Vexen awoke to a crick in his back and surprisingly, frost along the cover of the book he was holding. He frowned. How odd. After jotting it down in a notebook to look into further, he began to set up his laboratory for the day. The best way to study this strange sickness, he believed, would be to examine all who were unwell, preferably starting with Zexion.

The tickle in his throat soon became too strong to ignore. Vexen let out a series of increasingly serious coughs. By the time he had finished, his throat felt rough and painful. No matter. This must be done within the hour. He cleared his throat and returned to his preparations.

~\*/~

"Hold on! Where did that come from?" Flynn held out an arm to stop Rapunzel from walking any further.

The tree in front of them was suddenly swallowed by a large, spiky ball of ice.

Rapunzel gulped, "Uh, maybe we should go a different way?"

Flynn met her eyes and then nodded slowly. "Yeah… Let's do that." He yelped as an even larger chunk of ice appeared, only slightly less spiky than the first.

~\*/~

When Xion walked into the Grey Area, she was met by the sight of Axel, Roxas, and Demyx still sleeping in various positions on the couches. She gasped. Saïx found Axel and brought him back!

Eyes alight with excitement, she ran to go see him. "Axel! Axel! Are you okay?" she exclaimed, putting her hands on his arm.

With a grunt, Axel shifted and opened his eyes. "Hey, Xi." His voice was lower than normal and oddly scratchy.

"Axel!" Her eyes filled with tears. "We missed you!"

Axel furrowed his brows. "Where have I been?"

Xion said, "We didn't know. Saïx had to go find you on your mission. You hadn't come back, and it was taking so long! Roxas and I wanted to go find you, but Saïx said he had to be the one to do it."

After a moment to think, Axel moved into a sitting position. "I don't really remember much of that." He shivered, then, as if a strong breeze were in the room. "So, I guess he's the one who dragged me back here?"

Xion nodded. "We were worried about you. You never showed up for the icing on the cake."

At the end of the couch, Roxas began to stir. He woke up slowly, eyes half-lidded.

"Well, I guess I'm here in one piece," Axel said. "Tell you what, when I can stand without getting dizzy, how about you, me, and Roxas go do our missions together and then spend the rest of the day having fun? Saïx'll never know the difference."

Roxas yawned, "Yeah, with the three of us together, it ought to be no problem." He blinked. "Wait! Axel, you're awake!" The boy launched forward into a hug.

Axel laughed and wrapped his arms around the boy.

On a nearby couch, Demyx's fingers twitched at the sound, and he mumbled something about a "fridge-freezer goblin" before settling back into his dreams.

Xion joined in on the hug, letting their warmth envelop her. Axel was finally here, and he was going to be okay! She smiled, knowing that, even if they could never leave the Organization, at least they had each other. That was enough.

~\*/~

At the sight before him, Xaldin dropped his favorite mug. The cup shattered, sending pieces of ceramic all over the kitchen. "What is the meaning of this?!" he roared.

Water dripped from the ceiling. What used to be a table now lay in pieces, covered by wet ash. Puddles of water coated various portions of the counters and the floor. A dirty saucepan lay in the sink. Spices were scattered all over the floor.

Only one Nobody could have been responsible for such a mess, would have even considered committing such a crime. "Demyx!" Xaldin stormed out of the room. He found the blond sleeping peacefully on the couch, nearby Axel, Roxas, and Xion, who were chattering with each other. Xaldin grabbed Demyx by the shoulder and hefted him over the couch.

Demyx was startled awake by the action and began sputtering, "What? What's wrong? Please put me down!" His eyes appeared glazed, unfocused.

Xaldin dropped him on the floor and stepped on his coat. "Tell me why the kitchen is destroyed! What were you doing there in the middle of the night?"

Demyx blinked, brow furrowed. "What? I—What?"

Xaldin opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Demyx.

Recognition seemed to dawn in those teal eyes. "Oh. It wasn't o—it wasn't on purpose, man! There was a fire!" Demyx yelped, arms up to protect his face. At some point he had begun taking huge breaths.

Pathetic excuse. Xaldin rolled his eyes and huffed, "Then why did you start a fire?"

"I didn't! I woke up to the fire alarm, I promise! The smoke was coming from the kitchen, so I tried to put it out, but then the sprinklers kicked on and—Please, you've got to believe me!" His eyes widened, brimming with tears.

Xaldin scoffed. That trick that would have no effect upon him. He grabbed the musician by the ear and walked him to the kitchen. "Well, now you get to clean up the mess." He smirked at the sound of Demyx's whining.

~\*/~

Saïx's eyes opened slowly. Wait. How…? The last thing he remembered was sitting on the bed to fasten his boots. Then how was it that he lay sprawled across the bed once more? Had he fallen asleep again?

This was not good. He gazed out the window. Based on the size of Kingdom Hearts and the relative lightness of the sky, it seemed to be hours later than he usually awakened.

Saïx shuffled toward the door, face flushed with embarrassment over the weakness his body displayed. What will Lord Xemnas think? The thought came to him unbidden. I can never gain his trust if I fail like this. Leaning against the wall to hold himself steady, Saïx grabbed a tissue and blew his nose.

~\*/~

Laughing, Tidus tossed the Blitzball at Selphie, who bopped it back.

"Hey, no fair!" Wakka called. "How can you have a match without me, man?" Behind him, a massive wave rose into the air.

Tidus winked and opened his mouth to answer… and promptly swallowed sea water.

"Tidus!" Selphie ran to grab their friend.

Wakka grabbed Tidus's other arm and dragged him to the top of the shack.

The waves rose far higher up the beach than ever before and beat more strongly against the sand. And then, as suddenly as it had started, the water retreated to its normal level.

After spitting out water, sand, and seaweed, Tidus gasped for breath. When at last he thought he was back to normal, he breathed, "Well, that was… different."

~\*/~

Axel stood slowly, wincing as the blood returned to his feet. Xion and Roxas stood by him on either side, ready to help in case he collapsed. Not that they were hefty enough to manage him all on their own. He'd have been surprised if Saïx actually had let them go to Arendelle to bring him back to the castle. They'd have needed a third partner, someone taller. Maybe they would've convinced the easygoing Demyx to join them, or someone strong like Lexaeus…

He shook his head to dispel the distracting thoughts. A wave of dizziness hit him. He grabbed onto the shoulders of his small ones and took a breath, willing the world to stop spinning.

"I guess we should get you to Vexen," Roxas said, a serious look on his face.

"Yes! We don't want you to get worse," Xion chimed in. "Maybe he can help?"

Axel shrugged. "I guess so." To be honest, he wasn't quite up to seeing the cold-hearted scientist. But if it made Roxas and Xion worry less—and wasn't that a feat, to worry without a heart?—then he'd do it… for them.

But if Vexen wanted to do more than examine him, the answer was a flat-out no.

~\*/~

Heaving a heavy sigh, Demyx returned to a sitting position. He hated cleaning. It was so boring. Why didn't Xaldin believe me? He chucked his dirty rag into the bucket and ran a hand through his hair. "Ugh." A drop of water fell from the ceiling and landed on his nose.

He paused, then, eyes flickering with the beginnings of an idea. Why hadn't he thought of this before? He summoned Sasha with a flourish and checked to make sure it was in tune. What's the best way to clean something that's waterlogged? he thought with a grin. Use more water! With his sitar now perfectly in tune, Demyx began to strum a happy song. Since all water was at his command, couldn't he just make the water around him come out of the ceiling? He hummed softly, closing his eyes and bopping his head with the music.

The sound of water gathering made him smile. If Xaldin didn't kill him first, he'd like to spend his next mission in that new world he'd heard about, the one with all the fish and fish-people.

Once he could no longer pull water from the room, Demyx opened his eyes to see a large, floating orb of water. He grinned and sent it through the drain in the sink. He gazed sadly at his sitar before dismissing it, whispering, "Thanks. You really saved my butt."

His eyes surveyed the (kind of) clean room. All it really needed was a new table and for those pots and… weird cooking bottle-things to go back to their home. He swept them up into his hand and opened a cabinet. As he put them away, he mumbled, "Hmm… Oregano, cassia cinnamon, mint—Oh1 I know what that one is!—nutmeg, coriander…" One by one, he shoved them into the cabinet, taking care to set them upright so they wouldn't fall off the shelf.

He left the pot in the sink. He wasn't the reason that it was there, and he'd already cleaned the rest of the kitchen, anyway. With a yawn, Demyx turned off the light and left the room.

Being awoken so rudely by Xaldin had shaken him. For a moment, he'd been positive that the fridge-freezer goblin had a face, and that it was yelling at him. But that was just a dream, and he was fine. It had still taken him a while to calm his beating heart before he had understood what the larger man had been saying.

He hated it when people were upset at him. And yet, it was something that seemed to happen so often. Demyx shrugged, rubbing the spot where his heart was (or wasn't, according to the Organization). That's life. He'd just have to get over it like usual, let it roll over him like water.

But for now, his bed was calling. Who was he to refuse?

~\*/~

There's something different about Saïx, Vexen mused. He noted the stiffness in the other man's posture, the unnatural paleness of his skin, and his hesitance to speak. What could be the matter…?

"I wonder… if you could examine me," Saïx said.

And there was the missing piece to the puzzle. Saïx's voice was much deeper than usual, and he seemed rather congested. Unless I miss my guess, he's contracted the illness as well. Vexen's eyes glittered with mischief. This should make him more willing to agree. "I suppose that can be arranged. However, I will need some free time to examine all our members. I'll need to see just how many of them are ill and to what extent. It would also be beneficial for those who have become infected to take a temporary leave of absence from missions, lest they prolong the illness and cause their bodies to heal more slowly."

Saïx pondered this for a moment, then nodded. "Will two days be sufficient?"

Hey! I'm back! :D

This has been written since, like, Friday, but my brain was fried, and then life got in the way. I got the chance to reread and edit the chapter today, and now I think it's good! :3 Enjoy! (Also, the email system still isn't working for me... So if you reviewed and I haven't responded yet, please know that I'll be on that as soon as I can.)

Soli Deo gloria!

~LHDD