Zexion hummed, sticking some kind of thin wooden board in Roxas's mouth. "You seem to be functioning adequately. The only cause for concern is that these lymph nodes appear slightly swollen. Well, that is interesting. Perhaps it is something that I also possess. This does require more study… Please see me after your mission, so I can examine you once again." He withdrew the stick thing and threw it in the trashcan. "That is all. You may depart for your mission."

Roxas gave him a weird look but stood and began to walk out the door. He didn't really understand a lot of what went on in the examination, but at least he was free! He checked to see if he had enough supplies and then summoned a Corridor of Darkness. Time to meet up with Xion!

~\*/~

As he trudged in the endless snow, Axel once more wondered at the sanity of these people. Who in his right mind would choose to live in a place like this? A stiff breeze cut straight through him to the bone. He shivered.

His companions were chattering uselessly, but he couldn't bring himself to listen. Or perhaps his brain wouldn't allow him to listen. As it was, he caught only brief snippets of the conversation, including words like "bendy stick," "ice cream wouldn't give him a brain freeze," "queen," "stew," "weird that he wants to marry you right after meeting you," "strange dark creatures," and "muffins." Wait. Hold up.

Axel spoke up, "What about the strange dark creatures?"

The lady—Anna?—turned to look at him. "It was so weird! We were celebrating my sister's coronation, and then these dark, wiggly things showed up. Some of them were different colors. There were even a few that looked like reindeer!"

So, the queen is her sister. Interesting… Axel took a breath to ask more questions about what had to be Heartless, but the movement combined with the chilly air caused his cough to return with a vengeance. He coughed and coughed until he was gasping for breath.

~\*/~

In a completely different area in the woods, one of the trees burst into flames. The wolves around the tree whimpered and scattered.

A large snow creature looked at the tree and then dumped a pile of snow on it. That accomplished, he sat down on the snow and waited for his queen to need him.

~\*/~

After what seemed like forever, Axel was finally able to get it under control and breathe normally. And then he began to sneeze.

~\*/~

In the safety—and boredom!—of his room in the laboratory, Demyx began to laugh. He had just awoken from a dream in which the whole castle was underwater. It was beautiful, but the others didn't seem to appreciate it too much. Oh, well. He began to stare at the ceiling and count the dots on it. Suddenly, his blanket burst into flames.

With a screech of utter terror, the blond summoned water and began to put out the flames. "Help! Help! Oh, why meeeeeeeee?"

Zexion and Vexen burst into the room.

"What is the matter with you, Demyx?" Vexen roared. "Why in the worlds would you set your blanket on fire?!"

"But I didn't!" Demyx sobbed. "I don't even do fire. You know this! Water's way more my style." His hiccups turned into sneezes, which made his dizzy head even worse.

Zexion rolled his eyes and smothered the last of the flames.

~\*/~

Once Axel had finally begun to breathe in a way that did not trigger any more coughing fits, the blond man said, "You know, you don't look too good. Maybe we should stop by the Wandering Oaken and get you something warm to wear? Or at least some of the hot air from the sauna?"

The words made no sense at first. Axel stood there, stupidly trying to figure out what the man was saying. When at last his words clicked, Axel could feel the weariness in his bones. "Y'know, that might be a good idea… if it's not too far." He slowly bent down for a second to catch his breath and was struck by the strange feeling that the two were giving each other a look.

When he straightened, however, they were back to normal.

Anna pointed behind them. "So, this way, then?"

"I've never been in a sauna before! What's it like? Is it like summer?" Olaf asked.

Axel staggered forward, the dream of warmth at last pushing him forward. The world seemed to spin around him. He took two steps before everything went black.

"Hey, why are you going to sleep out here? Don't you know it's too cold for a nap?" Olaf's words rang in the air.

~\*/~

Saïx patrolled the hallways, inspecting the water damage. "Excellent work, Numbers XI and XII. You may return to your missions." He stalked off toward the next floor.

Marluxia bit back a snarky reply and stood to his feet. Larxene joined him, rubbing her shoulders. At that moment, a large bubble of water floated to the ceiling and burst, thoroughly soaking the two of them.

"I'm going to kill that creep!" Larxene seethed, muttering an oath. She whirled and made for the room in which Demyx was being held, her wet hair starting to spark dangerously.

Marluxia contemplated following her, but his hair was uncomfortably wet… The open doors let in an uncomfortable chill. I think I'll change into something dry and then see if Larxene needs any help murdering our co-worker.

~\*/~

"Wow! It really is pretty!" Roxas's eyes were wide as he took in the sights around him.

Xion grinned. "Yes! So, what do we have so far?" She was so happy that she'd gotten to complete this mission with Roxas!

Roxas consulted his notes. "Well, it's very open and big. There are many plants around—I bet Marluxia would like this place!—and the tower is huge! I keep seeing papers on the trees with some guy's face on it. Weird. And there's a lady that left the tower right after I got here."

"That's about it." Xion nodded. "Is there anything else you think the Superior wants to know?"

"I'm not sure." Roxas peered around the clearing. After exploring for a while in the woods, the two had returned to the area which housed the tower. Just as Roxas was about to suggest they RTC, he gasped, "Someone's climbing the tower!"

Xion's eyes sparkled. "Let's see what happens!"

They set about climbing the tower and had just made it to the window when they heard a loud noise. Exchanging worried glances, they looked inside to see a young woman standing over the limp body of the person who climbed the tower. They watched in confusion as she tried to find a suitable hiding place for the man.

Just as she stuffed him in her armoire, Xion felt a tickling in her nose. She tried to stifle it, but soon found herself making a rather loud noise similar to the one Axel had made the day before. She sniffed and then froze. Oh, no! We'll be spotted! And it's all because I couldn't be quiet!

Roxas took her hand and pointed toward the ground with his other.

She nodded, and the two of them crawled down the tower quickly. They had just hidden themselves in the bushes when the young woman from earlier peered out the window. Phew! At least we're safe!

Once the coast was clear, Xion summoned a Corridor of Darkness that led back to Twilight Town. Maybe Axel's missions went better…


Ta-dah!

At least having to call out sick today was somewhat productive! I've, uh, learned the hard way that I shouldn't make any promises about future updates. Still, I'm going to try? Anyway, enjoy! :3

Soli Deo gloria!

~LHDD