Disclaimer: As much as I might like to own them, I can't afford them, therefore, places, names and whatnot don't belong to me.
A/N: Hey all, good to see everyone and all that. This is the first piece of work I've submitted in a while and it's going to be (maybe) the first multichaptered submission I've done in a long time. It won't be longer than three or four chapters I don't think, and I have an idea of what I want, but I'm not certain on whether I'll continue this. Any thoughts and ideas would be appreciated.
Secrets and Lies.
Chapter One.
The Situation.
For the first time since the heartless attacked over a decade ago, there was peace in Radiant Garden. No more heartless roamed the streets, no more Maleficent meddling with the darkness and now the people could live without fear. It was safe for them to wander the streets unescorted again, safe for the children to play outside in the street or at the park. The restoration of the city was still taking place but for the most part, it was only the castle that needed repairing, aside from whatever odd jobs the city-folk required, and a few final outlying houses on the very outskirts of the city, where the urbanised centre gave way to vast fields of fertile land.
Not only had the darkness been sealed away, hopefully permanently, but the rest of the world had returned also, meaning that people and places that had been thought lost forever were restored, and thus the world seemed to return to normal. Those who had seen the demise of the world and survived it seemed to prefer to stay in Radiant Garden, a place they were familiar with, and when unfamiliar faces began to appear, visitors from the restored towns further out, they were wary, reluctant to interact and re-forge the bonds that had been broken with the fall of the world.
Soon enough, things had settled down yet again, but those who had fought through the fall of Radiant Garden and returned, rebuilding the economy and whatnot, remained something of a tight-knit community. Those in the inner reaches of the city, around the base of the castle were the ones most familiar with the Restoration Committee and the lengths they went to in their efforts to rebuild their home.
However, if there was one thing that everyone in Radiant Garden knew, even those new to the repaired city, it was that the Restoration Committee leader, Leon, worked harder than probably anyone else to return the city to its former glory. If someone requested something of him, he took time out of his own busy schedule to help the people who needed it. So when one of the city's many inhabitants came knocking on Merlin's door one balmy summer afternoon to inform them of how the leader had promised to fix a leaky pipe in their basement that morning and still hadn't even arrived, it raised a few questions as to what could possibly have distracted the rather single-minded male from his self allotted task.
That was the first of many instances that afternoon of people arriving on the doorstep of Merlin's house, the committee's base of operations of sorts, to not necessarily complain but to let the others of the committee know that a certain someone hadn't done as he'd said he would that day. By the time the fifth person came and went, the whole committee had gathered together and to no-one's surprise, the gunblader wasn't among them.
They tried calling him, since all the committee members had consented to carry around a mobile phone so that they could keep in touch when they were in different parts of the city but they didn't even get put through to his voicemail, they couldn't even reach his phone, let alone leave a message. Of course by then they were starting to get worried, the flower girl especially. When they couldn't reach the male by phone, she knew something was wrong. He may not be the most socially adept man in the city but he knew better than to just turn off his phone or leave without telling anyone.
And so they agreed to launch a search for him, Tifa even managing to persuade Cloud to join them on the search with some well placed threats, though the blond didn't really intend to just leave the man out there if he was in trouble after all. He might not want to get involved in something that had nothing to do with Sephiroth, whom he still had yet to defeat, but he didn't want to see the pink-clad flower girl look so worried about someone again, not to mention that the brunet warrior's absence did have him somewhat concerned too, although it seemed as though he was the only one willing to have any faith in the brunet to look after himself. He'd probably turn up come nightfall and claim to have single-handedly defeated some mighty heartless, and then pass it off as being just in a day's work.
Only, it didn't work out like that.
After searching a relatively large area, making it mid evening by then, they found themselves passing through the bailey, through the restoration site that was nearing completion by then and up into the Postern. It was there that they paused to consider if Leon really would be in Ansem's study and the computer room and decided that since they'd come that far already, they should probably go all the way before they moved to search another part of the city.
It was then that they found the elusive brunet's phone. Or what was left of it anyway. It had been dashed to pieces on the ground and bits of it had been scattered across the postern, glinting innocently in the dying light of day as the sun's last rays of light began to make way for the blanket of darkness. Cloud bent to pick up the largest chunk of phone that was left over but more of it fell apart even as he did so, thus informing him of how it would be impossible to restore.
The heavy silence that had fallen over them since they'd started looking was broken by the ninja who seemed to tire of the gloomy atmosphere and saw the broken phone not as an indication of something terrible having happened but as confirmation that the missing male was fine. She didn't seem deterred by the small puddle of blood near the castle wall either, already thinking that he'd probably cut himself with one of his tools since injuries like that were common when working on restoration, handling heavy equipment, sharp debris and other such dangerous materials.
"So that's why he wasn't picking up! He probably just dropped it while he was working on repairs or something; you know how careless he can be when it comes to his own wellbeing. He's probably somewhere inside the castle working his little leather-clad ass off having lost track of time." She reasoned, beaming cheerfully and already moving towards the slope that led down to the door into the lower corridors.
Cid stepped up to check on the blood, presumably to see if it was fresh or not and felt a drip land on his cheek. "Better get a move on 'less we wanna get caught in that bigass fuckin' storm, it's already rainin'." The mechanic groused, only to get a strange look from Cloud who pointed beyond the postern to the sky.
"The rain's not going to hit for another hour at least." Came the softly spoken words of the blond swordsman. That was when Aerith turned to look at the gruff mechanic and her hand immediately went to cover her mouth, her emerald eyes wide.
"That's not rain Cid." Tifa intoned from where she was stood, watching out of the corner of her eye as Yuffie returned from
where she'd gone on ahead, to see what was taking them all so long. Collectively they looked up even as another drop splashed onto the oldest committee member's cheek; lower this time, sliding down to his jaw and then dripping down to the floor.
There, hair and feathered collar blowing in the gentle wind, was the brunet gunblader.
He was impaled through the shoulder on a piece of scaffolding, or piping protruding from the structure of the castle, his head bowed and resting on his collarbone, eyes closed. From where they were stood upon the ground beneath him, it was impossible to tell whether or not he was still breathing. It looked as though he had suffered more than just his impalement though, as there were rips in his shirt, jacket and pants, all of which were lined with blood. His ruined shoulder was the source of the puddle of blood on the floor, the crimson liquid having dribbled down his arm and it was dripping from the tips of his fingers as his arms hung limply at his side.
It was a morbid sight to behold and none of the group gathered in the postern had any idea how he'd come to be in such a state, let alone suspended so high in the air.
It was Cloud who got him down, spreading that demonic wing of his and flying up to remove the stricken gunblader from his place, hung like a mockery of a flag from the castle's walls.
It turned out that Leon was indeed still alive, barely but he certainly wasn't conscious and he made no movement, nor sound even as his fellow warrior lowered him to the ground as gently as he could, his wing disappearing completely. It was then that they could catalogue his injuries and heal him as best they could but the sheer number and severity of his wounds shocked them all. It was a miracle that he was still alive and Aerith ensured his continued survival, at least for the time being with some much needed healing magic.
His body bathed in a soft green glow, Yuffie watched in horror as some of the terrible wounds were closed on the leader's body. She watched as Cid wiped the brunet's blood from his cheek and watched Cloud gather the limp body into his arms but she could do nothing but follow the movement of the other committee members while she remained rooted to the spot. It was only when Tifa rested a hand on her shoulder that she snapped out of her daze and looked to the martial artist with tears in her eyes. Tifa assured her that Leon would be okay, but Yuffie couldn't believe that someone would do such horrendous things to another person. However, with Tifa gently guiding her, she followed the others back along the pathways towards the house the males were staying in.
Cid let them in, unlocking the front door and allowing the girls entrance into the slightly untidy house. The mechanic allowed Cloud and Aerith upstairs to tend to the wounded brunet but barred the way for Tifa and Yuffie, both of whom exploded with protests, wanting to see the injured male.
"Let the poor man rest." The man ordered, bodily hauling the kicking ninja to a chair and setting her down. Minutes passed slowly, Tifa pacing the floor, Yuffie squirming in the chair and Cid stood barring the staircase. Silence reigned in the lounge as they all waited for news of their reluctant leader's condition and at last, Aerith descended the stairs, her hands clasped gently in front of her.
"He's not awoken yet." She began softly. "But Cloud has agreed to stay with him until he does. Cid, will you take it in turns with him to watch over Leon?" She asked, settling her worried gaze on the only male in the room. When she received a nod and a gruff affirmative, she turned to the two females and bowed her head a little. "It's best if we give him some space. I'm sure the boys will let us know as soon as Leon awakens."
Reluctantly the pair whom Aerith was addressing nodded their assent and got to their feet. Yuffie in particular wanted to go and see the brunet whom she considered to be one of her closest friends, but she had to agree that waking up to a room full of people was not something she expected Leon to appreciate. It was in silence that they left the house, Cid simply waving them off without a word.
It was two days later that the girls received word that Leon had finally awoken but when they went to visit him, he refused to speak of what had caused his horrendous wounds and remained mostly silent for the entire time he was forced to endure their company. They'd come so close to losing him and yet he didn't seem to care, preferring things to go right back to the way they were. It resulted in Aerith getting angry, something that happened extremely rarely, and no matter how much she demanded that the man speak, even just to greet them, the stoic gunblader said nothing, simply turned his head away.
His callous behaviour reduced Aerith to tears and put him at odds with everyone. He could see the disapproval in Cid's hard gaze and Yuffie had been stunned by his blatant refusal to talk to any of them. It was as though he'd reverted right back to how withdrawn and introverted he'd been after they'd found him nine years after the fall of their home. The only words they'd managed to pry from him were those of thanks for rescuing him, but even they had been forced and hardly meaningful.
As soon as he could be, he was out of bed and returning to work though naturally, his injuries still pained him. He could occasionally be caught scratching at or holding onto his left shoulder, where the piping had pierced his body, while he worked and it was obvious to everyone that although the wounds were closed and healed over, the afflicted areas still troubled him, there was only so much a number of healing spells could do after all. However, Leon never complained of the pain and never took a break to ease the injured areas; so for all intents and purposes, everything certainly was back to normal, or as normal as they could be when their leader made himself more scarce than usual and never communicated with them.
Only Leon knew what happened that dreadful day, but little did he know that someone was determined to find out, someone who had similar inclinations towards single-mindedness, who's entirely neutral opinion of the brunet had been called into question after seeing him come so close to death.