Hey, hope you enjoy, and sorry about the wait, inspiration hasn't come. Disclaimer, I don't own Kingdom Hearts yet, and I got kicked out of Oz. Don't ask.

Flashes of him crept through my mind as I slept; flashes of gold hair, of a pale face, of eyes, and very blue eyes. They always seemed to stare right through me, as if seeing straight into my very soul. Whenever I dreamed, I always dreamed of him.

I didn't know his name, and sometimes I wouldn't even see him, but I would see the eyes, and feel… safe. They started to walk away, and I held up my arm, trying to stop them, to get them to come back, but the instant I did, there was a loud pop, and the world suddenly came back to me, bright and shining. I sighed, staring up at my patchwork ceiling, wishing I could get back to sleep.

Light was just starting to pour in through the windows, and I could see the family rooster hopping up towards the top of the barn; his favorite perch. I groaned and rolled over, coming face to face with a large yellow snout. Instantly a tongue whipped out, giving me a big slobbery kiss.

I groaned, rolling over, but the snout pushed the back of my head, over and over, and an unseen tail smacked the bed until I sat up, arms held high. "I give up; I'm awake!" My dog, Pluto, gave a loud happy bark, and tackled me from the bed, licking happily at my face. "Ah, Pluto!" I rubbed the back of my head, and glared at the dog, but they just stared back at me, panting happily. After a few more seconds, I laughed, and held out my arms. Pluto barked happily and came closer, licking my face while I hugged him.

"Thanks pal. Who's a good boy? Who is?" Pluto barked again, jumping away from me and sitting obediently, eyes on bookshelf in the corner where I kept the dog treats. I laughed, jumping up and grabbing a few, throwing them to the hungry dog before grabbing some overalls. I had just finished putting them on when the rooster got to the top of the barn, and started crowing.

I glanced out the window, surveying the family farm for a moment, thinking about how much work had to be done today; no time to escape today. Pluto padded over to me, tilting his head and giving me a worried look. I smiled, scratching behind his ears and whispering "I had another dream about him" Pluto looked up at me with wide eyes, and I continued. "At first it was nothing, but then I saw those eyes; then I knew it was him. He was falling at first, falling and nobody was catching him, but when I tried to help, it all vanished, and restarted."

Pluto gave me another look and I glared down at him. "Oh hush up you; you know I'm not crazy. Just don't tell Uncle Leon and Aunt Aeri!" The dog nodded its head rapidly, and I smiled. "Good boy. Can you get my boots?" The dog instantly took off around to the other side of the bed as a knock came from my door. "Come in!"

The door creaked open, and Aunt Aerith, dressed in a pastel pink dress with flowers on it stepped in, smiling shyly. "Good morning Sora." Aunt Aeri didn't sound like most people around here; she had a real funny accent, and was steadfast when it came to manners. Uncle Leon had met her a while back when he had been doing a big deal up in New York, and from what I reckon, it was love at first sight. "Morning Aunt Aeri!" I said, walking over and giving her a hug.

Aunt Aeri smiled, hugging me back saying "Breakfast is going to be ready soon, and we have a lot of work to do today; are you ready?" I nodded, puffing out my chest and saying "I was born ready Aunt Aeri." Aunt Aeri giggled, smiling widely, although it didn't reach her eyes; something was wrong. Before I could ask what it was, Aunt Aeri turned around and walked back down the hall, disappearing around a corner. I frowned, wishing I could help her feel better and turned back around. "Doggone it, Pluto stop chewing up my boots!"

x-X-x

Breakfast had gone by faster than I could blink, a blur of Uncle Leon and Aunt Aeri making small talk. I had tried to ignore the stares that Uncle Leon had given me, questions in his eyes, but had eventually cracked and just left. I had always been able to see the boy, and had told them that, but then after a few months, things started changing.

They seemed more disturbed about it than anything, and got angry, accusing me of making things up and wasting time. After I had managed to convince them that I wasn't imagining the boy, they had called in a doctor, asked me weird questions, and yelled at me at the slightest mistake, before breaking down. I nearly ran away then, I didn't understand what I had done wrong. Aerith had finally told me that they were just worried about me, and that they thought I might be sick.

Uncle Leon hadn't let that one go, and still gave me stares, watching me like a hawk. We walked out and over to the barn, where the help was waiting, ready for the day's work. "Mornin' Leon" One of the help said. "Not today" Leon responded "Today's a work day. The field needs plowing, the north fence needs to be fixed, the barn door needs to be painted, animals fed, horses shoed, and all that other fun stuff." The hired help sighed, and I groaned internally as Leon passed out the day's instructions. When he finally got to me, he stopped for a few moments, before turning back to one of the help and saying "Oye, Setzer! Have Sora help you out with the pigs, make sure to keep 'im out of trouble."

The man nodded, motioning for me to follow. I glared at Leon for a moment, before following Setzer over the pig pen, grabbing some slop and helping him feed the pigs. A few months ago I could have done this alone, or had some job just as easy. But because of my stupid dreams, he wouldn't let me do anything. Setzer stayed quiet as we worked, and before I knew it, we were done.

"Stay here kid, I'll go find yer uncle." He said, walking away in the direction of the north field. I stared after him for a few seconds, before leaning on the pig pen, staring down at the fat pigs. Pluto padded over to me, panting happily, a stick in his mouth. "Not now boy." Pluto dropped the stick, looking at me worriedly, almost as if saying 'what's wrong?' I looked away staring back at the pigs. I didn't like feeling like a kid again, like I was powerless to do anything. Why did I have these stupid dreams, why couldn't I just be normal? I jumped up on top of the fence, balancing carefully, arms outstretched, and started walking. "Why can't things just be like they were?" I asked Pluto, swaying from side to side, trying desperately to keep my balance.

Pluto whined loudly, and as I turned to face him, one of the pigs bolted towards the fence, throwing me off the fence, and into the pen. The last thing I saw was the muddy ground coming up to face me, before my head hit something hard, and my world went black.

"Hey, are you alright?" someone asked. I groaned, rolling over, pushing my face into soft grass. "Five more minutes" I murmured. Someone shook my shoulders, and I groaned, sitting up and opening my tired eyes. I froze when I saw the boy from my dreams, blue eyes shining with worry. "You!" I crawled back, eyes wide. The boy looked confused, sitting back and staring at me for a second, before recognition dawned behind his eyes. "Hey, you're that boy from my dreams!" He said eyes suddenly bright and curious.

"What? No, you're the one in my dreams!" The boy giggled making me frown. "Hey! What're you laughing at?" The boy instantly looked away guiltily, before glancing back and saying "It's just your accent, it sounds… funny. I'm sorry" "I don't have an accent!"

The boy tried to suppress another giggle and I clenched my fists angrily. Almost instantly, the boy was crunched up into a ball, head between his legs, arms around himself protectively. I frowned standing up as I heard the boy sob softly, jumping as he started shaking.

"Don't hurt me like they did, please! It's just that I… I!" the boy broke down into sobbing as I walked over and squatted next to him. I clenched and unclenched my hands, wondering what to do. Who had hurt him? And what had happened? I reached out and put my hand on their shoulder, but they just flinched away, trembling like a leaf in a gale.

"I'm sorry!" They whispered. Before I knew what I was doing, my arms were around the trembling boy, whispering "I'm sorry to; I didn't mean to do whatever I did. I'm not gonna hurt ya, everything's going to be alright." After a few seconds the boy stopped crying, and slowly loosened up, leaning into my hug. "Thanks" They whispered. I smiled, patting the boys back before leaning back and offering my hand. "I guess we kind of got off on the wrong foot. I'm Sora"

The boy glanced up, his blue eyes still looking scared, before he held out his hand. "Roxas." I smiled, giving his hand a good shake, before glancing around. We were in a small glade, surrounded by a thick wall of trees, leading out into darkness. A cloudless cyan sky was high above us, with light coming from an unknown source. "You got any idea where we are?" I asked, glancing back to the boy. The boy glanced around once, before shaking his head and slowly standing up.

I studied him, taking in his shining gold hair, and pure sapphire eyes. He was dressed in weird clothes, black and white seeming to dominate the look, and a necklace with a weird cross symbol hung from his neck. "How do you think we got here?" Roxas shrugged, before saying "Wherever 'here' is, I like it. It's a lot better than where I was." I nodded, an awkward silence taking over as we stared off in different directions. Finally I glanced back over to the boy.

"How'd you get in my dreams?" I asked, hoping the question wasn't to blunt. Roxas shrugged his shoulders and asked "How'd you get in mine?" "Have I really been in your dreams? I know you have, I keep seeing you whenever I sleep." Roxas smiled, opening his mouth to say something, when he flinched back, looking away. "Hey, what's wrong?" I asked, taking a step forward. "Nothing!" Roxas said quickly, before changing the topic.

"So, who're you? I mean, what do you do?" "Oh me? I'm a farmer, I work with my aunt and uncle. My parents died a long time ago." "I'm sorry" I waved away the sympathy before asking "And what about you? Who're are you, and what do you do?" Roxas stayed quiet for a long time before finally saying "I'm an apprentice at Shiz University."

"Shiz? Never heard of it. Do you have any family? You know, brothers, sisters, uncles, anyone?" Roxas hesitated again before saying "I have a sister whose blind and mute, and a mother. I had a father, but we left, and I haven't seen him since." I nodded slowly, before asking "Do I really have an accent?" The boy looked at me oddly and said "Say 'oil'"

"Oil." The boy broke out in laughter, smiling widely. "I'll take that as a yes." "Do I have one? I read that people sound different wherever you go." I shrugged. "You sound like some of those high society people I meet whenever we go into town, but nothing really new." Roxas nodded slowly, seeming to fade back into his mind as he thought.

"Hey Roxas?" He didn't respond. "Roxas!" He still didn't do anything. I sighed and stepped forward, waving my hand in front of his face yelling "Roxas!" Roxas jumped three feet in the air, and faster than I could see whipped to the other side of the clearing, eyes wide and fearful. "What's wrong?" Roxas just shook his head, staring at me.

"Roxy, are you alright?" Roxas bit his lip for a second, before looking into my eyes and saying "The last few weeks haven't been easy. Lots of people have been trying to get at me, and they've hurt me badly. I've just gotten used to most physical contact being someone hurting me." "That's not right" I said shaking my head.

Who would want to hurt him? I had only known him for a few minutes, but he seemed like an ok guy, no real reason to hurt him. "Why don't you fight back?" Roxas snorted saying "You sound just like Axel. I don't want to hurt people, and besides, fighting only gets me into more trouble. And I've had enough trouble to last me at least six lifetimes." I chuckled for a moment, before saying "Well, I ain't gonna hurt you. You seem like a nice guy."

Roxas smiled sheepishly before saying "Thanks. You're really nice, and your accent's kinda cute." Roxas instantly blushed and looked away, and I smiled widely, chuckling. Cute huh? I'd have to remember that little bit of info. "Listen Roxas, I have so many questions" Roxas nodded and cut me off. "No kidding. I have so much I want to ask." I smiled at the enthusiasm and was opening my mouth, when Roxas froze, staring at me with a horrified expression.

"Sora?"

"What's wrong?" I asked looking around. "What's happening to you?" I glanced down at myself, yelping when I saw that I was fading in and out. "Sora!" Roxas cried running towards me. I reached out, desperate for help, but our hands flew through each other's, and Roxas stumbled to the ground. I started feeling dizzy, and stumbled back as Roxas pushed himself back up, arm extended, panic in his eyes.

"Don't leave me! Not like they did!" I wanted to comfort him, to get rid of that look in his eyes, but I couldn't move. I couldn't do anything, as the dizziness got worse and worse, and the world went dark again. Something slammed into my chest, and I coughed loudly, something foul coming out of my mouth as the sky returned. I glanced around desperately for Roxas, but he was nowhere to be found. I was back on the farm, in pig pens mud, surrounded by the help.

Leon was kneeling next to me, looking freighted. The thing in my mouth started tasting worse, and I spit it out, realizing I had swallowed mud. "What happened?" I asked, trying to breathe steadily through the mud. "You fell in the pig pen, and got knocked out. To make things worse, you were drowning in the mud, and the pigs were all over you. What do you think you were doing, walking on the fence like that? You know it's dangerous boy!"

I closed my eyes, desperately trying to escape back to that glade I had been in. Roxas had looked so broken and lonely, I couldn't leave him alone. Leon hit my back, making me spit out some more mud, before saying "Sora? Come on boy, what do you have to say for yourself?" "I have to go back! I have to go help him!" I said, standing up dizzily.

Leon gave me a confused look before saying "Help who?" "Roxas!" Leon shook his head while I spun around drunkenly, trying to regain my balance. My head hurt a lot, and the place where I had hit the rock was caked in something, either dried mud, or dried blood. Leon glanced around to the help, a look that sent them all of eagerly running back to work, before he stood up, placing his hands on my shoulders to steady me.

"Who the heck is Roxas?" "The boy" I said, before realizing what I had said. Leon's concerned eyes instantly turned dark and he glared down at me. "The boy in your dreams?" I nodded wordlessly, wishing I could be drowning in the mud again. It would be better than this. "Get inside and have Aerith clean you up. There's no more work for today." I nodded, quickly turning around and running towards the house, only stumbling a little.

"And Sora!" Leon shouted, making me turn back "We'll talk about the boy later." I nodded, whipping back around and running into the house. That could have gone better. But it was about to get a lot worse. Leon already disapproved of my 'imaginary' friend, and added to the fact that I had been walking the fence, I knew I was gonna get I big trouble.

The moment I was in the house, Aunt Aeri was on me like a dog, wiping away dirt, and scrubbing viciously at my wound, chastising me and fretting about. I managed not to whine through the bath she forced me to take, or when she dabbed some nasty liquid that stung onto my head. When she told me to get some sleep, I had tried to object, but a wordless look from her sent me running back to my room.

Pluto was sleeping in my bed as I slammed the door behind me and jumped up with him. He panted happily, cuddling up next to me, licking my face. "I met him; I met the boy." I whispered. "His name is Roxas, and he's all alone. People are really mean to him; I have to help him!" Pluto looked at me with an odd expression before lying down, eyes closed.

"Well thanks a lot dog." I muttered, kicking off my boots. I lied down on the bed, trying to focus and think. I had to get back to Roxas, I had to help him. But how? The last few months caught up with me, and I couldn't help but wonder how right Leon had been. Maybe Roxas was just a figment of my imagination. No, no that couldn't be.

The way he had looked, the fear, the happiness, the bashfulness, it had been too real for that. I remember when he had called my accent cute, and chuckled, remembering his burning cheeks. He had been kinda cute to, now that I thought about it. I was just drifting off into my thoughts, when a squeak came from the end of the bed. I glanced back down and yelled "Doggone it, Pluto stop chewing up my boots!"

Yeah I know, absolute trash, but I couldn't think of what else to write. Please wait, I'll try to have another chapter soon, hopefully better than this one. Any comments, concerns, tips, I'll take it all. And if you have time, try reading some of my other stories, I hope you enjoy! Thanks for your comments, be back soon!