Disclaimer: Do I really have to say this? Alright, I don't own Kingdom Hearts. If I did, you would know. If I did there would be a lot more singing and shirtlessness, and a lot less Vexen.

Hmmkay, so this is my second fanfic EVAR. Once again based around Kingdom Hearts D This one is Post-KH2, set in Radiant Garden. It revolves around some of my favourite characters - Cloud, Tifa, Leon, Yuffie and Aerith (In that order XD) I started writing this 'cause I always wondered what life was like for the gang after Sora went back home after defeating Xemnas. And also 'cause I love these characters XD.

Oh, and if you don't like the pairings featured in this; CloudxTifa, LeonxAerith, LeonxYuffie and maybe the tiniest smidgen of CloudxAerith, and perhaps a reference to ZackxAerith (Yes, I know Zack isn't in Kingdom Hearts. This fanfic is probably gonna make lotsa references to FFVII, but Zack is still dead.) Yeah, so if you don't like these pairings, PLEASE don't go flaming me about it. You don't like it, don't bloody read it. Capiche?

Sephiroth will also make an appearence in this fanfic (being the baddy he is), along with the Gullwings, and possibly Sora, Kairi and Riku.

ANYWHO! On with the story!

- -

"Whatever, Cloud, just come back in one piece! And don't accidentally 'forget' to come back again like last time! Oh, ohh! Make sure no one takes the orichalcum, or you're so gonna get it - ! …jerk hung up on me…" Yuffie frowned at her phone as the endless beep rang through her ears, but her short attention span got the better of her as she was soon distracted by the two girls walking through the gate of the Bailey.

"Yuffie, were you talking to Cloud? What did he say?" Inquired Tifa, sliding her leather gloves off her hands and placing them in the pouch of her skirt.

Yuffie merely shrugged in response. "Beats me, for all I care he could be in Destiny Islands doing the Macarena, just as long as he brings his spikey ass back here with my - I mean, our orichalcum…" Tifa and Aerith mimicked each other's eye roll as Yuffie failed to cover up her lack of concern for their friend.

"I'm sure Cloud'll be back soon, anyway, we'd better be getting back, dinner's ready" Aerith replied, nodding at Tifa who followed her out of the Bailey.

"Hey!! Wait up!!" Yuffie ran after them, bouncing around them both. "Isn't Leon cooking tonight..? …Can we eat out? Please? Pretty please? We could get some reasonably priced BBQ ribs from the Marketplace! Hey! Are you two listening to me?!"

- -

"Bleugh, Leon, this tastes like - "

"So! What did you do in Ansem's Study today, Leon?" Aerith quickly interrupted Yuffie before she was about to get a gunblade lodged in her head.

"I would've gotten something done if Cid The Genius hadn't turned off the power off…" Leon grunted as he stabbed his fork into the badly burned steak.

"Speaking of which, where is Cid? Last time I saw he was smoking a cigarette outside the Postern…" Inquired Tifa, standing up from her seat as she collected everyone's plates and placed them in the sink for Cid to clean later.

"He said he was going to fix the power system since it's been acting up recently…but I guess he screwed up again 'cause the whole computer just went dead and - " Leon's rant was unfortunately cut short by the familiar footsteps that entered the room, occupying everyone's attention.

"I'm back."

It's interesting how each individual expressed their relief to see him. Leon merely nodded slightly, and Cloud nodded in return.

Aerith ran up and hugged him tightly, leaving Cloud quite bewildered as Aerith has a remarkably strong grip for a girl.

Tifa smiled sweetly at him, not wanting to cause such a fuss on his arrival, but the two of them both knew how happy she was to have him back.

And Yuffie - well, what do you expect? Yuffie bounded up to him, inspecting all his pockets (and probably overstepping her boundaries) for any traces of treasure, not enquiring at all about his health or well being until she was shot a fiery glance by Tifa.

"Oh Cloud! It's so good to have you back! You didn't…um…by any chance happen to stumble upon….a certain orichalcum? And maybe it accidentally fell into one of those manly pockets of yours…?" Yuffie grinned widely at him, but Tifa, Aerith and Leon all smacked their foreheads at the ninja's pathetic attempt at trying to charm Cloud into giving her the treasure.

"Yeah…I got it." He replied, stepping outside, immediately followed by Yuffie.

"Well, where is it? C'mon, show it me!" Fortunately, Cloud had manage to master ignoring Yuffie's persistency after several years of her never shutting up.

"Helloooo? Clooud? Are you in there?" Yuffie hopped around him, waving an arm in front if his face as he headed over garage subtly located behind the Bailey, Cloud barely even blinking with Yuffie's hand practically smacking his face.

With Yuffie following behind him, he stepped over beside his motorbike, Fenrir, opening a compartment at the rear and pulling out a large metal box.

Yuffie smiled with glee.

"Here, just take the damn stuff. It's pretty heavy for a tiny piece of rock, y'know, you sure you can handle it?" He smirked slightly as Yuffie attempted what she believed to be a 'death-defying glare', snatching the box from his hand, losing her balance slightly but still glaring at him to try to prove her point, even though her arms were practically dropping off from the weight.

"Don't worry yourself, Spike" she glared, sticking her tongue out at him and bounding back to their house as Cloud rolled his eyes at the nickname he had grown to detest.

- - -

"Yuffie, don't get attached now….you know we have to give it to Sora" Tifa tried to reason with Yuffie, who was cradling the box of orichalcum as if it were precious.

"But whyyyy?! He doesn't need it! He'll just lose it!" she whined, clutching the box tighter.

"Yuffie.." came a stern voice from the other side of the table as Leon was shuffling a pack of cards.

"You're no fun, Squall!" Yuffie moaned, turning back to nurse her box.

Leon merely rolled his eyes in response, dealing out the deck between him, Cloud and Tifa.

"Who wants milk in their soda?" Aerith called from the kitchen, and the others almost gagged at her ridiculous culinary mixtures.

"No one, Aerith! For the last time - it does not taste good!!" Leon yelled back, obviously sick of having sugar put in his Barley tea or other ridiculous drinks that she had prepared.

"Don't be silly, Leon!" she smiled as she walked back in with a tray of disgusting looking liquids. "It's good for you!"

"Um, let's just carry on with the game, shall we?" Tifa quickly interrupted before Leon had another 'episode' again.

"Good idea, what are we playing again?" Cloud enquired, showing off by doing his fancy card shuffling, which never failed to impress Tifa or Aerith.

"How 'bout Rummy?" suggested Tifa, glancing round at the others and turning round to see Yuffie. "Yuffie, you wanna play?"

"Hell no! She'll cheat again!"

"It's just a game, Leon…" Tifa responded, remembering how competitive he could get, and the unfortunate 'Pictionary' incident...

"I don't wanna play anyway…I'm gonna go out for a bit" replied Yuffie, picking up the box and heading out the door.

"Ah ah aaah! Aren't you forgetting something, Yuffie?" Aerith raised an eyebrow as Yuffie tried to act innocently like she didn't know what she was talking about.

"Oh, this?" She grinned. "I was…just taking it outside…for fresh air…" even Yuffie seemed slightly unconvinced at her own remark.

"Put the box down, Yuffie" Cloud ordered, not looking up from his deck of cards. Yuffie reluctantly obeyed.

"Now step away slowly…" and she did, glaring at him.

"…and get me a sandwich." The others laughed slightly as Yuffie's feet

almost moved in the direction of the kitchen.

"Hey!! Spikey headed jerk!" She growled as Cloud smirked proudly, turning his view back towards his deck. "So are we playing or what?"

"Aerith? You playing?" Tifa asked after Aerith who was busy in the kitchen preparing post-dinner snacks. Even though she had awful taste in drinks, at least her flapjacks were nice. Anything was better than Leon's cooking.

"Maybe later, you guys might just want to have a quick round - it's getting pretty late" She replied, walking in with the tray of golden brown flapjacks.

"Mine!" Laughed Yuffie as she snatched a chunk out of the tray and bounded back off to her corner, to play Tetris on Cloud's phone. God knows why he had that there. She didn't even dare to check out his pictures.

"Hm, I think I'm gonna hit the sack" Leon said coolly, standing up from his seat and discarding his deck onto the table. "I'll see you guys in the morning." He waved slightly and headed upstairs to his room, his heavy boots making the same creaky thud that they were all fairly used to by now.

"Aww, you're so boring, Scarface! It's only 11!" Yuffie poked her tongue out at Leon who just continued up to his room.

"You should probably go to sleep too Yuffie, otherwise Cloud'll have to wake you up like last time" Tifa laughed as she recalled Cloud chucking several buckets of ice cold water over the ninja in one of many attempts to wake her up.

Yuffie scowled in response, stomping off upstairs to retire to her own room - taking the orichalcum of course.

Tifa and Aerith rolled their eyes in unison and continued to clear up the plates and glasses.

"Cloud, did you remember to lock the gate to the Postern?" Tifa enquired, wiping her hands down with a dishcloth and returning over to the table to face the blond she was talking to.

"Shit…" Cloud murmured, running a hand through his hair. It seemed he had developed a knack for forgetting things lately.

"It's okay, we can go and lock it now." She replied nonchalantly, nodding at Aerith as she walked towards the door. "Will you be ok here for a bit?"

"It's okay, Tifa, you don't have to worry about me all the time" Aerith smiled and laughed in reply, waving them out as Cloud and Tifa headed out towards the Bailey.

"Are you okay, Cloud? You seem to be forgetting things a lot lately…" Tifa said in a concerned tone as her and Cloud walked along the dark streets of Hollow Bastion.

"Yeah…I'm fine…I guess I must just be getting old or something" Cloud smiled in an attempt to steer Tifa clear of the subject. Thankfully, for him, she laughed.

"I'm not sure that people start losing their memory at 24, but, if you insist…" She smiled, hiding the fact that deep down she was upset and offended that Cloud would keep something like this away from her. They had been childhood friends after all.

"Tifa…I know you're concerned…but I'm fine, really." Cloud broke the awkward silence that had been sitting between them for quite some time.

"I believe you…"

He suddenly stopped in his tracks right in front of her, denying her any further passage. His stance even somewhat intimidated her, but she knew him well enough that right now he was about to say something serious.

"Tifa….I promise you….if I knew what was going on I'd tell you in a heartbeat…but…I just don't know…"

There was a pause between the two before Tifa broke into one of those warm smiles that was her way of cheering him up. Cloud blinked before eventually smiling back at her, but the guilt still lingered in his mind that he was still lying to her.

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So thar you go! I hope you enjoyed it

The next chapter will most likely be more revolved around Leon, as Cloud and Leon are gonna be the principle characters, and I'll alternate between them. Ta ta for now!

Reviews make me happeee