Fifteen feet of pure white snow


Chapter 1: Friday I'm in Love

"Seriously, Yuffie, when are you gonna ask Tifa out?" Leon asked, sending his best friend a look that told her that this wasn't a question, it was a challenge.

"I'm not," Yuffie replied, looking away. She seemed to be blushing slightly. Blushing! Yuffie never blushed. Never. She must really, really like that girl.

"Why not? Not brave enough?"

"Are you calling me a fucking coward? I'm bloody not. I'm braver than you'll ever be, you wanker!" Her shouting trailed away with a few more curses. She glared angrily at Leon for a few moments before she sighed.

"I can't ask her," she said, staring fixedly at her black boots, "First of all, there's no way the hottest chick on the damned planet is single, second. I bet she doesn't even like girls, third, she's two years older than me, she can have anyone her own age, or older, so why would she want a dumb little child with a bad temper?"

"Now you're being silly. You know you're talking rubbish, right? You and I both know that she is both single and interested in girls. She just broke up with that chick with the crazy hair last month."

"Okay, maybe she is single. Maybe she does like girls. But she's still way out of reach. But now we're done talking about my love life. What about yours? You go that bloody coffee shop every damned day, and I know it's because you're hoping for that blond bookworm to be there. I know you like him! Come on, admit it, admit it, admit it, admit it…"

"I don't go there because of the guy. I go there because they make good coffee. Why should I care about some boy with a book?"

"Because he's the cutest ever. Always sitting there in the same corner, drinking the same black coffee, the same type of coffee as you drink, by the way, reading his book. He looks kind of sad, with his black clothes, and his thoughtful expression. I've never ever seen him smile. How he can look like that and act like that and not seem emo is beyond me."

"You're one to talk. You're not exactly a walking smiley, yourself. Are you actually capable being anything other than angry, annoyed and horny?"

"Horny? Where the hell did that come from?"

"Let me give you a hint: hot chick with long black hair." Leon imitated Yuffie drooling over Tifa.

"I thought we were through with that subject? I'm supposed to be grilling you about the blond guy."

"Can't you just let it go? I don't even know his name…" If the boy she was talking to hadn't been Leon, Yuffie would have said he sounded sad. But she knew better. When her friend was sad, he always tried to cover it up by pretending to be angry. But why was his voice sounding so weird?

-

Cloud was sitting in his corner reading. His corner. He almost laughed. He let his eyes sweep across the coffee shop. It was almost empty. A boy was sitting by himself by the window, and two girls were sitting on the other end of the room. They were talking loudly and giggling. Hyperactive little schoolgirls. He didn't like them.

Just as he was turning his attention back to his book, he heard a familiar tinkling noise. He looked up to see who'd arrived. A petite girl with black hair and an angry look on her face was standing next to a tall brown-haired boy with a strange scar between his eyebrows. The girl was wearing very short denim shorts, a black t-shirt with the words "reality is overrated" written across her chest in purple, a black leather jacket, striped gray and black over-the-knee stockings and black combat boots. The boy was wearing a pair of baggy jeans, held up by no less than four belts and a white t-shirt. Like the girl, he was also wearing a black leather jacket. Cloud had seen them a few times before, but never really noticed them. Now, all of a sudden, it struck him how handsome the boy was. A moment later he realized he was staring, and quickly turned back to his reading. He had a hard time focusing, though. The words suddenly seemed completely meaningless. The newcomers sat down at the table next to his. He could hear the girl whisper something, but it wasn't loud enough for him to make out the words. He looked up without lifting his head, hoping they wouldn't notice that he was watching them. He was surprised to she the girl pointing at him, and poking her friend in the ribs. The boy looked at her for a while, then he sighed. He stood up and walked over to where Cloud was sitting.

"Mind if I join you?" the boy asked, avoiding looking him in the eye. Did he seem shy?

"Sure. Sit down." Cloud closed the book, and put it on the table. "I'm Cloud, and you are?"

"Leon. And that's Yuffie." He pointed at the angry-looking girl. "She's not as angry as she looks, she just doesn't really know how to smile."

"You don't seem to smile much yourself."

"Neither do you."

"Man, we're a lively gang."

They looked at each other in silence for a bit. Cloud was the one to break the spell. He looked away reluctantly, and quickly finished his cup of coffee.

"I gotta go now," he said, looking sadly at Leon. "Have some stuff I need to do. I guess I'll see you around?"

"Sure." Leon's lips curved slightly. It was almost a smile. Almost.

-

"That the best you can do?" Yuffie laughed at Leon. They were playing some playstation-game, and she was totally kicking his butt. Normally Leon would have beaten her easily, but today his thoughts were elsewhere. He wondered why Cloud had left so quickly. Had he said anything wrong? He wondered why he cared so much. Maybe Yuffie was right? Maybe he did like Cloud? No, that was just silly. He didn't even know the boy.

He realized that Yuffie was knocking on his head.

"Hello? You there?"

"I… Um… Yeah, I'm here I guess… I was just… um… thinking."

"About Cloud?"

"Yeah… Wait, no. No, no, no, no. I was NOT thinking about Cloud."

"You know you can't hide anything from me. Come on, tell me how you feel about him."

Leon hesitated. Yuffie was right, he couldn't hide anything from her. But that didn't mean he had to talk about everything, did it? Maybe it did.

"I don't know. I mean, I guess I like him, but I barley know him. I didn't even know his name until an hour ago."

"So what? It's like love at first sight or some other cliché. It's obvious you like him, and I'm pretty sure he's got a soft spot for you, too. He was totally staring at you when we walked in the door."

"But if he likes me, why did he leave so quickly?"

"I don't know. Maybe he was scared. I think I would have been if I realized I was falling for some guy I'd just met."

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Okay, this is freaky. I wrote a story that actually has a plot. I don't do plots. I do glimpses of everyday lives. I don't do beginning, middle, end. It's weird. And it's not a one-shot, which is even weirder.

Well, anyway: about this story. The title of the story is the title of a Nick Cave song, the title of the chapter is the title of a The Cure song. The reason for using song-titles is that Yuffie a music-freak. I haven't written about that yet, but next chapter will tell you a bit about Yuffie and the wrong and right kind of music. Next chapter will also include Tifa.

I really hope you guys like this… Cookies for reviewers…

P.S. the reason I've put this in "Kingdom Hearts" and not in "Final Fantasy" is simply because I've never played Final Fantasy, so I don't know how the characters are in that game. I'm basing this on how they are in Kingdom Hearts (note that even though they are based on the kind of people they are in the game, there will still be some major OOC)… I kind of want to play Final Fantasy though… I've seen that movie, Advent Children, and I liked it a lot, and it made me want to play the game. But now I'm rambling, sorry…