Chapter Text
Sleep is for those who have not wasted years.
Kairi sits on the edge of one of the smaller chained islands that dot the Land of Departure. Dawn won’t come for hours yet, the dark sky still full of glittering stars. Wind rustles her hair, it needs to be cut again... She’s been hacking it shorter at every opportunity, as though it might offer her some relief, some sense of control. It never does. By now, it barely touches her ears before she’s tearing at it again.
It feels so pointless.
All of it.
One of many realities Kairi has come to hate is how deceptively small the Land of Departure really was. While the castle halls stretch on and on, while the towers may curve to heights unknowable, the land itself is sparse and ever shrinking. When she first decided to train under Aqua the hope was that Kairi could use this place not just to grow and train, but to escape the memories of Radiant Garden that been restored. Another year given up for nothing but a foul taste in her mouth and more proof that her life has never once been her own.
Another mission that amounted to “Stay behind, Kairi.” “We need you here.” “You aren’t ready.” just as it has always been. Lies to keep her out of the fight and out of the way. Too dangerous, too important, too fragile.
It all just fuels a rage she’s quickly grown to count a constant companion. Moreso than any of the others staying in the castle with her. If she were anyone else, it could be concerning, rage could mean darkness—
But Kairi as a Princess of Heart, darkness cannot take hold in her.
Sometimes she wishes it would.
Sleep eludes her without the help of magic.
Sparring with Aqua had been enough at the start to tire her out, learning to balance both spellwork and brute force until her body was worn down to the wire. Everyone else Kairi fought had a tendency to hold back— even Axel, though he denied it profusely whenever she complained— Aqua did not. There was no withholding or fear of harming a princess from her. It was refreshing. It showed Kairi how far she still had to go.
Over time though, as her body grew accustomed to training again after a year of sleep, it stopped being enough. No matter how tired her body becomes, her mind refuses to follow suit.
It makes sense, she supposes.
She has spent so much time on the sidelines.
Asleep.
Unaware.
She hates the slow and sickly feeling that clings to her with sleep magic, but every few days her body screams for relief louder than she can ignore. She casts the spell repeatedly, every time it fades, from the time she retires until a few hours before dawn. The extra hours alone to ensure she appears normal and functioning around the others.
Regardless of how much or little she is sleeping, the world moves on. Riku is somewhere beyond reality, searching for Sora on the only lead they have. Mickey is gathering information on the ancient Masters. The research team in Radiant Garden is still working on perfecting vessels in case more are needed, poking and prodding their own bodies as they see fit until they are fully understood. Axel, Roxas, and Xion all drop in from time to time, but primarily they have been looking for the remaining nobodies who were vanquished during the last fight.
And Kairi is here. Learning everything she can from Aqua and wondering more and more why she is even bothering. The Mark of Mastery is just another path someone else has laid before her. Riku has never needed her help protecting Sora, and that will not change even when she becomes his equal. Even if she surpasses him.
She wants to be a part of their lives—desperately craves a closeness she feels is lost—but she cannot shake that the only reason she ever was, or the only thing holding them together was the lie of her own existence. Both of them would tell her that isn’t the case, that their friendship exists despite her tampered with past, not because of it. She can’t make herself believe that. Everyone has their place. Kairi is on the outskirts.
Aqua is always present, but there are times when Kairi hates pulling her away from Terra and Ventus. Sometimes she forgets that a year has passed, that everyone has had time to acclimate to being together again.
Everyone except her.
She pulls a handful of earth from the ground beside her and drops it off into the endless mist below.
It scatters in the wind.
Crack!
The sound makes Kairi jump to her feet, throwing out a hand and summoning her keyblade. When there is nothing on her chunk of floating rock and grass, she darts back across the thick chain anchoring it to the main island. It’s there, atop one of the crumbling archways that she spots it: a small blue-black creature with vibrant red eyes, almost blending in against the pre-dawn sky. One of the Unversed.
She hasn’t seen a real one since she was a child, but they were among the data created enemies in Merlin’s realm. This one can’t seem to stay still, nor does its form look entirely solid. It almost seems as though it’s glitching in and out of reality, falling apart and pulling back together faster than she can blink.
As she raises her blade, it jumps down from the archway and lands at her feet. It tilts its head to one side and looks up at her. Like it’s waiting for something. She stops, lowering Destiny’s Embrace until it hangs slack at her side. The Unversed tilts its head to the other side, red eyes flashing yellow and then back.
Something feels... wrong with it.
A flash of memory accompanies this sight: of a heartless instead, just as small and not moving to attack, not acting as it should. Knowing it was Sora.
But Sora is not here. Not remotely. Not even on this side of reality.
And the Unversed.
Well...
They only came from one place, one person, as far as anyone was aware.
Kairi banishes her keyblade and crouches in front of the creature, one hand outstretched as if to a wild animal. The feeling isn’t entirely foreign, dripping with darkness that doesn’t quite touch her. It can’t.
“...Vanitas?”
The red eyes of the Unversed flash briefly yellow again.
It’s enough confirmation for her.