A Very Small Wish

By Tsukisamu Sayako

Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer applies. I do not own Sora, Roxas, Kairi, or Riku. They belong to Square Enix.

Author's Notes: Four short stories on wishes inspired by Fragrant meadow's "Hundred Paper Stars". No special rating needed since there's nothing that merited a T or M rating. Seriously…

Summary: I would make a hundred stars for you…

Legend has it that, if one makes a hundred origami stars, his or her wish would come true.

Sora was slightly skeptical at the legend, wondering how a wish would come true just by making stars. Still, the more he thought about, the more he felt it could happen. To make a hundred stars would mean that the maker would be very much devoted to the wish. And seeing how the heart would be involved in the making of the wish, he became convinced that maybe, possibly, the legend merits some truth. After all, if the heart is involved, miraculous things can happen.

The Keyblade master decided that he would make a hundred stars on a Tuesday since he believed that it was on a Tuesday that he had sacrificed his heart to save Kairi and thus create Roxas. He sat on the carpeted ground with a large glass bottle next to him and a bundle of star-making strips of paper in front of him. He picked up the first piece of paper and began folding.

The first strip of paper was befitting of the star: yellow stars decorating a navy blue background.

Sora noted with interest that each strip of paper was decorated differently and wondered if the vendor had been intentional when he compiled the bundle for star-making.

He completed the first star slowly, making sure that he had folded it correctly before attempting to puff it up. At first he was a bit hesitant to form the star, but after a little gentle coaxing by his fingers, he successfully created a lovely little star. He smiled and dropped the first star into the bottle before continuing on with the second one.

As the brown-haired boy continued folding stars, his spirits became lighter and happier as he thought about his wish. He began folding the tenth star when a familiar presence entered his mind.

'Sora, what are you doing?' asked Roxas with curiosity. He looked through Sora's blue eyes and seemed confused by the movement of Sora's hands.

"I'm making paper stars," replied Sora.

'Why?'

"So I can make a wish." He grinned and finished the tenth star, dropping it into the bottle.

'What are you wishing for?'

"I can't tell you that, or I can't make the wish when I finish the last star."

'Is it hard?'

"Not really. You'll get used to it." Sora dropped the eleventh star in the bottle.

'Can I watch?'

"Of course."

As the afternoon passed Sora by, Roxas continued to watch, commenting on the pattern of the strips of paper. The brown-haired boy only stopped his star-making when his mother called him down to dinner. By that time, he had already made 67 stars.

After dinner, Sora continued his star-making, but this time, Roxas wasn't there to make shy comments about the papers. The Keyblade master surmised that Roxas had retreated back into his heart out of boredom at the dinner table. The thought of that brought a smile to his face.

He dropped another star into the bottle and brought the jar up to inspect the contents. With his care and practice, each little star was well formed, some even perfectly formed in Sora's opinion. He put the glass bottle back down and continued folding stars, this time noting the pattern on the paper to reflect that of Valentine's day with a pink background and red hearts outlined with white.

He immediately thought of Kairi as he folded the piece of paper, creating a strong pentagon with the strip of paper and stuffing the last little bit extra paper into the previous folds to create a tight seal of the five-sided shape. He then pushed two sides into the center and repeated the same for the other sides, creating yet another perfect star with ease. He dropped the star into the bottle and continued on, never stopping until after he made the 99th star.

"99," he said aloud as he dropped the latest completed star into the bottle. He noted that the bottle was almost filled to the brim with stars and grinned happily. He swirled the bottle around to more evenly distribute the stars in the bottle before turning his attention back to the last strip of paper on the carpet.

His hand trembled with irrational fear while his heart pounded with excitement. Part of his heart soared at the thought of completing the hundredth star to make a wish; another part feared that his excitement would destroy the last star and leave him in disappointment with 99 stars and no wish to come true.

Sora inspected the last strip of paper with interest, running his finger over the top of the special paper, feeling the small bumps of the glittering gold borders of the stars and the silver outline of the crescent moons. He grinned before manipulating the paper into a pentagon with a small part of the strip pointing out from one side and the remainder of the strip pointing out from another side. He gently tucked the small excess into the body of the pentagon before wrapping the long end of the paper around the pentagon, making sure that each wrap was tight to make each side strong.

In the back of his mind, he felt Roxas looking out at his work and marveling at the navy blue paper with the glittering moons and stars. Sora continued smiling and tucked the last part of the remaining strip into the body of the pentagon. He then easily formed the sharp points of the star with his experienced fingers and nails.

Sora admired the last star of the bottle with a feeling of accomplishment in his heart. He gently dropped the last star into the glass bottle and capped it with a wooden cork. He shook the bottle around to mix the stars and looked at the bottle of stars with a wide grin.

'Make your wish, Sora,' said Roxas as he admired Sora's handiwork with his Somebody. Sora nodded and closed his eyes.

When he opened his eyes, Sora felt lifted and happily placed the glass bottle of paper stars on his dresser, giving a small laugh as he did so.

'What did you wish for?' asked Roxas in his mind.

"I wish that I can meet you in person, Roxas."

I want to make paper stars now… I realize it's a bit shorter than the last... but the next chapter will be longer. :)