Title: Always There
By: TheSuperGirlOfDreams
Summary: Alone, they drown in their misery. Together, they heal.
Pairings: Squiffie, ZexionAdele, one-sided AnnaRoxas, RikuAdele, Namixas, and any more I get a thought to write.
Warnings: None that I can think of, maybe slight violence and talking about tragedies or something.
This chapter is Squiffie. It is told from Yuffie's point of view. Squall is a bit out of character, but I tried to make him seem like he'd had enough and couldn't keep up that lack of emotion. I hope you like it.
Remember when we were kids?
Yeah, I think you hated me...
But I followed you like a lost puppy.
And when I cried, that one time when I fell out of a tree and almost broke my arm, you were there for me. You carried me all the way home and stayed to make sure I was okay.
I will always remember that. So, whenever you get hurt, I'll take care of you, okay?
My breath comes out in gasps as I run, as fast as I possibly can to the ship where everyone was waiting. I trip on a tree root, but get up and keep going, not daring to look back. Behind me, I know, is the darkness, eating our world piece by piece. Eating away the memories, bad and good alike, of our lives. They pull me inside the ship and start to close the heavy door, before I get up and ran to it.
"Wait! Wait for Squall!"
"Yuffie, I don't think he's coming." Aerith, like an older sister to me, holds me with one arm. She is always sensible and smart, but I won't have that. I struggle out of her arms and over to the door and press all of my eight-year-old strength into holding it open.
"SQUALL!" I call out, desperately, straining against the weight pressing into my arms and upper body. Then, I see him. He's fighting a heartless with his bare hands, not having time to pick up a weapon. Not like there was much a thirteen-year-old could claim as a weapon, but still...
He dives through the door just as my strength gives out, and it closes so fast I would have been squashed for sure if he hadn't pulled me out of the way. We sit there in shock a minute, me in his arms and shaking like mad. He just holds me there, stroking my hair absentmindedly, and smiles. Yes, believe it or not, he can smile.
"Thank you."
My foot hits the wall as I blindly go through the house. I jump, holding it, hissing. Stupid wall...
I get myself together and listen again. I can hear a rhythmic breathing, coming from somewhere close, maybe just outside. I creep out the door and see something I never thought I would.
He's crying.
All the times I've cried, or Aerith, or someone else I've known...
I never expected him to.
I walk over and tap his arm hesitantly. He just looks over and then away, probably upset that someone saw him cry. But I won't have that.
"What's wrong, Squall?"
He stiffens, then turns his head slightly to see me.
"It's Leon."
Then it hits me. Our world is back, but he still calls himself Leon. Why is that? As if I had voiced my question, he turns and looks at me through misty eyes.
"The world I knew is long gone." He gestures to the balcony, which I look over. It's Radiant Gardens, with almost all the lights out because it's night and time for sleeping. I look quizzically at him. "It left the day the heartless showed up."
I bite my bottom lip as he clenches his fists. Another tear rolls down his face, which he wipes away angrily.
"Squall-"
"You don't understand. Ever since that day, I've been different. I was weak. I'm still weak." He shut his eyes. "I'm plagued by the past."
"Squall-"
"I don't see how you go on every day like everything is alright, when all around us, everyone is different. If I could go back, change time, I'd make sure this never happened. I'd be the one to save us, and we never would have left, never would have suffered for eight years without knowing what to expect, never would have been so-"
"SQUALL!"
He froze, looking down at me like a shocked child. I stood on my toes and looked down at him somehow, threateningly serious.
"I don't understand? I DON'T UNDERSTAND!?" He winced. "I'VE only seen you kick tons of heartless butts through the years, I'VE only seen you but up a wall from the rest of us, I'VE only seen you suffering for no reason, I'VE ONLY SEEN YOU BEAT YOURSELF UP OVER SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED EIGHT YEARS AGO, WHEN YOU WERE A CHILD!"
I back away, panting with rage I did not know I had in me. He continues to stare at me in shock. Then he does something else I'd never expect.
The guy hugs me. Yeah, you heard right, hugs me! I just exploded at him, the stone wall, and he hugs me!
"No one's had the guts to stand up to me like that for eight years." Just as I'm about to reply, he covers my mouth. "I might have thought I'd lost everything. But I didn't. I still have you."
As if I couldn't get any more shocked now, he leans over and kisses me. I'm serious, really!
And, for once in my life, I am speechless.
I guess some things do change.
But then again, you never know.