kh_drabble | (no subject)

Challeng[101]: Puppet
Title: Puppet Show
Wordcount: 443
Notes: SECOND ENTRY. Ruthless immitation of a scene from my favorite childhood movie, Fantaghiro/The Yellow Rose. Which nobody's ever heard of, because it's old and a little bit hokey and just chock-full of goodness. And actually, I used to love going to these as a kid (they were on a lot when I was a kid).

"Take care of Kairi, guys." The words were almost lost to the frantic cries:

"Don't do it, Sora!"

"It's a trick!"

But one of the children interrupted the others: "No, he's gotta save Kairi!" And all the other children offered their incoherent wails until the final move was made. Suddenly the Kairi doll sprang to her feet, still shaking on her strings.

"Sora!" it cried out in its squeaky voice, and bounced to the limp Sora's side, accompanied by the wild shouts of "Hurry, Kairi!" and "You gotsta rescue him!" But the moment she reached him, the Sora puppet fell out of sight, replaced by a little black shape.

"Oh no!" the Narrator cried, his words echoed by the multitude of children. "Sora's been turned into a Heartless!"

"What'll they do?" sobbed one child.

"Kairi's gonna change him back," an older girl said (even though she was cheating, since she'd seen this show before). "You'll see."

"That's right! But she can't do it without your help!" the Narrator applauded, and a dozen other black shapes sprang up around the Kairi puppet. "Which one is really Sora?" And the air was flooded with shrieked instructions and laughter as the little duck whacked the 'real' Sora-Heartless with his staff, until finally the little Kairi puppet found the right one and gave it a big, wooden hug.

"Awww," Riku teased, though he could barely be heard above the shouted cheers. "Isn't that sweet?" His friend elbowed him in the side, and beside them, the real Kairi stifled a giggle.

"That part did happen, though," she said, and the other two nodded. Most of thier adventures had been abridged, if only to make them more appropriate for the little audience.

"And that part happened, too," Riku chuckled, pointing again at the little theater: now the little Sora puppet and all his wooden friends hung before a door, while Sora's squeaky little voice ("Kairi," Sora asked with a reddened face, "I didn't honestly sound like that, did I?") shouted: "I know now, without a doubt, Kingdom Hearts is Light!"

"And Ansem was defeated, the friends were reunited, and they all went home and lived happily ever after," the Narrator concluded. Again the air exploded in wild cheers, and all the little children ran back to their parents. But none ran as fast or as happily as the oldest little girl in the bunch, who had seen this same show practically a billion times and still loved every second of it.

"Mommy! Daddy! Uncle Riku!" she shouted with glee. "That was 'mazing!" And Sora laughed and lifted her high into the air, before Riku snatched her out of his hands and seated her on his shoulders.

And, just like the Narrator had said, they all went home and lived happily ever after.