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Tomorrow would be a day they would never forget. Kairi knew that. She also knew that letting the excitement keep her up would leave her way too sleepy to set off on the raft. So an hour before bed, she tried to read something relaxing, checking up on a few pointers on arts and crafts to keep in mind for finishing the lucky charm.
But despite her preparation, she lied in bed, eyes open. Clutching her blankets, she couldn’t help but glance over to the play island. Clouds gathering in the night sky over where their raft was anchored. She heard a low rumble all around, and a thought flashed in her mind of how the storm would wreck their ship. She pulled the covers over her head, trying to desperately ignore the bad weather.
And yet…
There was an aching dread that she felt all around. Something that was hidden out of the corner of her eye before, but now had become all encompassing, all consuming. And it was centered on that little island. Kairi considered leaving it alone, pretending it was nothing and trying to fall back to sleep. But she knew that whatever was there wasn’t just a danger to their raft. It was a danger to everything she loved here. Her father, her friends, Riku…
Sora.
And that settled it. Kairi flung the covers off and got out of bed. Hastily putting on her shoes, she ran out of her house and towards the docks. She rowed across the churning waves with all the strength her fear could muster. All she could think of was finding out what was threatening her home.
She didn’t care how badly running ashore might have scuffed up the boat, Kairi scrambled out, kicking up sand as she got to the ramp. Leaves rustled from past the waterfall, she froze, wood creaking beneath her feet. Kairi’s eyes widened as she saw Riku shamble out from the foliage. She ran up to him, asking between breaths, “Riku? What’s going on? Riku?!”
Riku stared up into the sky at her question, almost in awe of the dark storm. The only indication he gave that he even heard her was a soft, almost reverent whisper. “Open…”
“What?”
“The door is open.” He continued to speak as he walked further on the beach.
Kairi turned to the secret place. A place with so many treasured memories, ever since Sora had shown it to her years ago. And there was a magic that she couldn’t explain in there. Something precious not just to her, but to Destiny Islands itself. It had to be what this…evil…was after. Though she wanted to follow Riku and check on him, the Secret Place seemed to be calling to her, its pull on her too strong to resist. Moving aside the foliage, she journeyed to the heart of the island.
As she reached the end of the cavern, the cave drawings came into view. And even in the dead of night, she could see everything she, Sora, and Riku had drawn over the years. Her eyes drifted to the very first drawing she made: the portraits of her and Sora,they had made as children. She paused as she realized there was something different. Kairi looked at the simple picture of their faces that the two of them spent a whole afternoon making together and saw there was something below Sora’s head.
A hand with a Paopu fruit?
She couldn’t help the twitch of a smile.
Was that how Sora really felt about her?
“So you have come.”
The cold voice interrupted the moment of happiness, as Kairi spun to face the speaker hidden in robes behind her. She felt a mix of emotions in her heart just looking at the stranger, but the overriding feeling in her heart was fear. She stepped back before asking shakily, “Who are you?”
The stranger chuckled from his seat on the rock and answered back, “My dear princess, have the years been so long?” Spreading his arms, he gestured to the wood part of the wall, “Surely, you remember the feeling of what is happening to this world?”
Remember? For so long Kairi struggled to recall anything of her former home.
But now?
She did remember this. The inexorable sense of doom, that the world was about to be swallowed whole. And she knew what was dragging everything down. “Is this…” Kairi shuddered as she finished her question. “Darkness?”
Nodding, the figure continued. “This world has been connected, tied to the darkness, soon to be completely eclipsed.”
As the man continued, Kairi could recall more to her ever growing horror.
Shadows stealing hearts to grow their numbers.
A world being overrun and ruined by a dark horde.
And once again it was going to take everything and everyone she cared about.
“No,” Confusion was replaced by panic as she began to cry out. “No!”
The man was as calm as ever as he continued, “There is much to learn, and you have begun to understand the threat you face. As I expected, my dear child.”
“What are you even saying?!” Kairi shouted as the man’s words felt like a dagger in her heart.
“Now can you recall the power that you used to hold it back?”
The stranger vanished into darkness, leaving Kairi no closer to understanding. She tried desperately to recall what happened. She knew the darkness took away everything she had. So why was she still here?
…
The light.
Her light.
She reached out to the darkness that was beginning to surround her, trying to snuff out the light. But it was so difficult. So much darkness. Just like before it was practically smothering. It was so hard to see…
Tired…she was so tired…
“Kairi!”
And then one voice cut through that shadow, and she was able to smile ever so slightly. “Sora.” He was here. She didn’t know how or why he had come. But just seeing him was comforting. Raised her spirits despite how close she was to fading away. Kairi could barely hold her footing as she stumbled towards him.
“H-Hey! Kairi!” The sound of his voice seemed so clear, like a beacon cutting through the growing maelstrom of shadows.
And then she felt him catch her.
Being held in Sora’s arms might have been a small thing, but it made all the difference. Kairi could feel the malaise begin to clear ever so slightly. Slowly, she began to wrap her arms around him as the light began to shine again in her heart.
*CreEeEEeeeEEEEE*
And then the door opened.
The darkness finally arrived, blasting the two of them out of the cave.
Sora had no idea what was happening, but he knew this wasn’t any normal storm. He suspected that it was connected to the sudden arrival of the shadowy creatures, to whatever had taken Riku, and whatever had sent him and Kairi hurtling out of the Secret Place. He didn’t have any time to find his footing as the dark gale carried him away. All Sora could do was hold onto Kairi and hope for a safe landing as the wind roared around him. All the while, he felt Kairi clutch onto him tighter than he’d ever felt before. In better circumstances, Sora would probably be flustered at the affection. But the storm ensured that the only thoughts in his mind were two things.
Survive, and protect his friend.
Eventually, the two of them crashed into the sand, though Sora managed to withstand most of the impact and shield Kairi. He looked at her in his arms as she peeked open one eye and looked around. Sora asked her, “Are you okay? Did you run into any monsters?”
At his question, she opened her eyes fully before looking at him and starting to pull away. “I’m fine, but what do you mean…” She began to look around where they landed before pushing herself off him and crying out, “Monster!”
Scrambling to his feet, Sora called on a mysterious force to summon the strange sword – no, Keyblade – to his hand.
And then he saw the monster.
The colossal monster from his dreams.
It was destroying his home, pieces of land had begun swirling around them.
And if he didn’t do something, the monster would hurt Kairi.
And that was one nightmare Sora never wanted to come true.
The giant plunged its hand into the ground to create a pool of darkness. A pool from which more of the smaller shadows began to emerge from. Keyblade in hand, Sora fought back to keep the monsters away from him and Kairi. Swinging his new weapon with all his might to defeat these embodiments of darkness.
Of course, Kairi wasn’t taking any of this lying down either. She grabbed a broken tree branch that had landed nearby and batted away any stray shadows that tried to come near. And though she had strength enough to keep them away, the shadows wouldn’t stop. She glanced over to Sora, catching her breath as she asked over the howling storm.
“How do we get rid of them?!” She cried as she looked around the floating rock.
As she asked it, another dark creature leaped at the two of them. But with a swing of Sora’s keyblade it vanished and released a heart shaped light. He shrugged and shouted, “I think this is the only thing that can!”
Kairi’s eyes widened before she clasped a hand to her chest.“No, it’s not the only thing.” Waving the stick like a wand, she pointed it towards one of the smaller monsters and called out, “Light!”
Sora couldn’t help a slight flinch at the flash that appeared at that word, but even so the effect was welcome. The smaller minions dissolved from Kairi’s magic, releasing their hearts. Even the giant held up a hand to try and block the light.
Sora grinned and looked at Kairi. “I think it’s working!”
Yet that joy was short lived as the monster closed its hand into a fist and swung at the two of them. Sora didn’t have the time to block and was knocked down, keyblade knocked from his grip. Kairi did have time to block, but a wooden stick did little to soften the blow as she landed beside him with her makeshift wand broken in two.
The giant leaned back as a dark, foreboding glow gathered in the hole in it’s chest. Just as Sora got to his feet, dark bolts shot out from the glowing orb and arced towards the two of them. He frantically looked around to try and find the keyblade.
But as it turned out, Kairi was a bit closer to it than he was.
As the bolts got close, she swung the keyblade like a bat and knocked the magic back at the giant. Bolt after bolt came towards her, yet she managed to return them all to the monster, causing it to flinch with each attack. Sora couldn’t help a grin as he saw her fight. Kairi might not have been a regular participant in play fights like he and Riku were, but she was clearly stronger than she looked, in a way that he had never seen before.
Kairi aimed the keyblade at the creature, and light gathered around the weapon. And if the light from when Kairi improvised with the tree branch was stunning, then the shine from her using the keyblade was brilliant. The giant stumbled back at its glare, hand in front of it to try and block. Sora cheered, “Way to go! You’ve got…!”
But the words fell out from his mouth as he saw the monster step forward again. It raised its hands up high, about to bring them crashing down on him and Kairi. She was wide eyed as she saw the giant resist the magic. The light flicked ready to be snuffed out at any moment.
But Sora wasn’t going to let it disappear without a fight.
He rushed to her side and gently put his hand over hers on the keyblade. She looked over to Sora, and even though the storm was howling he knew she could hear him.
“Kairi. We can do this.”
Her fear melted away and she nodded back.
“Together!”
And the two of them faced the giant bringing its fist down to crush them and shouted with all their hearts.
“ LIGHT!”
Sora didn’t know how magic worked, or even where to begin with it.
But he did know one thing.
The light that pushed back against the giant’s blow wasn’t just Kairi’s power. It was something that came from both of them. From the connection they had with each other. And it was that light that finally blasted back the giant off the rock and into the storm.
With a moment of peace, Sora had a chance to finally catch his breath after having come to the play island. He looked over to Kairi with a weak but thankful smile. “You did it.”
“We did it,” She was quick to correct as she let go of the keyblade, the weapon settling back into his hands. Kairi took a step back, a nervous smile on her face with a slight blush to her cheeks. “Sora, I—”
But before she could speak, there was a rumble. The island they were both on began to crack, the storm having taken its toll. The crack ran between the two of them and they began to draft apart.
“KAIRI!” Sora called out as he jumped towards her.
But the wind was picking up and he was soon pulled up. Kairi jumped up to try and reach him, only to be sucked into the vortex as well. Their eyes were on each other throughout it all. Though dark winds tried to pull them apart, they tried to reach one another. To try and fight what was keeping them apart.
It was so hard to see. More and more it seemed as if the darkness was trying to swallow her whole, soon all he could see were flashes of her red hair and blue eyes, and her hand reaching out to him. Sora reached out…
“Look! A star’s goin’ out!”
Donald followed where Goofy was pointing in the night sky. Sure enough, there was the telltale flash and flicker of another world lost to the Heartless.
“Come on. Let’s hurry.” Donald crossed his arms as he walked the streets of Traverse Town with Goofy and Pluto, grumbling to himself, “Where’s that key…”
Though as they continued their search, Pluto wandered off down one of the alleyways, his nose to the ground as he smelled something unfamiliar. As Donald and Goofy ignored him to go on their way, the dog came to a stop as he found the source of the scent. Behind old boxes and barrels was a boy with brown spikey hair, fast asleep even as Pluto approached.
And sleeping beside the boy, was a girl with red hair. Their hands intertwined as the two rested together peacefully.