Change (Sora/Kairi, Prompt 16)
Title: Change
Author: Raikuya
Claim: Sora/Kairi
Prompt: 16-Royalty
Warnings: Have you finished KHI? If not, get off your butt and do it instead of reading this fic. Spoilers.
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is not mine. Disney and SquareEnix are the ones who are getting rich off of it.
I was going to do something else for this prompt, but it developed differently when I started writing it. I like how it turned out, though. I think it's better.
And you can see the Sora/Kairi relation to the prompt from a thousand miles away. I never said I was *that* original.
***
“You know, a lot has changed.”
Kairi looked over at him from where they were lying on the beach. “Of course it has,” she said. “A lot has happened.”
“Yeah,” Sora said. “But I think back about us, before anything happened, and we’re so different. I’m not sure I like who I used to be. That Sora was kind of…well, I don’t like him.”
Kairi sighed deeply. “What’s so bad about who you used to be?”
Sora played with the sand beneath him. It slid easily from his hands. “I was single-minded. And defiant. I was just selfish, really.”
“That’s not so terrible,” Kairi said. “You’re definitely not now. Well, there are exceptions, but overall…”
Sora wrinkled his nose at that last comment, but then just smiled. “I’m just saying that I like me now better than me two years ago.”
“That’s good, then,” Kairi said. “Going forward, right?”
“Right. …You know, Riku feels the same way as I do.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. We both feel that we’ve bettered ourselves throughout the course of everything. We had this long discussion about it. …I just wanted to tell you how I felt.”
Kairi smiled. “I’m glad.”
Sora smiled and dug himself deeper into the warm sand. “So, what about you? Do you think you’ve changed a lot?”
“Of course. Why? Do you think I have?”
“In a lot of ways,” Sora said, “but at the center you’re still Kairi, right?”
“Right.”
“So it’s a little weird to think about your changes when connecting them to the…’old you.’”
“What do you mean?” Kairi asked.
“Well, for starters, you’re a princess,” Sora said as casually as he could. “And you kick Heartless ass. When I first met you, I never would have imagined those things.”
“I guess you’re right,” Kairi said. “I think that maybe finding out I was a princess changed me, too.”
“How so?”
“Well, what do you think of when you hear the word ‘princess?’”
Sora shrugged. “You.”
Kairi gave him a teasingly annoyed look. “In general.”
“Huh…well, daughter of a king and queen. Living in a castle. Really big dresses.”
They laughed at those last words before Kairi talked again. “You see, that vision doesn’t really appeal to me,” she said. “I didn’t want to sit looking out the window, waiting for someone to tell me what happened. I wanted to be the type of person who went out and did something.”
“You are.”
“Exactly. But I wasn’t really before I found out. I was part of things, but not playing a big role. But after I found out…I changed.”
“Change really isn’t that bad then.”
“It can be,” Kairi said.
“Not all the time, though.”
“Right. Sometimes, change isn’t bad. It’s just different.”
The ocean breeze swept over them as the sun shone.
“You know,” Sora said, “they still haven’t figured out what they’re doing about the government in the Radiant Garden.”
Kairi watched him as if she knew where this was headed.
“If they decided…well, would you ever fulfill your role as princess?”
Kairi gave another deep sigh. “I don’t know. Maybe. Definitely not if they were going to make sure I acted like a princess ‘should.’ But…”
“You could be a warrior princess,” Sora said, grinning.
Kairi laughed. “I hadn’t exactly thought of those words. But yes, essentially. ‘Warrior princess’ would be a lot better.”
Sora jumped up from where he lay, dusting sand off of himself. “That would be awesome!”
Kairi sat up. “What would?”
“You fighting with the rest of us all the time. You showed those Heartless who’s boss, right?” Sora asked, softly punching the air around him. “It’d be great! We could all be together all the time.”
Kairi tucked some of her hair behind her ear. “I’d need more training to fully be with the rest of you guys.”
“No problem,” Sora said immediately. “Riku and I can help you out there. We’ll train you to be the most ass-kicking princess anyone has ever known.”
Kairi burst into laughter, her white smile flashing as she hung her head back. “Oh, Sora. Wow.” She pulled on his hand and Sora sat back down next to her. “But seriously, training wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
“Great! We’ll-“ He stopped himself, and then said very carefully, “We’ll help you to improve your…combat skills.”
“You can say warrior princess,” Kairi said, ruffling Sora’s hair. I don’t mind. It’s just kind of funny to talk about, isn’t it?”
“Not really,” Sora said. “I mean, you’re pretty and kind and everything a princess should be. But you’re also decisive and quick-thinking, which are good fighting attributes.”
Kairi thought about it for a moment, then laughed. “Only you could have made the Warrior Princess thing actually make sense.”
“So not true,” Sora said. “I’ll bet there are a lot of people who would agree with me.”
“Maybe. You know, the strange thing is…it’s getting me excited. I mean, I can’t think of anything wrong with it. Can you?”
“Not a single thing,” Sora said. He paused for a moment, though. “Other than the fact that typical royalty get to lie on their butts and do nothing,” he corrected himself.
Kairi rolled her eyes. “You’re so lazy.”
“Am not,” Sora said defensively.
“Are so,” Kairi said as she stood up. “You’re just as lazy as you always were.”
Sora too stood up. “Am not,” he said again, and to prove it, he started walking. Kairi followed and quickly caught into step with him. “And you were just as lazy as me.”
“Not true,” Kairi said. “I was lazy, but not as much as you.”
“I’ll bet you,” Sora said mysteriously.
“…How are we actually supposed to measure how lazy we were two years ago?”
Sora answered without missing a beat. “We’ll make up some weird surveys and give them out to be people who knew us back then. They can’t know it’s like a competition, though, or else they might be biased. So we’ll just get everyone to give a score based on a point system, and average it out. Person with the lowest average wins.”
Kairi shook her head. “Oh, Sora. You really are something else.”
Sora folded his arms. “You say it like it’s a bad thing.”
“No, no, not bad,” Kairi said. “Just different.”
Sora unfolded his arms and put on around Kairi’s waist. “Just different?”
“And that’s fine.”
They brought their heads together. Kairi could hear birds in the distance.
Author: Raikuya
Claim: Sora/Kairi
Prompt: 16-Royalty
Warnings: Have you finished KHI? If not, get off your butt and do it instead of reading this fic. Spoilers.
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is not mine. Disney and SquareEnix are the ones who are getting rich off of it.
I was going to do something else for this prompt, but it developed differently when I started writing it. I like how it turned out, though. I think it's better.
And you can see the Sora/Kairi relation to the prompt from a thousand miles away. I never said I was *that* original.
***
“You know, a lot has changed.”
Kairi looked over at him from where they were lying on the beach. “Of course it has,” she said. “A lot has happened.”
“Yeah,” Sora said. “But I think back about us, before anything happened, and we’re so different. I’m not sure I like who I used to be. That Sora was kind of…well, I don’t like him.”
Kairi sighed deeply. “What’s so bad about who you used to be?”
Sora played with the sand beneath him. It slid easily from his hands. “I was single-minded. And defiant. I was just selfish, really.”
“That’s not so terrible,” Kairi said. “You’re definitely not now. Well, there are exceptions, but overall…”
Sora wrinkled his nose at that last comment, but then just smiled. “I’m just saying that I like me now better than me two years ago.”
“That’s good, then,” Kairi said. “Going forward, right?”
“Right. …You know, Riku feels the same way as I do.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. We both feel that we’ve bettered ourselves throughout the course of everything. We had this long discussion about it. …I just wanted to tell you how I felt.”
Kairi smiled. “I’m glad.”
Sora smiled and dug himself deeper into the warm sand. “So, what about you? Do you think you’ve changed a lot?”
“Of course. Why? Do you think I have?”
“In a lot of ways,” Sora said, “but at the center you’re still Kairi, right?”
“Right.”
“So it’s a little weird to think about your changes when connecting them to the…’old you.’”
“What do you mean?” Kairi asked.
“Well, for starters, you’re a princess,” Sora said as casually as he could. “And you kick Heartless ass. When I first met you, I never would have imagined those things.”
“I guess you’re right,” Kairi said. “I think that maybe finding out I was a princess changed me, too.”
“How so?”
“Well, what do you think of when you hear the word ‘princess?’”
Sora shrugged. “You.”
Kairi gave him a teasingly annoyed look. “In general.”
“Huh…well, daughter of a king and queen. Living in a castle. Really big dresses.”
They laughed at those last words before Kairi talked again. “You see, that vision doesn’t really appeal to me,” she said. “I didn’t want to sit looking out the window, waiting for someone to tell me what happened. I wanted to be the type of person who went out and did something.”
“You are.”
“Exactly. But I wasn’t really before I found out. I was part of things, but not playing a big role. But after I found out…I changed.”
“Change really isn’t that bad then.”
“It can be,” Kairi said.
“Not all the time, though.”
“Right. Sometimes, change isn’t bad. It’s just different.”
The ocean breeze swept over them as the sun shone.
“You know,” Sora said, “they still haven’t figured out what they’re doing about the government in the Radiant Garden.”
Kairi watched him as if she knew where this was headed.
“If they decided…well, would you ever fulfill your role as princess?”
Kairi gave another deep sigh. “I don’t know. Maybe. Definitely not if they were going to make sure I acted like a princess ‘should.’ But…”
“You could be a warrior princess,” Sora said, grinning.
Kairi laughed. “I hadn’t exactly thought of those words. But yes, essentially. ‘Warrior princess’ would be a lot better.”
Sora jumped up from where he lay, dusting sand off of himself. “That would be awesome!”
Kairi sat up. “What would?”
“You fighting with the rest of us all the time. You showed those Heartless who’s boss, right?” Sora asked, softly punching the air around him. “It’d be great! We could all be together all the time.”
Kairi tucked some of her hair behind her ear. “I’d need more training to fully be with the rest of you guys.”
“No problem,” Sora said immediately. “Riku and I can help you out there. We’ll train you to be the most ass-kicking princess anyone has ever known.”
Kairi burst into laughter, her white smile flashing as she hung her head back. “Oh, Sora. Wow.” She pulled on his hand and Sora sat back down next to her. “But seriously, training wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
“Great! We’ll-“ He stopped himself, and then said very carefully, “We’ll help you to improve your…combat skills.”
“You can say warrior princess,” Kairi said, ruffling Sora’s hair. I don’t mind. It’s just kind of funny to talk about, isn’t it?”
“Not really,” Sora said. “I mean, you’re pretty and kind and everything a princess should be. But you’re also decisive and quick-thinking, which are good fighting attributes.”
Kairi thought about it for a moment, then laughed. “Only you could have made the Warrior Princess thing actually make sense.”
“So not true,” Sora said. “I’ll bet there are a lot of people who would agree with me.”
“Maybe. You know, the strange thing is…it’s getting me excited. I mean, I can’t think of anything wrong with it. Can you?”
“Not a single thing,” Sora said. He paused for a moment, though. “Other than the fact that typical royalty get to lie on their butts and do nothing,” he corrected himself.
Kairi rolled her eyes. “You’re so lazy.”
“Am not,” Sora said defensively.
“Are so,” Kairi said as she stood up. “You’re just as lazy as you always were.”
Sora too stood up. “Am not,” he said again, and to prove it, he started walking. Kairi followed and quickly caught into step with him. “And you were just as lazy as me.”
“Not true,” Kairi said. “I was lazy, but not as much as you.”
“I’ll bet you,” Sora said mysteriously.
“…How are we actually supposed to measure how lazy we were two years ago?”
Sora answered without missing a beat. “We’ll make up some weird surveys and give them out to be people who knew us back then. They can’t know it’s like a competition, though, or else they might be biased. So we’ll just get everyone to give a score based on a point system, and average it out. Person with the lowest average wins.”
Kairi shook her head. “Oh, Sora. You really are something else.”
Sora folded his arms. “You say it like it’s a bad thing.”
“No, no, not bad,” Kairi said. “Just different.”
Sora unfolded his arms and put on around Kairi’s waist. “Just different?”
“And that’s fine.”
They brought their heads together. Kairi could hear birds in the distance.