Konichiwa!

I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! PLEASE FORGIVE ME, I HAVEN'T GIVEN YOU ALL THE FICS I'VE PROMISED, I'M SORRY!!!!!!!!

Seriously, I'm working on it. I was working on the next chap of Affection and then that damn plot bunny bit me so I had to stop and write this little one-shot/drabble thingamajig.

Oh, and to anybody who catches the Three Days Grace reference, I will...give you a cookie?

To Jumesyn- love you to bits, dearest. I will be sending you a very long, ranting PM shortly. To Snickey, for informing me of things I should already know about in this world and not laughing at me and just letting me rant while I was having the crappiest day. To Keithlee, for putting up for my weirdness and getting me into Three Days Grace in the first place. To Ichigo, even though you will never read this...

And to everybody who leaves a review, you guys seriously make my day a tad bit brighter. Go away, sun, I can live off reviews.

Enjoy!

Maybe it was subconscious. Maybe it was on purpose. Maybe he'd sparred with Yuffie too many times and couldn't think properly due to major brain damage. Or maybe he just honestly forgot. But when Leon stopped locking the doors of Merlin's house at night, it was cause for much concern amongst his friends.

At first, nobody had noticed. It wasn't until a Large Body had somehow squeezed its way through the back door and rolled around the living room did the issue of Leon's carelessness become addressed. He had no excuse, as he stood in the now devastated living room, sheepishly holding his Gunblade while Aerith examined the door in her pajamas.

It wasn't broken down? Odd. Then how did it get in? The door wasn't locked? Who had guard duty tonight? Leon did? Oh. You're slipping up, Leon. Maybe you need a vacation.

To which he simply glared at the floor, gripping his Gunblade tighter then necessary.

"It won't happen again."

Which, of course, it did, as Aerith found out the next night Leon had guard duty. Leon simply didn't lock the doors. He approached them. Stared at them. Glared at them. And then walked away. Aerith slipped out from her hiding place and locked them herself, and then padded upstairs to contemplate this discovery.

Leon would never purposely put them in danger. Never- they were best friends, practically family. But why would he purposely leave the door unlocked? The man had the mind of steel trap, he couldn't have forgotten. He looked right at the darn thing!

Aerith shook her head as she pulled the lily-patterned sheets up to her nose. All this thinking was a giving her a headache.

She watched him again the next night, and watched the same exact display. Again, she locked the doors and went to bed, confused as ever. She'd told Yuffie and the others by now, and they'd taken it upon themselves to find out the problem too. Cid's bright idea was too much stress. So the next day, Leon suddenly found himself with nothing to do, seeing as Yuffie, Aerith, Cid, and Tifa were patrolling Radiant Garden with a vengeance he'd never seen before, even taking the districts he normally did.

But that night as they all watched from Aerith's (now very cramped) hiding spot, Leon still didn't lock the doors.

So they kept trying. Leon actually seemed more stressed out then usual, now that he had nothing to keep him occupied. Too much pent up energy, not enough dead Heartless. He couldn't even sit still now, fingers constantly twitching. They gave up the ruthless patrolling (they were tired anyway), and he seemed to perk up a bit. No more twitch. But no locked doors.

Aerith couldn't remember being this frustrated with Leon, watching him glare at the door in his usual patrol ritual. She didn't know if she could take it anymore. Sooner or later she'd have to tell him that he was actually wrong.

But you see, that was when Leon broke his routine in a very unusual way. He looked up from the door handle and out through the stained glass, his storm grey eyes looking at something only he could see.

"You'd better come back in one piece," he growled at the glass, turning away and walking towards his favorite armchair.

Aerith blinked. And blinked again, her mind going into overdrive to understand his words. Her green eyes glittered, her lips formed a smile, when she finally pieced it together, and if Leon wasn't in earshot she'd have giggled.

That certainly explains it, she thought, locking the doors and climbing into bed. She pulled her cell phone from her dress pocket and pressed a button, glancing out at the bright waning crescent moon above her.

Please leave a message after the tone. Beep.

"Hello, it's Aerith. How've you been? You're getting enough to eat, right? Well, listen, I need you to do me a favor. Can you please come back to Radiant Garden? For a little while?" She paused, trying to think of the right way to explain. "I think Leon's waiting for you. Be safe, okay? Bye." She shut off her phone for the night and burrowed under the covers.

He'd come. He always did.

It was a calm, cool summer night in Radiant Garden, beautiful as always. Leon's fingers tapped a war march on his Gunblade. It was about three in the morning, but he'd decided that patrolling was a good thing for him. He'd already seen Aerith come and lock the doors for him (really, how could she call that a clever hiding spot?) and he was glad that they hadn't relieved him of duty. He needed something to concentrate on. Mindless Heartless eradication was pretty much the ticket.

But there were so many other things that Leon would rather concentrate on. Like a pair of sickly blue eyes that caught the light in way too many pretty shades, or pale, smooth skin that was cold to the touch and sent sparks up his arm, or that crazy flaxen hair…

No! Snap out of it! You picked guard duty for a reason, Leon! he screamed at himself, tightening his grip on his weapon. Concentrate on something else. Anything else. Like, for instance, don't concentrate on how absolutely beautiful he is when he actually lets himself smile…

Ah! You're doing it again! Stop it! He gave himself a mental smack on the head and started to pace on the carpet, careful to keep his Gunblade within reach.

Damn that blonde. Damn him. Why did he keep doing this to Leon? He just absolutely refused to leave the brunette's head, latching onto him and infecting him like some sort of sadistic (wonderful…ack, stop it, Leon!) virus. He just wouldn't go away, and it was driving Leon up the wall. He knew what was best for him: he was not.

At first, the door thing had been completely subconscious. He didn't remember locking them, or unlocking them, or whatever. It wasn't until the Large Body incident that he realized what he was doing, and then when he realized why he kept that door unlocked, it made Leon's heart ache.

He always did have the bad habit of wandering in at three in the morning. He'd been locked out more then once. So Leon started keeping it unlocked, just in case. He'd promised the others he'd come back, right?

Leon glanced out the window, the waxing crescent moon giving an unusual glow to the streets. He'd come…right?

Leon shook his head, agitated, and continued to pace. This wasn't good for him. And the pacing was starting to wear down the carpet.

Tap, tap.

Leon's heart shot up into his throat as he grabbed his weapon. Calm down. It's probably a Heartless. Or a Nobody. It's not him.

Tap, tap, tap.

He approached the door cautiously, and when the image outside the glass panes registered in his sleep-deprived eyes, he gasped. Those sickly blue eyes were staring at him, ethereal in the glow of the moon, as he silently asked Leon to let him in.

The lock was undone in seconds and the blonde stepped inside, shivering in his all-black clothes. He nodded a thank-you to Leon, set his buster sword against the wall, and collapsed in an armchair, clearly exhausted from whatever his travels had brought him.

Leon smiled. "Welcome home, Cloud."

What does that little purple button do?

Oh, and I might, MIGHT, add onto this. I just have to work out what the next section should have and IF I get enough reviews...yeah, yeah, I'm shameless. Now click. CLICK!