Okay guys, now for a very dramatic installment of ‘Dark Rain’.

Xigbar watched with a growing eye as the thing formed into a very delicate hand, then a very slender wrist, followed by a slender and slightly built arm, until a full-formed teenager was standing in the room. He could see straight through him, but he recognized the figure immediately.   Back when they still had hearts, there was a teen he knew by the name of ‘Edym’ a brilliant young man who was an accomplished world musician.  While getting to know the teen, he’d come across something he rather disliked, a very cruel mean streak, that even paled Zexion’s schemes when they were completely played out.   But there the teen stood, the blonde hair tied back in a high tail, long blonde bangs framing his slender face, cruel calculating blue eyes that read everything in the room, and a sadistic smile on his face.  

The figure did not notice him, in fact he only moved towards the bed where sleeping Demyx lay curled up in blankets to warm himself against the sudden cold.  There were some whispered words that he didn’t quite catch, so he made himself go through a portal and come out right above the scene, listening to each word that Edym spoke, chills going down his spine as he listened.
“Demyx, Demyx he’ll come after you again, he always does, and he always will.” Some mumbled cries against the words, but Edym kept going, his face turning into a happy little sneer. “Demyx, Demyx he won’t stop until he has your heart, and you know he won’t.  Even if he has completely forgotten, he’ll always still want your precious heart. My heart.” Demyx groaned in his sleep, but was still unconscious as he spoke again.  “And your Riku? He won’t be able to protect you for long. When Xemnas realizes that he’s been brainwashed, he’ll go after him first, and you won’t be able to do a thing about it.  You’ll be as helpless as that day when Xemnas took your chastity.”   Demyx’s eyes opened blearily, he looked around, but no form was around, Xigbar fell into the ceiling, to avoid being caught and accused of being a pervert, but he kept an eye on the scene.

Demyx looked around blearily, why? Why was he having all these nightmares? He’d re-lived that night for the thousandth time since these nightmares began.  That feeling of helplessness was still stuck to his body, and he hated that feeling. He closed his eyes and took a breath, too afraid to fall back asleep.   But the exhaustion on his body was quickly and strongly pulling his eyelids shut again.  No, he was going to fight it for as long as he could.  But his limbs were growing heavy, and he couldn’t even see straight. Finally though, he gave in and flumped back down on the pillows, asleep before his head hit the pillow.

Xigbar had watched the teen struggle, but unsure of exactly what to do, keeping him awake would mean that he’d be jeopardizing his health. But letting him asleep, he wasn’t sure. That’s when the ghostly form of Edym re-appeared.
“Oh little Demy, you can’t escape me through staying awake. I’m a part of you, know matter what..” The last part was said sickly sweet, and it caused the older member’s stomach to turn.  “I bet now you’re wishing Riku was here, aren’t you? Too bad right? He’s been injured by Xemnas, again.  I bet he’s bleeding all over your hands now, and you can’t do a thing to stop it. You’re not as medically advanced as Aerith is, nor do you have the fighting prowess of most of your friends.”  There was a silent sound from Demyx’s sleeping form.  Xigbar was almost physically sick now. This guy was mentally torturing his nobody.
“Get away from him.” Xigbar barked from the ceiling. Waking up Demyx, and the ghost kind of stared at the one who’d interrupted his monologue.
“Xiggy? What’s going on?” Demyx asked innocently, rubbing a fist into his eye to rub sleep from it.
“It’s your somebody’s ghost.” Xigbar took out his guns, aiming them at the ghost’s head. Demyx’s eyes shot open and he took a look at what he was before he’d become a nobody.  It was hard to see himself as this person; he had really no memory of what happened before he became a nobody.  But the way the person stood, or the way he just looked made Demyx shudder out of weirdness.
“Honestly Xigbar, you’ve gotten senile in your old age. Did you forget that you can’t shoot me with one of your ‘snipes’? I’m a ghost remember?”  The boy’s voice was cold; his blue eyes pierced the yellow of Xigbar’s one good eye, neither one backing down.
“You haven’t seen what Vexen loaded these bad boys with… Now, I want to know, why are you tormenting Demyx?”  Xigbar growled, moving from the ceiling to the floor a better way of protecting Demyx.
“He has something of mine, something I want back.”  He made a move towards Demyx, and Demyx shrunk back into the corner of the bed to tired to even make to much of an effort to run.
“Your heart? When a person gets their heart taken, the somebody is supposed to die, except in the case of the keyblade bearer, he’s just weird.”  Xigbar growled again, moving to a better position, blocking him.
“He may be weird, but he got his heart back, and his nobody got a heart as well. Foolishness I call it, I’ve come to claim what is rightfully mine, and that is what beats in Demyx’s chest.”  The somebody held his hand out, and Demyx felt his heart lurch.
“Not on my watch you’re not.” A dark voice spoke from the doorway, the somebody turned and there standing in the doorway, a familiarly dark keyblade in hand was Riku, as pissed as all hell.

~

Saïx sat up with a start; something was off, way off. He turned towards the man he was sleeping with, and shook his shoulder.
“Xemnas, Xemnas!” His voice was persistent and woke up the older man.
“What?” He grumbled, ever since that night a few weeks ago, they’d been taking their relationship slowly. Making only careful moves and this was the firs time they’d ever slept in the same bed.
“Something up… Can’t you feel it in the air?” Saïx asked, concern reading on his pale face.
“Hmmm?” He sat up as well, trying to exactly piece together what Saïx was saying.
“Come on, we gotta go see what’s going on.” He quickly hopped from the bed, and walked briskly out the door. Xemnas followed a little bit slower and stumbly, what? He’d just woken up!

~

“Ah, if it isn’t the keyblader. Come to steal my heart?” Edym chuckled; Riku slowly came into the room. There was something different, something completely different, and it wasn’t the darkness.  No, it was calmer, more relaxed.
“Shut it. I should have seen something like this coming. If it’s not Xemnas then it’s something else.”  Riku’s voice was calm, and it unnerved Xigbar a tiny bit.
“Xemnas is the least of your worries, since he got his heart back; he’s been all regretful about that rape. But, I sadly, did not get what was rightfully mine when the hearts came back to the nobodies. My heart back.”  Riku looked at him curiously, but then it clicked.
“Wait, you’re the ghost of his somebody?”  Riku gestured towards Demyx who was staring wide-eyed at the new figure. None of this was making sense to him. Riku recalled asking about his somebody, and Demyx had merely shrugged his shoulders and said he didn’t remember.  
“Yes, forced into this form because my heart does not beat in my chest anymore.” The ghost hissed, clearly annoyed that he’d been interrupted.
“Sorry, but you can not have that heart back, for it belongs to me, as mine is his.” Demyx smiled at that.  
“If that’s the case, then I’ll just have to take yours!”  The figure lunged at him, but before Riku could react in a block, a red light stopped the being dead in his tracks.
“Ah, Edym long time no see.” Xemnas looked at him with disapproving eyes.
“Hello there Xemnas…” The words were cold, and seemed to freeze the air even more.
“As I do recall, you should be dead.  When the heartless took your heart, your will lived on in Demyx. You should not even be after him.” Xemnas’ voice was as firm and cold. But the somebody laughed.
“Ah, Xemnas, don’t remember your little discovery? In fact didn’t your little friend Inezo have one just like me?”
“What’s he talking about?” Riku held way to dawn in front of him, braced and ready for another attack. Xigbar placed a hand to his forehead.
“Dammit, I forgot about the memory wisps.” He grumbled, Saïx, Demyx and Riku looked at the two older men.
“Oh, they never told you? It was one that they came across on accident for you see. Inezo and I were inseparable. He was mine, and I could control him, but when he became a nobody, I was attacked as well. The reason why Demyx didn’t show up before either Saïx or Axel was simple. He hadn’t been created yet. Technically of the thirteen, Inezo and I were attacked and lost our hearts first. But we became what was later discovered to be called ‘Memory Wisps’ a wisp of a somebody. Inezo was afraid, while I took this advantage and twisted what I could from it. We played it cool, acted like we were still normal. But then Zexion showed up with that damn book and hid Inezo in its pages. I managed to escape because no nobody had appeared for me yet. I hid away, kept an eye on things, and then the nobody came.”
“Don’t speak like Demyx is a thing.” Riku growled, the calm gone now, but anger fueling his words.  “Yea he may have your heart in his chest, but he took it to a far greater advantage then you did. You just used others for your sick whims; he’s used it to learn and try to understand others. Most can say that they are kind, but only a few can actually be proven to be that.” Riku’s face had taken a look towards pure rage. How dare this ‘memory wisp’ talk so badly about Demyx?  Especially when Demyx was sitting right there?
“Riku, that’s enough.”  Xemnas held a hand out, so he was back. “Edym here was actually an essential part in the creation of Demyx. For if it wasn’t him loosing a heart we wouldn’t have gotten Demyx…” Edym smiled triumphantly, a look that twisted his face into something feral.
“But it is also the reason why Hallow Bastion was destroyed in the first place.”  Xemnas stared the ghost down. “For you see, before Edym showed his face and became something to Inezo, we were indeed studying the heart…. But we never wanted to go as far as to get our own hearts taken, and to disgrace the name of our teacher.” Xemnas began explaining.
“But one day, Inezo was sent out on an errand. Something he often volunteered for. Curious, Xaldin, who was Dilan at the time, and I went after him. We found out why he always went out. He had a boyfriend, this fiend here.” Xigbar motioned to him.
“When we found out, we were, surprised, but mostly alright with it. But when Edym became interested in our experiments, we asked that he was not to come around the castle anymore….”  Xemnas continued, keeping a light saber squarely pointed at the memory wisp.
“Oh so sad,” Another voice interrupted, this one was cold, almost cruel as it stared at the memory wisp. Slate blue hair covering half of his face as a cold bluish-grey eye glared at him. “My somebody was heart-broken, went after his one true love, but ended up loosing his heart because Edym was too curious for his own good.  They were both able to play it off as if they were still somebodies, until their heartlesses showed up and began wrecking havoc. Ansem the wise managed to escape as his remaining apprentices fought the heartlesses with valor, all of them lost their hearts that day.  Because of the foolish mistake of my somebody.  But, now that time has gone by, seeing that you’ve decided to show your face Edym, why don’t you join your lover…” He held out a hand, and suddenly a giant book was in his hands, a huge one at that.  

“And now…” The book flew open, and pages sprang from the binding, swirling and twirling in a tornado of type, swirling around the memory wisp, but the smirk remained on his face, it was almost as if he had planned it for right before the pages could suck him into the book, he grabbed Riku’s wrist and both disappeared inside.

~

Demyx, who had pretty much forgotten his voice during the whole bit with Edym, but when he saw that Riku was sucked into the pages of Zexion’s Lexicon, he jumped from the bed, stumbled.
“Zexion! You have to get him back!” Demyx gasped, tears were threatening to spill from his eyes. Zexion looked from him to the book. If he let Riku out, then there was a chance that both Edym and Inezo would get out.  But then again, if he could find a way to get Riku out with out getting the other two out. Well, it wouldn’t be bad if Inezo came out by accident, he’d more then likely cringe at the sight of everyone, begin bawling and demand to know where Edym was.
“I don’t know if I can release Riku without releasing Edym or Inezo…” Zexion started, unsure of how to finish it. He had Xigbar, Xemnas and Saïx all staring at him; Demyx’s tear-stained face only convinced him of what could happen should both the memory wisps come out.  “But I shall try Demyx.” He finally sighed. He hated it when the other member looked at him like that. He slowly opened the pages, leafing through gently but quickly. But then sighed a sigh of relief when he found that Riku was in a section all to himself, in a setting the really fitted him (A/N: In my opinion when Zexion puts a person in his Lexicon a type of background that reflects the person shows up behind them) It showed Riku sitting underneath an elm tree, night falling as he watched the moon with an almost relaxed position, a sort of longing about him.

~

Riku didn’t know what exactly had happened; one minute he’d been standing there, the next he’d been sucked into a big ass book. He looked around, it was really dark inside.  He closed his eyes and opened them again. This time there was a beautiful forest and rolling hills. He looked around again; he didn’t see that psycho Edym, or anyone else for that matter. He took a seat beneath one of the elms and looked up. There was a full moon rising, and it looked truly lovely. He felt something in his heart give, what he wouldn’t give for Demyx to be sitting here next to him, fit and healthy again, watching as the moon rose.

Suddenly the beauteous scene was stripped from around him and he was in a floating mess of papers, and then with a ‘pop’ he flew from the book, hit the far wall with his back, and landed upside down on Demyx’s bed against the wall.
“You know what Zexion? I really hate your book.” He grumbled, crossing his arms and glaring at the schemer as best as he could.
“I got you out, that should be all that matters.” Zexion chuckled, seeing the teen in such a compromising position was humorous.
“I still hate that book. It’s creepier then hell in there.” He continued his glare. Ignoring the fact that Xigbar was damn near close to laughing his head off.
“Here, let me help you.” Demyx offered, wiping tears from his eyes quickly, and helping the teen right himself. Riku shook his head once, getting the blood rushing back to where it was supposed to, and looked over at Demyx.
“Thanks love.” He smiled gently at him, wiping the remaining tears from his face and placing a gentle kiss on his cheek.
“Alright you two, we’ll leave you alone.” Xigbar grinned, shoving the other three out of the room to allow the two some privacy.

~

“Okay, what’s the real reason why Edym came back?” Xigbar turned to Xemnas, almost feeling that he had something to do with it.
“No clue, maybe he was tired of hiding.” Xemnas shrugged his shoulders.
“Maybe there was another reason, because look.” Zexion had flipped his book open, and was staring at a page where it showed a content looking Edym, sitting beneath an elm, a head was laying on his lap, the hair was a dark ebony, a small pair of reading glasses was sliding down his nose, a book resting in his lap. A tiny content smile on his face as well.
“True love again?” Saïx asked, Xigbar merely nodded. That made sense. If the memory wisp of Edym was involved with the memory wisp of Inezo then they would naturally want to be together. Even if it was in a prison of sorts.
“Well, we’ve done all we can do for tonight, so thank you, but let’s all go to bed!” Xigbar playfully ordered, and headed to his own room, the other three following since their rooms were in the same direction.

~

Once the door was closed, Riku hugged his lover close. He’d almost lost him; he could have felt the darkness pulling on him that was what had brought him here. He’d felt something he hated, that cold and familiar pull of the darkness, waiting for him to loose his lover to the memory wisp.
“I was so worried” He finally whispered, the slightly ocean smell of Demyx was comforting.
“I’m sorry for worrying you.” Demyx sighed, relief in his voice. He found his fingers playing gently with pieces of silver.
“I don’t mind worrying about you.” Riku sighed gently.  He didn’t mind worrying about the water user, in fact now he actually would have done anything to keep Demyx somehow in his thoughts.  
“I’m sorry you had to go through all of this for me.” Demyx sighed now; his heart was truly full of the feeling of regret.
“I would go through hell a million times if it meant I could bring a smile to your face.”  Riku now stared him dead in the eyes, his aquamarine eyes were oddly clear. “Hell if it meant giving up any chance of paradise, I’d give it all up for you.” He placed a hand on each side of his face, gently caressing with his thumb as he spoke. “I love you Demyx, I won’t let anything happen to you if I can prevent it.  But even if I can’t prevent it, I’ll do anything to make sure that you can become yourself again. If you can’t be yourself, I’ll still love you.” He nuzzled his nose affectionately with his own.  Demyx felt the regret flee from his heart as a very familiar and comfortable love filled it instead.
“Riku,” Demyx finally spoke, his voice soft and quiet, Riku found himself rather liking that compared to the loud voices of almost everyone they knew.  “I-I love you too, “ Demyx stuttered out, even though he’d said it more then once before, it felt perfect saying it again. A gentle kiss was graced upon his lips as his lover smiled softly.
“I know, it’s one of the things I love about you.”  Riku softly laughed, for some reason, he now was afraid to break Demyx.  What if just being a tiny bit rough broke him?  With all that had happened he was concerned that even a tiny kiss could ruin him.  
“Riku? What’s wrong?” Demyx asked, was there something going on in his mind that he could not see? He placed a gentle hand under his chin and lifted it to where he could look into aquamarines, locking with them and trying to read them.

Riku couldn’t think of words when it came to looking into Demyx’s eyes.  The lovely sea blues that could keep him still for hours were locked on his.  
“N-nothing Demy.” He finally answered; he couldn’t tell him that he was now thinking he was too fragile.
“Riku, I know that look, and I want you to know I’m a lot tougher then I look.” A look of playful determination was on his face.  Riku could have laughed because of the pure adorableness of it.
“I know that! It’s just that with all the stuff that’s been happening, I don’t want to hurt you.”  Demyx saw insecurity floating in those eyes, now where had that come from?
“Riku, you can do what you want to me, I’ve already given you my heart, you’ve taken my body a few times but you’ll always have my heart.” Demyx returned the nuzzling with one of his own.  “Besides, you’re the only one who’s made me feel normal again. Although this business with Edym is a bit weird…”
“It is, it almost feels planned…” Riku voiced his concerns on the topic.  Why would he just show up? And why would he come after Demyx, well he stated that one but still, it was odd.
“I guess we shouldn’t dwell on it to much yet. What you need now is a good night’s sleep. We’ll see what the others have to say in the morning.” Riku gently pushed him down on the bed, and laid down besides him, Demyx clung to him like a five year old clings to a teddy bear.
“Night Riku,” He whispered against his chest, letting sleep catch up to him as he felt strong arms wrap around him.  If he’d been able to stay awake long enough, he would have seen the very troubled look on his boyfriend’s face.  As Riku listened to the calm breathing that signaled Demyx was asleep, he pondered, this was the second time someone had come after Demyx’s heart. Would this be the last?

~

Morning broke softly over the peaceful island. Gentle caressing rays moved over the sand-scape, into the dense jungle and finally into the small quiet village where in a house on the edge of town, no one was stirring yet.  Except for a couple of souls.

Zexion had always been considered weird, well, when it came to his sleep schedule that is. Some nights, he’d stay up until the wee hours of the morning, fall asleep and be good for a whole week, other times if he went to bed early, it was murder trying to wake him up Now, this was an instance where he’d woken up early. Lying next to him was Lexeaus, still asleep.  Zexion looked at the book that lay haphazardly on the floor.  Inside it contained Inezo and Edym, but his heart was split now.  When he was a somebody, he’d greatly cared, loved, Edym.  But here he was, the now completed nobody, not really the somebody he had been but, still kind of sort of, the nobody. He glanced down over at Lexeaus, watching as the man’s chest rose and fell silently as he slept. His hand wandered past his face, and gently fingered the rusty reddish-brown hair.   What if he’d found Demyx first? Would he have attached to him? He silently mused, what if, he’d actually fallen for Demyx? Then he almost laughed at that.  

Even before Edym had shown up, Inezo had always admired Eleaus, always.  He’d always looked up to the older one for advice and guidance. More then once hoping for a little pat on the head or an acknowledged ‘well done’.   For you see, Eleaus had been a very distant person, much like his nobody. But it wasn’t a ‘thinking’ distant; it was more like a ‘shy’ distant. And Inezo had wanted to draw him out of that shell but, when someone you care for is so shy, that even you can’t bring them out, it’s hard on you. That was why he’d gotten with Edym, to forget how Eleaus made him feel. Zexion shook his head free of these thoughts.  He was Lexeaus’ now, he had him to himself, and for once, he didn’t want to share. He got out of the bed, and placed the book on the shelf, better to keep it safe then to let it lay about where someone could find it. He then fell back on the bed, placed a gentle kiss on the man’s forehead and snuggled close, hoping to catch a few more Z’s before he had to get ready for the day.

~

As the morning sunlight fell into a certain berserker’s room, the occupant lay asleep on the bed. Hair the color of the sky fell across a pale face emblazed with an ‘x’ between his closed eyes.  Gentle breathing as he lay in the arms of the one he cared for.  Xemnas was awake; he wasn’t going to move because if he did, he’d wake up Saïx.  But he lay there, thinking. Last night, had brought some terrible memories back to him, ones of a time before he’d been happily accepted back into the house.  It felt more like a dream, but these newly surfaced memories proved why he now had a scar running the length of his front and back.   He couldn’t believe he’d been such a dick.  He’d gone after Demyx, again, and had almost taken away his heart. He almost physically cringed at the thought. How could he have? Where had his rational reasoning gone? Saïx shifted in his sleep, moving a little closer to him.  *A/N: They are clothed mind you, get them dirty minds outta the gutter right now!* Xemnas adjusted his arms around the smaller body. He’d had something all along and he’d been foolish and hadn’t seen it. In fact, he’d even threatened and scared him. Again a cringe, he was a dick.

He felt he didn’t deserve this, he didn’t deserve Saïx’s affection, nor any form of forgiveness. If anything, he should have been banned from the house, and yet… would he have been able to survive if something like that happened?  Maybe that was why he’d gone ‘Kingdom Hearts Crazy’ after getting his heart. No one had come looking for him, as he tried to think back as to why he’d been a crazy fool.  But it was mostly a fuzzy blank, a couple of faces flashed before his eyes though, some looked vaguely familiar, other’s not so much.  But the familiar ones
filled him with dread.  Did this mean that possibly, there was a new threat? Again, Saïx shifted in his sleep. Xemnas placed a gentle kiss on the forehead of the sleeping man in his arms. He’d do all he could to redeem himself, especially to Saïx, and Demyx as well.

~

As the house began to stir, everyone avoided Demyx’s room, knowing he was sleeping, and the fact that Riku was in there with him was a good deterrent. A protective Riku was like a mother bear, only ten times worse.  Xigbar pulled Xemnas and Zexion into the study, shut the door and at first said nothing.
“Xemnas, Zexion I want your opinion, what the fuck was the deal with last night? The Edym I remember did not give up easily! In fact, he raised hell when he wasn’t allowed into the labs after that accident involving my eye!” Xigbar’s face was deathly pale, something that was odd for the man. He was also worried about this; there was a nagging feeling in his chest that didn’t want to die. There was a knock, and a familiar silver-haired teen entered the room, a look of worry on his features.
“He’s resting now,” Riku’s face looked weary, he’d probably been up most of the night, keeping a close eye on Demyx.
“Penny for your thoughts Riku.” Zexion turned to him. Riku just smirked.
“Why give me a penny when my thoughts are almost the same as yours?”  Riku expected to get a snappy comment back, but they all kind of looked at each other, some unspoken agreement among them.
“Now the question is, what is it?” Xigbar crossed his arms as he leaned against a desk, pondering what was going to happen next.

~

Demyx awoke to moonlight. How long had he been asleep? It couldn’t have been long if it was night time outside. Then he heard a voice, a gentle voice, and one he recognized.
“Evening sleeping beauty.” He felt a gentle pair of lips grace his forehead, they felt cool to him.
“How late is it?” He asked, stretching.
“Almost midnight,” Riku whispered into his ear. Demyx now seemed better.
“Wow, I didn’t know it had gotten so late!” Demyx would have moved to get up, but he was comfortable in his bed, especially when Riku was there to make him feel comfortable.
“Yea, are you going to go back to sleep, or are you pretty much up for now?” Riku asked, Demyx wasn’t sure, he still felt tired, but then his stomach protested rather loudly. He turned a shade of pink from embarrassment.
“I think that means, you’re up for now. Come on, I’ll make you something.”  Riku helped Demyx to his feet. He was still a tiny bit awkward on them but, he didn’t stumble once.

As Riku raided the fridge for a decent meal for the freshly woken up nobody sitting at the little island in the middle of the kitchen.  Finally digging through the cupboards, he found some soup, put it in a bowl, and popped it into the microwave.   He then leaned against the island, and stared at Demyx for a moment.
“What?” Demyx giggled shyly, was there something on his face?
“Have any nightmares?” Riku asked, cocking an eyebrow, if Xigbar’s theory was correct then the nightmares should have stopped.
“Nope, nothing but pleasantness.” Demyx smiled at him, Riku gave a soft smile back. That was good, all he needed now was more sleep and he’d be fine.  But Xigbar’s worried words came back to him, he’d mentioned how every attack on Demyx, had been for his heart, and there was really only a couple of people who could control a memory wisp. The nobody or somebody of said memory wisp, or a completely different nobody.  What if there was some new organization, running around out there… There was a rather annoying ‘beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep’ signaling that food was done and bringing him out of his thoughts. He grabbed it out, grabbed a spoon and handed it to him. Worrying would have to wait for now, because Demyx was alive and well, and there was yet to be any type of contact with any new nobodies.

~

The girl removed a pair of binoculars from her red eyes.  She’d been instructed by their superior to keep an eye on the ex-nobodies. And so far, she’d only felt a kind of jealously where her heart used to be. She brushed a stray purpled bang from her eyes, great, she quietly sighed, she had to watch a soap opera.   Her physic was slight build, gently harsh features on her face, and purpled hair on the right, blue hair on the left, and white taking up the back.  A blue bang fell into her face and she grumbled at the sudden cold that graced her bare legs. For, she had altered her coat to be shorter then knee length, and wore graceful ballet flats on her feet. She grumbled again and continued her watch, ignoring as another familiar form came up behind her.
“Xerbi…” A man’s voice, it could only mean one thing.
“Number five, what the hell do you want?” She adjusted the binoculars as the keyblader escorted the former number nine to his room.
“I’m to take your shift, so…”
“No, I was assigned to this, and you know that the superior does not just hand out missions as shifts.” She growled, the man standing behind her made her skin crawl with revulsion, such an odd thing for a nobody to be feeling.
“Okay, fine you caught me, I want a date.”
“No way Normaxec!” She turned form her post to glare at the nobody. His face had the nobody symbol tattooed along the right side of his face, his short chin-length brown hair seemed black in the moonlight, and she could see the funny little antenna that popped out right at his hair-line, dancing in the wind.  There was a glint in his yellow eyes, and she did not like it.
“Why not? The previous organization did it.”  She cut him off.
“They were idiotic fools. They only knew that Kingdom Hearts would return their hearts, they also knew how to become somebodies again. And it was a pure stroke of luck that Axgeg even found that memory wisp!  So back off, I want nothing to do with you, you gas-guzzling freak.” She growled the last statement and went back to observing.

~

Now, Normaxec would have fought her on the line, but yea, he did have power over gasoline, and yea, it had something to do with the gas prices on the mainland, but he could tell she was not thrilled. It was better to leave her alone. He sighed and wondered down to the camp. It was easy to see that no one really liked the living arrangements, for their superior, a man who was only referred to as that, lived in a giant tent, a water-proof, bug-proof, weather-proof tent. While the rest of them either shared, or had one to themselves.  He glanced around; he could see number two, a teen girl with long red hair and violet eyes.  She wore an assortment of bracelets on her arms, it was said that those helped with her power of ‘art’. Whenever she drew, her drawings could come to life, the more detail the more powerful they were.  She was busy setting up the tent she shared with Xerbi.  The two twin members, Hannsonx and Shanxnon were busy practicing their fusions. Since they each had been close to each other as somebodies, they had joined at the same time, and were numbers four point one and four point two.  The older of two (Hannsonx) had dark hair, was spontaneous and fun and he got along better with her.  The youngest (Shanxnon) had white hair, and was quieter and not fun at all. Both had grey eyes, and both were pretty powerful when together. Get them by themselves and they were weak.  

Then there was him, number five, Normaxec, the nobody of Xerbi’s ex-crush.  But now she hated his guts, figured as much.  Then Xeny, yes, that was his name; he was busy generating energy with his portable generator. He was super pale, and had those silver eyes that seemed to know what you were doing, his purple hair pulled back in a braid.  Standing next to him was Xareyn, a dark skinned teen with black hair cut short framing his face; he was the polar opposite of Xeny.  But they got along great, and right now, he was keeping a giant storm at bay.

Numbers eight and nine, or Nebxous and Xuuiky were off somewhere, probably sexing, since their somebodies had been really close.  Nebxous, was a goof-off who could peer into a person’s history, and Xuuiky, could break the bonds between people, and anyone or thing they cared for. There was also another part of his power, that no one dared to question, so most left him alone. Nebxous had black hair, and was tanner then Xuuiky, and had black eyes, while Xuuiky was paler then a ghost, and had deep blue hair that fell over his left side, making the scars visible on the other side.  Then there was Xyhmre, she was the size of a small child, and had bright pink hair and adorable green eyes. Of course, her element was literal-ness. Like if he were to go up to her and say ‘Ugh,  Maxsen needs to go suck some eggs!’ then he’d do it, that was her power. She took things literally. Xadvid was a bore, literally, he made things so boring that it was exhausting to be around him. His brown hair was a mop on his head, falling into dulled brown eyes, and he always had a bored expression on his face no one knew his weapon. Tezilabexh, was in control of magic, and she was odd to say in the nicest way. She had green hair, and green eyes, and always knew to much about all the others.  Then lastly was number 13 Xalshey, and he could make puppets of a person, and control them. He had red hair, and always wore an angered calm expression. No one knew how he did it, but you never mentioned that his somebody’s name was Ashley.  Then he spotted Axgeg, his power was voice, he could amek someone bow to him by making his voice high-pitched and squeaky, but then, he could also remove an enemy’s voice if he needed to. Pale skin and brown eyes stared at him for a minute, before he crawled into the ten, with a groan he made his way to the tent, it would be a long while before they could make a full blown attack.

~

Days passed into weeks, and there was no sign of any other dangers. And it got to the point where they now felt half-way safe to let him leave the house.   Demyx didn’t mind that people were concerning over him but… at times it got annoying. Like when he and Riku would go to the cave and they’d catch Xigbar following them. More then once Xigbar was accused of being a creepy stalker by Demyx on more then one occasion. Some odd things began happing though, no one knew how it happened, but Sora and Roxas got into a huge fight. And somehow or another, and Namine agreed with Sora, and Kairi with Roxas.  And somehow, they got switched up, and switched boyfriends. So now, Sora was with Namine, and Roxas with Kairi. But then she and Roxas got at it, and Axel came to Kairi’s aid, and those two started going out. So now Roxas was the odd man out.

But as many came to find out, it was odd that Axel and Kairi were together. (A/N: The friend who got me into Sora/Namine got me into Axel/Kairi, so yea…. Please don’t hurt me!) They could match each other, word for word, wit for wit and surprisingly when they did mock battles, she could keep up with him better then even Roxas could.  Axel rather liked that, he didn’t like having to slow down for someone, but if she could keep up, then he was more then happy to keep her around.

So now, almost three months later, it was almost Christmas time, but most islanders didn’t notice because there was no real change in the weather. But Demyx was thrilled. This meant he could get away with giving presents, instead of just putting them in a person’s room secretly and anonymously.   He began by getting the organization members out of the way, most of those gifts were pretty obvious things, then the gang from Twilight town, again, mostly easy, then the group from Hallow Bastion, fairly easy. Then came the islanders. Most were easy, but then it came to Riku. He was completely lost what could he give him that he hadn’t already?  He went over, and over the list in his mind of things he knew Riku liked, but most of them were things that he already had, or that they did together.  

Riku on the other hand, had a plan. A romantic evening, just the two of them, a nice dinner at Ratatouille’s Restaurant (Owned by a Rat and his owner), then to go see the concert in Atlantica, then possibly some dancing, he knew Demyx would like that, but he still hadn’t picked a good spot yet. The places he’d found while exploring the worlds on a day off from school mostly were filled with negative persons, or the service just plain sucked. Either way, he was hoping for a decent spot to show itself soon, so he kept an ear out at school. Luckily, there was talk of a new club opening right there on the islands.  So, all he had to do, was keep it a secret from Demyx until the twenty third. Which was proving harder and harder as the days seemed to creep closer to the date.

Demyx, unaware of the plan that Riku had cooked up, continued searching for a perfect present. One day, he searched the market place, and found an odd little shop he’d never come across before. It was simple in design, like every one, it was a simple grey building, but the sign on the door read ‘Open for Business~ the shop for all your needs’. Curious, he decided that it couldn’t hurt to take a peek.  Inside, it was extremely bright, not light wise, but bright in the design. Bright flashy colors decorated the wall in paint splashes, the merchandise was both exotic and rare, he’d never seen so many gadgets and gizmos except for in Cid’s workshop back at Hollow Bastion.
“Hello there! And welcome to Random! How may I help you today?” The teen girl at the cash register smiled brightly, her longish red hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, an assortment of armbands on her wrists, and there was a sketch pad lying near the cash register.
“Oh, I’m just looking, thank you though.” He smiled softly and nodded once, then looked about the store. A phone rang in the back, and the girl went to go get it. He didn’t pay much attention. Then something caught his eye.  He’d heard Riku complain of his Blitzball being worthless since it had a hole in it, and was slowly losing air and speed.  And sitting right there on the shelf was a very handsome looking one. Its color was dark, deep ebony and its raised surfaces were soft silver, reminding him oddly of the darkness. But to him, it looked just perfect. He picked it up gently, it felt weightless. And from the times he’d played, that was how the ball was supposed to feel.  With a smile of triumphant he went over the cash register, the girl had returned. Her smile still bright on her face.
“Oooo, who’s this for? Your girlfriend I bet.” She smiled, her violet eyes glinting mischievously.
“Actually no, it’s for my boyfriend.” He corrected with an embarrassed smile.
“Oh! Then this one is on the house! Merry Christmas!” She smiled and wrapped the present up nice and tight, then handed it off to him.
“Umm-gee thanks.” He smiled softly and headed out the door.

~

Riku was on the other side of town, looking for some supplies for their trip in a couple of days.  He walked past the stores, stepped into the ones that carried what he needed, then continued on his way. He was deep in thought, for some reason, he couldn’t place it though, but for some reason, he felt like he was being followed.   Deciding not to immediately head home, he decided to go to the Blitzball arena, where (Thankfully in his opinion) he met up with Wakka.
“Hey, what’s happin’ man?”  The casual teen asked, a ball under his arm, he was ready for a game.
“Nothing much, how are things with Selphie?”  He asked casually, whatever had been following him was close by.
“She’s all like, ‘true love’ and I’m all like ‘You’re crazy’ and then we’re always like, rawr!” Riku listened to him with the most interested look on his face, but really he was trying to figure out who was following him. The steps were light, most likely a girl, sneaky and determined, meaning they were sure they wouldn’t get caught.  But then he listened harder, no, the steps were not light like a girl’s, more like a teen boy’s, more like his own.  He listened as Wakka went on about his problems with Selphie, putting his two cents every now and then.  The steps had stopped, maybe the person had stopped. Then Wakka decided from Riku’s suggestion to go and patch things up with his girlfriend. Riku turned to the individual.

Riku almost gasped when he saw the figure, he looked like every other punk, but something was off, maybe the fact that he was smiling rather maliciously.
“Hello there Riku,” Riku would have whirled back with mild surprise, but he recognized the cloak the individual wore, it was long and black, a pair of boots were probably on the feet, and in one hand he held a pair of scissors.
“Who are you?” He asked cautiously, the youth’s hair was deep blue, and covered the left side of his face, four visible scares scrapped across his cheek on the right, and a single scheming red eye stared at him.  
“Xuuiky, but that’s none of your concern. For you see, things are about to change between you and your little boyfriend.” Then before Riku could register what was going on, Xuuiky ducked and quickly tripped his feet from underneath him. Riku summoned his keyblade; the teen had scissors, how bad could it be?

~

Demyx got home, placed the present in the hiding place he’d put all the other gifts and went to help finish decorating the house. Then there was a rather annoying knock on the door.
“I GOT IT!!” Roxas shouted above the din of the busy house getting ready for the holiday.  Roxas ran to the door, quickly fixed his shirt, and opened the door, ignoring the snickering behind him.
“Yo kid, what’s up?”  A red-head smiled at the blonde at the door. His long red hair was pulled pack in a pony-tail at the nape of his neck, and it went to about mid-back. He gave the little blonde a half-hug. They’d been getting closer and closer with each visit, ever since he’d visited with Sephiroth’s three little brothers. The cry-baby, the psycho and the girly-one had been interesting at first, but living with the three was torture, but now they lived with their brother, and for all he knew, Larxene adored all three of them. Enjoying each quirk to an evil extent.
“We’re getting ready for Christmas!” Roxas beamed, his blue eyes alight. He rather liked Reno, more like a ‘like like’. For he was different, he was cocky yeah, but he also always had a way of knowing what he shouldn’t. So, when he needed info, he was the first person you could rely on to get it. Except for the fact that he was rather klutz as the bruises on his arms and legs would explain, he always had a smile and a remark. He gazed up, finding the familiar blue eyes, with the little bit of red eyeliner he’d draw under his eyes to make them more noticeable, and then he realized, he wasn’t wearing his goggles, and his usually spiky hair, was completely flat.
“How’d you get your hair to stay down?” Roxas asked, keeping a giggle in.
“Lots of hair gel Roxy, lot’s of hair gel. Now, I need to speak with Xiggy, Xemy and Zexy.” He had long stopped using their full names; instead he used shortened names, much to the dismay of most of the group.
“Oh, okay, let me get them…”  Roxas looked down a tiny bit dejected, but when he turned around, a pair of arms had laced themselves around his middle.
“Don’t worry, it’s just business, after that, I’m all yours for the holiday~” He whispered into his ear, causing a blush to grace the face of the younger teen.  
“O-okay…” Roxas then hurried off to get the older members. Reno stared after him; laying in the backseat of his black BMW was Riku. He’d found him passed out in some black alley when he’d been driving by.  What was odd was the way he had looked. He vaguely remembered what he looked like the last time he’d seen him, but this time, he looked as dead as a ghost, no, worse. His skin had been chalky white, and his lips were a blue, like he’d been frostbitten, or left out in the cold for to long, but what was even more worrisome was the many cuts on his body.  Now, he had often liked to tease the teen of being an ‘emo’, but this was rather sickening.  

Xigbar walked up to the red-head first.
“What’s going on Reno?” He crossed his arms and waited.
“I have to show you, but you are not going to like it, neither did I when I found it yo.”  Reno motioned for the older man to follow, Xigbar did, uncertain of what he’d find. When Reno opened the back seat of the car, Riku was coming too, shaking violently, his eyes scanned wildly before settling down on Xigbar and Reno. His expression became less wild, but when he opened his mouth to speak, not a sound came out.
“Riku?” Xigbar asked, Riku opened his mouth again, no sound. Not even a raspy sound of his voice trying to come out.
“Riku! What the hell happened?” Xigbar helped the cut up teen out of the car. The teen merely shook his head at the help, and made a motion of writing. Just then, Xemnas and Zexion joined them from the house.
“What’s wrong?” Zexion’s eyes widened. Riku went to speak again, but again, no sound. He placed a hand to his throat. He had to warn them, he had to!
“He can’t speak. We need to get him inside and checked out. Someone has to make a distraction.” Xigbar reasoned. The two looked at each other, and then Reno.
“Whoa, why are you two lookin’ at me funny?”  The red head backed up against the car. But then, he was grabbed and shoved inside. With a sigh, he quickly thought up a distraction. Of course, he’d have to make up for it later with Roxy.
“Reno! What’s with that face?” Roxas looked at him with a purely curious face of cuteness.
“Play along alright?” He whispered into his ear, swirling his tongue along the lobe. Roxas turned a bright red, but played along, knowing he’d find out later.  
“R-Renooo” He let it out as a low moan, one that could be heard in the other room. A few heads turned, and a couple went to investigate. Then there were some loader groans, and the rest, except for Vexen, went to investigate.

Being quick, they ushered Riku through the front door and down into the lab, Vexen following.

~

“Well, he looks fine except for all the cuts and bruises.” Vexen finished wrapping the teen’s arm in gauze, and went to the many cuts decorating his chest, “But as for why he can’t speak, I don’t know. For that you’d have to get Namine down here.”  Vexen wrapped the gauze quickly, knowing the teen would rather be doing something else from his urgent expression.  He made the motion for pen and paper again. Vexen handed him a pad of paper. Then Riku jotted down an urgent message, and handed it off to Xigbar. He read it, and his face paled.
“Riku…Is this true?” Riku nodded. “FUCK!!!!” Xigbar cursed loudly, and it may have been heard upstairs, but if it was, then no one noticed.

~

Riku tried in vain to use his voice. He couldn’t, not even a little moan would escape his lips. He couldn’t believe it. Of all the things that could have come from that fight, he had to loose his voice! There was no way that was possible! He thought back to the battle, the other teen had moved eerily like a girl, almost like he’d been raised to be feminine, but it had to be an attribute that stayed when he became a nobody. Then he thought back, there had been another there, standing in the shadows. Ugh, that was why, he could talk fine, until about the time he blacked-out. The teen he’d been fighting had managed to hit a pressure point. And he was sure he’d heard a ‘snip’ of something. But of what, he wasn’t sure. He lay down on the guest bed. He was in Xigbar’s room, which also served as a sick ward slash guest room.  He lay there thinking, how was he going to tell Demyx about their date? How would he even be able to enjoy himself if the one he was with couldn’t speak? He flopped onto his stomach. He hated this, hated it, hated it, hated it.  But then, he felt an odd burning in his throat, it hurt to even breath.

~

Xigbar came downstairs to find a bright red Roxas, a smug Reno, and a concerned Demyx. He pulled him aside and explained some of the situation, and told him he could visit Riku, but he had to be careful of all the bandaging. Demyx nodded and headed upstairs. Walking into the room, he noticed Riku stiffen, and then turn to face him. Riku’s face blanched visibly, his lips were tinged blue, and his skin was still a pasty white.
“Riku! Xigbar told me that you’d lost your voice!” Demyx sat down on the bed next to him. Riku sat up, hugging the now smaller one closer to him.  He hated that he couldn’t speak, that he couldn’t whisper encouraging words to the other, or that he couldn’t even tell him how much he cared for him. Now he hated himself for being so weak.
“Don’t worry; I’ll help take care of you!” Demyx smiled, Riku flashed a questioning look. “Call it payback for all that you’ve done for me.” Demyx kissed his cheek, gaining one from the other.   That was when an overwhelming pain overcame Riku. The burning seemed to over ride his system, and he couldn’t help this new urge, as he placed kiss after kiss down Demyx’s jaw, then down to his neck. The scent of the other was now intoxicating him, almost to the point of a raw hunger overpowering him, he sucked at the skin, leaving his mark on his neck. Demyx didn’t know what had overcome his boyfriend, but he liked the way it felt, but then when he felt a prick on his neck, he knew that something was off.