High in the rafters of the Castle That Never Was, near the top where all the higher-ups in the Organization XIII slept, was a room. It was the largest, most lavishly furnished, and the darkest of all the bedrooms. It was Xemnas' room. Late at night (if you could call it night in this realm of emptiness) he would sit there, alone, looking over numerous reports and pieces of paper. His fingers tapped idly on the small, rectangular oak desk. His frown deepened as his eyes traveled down each page of his subordinates' idiotic reports. Xigbar had always had the nerve to doodle on his to boot.

Usually, after about five pages or so, he would hear a soft tap on the door.

"Xemnas. Can I come in?" a voice would say.

"Yes, enter." He would mumble, not looking up, tapping his pen on the desk impatiently. The door would then click softly open, creak softly, then click close again as number VII entered, long sky blue hair swishing in the draft.

He would wordlessly sit down and begin to help the Superior in looking through the papers. Occasionally, he would have come in bearing a cup of tea for Xemnas, which he would hand to the Superior with a quiet 'Here,' or his claymore, which he would sit and polish silently after a few papers. It was like clockwork – and they very rarely said anything to each other.

The daily routine never felt very special, but Xemnas appreciated a number of things about it. For one, the fact Number VII bothered to knock unlike the rest of the morons, who barged in yelling without reason, was priceless. Secondly, he loved how that cup of tea always seemed to arrive when he most needed it, after a long tiring day or during a particularly bad headache. There were more reasons, he was sure, but he couldn't quite name them.

---

It was a special night tonight for the rest of the world, but not for the timelessness of Xemnas' silent workplace. It was Christmas Eve. The Superior had never been fond of the holiday; hard not to be, with Marluxia sneaking sprigs of mistletoe all over the castle, hoping to catch the other members unawares and take great delight in watching them feel uncomfortable.

Another thing was the loud and raucous decorating that went on in the main hall on the ground floor. Every year they'd go through a couple of Christmas trees and also a couple of first aid kits, as Axel decided to burn the trees, then Marluxia decided to maim Axel for burning the trees.

This night, he was scrawling away at a long file and trying to decipher Vexen's illegible scrawls on his experiments. He could feel a headache coming on, and Xemnas wanted to just flop down on the desk and sleep. But he couldn't. It wasn't an evil-leader type thing to do, and Saix hadn't come yet. Shoving him off on Christmas Eve would feel wrong, if he had a heart.

Rolling his eyes at himself, he was about to continue his tedious work when he heard the familiar tap on the door to his room.

"Xemnas. … Can I come in?" said Saix' voice as usual, but today it sounded stange. Hesitative, as if Number VII was thinking about something.

Xemnas replied as he usually did, but looked up as Saix entered. The Lunar Diviner was looking at his shoes, brushing burnt, smoking pine needles off his sleeves. The oddest thing was that his eyes seemed red, as if the blue-haired man had been… crying.

Xemnas simply stared openly, lost for words and wondering what had happened. Tonight… felt different.

Feeling Xemnas' eyes on him, Saix looked up and said, "Oh, it's nothing. Axel decided to play a highly annoying joke that involved me and a flaming Christmas tree. I expect Marluxia, literally, is grilling him for the murder of a plant as of now." He laughed weakly and took his place across the table.

After several minutes, Xemnas heard a soft chuckle from number VII. This was new. He looked up to find Saix gazing up at the ceiling with a mingled expression of amusement and horror. Following the path of Saix' eyes with his own, Xemnas discovered a small sprig of mistletoe taped to the ceiling, directly above his desk and atop their heads.

Xemnas' eyes widened and his mouth gaped open for a second before he shut it with good reason. No doubt, Marluxia had snuck in here while he was out and put that up there, in the vile hopes that anyone who came to see Xemnas at his desk would have to er... kiss him. Silently in his mind, he cursed Marluxia and made a mental note to make him pay later.

His eyes traveled back down from the ceiling to Saix, who was still staring at it in confusion. Well, he thought, it could have been worse. I could be sitting here with someone disgusting, like Lexaeus. He shuddered at the very thought.

"I-I'll take it dow-"began Saix, standing up, but his words were lost as the following few seconds happened so fast he couldn't even remember they had really happened.

Xemnas, quick as a flash, had come around the side of the desk, lifted Saix' chin with a solitary hand, and pressed their lips together in a kiss. The Lunar Diviner's bright orange-yellow eyes widened in surprise as his arms flailed in shock at his sides.

After a few seconds, Saix felt the intrusive force of Xemnas' tongue on his teeth and obliged, allowing Xemnas' tongue to freely roam the inside of his mouth. Xemnas could barely contain his happiness; Saix tasted so good to him. Like the best chocolate and wine in the world, all in one spot and even better. Running his tongue about the other's teeth and insde cheek, he made sure to know every square millimeter of the Lunar Diviner's mouth.

After another minute they broke apart, Saix still with a look of utter shock on his face. Xemnas saw number VII's eyes beginning to fill with tears, and before Saix could say anything, Xemnas had picked him up (surprised at how light the other was) and sat down with him on the bed. Somehow in the few footsteps between the desk and the bed, Xemnas' black trenchcoat had somehow, magically, become halfway unzipped.

Saix wrapped his arms around the other and buried his face into the Superior's chest, tears streaming down his scarred face in earnest. Xemnas' hands slowly closed around the other also, locking the two in a tight embrace.

"What's wrong? Am I that bad of a kisser?" Xemnas asked, with a dry chuckle.

"N-no! No. You're not," whimpered number VII. "It's.. it's just.. I've been coming to see you.. every day. Since I joined the Organization. We never said a word to each other…"

"Oh, I think, in a way, I've talked to you more than everyone else in the Organization." said Xemnas, stroking the other's soft blue hair.

"Xemnas. I don't want to be a Nobody anymore. It's why I was upset earlier. I hate being emotionless. I want to have a heart, so I can love you, and I want to feel that." Saix cried, his grip on the folds of Xemnas' clothes tightening.

"All of us," whispered Xemnas. "We all can't feel. Axel. Marluxia. Vexen. You. Me. But one day… one day, my love, we might be able to achieve it. One day."

Saix didn't think he could care. He was here, in Xemnas' arms. It felt warm, being here against his chest. He couldn't care if the world ended right then and there, it wouldn't matter because he was with Xemnas.

He looked up into Number I's face, and soon became lost in those magnificent eyes of brilliant gold, and that silky platinum hair. Xemnas gazed back at Saix' watery yellow-orange eyes and the X-shaped scar trailed across his face.

"If I had a heart, right now, I would say: I love you, Saix." he murmured, a smile playing across his lips, as he wiped stray tears away from the Lunar Diviner's face, and they kissed again.