An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Sure, Sora had sacrificed everything, down to his life and existence. But it was all worth it because it meant everyone he loved was safe and could live on happily. Sure he doesn't, and he's now trapped in another world he doesn't fit in for what seems like will be the rest of his existence- but it was worth it. For that, he couldn't be more content with his fate... right? So what is this feeling...? This is a KH4 prewrite (made before canon comes out) that explores one plotline that has heavy potential to be explored in canon, this one being about Sora coping with his situation of being, well, dead. And when mysteries regarding the source of the unreality's new darkness threat start to come in, drama ensues. This is not gonna touch on any potential Disney worlds or FF-specific content, or other potential plotlines for KH4, but depending on what canon does, this fic can either be included or added with those at a later date as a version of the game, or canon just completely retcons the entire character arc in this fic. We'll see.
Once upon a lifetime,
There was only sky
Until two concepts became physical manifestations within the universe: Light and Darkness
For centuries, the two have coexisted to form worlds full of life, whimsy, and wonder
For centuries, these worlds carried a natural cycle of darkness consuming the light, and the light slaying the darkness
They both regenerate as lives come and go
And the cycle of prophecy starts all over again
It’s said that because they both coexist, no one side can ever be truly vanquished
It’s just how the system that is the universe works
We must live with this system, and thrive, and despair
This is the story of a boy
Who couldn’t live with it
And paid the ultimate price
---------------------------------------------------
He walks along.
Each step with his oversized shoes plops among the watery surface, leaving ripples with every step.
He watches as his step causes a ripple across the still sea-like floor. A sea that seems to go on forever.
Just him. The sky. And this sea.
No trace of land. No trace of structure. No trace of life. Nothing but a seemingly infinite way to walk.
For a minute, he stands there and hugs himself. He feels his own soft skin on his arms. Never in a lifetime would he think a simple sense of touch would give so much comfort.
No. He’s not gone. He didn’t cease to exist. He’s still here. He’s still him. He’s still Sora.
Knowing this, his eyes harden on the empty sea ahead of him.
He tells himself, “As long as I’m still me, there’s hope…”
He begins to continue walking.
“I know there’s things out there!” He calls out. “Hello?!?! Can anyone hear me?!?!?”
Nothing. Not even an echo.
His chest starts to ache with a hollow feeling.
He ignores it and calls out again, “Hello?!?!?!”
Nothing.
He keeps walking across the heavenly seas, hearing nothing but his own voice and the plops of water from the ripples caused by his steps.
He’d walk for what felt like several minutes. Then break the near silence in a call. Nothing.
Minutes turned to hours.
Nothing.
Hours turned the bright blue sky to a dark starry night.
Nothing.
Night turned to day.
Nothing.
Sora just couldn’t stop. For a while, his voice was too hoarse to even cry without his throat burning.
And still there was nothing.
For a while, he considered the possibilities of what he could find. He remembered the one time he did find something, a person, Yozora. And there was a city. There was a place. Though it wasn’t like Sora could enjoy it while the guy was shooting at him. How he barely managed to survive that is beyond him.
It’s a shame. He wanted to ask questions to the man. Like where this is, what he was doing, and what he meant by ‘saving Sora’.
Maybe it’s foolish to still try and find traces of people considering they might also want him dead.
Wait, why would they want him dead if this was already death? That wouldn’t make any sense.
Maybe then, that’s the proof, this isn’t actually death. Sora isn’t dead. He’s still here. He’s still alive. Everything was going to be okay. There was still hope.
But still, after hours, there was no trace of anything.
The sound of the plopping water was starting to grind his ears.
“How long have I been walking…?” He asks himself.
If he truly has been walking for days, surely by now he would’ve been too exhausted to keep going. But no, outside of the strep throat and this dull ache in his chest, his energy seems infinite.
Would make sense if he’s supposed to be dead-
No.
He stops himself from the thought and hugs himself once more, just to feel his own skin again.
He’s not dead. He’s here. He’s clearly here.
Once more, with his throat on fire, he yells out a croaked, “Hello!!?!?!? Can anyone hear me!!?!??”
Nothing.
This is starting to get insane. How has he not run into anybody else for so long?!
And on top of that, this sea hasn’t shown any signs of being anything but sea. Was it simply infinite?
“Come on, there’s gotta be something…” He whispers to himself.
So he keeps walking.
“Maybe I’m just… going crazy…” He finally admits aloud. “Or it’s just a dream…”
The latter thought gave him some bit of ease.
“Yeah… maybe this is all a dream. I didn’t actually disappear. I’m just asleep on the beach, and at some point I’ll wake up and Kairi will scoff at me for-“
He stops in his tracks.
The dull ache grows in him. His breath grows heavy.
“Kairi…”
He quiches his eyes to prevent from crying. He takes a long deep breath.
“She’s okay… she’s okay…” He says.
That’s what matters. She’s okay. So he’s okay.
Then he continues walking, this time a bit faster.
“Come on, I know there’s something here…” Sora huffs out.
As he continues, more of these thoughts flooded his mind. He knew they were all okay. Everyone he ever loved is okay. They’re alive. They’re safe. Sora had succeeded.
Knowing this, if he thought about it hard enough, he could almost hear Goofy’s laughter next to him, or Donald’s next playful insult to his face. The company felt so heartwarming in the midst of this abyss. Next he could feel the all too familiar presence of Riku coming over to say something rude, or self deprecating, or to invite him to play a game or do some chores around the place. Having that friend, to Sora, was a blessing he’d never trade.
So why did his chest still feel so hollow?
Why was there still nothing here?
At this point he has to cover his ears because the sound of the plopping of the water was too annoying. A part of him thinks he should stop and take a break.
But that would admit defeat.
Wouldn’t matter in a situation of a dream where there aren’t any consequences. But of course, this wasn’t a dream.
Was Sora just tricking his own mind? Did he believe that if he believed he was dreaming he wouldn’t have to think?
No. He’ll prove it. He’ll prove he can get out of this place, that there really is something, that there really is hope. There’s always hope!
He stops in his tracks, and he gets on his knees. The water splashes beneath him, but he’s still on the surface of the water.
He slaps his hand against the surface of the water. It doesn’t go under. He tries again, slamming his hand harder onto the water. He can’t get it under.
He tries again, but this time punching the water. It doesn’t go under, but he manages to splash the water enough to prove it’s possible to splash the water. So he leans his head closer to the water and he punches it so water splashes on his face.
The water drips off his face quickly, and merges back with the rest of the sea.
Yet he’s still here. He hasn’t woken up from his dream.
He closes his eyes, drifting away in a daze to allow himself to wake up.
He feels the roughness of the sand and the warmth of the sun on his skin.
“Wake me up…” Sora tells himself. “I’m done with this dream. I’m ready to wake up. Please… everything is fine… everything will be fine… everyone is fine… I am fine… I am… okay…”
He opens his eyes.
The sky is here. The sea is here. Still as infinite as ever. Still there is nothing.
Sora stares down the infinite space with gritted teeth and shrunken fearful eyes. His body begins to shake uncomfortably.
Sora slams a hand on the watery floor and thrusts his body from its kneeling position.
And he begins running.
“PLEASE!!!” Sora screams. His throat is scorching hot. His voice is dry and scratchy. He doesn’t care. “IS ANYONE THERE?!? SOMEONE?!?! ITS ME, SORA!! IM HERE!! IM ALIVE!! I HAVE A NAME I HAVE A BODY I HAVE A HEART!!! IM ALIVE SOMEONE HELP ME!!! TELL ME IM ALIVE!!!”
Yet there is still nothing.
In the midst of his sprint, he trips. He kicks the water. His foot doesn’t go under. He slams his fist on the watery floor. Nothing. He slams his fist down again. Nothing. He slams both fists down. Nothing. He tries stomping on the water three times. Nothing. He can’t break out. He can’t break through.
He gets up again and sprints again, his vision growing wavery the harder he pushes himself to run.
By impulse, he throws his hand down, summoning his keyblade in his hands. He begins slashing the water ahead of him. The water splashes ahead of him, but nothing cracks beneath the floor. As much of a cracking notion as you can get from water anyway.
“LET ME OUT!!!”
He uses two hands to swing the keyblade over his head, with enough force that he almost trips.
The vertical slash of light thrusts itself in front of him with such force.
From the splash that ensues, two massive splash waves on opposite sides, it almost looks as if the sea has been parted. Even in his insane state, Sora has to stop to admire his handiwork.
But he’s caught off guard by the water not just falling, but falling towards him, soaking him.
Then, as though the water gained sentience and arms, it grabs his ankle and pulls it under the water.
“H-huh?!?!” Sora freaks out. He tries to pull his leg out, but it’s no use. “No stop-!”
He shouldn’t be talking given this is a monkeys paw for him.
The water then grabs his other leg, and then his hand with the keyblade, pulling both under. The keyblade vanishes as his hand is taken under.
“Stop!!” He begs. “No no no no no-!” He looks around, even though he knows it’s just empty space around him. “Help me!!! Please!!!”
Of course there’s no answer.
The water continues to grab him and pull him over. It’s so quick to throw itself over his head and pull it under that he didn’t get the chance to take a good breath. His other hand, the one part of him still clinging to surface, gets taken down.
He can’t breathe. He can’t shake off the tugging sensation happening to him from under the water.
From reflex, he pulls his hand out again to summon his keyblade again, and he flicks his wrist to try and slash at the beastly currents. He keeps slashing ferociously until his body is thrusted back from the force.
Now it feels like the only force on him is that it still has one of his ankles, pulling him down further and further.
He reaches out for the surface, but it’s no use. He tries to slash the current off him, but it’s not working.
His lungs burn, begging for air. Before he even blacks out, he swears he can see, from the surface, a dark shadow blocking the sun, along with a beastly inhuman roar.
Before he loses all consciousness, he feels his body break through the water entirely.
And he’s falling.
---------------------------------------------------
“Sora…”
He hears a familiar soft voice speak to him.
“Sora…”
He opens his eyes, finding himself laid on the shores of the beach. The beach he calls home.
Kairi is there, leaning down and smiling at him.
“Nngh… Kairi…?” He moans, lifting his head to face her.
“I know we’re at peace, but I think there’s better places to take a nap than in the ocean.” Kairi giggles.
God he missed her laugh…
“I know, I know…” Sora says as he gets up and brushes himself off.
He can’t help but throw his arms around her. He buries his face in her shoulder and keeps his hug tight.
“Hey…” Kairi is taken off guard of the sudden gesture, but she hugs him back.
“I just missed you…” Sora expresses, giving a small smile and laugh.
“I didn’t go anywhere.” Kairi smiles. “I’m always gonna be here.”
Yes. She will always be here. Always.
They’re here. They’re together.
So why won’t this dull ache go away?
“Everything’s okay…?” Sora asks.
“Everything’s okay.” Kairi affirms.
That warms his heart enough to believe it.
---------------------------------------------------
Something a woman didn’t expect was for a person to literally fall from the rainy sky and crash land onto her roof.
She’s suddenly awoken from sleep by a loud crash sound from above her. In an anxious reflex, she grabs a flashlight from her night stand and turns it on to look around.
For a couple seconds, she waits, her breath heightened. In case it was somebody bad coming.
But there’s no other noise that comes afterwards.
She gets out of bed and grabs a silk white night gown from a chair to put on. She runs out to her open space kitchen and living room and she opens her front door to investigate.
The hallway is empty and quiet. Then she grabs her umbrella from a nearby coat rack and turns to her porch to investigate. She opens it over her head to shield herself from the heavy rain.
She initially doesn’t see anything aside from the usual bustling sounds of the city.
Then she turns back to her apartment, and she jumps.
A boy.
On her roof, a leg dangling off, is an unconscious boy. He was soaking wet from the heavy rain.
“What…?” She mutters to herself, surprised.
She would expect a crash like that would leave a wound, or a clear broken bone, but he looked… alive? As alive as they could be here anyway. But how…?
Then, falling slower, came down the keyblade. The clatter on the slate roof was heard just before it vanishes into magic sparks.
Then her eyes widen in shock.
"A keyblade wielder...?"
