17 DAYS OF HELL

by Bexi

Vexen creates a potion to destroy Marluxia's flowers - instead, it turns Zexion into a baby. Aging a year each day, Zexion has a 2nd chance at his childhood. But what happens when young Zexion takes a shine to Marluxia because of his scent? Not shōnen-ai

6. Day Two

17 DAYS OF HELL

A Kingdom Hearts fanfiction

Kingdom Hearts is property of Square Enix and Disney

This fanfiction is purely for entertainment – please do not get offended

Enjoy…

-- DAY TWO –-

1 – 2 Years Old

Larxene stared hard at the baby sitting at her feet, who glanced at his fingers before putting them in his mouth. She crawled closer to Zexion and continued to watch him, her blue eyes wider than usual. Slowly, she extended her hand closer to Zexion's face. The baby looked up, fingers still in his mouth, his eyes following every movement of Larxene's hand. When Larxene's hand stopped directly in front of his face, Zexion continued to stare and observe the woman in front of him. He had not known what to expect with this woman, but the least thing he expected was to have said woman press her hands to his face and push him back.

Larxene stood up quickly, ignoring the small cries as Zexion pushed himself back up. Luckily for Zexion, Larxene, in a rare moment of being caught slightly off guard, had not pushed him hard.

"What the hell is going on here?" Larxene asked quickly, crossing her arms as she looked over to Marluxia. "And it better be believable too!"

Marluxia arched a brow. Did it really matter if the reason was believable or not? "Vexen decided that Zexion would make a better baby than he does as a nobody who is capable of verbal communication and who doesn't need to be mollycoddled every fifteen seconds," he told her matter-of-factly.

The blonde woman stole a quick glance at Zexion before turning her attention back to Marluxia. "Why?" she said, emphasising the single word with swift moments of her arms.

Marluxia shrugged his shoulders. He felt the question was not worth a verbal response. How was he supposed to know the inner workings of Vexen's mind? The latest inner working caused him to become the fulltime babysitter of Zexion – why would he want to venture anywhere near such a mine field? All he knew was that Vexen's original scheme was to use the potion of pure evil on his flowers – wait a second! he stopped himself mid thought. Just what did Vexen plan on doing … turning all the flowers to seedling? How would that benefit anything? Has Vexen finally lost his mind?

"When will that old coot realise that nothing he does will prove to be worthwhile?" Larxene stated, laughing snidely as she pushed Zexion down once again. "He's nothing but a snivelling coward."

"While I agree with everything you have just said," he told her. "The course of Vexen's usefulness has not run dry yet."

Larxene stopped what she was doing, which was pushing Zexion down for the third time, and looked to Marluxia. "You mean to tell me that Vexen has a current usefulness – a purpose?" she asked, somewhat amazed.

"Everyone in the Organisation has their own purpose, however, once that purpose becomes non-existence, members because ineffective. Vexen, as unbelievable as it sounds, has a purpose – a very important one at that."

"Oh? What might that be then?" she asked.

"Fixing that abomination," he replied quickly, pointing a finger directly at the baby. He shook his head slowly and pushed himself from his chair. He was growing tired of just sitting down and doing nothing. "For the record, Larxene," Marluxia said, walking over to the sink to fill a glass with water. "If you keep pushing him down, Zexion is liable to throw his cup at you."

He took a sip of the water, watching Larxene as she arched a brow and sneered at Zexion.

"If that pipsqueak throws a cup at me, I'll throw a fist back at him," she declared, looking at Marluxia with a sinister smile that would have made the man shiver if it were not for several reasons: 1) he was a nobody, thus incapable of actually feeling emotion such as fear, and 2) Larxene had shone that smile so many times before that said smirk was now her trademark expression.

In Marluxia's opinion, trademark expressions usually did not emit fear into a person because of the simple fact that they were too common. If one truly wanted to emit fear into a person then it would be best to only reserve the, in Larxene's case, sinister smile for severe purposes. If someone were to grow too use to the trademark expression then they would simply blow it off as being a regular occurrence, one that they did not fear. Nevertheless, everyone had a trademark expression they favoured over the rest. Hell, he had seen the majority that the others used - some not as effective as others though. Demyx, he felt, could not emit fear into a gnat. Then again, he began thinking to himself, crossing his arms as he threw the glass into the sink; it's all in the eyes. There really is no point in smiling sinisterly if your eyes are laughing – it defeats the whole purpose!

He did briefly wonder why he was so engrossed in the topic of trademark expressions because, to be frank, there really was no point to it. Watching paint dry would prove to be more worth of his time. After all, he did not need to spend minutes mentally pondering over such trivialness as he was more than aware that if he were a small child, who had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting Vexen's trademark expression, he would run away and jump directly on the sharp end of the key – I really have to stop putting my demise and the keyblade in the same sentence. Surely there must be a better way to go … something more original…

Marluxia was thrown from his reverie when he felt something skim past his cheek followed by the sudden yell of: "Stop ignoring me!"

He looked up.

Larxene stood, hands perched on her hips, as she glared at the mauve-haired man. Sometimes she believed that the stupidity that lingered in the air of Castle Oblivion was contagious and that it was only a matter of time before the dreaded air sought her out too. When that time comes, she'll fight until she takes her last breath. Yes, she decided, when her time comes, she'll be standing on top of the stairs and with the last of her energy she'll stagger forward and tumble, in slow motion for dramatics, down the stairs. Man, the air must be catching up quicker than I expected, she said to herself. She roughly shook her head and exhaled loudly, looking up at Marluxia.

"Are you back in the real world now?" she asked snidely.

Marluxia arched a brow. Was he not allowed a moment where he could collect his thoughts and rearrange them so that they were semi coherent? Sometimes, living inside Castle Oblivion was the same as being trapped inside a cardboard box, where the walls were slowly closing in. Throw thirteen different personalities into that box and you get complete mayhem.

"Why is he here anyway?" she asked, taking a step forward. "And if you say something obviously stupid, such as, 'oh, well he lives here (hyuk)' then I'm going to hit you - hard."

"One, I was not going to say that," Marluxia responded, narrowing his eyes as he looked in Larxene's direction. "And two - I don't laugh like that!" He raised his right hand slightly above his line of vision and flexed his fingers before abruptly clenching his fist. "In answer to your question though, Xemnas came up with the brilliant idea to have me watch Zexion," he sighed.

The blonde walked forward once more so that she stood directly in front of Marluxia. "You ... look after Pinky there?" she asked, pointing to Zexion.

Marluxia nodded.

"This could work out in our favour," she said, leaning over the counter to grasp a small container of salt. She read the label before turning the silver container over, watching with a bored expression as the small grains of salt fell to form a growing mount. When the salt resembled a small mountain, Larxene picked up the pepper and tilted the jar slightly, watching carefully so too much pepper wasn't added to the peak of the mountain. "In order of us to continue with the plan ... he will eventually need to be taken care of."

"If something were to happen to him while in my care, it would look suspicious," he informed her.

"I'm sure with your track history in the kitchen, Marluxia, dropping him in the deep fat fryer would look accidental," Larxene replied, putting the final finishing touch to her salt and pepper mountain.

Marluxia shook his head, dragging his attention from the woman. While the idea – no, it was more than a mere idea ... it was a definite change – to become Superior was a main priority for him, finding a way to rid himself of the babysitting duty was increasingly important too. He did briefly wonder whether this had anything to do with the exercise Xemnas had made them all do. For some reason or other (Xemnas did not state), the Superior decided that it was essential for the members of the organisation to be able to care for a goldfish. Each member was given a goldfish and was expected to keep the fish alive for one week. Just one week. That was all.

Xigbar's fish: Blackbeard. Life span: three days. Cause of death: Blackbeard did not like to stay and swim in the water like a regular fish; on the contrary, he preferred to fly on top of his bowl, or the ceiling of whatever room he was in at the time. Xigbar claimed not responsible for the death of Blackbeard.

Xaldin's fish: Yellowbeard (cousin of Blackbeard). Life span: four days. Cause of death: Turned into sushi. Xaldin claimed not responsible for the death of Yellowbeard.

Vexen's fish: Chlorine. Life span: three days. Cause of death: Ironically, chlorine poisoning. Vexen, being the inexperienced fish owner that he is, failed to realise that chlorine, a chemical used to sterilise water, is actually hazardous to fish. Vexen claimed responsibility for the death of Chlorine.

Lexaeus' fish: Terra. Life span: six days. Cause of death: Unknown. Lexaeus left the fish unattended for five minutes and returned to find Terra lying belly-up. Lexaeus claimed semi responsible for the death of Terra.

Zexion's fish: Fish – later named 007 James Pond. Life span: seven days – the whole week! Despite the fact that Zexion claimed to be uninterested in Fish (007 James Pond), many of the organisation believed this to be a ruse, due to the fact that Fish (007 James Pond) managed to survived the week. Congratulations, Zexion!

Saix's fish(es): Moonbeam. Life span: seven days – the whole week! When asked whether he was replacing each fish once it died, Saix refused to comment. This idea became factual when Moonbeam mysteriously changed from a goldfish to a tropical fish overnight. Saix was applauded for his creativity and enthusiasm for the set task. Erm, congratulations, Saix...

Axel's fish: Roxas – later named (by Roxas) Goldine – later named (by Axel) Rambo – the Flurry of Dancing Fish. Life span: five days. Cause of death: Overfed. What did you expect: Axel, being the one-track minded nobody that he is, to use his spectacular fire powers to boil the water and for poor Roxas/Goldine/Rambo to be fried? Axel claimed not responsible for death of Roxgobo (later merged together by Axel, much to Roxas' dismay)

Demyx's fish: Originally named Flounder but needed to be renamed due to copyright infringement. Demyx's fish: Neptune. Life span: Seven days – the whole week! Demyx was so excited to finally have a pet that he took extra special care of Neptune. He would go swimming each day with his new friend and made sure to feed him every day. It is unknown how Neptune grew to be so big, but he still lives in the pond outside, where Demyx visits every day. Big congratulations, Demyx!

Luxord's fish: Bluebeard the Ace Joker (brother of Yellowbeard, cousin to Blackbeard – resident black sheep of the family). Life span: Six days. Cause of death: Depression from loss of family members. Fowl play was suspected. Bluebeard was buried outside with Blackbeard. Luxord claimed not responsible for death of Bluebeard the Ace Joker.

Marluxia's fish: Marluxia, King of the fish. Life span: seven days – the whole week! Despite there being many raised eyebrows about Marluxia's choice in name, which he stated as giving a poor fish the recognition it deserved and considering the fact that many goldfish have a short life expectancy, he felt the need to humour said fish. When asked how he managed to keep Marluxia alive, he said that it was not a hard task to accomplish and that anyone with more than half a brain cell could achieve it. He also stated that years of experience in keeping flowers alive gave him an edge to life. Yes, congratulations, Marluxia.

Larxene's fish: Tim. Life span: Four days. Cause of death: Executed by electrocution after Tim refused to perform simple tricks. How he survived four days is a mystery. Larxene eagerly claimed responsibility for the death of Tim.

Roxas' fish: Flick. Life span: One day and three hours. Cause of death: Neglect. While Roxas was in the process of convincing Axel to change the name of his fish to Goldine (Roxas felt having a fish named after himself was too creepy), he failed to provide for his own fish, Flick. Roxas begrudgingly claimed responsibility for the death of Flick.

Finally, the fish that no one knew about:

Xemnas' fish: Kingdom Hearts, which he shorted to Karts. Life span: less than one day. Cause of death: Suicide/accidental death. In addition, a bad owner who failed to meet any of the requirements that poor Kingdom Hearts (Karts) needed. Xemnas concealed the fact that he flushed Kingdom Hearts (Karts) down the toilet, however, to Xemnas it seemed as if Kingdom Hearts (Karts) had somehow jumped from his fish bowl into the toilet when the Superior was taking him for a bath. Was Xemnas that bad of a fish owner that Kingdom Hearts (Karts) would rather commit suicide than be with him? Xemnas claimed not responsible for the death of Kingdom Hearts, a.k.a. Karts.

Yes, Marluxia deducted, that was one hell of a week. Pointless too. He shook his head to rid himself of the pointless memory and looked around the kitchen. So far, he noticed, Zexion had been quiet for a long time and for some reason that did not sit well with him. When he saw the slate-haired baby he arched a brow. Zexion was sitting on the floor, where he had fallen when Larxene had pushed him down, and was quietly supping his milk.

"Why are you down so early anyway?" he asked Larxene, as he gently tapped his right foot on the floor to regain feeling, not tearing his eyes away from Zexion. Who knew if this was a clever ploy to make him believe that the baby was behaving? Despite being in an infantile baby with an infantile mind, Zexion was still a manipulative nobody.

Larxene sighed as she blew her mountain, watching as it scattered across the work surface. "Not all of us can be fortunate enough to avoid breakfast duty," she grumbled.

The blonde woman stretched, using the corner of the work surface to push herself straight. One would think that such a big castle would merit at least one slave, or possibly a servant. If she had realised that she would be spending the majority of her non-existence cleaning up after a bunch of men, some of which she could not stand, she would have missed the train and headed straight for the graveyard in Halloween Town. Yes, being a nobody was hard work. It was difficult for her to cut corners because there was at least one other who would go crying to the Superior. Seriously, it was like living with a bunch of horrible old ladies with a few kids thrown in for annoying measures. She deserved better than this. Her hard work was never appreciated...

Larxene effortless opened the cupboards and gathered a selection of boxes in her arms, leaving the cupboard open as she walked over to the table and threw the boxes down. "Now all I need is the milk," she said, crossing her arms. When she realised that no one was going to hand her milk, Larxene sighed loudly and slouched over to the fridge. She pulled the door open, pausing to stretch her leg so she could kick Zexion down once again. "Why do we have so many different types of milk? Skimmed (skim). Semi-skimmed (2). Whole. Purified. Soya. What is the point? No one drinks half of it..."

Larxene was so engrossed with all the different types of milk that took up one quarter of the fridge that she failed so see Zexion push himself up and stagger in her direction. He lifted his cup and clumsily tipped it, the remaining contents falling to the floor.

The Savage Nymph stopped furrowing in the fridge and looked down at Zexion, who was smiling up at her. She narrowed her eyes and emitted a groan as she tore her attention from the baby to her boots, glowering at the white liquid that covered them.

"I don't care what you said," she said in a gravelly voice, slamming the fridge shut. "If I kill him it won't be questioned!"

Marluxia decided now was the perfect time to step in because he did not fancy putting Zexion back together, piece by bloody piece. If there was one person who did not threat lightly it was Larxene. Once the woman had her mind set on something, it usually did not change until it was accomplished.

"Now, now, Larxene," he began. "Where is the joy in killing something that can't fight back?"

"Plenty!" she growled.

The man shook his head, emitting a low laugh as he walked to where the blonde stood. "I know that's not true. You enjoy it when they fight back – it keeps you on your toes. You said so yourself."

"I can make an exception!"

This was not working out in his favour. Perhaps he should just grab Zexion and run? No, that would make it seem like he was too eager, which he was not. The last thing he needed to do was give out false impressions. It wasn't like he cared. He could not care. So why act it?

"He was doing you a favour," Marluxia resorted.

Larxene arched a brow as she turned to face Marluxia. "How is pouring milk on my LEATHER boots fundamental?"

"You wanted milk and he gave you his," he smirked, lightly waving his right hand. "Didn't you, Zexion?"

Zexion nodded his head eagerly and slammed his cup on the floor several times. "Yea!" he exclaimed happily.

So, Zexion's at an age where he can understand and respond to people – plus he's learning to talk, Marluxia thought, taking in all he was learning about Zexion. It did make him wonder whether Zexion was the type of child who learned through observation and imitation, because Marluxia did not fancy having to sacrifice time and effort in teaching the child. Perhaps if he just continued talking to Zexion, he would learn on his own?

"See," he began, "from the mouth of Zexion himself."

Larxene bared her teeth. "I ... don't ... care," she snarled.

"Boots drink," Zexion laughed, throwing his cup across the kitchen and clapping his hands together.

He certainly is a fast learner, Marluxia noted. He looked up and stared at Larxene. The expression that crossed her face told him all he needed to know. "Let's leave Larxene to finish making breakfast, shall we, Zexion?" he said quickly.

The mauve-haired nobody didn't give Zexion the opportunity to react to his sudden demand and swiftly picked the baby up. He shone a small smile to Larxene, whose cheeks were growing darker with ire with each passing second, and turned to Zexion. "Say bye-bye to Larxene," he told Zexion, holding back a laugh, as he speedily made a dash for the door.

"Bye-bye!" Zexion squealed cheerfully, waving enthusiastically at Larxene.

Marluxia slammed the door shut just in time, as the next sound that could be heard was the livid shrieks of Larxene and a series of angry thumping sounds from the door. Either she had thrown several knives at the door as both man and child passed through, or something exactly sharp, as Marluxia had heard no noise to indicate something had collided with the floor.

"That was the wicked witch of Castle Oblivion," he told Zexion, putting the child on the floor. "Larxene."

Zexion sat down and looked up, pointing to the closed kitchen door. "Wicked witch," he said.

Marluxia smirked as he nodded.

"Lar'ene," the child smiled.

"Not quite," Marluxia replied. "It's a start though."

The older man stretched as he walked over to the sofa, throwing himself down as heavily as possible. He closed his eyes and tried to ignore the existence of anything that wasn't inside his mind. He had had his fair share of excitement for one day and he had gained no sleep in the process. Sometimes, non-existence wasn't fair. Not fair at all...

"Just so you know," said a loud voice from across the room. "I let you win because I had too much munny."

"Of course you did, mate," laughed another voice with a thick British accent. "Just like all those other times, is it?"

"But of course," he sniggered. "I'm Mr Generous!"

"Well, Mr Generous, I think you're just a person who can't handle losing so he has to lie about it."

"Me ... lie? As if. I let you win because I know that you're a bitch when you lose, and I let Xaldin win because I felt sorry for him."

Both men stopped mid-step when a sound, which resembled that of a baby babbling, interrupted their conversation. They looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. Due to the fact that there was no baby in Castle Oblivion, it was clearly obvious they were insane and had imagined it. They began walking again.

"I believe that I, in fact, am too sane to be going insane," Luxord exclaimed, looking to Xigbar. "And considering the fact that you heard the noise too means that I am not insane."

"Dude, that's the craziest thing I've ever heard."

Luxord shoot his head. "I've heard worse, trust me."

They continued walking but were cut off once more by the same sound they heard previously. Xigbar turned to Luxord, his long pony-tail swaying behind him, "There it is again," he exclaimed, rather loudly than he intended.

Luxord nodded. "Most definitely sounds like a baby."

The blond looked around behind him and then again to the sides but could see nothing that proved this sound wasn't coincidentally inside both nobodies' minds. Besides, he had never heard of a case of simultaneous insanity before and, to be honest, he did not wish to be the first case either. He exhaled loudly and shook his head. Maybe Xigbar was playing a joke on him and the long-haired man did not hear the voice. Or it could very well be the other way around. Perhaps Xigbar heard the sound and Luxord was subconsciously playing along? If I didn't sound like an insane man before then I certainly do now, he inwardly laughed to himself.

He was dragged roughly from his reverie by a hard tapping on his shoulder. He turned to see what Xigbar was doing but stopped when he saw what the other man was pointing at. A child who, in his eyes resembled a very young Zexion (no one could mistake that coloured hair and those eyes), stood before both men, a small toy grasped firmly in his hands.

"Hey, kid!" Xigbar greeted, as if the sudden appearance of a young child in the castle was a regular occurrence. "What's your name?"

Zexion looked up at the two men that stood in his way. He had never seen them before, but then again, there were a lot of people he had never seen before too. Lar'ene was someone he hadn't met until today and he wasn't too sure if he wanted to meet her again. She was funny though.

"Ze'ion," he said softly, pointing to himself.

Xigbar grinned toothily as he directed a side-long glance to Luxord. "Remind me to start carrying a camera with me at all times because this is too good to be true," he sniggered, bending down to have a good look at the child."So this is what Zexion was like before he turned into the manipulative little slout that we all grew to ignore – until he started to whinge about being ignored that is."

Luxord blinked. "What on Earth is a slout?"

Xigbar laughed as he scratched his head. "I have no idea but it sounded pretty sweet, didn't it?"

"I wonder what happened to cause such a revolutionary experience," Luxord wondered, rubbing his bearded chin softly.

"If I guess right can't I have my munny back?" the Freeshooter grinned.

"No," was the simple reply Luxord gave. Xigbar shook his head. It was worth a shot; that much he knew. He would just have to get more munny so he could back his munny. It was a rather vicious cycle but he was certain that in the long run, he would be better off finically. However, right now was an opportunity looking him straight in the face. What to do though?

"Well, Zexion, I'm yer Uncle Xigbar," he grinned, hoisting the child up. "That there is Uncle Luxord – the cheat!" he continued, thrusting Zexion into Luxord's arms.

The short-haired male looked down at Zexion, who was grinning and clapping his hands. "Well, you certainly are a small bundle of energy."

Zexion poked Luxord's chin and tried to grab onto his beard, only to find the hairs too short for him to get a firm grip. Slowly, he pulled his small hand back and looked at Luxord, who was sniggering slightly, before reaching out once more, only this time without the intent of pulling at the man's beard.

Luxord bit the bottom of his lip as Zexion pulled firmly at his earring, laughing gleefully with each tug. "Stop it! Get this kid off me!" he yelled, taking a small step backwards.

Xigbar crossed his arms and smirked as he observed the scene. It certainly was amusing, he had to admit that. Luxord was squealing, stepping backwards, and praying to some strange god in hopes of stopping the child from tugging the piercing. Did he honestly believe that by telling the child to stop what he was doing would cause said child to listen? Maybe they did not have children in the world where Luxord was originally from? Either that or the children were treated and acted different to what he associated to children.

"Xigbar, don't just stand there looking like a great, big, ignorant git!" he yelled. "Oh bloody hell, get this brat off me! What are you – where did you get that camera from! Xigbar, stop it! Turn the flash off - I can't see!"

Xigbar laughed, taking several photos before slipping the camera back inside the pocket of his coat. He forgot that after the Vexen incident, he began to get into the habit of keeping a small camera inside his coat. He took a moment to look at Zexion, happily giggling aloud, and sighed. There was nothing more beautiful that seeing a child having fun and smiling, as well as seeing a full grown man running around, making a fool of himself. Ignorance really was bliss.

He didn't know how, but Luxord had somehow managed to pry Zexion's small hands off his earring and he was currently holding said child a good distance away from his face. His ear was bright red and he decided it was a miracle that the clumsy hands hadn't ripped the earring out. No, Luxord decided, that was a painful experience that I did not wish to relive. Somehow, he assumed it was Xigbar's doing, Saix's hair strangely managed to tangle itself around his earring, which meant that when Saix suddenly stood up, his earring followed. Very painful indeed, especially considering it was several of the hoops. He decided never again to get a piercing after that.

"Thank you for helping, Xigbar," he sneered sarcastically, narrowing his eyes as he diverted a glare to the other.

Xigbar smiled his response.

"Well, it seems that at least some of you are here on time," said Xemnas, suddenly appearing through a portal of darkness. He looked around, seeing four members of the organisation and hearing an additional member in the kitchen.

Luxord and Xigbar looked at each other, thinking the same thing. "Huh? On time for what?"

The platinum-haired nobody sighed, rolling his eyes. Organisation XIII would be more successful if the members consisted solely of monkeys, Xemnas decided. I'd get more cooperation that way too. Really, what was the point of sending out memos if no one read them? Did no one care from the sacrifice of the trees that went into the paper for those memos? Obviously not.

"I'm taking it you failed to read the memo that I sent to each of you?" he asked, placing his hands on his hips as he looked over the members he could see.

Xigbar and Luxord looked each other and shrugged their shoulders. Zexion shook his rattle but looked up at Xemnas. At least one of them acknowledges me, Xemnas sighed. Shame it has to be the one that was turned into a baby. Marluxia was slouched on the sofa in a way that would possibly destroy his back if he remained in the position for much longer. His eyes were closed and his arms crossed and if Xemnas did not already know that Marluxia went out of his way to ignore him, he would have believed that the nobody had merely fallen asleep. No, Xemnas was convinced that said nobody was possibly thinking up creative ways to ignore him whilst standing in the same room. It was rather bothersome at times but he was slowly becoming accustomed to each member's ways.

The Superior shook his head. "The memo I sent out informed you all of the meeting that is to take place in the next five minutes," he told them, observing the reactions.

Xigbar looked to the ground, where Zexion stood. When had Luxord put the child down? It mattered very little as he roughly picked the child up, causing Zexion to drop the rattle on the floor, and threw Zexion into Xemnas' arms.

"Did you know that Zexion is a baby?" he laughed, waving his arms in front of Zexion.

Xemnas arched a brow. "Zexion is not a ragdoll, Xigbar. You have to be careful with him. What would have happened if he had fallen?" he asked, stepping towards the long-haired man, who smirked as he stretched his arms.

"Like he would have actually hurt himself," he replied. "Besides, everyone knows that babies always land on their feet when dropped from a great distance."

"Cats always land on their feet when dropped from a distance," Xemnas pointed out. "Babies break their bones."

"Phft ... cats, children – same thing. You stick a collar on them and teach them tricks ... take them for a walk. Admit it ... children are just living, human pets."

Xemnas stared at Xigbar before putting Zexion back on the floor. "The meeting is going to commence in five minutes."

Xemnas perched himself on the arm of the sofa and reached to grab the television guide. He was certain that that new programme started tonight – the show where that woman hunted vampires. What was it called? Something the something? Whatever it was called, Xemnas wanted to watch it. He had stayed up all night last week to see the advert that was occasionally shown.

"Zexion ball!"

Xemnas slowly looked his magazine and stared wide-eyed at what two of his organisation members were doing. Xigbar was using his abilities to suspend Zexion in midair and was throwing the child over to Luxord, who then threw the child back. All the while, Zexion laughed cheerfully as he slowly travelled (Xigbar's ability over gravity is stopping the child from actually falling to the ground or from going too fast) from one nobody to the other, clapping widely as the make-shift wind blew through his short hair. It slightly reminded Xemnas of a strange - very strange - swing with no actual rope or seat. The motion was following the same mechanism of swinging back and fourth. He only hoped that Xigbar did not get too distracted with something else and cause Zexion to fall heavily to the floor.

"If you need anyone to look after Zexion, me and the Time Lord here will happily agree," Xigbar declared, throwing Zexion back to Luxord.

The blond caught the baby and stared at Xigbar, who grinned and waved his arms to indicate that Luxord should throw the child back. "I happen to have more important things to accomplish that take care of a child," he informed Xigbar, throwing Zexion higher into the air.

"I'm sure we can take a little breather from making the TARDIS. Besides, we need to get the blue prints off Xaldin."

From now on organisation members need to meet certain requirements, Xemnas decided. I will be the one to the recruit new members and if they fail to meet these requirements then I will kill them on the spot.

"The position of fulltime babysitter has been given to Marluxia," Xemnas informed Xigbar. He closed the magazine and slowly placed it on the table. He had not been able to find the article he sought. It had officially ruined his day.

The Freeshooter stepped forward, looking over Xemnas to see Marluxia. "He's not doing a very good job, is he? I mean, anything could have happened had me and Luxord not been here," Xigbar smirked, shaking a finger in Marluxia's direction. "I think he should be fired!"

Sighing, Xemnas stood up and walked over to the kitchen, slowly pushing his ear to the door. He put his hands to the door and waited until he was certain that Larxene was not going to throw something at his head the moment he entered the room.

Three...

Two...

One...

No sound...

"The meeting will take place in the kitchen," he said, using his stern voice in order to express that this was one of the times he wished to be obeyed. He pushed the door open and walked into the kitchen.

"Meetings – oh joy," Xigbar spoke in a sing-song voice. He exhaled loudly, throwing his arms in the air and looked at Marluxia and then at Zexion. His lips curled into a small smile as he picked Zexion up. His nose wrinkled slightly and a small cough escaped his mouth. "Marluxia! Meeting!" he shouted gleefully, throwing Zexion in Marluxia's lap.

With the wind knocked out of him, Marluxia abruptly opened his eyes to a slightly blurry world. "What the-"

"Meeting," Xigbar smiled, putting his hands behind his back as he walked into the kitchen, whistling a happy tune he heard from the Hundred Acre Wood.

Marluxia blinked two times, cursing under his breath as he slowly pushed himself from the sofa. He looked down at Zexion, who had slid off the sofa shortly after he had been thrown at Marluxia, and shook his head.

"You can walk," he told him harshly, making his way to the kitchen, praying that Larxene had somehow knocked herself out with a frying pan and forgotten what occurred before hand.

-

TO BE CONTINUED

NEXT CHAPTER: DAY TWO pt THREE

-

Author's Notes: Okay, first off: I apologise for the lateness in this chapter. It's been hectic. My laptop broke and I had to buy another, meaning that I lost the chapter I had originally written for this. Yes, the chapter is nothing like I had intended. It is, in fact, longer. I tried to write the same but ideas kept popping into my head, so I thought - why the hell not! More for you guys to read. So yeah ... the meeting is in the next chapter and the remaining characters will be introduced to Zexion :D

Right then. I hope you like the way I portrayed Larxene, Xigbar and Luxord. I know that Larxene is a bitch and won't hesitate to hit a kid, but I didn't really fancy writing her hitting a kid that is less the 2 yrs. So I decided to have her be mean in a comical way, instead of a sadistic way. Xigbar ... he's going to have a field day with this one. This is going to get worse lol. I wonder who will be worse: Xigbar or Axel? Finally, Luxord. I look that guy ... mainly because he's British (starts waving the union jack flag :D). Yeah, I'm being biased there. I'm not sure that I'd done this character the justice he deserves yet. So I need to do a little character building for him.

Ok. Wow ... thank you all so so much for the reviews. I never expected this small fic to be so popular but I glad that you are enjoying it. I love writing it too.

So special thanks to:

Sakon of the Sound - Thank you and I'm glad you liked it

One-Winged-Chaos - Thank you so much :)

KH and SN Fangirl - :D :D

Xanophillius Nacindo Dulliante - You're right, Marluxia certainly does have his work cut out for him and it's not gonna get any easier lol. And yup, Roxas will be overjoyed that Zexion gets to wear the top :D

Susumi - Squee! I'm seriously gonna get a fanart?? Wow :D I actually realised that I left something out from the last chapter when I read your review. There was actually a reason why Zexion was crying in the night: he was teething. Doh! Silly me! I'm pleased you like the way I portray Roxas. For some reason, I enjoy writing him so much, which is strange because I didn't actually take to him at first. Oh well. I'm glad you liked it though.

sailor winx - Thank you!

awkward.spider - Thanx and anyone who doesn't wanna hug Zexion is just mean :)

Katherine-The-Crowned - I loved the book scene too. I can just see Roxas as being this blatant person. He'll learn soon though lol.

MuffinPirate - Yay you liked it :)

pride1289 - Yup Larxene has been thrown in too hehe. Thanks for the review

Hikari inai kasumi - Oh, believe me - It doesn't get any easier for Marluxia lol. Zexion when he becomes a teenager ... I'm actually dreading writing it

Crazy Stalker Chick - Thank you thank you :)

Sadist-Schemer - Let me start by apologising for getting your name wrong. The worst part is that I actually had the reviews open in another window and checked your name before I wrote it too. I'm so so sorry lol. I'm glad you liked the chap and cheers for the review :D

Gehktus Yht Kq Yht Tekesuh - Thank you :D :D

LupinandHarry - Thanks for reviewing. In answer to the Axel only using fire - well, when an author doesn't really take to the character and isn't willing to look any deeper than the surface ... well you get fire lol. I'll try harder next time though. I just don't like writing for Axel - I struggle immensely.

Xaldin's Girlfriend - Thank you so much :)

thegreatwhitewolf - I'm really glad that you like Marluxia in this fic. In my eyes ... Marluxia is a bit of both. I guess it depends on the reasons why he wanted to take over: it could go 2 ways. To better the organisation or to better himself. I'm still trying to figure why he wanted to take over. For some reason I think that he just doesn't like Xemnas, which I think I make it obvious here lol. Thanks for the review

Valitiel - Cheers for reviewing. Who's gonna be mummy? I guess it's whoever Marluxia is able to pawn Zexion off to at the time lol. Or maybe I should force him to be a single parent lol.

Ok, that's enough from me. I'm glad you liked my nickname for Marluxia :D If there is anything that doesn't make sense or seems off - please, don't hesitate to tell me. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and if certain parts seem weak, I apologise.

Toodle Pip

-Bexi