GRAVITATION IS INFECTING MY MIND

For anyone who knows what Gravitation is, it's a manga about two guys, a romance novelist and a rock star, who are romantically involved. I'm afraid it's infected my brain. You'll see why if you pay close attention to the details of the first part of this story… hehe…

Here's the secret little tidbit from the sequel for today!

"This is gonna be great." Luxord smirked. Leon grinned.

"I had forgotten you'd given this to my on my last birthday." Leon smiled, eyeing the item in his hand.

"Sora won't know what hit him!" Xigbar grinned.

"We had Vexen make it." Xaldin bragged. "Spiffy, ain't it?"

Leon just laughed.

Zexion stared at the paper in his hand. It was a simple scrap of paper, but he was glowering at it liked it had offended him somehow. On it was a number.

555-6798.

Zexion was arguing in his head whether to call the number or throw it in the trash. He'd received it on Monde Race, where he was HIT ON, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to throw the number away.

Knowing in his gut he'd regret it later, Zexion picked up the phone.

"Time is running short." Auron stated. He was examining the note and locket Leon had received on his desk.

"What do we do?" Leon asked impatiently.

Auron looked out over the way to were Riku, Yuna, Roxas, and Sora were laughing and joking. Ariel ran up, whispered something to Yuna and with wide grins the two girls leapt up, and ran away. Roxas was about to chase after them when Demyx came up and held him down, laughing as the shorter boy tried to get away. As Riku taunted him, Sora snuck up behind Riku and tried to get him in the same sort of headlock. Just as the boy leapt, Riku moved only an inch so that Sora ended up in the dirt.

"Don't tell them." Auron commanded. "Let the children rest." He handed Leon the note and locket and began walking towards the castle. "We must prepare."

"For what, I wonder?" Leon asked. Auron paused.

"For war." He muttered before quietly moving on.

"WAR!" Sora shouted. Leaping up from his spot in the mud, he flung a pile of the dark gunk towards the silver haired teen, who was taken aback and didn't move. It splat right into his face, and everyone laughed. It took a second for him to realize what had occurred, but once he did, an evil grin came over his face.

"WAR!" He repeated what Sora said, and threw a huge clump at Sora. Sora deflected it, and it splashed onto Demyx' shoulders. Blinking, the boy looked at it.

"Did you attack me?" He inquired with pretend arrogance. "Did you attack me?" Demyx didn't have to bend down; mud was water, and a huge glob came right into his hand. "It's ON!"

Demyx assaulted Sora, who screeched and leapt behind Riku. The boys summoned their keyblades and began using them as bats to swing the mud back at Demyx, but the strategy was failing.

Riku slipped onto his back when he tried to hit another mud ball, and Sora tripped over him. The boys landed in the dirt, mud covered and sweaty. Demyx arrogantly patted his dirty shoulder and was now cleaning, smirking happily at the boys. Roxas laughed like crazy.

Riku and Sora sat up, grinning mischievously. They raised their mud filled hands, and Demyx stepped aside elegantly, leaving Roxas clear. The blonde looked up in confusion.

When the mud came his way, he yelped.

Tifa rubbed her eyes. She could see a pink form with brown hair and pale skin, and she could identify her as Aerith. Tifa's heart soared. She was making it!

"Alright, are you ready?" Aerith asked. Tifa looked back one last time to Vincent. Even though he was ten feet away, leaning on the wall, she could see him pretty well, and saw him nod at her encouragingly. Tifa turned to Aerith and smiled.

"As ready as I'll ever be." She smiled.

Finally, Tifa was leaving the hospital for good. Today would be her first day walking and seeing without help. Inside, she knew she owed Tsuki for that – the medicine Tsuki had given Vincent to give to her was miraculous.

"Let's go." Aerith smiled – and Tifa could really see the smile on her face!

Taking a step outwards, Aerith left Tifa's line of sight. It was up to her now – she had to walk on her own, and make sure she didn't bump into anything. The thought amused Tifa – but she became serious. This was important.

And so she stepped out into the world on her own for the first time since the storm, walking amongst the civilians. As she did, only one thought repeated in her estatic mind over and over.

I can see!

"Go fish." Marluxia stated. Larxene smirked as she took a card.

"My turn." Xigbar cracked his fingers, and said. "Luxord. A nine?" Luxord shook his head.

"Go fish." Xigbar flicked a card into his hand and set it face down with the rest of his hand.

Now it was Xaldin's turn. He was embarrassed and seething. His hand was huge and falling from his fingers.

"A five? Anybody?" He whispered.

"Go fish." Everyone said at the same time.

Xaldin began weeping.

"I've decided Xaldin isn't a card shark." Xigbar whispered to Larxene.

Auron and Leon stalked through the halls, snagging Vincent as they came by and asking him to return to the meeting room with Cloud. He left quickly, and Auron ran after Yuffie as Leon recovered Cid.

They all met in the meeting room, where King Mickey and Xemnas were waiting.

"Now, here's the map." Mickey began, pulling a map out. "This is a map Xemnas gave me of the castle and outer areas."

"I don't believe it's been changed on the inside, but Hinode could've changed the outer appearance." Xemnas interjected. Leon nodded, pouring over the map.

"The goals are this; rescue Axel and Tsuki, and avoid Hinode at all costs. I'd prefer not to have a confrontation with her."

"Even though it's inevitable." Cloud muttered. The king sighed but didn't respond.

"Alright." Xemnas examined the map. "How do we get inside without being noticed.

Leon smirked as he looked the map over.

"I have a plan."

"Demyx!" Yuna called laughing. The boy grinned.

With a snap of his fingers, rain pelted the three mud covered boys.

"There we go. All clean!" Ariel chirped. Everyone but the soaked boys laughed.

"Revenge?" Riku whispered to Sora. Sora eyed Ariel.

"Even better. Plotting." He grinned. Riku smirked.

"Ah yes. Plotting." Riku knew what Sora was thinking.

"Ready?" Sora asked. Riku's grin was evil like.

"Set?" Riku added.

Silence.

"GO!"

Just as Leon finished the telling of his ultimate evil plan – okay its not evil, I just thought that sounded cool – he heard screams outside. Cloud moved to look, but Leon held out a hand.

"I have a feeling we don't want to know." He sighed a slight vein of laughter in his voice. Cloud smirked.

"Oh but I do." He responded, disappearing into the hallway. Leon shook his head.

As the group dispersed, Xemnas strode proudly down the hallway. His image taunted him in the mirror – he was quite use to looking like Xen – looking like he had when he was Xehanort. It bothered him. Was it a sign that he was becoming human on the inside and the outside? It disturbed him.

"Xemnas." Someone called. The man stopped and grunted in respond.

Aerith walked up to him and stood only feet from him. She stood gently and tall, he stood strong and brave. They stood silent for but a moment. It was odd, but felt right. What did Aerith need? She hadn't even been at the meeting. Where'd she come from?

All of a sudden, Aerith bowed. Bowed to him, the Superior! Not that people bowing to him was odd. It was simply that Xemnas had never imagined the girl bowing to him.

"Thank you." She spoke softly from beneath her earthy hair. "You haven't seen it, but your presence and the presence of your friends – the simplicity of your being on our team and befriending us – has changed us all for the better. Leon has smiled more than I've ever seen him. Cloud is as egnimatic as usual, but he is also a team player now. Riku has opened up, Kairi has gained strength, and we have all bonded."

"My team has grown as well." Xemnas whispered. Why was he saying this?

Aerith smiled. Standing tall, she turned away. Just as Xemnas turned to walk away she spoke.

"You are respected ever more than you know." Xemnas' eyes grew wide and he turned to her. But when he turned back, she was gone. The hall was empty.

With a serene smile, he continued on.

Zexion heard screaming outside. Turning slightly, he saw Yuna and Ariel playing with the younger boys. It seemed Riku and Sora had teamed up against Yuna and Ariel, pelting them with mud, but both were going easy on the mother to be. Poor Yuna was being trampled. Demyx, being the gentleman he was, teamed up with Yuna, and Roxas just say back and laughed.

Sighing, Zexion concentrated on the phone in his hand. It had taken him what seemed like an hour to finally dial in the number right – for the first time ever, he was nervous – and then he had to wait. And wait.

Finally something happened.

"Hello?"

Xemnas sat in the library alone when the door swung open. Laxaeus came in with a gentle smile and sat across from him.

"Tomorrow." He sighed. Xemnas smirked.

"Yes, tomorrow." Laxaeus laughed.

"You seem eager."

"Don't you remember Cloud's vision from Morpheus?" Xemnas' tone was mocking. But now it was softer. "It seems this Tsuki might have to do with my past before I met Lord Ansem – the past I can't remember."

"What if you finally remember?" Laxaeus whispered. "What will you do?" His tone sounded like that of a scared child. Was the Silent Hero worried that Xemnas would leave them? Xemnas couldn't see his friends worrying for him.

First off, since when had he started calling him friends? What happened to the good old days when they were underlings? And since when did they care about him?

Needing some space, Xemnas stood and strode to the balcony.

"I will leave the past behind me." Xemnas muttered. Laxaeus lit up. Realizing the man wanted solitude, Laxaeus stood to leave.

"Number Five?" Xemnas asked. The man grunted respectfully. "… Thank you."

Laxaeus, shocked, spun around. "For what… Superior?" Xemnas laughed pathetically.

"I don't know. I don't know anything anymore. Ever since this whole… heart thing, I haven't known anything. But… thank you." Laxaeus grinned.

"You are most welcome."

When he heard that hello, Zexion felt something. A bit of… fear… The jitters; nervous wonderment. Like a giddy school girl calling her crush. And then he felt a light feeling…

Zexion: The emotion "shy" has begun to grow.

(LOL! Zexy; shy?)

As soon as the hello was heard, Zexion slammed the phone on the receiver. He couldn't do it. Too… shy.

Rubbing his temples, Zexion realized three things.

First off, the person who had hit on him at the racing planet? Yeah, Zexion definitely had a crush now. Second off, Zexion sniffed the air and realized that he had a spy; Rikku and Paine were in the other room, giggling; they had obviously realized what was going on. Which meant he was doomed. Oh well… secrets aren't that way for long around here.

The last thing he realized was what he had been fighting for years. But he decided to give in; you can't fight nature can you? For Zexion had finally accepted and realized this fact.

He was gay.

(LAWLLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL! XD)