I seem to indulge in certain (crack) pairings even if I don't particularly understand them. I'd like to avoid the pairings, but they tend to appear anyway. (Whenever I write 'romance', they turn out sounding rather weak and forced anyway.) Also, if you read any other fics by me, specifically TTR, you might notice some 'similarities' between the two. Please keep in mind that what you read in ALE does not necessarily happen in TTR, sadly it is just the way I "characterize" them (I use that word loosely). ALE can be considered an unofficial extension of sorts to TTR. -Enjoy.

Number of themes used: (x6). Members used: Vexen (x2), Axel (x2), Roxas (x1), Luxord (x1), Larxene (x1), Demyx (x2), Xigbar (x1), Saïx (x1), Marluxia (x2), Xaldin (x1), Zexion (x2), Xemnas (x1), Lexaeus (x3), Naminé (x1) Pairing(s): (can be seen as slash) Zemyx (x1) (one-sided slash) SaïxXemnas (x1)

A Little Extra
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Third Theme Set
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22. Mother Nature

The shovel came to rest and Lexaeus wiped the sweat off of his brow. He'd been digging through the scarce, but tough soil for the past days. The warrior had been doing the task as a way of becoming better acquainted with his element -even if he had to participate in such labor to find it.

That drawback aside, he didn't mind the fact that his element was earth. In fact, when he had heard the news, he was overjoyed; even if he didn't openly express it. Earth was respectable as well as practical and he was glad it was something as solid as that element. It meant the warrior didn't have to deal with the hazards with the unpredictability of fire or water like Axel and Demyx did. Or the physical risks of practice with gravity and other aspects of space like Xigbar had to.

He didn't even want to think about the dangers of trying to practice with six lances like Xaldin had to, and with the element of wind of all things. Luxord may have used cards as weapons, but they were tied to tampering with the fabric of time. And so went on the list. Yes, Lexaeus was perfectly content with his simple, but impressive tomahawk and earth control. What was bothering him was how strangely Marluxia had been hovering around where he had been working since the 'morning' at the outskirts surrounding the Castle That Never Was. The orange haired man knew that the brunette would not voluntarily be around him unless he profited from it in some way.

Despite that opinion, Lexaeus thought it was better to remain tactful and give the other the 'benefit of the doubt' as he addressed him. "So Marluxia, what brings you out here?" The brunette did not respond, instead he continued to survey the progression of Lexaeus's work. The earth user shrugged and dug the spade back into the speckled soil. Maybe Marluxia was feeling reflective for once.

"This might seem out of character, but you're doing...a decent job." Lexaeus paused and looked back to Marluxia, whose face was set with the constant smirk it was usually in.

The statement was odd given the person, but Lexaeus wasn't one to let praise slip him by without a proper response. He dug the metal in and plowed out a massive chuck before replying. "I'm flattered."

Marluxia absently flicked back part of his hair. "Well if you weren't, I'd be fixing it myself. Unfortunately for me, mother nature doesn't allow for plants to grow in anything less than properly tilled soil."

It appeared that some members still needed to rely on others to master their own elements, and the proud assassin was no exception.
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23. Cat
(slight/implied slash)

"You know, you really are like a cat."

A muffled and slightly irritated 'what?' came from under the powder blue towel. Demyx peered under the towel he was using to dry off the smaller member, "You're catlike Zexion." The schemer mentally rolled his eyes; outlandish statements were to be expected of the blond, but that did not make them any less unnecessary. Demyx laughed at the scoff Zexion had let slip out of his throat. The boy in turn snatched up the towel and continued to scrub the water out of his blue hair.

He could have avoided it all if only Demyx wasn't so Demyx. Zexion had been walking through the hallways as usual and the musician had been practicing his sitar as usual. What was unusual was how his water clones were practicing their music as well. An unfortunate set of events that strung up with the uncommon set-up was a mocking Axel running from an infuriated, as well as partially singed, Larxene.

Knives were thrown, screams rang through the halls and water clones were stampeding as fast as fearful water clones could stampede. Unfortunately for Zexion, he was in the line of said stampeding. The results were a sated Savage Nymph, a nearly incapacitated Flurry of Dancing Flames and a fully soaked Cloaked Schemer. Demyx being Demyx, came out of hiding only after Larxene had left and he apologized profusely to the senior member. Zexion unlike Zexion, had taken up the Melodious Nocturne's offer on towels.

Hindsight was of course making him regret the choice. Zexion turned his attention back to the present, he would focus on drying himself off so he could fully brood later and in privacy. "How so Demyx?" He wasn't sure why the words came out, but they did and he cringed at his own foolishness.

Demyx visibly brightened up and began to babble, "Well you like to lazy about and stuff. You get irritated pretty easily by loud things. Oh and you really hate water by the way you're looking at me like that." Zexion was indeed grimacing at the bubbly member, but it wasn't only from the water. "Tch, should I start hissing and scratching your eyes out as well Number Nine?" The blue haired boy spoke with more malice then he wanted to, it was supposed to have been sarcasm. His 'emotions' had been more disorderly in terms of control as of late. Maybe the neophytes were starting to 'rub off' onto him.

"Haha Zexion, you're funny. But, I couldn't see you doing something like that...you're too graceful for that, right? Elegant and proud you know? Kinda like you could take all the time in the world cuz you know it's all yours? Does that make sense?" Demyx scratched the back of his head uneasily and turned his face sheepishly to the side. Zexion's eye widened in surprise, mentally he was gawking.

In Demyx's own little way, it sounded like he was spilling out his guts to Zexion-

The blond looked up, a new smile on his face that went from ear to ear. He laughed lightly, "Heh heh, Zexymeow!" He affectionately petted the top of Zexion's head. The schemer growled lowly and disappeared in a surge of darkness. Demyx stared forlornly at the spot where the boy had been.

"Ah, kind of hard to pet like a cat too." Demyx sighed and rubbed at the back of his head once more. "Why couldn't I have been more of a dog person?"
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61. Fairy Tale

Marluxia stood haughtily by the side of Naminé's bed. "So what do you want today?" Unfortunately, at least one of the members had to entertain the little girl once in a while. Xemnas made sure at least one of them did so, if not...unfortunate events were bound to happen. And much to the irritation of Number Eleven, he 'owed' Luxord to take care of the numberless Nobody during such a particular instance. The brunette grumbled to himself about how the gambler should have considered himself lucky that they were on friendly terms.

Naminé was normally not so fearful of the members, but Marluxia was one of the few that truly scared her the most. She heard from some of the kinder ones about how impulsively violent he could be at times and how he wasn't called the Graceful Assassin without proper reason. The blonde looked down to the empty notebook pages in her hands. Luxord was supposed to be giving her a story about a party his previous self had been at. She wished she could have been drawing that instead.

She felt a familiar gloved hand tilt her face up. Naminé saw the collected mask Marluxia usually wore; the only visible signs of his disdain were in his eyes which were dimming with agitation and the toxic tone he addressed her with. "Well, what will it be, little Naminé?" She took a loud gulp as his stare bore into her.

Suddenly, asking for ideas to draw from wasn't so appealing anymore. Naminé averted her gaze quickly to the notebook she was now desperately holding onto. "A...a story...?" It was a shaky request, but she didn't want to find out what happened when she didn't answer. Marluxia didn't even have to agree to it, he could leave and she would be thankful for it.

She felt the presence move away from her face. She didn't dare look up; she could still feel waves of anger rolling off of him. Would that be the moment he summoned the scythe and sliced her up? Would he call up a swarm of malevolent thorns that would tear her to pieces? A bouquet of deadly, flesh eating-?

"Hm..a story huh?" Naminé vigorously nodded her head. She felt the foot of the bed dip down with a new weight. The blonde looked up at the sudden absence of anger that was now replaced with a surreal calm. Marluxia was now leaning heavily against the wall next to her bed, in his hand an idle petal.

Naminé watched him press the pink petal between his fingers. He let out a quiet sigh as a smirk grew on his face.

"Shall I tell you about...the Castle of Thorns?" Blue eyes shifted from her hands back to the now grinning man. She shrunk away from him as he turned to face her. "Actually, I'm kind of tired M-Marluxia. But t-thank you."

He flicked his hand and the petal became a fully-bloomed flower. He pressed his lips to the flower and looked directly at Naminé, his blue eyes locking with hers. "How tragic. I thought you would have liked the story." Marluxia got up from the bed as he banished the flower from his hand. "It had a princess and everything in it... Maybe next time then?"

The assassin strode to the door. Just as his hand wrapped around the handle, Naminé had to ask. "A princess? So it's a Fairy Tale?" The kinder members often told her fairy tales, she adored those stories of fantasy and adventure. They were worlds of awe where those pure of heart and those of good intent always prevailed despite the odds... Surely, if even Marluxia had a fairy tale then-

"Fairy Tale?" Marluxia hollowly echoed the question and Naminé froze.

The brunette chuckled coldly as he wretched the door open. "Whoever said it had a happy ending?"
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63. Do Not Disturb

Axel and Roxas were traveling down to where the kitchen was, they both had a strange, coincidental craving for a quick snack. During such a journey they had to pass Vexen's lab. It wasn't his lab per say, but he was constantly in it. Just as the two were passing by the researcher's playground, they heard a shrill shriek followed by a series of very delicate and most likely very expensive sets of equipment breaking.

The fire user, being curious of the cause of commotion, stopped and pressed his ear against the large doors of the room. Axel had not been standing next to the sealed entrance for more than a few moments when, even Roxas who had been standing off to the side, heard the familiar cursing of an enraged Vexen.

"GET OUT! OUT! YOU NEOPHYTE MONKEY! CAN'T YOU READ?! EVEN THE DUSKS CAN READ THE STUPID THING! -THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE EYES!" Another crash was heard, most likely a large beaker of hydrochloric acid based on the intensity of the sound it made against the wall. The two heard a frightened yelp in response, followed by a loud thump and then a strange silence. Vexen was probably catching his breath from having finally 'punished' his quarry and shattering many tools of research in the process.

Roxas stood silently for a brief time before tugging on Axel's hood to cajole him back to walking to the kitchen with him. It wasn't that the blonde was being clingy; he simply couldn't reach all of the shelves yet...or cook anything very well for that matter. Axel raised a hand and shushed the pestering Roxas. The red-head pressed his ear harder against the wall.

Curiosity having got the better of him, Roxas hesitantly put up an ear to the door and listened as well. They could hear Vexen still rebuking whoever it was in there, but in a much quieter and somewhat kinder manner. "-Don't you ever get tired of me yelling at you? Why can't you just follow simple instructions?"

Roxas and Axel's eyes widened. Since when did Vexen ever show mercy? They both heard a well-known tenor that was coated with happiness. "But Vexeeeeen, I wasn't disturbing you! I was keeping you company!"

The two decided to run as soon as they heard an exasperated scream and a painful shattering of ice from within. Demyx had dug his own grave by ignoring Vexen's "Do Not Disturb Sign", and they did not want to be caught in the crossfire.
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81. Pen and Paper
(implied/slight slash)

It had been like any other day in the library. Xemnas was comfortably seated in his usual chair, in his hands the usual book. The content of today's particular book was about a jealous queen who had sent out a hunter to retrieve a 'fairer' maiden's heart. He had sympathized with the 'evil' queen up until he learned that she was going to consume the heart.

Having lost interest in the 'evil' but stupid queen, he set aside the book and realized that there was an unusual visitor nearby. Saïx. Although the berserker was quiet, he was not one too fond of books, in fact, he usually avoided the library unless he was looking for an astrology book or needed to make a report.

Xemnas stood up from his cushioned chair and briefly hovered over the blue haired member's shoulder. Saïx seemed far more absorbed in the scrawling of his pen to notice that the Superior was standing behind him.

"What in the Non-Existent world are you writing about Saïx?" Xemnas raised an eyebrow as the berserker slowly crumbled the paper he had been writing on. Saïx looked up dazedly, "A list for things I would take care of once I got my heart back...among other things."

The tanned man blinked in mild surprise. With a half-muttered, "I see..." Xemnas began to wander into the deeper sections of the library. He needed a nice tome to take his mind off of the strange words he just read.

What did his name have to do with that powerful word? Maybe it was just an over-elaborate misunderstanding of the diviner's scribbles of handwriting. Did he even want to try to know the truth? He never knew Number Seven even had such thoughts about him, and in the library of all places.

Xemnas continued his aimless walk to anywhere but the vicinity of Saïx, and into the obscure sections of the library. He thought they weren't supposed to have emotions, so what was it that the diviner was expressing?

With the absence of the other man, Saïx tenderly unfolded the piece of crumpled paper; an action strange for the berserker, but was done with such tenderness nonetheless. He clicked his pen as he resumed writing his list...

1. Find an observatory with a reputable telescope
2. Find an isolated residence in a forest filled with a variety of game
3. Confirm emotions. Possibly confess to Xemnas...
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98. Puzzle

Xaldin furrowed his brow deeply. He took a deep breath in before trying to move the piece. The block shifted without resistance and he began to move it more earnestly. The piece came to a halting stop near the end and he felt like destroying the miserable contraption.

The lancer glanced over to Xigbar, who seemed to be having a similar problem with his own trinket. Lexaeus appeared to be trying to calmly force his own piece...the same piece he had been trying to calmly force twenty minutes ago. Vexen was no better, his own was roughly halfway completed but he was no longer hiding how much its lack of progress irked him.

The lancer looked up to their leader for possible ideas, but Xemnas was no longer even working on his own. He had forsaken it for the textual allure of a book from the library. Only Zexion was patiently twiddling his thumbs in front of his completed work.

The black haired man let out a sigh as he reclined heavily in his seat, "How did you do it Zexion?" The blue haired boy looked up and breathed in before starting his less than helpful explanation of the logic. The sniper had taken the brief lack of Zexion's watchful gaze to 'Xigbar Solve' each piece into is own separate pile -that being he teleported each piece out of their tangled positions.

Xaldin once again attempted his efforts, but halfway into the schemer's explanation, the lancer lost his patience and interest. Summoning up one of Dragoon Nobodies, he handed the metal toy to it. The Dragoon picked it up out of its' master's hand and turned it over. It gave it an inquisitive sniff and then a gnaw. Dissatisfied with its taste, it dropped to the floor and repeatedly stabbed the collection of pieces with its ornate lance.

Each piece then 'fell out'. Giving a pleased nod, Xaldin sent the Dragoon away. He collected the scraps of metal and dumped them onto the table. Zexion ceased talking and looked pitifully at the abused pile.

"That's not how you solve a puzzle." The lancer gave a nonchalant shrug as he proceeded to take a celebratory nap.

Xigbar laughed and flashed a smirk at the blue haired boy. "Dunno Zexion, looks pretty solved to me."
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Well, that was intersting. There appears to be more slash...that's not good. Poor Demyx, I seem to have it out for him, and I didn't use Larxene enough, again...dammit. If anyone can guess where the (cheesy) nickname Zexymeow comes from...wow.