Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or its characters

Chapter: 14 "249 and a Half Days Left"

Author's Notes: Hey you beautiful people! Thank you to all those that read, reviewed, faved, and followed! I'm glad you guys are all liking the new plot that is coming into play. In regards to who's dying, I'm not quite sure yet hahaha. You shouldn't worry though, it's not like I would kill off a main character. I'm not that heartless but we'll just have to see! We've almost hit 10,000 hits and 110 follows! Thank you so much everyone! We're close to the 170 review mark too! I'm clapping for you all, thank you again!

There is also some speculation that the countdown of "Days Left" has to do with the war – nope, not at all :) If any of you read Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi, you might know. I got the idea from that after all! Until then, I will leave you all guessing. Another thing that was asked was how many chapters I'm going to make this story out to be and all I can say for now is that I don't know. I'm going to write as many chapters as I need to in order to get my story across. Yes, this story is rated M because of its crude and horrible language as well as for the eventual violent scenes later on. I don't write smut, sorry. I have an agreement with my boyfriend not to :)

My musical inspiration in for this chapter is brought to you by Glee, the show that I keep swearing to give up but will never be able to. I ship Puckleberry by the way but I also love Finchel post-high school. Actually, I love all Glee ships. Ugh. Shoot me please.

I changed the summary and added a book cover. What do you guys think? Do you like it? Let me know in a PM or review please! :)

Resting his head down upon his folded arms, Roxas looked at Xion with curious eyes. "So where are your parents right now, Xion?" The three friends were situated on her large queen size bed with all three of them laying down on their stomachs. Roxas was on the left while Sora was on the right and Xion was of course situated in between the two brothers. "Did they say where they were going?"

Humming in reply, Xion reached up to run her fingers through her raven bangs. "Yeah, Mom told me that she and Dad were needed in Gran Pulse and that they'd be back sometime tomorrow. They didn't tell me why they had to go and Zexion is too polite to ask so we're both in the dark about it." With Xion's attention diverted, she missed the strange look that Roxas and Sora gave each other. Xion's parents were needed there too? What was going on? Cupping her face into her hands, she began swaying her legs from left to right. "Mom is really good at reconnaissance and Dad is well, he's just good at everything. He's really strong." Mimicking Roxas, she folded her arms and rested her head on them. "Did you know my parents fought in the war too? Dad was a Turk at the time and Mom worked alongside your Dad, Cloud."

"Was she a SOLIDER too?" Sora asked.

Xion shook her head. "No, my mom's a ninja from Wutai back east. The military happened upon her and since she had the right skills, she fought too." Shifting uncomfortably, a sigh escaped her parted lips. "You know how some SOLDIERs are infused with the power of Mako?" At her question, Sora and Roxas could only nod. After all, their own father had been injected with Mako during his days as a SOLDIER. "My dad was actually the first person to be experimented on with the power of Mako. He told me and Zexion that a long time ago, he was a Turk working for Shinra's administrative research. He had this girlfriend at the time but after some sort of disagreement, she distanced herself from him and got together with the leading professor of that research team. A confrontation happened between all three of them and my dad was shot right in the chest by that researcher. I don't know why he did this, but that researcher then experimented on my dad's half-body and injected him with Mako as his own form of a sick, cruel experiment."

"But isn't Mako extremely powerful? Not many people can control it." Thinking back to what his father had told him, Roxas frowned. "Mako can either accept you or reject you completely."

The raven haired girl shrugged at that. "That's because the Mako that flows through my dad's veins is different than the one in yours. A while back, President Shinra and his team of researchers happened upon a Mako Reserve and after seeing its amazing potential, harvested it. Back then though, we didn't really know the correct amount of dosage to inject into them and people were really skeptic about experimenting on actual people. This was also around the time my dad was shot." Her eyes then grew extremely grim. "After the argument, that researcher defied all moral values and as an experiment to see how much Mako a person could handle, he injected my father with its raw power. Of course, since he had been injected by someone so crude and horrible, the Mako became tainted by the researcher's Chaos –"

Sora then nudged his shoulder with Xion. "Wait Xion, what's Chaos?"

"There are two forms of energy that apparently lies within all living things – Crystal and Chaos. If you want to be blunt about it, Crystal is the good inside us and the Chaos is the bad. We all have Crystal and Chaos within us but it's a matter if we choose to dwell upon it or not. Usually, in good people anyway, the Chaos inside lies dormant and the Crystal is what we see. In contrast to that, in a bad person, their Chaos is what we see and their Crystal is what's lying dormant inside them. Dad describes Chaos as being divine yet not touched by Etro's grace but rather, her demons. It's the source that drives people to madness and to become evil. You could even say that our criminals are driven by Chaos."

"So bad people have more Chaos than good people?"

"Something like that." Xion stated, nodding her head. "My dad's Mako is completely raw and tainted by Chaos, so his body changed to fit that description. Chaos is essentially divine, demonic and evil; he can't ever die, he's completely immortal. Due to that researcher's experiment, his whole body has become demonic and he's able to shapeshift and even transform. Over the years, Dad has learned to control the Chaos within him, but he's living proof that we can no longer depend on Mako as a failsafe to empower our SOLDIERs, at least by using raw Mako anyway."

Sitting up in Xion's bed, Roxas crossed his arms thoughtfully. "So after that incident with your dad, President Shinra ordered his geneticists to alter Mako so that it could help us and not hinder us? And that's why my dad hasn't become like yours?"

"In a sense, yeah. Your dad doesn't dwell within the Chaos but mine didn't have a choice. He was already half-dead so the researcher's Chaos overtook him completely – he didn't have a say in the matter. By the time that our SOLDIERs were injected with Mako, we had already found the correct usage. My dad wasn't so lucky in that aspect." Shaking her head again, Xion blew out a puff of air incredulously. "Why else do you think we stopped using Mako for our military?"

"I thought it was because Mako Poisoning was becoming more prevalent in our SOLIDERs." Reminiscing about the time Cloud had collapsed at home because of his poisoning, Sora frowned. Over on the other side of the bed, Roxas was doing the same. "Prolonged exposure to Mako in its concentrated form is dangerous to us humans. It left our dad catatonic for quite some time." It was honestly a dark memory from their childhood; seeing your beloved father so lifeless and unresponsive is something no child should ever see.

Turning over onto her back, Xion folded her hands behind her head and looked up at her white ceiling. "I'm sorry to hear that." Roxas and Sora eyed one another from the corner of their eyes before reaching over to take Xion's hands in theirs. Blinking in confusion, she sensed their own apology at what happened to her father and could only laugh. "Thanks, but it's really alright. My dad turned out okay! I mean, he has a wife and two kids – I'm sure he doesn't dwell in the Chaos too much. He's learned to control it too so he really is fine. Zexion and I love him so much and he's loves us and Mom just as much." Squeezing their hands briefly before letting them go, Xion smiled a radiant smile. "I'm sure both our parents will be fine."

The topic of discussion then shifted towards and before any of them knew it, their time was up. "Sorry Xion, we have to go pick up our cousin." Sora explained as a small frown made its way onto his face. "It was nice hanging out with you though! Thanks for having us over." The two brothers stood to their feet with a smiling Xion behind them. Roxas, itching to check his phone and text Axel back, grinned a little before following her down the stairs with Sora behind him. "Let's hang out again soon, huh?" Sora asked before encircling her in his arms in a typical friendly hug.

"I'm going to text Yuna real quick to let her know we're on our way." Pulling out his phone, the blond typed out a quick message to his younger cousin before pulling up his inbox. Seeing another unread message, Roxas opened it and frowned once he read through the message.

"Maybe next time, I've got work."

'That was almost 5 minutes ago.' Roxas thought. 'I just missed him.' Not exactly knowing why he was a little sadden by it, the blond sighed uncharacteristically and shrugged. 'I guess it can't be helped.' In all honesty, Roxas really couldn't say that he hated Axel anymore and likewise, Axel couldn't either. They didn't think about labels at all and they definitely didn't label one another as 'my-unfortunate-soul-mate'. It was more that they just considered each other as a possible and potential friend. It was almost as if they had forgotten they were soul mates; right now, they were just content being each other's friends or as they both like to put it, 'frenemies'. They didn't like each other and they certainly didn't love each other either – Axel and Roxas were simply in the transition of getting to know each other. Anything more than that was unwanted by both parties and that was something they both could agree on. As he and Sora said their goodbyes, they left Xion's residence and got into their car. Not wanting to give himself a reason to text Axel back, Roxas got into the driver's seat this time. Pushing away those thoughts, Roxas lowered the hand brake and began driving away. 'It can't be helped.' He repeated. 'It's not like I have to talk to the guy.'

Studying the various faces before him, Cloud's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. He stood alongside his fellow leaders with his hands folded behind his back in a standard military stance. Before him stood as many as 50 members of SOLDIER, SeeD, and Guardian Corps. They were all posed exactly like him with their backs absolutely straight and their hands folded behind their backs. Up at the front from left to right, it was him, Zack, General Cetra in the middle, Leon, and lastly, Lightning. "Listen up!" The General ordered, causing everyone to snap their heels to attention. "Every one of you will be led by these officers standing before you. You will listen to them and carry out their orders, do you understand me?"

SOLDIERs, SeeD, and Guardian Corp members alike saluted him immediately. "Sir!"

"You are not to venture out on your own and you must fight if the situation so calls for it! Are you prepared?" Once again, the military answered him with an affirmative cry. Taking a step forward, Sephiroth raised his right arm to gesture at Cloud and Zack. "My two most trusted SOLDIERs, Zack Fair and Cloud Strife." He then lowered it before repeating his actions with his left arm. "SeeD's leading mercenary Squall 'Leon' Leonhart and Commander Lightning Farron of the Guardian Corps." Bringing his arms to rest at his sides, the silver haired man furrowed his brows determinedly. "They will be your leading force in this mission! Trust them and you will live. Disobey that order and I'm afraid you may not come out of this ordeal alive." Folding his hands behind his back now, Sephiroth paced slowly back and forth. "We do not know the extent of what has happened. There is rumor of a leak in the Lifestream and we are here to protect Academia whilst they investigate it. As all if not most of you know, Mako is extremely powerful. With the possibility that the surrounding wildlife is consuming it, I urge you all to be constantly vigilant."

"Sir yes sir!" They roared in reply.

Lightning took a step forward and placed a hand on her hip as the wind picked up slightly. "I will lead Squad 1 to the Northern Highplain, Leon will take Squad 2 to the Southern Funnelway, General Cetra and Squad 3 will stay here in the Central Expanse while Cloud takes Squad 4 to the Western Benchland and Zack takes Squad 5 to the Eastern Tors." Wrapping her fingers around her Gunblade's hilt, she swung it in front of her and sliced the air. "Be on the lookout for anything suspicious and guard the Academia with your lives. I absolutely will not tolerate anything less than that."

"Sir!

"You heard her! Dispatch into your squads!" Leon shouted, startling all of the military personnel. They quickly followed the SeeD's orders, making their way towards their respected leaders and standing to attention. Each squad consisted of at least three of each of the different military branches. SOLDIERs, SeeD, and Guardian Corps alike joined together for this noble cause and they would do everything in their power to protect the members of Hope's Academy. The officers moved towards Hope, needing to discuss a bit more before heading out.

Cloud moved over to stand beside his husband as he crossed his arms somewhat impatiently. From the corner of his eyes, he watched as Zack left their side to exchange a few words with Aerith who was located further away. She had been helping the researchers gather their information as she had extensive knowledge of the plant-life around Gran Pulse. His blue eyes watched as she smiled at something Zack said and allowed herself to be embraced. Within the recesses of his mind, he could distinctly hear the excited beating of her heart and he couldn't but sigh a little. As if sensing Cloud's slight distress, Leon reached up and ruffled the blond spikes, murmuring gentle words that only the ex-SOLDIER could hear. And just like that, his feeling of sadness was lifted. How could he not love this man with all his heart? Standing straighter, the blond nodded at Leon who hummed contently and dropped his hand in response to Cloud's change in mood.

Sweeping his eyes from left to right, Hope studied the warriors briefly before nodding. Catching Lightning's eyes, he cleared his throat before speaking. "I want you all to pay particular attention to the megistotherians. We believe that was the species responsible for the most recent death of Commander Farron's officers and we have deduced that it has gotten its energy source from an active Mako reserve. They inhabit grass lands and usually be found fighting Behemoths. They're very territorial but are solo hunters. They're more likely to be in the Northern Highplain but there's a chance that they'll be found in the other locations as well such as the Eastern Tors." Reaching up to point at the com-link on his ear, Hope tapped it once. "We'll all be connected so if anything happens, radio in your position and back-up will arrive. I have Cid and Sazh patrolling the skies so when your eyes can't see any further, call for them and they will assist." His green eyes then flashed seriously. "Be vigilant." He said, repeating the very same words General Cetra had said only moments ago. "There's a chance that others species may have become infected as well."

Approaching footsteps from behind them made them turn around as Zack made his way over to them. "Yeah, Aerith says the environment has become incredibly active – even the plants have exhibited strange qualities. She says she wouldn't be surprised if some plants mutated because of this leak in the Lifestream and actually became monsters themselves." After conversing some more, Leon, Cloud, Hope, Lightning, Sephiroth, and Zack all nodded in unison. They all went to their respective squads, waiting for General Cetra's signal.

"Move out!"

Sora and Roxas were situated in the living room and were currently sitting on the large sectional couch. It was around 10:45 PM or so and the night sky was filled with an array of flashing stars. A whole day had passed since their parents as well as Xion's and Yuna's were called out to Gran Pulse and they honestly didn't know what to make of it. They had heard stories about the unknown land from their fathers and had learned some brief information about it in school but neither Sora nor Roxas knew anything concrete about it. It was a land of mystery, enough so that people even dubbed it 'Terra Incognita' or "The Land of the Unknown". The brothers weren't worried though, their fathers were immensely strong.

The three had carried out their Thursday like normal – Sora and Roxas drove Yuna to her elementary school, went to their own school, served out the day, doubled back around to pick up Yuna when she was finished an hour later, and came back home. Their day was filled with homework and family time in which they all did homework together with both brothers helping her with the problems she didn't understand. They ordered take-out, watched T.V, hung out on the couch, and before any of them knew it, it was already 8:30 PM. With them being the eldest as well as her caretakers, Sora and Roxas sent Yuna to bed not long after. She was a polite girl and didn't argue, walking up to them and kissing them both on the cheeks gently before heading to the guest room they had set up for her. Although they themselves had a curfew of 10:00 PM, both Sora and Roxas didn't feel right going to bed without first seeing their dads.

Stretching out his stiff limbs, Sora groaned tiredly. "I am so glad Spring Break starts tomorrow!" Over on the other side of the couch, Roxas could help but nod in agreement. "It'll be so nice to be able to sleep in, even if it's just a little bit." He then grinned cheekily, "I don't even have practice! It can't get any better than this."

"Are you shitting me? Of course it can!" Roxas replied back with a laugh. "Did you forget? The Struggle Tournament is next week!" An annual tradition, the Struggle Tournament was held every year in Radiant Garden's main military sector, right in front of the Shinra towers. It was open to everyone, people from all three sectors could join in and participate in the fun. Like the other kids of Radiant Garden, Roxas and Sora never passed the opportunity to participate in the local tournament. Truth be told, they actually were the reigning champs. The deciding battle was always between the two and they were pretty much tied in wins; sometimes Sora would come out on top and sometimes Roxas would best him. After having been trained by Cloud and Leon all these years, the boys had developed superior fighting skills, even being able to predict their opponents' moves before they themselves could perform them. "It should be a pretty big turnout this year; I hear there's like 60 registered fighters!"

Kicking the blanket that he had draped around his legs, Sora surged to attention. "Are you shitting me!?" He cried back, using Roxas' words from moments ago. Excitement was beginning to swell up in his chest as he clenched his fists and pumped them up in the air. "I can't wait! This is going to be so crash!"

"I know! I can't wait either!"

"Do you know if Hayner and Seifer are fighting too? I wouldn't be surprised if they were! But then again, it's not like it matters!" Sora then threw his head back and laughed arrogantly with Roxas joining in soon after. They were boys after all, of course they'd be cocky sometimes. Extending his right arm out with Roxas doing the same, the two Strife-Leonhart brothers touched forearms, something they've been known to do, even when they were kids. "I think Riku said he might fight too now that I think about it."

Removing his arm so that he could cross both of them over his chest, Roxas raised a brow thoughtfully. "Oh wow, really? The tournament is sure to be interesting then. I'm sure General Cetra has trained him even more now too. There's absolutely no way he could have him for a father and not be incredibly strong." In all actuality, Riku too was special – he too could also wield the Keyblade. Although they often sparred together, there were times that Roxas and Sora sparred with Riku too. He was more a calculating fighter, silent but always thinking. He fought one handed and was incredibly fast, but of course, not Roxas fast. "What made him want to fight this time? He didn't last year."

"His dad insisted." Sora explained. "'Said Riku should have some fun every once in a while." Roxas could help but laugh a little at that. When you had Sephiroth Cetra for a father, how could you not have fun? Riku practically had the whole world – what else could you get for someone who has everything? Chuckling alongside his younger brother, Sora rubbed the back of his head. "But yeah, they tourney should be pretty interesting this year." There was a pause before, "I'll see you in the finals?"

"Of course." Roxas replied back, smirking.

Shifting towards a topic about a possible training schedule, their attention was diverted if ever so slightly. So much so, that they almost missed the sound of the front doorknob jiggling. "It's Dad and Dad!" Sora cried out quickly as he and Roxas hurried to the front door. Although they practically sprinted for the door, they made sure to stay as quiet as possible so they wouldn't wake their sleeping cousin. Throwing open the door with the key probably still lodged inside the keyhole, the two boys grinned happily. Before them stood their fathers as well as their Uncle Zack and Aunt Aerith.

"Dad! Dad! Uncle Zack! Aunt Aerith!" The two boys called out in unison as they quickly stepped back to let their family in through the door. Although they had all been out in Gran Pulse for the majority of the two days, they looked almost exactly as they did when they left. Saved for the weariness in their eyes and stance, they looked perfectly safe and healthy. Wasn't Gran Pulse supposed to be filled with strange wildlife and beasts?

"What are you two still doing up?" Leon demanded softly, his words stern yet gentle at the same time. "You two are supposed to be in bed." As he got out of his shoes, Cloud, Zack, and Aerith were slowly beginning to do the same. When the boys explained that they had wanted to wait for his and Cloud's return, their ornery father grunted and ruffled their blond and brown locks respectively in his own form of thanks.

Cloud moved towards his sons and encircled his arms around them easily, hugging them tightly to his chest. "Thank you for waiting." He said quietly before pulling away. Smiling at their blond father, Sora and Roxas nodded. Leaning his large Buster Sword against the wall adjacent to the front door, Cloud cleared his throat slightly. "Did you put Yuna to bed?" Beside him, Leon was putting his Gunblade away as well.

"Yes sir, she's sleeping right now." Roxas obediently answered back.

At this, Zack instantly began making a move towards the hallway that led to their bedrooms. Catching Sora and Roxas' eyes quickly, he flashed them a tired smile. "Thank you again for taking care of her, boys." Giving their uncle a thumbs-up, they replied that it was nothing and they were glad to do so. Watching as Zack disappeared into the guest bedroom that Yuna was in, they turned towards Aerith who was speaking to Cloud and Leon in hushed whispers. She was quick however because no later than that, she moved towards them and kissed each of their foreheads.

"Thank you for taking care of Yuna." Aerith said again serenely as she smiled a mothering smile. Feeling their faces heat up, Sora and Roxas shared a look and shyly nodded. While it was true that Aerith wasn't their real mother, she was still the closest thing they had to one, with Tifa probably following as a close second. Every praising word that she uttered to them was enough to leave both Sora and Roxas feeling bashful.

"It was nothing Aunt Aerith, really. We were glad to!"

Caressing each of their cheeks, she pressed her lips tenderly against the tops of their head before pulling away. "We'd better start heading out too." Zack stated as he walked back into the living room with a sleeping Yuna tucked safely in his arms. He was balancing her on his hip with his arms around her protectively. She must have sensed her father's presence for she had her arms wrapped around his neck and was resting her head on his strong shoulder. Giving his nephews a grin, he nodded at Cloud and Leon. "See you guys tomorrow. Come on Aer, let's go." Nodding back or waving respectively, the Strife-Leonharts said their goodbyes to the Fairs and they watched as the front door closed with a soft click.

"Alright you two, time for bed." Leon said as he nudged his head in direction of the hallway. Bidding their two fathers goodnight, Roxas and Sora hugged them quickly around the waist before walking towards their rooms. Cloud and Leon followed in after them but when they saw the two not going in their rooms, they paused confusingly. "What is it?"

"Welcome home." Sora and Roxas said in unison. "We missed you."

Catching Cloud's eye, Leon chuckled. Ruffling their locks once again, he left their side and began making his way towards the bathroom he shared with his husband. Their blond father smiled back radiantly before doing the same; he ruffled their brown and blond locks affectionately before following after Leon and shutting the door behind him. Bidding each other goodnight, Roxas and Sora retired to their rooms as well. Although they all were located in different rooms, a simultaneous thought ran through the siblings' heads.

'I'm glad they're home.'

"Holy fuck today's shift was absolutely brutal." Axel groaned out as he tiredly collapsed onto his bed. For some reason, his store had been bombarded with customers and being as they were understaffed tonight, Axel had been in for one hell of a night. He ended up having to stay an hour later than he was scheduled which was actually pretty lame. "But then again, at least I'm getting paid overtime." It was very late into the night, maybe like 1:15 or something in the morning? He briefly remembered driving home, getting through the door, showering blindly, and all of a sudden, now found himself in his bed. Now when did that happen? His legs were aching due to all the standing he did today and he couldn't help but groan again in discomfort. "I swear to Etro, once I graduate, I'm going straight to the fire department and demanding a job." The logical side to his brain then proceeded to explain that his sleeping hours would probably get even worse and yet again, he groaned.

Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt!

Rolling over in bed, Axel cursed inwardly as he dove his head underneath his pillow. "When is that idiot going to give up!?" He cried out desperately. For the past hour or so, Demyx had been blowing up his phone asking him if he wanted to go out for drinks. Naturally, since he was still working, Axel kept his phone on silent and usually never knew when he got a call or text. The store he worked at also had the shittest phone service possible so even if he didn't put his phone on silent, it wasn't like he could connect long enough for the message or call to go through. Axel couldn't text back at the time, but damn, Demyx was persistent! "Seriously, when people don't reply, it's because we're either A) busy, B) Not in the mood to talk, or C) just don't like you." Honestly, all three options seemed plausible at the moment. When his phone vibrated once again, he slammed his fist against the night table beside him. "Leave me alone, dammit!"

Unlocking his phone quickly so he could give a Demyx a piece of his mind, he rolled over onto his back and peer at the phone closely. Reading over the Caller ID, he blinked. It wasn't Demyx at all, actually it was Roxas. "What the hell? Why did he text me? What is he doing texting at a time like that ? He's a kid, kids are supposed to be asleep!" Shaking his head, he swiped open the message with his thumb. "Sent at 12:20 AM." For the past week or so since he and Roxas had contacted one another, they had met a total of once and that was for coffee. Sure, they would text each other every now then, but this was strange. "I'm the one who initiates conversations, not him. What does he want?" The redhead wondered out loud. Since Roxas was his only ticket to talking to Kairi, of course he had to be overly forward with communicating with the younger boy.

"Hey, you're off work now right?"

Frowning, Axel immediately began to text out a reply. "I had to stay overtime but yeah, what's up?" He waited a few minutes before shrugging. "It's late, the kid's probably asleep." Stretching out his legs a little and groaning again at the aching feeling in them, he moved to place his phone on the night table when his phone started vibrated once again. "He's still awake?" The crimson haired man questioned to no one in particular.

"Are you free next week?"

"It depends. What day?"

"This coming Monday."

Pausing slightly, Axel began wracking his brain. "I have class that day but I should be done by the afternoon or so. And since I worked over the clock tonight, I don't think they would schedule me for Monday. If they did, they're a bunch of assholes." Texting Roxas a reply, the college student began humming softly. "Yeah probably. Why?"

"The Struggle Tournament. Everyone will be there."

Axel immediately snorted at that. "Why the hell should I care?" He voice out loud with a shake of his head. Upper-Sector matters such as that didn't concern him at all. As he began typing out a declining message to Roxas, his phone buzzed once again.

"I want you to come."

"What?" Feeling a bit taken back, Axel felt his breath hitch slightly. "What the hell? Why the hell does he want to see me?" In all honesty, Roxas had nothing to gain from his meetings with Axel. Sure, he'd get his good karma back, but seriously, he gained absolutely nothing. For Axel, he got gold – he got to talk to Kairi, the only person keeping him tied to this world. What could Roxas possibly hope to gain from this? Roxas was never forward when it came to communicating with him. The times that he and Axel met were always because Axel reached out to him first, it didn't go the other way around and hell, Axel was fine with that. It wasn't supposed to go the other way around for that matter. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he felt a rush of curiosity. "What are you planning, kid?" Shaking his wild mane of hair uncertainly, Axel typed out a reply. "Sure, I'll come."

"Awesome, see you then."

Staring at his phone thoughtfully, Axel frowned once again. "I don't get this kid at all." Plugging in his phone, he left it to charge and placed it on the night table. He got under the covers and crossed his arms behind his head as a makeshift pillow and gazed up at the white ceiling above him. Replaying the conversation he had just had with Roxas only moments ago, his brows furrowed a little. "What are you thinking, Roxas?" He wish he knew. When he couldn't figure out a logical explanation, Axel sighed and turned on his side. He laid there for several minutes as another thought suddenly occurred to him. "I got clocked another hour and Roxas didn't know that but yet, when I texted him an hour later, he still replied." He immediately frowned. "Was Roxas waiting for me?"

A pair of mako blue eyes opened groggily as Cloud slowly began to rouse awake. Rubbing at his tiredly, he was barely able to make out a silhouette sitting up beside him when he frowned. Leon was awake and it looked like he had been for quite some time now. With his feet over the edge of his side of the bed and his body facing the window, the lion had his back to his beloved wolf. Sitting up and ignoring how the blanket fell to reveal his bare chest, the blond inched forward and leaned against Leon's back. "Can't sleep?"

Bowing his head, Leon frowned also. "No."

Kissing the back of his husband's shoulder, Cloud encircled his arms around Leon's waist and rested his chin on Leon's left shoulder. While in the public eye, both Leon and Cloud were private about their affections for each other, they had no reason to hide it at home. Within the confines of their own room, they were even freer to act as they so felt. "You still thinking about today's mission?"

"How did you know?" Leon asked back as he chuckled amusingly.

"Because I know you." Cloud answered simply.

Shaking his head, the brunet reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose. Breathing easier, he exhaled slowly. "I can't believe we couldn't find the damn thing. After a whole day and a half of searching, not one of us found the megistotherian responsible for killing Lightning's officers." It was true. Despite all of their combined efforts, they couldn't find a single megistotherian. They searched high and low for it, sweeping across the entire Archylte Steppes from north to south and east to west.

"There are still many places we have to look. We still have to go out to the Faultwarrens, Mah'habara Subterra, Vallis Media, Yaschas Massif, and Sulyya Springs." Tightening his arms around Leon's waist, but not so much that it would hurt him, Cloud's voice lowered soothingly. "Don't look so defeated, Squall." Although he himself was concerned that they hadn't been able to locate the megistotherian, Cloud knew that in the end, they'd find it. Maybe not now, but soon.

"It's not so much that I feel like we failed, it's more than there's still so much we don't know. We weren't even able to recover the Mako Reserve, let alone the megistotherian." Dislodging himself from Cloud's embrace, the brunet turned around so that he was facing his husband. "Was Yuffie able to find anything?"

The ex-SOLDIER shook his head. "Not at all. She seemed distracted though, like there was something else on her mind. Actually, now that I think about it, Yuffie and Vincent looked uneasy today. When I asked, they didn't seem to know why." Looking up to meet Leon's eyes, Cloud frowned. "But even I could feel the uneasiness in the air." Both men fell silent at that as they slowly began rewinding the events that occurred today. They both went their separate ways with their respective squads with Cloud venturing to the west and Leon patrolling the south. And they found absolutely nothing. "Hopefully tomorrow will yield better results."

Sighing tiredly, the brunet moved to lean back against the wooden headboard. As if sensing what Leon wanted, the blond immediately moved towards him. Allowing Cloud to curl up at his side, Leon wrapped his right around his lover's shoulder. "Be careful tomorrow, Cloud."

"You too, Squall. Watch yourself, alright?"

Both Cloud and Leon knew to do just that. After all, they had two sons as well as a whole nation to protect. Their sole reason for fighting was to protect the people and the world they loved. It didn't matter that they were technically retired, they would do everything in their power to ensure the safety of those around them. Shifting slightly so he now had his head resting on Leon's chiseled chest, Cloud closed his eyes tiredly. Listening to the steady beat of his lion's heart, the blond sighed softly and allowed it to lull him to sleep. Likewise, the comforting sound of Cloud's evened breathing enveloped Leon in a world of sleep and dreams.

Author's Notes: I quite liked this chapter! And I got it all written down fast! The next chapter deals with the Struggle Tournament as well as something else when I think of it! I feel bad for neglecting SoRiku and Zemyx – I feel like I need to write more of their moments. BUT THEN I REMEMBER HOW MUCH I LOVE CLEON AND AKUROKU AND I'M LIKE I CAN'T. In all seriousness, I need to step up my game. Hopefully I can write more of their interactions in the future. I got this out pretty fast I think, under a week, yeah? Go, me!

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