Writing for Namine and Vexen is very fun I've found. I can really see them having a sort of father/daughter relationship. As I mention in this, mostly Vexen protecting her from Marluxia's grabby hands.
All characters in this story belong to Square Enix/Disney. Don't forget to review, my lovelies!
"What's snow like?" Namine asked.
Vexen paused in his paperwork and turned his head to the small blonde girl who was looking up at him with curious eyes. "Pardon?"
"What's snow like?" She repeated softly. "I've never seen it."
The scientist frowned and set down his pen, turning fully in his chair to look at Namine, who was seated next to him with an open textbook on the floor at her foot and her open sketchbook in her lap. A half-finished sketch of a minor head laceration from a picture in the book decorated the clean white page.
Odd, he thought, how at home and out of place she looked in the cold, dark lab of Castle Oblivion. As his medical apprentice she came down religiously every day, even if it was only to escape Larxene's taunting or Marluxia's inappropriate touching. The young witch tilted her head slightly, waiting for his answer.
Vexen cleared his throat and patted the top of Namine's head lightly. "Namine, you've seen snow before. My element is ice, you see that down here all the time."
Namine shook her head insistently with a slight frown. "That's ice. I want to know what natural snow is like." Her wide eyes implored him innocently.
After a slightly exasperated sigh Vexen began to explain. "Snow forms when water vapor condenses directly into ice crystals, usually in a cloud. Floating cloud particles called ice nucleators are needed in order for snowflakes to form at temperatures above negative forty degrees celceus-" He stopped when Namine giggled. "Something funny?"
The artist smiled and shook her head, her soft blonde hair swishing lightly around her pale face. "No, no, it's just I wanted to know what snow is like, not what is it, silly." Vexen frowned slightly at being called 'silly' but sighed. It was absolutely futile to even try being upset with Namine. He leaned back in his chair and stroked his chin thoughtfully, pondering on how exactly to explain something so simple to this girl.
It was clearly plausible that she'd really never seen or felt snow before. He knew that her Other spent much time on the Destiny Islands, which were tropical which meant, of course, it never snowed. There was also the fact Namine had never really left either of the castles she'd lived in during her brief life apart from one or two missions or secret shopping trips she'd convinced Eight and Thirteen to take her on.
It was easy to explain snow, but to describe it…
"Namine, excuse me a moment." The Chilly Academic stood from his chair and strode off, out of the steel door of the lab and into the hallway. Namine stayed in her seat, slightly confused at her predecessor's sudden departure. He returned a few moments later with long black coat that could immediately be recognized as one worn by all members of Organization XIII. He dropped it into her lap, folding his arms impatiently. "It's one of Zexion's spare coats. Put it on quickly."
The memory witch set down her sketchbook and pencil and stood up, slipping the coat on over her petite form and zipping it up to her neck. The deep shade of the coat made her already pale skin seem almost translucent and hung from her small frame loosely. Zexion was at least an inch taller than her. Vexen nodded approvingly, a smile twitching at the corner of his usually stern mouth at how tiny she looked.
"Where are we going?"
With an elegant flick of Vexen's hand a dark portal opened to his left. "Close you eyes and you'll see, my dear."
With a slight hesitation Namine did as she was told and felt the elder Nobody's cold hand gently take her small hand. He led her forward and slowly led her into the darkness. A few moments later Namine wrinkled her nose slightly as she felt a drop of cold fall on the tip. Another soft drop fell on her forehead, then another and another. Slowly, her eyes opened and widened at the new world around her.
The air around them was sweet with the smells of baking cookies, pine and peppermint. Jingling bells and laughter seemed to radiate from the world itself. On the high hill they were standing on a crowd of small buildings were in clear view down below. With the coat sweeping around her ankles, Namine hurried through the deep snow, getting stuck one or twice but quickly managing to get herself loose. She looked down at the scene below eagerly, her blue eyes sparkling.
Vexen strode patiently behind her, ever the dignified gentleman. He stood beside her and followed her gaze with only vague interest. "Namine, welcome to Christmas Town."
The witch's eyes never left the tiny village, her head darting around like an excitable child. "It's beautiful! Who're they?" She pointed down at small beings hurrying from building to building.
"Those are elves. I would take you down to see them closer but I somehow doubt they'd be particularly thrilled to see us in these coats after the time Axel nearly destroyed Santa's workshop."
"Elves…" Namine said breathlessly, toning out the rest of Vexen's words. Her face was flush with color from excitement and the cold. "And this," She scooped up a hand full of white powder off the ground, shivering slightly as she cupped it in her bare hands. "This is snow?"
"Indeed it is." Vexen lightly batted the snowflakes from her hands and slipped of his gloves, handing them to her. "Put these on otherwise you'll get frostbite and loose your thumbs." The girl hastily slipped on the oversized leather gloves. For a few seconds her hands were even colder than when she was holding the snow, but her natural body heat quickly warmed them.
She looked around again, drinking in every sight, smell and sound before lifting her gaze to Vexen with a wide grin. "I really can't thank you enough for this, Vexen. This is…amazing!" The scientist patted her on the head with a nod. "Is there anything else we can do with snow except look at it?"
"Well, yes but I'm not going to demonstrate-" He paused at a sudden thought, a slow, wicked smirk beginning to form on his sharp features. "On second thought, Namine, I think this would be an excellent time for a little experiment…"
Back in The World That Never Was, Marluxia frowned as he examined a wilting rose. "I just don't understand. Why won't you thrive like the rest?" He sighed and shook his head. "Such a shame." He bent forward to pick up his pruning sheers.
"Marluxia!" Namine's voice chirped somewhere behind him.
The Graceful Assassin frowned and straightened up, turning around to face the girl. "Namine, what have I told you about coming into my gar-" A snowball ramming itself directly into his face cut off his sentence. He cried out in surprise and staggered back, landing in and crushing a flowerbed of irises.
Quickly recovering, Marluxia snarled as he wiped icy chunks from his face. A few feet from where he'd previously been standing an open portal gaped at him. On the other side Namine and Vexen were clearly visible, both dressed in Organization coats and surrounded by snow. Number Four snickering and packing a fresh snowball in his hands while Namine laughed by his side. "Grr, Vexen…!" Struggling to rise from the dirt and summon his scythe at the same time, the botanist charged at the portal with murder in his eyes. He was once against subdued by another snowball in the face, expertly thrown by Namine that time. As he went down the portal closed with Vexen's cackling still ringing through the greenhouse.
Zexion glanced up from his book as the portal opened in his library. He wasn't the least bit surprised when Vexen stepped out of it, his long hair lightly dusted with snowflakes, nor was he too impressed that Namine was right behind him, dripping melting snow all over the carpet.
Had it been any other time the bibliophile hardly would've cast a glance in their direction but the fact that they were both wearing grins similar to the cat that ate the canary caught his attention. He raised an eyebrow at them silently, catching the distinct smells of cold, cookies and pine. His gaze shifted to Namine and a slight frown formed on his lips as he asked, "Namine, where in the worlds did you get a coat that almost fits you?"
The young artist only laughed softly and started to unzip the damp coat. Zexion couldn't be sure, but he could've sworn he saw Vexen give Namine a wink.