Three Wishes:

The Lamp

A bubbling suburb nestled between the ever famous Radiant Garden and Destiny Islands, Twilight Town was a quaint little place home to a wide range of inhabitants and various famous shops. One of these shops, filled with many trinkets and wonders from every world imaginable, was run by an elderly man and a certain blonde woman whose biggest desire in life was to break free from her Grandpa's antique shop and start her new life as Twilight Town's spotlight artist.

In the meantime, however, she didn't mind helping her grandfather sift through the newest assortment of antiques.

"Where do you want all these boxes, Grandpa?" Naminé asked, balancing a heavy box full of miscellaneous and most likely bizarre items on her hip. Her Grandpa's antique shop was right on Twilight's Main Street and to Naminé's benefit, was right next to a cute little coffee shop called A Beauty and a Brew—their caramel mochas were amazing. Naminé, of course, knew since she was a self-proclaimed coffee connoisseur and a (soon-to-be) famous artist.

"Anywhere's fine," Grandpa replied, hobbling over from the storeroom in the back of the shop. "I just need to be able to open em' up and stick the new pieces around the store."

Naminé nodded and gently piled the box she was holding on the counter. "Do you want my help displaying things? It would probably go much faster for you if I helped."

"You're such a sweet girl, Naminé," Grandpa said with a large smile. "An extra pair of hands is always useful, though you've already helped me with so much that I would hate for you to do anymore."

"But I want to, Grandpa," Naminé protested and slid a knife through the tape lining the top of the box she had set down. A wave of dust puffed out and the blonde coughed, trying to swat the dirty air away. "And it's not like this is super hard. The heavy lifting is finished. All we need to do now is set things up."

"If you insist," Grandpa said and hobbled towards Naminé to plant an affectionate kiss on her cheek. Naminé would do anything for Grandpa. He was the one who raised her after her mother left, abandoning her three year old daughter when she found out that her lover had decided to run off with some twenty-five year old stripper instead of staying to help her parent their child. Grandpa had always assured his granddaughter that her mother was simply too ashamed to return home—not because she didn't want to be a part of Naminé's life. After so many years had passed, however, Naminé's faith in her Grandpa's stories faded as she slowly grew to realize that her mother didn't return because…she would rather live in the sewer than be anywhere near her daughter. Naminé was just a mistake to her. A reminder of what her father had done.

"So, have you placed out a new ad yet? It's a small town, but people do see ads when they read the paper and maybe if you placed an ad online—" Naminé suggested, but was quickly interrupted by Grandpa who then began his tirade on how his business had been run the old fashioned way.

"Not with some fancy-schmancy typewriter you kids all use," Grandpa muttered under his breath.

Naminé sighed and shook her head. "Alright, Grandpa…I'm just going to look through these boxes and see if I can find something to display."

Grandpa didn't reply so Naminé began sifting through a nearby box. A Mickey Mouse clock from the mid 1900's was the first thing her hand touched. There were tiny scratches along the glass, but everything else seemed to be in place. The blonde took a rag and wiped off the remaining dust from the clock before setting it on one of the end tables. The next few things were old paintings, which she leaned against another table, but at the very bottom of the box, Naminé found an old black lamp that reminded her of the one Jafar was trapped in at the end of Aladdin. Childishly, she almost dropped the lamp onto the floor at the fear of what was inside, but quickly reprimanded herself for being so juvenile and set the lamp down gently by the clock.

"Naminé?" Grandpa called, "I'm heading over to If the Shoe Fits to see if Cindy had a chance to fix the soles of my shoes yet. Do you want me to pick up something for us to eat while I'm out?"

"I'm fine. I'll make something later, so you can go ahead and pick up something from Arabian Night if you want," Naminé replied. Grandpa mumbled something else as he left, but Naminé couldn't hear him.

She resumed picking through another box, but Naminé's eyes kept retreating back to the dusty little lamp on the table. "You're being ridiculous Naminé," the blonde chastised herself, "genies aren't real. You'll clean off the stupid lamp and nothing will happen." As if to prove a point, Naminé grabbed a dust rag, picked up the lamp and began rubbing the dust off its otherwise smooth surface. "See? Nothing happened, now—"

Naminé stopped as smoke suddenly filled the room and her lungs, sending the blonde girl into a coughing fit. "What the hell?" she choked out, "Where is all this smoke coming fr—"

"Man, 3,000 years in that lamp, and I think I need a new spine!" a masculine voice exclaimed, arching his back as he stretched out his well-tanned and well-toned arms.

"W-Who are you?" Naminé squeaked and fell back, "And why are you h-half-naked?"

The figure looked down at his exposed chest, but then returned his gaze towards Naminé; his blue eyes glowing underneath the veil of smoke. "I think the better question is: why aren't you half-naked? The last time I was awake, the girls all wore these tiny midriff tops and belly dancer pants," he retorted smartly.

Naminé shook her head frantically, sending wisps of her corn silk hair against her porcelain face as she muttered to herself. "He's obviously insane, which means that I should call the police before Grandpa gets back…" The blonde woman walked up to the front desk, and reached for one of the landlines. Her hand was stopped, however, by the very same half-naked figure decked out in some Aladdin-esque pants and silver cuffs around his wrist.

"Not so fast," he said and snapped his fingers, causing the landline to turn into a feckless puppy.

Naminé scooped the creature up immediately, but then began to back away slowly. "What the heck? Are you some kind magician or I am I just dreaming because there is no way that you're a…"

"And here I thought this would be pretty obvious, considering you rubbed my lamp," he muttered, scratching the back his head, "but since I can tell you're a little out of sorts, I'll explain things to you." He then cleared the smoke from the room and gestured grandly at himself. Naminé felt her cheeks heat up at the sight of his attractive features, but hid her pleasure beneath a mask of confusion. "I'm Roxas, your genie for three very exciting wishes!"

Naminé just blinked at the spiky-haired blond. The puppy wormed its way out of her arms and trotted over to a rug to sleep.

"I know, I know," Roxas sighed dramatically, "most people expect some scantily clad exotic dancer, but the role of a genie isn't just for women, you know. We men are just as capable at granting wishes as women, and we don't have to look like strippers to do it."

Naminé finally snorted. "Whatever you say, 'Mr. Genie.' I'm just gonna go lay down now since I'm obviously hallucinating."

"You don't believe me?" Roxas balked.

"Sure I believe you," Naminé replied sarcastically.

Roxas fumed. "You rubbed my lamp! How can you not believe that I'm a genie?"

"Because," Naminé hissed back, "genies don't exist. They're just in fairytales and Disney movies."

Roxas held a hand to his heart dramatically and padded over to the blonde woman. "You wound me. How can I prove myself to you?"

"How about making this guy I like," Naminé fished out a photograph of a silver-haired man, "ask me out on a date?"

"Is that your first wish?"

Naminé rolled her eyes and fluttered her fingers. "Yes, great and powerful 'genie.' That's my first wish. Do that and I'll believe that this isn't just one big hallucination, and I really did just step into my own Disney movie."

"Very well," Roxas bowed his head, about to snap his fingers when he paused. "Though, before I do that, I think we need to go over a few rules about the wishes."

"Rules?" Naminé repeated incredulously.

"There's rules for everything, my…what was your name again?"

"Naminé," the blonde answered curtly.

"Naminé," Roxas amended, "and wishes are no exception."

"So what can't you do?" Naminé forced herself to ask. This really was ridiculous. "Not that I can't just assume what you're going to say, but I can tell you would like to continue blathering so, go on." Roxas pouted at her sardonic attitude, but carried on anyway.

"Well, we can't start a zombie apocalypse so no bringing people back from the dead," Roxas said, ticking the rules off on his fingers, "I can have this guy ask you out on a date, but I can't play cupid and make him fall in love with you, and I'm nobody's hit man so I can't knock anybody off of your must kill list."

Naminé folded her arms across her chest, putting her weight onto her hip. "That it? This really is just like Aladdin except there's no magic carpet and…we're not in Agrabah." She muttered the last bit under her breath, still in disbelief at the scene unfolding before her.

"That's it," Roxas affirmed with a grin, "now—" he snapped his fingers. "It's time to see how your first wish plays out." The blond genie then transformed his Arabian attire into that of the man on the cover of a lone magazine sitting on the counter. Some man who sings in a group called Maroon 5—whatever that was.

Naminé opened her mouth to protest, but the bell above the door rang and a certain silver-haired man entered into the shop. "R-Riku," Naminé sputtered helplessly, "what are you d-doing here? Not that you're not welcome anytime but…" She moved her eyes to a smirking Roxas. "I thought you had to prep for your next operation. I mean, aren't you doing a heart transplant or something."

Riku removed his sunglasses, revealing tropical green eyes. "Or something, but I don't know…I just felt like I had to come here and see if you wanted to have lunch with me…as my date?"

Naminé wasn't sure if she should be feeling weary, excited or annoyed that Roxas really did grant her wish, but she pulled a smile on and agreed happily. "I'd love to."

"Arabian Night sound okay?" Riku asked, extending his hand with an uneasy smile.

Naminé clasped his hand. "Sure."

"I'll keep an eye on the store, Naminé," Roxas called over his shoulder and lifted up another box, "I might be new, but I'm smarter than you think." Roxas tapped the side of his head; Naminé rolled her eyes but conceded, following Riku out the door.

TWTWTWTW

Once they were seated underneath a colorful fabric veil and had issued their orders, Naminé did her best to strike up a decent conversation with her longtime friend and childhood crush.

"The food here is really great. I never go home hungry," Naminé commented, stabbing at her plate full of specially seasoned vegetables.

Riku murmured a reply but his eyes didn't stray from his phone. "Yeah…it's good."

"I'm hoping to create a piece for this year's art show. The winner gets $5,000 and a chance to have their art displayed in the city's art museum," Naminé added hastily.

"That's nice," Riku said distantly, "I bet you'll do good."

"What about you?" Naminé asked desperately, "What have you been up to? Any interesting patients?"

This sparked light into Riku's eyes, and he lifted his face to smile warmly up at Naminé. "There's this one woman I've been treating since last May. Her name's Xion."

A pool of jealousy filled Naminé's stomach at the way Riku said this girl's name, but she continued to smile anyway and prompted the silver-haired man. "If you don't mind me asking, what is she being treated for?"

"Leukemia," Riku said softly, "but she'll be in remission soon. I just know it."

"You're usually not so hopeful…this girl must be special to you, huh?" Naminé asked with a sad smile.

"I know it seems silly, but I really do love her," Riku explained, chuckling bitterly.

"Then you should tell her," Naminé stated simply. It was hard for her to bear, all her childhood fantasies of riding off into the sunset shattered painfully against her heart. "No matter how long she has, and maybe…loving her and not just treating her will give Xion the strength to beat this cancer."

"You really think?"

Naminé nodded half-heartedly, but smiled. "So, now you just have to go to her."

"Are you sure you'll be okay? I can leave a check…" Riku said uncertainly, pulling out his checkbook. Naminé gestured him to stop and shook her head.

"It's fine. I can pick up the check and just bring the rest home for later."

"But—"

"Just go," Naminé said, swatting him away before nestling her chin in the palm of his hand. Riku apologized again, but then quickly dissolved amongst the crowd of elaborately dressed servers. "Some wish…" Naminé muttered under her breath, "wasn't even worth it. He doesn't like me anyway…"

"Aww, chin up Nami. You'll find your Prince Charming someday."

Naminé bolted upright and pointed her finger accusingly at the genie suddenly sitting across from her. "You! This whole wish thing is a scam. Mine didn't even work out…"

"Wishes are not guaranteed to be successful," Roxas stated with a sigh, "though maybe I should write up a pamphlet about that or release some sort of terms and conditions to each person who rubs my lamp—though that could become costly considering how much paper that would suck up after a few centuries…"

"Yeah, well…I don't want any more wishes. I'll just screw it up anyway," Naminé said sullenly.

"Naminé," Roxas sighed, "you should be happy to have this kind of opportunity, and at least you're able to give the orders. I'm a prisoner to my lamp for all of eternity. I don't have the chance to fall in love or fulfill my own wishes. It's just always someone else's turn." Naminé's eyes widened and she quieted down.

"…I'm sorry," Naminé apologized lowly and placed a hand over his.

Roxas shrugged. "If the living space were a little bigger, it wouldn't be so bad, but that's life I suppose."

"Yeah but—" Naminé objected.

"This food looks delicious!" Roxas interrupted eagerly, "I can't believe that Riku guy didn't even take a bite. I would have already finished it by now."

Naminé snorted. "You and Grandpa…wait…you didn't leave the store unattended, did you?"

"Do you take me for an idiot?" Naminé stared hard at him. "Don't answer that, but of course I didn't. Your Grandpa came in and I left."

"He didn't even ask who you were?"

"I told him you hired me," Roxas explained, "and he seemed to be fine with that."

"But you're not going to stick around," Naminé countered with annoyance.

Roxas cocked his head. "I don't remember quitting."

"You don't know what you're doing," Naminé added quickly, "and we can't lose customers over your incompetence."

"I'm not incompetent," Roxas pouted, "and I can do the job just fine until you use your other two wishes."

"You'll leave after that?" Naminé asked.

"Right back in the lamp until someone else decides to wake me up again," Roxas answered with a synthetic smile. Naminé's anger simmered again, her lips slipping into a frown.

"That's…That's gotta be hard though," Naminé replied quietly, "Is there any way you can become…normal?"

Roxas picked off a piece of bread from the platter in the middle of the table and ripped it into smaller pieces before popping each piece in his mouth. He eyed Naminé lazily but emotion flickered like a growing ember as a withering smile pressed onto his lips. "Not unless someone wishes it—which, as you can imagine, doesn't happen very often to any genie. It's fine though. Most of my masters are kind and I like seeing people happy even if the wish is a selfish waste."

"You know…if you'd like," Naminé began to say, but Roxas cut her off, grabbing her wrist in a whirlwind as he slapped a hundred-dollar bill onto the table and hurried out of the restaurant.

"C'mon, there's something I want to see!"

Naminé allowed a laugh to trill from her lips. "Roxas!"

TWTWTWTW

A/N: Just a mini story I decided to write while finishing up Half Alive. No one really does genie fics so I decided to do a three-shot (one chapter for each wish since, you know, I'm so clever '-_-). I was hesitant to place this under humor, so if it's not funny, I'll change it to supernatural. I had fun writing Roxas though since genies usually aren't men, and he's well aware of that. This story will probably be cliché in some aspects so, I apologize for that, but genie fics kind of are in general since they're fairytales lol.

The second wish will revolve around Naminé's desire to be an artist.

Thank you to my beta GengaJupite for pointing out some mistakes I made in the first draft. Hopefully, the intro paragraph will fix that feeling of being pushed out of a plane involuntarily and make the transition easier.

I hope anyone who reads this like it and is willing to:

Read, Alert, Favorite, and REVIEW!:D!