Kingdom Hearts:
Nobody ReDeux
Summary: After an unknown amount of time, Xemnas, once leader of the powerful Organization XIII, finds himself returned to the Universe alone-and still without his Heart. Too soon new Nobodys worthy of working towards Kingdom Hearts appear, and this time Xemnas is more determined than ever to make sure they all recieve their Hearts. This is how these powerful members of the new Organization were gathered together for Xemnas' chance at redemption...and their own. Post-KH2, ignores parts of BBS and 358/2; arguably AU with that in mind
Pairings: Canon (including one-sided), i.e. AxelRoxas(which IS canon, according to Nomura himself), PartialSoraKairi, PartialRikuKairi, PartialRoxasNamine, etc. Also look out for: A few pairings from the pasts of the Nobodys, both old and new, which shouldn't make too much of a difference in the future. Otherwise we'll just have to see whether people start jumping each other or not. ;)
Simple Emotions
A Prologue
"I'm alive again-or at least, that's what they claim. What He claims. But how do I know it's true? After all, someone without a Heart can never truly be alive..."
Lately you're all I need, fast asleep
You're giving me too many things except,
snoitome eurt
My heart's a battleground and
The daily things that keep us busy are confusing me
But thanks for showing me how to see
There is nothing whole and nothing broken
Darkness and Light clash, each attempting to be rid of the other even though both are needed to survive. I used to think it was foolish, this little struggle that continues throughout the ages, and the more I researched it, the more I believed that thought to be true. Without one, the other cannot exist, and visa-versa. So why continue this senseless battle that claims so many victims, that refuses to let some die while condemning others to do exactly that? But now that it's all over, I realize what a hypocrite that is. That's precisely what I did-what we did. Darkness and Light...we chose our sides, and we fought for our beliefs. I won. He lost. Or at least, I think that was the final score. It's impossible to tell anymore.
But at least we're both Whole now (I think). And not too long ago, I couldn't exactly say that to be true. That was what we both secretly wanted...so why am I having second thoughts?
When you walk away
Music will tie
What you don't hear me say:
wonk uoy naht noitceffa erom deen i
Simple and clean, you're my Sanctuary
And it's hard to let you go
With what's left of me
What's left of me now
The Keyblades...are the embodiment of Light. The Heartless...are the embodiment of Darkness. That's what all the books said, and what I believed to be true until that incident. But after that incident, I began to wonder: If the Keyblades are Light, then why are there four Keybladers, one for each Realm-including Darkness? If the Heartless are Darkness, then why are they so docile if kept well-fed and able to do as they wish-including help those of the Light? Both of these are true. Both of these have happened. So then perhaps not everything is as it seems. He knows more about this than I do, I suppose, but he's been gone for a while now.
And surprisingly, I sometimes find myself wishing he would return-if only to give me something to do. Or at least...that's the reason I keep giving myself.
I watch you fast asleep
Oh baby, don't go
In you and I there's a new land
When you're older you'll understand,
My Sanctuary
My fears and lies melt away with you
And maybe some things are that simple
I don't know if he realizes how much he helped the others, even if they didn't exactly get what they wanted. I still see and sense and even smell them, sometimes. Normally it's just a flash out of the corner of my eye, or a single unnatural occurrence, but I know it's them. There's no denying that scent of ocean breeze, or the unnaturally powerful heat from a small flame. The occasional strike of lightning that goes astray and just barely misses an innocent, or the times someone should fall but doesn't as if gravity has given them a break. The sudden biting cold of winter in the middle of July, giving a moment's reprise from the heat; the time that seems to move faster while sitting boredly in class listening to another boring lecture. The breeze that comes from nowhere in particular on an otherwise-still day; the flowers that seem to suddenly bloom when someone of intense beauty or power or even a random person walks by. The sudden shake of the earth that causes you to appreciate living just a little bit more; the flickering of light in an otherwise-dark room that leads those that are stranded to safety. The way the shadows seem to shift as if someone is watching your back; the gentle glimmer of the moon when no one else is there to give comfort as the tears fall.
They're all accounted for, except for him. But perhaps that's for the best. After all, sometimes you have to lose a battle to prove the pointlessness of war.
When you walk away
Music will tie
What you don't hear me say:
wonk uoy naht noitceffa erom deen i
Simple and clean, you're my Sanctuary
And it's hard to let you go
With what's left of me
What's left of me
What's left of me now
A lot of others, of course, don't agree. They seem to think that Darkness is always evil and Light is always good. But they didn't see what I saw when I finally won. They didn't see the look of relief, the thankfulness in his eye. The Second War ended because he sacrificed himself to stop the cycle. I still remember what he said to me in that odd, silent voice he somehow managed to use in a strange mimicry of the very power he was trying to collect: "If any more appear...take care of them. Prevent this from happening. Protect them from the prejudice and the lies. Because they don't deserve to fight for their right to simply exist; they deserve much better. You seem to be one of the few who understand that."
And you know what? I do. That's why I'm still out there, looking for others. Scouring the Worlds for some sign of a lost Body, or a lost Heart, hoping their pair is somewhere out there so they can reunite. Just as mine did. Just as his (hopefully) has.
I will prove I love you
When our fears and lies melt away
All I fear means nothing
(compared to) Whatever lies beyond this morning
snoitome eurt deen i
My Sanctuary
Sanctuary...yeah
Sometimes I take a break from the horrors of the Universe and come back here, to that place where we had our last battle. I don't know what I expect to find; after all, he's gone. And hopefully now, he remembers what it feels like to be happy...to be in love...to draw on powers of emotions other than anger and rage. Because he deserves it, and I know he does. Just like the others, he deserves the chance to start anew and love and hope and dream as everyone else does. I wonder if he found his Other Half somewhere, if they ironed out their differences to give their Original a second chance at life. I'm happy mine did. And as soon as he remembers everything that happened here, I'll be waiting to see him. After all, he deserves to prove to everyone he really can help the Worlds.
The others call me foolish, but I don't care. I honestly believe he was a good person at (excusing the pun) Heart. His last wish is testament to that. It deserves to be fulfilled.
When you walk away
Music will tie
What you don't hear me say:
wonk uoy naht noitceffa erom deen i
Simple and clean, you're my Sanctuary
And it's hard to let you go
With what's left of me
What's left of me
Left of me
Now
So please, take care of him, Kingdom Hearts. Give him a second chance. If I had the power, I know I would.
The wisher on a million stars,
Sora Hikari Nomura
My fears and lies melt away...
And nothing's like before
-NEXT-
EPILOG
XIII
Hidden within his own cloak and a shroud of Darkness, Xiruk silently stood on top of a roof overlooking the beach of the Kids' Isle, watching as two teens spoke enthusiastically to each other. The elder one, a boy with long silver hair and bright green eyes, laughed at something the younger one, a girl with mid-length red hair and purple-blue eyes, said and soon the girl was laughing along with him. The action made the corner of Xiruk's lip curl up in the shadow of a smile, although he was soon distracted when a warm Light filtered down from above. Glancing up, Xiruk blinked once as it illuminated a cave the Nobody had never seen before...
12
It had been a long night for Sha Gojyo. Women, drinking, gambling, and a hell of a daze accompanied him as he stumbled through the strange (to him) World of the Carribean, nearly tripping and giving a curse as he did so. His vision swam and he moaned, leaning against a tree and closing his crimson eyes. Okay, maybe he'd had a bit too much to drink that night. A loud sound suddenly caused those crimson eyes to snap open with a flash of awareness, and they widened in shock when a bolt of lightning flashed down out of the clear sky and slammed just inches away from the tree he was in. Slowly, Gojyo gulped, suddenly sobered. Maybe he shouldn't be so carelessly standing about when a lightning bolt could come so close to hitting him without any warning like that...
XI
A hum escaped Natsuki Sasahara's mouth as she skipped along a street in the world known as Traverse Town, occasionally stopping to look through the shops around her and ogle at things out of her price range before forcing herself to move on. This was something she did often back home, and it reminded her of the life she had left behind so long ago. Although she wasn't upset she had; after all, if she got her Heart back, maybe Batanen would finally ask her out! A squeal escaped Natsuki despite herself and she stopped next to a box of flowers, grinning a cat-grin as her tail swished excitedly behind her back. It was only vaguly that she noticed the flowers in the box slowly open themselves to the nonexistant light, showing off their beauty to the half-cat girl...
10
Although used to the bore that was reading files, Roy Mustang was not happy at the moment, staring down at the paperwork that followed him through even space just to clog up his desk. It seemed Lieutenant Hawkeye took his "leave of absense" as a way to get out of paperwork and sent him it accordingly-somehow. Before that day, Roy didn't even know The World That Never Was even got mail. But either way, Roy had promised himself that he would spend one hour working on it each day, if for no other reason than to prevent Riza from using him as target practice when he got back. The next time Roy glanced up at the clock, he blinked in surprise before smothering a smirk of triumph, not realizing just how quickly that hour had passed by...
IX
A bottle of sake and a tree to lounge under was all Shunsui Kyoraku needed to be content with life. Sitting there in the place known as the Enchanted Woodland as he sipped his drink, Shunsui let out a sigh of contentment. Yup, this was the life. If only Nao would just show up and kick him for not doing his paperwork, or Jushiro come to sip it with him until he had to go to Fourth Devision for another check-up. That would just make everything feel like he was home again; well, that and maybe a water source nearby. As if summoned by that thought, a sudden scent caught Shunsui's attention and he suddenly jerked up in a sitting position, looking around with confusion and intrigue for the source of the smell of salt water that had seemed to heed his thoughts...
8
If there was one thing Yuffie Kisaragi was sure she would've hated if she had a Heart, she was sure it was lieing to her friends like she was. Her cock-and-bull story was more than enough to convince them to accept her again, but she still sensed that ever-present feeling of Emptiness. 'Is this how the Nobodys we made Sora kill felt all the time?' she wondered, sitting alone in her room with only a small candle to light the way. Yuffie's own thoughts caused her to shiver, and it was only later that night when she would notice exactly how warm the heat from the candle had seemed...
VII
Life hadn't changed much, if at all, for Lloyd Asplund. He still spent most of his time creating and researching various items and ideas, he still wore his white lab outfit all the time, he still had Cecile helping him out with everything if perhaps a little wearily; yup, nothing had changed for Lloyd. Maybe he had some better equiptment, and maybe he wanted to just curl up into a ball and die a bit more often, but other than that he was exactly the same. Lloyd even still hid out on the balcony far away from everyone at night to reminisce and laugh and cry with now-false Emotions over the life he had left behind for his darling science, although the moon seemed a little brighter and more comforting than it ever had before...
6
With all the spunk she possessed, Laetitia "Laeti" Strauss fired her Magick-laced bullets into everything that moved within the forest in Twilight Town, letting loose some of her frustration. Ever since she had lost her Heart, everything felt so useless! How was it she had survived while Akabara had died or gotten eaten by Heartless or whatever!? Why was it that Kingdom Hearts decided she had more Will than he did?! Didn't it know everything Akabara had done, how much he had given up and how much that took out of him!? A scream of rage escaped Laeti and she suddenly dropped to her knees, sobbing and curling herself into a ball. And as she let out her fear and rage and sorrow, Laeti never noticed the way the shadows shifted around her, forming the Illusion of comfort and watching her back so she didn't fall pray to Heartless again...
V
A cheerful laugh flew from Xelloss Metallium as he half-ran, half-flew around the world known as the Pride Lands. Never had he felt so free as he had since killing Zelas! No more orders he had to obey or else risk death, no more need to interfere when he didn't want to and not when he did! He was free to accept missions at will and do whatever he liked in his off time (within reason, of course), and damn if he wasn't happy about it! Suddenly, the earth started shaking and Xelloss skidded to a stop on all four paws, blinking down at the ground as it suddenly stopped. Okay, so maybe it wasn't all fun and games. After all, Xelloss had never even thought about how lucky it was he had never experienced a killer earthquake before...
4
With Hakuryu flying about his head in cheerful circles with loud "kyuu"s of joy, Cho Hakkai smiled an honest-to-goodness smile. It hadn't occured to him before exactly how hard that had once been. In the sweltering heat back home, with Sanzo moping and Gojyo and Goku fighting all the time behind him, it had often been a challenge to keep that eternal upturn of his lips in place. Even with how hot it was in Agrabah and the many Heartless he had just taken down easily, however, he found he could smile so much more easily than ever before. Although Hakkai got the sense that at least partially had to do with the pleasent and out-of-place pocket of cool air that he had just walked through...
III
In Jin's opinion...
-END-
MKL's Post-Production Notes (9-24-13): So this was my take on re-making the Organization with others, notably from anime/manga characters, except Yuffie and Xiruk (who if you don't know whose Nobody he is I'm severely disappointed in you!). Also, before it's asked, I did that remix of My Sanctuary and Simple And Clean myself AGES ago. Like, back in Freshman year of high school. Maybe even late in 8th grade! That's, like, more than seven years ago now. (HOLY SHIT DO I FEEL OLD XD)
SPOILERS: Not much planned. Just an idea of how these VERY different people would come together into a new Organization that Xemnas would go out of his way to make sure meshed and communed better than before. Also, the notes on who all would have been there, their roles, their weapon(s), their elements, their titles, and their Nobody minions:
I - Xemnas (Kingdom Hearts)
Element: Nothing
Weapon(s): Aeroblades
Nobodys: Sorcerer
Title: Superior
II - Kaguya Kimimaro (Naruto)
Element: Earth
Weapon(s): Bones
Nobodys: Assassin
Title: Shinobi of the Bones
III - Jin (Yu Yu Hakusho)
Element: Wind
Weapon(s): Power Gloves (like Tifa's NOT THE GAMER ONES)
Nobodys: Samurai
Title: Demonic Windmaster
IV - Cho Hakkai (and Hakuryu!) (Saiyuki)
Element: Chi/LifeEnergy
Weapon(s): Double-Sided Spear
Nobodys: Lizard (see Xemnas' Dragon Ship)
Title: Dragon's Gentleman
V - Xelloss Metallium (Slayers)
Element: Reality
Weapon(s): Mazoku Staff
Nobodys: Gambler
Title: Gamemaster of Reality
VI - Laetitia "Laeti" Strauss (Record of a Fallen Vampire)
Element: Ice
Weapon(s): Magick Shotgun
Nobodys: Dragoon
Title: Devil's Child
VII - Lloyd Asplund (Code Geass)
Element: Steel
Weapon(s): Knightmare (Lancelot)
Nobodys: Motorcycle (see Magnum Loader)
Title: Earl of Science
VIII - Yuffie Kisaragi (Final Fantasy VII/Kingdom Hearts)
Element: Illusion
Weapon(s): Conformer
Nobodys: Wolf (see Cerberus)
Title: Senses Thief
IX - Shunsui Kyoraku (Bleach)
Element: Plants/Flowers
Weapon(s): Katen Kyokotsu
Nobodys: Knight (see Armored Knight)
Title: Shinigami of the Twin Blades
X - Roy Mustang (Fullmetal Alchemist)
Element: Fire
Weapon(s): Gloves/Flare Guns
Nobodys: Sniper
Title: Flare Alchemist
XI - Natsuki Sasahara (Hyper Police)
Element: Lightning
Weapon(s): Parasites(Rajin,Fujin) & Orihalcon Sword
Nobodys: Dancer
Title: Electrifying Swordsmaster
XII - Sha Gojyo (Saiyuki)
Element: Water
Weapon(s): Shakujou
Nobodys: Warrior (see Twilight Thorn)
Title: Loyal Kappa
XIII -Xiruk (Kingdom Hearts/Nobody Redeux)
Element: Darkness
Weapon(s): Soul Eater & Darkness Rising
Nobodys: Berserker
Title: Darkness Warrior