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--so, I'm slo-o-oooowly making my way through old requests, too.
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laylah, I'm sorry this took forever and a day. .___. I will be more on the ball next time! XO
What There Remains
Kingdom Hearts 2 - endgame spoilers + speculation
1240 words
Riku/Kairi-centric implied OT3, and rampant abuse of my favorite fanon (the "Kairi grew up with the Apprentices" thing)
Forlaylah, I am once again sorry it took so long. _o_
+++++
Framed by the newly-finished lights and falling snow, the palace at Radiant Garden was beautiful, new stone layered over the old foundation, based on the blueprints from Merlin's library, part of a precious handful that had been saved before the world fell. A few of the prouder residents told each other it even rivaled Disney Castle for sheer sweeping grace and style.
Kairi stood at the gate looking up, her arms loosely wrapped around herself.
Do you remember very much? Naminé half-whispered to her; she felt a ghostly hand curl at her shoulder. About what it used to be like?
She shook her head. "I feel like it should," she confessed. "I was born here, I lived here, I can remember when I first woke up on Destiny Island, but not much before that."
Naminé said nothing to that, tracing her thin cool fingers against Kairi's shoulder. Even through the coat, she could feel it, and she leaned into that for a moment. Eventually somewhere, Naminé faded back into her, a warmth curling at her heart, and Kairi turned and watched as Riku came up -- not quite sauntering, because it was too embarrassedly sulky for that, but too hunched-shouldered and head-bowed to be a normal walk.
"Hey," she said, and took his hand, pulling it from his pocket to hold it between both of hers.
He lifted one shoulder quickly. "... Hey."
Which could mean anything, from "the meeting with the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee didn't go as well as Sora thought it would" to "I am being a stupid boy and won't admit it," or even "it's cold and I don't like it." Kairi studied his profile for a moment, then squeezed his hand until he looked at her.
"It's not the same place it was," she said.
Riku's eyes flickered up, to the castle, then to meet her own gaze, then away again. "... I know."
There was a lot in those two words, too deliberately pronounced. She bit the inside of her cheek for a moment, then pulled. "Let's go inside," she said. "Aeris promised hot chocolate."
He made a noncommittal noise, but let himself be tugged along the long stately walkway, up the stairs and into the palace. If anything, though, he got stiffer once inside, like he'd pulled the cold along with him and it was creeping through him from the inside out. Desperately she cast around for something -- Sora was the one who could really draw Riku out when he retreated into himself like this; she was better at listening and holding fast till the storms passed, but Sora was still in talks with King Mickey and the rest of the Committee, so --
Kairi stopped, and Riku, not looking, bumped into her.
"Kairi?" He tilted his head quizzically. "What--"
She pointed. "Look," she said. "Up there, see that window?"
He followed the line of her finger, up a curving arch of stairs; the window in question was large and made of stained glass, its shape vaguely suggestive of a heart. "Yes?"
"I think ..." She took a hesitant step, then nodded and broke into a light jog, pulling him with her. "I think I remember--"
"You do?" He sounded startled, for a moment surprised out of his funk. "Really? What?"
Kairi pulled him up the stairs; as she'd suspected, there was a small seat there, just large enough for two people if they sat side-by-side.
"There used to be cushions here," she said, and ran her other hand across the bare marble. "I think ... no, I know I used to sit here, and someone would read me stories."
"Someone?" Riku asked.
"Someone," she agreed, slightly dreamy, lost in thought. "I don't remember much. He was very tall, though, he took up this entire seat--" She gestured. "But I was small enough that I could sit here, by his knee, and he'd read aloud." She thought a moment longer, then sat where she'd indicated, pulling Riku to sit beside her. "I think I liked him very much," she added. "I think ... I must have been a bit of a nuisance to him, because I think I followed him around a lot."
Riku made a noncommittal noise. He put an arm around her shoulders, drawing her in, so she put her head on his shoulder and sighed. "Do you remember what he looked like?"
Kairi wrinkled her nose in thought. "He was definitely tall," she said. "And he had yellow eyes."
Riku hesitated. "Yellow--?"
"Like the sun," she said dreamily. "That's all about all I can remember, though." She drew a line down his leg with her finger, thinking. "This place wasn't always so bad, Riku."
He didn't answer right away, so she continued tracing patterns across his leg: a heart, a lopsided paopu, and idle stars. His silence wasn't as forced as she'd worried it would be -- when she glanced up at his face, he looked merely thoughtful instead of brooding. Through the window she could still see the snow falling, beginning to pile up in drifts and lumps and thought about a craggy solemn face accompanied by gigantic hands trying to show her how to properly make snowballs. If she stared and let her eyes unfocus, other hazy images drifted back as well: a woman singing, a pinch-faced man smuggling her cookies far too late at night, piggyback rides too fast and jostling to be anything but dangerous--
She wanted to ask what sort of memories Riku had about this place, if she could maybe balance out his memories with her own. In the end, she just waited the silence out, running her fingers up and down his arm.
"I think," Riku said, and she immediately looked back at him, "... I think that if this place hadn't been something really special, its darkness wouldn't have been so great." He looked at her, then away, embarrassed. "You need a lot of light to cast a big shadow."
For a moment Kairi blinked at him, and then she smiled and stretched up to kiss his cheek. "That's right," she said. "And if you're in the center of it, you can't always see it."
"I see just fine," Riku told her. He leaned down.
They kissed almost politely, with one of Riku's hands on her shoulder and the other bracing his weight, and Kairi laughed after a moment and threw her arms around him, leaning into his lap when he sputtered -- and maybe he was pale-skinned and green-eyed when her memories had golden skin and yellow eyes, she liked the immediate reality better than the half-formed memory. And he kissed her back after a moment, pulling her down against him so that her shoulder knocked against the glass of the window.
"... What was that for?" he asked when it was over, though he sounded more bemused than actually questioning.
She kissed the tip of his nose. "Because I love you," she said. "Because I felt like it. Want to go see if they'll give us Sora back yet?"
His hand tucked itself into hers and he grinned. His earlier tension had evaporated into wry good humor that pleased her much more to see. "If not," he said, "we can always stage a kidnapping."
"I like that idea," she said. "Who says princesses always have to be the kidnapees, and not the kidnapers?"
"Not me," he told her, and let her lead the way.
--end--
Also, because I'm a whore: please play with me? (I.e., I need something at work to break up the monotony of endless issues that make my eyes cross after a few hours. D:)
laylah, I'm sorry this took forever and a day. .___. I will be more on the ball next time! XOWhat There Remains
Kingdom Hearts 2 - endgame spoilers + speculation
1240 words
Riku/Kairi-centric implied OT3, and rampant abuse of my favorite fanon (the "Kairi grew up with the Apprentices" thing)
For
laylah, I am once again sorry it took so long. _o_+++++
Framed by the newly-finished lights and falling snow, the palace at Radiant Garden was beautiful, new stone layered over the old foundation, based on the blueprints from Merlin's library, part of a precious handful that had been saved before the world fell. A few of the prouder residents told each other it even rivaled Disney Castle for sheer sweeping grace and style.
Kairi stood at the gate looking up, her arms loosely wrapped around herself.
Do you remember very much? Naminé half-whispered to her; she felt a ghostly hand curl at her shoulder. About what it used to be like?
She shook her head. "I feel like it should," she confessed. "I was born here, I lived here, I can remember when I first woke up on Destiny Island, but not much before that."
Naminé said nothing to that, tracing her thin cool fingers against Kairi's shoulder. Even through the coat, she could feel it, and she leaned into that for a moment. Eventually somewhere, Naminé faded back into her, a warmth curling at her heart, and Kairi turned and watched as Riku came up -- not quite sauntering, because it was too embarrassedly sulky for that, but too hunched-shouldered and head-bowed to be a normal walk.
"Hey," she said, and took his hand, pulling it from his pocket to hold it between both of hers.
He lifted one shoulder quickly. "... Hey."
Which could mean anything, from "the meeting with the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee didn't go as well as Sora thought it would" to "I am being a stupid boy and won't admit it," or even "it's cold and I don't like it." Kairi studied his profile for a moment, then squeezed his hand until he looked at her.
"It's not the same place it was," she said.
Riku's eyes flickered up, to the castle, then to meet her own gaze, then away again. "... I know."
There was a lot in those two words, too deliberately pronounced. She bit the inside of her cheek for a moment, then pulled. "Let's go inside," she said. "Aeris promised hot chocolate."
He made a noncommittal noise, but let himself be tugged along the long stately walkway, up the stairs and into the palace. If anything, though, he got stiffer once inside, like he'd pulled the cold along with him and it was creeping through him from the inside out. Desperately she cast around for something -- Sora was the one who could really draw Riku out when he retreated into himself like this; she was better at listening and holding fast till the storms passed, but Sora was still in talks with King Mickey and the rest of the Committee, so --
Kairi stopped, and Riku, not looking, bumped into her.
"Kairi?" He tilted his head quizzically. "What--"
She pointed. "Look," she said. "Up there, see that window?"
He followed the line of her finger, up a curving arch of stairs; the window in question was large and made of stained glass, its shape vaguely suggestive of a heart. "Yes?"
"I think ..." She took a hesitant step, then nodded and broke into a light jog, pulling him with her. "I think I remember--"
"You do?" He sounded startled, for a moment surprised out of his funk. "Really? What?"
Kairi pulled him up the stairs; as she'd suspected, there was a small seat there, just large enough for two people if they sat side-by-side.
"There used to be cushions here," she said, and ran her other hand across the bare marble. "I think ... no, I know I used to sit here, and someone would read me stories."
"Someone?" Riku asked.
"Someone," she agreed, slightly dreamy, lost in thought. "I don't remember much. He was very tall, though, he took up this entire seat--" She gestured. "But I was small enough that I could sit here, by his knee, and he'd read aloud." She thought a moment longer, then sat where she'd indicated, pulling Riku to sit beside her. "I think I liked him very much," she added. "I think ... I must have been a bit of a nuisance to him, because I think I followed him around a lot."
Riku made a noncommittal noise. He put an arm around her shoulders, drawing her in, so she put her head on his shoulder and sighed. "Do you remember what he looked like?"
Kairi wrinkled her nose in thought. "He was definitely tall," she said. "And he had yellow eyes."
Riku hesitated. "Yellow--?"
"Like the sun," she said dreamily. "That's all about all I can remember, though." She drew a line down his leg with her finger, thinking. "This place wasn't always so bad, Riku."
He didn't answer right away, so she continued tracing patterns across his leg: a heart, a lopsided paopu, and idle stars. His silence wasn't as forced as she'd worried it would be -- when she glanced up at his face, he looked merely thoughtful instead of brooding. Through the window she could still see the snow falling, beginning to pile up in drifts and lumps and thought about a craggy solemn face accompanied by gigantic hands trying to show her how to properly make snowballs. If she stared and let her eyes unfocus, other hazy images drifted back as well: a woman singing, a pinch-faced man smuggling her cookies far too late at night, piggyback rides too fast and jostling to be anything but dangerous--
She wanted to ask what sort of memories Riku had about this place, if she could maybe balance out his memories with her own. In the end, she just waited the silence out, running her fingers up and down his arm.
"I think," Riku said, and she immediately looked back at him, "... I think that if this place hadn't been something really special, its darkness wouldn't have been so great." He looked at her, then away, embarrassed. "You need a lot of light to cast a big shadow."
For a moment Kairi blinked at him, and then she smiled and stretched up to kiss his cheek. "That's right," she said. "And if you're in the center of it, you can't always see it."
"I see just fine," Riku told her. He leaned down.
They kissed almost politely, with one of Riku's hands on her shoulder and the other bracing his weight, and Kairi laughed after a moment and threw her arms around him, leaning into his lap when he sputtered -- and maybe he was pale-skinned and green-eyed when her memories had golden skin and yellow eyes, she liked the immediate reality better than the half-formed memory. And he kissed her back after a moment, pulling her down against him so that her shoulder knocked against the glass of the window.
"... What was that for?" he asked when it was over, though he sounded more bemused than actually questioning.
She kissed the tip of his nose. "Because I love you," she said. "Because I felt like it. Want to go see if they'll give us Sora back yet?"
His hand tucked itself into hers and he grinned. His earlier tension had evaporated into wry good humor that pleased her much more to see. "If not," he said, "we can always stage a kidnapping."
"I like that idea," she said. "Who says princesses always have to be the kidnapees, and not the kidnapers?"
"Not me," he told her, and let her lead the way.
--end--
Also, because I'm a whore: please play with me? (I.e., I need something at work to break up the monotony of endless issues that make my eyes cross after a few hours. D:)
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Thank you!
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"I like that idea," she said. "Who says princesses always have to be the kidnapees, and not the kidnapers?"
"Not me," he told her, and let her lead the way.
*rofl* Kairi has a good point, and Riku wisely agrees.