Prologue

He walked down the hall, flicking the piece of flint in his hand with his thumb. It sparked every once in a while. Today, it sent off small sparks every time he flicked it and he did not even notice. New school, again, he knew this one would not last either. He just knew it.

His father did not even see him past the gate of this new place. With his other hand, he brushed back his golden brown bangs from his face. It was strange… ever since his mother passed away in the fire that burned down their old apartment, his reaction to fire was not fear-it was fascination. If his father had any idea, they did not talk about it.

He never practiced his 'skills' in the house, though. He did not want to move again and if they did, he didn't want to be the cause.

2D. Here it was, class had not started yet, and for that he was glad. He hated walking in late, having everyone's eyes on him, trying to figure out who this new kid was. But, this time was different, he felt it. He didn't know why, but he knew his destiny waited beyond that small, overly decorated door.

He walked into pandemonium; the boys were either wrestling or picking on each other. The girls were huddled in a corner, giggling and chattering noisily.

Except for a trio, seated dead center – A brown-haired little boy whose back was turned to him, a cute little girl standing next to him with her hands clutched behind her back. The pretty boy with light hair sat behind the brown-haired boy and even from the front of the classroom anyone could tell he was having fun teasing the brown-haired boy who was gesturing madly, in an attempt to defend himself, no doubt.

It was the pretty boy who noticed him first. Then, simultaneously, the brown-haired boy and the cute little girl turned to face him. They were expressionless for a second as they took him in and the brown-haired boy was the first to smile and wave. He got up and walked toward his new classmate and stuck out one hand toward him.

"I'm Sora! What's your name?"

"Uh… Lea." He replied, feeling the heat rising to his face, he didn't even know why.

"Lea, that's a cool name!" Sora said, energetically, "Come meet my friends, Riku and Kairi."

"No." Lea said simply, not in a mean way, he just didn't want to meet any one else right now. Sora seemed to overwhelm him already.

Sora did not expect that response and his face immediately transitioned into the sad puppy look.

"Maybe later, though." Lea said, almost to keep from punching this kid.

"Alright! I'm going to go sit. You can sit by me, if you like. No one sits there!"

"Ok." Lea replied, suddenly thinking about how smooth Sora's skin was. He banished the thought immediately and followed Sora to their seats.

The teacher walked into the room, a short, round fellow with thinning hair. Sora leaned closer to Lea,

"That's Reiker-sensei. He's a total dork, teaches language and recitation."

Lea didn't dare respond. He did not want to attract any undue attention, not today. If he could have gone unnoticed for this entire week, he would consider that a great blessing. Sora – here was someone that piqued his interest enough to make him stop flicking the piece of flint in his hand and put it in his pocket.

At lunch, he met Riku and Kairi. The encounter was inevitable, unavoidable, and to Lea, an unnecessary waste of time. He walked next to Sora, or right behind him when he could, taking in as much as possible… Sora quickly became all he could think about.

Their friendship turned too quickly into an obsession. Lea didn't even feel it happening.

"Lea, come with us to the beach!" Sora said at lunch one day, "it's supposed to be a sunny day tomorrow!"

"What?" Lea replied, tearing himself from his thoughts to turn and face the boy next to him, looking deep into those blue eyes.

"The beach! We're going after classes tomorrow. Wanna come?"

"Yes." Lea replied, feeling a calmness flow over him, "I'll be there."

The next day, they went to the beach and Lea left his glasses on, though he had his contacts in the bag with his book and a towel.

Sora was wearing a pair of red shorts, his slender arms and developing muscles showed when he stretched in front of Lea. Lea blushed quietly and lowered his face to the sand, as though he was trying to hide from his own feelings.

Sora turned around and gasped, staring right at Lea,

"You're wearing glasses! You can't swim if you do! Don't you have contacts?"

"Yeah, but I can't put them on here." Lea replied, matter-of-factly, still keeping his eyes from looking directly at Sora.

"I'll put them in for you."

"W…what? No."