!~ Missing You ~!

Time… is a strange thing. It flies away when you are enjoying it, but it just drags along when you despise it. Leon and Aerith also felt the wrath of instantaneous moments passing them by. The next couple of months of their live were perhaps the happiest, and being true to its nature, time just soared away.

Sora, had sealed the keyhole. The heartless were a bitter and a forgotten history. Traveling in different worlds had become easier, thanks to a breakthrough in the latest gummy technology. Cid was pioneering the gummy block business and was rather successful in such a short period of time. Even King Mickey had paid them a visit and things had finally started looking promising.

From a personal perspective, Leon and Aerith couldn't have planned a better future themselves if tried. They, with the help of Cid, Yuffie, and Eiko, had managed to form a complete family in these two months. Leon role-played the husband, Aerith the wife, Cid –the grumpy old man-- played as father, Eiko enacted as daughter, and Yuffie –the odd one—was just Yuffie. She was too old to play as daughter, so she fulfilled the role of sister to Aerith. Together they formed, as they called it, a complete family. Although, they had lived together for quite a long while, they couldn't truly be tied together until now.

The union of Aerith and Leon as individuals was rather natural and subtle. They simply did not worry if they were acting or being honest anymore, as they both had the each other, and that's all that mattered. The formalities between them had progressively disappearing as they felt completely at ease with one another. Their relationship was somewhere in between of lovers and a married couple. They lived like they were smitten on the idea of lovers, but quarreled like a married couple. It was quite a sight to see.

But, the prime change of it all was in Eiko. She was the catalyst in bringing Leon and Aerith's family together. She was the string that connected to these varied individuals that would otherwise be lost without a path to each other. After her training with Merlin, she had become a potent magic user and a full-fledged summoner. Although… Her aim was still deadly, for her allies at least.

It was Leon's duty to drop her off and pick her up from the school. She then spent most of evening playing deviant games and tricks with Yuffie, and spent her nights with Aerith and Leon chatting… or as Leon would like to say… yapping… and after that, most of the time, she ended up crashing with them. But, something which instigated the family values in this Leonhart family was her initiative to call Leon "Dad" and Aerith "Mom."

In this role-playing game the actors had truly became one with their character. Their life was never so fulfilling and satisfactory before. Their life never looked more bright and promising before. Their world, Traverse Town, was finally at peace, and so were their lives.

But like everything else… all brilliant things had to end.

This was not a fairytale and Leon knew it.

After their unification, this was the first time they were being separated. Leon was going for the tournament, and Eiko was visiting her old, destroyed, home world with King Mickey and Merlin, leaving Cid, Yuffie and Aerith behind.

Yuffie was initially supposed to accompany Leon to the tournament, but she had spectacularly banged her foot into the door and broken her toe. With a cast enabling a funny walk, she had effectively ruled herself out of the tournament. It also meant that Leon was now the only person on the team, which he certainly did not mind.

With the hyperactive girl being ruled out of the tournament it opened the door of opportunity of taking Aerith with him.

Them being alone, and together where they'd have most of their time away from the formalities of life, and simply with each other sounded like the most appealing thing Leon had ever thought of in his entire life.

But, he did not pursue this idea further. Aerith wasn't fond at all of fighting and killing so he thought leaving her behind would be a better option. Besides, leaving her would be a nice reason to come back home. Something he, otherwise, might not have wanted to do so quickly.

It was the dreaded moment of departure.

Leon had released Aerith from his hug, but the woman was still clinging on to him. Slowly and reluctantly she let go off him.

Leon turned around to take his leave, but Aerith quickly grabbed his hand forcing him to turn back. Aerith examined his face one last time. She caresses his cheek and said ever-so-softly, "Comeback soon… I'll be waiting…"

Leon nodded in approval and gave a not-so-rare-any-longer smile.

"And safe!" she called in addendum.

"Daddyyyyyyy, Let's gooooooo!" Eiko yelled the whine from the window of King Mickey's gummy ship.

Leon glanced sideways to his limping partner and commanded, "Keep her safe until I return."

"Yes Sir!" Yuffie smirked, adding a mock salute.

He rolled his eyes, but nodded approvingly nevertheless and gave a gentle smile to Aerith before leaving.

King Mickey was supposed to drop Leon off to the Coliseum and then they would continue their journey to the former home of Eiko to see if that too was restored because of Sora's actions.

Both Yuffie and Aerith waved them good-bye as the gummy ship blasted off.

The black haired girl, still bitter by Leon's decision to not take Aerith with him, complained, "He is sooooo mean! Why didn't he take you with him?"

"Didn't you see what he was trying to do?" Aerith queried.

"Huh?"

"He wanted me to stay here… so he has a reason to return back" she explained letting the slightest of smiles grace her pink lips.

"Whatever you say Aerith, but I think men are just selfish. When something big happens, they say... 'It's too dangerous... You can't come!' They treat women like we are weaklings!" Yuffie retorted.

"That's not true. Everyone, wants someone special waiting for them. Someone who will protect a place they can return to. If you don't have that peace of mind, then you would not be able to get anything done... Men try to fight it out as much as they can and then some...They're cute when they do that, aren't they? Besides…" She added with a smirk, "You are weak Yuffie because your foot is broken…"

"Yeah… Whatever." She mumbled, glaring at the crack against her crippled foot. But her face light up again, as she looked at Aerith in horrified amazement, "He just left, and I'm already starting to sound like him!" She finished by waving her arms in the air for emphasis.

Aerith giggled and ruffled her hair playfully, which Yuffie so despised, "Silly."

Olympus Coliseum

"This place has changed significantly from my last visit…" Leon noted, gazing around absorbing his surroundings.

This place was bustling with people. It was very noisy and a bit chaotic atmosphere all around. People were moving in all random directions and socializing at every corner. Some smaller kids pestered their parents to sit on the ride while others were busy emptying out the pockets of their parents by purchasing useless stuff. There was a loud music in the background which he was sure no one cared about. People were wearing, according to Leon, comical clothes all around. At times like this, Leon missed his hushed, and serene, underground cavern more than anything else.

Some pretty unimaginative people might even call this place a fair.

He had arrived a day earlier than the scheduled time of the tournament to start. It was nightfall, but he wasn't concerned about his temporary lodging as the tournament organizers had allocated them, the elite warriors, a special room in a hotel by the arena. Since it was supposed to be a short stay, Leon was carrying only a duffle bag so he had no urgency to reach to the hotel to put away his bare minimum luggage.

There was only one thing on his agenda before he could retreat for the night. He was entrusted by Cid to deliver a package, a strange gummy block, to the owner of a bar in the city.

With a destination in his mind, he set out to do the only thing on his 'To do list.'

The delivery boy, Leon, had successfully navigated his way through the hoard of crowd. He for the most part had managed to avoid bumping or even brushing with oncoming people in the crowd.

With large flashing neon lights, finding the bar was simple. It was called "Barrant's 7th Heaven."

After examining the arrangement from the outside Leon inferred that the top terrace must be used as the restaurant while the ground must have accommodated the bar. His further inspection of the structure and the locality was interrupted by a loud scream followed by a louder thump.

He saw a large figure flying out of the entrance of the bar crashing onto the gigantic trashcan outside. Leon noticed that the source of that human projectile was black shoe which had retreated after kicking that man. He had barely blinked when another figure crashed landed near the same area, this time followed by a petite leather gloved fist.

Leon gulped unknowing and silently cursed Cid for sending him to such dangerous place.

"Finding the bar was the easy part, but to find the will to enter is the hard part…" he grimly concluded after seeing flying humans out of the bar. If there was trouble inside, he wanted no part of it.

Naturally, a large crowd had gathered out by now thanks to the commotion.

Leon, who had tried his best to avoid the crowd so far, was now in middle of a crowd. Dejected, he shook his head with a sigh and moved on, "Let's get the over with."

With that stoke of determination he made his way through the mingling, but small, population and finally entered the bar.

Thankfully, it was a no-smoking bar, but the music was a torturously loud for his ears. "I'd die if I had to work here in this noise."

To the folks enjoying themselves in the bar, the atmosphere was filled with music thanks to large speakers all around the bar. To Leon, it was not music but just loud, uncultivated, and uncivilized noise. This further boosted his willpower to get the hell out of that place ASAP.

He strolled up to the counter where drinks were being served.

The room itself was a deep wood with carved tables that seemed to be glued to the floor. The rickety stairs creaked as waitresses and men walked along them, trying to get to where they were supposed to be. The clanking of glasses and the chatting of voices wafted through the cheeseburger and beer smelled air, making Leon slightly dizzy. He wanted to get out of the dim lit place with a hasty retreat.

He then called out for the bartender but his voice was barely audible to himself. He screamed this time just to get his voice across to the bartender. But he wasn't sure that the pretty blonde girl serving the drinks who was only a few feet away had heard him.

He was about to call her again when someone placed a hand on his shoulder. Out of pure reflex, he turned around in an instance with his eyes fixating on the person who had dared to lay their hand on him with ferocity. But the intensity in his eyes immediately softened when he found out that the person who had committed that atrocity of touching him was a rather… beautiful… lady…

[Snapshot 1]

Her stunning features slowly processed in his mind. Her skin was fair – a major contrast with her raven black hair cascading half way down her back. She had very peculiar red eyes. She wore a simple white T-shirt with a sleeveless, black, leather vest over it, with matching leggings and a skirt that was mid thigh in the front, and down to her ankles in the back, complete with black and white loose converse high tops. To go along with her attire she wore black gloves and black shoes.

She was holding two leather gloves in her hand and was wearing black shoes.

That last piece of information caught his attention. Upon seeing that Leon realized that the stamp on that drunken man's face that soared out of the bar must have been from those shoes. The two leather gloves she was holding in her other hand further solidified his theory that the person who had propelled those men was that female.

Someone else might have been offended from Leon's unblinking, almost rude, stare, but the lady in black was, unfortunately, use to such harsh treatment. She retreated her hand and asked in a friendly manner, "Can I help you?"

She then leaned closer to him, their noses only few centimeters apart, and said in a rather stern voice, "Or would you like to join those bumps outside?" By the end of her sentence she left no hints of playfulness or friendliness. It was a warning, a clear warning.

[Snapshot 2]

Leon blinked couple of time before finally catching up to what was going on. He immediately apologized, "I-I'm sorry! I don't need any drinks. I'm here to—"

No sooner had Leon made his intentions clear about not wanting any drinks, she interrupted him in a mid sentence, "So you are like those bums!" Without missing a beat she put a glove on her left fist all the while giving a nasty look to the man in black.

Leon's jaw clenched and his left hand formed a fist. He was autonomously getting ready for the defense in case of an attack. He relaxed his right hand lying on the table, with fingers slightly curved, in case he had to block an assault.

But, nothing of a sort happened.

Rather strangely, the girl in black broke into a playful laughter leaving no traces of her earlier seriousness. She then extended her bare right hand to the stranger in front of her showing a polite gesture of greeting.

But, Leon being Leon, did not responded.

But, this girl was not willing to give up just yet. She managed to squeeze her fingers into the half curled fist of Leon and practically forced him into a handshake. But seeing unresponsiveness from Leon she placed her left hand on the other side of his hand, now grabbing his hand with both of hers. She then proceeded to forcefully giving him a handshake with both her hands.

[Snapshot 3]

Leon, reluctant at first, acknowledged her gesture.

"Damn! I'm getting soft. I would have practically killed the person who would have done anything similar to this few months ago. But now… it's all your fault Aerith. Your gentleness is rubbing off on me."

"Hi, my name is Tifa. Tifa Lockhart. I am the bartender and the bounder of this bar!" she said with a cheerful smile and a tinge of pride.

"Leon." No sentence, no explanation required. For him one word answers a lot of questions. Did anyone realize how easy and wonderful the world would be if Leon taught English?

"Nice to meet you!" she giggle with her charming smile.

This time he just nodded, no words needed. Did anyone realize how straightforward and fantastic humanity would be if Leon was in charge of worldwide communications?

"Can I get you something?" she asked.

"I don't drink… anymore… I guess. Last time I drank that champagne I proposed to Aerith, I am not going to do anything stupid like that again," he thought determinedly.

"Water…" He grumbled, eyes set downcast on the table. He didn't feel like talking much, nothing unusual there. He never feels like talking anyway.

"Who goes to a bar and drinks water?" she questioned with a chuckle, not trying to hide her amusement at all.

"I do," he said with a shrug. It was a simple and an honest reply.

She smiled at his odd antics before attending to her job, "As you wish milord."

She gave him his glass of water and attended a few other customers.

"So what brings you here?" she said leaning towards Leon, startling him a bit.

"I am here to see Fidelin Barrant…"

"Oh… the boss is not here today. Anything I can help with?" she offered politely.

"No… it's okay. I need to see him in person," he said with a nod to emphasize his point.

"Then… you'll have to come back tomorrow. He's usually here in the morning," she informed after pondering for a moment.

"Okay," saying that he stood up. His business here was done, for now, so had no need to stay here any longer. His ears demanded him to retreat to some nice, quiet, and peaceful atmosphere.

As he was about to leave, he stopped and pondered for a moment. "Am I supposed to give her tips, for serving me water? The water was most likely free so how do I decide how much to tip her? Isn't there some mathematical formula what determined that? I don't know the norm."

He could never tell with places such as these, "Oh the cruel humanity and its ugly complexness."

He finally decided to give her a tip so he leaned closer to Tifa. "This noise is few decibels more than the optimal human hearing capacity. You should tell them to turn it down, it's bad for your ears in a long run" he advised.

"Nice tip, Squall" he subconscious added affirmatively. "Not only it will prolong her hearing capacity, it would also benefit all the customers in the bar."

For giving such a wonderful "tip" Leon subconsciously patted himself.

"What?" she asked completely baffled. This stranger, his strange behavior, and now his strange talks, made no sense to her.

Assuming that everything was alright Leon continued, "Can you tell me which way the arena hotel is?"

"Oh, that's an easy one."

"Finally something which makes sense" she thought.

"You go out of the bar then make a right. Go through the crowd till the end of the fair, and then take another right. Once you get past the residential area make a left and you'll see a big sign which says, 'Welcome to the Galbadia Hotel'!" she explained animatedly.

Leon opened his mouth to say something, but Tifa beat him to it, "Don't worry, it's easier than it sounds."

"Did you just say, 'go through the crowd?'" he asked appallingly.

"Yeah. What's wrong with that?" she asked slightly baffled. This guy never seized to amaze her.

"Isn't there a way around it? A way to avoid going through the crowd I mean? A much quieter way to the hotel?" he asked, stating his concern.

"Oh, I get it!" she said with a smile. "Not a people's person, are you?" she teased lightly.

"It's the noise which gets to me, mostly," he replied sternly. "But that too… I guess," he added quietly.

"All right, so here is what you do," she once again started vivaciously. "Go out of the bar and make a left. You'll be in the back alleyway. Keep going straight until you can't go any further. Then make a left and then take the second right and then—"she paused in mid-sentence.

"You know what? Forget it. I'll walk you there!" she declared, placing her hands on her hips.

"Don't worry, I'll find it…" he ensured, declining the nice offer.

"No, it's okay. I have to go there anyway, to see Cloud. So if you don't mind then I can accompany you till there" she offered with a smile.

"But don't you have work?" he pointed out. It was another one of his tricks to decline her offer.

"My shift was over half hour ago, but those bozos showed up as I was about to leave," she clarified after wiping her hands off. One thing Tifa did not know was how to give up.

"I could go on my own and bump into hundreds of people on my way… and the noise. Or I could go with her… in silence. I think the latter one is a better deal" he concluded.
"Okay. I guess…" he said after a contemplating with his inner self. By that time, Tifa was already by the door motioning him to come along.

"Plus a hot chick in a dark alley… if you catch my drift" added his friendly-imaginary-subconscious-companion devil Leon hovering around his left shoulder.

"Don't listen to that devil Leon. You are a married man!" argued the St. Leon popping up on his right shoulder. "But… I do like quiet and peace… hmm…"

"Okayyyyy" he pushed himself off the chair, picked up his duffle and following her lead, he entered the alleyway.

[Snapshot 4]

Their journey for the most part was relatively quiet and Leon appreciated that. Rather than walking alone, Tifa appreciated any non-pervert company, which Leon provided adequately.

It was a dimly lighted alleyway with no one else in sight besides them. They were both wearing black so they blended in the background nicely. Neither of them talked much, so they blended into the quiet atmosphere nicely too. If Leon wasn't so… Leon-ish and if Tifa wasn't so you-touch-me-without-my-consent-and-I'll-kill-you type then it might have been almost romantic for some other couple.

After trespassing on someone's property and jumping through a few fences, they were out in the residential area. Much to Leon's relief, they had managed to avoid the crowd and the noise which accompanied it.

"So what brings you here?" she asked, almost startling Leon as she shattered the silence around them into a million fragments.

"Tournament," he was back to his answer-in-one-word mode. Tifa wasn't particularly enjoying the one-word answer game, but she did not let it bother her either.

"You're a fighter!?" she exclaimed excitedly.

"Was that a question or a statement? I can't figure it out." Whichever it was, it certainly brought a tinge of smile on Leon's face.

"I am fighting too" she said proudly. "Hey! What if we have to fight against each other?" she asked getting alarmed, her red eyes getting unnaturally wide.

"Then we fight," was his simple and ice-cold reply.

"Urgh… you are no fun!" she complained shaking her head, yet she still couldn't smother off a small smile on her face.

Tifa shoved her hands into her pockets as she kicked a stone mindlessly as few more silent moments passed by.

Absolute silence was something Tifa wasn't particularly fond of; it was rather eerie when you are with a stranger. She looked up at her silent companion, and tried to start a casual conversation, "So…" She shrugged, "you traveling alone?"

Leon closed his eyes as he walked, seemingly becoming compressed into his thoughts.

His reply was a silent nod.

"Urgh…" she growled. This man wanted no conversation at all. She wasn't sure who was better at this, Leon or Cloud?

"Wait… are you entering the tournament alone?" she gasped in surprise.

His response… a silent nod.

"Wow, you must be really strong…" she said with a hint of exhilaration.
"Or really stupid" her mind added. "But he certainly don't act like an idiot so he must be good"

"I may be good, but I am not perfect, hence I fight to see where I stand" he said deviating slightly from his usual monotone.

"Wow! It's a record! You said more than two words!" she said excitedly clasping her hands.

Leon couldn't help but notice her childlike glee and smile. He quickly regaining his composure, and so did she.

"I wonder how you would fare again Cloud" she said scratching her cheek.

It was that name, again. He knew he had heard this name before, "Cloud." He wasn't sure where he had heard it. Was it from Cid or, maybe, Aerith? He didn't remember. He knew there was something familiar about that name, but he couldn't figure it out.

But as far as Tifa was concerned, her statement failed to generate any response yet again. Not even a casual shrug this time.

She noticed that the guy next to her seemed to be lost in thoughts. She wasn't sure if she should bother him anymore.

As they were approaching the end of the residential area, she got a pleasant surprise.

"You are not from this world, are you?" he asked.

Her red eyes went wide and she was stunned for a moment. "Wait! Was that supposed to be a pick up line?" she pondered for a moment.

"Who am I kidding? This is Leon. He certainly doesn't seem to be THAT kind of a guy" she rationalized with herself.

But, regardless, she was baffled. Was it because of what he said or was it simply by the fact that he had initiated a conversation? She did not know.

"Yes, you are right. I am from a different world. A world that was…" she trailed off.

Leon picked up on the tinge of sadness in her voice. "Heartless?"

This time Tifa nodded solemnly.

It amazing how much Leon can get done by using single word.

"So where are you from?" she asked trying to sound cheerful.

"Hmm… That's complicated" he said. "I am originally from Hollow Bastion. Currently, I am living in Traverse Town."

"Traverse Town…" she repeated his words. "I've never been there. Tell me something about it," she said.

"Hmm… let's see…" he begin, "The heartless in our world use to be--"

"Great!" she turned around and stomped her foot, cutting him off in mid sentence. "The first thing you are going to tell me about your world is about heartless"

"But, didn't YOU asked me to tell you something about my world?" he pointed out.

"Yes, but I didn't ask you to talk about heartless. When I said, 'tell me something about your world' I mean tell me something good about your world. Something which makes you want to go back to your world" she explained trying not to sound agitated.

"You never specified what you wanted to talk about" he said matter-of-factly.

"FINE, talk about heartless then…" she said clearly sounding frustrated.

"Forget it"

"Urghh…"

Their journey was rather short one which included few random conversations and few needless arguments. But, in the end it was all good.

Although Leon would never admit it, he felt rather comfortable with this stranger.

"So this is the hotel you'll be staying at!?" she said holding the glass door for him.

Once again, Leon couldn't figure out if it was a question or a statement. But he nodded to Tifa in response before entering the hotel.

[Snapshot 5]

Once inside, Tifa pointed towards the reception area and informed, "Just show your invitation card to the receptionist and they will allocate you a room. The tournament starts tomorrow so make sure to get proper rest" she advised with a cheerful but challenging smile.

"How can she be so cheerful after getting off from a whole day's work?... and our argument" he wondered about this strange girl.

"I am in room 297 if you need something…" she offered politely. Once again, Leon nodded in response. She was getting quite use to this treatment.

"Oh… and one more thing. The registration desk opens tomorrow morning by the back entrance of the arena. They will give you your warrior ID and your match schedule, so be sure to check yourself in, the first thing in the morning!" she instructed.

"Let's see… I told you about hotel… registration… that… that… and that…" she was lost in her own little world for a moment counting out things that she should tell Leon before they depart.

She counted things with her fingers and once she was sure that she had covered everything, she clasped her hands together in a childish fashion. He suddenly had a flash of déja vu, Yuffie doing almost the same thing it seemed yesterday. He shuddered unwillingly at why. The reasons to take Aerith with him…

"I thank you for accompanying a lonely girl such as myself through the dark and scary alleyways. Your company was certainly the most pleasant one. If you have any other questions, concerns, or comments, please speak up now or forever hold your peace!" She tacked on playfully, breaking his train of thought.

"Thank you," was all he said.

His reply, even though simple, was rather unexpected but honest. "Well, in that case, I'll see you tomorrow then!"

He nodded in approval.

"Bye-bye" she waved, smiled, and then disappeared in the corridor.

Squall made his way towards the reception and soon got a room. He then retreated for the night.

The room was nice and clean. The bed was big and comfortable. But, something was amiss.

Leon kept on tossing and turning, but sleep did not come to him easily. After months, this was the first time he was alone… he had grown so accustomed to Aerith's presence that sleeping without her suddenly felt alien to him. He missed Aerith snuggling close to him or Eiko clinging on to him. He truly missed his family. Even when he was surrounded by people, without his family, he felt empty and lonely. The life which he lived few months ago, alone, self-dependent, and self-reliant, seemed so unreal now. He had changed and he knew it. He was glad that the tournament was a short one; else he feared that he would go crazy without them. In a strange way, he was glad that he missed them so much because his longing for them showed how much he cared and loved them.

With the thought of Aerith awaiting his return, he fell into a peaceful slumber.

Far away in a distant world (Traverse Town)

Aerith tossed and turned, but sleep did not come to her easily. For once, she found herself in a room without Leon or Eiko. Her bed suddenly seemed too large and her room seemed too empty. She missed Squall's calming and assuring presence by her side. She missed his warmth and touch. When he left for the tournament, she knew that she would miss him. But, she had not predicted the severity of pine she was experiencing right now. Leon was gone from her life for just hours, but she had already started feeling unfulfilled. It was as if someone had taken an immense chunk out of her life. Without Leon, her zing was missing. She was still wearing a smile, but from the inside she felt very empty. She had changed and she knew it. She was glad that the tournament was a short one; else she feared that she would go crazy without him. In a strange way, she was glad that she missed him so much because her longing for him showed how much she cared and loved him.

With the thought of Squall returning soon, she fell into a peaceful slumber.

Olympus Coliseum

Leon did not know when he succumbed to sleep previous night, but he was up and running this morning. It was the big day, the tournament day. After getting ready, he immediately made his way to the arena for registration. He stood by the arena entrance contemplating for a moment and absorbing the view, the tension, and the atmosphere of the tournament.

As he approached the registration desk, he could hear an argument. It was a large commotion with a guy with a blond spiked hair. He was wearing a tattered red cloak with dark blue pants and a shirt completing the odd style with brown boots. He wore gloves, the left one having gold trimmings like that of a claw, matching a variety of belts around his waist. The one thing that caught Leon's eye was the peculiar bandaged sword he carried…

Somewhere in the argument he was sure he heard a voice very familiar to him.

As Squall approached the registration desk, the warrior making the commotion turned around and they both shared a quick glance.

Once again he couldn't shake off the familiar of that voice as the argument continued.

Maneuvering through the awful crowd Leon made it to the desk when he finally saw the owner of that familiar voice. When he saw that sight he froze dead on his tracks. It was a sight he would never forget. It was someone who had managed to almost kill him even without lifting a finger. It was his nemesis.

A/N:

-- Any idea what [Snapshots] are for? Its meaning may be known in next chapter, but its relevance might not be known till much latter.

-- Any idea who is this "nemesis" of Leon? You have seen that character before.

-- Up next, we see Cloud and Leon fighting. With each other or against each other? I can't tell you, yet.

-- Hope you like it :D

Refrences

-- "7th Heaven is Tifa's bar in FF7

-- The conversation betwenn Aerith and Yuffie when Leon leaves is similar to what Elly and Margie has in Xenogears

Like always, please take a moment to review. I enjoy reading your reviews as much as you enjoy reading this story!

Thanks!