#venlitzia

“Fine, just this once.” Normally, she and Sora tried to keep their bedroom sacred. The kids knew not to come in here except in emergencies. But this definitely was an unusual situation. Her family had never all turned into cats before. Good thing their bed was king-sized too, or the six of them never would've all fit.

Sora immediately cuddled up next to her once she was back under the covers. He switched to making biscuits against her back and nuzzling her neck, and she giggled. She was certain he would be spooning her right now if he were in human form. He loved spooning her and he also loved being the little spoon or, as they called it, jetpacking.

Basically, any excuse for cuddles was a good one in Sora land, which she found incredibly endearing for a 37-year-old man.

She wished with all her heart that he would be back to himself soon. That their kids would be back to themselves soon. And with those thoughts on her mind, she fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.

When she woke up next, sunlight was streaming through the window and something warm was against her back. Strong, steady arms were wrapped around her—

She glanced backwards, and her husband smiled sleepily at her, his blue eyes as vibrant as ever.

“Morning, wife,” he said, and she loved hearing his voice first thing in the morning like this, lower with the vestiges of sleep.

“Morning, husband.”

Somehow, he was himself again. He was human. She rolled over and kissed him, a morning ritual they always made sure to perform. He kissed her back, savoring the moment, letting his lips linger.

Just then, the baby kicked, and she smiled and brought his hand to her belly. A huge smile spread across his face as he felt their little boy kick again and again.

“I think he's saying good morning,” she told him.

“Good morning, Kaito,” he said, leaning close so he could kiss her belly. “Daddy and Mommy love you very much.”

“Our soaring little sea is already living up to his name, so energetic and full of life,” she said happily, but at the thought of their newest child, her other three children sprung to mind.

“Wait, Sora, where are the kids? They were in here last night—”

Paternal panic flash through his eyes, and without another word the two of them sprang out of bed. Sora was still wearing his clothes from yesterday, which were very rumpled by now, and she was in sweatpants and a T-shirt. They staggered into the kitchen together, looking very messy and unkempt. Kageko was calmly eating out of her bowl on the floor, and two plates had been set out on the table with still warm breakfast food that were covered in paper towels and labeled “Mom” and “Dad.” 

At last they spotted their kids in the backyard. The three of them were all human again, neatly dressed, and with a fourth person. Kairi didn't recognize him at first because she had never seen him in human form before.

As she put two and two together, she put a hand over her mouth to stifle her guffaw, but Sora just roared with laughter. Because Donald had somehow been turned into a human, and he looked very, very annoyed about it. His blue jacket was too short, his cap was too small and couldn't stifle the shock of white hair poking out of it, and thank the stars Haruto’s magic seemed to produce clothes when they were needed, because he had on a pair of very baggy pants and oversized shoes. He was a fashion disaster, in other words.

He seemed to hear Sora even through the back door, and he turned and glared in their direction. “That’s not funny!” she heard him squawk at the top of his now-human lungs, his face red. “Your son needs to learn how to control his magic! It's the second most powerful transformation magic I've ever seen!”

That just made everyone laugh even harder. Miyu had forgotten her teenage dignity and was bent over giggling. Haruto fell to the ground, he was laughing so hard, and Emi was already there, a fresh wave of giggles hitting her as Haruto joined her. Even Kageko lifted her head from eating to see what was going on.

Sora opened the door and Kairi followed after him. “Oh, I think this is just payback for all the times you transformed me,” he said with a grin, crossing his arms as he raised his eyebrows. Donald had done it a number of times to prank Sora over the years, including a mischievous matchmaking ploy to get Sora and Kairi closer when they were teens.

“Watch your mouth, I can punch you now and really make it hurt,” Donald said, forming a fist.

“Bring it on!” Sora said with a grin, readying himself for a playful brawl.

Smirking, Kairi winked at Haruto. As Donald launched himself at Sora, Haruto summoned his Keyblade right as Kairi summoned hers. A moment later, Donald was a duck again and floating in midair just inches from Sora’s face.

Beautiful coordination. All that training for Miyu and Haruto was paying off.

Donald went into a new tirade about how unfair it was that they could all team up against him. Kairi couldn't make out much of it, mainly just the ranting about how Sora had a wife and three kids who could gang up on him.

“You mean four?” Sora said with a proud smile.

Then Donald finally noticed Kairi’s belly and went into a new excited sputtering session involving lots of flailing.

Kairi brought Miyu over to show her how to cancel an anti-gravity spell so Donald could celebrate with them properly. As soon as he was on the ground again, he launched himself at Kairi for a big hug. Before long, the entire family and Donald were all hugging. 

“By the way, Kairi,” Donald said, when they finally broke apart, “you turned them all human again on your own. I don't know how you did it, but everyone was back to normal when I got here.”

Sora looked at Kairi. “Even after all this time, you still underestimate yourself sometimes,” he said, proud and sad at the same time. She reached for his hand, and he gave hers a gentle squeeze. He always believed in her, even when she didn't believe in herself.

“I guess I just thought that after all this time, I had lost my touch a little. I mean I know I saved Sora back when he got hurt, but that felt different. That was an emergency. This was just… a goofy mishap that made me realize how much I treasure each of you the way you are. I remember wishing last night that you would all be back to yourselves soon, and I guess that wish transformed you all.”

“You’re really powerful, Mom,” Miyu said, a newfound respect in her eyes.

“Yeah,” Haruto said. “I didn't get this ability from nowhere, you know. And you can even use it without a Keyblade. You're pretty awesome, Mom!”

“Everyone, let's have a party!” Emi cried. “To celebrate Mommy and being back to normal and Kaito coming soon!” 

That sounded like a splendid idea to everyone, so they all scrambled to make preparations. 

Several hours and many gummiphone calls later, they were all on the beach of the Play Island with their closest friends and their kids enjoying a delicious barbecue. Kairi smiled as she watched everyone enjoying the impromptu baby shower for Kaito/celebrating everyone being back to normal…and celebrating her. Frisbee, races, tug-of-war, and so much delicious smoked fish and veggies plus plenty of fresh paopu provided the perfect party atmosphere.

Kageko sat on her lap, and she stroked her sleek black fur with one hand as she put the finishing touches on the mobile for Kaito’s room with the other hand with the help of Aqua, Naminé, and Naminé and Roxas’s daughter Yume. It was made of thalassa shells they’d crafted into multiple Wayfinders. A way of keeping Kaito safe and always bringing him home.

Kairi watched as Sora, Riku, Roxas, Terra, Ven, and Strelitzia played frisbee with Miyu and Haruto, plus most of the other kids, including Julius, Terra and Aqua’s oldest son, their daughter Camilla, and Riku and Xion’s three kiddos, Yuki, Rie, and Mamoru. Ven and Strelitzia’s twins, Priscilla and Peony, were searching for shells with Xion, and Hayner, Pence, and Olette were taking photos and hollering advice at the frisbee players. Axel and Isa were grilling up more food for everyone, and Goofy was putting it on plates. Daisy, Minnie, and Mickey were building sandcastles together with Emi and Augustus, Terra and Aqua’s younger son who was around her age.

Kairi’s eyes met Sora’s, and he smiled, his face lighting up like the sun. It was so good to have him back, to have their kids back. For everything to be how it was supposed to be.

“What a weekend it's been,” she said, smiling in contentment. Her friends agreed, and Kageko also purred her agreement. She would have to ask Sora and the kids if Kageko had told them anything interesting while they were all cats.

Each day brought with it a new adventure, and she couldn't wait to welcome Kaito into the World and introduce him to so many wonderful family members and friends.

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Kaito’s name is 海翔 in Japanese, the first kanji meaning “ocean” or “sea” and the second one meaning “flying.” I wanted a name that combined aspects of Kairi and Sora’s names. I've always loved how Sora's name means “sky” in Japanese but also sounds like the word “soar” in English.

A big thank you to @scoobysnack1107for letting me use her Rokunami child name, Yume, for Roxas and Naminé's daughter. I gave Terra and Aqua’s children Latin names since their names are Latin (and years ago @angel-with-a-pipette and I thought up the name Julius for their oldest son), and for Ventus and Strelitzia, I gave one of their children a Latin name and the other a flower name to match their parents. For Riku and Xion‘s children, their names are Japanese, with Yuki meaning courage, Rie meaning pear tree (as a shout out to her mother's flower-based name) + grace and kindness, and Mamoru meaning protector (it's also the name of Riku's Japanese voice actor).

Anyway, this was a blast to write. It was nice exploring things from Kairi‘s point of view, like how she still might underestimate herself from time to time but also how she and Sora unconditionally support each other. It was also fun making a call back to one of my earlier stories (Transform) and the shenanigans that happened there. The scene with Donald was amusing to write, he would look so funny as a human and I kept chuckling to myself imagining it.