Thanks to Starforsaken for pointing it errors, and the review!

Chapter I

Sora was woken up the next morning by the sound of the seagulls screeching overhead. Unlike the uninhabited islands, seagulls were the most common of the birds that flew over Sora's home island. The sound they made was not as pleasant as the other birds, but after years of hearing the same noises he had gotten used to it. Slowly rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he allowed his mind to adjust for the daytime. A minute later he was fully awake and in the bathroom, washing. He could smell pancakes downstairs, which made his stomach growl a little. Walking back into his room he put on his crown shaped pendant and adjusted his jacket. The first day of term at school was always the same: a number of long and boring assemblies, a couple of lessons, homework turning in and extended school hours. The upside to it was that they did not have to wear uniforms on the first day, and they had extended breaks too, allowing people to slowly ease back into the school routine. Nevertheless Sora would have just preferred a normal school day that wouldn't be longer than it needed to be. He jogged down the stairs, jumping the last six and landing quietly on the corridor floor. As was his everyday routine, he would jump as many steps as he could. Once, on a particularly daring day, he had even jumped all sixteen steps and landed just as quietly. Unfortunately for him, his mother had seen, and then subsequently lectured him about the dangers of jumping stairs. Ever since then he had settled for no more than seven or eight, which seemed like a reasonable compromise. Walking into the kitchen, he smiled as the scent of the pancakes filled him, making his stomach growl once again.

"With a stomach growl like that you don't even need to say anything," said his mother, poking her head out from behind the fridge door. Sora allowed a half goofy grin as his mother shut the door and walked up to her son to ruffle his hair and straighten his jacket again.

"Morning mum," said Sora in reply as he sat and started scoffing down the pancakes. His mother joined him after a moment and watched with a tired but amused look on her face.

"I met the new neighbours this morning, they seem really friendly," she commented as Sora continued to wolf down the pancakes. Normally he wouldn't eat so quickly, but with pancakes he just had to. Nodding at what his mother said to show he was listening, he filled up two tumblers with orange juice and passed one to his mother.

"Thanks," she said as she took a sip. "They've got a daughter around your age too. You might want to meet her; she seems just as nice as her parents." Sora stopped eating and looked at his mother.

"Why?" he asked her.

"Because like I said, she is your age, lives next door and is new to the islands. It's your duty as a resident of Destiny Islands to make people feel welcome," she replied in a matter-of-factly tone. Sora knew that he had no good comeback to that, so he just shrugged. His mother smiled. When Sora shrugged it usually meant that he would consider it. And his considering usually meant that he'd do what he could.

Finishing his breakfast, he quickly washed the dishes and left them to dry before grabbing his backpack and checking the time. He was five minutes early but that suited him just fine. Waving goodbye to his mother, he left his home and started his journey to school. The morning gave every indication that spring was truly upon the Islands. The gulls screeched overhead, while the scent of spring flowers filled the air, mixed in with the salty scent of the nearby ocean. All in all it was an exhilarating scent that filled Sora with more energy. He walked down the gently slope into the valley where the bulk of the town was. Like a lot of the students, Sora lived on the hilltops that were around the edge of the island, because of the views. Almost all of the shops, arcades, cafes and the school were in the valley though. It was fine for the morning walk, but at the end of a school day Sora often heard many complaints about the uphill walk back to the residential areas of the island. He did not mind in the least though; it was a good way to keep him fit and the walk was pleasant, except when it was raining. Then some of the older cobblestone roads would become slippery, and the sandy alleyways would become sticky, causing his feet to start sinking a little. But for today the sun was shining brightly, with a few wisps of clouds floating high above the islands. Making his way down the slopes, Sora caught sight of his school campus. With the close knit communities that they had, there was only one secondary school, catering for students between the ages of 12 and 18. After that the students had a choice of where to continue their studies if they so wished to do so. The second largest island housed a university, and a lot of students chose to stay part of the community and continue studies there. As he walked towards the gates, Sora thought for a moment about that. Though he had over two years to go before he would leave, they had been told to start thinking about university options and what to do in the future. Sora wasn't even sure that university was right for him. He loved to study, but he didn't really like to study because he had to. Whilst he knew that he could choose his subjects in university, the idea of countless hours of revision to pass a subject did not appeal to him at all. He was sure that whatever he wanted to learn would be available to learn on the internet or in the library. Destiny Islands housed one of the oldest and largest libraries in the world, and whenever Sora went there he was never disappointed. Whether he wanted a comic book or a massive textbook on an ancient subject, the library had it all. Perhaps he would pay it a visit at the end of the school day, to see if there was anything new that they had got over the break. Looking at his watch, Sora realised that he still had fifteen minutes to go before the start-of-term assembly. He sat down on the lush grass near one of the school buildings. Though there were benches nearby, he always preferred to sit on the grass. It was a lot softer, and the large palm trees provided plenty of protection from the sunlight on days like this. He took a deep breath, taking in the spring scent once again, before settling down to quietly watch others stroll in.

There was a lot you could learn from the way people dressed, walked and talked, as well as the company they kept. The sporty types always dressed in more sporty clothes, such as tracksuits and sports kits. Some also carried different balls on them, from footballs, basketballs and blitzballs. Sora had once dabbled in basketball and blitzball but, though they were enjoyable, he didn't see himself often playing.

Normally following in the sporty boys were the cheerleading girls. These were the ones who, for some bewildering reason, spoke in more high pitched voices, bounced around a lot and always flicked their hair. Sora chose to avoid this particular group of people as much as possible; they really confused him.

The "nerdy" groups were often easy to spot too. While they didn't always have glasses or vest style jumpers on their shirts or anything, they had an aura of intelligence about them. Outside they looked pretty ordinary, but in a classroom they were at the top of the food chain. Everyone respected them when they were in their domain, and in return they would receive help from them. Outside of the classroom the nerds kept to themselves, rarely engaging in conversation with others unless absolutely necessary. Sora had seen a few mixing with the sports guys and while not the best players, they were able to hold their own for a while. In his class, Sora would have possibly been classed near the nerdy group.

Apart from these three main groups there were dozens of "sub-groups" which consisted of musical people, gamers, Goths, smart-alecs, idiots, shy gems and loads of others. And then there was a group with just one in it. Sora had identified the group as the "unique" and the only member that he associated with that group was himself, but he never thought about that. Seeing a bunch of slackers walk in through the gates, Sora checked his watch. He knew that if they had walked in, it was almost time for his school day to begin. He got up, stretched and slung his backpack over his shoulder. Satisfied that it was correctly positioned, he walked the remaining few meters and up the steps into the main entrance of his school. Once in the shadow of the building, Sora shivered slightly. Despite the sunshine, the shadows still had a wintery feeling to them. It would probably be a few weeks before the shadows decided to warm up, just like the nights. As people jostled left and right, heading for their lockers or looking for friends, Sora calmly slipped through the crowd, heading for the great hall, deciding to put his bag away later. He never really carried much extra, so his bag was never an annoyance to him. Reaching the hall, he noticed a few hundred students had already found some seats and were settled in, excitedly chattering to friends that they hadn't seen a few weeks. Sora sat a few rows from the back, forward enough to be away from the laziest of the students, but far enough back to avoid the eyes of any teachers, should he decide to switch off for a while. He never really saw the point of the midyear assemblies; there wasn't anything new that was announced and everyone was well aware of the rules after having heard them a gazillion times over. Sometimes a teacher would say something remotely interesting, but during his four years here it had only happened once. Suffice to say, even that wasn't enough to generate too much interest. As the other students filed in and took their seats, the sound of chattering increased. Conversations ranged from shopping and holidays to homework struggles and inter school sport competitions.

"Hey, Sora? Thoughts on how much work we'll get today?" said a voice from a little above him and to his right. Sora turned his head to face his addresser and shrugged.

"Not really sure, probably enough to keep us busy over the weekend, since no one is really going to do it over the week," he replied after a few seconds of thought. The newcomer nodded in agreement and sat down next to Sora.

"Is it too much to ask to not get homework on the first day back though?" he complained. Sora smiled a little. Typical of Tidus to whine about a new terms homework before he'd even got any.

"Well, maybe if you voiced your concerns up at the front…" Sora gestured to the front of the hall where an elevated platform served as a teachers and speech area. Tidus chuckled.

"Yeah, maybe I should. Get the students to start a revolution!" he said half heartedly. Sora chuckled as well. Tidus was one of his closest friends in school, not that that actually meant much. In Sora's world, closest meant the one he would most likely have a conversation with for a short period of time. He rarely asked about Tidus' personal life, and Tidus had learnt not to enquire much about Sora's. It was the sign of a healthy friendship between the two of them. The noise of feedback over the speaker systems told the student body that someone was about to make a speech. Sora turned to face the front, determined to catch the start of the speech, hoping that something would be different this time around. Nothing too drastic though, just a nice small change. Maybe the headmaster was going to announce a change in policy and there wouldn't be any more of these silly assemblies throughout the year. As it happened, the speech started off exactly the same as every other one. Sora sighed a little and, like most of the students, switched off as one by one the teachers covered the rules, regulations and how happy they were to see everyone back refreshed.

A dozen announcements and four speeches later a dazed and bored set of students trooped out of the hall for the first of the extended breaks. Unlike a normal school day, which began with classes at 0900 until midday and again at 1300 until 1600, today was going to have classes begin at 1030 and continue until 1430, with a break until 1600. The final two classes would then take them until 1800, after which they would be allowed to go home. Sora chose to climb up to the top of the school building, via a secret staircase that he had found over a year ago. As far as he knew, no one else knew about this place except a couple of students who used one of the rooms that could be accessed from the stairs to stargaze at night. Sora would have probably done this too, but he lived high enough to stargaze from his own home. Keying in the code that he had acquired by the means of asking a few discreet questions, he opened the door that led out onto the roof of the school. From there he could look out in every direction and see the whole island, as well as see a couple of the others. He pulled out a drawing pad from his back and started scribbling. He couldn't draw people to save his life, but he thought he was very good at drawing landscapes. And this particular view happened to be one of the best drawing spots he had ever seen.

For the next 45 minutes Sora quietly drew on his pad, humming to himself quietly to keep his focus. From the grounds below he could hear the students talking and laughing and the occasional roar from the students playing games. But at the moment none of that mattered to him. In his mind there was no other noise apart from his humming and the noises of nature. Even the aircraft that roared overhead every fifteen minutes didn't concern him. Starting with the edge of the school, Sora had roughly drawn out the entirely landscape towards the south, out of the direct sunlight. Though not as pretty as the view to the east, he was at least able to focus on the details and shapes without squinting in the sunlight. The let his pencil gently stroke the paper, leaving light marks as the lead sheared from it and stuck to the paper. At the end of the 45 minutes that he was planning to draw for, he had the entire vista drawn out, with only the smaller details missing like the detailing on the houses and the smoke from some chimneys, as well as the trees of the island's largest park. Satisfied at what he had achieved, he marked the spot with some tape and put away his pad. Normally this would leave him fifteen minutes to waste, but this time he had 45. Looking over the edge of the building he peered down at the rest of the students that were milling about the grounds. He could spot Tidus jumping around as he played Blitzball with his friends Wakka, Roxas, Riku, Hayner and Pence. Sora watched them for a while; Wakka was quite fantastic at the sport and ran rings around the others except Riku. Riku for his part was just about able to hold his own against the schools star player. His long silver hair waved around as he moved, causing Sora to chuckle a little. The team often said Riku looked like a girl. Riku often answered with a friendly but firm punch. With Pence, blitzball was not exactly his sort of thing. Though he couldn't really be classed as fat or even chubby for that matter, he wasn't as athletically built as his friends. But to his credit, he did try extremely hard and occasionally surprised everyone with a fantastic bit of play, including himself.

Turning away from the sports fields, Sora spotted the other half of his friend circle, which consisted of a few girls. As usual they were sitting around and relaxing, talking about who knew what and laughing occasionally. Sora was always intrigued how different people who grew up together could have such similar likes and dislikes and yet act so very differently. For example, Namine loved the same basic things that Olette did, but unlike the emerald eyed girl who was fairly hyper and loud, Namine was very quiet and shy. Xion on the other hand was a complete fashion opposite to Namine. While the shy blonde often wore light dresses which were almost always white, Xion preferred to wear jeans and tops, coupled with long jackets. Most of the time these were pure black, just like her jet black hair. And yet they were great friends who both loved to read, draw and have a picnic on the beach. Similarly, Sora himself was quiet and mysterious around people, and yet his most of his friends were a lot more outgoing and jovial. It made for a very interesting group of people. After a few moments of watching his friends, Sora returned to normal observations, gazing around to see what he could spot but after a few moments he became disinterested. One and a half hours for a break was far too long. He looked towards the clock tower that was in the centre of town to check the time. He still had twenty five minutes. Sora checked one last time to make sure that everything was properly packed in his bag before heading back down the staircase towards the heart of the school, making sure that he shut the door to the roof carefully behind him. A soft bleep behind him let him know that the electromagnetic solenoid had dropped into place, meaning the lock had activated.

When Sora reached the main corridor that led to all the various areas of the school he turned left, towards the main entrance. Pausing for a moment, he changed his mind and instead went towards the right, taking the first turning off the corridor to get to his locker. Turning the locking mechanism until it clicked open, Sora was not aware of someone quietly approaching him. It was not until he heard the gruff voice call him that he realised that he had let his guard down due to drifting thoughts.

"Sora, what are you doing indoors on a day like this?" said the voice. Sora spun around and looked up at the school headmaster. He was tall and well built, and his face had a good natured look. His blonde hair had grown slightly since Sora had last seen him, and it was slowly getting whiter. He smiled at Sora, a quirky smile that showed a glimmer of his cheeky youthful nature. Despite the small white beard and moustache that was now growing on his face, he still looked like he had plenty of life left in him. Sora smiled back, knowing that he was not in any trouble whatsoever.

"Too much free time, Cid," he replied as he shrugged, closing his locker as he did so.

"You know what kid; you may be one of the only ones who would ever complain about too much free time," replied the headmaster, Cid. Sora was one of the only ones who could call the man by his name, but he only did so when there were few people about. He didn't want to seem disrespectful.

"Guess so," commented Sora idly. He was sure there would be more that wouldn't like the extra long breaks too much. Cid chuckled gruffly and adjusted the goggles on his forehead. Almost any time that Sora had seen him, Cid had goggles on him. He supposed it was because Cid loved to tinker with things. This time the goggles had a light blue tint to them. Sora pointed to them.

"New goggles I see," he said as the two of them walked back to the main corridor.

"Yup," replied Cid. "Much better for eye protection when welding," he explained. Sora nodded; that would be a logical explanation for them. Passing Cid's office, Sora watched as the headmaster walked in, giving Sora a nod to say goodbye. Sora gave him a small salute in return and walked through the main entrance into the bright sunlight. Once outside, he found a nice place to sit down and take the sun in and waited until the bell rang, indicating that it was the end of break. This was going to be a long day.

03/04/2014: Small edits for errors

10/05/2014: Major edits throughout chapter. Changed/added prose