Okay I seriously didn't think people would like this. Apparently the stories I have no expectations for turn out better than stories I have some expectations for!

So thank you so much for the reviews! I will try my best to make this story worthwhile!

And I think I extended it a bit more this time.

I also edited grammar mistakes in the last chapter.

"Squall…Squall! Hello?"

A hand waved in front of Squall's face, finally getting the man to snap out of his trance as he stared out the window. The scarred man on his last year of high school looked up from his desk to see the student body president herself a.k.a. Squall's only 'good' friend, Rinoa.

"Ugh, don't tell me: I got another detention," Squall guessed while Rinoa crossed her arms and shook her head.

"That's the surprising part…you actually haven't gotten a detention in a full week!"

"And you came to tell me that?"

Rinoa only sighed and pulled up a chair from a nearby desk.

"You're a good guy, Squall. People respect and admire you because of your strength and ability to lead; but you're really stubborn and hate school enough that you tend to get in trouble at least once or twice a week."

"…Your point?"

"…That you're a good person, Squall. Despite what happened and how you lost yourself, the point is that you found yourself again," Rinoa looked outside the window with Squall following her gaze, "I know you miss him…"

Squall looked down at his desk and placed his arms on the desk so he can hide his face when he placed his head on top of his arms.

"I know you don't want to talk about it but I'm sorry to say that everyone is talking about your sudden change since he left."

"…"

"So, do you want to help me out with my 'class president stuff?' Plus you can maybe work a bit harder on your school work? That way when you get out of high school, hopefully go to college, and secure a good job…you can look for him."

Squall lightly lifted his head, that one line repeating in his head.

"I'm not saying you can't find him now but…unfortunately money is everything these days and you're going to need it if you want a higher chance of finding him. No one knows where he went…"

"…You know Rinoa…you're the only one that treated me the same no matter how I acted."

"That's because I know you're a good person inside…"

"Squall…Squall!"

Leon felt something pelt against his face and it knocked him out of his thoughts.

"Squall! Stop daydreaming!" Rinoa ordered with her hands on her hips.

"Ugh…sorry…" he murmured at his desk and leaned down to pick up a piece of wrapped chocolate which was what Rinoa used to throw at him.

"What's going on, Squall? You've been completely out of it for days now! Did something happen when you asked for a day off almost a week ago?"

"…"

"Squall!"

"…I ran into Cloud."

"You…what?"

In a second, Rinoa was on his case and she planted herself on his desk, determined she won't move until she gets some answers. Thus Leon explained his story to her. He didn't think settling down in this nice neighborhood near where he used to go to school was going to bring Cloud to him. Not that he's complaining but if he knew this sooner, it would've saved a lot of time in his life!

"…Are you ever going to tell Cloud that one of his own friends, that is if they're still friends, molested his son?" Rinoa asked and Leon only rolled his eyes: Of course that's the first thing she asks!

"I don't think I'll ever tell him unless Sora does. And I doubt it, Cloud had no contact with anyone from high school…well except Tidus apparently but I guess he purposefully hid the info from me. Cloud and Reno weren't even that close, they were pretty much acquaintances."

"Well, what are you going to do now, Squall? You finally found him again!" Rinoa exclaimed excitedly for him.

"Yeah but he hit me so many times, I thought the room was spinning by the last slap. And he didn't exactly take the apology well…"

"Well you didn't actually expect him to suddenly become happy and welcome you back with open arms did you?"

"…No but still…" Leon murmured even though way, way, way deep in his heart he kinda hoped that.

"And the twins…did you have a theory on where they came from?" Rinoa questioned but they both knew the answer to that.

"…Mako," Leon replied and his phone gave off a ring, indicating a text message.

"Sora who are you texting?" Roxas asked as he eyed the phone suspiciously while he and his brother walked home from school.

"No one," Sora casually replied and Roxas only sighed.

"Sora I don't get it…"

"Get what?" Sora asked without looking up from his phone.

"You're a very cheery person and love everyone but…you seem to neglect your own family."

Sora immediately turned his attention from the phone to his brother.

"…Why do you say that?" Sora asked and resisted the urge not to lash out from that.

Don't overreact and always stay calm no matter what is said or done to you.

Following that first advice wasn't easy but it's been a few days and Sora's getting better at it.

"Because…you never do anything Dad asks and you two always fight. I don't understand why you can't get along with him but when you meet a stranger, you're suddenly meeting up for ice cream?"

"Well…"

Remember, they're your family. You should be able to tell them anything. If you're not ready to do so with Cloud, then start with your brother. He should be one of the closest people to you and should be able to tell him things that you probably won't even tell your friends.

"…Dad likes you better," Sora confessed and stopped walking with Roxas halting in his steps as well, "So I'll…always be the imperfect version of you. Nothing I do can ever impress or satisfy him. So I guess I just get angry and frustrated by that…"

"Sora you know that's not true!" Roxas was appalled, not thinking Sora never told him anything until now. Sure he's heard Sora and Cloud fight over that topic but he thought Sora just said that out of anger and didn't actually mean it.

"I don't know," Sora shrugged, "I mean…Roxas, do you really not see it? He obviously cares for you more!"

"Sora, I'm sure that's not the case! And even if it is, you shouldn't distance yourself from us! We worry about you!" Roxas nearly exclaimed. The last thing he wanted was Sora being completely cut off from his family and started hanging around people that even Roxas wouldn't hang around with.

Spend time with your brother and tell me how it goes when you do

"…I know I'm grounded but…want to get some Sea Salt ice cream?" Sora murmured, not familiar in asking his brother to do something with. He's asked a couple of times at home when he asked to play video games with Roxas. Roxas happily agreed to that and even promised not to tell Cloud since Sora was still grounded.

Sora fidgeted as he stood and averted the blonde's gaze, wandering if Roxas is thinking his brother is crazy now. "And…we can talk…just the two of us…" Sora added, feeling even more embarrassed about it.

Roxas blinked a few times before a smile plastered on his face,

"Sure! Come on!" Taking Sora's wrist, Roxas pulled him along to Scrooge's place; that was a much better reaction than Sora originally hoped for.

Leon arrived back home after work was over. He somehow got things done even when texting with Sora. The man was glad to hear that Sora is spending time with Roxas. Ever since Sora said Cloud likes Roxas better, Leon couldn't help but…believe him. Guilt couldn't help but hit Leon upon learning that. He never, even for a moment, believed Cloud purposely favored Roxas but Leon just can't ignore the possibility that Sora is not being loved enough.

He wanted to repair that, and thus started by teaching Sora to act better. He never thought Sora was 'bad' per se but he knew he acted like a rebellious teenager and seems to be the one the most distant from his family. So to fix the relationship, he'll have to fix Sora's attitude which tends to arise when the boy doesn't get his way.

After work, dinner, and reading the many text messages from Sora telling Leon what he did with Roxas today, Leon entertained himself with television and texting Sora. Although Leon now knows that Cloud didn't give the gift to Sora but he'll worry about it later. While texting, he ended up helping Sora with his homework with what he can without seeing it.

Finally, it's almost 9 O' Clock and Leon slipped on his favorite leather jacket to head over to Cloud's house.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Sora struggled with what homework he had left that he ended up begging Roxas to let him copy. How Roxas gave in, he'll never know but he doesn't complain! When the clock hit 9, Sora locked his bedroom and put his homework away, surprised he got it done before midnight again. Sora put on a jacket and waited by the window; as if on cue, Sora could see Leon climbing up the tree and before long, Leon got the window open after undoing the lock.

"Hi Leon!" Sora greeted and climbed out of the window to join Leon on the thick branch.

"Hey Sora," he played with the boy's hair after Sora got comfortable on the branch.

"Well I'm still trying my best to do everything you told me but…it's hard!" Sora pouted,

"Was your brother happy though?"

"Well…yes," Sora shrugged, "I guess he was."

"So isn't that worth it?"

"…I guess it is," Sora nodded and sighed and looked ahead of him at the stars in the distance, "Leon, why does my Dad hate you exactly?"

"…I'll tell you…later."

"Whyyyyy?" Sora whined and Leon couldn't help but chuckle.

"Because…well there are many reasons but one step at a time."

"Hmph!" Sora huffed and crossed his arms, looking away, "You just want me to start getting along with Dad!"

"That's right, and when you do, I'll tell you something really important."

"Why Dad hates you?"

"Not that, something else."

"Hn…fine. If it means that much to you, I'll try my best to get along with Dad...Roxy hates it too when I fight with Dad. I do feel guilty because Roxas tends to be involved with the topic and I know he can hear it no matter where he is in the house," Sora sighed and readjusted his position on the branch, "If I suddenly start 'behaving better,' as you say, then wouldn't Dad get a bit suspicious?"

"Probably, but with your immaturity, it may take way longer than 'suddenly' so I'm not too worried."

"HEY!" Sora punched Leon in the arm, not that it fazed him, "You jerk!"

"Heh, I'm kidding…sort of. But really, don't you want to see your Dad happy?"

"I…" Sora looked away again and sighed, "I don't think Dad's ever happy. I never saw him smile or laugh from my recollection…he always seems angry or upset. Sometimes I think he just takes it out on me…"

Whoa, wait up! This is news to Leon!

"Really? Well this might change things…"

"Change what?" Sora asked, looking up at Leon in curiosity.

"Nothing…but tell me when you're ungrounded. I'm sure Cloud won't literally ground you for 3 month!"

"Uh…I wouldn't doubt it…"

Although both of them weren't too far off in regards to Cloud. Sora was doing better from listening to Leon but he knows Roxas will kill him if he told his twin that he's listening to a 'stranger' over Cloud. So now that Sora doesn't constantly yell back at Cloud whenever there's an issue with homework and bad grades, Cloud found it beyond suspicious. Roxas says it's probably due to him and Sora reconnecting again although Cloud didn't completely buy it. To him, it's got 'Squall Leonhart' written all over it.

"Well if Sora's having less temper tantrums…isn't that a good thing?" Zack questioned as he and Cloud talked on the phone and Cloud was venting about his concerns.

"But…it's Leon!"

"…Squall?"

"I mean Squall! Sorry! For some odd reason, he's known as 'Leon' now. That's what Sora kept calling him."

"Very, very, odd…"

"But yeah…it's Squall! I can't punish Sora without proof!"

"And you can't really punish him for being a good boy either," Zack added and he could hear Cloud growl in frustration, "Cloudy, maybe you're just mad that Sora is listening to Squall over you?"

"Um…damn it…damn it! You're right! I'm gonna kill Squall!" Cloud felt the urge to roll up his sleeve and go over to Leon's place right this second.

"Whoa! Don't get ahead of yourself!" Zack exclaimed, "I mean, so long as Sora's alright, there really shouldn't be a problem right?"

"I rather keep Squall away to make sure nothing ever WILL happen to Sora!"

"That's a good point…"

"But I guess you're right…" Cloud sighed and leaned against the wall, "I mean…Sora's actually doing homework early and doesn't bug Roxas as often about it."

"Really?"

"Yeah…and he often looks irritated but doesn't take it out on others."

"Wow, it's like he's trying to be nice and it's killing him from the inside out!" Cloud could hear Zack's roaring laughter on the other end but…

"…I'm starting to think you aren't too far off from the truth," Cloud stated and went into thought.

"What are you gonna do? Stalk Sora to see if he's seeing Squall?"

"I doubt that's the case, Sora always comes home with Roxas and he stays in the house; I'm positive of this…"

"What about looking at Sora's phone?"

"Why would I…oh…" Cloud lightly slapped himself for forgetting that there are other forms of contact, "Ugh, but then I'm invading his privacy. And I already grounded him so I can't just suddenly confiscate his phone from him."

Now Cloud knew how he forgot about phones to begin with: Sora never has it out in front of Cloud.

"You'd think I remember since I pay for his phone bill…"

Cloud's eyes widened in realization: The phone bill!

SkyWarrior: Well considering the fact that i still get decent grades you gotta admit that getting an 85 after cramming is pretty good

LionStorm: But its not good FOR you!

SkyWarrior: Im still healthy!

LionStorm: Its not good for you to stay up until 3 am cramming

SkyWarrior: yeh yeh fine…I'll try not to do that…as often at least.

LionStorm: …alright that's a start at least.

Leon sighed and picked up his cell phone next to him that started ringing.

SkyWarrior: Haven't you ever crammed in high school?

"Hello?"

"I knew it was you, Leonhart!" Cloud growled and Leon almost dropped his phone upon hearing Cloud,

"C-Cloud?"

"So you're the one talking to my son!"

"Uh…I…" Leon was at a loss for words as he quickly typed back to Sora with one hand.

LionStorm: I gotta go-your father got a hold of my number

SkyWarrior: What? How?

"…Why?"

Leon suddenly felt confused as paused in his reply,

"What do you mean why?"

"Why?" Cloud asked again, "Why are you talking to Sora? What do you want from him?"

LionStorm: Idk, but I really need to go or he'll hear my typing on the keyboard

SkyWarrior: Aw okay then. Goodnight Leon

"N-Nothing…" Leon shook his head as he started closing down his laptop, "We just talk and I…I help him out and just help him improve his behavior a bit…"

Cloud sat down on the couch and held the phone in silence,

"...Cloud?"

"…Alright, I'm just going to pretend I never found out Sora was ever talking to you."

"…Okay?" Leon wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.

"But the moment Sora seems troubled or comes home with a scratch, I'm coming over there and you don't want to know what I'm going to you!"

"Um, you got it…" Leon responded and Cloud hanging up was the last thing he heard.

Cloud sighed and buried his face in his hands. Now he really wished he wasn't so nosy with Sora. He knew he could trust Sora to make the right decisions yet…Cloud just couldn't. Now he has to deal with the fact that Sora's probably pouring his secrets and problems to Leon instead of him…

Leon fell on his bed and sighed to himself. He could hear it in Cloud's voice. The man is mad and upset thanks to him. With another sigh he lifted his phone and speed-dialed before putting to the phone to his ear.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

When you walk away, you don't hear me say…

Sora muffled upon hearing his phone go off and quickly tried to pull his pajama top over him while walking only to trip and fall.

Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight…

Sora finally pulled his head through before he scrambled to get to his phone on his computer desk.

"Sora! Are you alright in there?" came Cloud's voice and Sora could hear the man tread up the stairs.

Sora muffled his phone with his shirt before replying,

"Yeah I'm fine! I just fell!"

"You sure you're okay?" Cloud asked in concern; after all, that was a pretty big THUMP!

"Y-Yeah Dad I'm fine! I'm going to bed right now!"

"Okay then! I expect you up in the morning without me having to call you every 5 minutes!"

"Er, okay Dad! I'll try!"

After hearing Cloud's own bedroom door close, Sora quickly answered his phone.

"H-Hello?"

"Sora?"

"Hey Leon," Sora greeted in whisper as he reached up to turn his ceiling fan light off, "Sorry but I have to go to bed now."

"Actually Sora, this is important. Have you ever been in your father's room?"

"Hm, yeah I have why?"

"Does he have anything in there that seems…important?"

"Um…there's a giant sword hanging on the wall if that counts."

"Any locked boxes or trunks?"

"I don't know," Sora shrugged, "He's room his pretty normal looking if you take out the sword. It's got drawers, a desk, a television, a side table drawer, a mirror-desk-thingy."

"Have you looked in his closet before?"

"Uh…when I was younger…" Sora replied as he lied down in bed and pulled the covers over him, "There's just clothes in there."

"Do you have an attic or a basement?"

"Roxy and I play games in the basement and I'm pretty sure we all have attics! But I never go up there; there are just piles of junk. Why are you asking me this again?"

"Sora there's something I have to tell you but I want you to see something first. Can you sneak into the attic tonight?"

"…Okay."

Attic-Midnight:

Sora did learn that Cloud tends to fall asleep by midnight and thus snuck out of his room and quietly pulled the stairs to the attic down and quietly went up there with a flashlight. Sora wasn't really happy to be doing things considering how filthy everything is up there and he's got a terrible fear of spiders. But Leon sounded so serious so who's he to deny this wasn't important? Turning on the flashlight, Sora located the light switch and turned it on only to find cobwebs and dust.

The poor brunette didn't want to touch anything as he scanned boxes upon boxes with labels on them. Leon said to look for a trunk if anything. It has to be something that's lockable so he also stated a jewelry box is also possible. Sora didn't want to dig through anything so he just walked around, trying his best not to touch anything, and looked for something that's a container but didn't kept closed with duck tape like most of the things up here.

Finally, Sora spotted a small box by the attic window, sitting by itself on the ground. Walking over to it, Sora knelt down while making disgusted noises to himself and noticed how it was definitely locked. Poking it with his flashlight to make sure there were no spiders living on the smell webs attached to it, Sora reached out to examine the lock. It wasn't a key lock, it was 4 digit number lock.

"Well this totally helps…" Leon didn't exactly tell Sora what to do if the container really was locked. For all Sora knew this probably isn't even what Leon was looking for. After trying dates, Sora got nothing and called up Leon. Due to it being late and that he's in the attic, he thought it was safe to put it on speaker.

"Leon how do you know Dad would keep anything important in the box?"

"I don't," Leon replied, "But logically speaking, a container with a lock would be used for anyone that wants to keep a secret. And in Cloud's current situation, I don't think he can throw it out."

"Dad has a secret? And if it's such a big secret why did I find this in the open?" Sora asked as he tried more dates or just random numbers that he thinks Cloud likes.

"Your father is smart. I assume he left it in the open in case you or Roxas ever did stumble upon it. After all, would you be more curious of something lying in the open or in something you found?"

"Oh, good point…so there's a chance whatever you want me to find is in here huh?"

"That's right, any luck with it?"

"No…" Sora murmured. Leon went into thought, trying to get in Cloud's mind while Sora kept trying. After about 10 minutes, Sora just gave up and just started inputting random numbers.

"Sora…try 7672."

"Uh okay…nope! Sorry!"

Sora could hear Leon sigh and went into another pause.

"…Try 7593."

"Okay...what the-?" Upon pulling on the lock…it opened, "It worked! Leon how did you know?"

"…I just put myself in Cloud's head," Leon replied as he stared at the paper before him:

Sora-7672

Sky

Skye-7593

"You know…he does think of you more than you think," Leon stated while Sora opened the small box.

"Why you say that?" Sora asked and pulled out a few papers, old envelopes, and finally a thick book.

"I'll tell you later. What's in it?"

"Um…there's a bunch of old paper here that I think were originally in these worn out envelopes and there's a giant book here…oh it's a photo album!"

"Okay that's good, tell me what you see."

After using the papers to dust off the book, Sora opened it.

"It's Dad…when he was younger. Wow he doesn't look that different at all. Wow! Is that Auntie Tifa?"

Leon stayed silent as Sora browsed through Cloud's life. It didn't take long for Sora to get to Cloud's teenager years.

"Uncle Tidus!" Sora nearly exclaimed in excitement, "Oh wow! It's Aerith and Zack too!"

Leon was now quite concerned that Sora is going to see Reno…

"And…hey…Leon did you have short hair when you were younger?"

"Yeah, that's probably me if I have a scar."

"Wow! And you look like you're about to start a fight with this blonde guy that also has a scar!"

"Heh, yeah…" Ah, memories…even if they're bad.

"Leon, what's going on? Is this what you wanted me to find?"

"It might be…" Leon started to feel nervous now but he can't back out now, "Keep turning pages. Now Sora I want you to listen to me. Remember when I said I hurt your father before?"

"Y-Yeah?" Sora nodded as he flipped through more pages.

"I can promise you I never meant to. But I was an arrogant and stupid teenager. While it's not an excuse, I don't want to lose what I have with you."

"It's okay Leon, I won't judge you," said Sora as he continued flipping, not seeing anything interesting.

"There's more to it than that. It's long and complicated but I think I have to tell you…"

Sora reached the end of the book, only to find nothing in particularly interesting and would've told Leon that if he didn't spot a zipper on the back cover of the book.

"Then…start telling me," said Sora as he unzipped and felt what was in it and pulled out more pictures. They were worn out and looked as if they were held often. Some of them Sora assumed were crumpled at one point and others had tapes on them after being ripped apart.

"Wait…" Sora whispered as he started flipping through the pictures,

"Did you find something, Sora?"

"You and Dad…were lovers?" Sora placed the photos on the ground and spread them out before opening the photo album again.

"…Yes."

"…He looks so happy in these pictures. What happened, Leon?" Sora felt his eyes get watery and his fingers went up to brush against the skin under his eyes. He wasn't sure why at first, but seeing his father the way he is now and seeing him in the past…the difference made Sora feel sad.

"Sora are there any other pictures there that seem off to you?" Leon asked without answering the question. Sora scanned the pictures again. A kiss, a hug, some laughter, a fun day out…that's all he was seeing between his father and Leon.

"N-No…nothing."

Leon sighed and rubbed the bridge on his nose; nothing he hoped Sora would fine seemed to be there.

"…Sora have you ever seen the color of your father's eyes?"

"Um…yeah, it's kind of unusual but cool."

"Do your eyes seem like that?"

"No…oh! But when I was younger, I think Roxy's eyes looked a bit like Dad's!"

"Sora, do you what mako is? Or Materia?"

"Isn't that some bad stuff that are illegal now? But they're still around on the black market, right?"

"Your father was exposed to mako. There were many effects from it but…" Leon's voice trailed off, he didn't think he was ready for this at all, "Sora…about 15 or 16 years ago, Cloud left me."

"Oh…well I'm sor…" Sora stopped himself upon realization.

15-16 years ago…Cloud and Leon were lovers…Mako…Roxas's eyes…Sora's a brunette…the twins are 15 years old…

Sora thought he suddenly stopped breathing,

"No way…" be barely got it out as Sora started putting pieces together, "Mako…can do this?" he gulped and felt his face; tears have finally slid down.

"Apparently so…" Leon muttered, "Sora I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry for everything."

"Wh-Why are you apologizing? I mean…well…I…" Sora was at a loss for words. Is he supposed to be angry? Sad? Happy? A mix of everything? What's he supposed to be feeling upon learning that Leon is actually his other parent?

"I'm apologizing because…I know Cloud sees me through you."

Sora let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and the next thing Leon knew, Sora ended the call.

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