Hi. 3 I'm gonna keep this short, thank you for reviews :) I've noticed a pattern when I update, a lot of review, then not so many, and vice versa. Let's see if this holds ;p

Unfortunately, I don't think this is going to be very fluffy…the premise made me think of a very dramatic plotline…you'll see!

What If…

Demyx was afraid of the water?

((as suggested by the ever-creative Kigichi))

"Burn, baby!"

"Give me strength!"

"See my illusion!"

-((!))-

Zexion was worried. Lately Demyx had been spending more and more time holed up at the pool, practicing. Whenever Zexion would ask him about it, Demyx would just reply that he was training before closing up on the subject.

Zexion became lost in his thoughts as he walked towards the pool to get Demyx for dinner. Why is he training so hard? Did someone complain? Has he been having problems? He hasn't told me about any difficulties with missions…

His thoughts derailed as he came upon Demyx, who appeared to be floating above the water in the pool. Looking closely, Zexion realized he was not floating, just moving almost in sync with the water below him. Sitar in hand, he appeared to be sparring with his water clones with other clones. So absorbed in his work, he didn't notice Zexion enter the room. Not wanting to startle him when he was so focused, he slowly started to back out of the room.

I give him a lot of credit, Zexion mused, inching toward the door, his moves are very fluid and his fighting style…he was good before, but wow…

Just as Zexion leaned on the door to open it Demyx twisted in the air, panting, before he spread his arms wide and with one hand, played a new chord on his instrument that Zexion had never heard before-

"Dance water dance!"

And the water in the pool started to rise, forming the most intricate and deadly patterns that Zexion had ever seen, rushing and intertwining almost as if it was solid-

And the notes built to an even more complicated crescendo, and Zexion froze, spellbound, as he watched his new finishing move-

And then the notes seemed to crash, and the water was falling all around, and Demyx stumbled in the air, his sitar falling—

The world seemed to move in slow motion; Zexion watched in horror as Demyx's element worked against him, pulling Demyx under as if it was a living thing, keeping him underneath the water. Without thinking, Zexion jumped into the pool, looking for Demyx. Luckily, Demyx was nearby, and he reached for him, grabbing a hold of his cloak. Seeing Demyx's sitar, he grabbed it too, almost as an afterthought before kicking off of the bottom off the pool, barely making it to the surface. Although his swimming skills were rudimentary at best (without his water wingies), Zexion pulled Demyx from the roiling water, laying him on the side of the pool. After a few terrifying moments of nothing, Demyx began coughing abruptly, sitting up sharply.

"Z-Zexion?" Demyx asked between coughing fits, "what—" he broke off, still coughing.

Zexion rubbed his back soothingly, "Shhh. Get your breath; we're going to the infirmary."

-((Flash Forward))-

Zexion sat next to Demyx's hospital bed, watching Demyx over his interlaced fingertips. Despite what Zexion witnessed, Demyx was not being very forthcoming with information.

"I know what I saw, Demyx," he continued, protesting, "that attack was definitely new—"

"I was just practicing!" Demyx continued, "it wasn't a big deal—"

"You looked like it was a big deal," Zexion countered, "And it was definitely a big deal when the entire pool moved. It was…I can't even think of how to describe it, Demyx! That attack was—"

"Clearly too much for me," Demyx finished hollowly. "It wasn't a big deal because I'm too weak to pull it off," he muttered.

"Too weak to—what?" Zexion said, mind working overtime as pieces started falling into place. "What makes you think you're weak?"

Demyx wouldn't look at him. "I don't have to think I'm weak Zexy, because I am. I'm the weakest link in the Organization—"

"That's not true—"

"Last in almost all sparring matches, my reports are mediocre at best, and even if I don't need a partner for a mission, I usually get assigned one just in case." He finally locked eyes with Zexion. "Tell me that doesn't describe a weak link."

Zexion mentally had to agree that statistically, the facts pointed to that. Nevertheless… "Demyx, you can't think that way! Your skill with water is—"

"Not enough!" Demyx exclaimed. "When I look at Axel, and Roxas, and you, I just see a level of ability that I can't hope to attain." He sighed, looking at himself in the hospital bed. "Clearly."

Zexion took his hand. "You sell yourself short. Just wait, when you're better, and go out on your next mission, you'll see how good you are. That attack…was incredible."

He reached forward, cupping Demyx's cheek with his other hand. "You're incredible. I just want you to see that," he said, kissing him softly before standing.

"I'll come back after my mission," he said, before leaving Demyx alone with his thoughts.

-((A few days later))-

After being given a few days to recuperate, Demyx was given his next mission assignment: Agrabah. Not only was it a highly Heartless-prone area, Demyx was given this assignment as a solo mission.

No doubt that's Zexion's influence on the Superior, Demyx thought glumly, summoning a portal. He has too much faith in me.

Stepping out of the portal, Demyx was met with a Marketplace full of Heartless.

"And so it begins," he said, trying to gear himself up for the long battle to come. Summoning his sitar for the first time since the incident, he struck an opening chord, summoning a few water clones. However, immediately after he struck the chord, he noticed something wasn't right.

Those notes didn't sound normal, he thought, looking down at his sitar. How is this out of tune? He sighed. Whenever his sitar went out of tune, the water clones acted half-hearted at best. At worst, they just stood around, unmoving. Skilled musician that he was, he quickly turned the tuning knobs, easily adjusting to the appropriate tone very quickly. He played the opening chord again, only to his surprise, the note sounded the same. Moreover, the water clones weren't looking at him lazily. They seemed almost—angry.

"What the—" he said, ducking a Shadow attack only to come face to face with one of his own clones, who promptly launched one of his own attacks at him. Stunned, he spun out of the way only find three more, equally angry. Two of them grabbed his shoulders and the third pulled his arm back, punching Demyx in the stomach. With the wind knocked out of him, the clones got a few more good hits in before Demyx had the wits to spin away, evading his watery selves. Seeing nothing but Heartless and angry clones, with no way to attack, he had no choice but to summon a portal.

-((Zexy's Room))-

Zexion looked up from his laptop at the unexpected intruder to his bedroom via a portal. The only person allowed to do that is Demyx, Zexion thought, turning, but that's impossible, he's in Agrabah-

And there was Demyx, panting, collapsed on his floor. Zexion leapt up, approaching him.

Before he could even say anything, Demyx ground out. "Heartless…overrun, hurry," he said, urging Zexion to the portal.

Zexion was torn. He should stay with Demyx, but the assignment—

"Go!" Demyx shouted, answering his dilemma for him.

-((some time later))-

After making short work of the Heartless (and the many thereafter that followed), Zexion returned to his room for an explanation. He found Demyx seated on his bed, sitar in hand, in the middle of tuning it. He looked up when Zexion returned, his expression guarded.

"Is the situation under control?" he asked emotionlessly.

Zexion nodded. "Good," Demyx said, looking back down at his instrument.

After a few moments of silence, Zexion had to ask. "Demyx, what—"

"I don't know what happened," Demyx whispered suddenly, gripping his sitar tightly. "I arrived and the Marketplace was already covered in Heartless like usual, but when I summoned my clones they…they attacked me," he continued.

Zexion didn't know what to say, but Demyx kept going. "At first I thought the sitar was out of tune, but when that happens, the clones just act lazy. Today, they were acting angry. At me. They didn't even glance at the enemy, and there was nothing I could do to stop them from coming at me besides stop playing music and get out of there."

Zexion absorbed that information. "Is there anything wrong with the sitar?" he asked, indicating the instrument in Demyx's lap.

"Nothing," he said, "perfectly in tune and perfect working order. But when I try to play—" He played the opening note, summoning a single, very small water clone on his knee. The chord still sounded wrong to his ears, and instead of obeying him, the water clone kicked him with his little foot before Demyx put away his instrument, causing the tiny clone to disappear.

"It's like water doesn't want me anymore," Demyx whispered.

Zexion didn't know what to say. After a moment, he finally said "I think you need a break," before standing and putting a comforting hand on Demyx's shoulder. "Let me talk to the Superior."

-((a couple days later))-

Demyx was given a formal leave of absence until he solved the 'malfunction' with his element. However, he was making very slow progress (read:no progress at all), terrified of finding himself face to face with a clone army out of his control, ready to fight him. Demyx woke up in the middle of the night from that very nightmare, panting, before Zexion assured him it was a dream and settling back down. Still, he could not bring himself to face the water yet.

Unfortunately for Zexion, this meant that he had to get work done with Demyx in the room, which was nearly impossible.

"Hey Zexion." Zexion tried not to roll his eyes as he looked up from his paper for the tenth time that afternoon.

"Yes?" he said with fake interest to the Nobody lounging on his bed.

"How come you get assigned so many desk missions? You're a good fighter…" he mumbled at the end, trailing off.

Zexion tried not to strangle him. I bet he's comparing himself to me again… "I'm good at what I do," he said simply, returning to his paper.

"But if you're good at both, shouldn't you spend equal time with both?"

This time, he didn't look up. "Demyx, I don't mind either way; I just do what I'm told."

"Doesn't it bother you?" Demyx pressed, "I know it would bother me if I only had to write papers all the time," he said with feigned nonchalance.

So that's it, Zexion thought, he's scared he's going to be permanently assigned to desk work. Zexion looked up from his paper again, turning to Demyx. "The Superior assigns me so many papers because he knows I enjoy them," he said comfortingly, "but that doesn't mean I have to do them forever." He smiled softly, and Demyx nodded before Zexion returned to his paper.

There were a few minutes of blessed silence before—

"Hey Zexion."

"That's it," Zexion said, standing up, "we're going to the pool."

Demyx shot into a sitting position. "What? No! I—"

"No discussion, IX. We're going. Even if I have to wear the wingies." His eyes softened. "We'll get through this okay?" he said, holding out his hand to Demyx.

Demyx smiled before hesitantly taking it. "I trust you."

-((at the pool!))-

Demyx stared at the water from his place near the door, unmoving. Zexion put on his wingies and pulled him to the edge, sitting him down with his feet in the water. Sitting next to him, he smiled. "There's no reason to get in yet. Let's start slow." Demyx nodded, summoning his sitar.

"Play the simplest chord you know, even simpler than your usual opening," Zexion said encouragingly. Demyx mentally braced himself before playing a single string, summoning a small water clone in front of him. Instead of attacking him, the water clone stood there, unmoving.

"Now tell him to do something," Zexion continued, "nothing too fancy."

Demyx played a small chord, and the tiny water clone did a somersault before standing up, staring at Demyx again.

"See? Nothing to be afraid of," Zexion said, standing up before pulling Demyx up with him. "Now play the opening chord for him," he said. Demyx looked alarmed.

"But it doesn't—"

"These chords have sounded fine, right?" Zexion asked. Demyx nodded. "Then there's no reason why this next chord should be any different. You can do this Demyx. This is your element." He stood back, giving Demyx room to focus and work.

I can do this, Demyx repeated uncertainly, readying his weapon. There's no reason why I can't do this. He braced himself, hands poised over the strings. This is my element, he thought determinedly, before playing his opening chord, signaling the time for battle.

It sounded perfect. The tiny water clone responded immediately, preparing himself for foes. Demyx smiled at Zexion before playing an experimental line of music, causing the tiny clone to engage in a series of combos at an invisible foe.

"I can do it!" Demyx said excitedly, striking a power chord in his enthusiasm. The water clone grew to normal size and was accompanied by three others, all ready for attack. Demyx confidently played a series of chords, and the clones broke off into teams, sparring against each other. Demyx turned to Zexion, smiling widely, before returning his focus to the clones.

Zexion smiled as more clones appeared in the practice game. He took off his wings, content that Demyx did not need his help. All he needed was some confidence, Zexion thought, throwing the water wings aside. He's got this—

No sooner than the wings were out of his reach, a mischievous water clone appeared behind him, pushing him in the pool. Zexion sputtered as he surfaced, only to be pulled down again by the smirking clone.

Demyx, who was now in the middle of the pool, noticed the commotion and started to panic. "No!" he exclaimed playing a chord of submission, but more water clones simply broke off from him to join their defecting brother. The notes Demyx played sounded wrong to his ears again, but he continued to play different chords, searching for the right one.

"S-Stop!" he said, continuing to play. Zexion continued to fight a losing battle against the clones, having less and less opportunities to breathe—

"I said stop!" Demyx yelled, playing the powerful new chord from before. As he played his new sitar riff, the clones backed off immediately; the water appeared to solidify under Zexion as he was lifted from the water onto the side of the pool. Coughing, he sat up, watching as Demyx called all of the clones to him before they took a knee in front of him. Dismissing them with a final chord, he skated across the water to Zexion, panting.

He knelt next to him, dropping his sitar and taking his face in both hands. "Are you alright?"

Zexion nodded weakly. "Perhaps I need some more swimming lessons," he allowed. Demyx laughed, kissing him softly, grinning.

"You did it," Zexion pointed out. Demyx smiled wider.

"Thanks to your help and encouragement," he said, kissing him again. "Thank you Zexion." Zexion brought a hand up to stroke Demyx's hair.

"My help was minimal; although I am glad that you figured everything out before I drowned," he said with dark humor.

Demyx lay Zexion back down, kissing him again. "Me too….I have full control of my element now," he said with a leer, summoning small shoots of water to his fingers. "What do you say we…celebrate?" he absentmindedly began unbuttoning Zexion's jacket.

Zexion grinned. "Sounds good to me," he whispered, pulling Demyx down to him, kissing him harshly as he switched their positions. Demyx closed his eyes, enjoying the sensations of Zexion's hands running up and down his chest. When he opened his eyes, he found that the two of them were lying on a beach, next to the water.

"As long as I can use my element too," Zexion said, grinning.

-((End!))-

Well that was something different. It was just not a funny prompt, which was perfectly okay. I really liked writing it!

Speaking of prompts, I know I have many in reserve, but I have only gotten a few suggestions lately (which are pretty awesome if I must say, and I'm working on them ;p) but I always love to see new ones!

Please review!

Last one: The Penname!

Stepping closer to Zexion, he took his hand as he whispered, "So…Do you have any injuries that need…wrapping?"

What a weird line XD

~freaky-hanyou