Summary: Part I of II. Axel, Roxas, Demyx, and Zexion are sent to get a Christmas tree to decorate The Castle That Never Was. It wouldn't be that hard, except that Fate seems to hate Zexion today.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters associated with Kingdom Hearts nor am I making any money by writing this. This is merely for entertainment purposes.

Satan's Tree Part I

Christmas was approaching. It was the time of year Zexion hated most because it was so damn cold and it was the time of year when he was the most prone to colds. Vexen had insisted that Nobodies couldn't get sick, but time and time again, Zexion proved him wrong by getting cold after cold. It was the worst in the winter. He was so miserable.

In the World That Never Was, the Castle That Never Was was undergoing a transformation for the holidays. This was the first year that they were together as an Organization, all fourteen of them so they decided to celebrate Christmas together. It would make them feel at least a bit normal so it was easier to pretend that they had hearts and feelings. Every member was participating whether they wanted to or not, including the newest member, the mysterious Xion.

"Hey Zex are you coming?" Axel broke through Zexion's thoughts, making him cringe when he heard Axel's nickname for him.

"Yes, I'm coming eight," Zexion replied, wiping his nose with a Kleenex.

He followed Axel into Where Nothing Gathers. He realized that he couldn't get into his chair without teleporting and cursed softly.

"Need a hand, Zexion?" Axel grinned.

"Shut up," Zexion muttered.

"You didn't answer my question."

"Yes." Zexion exhaled softly. "I need your help. I can't make a portal with my stupid cold. I don't have a problem making the portal, but I have no way of knowing if I made it to the right place or not."

"You rely on your sense of smell, right?" Axel asked.

"Yes." Zexion nodded.

"That sucks."

"Yeah…"

"Well, come with me then." Axel grabbed Zexion by the arm.

He created a portal and dragged Zexion through it. They were in Axel's room.

"Eight, what are we doing in here?" Zexion asked, confused.

"Well you know we can't make a portal to the same room we're already in so I had to take you out of Where Nothing Gathers so I can make a portal into the room so I brought you to the first place I thought of: my room," Axel explained.

"I see."

Axel created a portal. "There you are."

Zexion looked at him suspiciously. He did not know if Axel was playing a prank on him or not. Axel was prone to playing pranks quite often, much to the chagrin of the other Organization members.

Axel seemed to read his thoughts and smirked. "Have fun."

He shoved Zexion through the portal and closed it behind him. Zexion felt his breath leave him as he found nothing by air. For a few moments, Zexion thought he was being tricked by Axel, but then he felt cold hard marble. He scrambled into his seat and failed miserably. He held onto the edge of his seat for dear life (or in his case, non-life).

I bet I look ridiculous. Zexion thought contemptuously. It's all eight's fault.

"Two, help him," Xemnas commanded.

Before I break my neck preferably. Zexion thought.

"Yes Superior," Xigbar responded.

Zexion felt himself being lifted up into the air and he let go of the edge of his marble seat. He floated harmlessly into his seat.

"Thank you two," Zexion said in relief. He always hated heights.

"No problem, dude. Better watch where you portal," Xigbar said.

Several other members snickered softly.

"It wasn't me, it was eight," Zexion seethed.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault you almost fell." Axel held his hands up in defense.

"Enough," Xemnas's voice cut across them. Both of them fell silent. "Now, on the agenda for today…we still need to complete the decoration process of the castle. The only thing remaining is a Christmas tree. I have constructed a team who will go and purchase a Christmas tree from the nearby town and bring it back to the castle for decoration. Six, eight, nine, and thirteen, you will go and purchase a Christmas tree. You will take two, three, and five with you to help transport the tree back to the castle." Xemnas's voice made it clear that there would be no arguing.

"Yes Superior," Zexion groaned softly.

"Two, three, and five, you will be in charge of setting up the tree and the rest of us will decorate the tree."

"We'll go fetch the decorations, won't we Marls?" Larxene said almost too brightly.

Marluxia mumbled something that sounded like a yes. He was one of the members who was less enthusiastic about the whole Christmas ordeal.

He and Larxene vanished. One by one, the other members vanished until the only ones left were Xigbar, Xaldin, Lexaeus, Zexion, Demyx, Axel, and Roxas.

"So how are we gonna do this?" Axel said loudly. "Wow, my voice really echoes in here! HELLO!"

"Yes eight, you don't have to speak so loud," Zexion muttered, rubbing his temples to stave off a growing headache.

"Sorry Zex." Axel was apologetic. He lowered his voice. "So what are we gonna do?"

"I suggest we teleport several miles away from the town, rent a car, drive into the town, buy the tree, bring it out to the country, and then bring it back to the castle," Zexion said.

The others nodded in agreement.

"Uh…" Zexion hesitated.

"Here dude, I got your back," Xigbar said.

He lifted Zexion effortlessly with his powers and gently eased him to the ground.

"Meet you outside," Axel drawled. He vanished, followed by several others.

"Hey Xigbar, wait," Demyx suddenly said. "Can you…do to me what you just did to Zexion?"

"Sure." Xigbar nodded. He lifted Demyx into the air and gently set him on the ground next to Zexion. "I take it you're going to walk then Demyx?"

"Yup," Demyx answered brightly.

"Okay dude. See you outside." Xigbar vanished.

Zexion and Demyx were alone.

"You didn't have to do that," Zexion muttered as he and Demyx started walking.

"I know. I wanted to though." Demyx smiled.

Zexion felt his face grow warm although he didn't understand why. Nobodies weren't supposed to feel anything.

The others were waiting outside Where Nothing Gathers for them.

"Shall we?" Axel asked.

He created a portal and they stepped through. Lexaeus, Xigbar, and Xaldin were waiting with a car they had rented. The plan was for the three of them to wait and guard the portal while Axel, Demyx, Roxas, and Zexion got them a tree, using the car to transport it back to the portal.

So they set out. After a short drive through some countryside, they crossed a set of railroad tracks and found the Christmas tree place. Axel, who was driving, pulled up a narrow dirt road, looking for a place to park. Finally, he found a spot and pulled in. After adjusting several times, he was satisfied with his parking job and they got out.

It was cold and rainy, the worst possible combination in Zexion's opinion. It made his cold ten times worse. The dirt road was caked with ice, an amazing feat considering how warm it was. It wasn't extremely warm, but it was above freezing so there was no logical explanation for why the ice remained. It should have already melted. Zexion slipped along the road behind Demyx. It was raining harder, which made him put his hood up. But it made others stare. Which he disliked.

Finally, they reached the main place where the trees were being sold and Axel (who, despite his annoying personality, had the best people skills out of all of them there) went to talk to one of the men in charge to see what they were to do, which gave Zexion the luxury of looking around at his surroundings more.

They were standing in a small field that had been set up as the headquarters. There was a large tent shielding them from the rain, equipment under a permanent roof and another small permanent building where sales took place. On the other side of the road were several large fields with evergreens of every size and there was another field on the other side of the railroad tracks.

After a while, Axel came back to them.

"Okay. There are three fields that we can choose from," he said, pointing the fields out. "I suggest we try that one first." He pointed to the field directly across from where they were.

The others nodded in agreement.

"Get a saw and a cart," Axel told them. "I'll be right back."

He walked off. Shrugging, Roxas went to grab a hand cart and Demyx got a saw. When Axel returned, he had shed his Organization cloak and gloves and carried two pair of work gloves instead.

"Here." He tossed a pair of gloves at Roxas. "You'll want to use these when we handle the tree instead of your Organization gloves. Trust me."

Roxas nodded and took the gloves. He stored them in his cloak and took off after Axel, dragging the cart behind him. Demyx and Zexion followed. They crossed the road and Axel took the cart from Roxas. He dragged it down a small hill, toward the field of trees. Demyx, Roxas, and Zexion followed, being careful to not slip.

"I think we should split up to make our search go faster," Axel said.

He started walking away with the cart. Roxas followed.

"I guess you're with me." Demyx turned to Zexion.

Zexion nodded. He did not protest: he would rather be stuck with Demyx than Axel, especially after hearing Axel start humming "Oh Christmas Tree" as he walked away. Demyx wasn't a bad person all in all. He was kind and friendly. The only thing Zexion didn't really like about Demyx was that he didn't take his missions seriously. But compared to Axel…

Sighing softly, Zexion wiped his nose with a Kleenex before following Demyx. He slipped on a patch of ice. Neither of them spoke for a while. Zexion soon realized that Demyx was incredibly shy around him. Still, he couldn't find anything to say. He didn't know the Melodious Nocturne very well. He was usually hanging out with Roxas and Axel and Zexion preferred avoiding the company of the latter party. So he did not socialize with Demyx all that often.

The two of them traveled through the field, looking at the trees. The trees weren't very large and they were rather scrawny. They couldn't find any that they liked. They did find a decent tree, though. It was small, but not lopsided or scrawny.

"Stay here, okay?" Demyx asked Zexion. "I'm going to find Axel and Roxas and see if they like this tree. Unless…you want to find them."

"No, that's okay, nine. You can go and find them," Zexion said quickly.

Demyx smiled. "That's what I thought. Hey, can I get you to hold this?" He held out the saw.

"Okay." Zexion nodded.

He took the saw from Demyx and held it while the blond happily trotted away. Zexion shivered slightly.

Despite what everyone thought, Nobodies still experienced the sensations of cold, heat, ect. Zexion pulled his cloak further over his head as it started raining again. It was wintertime, damn it! It shouldn't have been raining! It was supposed to snow.

Finally, Demyx returned with Axel and Roxas. They debated for several minutes before deciding to look a little more.

"Rox and I are gonna head over to that field and see what's over there." Axel pointed to the field on the other side of the railroad tracks. They left the cart with Zexion and took the saw instead.

"I'm going to go over there a minute. Stay and guard this tree okay?" Demyx said.

"Wha…wait. Don't leave me here!" Zexion protested. He sounded childish, but at the moment, he didn't really care. Axel was rubbing off on him, it seemed.

"I'll be right back," Demyx promised.

He walked off. Zexion sighed softly.

"So much for respecting your elders," he muttered, sinking down onto the edge of the cart.

That proved to be an unwise thing for him to do because the cart slid away underneath his weight and he fell onto his back. He gritted his teeth as a pain shot through his lower back.

"Oh!" Demyx came running. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"I slipped." Zexion winced as he sat up and experienced more pain in his lower back.

"Do you need help?" Demyx asked.

"I'm fine," Zexion answered through clenched teeth.

He tried to get up, but Fate seemed to hate him and ended up back on his rear end.

"Here, I gotcha," Zexion heard Demyx say in his ear.

Before he could protest, he felt a pair of hands grab his arm and he was hauled to his feet.

"You okay?" Demyx sounded genuinely worried.

"Just fine," Zexion answered crisply, dusting himself off. He winced slightly when he touched his back. He probably had a good sized bruise now. He exhaled softly, then turned to Demyx. "Nine I would…really appreciate it if you didn't say anything to eight about this. He does not need any reason to torment me any further."

Demyx nodded, seeming to understand. "Your secret is safe with me."

"Thank you…Demyx."

It was strange for Zexion to call another member by name. He was so used to speaking to the others formally, referring to them by number rather than name. Most of the older members did. The younger members were not used to such formality and referred to the others (except for Xemnas) by name. Zexion was more disciplined than that, however, he just couldn't help speaking to Demyx informally. It was just…right. It seemed the younger members were rubbing off him even more, especially after spending so much time around them. If Demyx was surprised to be referred by name rather than by number by Zexion, he hid it well. After all, Nobodies were good at pretending.

Axel and Roxas reappeared some time later.

"We decided to get a tree over there," Roxas said, pointing to the other field.

"Yeah," Axel agreed. "The trees are so much bigger and just generally better over there."

"All right," Zexion responded.

Axel grabbed the cart and they set out for the other field. Suddenly, Demyx tripped over a tree stump and fell flat on his face.

"There's definitely a tree stump there," he said brightly, picking himself up without a problem.

Axel burst out into a loud roar of laughter. "Always the accident prone one aren't you, Dems?"

"Yup." Demyx nodded, grinning.

Axel was in a strangely cheerful mood. Given the fact that he was usually surly when it rained and was cold, it was strange for Zexion to see him so happy. He shrugged. Maybe Axel was just an anomaly. Demyx was cheerful, but he was just Demyx.

They continued on. At the railroad tracks, they stopped long enough to determine if there was a train coming and then started to cross. Axel had a lot of difficulty getting the cart across not one but two sets of tracks. Finally, it was clear and Axel went down the hill. Roxas followed. There was a train whistle in the distance.

"Better hurry you two," Roxas called.

Demyx nodded and started across. He crossed the first set of tracks but hesitated in the middle of the second set.

"It's really weird to be in the middle of the train tracks," he said softly.

Zexion, who was behind him, heard the blaring whistle and his eyes widened as the coming train rounded the corner, only a minute or two away. Zexion reacted instinctively.

"Demyx move!" he shouted, shoving the Melodious Nocturne off the tracks and out of harm's way.

"Zex, come on," Demyx pleaded.

Zexion lifted the hem of his cloak so it wouldn't get caught, but it wasn't the problem. It was his boots. One of them got caught and no matter how hard he pulled, he couldn't get free.

He turned to Demyx, starting to panic. "I'm stuck!" he said desperately.

Demyx rushed forward and started pulling on him to try and get him free. Axel and Roxas saw what they were trying to do and ran to help. Between the four of them, they were able to yank Zexion free. Of course Fate had a sick sense of humor so they pulled a little too hard, causing them to tumble down the hill as the train roared by. They landed in one big pile of tangled limbs with Axel on the bottom and Zexion on the top. After a few confused minutes, they were able to detach themselves and got up.

Demyx was looking at Zexion silently. Zexion was still on his knees, his breathing faster than normal. Wordlessly, Demyx sank to his knees in front of the Cloaked Schemer and then hugged him. Axel and Roxas gaped at Demyx's bravery…or stupidity. Zexion blinked confusedly for a few seconds but when Demyx didn't let go of him, he started to relax. The hug was very…soothing. He hadn't even realized he was shaking until Demyx pulled him into a tight embrace.

"It's okay. It's okay…" Demyx whispered, obviously feeling Zexion's trembling. "You're okay."

Zexion could not recall being held by anyone like Demyx held him now. But it was incredibly soothing. And his scent…

Zexion knew what Demyx smelled like –he knew what everyone smelled like, but he hadn't realized how calming the scent Demyx gave off was until they were close. Even with his cold, Zexion could pick up Demyx's scent.

Finally, he opened his eyes.

"Better now?" Demyx asked softly.

"Yes," Zexion whispered. Demyx let go of him. "You smell…like the rain. I never realized how soothing it was until now."

Demyx flushed. They two of them got up.

"You good?" Axel asked.

Zexion nodded. They split up again.

"Demyx," Zexion said softly once Axel and Roxas were out of earshot. Demyx stopped walking and turned around, looking at Zexion curiously. Zexion smiled a little. "Thank you."

Demyx shook his head. "I should be thanking you. You saved my life by shoving me out of the way before the train came. And you almost got hurt in the process."

"Yes, but you saved my life by freeing me. So we'll call it even, okay?"

Demyx mutely nodded. After another half hour of searching, they found the perfect tree, or at least Axel and Roxas did. It was a goliath of a tree. It was around eight, maybe nine feet tall, by Zexion's calculations.

"Are you sure this is it?" Zexion asked.

"Yeah." Axel nodded. "Come on Roxas. Let's cut this sucker down."

Roxas stepped forward, pulled off his Organization gloves, stored them in his cloak, pulled out the work gloves, and put them on. Axel put on his own work gloves.

"Saw," he ordered, holding out his hand.

Roxas handed him the saw. Axel bent over and started to saw at the trunk.

"What do you want me to do?" Roxas asked.

"Go to the other side and start pulling on the tree. Dem, take Zex back a couple feet because Fate seems to hate him today and if he stays where he is right now, I have a feeling he's going to be turned into a pancake."

"Thanks Axel," Zexion muttered.

"He's right. Come on." Demyx took Zexion's arm and led him away.

They watched Axel and Roxas bring the tree down.

"Timber!" Axel cried as the tree finally fell.

Zexion rolled his eyes. However, he didn't roll his eyes as much when the three landed a few inches away from where he stood by Demyx.

"That was close," Axel commented as he and Roxas went to pick up the tree.

"Yeah," Zexion replied. "Real close."

Axel and Roxas put the tree on the cart and dragged the cart to a path next to the field, in between it and the railroad tracks. Axel and Roxas pulled the cart along, which proved to be extremely difficult because the path was filled with ice.

"Uh Zexion?" Demyx asked. "Maybe you should walk in the snow. It's kind of slippery here."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he slipped and fell. When he didn't get up, Zexion rushed to see if he was okay. In the process, he slipped on the ice and landed on his back.

"Oww," he groaned, sitting up.

"Are you okay?" Demyx asked.

"I'm fine," Zexion answered. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Demyx replied. "A little sore."

"Yeah. Me too."

They looked at each other briefly and then tried to get up. Neither of them had much luck getting up and ended up on their backs again. Axel and Roxas stopped pulling the cart along and came to help. They didn't get far before they ended up falling down on top of each other. They, along with Zexion and Demyx attempted to get back up, but only found themselves on their backs again. After several failed attempts, they found the funny side to their predicament and started laughing. It was Axel who started laughing first and he was soon joined by Roxas, then Demyx, and even Zexion started laughing.

Zexion had no idea what was so funny or why he was laughing so hard, but something was comical about the way he had been bested by Fate time and time again. He knew he looked ridiculous, but it didn't matter. Axel, Roxas, and Demyx did as well. It didn't matter to them. For the first time, Zexion saw what having a true friend was like.

After several more attempts, they finally managed to get up and started walking again, Axel and Roxas pulling the tree along behind them. They slipped several more times because the path was basically one big ice rink.

"Hang on Zex!" Demyx cried, sliding over to where Zexion was trying to stay upright.

He slipped on his way over to Zexion. Zexion grabbed Demyx's arm almost instinctively and Demyx grabbed his arm. Holding onto each other, they somehow managed to get into the snow where they wouldn't slip anymore. Finally, they made it to the main road and after crossing it, they came to the railroad tracks where they intersected the road. The train had long passed and the tracks were quiet now, but Zexion couldn't help giving a quiet shudder as they crossed the tracks. Demyx hadn't let go of Zexion's arm since they had left the icy trail and he gave the Cloaked Schemer's arm a gentle, reassuring squeeze.

Zexion breathed easier when they had safely reached the other side of the tracks. Demyx finally had the sense to let go of Zexion's arm. They finally made it back to the main place and Roxas went to go pay for the tree. Demyx and Zexion watched the men take care of the tree. While they were processing the tree, Axel went to get the car. When he returned, the tree was ready to go. He and Roxas, accompanied by several of the workers there hauled the tree to the car. Zexion and Demyx crawled into the back. Immediately, his hand went into his cloak and brought out a Kleenex he hadn't yet used and blew his nose for the millionth time that day. His nose was getting quite sore.

Axel and Roxas somehow managed to get the tree on top of the car and secured with a combination of rope they had brought and free twine that was available for customers to use. When the tree was secured, they left the tree place. Zexion was glad to go. It had been too much of an adventure for him.

Note: (12/25/08) I fixed the formatting of the chapter. I always forget that fanfiction dot net will eat the italics if you use Microsoft Word and you have to fix it manually. Merry Christmas everyone. Chapter 2 should be up shortly. I finally finished writing it up and I just have to finish typing it up. I have four pages to go. Shouldn't take me that long.

3/5/09: I found a couple typos that I just had to fix because they were bugging me.

12/15/10: Found some more typos that needed to be corrected. I swear I'm working on a new chapter. I just wanted to go back and fix all the typos I found. And boy there are a lot of them. XD