For one another, a kingdom hearts fanfic

For one another (Aka "How to hug a Xemnas")

By: Graficcha

A Larxene- and Xemnas-centered oneshot. Fluff, no hentai.

Those times… those restless days, when you had just been thrown into an alien world, captured by other beings, who had in some miraculous way one thing in common with you: they lacked a heart.

Larxene had been "discovered" not too long ago, but the feisty, lively young woman had adapted quickly. Not someone to be shy or back down in favour of others, she had conquered her place in the Organisation, whether the others liked it or not.

It's not that she hated them, Axel, Demyx, the old bunch that consisted of Vexen, Xigbar and Luxord…no, she could tolerate them, even be glad she was with them, but somehow, it wasn't what she really wanted. She found that whenever she laughed, it was a cold, chilling sound, one that promised no good, and no matter how hard she tried to be honest with herself and the others, she couldn't deny that the only moment she felt refreshed was after a good deal of hurt.

Not her own hurt… she'd never do anything that could harm herself. Not on purpose, at least. No, she enjoyed the physical sensation of her kunais –her choice weapons, fast, elegant and treacherous, much like herself- in her hands, feeling the resistance of the flesh or other substance her targets were made of. The sound they made, the dulled thudding, or the crystalline tingle when making an impact, it always caught her attention.

Later, when she was introduced to her new powers, she added the odour of burnt cloth and ozone, and the crisp black ash slowly descending to the ground to her list of favourite sensations of sight and smell.

Whenever she was feeling satisfied, which usually meant that she was either sleepy, or she had dulled the emptiness inside her with hours of training and 'playing', Larxene allowed herself to observe her companions. When she first found out that she was being watched with an equal interest, she had gotten mad, in a way. Not really angry, but she had felt a need to show them who is, and is not, an object to be stared at.

The first one to feel her wrath was, of course, Demyx. The young man, if not teenager, couldn't really be blamed for this, as he looked at every single member like that, interested in their every move, wondering about the reasons, trying to learn, or to find something funny about their antics. When no one was around, he practiced with his sitar, feeling rather lonely, but soon immersing himself into his musical accomplishments.

His female opposite would never understand that the rhythms fed his soul in the same way Larxene's sadism fed hers, but that was one thing that 'troubled' all organisation members. Most of them didn't really feel obliged to be fascinated by the others' way of living, but they tolerated the silly, irritating or generally disturbing behavioural patterns of each other.

Anyway, once Larxene's anger was directed at a being, not the Heartless, lesser Nobodies or inanimate objects, there was no turning back. From the moment she saw how Demyx winced at her sudden threatening stance, how his eyes widened, not in real fear, but as his body's reaction hers – he hadn't expected to see her lunging at him-, the way his pupils dilated in the flash of lighting…

She was, to say, never the same again. Sure, she had only zapped the young musician a little, only to startle him out of his staring, but as time progressed, the zapping turned into downright assaults. When she had taken her hobby of scaring people and laughing at their reactions so far that she had knocked Axel out cold with a lightning strike and set Saix into a seething rage, she was, for the first time, called to see 'The Superior'.

From that moment on, things calmed down around her. People avoided rousing her too much, and she controlled her need for sensation when the others were around. She learned to direct her sadism at anything but the organisation, but still, whenever someone got hurt during trainings sessions, experiments or missions, you could always find her near the scene, her physical heart thumping wildly at the sight of faces contorted with pain, laboured breathing, the desperate attempts to stand up.

Usually, Zexion, that 'annoying busybody shadow', would then give her orders to go do something else, reminding himself every time not to approach her directly out of his hazy, protected corners. As he didn't look as buff and strong as some other members, he too tended to end up on the receiving end of Larxene's games, especially because she was nearly as smart as he himself, and quick to boot. He couldn't outwit her easily, and she gave him little opportunities to vanish before she could do anything to him.

The Tactician only addressed her directly when it was absolutely necessary, in most cases when he smelled that she was having difficulties controlling herself. It had become his task to get her away from injured members, for if he didn't, she'd kick them, or prod them, or simply keep them awake a whole night, rejoicing in their misery.

But nowadays, even Larxene had settled down, it seemed. The core six had gotten used to living quasi emotionless, feeling incomplete. The 'new' ones, like Saix, Demyx, Axel, Marluxia and Luxord had all somehow found a way to forget, or to ignore. Some drank and gambled, some experimented with their powers,… music, decoration, scheming, burning, contemplating, dreaming… as long as it didn't involve Somebodies and their emotions.

Even Xemnas had become quite apathic. As 'the superior', he was usually busy with Vexen and the other core group of researchers, studying the heart, and devising theories, calculations, comparisons, and observations. But for some long months, nothing had really happened. It would be another few weeks before Sora's power – the Keyblade- would thoroughly manifest itself in the observations of Xemnas' club of scientists. The boy was already causing mayhem and getting in the way of the plans of Maleficent and her lackeys, but he didn't have enough impact on the amount of freed hearts yet.

So Xemnas began drifting more often, forever searching the broken frontiers of his memories, the few he had in comparison to his allies. No one really knew, but it had always bothered him that he had no recollections of his past whatsoever.

Secretly, he hoped that maybe he'd recover them using the power of Kingdom Hearts, but that hope had almost vanished with the depart of every irrational emotion. He only clung to sanity with the few threads that consisted of the people around him and his life's work of research. For now, he was balancing on the brink of sanity, taking a leisurely stroll in twilight, caught between the forces of light and dark. He could only give both sides a hollow laugh, and a smirk of superiority, that often hid a question that never ceased asking why, why it had to be like that, that he was alone, with his eleven others, in their quest for Kingdom Hearts, and why both dark and light didn't see how right he was.

In those days, those dreary, uneventful days, Larxene discovered something new.

She didn't know where it came from, or why… maybe it was almost that time of the month again, maybe it was because Demyx and Axel hadn't come out of their rooms for days, or maybe because Marluxia had been mumbling to himself for hours wandering through the white halls, Larxene felt strange.

There was a strange tension in the castle…sleepy, but stressed as well. That uncomfortable atmosphere had lasted for days on end… Silently, she hoped the knot in her stomach would loosen up already, that Saix would launch himself into a rage and trash the living room,

that Zexion would jump at her from the shadows, saying nothing or giggling madly, it didn't matter. If only Lexaeus, Xaldin and Xigbar would come out of the training halls and go get drunk with Luxord, who seemed to be doing nothing more than playing Patience on his own, for hours and hours, sitting at the kitchen table. She almost prayed that Axel and Demyx would suddenly start running around in the halls, noisy like they used to be and causing a big ruckus, that they'd cheer up, be hyper and looking happy, if only to annoy her.

The young woman didn't know what to do, she herself had been flitting around, hanging around their personal spaces, leaning against a wall lazily, but observing every detail with a feverish attention, intent on every hint of excitement. Now, she was getting a headache, and a stomach-ache from the nervous tension all around her. Things were going to happen, and she wanted it to happen NOW, she was tired of waiting, but strangely enough, when she found herself near her usual spot, that was filled with Heartless and Nobodies and targets, she didn't feel like the sensations of hurt could satisfy her.

She felt like she was going mad. Her waveless blue eyes were dull, her skin was bristling with a need to DO something, her mind tired of waiting, shouting for release. Larxene almost cried in despair, but when she felt the tears fill her eyes, she shook her head, getting dizzy in the process, and fell into a dash, running for the nearest exit. Too bad she was in the middle of the headquarters.

She longed for some fresh air, to see the dark sky, to disappear, but with her mind, her body had gotten tired. Soon, she was out of breath, and her face was uncomfortably hot, worsening her headache. She slowed into a jog, and in the eerily silent hallways, she stopped dead. The white was all around her, stuck in her head, stinging in her eyes.

She started stepping forward again, following her feet, her mind blank. Her boots made no sound on the marble… disturbing the silence frightened her deep inside, but she couldn't feel it. She didn't feel, only the pain of her headache, and the dull emptiness where her emotions had once been.

She walked until her body commanded her to stop. Larxene was exhausted, more than she had thought. She leaned against the white walls, eased her breath into a normal tempo, listened to the beating of her heart, every thump painfully resounding in her skull. When she looked at the wall beside her through slitted eyes, her midriff gave a start. Now she knew she was really going mad. She hadn't gone outside, she had somehow found her way to her superior's private room. None of the new members ever went here, and only in emergencies Xemnas' closest 'friends' entered .

But she, Larxene, was standing beside his door now, and she was getting cold now, from cooling off too quickly. In her desperation to find something to set her mind on, she almost gave into the temptation to kick his door off its hinges and cause some major ruckus, but she knew fully well that there was no way in hell that she could ever hope to even dent that door. Besides, Xemnas probably wasn't even there…that could be both a good and a bad thing. Either he wasn't in, and then she could maybe mess up his room, his papers, clothes, or whatever he hid in there, or he was in, and then she'd… she didn't know yet. In both ways, she'd probably end up being punished, and Xemnas being generally irritated. Maybe he'd even kill her, finally put an end to this. Either way was fine for her.

At last, driven by some unknown force, she managed to put her hand against the cold, uninviting entrance, and with the other, pushed down the silver handle.

The door opened soundlessly.

The first thing she saw was a white room, like all other rooms in the headquarters, doused in darkness, only lit by a small orb, a round, warm orange-glowing lamp of some kind, and the gleaming white streak of solid light that illuminated a tiny speck of the floor. It entered from high above the door, so the beam didn't protrude very far into the dark at all. Beyond that white piece of floor, the world vanished into the black void.

Larxene peered inside, and to her amazement, saw Xemnas sitting on a simple chair. He seemed to be sleeping, his head hanging onto his chest, as he didn't react to her intrusion. His arms, that usually were vigorously gesticulating and gesturing to underline whatever he was saying, were now hanging limply by his sides. Quickly, Larxene flitted in, silent like a cat, and closed the door behind her. Hidden in the dark, she observed.

Xemnas' face was illuminated by the glowing orb, highlighting his cheekbones, making his silver hair shimmer with an unearthly, heated glow. The strands that hung over his shoulders onto his chest, the spiky bangs that lined his features, the were still, as if he wasn't even breathing. Only when she looked very closely, Larxene could see his head nodding a bit, in one beat with the unnoticeable rising and falling of his chest. His expressive and accentuated lips were opened a little bit, allowing him to breathe more comfortably. She sneaked closer, and watched.

He was wearing their standard uniform, the black hooded cloaks. They weren't really leather, but some odd, synthetic material, relatively soft on the outside, and very warm. More like a layer of some insulating gelatinous fluid, moulded onto a rough shape and covered with synthetic cloth. They served their purpose well, at all times, and Larxene liked it. It was comfortable, and it fitted them.

She neared the sleeping form of her leader now, and soon she was within a few feet distance.

An urge to touch tingled in her hands, arms until it resonated through her whole body.

It was an impulse, purely irrational, steered by physical need for comfort and warmth.

Larxene woke him up, prodding softly, her hands stroking his hair. Her fingers travelled across his face slowly, barely touching his copper-toned skin, lining his cheekbones, tipping his nose in a gentle, playful manner.

Xemnas jumped up, startled and deluded by sleep and dreams, but he found himself trapped, unable to go further than standing up. His orange-yellow eyes gleamed dimly in the light from the orb as he opened them, his brows furrowed in confusion. He felt a chilled body against his own, that was warm from being asleep in the closed space. He tried to recollect what all those sensations were, the touch of the female's hair against his bare throat, her arms flung around his waist and neck, her weight nearly dragging him down in the half-darkness.

Then, the light was suddenly obscured from view as he was pushed onto his bed softly. He sat down, but resisted the soft pressure that tried to get him to lay down. Larxene sat down next to him as close as she could, her head resting against his collarbones, never letting go, feeling his warmth, smelling him, stroking his hair slowly and gently. She breathed deeply and calmed her racing heart. She took her time to savour the impact the feelings made on her every nerve. Her headache wore off, and with time, gave way to a pleasant drowsiness.

She closed her eyes to slits, closed them completely, and felt Xemnas in her embrace. His torso, clad in the soft tissue of their cloaks, his broad, manly chest, his powerful breath, his attention that was focused solely on her. She blinked upwards, and saw his face obscured by her shadow. He stared at her for a moment, but then, his eyelids dropped to a half-shut, relaxed position, almost as if he knew there was no escape. He slowly dozed off, warming his nymph, his newest addition, and now drowning himself in her as well. Her fresh scent, clouded by a trifle of hard work, and she shape of her lean, curved body against his own. She mesmerised him, wiped his mind blank, and she caressed him, made him comfortable with the knowledge that every knowledge was, slowly and inevitably, slipping away.

Slowly, ever so slowly, they fell asleep, tired to the bone, exhausted from their souls onward, their souls that carried a double burden now. Larxene held him so he wouldn't slump down on his back. He gently lowered her onto the sheets, without broadly-smeared theatrics, only out of simple consideration, even kindness, as there was no desire to harm or to make his authority felt. She curled up to him unconsciously, her mind filled with the sensations she hadn't experienced since she had been a small girl, and fascinating new ones.

Eventually, the slowly fading light orb would break, with an almost inaudible 'ping', and Xemnas and Larxene would, for a fragment of a moment, be alerted, but only to realise that everything was good. Larxene sighed contently in the darkness that enveloped them like a cool blanket, feeling how Xemnas' comfortable body heat kept the chill away from them. His presence was like a veil, protecting her; and no more worries crossed their minds. The darkness would make them untouchable, the solitude and silence of the castle promised no one would find them, and nobody would disturb them for the time being. Completely dressed and comfortably warm in each other's arms, they slept peacefully. The complexity of their lives fell away, and they felt almost whole for a short moment of their equally short lives.

The next week, Sora would cause Roxas to jump into 'existence'. Marluxia would conquer Larxene for his causes, and Larxene and Xemnas both would soon have forgotten all about this afternoon and night, being dragged deeper into madness and despair. It would be forgotten, by all but the force that brought them together for that time.

One by one, the organisation members would meet their destiny, in the form of each other, Sora, or Riku. They were never to be complete again.

Maybe, maybe in Kingdom Hearts, they will be complete one day. Maybe even Xemnas and Larxene, The Superior and the Savage Nymph, his name to be spoken with disdain, hers to be forgotten by all but an inscription on the tombstones in the hall of Proof of Existence.

It will be told in the Annals of the Keyblade Wars, that Nobodies are incomplete, bound by fate to forever strife for their hearts, balancing between the edge of dark and light.

But not in that night. Then, two of them were one, complete in their own, fulfilling way, taken by the ark, and protected by the light within them.

They slept…

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Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or the settings, they are Nomura's... what a genius that man is.

Well, R&R please.. I'm really concerned about this fic... are they OOC, aren't my sentences too long, is the grammar okay? I'm not a 'native' English-speaker you know, and I want to get good enough to write books later...