Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed.

Summary: After failing yet again to find Pandora, Kaito makes a wish to know what life might have been like if his father had never been killed looking for the damned thing. (Sometimes, wishes do come true after all). They say that every time an event occurs that could change the course of the future, another world is created.

Pairings: Kaito x Shinichi (already established)

To Wish Upon a Star

By V. Shalyr

Chapter 4

Shinichi lowered the newspaper and raised his eyebrows at the two people seated across from him at the kitchen table. Both people merely continued to eat as though they hadn't noticed.

"You know, if you're not careful, you're going to give Nakamouri a heart attack."

Identical expressions of shock met his pronouncement.

"Why, Shin-chan, we'd never do such a thing!"

"He is, after all, quite an old friend."

Why did he even bother? Shinichi shook his head and picked up the papers again to reread the heist notice, wondering idly which one of the two had written it. Or maybe they'd worked on it together, seeing as it looked as though they both intended on putting in an appearance—probably at the same time just to give their poor taskforce the scare of its life. With friends like these, who needed enemies?

Sure enough, even mixed in with the crowd that night, Shinichi could hear the inspector's bellows of frustration and rage from inside the museum accompanied by shouts of shock. He would have liked to see what was actually happening inside, but he hadn't been able to think of a good way to convince them to let him in. Besides, he was pretty sure Kaito was recording it all on camera. He'd helped him prepare the tiny devices the night before.

At least Kaito would have fun. Shinichi had located a jewel that looked exactly like the Wishing Star, a diamond called the Essence of Dreams, but he hadn't wanted to tell him about it until after the heist was over.

Turning away from the ruckus within the building, the detective made his way towards a building farther down the street where he was pretty sure both KIDs would end up.

He had a feeling this was going to be an important night.

Because whether or not they wanted to, they both sensed that their time here was coming to an end. For the past two days, whenever they slept, they found themselves dreaming of home. And there were times when Shinichi was almost sure he'd step through the door of that room to find himself back in the Kudou manor amidst the evidence of years of shared memories.

It had been a nice sort of vacation, the kind that was necessary for people to keep on moving forward. But all things had to come to an end. He just hoped Kaito found what he was looking for before then.

.

Toichi arrived on the rooftop as silently as the phantom his current persona was known as to find his son examining the jewel they'd taken under the moonlight. Sighing, the younger magician turned and tossed the diamond to him with a shake of his head.

"Old habits die hard, I guess, even when I know it's not the right stone."

Toichi caught the stone with ease and tucked it away. He'd give it back to the museum in a day or two. "I was quite impressed with how you did tonight. You were very quick on your feet and you never let your guard down."

"Why, thank you. I had a lot of practice. Still do." Kaito paused then took a deep breath, "So the me here doesn't know about you being Kaitou KID."

"No," Toichi agreed, his expression serious. "Though I think he might suspect. Still, there was never a reason to tell him. This Black Organization that you mentioned doesn't seem to exist in this world, but there have still been a few attempts on my life. I never wanted to involve you or your mother in any of it, not once I realized that I wasn't the only one with an interest in magic stones."

"Jii-chan told me as much after I discovered your secret room. He put on the costume for awhile too, you know? To try and do what I eventually tried to do." Kaito closed his eyes, tugging his hat brim lower over his eyes. "I've always wanted to ask you why you started to look for Pandora in the first place. Not why you continued to look for it after you found out the Organization would kill for it, but why you started."

Toichi was quiet for a long time, lost in thought. "I can't say for sure, but if the me in your world is anything like me, then I'd probably say it was because of magic."

"Magic?"

The magician spread his arms to indicate everything around them and gave his son a wistful smile. "We're magicians, Kaito. We use clever tricks to deceive our audiences, to help people experience the wonder of the impossible. But I've always wanted to believe that there's real magic out there too, the kind of magic that performs real miracles and fills people with that great sense of mystery and wonder. To be able to touch that kind of mystery for even a moment before you had to give it back—would that not be an amazing thing?"

"What if it isn't real? What if Pandora doesn't actually exist?"

"What if it does?"

Kaito stayed silent for a long time, staring out across the sea of city lights. It was such a simple and yet complicated reason, and perhaps some people wouldn't have understood it—wouldn't have found it enough. But Kaito was a magician—more than that, he was KID. And he did understand. And it was enough that he could be sure that his father would not have regretted his decision, that it hadn't just been about justice or what was right.

That it had been about dreams too.

The corners of his eyes stung and he blinked rapidly, raising a hand and blinking in surprise at the tears. How many years had it been since he'd cried? Funny, his memory was phenomenal but he couldn't remember.

"I'm sorry, Kaito."

Kaito shook his head, turning to face his father who had placed a hand on his shoulder. "Why? Being KID's been tough at times, but I also have a lot of fun. It's taught me more about living than I ever could have learned on my own. And it helped me meet the love of my life. I'd say that's a fair trade for a little anguish."

Toichi stared into his face for several moments, but in the end he simply nodded and smiled, reaching up to tilt his top hat jauntily to one side. "We do have a lot of fun, don't we?"

Kaito smiled a genuine if slightly wistful smile. "I guess we—I—have to go then. He hasn't said anything, but I'll bet Tantei-kun's already found what we need."

Toichi nodded, mirroring the expression on his face. "Take care of yourself. And you should know that whether or not I'm there with you, you'll always be my son and I'll always be proud of you."

Because even though most things had to come to an end, some things were too strong for even distance or time or reason to ever take away.

.

"Shin-chan."

Shinichi started as arms slid around him from behind and Kaito dropped his chin onto his shoulder. "So you're finally done talking."

The magician hummed in agreement. "I thought you said you were going to come by the heist. I was expecting you to meet us afterwards."

The detective hesitated then shrugged his unoccupied shoulder. "I was going to, but when I got there… I figured it would be better to give you and your father some time to sort things out yourselves."

Kaito smiled and turned his head so he could press a kiss along the line of his jaw. "You're the best, you know that?"

Shinichi blushed and mumbled something incoherent before holding up a piece of paper for his partner to see. Kaito blinked and freed one hand to take it, glancing quickly over its contents.

"I'm pretty sure it's the same stone," Shinichi said quietly. "I checked its origins and they match up. Just somewhere along the way, it acquired a different name."

Kaito nodded slowly, straightening. "Looks like it'll be on display tomorrow night not that far from Ekoda."

Finally turning to look at him, Shinichi tried to decide what emotions it was he saw just below the surface of his eyes. "Are you okay with that?"

Catching his anxiety, Kaito grinned and tugged him forward into a hug. "I can't say I'm not going to miss some things, but you know? I'm not going to regret it. I just wouldn't be me if I let the magic go."

Shinichi wasn't sure he understood what that meant, but it didn't matter. It looked like Kaito was going to be okay.

.

In the end, they agreed that a KID heist would draw too much attention and saddle Toichi with too much unnecessary trouble should the gemstone not remain behind when they crossed worlds again. And really, without the magic tricks and the provoked police to complicate matters, chances were, Kaito hardly even had to try to sneak them both inside and liberate the jewel in question from its transparent display case.

"Do we even know how it works?" Shinichi whispered, staring down at the diamond gleaming on Kaito's white-gloved palm between them, its depths illuminated by the faint moonlight streaming through the museum's high windows.

"As you said, we won't know until we try. It was a wish that brought us here, right? So chances are that a wish will bring us back."

Shinichi hesitated then nodded. Two pairs of eyes stared intently down at the jewel for a moment then shut as they each tried to focus as hard as they could on the desire to return home.

Several long seconds dragged by in utter silence while nothing happened. Then, like light bubbling up from the bottom of a glass, a silver glow spread through the diamond and began to flow out around them, painting every detail in the exhibit gallery with stark shadows. Then everything faded into white.

When Kaito opened his eyes once more, it was to find himself standing in the middle of the first floor living room in the Kudou manor. The room around him was a mess of magic props.

From across the room beside a pile of picture frames that had been turned upside-down, Shinichi groaned and sat up, rubbing at his temples. That had been the strangest feeling—like being pulled through thick clouds that temporarily stole away all your senses and made you wonder if you were still breathing. Blinking away the traces of white that clung to the edges of his vision, he frowned at the mess in their living room then at the feather duster he was holding like a sword in his right hand.

"What the?"

"So," Kaito asked, fiercely amused as he picked his way through the debris to offer Shinichi a hand and help him to his feet, "what do you think the other me and you were up to?"

END

AN: Well, that's it for this story. I'm afraid it's on the short side for me, but then again, it was just an idea I had while working on a different parallel world story I'm working on that will be much darker, much longer, and take a lot more time to write (so it probably won't see the light of day for a long, long time).

Someone suggested writing a separate story for the alternate world Kaito and Shinichi from this fic. I think that could be interesting, though I'll have to see if I can think of anything good (suggestions welcome).

Aside from that, I hope you enjoyed the story! Thank you for reading and please review.