Maybe when I'm done with thinking,
Maybe you can think me whole.
Maybe when I'm done with endings
This can begin, this can begin,
This can begin.
Leon yawned and stretched as he awoke, sitting up in his bed. Merlin had magically fixed enough buildings the day before so that each member of the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee could have their own one-room mini-house. His quite suited him, with a large picture window in the front so he could watch anything going on outside.
They had gotten a lot accomplished, but Leon tried to forget the day before...it had been one of the most miserable days that he could remember in the past five years. Yuffie had appeared just as happy as ever around Aerith, Cid, and Merlin. Around him she had been shockingly distant, quiet, and lethargic. He had hit a nerve, apparently, as nothing had ever made Yuffie act so differently.
He hadn't slept well, but layed awake for hours thinking of ways to fix their relationship. And during that time he had finally faced what she had said; 'I'm capable of taking care of myself'. For as long as he could remember he had guarded and shielded her. It was his own way of trying to show how much he cared, so the fact that it bothered her...he just didn't understand.
Looking towards his window, he saw a sudden flash of black stream past. His eyes widened. No...it couldn't be...heartless? With a sudden bang his door flew open.
He was about to leap up with his gunblade when he saw, "Yuffie?" and he breathed easier. The girl had kicked the door open, and walked in quite unceremoniously.
"Cid has a new Gummi ship he wanted to show us and I was wondering if you wanted to-" she paused, finally noticing him. "Wow, Leon. You're a mess. Startled by something?" she smirked, walking up close to his sitting figure and peering into his tired eyes.
"I thought you were- hey, it doesn't matter. Yuffie, I just wanted to apologize for yes-"
She put a hand up to shush him, and smiled. "You need to learn to let things go! I'm not still upset about that."
"You're...not?" he questioned, taken aback.
"Nope. Not at all, as long as you listened to what I said. I love having you around, Squall, but you treat me like a little kid most of the time." She became a bit more serious, though still smiling.
"I'm sorry you feel that way. It wasn't my intention at all."
"Mmm. I believe you. You are sort of helplessly, socially awkward," she said and nodded.
"What!? That wasn't very nice," he raised an eyebrow.
"Hey, you know, you look really funny in the morning!" she laughed, and ruffled his hair with her left hand. "Your hair's all messy!"
"Cut it out!" He caught her arm and pushed it away gently.
As soon as he touched her and held her arm a bit longer than usual, Yuffie felt a slight warmth rise in her cheeks, that she hoped went unnoticed. He soon let go and flattened his hair with his hands.
"So, you said Cid has a new ship?"
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Let's go check it out!"
Before waiting for a response, Yuffie grabbed his hand and pretended to pull him up (as he actually stood up himself to go with her), and the two ran out the door. Leon was glad to have his old enthusiastic friend back, even if that's all she would ever be...
"It's on the other side of the Marketplace," she said.
Their hands only became disconnected as the entered the other area, across which they could indeed see what looked like a shiny, new space vehicle. When they reached the (unofficial) Gummi station, they found Cid chatting away to a politely listening and nodding Aerith, who clearly had no knowledge or interest in exactly what he was going on about.
"Hey there, Leon! I was just telling Aerith, 0 to 150 in under 3 seconds!"
"That's pretty good, Cid. Horsepower?" the other man responded knowingly.
"Somewhere around 18,000."
Yuffie giggled her way over to the now off-the-hook Aerith, who looked slightly dazed but very relieved.
"Guy talk...who understands it, right?" Yuffie said.
Aerith smiled gently at the younger girl. "Boys will be boys. I must give them credit, though, with all of this technilogical ship-talk, they really are rather intelligent."
"Intelligent, Squally? He just likes mindlessly shooting and stabbing heartless. I don't think he cares about, or even knows how to do, anything else," Yuffie laughed.
"Hmm. I think you're wrong there. Leon's more complex than that."
Yuffie shrugged her shoulders and smirked, prancing off to the large ship parked in front of them. The bright colors of the thing entranced her. She ran her hand along the side, where a blinding yellow shooting star was painted on a background of black, purple, and blue.
"It really is quite pretty!" she thought aloud.
"Pretty? It's not meant to be pretty. It's efficient. It alerts friendly ships as to our presence, whilst warning enemy ships to stay away," Cid barked, apparently annoyed by Yuffie's less-than-professional appraisal of the ship.
She wasn't phased by the snap. "Well, what else do I have to look for in a Gummi ship? I don't appreciate them in any other way. They make me feel gross." She put her hand to her stomach. Every time she had to ride in one, to train in the coliseum with Leon, she usually layed down in the back with ginger ale and crackers until they arrived.
Cid then proceeded to say something so complicated and confusing that Yuffie tilted her head and stared wide-eyed. She deduced about four words from the entire thing: "aerodynamic, shock absorbers, and ship", only the last of which she understood the meaning of.
By the time he was done, she had nearly collapsed with confoundedness and had zoned out completely. "Umm...what was that last thing you said?"
Cid rolled his eyes. "I said, even you shouldn't feel motion sickness, kid."
Her mouth formed an 'O' of understanding.
()----------flashback----------()
"Even you won't feel motion sickness, Yuffie," Myde assured her.
It was a little after dinner time, and the two teenagers stood by the small wooden dock of Radiant Lake, where Myde had taken Yuffie under the pretense that he had a fantastic surprise to show her. When she noticed that this surprise turned out only to be a shiny new motorboat, Yuffie was less than keen to try it out. Myde's one love next to music was boating, but it was rare that she would go out with him on one, as her annoying motion sickness caused even worse sea sickness.
Even just standing on the dock and looking down at the rippling water below made Yuffie's stomach churn unpleasantly. She hated to disappoint Myde like this, but she was doubtful. She looked down to their laced fingers.
"I don't know, My..."
"Yuffie, I promise you, I bought this boat with you in mind. It rides smoother than any I've ever been in. And it's a nice day, no wind, which means no waves."
He let go of her hand and hopped from the dock into the boat. Yuffie frowned and watched, not moving an inch closer to the thing.
"We don't have to go too far if you don't want to, just a little ways up. If you don't feel good we can turn right around. Please trust me, ninja girl." He offered his hand towards her to help her into the boat.
There was a warmth to him that she could not refuse. He was so excited to finally take her out. And she new that he wouldn't risk making her sick, so she put her small hand in his, and after she stepped over the edge he scooped her up and placed her on one of the seats in the boat.
"I trust you," she said, smiling weakly.
"You're going to love this. I'm sure of it." And with that he started up the boat and drove it away from the dock.
Yuffie, sitting directly next to him, clutched his right arm nervously, burying her face in his t-shirt. He laughed gently, resting his chin on her head so that they were neck-against-neck. He controlled the steering with his left hand, and they moved quickly across the gargatuan, three-mile long lake.
"Oh, look at that!" Myde tenderly nudged her.
"Mmm?" Yuffie hesitantly raised her head. "Aww!" They had just passed a huge family of swans, two parents followed by five grey sygnets.
She kept her head up this time, looking behind them to see that they had traveled very far from shore.
"How are you feeling?" he questioned, rubbing her back with his now free right hand.
"Actually...I feel perfectly fine!" she exclaimed happily.
"I'm glad." He smiled down at her, refraining from an 'I-told-you-so'...their relationship was beyond that.
"I-I think I finally understand why you like it so much out here," she paused for a moment to look around. Being on the lake seemed to put them in the middle of something so great, a whole natural world within a world. "It's spectacular."
"Mhmm. I think this a good spot to stop for a little while." He brought the boat to a slow stop below a bending willow tree about ten feet from the bank.
Every now and again a big fish would leap up from the depths and plunge back in, forming spherical ripples in the surface of the clear water. Bluebirds chirped from the branches above, and crickets in the marshes began to play a quiet tune.
Myde and Yuffie snuggled together, not taking for granted this moment at which they were completely alone. He cupped his hand under her chin and raised it, their faces only inches apart. He softly kissed her lips, nothing more, and then pressed his forehead against her's. Everything was silent; they needed no sentimental words in their time together. Words were earthly, while their love was divine.
Five minutes later, the sun threatened to set in the horizon directly across from them. Yuffie had never been out on the lake to see this before, and it took her by shock as it happened.
The fiery orb cast an orange and pink light over the entirity of the lake, so that it no longer appeared clear, blue, or green, but instead was molten, liquid gold. The sky reflected these colors spontaneously: nature's own light show. For fifteen minutes the two young lovers sat watching the display, until the sun finally sank and they were cast in shadows.
"That's why they call it Radiant Lake," Yuffie breathed, head on Myde's shoulder.
"No, I don't think it is," the boy whispered into her ear.
She sat up straight and looked into his eyes questionably, until he pointed behind them, down at the water. Yuffie turned and looked down, met only with her own reflection. A small giggle turned into more of a surreal sigh. Her violet eyes were wide in the moonlight.
"You are the boy that I am going to marry," she promised.
"What a wonderful life we'll have."
o-------------------o
A/N: Hi, thanks for reading it thus far! I just started band camp on Monday, and next week I start school, so updates may be a bit slower than before. ;.;
Please review, even if all you have is criticism! Especially if you are going to add this to alerts/favorites, I'd like to hear from you! Reviews keep me motivated and on-track.
