Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts characters or any of this.

Pretend

I like to play pretend.

It's something I do every day, all day, every since I was young. Well, younger than I am now. I am so good at it no one ever knows I am pretending! I pretend for a lot of reasons. Not to make Momma worry, keep me hoping that one day it'll all stop, that it's all a dream, one bad, bad dream and I'll wake up soon.

Everyday, I'd pretend that I didn't get beaten by the other kids at recess.

("Come on baby! Go and cry to your mommy!")

I pretend that I didn't hear the adults whisper about me.

("He always looks like he got hit by a train…"

"That boy never smiles. He's always alone, with his head in a book.")

I pretend that I don't hear mommy and daddy don't fight, that daddy doesn't hit mommy.

("Don't you dare touch me, bitch!" Crash!

"Stop it, Jonathan!")

I pretend that I never head the teacher ask if I'm okay.

("Are you sure everything's alright?"

"Oh, yes ma'am. Everything's …perfect.")

I pretend for a lot of reasons. Not to make Momma worry, keep me hoping that one day it'll all stop, that it's all a dream, one bad, bad dream and I'll wake up soon. I'm not sure how long I have to pretend, but I don't think it'll end anytime soon. Even if it did end, right at this very moment, I doubt I could stop pretending. I've been doing it for so long, I don't think I know what it feels like to not pretend anymore.

"-zo? Ienzo, it's your turn to tell the class what you like to do."

A pause.

"I…I like to play pretend."

"Hey, what's the matter Zex? Looks like something's bugging you."

A small tilt of the head.

"No, I'm just…pretending."

Today I was on Deviant Art looking at things and found some picture thing about Zexion's Somebody, Ienzo called Ienzo's Childhood and it made it seem like he had a terrible childhood. It really got me thinking. So, this was a thing about if he had a terrible child hood. I also added and changed some stuff. It was sad, once I had seen it, though, all these thoughts went through my head and I just started typing like crazy. Hope you like it.