Hiya, family! My name is Shanna and I'm a young Christian woman. As for my fandoms: I'm a huge Square Enix fan (despite their reconstructing taking forever -sobs-). I love Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, The World Ends With You, Bravely Default, Parasite Eve... you name it. I'm really just a video game girly. Buffy and Angel are my life.
Chapter 2 - Starlight Looks Well on Us (1572 words)
🌌 🌊 ⛵️ 🌙 🌠
Kairi met Sora at the docks as promised. The stars twinkled overhead, a fresh sea breeze tugged at their clothes, and she wore one of his hoodies she'd stolen from him last week, which was adorably big on her and stuffed full of snacks. She also had on shorts and sporty waterproof sandals, which was smart for what he had planned. Her hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail, and she smiled and waved when she saw him.
No matter what she wore, she looked awesome, and it was always wonderful to see her. His heart did that thing again where it did flips inside his chest, and he glanced around to make sure they were alone before giving her a quick peck on the cheek.
Destiny Islands was still kinda reserved about PDA, and he didn't want one of the little old grannies living nearby running out and whacking him with an umbrella for inappropriate behavior.
“So, where are we going, and where is our grand vessel, Captain Sora?” Kairi asked, hands behind her back and tilting her head playfully. He gestured to the raft tied up nearby, gently bobbing in the tide, the warm lights of the dock casting flickering shadows on it. The raft had really taken a beating over the years, but it still held strong and steady. He’d bribed Riku with free snacks for a week to get to use it exclusively with Kairi tonight.
Her eyes brightened at the sight of it. “The raft! I was wondering where it had floated off to.” She approached it like an old friend, squatting and running her hands over the logs to make sure they were still familiar, still seaworthy.
Sora climbed onto the raft, making it bob and list, and he quickly grabbed the mast with one hand, then offered his other hand to her. “Let's take the raft and go, just the two of us,” he said softly, echoing her words from back then.
She straightened, her eyes wide and her lips parted. Then her face melted into a big, adorable smile that was absolutely contagious. “Okay.” She grabbed his hand, and he pulled her to his side. The snacks in the hoodie’s pockets only got slightly smashed. After that, he had to do a bunch of boring stuff, like untying the raft from the dock and attaching a lantern to the mast so they could see and rowing them out a little ways to sea, but once they were out on open water, he summoned his Keyblade with a mischievous grin.
Kairi giggled into her free hand. “Sora! Are you about to use unauthorized magic?”
“That depends,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows. “Can you keep a secret?”
“That depends. What's in it for me?”
He let his Keyblade disappear and made a big show of rubbing his chin. “Hmmmm, let’s see. A date with your boyfriend where he'll do anything you ask. How's that sound?”
She raised an eyebrow. “Anything I ask? My my my, that’s a dangerous offer, Sora.”
“Anything you ask,” he promised, a big, cheesy grin on his face. He wanted to give her everything—the sun, the moon, the stars, if she wanted them.
She tapped her cheek for a few moments, just to mess with him. “Alright, I'll keep quiet just this once,” she said with a wink. “Good thing Donald isn't here right now, or he'd lecture you about the world order.”
“Exactly, and we're too far out from shore now for anyone to see us, anyway.” He glanced back towards it, towards the cozy businesses and family homes winking their lights into the night sky.
“True, I'm your only witness, and you have my word.” Kairi crossed her heart very solemnly, and he summoned his Keyblade again.
“Hang on tight then, Kairi!” he crowed. He gave her just enough time to grab onto the mast for dear life before shouting, “Wind!”
With that, they were hurtling towards their destination, the sea spraying them with its surf, the wind whipping through their hair and clothes.
Kairi’s excited laughter matched his, and he could’ve died happy right then and there. But he was alive, and so was she, and never had he been more grateful for that.
🌌 🌊 ⛵️ 🌙 🌠
The shores of the Play Island welcomed them with open arms. It was so peaceful here at night, the sounds of nature and the sea like their own private symphony. The stars were even brighter out here without all the artificial lights, too, and on calm nights like tonight, the sea reflected the sky like a beautiful mirror.
Sora secured the raft to the dock as Kairi checked to make sure the snacks had survived the trip mostly unscathed. Then he ducked into the Seaside Shack to grab some more supplies he'd set aside—towels, blankets, star charts, that kind of thing.
When he emerged, Kairi had removed her hoodie and shorts and stood in the shallow surf, facing out to the sea. Her auburn hair rested on her shoulders, and all she had on was her black bikini and the water sandals. His jaw dropped and he nearly dropped what was in his arms as he gawked at her like a complete idiot, because she looked so amazing it took his breath away. So strong and fit and beautiful that all he could do was stare. And that bikini. It hugged her curves perfectly and left little to his imagination, though his imagination was certainly working overtime right now, and her curves were perfectly—
Ahem. He shoved those thoughts down and forced himself to admire Kairi as a whole person, because that was what she deserved. Her arms and legs were lean and muscular thanks to how hard she’d trained, and her smooth back was almost completely bare and, to his infinite relief, she was fully healed from Xehanort’s attack. No visible signs of the blow remained, though he was sure the scars in her heart lingered on just like the ones in his did, and he got a little choked up at the thought.
She turned around and smiled at him, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, and he swallowed and stilled as if she’d just cast a Stop spell on him. She was stunning, her face, her smile, her everything, and without the ruffled purple tankini wrap layered over the bikini top, he saw just how much that bikini top revealed, and his face felt hot and his breathing felt shallow and his clothes felt too tight and—
She giggled into her hand in her delightfully charming Kairi way, then walked over and grabbed some of the supplies from him. “Need a helping hand?” she sweetly asked, and he mumbled something incoherent that just made her giggle again.
Together they set the towels down on the sand and piled the blankets on top. This required her bending over multiple times, which distracted him greatly. She seemed pleased about the star charts, too, and between that and her current outfit, he was gonna die soon from Kairi charm overload at this rate.
“I take it you like what you see?” she playfully asked, brushing her hair back and tilting her head to the side.
Boy was that the understatement of the century. He had to chuckle. “Kairi, you have no idea just how much I do. You look amazing, and I’m struggling to find words to do you justice here. I mean don't get me wrong, you always look great, but tonight feels extra special.”
She sat back on her heels and grinned. “Tonight is extra special! You asked me on a super secret rendezvous, and I wanted to dress for the occasion."
“You definitely did. I'm not gonna be able to keep my eyes off of you the entire evening."
She winked. “That's the idea. But I think you still have on entirely too many clothes for a romantic night swim.”
He felt his face turning red again as she crawled over to him, boldly unzipped his jacket, and helped him out of it. A pleased little smile appeared on her face as her eyes roamed over his torso, and after glancing into his eyes for permission, she gently ran her fingers over his chest and abs, then traced his crown necklace. He felt like he was gonna faint, like this was too good to be true, too wonderful to be real. But it wasn't.
She rested her hand over where his heart was. “Still beating strong after all this time,” she said, shyly meeting his gaze again. He swallowed and rested his hand over hers, keeping it in place. Could she feel his heart speeding up? Did she know the effect even a simple touch from her had on him?
“It’s thanks to you my heart still beats at all, Kairi,” he said softly, and her eyes widened and her lips parted. He smiled and brought her hand to his lips so he could kiss it, and she just blushed and ducked her head. His smile got even bigger as he wove their fingers together, relishing the moment, relishing her. Kairi turned even redder when she dared another glance at his face, which just made him chuckle.
If he wasn't careful, she was gonna die from Sora charm overload soon at this rate, too.
“So,” he said, nodding towards the waiting sea, “how about that romantic night swim?”
🌌 🌊 ⛵️ 🌙 🌠
A/N: Thank you so much for reading!
The prompts I used today were “Let's take the raft and go, just the two of us,” starry skies, and other locations with treasured memories. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter with all the SoKai flirting lol, but also the sheer love and admiration they have for each other as well as the callbacks to earlier KH games that make their relationship so special and moving 🥹
The final chapter is based on the poll where you all voted for me to write about SoKai sharing a moonlit swim and then stargazing together 🌙 🌌 See you all in a few days!
SoKai Week Day 4 - The Secret Place, a warm embrace, other locations with treasured memories
Summary: Kairi thinks about Radiant Garden, her lost memories, and how she’s come to realize she’s made connections with many people.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
DEAR SORA,
I have a confession to make.
I know in my last letter I wrote to you about Destiny Islands being my home, and make no mistake, it truly is my home. Nothing will ever change that fact.
But I would be lying if I said I didn’t wonder about Radiant Garden. Even now, I don’t have the clearest of memories of the world I came from, just bits and pieces of fragments that feel distant.
But the one person that’s most clear in my memories from before, is my grandmother. Granted, all I can remember from her is a story she told me about light and darkness, but other than that, nothing. I can’t remember her name, if she liked tea or coffee in the morning, if she liked to take walks or stay at home, if she liked stories… if she loved me.
It sounds awful when I say that, doesn’t it? She’s my grandmother, she had to have loved me. But I don’t remember her or anything about her that speaks to me about her character, so how can I know for sure? I don’t even know what happened to her after the fall. If she’s alive, somewhere, or if she’s dead and gone.
I don’t know, and I have to admit, it hurts deep in my heart to be faced with all this uncertainty. I think you noticed my sadness, even if you didn’t press, and brought us here at Radiant Garden. You really do have a gift, Sora, for knowing what’s inside people’s heart without even needing to ask.
It’s been fun here, getting to know this world as if it’s brand new to me. Aerith is a sweetheart and very playful, I think her sweet smile really works in hiding how mischievous she can be sometimes. We went to pick flowers together and she introduced me to yellow lilies that she called “reunion flowers.”
Aerith told me that the flowers are given to lovers when they’re reunited. I couldn’t help but melt at the sweet story associated with the flower, and I couldn’t help but accept the one that she offered me.
I couldn’t contain my laughter when I presented the flower to you and watched you grow increasingly embarrassed at your own flustering. Not to make fun of you, of course, but because of how cute you are and the butterflies you cause in my stomach.
Tifa actually offered to teach me how to fight melee style, and I really do think I’ll take her up on that. Not now, not when we’re in our summer vacation, but later on. Right now, all I want is to spend time with you now that everything has calmed down and the end of the world isn’t happening for the fifth time in a row.
Yuffie’s energetic in the best of ways, and the way she’s constantly teasing and playing with you gives me the impression that this is how siblings must act. She really gets under your skin sometimes!
Leon and Cloud can be very quiet and reserved, but they have a kindness in them that’s noticeable to see. I’m glad you had them with you in the earlier journeys you had to go through. I can tell they care a lot about you, and in turn, you care about them a lot.
Cid is grumpy, but he really does fit the role of a grumpy uncle who’s reluctant to show that he cares about you. I’ll keep his secret for him, no worries.
I know that when Radiant Garden fell, Hollow Bastion was born in its place. My memories of that place weren’t so good, but do you know what I recall with much fondness? When I managed to turn you back into your normal self after you were transformed into a heartless.
Sora, you sacrificed yourself for me, to bring back my heart. I still have to scold you about that, because I never want you to sacrifice yourself for me ever again, but I’m so thankful that I managed to bring you back.
I don’t know what I would’ve done if you had stayed in the darkness, as a heartless, forever…
Thankfully, you understood without me needing to say something, when I hugged you close last night. You wrapped your arms around me, and we just existed in that space, together, breathing each other in.
Now that I’m writing this letter to you, I’m reminded of us visiting the Secret Place back at Destiny Islands in our trip before this one. Another special location that I have treasured memories towards.
I don’t know if I’ll ever recover my memories of my time living in Radiant Garden, if I’ll ever truly remember my grandmother, but I do know this. I’ve made new, happy memories in Radiant Garden, with new people that I’ve come to appreciate and understand. Even if I never recover those memories, I know I’ll have these new ones.
I have to admit, you’ve made me start to love Radiant Garden as well. Only you could do something like that.
With all my affection,
Kairi ❤︎
⭐️⭐️⭐️
A/N: Happy day 4 of @sokaiweek everyone 🎉! This letter entry is more longer than the previous ones, because Kairi has a lot of thoughts and feelings regarding Radiant Garden and her missing memories. I do hope that one day she'll recover those memories, but if she doesn't, I'm sure Kairi will make new ones with the people she's met now.
I hope everyone enjoys this one as well, and keep on celebrating SoKai 💜!
It's SoKai Week so I decided to update that art for a fanfic I did last year that was also for the event. Don't worry i'll have something for the event soon, i've been busy with Art Fight.
Fanfic here:
(Note: it has artwork with the original color palette for Kairi and the story is a bit "derrivative" of an episode of Skylanders Academy, i'm currently working on a revised version.)
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
The Sora and Kairi's designs here are on my Art Fight profile if you want to attack them separetly or together. A bit of a shameless plug there, and yes it's allowed by the site's rules.
Kairi, Sora, and Riku were all three lying in the comfy, springy grass located at Master Yen Sid's tower as they looked up at the stars.
This view had always been breathtaking, Kairi thought, but she couldn't help feeling as though it was even more beautiful tonight--that the sky was a richer navy, and that maybe she could somehow see even more stars in the sky, now that Sora had returned them back into their proper place in the sky years ago. She was certainly seeing fewer shooting stars, as she reached out and attempted to "catch" the Little Dipper into her hand. And that had to count for something, right?
Her heart absolutely filled from the light of this moment, and her new dreams, Kairi spoke with conviction, "Promise me that if ever we're in other worlds from each other, we'll look at the stars and think of each other," and rolled over to face Sora and Riku... only to find that Riku was already asleep!
Clearly seeing the frown she must have been wearing, Sora chuckled quietly and explained, "He had a tough mission in that young giant girl's world today, remember?"
That was right. Kairi had heard about that from Naminé, and how her former Nobody so easily saw herself becoming friends with the young lady.
"You can talk to Riku about that brilliant idea tomorrow," Sora quickly reassured Kairi, getting her attention again upon tipping her head up closer to his and then crawling over to her. "As for me... know that I do think the idea's brilliant, and that of course the answer's 'yes.'"
And then Sora was kissing her in a way that made the Princess' toes curl--with a hand held tightly around her back and another one tangled in her hair.
Kairi wrapped one of her arms around Sora's waist and another around his neck... when Riku then suddenly snored, prompting them both to break apart.
The two teenagers laughed as they saw him shift closer into a brighter patch of starlight and curl into some taller grass there.
"Whaddya say we get poor Riku back up into his room?" Sora chortled, eyebrow raised.
"Sure!" Kairi exclaimed. And the redhead began heading towards her best friend to do just that.
Author's Note: Inspired by a conversation I once had with my high school friends beneath a starry night sky, while we were at our city's fair.
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