I really don't know why, but here's my attempt at a Kingdom Hearts fan-fiction. A majority of the elements in the story is AU and yet I'll try my best to retain the original flow of the KH legacy. Obviously, I do not own any of the characters in this story. They are owned by Square Enix and Disney respectively. Plus the same can be said for many of guest characters that are going to appear here besides those of the said companies. I certainly hope that you can dig this and hit me back with some feedback.

KINGDOM HEARTS

PARADOX'S DISSONANCE

PROLOGUE

Darkness...

What is it about it that induces such an illogical reaction? It can easily terrify small children and it can even intimidate the most stern of adults. There's an old saying that goes along the line of 'There's nothing to fear but fear itself.' That, of course, is much easier said than done. To many, fear is synonymous to darkness. Darkness is often synonymous to the unknown. It is pretty much normal to fear the unknown.

Fear is perhaps the most logical of emotions after all...

Darkness is a fragment of one's worse nightmares-- that much for sure. There is more to darkness than merely just being the opposite of light. Something... lurks in the dark and unfortunately, no one has yet to develop the courage to discover what it is. It is a major part of our lives. Why should we fear it? Everyone is destined to encounter this entity in life... and even death.

Darkness is just as eternal as light.

'Awaken, Sora...'

It was all too real, and yet, unfathomable. "Who's there!"

He was in the middle of nowhere and he knew it. Darkness reigned as far as his eyes could see. Why was he in such an ominous place? How did he get here? This realm was very disturbing to him and he doubt that he could gain any answers being idle here. This... mass of shadows was the very meaning of the term 'otherworldly'. It was so dark here that it didn't make sense. What's up with this paradox?

The mystery heeded him again, 'Sora...'

"Where am I?" He said. "What's going on?"

'It is almost time, Sora...'

The frightened youth wanted answers. "It's almost time? For what?"

A huge altar appeared before him in the abyss. 'Step forward, Sora...'

The boy did so, hoping that the gesture could gain an explanation. He couldn't take being at such an eerie place. "I... don't understand. Am I dead or something?"

'It is the Awakening, Sora. You must awaken...'

"Huhn?"

'Wake up...'

"Sora! Wake up!"

The sudden sting of freezing cold water stirred Sora wide awake, alarmed. "AAH! THAT COLD!"

"Aw c'mon, you're going to be late for school." A woman chided with a large bucket in her hands. She was rather pretty, with short brown hair and deep blue eyes. The woman could easily be mistaken for Sora's older sister. "This is the beginning of the last week of school, Sora. It's not quite that time to relax just yet." She had a mischievous smirk on her face. "I'll go on ahead and make you some breakfast."

Sora yawned and scratched his head. "Thanks, mom. I needed that."

"I'll be making your favorite this morning too: strawberry waffles and omelets with bell peppers." His mother informed him. "Now get on up and get ready for school." She spun on her heels and heads for the room door. "Just so you know, you have a little over forty-five minutes before school starts."

"Right." Sora hopped up off his bed and went to his dresser. He detached a cell phone from it's power supply on top of the dresser. "Got to make sure that Kai's awake too." He grinned to himself. "That girl just doesn't even believe in alarms."

He activated the speed dial function and there was an answer seconds later. "Yes Sora, I'm up already." Came a groggy voice.

He chuckled. "Good. Because this is the beginning of the end of our freshman year and we're going to have to start things off right. C'mon now, only five days to go."

Kairi chuckled as well. "Yeah, we have a lot to look forward to this week."

"Alright then, I'll see you in a few." He end the phone call and closed the device. The dream he had however, was still on his mind but he knew it was best not to dwell on it. It's that dream again. I wonder what's the meaning of it... oh well. It's best to forget all about it and get prepared for school.

After fifteen minutes of readying himself for school (which consisted of teeth brushing, showering, and pressing school clothes) Sora arrived in the kitchen with an outfit consisting of brown cargo shorts, a white tee in a sleeveless blue sweatshirt and mustard colored low-top boots. There was a fresh plate of breakfast already prepared for him. He immediately hopped to his seat at the table, mouth practically watering. "Hey mom, you did made my favorite this morning. And here I thought that you was just joking."

Sora's mother diverted her attention from the weather forecast on the television set. "Hmm? Oh right, I did, didn't I? I just thought that it'll help you become more prepped up for the day. You guys are taking finals starting today, right?" She noticed how fast Sora was grubbing down his breakfast. "Jeez, Sora, you're going to hurt yourself eating that fast." She giggled. "That food isn't going anywhere, boy."

Sora gazed up at his mother from his plate, a mouthful of omelet. "Hwah?"

"Don't talk with your mouth full, dear."

Sora grabbed his glass of grape juice and gulped it down along with his food. "Sorry about that."

"As I was saying, are you starting on your finals today?" She inquired again.

"Nope. The finals begin on hump-day." Sora replied. "Which is pretty cool because we have today and tomorrow to study for them."

"Sounds good." She glanced back at the television. "Wow! This is going to be a wonderful week. The forecast says it is going to be clear and sunny for the entire week." She looks back at her son enthusiastically. "Doesn't that just puts you in a good mood?"

"If you say so, mom." Sora replied curtly, finding his mother's unusually sweet voice unsettling.

"Well then, I guess that you should be on your way." She told Sora, acknowledging that he finished another breakfast in record time. "Are you applying for a summer job again this year?"

"Yeah mom. It's on the top of my priority list." He rose from his seat and place his empty dish in the sink and cleansed it. "Alrighty mom, I'll see you later." He dried his hands and went over to kiss his mother on the cheek and gathered his back pack.

"Have a nice day, Sora." She told her sprinting son. "And learn something!"

Once outside and down the street, Sora took in the scenery. He's been doing this for as long as he could remember and he never gets tired of it. Beautiful Destiny Island... with it's lush greenery, undulating hills, bustling metropolis and a beautiful ocean view, Sora loves his homeland. His mother was right, it was a beautiful day and that fact enhanced the already nature allure of Destiny Island.

"Sora, you're spacing out on me again." Came a feminine voice. "Just like you did yesterday."

"Oh, Kairi. Man, did you really have to creep up on me like that?" Sora joked.

"Hey, I admit, I never get tired of the environment myself but you don't see me spacing out." Kairi laughed. "So? Are you ready to get this week over with?"

"I was ready every since I started my freshman year."

"Let's do it. Class starts in twenty." She went on ahead down the street, glancing at the seagulls every once and a while. She was wearing a white button blouse and a jean skirt along with white and blue sneakers on her feet. As they were walking down a sloped street, a strange notion emerged on Kairi's mind. "Say Sora, I wonder if our homeroom teacher's any different now since she has been teaching here at the beginning of the school term?"

Sora glanced at the red haired girl with a raised brow. "Huh? Where that came from, Kai? What do you mean Ms. Branford's any different?"

"Well, I know this is her very first school term teaching and many of us sort of thought that she was... you know, strange." Kairi insinuated.

"Humph." Sora scoffed. "I kinda figured that much. She let's us call her by her first name for crying out loud. I find that a little weird." He began impersonating a female's student voice. "'Oh Ms. Terra, I need to take a trip to the restroom. I had a lot of juice.'"

Kairi chuckled. "Now that was the worst Selphie impersonation I've heard in a long time." She regained her subject afterwards. "Yeah, but seriously, Terra's a real good teacher. She's willing to go the extra distance when her students are struggling, she has a great sense of humor, she hardly gives out homework... but, her eyes... she always seems so... sad."

Sora stopped in his tracks, resting his right foot on a fire hydrant. "What? You're feeling sentimental or something?"

"No, that isn't the case, Sora." The fifteen year old girl stated seriously. "It's just that... Terra has this sort of air of sadness that lingers in her eyes. It's like she's disconnected from the world-- not entirely in sync with reality."

"Oh, is that it?" Sora narrowed his eyes. "Riku thinks that she's the prettiest thing that he has ever seen. Yeah, she's pretty all right-- pretty weird."

"Hmm, you could be right about that." Kairi nodded. "I've never seen anyone so fascinated with the cosmos in all my life. The funny thing is she isn't even a science teacher. You remember last week when she was anticipating the meteor showers? It was almost as if she was counting on something."

"Oh... kay, so Terra's maybe a little too deep for us at times." Sora rolled his eyes. "But isn't it always the case with most school teachers?"

"Well yeah, but--"

"Good morning, Sora, Kairi. How do you do?" A female's voice greeted.

Face becoming noticeably brighter, Sora was fascinated at the appearance of the girl that was leaving her yard to meet them. "Oh man. This is my favorite part of walking to school."

Kairi sighed. "Oh boy, let the mindlessness begin."

The said girl stood in front of them, towering over them by inches. "You guys doing well this morning?" The girl was a gorgeous brunette of eighteen years of age. Her soft brown eyes and refined accent simply made Sora's heart melt. She was decked out in a school uniform fitting for a private school; a creme colored long sleeved blouse that was in a vest and a tan colored miniskirt and her amazing physique made the garbs all the more alluring.

"Fine... uh... we're doing just fine, Shizuru." Sora droned in a lustful fashion.

"Hey, Shizuru." Kairi simply greeted, hiding jealousy.

Shizuru Viola smiled warmly at her younger friends. "I'm doing good. In fact, I'm just as excited as you guys are. It's the final week for our school as well. You guys coming to the graduation?"

"Yes! We will undoubtedly be there, Shizuru!" Sora blurted out.

"Yeah, we will." Kairi said. "We wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Okay then." Shizuru looked very delighted. "I'll be sure that you guys receive an invitation from me sometimes today." She leaned down a bit and pinched Sora's cheeks. "You two be good, now. And please do well on your finals. I would like to see what your grades are."

"Uh-huh..."

"Yes. We will definitely ace our finals." Sora declared, looking somewhat wolfish somehow. "We will make A plus-plus on our finals. Isn't that right, Kairi?"

"Right..."

"Well, that settles that. I'll catch you guys later." Shizuru waved and ambled off in the direction of her school.

Sora watched the older girl walking down the street with such a distinguished gait. Just taking a look at the beautiful Viola girl simply made his day. "Aw man... that girl is something else." He sighed dreamingly with a blush. "I'll never get tired of that. Simply irresistible."

There was a pout on Kairi's face. "You're so helpless, Sora. What does she got that I haven't?"

Sora whirled back to reality-- reality which was Kairi. He didn't just hear what he thought he heard from her. "Kai, are you serious? Did you just say that?" He registered the look on Kairi's face. "You know... I can fill a phone book on that subject."

"You got jokes, huh wolf-boy?" Kairi responded to him disapprovingly. "C'mon now, let's be on our way to school."

Sora scratched his head innocently. "Wolf-boy?" There was a pause before he followed his friend down the street. "Right..." He couldn't help it. It was just his hormones talking.

KINGDOM HEARTS

"I can tell that we're going to go through some serious brain pain this week." A spiky blonde youth groaned as he approached the school campus with his buddies. "Say, Wakka, you're a junior right? So how much are they going to give us to study?"

An older ginger hair boy replied to the younger one. "Oh, trust me, Tidus. You're going to receive more than enough of your share of notes. When it comes to the final, high school's a completely different ballgame. You are prepared to lose a little sleep, yeah?"

Tidus' widened his eyes. "Dang! It's that bad? You can't be serious!"

"As serious as a heart-attack."

"You simply can't believe everything you hear, Tidus." A rather perky brunette chirped. "For one thing, Wakka could be over exaggerating about it."

"Whatever rolls your boat, Selphie." Wakka grinned. "The finals aren't no joke."

Selphie wrapped her arm around Tidus' neck, chuckling and making him blush. "Hmm? You don't say, eh? Well with a little generous time spent studying for these things then passing the finals should be a breeze." She applied pressure on Tidus' neck. "Right, Tidus?"

"That's what I'm afraid of." Tidus said.

"Hey." Wakka said, pointing to a figure on top of Destiny High School left wing's roof. "Isn't that your homeroom teacher?"

Tidus looked up to where the older boy was pointing at. "Huh?" He squinted. "I don't see her."

"Tidus, you read way to many comic books in the dark. Get a closer look if you can't see her." Selphie chided, gazing in the said direction. "Hey, that is Ms. Branford. What is she doing up there, anyway?"

"Man... that woman IS strange." Wakka wondered.

"What? You're tripping, Wakka." Selphie hit him on the shoulder. "That's what makes her so cool."

Wakka rubbed his now aching arm. "Ouch. You hit hard for somebody so small, Selphie."

"What was that?"

"That's a pretty nice tune." Tidus noticed the sounds of a flute. "It sounds peaceful and yet... kinda sad."

"Now that you think about it," Selphie sniffed. "It can induce a few tears."

Wakka clicked his tongue. "Women... You and your sensitivity."

"Wakka, you jerk. Just listen real closely to that tune she's playing. It's... making me..." Her eyes were now glossy. "Excuse me but I think that I have something in my eye." She took a moment to search through her backpack and fished out a box of tissue. "See..." She sniffed. "I never leave home without it."

"I call this piece, 'The Awakening'..."

Tidus and Wakka raised their brows simultaneously. "The Awakening?"

"It's just a little tune that I've been holding off in my mind every since I was a little girl." Said Ms. Branford. She withdrew her flute and gazed down at the three students from the roof. The small smile on her face seemed slightly odd on her naturally sad looking face. "Good morning, you three. I see that you liked it, correct?"

Selphie simply nodded, trying to hide her face behind the tissue.

"It was stirring, Ms. Branford." A male's voice praised. "It's really something to appreciate."

Terra gasped... as if she sensed a presence but she quickly recovered. "Oh, it's you."

"Where did you come from?" Tidus was surprised by the male's sudden appearance as well. "You always seem to creep up on people, Riku. And it is not cool."

The silver haired boy only joked around with him. "Sorry about that. Didn't mean to alarm you. No worries, right?"

"You know Riku, the element of surprise that you got going on for yourself can really be a big advantage on the field." Said Wakka, impressed. "Are you sure that you won't be joining the team this summer?"

"Hey, I'll definitely think about it." Riku smiled.

Selphie was practically gushing. "Intelligence, good looks, and athletic, you have it all, Riku." Hearts were dancing in her eyes. "You wanna go out and take a walk in the park with me today?"

"That's a bet." Riku gave her the thumbs up.

"It's almost time, guys." Terra announced, surprising them due to the fact that she now stood before them. "Shouldn't you four be heading to your homerooms?"

"Oh you're right." Selphie gasped. "Let's be on our merry little way, guys. We've only have two minutes till." Her and her companions rushed off into the school hall, trying to avoid being tardy for the homeroom hour.

The feeling unease faded around Terra. That Riku was eccentric. It's like his generous persona is hiding something but Terra couldn't put her finger on it. Then again, maybe she does. Every since the meteor shower she could sense something about him. What could it mean? That young man...

"COMING THROUGH!"

"WATCH OUT, WE'RE IN A HURRY!"

With the students suddenly making space and the pattering of quick footsteps that's comparable to a raging stampede, Terra knew better. She quickly hopped out the way as the two forces sped by here. She smiled at their burlesque entrance. Trust those two to make a spectacle as usual. She gazes at the heavens, contemplative. It is almost time... Will they be ready for what is to come? This is definitely going to be a test that they're are never going to forget.

"Hey Miss Terra! Sorry I can't talk! Gotta go!" A spiky haired boy greeted frantically as he passed by. "I'm going to be late!"

"You better hurry, Zell." Terra humored. "Your homeroom teacher can be quite the grouch." With everyone now inside the building, Terra was now outside of Destiny High alone. The time is near. She thought with slight worry. Can this world withstand what is to come? I pray that the next hero can save us all. But the real question is: will the next chosen be willing to do it?

With no one else in sight, the school teacher turned and faced the school and vanished in motes of light. Light and Darkness will once again clash... vying for supremacy. I hope that you are up for this...

...Sora...

END OF PROLOGUE

NEXT TIME ON PARADOX'S DISSONANCE

A monster of a storm hits Destiny Island, causing confusion. Sora enters a bizarre dimension. The very same place that he has seen in his dreams. And what's up with a talking temperamental mallard and a maladroit dog-man thingy?

THE AWAKENING

NOTE: Just in case some of the younger readers wouldn't remember, Terra Branford was the main character of Final Fantasy VI (III three in the U.S.). And man, I have to tell you, that 'Awakening' theme of hers did used to get to me back in the days. Heh.. That lovely brunette, Shizuru Viola, is a character from a recent anime series by Sunrise called Mai-HiME, which is an immensely popular in Japan. In fact, it's so popular there's even an ongoing spin-off of the show called Mai-Otome. Terra and Shizuru are here for a reason, mind you. They have a very significant role in this story. Oh, and you can believe that Donald and Goofy are going to be in this. All in due time, my friends.