Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Kingdom Hearts or any Final Fantasy titles.
Author's note: Oddly enough, I got the basic idea for this while dusting my video game and anime figures. I suddenly realised, while cleaning Squall, that the Kingdom Hearts version of the character had to have received his scar differently than the Final Fantasy VIII version, so I started pondering how he might have received it. This whole thing just fell together from there. Thank you for reading and enjoy.
The fifteen year old ran as fast as his legs could carry him, dodging the strange dark creatures that seemed to everywhere or else cutting through them as well as he could. He was surprised by his own skill, as he had only ever sparred with friends or train with an instructor prior to the nightmare he was currently trying to survive.
He evaded the claws of one of the monsters, noticing that he had never seen that particular breed of them during the attack yet, and cut down another as it tried to follow up its comrade's attack. The young fighter's eyes finally landed on his destination and he pushed himself to run faster, hoping he was not already too late.
"Squall!"
The named boy spun around at the sound of his name, and raised his Gunblade just in time to block an attack. He ducked under the follow-up swing, then leapt into the air and cleaved the creature as he came down upon it. As the dark monster was reduced to nothing but smoke and ashes, steel-blue eyes took a quick assessment of the situation.
Several other SeeD trainees had arrived at the orphanage already, and were following the orders of the newly made instructor, Quistis. The blonde-haired girl turned toward Squall as soon as she sent a few SeeDs to lead a group of orphans to the transports.
"Have you seen Ellone?" asked Squall as he turned to meet another enemy that was rushing at him from the right. Before it came within reach of his blade, Quistis' chain whip shot out and sent the creature flying across the room. "What's happening?"
"She's here, helping Edea make sure all of the orphans are accounted for as we load them up. No one seems to know, what is going on," replied the blonde teenager as she adjusted her glasses. "Master Cid just asked us to help Edea evacuate the orphanage. There hasn't been any word from Ansem the Wise, his apprentices, ShinRa, or Esthar yet…"
"Hey, watch out!" A blonde and blue blur shot past the two and collided with one of the smaller monsters. After landing a few well-aimed punches, Zell turned away from the scattering ashes of his opponent and joined his friends. "Watch out for those ones…they use fire spells;" he pointed to burn across his right temple; some of his hair had been singed away.
"Zell, grab that little boy," Quistis pointed to a child no older than six, who was peeking from around an armoire, "And take him to the transport area. Get that burn patched up before you come back, all right?"
"It's not that seri-"
Blue eyes narrowed slightly as Quistis released her chain whip and struck out a few more attacking creatures. "That's an order!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Zell ran towards the boy, then jumped and struck out a kick to knock away a creature that had just discovered the child. Within seconds, he was running with the child thrown over his shoulder.
Squall and Quistis continued fighting off the strange creatures as a few other members of SeeD grabbed what appeared to be the last of the orphans. After a moment, the sounds of gunfire were added to the fray of the battle. "I guess Irvine finally showed up," commented the brown-haired boy as Quistis nodded, neither paused in their fight until the surrounding enemies were destroyed.
"Trepe," Irvine tilted his hat as he approached the young instructor. "I know you're not supposed to give this sort of thing away, but please tell me this some sort of messed up training exercise."
Quistis shook her head apologetically, "Whatever this is; it's real. Have all of the kids been evacuated?"
"Edea's going over her check-list now," replied the sharpshooter as he reloaded his weapon. He took out a few monsters that were approaching in the distance and then began to reload again. "No one can find that little Wutai girl though…the one who thinks she's some sorta ninja."
"Yuffie headed into town just before everything turned to chaos here," stated Quistis. "She said something about going for her weapons cache in her secret place, but no one knows what she was talking about."
"She has some of her parents' old training gear hidden in a hollow spot at the Bailey," stated Squall. He rolled his eyes when the other two looked at him in utter shock. "Just because I don't respond to the little pest doesn't mean I turn deaf whenever she's prattling on."
Quistis recovered from her surprise first, "Well, Aerith was supposedly with her, but I haven't seen either of them since I got here."
Irvine arched an eyebrow, "Aerith…she a new recruit or something?"
The blonde girl shook her head. "No, she's that flower girl from the church. You've seen her around; long brown hair, green eyes, a handful of years older than me…do you know who I'm talking about?"
The sharpshooter turned to Squall, who did not even glance at the taller boy; "Zack's girlfriend."
"Oh," the violet-eyed teen nodded, and then frowned. "Does she fight?"
"…Not that I know of," the sable-haired teen looked to Quistis.
The blonde girl immediately nodded, "Go locate them. -Wait, take this;" she handed the boy a small walkie-talkie. "Irvine and I will make one more sweep here, and then check at the transport area to make sure everyone else is accounted for. Your objective is only to keep the girls safe until you can get them to a transport, okay Squall?"
The steel-eyed teen nodded and took off without any further preamble, attaching the walkie-talkie to one of his belts as he ran. He did not pause as he cut through more of the dark creatures, keeping his focus on his objective. He had no idea what condition Yuffie or Aerith would be in when he reached them and he just hoped they could hold out until he arrived.
Squall discovered even more of the odd monsters in the Borough when he reached it, including some different variations than the ones he had been fighting all morning. As he fought his way up the stairs that would lead him to the Bailey, he heard a child yelp and threw more force into his swings, barrelling forward as quickly as he could. He realised a moment too late that this was a mistake, as some of the midsized creatures, armed with what appeared to be a sword, used his unstoppable momentum against him in an attack, knocking him down and causing him to lose his grip on his weapon.
Blood splattered across the stone floor as the teenager hit the ground. Squall had learned years before, that face wounds bleed worse than most any other part of the body, and so the blood pouring from the bridge of his nose did not concern him until it began to hinder his vision. He wiped at his face with one gloved hand as the other arm stretched out for him to pat the ground in search of his weapon, which he knew was somewhere nearby.
"Leave my friend alone!" Both Squall and the large creature that had been about to pounce on him stopped and flinched at the shrill screech of a child; the sable-haired teen quickly wiped the blood out of his left eye, simply opting to keep the right one closed as the wound above it meant it only keep filling with the substance. He looked up just in time to see an abnormally large shuriken strike the creature responsible for the wound in the centre of its head.
The steel-eyed teen used the moment that his enemies were distracted to grab his weapon. With one clear sweep, he destroyed the nearest two as he rose to his feet. The boy continued to slash at the creatures as he started making his way to the ten-year-old 'ninja', who was actually dodging the monsters with unsurprising speed. However, Squall had only made it halfway to her when she lost her footing on some loose gravel and fell over, leaving her open to multiple attacks. The boy's eyes widened as he kicked the nearest creature off the wall; "Yuffie!"
Nearly as soon as the girl had hit the ground, an air shield appeared around her. Without bothering to question it, or even think, Squall raised Revolver and shot the surrounding monsters. Then, he adjusted his grip on his weapon and ran toward the girl, dodging, jumping, and only occasionally slashing to get through the horde of enemies. He would prefer reaching her with a few injuries than not making it to her in time again.
As he approached the petite child, who was not sitting up and looking confused, a familiar green glow appeared around Yuffie, healing her injuries. Squall glanced to their left and saw a young woman with long brown hair carrying a short staff and approaching them swiftly…several of the strange creatures appeared to be chasing her. She looked a little worse for wear, but intact.
"Look out!" Yuffie screeched and the sable-haired boy spun around and executed a rising slash just in time to strike an attacking monster. Several more rushed in and the SeeD in training leaped into the air and twirled his Gunblade, sending out a wave of energy that destroyed the creatures. He struck another monster upon landing and glanced behind him to see the young woman help the girl up before swinging her staff and knocking away another monster.
"That way," Squall pushed the girls further into the stone passage and released the hidden switch that closed the wall behind him. He then moved ahead of his newly acquired charges and cut down a few more of the creatures. "Stay behind me…we're gonna have to take the long way around."
The green-eyed woman looked him over with a concerned expression as she took in all the blood staining his face, clothes, and hair. "You're Cloud's friend, right…Rain or something?"
"Squall," corrected Yuffie as she adjusted a small bundle, wrapped in some sort of old silk cloth, which was still too large for her to be carrying.
"Grab that for her," Squall snapped as he held off the throng of monsters that were trying to come through the other opening of the confined area.
"There are more of them as you go further into the meadow," commented Aerith as she took the bundle from Yuffie, "And you're injured pretty badly. I don't think we'll be able to go back that way."
"Well we definitely can't get back the way I came," stated Squall. He took a quick look toward the meadows and saw that there were in fact thousands of the dark creatures swarming across it. It appeared that the seemingly endless wave of monsters was coming from Ansem the Wise's castle. The boy felt as though he had just been doused in cold water, "Oh, no."
Firing at the nearest creatures, Squall took his walkie-talkie from his belt with his free hand and started speaking into it. "Quistis, there's even more of these things out here. It looks like they've completely overrun Ansem's castle. I found Yuffie and Aerith, but we're holed up in the Bailey and moving isn't going to be easy, so it will take us some time."
A stream of white noise, punctuated here and there by snippets of Quistis' voice -which was concerned and slightly frantic- sounded from the walkie-talkie as Squall continued fighting off the odd monsters. The sable-haired teen frowned, "Quistis, I can't read you…say that again." Once more, only static and brief scraps of his friend and instructor's voice came forth.
"Maybe we should jump out the window," suggested Yuffie, as though leaping from a sixty-foot ledge were everyday practise, once the hidden wall that Squall had closed started to give.
"Squall, come in;" stated a gruff voice from the named boy's walkie-talkie.
The sable-haired teen frowned at the unfamiliar voice, but answered all the same, knowing now was not the time to be antisocial. "This is Squall; who are you?"
"Name's Cid Highwind; I just heard you and your friend trying to reach each other. You're some of Master Cid's SeeDs, right?"
The steel-eyed teen glanced at the two girls behind him. "…Yes. Could you relay the message?"
"The girl, Quistis, said she's sorry but she can't hold the last transport for more than a few minutes. I'm flying out from my garage on the outskirts of town near you. Can you hold your position for about two and half minutes?"
Squall continued slashing at the attacking creatures, which now had to come in groups of three at the most, since they had only a narrow entrance to come through. "It doesn't sound like I have much choice."
"Isn't that the damned truth…all right; I'll be there in about two minutes now. Hold on, kid."
Two minutes had never felt so long in all of Squall's life. He heard another attempted contact from Quistis as well as one from Master Cid, but neither was any clearer than the previous attempts. If anything, Master Cid's was even more garbled than Quistis' had been. Finally, the sounds of a powerful engine could be heard over the sounds of the creatures, and Squall glimpsed a small but impressively build, custom Gummi ship approaching just as another transmission came through.
"Can you kids make it to Postern? There's a spot there I can use to land on…it'll be a hell of a lot quicker that way."
"How soon can you be ready for us?" asked Squall.
"In about forty seconds."
"Okay, we're on our way." The steel-eyed teen attached his walkie-talkie to one of his belts again, and then quickly unbuckled one of the longer ones that wrapped around his hips. He tossed it to Aerith, "Use this to strap that bundle to you…you'll need both of your hands to fight." Once the girl had used the belt to strap the bundle to her back, she stood forward, holding her staff at the ready.
"Can you hold them for a few seconds?" asked Squall. Once the girl nodded, he motioned for her to move in and then kneeled once she took over. "Yuffie, get on my back. Don't even think of arguing."
The girl had opened her mouth and narrowed her eyes, clearly ready to argue being treated as a little kid, however, the tone of the boy's voice silenced her immediately. She closed her mouth and climbed onto his back without a word.
Squall stood easily, "Hold on tight; I'm going to need both hands too." Once he felt Yuffie adjust her grip to support herself well, he released the girl and held his weapon with both hands and he moved closer to Aerith. "When I tell you too, let me cut in front of you. I'll push through these things and you follow. Then, we just cut our way to the Postern as quickly as we can. Do you know where the Postern is?" The young woman nodded, and Squall mimicked the motion, flinching slightly as he jarred a few injuries. "All right; stay behind me and don't stop for anything. …Now!"
Aerith immediately raised and stilled her staff, allowing Squall to cut ahead of her and slash the incoming creatures. He boy could barely make out the sounds of her following through the din of monsters and battle as they fought their way down the stairs and across the alley that led to the Postern.
The Gummi had landed, but the hatch was still closed. It did not open until the trio was only a few meters away, and immediately, a blonde man leapt out with a spear, sending a dozen of the small creatures flying easily.
"Get Yuffie," Squall called to Aerith, who grabbed the girl right away and ran up the small ramp that led inside the Gummi ship. Meanwhile, the steel-eyed teen had spun around and was fighting beside Cid.
"What the hell are you doin'?" called the gruff man. "Get your ass in there!"
"I'll hold them off while you go and then head back on my own," replied Squall as he fired his weapon before slashing another monster.
"I think that head wound you got scrambled your brains, kid." Cid move closer to the boy as swept his spear through six more creatures. "You can't go back."
"I have to. My friends are waiting and I don't even know if my sister got on a transport yet or not."
"You didn't hear the transmission your leader tried to send out, did you?" asked Cid as he subtly forced the boy to move closer to the ship while they fought. "He said the transports had to leave. There's just too many of these damn things for them to risk sticking around. I told him I'd get you out. Now get your ass in that ship!"
"Did he mention Ellone?" asked the sable-haired teen as he took out another dark being with an upper slash.
"No, he just had heard me and wanted to know if I was close enough to get you. It didn't sound like he was missin' anyone though."
Squall shook his head. "I can't go without knowing that Ellone made it out. Just go with the girls. I'll figure something out once I've checked for her…there have to be some ships left here."
"Kid, you'll make a damn good leader once you grow up, but for now, you're just a boy with shit for brains," commented Cid. "Even if your sister is here, which I doubt, there's nothing you're going to be able to do for her. You wouldn't even be able to find her in the mess these things are making of the place."
The teenager turned his head towards the pilot as he spoke; "Look, I am not going anywhere without-"
Squall was cut off and caught completely by surprise when the man's fist connected with his already wounded face. He fell back and hit the ground hard as his wound broke open and began to bleed anew. Dark spots and blood filled the boy's vision; however, he recognised the sounds of Cid striking a few monsters that had no doubt moved in when he fell, before the man stepped towards him. Without thinking, Squall snapped out one of his legs and heard a stream of profanity as he connected with a solid body.
"~f**!!g&^#+!*…Son of a bitch! That's it, you little punk…"
"Stop it!" Yuffie called, sounding distressed; "Aerith, lemme go! They're hurt!"
Squall forced himself into a standing position and swayed as he held a hand to his aching, bleeding head. He swung Revolver instinctively when a dark shape rushed him, and felt the blade cut through a couple of the strange monsters he had been fighting all day. Hearing Cid move beside him, the boy turned unsteadily; "Look, just go. I'm not your responsibility. You're wasting time, just take the girls and-"
The gruff man's fist connected with him again, this time, in the solar plexus. The sable-haired teen felt all of the air forced out of his lungs and dropped. However, the same arm that had struck him caught him.
After stowing his spear on his back, Cid grabbed the boy's belts with his other hand and hefted the stubborn teen onto his shoulder in a fireman's hold. He then limped onto the Gummi ship, closed the hatch, and tossed the boy into the cargo area.
Squall's vision faded completely when he landed none-to-lightly on the floor of the ship. He heard Aerith call out harshly, "Hey, you can't manhandle him like that! He has a concussion and an open wound on his face, plus who knows what other injuries!"
The steel-eyed boy was only vaguely aware of the feeling of the ship's takeoff a few moments before he felt someone lift his head and hold something against his lips. Aerith's voice sounded as though it were coming from somewhere far off when he heard her; "Here, drink this."
The SeeD in training automatically swallowed the bitter liquid that was gently poured down his throat, recognising the taste as that of an elixir once he registered it. Within seconds of finishing the foul tasting potion, he felt the pain and fatigue fade from his body. He groaned and then frowned when he had some trouble opening his eyes.
"Hey, hang on a minute you pain in the ass," Cid grumbled as Squall felt a hand land on his chest, preventing him from sitting up completely. Then, something warm, wet, and soft started brushing across his face. "You've got drying blood all over your face…no sense in ripping out all your eyelashes. There, try it now."
Squall opened his eyes successfully this time, to see Cid kneeling in front of him with a wet and bloodstained shop rag in his hand and a frown on his face. "Damn, those elixirs were supposed to be top dollar. Last time I buy anything in Midgar."
Aerith moved into Squall's line of vision now and looked the boy over critically. "I don't know; even a properly made elixir would have probably scarred, considering how deep that wound was and how long it remained open. At least it's a nice, clean line."
"Oh well, shit happens," commented Cid. He looked over Squall once more and then patted the boy on the shoulder before standing. "Just remember, no matter what those damn bishies say, chicks dig scars…they add character. Besides, you have a hell of a story to go with yours. Just talk about fighting thousands of monsters to protect a couple girls and the ladies will be swooning all over you."
Steel-blue eyes blinked. "…What the hell are you talking about?"
"Your face scarred," explained Yuffie as she sat down beside the teen and pulled on his sleeve in an attempt to help him sit up. "I got your sword thing for you." She pointed to Revolver, which was lying beside her bundle of whatever she had risked her life to collect.
"…It's a Gunblade." Now sitting and thinking clearly, Squall turned to Cid. "Where are we going?"
"To a world called Traverse Town," replied the Gummi pilot as he sat down gingerly and then drank a health potion. "It's the only world I know of that definitely knows about other worlds, so we don't have to worry about blending in."
"Do you know if that's where ShinRa is taking everyone they evacuated?" asked Aerith with a concerned expression.
"I have no fucking clue where ShinRa or SeeD was headin' but I caught a couple transmissions from Reeve," Cid glanced at Squall before turning to Aerith again. "SOLDIER and Turk got most everyone out of their territory, even the kids down in the slums. From what I heard from Cid, SeeD sounded like they were just missing the mule here."
"Did you hear anything about a SOLDIER named Zack Fair?" questioned Aerith, sounding hopeful now.
"The cheerful guy that thinks you just have meet someone once and you're suddenly pals? Yeah, Reeve said he dropped off a couple of tagalongs before he and Sephiroth went to lead a few groups to gather the citizens while Turk was evacuating all of ShinRa's employees. They all reported in as scheduled before everyone headed out."
The young woman smiled, "The tagalongs must be Cloud and Tifa…they were going to the city with Zack today, since he was only supposed to be gone for the morning." Squall felt some relief at hearing this, the named teenagers were only a couple of years younger than he was, and he had actually wondered about them when he did not see them trying to help around town that morning. It was not like that pair to remain uninvolved in any large event.
Aerith looked as though she were about to ask something else but hesitated. Squall rolled his eyes and then Cid started speaking. "Reeve mentioned Tseng too." He once again had the green-eyed girl's complete attention. Squall had no idea who Tseng was, but could tell it was someone important to the young woman.
"He and his team made it out of course; Turks are harder to kill than cockroaches." Cid smirked slightly, "Some runt in the slums gave him a run for his money though…I guess the little shit was pretty scrappy. Tseng actually had to bring him onto one of the transports on their level since it took so long to catch him. Reeve said he'd never seen him look more pissed or impressed in his life."
The Gummi pilot turned to Yuffie; "And what's your name, brat?"
"I'm Yuffie Kasaguri, one of the great ninjas of Wutai!" The ten year old seemed unfazed by the blank stare Cid was giving her. "I know there's no way my people failed to escape, and at least I know my friends are all right now…plus, 'm with Aerith and Squall, so I'm not worried."
The blonde man shook his head and pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He shook one out and lit it as he stood, "I'll be in the cockpit. Don't break anything."
Aerith and Yuffie made themselves comfortable and talked about various topics, from their favourite flowers to what they thought Traverse Town was going to be like. The girls attempted to include Squall in on their conversation, but the sable-haired teen responded in very few words, if at all, so they gave up after a while.
Squall spent the flight deep in thought. He felt that he had failed everyone: his sister, his friends, SeeD, and his home world. He had no idea where his friends and fellow trainees were going or whether Ellone or his father had made it out of Radiant Garden. The more he thought on it, the more guilt and frustration he felt.
The trip took less than two days, and Squall hardly spoke throughout that time. He learned the basics of operating the ship's weapons and shields, and had a decent handle on how to fly the Gummi, taking turns with Cid, while Aerith kept a watch on Yuffie for the most part.
When they finally landed in Traverse Town, the three young passengers gazed over what they could see of the strange city while Cid handled all the arrangements for his Gummi and got directions to a motel.
"This place is a lot darker than home," commented Yuffie with her nose scrunched slightly, "And it smells funny." While Squall was inclined to agree with the ten year old, he said nothing.
"Well, I'm sure we'll find something to keep ourselves occupied until we can go home with all of out friends," Aerith replied quietly, looking for all the world as though she'd rather head back into the Gummi and leave.
"All right," said Cid as he returned to the youths, obviously finished with his transactions. "This is the first district, the third is mostly residential…it's through there, and the hotel is in the second."
"We should all stay together…for now, at least," commented Aerith. She was still facing the general town, but her eyes had moved toward Squall. "We don't know how long it will be before any of the others show up."
"They might not show up here," stated Cid, "The guy at the hanger said we aren't the first refugees to show up. Seems ours wasn't the first world to get hit by those damn things. Look kids, I've got some Munny, but we don't long how long we're going to be stuck here, so don't go treating this like it's going to be short term."
Aerith nodded sadly while Squall gave the pilot a look that stated he really had not needed to be told that. Neither of the males bothered looking down when Yuffie responded, "That's okay, ninjas are very resourceful…and I even have thirty Munny saved. And, we can bunk up to save…hey, Squall? Do you wanna be roommates?"
The boy was about to rebuff the child, but he caught the expression on Aerith's face in mid-eye roll. Confused, he glanced at Yuffie, to discover that the girl had moved closer to him while he was not paying attention, and was now looking over the dark streets and unknown inhabitant of Twilight Town wearily.
With all the hyperactive girl's babbling and ninja talk, he had actually forgotten that she was just ten and had probably been somewhat traumatised by recent events. The newly scarred teen did not bother to soften his expression, however.
"…Whatever."
Yuffie smiled and fell into step beside the sable-haired boy when he adjusted his weapon and her package and headed for the second district. Cid and Aerith followed, carrying some food, clothes, and supplies that the pilot always kept in his Gummi in case of emergency.
The quartet followed the front deskman to their rooms, Aerith's was beside Yuffie and Squall's, with another room between theirs and Cid's. Squall dropped the items he was carrying on one of the beds in the room he was apparently going to be sharing, and glanced out at the balcony. He had a feeling this was going to be 'home' for much longer than the girls seemed to think it would.
The steel-eyed teen also decided that he did want to be as useless as he was in defending their home world anymore. He was not going to spend his time in limbo idly.
"How long do you intend on staying?" The employee asked when Squall stepped out into the hall again, with Yuffie following his heels.
Squall simply looked at the man and said nothing, so Yuffie piped up, "We don't know yet and it isn't any of your business anyway." She seemed to have mistaken the older boy's silence for having been offended.
The man smiled slightly, "I'm sorry, little miss, I meant no-"
"Hey, don't call me that," argued the girl, apparently in the mood to argue now that she had started. "I'm the great ninja Yuffie!"
The man looked to Squall for assistance in placating the child, but the teen offered him a look in return that said he was completely on his own. The sable-haired boy had other things on his mind at that moment and could clearly not care less about whether his apparent charge caused a bit of grief.
The man seemed to appease the girl on his own, after several minutes, and then turned to Squall; "And what would your name be?"
Steel-blue eyes turned to the man, although the teen made no other motion to acknowledge him. "…It's Leon."
"All right," the man wrote something down in a small notebook. "I'll just go and check with the, er…gentleman that checked in with you."
As the man scurried off, Yuffie looked toward the sable-haired boy perplexedly, "Squall-?"
"While we're here, it's Leon, all right?"
Large brown eyes blinked, and it seemed that the girl did not understand, although she recognised a closed subject when she heard one. "Come on…let's go see what Aerith's room looks like. Okay, Sq-eon?"
Leon looked down, to find Yuffie looking at him as she would if bothering him for something back home…as though she had not made slip or found anything odd in the fact that he had just changed his name for some reason unknown to her after they fled their home from unfamiliar monsters. The boy frowned slightly and felt his skin pull tightly around his new scar.
"Hey, are you guys all settled?" asked Aerith as she stepped out of her room to join the pair in the hallway.
While Yuffie told Aerith about the clock in their room and inquired about lunch, the steel-eyed teen watched them for a moment. While he still felt he had failed his home, he supposed he should at least be pleased that he had fulfilled his objective to get them out safely. The question was; what should he do now?
"Hey Leon, do you wanna go get something to eat and then explore a little?" asked Yuffie, earning both she and the named boy an odd look from Aerith at the new title.
The sable-haired boy decided that until he was strong enough to protect his home, he was at least strong enough to protect what he had of it.
He offered the girls a firm nod and then returned to his room to grab Revolver before joining them again.
If only he did not abhor leading…but at least he knew that things would not get even more messed up this way.
"Great," stated Yuffie cheerfully. "I saw a café on the way here."
"Remember, we don't have much Munny, Yuffie," cautioned Aerith.
"I have some Munny," stated Leon, "And I'll get a job here as soon as I can."
The brunette looked at the teenager with an expression of sad surprise for a moment, catching the implication of that statement, but then seemed to take in his determined face before glancing at Yuffie's unfazed expression. The young woman then smiled lightly, "All right. That's a good idea."
"You three do know that this is a public hallway, right?" commented Cid as he approached the others.
"We're gonna go get lunch, then explore and find a job for Leon," Yuffie explained easily, ignoring the man's rhetorical question completely. "Do you wanna come?"
The blonde man looked from Yuffie to the steel-eyed teen with a questioning gaze for a moment, until Leon nodded. "All right, sounds good to me. I suppose I ought to find something' too…knowing my wife, I wouldn't be surprised if she showed up here sooner or later. Best to avoid any bitching about loafing around…"
The girls smiled and began asking the gruff pilot questions about this wife as they walked, with the SeeD trainee following and offering Yuffie a nod when she checked to see that he was still with them.
With a silent nod of assurance, the young man assured the girl that he was not going to leave, and she trotted ahead to walk beside Cid, immediately asking all sorts of questions about their new, hopefully temporary, home.
Leon watched the three ahead of him dutifully, making sure that none of the people who came by seemed threatening and silently taking charge of the small party. His back straightened slightly and a resolute edge to his eyes caused the passer-by's near him to give the teen a wider birth, somehow recognising that the boy deserved respect and caution.
He might not have been able to protect his old home and friends, but Leon was determined to give all that could to take care of what remained of it.
Perhaps, if he was successful, he would be able to save Squall in the end as well.