I kept wondering if you are still active since I genuinely enjoy your writing.
If requests are open, might I ask for a ficlet of Young Master Xehanort telling the reader that he loves them for the first time?
Oh this one has been on my mind ever since you sent it!!
I hope you don't mind that I wrote this one in the same series as The Young Master. I've absolutely missed that series and this gave me a good starting point of how to have him confess his feelings.
I hope you enjoy!! Thank you so much for your patience.
**The Young Master - Confession**
Words: 2121
--------------------------------------
The forests of Enchanted Dominion were a spectacle in themselves. Branches and leaves curved together into perfectly formed shapes, as if someone meticulously went through and sheared every one. Vibrant hues made up the bark, creating a multitude of color as you walked through the brush. Critters scuttled past, their chitters and songs mixing with the wind rustling the leaves.
By all accounts, it was a serene perfect day. If Maleficent’s abandoned castle wasn’t looming in the distance in the craggy mountains, you might have been able to enjoy it. Instead, the forest did nothing but provide a false sense of calm. You still weren’t entirely sure why Master Yen Sid sent you to the Enchanted Dominion. A favor towards the good fairies, perhaps. That was your best guess. Still, it got you away from the fray, if even for a day.
As you approached the mountain side the forest thinned. Dried leaves drifted in the whistling wind, leaving dark bare branches behind. A green wispy fog covered your path. It smelled of overripe fruit and fire, making you cough and cover your mouth with the back of your hand. Maybe the good fairies did indeed have something to worry about. Even without Maleficent there to rule over her fortress, something nefarious seemed to be involved.
Crumbling steps led up the mountain, spiralling up towards the clouds. You reached the base, taking a moment to gaze up at your upcoming trek. Your legs throbbed, already sore at the mere thought of it. Despite it, you went on ahead. If this was what your superiors needed, you were going to get it done. A small part of you felt you deserved it after all. Between your secret meetings with the young master and all the other distractions he brought with him, you weren’t exactly a model Keyblade Master.
If Xehanort were there with you, he’d be able to get you to the fortress with a flick of his wrist. Of course, all that time saved would instead be spent lost in the other and it wouldn’t get the mission done faster. The thought did seem enticing though. You smiled at the idea, despite yourself. It provided a nice distraction from the thickening fog and endless stairs.
Reaching an alcove in the mountainside, you allowed yourself a moment of respite. Moss hung from the rocks’ edge, dripping with water. The sound bounced off the walls, echoing into the canyon. You settled against the mountain, sliding to the ground to sit. The view was breathtaking. You were higher up than you expected, but still had quite the way to go. Leaning your head back, your eyes slid shut. You listened to the trickling water and the wind howling through the cracks of the mountain. Then your ears perked at the unmistakable sound of a Corridor of Darkness.
You leapt up to your feet, Keyblade flashing into your grasp. Black tendrils writhed and scraped across the ground, an orb of darkness sprouted from its center. Your breath stuttered, any one of the Organization Members could walk out of it. And one did, his hood concealing his face. The Corridor wisped away behind him, its mist lost to the breeze. You straightened, Keyblade at your side. Was it too much to hope for it to be Xehanort?
He lifted his hands and pushed back his hood. Silver hair pooled out and you released a breath, a grin forming before you wiped it away and replaced it with a taut frown.
“Xehanort,” you said his name, your heart fluttering. “What are you doing here?”
He smirked. His golden eyes danced over you, settling on your Keyblade as he crossed his arms. “I thought I saw someone coming up the steps. It had to be you.”
Your blade lowered. “You were already here,” you realized. “Why?”
His gaze raised to yours and his smirk grew. “I could ask you the same thing, couldn’t I?”
Your frown cracked and you shrugged. “You could.”
The two of you stared back at the other. This was always how it started: curt words and remarks that danced around your true intentions. You wondered how long it would take for the defenses to go down this time. Was it anything more than a game at this point? It should have been, but you both realized along the way that fighting it was fruitless.
When he didn’t speak, you walked past him, continuing up the steps. “If you’re not going to tell me, I’m going to figure it out for myself.”
He huffed out a laugh. “Should I have dinner waiting when you finally get there?” He reappeared two stairs ahead of you, his Corridor wisping away behind him. “Or should we cut through all this and I show you?”
You stopped, struggling to keep your mouth from curving and matching his smirk. Guilt trickled in as it always did. That sickening feeling that simmered in the pit of your gut while the rest of you got swept up in the game. That’s all it was, right? Just a game. You wanted to agree, especially as you noticed the way his golden eyes drifted to your lips. Instead, you stepped aside and went past. “And accept help from the enemy? For all I know, you’ve got a trap waiting for me.”
Hurried footsteps followed you, until Xehanort met your pace, his hands clasped behind his back. “Maybe I do,” he agreed. “Maleficent’s fortress does seem fitting to capture my very own princess.” He sped up a couple steps once again and this time stopped you by cupping his hand along your cheek.
Warmth rushed up your cheek and you fought the urge to lean into his touch. His thumb gripped your chin and your lips parted ever so slightly.
“The damsel in distress, locked in my tower,” he teased, his voice low. “Do you think your Heroes of Light would manage to save you from me?”
Your breath shook every so slightly, the idea far too enticing for your liking. Gripping his wrist, you moved his hand away from your chin. “I think I’d save myself just fine.”
He chuckled as you walked past. “Of course.” He followed after you. “You know, it’s not a bad idea. Keeping you here for myself.”
You scoffed, thankful you were up ahead so he couldn’t see the way you blushed. “What makes you think I’d let you keep me here?”
“Call it intuition,” he replied and you could hear that damn smirk in his voice.
A laugh spilled out of you and you stopped, allowing him to catch up. You looked into his golden eyes, a passion and spark festering inside them. Shaking your head, you whispered, “You’re relentless.”
He huffed out a short laugh. His eyes danced over you as the amusement faded, his smirk softening. “And what are you?”
You hummed, averting your eyes until his hand gripped your chin and brought your attention back. He stood a scant distance away, your lips barely inches apart. His warm breath brushed against you and you swallowed hard. The game was had. “Hopeless,” you whispered, allowing him to close the distance between you.
His lips were so warm. A whine escaped you, swallowed by his vibrating hum. An arm wrapped around your back, pulling you closer until your body was flush against his. Darkness sprouted from the ground, surrounding both of you in its embrace. Its heaviness weighed on your heart and was the only thing that spurred you to pull away from Xehanort. His Corridor brought you to the heart of Maleficent’s fortress. Sunlight streamed through the windows, forming splotches of light in the darkness.
It took your eyes a moment to adjust. Xehanort held you close to him, his lips trailing alongside your jaw down to your neck. You whimpered, eyes sliding shut and hands clenching against his chest.
“Xeha,” you sighed out his name and he pulled back enough to see your face. You meant to say more, but instead closed the distance once again, your lips lingering against his until you parted for a breath. “What are you doing here?” you asked with a whisper. “Show me, please.”
He hummed, that smirk of his returning. “Now you’re interested?”
“Yes,” you admitted with a soft laugh. “Are you going to show me or not?”
His smirk faltered and he looked beyond you further into the dark fortress. You turned to look with him, seeing swaths of the green mist pouring from a thin dilapidated doorway.
“The source of the mist,” you said, stepping away from him. “What is it?
He went up beside you. “We don’t know.”
“You too?” you asked, walking towards the doorway until he grabbed your wrist. “What?”
“Are you planning on walking right into it?” he asked, summoning his Keyblade.
A barrier formed around both of you and he led the way in. You remained close at his side, watching the mist swirl around the shield. Through the doorway, it appeared to lead into the throne room. Maleficent’s black throne stood at the focal point, its form cracked and malformed with the mist seeping out of its orifices.
“That’s… not good,” you admitted and Xehanort huffed out a short laugh.
“No, it’s not,” he agreed. “And we don’t know what it is.”
You looked up at him, though his attention was focused on the chair. A subtle smile curved your lips. “Did we end up on the same side for once?”
His brow raised and he looked back at you, a smirk matching yours. “You really are hopeless.”
You scoffed, crossing your arms. “Says the guy that begged me to come up here with him.”
“I wouldn’t call it begging,” he said, leading the two of you back out of the throne room. “More, trying to save you some time.”
“Sure,” you replied, stepping away from him once the barrier was gone. You walked further into the fortress, hands going to your hips. “So… what do we do about this?”
“About you and me?” he asked, smirking when you sent him a look over your shoulder. “I assumed you would have to report back to your Masters. I’m sure those fairies of yours will be infesting the place soon enough.”
“If you felt that way, why did you help me get here faster?” you asked.
“I thought it would have been obvious,” he replied and you couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across your face.
“Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t,” you teased, walking further. You heard his footsteps echo behind you and you bit your lip in anticipation.
His hand wound around your arm and tugged you back. With a swift motion, he spun you around and pressed your back up against a pillar. His hands pinned you in on either side. Both of you stared at the other, breaths getting heavier. He leaned forward, the tip of his nose grazing the side of your face towards your ear. “Should I make it more obvious?”
Your breath choked into a gasp, your head slinging back against the rock. “By all means.”
He chuckled, his voice vibrating through you. His lips pressed against your neck, just behind your ear. Your voice shuddered, your hands clinging to his back. Lips trailed along your neck, to your jaw, pausing just before your lips. You fluttered your eyes open, seeing him just a breath away, lips parted and curved into a smile. Your chest swelled and your hand laced into his hair, tugging him to your mouth. He groaned, his tongue sliding effortlessly against yours. Your head was spinning by the time you parted. Heaving breaths fogged between the two of you.
His hands cupped both of your cheeks, his thumbs gently caressing. He gazed into your eyes, the deep emotion inside of his golden ones was like an endless pool. Your heart lodged in your throat. The game was getting more complicated.
“Y/N,” he whispered.
“Yes…?” you whispered in reply, eyes dancing over his face.
“I…” he cut himself off by kissing you, lingering. He rested his head against yours, his breath shaking. “I think love you.”
Your breath hitched. He couldn’t take that back. He knew that. This wasn’t just a game anymore.
“Xeha…” you breathed out.
He pulled back enough to see your face and you noticed the warmth in his cheeks. He meant it. A cacophony of emotions toiled inside your heart: excitement, joy, along with overwhelming guilt and nausea at what it truly meant for you. All of it faded when you met your eyes with his.
“I… I think I might love you too,” you admitted, releasing a breath and a smile when Xehanort grinned and pulled you in for another kiss.
You know, if the characters’ good/evil/whatever alignments in KH were reversed, the series would be about an old man getting repeatedly harassed by teenage delinquents
I want to slowly migrate some of my Kingdom Hearts lore musings instead of just sharing links:
Speaking of links, the original Google doc version of this post can be read HERE.
First up! The YMX doc that I had made after playing through the remainder of Dark Road's story.
Disclaimer: I will only reference material such as in-game cutscenes, interviews and Ultimanias, so other supplementary pieces such as the novels and the like will not be considered. Everything written here is my own personal interpretation. Interview translations were done by KHInsider.
Putting everything else under the cut cuz boy this is gonna be a long one-
First of all, let us review the updated timeline provided by KHDR itself:
So, Kingdom Hearts Dark Road did not shed light on a couple of things, Xehanort’s eyes becoming golden being just one example. While I cannot say anything concrete about the hows and whys behind the fact that his eye colour changes at some point in time, I CAN, however, make an educated guess as to why the time-travelling Young Xehanort seems to flip flop between gold and silver eyes.
(Xehanort throughout time: 9 years ago, KHDR’s story, 7 years later and 54 years later)
Xehanort’s eyes are naturally silver throughout his youth. Chronologically, the first instance we see him with golden eyes, if we rule out time-travel, is when he is already in his late years, as an old man, 54 years AFTER KHDR. The latest point in time shown to us before that era is when Xehanort leaves Scala Ad Caelum, 7 years AFTER KHDR’s main story. Meaning, the point in which Xehanort’s eyes change colour can be ANYWHERE between age 22/23 and 69/70, assuming the Xehanort in the main campaign is 15/16 years old (if we take Nomura’s statement from TGS 2018, that old man Xehanort is around 80 into account).
Here’s the big kicker though: What about the time-travelling Young Xehanort? In both KHDDD and KHIII his eyes are gold. But then you might say: Well, maybe he was pulled from that blank period of time you just mentioned, his early 20s onwards? The problem with that is the fact that the encounter between Xehanort and the Master of Masters takes place only ONE YEAR after the main events of KHDR. Additionally, in the second part of that very same encounter Xehanort implies that he has already time-travelled at least once:
The MoM: Sounds like you already know where you’re headed.
YX: It’s funny. Somehow, I can sense where I’m supposed to go, and what I’m supposed to do. Yes, even this coat, there’s something familiar about it, as if I’m meant to wear this.
This corresponds with what he told Sora in KHDDD:
Since in both KHIIIRM’s and KHDR’s version of the scene his eyes are silver, this means that upon time-travelling they become gold but upon returning they go back to silver. My answer for this ‘switch’ can only be the following:
YX: I will return to my time, and grow into the man who becomes all these others. While I know this future now that I have lived it, returning to my own time will erase the memories and experiences I have gained here. Still my appointed path is now etched in my heart, which will first lead me to seek the outside world. (will return to this part later in the post)
The old man Xehanort gave Young Xehanort a piece of his heart.
Which sounds kinda ridiculous (even for KH standards), but I can prove that might be the case. Let’s remember who makes up KHIII’s true Organization XIII:
The recompleted Master Xehanort, the version furthest on the timeline;
The recompleted people turned once more into Nobodies: Xigbar, Saix, Marluxia, Larxene, Luxord, Demyx and Vexen. The last two being reserve members;
The versions of Xehanort pulled from the past but came to be after KHBBS-era Master Xehanort: Terra-Xehanort, Xemnas and Ansem Seeker of Darkness;
The non-Xehanort characters pulled from the past: Vanitas, Xion and Dark Riku (Replitwo);
The first of the Xehanorts, the Xehanort of the most distant past: Young Xehanort.
You can see that none of the other members aside from YX originate from a time before KHBBS. And as it is now established, this iteration did not originally have golden eyes. To add onto that, as stated in group 4, these 3 were the only characters that travelled to the future by having their hearts be placed inside replicas and are not a version of Xehanort. Vanitas is debatable because we don’t know if he had that eye colour inherently even when his face changed to reflect Sora’s or was it because of old man Xehanort. The statement about Vanitas originally having red eyes while he was still faceless does not apply because its source is solely the KHBBS novel, which is not canon material. Replitwo’s change is more noticeable since you can directly compare him with the original Riku Replica who even appears in the same scene as him at the very end. As for Xion’s change, it’s only visible if you bump up the brightness while her face is not fully covered or mod out the shadow cast by her hood. If there is a need for official confirmation that these 3 characters do come from the past look no further than this chart from the KHIII Ultimania:
Do note that ‘eliminated’ can also refer to simply returning to their own time period but ceasing to exist in KHIII’s time as it’s said in Young Xehanort’s section of the very same chart.
Ok but, why would there be any need for this. Simple, that version of Xehanort was not ready to handle the darkness the same way old man Xehanort does yet. He needed the Black Coat or the armour or any other form of protection. And as seen in KHDR itself, were it not for the MoM saving him in the Dark Corridor, he would have perished. The following lines from the second encounter cement this further:
The MoM: No… you’ll ditch it soon.
YX: What do you mean?
The MoM: I mean that one day you’re going to outgrow it.
YX: How so?
The MoM: If you truly possess great power, the darkness can’t control you. You won’t need a silly old coat to stay safe. In fact, you’ll be the one controlling the darkness instead.
It wouldn’t seem far-fetched either knowing that the explanation behind the Young Xehanort boss fight at the end of KHDDD that the Ultimania provides is this:
Question: Did King Mickey’s time magic not work properly on Young Xehanort because Young Xehanort has the power to control time?
Nomura’s answer: Not Young Xehanort’s but rather Master Xehanort’s power. King Mickey was surprised at the time, seeing his Keyblade and noticing he harboured the power of Master Xehanort…
Additionally, aside from King Mickey, Master Xehanort and Young Xehanort are the only other characters who directly take note of Sora’s reckless usage of the Power of Waking in KHIII and KHIIIRM, meaning that at the very least, YX was imparted with such knowledge as well the power to transcend time, which he receives from potato sack Ansem SoD.
The secret endings to KHRe:Coded in the KH HD II.5 Remix collection are another piece of evidence, because we see YX already in place before KHDDD begins, ready to gather the remaining vessels. Meanwhile, since both Ansem SoD and Xemnas have been vanquished, Master Xehanort should by now exist at this point in time as himself given how the same thing has happened with the other ex-Nobodies of the Organization.
To add onto that video we finally have a confirmation from Nomura himself that yes, the design used in KHDR that depicts Young Xehanort’s time on the Destiny Islands is the correct version while the one used in KHBBS and KHDDD is outdated according the most recent Q&A:
Now here’s the funny part. When did Young Xehanort time-travel? Or a better question, if KHDR has revealed that his initial encounter with potato sack Ansem SoD was not the point from which he began his journey to the future but rather his what led him to Scala Ad Caelum… did he encounter him again at some point which finally did spur him to time-travel?
Sonny Novus made a video about how fleshing out Xehanort’s backstory by deaging him even further caused more problems in hindsight and I believe it still holds up so I recommend watching it if you haven’t done so by now.
Question: In previous titles, we saw the Xehanort who leaves Destiny Islands as a young man. He seems a lot younger in KHDR.
Nomura’s answer: KHDR presents the correct version. For previous games, we used the young man model we already had as a catch-all symbolic representation of "his youth," in order to save cost modelling a young boy version. In KHIII, they were specifically split. I'd like you to interpret it as the symbolic representation becoming a rich one.
So the only time Young Xehanort could time-travel to the future while still having a consistent design with the one we see in KHDDD and KHIII can be anywhere between the point he changes his hairstyle and his second encounter with the MoM that takes place 1 year after KHDR’s main campaign. Thus, confirming that he could not have possibly transcended time after his first encounter with potato sack Ansem SoD. While it does go in line with the implication that at the time, Xehanort did not realise he was talking to a version of himself, it still contradicts another line in KHDDD by suggest that his now forgotten time-travelling escapades were not the reason he sought out the outside world by rather his dreams of the Player’s life (or lives).
YX: Still my appointed path is now etched in my heart, which will first lead me to seek the outside world.
Putting this contradiction aside, there should have been a second encounter between these two during that 1 year year interval. Either YX found his way back to Destiny Islands or has met potato sack Ansem SoD somewhere else, realising that he is a future version of himself, which would finally spur him to travel forward in time.
Now let’s address the other elephant in the room, Young Xehanort’s Keyblade. We still do not have an official name for it but what we do know is that it’s supposed to be No Name (the goat themed Keyblade) with the hourglass keychain you can see on No Name (the Keyblade you receive after defeating Mysterious Figure aka. Young Xehanort in the Land of Departure).
Nomura: That Keyblade was designed as the one Master Xehanort used in KHBBS combined with an hourglass, you see. (KHDDD Ultimania)
It’s weird, because you can easily interpret that scene in KHDDD as him technically borrowing MX’s. Not to mention that he does not use a Keyblade at all in his fight as the Mysterious Figure in KHBBS. But come KHIII and KHDR, where in the former, YX still uses his unique Keyblade, while in the latter he uses the nameless default Keyblade of that era (KHML has its own default Keyblade too judging from the footage) even during his encounters with the MoM. Let’s try to wrap our heads around this without just saying it’s a retcon that we should move on from:
Nomura changing his mind about plot beats and having genuine oversights is nothing new, there are more examples in this series one could ever hope for, like the eye colour switch that started this whole document. If you recall, the first time we have ever seen an even younger version of Xehanort was in KHIII’s E3 2015 trailer (man I feel old), where his eyes were gold. And in the finalised version of the same scene, his eyes have been changed to silver.
Ok, so let’s say that from YX’s own youth, without his time-travelling escapades, he wields the default Keyblade all the way until him and Eraqus become Keyblade Masters 6 years after KHDR’s main campaign, then they inherit No Name and Master’s Defender respectively to use them from that point onwards. Now winding back to the interval of about 1 year between the ending of KHDR and YX’s meeting with the MoM, you can say that he somehow gains another unique Keyblade upon travelling to the KHDDD era and decides to stick with it in KHIII as well. The time of KHBBS in which he travels to become the Mysterious Figure in order to grab Vanitas for the true Organization XIII, you can maybe stretch it and say that he possibly has foregone that unique Keyblade (or any at all) during that particular fight, much like how Xemnas does throughout the whole series despite also having the ability.
From that you can guess that Nomura reconsidered the meaning of the golden eyes. Because from DDD (not counting BBS since that game only implied it) up until KHIII, when someone would have that colour it would mean they were a vessel of Xehanort or, if we are to use the fan-coined term, ‘norted’. I think we all collectively assumed that Anti-Aqua was actually one of the 13 vessels when she was revealed in KHIII’s Frozen trailer in E3 2018, only for that to not have been the case at all. If anyone needs a refresher for her Gummiphone entry:
Anti-Aqua: Aqua, after she fell to darkness. Years and years of wandering through the realm of darkness ended with her being cast into the watery depths beyond its margin.
Sure, for the members of the true Organization you can say that this still applies (again, Vanitas being debatable) but it’s not exclusively golden eyes = Xehanort’s influence anymore. It’s as if they are meant to represent darkness like they have been prior to KHDDD. And this change sort of makes sense, since the story’s focus is shifting heavily to be about the primordial darknesses and shifting back to how one can fall to darkness due to strong negative emotions. One can conclude that maybe Xehanort’s eyes have changed from silver to gold over time due to him actively trying to become a “dark vessel” as seen in KHDR, and that subsequently, since he has gained them, they have become a trait of his other selves. A parallel to this scenario is how the characters on the protagonist's side associate the Black Coat with the Organization even though, in truth, it dates back much further back into the past.
Like I’ve said before, KHDR did not manage to cover and explain every single facet of Xehanort’s life, for better or for worse. However, it did give a lot of context to preexisting scenes and other character moments in the series, and I think it did a good job at that. As for the remaining mysteries such as the now discussed golden eyes, the fate of Scala Ad Caelum and more, depends entirely on whether or not Nomura wants to or has the chance to flesh out, much like how KHDR’s existence itself was once in a lifetime opportunity to dive deeper into the mind of one of the most important antagonists in the series.
I know what you're probably thinking: the Dark Seeker Saga, which depicted the battle against Xehanort, finished with KINGDOM HEARTS III, didn't it? Well, it's a grey area, but I wouldn't call this title part of the Dark Seeker Saga. Why? Because this isn't about battling against Xehanort—it's about the battles of Xehanort.And maybe you're thinking that's a bit of a reach, but… okay, maybe it's a bit of a reach. However, I had the concept in my head for many years. It got shelved because it never really fitted what our team wanted. But around then, I heard from the Union X team that they'd like to do a parallel title with a new protagonist. And, since it seemed there was an unexpected number of Xehanort fans out there, it all came together like it was destined to be. I do tend to believe in destiny. (Tetsuya Nomura on the launch of KHDR in June 2020)
Author’s note: Sorry if this turned out to be more of a ramble than an actual theory post but… I wanted to say that… I feel content with this story, even without the answers I may have wanted. I still thoroughly enjoyed following Xehanort’s journey from start to finish, which made me like him more as a character even. Anyhow… thank you for bearing with me and I hope you have a wonderful day!
titsay
kianamaiart
baratheonpilled
pixelskylines
izzy806
origamiaround
