"Sorry that we had to leave so early." Leon said, looking rather sheepish as he and Sora made their way down to the bay area. The rain had stopped, the clouds had cleared and there wasn't even a puff of wind to be felt, making the night almost bearable. Actually, Sora had been the one that suggested that they walk back to the dorms instead of taking a cab, and, back then, it had seemed like a good idea to him. He needed to cool down, after meeting Samuel…

And especially after that tango. He glanced down at his petite partner, scowling slightly. She'd really caught him off guard there-who'd have thought that one quick lesson in the morning and watching videos on the net could actually teach her how to dance? It wasn't going to be an exaggeration to say that he'd nearly been overwhelmed out there. Yes, a walk in the cold was definitely a good idea. Perhaps he could regain enough sobriety to leave her at her door without attempting to cop a feel.

That's what he thought before, but now the silence was settling around them like a heavy fog and he was beginning to wonder if she was alright. She was uncharacteristically quiet, not like she was unwilling to speak, but rather, she could not find the words to speak.

"Sora?"

"What?!" she jumped, startled by his voice. Yeah…she really wasn't paying much attention, wasn't she?

"I said I was sorry we had to leave so early."

"Oh…."

"Aren't you going to make a comment?"

"Do you want me to?"

"I thought you would. I saw how eager you were to go there, and see ballroom up close."

"Yeah…" She nodded "But I saw that you were unhappy once we got there. I should be apologizing, I shouldn't have forced you on it."

Leon sighed. "Don't dwell on that. If I really didn't want to go there, I would've found a way out of it."

Sora nodded again, carefully hugging her coat closer to her body. Leon looked at her, cursing himself for actually taking her up on her offer to walk, and slung his arm over her shoulders, bringing her close. She tensed slightly against him, before relaxing into his warmth. Well, he thought, that was unexpected. He'd actually thought she'd squeak or protest against this, saying it's inappropriate…but then again, she'd not only held onto his hand during the party, she'd let him embrace her in a way that was a little too intimate for people who claimed to be just partners. Did this mean what he thought it meant? Was this her silent way of letting him know that she liked him, and that she was alright with everything that was going on?

That wasn't right. He didn't even know what was going on, how could she…

And then he paused, his mind wandering back to the time when they were training for the Angel's Act. He'd known that she was serious about it, but he still ignored her, hoping that she'd give up on learning the real thing. What she did was good enough anyway…

But then she had confronted him, telling him that it was important to show the audience things that are real. Sophie had been just like that…and then she'd told him that Sophie probably knew this would happen, and she wanted him to make the real star possible so that he could be on that stage, and that they could once again reunite.

He'd been so blind by pain that he didn't realize it back then-he, who prided himself with his ability to read people, and he'd spend the next three years as a blind man. Did Sora make him see? Or was the situation now just another example at how blind he was? Or maybe she had more clairvoyance than him? Whatever the case, he suddenly felt strangely…relieved.

"I suppose that I wanted to avoid those people we saw today." Leon said, and Sora hummed to make him know she was listening "You can understand why. Samuel was the only one who was remotely supportive of Sophie and me deciding to switch onto acrobatics, but in the end, he also thought that this was a passing fancy, and that we'd come back, sooner or later. Of course, he didn't wish for Sophie to die, but I suppose that he expected us to give up when we didn't break through."

She was silent, but he could tell she was looking at him. "Ballroom pays better than acrobatics, you know. He thought that when we ran out of money, we'd come running back to him. I guess we underestimated each other-he thought we were too spoiled to be starving artists, and I thought that he was actually nice. Even now, he couldn't have restrained himself from making such comments."

"You shouldn't let him get to you…"

"I didn't." after a little hesitating pause, Leon added "Because of you. You restrained me from lashing out on him, and from that, I saw him as he is. Now, he's unimportant, and I'm glad of it."

Sora didn't reply. Leon glanced down at her and saw that she was contemplating something. He sighed, realizing that they were only a few feet away from the dorm, and that they would have to part soon.

The windows were dark, so he supposed that Sarah had locked up for the night. Not wanting to wake her up, he walked with Sora over the side where her balcony was and helped her jump up. Putting the distance between them was supposed to be therapeutic for him, but before he could register his own movements, he'd climbed the pipe and perched himself on the rail, while she looked over at him with slight amusement.

"A gentleman always sees his date to her door to make sure that she's alright." He pointed out to defend himself, although his subconscious was making different suggestions about how the rest of the night would transpire. Leon sent her a smile that could be described as friendly at best, hoping that she'd take the hint and go inside before he changed his mind, but Sora either missed the hint, or ignored it completely, because the next thing he knew, she was leaning in as if to kiss him, startling him so much that he nearly fell off the railing.

Too close, too close, an alarm went on in his head, and he had to ball his hands into fists to keep himself from grabbing her. Sora, however, had another thing on her mind and moved in closer, almost so much that there was no distance between them. "Leon-san…"

"What?" he mumbled, staring at her confusedly.

"Why are you like that?" she asked, her face suddenly dead serious

"What do you mean like that?"

"Pushing people away." She replied sternly "You've always been odd, but this week, you've been even stranger. Sure, you're snapping at people as much as you did before, but now even I feel like I'm being…examined. You always seem to be looking at me as if you want to ask something, or tell me something, and then suddenly, you just walk away. Whenever I try asking you something, you make some sort of pirouette around it and make a run for it. Why?"

He was stunned…but to his credit, he did not try to pirouette around it and just kept quiet. Unfortunately, that wasn't good enough of an answer for Sora, because she just got up, sighing. "Leon, the reason I really wanted to go out with you tonight is because I thought you would finally open up to me. But…if you don't want to, then I guess it's pointless to make the effort in the first place."

She turned around, reached for the door knob…and a large hand closed over hers, bringing her abruptly to his sculptured body. Now this time, she did squeak, but he didn't let her do more because in the next second, she was whirled around and pressed on the glass door by her shoulders, while Leon's face hovered inches above hers. Sora tried to look stern, but in the next moment his lips were on hers-warm, soft, and absolutely perfect, kissing her with about as much fire as she had expected him to when they first danced.

"Do you want to know why I didn't find a way out of going out with you tonight?" he whispered as he pulled away to plant kisses down her jaw and cheeks.

"Why?" she whispered, although her mind was quickly becoming clouded. The bright colors that had erupted during the tango were subsiding, becoming more smoked, just like her senses were being lulled into something more intimate, something reserved for two people and two people alone. All that week, she'd been wondering what would she do if she ended up in such a situation, and now that she had, she didn't want to do anything, nothing at all. She knew that whatever happened now would never happen again, and she didn't want to miss out on it.

"Because I knew I'd get the opportunity to hold you, like this…" he confirmed his words by bringing her even closer, their bodies fitting together almost perfectly, as if pieces of a puzzle. "We can't do this onstage. Unfortunately." He let out a tiny laugh "You've no idea how much I wanted to hold you longer, but you were never entirely there."

"What if I wanted to hold you as well?" she asked "What if I wanted you to hold me all that time?" it was rather frustrating, this absolute inability of his to understand people's feelings. But the fact that he managed somehow to amend for that made him even more the wonderful man he was.

They were pretty much indistinguishable from one another in the dark, Sora barely catching a glimpse of his eyes as he leaned in to kiss her again. It was amazing, this feeling, and it was indescribable-there was triumph, yes, but there was also adoration, love, happiness…nothing could compare to it, and yet still she did not feel entirely content with it. She wanted to feel more, to see more, but she was also painfully aware that Leon wasn't going to do it unless she let him to. Her shyness, something that wasn't much of an issue in the past, was actually something that stopped them from progressing any further, and she realized that if she continued with her baby steps, they'd get nowhere.

Funny you should mention babies, her mind chirped, considering what you're going to do if you guys continue.

Her hands dove into his hair, the fingertips grazing his skull as they combed down the silver strands, undoing the ponytail they'd been set in with ease. Leon growled and pulled her upwards, her feet almost dangling above the ground, as their teeth clattered together with the intensity of the kiss. Sora yelped with surprise, but before he could recoil, she swung her legs up and clasped her knees around his hips to keep herself steady. She probably should have gone further, but her legs got tangled with the skirt and she nearly fell off his arms.

But by that time, he'd somehow gotten the door to her room open, stepping inside to set her down on her bed and shut the door with his foot.

Sora and Leon nearly fell over with the velocity that movement caused, but she was only plopped sitting down on the edge of her bed and he crashed down on his knees on the floor, their arms still holding them into an embrace. She chuckled slightly, when she got a good look at his disheveled appearance, but he didn't let her laugh much, silencing her with another kiss.

He's still holding back, Sora thought, looking at him through half-lidded eyes. Grasping his face in her hands he turned him so that he could look straight at her as she said: "I'm not going anywhere, Leon. I'm yours."

His eyes dimmed, a strange emotion surging through them, as he stood up, grabbing her by the hand so that they could be on the same toe there. His other hand brushed against her cheek, trailed down her neck and her torso, before starting to unbutton her jacket slowly, starting from the bottom and moving up slowly. Her breath hitched, as his eyes seemed to drill right through her, making her feel almost naked in her clothes. However, Sora, swallowed the anxiety and spread her hands a little to let the jacket slide down. Leon's large hands clamped over her wrists, before trailing up, up, and further up, the palms warming the skin they came in contact with, until they reached her shoulders.

"Sora…" he murmured, leaning in, his hands on either side of her throat now, and she was positive that he could feel her pulse racing wildly underneath his fingertips. Slowly, she stepped in closer, kissing him and fumbling with his own scarf and coat. Leon hurried to help her, shrugging the offending objects off, but grasped her hands when they went to the top button of his shirt. "Sora, listen to me…" he mumbled between kisses "We can still stop. It's early, we can…"

"No." she knew that he meant the best, but she wasn't letting this opportunity pass her by "I want this, Leon. I want you."

"I don't want to hurt you…" he whispered

"You won't." She answered with a lot more certitude than he expected "It's still nice, knowing that you have the option though."

Leon huffed and she could swear she felt his lips curve upwards, but whether it was because of something funny or he was just happy, she couldn't tell. His hands let go of hers and she undid the buttons of his shirt slowly, sensually, letting her fingers trace momentarily against the pale skin that was revealed. He let her take it off resignedly, but there was nothing resigned when his hands wrapped possessively around her waist and pulled her in, one running up her bare back while the other cupped her neck.

He nuzzled the top of her head, tracing his fingers under the hairpins, before he moved to remove them. Sora did the rest for him, freeing her hair with a couple of well placed thrusts that send the candy tresses in a disarray around her face. Leon laughed slightly, removing some that got into her eyes before kissing her again, his hands going back on her shoulders again. He gave her a pointed look, daring (or begging?) her to back out on it, but she only gave him a confident nod.

Leon breathed in when the dress was carefully peeled off, the sides of it parting like the petals of a blooming rose as the zipper on the back became undone. The fabric pooled soundlessly around her feet, and she gingerly stepped out of it and her heels at the same. As if not wanting to have her stand on her toes, he swept her up in his arms, kicking his shoes off in the process. He stepped towards the bed and set her on the edge, kneeling at her feet. Sora's hands ran though his hair, before ghosting down, grabbing his wrist and pulling him up and on top of her.

However, he continued the roll until they were lying side by side on her bed, and she suddenly prayed that Fool wouldn't pop out from somewhere, because if the dreaded spirit decided to interrupt him now she would one, die of embarrassment, and two, commit a heinous crime, which would haunt her for the rest of her life, even when the victim was technically dead already.

Leon traced hot, open mouth kisses down her throat, his hands resting on her sides and pulling her in closer, crushing her to him. Her own fingers ghosted down his spine, just like they had on the reception, and pressed against the small of his back, making him groan and then, involuntarily, his hips jerked. Sora let out a small smirk at her victory, but her touch-down dance was halted abruptly when her legs crossed slightly and she felt just how much aroused she was. She let out a small gasp, especially when Leon bit down gently on the skin of her right breast, just above the bra line, over her heart.

Sora wondered why, with everyone encouraging her to do this, did they omit to explain to her what the hell was she supposed to do? Oh, she knew very well what this particular activity entertained, but getting from point A to point B seemed to have a lot of things involved, and she just didn't know from where to start. Fortunately, she wasn't that scared anymore-Leon was treating her as if she was a fragile piece of glass, something that had to be handled with particular care.

She rolled on top of him, intertwining her legs with his. Sora pulled away enough to look at him through half-lidded eyes, marveling the rather peculiar expression on his face. He looked like he was struggling to stay calm, and that innerved her…to an extent.

"Hey…" she whispered playfully, letting a smile cross her face. "Are you sure you want to play passive today, Leon?" she leaned in, her eyelashes touching his cheeks softly as she blew a puff of air into his neck and she kissed it. Then she moved up to look at him. "Hmm?"

He looked at her, before seizing her hand and rolling her on her back again. "No, not quite." Leon replied, smiling at the almost awed expression on her face. And then she smiled…the most beautiful smile in the world and it was for him, only for him. He leaned in, warmed the flesh of her neck and torso with his breath as he reached back to unclasp her bra. Sora gasped and for the briefest of moments attempted to cover herself up, stuck by a sudden flash of modesty, but he was having none of that. Gently, he seized her by the wrists and made her rest her hands on her sides, before letting his hand slide up her side and cup one rosy peak gently.

"You're beautiful, Sora…" he whispered, admiring her as in a trance. She let out a little moan when he kissed her again, before moving his ministrations further down as they moved further and further way from sanity and any other rational feeling that could save them from the storm that was bound to come afterwards.

She was finally asleep. Leon knew that she'd probably wanted to stay awake and talk to him until breaking dawn, but the fatigue had finally taken its tool out of her and her eyes had fallen closed, her head cradled on his massive shoulder, while his hands circled her tiny waist carefully. He sighed, loathing himself for feeling so damn happy with his hands there, so content with finally having her in his arms.

He'd wanted to have here there almost from the very start. At first he'd thought that maybe bedding her would break her, then he'd wanted to have her there because she was the only woman not swooning over him, and, after all these puberescent teen movie reasons faded, he'd wanted her because he simply couldn't imagine her anywhere else but in his arms. And now that she was, he couldn't help but thinking about the things they'd done together just a while ago and grin like the goddamn idiot he was, because it was better than anything he'd felt before.

But Leon still hated himself. He hated himself because he'd reacted to easily, succumbing to the impulse to own, to have her, not really caring for her. All his restraints had fallen the second she'd said "I'm yours", but he'd still tried holding onto them, even when they graduately got naked and made love on her bed, as tenderly as their impatience allowed. It was a fever they could not sweat out, and Leon was still feeling compelled to wake her up with a kiss for another round. Never mind they'd wake everyone in the dorm up, but…

He sighed, looking over at her automatic clock. Fifty nine minutes past midnight. They'd become one exactly as the clock struck twelve and the ball rolled towards the next day…it would've been symbolic and ironic, had this day not been the one he'd been dreading in a whole month. Leon closed his eyes and pressed a hand to his forehead, feeling an incoming headache as the tears burned into his eyes. He pulled his act together enough to make sure Sora was still sound asleep, before he struggled out of the bed.

He pulled the covers around her until her body was safely cocooned in them. Then he made sure the heat was on, so that she wouldn't wake up with a flu in this cold room. Leon knew he should have left when he slipped into his clothes, but he couldn't help but sit down at the edge of her bed and watch her sleep for an extra hour, in spite of the danger of her waking up. A part of him wanted her to wake up and stop this disaster in the making, but in spite of every fiber of his body screaming for her, he didn't go back in her bed. Leon watched her with a strange endearment as she nuzzled his pillow, her arms still thrown over the place where his body had lied, seeking him without waking up.

"I'm sorry." He choked on the words, and didn't say the rest. I'm sorry, Sophie, for doing this on that day of all days, and I'm sorry, Sora, for what I'm about to do to you. Slowly, he walked out on the balcony and slipped down on the ground, leaving the room as quietly as he'd come in. The clock counted 2…and Sora opened her eyes briefly, eyeing the door darkly, before nuzzling his pillow with a resigned sigh and forcing herself to sleep.

A/N-Wondering why Leon is such a meanie? If you didn't understand from the last 20 or so chapters, I'm writing him like a damn emo. And he's an emo because I'm an emo and the whole story should be changed to a Drama/Emo/Romance because...

Ah, fuck it. Sorry folks, I know it's not exactly what you expected, but I intended to make this story a few more chapters long. And I'm such a douche because my doctor scared the shit out of me, telling me I might have tuberculosis...needless to say I'm a little emo right now.

Review and I'll reveal who Allegro is in the next chapter...not that anyone cares who that bastard is anyway, since he hasn't made an appearance in over a bazillion chapters, but...