*Usual disclaimer. I own nothing.

Anyway, I wrote this awhile back with my brother and inspiration came from playing one of the Command Boards found in the Mirage Arena in KH: BBS Final Mix. It was a long, trying game...*

Peter Pan's Box

"Come on, Ven, you can't just give up," said Aqua as she ran after Ventus who had stormed out of the castle. Again.

"I'm trying, Aqua," Ven said. "I'm just not as good as you and Terra."

"Maybe not yet," she said, "but I know if you keep trying, you'll be better than us. You have so much potential, Ven."

"Maybe…" Ven finally stopped. He stared down at his empty hands. "Maybe this just isn't right for me. Maybe it's not meant to be?"

Aqua didn't miss a beat. "Don't even think that way. We can do this together."

Any other day, Ventus might have been swayed by her talk of friendship, but he was just so tired. Tired of ending up on his backside during sparring matches. Tired of being told he had potential he just needed to unlock. Tired of holding Aqua and Terra back when he knew they could be so much better without him.

Ven summoned his glider - the equivalent of a wheel-less skateboard. Without a backward glance, he left Aqua and the castle.

***Hours Later***

Ven soon found himself approaching Neverland, a place he had only been to a few times before. He flew down over an expanse of ocean, a lagoon and then over a wooded area. That's where he landed and his glider dematerialized. He was near Peter Pan's hideout. At least, he thought he was. He started forward through the trees and soon found one that was hollow. He peeked in and was instantly greeted by Peter.

"Hey, Ven, what brings you here?" asked the boy.

So, the blond keyblade wielder related his conversation he'd had with Aqua. Partway through, the two of them sat down on either side of a short tree stump that served as a table. When he finished talking, he only stared silently at the rings on the stump.

"I know what'll cheer you up," declared Peter. The red-haired boy rose from sitting cross-legged on a tree stump...and kept rising. He flew up to a shelf, looked around and then flew up to another shelf. Finally finding what he was looking for, he flew down with a box. "Let's go outside," he said, already going that way.

Ven followed. "What's in the box?"

Peter set it on a stump outside. "A game," he answered. "The Lost Boys and I enjoy playing."

"How do you play?" asked Ven as he watched Peter take out a board, some standing pieces, tokens and a die.

"The goal is 20,000 points," Peter said. "Going around the board earns you points."

"Sounds simple enough."

"It is," assured Peter. "The die determines how many spaces your piece can move and the value on the square you land on determines how many points you earn...or lose."

Ven gave him a curious look, then turned his gaze to the board. "The colors identify whether there will be a loss or gain," he guessed.

Peter nodded. "Blue squares are gains, red are losses."

Ven hummed. "And what about the tokens?"

"Those are gained when landing on certain squares," said Peter, pointing to one of the special squares. "They can be used to give an attribute to the die. It's...pretty simple, but hard to explain."

"Let's play then," said Ven, ready to take on a challenge. It had to be easier than training anyway.

He was wrong. So very wrong.

A couple hours later, Ventus watched as Peter rolled three dice onto the board and his moved almost entirely around the board. Ven groaned and picked up a single die, the other two having disappeared. He rolled it and his piece moved all of five spaces. Peter went again and once again he somehow had three dice to roll. As the piece was moving along the colored path on the board, Ven abruptly stood.

"Is something wrong, Ventus?" asked Peter.

Ven said nothing. He held his hand out to the side and his keyblade materialized: The Lost Memory. He hardly glanced at his weapon and swung it down onto the board. There was a satisfying crack as the board split in two, scattering the pieces.

"What has gotten into you?" demanded Peter, rising to his feet.

"Me? I came to get away from it all!" said Ven. "Away from feeling like...like a burden." He took a step away from where they had been playing. "I don't hold a candle to Aqua and Terra and I can't even keep up with you in this...this…" He gestured wildly at the destroyed game board. "Whatever this is," he finished.

Peter frowned. "Well, I can show you a few tricks," he said. "If you want."

"Tricks?" repeated Ven in a whisper. "You mean you weren't even playing fair?"

"All is fair," said Peter. "It's what makes the game fun."

Ven shook his head and tightened his grip on his keyblade. With no warning or further thought, he raised his keyblade and cast two spells in quick succession. There was a flash of light and then Peter was no longer standing. No, in fact, he was three-inches tall and floating in the air, trapped in a distorted field and trying - in vain - to avoid pieces of the game that were spinning dangerously around him.. Mini followed by magnet - two simple spells, but effective.

Ventus gathered up the remains of the game, fractured and splintered wood as well as the pieces. Everything he returned to the box Peter had brought out. But he added something to it.

He set the box on the stump, opened. Then, he took a step back and pointed his keyblade first at the floating boy, then brought it down to point at the box. The distorted sphere followed his direction and Peter Pan was lowered into the box.

Immediately, Ven put the lid on the box and locked it as the magnet spell faded. He could faintly hear Peter's shouts of protest and even some pleading, but he didn't care. At least not right now.

He dematerialized his keyblade and sat on the ground. A part of him knew he was being childish, but how else was he supposed to deal with everything? Talking didn't work. Neither had games or more training. Maybe...maybe he just needed to be alone for a bit.

Leaving Peter Pan in the small box, Ven summoned his glider and set off once again, ignoring the boy's shouts. The spell would wear off eventually, but until then, he could spend time with the game he enjoyed so much.

Ven scoffed. It might have been fun if he hadn't cheated, he thought.

*I feel like this was missing something, but that something has eluded me for months. Anyway, thank you for reading.*