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Her boys were idiots.
No, they were morons that were blind to each others affection and she didn't have to be a Princess of Heart to see it. How did the residents of his heart not scream in frustration over how blind their previous host had been? She saw it unfold since the beginning; since before all the worlds fell that one fateful night that started this whole journey. It was confirmed when they were all reunited and she saw Sora fall to his knees in tears over the reunification with Riku. Hell, it was apparent when she had recently tried to share the paopu fruit with him. The hesitation, the nervous glances to where Riku sat on the beach.
"Kairi, I…” he said, rubbing the back of his neck as she smiled a bit, just a tad hurt as she knew that she was no longer the most important person to him. Maybe once upon a time she had been, but she knew that now, only a certain silver haired teen held his heart now.
“It's okay Sora, I get it. You should go check on him,” she said, holding the paopu fruit. The look of relief on his face before a quick “thanks!” and the way he jumped off the tree to run to Riku was so obvious. How did Riku not notice this?!
She smiled fondly at the memory as that had been a while ago now. The battle was over and Sora had saved her again, sacrificing himself for her sake. Once upon a time, she would have deemed that romantic, but he knew he only did it as she was his best friend next to Riku. Riku of course went to save Sora again and brought him back home. It seemed that that was how it was always going to be.
So how is it that they were still so very blind to each other's affection?! It's not like it wasn’t obvious either. The way Riku would watch Sora with fondness over his usual antics, or just the way Sora was a little bit more affectionate with Riku than he was with everyone else. The lingering touches between the two, the glances between the both of them when they thought the other wasn’t looking. Everyone else saw it and had placed bets as to who would be the first to make a move and if they would even get together at this rate. Vanitas had laughed and said they wouldn't with how dense they both were. Roxas scoffed at the thought and agreed with that. She wanted to have faith in these morons and put her faith in that by the year's end, they would get together, but it’s been six months since the original bet and they were still practically walking eggshells around each other when it came to their feelings. She sighed as she heard footsteps making their way to her. She turned to see none other than Riku walk up to her.
“Hey, why are you out here? Everyone else is inside celebrating Sora's birthday,” he asked, sitting by her as she hummed a bit.
“Just wanted to get fresh air that's all,” she replied as he looked up at the sky.
“Hm, well it is a rather nice night too. I had to take a break from being in there,” he said as she nodded. Being the hero of all worlds had its benefits sure, but now celebrations like birthdays were practically close to being holidays. It's not what Sora would have wanted, but he did make friends with everyone easily. On top of that, he couldn’t really say no to friends that had simply wanted to celebrate his birthday with him, so here they were. Thankfully, they were going to have a smaller celebration tomorrow for close friends and family, but it still left them in this situation with a ballroom filled with residents from other worlds celebrating the birthday of their best friend. So much for keeping the world order.
“Hey Riku?” she asked as the elder turned his attention to her. “I tried sharing the paopu fruit with Sora.”
She waited, noticing the change on Riku's face. See? Kairi could pinpoint the exact moment when Riku’s heart dropped before composing himself again. Who was he trying to fool? If he was trying to fool her, then he had another thing coming.
“About time. Congratulations Kairi,” he said, smiling a bit. She knew better. He wasn't really happy at that thought and that further cemented everything.
“Riku, the keywords there were ‘I tried.’ We didn't actually share the fruit. I know how you feel about him,” she said, hoping she didn't need to spell it out. Riku was less dense than Sora and maybe he'd see reason and confess already instead of putting the rest of the group through agony with the unresolved tension between the two. Vanitas was all for locking them up in a closet somewhere until they resolved their feelings and both Lea and Roxas had been all for it, only to be reminded that the same idiots in question were keyblade wielders, Riku being officially a Master, so locked doors were not going to hold them for long. The look on Riku's face at the realization that they didn't share the fruit was priceless. Shock, joy, relief, and hope all at once were apparent. She giggled and leaned back in her chair.
“I'm sorry Kairi, I just…” Riku started trying to explain himself as she shook her head.
“Say no more Riku. I knew he wouldn't want to share it with me. Maybe once upon a time, but it wasn't meant to happen. Sora's really dense with love so I do hope whoever he ends up with realizes that and confesses first,” she said as she didn't miss the slight blush that dusted the elder’s face. She smiled slightly before looking up at the sky as she heard a slight chuckle.
“You would think with how many hearts he had sheltered and how many happy endings for Princesses he’s saved, that he'd know more about the heart than anyone else, but it seems that's not the case,” he said as she hummed a bit.
“Well his Dream Eater isn't any brighter either and he's a Keyblade Master and older than the both of us,” she teased as she laughed slightly at the sputtering coming from the elder of the two.
“Wha- Kairi! I don't have feelings for him!” he exclaimed as she laughed even more.
“That's a lie and you know it! I heard that during the Mark of Mastery, you didn't hesitate to jump into his heart to save him. Namine told me all about the year that Sora had been asleep and how you went through lengths to wake him up. And don't even get me started with what Master Aqua said happened in the Realm of Darkness. There have been way too many instances Riku and all of them have been obvious on how you feel about him,” she said as she noticed his blush getting darker.
“I…I can't get anything past you, can I?” he asked as he buried his face in his hands as she hummed.
“Nope. It's the plus side of being a Princess of Heart and your best friend,” she said as he sighed.
“So I have feelings for Sora, but he doesn't see me like that and until now I thought you two were together,” he said, calming down. Kairi hummed at that and leaned back, looking up at at the stars.
“You won't know until you try. Riku, he's really dense. Even after seeing all the other Princesses get their happy ending, he's still oh so blind. But, I'm sure if you spelled it out for him, he'd get it,” she said as he looked at her, the blush back on his cheeks. In another time, she could have fallen for him too, but with how perfectly made for each other Riku and Sora were, she knew that it wouldn't work out then either. His replica being naturally drawn to Vanitas was proof of that.
“I…Kairi, I don't know if I should after all I have done,” he said as she shook her head. She knew he was still hung up over what happened, but he wasn’t truly at fault. Looking back, Riku had simply wanted to see the world, he didn’t plan on succumbing to darkness and only went to that length when Maleficent lied to him.
“Riku, we've all forgiven you. Please, it's time to forgive yourself and let yourself be happy with him. You have both done so much for the Worlds already and I think if anyone deserves happiness, it’s the both of you and I know Sora will be the happiest with you,” she said as she heard footsteps running towards them. “You don’t have to tell him now, but, keep it in mind at least.”
They both looked up to see none other than the subject of their discussion. She noticed a soft smile on Riku's face as Sora smiled and sat between them. They were so madly in love with each other that she could see why Vanitas and Roxas were absolutely on edge of getting these two together already if only to stop the agonizing tension between the two.
“Hey! Why are you both out here instead of being inside with everyone else?” he asked as Kairi smiled a bit.
“Hm, just taking in the sights with Riku. It was a bit overwhelming inside,” she said as Riku nodded.
“We were on our way back though,” Riku replied as Sora hummed and shook his head.
“Nah, let's stay out here a bit longer. I'm sure they won't miss me for a few minutes. Besides, I should be spending more time with my best friends!” he said as he looked up at the sky, resting his head against Riku's shoulder, holding Kairi's hand. Kairi squeezed his hand gently as she noticed Riku shift a bit to let the younger of the three be more comfortable. She rolled her eyes at how obvious they were both being and how blind they still were.
She thought for a bit. It would be now or never. She dug through her backpack with her free hand before letting go of Sora's hand, replacing it with the paopu fruit. She leaned in to kiss his cheek before whispering in his ear. “Share this with Riku, okay?” she asked before walking away, smiling a bit at the sputtering coming from the brunette. She didn't miss the redhead standing by the entrance when she entered the room.
“Got tired of waiting for them to realize how perfect they are for each other?” the voice asked as Kairi hummed, looking back at her two best friends that were still outside.
“If that's not obvious enough to both of them, I'm going to support Vanitas’ suggestion of tossing them somewhere to talk it out by enlisting Merlin's help,” she replied as he chuckled and placed an arm around her shoulder.
“Ah it seems even the spitfire princess can lose patience after all,” he teased as Kairi rolled her eyes before leaning in to his touch.
“Lea shut up. Now let's go back and distract the others from interrupting the idiots,” she said as he chuckled and led her back to the room.
“Anything you say princess,” was all that was said as the sound of fireworks was heard in the distance.