[KH] Fire and Moonlight: Puzzles (theme 11)

Fire & Moonlight, a Kingdom Hearts fanwork:  Drabble challenge by Wishing-Fire, written by Raberba girl
11. Puzzles

Summary:  A shared mission in Wonderland.

A/N:  They're about 19 years old here.

"If you say 'I hate Wonderland' one more time, I'm gonna smack you."

"And the next time you waste more of our Elixir supply on the talking flowers, I'm going to smack you."

The two young Nobodies glared at each other in the middle of the garden.

"Come on," Saïx finally grumbled.  "Let's find the target and get this mission over with."

"Then can we please go for ice cream on the clock tower after work today?  Seriously.  The fact that you've been ditching me for The Cryptkeeper hurts, Sai, it really does."

"Cut it out with the theatrics."  They both knew perfectly well that nothing could cause emotional pain until they got their hearts back.  "Vexen hates organizing missions, he would rather devote his time to research and experimentation.  And whenever he does get to work on what he actually wants to do, then half the time he's tearing his hair out because Zexion's swamped with the backlog of mission reports and can't help.  If I can convince Lord Xemnas that I'm responsible and trustworthy enough to take on their jobs and free them up for the more scientific work, it'll give me more leverage to--  Are you listening?"

"Heh heh...nope.  Too distracted imagining Vexy all bald, except with little tufts of torn-out hair."

"...If I had a heart, the mental imagery of that would be making me sick.  You're disgusting."

"All part of my charm."

"Apparently, you're delusional, as well."

They had reached the Hedge Maze by this time.  Axel summoned his chakrams, grinning.  "You ready for this, bro?"

Saïx gritted his teeth, his claymore appearing in his hand.  "As ready as I'll ever be.  Sacred moon, I hate puzzles."

"I really will burn down the Maze for you, if you want."

"No.  I'm not going to be your excuse for breaking the Non-Interference Rule again."

"Then don't blame me when you get frustrated and go berserker on the walking cards, I'm just gonna sit there and laugh."

"One needs a heart to get frustrated, Axel."

"So last time when you went on a rampage during what was supposed to be a stealth mission, it was totally on purpose, right?"

Saïx glared.  "Last time, we were here after dark.  The sun is out now, it's different."

"The sun was shining on the sea, shining with all his might," Axel sang.  "And this was odd, because it was the middle of the--"

"Shut up."

"Aw, not a Carroll fan?"

"Let's just get this over with so we can go to Twilight Town.  We're not even in the Maze yet, and already I need ice cream...."

"W00t!  Flurry of Dancing Flames: 1.  Vexen:  0.  Thanks, Wonderland!"

Author's Notes:  I tweaked the quote a little to make it fit better.  It's from Lewis Carroll's "The Walrus and the Carpenter," which appeared in Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There.

FTR, this is not the same universe as "Trust Me," in case you were wondering about the discrepancy.

Complete:  11/101