190K words and almost a year later my fic, Brought Back, is officially complete!

Hurt/Comfort, SoRiku romance, and lots of them being besties with Kairi. Also action, mystery, fluff, and a lot of depression allegories.

Obsessively canon-compliant (aside from KH4 trailer) and most main characters turn up along the way. Set post ReMind and Melody of Memory. Angst with a happy ending.

I'm actually seriously proud of how this turned out 🥹 and amazed I made it to the end.

Chapter 1 is a short Prologue: As the Master of Masters observes Sora furiously searching for him, he senses more Keyblade Wielders appearing in Quadratum.

Full prologue and summary below

Summary:

After waking up in a strange city, Sora has wandered its streets alone for months searching for a way home, whilst tormented by Heartless and stalked by a stranger in a black coat. When he is gravely wounded, Riku and Kairi arrive just in time to get him to safety.

However, he has returned with more than just physical wounds. With his body, heart, and spirit all severely damaged, and memories of Rage still haunting him, the road to recovery will be long and painful. Could there be more than trauma to these dark feelings Sora has brought back with him?

His many friends want to be there to help him through it though, even in the times he doesn't want them to be, and doesn't think he deserves it. Above all else, Riku and Kairi will always be at his side, even while one must desperately try to hold back his feelings.

Prologue:

He yawned widely and glanced up, checking the moon's position in the sky. It seemed a long time since the sun had set but, judging by how little the pale circle had moved, it must still be several hours until midnight.

Every now and then the boy's hoarse voice floated up through the night air to where he sat on the edge of a skyscraper roof, as he continued to shout for the man to come out and fight. It had been a nice change of pace, seeing Sora consumed with anger and openly trying to hunt him down. But after several days of it, the novelty was wearing off. 

He was bored. If losing that silly charm of his hadn't been enough to push Sora over the edge then maybe it was time to give him another nudge... Such an interesting challenge this was, keeping the boy balanced on the edge of this dark abyss until just the right moment.

Push too soon, and he would be lost. Wait too long, and the chance might be missed. But if he got his timing just right... Sora would fall, and let something else take flight. 

And it would fly right into the cage he had set for it.

His head snapped to the side as he sensed something change, something abruptly alter the energy of this world. Someone else was here.

He stepped through the dark flames of the corridor he had summoned and emerged atop the roof of a different soaring skyscraper. A red light pulsed beneath the platform he stood on, and from the matching tower on the other side of the building. It was the ideal place to spot his intruders from, and he didn't have to look far.

There they were.

Four teenagers, standing in the centre of the semicircular plaza far below. What a convenient location for them to have chosen. A blue sphere surrounded by diamonds hovered in the air behind them, pulsing faintly. It disappeared as a blonde-haired boy pointed a weapon at it. That weapon though, a Keyblade? 

A roar of anger rose in his throat but he forced it back down. They must be here for Sora.

How dare they interfere! After months and months of careful planning and work, tormenting Sora with Heartless, sleepless nights, and murderous visions, these four were going to waltz in here and try to stop him? Try to throw away all those decades- centuries of planning.

They could never defeat him of course, but killing more Keyblade wielders unnecessarily was something he would prefer to avoid, and if Sora glimpsed them and regained his hope... It would all be for nothing, and he would lose his ideal vessel for the 13th.

Or maybe... His lip curled into a sneer as an idea occurred to him. Maybe this was that final nudge Sora needed.

The dark flames engulfed him once more and he returned to his previous observation point. He called down to the boy running through the streets below.

"Hello Sora, why don't you come up here and join me?"

Full story on AO3

Questions I have about the future installments of Kingdom Hearts part 1

Immediately after the end of KH3: Remind, Sora fades away and ultimately ended up in the world of Quadratum setting up KH4. The games that precede it is the start of the Lost Masters saga.

A. Is Sora’s memories escaping him? Why is that? Why is he having trouble remembering with each passing game?

B. Is it implied that the tear in the fabric of space created by Sora allowed darkness to manifest after following Sora and the keyblade into the world of Quadratum, a world of fiction, unreality, where light and darkness don’t exist? What does that mean for the inhabitants of this world in the future? Will it give birth to light and darkness in the world for eternity until it is stopped and returned to the way it was before?

C. Why is it Riku’s dreams the most important hint out of the “3 keys” that he was able to get a hint where Sora might be? What does this personally mean for Riku’s continuing story?

“Dreams hold our memories. Sleep holds our dreams. And darkness—they hold our sleep.” -Ansem SoD, KH3D

Riku never been to Quadratum until he used the Nameless Star’s heart to reach the world of Quadratum. So, if he is having dreams about it, he is experiencing a memory. But who’s memory? How are they connected? Through Sora’s time in Verum Rex? Sora and Riku are connected, so his heart could have resonated with Sora’s and automatically gave him a hunch to where he might be.

D. Why does Yozora look like Riku? Where can we trace the connection to?

E. Who is standing with the MoM in the Kingdom Hearts 4 trailer?

F. In that trailer, The voice (young xehanort??? No? If so, how and why?) says, “However— if you wish to leave this world behind, don’t expect to return to the one from which you came—.” The final “—“ is implying that the thought was still ongoing. How does it finish? Is it insinuating that if Sora was to go back to his world he would be changed? If so, how would that negatively or positively affect him?

G. The lost masters are said to be the antagonists of the next saga. Why is that? They are implied to have not completed their mission, well, all of them besides Ava and Luxu. So what have they been doing all this time? Were they summoned to the new timeline by luxu from the pervious one? If so How much time lapsed or did not lapse? Were they all together or split up?

H. Chirithy roughly says that, “they( “they being the lost masters, but also can apply to literally everyone in the series now thanks to the true goals of say the Organization both real and fake and Lea in particular because I’m sus of him. During his time at the organization he has done sus things and said to Sora that he was kinda on their side although he was in the Organization. This series have double agents) all walk different paths, but they share the same goal. Don’t lose sight of yours, alright?” What is the main goal everyone is trying to get to? To solve the light vs darkness clash? To find out the truth of kingdom hearts? To find a solution to peace? (I personally think it’s “the exploration of the power of love expressed by connections of the heart, memories, and body” which might be the games’ central theme.)

I. Missing Link is suppose to give us answers to the bloodlines of characters. Bloodlines in general are the physical connections binding us to the greater picture as a whole. What does this entail for the characters we already know, mainly Sora, Riku, and Kairi?

J. Am I wrong to say that Kingdom Hearts to me is setup like a theater stage where everyone is given a role and waiting for the lead roles? Do some people know the series’ endgame and others do not? Are the ones who do know guiding those who don’t while looking upon them, but not touching as it would ruin whatever surprise/ reward around the corner? What are the roles of Riku and especially Kairi? Who are the main roles belonging to? Sora is repeatedly told to be himself and follow his heart, which is such a simpler role.

“Tough Luck. No chosen on Yet”---Guessing game

1. The MoM can see the future thanks to his eye being in no name, and Luxu fufilling his role to hand it down. MoM was able to say Sora’s actions, learn what he was able to do with his heart, and went “Bingo! we have a winner!” (sounds like something he’d say at least xD) probably believing him to be “The Chosen One”.

Buuut, he also knew Sora would try to save Kairi and the predicament it would put Sora in. So, knowing the prophecy has to come true, he did some behind the scenes work, pulled some strings and ended up reaching out to Yozora, putting him through trails to see he could handle it and upon proving he could, he asked Yozora to “Save Sora”.

2. Luxu/ Xigbar has been keeping his eye on Sora, the same way he watched over other keyblade wielders he thought were “The Chosen One”. He even decided to ty and hint at something to Sora during his conversation with him as Olympus.

"I don't admire one guy leaping into danger if it means someone else might have to jump in to save him. You're all just lining up to lose out. Dooming others to take the fall with ya. Oh, and you can spare me the usual party line. Yes, hearts are powerful when they're connected. But if you put too much of that power in one place, some of those hearts might end up breaking. Still, Sora, that doesn't mean you should change. Accept the power you're given. Find the hearts joined to yours."

sora failed to get what he was saying, and Luxu’s hint ended up becoming reality,he puts to much of his power on his connection with his friends, and when they all fall in battle, it leaves him shattered and heartbroken, thinking himself useless without them. Sora chased of after Kairi to save her, only to end taking the fall, and leading Riku to chase after him to try and save him in turn. But while he does put too much power on his own heart and bonds, he should still accept that power as it also hold the key to ending the war.

Knowing Sora, put himself in the very situation he warned Sora about, he pulls something that allows him to reach out to Yozora. he put Yozora through trails to see he could handle it and upon proving he could, he asked Yozora to “Save Sora”.

3.Young Xehanort know more than what he lets on, especially after the seeing events of dark road. He even, for some reason gives Sora the very same hint Luxu does: “ But now I know a heart can be placed in the vessel of our choosing. For that, let me give you a parting gift to play with. Find the hearts joined to yours." . he’s also the one to send Sora inside  Yozora’s game, Verum Rex as a test of sorts. He’s already met the MoM, Luxu’s watched over him when he was a child and worked together with him for this grand scheme. Who’s to say Luxu or MoM didn’t fill him in on anything more behind the scenes. 

Xehanort already knew about Quadratum, there’s a high chance that if he wasn’t told about, then he at some point when there. Based on what people have discovered about the DR artwork and what was said in Melody of Memory, there is a very high chance he’s been there and he might have even come across MoM.

It’s already been said KH 3 may not be the last time we see Young Xehanort, The door is always open for this version of him it seems.

4. Luxord is a man from some point (possibly Missing Link) in the past, we have no clue about him at ALL, save for seems to have had taken an interested in Sora for a while. At the end of KH 3 he gave Sora a “wild card” that might help him at some point, and he may or may not be the one driving Yozora to the city at the end of ReMind Limt Cut.

“ My first mentor taught me that the one inscribed in the book, the one chosen to be a dark vessel, can connect their heart to others and feel what they feel.”

"I don't admire one guy leaping into danger if it means someone else might have to jump in to save him. You're all just lining up to lose out. Dooming others to take the fall with ya. Oh, and you can spare me the usual party line. Yes, hearts are powerful when they're connected. But if you put too much of that power in one place, some of those hearts might end up breaking. Still, Sora, that doesn't mean you should change. Accept the power you're given. Find the hearts joined to yours."

"But now I know a heart can be placed in the vessel of our choosing. For that, let me give you a parting gift to play with. Find the hearts joined to yours."

 "Good. Now, to mark the beginning of a new journey, I wish for you to have this, Sora. That is a Heartbinder. Think of it as a good luck charm made just for you. You have a gift, Sora, for connecting with others, and this makes that gift stronger."

Sora was the only one able to return to his human form without destroying his Nobody. That is a statement to the love in his heart for other people, and the bonds that tie them together. Perhaps...he has the power to bring back the hearts and existences of those connected to him—to recreate people we thought were lost to us forever. Our most precious treasures—even an empty puppet—the trees of the forest, and the petals on the wind—there are hearts around us everywhere we look. And it does not take superhuman powers to see them. Surely we remember as children the way our hearts made everything seem so shiny, and perfect. Sora has a heart like that—uncorrupted, willing to see the good before the bad. When he sees the heart in something, it then becomes real. When a connection seems broken, he may have the power to mend it. He has touched countless hearts, he has accepted them, and he has saved them. And some of those hearts have never left him—whether they fell into darkness or were trapped there—whether they sleep in the darkness of Sora's heart, or were welcomed into its warmth—they can be saved. All Sora needs to do is be himself and follow wherever it is that his heart takes him. It is the best and the only way."

“....In my second life, Iearned that was toe expired and darkness prevail, but that the child of destiny would change this outcome. They would have the ability to feel, share and embrace what others felt in their hearts, and even connect their heart with another to become one.  He would hail from the isles of destiny.”

Okay, so now that that's out of the way, here are all my thoughts on the khmom

So starting out, I know some were hoping this was the big Kairi game, and I'm sad it didn't live up to my hopes in that regard, but we also have to remember that Nomura said in interview before it came out not to expect too much, and then we learned that the story mode is an average of 10 hours.

As a fandom we need to remember that KHMoM was never advertised as "the big Kairi game", so while you can be sad that the game didn't live up to your hopes and dreams, Nomura did not "basically" tell us we were gonna get a big Kairi game and then let us down. With all due respect, this game is only a "Kairi game" in the sense that she's on the front cover and the story cutscenes at the end show her side of searching for Sora. Even the advertisements and interviews about this game were mostly focused on the rhythm game aspect, so besides cutscenes, the only talk about Kairi was the change from Chirithy to her doing narration

Now let's continue on keeping in mind that this is all my opinion and analysis, and there are various opinions out there.

Let's start with Kairi, since most of this game is about her. I haven't played the game myself yet (I watched cutscenes for now), but although it's sad Kairi herself wasn't part of any teams (which honestly makes sense since she wasn't a main character focused on in any of the games as much as those chosen for teams. KH1, CoM, and KH2 really were Sora, Donald, and Goofy, Days really was our sea salt trio, wayfinder trio was obviously the main protagonists for BBS, and even though Sora was in DDD, Sora is already on a team and Riku got a bigger charactsr focus in that game, so why not include the dream eater pals. And then honestly kh3 was Donald and Goofy and Sora again), at least we get her in the end. And her getting a small playable section at the end honestly makes sense considering the cutscene portion is the part of the game about her/following her/focuses on her, and she's been getting better as a keyblade wielder.

Now, this section shows us the pink flower thing from remind, and I'm even more convinced that it isn't her heart. For one, in remind, it was used in kh2 fashion, like an object to create a pathway to the next world or in this case Kairi herself. Then, in this game, while she's sleeping and in the final world, she finds it and it breaks apart. If it was Kairi's heart, would it make sense for it to break apart inside of her and not have an affect on her or her body? And what convinces me more is that after you collect all these pieces of the flower with Kairi, she clutches her head and has a memory moment.

What is the pink flower thing, then, you wonder? Well tbh I wonder too, but I had a thought. It's not essential enough to her state of being to be her heart, but it's definitely a part of her or a representation of part of her. My thought is that it could be a semi-physical representation of her memories or a physical metaphor of her state of being at the time it shows up. For example, in remind, it could have been scattered pices of her memory, because we remember that in kh3 they learned that a person (like Roxas, Xion, etc) couldn't completely come back or wake up from wherever their hearts were until their memories were returned to them too. So if the flower is representative of her memory, it then would make sense why it needed to be gathered, why it made Sora feel Kairi, and why it can also act as an object related to Kairi that can pave a path to her. It could also be a metaphor for her state of being at the same time since just like the flower, Kairi's body is shattered. This also makes sense for KHMoM, because if it's partly a metaphor representation of Kairi's state of being, then her "state of being" in this case refers to her repressed childhood memories and the links in those chains of memories that have broken apart. And so if the flower is representative of her memories, it would make sense that when she gathered all the pieces she remembered these memories because it brought these repressed memories to light and essentially pieced them back together when she gathered the heart pieces. If not because the flower has to do with her memories, at least in this case, why else would she remember repressed memories after gathering the flower pieces?

Continuing on from here, when Kairi holds her head and begins to remember, we get this interesting turn of the camera that flips Kairi and her reflection in the water before transitioning to the memories. I don't know much about camera techniques, but it definitely symbolizes or means something.

So we get the memory of Apprentice Terranort taking young Kairi (I honestly laughed when it showed him reaching for her just because of that "gimme your phone" meme) and it transitions to showing the scene with Kairi in one of the pods. This scene tells us a few things. For one, somehow, Apprentice Terranort knows about "unreality" or what's essentially a parallel universe to the KH universe, you can somehow get there with a strong enough connection to it (like using someone who's from there like Riku did or your heart resonating in some way with someone there. For example, if Kairi's poh heart resonated with a keyblade wielder from the alternate universe instead of Riku on Destiny Islands). It also may tell us that it's possible that Apprentice Xehanort knew the stuff we learned in the kh3 ending with the Luxu reveal would come to pass. Obviously Xehanort knew by doing what he did with Kairi that he would cause Sora's disappearance, but since we know (from Dark Road I think?) that the ancient wielders went to another world and all that, we know the stuff with Kairi was his final plan, and we know Xehanort got his peaceful death, I don't think Xehanorts final plan with Kairi was a ploy for him to do more summon kingdom hearts or a petty go at removing Sora since he might win. More than likely this "final plan" has to do with preventing a possible future and setting things up accordingly. Apprentice Terranort told 4 yr old Kairi her mission as if it's success would affect the future of the universe. And on one hand it makes sense because they needed a keyblade wielder to defeat the heartless and restore the worlds and lock their keyholes, but what if it's double meaning is that making sure the worlds last past that is dependent on making sure "the keyblade wielder" would also be in the position to prevent a future crisis? Because I doubt Quadratum is gonna only be important for getting Sora and coming back. This place is gonna have some significance, and if preventing or battling the crisis also hinges on the Keyblade wielder going to the alternate universe as Xehanort's backup plan to balance the worlds or keep them safe, then the foretellers, Luxu, the box, and that whole thing are more connected to what's happening in the alternate universe as we would've thought. Anyways, to sorta summarize that, I think that Sora had to have ended up in the Alternate universe to give our main crew a chance of dealing with something big, and if Xehanort couldn't make a new world with the keyblade, he at least had to make sure Sora could be in the right place to make sure things happen as they should to save all the worlds.

Then we get Kairi faced with the man in a cloak who's revealed to be Xehanort. This part also honestly made me laugh because we knew it would be Xehanort, but also on behalf of those who insisted it was MoM (no offense to them btw because I get their thought process. It just kinda made me laugh). I liked this sequence in the khmom trailer (especially in og Japanese because what Kairi says there is better put), and I like it because it essentially serves as Kairi facing her fear and the one who changed her fate head on, channeling all those thoughts and feelings and letting them out. So, whether or not this Xehanort is real or fake, Kairi takes him head on.

Now the fight sequence has a variation of thoughts on it, and here are mine. For one, I spent this whole sequence being so excited because she was fighting so good and hard to the best of her ability. Second, this is memory Xehanort created from her heart, so I like the explanation that he too is influenced by her personal fears and doubts, mainly an insecurity and doubt in her own abilities. So the reason Xehanort is so easily able to catch her keyblade and dodge hits from her (the first time he grabbed it I honestly thought he would insult her and snap it like Xemnas did with Lea) is because no matter how much she wants to defeat him, deep down she doesn't believe she's strong enough, and so here leads into when she turns into Sora.

Now, to preface, if the literal explanation of this from Nomura is "Kairi isn't strong enough so Sora's sleeping heart sensed her danger and possessed her to do the boss fight for her", then I think this sequence is 1000% bad, unnecessary, and people have every right to be mad. However, my thoughts on this scene is that it also has to do with her memories and anxieties. Remember that memory Xehanort says that everything in this specific version of the final world was created by Kairi's heart. And so if her doubts are on her own strength, my thoughts are that it was these doubts and feelings of inferiority that had her become Sora (or a memory Sora more specifically) because she doesn't believe she can win or beat Xehanort with out him yet. In other words, she still felt dependent on him, so in that moment her heart responded by temporarily turning her into Sora to reaffirm her fears (like when she was losing against xehanort) and beat Xehanort for her. If this is true, then that gives some depth to Kairi's character in how she currently percieves herself as of khmom, and maybe how she believes others view her. And with Xehanort's comment, I think it may reaffirm that this Sora is a projection. Because if Sora came there through his bond to Kairi, then there's no reason Kairi would've disappeared or there's no reason why he wouldn't have talked or just something. So then, Xehanort's line about Sora being where his voice cannot reach them has a double meaning. The first is that this Sora that fights memory Xehanort does not speak (and also he's fighting like a controlled puppet without a will of it's own like, did you see his soulless face?), which affirms to him that Sora is in the alternate universe, and the second may be that he realized it's a version of him from Kairi's heart (just like he himself is), and he being there instead of the real Sora affirms that Sora's bonds in this world have broken and he couldn't have been there himself, meaning he must've been in the alternate universe (if not dead, which Xehanort knows he isn't because he knows his final plan with Kairi).

Side note, also during the earlier battle with Xehanort, Xehanort told Kairi she wouldn't find Sora in her heart and that the key to him is in memories long gone. And part of my reaction to that is that I felt validated and angry, because we've been saying that Kairi wouldn't find Sora through the search of her heart and dudebros and s/ks and the like said that we were thinking about our ship and being misogynistic in thinking Kairi wouldn't have that role, and then Xehanort himself, created from Kairi's heart said "You won't find anything here". My other reaction was to "memories long gone", and it honestly made me wonder if it meant that Kairi had some of Sora's memories in her heart that he lost and they're not there anymore, or that the key to Sora is memories of his he not only lost, but are literally missing and in someone no one can reach currently (like within Yozora or something)

So anyways, Xehanort gives Kairi a clue about how to find Sora through that line referring to the alternate universe (again it being brought up in the future for a different thing is why I think Apprentice Terranort gave his speech as a double meaning in the past), and she finally wakes up where the whole lab crew work it out

As for AtW and crew assuming the alternate universe is fictional, that may or may not be true. They worked it out by saying "The opposite of our reality is unreality or fiction", but we also know that could be referring to a parallel universe, meaning both universes could very much be real. As for Yozora telling Sora "this isn't the real world", I'm not gonna go far into it as others have, but if Sora is theoretically inside Yozora's heart, hence how he can visit him in his dream, then Sora is technically not in the real world, but the alternate universe is in the real world. And if the alternate universe is a fake world, it's not impossible, but it's still odd to me how Yozora would be self aware that the world he was born in wasn't real.

Forward from here, Riku enters, Kairi and Riku have their leads to Sora (tbh one of my hopes was that Kairi and Riku would have a real talk about the odd status of their friendship and how it's honestly not great, but maybe it'll happen in the future), and Fairy God Mother magics Kairi and Riku and herself into the final world (sorry this is a bit passive aggressive, but no, we knew that Riku wouldn't need to dream dive into Kairi's dreams to make it into the final world so they could get to Sora). FGM then starts talking about the final key, alerts the two teens about the hearts in the final world, and takes them to Nameless star. It was about this point I literally had a moment over how beautiful Kairi and Nameless star's respective voices sounded because they both sounded so pretty. This is also where they learn that shibuya in the other universe is named Quadratum (haha another square reference I see, square😂), and FGM says that you can get to the other universe with the power of waking and Nameless Star's strong dream and will. I honestly can't wait until we get to see Nameless star for real and hear her name. It's honestly so sweet that Riku wanted to make her dream come true (in like a "Riku is so nice and sweet" way, not in a shippy way) and was also willing to help her not just because she could lead him to Sora.

Then, FGM informs the crew that this is as far as she goes, and leaves the rest to Riku. This is another widely opinionated section of MoM's story, because here Kairi expresses her wishes to go and is ultimately rejected. I have seen people rant about how Riku is a misogynist and explain this scene as if Riku literally told Kairi "You're too weak", shoved her aside, and called her useless, but here's an analysis of the scene with some of my pov. That part wasn't nearly as bad as people exaggerated it to be. When Kairi expressed her wish to go, Riku literally stuttered, failing to actually say she can't. He didn't even really say anything before Kairi sighed and was like "I know". So to say Riku is misogynistic for that?😬 Also, this is a completely new universe, one where Yen Sid didn't even let Mickey Mouse follow, and as FGM said you have to have the power of waking to get there. Kairi is strong, as memory Xehanort said, but she's not to master level (or at Sora or Riku's level for that matter), not strong enough to deal with a whole new world, especially since her only real experience was being plunged into war just after some training (like Sora and Riku got this whole experience starting with dealing with low level heartless and getting used to it all, and they had been practicing and self teaching themselves how to fight since they were kids, to which Kairi did not), and she doesn't have the power of waking, so no matter how much Kairi wants to go with Riku, as he was trying to tell her and failing, it's not possible for her right now. It's like how Sora wanted so badly to join Riku and Mickey in the RoD on saving Aqua, but he hadn't regained his strength yet and didn't have the Power of Waking. Example one of the Kingdom Hearts fandom's double standards: Sora being denied access to also go to the RoD to save Aqua because he doesn't have the strength or PoW is fine, but Kairi being denied access to also go to the alternate universe with Riku for the same reasons is Misogyny🙄.

And also on Kairi's rejection to go with Riku to the alternate universe, I felt like this moment was a parallel to kh1 that showed that Kairi is beginning her character development. In kh1, Kairi insisted to go with Sora to save Riku, and Sora outright said she would be in his way so she couldn't go (idk what it says in the jp version), and after being told this, Kairi accepts her situation and resigns to wait on the islands for Sora to return with Riku. During this whole time she also makes no effort to train. However, in this moment in khmom, when Riku fails to stutter out "No", Kairi very visibly and audibly is frustrated when she says "I know". She's been here before, but it says something that her being left like this, waiting to the side, isn't something she wants anymore. She wants to go, and she's frustrated that she still can't. And I know this came off to people as "Nomura is just shafting Kairi again", but in my opinion if he wanted to toss her aside, he wouldn't have done this. He would've had her okay with Riku going by himself from the get-go and had Kairi just kind of go "well, back to training with Merlin again". Heck, if he really wasn't doing anything with her, he would have just left her while FGM and Riku met Nameless star in the Final World. But what he did was present us a Kairi that is strong, but knows she needs to be stronger. He gave us a Kairi that is visibly frustrated in knowing she can't help her best friend. And her response after accepting she can't go currently? She takes the initiative to train under Aqua (a real keyblade master), meaning that she really wants to take the steps to get stronger now, and she tells Riku that one day she'll stand by him and Sora (not just Sora). The girl has resolved to take her own path and take real responsibility for her training so she never has to stay behind again. It's showing Kairi's shift from "Sora and Riku are leaving me behind and I'm struggling to catch up so I try to make sure they come back to me or I do the bare minimum to still be around them" to "I take control of my own destiny, and I'm gonna close this gap myself, by my own efforts, not by waiting for them to do something". I'm fully aware Nomura could still shaft Kairi, but I truly feel like this little we got in khmom is the beginning of her development as a character. And I feel this way because while remind at times arguably came off as pandering to people who wanted K to do something, khmom, taking into account all the things Nomura could have done instead of what he did, felt more genuine, and actually made me hopeful and excited for her character and what she does in the future. Also, example two of the Kingdom Hearts fandom's double standards: Riku struggling to tell Kairi she can't go with him (and him not actually saying it) is considered misogynistic by this fandom, but Sora in kh1 bluntly telling Kairi she would be in his way and therefore couldn't go is "UwU he's protecting his love! So cute!"🙄

Anyways, going forward, I'm so excited to witness some actual development for Kairi amd seeing her interact with the wayfinder trio! Like training with Aqua? Yes!

Also, not to be passive-aggressive, but I know a number of S/Rs who would like an apology for being told that believing that Riku would be the one to save Sora was us reaching and being delusional and thinking Kairi wouldn't go is misogynistic🙂

Anyways, besides that, Soriku endgame actually?! Like Sorikus and Riku stans how you feeling about all this? Like, can you believe we were right when we said Riku would go save Sora? Can you believe in the same week we got confirmation Riku would be the one to go save Sora, we learned that there would be three sets of Soriku Nendoroids? Like we just keep on winning and honestly that makes me so happy. I honestly can't wait to see not only Kairi's training and possible future development, but also Riku's journey! This may have just been a bridge game, but I'm so excited!😊