Remember This, My Love
Yuffie Kisaragi2
Summary: Squffie one-shot Leon made a stupid mistake and is thinking over his stupidity. My new style of writing, so... Yeah... Review!
A small smile appeared on the stoic man's face as the memories washed over him gently. She was ten, then, and he was nineteen. It was right before everything happened. She had always been short, small in stature, and frail-looking... But he knew how she could be without parental supervision.
"I... I feel the same way!"
For a long time, she had been his only friend, the only person that understood what it was like to lose a best friend and an entire family. Cloud and Aerith were both orphans, as far as anyone knows, and Cid was a single pilot. Squall, however, had a fiancee. She was the perfect height for him with tawny streaks in dark brown hair that matched her eyes so perfectly that you'd think she had planned them that way. They were sixteen and seventeen when they first met... And seventeen and eighteen when he proposed. Looking back on it, he saw that he had loved her, but something had been missing in their relationship.
"Don't think about numbers."
He had lost her to the darkness, but not the way everyone had imagined. Her powers, her sorceress powers, had been corrupted, tainted by Malificent's evil. Even he would not stand by the side of the new Rinoa. He watched her fall into the darkness and turned away without a tear. He had to get off of that planet... His only choice was Cid Highwind, a pilot who had made something called a "gummi ship". It was there that he witnessed his soon-to-be partner's loss. She tripped and her mother threw herself on top of her to save the poor child's life. A man in a crimson cloak had yanked her up and run with her, Squall close behind. When they came to a wall of Heartless, the man handed the swordsman the sobbing child, who was covered in her mother's blood, and chose to fight alone. Squall ran.
"Think about your feelings."
She had become his confidant, and he had become her's. They could talk to each other, but kept a distance when in the view of others. To anyone else, they seemed to bicker constantly. Behind closed doors, however, hey found out how alike they really were. He was nine years older than she, but that did not bother her in the least. She was the most mature woman that he knew. She tried her hardest to be a normal child, a normal teen, then a normal woman. It was impossible, though, because she had seen so much. She, herself, had been forced to kill. Although they were demonic creatures of the shadowy realms, she was forced to kill them none-the-less.
"I don't care what others think!"
He watched her grow and develop into a beautiful young woman with an outstanding personality. He had watched her blossom into a brilliant fighter that, more often than not, rivalled him in skills and magic. Most of all, he grew to love her... He loved her for her personality and humor, for her looks and skills. He loved her for her... But it would never work out. She was eighteen, and he was twenty-seven.
"I know how I feel and you feel the same way!"
He had told her how he felt and she agreed. She had felt that way for a long time, she told him, and was too afraid to tell him. They were unsure of how to go about things, their ages being so different. He was not afraid of Cloud's reaction... But of Aerith's wrath. She could scream and scold and lecture for hours on end - as his partner had discovered numerous time - and he did not want to deal with that. He wanted to keep it quiet. She did not see things the same way, though.
"You're afraid of words, Squall! That's all they are! Words! W-O-R-D-S! Made up of letters and only said, read, or written!"
His blue eyes studied the white ceiling above him as he lay upon his bed. She was out somewhere, fuming still. He had decided, after she had left their room, that he no longer cared what the others would say or think. He loved her, she loved him, and that was all that mattered. With a small smile that had not left his lips since he started reminiscing, he blew too-long bangs from his face and sat up. The door knob turned and Aerith stepped in, her face flushed with anger.
"Never mind, Leon, I should have known that you wouldn't just give up everything." A soft sigh. "I'm going out for a walk." And the door slammed shut.
"What did you do to Yuffie," she seethed through clenched teeth, "To make her wonder around Third Distric alone?"
He stared at her in disbelief. "Third District?" He jumped up, pulling on his boots and reaching for his gunblade.
"She's at the cafe," Aerith said, shoving him hard enough to send him reeling. "I don't know what you did or said, Squall Joseph Leonhart, but you had better go apologize before I rip your throat out and leave you here to choke upon your own blood." Her emerald eyes showed no sign of sarcasm and he shuddered. Sometimes the healer could honestly frighten him. He was just hoping that she did not have a quarter staff anywhere near her at the time.
"I will," he mumbled, trying not too look too eager to see the ninja. He only hoped that she had not gotten injured. Third District was still a dangerous place, even if the Heartless were gone. Robbers and gangs took to the deserted district like ants to honey. And they were well-known for making moves on the innocent teen.
"I didn't mean it that way, Yuffie! And you know I didn't!"
He stopped short of the cafe, gazing at her. She wore jeans and a tattered tee-shirt, but seemed other-wise fine. Her short, choppy hair was messy, but that was an everyday occurence. She was staring into a cup of coffee with a forlorn expression. He smiled to himself. She would have her way.
"Yuffie."
She looked up at him, startled by his deep voice coming from almost directly behind her. "Oh... Hi, Leon." She returned to staring at her mug.
"You win," he said simply, sitting across from her and staring into her lilac eyes. She returned the gaze evenly, but found that his once-icy orbs had softened.
"What?"
"You win," he replied, placing his hand over her own. "We'll tell them."
Her eyes lit up and she bounded over to him, hugging him tightly, her arms around his chest. She kissed him quickly, then hugged him once again. There was something odd about seeing the two of them together, Cloud thought. But perhaps it was because he had never wanted Yuffie to grow up. As her self-proclaimed older brother, he had the responsibility of threatening Leon's life. Oh, and he would take joy in that threat. For now, though, he would let them continue their fluffy moment. He did not want to cause them any discomfort, right?
He strode towards them. Who was he kidding? He revelled in causing that ninja grief!
Memories are made to last forever
But all is lost in the end
Forget about those bad times and remember
This, my love, could be the very end.