A/N: Same Story as before, but MUCH better! I'd like to thank my wonderful beta/co-writer, I am and I, for helping me so much with this one. Seriously, I gave her a page of story, and she turned it into this beauty. So, anyway, please review!

There is a theme song for every chapter, and, if you look at my YouTube account ( www (dot) youtube (dot) com/user/ElianaRei ), and go into the playlists, there is one called 'Musician's Muse. In order, it's the Main Theme, Prologue, Chapter 1, Zexion's Theme, Chapter 2, Demyx's Theme, Chapters 3, 4, & 5, Interlude, Chapters 6-10, Interlude, Chapter 11-15, Interlude, Chapters 16-20, Epilogue, and Ending Theme. Please, please, listen to the songs and speculate D

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot of this fanfic.

xXx

Demyx noted idly that the storm that had blustered through so unannounced had begun to drift off into the distance. The fall of snowflakes began to taper off to nothing and the rolling bite of thunder receded toward the horizon. Within minutes, the rushing clouds scrabbled away from the round face of the moon, and it spilled its pure silver-blue light down on the blanketed ground below.

The blond smiled delicately, watching every snow-drenched piece of landscape light up like quicksilver. In this space, a small rabbit seized the opportunity and bolted from safety to cross the span of snowdrifts. The blond's smile deepened, gained a wicked edge as he watched the fox just behind gather himself for the chase. It was a beautiful thing, the uncoiling of that lean, canine body as the pretty little red-furred fox landed on the rabbit and snapped its neck without any undue fuss or ceremony. Perfection.

Simple and elegant, just the way it should be, and a perfect example of the way the world around them turned. Those who didn't hunt and kill were hunted and killed for food and sport, and even going up the ladder, there was always something bigger and nastier to keep the lower rung in check. To put it simply, if you didn't eat meat, you ended up someone else's meat.

It was the rule of the Organization as well, he thought. Just the way it was. Xemnas was the top of the chain, fierce and deadly, a Great White in a Guppy-pond, commanding respect with the mere bat of a silvery-gray eyelash. Unfortunately for Demyx, though, he was the bottom of the bottom: that scared little guppy swimming between everyone else's teeth.

Morbid thoughts aside, though, he found himself smiling as he turned to lay eyes upon his lover, sighed as happily as a nobody can. Zexion merely stared at him with stormy eyes and curled tighter beneath the three or four odd comforters he'd pulled out of the closet for the occasion. It was different for the two of them… they had different sets of teeth looming over them… Where Xemnas was Zexion's biggest problem – the great white to Zexion's guppy, to keep the example going – Marluxia was Demyx's. But all that… it was all distant to him.

All that mattered to him, at this point, was Zexion.

"I," Zexion began, putting some stress on the first word, "do not enjoy being likened to a Guppy, I will have you know, Nine." His tone was sleepy, though, and didn't come off half as harsh or disdainful as it would have in any other circumstance. There was a subtle glimmer in his dark, almost opaque, glassy eyes and Demyx cocked his head a little, patted the open space on the window-seat next to him.

Zexion heaved what sounded suspiciously like a frustrated sigh and rose, pale and bare in the half-light of his ever-darkened quarters. He gathered up a thick blanket and wrapped it around himself – more to keep warm than to be modest – and slipped absolutely silently to lover's side. He sat in that same graceful, mannerly way that he always did, spine ramrod straight and far-seeing eyes fixed on some unknown point outside the glass. Demyx tugged him down against his own body and hummed.

"Fine," he chuckled to the slate-haired man's sullen face, "You can be a Mako if you think a guppy doesn't fit. They're one of the fastest in the sea, you know…" He then proceeded to smile evilly.

"I don't appreciate that," Zexion replied tersely. "That was very underhanded, but I guess it will suffice for now." He came within millimeters of relaxing against the blond's chest, eyes half-lidded and tired. The blond shrugged a little, brushing fingertips lightly over a fine cheekbone.

He could imagine them together… and it wasn't the usual sort of longing… He could care less about having hearts if they could just be together out snowboarding and ice-skating… They would have a snowball fight, and Demyx would pummel him because he'd be able to borrow Old Man Winter's talent, and when they got sick of doing that, they'd come back in for home-made chocolate with the little marshmallows on top, maybe even vanilla whipped cream…

His plans for the rest of the day, though… those were the real ones… He could almost taste lover's skin, and feel his small hand pressed tight at his chest… They would make love on the scratchy rug in front of the fireplace until Demyx's back went raw and numb. Ink, blood, saltwater and sex… Zexion's eyes would catch the firelight and reflect back orange, blacken his irises like wet charcoal, and Demyx's would dull and darken gray with little hints and flecks of blue like the sky during a hurricane. Demyx would rise and ebb like the tide and Zexion would control it all, gasping and gritting his teeth and they would both try to hang on, breathing in boiling hot passion swirling on the air like an element of its own. Demyx would scream.

Oh yes, Demyx would cry and moan and wail until his throat went raw from it… they both came, nearly in the same breath, and they would lay in a tangle of limp, sticky limbs, panting and gasping against sweat-slick skin.

Ink. Thick black staining leaves of aged paper… the smell of a library or a new book. Blood. Crimson-cast salt, iron, more refined than sweat and sea. Saltwater. Warm and wet with a bite entirely unlike sweat, clinging to hair and skin and staying, clinging almost desperately. Sex. Heavy raw smell on the air, so heavy you can almost taste it… almost feel it…

In the deepest recesses of their small sanctuary, they would find some solace in each other's bodies… their own memories. To anyone foolish enough to trespass, nothing but roiling black current and tide would rise to meet them. Lances of heat and pain, agony, turmoil, tumult… the best of these things. It'd be a hell to anyone else, but to them… not so much.

They would simply look the other in the eyes and smile so softly and politely. Damn the world and let it burn, just as long as they were happy.

Zexion blinked slowly, then glanced up, brow sharply creased. He wasn't looking all that convinced of all this planning. "Demyx, I must admit…" he mumbled, "You have quite the imagination… And you think in crayon drawings, so I'm asking you to cease and desist if you will." He sighed and stretched a little, pressed closer, this time fully resting against Demyx's chest. "Also, I think I might participate with the last part… the fireplace part… the rest…" he shivered a little and shook his head, "You know I absolutely detest the cold."

The blond chuckled and shrugged slightly, smiling brightly, then focused on the sea of silver-bathed white outside again. It took a long moment of silence before Zexion even moved.

Slowly, gracefully, he craned his neck and gently kissed the bottom of Demyx's chin, lifted himself and stood. "Come now, Nine, while weather still permits… We'll go ice-skating. I figure it's been years since the last time, so I'm curious as to whether or not I can still do it at all."

Demyx grinned and jumped up eagerly. "Okay… and then what will we do after that?" he chuckled, glancing at the fireplace with a sort of giddiness.

"Oh," Zexion chuckled, a rare show of emotion for him. He dropped the blanket from around his shoulders and glanced back at the blond. "I'm sure you already have that figured out… the old fashioned way, I'm guessing… but I think I'll add my own little twists by the time we get down to it."

Demyx smiled. Life was definitely looking up right about now…