Author’s note: Oh my. It’s been a while. -mutters about writer’s block eating her soul- … I want to change the name of this story since I like titles to be relevant. Does anyone have any suggestions?

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Cloud stood at the edge of the vast desert, a deep frown on his pretty pale face. It was absolutely sweltering, so much so he could feel ringlets of sweat trickle down his back. His body felt heavy and his mind wandered lethargically, having difficulty thinking with the discomfort of his surroundings. He really would rather have not been here in the hot sun decked out in long swathes of black material, but that rich vender had told him (for a price) of a tall man with silver hair and one huge ominous wing had been lurking around the Cave of Wonders since the past fortnight. It was just his luck that he’d have to cross miles of dry, scorching sands in search of a man that probably wasn’t even there. Cloud highly doubted that Sephiroth would stick around a place like this, but nonetheless he needed to check it out.

“As long as I’m not back with that asshole.” Cloud muttered to himself, thinking once again of Squall’s strange behavior. Cloud sighed and began trudging through the sands.

Cloud moaned and wiped sweat from his brow. His black clothes absolutely sucked heat from the air and sand was slowly leaking into his boots, grinding in-between his toes in the most irritating way. It was as if by some karmic retribution he was destined to wander these sands for eternity as the sun caressed his pale skin, turning it a lovely shade of pink.

His light blonde bangs fell haphazardly over his soft blue eyes, obscuring them from view. Why was he doing this? To chase after the darkness, right? To find his light? He didn’t feel like he was chasing anything, he felt like he was running away from it all.

All of his friends were at home, waiting for him. He was fighting to protect them because Sephiroth was bound to cause trouble, right? He just couldn’t stay there all the time because then that bastard might find them. He didn’t want to lose any of them. Not ever again. Aerith, Yuffie, Cid, and yes even Squall, were very important to him.

Thinking of Squall, the man’s weird actions had really thrown him off. That’s right, Aerith was rather upset when he had left. He felt terrible for her. He wondered idly how she was doing before his thoughts drifted back to the silent brunette. What was Squall doing him, kissing him? Cloud felt a shiver run through him, but he was quite sure which emotion had caused it.

Squall was not the type of person to act rashly. He seemed to be introverted, calculating man, who took precautions and never rushed foolishly into anything. Cloud needed to get over his embarrassment and find a logical reason for Squall’s behavior. This needed to be overcome. He disliked being in squabbles with his friends, and especially over something as awkward as this.

Cloud wiped sweat from his brow, tilting his face away from the sun and began his thought process. First of all, go over specific details of what happened.

“Ok so we were fighting…” He murmured aloud, “Practicing…He was irritated…Something was bothering him maybe. Then I said something about him not understanding me…Hmm…”

Cloud ran his fingers through his hair in one swift movement. “It was almost like he was….pouting…” Cloud muttered, trying to hide his amusement. “Maybe he was trying to get me to notice something. But what?”

Cloud’s feet dragged heavily in the sands as he shifted deeper into thought. “He wanted me to notice something so bad that he’d even go so far as to pin me to a wall and kiss me…It must be something big.”

Cloud felt a different sort of heat cover his cheeks as he revisited those specific details. Squall had definitely pushed it too far there. It was one thing to get violent, but kiss him? Another man? That was just…well…gay. Cloud didn’t imagine Squall being gay, it was just too weird. Cloud had always looked up to Squall, the way he always seemed so sure of himself and he always seemed to know what to do. Cloud wished he could be that way, be a little more sure, but it seemed to him that he was always left hesitating or running away from his problems.

“Just as I am doing now.” He muttered. “Squall…you….” He sighed and couldn’t finish his sentence. There were things he wished to ask Squall, but he couldn’t go back and face his friends yet. He was so worthless. He couldn’t show his face to them. All he did was make them sad, both Aerith and Squall, not to mention that the others were probably mad as well.

The look on Squall’s face when Cloud had pulled away from him was a photograph in his mind that he couldn’t look away from. The look of shock and hurt, twisted him. It was because of his thoughtless reaction that Squall’s face had looked so tormented. And Aerith’s too. She had always been so kind to him and loved him. He had loved her once, but after her “death” he had felt that part of him die. When the worlds had been thrown into chaos and all the sudden she was there, smiling at him once again, it was almost too good to be true. He had thought that part of him that could love would’ve been revived along with her, but no emotion had come. It was gone, a thing of the past that he had long forgotten how to feel. That didn’t mean he had the right to hurt her, or that he didn’t feel sad when she was in pain.

Cloud really just wished this whole mess would just blow over. He wished desperately that when he returned, which he eventually would have to do, that it wouldn’t be an issue. But right now he had to focus on the present, as in getting himself out of this desert, which seemed to be an impossible feat.

He was just about to give into the fear of being lost that had been slowly taking over his heart when he crossed a rather large sand dune and saw, with much relief, the dark shadows that so marked the place where the Cave of Wonders stood. He was just about to gratefully make a few more shaky steps, ready to just collapse in the seductive shade, when he heard the sands disturb around him.

Cloud gritted his teeth in annoyance. He was not in the mood to deal with Heartless, and just when he was about to relax too! He quickly grabbed his buster sword from his back, but tipped forward at the sudden shift of weight. Apparently his body was more dehydrated than he realized.

Cloud swore underneath his breath before gaining his balance and looking at the formidable monster that had appeared from the dust. It just wasn’t fair! Cloud wanted nothing more than to screw his personality and just let out a frustrated whine, but he steeled himself for battle. This wasn’t the time to let heatstroke get to him!

Unfortunately, his body didn’t agree with him and after his first parry, he felt his knees collapse underneath his weight.

“Damn….Squall…” He found himself muttering, as if the brunette was the source of all his problems. He attempted to move his arms, but they felt almost detached from his body and before he knew it, his face hit the scorching sands. His eyes focused dimly on the sight of the ominous shadow looming over him, and his lips parted in a little sigh.

This was a lousy way to go, but… Cloud’s eyelids fluttered closed just after he saw a flash of silver appear before him. ….There wasn’t much he could do about it anyway.

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Leon found that as the days wore on, it was getting harder and harder to live in this morbid silence that had settled in on the group. Aerith was pretty upset with him, but after a while her good nature overtook her and she forgave him. That was only after she had sat him down and had a thorough talk with him.

“We should work more on restoring the bailey,” Leon commented over breakfast one morning. He was still exhausted from yesterday, but he didn’t want anyone to notice.

“Before we do Leon, could I have a talk with you?” Aerith whispered quietly, and almost pleasantly.

Leon blinked at her in surprise. This was the first time she had spoken to him since the incident. Apparently he wasn’t the only one surprised for he heard a collective gasp from the occupants of the table.

“Sure...” He said, somewhat unsure of what she meant. His mind was spinning wildly, entertaining thoughts that she was just plotting to get him away from everyone so she could murder him and chop his body up into tiny bits and feed it to everyone for breakfast.

She stood from the table and gestured for him to follow her into the next room. Yuffie gave him a sympathetic look, that led him to believe he really was in for something horrible.

Leon glanced at Aerith anxiously, feeling uncharacteristically nervous with the woman that he had come to know so well. She was gazing at him with a measuring glance, and he worried that he would somehow not look up to her standards.

“I want you to tell me, Leon.” She said quietly, gazing up at him with sorrowful eyes, “I need you to speak the absolute truth. Do you ever plan on pursing a romantic relationship with Cloud?”

Leon bristled with slight anger and embarrassment. “I thought I made it clear I’m not gay.” He muttered, running his hands through his hair.

Aerith sighed at him, as though thoroughly exasperated. “I wasn’t asking that. I need to you to be completely honest with me because…” her voice faltered, and Leon waited for her to regain her composure. “…because I love him and I don’t think I would ever be able to forgive you if you were lying to me now. It’s ok to say you want to, I just need to know now.”

Leon gazed at her uneasily. He didn’t like the direction this conversation was going, not at all. It made him feel…uncomfortable inside, as though there was something he needed to say, something very crucial. But he didn’t want a romantic relationship with Cloud, so he shouldn’t be worried. That was what was unnerving him, was that he felt like he should express some sort of emotion towards the silent blonde.

He turned and gazed into her tearing eyes, putting one hand on her shoulder. “No, I’m not interested in Cloud at all.” He stated simply, feeling his heart pound peculiarly in his chest. This felt so odd. Why?

Aerith sniffled lightly. “Leon, I hope you’re telling me the truth. I really do like you after all.” She said as she composed herself. She seemed genuinely happier now, as though a huge burden had been lifted from her chest. Funny thing was, Leon felt completely opposite.

“Well, let’s get back to breakfast. I’m sorry that I made such a big fuss. I hope you can forgive me.” She said lightly, touching his hand before making her way out of the room.

Leon stared after her in disbelief. He really didn’t understand her, or girls at all. He sighed and shuffled after her.

Aerith smiled gently at everyone. She was in a rather good mood now, but Yuffie was the opposite. The usually cheerful ninja seemed to be sulking about something. Leon ignored it though, having other things on his mind as he sat back down in his usual spot.

Leon was thoroughly frustrated with this morning and would’ve liked to have the rest of his breakfast disturbed, but it seemed like he wasn’t to get his wish. There was a rather overly loud knock at the door before, whoever feeling to impatient to wait a customary second, burst in regardless of invitation.

“Tifa!” Yuffie cried suddenly and sprang from her seat, greeting a long haired woman who was currently standing in their doorway.

“What are you doing here?” Aerith asked pleasantly, as she too stood and greeted the woman. Even Cid stopped pretending to be such a grump and let a little smile grace his lips.

Leon frowned, feeling left out. He seemed to be the only one here who didn’t know this brazen woman who has so rudely interrupted their breakfast. Not one to admittedly pout, Leon simply put on his most unpleasant face and continued to eat his eggs which had long gone cold.

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Note: Sorry, bad chapter ending. . -hands you a cookie shaped like Leon and Cloud kissing- All better?