AN: Whoo! Check me out! Two chapters in one day! I'm awesome! We all know and love Leon and Cloud, the pair that can't decide whether to be best pals or lifelong enemies. But what about when they were kids? Find out now on a flashback chapter of "Leon Gets…"!
Disclaimer: I'm too poor to own anything. "Unwell" belongs to Rob Thomas and the rest of Matchbox Twenty and everything else belongs to a guy in Japan.
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Leon Gets…Flashbacks!
The day after the accident, Yuffie had left with Leon Jr., dubbing him 'too dangerous'. Leon didn't really mind that much; he hadn't become too attached to the cat for the short time. Cloud had been all too eager to get the cat out of the house, muttering something about a demon kitten.
Speaking of which, at that moment, Cloud had walked in, looking disgruntled. His normal spiky hair was looking even more messy than usual, and, even though they had become a lighter shade of reddish-pink, the scratch marks were still visible. Leon couldn't help but snicker a little.
"What happened to you?" he asked, even though he really didn't care. Cloud glared at him.
"Your dumb cat didn't want to go out without a fight." he mumbled angrily. Leon smirked. Cloud's glare narrowed.
"This is why we should've gotten a fish. They don't go ballistic and attempt to tear people's faces off!" the blond shouted angrily. Leon crossed his arms across his chest.
"Get over it, Strife! Nobody in this house is going to buy you a fish, just so you can make it off itself!" the brunet shouted. Cloud scowled.
"Why does everyone say that?!" he asked angrily. Leon shot him a look that said 'You know why, you sadistic bastard!'
"Remember that time in the pet department when we were 7?" he asked
-FLASHBACK!-
A young 7-year-old Squall Leonhart was searching the store for his…acquaintance Cloud Strife. Cid was waiting for them, but Cloud had somehow wandered off. Leon was now trying to find Cloud in the pet department. Glancing down the fish aisle, Leon noticed the blond boy crouching in front of a fish tank with a grin on his face.
"There you are, Strife!" Leon shouted. Cloud looked away from the fish tank in confusion before grinning again.
"Leonhart! Get over here! You gotta see this!" he said eagerly. Leon was confused, but nonetheless walked over to see what Cloud could find so interesting. Cloud pointed into the fish tank he was seated in front of.
"Look!" he said with obvious excitement. Leon sat there for a minute before turning to Cloud.
"Is that fish…eating that other fish?" he asked. Cloud nodded rapidly, watching the water slowly turn red as the first fish dined on the other fish's dead corpse.
"But I though store-bought fish only ate fish food." Leon said. Cloud shrugged lightly.
"I dunno. All I did was tap the glass a couple times, and then, BOOM! Feeding Frenzy!" the spiky haired boy said with a grin. The boys watched the odd event happen for a little while longer in silence, with crickets from the amphibian section chirping in the background. Then Leon spoke again.
"Should we tell someone that one of the fish went cannibalistic?" he asked. Cloud frowned and shook his head.
"And have to stop watching the food chain in action? No way! You should probably go to the food court and buy me some popcorn though!" he said. Leon frowned. Cloud looked at him.
"Well? What're you waitin' for?! That popcorn ain't gonna buy itself!" the blond shouted angrily. Leon groaned and got up.
"Fine…lazy jerk…" he muttered as he stalked off toward the food court.
-END FLASHBACK!-
"Oh, yeah! I remember that! That was awesome! And the popcorn wasn't too bad either." Cloud shouted as he recalled the event. Leon scowled.
"You're sick, you realize that?" he asked. Cloud rolled his eyes.
"Don't try to act all noble, Leonhart! You thought it was awesome, too!" he said. Leon gave him an incredulous look.
"No, I didn't! You're the one with the sick fish-murdering obsession!" the brunet said angrily.
"Least I'm not obsessed with Matchbox Twenty." Cloud said. Leon scowled.
"It's not an obsession; it's a lifestyle." he said sternly. Cloud snorted.
"Oh, yeah, sure! Listening to some guy with a fucked-up life sing about his love-life issues, his abandonment issues, his drinking issues, and his insanity issues, that's a lifestyle! I envy you, Leonhart!" the blond said sarcastically.
"Don't. Mock. Rob. Thomas." Leon growled, word by word.
"Do you even remember when you started obsessing over them?" Cloud asked.
-FLASHBACK!-
An 11-year-old Cloud Strife watched in amusement as Cid tried to get a 2-year-old Yuffie to go to sleep. He snickered lightly as he sipped his juice box.
"Need some help?" Cloud asked the man, not even attempting to hide his amusement. Cid whipped around and glared at the boy.
"Strife, I don't need this from you right now! Go annoy Leonhart or sumthin'!" the blond man shouted angrily. Cloud shrugged lightly before walking upstairs, juice box in hand. He knocked lightly on the door frame of Aerith's room. The 10-year-old girl looked up and smiled.
"Yes, Cloud?" she asked sweetly.
"Cid needs your help with Yuffie again." Cloud replied, jerking his thumb downstairs. Aerith nodded and walked past the blond boy. Cloud continued down the hall to complete his objective: Drive Leonhart Insane.
Coming to the said boy's room, Cloud could faintly hear music coming from inside. He pushed the door open to see Leon lying on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. As Cloud walked closer to the bed, he heard Leon mumbling under his breath.
"…I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell…I know right now you can't tell, but stay a while…then you'll see…different side of me…" the brunet mumbled. Cloud was starting to get a little freaked out. Leon hadn't even acknowledged his presence in the room. Leon never just let someone walk into his room.
Cloud stood by Leon's bed, who still hadn't even realized he was there. It was like Leon was stuck in a trance or was hypnotized or something along those lines. Cloud waved his hand in front of the brown-haired boy's eyes. Only then did Leon blink and cast a glance over to Cloud.
"Hey, Leonhart. You okay?" Cloud asked. Leon stared at Cloud for a minute before shaking his head slightly.
"What's wrong?" Cloud asked in confusion. Leon looked back up at the ceiling.
"There are voices in my head…" he muttered dully, almost lifelessly. Cloud stood there, silent and confused.
"…What?" he asked in confusion.
"They won't leave me alone…" Leon whispered hoarsely. Cloud started slowly backing towards the door. Running to the top of the steps, he gripped the railing tightly.
"Cid!" Cloud shouted urgently. Cid growled and stomped to the bottom of the stairs.
"What's yer problem, Cloud?!" the blond man shouted angrily.
"I-it's Leon! He's g-gone insane!" Cloud stuttered nervously. Cid looked at the boy in confusion.
"What the hell 're you talkin' 'bout, Strife? What da ya mean, he's gone insane?" Cid growled. Cloud gulped.
"He-he said that there are voices in his head that won't leave him alone!" the blond boy shouted. Cid had a look that said, 'I can't believe this is happening to me' on his face and he groaned.
"I'll call a therapist…" he muttered.
-END FLASHBACK!-
"And how many sessions did you have to have with that therapist before you went back to normal?" Cloud asked with a smug grin. Leon looked at the floor.
"…Twenty-eight." he eventually mumbled. Cloud nodded.
"Exactly. Twenty-eight sessions with a therapist all because of a band. That's what I would call an obsession." he said. Leon glared at him.
"You're the one that needs therapy, Strife! You get your sick amusement from watching fish kill each other!" he shouted. Cloud growled.
"Are you calling me insane, Leonhart?!" he asked angrily.
"No, I'm calling you a sick psycho that needs to get a hobby that doesn't involve dying fish!" Leon replied. Then, they settled their argument the only way they knew how: by fighting.
5 minutes later, Yuffie and Aerith came in after coming back from the pet store. Walking into the living room, they found both Cloud and Leon unconscious, covered in bruises and blood. Aerith gasped and woke up Leon. His eyes dully opened, before he jolted up and coughed some blood into his hand.
"Leon, what happened?!" Aerith asked in concern while Yuffie woke up Cloud. Leon stared at his now blood-covered hand, before glaring at Cloud, who had just gotten up.
"I'm gonna kill him…" the brunet muttered. Cloud covered his bruised left eye, before clenching his fist angrily. Yuffie glanced between the two and frowned.
"You mean you two did this to each other?!" she shouted. Cloud pointed at Leon angrily.
"He called me a psycho!" the blond shouted. Leon grit his teeth.
"You brought up the 28 therapy sessions!" he shot back. Aerith shook her head in disappointment.
"This is Little League all over again…" she muttered sadly.
-FLASHBACK!-
A 12-year-old Cloud sat on the bench of the ballpark, watching as Leon struck out. The blond snickered lightly before calling out to the brown-haired boy.
"You swing like a girl, Leonhart!" Cloud shouted. The coach turned to Cloud and gave him a scolding glance.
"Cloud, that was uncalled for! Now, go apologize!" the man shouted. Cloud looked at him in disbelief.
"B-but, Coach Brookes-" he tried to protest, but the coach cut him off.
"Now, Cloud." Coach Brookes said sternly. Cloud got of the bench and walked out to the field, where Leon was waiting. Cloud looked Leon in the eyes sadly.
"Leon, I'm sorry you swing like a girl." the blond said in mock sincerity. Leon growled and gripped the bat in his hand tightly. Before the coach could scold Cloud again, Leon kicked Cloud, making the blond fall down, and hit him repeatedly with his bat.
"Who swings like a girl now, Strife?!" Leon shouted as he continued to bring the bat down on the blond boy, who was begging for Leon to stop. Coach Brookes ran up and yanked the bat out of the angry Leon's hand.
"Squall, what was that?!" the black haired man shouted. Leon frowned.
"He said I swung like a girl!" he shouted in defense. Coach Brookes frowned.
"That doesn't give you the right to pummel him with a baseball bat! Now get on the opposite bench!" he shouted. Leon frowned and sadly walked over to the other team's bench. Coach Brookes helped Cloud off the ground.
"You alright, Cloud?" the man asked in concern. The blond slowly nodded.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good." Cloud muttered, slowly picking himself off the ground. The coach gave a small smile.
"Are you gonna be alright to pitch?" he asked. Cloud nodded eagerly.
"Sure, coach!" the blond said happily. Coach Brookes tossed him the ball and a mitt. Cloud slipped the mitt on his hand and walked over to the mound. He wound up a pitch, but instead of tossing it towards the kid at bat, Cloud threw it at Leon, who wasn't paying attention at the moment. The ball hit Leon's head, and the boy fell backward off the bench.
"Alright!" Cloud shouted victoriously as Leon slowly picked himself up off the ground, leaning on the bench for support. Coach Brookes face palmed.
"Cloud, on the other bench with Squall. And if you two start anything, you're both in so much trouble." he said angrily. Cloud tossed his mitt down and walked over to the bench which Leon was at holding his head in pain.
"Jerk…" the brunet mumbled.
"Moron…" Cloud muttered back.
-END FLASHBACK!-
Needless to say, not much has changed between then and now. Cloud's still a fish torturer, Leon's still obsessed with Matchbox Twenty, and they both still hate each other immensely.
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AN: So, there you have it. A few snippets into the past of Leon and Cloud. I loved doing this chapter. Like…a lot.
Next Chapter: Leon gets a job.
When Leon's running a little low on cash, he gets a job at a nearby restaurant. Only problem is, his boss is 13 years of pure evil.
R&R!!!