A/N: I originally didn'twant to write this cheesy-ish epilogue, but here we are. Here's to setting everything in stone.

And yes, above is my attempt at making a cover image for this story, emphasis on the word "attempt" lol. Enjoy!

epilogue

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Their happy ever after and the little moments in between.

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Xion takes a deep breath before knocking on the door.

She twiddles her thumbs and rocks back and forth on her heels as she waits for someone to answer. After thirty seconds, she receives no answer. She knocks again with slightly more urgency—still no answer. Before her knuckles can make contact with the wooden surface once more, the door swings open, and a half-naked and hyperactive two-year-old girl scurries out with a giggle as her frustrated father follows suit.

"Ari!" Sora yells as he chases the toddler with her little dress in hand. "You're not dressed yet! Get back here!"

Xion giggles as she watches the red-haired, blue-eyed girl run across the lawn in nothing but polka dot leggings adorning her chubby little legs. At the end of the driveway, Riku shuts the car door behind him and scoops the little one into his arms just as she's about to jump off the curb.

"Uncle Riku!" she gasps in pleasant surprise.

"Hey kiddo," he greets as he ruffles her hair with affection. "Wow, look at you! You've gotten even prettier since the last time I saw you!"

She giggles at the compliment, but the moment is short lived. Sora finally comes in between them, panting, and forces the lilac coloured dress onto his overactive daughter with the help of his best friend.

"Thanks Riku," Sora says breathlessly. "Gosh, you'd think everyone was exaggerating the terrible two. They're really not kidding. She's just so impulsive and all over the place."

"Well it's not hard to guess who she got that from," Xion teases. Riku throws his head back with a cheeky laugh as they make their way into Sora's new two-storey home as of eight months ago.

"So how was the flight from Radiant Garden?" Sora asks as he leads everyone into the foyer with Ariel on his shoulders.

"Fine," Riku answers while Xion admires Sora's wedding picture in the living room.

"And no," Riku suddenly adds with a knowing look. "I didn't order strippers on the private jet if that's what you're about to ask."

Sora childishly sticks out his tongue—a gesture that his daughter unknowingly imitates above him. "Boo, you're no fun."

"I highly doubt your wife would approve of this interest in exotic dancers," Riku says with a chuckle. "Where is Kairi anyway?"

Then, as if it were planned, a motherly but overly excited voice hollers at them from the second floor. "Is that Riku and Xion?"

"Hey Kairi!" Xion greets. She hears the redhead squeal before bounding down the steps of the staircase with another little bundle in her arms, her wedding ring visibly shining when the sunlight seeping through the windows hits it directly.

"Hey guys!" she says, greeting them both with affectionate one-armed hugs as she holds her eight-month-old son in her other arm.

"Miki, say hi to your Uncle Riku and Auntie Xion," Kairi orders softly. The brown-haired, indigo-eyed toddler smiles toothily like his father before offering a high-pitched "hi". Unable to help herself any longer, Xion squeals and begins to pinch Miki's chubby cheeks.

"Would Auntie Xion like to help me get the kids ready?" Kairi suggests.

"Auntie Xion would love that," her fellow romance novelist answers. "Come on Ari, I'll do your hair!"

"Okay!" the young girl exclaims as her father hands her over. When the girls are upstairs with the kids, Sora turns to his best friend with a smile.

"Do you need help bringing your stuff from the car?" Sora offers.

Riku simply nods. "Sure."

"Thanks again for letting Xi and I stay with you for the weekend," Riku says as they walk towards the driveway side by side.

"You know I wouldn't have it any other way, Mr. President," Sora admits. "I'd rather annoy you here than at some five star hotel." The younger man then stops in the middle of the pathway to send his best friend a warning look. "But I swear, if I hear you and your girlfriend having sex through the walls again—"

"That was one time!" Riku argues. "And we weren't even having sex! For the last time, she just hit her toe on the edge of the bedpost!"

"Sure," Sora says, clearly unconvinced. "So how are things with you and Xion anyway?" he decides to ask as they haul a few bags and luggages from the back of Riku's car.

"Good," Riku answers as he throws the strap of his duffel bag over his shoulder. "Really good, actually."

"Really?" Sora asks slyly. He already has a knowing look on his face when he asks, "How good?"

Riku takes a deep breath as he slams the trunk down. For a few moments all that can be heard is the summer breeze whistling through the trees and the chirping of birds, but Riku is quick to overpower it with his words.

"I'm… going to ask her to marry me," he informs.

Sora's jaw drops in both shock and relief. He begins to applaud, and Riku merely plays along by bowing and waving to his audience of one.

"Whoa, Riku, 'atta boy!" Sora cheers. "That's great!" He then throws an arm around his best friend's broad shoulders and brings him down to his level with a lopsided grin. "Welcome to the married life, my friend. As far as I know with my three years of experience, it's going to be a total roller coaster, and there will be times where you'll want to rip each other's heads off, but it's going to be the best ride of your life."

"This coming from the biggest man skank of our time," Riku jokes.

"That was like six years ago," Sora mumbles, shame-faced.

"Yeah, I know, but I just like bugging you about it," Riku says as he nudges his best friend in the gut. "But I swear, if you pull an Axel during your best man speech…"

Sora shakes his head with a chuckle at the memory and grins at the best man of his wedding.

"It's nice to see you again, Riku," he decides to say.

Riku offers him a warm smile. "It's nice to see you too, Sora."

Then, without warning, Xion's unusually loud squealing from the second floor brings their feel good moment to an end. Riku raises a suspicious eyebrow in Sora's direction, but the younger man merely shrugs.

Kairi stands in the middle of the living room, admiring the new and improved memory tree that stands tall and proud with new memories hanging all around. She places a hand on top of the very first picture taken for the tree and laughs to herself when she recalls washing paint out of her hair for almost a week. Her hand then moves to the picture of her and Sora on Destiny Islands with a coconut in between their lips, a picture of her and Xion at Roxas and Naminé's wedding, a picture of Sora, Roxas, Riku, and Hayner at Eric's first birthday party, a picture of Naminé with her newborn fraternal twins Aurora and Terence in hand, and finally, to the selfie of her crying on Sora's shoulder as he makes a thumbs up gesture at the camera. She chuckles as she recalls the memory with much fondness.

"Sora!" she'd exclaimed that night.

"Mm?" he asks from the bathroom of their previous loft. She doesn't even have to look in his direction to know that he has a toothbrush in his mouth.

"Red or blue?" she asks, referring to the two cocktail dresses that she currently holds in front of the full-length mirror.

"Red," Sora answers immediately.

"Really?" Kairi says as she holds the red dress in front of her with an unconvinced look. She quickly and wordlessly decides the blue one is nicer.

She frowns when she hears Sora giggle amidst the sound of the sink running but thinks nothing of it as she slips into the knee-length blue dress. When he emerges from the bathroom, dressed and ready for the night's festivities, Kairi is surprised to find a blue tie already secured around his neck.

"Wha…" she starts.

"I just know you too well, babe," he insists as he walks towards the middle of their shared bedroom with an amused grin.

Kairi groans. "What did I say about calling me that?"

Sora giggles as he helps his girlfriend zip her dress up for the night. "You're just really cute when you're angry."

"You think anything I do is cute," she points out.

"Well I'm not lying," he whispers as he wraps his arms around her waist from behind.

"Sora," Kairi warns when he begins placing little kisses up her shoulder blade to her neck. He smirks when she begins to sag against him. "We're going to be late for the ball if you keep that up."

"Heh, good," he says as he kisses her cheek. Kairi leans her back against his chest and allows herself to melt into a few more of his kisses until she notices something very crucial missing on her vanity table.

"Oh my gosh, Sora," she says while going into a temporary state of panic. She roughly removes herself from his grasp and begins to search high and low for her grandmother's necklace. "Sora, I can't find my necklace."

"Really?" he asks, but he doesn't sound as concerned as she'd hoped.

"Sora, that's my grandmother's engagement necklace," she reminds sternly. "And it should be here, but it's not. I always put it here."

"Kairi, calm down," her boyfriend pleads. "I'm sure it's a lot closer than you think." He sounds surprisingly confident.

"I can't calm down!" the redhead shrieks, nearly pulling out her hair that was once tied into a neat side ponytail. "Sora, that necklace has been in my family for generations," she says, but he's heard it all before. "And it's the only thing I have left of my grandmother so I would really appreciate it if you could show some concern and help me right now—"

"Kairi," Sora calls softly. She turns around, distressed, but finds her boyfriend leaning against the wall with her grandmother's necklace dangling from his index finger—only this time, there is a new heart-shaped diamond in the center where a yellow Lucida-shaped diamond used to reside.

"Sora, oh my gosh," Kairi whispers in realization.

"Now before you freak out, I want you to know that I have your grandmother's original diamond in a box," Sora assures. "I also asked your parents for permission during our Thanksgiving visit. They said yes, and I'm really hoping you'll say so, too. With that being said…" After taking a deep breath, Sora gets down on one knee and looks his lover in the eyes as he says the following:

"Kairi Hart…" he starts as Kairi's eyes glisten with tears. "Your singing in the shower is downright unbearable."

His girlfriend almost falls over in shock.

"Sora, really?" she practically screams, seething.

"Let me finish," her boyfriend demands. "You hog the blanket way too much, the amount of vegetables you put in the shopping cart is completely unacceptable, you'll probably make me fat one day with those Nutella crepes of yours, and I can hardly find any shirts to wear in the morning because you've practically stolen all of them, but…" Kairi knows that the jokes come to an end when her boyfriend's voice begins to shake. "You make me happy beyond belief, and there is no one else I'd rather see walking down that aisle towards me but you. I know I make mistakes, I know I'm going to annoy the hell out of you, and I know that we won't always agree, but I'm willing to get through those moments—and your obnoxiously loud singing—if it means that I'll get to call you mine forever."

"Sora…" Kairi whimpers with tears already on the verge of falling from her eyes.

"Kairi Hart," Sora whispers. "Marry me."

She can tell by the look in his eyes that he's terribly nervous. He's already done this once before, and it hadn't worked out in his favour. Kairi, however, plans to show him that it's different this time round, and that she's here to stay.

"Yes," she answers without a trace of hesitation, and Sora begins to feel air rush into his lungs again. "Yes," Kairi repeats when her boyfriend—now fiancé—looks up at her with that stupid grin of his. "I'll marry you, Sora Fair."

He immediately gets up at these words and kisses her lovingly before twirling her around in a cliché fashion and fastening the necklace onto her neck. After many minutes of fumbling due to over excitement, she finally feels it click into place just as she's running a hand over his chest and suddenly hits him when he wraps his arms around her waist.

"Ow!" he yelps. "What the heck was that for?"

"You idiot!" Kairi shrieks through teary eyes. "Look what you did! My mascara's running! Why couldn't you propose to me before I put my makeup on? Now we're really going to be late!"

Sora chuckles and takes advantage of the moment as he snaps a selfie of him and his girlfriend—correction, fiancée—crying on his shoulder. He sets the camera down on the nightstand and lets his hand linger on the zipper of her dress before deciding to tug it down.

Well, since they were going to be late anyway…

Back in the present, Kairi releases the photo from her grasp and smiles at the treasured memory. Her hand then skims over their wedding picture, another unforgettable event, and then over to Sora talking animatedly to her pregnant belly. To the right of that picture, a newly born Ariel sleeps in the arms of her snoozing father, and soon enough, pictures of Miki begin to arise. Kairi places a hand on the most recent picture, which displays Sora playing the piano with his children in the living room. While Miki sits on his father's lap, watching Sora's fingers press down on the keys with great interest, Ariel sits beside her father and sways along to the music with glee.

Kairi feels another smile tug at her lips when she places a hand on her still flat belly. Soon enough, there would be another child joining their little jam sessions.

"Hon," she hears her husband call. She turns to find him mid-stride in the middle of the foyer with Miki in one arm and Ariel in the other, secured like a football. She's giggling.

"What are you doing?" Sora asks. "We're going to be late! Come on!"

Kairi turns away from the tree with a melancholic sigh. She'd been hoping to tell him the news right before they left the house, but perhaps she'd have to wait just a little bit longer.

"Sora, did you bring the kids' bottle bag?" Kairi asks as she secures Ariel into her car seat in the family vehicle.

"Yeah, it's in the back," Sora answers as he places his son into his seat. Riku tries to hold back a laugh as he and Xion enter their car parked just beside Sora's on the driveway.

"I never thought I'd see the day where Sora would trade in the Bugatti for an SUV," the older man teases.

"Can you not?" Sora pleads. "And it's in the garage, thank you very much."

Then, after he buckles his son into his seat, the seven-month-old baby then lifts his foot up to his head and begins to pull it to his mouth, and Sora only watches the gesture with confusion.

"You know, there's this superstition on Destiny Islands that implies that when a baby does that, it means they're asking for a sibling," Kairi informs as she nuzzles her daughter with affection.

"Really?" Sora asks, completely oblivious to what his wife is implying. Kairi turns around to look at Xion in the car behind her, and she sends Kairi a supportive thumbs up gesture while Riku stifles another chuckle.

"We'll meet you two there," he says as he backs out of the driveway with an understanding grin.

"Sora, did you hear what I said?" Kairi asks when she and her husband cross paths at the hood of the car.

"Yeah," Sora replies as he scratches the back of his head. "You said that if a baby can lift their foot to their mouth, it means that they're asking for a… sibling…" The realization slowly starts to sink in, and Sora's eyes widen when he looks at his wife with suspicion. "Kairi…"

"Sora…" Kairi mocks.

"You want to do it now?" he asks slyly.

"No, you idiot!" she exclaims with impatience. "I'm already pregnant!"

Sora's lips immediately turn upward into a huge smile as he takes his wife by the waist and spins her around with excitement.

"Wait, really? Are you sure?" Sora asks elatedly.

"Mhm," Kairi hums as she presses her forehead against her husband's. "I took three tests."

Unable to help himself any longer, Sora presses her lips onto hers and smirks when his wife begins to giggle against his lips. At the sound of her mother's laughter, Ari begins to clap in the car while Miki only watches his sister with confusion.

"Another adventure with you," Sora whispers into Kairi's ear when he pulls her into a tight embrace. All at once he already anticipates her belly slowly growing beneath his hands, her odd cravings at two thirty in the morning, the faint, but steady heartbeat of their new child against his left ear, the emotional mood swings, the sound of Ariel screaming excitedly in anticipation for her new playmate, and the soft, loving glow on Kairi's cheeks when she whispers soothing words to their little miracle every morning.

"I can't wait," Sora says as he kisses his wife's forehead. Kairi buries her face in the crook of his neck and grins.

"Neither can I."

After a ten-minute drive, the family of four (and a quarter, respectively) reaches their destination and parks their vehicle right beside Axel's McLaren on the two-door garage driveway. When Kairi gets out to open the back door, her daughter is already squirming uncomfortably in her seat.

"Mama!" she whines. Kairi giggles as she unbuckles her seat and brings her into her arms. She'd certainly inherited her father's impatience, no doubt about that.

"Auntie Kairi!" she suddenly hears behind her. When she turns around, Aurora and Terence, Roxas and Naminé's dynamic duo, come running towards her and Ari at full speed. Ariel begins to squirm in her mother's arms some more, and Kairi finally lets her daughter go with a chuckle.

"Hey, what about Uncle Sora?" Sora himself asks when the group of cousins fail to notice him and Miki due to their excitement. Kairi almost laughs out loud when all three kids try to pounce on him simultaneously. "Okay, abort mission!" Sora screams as he shields his son with both arms. "Abort mission!"

Luckily, before Terence can bring him down to his knees, Roxas comes in for the save.

"Aurora, Terence!" he scolds after lifting the twins off of his brother. "What did I say about knocking people to the ground?"

"Only do it to Uncle Axel," the twins recite in guilty unison. As Kairi shakes her head with mock disapproval, Roxas proudly ruffles their hair.

"Thanks bro," Sora says when he regains his balance. He then takes in the pink apron that his twin is wearing and snickers. "Nice look."

Roxas merely rolls his eyes. "Ha ha, very funny. Now, if you're done teasing me about my lack of masculinity, do you think you could help me start the grill in the back?"

"Sure," Sora answers with an amused grin. He hands Miki over to his wife and helps his brother usher the kids into the backyard.

"Keep a watchful eye on him Roxas!" Kairi advises when they're halfway there. "He might just burn your house down!"

"I will!" Roxas promises as he lets out a hearty laugh.

Sora, on the other hand, runs after his wife at full speed for payback. With a giggling Miki in her arms, Kairi shrieks and begins to run to the other side of the lawn, but her husband is quick to capture her by the waist and spin her around.

"Sora!" Kairi screams after her husband forcefully places a kiss on her lips. "Go help Roxas in the back!"

"Okay, okay," he finally agrees after kissing her one last time. "I love you."

"Love you too," Kairi replies with a giggle as Sora lovingly places his cheek on his son's head. He offers him a quick embrace before bringing himself to level with Kairi's belly.

"Bye baby," he whispers before kissing her stomach and making a beeline for the backyard. With a smile gracing her lips, Kairi then places a hand on her tummy and walks through the front door of the two-storey home with a yawning Miki in her arms.

"Kairi!" she immediately hears. Aerith and Selphie immediately emerge from the living room and shower the redhead with squeals.

"Xion told us the news," Selphie, otherwise known as Kairi's previous maid of honour, says excitedly. "Congratulations!"

"Oh, I can't wait to have another grandchild in my arms!" Aerith exclaims. "Congratulations, my dear."

"Thank you," Kairi says graciously. When her son begins reaching for his grandmother, Kairi hands him over to her mother-in-law and walks towards the kitchen with Selphie while Aerith heads towards the backyard.

"Kairi!" Naminé exclaims when her cousin enters the kitchen. Xion is already there, putting the finishing touches on a large chocolate cake.

"I heard about the new baby! Congratulations!" Naminé exclaims as she cautiously makes her way around the island counter with her pregnant belly of seven months. "You have now re-entered the realm of expectant mothers. May you enjoy another nine months of pickle and Nutella sandwiches."

"You already know," Kairi says while pulling Naminé into a gentle embrace. "So where's the birthday boy?" Kairi then asks when she fails to notice her cousin's youngest.

"Backyard," Naminé answers. "We'll head there right after we finish putting the candles on the cake. And speaking of finishing," the soon-to-be mother of four says as she sticks a candle of the number two in the center of the cake. "The artworks of your new novel, as well as Xion's, are close to completion. We can discuss them later if you'd like."

"Sounds good," Xion says from behind. "Thanks again for agreeing to make yet another great cover for us, Nams."

"As long as you keep the words coming, you can count on me for the visuals," the artist assures. "Now let's get this cake outside: we've got a lot of guests waiting!"

In the backyard, the patio is bustling with running children and chatting adults. Roxas, who stands in front of the grill flipping patties with the help of his twin brother smirks at Riku, who appears to be arranging cutlery on the nearby buffet table.

"So, I hear you want to put a ring on a certain someone's finger," Roxas teases. Riku frowns at Sora who merely shrugs with a sheepish grin. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me," Roxas assures. "I'm glad you've found someone you truly want to be with for the rest of your life, and I'm glad it's you who can treat Xion the way she deserves to be treated." After flipping another patty, Roxas then fakes a sniffle. "Oh, marriage. You all grow up so fast. Soon enough it'll be our daughters walking down the aisle, right Sora?"

His brother grimaces. "I'm going to teach my baby girl that all boys, save daddy, friends, and family, are evil. I'm going to have her trained in every form of the keyblade arts when she turns three and have her rip the balls off any guy who messes with her."

Sora then keeps a watchful eye on Ariel who appears to be playing animatedly with her two cousins and Eric, the—now—five-year-old son of Hayner and Olette. His eyes widen when his daughter suddenly gets up on her tippy toes and plants a small, wet kiss on Eric's cheek. Riku, who immediately senses his best friend's discomfort, grabs Sora by the collar but is dragged across the patio by the fuming father.

"Ari!" Sora scolds as he picks his little tyke off the ground. "What are you doing? You can't kiss boys until you're married!"

"Our son the ladies man," Hayner then says proudly as he pulls his son to him. "He gets that from daddy," he continues while popping his collar, and Olette is quick to elbow her husband in the gut.

"Which demon spawn told you to do that?" Sora asks his daughter.

Ari then points a pudgy little finger in the direction of Vanitas, who begins to whistle to himself and stare off into the distance. Beside him, Ventus covers his mouth and chuckles with amusement when Sora slaps his older brother across the head.

"Don't listen to your Uncle Van," Sora tells his daughter, and the entire backyard is quick to join Ven's laughing fit. An equally amused Axel then joins Roxas, who is in mid-chuckle while flipping another burger.

"Well, doesn't that look like fun?" the redhead observes with crossed arms.

"Yeah," Roxas agrees as he continues to watch Sora berate their older brother with a confused Ari in hand. "Don't get me wrong, I love my family, but it's different when you have your own to watch over, you know? I look at each of my kids and I see the perfect mixture of Naminé and I molded into one. There's nothing in the galaxy like it."

"I figured," Axel says while moving his thumb across his wedding finger. "That's why Larxene and I were thinking of having a little tyke of our own someday."

At this, it is not only Roxas' spatula that drops, but his jaw as well when he looks up at his best friend who now wears a mad grin on his face.

"Really, Axel?" Roxas squeaks excitedly.

"Yeah, why not?" Axel replies with false nonchalance. "Larxene and I have seen almost everything that needs to be seen and experienced everything that needs to be experienced together—all except this last adventure you speak of, of course."

As a supportive gesture, Roxas places a firm hand on his best friend's shoulder and smiles.

"That's great, Axel," he says. "You know I'll support you the whole way through."

"I know," Axel says graciously. "And I'm going to need you then more than ever. If you think Larxene's a bitch now, wait until she's pregnant."

Both men shiver at the thought.

"I'll smuggle your alcohol into the basement," Roxas offers, and Axel fakes a sniffle.

Back with Sora and Van, Kairi interferes with a hand on her hip and a knowing grin on her face.

"Now now Sora, give Vanitas a break. I'm sure you've punished him enough," Kairi says as she outstretches her arms to become a barrier between the two brothers.

"And this is why you're my favourite sister-in-law," Vanitas teases whilst sticking out his tongue towards his youngest brother.

"Honey, he told Ari to kiss a boy!" Sora reasons.

"Really?" Kairi asks with false disbelief, as if she isn't aware of her brother-in-law's antics. "Well, in that case…"

She then grabs Van's wrists and pins them behind his back without warning.

"I'll hold him, you launch!" Kairi orders.

Sora smirks and lifts his daughter as if she were a rocket-propelled grenade. "Ready, baby?"

"Fire!" Ari squeals.

"Fire!" Sora repeats as he tosses his daughter towards her uncle who catches her with ease after she latches onto his neck.

"Hey, you guys!" Roxas calls from the buffet table with the birthday boy in his arms. He, alongside the twins, are joined by all of the invited guests, and Pence stands behind a tripod not too far ahead of them, adjusting the settings on a camera. "If you're done fooling around over there, why don't you join us for a birthday song?"

"We'll be right over!" Ven assures as he takes Ari from Van's arms.

"And that was why I married you," Sora says as he laces his hand with Kairi's while making their way towards the group. "I love you, Kairi Fair," he says after moments of gazing into her indigo eyes that he'd grown to love more and more overtime.

"And I you, Sora Fair," Kairi replies as she ghosts a warm hand over his cheek.

"Come on lovebirds, we don't have all day!" Axel reminds.

Sora rolls his eyes as they pick up their pace. "We're coming, jeez!"

Sora and Kairi take their spots in between Aerith, who continues to hold a snoozing Miki, and Roxas, who holds the blue-eyed, black-haired birthday boy in his arms.

"Happy birthday, kiddo," Sora says as he lightly pokes his nephew's nose.

"Is everyone ready?" Naminé asks as she walks over to the table with a lavishly decorated and lit chocolate cake. Her question is answered with applause and excited nods. "Okay, here we go!"

"Rolling!" Pence calls as he hits the record button on the camera.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Zack, happy birthday to you…"

The End

Chapter Inspirations: Say It, Just Say It—The Mowgli's

We're done, baby. We're done! I apologize for the lateness of this epilogue. I was caught in between school and not wanting this journey to end, but all things must eventually come to an end, and here we are ladies and gentlemen! I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it, and thank you for your support all throughout! But before I leave this story completely, if you truly know me, you know there's some things I have to discuss about this final chapter haha.

So a little thing about the children's names here. I asked a few of you if you could guess why I named Hayner and Olette's kid Eric, and a very select few of you managed to get it correct! Yes, it was because Sora and Kairi had a daughter named Ariel, and you can only guess what's about to happen from there. The child inside Kairi I originally planned to name Flynn over Eugene from Tangled as I imagined him to grow up as a troublemaker and a ladies man like his father. Miki is quite an easy one. His name comes from King Mickey himself, who I happened to meet on my recent trip to Disneyworld. Roxas and Naminé's kids I had to put some thought into. Zack (originally Zackary) is obviously named after his grandfather Zack, Aurora comes from Sleeping Beauty, and Terence is actually the name of the male fairy from Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure, who's voice actor also happens to be Jesse McCartney. Just some fun facts for you there.

And if you haven't already noticed, this entire story was just like a circle. Roxas' actions hurt Sora, who was broken-hearted like the "new girl" Kairi, whom he tried to inflict his teachings on which hurt Riku, who becomes the new "Kairi" who moves to another place to start over alongside Xion. Will someone start the drama cycle again? Hopefully not! Don't cheat on Xion, Riku!

Furthermore, everyone in this epilogue is at different stages. Olette and Hayner already have one child, Kairi and Naminé are both expecting again at different stages, Axel and Larxene are thinking about having a child, and Riku and Xion are about to get engaged. I figured putting them in various, diverse stages in life would make for a more exciting epilogue. I also purposely chose Roxas and Naminé's child as the birthday boy as a) choosing Sora and Kairi's children was too cheesy and b) one of the major points of the story was bringing Sora closer to Roxas.

Well, that's the last of my little explanations for this story. I hope they helped you see a little deeper into the story!

Special thanks to my Aussie Jared Someone, Kaorei, madelyn150, chrome scale, Kvothe Da Bloodless, BlissfulNightRain, KittyKat1217, cutekitty5597, khfanforever, Guest, Demigod103, coconut5639, dontjudgeabookbyitscover, Emi-tan, It's My Lucky Charm, MeoldicEnigma, digimichael96, Ken7700, freakingfangirl, Blade100, DestinyKeyblader28, Crush-Chan17, Guest, Jesusfreak9224, DrytotheDen and my partners in crime, Redeeming Endeavor and Jomatto. Thank you all for your support and honesty that will surely help me improve in the future!

I hope you enjoyed the final installment of D&L! Please kindly leave a review to tell me what you thought, I apologize for any grammar errors that I might have missed, and thank you for all your kind words.

Hoping to see you in any future works I may release,
aliciousness

PS. For those of you who have been seeking advice for works you have been thinking of producing, I am currently writing a short guide that may help you get started and help you on your writing journey, so stay tuned for its release on my profile! Later days!