Summary: All they wanted was a quiet Christmas dinner. Too bad the Jell-O had plans of its own. Tiny bit of AkuRoku.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Kingdom Hearts nor am I making any money by writing this.

Notes: First off, PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! The sequel to The Christmas Flu was getting stuck so I decided to take a break from that and write this instead so you would have at least one chapter this year instead of none. Though now I have two more chapters planned out in case the writer's block on The Christmas Flu II doesn't lift. The second one might have to be split into several parts though, because it's getting LONG. So anyway, enjoy the next installment of A Nobody's Christmas.

Christmas Dinner

Christmas was a big deal at The Castle That Never Was, especially Christmas dinner. It was one of the few times that everyone pitched in and helped.

This year was no different.

On the 20th of December, Xigbar posted the menu for this year's Christmas dinner as well as the assignments:

Roast chicken: Lexaeus and Xigbar

Mashed potatoes: Xion and Luxord

Green bean casserole: Xemnas and Saïx

Cooked caramelized carrots: Marluxia and Larxene

Jell-O: Zexion and Demyx

Chocolate cake: Roxas and Axel

At the bottom of the typed up sheet was:

Xaldin will be in charge of the water glasses as well as the wine and Vexen will be in charge of setting the table.

On Christmas, after all the presents were opened, the kitchen was relinquished to Axel and Roxas, the first pair of the day, charged with making the chocolate cake. Actually, they needed to make two chocolate cakes, enough to feed fourteen people. However, they were not alone; Zexion and Demyx were there as well, getting started on the Jell-O.

"This doesn't look too complicated," Zexion muttered, reading the instructions on the top of the Jell-O box. "All we need is boiling water and cold water."

"Then why are you here so early?" Axel snapped as Roxas read the recipe Xigbar had left for them.

"Because the Jell-O needs to chill for four hours until it's firm," Zexion answered coldly.

"Oh," Axel said. Under his breath, he said, "That would do it."

"Are you done?" Roxas asked, rolling his eyes. "We have work to do."

Axel pouted. "You're such a killjoy."

"Come on," Roxas hissed, dragging Axel off.

"What can I do to help?" Demyx asked brightly, accidentally knocking over the box of Jell-O. Thankfully, the box was still closed so none spilled out.

"I need you to get two liquid measuring cups," Zexion said, trying his hardest to not lose his patience. "They should be in the drawer next to the sink."

Demyx nodded and hurried off. Zexion inhaled and slowly exhaled. A few moments later, Demyx gave a surprised squeak and there was a loud crashing sound that caused Zexion to wince. He waited long enough to compose himself and then walked over to the sink. As he expected, Demyx was squatting in front of the open cabinet with the top drawer pulled out, surrounded by bowls and other assorted cooking utensils.

"Are you hurt, Demyx?" Zexion asked.

"No." Demyx shook his head.

"Good," Zexion said. "Here, I'll give you a hand with the mess."

Together, they put everything that had fallen out back in the cabinet. Then, Zexion grabbed two measuring cups he had been looking for.

"Here. Fill each of these with two cups of water, okay?" he said, pushing the measuring cups at Demyx.

"Okay," Demyx answered.

He went to the sink and filled the measuring cups up. While he was doing that, Zexion got out two large mixing bowls, a wooden spoon, and two Jell-O molds.

"Now put one of the measuring cups in the microwave and set the timer for six minutes," Zexion instructed, once Demyx brought him the filled measuring cup.

He watched Axel and Roxas across the kitchen, mixing together the ingredients for the chocolate cake. They seemed, well, happy together. Sure Roxas glared at Axel ninety eight percent of the time, but Zexion could still tell how much he enjoyed being in Axel's company.

Roxas stopped the mixer and dipped his fingers into the bowl. He licked the tips of his fingers, then dipped them back into the bowl again, and offered his fingers to Axel. The redhead eagerly licked the batters off Roxas' fingers.

"Yum," he said, licking his lips. He leaned in closer to Roxas. "Almost as sweet as you."

Their lips touched. Zexion turned away. Seeing Axel and Roxas like that, seeing them so happy, made Zexion's chest ache. He focused on Demyx, who was watching the microwave heat the water intensely. Zexion opened the Jell-O box followed by the plastic bag the powder was in, then tipped the powder into one of the mixing bowls. Now all he could do was wait.

At last, the water was boiling and Demyx opened the microwave door. Silently, Zexion handed him a potholder. Demyx accepted it with a grateful smile. They brought it over to the counter. As carefully as he could, Demyx poured the water into the bowl with the gelatin powder. He set the measuring cup down and watched Zexion stir the mixture until the powder dissolved.

"Now pour in the cold water," Zexion ordered.

Demyx did as he was told. Zexion stirred until he was satisfied it was well mixed. Then, with help from Demyx, he poured it into the Jell-O mold. Zexion moved very slowly, trying his hardest to be careful as he moved the mold into the refrigerator to chill.

The second Jell-O was much easier to make than the first, since they knew what to do. It also went much faster. The only problem was finding a place in the refrigerator to put the second mold. They had to do a little reshuffling, but finally were able to squeeze everything in and still close the refrigerator door. Now all they had to do was wash, dry, and put away the dishes they had used. As Zexion expected, Demyx volunteered to wash the dishes, which was fine with him.

He watched as Demyx filled the sink with water and soap and let the dishes soak for a few moments before getting started. He held up the bowl with one hand and with the other hand, he made a gentle sweeping motion. The water rose up and splashed the inside of the bowl. His control had improved greatly, Zexion noted. He could remember a time when Demyx accidentally created floods because he had almost no control over his powers. Now…well he mostly had control over his powers.

As if to prove his point, Demyx made a little too enthusiastic of a movement and water rose up and splashed everywhere, including all over Zexion. Zexion sighed quietly and pushed his sopping bangs aside.

"I'm sorry!" Demyx cried. "I'm so sorry!"

"It's…all right," Zexion said evenly.

"I didn't mean to…!" Demyx wailed.

"I know," Zexion swiftly cut him off. "Just…finish the dishes, all right?"

"Okay." Demyx nodded.

Zexion exhaled softly and grabbed a clean dish towel from underneath the sink and started drying the dishes. As he went along, he put the dishes back in their places. Meanwhile, Demyx cleaned up the mess he had made.

"There, that's the last of the dishes," Zexion said, shutting the cutlery drawer. "I shall go find Xigbar and Lexaeus and let them know it's their turn to use the kitchen. You're free to go."

Demyx nodded and left. Zexion sighed quietly. Even with his acute sense of smell, it would be no easy task to locate Xigbar and Lexaeus. The first place he checked was their bedrooms. When they weren't there, Zexion swore softly, a bad habit he had picked up from Xigbar. This complicated matters even further. The second place he looked was the gathering room. He found Lexaeus there, reading a book. Zexion walked over to him.

"It's your turn to cook," he said. "Have you seen Xigbar?"

"I'd try the gun range," Lexaeus answered.

Zexion nodded and created a portal to the gun range. Xigbar was there, along with Xaldin, testing his new guns. He didn't look too pleased to be torn away from his new "babies", but obediently created a portal and stepped through it.

"Looks like I'm on clean up duty. Again." Xaldin heaved a sigh and turned to mess he and Xigbar had made.

Zexion created a portal of his own and stepped through. He ended up in his own room. He stepped forward with a quiet sigh; it felt good to be back. This room was quiet and dark, his sanctuary. He needed to rest for a while, away from all the loud noises, bright lights, and strong odors in order to survive the Christmas dinner. Zexion removed his cloak, gloves, boots, and socks, and sat cross-legged in the center of the room to meditate for a while.

As the day wore on, the kitchen remained noisy and a lot went on. It seemed like everything was going wrong today. There were issues with the chicken, issues with the green bean casserole, and issues with the mashed potatoes. Somehow, everything worked out in the end and they sat down to a nice Christmas dinner.

Until the Jell-O was passed around.

It started predictably enough with Demyx. He cut a piece off and then passed it to Zexion, seated on his left. Why he was put there instead of at the end of the table where he would have plenty of room since he was left-handed was a mystery. So he was squished between Demyx and Axel, another left-handed Nobody, the only other one, in fact. It was pretty much a given that something bad would happen. And it did. The Jell-O wiggled ominously as Demyx passed it over to Zexion. Despite Zexion's best efforts, some of the Jell-O landed in on his lap.

"Sorry!" Demyx squeaked.

Zexion gritted his teeth and took a piece of Jell-O. Then, he awkwardly passed it to Axel. Again, the Jell-O wiggled ominously before falling into Axel's lap., Unlike Zexion, however, Axel found it absolutely hilarious.

"Apparently, the Jell-O doesn't want to stay on the plate," he said, scooping a large portion onto his plate. "It has its own agenda."

He passed the Jell-O to Roxas on his other side rather carelessly.

"Axel!" Roxas snapped as the Jell-O found his lap.

"Sorry." Axel's tone made it clear he wasn't sorry at all.

Roxas swiftly kicked him under the table, but missed, and kicked Vexen instead, who graced him with one of his famous icy glares.

"Is there a problem?" Xemnas asked from the head of the table.

"No Superior," Vexen answered sullenly. He glared at Roxas once more before returning to his plate.

Roxas offered the plate of Jell-O to Xion, but she just shook her head. Shrugging, Roxas passed the plate to Luxord across from him.

"Here you go," he said. "Be careful, the Jell-O is a little wiggly."

"Indeed," Luxord murmured, watching the Jell-O jiggle interestedly.

He helped himself to a portion of it and passed the rapidly dwindling plate to Vexen. Vexen silently took his share and handed the plate to Marluxia.

"There's not much left," Marluxia complained.

"Aw, quit yer whining," Xigbar snapped. "There's another plate of Jell-O. Right?" He turned to Zexion and Demyx for confirmation.

"Yup," Demyx said cheerfully. "I'll go get it."

He got up from the table, knocking his chair over in the process. He hastily righted it and hurried off to the kitchen.

"Uh, anyone else think it's a bad idea to let Demyx get the Jell-O?" Axel muttered.

A few moments later, Demyx returned, carrying the second plate of Jell-O. Everything seemed to go all right for a while, but then the inevitable happened; Demyx tripped. He managed to regain his footing and even hold onto the plate, but the Jell-O was airborne. Everything seemed to stop as the Jell-O soared through the air and at last collided with the side of Zexion's head. The entire dining room fell silent as Zexion's posture stiffened. Everyone was tense, anticipating a reaction from Zexion. The Jell-O slid down and landed on his plate. What hadn't fallen was stuck in his hair, large gobs of lime green standing out against his slate colored hair.

Zexion was absolutely still for the longest time. Then, he reached up and touched his hair. He pulled out a lump of Jell-O and stared at it for a few moments. Then, with graceful precision, he flicked the Jell-O at Demyx. It hit him squarely in the face. Everyone stared at Demyx, who looked completely bewildered and then to Zexion, who sat still again, his expression completely neutral.

"Zexion…what…" Demyx finally managed to squeak out.

Zexion's lips quirked up into what almost seemed like a smile. "Now we're even."

Then, he rose from his seat and created a portal. Without another word, he stepped through, the portal vanishing behind him. The room remained dead silent for several long minutes. Lexaeus glanced at Vexen and nodded, then rose. He created a portal of his own and stepped through. He arrived outside Zexion's room. He knocked on the door softly.

"It's me," he said. "May I enter?"

"Yes," Zexion replied.

Lexaeus opened the door and entered. Zexion's quarters were dimly lit, though Lexaeus had no difficulty seeing. Zexion sat on the edge of his bed, looking quite ruffled. Lexaeus then understood that the image of him remaining calm had only been an illusion, cast to conceal his true reaction. He looked up as Lexaeus entered.

"Zexion…" Lexaeus said quietly.

"I don't know what I was thinking," Zexion interrupted, shaking his head, sending gobs of Jell-O flying.

"I have to admit, I was surprised you acted like that," Lexaeus said, sitting next to Zexion on the bed. "You never acted so childishly even when you were a child."

"I don't know what came over me," Zexion murmured.

"It's all right," Lexaeus said soothingly. "Everyone is allowed to have an off day. Even you."

Zexion almost smiled "I suppose you're right." He sighed quietly. "Well, I'm going to take a shower and see if I can get this…stuff out of my hair."

"All right," Lexaeus said. "I'm going back to dinner."

The two of them rose and headed in opposite directions, Zexion for the bathroom, Lexaeus for the door. Zexion paused in the bathroom's doorway, though he didn't turn around.

"Merry Christmas…Aeleus," he murmured, almost too soft for Lexaeus to hear.

Lexaeus allowed himself a small smile as he left. "Merry Christmas…Ienzo." He spoke softly, but he knew Zexion would hear.

And that was all that mattered.

Author's Notes

Well, that turned out to be a lot longer than I thought it would be. But that's what happens when I write a lot of times; my things get lives of their own. This was loosely based on something that happened to me a couple years ago. It wasn't anything real exciting; the Jell-O just refused to stay on the plate. The ending to this was quite unexpected. It just kind of wrote itself. Yeah, I totally meant to have this up yesterday, but that didn't happen. Updates will probably be random and may not come for a week or two because I have finals coming up and the time between now and finals is insanely busy.