Moonlight Seekers
A Kingdom Hearts fanfic by Raberba girl
For Saïx/Xemnas Day, 1 July 2012
Summary: Saïx never thought he would miss the rest of the Organization, but then, he's never before had to spend a week in the Keyblade Graveyard with no one but Xemnas for company. Platonic fic for Saïx/Xemnas Day 2012.
A/N: This actually takes place in the same universe as one of my unpublished fics. *sigh* I think it can stand on its own, though. It's before 358/2 Days.
Lol, my cargo ship, perhaps inevitably, ended up in here as well. XD I'm not actually sure if Master Xehanort's Kingdom Hearts is still hanging out in the Keyblade Graveyard or not, but whatever; we'll assume it is in this fic.
o.o.o
Saïx did not realize how much he had become used to Axel's banter and Xigbar's teasing and Xaldin's condescension and Vexen's whining and Lexaeus's pointed looks and Zexion's lectures and Demyx's obnoxiousness and Luxord's riddles and Marluxia's flamboyance and Larxene's colorful vitriol until that horrible weeklong mission with the Superior.
"Quite refreshing," Number I remarked tonelessly as they stepped out of a dark corridor.
Saïx glanced at him. "This barren wasteland?"
"The dark corridors. Being surrounded by my element has replenished me." Xemnas raised his chin in an imperious manner and paced ahead.
'Seeing as how your element is Nothing,' Saïx thought, 'I find that rather oxymoronic.' No matter, as long as the Superior was pleased (or as pleased as a Nobody could get, anyway).
Of course, the Organization's leader did not lift a finger to carry anything. Dragging two backpacks that were stuffed to the seams, Saïx followed after his master and idly wished that they didn't have to keep wearing these heavy coats even outside the corridors. Although it was cloudy, there were also no trees here, and it was hot. He could already taste dust in his mouth. 'This isn't a vacation,' he reminded himself. 'You're not here to enjoy yourself, you're here to work.'
"This," Xemnas proclaimed, "is where we will start."
"Shall I begin cataloguing Keyblades?" Saïx asked deferentially, "Or would you rather I map the area?"
"A Nobody cannot be said to truly exist. Therefore, its goal is to seek out the heart that once gave it meaning. These hearts, wandering in darkness, corroded and filled with negativity...they shall ultimately come together to create a perfection of angst, the dark masterpiece we call Kingdom Hearts. This, this I must lay eyes on."
"...I take it you'd rather work in a higher area where you have a better view of your, ahem, beloved." Saïx set the backpacks down and dug out his clipboard and a pen. "We'll meet back here at nightfall for supper, I suppose."
"Indeed, for without sustenance, the body wastes away. This leaves the formless soul behind-"
"You can depend on me, Lord Xemnas, I will not let you starve. Now, if you'll excuse me." Saïx nodded politely and walked off to begin the gargantuan task of listing every abandoned Keyblade he could find.
Saïx returned dutifully at twilight and, finding the backpacks still sitting almost forlornly where he had left them, he brushed off the accumulation of dust and began to set up camp. Shelters up, fire going, supper cooking, and still no Superior.
"Xemnas, where are you...?" Saïx corridored up to the top of a cliff so he could have a better look around, but the Superior was still nowhere in sight. "Hmm." He lifted a hand, calling on his power to sense where the rays of moonlight were most concentrated. "Perhaps I will find our besotted leader as close as he can get to the object of his affections..."
Sure enough, Xemnas was on a faraway cliff top, basking in the moonbeams shining through a gap in the heavy clouds.
"Superior, supper is ready," Saïx said demurely.
"Look at her, Number VII," Xemnas whispered. "Such beauty."
Saïx released a very quiet, resigned sigh and moved up to stand next to the other man.
"So close..." Xemnas stretched out his arm toward the heart-shaped moon and then closed his hand over nothing. "Yet always out of reach. Someday, Number VII. Someday..."
"She gazes longingly at you with affection writhing in her war-torn eyes," Saïx replied in his best monotone. "By her very nature, she is in eternal turmoil, yet one day she will break free and become yours alone. The two of you shall spend eternity wrapped in each other's embrace until you are consumed in the sublime power of dark nothing."
Xemnas turned shining golden eyes to him. "I chose my most trusted subordinate well."
"You chose me because I am good at getting important things done. Is there any chance that you mapped even a fraction of the Graveyard while I was down there making Keyblade records?"
Xemnas gazed at him for a while. Then looked at the blank parchment that lay discarded at his feet. "...Pitiful Heartless, mindlessly collecting hearts. The rage of the Keyblade releases those-"
"Thank you, sir, but I wrote that speech myself, I have it mem-" Ugh. "I know it by heart."
"And yet, you, Number VII, are no longer in possession of a hea-"
"Yes, thank you, I know. What I said was, by the way, a figure of speech that means I am very well familiar with that particular lecture. Now, if you would be so kind as to tear yourself away from your non-existent heart's desire for a few minutes, you would do well to come eat before the meal burns."
"As humans, our hearts once burned with passion for the trivialities of life, but now the illusions of importance are lifted away as we seek to..." Etc. etc. etc.
This was going to be a very long mission.