A/N: By the way, this is after everybody died. Don't ask me how they all came back, but that's why they're "normal." It is somewhat explained, but not the main point of this story. That might be an idea for another fic. Hmm. . . .
Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is copyrighted in this fic. I do not own Kingdom Hearst I, CoM, or II in any way, shape or form.
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The dimly lit tavern was bustling with activity. The Organization had reserved half of the tavern, and all the members were spread out over four or five tables. It was obvious that Xigbar, Xaldin, and Luxord had already been drinking, because they were noisily playing Gin Rimming.
Suzume was greeted with many cries of welcome. "Suzume," Xigbar slurred. "You wanna come play some G – Gin Rimmmingg?" He hiccupped.
Suzume laughed and shook her head, putting her hands up in denial. Zexion and Roxas found their way to a table and sat down.
Marluxia peered over Roxas' shoulder. "What's that?" he asked.
"Harry Potter," Roxas said intensely, looking angry at the interruption.
"It came out?!" Marluxia stood up. "I'll be right back."
"Hey," Larxene interrupted. She threw some munny at him. "Get me one, too." He nodded and disappeared.
Vexen and Lexaeus were pouring over the new DNA scanner they had bought from the science outpost. On the other end of the table, Xemnas and Saix were talking quietly. The only two who would find that suspicious were currently gasping over the latest Harry Potter related revelation.
Suzume sat down next to Xaldin, and Axel and Demyx joined her. "Ah, what the heck, I'll play next round," she said.
"Prepare to be defeated, love," Luxord said with a devilish grin.
After they finished up the round, Suzume and Axel joined, while Demyx watched. He wasn't good at card games, because he could never make sense of the rules.
About halfway through the game, Marluxia came back with two copies of Harry Potter. He threw one at Larxene without looking. She caught it, but it almost hit her head. "Hey!" she shouted angrily, throwing some kunai his way.
Marluxia, of course, was used to such reactions, and ducked. The kunai hit the man behind him, who was, by a matter of extreme unfortunate circumstances, the manager of the store. He swore and turned around, seeing the Organization.
"You!" he seethed.
"Yes, it is us," Xigbar said, but after five beers it sounded like: "Yesh, itsh isht ush."
"That's the last straw!" the manager shouted. His face had bypassed plum and was now a magnificent shade of royal purple.
Suzume stood up, almost lazily. "Hey, Jack," she called to the bartender. He looked up from polishing a glass, blinking clear gray eyes.
"Hey what?" he said back.
"This man is bothering your best customers," she said, pointing a finger at the manager.
"Oh yeah?" He raised a brow. "Which best customers?"
"The ones that are buying a round for everyone in the room!" Xaldin roared suddenly. The crowd cheered. "Except – that guy!" He pointed to the space just to the left of the manager, and then squinted. "And his two twin brothers," he added blearily.
Jack grinned. "Felix, Sully," he said to the two burly bouncers who were quietly drinking at the bar. "You wanna remove this irritating thorn in my side?"
Sully stretched his back out. "For you, Jack? Sure thing." He cracked his knuckles, as his buddy joined him.
"You'll regret this!" the manager screamed as he ran out the door. "Mark my words!"
Jack shook his head. "I hate that guy," he said to no one in particular.
"Well, now that that's over," Vexen remarked. "Zexion, come look at this."
Zexion mumbled something that sounded like, "In a minute." He had two chapters left in the book, and had only been reading it for around an hour.
Five minutes later, Luxord was collecting his winnings from Suzume, Xigbar, Xaldin, and Axel. "I swear, you cheat," Suzume said exasperatedly, pushing some munny to him.
"You look beautiful in this light," Axel told her, attempting a soulful look.
"And you look like an anorexic woman," Suzume said without missing a beat.
"Now, that wasn't very nice," Axel replied, grinning. Suzume turned to look at him.
"It wasn't nice to kill, what, three or four of your fellows?" she shot back.
He chuckled. "Vexen and Zexion, only two."
Zexion looked up from his book and frowned. "I remember that," he said. "That wasn't cool."
Suzume crossed her arms. "So why should I be nice to you after you did that?" she asked.
"Because everyone's alive now," Axel replied, shrugging. "Did anyone ever figure out how that happened?"
"Do I need to explain it to you again?" Vexen said, exasperated. "I went into it in great detail at least twice."
"No, that's okay," Axel said hastily. "I swear, I understood it."
"He had no idea, did he?" Suzume dead-panned.
"Nope," Xaldin said, dealing out the cards. "Then again, I think only Xemnas, Vexen, Lexaeus, and Zexion understood it at all."
"I understand the concept," Xigbar interjected, but it was hard to take the former scientist seriously when he was barely able to make himself understood.
"From what I managed to understand from Vexen's admittedly garbled jargon of an explanation," Luxord began, "we were brought back by the sheer force of our will."
"There were other factors," Vexen called irritably.
"Willpower?" Suzume blinked. "Really?"
"Well, apparently Kingdom Hearts played a role," Luxord continued, glaring at Vexen. "And some other things, which are very complicated."
"I think it was the fact that so many people love to hate us," Axel commented. "They just needed someone to hate, and we filled the role nicely."
"You see," Vexen said, deciding to come over and explain to Suzume, "since the reason we became Nobodies through our willpower, it seemed the logical answer. After all, weak-willed humans don't form Nobodies, or they become Dusks. We were the only ones to have retained a form similar to our original forms. So, when we dissolved into nothingness, the willpower that made us retain our forms reasserted itself and brought us back into being. We just want to be alive enough to actually be alive."
"So – you're still Nobodies?" Suzume said. Vexen nodded. "Bullshit," she said flatly. "At least, about not feeling. If you can't feel, then why is Axel here trying to hook up with me?" She jerked her head in his direction.
Vexen launched into a complex answer, which basically meant that they weren't real feelings, just illusions of feelings.
Zexion closed his book and announced, "Finished!" Then he walked over and said, "I know illusions. Nothing we have is an illusion."
He and Vexen became engrossed in a philosophical discussion about what a heart really was, and if being a Nobody meant you couldn't feel. Lexaeus joined them, as well as Xemnas and Saix.
Jack the bartender came over, asking Xemnas for the munny for all the drinks he had just served. Xemnas handed it over absently, still talking to Vexen.
Suzume shook her head. "They get so worked up about this stuff," she commented.
"It's their life," Axel said simply.
"No!" The cry of rage turned their heads. Xigbar was standing, his hands on the table. "That was cheating!" He pointed a wobbling finger at Luxord. "You will – pay for that!" He summoned his weapons, causing screams amongst the other townspeople.
"Oh, God, not again," Suzume muttered, rolling her eyes. "Hey, Sam," she said, grabbing Jack's boyfriend by the arm and dragging him over. The slim, wiry man raised one eyebrow, his green eyes narrow.
"What do you want?" he asked in his cool, quiet voice.
"Can you calm down Xigbar?" she asked. Sam looked at Xigbar, who had already shot three holes in the ceiling. "I don't want this place to collapse."
Sam paused, considering. "Jack would probably be angry," he admitted. "All right."
Axel looked at the man as he meandered over to Xigbar. "How's he going to help?" Axel asked. Demyx was backing away from Xigbar, as Xaldin shouted drunken encouragement. Marluxia and Larxene were completely ignoring everyone, and had joined Roxas' table to read Harry Potter.
"He's good at calming people," Suzume replied. "Just watch."
Sam had reached Xigbar, and put a hand on his shoulder, speaking quietly. Xigbar started, staring at him. Sam continued to soothe him, pushing him gently into his seat. Xigbar replied, as quiet as Sam, which was odd. Sam shook his head at something Xigbar said, and Xigbar let his weapons disappear. Sam turned to Luxord and said something.
Sam came over to Axel and Suzume, weaving through the tables with swaying ease. "How'd he do that?" Axel said, awed.
"Practice," Sam said as he reached them. "Jack gets a lot of rough customers."
Suzume grinned. "Thanks, Sam," she said, flipping a coin his way.
He caught it, and it disappeared in his pocket. "Welcome," he said, raising one hand as he walked towards Jack.
Demyx had fled outside to escape Xigbar's drunken rage, but now he came back. "Um, Xemnas?" he said timidly, heading for their leader.
Xemnas glared. "What is it, Number Nine?" he demanded.
"Well, there's an angry lynch mob outside crying out for our blood," Demyx stated. "Just thought you'd want to know."
"Lynch mob?" Zexion repeated. "Well, that's bad."
"And we'll take that as our cue to leave," Vexen said, standing up. "I do believe we've outstayed our welcome for this week, hmm?"
Lexaeus rumbled agreement, and Zexion walked over to the Harry Potter table. He rapped on the wood briskly. "Leaving," he said.
The three Harry Potter readers stood up simultaneously, slowly pushing their chairs in.
"Left," Zexion said in a bored tone. "Other left," he added as Roxas collided with a table.
"Get out of our town!" cried a torch-wielding mother. "Go away, you child kidnappers!"
"We never kidnapped any children," Axel said confusedly.
"Hi, Mom," Suzume said wearily.
"I stand corrected," Axel said, astonished. "I didn't know your mom hated us, Suzume."
"That's one of the few sentences you've said that hasn't been suggestive," Suzume sighed. "I enjoy these rare moments. I like to wave at them as they pass by."
"I told you you'd rue this day," the manager shouted from the head of the mob, brandishing a pitchfork.
"Where'd you get the pitchfork?" Demyx inquired. The manager spluttered.
"That's none of your business!"
Xemnas did a quick head count. "Where's Xigbar?" he asked.
"I'm right here," Xigbar slurred, stumbling out of the tavern. "Lesh go."
"We'll be back in a week, okay?" Axel said to Suzume. "Don't miss me too much."
"As if I would," she retorted. "Maybe I should come with you guys." She glared meaningfully at her mother.
"Are you insinuating that you want to go out with me?" Axel asked.
"Do you know what the word insinuate means?" she said in the same tone. Then she laughed. "See you all next week."
"Bye, Sue," Roxas said from his book.
"No! Don't die!" Marluxia screamed to his book. "No!"
Axel laughed.
"Aren't you the least bit intimidated?" someone asked from the back of the mob.
"Not really," Lexaeus said matter-of-factly. "You do this every week."
The angry mutterings paused. "You know, he's right," someone said.
"Yeah, you always stand right next to me."
"And you always have that beautiful tie on."
"Why thank you!"
The crowd slowly dispersed, conversing enthusiastically. "Same time next week," one called to the Organization.
"This has got to be the weirdest town," Suzume declared, shaking her head.
"It has to be, being so close to us," Larxene said, smirking from her book.
"This can't be!" the manager screamed, brandishing his pitchfork. "Never come back!"
The Organization began walking to their Gummi Ship, and Suzume walked with them. They had to put up with the manager and a handful of other dedicated mobsters the whole way, shouting.
"Why don't they actually do anything?" Demyx asked.
"They're scared, right?" Larxene said with a laugh. "We would kill them if they attacked."
The Organization piled onto the Gummi Ship. "See you next week!" Suzume called to all of them. "Bye, Xemnas! Xigbar, Xaldin, Vexen! Lexaeus, Zexion, Saix, Axel, Demyx, Luxord, Marluxia, Larxene, Roxas! Ja ne!"
"Stop speaking Japanese, honey," her mother said sternly, who had stayed with them the whole time. "And stop hanging around these hooligans, honestly."
"We'll call for pizza," Axel called from the Gummi Ship. "See you soon!"
"Stop flirting!" Suzume shouted as they took off into the air. Axel replied, but she couldn't make it out.
"Finally, we made it out without any major mishaps," Xemnas said, maneuvering the ship. He glanced at Xaldin, Xigbar, and Luxord, who were in a drunken stupor, and the Harry Potter readers. "Not even any big explosions."
"Explosions?" Axel repeated, suddenly nervous.
"Axel," Xemnas said sternly. "What did you do?"
"I might've left something," he said sheepishly.
There was a small boom from the town, which was already a small dot below them. Xemnas shook his head. "I don't even want to know," he said, taking them towards the World That Never Was.
So much for leaving without an explosion.
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Well? Thoughts, you all? I'll probably redo the whole thing eventually, and it'll be much better, but I just wanted to get it all out there.