Vexen groaned when light hit his eyes, finding all of his body parts seared with pain and soreness. What had he done last night? Gone to Leon's party… gotten drunk… gotten drunk… made out with Ariel…

Whopa! Wait a minute!

Vexen's tired body sat up in bed as he rubbed his aching forehead. He had made out with Ariel. Holy crap! Did she like him as well? Maybe this could lead to more…

Wait a minute. Vexen felt around him since he couldn't see well. He was in a bed. Who had put him in a bed? Why was the bed warm?

Straining his tired eyes, Vexen looked to his side. A woman was curled up beside him, a woman with earthy brown hair covering her rosy cheeks. She was asleep.

And she was naked. Vexen looked down. He was as well.

For the first time in his life, Vexen laughed.

Holy shit.

Axel, be nice.

Dude, he got laid!

BE NICE.

When do I get laid?

kills Axel

Leon moaned as he turned in bed. Last night had been great. One of the best nights of his life. If he could repeat it, he would. That was the first birthday party he'd celebrated… in a long time.

Reaching out, Leon slammed his fist against his the flashing alarm clock. He had never used the snooze alarm before, and had always leapt up and began working. But today, he was going to sleep in for the first time in a long time. It was his little birthday gift to himself.

Dreamy eyes looking out the glazed window, he sighed contently and whispered.

"Good morning", He rolled over and pulled the blanket up. "Rinoa. Wherever you are."

And with that, he went back to sleep.

Riku looked around. There had to be an escape. An excuse. Come on! I mean, drunk men do drunk things. Besides, anyone with a sense of humor would laugh it off!

But, then, Larxene did not have a sense of humor.

"RIKU!" She screeched, her deafening roar shaking the earth. Riku chuckled nervously, sweating.

Larxene came careening around the corner, eyes flaring with fire, and came to a halt right ahead of the white haired boy.

"So I take it you saw… that?" He asked nervously.

It seemed Riku had become quite brave when he was drunk. So brave, he stole into Larxene's room, stole some intimate garments, and flashed them to the world – flagpole style. Of course, for some reason, Drunk Riku wrote "Riku" on a white bra, RI on one side, KU on the other. Larxene had not been pleased.

Growling, the fierce lightning girl took a step towards him. He held his hands up ahead of him, trying to defend himself from certain death.

"Really, it was all in good fun! I was drunk, you were drunk… we were drunk… really… drunk…"

"AHHHH!"

Poor, poor Riku. I did what he did once. But I wasn't drunk.

Moron.

Shut up!

"Emmhn?" Namine groaned, rubbing her eyes in the bright light. It was morning already? The night before had been long and amusing.

Looking across her bedroom, Namine saw Roxas sitting in a chair, head back, and asleep. Luxord was on the floor, stomach down, with Xigbar lying over him, back down. Demyx was leaning against the door.

With a giggle, Namine got out of bed and walked over them, ready to start the day. Ready to start the day with the beautiful, fresh image of a kawaii Roxas on her mind…

Cid groaned, head on the table. Next to him, Xaldin groaned, head on the table as well.

Aerith walked by and smiled.

"Hangovers?" She inquired with a giggle. Cid looked at her from the corner of his eye, never moving his pounding head, and then moaned. Xaldin moved his arm in a "Yeah" manner, but his head, covered in dreadlocks, did not move.

"You drank too." Cloud said, walking into the room. He had black circles under his eyes and a pained expression. "You had more than all of us." Aerith just smiled.

Yuffie stumbled into the room, giggling weirdly, and held a hand up lopsided and waved. She had a really weird grin on her face.

"Hiya" She giggled, covering her mouth.

"And you're still drunk." Cloud muttered. Cid and Xaldin groaned in unison.

Without answering, Yuffie suddenly ran (more like wobbled quickly) past them and to the bathroom. Retching noises could be heard.

"Ew." Cloud muttered. Again, Cid and Xaldin moaned in unison. Aerith shook her head, smiling.

"Don't worry", she smiled motherly, eyes full of light, looking over all of them. "I'll take care of you."

And so, it was a pleasant day in Radiant Garden, the people of the castle city reflecting on the party. The mothers talked of the recipes for the food, the men talked of some drunken behavior, and the children giggled and laughed in awe of the fireworks display from the night before.

And the hung over were… well, hung over.

Saix looked out over the ravine. Luckily he had steered clear of the mind bogging alcoholic drinks, so he felt fine and refreshed today. He knew they would all need it.

Today, Auron would tell about the second task.

He hoped he wouldn't be paired with some hung over fools. That was the last thing their quest needed; a bunch of morons on one team, much less a bunch of drunken morons.

Namine could be seen down below drawing the sunrise. Saix looked over her shoulder for a while, since she wasn't terribly far away, but then went back to scanning the horizon.

Today was a beautiful day.

"I hate beer." Cid groaned. Aerith had him sitting up, a wet rag on his sweaty forehead. Xaldin was lying his head in Cid's lap. Both looked exhausted and spread out.

"I hate it, too." Xaldin declared, thrusting his hand in the air. He hit Cid in the nose, and he reeled back, and laughed. Xaldin didn't know why he was laughing, but he felt like laughing too. Xaldin's laugh came out as a drunken giggle.

"You two." Aerith smiled, shaking her head. She wrung out a cloth and then placed it on Xaldin's forehead.

Cloud was sitting across the table from them, watching Aerith take care of the two men. In the bathroom, Yuffie could be heard groaning. She was recovering from the drunken effects, but was still hung over. At least she wasn't talking stupid anymore.

"Let's hate beer together, okay?" Cid asked giggly. Xaldin nodded swiftly and profusely.

"Yeah. Yeah. Together!" He declared, thrusting his hand up again and hitting Cid in the jaw. They both laughed again.

"I'm going to check on Yuffie." Aerith spoke, quietly standing and walking across the tile floor to the bathroom. She knocked three times before entering.

Cloud watched her go.

Cid and Xaldin stopped laughing, Cid's laughter dying down and Xaldin's stopping abruptly. Xaldin pouted and spoke.

"Laughing hurts Xaldin's head..."

Xemnas sat in Lord Ansem's room again. Though he would never admit it, he was hung over big time. But unlike the others, instead of acting stupid or getting sick, he became terribly irritated.

Tapping his finger on the desk, the aggravated man saw out of the corner of his eye that Sora had walked into the room. The brown haired clone of Cloud was pouting.

"Man, I can't believe Riku got drunk…" he sighed, walking past Xemnas and into the doorway that led to the lab. Xemnas glared at his back as he walked away.

"Stupid little boy stopping my stupid… I mean, awesome plans of ultimate evil…." Xemnas began chuckling quietly. "Evil evil evil evil evil…. Evilly evilly evilly evillll….." Xemnas' laughing became louder.

"Uhh… Xemnas?" Sora leaned through the doorway, looking the man over with confusion and concern.

"EVIL EVIL EVIL EVIL I AM EVILLY EVIL! RHWAAA!" Xemnas leapt up, hitting his fists on the table and jiggling everything in the room. "YOU GOOD! ME BAD! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"

Sora screamed like a sissy girl.

Leon groaned when he heard something that sounded like "evilly evil" coming from downstairs. He ignored it and tried to go back to sleep. But now, sleep wouldn't come. So, he decided to wake up and get himself a wonderful cup of coffee.

But when Leon sat up in bed, he found there would be no escaping his room. His floor was covered in birthday presents.

"Dear… lord…" He sighed desperately, cringing. Who knew opening presents could be work? 'Oh well', he thought. 'I do get free stuff.'

So the Ole Lion began (I love calling him that) swimming through the gifts as he opened them.

He received a bottle of liquor and a dirty magazine from Cid. After last night, Leon had had enough liquor to last a lifetime.

From Cloud, he received…. A card. And inside the card was something metal.

Happy Birthday. Found this in the castle. Thought you wanted it.

It was a necklace, shaped like a nobody symbol but different, and was black with blue gems and a rusty chain. Leon recognized it from somewhere. Setting it in his pocket, he continued.

From Demyx, came a card that had been hand made (and boy, did it show) and a flute. It was beautiful and took the birthday boy's breath away. With a smirk, Leon decided to thank Demyx personally.

From Xigbar, Xaldin, and Luxord came a joint gift: A long note explained how to use it. With a grin, he set it in his pocket. Oh, boy, was Sora in trouble…

Next was a beautiful silken blanket that was so smooth, it felt like ice, but was warm as well. On it was a little card.

Dream Catcher.

With a "Huh", Leon set it aside.

Roxas had given him a box of cigars. Where in the world had that kid gotten a box of cigars? Oh, well. They were nice cigars.

Sifting through the gifts, Leon got some things he loved, some that scared him, some from people close to him and from people he never thought he'd get gifts from. But by the end of the presents, Leon had remembered where he'd seen the necklace he'd gotten from Cloud. He was reminded by a present.

Inside the card on the present was a message:

I'm sorry it's been so long. When the Radiant Garden was torn asunder by Xehanort's mistake, we were separated, all of us. Now, all of you have gone back home. I am the only exception, but I promise to return soon. I have been… hindered, but I am being helped now. A woman named Dream – Catcher is helping me and my newfound friend Vincent Valentine to return to Radiant Garden. I've heard all about your adventures; I can't wait until you can tell me yourself.

I left behind a momento of me, the necklace I use to wear that you gave to me. It will lead your heart to mine, one day, and we'll be a family again. And you'll love Vincent, I know it; he's kind of like Cloud.

From Auron, from Dream – Catcher, from Vincent, and from Me (You know who), and everyone else from the Purgatory of Twilight, Happy Birthday!

'Wait a minute!' Leon screamed in his mind, the words on the paper searing it.

'The Dream-Catcher's from the Purgatory of Endless Twilight?'

Ok, like I promised, I would tell of the inspiration of my "I am Emo, hear me roar" thing. Ok, well, I was listening to my ipod on the bus in the morning, tuning everything out, when I heard this weird kid yelling. It caught my attention, so I turned the music down. He was standing in the aisle, acting like a "muscle man", and then he shouted.

"I AM EMO, HEAR ME ROAR!"

I rolled on the floor laughing at the WTF-ness.

I also had something I wanted to put in from the wedding, but it didn't fit. So, I will save that beautiful idea for later. And dude, did I just give you the biggest clue ever. Smart people now have enough clues to figure out most of the plot! Try it people; review with your conclusions and then I'll tell you how wrong you are. Te-he!

Sulhadahne