Kingdom Hearts fic: Fractured Moments - Day 14 - "Overgrown"
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museficSummary: Sora, Kairi, and Riku revisit the play island.
[Set sometime after "Build", when the trio's lives in Radiant Garden are fairly well established and comfortable. Going at least vaguely off of an idea that a world called "Radiant Garden" puts a lot of emphasis on gardens, with monarchs always adding to them. And also, I just felt like writing some more fluff, apparently.]
“I feel out of practice.” Sora laughed, clambering onto the dock.
Riku offered him a steadying hand. “Not used to rowing everywhere?”
“I mean really, we all did this every day?”
It was true. Getting their own rowboats had been a rite of passage as children, a sign their parents trusted them enough to go out to the play island alone. And they had taken advantage almost every single day. Endless summer days, quick afternoons after school, weekends… they’d taken any opportunity to come to the island, creating adventure.
“Come on, I want to see everything!” Kairi urged them on.
There were children on Destiny Islands, of course. But the play island had developed a reputation for being haunted, and the current crop of young children didn’t come here the way the three of them and their friends had.
The golden sand of the beach felt so familiar, as did the sea air itself. It had been years since they’d moved permanently to Radiant Garden, and of course Sora loved it there. But Destiny Islands, and even more specifically the play island, really felt like home.
They didn’t have a specific pathway in mind, so they followed Kairi, since this particular trip back had been her idea. She headed up first, to the winding pathways that crept up the higher part of the island, clinging to the trees, with its blend of walkways and treehouses.
Periodically, she’d pause, taking a pair of sharp scissors from the bag at her waist and snipping off a vine or a set of leaves. These she would carefully wrap in damp cloth or place in small vials of water that she gently tucked into her messenger bag.
“The ceiling is so low in here, “ she said, giggling.
Sora didn’t quite have to duck, though for Riku it was a near thing.
Back down at the beach level, Kairi turned toward the waterfall. The pool at the bottom was barely visible through the overgrown vines and short bushes that had grown up around it. Some of these she knelt and dug up with a trowel, placing the shallow root clusters in more of the damp fabric.
“You can barely even see the secret place,” Sora said, peering through the hanging vines and overlapping leaves.
“We have to check it out though, right?” Riku asked. “For old time’s sake, if nothing else.”
They walked single-file to the cave entrance, finding it more by memory than by actually seeing it. To get inside, they did have to duck, though the space opened up quickly. The light inside was even dimmer than Sora remembered, though it shouldn’t have been surprising, considering how hard the entrance was to see.
Kairi walked over to the wall where their etchings remained. She traced fingers over the drawings of the three of them, the paopu fruits they’d drawn. Sora vividly remembered the determination on her face when she’d added Riku. At the time, they hadn’t even known where he’d gone, but she’d still been so certain they’d all be together at the end of it.
Riku stood in front of the doorway. The keyhole was still hidden, though any of them could likely have pulled it to the surface. In so many ways, this place had been the start of everything. Things could have turned melancholy, but instead it felt mostly nostalgic. Everything that had happened hadn’t been positive, but Sora also knew none of them would trade where they were now for any of it.
The island sun was all the brighter when they made their way back out.
Like the treehouses and platforms, the little clubhouse seemed smaller than they remembered, and the obstacle course that they’d competed on looked almost comically easy. There was no rush, and they took their time, enjoying the memories the island called up. They ended their miniature tour on the paopu island.
The tree had continued to grow, the upright part reaching higher next to the curve that provided a natural seat. They sat together, looking out at the sea in contented silence. There wasn’t much that needed to be said.
“Did you get everything you wanted?” Riku finally asked, bumping his shoulder into Kairi’s.
She nodded. “I think so. I hope that I can get the cuttings to root.”
Sora leaned forward, looking at her from Riku’s other side. “We can always come back if you need to try again.”
“There was one more thing that I wanted to try,” she said, and started to scramble up, standing on the tree trunk.
Riku placed a hand on her hip to help steady her as she reached up. Sora readied an aero spell just in case she took a tumble.
Her fingers brushed her obvious target, one of the bright yellow paopu fruits, like the one they'd all shared once. It didn't feel so long ago. A gentle tug, and the fruit came away. Riku helped her down the rest of the way.
“A paopu seedling will take forever to grow,” she said, tucking the fruit into her bag along with everything else. “I know that. But, well, I can’t really think of anything more important to me that I want in my garden.”
The absolute swell of affection he felt was too big for words, so Sora slid off the tree and pulled her and Riku both into a hug. They both immediately returned the gesture.
Soon they’d return home, where Kairi would grow plants from their childhood home to add to the gardens of Radiant Garden, a marker of their rule for the present and the future. And Sora couldn’t wait.
[previous chapter] [next chapter]
[Set sometime after "Build", when the trio's lives in Radiant Garden are fairly well established and comfortable. Going at least vaguely off of an idea that a world called "Radiant Garden" puts a lot of emphasis on gardens, with monarchs always adding to them. And also, I just felt like writing some more fluff, apparently.]
“I feel out of practice.” Sora laughed, clambering onto the dock.
Riku offered him a steadying hand. “Not used to rowing everywhere?”
“I mean really, we all did this every day?”
It was true. Getting their own rowboats had been a rite of passage as children, a sign their parents trusted them enough to go out to the play island alone. And they had taken advantage almost every single day. Endless summer days, quick afternoons after school, weekends… they’d taken any opportunity to come to the island, creating adventure.
“Come on, I want to see everything!” Kairi urged them on.
There were children on Destiny Islands, of course. But the play island had developed a reputation for being haunted, and the current crop of young children didn’t come here the way the three of them and their friends had.
The golden sand of the beach felt so familiar, as did the sea air itself. It had been years since they’d moved permanently to Radiant Garden, and of course Sora loved it there. But Destiny Islands, and even more specifically the play island, really felt like home.
They didn’t have a specific pathway in mind, so they followed Kairi, since this particular trip back had been her idea. She headed up first, to the winding pathways that crept up the higher part of the island, clinging to the trees, with its blend of walkways and treehouses.
Periodically, she’d pause, taking a pair of sharp scissors from the bag at her waist and snipping off a vine or a set of leaves. These she would carefully wrap in damp cloth or place in small vials of water that she gently tucked into her messenger bag.
“The ceiling is so low in here, “ she said, giggling.
Sora didn’t quite have to duck, though for Riku it was a near thing.
Back down at the beach level, Kairi turned toward the waterfall. The pool at the bottom was barely visible through the overgrown vines and short bushes that had grown up around it. Some of these she knelt and dug up with a trowel, placing the shallow root clusters in more of the damp fabric.
“You can barely even see the secret place,” Sora said, peering through the hanging vines and overlapping leaves.
“We have to check it out though, right?” Riku asked. “For old time’s sake, if nothing else.”
They walked single-file to the cave entrance, finding it more by memory than by actually seeing it. To get inside, they did have to duck, though the space opened up quickly. The light inside was even dimmer than Sora remembered, though it shouldn’t have been surprising, considering how hard the entrance was to see.
Kairi walked over to the wall where their etchings remained. She traced fingers over the drawings of the three of them, the paopu fruits they’d drawn. Sora vividly remembered the determination on her face when she’d added Riku. At the time, they hadn’t even known where he’d gone, but she’d still been so certain they’d all be together at the end of it.
Riku stood in front of the doorway. The keyhole was still hidden, though any of them could likely have pulled it to the surface. In so many ways, this place had been the start of everything. Things could have turned melancholy, but instead it felt mostly nostalgic. Everything that had happened hadn’t been positive, but Sora also knew none of them would trade where they were now for any of it.
The island sun was all the brighter when they made their way back out.
Like the treehouses and platforms, the little clubhouse seemed smaller than they remembered, and the obstacle course that they’d competed on looked almost comically easy. There was no rush, and they took their time, enjoying the memories the island called up. They ended their miniature tour on the paopu island.
The tree had continued to grow, the upright part reaching higher next to the curve that provided a natural seat. They sat together, looking out at the sea in contented silence. There wasn’t much that needed to be said.
“Did you get everything you wanted?” Riku finally asked, bumping his shoulder into Kairi’s.
She nodded. “I think so. I hope that I can get the cuttings to root.”
Sora leaned forward, looking at her from Riku’s other side. “We can always come back if you need to try again.”
“There was one more thing that I wanted to try,” she said, and started to scramble up, standing on the tree trunk.
Riku placed a hand on her hip to help steady her as she reached up. Sora readied an aero spell just in case she took a tumble.
Her fingers brushed her obvious target, one of the bright yellow paopu fruits, like the one they'd all shared once. It didn't feel so long ago. A gentle tug, and the fruit came away. Riku helped her down the rest of the way.
“A paopu seedling will take forever to grow,” she said, tucking the fruit into her bag along with everything else. “I know that. But, well, I can’t really think of anything more important to me that I want in my garden.”
The absolute swell of affection he felt was too big for words, so Sora slid off the tree and pulled her and Riku both into a hug. They both immediately returned the gesture.
Soon they’d return home, where Kairi would grow plants from their childhood home to add to the gardens of Radiant Garden, a marker of their rule for the present and the future. And Sora couldn’t wait.
[previous chapter] [next chapter]
