. . . Gateway to a Special World . . .

. . . The castle will be in grave danger . . .

. . . May tempt you to do something dark . . .

Something dark? What could be the worst that could happen?

. . . Resist at all costs . . .

He was the Keyblade Master; he could resist whatever was thrown at him, right?

. . . That means we're in the past . . .

The . . . past . . .?

. . . We can change the future . . .

Change the future . . .? How . . .?

"Sora . . ."

Sora came too slowly, turning his face into his pillow to block the morning light out. It was too early . . .

"Go away Donald . . ."

"Sora! Sora – get down here, you'll be late!"

Sora groaned, why did his mother have to be so loud?

Sora paused; his mother? He shook his head, he was still dreaming – dreaming of being back home, sleeping through the alarm clock, missing school.

"SORA!"

Bang!

Sora jumped at the loud sound as his door hit the wall, his deep blue eyes opening quickly. He immediately reached for his Keyblade, frowning when he grabbed nothing but thin air.

"Where's my Keyblade, Goofy?"

"You unplugged your alarm clock again?! You're going to be late, get out of that bed."

Sora cringed at the female's voice, none of this made any sense! His eyes adjusting to the semi darkness of the room, he blinked, surprise across his face as he saw his mother standing there, the plug for his alarm clock hanging from her hand.

"Mom?"

The woman rolled her green eyes, her long brown hair pulled back into a loose ponytail. "Who else would it be; did you have another nightmare?"

Sora shook his head, staring at his mother, someone he hadn't seen in two years. "How did I get here?"

Sora blinked as his mother laughed, running a hand through his short spiky hair. "You should know that by now. Now, no more stalling, I want you downstairs in five minutes, you hear me?" Sora's mom turned, starting back for his bedroom door. "Sometimes I don't know how you keep a girlfriend."

Girlfriend . . .? Could be it Kairi?

His musings were cut short as his mother flicked on his bedroom door with a laugh. "Hurry up, she'll leave without you!"

Sora paused, sitting there in his now bright room.

This was his room; his home back on the Destiny Islands, but he couldn't be home. He hadn't found Riku or the King yet . . .

So, this must be a dream, Sora thought, pushing the covers back and stepping down onto the carpet.

Mechanically, Sora got himself dressed, not really thinking about what he was doing. He didn't notice that his red shirt and baggy shorts hung in the closet with the blue belt and the short jacket hanging overtop.

Buttoning up his shirt, Sora looked at the mirror on the back of his door. How he hated the school's uniform . . . why'd he dream about the old boring school suit? The black pants hung on him – how they fit after two years, he didn't know – the button up white shirt and the tie. Sora let out a groan, annoyed at the checkered tie as he tried to tie it.

"Why is this part of my dream?" Sora grumbled, the tie falling off him once more.

He shook his head then, stuffing the tie into his pocket – who cared about that, it was a tie.

"Mom!" Sora hollered, closing his bedroom door. It felt good again to say that – he wouldn't admit it, but he missed her. "I can't get this tie on!"

He heard his mother laugh, another female's voice joining in with hers. "You're just like your father was – his father could never get his ties on without my help!"

Another laugh drifted up the stairwell, making Sora pause. That didn't sound like Kairi. He raised an eyebrow; it had to be Kairi, right? He nodded to himself, it was her; he just hadn't seen her in two years. A grin graced his features – he could finally be with Kairi. He quickly picked up his pace as he raced down the stairwell, down the hall and around the corner.

"Kai – Selphie?"

"You sounded like an elephant coming down," Sora's mom commented, toast popping out of the toaster. "Here's your breakfast – eat fast, you're running later then normal."

"Did you miss me, Sora?" Selphie asked, stopping in front of him, hands clasped behind her back.

Sora blinked, an eyebrow raised as he looked at Selphie; who smiled up at him, bouncing off the balls of her feet. He bit back a laugh, she hadn't changed at all; her hair still defied gravity. "I suppose I did, it's been a while."

Selphie laughed. "I feel the same way – but that's what you get, huh? That'll teach you not to sneak out after midnight . . ." Selphie winked at him before standing on her tiptoes and touching her lips to his.

Sora froze, his eyes widening. Well, that was one way to say hello . . .

"W-What was that for?" Sora stumbled, trying to find the right words as Selphie smiled brightly, leaning against the kitchen counter.

Selphie threw him a weird glance. "What do you mean? I haven't seen you all weekend, I missed you."

"Uh huh, that's great Selph –"

"Call me Sefie – you remember, don't you?"

Sora blanked. "Sefie? Didn't Tidus call you that?"

"Tidus?" Selphie scrunched her nose up. "Why would that annoying, arrogant jerk call me that?"

Didn't she like him? Sora thought. He shrugged it off; obviously she got over him . . .

Sora grabbed the plate of toast his mother past him, slumping down at the kitchen table. "Say mom, when Kairi coming over?"

"Kairi?"

"Yeah . . ." Sora trailed off, throwing his mom a confused look. "You know; my girlfriend?"

"Sora – "

"YOUR WHAT?!" Selphie shouted, now in front of him, hands on her hips as she glared at him. "I'm your girlfriend!"

Sora dropped his toast, staring wide eyed at her. "You're my what?"

"Girlfriend!" Selphie shouted. "Who is this Kairi? We're you running off to meet her the other night at midnight? Don't you dare say you're cheating on me!"

Sora raised an eyebrow. "You know Kairi – she's you're best friend."

Sora's mom shook her head. "Didn't I teach you better? You never date your girlfriend's best friend."

"I don't even know this girl – who is she? I'll show her something –"

Sora laughed, leaning back in his chair. "This is a great dream, I can't believe you don't know her; wait till I tell Riku –"

"Like he'd talk to you."

Sora paused, eyebrows raised as he looked around at the hyper brunette. "What'd you mean?"

"Riku and you hate each other – did you hit your head?"

"Riku and I . . . aren't friends?"

That didn't sound right . . .

"Never have been," Selphie shrugged.

Selphie smiled down at Sora before reaching for Sora's wrist, pulling him up from the table. Sora sighed; he couldn't wait to wake up. He cast a glance down at Selphie as she linked arms with his, intertwining her hand with his.

"Bye Miranda!" Selphie called over her shoulder at the older woman as Sora picked up his school bag. "We'll see you later."

Sora frowned; Selphie was on first name basis with his mom? "Hey Selphie," he started as they left his house. "How long have we been er . . . together?"

"Since about a month ago, probably – are you sure you didn't hit your head?"

Sora shook his head. "No, I'm pretty sure I didn't unless Donald . . ."

"Who's that?"

"Hmm? Never mind." Sora shook his head. What was going on here?

He frowned as he made his way through town, not really paying attention as the Island he dreamed about so much past him by. He tried to ignore Selphie, who had a good hold on his arm, chatting idly away about what she had done on the weekend. No one knew or remembered Kairi and Riku wasn't his friend – no, never was his friend – he didn't like this anymore.

"Sora? Sora, are you even listening to me!"

Sora jumped out of his thoughts, shaking his head. "Hmm? What'd you say Selphie?"

"It's Sefie," she whined with a pout before narrowing her eyes, putting her hands on her hips. "You're thinking about her again, aren't you? Kari or whatever her name was."

"Kairi," he corrected automatically, instantly regretting it.

Selphie drew herself up to her full height, one hand on her hip the other one poking Sora repeatedly in the chest. "How dare you – you were thinking about her. I – I could hate you if we hadn't been together this long. I could – augh! I swear I could –" Selphie shook her head. "You must have hit your head, huh? But, that's what I love about you, you know? You're silly and strange, but at least you're mine."

Sora nodded, feeling guilty as Selphie threw her arms around him, hugging him. His heart fell as the hyperactive brunette brought her lips to his, he felt horrible.

Linking her arm with his, intertwining their fingers, Selphie leaned her head against his shoulder as the clock tower of Destiny High came into view. Sora blinked as he saw the school – what the hell had happened? The small town high school had been changed drastically; a chain link fence ran across the fields, a couple gates swinging open in the light breeze. The actual school still looked the same, the parking lots surrounding the North Side of the school.

"It's changed . . ."

Selphie raised an eyebrow, pushing Sora. "You're acting really strange today . . . it's been like this forever. Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sora trailed off, grinning down at Selphie who nodded. "So what do we have first today?"

". . . Parenting . . ."

Sora's eyes widened. "What?!" He let out a groan. "Why?"

Selphie smiled at him, pulling his arm around her shoulders. "To have a class with me – it's the only one we have together!"

"Oh, I see." Sora nodded slowly, that was horrible! "I'll meet you inside, alright?"

Selphie sighed loudly, dropping Sora's arm. "I'll save you a seat in class!"

Sora let out a sigh, frowning as he watched Selphie go, the brunette waving at him before disappearing into the school. What the hell was going on? Trying to figure out what was going on, Sora wandered onto the field, dropping down onto the nearest picnic bench. Leaning back on his palms, staring up at the cloudless sky his mind whirled a mile a minute.

There was no way this could have been a dream . . .

However, his musing didn't last long, they never seemed to. "You're on our bench."

Sora jumped at the harsh voice, immediately reaching back for his Keyblade – no one ever surprised him.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Sora paused, his hand closing around nothing. How weird . . . he'd grown so used to using the large key. He sighed, shaking his head as he glanced upwards. He grinned when he saw the silver hair – it was Riku. At least something was right.

"Riku! You're back . . ."

Riku blinked, raising an eyebrow before looking over his shoulder at his companions who let out a loud laugh. "'Course I'm here, it's not fourth period yet, get lost will you?"

Sora rolled his eyes, same old Riku. "Have you seen Kairi today, Selphie doesn't remember her . . ."

"Cheating on her already?" Tidus chirped from the bench, a smirk on his face before looking over at Riku. "Who's Kairi? You keeping your girlfriend away from us? Not that I can blame you . . ."

Riku shrugged. "Don't know any Kairi," he shot a piecing glance back at Sora, the brunette awkwardly standing there. "You're still standing there? We're finished here."

"Right . . ."

Turning on his heel, Sora walked away from the group lounging on the old bench, ignoring the loud laugh coming from them as he frowned, trying to figure out everything.

This wasn't a dream . . . he was home.

No one remembered Kairi.

Riku hated him

. . . and Selphie was his girlfriend?

The same question kept coming back to him – what was happening?

---

And, Sora's world has been turned upside down once again …
Darn that Donald Duck!