Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (although that would be pretty cool!).


As soon as Saïx heard that Xemnas wanted a meeting, he went to see him as soon as Luxord and Marluxia had left. He went back to Xemnas' office and knocked on the door. Xemnas' voice called out, "Come in." Saïx entered the room to find Xemnas at his desk, typing on his keyboard.

"Yes?" The Superior asked.

"My Lord, why have you called this emergency meeting?"

Xemnas chuckled. "Can't we just have meetings for the sake of checking in on each other?"

Saïx, however, knew that Xemnas was bluffing. "We don't have meetings for fun."

Again, Xemnas chuckled. "In that regard, you are correct. I feel that with the amount of injuries and mysterious conditions that have plagued the Organization, it is important that we meet to discuss what has been going on and to see if any changes should be made for the missions."

Saïx nodded his head. "Very well, sir, that seems to be a reasonable decision."

"I am the leader, so yes, my decisions are reasonable. I also want to take the opportunity to introduce some of our members to their newest companions." The Superior was referencing some of the new Nobodies that recently had appeared in The World That Never Was.

"Are you sure you want to do that now?" Saïx asked. "Marluxia is one that we have been watching it for quite some time. Giving him his own henchmen might be problematic if uses them against us. And then there's Larxene, who is close to him."

"Indeed, you speak the truth. However, I feel that it is important that we can help Marluxia to make sure that he remains on our side. I think this sort of gift might be just the thing we need. As for Larxene, I do not fear her and with her recent injury, she does not pose a threat to betray the Organization."

"Very well, my Lord, you know better than the rest of us on these matters."

"I will go retrieve the henchnobodies and bring them to the meeting. You shall arrange everything else."

"Of course, my lord."

Xemnas then created a Portal of Darkness and stepped in, leaving Saïx alone in the Superior's office.

Xemnas exited the portal at the top of a very large staircase. That staircase led to the Nobody Pen, where all of the lesser Nobodies resided. He could have just teleported to the bottom, however, for some reason, he instead chose to walk down the staircases at a exceedingly slow pace. Perhaps it gave him time to think on what he was going to say at the meeting. Perhaps he simply wanted the exercise of walking down the stairs. Or perhaps it was just something he enjoyed. Regardless of the reason, Xemnas worked his way down the staircase maze to reach the Nobody Pen.

When he arrived there, the Nobodies did not swarm him like they may have done for another member. After all, no one was as feared in the Organization to the lesser Nobodies than The Superior.

Xemnas called out, "I am here for both the Reaper and the Ninja." A number of Reaper and Ninja Nobodies stepped forward. There weren't very many yet, only totaling around ten to fifteen each. "It is time that you were introduced to your true masters. The eldest of your kind shall ascend to a position of power serving as the henchmen to your member of the Organization." There was applause from the other Nobodies, who were used to this sort of initiation.

A Reaper and Ninja stepped forward. They were the first ones to have appeared in The World That Never Was and therefore would be the ones who would assume the position of a henchperson, much as Sniper did for Xigbar, Gambler did for Luxord, and so on.

"It is an honor to bestow on us such a status," Reaper said.

"Yeah thanks, big boss, this will be all sorts of fun!" Ninja replied.

Xemnas chuckled at the realization of the Nobodies' manner of speech showed a similarity to the people that they would be serving.

"Very good," Xemnas replied. "We will introduce you at the meeting, so if you would please come with me…" He opened the Portal of Darkness and Xemnas, Reaper, and Ninja left.


This was not how Zexion had planned on making his big reveal to Larxene. In his imagination, their quasi-romance would be established quite some time before he finally revealed his heart's (or lack thereof) true feelings. Yet here he was, literally trapped in the hospital ward with Larxene, who was expecting him to deliver the truth. It's not like he could create a Portal of Darkness and slink away, as Vexen instructed him to stay in bed (as much as we wanted to!). He also knew if one wanted to stay on Larxene's good side, to have any chance with her, he would have to tell her the truth.

"All right, all right. So…I've sort of… kind of… had this little crush on you."

Larxene's eyes widened in surprise. "For how long?" she asked.

"Well, it's been for a pretty long time. I've just been too shy to do anything about it. And then you and Axel got together, so I tried to stay out of picture."

Larxene was surprised. She had felt that during her time with the Organization she had taken on a harsher demeanor, one designed to keep away people from being interested in her, especially in an Organization that was predominantly male. Larxene had been very guarded ever since she became a Nobody due to how her previous relationship that ended. As mentioned, her relationship with Axel was mostly physical, and that met both of their needs quite fine. But now, Zexion threatened to change everything. "Did anyone else know?" she asked.

"Just Lexaeus," he explained, "and that's why we were paired together on the Deep Jungle. Without my knowledge, or my permission, I'd like to add! Although, I have to say, the time I spent with you on the Deep Jungle has been the most enjoyable time that I have spent as a member of the Organization."

Larxene closely guarded her emotions, not wanting to betray anything to Zexion. While she felt similarly, she was not ready to reveal any of her cards (Luxord would be proud). Instead, she chose to press Zexion on his emotions. "So are you saying you have feelings for me?" she replied. "What is it exactly that you like about me?" Here, she was testing him and his intentions.

Zexion was too in the moment to catch onto her plan, but was more than happy to oblige her and tell her about her tell about her qualities that he enjoyed. "Oh that's easy!" he explained. "I adore much about you, for example, you are exceptionally self-confident, which is a trait I wish I possessed. You have a sharp wit and a high intellect and you like to read!" he exclaimed, picking up steam. "You're fierce, you're a good fighter, you're strong yet," he added, "this trip has revealed to me that you also have a softer side which makes me adore you even further."

A small smile crept upon Larxene's lips; she was pleased with how he had described her. "But what about my looks?" she asked somewhat facetiously.

Zexion let out a nervous chuckle. "Well, of course you're beautiful, but that is not necessarily why I care about you so much."

Larxene was thrilled that in Zexion she had found a man who was more interested in her personality than in her looks. That made her happier than she had been in there a long time. "Oh you're such a flatterer, Zexion."

"Well, it's not that difficult to sing your praises when I've loved you as long as I have."

"What did you say?" she immediately asked, picking up on his word choice. Here Zexion realized his word choice and his confidence started to falter as he stumbled for words. But something inside of him told him this was the right moment to strike and so after taking a deep breath, he finally made his declaration. "I… I…I love you Larxene," he finally managed to get out.

Larxene again squealed as she passed out of consciousness from a sharp pain to the heart.


Vexen had returned to his lab in order to put together the evidence for his theory about the regrowth of the hearts of Nobodies. There had been far too much chaos in the hospital, and he needed to think more about the topic in peace and quiet. He began by writing out known and unknown quantities of the problem. The known portion was very simple: the two attacks that had affected Zexion, as well as Luxord's, Larxene's, and his own attacks had occurred during moments that would be described as, for lack of a better term, heartwarming. In addition, Ansem the Wise had suggested the possibility of heart regeneration in his Report 19.

On the other side, there were a number of questions that Vexen preferred to answer before going public with his theory. Question one: why did it take this many years for anyone to begin this process? What made this timeframe unique compared to the previous seven years the Original Six members of the Organization were Nobodies? Question two: why did these heart attacks strike roughly at the same time across a whole slew of members? After years of inactivity, a bunch of members suddenly starting experiencing potential heart growth all within a span of a week or so made this very questionable. The biggest question of all was if Vexen could properly convince everyone else his theory was correct. He knew that this would require some very clear signs that this theory was occurring. Vexen banged on the keyboard, trying to make sense of his work and how he could distill it down to a more simple explanation.

The meeting provided both a challenge and an opportunity. On the one hand, the meeting would provide him a very public forum to present his work. On the other hand, the meeting was approaching so rapidly that there was very little way that Vexen could possibly have enough time to fully flush out his theory. So Vexen was left in a conundrum. "If only there was another case," he grumbled, "then I might acquire the extra data that I need to put forth my theory."

Just then, he received an emergency signal on his watch. He checked to see and saw that it was from Zexion. "Oh what now?" he cried out, and with that, he created a Portal of Darkness to return to the hospital ward.

There, he found a frantic Zexion and an unconscious Larxene.

"It…it…it happened again!" Zexion stuttered.

Vexen immediately turned his attention to Larxene and went over to check for signs of life. Just as he touched her, she woke with a start, which startled Vexen as well.

"Are you okay?" Zexion asked.

Vexen, however, was not concerned for her health as he realized that he might get the data that he needed. He had put a monitor watch on Larxene after she had the first attack and now he was eager to see the results. "My dear," he began, "I think then this might provide the exact data that I am seeking! Oh yes and how are you feeling?"

Larxene frowned. "I think it was my heart again," she replied, still unsure as to what had happened to her.

"Very interesting," Vexen responded. "And what was the situation in which this attack occurred?"

Again, Zexion and Larxene looked at each other, but neither spoke, not wanting to tell Vexen of what had just transpired.

Vexen became exasperated. "Look, I get that you want to be secretive about your personal affairs but if I can't fix this problem, we all might die and then you won't have any time to be personal or have affairs!"

"That's a fair point," Zexion concluded. "Let's just say that it was another moment of high emotions."

"Good, good, this is exactly what I was looking for. Let's look at the results." Vexen went over to a table and grabbed a remote control and turned on a projector inside of the hospital room. He fiddled with his watch and then signaled Larxene to give him hers. She did so and he pressed some buttons. "You see, it is important that I checked all possible vital signs, including potential heart rate. I hope that your attack triggered something connected to a heart and any sort of data reflecting that." Vexen had made these watches with technology that already existed, which meant that the watch measured things like heartbeats, despite not being something any Organization member had (or, at least, so everyone had thought). He was now curious to see if a reading had been registered.

He flipped through a number of the characteristics on the screen: steps, calories burned, exercise, and finally heart rate. Vexen's eyes widened with great excitement. Zexion and Larxene as well couldn't believe what they were seeing on the screen. It was a graphical representation of Larxene's heart rate. As expected it was completely blank, except now there was a random spike that appeared registering for about a beat or two before disappearing back into nothingness.

"Ha ha that's it!" Vexen shouted. "Exactly what I was looking for! Oh this is a most fortuitous day for science."

Larxene rolled her eyes. "Oh Vexen, always excited by the strangest things."

"I must be off so I can finish analyzing this data as well as prepare my presentation for the meeting. If you have any other symptoms, please let me know immediately," Vexen added.

"I have a question," Larxene asked. "How are we going to get Zexion to the meeting?"

"I'm not sure how well I'll be able to walk," Zexion admitted.

"I'll get you one of the wheelchairs," Vexen replied. "I'll have some Dusks bring one up for you and we can get you there."

"Will he need to be pushed? Larxene asked.

Vexen chuckled. "No. The modifications I've made allow it to use a self propel jet, so you won't need to push him at all. Unless, of course, you wanted to push him in a romantic gesture," Vexen replied facetiously.

Larxene growled. "I didn't ask for your garbage opinion," she shot back.

That sent Vexen into fits of laughter and as he created a Portal of Darkness and left, his laughter echoing throughout the hospital room.


Happy Valentine's Day everybody! This is the actually the perfect chapter to post today, as Zexion's declaration of love and Vexen's research on hearts make this very fitting. Thank you to everyone who has supported this story by reading, reviewing, and liking this story! Next time, we will see the meeting as well as the fallout from the events at Olympus Coliseum.

See ya real soon,

The Mustachioed Academic