Well, my grandfather passed away this past Thursday (Dec. 2nd) and things have been pretty hard around here ever since. But I've realized that I can't just shut myself off and go into safe mode. I have to keep operating no matter how emotionally (and physically) exhausted I am.

I can't stop writing or living just because I'm upset. He wouldn't have wanted that. All this means is that my updates may be slow for a while. Slow, but they won't stop.

So enjoy this chapter which I dedicate to my grandfather. I'll update as soon as I can.

Tis the season to be jolly, and all that crap. None of us felt very jolly though. We kept ourselves busy with hanging Christmas decorations but by the end of November, all the decorations were hung and we had nothing to occupy our time. The house was unusually quiet and everyone sort of kept to themselves. I normally liked my solitude but with Naminé gone, everything just seemed off.

Everybody seemed off.

The normally rude and obnoxious combo of Xigbar and Larxene was strangely quieter. Luxord wasn't his normally upbeat self. Even the ones who were naturally quiet like Zexion and Lexaeus seemed even more silent. I could tell that Axel and Xion wanted to talk to me about it but I didn't want any part of that. No, all I wanted was to sit in my room and brood and that's just what I did for the first week of December until Demyx burst through my bathroom door (without knocking of course) shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Roxas! What are you doing in bed?" He said in a voice louder than he usually used. "Don't you know what time it is?"

I grumbled lightly and glanced at the clock on the wall in the dim light. "Yeah, it's eight-thirty. Too late at night to be as loud as you're being."

"No! It's time to go pick out a Christmas tree! Come on! Get up!" Demyx said as he urged me out of bed by tugging on my arm. "Get your snow clothes on! Hurry!"

"Snow clothes?" I asked a bit baffled. "It's snowing outside?" Really, it was a stupid question. It didn't even feel cold enough by my window to be snowing outside and besides that, Carson City rarely gets snow so for it to snow this early into December, the second ice age would have to be here in full force.

"No stupid! We're going up to Tahoe to pick out a tree! We do it every year. It's a family tradition and Xemnas said you have to go so come on!" Demyx said, tugging my arm even harder. "If you don't have any snow clothes, you can borrow some of mine."

I rolled out of bed and stumbled over to the pile of clothes laying on the floor. I had no idea what was clean and what was dirty but cut me some slack, I'm a teenager. I picked up my pair of thermals and began pulling them up my legs as I turned to look at Demyx. "The only thing I don't have are gloves and a hat. Can I borrow some?"

"Sure! I'll get them and meet you in the hallway!" The mullet haired freak yelled as he burst back through the bathroom door. He really was too excited about everything all the time.

I turned my attention back to dressing myself warmly. I pulled a pair of jeans over the thermals and then found a long sleeve shirt to wear over the t-shirt I was already wearing. I then pulled on a thin coat and then a thicker one. I found two pairs of socks, one of which I was sure was dirty, and quickly put them on my feet. Then it was only a matter of fitting my double socked feet into my shoes. Once I was fully dressed I made my way out into the hall and I was surprised to see everyone standing there in full snow attire, seemingly waiting on me. I spotted Axel chatting with Xion and made my way over. "Hey..."

"Hey! Are you ready to go pick out a Christmas tree?" The redhead asked jovially.

"Yeah. I just have some questions. Why are we going this late at night to pick a tree? And why are we going all the way to Tahoe? There are plenty of Christmas tree places around Carson. Why not just save some time and gas by going to one of those?" I asked. Really, I wanted to know because the whole idea sounded retarded, tradition or not.

"Oh Roxas, don't you know?" Axel replied. "None of those places sell Christmas trees big enough for this house! We're going to Tahoe to find the perfect tree and then cut it down ourselves!"

"So we're going to illegally cut down a Christmas tree and then load it up and bring it back here?" For some reason I was surprised. I shouldn't be, not with these people, but I was. "Oh, and let me guess. We all have to go because Xemnas wants us to experience family togetherness."

"Well or course he does! But that's not the reason we all go." Axel said with a grin. "We go for the thrill."

"And the snowball fight." Xigbar added as he approached our little group.

"Snowball fight?" I asked, my interest suddenly piqued. "What kind of snowball fight?"

"The only kind of snowball fight! To the death!" Xigbar said triumphantly.

Of course at this point Zexion had to interject some rationality into the conversation. "Don't be moronic." He turned his gaze to me, ready to explain. "Every year we divide up into teams of three and have a massive snowball fight, although you could compare it more to guerrilla warfare. If you get hit in the arm, you lose an arm. If you get hit in the leg, the same rule applies. If you get hit in the head, face, chest or back you are considered dead. A hit in the stomach is not instantly fatal, so you have fifteen seconds to counter attack before you are considered dead. Once you're dead you are taken out of the game and you can not continue. The last team standing, even if it is just one member, is the winning team and they get to be the ones to cut down the tree. You're allowed to use snowball propelling weapons as long as they are handmade. Also, we have two extra players this year which means someone is going to have to alt."

"Alt?" I asked stupidly. Of course, I had the market cornered on stupid questions.

Zexion looked to me like I was an absolute idiot before he took in a deep breath and decided to explain further. "An alternate. A person with whom you will alternate game play, like a tag team partner. The rules are that whatever occurs to your alt must also apply to you. If your alt loses an arm then when you go back into the game, you have also lost an arm. If you or your alt dies, you are both taken out of the game. You also have to tag your alt in. You can't just say you wish to switch. It's all very simple."

"Yeah, you can alt for Demyx!" Axel said with a chuckle. "He's terrible! He needs all the help he can get."

"Alright." I said with a nod. "So if I'm alting for Demyx, who's team does that put me on?"

"Me and the fire crotch here." Xigbar grinned and wrapped his arm around Axel's shoulders. "If you're worried you won't get play time, don't be. Demyx is terrible so we'll probably play him just a little bit and keep you in for the majority of it. With you on the team we might actually win this year!"

"I wouldn't say that." Zexion said as he smirked. "It simply means you'll actually stand a chance this year. As for Xion, we call her to alt for Vexen."

"That's not fair!" Axel screeched. It was weird because I thought the only people in this house that screeched were Demyx and Larxene. Apparently I was wrong. "You guys have Vexen, the Snowball King! What the hell do you need an alt for?"

"For your information, Vexen is feeling a bit ill and might not be able to participate for the whole fight. Besides, it's better than her going to team Delta. You remember how badly they kicked your ass last year, don't you?" Zexion retorted. It was strange, but there seemed to be a sort of fire in his eyes. There seemed to be a fire in everyone's eyes. I knew then that, much like everything else they did, they took this way too seriously.

Obviously they were excited about this snowball fight and honestly, so was I.

The excitement only grew as Demyx burst out his bedroom door and shoved his gloves and hat into my hands. "Here you go Rox!" He then bolted down the stairs and everyone was eager to follow. "Come on guys! Let's go!"

And go we did. We piled into several cars and made our way up to Tahoe. It was freezing as we trudged away from the road and headed deep into a cluster of trees where we found a large open area. I was irritated because Demyx had given me two different gloves, one of which was a mitten, and a hat that was almost too small for my head. Needless to say, I wasn't as warm as I could have been. We then grouped up into our teams and stood for Xaldin to talk to us.

"You're all aware of the rules of the game, but let's have a quick recap." The behemoth bellowed over the chatter of the crowd. "We have two alts this year. Xion will be alting for Vexen on team Beta. Roxas will be alting for Demyx on team Gamma. If you're caught alting for anybody else, you're out of the game! I want a good, clean match this year! I want no injuries, accidental or otherwise. Is that understood, team Delta?" Xaldin said, his eyes burning in Marluxia's direction.

I turned my gaze up to Axel curiously. "Why is Xaldin singling Marluxia's group out like that?"

Axel shook his head in disgust as he replied to me. "Every year, team Delta comes after us and every year they are merciless. Last year, Marluxia and Luxord both threw a snowball at the same time and pegged Demyx on opposite sides of his face. It knocked the kid down and he was out of the game but that wasn't enough. Then Larxene came up and pelted him in the nuts with four snowballs. It was overkill of the worst kind. He couldn't even walk back to the cars. He had to be carried. It was awful."

"Yeah! But not this year!" Demyx chimed in cheerfully as he patted his crotch. "I brought extra padding. Speaking of which, I think I have one of the matching gloves in here. You want me to look for it Rox?"

"No thanks." I said quickly, very disgusted. "You keep it, you need it more." I then turned my attention back to Xaldin who was still talking.

"First timers, I suggest you stay with your team until you get more familiar with these woods. When I blow this whistle, you will have five minutes to find your starting spot. On your marks. Get set!" Xaldin raised the metal whistle to his lips and blew. The shrill sound of the whistle echoed and we were off.

Axel grabbed me by my wrist and yanked me along. We ran fast and hard into the forest with Xigbar beside us and Demyx struggling to keep up. Then we ducked behind a small group of trees and I was able to catch my breath which hurt thanks to the ice cold air. "Wh-what are we doing? Why did we stop?"

"Every year those bastards come after us and every year we lead them right to us. But not this year! This year we double back and sneak up on them. Then we take them out." Axel said. "Every year I dream of cutting down the tree and it never happens. This year though, this year we destroy them all!"

"But even if we manage to beat Marluxia's team, we still have to beat Vexen and Xemnas' teams, right?" I said as we started walking back in the direction we came from.

"Not necessarily. See, Alpha and Beta are enemies like Gamma and Delta. They usually go after each other and it usually ends up being one of them that wins. Everyone on Beta is really smart. Vexen even invented weapons that they're probably setting up right now. Alpha is just brute force with Saïx and Xaldin and Xemnas is the brains behind them. They're almost impossible to beat because only a handful of people are willing to pelt Xemnas with a snowball. That's why we have to keep Xigbar in play no matter what."

"Understood. So when we..." And then I froze because I heard the oh so familiar sound of Larxene's witch cackle. We crouched down and stared ahead. Sure enough, Larxene was approaching with Luxord and Marluxia in toe. I scooped up a big handful of snow and raised my hand high above my head but before I could let it fly, someone caught my wrist.

"Not yet." Xigbar whispered. "We have to wait for the second whistle, otherwise we'll be..." Then the beautiful sound of the second whistle blew and the look in Xigbar and Axel's eyes changed. They scooped their own handfuls of snow and began packing them tightly, obviously meaning for them to hurt.

I watched the two of them rush forward and let their snowballs fly. Xigbar pegged Luxord directly in the face, a perfect hit and just like that, the Brit was out. I was surprised at how good of an aim Xigbar had for a person with no depth perception. Axel's snowball was regretfully dodged just in time by Marluxia. I was actually impressed with the pink haired man's agility especially because he was able to turn around and fire right back, though he thankfully missed.

I knew I had to fire my own shot so I chucked my snowball at Larxene, only for it to fall incredibly short at her feet.

She looked to me with a wicked smile on her face and her eyes ablaze. "Wrong move, you little shit."

"Don't you hurt him Larxene!" I heard Axel yell.

I felt panicked because I didn't want to be taken out of the game this early. I also didn't want Larxene to peg me in the nuts with four snowballs. I retreated backward slowly and ended up tripping and falling into the snow. I saw the woman raising her snowball high and I cringed because I knew I was done for.

I heard Axel's voice again, yelling, "Noooooooooo!" and I watched as he dove in front of me just in enough time to block the shot. It hit him right in the gut and I blinked in disbelief. I couldn't believe he took a shot for me. He then threw a snowball up and at the angle he was in, I was sure he was going to miss but he didn't. His snowball slammed Larxene in the face and the wretched woman fell backward onto her ass.

I crawled over to Axel who was laying flat on his back staring up at the sky. "Axel, why? Why did you take that shot for me?"

"I... I couldn't l-let Larxene hurt you like she did to Demyx. It wasn't fair. It's your first year so it needs to be a good one." Axel reached out and gripped my mittened hand tightly. "I know you and Xigbar can do this. You can win this war for me. We can cut down that Christmas tree this year I know it. H-here..." The redhead reached up and pulled the scarf from around his neck. He draped it over the back of my neck and wrapped it around slowly. "Take this scarf. It'll keep you warm."

"Thanks Axel. You're really, really gay, but thanks." I stood slowly and looked to Xigbar who was standing over Marluxia with a sinister look on his face. "Xigbar, we lost Axel!"

"I know." Xigbar turned to look at me before looking off in the distance. "We have to keep going. We have to win this year."

"Right." I nodded quickly and jogged over to him with Demyx following after us. We walked in silence, Xigbar stalking around like a hunter looking for prey. It didn't take long for us to stumble upon another bloodbath. Vexen's team, or what was left of it, was standing with their backs against what appeared to be a fort. Lexaeus lay sprawled out on the ground and not too far from him, Xaldin sat against a tree. Zexion and my sister stood with what looked like man made crossbows loaded with snowballs. They were on heavy guard so I knew we had to be as silent as possible.

Xigbar however seemed to think the opposite. He picked up a snowball and chucked at a tree a few feet away from us. Doing so caused Xion to fire off her snowball at the noise, giving her the need to reload. "Stay here." Xigbar said as he scooped up a handful of snow and rushed into the clearing.

I watched as he chucked a snowball at Xion and my sister dodged. Unfortunately this gave Zexion time to fire his snowball at Xigbar. He hit the old man in his right arm, just shy of hitting his chest. Xigbar was quick to recover though, scooping up snow with his left hand and pelting Zexion in the stomach.

Zexion knelt down, mortally wounded. I was sure Xigbar had won this battle, but with his last fifteen seconds of counter attack, Zexion used a knife to cut a rope that was secured to the ground from their fort. It sent about ten tiny catapults flying up, throwing ten perfectly crafted snowballs all at Xigbar. They rained down upon him in an amazing display of advanced weaponry and I had to commend team Beta. They were really good.

Xigbar fell to the ground and soon it was just me and my sister left standing. Well, Demyx was standing too but he was useless so he didn't count. I had to think strategically. What was the best way to approach this, especially with Xion on edge?

"Make a bunch of snowballs." Demyx said quietly. "That way you have plenty of ammunition to throw while she has to reload."

"Good idea." I whispered back. I quickly set to making five decent sized snowballs. Any more and there would be too much to carry. Any less and I might run out. I scooped up four in my left arm and started forward with the last one in my right hand. Xion spotted me instantly and fired off her freshly loaded crossbow. Good thing she was such a bad aim. Unfortunately, so was I. I threw my snowball at my sister and missed, epically. I grabbed another and missed again and I realized I just didn't have enough upper body strength to throw the snowballs as far as I needed to so I had to get closer.

Xion was furious and clearly having too much difficulty with her crossbow to use it effectively. She threw the piece of weaponry to the ground and growled at me. "I'm taking you down, jerk! And I don't need this fancy equipment to do it either!"

"Bring it, brat face!" I shouted, arming myself with another snowball. I was within range this time and I let the snowball fly. This time I managed to hit my sister on the leg which meant she had to hop around on her good leg, leaving her unbalanced. I could then get closer so I grabbed another snowball and ran forward. I couldn't miss this time. We were only five feet away from each other so I chucked the snowball and pegged my sister in the chest.

She fell down dramatically, clutching her right boob and whimpering. "Ah! You hurt my boob, asshole!"

"Whatever! You don't even have boobs yet!" I turned away from my sister and started over to Xigbar because I had no idea where to go or what to do from here. "Xigbar! Where were you hit?"

"I lost both my arms and both my legs. I can't walk, I can't crawl and I know you can't carry me. You have to kill me." Xigbar motioned behind me with a low grunt. "Team Alpha should be that way. You'll have to beat Saïx to get to Xemnas. You can beat Xemnas, can't you?"

"I can try my hardest, but Xigbar, I need your help getting there. I don't know these woods." I looked over to Demyx who still stood in the distance and my brain sparked an idea. As much as I hated to admit it, the mullet head was probably stronger than me and he might be able to carry Xigbar's scrawny ass. "Demyx! I'm tagging you in!"

"Really?" Demyx said excitedly as he rushed over. "What do you want me to do?"

"You're gonna carry Xigbar until he leads us to where we need to be." I reached out and tagged Demyx's hand. "After that you're gonna tag me back in."

"Oh. That's all?" Demyx looked down at me and he seemed disappointed but he didn't waste time arguing. He just knelt down and hoisted Xigbar up over his shoulders. Xigbar directed us through the trees to the spot that Xemnas normally picked as his standing ground and just like Xigbar said, Saïx was there guarding like a watch dog.

"What do I do now?" I whispered as Demyx sat Xigbar against a tree. "I can't just rush in there. He'll destroy me."

"You should have grabbed a crossbow when you had the chance. It would have improved your aim and your range ten fold. But it's too late to go back. It's now or never and you've only got one shot at this. Saïx is relentless and if you piss him off, he only gets more brutal." Xigbar grinned widely. "I've got faith in you, kid. They're our last obstacle and I know you can nail this. Do it for Axel."

"You guys take this crap way too seriously. But alright, I can do this." I pulled Axel's scarf tighter around my neck and readjusted my hat and gloves. I knelt to the ground and made five snowballs so that I would have ample ammunition. After tagging myself back in, I stepped into the small opening and stared Saïx down. There was no way to handle this other than head on and let Saïx think he had the advantage. "Did your precious leader fall? Are you the last?"

Saïx gave a cocky smile and stared me down hard. "Don't be foolish, Roxas. Nobody can defeat Xemnas. They'd have to get through me and nobody gets through me. I'm afraid this is the end of the line." I watched warily as Saïx reached to his side into what appeared to be a snowball holster and pulled out a perfectly round, perfectly packed snowball. He threw the ball with amazing speed and I barely managed to dodge it.

My dodge sent me tumbling to the ground and caused me to crush all my ammunition. Before I knew what was happening, Saïx was throwing snowball after snowball at me and I barely managed to roll away. I regained my footing just in time for a snowball to wiz right by my face. I knew I was at a severe disadvantage. Not only was Saïx bigger, stronger and faster than me but he had been able to relax calmly most of the night while I had fought my way to him and exhausted almost every last ounce of energy I had. That was when an idea hit me. I would throw something at him that he would never expect. It wasn't as though we had anything to lose at that point anyway. "Demyx!"

And like a faithful dog, Demyx came running into the clearing. I ran toward him and it seemed like Saïx knew exactly what I was up to because he started to charge at me. I dared a glance over my shoulder just to see how close he was and he was practically right on top of me but he was out of snow. Demyx however had a ready handful, god bless the guy. I jumped forward and reached out my hand, slapping his in time for him to chuck the snowball and peg Saïx in the side of the head.

Unfortunately for me, I twisted my ankle as I landed leaving me seething on the ground in pain. Demyx however was jumping for joy and cheering.

"I took him out! Did you see that, Roxas? I took him out!" Demyx laughed loudly and continued his ridiculous jumping.

Meanwhile, I lay on the ground in pain. "Demyx, listen to me! This isn't over yet. You still have to face Xemnas!"

Demyx's face fell in that instant and his eyes bulged as he looked to me. "What? But... no! I'll just tag you back in."

"I just twisted my ankle, you moron! You have to do this!" Okay, wow. My turn to give the gay ass pep talk. "Listen to me. Axel and Xigbar are counting on you to do this! Axel has wanted this for years, you can't tell me you haven't wanted it too. Damn it, this is your year Demyx! Just think about all the past years. All the humiliation. All the crap talking! All the snowballs that got thrown at your nuts!" Thatcomment got him. A look of determination crossed his face and I saw him clench his fists. "Damn it Demyx, this is your chance to prove you're not just some push over! You are the Snowball King and you're going to kick some serious ass!"

"I'm the Snowball King?" A small smile made it's way to mullet head's face and he stood tall and proud. "I'm the Snowball King!"

"That's quite the declaration you're making." A voice came sneaking out from the darkness. It was Xemnas and he looked incredibly evil at that moment with the light of the moon shining down on him. "You managed to dispose of Saïx? I'd be impressed if I hadn't watched the whole fiasco occur from a few feet away."

"If you were so close then why not just attack? Why toy with Demyx?" I asked defensively. Our leader or not, I still didn't like the guy. He was just downright creepy, like Xigbar, only more evil.

"I could ask you the same thing Roxas. You could have tried to sneak up on Saïx. You may have even been successful in doing so. However you chose to approach him head on and give him a fair chance. Why is that?" Xemnas' eyes narrowed on me and his smile grew wider. "The answer is easy. Because it is simply more interesting and fun that way. Now if you'll excuse me, Demyx and I have some unfinished business."

"Kick his ass Demyx!" I shouted. "No mercy!"

"I can't! He'll kill me!" Demyx whined in response but knelt to pick up a handful of snow regardless.

I wish that I could tell you that the fight that ensued was epic; that Xemnas and Demyx fought for hours on end, wounding each other and evading major catastrophes until Demyx came from behind to win the battle in a glorious display of strength and perseverance. That, however, would be a lie. In truth, the whole thing lasted about two minutes and Xemnas was not nearly as good as I imagined him to be. Sadly, Demyx was no better. They stood at a distance feebly throwing snowballs and missing each time.

I was about to call Demyx over and have him tag me back in when our leader managed to peg him in the gut. Demyx was stunned but he took his last fifteen seconds to grab up a snowball and throw it in Xemnas' face.

Xemnas blew a whistle and just like that, the game was over. It took everyone about five minutes to reach where we were and by that time, my ankle had swollen to the size of a grapefruit.

We almost lost on a technicality, because Xemnas' fatal blow had landed before Demyx's. We won however, based on the fact that Xigbar was still alive. He had no arms or legs, but he was alive and that was all that mattered. Axel seemed all too happy that he was finally going to be able to cut down his precious Christmas tree. Demyx and Xigbar seemed happy too.

I wasn't happy though. All I wanted to do was go back home and rest my ankle which hurt like a son of a bitch.

"Hey Rox, you gonna help us cut down the tree?" Axel asked hopefully.

"Are you kidding? I can't even stand! I twisted my ankle." I pulled my pant leg up to show Axel and his face fell.

"Well I can't leave you out." Axel said as he took a seat beside me on the fallen tree where I was perched. "This was your victory just as much as it was ours. If you can't help, then I won't either."

"Get the fuck off my log!" I said and I shoved Axel onto the ground. He stared up at me in seeming confusion but I was only angry. "Are you an idiot? I fought so damn hard and I twisted my ankle just trying to win this stupid snowball fight for you so you could cut down your dumb tree! Now you say you're going to sit out? Get lost!"

A smile bubbled onto the redhead's face then and I knew I'd regret my words. "You won it so I could cut down my tree? Aw, Rox... That's so..."

"Stop it." I said quickly. I didn't want this moment to get any gayer than it already was. Axel seemed to have other plans however. He lurched forward and wrapped his arms around me tightly. "Stop it."

"Roxas, you're the best friend I've ever had! Thank you so much!" Axel said as he pulled me even tighter against his chest. Talk about humiliating.

"Stop it." I grumbled, struggling against his hold to no avail. "Look, I did it every bit for myself as I did for you. I couldn't be on a team full of losers so we had to win. Get over it." Finally after a few more torturous seconds of being hugged, Axel let me go and smiled down at me and I couldn't help but smile back. "And here, take your stupid scarf back."

"Nah, you hold onto it for now. It'll keep you warm. I'll be right back after we cut down our tree and then I'll piggy back you back to the cars, alright?" Axel grinned and ruffled my hair through the hat on my head before bolting off after Xigbar and Demyx.

Just when I thought I might actually get a moment to relax, my sister plopped down beside me and started talking. "You and Axel are pretty close, huh?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." I mumbled. "The guy is a nut."

"Yeah well, so are you but he seems to like you just fine." I could see out of my peripheral vision that Xion was staring me down but I refused to look her way so she kept on talking. "Come on Roxas, admit it. You're starting to like hanging out with these guys more and more. It's fun! You can't pretend you didn't have fun tonight. Being here with all of them and being a part of their tradition, it's special. I actually feel like I belong to a family for once. A real family. I hope that it never changes. I hope things can stay this way forever."

So did I.

Of course, I'd never admit that out loud. Instead I just sat there staring up at the stars with Xion until everyone returned with the massive Christmas tree and we were ready to head back. As promised, Axel piggy backed me all the way back to the cars. On the ride home I couldn't help but think about what Xion had said and how no matter how much we wished it not to be, change was inevitable. I thought long and hard about it until the sound of the engine in Axel's Mustang lulled me into a peaceful sleep.