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Jesus, what a ******** mess. Saix didn't know what to say to her to make her see it in a different light. "Look, it's not about her. Xaldin explained that the reason her and Don died is probably because you and this Don are actually them, just...better, smarter versions. It's hard for myself to say that because losing someone you've been married to and have liked for a long time does make it...harder to believe that they'll just reincarnate with a different personality and different morals. Cut me some slack. It's unfair that you girls are tied into our mess, but we appreciate that you're being helpful." He hesitated. "And I'd appreciate it if you stuck with me and helped, and hopefully our hardly mutual friendship can get better." He didn't need the kids seeing them fight.

Right. It was weird how whenever those two got together, one always hated the other. Somehow. Someway. It just worked that way. And when they were separate they wanted each other. What the hell. "Come on, dinner's ready...the kids will want you."


Don smirked at Veziell and she pulled him into a hug, kissing him on the cheek loudly. "You should show me how big boys eat! If you eat like a big boy, I'll let you have some dessert, how's that sound?" She pet back his hair to see his beautiful eyes.


Angeal looked at Atheta and Anzio. "Sorry, things have been kind of crazy, dad forgets these things." Dad. What a title. Though, when the serious subject turned up he noticed all the big eyes that were absorbing all of them in. "He's right...some bad things happened last night....and a lot of our group got hurt. But they wanted to make sure that the rest of you stayed safe, so...even if they're gone, we should be proud that they sacrificed themselves for our chance to live."

Vilt poked at his food before looking up, "Is that why Xemnas tried to kill himself?"

Roxas almost choked. The kids all stared, not sure what he meant by that. "Dude, not in front of the kids."

Sephiroth fed Rathe and noticed how Davien was poking at his food, crying into it but so silently that no one even noticed. He wondered how they'd even explain that to the kids.

Darkness sucked on his spoon before pulling it out of his mouth and looked at the adults before him. "What's it mean to...kill yourself?"

Larxene popped in to save everyone from explaining. "It's when you hurt yourself very badly. It's something you don't want to do, because it upsets a lot of people."

Ixas set her cup down, "Why'd uncle Xemnas do it, then?"

"He wasn't feeling very well, and sometimes when you're not feeling well you do things you don't mean to do. And Xemnas hurt himself because of that."

"Is...he gonna be okay?"

Asi nodded, "He'll get better, he just needs to rest to help his...sickness."

Saix glanced at Don blaming her. "Don's the one who makes dessert..."

Don was surprised at how she was pinned. Oh s**t. She stood up, "Well let me see what's...around..." she spotted the cake that had one piece missing. She smiled, "Cake! We're having cake."

ALL of Saix's kids gave the most DIGUSTED look at her like she was a moron. "I don't like cake."

Don laughed nervously, "Well then you can have..." she searched around and opened up the freezer and then the fridge. She spotted something and pulled it out. Haha. Seemed the other Don was well-prepared. "Pie."

Darkness held onto his mom, but leaned foward cautiously, "What kind? What kind?"

Don stared at it, not exactly sure what it was. Looked ******** delicious though. A bit artsy. She probably didn't make it. She didn't normally make funny looking things. "Um....it's...a mystery! And you all get to guess!"

Ixas finished up her food as well. "May we have it now, pleeeeease?"

Don nodded, "Totally, dude." She hesitated. Just called a little girl a dude. Eh whatever. She sliced it up and handed out pieces on clean plates for all the kids. She turned to Rathe and stared at him. A 1 year old. Hmm. "Maybe just a few smooth chunks?" She suggested to Sephiroth. "You could eat the rest."

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow at her, "What makes you think I want your pie."

Angeal had to comment, "What's this? Sephiroth turning down food? That's unheard of."

Don smirked, "Yeah, Sephiroth. Afraid of eating my pie? Afraid that little ol Donny's gonna getchya with some piiie?" She had said it with a little accent, as if mocking him or something.

Sephiroth wasn't sure why she was picking on him, of all people. "You didn't even ask anyone else. Why me?"

"Because Rathe's your squirt. And if someone else said no, they would have been like 'no thank you, Don' not 'o-m-g, why would I want your pie?'" She was giggling about the ordeal and sliced off an end and stuck it on a plate. "There. Just a tiny, itsy little bit for Rathe since you don't want it." She was just joking around, hoping to light some humor into people even with such grim problems going on.

Saix was glad Don had taken the bunt of it, and finding dessert so easily. Maybe she had known she made food all the time? Then again, he had forgotten who made dessert. Whatever, not like it mattered. But he was surprised at how Death had tried to back it on him. Almost...cynically, too. He wanted things to go over WELL and he felt like she was going out of her way to make his life miserable.

Once the kids were done eating Saix decided to let them run about outside for a bit. It was spring and they had a nice, big backyard. Very scenic and beautiful. And the kids were ALL over the place. That pie was jacked up with sugar or something.


Xemnas could hear it then. The laughter and giggling, screaming happiness of...children. He stared at his window, that blasted thing that was wide open as he had left it from his plunge. Their hysterical cries were ascending up to him. Mocking him. He wished to move and close it. Longed for silence. But what would be worse? Asking for Xaldin to close it, to show that he wanted to shut himself away? Or...just lying there and showing he was suffering from their giggling laughter?

He opted for his first option, as he didn't want to hear the laughter more then he had to. "Shut the window, please," he remarked softly, like a dying man's last wishes.


Darkness felt hands plop against his back and he fell down. He glared at Ixas. "Not fair! I wasn't ready!"

"It's not hard, Darkness, you just gotta chase people! Come on! Try and tag us!" Ixas moved off as the boy scrambled up to try and get one of the others.

Davien sat on the porch and watched quietly. His eyes stole a glance toward Xemnas's window. He felt the pinned up sadness clog his throat. He drearily looked back at the grass before him.

Saix sat down next to Davien and put his arm around the boy, giving him support and comfort. "Hey, Davien. I know what you saw was pretty upsetting...it'd shock anyone...but I want you to know that I'm proud of you for taking it so well so far. You're probably wondering a lot of things....why he did it...what made him go that far.... You might blame yourself. But you shouldn't. Xemnas wouldn't want you to think that."

The boy nodded slowly to show he understood, but he kept relatively quiet and to himself. Too timid to speak up, too shy to share.

"When Xemnas is feeling a bit better....would you like to talk to him to see if he's okay?" To at least push back Davien's fears of it being his fault.

The boy gently nodded again.


Don, once dishes were being washed and the table cleaned up, wondered what all she would say to the boys. Well, might as well be blunt, she was good at that.

Don looked at the two for awhile. Her thoughts exploded and died as soon as she saw them. Right. Just think it through, things will come together eventually...

She smiled and then dropped the smile and moved her hands a bit to express what she was feeling. "Okay, I'm getting funky vibes from you guys. You see, I dated you once, kind of by force, and we never liked each other before, and things were really weird and crappy. And I'm getting this feeling that you really like me now, which is bad, because I don't want to be the one that gets all the blame and crap for being a monstrous whore or something," she remarked to Genesis. Her eyes turned to Zexion, "And I know you're playing it pretty cool and such and doing your best to make this all work, but I'm still a bit hurt about the whole breakup thing we had, and I still feel like a jerk for going with 06 and making you upset. And you know, from both of you no matter what I choose, even though I don't even really have a choice, I'm still being a jerk to someone. And really, I guess being a jerk is okay, but in this sense it puts all the blame and hate and crap on the girl. And that's just...shitty. Because last thing I want to think about is 'wooho I have a family, oh look, the guy I was with is really upset and depressed. Great.'" She hesitated. "Basically, if you make me feel bad and guilty something bad's gonna happen. I mean, that's one reason why girls that are 4 months pregnant fall down stairs. Not that I'm saying I'd do that. But seriously. Girls get really emotional about this stuff. And as much as I like to play myself up, I feel bad all the time about things I do."

Don cracked her fingers and held her hands behind her back. "So I think if um...you know, you want to say something emotionally charged then do it now. Because I feel like I can handle someone breaking down and telling me how they feel NOW rather than a few months from now." She hoped that if Genesis did break down he'd at least tell her now, and that way they'd at least figure out about Adonia as well. Maybe they'd fine a way that Genesis could be a bit more involved? Nanny? Awesome Uncle? Butler?


Sephiroth finally came outside and set Rathe down into the grass, watching the boy look and feel the natural world for the first time. It was a beautiful sight. It drew such memories for himself as well. Being an orphan, at least shut up in Shinra's Headquarters was depressing, and the plate that Midgar sat upon wasn't filled with flowers or anything. The place was gloomy, just as gloomy as the Slums beneath.

He remembered reading books about the great wonderful world of many landscapes, and finally begging enough people to take him on a trip to actually see it.

Sephiroth took a seat as well, eyes watching the boy like a hawk.

Vilt came over and put his arms on Sephiroth's shoulder pads, curving his back so he could stare at Sephiroth, though upside down. "Hey dad, if I made an explosive, would you let me try it out?

"Depends on how big it is."

Vilt thought it over before smiling, "Not...toooo big?"

"You're going to hurt yourself, I can already tell."

"I thought that was the point of making things that blow up?"

"Not...necessarily, no. Besides, you don't have any materials to make explosives."

Vilt thought it over, still in his weird position. "Well it...looks like it could explode if you set it on fire..." He pulled back and leap frogged over Sephiroth. He was going to leave but he whipped around and grabbed Sephiroth's arms, shaking him slightly. "DUDE can we make a tree fort with a tire swing? Think of how cool it'd be to hide stuff in there!"

Hooooly s**t. "I...have never made a fort before."

Vilt shrugged, "Slap boards together, how hard could it be?"

Davien listened to his friend and he stared at him, finally coming out of his shell slightly. He felt, somehow, more relaxed around Vilt. "Y-You...need wood for that..."

Vilt nodded, "Yeah you get that from trees. And we've got lots of those. And Marluxia can clap his hands and more will appear."

"Whose...going to build it?"

"We can, duh."

Davien took a deep breath, venturing forth the effort to talk more, making it almost hard for himself just to have a normal conversation. "R-Remember....the last time you had a hammer...in your grasps?"

Vilt seriously analyzed the last time he ever held a hammer. "I'm drawing a blank here..."

"You smashed your thumb...then you reeled back and hit yourself in the head because you jerked back too quickly."

Vilt stared and then shook his head, "Yeah I'm not recalling that..."

Oh god. IQ dropping. Okay. It's all right. Vilt would eventually get smarter. "You know, if you really want that fort you should read a lot of books on how to make them, and carpentry and everything. If you learn the proper way, you can take those skills and apply them to other things as well. Who knows, perhaps you'll like building things?"

Vilt set his eyes back on his dad and then he laughed, "That's a good joke. We all know that men don't need instructions. That's such a woman thing." He saw the look on Sephiroth's face. "What? Angeal told me that..."

Saix spoke up, "Yeah well...we all read the instructions carefully. Even Angeal. He was just joking around." He was assuming this was the old Angeal back when they were bachelors. "Go look in the library upstairs. It's filled with things that could help you."

Vilt wondered why Angeal would joke about that... Oh well. Better please these guys. "Okay!" He went to the door and met Asi coming out. "Hey good-looking."

Asi clicked his tongue, winked, and pointed at Vilt, "Hey gorgeous." He noticed Ixas was already playing and he sat down with the others. Aaah...could totally go tanning.

Sephiroth saw the interaction between those two and wondered if Vilt was dumb because of ASI. Oh god.


Marluxia sat in his room thinking of what all he'd have to do as a single parent. Things had never gotten this badly. He always had someone...

What to do....

Don was surprised at their reactions. And Genesis, punching her arm. Well, it felt like he was doing fine. Probably just joyful he got to ******** a girl and get away scot-free. She stared at Zexion as he explained his feelings and a smile came to her face. "No, we were like..friends. Or mutually acquainted people that accidentally fell onto each other naked for one time to produce a child." She laughed a little bit, "I was totally expecting a shitfest of tears, but I guess if our roles were reversed it would have made more sense for waterworks to appear." She sighed, glad that it was over just like that. She pulled Zexion's hand from her chin and laced her fingers into his. "So. Wife, eh? Doesn't that mean getting marrrried?" She pulled him closer and put her arms around his waist. "Could...do a cute little ceremony in the backyard. Just dress nicely and have a picnic. Let the kids run wild. Nothing fancy. I'm tired of fancy." She felt so good. Thinking things could just...repair and be fixed. They were hurt, but she wanted to make things better. If she could make him happy, she'd be happy. It was like 06's philosophy. She felt like she needed to repay him. "I think a happy ending is what everyone wants to see for us."


Marluxia glanced over at her and nodded, "Truthfully, I'm pained to hear it, but it's not the first time that something like this has happened. In the past, I always fought, and I know I can't do that now. His kids need the most support. He has so many, and they really do need to be looked after by two parents. Seeing him after...his wife's death was pretty heartbreaking. He can be a single dad, but he blossoms when he's not." Marluxia leaned back into the pillows of his bed. "He's right about Evante as well. the boy loved me to death. I need to take extra precautions so as not to hurt him as I did last time. And even though I'm not overly experienced in being a single father, I know I can pull through." He turned his eyes to her. "I mostly feel bad that it seems I have to use you to get Evante, and that you won't even get to be...that attached to him. But we all live in the same house...at least he's within arm's reach."

He sat up now and turned to face her. "And...you might find it hard to accept Saix, he is a rather...interesting brute. But I think, over time as you get to know him, you won't find him all that bad. At least he isn't an ape like some of the other men. Just think about how most of these children came around. They grabbed a girl and forced it on her. Saix knows how to hold his hormones in check. So if you really just find him as a friend more than anything else, you will never need to worry."


Oh, but Xaldin did not know what he felt. Two children. Two was more than one. And Xaldin was allowed to raise Ixas for an entire lifetime. He, on the other hand, had failed miserably over and over. What was wrong with him?

And his kids had been warped so many times. They resented his being, his decisions, his failure. And he was so close to having them forever. He did, in fact, have them forever. Then Darkness betrayed him, wiped them from the very arm's he had wanted them to be in, and was reduced to seeing his life all over again. Except this time, he was told to butt out, to get away, to be ridden of presence of his kids. He was like a mutt easily scared off with a few harsh words and a good blow to the skull.

But if only he did get the blow to the skull, how much it'd feel good, to be dead....

Instead he shot his leg and broke himself in so many places. Like a shattered heart, the one he carried within his chest.

Oh Xaldin, how he knew nothing of his pain. He acted bitter, but being bitter just showed anger, not sadness. It was jealousy, not pain. Xaldin was still an uncle, one who could interact and feel great to be around. He was a cheerful, boastful man. Asi could learn from him, use him, make it work.

Xemnas couldn't do that. Saix was skilled with kids, it was like a craft he was naturally born with. He never blundered, he made everything better when it wasn't, and somehow all the kids adored him. Who needed a louse like Xemnas around when Saix was the greatest thing? No child would even give an uncle or biological father a second glance if he could not compare to their parent.

And so...he'd wallow in that shadow. Forever. Davien would forget he ever had Xemnas in his life. Eseril wouldn't give him a second glance. He'd be like an old photograph on the wall. It had been there for so long that when you walked by you needn't even glance. You knew it was there, but it meant nothing and had nothing new to say.

Marluxia looked at her and shook his head. "No...I think that's where you're mistaken. Though it may seem he only loves his wife, and it may feel like that for a long time, there is a difference between you and her. You have to show him that difference. You need to make it obvious, to brandish it, to let him know that you're not going to take the role of a woman who suffered. Look at Don and Zexion. Zexion realized the difference was so apparent he had broken up with her because he did not want to blind himself anymore than he had. And now they'll be together, because he realized he was a fool for relying on his memories to reappear before him. He found out that though Don looks the same, this one actually loved him and enjoyed him far more than the other one." Marluxia gently brushed his fingers through his hair. "Just trust me. I didn't love you for who you were replacing. Saix won't do the same."


Don saw Veziell and she picked him up, "You silly billy, I'd never do that. I'd at least say goodbye first, but I'd always come back for you." She kissed both sides of his cheeks and rocked him, "Now...let's see..." she wiped away his tears, "Where's my little boy? Show me your big smile," she tickled him, "There's no reason to cry, we've gotta be happy!"

Sephiroth watched Don for a minute. Didn't she hate kids? Whatever, not his problem. But he had noticed how Zexion and her seemed rather close. Perhaps Don was fine with the arrangements? It made him wonder how Genesis was doing. His eyes returned to Rathe and the boy was picking up flowers.

He came back over with a whole bouquet of flowers for Sephiroth.

"Why thank you," Sephiroth remarked. First time he had ever gotten flowers. Except that one time Genesis and Angeal were pranking him, trying to make him think he had some super freaky stalker. "They're very nice."

Vilt burst from the window at the top and looked down at them. "Hey! Is carpentry spelled with a C or a K?"

Don craned her head up to stare at him. "A 'C'."

Vilt heard it as 'asi' though. "What about Asi?"

"That's...how it's spelled?" Since Don didn't get his blunder.

"It's spelled Asi?"

Don frowned, "What?" She sighed, "C-A-R-P--"

Vilt nodded, "Oooooh okay. I get it. I thought you were talking about Asi. The guy."

Asi smirked. He would think that.

Don shook her head, "No, you're retarded."

Vilt laughed, "No, you're retarded, you need to learn how to pronounce things right."

Don stood her ground, "Well you know what? You're the dumb one since you didn't know how to spell!"

Vilt tried to think about a comeback and couldn't think of one. So he resorted to the easiest insult. "Well your mom!"

Don sighed, "Well your DAD." She saw Sephiroth glare at her. "Is down here, and he's listening to you insult me, so guess what, mister, you're gonna get a thrashing."

Vilt laughed, "Not unless I learn kung fu! To the books!" He left. Don stared at the missing presence from the window before she stared at the others.

"You know...I just got a really freakity flashback to Iowa. Swear to God, my friends are just like that. Except more swearing his involved, and it's a lot more sarcastic."

"If you talked to him like he was normal he probably wouldn't act that way."

Asi shrugged, "He seems fine to me, he just acts stupid to get out of trouble easier." A few eyes landed on him. "What? You didn't see through that? He's a good actor."

Sephiroth didn't know if he should believe him or think that Asi was trying to sound intelligent for once. He didn't like either thought. "Well, he's getting quite the attention. Don, you, and children. Quite the excellent crowd."

Don smirked and slapped Sephiroth's arm, then quickly retracted in case he went to punch her. Holding baby, she had a safeguard. "Dude. It's a code. I'm smart but sometimes it's funny to be so goofy that you're just dumb. See, you're so strict no one likes you. But that's okay, we'll accept that you don't have a life."

Sephiroth shook his head, "Of course, if only I had acted stupid throughout my life would I have benefitted so greatly. I wonder why my paycheck is better than yours."

Saix thought it over, "I wonder why you people fight so much."

Don shook her head, "It's not fighting, it's bickering. When you bicker you make people feel great. See? Sephiroth clearly is feeling the love." She pointed at him, though he looked far from amused. "Sorry, it's just so nice to talk to people after that whole...p-o-i-s-o-n perdicament." She kissed Veziell's cheek again. "Praise Jeebus."

She sat down finally and watched as Rathe left Sephiroth to take a look at her. "Hello, Rathe, how are you today?"

Rathe stared at her and then at Sephiroth and then back to her. He finally said "Hi" but not much else. He stumbled around some more before making his way back to Sephiroth, grasping the man's legs for support.


Xemnas heard the page turn of Xaldin's book and he winced slightly. Oh...such betrayal. He hated books. How even writing his own life or his own plans down were scattered and revealed to show that he was a terrible man out to do terrible things. He never thought of it that way. And yet, books revealed things about people that even a writer didn't even know about.

He wished to be in someone else's presence, because he hated that sound. Each page flipping. Just like the years of his life. Just wasting away into oblivion.

"Who...is next on the shift?" Xemnas asked, knowing that someone would be forced to stay around him, regard him with 'care,' try to make him feel better or to give him advice. It'd all be the same from everyone. A pitiful hell of downcasting their eyes on him and telling him about their perfect little lives seeing if their stupidity could make him happier.

Oh..what a misery to be alive right now. So bedridden he couldn't escape their undeniable badgering, hoping that spitting out their guts to him would make his life better, or somehow change his mind.

He wasn't made to receive compassion, let alone love.

Marluxia was glad that he lifted her spirits a bit. "Of course, we don't have to avoid each other like the plague. Though, remember Evante mustn't think you're his mother. That could vex his mind with thinking he was...abandoned or something." Marluxia looked at the time and realized that they were only an hour away from...getting busy. "It's almost nighttime," he remarked, as if to bring it up.


Saix thought about the things that Death might be doing, and remembered Marluxia. "Actually, I think she might be busy watching over...Xemnas tonight. Perhaps tomorrow? But I can still read you kids a story. Perhaps not as well, but I'll do my best without her."

Darkness came over as well and stared at Eseril. Guh. Hogging up the parent. He rubbed at his eye, "Where's momma?"

"She's busy tidying up things." He rose up and grabbed Eseril's hand. "How's about we go inside for now? All of you kids look tired. We can get you washed up and ready for bed."

Darkness thought about it and he grabbed onto Davien's hand, expecting him to lead him to his mother.

Saix waited for Lina, seeing as the groups of kids had died down and dwindled. Seemed his kids made up the majority.


Don took the flower from Veziell and smiled, "Aw, it's very pretty, Veziell, I love it." She gave him another kiss. "You know how to make me smile, sugar."

Angeal gave Anzio a nice scruffing of his hair, "Did you have fun? Looked like you were really getting quite the chase going on there. Gotta be careful. Those girls, if they catch you they might give you a slobbery kiss."

Rathe stared at them and turned his eyes to Sephiroth, "Mwha!" He said, as if he was told to give someone a kiss.

Sephiroth smiled at the boy's reaction. At least he wasn't too deprived, he probably gave and receive some kisses between his parents before they vanished. He couldn't ever say the same for himself. Growing up with nannies that hardly lasted a month, you didn't get that close or personal with anyone.

Ixas came over finally and she grappled onto her father. "Before we have to go to bed, can I see Uncle Xaldin? He helped me with my adventure in getting my money from the tooth fairy."

Asi nodded, "Of course." He pulled her into his arms and rose. "I think he'll appreciate it that you want to thank him."

Ixas smiled, "That's good!"


Xemnas listened to the list and dreaded all the choices, some more than others. "I don't want to see Death at all." He was broken and she was out to get him. As if that was a good combo. She'd probably break something else of his, or just blab about something he didn't care about. He had used her, what benefit did she have in being around him? No. He would refuse her no matter what. He did not need to hear pity stories or 'this is what you get' or anything. He wanted someone who would just shut up, or ignore his presence. Though, even with Roxas and Don left, he would not get either of those. Roxas was too dumb and fascinated by dumb things, and Don was....just Don. There needn't be an explanation on that one.

Saix led the party in and held onto Darkness as he looked down at Davien. "I'm going to give your brother a bath, do you want me to come get you when we're done? I think we're going to just read a short story."

Davien stared at Saix before shaking his head gently. As much as he wanted to, he felt a bit out of place still in the family. Perhaps because he was the eldest...even if he should be the same age as Eseril. Not only that, but he was just too shy to really want to be around all the kids at once, let alone two adults.

Saix nodded at Davien's decision, "All right. I'll come in to say goodnight, then." He watched Davien go off to his own room and he took Darkness for his bath.


Don smirked at Veziell's behavior and she grabbed Zexion's hand, "I guess sleeping sounds pretty nice right now." She was tuckered out quite a bit herself.

Angeal looked at the couple before taking in what Atheta had said. "Of course we can." He brushed his fingers through her hair, smiling at how nice it was. "We can do whatever you want until you get tired. Wouldn't want you two to get bored lying around in bed."


Asi took Ixas to Xemnas's door and he knocked on it, cracking the door open a bit. He peered inside, seeing how gloomy the setting was. "Xaldin, Ixas wanted to talk to you for a bit..." He hoped that Xemnas was doing okay, or at least asleep.

Ixas burst into the room without Asi's permission, let alone anyone else's, and she went up to Xaldin and hugged his knee/shin. "I wanted to thank you for helping me with the adventure in getting my money!" Her eyes stole a glance toward Xemnas and couldn't see his face. She supposed he was sleeping.


It was a bit later on that Saix had gotten the kids all prepared with Death and they read a story to them, watching their faces glow happily in hearing both of them read. By this time the sun was no longer showing through, and the world was casted in a soft darkness. As they finished Saix kissed Eseril and Lina on their heads. "You girls sleep well, all right?" His eyes spotted Darkness, the boy was slightly nuzzled into Lina's arm. He smirked and kissed his head as well. Might as well let them all fall asleep together. When he had gotten out of the room his eyes turned to Death. "Davien might be asleep by now." He knew she'd have to go off with Marluxia sooner or later... "Are you still going to watch Xemnas tonight?" He moved to Davien's room, the place was a mess here and there, but it seemed Davien kept it clean enough to know where things were. The boy was still awake and he moved over to give him a kiss, seeing his sleep deprived look, though he seemed to be well awake. "Hey. Try to get some sleep, all right? You're welcome to come talk to me if you can't. Or if you just want to rest with me or Death then that's fine."

Davien nodded gently that he understood. Though really, the haunting image of Xemnas kept appearing and reappearing in his mind. He felt so guilty about it.


Xemnas, once Ixas had left with Asi, wished to sleep as well. He kept closing his eyes, thinking that soon Xaldin would leave, and whoever was next to watch could leave as well thinking he'd be fine if he was asleep. He couldn't get up and do anything, his legs were too damaged. And only one hand worked at the moment. Besides, his back was ******** up, moving would just cause more pain and grief then it was worth.

His eyes would eventually open again at some point, staring at the window and then closing again, feeling the rushing wind in his hair as he relived the moment that he fell.


Sephiroth knew that Vilt didn't need a bedtime, but it seemed Rathe had no time sense about him. He was still rather awake, asking for a bit more to eat and where his mom and dad were. Sephiroth did his best in explaining to Rathe again and again that his parents were gone, but it didn't seem to make sense to Rathe. At some point the boy became grouchy and pouty, so he believed the boy was tired. He laid him down in one of the cribs that he had found and moved to sit somewhere else and read, but Rathe had called out to him.

"You...sleep?"

Sephiroth glanced at the boy, he was grasping onto the bars like it was a prison. "I'm going to stay up a bit longer. You should lay down and get some rest. I'll sleep in a little bit."

"Where?"

"In my bed," Sephiroth nodded toward his bed.

Rathe pouted and pushed on the bars, though doing nothing to them. "Me...sleep...there?" He pointed at Sephiroth's bed. "Please?"

"You should try sleeping in your own bed," Sephiroth gently remarked. But the look on Rathe's face was rather pathetic. He had forgotten that Rathe slept in a completely different environment. It was quite possible the boy had shared a bed with a parent for comfort. He went over and brought Rathe out of the crib and set him in bed. "There."

Rathe held onto Sephiroth's hand and for a moment it was just a sweet, tender time that he toyed with the man's fingers. But he spoke up again. "Daddy....isn't...coming back..."

Sephiroth shook his head, "No, he isn't." He tucked the blankets around the child. "I'm sorry."

Don felt the movement and slowly opened her eyes, noticing that there was some space between her and Zexion. She turned to face him to see if maybe he turned away, but then saw Veziell resting against Zexion. Awww, she wished she had a camera. She scooted a bit closer and kissed Zexion before laying her head back down. She still had time to sleep a bit.


Davien looked at his sister and then went back to staring at the ceiling. He wasn't sure if he should bother scarring her mind with what he saw or not. "It's nothing. I guess I've just been thinking about being adopted finally." He toyed with the blankets and turned his head back to her. "It's not a bad thing. I'm happy that Saix and Death are adopting us." He was hesitant in saying more, toying with the thoughts. "I guess the news kept me up all night." He feigned a small smile to her. But really, when he did sleep he was haunted by Xemnas, and when he was awake he kept seeing it happen over and over, everytime he blinked. It was startling, frightening. He just wanted to make it go away.

And what vexed him most was when he hugged him. Why hadn't he noticed the gun, or anything? He didn't even get a hug back or anything, but he wasn't sure if Xemnas was angry at him or not. But this...was not what he had expected.

He sat up slightly and looked at the window, the morning sun was coming in. "We should get ready. I think...dad wanted us to do something together today."


Xemnas didn't sleep very well last night either. The pain kept him up, both from his aching heart and his mangled body. For each person that had to look after him, he felt more and more embarrassed and useless. To think that, once upon a time, he had been a leader of everyone. He was looked up to, cherished like a prodigy. What had happened over all of those years? What had taken his pedestal away, and thrown him to the pits of hell below?

Even during his own self-pity and loathing, he had noticed how lost Genesis was in his own thought. He didn't bother to ask him what was wrong, because he obviously didn't think it was that important for him to know. If Genesis felt like talking to him, he would have spoke up. Besides, everyone had some type of issue with the family situation. Xaldin, Genesis, himself... Most likely the girls as well. Oh, such cruelty. Why even bother changing everything? They could have done it the same way, just tweaked a few things. Their reactions, their relationships. Something.

Sephiroth entered with Rathe. He at least had a good night's rest, the boy had passed out all over him but it was at least comfortable. "Genesis," he remarked as he put a hand onto his friend's shoulder. "You should get some rest, I'll take over from here." He wondered how Genesis was doing. Would the man bother to say anything during this time, or would he push it off as nothing happened? He had been acting rather well-set around everyone else. But Sephiroth wasn't sure if he was putting on a facade for the whole crowd.

Rathe slid down Sephiroth and made his way around the room, crawling about to stare at the items in the glass cupboards and to gawk at the ancient looking exotic furs and pictures. He stared at the one that was Xehanort and the boy gently sat and kept his eyes on it, staying silent as he did this.

Xemnas hadn't looked to see who had entered, as it was obvious once Sephiroth spoke. But he hadn't expected to hear Rathe moving about the room. He saw the boy before him, his big eyes taking in the picture. What a pity that Xehanort wasn't here to take Rathe away from Sephiroth, just to really throw the hellish spite back at that man. To make him feel the pain that he was going through right now. But as he watched he noticed the boy turn his glance from the painting to watch him. He was being subtle about it, but Xemnas could see those dark eyes falling upon him.

"Help me sit up," he ordered.

Sephiroth was surprised that Xemnas had spoken. He thought the man was asleep. But he went over to help, being as gentle as he could be in helping the wounded figure sit up more.

"Ouch, would you watch where you're grabbing? That hurts," he snapped at Sephiroth.

"Where would you like me to grab? You're wounded all over."

Xemnas could think of a few spots, but chose not to respond like that. "If you hadn't made me miss this wouldn't be a problem."

Sephiroth wasn't sure how to respond to that. The man was blaming him for all of these fractures. He suppose he could understand, he could have tried to hold onto him better. But he was unable to. He did feel somewhat guilty on that part. "I think, Xemnas, that you forget how many others are suffering just as much as you are. No one wanted to change this fast, or to have kids taken away or to not even be born as of yet. Darkness sent us here to fix what has happened so he won't turn into some mass murderer. He wasn't playing with time to torture you."

"This didn't fix anything," Xemnas sniped back. "Everyone decided to throw the kids about and see what happened this time, that doesn't change anything. Everyone will still make the same decisions they had before. Some are going to be just as selfish as they were years ago when we first lived through this. No one cares what the kids think or how they turn out, they care about themselves."

"The same applies to you, then." He saw the glare, but he spoke quickly before Xemnas could rebuttal. "You tried killing yourself in front of your own kid. What's that say about you? Davien's going to blame himself for what you did, and unless you tell him otherwise he'll go on believing it. Perhaps you're right. Everyone's going to make the same decisions. Obviously you didn't want Davien to ever live a normal life."

"Things would have worked out if I had just died," Xemnas replied calmly. His words were cold and harsh, but low so as not to bring anymore attention toward his room. "He would have been traumatized, yes, but with Saix as a parent he would have forgotten I even lived. It wouldn't bother him in a few years. But no, you had to play 'hero' and ruined it. Now when he sees me or hears about me he's going to always remember it. He'll fear my presence. He'll loathe himself because no matter what I say to redeem what he thinks, he will blame himself. And that's that."

Sephiroth sighed gently. He was really stuck, wasn't he? "It doesn't have to happen that way. You can get over your depressive thoughts and try to make things better on his half. Perhaps if you didn't act so hateful toward everyone he would heal better."

Xemnas bitterly replied, "Right. I should smile and be happy. I should act like everything's perfect and I enjoy the fact that I've lost everything that mattered to me. For a second time. What a wonderful life I'll have. While everyone else raises a family and pretends the world is perfect, I should sit back and watch, pretend that I'm just as foolish and deceived as them." He scoffed. "I already lived through this pain, I don't want to relive it all over again."

Sephiroth wanted to say something more to him, to make him change those thoughts, but he knew he couldn't make Xemnas feel better. It was a lost cause. He could only imagine the only thing that would make Xemnas feel better was if the guy moved out and lived somewhere else, and found someone to marry or something of that sort.

His eyes moved over to Rathe who had curled up before the painting and had fallen asleep on the floor. He knew things could change. They had to.

He returned his eyes to Xemnas, changing the subject finally. "We should change the dressings." He noticed the salty look, how Xemnas turned his attention away as if to push the subject away, and Sephiroth, too. "I happen to be one of the few that knows how to do it properly, so unless you want me to send in Vilt to play 'doctor' you'll have to suck it up and deal with me."