Chapter Text
Sora, Tiana, Prince Naveen, and Louis trail after Ray’s glow, winding through cypress roots and mossy branches, fireflies blinking overhead like stars. The air buzzes with humidity and the scent of river water. Sora’s eyes keep drifting toward the dark patches between trees, the quiet places where even frogs won’t croak.
That’s when Louis slows his stride and glances around uneasily. “Somethin’ don’t feel right,” he murmurs. “Used to be, the bayou was full’a critters. But lately…” He pauses. A low splash echoes behind them. “…they’ve been disspearin’. ”
Sora’s eyes narrow. “That’s the darkness,” he says quietly. “It’s probably Heartless.”
Before the others can ask what they are, the bayou ripples with black smoke, and they’re surrounded.
They emerge from the shadows with fluid, unnatural grace. Snake-like Heartless slither through the water. Their eyes glow like yellow diamonds and their mouths drip black mist. From above, blue Heartless flap down from the trees. They are small and skeletal and their beaks are hooked and jagged. And finally, there are small compact dark-furred Heartless with red eyes and red, sharp claws that churn the muddy water.
Sora readies himself instinctively, only to realize, again, that he has no Keyblade. No sword. No weapon.
Louis shrieks and leaps sideways, landing belly-first on a viper Heartless with a wet smack . “I didn’t mean to do that!” he squeals, before crushing another one beneath his tail as he flails backward into the reeds.
Tiana doesn’t hesitate. Her movements are precise, powerful. She leaps from root to stone, tongue snapping out with lightning speed to strike down the blue bird-like-herons mid-dive.
“Got it!” she says breathlessly. “You okay, Sora?!”
“I, uh, working on it!” He manages to fly out of the way as the brown furred heartless spins out of the water and dives into the sky for him. It splashes behind him.
Naveen dodges and weaves, hands behind his back like he’s on a stroll. “Darling, to the left,” he calls, as a Heartless closes in on Tiana. “No, your other left.”
Ray zips in dizzying loops, his glow disorienting the Heartless. Two blue Heartlesses slam into each other midair and burst into smoke with a hiss. “You’re welcome!” Ray chirps.
Sora, meanwhile, stumbles back, his heart pounding. He’s in the air, defenseless, unfamiliar with this body. He feels small. Useless. He falls near the bank and his foot bumps into something. He looks down. A twig.
It’s barely longer than his arm. It is thin and unimpressive.
But it reminds him of wooden swords on Destiny Islands. Of training with Riku in the sand. Of bruises and laughter and someone always teasing him and pushing him to do better. His chest tightens hearing Riku’s voice in his head. The familiar grin of— C’mon Sora, I thought you were stronger than that. He shoves the ache down, burying those sad thoughts as far down as they can go. He can’t lose focus. Not now. He has to be strong. Always be strong.
He reaches down for the twig and flies forward. The first strike knocks a river otter Heartless off a log and stumbles into the water. It’s not enough damage, but it’s enough to stagger it. Enough to try and enough to keep going and remain strong.
“Okay,” Sora says, tightening his grip. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”
The fight turns. He adapts. Dodges. Swings. Keeps moving. His movements are clumsy, but they’re getting faster. More precise. With every hit, a little more confidence creeps back in.
No Keyblade. Just a twig and the need to be strong.
| ✩･ﾟ✧･ﾟ✩･ﾟ✧･ﾟ✩ |
Hundreds of chairs line the Hall of Blossoms, arranged in two neat rows facing one another. The plaza hums with quiet anticipation. Members of the Restoration Committee, citizens of Radiant Garden, and familiar faces from distant travels sit scattered throughout, chattering softly as they wait for the ceremony to begin.
A long teal carpet stretches down the center aisle, leading to a raised platform at the front of the hall. At its center sits an ornate chair carved with intricate florals, and beside it, a polished podium bearing a radiant rose gold crown with crystals and even more floral carvings. A smaller stand next to it holds a delicate brooch that glimmers faintly under the afternoon sun. Off to the side, a row of dignified chairs reserved for Parliament seat a group of eleven restless members. They hiss at each other in hushed whispers, glancing nervously all around.
Their future queen is late.
Elsewhere in the castle, Kairi wrings her hands. Her mouth moves soundlessly as she recites the speech for the hundredth time, the words a blur in her mind. Is this right? Should she really be Queen of a world she barely remembers? Should she have left it all to Leon and Aerith? They’d handled everything just fine without her. They know the people. They know the world. What does she know?
She stands in a small study tucked deep in the castle’s west wing, the scent of old books and rosewater clinging to the air. Her speech lies open on the desk before her—transcribed in Ienzo’s elegant, precise handwriting. Small notes in the margins mark gentle suggestions, nothing forceful. Just support.
Then she hears a crash.
She jumps in place, confusing etching her face. Then there’s another crash followed by a guttural scream.
Kairi tugs at her ball gown and makes her way out of the study and to the room next door. Slowly, she opens the door. The entire room is destroyed. There are bed sheets strewn over. Broken glass and ceramic litters the floor and there are clothes ripped to shreds around the floor.
In the center of it all Merida stands, breathing heavily and midway to throwing a vase at the wall.
They lock eyes.
Kairi blinks. “Merida?”
The redhead shrieks. She slams the vase anyway. She’s flushed, eyes wild, the hem of her borrowed dress already snagged with mud and other casualties.
“You’d think,” Merida snaps, her accent thickened by rage, “that after your world’s gone up in bloody smoke, people would let you breathe instead of stuffin’ you into silk.”
Kairi straightens. “I didn’t ask them to—”
“Oh shut up, Queen Kairi ,” Merida spits, pacing the room like a caged animal. “What’s the point of any of this?! Crowns?! Coronations?! Fancy speeches?!”
Kairi takes a slow breath. “I didn’t choose this.”
“Didn’t you?” Merida whirls around, her voice cracking. “You’re standin’ here waitin’ for a crown for your head, while my father died buyin’ me enough time to run. My whole world and dad —gone! He stayed behind to fight those things, and now I’m here, in this ridiculous frock while everyone acts like I’m lucky to be alive.”
Her fists tremble. She looks like she might punch the wall…or Kairi.
Kairi steps forward. Quietly. Carefully. She can see it so clearly. There’s so much anger and grief surrounding Merida. She’s lost in it. Kairi’s heart aches at the sight. Her mind quickly thinks of Sora. What would he do?
Merida’s voice breaks again. “Is this how it ends? With everyone pretendin’ it didn’t happen? With tea and pleasantries while worlds disappear because of the darkness?! I don’t know what this place is! Or who you people even are!”
Kairi looks down at her hands. “Neither do I.”
That stops Merida. Just for a moment.
“I don’t know these people. I don’t know this world. I used to live here when I was younger and when it fell under attack, I was sent to another world with no memory. Now that I’m back, everyone keeps smiling at me like I’m supposed to be someone. Save them from the darkness. But I don’t really know what I’m doing.”
They stand in silence for a beat, both breathing hard.
Kairi steps closer. Slowly lifts a hand. She doesn’t say anything as she places it gently on Merida’s shoulder. Merida flinches.
And then there is light .
A burst of soft gold radiates from where Kairi’s hand rests, and something flickers in Merida’s hand.
She gasps and looks down.
It’s a long, elegant key made from rowan wood. The shaft glows faintly with a cool blue light, etched with Celtic knotwork. The handle is made of blue mist. At its keychain, it spirals into the form of a growling bear. The teeth of the keyblade are notched like arrows, glinting sharp with feathers coming off the other end.
Merida stares at it in shock.
So does Kairi.
“That’s…that’s a keyblade,” Kairi says.
“A what?” Merida questions.
Kairi steps back and summons her own Destiny’s Embrace. Merida stares. “Oh, like Vanitas.”
Kairi stares at her in shock. “You met him?”
“Yeah. Quite full of himself that shadow boy.”
Kairi chuckles in disbelief for a moment. “Yeah, it’s exactly like Vanitas’ keyblade and Sora’s.”
Merida scrunches her face. “Sora didn’t have one.”
“What?”
“He didn’t have no keyblade.”
Kairi is stunned back into silence, but then the door is pushed open. She spots Ienzo, Riku, and Dilan at the doorway.
The three men stare at the room in disbelief but then their eyes draw to Merida’s keyblade still in her hand. She yelps and wretches free from Kairi’s hold on her shoulder. The keyblade disappears and Merida yelps again.
“I’ll explain later,” Kairi says to all of them.
“Certainly,” Ienzo speaks. “Your Highness, there is a coronation waiting for you.”
Kairi sighs and rolls her eyes. She lifts her ballgown again to walk more comfortably and heads to the door. She pauses for a moment at the doorway and glances over her shoulder at Merida.
“You are free to stay here if you wish,” Kairi tells her. “I understand you are still in mourning.”
Merida nods, but then marches forward out the door and walks ahead toward the coronation.
Kairi smiles and catches Dilan’s eyes at the state of the mess. “What the bloody fucking hell?”
“Like I said, I’ll explain later. C’mon. I can’t avoid it forever.”
| ✩･ﾟ✧･ﾟ✩･ﾟ✧･ﾟ✩ |
The air in Corona is too clean for Roxas’s mood.
Sunlight glints through the treetops as he and Isa follow the winding forest path, birds chirping like nothing is wrong. And technically, nothing is wrong yet. But the message from Rapunzel and Eugene had come in coded urgency: “Sudden influx of Heartless near the lake. We sent guards but they haven’t returned. We’ve locked down the village for safety. Please investigate ASAP.”
Roxas kicks a stone off the path. “I can’t believe we’re missing the coronation. We were promised food.”
Isa, walks just ahead with his arms crossed behind his back, raising an eyebrow. “You were promised food. I was promised the return of diplomatic order to my world.”
“Same thing!” Roxas huffs. “They were going to have a banquet . You know they had sea salt ice cream flown in from Twilight Town made courtesy of Remy. Xion peeked in the kitchen. She saw chocolate drizzle on it.” His voice takes on a tragic quality. “Drizzle, Isa.”
Isa gives a quiet hum of acknowledgment, the corners of his mouth twitching.
“And for what?” Roxas goes on. “A few stray Heartless? Riku really couldn’t have sent anyone else?”
“Maintaining order and peace across the worlds is still important,” Isa reminds him.
“Yeah, tell that to Riku.” Roxas mimics Riku's voice as dramatically as he can, “I know we’re not supposed to reveal the other worlds exist to civilians, but given the stakes, I find it necessary to at least keep certain trusted allies informed.” He hates Riku. He can forgive him for kidnapping him in The World that Never Was but fuck Riku for keeping ice cream from him.
Isa chuckles. “I heard Donald and King Mickey weren’t thrilled.”
“I know!” Roxas exclaims. “I was there when Donald started squawking about it.”
He is just about to continue to tell Isa about Riku’s decision when his gummi-phone buzzes. He fishes it out and scowls at the message he received from the Twilight Town group chat, ‘Sea Salt & Spite’. Axel, Xion, Hayner, Pence, and Olette are on the group chat. Isa used to be in on it but then Hayner one day didn’t like the way Isa looked at him, they tried to explain to him that it was just his face, but Hayner with his delicate sensibilities kicked him off the chat. Axel told Roxas that he’s waiting for Hayner to forget and he will add him back on. But on the screen in front of him is a photo from Axel—standing with Xion and even fucking Hayner, all three of them grinning and throwing peace signs in front of the empty coronation stage.
Roxas narrows his eyes and sends a middle finger emoji back before shoving the phone into his pocket.
Isa finally laughs out loud.
“Glad you find my suffering funny.”
“Oh, deeply.”
They walk in comfortable silence for a few more minutes, the trees opening into a familiar clearing. Beyond the slope is the Kingdom of Corona's castle, reflecting on the lake’s surface. Everything looks peaceful, no signs of danger.
“I don’t see anything,” Roxas mutters. “Maybe we can still make it back for the food. Come on, let’s head to the gummi ship before Axel finishes all the—”
Then, from the shadows near the water's edge, the Heartless surge forward. First a handful, then dozens.
Roxas doesn’t hesitate. Two Keyblades flash into his hands, twin streaks of light cutting across the field.
“Okay,” he grins, “Let’s finish this quick!”
They move in sync. Isa’s claymore slams into the ground through the waves of enemies, while Roxas darts and spins through the chaos. Within minutes, the clearing is littered with fading motes of darkness.
Roxas flicks his wrist to dismiss his Keyblades and turns toward the trail. “Let’s go. Ice cream awaits.”
Isa doesn’t move.
“...Isa?”
The older man’s expression is troublesome. His eyes are not on the retreating shadows, but on the treeline beyond them. His hand hover over his weapon again.
“There’s still something here,” Isa says quietly. “Something else.”
Roxas follows his gaze and he feels his appetite vanish.
A hunched, malformed figure, cloaked in writhing darkness stands by the shade of the trees. Its arms are too long, dragging through the grass, and its red eyes burn like coals. Its presence is suffocating. Roxas has never seen a Heartless like it before.
Roxas doesn’t hesitate. He dashes forward, his keyblades dragging against the sand behind him.
“Wait,” Isa cries out sharply.
The creature lunges.
A column of darkness explodes from its mouth like a cannon. Roxas barely brings his Keyblades up before it hits him square in the chest and launches him across the clearing. He crashes into the dirt with a sharp grunt, rolling to a stop beside the lake’s edge.
The creature’s head snaps toward Isa.
“Shit,” Isa curses, raising his claymore just in time to deflect a second blast. He stumbles back, dodging on instinct, but the strain is clear. He’s slower, heavier in the full glare of daylight.
Roxas groans and pushes himself up, vision blurred.
The creature charges.
“Isa!” Roxas yells, leaping back into the fray.
They fight in a brutal tandem. Isa takes the brunt of its swings while Roxas moves like lightning, attacking from behind. It screeches and lashes out with sharp claws. They don’t let up. Together, they manage to force it back, step by step, until finally they slam it into the sand at the edge of the lake. Roxas straddles its heaving chest, both Keyblades crossed at its formless throat. Isa stands over them, breathing hard, claymore lifted high ready to smash its head.
The creature writhes, then lets out a sound— not a growl.
A scream.
It’s a wretched, piercing cry that splits the air like glass. Roxas cries out, clapping his hands over his ears, his keyblades vanishing. Isa flinches and staggers back, teeth gritted against the sound.
All around them, the air shimmers.
Dark portals flicker to life in the trees, on the grass, in the sky.
Heartless.
Dozens of them.
They crawl from the dark, eyes glowing, surrounding the clearing. Roxas breathes heavily, trying to push the ringing from his ears, but the creature is moving again.
It slips out from under him, slithering like a wounded animal, dragging itself onto all fours. The darkness recedes just enough to reveal—
A mouth. “...Brother…” it croaks.
Roxas freezes. “What…?”
Isa’s breath catches.
The monster lifts its head, red eyes flickering with something beneath the fury. It repeats, “Sora…brother…danger.”
Roxas summons his Keyblades once more. “Who the hell…?”
The creature’s next scream tears through the air. Shadows tremble in response, and the ground seems to pulse beneath their feet. Then two figures emerge. They emerge not from darkness, but as darkness: shifting outlines barely contained in vague humanoid shapes,
“You called us, brother,” one hisses.
The creature shakes its head violently, backing away from them on all fours. The two Original Darknesses step closer, the Heartless bowing in their presence.
“You cry out,” says the second, “and we hear you. Wretched. Broken. Pitiful.”
“He is trying to patch himself with borrowed shadows,” sneers the first. “A false mask to cover what festers inside. You cannot bury light with stolen darkness.”
The creature lets out another shriek, and Roxas flinches. It’s not rage. It’s agony . He clutches his chest, eyes wide, heart pounding in time with the thing’s suffering. He’s fucking terrified. What the fuck is happening? This was supposed to be a routine mission.
“You are damaged,” the Darkness says, voice low. “You were meant to be a true void. Not this… fractured thing. Not this shame.”
The other speaks, “Come. Return to us. There is still time.”
But the creature thrashes, wild, as if the very thought of going with them causes it pain. The red glow of its eyes dims, then flashes again.
“Vanitas,” the first Darkness intones coldly, and everything freezes.
The name alone stills the creature’s thrashing. His head lifts slowly, like the name physically restrains him.
The second Darkness scoffs. “You cling to that name. A name. How dare you pretend to be more than what you are. How dare you claim life. Being. Identity.”
“You are nothingness. Emptiness. Chaos incarnate. Not a person. Not a man.”
“Not human.”
Vanitas? Is that Vanitas, Roxas questions. His eyes dart between the darkness and Vanitas who now shakes, his claws digging into the earth as if anchoring himself to it.
“Let us take him,” says the first. “He is tainted. Useless to us now.”
“No,” the other says, tone measured. “Not yet. We may still unmake him properly.”
But Roxas, still tense and confused, continues to watch Vanitas. He sees something in the way the creature flinches. Something afraid. Something…unwilling to be marked and controlled. Images flash in the back of Roxas’ head of pleading with anyone who would listen. I am me. Nobody else.
Then the distant sound of screaming reaches them— human screams.
From the direction of the Kingdom of Corona.
The Darknesses tilt their heads at once.
“This world stands defiant,” one murmurs. “Then it shall fall.”
They look at Roxas and Isa, their shapes twitching. “We will take this place with us.”
Roxas steps forward, fists clenched around his keyblades. “Like hell you will.”
Isa draws in sharply. “Roxas! We have to get back to the castle. If they’re attacking the people, we need to get as many as we can to safety!”
Roxas nods. They break into a sprint. The gummi ship is behind the castle. If they move fast enough...
A streak of darkness tears across the clearing.
Roxas is hit square in the chest.
“ Roxas! ” Isa’s voice distorts under the blast.
Roxas goes airborne, crashing hard into the lake with a deafening splash. He sinks beneath the surface, colliding with the rocks beneath. The sharp edge of rock strikes him right in the wound made by the Darknesses forcing his chest to burn like fire. Air escapes his lungs in a panicked bubble. He kicks, struggling, but everything hurts. He is struggling to get his body to move. The water around him is starting to crimson. Shit. He’s bleeding. His eyes grow bleary.
He hears a muffled cry above the surface, but it's distorted. Then, suddenly, there is light .
A brilliant, searing white cuts through the haze. Through the rippling distortion of the water, he sees a shape. And then…Sora?
Sora’s eyes are wide with panic, his entire body surrounded by a soft white radiance. He grabs Roxas by the arm and hauls him upward with desperate strength. Roxas breaches the surface with a violent gasp, coughing and choking as water and blood spill from his mouth.
They tumble onto the bridge. His lungs burn. Everything burns. Holy hell, he’s never felt pain like this.
Isa’s voice is suddenly there, sharp and shaking. “Roxas!”
He reaches for him, but Roxas’s vision is failing. Everything is flickering in and out. Roxas manages to tilt his head just enough to see Sora crouching beside him. His figure bathed in a white glow. Then like a flame smothered by the wind, the light extinguishes.
Violently.
Darkness lashes across the bridge like a whip. Vanitas returns with a scream, crashing to the stone, clawing at his own chest as if trying to dig something out. His monstrous form reforms, bigger, more unstable.
Roxas stares up at him in disbelief. Not Sora. What is he? What is Vanitas?
Isa curses and digs into his pocket. He pulls out a potion and forces it against Roxas’s lips. “Come on. Come on. Drink.”
Roxas swallows weakly. The familiar tingle of magic hits his throat, but the pain doesn’t recede. Not this time. His body is too far gone. The wound is too deep. Isa knows it too.
“I don’t…damn it! I don’t know any Cure,” Isa mutters, panic bleeding through his voice. He grips Roxas’s shoulder with shaking hands.
Then Vanitas lets out a howl . “Brother!” Vanitas cries out.
Before Isa can react, the creature lunges.
Roxas barely has time to cry out before Vanitas slings him like a rag doll over his jagged shoulder, and takes off on all fours, sprinting up the bridge, toward the castle.
“No!” Isa roars. “Roxas!”
He’s already running after them, summoning his claymore again mid-stride. But he can’t catch up. The creature is fast, inhumanly so, and it disappears into the smoke and crumbling skyline of the collapsing world.
The rest is a blur.
Screams. Wind. Metal groaning.
Then cold steel.
Roxas is on the floor of the gummi ship, his body barely clinging to consciousness. Someone’s pressing hard on his chest.
“Come on, don’t die on me! Stay with me buddy!” It’s Eugene, hands slick with blood, voice cracking with fear. His weight presses down to staunch the bleeding.
Roxas’s head lolls to the side. He sees Isa. His face pale, jaw clenched and he is piloting the ship with one hand while the other hangs limply broken by his side.
Next to him, Rapunzel sits frozen, her long, blonde hair a mess, and a face full of tears as she tries to follow Isa’s commands.
“I said blue, blue! That button! Now hold it! Just hold it!” Isa yells at her.
Rapunzel cries, but nods. Going and listening to Isa’s next command to send the gummi ship into overdrive. Outside the viewport, the Kingdom of Corona is collapsing in on itself. Its towers fold into the void, its skies blackened with swirling shadow.
There’s no sign of Vanitas anywhere. What had happened to him?
As Roxas’s mind fades, he wonders why Vanitas had saved him and called him brother.
| ✩･ﾟ✧･ﾟ✩･ﾟ✧･ﾟ✩ |
Trumpets blare and a chorus of other instruments follow. Kairi stands at the end of the rolled out teal carpet, her hands folded neatly in front of her like she was taught by Queen Minnie. She glances across those in attendance. Cinderella and Snow White whisper excitedly, clearly enamored with her dress. It’s a soft pink, almost lavender, ball gown. It’s strapless with delicate off-shoulder sleeves. Intricate floral embroidery winds across the skirt, dotted with tiny green crystals that glint like vines and leaves. In the open-air plaza, the fabric shimmers under the sunlight.
The crowd rises. She sees her friends, the residents of Disney Castle, members of the Restoration Committee and dozens of citizens from Radiant Garden. The music swells, and Kairi steps forward, walking down the long aisle.
She holds her head high, but her mind wanders. She wonders where Sora is in all this. There was a moment of hope as Merida had seen him, spoken to him it seems, and she’s excited to talk to the Princess of Heart to gather more information. Still, all she truly wants is for him to be here. She can almost see it. Sora would be shouting and clapping at the very front, probably drawing disapproving looks from the Fairy Godmother and Queen Minnie. The thought makes her smile.
She misses him terribly.
Would he be proud of her?
Yes. Most definitely. He’d say she is being brave, tell her she is doing something incredible.
She reaches the end of the aisle, goes up the small raised stage, and sits gracefully on the chair placed in the center for her.
The audience follows suit, taking their seats.
Regis from the House of Nobles is the first to rise. She half listens as he speaks about the return of their princess. Then Seymour follows it up with another speech, then even Cloud goes to say a few words, short but earnest. Then the oldest member, Maechen stands forward holding a large tome. Kairi recognizes the book. Ienzo had shown it to her telling her that it holds many of the traditions and history of Radiant Garden. She should probably read through the full thing, Kairi thinks briefly.
Maechen opens to a marked page and recites a passage. When he finishes, he closes the book with care and returns to his seat.
A hush falls. All eyes turn to Kairi.
She stands and approaches the podium.
“Thank you all for being here today,” Kairi begins. “When I was told I would have to give a speech, I tried my best to recall any memories of Radiant Garden. I wanted to be able to stand here and tell you all what the castle smelled like in spring, or how the stars looked from the garden at night.” She chuckles to herself to recompose herself. “Unfortunately, I don’t remember much at all, and what memories I do hold of this place was when I was fourteen and brought here against my will to act as a tool for darkness.” She pauses and she sees so many fearful faces. She locks eyes with Riku in the front row and she can see remorse in his gaze.
She continues, “I don’t think this world wants to hear the lies that I can remember the streets or the songs or even the sound of this world’s heartbeat. But yet, I…somehow, I’ve always felt this world’s absence. Like a missing piece of a story. Like a home, I couldn’t name. Coming back has been overwhelming. Being asked to lead it? Even more so. I won’t pretend I know all the traditions or that I have all the answers. But I do know this: I will not turn away from the people who believe in me. I will not abandon the place that shaped who I became, even from afar.”
She makes sure to scan the crowd even though her heart beats rapidly inside of her. “Radiant Garden had seen so much loss, change, and rebuilding. And now, once again, we find ourselves standing at the edge of something unknown. Darkness is stirring. Worlds are disappearing. People we love are still missing. But we are not powerless.
Because we have each other. And I believe, more than ever, in the strength of the bonds we share.”
She glances to Naminé. “We are formed in bonds of remembrance.”
She turns to Lea. “Forgiveness.”
To Ienzo. “Growth.”
And finally, to Riku. “In sacrifice and devotion.”
“I will do my best to honor that strength as your queen. Not with grand gestures, but with small, steady choices. With listening. With learning. With light, even in the face of shadow. And one day, when he’s here again, I hope he’ll see this moment and remember...that all of us here share the same sky, one sky, one destiny. Thank you everyone…for welcoming me home.”
She steps back.
The crowd stands and bursts into applause.
Leon steps forward, carrying a large but delicate crown in rose gold and brilliant crystals. Aerith walks beside him with a brooch nestled in a satin cloth: a luminous flower, its sky-pink gems surrounded by sculpted white petals and gold-edged leaves. It glimmers like starlight.
The music resumes.
Kairi lowers her head slightly as Leon crowns her. The crown settles onto her hair as if it had always belonged there. Aerith gently pins the brooch over her heart, its cool surface catching the light of the afternoon sun.
For a moment, Kairi stands motionless. The wind catches her dress and hair, and the soft sound of chimes from the plaza echoes around her. She looks out at them all, her people, and breathes in deeply.
This time, she does not tremble.
The triumphant fanfare dies mid-note, swallowed by the roar of engines overhead. Gasps ripple through the crowd as everyone instinctively looks up.
Kairi’s head jerks toward the sound, her brows furrowing. Confusion flashes across her face, quickly replaced by dread.
A gummi ship, battered, smoke trailing from its hull descends far too fast for ceremony. It banks awkwardly as it clears the rooftops, making a hard landing in the main plaza. The crowd parts in a mixture of awe and rising panic.
The ramp lowers with a metallic clang.
Isa stumbles out first, wild-eyed and breathless. His coat is torn, his face streaked with grime and blood. He scans the crowd with frantic purpose. Then Rapunzel, tears running down her face, follows after him. And then Eugene. He descends the ramp carrying Roxas in his arms.
Blood stains the boy’s coat, soaking through his chest and sleeves. His head lolls slightly, limp, and Eugene is shouting, but Kairi can’t hear the words over the rush of blood in her ears.
His voice is strained. “Help! Someone— he’s not breathing! ”