This owes its existence to a certain plotbunny listing from a while back on khfanficrants. Fairly short for the amount of time it took to write and post it, but I'll blame finals for that.
Kingdom Hearts and all associated characters are, obviously, not mine.
It was unfortunate, he thought, that they were missing five of their number when the culmination of their work finally came to pass. There would be even less if Saix had not followed Roxas when their youngest had attempted to leave and was nearly kidnapped by Riku. The silver-haired teen hadn't been seen since, nor had Sora or Namine.
Xemnas dismissed his ponderings when a dark portal opened and Roxas stepped out, quickly followed by Axel and Xaldin, who gave him a short nod. Mission complete. The three joined the other four already waiting on the Alter to Naught, turning their faces skyward.
His gaze followed theirs up to Kingdom Hearts, now swollen with the needed number of hearts to complete all Nobodies. All that was left were the spells that would release the potential he could feel beating down on them. His arms lifted to being the casting.
For a long moment, nothing happened, and he heard Axel give a soft "Tch" of annoyance. Further comments were cut off when Kingdom Hearts pulsed, and then lit up the night sky in a blinding blaze. The two standing closest to him, Demyx and Xigbar, made startled sounds echoed by the other Organization members. Xemnas didn't blame them; the unexpected weight in his chest that filled that empty ache of his heart's absence left him almost dizzy in relief. It truly had worked. They were no longer Nobodies.
Xemnas closed his eyes, swaying as images suddenly flooded through his mind of the worlds the darkness had taken in order for them to achieve their goal. A half-forgotten feeling slammed into him, driving him to his knees. Guilt, a small part of his memory supplied. Thousands of people died, including Even and Elaeus and Ienzo, and it's your fault your faultyourfaultyourfaultyourfault...
It took about three heartbeats for the screaming to start.