AN: So the idea of this fic is that it's an alternate take on Kingdom Hearts with one major difference. What if Sora acted like a regular teenager? Hope y'all enjoy it.

...

"WHOA!" Sora woke up with a jolt. That was one of the weirdest dreams that he had ever had. First, he was falling through water, then he saw his friend, Riku, standing on the ocean somehow, then he saw himself falling through the sky before landing on a glass stain...thing with a woman and some weird looking men on it before a voice then told him to beat up these weird, shadow monsters and then push and smash up a box. Then his other friends, Tidus, Wakka and Selphie, started asking him these weirds questions before-

"Sora, you lazy bum." He heard his friend, Kairi, snark at him from behind him. "I knew that I'd find you snoozing down here."

Sora got up and turned to face her. "I just had the weirdest dream. There were these shadow monsters! And there was this voice telling me to push these boxes! And then Tidus was asking me what I was afraid of and-"

Kairi tilted her head, giving Sora a look of concern. "Are you okay, Sora?"

Sora then realised how insane he was starting to sound. "N-Never mind."

Kairi tutted, shaking her head in pretend disappointment. "Riku's not gonna be happy when he finds out you've been napping on the beach instead of helping out with the raft."

Sora rolled his eyes. Oh yes, the raft. Riku had had the brilliant idea of making a raft in order to try and find other worlds. Which was kinda silly when Sora thought about it. At best, they might be able to reach another country. Maybe. Sora wasn't the smartest person ever but he doubted a raft would really be able to take them that far.

Speaking of Riku, he then noticed him approaching them, carrying a log with him. "You guys forget about me? So, I guess I'm the only one working on the raft." Riku then tossed the log onto Sora, causing him to yelp. He approached Kairi, who was giggling at him. "And you're just as lazy as he is."

Kairi giggled again. "So you've noticed."

"Are you trying to kill me?!" Sora spluttered, underneath the log.

Riku rolled his eyes as he took the log off Sora before sitting next to him. "It's not that heavy."

"Alright." Kairi started. "Let's finish it together then. I'll race you."

"What, are you kidding?" Riku asked.

"Ready? Go!"

Sora and Riku glanced at each other before getting up and racing off down the beach while Kairi trailed behind them, laughing. Sora and Riku had a bit of a rivalry going so any chance they had to compete against each other, they took it. Though, to Sora's annoyance, Riku usually came out on top.

...

Sora spent the rest of the afternoon finding two logs, a cloth and a rope before the three of them called it a day. There was a small island connected by a bridge to the main tropical island that Sora and some of the other kids and teens hung around. This island was just one of the group of islands that made up Destiny Islands. Which was kind of an odd name to call them but Sora never really got a straight answer of why they were called that. On this small island, Sora and Kairi sat on a weirdly shaped palm tree and Riku leaned against it with his arms folded as the three watched the sunset. "So, you really think a raft is going to help us get to another world?" Sora then decided to ask Riku, still rather skeptical about Riku's claim about other worlds existing.

Riku shrugged. "Who knows. If we have to, we'll think of something else."

Sora gave Riku an odd look. Was he really thinking this through? "Uh, what'll we do if we're out in the middle of the ocean and we can't get back?"

Riku sighed. Sora could tell he was starting to get annoyed. "Don't worry about that. We'll be fine. I'll think of something."

"So, suppose you get to another world." Kairi snickered. "What would you do there?"

Riku hummed in thought. "Well, I haven't really thought about it."

"Really?" Sora asked, giving Riku a pointed look. He really hadn't been thinking any of this through, had he? "If I were in another world, I'd see what the people there were like. How things worked there. How different it was compared to here."

Riku shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I'd do that then. It's just...I've always wondered why we're here on this island. If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one? And suppose there are other worlds...then ours is just a little piece of something much greater. So, we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?"

"I don't know." Sora said, moving to lie down on the palm tree. Sora had thought about this kind of stuff when he was younger but now it just kinda sounded like a childish fantasy. Besides, what was wrong with where they were now? Not everyone lives somewhere where they could go to the beach on a tropical island every day. He could certainly think of worse places in the world to live.

"Exactly." Riku continued. "That's why we need to go out there and find out. Just sitting here won't change a thing. It's the same old stuff. So let's go."

"You've been thinking a lot lately. Haven't you?" Kairi asked.

Riku turned to face her. "Thanks to you. If you hadn't come here, I probably would've never thought of any of this." Sora had to admit, it was strange how Kairi had appeared on their shores with no memory of her life beforehand a few years ago. It was even stranger how no one in the world was looking for her and she had no records or history or anything to prove that she had even existed before he and Riku found her. As strange as that was though, the idea that she had come from another world still sounded far fetched to him.

"So, what if there aren't any other worlds? What if we sail so far away that we end up in another country or something?" Sora decided to ask.

Riku chuckled. "Don't worry. Like I said, we'll find a way."

Sora sighed. Riku could get way too stubborn at times. He decided to just drop it for now.

...

Later, Sora walked across the bridge as the three made their way home. "Sora!" Riku called out from behind him. Sora turned around to catch a star-shaped fruit that Riku had thrown at him. "You wanted one, didn't you?"

Sora stared at the fruit in confusion. "A paopu fruit?"

Riku walked towards him. "If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined." He walked past him. "They'll remain a part of each other's lives, no matter what. C'mon, I know you wanna try it."

Sora rolled his eyes before tossing the fruit to the side. "Ha ha, very funny, Riku." Riku laughed in response.

...

The next day, after having a race with Riku over the name of the raft (which Sora TOTALLY would have won if that bridge didn't give way under him), Sora went over to Kairi, who was standing on the finished raft. "Today, we collect provisions for our trip!" Kairi started. "Lets see." She got out a note. "Sora, you're looking for one seagull egg, three mushrooms, two coconuts, three fish and Riku also said to bring a bottle of water."

Sora stared at Kairi in disbelief. "Wait, that's it?" Kairi nodded. "I don't know. I think we're gonna need a lot more food then that."

Kairi sighed. "Riku said we wouldn't need anything else though."

Sora shook his head. "He really isn't thinking this through."

Kairi chuckled. "Well, lets just get this stuff for now. I think Riku will realise that we'd probably need more stuff to get to another world anyway. It can't hurt to just play along for now."

Sora sighed. "Fine."

"But, just in case, bring some snacks with you tomorrow."

...

While searching for mushrooms (which Sora wasn't sure the ones that grew on this island were even safe to eat), Sora wondered into the secret place. A cave that had a strange, wooden door that couldn't be opened. Where it came from, nobody knew though it certainly inspired some interesting ghost stories. After finding a mushroom, he looked around the cave at all the drawings that he and Kairi had left on the cave walls over the years.

"I've come to see the door to this world."

Sora gasped and turned around, seeing a figure in a brown robe. "Who are you? W-Where did you come from?!"

"This world has been connected. Tied to the darkness..."

Yep, this guy was definitely a creeper. Sora decided to book it out of the secret place, ignoring whatever the creeper was rambling on about.

...

Sora, along with Kairi, watched nervously as Riku came out of the secret place. "There's no one in there." Riku stated. "You sure you weren't just imagining things, Sora?"

"I swear! There was this guy in a robe going on about darkness or something!" Sora ranted.

Kairi gave Sora a confused look. "But how did he get here? The only boats around are ours."

"I don't know but I know what I saw! We should tell our parents! Or call the police or something!"

"No!" Riku snapped.

Sora stood back. "W-Why not?"

"If we tell our parents, we won't be able to take the raft out." Riku explained.

Sora slumped. This was seriously his biggest concern right now? "Riku, maybe this isn't a good idea. What if he's back tomorrow?"

"If he is, I'll handle him." Riku stated.

Kairi was starting to look unsure. "Maybe Sora's right. Maybe we should tell our parents. We could always try the raft idea another time."

"Tch." Riku then stormed off in a huff.

Kairi watched him, giving him a look of concern. "Oh no, I think we upset him."

"Should we say something?"

Kairi shook her head. "Better just let him cool off." She sighed. "You wanna call it a day?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah..." He didn't exactly feel safe on this island right now. The sooner he was home, the better.

As they made their way to the boats, Kairi suddenly said. "You know, Riku's changed."

"What do you mean?" Sora asked.

Kairi hummed in thought for a moment before shaking her head. "Never mind." They were silent for a moment before Kairi suddenly asked. "What if that guy you saw was from another world?" Sora raised an eyebrow at her. She giggled. "I'm just kidding." The two were silent for the rest of the way home. As they got into their boats, Sora briefly wondered why they needed to build a raft when they already had boats.

...

Later that night, Sora was in his room, watching some TV while trying to ignore the storm outside. He hadn't ever seen a storm this bad before. Sora's mother then came into his room with a look of concern on her face. "Sora, I just got a call from Riku's dad. Apparently, he didn't return home after you guys were out today. Do you have any idea where he is?"

"Huh?" Sora gave him mom a look of surprise. "I-I don't know where he is."

"You sure?" Sora nodded. His mom sighed as she left the room.

Sora looked out the window. He couldn't possibly be trying to sail out in this weather, could he? Then again, he had been thinking kind of recklessly lately. He started to panic. If he was out there, who knows what might happen to him. Especially if that guy was still around.

As he snuck out the window, he could faintly hear his mom shout. "Sora, dinner's ready. Come on down. Sora?"

...

As Sora arrived at the dock, he noticed two boats were already there. "Riku's boat...and Kairi's?" He then gasped in shock as he looked up at the sky at what looked like some kind of black hole. "WHAT IS THAT?!" A part of him wanted to turn around and run back home but there was no way he would leave Riku and Kairi here with...whatever is actually happening here as he was still staring at the black hole in disbelief, unable to comprehend what was happening. He snapped out of it when he noticed some shadow monsters emerge from the ground. He yelped and started to run off though no matter where he went, the shadow monsters appeared anywhere he went. It was almost like a nightmare and Sora wasn't totally convinced he wasn't having one right now.

Eventually, he saw Riku on the small island, staring out into the ocean, seemingly unconcerned with the shadow monsters or the black hole in the sky. He ran across the bridge towards him. "Riku! What are you doing here? What's happening?! Where's Kairi?!"

"The door has opened."

"The door? What are you talking about?"

Riku turned around. "The door has opened, Sora. Now we can go to the outside world."

Sora stared at him, incredulous. "Have you lost your mind? Where's Kairi?"

"Kairi's coming with us!"

"With us where? What are you talking about? Can't you see the black hole in the sky?"

Riku looked up towards the black hole. "Once we step through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back. But this may be our only chance. We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness!"

As Riku reached his hand our towards him, all Sora could do was stare at him in disbelief. He had well and truly gone insane. "C-Can't we talk about this-" He cut himself off as he then saw a puddle of black...something beneath Riku's feet. Whatever it was, it was starting to envelop Riku who showed no reaction to it. Sora ran towards Riku, only to stop as it started to envelop him too. Sora then reached his hand out towards Riku in desperation before everything went black.

Suddenly, Sora could a glimmer of light. The black stuff had disappeared, as well as Riku. In its place, Sora was now holding...a giant key. "What the..." Sora then heard a voice in his head. Keyblade...Keyblade... Keyblade? Out of absolutely no where, he now had a blade in the shape of a key of all things. Was he starting to lose his mind? This wasn't exactly the most practical weapon he could have used right now but as he noticed more of those shadow creatures approach, he decided to make do as he swung the keyblade towards one of them. To his relief, the keyblade worked against them as the monster dissolved away upon getting attacked.

Trying not to think about his friend going insane and disappearing or the fact that the world had turned into a horrible nightmare, Sora fought through the monsters and went over to the one place he suspected Kairi might be hiding from all of this. The secret place. "Oh, what the heck." For some odd reason, there appeared to be a door leading to it now. It opened up for Sora as soon as he approached it. "This is a really bad idea isn't it?" Sora asked himself as entered the cave, apprehensively. His desire to make sure Kairi was safe outweighing his fear. He soon saw Kairi, staring at the door inside the cave. "Kairi? Oh no, please don't tell me you're going to start talking about darkness."

Kairi turned around. Something about her didn't look right. "Sora..." She moaned, reaching a hand out towards him. Suddenly, the door behind her opened as a gust of wind blew her towards him. Sora reached her arms out to catch her, only for her to disappear upon touching him. The wind then blew him out of the cave.

...

Sora soon found himself landing on the...beach? No. A section of the beach was now floating above the now purple ocean. He was now very close to that black hole. He got up and turned around, only to gasp in fear as he saw a giant shadow monster with a heart shaped hole in its chest and face that looked like it had wrappings around it. Ok, this was definitely a dream. There was no way anything that was happening was real. He must've taken a nap at some point while he was waiting for his dinner. He looked towards the black hole. Maybe if he jumped towards it, he'd finally wake up. He looked back towards the monster who looked like it was doing something really slowly. "See ya later!" Sora said, no longer feeling any fear upon realising this was all just a dream as he decided to throw caution to the wind and jump towards the black hole.