The house empty, Sora kicked off his shoes as he headed upstairs. He had to figure out what had happened . . . this wasn't making any sense. The floor creaked noisily beneath him, closing his bedroom door. Turning on the lights, he pulled out his desk chair, slumping down onto it. A frown on his face, he pulled out a blank sheet of paper, a pen in hand.

What do I know for sure? He thought, scribbling out the title.

The Disney Castle had been in danger and alongside Donald and Goofy they'd gone to Queen Minnie's aid.

Maleficent was trying to take over the castle for some reason we were sent for Merlin.

Merlin knew what was going on and that door appeared. He told us not to change anything; that we were going into a delicate situation . . . whatever that was.

Everything was black and white, realizing that they were in the past.

Donald wanted to change something . . . he had that look in his eyes. Sora remembered telling Donald no as him and Goofy continued on.

Could Donald have disappeared? Had the duck gone and done something?

Sora shook his head with a sigh, it wouldn't have surprised him.

What's changed? He scribbled the thought down.

He was on the Destiny Islands, he was home. But, it wasn't the home he remembered.

His mother hadn't seemed to notice that he'd been gone for the past two years . . .

No one remembered Kairi. He wondered where the Princess of Heart could have disappeared too; it felt weird not seeing her at school, laughing at him.

Riku wasn't his friend – hell, by his actions earlier, Riku hated him.

Selphie – of all people – was his girlfriend? No matter how many times he told himself that, it didn't sound right.

Sora sighed, dropping his pen to the desk, running a hand through his spiky brown hair.

He was definitely in the past, another past – this wasn't his past. An Alternative Universe? – he wasn't sure. But, he knew he couldn't stay like this, he had to figure this out, and he had to get home – to his home. Sora groaned, running a hand through his hair.

No Donald. No Goofy. No King Mickey. No Riku and no Kairi.

This time, he was truly alone.

Riku returned to the Destiny Islands and Mickey, Donald and Goofy must have returned to the Disney Castle. Where would Kairi have ended up though? Could she have ended up back in Hallow Bastion?

Only one question remained on his mind; one that he didn't know the answer for. If his companions all ended up back in their original lands – what had happened to Organization XIII?

"Sora! You home yet?"

Sora jumped out of his thoughts, not used to hearing his mom's voice. "Yeah, I'm upstairs, er, working on my homework."

He cast a glance at his opened backpack, his heavy Math and Science textbooks having fallen out. Sora let out a groan, dropping his head down onto the desk top. Math and Science . . . his grade point average was going to plummet; he hadn't used that stuff for a long time.

Sora let out a groan, looking away from the books. "I hate my life . . ."

---

Sora let out a groan, pulling his pillow over his head as he heard the droning buzz of his alarm clock. No wonder he always hated getting up in the morning – that sound was enough to make anyone flinch. Pushing a hand out of his sheets and comforter, Sora blindly felt along his nightstand in the darkness, hitting the snooze button for a third time.

He sighed, flopping back down onto the bed. The sun was just getting up; he didn't want to get up. What would he do to be back on his adventure with Donald and Goofy? He could get up whenever he wanted too, the duck and dog always sleeping late. No alarm clocks, no mother telling him to get up . . . Sora froze at that last thought.

She'd have a fit if she found him still in bed. All week his mother had to come and more-or-less drag the once Keyblade Master from his bed, the brunette complaining the whole time. He didn't want to have Selphie hanging off him, demanding he take her out to the mal; he couldn't stand one more shopping day with her. He was going to have no munny left – not that he had much, Goofy kept track of their munny.

He didn't like not seeing Kairi and he hated the dark look Riku shot him every time they past each other.

But, there'd been no leads yet . . . his mind was blank.

"Sora! Are you up yet? If I have to come up there again . . ."

Sora groaned, pushing himself up and out of the bed as he heard his mothers' footsteps on the staircase – she didn't sound too happy. Not that he could blame her, he hated getting up anymore.

"Yeah, I'm awake mom, I still have time though," Sora shrugged, opening his door, sticking his head out so that his mom could see he was awake.

His mom nodded, seeing the brunette was actually out of the bed. "You better hurry, Selphie will be here soon."

Sora shook his head, pulling his bedroom door too. "I don't think so," he said, blinded by the light as he pushed his drapes open. "She's got cheerleading practice this morning."

He rolled his eyes as he opened his closet, pulling out the drab looking school uniform. Selphie was a cheerleader . . . he was dating a cheerleader. He tried to suppress a shudder at the thought; Riku was always the one who wanted to date the cheerleader, not him. Sora couldn't have cared less. Too many short skirts and their perky attitudes . . . he could just hear Kairi's sarcastic comments about them.

Shrugging on the black suit jacket of the uniform – frowning at the black material, it was so hot – he opened his door, closing it soundly behind him. He hurried down the staircase, slinging his backpack over his shoulder, grabbing the toast from the plate in his mom's hand. "Bye mom, see you after school!" and with that, Sora was out the door.

Out in the fresh air, away from the glance of his mother or Selphie he let out a sigh. He still didn't know what to do, and it had been a week so far. He thought he was going to go insane, how much longer could this go on? He wanted to hit his head of something – would that wake him up? Sora frowned, he doubted it, he wasn't in a Saturday morning cartoon show.

"Sora!"

Sora paused, turning around, a hand blocking the sun. He smiled as he saw someone running towards him, hands waving wildly. Sora shook his head as she came to a stop before him, hands on her hips as she panted from the morning run. "Morning Penelo, you're sure . . . awake this morning."

The blonde haired girl just grinned at him, flipping her pigtails back, out of her face. "Of course I'm awake – I'm not you, Sora. I had to get in my four kilometer run today; you know I have to get in shape for the triathlon next week. I'm going to come in first this year!" Penelo nodded, pumping her fist into the air, her smile wide.

Sora shook his head, starting down the sidewalk, Penelo beside him, hands clasped behind her back. "What place did you come in last year?" He didn't even know what she was talking about.

". . . Second! That good-for-nothing, pretty boy Zidane won – I can't believe I lost to him! Augh!" Penelo grumbled, smacking her fist into her open palm. "I'll beat him at the triathlon this time, if he wins for a third time . . ."

Sora nodded, drowning out Penelo's complaints about Zidane. It felt weird walking to school with Penelo; they weren't friends, she was the track star in his world, Zidane being her best – if not competitive – friend.

"Sora?"

"Hmm?" Sora glanced over at Penelo. "Sorry, I was somewhere else."

Penelo smirked, ruffling up Sora's spiky hair – the brunette glared at her as he pushed her hand away, trying to make his hair right again. "I know, you were thinking about Selphie, right? They must be finishing up now – you know they were going to throw her today right? If you get there in time, you might get to see –"

"Penelo!" Sora's face went bright red at her comment, the blonde girl only laughing at him. "I wouldn't!"

Talk about gross, Selphie was nothing more then a . . . friend? Acquaintance? They never really spoke much . . . so he wasn't completely sure . . .

Penelo shook her head, backing away from him. "Well, whatever you say, I'll see you in the gym; I'll save you a seat in the back – alright?"

"The gym?"

"You're so dense, Sora," Penelo commented, looking over her shoulder. "It's Career Day," – here, Penelo rolled her eyes – "So, we're all going to listen to them rattle on for a couple hours about how you have to choose your career now to become successful and powerful like them. You know the normal stuff. So, meet us all in the back alright?"

Sora nodded, waving to the blonde before she went running off in the direction of the long track located on the other side of the school yard.

Career Day, he thought idly, fighting back a smirk. Didn't I used to want to be a chef? That seemed so boring now.

---

"Sora, over here!"

Cerulean eyes glanced around the filling auditorium as he heard his name. It didn't take him long to find Penelo; the blonde haired girl was standing up, waving wildly at him as she rocked back on her heels. Her actions reminded him of Yuffie, she was hyper – although not nearly as bad – and she had a loud personality too. Sora quickly made his way over to the small group, slumping into the chair beside Penelo. Penelo smiled at him as she leaned against the brunette beside her – wasn't his name Larsa? Sora didn't know, half of these people never were his friends.

"Yo! Sora – you trying to hit on my sister?"

Sora blinked as he looked around at the speaker – rolling his eyes when he saw Zell; Penelo's twin. "Why would I hit on her? I already got a girlfriend." Too bad he was picturing Kairi instead of Selphie.

Penelo froze, glaring at Sora as she pushed herself away from Larsa. "Are you saying I'm not good enough for you to date? I should just –"

"Penelo, you already have a boy toy," Zell grumbled, sitting down beside Sora. "'Sides, Sora doesn't need you – he's got Selphie; a cheerleader so beats a track star."

Penelo just curled up her nose, looking away from Zell. "Well, at least Sora and I can get a date, when was your last girlfriend?" Zell glared at her darkly, making Penelo smirk. "Point proven."

"Anyway, let's just get this over with. I have so much better things to do," Zell complained, lounging back in the plastic chair, hands behind his head, feet resting on the chair in front of him. "I'm really hungry – anyone else wished they sold hotdogs in the gym?"

"This isn't exactly a ball park," Larsa pointed out, making Penelo laugh.

"You think about your stomach too much," Penelo hissed, rolling her eyes. "Maybe that's why you don't have a date."

"Zell! You're in my seat!"

Sora suppressed a groan as he heard Selphie's voice; finding the brunette on the other side of Zell, still in her cheerleading outfit. Zell just grinned at Selphie, looping an arm over Sora's shoulders, making him tense up. "Awe, you know Sora's my number one boy," – here, Sora wished he could die – "But, you're my number one girl, so don't make me feel bad Sefie."

Selphie frowned, tapping her foot impatiently. Zell just smiled at her, knowing he was getting under her skin. Finally, Selphie huffed, dropping into the seat beside Zell. "Fine . . . did you see me at practice today, Sora?"

"I saw them throw you," Zell commented, an arm around her shoulders. "Good thing they caught you – there I was, all prepared to perform CPR on you."

"Ew!" Selphie rolled up her nose. "That's gross."

"I know you'd like it," Zell responded with a cheeky grin, the small group breaking out into laughter.

"Would you all be quiet," a voice said from behind them. "It's starting."

"Yeah, we see," Penelo commented, rolling her eyes. "Unfortunately, right?" she added in an undertone.

Sora's eyes flickered from Zell and Selphie – the two of the complaining to one another – to the stage. Nothing exciting by the look of it, no one he recognized – he could see why Penelo suggested sitting in the back, this did look boring. He glanced at his watch – nine am – yup; this was going to be a long morning!

---

Ten twenty am, his watch read.

He wanted to hit his head against something, anything, it didn't really matter.

Five speakers . . . they were almost done. If only the banker would stop yapping about bank loans . . .

"What time is it?" Zell moaned, having slumped himself way down in his chair.

"At least Penelo and Larsa are doing something . . . please switch places with me Zell?" Selphie asked, batting her eyelashes at the blonde.

Please don't, Sora thought. He didn't want to make out with Selphie . . .

"It's almost ten thirty."

"That's it," Zell hissed, slumping down further. "I hate this."

"Thank you Mr. Zelain," The Principal said, as the baker stepped down, freeing the microphone.

"Finally," Zell said, sitting up. "I could so go for a hotdog . . . you better move fast Selphie; I got to get to the cafeteria!"

"You and your stomach," Selphie rolled her eyes. "At least Sora isn't like you."

Sora shrugged. He was hungry – he could go for a hotdog too.

"And now, we have a special, final guest," – more then half the auditorium groaned – "Our President has managed to make room for our Career Day in his busy schedule to come here and talk to you – perhaps one day you will aspire to be President as well?"

"Yeah right," Zell rolled his eyes. "Do you think they'd see me if I left?"

"Sure would," Selphie said quickly. "Besides, I won't let you out. If I have to sit through this; so do you."

Zell groaned, slumping down in his chair as he mumbled incoherently. Selphie laughed at the blonde's response, Penelo and Larsa only briefly looking up because they thought it was over. Sora drummed his fingers on the plastic armrest – how much longer? Hopefully the next speaker didn't take forever . . .

The Principal pointed off to the right of the stage, motioning for the speaker to come out.

As the speaker came out, a handful of bodyguards surrounding him, Sora's breath caught.

Sitting up straighter and leaning forward, Sora narrowed his eyes, staring intently at the man on the stage.

The bodyguards that surrounded the man – the President was it? – were dressed in white suits, and remarkably their hair was white too.

They looked like . . . Nobodies?

As the President took the podium in the center of the stage, it all made sense.

The man on the stage . . . Organization XIII– well, at least one of them.

All he could see from this distance was fire red hair and a black suit – suddenly, he wished he had sat closer to the stage.

"Sora, what's wrong?"

Sora jumped, soundly falling off of his chair at Selphie's sudden question. Selphie laughed, shaking her head as Sora fell, exclaiming loudly that it hurt.

"That's what you get, man," Zell shrugged, smirking as Sora slumped back into the chair. "There's nothing exciting about the President, what's his name anyway?"

"Axel," Selphie said dreamily, Sora raised an eyebrow at her. "Sorry Sora, he's good looking. But, don't worry about it, like he'd ever see me. He hardly leaves his mansion."

Axel, Sora thought.

Organization XIII was here, they were in the Destiny Islands. Did they know he was here? Did they know he had done this – well, that Donald had? No doubt they would've been able to locate the Disney Castle. He watched the man, hardly listening to what he was saying. From this far away, he was unable to tell completely if it was Organization XIII . . . without the cloak, it was hard to tell.

One question caught Sora's attention though: "What do you all want to grow up to be?"

Sure, none of the other speakers had asked that question, but that's not what got Sora's attention. It was the question itself – and if it was Organization XIII; they'd know what he meant.

Sora suddenly stood up, taking a deep breath before shouting: "I want to be a Keyblade Master when I grow up!"

The reaction was just as he expected – sort of. In a ripple effect, everyone turned around to look at him, whispering to their neighbors about the outburst. Sora's face went bright red – did he just do that? He glanced down at the man on the stage – Axel? – but the man didn't make any reaction at all to his words. Could he have been wrong?"

"Sora, sit down!" Penelo grumbled, grabbing his arm and yanking him down into his chair. "What's gotten into you?"

"The assembly finally got to you, huh?" Larsa asked from around Penelo.

"What's a Keyblade?" Zell asked.

"You watch too much fantasy," Selphie commented, her face red as well.

"No, it's . . ." Sora trailed off, how do you explain something like that?

"Well, that's nice boy," the man said from the stage. "We all wish we were a superhero at some point in time."

Sora crossed his arms over his chest as he slumped down further into his chair, out of sight. He heard the mans' laugh through the set up speakers before he continued on talking. Half listening to the man – he just wanted to get out of here – Sora wasn't sure if it was just him or not, but did the speaker suddenly sound on edge?

---

"Are you sure you're alright Sora? You don't look so well . . . go home and sleep alright? I'll come by tonight and see if you're okay."

After the assembly, he didn't look to well, but there was nothing wrong with him. Selphie had walked home with him, the brunette living just down the street from him. His mother was still at work when he got home, so he had time to think. Dropping his bag off at the front door, kicking his shoes off, Sora slouched upstairs, closing his bedroom door behind him. He flopped down on his bed, running his hands down his face; a headache coming on, he could feel it.

So, Organization XIII was here as well.

Was that man Axel? Did Axel even know about Keyblade's and Kingdom Hearts anymore, or had that knowledge been taken from his memory?

Sora groaned; there were too many questions and no answers coming forward.

He was starting to hate every moment of this, he decided as his eyes closed.

"Sora! Are you here? Something's come for you!"

Sora jumped, jolting awake suddenly, his eyes alert. His heart rate still raced when woke up from a deep sleep, not used to never being in danger anymore. It all seemed so . . . fake? Was that the right word?

"Sora!" His mother called again, starting up the stairs. "You better not be listening to those headphones again, you're going to loose your hearing!"

"I'm here, what is it?" Sora called, stifling a yawn as his mother opened his bedroom door. "What'd I get?"

"Sora, why are you sleeping this early? It's so dark in here," his mother commented, earning a groan from Sora as she flicked the bedroom lights on. "But here, someone must have put it through the mail slot on the door. It's strange, there's no return address . . . and there was no one on the street."

Sora sat up, yanking the letter out of his mother's hands, ripping the envelope. The words were scrawled so neatly – it must have been from someone of importance. Was it King Mickey – did he know what was going on? He'd be able to help out, right?

Sora frowned as he read the letter over. It wasn't from King Mickey; it wasn't from any of his companions.

"What is it?" his mother asked, leaning over to see the letter. Sora saw her movements, shifting the paper out of her sight. "Wow – they have nice handwriting."

"Uh huh," Sora said offhandedly. "I should start on my homework, alright? Call me for dinner?"

Sora's mom nodded slowly, making her way back to the door. She glanced back at him as she started to close the door. "Don't overwork yourself, alright? You've been really tired all week."

If only you knew the truth, Sora thought wistfully as the door closed.

Cerulean eyes looked down at the crumpled piece of paper clenched tightly in his hands. It was Axel and he knew what Sora yelled out this afternoon . . .

Keyblade Weilder –

What the hell have you gone and done? One day they're trying to track down the both of us and the next day I'm a President in some stupid Island. Never thought I'd run into you this early on – that little stunt in that annoying school's assembly had to have been the most interesting thing. You people are really boring.

But, you have no idea what I want to do to you for this entire mess. Tonight, go into the Destiny Forest at midnight. I will be there waiting. If you do not show up, I will simply come to you instead, you cannot avoid this.

Sora blinked as he reread the letter. He'd be waiting for him in the forest? Sora felt his blood pressure go up, what was Axel going to do to him? This wasn't his fault . . . not entirely anyways.

He took a deep breath and let it out – Axel couldn't do anything, it'd be all over the news and when they got back to their own time, they'd still need the Keyblade Weilder right?

Or, if they got rid of him now . . . would that make everything easier later on?

But, deep down, he knew that wasn't it.

From the letter, he got an impression that Axel wasn't too fond of this either . . .

---