended up using to explain Kairi's sudden appearance on the Islands, but Riku and Sora both would swear up and down that she really did arrive via a meteor shower.
But Kairi nodded, to show that she understood her current situation. As far as the Islanders knew, she was an orphan who was now officially taken in as the mayor's daughter.
The woman then held up a manila envelope, "These are your official adoption papers, as well as the file I managed to create for you. You're now officially in the system, and I'll be taking care of you from now on. Is that okay?"
Kairi found herself smiling and nodding. It was alright with her, and she would be forever grateful for her new mother (and housekeeper) for making her feel at home here.
The mayor was now smiling too. "Good. I'm glad."
Kairi wrote down on her blank notepad, 'What now?' She remembered suddenly feeling very anxious, as well as worried that she'd never see Sora and Riku again. She didn't remember their names at the time, but she remembered wanting nothing more than to properly thank them for finding her.
"Well, I have to enroll you in school." The confusion must've been showing on her face, because her new mother just smiled in amusement, "I have to, sweetie. It's the law. Besides, the therapist thinks it's a good idea to get you outside and let you meet people."
Get outside? She liked the sound of that, resulting in another smile.
Kairi couldn't stop thinking about the two boys who had found her, specifically the safe feeling she got when around them. Maybe if she let that feeling grow, her voice would return...
!~~~K~I~N~G~D~O~M~~H~E~A~R~T~S~~~!
To Be Continued...
!~K~I~N~G~D~O~M~~H~E~A~R~T~S~~D~O~N~T~~W~A~K~E~~M~E~~U~P~!
A/N: Those who have previously read my story "The Oathkeeper" (only found on FFN) will recognize some scenes and elements in this chapter as reused/recycled (whatever you want to call it). This entire story will be this way, because "The Oathkeeper" is on permanent hiatus; I have given up on it in general. However, the ideas I had for the Dream Drop Distance section (and by extension KH3 as well) are still ones that interest me. So this is my attempt to salvage those plans. That being said, I welcome any and all constructive criticism about this story overall.
Chapter Notes:
-Master Xehanort manages to infect Kairi with his darkness specifically because she connects herself to Sora, who he's already infecting (you could say). Happy accident or did he plan for this? Keep reading to find out, but either way, this was his chance and he took it. Also, yes, she's also having a nightmare, but she has no idea what's going on.
-The memory with Kairi's grandmother comes from the Union X storybook opening. I just expanded it, because judging by Kairi's reactions, it felt like that was the first time she was hearing that story.
-"The only way light can grow is by passing it on." Huh, I sure wonder if that will become relevant later on.
-The flashbacks are important, I promise. Pay attention to them, and don't worry, I will always make sure to note which scenes are flashbacks/memories and which are happening in real time.