Name Game
By Rhino7
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This oneshot is mine. I recently found this thing half finished on my hard drive, and decided to finally finish it and post it. It turned out differently from what the plot bunny hit me with, but I think it turned out all right. Constructive criticism is appreciated! Enjoy!
..:-X-:..
After three days straight, the rain had finally stopped. After the deluge nearly flooded Radiant Garden, the clouds were finally losing that ominous grey-black color and the sun had even poked through in a few places. That was at five in the afternoon.
Now it was eight in the morning, and the day was shaping up to be perfect.
Friggin' perfect.
Leon was sitting where he had stationed himself six hours ago: on Tifa's ugly couch, feet propped on the coffee table, arms folded. Only by now his head was fully tilted back as he dozed. Fourteen hour shift working construction on the new residential district, three hours of that fighting Heartless away from the new buildings, four hours in the ER with Tifa, and now going on seven hours sitting vigil in the apartment while she tried to sleep.
He was too tired to bother doing the math…but it was a long time to be awake.
As his body finally began to loosen up and relax, giving into that sultry song of sleep, his leg slipped off the coffee table, dropping to the floor hard enough to send a spike of 'Wake up!' up his body. Jerking back to full awareness, he grunted and lifted his head. Excited sunlight poured through the windows, scalding his pupils.
He grimaced and sat up, rolling his neck and hearing his shoulder click as soreness drummed up his left arm from staying in one position for so long. Languidly climbing to his feet, he stretched and looked toward the door to Tifa's bedroom. It was half open. Closed enough to give her privacy, but open enough in case something was wrong.
It was quiet.
Maybe she had finally fallen asleep.
Leon exhaled in relief and soundlessly walked around the couch. He peered into her room to verify the assumption. Sure enough, Tifa was sprawled out on her stomach, her back heavily bandaged and bruised from the abuse of the previous day. The stitches and bandaging had immobilized her back for the most part, shrinking her range of motion to hardly anything, but she had still managed to ruck up her bed sheets in a vise around her legs.
And by the flush of her face, the pain killers had long worn off.
Careful not to step on the creaky floorboard outside her doorway, he stepped into her room and crossed to the window, closing the blinds so the offending sunlight wouldn't nail her in the eyelids. If he had had a crappy last 20-some odd hours, then hers was absolute Hell.
At least she had stopped moaning.
The lacerations and bruises that had landed on her back were hyper sensitive, and sent shafts of pain all over her body any time she moved, which made sleep a near impossibility. It was exasperating enough for Leon to see her shifting and crying out for hours on end, uncomfortable and exhausted and with no way to quell either problem.
Leon frowned. He had no idea how to handle situations like this. The very idea of being comforting and…what was the word...well, for making her feel better…was impossible. Any time he started to try, she had just turned her face the other way on the pillow and hissed at the pain the movement caused.
So he had left her alone, like she wanted.
Now she was finally asleep and he had to wake her up.
She should have stayed at the hospital, but she could be a stubborn jerk when she wanted to. He couldn't blame her for not wanting to linger in the hospital. That place always made him uncomfortable. It reminded him of pain and losing people. It was…easier maybe…to see Tifa in pain in her own room than in a hospital…but it wasn't easy at all. It was Hell actually.
He pushed those thoughts aside and opened the bag of supplies that they'd brought home from the hospital. Dr. Leng had used her Guilt Face when Leon signed Tifa out, but didn't say anything other than a huff as she explained how and when to change the dressing and bandages. He had only half listened. He knew how to change a damn bandage and his thoughts had been more on Tifa's white knuckles, which had wrapped around the bed railings in the hospital room.
Sifting through the plastic, he pulled out the two pads that would replace the ones the hospital had applied to Tifa's back. Most of the damage was between her shoulder blades, though a few claw marks had found her lower back. He carried the two pads to the side of the bed and looked down at Tifa. Her forehead was creased in discomfort and her mouth was hanging open in her sleep.
Dammit, he didn't want to wake her up, not after it took her so long to fall asleep. Unless she was in a coma, she wouldn't sleep through replacing the bandages. Grimacing, he started to loosen the tape holding the old pads across her back. She didn't immediately stir and he slowly peeled the bandage back, tugging it free as gently as possible.
Not gently enough.
Tifa made an aggravated noise and Leon set the used bandages aside.
"It's just me." He said quietly.
She opened one eye and looked up at him. "What are you doing?" She rasped hoarsely.
Leon narrowed his eyes at the angry lacerations and abrasions cross-hatching her back in some horrible pattern. The wounds were all laid open and bare now. The stitches looked just as uncomfortable as the injuries themselves. None of them were actively bleeding anymore, but the bruises were still red and swollen.
"Changing the dressing." He answered.
She grunted and closed her eye again. "Later."
A tiny smirk touched his lips but he choked it back. "Can't. Have to now." He moved her hair from her neck to the pillow by her head so it wouldn't interfere with the bandaging. "Do you know where you are?"
She mumbled something too hoarse to understand, but it sounded affirmative. She sounded lucid enough. He let the wounds breathe for a while as he opened the new bandages.
"It's morning." He informed, just to break the silence.
"Hm." She grumbled back, her brows knitting together as he started to place the fresh bandages over the wounds. "Hi-Potion."
He sighed. "Tried."
As soon as she reached the ER, they were trying all sorts of healing items and spells, but the Heartless that had attacked her was some sort of employer of black magic. Dr. Leng had told him that there was residue from the Heartless's claws in Tifa's wounds, like the stuff from poison ivy, only it negated healing potions, elixirs, Cures, everything except natural healing.
What kind of sick monster decided to evolve like that? Leon ran a hand over his face and finished taping the new bandages down. Tifa was biting her lip to stifle the pained whimpers, but she might as well have screamed and thrashed for how much it tore him up inside. She sounded like a wounded animal that needed to be put down.
"Got pain killers though." He offered.
She shifted her head on the pillow. "Hit me."
Leon straightened and threw away the old bandages, walking out of her room and into the kitchen. The bottle of pain killers was sitting on the counter. Shaking his head abruptly against a creeping yawn, he poured a glass of water and stuck a straw in it. He carried that and the bottle of pills back into her room.
Tifa hadn't moved and Leon popped open the bottle, tipping out two pills. He could tell she was still awake by the hitch in her breathing as the inhales caused her back to move. He frowned as he tried to think of something to say…but what would it matter? Dopey words wouldn't make the pain go away, so why bother?
"Order up." He held the pills out.
She pried open one eye and blinked up at him. Without a word, she took the pills and plopped them in her mouth. He held the water for her as she sipped at the straw.
"Guh, I feel like an invalid." She moaned as he set the water on the bedside table.
"Well, you kind of are." He lifted his shoulder.
She pushed her face into the pillow. "Shut up."
He looked around, trying to avoid looking at the bruised portions of her back that weren't covered in gauze and bandaging. That Heartless had disappeared before back up arrived, so they had no leads to go on hunting the thing down. The single attack could have killed Tifa, easily. He frowned at that little fact and turned to leave her alone.
"How long do these things take to kick in?" She asked.
He paused halfway to the door. "Er…I'm not sure…half an hour maybe."
She groaned and squinted her eyes closed. "Was afraid of that."
"On a scale of one to ten?"
"With ten being 'my body is on fire while sharks tear me apart' and one being 'bad mosquito bite', I'd say a seven."
"Very funny." He remarked flatly.
She looked at him without moving her head. "Sorry."
He lifted an eyebrow. For what? He thought, glancing at the window and back to her.
"You don't have time to play nurse. You've got more important things to do, bigger fish, what have you." She said, clearing her throat. "So…thanks and sorry for stealing the day from you."
Leon exhaled and folded his arms, unsure how to respond to that. She wasn't this hindering burden that she seemed to think she was being at the moment. Sure, he didn't really have time to waste the perfect weather, but…taking care of her couldn't be called a waste. It felt like he should say something to that effect, but…it sounded cheesy enough in his head…to say it out loud…
"Whatever." He found himself saying.
Her face drooped a little at his reply, but he couldn't do anything about that. What did she want from him? Some sort of big speech? Had she MET him? He wasn't a talker, never had been.
"Right." She cleared her throat again, "Okay."
An awkward beat passed.
"Do you…Are you hungry or…" He gave an absent gesture. "Need anything?"
She exhaled heavily and turned her head. "No. I'm fine."
If she was 'fine', then he was a herring.
And he had no idea what to do with that.
"…Okay." He managed. "Well…if you do…I'm just out here." He half turned, pointing toward the living room.
She didn't respond to that, closing her eyes as her wounds stole her attention away again. He paused, tried to think of something else to say, came up with nothing, and turned to go back into the living room.
"Stay?" Her voice sounded small.
Leon hesitated, staring into the living room for a moment before looking back at her. Tifa was staring at the bedside table like it was the most interesting thing she'd ever seen. He angled away from the door and kept his eyes on her.
"I can stay." He answered quietly.
The expression on her face was bordering on surprise: painfully close actually. He kept his own face neutral as he returned to her side, sitting on the edge of the bed by her knee. Tifa had grown used to people leaving her, he figured. Her family was gone, Cloud had left without a word, and now she was stuck with Leon, who wasn't exactly a teddy bear.
He frowned. She had really gotten the short end of the stick. But there were worse people than him to end up stuck with in an apartment.
Say something, you idiot, he inwardly scolded himself.
"You…look tired."
Oh, bravo. You truly are a master of words.
Tifa snorted. "Right back at you."
He grunted at that and glanced around for something to spark conversation. With Tifa, conversation never seemed necessary. It wasn't an obligation nor a requirement. There were several times when they would just sit there, quietly, enjoying some rare silence around Radiant Garden. She was the only one he could do that with. Well, Aerith too…but her silence was always just stifled questions, trying to peer into his psyche or whatever…It got annoying.
But this was…different silence. It wasn't exactly uncomfortable, but it wasn't easy either. He felt compelled to say something; he was just at a loss as to what. He wasn't a nurturer, and no one had ever asked him to be. Tifa wasn't asking him to soothe away her woes with poetry or anything. She hadn't asked him to hold her hand or any of that nonsense. All she had asked was that he stay.
He could do that, at least.
Tifa slowly wriggled her hips a little, biting her lip at the drums of pain the motion caused.
Leon looked at her. The shirt that the hospital had given her after her shirt was destroyed was open in the back so he could treat her injuries, while still allowing her some privacy. It still looked very uncomfortable. She shifted a little more, moving one leg slightly. This awakened the beast and a yelp escaped her as the bandage across her shoulders crinkled.
"Easy." He said, straightening. "What are you doing?"
"M'hot." She mumbled, looking embarrassed at the situation.
He huffed and stood. She could have just asked for help. "Stop moving."
She pinched her eyes closed. "Fine."
As gingerly as he could, he untangled her legs one by one from the sheets and blankets, pushing the linens aside so she could cool off. She shifted slightly at the freedom and sighed.
"Better?" He said.
"Better." She replied. "Thanks."
"Just…ask for help next time, instead of torturing yourself." He frowned.
She just grunted at him.
Leon pinched the skin between his eyes in exasperation and looked around. She wanted him to stay, but there was nothing for him to do. No way to make her feel better or take the pain away. His presence was completely useless and unnecessary. He didn't understand it.
His eyes caught on a puzzle book on the opposite bedside table.
"Seriously?" he said dryly. "You do puzzles?"
"Shut up." She mumbled. "They take my mind off things."
He snorted and circled around to the other side of the bed, picking up the book. "Radiant Garden Edition…oh please…" He looked to Tifa, whose face was turned away from him.
"Unlike you, I'm not a robot who can work around the clock." She said, as if she could feel him looking at her. "I need distraction from work, work, and more work on occasion."
He thumbed through a few pages of puzzles. "Distraction, huh."
Well, Kingdom Hearts owed him a few breaks.
With a sigh, he pushed off his boots and sat on the edge of the bed. He promptly swung his legs up onto the mattress and reclined against the headboard.
"What're you doing?" She mumbled, still not looking at him.
"Staying." He replied flatly.
A short pencil marked where she had left off in her last puzzle and he opened to that page, picking up the pencil and tapping it against the page.
"Right." She replied. "…Thanks."
He frowned but didn't respond immediately. If she wanted to say something else, she'd say it. He wasn't going to pry for details…so whatever. Giving her the opportunity to speak, he absently looked down at the crossword puzzle. Roughly half of it was filled in with her tiny handwriting.
"Why do people always leave?" She suddenly asked.
His shoulders drooped. Why, god, why couldn't women be placated by simple silence? Even with Tifa, it was always these heavy questions…
"They don't always." He answered.
Five across. Five letters. Clue: first ship to attain space flight in Radiant Garden. The slots in the puzzle had the second letter H from three down's answer, 'Mythril Shard', and the last letter A from one down's answer, 'Aerith'.
Shera, he tilted his head, scribbling the letters in to complete five across.
"Yes they do." She said quietly.
He looked from the puzzle to the back of her head, frowning.
"My family left—" She started.
"The Heartless caused that." He cut in.
"Cloud left—"
"Cloud was a dick."
"Sora and the others left—"
"To stop Organization XIII."
She sighed and finally turned her head on the pillow so she could see him. "So who says you won't leave too?"
He stared at her for a long few seconds. "I say so."
They just looked at each other for a minute. When she didn't look away, he chose to avert his eyes back to the puzzle book in his hands.
"Whatever." She said, and he couldn't tell if she was serious or just mocking him.
The silence that fell then was more comfortable after that, and Leon found the words on the page slurring as his head grew heavier. Over 24 hours with no sleep was catching up to him fast, and he didn't have a mangled back and shoulders to keep him awake…though that wasn't a bad thing. Those pain killers were taking a while to kick in too, he noted, as Tifa didn't appear any more drowsy or relaxed than before she'd taken them.
Pursing his lips, he fought to stay awake…because falling would asleep would technically be 'leaving', consciousness anyway. Only sleep deprived minds could understand that messed up logic. He closed his eyes briefly. They were bizarre circumstances that he and Tifa had found themselves in.
He had had no one and she had had no one, and the situation threw them together. Tifa hated being alone, and somewhere under all the callousness and surly expressions, Leon hated being alone too. It became a comfortable system. But, somewhere while serving as surrogate friends, they actually became friends.
Now…she was all he had.
Part of him hated that he was so disgruntled at the thought of being alone, but humans were naturally social creatures. They NEEDED companionship to survive. So…he was normal in that respect. Maybe. Even if he didn't need the chatty, clingy, annoying conversation.
He had nearly dozed off in that frame of mind when she moved and groaned at the ramifications. He flinched involuntarily at the pained noise and opened his eyes again. She couldn't help it. She didn't know that every noise of distress hit him like a punch to the gut.
"If it hurts to move, then stop moving." He said dryly, squinting at the puzzle again.
She grumbled something irritated back at him, most of it decidedly four-lettered.
Four letters…Eight down. Clue: Keybearer. The letters S-O-R-A had been written down and subsequently erased as the third letter turned out to be a K from two across, 'Kisaragi'. One of Sora's old friends from his home had been a Keybearer, and his name was short too…Leon had never met the kid, and for the life of him couldn't think of his name.
Wait a minute…distraction…
He looked from the puzzle to Tifa. She had said these things were good to take her mind off work. Maybe they could work to distract her from the pain until the medication kicked in. It was worth a shot, anyway. Pursing his lips again, he scanned through the clues to the crossword.
"Six across." He said bluntly. "Thirteen letters. Name for Radiant Garden during the Heartless War."
She opened her eyes, but her gaze stayed on his elbow.
"First letter H from Highwind, third letter L from Keyblade, and last letter N from Nobody." He added.
Tifa pouted her lips out in thought. Then revelation hit her. "Hollow Bastion."
Leon nodded, filling in the letters and looking to the next clue.
"Nine down. Six letters." He started. "Birth name of Allied Major General Leonhart."
He read it, blinked, read it again quietly, and frowned.
"What?" Tifa asked, looking at him. "You have a really weird look on your face." She frowned, "Is Leon not your real name?"
His frown deepened and he looked to the boxes on the crossword grid. Six letters, starting with an S from Crystal Fissure and fifth letter L from Merlin. Nonplussed, he flipped to the back of the puzzle book and read through the copyrights and publishers listing. How did these people know—
"Earth to Leon…if that's what your name is." Tifa snapped her fingers.
He didn't answer immediately, momentarily forgetting she was there. He turned back to the present puzzle.
"I guess that makes sense." She was saying.
"—what?" He looked at her, frowning.
"Well…what kind of cruel woman would name her child Leon Leonhart?" Tifa remarked, one eye glancing up at him in amusement.
"Hmph." He grunted, glaring at the puzzle again.
"Seriously…now I'm intrigued." She teased.
"Twelve down." He abruptly shifted tactic. "Witch who attempted to take over Radiant Garden during the first Heartless War."
"Is it really embarrassing or something? Like…Waldo or…" Tifa yawned. "Or Clive?"
Leon gave her a sour look and she chuckled. The motion jarred her back and the chuckle turned into a hiss. He sighed, rolled his eyes, and set the puzzle aside.
"I changed it after the Heartless invaded Radiant Garden when we were kids." He said tightly.
Tifa's jaw was still clenched, but she latched onto him as a focal point: an anchor against the pain. "Why?"
God, he did NOT want to be having this conversation. Not with her. Not with anyone. Never.
He ran a hand over his face. "Because…I'm a different person now."
"We're…we're all different people." She said hoarsely, though it looked like the wave of pain was passing. "But you don't see me changing my name to Barbara or Francine."
At least the distraction tactic was working.
"I…" He pursed his lips and tried again. "After…I had to be stronger. I had…I couldn't be the civilian that I was before…Luxury and all that…" He narrowed one eye, staring at the footboard of the bed instead of at her. "The first step was parting with my old identity and creating a newer, stronger, better one."
"That's a lot of stock to put in a name." Tifa said quietly. Then, "And the BEST you could come up with was 'Leon'?"
He frowned, half turning his face from her. "Shut up."
"So what's your real name?" She asked, looking up at him.
He just picked up the puzzle book again, looking for a new puzzle to distract her from the distraction.
"You're not going to tell me?"
"Twelve down." He replied. "Witch who attempted to take over Radiant Garden during the first Heartless War."
"You're not going to grant a dying woman this last thing?" Tifa said, and he could hear the grin in her voice.
He exhaled slowly. "You're not dying."
"Why are you so determined not to tell me?"
"Why are you so determined for me to tell you?"
Tifa fell quiet, yawning and looking up at him, though the mirth had faded from her eyes. "I'm just trying to peel back layers of the Leon Onion."
Leon paused, and then closed the puzzle book and set it aside. This was going nowhere. Now instead of distracting her from the pain, he was distracting her from sleep…which they both needed. So, with a grunt, he slid away from the headboard and dropped his head and shoulders to the pillow beside hers.
"What're you doing?" She said.
"Going to sleep, something you should be doing too." He said, reclining.
"In case you hadn't noticed," She replied, "My back is hanging open. Kinda hard to sleep."
Contrary to her words, he could see her eyelids beginning to droop. The pain killers were starting to kick in after all. He was relieved for her.
"Try." He suggested. "I'm not going anywhere."
Again, that soft look of surprise. "Really."
"Yeah, I gotta sleep too, you know."
"You're so full of shit." A small smirk touched her lips.
"You're a jerk." He stated flatly, getting comfortable on the bed. It didn't take much; she'd taken the more comfortable mattress when they'd rented the apartment together.
A beat passed.
"Seriously, what's your name?" She asked, eyes closed now.
"Leon." He replied smartly.
"Come on."
"Whatever my named used to be, I'm not that person anymore."
"Jerk."
"Yeah," He smirked, eyes drifting closed now too. "I'll be here when you wake up."
The soft sound of rain tapped against the window as they both started to drift to sleep. Leon smirked.
Perfect.