Ch. 2

"You have GOT to be kidding me"

The Original Six stood in a dance studio somewhere in the castle. Each Nobody had the same embarrassing outfit: black tank tops, black tights, black pointe shoes, and black dance shorts. Even the ribbons tying Xemnas, Xigbar, Xaldin, and Vexen's hair back and the clip used to pull Zexion's bangs back were black.

"Why are we wearing RIBBONS for God's sake?!" Xemnas growled angrily to Vexen, who agreed.

"Because it makes a dancer seem a little more delicate, which most of you aren't"

Xemnas, Vexen, and the rest of the Original Six turned towards the door to see Saïx leaning on the door frame, garbed in a navy tank top, black tights, white pointe shoes, and forest green dance shorts. No ribbon was in his hair, ironically.

"Dance is not something to be taken lightly," Saïx continued, "It is an art form, and I expect you all to treat it like one."

"Insaaaane," Xigbar said in a singsong voice. The gunman was immediately slapped across the face by Saïx.

"Shut up. To the barre, all of you."

Saïx walked to the front of the room where he watched the senior members walk slowly to the wooden barres(1) attached to the walls.

"Lets begin," Saïx said, grabbing hold of a metal barre from the side of the room.

"No. VII," Lexaeus began tentatively, "isn't there supposed to be music? Like, piano or something?"

"…Oh yeah…okay, you go play," Saïx pointed No. V towards a grand piano. Lexaeus all but flew to the bench, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Okay, first combination," Saïx placed his left hand on the barre to demonstrate, "First, plié, 2…3…up, 2…3…plié again…and up…grande plié…and up, and porte de bras forward…and back. Do that in second, fourth, and fifth position, then balance in passé. Then, switch over to the left side and do the whole combination again(2). Got it?"

"….Um…"

"Yes."

Xemnas positioned himself on the bar, his whole demeanor going from annoyed about wearing tights to calm and graceful, and waited for the music to start. Lexaeus began to play, and The Superior of Organization XIII performed the given combination perfectly and with poise, while Nos. II, III, IV, VI, and VII watched in awe.

"Oh my God…Xemnas! You never mentioned that you know ballet!" Xigbar exclaimed.

"Well, that's not the best thing to mention when you're a guy who is trying to gain respect from 12 other people, you know?" Xemnas replied dryly.

"Haha! Xemnas knows ballet!" Vexen cackled loudly, "and I thought Marluxia was feminine!

::Somewhere in the castle::

Marluxia looked up from typing on his Xanga blog thoughtfully.

"I think I'm going to kick Vexen's ass today."

::Back in the studio::

"Xemnas, I can't say I'm not surprised…you of all people…a dancer, and a damn good one at that!" Saïx praised. Xemnas stood, cheeks burning red from embarrassment, not meeting the Diviner's eyes.

"Hehe…yeah, thanks." The Superior mumbled shyly.

The lesson continued wuth more praise of Xemnas and occasionally Xigbar and Zexion. Because of his small stature, Zexion was able to be lifted up by the rest, and was therefore dubbed the "girl" in the performance, much to the Cloaked Schemer's dismay. Near the end of the three hour long lesson, Saïx was called outside the studio and given a note by a Gambler Nobody.

"Change of plans. Luxord is too piss drunk to teach you all jazz, so you're all just going to perform a ballet piece," Saïx said to a bunch of worn out, exhausted Nobodies who laid sprawled in various places on the studio floor. During the practice, for some reason Marluxia stepped into the studio and bunched Vexen in the stomach and walked away as if nothing happened.

"Zexion, go to Marluxia and get your hair done. The rest of you, go to Axel and Demyx for your costumes. Hurry up and be in the throne room at 8:00 PM. You have five hours. Go."

And with that, Saïx teleported away, leaving the Original Six (excluding Lexaeus) to go to their assigned destinations.

1. When dancers dance at the barre, they stand at either a metal or wooden bar and perform combinations on it.

2. I take ballet, so this is a real combination, usually used as a warm up.