"I'm sorry, Axel," Xion said, voice small. She had begun to shrink into herself. "I know it was my fault. If I hadn't gotten to the edge of th—"

Axel waved a hand dismissively. "Naw, you're fine. It was mostly my fault, anyway. I'll live." He shivered and tugged on the blanket once more. It didn't quite fit his tall frame, but it was certainly better than nothing.

Xion's eyes started to brim with tears. For not remembering who she was back before the Organization, she sure does a remarkable job of pretending she has a heart, Axel mused absently. He patted her head. "I'll be fine, okay? For the record, I chose to push you out of the way. You didn't force me. Got it memorized?" And I'd do it again for you or for Roxas. . . The thought almost startled him. When had he started thinking things like that? He was sure that if he'd said it out loud, Xion would've laughed at him. Roxas, too, if he were here. I've got to stop being so sappy.

Xion brushed away her tears and laughed softly. "Yeah."

They sat in silence for a while. Finally, Axel said, "Y'know, I think this'll make a great story to tell Roxas when he finishes his mission. Not everyone can say they've jumped off a massive cliff into a snow drift, right?"

Xion laughed, "I bet nothing as exciting happened to him!"

The two sat there for a while. They didn't need ice cream, not yet . . . not without Roxas there to enjoy it with them.

~\*/~

". . . But are you sure he'll be okay?" Roxas's brows were furrowed, almost as though he were worried.

Zexion knew it was all a show, albeit an impressive one, considering Roxas had no memories from his previous life as a Somebody. A Nobody couldn't feel emotion, after all. Any time his face showed any expression at all, it was merely the memory of what such an emotion felt like. Only someone with a heart could truly feel something. Therefore, there was no point in Roxas's pretending he was worried.

Zexion sighed, trying to push down what had to be his own memories of what it felt like to be frustrated. There was no time for such a thing. "For the last time, he's not a human. He's a Nobody. His body cannot develop illnesses, and he will regain consciousness in a while. For the meantime, Vexen has hooked him up to a machine that will hydrate his body. You may leave him." The moment Roxas left the room, Zexion ran a hand through his hair.

Kingdom Hearts, the ultimate goal—to truly feel once more . . . he thought, a pang of desire—no, a memory of the feeling—welling up within him. As Zexion turned to leave, he failed to notice the water pooling underneath the table.

~\*/~

When Roxas got to the clock tower, he found his two friends already there. He held out the three bars of ice cream he had purchased.

"Look who decided to show up!" Axel smirked.

Roxas stared at him, eyes wide. "What are you wearing?!"

Axel made a show of unwrapping and wrapping the blanket. "Well, let's just say we had an interesting mission."

"Oh!" Roxas exclaimed. "Me too. We found Demyx! He was passed out from… Zexion called it 'heat exhaustion,' I think. And we had to defeat a huge heartless!" He shrugged. "It wasn't a huge fight. Me and Zexion weren't worried."

Axel and Xion stared at him, eyes wide. After a while, Axel mumbled, "Well, Xion, I think he might've beat us for the most exciting mission…"

"No way!" Xion gasped. She shook her head so vehemently Roxas thought it might fall off.

He grinned. "What was your mission like?"

Xion giggled, "We went to Arendelle again! Oh, Roxas, you would've loved seeing all the snow everywhere! There was even a talking snowman! We couldn't let him see us, of course, but it was so cool!"

Roxas sat down. "Wow!" He looked at Axel and lifted an eyebrow. "And what happened to you?"

"I, uh, fell off a cliff into the snow. . ." Axel rubbed the back of his neck.

Roxas laughed. After a while, Axel and Xion joined in. After a day like they'd had, they needed the time to rest and eat ice cream with the people they loved.

~\*/~

Through the darkness, Demyx could occasionally hear words. None of them were ever sharp enough to puncture the haze enveloping him, but they were enough to reassure him that he wasn't alone. He was vaguely aware of his head pounding and thought to himself that maybe all he needed was a little bit of sleep. That should fix it, right?

But then the voices grew more insistent. He began to wonder dimly who exactly wanted him so much and why those belonging to the voices would try so hard to keep him up when all he wanted—all he'd ever wanted—was to kick back with his sitar and rest.

Something sharp prodded him in the side once, twice. He thought he heard his name being said. I guess I could answer it, he thought fuzzily. But he must've said something because the noises grew louder once more. He tried to lift a hand to his head and was met with resistance. Demyx groaned in confusion and blinked.

His vision swam. He could almost make out two small heads peering over him. Immediately, their blue eyes grew wide, and they yelled in unison, "Axel! Come quick!"

Demyx grimaced as the pain in his head spiked. He tried once more to raise his hand to his head only to realize that someone was sitting on it. Eyes narrowed, he whipped his head around to glare at the offending weight and promptly sneezed. Ugh! What's going on? His throat felt thick and scratchy… and grainy?

He blinked, and suddenly, Axel was in his vision. Demyx managed to say, "Wha—What happened?" The urge to cough took over then, so strong that tears began to run down his face.

Axel didn't seem too concerned over how Demyx was busy coughing so much that he was having trouble breathing, but his two companions were. "Axel, what do we do?" Xion cried out.

"What if he dies?" Roxas was equally concerned. "Can a Nobody die from being sick?"

For a long moment, Axel stared at Demyx, who was just beginning to steady his breathing. "I s'pose anything's possible. But you don't need to worry. Demyx'll be fine. Got it memorized?"

Demyx lay down his head, exhausted from coughing. His eyes seemed to close of their own accord. With effort, he opened them again and gazed at the ceiling. "What happened?" he rasped.

Before anyone could answer, a shrill scream cut through the air.

(Edit: There was something wrong with the ice cream scene. . . But now it's fixed! Time to finish the next chapter!)

Soli Deo gloria! :3

~LHDD