Finding Happiness in Tragedy

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

Also, if you happen to like Kairi, I suggest you not read this fic. She won't be lasting long.

Chapter One: Destiny Island

Sora had just moved to Destiny Island, a warm and sunny place, even if it was small. Much different from the city he had just moved from. It was such a dark, dank place. Even so, it was where all his friends and family were.

He had not wanted to come to Destiny Island. His parents had sent him there to attend DBA, or Destiny Buddhist Academy, a high school revered for its successful graduates. Besides missing his friends and girlfriend, Kairi, the school's tuition was hefty. He felt guilty for the hard work and sacrifices his parents made to send him there.

But as he walked up the wide stone steps leading to large oaken doors, all inhibitions were washed away by the splendor of the school. The architecture was exquisite, and besides (and more importantly than) the high aesthetic value of the place, the other student were friendly and welcoming. Already there had been students his age and older that had said hi and even offered to show him around the school. Being shy, he had declined all their kind offers. And besides, he had to get the information from the front desk, find his dorm, and where all his classes were going to be.

Going through the doors, he easily spotted the door to the office in the well lit, clean hallway. To the right, students were being tutored by teachers and peers; to the left, a long line of classroom doors waited. He walked to the office and sat in one of the chairs. Scientific and political magazines were strewn across a small coffee table. Sora glanced at the man talking to the office lady, who contrary to most office ladies was young and pretty. The man was in fact an older student, maybe a senior. He had pretty silver hair that hung down to his broad shoulders. He was very handsome, and had the most beautiful aqua eyes he had ever seen. This made Sora suddenly remember the girlfriend he had left behind. She hadn't wanted to break up with him, even though they could only see each other during the breaks Sora had, which were few and far between. He missed Kairi, but took comfort in the fact that they could still talk on the phone and write letters.

The office lady brought him out of his reverie.

"Hello? Did you need something? Sorry for the wait." Sora smiled and stood up.

"Yea, hi. I'm Sora Asato. I need my student information please." She turned around and bustled through a large file cabinet.

"Oh, one of the incoming freshmen! Alright, here you are. There's a map of the campus, where your dorm is located, you class schedule, and some other information you'll need. Make sure not to lose that, ne?" Sora nodded and thanked her, turning and walking to the study area he had seen earlier. It was now devoid of people, so he took a seat on one of the side tables and looked through his information. He decided that he should find his dorm first. His baggage should be inside, he was told. He wanted to unpack and get comfortable as soon as possible. Maybe even meet his roommate whom he would be living with for the next year, possibly longer.

Sora left the building and walked along the path leading to the freshmen dorms. He could see it in the distance, a gray stone building covered on one side with a massive flower garden. All the exotic flowers of Destiny Island were in full bloom, and their sweet scent drifted toward Sora on a light breeze. He blithely continued on the path, his mood set by the striking surrounding. He could even hear the sea, as the coast wasn't far from that part of the campus.

His carefree attitude came to a crashing halt, however, when he found that his luggage was laying in front of the locked door to the freshmen dorms. Confused, he tried knocking on the door, then looking through the window, but could see no one to come to his rescue. He eventually decided, after minutes of careful debating, that he should leave his things where they lay and go back to the office, to see what was up. Soras quickly stomped back to the office, letting his anger come out in his footsteps. The office lady quickly looked up and gave him a perplexed look, easily seeing through the fake smile Sora gave her. "Umm. I just walked to the freshmen dorm, and all of my things were outside. The door was locked." He looked at her expectantly. She better have a good reason for this treatment.

"Ohh. Your name is Sora? That's right… because you registered late, the freshmen dorm was all filled up. So you are going to spend this year in the junior dorms. There happened to be one space open over there. Sorry I didn't tell you earlier." She gave him a sheepish grin. Suddenly a boy about Sora's age came out from behind the files, a huge stack of paperwork in his hands.

"Roxas, could you show Sora to the junior Dorms? Here's the dorm number. Thanks."

The boy set down the paperwork on an already cluttered desk. He smiled warmly and introduced himself to Sora, then led Sora out the door and down a path cattycorner to the one leading to the freshmen dorms. After a few minutes of small talk, Sora learned that Roxas was also a freshman, but had lived on Destiny Island all his life. His elder brother had also gone to DBA, and he was working in the office to help pay off his tuition. Roxas asked Sora where he was from, and was really interested in what the big city was like,

"How tall are the buildings? Can you walk to the beach from your house? Oh! You live in an apartment? How cool." He had never been away from his small hometown let alone off the island. Soon they came to what looked like a small mountain that dropped off into a cliff. The beach was right there, but the junior dorms were nowhere to be seen. Puzzled, Sora asked Roxas where they were. The latter grinned.

"You can't see them yet, Sora? I didn't know you were blind…" Roxas pointed to the foot of the steep hill. Lo and behold, tall doors similar to those on the main building were built right into the mountain.

"Hey, how could I have known I would be living in a mountain?" Roxas giggled, and Sora joined in. Windows in the mountain seemed to appear out of nowhere on the mountainside, and a few balconies had also been built into the cliff.

Roxas held open the door for Sora, who walked inside and stared in wonder. The interior was reminiscent of an old pirate ship. To the left were a kitchen, dining room and lounge, and to the right was a study area similar to that in the main building. A staircase had been carved from the stone, leading to the rooms upstairs. At the end of the hall was a wide balcony leaning over the edge of the cliff, straight over the ocean. Roxas led Sora up the stairs to the end of a wide hallway.

"And this will be your room. I'm not sure who your roommate it, but most everyone here is nice. I'll have someone drop off your luggage as soon as I can. And if you have any questions, come to me. I doubt Aerith will be of much help." Sora unconsciously tilted his head to one side, a questioning look in his cerulean eyes.

"Aerith? Who?"

"Oh, that's the office lady that failed to help you earlier." With that, Roxas said goodbye. "I need to get back to work. Remember to stop by and say hi!"

Sora was free to roam around. The dorm was fairly small compared to what he was expecting. He guessed only about 30 students lived here, which would be about right. After all, there were only about 110 students in the school. He walked downstairs again, looking at pictures of former students hanging on the wall. They seemed to be more of a family than students. Sora liked that. He walked out on the balcony, and seeing nobody, decided to peer out over the open ocean. It was really beautiful; he had had nothing like this at home. The air smelt fresh and salty here; the air was humid and foul at home. He was comfortable here, and rather liked the change.

Sora stared into the waves, watching them swell and crash on the rock below. He began to miss Kairi again. And it had only been a few days since he last saw her. He wondered how he could get through months without seeing her. As if mirroring his thoughts, dark clouds formed above Sora's head. A drop of rain landed on his cheek, bringing him out of his trance. Sora went back inside just as a heavy downpour began. He realized that it was already 6:00, and although it wasn't too late, the day's events, along with being emotionally exhausted made Sora slowly climb up the stairs and curl up in his bed. Soon he was fast asleep, the storm still raging away outside.

Thank you for reading this chapter. The second will be coming soon. And remember, I appreciate comments and opinions. ;D