#and then nobody even knows I was added or joined anyways loll

[canisonicscrewyou]

Creating a dedicated space for me and my mutuals and everyone else to occasionally say one(1) thing in the group chat and otherwise stare at everyone in an unsettling manner.

[solaneceae]

Crash

TW: Blood, major injury, major character death

Read on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21035054/chapters/50771236

------------------

Everything hurt.

Dave slowly came back into clearheadedness, groaning in discomfort; he couldn’t get a good intake of air, his lungs constricted by the straps around his chest. A dozen or so alarms blared all around him, adding to his already dizzying headache. The cabin smelled of burning leather and plastic, the chemical scent so strong it almost made him gag. Good thing the windshield was broken, or else he’d probably choke on the fumes rising from the control panel before him.

“Dave? Dave, Mateo, you okay?” Linda’s voice rang out from somewhere behind him; it was raspy and strained, but it filled him with relief: she was alive. Oh thank fuck, she was alive.

“I’m fine,” he managed to wheeze out before devolving into a coughing fit. He could taste blood in his mouth, and his nose felt stuffed; the blood vessels must’ve burst during their rapid descent. “I- I think my seatbelt is stuck.”

He felt the plane shift slightly, shaken by uneven footsteps, then a warm hand settling on his right arm. “Hold on,” Linda said, emerging from behind his seat. She looked a bit worse for wear, her clothes ripped and sprouting a pretty bad limp, but other that that she seemed fine. “I have a pocket knife somewhere. I’ll get you out.”

As the nurse took out her utility knife from one of her pockets and started cutting through the strap, A strangled gasp rang out from somewhere in their right. “Linda? Dave? You guys here? I can’t see shit!”

“Mateo!” Dave called out, straining his neck in an attempt to check on his friend; but his shoulders were tightly bound against the seat, so the only thing he could see was the cracked glass windshield right in front of his colleague’s seat. He groaned in frustration. “We’re okay! ...I think. You?”

A short silence, then a pained intake of air. “I… dunno? I don’t feel hurt so I guess that’s good, but I’m also blind as a bat right now…”

“Might be the shock.” Linda responded, voice steady and strong, her gaze not deviating from her task. She really was nothing short of amazing, always keeping her cool while the world around them fell apart. “I’ll check on you in a minute, in the meantime don’t move an inch, you don’t want to dislodge something and risk getting hurt.”

Dave shook his head, trying to get his breathing under control. God, his head pounded like mad. “Linda,” he croaked out, “Linda, I- we crashed, we fucking crashed, how the fuck are we still alive-”

“Honestly? Could be Mateo’s piloting skills, or sheer dumb luck, but it’s a fucking miracle none of us passed out from the impact, and I’m not gonna question it.” the nurse spat, a few seconds before the security belt finally snapped in two, freeing Dave from the restrictive pressure.

The man took a deep, grateful breath before shakily getting up on his feet; the cabin tilted forward, the metal floor unsteady beneath him. He turned around to thank Linda, but a wet cough from Mateo cut him off and made his chest seize with anxiety. Something’s wrong, he could hear his instincts screaming at him.

He looked up past the nurse’s head, past the busted control panel, and his almost felt his heart stop at the sight that awaited him.

Mateo was slumped in the pilot’s seat, his head lolling forward, unseeing eyes blinking owlishly. Crimson liquid dribbled steadily from his lips, open in a stunned gasp; his hands roaming his chest frantically before settling on a sharp wooden branch.

The wooden branch poking from between his ribs, going through his shirt and all the way outside the plane through the broken windshield.

Dave’s blood ran cold. He barely heard Linda’s shocked gasp, the screeches and whines of the alarms fading into the background; his limbs started to shake uncontrollably as he took a step towards his best friend, a litany of no’s heaving out of his mouth, first whispered, then growing in volume until he was all but screaming.

He tripped on his way over to Mateo, barely catching himself on the armrest; he reached out at the treacherous branch stabbing the taller man -oh god, and now he could see the tip peeking out of the leather seat behind him, oh god oh fuck - from front to back, his fingers stopping about an inch away from it in fear of making it worse.

“Ah, fuck.” the latino growled, disbelief lacing his tone. “Y-Yeah, I can feel it now.”

His voice had a weird wheeze to it, growing stronger with every breath. Linda joined them at a brisk pace, looking horrified. She looked at the red stain slowly blooming around the wound. She shook her head, eyes wide and rimmed with red. “I… I think it went right through your left lung- we can’t get it out, you’d bleed out in seconds…”

Mateo nodded, wincing as the movement pulled at his injuries; blood steadily dribbled down his chin and onto his shirt, joining the ever-growing red stain. “Figures.” he whispered, showing his blood-soaked teeth in a stiff grin. “Well, at least I won’t go all sleep-zombie on you two.”

Dave was frozen, hands reaching up to pull at his hair. This wasn’t real. This couldn’t be real. First Katie, now his best friend?

“Hey.”

Dave’s head jerked back up; Mateo was smiling down at him, his chest heaving in painful intakes of air. “It’s fine, Davie. I, uh, kinda knew something like this would happen. ‘Sides, it barely even hurts anymore. Think my body’s quitting on me, heh.”

The smaller male opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He just stared at his friend, watching as his strength left him, as his breaths became few and far between, as his eyes lost more and more of their focus. He didn’t move when Mateo slowly reached out to him, gently pawing at his shoulder, neck, and settling on his tear-tracked cheeks.

Was he crying? He couldn’t tell. Everything felt so cold and numb.

“Sorry,” Mateo chuckled, grimacing through the pain the motions stirred in him. “but I can’t exactly see your face right now, so…”

His calloused fingers delicately traced Dave’s features, brushing along his jawline, his nose, his brow-

“Guess this is the closest thing.”

“Mateo,” Dave choked, the knot in his throat finally loosening, “Fuck, I- I can’t fucking do this. Not without Katie, not without you- ”

The latino rolled his eyes. How was he still so flippant with a tree in his chest? “Bullshit. Pretty sure… you’re the only one here who can… figure out whatever the fuck really went down. So... you go and find that whale thing.”

Dave grabbed Mateo’s still roaming hands, clutching them so hard his joints became white. He grit his teeth, his frame wrecked with silent sobs. “I can’t. I can’t, I can’t, I can’t-”

“The fuck you will… or else I’ll find a way to come back and kick your ass…”

“Mateo… I’m so sorry.” Linda said quietly, her voice a bit too steady for it to be natural. “Do you want something for the pain?”

Dave’s head shot up, eyeing her in disbelief. She couldn’t possibly mean-

“Nah,” Mateo brushed her off, his head lolling to the side. “Can’t feel much anymore, it’s fine.” He yawned. “M’gonna conk out soon anyway. But hey,” he smirked, “whatever’s doing this... can’t kill me if I’m already dead, yeah?”

Dave shook his head. “Don’t fucking say that shit…”

Mateo only hummed. “You’re a dumbass... you know that?” he whispered. “Oblivious as all fuck.”

The night guard’s eyes blinked, red from crying. He didn’t understand.

Mateo sighed. “Imma say it again, kay? And you better get it this time.”

“What-”

He yelped as Mateo mustered his remaining strength to pull his face close, resting Dave’s forehead against his own. He looked at him - really looked at him somehow despite his current blindness- and spoke, slow and deliberate.

“I love you.”

Mateo’s voice -despite the rasp and the wheeze from his pieced lung- was impossibly soft. His face betrayed something Dave had only seen in Katie until now. Something warm, careful, both immensely strong and frighteningly fragile.

Fond. Adoring.

Dave gasped as the realization hit him, and Mateo’s grin widened. “And now you get it.”

And with that, his eyelids fell shut, body going limp. His hands slid off Dave’s face, leaving crimson smudges in their wake.

“No!” Dave screamed, jumping on his feet to grab Mateo’s shoulders. “Fuck! Mateo!”

Linda turned away, her hand covering her mouth as her companion shook the taller man. “FUCK YOU!” Dave bellowed, his voice breaking. “You fucking asshole! You can’t drop this shit on me and then fucking leave! Come back you fuck! COME BACK!”

He kept screaming at the body pinned to the seat in front of him, tears now flowing and rolling down his cheeks, mixing with the blood sticking to his skin.

Dave begged. Mateo didn’t move.

He wailed. Mateo didn’t breathe.

He broke down. Mateo didn’t make a sound.

He called for help. But nobody came.

And Mateo didn’t come back.

---------

uuuuugh i rushed this one so much i kinda hate it. but i HAD to get this out before the last episode dropped.

@caustic-synishade @shrinkthisviolet @teosbc @thepurple-n @mother-dweller

[angel-with-a-pipette]

Title: Just a copy

Summary: Saving Ven meant adding another Guardian of Light to the heroes' roster. It also meant heartache, dug up deep rooted insecurities and made Sora question his sense of self.

Rating: General

Genre: Hurt/Comfort

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Disney/Square Enix. This has been written for the @kh3countdownchallenge , prompt 27: Loss. Included Pairing: Sokai (duh).

Also available on: ao3 

Please enjoy!

“He was the one who kept my heart safe,” Ven concluded his tale, his eye scanning every person in the room until they fell upon the boy he was talking about. A smile spread over his lips.

“Thank you, Sora.”

Only a few hours ago, Ven had still been asleep. It was thanks to Aqua, Lea and Sora that he was now sitting among them, still a little weak from being out of commission for such a long time, but otherwise upbeat.

And that was thanks to Sora, Ven had explained, by sheltering his wounded heart not once, but twice, and Kairi stared at Sora in awe. Of course, she knew about Roxas’s heart resting inside of Sora’s and two years ago, she herself had been seeking refuge inside his heart. But none of it compared to protecting Ven’s heart for nearly –

“Twelve years,” she repeated and looked back at Ven. It was hard to believe when Ven himself barely looked sixteen years old.

“Twelve years,” he confirmed, but curled his hand against his chin as he grew pensive for a moment. “Well, before that, he already reached out to me when Xehanort split my heart in two.” He slowly started to count with his fingers. “And that was–”

“Four years earlier,” Aqua added. She was sitting next to Ven, occasionally petting his head as if she made sure he was really there. She reminded Kairi of Sora's mother; she, too, had showered her son with affection when he had finally returned after missing for 18 months.

Kairi's smile waned. And now, the poor woman was waiting for her son to return once again.

“Yes! Four years.” A grin spread on Ven’s lips and he threw his hands up to cross his arms behind his head. “So our hearts have been connected for roughly sixteen years, give or take.”

A giggle escaped Kairi.

“I can tell.” When Ven threw her an inquisitive glance, she pointed at his arms.

“Your body language is similar! Sora does this thing where he crosses his arms behind his head all the time. No wonder he does when you've been a part of his heart nearly all of his life. Right, So-?”

His name died on her lips when she heard the scraping of wood against the wooden floor. Kairi quickly turned to her side to look at him, having to crane her neck because he had gotten up.

“Sora?”

“Sorry,” he replied a little sheepishly without meeting her eye.“I just have to check up on something. I’ll be back, soon, okay?”

Upon his words, a heavy feeling spread in the pit of Kairi's stomach, and she lowered her eyes, noticing the plate in front of him. He had barely touched his piece of cake.

“Okay,” she replied anyway and without a single glance back, Sora left the room and Kairi couldn't wait for him to return again.

Except he didn't, even after nearly an hour had passed. By now, it had gotten late and the impromptu party they had thrown together in celebration of Ven’s rescue slowly grew to a close. Aqua escorted Ven to his new room, helping his weak limbs to stay upright, Leon and Yuffie were clearing off the table while Aerith started to fill the dishwasher and Lea hadn’t attended the get-together at all, claiming to feel tired after the rescue.

Kairi grabbed the barely-touched plate of cake Sora had left behind and looked around guiltily. She didn’t want to leave without helping the others, but Aerith waved her off before she could even say something.

“Go, find him. We’ve got this under control.”

Giving her an appreciative smile, Kairi left the kitchen cake in hand as she walked up to the guestroom Sora currently occupied and knocked on the door.

“Sora?”

No answer. She quietly opened the door and peeked inside. The lights were turned off and the bed was still made – he had only entered the room shortly to drop off his backpack. She placed the left-over cake on his desk and left his room again to check on the bathrooms.

They were empty as well.

Great.

It was already dark when Kairi stepped outside into the cold night. She suppressed a shudder and rubbed her upper arms a few times with her hands before heading out to search for Sora.

She shouldn’t have left him alone.

It was rare for Sora to be upset and even rarer for him to run away to be alone. On Destiny Islands, Kairi knew exactly where to find him because it was the same place she visited when she was feeling upset: the secret place.

But Radiant Garden was huge and Sora could be hiding anywhere – searching for him might take all night and that was assuming he didn't wander around. Frustrated, Kairi balled her fist and held it over her heart, scrunching her eyes shut.

But what if – ?

Her eyes flew open again and flickered up to the outer wall of the city across from her.

If both of them sought out the same place of comfort on Destiny Islands, maybe there was a chance that her favorite place here comforted Sora, too?

It was as good of a lead as any and Kairi quickly rushed down the street and scaled the steps that led up to the wall two at a time. She finally arrived at the top of them, her breathing labored as she turned her head left and right, scanning the illuminated wall for any kind of shadow.

She saw nobody.

Her shoulders slumped in discontentment and she was ready to continue her search down the Bailey when she heard a quiet noise that made her whip her head around.

There! On top of a crane used for the restoration of the city Sora sat, curled up on himself with his head buried in his arms as his form shook slightly

Kairi felt her heart breaking.

As quickly as possible, she climbed up the crane and smoothed her skirt down before she sat next to Sora. She felt him wince upon contact and saw him furiously rub his face against his arm before he looked up at her with a forced grin and puffy eyes.

“Hey Kairi.”

“Oh Sora...” she muttered and reached for one of his hands. He squeezed back tightly. “You didn't finish your cake.”

A chuckle broke out of the boy and his shoulders shook gently as Kairi scooted closer to him.

“Talk to me, please. What's wrong?”

He stayed silent for a moment before answering.

“What if I'm not me?”

“I... don't understand?”

Sora sighed and started to absentmindedly caress Kairi's fingers with his thumb.

“The moment Ven's heart left my chest, there was an emptiness that spread inside of me. I started to feel hollow and I still do. And I know that it makes sense, Ven was part of my heart for basically all of my life, but that's the problem. He joined me when I was just a few days old. And don't get me wrong, I am glad he did! It gave him another chance in life and I would never regret that. But what does our connection mean for me?”

Sora turned his head towards Kairi and she saw new, unshed tears shine in Sora's eyes.

“You said it yourself, our body language is similar. From everything I've heard about Ven, we might be brothers, twins even. So what if I'm not actually me? What if I'm just Ven's copy?”

“Sora, every single person in our life influences us. I wouldn't be the same person I am now had I grown up in Traverse Town instead of Destiny Islands. You and Riku influenced me, you shaped me into the person I am today, and the same happened with you and Ven. He was close to your heart, of course you might have picked up some of your mannerisms, but that doesn't mean that you're his copy. You're still you.”

“You saw Roxas. What does he look like?”

Kairi knitted her eyebrows together in confusion, but decided to indulge Sora for a moment.

“He has your facial structure. Blue eyes. Blond hair, wind-swept...” She gasped.

Of course. That explained why Lea had opted to stay out of the festivities; Ven's appearance reminded him too much of his missing friend. Kairi filed this revelation away for tomorrow though, now, Sora needed her.

“Exactly,” Sora agreed and shuddered. “Roxas, my body and soul. He doesn't look like me the way Lea and Axel look the same. Instead, he looks exactly like Ven.”

“Sora-” Kairi started, but Sora interrupted her, his voice growing more solemn.

“Xemnas alluded to it before. He asked me if I can say for sure that I'm not just someone else's copy. And I honestly can't anymore.”

“You can't trust Xemnas! He wants you to doubt yourself, he wants you to give up! He'd tell you anything to make you use the Darkness!”

“That's another thing that troubles me,” Sora confessed and let his head loll against the crane behind their backs.

“You heard Ven's tale, how his heart is full of Light because Xehanort split off the Darkness in his heart, Vanitas?” Kairi nodded. “Ven has a pure heart of Light – and he was inside of me. And everyone trusts me to have a strong Light that keeps the Darkness at bay, a Light that is so much brighter than other people's Light – but what if that's not the case? What if it was Ven's Light all along that shone so brightly from inside of me? And then Xehanort went and tempted my Darkness and now that Ven's gone, my Light is weak? What if Ven's light was the only reason Xehanort couldn't get to me? What if my Darkness proves to be too much for me to handle and I'll disappoint everyone? What if-”

“Then you can have my light!”

Sora fell silent immediately and Kairi felt heat rise up her cheeks and quickly lowered her head.

“I... what?”

“Sora, I know your Light is strong enough,” Kairi clarified as she peeked up at him from under her lashes, “but if you're in doubt, I'll happily share my Light with you – and only you. Not Ven, not Roxas, not anybody else. Just you.”

There it was. Slowly but surely, a true smile started to tug on the corners of Sora's lips and spread over his face as his eyes softened. Without warning, he pulled her into a hug and buried his head into her shoulder.

“Please,” he begged her, “please do. And please… keep believing in me.”

“Always,” she breathed in reply, wrapping her hands around him tightly.