Zexion leafed noiselessly through his thick book, hoping to ease his sheer boredom. His nose quivered, however, when an approaching scent caught his attention: a subtle scent, yet somehow soft and cool... addicting... and somehow it reminded him of... lightning.

"Larxene," he greeted quietly when the woman indeed walked through his threshold, closing the door behind her with a soft click. He watched her as she made her way through his room and seated herself on one of his velvet armchairs. "How go things?" he conversed, seeing that Larxene was making no attempt to explain herself.

Larxene shrugged absently, her eyes showing a sort of blankness about them; one that was oddly intelligent in the fact that she wasn't simply staring off into space. When she heard Zexion snap his fingers in her direction, Larxene snapped back to reality. "Hmm? Oh, nothing important, Zexion, I'm afraid. I just...needed a place to relax."

"I see," Zexion murmured as the Cloaked Schemer took a seat on the armrest of the chair Larxene was sitting in. "Anything in particular you wish to talk about?"

"You yearn for the days when we would talk for hours on subjects hardly any of the other members could follow?" Larxene looked to the side at him, her eyes twinkling with mild amusement. Sighing, she slumped in the chair. "Well, my friend, the only thing that has happened that could be even mildly interesting happened a few days ago."

"And what was that?" Zexion purred, slipping off the armrest to walk toward a thick chest near his bed. Coming back with a blanket and offering it to Larxene, he waited until the Nymph had made herself comfortable again.

"I showed Axel the Pool Of Sight." Larxene stared into the fire Zexion began kindling in his fireplace in front of her.

"Is that so?" Zexion said as a prompt for her to go on. Coming back to his roost on the armrest, he listened intently as Larxene relayed the events of that day, never missing a detail. Larxene even told her friend about what she had told Axel about true love, much to Zexion's mild surprise. "Not to sound rude," Zexion started after Larxene finished, "but why would you talk about true love? To Axel?"

Larxene hugged her knees under the blanket. "I don't know, that's the thing. The knowledge just seemed to appear in my mind, and I felt compelled to tell him about it." Shaking her head, the antenna-like bangs swishing, Larxene stared deeper into the fire, trying to fathom the ambivalent element. "Funny how fire can work," she muttered darkly. "It can shelter you with its warmth, protect you even. But it can also turn on you and burn with a painful intensity."

"What fire doesn't burn, it hardens," Zexion offered. "But also keep in mind that fire needs to be nurtured in order to keep burning for the one it is to care for and protect. If neglected or even rejected it can flicker and die out."

For some reason Larxene felt a cold shiver creep up her spine; both companions knew that it was not just the fire in front of them that they were talking about...

"Go to him."

"I can't!" Larxene nearly wailed. "I know he wants to prove himself to me, but I just... I just...!" She wrung her hands in her blond hair as she contemplated on why her feelings were raging with such conflict and confusion. Her eyes widened as she realized that she yearned for his loyalty; she desired his friendship; she needed his company right now. Larxene rubbed her closed eyes in a sort of exhaustion; why was she feeling this way? It confused her, but at the same time she knew that in her heart of hearts the answer was there, but when the Nymph tried to reach for it, it scuttled away like a skittish mouse.


"Larxene?" he spoke her name softly, hoping not to disturb the woman too bad as he observed her reposing form on the bed. When she stirred sluggishly, Axel cleared his throat to speed up her waking.

"Axel...?" she murmured in confusion. Larxene rose on her hands and knees, the bed sheet still cloaking her body. "What do you want?" her tone instinctively turned abrasive, earning her a flicker of doubt in Axel's eyes.

"It's nothing important," Axel responded, shifting uncomfortably from his spot underneath the threshold. "I just wanted to know if you wanted some company, but I realized you were sleeping, so...sorry for disturbing you..." He turned, prepared to leave, when he heard Larxene wrap herself in her Organization coat, coming toward him.

"I'm not tired," Larxene explained calmly, coming beside him. "I'm just going to grab something to eat."

"May I join you?" he asked tentatively.

"Axel," Larxene began coldly, "the dining hall is a place where you don't need permission to go to, you know." Zipping up her coat now, the fabric clinging to her torso, she walked down the hallway, her coat swishing around her legs, her boots clicking loudly each time they hit the marble floor.

Axel ran and caught up to her easily enough. "I mean," he explained, "I wanted to know if I could eat with you..."

Larxene knew from the beginning that that was what the pyro meant, but she had wanted to hear him say it directly to her the way he just did. "I suppose you can," she answered modestly, though inside her heart felt heated and content.


Larxene's feeling, however, evaporated like dew in the morning when she realized that going to the dining hall was a bad idea.

It started when Saix, the only one there besides Demyx, growled to Axel from a few feet away, "What do you want, traitor?"

Axel stiffened. "I have as much a right to be here as you, Saix," Axel retorted quietly, though audible enough for the Luna Diviner to hear him. "Don't start stirring up shit like you always do."

Saix's upper lip curled in the beginnings of a snarl. "At least I wasn't the one causing it!"

Stepping up, he paced around Axel in the mutual ritual of an Organization brawl. Axel knew that if he backed down, Saix would gloat about the pyro being a traitorous coward. The Flurry Of Dancing Flames only had to circle Saix to accept the challenge, like circling tigers preparing for fierce combat. He stepped forward.

Axel stopped short, however, when Larxene spoke up sharply, "Axel, as he said, has as much a right to stay here as you or me, Saix."

"Oh?" Saix continued to circle the two, as the Savage Nymph was beside Axel. "And yet a bit over a week ago, you wanted to rip him apart. Why change your attitude toward him now?"

Larxene allowed bits of lightning to hold her hands. "You choose to dig up old conflicts right when all is just fine now. Let it be, Saix, for even though he has yet to redeem himself, he should be given the chance to."

Axel stared at her gratefully; his heart sank, however, when Larxene began to circle Saix. The Luna Diviner grinned like a savage wolf as he picked up his pace, Larxene mirroring his movements. "Step away, Axel," Larxene ordered as she saw, out of the corner of her eye, that he was preparing to come to her aid. "Two on one like this is not right. Let this be."

"I don't need you to fight my battles!" Axel retorted desperately, leaping onto a nearby table that stretched across the length of the hall.

"In a way, it is my fight as well," Larxene shot back, never taking her eyes off of her blue-haired opponent.

Saix eyed her with equal intensity; Larxene flexed her fingers, deadly kunai knives materializing obediently in-between her fingers. Saix did not, however, summon his claymore, and Larxene was forced to retract her weapons into her being: once again, it would not be a fair fight if she fought with weapons and he did not. It was now to be a fight on brute strength alone, since this world no longer had a moon to give Saix power.

They lunged, as was both their customs, without warning, and the air's tension broke with the fierce, bloody sounds of savage battle.


A/N: I still believe that they have a sense of honor, even though the game portrays the Organization the way it does. And another thing, I figured since they're already, in a way, dead, there would be no real need for them to have a Kingdom Hearts.