Anna says: Oblivion gave me a challenge. This is the result. Yay fun. ;D ((It's probably not PG-13, but I like it anyway. Ahaha. -dies-))

Challenge: Jack Sparrow/Squall, PG-13, failure

Warning(s): Implied Jack Sparrow/Squall (Yaoi), minor violence, mental images of Squeon may be too much to handle.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters, nor do I own Pirates of the Caribbean or said movie's characters. Thank yew and have a spiffy day.

Cheating for Treasure

He couldn't get it right. He could never get it right. His footing was completely off..

Squall was good with a blade. Of course, he had been using his Gunblade for many years, so he didn't lack experience. But that was his gunblade. This was a whole different story.

This blade was scrawny, dull, too light for his taste, and it wasn't efficient.

There was no fire, no magic, no sheen, just an ugly piece of crafted metal that was over loved and overused by its original owner.

It's original owner...

Any moment, he would arrive at the harbor, stumbling and tripping back up to his current stay-in. Only to find a man practicing with the loose metal blade awkwardly.

The brunet sighed, gray-blue eyes narrowing to focus on the imaginary swashbuckling partner in front of him. He tightened his grip on the sword's handle, brandishing it out at the invisible figure.

Footingfootinghavetoworkonfooting...FocusSquallfocus..

Another sigh. His brow furrowed as he moved his left foot over his right, letting the right follow in a semi-circular pattern. He would nail this footing if it took the rest of his life. Squall loved challenges, and he wasn't the type of man to give up so easily.

The imaginary counter followed his lead, stepping over his feet with his sword held at the ready. The visible man took this opportunity to charge inwards, right foot leading as the left drug in the sandy dirt behind, slashing the blade wildly.

Perhaps if he wasn't battling an imaginary opponent, he wouldn't have looked quite as foolish.

"Ah, playing pirate again, are we?"

Squall started, spinning and nearly dropping the sword. "Oh, Jack, it's only you." He visibly relaxed at the vision of the pirate, letting his hand drop to the side, sword scratching the top of the grainy sands.

"Only me, eh? Well, isn't that some sort of welcoming. And to think that I got you a gift. Maybe I'll just sail me ship all the way back to Tortuga and barter it off again. Savvy?"

Squall didn't look like his normal, meticulously gorgeous self. He was dripping in sweat, his jacket had long been shed (it was much too hot for fur and leather on an island such as Port Royale), he had kicked his boots off, and his hair was matted to his face, stuck here and there with a severe cowlick at the top of his brown locks. His smile wasn't any different though as he regarded Captain Jack Sparrow.

"A gift, huh?" he inquired, accent standing out as foreign against the British ones around him.

"Aye, a gift," Jack replied, closing the space between them in his messy stagger. "However, if you so desire to claim said gift, you must beat me in a duel."

A simple proposition, but Squall had only been sword fighting for so long.

"And what exactly is this gift, Jack?" he asked again, placing his sword hand on his hip and regarding the other man with narrowed eyes, questioning eyes.. curious eyes.

The opposite man heaved an exasperated sigh. "Captain Jack. Captain, lad. Savvy?" He shook his shaggy head, holding up an awkward-looking knapsack. "And that, mate, is a surprise." Without another word, only a look, he drew his sword, brandishing it out to Leon.

The brunet hesitated, hand making its way up to the same level as Jack's. "Aye, avast," he sighed lowly, placing his focus on winning the mysterious surprise.

Captain Jack started them off, launching inwards and knocking Leon's sword out of the way. Leon countered, just as Jack had taught him, and twirled the handle to keep the blade at the ready.

"You are learning, I'll give you that," Sparrow commented, circling Squall with a wry grin.

"Aye."

He had gotten adjusted to the pirate language he was surrounded by so often. He had actually gotten quite fond of using it. Especially around Jack, who promptly went back in for another hack-n-slash, this time cutting through the other man's sleeve and drawing blood.

Leon didn't react to the cut, save for a grimace, keeping his focus on the battle. At one point, he actually made an advance in on Jack, and probably would've succeeded, if he hadn't tripped over some of the loose rope that was often left in places like this. He had to roll around in the sand, the grains sticking to the bare flesh due to sweat, to avoid getting stabbed at or sliced again as Jack took advantage of Leon's stumble.

Finally, after listening to clanking blades and whirling curses and hisses, the scurvy captain got the blade out of Leon's grasp, tripping the man up as he went to retrieve it. He would've just rolled to go get it, or maybe even crawled, had Jack not stuck his sword right above his heaving chest.

Squall wouldn't deny that he was exhausted, but he still didn't want to lose. He made one last attempt to knock Sparrow's sword away from him, slicing the back of his hand in the process, and receiving a foot on his stomach.

"Face it, mate. I win."

"Cheater," Squall muttered in reply, holding his hands up and squinting as the sun began to burn his eyes.

"Pi-"

"Yeah, yeah, you're a pirate, I know," he huffed, pushing Jack's boot off of him. "Alright, I lost."

A pout played across his lips as he sat up, only something Jack would get to see, as he surveyed the man through slightly narrowed eyes. "So what was the gift?" he asked, shaking the sand (some of it) out of his hair and running a hand through the sticky locks.

Jack put his sword away, crossing his arms over his chest and watching the other man closely with his heavily lined eyes, taking in all the details. Like how Squall had sand pressed into his cuts and scrapes, but didn't pay any attention to them, or how beads of sweat were pouring down his forehead, and even the things that weren't physical, like how he had gotten so much more of a response out of him lately, and how he had actually begun to show a little more emotion. That was one hell of a pout.

Bloodyhellheisgorgeous..

"Jack?"

"That, my friend, is for me to know. However, if you want it, you can have it. Losing that duel was really winning.. Savvy?"

At Squall's puzzled expression, he decided to continue. "That gift was more of a gift to me, mate. You wouldn't have enjoyed it."

"So you were trying to trick me?" Leon accused, brow furrowing as the pirate wagged his finger in his face.

"No, no. It was more of a..." He paused, searching for words while Leon gave him one of those looks. "A test."

"A test?"

"Aye, a test. But you didn't pass, so all's well that end's well." He picked the napsack up again, giving it a quick once-over before tossing toto Squall with a shrug. "If you're so curious, you can have it, Squall."

"That's Le-" he stopped, blinking and looking at the pirate with a baffled expression. "You just-.. That-.. That's the first time you've used my name," he pointed out with an unreadable expression.

Jack replied with a playful grin, tilting his head to the side and giving Leon one of his own looks. "There's a reason I call you mate, mate."

A deep blush sprinkled Leon's cheeks as the pirate began to walk away. That hadn't been an answer that he expected, but it wasn't an unwelcome answer either. He looked down at the sack in his lap. Now he really didn't know what could possibly be inside.

"It was more of a gift to me, mate. You wouldn't have enjoyed it."

He opened the tie at the top gingerly, picking the sack up one more time to measure the weight. It was relatively heavy.. Not too badly though. He frowned, pulling the bottom of the bag upwards and letting whatever was inside fall into the opposite hand.

It was a treasure chest.

A small one, made of wood, about the size of a brick, carved with every detail you would find on a regular chest. It was beautiful and incredibly life-like. After staring at it for a moment, Leon realized that it opened. He pulled the tiny clasp off the hook and pushed the top open to see a ragged and torn piece of paper. In a scratchy, scribbled print, it read,

'You've won the duel, and my heart. It's you, mate.

--Captain Jack'

End.

Read and Review? Please :)

And if you've got any questions about the story, message me or whatever. I left some holes. :D