Disclaimer: I suppose I should slip one of these in here huh? Well then, seeing as I don't currently possess the rights to Kingdom Hearts or anything else that might pop up in future writing, I think it can be safely concluded that I own nothing.

It wasn't a dark and stormy night. There actually wasn't a cloud in the sky, and it wasn't even night-it was ten in the morning and the sun had been beating down cheerfully since seven. Of course, it's not like any of that mattered. The weather couldn't concern a certain scientist less seeing as he had been locked in his basement/"laboratory" (it was really just his basement) for the past twenty hours.

Vexen was starting to really feel the effects of being an eleven year old. His mind refused to stay focused and his body wore out quickly. He'd already stopped for a break twice which was so out of character for him it shot him into a researching frenzy. Vexen supposed it was worse for him than the others seeing as he was older and less accustomed to being in a body still going. But taking into account their mental maturity and the onset of a childish common sense we've all experienced (being, if there's a reason not to do it, it must be insanely fun) the four sophomores could very well drive Zexion insane. Not even the reassurance that Cloud or Leon would never do something like that helped much.

Demyx, you ask? What about him? That guy would be fine, no matter what the world threw at him. It was well known information to everyone. But there was Vexen's mind wandering again. He couldn't afford it at a time like this! He was getting suspiciously close to what looked like a breakthrough…

The morning for the involved teenagers was definitely hectic. Demyx did end up making breakfast but it was something of a rush job. Zexion, Cloud, and Leon had used up anything that could be considered proper ingredients in their attempt at cooking last night so he had to make do with whatever was left. Zexion was extremely disappointed. The kids didn't care though; children will eat anything after all.

It was after breakfast when the real problem presented itself though. It was a Saturday and normally they'd all be carrying out their usual routines. Zexion would be heading out to the book store or the library to stock up on things to read for the next week. Demyx would follow along patiently before dragging his more literate friend to whatever hole in the wall he'd be performing at for the night (Demyx was known for playing his sitar at the strangest places but his friends always showed up no matter what). Sora and Riku would take turns saving each other from a shopping trip with Kairi, which could literally take days-the girl had no problem missing a few classes she was acing anyway. Cloud would meet up with Tifa and Leon would go on an adventure with Yuffie, Aerith, and Vincent somewhere in the depths of Merlin's shop. Even Roxas and Axel would spend the day doing whatever Roxas and Axels liked to do. All in a normal Saturday.

But this wasn't a normal Saturday. It wasn't even a normal day in general. And that was because Demyx and Zexion were currently babysitting miniature versions of their friends and no one knew how to spend the day. Everyone agreed that broadcasting the news that Riku and Axel had messed up and shrunk everybody in Vexen's extra credit/make-up class was a bad idea so going out as a group was a bust. But staying inside all day wouldn't be greeted with smiles and rainbows either. The best option seemed to be to go out in small groups. Oh what fun the day promised.

In Demyx's sadly neglected opinion, Zexion had hardly been fair when it came to which of them stayed with which kids. That morning, Zexion, not to be denied his weekly reading had practically run out the door with Cloud and Leon in tow. This left Demyx with the rest. It wasn't that he expected Zexion, quiet, reserved Zexion (who was still really nice and fun to hang out with despite all that) to volunteer to take the four loudest kids but he could've at least taken one. Or, better yet, split Cloud and Leon between them so they each had one quiet kid and two…not so quiet ones.

But this was not to be and now the three quietest people the blond knew were probably gone for the rest of the day. Not to be defeated, Demyx attempted to think of the best way to survive without them. In the end, he decided that having them sleep the day away would be genius; now he just had to convince them to do it.

"Dear Murphy, please choose someone else's life to screw up today. Preferably a guy toting around two toddlers in a book shop who left his best friend to be run ragged by demons disguised as his friends in kiddy form." Demyx prayed before stepping out of his house.

It wasn't that Sora was mad at Demyx for taking them to the park-somewhere he hadn't been in years. No, he didn't mind that. It was actually kind of nice to be able to play around on the slide and the swings without looking too old for them. The fact that Demyx left him alone to succumb to the will of Axel and Roxas who wanted ice cream didn't particularly irk him either. After all, since Demyx felt he could leave him alone didn't that mean in the older teen's eyes Sora was more mature than the other two? It did.

The only thing that really got to Sora was that Demyx had left him alone with Riku. Yeah, that's right. Sora was still mad at Riku for that stupid dress thing. Sure it had been last night and by now, he had gotten some new clothes but that wasn't the point!

"Sora…" Riku tried approaching his pouting friend. He was duly ignored. "Sora…Sora, look at me! Okay, fine, don't. But at least listen!" Sora just turned further away from the pleading jerk known as Riku.

"I'm still not talking to you!" he reaffirmed. "And that didn't count just now!"

Riku sighed. "What do I have to do to get you to forgive me?" He was starting to get a bit frustrated but knowing Sora, he'd crack soon. Sora got up and stalked away. Okay…maybe not. Riku ran after him.

Sora was really trying his hardest. By now he was starting to see that his continued anger at Riku was getting to the point of being unreasonable but he figured it'd be okay to keep it up a little longer. So caught up was he in thoughts like this that he didn't watch where he was going carefully enough and ended up bumping into somebody.

"Oh!" Stumbling back, Sora looked up at the taller figure he'd walked into.

"What the hell?" Seifer looked down at the dumb kid who'd run into him.

Sora's eyes widened. It was Seifer. Well crap. "Umm…"

The bully glared. "Watch where you're going kid!" he barked.

Sora gulped and nodded. Seifer still hadn't left. What did he want? Sora knew he wanted to run but it seemed as if his little kid instincts had kicked in and determined that as long as he stayed very quiet and very still, he'd be okay.

Seifer, on the other hand was still waiting for his apology. When he didn't get anything except a stare that was only annoying in it's timidity he took a threatening step forward. Sora took a step back. And then Riku came running up.

"Don't bully Sora!" he shouted angrily, quickly moving in front to shield the brunette that had better forgive him after this.

Seifer looked decidedly unimpressed. As he stared down at the two brats in front of him, trying to decide just how to scare them into tears, a more worthy adversary chose that moment to butt in.

"Oh how cute!" she squealed, catching sight of Riku trying his best to protect Sora. "That's so precious. You're a brave one, aren't you? Well, good for you, being so ready to take care of your little friend! Are you playing with them?" The last was directed toward Seifer who looked vaguely amazed as this girl tore through the previous atmosphere. Sora and Riku sported similar bemused expressions. Catching sight of Seifer's clenched fists, she suddenly frowned in disapproval. "Were you going to wrestle? That's not good you know! You older kids have no idea of your own strength, what were you going to do if you hurt these adorable children? Why don't you find somebody else to play with?" she asked kindly.

Deciding not to oppose this, this force of nature, Seifer chose to give up and wander away, spotting Hayner and the other two losers who hung out with him getting harassed by Rai and Fuu. He decided to join them. Turning back to the two "cuties", the girl smiled, gave them some candy, and walked off after patting them on the head.

Slowly, Sora turned to Riku. "Who was that?"

"I don't know…but in a way she's kind of scary."

"Agreed."

Taking advantage of Sora's dazed state, Riku, who had recovered quicker, asked, "Do you forgive me now?"

"Sure..."

"Want to go play on the swings?"

"Alright...wait what? Did I just forgive you?"

Riku nodded. "Are you going to take it back?" He fixed Sora with his patented disappointed look.

Sora sighed. "Nah. Let's just...let's just go play."

And for the first time since last night, Riku smiled.

AN: Alright...so I didn't get it up last weekend. I'm sorry about that. But I'm going to have to cut my apology (which originally consisted of a rather nice speech about the kind and patient nature the people still reading this must have) a bit short to notify said people of a few things. One of them is this: I've decided to try to update this every week or so. Well, I've pretty much been doing that already but this is to clarify. There's no specific date, just the time frame of a week. Secondly, I've finally gotten around to replying to any feedback I've gotten so far. I feel so guilty that I've put it off so much but here it is, responses to reviews! Oh, and this is operating under the assumption that the people who reviewed have stuck around long enough to read this.

Blue October: Thank you! I don't deserve the kind words. That review was actually kicked me into gear and writing this chapter. Yeah...I'm lazy.

miano53: Glad somebody thinks this is funny. As to Sora in a dress...it seemed to fit the way the whole situation was flowing...

UndineAlice: Thanks for always reviewing! When I see them, I just get so happy. In answer to your question, I was actually thinking about it before and since you brought it up, decided to just include it. I'm afraid it won't be anything too big though. Sorry if you were expecting otherwise. ^^

Alex Wraithborn: Mm, I hope you don't mind the focus on Sora and Riku lately. There'll be more of the others coming up!

Froggiecool: You were one of the few reviewers for the earlier chapters and made me extremely happy! If you're still reading this, I'll be happier still.

SharinganWeasel: And you too! I think you were actually the first person to review and I really hope you've stuck around.

The . L O S T . Paperclip: Thank you. I think Zexion's prediction has come true by now.

If I happened to miss anybody, let me know. And I think I'll be doing this every few chapters too. Okay. This AN is the longest so far and people have probably already moved on but I just have one last thing to say. A little romance will most likely strike up between Zexion and Demyx, which is a roundabout way of saying they'll end up together. Nothing big, no changes to the plot or the rating, just warning you now. It'll be pretty minor but I will change the genres this is listed under. Hope I haven't turned anyone away. Alright! Thank you for the reviews and if they were to keep coming, I wouldn't be able to express how happy that'd make me! The favorites and alerts too! And I'll leave it at that.