Disclaimer: I do not nor will I unfortunately ever, own Kingdom Hearts or any related elements or characters.

Author's Note: So here we go, this chapter jumps right into everything. This takes place right after the end of another of my stories, A New World, which can be seen on my deviantART, but you don't really need to know much about that story to hopefully enjoy this one. Anyway, this is a lot of exposition so sorry about that, but I promise it will get better. Please review!

Update!: Okay, so see up there where I promised it would get better? Well it does and these first six chapters are important for setting up character and stuff, but if you're a reader that likes to jump into the action, go ahead and jump to chapter seven because that's where everything really picks up pace. Still, I would recommend (and love it if you would) that you read these first, but it's up to you. Please review! Thanks!

Chapter 1: Start of a New Adventure

Ugh...what's going on…why is every…thing shaking?

"Sora! Get your lazy butt out of bed!" A mumble is all that escapes my mouth. Who's talking? "Sora!"

"Ack!" The world tumbles, my head bangs against the floor. I blink a couple of times before I can actually see anything. "Geez…Tobi…isn't there an easier way to wake someone up?" I roll over so I can push myself off the floor. Tobi must have pulled the blankets out from around me because I was in my bed a couple of seconds ago.

"Roxas tried that. He said your alarm went off half an hour ago. He even threw his pillow at you." So, that's what I felt in the middle of the night. "Come on, we gotta go soon. Orientation starts in a couple of hours, and we all know you take forever to do your hair."

"Hey!" I can hear Tobi snicker from down the hall. I guess he's right though…I mean somehow Van's managed to get it done faster than I have. Alright…I guess I have to get going. I hate how Tobi's such a morning person, I mean he doesn't even have to use an alarm clock. Whatever, it doesn't really matter. All that matters to me is that the water in the shower is hot.

After the majority of my early morning prep, I walk out into the kitchen. Roxas and Tobi are moving about like it's noon and not 8:30. I can't tell if Van is asleep or not. His head kind of hangs down over his cup of tea, but he's not really moving. Roxas is cooking something, but I'm not sure what Tobi's doing with his cup of tea over at the counter.

"Okay, see? I'm up. And I still have an hour and a half." I grab the cup of tea Tobi made for me or at least the one he put in my mug.

"Good. You know 10:00 is when orientation starts. Registration is at 9:30."

"Man, Roxas! Why didn't you tell me that?!"

"I did, when I threw the pillow at you." He brings me a plate of French toast and sausage. I'm not sure how my Nobody can cook and I can't, but whatever, I'll take it!

"Huh...oops!" I grin before taking a bite of my French toast. I snicker as Roxas sighs at me.

"What time are we meeting Ven?" Van finally moves.

"Well, the train to Twilight Falls leaves at 9:15, and he lives about five minutes from the station, so probably 9ish." Roxas turns away from the clock on the wall.

"So we've got about twenty minutes then." Great...that means I've got about that much time to get all my stuff together. We don't have much today. They're going to talk at us for a while then we get to try a bunch of twenty minute classes that are supposed to give us an idea about what we want to take, but really it's getting us to buy all our books from their store. Anyway, at the end of the day, we get to chose four classes and put them together into our schedules...after all that the University wants an interview with all of us for their magazine. It shouldn't be too bad. We all talked about it earlier and we are going to try and make it so we all get a class together. Still, it's going to be a long day.

I manage one last bite of sausage before we all have to head out into the next part of our lives. I run through one last mental check, backpack, paperwork for the University, cell phone...I think that's everything. Van and I walk behind Roxas and Tobi.

"Oh yeah, how'd your date with Naminé go last night?" I step closer. Roxas didn't talk about it much last night. I got an "it was good" before he fell asleep.

"It was pretty nice. We stayed in town and went to that little cafe that just opened down in the Plaza. It was good, packed too." Roxas realigns his messenger bag.

"So did it make for a good last day of Summer?" I step up beside Roxas that way I can actually be in this conversation.

"Yeah it was an awesome night!" Roxas' face is filled with his smile.

"They're going to meet us at the campus, right?" Ah, crap, I forgot to text Kairi this morning…I'll just say I was running late or something. Double crap…she's already texted me…

"Yep…she and Kairi we're going to go early to check out some of the shops there."

"Kairi likes to shop a lot doesn't she?" Tobi looks over to me.

"But, that's why it's great she's the mayor's daughter, she doesn't expect me to spend all kinds of money on her." That makes everyone laugh… "Not that I wouldn't spend money on her it's just…"

"Sora, don't worry, we're just giving you a hard time." Roxas' is still laughing, but he stops by the time we make it to Terra, Aqua and Ven's house. Roxas knocks on the door and we all get one of those weird mirror moments as he and Ven stand opposite each other.

"Hey guys! Ready to go?" Ven shuts the door as we start up the hill toward the station.

"As I'll ever be I guess."

"Oh come on Tobi! This is going to fun; I mean we're going to be able to act like normal kids for once!" I stuff my phone back in my pocket after responding to Kairi.

"Sorry, but I got to live a normal childhood well minus the past year or so. And last I checked, college is a big deal."

"Oh Tobi, Sora's right this will be fun! I mean we get to hang out with each other every day!" Ven and I smile.

"Minus going to class." Van just had to add the dampener.

"Just lighten up. Look the train leaves in ten minutes, so smile and laugh about it!" Roxas makes a very wide smile that's almost creepy. All five of us do just that as we walk into the Twilight Town Station. Most of the kids that are going to TTU moved into the dorms the other day and we're leaving after most of the people who go to work already left, so it's pretty empty in here. They have all these monitors with the schedule, so that'll be helpful.

"Okay guys, so the Link to Twilight Falls leaves in seven minutes from the platform down that way…" I point off down a hall. The screen has a nice little arrow pointing us in the right direction. The Link is below most of the rest of the station since it has to run underground. It's weird hearing the trains above us as we go down.

"Wow, listen to the echo down here." Ven messes with his voice to play with the echo. The rest of us join right behind him before we all break into laughter that doesn't end until the Link train rushes in. Here we go…I guess it's starting to all set in this time.

"So how long do we have to be on this thing?" Van messes with his hood.

"According to the map we have to switch at Falls Central on to a…blue train…which will take us to University Main after…one, two, three, four stations."

"So about fifteen minutes…ish."

"Why does this have to be so complicated, we shoulda just walked."

"You should've left about an hour ago, then Sora." Tobi starts laughing as he looks up from Ven's map.

"Or at least when I threw the pillow at you!" Roxas gets in on the laughing at my expense. I stick my tongue out at them. He's never going to let me out of that one.

"That was the only time you've ever had to do that!"

"So? I still had to…what happened to being excited for today?" He's still laughing.

"Doesn't mean I can't be tired." I start to laugh…and there goes any chance I had of winning this argument.

I can feel the nerves starting to show up as we get closer. Why is it that I can stare down Maleficent, but college makes me nervous? How does that make any sense? Anyway, with Roxas and Ven leading, we make the switch and get to the campus with plenty of time. We're actually just a bit outside Twilight Falls, so most of the really tall buildings are a ways away, which is kinda nice. I mean coming from an island where our tallest building is probably four floors, I'm okay without them. Here we go...we've got a set of stairs up...this station has a bunch more people in it. Most of them seem our age, so they must be students. A set of doors with sunlight shining in are in front of us. Beyond those doors lies our futures, wow that way too philosophical for me.

"You guys ready?"