#maddrmatt

Radiant Garden

To those who knew them best, it was not surprising to witness Sora and Kairi watching the sunset.  Whether if it was with Riku and any of their other friends or if it was just the two of them, it was definitely their favorite way to end the day.  

Of course, after the upgrade in their relationship, they now tended to enjoy the sunset more when it was just the two of them.  This was on account of them getting the opportunity to be a little more openly romantic.

So, on one particular evening, this familiar sight was once again taking place.  However, there were a couple of differences for this specific moment.

For one thing, they were not on their usual spots on the paopu tree on the Destiny Islands watching the sun disappear over the horizon where the sky and sea met.  Rather, they were sitting on a bench in a garden outside of Ansem the Wise’s castle in Radiant Garden watching the sun go down behind the hills outside of the town.

And judging by the handsome white suit that Sora was wearing as well as the beautiful white gown worn by Kairi, they were not watching as simply best friends or even just as lovers.

For the first time, they were watching the sunset as husband and wife.

With his left hand gently intertwined with Kairi’s right one, Sora tried to keep his eyes on the sunset.  But it was a futile effort because something else kept catching his eye.

He couldn’t help himself.  The sight of his heart’s favorite view in her wedding attire, from the white dress with the elaborate golden design of a heart on the chest to the tiara with seven glistening heart-shaped jewels, combined with the light of the setting sun was a sight far more beautiful to him.

‘My Dearly Beloved.  I can’t believe she’s my wife now,’ he thought.

Then Kairi turned toward him.  But instead of teasing him, which she usually did whenever she caught him glancing at her in a lovestruck way, she simply smiled.  A lone tear leaked out of her right eye and trickled down her cheek.

Sora was suddenly snapped out of his reverie by one of his most painful memories.  The look on Kairi’s face was nearly identical to the one she gave him right before he vanished to Quadratum.

‘That was one of the worst days of our lives. I’ll never regret what I had to do to save her.  But I will never forgive myself for the pain I put her through.’

Then Sora banished the thought from his mind. ‘No.  Today is nothing like that day at all.  Nothing is taking me away from her so I’m not going to let my mind go there.  This day is too important for both of us to let a few bad memories ruin any part of it.’

But, as was his nature, Kairi’s wellbeing came first, and he still felt the need to check.  “Kai, are you feeling all right?” he asked concernedly.

Kairi finally took notice of the tear.  With an embarrassed chuckle, she wiped it away. But no sooner then she had done so that another one leaked out of her other eye.

“I-I’m fine, Sora.  I really am.  It’s just that I’m feeling so, so happy,” she said.

Kairi then raised her hand to show the gold band around her ring finger.  “We actually did it, Sora.  We got married!”

With a smile, Sora scootched closer to his wife and placed his arm around her.  Kairi happily leaned against her husband’s shoulder.

“I know.  I can hardly believe it myself,” said Sora.

“Feels like the most wonderful dream ever, doesn’t it?” asked Kairi.

“Sure does.  But if it is that, then I never ever want to wake up from it,” said Sora.

“Well, you know, there is one way to make sure it isn’t,” said Kairi as she pulled away and gave her signature sly smile.

“How?” asked Sora causing Kairi to give her husband a look that she often reserved for moments when he acted a little dense.

But it didn’t last for long as her smile returned. She gently grabbed the sides of Sora’s face and pulled him in closer to her own.  She then gently pressed her lips to his.

Sora was slightly taken aback by the sudden kiss. But he soon started to kiss her back with just as much love as she was putting into hers.

After about a minute, the kiss came to an end. The newlyweds kept their foreheads pressed together and gazed at each other with looks of pure bliss.

“Well?” asked Kairi.

Sora smiled.  “This is real.  Most definitely real.”

The Princess of Heart chuckled.  “I knew that would convince you.”

Indeed, since becoming a couple, Sora and Kairi had shared many kisses in their dreams.  They considered it to be the best part of their dreams and it was always infuriating to them when they woke up just before a kiss or in the midst of one.

But, as good as they were, they both agreed that kissing in their dreams paled in comparison to kissing in real life.  And now that they were married, it felt even better.

“So, do you think they’re wondering where we’ve gone by now?” asked Kairi.

“Maybe.  It might be a little unusual for a bride and a groom to step out from their wedding reception even for just a short time.  But I don’t think it’ll be a problem.  After all, Riku and those closest to us know how much we love to watch the sunset,” responded Sora.

“And we could not miss watching it on our wedding day,” said Kairi.

“Nope.  We definitely could not do that.  Besides, with us out of the spotlight for a bit, it’ll give all our guests a little more time to get acquainted,” said Sora as he turned away from his wife and in the direction of the castle with a smile on his face.

Kairi followed her husband’s gaze and together, they looked to a large room surrounded by walls made of glass which was the castle’s ballroom where the reception was still going on.  Through the walls, they could see the silhouettes of the immense multitude of guests talking and laughing.  It warmed their hearts to know that a multitude of new friendships and connections were being forged.

“It’s so wonderful that all of our friends could be here today. And it’s even greater to see all of them getting along so well,” said Kairi.

“A whole new world order and it begins on our wedding day,” said Sora.

“That’s not too hard to believe, is it, Sora?  You are, after all, the Key that Connects Everything.  You helped bring happy endings to so many people and their worlds.  I think it’s only fitting that they be there at the start of our own,” said Kairi.

“Well, I never could’ve done anything for them if I didn’t have my friends by my side,” said Sora.

He then turned to Kairi. “And especially, my light in the darkness.”

Kairi blushed.  “Oh, Sora.”

Sora reached over and took Kairi’s hands into his own. “I meant it then and I still mean it now, Kai.  I’ve always felt I’m strongest when I’m with you.”

Kairi giggled.  “After all these years, you still can’t resist using those old cheesy lines, can you?”

“You know you still love them.”

“Do I?” Kairi asked as she tapped her chin while pretending to think.

Then she smiled. “Why yes.  I believe I do.”

The two of them laughed together before each putting an arm around the other’s shoulder and returning their attention to the sunset.  There was only a small bit of sunlight peeking over the horizon as the stars began to dot the sky.

They sat in silence for awhile before Sora piped up and asked, “So, what do you think?  Definitely the newest happiest day of our lives?”

Kairi smiled.  “Most definitely.  Though it doesn’t mean we treasure the previous holder of that title any less.”

“Couldn’t agree more, Kairi.  But you’ve got to admit that only our wedding day could dethrone the previous holder.  It was a tough one to beat.”

Kairi sighed happily.  “Yes.  Who could forget that day?”

“I doubt either of us will.  It may have been so long ago, but I remember as if it was yesterday.  I was still stuck in Quadratum and Yozora was making another attempt to ‘save’ me.  I thought I could beat him again, especially since I had Riku and Strelitzia helping me then.  But he was a lot more powerful this time around and it looked like he would’ve won,” Sora said with a hint of fear in his voice as he recalled the close call. ‘In that moment, it looked like I wouldn’t be able to come back to you.’

Sora then turned to face Kairi and smiled at her.  “Then, in a beam of light from the sky, you arrived. Like an angel descending from the heavens.  And you had gotten so much stronger that together, we managed to send Yozora packing.”

“It felt pretty good to actually turn the tide of a battle, Sora. My training with Aqua certainly paid off and I had even learned how to harness the power of the Pure Light within my heart,” said Kairi.  ‘It certainly was about time it was used for something good unlike like what Maleficent and Xehanort planned for it and the other six.’

“Riku and I were so proud of you that day,” said Sora.

“Yes.  But the best part came after the battle was over.  Once we were sure Yozora was gone for the time being, it was time for us to have a proper reunion.  I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing,” said Kairi.

“Neither could I.  I opened up my arms and, in what seemed to be less than a second, you rushed right into them. I don’t think I’d ever been hugged tighter,” said Sora chuckling at the memory.

Kairi laughed along with her husband.  “And then you picked me up off my feet and you twirled me around and around. I hadn’t laughed that hard in the longest time.”

“Then we stopped.  We parted slightly, gazed into each other’s eyes and then…”

“Our Love’s First Kiss,” said Kairi dreamily.

“Yes.  All our friends say there’s something magical about it and after that day, I never believed them more,” said Sora.

“And you didn’t even care that both Riku and Strelitzia were watching the whole thing,” said Kairi.

“It didn’t matter that we had an audience.  It had been far too long, and I just wanted to show you just how much you truly meant to me.”

Kairi cupped Sora’s cheek.  “Well, I certainly appreciated it that day, Sora.  But you should know, after everything that’s happened, there was nothing you ever needed to prove to me,” she said causing him to smile.

The two of them gazed at each other lovingly for a moment.  Then they looked and saw that day had fully given way to night.

“Sunset’s over.  Guess it’s time we headed back to the reception,” said Sora as he stood up off the bench and offered a hand to Kairi to help her rise to her feet.

“Yep.  Back we go into the spotlight.  But before we go…” said Kairi as she reached around Sora and cupped the back of his neck.

“Care to give your bride one more Sora Smooch for the road?” she asked with a mischievous smile.

Sora chuckled.  “Well, I can never say no to that.  Especially since I always get a Kairi Kiss in exchange.”

Kairi laughed as well.  “Well, it’s lucky for you that this Princess of Heart has plenty of those to give for a lifetime.”

Then the bride smiled lovingly at her groom.  “And that’s how much I want you for, Sora.  A lifetime.  And a lifetime and beyond is how long I’ll love you for.”

Sora sniffed and a tear rolled down his left cheek.  After wiping it away, he let out a small laugh.

“Now who’s the one using the cheesy lines?” he asked.

“Well, I did learn from the best.”

“And I taught you so well.  Come here, my bride,” he said as he pulled Kairi closer so their lips could meet once again in yet another kiss.

Throughout their wedding day, Sora and Kairi had shared many kisses. It started with the one after King Mickey had officially married them.  Then, there were the many they had at the reception at the behest of their guests and their clinking glasses (though, in all honesty, they found that wedding tradition to be a little annoying).  And both of them knew that the latest one they were currently sharing would likely not be the last one for them that day and they would not have it any other way.

After a few moments had passed, Kairi parted from Sora and her eyes widened in surprise.  She noticed that Sora did not have his usual content expression that he often showed after sharing a kiss with her.  Rather, he looked troubled.

“Sora, what is it?”

“Kairi, do you hear that?”

“Huh?” Kairi asked in confusion before listening around. “What do you mean?  I don’t hear anything.”

“That’s exactly what I mean.  It suddenly got too quiet.”

Kairi then realized Sora was right.  The world around them had gone completely silent.  She could no longer hear the sounds of the reception nor any of the regular nighttime ambience of Radiant Garden.  

She then looked in the direction of the ballroom and let out a gasp of shock.  “Sora, look!”

Sora looked and let out a gasp of his own.  Through the windows, they could see into the ballroom and saw that all their friends were now frozen as if a Stop spell had been cast.

“What’s happened to them?  And why hasn’t it happened to us?” asked Sora.

“Sora, I’m getting worried,” said Kairi.

Sora let out a sigh of exasperation.  “Just our luck.  I guess it was too much to hope that none of our enemies who were still out there would be stupid enough to attack our wedding.”

“Especially since we have so many heroes from around the worlds attending.  Then again, I can’t think of any of our enemies who could do something like this,” said Kairi.

A determined look came over Sora’s face.  “Well, whoever’s behind this, whether it’s one of our old enemies or a new one, they messed with the wrong couple’s wedding day,” he said as he summoned Kingdom Key to his hands.

Then he turned to Kairi.  “Kai, you with me?”

Kairi gave a smirk and summoned Destiny’s Embrace.  “When am I ever not?  Were you not paying attention to my wedding vow?  I’m by your side in everything now and forever.  And especially when defending our most special day.”

Sora smiled at his wife and then turned toward the garden.  “Whoever you are, I don’t know what you’re trying to pull by freezing everything.  But if you think you’re ruining this day, you’ve got another thing coming,” he shouted to their unseen adversary.

“Yeah!  So, show yourself and we’ll show you a thing or two about messing with these newly wed Keyblade Masters!” Kairi added.

Then, out of nowhere and unseen by either of them, a male voice piped up.  “Oh, must you two always assume the worst?”

Sora’s eyes suddenly widened in realization.  ‘Wait.  I know that voice.’

“Where are you?  Show yourself!” Kairi demanded.

“Well, I shouldn’t turn down a request from a bride on her wedding day,” responded the voice.

Sora and Kairi clutched their Keyblades and waited for the voice’s owner to reveal himself.  But after a few moments passed, he had yet to do so.  The bride and the groom gazed around in confusion.

“Why don’t you both try looking behind you?” piped up the voice.

Sora and Kairi turned around.  Their jaws dropped in surprise as they finally beheld their visitor.

Standing before them, casually leaning against a wall, was a teenage boy.  He had messy blonde hair and was dressed in a grey shirt and dark grey pants with white shoes.  He had his arms folded across his chest and his face wore a smile that was a mix of amusement and smugness.

Joshua, the Composer of Shibuya.

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Notes from the Mad Doctor:

So, the enigmatic Joshua from The World Ends With You shows up!  What exactly does he want?  You’ll just have to keep reading to find out.

I’m so glad when I got a Nintendo Switch last year (had to when I found out Sora was coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate), I was finally able to play The World Ends With You since I missed out on the Nintendo DS version and the mobile version on iOS didn’t work completely.  I was finally able to learn about Neku, Joshua and the other TWEWY characters that showed up in Dream Drop Distance in their original setting.

Anyway, my readers, I have a question for you (if you actually read these author’s notes that is).  

Would any of you be interested in reading a full-length story of the Quadratum reunion that Sora and Kairi were talking about?  I know some of the main details have been spoiled.  But it is an idea I’ve been considering so if you wish, please let me know what you think.

I give my thanks to whoever reads this chapter.

Comments, likes and reblogs are much appreciated!  Stay tuned for we’ll find out the reason behind Joshua’s sudden appearance next chapter!

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Radiant Garden

“Kairi, Sora, is something the matter?” asked Lillie.

“Yes.  You seem a little reluctant to talk about any plans for your future.  Why is that?” asked Grant.

“It’s not that we don’t want to tell you about them,” said Kairi.

“It’s just that there’s a certain aspect that you might find kind of unusual,” said Sora.

Grant chortled.  “Unusual?  I think we’ve already established that’s actually the best word to describe your lives.”

“I’m afraid this is a different case, Grant. You all might not like it when we tell you,” said Sora.

“Sora, you and Kairi can tell us.  No matter how controversial it might be, you must have your reasons and you probably have a very good explanation for it,” said Summer.

“Yes.  After everything you’ve done, whatever it is, we trust you both know what you’re doing,” said Grant.

Sora and Kairi each took a deep breath.  “All right.  Here it goes,” said Kairi.

“Well, first of all, we’d like to say that we’re relieved that we even have these plans for the future,” said Sora.

Kairi’s family looked surprised.  But they continued to listen while Summer said, “Go on.”

“You see, Mom, after some time had passed since Sora and I became a couple, we did start talking about getting married someday.  But we knew before we could take that step, we would have to be able to support ourselves.  And it was going to be hard for because, you see, we kind of…” Kairi struggled to finish, almost afraid of saying it.

“We didn’t finish school,” Sora finished with embarrassment in his voice causing Kairi’s parents and grandmother to gasp in horror.

“You didn’t finish your schooling?” asked Lillie.

“That’s right, Grandma,” said Kairi ashamedly.

“But trust us, Lillie.  We’re definitely not proud of it,” said Sora.

Grant sighed.  “Let me guess.  The reason why you didn’t is because of all your adventures, isn’t it?”

Kairi nodded.  “Threats to the worlds just kept popping up and we all had to do our part to stop them.”

“We also lost a lot of time for other reasons as well.  Remember, I had to go to sleep for a year so Naminè could fix my memories when the Organization forced her to mess with them,” said Sora.

“And after Sora vanished to Quadratum, I spent a year asleep myself so Ansem the Wise and his apprentices could analyze my heart for any clue to where he was,” Kairi added.

“Riku missed out on a lot of school too.  And by the time everything finally calmed down and we all could return to some form of normal life, we were so much older than the other students that picking up where we left off was no longer an option,” said Sora.

Kairi’s parents and grandmother remained silent.  They were giving serious thought to what they had just been told.

Finally, Lillie sighed.  “When you put it that way, I guess we can understand.  Like you said earlier, your adventures did cost you a lot.”

“And trust us, we’re completely aware of the consequences of not having a full education.  Without it, our job options are pretty limited,” said Kairi.

“Yeah.  And even if we had completed school, there was also a chance that another threat to the worlds would come up.  And I seriously doubt any employer would give us any ‘heroism leave’ to go help out,” said Sora.

“It’s pretty ironic.  After all our fighting so we could have a normal life, we had no idea how we were going to even live it,” said Kairi.

“That is unfortunate.  I feel really bad that you two ended up in this situation,” said Lillie as Grant and Summer nodded in agreement.

“But surely now you must have some way to support your lives.  You two wouldn’t have had this big wedding and gotten married otherwise,” said Summer.

Kairi then smiled.  “Oh, we certainly do.  And how it came to us was something we never expected would happen.”

“What was it?” asked Grant.

“Some time after we defeated the Master of Masters and the Darknesses, Keyblades started appearing all around the worlds.  And amazingly, they ended up in the hands of friends that I had made throughout my journeys,” said Sora.

“That’s quite a coincidence,” said Lillie.

“Not really.  Having fought alongside them to protect their worlds, I’ve seen the strength of their hearts. Any of them would definitely be worthy of wielding a Keyblade,” said Sora.  

“Master Yen Sid believes the worlds were preparing to better defend themselves by distributing Keyblades to the various heroes from all around the worlds. Just think of it.  With a new Union of Keyblade wielders, along with non-wielders like Donald and Goofy, future threats can be either averted or stopped much sooner,” said Kairi.

“Well, judging from how shorthanded you seemed to be the last times the worlds were in danger, an army like that sounds like an excellent idea,” said Grant.

“Believe me, Grant, if we had that back then, villains who follow in Maleficent’s, Xehanort’s or the Master’s paths wouldn’t stand a chance.  And creatures like the Heartless would become endangered species before they got out of control.  But, if I had even suggested that idea in the past, someone, likely Donald, would give me a lecture on not violating the world order,” said Sora.

“I’m guessing that’s not the case anymore seeing as how they all came to your wedding,” said Summer.

Kairi nodded.  “Exactly, Mom.  In fact, our wedding is pretty much the first gathering of this new alliance, which we have given the name the Infinite Union.  Sora and I didn’t mind having our wedding used this way because the members would have a chance to become friends instead of simply uniting in response to a common enemy.”

The Princess of Heart then turned to her grandmother.  “Grandma, you once said that the worlds were once one long ago. And though that may never be again, this is probably the next best thing.  As Sora has shown many times, there is a great power within connections between hearts.  The bonds formed within the Infinite Union will unite the worlds in a way like they’ve never been before, and they’ll be better protected than ever.”

Lillie smiled.  “Well, that does sound like a very noble concept, Kairi.  But I don’t think any of us understand how it ties in with how you’re going to support yourselves.”

Sora then piped up.  “Well, that’s where me being ‘The Key Who Connects Everything’ comes in.  Master Yen Sid believed that it was actually my journeys that planted the seeds for the Infinite Union especially since the new wielders are all friends of mine.  So, I was offered a leadership position in the Union, and I accepted.”

Kairi’s family gasped.  They all stared at Sora in amazement.

“Sora, while I don’t doubt your abilities as a Keyblade wielder and a leader, don’t you think leading an alliance of that magnitude is a lot for one person?” asked Grant.

“Oh, it’s not just Sora, Dad.  I’m a leader in the Infinite Union too.  And so is Riku, Naminè, King Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Strelitzia, Axel, Aqua, Yozora and all our fellow Guardians of Light who stood against the Master of Masters and all his pawns in his grand plan.  We’re going to serve as sort of governing council,” said Kairi.

“Oh! That makes a lot more sense.  Best to have multiple leaders instead of a single one,” said Lillie.

“Yes.  We’re going to have a lot of responsibilities from patrolling the worlds in search of threats to training our friends in the ways of the Keyblade.  It’ll be hard.  But it’ll be worth it to preserve the peace we fought so long for,” said Sora.

“And in case you’re still wondering how this all ties into us making a living, here’s your answer.  Master Yen Sid and King Mickey told all of us that as long we continue to serve in our duties as Keyblade masters and Union leaders, we and our families would always be provided for,” said Kairi.

Summer gave a thoughtful look.  “So, it sounds like you’re on a military salary of a sort, isn’t it?”

Sora nodded.  “I guess that’s one way you can describe it.”

“But what about if one day, you…?” began Grant before his daughter interrupted.

“Decide to hang up our Keyblades and retire from active duty?  Don’t worry, Dad. We’ve considered that too,” said Kairi.

“Kairi’s right.  Since we’re not struggling to look for jobs and there’s currently no immediate threat to the worlds, we’re currently homeschooling ourselves to catch up on the education we missed while we handle our duties.  That way, when we retire from the Union, we’ll be able to get normal jobs,” said Sora.

“And we may not even have to because, even while we’re in the Union, we hope to open up a small business of our own.  By being self-employed, we won’t have to worry about sacrificing our jobs whenever a threat arises,” said Kairi.

“We even have the richest duck in all the worlds offering to be an investor when the time comes,” said Sora.

“How interesting.  Just what kind of business are you planning to open?” asked Lillie.

Kairi’s smile got wider.  “Well, you’re all going to be pretty surprised.  I certainly was when I just learned during this visit that it’ll be following in my family’s footsteps.”

Summer’s hands flew over her mouth as she gasped.  “You mean…?”

“Yes, Mom.  We’re planning on opening a flower shop on the Islands and we’ll be growing them ourselves just like you did.  And interestingly enough, Mom, Aerith has been teaching us all about the business like her mother did for you.”

Summer couldn’t believe it.  Neither could Grant and Lillie.  Who would’ve guessed that their daughter and her husband was planning on entering into the same line of work they had been involved in before they even knew it?

“And it’s not just going to be a flower shop.  Since Sora’s cooking skills have gotten even better over the years and he’s even created recipes of his own, it’s also going to have a small café in it too,” said Kairi.

Sora chuckled.  “Hard to believe my culinary journey began with learning from a rat.  Although, I have had some extra training from a princess and a monkey master too.”

Lillie, Grant and Summer smiled.  It seemed that, despite Sora and Kairi not finishing their education, they had given serious consideration to what their future held and were willing to put in the work.  They felt so proud of their daughter and son-in-law.

“Kairi, Sora, we’re really pleased as punch with what you just told us,” said Grant.

“We’re all sure that as both Union leaders and business owners, you’ll both shine,” said Summer.

“But still, there is one more thing we’d like to know about your future plans,” said Lillie.

“And that is?” asked Kairi.

Lillie smiled.  “You mentioned earlier that as long as you and your friends served as Keyblade Masters, your families would be provided for.  So, does this mean you’re planning on having children of your own in the future?”

Sora and Kairi gasped as Kairi’s family gazed at them, eager to hear their answer.  But then they smiled as they tenderly reached for each other’s hands.

“We certainly have talked about it, Lillie and both Kairi and I agree that we would love to be parents,” said Sora.

“Yes.  Someday. For now, however, we’re just going to focusing on enjoying married life, catching up with our education, and fulfilling our duties in the Union,” said Kairi.

“But when we feel like the time is right, we’d love to bring a new little light into the world.  Maybe even more than one,” said Sora.

Summer chuckled.  “Well, I don’t know about there being a ‘right time’.  Parenthood can sort of sneak up and catch you by surprise. That certainly was true for us when you came into our lives, Kairi.”

“It is a job not to be taken lightly and you can never be fully prepared for it.  But it can be a very rewarding experience,” said Lillie.

“Though our time was cut short, no matter how difficult it felt at times, we enjoyed every moment we had with you, Kairi.  And I believe you and Sora will make fine parents to your own children someday,” said Grant.

“I know Kairi definitely will be.  Any child who has one of the Princesses of Heart as a mother will have one of the most devoted and loving mothers in all the worlds,” said Sora as he gazed lovingly at his wife.

“Don’t count yourself out, Sora.  Our future kids will be so lucky to have a father who has the biggest heart in all the worlds,” said Kairi.

Then Sora let out a laugh.  “Although, if our kids are anything like we were when we were young, we’re certainly in for a challenge!”

Kairi laughed along with her husband.  “That’s true!  Though we were good kids, there were times when we were quite the handful for our own parents. Although, for the record, it was mostly Sora and Riku who were the wild ones.”

Sora snorted.  “Hey! You had your share of those kind of moments too!”

“Only because you and Riku dragged me into them!” Kairi shot back.

Kairi’s family laughed as they witnessed the banter between Sora and Kairi. Soon, all five of them were laughing uproariously before quieting down with contented sighs.

“Well, when you do have kids, I hope you’ll tell them all about us,” said Grant a little somberly.

“We will, Dad.  I just wish they would have had a chance to know you.  I’m sure you and Mom would’ve made wonderful grandparents and Grandma would’ve made an incredible great-grandmother,” said Kairi.

Kairi’s family smiled at the thought of that.  “Thank you for that nice sentiment, darling.  And I hope that you two will get to be grandparents and great-grandparents yourselves,” said Summer.

“We sure hope so.  We’ve actually met a few interesting grandparents and great-grandparents in our travels and that’s why we hope to gain the roles ourselves someday,” said Sora.

“I’m sure you will.  As long as you both continue to love, protect and support each other throughout your lives, there’s nothing that you cannot overcome together,” said Lillie.

Sora and Kairi smiled at Lillie’s last statement.  While it was true that the future and life in general would always contain the unexpected, the newlyweds would always face whatever was thrown at them hand in hand and would surely triumph.

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Notes from the Mad Doctor:

Quite the career path I’ve envisioned for Sora and Kairi, isn’t it?

I’m sure many of us have wondered what kind of future any of the Kingdom Hearts characters would have.  Especially since they’ve missed out on a good chunk of their school years.

I’m sure many of us have also wondered how exactly Keyblade wielders and masters provide for themselves while they protect the worlds since I doubt they also had day jobs.  After all, Master Eraqus pretty much had three adoptive children of his own to take care of as well as himself, so he must’ve had some kind of income.  And who knows how Keyblade wielders in Daybreak Town and Scala ad Caelum made their living?

The name Infinite Union is a nod to Disney Infinity.  That was such a great game that sadly died just when it was starting to become its best incarnation.  Especially since it was on the verge of incorporating Kingdom Hearts into it with that King Mickey costume Power Disc which I was lucky to win in a contest.

I actually have an idea for a story that’s about the Infinite Union.  It not only features Sora and Kairi overseeing Keyblade training to several canon and noncanon Disney friends, but also being parents to their first child.  Maybe I’ll write it someday after the Quadratum fic.

I give my thanks to whoever reads this chapter.

I also give my special thanks to @fandomchanger​ ​ and @silva-heart​ for liking the previous chapters as well as @sokaiweek​ and @phoenix-downer for reblogging the previous chapters.

Comments, likes and reblogs are much appreciated!  The visit is drawing to a close. But there’s a couple more things that’ll happen before that next chapter.  Stay tuned!

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Radiant Garden

As she continued to be embraced by her birth family, Kairi started to realize how long she had been in this group hug.  ‘Can’t blame them for wanting to make up for lost time.  But I’m sure Joshua didn’t bring them here just for this.’

“Mom?  Dad? Grandma?  Not that I’m not enjoying this, but I think there’s other things we should be doing,” said the Princess of Heart.

Lillie was the first to break off from the embrace. “I’m afraid Kairi’s right.  We’ve got to make the most of this visit and we can’t spend it just doing this.  Especially since we’re leaving Kairi’s husband out of it.”

Grant’s face suddenly became uneasy.  “Husband?” he muttered.

“Yes, dear.  Today is our daughter’s wedding day so a significant other is usually part of the equation,” said Summer.

“Well, all right then,” said Grant as he reluctantly released his daughter and wife who then released each other.

Kairi then turned to the love of her life. “Sora!  You can come over here now!” she called.

‘Well, here goes nothing,’ thought Sora as he approached the group.

As her husband got closer, Kairi could see the anxiety in his eyes.  ‘Can’t really blame him for that.  Mom and Dad don’t exactly know our history so he’s probably afraid they’re going to think he’s not good enough for me.  But they don’t really know me that well either.’

Once Sora had properly joined the group, Kairi’s parents looked him over like her grandmother had done before.  Though Summer regarded Sora with a gentle smile, Grant didn’t look all that impressed but neither did he look disapproving.

“Mom, Dad, this is Sora, my husband,” said Kairi.

“Hello.  It’s a pleasure to meet you both.  You know, Lillie mentioned earlier how Kairi took after you in looks and now that we’ve met, I can see how true that really is.  You definitely must be her parents,” said Sora hoping his statement didn’t sound as awkward as he thought it was.

Kairi winced.  ‘Oh, Sora. I know you’re feeling nervous around my parents.  But that definitely was not your best icebreaker.’

Fortunately, her mother seemed to find it amusing as she chuckled.  “Yes, we truly are, Sora.  And we’re glad to meet you as well.  Right, Grant?” asked Summer.

Grant said nothing.  He still looked at Sora with uncertainty causing the Hero of the Keyblade to feel more uneasy.

Summer noticed and she did not like how her husband was regarding their son-in-law.  She then gave him a small nudge with her elbow in his side.

“Oh.  Uh, right! Likewise!  Very happy to meet you!” Grant blurted out.

An uncomfortable silence then hung between the groom and the bride’s parents.  Kairi then leaned close to her grandmother so she could whisper in her ear.  “Grandma, this doesn’t seem to be off to a good start.”

“I can see that, Kairi.  I actually anticipated something like this would happen on this visit.  Fortunately, I know a way we can fix that,” Lillie whispered back before moving forward, so she was in between Kairi’s parents and Sora.

“It’s clear there’s some there’s a lot of tension here right now. But I believe that’s because we all really don’t know each other too well.  I think the best thing we can do is simply sit down and talk about it,” Lillie stated.

“That sounds like a very good idea, Mother,” said Summer.

Inwardly, Sora breathed a sigh of relief.  ‘Thank you, Lillie.  Once we do that, maybe things won’t feel so awkward.  But we’re going to need a few more things to sit on.’

He then looked around the garden and his eyes soon fell on some patio furniture a short distance away.  There was another two-person bench and a single chair. 

“I’m going to go bring that over here so you all will have a place to sit,” he said as he began to walk in their direction.

“That’s very considerate of you, Sora.  Grant, I think you should go help him,” said Summer.

“Huh?” asked Grant.

“Look, Dad, it’s clear that Sora’s feeling a little pressure. Maybe you could help lessen it by getting a head start on getting to know him,” said Kairi with her mother and grandmother nodding in agreement.

Grant sighed.  “You’re probably right, Kairi.”

He then ran in Sora’s direction.  “Wait up, Sora.  Let me help you.  That bench especially looks like a two-person job.”

“Uh thank you, sir,” said Sora nervously as he and Grant walked side-by-side.

Grant noticed Sora’s tense demeanor.  “Look, Sora, could we clear the air here?”.

“Uh sure,” Sora asked questioningly.

“You probably noticed that I’ve been acting a little odd about everything.  And I just want to say that it’s not that I have anything against you.  It’s just…” said Grant unsure of how to phrase it.

“Say no more, sir.  I think I understand.”

“You do?”

“Yes.  It is a rather unusual situation here, isn’t it?  The last time you and your wife saw Kairi, she was just your newborn baby.  So, going from that to seeing her as a married woman must be hard to reconcile.”

Grant blinked in surprise.  He couldn’t believe how accurate Sora was.  And though he hadn’t known his son-in-law for that very long, he could see that Sora was someone he might be able to trust.

He let out a sigh.  “It is hard, Sora.  Summer may be taking it in stride.  But being able to do that has always been one of her best qualities.  For me, it’s more difficult and it actually bothers me a little knowing that I don’t really know my own daughter,” he said as they finally reached the bench.

As they each took position on either end of the bench, lifted it up and began to walk it back to the others, Sora said, “If you don’t mind, sir, I might be able to tell you a little about Kairi.”

“I guess that could be helpful,” said Grant.

“All right then.  Although, it might be a little difficult because there are no words good enough to describe how amazing she really is.”

Grant gave a small chuckle.  “Go on.”

“Well, for starters, let me just tell you she has one of the strongest and most caring hearts in all the worlds.  I’d never have been able to do my part in protecting the worlds from the forces of darkness without her.  We’ve been best friends for a long time and when we took the step up to being lovers, I couldn’t have asked for a better girlfriend.”

A part of Sora’s statement struck a chord within Grant.  ‘Protecting the worlds from darkness?  What exactly is he involved in?’

Then Sora suddenly frowned.  “However, there are times when I wonder how I managed to win the heart of someone so wonderful because, to be honest, I’ve also wondered if she would’ve been better off finding someone else to love.”

“What do you mean?” Grant asked.

Sora sighed.  “The truth is, sir, Kairi’s been through a lot of bad times, and they’ve happened because of me.  Believe me, it was never intentional and there were other factors at work.  But I still played my part and I’ll never forgive myself for that.  I wouldn’t have blamed her if she ever thought that loving me was more trouble than it’s worth.  But in the end, in spite of everything that’s happened, she still wanted to be with me. Because that’s just the kind of person she is, and I absolutely love her for it.”

As they continued to walk the bench over to the others, Grant considered Sora’s words.  Though he didn’t outright show it, he was impressed by how Sora praised his daughter’s best qualities instead of promoting his own.  And while he still wondered about those bad times and what exactly his daughter and son-in-law’s lives had been like, he had to acknowledge Sora’s integrity in admitting his role in the times Kairi suffered.

Finally, for the first time, Grant gave Sora a smile. “You know, Summer’s and my time with Kairi was pretty brief so we never really considered anything about who she would marry.”

Sora chuckled.  “Well, it was kind of early since she was just a baby.”

Grant chuckled as well.  “Yes.  That is true. But I know that we’d only want the best for her.  And it starting to seem to me like she found it.”

Upon hearing those words from his father-in-law, Sora felt a mix of pride and relief.  It seemed that he and Grant were starting to click.

It wasn’t too long after the end of their conversation that they finally reached the others.  Sora and Grant then placed the bench on the ground near the bench Sora and Kairi had been sitting on earlier.

“I’ll go back and get that chair now.  But I can handle it on my own,” said Sora.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t like any help with it?” asked Grant.

Sora shook his head.  “No.  But thanks for the offer.  See you all in a bit,” he said as he headed back to retrieve the chair.

Kairi walked up to her father.  “You two certainly took your time.”

“Well, you did want me to get a head start on getting to know him and that’s what I was doing,” said Grant.  ‘Although, Sora was actually helping me get to know you better actually.  And he certainly gave me a very good impression of you, precious.’

“I do hope that’s really what you were doing, and you weren’t actually giving him a hard time or trying to intimidate him or something else like that.  Did you, Grant?” asked Lillie.

“Because you never liked that when my own father did that to you,” added Summer.

Grant held up his hands in defense.  “Believe me, I didn’t do anything of the sort.”

Kairi sighed in relief. “Thank you so much for that, Dad. In the early days after we became girlfriend and boyfriend, Sora always felt a little on edge around my adoptive father.  Guess the fact that he was the Islands’ mayor made Sora afraid of displeasing him.”

Grant laughed.  “Well, I guess it’s lucky for him that I don’t wield any kind of political power.”

Then he gave his daughter a gentle smile.  “But I can tell you this, Kairi.  From what I’ve seen of Sora now, you really found someone pretty special.”

Kairi then looked off in the direction where Sora was. A loving look came to her eye as she saw watched Sora bring over the chair.

‘He always has been.  Just can’t believe it took a bunch of crazy adventures for me to realize just how special he really was to me.’

Finally, Sora had returned to them with the chair in hand. He placed it near the two benches, so the three pieces of furniture formed a near triangular arrangement so when everyone would be facing each other once they sat down.

Everyone soon took their places.  Sora and Kairi returned to the bench they had used earlier. Grant and Summer sat on the other bench and Lillie took the chair.

“There we go.  Now that we’re all seated, we’ve got some stories to share,” said Lillie.

“So, darling, who wants to go first?  Us or you?” Summer asked Sora and Kairi.

Kairi then piped up.  “Well, if you don’t mind, since Sora’s and mine is very long, could you tell us about yourselves first?  Like what did you both do for a living and how you met?  I’m sure Grandma might’ve told me before when I was young.  But that was so long ago, my memory may need some refreshing.”

“I guess that’ll do to start things.  Well, Kairi, the story that answers your questions actually begins with your father’s hobby which later became his career.  Grant?” asked Lillie.

Grant cleared his throat.  “I’ve always been an art lover ever since I was a boy and I hoped I could pursue a career in it when I got older.  The hard part was deciding exactly what kind of artist I wanted to be.  A painter?  A sculptor?  There were so many options.  I couldn’t decide until I realized I could blend my love of art with something else I loved.”

“And what was that?” asked Sora.

“Gardening,” said Lillie answering the question on her son’s behalf.  “Aside from being an art lover, Grant also loved to work outside.  Especially with flowers.  When he was young, he would always be my special helper whenever we planted flowers together.  Just like how we used to as well, Kairi.  But I noticed that he went far above simply planting.  He had a talent for arranging them, alongside various structures and ornaments, in ways that resembled great works of art.”

“I will admit it was risky.  I mean, Radiant Garden has so many other talented gardeners so it would be hard for me to make my mark.  But eventually, my talent was recognized, and many started to hire me for my garden designs.  For everyone who hired me, I always made a unique design for them,” said Grant.

“Best exterior designer in all of Radiant Garden,” said Summer.

“Even Ansem the Wise himself hired your father to design a garden for the castle,” said Lillie.

“He did?” asked Kairi.

Grant nodded.  “Who do you think designed this particular garden we’re sitting in?” he asked as he gestured to their surroundings causing Sora and Kairi to gasp in surprise.

“This garden was designed by you?” asked Sora.

“Yes, indeed.  And I can’t believe how little it’s changed even years after we’ve been gone. They’ve even kept using the same flowers and ornaments.”

“I guess the Restoration Committee must’ve liked your design, they couldn’t bear to change it even during the time Ansem was gone,” said Kairi.

Lillie’s eyes widened.  “Restoration Committee?  Something happened to Ansem?  What was it?”

“Well, that’s one part of the very long story and we’ll fill you in on it later.  But he is back now and he’s still ruling this world and researching ways to keep it and the rest of the worlds safe,” said Sora.  ‘And thankfully, he and his apprentices, both old and new, know not to go too far.’

“Well, that’s good to hear,” said Lillie.

“Now getting back to the previous subject, that’s pretty amazing that Dad designed this garden.  It makes me wonder what other gardens here are his works,” said Kairi.

“Well, darling, it has been a long time and I imagine a few of his previous clients may have done something different with their gardens since then.  But his designs were pretty popular so maybe a few still do use them,” said Summer.

“So, how did that lead to you two meeting?” Sora asked.

Summer smiled.  “Well, any artist needs their supplies for their creations.  So, like a painter needs paint, your father needed flowers for his garden designs and that’s what lead him to me.  You see, I was in the business of growing flowers and selling them.”

“So, you were a florist?” asked Sora.

“Not exactly, Sora.  I was more into growing flowers for people to replant in their gardens. I was pretty good at it. Although, it helps that I had the best mentor in that area of expertise, Elmyra Gainsborough.  She taught me everything I know, and she was also a very good friend,” Summer answered.

“Hold it, Mom.  Sorry to interrupt but did you say Gainsborough?” asked Kairi.

Summer looked puzzled.  “Yes, that’s right.  Why do you ask?”

“That’s our friend Aerith’s last name,” said Sora.

“Oh!  You still know Aerith?” asked Lillie.

Kairi became confused as she looked at her grandmother. “Still?  You mean I knew her before?”

“Oh yes.  Despite your difference in age, you two were actually pretty good friends.  She actually was almost like an older sister to you,” said Lillie.

“Now I remember!  Elmyra was raising a little girl that she had adopted.  Well, I’m glad you two became friends,” said Summer.

Now Kairi was even more confused as she turned to Sora. “But that doesn’t make any sense. Why didn’t Aerith recognize me when we met her later?”

“Well, in all fairness to her, it had been a long time since you had seen each other.  And remember, Mickey didn’t remember helping save you until Aqua brought it up.  But I guess we have some things we need to talk to her about,” said Sora.

Upon hearing the exchange between her daughter and her son-in-law, a concerned look came to Summer’s face.  “Kairi, what do you mean someone saved you?”

“Yes.  I’m wondering about that myself.  You never told me about anything like that,” said Lillie giving a bit of a hard stare to her granddaughter.

“And your grandmother also mentioned to us that you went missing from Radiant Garden and she never saw you again.  What exactly has happened to you in your life?” asked Grant.

Kairi let out a sigh.  “Those are all parts of the long story that Sora mentioned.  But we’ll tell you once you and Mom are finished yours. That is, unless you want us to start it now?”

Grant, Summer and Lillie exchanged glances.  When they agreed to this visit, they knew they would have so many questions about Kairi’s life.  And now, it was becoming clear that her life may have contained some very worrisome aspects.

Finally, Summer said, “Okay, Kairi.  We’ll continue.  But maybe it’s best that you and Sora hold off on referring to certain parts of your lives that could cause us to worry.”

“We’ll try,” said Kairi as Sora nodded in agreement.

“All right then.  Honey, would you care to take over from here?” Summer asked her husband.

“Gladly.  Well, one day, I was working on one of my garden projects.  Problem was, it called for a very special kind of flower.  I looked in all of the shops, but I couldn’t find them anywhere.  That is, until I came to Gainsborough Gardening.  I was about to ask about the flowers I needed.  But when I saw this lovely redheaded woman in the shop, I practically forgot what I had come in for,” said Grant as he exchanged a smile with his wife.

“Aww!” Kairi cooed as she instinctively grasped Sora’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.  ‘Looks like it was love at first sight.  Just like us, Sora, even if we didn’t know it at the time.’

Summer let out a giggle. “I must admit, I had never gotten that kind of reaction from someone before.  It felt a little strange but at the same time, I also felt pretty flattered. Eventually, Grant snapped out of it, and I guided him to the flowers he was looking for.  That could have been the only time I ever saw him.  But fortunately, I was wrong.”

Grant chuckled.  “I started to frequent Gainsborough Gardening more than other shop for my supplies.  It may not have been cost effective at times.  But it was worth it to get a chance to talk to Summer.  Eventually, I summoned the courage to ask her out to one of Radiant Garden’s annual festivals.  To both my absolute joy and absolute terror, she said yes.”

“Oh, I remember how nervous you were before that date, Grant. But I also remember how you came home with that look of absolute bliss on your face,” said Lillie eliciting laughs from Sora, Kairi and Summer.

“Ma!” exclaimed Grant as his cheeks reddened.

“It was after that festival date that our courtship truly began.  We did many things together over the next two years.  Then, on the anniversary of the day he first walked into Gainsborough Gardens, Grant invited me to his personal garden to show me a new design he had been working on.  Kairi, you could only imagine my surprise when I saw exactly what it was,” said Summer.

“What was it?” asked Kairi.

“Your father had, with flowers, spelled out the words ‘Marry me, Summer?’.  And when I turned around to face him, he was down on knees and holding out a box with a ring in it.  It took me a few moments to shake off my initial shock.  But in the end, I managed to say yes,” said Summer gazing lovingly at her husband.

“Wow!  You really went all out with that proposal,” said Sora.

“Yours was just as wonderful too, Sora.  Returning my lucky charm with an engagement ring attached to it?  It was so sweet and so you,” said Kairi.

“A few months later, we were married.  And let me just say, Kairi, in that gown you’re wearing, you’re the spitting image of your mother on that day,” said Grant.

“So, I’ve heard,” said Kairi.

“Huh?”

“Grandma sort of told me that earlier.”

Grant looked over to his mother who gave a sheepish shrug. ‘Way to steal my thunder, Ma,’ he thought as he folded his arms with a small huff.

“It was indeed a wonderful ceremony.  I was so proud of my boy.  He and Summer truly had found someone to always treasure and love,” said Lillie as she wiped away a tear.

Then Sora piped up.  “Hold on for a second.  By any chance, was the wedding held in the Angels in Flight Chapel?” he asked.

Summer’s eyes opened in surprise.  “Why, yes Sora.  That is where Grant and I got married.  Why do you…?” Summer responded before her eyes got even wider in realization as did Grant’s.

“Oh my gosh!  That’s where you two got married today, didn’t you?” asked Grant.

Sora nodded.  “Yes, indeed.  After he got news of our engagement, Ansem insisted that we have the ceremony in the finest chapel in Radiant Garden.  I’ve seen some pretty impressive buildings throughout the worlds and the Angels in Flight definitely counts as one of them.”

“It was such a special place to have our wedding. And now it’s even more special knowing that’s where you two got married as well,” Kairi added.

“It’s great to know that, Kairi.  Anyway, after your parents had their honeymoon, they moved into their new home and even asked me to come to live with them,” said Lillie.

“You all lived together, Grandma?” asked Kairi.

“Oh yes.  Your father had lived with me since your grandfather passed.  And even though he now had a wife of his own, he didn’t want me to be alone even though I said I would be fine.  But when Summer insisted as well, I just couldn’t say no,” said Lillie.

“So, there we were.  A married couple with steady and successful jobs starting out on our lives. We thought life couldn’t get any better. That is, until we learned we were expecting our first child,” said Grant.

“And Kairi, the day you were born, well, words can’t describe our joy.  When we first held you in our arms, we felt truly blessed,” said Summer.

“I’ll never forget when we first saw those lovely blue eyes of yours.  True, they were similar to mine and your grandmother’s.  But there was something a little more to them.  They shined in a way that reminded us of the sea,” said Grant.

Kairi gasped.  “Is that why…?”

“Yes, dear.  They decided to give you a name related to the sea.  So, I suggested that they name you Kairi,” said Lillie.

“What was Baby Kairi like?” asked Sora.

“Sora!” exclaimed Kairi.

“What?  My mom’s told you all about how I was when I was baby.  Now it’s my turn to find out about you,” said Sora.

Kairi sighed.  “Very well.  Go ahead.”

“Well, Sora, to answer your question, Kairi was actually a pretty friendly baby.  She rarely cried and she always took to meeting new people so easily,” said Summer.

“But, boy, she was a feisty one once she was able to move on her own.  I never thought something so little could contain so much energy,” added Grant.

Sora laughed.  “Well, you’ll be interested to know that she hasn’t changed that much.”

“Yes.  We were all so happy, the four of us.  The future looked bright, and its possibilities seemed endless,” said Lillie before her face saddened.  “So unfortunate when a twist of fate dashes all that.”

Summer, Grant and Lillie gazed sadly at each other. They knew what part of their story was coming up.  And it obviously wasn’t something they looked forward to telling.

“If this is too uncomfortable for you to tell…,” said Sora.

“You don’t have to…” added Kairi.

“No, Kairi.  You deserve to know what happened.  After all, I was going to tell you someday when you got older,” said Lillie.

“You always told me something bad happened to Mom and Dad and that was why they weren’t around.  But you never told me exactly what,” said Kairi.

“Do you still want to know?” asked Summer.

Kairi thought for a second.  Then she nodded.

“Alright.  Well, Kairi, the day we lost your parents was one of the most horrible days in Radiant Garden’s history.  It started like any other day.  Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  But then all of a sudden, a mysterious explosion came from underground and decimated part of the town.  Many lives were lost and sadly, my beloved son and daughter-in-law were among them,” said Lillie sadly.

“Oh no,” muttered Kairi as Sora squeezed her hand in comfort.

“Did they ever find out what caused that explosion?” asked Sora.

Lillie shook her head.  “I’m afraid they never found the reason for it, Sora.  Although, there were rumors that survivors who had been working underground saw some sort of shadowy figure before the explosion.  But nothing was ever confirmed.”

Sora thought about what he just heard.  ‘A Heartless?  Or maybe it was some other kind of creature from the Darkness?’

Then a horrible thought came to the Hero of Keyblade.  ‘Or worse.  What if it was someone like Xehanort or the Master of Masters and they caused they caused the death of her parents and others to set Kairi on her supposed destined path? I really hope that wasn’t the case because it really makes me angry when someone does these horrible things and justifies them by saying destiny says so.’

Lillie continued with her story. “Regardless of how it happened, the loss of your parents left me devastated.  But my heart especially ached for you, Kairi.  You were so young to be without your parents and now you would never truly know how wonderful they were.  I knew I could never replace them, and an uncertain future lay ahead for both of us.  But, in spite of that, I vowed that no matter what, you have the best childhood and best life that I could give you.”

“Well, I’d say you succeeded with that, Grandma.  From what I can remember, living in Radiant Garden with you was a very happy time in my life.  While there were times you were busy working to provide for us, you always made time to play with me and tell me stories and just be the best grandmother I could ask for,” said Kairi

The Princess of Heart then lowered her head.  “But I never realized how hard it must have been for you.  You must have had to be so strong to do what you had to do for both of us and I never really thanked you for it.”

Lillie gave her granddaughter a gentle smile.  “You never had to, my child.  True, there were times when it felt difficult, and things seemed like they weren’t going to work out.  But you know what always gave me strength to carry on?  You.”

“Me?” asked Kairi.

“Yes.  Whenever things were looking bleak, I just remembered who I was doing it all for.  Through the toughest and darkest times, you, my beloved granddaughter, were my light.”

Sora looked at his wife with a smile.  ‘That’s hardly a surprise.  Kairi can bring light to anyone by just being herself.’

“Well, I guess there’s nothing more to say then.  Now I believe it’s time that you two told us your story,” said Lillie as Grant and Summer nodded in agreement.

“Wait a minute, Grandma.  There’s still one more thing I need to know from you before we start that,” said Kairi.

Lillie gave a perplexed look.  “Oh.  Of course. What is it?”

Kairi took a deep breath before she asked, “What happened to you after I disappeared from Radiant Garden?”

Her grandmother suddenly looked hesitant. “Oh, Kairi, I don’t know if you want to hear that.”

“Why not, Ma?” asked Grant.

“Yes, you didn’t seem to have any trouble telling her about what happened to us,” said Summer.

“This is a different matter.  Kairi, you know when you apologized earlier, and I told you it wasn’t your fault?” Lillie asked her granddaughter.

“Yes?” Kairi responded with confusion in her voice.

“Well, I’m afraid if I tell you what happened to me, you might start to blame yourself for it even though you’re not responsible for it.”

Kairi gasped as horrible thoughts ran through her head.  ‘Did something bad happen to Grandma because I disappeared?’

“Kai, listen to me,” Sora piped up getting his wife’s attention.

He took her hands into his.  “If your disappearance had anything to do with what happened to her, then you know who’s really to blame for it.  You didn’t leave Radiant Garden by choice.  Just remember that.”

Grant looked like he wanted to ask Sora for details on what he meant by that.  But before he could, Summer took his hand and shook her head.

“I know that sounded concerning, honey.  But I’m sure Kairi and Sora will tell us when the time comes,” she whispered to her husband who gave her a nod.

Kairi, in the meantime, finished contemplating her husband’s words.  Then she nodded and then turned back to her grandmother.

“Grandma, please tell me what happened.  I have to know.”

Lillie let out a sigh.  “All right then.  Well, Kairi, though the day you went missing was one I’d rather forget, I unfortunately never can.  Dinnertime had come but you had not returned home.  That was so unlike you.  I thought you may have gotten occupied picking flowers or something and lost track of time, so I left home to look for you.  But you were not in the places you usually were.  I was getting more worried.  I started asking the neighbors and the shopkeepers if they had seen you. I even informed the town constable. But no one had see you.  After I had done all I could, I returned home to wait and hope for your return.”

‘And I never did,’ thought Kairi whose heart was aching for all her grandmother had been through.

“So, what happened next?” Sora asked.

“A few days passed with no sign of her. Then things took another turn for the worse.  Radiant Garden was hit by a storm.  It frightened me.  Not just because I had no idea where Kairi was, but also there was also something unnatural about this storm.  Then, through my window, I saw the creatures.  Dark monsters with glowing yellow eyes prowling around attacking anyone they could find.  Then I remembered the stories.  Stories about worlds falling into the Darkness and I realized that it was now happening to Radiant Garden.  That’s when the sheer enormity of all the tragedy that had occurred in my life finally caught up to me.  The sudden loss of my son and his wife.  The mysterious disappearance of my granddaughter who meant so much to me. And now, my home was being consumed by the Darkness.  It all became too much for me to bear that I lost the will to live and passed away,” said Lillie as she hung her head in sadness.

Sora’s face showed no emotion.  But inside, he was fuming.  Hearing Lillie’s tale made him realize she was another life ruined by Xehanort.  And since he knew by now that Xehanort had been a pawn of his, the Master of Masters was responsible as well.

“Oh Grandma.  I’m sorry you had to go through all that,” said Kairi as she reached over and took her grandmother’s hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.

Lillie’s sadness soon gave way to a smile.  “It’s all right, Kairi.  If it’s any comfort, when I reached the afterlife and reunited with your parents, I learned that you weren’t there yet.  That gave me hope that somewhere, you were alive, safe and in the company of someone good.”

Then Lillie looked to Sora.  “And it looks like that’s what happened,” she said giving her grandson-in-law a smile.

Kairi turned to Sora.  ‘Yes, Grandma.  That’s exactly what happened,’ she thought as she smiled at her husband.

“Well, I guess that’s all we can really say about our stories,” said Lillie

“Which means it’s finally time for you two to tell us yours,” said Summer.

“And don’t hold back on anything, no matter what. We’d like to know everything, the good and the bad,” said Grant firmly.

Sora and Kairi looked at each other.  As much as they’d love to share their story, they knew it also entailed bringing up a few bad memories.  But they also knew this was their only time with Kairi’s family to tell it so they had no other choice.

“Mom, Dad, Grandma, we’re ready to tell you everything.  And it’s a good thing Joshua brought us to this plane where time moves slower,” said Kairi.

“Because the tale we have to tell is long and complicated.  There are even a few parts we barely understand ourselves.  But we’ll do our best,” said Sora.

And so, the newlyweds began their story.  The bride’s family listened with complete attention.  They did not want to miss a single detail that Sora and Kairi had to give.

________________________________________________________________

“And when we finally defeated the final Darkness along with the Master of Masters, we finally entered into the peaceful time we are in now,” said Kairi bring their tale to a close.

The newlyweds gazed at Kairi’s parents and grandmother.  They had remained silent throughout the whole story save for some occasional questions when certain aspects needed clarification.  But now, even though the tale was over, they still were at a loss for words.

“Are you all okay?  I hope we didn’t upset you too much.  I know some parts weren’t very pleasant,” said Sora.

“No, we’re fine, Sora.  I guess we’re still trying to take it all in.  I mean, you and Kairi didn’t have what most people would call a normal life,” said Summer.

Kairi weakly chuckled. “That is true.  We really missed out on that.  Our adventures sure cost us a lot.”

Sora then squeezed Kairi’s hand.  “But we also like to believe we gained a lot too from them.”

“Well, I do have this to say,” said Lillie before fixing her granddaughter with a hard stare.  “Kairi, why in all the worlds, did you never tell me about that incident where Master Aqua and King Mickey saved you from those Unversed creatures? Especially since it led to you accidentally acquiring the power of the Keyblade.”

“I’m sorry, Grandma.  That was so long ago that I can’t remember exactly why I never told you about that.  I guess maybe I didn’t want you to worry too much especially after what happened to Mom and Dad.  And, remember, I didn’t know that I could wield a Keyblade until years later when Riku gave me mine in the Organization’s castle.”

Lillie sighed.  “Well, I guess I can’t be too mad at you for that.  It was so long ago.  And I guess I should be grateful that someone was there to save you. Could you thank Master Aqua and King Mickey on my behalf?”

“We will,” said Sora.

Summer then piped up.  “I still find it amazing that our daughter is so integral to the survival of the worlds’ light since she’s one of these Princesses of Heart.  You know, when Kairi was born, Grant and I felt that there was something special about her.  Who could’ve known how right we really were?”

“Thanks, Mom.  It has been an honor to carry this pure light within my heart and it’s enabled me to do some amazing things once I learned how.  Although, I will admit, there were times when it’s felt more like a curse than an honor,” said Kairi hanging her head.

“I can understand why.  It was because you were one of the Princesses that Xehanort sent you away from Radiant Garden believing you would be drawn to a Keyblade wielder,” said Lillie.

Grant clenched his fist.  “Xehanort,” he growled.

Sora looked a Grant with sympathy.  Kairi’s father had been in that frame of mind ever since they told him of what happened in their final battle against Xehanort.

“Grant, it’s not doing you any good to keep dwelling like that,” said Summer.  

“It was horrible, Dad.  But it really doesn’t matter now since Xehanort’s been long gone. Sora made sure of that,” said Kairi.

“I know, Kairi.  I know.  But I can’t help it.  Sending you away from Radiant Garden was bad enough.  But just picturing what he did to you during this Keyblade War?  Well, he’s lucky I wasn't there, or I would have torn him limb from limb.  That is, if I had some kind of weapon that could best his Keyblade or the χ-blade,” said her father.

“I know how you feel, Grant.  Throughout our last battle, I wanted to make him pay for what he did to her.  I really wanted to shatter his heart into a million pieces the way he just did mine,” said Sora grimly.

Now it was Grant’s turn to give a look of sympathy to his son-in-law.  As horrible as it was for him to learn about Xehanort’s horrible deed, it more horrible for Sora since he had to actually watch it happen.

“And yet, you didn’t, Sora.  Even after he had just apparently taken Kairi’s life in front of you, you managed to keep it together during the battle,” said Grant.

“You didn’t even kill him yourself after it was over,” added Summer.

“It takes a special kind of strength to not give in to that kind of darkness, Sora, and I commend you for that,” said Lillie.

“Believe me, it wasn’t easy.  In previous battles, I had struck down villains such as Maleficent before.  But, except for Davy Jones after he stabbed my friend Will and nearly killed him, none of them had ever made it personal like Xehanort had.  Even after Xion told me Kairi would be okay, I still wanted to avenge her.  But I knew that I couldn’t risk giving into hatred, not when the fate of all the worlds was at stake,” said Sora.

“That’s right, Sora.  If that had happened, Xehanort probably could’ve used it to his advantage and won the fight.  Or worse. You could’ve become a Heartless again,” said Kairi.

“And unlike the first time you changed, you probably would have been no different than any other Heartless.  And Kairi wouldn’t have been around that time to bring you back. You would’ve been lost forever,” said Lillie.

Sora nodded.  “Exactly. But you want to know what else kept me from letting the darkness overcome me?” he asked causing everyone to nod clearly wanting to know.

“It was Kairi. Although she wasn’t there with me, I knew that she wouldn’t want me to sink to Xehanort’s level.  Had I done that, I would only end up betraying everything she ever loved about me.”

Sora then turned to Kairi and smiled.  “After all, you once told me, ‘Sora, don’t ever change.’  And I definitely wasn’t going to start at that moment.”

Kairi smiled; her heart touched by her husband’s words.  “Oh, Sora. I’m glad to hear that my words were able to keep you in the light,” she said causing Sora’s smile to grow bigger.

Then she giggled.  “But seriously?  Sora, we were so young when I told you that and looking back, it was kind of childish to think that nothing would change.  After all, everything does eventually.”

Sora nodded. “Yes, I know, Kai.  We both have changed in so many ways over the years and it was inevitable.  But I like to believe that, in the best ways, we’ve remained the same.”

“And that’s something I heartily agree with you on,” said Kairi squeezing her husband’s hands.

Kairi’s parents and grandmother watched the exchange between the newlyweds.  They found it both amusing and touching.

“Well, aside from all the dark times you both went through, you both seem to have had some amazing adventures,” said Lillie.

“It sounds like you’ve also made a lot of incredible friends. And such a wide variety too,” said Summer.

“Royalty, animals, superheroes, merpeople, pirates, monsters, living toys, computer programs; it absolutely blows my mind. And you say they all came to your wedding?” asked Grant.

“Oh yes.  It took a lot of Gummi Ship trips and some of our guests required some magical assistance. But we managed to make it so all our friends from around the worlds could share this special day with us,” said Kairi.

“And not just from the other worlds.  We also managed to have our friends from the other universes here as well,” chimed in Sora.

“Other universes?  What do you mean by that?” asked Lillie.

“Oh!  We didn’t mention that?” asked Sora to which Lillie, Summer and Grant shook their heads.

“I can’t believe we forgot to mention it since it was such a big adventure even if it was kind of a side story that wasn’t as connected as our other adventures had been.  But since it’s come up, we might as well tell you if you’re interested,” said Kairi to which her parents and grandmother nodded.

“Well, as it turns out, all the worlds and all the realms that we know, including even Quadratum, make up one single universe. And there’s apparently many others each with their own worlds, heroes and villains,” said Sora.

“We all learned about them when Sora, along with the other universes’ greatest heroes, was called upon to fight against two evil entities, one of darkness and one of light,” said Kairi.  ‘And it certainly wasn’t the first time when we learned that light didn’t necessarily mean goodness.’

“This sounds fascinating.  What are some of these other universes like?” asked Grant.

“Well, let’s see.  There’s this one universe that’s essentially a kingdom of mushrooms and it’s always being threatened by a villain who’s a cross between a turtle and a dragon.  And you won’t believe it, but the main hero who protects this kingdom is a plumber,” said Sora.

“A plumber, you say?” asked Lillie.

“Yes.  Heroes really do come in all shapes and sizes.  Especially in this other universe where a crazy doctor tries to conquer the world with machines and he’s constantly thwarted by a group of animals that include a blue hedgehog with super speed, a fox with two tails who can fly, and a red echidna who really packs a punch,” said Kairi.

“What’s an echidna?” asked Grant.

“Well, according to other worlds’ animal knowledge, it’s a kind of mammal that’s a cross between an anteater and a porcupine. And it also lays eggs,” said Kairi. ‘And oddly enough, we ended up befriending another egg-laying mammal on one of the worlds in our universe.  And he’s a secret agent too.’

“Interesting.  Can you tell us about some others?  Maybe some that really stood out to you?” asked Summer.

“Oh yes, there definitely was one that really surprised me because it actually had alternate versions of some of our friends from Radiant Garden.  I couldn’t believe it.  They were pretty similar in appearance.  But their backgrounds and personalities all had some major differences,” said Sora before frowning slightly.  ‘And sadly, one of the biggest differences is that one of them is dead in that universe. But best not to tell them that especially since Lillie knew the version we have here.’

“I definitely need to tell you about one of my favorites. It’s a universe that’s home to an immense variety of amazing creatures.  From ones with various powers over fire, water, earth, and electricity to others that resemble plants, ghosts, bugs and fairies.  They kind of reminded me of the Dream Eaters from the Realm of Sleep. And a lot of them are absolutely adorable!” Kairi exclaimed causing Sora and her family to laugh.

Once their laughing died down, they all gave sighs of contentment.  For a few moments, the five of them just exchanged smiles.

Then Lillie piped up.  “Well, Kairi, Sora, you certainly have told us quite an epic tale. After hearing it, I’d say we now know you both a lot better now.”

“Yes.  When Joshua said he was bringing us to see you, your mother and I were wondering what kind of person our daughter turned out to be.  And now, we can see you turned out to be a very wonderful woman. No parents could be prouder,” said Grant causing Kairi to smile.

“Though it saddens us to know that it wasn’t because we raised you that way ourselves, we’re grateful that you found people who did. You will thank your adoptive parents for us, will you?” asked Summer.

“Of course, Mom,” said Kairi.

“And if it’s worth anything, after getting to know all of you, I’m sure Kairi would’ve turned out just as well had she been raised by you,” said Sora.

Grant smiled at his son-in-law.  “Thank you, Sora.”

“All of us have certainly learned a lot from each other as we talked about our pasts.  But now I think our next topic is learning what Sora and Kairi have planned for their future,” said Lillie.

“Ma’s right.  What are you two going to do now that you’re married?” asked Grant.

Sora and Kairi exchanged glances out of the corner of their eyes.  An air of apprehension hung between them.

“I guess we should have seen this coming, Kai. We have to tell them,” Sora whispered to his wife.

Kairi nodded.  “I know we do, Sora.  I only hope they’ll approve,” she whispered back.

Clearly, something was causing the newlyweds to be hesitant about revealing their plans for the future.  But since there was no chance of avoiding the subject, they had no choice but to be honest and hope that Kairi’s family would understand.

________________________________________________________________

Notes from the Mad Doctor:

Ooh!  Is there something about their future plans that Sora and Kairi are afraid her family will disapprove of?  Or is it something else entirely?  You’ll just have to find out next chapter!

I’m a little unsure if I did a good job in conveying the initial awkwardness that Sora would feel while meeting Kairi’s parents.  It was not an easy thing to write so I can only hope that I succeeded.

I also hope you enjoyed the backstory I came up with Kairi’s grandmother and parents.  It’s highly likely be negated if we ever learn Kairi’s full canon backstory.  Hopefully, someday Tetsuya Nomura will finally see fit to reveal it.

I certainly hope you weren't expecting me to write Sora and Kairi tell their whole story.  It would probably take me over a year or two to write such a thing so I’m sorry to disappoint you LOL!

I can imagine all of us SoKai fans, like Grant, wanted to rip Xehanort apart for denying us a SoKai happy ending.  In fact, when I struck the final blow on him in the game, I was thinking, ‘That was for Kairi!’.

In case it wasn’t blatantly obvious, the concept of alternate universes was a way to tie Super Smash Bros. to Kingdom Hearts.  I know those games cannot possibly be canon to all the franchises represented.  But given Kingdom Hearts is a crossover naturally, it’s not too big a stretch in my opinion. 

Care to guess which universes Sora and Kairi were talking about?  As if, they weren’t obvious as well.

I give my thanks to whoever reads this chapter.

I also give my special thanks to @ultramimicook, @bmc181, @chirithy564, @thepyrolectricfox, @frostdemon38, @fandomchanger and @multifandom-lonnie for liking the previous chapters as well as @sokaiweek, @the-secret-place, and @phoenix-downer for reblogging the previous chapters.

Comments, likes and reblogs are much appreciated!  We’ll find out what Sora and Kairi have planned for their future and what they’re so afraid of revealing to her family next chapter!  Stay tuned!

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Radiant Garden

As she laid her head on her father’s shoulder with her eyes squeezed shut, Kairi soaked up all the warmth and love she could from his embrace.  From the smile on her face, she was wishing it would never end.

“Kairi?” she heard her grandmother’s voice ask.

The Princess of Heart opened her eyes. She saw her grandmother, mother and husband approaching. They all had somber expressions on their faces.

“It’s time,” said Lillie.

Kairi’s face fell.  Grant released her from his embrace, and she saw that he was wearing a similar expression like the others.

Kairi then walked over to her grandmother until she was right in front of her.  She sniffled as tears, ones of sadness this time, fell from her eyes.  

“I can’t do it, Grandma!  I don’t want you, Mom and Dad to go!” she cried.

Summer cupped her daughter’s cheek and wiped away some tears.  “We know, darling.  We know.”

“Trust us, there’s nothing more we’d wish for than to stay and be a part of yours and Sora’s lives.  But we all know that isn’t possible,” said Grant.

“Our time in this world expired long ago.  We have to go back to where we belong now. And you and Sora need to move forward with your own lives now,” said Lillie.

Kairi sniffed.  “It’s just so unfair!”

Lillie took her granddaughter’s hands into her own. “That it is, my child.  But life seldom is, and it is unfortunate that our family has had to learn that hard lesson many times over.”

Sora hung his head.  ‘How very true that is.  Kairi and her family are such wonderful people.  It’s not right that they’ve had go through so much hardship.’

Then Sora smiled at his wife.  “But life isn’t always unfair as well.  Besides how we always came back to one another even when it seemed impossible, Kai, look at what’s happened here tonight.”

“Your husband’s right, Kairi.  While the place we came from was a paradise, it wasn’t easy not knowing what truly became of you.  But that will no longer be the case after tonight,” said Lillie.

“Yes.  We would’ve had to wait for you to join us someday, which hopefully won’t be for a very long time.  Instead, we got this amazing opportunity be a family again, no matter how brief it was,” said Grant.

“When we go back, we’ll have joy in our hearts because we got to know so much about you.  We learned what kind of person you grew up to be, everything about your life before, the good and the bad, the man you gave your heart to, and what you plan to do for your future.  Knowing all that will outweigh any pain we feel from being separated from you again,” said Summer.

Kairi looked around at all the smiling faces from her family.  Finally, in spite of all the tears still coming from her eyes, she smiled herself and held open her arms.

“Who’s up for one more family hug?” she asked causing everyone to laugh.

Then Lillie wrapped her arms around Kairi tightly. Summer then came in from the side and embraced Kairi by her side.  Grant then held all three of them in his arms just like they did earlier.

Then Grant looked over to Sora.  He was smiling at the sight of familial love in front of him.

Raising his arm away from the embrace, Grant beckoned to Sora. Realizing what he was being asked to do, the Hero of the Keyblade walked over to them.  He then wrapped his arms around his wife’s other side while Grant placed his arm on his back.

“I love all of you so much!  Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, Sora!” exclaimed Kairi.

“And we love you too, Kairi,” said Lillie.

Grant looked down at his son-in-law.  “And that goes for you too, Sora.”

“Although we only had this short time together, we couldn’t love you any more than if you were our own son,” said Summer.

“Or grandson.  We could never have imagined a better man to be our Kairi’s husband,” said Lillie.

Sora chuckled.  “Thank you, Grant, Summer, Lillie.”

Grant laughed.  “Please, Sora.  Call me Dad.”

“And Mom,” added Summer.

“And Grandma,” added Lillie.

Sora laughed himself.  “All right, Dad, Mom, Grandma,” he said flashing one of his trademark smiles.

The family stayed in each other’s embrace.  After a short while, they came undone.

“All right.  It’s time to call Joshua,” said Lillie.

Sora looked skyward.  He was about to call out to the Composer when he felt something touch his shoulder.  He turned to see Kairi with her hand on his shoulder.

“Let me do it, Sora.”

Sora gave to a nod to his wife.  The Princess of Heart then gazed up into the sky.

“Joshua!  You can come now!  My family is ready to go!”

A few moments passed.  For some strange reason, Joshua hadn’t shown up yet.  All of them looked around for any sign of the Composer.  But there was nothing at all to their confusion.

“Where could he be?” asked Grant.

“Maybe he wants to make sure we actually mean it after the near false alarm last time,” said Sora.

“Joshua!” Kairi called skyward.

“I am here,” said the Composer’s voice from behind.

They all turned in the direction of the voice and saw its owner leaning against the same wall with his arms were folded as he had been earlier. But this time, Joshua’s face didn’t have his usual smug expression.  This time, he looked almost remorseful.

Sora had an idea of why he was wearing that expression. ‘I guess he’s not looking forward to what he’s come to do.  Although he has to do it, what he’s doing is essentially tearing a family apart and no one ever wants to be a part of that.’

Joshua approached the group.  “I trust you all had a very pleasant visit.”

“We did and we’ll treasure it always, thanks to you, Joshua,” said Summer.

Joshua then looked to Sora with a small smile on his face. “Well, since Sora did me a great service for me in the past, I knew I needed to do something very special for his and Kairi’s wedding day.”

“I did something for you, Joshua?” asked Sora.

“Yes, Sora. Do you not recall?” Joshua asked causing Sora to shake his head.

Joshua then turned to the others.  “In the Realm of Sleep, my friends were given the mission of destroying a Nightmare.  Failure would have meant erasure for them.  Unfortunately, it escaped Traverse Town before they could succeed.  But Sora, who had befriended them, pursued the Nightmare to another Sleeping World and destroyed it himself.  By doing that, he gave them more time to survive until I could restore their world and bring them home.”

Sora then realized what Joshua meant.  “Oh right!  I did do that!  I had completely forgot about it because, after destroying that Nightmare, I ended up in trouble with Xehanort’s Organization.  Well, I’m certainly glad that I helped like that.”

“So, I guess, in a way, Sora is also to thank for us being able to come here tonight,” said Summer.

“That’s true,” said Grant.

“In that case, thank you, Sora.  Not just for all you’ve done for Kairi, but for setting events in motion that made this visit possible,” said Lillie.

“You’re all very welcome,” said Sora.

Kairi went over to her husband’s side and took his hand, intertwining their fingers.  ‘It never ceases to amaze me how much Sora’s selflessness always seems to come back in many good ways,’ she thought as she smiled at him with boundless affection.

“So, are you all ready to return?” asked the Composer.

Kairi’s family nodded.  “We are,” said Grant.

Grant then took his mother’s left hand with his right one and then he took his wife’s right with his left.  Though there was a hint of sadness in their eyes, they still wore their smiles.

Joshua moved until he was in a position to the side of Kairi’s family.  He then raised his right hand with the palm facing them.  The hand then began to shine with a glowing light and the auras around Kairi’s family started to glow brighter.

Tears started to well up in Kairi’s eyes again.  But through it all, she held onto a smile on her face.

“Kairi, Sora, we wish you well for all you do in the future. As leaders of the Infinite Union. As owners of your future business. As parents to any children you might have.  But most of all, as a husband and wife whose love is greater than any force in all the worlds,” said Grant.

“Thanks, Daddy!” called Kairi.

“There will come a time when we will be all together, and nothing will ever separate us again.  But until then, we’ll always pray that the two of you will live a long and full life together where the happy moments will always outweigh the bad ones. So, always continue to keep your promises to each other and the bonds your hearts share will never be broken,” said Summer.

“We will, Mom!” called Sora.

“Kairi?” asked Lillie.

“Yes, Grandma?”

“Care to hear one last bit of advice from your grandmother?” Lillie asked causing her granddaughter to nod in response.

Lillie then raised her free hand and pointed toward Kairi’s chest, specifically where her heart was.  “Always hold those you love, both who are with you and who are not, within your heart.  That is the one place you will never truly lose them.”

Kairi looked at her grandmother.  She then looked over to Sora who gave an encouraging nod and smile to her.  Then she recalled what she once told Sora long ago when they were in Traverse Town’s Secret Waterway before he left for Hollow Bastion.

‘Don’t ever forget.  Wherever you go, I’m always with you.’

Her words may have been different from her grandmother’s. But the message behind them was the same.

“I will, Grandma.  Thank you.  Goodbye!” Kairi called.

“Goodbye!” Sora chimed in.

“Goodbye to both of you!” called Summer.

“Until we meet again someday!” called Grant.

“And never forget, we love you both dearly,” said Lillie.

“We love you too,” said Kairi.

The auras around Kairi’s family soon overtook them until they glowed so much that Sora and Kairi had to shield their eyes with their hands. After the light died down, the newlyweds lowered their hands and saw that all that remained of Kairi’s family were three glowing balls of light.

The balls of light then began to rise into the sky.  The sight reminded Sora of the time he witnessed Master Eraqus and Master Xehanort do the same as they passed on years earlier. But now, unlike the mixed feelings he felt at that time, he felt only sorrow to watch them leave the world of the living forever.

“Goodbye,” Kairi said quietly as tears rolled down her cheeks.

Sora and Kairi never took their eyes off the balls of light. They continued to watch them until they had risen so high, they could not be seen anymore.

Sora then looked to his wife.  “Kai?”

The tears were flowing harder now from Kairi.  With a mournful sob, she threw herself into Sora’s arms and continued to cry against him.

“It’s okay, Kairi.  Let it all out,” he assured her as he stroked her comfortingly.

Joshua watched the sight of the bride crying in her groom’s arms.  A regretful look came to his face.

“Kairi, if my gift has upset you so much, then I am truly…” began Joshua.

“No, Joshua,” Kairi interrupted without turning to face him from her place in Sora’s arms.  “You have nothing to be sorry about.  What you did tonight, I will never forget, and I will always be grateful for it.  Thank you.”

Joshua gave a small smile.  “Well, in that case, you’re very welcome, Kairi.”

The Composer then looked to Sora.  “Well, Sora, this where we part.  Give my regards to Riku, Neku and the others.”

“I will.  Will we ever see you again?” Sora asked.

Joshua gave his usual smug grin.  “Maybe we will.  Maybe we won’t.  Who can really say?  But right now, you just take care of that wife of yours and see that she takes care of you.  Be seeing you!”

Suddenly, a pair of white wings erupted out of Joshua’s back.  Following the path that Kairi’s family took, he rose up into the sky. Sora’s eyes followed him until he was completely out of sight.

Now that it was just the two of them again, Sora then turned his attention to his wife who was still sobbing.  “That’s it, Kairi.  Cry as much as you want.  There’s nothing wrong with the way you’re feeling right now.”

“My heart is aching, Sora.  It hurts so much to know that this night, I got my grandmother back and got to meet my birth parents for the first time, only to have to lose them all over again,” said Kairi between sobs.

Then Sora felt Kairi smile against his shoulder.  “But it’s a hurt worth having.  I wouldn’t be feeling this way if I didn’t know how much they loved me and how much I love them.”

Sora smiled.  “That’s right, Kai.  Heartaches are never easy to bear.  But one good thing about them is that they’re a sure sign that you genuinely have a heart.”

The Hero of the Keyblade then backed away so he could tilt the chin of his wife up so he could look into her eyes.  “And you want to know another good thing about a heartache?”

“What is it?” asked Kairi.

“As long as you have someone who cares about you, you never have to carry it alone,” said Sora with one of those smiles Kairi loved so much.

Kairi smiled back before returning to resting her head on Sora’s shoulder.  “That’s very true.  And it always makes me so happy knowing that you’re here to help me through times like these.  Sora, thank you.  I love you.”

“And I love you, Kairi.  Always have.  Always will.”

Sora continued to hold Kairi in his arms.  The Princess of Heart still had many tears to shed over the departure of her birth family.  But in the comforting arms of her beloved Hero of the Keyblade, the loss and the pain would be so much easier to bear.

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Notes from the Mad Doctor:

Told you it was going to be a tearjerker.  Fortunately, I hope that last sweet exchange between Sora and Kairi mitigates a little.

I had Kairi’s grandmother’s last advice in my head for a long time before writing this.  It was only until I started writing that I realized how the message of it is similar to what Kairi told Sora after giving him her lucky charm.  Thus, I had Kairi observe that in story.

I give my thanks to whoever reads this chapter.

I also give my special thanks to @fandomchanger​​ for liking the previous chapters as well as @sokaiweek for reblogging the previous chapters.

Comments, likes and reblogs are much appreciated!  I know this seems like a good spot to end it now.  But I have one more chapter before we can officially call this story concluded so stay tuned!

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Radiant Garden

“Sora?  Kairi?” came a concerned voice from the side.

As Kairi continued to cry, Sora turned in the direction it came from.  He saw, dressed in a black suit, his best man from the wedding party standing nearby.

‘Guess we’re back on the plane of regular time now. Would have been nice if Joshua gave us a little warning when that would happen,’ thought Sora.

“Sora, what’s going on?  What’s the matter with Kairi?  Why is she crying?” Riku asked.

“Riku, as much as I’d like to answer your questions, I really can’t.  Not now. All I can say is that Kairi’s working through something,” said Sora.

“Oh.  Well then, do you want to me to…?” Riku asked, unsure of whether he should stay or go and come back later.

Sora, however, knew what his best friend should be doing at the moment.  He gestured to Riku to come over to them.

“Get on in here.  I think it would really help Kairi if both of us were here.”

Then Kairi’s voice, slightly muffled from being against Sora, said, “Riku, please.”

That settled it for Riku.  He nodded and walked over to them.  He wrapped his arms around both of his best friends, so Kairi was right in between them.

Feeling the presence of her other best friend, Kairi let out a small sigh of relief.  “Thank you, Riku,” she whispered.

The trio stood holding each other as Kairi continued to weep.  After quite some time had passed, her sobs finally silenced and the three of them separated.

“Feeling better now, Kai?” asked Sora.

Kairi wiped away some remaining tears from her face and mustered up a smile.  “Much better. I am still a little sad, but I’ll be okay.  Thank you both.  I really needed that”

“You’re welcome, Kairi.  Now I don’t mean to pry, but would you and Sora mind telling me what that was all about?  I know people who just got married tend to cry a lot on the day.  But that didn’t sound like the usual happy crying,” Riku said.

“It wasn’t, Riku.  I just had to do something very difficult,” said Kairi.

Riku looked confused.  “What do you mean?  You only stepped out of the reception to watch the sunset a short while ago.  What could have possibly happened?”

“More than you know, believe it or not,” said Sora.

“I don’t understand,” said Riku.

“Let’s go sit down and we’ll tell you everything,” said Kairi as she and Sora returned to where they had been sitting with Riku following.

________________________________________________________________

A short time passed as the groom and the bride told the best man about what had transpired in the garden earlier.  As he listened attentively to their story, Riku’s eyes widened as he learned what his two best friends had gone through.  Once the tale was finished, he stared at them in amazement.

“Wow.  I can’t believe Joshua did that.  Bringing Kairi’s grandmother and birth parents from the afterlife to visit you.  It sounds like it was quite a gift,” said Riku.

“It certainly was,” said Sora.

“I wish I could’ve met them myself,” said Riku.

“They would’ve liked to meet you too, Riku.  We told them all about all the friends closest to us and how they all played a part in our lives especially you,” said Kairi.

Riku suddenly looked worried.  “Um did you by any chance tell them about my not so good moments?  Like when I gave into the darkness?”

Sora rubbed the back of his head.  “Um yes, we did.  They did tell us not to hold back on telling the bad stuff about our lives and unfortunately, the time when we were at each other’s throats did come up.”

“But it’s not like you were the only one of our friends who made mistakes that we mentioned to them.  We also told them about Terra, Axel, Yozora and plenty of others,” said Kairi.

Riku scoffed.  “Mistakes is a bit of an understatement, don’t you think?”

“Well, yes, it is.  They were pretty shocked when we told them.  But we also explained why we forgave everyone, how they made up for their wrongdoings and why nothing should be held against anyone,” said Kairi.

Sora smiled.  “And in your case, they were very impressed by how you got off that dark path and back into the light and how since then, you’ve done all you can to watch out for us.”

“They said we were lucky to have such a devoted friend like you,” said Kairi.

Riku smiled.  “Well, that’s good to hear.  Thank you for telling them that.  They sound like they were pretty good people.”

Kairi’s face sightly fell.  “They were incredible.  Which made saying goodbye to them so much harder.”

Riku placed a hand on Kairi’s shoulder. “Well, for what it’s worth, Kairi, at least this time you actually got to say goodbye to them.”

“Riku’s right.  That’s a chance nobody usually gets,” said Sora.

Kairi sighed before her smile returned.  “I know.  And though I’m going to miss them even more now, since I got this chance to know them as well as learning more about Grandma, I know that they’re always with me in a way.  As long as I hold them in here,” said Kairi gesturing to her heart.

“That’s the spirit, Kairi,” said Riku happily.

“No matter what, I’m going to look back on this night with fond memories,” said the Princess of Heart.

Sora then sighed.  “So, will I, Kairi.  Although, I wish I had my Gummi Phone with me so we could have taken some pictures.  I know you would’ve loved to have a picture of you dancing with your father.  Maybe we could’ve even done a kind of family portrait, so you’d have something to remember them by.”

“Thanks, Sora.  That would have been nice, but I wouldn’t really need it.  The memories of our visit will always exist in my heart. While physical proof like photographs do make remembering easier, I believe by making the extra effort to remember without them makes memories all the more valuable.  I mean, we didn’t have photographs of everything from our childhood and some memories may have been lost along the way.  But the most important ones are the ones you make the effort to never forget,” stated the Princess of Heart.

“That’s a very lovely thought, Kairi,” said Riku.

“Thanks, Riku.”

Kairi then looked over to her husband.  To her surprise, Sora looked like he wanted to say something, but he was hesitating to do so.

“Something on your mind, Sora?” she asked

“Actually, yes.  It’s kind of been on my mind throughout the visit.  Kairi, would you mind if I ask you something?”

Kairi looked surprised.  “Of course, you can, Sora.  But why the hesitation?”

“Well, it is kind of personal and if you’re not comfortable answering, you don’t have to,” said Sora.

Kairi gave a look of shock before smiling gently at her husband. “Sora, I am your wife now.  You should know you can always ask me anything.  So, out with it.”

Sora calmed down.  “All right.  Here it goes. Kairi, have you ever wondered what your life would’ve been like if you never left Radiant Garden and came to Islands?”

Kairi didn’t say answer immediately.  Instead, she rose up from the bench and walked a short distance ahead.  She looked in front of her at the sight of the town that had once been her home a long time ago.

“Well Sora, I told you long ago, where I came from originally didn’t really matter that much to me since I was happy on the Islands. But if I’m being honest, the thought of how different my life would’ve been had crossed my mind.  Especially now, after learning more about my roots in this world tonight, I can’t help but think about how different it would have been if certain things had or hadn’t happened,” said Kairi not turning to face her friends.

“Like if your parents never died?” asked Sora.

“Or if Xehanort had never sent you away from here?” asked Riku.

Kairi nodded.  “Yes.  If those things never happened, maybe I would’ve just grown up like any other child in this world.  I probably would’ve continued to be friends with Aerith and maybe even became friends with the others who live here like Leon, Yuffie, Axel and Isa.  I might’ve even pursued a career like my parents’ or maybe even became one of Ansem’s apprentices.  Who really knows what would have happened?”

The Princess of Heart then turned around with a smile on her face.  “But if I had continued to live here, I would’ve missed out on so many wonderful things.  I never would’ve known the love of my adoptive parents, a couple of wonderful people who opened their hearts and their home to a lost, little girl with no memory other than her own name.  I also never would’ve known the many friends I made on the Islands like Selphie, who will always be my best gal pal.”

Kairi then looked to Riku.  “And especially I never would’ve met you, Riku, the best friend who became the older brother I never knew I needed,” she said to him causing a smile to appear on his face.

Then she turned to Sora with a look of absolute love in her eyes.  “But most of all, I never would have met the boy who would become the one person I love more than anything in all the worlds.  And that’s why I wouldn’t change a single thing about the life I did live.”

Sora looked absolutely touched by his wife’s words.  “That’s so beautiful, Kai.  Just like you.”

Kairi blushed.  “Oh, Sora!  Stop it!” she said between giggles.

Riku then piped up.  “Well, Kairi, while I believe you’re right for the most part, I’m afraid I have to disagree with you on certain things.”

Sora and Kairi looked at Riku with surprise. “What do you mean, Riku?” asked Kairi.

Riku then smiled at his two best friends.  “I believe that hearts that are meant to connect will always find each other.  Even if we had lived in separate worlds, I believe that, one way or another, all our paths would’ve crossed, and we would’ve become friends no matter what. And you and Sora were always meant to find each other and fall in love because that was always your destiny.”

Kairi smiled.  “Thank you, Riku.  I really think you might be right about.”

“Since when did you get so wise, Riku?” Sora asked teasingly.

“What are you talking about?  I’ve always been the wise one in our group,” Riku shot back.

“Wise guy is more like it,” said Sora.

“Hey!”

Kairi had to laugh at the exchange between her husband and her brother figure.  ‘Sora and I may be married now.  But some things never change.’

“Well, I think it’s time that a certain bride and groom returned to their wedding reception,” said Riku.

Sora and Kairi gasped in surprise.  They turned to the ballroom and finally noticed that everything was moving again, and the sounds of the multitude of guests had resumed.

Sora laughed.  “We spent so much time with Kairi’s family on that plane of slower time that we almost forgot it was still going on!”

Kairi laughed along with him.  “It certainly wouldn’t look good for a newly married couple to forget that little detail.”

“There are still some things at the reception that require you two to be present.  That’s why I came to find you.  In fact, many are clamoring for you do the bouquet toss, Kairi,” said Riku.

Sora’s eye lit up with a mischievous gleam. “Oh, right!  That’s still on the agenda.  After all, we’ve got to find out who might be getting married next.”

He then turned to his wife.  “So, Kairi, have you decided whose hands your bouquet is just going to ‘happen’ to land in?” he asked with a playful smile on his face.

Kairi gave a matching grin of her own.  “Oh yes.  I know exactly who’s just going to ‘happen’ to catch it.”

Riku was shocked.  “You’re planning to throw it directly to someone?  Who?”

Then a thought came to him.  “Wait a minute.  Are you planning on throwing it to…?” he began to ask before Kairi interrupted.

“Maybe.  Maybe not. All you need to know, Riku, is that my bouquet is going to one half of a couple who deserves the same kind of happiness that Sora and I have.  And that is all I’m going to say on the matter,” Kairi said matter-of-factly.

Sora chuckled.  “So, you might as well give up, Riku.  You know once Kairi’s made up her mind about something, there’s no stopping her.”

Riku smirked.  “Well, if that’s the case, then you’re certainly doomed since you’re the one married to her.”

“He’s right about that, Sora.  You know that’s how I roll.”

As Kairi and Riku laughed, Sora folded his arms and pouted.  “I thought marriage was all about compromise,” he muttered.

Kairi continued to laugh as she sauntered up to her husband and linked her arm with his.  “Take it easy, Sora.  You know we’re only teasing.  Trust me, everything we do from now on, we do as a team like any good marriage.”

Sora’s smile returned.  “On that, we most certainly agree, my wife.”

Riku sighed.  “Come on, you two newlyweds.  Let’s get you back to the reception.”

“Very well.  Lead the way, best man,” said Sora.

Riku nodded and then walked ahead.  Sora and Kairi followed close behind arm-in-arm.

“So, still our newest happiest day?” Sora asked to which Kairi responded by giving him a peck on the cheek.  “I take it that’s a yes?”

“You know it, my husband.  For now, anyway.  It’ll be tough to beat like the last one but maybe someday, a different day will take that title.  And I can’t wait to find out what it is together,” said Kairi.

Sora chuckled.  “Me too, Dearly Beloved. Me too.”

Riku, having overheard the exchange, shook his head with amusement.  ‘You two are definitely going give a whole new meaning to the words, ‘happily married’.’

Then a tender smile came to his face.  ‘I can’t think of anyone who deserves it more.’

And so, Sora and Kairi followed their best friend to where they would finish up the day’s events.  Their wedding, their reception, and their gift from beyond would remain in their hearts as memories to be cherished as they moved forward into a future that would hopefully be filled with light, laughter and love.

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Notes from the Mad Doctor:

I think we’re all in agreement with Riku’s last thoughts.  Sora and Kairi truly deserve a happy ending and let’s keep hoping that will happen one day.

Who was Kairi planning on tossing her bouquet to?  I do have an answer for that.  But it might be a while before I actually reveal it.  Until then, I’ll just let you guess.  Yes, that’s evil.  But a Mad Doctor has to have some fun with his readers.

Also, even though I hinted Riku had a significant other, due to the rules of SoKai Week prohibiting other ships, I purposely left it unrevealed.  I do have a shipping preference for Riku, but it cannot be shown in a SoKai Week story so, sorry about that.

Now for some final words of thanks.

I give my thanks to whoever reads this chapter.

I also give my special thanks to @fandomchanger, @ratchetfan2006artsi, @hinataoc, @sakuranekogirl, and @lazerfighter  for their likes on the previous chapters, as well as @sokaiweek and @the-secret-place, for reblogging the previous chapters.

I also give a big thank you to the artists and writers whose work I had the pleasure of witnessing this year.  You all did a great job and I really enjoyed your work.

And an especially big thank you to the moderators of the SoKai Week Tumblr for enabling us to be part of a great collection.

Radiant Garden

A short while later, the five sat in silence. No one was sure what to bring up next. Having discussed both the past and the future, they were at a loss of where to steer the conversation.  It was dawning on all of them that their visit may have been nearing its conclusion.

“I hate to say this.  But since it’s looking like we’ve run out of things to talk about, do you think maybe it’s time we called Joshua so he can take you back to wherever you came from?” asked Sora reluctantly.

“I think you might be right about that. Sora,” Summer agreed.

Kairi sniffed.  “I really wish it didn’t have to end.  It’s been great having us all together here.”

“I know, my child.  We all feel that way.  Getting to see you again, especially on your wedding day, has been a wonderful experience. But you know what they say about all good things,” said Lillie causing Kairi to nod sadly.

“All right then.  I guess I’ll make the call,” said Sora as he stood up.  “Joshua, we’re ready for you to…”

Suddenly, Grant stood up.  “Hold on a second, Sora.  Don’t call him just yet.”

“Dad?” asked Kairi.

“Honey, what’s going on?” asked Summer.

“I just thought of something I’d like to do before we leave,” said Grant.

“Oh.  Well, in that case, we’re not quite ready yet, Joshua, so don’t come back yet!” Sora called.

They all waited in case Joshua hadn’t heard the retraction.  After a few moments passed and he hadn’t shown up, it was safe to assume he was not coming yet.

“Looks like he heard you, Sora.  So, Grant, what did you want to do?” asked Lillie.

Grant faced his daughter.  “Kairi, when a father’s daughter gets married, he always looks forward to the tradition of walking her down the aisle during the ceremony. Now, I don’t begrudge your adoptive father for being able to do that.  It just saddens me that I missed out on that”

“I know, Dad.  And now that I’ve gotten to know you and Mom, I really wish I could’ve had all four of my parents do that walk with me,” said Kairi sympathetically.

Then Grant smiled.  “But even though that opportunity has passed, maybe we could still share a different wedding tradition before we go, Kairi.”

He held out a hand to her.  “Would the bride care to dance with her father?”

Kairi smiled, rose to her feet and took her father’s hand.  “I’d love to, Dad.”

Grant started to lead his daughter in the direction of a more open area of the garden.  It would serve perfectly as a makeshift dance floor.  Sora and the others watched with touched smiles on their faces.

Then Sora suddenly stood up.  “Hold it!”

Kairi and Grant turned back to face him.  “What is it, Sora?” asked the Princess of Heart

“If you’re going to dance, you’re going to need some music,” said Sora as he reached into his pockets for something.

But to his dismay, he found them empty.  “My Gummi Phone!  It’s gone!”

“Sora, we both left them in our rooms because we didn’t think we’d need them today,” Kairi reminded her husband.

“Oh nuts!  That’s right!”

“Gummi Phone?  What’s that?” asked Lillie.

“It’s a special device that we use to communicate with each other within and between worlds.  But it also has other uses like playing music.  I thought we could play one of the recordings we had in our phones for their dance.  Especially one from our friend Miguel Rivera who’s a musician and songwriter in his world. Many of his songs are themed around family and I just thought that one of them would be perfect for this moment,” said Sora disappointedly.

Grant chuckled.  “Don’t worry about it, Sora.  I appreciate the thought.  But I can provide this dance with a song myself.”

“You sing?” asked Kairi.

“Oh yes.  Your father loved to sing when it was either while working on his garden projects or just to make me smile.  He’s always had such a charming voice,” said Summer as she exchanged loving glances with Grant.

With that matter settled, Kairi and Grant resumed their small journey to where they would dance.  In the meantime, Sora took upon himself to turn Lillie’s chair around so she was in a direction she could watch them before sitting on the bench with Summer.

Once Kairi and her father reached the center of their makeshift dance floor, they got into position.  Kairi placed her left hand on Grant’s right shoulder while Grant placed his right hand on her left side.  They then extended their free arms and grasped each other’s free hands.

“Kairi, the song I am about to sing to you is one I haven’t sung in a long time,” said Grant.

“Why is that?”

Grant smiled.  “Because it’s one I used to sing to you when you were just a baby.  I’m so glad I get to sing it to you one more time.”

The two of them began to slowly waltz around in a circular motion.  As they danced, Grant started his song.

(In-Universe Music: You’ll Be In My Heart by Phil Collins performed by Grant.)

The opening lyrics sounded like the words of a parent to a child who was crying.  They carried a vow of protection and assurance of being there for the child.

As she swayed with her father and listened to the lyrics from his gentle voice, a strange feeling came over the Princess of Heart.  Suddenly, she let out a silent gasp.

‘I…I remember!  I’m remembering moments with Mom and Dad!  But I was so young back then, it shouldn’t be possible!  But it is happening!’

Kairi was absolutely amazed by her earliest memories returning.  She desperately wanted to know how it was happening.

Then a possible answer came to her.  ‘Is it Dad’s song?  Is it causing all these memories to return to me?  It must be.  There’s no other explanation.  And I have seen this happen before when we saw Miguel sing to his Mama Coco to restore the memories of her father.’

She looked into her father’s eyes as he continued to sing to her.  Happy tears started to stream down her face as she smiled at him.

‘I guess there really is a connection between melodies and memories.  Oh, Dad. Your song has done something so wonderful for me.’

Grant truly had no idea about what he just done for his daughter.  He simply smiled back as he continued to sing about her being in his heart.

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From where they sat, Sora, Lillie and Summer watched the father and daughter duo dance.  All of their hearts were close to bursting with happiness at the beautiful sight.

“I knew Grant was going to sing that song,” said Lillie.

“It was always his favorite one to sing to Kairi,” said Summer.

“And even though it’s been a long time since she’s heard it, she seems to be really enjoying it.  Look how happy she is,” said Sora as he caught glimpses of his wife’s smiling face as she continued to twirl around with her father.  ‘Of all the times to be stuck without a Gummi Phone. Kairi would’ve loved to have pictures of this to remember it.’

As she watched her husband and daughter dance, something caught Summer’s eye as she looked to her son-in-law.  “Sora, can I ask you something?”

Sora turned to his mother-in-law with a look of confusion.  “Sure, Summer.  What is it?”

“I’d like to take a look at your wedding ring, if you don’t mind.”

“Oh!  Of course. Go right ahead,” said Sora as held out his hand that bore his wedding ring to Summer.

After looking over it, Summer said, “My, that’s an interesting engraving on it.”

“An engraving?  On a wedding ring?  May I see it?” Lillie asked causing Sora to hold out his hand to her so she could also take a look it.

There, plain as day, engraved in the band’s golden surface, was a perfect recreation of Sora and Kairi’s paopu drawing.

“It looks like you and Kairi,” said Lillie.

“And they seem to be offering…stars to each other?” asked Summer perplexed.

Sora chuckled.  “It certainly looks that way, doesn’t it?  This drawing’s been a very important part of Kairi’s and my love story because it was probably the earliest way that we showed our true feelings toward each other.  That’s why we requested the Moogles to engrave it on our wedding rings.”

“This drawing sounds it carries a pretty fascinating story.  If you don’t mind, Sora, would you care to tell us about it while Kairi and Grant finish their dance?” asked Lillie.

“We didn’t mention this drawing earlier when we were telling our story?  Or what those stars really represent?” Sora asked to which Lillie and Summer shook their heads.  “I can’t believe we forgot to tell you.  It’s actually one of our favorite stories to tell.”

“Yours and Kairi’s story was a large one, Sora. A few details falling through the cracks can be forgiven,” said Summer.

“I guess so.  But it would’ve been a shame had you not heard about it before you left.  Well, I’m certainly glad I have to opportunity to share it now so here it goes.  You see, back home on the Destiny Islands, there’s this particular island where all the kids like to go to play.  And on it, is a cave that we call the Secret Place.  One of the things we’d like to do in there, is use rocks to draw on the walls. The first time I brought Kairi there after she arrived on the Islands, we drew something together in that cave. I drew her face, and she drew mine. And as you can see from the engraving on the ring, she was clearly the better artist than I ever was,” laughed Sora causing Lillie and Summer to laugh as well.  ‘Naminè had to get her drawing skills from somewhere and it certainly wasn’t from me.’

“I can certainly believe that.  Kairi always drew so well despite being so young.  She must’ve a little artistic talent from her father.  But what are those stars you seem to be exchanging in the drawing?” asked Lillie.

“Actually, it’s a kind of fruit from the Islands that’s shaped like a star.  They’re called paopu fruit.  There’s a legend behind the fruit that if two people share it, their destinies would be bound together and they would remain a part of each other’s lives no matter what,” said Sora.

Summer giggled.  “The way you talk about that legend; it almost sounds like an engagement.”

“It does sound like one, doesn’t it?” asked Sora.

“And even though you were just young children when you drew it, you both wished to share these fruits with each other back then?” asked Lillie.

Sora laughed.  “Not exactly.  That part of the drawing wasn’t added until way later.  For a long time, it was just Kairi’s and my faces looking at each other. Until the day before the Heartless came to the Islands and I first gained the Keyblade.  I was in the Secret Place looking for mushrooms for our upcoming trip on the raft.  Before I left, I looked at the drawing and started to remember when Kairi and I first drew it.  The next thing I knew, I had picked up a rock and was drawing between us, my hand giving her the paopu fruit.”

Summer smiled.  “Sounds to me like you were starting to realize how much she truly meant to you then.”

The Hero of the Keyblade shrugged.  “Maybe I was.  Ever since we met, I sort of felt there was something more than just friendship between us and it seemed to be growing stronger as time went on.  And since I didn’t know how exactly to tell her, I thought adding the paopu fruit to the drawing was a way to express it without words.  It felt like a pretty good idea.  But at the same, it also frightened me.”

“I can understand why, Sora.  You and Kairi had become such good friends and I doubt you wanted to risk ruining it.  Especially since you had no idea then if she truly felt the same,” said Summer.

“That was part of it.  But a bigger part was that I also felt unworthy of her,” said Sora.

“Unworthy?  Why would you believe that?” asked Lillie.

“Because at the time, Riku also appeared to have feelings for Kairi and all of our friends seemed to think that if she were to choose between him or me, she would choose him.  And back then, I had always thought that Riku was better than me at everything, so even I believed she would choose him in the end.”

“Sora, listen to me,” said Summer causing her son-in-law to give her his full attention.  “After everything you’ve done for Kairi, let me tell you that you are definitely worthy of her.  More than worthy, in fact.  Don’t ever let yourself forget that.”

Sora looked at his mother-in-law’s insistent expression before letting out a chuckle.  “You know, Kairi always gives me that exact same look whenever I express those kinds of doubts and she sets me straight.  I see it runs in her family,” he said causing Summer to laugh.

Then he smiled gratefully.  “And yes.  I’ll never forget that.  But it’s always nice to hear it and it means a lot coming from her mother.”

“So, back to subject of the drawing, you’ve told us when you added the part where you offered the fruit to Kairi.  But when did you add the part where she offers it to you?” asked Lillie.

Sora gave a bright smile.  “Actually, I didn’t add that part.  Kairi did it herself.”

“She did?!” exclaimed Summer joyously.

“Yep.  It was one of the biggest surprises I ever got in my life.  After returning to the Islands after defeating the first Organization XIII, I went to the Secret Place one day.  And when I looked at the drawing again, that’s when I saw the addition of Kairi’s hand giving me the paopu fruit.  It was a shock at first.  But then I realized that Kairi must have seen my own addition and then added to it herself.  That gave me hope that perhaps she did feel the same way about me that I did about her. I wanted to talk to her about it. But before we could, we had to start preparing for the final battle against Xehanort so it kind of fell by the wayside.”

“That is unfortunate.  Did you two ever get to share them for real?” asked Summer.

Sora smiled brightly again. “Yes, we did.  In fact, as of today, we’ve actually shared them twice.”

“Twice?  Please tell us about both occasions, Sora,” said Lillie.

“Gladly, Lillie.  The first time we shared them, even though tragedy followed, will always be one of our favorite memories. In fact, we even celebrate the anniversary of it every year.  It was the evening before we faced Xehanort and his new Organization XIII.  We were sitting on our favorite spot on the paopu tree on the Islands and, to my surprise, Kairi just plucked two fruits off the tree and handed one to me.  I couldn’t believe what she was doing.  She was making such a bold move.  But after explaining how she wanted to be part of my life forever, I knew that I wanted the same with her.  We then promised to keep each other safe, and then we shared them.”

“How romantic,” said Lillie.

“But that certainly was quite a promise to make, Sora.  Especially on the eve of such a high stakes battle,” said Summer.

“I’ll admit, it definitely hasn’t been an easy one to keep for the both of us.  Especially since every time we failed to keep it, we would be torn apart.  But Kairi and I have always believed that with the legend of the paopu fruit on our side, along with the special bond between our hearts, we would always find our way back to each other no matter what.”

“Well, seeing as how many times you’ve accomplished that despite numerous separations, it seems that there may be something to this legend after all.  So, what was the second time you shared the fruits?” asked Lillie.

“This morning. During our wedding ceremony.  It’s a tradition from the Destiny Islands that if two people who have shared the fruits get married, they do it again on their wedding day as an act of renewal and strengthening of the bond between them.”

“That’s so sweet,” said Lillie.

“And does it feel like it has gotten stronger, Sora?” asked Summer.

The Hero of the Keyblade gazed over to where his wife was dancing with her father.  He smiled lovingly at her.

“Yes.  I truly believe it has.  And I have a feeling it’s only going to grow stronger as we continue to go through life together.”

Lillie smiled.  “I believe it will too.”

“So do I,” said Summer.

Sora smiled gratefully and nodded his thanks to both of them.  It felt good to know how much they believed in him and Kairi.

Nothing more was said between the three of them and nothing more was needed.  They just continued to watch the dance go on.

But as they listened the lyrics from Grant, a bittersweet feeling came over Summer and Lillie.  Being familiar with the song, they knew that both it and the dance were drawing to a close.  And what would follow next would undoubtedly be one of the most difficult moments they would ever have to face.

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As Grant sang more about always being there, the song came to its finish.  Both he and Kairi stopped dancing.

He then finally took notice of his daughter’s tear-streaked face.  “Are you okay, my precious girl?”

“Dad, I remember!” Kairi quietly exclaimed.

Grant looked confused.  “Remember what, Kairi?”

“Moments from when I was young with you, Mom and Grandma!  I remember how you used to rock me and sing that song whenever I woke up in the middle of night and it always helped get me back to sleep.  I remember how Mom would show me some of the flowers she grew and how the colors and scents used to make me so happy.  And I remember how whenever Grandma felt sad, likely from all the hardships she faced, she would cuddle with me, and it made her smile return.”

Kairi then threw her arms around her father’s shoulders and hugged him tightly.  “Your song brought that all back to me.  Thank you so much, Daddy.”

Grant smiled and stroked his daughter’s back in comfort.  “Happy to have helped you in that way.  Kairi? Can you promise me something?”

“Of course.”

“When you and Sora have children of your own, would you sing that song to them?”

Kairi drew apart from her father so he could see her smiling face again.  “I will, Dad and you can count on me keeping that promise.  If there’s one thing I’ve learned from Sora, it’s how to always keep a promise.  Especially since that song will always remind me of how much I was loved by my birth family.”

A tear dripped down Grant’s cheek.  “Thank you so much, my precious girl,” he said as he kissed Kairi on the forehead and then took her into another embrace.

But as Grant hugged his daughter, a somber look came to his face.  He knew what was to come next.

It was nearly time to say goodbye.

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Notes from the Mad Doctor:

I don’t think there’s any greater Disney song about parental love than Tarzan’s You’ll Be In My Heart other than Coco’s Remember Me.  I thought it was the perfect song for Kairi’s dance with her father and having him sing it would make the moment even more beautiful.

I hope you also enjoyed Sora’s retelling on the tale of the drawing and the paopu fruit. Those are such important parts of his and Kairi’s romance.

I give my thanks to whoever reads this chapter.

I also give my special thanks to @sora9090​ for liking the previous chapters as well as @blackazurebeast​ for reblogging the previous chapters.

Comments, likes and reblogs are much appreciated! For the second last chapter, you might wish to have some tissues handy because, as you probably guessed, it’s going to be a real tearjerker.

Stay tuned!

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Land of Departure

Dear Sora,

I know it’s been a while since I last wrote to you.  I haven’t really had anything really important to tell you since I came here.

Now something incredible has just happened and I had to tell you first before anyone else.  But before that, here’s a few updates on what’s been happening on this side of reality.

I’m still training hard.  No offense to Merlin, but I think I’m getting way better with my Keyblade training under Master Aqua than him.

My days here at the Land of Departure are filled with learning various fighting techniques or improving my magic skills.  And to test them, I often spar with Aqua, Terra or Ven.  One day, I might even get a perfect score against one of them in our matches.

All of three of them and Chirithy have been very good to me. They’ve really made me feel like part of their family.

But as great as it’s been with them, they’re no true replacement for everyone back home.  I miss everyone:  Mom, Dad, Selphie, Wakka, Tidus, Riku, and you.  Especially you.

Sorry, Sora.  It’s just so hard every day knowing that you’re trapped in that fictional world.  I really wish I could’ve gone there with Riku to save you.  But after being out of action for a year and the fact that I couldn’t even land a single blow on that memory of Xehanort, I knew it was the better choice to stay behind and train even if I didn’t like it.

I really hope Riku finds you soon.  We’re all so worried about both of you.  Since nobody really knows anything about this Quadratum place, we’ve all thought Riku was a little hasty in just taking off there alone.

We still haven’t heard anything from Mickey yet either. Hopefully, he’ll come back soon from Scala Ad Caelum, and he’ll have found something we can use to help you and Riku.  Until that happens, all the rest of us can do is wait.

Anyway, time to tell you the real reason for this latest letter, Sora. And you are not going to believe what it is.  I can hardly believe it myself.

Last night, I had a dream.  It was actually the first dream I’ve had since I came to the Land of Departure.

Not that I’ve minded not having dreams just in case they ended up being recreations of my worst memories.  I’ve already watched you vanish twice.  I don’t think I could bear to watch it happen again in my dreams.

But the dream I had was nothing like that at all.  It was of a wedding, Sora.  Our wedding.

It was an amazing sight.  It was in this gigantic chapel that looked like it was in Radiant Garden, and it was filled with all your friends from around the worlds.

Many of our fellow Guardians of Light and closest friends made up our wedding party.  It was hardly a surprise to see Selphie as my maid of honor or Riku as your best man.

You looked so handsome in the suit you were wearing.  And judging from the stunned look on your face when you saw me coming down the aisle, I must’ve looked pretty beautiful to you.

It was truly incredible, Sora.  It felt so real and so wonderful.  I wished it never ended.

But, unfortunately, as it is with dreams, we all have to wake up eventually.  And when I did, the happiness I felt ended up giving way to other emotions as I reflected on the dream.

First of all, I felt a little confused.  As good as that dream was, I couldn’t help but wonder why I had it at all.  I mean, wouldn’t you find a little strange to have a dream about a wedding especially since we haven’t even had our first kiss yet?  It’s kind of rushing things a little.  

But don’t get me wrong, Sora.  I know, deep down in my heart, how we truly feel about each other. I wouldn’t have shared that paopu fruit with you otherwise.  And when the time is right for it, the idea of getting married to you is something I will embrace wholeheartedly.

So, I thought more about the dream and believe it or not, I started to think that it was not merely just a dream.  I wonder if what I saw was our future.  It definitely did feel like that since there were so many unfamiliar parts in it.  

For example, I had no idea there was a tradition in Radiant Garden weddings for the bride and groom to crown each other with symbolic flowers.  Then again, I could have known that if the knowledge came from a memory from when I lived there.  Maybe I attended a wedding there when I was young.

But what really stood out to me and made me believe that this could be our future was the many unfamiliar guests.  I knew that because I’ve been studying the details of your last two journeys from Jiminy’s Journal and the Gummi Phone.  And even though the Journal of your first journey was erased (Naminè’s still really sorry about that), I still remember everything about it from being in your heart through it all.

So, I was able to recognize who you had met and who were strangers. They were far too numerous to mention. But here are some examples that really stood out to me.

A tall woman with long black hair wearing a tan colored dress and a beautiful turquoise necklace with a raccoon, a dog and I think I saw a hummingbird flittering around her.

A pair of robots, one yellow and box-shaped, the other white and cylindrical, who were holding hands.

A couple that consisted of a redhaired woman and blonde-haired man who appeared to have some kind of hairless rodent on his shoulder.

A teenage boy and girl along with a younger boy and a company of animals such as a bear with gray fur, a panther, an elephant with a tuft of brown hair and a quartet of vultures.

A large family that appeared to be a mix of humans and skeletons along with a very colorful winged dog and a giant winged cat.

A boy with red hair (whose head looked triangular) along with another boy with green hair and a bunch of other teenagers as well as some kind of strange teal animal that looked like a cross between a duck and a beaver and a man with brown hair, poor posture and wearing a lab coat (who wears that to a wedding?).

A princess dressed in a beautiful green gown accompanied by a prince in a green suit with a blonde woman dressed in pink, a short old woman dressed in white and wearing sunglasses and a snake around her shoulders as well as an alligator who was carrying a trumpet.

A very unusual group consisting of two men and a woman with blue skin and pointy ears along with a dog-sized dragon, a centaur, and a winged lionlike creature with horns and a scorpion’s tail.

A girl with bushy brown hair among what appeared to be a family of giant frogs.

A woman dressed like she was some kind of islander with a burly man with numerous tattoos (I think I saw one of them move) over his body along with a pig and a chicken that didn’t look very smart.

A family who seemed to be some kind of royalty consisting of a princess in a simple green dress with long curly red hair along with three identical boys with the same kind of hair, their big, strong father with a peg leg and their very elegant mother.

A boy and a girl who looked like they were twin siblings who were accompanied by a pair of old men who looked like twins as well.

A redhaired boy in the company of a group of what looked like various human-sized bugs.

There were so many more, but I think I’ll stop here.  With the large number of guests at this wedding, I could go on listing them for a long time.  But it does seem there’s a lot more friends for you in the future.

Unfortunately, while I was mulling over the dream further, a horrible thought came to me.  I started to wonder if the dream, as beautiful as it was, wasn’t meant to bring me happiness at all because it was actually showing the future that we could have had but now would never have.  And the true reason of it was to punish me for my failures in the fight against Xehanort.

I know you wouldn’t like to hear this, Sora.  But there are still days where I can’t help but feel responsible for your disappearance and think that if I had made some different choices, you’d still be here.

I know it was my choice to fight alongside you because I wanted to keep you safe the same way you’ve always done for me.  But looking back, I now see it was foolish to assume that my training alongside Axel would turn me into a Keyblade wielder on yours or Riku’s level. And it was probably an even worse idea for a wielder with very little actual battle experience to go from basic training to a high stakes battle with nothing in between.

We may have been desperate to stop Xehanort before he went after the New Seven Hearts especially since he had already assembled all his darknesses. But we probably could’ve and should’ve explored some other options instead of going to fight the Organization right away after you woke Ven.

Since Ienzo told us that they had a replica body ready before we even left for the Keyblade Graveyard, we could’ve gotten Roxas or maybe even Xion out of your heart before the fight.  In Axel’s words, they were the old hands when it came to Keyblades.

We also could have made a bigger effort to find and save Terra first even if our chances were pretty low.  That would not only have gotten us a more experienced wielder, but it would’ve also lowered Xehanort’s ranks by one.

Maybe if we had done things that way, we would’ve had more experienced Keyblade wielders to fill out the Seven Guardians of Light.  And even if it would be disappointing to be put in the reserves, it would’ve been worth it if it led to you being safe.

So, those are the reasons I believed that dream was a punishment. But you’ll be glad to know, Sora, that I only entertained those beliefs briefly.

After thinking it over some more, I decided that it didn’t matter what that dream’s purpose was.  Comfort or punishment, I’m going to actually use it to serve my own purposes instead.

I’m going to let it remind me of what my ultimate goal is and drive me to be the best Keyblade wielder I can be.  One that’s going to make the forces of darkness think twice before causing trouble and one that you and Riku will be proud to have fighting alongside you.  And hopefully, that will lead us to a future like the one in the dream or at least one that’s pretty close.

In fact, after seeing that dream, I think I may end up actually proposing a couple of ideas to Aqua and Master Yen Sid.  I’ve been thinking about them a lot and maybe now is the time to try to put them into action.

Since I need to get some real battle experience to become a stronger Keyblade wielder, I’d like to go on a journey throughout the worlds to gain some. Hopefully, Aqua will think it’s a good idea.  And even though there’s been little sign of the Heartless and Nobodies since Xehanort’s defeat, there is one thing I really wish to do.

I’d like to try to find and identify the remaining three of the New Seven Hearts.  After all, who’d better to find them than someone who’s part of the same group?  And if we knew who they were and what their home worlds were, we’d be in a better position to protect them if someone tried what Maleficent and Xehanort did.

Who knows?  Maybe all those unfamiliar faces at the wedding were not only friends you’ll make on future adventures, but ones I’ll make on my own adventures.  Maybe even the remaining New Seven Hearts were among them.

I also have an idea that may be able to help in the quest to bring you home. If Fairy Godmother could bring me back to the Final World, I could talk to that girl from Quadratum again.  She may not be able to remember certain things. But she might be able to tell us something about that world that could help.  

Naminè might even be able to help with this plan.  Even if you only met that girl briefly, that may be enough for her to be considered connected to you and therefore, Naminè’s memory powers can work on her.

Hopefully, the Masters will think that these are good plans.  I really want to do any part I can to not only help bring you and Riku home, but also to protect the worlds as both a Keyblade wielder and a Princess of Heart.  After all, with you two gone, someone’s got to pick up the slack.

Well, I think that’s enough for now.  It’s nearly time for breakfast and then it’s training until lunch.  But before I go, there’s just one final thing I’d like to say.

Whether that beautiful dream shows a wonderful future that is meant to be or not, it doesn’t matter.  Because the only kind of future I’ll ever wish for is one in which we’re safe, we’re happy, and we’re together.  That’s all I really need.

See you soon,

Kairi

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Much later, the training hall in the Land of Departure was filled with the sounds of clashing Keyblades and various shouts of magical invocation.  While those sounds were nothing uncommon in that location, there was an unusual intensity that day.

As Aqua, Ven and Chirithy watched, a heated sparring match was taking place between Kairi and Terra.  But much to their surprise, the more experienced Keyblade wielder was actually struggling as the young rookie was keeping him mostly on the defensive.

“Wow!  Kairi’s on fire today!” exclaimed Ven.

“She is, indeed,” concurred Chirithy.

“Well, she has improved a lot in her skills since she came here.  But you two are right.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen her this driven before,” said Aqua.

“You’ve got that right, Aqua.  If she lands one more hit on Terra, this’ll be the first time she’s won by a perfect score,” said Ven.

As the match went on, Terra blocked blow after blow from Kairi.  Then, strangely, she ceased her attack.

Terra saw his opportunity and charged toward her with a downward slash. The Princess dodged to the right narrowly avoiding the hit.

“Light!” she cried out as she fired a small but powerful Light spell at Terra’s side.  He grunted as the magic struck him and knocked him off his feet.

“Point to Kairi,” declared Aqua.

“That’s three to nothing!  Kairi wins!” exclaimed Ven as Chirithy clapped its paws together.

“Well done, Kairi,” said Aqua.

“Thank you, Master Aqua,” Kairi said as she walked over to Terra and helped him up.  

After exchanging bows with each other, the Princess of Heart said, “I hope that didn’t hurt you too badly, Terra.”

Terra chuckled.  “Not at all.  It helps that you’ve learned how to restrain your magic during training.  But I’ve got to say, Kairi that I am impressed. That’s the first time since you’ve come here that I’ve been unable to land a single hit on you.”

“You’ve certainly come a long way, Kairi.  Today, you showed some truly exceptional skill and strength.  You should be very proud of yourself,” said Aqua as she, Ven and Chirithy approached.

“Well, I’ve had a good teacher and some great sparring partners.  But I think it really helped that when I woke up today, I just felt a little extra drive,” said Kairi.

“Yes.  We noticed,” said Aqua.

“Why is that exactly?” asked Chirithy.

A certain smile came to Kairi’s face which caused her four friends to exchange knowing looks.  They had spent plenty of time with her by now to know what exactly brought out that special smile of hers: thoughts of a certain someone close to her heart.

“I had the most amazing dream.”

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Notes from the Mad Doctor:

I thought the best way for Kairi’s spotlight chapter would be to do in the style of one of her letters to Sora.  I’ve used it before as readers of my big fic Kairi’s Epic Journey would know.

So, in case it wasn’t obvious, the challenge I mentioned at the start is that list of unknown guests.  It was quite a challenge to write all those characters by description alone.  I hope you all will take a shot at identifying them. Some are pretty obvious, but some may be a little more difficult.

I hope I did a good job in trying not to make this chapter’s narrative too similar to the previous chapters.  I actually tried having Kairi leap to the punishment notion before the premonition notion.  But unfortunately, the flow didn’t work right.

Fortunately, the views on the punishment notion are a little different. Sora has absolutely no regrets for what he did and believes that he’s being unfairly punished for breaking rules he had no idea existed.  Kairi, however, believes her punishment is deserved since she blames herself for what happened to Sora.  Fortunately, both are able to use that dream to keep on fighting.

I hope you all aren’t put off that this is more like a series of one-shots centered around a certain plot device (the wedding dream) instead of a congruent storyline.  That was what this project ended up being.

I give my thanks to whoever reads this chapter.

I also give my special thanks to @fandomchanger, @flynn-science​, and @ladylucky​ for their likes on the previous chapters as well as @sokaiweek, @phoenix-downer, and @the-secret-place​ for reblogging the previous chapter.

Comments, likes and reblogs are much appreciated!  Stay tuned for what comes next because it’s going to be a real feel-good chapter!

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