#shiptease

Well, he wanted to find a way for Roxas to be his own person. Naminé, too. She deserved to be her own person, too. He wanted to help Terra and Aqua and Ventus get their bodies and their lives back. He wanted to stop Xehanort and keep the worlds safe.

What else. Oh, right. He wanted to see Riku again. Being separated from his best friend all the time kinda sucked. Yeah, Riku had an important job to do, but it didn’t make being apart from him any easier.

His eyes spotted Eugene and Rapunzel together on a boat a little ways away. They both had shy smiles on their faces as they talked about something Sora couldn’t hear. Together they launched a lantern into the air, and Sora couldn’t help but smile, because the two of them together like that made his heart feel all warm.

Love really was a beautiful thing. Time and again he’d watched people fall in love on his journeys, and he never got sick of seeing it. The stolen glances, the blushing and stuttering, the eventual confessions, the first kisses—

Yeah, love was pretty special.

For a moment he didn’t see Rapunzel and Eugene on that boat. For a moment he was in the boat instead, and Kairi was seated across from him. She gazed in wonder at the sight around them, then turned to him and smiled.

“Sora, just think, someday… this could be us.”

“I wish it was,” he said softly. “I wish you were here with me. Then we could finally be together.”

She pulled out a lantern from behind her. “Then let’s make a wish. After all this is over, we’ll come back here. Together.”

She held out the lantern, and he put his hands over hers. His heart sped up a little at that, and Kairi’s smile got bigger. Together they released the lantern into the sky to join all the others, but Sora didn’t let go of her hands.

Her eyes flickered from their hands to his face. “Sora?”

She was so close now, her face just inches from his. His eyes rested on her lips, then darted back up to her eyes. He took a deep breath and swallowed. Her breathing got heavier as he leaned close, her eyes fluttering shut as he—

—tumbled into the water with a loud splash, ruining the moment and his fantasy.

Donald burst out laughing, and Jiminy laughed, too, even though he was still in Sora’s hood and was only kinda shielded from the water.

Sora muttered to himself as he climbed back onto the dock. Talk about embarrassing. He made sure to shake the water from his clothes and hair onto Donald, which didn’t do much to get the duck to shut up.

“You look like a wet cat,” he said in between quacks and cackles.

Sora just glared at him as he took his seat next to him again. “Yeah, well, it happens.”

“You were thinkin’ about Kairi again, weren’t you?” Goofy said, a knowing twinkle in his eye.

Sora wanted to groan. This again. He was never gonna be free of their teasing, was he?

He crossed his arms. “So what? Jiminy said to make a wish, and I did. None of your business if it involves Kairi or not.”

Donald covered his beak with his hands, but a few snickers still escaped, especially when Sora shot him another glare.

“Well, Sora, if you really did make a wish to see her again, I’m sure it’ll come true,” Jiminy said.

As Sora spotted Eugene and Rapunzel again on their boat together like they were in their own world, he couldn’t help but sigh.

He sure wished it would.

I always loved how Sora is a hopeless romantic in KH2 and I’m hoping to see that side of him again in KH3. And I realize I have neglected Jiminy in... pretty much all of my stories, so I figured it was about time I gave him his moment in the spotlight :)

Sora’s face flushed, and it probably wasn’t just because of the spurt of fire from the wine he’d just poured onto the meat and vegetables.

“Who’s Kairi?” Remy asked, though the look on his face told Goofy he’d probably figured it out.

“We… um… she… uh… she’s my— she’s my—”

“Your what, Sora?” Donald asked with a teasing grin.

“Sora, eyes on the food!” Remy yanked Sora’s hair to get him to focus again.

When the pan was back under control, Sora finally spoke again. “Okay, fine. You’re right. I want to show her that I’m not a hopeless cook anymore, okay? She always used to cook for me and Riku and we never made anything for her. I just want to return the favor for once.”

If Sora thought that was gonna get Donald off his case, he was wrong. Donald teased him about it until he threatened to burn Donald’s portion. That got Donald to shut up and return to his spot at the table until the food was ready.

“Well, Sora, I think Kairi will really like your surprise,” Goofy said, tucking his napkin into his shirt as Sora served the food. “It’s awful thoughtful of you.”

“Thanks, Goofy.” Sora smiled and took a seat at the table, and Remy sat down at his own tiny table Sora had gotten ready for him. It was on top of the big table, and Sora had set aside a little portion for him, too.

As they all dug in, Goofy didn’t add that it wasn’t about the food, though Kairi was sure to like whatever special meal Remy helped Sora cook up. It wasn’t about the atmosphere, though this restaurant was awful nice and she was sure to like it when Sora brought her here.

No, it was all about the heart and thought behind the act, and Goofy had lived long enough to know that that was what really mattered.

As Davy Jones suspected. He turned around to hide his disgust.

“You’re better off without her, whoever she may be,” he spat. “A heart will bring you nothing but pain.”

“Speaking from experience?”

Davy Jones whirled around and grabbed the boy by the collar so they were standing face to face. To his credit he didn’t flinch, just stared right back.

“I'll take that as a yes,” he said, his nose wrinkling.

Davy Jones’ eyes narrowed. “You’d do well to keep your nose out of my business, boy.”

But he couldn’t take a hint. “She’s why you took out your heart, isn’t she?”

Davy Jones flung the boy against the wall, and he hit it with a painful-sounding thud, his face scrunching up and his eyes shutting. But after a few moments he peeled himself off it, and his blue eyes opened, brilliant against the murky depths of the Flying Dutchman’s bowels.

“I know something of what that feels like.” His hand went to his heart. “You see… I took out my heart, too.”

Davy Jones stared at him. “Your heart beats in your chest.. I can hear it.”

“I got it back.”

Was that even possible?

“You… forgave her?” Davy Jones asked, taking a step closer to the boy.

“She found me, alone in the darkness, wandering around without a heart.” The boy actually smiled as he continued. “There was nothing to forgive, because I chose to do it. I took it out to save her. And then she saved me in return.”

Davy Jones stopped. “She didn’t betray you, then.”

He shook his head. “No. But if I can get my heart back, why can’t you?”

Davy Jones should’ve known. It was too good to be true. The betrayal he had suffered could never be forgiven, should never be forgiven. His heart was better off where it was, under lock and key.

“Foolish boy, you think there’s hope for me and for her. But I…” He stabbed himself in the chest with his claw, and the boy’s eyes went wide, “…am a heartless wretch,” he said, yanking it back out. “I do not love her and she does not love me. Now, get off of my ship before I tear your blasted heart out a second time.”

The boy gave him one last look, his eyes filled with pity. “She’s not the one who failed you. You failed her.”

Davy Jones moved to make good on his promise, but the boy was faster than he looked. He warped out of the way and was gone within moments, leaving Davy Jones alone once more.

He lifted the small locket that always hung from one of his tentacles and listened as its familiar haunting melody played.

“Calypso…”

Yes, his heart was better off where it was. Love had brought him nothing but pain. If the boy hadn’t learned that yet, it was only a matter of time before it taught him life’s cruel lesson.

A heart just wasn’t worth the cost.

Quick story time: I grew up watching the Pirates movies and am really glad the franchise is making a return to Kingdom Hearts. Davy Jones is a great villain and I really felt for him in At World’s End when he and Tia Dalma/Calypso talk about what happened to their love for each other. Anyway, Davy Jones’s heartless (literally) condition as a result got me thinking about a certain character who also lost his heart as a result of love, but for a very different reason and with a very different outcome. I’ve been wanting to write this conversation since E3 of last year, and I finally got around to it. I'm curious to see if canon will make the connection, but if not, this was a lot of fun to write :)

“What about you guys? What do you do?” he asked, to get his mind off the hollow ache in his chest.

“Well, for us it’s our time to spend with our special sweethearts,” Goofy said. “Christmas is our time for family.”

“So it’s like the opposite of Destiny Islands, then.”

“Yup.”

Interesting. “So what else do you do?”

“Well,” Donald said, “I usually take Daisy on a date, and at the stroke of midnight…” He made a loud noise quacking noise.

Sora raised his eyebrow. “You kiss?”

“Yup,” Donald said. “New Year’s tradition. What better way to ring in the new year than with your special someone?”

Sora’s thoughts flickered to Kairi. What would it be like to take her to that hill above town, just the two of them, a little before midnight?

He could picture her now, her red hair standing out against the night sky, wearing a cute dress with a light jacket and a matching hat. Maybe they could get some of those noisemakers Donald had and set them off right at midnight.

Or right before midnight. The confetti would get in Kairi’s hair, then she’d turn to him and giggle as she brushed it out of his hair, too. He’d put his hand on her cheek and lean in close, and then, right as the new year began—

“Sora, you’re blushing again,” Donald teased, poking his cheek and jolting him back to reality.

“Am not!” he said, jerking the ship to the side. Donald, unbuckled as he was, went flying and crashed against the wall. A string of incomprehensible quacks came out of his beak before he recovered and made his way back to his chair so he could buckle in.

“Watch what you’re doing, or I’ll have to do the driving while you daydream,” Donald muttered after that.

“Hey now!”

Donald and Goofy just laughed at him at that, and he couldn’t help but grin.

If he couldn’t celebrate New Year’s like normal, at least he could celebrate it in his head. That would have to be good enough for now until he could make his dreams a reality.

Thank you for reading! Also...

GIMME DONALD AND GOOFY TEASING SORA ABOUT HIS WHOLESOME FANTASIES AGAIN IN KH3 LIKE THEY DID IN KH2 PLEASE AND THANK YOU.