Axel bolted upright in his bed, not sure what had woken him. A sound… wait, there it was again. It sounded like a muffled crying. He finally pinpointed it as coming from the room next to him. Suddenly anxious, he jumped out of bed and ran to Roxas' room. He opened the door softly and peeked in. "Roxas?" he whispered. "Hey Rox – you awake?"

He could only just discern a small figure sitting up on the bed, wrapped in a blanket and framed by moonlight. Roxas' small face looked up at him from among the covers, wide-eyed and tearstained.

"What's the matter?" Axel asked, concerned. He sat down next to his younger friend. "Had a nightmare or something?"

The young Nobody nodded and flung himself in Axel's arms. "Whoa, there!" the redhead cried, nearly being tossed off the bed in the process. "Easy! It was just a dream – can't harm you now!"

"B-but it was so real!" the boy sobbed in a high voice. He clung to Axel and the older Nobody could think of nothing else to do but to put his arm around his young friend. "There there, Roxas. It's okay. I'm not gonna let anything hurt you, I promise."

It was only then that he noticed something was wrong. Why was Roxas' voice sounding so high and squeaky? And Axel already knew his friend was small, but now he seemed positively tiny. With the younger Nobody still clinging to him in his arms, he turned to the moonlight, lifted up the blanket and peered inside.

Uh-oh!

Axel called an emergency meeting first thing that morning and as soon as Xemnas heard what was going on, he cancelled all scheduled missions for that day. The leader of Organisation XIII sat in his chair with his chin propped up on his fist, looking very, very weary.

"I thought we'd seen the last of this time-fluke," he said tiredly. "Does anyone have an explanation for this?"

All eyes turned to Luxord.

"It wasn't me!" the gambler protested. "I didn't do anything. And Roxas was fine when we went on our mission yesterday…" His voice trailed off.

"They were teamed up on a mission," Xaldin said. "That's too much of a coincidence."

"My first thought was that Roxas got contaminated because he spent so much time with Axel and Demyx when they were turned into children," Vexen spoke up. "But that doesn't add up. Saïx spent more time with Axel than Roxas and the same goes for Demyx and Xigbar." He looked sharply at the gambler. "That means the problem lies with you, Luxord."

"But I'm fine," Luxord stated. "If this… fluke, as the Superior called it, centres with me, how come I didn't get changed into a child?"

"Because you're immune to your own magic, obviously," Vexen said.

"I'm bored!" a high voice suddenly ran through the meeting room. "Can't we go do something else now, Axel?"

All eyes turned to the fire wielder and the little child that sat on his lap. Roxas flushed at suddenly finding himself to be the centre of attention and turned to hide his face in Axel's coat. He looked very small in the older Nobody's arms, a child of four or five years old perhaps, and very out of place in this gathering of grown men.

"The child has spoken," Xemnas sighed. "Alright people, you know the drill. Vexen, Luxord – see if you can do anything about this. Zexion can help you. And try to find a permanent solution this time, if you please. I don't relish the thoughts of having my subordinates changed into children at odd moments – not to mention having to wait until the effect wears off. Demyx and Axel, you two are on babysitting-duty. Keep Roxas out of trouble."

"Why us?!" Demyx wailed. "I don't know anything about small children!"

Xemnas fixed him with a hard stare. "Because last time, Roxas took care of you, and you gave him a hard time, as I recall. It is no more but fitting."

Demyx sighed, resigned. He and Axel each took one of Roxas' small hands in one of their own and led him out of the room. Xemnas let his head sink in his hands. It was going to be a long day.

"Who's a cute little boy then? You are! Yes you are!"

"For crying out loud, Larxene!" Axel said, exasperated. "He's four, not a baby!"

The young woman had followed the other Nobodies out of the meeting room and was now sitting on a couch in the mission room with little Roxas on her lap. She was positively doting on him. Demyx eyed the scene with suspicion.

"I didn't know you were so fond of children," he said. "You treated us very differently when we were kids!"

Larxene sniffed. "Please. I detest children. And you were two insufferable little brats," she said. "But Roxas is a well-behaved little cherub. Aren't you, Roxy?" She pinched the child's cheek lightly, making him giggle.

"What are we supposed to go do with him, anyway?" Axel asked. "It's not exactly like there are a lot of toys lying around in the castle."

"You never had any trouble thinking up any childish games before," Xigbar remarked sarcastically from the other side of the room. He was sitting on another couch, feet propped up at the table, keeping an eye on the younger members. "What's the problem now?"

Axel sighed. "Right. Hide-and-go-seek it is, then. Demyx and I go hide – Rox, you're the seeker. Larxene can help you.

The young woman huffed. "Don't you pull me into your little recess games!"

Axel grinned at her. "You do want to spend more time with the little cherub, don't you?"

Some levels down, Vexen was subjecting Luxord to a full physical exam – much to the gambler's chagrin. "I don't really see why this is necessary!" he protested as he sat half-naked on the examination table, being poked and prodded at all sides by an overzealous scientist. "I'm fine!"

"You're a lot of things, but you're most definitely not 'fine'," Vexen said. "For some reason your powers are acting up beyond your control. That is a cause for concern if ever there was one."

"It might very well not be his powers at all," Zexion spoke up. The illusionist was sitting on a high stool with a book propped up on his knees. "Luxord and Roxas last mission was in Wonderland. There are all sorts of things there that have odd effects when consumed or even touched – maybe Roxas ate something there that disagreed with him? Just think of the potion we have to drink there every time just to make the heartless appear."

"Possible – but highly unlikely," Vexen countered. "Roxas knows better than that. Besides, the coincidence would be…" He fell silent when Zexion held up his hand. "I agree with you there," the younger scientist said. "However, it's worth taking under consideration. And what about this: regardless of whether something like that was the cause or not, there might be something in Wonderland that could reverse the process."

"We're off to Wonderland then," Vexen sighed.

Luxord perked up. "So does that mean I'm off the hook?"

Vexen tossed him his coat. "Off the hook for now. However, we might be on to a solution to the problem, but we still know next to nothing about the cause. So when we come back, I want to continue the tests."

The gambler groaned.

Axel and Demyx, meanwhile, were having problems of their own. For most of the morning, Roxas had been the perfect little child; sweet, cheerful and well-behaved. But as the day progressed, he became steadily more fretful and winy. The two young men had their hands full with the suddenly troublesome, stubborn child – Larxene having bailed a long time ago. The worst of it came when Roxas discovered the synthesis moogle, hovering quietly in the air in a corner of the room. He tottered over and reached up to grab it.

"No, Roxas, that isn't a toy!" Axel said, slapping the boy's hand away. The thought of the damage that accidental synthesis could cause was evoking nightmare visions in his head.

The child looked at him with startled wide eyes, then his lower lips quivered and he suddenly began to bawl. The volume of his cries became steadily louder and louder until he was screaming at the top of his lungs. Demyx and Axel looked at each other, stunned and at a loss as to what to do. "Roxas… c'mon, calm down!" Axel said urgently, trying to draw the boy in a hug. "I didn't slap you that hard, did I?"

Roxas pushed him away and kept crying hysterically. All Axel's and Demyx' attempts to silence him were in vain. Xemnas, attracted by the noise which carried down the corridors, walked in on them as they were holding the little boy upside down, shaking him. He halted in astonishment.

"What on Earth are you doing?" he asked.

"He's… he's having some kind of fit," Axel gasped. He put Roxas right side up again, but the child just dropped on the ground and continued screaming. "We just can't seem to calm him down!"

Xemnas looked at the two exhausted, desperate-looking babysitters and rolled his eyes. "Honestly," he said. "Don't you two know anything?"

Strolling over to Roxas, he picked up the hysterical child and flipped him over, slapping him hard on the bottom. Roxas was quiet for a moment and then started crying again. But it was a softer, more controlled sobbing this time. Xemnas handed the boy over to Axel. "He's tired," he said. "Put him to bed and sing him to sleep or something. He needs a nap."

Demyx stared at the Superior. "Whoa Boss – I didn't know you were this good with children!"

Xemnas glared at him. "I have a lot of experience dealing with the lot of you," he said coldly. "Now get to it!"

"Whatever you say, Mr. Supernanny!" Demyx grinned. But after one look at Xemnas' face, he hightailed it out of the room – before the leader of Organisation XIII got it in his head to spank him, too.

"How do we do this?" Axel wondered aloud. The two young Nobodies had tucked Roxas into bed as ordered, but the little boy refused to sleep. "What did Xemnas say? Sing to him?"

"Read him another story," Demyx suggested.

"Another one?" Axel glared at him. A sizable pile of books was already lying next to Roxas' bed – most of them definitely not suited for children. It kept Roxas' attention, sure – but it also kept him awake.

"How about you tell him a story, Mr. Musician?"

"There's a thought," Demyx said. He summoned his sitar. "How about a little music?"

Amazingly enough, it did the trick. Once Demyx started playing, Roxas soon drifted on his way to Slumberland. The young musician grinned at his fellow babysitter. "Am I good or what?"

"Yeah, you're real good at sending people to sleep. That's not exactly a compliment you know," Axel retorted. Demyx glared at him and the redheaded Nobody threw up his hands in defeat. "Kidding. C'mon, let's get out of here before we wake him up again."

The two Nobodies slipped out of the room, closing the door softly. Axel leaned back against it. "Why did nobody ever tell me that babysitting could be so exhausting?"

While the tandem of babysitters was finally able to sit back and relax, another group of Nobodies were faced with a problem of different proportions. "Where do we start?" Luxord asked, looking at the colourful surroundings. "This is like looking for a needle in a haystack!"

"Look for anything edible – especially anything suspicious," Zexion answered. "Pills, potions, that sort of thing. See what kind of effect it has on the surroundings, if there are a lot of very young animals or plants around, that'll be a clue."

"Sounds… random," Vexen commented.

Zexion looked at him. "And I suppose you have a better idea?"

"If all else fails, we can ask that insufferable Cheshire Cat."

Everybody groaned. Zexion frowned. "It would be the kind of stuff he'd know. But it's next to impossible to get a straight answer from him. Let's save it as a last resort – unless he shows up on his own accord."

"Did somebody call?" came a sing-song voice from a nearby tree. Looking up, the Nobodies could see a pair of eyes appear in the shadows among the leaves, followed by a wide grin. Zexion sighed. "Right on cue," he said resignedly.
"Now then," said the Cheshire Cat. "How can I help you?"

The next half hour or so was the most testing and infuriating Q&A session any of the three Nobodies had ever been through. They had not even gotten half the answers they needed before the Cheshire Cat lost interest and slowly faded into nothingness (leaving only a grin behind) and most of it was too cryptic to be of any use. But in the end they had the following information:

1. something did exist that could produce the effect they wanted and

2. it was not far away.

"What's near here?" Zexion wondered, producing a map of the world. The Nobodies gathered together in a huddle to study it. "The Queen of Heart's court, the Rose Garden and the Labyrinth," Vexen said. "Which shall we tackle first?"

"Of course!" Zexion suddenly cried with uncommon enthusiasm. "The Queen of Hearts!" When his companions stared at him, not comprehending, the young scientist hastened to explain, leafing quickly through his lexicon. "According to the history of this place, the Queen has ruled Wonderland for hundreds of years," he explained. "She doesn't look it. How do you think she stays so young?"

"So she has something to rejuvenate herself with," Vexen said coolly. "I don't see how that is going to be of any use to us. We want to make Roxas older, not younger!"

"Yes – but everything here that causes an effect has a counterpart," the younger Nobody said. "An antidote, if you will. And the two are usually found in the same vicinity – or even attached to the same plant. Find one and you're likely to find the other. It's the law of this place."

"Fine," Luxord said, straightening himself and stretching his stiff limps. "Let's find the one, then. The sooner we can leave this place, the better."

Xemnas already had taken two aspirins that day and felt in need of a third. With missions suspended every other day, construction of Kingdom Hearts was falling behind. And every moment he expected some new crisis to drop on his head. Feeling unable to concentrate, he tossed the paperwork he was perusing back on his desk and decided to go for a stroll through the castle. His feet led him unconsciously to the mission room, which was half-empty. Xaldin and Lexaeus were playing a game of chess; Demyx was playing his sitar and Axel was idly juggling five bolts of fire.

Xemnas looked sharply at the two youngest Organisation members. "Where's Roxas?" he asked. "Tell me Larxene or Xigbar is watching him."

"Relax, Superior," Axel said, performing a particularly intricate juggling manoeuvre. "We put him to bed, just like you told us to. He's asleep."

Xemnas sighed, fervently wishing that he hadn't left his aspirin in his desk drawer. "Axel, that was over four hours ago. Don't you think he might, ohhh I don't know… wake up?!"

Right on cue, Saïx entered the room. "Has anyone seen Roxas?" he asked. His door was open and he wasn't in his chambers."

Axel choked and dropped his flaming juggling balls, which fell to the floor and vanished in a puff of smoke. Demyx jumped up, nearly tripping over his sitar in the process. "Find him," Xemnas barked. "Xaldin, Lexaeus – you too. Where are Xigbar and Larxene – and Marluxia? I want that boy found, before he gets into trouble!"

"Zexion, Vexen and Luxord have just returned from their mission in Wonderland," Saïx told him. "It seems they were successful."

"Well, that's something at least," Xemnas sighed. He rubbed his temple. "Honestly, am I running a super-secret organisation – or a nursery? These days I can barely tell the difference."

Axel and Demyx were assigned the lower floors for their search. They were both feeling guilty about Roxas' disappearance, although they weren't sure what they should have done to prevent it – post a guard at the door?

"I just hope he's okay," Axel sighed. "I don't know what I'd do if he…"

He was interrupted by a high-pitched scream which ran clear through the corridors of the Castle That Never Was, coming from Vexen's laboratory. The two Nobodies looked at each other and broke into a run. Axel reached the lab first, with only just enough breath to shout "what the hell are you doing?!"

Vexen was having a hold on the hood of Roxas' cloak and seemed to be trying to pour a foul-smelling potion in the struggling, kicking toddler's mouth. He looked up at the redheaded Nobody with exasperation. "What does it look like I'm doing?" he stated. "I am trying to save his life!"

This was most definitely not what it looked like, but Axel wasn't about to press the issue. Alarmed by the seriousness of Vexen's expression, he went into the lab and took hold of Roxas. "What's going on?"

"I caught him drinking one of my poisons, that's what's going on," Vexen hissed, trying once again to pry Roxas' teeth apart and force him to drink. "I'm trying to give him the antidote, but… he's… not… cooperating!"

With Axel's and Demyx' help he was finally able to hold the resisting child still enough to pinch his nose shut. Roxas held his breath until he was starting to get blue in the face, but he finally had to gasp for breath. That was the moment Vexen was waiting for. Tilting the boy's head back slightly, he poured the smelly liquid into his mouth. Roxas gagged and spit, but he could not help swallowing half of the potion. The three older Nobodies sighed with relief.

All members of the Organisation gathered in the mission room as Vexen reported on their mission in Wonderland. It had not entirely gone without mishap. After inquiry (and some threatening of a few card soldiers, the three Nobodies had found out that the secret of the Queen's rejuvenation process lay in a very special berry bush, which only produced two berries every fifty years; one black, one white. They were in luck; that cycle's batch was just ready for picking. There was a complication, however; they were quick to reason that one berry was meant for rejuvenation, the other for aging – but they did not know which was which. The solution they came up with was easy; take them both. However, this did not go over well with the Queen and she set her army of cards on them. The Nobodies barely escaped with their lives; but they also escaped with the berries.

"I need to do some testing to find out which of the berries we need – and to determine the exact dose, of course," Vexen concluded, "but I'd say most of the work is done. I'll have results in – oh, one hour, I think."

"Good," Xemnas said. "Well done. Dismissed." As the senior members began to filter out of the room, their leader turned his attention to Roxas. "Now, young man – I'd like to hear from you exactly what happened down in Number Four's lab?"

Roxas fidgeted, suddenly ill at ease. "I woke up and nobody was there," he began hesitantly, looking up at Xemnas shyly. "I wanted to find Axel. But then there was that weird smell and that po-shun looked all pink and bright and I thought it might taste real sweet, too…"

"And did it?" Xemnas asked.

The boy wrinkled his nose. "No. Tasted awful," he said. "And then Vexen gave me something worse." His lower lip began to quiver.

"That pink potion was poison, Roxas, do you understand?" Xemnas said sternly. "Child or no, you know very well that you're not allowed to go in Vexen's lab and you should know better than to go about drinking strange potions. You're in trouble, young man. Do you remember what happened to Axel and Demyx when they got in trouble?"

The boy's eyes widened, showing that he did remember.

"They got punished," Xemnas continued. "I believe that you deserve some punishment too, Roxas." He held out a hand to the small child. "Come here."

Roxas' hand flew to his bottom, as if that could protect it. "No," he said, pressing himself against Axel's legs. But Xemnas waited patiently, his hand still outstretched. Roxas heaved a deep sigh, squirming on his feet and finally shuffled over to the older Nobody. Xemnas picked him up, placing him across his knees and delivered a few well-aimed swats to the boy's small bottom. Roxas burst into tears, more from shock than from pain, for his superior did not hit very hard. Xemnas put the boy back on his feet and pulled him between his knees. Putting his finger under the child's chin, he lifted the small face so he could look him in the eye. "Did you learn your lesson?" he asked. Roxas nodded.

"Good," the leader of Organisation XIII said, releasing the boy and patting him on the head. He stood up and looked at the Organisation's younger members, who were still in the mission room and had watched the exchange uneasily. "Axel, take him down to Marluxia's garden and let him play there – he can't do much damage there. If you don't give him any bad examples, that is." Larxene giggled, but was silenced at a glare. "Number Eleven, I presume that is alright?"

Marluxia looked none too pleased at the prospect, but nodded his consent – not daring to go against the Superior's orders. Axel didn't relish the idea of being in Marluxia's vicinity either – he was pretty sure the gardener still harboured some secret grudge about the hot spring incident, but he too kept silent.

As it turned out, the arrangement worked out better than expected. Roxas exhibited an unexpected fondness for gardening and was happily digging holes in the flowerbeds under Marluxia's supervision. The pink-haired Nobody seemed pleased to have someone share his interest – even though the person in question was but a small child – and was actually in a good mood. Axel was left with nothing to do but sit back against a tree and doze in the warmth of the afternoon sun; something he did not mind at all.

Vexen's research was finished within the hour as he predicted. He'd tested both berries on an unsuspecting Heartless and found the black one to be the one he needed. Roxas was none too pleased to be offered a small drop of the berry's juice incorporated in a potion. "It's not going to taste bad," the scientist pressed. "I've made it a lot sweeter. Just try it."

"Developing a soft spot, Vexen?" Axel said mockingly. "That's the last thing I'd expect from you."

"Hardly," Vexen sniffed disdainfully. "I don't want a repeat performance of the trouble we had to go through last time I tried to give him a potion. And I couldn't taste it myself, obviously, so I made sure to add so much sugar that the original taste is completely obscured. It should be sickeningly sweet now, but he'll like that."

He did. After one cautious sip, Roxas' face lightened up and he drank the rest of the potion in one gulp, licked his lips and actually seemed disappointed that there wasn't more. The rest of Organisation XIII looked on with interest, but the effect wasn't very spectacular. Roxas' form merely blurred for a moment and regained its original size and shape. The young Nobody looked around and blushed in embarrassment at finding himself the centre of the attention.

"Well, at least that worked," Vexen sighed in relief.

"Yes, but we're still no closer to finding a permanent solution," Saïx said. "For all we know, this could happen again. To anyone."

There was a hushed silence as the other members of the Organisation contemplated this worrisome possibility.

Later that evening, Roxas was just about to get ready for bed when Axel stuck his head around the door. "Hey Rox – you asleep yet?" He grinned. "Obviously not. Can I come in?"

"Sure," Roxas said. "But no jokes about diapers or toys or anything like that, please. I've had enough of that from the others already."

"Don't worry." The redhead sidled into the room. "But be honest – don't tell me you didn't enjoy being a little kid? You don't have any memories of having an actual childhood, do you?"

Roxas smiled slightly. "Well yeah – I gotta admit, it was kinda fun. Apart from getting paddled by Xemnas and being forced to drink that awful potion by Vexen," he added ruefully. "But life seemed a lot more carefree from a child's perspective. I didn't worry nearly as much about anything." He smiled broadly now. "Actually, I wouldn't have minded if I'd gotten stuck like that a bit longer."

"Good," Axel said, pulling out a book from behind his back. "Because I finally found a suitable story and I was wondering if you would like me to read…"

He was unable to finish the sentence because he had to duck to avoid the pillow that Roxas tossed at him. The boy rolled over the bed, grabbing the pillow again for a second assault. Axel yelped and ran for his life, laughing all the while.