It all comes Down to This (Chapters 107-end)

To any new readers who have come to the blog because you've started reading the fanfic now that it's labelled "Complete" or you've just stumbled across it... lemme direct you to the right-hand pane over there (desktop version) and scroll down to the appropriate sequence of chapters you're on.  I've got chapter numbers up too, so that should help.  Each post deals with a sequence of chapters, and there will be spoilers if you haven't read all in that set.  If you're on mobile, I think you should just be able to scroll down and click on the post you want.

Spoilers below if you haven't read this far.

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I'm clever and put 13 dots.  Anyway.

Well, time to talk about the final things about Zerith's wedding.  Like I'd planned to do two days ago before getting sidetracked.  Yup.

So I decided not to kill Xigbar.  I just... didn't want to do that to the sharpshooter.  It seemed weird, doing that, honestly.  I'd grown attached to Xigbar.  He's amusing.  And, honestly, he's got reasons to want to live.  Is he completely innocent, nope.  But he's just as glad as everyone else to be rid of Xehanort, so that's saying something.  He makes his weird amends by warning everyone at the wedding that Xehanort is coming, then after Xehanort's gone, he leaves as well.

Man though.. okay... I got like SUPER FIRED UP about wedding traditions on different Worlds and I was thinking about it for DAYS.  Way before I'd even written the sequence.  I was thinking about it nonstop and everyone I talked to about it was basically just like "magik, shut up."

The traditions of people being thrown in the ocean, who makes their own dresses, seeing the bride beforehand versus not seeing the bride beforehand, going out and doing stupid things the day beforehand, celebrating the last day as a single person traditions... all that stuff.

I really love the paopu fruit tradition though, and it seems so natural for Destiny Islands to have one like that.  And Kairi's just thinking the entire time Zack and Aerith are planning their wedding that... "They have to do this, well, they don't have to, but they should have the option... I'll just bring a fruit and it'll fit into the ceremony... WAIT THEY DON"T HAVE A SPOT FOR IT!"

That was fun to write.

I imagine that Destiny Islands has very informal weddings.  Like, weddings are just a big party to them.  Where as a place where Rinoa's from, they're more formal and traditional.  And then there's the fairytale weddings of Disney and the simple ones of Traverse Town and the varieties go on and on.  Yeah...

I can't remember why exactly I insisted on having a time skip... maybe just to show the passage of time.  Because I'd had this scene with Xion written forever showing the passage of time and I'd never been able to use it.  So, when I decided that Zerith was going to have a spring wedding, I just had everything else wrap up in the fall.  Then I could do a time skip and some recap and whatnot.

And then we've got the hints to Squinoa's wedding.  Which will happen.  I just probably won't write it, I'll be completely honest.  I haven't really come out and said this yet... but I'm going to be taking a break from fanfic for a while.  I have two or three other writing projects to work on and they all have the prospect of money.  I'll probably write drabbles and one-shots and post them of course, but I don't think I'll be taking on an epic again.  Squinoa's wedding totally happens in my canon, I just may not write it.  (Does that still make it canon?)

For anyone who's confused, Cid and Shera had a private marriage ceremony and left it at that.  Kind of like how you play Dirge of Cerberus and they're married and you're just like "okay" because Vincent doesn't ask too much about it because... well... Vincent.

I remember freaking out about who I was going to have be the justice/officiate of the wedding.  And then it was obvious.  None other than Mickey himself.  Because what says Kingdom Hearts more than Mickey officiating Zack Fair and Aerith Gainsborough's wedding? (While Sora and the gang are in the audience.)

Ah yes, then the real questions.  What about everyone else? Will they eventually get married?

Well, Cloud and Tifa aren't even dating.  They're still both trying to get used to living a life that doesn't involve Sephiroth.  They'll eventually get together I suppose.

Everyone else.. (with the exception of Terra, Aqua, Ven, and Axel) is all still in their late teens.  Marriage is several years off, despite what Destiny Islands thinks for Riku.  (They lead simple lives on the islands and are wholly unprepared to understand the EVERYTHING that the Keyblade Wielders do.)

So Riku and Sora can just joke about it.

HGHSGNGSGHSGDLKJSD:GLKH

The chairs for Angeal and Aerith's parents.

I remember reading something somewhere, a text post or something, about how at Aerith's wedding (if she were to have one) she'd put chairs up for the people who wouldn't be able to make it.  So that's how Angeal and her parents got chairs.

The dream that Aerith had, with Angeal and her mother wishing Aerith and Zack well... that was something I literally cooked up the day before I posted it.  It wasn't in the original draft or anything.  But then I thought of that idea and had to include it.  And I think it wraps everything up very nicely.  The whole last few chapters do.

So, this is Magik, signing off for now.  It's not goodbye forever.  But it's goodbye for now.

Thank you to everyone who supported this endeavor of mine! I'll post updates and probably give you a link to a blog for my (not fanfic) stuff.

Cloud versus Everyone at Home (16)

Link to the chapter: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/16/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

I didn't livetumbl for this one, sorry guys.

Anyway, so Cloud versus everyone at home.  It's one of the main reasons why he wants to leave in the first place.  He feels conflicted regarding Tifa's mother's death versus his father's death; he doesn't fit in, partially because he doesn't want to, but the rest because everyone finds him odd; there's a part of him that thinks about getting involved in SOLDIER, but Tifa's talked him out of that one by now; and the rest of him is just craving for adventure.

by *bloodlinev on dA

So he leaves.  He tells his work, his mom, and Tifa.  He and Tifa make promises to help each other in a bind.  The caveat behind that, however, is that one has to KNOW that the other is in a bind.  And, sorry you two, but your hearts just don't have the connection for that.  SoKai can pull it off... Rokushi might be able to pull it off.  Zerith can pull it off because Aerith is special.  But CloTi? just... *sigh*.

Anyway, but this picture is adorable! It's those moments on the water tower (wow, almost typed Clocktower... Days, much?) that I find so endearing.  They're so cute and young.

And, slight spoilers, they're not going to be that way when they next see each other.  I say only slight because something similar happens in FFVII.  Granted, in my canon, Cloud's not going to try and become SOLDIER and then accidentally become involved in one of Hojo's experiments to the point where he thinks he's Zack.  But Cloud's gonna have some stuff happen to him.  Sorry, ya'll.

I used a bit of a different writing style for this chapter, as you can tell by the dialogue.  I didn't use dialogue markers, hoping that it would be obvious who was talking.  It's easier to read through if you assume that Tifa always talks first (unless otherwise noted).  Because, admit it, Tifa does that.

Review Responses:

Archsage! you're back! *hugs* Thank you so much for your kind words and compliments! I'm glad you're enjoying it! It's a blast to write.  I hope I continue to inspire you!

KKBeckett, Yes, Cloud has left.  *sigh*  As for Tifa following him, you'll see :P  (Spoilers.)

This one's shameless self-promotion.  I made this video a couple of years ago for rar's fanfic otp, Namiku.  Yup.  Check her out if you haven't :P

http://www.fanfiction.net/u/2278897/rarmaster

She would tell you to start with Falling to Pieces, probably.

Stepping Stones (Prequel Ch5)

I feel that's an accurate description of the chapter: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/5/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

It kind of is a "stepping stones" chapter, considering it's made up of four smaller parts.  Each of these parts is a step away from what happened before and/or a step towards what's coming next.

We hadn't seen Cloud yet, but I needed to set up several things with him:
-His relationship with Tifa
-His unhappiness of where he's at
-His want to go adventuring
And so I did just that.  Sure, in a future chapter with him (minor spoilers), he's still in Nibelheim, but he's working towards his goals.

We had yet to see a chapter featuring Isa and Lea as main characters, only as side characters.  I didn't particularly have enough information on them to warrant a full chapter.  It's not really an area I'm exploring and what happens to them is relatively explained in the games themselves.  I took what we knew and made a snippet of a chapter.

Kairi's chapter featured both her and Zack.  It was a step away from Kairi in the first chapter and it certainly pulls from that.  It's also a step away from the last chapter where Zack was featured.  He's now in Hollow Bastion and looking for his own means of transportation outside of the black feathers.  Kairi's part of the chapter is also a step towards what will happen next--both in Hollow Bastion and for Zack.

Then there's Aerith's part of the chapter, which also features Kairi.  Go figure.  Aerith's part of the chapter, similar to Kairi's, pulls from the first chapter, as well as leads into future chapters.  Just you wait and see.  The plot is moving forward!

The picture on the right depicts the characters ALMOST at the age at which I'm writing them.  (I'm a year off.)  I saw the picture and really wanted to use it.  I feel it reflects how they all look at this point in their stories.  Picture courtesy of ~sakurabatou on DeviantArt (though she has since moved to a new account).  I realize I could just use the picture when the characters ARE those depicted ages... but I have other images I want to use heheh...

Review Responses!

WritersProse Chapter 2&3: I really appreciate your analysis and such! I'm also glad you found Rinoa's relationship with Angelo cool :) I do apologize for how this ends up coming across with the constant switching every chapter. Though, I do promise that several chapters down the road, things are a lot more connected.  It helps that several characters will meet up and start interacting with each other on a semi-permanent basis, the stories will become connected and there won't be such jarring switches.  On that note, I will strive not to do recaps of previous chapters as I switch to a new one like I seem to have done with chapters 2 and 3.  I'm trying to keep everything set in a KH universe, though a lot of Final Fantasy VIII and Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core will bleed through.  I'm glad to hear my characterization and dialogue is solid, however :)

KKBeckett Chapter 5: Yes, that was definitely a reference to the Buster Sword (though in my canon, Cloud has YET to get it come Betwixt and Between--which is a function of Zack having it lol).  But yeah, totally a reference.  I'm glad you like the Lea/Isa bits, even though you found them eerie.  I find that entire relationship eerie and a bit tragic (as you can see by the end of AtP...).  KH3 isn't going to change that I don't think.  I question if Isa is redeemable.  I'm up for a little debate on that, however.  Anyway, it's seen later in the chapter how Kairi knows what a star shard is--she heard Mickey and Aqua talking about them likely.  (If that doesn't actually happen in BBS... whoops....) However, some of that is Kairi just knowing things like that as a function of being a Princess of Heart.  And Zack is all for taking the tip.  And yes... darkness is coming.  (I don't consider this spoilers, considering the games themselves dictate Radiant Garden's/Hollow Bastion's history.)

Video!

I love TSFH.  You should listen to them sometime.  I watched this video and had feels.  So I'm sharing it with you all.

Byes for nows!

Cloud and Tifa

art by n0-heaven on deviantart.

Oh, the couple that I don't know what to do with.

See, Cloud refuses to acknowledge Tifa because he's too busy dealing with his darkness.  Which, I get and all... I mean... was Riku thinking about anyone when he was dealing with his? Nope.

But, I mean... Cloud and Tifa's not even officially canon in FF7.  It's ambiguous.  And it's supposed to be that way.

However, I'm not shipping Clerith.  I'm shipping CloTi.  Cloud just has to get passed everything.  And Tifa will wait for him.

However, Tifa is his light...

art by Risachantag on dA.  (Good artist btw)

I thought that picture was appropriate.

Anyway, even though they're not actually a couple... they're still really good friends.  And they're still really powerful fighters.  I mean, when you look past the whole dealing with darkness thing, Cloud is ridiculously powerful.  Omnislash, anyone? He's a good fighter, a good leader when he has to be, he knows not to play around.

Basically, if I were placing him in an army... I'd want him to be a general.  (Not that the army ever works like that... but still...)

And Tifa is so horribly stubborn.  She's a good fighter.  (I mean, she takes on enemies with her FISTS and wins.)  She's also good at finding people/keeping up with people.  (Cloud.)  She's good at keeping everyone together and keeping a positive attitude.  

As a team, the two of them are very good fighters.  They watch each other’s backs almost instinctively.  They know the others weaknesses and how to adjust/compensate for that.  Tifa knows when to interfere with Sephiroth, and when not to.  Cloud would prefer that Tifa stays out of all the battles, because he doesn't want her to get hurt--but at the same time, he's secretly grateful for her help.  They grew up together... that helps too.

When it comes to light/darkness... yes, Cloud's dark enough to have a shadow of his own.  No, he hasn't been able to deal with it as fast as Cloud in rar's universe.  Cloud in rar's universe had extra incentive to deal with his darkness, actually.  He got really angry and took it out on his shadow.  But, not my story to tell.  MY Cloud's still dealing with Sephy.  It's an ongoing thing.  However, for every bit of darkness that Cloud has, Tifa balances it with light.

No, she's not Aerith... she's not a Princess of Heart.  But she's bright.  I can't explain why, she just is.  See the picture above.

Regardless of what happens, Tifa will continue to follow Cloud wherever he goes--keeping him out of trouble and making sure he doesn't take on too much.  (He's not Zack with an ego... but he's like Mr. Incredible when he thinks that he has to take out a giant robot (Sephy) all on his own to protect those he loves and cares about.)

So yeah... there's my couple that's not really a couple.

art by dsabotender on dA.

Comparisons Between Couples

Well, something was nagging me in the back of my mind as I was putting together the Zack and Aerith post, so I figured I'd go ahead and do this now while I'm thinking about it.

You see 

and

have a lot in common.  

Cosplays are by Konoe-Lifestream and VandorWolf/twinfools respectively.  

Both have a history.  Sora and Kairi grew up together.  Aerith and Zack met when they were teenagers, but have since grown into a very happy-go-lucky couple like Sora and Kairi are.  And Sora and Kairi have only recently become a couple because Sora took his time getting it through his head that there are these things called GIRLS and... (i won't continue...)

Kairi's going to get more powerful magically.   And can't you just see Kairi as a healer? I mean... it's staring me right in the face.  I don't know about the rest of you.  

And Sora and Zack both have this habit of charging into things and Kairi and Aerith just sigh and follow and Cure them when things get ugly.

The couples have a lot in common.

Similarly,

and

have a lot in common.

Cosplays are by Eyes-0n-Me and KIPPER-love/QueenRachael respectively.  And if I thought finding cute pictures of Namine and Riku were hard... finding cute cosplays is harder.  

Anywho.  These two have so much alike in their fighting styles.  They're histories have a bit in common as well, I suppose.  Neither couple grew up together.  They were more or less thrown together under a set of circumstances and ended up falling for each other somewhere in the process.  Rinoa's homeland was threatened and she needed mercenaries and she found Leon.  Riku and Namine were both responsible for bringing Sora back.  

Leon and Riku are both the type of fighter... not to really charge into things... but to assess the situation, go in, and cream everything else.  Is there really anything else to say in that regard?

Rinoa and Namine don't really get INTO the battle.  They stay off to the side.  I mean, yes, Rinoa will get into a battle if she has to, she has her blaster-edge (and if I haven't said it before, I'll say it again, I wouldn't put it past her to steal one of Leon's old gunblades and use that as well).  Namine has been known to use pencils as weapons when she gets in close.  I'm probably going to get her a knife in the future.  Or Riku will get her a knife... But, when Rinoa and Namine aren't in the middle of things, they're off to the side, casting magic or shattering memories and looking out for everyone else.  (Mainly Leon and Riku...)

Again, there's quite the amount of similarities.

By that logic, you would assume that...

was like

right?

Cosplays by Adellexe/Aiiki and MiciaGlo on deviantArt, respectively.

Well, I suppose.  Sort of.  It would help if Cloud and Tifa were actually a couple.  Because, they're not.  Not yet, anyway.  And I have no idea when that's going to happen, because Cloud's too busy dealing with his darkness to understand anything about relationships.  But Tifa's waiting for him.  Aside from that, I mean, there are still similarities.  Both couples grew up together.  Cloud grew up with Tifa.  Roxas and Xion... well, they kinda grew up together.  Even though they were "born" at the ripe old age of 14 or so.  They were both certainly friends first.  So, there are some similarities.

Xion and Tifa are both horribly stubborn.  They want what's best for others first, before thinking about what's best for themselves.  Tifa would follow (and has followed) Cloud to the edges of the universe and Xion would do the exact same thing for Roxas.  They are both 'in-your-face' fighters.  They don't like taking 'no' for an answer.  They also won't take crap from anyone.  And they'll both beat you up if they don't particularly like the looks of you.

Cloud and Roxas... well, they both have spiky blonde hair.  They can both be moody.  Though... it's hard to call Roxas moody, really.  He's gotten considerably better now that he has a heart.  Though, maybe Cloud will be better once he's dealt with his Sephiroth problem.  He wasn't always a moody kid.  Both boys are certainly strong fighters with powerful swords.  Both certainly care about their friends and will go to great lengths to protect them.  

So the similarities are more than you'd originally think.

And, well, that's all I really have to say.  

The Girlfriends

This is a little something I wrote up MONTHS ago.  This is what happens when you let the characters in my head sit down and have tea. 

William, Kat, Alice and Tristan belong to me.  (They were featured in the Magical Meeting chapters!) Everyone else belongs to Squeenix. 

So, cue William, Tristan, Cloud, Zack, Sora, Riku and Leon sitting down and having tea.  (I'm not sure why Roxas wasn't in this conversation... he just wasn't... sorry Roxas...) Then they all start bragging.  Guess what they're bragging about? Their girlfriends.  Yup. 

Tristan: "My girlfriend (Alice) can take people out with her shoes."

Cloud: "My girlfriend can take on a man twice her size with her bare hands."

Riku: "My girlfriend can take down enemies from the inside out."

William: "My girlfriend (Kat) can wrap you up in a ball of your own emotions.  And she can control the elements."

Sora: "My girlfriend's a princess, and she can fight."

Leon: "My girlfriend's an angel."

Zack: "My girlfriend's a goddess."

Yup. So, Zack... wins? Sure... idk... as I was reading this to rar.. she was all like... "Yeah! Sora's won... Kairi's a princess! Oh, okay, yeah, Rinoa wins..." And then I mentioned Aerith... yeah....

Not that I'm saying this is canon... though, I mean, it's all true.  Alice has knocked people unconscious with her shoes, Tifa's... Tifa... Namine can do her thing with the memories, Kat has, on ONE occasion, wrapped someone up in a ball of his own anger and then left him there.  Kairi's a princess, Rinoa is, for all intents and purposes of this conversation, an angel, and Aerith's a Cetra... which is basically a goddess.

So... yeah...

OHMYGOSH.  Link.  With Zelda being the Goddess Hylia in Skyward Sword and all.  Link ties Zack.  Woohoo!  (Not that I’ve ever written for Link before… but *shrug* I just thought of it because I’ve been having Skyward Sword feels lately—the soundtrack will do that to you)

On the Couples and their Darkness Levels

There are a TON of different pairings/couples in my KHverse.  What's amusing is the differing levels of darkness within any individual couple.  And, I'm posting about it because it's interesting.

First, the obvious one, Sora and Kairi.  Both have incredible amounts of light in their hearts.  Kairi contains no darkness whatsoever.  Sora has a little bit more darkness now that Ven is gone, but he's completely in-check when it comes to his darkness.  There is a SMALL possibility that I may play with Sora's darkness growing, but I mean, if I went too horribly far with it I might as well just be writing rar's story, so I'm not going there.  This is why their combo is called Fated Faith and is completely light-based. 

The next one in high lightness is Zack and Aerith.  Aerith has only the TINIEST bit of darkness inside of her.  Zack's is under control and not causing problems for him.  They don't have any epic combos together, but I mean, both of them are pretty darn powerful.  (Zack isn't the strongest magically, especially compared to Aerith, but he's all for the brute-force hack-and-slash.)  The reason why they don’t particularly have any combos together is BECAUSE they have such different fighting styles. Aerith is mostly magic with a little bit of melee, Zack is all melee with magic when he has to.

Anyway, Next comes Roxas and Xion.  Roxas has got a lot of light, but nothing when put up against people like Aerith and Kairi.  Xion's a replica with her heart built pretty neutral in light versus darkness.  She was originally put together like that by a Nobody who couldn't know the workings of a heart if he tried.  Her next design took on that essence to keep Xion's personality intact.  They can bust out light-attacks pretty quickly though, like Event Horizon and Call of Light.  

The one in perfect neutral balance is Squall and Rinoa though.  Well, they're at least in the middle of all the couples.  Though Rinoa has to maintain complete neutrality because of her Sorceress Status and Squall has to uphold her to that.  They can bust out both light and dark combos (holy vs meteor etc.) with no negative effects.  They are a force to be reckoned with.  I mean, come on, chain-casting Angel Wing and a Lionhearted Renzokuken on the side? You're dead if you're on the receiving end of that.  (Ultima Weapon, anyone? I could probably kill Omega with that too if I went and tried.  (It's on my list of things to do.)  That’s how I did it.  (Well, actually, I think with Ultima, I had Angel Wing going and then he killed Rinoa and I had a Limit lined up for Squall and I just got LUCKY and got Lionheart.))

Then, it's honestly a question of who's dealing with least darkness: Riku, Terra, or Cloud?

Riku's surprisingly dealing with the least.  Even though you could argue that Tifa has more light than Namine, Cloud CERTAINLY is dealing with more darkness than Riku to make up for it.  Riku will still have problems with his darkness.  He tries to keep it in check, but there are times when the power gets the better of him and he starts to slip.  Namine does her best to keep him in check and he's grateful for it.   Namine, on the other hand, it quite light.  She was formed from Kairi's heart which is pure light.  The only thing that can contain darkness is the data that was built into her to make up for her Nobody status.  In no way is Namine innocent and darkness free.  However, she's in check with herself--just a tad guilty and mopey sometimes.  Regardless of their (Riku and Namine’s) darkness levels, they're still ridiculously powerful.  I mean, just look at their Limit Decompression! And, I’m working on getting them a combo too.  (It’s coming up in a chapter that I haven’t written yet, but I’m in the sequence at least!)

Next comes, well, probably Terra and Aqua. Yes, I'm shipping them.  Or, I intend to.  They're not anywhere near a couple yet.  But, I figure they will be eventually.  I like Tequa better than Venqua.  They're closer in age.  Granted, this is a couple I haven't particularly explored all that much.  Terra's dealing with darkness moreso than Riku however, considering he was possessed by Xehanort for way longer than Riku was.  Aqua's pretty neutral and in check and she'll do her best to keep Terra in check.

Cloud and Tifa are at the bottom.  Cloud's got way more darkness to deal with, considering his is a physical manifestation of it.  Yay.  Once Sephiroth is gone, things'll probably change, but, Sephiroth has to die first.  And that's gonna be a while.  Tifa is a very bright person and is just what Cloud needs to help him.  However, he needs to learn to listen a bit more.

So, where do Axel and Kuin fit on this? Well... heheh... probably right after Squall and Rinoa now that I'm looking at it.  Kuin fights for the side of light, but in no way does that make her heart completely pure.  She's a flexor like Rinoa, as explored in the Magical Meeting chapter.  Axel is... well... heheh... far from completely light.  He's got his own darkness to deal with, though it's more in check than Riku's but less in check than Leon’s. 

And... yeah... that's the couples and darkness levels.