"Demyx, where the hell are you?"

Axel knew the odds of him even being in this world were pretty slim - there were thousands of worlds he could have run off to, and the chance that Axel would randomly find himself not only in the right one, but within earshot of Demyx was minimal at best. Just to improve his odds, he was starting with worlds that had a particular feature he figured Demyx would be irresistibly drawn to - a beach. This happened to be a volcanic beach, and fairly bleak even as volcanic beaches went - Axel liked it, but he didn't figure Demyx would. Sighing, he opened a portal and tried the next world with a beach.

He staggered slightly as he crossed through the portal - this beach was being pummeled by a horrific winter storm. There was ice everywhere, including falling from the sky, the wind was biting, and the waves sounded like hungry water dragons tearing at the shore. No way would Demyx be here - he had more sense than that. But some vague, undefinable impulse forced him to stand there in the darkness and cold, and listen.

And he heard it.

Sitar music.

So apparently Demyx had been cuckoo enough to hide out here, in a place and time that suited Axel's definition of Hell pretty neatly. But if he'd been hanging out here the entire time, he was probably pretty damn miserable himself, and Axel felt it was his duty to rescue the little nut. So, following the faint, mournful notes, he forced his way down the rocky beach, fighting to stay upright against the wind. He hoped Demyx wouldn't stop playing before he caught up to him, or else he'd never be able to find him...then he thought about that again, and what implications it might have, and started running... "Demyx! Demyx, where are you!" He thought he heard a faint response, but if he did, it was quickly carried away by the wind... "Demyx!"

"...Axel? That...you?" He couldn't have been imagining that. Not twice in a row.

"Demyx, where are you!"

"You...really..."

"Demyx?" Damn the storm; he could barely see a foot in front of his nose. He tried to light a fire to see his way, but it had to be twice the size of a basketball before it could stand up to the wind and icy rain, even if he kept feeding power into it...and Demyx was only about fifteen yards away, curled up around his sitar. "There you are, you little lunatic...you scared the shit out of me..."

Demyx's face was icy pale, with some strong bluish tints. "Didn' think anyone would notice..." His shoulders twitched, as if he was working himself a little deeper into an invisible blanket. "I was...jus' gettin' warm..."

Axel removed one glove and put a hand to his cheek; it felt like a block of ice. "Getting warm - hell, you're not far from freezing to death, you little head case." He carefully picked the younger boy up, sitar and all; Demyx didn't resist. "Come on. I'm taking you back to the castle. Then you can really get warm."

Demyx nodded weakly and snuggled into his chest as the sitar vanished. "You're warm," he murmured softly.

"Well, fire." Axel opened a portal back to the castle, to Demyx's room, and carefully peeled him out of his saturated clothing, dried him off, and wrapped him in a warm, dry bathrobe before getting him under the covers - no point trying to warm him up while he was still all cold and wet. As an afterthought, he went to Demyx's closet and found a few more blankets to add to the pile. "Think you might be starting to warm up a little?" Demyx nodded weakly. "Good. I'm gonna get you some hot chocolate or something else hot to drink."

"Wait...how'd you find me?"

Axel shrugged and shook his head. "Sheer dumb luck."

"Why'd you even come lookin'?"

Axel half-smiled. "I like having at least one person around who isn't a complete ass, got it memorized? That means I gotta keep you. You're the only one who fits that qualification."

Demyx stared at him in surprise for a moment. "That's it?"

Axel nodded, then sat on the edge of the bed and stroked Demyx's hair reassuringly - it wasn't all that long ago when that move would have earned him an impromptu cold shower and Demyx would have retreated into his hard little shell for the rest of the day. "No more...and no less. Now you try to get your crazy self warmed up and I'll get you some hot chocolate, okay? You like marshmallows?"

"...Yeah." Demyx smiled faintly and buried himself under the covers.

By the time Axel returned with the hot chocolate, Demyx was shivering fitfully. Axel had to help him drink it carefully, and even so, it splashed a little, scalding his face slightly. By the time it was gone, Demyx's skin had gone from icy to cool, and from dead-white to just very pale. "Warmer now?" Axel asked quietly. Demyx nodded and disappeared under the blankets again, shivering so hard even the blankets were shaking.

Poor kid. You damn near turned yourself into an icicle.

Sighing, Axel lay down on top of the blankets next to him. Maybe he could help thaw him out.

AN: Silly little icicle boy. Smart people don't visit Lake Superior after October.

And, um, well. If Document Management and Story Management are going to be down from 2:00 AM until about 4:00 PM EST tomorrow, maybe I should just publish this now.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, got it memorized?