Two weeks.

Two weeks.

Two weeks was all that it had taken to turn Zexion's schedule to shambles. One would think that two weeks without Demyx would prove to be a quiet, relaxing, altogether serene period of time, but Zexion was only suffering in silence.

He hadn't heard a word from Demyx since the taller, overly jubilant man had left on his recent research mission. Usually, Zexion would receive several abrupt, ellipsis prone messages detailing his adventures and the odd things he saw during them. The last one he'd gotten included eating customs, odd foods, tiny flowers, Orca whales, giant mountains, more odd foods, people he'd talked to (which he wasn't supposed to do as he traveled in secret), the amusement parks he somehow found everywhere he went, and finally even more food.

Yes, Demyx wrote back a lot about food. It didn't surprise Zexion; Demyx had a stomach like a ravenous clam: you never expect them to be dangerous until it's far too late.

But this time, nothing. No news, no notes, no annoyances, nothing.

And it was driving Zexion mad.

Demyx was the only intrusion that Zexion had ever allowed into his schedule. There was never time, but Demyx had made time. Zexion was always busy, but Demyx made everything go smoother, easier, and with fewer irritations. As such, Demyx had knocked the mechanism slightly off center, just the merest sliver of a degree off balance, and in doing so, had inserted himself as the sole thing keeping it all in place.

Zexion had noticed it as being little things at first. He found himself waiting for Demyx even though he knew the other man was away. Then he found it harder to sleep; found himself forgetting to eat; and now, now…

He looked at the pile of papers in front of him. He'd stopped dead in the middle of a word as he was writing a new exploratory proposal and thrown down his pen in frustration. That had been several hours ago, several hours mingled by with Zexion's exhaustive thought processes. He had decided, simply, that he couldn't concentrate.

"Since when," he thought, "was I so dependent upon Demyx that I couldn't get anything done without him?"

Zexion stood from his desk chair and walked calmly around his room, mostly in hops and stretches since his floor space was pretty much taken up by his research materials. He turned to observe the bundle of queries that he had not yet gotten to; the conglomeration of odd questions and dead ends the rest of the Organization had calmly dumped on him; the ocean of paperwork, topics, and formal procedures that no one else appeared to even blink at when they'd gone off on their raucous excursions.

Zexion had it. It came to his mind as he immediately strode to the door, threw it open and marched quietly, but determinedly towards the entrance of the Castle.

"If they care so much about my work," he reasoned, "then they certainly would permit my gaining anything to expedite my research. As such, Demyx being here to aid in my concentration is far more necessary than his ridiculous and utterly pointless outings."

With that in mind, Zexion walked out the Castle doors, breathed in a small gutsy breath, and punched his access code into the nearby transporter. He wasn't sure where it would lead, but this error in logic was negligible compared to the sudden feeling of spirit that filled his body. Carried by that, he stepped through the purple haze of the door and felt himself whisked to another place, far, far away.

Demyx had liked the hotel room the Organization had secured for him. It was, in a word, tropical; as attested by the palm tree bedspread, bamboo lighting, and floral accents dotting the surrounding accoutrements. It actually bordered on tacky, but Demyx didn't mind, especially since it had gotten dark and he didn't really notice as much of the room's flavor without the extra lighting.

But as much like as he had for the place initially, what with the lovely people, the nearby roller coasters, mouth-watering hot dogs, the beach and the ocean, he was beginning to grow bored. Bored and listless. And restless. That was the word: restless. He missed being back around Zexion and his room. Even Castle Oblivion with its gray slate and unappealing decoration (they'd made it a rule after the first time never again to let Vexen head the design committee) was a fair bit nicer than this place so long as it had…

Demyx mused. He wondered why he felt so drawn to it. It wasn't the nicest place, but it had…the feeling of a home.

At least there he could play his Sitar, which the hotel staff had banned him from doing after numerous complaints. And there he could find some stray paper on which to write letters. As it happened, he hadn't been able to find a single sheet of paper anywhere in the hotel aside perhaps from that in the bathroom which wasn't suitable for letters anyhow. He reclined on his palm tree comforter, his head resting on the print of two coconuts.

He missed it back home.

Then suddenly, he felt an odd prick in his chest. He sat up, wondering if it was indigestion from his latest round of local delicacies. He waited and then again the feeling came, stronger and with more pressure, but it wasn't pain, but pulling. Something was urging him outside. He could feel it, sitting a few inches below his collarbone and fighting, if he didn't move, to burst out of him like an angry flock of bees.

He stood and walked quickly out of his room, barely allowing time to pull his boots on. The hallway was deserted on either side, the sea green carpeting reflecting the white walls. Demyx felt pulled stronger than ever and stepped forward, quickening into a jog to the elevator at the end of the passage. By the time the doors opened into the lobby, he could feel the frenzy of energy building and he rushed out the front sliding glass doors and into the moonlight.

Zexion had no real idea where he was. The flash of the transporter had temporarily blinded him, but when the spots had cleared, his eyes told him what his ears had already observed. He was at the ocean, an ocean in some world. He could tell it wasn't his own for the moon was a round shape and brighter, leaving everything in a muted, quiet color.

He was almost concerned that he'd made a mistake until he felt his concentration begin to repair itself and the spirit he'd left the Castle with return. He faced forward and began to run. The far off smudges of light in the distance spoke of a sea side dwelling place. If Demyx was anywhere, he'd be there. He had to be.

As he got farther along, he increased his pace, his speed and the ease with which he did these. Research did not afford him much exercise besides his mind, so his legs were sore as the first sprint went on. But sure enough, the adrenaline pushed his pulse higher and fueled the force keeping him going.

"Why…why am I…doing this?" he wondered.

The answer sat at the end of his race and he dislodged footfalls of sand as he continued forward, the moon keeping steady light as he advanced.

Demyx looked around. Outside of his hotel was a long sprawl of beach, as barren and silent as a desert if not for the waves. The urgency that had brought him outside was receding, giving him hints now instead of pushes. He looked left and started that way.

The urgency was pleased and supported Demyx with spurts of movement, turning his start into a rush. He could feel the energy building in him again, running over and flooding his chest with a feverous gush. The feeling became more intense as pushed on until the mere hints of it grew agonizing. He knew that the feeling had nothing to do with his physical nature, but something difficult to place. Whatever it was, it was not going to allow him any argument in getting where it wanted him to go.

He had been running for several minutes, or maybe more, when he thought he saw something a bit ahead of him. It appeared to be another person, also running as fast as they could in the opposite direction Demyx was going.

He slowed his run only slightly as the other person grew closer, growing more distinct in the pale light. It wasn't until they were thirty feet away that Demyx felt a cold surprise drench him. He stopped immediately while the figure went forward another few strides before also stopping. Demyx could see that this person had run a long way, panting hard and looking exhausted. He could also see that this person took absolute notice of him for the one bright eye he could see was fixed on his face.

All at once, the other person began to move again, flinging forward the last few feet between them. Demyx had only just enough time to open his arms before this man threw himself around Demyx's waist, wrapping his arms around his chest.

"…Zexion…"

Demyx gave a little surprised laugh and put his arms around him. The moment he did so, every sense of urgency that had before dogged his chest and chased at his heels evaporated and replaced itself with a blissful wholeness he hadn't felt for at least two weeks. It was almost as if he could see the thin aura of a white light move around them, signaling that something obvious had changed.

Zexion looked up to Demyx's face, which had flushed with the feeling, and kept his look of analytical pensiveness. In a moment though he whispered,

"You felt it too?"

Demyx was prone to be shocked, but just nodded, tightening his hold around Zexion's back.

"Yeah…it's like…I feel complete again…"

"…Let's go."

Demyx released Zexion and the two grabbed each other's hand and set off. It was a wild race that filled them both with excitement, running like children, but children with every right to a happiness all their own. It was a singular attachment they held together, a slight suggestion that they weren't fleeing from something, but racing towards something.

At the end of their journey, a smile appeared on Zexion's face to match the one that had all the time been present on Demyx's face, a face that had also bubbled over with laughter. In an instant, they both had vanished, the purple of the portal disappearing within moments and the sound of Demyx's broad, bright laughter mixing in with the indeterminate shifting of the sea. The moonlight moved lightly on the broken clumps of sand.

Peering through a certain window in Castle Oblivion, one would find Demyx and Zexion cuddled and asleep on Zexion's bed; the work still incomplete; the mission for the moment abandoned. However futile an argument it was that made Zexion go after the magnet of his misery, it couldn't be helped that for once, he felt completely satisfied.

A/N:

So HI!

Thank you so much, so, so much for reading this! I really hope you enjoyed it. Please, please review! Little delights me more than reviews and reviewers.

So anyway, this is a story that I've had in mind for a LONG time. I don't even know how long, but at least a few years I think…and I had been trying, but never succeeding in getting it out on paper, but thankfully it seemed the frantic deadline of this auspicious date did the trick.

Speaking of which, HAPPY ZEMYX DAY!

This was sort of inspired by the song "I Drove All Night," either the Cyndi Lauper version or the Celine Dion version. The reason for this being that as I listened to the songs, I got a very clear "music video" in my head for the entire song. The above story is my attempt to put that music down into words, so…it's not so much a story as it is an image rendering. The title is also taken from the song, as well as a considerable amount of "interpretation" of what the song talks about. I hope if you go and listen to the songs that you can try and picture what I mean by that.

And I know I'm not the only one who does that for songs too! I'm sure there are others who make mental music videos for their favorite songs. …Whether those videos include their favorite pairings…well, there my conjecture gets a bit sketchier.

Anyway, thanks again so much for reading. Reviews are more than appreciated! They are heralded with the accompaniment of song and dance.