@cetrith : i’m so, so sorry. you didn’t deserve that.
She saw the scar.
It’s an ugly, audacious thing, and when Kairi is afraid to sleep, she digs her nails into it. There are other scars, of course; smaller ones, most gained from training with Lea --- “Kairi, c’mon, maybe I should ---” / “No! I want to get strong! If you really want to help me, then come at me with everything you’ve got!” --- but only one that SHOUTS the way the one on her back does. Aerith has never seen her train, so she’s never seen her in the sports bra that she trains in --- at least until now.
Kairi is sick of the pity when others see it, of the sadness. Is sick of people wondering WHO COULD DO THIS TO SOMEONE SO GENTLE as though Kairi is so weak that the very idea of harming her is anathema. She knows --- or tells herself, at least --- that Aerith is not pitying her, does not think she’s weak. The older woman closes the gap as Kairi wills the blade from her palm.
“------ It’s from Xehanort,” she says, voice flat, by way of explanation.
“I’m so, so sorry,” Aerith says, voice not pitying, not degrading. Almost understanding. Somehow, that only makes it hurt WORSE. “You didn’t deserve that.”
Kairi’s hands curls into tight fists. She doesn’t remember the dying / remembers the being dead. Remembers being taken. Remembers fighting Xehanort and Xemnas, and failing. And because of that failure / that weakness, HE KILLED HER, and to bring her back, Sora had to...
Her teeth grit.
“Yeah,” she bites out. “I did.” What she didn’t deserve is COMING BACK.









