Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts

Wish

Chapter 7

The explosive lights came to an end as did the camera flashes. Despite that, the people below continued to cheer and clap knowing that it was the beginning of a brand new year.

Roxas looked below him and saw that the people were slowing leaving the beach to return back to their homes and possibly continue their New Year celebration.

"Roxas! Want to stay for my wonderful firework presentation?" Genie patted his chest with one hand and used his other hand to point to the sky. "I'll dedicate this presentation to our-"

"No, I'm leaving." Roxas pushed Shadow off his lap and dusted his clothing. He looked in front of him and saw the disappointed expressions on all their faces.

"I can make a scarier presentation!" Jack raised his arms up into a frightening pose.

"No, I'm going to leave now." Roxas lowered his shoulders and turned on his heels. He heard Jack's arm drop. The guilty feeling grew and he looked back at the large group of mismatched characters. "Thanks." Roxas muttered out and turned around once again to return back to his home, Kairi's attic.

-that-

Once he arrived back home. He got into his usual position with his back facing the ground and his eyes glued on the wooden ceiling. His hands rested behind his head and he gave out a heavy sigh. Even though it was a new year, he felt as if nothing changed. He was still stuck in the same predicament. At least it was only a few more months before everything was back to normal.

He heard some shuffling from below and then the door alarm. Then there was more shuffling. His eyes lazily looked towards the attic entrance. A yellow glow briefly blinded his eyes as the auburn haired girl peered around the attic.

"Ah! So you were here! Did you actually stay here the entire night?" She pulled herself up and then she pulled up the attic ladder. "The fireworks were really pretty."

"Yeah, I just stayed here the entire night." Roxas lied.

"That's such a pity. The fireworks were so beautiful." Kairi murmured and hugged her knees. "What do you do up here?" She questioned.

"Nothing. I didn't do anything."

Kairi shook her head. "Want to help me study then?" She grinned slyly.

Roxas pulled himself up and lowered himself back down to eyelevel with Kairi. "Sure, I guess."

"Great!" She pushed the attic ladder back down and climbed down. "C'mon!" She said in a whisper.

Roxas followed Kairi back to her room where he was surrounded by various textbooks. "Can I still back out of this?"

"You could," Kairi grinned. "But I know you won't!" Slowly, she plopped down on her chair and gestured to the blank space beside her. Next, she smiled widely.

-that-

A month later…

"ROXAS! I passed all my exams!" Kairi cheered as she closed her computer and got off her chair to jump around. "You saw right? Those beautiful numbers! It was right on the screen! I'll open the computer again to show you!" She sat back down and opened her computer again. Happily, she clasped her hands together and had a permanent grin on her face.

Roxas rolled his eyes but gave her a small smile in response.

"ROXAS! My new schedule just got sent to me!" Kairi exclaimed as she opened her schedule up. "I need to call everyone!" She excitedly got up from her chair and ran downstairs.

He shook his head and decided to take a glance at Kairi's new schedule. All of a sudden, he felt a huge headache. He clutched his head in pain. His expression grew distorted as the pulsing in his head grew.

"Show me your schedule, Roxas! I want to see if we're in the same class!" A brunette reached her hand out. Her face was unclear.

"The three of us are in the same class, so you better be too, Roxas!" A blond and a brunet grinned as they high-five each other waiting for the results. Their faces were unclear also.

"We're in the same class!" The brunette cheered and hugged Roxas. "It's going to be another great year! I just know it!"

Roxas' headache went away shortly and Kairi ran back into the room with the phone glued to her ear.

"Hm, hm. Yep, I'm in that class also!" Kairi smiled at the sound of good news. "Hm, hm." She nodded her head. "Great! It's going to be another great year! I just know it!" Kairi cheered into the phone.

Roxas' hand tightened on his head and he ran back to the sanctuary of the attic. He felt his head throbbing but he couldn't explain why.

-that-

A week later…

Kairi grinned as she walked to school. Today, Naminé wasn't walking with her. But Kairi wasn't lonely; she had Roxas to talk to. Occasionally, she'd have to check her surrounding so that she didn't seem insane to other pedestrians. That was the last thing she wanted; to look insane.

"Why are you so happy?" Roxas strolled silently beside Kairi. He couldn't help but notice the bounce in her steps.

Kairi giggled. "It's almost Naminé's birthday! We're planning a party for her!"

Roxas simply nodded his head.

"Say, do you have any ideas on what we could do? We're currently brainstorming." She stopped to face Roxas for a moment. "You know. It's nice being able to talk outside once in a while, huh? The only times we get to talk face to face normally is when we're in my house." She clasped her hands behind her back and looked at Roxas expectantly.

Roxas had his hands by his side. His hands clenched together and he gripped his dark robe.

Kairi eyed him curiously. She looked down to see his hands. "Are you okay?" She pointed at his hands.

Roxas looked down briefly and immediately opened his hands. He lifted his hands slowly before letting them drop to his side again. "Ah, sorry. I blanked out. What did you say earlier?"

"You know… you've been sort of weird lately. Well you've always been a bit odd. But these days, you're harder to understand." She murmured quietly. "If something is bothering you, just tell me. I'll try to help." She tried to reassure.

Roxas looked away. "I'm fine. I'm just going to get some fresh air." Roxas quickly flew off.

Kairi watched as Roxas went off on his own again. She noticed it had been happening more frequently. "But you're already outside…" Kairi whispered to herself. She placed her hand on her backpack strap and turned around. With a heavy sigh and she continued walking to school alone.

-that-

Roxas didn't have a destination in mind. However, his feet ended up dragging him to the school. Probably since it was one of the places he had become familiar with. He decided to go up to the rooftop and stared blankly out at the horizon.

This scenery wasn't familiar to him. Neither was the scenery at the beach. None of it even felt remotely familiar. He placed his hands on his head and began to ruffle his already unruly hairstyle. The school itself wasn't familiar to him either.

He sat silently trying to recall his vision. He was with that same trio of friends. They seemed close, yet he couldn't even remember their faces. Lazily, he shifted his position so that his back was facing the ground and he placed his hands behind his head. Then, he closed his eyes in hopes that it would help him concentrate more.

He slowly tuned out the sounds around him and enjoyed the peacefulness of the silence. Only to suddenly feel a bag hit him in the guts.

"Urg," he quickly sat up and rubbed his abdomen. His eyes scanned his surrounding to find Naminé glaring at him with her arms crossed.

She took lent footsteps towards him. "Why are you here?"

Roxas saw her bag now on the ground below him. He reached down and tossed it lightly to Naminé. Naminé caught the bag with ease and waited for his response.

He groaned and returned to his previous position. "What about you? Don't you have to get to class now?"

"I saw you up here when I got to school." She slung her bag over her shoulders. "I figured it'll be a good time to talk to you."

"Well you thought wrong."

She nodded her head. "I know. I don't have nearly as much time as I thought. Class is going to start soon and I don't really want to deal with you until after class." She carefully took out a small notepad and her black pencil. She began to do a quick sketch onto the paper. After a couple careful strokes on the notepad, she lifted her head to look at Roxas. "Bye. I'll deal with you later."

Roxas turned his head to watch the blonde leave. The last thing he saw was the blonde turning her head and sticking out her tongue before his mind went blank.

-that-

Everything is so dark. Where am I? It feels cold… I-I-I can't feel my limbs. I feel like I'm floating in an empty void. If I shouted would anyone hear me? Or am I all alone? Someone… please find me. Please.

Roxas's eyes slowly opened to meet with darkness. However, it wasn't completely dark. There was a faint light glowing in a corner. More closely, there were two bright beady eyes staring down at him.

Shadow gave a high pitch squeal as he bobbed his head from side-to-side. His stringy, long limbs jabbed Roxas in the side, then his shoulder. He squealed once again.

"Where am I?" Roxas asked him. He wasn't expecting an answer but Shadow attempted to answer him. He squealed non-stop, making bizarre gestures. Roxas didn't understand him at all.

Roxas pulled himself up and looked down. Then he saw that the floor was a couple feet below. His heart jumped but then he remembered. He was in a different state. He was no longer among the living, among humans. He was simply a spirit. That may never return to the life he had before. Does that life even exist?

Everything seemed like a blur to him. He honestly couldn't tell between real figments of his memory from his imagination.

"Where am I?" He clutched his head and tried to remember what he was doing earlier. He pulled his body into a seated position and examined the place. He only needed one good look at the place to recognize it. "When did I get here?" He bit his lower lips and pressed his hand against the rough ceiling.

His hand lingered on the splinter-filled ceiling, the rotting wood – a surface that his hands longed for.

"Don't bother leaving." A sharp voice echoed against the walls. With a sluggish look over his shoulder, he saw the blonde witch standing by a closed door with her back against the wall. She twirled a white pencil in her hand while her other hand held a piece of paper with an outline of the room.

"There's only one way out of this room and it's through this door." She knocked the back of her hand against the door. "Obviously, I'm not going to let you leave until after I finish talking to you."

She held up her drawing of the room and pointed to the door on her outline. "You see this circle? This is the lock for the door." Next, she reached into her pocket and grabbed out a rectangular black eraser. Then, with careful strokes, she erased the circle. "You can't touch the lock anymore, but the door is still solid – in other words you're trapped."

"Tsk." Roxas scoffed and lowered himself down to meet with Naminé's gaze. "What would you like to talk about?" He smirked.

She crossed her arms and frowned. "Why are you still here? Can't you go back to wherever you came from already?"

"If I could, would I still be here?"

"I guess not." She removed her back from the wall and approached Roxas. "Is there any way I can speed up the process and get rid of you? It's getting on my nerves that I have to keep pretending that you don't exist. In fact, it seems like you're trying to provoke me half the time."

Roxas placed his hands behind his head. "There is a way, but I doubt you're capable of fulfilling the task."

Naminé's eyes grew and she gave a devilish grinned. "Oh? Is that a challenge? Don't underestimate my abilities; after all I am often called a witch."

-that-

A/N: Rewritten. I'm pretty determined to finish this story. Anyways, there has been some minor changes to the story. Thanks for all your support after all these years! c:

-Scielle.