Alexus's Point of View

"Alexus, it's time to wake up," Papa said, waking me from my sleep.

I was mad from the night before and threw the covers over me as the light was turned on with a shriek of anger.

"Alexus, let's not start the day like this." Papa gently pulled the blankets off of my head.

I glared up at him, filled with hatred. "Leave me alone." My voice came out broken up and raspy.

Instead of leaving as I hoped he would, he began stroking my hair. "You must have cried quite a bit last night. Your eyes are still red. I know that right now my rules seem unfair, but in time you'll see-"

"I hate you," I mumbled.

His hand stilled before pulling away. Without another word, he left my room.

At first, I passed the time by reading my books, but when I was hungry enough, I searched for someone who could help me get food. I couldn't find a Dusk, and everyone else had already left for the day. I checked The Hall of Empty Melodies to see if Papa was waiting for me there, but he wasn't. I went to the Grey Area and found Saix reviewing paperwork. "Why aren't you training with Lord Xemnas?" Saix wondered when he noticed me.

"We had a fight. Now I can't find him," I replied.

Saix nodded before turning his attention back to his paperwork.

"I'm hungry," I spoke up.

Saix lifted his head once again to look me in the eyes. "I'm not getting you pizza."

"I don't want pizza. I just want some food. I was going to ask a Dusk to bring me something, but I can't find any. Do you know if there's anything I can eat?" I requested.

"Why don't you go ask your father," Saix suggested.

"I already told you. I can't find him," I reminded.

"You should have come to breakfast if you were hungry," Saix scoffed. Almost as though on cue, my stomach growled. Saix let out a long sigh. "Fine. Come with me. I'll fix you something." Saix opened a dark corridor. I followed him through and stepped out into the kitchen. Saix opened the refrigerator and began looking for something to give me. "What were you and your father fighting about?"

"Demyx offered to teach me music, but Papa won't let me. He only wants me to practice with my daggers. I never get to do anything I want to do," I whined.

"You have been training every day lately. Perhaps he's aware that he's worn you out and is giving you a break," Saix mused. He grabbed a stick of butter and set it on the counter before opening a cupboard and taking an apple. "Here, eat this for now. Can you wait here for me? I'll be right back."

I nodded and started eating my apple. When I was finished, I waited some more. It felt like such a long time that Saix was gone, and I began to wonder if he had forgotten about me. When he returned, he had a bag in hand, which he set on the counter. "What were you doing?" I wondered.

"Since it appears that you don't have a lesson today, let's do something fun and productive." Saix showed me what was in the grocery bag.

"Chocolate chips! Are we going to make cookies?" I smiled.

"We are. Perhaps it would be for the best if we don't mention this to your father, though. It is unclear as to whether or not you are being punished," Saix suggested.

"My lips are sealed," I promised.

Saix let me measure the dry ingredients and put them in the bowl. While I was mixing them together, he combined the wet ingredients in another mixing bowl. When he finished, he let me pour my dry ingredients in with the wet ones. Saix attached the mixing bowl to a device he called a mixer. When he turned it on, it whirled to life, its attachment spinning and rotating inside the bowl. Saix lifted me up to allow me to see what it was doing, and I was amazed at how well it was stirring through the ingredients to make our dough. When it was finished, we rolled the dough into balls and placed them on the cookie sheet before Saix placed them in the oven.

"And now we wait for the oven to turn the dough into delicious cookies!" I exclaimed happily.

"Did you bake at all before?" Saix wondered.

"Aunt Dulcie was always baking things, and I would get to help her a lot. I forgot how much I enjoyed it, although I still like eating more than baking," I replied.

"Good thing you'll get to do both today," Saix commented.

As the smell wafted through the air, Axel drifted into the kitchen. "What's that smell?"

"We're making cookies!" I cheered.

"Really? You and Saix?" Axel set Saix's paperwork on the counter before turning to Saix. "You left these, by the way. You're lucky I was the first one back. Otherwise, someone would have seen you leave them out so carelessly. Why are you playing girl scout with Alexus?"

"You do realize the girl scouts don't actually make the cookies, don't you?" Saix grumbled.

Axel shrugged in response.

Saix sighed before continuing. "Alexus was having a bad day. I gave her an activity that she would consider fun."

"You know what else is fun? Video games. You know what you can do while she's playing video games?" Axel picked the papers back up and waved them in Saix's face.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to take you away from your work. I was only hungry," I apologized.

"Look what you did. Now she feels bad," Saix huffed at Axel before kneeling to my level. "You didn't do anything wrong, Alexus. I wanted to bake cookies with you, so that's what we did. If that's not good enough for some people, then they don't have to have any of our cookies."

"Wait, I didn't say I wouldn't eat the cookies," Axel said.

The timer went off, and Saix took the cookies out. Axel went to grab one, but Saix slapped his hand away. "Let them cool."

Axel's hand became surrounded by flames, though he wasn't in pain. He was just trying to show Saix that a hot cookie wouldn't burn him.

"Alexus gets the first cookie, and she can't have one until they cool. You don't get one until then," Saix clarified.

The flames around Axel's hand vanished. "Fine."

Once Saix deemed them cool enough, Saix gave one to me and put the rest on a plate. I took a bite of the buttery cookie with warm gooey chocolate spots scattered throughout. I hummed in delight as my mouth exploded with sweetness.

"They are delicious. It must be because a special little girl made them," Saix smiled.

When Axel finished his first cookie, he greedily reached for another, but Saix slapped his hand away. "These are Alexus's cookies. She decides what she wants to do with them," Saix snapped. Axel pulled his hand back with a groan.

"Do you think everyone else will like them when they get home?" I asked.

"I think that's a wonderful idea," Saix replied.

"Why would you give these to a Nobody? She knows that we can't fee-" Axel was cut off by Saix elbowing him in the stomach.

"Sharing is a good thing and something to be encouraged for a well-mannered girl, isn't that right, Axel? Remember before when we would share things because it was the right thing to do?" Saix said.

"Fine, I'll play along. Sharing is great, la di da," Axel groaned. A sly grin spread on his face. "So, Alexus, you'll share another one with me, won't you?"

Saix opened a dark corridor and took the plate before Axel could make another attempt to snatch up a cookie. "Come, Alexus. Let's return to the Grey Area if you want to share these cookies with the others."

"Right," I agreed.

We entered the Grey Area at the same time as Mr. Lexaeus was getting back. "Mr. Lexaeus, I made cookies. Would you like one?" I offered.

Lexaeus took a cookie from the plate and smiled. His only reply was a brief, "Thank you," but I could tell he was very grateful for my cookie.

When Mr. Vexen and Zexion got back, I offered them cookies. "I don't eat such sugary things," Mr. Vexen snapped.

"Don't mind him. I'll take his," Zexion told me. He took two cookies and bit one. "This is really good. Thanks, Alexus." He took one more before leaving the Grey Area.

"He just took three!" Axel exclaimed in an accusing tone.

"He's just a boy. Quit acting so childish," Saix sighed.

Mr. Xigbar and Mr. Xaldin came back at the same time. I hesitated. Mr. Xigbar and Mr. Xaldin both made me nervous. I grabbed onto Saix's coat. "Go on. It's okay," Saix encouraged.

I slowly walked toward them. "Um, excuse me." I began. I was even more nervous now that I had their attention. "I, um, made cookies, and, um, you can have a cookie, um, if you want."

"Well, isn't this a surprise? You know what? You're not too bad, midget," Mr. Xigbar smiled, taking a cookie.

Mr. Xaldin also took one. "Thank you, Alexus," He said with a chuckle while ruffling my hair.

"That's everybody. Can I have another one, now?" Axel requested.

"Well, it's not everyone… but you can have one more cookie, Axel. Can I have another cookie, too, Saix?" I requested.

"I don't see why not. You made them, after all," Saix agreed.

I took another cookie and ate it, grateful for the wonderful treat. "I'm going to look for Papa," I decided.

"Don't get lost. I'll leave the rest in the kitchen," Saix said.

"Thank you," I replied before taking off.

I searched all over for Papa, but he wasn't anywhere. I went back to my room and waited until Zexion came. "Hey, I think Lord Xemnas forgot to have someone tell you that dinner is ready. I tried asking him about it, but he didn't really say much."

"He didn't forget. I'm being punished," I sighed.

"Punished for what?" Zexion wondered.

"I guess I've been bad. Papa and I were fighting this morning. The last thing I said to him is that I hate him," I explained.

"Do you hate him?" Zexion asked.

"No. Not really. I just said that because he was being unfair," I answered.

"I get it. I've been there. Well, not since I lost my heart, but there were a few times before that. You should probably figure out how to make things better, though. I wouldn't want to be on Lord Xemnas's bad side," Zexion advised.

"I know, I know. Well, let's go. Maybe I can still have dinner," I prompted.

When we got to dinner, everyone but Papa had left. I suspected everyone else had finished and gone about the rest of their day. A full plate of food was in front of my seat, so I sat and began eating. Papa didn't say anything. All he did was stare.

"I should go. Vexen may need my help in the lab," Zexion whispered to me.

I nodded before he left, though I was terrified of what Papa might do when we were alone.

Even after Zexion left, the silence, accompanied by staring, continued. Every time I looked up, he was watching me.

"How was your day, Papa?" I spoke up.

Papa stopped looking at me and stared at the table. He still didn't speak.

"I bet you can't guess what I did today. Or maybe you can if anyone else mentioned it." He continued to ignore me. I pushed my half-eaten plate of food away from me. "I'm done." I hoped he would at least scold me for wasting food, but he didn't give me that satisfaction. I decided it was time to say something I knew he wouldn't ignore. "I'm going to go find that Dusk I like to play with now. Or maybe I'll go listen to music. Hey, maybe Demyx will teach me how to play something." I was shocked when even that didn't make him say anything. I pushed my chair away from the table and stood up before walking to Papa and touching his arm. He looked at me again, but it felt more like he was looking through me. "I'm not actually going to do that. Please don't be like this."

Papa looked away again, and I gave up and returned to my room for the night. I knew Papa wouldn't come to tuck me in, so I pulled my covers over my head. "Tomorrow will be a better day," I told myself.

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