Mmkay, Chapter 2!

So Riei, I took your advice and changed the breakers so you know who's PV it is at the time. Hope it helps- cuz when I'm writing I know who's PV is who's, so I don't really think too much about whether or not everyone else can figure it out lol. Lol and tell me if something isn't looking right, like I don't know how to explain it, but like if something is off. I'm new to this whole thinger and I'm still learning my way around the site. Thanks!

Anyway, this chapter is really short compared to the last. It's only like 2,000 something words! But they won't all be this short, I promise.

Chapter 2

Secession

------------Cloud's PV-----------------

I groggily opened an eye and took in the room around me. It was now even darker than before and I couldn't hear a single thing. I guess everyone is asleep.

A small shuffled noise from the other bed made me realize that Leon was still in the room. I churned my neck to get a better look at him. He was rubbing his eyes and slowly sitting up.

"Wow, I'm surprised you're still here." I smirked at him.

He raised an eyebrow and rolled his eyes, "You're one to talk."

I frowned and watched him roll out of bed.

"I have my reasons for leaving." I glared at him through the dark.

He pulled on his leather jacket and sighed, "And I have my reasons for never being around."

I got off the cot and pulled my own cape and jacket on, "Yeah well, what are your's?"

He looked at up at me, "What are your's?"

I narrowed my eyes, "That's none of your business!"

He looked at me like I was stupid, "And what I like to do is none of YOUR business."

We stood there glaring at each other for several minutes. He broke the look by grunting and walking out the door. I followed.

"What are you doing?" He stopped and looked at me.

This time I looked at him like he was dumb, "I'm making sure you eat, remember? Yuffie said-"

"You can't be serious." He stared at me with wide eyes, "You're actually taking what Yuffie said to heart and following me around like a mother hen?"

I opened my mouth to say something but he cut me off, "Doesn't it ever hit you that maybe I eat ... just not at the hotel?"

I tried a second time, but he cut me off again, "I thought Yuffie said you were broody and didn't talk much? You sure seem to like to talk."

"Whatever."

And in the next thirty seconds: a silent friendship was formed. A strange and unbelievable one, but a friendship none-the-less. You may be in disbelief, but I'm telling the truth. From then on we didn't leave for anywhere without each other. I silently made sure he ate and he silently made sure I didn't leave. We would patrol the perimeters of the world for heartless all day and half the night. Sometimes we would train when we had the time. Since my blow up the day I came back, Leon and I hadn't been back to the hotel. We would usually sleep in the cavern or over at Merlin's.

Leon was in love with the cavern. It was his sanctuary and I was proud that he was willing to share it with me. I would usually lie in the rocks, hands under my head, and Leon would lean against the wall with his ankles crossed. Occasionally he would drift closer to the wall at the end of the cavern and stare at it in a daze. Every single time he did it, I'd simply stare at his back and wonder what it was that fascinated him so.

We'd been friends for only a few weeks, yet the guy knew me inside and out. He understood that I wasn't ready to go back to the hotel and face the others, especially Tifa, yet. He never asked questions about Vincent or asked if I wanted to talk. He knew I'd say no.

"I saw Tifa today." I looked at Leon. He glanced at me and threw another rock.

I gave a small laugh, "I think she's following me."

Leon smiled a little bit, "Aerith probably set her on the job."

"Yeah, probably." We both chuckled under our breath and I picked up a flat rock.

We were sitting behind Merlin's house, trying to skip rocks in the water.

"Why did Merlin choose such a weird place to put a house?" I asked.

Leon shrugged, "The house was all ready here. Abandoned. Merlin doesn't like to be disturbed by the heartless and other nearby troublemakers, so he chose this place. The giant stones in the water were all ready here. He enchanted them to move to the side to trick trespassers."

We've now stayed at Merlin's house for three days and I haven't seen the wizard once. Leon said he went on a lot of 'trips', but to where, neither of us knew.

"So did he put that entrance to his house in the cavern for you guys or what?" I thought of the enchanted floorboard that appeared out of the roof of the cavern.

"Kind of. It was mainly for me. He knows it's my favorite place and he hates when I sleep in there. Always telling me I'm going to catch my death down there."

I nodded and examined the kid. Yeah, you heard me. He's the kid, not me. I think sometimes he forgets he's only 17 and I'm all ready 22, because he calls me 'kid' all the time. His hair never seemed to grow longer; It's been the same length since I first met him. My own hair never really grew either, though. I blame it on slow metabolism.

"Did you need something?" Leon raised an eyebrow.

"Huh?" I asked, shaking the pictures of Leon out of my head.

"You were staring at me." He replied.

"Oh." Was all I said.

He looked like he expected me to say more, but I didn't. We sat in a strange silence and I suddenly remembered something Leon said, "So you said this house was abandoned right?"

Leon sighed and laid back, "Mmhmm."

"Why are there so many abandoned places around here?"

Leon shrugged, "People try to make a living here, since they have no choice. Like Cid and his gummi shop, you know? Well anyway, a lot of people seem to mysteriously disappear. We always wondered if someone or something was taking them, but because of all the personal items that seem to disappear with them, we think they just figured out how to get off this world."

I ran a hand through my hair, "Well, if a normal person can get off this world that easily, I'm sure you guys could too."

He turned to me, "What do you mean?"

I thought for a moment, "I mean, why do you guys stick around this place? Why don't you look for other worlds, like everyone else?"

Leon went quiet, "...I'm not sure."

The next night we sat in the cavern. Rainwater in the drain from the alley was overflowing, but we didn't care. I was still lying in the rocks and Leon was all the way at the end of the cavern, standing in water about two feet deep. He had his left hand up against the picture as he traced the patterns with his right hand. I smiled and sat up. Watching him always amazed me. He was so calm and collected; so quiet and mysterious. He was a god in my eyes. A brown headed and golden eyed god.

"Cloud?" I snapped out of my trance and realized Leon had caught me staring.

"You all right?" He asked.

I yawned and realized how drowsy I was, "Yeah... just tired."

He chuckled, "You can take a nap if you want."

I shook my head and stood up.

He treaded through the water and made his way up the rocks.

We watched each other for a few minutes, but I looked away and bit my lip, "The last time I saw Vincent, we got in a fight."

His eyes rose with confusion. It took him a moment but eventually he realized I was ready to talk about my past.

"He had a shaky and confusing past that would take me weeks to try and explain to you, but let's just say he was... complicated. Anyway, to make a long story short, we eventually became more than friends. The day before our world disappeared we had a huge fight. I can't even remember what it was over. Well anyway, I was yelling and yelling at him over and over while he sat there calmly. I think that's what irked me. He never fought back. He didn't care enough about our relationship. I mean don't get me wrong, he cared about me, I was his best friend. He loved me like a friend does; he just didn't love me the way he thought I wanted. He couldn't get the love from his past out of his head and it was driving me insane."

I glanced up at Leon. He wasn't looking at me, but I knew he was listening closely.

"I think what kills me the most is the fact that I didn't love him either. I was just trying to forget an old love as well. And we had destroyed our friendship over it all. We were both running from things we couldn't change and apparently thought it would be easier to run together, but we were wrong. Look, I know he's okay. Even if our world was destroyed, I know he made it. I just know. But, I don't want to look for him. I don't want to find him and he doesn't want to find me. Our friendship is over and we both understand. It's time to move on."

"So why did you go looking for him?" Leon suddenly said.

I stared at him with shock. I didn't have an answer.

He nodded and we stayed silent. It wasn't the best way to tell him, hell, he was probably confused as fuck. But I didn't care. He knew the basics; that was enough.

I shifted and glanced around, "What time is it?"

He didn't take his eyes off me, "Almost morning."

I nodded and stood up, "I'm ready to go back to the hotel. Plus, I'm starving. Free food."

-------------------Leon's PV-----------------------

I walked behind him as we trudged through the deep drain, becoming soaked past our waists. He led the way through the dark alley towards the second district. I followed by instinct and watched the back of his head. He had been staring at me pretty intently earlier. What was he thinking about?

Once we were up the steps I examined the old hotel. We hadn't been back for a few weeks and for some reason it seemed different. Like I could feel the energy flowing out of it. Cloud glanced back at me and I knew he felt it too. We waited a second before opening the front doors. The front lobby was deserted but we could hear loud laughter from down the hall.

We dripped water everywhere as we followed the noise. It was coming from the kitchen. Cloud suddenly slid to the side to let me pass and I knew he didn't want to walk in first. I passed him and stepped in to the room. Silence surrounded us as everyone stared. I took in my surroundings and stood wide-eyed.

"Leon!" Sora jumped up from his chair and ran over to me. He gave me a half hug that I barely returned and smiled, "Wow, it's been a while since I've seen you."

He looked behind me and saw the blond, "Cloud! You're living here too?"

Cloud smiled and nodded.

I continued to stare at the kid. He had grown since I last saw him and it had only been a couple months. His hair was longer and darker and his skin was scarred with scratches and cuts. His clothes had changed, he was a helluva lot taller, and he was carrying a different key blade.

Sora laughed and lightly punched me in the shoulder, "Yeah, yeah, I've changed. The girl's have already established that. You can stop gaping, it's not like you."

I shut my mouth and glared at him.

"There you go- that's your usual self." He laughed and sat back down, "But I'm not staying long. Just came for some supplies then we're hitting the road."

I nodded.

He sighed, "Well, I think we're going to go to bed now. We plan on leaving early tomorrow morning."

"You're leaving that soon?" I asked.

"Well, actually, I got here last week, but you haven't been home." The kid frowned and his eyes traveled to his shoes.

I could feel the guiltiness radiating off Cloud in waves, but I felt no anger towards him. How was he to know Sora would show up?

"Actually, guys... I'm not sure how many more visits I'll be making after this one. Maybe one or two more but that's it. I'm getting so close to finishing this."

We all nodded and Sora turned so he could see everyone, "And if this is the last time we see each other then I just want to thank you all for helping me. I probably couldn't have done it without you guys. Especially you, Leon. The first time we met, you saved my life."

I swallowed and nodded. He came over and gave me another hug and I actually hugged him back. He hugged everyone else after and retreated to his room. I turned to leave as well.

"Wait! Leon!" Aerith hopped up.

I stopped and looked over my shoulder.

"Where are you going?" She bit her lip.

"Nowhere of your concern." I started to leave again and I could hear her protests. I ignored them and made my way down the hall. I couldn't hear any footsteps but I knew Cloud was right behind me.

-Roxis