Author's Note: Well, nobody really knows why Xemnas has an empty suit of some girl's armor sitting in a sealed-up room that only he (and Xigbar, the sneaky li'l bastard!) knows how to get into. So I guess this theory (as silly as it may be) is as good as any other!
The "Room of Sleep"
It certainly wasn't the first time Xemnas had suddenly gotten up and left without any explanation to the other members of the Organization--he seemed to do so at least once or twice a week. But this time was a bit different--Xigbar had spotted him leaving.
And nobody--nobody--can get Xigbar off of their trail once he's spotted them.
He had waited for Xemnas to leave the Castle That Never Was in the usual way, opening up a dark portal and slipping through before anyone else noticed. And then, before the portal was completely closed, Xigbar swooped in and re-opened it, following a few yards behind Xemnas and floating above the ground to make sure he couldn't be heard. And then, once Xemnas had arrived on the odd, blue-colored rock that Radiant Garden's landscape was made out of, Xigbar just stood back and watched.
Xemnas walked down the path leading up to the old castle where the lab was located, looking around to see if anyone was around. Since Heartless didn't count as "anyone" and Xigbar was well out of sight already, Xemnas opened the doors and walked on in. Once the door swung shut, Xigbar teleported down in front of the castle and peeked in through one of the windows. Xemnas was heading down the stairs that lead to the lab, disabling a few security cameras with energy blasts on his way there.
Xigbar teleported once again, this time going all the way down to the underground lab hidden beneath the castle. That was were Xemnas was headed, after all--it was the only thing remotely interesting in the castle, after all, especially now that the Heartless had swarmed the whole place.
His elf ears picking up the sound of Xemnas' footsteps coming down the nearby flight of stairs, Xigbar floated up to the celing, hiding among the rafters and watching as Xemnas entered. The Superior inserted a disc into the room's computer, then typed in a simple, yet strange, password--"ANOTHER." The password must not have been much of high-security one, since the letters weren't even blanked out--they were perfectly readable by Xigbar, even from his hiding spot up near the ceiling.
Of course, that wasn't the last of the passwords. Immediately after the first password was entered, a second screen popped up, showing six text-input boxes arranged in a circle. Xigbar watched as Xemnas filled in the series of passwords--Xehanort, Even, Braig, Dilan, Ienzo, and Elaeus, the original names of the first six members of the Organization.
Guess he can get away with having such a wimpy password, Xigbar thought, With all the damn Heartless around... nobody'd be able to get down here in the first place.
Xemnas looked around again, then ejected the disc from the computer and put it back into his pocket. He then walked over to a passage in the floor that had slid open. Xigbar teleported again, this time beating Xemnas to the flight of stairs that led downward to someplace even further below the lab. He wasn't sure if this room had been there the last time he had checked--it certainly wasn't there back before the Heartless attacked, anyway.
Huh, Xigbar thought, So maybe that's what the boss's been doing. Building some extra crap under the old lab...
But sitting around thinking about it wasn't going to help much, so he floated up off the ground and went ahead down the stairs, reaching a hallway decorated with Nobody symbols.
Yep, this's gotta be something Xemnas built, he thought, but before he had a chance to wonder why Xemnas would be building extra rooms below Ansem's laboratory, he heard footsteps behind him again. So, as always, he floated upward and hid himself in the rafters.
Xemnas came walking down the stairs, heading straight for a door with a Nobody symbol painted on it. He waved his hand slightly, and the door slid open just long enough for him to pass through. Xigbar floated back down and sat in front of the door, listening to the sound of Xemnas' footsteps. There was the sound of another door sliding open--meaning that Xemnas wouldn't be able to see him. So Xigbar opened the first door and walked down the next hall, which was lined with jail cells.
Oh yeah, I remember this place now, Xigbar thought, recognizing the cells, This's the place we kept all the test subjects way back then... looks like Xemnas was just redecorating, or something.
He walked a little further down the hallway, finally coming up to the end of the hall. There was another door, also painted with a Nobody symbol--there were no sounds of footsteps beyond it, so Xemnas must have stopped walking for some reason.
That's funny, Xigbar thought, staring at the door and listening to see what--if anything--was happening on the other side of it, Back in the old days, this hallway ended with a rock wall where the construction had stopped... so where the hell'd this door come from?
He listened even more closely, putting one ear up next to the door. On the other side, Xemnas took a few more steps and then sat down on some sort of chair. There were a few strange sounds that Xigbar didn't recognize, and then came something that the elf wasn't expecing.
Xemnas was talking to someone.
"It's been a while, my friend," he said in his usual deep, creepy voice. Except, it wasn't exactly his usual deep, creepy voice--he sounded nicer somehow.
Xigbar snickered a little. That kind of tone wasn't one you heard often in Xemnas' voice--blank and emotionless, yeah; angry, sometimes; stretching out words for emphasis, constantly. But never nice, or happy, or anything like that. After managing to suppress his laughter, Xigbar sat down in a comfortable position and prepared to listen to whatever it was that Xemnas was going to say.
"You look nice today," Xemnas said. He then got a slightly nervous sound to his voice, as if he had just said something wrong and was trying to make up for it.
"Err, well, I mean... your armor looks nice today..."
There was no response. Whoever else was in the room, they weren't saying much. Or moving around. Or even breathing, as far as Xigbar could tell.
"So, how have you been?"
No response.
"I've been doing well lately. My Organization has ten members now..."
Still no response from whoever Xemnas was talking to. Xigbar scratched his head slightly, wondering what was going on.
"Ten members isn't nearly enough to fill up the wedding chapel, of course... we'll need a lot more, thirteen at least just for all the most important places... Saix as the best man, of course, but we still don't have any bridesmaids, and I'm not sure Zexion will appreciate having to carry the ring..."
Xigbar snickered again, then shifted into a different position as he noticed that the circulation in one of his feet was starting to get cut off by the position he had been in before.
"Oh, and I almost forgot... we're coming close to figuring out how to use Kingdom Hearts."
Finally, something I understand, Xigbar thought, still trying to figure out what the hell Xemnas meant by all that "wedding" talk. And who was he talking to?
"And of course, darling," Xemnas continued, "Once we obtain Kingdom Hearts... there's only one thing left before we can finally be together."
Xigbar had to bite down on his tongue to keep himself from busting out laughing. Xemnas, talking about a wedding? And calling someone "darling?" That was completely ridiculous. It was like... Lexaeus making fart jokes, or Xaldin and Axel discussing English literature over some tea and crumpets. It just wasn't going to happen.
But, then again, it did happen, unless Xigbar's hearing had suddenly gone out. Who in the world could Xemnas be talking to?
"I still haven't found the other room yet," Xemnas said, snapping Xigbar out of his thoughts, "But we found an old castle not too long ago and Luxord suggested that we clean it out and move in. I think the Room of Awakening might be in there, somewhere."
Dammit, Luxord, Xigbar thought, Why'd you have to get the idea to clean up that dump? Took us a friggin' week.
Xigbar reminded himself to send a few extra bullets Luxord's way during their next training session, then continued to listen to Xemnas' strange little "conversation" in the room on the other side of the door.
"Well, I should probably be going now," Xemnas said, standing up and taking a few steps toward the other side of the room, "The others have probably noticed my absence, and I don't want them to get suspicious."
There was a strange sound, almost as if someone in the room had just kissed a piece of metal, and then Xemnas came walking back toward the door. Xigbar was about to get up and leave, but before he managed to, the footsteps stopped and there was a sound of Xemnas' cloak swishing as if he was turning around.
And then, Xemnas said something that was even more ridiculous than before.
"Bye-bye, sweetie."
No amount of tongue-biting could have helped Xigbar this time. He immediately burst out in an uncontrollable fit of laughter, rolling around and slapping the floor as he did. He didn't even notice when Xemnas took another couple steps toward him and opened the door.
"Number Two," Xemnas said, his voice returning to its usual creepiness, "What, exactly, are you doing?"
If Xigbar had been just a few years younger (or a few years older, for that matter), he would have wet his pants at that moment.
Xemnas stared down at him, and the elf quickly hopped up off of the floor and brushed himself off. Normally, it would have been hard to laugh in the presence of an angry Xemnas, but now it was hard to hold back a few snickers.
That changed quickly, however, when Xemnas grabbed Xigbar by the shoulders and shoved him up against the bars of a nearby jail cell.
"You will not speak of this to anyone," Xemnas said, his face twisted into a very Saix-like snarl, "Anyone. Not Xaldin, not Demyx, not Luxord, not Axel, not Lexaeus, not Vexen... not even Zexion, or Saix, shall ever know of this. Is this understood?"
Xigbar gulped and nodded, remembering the lecture Xemnas had given just a few weeks ago on exactly how a member of the Organization who knowingly disobeyed the Superior's orders would be punished. The last thing he wanted was to be torn limb from limb by a mob of Dusks.
"Good," Xemnas said, lowering Xigbar to the floor again, "Now, you will return to the Castle That Never Was immediately. If anyone asks you where you have been..."
Xemnas stopped for a second, apparently thinking of what excuse Xigbar would be able to use. A second later, Xemnas seemed to get an idea, and then continued.
"Yes, that's it... tell them you were busy searching for new members," he said, "Because from now on, that shall be your job in the Organization. Ten members is not nearly enough, after all."
Xigbar thought back to what Xemnas had said before about the reason for increasing the Organization's numbers, and had to bite his tongue once again to keep from snickering.
"Now, go back to the Castle and do not say a word of this conversation to anyone," Xemnas said, walking up the stairs at the end of the hall for several steps before disappearing into another dark portal.
Xigbar snickered to himself, then waved his hands around in a Xemnas-like way and mimicked some of Xemnas' sayings from the "conversation" in the strange room.
And then, after finally managing to finish laughing, he opened a dark portal in front of himself and stepped into it, heading back to the base once again and hoping he wouldn't blurt out anything about the strange room, and Xemnas' "conversation" inside of it, the next time he got drunk.
