Disclaimer: I do not own the Kingdom Hearts series, Kairi, Squall Leonhart, Ansem, etc.

Author's Note: What's up, homies? Well, it's been a long time since I put anything on FanFiction, and I really wanted to do it, except all I could think of wasn't for my currently running stories. So, I started a new one. I hope none of you mind! I'm already half way through the next chapter of Breakfast at Tifa's, I just have to think it over some more.

Warning: This chapter is all on little kids. Next chapter will be on teenagers. Promise.

Quick Author Babble: I've written splurges from little kid view but not whole chapters! This was so much fun!

Que Sera, Sera

Chapter 1: My Prince

Kairi Shantz was a beautiful princess.

She admired herself in her gold-rimmed mirror, the size of most people's bedroom walls, and could see behind her the grandeur of her room, enormous and coloured in her favourite colour—pink—in all shades possible. Her giant canopy bed, the size of two king size mattresses, was fluffy, heavenly, and covered in decorative pillows that her maids set up for her every morning after she woke. Around her were paintings—masterpieces—and exotic pets from all around the world in cages. Some fluffy, some feathery. But besides a single rainbow-coloured fish on her bedside table, nothing scaly. Finally, her gaze focused on her, in the middle of the mirror, and she smiled in satisfaction.

Her long, silky red hair, so bright a red it shone even without sunlight, ran all the way down her back, braided and woven with strings of pearls and pink ribbon. Her face, round and pale as the moon, but as soft and smooth as a baby's, complimented her deep violet eyes, wide and always innocent, with long, thick eyelashes that made men swoon when she so much as glanced at them. Her nose, petite and unfreckled, perfect to not ruin but instead add to the loveliness of her face, moved daintily as Kairi wiggled it experimentally. Her lips, the ones that all men in the kingdom could only dream of kissing, were as beautiful and fragile-looking as the petals of a pink rose, and her cheeks were always the perfect shade of blush.

She stood straight, admiring her floor-length gown that encircled her beautifully proportioned body. She was slender and moved with grace without even trying.

Kairi walked over to her bedroom window and opened it. The glass doors flew open to reveal her personal patio, made of marble, and covered in vines that had flowerpots everywhere. From there, she admired her castle, the richness of the night with a sky made of velvet, the stars glittering as they proudly looked over her magnificent kingdom.

"My, is this what it feels like to see a princess as beautiful as the moon itself be mere meters away from you?"

Kairi froze at the voice, never having heard it before. She felt her heart hammering in her chest, but from what, she couldn't tell.

She glided to the edge of the patio, and looked down, down, at the dewy, almost overwhelmingly gorgeous palace gardens, which had turned silver in the moonlight.

"Who's there?" she called, but she had a pretty good idea who it was.

"Merely a humble prince, milady, who has been struck by Cupid's arrow at your very sight."

Kairi felt her cheeks turn a deeper, yet still attractive, shade of pink at the flattering words. "Goodness, I would love to see your face."

There was a pause. "Well," said the voice, and it had such mischief and playfulness in it that Kairi felt tingles run down her spine, "who could refuse the request of a fair maiden such as yourself?"

Kairi waited for a moment, listening to the melody of the crickets, when she heard a rustling from below. The sound seemed to be coming closer and closer to her.

"Prince!" she called down. "Whatever are you doing?"

"I am…ngh…climbing to…whoo…your window, princess…huff," he said in between his efforts.

"Ah! Please don't! You could get hurt!" Kairi ran over and looked down for her Prince Charming, but huffed in frustration when she couldn't see through the shadows.

"You should have told me earlier." He released one more breath, and suddenly a smiling face popped up in front of her. "For I am already here."

She stared at him, for she had never seen such a good-looking boy in all her life. His jaw was smooth but strongly-shaped, his skin a healthy peach colour. His nose was small, almost feminine, but it looked so perfect there, smack-dab in the middle of his face. He had a few freckles that must have been the cause of many fun memories outside, rolling around in the sun. His hair, sleek and golden, fell around his face in neat yet slightly mussed locks, framing his face perfectly.

But it was his eyes that really took her breath away.

They were wide, and a colour of blue that made her feel like she could fall into them and land in the ocean. They were so beautiful, enough to rival even her own. When she could not stop staring into them, he sent her a grin that was charming in that way that boys have.

"Princess Kairi, might I be as bold to say that you are taken with me?"

"Taken…? No, no!" She shook her head frantically, more so to quell her own thoughts than his. "I just…I…your eyes…are so beautiful…" She blushed and looked down at her glass slippers.

He hopped over the railing and that was when it occurred to Kairi that she should've helped him up and invited him in. But he didn't seem to care.

"Not as beautiful as yours," he commented with a smile, and he approached her. She watched his face come closer to hers, and she released a breath. "I love you, Kairi," he said. She looked back up into those blue orbs, fighting for her voice as their noses touched.

"I…"

xXx

"Kairi, wake up, sweetie. It's time to go to school."

Kairi felt a force jostling her and watched as the sky, then her kingdom, then her castle, and finally her prince melt away, like paint sliding off a canvas—a ruined masterpiece.

Kairi let out a groan of one who didn't want to be awakened, but after a few moments of resisting, one eye slowly opened to the overhead image of her mother.

"Ngh…" was the first thing she said, rubbing at her eyes with her fist. When she got all her senses about her, she sat up and leaned her back against her headboard. "Mommy, I don't want to go to school."

"Well, Kairi, nobody wants to go to school. But unfortunately it is a task that must be done." Mrs. Shantz smiled at her and stood up. "Now what clothes would you like to wear today?"

"Mommy, I can dress myself," Kairi sighed impatiently.

"Oh, sweetie, you're just too young, I…" The auburn-haired woman looked down at her daughter's scowling face. "Well, okay. But call for Mommy if you need any help, okay?"

Kairi nodded and Mrs. Shantz reluctantly left the room. "I'm six already. Jeez." She poked around in her drawers until she found a pink dress which she liked especially, because it made her feel like a princess when she spun around and, for a moment, the cloth twirled around her gracefully.

She looked at herself in the mirror and felt saddened immediately. It was hopeless, she thought to herself. She would never be beautiful as she was in that dream. Her hair was cropped to her shoulders, and its bright red colour was slowly fading to an auburn, like her mothers. Her eyes were not violet, but a dark blue that wasn't pretty at all. And she didn't even have long eyelashes! Her skin was tanned from the island sun, and she had freckles all over her cheeks and nose. Her lips and cheeks weren't rosy naturally. She needed makeup for that, which she wasn't allowed to use. Kairi was not what she wanted to be. She looked around her room, covered in pink, ribbons, and flowers. One shelf was dedicated only to her glittery tiara (her most prized possession), her Disney Princess VHS tapes (which she took turns watching everyday), and her enormous book of fairytales (that her mom read to her every night before bedtime). Being a princess, you see, was not a mere obsession with the girl. It was her life. It made her who she was, decided what she'd wear, what she'd do, and who she liked. Kairi Shantz could not rest until she became the beautiful princess she wanted to be.

xXx

Kairi thumped down the stairs with as much grace as she could muster on a Monday morning. How could anything be more frustrating than school? It was so repetitive, so unhelpful to her future. Education doesn't make you a princess; it makes you a doctor or something. What good is that?

"Good morning," she mumbled as she gloomily stepped into the room. Many a time she promised herself that she would sweep into the room singing or whistling like Snow White, but it never worked out.

"'Morning," her older brother, Squall, grunted in reply, taking a sip from the drink in his mug, which looked suspiciously like coffee.

"'Good morning' is an odd greeting, isn't it? What if the morning was not good, but indeed bad? Hypothetically speaking, if someone's grandmother died…" her older, older brother, Ansem, blithered on. Kairi tuned the rest of his rant out, as she was accustomed to doing.

Squall and Ansem were Kairi's only siblings. Ansem, man of the house, was ten—almost eleven—years old, while Squall was only eight.

"Squall, is that coffee?" Kairi asked, standing on her tiptoes to peek over his shoulder, even though he was sitting.

"Maybe," he said nonchalantly, taking another sip as if he couldn't care less what she thought, which was probably the truth.

"Coffee?" Ansem suddenly stopped his elaboration on someone's hypothetically dead grandmother. He walked over to Squall and crossed his arms, making sure to rise to his full height. Ansem loved showing superiority over others. "At eight years old? Are you mad? Do you know how caffeine can affect one's growth?"

"No," Squall replied, not looking at either Kairi or Ansem. He appeared to be watching something very carefully. Kairi looked over at the left side of his chair and noticed for the first time the book in his lap.

"Catastrophically!" Ansem shouted, and started loudly explaining why. The words seemed to pass over Squall's head as easily as a far away airplane.

Kairi sighed and shook her head since this was a daily occurrence. Ansem was, simply put, a genius—his report card was completely covered in "A+"s and "excellent"s, and he always did particularly advanced science projects at home. A socially impaired genius though, because he couldn't last ten seconds in a conversation without giving a lecture of some kind. His family was used to it. However, all his classmates were scared away at the very sight of Ansem's mouth opening.

Kairi went to the other side of the table and sat in the chair across from Squall's and sat back to enjoy the show.

"…so the ending result is a limited body structure. Do you understand?" Ansem asked, which was slightly unusual because he usually just assumed that everyone could comprehend his scientific gibberish.

"Hm," Squall only said in reply. He finally looked up at Ansem, and then put the mug to his lips and took a long, loud sip. Ansem stared at him, sputtering in absolute horror for a moment. His face turned red, and then he completely exploded. The words came out so fast that they slurred together and Kairi could only catch bits of them as they flew by.

"HOW DARE YOU…IGNORANT…NAÏVE…REGRET IT…BONE STRUCTURE…RUIN YOUR FUTURE…"

Kairi looked at Squall, who had an amused half-smile set on his face, which was also rare because the boy almost never smiled, or ever showed any emotion, really, besides irritation.

Nonetheless, Kairi had to admit, she loved her eight-year-old brother. Although more than anything she wanted a sister to play dress-up, tea party, and watch her Disney princess movies with, Squall had tried his best to do all those things. When Mom was out and left Ansem in charge, the eldest Shantz child just locked himself up in his room and left his younger siblings to fend for themselves. Squall always made Kairi the necessary meals and set up whatever activity she cared to pursue. When she was really little he used to baby her and spent almost all his time with her, doing whatever it took to make her happy—all very embarrassing things that he now denied having anything to do with. Now, most of the time he was either outside playing assorted sports with the neighbourhood kids or at the public library studying.

Nonetheless, Kairi remembered. And she loved him for it.

"What's with all the ruckus here?" Mrs. Shantz proclaimed as she walked up to the table, setting down toast with strawberry jam in front of each child. Ansem immediately silenced, but only for a second.

"Mother, how could you possibly be so ignorant? I demand to know what you are thinking, allowing this young child's health be degraded by highly caffeinated coffee!" Ansem stated, not yelling, but closely enough, pointing at Squall with an accusatory finger.

Mrs. Shantz looked bewildered. "Coffee?" She paused, thinking for a moment. And then, to Kairi and Ansem's surprise, burst into laughter. "Oh, no, no! Squall's not drinking coffee! That's hot chocolate! The days are getting colder, you know."

Ansem snatched the mug away from Squall and sniffed it. "You're right." He sent Squall a very dangerous-looking, orange glare. "You, child. I don't know where you get this disobedience from."

"I didn't disobey anyone," Squall said calmly, and he took his plate over to the dishwasher. "You can clean my mug if you want."

Ansem looked down at the offensive cup he was holding and growled. Kairi, who was just finishing off her toast, looked up at her mother.

"Mommy, can I have some hot chocolate too?"

"No time, sweetie. Unfortunately, Mommy has to get you three to school and go to work!" She took Kairi's plate and put it away then quickly led the kids out to the garage.

Mrs. Shantz was a police officer, but that was sometimes hard for Kairi to remember because she was almost always at home when Kairi was there, and never acted a bit like what she thought a police officer would be like. Apparently, Kairi's father was also a police officer—a very important one at that—but she could never know for sure because she almost never saw her dad, and he was never, ever in uniform.

"Get in, in," Mrs. Shantz chided them, buckling Kairi's seatbelt for her and then quickly running over to the driver's side of the car. Ansem, as usual, sat in the front. Kairi thought it was unfair that the oldest always got to sit in the front because it wasn't even possible for her to become older than her brothers. Whenever Mrs. Shantz was driving just her she was allowed to sit in the front, but that was almost never.

"Squally, Squally!" The young girl tried to beckon her brother by using a nickname he tried his best to deter her from. The engine revved up and the garage door opened, and they began their drive to Paopu Elementary, which Kairi had only recently entered and was just getting used to.

"What?" Squall said, but he continued looking out the car window instead of at her.

"You know what Ms. Xion taught us yesterday?" Before the boy could answer, she plowed on. "She taught us what all our names mean. She had a big book of the polities our names can give us."

"You mean 'qualities'," sighed Ansem, who had been eavesdropping. His sister's little mind was so pathetic.

"Yes, ku-wa-lit-ees," she repeated slowly, prompting Ansem to release another sigh.

"My name means 'sea' or 'ocean'. Isn't that pretty?"

"Very pretty," Mrs. Shantz said, and a smile came across her face. "I didn't name you 'Kairi' by accident, you know."

"Yeah," said Kairi. "But I like Sally's a lot more. Her name means 'princess'."

"You would," said Squall, but not in a condescending way. When Kairi turned to him, he smiled at her, which made Kairi feel so happy and warm she wanted to bounce right out of her seat.

"I asked her about you, Squally. Ms. Xion said that a squall is a type of storm or noise, and even a scream!" Which, Kairi thought to herself, were all very unpleasant things. She couldn't imagine why her mother would name her very own son such a thing.

Squall harrumphed and turned back around to look out the window. Kairi immediately regretted saying anything. Ansem, seeing his brother's discomfort, decided to rub it in some more.

"Well, it suits you very well, Squall, with that thundercloud permanently hanging over your head. Not to mention anyone who sees you wants to scream." Ansem laughed, but no one else did. It was a creepy, hollow laugh that came right from his stomach. "You wouldn't be surprised to know, of course, that my name means 'clever.' A very suitable name as well, I'm sure you'll agree."

"Enough with names," snapped Mrs. Shantz, who felt a little guilty of not interrupting earlier since her younger son was now looking very gloomy in the back. "'Squall' is a perfectly fine name. It sounds sophisticated. Now pick up your backpacks, we're at school already."

xXx

"Ansem, remember to walk Kairi to class!" shouted Mrs. Shantz before driving off. However, the Shantz children knew better than to expect Ansem to do anything for the benefit of others. Squall and Kairi watched as Ansem walked into the building without even a "goodbye."

"C'mon," Squall said, and he began to walk towards the school as well.

"Ah, Squally!" Kairi shouted in alarm. He turned back around and gave her a slightly annoyed look, but she held out her hand to him anyway.

"Kairi…" His voice was kind of whiny when he was said this, but her small face showed only determination. He released an exasperated sigh, looked around, and reluctantly took her hand in his. Happily, Kairi walked alongside him towards the door. "You have to stop this. You're old enough to not need me to hold your hand every time we walk somewhere." His face was bright red, and his head kept flipping nervously to see if anyone he recognized was coming.

But too late.

"Oooh, you becoming a ladies' man, Squall?" said a tall, blond boy that looked about Squall's age, letting out a wolf whistle as he passed by.

"She's my sister, Seifer," he replied calmly, but Kairi could hear him add under his breath, "Get a life."

Squall walked her to class, impatiently holding her hand. Ms. Xion made polite conversation with him for about ten seconds before Squall had to leave to get to his own room. Kairi then entered the chaotic world that was first grade.

Spelling lists, cardboard letters and numbers, plastic farm animals and their titles scattered everywhere. Kids reading Dr. Seuss on the floor, kids playing with their work instead of actually doing it, kids experimenting with the zippers and buttons on their clothes, kids talking, kids laughing, kids kicking and screaming. It was a step up from kindergarten at least.

"Kairi, why don't you finish the addition activity you were working on yesterday?" Ms. Xion gently suggested.

"But I want to read," Kairi said, which really meant, of course, that she wanted to look at the pictures.

"Yes, but you shouldn't fall behind in your math work. You don't want other students getting ahead of you, do you?"

Kairi shook her head but she really couldn't care less what other students did. She hated math and what other people did with it really didn't interest her.

She went over to her cubby and took out a pencil and her math book, and sat down on the floor with a box of numbers and addition and equal signs. She put a 4 and a 3 together, which, after some consideration, she knew to equal 7. Then she put a 6 and a 2 together…8. She slowly made pair after pair and started working her way to sums that were over 10. She paused after five minutes, completely bored with her work, and looked jealously over at a little girl laying stomach-down on the floor reading The Giving Tree, which was Kairi's favourite book of all time, because not only could she read all of it by herself (even the big words like "branches" and "straightening"), but also because the drawings in it were so funny and imperfect-looking.

Before she could fume some more about her current situation, Ms. Xion stood and rung the little bell that she always kept on her desk three times, which meant "be quiet and pay attention" in bell language. Immediately, the classroom went dramatically silent.

"Class, we have a new student joining us from now on," Ms. Xion said in that slow, calm way that Kairi's teachers usually had. "Everyone, meet Roxas…hm?" Her head swivelled around and she continued in a quieter voice, "Don't be shy. It'll be all right. Everyone wants to meet you. Come along now."

Reluctantly, half of a boy crept out from behind Ms. Xion. When half his face came around, Kairi could see that he was blond and had blue eyes. When a few moments passed, some of the other children started losing interest and went back to whatever they were doing before. Kairi, however, who had nothing better to do, and was admittedly quite curious about the new boy, kept her eyes on the front.

Finally, Ms. Xion managed to lure Roxas out from his hiding spot, and Kairi could see him in full—he had messy blond hair that stuck out in places, a round face with a defined chin, tanned skin, a small, perfectly-shaped nose, and his eyes, now a pair, bluer than anything Kairi had ever seen. The redheaded girl let out a small gasp that no one but her could hear. Her heart pounded fast as she realized something.

This boy was like a miniature of the prince in her dreams.

"Now, this is Roxas, everyone. Say hello." Ms. Xion seemed relieved to get that out of the way.

"Hello, Roxas," all the kids said simultaneously in monotone.

"Everyone be sure to make friends with Roxas since he doesn't know anyone yet. Now, who wants to show Roxas around for the day?" There was no response. Kairi felt her stomach churning with nervousness. "No one? Don't be shy. He's a lovely young man."

When there was still no response, Kairi slowly put up her hand.

But too late.

"We'll take care of him, Ms. Xion!" shouted a gangly boy at the back. "Right, Pence?" He looked over at the pudgy boy beside him for appeal. The other boy smiled kindly and nodded.

"Wonderful, Hayner. Thank you." Then she knelt down by Roxas and whispered something in his ear. Roxas nodded and stepped forward a few paces. His face was red and he didn't really look like he wanted to move anywhere. But then Hayner ran up and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him over to where he and Pence were sitting.

"Come on, Roxas! We're making paper bag puppets! Mine's a lion! Rawr!" Hayner was clearly hyperactive, but had good intentions. Roxas looked nervous but seemed a little interested in the activity he was going to participate in.

Kairi watched as her prince drifted from her sight. She looked back down, only to be greeted by lonesome numbers.

xXx

"I found him today, Mommy."

"Who?"

"The love of my life."

Mrs. Shantz was tucking her only daughter into bed, pulling the pink quilt right up to Kairi's chin and packing it in around her small body in that gentle way that moms do. She fluffed her pillows a little bit and, as an afterthought, ran her fingers through her the girl's pretty red hair. She smiled softly at her.

"Is that so?" This was perhaps the best thing about Mrs. Shantz—she never laughed when Kairi told her something she took seriously, even if it was ridiculous. Kairi gave a nod to assure her it was the truth. "What does he look like?"

"He has fluffy, blond hair and the most beautiful blue eyes in the world. He's really handsome. He looks just like a prince." Perhaps Kairi was stretching it a bit, but the truth was what she remembered, not what she'd actually experienced.

"That's nice," said Mrs. Shantz, once again tucking the quilt back around her daughter, for good measure. "But you know, Kairi, life it isn't all about good looks."

"I know," Kairi replied, but she didn't really.

"Well, just making sure. I'd rather you find a nice boy than just a handsome one."

"He's nice!" the redhead insisted, although she had no evidence of this. "I'm going to marry him someday!"

"You can do whatever you want. I'll back you up one hundred percent." Mrs. Shantz kissed Kairi on the forehead, before standing up and traveling over to the bookcase, picking up the giant book of fairytales. "Now, what story would you like to hear tonight?"

Kairi only had to think a moment before deciding. "Rapunzel."

"Rapunzel? But we just read that the other day!"

"But Rapunzel's my favourite." The very idea of being saved by a handsome prince while having beautiful, long hair was incredibly appealing to Kairi.

"Well…" said her mother, pretending for a moment like she was deciding what to do. She broke into a smile. "Fine."

Kairi grinned so widely at that one word that she thought her face was going to break in half. Her mom never seemed to let her down. She sat down on Kairi's little desk chair and began to read.

"Once upon a time there lived a man and his wife who were very unhappy because they had no children…"

Kairi relaxed into her pillows and listened to her mom's rhythmic voice, mouthing the words to the story since she knew it so well, picturing that poor man and his pregnant wife, as they fight to get by. She loved picturing the witch, who she always thought to have bush-like black hair and a long, pointy nose, and beady little eyes that always looked angry. She loved picturing the princess, with her luxurious hair that shone like gold and her pretty, unfreckled face. But most of all, she liked picturing the prince, who at the moment, looked exactly like Roxas.

xXx

"…Then he led her to his kingdom, where they were received and welcomed with great joy, and they lived happily ever after. The end." Mrs. Shantz closed the book with a decisive thud. Kairi was now half-asleep, but just enough awake to speak some slurry words.

"Mommy?"

"What is it, sweetie?"

"Will I be pretty and rich like Rapunzel when I'm older?"

Mrs. Shantz gave her a considering look and then broke into a smile.

"Que sera, sera," she said, the Spanish she learned in high school catching up with her. She gave her daughter a goodnight kiss before translating, "Whatever will be, will be."

She stood and turned off the lamp, leaving Kairi covered in the warmth of her quilt and her mother's love.

"Goodnight, Kairi," she said quietly as she closed the door.

"'Night, Mom," Kairi replied sleepily, and felt her mind sink into the world of princes and princesses, a world where a kingdom was awaiting her.

Well, that's it! I really, really, really hope you enjoyed the first chapter! I know you're probably bored of kids now, so next chapter and so forth will be completely about teenagers, I swear. This was just…an introduction. Yes, that's a good word. INTRODUCTION.

I'd reeeeeeeeeally like to hear what you thought! Even if you completely hated it, please tell me how I can improve! I'd love to hear your thoughts, so drop me a review!

If you're too lazy, well…I HATE YOU.

…I'm totally kidding. Thanks for reading!

Read and review!

À bientôt!