#004- Insides

Closed Door

Rating: K

Disclaimer: Much like Xemnas, I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

The Castle that Never Was was truly a grand structure. It loomed ominously over Dark City, towering above any other structure in the entire world. Had there been any sentient residents of the World that Never Was that didn't already reside in the castle, they would have found it very imposing.

The founding members never spoke much about its construction mostly because they believed it spoke for itself. It was full of winding passages, staircases, and rooms of every shape and size. There were rooms only accessible by Nobodies. There were rooms that few of the residents even knew existed. The turrets stretched high into the black sky toward the forming moon. To top all that off, the entire compound was floating. No one could deny it was impressive.

However, it had one fatal flaw in its design. One little thing that could turn the entirety of its grandeur into a nightmare for its residents. Something that, to the outsider, was not even noticeable.

With the vast amount of space and countless rooms in the castle, they had only made one bathroom.

It hadn't been much of an issue in the early days of the Organization. However, now that their size had more than doubled, certain problems were beginning to come into light. This was why the members found themselves waking up as early as they possibly could every day and hurrying out of their rooms. Each morning was a futile attempt to avoid the inevitable…

Xemnas stood next to the closed door, scowling at it as though he thought it could see him. In his hand he clutched a small plastic tote filled with several bottles. Directly behind him, Xaldin was slowly shifting his weight from side to side, not seeming much happier than their leader. Xigbar merely leaned against the wall behind him, his eye closed. Even further back was Saïx, and behind him Demyx could be seen talking at Zexion.

They had all been too late. The Line had formed.

At the front, Xemnas was reaching the peak of his aggravation. His grip on the tote was gradually becoming tighter as the moments passed. Finally, his patience snapped. "What is taking so long?!"

"At this point we can only wait, Lord Xemnas," Saïx replied.

"How long have we been waiting?" he continued, obviously ignoring his second in command. "I will not stand for this insolence!"

"We agreed a long time ago that using the restroom could not be construed as treason."

"Why don't you try knocking?" Xigbar added, opening his eye and grinning slightly.

"I am the ruler of this entire world! I shouldn't need to knock!" Xemnas exclaimed.

"Yeah, we really shouldn't try that, guys," Demyx said nervously as he turned to the rest of them, much to the relief of Zexion. "Remember what happened last time? I can't deal with that again!"

"We can't let this stand for much longer, though," Zexion replied, hoping he wouldn't regret it. "Some of us have work we're actually going to do today."

"About that, Lord Xemnas," Xaldin said quickly, stopping his slow rocking. "I know you're very busy and you've been standing here much longer than I have."

"And?" Xemnas replied, turning his head and glancing back over his shoulder.

"I have… much I need to accomplish today. I only intend to take a few minutes in the bathroom this morning. It would be far more efficient to the Organization if you allowed me to go ahead of you."

Xemnas remained silent for a moment. "I was here first, Xaldin."

"Yes, Lord Xemnas, but I would not…"

"I have been waiting longer than I should have as it stands."

"I'm aware of that. However, a mere minute more would not harm you." His voice was, surprisingly enough, beginning to take on a tone akin to desperation.

"You will wait for your own turn, Xaldin."

"But…!""

"Hah!"

They fell silent at the interruption, turning their attention to an approaching team member.

"This again?" Larxene asked dryly, shaking her head. "You boys and that bathroom, honestly." She continued walking down the hall, not even looking in their direction anymore. Demyx seemed to be attempting to stand directly behind Saïx now.

After a moment of silence, Zexion finally spoke. "She doesn't comprehend things like this at all."

Xemnas, however, had returned to his stare down with the door. "What could he possibly be doing in there?!"

"You know how he gets," Xigbar replied with a slight laugh. "I never thought that look just came to him naturally."

"We can't allow him to stay in there forever," Xaldin said with a scowl, shifting once again.

"I'm not gonna be the one that tries knocking," Demyx stated, once again sounding scared.

With a sigh, Saïx stepped out from his spot in The Line and began making his way toward the door.

"No cutting!" Xemnas snapped.

"I am not cutting, Lord Xemnas. I am merely going to deal with this situation."

The others frowned, grouping behind him as well as they could while still maintain their spots. Saïx seemed to take a moment to collect himself before knocking on the door. There was no response. After a few seconds, he pounded on it a bit more forcefully. Still, no answer. Saïx continued to beat on the door as he finally spoke. "Axel?"

"Yes?" his voice finally came from behind the door.

"You've been in there for twenty-five minutes!" Saïx exclaimed. "It's time to come out!"

"I'm not finished!" Axel replied with an almost sing-song tone to his voice.

"Axel, I am ordering you to come out of this bathroom!"

He was met with silence once again. Before Saïx could continue his verbal assault, however, Xemnas pushed him out of the way and pounded on the door himself. "Axel! I am going to count to three and if you have not opened this door then I am going to be the one who opens it!"

"I don't think you want to do that!" he finally answered, still sounding a bit playful.

"Do not underestimate me!" Xemnas bellowed, resting his free hand on the doorknob. "Come out now, Axel!"

"I told you, I'm not finished," Axel said, his tone suddenly becoming far more cold and threatening than it had been before.

"One…"

There was no sound from behind the door once again and nothing to indicate any movement.

"Two…"

Still no response, no footsteps, and no opening door. Axel was certainly being stubborn this morning.

Xemnas paused for an extra moment, clearly growing more and more agitated. "Two and a half…"

Nothing came out of the bathroom, not Axel, not his voice, and not another sound. Waiting yet another instant longer than his count had indicated, Xemnas finally inhaled sharply through his nose and flung the door open.

They were quickly hit in their faces by an almost unbelievably large cloud of steam that poured out of the bathroom at such a rate that it was impossible for any of them to see for several seconds. Once the air had cleared, they peered in to find that the restroom was completely empty. There wasn't even a trace that Axel had been in the hallway in which they were standing. Clearly they had been bested.

With a growl, Xemnas finally stormed in and slammed the door shut behind him. Saïx sighed and made his way back to his original spot in The Line, merely having to shoot a glare at Demyx to obtain it again. Zexion seemed to have turned to his Lexicon with a long wait evident, while Xigbar returned to leaning against the wall and tried to not look nearly as amused as he was. Xaldin appeared to be hopping in place now.

A few minutes later, they all snapped to attention as Xemnas' voice thundered out angrily from behind the door. "He used all the hot water!"

AN: I swear the next one will be serious.