You'll come a watlzting Matilda with me...

         Every time it rained, Aeris saw a little boy jumping puddles.  He'd carefully set himself, and then point to where he was going to land.  The jump was clumsy, hindered instead of aided by overbig yellow boots, and ended in a splash... having not jumped far enough.  Every time he was singing, bright blue eyes half shut in merriment.  Every time he would seem to appear just three feet away from her window, and slowly jump until he vanished from sight.  Sometimes she thought she heard him singing.

         Aeris was seven when she was first introduced to Cloud Strife.  Her protector, and older brother, Zackary, introduced them one sunny afternoon.  Cloud was a quiet child, maybe even shy, with large blue eyes that stared unashamedly at her.  She threw a rock at him the first day they met.  Zack had gone off to run an errand for their mother and told Aeris to play nice with Cloud because he was a dear friend's son.  She had tried, but Cloud didn't talk back, so she threw a rock at him.  He cried, a lot.

          Those were the two impressions of Cloud Strife which Aeris kept locked away in her mind.  The singing boy who loved the rain, and the crying child whom nobody cared about.  There was a third... but she preferred not to think about that one.

!

         "You're Leon."  It wasn't a question, but a statement.  A statement Leon felt that was shoved at him, like the way one would shove an unwanted piece of food.    The brunette turned, only to be faced with a slender yet sturdily built man with a sword which Leon couldn't believe he wielded.  A red cloak of somesort covered part of the other's face, flat blue eyes stared out from under spikey blond bangs.  A real warrior, or punk, by the looks.  The blond hair pierced ears, and a strange clawed glove as well as an assortment of armor.

         "...yes..."  He replied, leaving the 'why do you want to know' hanging between them.

         "Cloud."  The blond held out a hand, and Leon guessed that cloud was his name.  Weird name, sort of familiar though.

         "...yoroshiku."

         "yoroshiku."  Now that they had greeted each other it was time to get down to business.  Leon had a tournament to fight in, and this blond... Cloud seemed to be impeeding his progress into the colliseum.

         "What do you want."  It was a question, and they both knew it, but it was phrased like a sentence.  Cloud seemed to consider this, the golden claws on his left hand flexing.  Leon's hand inched closer to his gunblade.

         "A partnership...of kinds..."

         "...what for?"

         "For the tournament."  Leon walked past him, ignoring the hand.

         "I can make it on my own."  Cloud let the other walk away for four steps before responding in his slow controlled voice.

         "Can you beat the keyblade master?"  And the question hung in the air.

!

         Cloud hadn't expected to win, even with Leon on his side.  The pieces of his memory with Leon in them told him that as children Leon had always been stronger.  Not that they had ever fought each other, but Cloud had watched him 'train' with Zackary.  But now... now Cloud was fairly sure he could defeat Leon in a battle, not because of skill necessarily... but other things.  The blond frowned, running a hand across the hilt of the Buster sword.

         "We lost."  Leon said.  Of course they lost.  Sora had some sort of light in him already, a piece of a greater light maybe, but it was still light.  Cloud lost his, sold it to the devil perhaps.  Or the God of the Underworld.  Leon was searching for his, but never really lost it. 

         "Did you expect to win."  It was a question, of course.

         "...Not really..."  They were both seated in the stands, looking down at the stone and sand arena.  Sora had been entertaining to watch, him and the dog and duck had quite a different fighting style.  It was very disorganized, but had a lot of... heart.  It almost made Cloud smile.

         "Aa..."  They met each other's eyes, and came to a mutual agreement.  Cloud moved first, taking off his cloak and carefully folding it before setting it on top of his sword.  Leon watched, like a drill sergent, making sure each move was perfect and unwasted.  Next came the armor, also carefully placed in a neat arrangement.  Then came the shirt, ribbed soldier's fare.

         "Just once."  The blond said.

         "Just once."  Leon agreed.

!

         "That was your ticket home,"  Phil said, as if starting a conversation.  The blond beside him shrugged, watching the many gummi ships take off.  It seemed odd to the short goat-man that Cloud wouldn't take off, after having broken Hades' contract afterall.

         "There isn't a home...not anymore,"  Was the reply.

         "Ah.  You going to train with Herc.?  He's getting soft,"  Phil said gruffly.  Cloud wanted to stare in shock.  The little man must have known that Cloud was operating under Hades' command...

         "...you don't trust me..."

         "Maybe I do.  You can't be half-bad.  'Sides..."  The satyr gave him a sidelong glance.  Cloud was shocked at how much it reminded him of the gruff, yet loving, military men he barely remembered.  He expected to get an affectionate ruffle in his hair... except that Phil was too short.

         "Hn,"  He headed back towards the collesium, grabbing his sword on the way through the doors.

         "...Hey, where are you going?"  Phil asked, acting all angrily.

         "To go train..." Cloud said, "...and see what I can do about your hero."

!

         "Hey, Zack..."

         "Yeah, that was Leon."

         "...it was nice...that night."

         "No, I'm not involved with him,"

         "The Light, Zack, looking for the Light."

         "Maybe Leon knows where it is?"

         "Aa... I'll check it out..."

!

         The next tournament rolled around.  Longer than the first, it's poster being a dubious huge scroll that had been plastered over an entire wall.  Cloud sat beneath the poster, sword propped against his shoulder.  He watched the contestants go through the gates and into the collesium itself.  Too many Heartless.  Where were the normal contenders?  Sora, Donald and Goofy came in, the little brunette grinning, as usual.  When the Keyblade master noticed Cloud he hurried over.

         "Looks like a tough crowd,"  He commented.

         "So many Heartless,"  Cloud replied.

         "Yah, but they're easy.  Its you and Leon I'm worried about,"  Sora flashed a grin, accompanied by a thumbs up and hurried off to go talk to Hercules.

         "Worried about us... huh,"  Cloud blinked, because Leon was now occupying the space which Sora had.

         "Squall, do you have any regrets?"  Cloud asked, leaning back against the wall and shutting his eyes.  The sun warmed his face, and he felt like he could let himself drift away.

         "...yeah..."  Leon replied, and didn't bother to correct the other.  Squall, Leon, they weren't the same person, but they carried the same regrets, "You know me?"  It wasn't a surprise to him, that Cloud could have known him before the tournament.  For some reason the spiky haired warrior had seemed familiar to him, but he couldn't put a finger on it.

         "Aa...a long time ago..."

         "Do you have any regrets?"  It was Leon's turn to ask.  Wether or not either was referring to their last encounter or to life in general it was unclear.

         "...many..."

         "...lets go..."  Leon held out a hand, looking down expectantly.  Cloud took it, and together they entered the collesium.  Side by side, but the brief contact of their hands had ended as soon as the blond had stood.

!

         "We agreed, only once."  Leon said softly.  He might have said the words, but it was his hand that had crossed the distance between them.  It had been him who intiated contact and sat there, hand resting on the other's shoulder.

         "Only once..."  Cloud parroted, his monotone having the same bitter flavor as Leon's.  They had both lost too much to try to gain any of it back.  Or so they thought.  Cloud leaned towards Leon, so his back rested against the brunette's chest.

         "We are not here for this."  They weren't here.  But their purpose in this world had ended when they had lost, again, to Sora.  Despite that they lingered, up in the stands, staring down at the empty stadium.  Or staring at each other.

         "No.  We aren't,"  Cloud agreed, but neither of them moved.  Perhaps it was the acute loneliness of seeing Sora pursue Kairi with determination or just Cloud's lost look, but Leon felt obligated to stay this time.  For Cloud it might have been the feeling of home that Leon brought with him, or that he might have seen some of his Light in the brunette.

         "Do you prefer solitude?"  Cloud listened to the question carefully, wanting to taste the question.  He wanted Leon to repeat it, so he could hear the tumble of the words.

         "...no..."

         "Then why stay?"  There wasn't desperation in his voice, no, Leon had grown far beyond that.  But there was a longing in his voice.  Because they had not said that they would do this only once.  They needed someone, and found each other.

         "Obligation."

         "To?"

         "...Something greater than myself,"  At the answer he gave, Cloud almost snorted.  As if Hades was greater than him... despite the broken contract the God had not come after him.  In fact, his life seemed to have improved.  Even so... he needed to find his Light.

         "...Aa..."  And then there was silence.

!

         You know the story of Barking Dog?

         "No."

         Well, Barking Dog is looking for arrow paints, you know?  And Buzzard, well, Buzzard says that he can take Barking Dog to find these paints.  So Barking Dog agrees to hitch a ride with Buzzard.  Now Buzzard flies Barking Dog up high, and to the edge of the sky... where the clouds meet oblivion.  You know?  He tells Barking Dog to wait there, and he'll bring the paints to him.  So Barking Dog does.  And you know what?  Buzzard never comes back.  So Barking Dog gets a angry and jumps off the edge of the sky to find Buzzard.  He falls and he falls and he lands in a tree.  A hunter's wife hears him a scratching about and calls her husband to get him out.  She thinks he's a bear.  But when he shows himself, she laughs a little.  The first thing Barking Dog says is "Where is Buzzard?"

         "What's that supposed to mean, Zack?"

         You're like Barking Dog.  What are you looking for?

!

         Aeris rarely dreamed anymore.  Ever since the Heartless had taken her world she only slept deeply.  But tonight was different.  Tonight she dreamed of shadows and flame.  Someone she recognized was hurting, and she lay witness to it.  In her dream, they were in Traverse Town, only it was day instead of night like it always was.  Everything was on fire.  A tall man stood in the middle of it, one black wing outstretched, standing out among the bright red flames.  He had green eyes, just like her, and gave her a mocking smile.  And then there was Cloud.  Small seven or eight year old Cloud, holding a sword far too big for him.  He was glaring at the man and shouting something.  And she watched as he died.  First he was impaled, and then burned, and then... she didn't have names for the deathes he experienced.  Over and over they flashed before her eyes.

         When she woke, she was not screaming, and was not sweating.  It was the calm waking when one feels drained.  She was too tired to sleep suddenly, and fretted, fingers kneeding the blankets around her.  Cloud.