Author's note: Hello human reader, I hope you enjoy reading this story! Oh I almost forgot, I don't own these characters. They belong to Square-Enix and Disney.
Sora never understood adults. They were always talking about something grown up in front of him. Whenever he asked them what they were talking about they would always tell him, "It's not important", or "You wouldn't understand". His favorite excuse his parents mostly used was, "You'll understand when you are older". Sora would always laugh to himself every time his parents told him that. He never wanted to grow up. He saw what grownups did for the rest of their lives. All they did was work for half of the day and drink cups of coffee like madmen. They seem to know everything and never have fun. He doesn't want to become one of those workaholics like his parents. Sora wanted to be like that boy, Peter Pan, he saw in one of those Disney movies. He rather run around outside in a field of flowers and stare at the clouds all day than sit in a small cube and push buttons with weird symbols on them. What a wonderful dream that would be. The problem was that everyone he told about his idea didn't get him at all.
"That's the problem with adults," Sora said, "they never understand me and they always ask me more than twenty questions about what they call "logic". Whatever that means! What do you think Roxas?" Sora was referring the question to his blond friend sitting across from him. They were both playing with Sora's action figures in his bedroom. Sora had Superman in his hand while Roxas had Batman.
Roxas looked just like Sora with his blue eyes, face, and height. Only their hair was different. Instead of having blond hair that curved to one side of the head, Sora had brown spiky hair that shot out in different places. If it wasn't for their hair difference, they could have been mistaken for twins.
The blond friend thought for a while as he made Batman walk towards his Bat mobile and answered, "I guess your parents are trying to make sure you have a good future. I mean, from the looks of it they feel they are right since they already lived through it. They care about you in their own way."
"Care about me? Pfft, if they really cared about me they would actually listen to me! Every time I talk to them they would interrupt or cut me off with the "something more important came up" excuse and shoo me away to my room. They are so lame, I can't stand it." Sora said as he made Superman fly around in the air until he decided to crash him into a building.
"But Sora," responded Roxas, "they are your parents! They are always busy trying to take care of you and sometimes they can't talk to you at the moment." Sora couldn't really argue back. Roxas was a really good kid who always tried to reason with him.
"Yeah, I know. I just wish I can spend more time with them instead of hearing their nagging about life, what I am going to do, and money! It gets very lonesome to just sit alone in my room and play with no one." Sora looked up at Roxas and smiled, "I'm glad you're my friend, Roxas."
Seconds later, Sora's mother came into the room when Sora and Roxas were talking. She had brown hair and blue eyes like her son but her hair was normal and straight. She yelled, "Sora, dinner is ready!" and heard her son talking to someone, "Sora, who are you talking to?"
Sora sighed, "Roxas, of course! Don't you see him in front of me! Is my head in the way?" He could see the disappointment forming on his mother's face and her arms crossing. It didn't help that he was on the floor and she was standing over him. This gave her the excuse to look down at him, literally and figuratively.
"Sora, how many times have I told you? Roxas does not exist! You just made him up in your mind. You're better than this Sora. How old are you? Ten right? You're too old to have an imaginary friend. You have to grow up one day. Anyways, dinner is ready. Clean up your toys and come downstairs." Sora's mother soon left before Sora was able to say anything.
He looked back at Roxas and saw him with a sad face. That's what he doesn't like about adults. They don't believe you 90% of the time and they always talk down to you. For some reason, nobody sees Roxas and they always tell Sora that he was not there. His parents tell him that he was letting his imagination run wild, his teacher tells him he should make real friends, and the shrink that his parents hired told him he had some kind of psychological social problem. Aka, Sora was considered crazy. He found this funny though, Roxas defends Sora's parents all the time yet his parents think he is not real.
"Don't listen to her, Roxas. You know how my mom is." Sora reassured.
"Yeah, I know the drill. It gets tiring, though, to listen to your folks tell you that I am just an imaginative figure and all." admitted Roxas, "Gosh, I wonder if they need eye glasses."
Sora chuckled a bit, "I bet they do. Come on Roxas, let's clean up and go downstairs before my mom starts yelling." That's what Sora liked about Roxas; he never gets upset and always makes him laugh even though the mood around them was sour. Plus, Roxas was hardly hungry so there was always enough food for him to ask for seconds. The two started to put Sora's toys away in his box and they both headed down to the kitchen.
The next day, Sora and Roxas went to Elementary school. Sora didn't like going to school. It's not that he didn't like to learn, Sora didn't like to be surrounded by kids that called him a liar and a freak. This goes the same for the teacher, even though she doesn't say it but he knows it from the way she acts toward him in class. Sora would sometimes cry in his room and tell Roxas that he wished his classmates could see him and believe him, but Roxas would tell him that it was okay if they couldn't see him. He told Sora to not mention him in class, so that he could act like a ninja and sneak outside the school. Sometimes Roxas did leave the class, but he would always come back later and tell Sora of his adventures. He would tell Sora all the places he visited and the people he met on the way. One story he told Sora was that he rode an elephant from India to Nepal so he could climb the Himalayas Mountains. He realized that the bell was about to ring so he broke a piece of ice from the mountain and slid all the way down the mountain, took a helicopter and flew all the way to the top of the school, and dashed downstairs to his classroom. It amazed him that Roxas was able to do all of these amazing things in a short period of time. He always came back though. Roxas would never leave Sora alone for a long time.
In school, the teacher brought in a new student that just recently transferred. The new student was a girl of his age with short red hair and blue eyes. "Class, this is our new classmate! Her name is Kairi. Say hello to Kairi everyone!" The whole class, including Sora and Roxas, shouted "Hello" to her. She was pretty shy and hid behind the teacher. She whispered, "Hi" to the class but the class couldn't really hear her well. Some of the students were whispering to each other about the new girl.
"She sure has pretty red hair."
"Man, she's quiet as heck"
"Is she going to stand behind the teacher all day?"
"She's pretty weird."
"Okay Kairi," continued the teacher, "why don't you sit in the empty desk in the back next to Sora."
"Sora? Who's that?" Kairi asked as she tried to look across the room.
"Well, Sora is …"
"The brown porcupine!" blurted out one the students. As soon as he said that the whole class burst out laughing. Sora was blushing and looked away sheepishly.
"Tidus, that's enough! Class calm down! "The teacher commanded. She turned to Kairi and said, "You see that boy with brown spiky hair. That's Sora. There should be an empty desk there. Go on, don't be shy."
Roxas got up from his desk as Kairi was coming up the aisle towards the desk. Roxas patted Sora's back to shake off the embarrassment and leaned on the wall near Sora. Sora sneaked a peak at the new girl and saw her silently looking down at her desk. She wore a white and purple dress with matching shoes. She didn't look happy to be in his class. He couldn't blame her; he didn't like to be in his class either.
Hours went by and the bell for recess rung. All the students ran to the playground behind the school. Sora and Roxas walked by the playground and saw the students swinging on the monkey bars and sliding on the slides. It made Sora feel awkward to go to the playground with the other students. Sometimes he would go to the swings but the other kids would push Roxas off his swing seat without saying "excuse me", so there was no point going there anymore.
They both headed to their favorite spot where no one ever goes. It was a small alley way where the emergency door to the outside was and there was a rusty ladder that led to the top of the school. Sora tried going up once but Roxas made him climb back down and he haven't climbed on it since. The alley way wasn't far from the playground but far enough for no one to notice it or come by it. It was where Sora was able to talk to Roxas openly during school. Sometimes they would both play with cards or marbles that Sora would bring along.
"Hey Roxas, what do you think about the new girl?" Sora inquired.
"She seems like a nice girl. She didn't laugh when everyone else did." replied Roxas.
"I bet she didn't laugh because she was too shy and scared to. If she wasn't new and stuff I bet she would have. Just give her a couple of days and she will start acting like the other guys." Sora put his hand into his pocket and fished out a blue handball, "Hey Roxas, I got a handball with me. Want to play hand tennis in the alley way?"
"I don't know. I'm not good at playing hand tennis. Every time we play I would always miss the ball. Do you have anything else in your pockets?"
Sora put both hands into his pockets and rummaged through them. All he found was lint and piece of hard candy. "Sorry Roxas, nothing in here but a piece of candy."
"That's okay Sora. If that's all you have then I can play hand tennis."
All of a sudden, Sora and Roxas both heard someone giggling in their favorite spot. They looked into the alley and saw the new girl smiling and giggling. They didn't know why she was giggling since there was nothing to giggle about in the alley way. They were both scared to go into the alley way since someone found their secret spot until Sora got the courage to go in first.
As Sora walked into the alley way his footsteps made noises and the girl turned around. They both looked at each other for a few minutes but to Sora it seemed like hours. He felt scared all of a sudden but he forced himself to speak, "H-hi!"
The girl was a little startled by Sora's greeting but she forced herself to speak up too, "H-h-hello!"
"Um, you're the new girl, uh, Kairi right?"
"Yes. And you're the one who sits next to me?"
"That's right." Sora started to build up a little courage, "The name's Sora."
"Sora, Sora…" Kairi repeated his name over and over so that she would be able to remember.
"Aww, my name is not that hard to remember Kairi. See, I already remembered your name!"
"I'm sorry."
"What's there to be sorry about? Here, let me teach you a trick. What do you think about when you say my name?"
Kairi thought about it and said, "I think of the sky. You know, soaring in the sky?"
"That's right. It's funny you know. My name means sky. That's the trick, you see. Whenever you need to remember my name you think "sky" and that should help you remember my name, Sora."
"That does make sense!" giggled Kairi. They both laughed a bit but the awkward silence came back.
Sora decided to ask her, "So why were you giggling in the alley way?"
Kairi flushed a little and her eyes moved away from him, "You wouldn't understand."
"Sure I would."
"No," Kairi wouldn't look at Sora directly, "you're going to be like those other kids in my old school. They would laugh at me and call me names."
"No I won't. People make fun of me all the time. They do it because they can't see my friend, Roxas. I get upset but Roxas tells me all the time that it was okay." Sora pointed to his blond friend that was still peaking from the edge of the entrance to the alley. Sora couldn't believe Roxas was still scared to come in.
Kairi's eyes bulged from surprise and blurted out, "You too!"
"Huh?" Sora was taken aback by Kairi's shout. He had not heard her do that before and it scared the heck out of him.
"You have a friend that no one sees or believes too right?" questioned Kairi. She was pumped up with excitement.
"Yeah, I do. Don't you see him? He's all the way back there at the entrance. He's the one with the blond hair. He's kind of scared. "
"Scared? Why? I would like to meet him!"
"I think because you stole his desk and now he has to stand in class."
"Oh, I'm sorry! I'm really am!" Kairi cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted, "ROXAS I'M REALLY SORRY I TOOK YOUR DESK!"
Sora did the same, "HEY ROXAS, COME OVER HERE. DON'T BE A CHICKEN. YOU SHOULD MEET KAIRI. SHE'S REALLY NICE!"
Roxas hesitated a little but stepped into the alley slowly. When Roxas got up to where Sora was he got pushed forward by Sora, "Come on Roxas, say hi to her."
"Uh, hi Kairi!" Roxas greeted.
"Hello Roxas!" Kairi took Roxas's hand and shook it violently. She had a cheerful expression on her face. Roxas had a cheerful face too. Sora was happy since Roxas was finally being recognized by someone else.
"Have you guys met Namine?" asked Kairi.
"No we haven't." Sora was looking around but didn't see another girl, "Where is she?"
"She's right here silly!"Kairi pointed to the empty spot next to her, "Who do you think I was giggling to this whole time?"
Sora didn't see the girl Kairi was talking about but he didn't want to upset her, "I can't see her; it's kind of dark here. Can you describe her?"
Kairi looked at her friend, "Well, she has long blond hair, blue eyes, and… she kind of looks like me!"
Sora stared at the empty spot for a bit until he was able to see Namine clearly, "Oh I can see her now. It was so hard before since it's so dark here. How you do Namine? You know, Roxas is like Namine. He looks like me, only he has blond hair too!"
The four laughed and talked together in the alley way for a long time. When the bell rang they all walked together to class. Roxas and Namine talked together while they stood behind Sora and Kairi. Sora and Kairi wanted to talk to each other too but they would get caught by the teacher.
Every day Sora, Roxas, Kairi, and Namine would go to the alley way and have their daily conversations. Sora would even let Kairi and Namine join in his card games and marbles with Roxas. Sora had never had this much fun in a while. When they play hand tennis, Sora and Kairi would always win since Roxas and Namine seem to miss the handball a lot. Once in a while in class, Sora would see Roxas sneaking out of class with Namine but they would always come back with something new to tell him.
One day, when they were in the alley way Sora wanted to do something different. Roxas and Namine were too busy talking to each other and Kairi was playing with a shell she got from the beach. Sora took Kairi's hand and pulled her up onto her feet.
"Hey Roxas and Namine, we're going to the playground. We'll see you guys in class!" Sora told the two blonds. Roxas and Namine waved them goodbye as Sora dragged Kairi along.
"Sora, why are we going to the playground? What about Roxas and Namine?" asked Kairi.
"Roxas and Namine are too busy with each other at the moment. Besides, we never get to hang out alone. Let's do something different today." Sora dragged her to the swings first. Sora pushed her while she swung back and forth on the seat. Then they both slid down the slides and climbed the monkey bars. The way Kairi laughed and smiled made Sora believe that this was Kairi's first time actually enjoying playing in the playground. Just like him. When they got back to class, Roxas and Namine were already there waiting for them.
Sora started to play with Kairi more than with Roxas. Sometimes Kairi would come over to Sora's house to play and his mother seemed really happy to see her with him. He still played with Roxas but whenever Kairi came over Roxas would always go over to Namine, so Sora would play with Kairi instead.
At night, Sora was sleeping when Roxas woke him up. "Roxas what's wrong? It's eleven o' clock." muttered Sora as he rubbed his eyes. Roxas was standing over his bed with a white jacket on. He didn't know why Roxas was not sleeping. He didn't look tired at all though.
"Sora, I'm going somewhere really far. Like that time when I went on that fishing trip with Mickey Mouse and that other time when I went to Egypt and found a treasure chest. You remember those trips I told you about, right?"
"Of course I remember! I never forgot any of them. Where are you going this time? And, isn't it a little late to go somewhere? Can't you wait until morning at least?"
"Sorry Sora, I can't do that. If I don't do it this night I'm going to lose my chance."
Sora was confused and asked, "What do you mean? Why tonight?"
"Here, let me show you." Roxas pulled Sora out of his bed and led him to his window. Roxas pointed up to the night sky and explained," See that round, shiny, yellow thing in the sky? That's the moon. It only shows itself at night and its full today. That's where I'm going Sora, all the way to the moon."
"Wow Roxas, the moon looks so pretty. But, why do you want to go to the moon besides getting free cheese there?"
"I've been all over the Earth. Places like Canada, Russia, Japan, Egypt, even Atlantis and the North Pole. But you already knew that. Anyways, I want to start exploring the universe next. I want to see different planets and visit aliens. I already built a rocket ship with NASA and I plan on visiting the moon first."
"That's great and all but, you're coming back right Roxas?" Sora liked the idea of traveling to space, but he didn't want Roxas to leave him. He was afraid to be alone again.
"Don't worry Sora. I won't be gone for long. That's why I have to do it tonight. I fly to the moon and I quickly fly back to Earth. It's simple, I got it all planned out. I'll even bring back a piece of moon cheese for you." Roxas put his hand on Sora's shoulders to calm him down. It helped Sora a little bit but he still felt a little nervous.
"Okay Roxas, but come home safe! We have school tomorrow!" warned Sora.
"I said don't worry didn't I? Come on, I'll tuck you into bed." Sora went back to bed and Roxas pulled the blankets over him.
Before Roxas walked away from the bed Sora grabbed his arm and said, "You promise you'll come back?"
Roxas smiled, "Pinky promise." Both Roxas's and Sora's pinkies grabbed onto each other and they shook twice to confirm the promise. Roxas slowly moved away from the bed and walked to the door. He turns around and waves to Sora and said, "Good night Sora".
"Good night Roxas" Sora said sleepily. He heard the door click as he closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes he didn't see Roxas next to him. He sat up on his bed and looked around his room and didn't see Roxas anywhere. The room was the same as before but the only thing it needed to complete the scenery was his blond friend. This time, Roxas didn't come back.
Sora never felt this empty in his life. Nothing in his whole entire life could be compared to the emptiness he felt at that moment. Not even the time when he threw up his whole breakfast because his father decided to try cooking breakfast for him that one morning. Kairi notice Sora's depress mood and asked what was wrong. Sora told her the whole story about what happened last night and asked if she saw Roxas. She didn't know where Roxas was and she asked Namine if she knew. Namine didn't know either. With Roxas's disappearance, Sora played with Kairi more than before. Weeks later, Kairi told Sora that Namine was gone. She assumed Namine went to look for Roxas by flying to the moon. Kairi started to cry and Sora tried to calm her down. Sora thought Kairi must be feeling empty inside too.
Weeks became months and spring soon became summer. Sora and Kairi used to be friends but now they were best friends. They spend most of their time together from going to the beach to chasing the ice cream truck. They were no longer ten but eleven years old and they will soon enter school in the fall as sixth graders.
The empty feeling inside Sora went away but he sometimes thought about Roxas. He wasn't sure if Roxas was still on the moon or that he was still looking for moon cheese since Sora learned there was no cheese on the moon. He even thought that Roxas probably left the moon already and decided to visit the other planets in space instead of coming back to Earth. Those thoughts he had about Roxas started to dwindle over time. There were times when he could feel his presence but when he turned around he didn't see Roxas there.
His memory of Roxas eventually got hazy and Sora quickly tried to draw him from memory when he realized this. He tried to write down everything he did with Roxas and the many stories he told Sora into a notebook. There were so much information that Sora had to go buy another notebook just to finish.
Even though Sora made new friends in his middle school and still hangs out with Kairi, he still missed Roxas. He sometimes considered becoming an astronaut when he got older so that he could see if Roxas was still on the moon. Sora didn't feel alone anymore even with Roxas gone. He may not be able to see Roxas, maybe never again, but he could feel him in his heart.
Author's note: There are times when we all have to distinguish fact from fiction. We must one day leave the safety of our imagination and step into the realm of reality. Hope you enjoyed this story! Please leave comments even if it's simple and short so I know what I should do next or fix in future stories. I can't wait for criticism!
