Disclaimer: I own nothing written about in this story.

Bouncing

AN: Omg, so many scene changes in this one. I blame Yuffie, because she is to blame. I swear, I can't get her to hold still for five minutes! Also, in response to June's review, does the centered format really bother people?(Thanks for reviewing btw!) I consider myself somewhat obsessive compulsive and I like how centered looks, but I suppose if enough people dislike it, I can be persuaded to change it. :)

Chapter Two – The Jerk


Lea found that he could be a very patient guy when he wanted to be. He waited inside one of the Academy's halls in the Guardian's wing, the sector designated for those not compatible with the Keyblade.

In contrast to the good weather yesterday, the sky was currently very dark and had been raining fiercely since early morning, forcing most people to perform their assignments or training indoors. He stood with his arms crossed and his back leaning against the wall just to the right of the door leading to a large training room. He could hear the sounds of combat inside even over the roar of the pelting rain against the windows that lined the other wall across from him.

Seeing as the Academy was still in its beginning stages and their active members limited, Lea didn't have to worry about any passerby disrupting his plans. He would still need to be quick though, Yuffie was a ninja after all, and he wasn't about to assume that he had seen even a fraction of her abilities.

He could hear three different voices inside, which confused him, since Yuffie's gang generally consisted of a foursome which included Cloud, Tifa and Leon. Sometimes he noticed Aerith would accompany them as well, but she seemed to prefer the more peaceful duties.

He couldn't really differentiate the muffled voices through the wall, so he didn't know who to expect when the clock inside the room ringed the top of the hour and the door opened a few seconds later. "That was a cheap shot Cloud!" he heard Yuffie grumble as the blond stepped out first, followed closely by Tifa.

They obviously weren't expecting anyone to be standing so close to the door, or anywhere in the hallway for that matter because they nearly walked straight into him. Aside from Sora, Keybearers generally didn't venture far from their designated training areas, so it no doubt seemed odd for him to be there. They gave him a questioning look as they moved to pass around him but all Lea did was offer a friendly grin. "Yo."

Cloud in turn gave him a nod of acknowledgment and Tifa smiled warmly, though they still seemed confused by his presence.

He didn't pay them much more attention as he turned to see Yuffie exit last, distracted as she finished binding an arm with medic tape. She too nearly collided with him but she halted just in time, only for him to pivot from his spot and trap her there by placing both hands on the wall on either side of her head, he had to hunch his shoulders a bit to do so. "Hey Yuffie, got a minute?"

"H-hey there Lea," Yuffie greeted, obviously startled, though she hid it well behind a sheepish grin. Both Cloud and Tifa paused in the hall and cast curious, protective gazes at the ninja. Only walking away, and hesitantly at that, when Yuffie turned and nodded to them confidently. "You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up." She crossed her arms and met his steady green gaze with a cocky tip of her head. "Couldn't stay away huh?"

Well, yeah actually. He sneered down at her then. If she thought she was getting away with that stunt she pulled with Tigger then she was sadly mistaken. "You left in a big hurry yesterday. I didn't even have the chance to thank you properly."

"Oh, well, you know, I've got a busy schedule. Lost track of time, late for an appointment, yadda-yadda."

Of course you were. He wanted to question the matter but he suddenly realized an utter lack of a tall, dark and moody presence, the fourth member and the one that always seemed to accompany the little acrobat. "Where's Leon? He's usually hanging around with you guys."

"Oh, didn't you hear? He's the Academy's new self appointed "guard dog". He'll be on patrol most the time from now on."

Patrol? Radiant Garden was as safe as it could be, why did they need someone on patrol? He shook his head briefly. Focus! "So what was so important about that appointment yesterday that you would leave me hanging all alone with that crazy old bat?"

"Merlin's not crazy, well most the time he's not, but-" Her voice had started out defensive but when Lea gave her a skeptical look she abruptly cut off and glanced away. Her argument was a lost cause and she knew it. "Actually, I was assigned to take over watching Aqua's class while she's away."

Oh, that's right, Aqua had left with Terra on a tour of some worlds. As if they were fooling anyone. They were practically in each others-

"You know," Yuffie cut into his thoughts with an unimpressed tone and a glance at the arms that barred her way. "This whole intimidation thing you've got going is cute and all, but its not really working anymore. Maybe you should try something else."

Anymore? So it had an effect at first? She did seem frazzled when he first confronted her. It seemed he may have found a weak spot in her bullet proof confidence, and he fully intended to extort it in the future.

Stepping back and making a sweeping gesture to signal her release, he noted curiously that she didn't move an inch in response. It was as he thought, that even with his physical blockade she had never really been trapped, no doubt she had a hundred different ways to remove him if she wanted. He leaned one shoulder against the wall and faced her, arms crossed and emerald eyes calculating. "That was some stunt you pulled yesterday."

"Not like it was as bad as all that destruction you caused in your little game of tag."

He glanced upward at nothing in particular as he thought for a moment. Destruction? He never really paid much attention to that sort of thing when he was focused or on a mission. He did recall something about a few pots, a little house of sticks and some laundry though. "Psh, who cares? It's just a stupid book."

"What?" Yuffie screeched at him, and needless to say, Lea was genuinely surprised when he realized he had suddenly been lifted an inch off the ground. Without seeing her movements she had closed in, grabbed his vest with both hands and rightly pinned him against the wall. Did he mention he was an inch off the ground? He felt like he was experiencing a reversal in no uncertain terms. "Take that back!"

"Woah! Ok, ok! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He decided that this was one of those unknown abilities she had. He didn't consider himself to weigh as much as some of his peers, he knew he was tall and wiry, but Yuffie couldn't weigh much more than a hundred pounds, so how in the world was she bearing his weight with what seemed to him, very little effort?

He suddenly had to remind himself that she was a ninja, and ninjas he was once told, could do anything. She also trained with Cloud and Tifa, both of whom he had seen demonstrations of strength and was always careful to stay on their good side. "Hey, take it easy, I didn't mean anything by it."

Yuffie's glare didn't fade but she dropped him and began to march away with a huff. "Jerk."

"Aww come on now," Lea pouted after her but he halted when she sent him a fierce look.

"Stop following me. I'm done with you."

He couldn't really argue with that level of rejection. He guessed that was Yuffie's way of saying: I'll gut you if you follow me. He decided all he could do was watch her go and contemplate how horribly he had just butchered that conversation. It was sort of educational though; he had definitely found a sensitive button. Only, it seemed that in Yuffie's case, the buttons launched weapons of mass destruction. He would definitely need to tread more carefully in the future.

Note to self, Lea thought. Do not insult the book.


Yuffie hardly even noticed the downpour as she practically flew across the rooftops. She was so aggravated that she didn't even notice that she was drenched from head to toe until she burst into Merlin's study without so much as a knock.

The wizard sat in his soft chair by his fireplace and was neither startled nor impressed with her boisterous entry, in fact he barely looked up from the book in his hands. "Ah, Yuffie, you're early today. Gah, shut the door lass, before the storm blows in with you."

Yuffie blinked at him for a moment and then obediently closed the door behind her. She was early. Normally she would spend some time with Cloud and Tifa and she had forgotten all about meeting up with them. It didn't matter much anyway though, because even though they were always happy to include her in their downtime after training, she would always get the distinct sense that they would rather be alone.

Still fuming over her encounter with Lea, the ninja marched over to the pedestal, not caring that she left a trail of rainwater in her wake. It didn't matter, she'd dry off in the meadow, and Merlin's house had a way of cleaning itself. She really needed to spend some time with friends that would improve her mood, and fast.

Normally she could just pester Leon and that always seemed to keep her efficiently amused, but lately with his new appointment as patrol officer he just didn't have time for her nonsense anymore. Stupid Leon and his overly dramatized lone wolf persona.

Of course, Aerith was always more than willing to keep her company, but the pink clad woman always managed to put her to work in one form or another, and that was just no fun at all!

She stood before the book and simply stared at it for a moment. Normally she hated books, they bored her right to sleep, but this one was so different and she was glad she had discovered the thing some months back. Initially she had been skeptical about it, but Merlin insisted that it was unlike any book she could ever imagine and as a result of trying to appease the old man's nagging, she had found lots of friends to hang out with inside its pages.

Of course, Tigger was by far her favorite and she often spent way too much time goofing off with him and his endless supply of games. Though she did enjoy wandering the plains and feeding the Pooh bear huge amounts of honey from time to time.

"Something wrong Yuffie?" Merlin asked from across the room, apparently noting her unusual hesitation. "Someone got your feathers ruffled?"

If Yuffie wasn't mistaken, she could have sworn she seen him smirking for an instant, though it was really hard to tell with that white beard of his. "Yeah I guess," she muttered and turned back to the closed book with a frown.

Stupid Lea. He had some nerve insulting her favorite book, especially since insulting it was like insulting all of her friends therein. Why did he even bother to track her down if he was just going to make fun of her favorite hobby? It was a simple concept after all, if you didn't like the way a book was headed then you don't read it! Or in this case, jump in, but still, the principle was the same!

Why was he even in the book yesterday anyway? Surely he didn't believe that the thing made you stronger somehow? She almost snorted at the ridiculous thought.

"Wouldn't happen to be a redhead would he?" Merlin once again broke into her thoughts and she looked over to see that he still hadn't moved from his place by the hearth, but rather had materialized his smoke pipe and was puffing away with a curious light in his eyes.

"Yeah!" Yuffie snapped, eying him through suspicious slits but still too angry to make any connection, besides, the old man had a tendency to know more than he should at times. "That red-haired jerk is a jerk!"

"Oh?" the sage hummed thoughtfully. "That's too bad, he seemed like a nice lad yesterday."

Lad? Were they even talking about the same person? Yuffie decided it didn't matter, Lea was a jerk for harassing her for no reason and that was that... Well, she couldn't honestly assume he didn't have a reason. He was a guy after all, so she had a pretty good idea regarding his motives. She couldn't really blame him though, she was amazing and she knew it.

She was starting to get really tired of the same old outcome though. Normally she didn't mind it when a guy showed an interest in her, on the contrary, she welcomed the attention. However, they were always so quick to lose interest as soon as they discovered her true nature.

Yuffie knew full and well that she could be overbearing and often too energetic for most people to keep up with, well anyone outside her inner circle anyway. That was fine though, anyone that couldn't accept her for who she was just wasn't worthy of her awesomeness.

Then there was that whole fiasco with Leon a couple years back, a memory she wished to forget but so often failed miserably in doing. That time with him had been both confusing and thrilling, but in the end horribly painful. Their time together had been brief at best, then Leon had decided to break if off before things got too serious between them. His reason being that even though his long lost beloved may be gone forever, he still felt as if he were betraying her, and deep down, Yuffie understood that.

She didn't have to like it, but she understood it. Broken heart and all.

Thinking back on Lea, it was probably for the best that she ran him off right from the get go, no reason to prolong an awkward situation and live through another Leon letdown. Thinking on how fiercely she had told the redhead off, she sneered bitterly. Won't be seeing him again! Sneer fading into a woeful frown, she had to admit, he did have a handsome grin.

That thought only managed to enrage her suddenly; how dare he have such a handsome grin!

She was only idly aware of Merlin chuckling and muttering to himself as she swung the book open with a violent thwack.


Lea hated getting wet, in fact it was probably one of the things he hate most in life. That, and bad hair days, mainly because when he had a bad hair day, everyone suffered.

His trudge through the pouring rain was mired with multiple thoughts of turning around and going home. But for some strange reason he just kept moving onward, thinking that if he didn't fix this now, then he probably never would. He didn't much care for drama and he didn't want the gap between Keybearers and Guardians to grow any further than it already had.

Granted, he didn't know for sure if Yuffie was at Merlin's house, but he had a hunch. Once he had finally reached the old wizard's door, closed this time, he had half a mind to just barge right in, but he felt that having one person mad at him was enough for the moment, so he knocked. The door swung open on its own and Lea blinked at it as though it might bite him as he stepped inside cautiously.

In a way, he did get bit, by Merlin's short cane on the top of his head. "You're late too!" the old man snapped at him before making a wild gesture towards the pedestal. "She went in long ago, lad. And in blazing hot fury I might add! What in thunder did you do?"

"Ow!" Lea grabbed at his sopping wet head and eyed that cane with murderous intent. "I just said something stupid, that's all." Merlin turned away from him and waddled over to his chair by the fireplace, completely oblivious to the Keybearer's soaked and cranky mood. "I came to patch things up."

"Oh," Merlin cooed curiously. "You think it'll be that easy eh?"

Barely listening, Lea snapped his fingers and summoned up a small pillar of fire around his body, smiling when he was completely dry a few seconds later. "Well you know, can never tell with women." He moved to cross the room but stopped halfway to the book, feeling suddenly indecisive and unable to move forward for a long moment. If he entered her precious book-world so soon after insulting it, wouldn't she resent it?

"You know lad," Merlin said, carefully watching his inner struggle with a solemn interest. "You'll never catch her if you don't go after her."

Lea didn't even have the chance to reply when a flash of green light bloomed in the room. After the light had faded he could clearly see Yuffie standing in front of the book, and although she seemed momentarily blinded she plowed across the room anyway, headed for the exit but completely unaware of who might have been in her way...

And for the second time in the span of two days he found himself on the floor and staring up at the dark haired ninja. However instead of indignation, there was only astonishment on her features as she stared right back, sputtering incoherently. "Lea? But why?"

"I stand corrected!" Merlin chuckled at the scene. "Splendid catch my boy!"

Yuffie quickly scrambled off of him and Lea was disappointed that he didn't get the chance to enjoy the moment because his head was still spinning from the violent collision. He opted not to stand up with her but sat forward instead, one hand propped along a bent knee while he scratched his head with the other. "Geez, are you always in a hurry?"

"Pretty much!" Yuffie countered, recovering her composure by the second as she gave him a narrow look. "But why are you here? And I know its not for the book."

"I came to apologize." Lea made an expressive gesture, as he usually did when explaining himself. "I didn't know it meant so much to you, and I'm sorry for upsetting you earlier."

"Oh." The ninja seemed taken back by the apology, as if pondering over it for a flaw of some sort. She finally snapped out of it and crossed her arms in a stubborn manner. "W-well, don't let it happen again, alright?"

"Eh?" Lea scratched at his head again in bewilderment. She didn't ask for much did she? He was still thinking up a reply when Merlin cleared his throat objectively and he remembered that they weren't alone in the room.

"My dear boy, I do believe she's infatuated with you!"

"What!" Yuffie screeched, suddenly indignant and also acutely aware of the sage's presence.

"Oh?" Lea chirped curiously though he dropped back to the floor with his hands behind his head and an arrogant grin. "I'd be disappointed if she wasn't, I mean just look at my gorgeous face!" He raised his head briefly to make an expressive gesture at his face.

"Look Gramps," Yuffie growled, ignoring the redhead and aimed a wicked glare at the elderly man. "I'm warning you, one more word and I'll-"

"Oh pish-posh," Merlin huffed and waved a dismissive hand at the ninja before turning back to Lea with a wry smile. "She's got it bad, I don't believe I've seen her this flustered since, well, never actually."

"Yeah," Lea sighed, feigning a dismal glance at the ceiling. "These good looks are a curse, really."

"Look Red, don't go getting any ideas, Merlin's just a crazy old man with outrageous delusions."

"Red?" Lea repeated the same time Merlin said, "old?" both of them giving off affronted looks.

"Argh! You know what?-" Yuffie growled and stormed out of the house, shouting back at them as she left the door open in her wake. "You're both a royal pain in the ass!"

Speechless, Lea sat up slightly, propped up by his elbows and watched her leave with a curious attention. That didn't really go the way he envisioned it either.

"Don't worry lad," Merlin said casually as he once again puffed absently at his pipe. "I am 95 percent sure that she was just demonstrating one of her usual harmless tantrums."

The fiery Keybearer looked from the door to Merlin and back again, blinking dubiously. Seriously? 95 percent? Did that mean he had a 5% chance of getting decapitated in the foreseeable future?

"Well?" Merlin prompted and made a shooing gesture. "Go on, go on, get after her already."

Lea finally picked himself up off the floor but didn't move any closer to the open doorway. Instead, he merely glared at it and the raging rainstorm outside, as if contemplating the reward of redemption for the sacrifice of getting wet again. His common sense was screaming at him not to follow her. "Shouldn't I leave her alone for awhile? She seemed pretty fired up to me."

"I told you, she's harmless," the wizard repeated firmly and muttered what sounded like "mostly" under his breath before adding, "And she likes you. She just doesn't quite know how to react to your persistence yet."

Isn't that a good reason for me to leave her alone then? Reluctantly, Lea crossed over to the door and stared out at the violent sheets of water pouring down only a few inches from his face. If he didn't know any better he would have thought the weather was directly connected to Yuffie's mood.

He figured he would have to end up braving the storm one way or another, whether he did choose to go find her or not. On the other hand, he could just head back home and try to forget about all the insanity, home being a small apartment in the Keyblade sector of the Academy.

With a dramatic sigh, he stepped out into the onslaught, the door slamming shut behind him an instant after he heard Merlin call out a farewell. "Good luck my boy!"

Scowling back at the door and already completely drenched, Lea stuffed his hands in his pockets and started down the street in a foul mood of his own. He ultimately headed for the Guardian wing, since it was the closest entry point and he figured he may as well take a look around in case the little firecracker decided to flee there as well.

She did say she was in charge of Aqua's class of students until the blue haired Keybearer returned. Somehow, Yuffie and kid-sitting didn't seem like a good idea to him, but he had underestimated her before, he wasn't about to make that mistake again. He hoped.

Upon entering the west-wing doors of the already grand building, Lea promptly dried himself off with another flare and carried on down the hall. He passed a brown haired, green eyed Aerith and when he inquired about Yuffie she cheerfully told him that she was in the same training room where he had confronted her earlier. "Great, thanks."

The brunette simply nodded with a friendly smile and went on her way, not so much as giving him an odd look or a questioning glance. She didn't question his interest in Yuffie's whereabouts, and Lea appreciated that about her. He was also much more familiar around her as she spent equal time around both Guardians and Keybearers. Both, Aerith believed fervently, should learn how to use healing magic properly. He could personally attest to the fact that she took teaching the subject very seriously.

He could hear a din of small voices through the wall as he neared the training room door. Was Yuffie really in charge of a bunch of kids? He didn't truly believe it until he opened the door and saw her with his own eyes. Sure enough, she was standing there, arms crossed and surrounded by about fifteen children, all varying in age and dressed in white trainee uniforms trimmed with gold hems.

The room was huge and open and appeared almost identical to the training rooms on the Keyblade side of the building. One section of the expanse was designated to a circuit of obstacles, another with weights and various other exercise equipment, while the remaining space was left empty for sparring and weapons training.

Yuffie was lecturing a handful of the older kids while the rest were scrambling around in a messy game of tag, squealing and laughing. He couldn't decipher her words over the clamor but she definitely seemed annoyed. Was she still fuming about him or was she genuinely frustrated with the youngsters in front of her? He dearly hoped it was the latter.

He felt so sure that Merlin was wrong, that he should have left her alone for the day and now he was going to get a beating of a lifetime, and in front of a young audience to boot. Therefore he visibly cringed when she suddenly turned her guarded, though oddly perplexed, gaze on him after she had noticed a couple of her charges were staring over at him curiously.

He offered up a sheepish grin and a lazy salute, only to earn a deep, violet scrutiny from across the room.

Yeah, he was totally getting his ass kicked. He contemplated making a break for it, but found that his legs wouldn't move. It astounded him how he could be so afraid of her fury at one moment yet completely presumptuous the next.

After barking a stern command to the children, the ninja turned and marched over to him. He honestly didn't know what to expect when she suddenly grabbed a fistful of his vest in one hand, opened the door with the other, yanked him out into the hall and slammed the door behind her, all in one fluid motion. "What now? I'm busy, if you couldn't tell."

He quickly realized in a panic that he hadn't thought this through at all. All he knew was that it was probably best not to recount what had transpired at Merlin's house. "Uh, well, I uh-"

"Ah shit," Yuffie spat when she heard a plaintive cry in the large room and practically ripped the door open. "HEY!" she roared into the room, drawing the apt attention of all the children. "For the last time, leave Claire alone or I'll kick your ass!" She slammed the door again and sent him a furious, impatient look.

Lea blinked back in surprise. Did she really just say that to a room full of kids? "Do you-" he hesitated, scratching at his head and feeling rather awkward about the question. "Want some help?"

"Well," Yuffie drawled, crossed her arms and eyed him skeptically. "Are you good with kids?"

Are you? Lea withheld a mocking chuckle and merely closed is eyes in a dubious smile. "Not sure. Guess we'll find out?"

Yuffie returned his smile with her own mischievous version and headed back inside the room. He followed after her and wondered how he had managed not to get pinned to the wall by that huge throwing star she sometimes carried. Did she just have a short term memory or could she simply forgive and forget at the flip of a switch?

"Alright you little termites!" she barked suddenly, causing her charges to flinch to attention. "This is Lea and he's gonna help me keep track of you today."

"Is he your boyfriend?" a young male voice jeered, earning him a prompt thwack up side the head. "Ow!" the boy whined and rubbed at his sore crown.

Once again, Lea hadn't even seen Yuffie's movements when she practically teleported behind the offender to administer punishment. "I wanna see some movement!" she yowled at the group, causing them to scatter. "Now!"

Lea gave her an incredulous look. What was she, a baby-sitter or a drill sergeant? He watched the children take off like little rockets, all except one, the youngest he guessed, remained where she was and stared up at Yuffie with a pair of big blue eyes.

"Not you Claire," Yuffie chirped down at the pink-haired youngster and gave her head a fond pat, the ninja's demeanor seeming to flip like a fish out of water. "You're adorable, so you can do what you want."

Nodding with a brilliant smile, Claire pattered over to one wall where numerous weapons of varying types hung, causing Lea to cringe until he seen what she was after; a lightweight wooden sword. But when she couldn't reach it to dislodge it from the pegs it hung on she hurried back, and after seeing that Yuffie was already distracted by breaking up a disagreement among some of the other kids, approached Lea and tugged at his pant leg for assistance.

Lea scratched at his head in thought. If she was too little to take it off the wall then wasn't she too little to handle the thing? Yuffie did tell her she could do what she wanted though. He knelt down to her level, causing her to back away cautiously. "Hey, how old are you squirt?"

She studied him carefully for a moment, her pale aqua eyes drawn up to his wild and spiked up red hair before she finally held up one open palm and answered. "Five." She blinked at him and tipped her pink head expectantly. "So are you gonna help me mister?"

Yuffie was right, this one was adorable. With those big blue eyes and those chubby cheeks, how could he possibly say no to that? He nodded and followed her over to the wall of weaponry, smirking down at her when she pointed at the one she wanted. After passing it down to her, and receiving a polite thank you, he pulled one down for himself and gave it a deft spin.

He felt fairly familiar with the weapon due to his training with the Keyblade, though it was much lighter. What he wasn't familiar with was the three foot tall, five year old little girl that was currently challenging him to a duel. It amazed him that such a young, pudgy face could actually look serious.

With a patronizing chuckle, he leveled the blade in his hand into a defensive position. "Alright squirt, show me watch ya got."

To say the least, he was caught completely off guard when the girl launched into a quick series of strikes and thrusts, one of which clipped his shin when he didn't block accordingly. He yelped in response, causing Claire to back off immediately. "Sorry!"

"No, no," Lea soothed as he rubbed at the sore spot on his leg. "That one was my fault." Indeed, that was the second time in the same day he had underestimated a female. He glared over across the room when he heard the bark of laughter erupt from Yuffie's mouth. She was on the floor clutching at her stomach with one hand and pointing at him with the other as she continued to laugh hysterically.

Lea looked back to Claire and tried to ignore the ninja's mockery. "Let's try that again."

He was genuinely impressed with the child's skill and reaction time, though she was quite clumsy at times, and he had to keep reminding himself to stay on the defensive so as not to overwhelm her. It seemed like they were just getting through the basic routines of swordplay when it was time to stop.

He was surprised how fast the time flashed by when the clock hanging high up on the wall pinged multiple tones, signaling the end of the training session. The children practically stampeded for the exit, with Claire being the only one that hung back to tug at his pant leg. He looked down to see her holding up the trainee weapon for him to take. "Thank you for sparring with me Mister Lea."

Lea nodded in acknowledgment and Claire in turn bowed slightly in respect, which was adorable, her unruly pink hair falling down in her face before she scurried off after the other kids.

After replacing the training weapons back on the wall he followed Yuffie out into the hall to watch all the children disperse for their respective homes. "Well, that wasn't so tough." His attention was drawn to the dark haired woman when he heard her snickering quietly beside him. "Oh come on, it wasn't that funny! I just wasn't expecting her to be so quick, that's all."

His explanation only seemed to have the opposite effect, as Yuffie burst out into another fit of laughter and had to lean up against the wall to keep from falling over again. Placing his arms behind his head, Lea huffed and rolled his eyes. Even though she was making fun of him he was still glad he had made the choice to hunt her down after her little meltdown at Merlin's. And as much as he hated to admit it, the old geezer had been right. It had just been one of her temporary "harmless tantrums".

Lea absently looked out one of the windows to his left and noticed thankfully that the rain had stopped, which meant he could meet up with Ventus at their usual spot without getting drenched. A thought occurred to him then, and once the woman had composed herself he sent her an inquisitive look. "Hey, you like ice cream?"


AN: I have to admit, I was dreading Yuffie's pov. The thought of getting inside her head scares me. Seriously, what goes on in there? I don't really think anyone knows for sure. Could be carebears and chainsaws for all we know.