Hey, everyone! Welcome to the first chapter of the revised Riptide. I've changed quite a bit of things this time and developed more on the story than I had before, but I hope you all still find this fic enjoyable. I've decided that I'm going to switch between POVs ( Cloud and Leon ) every chapter this time around. Not much happens here in the first chapter, I'm afraid, but it sets up Leon's back story and how our boys meet.

Let me know what you think! (:


The words still sounded distant even as Squall replayed the scene from his memory over in his mind. An argument that had lasted nearly an hour felt like it was over in a few minutes.

"You heard me, Princess. I said get out. I've got someone new moving into the apartment and I want your ass out when that happens."

Foolishly, he'd believed that the two of them could work something out. The truth of it was, Squall had always been afraid that Seifer would leave him, had always known that it was inevitable- but now that he was faced with the reality of it actually happening, he was at a loss.

They'd been together for the last two years of high school, and then two additional years afterward as they ventured into the adult world together. That was probably when things started to go downhill, though their relationship had never exactly been picture perfect.

Together, they decided to move away from their hometown and into the city. Together, they picked out an apartment. Together, they shared a room and a bed. Together, they learned what a pain in the ass it was to scrabble for rent every month. Things were okay. He got lucky and scored a job as an on and off model and went to college, intent on earning his teaching credentials in high school-grade mathematics. Seifer took on a full-time job as a security guard. Together, they had sex...and that was it.

They were too different. Yet, out of some sick sense of obligation or stubborn determination, they remained together. Hell, maybe that was just wishful thinking on his part.

Squall wasn't entirely sure how to describe their relationship, and now, looking back, he was amazed at just how long they managed to put up with each other. Fuck buddies was probably more of an apt way to describe them at that point.

And now...Seifer had dumped him for his agent, Rinoa. Maybe she seduced Seifer to spite him, after he'd refused so many of her advances. He didn't really know, and at this point he didn't really care.

Most importantly, she'd ruined whatever future he might have had in the modeling business by spreading some choice rumors about how difficult he was to work with and how he'd fallen in with an unfavorable crowd and had an even less appealing history. The sad part was that she could throw her weight around in this line of business, and any potential agencies wouldn't have signed for him if the great Rinoa Heartily had said he was no good.

"...so that's it. That's all," Squall murmured to himself, leaning his head back against the headrest of the driver's seat in his car. Somehow he thought his four years with Seifer would mean something more, but the thought only made him feel more empty. Maybe their relationship had merely been born out of convenience. Seifer seemed to take that to heart well enough, he thought bitterly. He'd been tossed aside with ease, like he'd never meant anything to Seifer in the first place.

Squall stared up through the windshield at the apartment that he'd recently been evicted from, irritated that he was starting to think himself in circles.

True, he hadn't exactly finished his schooling here, but...there wasn't anything else anchoring him to Twilight Town anymore, and he certainly didn't want to linger around like some kicked puppy and see Seifer and Rinoa together, nevermind the fact that he had nowhere to go.

That left only a few choices. Squall automatically floated over to his cell phone, which lay innocently on the passenger seat. His pride told him to just find some cheap hotel to stay at, but rationally he knew he couldn't afford to do something like that while looking for a new job and a stable home at the same time.

After debating with himself a little longer, Squall finally reached out and picked up his phone to leave a message for one of his few, but long-time friends.

"Hey, Irvine. It's Squall...or well, Leon I guess. Don't ask about the sudden name change. I'll explain later. What I really wanted to ask was if you're still looking for a roommate. I can drive down to Destiny Islands within a day or two. Let me know."

Leon pulled the phone away from his ear and stared silently at it until the backlight dimmed. He knew Irvine would probably figure out what had happened as soon as he heard the message. Glancing up at the apartment one final time, he put his hand on the key and started up his car.

All his life...anyone who'd meant anything to him had always abandoned him. His parents, Ellone, various foster parents...and now Seifer proved to be no exception. He'd learned to live with it, but now it was just getting to be too much. He refused to allow himself to be set aside so easily again. Squall was the old rag doll that no one wanted...Leon was not, he decided firmly in his mind.


Not surprisingly, Irvine had welcomed him in with open arms. What he hadn't been expecting was just how well off Irvine actually was. It looked like the whole deal about needing a roommate was a front, because the other brunet was faring just fine financially. Better than fine, it seemed, because the apartment that Irvine had rented out was only a few minutes away from the beach.

Irvine ran a veterinary clinic not too far from town and always had a steady flow of clientele. For Leon, who had no job and nowhere else to go, it just felt like he was taking advantage of his friend's good will, however, at said friend's insistence, Leon agreed to go back to school and finish his last two years back at Twilight Town. It was the least he could do since Irvine had so kindly given him free stay with him.

For once, life was simple. Leon quickly finished his schooling and was able to find a position at a nearby high school that was even within walking distance. The brunet was fairly determined to pull his own weight around, despite Irvine's assurances and advice to slow down and "enjoy life a little."

As a result, Leon worked tirelessly at his job for the following two years, allowing little time for anything else. Finally, it seemed like Irvine had had enough. The vet had found the number for the school he worked at and told them that he was sick with a fever and wouldn't be able to show up for about a week.

Irvine gave Leon a pointed look as he crisply hung up with the secretary, not at all fazed by the shock drawn across the other brunet's face.

"There. It's done. Now you finally have some time to relax. Go outside and live a little or something, Squall. You've got to move on eventually, you know."

Leon only continued to stare blankly at the phone, and Irvine couldn't help but be a little irked by his friend's petulance.

"Alright, alright. Listen up. Do you know where you are living right now?" Irvine asked sharply.

That got Leon's attention. He looked up to meet Irvine's gaze warily.

"Yeah, Destiny Islands, babe. Sunny, white sandy beaches, wicked waves, and some very nice bars. None of which that you've touched since you got here."

Not what he had been expecting, but Leon couldn't help but feel a little relieved. "Irvine, you know I don't dr—"

"I know that! But you could still go surfing or something, you know, like we used to."

To that Leon had no response. Things had been so pleasantly…routine up until now, and of course Irvine had to go and shake things up again. "Will you let me go back to work if I do?" the brunet finally relented.

Irvine grinned, turning and taking some of his things off the counter as though he were preparing to leave. "Of course! I have a spare board in the back that you can use. So just head down to the beach when you feel like it. I'll catch up with you later—someone brought in a baby chocobo the other day that was having some stomach problems. Poor thing. See ya, Squall!"

Leon stared in silence again once Irvine hurried out the door and shut it. Why did he get the feeling that he'd just been played..?


A few minutes later, Leon had gathered the few things he'd need for the trip to the beach. The spare board that Irvine had been talking about was absolutely breathtaking. It was a striking mix of bold red and black with a elaborate, white tribal lion design that was beautiful enough to make Leon envious.

It had to have been a custom design. Leon felt a little bad using it even if Irvine had given him permission to borrow it. Nevertheless, he took it under his arm, grabbed a towel and a spare set of clothes, and set out to the beach.

When he got there, Leon was struck with a sudden wave of nostalgia. He'd lived this close to the beach all this time, but this was really the first time he'd seen it. Back when he was still in high school, a bunch of his friends would sometimes head out to the beach…and there, watching them, he discovered that he had a passion for surfing. Eventually other things in life had made themselves more of a priority, and those days he'd spent on the waves seemed like a distant dream.

Irvine hadn't been kidding about the waves here. Just from where he was standing, Leon couldn't help but feel a flood of anticipation every time he saw the high crest of a wave.

Leon took his first step into the sand, glancing around as he made his way towards the water. It's not as though he expected to find anyone familiar here, but it still made him feel weird coming here on his own…Damn Irvine.

The beach wasn't too crowded though, and for that he was glad. There were a few lifeguard towers set up from what he could see, and he vaguely noted that one of them—a rather distracted, spiky-haired blonde, from the looks of it—was yelling at some of the beach goers. The lifeguard didn't remain on his mind for long, though, because Leon stopped paying attention to anyone else as soon as the waves began lapping at his feet.

He had a bit of a clumsy start at first, but pretty soon he reclaimed his sense of balance and with it, his confidence. Leon had never been an exceptional surfer, but he wasn't half bad, either. Leon looked back over at the shore, and then the high rise buildings rising up behind the suburbs. Somehow…even out here in the ocean, thoughts of Seifer wormed their way back into his head.

Seifer had always told him that surfing was a stupid way to pass the time. That it was pointless and that anybody could do it, and only an idiot would actually want to.

"You know what I think the best thing that could happen to a surfer is? That they crack their miserable heads on some shit for being so damn stupid."

The unbidden memory upset him more than he thought it would, and Leon growled quietly to himself and abruptly turned his board towards the stronger waves off to the side of the beach. What he hadn't known, unfortunately, was that the reason that the waves were so strong was because of the rocks lying just underneath the surface.

Leon could distantly hear the sound of the lifeguard calling out, but he ignored it, paddling harder before climbing up onto his board. He was able to handle the first few waves, riding on through them on adrenaline, but eventually a larger one had caught him off guard and knocked him off his board. Leon remembered feeling a surge of panic as soon as the water crashed over his head, vaguely remembered clawing for the surface, remembered a dull thud underneath the water—had he hit something..? The sound seemed to echo and stretch on forever in his head…and he remembered coming to briefly. Someone was yelling for the ambulance and there was an uncomfortable weight on his chest. There was a blonde knelt over him, talking to him and making wild gestures, but Leon couldn't understand a word that was being said to him. That was weird. He didn't know any blondes. Maybe it was Seifer, come to laugh at him. "…Seifer.."

Everything was blank after that.