Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters, although I do own my plot.

Warnings: None

Author's Note: Here we go, the last chapter...I'd like to thank everyone who read from beginning to end, and I hope everyone enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Also, it's official: I am starting a new LeonxYuffie fic, and it will be out by the end of the month. If you like SH, then you should like the new fic, "Disturbed." More about that at the end of the chapter-that's-more-like-an-epilogue.

Summer Haze
Chapter 12: Church on Sunday

"Just how far did you walk, anyway?" Leon complained uncharacteristically. He exhaled in frustration.

"Not much farther," Yuffie shrugged.

Leon reminded her, "That's what you said miles ago."

"It's not like this is Radiant Garden, you know," Yuffie reminded him. "I don't know exactly where everything is. I can barely do that with my own room!"

"You won't have to anymore," Leon told her. "We'll be sharing a room."

"But, what will Aerith -"

"It doesn't matter what other people think, as long as I love you and you love me," Squall insisted. "You call me insecure."

Yuffie pouted, but the facial expression instantly dissolved when Leon slung a muscular arm around her shoulders. The two continued to walk in a synchronous manner, the silence comforting. After many, many minutes of this, Leon began to notice something in the distance. He ignored the faraway blob, believing that it was just his imagination making a fool of him. However, he proved to be wrong when Yuffie suddenly blurted out, "There it is! My ship!"

She suddenly sprinted towards it, leaving Leon's arm wrapped around empty air for a moment. He followed suit after her, smirking as he quickly pulled ahead. He slowed his pace to allow her to catch up. Just as they had when they walked, they continued moving forward in harmony, with each other. It was almost as if an ancient dance was being performed by the two of them. However, it came to an abrupt halt when Yuffie ran face-first into the ship, causing Leon to chuckle.

"Let's see if I can fix it..." Leon said, already inspecting it for repairable damage. Its wings were a bit beat up, as well as everything else, but other than that, it was still in flyable condition. Leon announced his findings, to which Yuffie replied, "And what would you have done if it wasn't?"

"I'd be pissed," he said simply with a smirk on his face. "We'd be stuck here, because my ship is totaled."

"Geez, someone can't fly!" Yuffie giggled, but she shrieked when Leon began to tickle her. "That's enough! Stop!!"

After a few more seconds of relentless torture, Leon obeyed Yuffie's barely understandable commands. Without another word, he pried open the ship's door with his hands and motioned for the ninja to enter. She struggled with closing the entryway, but she managed to seal it by the time the ship was ready to go. Obediently, she sat the seat next to Leon and fastened her seatbelt, silently praying that the ship would last until they were safe and sound on the ground on Radiant Garden's soil.

She squinted her brown and golden eyes as they left the earth behind them. This was one of the two parts of flying that she absolutely hated - the take-off and the landing. Luckily, the landing wouldn't be for some time. Now that she gave it some more thought, how would Leon know how to get home? She voiced her concerns, and Leon quickly told her, "I'll backtrack. I took note of the planets when we landed. We go this way, past the world with the ice rings, and we'll be home in a few days."

"If we don't explode."

"What are you doing?" Leon asked her, looking at the spectacle with amusement in his blue eyes.

"Cutting my hair," she replied, although it was a bit muffled with the comb in her mouth.

"Don't you need some help?"

"Shouldn't you be piloting?" she countered, focused on her task. Leon took the remark with good humor.

"I suppose I should."

"You look tired," Yuffie stated, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I am," Squall confirmed, blinking quickly to wet his drying eyes.

"Let me pilot," she insisted.

"...Alright."

She was surprised it had been that easy. But as always, her privileges had strings attached.

"Just wake me up when we get to the Garden."

"Okie-dokie, Leon."

His sleep was filled with dreams, which was highly unusual for him. Should he ever have one, they turned out to be nightmares. But no, not this one. It wasn't scary, wasn't depressing. It brought the emotion of joy to his heart. Within it, Leon and Yuffie sat side-by-side in the middle of a field of colorful flowers. They covered an entire spectrum: reds, whites, yellows, blues, pinks, purples. They all blended together to form a unique color all their own.

From his fantasy of the flowers he was awoken when Yuffie yelled out to him, "There it is!"

Unable to decide whether the voice belonged to make-believe or reality, he tried to move his body. As he did so, the image of vibrant plants and him with Yuffie shattered like broken glass. He was blinded for a moment, but then he opened his blue eyes. The ceiling overhead stared right back at him. He shook his head to remove the fantasies from his head and to bring him back to the real word. Yuffie yelled again, "Hurry up, Leon!"

"Coming!" he hollered as politely as possible as he stumbled into the pilot's cabin. Yuffie hastily removed herself from the seat, now Leon's. She returned to her old one, fastening her seatbelt in preparation of the landing. As she did previously, she clenched her eyes shut tightly, waiting for that horrible feeling in her stomach to subside. As the ship landed, she could hear a thud. She already knew that Cid would be called upon to take the ship to the garage, or at least to disassemble it so she could make a new one.

"Open your eyes," Leon ordered. She did so and found herself gazing into Leon's blue eyes...Wait, blue!?

"Leon," she gasped.

"What is it? Are you alright?" he asked, his voice full of worry.

"Your eyes...they're blue!" she exclaimed, excited. She removed her seatbelt and bounced over to him, giving him the biggest hug the human race has ever known.

Finally, it ended as all things will eventually. Yuffie looked into the blue eyes once more before turning to the task of opening the door. Leon gently pushed her out of the way, using his own method to leave - he kicked it down. Yuffie laughed nervously before exiting, following Leon. The town's outskirts suddenly became extremely close, and Leon took that moment to grab her hand. She was his, now. No one else was to have her.

Together, they easily reached the hideout. Leon turned the doorknob cautiously, preparing to be bombarded with hugs from Aerith and pats on the back from Cid. Yuffie, however, stood a foot and a half behind Leon, her gaze focused on the ground in shame. How, after all these years, could she go back and not worry about what her friends would think of her? Would they be able to see her the same after learning about what she did for money?

She bit her lip as Leon opened the door, but surprisingly, Aerith didn't attack them with hugs. Leon motioned for her to follow. They entered the house together, Yuffie's heart beating wildly with anxiety. It quickly left her as she started giggling at the sight in front of them: Aerith and Cloud together, snuggling on the couch!

Aerith heard the strange, feminine giggling and opened her eyes. Cloud mouthed to Leon, "Run!"

But her target was not the lion, but rather the ninja that accompanied him. Almost instantly, Yuffie was engulfed in the older woman's arms. After hearing Aerith's sobs of joy, Yuffie couldn't hold her own back. She was home, finally home. She would not be judged for what she did, but rather welcomed back with open arms. Everything would go on just as it had before. But, now, Aerith and Cloud were officially together, as was Leon and Yuffie.

"Aerith, I think you're choking her," Leon said, sweatdropping.

"Oh! Sorry," the brown-haired woman apologized, smiling nervously. She watched as Leon wrapped a possessive arm around Yuffie, then she said, "I can't believe it. She's back...you got her back, Leon."

"It's not Leon," he corrected, his blue eyes twinkling. "The name's Squall."

Yuffie soon left Squall's side to chat with Aerith about random things. Both were happy to see each other. It was then that Cloud stood up and put a hand on Squall's shoulder and looked into his eyes. There, he could see nothing short of happiness, pure happiness.

"Have you found your light?" Cloud asked, his lips a smile.

"Yeah," Leon nodded, turning around to gaze out the window and into the wild, sapphire sky.

Author's Note: There we go; it's done. I can't believe it's finished, but I think it turned out very well. I'm very pleased with the outcome. I might go back and touch up the older chapters, make them past tense to fit the rest of the chapters, but that's about it. Once again, I'd like to thank everyone that reviewed and read this story. I think I wouldn't have finished it otherwise without your support.

My plans for my next work? It will be another LeonxYuffie, set in a somewhat alternate universe. It spans across Leon's teenage years and into his adulthood, following his life after Radiant Garden's destruction and his struggles with coming to terms with his feelings for the Great Ninja Yuffie. Leon also happens to be a vampire, if any of you are into those kinds of stories.

Like I've said, keep an eye out for it, because it should be out by the end of July. The title: "Disturbed." LeonxYuffie fans should definitely like it, as it's angsty romance. Besides, Leon practically screams "angst," but I digress.

Once again, thanks for all the support! FlamingDranzer