Disclaimer: I own nothing written about in this story.

Bouncing

AN: I decided to focus a little more on the younglings in this chapter. I wasn't going to at first but decided that I may use them quite a bit down the road, and I also found them really amusing to write about. I love writing about existing characters as kids. So much fun! :)

Chapter Three – The Game

The Radiant Garden training courtyard was filled with the sounds of children giggling and whispering excitedly. The sun was shining brilliantly and Lea was made to sit on a nearby bench and watch as the small group of students inched toward Yuffie with as much stealth as their uncoordinated bodies could achieve. The ninja had her back to them but it was obvious that she was acutely aware of their movements.

All but a couple of the children froze instantly when Yuffie spun around. "Red Mog!" she shouted with a grin and waved a dismissive hand to the two kids that had continued moving after the signal. "Over there with Lea, go on now."

"Tough break yeah?" Lea gave each kid a comforting pat on the head before they plopped down beside him with a pout. Snow and Fang, he remembered were their names.

Snow, with unkempt light blond hair and a big mouth that was constantly getting him into trouble, was an obnoxious twerp in Lea's opinion, and he refused to admit that the boy was anything like himself at that age.

Then there was Fang, with brown hair so dark it was nearly black and a silent exterior for her age, seemed to be Snow's opposite in every way, obedient and naturally skilled, Lea could see her advancing into a fine Guardian or Keybearer one day.

Both of them were roughly six years old, took to their training very seriously and were not at all happy about failing at the game so soon.

At least they got to play. Lea hadn't been banished like them; he just hadn't been allowed to play in the first place. Which was highly unfair by his thinking. Today marked the third day in a row he had volunteered to help the ninja with her new kid-sitting duties. And although he found the chore amusing most the time, he still ended up feeling rather bored now and then.

"Green Mog!" Yuffie yipped and spun back around, once again exposing her back to the small mob of children.

Lea turned a wicked grin on her oblivious form; he was feeling excessively bored at the moment. He leaned down to give the two banished kids a silent signal with a finger to his mouth and they chuckled lightly but nodded in compliance. He got a similar reaction from the group of kids after he had crept over and crouched among them, hiding there when Yuffie called out another "Red Mog", though none of the children were banished this time.

She didn't seem to notice his presence lurking amid them and she turned away again, causing a wave of snickering in the ranks around him. He tried to shush them quietly, but that only seemed to elicit more laughter. He would need to move fast before his cover was altogether blown.

Distracted, the kids were hardly creeping forward now and were no longer focused on Yuffie's movements. The instant she was about to turn back, Lea lunged and "tagged" her in a way that was more than likely highly inappropriate for their young audience. But the children had all fallen over into barking fits of laughter at the development and none seemed to really notice that Lea was currently straddling Yuffie's stomach with a smug grin plastered on his face. "I win."

He wasn't entirely sure what to expect for his trouble, seeing as he hadn't even been meant to play the game in the first place, but he sure wasn't expecting to be on his back with the breath thumped out of him an instant later.

"You were saying?" How she had managed to flip him and swap positions in an instant was bewildering, though he wasn't about to complain either. Lea got what he wanted, her attention, and the best kind. He had decided after the past few days of spending time around her, that his favorite attention from her was the physical kind. Even if it was just a thwack on the shoulder or a thump to the head.

What he suddenly found disconcerting though, was the sharp edge of a kunai aimed at his throat. Where the heck did she even keep that thing? "Hey-hey, no reason for hostility. I just wanted to show the kids how its done."

"Oh so we're turning this into a lesson, are we?" Yuffie sneered down at him before turning to the class that was slowly recovering from their fits of laughter. She wasn't letting him up yet, which he enjoyed, but she wasn't retracting the knife from his throat either, which he did not enjoy. "I hope you were all paying attention," she called to the children as they all grew silent under her scrutiny. "Because that's how you turn the tables on your opponent." Eying each young face carefully she pointedly turned back to Lea at the end of her speech. "And let it be said that we girls might be smaller, but we are not weaker."

"Noted," Lea deadpanned and met her gaze with a mellow expression despite the blade hanging so close to his vital artery. Thankfully, he found his salvation in the form of a rosy haired five year old as Claire had scampered over and was standing beside them.

The girl's pale blue eyes were full of concern and she looked from Yuffie, to him and back again. "You're not going to hurt Mister Lea are you?"

"Of course not Claire," Yuffie chirped and with a flick of her wrist, the blade was gone in a blur of movement (he still didn't know where she stored it) and gave the girl a fond pat on the head. "Boy's just need to be shown who's boss every now and then, that's all."

"Yeah," Lea drawled lazily. "We're pretty forgetful about that stuff." The ninja still hadn't extricated herself from his torso, straddling him as though she had found the perfect vantage point to perform a discourse. He honestly wondered (and inwardly cringed) about how this particular scenario was going to backlash, seeing as how most of the kids were going to go home and blab to their parents about their dubious "instructors".

"Oh," Claire replied with a quirky frown, their exchange seeming to confuse her, which was adorable in Lea's mind. She looked to Yuffie, genuinely curious. "Is it true what you said? Can girls really fight as good as boys?"

There was a scoff from the sidelines before Yuffie could so much as get one word out but she quickly sent the offending boy a sharp glare. Lea looked over as well and noticed it was Snow that had made the wordless jeer. The boy was only a year older than Claire but he made a point to constantly magnify his supremacy, if you could call it that.

"Fang," was all Yuffie had to say and the dark haired girl sitting beside the scruffy boy gave him a hard punch to the shoulder, causing him to double over with a howl. "I rest my case." Yuffie looked back to Claire. "Train hard enough and you'll have every boy in town cowering at your mercy."

"Yeah! Like me!" Lea supplied and gave the young girl an exuberant thumbs up. Cowering? More like worshiping. This girl is gonna be a goddess when she gets older. Not that he had an eye for such things, but Claire was just naturally adorable at her age, that automatically transferred to beauty down the road, right? "You got me pretty good the other day, remember?"

Claire nodded with a sheepish smile, obviously remembering the event where she had caught him off guard during a training session. A loud ringing suddenly split the air and all the children chorused praise as the clock tower above their training yard tolled the third hour for the afternoon, and their freedom. The kids all scattered into smaller groups for their trek home, chattering noisily as they went. "Come on Claire!" Snow hollered as he and Fang stood up from their banished places. "Last person to the fountains has to buy lunch tomorrow!"

"Oh!" Claire started to leave but turned back to Lea and Yuffie to bow respectfully before departing. It astounded them both because she was the youngest in the class and was the the only one that had remembered to do so. "Bye!" Without waiting for a reply she bolted for her two peers. "Wait up, you got a head start!"

Even though Snow had indeed started running prematurely, Fang gave him a hard shove, knocking him to the ground with a yowl of surprise. "Not anymore," she chuckled at him and kept pace with Claire after she had caught up, thus leaving the mouthy boy to trail behind with a few whiny grumblings.

Yuffie and Lea watched them go, noting how most of them, though excited to be going home, dragged their feet tiredly. Lea sympathized. The kids had it rough, starting general education classes from nine until noon and then after an hour lunch break had a healing class with Aerith for an hour, (since she insisted that everyone needed to know how to heal) and after that an hour of peacekeeper training which included combat exercises and survival lectures. Although since Aqua was absent, the curriculum just consisted of whatever Yuffie could come up with at the time. Hence the "Red Mog-Green Mog" game.

Lea was thankful he didn't have such a strict schedule. He usually spent the mornings in combat training with his fellow Keybearers and then the rest of the day however he wanted, unless he was assigned to help with the ongoing construction work or various other duties, such as Yuffie's current fill in for Aqua's departing class of students.

Seeing as he and the rest of the senior members had more or less assisted Sora in saving the worlds, there really wasn't much else to be learned aside from some time honing their already advanced skills. It was basically just a formality that they had yet to be named official Guardians and Keyblade Masters respectively.

In all reality, the Academy was still in its very early stages, with the Mark of Mastery exams a long way off considering they still technically didn't have any designated leaders yet to oversee the event, though many people naturally looked to Sora, Riku and Aqua for that sort of thing.

Pulling his mind back to the matter at hand though, (and enjoying every second of it) he had to wonder how much longer Yuffie was going to remain perched on his person. The ninja had a gentle smile on her face as she watched Claire depart with her friends, only turning to blink down at him in bewilderment a moment later. "Yo," he said, giving her a mocking, two fingered salute.

"Lea!" She rightly scrambled off of him as if he were on fire, which was entirely possible in his case.

"Yep, still here." Had she really not realized she had been sitting on him the entire time? Propping himself up on his elbows he offered a playful grin. "Glad to be of service."

"But you-" Yuffie sputtered and paced back and forth, unable to finish any sentence due to the rapid rate her mind was flying. "And the kids- How long-?"

Lea casually started counting down the answers one finger at a time. "Yes I started it. Yes they watched the whole thing. And, pretty long."

"Shit."

"Hey," he shrugged. "No big deal right? Kids talk."

"Yeah and some parents listen."

Lea thought about her comment for a long moment, as though weighing it for validity before finally waving a dismissive hand. "Nah." He stood up and dusted himself off. "What's the worst that could happen? Besides, we teach self defense and combat training, stuff like this is bound to happen, and you know how kids tend to blow things way out of proportion as it is."

"Yeah, I guess..." Yuffie crossed her arms and frowned thoughtfully. With the responsibility of the kids gone, her commanding demeanor seemed to vanish along with them.

Lea intended to take full advantage of the momentary lapse. "Next time though," he said, leaning toward her suggestively. "Maybe you shouldn't linger so much."

She seemed to bristle but before she could retaliate to his advance, Lea felt himself shoved away by a firm arm that grappled at the collar of his vest. He caught a flash of blond hair and was suddenly face to face with Cid, the Gummi ship fanatic slash computer technician. "Now just hold yer horses there lover boy," the older man grumbled and eyed Lea warily as he continued to hold him in place by his collar.

Lea's interaction with the blond since his integration with the Radiant Garden heroes was scarce at best. The guy seemed to keep to himself in his workshop for the most part, he also seemed to have an unusually strong grip. Raising his hands harmlessly, Lea offered a nervous grin. "Holding."

"Now what's this I hear about a red haired punk stalking Yuffie?"

"Cid, I'm standing right here ya know!" Yuffie growled at him with a swat to the older man's shoulder. "What do you think you're doing?"

The blond didn't so much as flinch at Yuffie's display though the toothpick in his mouth shifted as he regarded her placidly. "Quiet Yuf, this is man talk."

Lea's ears perked up at the nickname, ignoring their conversation as he contemplated how he might be able to use it himself. He wasn't very concerned about his captor's intentions, lightly assuming that the blond was probably just trying to fulfill a protective fatherly role in the ninja's life. His approach on the matter was rather oblique though.

"Sexist!" Yuffie screeched at Cid, arms stiff at her sides and fists clenched in irritation. "Sexist-old-man!"

"I ain't that old," Cid grumbled at her and waved his free hand at her dismissively. "You want old, go talk to Merlin." Before he could focus back on Lea, who he still held firmly in place, a sudden explosion of white-blue smoke erupted nearby, causing the blond's grip to slacken instantly. His mouth hung open slightly at the sight of Merlin, yet no one seemed to question the wizard's timely arrival.

"Old am I?" Merlin thundered and brandished his cane threateningly. "I'll show you who the old goat is, as a matter of fact I'll turn you into one!"

"You wouldn't dare!" Cid rumbled, though he took a tentative step backward, releasing Lea completely.

"So help me, I will!" Merlin rumbled right back, causing Cid to stagger away in retreat.

"This ain't over!" the blond shouted over his shoulder as Merlin gave chase, cane swinging. "I'll be sendin' Leon your way for a full interrogation!"

"Interrogation?" Lea blinked, watching the two older men depart in a clamor of arguing. "What have I done to deserve that?"

Yuffie shrugged, feigning indifference and making air quotes. "Cid thinks I've been hurt too many times by "prospective suitors" I guess."

Lea looked at her, sincerely thoughtful for a moment. "Have you?"

Yuffie gave a too-quick responsive chortle, hands on hips. "As if! I know I'm too much awesome for the average guy to handle."

Lea continued to watch her carefully, making her facade falter for an instant before he gave her an arrogant smirk. "Well, its a good thing I'm not average, yeah?"

"Now wait just a second," Yuffie growled, suddenly flustered and irritable. "I never said anything about you. Cid just has the wrong idea, that's all."

"Does he now?" Lea let the suggestion hang in the air, hands behind his head and gazing up at the clear sky.

"Sure he does," Yuffie said through narrow slits of violet and a mischievous tone. "You're way too afraid of me to be interested."

"Afraid?" Lea nearly fell over, arms dropping to his sides as he gawked at her in astonishment.

"Yep," the ninja chirped, nose in the air and arms crossed. "It's ok though, I totally get it."

"Oh I don't think you do," Lea said, advancing on her with a determined, menacing smirk. "Do I look afraid to you?"

"Uh, well no, not really." She retreated cautiously, never taking her eyes off him, though that turned out to be a mistake in and of itself, as she backed right up to the bench Lea had formerly occupied and collapsed there before detecting it. All went according to Lea's designs as he leaned down determinedly, placing both arms on either side of her and bracing his hands on the bench's back support. It was not unlike a similar scenario some days prier, only this time he was much more familiar with her antics.

He found himself constantly intrigued and bewildered by her erratic behaviors. Earlier she had taken charge of the situation, now though, she acted as though she couldn't get away even though she no doubt knew of a dozen different ways to incapacitate him (like she had earlier) and could calmly walk away without a second though. But she didn't.

"Look, um, Lea," she mumbled, squirming uncomfortably under the pressure he exuded on her personal space, his face only inches from hers. "Someone might get the wrong idea here."

Lea narrowed his cat-like emerald eyes and gave her a predator's smirk, unconcerned for any onlookers in the area. "I'm hoping that a certain someone might get the right idea here."

Letting his words hang in the air for a moment, he could see her amethyst gaze drifting between his mouth and his eyes in a coiled anticipation. He idly wondered just how far she would let him go, but was unable to entertain such a fantasy as her head suddenly collided with his jaw at the sound of a deep, monotonous voice. "What did I just walk into?"

"Gah!" Lea yelped at the violent impact and staggered back, hand nursing his throbbing chin.

"Leon!" Yuffie cried, sounding startled though oddly relieved as she bolted from the bench. She seemed completely unfazed by the collision, and moved to clap the dark haired man on the shoulder. "Perfect timing! Now you can give Lea here a few pointers about personal space!"

Lea didn't respond to the shot but continued to rub at his sore jaw with a grumble and watched the ninja flee in a frazzled hurry.

Leon watched her leave as well, turning back to the redhead with a raised brow. "What did you do?"

"What, you got a thing for her after all?" Pulling his hand away from his aching chin, Lea gestured expressively, other hand on his hip.

Leon gave him a blank look, which really wasn't much different from his usual expression. "No."

"So what's the problem then?"

"She doesn't usually... act that way."

"What do you mean?"

"I think you actually-" Leon paused, casting a thoughtful glance in the direction she had fled, genuinely puzzled. "Scared her off." He said it as though there was a great significance to the phrase.

"Yeah, so? Yuffie doesn't seem like someone that would stay scared for very long."

Leon shrugged indifferently. "Guess you'll find out." The brunet moved to pass him but halted abruptly beside him, brandishing his Gunblade in the blink of an eye and angling the tip of the blade to mere centimeters from Lea's jugular. "But don't fool around with her unless you're serious."

"Hey-hey, I'm serious, I'm serious!" Lea insisted, hands held up defensively. Geez, what was with people and aiming deadly weapons at his throat today? "I've even got Merlin's approval and everything!" He realized with a paling dread that such a claim was either going to make or break his case badly.

"You-" Leon gave another thoughtful, puzzled pause. "-do?"

"Y-yes?"

"Hm." Returning the weapon to its sheath, Leon nodded, casting the fiery Keybearer one last wary glance before heading off. "Best watch your step for a few days, she'll be skittish for awhile," he offered without turning around.

Lea frowned, briefly watched the Gunbladesman depart and then looked to where the ninja had disappeared. Skittish? But she didn't seem bothered by his attention; unsure and a little nervous maybe, but she hadn't told him off either. Or retaliated with violence for that matter.

Did she want his attention or didn't she? Sighing, Lea scratched his head in frustration. Seriously, why did women have to be so damn complicated?

AN: So I know it might seem like things are moving a little too fast here, but as a reminder, Lea/Axel has a very aggressive side to him when motivated and I wanted to portray that here. Even though in the next chapter I'm forced to reign him in quite a bit... I would love to hear what you guys think so far. :)