-A/N-: Can Naminé complete her task of convincing the Organization to have a party before Christmas arrives? Well, with the help of Roxas, Axel and Demyx, she just might… and she's utilizing her conniving ways to ensure everyone agrees with her proposal. So, without further ado, I leave with the immortal words of Seifer: "That was undeniable proof that we totally owned you lamers."

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is so totally the property Xemnas and his dysfunctional group of disorganized Nobodies.


"ZEXION!"

Zexion jumped two (or three) feet into the air, the book in his hands slipping from his dainty fingers and dropping to the floor with a loud thump, very narrowly missing his foot. He gave a low curse and turned to see who had decided that now was a good time to bother him.

Needless to say, he was pretty surprised (if not a little disturbed) to find not one, not two, but four people staring at him from the doorway of his bedroom… The very doorway that he was quite sure had a door shut in place a few moments before. He wondered why the hell his super sense of smell didn't pick up their scents sooner.

"Didn't you read the sign I put up?" Zexion grumbled, retrieving his fallen book and settling it on his bed next to him.

"Yeah. It said 'Keep out or my pet novels will eat you whole', or something like that," Demyx replied, awe evident in his voice. "That's so cool! Can your books really do that?"

Zexion glowered at the Melodious Nocturne's absurd question and decided not to reply. Demyx could be cute, but he could also be pretty dense. The bookworm then spotted Roxas among the four and wondered why such a sensible kid like him would tag along with VIII, IX and Xemnas' Unofficial Adopted Daughter. The Cloaked Schemer's frown deepened. He was pretty good at the whole 'scowl and sulk' charade. He was thinking that maybe if he pouted long enough, the Nobodies at his door would like, go away, or something.

It wasn't the case. Damn.

Axel ambled into the room, eyes never leaving Zexion's prone form that was now seated on the edge of his single bed, quite stiff and rigid.

"We have a question," Axel was saying, walking all over the place, striding backwards and forwards within the enclosed space that would be considered 'Zexy Territory'.

"Question?" Zexion echoed, voice wary. He hated it when Axel treated him like some sort of adolescent fool. He may be two heads shorter than the pyromaniac, but Zexion always blamed Axel's height on the damned Tall Genes of his Somebody. Just because the redhead was taller didn't mean he could just stomp all over his territory.

"Yup! A question." Axel stepped closer and leaned forward, invading the personal space of the Now-Very-Uncomfortable Schemer. "We were wondering how you felt about -"

"No way in hell am I going to model for one of Naminé's portraits," Zexion cut Axel off hastily, suddenly fearful. "I've seen how she made those sketches of Vexen!" He shivered uncontrollably, trying to shake of horrid memories of Vexen, a bath towel and a freezer.

Axel turned to look at Naminé and gave her a look as if to say 'did you hear that? He just totally dissed your artistic skillz!'

The girl with the 'artistic skillz' gave a slight cough, as though reminding Zexion that she was listening and that she was probably going to make him regret what he'd just said.

Zexion only turned away and faced the wall, crossing his arms and redoubling his pout. Somehow, he knew they wouldn't leave him alone without taking what was left of his dignity.

Axel clucked his tongue.

Roxas spoke up. He was getting impatient. "What we wanted to know was whether you'd like to see Sora, Riku and Kairi. You see, we're planning this celebration for Christmas and we'd like to invite them down here for a get-together."

"Why in the world should they be a part of anything concerning us?" Zexion muttered, then realized that Roxas mentioned a name that he wasn't very familiar with. "Wait, Kairi?"

"My Somebody," Naminé supplied helpfully.

Zexion blinked. "Why isn't your name an anagram of hers?"

"I was never part of the Organization. So I couldn't be christened with your silly names. I mean, Mister Xemnas didn't recruit me as a member, did he?"

"Oh. Right. Well… I don't want Riku anywhere near me, or Sora or this Kairi girl either for that matter!"

There was a short silence.

Zexion pouted.

Roxas frowned.

Axel smirked.

Demyx bounced on his feet as though he were listening to music only he could hear.

And then, Naminé stepped forward with a small, coy smile.

She was twirling a strand of her silver-blonde hair with a finger with a crafty look on her face that made her look unbelievably foxy.

Zexion saw this and raised an eyebrow, trying not to look too bothered by the girl's sudden change in tactics. This already didn't look good for the sixth member of the now-defunct Organization XIII. He knew that smile. It was the smile of the devil.

"Zexion, Zexion, Zexion," she murmured, shaking her head like a mother would to a disobedient child. Apparently, she didn't hold much regard for Zexion because a 'Mister' never preceded his name, like how she addresses I and VII. "You have to agree. Do you know how many hours me, Demyx and Roxas put into planning this party?"

She paused, waiting for an answer to her rhetorical question.

Zexion blew his slate-colored hair out of his eyes angrily, "Does it look like I care?! I don't even like Christmas!" he grounded out.

"C'mon, Zex. Be a good sport and say yes. I know how much you love parties!" Axel quipped.

Zexion did not like parties. In fact, he despised them. There was no way these kooks were going to sway him. No way. "I don't want a party and I don't care how many hours you've spent planning this!" Number VI exploded.

Demyx gasped. "You did not just say that!" the musician exclaimed after a moment's silence.

Naminé hid a smile and looked over at the sitar player. This could play in her favour. She knew Zexion's one weakness. And that one weakness was Demyx.

"How could you, Zex?" Demyx continued, horrified.

Roxas looked to his friend and didn't know if the Melodious Nocturne was offended by Zexion's outburst or close to tears. It was hard to tell sometimes with Demyx.

Zexion meanwhile, was looking a little uneasy.

He glanced at Naminé and realized the trick she was playing right away. And he could tell that this wouldn't end well. It wasn't that he was worried about Naminé trying to manipulate him. He was worried about Demyx, because right about now…

"Zexiioooon," Number IX whined.

Damn.

"Why won't you just say yes? It's gonna' be really fun!" Demyx promised.

Zexion squirmed on the spot, trying to look everywhere but into the puppy dog eyes of Demyx. He couldn't give in. He couldn't look into those eyes… They always managed to render him powerless.

"Pleeeease?" The Melodious Nocturne was unrelenting. "You know that Sora, Riku and Kairi would love to see you!"

Zexion snorted. But he didn't have the heart to tell Demyx that Riku would probably try to kill him on sight. Not that he could die again, really. "Right," he muttered. "I'm sure they would jump for joy at the sight of me."

Demyx bobbed his head up and down excitedly now. "Yeah!" he chirruped, not catching on with the obvious sarcasm, "So, whaddya' say? Yes?"

Zexion rolled his dark, crystal blue eyes.

"Please, please, please? Please with a cherry on top… and some whipped cream?"

"ALRIGHT! YOU WIN!" the Defeated Schemer threw both hands into the air, a sign of surrender. He had given in to this ridiculous idea and it was all Demyx's fault. But he found himself glaring at Naminé instead. And she only smiled serenely back at him. Oh, she was all kinds of evil, alright.

"Finally! Victory is ours once more!" Axel whooped, doing a little victory dance in the middle of Zexion's room which consisted of the robot, the chicken dance and some moves he learnt from Napoleon Dynamite.

Zexion opened his mouth to say something to rebuke the redhead, but before he could utter a sound, Demyx had come bounding towards him, giving the smaller Organization member the hugest hug ever.

"Thanks, Zexy! I knew you'd say yes! And for that, I'm gonna' get you the most awesome present I can think of!"

Zexion almost had to pry Demyx off of him. He didn't mind the hug so much, but he did need the air to breathe.

"We have to get everyone presents?" the Cloaked Schemer asked, as soon as Demyx got off him.

"Not necessarily everyone, only those you want to give presents to. But we will be having a random Secret Santa gift exchange!" Naminé replied cheerfully, "So you'll need to wrap at least one gift to give to whoever gets you as their gift buddy."

Zexion muttered something incoherent, but no one was paying him any heed.

"Well, now that we're done here, could we maybe move on to someone else? It's almost lunch time and I'm starving," Roxas grumbled, and so did his stomach.

"Let's go see if Marluxia's busy," Naminé said casually, "I think he's tending to his roses."

"Good, go, get out of my room!"

"Thank you for your support, Zexion!" Naminé politely bowed her head in his direction, before heading out the door. All traces of her devilishness had vanished and Zexion wondered if it was something she could turn on and off. On one hand, she could be extremely sweet, and on the other, she could be your worst nightmare (and still be sickly sweet).

"Thanks again, Zexy!" Demyx waved, following after the little girl. "See ya later!"

Axel and Roxas just left without saying anything. The redhead was the last to leave the room. He shut the door behind him noiselessly.

"Hang on a sec," Number VIII murmured quietly, a gleam in his toxic-green eyes, "You guys go on ahead without me, I'll catch up."

So, Demyx and Naminé skipped off towards the general direction of Marluxia's indoor garden (the whole Crypt was technically indoors), and Roxas stayed behind because he felt obligated to stick with the chakram-wielding hothead (in case the man decided to do anything crazy – Roxas felt it was his duty to make sure his friend didn't).

Axel had turned back to Zexion's closed door, pulled out a black Sharpie from a coat pocket (which was odd because he didn't really have any pockets) and scribbled something on the sign that hung on the door.

Roxas frowned (he seemed to be doing that a lot lately) at what his best friend had just scrawled in almost unintelligible writing. He read it over several times.

"Hey, Ax? That's going a bit too far, don't you think?"

Axel laughed, re-pocketing his marker. "Nope. I think it speaks the truth," he replied brightly. And he laughed again, linking arms with Roxas almost gaily and dragging the blonde down the hallway to catch up with Xemnas' Unofficial Adopted Kid and Mister Dance, Water, Dance!

Roxas sighed and threw one last glance back at Zexion's door, before being steered away by the overzealous redhead.

Instead of 'Keep out or my pet novels will eat you whole' (which the Flurry of Dancing Flames had crossed out several times), the sign now read:

Beware! Demyx's Bitch Lives Here.


I feel sorry for Zexion.
Anyway, the quest continues!
Will Marly cooperate with the D.A.R.N. crew?
(Yes, it stands for
Demyx, Axel, Roxas and Naminé)
...
Will they even get to send out the invitation cards in time?

I'm taking suggestions. Suggestions? Anyone?