Title: Run Away

Summary: "C'mon, let's get out of here! Let's run away and go somewhere else. Fly to a new world!" YuRiku one-shot

Notes: I wanted a Squffie, but it didn't want to come to me. I wanted a Yuffie-Riku friendship, but it evaded me. I finally gave in to my YuRiku idea and here is the finished product.

Disclaimer: Yeah, I own… Uh… Nothing. I'm unemployed and broke.

Run Away

RayZor

With the barrel of a gun pressed firmly against his forehead, he squeezed his eyes tightly shut. A lone tear streaked from the corner of his eye and down his cheek, ending on his white tee-shirt. He was sweating profusely in the hotel room, long silver locks sticking to him. Traverse Town reached an all-time high of 95 degrees that day.

His finger tightened on the trigger. Visions of Sora and Kairi flooded his mind. Of the dirty looks people often gave him. Of the anger and hatred poorly hidden by Lean and Aerith. He was tired of it all. In just a moment, he would end it.

An alarm in the room adjoining to his went off. No, not an alarm. The tune was light and somewhat familiar. It was a music box, undoubtedly, but it was accompanied by a soft, melodious voice. It lulled him into putting the gun down and drew his attention to the words.

"Masquerade, paper faces on parade. Masquerade. Hide your face so the world can never find you." The voice was low, but feminine, and soft enough that a gentle breeze could have swept it away forever. The aqua-eyed teen was somewhat relieved, upon re-thinking the events, that the voice had caught his attention. Perhaps the gun was not an answer he sought?

"Hey, Leon," a voice said, halting the singing. Riku definitely knew that voice.

"Hello, Yuffie," her partner replied. Riku heard him cross to her and went back to his sketch book, turn on a Cure CD. He hated that Yuffie stayed with that insufferable prick.

They often feuded about little, insignificant things, he never protected her from the belittling of Cid or anyone else, and Riku had never heard him tell Yuffie that he loved her. Riku had been in Traverse Town for six months, but had never seen the couple hold hands or kiss. His one and only friend in Traverse Town - in the universe, it seemed - was Yuffie. She had cried on his shoulder numerous times because of Squall. The man always came to Riku's room and won her back, promising her things would change and apologizing his heart out.

A loud crash startled him from his thoughts and he heard Leon curse loudly.

"Damn it, Yuffie! I said that I wasn't in a good mood!"

"Squall, you're never in a good mood! This isn't working out! Fuck it! I'm leaving, Squall, and don't expect me to come back!"

The door slammed and there was a forced silence. "Yuffie?" Sq- er, Leon called. Silence again. "Yuffie!" he bellowed, anger almost frightening Riku. "You can't fucking leave me, damn it!"

Sensing that his friend probably needed help, Riku pulled his boots on and hurried out the door. Looking both ways, he opted for the left exit and headed out into Second District. He knew that she would not be on the roof of Gizmo Shop, so he decided to go to Third District. He jogged to the door and pulled it open, slipping into the third section effortlessly. His aqua eyes by-passed Cid's house and he walked to the middle of the room-like district.

Sniffling caught his attention and he looked up at the balcony to see the top of Yuffie's head. "How did she get all the way up there?" he asked himself aloud.

"Riku?" a meek, hurt-filled voice asked. She was looking down at him, eyes red and puffy from crying.

"Yeah, Yuff. C'mon, we'll go back to my room and talk."

"No," she replied, surprising him. "He'll go there to look for me. I don't want to ever see him again."

Riku sighed. "Yuffie, there are only three districts, he'll find you eventually." Suddenly, the meaning of her words decided to strike him down and his brow furrowed. "Unless…" He stared at her in disbelief.

"I'm getting out of here," she said, standing. She looked down at him seriously. "Wanna come?"

For a moment, he could only gape at her wordlessly. "Are… You serious?"

She giggled like the mischievous child she still was. "Of course! C'mon, let's get out of here! Let's run away and go somewhere else. Fly to a new world."

Riku felt her excitement and nodded. "Yeah… Yeah, I'll go with you, Yuffie. I have a gummi ship. We'll find an uncharted world."

A loud thud made the duo look toward the steps. There, in all of his broken glory, stood Squall "Leon" Leonhart. He wore an un-tucked white beater, leather pants, and boots, chains and jacket no where to be found. His navy eyes studied Riku for a moment, then fell to the ground.

"I thought I heard Yuffie," he said dejectedly. "I need her, Riku… Without her, I'd… I don't know what I'd do."

Riku felt sorry for him and glanced up at the balcony. Yuffie was gone. Riku felt the need to point out everything that went wrong in their relationship, then, and proceeded to do so.

"You know, Leon… If you had held her when she was sad… Kissed her in public occasionally… Told her that you cared for her… She would not have cried so many times in my room. If you had talked to her, you would've known so much more." Leon's blue eyes were watching him. "Point out everything about her that you love. Like the way her eyes become a vibrant purple when she smiles. Or how she snorts when she laughs really hard." A faint smile was on the teen's face. "Or how angelic she tends to look while reading or concentrating. How she gnaws on the end of her pen when she's contemplating a new story or poem."

Leon was staring at him by now. "I… I didn't know that she wrote stories," he said softly. His eyes focused and something inside of him made the ice reappear. "You talk as if you're in love," he snarled.

Riku snapped back to reality, looking at Leon with red-faced embarrassment. "Uh.. I… Uhm… Yuffie's just… We're only…"

Leon's icy blue eyes glared daggers at the teen. "Refrain from speaking," he said, voice threatening to fail him. He turned and left Third District via Second District door.

Riku stood there in silence, aqua eyes still staring at the place Leon had been. Love? Riku and Yuffie? Could they? Would she?

"Riku!"

He looked up at the balcony, but no one was there. A finger tapped his shoulder and he started, whirling around to face Yuffie Kisaragi. "Hey."

She grinned crookedly, if not shyly. "Didja really mean everything that you said to Squall?"

Riku ran his hand through his thick hair, then rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Aw, man. You heard all that? How embarrassing."

She furrowed her brows. "So, you didn't mean it?"

He quickly shook his head. "No, no! I mean, yes! Yes, I did mean it and, no, I didn't not mean it." She cocked her head to the left in curiosity and confusion. "Yes, I meant everything I said. Like about your eyes and your laugh… It's all true."

She grinned broadly and flung her arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug, which he returned somewhat awkwardly. "You're my only real friend," she whispered in his ear. "And I love you for it."

He closed his eyes. If only…

When she pulled away, he looked at her with a smirk on his face. "We still goin' to another world? Or was that all a lie?"

She feigned shock. "Me? Lie? Never! Come on, Riku! We have a gummi to take off in!"

They laughed and ran to First District's café, where Riku thought of something. "Wait, Yuff… What about our clothes?"

Yuffie mulled this over for a moment, then shrugged. "Fuck it," she replied. "I have my shuriken. Your sword is on your gummi. We've both got munny out the yin yang…" She looked up at him through chocolate bangs, a seductive smile on her pretty face. "And we've got each other. What else do we need? I mean, we can snatch food from the Coliseum."

An overwhelming force overtook the eighteen-year-old and he pulled her to him, pressing his lips against hers. Surprisingly, she did not pull away, but deepened the kiss. When they pulled away, she was still in his arms, hands on his chest.

"Let's get," Riku told her.

He took her hand and they ran to the front gate, where six gummis resided. Three of Sora's old gummis, one of Cid's, one for Leon, Aerith, and Yuffie, and Riku's Excalibur. They jumped in and took off. They laughed and talked… They ran away.

C'mon, let's get out of here. Let's run away and go somewhere else. Fly to a new world!

.fin.