Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, and I never will. This is just a fic I got inspired to write for a variety of reasons. I'm not making money off of this and it is only for the pleasure of writing my ideas out for others to see. Enjoy!

Chapter 1: Wishful Thinking:

A boy rolled over in his bed, gripping the pillow below him tightly as he willed all the hurt and pain to go away. It wouldn't though, and it would be back just in the morning when his mom came to wake him or his dad drove him to school.

Even at school, it was hardly better then for the teachers being so nice. Being an outcast because of height and ideas was not a fun thing indeed. Just, not one person seemed to see the real him, hidden beneath the shell he long since learned to put up when around others. No one seeing the person hurt from lies and deceit.

Sure, he had a few friends, ones that just stopped the bulling when teachers weren't around and it got to rough, those with pity on him. He didn't want that, he just wanted someone to see him, for who he really was. Not this caged up boy who hardly ever talked.

Given the chance, the boy would've gladly joined in on conversations, but no, he couldn't do that. He was the quiet boy with good grades hiding behind a shell, lying to the world that was lying to him.

More then once, he'd wish he could become a character in a Fairy Tale book, the ones where people got what they deserved, and those evil ones would be cast away. "Wishful thinking" was always the term to come to mind when he thought of that. Just thinking it, and it never happening. Why would it, there was a reason it was called Fairy Tales. None of that was true, at least not to this fourteen-year-old boy.

The boy opened his eyes, letting out a ragged sigh, then quickly stopped breathing for a second. Had they heard? Surely they couldn't have heard just a loud sigh coming from the boy?

With fearful eyes locked on the door, the boy didn't let out his breath till a minute later, concluding they hadn't heard him and he had nothing to worry about. Hm…nothing to worry about at all, that was wishful thinking that was again, especially in the house; this house that he wished with all his might he could escape from.

Escaping was the easy part, it was staying escaped that was so hard since his parents would just come looking for him. Two times! Two times he had tried to escape only to be found again; the entire world against him when he tried. Since then, he had been known to fear trying to escape from this place.

They would just come looking for him anyway.

Sure that he hadn't awoken the others in the house, the boy closed his eyes again, hanging onto the pillow like a lifeline. His blankets, he wasn't sure where they were anymore, them having gotten lost a week ago. He heard an earful because of that, so no way was he going to go try to talk to his parents about that again.

Relaxing slightly, he allowed himself to try to go back to sleep, no doubt that his dreams would be plagued by nightmares again. Last time he fell asleep in class though, his parents hadn't believed him on that, saying he had just been staying up and he'd better not do that again.

Yeah, like he ever stayed up. More like went to bed early to escape a bit to his sanctuary, though it wasn't always that. His room was the closest thing in this house to it though, since going outside would not be wise. They'd be even madder.

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"Just nod and pretend your listening." The boy reminded himself at breakfast the next day, his father rambling on about what happened at work the day before. "Twice, that's twice he's explaining this." He complained in his head. He'd never say that out loud though, not to face his father's wrath for correcting the man. Not even if you gave him a million dollars. His parents would just gain possession of it anyway, claiming he stole it.

Like he ever stole anything.

If anyone stole in this house, it wasn't him.

"You listening boy?" the man demanded, shoving his fork in the boy's face enough so the boy flinched backwards away from it instinctively. The man looked almost comical though, with a bit of scrambled egg on his mustache, his black mess of hair, if you could call it that, untidy even more then the boy's brown's spikes where. That, and then you had to take his suit in that did not match the gray eyes the man had. No, blue suits and gray eyes weren't the best colors to go next to eachother. Most people would chuckle at the appearance, but the boy knew better then that. Giving his reply in a small nod, he looked down at his plate of food, well, bowl of cereal.

"Good, you better be getting sleep." The man threatened more then said.

Another nod in reply as the boy cautiously took a bite from his cereal.

"Doing better in school?" the man said almost fatherly this time, though the boy wasn't fooled. Another nod.

"Will you talk at all!" great, now the man was angry and the boy couldn't help but brace himself from the language onslaught he was sure to get. "Great, first he says don't talk to him again and now he wants me to talk. I'll never win!"

"He has to get to school dear." Saved by the mom, for once in his life the boy was glad his mother cut in to say something. Must've been the first time ever, even if she was referring to him as if he wasn't even here, that was better then getting yelled at.

"If you think you've heard the last of this boy, you're mistaken. Go get your bag and get out to the car!" almost a yell there, but not quite. The boy nodded and quickly pushed back from the table, glad for an excuse to get out of there. Just a quick rush upstairs and he was grabbing his bag. Luckily though, he hadn't lost any of his things for school. His parents might just kill him then, literally. Rush back down stairs and outside into the car. The boy wasn't the least bit surprised to find his dad still inside while he was out here. Once more it looked like he'd be late for school, and no doubt he'd be blamed for it later.

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"All he ever does is yell at me. Why can't I get a break anywhere?"

"Mr. Hart." A pause. "Mr. Hart!" The dropping of a ruler hard on the desk of a surface, or even worse, the surface in front of the boy right next to his books, was enough to startle the boy out of the small daze he had gone into. He glanced up fearfully, afraid of getting a teacher's wrath even after all this time of not.

"Mr. Hart. Glad to see you have rejoined us. Now can you please give go up to the blackboard and finish the equation." That had turned out…good. At least in the boys point of view, as the teacher had used not a harsh tone, but one to show that the teacher was just glad to move onto the next subject. At a few whispers from behind him though, he knew exactly why the teacher had used that tone of voice.

Nodding slightly, he shifted out of his desk and went up to the blackboard. Picking up some chalk from the tray, he looked up at the problem. Easy, it was only a bit of multiplication here and some addition there. About a minute, later, the boy finished the problem, and putting the chalk back in its tray, walked over and sat down in his desk again.

"Correct. Mr. Hart, can you please stay after class. I wish to have a word with you." The teacher consulted.

As a few whispers about why the teacher would want a boy like him to stay after class, he was feeling himself retreat more into his shell. Trying his best to ignore what the students were whispering when the teacher was explaining how the boy had got to the answer, he looked down at his notebook. He pretended to be half listening to what the teacher was saying, as he wrote some things down about what they had done. It was review after all, so he knew most of it already.

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"You never seem to talk at all, and seem distracted lately. Is there anything I can help with?" The teacher questioned softly, sitting down in the desk next to the boy. It was after class now, and he was he only one left in the classroom.

The question surprised him though, which clearly showed on his face as he looked up at the teacher. No one had really asked to help him with anything, except out of pity. This teacher, sounded like she was concerned about him. He blinked once then, breaking out of his small shock, as he shook his head 'no'.

"No? Are you sure about that?" She questioned a bit further.

"No Mrs. Rose. I'm fine." The boy finally spoke, though his voice came out a bit raspy. It had been a long time since he'd used it last anyway, so only natural.

"You really sure?" Mrs. Rose pressed a bit further.

"Yes, I'm sure." A bit stronger of a tone that time, though it was still a bit raspy.

"Alright, if you say so." She replied with a small smile. "I have something to give you though. So wait here a second." She added on, before standing up from the desk and going to her own. The boy watched her, his gaze still confused. Something for him? The only thing that had ever been for him before was beating, from his parent's of course. But here, Mrs. Rose had something for him, as if he were a real person.

Which he knew he wasn't. He was the quiet boy that never talked.

Mrs. Rose had gotten him to talk though, and not because she threatened or anything.

The boy shook his head slightly. This had to be a dream, if nothing else.

"Here." She was back, and holding out something to the boy. He glanced up at her with wary eyes, before looking at what she was holding out for him. "It's not much, but it may help. Is all I have, aside from an apple today." She furthered sweetly, still holding it out to the boy.

"A…a sandwich?" He questioned, looking back up at her confused, his shell broken for the time being. It felt, weird to try not to be hiding feelings behind a mask, but a good kind of weird.

"Your probably hungry, and it is lunch." She replied easily. "Here, it's for you."

"What are you going to eat then?" the boy questioned, shaking his head as he pushed it away. "I don't want it if you're going to go hungry." He continued on.

A small laugh from Mrs. Rose though, and he found himself confused once more.

"Don't worry, I have some money and an apple. Besides, I'm the teacher here and I say you get to eat the sandwich." She said lightly, though sternly. She still had a smile on though, which was making the boy uncomfortable, as he wasn't used to smiles as much. "Um…thanks?" He ventured, taking the sandwich from Mrs. Rose and looking at it in his hands.

"No problem. Just be sure to eat it. I'll be back in a few minutes. Explore the classroom if you like." She suggested, turning and walking down the isle of desks. She paused at the door though, looking back at the boy just in time to see a small nod coming from him. With that, she left the room.

Now, the boy being alone, unwrapped the sandwich from its wrapping. He looked at is suspiciously though, turning it over in his hands. This was just…just his mind being wishful again. It had to be; no one had been this nice to him in a long time.

"Afraid its poison?" Mrs. Rose was back already, carrying a bag of chips in her hand along with a candy bar. The boy glanced up at her, a bit startled. "N-no!" He protested shaking his head a bit.

"Good, because it's not." She replied cheerfully, sitting down in the desk next to the boy again.

He nodded slightly again, looking down at the sandwich. He lifted it to his mouth, then took a bite from it, determining it a ham and cheese sandwich? How long since he'd have one of these?

"Good?" Mrs. Rose questioned.

"Huh?" The boy asked, a bit confused as he looked at the teacher again.

"Is the sandwich good?" She revised her question.

"Oh! Yeah, its okay." He replied.

"Just okay?"

"I mean its good!"

Mrs. Rose shook her head lightly. "No need to change your answer. I was just fine with 'Okay'. Just relax a bit Sora. I'm not going to hurt you." She chided lightly.

This had to be a dream, she just used his name; No one ever uses his name, as it's usually 'boy' or 'Mr. Hart'. He couldn't help but gap a bit at that, looking a bit shocked.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" She questioned, sounding a bit confused herself then.

"N-no…nothing you said. Um…its nothing." Sora replied, shaking his head lightly as he returned to looking at his sandwich. If this was a dream, it was a really cruel one. This was only wishful thinking, for his name to be used as if he were a person people would want to talk to.

"Alright." She replied easily, taking the candy bar she had brought in her hands and opening it. Hm…it was Kit Kat, Sora noticed as he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

"So, you seem really good at math. Your not failing that's for sure, as you're the one who usually doesn't get anything wrong…" Mrs. Rose rambled on a bit, talking to Sora. Actually talking to him, and Sora had not a clue what to do about it.

"Um…" He managed out, looking a bit nervous now.

"Yes?" She replied easily again, ceasing her rambling for now.

"Err…" Sora started, gaining for time. "…never mind. It's stupid." Sora finished, shaking his head.

"Well, I want to hear this stupid comment." Mrs. Rose replied.

"Oh…okay. Um…why are you being so nice to me?" Sora blurted out, before he lost his nerve to take back the question. He mentally braced himself for the worse though, as that was what he was used to.

"Why shouldn't I be?"

"What?" Sora questioned once again, confused as he looked up at the teacher again.

"Well, you seem nice, and when you do talk, your nice to talk to. So why shouldn't I be nice to you." She stated.

"Oh….um…never thought of why." Sora stated. He couldn't say why people were mean to him either, just that was what he was used to. That was all.

"Hmm…maybe you should think of why then. Make sure to finish the sandwich. Now…as I was saying." Mrs. Rose went back to talking to Sora easily then, as the boy nodded and finished eating his sandwich, courtesy of Mrs. Rose. In Sora's opinion, that was the best ham and cheese sandwich he ever had.

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Now Sora had wished he could've stayed in that classroom all day, for the rest of his life if he could handle it. It had been even better then his room had been, and a person had been there. A person, who seemed to care, and more then that, treating him like he could talk back and listen to things. She'd even got Sora to talk about a few topics of things, like about how noisy the class he was in could be. Which was pretty noisy once they were allowed to start their homework. Mrs. Rose had said she didn't really care, as long as they were working on homework at the same time.

Now though, he was back in his room as downstairs, and argument was roaring. Of course, his dad had started it with blaming Sora about a few things. Mostly about how it was Sora's fault they had gotten him late to school. Sora knew that wasn't true, but he'd learned long ago not to argue with his parents.

Now though, his dad was just blaming everything and everyone for things that was entirely not their fault, or didn't even make sense.

"At least I made it out of their alive this time, without any hitting." It was plus on Sora's behalf, since he usually got one everyday after coming home from school. He'd already finished his homework by now, only having a bit of Math today. Math, he just got for some reason, a he was glad he did also.

He was hungry now though, but didn't dare step out of his little haven, his room. Not for anything since his father was still stomping around down there.

Best thing to do would to be asleep, which is what he decided to do a bit later as he rolled over onto his side on the beg, hugging the pillow to himself as he felt himself go into a grateful sleep.

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"Sora…Sora! Sora, wake up you silly boy!" Something close to the boy's ear alerted him of another presence in his room.

"Huh? What!" Thinking the worse of the situation, he shot up in bed and back away on instinct, thinking it was his mom waking him up and that he was going to be smacked or something for not waking up the first time she called his name. Wait? Called his name. She just called him 'boy' usually.

What he didn't notice though, was that some sort of light got knocked away from him when he had suddenly sat up in bed.

"Whoa, so you finally awakened!"

"Huh? Who's there!"? Sora suddenly realized his parents might hear him though, so he quickly clamped his hands over his mouth, looking fearfully over at the door. Great, in just another second his father would barge in and demand what's going on, and so much for his haven then.

"Oh, don't worry. They can't hear us."

Sora, being who he was, just shook his head, still not moving his hands from his mouth. He didn't trust himself not to blurt something out again along the lines of 'Who are you and what are you doing in my bedroom!'.

His eyes assailed the room though; not finding where the voice was coming from, though he knew it was definitely near him.

"Like I said, they can't hear us. Just try to talk. I'm not going to hurt you." The voice said again, and Sora noted this time that it was a bit squeaky for sure, but still audible. Besides, it reminded him a bit of Mrs. Rose.

Sora lowered his hands slowly, still glancing around the room for this 'thing' that was making a voice and scaring the living daylights out of him. "Who?" was all he managed to get out.

"Me? Well, I'm Firelight!" the thing said, but showed itself this time. Right in front of Sora it did, scaring the boy even more to see a bright red colored pixie pop right in front of his eyes. Not that the light from the pixie helped very much as he reeled farther back from the things, and straight into the wall with a small, startled yelp.

"Didn't know I'd scare you that much. No need to be afraid!" Firelight prompted.

"What- what are you!" Sora exclaimed, still very much startled at the moment.

"A pixie, if you haven't notice. Yeah, yeah, aren't pixie's usually green or yellow. Well too bad, I like being red and its just who I am. Got it!" Firelight exclaimed, walking around in a circle in the air.

Sora could only nod a bit dumbfounded, watching the pixie.

"So, believe in fairy tales?" The pixie prompted, walking a bit towards Sora now, but when Sora moved to try to get past his wall, she stopped again. "Well?" She persisted.

Sora just blinked a few more times at the…the…thing! This had to be a dream, right. This whole day and now was the sick way his brain was getting back at him for being wishful when he knew he shouldn't be. That had to be it. No way were fairy tales real with pixies and things turning out alright.

"Come on, it's a simple question. Yes or no?"

"No." Sora replied slowly, before he blinked. He kept his eyes closed, willing his mind to stop with this stupid game and get back to real life, or the cruel worlds.

"Hey, I'm still talking to you!" The pixie said impatiently, waving a hand in front of Sora's face.

Sora did the wrong thing and opened his eyes again, looking at the pixie straight on. "Yeah, well…I'm done talking to you!" He retorted back, growing aggravated with himself. If life wasn't unfair to him enough as it was, now he was doing it to himself. He closed his eyes then, putting his hands over his ears and shaking his head. There was no pixie there. Fairy tales weren't real. He was just the quiet boy that never talked.

"Hey, hey, hey. I'm not done yet. Don't you want a better life?" The pixie questioned, sounding a bit worried now.

"Yes, but I know not to wish for things I can't have. It's only my brain messing with me right now. You're not real, and neither is any of this!" Sora answered, showing he could still hear even with him covering his own ears. He didn't give up on shaking his head though, or opening his eyes. If he would, he was almost certain he would start crying for no good reason at all. Just like his whole life.

"Hey, its okay. Come with me." Firelight said lightly, putting a comforting hand on Sora's shoulder and squeezing it slightly. Sora only gave a small sob in response before opening his eyes a slightly and looking at the pixie out of the corner of them. Tears were clearly in his eyes, but the pixie only smiled and nodded slightly in encouragement.

Obviously, his mind wouldn't stop tormenting him so might as well go along with the pixie until his mind decided to stop its tormenting him, whenever that may be. "O-okay." He replied almost silently, nodding slightly as he tried to hold in another sob of nothing.

The pixie only nodded before closing its eyes and engulfing them both in a white-hot flame. The flames, Sora noticed as they engulfed him, weren't burning them at all. They were just a bit warm, warming him up a bit on the inside and out. Warmer then he'd ever think to feel around someone else. He almost forgot that this was just his mind playing a trick on him, and that this wasn't real. Key word, almost.