We Do Too Have Hearts

Saint Valentine's Day. noun. A holiday in remembrance of Saint Valentine, February 14th, celebrated by sending cards or similar tokens of love.

Sanctuary, that was what one would call the vast library of The Castle That Never Was, or rather, in shorter terms like Xigbar called it, Castle Neverwas. Sora, the keybearer, was of no importance as of now, seeing as they have not yet searched for the perfect place to draw him to. However, no one knew what this 'master' plan was that Xemnas kept talking about. Frankly, he droned on and on about it in every meeting, which was held every other day, simply because of the amounts of missions they had been doing lately, and hadn't revealed a clue, only that the keybearer was needed to get their hearts backs. Of course, if one little scientist had not been so obsessed with his experiments that he would be nudged into persuading their master, who he was extremely close to, like a father son relationship, into letting them build an underground lab, then they would not be missing their hearts in the first place. This thought briefly entered a lone figure's mind before it was harshly and coldly dismissed, one dark blue eye twitching from beneath long bangs of chrome blue.

A neutral frown was on this male's face, eyes, though the one that twitched was hidden beneath the bangs, scanning the sentences of a rather large book, one that was sort of tattered, the binding loose, pages yellowing, an obvious old Latin book, one that no one would have been able to read, that is, except the multilingual Cloaked Schemer, Zexion. He blended into the library quite nicely even with a black cloak on. The heavy book was balanced easily on his lap, the weight too much to be logically held in his hands. The only problem was that his neck was starting to throb with strain from looking down. Sighing lightly, he brushed his bangs away so he could see better, having been reading since eating breakfast. Missions were canceled for today, all because of one event. An event that he still wondered why they even celebrated.

Saint Valentine's Day.

The main symbol for such an occasion was a heart, something that they themselves did not possess. Eyes narrowed slightly, pausing at the end of the page he was currently reading. Why was the Superior actually allowing them to do this? It's been two years and he had to go through two of these vile holidays, all the time protecting the library, and his room, from being defiled. But this year, Xemnas had ordered him to help keep the rest of the organization from trashing his office and room with big hearts and candy chocolate. Though he allowed them to celebrate the holiday, it seemed as if the Superior didn't enjoy it like Zexion himself. He had put up an illusion around the rooms and caused anyone to see their worst nightmare come true, all except VII or I himself. At least it wasn't as bad as Xigbar and Xaldin, paired with Demyx and Axel, running around as leprechauns on Saint Patrick's Day and committing all sorts of mischief, which led to an incident concerning Saix's clothes missing and him showing up in Xemnas' closet all tied up. He sighed, dropping his head into his free hand, covering his hidden eye, both of them closing.

"Quare mihi?"

His eyes opened when a scent flooded his over-sensitive nose. Ashes and new embers. Oh Kingdom Hearts no! Pupils thinned to slits as he refused to look up. The pyromaniac wouldn't dare to try to show his face in the library after he tried to use some of his precious books as fuel for a bon fire. How dare he?

"VIII, if you so much as put a paper heart on a bookshelf, I will suck you into my Lexicon and you will rot there." He said in a deathly calm voice, devoid of any and all emotion. The only other nobody who could truly beat him when displaying any emotions, other than Xemnas, was the resident berserker. The said pyro froze as he was an inch away from the doorway, looking at him over a pile of Valentine decorations. He sheepishly smiled, unnerved since the book wielder was not looking at him. He only had a few seconds before the book would app-

SNAP!

The Lexicon appeared without warning, or the few seconds he could have used to escape, and he let out a yell before he was absorbed into the void that he was pulled into. The Lexicon floated over to VI and he finally looked up, reaching up to take the book in his hands and opening it. There, surrounded by hearts, confetti, and chains of the words 'I love you', was the Flurry of Dancing Flames himself. He resisted a flinch at the sight of the decorations. Calling up a floor portal, absentmindedly watching the black, blue, and purple strands of darkness swirl up, he looked back at his weapon. Shrugging, he held it upside down and shook it, causing decorations to start falling from the pages, but no Number VIII came falling out. No, he would keep him there, even as smoke floated away from the pages. Once the pages were clean of the horrid things, he placed the book next to him so he could resume reading.

Scents came and went as he read the next forty pages, being a very fast reader, able to intake knowledge quickly and efficiently. Saix had walked by on his way to find the Superior, carrying chocolate from the scent of it. A small explosion was heard from Vexen's lab, where he and Lexaeus were experimenting on something, trying to avoid the others and this very holiday. Axel was out of the picture and in a book, Xemnas was on the Alter of Naught looking up at Kingdom Hearts, Xaldin was cooking and trying to maim anyone who tried to come near the food, like say, Xigbar for example. Marluxia, Larxene, and Demyx were nowhere to be found, which was odd. Frowning, he thought of the water wielder, knowing that he rather enjoyed this holiday, the theme being hearts, while the Graceful Assassin loved it because of the pink color and the fact that he could decorate the place with flowers.

When one scent suddenly disappeared and he heard the opening of a portal, he knew immediately who it was. Why did he have to be bothered more than once this day? Could he not have any peace in quiet in his personal sanctuary? Other than his own room that is. His head turning so he could glare at the offending person who was standing on the ceiling, upside down, that had captured his attention, he said two words loudly, a slight underlying coat of venom in his voice, breaking the stoic tone he had before.

"Sicco! Aussteigen!"

The Freeshooter blinked, not understanding what tongue, or tongues, the bibliophile being known for suddenly switching languages more than once in a sentence when irritated. But only Vexen would have known what he had said... Or would he? He had a clueless look on his face. His ponytail swung side to side like a pendulum as he tilted his head, his guns out and the arrows he fired covered with heart shaped tips, like that of a cupid. Behind him, cute white fluffy wings were attached to his cloak and a halo stuck on his head, a little lopsided as it was and threatening to fall off.

"Um... Dude, English please?" he asked, grinning like he always did. He did have one arrowgun pointed to the bookworm, but he waited for an answer first.

"I said, II, Get. Out." The venom was once again gone, replaced with indifference, but the threat of being sucked into the book next to him, which looked odd because smoke was billowing out of it, still loomed over his head like a death wish.

"Otherwise you will end up like Axel and be trapped within my book."

Oh there we go; another threat.

"Point taken..." Xigbar muttered. He weighed his options. Shoot the kid and be sucked into the book, and possibly have to deal with Axel for however long until they were both released, or be able to still run around the castle shooting people, like the X on Saix's face... Yup, that idea was better, as long as he was not ripped to shreds in the process. Nodding, he saluted the bluette and vanished back into a portal, a mischievous smirk on his lips.

Zexion's nose twitched, sampling the air with a small sniff to make sure that the annoying gunner was gone. Satisfied that he was off to try and torment the berserker, he then paused. Knowing he owed the seventh member a favor, he summoned a Creeper, rather than a Dusk so that Saix would know it was from him, and gave it a message to tell him about the wayward 'cupid of love'. He watched the tiny Nobody vanish, knowing it would promptly deliver the message.

Now if only the book lover could get some peace and not have to deal with all of this craziness and love fest. He didn't react when there was an animalistic roar as Saix apparently dodged the cupid 'arrow'. A yell of "OH SHIT!" echoed throughout the castle and a loud crash followed, followed by warping and clangs of weapons. The sixth member knew that there would be repairs that must be made after today. As though he sensed something was going to happen, he suddenly cloaked the library so it looked like one would be in a horror book or movie, blood dripping down the walls and coating the books, with slime slathered on the ground and the candles casting a small light around the library, causing it to be quite dark. He knew that it was not as it seemed however, but it would 'amuse' him to see the reaction of the next pathetic member to rear their head near the massive library.

Ocean and sea salt. The scent of large waves crashing against the all too defenseless sandy shores of the forgotten and lonely beach, clawing desperately at the particles of dirt and sand only to drag back a few particles in their embrace. Their repeated race toward the land was as repetitive like the circle of life, living and dying.

Well that was quite unexpected, especially since he rambled in his head about the nobody's scent. He turned his eyes towards the entrance. Demyx, the Melodious Nocturne. He knew that this illusion would be quite cruel for the water lover to experience, but he leaned back in the couch, his non-hidden locked onto the massive doorway to see what would happen. Could he deal with it?

A loud creaking noise was heard throughout the library and a blonde head poked in, accompanied with the strangest hairstyle cross between a mullet and Mohawk. A nervous look appeared on his normally happy face, chewing on his lower lips when he saw how strange the library looked. He knew it didn't look like this before... Did it?

"Uh, Zexy?" Demyx asked, tapping his fingers on the doorknob as he inched in a bit more. He knew the Schemer was not in his room, so this would be the only place that the reclusive illusionist would go to escape from everything, and everyone. His domain. A dark stain caught his eye on the closest bookshelf and frowned, creeping closer as he let the door ease shut. The creak that followed made him jump and he looked back at the door, the light from the hallway disappearing as it shut with a click. Wincing at the sound that echoed afterwards, he returned his stare to the bookshelf, examining the wood and inching closer, trying to decipher what it was. When a single thought pulled itself into existence, he let out a small shriek of fright, leaping away and huddling against the door, clinging to the doorknob, shaking.

"Zeeeeexxyyyy! Come on, it's not Halloween! Stop trying to scare me. Why would you want to scare poor little me away?"

The tone was heavy with a pout and frightened enough that Zexion couldn't stop a chuckle from tumbling off his now smiling lips. How odd, the schemer always thought, that the musician could bring these ghosts of the emotions into existence. The soft sound reached Demyx's ears and he blinked, his mouth opening before he felt something on his fingers. Yelping, he jerked his hands away from the spider-webbed knob, complete with a big spider, one with a red hour glass marking on its thorax. He scrambled away from the door, wiping his hands on his cloak frantically to get rid of the sticky strands.

"Eeeewww! Come on Zex! I know you're in here! I heard your chuckle." He folded his arms and pouted, glaring around to find out where he would be, then he suddenly smacked his forehead. Of course, Zexion would be on the couch he always was in. Turning, he quickly walked to the area where the couch, armchairs, and the few tables were. He cringed, seeing blood and spider webs everywhere.

Zexion was calmly sitting there, dark eyes hinted with amusement as he moved the heavy book off his lap and to the side next to his Lexicon, watching his lover. The blond held out his hand and walked towards the couch where he saw an indention formed in one of the seats.

Success.

Smiling triumphantly, the nocturne lowered his hand onto Zexion's shoulder, after failing twice when he tried to find his shoulder. A smirk on the schemer's lips appeared as he appeared into his own illusion, almost a darkened shadow lit by candlelight. His eyes were locked onto Demyx's.

"I'm surprised that you were able to not freak out too much." Zexion said in a proud voice, raising a hand to cup Demyx's cheek, who blushed and mumbled something under his breath as he pouted, crossing his arms over his chest and hunching over. That rare smile lit up his face, having trouble keeping back yet another chuckle.

"Stop pouting... No, Demyx, do not give me the p-"

Too late.

The Puppy Dog Eyes of Doom, Demyx Style.

The illusionist sighed and leaned further back against the couch, raising a delicate eyebrow.

"Alright, I'll drop the illusion, but to everyone else, it will be the same." he relented, seeing a grateful expression on Demyx's face. He swore by his missing Heart that Demyx could fool almost anyone with it. The water loving Nobody then plopped down onto Zexion's lap quite heavily, hugging him tightly.

"Zexy, why are you once again hiding in this library on Valentine's Day?" he asked, the pout reappearing. Zexion resisted the temptation to pinch the bridge of his nose. Must he explain it each Valentine holiday? Dear Kingdom Hearts. He had long given up on trying stopping Demyx from using nicknames.

"I've told you before, Dem, that it's too tied to emotions, something that we do not possess, all because of the fact that we have no hearts."

A simple classic explanation from the book nerd.

"But... then explain how I love you. Love is an emotion!"

A natural argument from the sitar player.

"Once again, Demyx, I have told you this. These so called 'emotions' that we feel are actually ghosts, remnants of those that we have lost. We act on how we remember how certain emotions had felt like before. We harbor no hearts for the true feelings of them to be felt."

Again and again the same definition, the same answer.

Demyx sighed, leaning on Zexion's shoulder, admitting defeat. But as quick as he had, he turned so he was straddling his seme, who blinked when he saw the taller one's grin. What was he planning now? The remnants of curiosity filled him and he sent a glance to IX and silently told him what he was planning.

"Oh we do too have hearts."

With that said, Demyx produced a life sized paper heart from a pocket and placed it on Zexion's chest, smiling as he did the same to himself.

"I have your heart, and you have mine."

The smaller nobody did not know what to say, looking down at the lifeless paper, then a true smile came to his lips. With no words left to say, he gripped the back of IX's neck and pulled him down to steal a passionate kiss. Though he may not have a heart yet, he still could act upon these feelings of love for the ninth member. And maybe someday, when he had his own heart, he could truly give it to Demyx.