It Started With a Simple Smile...
WytorBAM

It started with a simple smile...

He was working the register at the local mini-mart and she was a regular. She always smiled kindly at him, despite however frightening he may have seemed. His long dark hair, cold blue eyes, diagonal scar betwixt his eyes... Everything about the man screamed "FREAK!" but she always smiled at him. He never understood why.

After a while, her smile became contagious and he would sort of smirk back at her. She thought this was wonderful, almost like making progress with an autistic child. She continued going there for her daily needs. Cigarettes, milk, bread, soda, caffeine... anything that she needed, she could get there. He became so accustomed to seeing her, that it threw him for a loop the one day she did not show up. Deciding that she must be ill, the man continued on.

Another day went by, then another, and another... There was no sign of the hyper-active young woman with the smile. He was concerned, more concerned than he would have been for anyone else. What if she had become suddenly ill? Or someone had kidnapped and raped her? What is she was lying alongside the road somewhere.

"I haven't seen that girl here in a long time," Cloud, the man's blonde porcupine of a friend, stated after about two weeks. "Wonder what happened to her."

A woman about their age looked up from the counter with large emerald eyes. "What girl would that be?" she asked in her soft-spoken manner.

The man shrugged. "A girl about this tall-" he held his hand out about mid-chest level on himself- "with purplish eyes. She was really hyper and had dark hair that always fell over her right eye."

The woman nodded. "I know her. Yuffie Kisaragi. She was only staying with Cid for the summer, then she was going back to school."

The man's eyes widened. "School? Like... High school?"

The woman laughed. "Oh, no! Yuffie's twenty-three. She is going to Wright State University. She's majoring in English there." Her green eyes surveyed him. "So.. Leon, right?"

He looked blankly at her, then remembered his name tag and nodded. "Yeah."

"I'm Aerith. If you want, I can get Yuffie's dorm number and such for you."

Cloud nudged him in the ribs before he could refuse and said, "Know what? Why don't you and I take the two of them out? I mean, just out to a local place or something."

Leon's blue eyes turned on Cloud in a most irate fashion, but Aerith had already agreed. They exchanged numbers and she promised to set up a date with them. Once she had left, Leon glared at his friend. "That Yuffie girl is nine years younger than me!"

Cloud shrugged. "Age doesn't matter, man! Just give it a shot!"

Leon scowled... But found himself wearing jeans without holes in them and a button-down black shirt over a white tee the next Saturday. Cloud wore jeans and a form-fitting black tee, his hair as psychotic as usual. Leon barely bothered to brush his own shoulder-length tresses. The two of them were meeting their dates at a cafe in town. Aerith and Cloud had talked a lot, apparently, and Yuffie had seemed excited to get to meet the man from the mini-mart.

The sauntered into the cafe and his eyes caught sight of her immediately. She wore tight jeans and a green halter. Her eyes still gleamed with the same smile that he had grown accustomed to during the summer months. She smiled and he could not help but to respond with his half-smile. He walked over to her and she stood to greet him.

"I'm Yuffie Kisaragi," she told him matter-of-factly.

"Squall- err.. Leon Leonhart," he replied.

With a slim eyebrow raised, she questioned, "So, which is it? Squall or Leon?"

"Leon," he quickly replied.

Cloud met Aerith with a hug and the two potential couples sat down. They ordered their meals and Cloud tried to strike up a conversation with Yuffie. "So, where were you staying that you came to the mini-mart everyday?"

She laughed. "Actually, I was staying at The Highwind Shoppe, but it was easier to walk to the mini-mart than it was to try to get to the other store in town. Besides, after I'd met you and Squall, I found it mildly amusing."

"It's Leon," he corrected immediately.

"Sorry," she said, not really sounding very apologetic. "That's the first name you said, so I'm afraid it's probably gonna stick with me."

"So," Cloud inserted before Leon blew a gasket, "What are you studying at Wright State?"

Yuffie caught the hint to leave Leon alone about the name thing. "I'm going into journalism. I really want to-" she didn't finish because a person caught her eye.

A tall man with long, silver hair and emerald eyes stopped at their table and smiled at her. "Hello, Yuffie. It's been a while."

"Sephiroth," she returned. Leon detected the fear in her tone, though she tried so hard to cover it up. Cloud instantly disliked the man and Aerith leaned away from him, feeling as if she would shrivel if he were to touch her. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you, actually. I remembered that when you were in town you liked to frequent this place and I thought I'd drop in to chit-chat for a while." His eyes flickered across her, then to Leon. The man had placed his body partially in front of Yuffie's in a protective sort of way. "Care to introduce me to your friends?"

Leon glanced back at Yuffie, whose eyes seemed to plead with him. "This is Leon, my boyfriend. That's Cloud and his girlfriend Aerith," she replied, her eyes meeting with his evenly.

Being called Yuffie's boyfriend sort of threw Leon for a loop. He had not dated since... Well, since before he had gotten married and divorced. Which brought another thought to his mind, but he rid himself of it quickly.

"Boyfriend, huh?" Sephiroth asked. "How long?"

"Couple months," Leon replied instantaneously. "We began dating in June."

Yuffie was caught off-guard this time, but recovered well. "So, please leave, Sephiroth."

The man shrugged. "Hey, I was just stopping by to say hello to an old friend..." With that said, he walked away.

Leon and Cloud both looked to Yuffie, who kept her composure until Sephiroth was out of the cafe and down the street. She collapsed, her face in her arms, and sighed. Her hands trembled until Leon placed one hand on top of her own.

"Who was that?" he asked curiously.

"Sephiroth," she replied miserably. "He's an ex-boyfriend from high school. We had a falling out our senior year and... ugh..." She looked up at them. "Thank you for playing along though." Her eyes met Leon's. "And thanks for being quick at answering. He's pretty good at seeing through people, which is why I almost said you were just a friend. Then he would've been hitting on me, though, and I can't stand him. He's just such a jackass and I really-"

Cloud and Aerith began to laugh and Yuffie stopped talking suddenly, her face reddening. Leon looked at her oddly. "I... Didn't know you could talk so quickly... Or so much..."

She giggled awkwardly. "Sorry... I get that way sometimes."

As they continued their meal, Leon noticed she kept looking toward the door and fidgeting. Her hand lay in her lap and he reached over, placing his large hand over both of her smaller. She looked up at him and his heart skipped a beat. She really was very pretty. Yuffie smiled and squeezed his hand as if to thank him for caring.

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BAM: Soooo... Should I continue? What d'ya think? I know I haven't really written anything in a while, but I had sudden inspiration. I really hope that you liked it!