Ch. 1 - Nobody's Love

Demyx was walking through a hallway in the castle, listening to his iPod when Xigbar spotted him. The Freeshooter quickly, but quietly ran up behind IX. With a mischievious glint in his eye, II popped the earphones out, threw Demyx's hood over, and tugged on the draw strings, snatching the iPod in the process. By the time the Melodious Nocturne was able to get his hood off, Xigbar was strolling along the ceiling listening to the mp3 player as if it was his own. He quickly scrolled through the playlists until he found something he like, "The Nobodies" by Marilyn Manson. He sang along loudly and out of tune while Demyx chased after him on the floor.

"What? I can't hear you over the music!" yelled II jokingly.

"C'mon, Xig! Give me back my iPod!" cried Demyx. Xigbar laughed as he began to run along the top of the hallway. "No fair, I can't get up there!" The Freeshooter simply shot him a stuck out tongue. He turned just in time to skid to a stop before being impaled by a lance.

"XIGBAR!" roared Xaldin, startling both of the other Nobodies, making Demyx squeal and Xigbar drop from the ceiling in fright.

"Thanks, Xal!" said Demyx, smiling gratefully as he skipped off. Xigbar pried himself off of the floor and began arguing with Xaldin. Xemnas noticed the quarrel and walked over with a sigh. The Superior quickly broke up the fight and sent them on their way.

Demyx finally made his way to the Grey Room, where a majority of the other Organization members were. Saïx was reading a book about the moon in a recliner, Axel was lounging on the couch, Luxord and Vexen were playing Chess, well, until Vexen declared Luxord a cheater and stormed out, only for Zexion to replace IV, Roxas was asleep against a wall, Lexaeus was quietly thumbing through a bookshelf trying to find something to read, and Larxene was laying across the arms of another chair, reading a book about Marquis de Sade. He walked over to the iHome and placed his mp3 player in the port, allowing the others to hear the music. Axel occasionally glanced over at Larxene, who was to interested in her book to notice him. He sighed and stared at the ceiling. Demyx sat next to Axel and began trying to have a conversation with the Flurry of Dancing Flames.

"Hey Ax." IX greeted him cheerfully.

"Hey Demyx." VIII responded, not looking away from the grey-tiled ceiling.

"What's up?"

"Nothing." Axel answered, glancing over at XII for what seemed like the millionth time. Once again, she didn't notice him, she simply turned the page and he stared back at the ceiling. Demyx watched Axel and decided to help.

"You know, if you want her to notice you, you should go over there and talk to her."

"What? No, what are you talking about?"

"You like her, don't you?" asked IX.

"No!" said VIII, his face turning red.

"You do, I knew it." triumphed Demyx, poking Axel in the chest.

"Do not." grumbled the Flurry, swatting Demyx's hand away.

"Go tell her. If you like her, tell her." he said, smiling.

"Cut it ou-" began Axel as "Lost in You" by Three Days Grace came on, silencing him. His eyes drooped and his entire body shouted "I'M SAD!" Demyx put his hand on Axel's shoulder comfortingly. IX looked over VIII confused. Suddenly it hit him.

"You already have, haven't you?"

"I never had the chance. She and Marluxia had just broken up and she walked into the Grey Area and shouted that she'll never be with another man as long as she lived. I was just getting up the courage to go tell her."

"I remember that. Wow! That was two months ago!" exclaimed Demyx.

"Yeah..." trailed off Axel. He finally stood up and walked off toward his room.

"Ax." tried the musician but was ignored by the heartbroken pyro. Ironically, Larxene looked up from her book as Axel left.

"Pfft, what's his deal?" she asked with a scoff.

"He's just sad, Larxy." Demyx answered as he got up and walked over to her.

"Why is the old hot head sad, did his fire not last as long as he wanted it to?" she asked with a laugh. "I hope he's all right." she thought to herself.

"Not quite." responded IX, concern in his eyes. He didn't know if he should tell her or not. He decided not to, it wasn't his place. "I'm going to go find Ax to see if I can cheer him up." announced Demyx. As one of Axel's best friends, it was his job to make sure he was happy.

"Mind if I join you?" asked the Savage Nymph, surprising the Melodious Nocturne.

"Su-sure." he stuttered. "I'm surprised you actually want to go with me." he said with a smile.

"Well, let's go." she said, standing up and putting her book down. The two Nobodies exited the Grey Room. "So, where do you think the hot head went?"

"He usually locks himself in his room when he wants to be alone." answered Demyx. Larxene nodded and they headed off toward Axel's quarters.

As IX and XII got closer to VIII's room, they heard music eminating from behind the door.

"That song, it's 'Vermillion, Pt 2'." informed Demyx, recognizing the music.

"It sounds sad." said Larxene.

"It is, it's a song about lost or unrequited love." he replied.

"What a loser." she smirked. "Why would Axel be listening to that kind of song?" she asked herself inside her own head. Demyx knocked on the door and the music quickly shut off. IX knocked again.

"What?" asked Axel from behind the door, sounding upset.

"It's me." said Demyx.

"Me, who?"

"Ax." replied Demyx whinily.

"What do you want, Demyx?"

"I just wanted to see how you were doing."

"I want to be left alone."

"Well, can I join you in being alone?" There was a sigh muffled through the door. After a long silence, Axel undid the lock, but didn't open the door. Demyx slowly cracked the door open and peered in, the room was dark, save for a couple of candles Axel had burning. Demyx entered and motioned for Larxene to join him. Axel didn't notice either of them. He was laying on his bed, his arms spread out and his legs hanging off the end. His face revealed the full sorrow he felt, the dried tear trails hastily wiped away. The Melodious Nocturne shut the door, knowing how the Flurry felt about his door being open. Axel sighed once more and held his arm up, palm toward the ceiling of his red painted room. He created a ball of fire in the palm, the dancing light illuminating his face, making his emerald eyes shine in the light. Larxene loved it. "Ax?" asked Demyx. Axel closed his fist, snuffing out the fire, and dropped the arm.

"Yeah." he answered, still not looking at the other people in his room.

"Are you going to be ok?" IX approached the bed, stopping a few feet short.

"I don't know, Demyx, I really don't know. I feel so empty, I mean, I know Nobodies don't have hearts, but I feel even more empty that usual. Like there is something else missing from within my body, like my very soul." The scene was almost too much for XII, she fought back the tears, seeing Axel like this tore her up inside.

"I wish I knew how to help, Ax." said Demyx, not knowing what to do.

"Me too, Demyx, I..." Axel trailed off. One last tear finally rolled down the side of his face. That was the last straw that broke the camel's back. Larxene couldn't contain herself any longer and her tears finally jerked themselves free, rushing down her face like twin waterfalls.

"Axel, you jerk!" she said, her voice breaking, not like her at all. He looked at her and his eyes widened.

"La-Larxene." he stuttered.

"Demyx, I need to go." she said right before she quickly ran out of the room.

"Lar-" Demyx was cut off by Axel chasing after her. "Axel?" he asked, being the only one left in the room, having no idea what just happened.

The larger Nobody eventually caught up with the smaller one.

"Larxene, what happened back there?" he asked panting. XII wiped her face dry and turned to him.

"What do you think?" she shouted at him.

"I don't understand what's going on."

"Of course you don't, you idiot." she fought with all of her strength to keep the tears from erupting again.

"Larxene, please, I don't want to fight with you."

"Why not? You've hurt me, why don't I get to hurt you?" she almost yelled at him again, but her voice cracked before she could.

"Don't worry about hurting me, you've already done a good enough job of that." he answered, not being able to look at her anymore.

"What's that supposed to mean?" her anger flared once again. "Tell me, you coward!"

"Remember two months ago, when you and XI split?"

"How could I forget, why would you bring up such a painful memory?"

"Because I was so close to being courageous for once. But what you yelled to everyone stopped me."

"Stopped you from doing what?" her anger had begun to die down now. He looked her right in the eyes and took a deep breath, summoning all the courage of his nonexistence.

"Tell you that I love you." he couldn't stop the pain from being in his voice. The truth took Larxene's breath away. Axel turned from her and slumped against the wall, hitting the back of his head against it. He slid to the floor and started to cry again. When Larxene was finally able to breath again, it took her a moment to wrap her head around what he said. She was no longer able to stop the water army from sending out their second assault against her cheeks and she cried once more. "I'm sorry that I made you cry, Larxy." he told her as he noticed her tears.

"You jerk." she muttered. "I'm not crying because I'm hurt. I'm crying because I'm happy." He looked back up at her and saw the smile on her face.

"Why would that make you happy? Or is it because I'm crying?" he asked.

"I'm happy because I love you, too!" she told him. He gasped in surprise. She kneeled down and looked him in the eyes. "I've loved you for a long time now, I just wasn't sure if you felt the same way." Axel began to cry again.

"Now I've got happy tears." he joked and they both laughed. She sat next to him. He put his arm around her and she kissed his cheek. They hugged and stared into each others' eyes as they cried happily for a few minutes. He kissed her forehead and she rested her head against his chest. For the first time, they were both happy, together.