#kairi as protagonist au

[themadauthorshatter]

... Hear me out for a second:

Kingdom Hearts Swap

But with Riku as our protagonist rather than Sora

Let me explain:

We start off the same, when the dive to the heart, but it's Riku not Sora. He goes through it all and awakes early on his room and goes to the island, where we get some gameplay with him getting a head-start on gathering supplies.

Sora does arive and fall asleep after helping out some, we still get the cute moment between him and Kairi, something Riku actually finds cute, and we basically get the original opening, but we play as Riku rather than Sora. We do 'fight' Sora, but as we progress, Sora becomes more aggressive to try winning. Eventually, when Sora's defeated, he gives a laugh and gives Riku a 'good game,' as he keeps his place as the best fighter of the children.

The race does still occur with the winner getting to share a poupo fruit (I CANNOT be spelling that right😫🙏) with Kairi. The winner names the raft still.

When asked later by Kairi, Riku admits that he was just teasing Sora because he knows he likes Kairi and then turns the subject to ask if she's excited to explore the other worlds. She is, but more because she's aexcited to see where she originally came from. She also tells him not to change, because he's a good friend.

We get the trio talking as usual, the tutorial wraps up, and just before the storm, Riku is stopped by his mother, who sees he's up late and isn't himself, so she makes some kind of tropical, kid drink like lemonade(bear with me, it'll be worth it), and the two sit down at the table.

Riku's mom, we'll call her Rika, asks what's eating him and if he's okay. Riku admits that he, Sora, and Kairi have planned to do something crazy, and he's admittedly nervous, but isn't so scared that he'll back out. If he does, then there's a chance Kairi and Sora will too, and Kairi wants to find where she came from, so he doesn't want to let her down. He also just wants to keep them safe as they're his best friends.

Rika asks if they're sailing away for reals and Riku can only nod, which makes Rika hug him. She tells him he's insanely brave, but asks that he try to stay, and that if he can't, then that he stay safe and come home. A lot of mixed messages, but she loves her son, knows he's committed to this, and practically BEGS him to promise that he'll be safe and keep his friends safe and that they'll come home.

He promises, they finish their drinks, and head to bed, but not before Riku stops.

"Hey, Mom?"

"Hm?"

"... I love you."

"I love you, too."

If I didn't kill you before, I am now because the storm hits. Riku leaves, something his mom sees.

The events happen as normal, but it's Riku in Sora's place. He fights and gets thrown around by the heartless, he see Kairi disappear right as he tries to catch her as the door is opened, and finds Sora standing alone, saying the door os open amd they can all leave the island, saying so with an uncomfortable amount of excitement thay freaks Riku out a little. He does try reaching Sora as the two are engulfed by darkness, but Riku gets the keyblade and is able to properly fight.

There's more panic as he's whisked away, grasping onto wood and shouting, "No," over and over and over again, because he's scared.

Too bad he still gets swept up in the storm and taken to Traverse Town, where he meets Pluto, the Final Fantasy crew, and Donald and Goofy, who still land in him, but the change here is he shouts, "Get off!" at them because he's getting squished.

Retconning and more details, he sees Pluto and is instantly worried about his friends and his mom, because he loves her, damn it. Luckily, he amd Pluto can explore and hopefully get answers, and he still has the keyblade, so, yay.

He runs into Squall, the two fight after some banter, and some egging on, and if you win the fight, Riku walks away before reching some stairs and almost falling down from passing out before Squall catches him. If you lose the fight, Squall swings and Riku is knocked back and out cold, though Squall in both instances says that Riku's tougher than he looks and is a good fighter.

We still get the explanation for the keyblade, Traverse Town, and the Heartless, and then back on schedule.

Riku mets Donald and Goofy, is squished and tells them to get off, a fight commences, and the three win, though while Donald and Goofy celebrate, Riku walks warily walks away from them, slow at first, before picking up the pace.

It shocks them both and Goofy follows, asking Riku where he's going. Riku, not in the mood, tells him that he's going to find his friends. Donald, ever the skeptic, asks Riku how he'll do it, EXACTLY? Riku stops for a moment and says that he'll figure it out.

Aerith, being careful, stops Riku and tells him that walking away IS NOT a good idea, as the two traveled by ship and are from another world to find the key, which he has. And he's looking for his friends and needs a ship, so opportunity has a name.

Donald and Goofy catch up and say they're actually looking for someone too and could really use Riku's help. They can't fight the heartless as well as he can and they were told to stay with him. And being strong means nothing when you're 15 years old, so zip it.

Riku, seeing his options, and glancing at the keyblade before dismissing it, agrees to go with them.

There's one condition: He has to give them a smile, as their ship runs on happy faces.

Riku looks over at Squall and Aerith with, 'Do I really have to?' eyes before turning back to Donald and Goofy, who give examples by making funny faces.

Riku gives a half smirk, but that doesn't cut it.

He smiles, and that doesn't do it either. He has to smile like he means it.

Finally, Riku gives a laugh and his best smile, holding it for Donald and Goofy to see.

They laugh, something that gets him confused, and he's accepted in with the oath: All for one, one for all.

With that, their adventure begins

And that's it!!! I will do more of this because I love the concept. Feel free to tell me what you think, and I hope you enjoyed!!

[empyreasheart]

side note i also very much love daisy duck and i think anyone who makes a protagonist kairi au / kairi game idea should have her allies as daisy and minnie

[the-au-collector]

Welcome

I’m The AU Collector, call me Collector. You can find me under the same name on AO3. Here you’ll find my own AUs, my original world, and lots of reblogs. I’m mainly in the Linked Universe and Kingdom Hearts fandoms, but you’ll also see me stray into others like Tales of the Abyss, Lockwood & Co, Batfam, etc. I call pretty much all of my works AUs, so even if it’s a fic, I’ll call it AU for simplicity’s sake.

I have a lot of AUs so I thought I would break them down below for people wondering what they are. Also feel free to ask me about any of them. I’d love to ramble about them!

Linked Universe

Relinked AU: 23 years after Linked Universe, the Links’ kids are kidnapped, forcing the Links on another time-traveling adventure to save them. Meanwhile, the kids go on their own adventure to get home.

Reconnect the Chain AU: AU of Relinked. Taking place 10 years after Linked Universe, the Chain reconnects themselves. It’s my happy, slice-of-lifey version of Relinked. Most drawings or writing I do with the Relinked kids as kids will be tagged as both RtC and Relinked if it’s pre-reunion.

Radio AU: Modern College AU. The Chain are all somehow affiliated with the college radio station at Kakariko University. Hyrule’s a new student who gets dragged into their chaos, and learns a little bit about himself in the process.

Cupcakes for Harmony: Inspired by Their Melody. I looked at Their Melody and said “what if I made it sadder?”

Adventures of Uncle Alfon: Legend’s Uncle has some things to say. A non-linear, slice-of-life fic focusing on Uncle Alfon and his relationship with Legend.

Epic AU: Ongoing brainstorming. Epic: The Musical has inspired a plot in my head but idk what’s happening with it yet. All I really know is it’s another LU Links Reunite fic, plus some.

Second Chain/Ultimate Chain AU: Alternate versions of the same AU. I add some more heroes into the mix! Features The Hero of the Kingdom (TOTK), The Hero of Ages (Age of Calamity), The First Hero (Skyward Sword Manga), The Shadow of the Hero (Four Swords Adventures), The (younger) Hero of Legend (A Link To The Past), and The Hero of the Minish (Minish Cap). Potentially, I may even add the Ancient Hero (Tears of the Kingdom).

Kingdom Hearts

Those Who Have Been Wronged Series: A multi-book series currently in the works. It’s canon-compliant up until the secret ending of KH3. Follows the Foretellers’ arc with Kairi as the main protagonist as she searches for Sora and works to defeat the Master of Masters alongside Ven, Namine, Vanitas, and Lauriam. It does include all the KH characters, and almost everyone gets their own time to shine, but Kairi and co. (The Reflection Crew) is the main group.

Together AU: KH3 onwards AU where everything is wrapped up during KH3. The Union Leaders are here. Eraqus is back. Everyone is (mostly) happy. A soft, slice-of-life series I write when the Wronged Series is getting to overwhelming.

Miscellaneous AUs: Occassionally a KH AU will pop into my head. These aren’t very serious works, just fun ideas.

Tales of the Abyss:

Fire Rises: Mostly vibes at this point, Fire Rises will focus on a cast of 6-7 Unscored (people born outside of the Score) trying to make their lives in a world that still holds onto their hatred for them. Takes place 5-ish years after Tales of the Abyss.

OG-Verse:

The OG-verse is my original world called Auran which shares a good portion of worldbuilding as the Wronged Series and Together AU. It’s where all my KH OCs have gone to live. I have a lot of worldbuilding for this but not a lot of story at the moment.

[oathofpromises]

Ten Q’S:

1. when are you usually online?  

I try and be online when I can but lately it’s been really hard due to health reasons. I normally am online eastern time. There isn’t a certain timeframe that I’m always here, but I do my best to answer messages and threads when I can. I do appreciate the patience when answering asks since there are some weeks I simply am not up to writing. I’m trying take my time with each thread and answer so they all get equal amount of detail and attention. 

2. what verses are you involved in outside of this page?

I have a ton of verses tbh and most of them are with @codebestowed muses. I know we have a pirate and navy au with our Sora and Riku. A fatal frame au with Yuri and their Data Sora. We also have a royal au too and a mermaid au with Sora and Kairi. I know they haven’t been on their Sora blog for a bit for reasons, which I respect and understand but all the Au’s I have with Artemis mean the world to me. 

I love Au’s so if there’s ever time our muses have a good relationship and you’d like to toss an au idea at me please feel free to do so. I get to point with Au’s that I make playlists for them too. 

3. what is your biggest RP pet peeve?

I have a few Rp pet peeves: The first one is one that I’ve seen also bother others. Is when people have this certain fanon for a character and kind of push that as the canon. Like don’t get me wrong it’s cool have fanon ideas about your muses or characters you love but please don’t push those ideas onto how someone else writes the same character. A big example of this is I tend to write my Riku as being bi. I love shipping him with either Sora or Kairi but not everyone likes seeing me write either ship and that’s completely okay. However, I had a experience once where I was writing with @codebestowed​ Sora and a few people decided to try and mock my Riku being gay. They were trying be very vague about it but I could tell it was directed at a thread I was doing. It’s just disrespectful in general to try and make someone feel bad for the way they write one of their muses. 

I would never go up to someone else that also writes same character and say they need to do it a certain way. We all have ways we write our characters and that should be respected. 

Another big pet peeve of mine is when I feel like people try and be very mean in character to certain muses I write for. The biggest example is my Kairi. I love this character alot and she was the first one I wrote on this account. However, there are times on different platforms when I wrote for her that I felt like people were trying take their dislike for her character out on my muse. This isn’t okay and I honestly won’t put up with it. If your character is type to be mean I get that but there’s difference between that and being downright hateful. 

4. are you drawn to specific types of muses?

I think there is a pattern with me with muses. I tend to write characters that I have things I can related to and overall love and most of time it seems to be good muses. I have written some villain's before but most of them are typical what people would see as protagonist or heroes.  

5. are there recurring themes in your writing that people might not notice?

I really try and get inside my muses minds. To dive deep into those emotions that perhaps we noticed but didn’t get to see as much yet. A good example of this is my Sora, I have alot of thoughts about how much this boy has had to take on and sacrifice over the course of the series. How some of those things have really weighed down on him. However, he isn’t the type show this to just anyone. You have to have a close bond with him for the boy really open up about those deeper emotions. To lean on you, which is why anytime he does it’s around either Riku or Kairi. Those two have seen him at his weakest and have never once judged him for it. 

So I guess sometimes I do write a lot of angst but I also write fluff and happy threads too. However, I just really like thinking about how certain situations really made any of my muses feel. 

6. what are your favorite RP trends?

Hm..this is hard one because I haven’t been around as much this year because of the previous job I had and other health related issues but I really do love the blockquote type icons that a lot more people seem to be using or commissioning. I do also make graphics myself so if anyone ever wants icons or stuff done I might make a post for that. I also love how unique each person icons are with all the different styles. It really shows love each writer has for their muse. 

7. what is your process for starting a new story with someone?  

Well I usually like to do a few shorter threads first just to get a grasp on how someone writes their muse. To see if our characters really click well and after that talk to them about maybe idea for a longer thread. I’m not the type rush on longer responses because those take me a bit to write up myself. I want to hear the other writers ideas too. 

For example, if they really have an idea they want to do for a thread. Run it by me and I can see if I’m comfortable with it. Most of the time I am but if it’s about something I’m not up for writing I’ll probably not be for it but this is rare. 

8. how do you feel about duplicates?

I love duplicates actually, I’ve run into the issue where people in past refuse to write with me if we have the same muse. Which I get why some people feel that way but to me I love seeing how different people will write the same muse. It’s refreshing to see what are the similarities and differences. If you write same muse as any of ones I have and want to write with them please let me know because I would love see the interactions between the two. 

9. how long have you been involved in roleplaying?

I’ve probably been roleplaying on and off for at least five years at this point. I started writing on a site called Amino. I ended up leaving that app because nothing good really came out of staying there aside from meeting a few people I’m still friends with. 

I say on and off because there are points where I do get drained and need breaks away. I love writing and creating threads with people but like I stated earlier I want to give each thread my all and not feel like I have to push replies out when I feel crappy. 

10. is there a muse or verse you wish you could write in, but haven’t?

I actually have to add a new muse to my list soon and that’s Ellie from the Last of us. I actually think it would be interesting write an au based around the whole concept of those games too. More of modern setting, which are things I don’t get to write as much. I also really been into the whole slice of life recently. I know maybe it’s cheesy but I really would love seeing some of my muses in a school setting or just modern. 

Tagged by: @litoredeem

Tagging: Whoever would like to do this, Just say I tagged you.

[newnevermind-sanity]

Of Countless Stars Chapter 34

Tags:

Graphic Depictions Of Violence Emma | Gemma & Hero | Luminary (Dragon Quest XI), Kurusu Akira/Yoshizawa Sumire | Yoshizawa Kasumi, Amamiya Ren/Yoshizawa Sumire | Yoshizawa Kasumi My Unit | Byleth/Claude von Riegan, Hikari | Mythra/Homura | Pyra/Nia/Rex, Kairi/Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Kirby (Kirby), Min Min (ARMS), Terry Bogard, Joker, Persona 5 Protagonist, Kurusu Akira, Amamiya Ren (Persona Series), Banjo and Kazooie, Hero | Luminary (Dragon Quest XI), Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Sephiroth (Compilation of FFVII), Mishima Kazuya, Lavenza (Persona Series), Homura | Pyra, Hikari | Mythra, My Unit | Byleth, World of Light AU, This is a side project for when I feel like it, Novelization, Everyone is here including many extras from the fandoms tagged, I'm only tagging major ones however due to the sheer scale of the cast here, I'm not going to be like that one god damn fic that made ao3 change it's tagging system, poly rights in this house

Summary

The mission is a complete disaster. There is no hope, save for one single survivor. Far from this world he flees, only to find a place where stray and strong hearts gather. Perhaps here he can find those who could succeed, where they had failed. Alternative title: Kirby rounds up the DLC army to take vengence Alternative Alternative Title: (It's Always Sunny theme plays) The Gang has to kill God (Again)

[khthepowerofmemories]

Just gonna...post a timeline of things here in advance. So that it's there.

The Power of Memories: The start of the series, first two parts plus a few shorts.

A Bottle of Stars: Simultaneous with The Power of Memories.

Solace Arc: Part 3 of the series, I need to clean it up someday, but it's up. (Comic: Fears and Doubts Disappear is during this arc)

Identity Failure (not finished): Akio's life, from recovering from the fight with Solace, to the day he becomes the MoM and leaves.

Chains of Light- Solace manages to slip away and back through time, changing fate so that Akio will not exist. Started out as just a Kairi as protagonist AU but grew into something from there. All parts of that series are in the correct order and canon

Work currently titled as "Tori's Story": Part of the Chains of Light Timeline, not yet posted. Basically just her adjusting to the new timeline.

Middle Ground: The upcoming comic. I really don't want to share too many details, since it's not yet written and is not something already set in stone. However, there is overlap in timing with stuff.

The shorts/drabbles I have posted on here as Tumblr only content are spread mostly throughout the timeline after Identity Failure but before Chains of Light, with some that don't. None of these are 100% to canon.

[phoenix-downer]

I know this will likely never happen but it would be interesting if there was a spinoff game in which Sora and Kairi's roles were reversed. Maybe in an AU, or maybe Kairi gets sent back in time and she has to relive his experiences before finding him again. It would be pretty cool, if extremely unlikely.

Kairi-as-the-protagonist is an interesting AU, isn’t it? It’s actually pretty popular with the fandom, too! I know a number of artists have explored variations of it, including miramelindamusings, qrdrws, thesanityclause, and oneskymanydestinies. Slightly-gay-pogohammer has also drawn some really cute art set during KH1 from Kairi’s POV where we see Kairi’s reactions to Sora’s adventures. 

And in terms of fics, I wrote a fic a couple of years ago where Kairi gets the Keyblade after Sora turns into a Heartless called Ready or Not, and the author MrSpinner wrote an AU where Kairi begins her Keyblade training after KH1 called Embrace of Destiny. 

(I know I’m probably forgetting some artists and writers who have explored this AU, so if you know of someone or are someone, feel free to chime in!)

I really like your idea where she relives his experiences before finding him again, that has a lot of potential! Maybe she’ll have to gather memories of him and see what all he’s done, who he’s met, etc. in order to save him?

Thanks for the ask!

[rikurespecter]

A Step Closer to Home

a canon-divergent soriku AU, aka Realm of Darkness AU. destiny-trio centric, multiple POV, protagonist kairi, & eventual leaisa.  rated G | ongoing | read it here! 💖

[oneskymanydestinies]

Sokai Week 2020 | Day 4: AU - Protagonist Kairi 

[mariaashby64]

Title: A Heart of Pure Light

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: Gen

Characters: Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), Minnie Mouse (Kingdom Hearts), Daisy Duck (Kingdom Hearts), Jiminy Cricket (Kingdom Hearts)

Synopsis:

On one fateful night, Kairi's world fell apart. She woke up in a new world with the ability to summon a strange weapon. A Keyblade.

Teaming up with an incognito Queen, her temperamental right hand lady, and their diligent scribe, Kairi is now on the mission to save other worlds from falling to darkness. And hopefully find her missing friends along the way.

.

.

.

Introducing the beginning of my latest multi-chapter fic! Huge thanks to the discord crowd that inspired this fic in the first place.  You guys are a blessing.

[rainbowhairanddaffodils]

Kairi as protagonist AU Kairi. She fit. Also, queued posts because I want to do an art dump, but keep them kind of separated by universe? Idk.

[miramelindamusings]

au where kairi gets chosen and has adventures  and saves her friends

[mewuniverse]

Here, have a "Kairi should be a real fighter unlike what canon did to her" AU

Aka the "Kairi Protagonist" AU

[KPAU for short and yes I did that on purpose because Kim Possible and awesome redheads]

Inspired by the "Sora Dies" AU (SDau) made by @xiolette that has the same starting premise: What would happen if Sora died at the end of KH1 when he stabbed himself to save Kairi?

Here's where my take goes:

After Kairi gets her keyblade; seals the keyhole; takes down Ansem, Seeker of Darkness like a champ; and does the whole "Kingdom Hearts is light!" bit in her own way

Kairi attempts to get Riku out of the RoD, but there's something darkness related ready to burst out so there's no time and Riku has to shut the door from the other side

"I already lost Sora! I can't lose you too!"

"You won't, Kairi. Like King Mickey said, we'll find a way back to each other."

Cue the beginning of Kairi taking her own journey through worlds, with Donald and Goofy at her side, both to find Riku and to process grieving for Sora

The three stumble upon Castle Oblivion on that trip

Yeah, being manipulated by the Organization is still a thing, only it's to make her believe Riku hates her and to destroy her spirit (with Repliku as the tool)

In the basement, Riku encounters Kairi's Nobody (aka who we know as Xion) who is being used to try and turn Riku to the darkness

Axel gets super injured by Kairi, and before he can recooperate he runs into Riku and just... Passes out and dies in front of Riku

At the end of all that craziness is when Kairi and Riku find each other again (and happy reunion with the Disney trio)

DiZ would probably be the one telling them about the Organization and about how Nobodies work

Kairi, Riku, Donald, and Goofy become a squad while Mickey is either working with DiZ or actually checking in with his queen at Disney Castle

Meanwhile, on the Organization side of things:

Roxas had his memories from being Sora--emphasis on HAD

A certain amnesiac blonde girl found in Castle Oblivion was forced to surpress Roxas's memories--followed by surpressing her own so she wouldn't remember having done the deed

She undergoes Xemnas's naming ceremony and is named Xiraki (instead of Naminé), and the now memory-less Roxas gets his name

Roxas is Number 13 and Xiraki is Number 14, and both of them have keyblades (Roxas with Kingdom Key and Xiraki with Destiny's Embrace)

They're a trio with Axel

However, when Axel is legit killed in Castle Oblivion, Roxas and Xiraki are sad (as much as they can be as Nobodies)

Either Saïx or Xemnas tells Demyx to basically be the placeholder in their small friend circle to keep them in line (not like he's much good at regular missions, better put him to use somewhere)

Demyx finds himself actually bonding with Xiraki and Roxas while the three eat ice cream and Demyx shows off his music to his two small friends

Luxord later joins them, making a squad

Clock tower gatherings with the four would also include playing card games thanks to Luxord

Hinting at backstory between Luxord and Demyx would definitely happen (also early hinting at Chi era shenanigans)

Luxord knows the truth about the two youngest Nobodies while Demyx doesn't, which will definitely cause rifts later

At one point Xiraki is being bothered by dreams she keeps having of being on an island with two boys she doesn't recognize

Roxas starts having a similar issue and he and Xiraki talk about it

Xiraki and Roxas work together to try to find answers, eventually making their way to Castle Oblivion

This is all I got so far, plus I actually wanna write this out as fanfic so I don't wanna spoil too much lol

[oveliagirlhaditright]

I See Myself the Way You Remember Me

Summary: For AO3 user TechnovoreX. They requested Kingdom Hearts III Sora turning into a Heartless, and being unable to revert... and Kairi not knowing it was him, and taking care of this tame Heartless as a pet. But I forgot some of those details, so it's the Master of Masters (Sora) changing the past, so that he remained a Heartless when he stabbed himself with the Keyblade of People's Hearts and then Kairi got the Keyblade and saved the day. KH1 AU, basically, where Kairi becomes the protagonist at the end of the game. And since I forgot TechnovoreX's request for Kairi not to know the Shadow is Sora, she does here. I hope you guys enjoy! And I did put my own spin on some of your ideas, TechnovoreX. I hope that that's okay.

Sora’s PoV

The Master of Masters—who was really Sora from a world line where everyone had died in the Keyblade Graveyard but him—had succeeded in his plans to get Kingdom Hearts, and to save his friends, the Foretellers, and the worlds as he had so wanted to.

And the only thing he still needed to do, was to to use the power of Kingdom Hearts to change some of the life experiences that he’d had with his friends: because through a bit of foresight the Master still had via his eye (had someone else taken it and carried it into an even further future?), he could tell that if things in the past didn’t get somewhat altered, it would end in disaster for everyone.

So Sora closed his good eye, called upon the power of Kingdom Hearts, and set to work.

His first thought—as it always was—being of Kairi.

…

Five Years Previously

Kairi’s PoV

Kairi was horrified; Sora had just turned into a Heartless to save her… And while she’d felt lost in the moment that it had happened, she’d been hopeful that somehow she could revert him to normal.

But after they had found his Heartless right outside the library—and she, Donald, Goofy, and Heartless-Sora had escaped Hollow Bastion with the help of the Beast—she had to admit that that possibility was seeming less and less likely to her.

Donald and Goofy—as much as they loved Sora—were worried that his instincts would take over, and he’d steal Kairi’s precious heart or theirs. But she knew he wouldn’t; deep down, he was Sora and always would be Sora. And that’s all that mattered.

…And she got the sense that he was trying to show her how to use the Keyblade: something she assumed that she must have gotten when Sora had transferred her heart back to her.

When Kairi swung her Keyblade, Heartless-Sora would jump up into the air to try and push the blade even farther for her—to make the blade move in the wide arc that she needed it to… …Hopefully through all of this, she’d find a way to bring Sora and Riku home.

“Sora… I know the other Princesses think that Ansem has gone into the deepest darkness and taken Riku’s body with him… But I promise you that I’m going to get him back! You, too, for that matter!”

This form of Sora just blinked his large, vacant eyes at her. The gaze didn’t say much, but Kairi felt it was similar to when he’d looked at her curiously when she’d woken him up on the beach so long ago.

“…Well, Sora, it’s bedtime,” Kairi decided at last. At first, she’d been unsure about if she was going to let him stay in her room or not… But she knew that they both could use some comfort, so she’d keep him here and just go into the bathroom when she wanted to change and whatnot.

Kairi thought about asking Sora if he wanted to brush his teeth… if he had any—or needed help brushing any hair he might have on this somewhat slimy form of his?—but thought better of it. (she did tie her lucky charm around his right antennaeas an “earring” for him, though)

And speaking of nightly routines… Usually Kairi would have just gone to sleep with her hair messy, but since Sora was here, she thought she needed to be at least a little more presentable for him.

So she brushed her hair, curled up in bed beside Sora, and tried to go to sleep… and to ignore the millions of worries already plaguing her mind.

And she may have been imagining it, but Kairi thought she might have seen Sora’s eyes become a bit more orange than yellow before she lost consciousness.

…

For the next few days, Kairi focused on training with Yuffie and Aerith more than anyone else. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Donald, Goofy, Leon, Cid, or Merlin, or thought that they’d do badly teaching her… But rather, Yuffie and Aerith were both girls—so Kairi thought that they might better be able to help cater to her strengths.

And Yuffie was somewhat close to Kairi’s size and had her energy… and Aerith was as new to combat as the redhead was, so she thought for both of those reasons that this was a good start.

They trained in the underground cavern—Heartless-Sora riding on Kairi’s back the entire time she used “the Key”… which sort of made it harder, in some ways, but she appreciated his moral support—and just within two weeks, Kairi felt enough improved that she thought she could probably take on the End of the World and mostly handle it.

Kairi didn’t believe that her newfound prowess was due to any inherent talent she had… but rather the Keyblade’s own power, and maybe even Sora’s heart, as well.

Kairi didn’t completely understand how the heart worked yet—she was reading what she could about it in the mysterious “Ansem’s Reports”—but she was convinced that Sora’s heart had gone into hers when he’d used the Keyblade of People’s Hearts to free her. After all, her heart had been in Sora’s… so why wouldn’t things get messed up when Sora was trying to free hers by having his go into hers? And since his body—what the Heartless had transfigured from—didn’t have his heart because it was within her… well, that would be why Sora was a Shadow…

This was Kairi’s theory, anyway. But she definitely thought it was Sora’s heart in hers that was causing her newfound jump in combat skills. And how she longed to try and reach out to his heart… Or do for him what he had done for her. But there was no time… The worlds needed a Keyblade wielder to close the Door, and the Keyblade of People’s Hearts had disappeared after Sora had used it, regardless…

Anyway, it was when Kairi had successfully smacked Yuffie’s ninja stars back into her—on the third week where Kairi’d decided that she’d finish this last bout of training and then hightail it into the gummi ship—that Heartless-Sora seemed to be blushing the color of... eggplant? If at all possible?

Aerith was the first to notice this; she was being kind,, in trying to offer Heartless-Sora some of her lemonade—seeming to feel that if she couldn’t heal his heart with her magics, then she could at least attempt to aid his soul.

And just out of the blue, when Yuffie was nursing the blow to her chin, Aerith mused, “I wonder why Sora is blushing.” “What?! Sora blushing?!” Yuffie demanded, before Kairi could get her own words in (she had her own theory about this, after all. That Sora was just flustered because he was a gentleman—he always had been to her—and therefore was just sad that Yuffie had gotten hurt). “Yo! You know what I think it is?! Aerith, Sora totes thought I was Kairi when we first met, since he likes her! And maybe having Kairi accidentally hit my face lodged that thought back into his brain, and he’s embarrassed about it!”

Kairi really didn’t know if Yuffie’s assessment was correct. At all. But her saying this did seem to embarrass Sora as he jumped down from where he’d been on Aerith’s shoulder in eying the lemonade, pulled his antennae over his eyes, and began wobbling towards the entrance to the Magician’s Study… But she really couldn’t focus on that right now.

“Sora… likes me?” If Kairi was being honest with herself, she felt like she was lying in order to act like she hadn’t already guessed that. After all, she had somewhat encouraged Sora and Riku to fight over her, hadn’t she? It had all been in good fun… But Kairi, at least now, doubted that any of it had been real—that instead, Sora and Riku had been fighting over a play-wife and nothing more and nothing less.

And ignoring Yuffie and Aerith’s nods and words in the affirmative, Kairi turned her attention to Sora… Who had stopped just beside the water and looked like he wanted to drown himself in it, yes… but he was also looking at her sternly, for whatever reason.

…And it was in that moment that Heartless-Sora seemed to morph a bit, and got some sort of mane around his Heartless head… and Kairi had no idea what to do with this knowledge, so she ignored it and moved on (she had no time to do anything else).

…

Kairi was fighting, fighting, fighting—trying to defeat enough Heartless to get some sort of Keyhole to form so that it would create a door they could go through—and she was exhausted… and probably not doing as well as she could have been.

Really, Kairi knew there was no way she could have been a seasoned Keyblade wielder yet—even with Sora’s heart fighting alongside hers—but she was still trying, and thanking Donald and Goofy for their efforts that aided her with her every breath…

Though Kairi felt bad about defeating Heartless in front of Sora… as if this was somehow a hint to what would happen to him if he lost himself and began attacking his friends. Kairi wanted to tell him that that would never happen, but the words wouldn’t come. So, she just settled on trying to send some sort of telepathic message about it into his heart, as her body focused on the here and now.

…Heartless-Sora’s body was focusing on the here and now, too. For right now, he was clawing Heartless after Heartless for Kairi. She was thinking of kissing him on the head for it, and seeing if that would be enough of a reward. The good thing about the mane he had gotten? That when most Heartless tried to get a hand on him they would just get a handful of that fur instead.

Donald was using gravity spell after gravity spell on the tougher Heartless, but Kairi could see he was about to be knocked-out… And Goofy just seemed focused on sending her as much magic as he could.

In her heart, Kairi saw herself using firaga on these new, larger Shadows that were creeping around her—so she thought this was a sign from the Keyblade that this was what she was meant to do here—but she didn’t know if she had it within her to be fiery anymore…

And just as that thought seemed to enter her head, Sora looked at Kairi incredulously this time. She didn’t know how a Heartless could manage that sort of expression, exactly, but he was a living example of how it was possible.

And taking this as Sora trying to be as verbal with his expertise as he could in his current form, Kairi decided to be brave again and bellowed a “firaga!”—and watched in awe, as a sphere of the flames seemed to dance around her without harming her in the slightest and defeated every enemy in sight.

And there before the quartet, the door to Ansem finally faded into existence. And the friends charged towards it… Sora morphed into the shape of a human again even more as he did so, which Kairi noticed, as she caught his hand with hers.

…

When Heartless-Sora and Kairi were about to say goodbye to each other at Kingdom Hearts—after their heartfelt, temporary farewell to Riku that was still tearing them both apart—Kairi finally figured out what had been going on with Sora and herself.

Because of her guilt for what had happened, she had become a lesser version of herself—turning away from the things she usually would have done.

And Sora had caught onto this, and had tried to tell Kairi about it as much as he could  with his looks. This was why he’d transformed when she’d chosen to be clean instead of messy—because he’d wanted to tell her then and there that she was allowed to relax and take it easy—and had even been altered when she doubted his feelings for her, and the embers in her heart.

Sora—perhaps via their connected hearts—had evolved for her, so he could be more himself and everything she could ever need… But since he was still in darkness, he was almost becoming a humanoid version of darkness incarnate now.

And while as a Princess of Light, Kairi should have been sad about this and even have her worries… she couldn’t.

Sora was Sora—and would always be Sora—and that’s all that mattered.

And how could she see something awful in this, when his intentions were so noble and pure?

He’d evolved for the last time—now pretty much being the boy he once was, even as a Heartless… though his eyes were still yellow, and he still couldn’t really speak—when Ansem (who Sora was now almost like, and yet also so different from him) had dared to try and make her fall by saying that Riku’s “Giving up already? I thought you were stronger than that!” was for Sora and Sora alone, and could never be directed at her. That no one would ever tell her anything positive at all…

It had been then that Heartless-Sora had somehow learned to fly—and flown up from their plummet, with Kairi in his arms—and said the first thing he’d been able to since he’d received his awful curse: “No!”

They were at the pinnacle moment now, where Kairi had been thinking strongly of letting Sora go back to the Islands since he was mostly himself… and since she didn’t want him to be in danger until she found some way to turn him back.

But, having just lost Riku the way they did… this plan they’d come up with, when the Princesses had told them what had happened when the Door to Darkness was closed, went up in smoke.

Sora and Kairi couldn’t be without each other on this journey… they just couldn’t be, despite it all.

Kairi—even in her inexperience—had saved the world because of their bond and surely that was something to be celebrated. And Sora had defied the laws of nature entirely to become a new kind of champion for her and the worlds.

Sora and Kairi’s places remained with each other.

Just as the earth came apart beneath them, Kairi reached forward and grabbed Sora’s hand… and found a way to fly herself this time—Donald and Goofy following after her.

And a winding road appeared behind the four, with each of them deciding to hold onto each other’s hands this time as they traveled along it.

[underthebluerain]

Kingdom Hearts AU: When a supernatural storm transports 14-year-old Kairi to a distant land, she sets out to track down her missing friends. Teaming up with Court Wizard Donald and Captain Goofy, Kairi embarks on a valiant quest to find her friends and defeat the evil Heartless.

[navek15]

Post KHI AU. While waiting for Sora and Riki’s return, Kairi ends up being attacked by a masked boy and a hooded figure, ending up in another world. Now with her own Keyblade in hand, Kairi is joined by the paladin Max Good and the amnesiac robot EVE on a journey to find lost loved ones and forgotten memories. But will the chaotic Unversed and their masters spell their doom?