After it ends, Peace reigns

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts

Pairings: (by order of appearance) Tifa/Aerith; Riku/Sora; Leon/Cloud

Rating: Hmm, I'll keep it safe and give it an M for latter chapters.

Warning: None this chapter. There is only one curse word.

AN: Wow, I published something big! Hehe! Well, I got inspired and started writing... what I had in mind was a simple, short one-shot... but it grew! Oh, how it grew! -.-'

Chapter One: Presentations

It was a beautiful spring morning. The sun was shining high up in the sky and you could feel the warmth that preceded a hot summer. The flowers had already begun to bloom in Radiant Garden's reconstructed… well, gardens. They were all kinds of them in these places –from big ones to small ones, from yellows to reds, from daisies to roses. But -although beautiful- none seemed to even compare with Aerith's prized plants.

These were admired by everyone and all the flower enthusiasts living nearby –and even some from faraway places- wanted to know the lady's secret. "The secret to what?" some asked, only to be bombarded with fervent and awe-filled answers about the magical –even if not that uncommon looking- immortal flowers living and impressing young to old alike in the flower bed in front of Aerith's gift shop. The purple orchids resting surrounded by the white lilies were truly amazing. One could pass by the shop any season of the year and there they would be. Come torrential rain, come furious snow or even powerful wind that the flowers would be wet, surrounded by snow or leaves blown by the wind. Never withering. Some would say these natural events would make these plants even more beautiful, others would say this happened because of Aerith's hidden mystical powers, but nevertheless these amazing beings attracted everybody to the shop. It could be that they had been grown just for that purpose, however no one would amuse the thought that Aerith did not care for these flowers. On the contrary. She treated them as if they were her babies.

Everyone admired this lady. She was thought to be the perfect housewife. Magical gardener, extraordinary cooker, amazing advice giver and a cleaning specialist, Aerith was the complete opposite of her lover. If Aerith was the typical wife, Tifa could be the typical husband. "Could" just because she hated being compared with a man and made sure everyone knew that. She was a woman and she loved being one. She could be far from feminine, but that didn't mean she wasn't female. Being a woman had granted her the pleasure of a deep and long-lasting relationship with the lady of her dreams –Aerith.

That woman was everything to her. She was sweet and kind, whereas she was tough and stubborn. If someone was in need of help, Aerith would provide them with everything she could in order to help them. That made Tifa love her even more. Because she was so kind and always saw the good in everybody, she tended to forget about the bad. And nobody is without some "bad" in them, "ying and yang and all that crap" thought Tifa. This provided Tifa with her part in the whole "helping others" business. Aerith could help everybody she wanted, but if they so much as think of hurting her, Tifa would give them "a beating of a lifetime and then some" she would say. She was definitely very protective of Aerith, but since that didn't seem to bother her and it sure as hell didn't bother Tifa, this would carry on for quite some time. "Some time" being until death, and even so it would be hard letting it go.

This side of Aerith, the helpful one –because she had other sides, Tifa would guaranty that- made her open a gift shop. A place she believed people could buy presents for others – be it the sick neighbor or the significant other- and themselves in an easy-to-find, adequate-to-that-single-person sort of way. Aerith believed objects had more to them than people thought, and she liked to share her little theory with whoever wanted to hear it. This theory being that certain objects would be better cared for and esteemed if they belonged with certain people. This didn't mean clumsy people couldn't have anything. This meant that a person –be it she or he was clumsy or not- was better suited to possess a certain object than another. She believed that seeing as everyone is unique, they had to have an object that would be the perfect match for them according to their essence. This essence being what describes how that person is, and seeing as only very few people could "see" them, Aerith wanted to provide something that made possible determining the personality of a person. And that thing came in the form of an object, a "gift" as she called them. Seeing as what gift matches what person was definitely a surprise and what she believed attracted people to her shop were her flowers, Aerith decided to name her gift shop "Surprise Bloom". Tifa chuckled a little when she heard it the first time, but a kiss from her lover and a soft whisper against her lips not to make fun of her worked like a charm –Aerith certainly knew how to shut her up.


Sitting under an apple tree just across the street from Leon and Tifa's dojo in the tiny green hill that –climbing the stone stairs next to them- would lead to another street in which were Cloud's pet shop, Merlin's café and Aerith's gift shop, were Riku and Sora.

Riku was leaning back against the tree with Sora's head on his stomach. With what he could see, he knew Sora was asleep. He had his feet to the silver-haired teen's left and his head was turned in Riku's direction with his eyes closed, his lips parting softly and breathing evenly. Riku was calming himself, trying not to lean towards Sora and kissing him while he was asleep, seeing as the movements he had to make would surely wake his lover up and he didn't want that. He looked up to the sky, the leaves from the apple tree protecting his eyes from the light. It was cloudless, the sun was shining and he could feel the sunlight warming him. He had to admit that this ambient was making him sleepy, as it made Sora. Speaking of which, the boy had just moved a little, tickling Riku with his spiky chocolate hair on the skin he had exposed earlier when he furrowed into Riku's shirt so he could sleep comfortably, making him flinch a little and suck in a breath. Riku petted Sora's hair with his right hand and let his left hand rest in Sora's chest, near his neck.

He was comfortable like this and he knew that if he didn't distract himself, he would soon fall asleep and then they would miss their lessons at Merlin's café "Touch of Magic". Every day they had class in a room at the back from 9 in the morning until 12, at which time they would have lunch break. Lunch would be served at the café, free of charge. This pause would last until 13:30 so they could relax a little in between lessons. Then, classes would continue until 16. After that, they would go to their part-time jobs if they had them. Riku and Sora didn't since they had gathered a significant amount of munny in their journeys. Alas, Kairi and Yuffie did. Kairi worked at Cloud's pet shop "Radiant Pets" and Yuffie at Aerith's gift shop "Surprise Bloom". Although the boys had offered to give them some of their munny, Kairi had refused because she wanted to support herself.

"I want to be an independent girl, guys. Thanks, but no thanks."-she had said.

Yuffie refused as well, seeing as she didn't work for the money, but for the fun of it.

In terms of living accommodations, the four of them lived together on a place two houses to the left of the dojo. It wasn't a mansion, that was certain, but it definitely was very nice. It had two stories, the first had the kitchen which practically only served the purpose of having breakfast since all the other meals were at the café –Merlin had insisted-, the living room where they had the TV and the DVD player and the library that had been filled to the top by Merlin and Aerith. On the second story were the bedrooms –two of them- which of course one belonged to the boys and the other to the girls and the bathrooms –again, two of them. In the library they had books varying from gardening – which must have come from Aerith- to magic. In their classes with Merlin they learned magic and the books they had to bring were there. They had 6 copies of each –two extra ones in case something should happen- He must have been thinking of Sora and Yuffie.-thought Riku. There were a lot of different books, so Riku guessed they still had a long way to go. They were only at the first book since they had started half a week ago. They had been here for a month now, but since they had been adjusting to a different life on a different world because they couldn't go back home for some reason, and because Merlin was still making plans for the decoration and space of his café, they had a little delay.

The old man had said that a lot of time on the hands of the young brings forth a lot of trouble and the ex-Restoration Committee agreed –except Yuffie of course, since she would be affected as well. He had said that since magic was his specialty and it was useful that he would teach us. Thus began the lessons. Magic was certainly useful and fun, but the teenagers preferred having the time to relax. Although, they knew they would grow tired of doing nothing soon if they didn't have classes.

Amazing as it may seem, Sora was very skilled at the subject. Riku figured it may have come from the journeys he had done in which he learned so much and being friends with Donald. The duck may have been a bit too much, but his skills were undoubtedly good. Speaking of traveling, the white-haired teen still had a bit of issues with the whole "finding Riku journey" affair. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate the gesture – he did- and that was exactly the deal. He had to make it up to Sora some way. The problem was how, after all, Sora always said his life was perfect just the way it was. He said that living near his friends and being able to spend time with his boyfriend every time and every way he wanted was enough. But Riku didn't think that way. He just had to find a solution.

Looking at his watch, he saw that it was about time for class. Making a mental note to talk to Aerith about it since she was the specialist on gifts for everyone, he started caressing Sora on his cheek. He brushed back Sora's hair and waited for him to wake up. His eyes opened slowly and the sight of those blue sleepy eyes made Riku say:

-You're so cute, Sora.

-Hmm…Thank you. –Sora leaned towards Riku and kissed him chastely and sweetly on the lips. - I love you, Riku.

Riku was momentarily stunned. Sora's kisses had that effect on him. When the ability to speak returned –even if a little breathless- he answered:

-I love you too. – He paused, looking at his lover. – We better get going to the café; the girls must be already there.

-Sure. I'll show you my amazing magic in class. – Sora teased.

-You do that you little showoff, - Riku laughed softly back at him- and I'll tickle you breathless.

-Why don't you kiss me breathless instead? – The brunet asked with a mischievous tone laced with fake innocence.

-I will if you keep teasing me like that. – Riku smirked, whispering sensually in Sora's ear- And then I'll pound you into the floor while I'm at it!

Sora was blushing. What Riku said resembled a dream he had some nights ago. When Riku found out about it in the form of a tent in Sora's boxers, he thoroughly ravished the younger one and since then he found himself getting excited from just about anything slightly erotic Riku said to him. That time was not when they had lost their virginity. They had already had sex some times before, but then what they did was make love and that morning Riku had fucked him and it made Sora lose what amount of innocence he had. He loved it; he loved when Riku was naughty! He wanted more even if it still made him blush. It was so interesting, so… exciting! He just could not get enough, but even so he knew better than to get hard before class. Getting up, he stammered:

-C-c'mon Riku, we s-should get going or we'll be late…

Riku saw the blush and the stammer. Right there and then he made a vow not to say something even slightly sexual to Sora ever again until he was comfortable enough with it. He had to make it up to Sora and embarrassing him was not a good way of doing it. He knew Sora was bored with his life because he didn't have to fight the Heartless anymore since they had disappeared completely. He had to make his life interesting and embarrassing his lover was definitely not the answer.

Riku got up and kissed Sora on the cheek. He grabbed his hand and they walk into the café.


Life is good, thought Cloud. The sunlight was coming in from the window of the pet shop and the animals seemed to like it judging by the way they either flew, ran or hopped to places within their cages with better access to the light. He was sitting behind the counter reading a magazine named "Paws". He was particularly interested in an article about a chocobo that warned his owner about a fire in her house. These birds were amazing in his eyes. He still remembered the first time he saw a chocobo here. At that time, he had taken a step towards something unknown to him.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Flashback---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After killing Sephiroth, lying slashed, bruised and blood-soaked on the dirty ground, he saw a chocobo heading towards him. At first he thought it was just a pain-induced hallucination and closed his eyes to die in peace. However, when something cold touched him on the face and he open them, the warrior saw it. It had a burnt-looking kind of yellow color, with an orange-colored beak and it seemed to be an adult. It was a chocobo! He couldn't believe it – chocobos didn't live in Radiant Garden-, but there it was. He would have liked to stare at it a little more, but it seemed that his conscience wouldn't allow it. The injuries had been too severe and Cloud closed his eyes again, falling into a deep black hole he thought was death.

When he woke up again, he found himself lying on a bed. It smelled really nice, like some sort of floral fragrance. He looked around the room. It was simple – white yellowish walls surrounded him, a window with no curtains in front of him, a wooden nightstand to his right, wooden flooring beneath him- but what caught his attention was the figure sitting on a chair a bit farther to the left of the bed. He got up and slowly walked over to it, noticing with satisfaction that his wounds didn't hurt. Doing this he also noticed that he was wearing a pair of blue pajama pants -that were a bit big on him- and a white t-shirt that didn't belong to him. Deciding it didn't matter, he stopped right in front of the person –that he could see was asleep- and putting a hand on his shoulder and shaking it slightly he asked:

-Leon?

Said man opened his eyes and looked up at him. He was truly beautiful even if too stoic at times. His eyes were the palest blue Cloud had ever seen. His lips looked like they would be deliciously soft on touch and his hair almost begged to be played with. Although Leon might not think so, his scar was certainly very attractive. At that moment, Cloud wanted to touch it. He never wanted to do such a thing before, but he had expected some changes to his personality when he defeated Sephiroth and if these were it… who was he to complain? The sudden attraction towards Leon's scar was quickly muffled in order to admire another aspect of the man. This aspect being the look Leon was giving him due to his lethargy. It was so… innocent, so vulnerable. Cloud knew at that moment that he was lost. Lost to this man's -to Leon's- endearing complexity. He wanted… something – something he didn't know what it was- and he wanted it from Leon.

As quick as Cloud had become hypnotized with Leon, the brunet had regain his normal composure and was looking at the blond with a raised brow.

-…Why are you looking at me with your mouth open and a mesmerized look on your face? – Leon asked, and quickly remembering the reason he was there he got up and put his hands on Cloud's shoulders. – More important than that, why are you out of bed? You should be resting. Your wounds may be nearly healed, but that doesn't mean you can just hop of bed just because you feel like it.

-I…I woke up and saw you sleeping in the chair and I wanted to… Actually, I don't know. I guess I wanted to see if you were alright. – Said Cloud, still recovering from his daze.

At this, Leon said after some thought:

-Don't worry about me. That's not something you'd do.

With a little push towards the bed, and a hand on the blond's back, the brunet managed to make Cloud lie in bed. He picked the chair up and put it down near the bed. He sat down and sighed:

-Don't try to be nice to me. You don't owe me anything.

-Owe? Why would I owe you? – The younger one had a confused expression on his face. – Did something happen?

Leon was taken aback. Did Cloud lose his memory? Everybody had had enough trouble with memories has it was. It seems that tradition had affected Cloud as well.

-You don't remember? – Leon asked with a frown on his face, his own way of showing concern- What do you remember doing last? Anything at all?

-The last thing I remember is defeating Sephiroth and afterwards lying injured on the ground and then a chocobo came to me. – Said the warrior, trying to remember if he had missed anything.

Leon sighed. It wasn't that Cloud had lost his memories. He had just fallen unconscious and hadn't been aware of what had happened.

-I don't know anything about that. The only thing I know is that one day I woke up with a strange knock on my door and when I opened it, I saw you bleeding right in front of my eyes. As far as the whole chocobo story goes, I found some feathers on your clothes. I didn't throw them away but they were the only thing that didn't go to the garbage can. The rest was slashed beyond repair. Anyway, I picked you up, stripped you, gave you a bath and cast some healing spells on you, but since I'm not that good of a magician, I dressed your wounds anyway. Then I dressed you with some of my clothes and you've been sleeping ever since.

Deciding to ignore that Leon had given him a bath and fighting a blush, Cloud asked:

-"One day"? "Ever since"? How long have I been sleeping?

-For three days now. –The brunet answered.

-Three days?! That explains why I'm so hungry. –Cloud was surprised. He had been fighting for as long as he could remember and he didn't recall something like this ever happening before. It must have been the transformation. Since I'm complete now, it figures I would change, but I didn't expect for it to take so long. – Do you happen to have any food around here?

Leon chuckled. – Of course. I'll go make some breakfast and then I'll bring it up.

-Don't bother, I can go downstairs. – Cloud argued. – It's been three days, I've heal enough so I can walk fine.

-Alright, whatever you say. – The brunet sighed. – Don't complain if it starts hurting.

-I won't. – The blond replied. - I don't complain when I'm in pain.

-Me neither. – Leon looked at Cloud. Something was different. He just didn't know what.

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AN: Alright, I'm ending chapter one here. I did want to write more –is inspired and can't let go of computer- but it was getting a bit long, so I guess I'll end it here and add what wasn't in this chapter to chapter two –that I'll write right away.

I know that there are still some questions surrounding this 'verse – I don't even know if it's AU or not -.-' – and even the characters, but I promise I'll get to it. If I don't or you feel that I could answer some other question I am not aware exists, please let me know.