Ah... it is fun to be writing... Not much else to say beyond thanking you once again for reading and reviewing. Enjoy!!
Note: I realized that I made a bit of a mistake in the first chapter... being that I made it so that the other members of the Organization Thirteen (numbers four, five, six, eleven and twelve, more or less thirteen) were still around. However, that is totally out of the timeline for the story... so I shall fix that later, just note that Vexen, Lexeaous, Zexion, Larxene and Marluxia are dead (unfortunately, for some of 'em) and Roxas is missing (slash with Sora again.) I apologize for the mix up, and I will make sure that doesn't happen again. Thanks!!
Disclaimer: Don't own nothing... just read the disclaimer off from the first chapter if you must. j/k.
Chapter Three: A Real Big Problem, Part Two
Leon was not a lucky guy. He never won a lottery or a game of Bingo in school, had never been picked first for a team at recess, and had yet to personally pound Maleficent's face in for destroying his world all those years ago. Of course, he had been lucky enough to survive the destruction of his world, had met and made friends with numerous other people that he wouldn't have met before, and had even hit a homerun in some game of 'baseball' off of his rival. (That had been a great day.)
On this day and in that moment, however, he had reached the bottom of his unlucky side of life. The bright flash of light accompanying the stranger's fall had gotten him fully in the eyes, keeping him effectively blinded for far too long. When it finally wore off, Leon found that the blond had gotten back up to his feet, and was brushing off the dust on his black attire as calm as could be. His green-blue eyes scanned around the room. "Well... this is interesting.." His eyes widened slightly as he finally took Leon's presence. They narrowed again almost instantly. "My, my, my... looks like I've beaten Sora to the chase. Lucky me."
Was this the same skittered man that had been caught in a corner just a few seconds ago? Leon shook off his sudden unease and confusion- what did Sora have to do with this?- and brought his gunblade, Lionheart, up and level to the stranger's chest. "Don't take another step."
"Don't even presume you can tell me what to do!" The stranger growled. A column of water flowed from one of his hands, spreading out in the air and vanishing, leaving a sword behind in his hand. The blade was as wide as the gunblade, although the edges held none of the notches from previous fights that dotted the edge of the gunblade. Down the middle was a straight path of color matching the blue of the handle. The blond gave the gunblade poised at him a curious look. "You actually fixed that piece of junk? Oh well- I broke it once, I don't mind doing it again."
Leon scowled. What was this guy talking about? No one had ever broken Lionheart. The blond was speaking as if they had met before, yet he brought up no memories to mind for the brunette.
He didn't have to time to think it over further. Moving more quickly and easily than leon would have thought possible a few seconds ago, the blond raised his sword up and lunged forward, bringing the blade back down in a head-splitting swipe. Leon swung the gunblade to block the blow.
Metal crashed against metal, shedding sparks through the air. The ringing chord assualted Leon's ears. He hadn't expected the strength behind the blond's strike; it was taking all of his own strength just to hold up his defenses. Regardless, he glared steadily and defiantly back up into the blond's sea-colored, coolly amused gaze.
He gathered his strength and pushed back, swatting the blue-streaked sword off and knocking its owner back. Without leeting a second go by, leon lunged forward, swinging Lionheart around for the attack. he spied a bright flash of metal too late; unable to stop his momentum, Leon's gunblade met the other sword in mid-swing, creating an even louder cacophonous clang and larger rain of sparks.
The gunblade bent backwards at the point where the sword blades met. A thin, jagged line, glowing with a light of its own, gleamed a path across the width of the blade. Leon saw these minute changes with a sense of awe, and then shock as the impossible and yet apparently inevitable occurred.
Lionheart did not so much as break as it did shatter. Most of the blade remained in one piece, falling onto the floor with a mettalic clang that seemed deafening to Leon. His hands were now only holding the handle and a tiny part of the blade of his beloved gunblade, and then not even that. The blond's sword, free of any restraints, continued through its path, knocking the remaining piece of Lionheart out of Leon's grip and slashing diagonally across his chest, leaving a bloody cut.
Leon fell backwards, reality crashing down with him. His chest felt as if it was on fire, the floor had connected with his head hard enough to cast a blurry edge to his vision.
A shadow fell over his face, one that happened to have bright sea eyes and blond hair, plus the gleaming blue-streaked sword in one gloved hand. It grinned. "I just want you to know," the words faded in and out to Leon's ears, "that I am really going to enjoy wiping out the rest of your pathetic little rebellion..." The blurred edges took over his entire vision, slowly darkening. He thought he saw the Shadow raise some gleaming object above his chest, but he could have been wrong.
Everything blacked out completely then, with the last of the Shadow's words.
"Es..pecial...ly... Rox...as..."
The ringing crash echoing back at him sent a stab of pain through his heart. For a second, he stood in the midst of the corridors, inwardly praying that he hadn't heard the noise. Within the next he was racing through the maze, navigating around corners haphazardly, dealing any wandering Heartless a single blow through their bodies if they got in his way.
He, like the rest of the group he ran with, knew the underground part of the castle by heart. It didn't take him long to get to the door leading to Ansem's Study, to slam it open and race onwards past the desk, through the secret entrance and back to the Computer Room. There, he came to an abrupt stop, surprise and dismay nearly making him drop his sword.
It was exactly how his dream had been. Leon stretched out on his back, shirt torn and already soaked with bright red blood, eyes closed, body limp and unmoving. The stranger, his face turned away from view, a wicked blue-streaked sword poised above the brunette's already wounded self. There wasn't any differing detail between the two- even Lionheart was lying in the same spots he had seen in the dream.
He even knew what was going to happen. His dream had showed him- every little bit of it, no matter how bloody and how hard he had fought to wake up. The sword tip would go straight into and through his friend's heart, spewing his life's blood out all over the room. The blond would not flinch at the blood spattering the length of his body, the sword's blade, even the tiny splashes that would hit his face. Leon's eyes would snap open, two bright blue eyes open wide in shock and pain.. nevermind for the last time.
A second pang of pain and unease rushed through him as the blond suddenly went to deliver the death stroke. Although his mind screamed in fear, he himself gripped his own sword tighter and rushed forward. Cloud wasn't sure what he shouted, nor did he really care. He brought his sword with an upwards swipe. The sharp edges of the Buster Sword gave Leon another slash across his abdomin, the distance between himself and the stranger's sword being too close for the Buster Sword to be able to avoid Leon at all. Cloud doubted that the brunette would mind.
The blue-streaked sword twirled through the air, free of its owner's hand holding onto it. It landed, harmlessly, against the tiled floor, where it flashed brightly and melted into a puddle of water. Cloud noticed nothing, but kept the Buster Sword and himself in between the other blond and Leon. "Who are you?" He demanded after a quick study. The stranger didn't look like the person who'd be on Sephiroth's side.
"You're going to regret doing that." Cloud scowled, but didn't ask any other questions. He charged once again, hoping he'd be able to swipe the smirk off the stranger's face.
The Buster Sword sliced through a pillar of dark smoke, swiping off nothing but vapors. Cloud muttered a curse under his breath and turned back to check on Leon. He knelt down next to the brunette, hesitated, and picked up an arm to search for a pulse on his wrist. For a horrifying moment, he thought that, despite the dream's warning, he had been too late, but then he felt the push against his finger tips as blood flowed past his touch.
So Leon was still alive. He was even breathing, as Cloud saw from the gentle rise and fall of the brunette's chest. However, he was in no condition to be moved. Cloud dug a Hi-Potion from his pocket and twisted the cap off the top of the bottle. He poured small amounts of the restorative medicine on the brunette's wounds before lifting up his head and getting him to drink the rest. It wouldn't fully heal him, but it would do until Aerith or Merlin could get there and finish the job with some Cure spells.
"Just hold on, Leon," Cloud muttered to no one in particular- it wasn't like the brunette could hear him, after all. He gently let Leon's head rest against the floor again and went on another digging expedition through his pockets, pulling a battered but still working cell phone. With one practiced flick of his wrist, the blond had flipped open the top of the phone and was calling Merlin's home through speed dial.
Cloud closed his eyes, letting his thoughts wander a bit as he listened to the other end of the connection ring. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of endless ringing- no answering machines hidden away in the wizard's abode- the other side picked up. Yuffie's overly cheerful voice was on the opposite end. He cut through the middle of her words, "It's Cloud. I'm in the Computer Room with Leon.. he's been hurt. Get Aer-"
"-Oh my god-!! What happened, is he-?"
"Yuffie," he didn't need to wait through the twenty questions, and Leon certainly couldn't, "Get Aerith or Merlin to come out here, okay? We'll be here." Cloud flipped the phone shut again, cutting off the call before the ninja could start in. Now all that was left to do was to wait, and hopefully not for long. He placed the cell phone aside and wrestled his one sleeved trench coat off. That he folded up for a make-shift pillow which he slipped under the brunette's head.
Cloud leaned back, shifting himself into a more comfortable position. After a few seconds he remembered the cell phone. He'd have to remember to thank Aerith and Tiffa for forcing him into buying and keeping it with him. Originally he figured it a waste of space, but he could almost see the value of having one as of right then. It had helped save Leon's life, for one.
His wait, or rather Leon's wait, did not last long. The blond, having gotten lost in his own thoughts, lifted his head up towards the entrance of the Computer Room as he heard the unmistakable sounds of someone running. They kept getting louder until the newcomer finally arrived. She hesitated just inside the entrance way, her hand flying up to her face with a silent gasp, bright green eyes widening momentarily. The young woman, Aerith, shook it off, and quickly joined Cloud by the prone brunette.
"I'm sorry it took awhile, but Merlin was out and Tiffa and I were getting some essentials in the Market place," Aerith swept her wavy auborn hair back and out of her way. Cloud didn't reply, and merely watched as she gently traced a finger down the brunette's face and just above the wounds. Her mouth worked, but nothing came out. "Do you know how this happened?" She placed her hand, palm down, on his chest. Cloud heard her mumble something, and guessed it had been 'Cura'.
For a while he stayed silent, letting Aerith focus entirely on her healing spell. Once or twice, he wasn't too sure, she muttered the same magic command again, and another flow of bright green light moved from her hand and across Leon. The larger cut, inflicted by the stranger, began to close up- the one Buster Sword had inflicted was mostly knit back up into healthy skin.
Cloud moved his gaze up onto the brunette's face. Leon hadn't moved once since he had gotten there, and it was starting to worry him a little. How badly the stranger hurt him while Cloud raced through the corridors was beyond him; not even the dream had shown him that. One thing was for sure, though.
That blue-eyed punk was going to regret his actions today. In fact, Cloud was going to make it so that the punk regretted being born.
"Well, that's the best I can do as of right now.." His eyes flicked back to Aerith. The woman had removed her hand and was leaning back on her legs. There was a light sheen to her skin, which had gone a touch paler since he last saw. Her breath came and went a little harder, a touch more rapid. Aerith fixed him with her gaze. "What happened to him, Cloud?"
He shook his head. The progress on healing Leon had gone only so far- Buster Sword's mark was gone, but the brunette was still out cold and the longer deeper cut was still an ugly mark across his chest, even if the bleeding had slowed to a trickle. "I'll tell everyone together. Can we move him now?"
Aerith sighed, her eyes looking over Leon and assessing the situation. "We don't have much of a choice..."
"Fine." He nodded once. "You got-"
"I got his legs."
Cloud glanced down at her nonetheless, nodded once more and got his hold on the brunette by threading his arms under the brunette's. "Ready? One.. two.."
"Three." Aerith finished, lifting up Leon's legs while Cloud got his upper body. Without another word, he led the way back out, inwardly fuming at the condition his friend was still in. That punk was really going to regret this day- he was going to see to that personally.
Bada-dum!!! (j/k) Thanks for reading, hoped you enjoy... and review!! I luv the feedback, as always!
