A/N: Hello again, and thank you for taking the time to read! It's always a treat to see a new review sitting in my inbox when I check it the night after posting a story, I don't know where my fanfic life would be if I didn't have you guys driving me on. Double thanks to the couple of reviewers who said they favorite-ed me and found my second KH fic that way. Really, I can't begin to tell you how honored I was. Let me know if there's anything I can do to pay you back. Gah, sorry about the rambling.

Just so you know, the "Secret Santa" partners in the first chapter were picked randomly. Personally, I believe it gave me some combinations more awesome than any I could think up if you gave me a month. As for the timeline, I'm not sure if I should call it AU because if you look at the games, there really isn't that much time between Roxas' creation and the Castle Oblivion story arc. I did have a little story plan where the Organization would be regenerated and would go on trying to find hearts, but said story would require much OCage and I've developed a deadly fear of the Mary/Gary-Sue/Stu label. Still, I've seen other O13 fics where all of them are on a mission or something together, so I guess it's the same timeline as those. Now, on to the disclaimer before I confuse myself any further!

Disclaimer: Indi does not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. She does own the plot to this story unless some one thought of it first (before July '06) in which case the similarities are mere coincidence. She also apologizes immensely for taking to long to update and hopes that all her wonderful readers will take pity on her and forgive her. Thank you.

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Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

click

"Has it been five minutes yet?"

"Almost."

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

click

"That's it, I'm going up there."

"Good luck."

"Thanks, I'll need it." Xaldin sighed as he rose from his seat at the table in the Kitchen that Never Was. He walked through the familiar halls until he came to the door marked simply "9." He opened the door and peered through as the annoying din started up again.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

"Unngh.." Demyx, who was lying asleep amongst his blankets, stirred and turned to the beeping alarm clock. He raised his hand groggily and slapped the snooze button down with a loud click. Within seconds, he had turned around and fell asleep again. Xaldin took a moment to wonder how many times Demyx had done this ritual this morning, before the Whirlwind Lancer decided to take matters into his own hands.

"Demyx, wake up! Demyx, wake up! Demyx, wake up!"

"Guuh, stupid alarm clock…" Demyx raised his hand again and bopped Xaldin on the head, right on top of his braided bun. The sitarist then turned around and fell back asleep.

There was a phrase Saïx liked to use, "If I had a heart here is where I would die of laughter." For the first time, Xaldin felt that way (probably wasn't how Saïx meant it but still). Being mistaken for an alarm clock aside, Number Nine's presence was required at the breakfast table, and Xaldin wasn't one to give up on a job. He grabbed the dozing Nobody's arm and pulled him out of the bed. He then slung Demyx's arm over his shoulder and started the long walk back to the kitchen. Hopefully being half-dragged across the castle would wake him up. Sure enough…

"Nnng, Xaldin?"

"Morning. You awake enough to walk on your own yet?"

"Yeah, thanks." Demyx yawned and got off Xaldin's shoulder. "Hey, I just realized something…"

"Mmm?"

"I'm three or so inches taller than you."

"Shut it." Xaldin grumbled, the truth hurt sometimes.

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"Hey there!" Xigbar got out of his chair and waved to the two approaching members, Xaldin in his black cloak and Demyx in his light blue pajamas. Lexaeus, and Zexion were sitting at the table while Luxord was standing near the refrigerator and putting some food away. The new arrivals sat down and started eating. It was obvious that Demyx wasn't fully awake yet, he mistook a waffle for a piece of toast at first and spread jam on it. After a few minutes, conversation began to pick up.

"So, where's everyone else?"

"You'd know if you could get out of bed on time." Luxord smirked as he downed the last few drops of his mug of tea. "But I'm feeling nice today, so I'll tell you."

"Naw, I'll do it." Xigbar spoke up. "It all started with us senior members anyways. See, Xemnas decided he needed a vacation, so he left and gave us pretty much a free week. We split into two groups of six, and we're gonna take turns either keeping things sane at the castle or go out patrolling the worlds and buying presents for that mission-thing. It was pretty funny, the five of us old ones all wanted to join together at first, but Xemnas said one of us had to go with the younger members, and Vexen pulled the short straw. We claimed you and Luxord and the others went off. We'll have the chance to go tomorrow, so for today just don't make too big of a mess, eh?

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"Alright, we all know who our partners are." Vexen paused and folded his arms as he paced in the Twilight Town station square. "Saïx and Larxene will patrol the Pride Lands and the Deep Jungle, Roxas and Axel will take care of Traverse Town and Port Royale, and Marluxia and I will manage Wonderland and Agrabah. I will expect a detailed report on any and all significant activity going on within the worlds. If you finish early you can go wherever you'd like to try and find a gift for our weeklong mission. We shall meet here again in four hours to compare reports and plan for the afternoon. Is that understood?"

The five younger members of the Organization nodded their heads as the six of them disappeared into their dark portals.