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matenr0u · 5 months

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Riku: “Taisetsu na hito - Cherished person”

Throughout the series we’ve seen an escalation of Riku’s enduring journey to find the “strength to protect what matters”. It appears to peak in KHIII with “strength to protect someone precious”, but I’m gonna propose that they could some day take it a step further than that.

I am once again slamming my tiny fistful of evidence and wish fulfilment on the KH meta table.

So as we know this line first appears in BBS when Baby Riku meets Terra and says he wants to protect his “daiji na mono”:

強くなりたいんだ

I want to become strong.

(…)

どうして強くなりたい?

Why do you want to be strong?

大事なものを守れるでしょ

So that I can protect important stuff

友達やみんなを

Like my friend, everyone…

He repeats this in DDD as he fights to save Sora, recalling twice the secret promise he made that day:

大事なものを守れる力

Power to protect important stuff

Finally this culminates in Riku’s KHIII sacrifice, following up from Mickey suggesting that he’s found the strength to protect someone he cherishes.

大切な人を守る強さか—

Strength to protect someone precious—

Which is cool. But there’s room for more, if Squisney decide it won’t hurt their profits to go down that path. Or even if they just feel like addressing at any point the absolute non reaction everyone had to being obliterated on the spot and then Riku dying for Sora. With that in mind, I began to wonder if we’ll see just one more callback later down the line.

I think there are two possible options. First:

一番大切な人

Ichiban taisetsu na hito / Most precious person

In CoM for example Namine urged Sora to remember his “ichiban taisetsu na hito” — number one most precious person. This one has more of an obvious romantic air I feel. I choose to think Namine was talking about Kairi when she said that but I respect that other SR fans think it’s Riku so I’m including it. If we’re going to hear this one again and in reference to Sora & Riku, we’ll surely get it around the time the necklace theory is inevitably revealed. Either way, it’s already been used in the series, so it’s not a crazy implausible love declaration or anything. It can happen.

I mean, in DDD Riku all but says it when Ven asks:

“Kimi ni totte ichiban taisetsu na mono tte nani?”

“What’s the number one most important thing to you?”

And of course Riku replies:

“Taisetsu na shinyuu”

“My precious best friend”

As far as I’ve noticed, Riku only calls Sora his shinyuu. It’s cute.

Another possible route they could take is:

愛するもの

Aisuru mono / Beloved person

Which sounds far fetched at a glance, but it is what Terra says to Riku during the bequeathing, in response to Riku’s “daiji na mono”.

いずれ選ばれし者としてこの小さな世界を出て——

Some day, you will leave this tiny world as the chosen one—

俺のもとへたどり着くだろう

You will find me.

その時こそ――

That’s the time—

本当の広い世界——

The real wide world—

愛する者を守る力を教えよう

Will teach you the power to protect the people you love.

“Love” being such a diluted word in EN means it doesn’t convey the gravity of it well at all, but “aisuru mono” is one of the strongest ways you can say you love someone in JP. It can be singular or plural, platonic or romantic, and I’ve seen KH’s fandom war cousins cloti/clerith argue over the use of this term— so it highkey wouldn’t surprise me to see this one used by Riku or someone else in reference to his feelings for Sora. Like, in a ‘vague enough to not offend the unwashed dudebros but can also be read as incredibly romantic’ kind of way.

(By the way, I’ve seen “aisuru mono” or “aisuru hito” translated as “dearly beloved” in some places before, too. So naturally I’m gunning hard for this one. Shoot that probably unintentional symbolic double meaning shit straight into my veins.)

For the reasons above, I personally can envision a realistic pipeline of:

Daiji na mono / Important stuff ->

Taisetsu na mono / Precious thing ->

Taisetsu na shinyuu / Precious best friend ->

Taisetsu na hito / Precious person ->

Aisuru mono, Aisuru hito / Beloved person

Ichiban taisetsu na hito / Most precious person

Not to say it will happen in any capacity, but there’s space for it. A ton of weird stuff happened around That Moment, and even if that’s just down to KHIII bunk….. the whole ass Fairy Godmother herself has come to set Riku on a solo mission to make his dreams come true.

The setup is right there if they ever want to take that opportunity to clarify the depth and nature of Riku’s feelings for Sora specifically.

Riku already promised Terra he’d find the strength to protect someone he loves, which he has now found, and in the case of ‘Aisuru’, I think it would round off that callback to the bequeathing perfectly.

#kingdom hearts #riku #soriku #ngl i think riku’s feelings for Sora will always toe the line #Like a kaworu kinda thing right?#Thats how I see it playing out in the future anyway #don’t really care as long as he takes care of best boy #kh analysis

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merizonal · 5 months

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You guys reminded me about my mermaid AU so lemme try to explain it

-okay okay so Riku, Sora, and the heart hotel are all members of the same mermaid pod. they're all different kinds of dolphins : )

-when they are younger Riku is obsessed with the surface and the idea of getting to see what's beyond the ocean. However at some point two of Sora's older siblings, Ventus and Vanitas are captured by humans. They never return

-Riku ends up becoming super over protective of his best friend Sora after this and grows wary and mistrusting of of both the surface and humans

-eventually Sora starts sneaking off to go to the surface because he befriends a human there, a girl named Kairi. mermaids are able to take on human appearances when they dry out so Kairi is the only person on the surface who knows what Sora is

-Riku finds out about Sora frequently going to the surface and while he chastises him for it and constantly lectures him on the danger of it he doesn't actively stop Sora either. It's more like he tries to stay with Sora more so he doesn't sneak off to the surface. It's only partially effective and Sora still goes to the surface somewhat frequently

-Until one day he doesn't come home

-Determined to find Sora Riku pushes aside his caution and travels to the surface. He soon meets Kairi and when she introduces herself he recognizes her name and aggressively demands to know where Sora is. Kairi tells him she had no idea Sora never returned home and that she hasn't seen him in over a week.

-This leads to Riku staying on Kairi's couch and borrowing her cousin Lea's clothes. At one point Lea drops by Kairi's apartment and asks what happened to that "Sora kid" and Riku flips out demanding to know where Sora is

-Lea doesn't know he just drops by Kairi's sometimes to hang out. He lives in an apartment's across town with his boyfriend Isa and they both work for a pretty large marine based corporation in the city(The Organization). He and Isa share a car and Isa has to drive him around a lot. He also sometimes talks about the two kids who he met at a skatepark one time who show up at his place randomly.

-Lea he finds out that Riku's a mermaid pretty quick into their conversation. He agrees to help with the search for Sora. He also helps Kairi show Riku how to better blend into the human word which Riku has no interest in doing

-At some point they go to a mall to get Riku new clothes and Kairi and Lea keep having to stop him from interrogating poor mall employees and random strangers. He does however seem to like all the clothing with a cartoon mouse on them

-So where has Sora been this whole time?

-At some point someone in the Organization that Lea and Isa work for found out about Sora being a mermaid and he never returned home because he was captured by the Organization. The Organization has been experimenting on him. Lea and Isa both have no idea of this as they don't have high enough clearance to know that mermaids even exist

-However the higher ups in the organization do know. In fact this isn't the first time they got their hands on one. Several years ago they captured two. Sora's siblings Ventus and Vanitas. Vanitas is the only one still at the Organization. In fact he works for them.

-At some point there was an escape attempt. With the help of the the heir to the company Terra, Ventus attempted to escape. They both disappeared soon after never to be seen again. Fearing for his own life Vanitas joined the Organization. He works there but he doesn't really get paid and his food and shelter are provided by the company's CEO Xehanort so he can't really leave.

-He runs into Sora while Sora is there being experimented on and while Sora seems to recognize him Vanitas refuses to help him remembering what happened to Ventus and Terra

-At some point Isa gets promoted and is told about about the whole mermaid thing. He soon reveals this information to Lea who relays it to Kairi and Riku and they hatch a plan to go save Sora

That's about all I have right now for the main plot. There's definitely a lot more going on especially with Vanitas so feel free to ask if you'd like to know more! There's also more about what happened to Ven and Terra and even a running gag with Demyx ; )

#kingdom hearts #soriku #sora #riku #kairi #lea #isa #vanitas #ventus #terra #text #kh mer au #leaisa #akusai

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mythicalartistx · 2 months

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Kairi probably has Trauma and her reasoning why she is with Sora and Riku

Ansem the Wise is not a good person

He experimented on children and even fed them to the heartless.

Saïx/Isa often heard screams from the Ansen's study and when he and Axel/ Lea snuck in, it's no wonder they tried to find X after she went missing. No wonder why Saïx was so obsessed with finding her because Ansem the Wise does this stuff.

In ff7 nobody likes Hojo and he's seen as a bad person. Ansem kind of does the same thing except people are supposed to feel bad for Ansem and are like he's good now because he regret it??

The thing is we don't see why he regrets it or anything. And we just see he feels bad about Roxas and Naminé. We also see that he only stopped because he took it too far?

But this is the stuff Ansem did and his apprentices continued, or at least Terra-Ansem.

And Terra Ansem was interested in Kairi because she was a princess of heart. He kidnapped her and then he probably did experiments on her.

She probably has trauma. Then he sent her with that pod to Destiny islands because that's where a key blade wielder is at and whenever a pod is used a meteor shower happens.

And then we get to the start of KH1 and there's some things I've noticed. When Sora asks Kairi what her old home was like, she says she cannot remember. Sora asks “nothing at all?” and she makes this interesting expression. Before answering she frowns before quickly changing to a smile when she says, nothing.

What if she does remember and could be lying here because the experience was so traumatic and does not want to share what happened. However, she barely remembers it and could repress what happens, so she could remember it being bad but says nothing because she truly can't remember because of trauma.

No wonder she seems content on the island. Everyone is nice and she has fun with Sora and Riku. Nobody is trying to experiment on her.

She then goes along with it because they want to. People say she doesn't want change and yes that is true because of the trauma she faced. She's scared to go out into the world because of what happened.

When she talks with Sora later she reveals that she was hesitant at first, but now she's not. She probably was hesitant because of the fear that people like Terra Ansem are out there and might experiment on her. Then knowing that Sora and Riku really want to and they all can go together, she wants to. She is with them and isn't alone. She relies on them when doing things and bases everything on them.

However, that doesn't happen and her heart goes inside of Sora's. Riku's darkness gets the best of him and he believes Sora doesn't care about him anymore and is getting left behind, something he always feared.

And during the games going forward she always focuses on Sora and Riku. She mentions how they left her behind in kh2. She has changed and tried growing as a person but she still relies on them.

When Sora and Riku get the letter from Mickey, Kairi seems sad because they will leave again.

Then in kh3, she is keyblade training. She cuts her hair like Riku did. In the novel she wonders if Sora likes short hair and does it because of Riku. She then grows close to Lea / Axel someone who once tried to kidnap her for his own gain. Then she realized he was hurt and was trying to see his friend again and that isn't something that bad. But above all, he is sorry about everything.

She is often left behind. Unless she is in immediate danger, she isn't really thought of. Sora's mind always goes to Riku and what Riku is doing.

In kh2, he keeps trying to find Rikuand only focus is on finding him. It isn't until someone mentions Kairi that he thinks of her. In kh3 he talks about wanting to call Riku and that he wants to show how cool the MH6 world is to Riku. When he sees Kairi in kh3 that's when he realizes oh, you're here too.

She constantly wants to be with them fuelled by both trauma and friendship, However they're constantly leaving her behind.

Tetsuya Nomura once said that Kingdom Hearts is about the friendships that change alluring to how destiny Trio dynamic changes where Sora and Riku aren't as close to her.

In re:mind / mom Kairi falls asleep, hoping to be useful and wake Sora up so things can be like they have always been between the three of them.

Then when she wakes, she and Riku go to try to find Sora and realizes she must stay behind as it is Riku's part not hers. Kairi must grow on her own and not with other people that constantly held her back and left her behind.

I don't think she should be friendless but I think she should grow without them because they hold her back and she is left behind a lot. She is constantly relying on Sora and Riku.

Also it would just be interesting to see her with other characters as it could be an interesting dynamic. I would have loved to see her with the sea salt trio + Twilight gang. Her interacting with Vanitas would also have been great (though not sure if it's possible since he went away).

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voids-voyager · 6 months

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Vibe check for borderline crack but also kinda serious AU where Baldr somehow finds himself heart freeloading in Riku years after his death, and now Riku has a keyblade wielder with a body count hanging around over the events of the mainline games. Baldr haunting the narative figuratively AND literally.

Extra features such as Riku and Baldr having extra strong light in them because to quote the intro to KH1 "the closer you get to light the greater your shadow becomes" but much like how negative times can easily overtake positive ones, it's not easily noticeable.

Featuring events such as:

Hanging around Destiny Islands as an incorporeal ghost that can barely interact with Riku but spending most of his time sleeping or at ease kinda does wonders for all those repressed emotions and trauma.

Adults think Riku has an imaginary friend. Riku was halfway convinced he was being haunted thanks to Baldr's white hair, eyes and lashes.

Baldr gets attached. Just a little bit.

Watching Riku struggle with his inner darkness and feeling abandoned in KH1 hits a little too close for comfort for Baldr, but hey, he knows from experience that anyone's voice would be preferable to the darkness.

Baldr clocking Xehanort almost immediately and going what the fuck. What the hell are you doing. Bastard what happened to you after all these years. Finds out Xehanort's trying to create Kingdom Hearts and is all OH so when *I* try to do it, you kill me, but if it's you, it's totally fine? I hope the kid beats your ass.

Baldr popping in as a voice in the climax and giving Ansem Seeker of Darkness a crisis before he dies, which he didn't quite *mean* to but he can still read emotions as a heart ghost. Feels kinda good he's not gonna lie.

Riku eventually grows taller than Baldr and he feels slighted. Offended. You're supposed to be a pipsqueak stop that.

Riku instead of turning into Ansem SoD in KH2 takes on the form of Baldr from connecting with his own darkness and, by proxy, Baldr. Instead of getting taller he gets shorter.

Cue Baldr weighing the pros and cons of Riku revealing his new form in front of Xemnas like- Cons: The possible rise of danger my heart innkeeper will be in. Pros: Chaos.

Sora squinting at Baldr!Riku until he screams and points like "YOU'RE THE GUY! FROM RIKU'S DRAWINGS! THE GHOST!" and Kairi doesn't get it until Sora reminds her of the guy Riku sometimes talked about when they were kids and drew pictures of and then SHE'S pointing like !??!!?! and Riku's like uuuuhhhh I can explain but it'll take a while.

"You know Xehanort? Why didn't you say anything??" "Yeah he was my classmate. And then he executed me after I killed the others in our class. And some of our upperclassmen. It's not the best conversation opener."

Riku becoming understandably distressed once he finds out how exactly Baldr died and the lead-up to his breakdown. Has to go talk to Mickey and be reassured that if Riku ever loses his way in the darkness again, they'll pull him right out no matter how many times it takes.

Baldr tries very, very hard not to be bitter.

"My feelings about my friends, sister and place of birth are complicated on the best of days, but I'm glad you don't have to live with the suffocating guilt and anxiety that there's something inherently wrong with you for having even a sliver more darkness in you than what's considered acceptable and worrying your loved ones will put you down if they find out. I'm glad you have people who understand you, and who try to understand you."

"Do you ever wish you could meet your sister again?" "I'm content mourning her."

The state of Sora, Riku and Kairi's friendship and complicated feelings about each other is almost enough to give Baldr an aneurysm when he feels them.

The fun of DDD where Baldr can take a solid form inside the dream realm and meets young Xehanort when his death is still fresh in his mind :^ )

Baldr, finding out about what happened with Eraqus and his apprentices; "Goddamnit Eraqus."

Someone telling Riku to follow his heart and he goes "Are you asking me to kill?"

Baldr; The number one guy who can get under Xehanort's skin and tear down his 'specialest guy' mindset, and only partly because his emotions are an open book to him. Takes a look at adult versions of him and goes "Oh I want to bully him so bad, it'd be so easy." Xehanort; Has spent the last decades researching darkness because of Baldr, while also pointedly not thinking about Baldr, that Baldr killed their friends, or that Xehanort killed him.

Why is Baldr in Riku? Eeeh, unsure. Mayhaps the kids were all meant to go to Quadratum after they died but Baldr went "nope" and drifted around instead until Riku was born and his heart went "oh twinsies". Maybe his classmates have been looking for him, after time has passed to think and reflect yet there's still been no sign of him.

And since I'm a sucker for happy endings all the DR kids reunite in Quadratum and Xehanort and Baldr can now kick each other's ankles and be the kind of pair that would be unbelievably toxic where they different people but it somehow works. Being able to read your partner's emotions would be very one-sided in any situation except where they can read yours right back.

#baldr #riku #khdr #xehabaldr #kingdom hearts dark road #baldr kh #xehanort #pardon me i'm brainrotting about a character in a kh mobile game #and the parallels between him and the main villain for most of the series only for it to turn out OH HE'S THE GHOST HAUNTING HIM TOO #and the parallels between him and riku #shits delicious #but because it's from a mobile side game the fanbase is miniscule and it's so sad cause there's so much good in it #nomura please give me high definition baldr i know he's gonna crash the “prettiest kh character” ranklist like an atomic bomb #if anything seems out of character it's cause i haven't been here long #kingdom hearts

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sailforvalinor · 8 months

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Val! I've been playing KHD and just finished up the manga connected to it, and goodness I have thoughts. Conflicting thoughts, mostly about Roxas. So, it got me wondering what your thoughts are on Roxas, nobodies in general, and KH3. The whole storyline feels messy to me, but that probably makes it all the more compelling to me. Why do I do this to myself? Anyway, as you know I love hearing your thoughts on stuff, so I thought I'd ask. I know you're either have already started school or about to, so no pressure with answering. Take your time. I hope you're adjusting okay to your new surroundings and that you're having a lot of fun too. :)

Waugh that's so exciting! I've read the Chain of Memories novelization, but otherwise I've not actually had the chance to read any of the mangas--I'll have to keep an eye out.

As for thoughts on Nobodies, yeah, I agree the storyline does feel messy at times, yet still so so compelling! I think the guiltiest party for me in that respect is how it's revealed in KH3 that Nobodies are capable of regrowing hearts. Because that seems to contradict everything we know about Nobodies from previous games, but if you actually go back and look at those games, there are actually a lot of hints about this--Axel caring about Roxas and Xion at all, "Roxas, are you sure you don't have a heart?", Saix being capable of feeling betrayed by Axel, Vexen displaying panic and annoyance, Namine's entire character arc, Xigbar/Luxu even being capable of playing his long game at all. Some members are more emotionless than others (Xaldin and Marluxia, I'm looking at you), but why would you even want a heart if you didn't feel any emotions? Desires are driven by emotions--one can't really exist without the other.

The terrifying thing about this is that the Organization members seem to rationalize this away (Axel especially) by saying that they are remembering what it used to be like to feel emotions and trying to project that onto their present moment, an idea so specific and bizarre that I can only think it was perpetuated by Xemnas to keep them from figuring out the truth. But of course it's not true--Namine has no memories, how could she feel loneliness?

As for ideas about Roxas, by the end of 358/2 Days he is so attached to Xion, so so angry, so human, that I almost wonder if he hadn't completely grown his own heart by then. He still had to go back to Sora so he could be recompleted, but that explains why he haunts both Sora and the narrative so much, especially in DDD.

I think the same goes for Xion, but perhaps even more so, when you consider that she was never actually a Nobody--just a replica using Sora's memories of Kairi as a blueprint. I suppose that since we know she was created without a heart, she is essentially a Nobody, but I have to imagine that having Sora's memories pouring into her head all the time gave her a bit of a boost. (Wait, does this mean Replica Riku didn't have a heart either? Somehow I've never thought about that.)

I think Axel was also pretty dang close, he was just in severe denial about it, especially now that we know he was burying his grief and despair over being unable to find Subject X after sacrificing his humanity to find her. Roxas and Xion left him just like she did, and burying those emotions and having that ready and waiting excuse that you're not actually feeling them is a lot less painful than having to confront them.

358/2 Days is such a fascinating tragedy, and watching it bleed its way into DDD and KH3 because it's begging to be resolved is just absolutely beautiful. I'll admit the resolution in KH3 seemed a little quick (perhaps because the BBS storyline was also resolving in a similar fashion), but it was great all the same (especially when Sora confronts Xion, my gosh, the fact that he knows her when no one else does). And Hearts as One playing in the next battle, mixing both Roxas and Xion's theme into a joyful and glorious battle theme, makes me absolutely insane.

I know Nomura wants to move on to other things in the next game, but I really hope he doesn't drop these characters. But on the other hand, maybe he should leave them alone? They need to be happy for once.

(Also I think about the scene where Axel looks at Kairi and sees Xion for a split second daily. It *might* be my favorite scene in the entire game.)

#i have a love/hate relationship with nomura's retcons because you go back and realize it wasn't actually a retcon at all and then you have #to rethink everything about what you thought about the world #anyway thank you for the ask!#oh and thank you I'm adjusting pretty well actually!!

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rhythmmortis · 5 months

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the fact tbat riku says in the limit cut episode that rhe wayfinder trio went to the realm of darkness to look for sora is crazy to me. Like aqua just got out and they made her go back in?@?@*#?÷?#*#*

you reminded me that i made a post about this 2 years ago and that im STILL MAD ABOUT IT. i dont fully agree with everything in that post anymore but i still think a lot of the things in the 1 year timeskip couldve been handled better. also the way they treat 1 year like its nothing always confused me, especially seeing how 1 year was an incredibly important and long amount of time exemplified by days and sora sleeping (and how when sora sleeps for a year everyone's like 'we gotta get him back' and when kairi sleeps for a year she gets a game that isnt even about her. she gets to play 2 songs. and she doesnt even get to fight her own final boss. sorry im still mad about khMoM as well but thats UNRELATED)

however. after the dark road finale it was a VERY interesting decision to me. you know how in dark road all of the students have keyblade armour, much like the ones the wayfinder trio has? and remember how that keyblade armour WASN'T fully effective against darkness as shown by urd and hermod? and they chose to reveal that information after the last we saw of the wayfinder trio was them donning their keyblade armour and setting off into a portal? interesting choices. very interesting. they were called back after khMoM to our knowledge, but who's to say what happened? like i said, 1 year is an awfully long period of time

#kh #when you dive into ven's heart in re:mind and before fighting dark inferno there's something in his heart that responds #as just being 'darkness'#ven is probably gonna be really important to the next arc given his. uh. everything #but we also know from re:mind that falling to darkness DID affect aqua from her flashback #i know kh is often a franchise of squandered potential and opportunity but they have new writers now #for the love of god new writers please give us what we want its been so long #dont just shrug off the stupid decision of them going to the realm of darkness make it be IMPACTFUL #GIVE US 0.2 SEQUEL WITH ALL 3 OF THEM

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yzafre · 1 month

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we're flying above the valley below | Ch 9

AO3

First | Previous

Sora paced impatiently behind Naminé, Donald tapping his foot behind him as Goofy absently preened the duck’s spread wings.

Finally, though, she stirred, stepping back from the door.

“Did you find him?” Sora asked.

She didn’t answer, just smiled over her shoulder before turning back to the door. Holding his breath, he fixed his gaze on the door in anticipation, and seconds later, there it was. The door cracked open, a bright flash of light quickly fading away to reveal Ven stumbling out. He blinked for a moment, and his eyes caught on Naminé before traveling over her shoulder to meet Sora’s gaze.

“Sora...”

“Ven!” he chirped, rushing forward, “You’re back!”

“Yeah. And so are you! They got you out; I knew they would.”

“Ah, yeah,” Sora said, sheepish. Riku and Kairi said they met Ven, when he’d gotten trapped in the Realm of Dreams. “I suppose I should thank you, too, for helping me get out of there.”

Ven should his head, “No. You kept me safe for so long, of course I was going to help. Really, I should be thanking you.”

“Well, no reason we can’t thank each other!” Sora said, “But now - let’s get back to Radiant Garden. There are so many people waiting to see you!”

Ven’s smile faltered, “Actually, I’d love to go with you, but... I need to find my Flight. I can’t reach Terra at all, and something happened to Aqua. Do you know where they are?”

Sora faltered, “Oh. About that...”

“Aqua’s lost in the Realm of Darkness? How do I get there?”

“Uh, that’s…” Sora looked over to Donald and Goofy, who just shrugged, “I don’t really know. Riku went with Mickey, so I guess they would, but they never shared how.”

“And our phones don’t reach that far,” Donald groused.

Ven scowled, “But that’s – someone else has to know.”

“Mm, well...”

“Master Yen Sid might know,” Goofy offered, “He trained Mickey, after all.”

“Then I’m going there.”

“That’s - “

Sora understood wanting to save your friends, you Flight, and he didn’t want to leave Ven alone. But, there was also the Organization, and he was really hoping to get back to Kairi…

“Do you even know how to get to his tower?” Donald asked.

“Uh, well. I was hoping you could take me there?”

“I suppose,” Goofy said slowly, “But it’s likely we’ll have a job to do soon.”

“And we don’t know when they’ll call and - “

As if summoned, a phone began to ring. All three of them began riffling through their pockets, one by one eliminating whose it could be. Sora got his out last, so of course that meant the sound was coming from him.

“Hello?”

“Sora, good,” Leon sighed, looking hassled, “You have to hurry. We found the next princess.”

“That’s great!”

He shook his head, “No, it’s not. You know we’ve been tracking the Organization’s activity – well, we found a significant reading, and it’s on a path to converge with her soon.”

“How soon?” Donald asked.

Leon leaned off screen for a moment before returning, face grave, “It could be an hour – two at most. And Ienzo says by the readings there’s a chance someone might already be there. You’re the closest to their location; you have to get to the princess first.”

“Got it. I won’t let you down.”

“We'll send the coordinates to your phone now. We’re counting on you,” Leon answered, and hung up.

“The Organization,” Ven said, “They’re the ones in the black coats, right? The ones that...”

“Yeah.”

Ven went silent, and Sora opened up his phone, looking at the map. Sure enough, a new location was marked, though it looked... He squinted at it.

“I think I can make it in time, if I hurry...”

“Or,” Goofy said, grinning slyly, “We can get you there faster.”

“Huh?”

“We got some upgrades to the gummy ship,” Donald said proudly, “I bet we can cut your time in half.”

“At the very least we can cut off half of that half,” Goofy assured.

“That would be great! Oh, but. Ven...”

Ven stared down at the floor, then sighed, “No, it’s okay. I don’t like it, but the Organization is a problem. I saw how much trouble they caused with you. And... “

He trailed off. Sora tilted his head curiously, but when Ven caught his eye, he shook his head.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“If you say so... but, we’ll go ask Yen Sid about Aqua the moment we’ve dealt with this, I promise.”

“I’m sorry,” Naminé said, “I don’t mean to interrupt, but... what should I do?”

“Ah.”

Naminé really shouldn’t have listened to them.

She’d told them she should stay behind on the gummi ship if they were heading into trouble, that she wasn’t a fighter, but Sora had looked at her with pleading eyes, Ventus had joined in on cajoling her, and…

She was so tired of being alone.

Still, it didn’t take more than ten minutes on this new world for the heartless to start cropping up, and she was beginning to have some regrets. She was used to running from the heartless – she'd done it for a year – and she’d certainly never had four people behind her holding them off. It’s just...

She usually wasn‘t running with a stranger.

“This looks like a good place to hide,” he muttered, squinting up at the tower they’d found in a hidden glade.

“How are you going to get up there?”

“Climb, obviously.”

“...right.”

He gave her a smug grin, “Hey, I’ll go in, take a look around – if it’s clear, I’ll see if there’s a hidden door or something to let you in. There’s always a hidden door in places like this. Good? Good.”

“Alright...”

Sure enough, the man shimmied himself up the wall of the tower. Naminé was still waiting for him to re-appear when Sora and the others caught up to her, looking a bit tired but otherwise unharmed.

“Naminé! You’re okay. But, where’d that other guy go?”

Naminé shrugged, pointing at the tower. Sora and Ven turned in unison, squinting up at it.

“I’ll go check it out,” Sora decided, spreading his wings and taking to the skies with a leap, circling upwards. He’d just reached the window up top when he reeled back, dodging the yellow rope that was thrown out.

Not rope, Naminé realized quickly – hair. Lots and lots of rich blonde hair.

Rapunzel – as the man they had rescued, Flynn, introduced her as – was wildly energetic, and wildly inconsistent. It took some time to pin her down, with the way she alternated between darting from place to place and collapsing into herself, but eventually they managed to get the explanation.

She was wildly breaking her mother’s rules, and wildly out of her depth.

“I’ve never left the tower,” Rapunzel admitted sheepishly.

“Never?” Sora boggled as the bottom dropped out of Naminé’s stomach.

Rapunzel shook her head, “Never. Mother said it’s not safe, but... I want to see the lights. I’m going to see the lights – and then I’ll go back, and she’ll never know, and it’ll be just like it was.”

No, it won’t, Naminé knew, watching Rapunzel dart forward as something new caught her eye. Once you’ve left a place like that, it can never go back to the way it was.

“The outside world must seem so big and scary,” Sora said, watching her go, “I know how she feels.”

Naminé curled into herself, stomach turning. Did he really know it? The constricting isolation of being confined to one place, everything the same, all the time, no way out no matter what you do – only to be suddenly confronted with everything all at once, no guide, no knowledge of how to navigate, so wide an terrifying that you almost wish you could go back to the place you just escaped, just so you wouldn’t be so lost?

As Sora devolved into petty squabbling with Donald, her gaze swept away and met Ventus’, who stared back with a similar look of conflict on his face.

What was he thinking, she wondered. What memory dragged him down like hers did? She wasn’t brave enough to ask, and they both quietly followed after the others.

Still, it was difficult to stay melancholy when Rapunzel was so obviously delighted. Sora eagerly followed after her every squeal and cry of interest, and Ventus was easily pulled in.

“So, what do you think?” he asked.

“It’s amazing,” Rapunzel gushed, “I painted everything I could see from my window, but now I get to see it all up close!”

“You paint? That’s so cool!” Sora said, his head craning around, “Oh, Naminé, don’t you do that, too?”

“I draw,” she answered, “I never had the opportunity to work with paint.”

Rapunzel’s eyes sparkled as she drew close, “Oh, really? What do you work with?”

Ducking her head, Naminé smiled back. She’d never gotten the chance to talk about it like this – as a hobby, and not a tool.

“Pencil. Or crayon, when I can get them.”

“Oh, that’s how I started! And, well, I still use them a lot, when I run out of paint. Sometimes it’s too much, for Mother to get them for me.”

“… it shouldn’t be.”

“What?”

Regret, again. She shouldn’t have said that, no matter the squirming in her stomach, should have let it go. But still, somehow, words kept falling out of her mouth.

“It seems so big to be given anything, when your world is so small. But you get out there and… it’s just paint. It shouldn’t be such a big thing.”

“It is a big deal!” Rapunzel protested, “Mother has to go really far, or put herself at risk when getting nicer things for me. She’s given up so much to protect me, and she still goes and finds things just to make me happy.”

To keep you placid, Naminé thought, but did not say. Instead, she continued walking beside Rapunzel, trailing her hand along the flowering bushes beside them.

“I was trapped in a castle, once,” she finally said, “The people who kept me there... they only wanted me for my abilities. If I didn’t have those powers, I would be less than nothing to them. Maybe it is different. After all, she’s not using you for your abilities, just keeping you safe, but...”

Naminé reached out, gently running a finger on the edges of a flower petal, “After having all this, can you really go back?”

Rapunzel clutched her elbows, looking away, “I have to.”

It was strange to watch Rapunzel, a kind of mirror of her past self. Only not, because Rapunzel was so much brighter than she ever was, so much braver. She refused to be cowed or ushered into a safer, protected path, insisting on facing danger head on with nothing but a frying pan and her hair. Every new encounter was a wonder to be discovered, a learning experience whether the result was danger or whimsy.

It was like seeing the world anew – the sky, the earth, the life around them. Every little vignette nearly took her breath away.

Naminé sat by the side of the pond, bare feet dipped in the water, as Rapunzel splashed through it with Sora and Ven, Flynn standing nearby watching indulgently. Laughter and water droplets filled the air, the sun glinting off the spray like a rainbow, perfectly picturesque. The scene pulled her in fully, her fingers itching for a pencil, for paper – a familiar feeling, yet lighter than she’d ever felt it.

Sora stumbled out and dropped to the ground beside her, shaking his hair and sending water flying everywhere, laughing as she cringed away.

“Not going to join us?” he asked.

“No, I’m fine,” Naminé said, an amused smile finding its way across her face, “Swimming... isn’t really my thing.”

Sora laughed, “I wouldn’t call this swimming. Wading, maybe.”

“Maybe,” she agreed, turning back to watch Rapunzel twirl, scooping her hands through the water to bring out another wave, “Still, it really is pretty, though.”

“Yeah.”

“Mm. It’s kind of funny, you know? Even after I got free, even going out and looking through so many worlds... I never really saw them.”

“What were you looking for?”

Naminé paused, darting a hesitant glance over at Sora. He just watched her with wide, warm eyes. She dug her toes deeper into the muddy bank of the pond, braced herself, and answered.

“Pieces of Hitoshi.”

“Hitoshi?”

“Ah, that’s right. You wouldn’t remember. In Castle Oblivion, during those memories you lost, the Organization made a replica of Riku. We were... friends.”

“A replica of Riku... wait, then, that other Riku with Hiro and his team?! Come to think of it, Kairi called him ‘Hitoshi’ then, didn’t she?”

“I guess we never explained things to you, did we?”

“No one ever tells me anything,” Sora whined, flopping back dramatically on the grass. A moment later he was spring back up, though, eyes intent on her, “So, you were looking for him?”

“Sort of. After you went to sleep, there was... an incident, and Hitoshi’s heart was split into pieces, which scattered across the worlds. I was trying to find them, so I could put him back together.”

“Did you find them? Ah, though – I guess, if the Organization has him....”

“You’re right, I couldn’t find all of him. As far as I can tell, there are five pieces in total. One has been with me since the beginning. Two... two I put into you.”

“In me?”

“Mm. I had hoped that you could heal him, the way you healed the other heart I found in you. So, when I found a piece, I placed it in you. I don’t remember placing the other, but I know it’s there. I think that maybe I....”

She trailed off, heart aching. That girl... what had Naminé done to her? Sora began shifting awkwardly, startling her out of her rumination, and she shook her head, “Now that I’m saying all this, it sounds a bit selfish, doesn’t it? I didn’t ask if you would take on that burden. Even after everything, I still used you...”

Sora frowned, plucking blades of grass from the ground, one by one. Finally, he shrugged, sending her a wry smile.

“It’s fine. It... would have been nice to be asked, but, well, if I can help, what’s one more heart to carry?”

“....you really are a good person, Sora.”

“Eheh. So, that’s three – what about the other two?”

“One of them I never found, and the other... the other I lost to a member of the Organization. The thing is, that replica, I worked to make it specifically for him. They wouldn’t be able to just put any heart in, not without some kind of problem. So, I have a feeling... they used that piece of his heart to wake him up.”

“Oh.”

For a long moment, they both watched Rapunel, who had moved to teaming up with Ven to try and convince Flynn to join them. That kind of pure joy… had she ever felt it?

“Every single thing I did in that year, I did to find him,” she murmured, “There wasn’t room for anything else; I wouldn’t let there be.”

“Well... there’s time now.”

“Hm?”

She glanced over at Sora, who was smiling at her, hand out in offering, full of light and hope.

“You’re not alone anymore. We’re gonna get Hitoshi back – and all the others, too, no doubt about it. And then you’ll have all the time in the world to see everything you want to. You can even take him with you! Trust me, there’s nothing better than seeing the world with friends by your side. And, hey, there’s no reason you can’t get a head start – there's still more of this world to see.”

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right.”

Of course, nothing was ever that easy.

She should have run.

She should have gone with Rapunzel and Flynn the moment the nobodies showed up, but – something about the shape of them, the flower-like skirt, the scythe – it opened up a pit in her stomach. Instead, she ducked around the corner and crouched down, hiding in the bushes and waited, watching.

When the last nobody was snuffed out, Sora muttered quietly for a moment before spinning around, yelling out into the air.

“Hey! Come out and face me yourself, you has-beens!”

“Has-beens? How rude, and after such a good showing. The Keyblade is as impressive as always.”

“Who’s there?”

In a blur of petals, a figure appeared, and ice flooded her veins. A gasp escaped her before she could stop it, and her hands leapt up to cover her mouth, as if she could undo it.

“It’s good to see you again, Sora. And – Naminé,” Marluxia said, his head tiling towards her, perfectly pinpointing her location, “It has been a while – it seems you’ve managed to attach yourself to the Keyblade wielder even without us. Aren’t you going to join us?”

His eyes fixed on her and she was -

Small useless trapped insignificant -

back in that castle, white walls around her, scythe gleaming in the harsh light, trapped and forced to make an impossible choice. She could hardly breathe.

“Naminé?” Sora wondered, and she should come out, she should face him, but she couldn’t, she couldn’t, she couldn’t -

Almost without think she opened a corridor around herself, the Darkness choking her as she stumbled through, hurriedly tearing another opening only a few steps away, emerging back out in the shadow of the gummi ship.

She’d forgotten what it felt like, traveling unprotected in the Darkness before that same power corrupted her. Her last body had gotten so inured to it, so thoroughly poisoned, that she hardly felt it. Now it was all new again, biting at her skin, her lungs, her eyes, like ice and fire, tearing at her skin as it tried to burrow inside. That trip was dangerous. She shouldn’t have done that.

She couldn’t bring herself to regret it.

With fumbling fingers, she opened the door to the ship, rushing in and collapsing the moment she was inside, curling up with her back against the wall.

She should have known. She should have known. Axel was back, other members of the Organization were back, why wouldn’t he be back as well? Why was she still so shaken? She was free now, he couldn’t hurt her, he couldn’t -

She buried her face against her knees, nails digging into her legs as she tried to control the shaking in her hands. She was out of there. She’d come so far, she’d faced so much – she was supposed to be braver now. If she couldn’t even face this, how was she supposed to pay everyone back? How was she supposed to save Hitoshi?

Stars, Hitoshi.

What would he think of me now?

#kh #kingdom hearts #fanfiction #wingfic #wrap your wings au #Yza writes a thing

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kerbrobro · 12 days

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Suddenly kind of mad about a stupid twist in KHII because of how much it distracts from what should be an EXTREMELY important and emotional scene you fought through 3 games to get to.

Specifically, the whole Riku with Ansem's body thing, which they reveal in the scene where Sora, Kairi, and Riku FINALLY reunite after everything. Literally serves no real narrative or thematic purpose, it's just a twist for the sake of a twist, and it's SO distracting. Kairi is running to Sora and hugging him before he can react because she misses so much. After we saw her crying over her missing friends, but knowing she'd see them again one day at the end of KH1. Sora falls to his knees and cries while holding Riku's hand because he's SO happy to see him again.

But none of it hit like it should, because I couldn't stop thinking about how silly the Ansem body thing was...

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aitsuheart · 2 months

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Kairi is Riku's friend too, she's the person that everyone feels safe confiding in their deepest dark secrets and for Riku it's quite obvious what that is.

And she is on his side and knows all about his feelings for Sora. In fact, she is constantly hoping that one day they'll be together as both of them talk to her about their feelings.

Only in Sora's case, he's unaware of his own feelings towards Riku.

She is the person that helps tie the two of them together. Riku is recklessly in love and Kairi knows how to look after him to make sure he doesn't do anything too stupid.

When Riku goes to the quadratum to find Sora, it takes some time but he finds Sora. They hug and end up revealing their feelings for the other, but unfortunately for Riku he did not study about the Quadratum enough to find a way out.

So together they are lost in the quadratum until Kairi shows up to save both of them as she has gotten stronger through training with Aqua and knows how to get out of there.

I live for Riku Kairi friendship

#aitsu heart #aitsu heart thoughts #soriku #riku and kairi friendship please #destiny trio #riku #Kairi #Riku and Kairi #I need to see more of their friendship #they have one #Those kh2 moments and mom scenes #I know destiny trio is about friendship changing but you can still show that with them still being somewhat friends #headcanon #I guess #jealous Kairi is such a bad take #they're not jealous of each other #they're friends

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blowingoffsteam2 · 2 years

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The ocean (kairi) never Changes, there is nothing to look at (but the ocean). Riku your jealousy is showing.

Huh, I never thought about that connection. My favorite line in that short story is “Is the wind coming from the sea? Or from the sky?” I interpret that as showing how Riku himself at that point in time didn’t understand the origin of his jealousy. At least not fully. He says he’s jealous of Sora but in what way? On one hand he seems to think that he’s fighting for his place in Kairi’s heart, because he has noticed how she feels about Sora and is jealous. But is he jealous because he wants Kairi’s attention? Or Sora’s? He doesn’t know. Yet he admits he can’t even push himself to win the race, because his heart isn’t in it. He doesn’t actually want to share the paopu with Kairi. He says, with a feeling of guilt, that he dreams of a world without Kairi, and another world without Sora. Because at least if there was only one of them, he wouldn’t have to feel this awful jealousy, have to worry about being abandoned by the two of them for each other. Then he hears Ansem SoD, telling him to destroy one or the other, and of course he refuses. Keep in mind this short story is a dream that Riku is having soon after the events of CoM, but it’s also a memory. It reveals so much about his subconscious fears and confusion.

#soriku #the wind was coming from the sky #asks #Other Diamonds #kh short stories

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daylighteclipsed · 2 years

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(thanks for answering my last ask!) and yeah that's the thing! i'm also knife emoji about this game because the ending frames it as "wow sora good job you remembered that it's actually kairi that's most important to you" and he goes to sleep feeling as if he achieved something, when in reality... it's just the opposite. i know namine is a victim and i feel sorry for her but what she does is just so wrong... yes she undos the damage but i can't help but wonder what the whole point was if sora's heart is still soup and he's being told something that contradicts all we've seen and all he feels. like he's still being deceived? i suppose it is the fault of the translations but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth... can't help but feel really sorry for him. it doesn't feel satisfying or complete or like this journey meant much of anything in the end. idk if that's the whole point or not

I think some of it is inaccurate translations… cause the Japanese script seems to reveal the precious person’s not Kairi, even at the end… I’m just gonna slap this graphic on here. But here’s the link to the whole essay if you haven’t seen it (or apparently remember next-to-nothing about it like me lmao).

Basically Riku is the precious person close to Sora who helps Sora remember the person far from him, Kairi, and all the other people who are far from him/that he forgot. Makes sense since Sora never completely forgot Riku. One friend helps you remember another, and then that one helps you remember another, and on and on. Links in a chain.

But see this is another one of my issues with the destiny trio. Nomura pits Riku and Kairi against each other like this, so it’s a competition over who is more important to Sora. After this it’s impossible not to weigh Sora/Kairi against Sora/Riku and it doesn’t help that Nomura only writes the duos, never the trio. They never get to be just like. Normal. Which I guess is the point if he wants to communicate Kairi and Riku are rival love interests and the trio’s not equal, but geez, ya know? Anyway.

I don’t know if the end is supposed to feel satisfying or complete… There are a lot of loose ends — especially the meteor shower promise, which plays a prominent role in this game (so it’s obviously important). And the whole thing feels weird… and sad. I never got a sense of accomplishment from Sora. I feel like he feels stupid and used and desperate to erase the damage he’s done and that’s been done to him… And he doesn’t even get the chance to be upset or angry with Namine for that. He can’t feel it because he’s been compelled to love her completely.

He doesn’t get to process anything or grieve for his self because the pain is poof gone as soon as he falls asleep. Super repression… It really feels like… trauma. The kind that doesn’t build character. Sora suffers and it doesn’t make him a better person. It makes him worse. It hurts, and he wants to forget it ever happened and go back to who he was before. He wants his old self back. And the reality is… those bad memories are still there, right? They’re locked away tight, inaccessible right now, but they’re still there and so he’s never going to be who he was before.

CoM feels like a big ❓A big dotdotdot to be concluded eventually… But if the end is a parallel to how sometimes irl we repress traumatic memories to cope, Sora’s journey feeling pointless by the end is smart, I think. Because it wasn’t a journey for Sora. It was just pain.

#unfortunately repressing our trauma usually comes back to bite us if we don’t acknowledge it’s there #as much as it would hurt him (and me) i do want sora to get these memories back #i think he needs to #kingdom hearts #com reminds me of in kh1 when sora describes what being a heartless is like #and he says it’s like he was wandering around in the dark forgetting who he was #that’s what sora’s side of com is like #in contrast to riku’s side that IS a journey. he changes a lot he learns a lot it’s a healing experience it feels good to watch #imo #sora’s side is just suffering and horror and it’s uncomfortable to watch #you don’t feel good at the end #i got a little carried away here w/e it’s fine

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wh3r3sth3l0ve · 3 months

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Sora x Tifa

Part 18

Part 17 below

When they were back home, Tifa said:

- I think you should stop renting a room. You are barely even there.

- Are you asking me to move in with you?

- You are practically living here. - she laughed.

Sora laughed back and felt warmth inside.

Soon they were in bed, cuddling.

- Yes. - Tifa whispered.

- Yes, what? - Sora asked, surprised.

- Yes, I want to be your girlfriend.

She kissed him delicately and Sora felt his heart skip a beat. He kissed her passionately, holding her tight in his arms. A minute later he pushed her a little to look her in the eyes.

- I want you, really bad. - he whispered.

- Then what are you waiting for?

His eyes sparkled with lust as he pulled her closer to kiss her with even more passion. Their hands were wandering, exploring each other's bodies. Soon they were both naked and Sora was kissing and caressing Tifa’s breasts, hearing her little moans of pleasure. She placed her palm on his chest and felt his heart beating fast which sent waves of warmth through her whole body.

- Take me, I want you inside me. - she whispered, breathless.

He didn’t need a second invitation. Slowly and carefully, trying not to hurt her in any way, Sora entered her and moaned with pleasure. They moved in a perfect harmony, taking their time together, getting to know each other even more than they did yet. They looked into each other's eyes, panting louder and faster with each move. Sora grabbed her left breast and felt her heart absolutely racing underneath his hand. In a moment they both climaxed loudly and were trying to recover laying next to each other. Tifa pulled his head to make him place his ear above her still thudding heart. It was beating so hard, his whole head was moving. He stayed like this until her pump returned to normal speed.

- You know, - Sora wanted to express his thoughts. - as I recall, for years I've been chasing hearts but yours is the very first I've heard.

- I don't think that those hearts you were chasing could ever make a sound.

- Yeah, you're right, they were more like souls. I think I prefer your real heart. - he made himself more comfortable, still listening to the sound in her chest.

Tifa smiled to herself and got ready to drift off to sleep. She felt Sora's breathing become slow and deep and assumed he's already sleeping.

Sora sat up suddenly, waking up in the middle of the night. His whole body was covered with sweat. Tifa opened her eyes and asked:

- What's wrong sweetie? Bad dream again?

- I don't think it was just a dream. - he answered with a shaky voice.

- What do you mean? - now she was completely awake.

- I think it was a memory. It just came to me in a dream.

- And what was that about? - she asked, curious and worried.

- In this memory I… - he looked for the right words. - I sacrificed myself. For her.

He couldn't even say Kairi’s name, it was too much pain.

- Tell me everything, please. - she sat next to him, with her arms around his neck.

Sora looked her in the eyes and sighed deeply.

- I was fighting Riku but… it wasn't really Riku. It was Ansem, the bad guy. He told me that her heart was hidden in mine. She was there too, but unconscious, without her heart.

- You've had her heart… inside yours?

- Yeah, I know it's weird but I'm positive it was true.

- Ok and then what? - Tifa couldn't believe what she just heard.

- Then I took Riku’s keyblade and stabbed myself with it.

- That's terrible!

- I know. - he sighed again and continued. - I remember changing into Heartless. That act made her alive again and she ran away with Donald and Goofy and I was chasing them. That's… when I woke up.

The last sentence wasn't true but Sora didn't want to reveal what happened. Kairi was the only one to recognize him somehow and her feelings helped him return to his normal form.

- So you have given up your life to save her.

Tifa really tried not to show her jealousness and anger towards Kairi. Until this moment she was trying to understand that this girl's feelings changed and she never wanted to hurt Sora but after what she heard, she felt different.

- Yeah but she was always somewhere there, ready to do the same.

“Until she got bored of you. You are boring and you don't deserve love.” He looked at Tifa with his eyes wide opened in terror and said:

- Tifa, help, that voice is back.

He was on the edge of falling into anxiety, he felt like he was spinning without any control. She quickly sat in front of him, making him look straight into her eyes.

- Easy, breathe slowly, I am here and nothing will change that. I love you.

Those last words surprised her, she didn't mean to say that.

#fanfic #story #ff7 tifa #kh sora #cardiophilia

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star-sworn · 1 year

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do you ever think about how like. kairi was asleep for a year searching for sora’s heart and sora was asleep on that couch (for a week? a year? however the time difference works in unreality) and reached out to kairi’s heart somehow (assuming it wasn’t just her subconscious creating an image of sora) like do you ever think about both of them being asleep at the same time for a significant period of time and their hearts connecting with one another across realities within their dreams. do you ever think about what a beautiful image that is

sweetie. sweaty. honey. I only think about this maaaybe once a day. And that's not that hyperbolic. I mean you really said it all--They are literally BONDED across the chasm of reality itself. We can all speculate whether it's from the paopu fruit (as I think) or just The Power of Love™️, but regardless it's beyond romantic. And it was when she needed him. She needed him, and he was there. Whenever she needs him, he never lets her down, literally using himself (projected on to her I guess?) as a shield. I have no hands here, so let me use yours, I'll give you my keyblade, I'll give you my strength. Even when I'm in unreality you are not allowed to mess with Kairi. How many times must I teach you this lesson old man?

I do think what you pointed out about it happening when they're both sleeping is really interesting. There is a wonderful symmetry to it, dreaming of each other, reaching for each other--in a world without you, i'll dream of you, right? It seems that's how Yozora reaches Sora too, and possibly riku, given the endings of Remind and kh3? some very weird jumbling of memory and dream going on here. It reminds me a bit of CoM, where Sora is put to sleep in order to unscramble his memories. The concepts of dream and memory and sleep are often found together in kh. once nomura puts you to sleep, no telling what weird shit's going to happen to you lol. oh the sweet sweet torment of kh mysteries.

And iirc from a nomura interview from after the trailer drop it seems Sora was asleep from the time between kh3/remind and this moment of waking in the kh4 trailer, and that he was asleep for seven days (because of course he was). So either a week in unreality is a year in kh time, or there's even zanier time shenanigans at play. It could just be a way to quickly handwave over the intervening time, so they might gloss over all of this, but I really do hope they'll show us or describe to us the MoM scene from Sora's POV (and also how/when he got changed into his new 'fit lol). I wrote that mini fic on the MoM scene because it's so fascinating to me. He just knew. She must have been calling out to him, and he knew. How did he know she needed him? How did he get to her? I have to lie facedown now.

The fact that Kairi thanked Sora at the end, to me at least, (and im not a sap nor am i biased in any way) says that it was actually Sora, not her own imagining of him. But it does present this interesting idea if it is some sort of self creation--that in a moment of weakness, again her own demons, when she needs strength and courage, when she feels she's not enough, she thinks of sora, and that gives her that courage and strength. I mean, who does she know that's defeated Xehanort? (If you can't get Sora himself, store-bought is fine).

Anyway, I actually rewatched the kh4 trailer a few days ago and I still clutched my chest when it first reveals Sora on the couch. I don't think I'll ever forget how I felt seeing him there, knowing he was (at least to some extent) alright, seeing him so altered and grown up, so far from all he's known. KH certainly isn't in Kansas anymore. Just think, what if Sora had just saved Kairi, right before that moment cuts in and he opens his eyes? A girl can dream.

answering this ask Maria (can I call you that? mutual level up?), you literally have me kicking my feet under my desk like a middle schooler after the big dance. this was good for my soul. Kh always makes sure there's something spicy even in the seemingly innocuous titles, and wow, MoM truly has a banger. A love banger. This is where I'm torn. Because a sokai reunion after returning from unreality would be oh so sweet. If either Sora or Kairi don't fall to the ground because their knees give out when they see one another, it won't be angsty enough for me. And you've discussed before, Kairi doesn't have to girlboss her way to Shibuya in order for kh4 to be satisfying, iirc. and Im with you on that. to me, she's as much 'home' to Sora as DI is, so it could be a very cathartic way to end kh4, similar to the end of kh2. But also, them reuniting in quadratum, then perhaps even teaming up? sweet dreams are made of this.

will i trim this down? no. should I have? probably. but im so happy I have a fellow new fan to enjoy the ride with. we both missed the hype for 3, but hot damn, we arguably picked the best time to become kh fans. Hope your finals are going well sweetie, and you have a wonderful Christmas. thank you for this gift in my tumblr stocking, it's always welcome.

#you really woke up and said "im going to push all of Holly's sap buttons today #and it totally made my day when I read this #Holly rambles #Holly could stop might stop wont stop #literally if anyone wants to drop in for a sap sesh I am always down #goldensunset #GoldenSunset more like GoatedwiththeSauce #Sora really said 'GET AWAY FROM MY WIFE' in John Mulaney voice #long post #seriously this got long lol #kh and romance? how could it not be lol #im a sap and im proud #im cringe but at least im free

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