Chapter 24

Somewhere over the course of an evening, while Leon was sleep, Aerith's entire world seemed to have collapsed. The Carrier was greeted by wailing when he started watching again. She and Cloud were on the couch together, the blonde laying on his back with the girl on top of him using his entire chest as a tissue to smear her tears on. Cloud wasn't overly upset, of if he was, he didn't show it. He was blank, and only offered any sort of expression when Aerith looked up from his chest. Even then, it wasn't much. He just held her, rubbed her back, and waited for her to calm down.

"Aerith…" he trailed dejectedly after listening to her for another ten minutes. She pushed herself up and sat on his thighs, her face as red as a tomato with bloodshot eyes. Cloud sat up as much as he could.

"W-why—" she hiccupped, stopping to catch her breath, "why aren't you u-upset?" she choked.

"I am upset. But we knew it was happening. I'm not surprised," he said. She wiped her face with little success. Her cries calmed into loud uneven sniffles.

"But I don't w-want you to go!" she squealed, throwing herself on him again and hugging his neck. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed tight, resting his chin on her hair

"I know. I don't want to either," he said flatly.

"What if I never see you again?"

"You will. I'll come back."

Oh god don't tell her that, Leon begged, the guilt trickling in.

"But what if you d—"

"Aerith," Cloud said sternly, nudging her back enough so he could look her in the eye. "Stop. I'll be back. I promise."

"But—"

"You have to trust me."

"I do trust you."

"Then there shouldn't be a problem."

"But it is a prob—" she started but the blonde grabbed her face and pressed their lips together before she could get anywhere. It was a short kiss, just enough to get the girl to be quiet. He hugged her again afterward. It was then that he showed emotion. When Aerith's face was tucked against his neck and couldn't see, Cloud's obvious fear and worry seeped into his face. Leon hadn't seen the blonde look so scared since he was a lot younger. Even went Nana died, Cloud wasn't worried. He wasn't happy, but not afraid. Being shipped off to a possible death sentence was reason enough to be fearful, but Leon couldn't help but wonder if Cloud's main concern was dying, or breaking his promise to Aerith. The latter was part of the Carrier's concern, even with knowing she wouldn't remember who Cloud was once they left. The guilt was just too much for him to dwell on.

He pushed his thoughts aside as he stopped the feed and went to get himself together for the day. He was starting to run out of clothes to wear and vaguely wondered where the laundry facilities were, and if he could sneak away to go shopping at some point. But before he did that, he needed to bathe and eat breakfast.

Leon was in the habit of waking up early. He was in the cafeteria by six in the morning, right when breakfast started. Most of the other students didn't roll in until almost eight. The people who ate as early as the Carrier did were the teachers. A lot of them lived on campus, including the Headmaster. Leon took his tray and tried to find a place to sit and eat by himself. His morning hadn't been the best and he wanted to think a little. He needed to come up with a plan. As much as it hurt him to consider the possibility of hurting Cloud when they left together, he still needed to figure out a way to get the blonde to follow. He managed to find a table and started eating.

"Squall," someone said abruptly. Leon startled and looked up to see Headmaster Cid standing at the end of his table. The man came around and sat in the available seat next to him.

"Yes?" Leon asked, raising a brow. Headmaster Cid thought about what he wanted to say for a moment before he ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

"Your exemplary strength has been brought to my attention. It's not the first time we've had students come to us with such abilities but they're always the minority and we've kept them under close scrutiny. So I'll be frank and just ask you straight: do you use Mako?" he asked, giving the Carrier serious eyes. Leon choked on a piece of food and started coughing.

"No!" he barked when he could breathe again. That's why the instructor was acting so weird, he concluded.

"Using Mako is against our policy, not to mention Balamb's law."

"I'm not."

"So you'd be willing to let us test you?"

"Yes!"

"…Oh," the Headmaster deadpanned; seemingly surprised the Carrier was so forthcoming.

"What do you need me to do?" Leon asked.

"It's just a blood test," the man said. The other immediately set his arm on the table, wrist up, presenting his veins to the man with an expectant expression. Headmaster Cid rubbed his brows. "Not right this second."

"Well the faster we can get this done, the faster I can be taken seriously. Why would I want to prolong such conclusions about myself?"

"I understand but we'll take care of it before the day is over. In fact, when you're done eating just report to Dr. Kadowaki and tell her what we need and she can get it done then."

"Fine."

"If you're clean, I apologize for my judgment in advance. But you understand where I'm coming from, yes?"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean I'm any less insulted," Leon grumped. Headmaster Cid gave him a small smile.

"True enough. I look forward to being able to see you progress. You'll be a valuable asset to our forces."

After dropping off a blood sample to Dr. Kadowaki and going to back to his room for his money, Leon decided it was time to go shopping. He wasn't allowed to do anything else pertaining to his education before the test results came back so he was sort of at odds with himself. Getting out and spending some time by himself seemed like an okay way to pass the time. However, as he made his way outside, Zell found him.

"Where're you headed out so early?" the blonde asked curiously.

"Shopping. My wardrobe is a little sparse," Leon said flatly, continuing to walk past him.

"By yourself?" Zell asked, clearing the space between them and falling in line.

"Yes."

"But there's like… nature out there."

"You'll have that."

"Yeah well, this nature can kill you, you know. It's really not the best idea to go out there unarmed and by yourself."

"Are you offering to be my meat shield?" Leon asked grumpily, hoping the brash terminology was enough to give the other a hint.

"Well my conscience would feel better if I made sure you were okay. Can I tag along?"

"Whatever," the Carrier huffed. Zell frowned but followed after him anyway. Their first stop was at the chocobo stables where they retrieved Binky and a spare bird for Zell. The blonde didn't have one assigned to him. His mother had brought him to the school in her car but she obviously took it back, leaving her son relatively stranded. But it was fine. The school had plenty of birds for everyone. Binky seemed happy to see Leon and rubbed his face against him affectionately. They set out together at a leisurely pace, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious.

"So…" Zell trailed, attempting to make small talk. Leon didn't oblige him. The blonde sighed. "Are you going to ignore me the whole time we're out?"

"No, but you haven't said anything that I needed to reply to."

"You could've tried to start a conversation."

"I assumed 'so…' was your effort to start one. I was waiting for the rest of it."

"Oh. Well, I wanted to ask why you're here. There are lots of rumors going around about you and no one can really put together a story for you that sounds halfway accurate."

"Why does it matter? Let them think what they want. I can't do anything to change whatever opinions about me they've already formed."

"Maybe. But you really don't care?"

"Caring about everyone else is not why I'm here," Leon said.

"So what is it, then?" Zell asked.

"Don't worry about it."

"Don't be like that. Seriously. I don't want to think you're a bad guy just because you're not as outgoing as some people but if you don't give me anything to work with I'm going to have to believe the rumors."

"What are the rumors?"

"That you're a spy from Midgar," Zell said. Leon stopped Binky and stared at the blonde with hard eyes.

"Excuse me?" he asked, immediately angry. Zell pulled his chocobo around and stopped to look at him as well.

"It's what everyone's saying. That you do Mako and you're here to spy and give away strategies to the enemy. I heard how strong you are. You don't talk to anyone either. We can only go by what we see and you're awfully suspicious," Zell explained. Leon sighed.

"I'm here because I'm looking for someone."

"Are they here?"

"No. They're in Midgar."

"Then why come here?"

"Because I hate Midgar. I'll eventually end up over there in battle anyway and he's a soldier so we'll probably find each other. Or I'll die trying. Whichever comes first," the brunette said, continuing forward again. The blonde followed.

"He?" Zell asked, raising a brow. Leon sighed.

"Yes. He."

"Uh… you don't have to tell me if it's personal but is he—"

"He's family."

"Oh. Okay. So you really think you can find him? Sort of like a needle in a haystack of you think about it."

"I have my methods," Leon said.

"Fancy Esthar methods?"

"…Sure, we can call them that."

"Does he know you're looking for him?" Zell asked.

"No. We were separated before he even knew I existed."

"Is he your brother or something?"

"It's complicated. Just leave it at that."

"Okay. Thanks for telling me. I feel better."

"That's good," Leon said.

"So what's the deal with Esthar, anyway?"

"I have no idea."

"Seriously? You are from there, yeah?"

"Yeah. I just don't pay attention to things I don't care about. I left as soon as I could."

"What did your parents say?"

"I don't have any."

"Oh… sorry."

"It's fine."

Zell didn't say much for a while after that. They reached the city without incident and that's when the blonde became more active again. He yanked Leon to just about every shop they could find within a mile, and rifled through the clothing racks for suitable things for the Carrier to wear. Zell's fashion sense wasn't atrocious (better than Irvine's anyway) but after forty-five minutes of fabric mayhem, Leon was ready to punch the blonde and tell him to fuck off. He was a big boy. He could pick out pants for himself. Zell eventually got the hint and backed off but browsed anyway and found something for him. He came over with it and poked the brunette in the shoulder.

"Fuck no," Leon spat, sending a beaming glare in the blonde's direction where he was holding up a pastel pink shirt. Zell laughed.

"Oh come on! Humor me!"

"You wear it."

"No way."

"Then why the hell would I?"

"Because it'll be funny. My mom forced me into a couple of these when I was younger. Whenever I would get angry at her, she would yell at me and tell me that I can wear whatever I wanted because we were free and allowed to do so. She just never got the hint that I didn't want to."

"I'm sorry for your misfortune. Good thing you're not my mother. I'm not putting it on."

"Yeah okay fine," Zell laughed and went to put the shirt back. Leon sighed and rolled his eyes.

Purchases were made and the pair decided to find lunch. Leon managed to find something in town he could eat while Zell inhaled whatever part of his meal he didn't eat. The blonde kept a suspicious eye on him the entire meal but didn't ask questions. They strapped Leon's bags to Binky's saddle and headed back towards the school. They made it back with minimal conversation and no damage.

"You made it sound like there was going to be a wave of things out to eat me if I went out there by myself," Leon said flatly. Zell grinned at him.

"Monsters don't generally go after you if you're riding a chocobo."

"Well then why the fuck did you insist on coming?"

"Because I wanted to clear the air."

"Sneaky bastard," Leon muttered.

"Was it really that painful? I had fun."

"…No, it was fine."

"See? Socializing is fun," Zell said with a laugh.

The Garden had an enormous library stuffed to brim with books on just about anything Leon could think of. The Carrier nearly peed himself when he discovered it and tore through the catalog to find texts about Esthar and Balamb. With an armful of books and several strange looks following him, he retreated to his room to immerse himself. Being able to hold a book and read it in Plane 087 seemed like such a novelty. He spread out on the couch comfortably and tuned out the rest of the world for almost three hours before he remembered he should probably use the bathroom and maybe get a glass of water. After that, when he came back for his second round, he was interrupted by a knock on his door. He answered begrudgingly and was surprised to find the girl with the black hair he had seen with Seifer in front of him. She held out a file for him.

"Hi. Headmaster Cid wanted me to give this to you," she said. Her voice was light and airy, but warm. He flipped through the papers in the file briefly.

"Are you like… his secretary or something?" he asked idly.

"Sort of. My boyfriend's the head of the Disciplinary Committee and so I'm a member too, though I usually sit upstairs when I have the time and file the write-up slips and keep all the paperwork in line. So… here I am. Handling more paperwork," she said with a smile.

"Okay. Thanks for the delivery," Leon said and stepped back into the room, dismissing the rest of the conversation. When he was out of the way of the door's motion sensor, it tried to slide shut but the girl on the other side stopped it with her hand, causing it to bounce back open like an elevator door.

"Wait," she said. He looked at her with a raised brow. "I wanted to apologize too."

"For what?"

"For Seifer."

"You don't need to. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Well, I still feel bad. I already apologized to Zell too. I could've tried to stop him from starting something, but I didn't even try," she said with a tiny sigh.

"Apology not accepted," Leon said flatly. Her jaw dropped and she furrowed her brows together. "I told you. You didn't do anything wrong. He's old enough to be here and put his life on the line for his country, he should take responsibility for himself outside of that as well."

"Well you're probably not going to get an apology from him. Ever," she said grumpily.

"Oh well. There are worse things in life. I don't agree with making others cover for me. It's cowardly. People like that aren't worth my time."

"He's not a coward."

"Of course he is. Why else would he hide behind so much bravado?"

"Because he's prideful."

"Being prideful is being proud of yourself. If you have to go around and take everyone down so you feel they're below you, you obviously don't hold yourself on a high enough pedestal. Even if has some pride and is arrogant, the simple fact that he feels he needs to insult and instigate speaks volumes about his lack of character and self worth," Leon said, eyes empty of emotion. The girl scrunched her brows together.

"You have a serious acid tongue on you, you know that?" she asked, sounding insulted. Leon shrugged.

"This is all stemming from personal observation. So far, I've learned that the people here really like to pass judgment and rumors around. Maybe if Seifer is aware of the way people perceive him, he'll give enough of a damn to change. But I'm not going to wait for him to do it. So… sorry. Your boyfriend is a dick."

"Apparently so are you."

"Not on purpose. I'm just overly honest. He hasn't exactly given me anything nice to say about him," Leon said, going to sit on his couch again. The girl didn't have a response and looked thoughtful as she stared at his floor. When she hesitated in his doorway for a few minutes without saying anything, Leon sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Sorry if I insulted you. What he does doesn't give me the impression you're a bad person or that you're the same. I wasn't trying to make a preemptive analysis of your personality or anything."

"I'm not insulted. I mean… maybe a little because he is my boyfriend but I can't deny that it's all true," she said. The door started to beep, yelling at her to get out of the doorway and to let it close. She invited herself in and took one of the stools at the little table across from the couch. Leon raised a brow but didn't say anything.

"Is he like that to everyone? Or just people who stand up against him?" he asked.

"Everyone mostly."

"Even you?"

"He's not mean to me, if that's what you're asking. He's just… pushy."

Whatever that means, Leon told himself. "There's someone for everyone, I guess. I'm glad you're happy with him."

"Yeah," she said half-heartedly.

"Or was that a false assumption on my part?"

"I'm not sure," she admitted. He raised his brows but decided not to ask. It wasn't his place. He refocused on the papers. He had a schedule, as well as his blood test results which were clean; as expected. He was cleared to take his combat assessment in the morning and after that he would have to get his picture taken for his ID. Other than that though, he was all set to start his classes the following Monday. It was a relief on his part and he let out a satisfied sigh and set the folder aside. When he looked back at the girl, she had her chin propped up on the heel of her hand on the table with a distant thoughtful look on her face. He considered prying, but quickly decided against it. He really didn't want to know. So, he returned to his book.

I wonder at what point it becomes socially acceptable to say 'go away, I didn't want you in here in the first place', he asked himself. After another fifteen minutes of uncomfortable silence, she sighed.

"Sorry, I should probably get back. You just… made me think a lot more than I had been. Sorry for invading your room," she said. He shrugged his indifference and didn't make an effort to see her out. She went to the door and stopped for a second before looking back to him. "Can I have your name?" she asked.

"Squall."

"I'm Rinoa."

"Nice to meet you. Officially."

"Yeah. You too."

"Thanks for the delivery," he said, finally glancing up from his book. She nodded.

"No problem."

"Hold on… wait," Cloud said, fumbling around with the tripod. Somewhere along the line, the pair had acquired a camera. Leon didn't think they had actually purchased it, since cameras were expensive, but a rental served the purpose just as well. Aerith was overly amused with Cloud's clumsy fiddling with the device and sat on the bench in front of the beds of wildflowers giggling at him. The blonde scowled as he tried to get it to sit straight and stay in place. He spent a while moving it, stepping back, looking through it, then moving it again. He eventually got to where he was satisfied, set the timer, and skittered over to sit with Aerith. The picture snapped and popped out the bottom the camera. Aerith went to go get it and came back to the bench.

"It's nice," she said quietly, looking at the little square in her hands. Cloud leaned over her shoulder and took a peek.

"Yeah," he said. Aerith set it in her lap with a sigh. "What's wrong?"

"I don't want just a picture," she said sadly. She turned to look at him, eyes already glassy and threatening a torrent of tears. Cloud's expression fell and he hugged her quickly.

"Please don't cry anymore," he begged.

"I can't help it," she said, her speech muffled by his shirt.

Why the fuck do I even bother watching anymore? All I'm getting out of this is one kick to the balls after another, Leon asked himself. He held his face in his hands, Aerith's pitiful sniffling reverberating in his skull like some sort of dysfunctional funeral hymn. He felt like garbage.

"I know. But I wanted a picture of just you to take with me and I don't want it of you crying," Cloud said.

"Okay," she said, sitting back and wiping her eyes. Her hands shook as she picked at her dress and smoothed it back into place. They sat together quietly until she had calmed down enough to take a reasonably happy-looking photograph. Cloud didn't bother with the tripod that time around and held the camera himself. He snapped the photo, grabbed it when it popped out, and went to sit with her again. He held the picture at arm's length and smiled cockily at her.

"Everyone's going to be jealous of me. They're all going to ask me who the babe in the picture is and I get to tell them that she's mine," he said. Aerith's cheeks turned bright pink and she picked at her fingers shyly. He smiled and purposefully leaned against her, slowly putting more pressure on her and forcing her to bend under the force until she finally gave in and looked at him. When she did, he kissed her nose and sat up normally again. Embarrassment pushed aside, she welcomed herself to lean against his shoulder comfortably.

"I don't want to be by myself," she said after a few moments of silence. He laid his cheek against her hair.

"You won't be. You said they're going to bring a couple kids with them, yeah?"

"It's not the same."

"But it'll keep you distracted and busy. The time will fly by before you know it."

"So you say."

"That's right. So I say."

"You say it like it's going to be easy."

"Aerith… I'm trying to help you. I'm completely aware of how much this is going to suck but one of us has to be positive otherwise we'd both be crying and miserable. I want to see you as happy as possible as much as I can before I go, okay?" he said, pulling away and making eye contact with her. She looked away, contemplating, before she nodded and looked down at her hands again.

"How many pictures do we have left?" she asked. He handed the camera off to her and she clicked the various buttons trying to find out. Half of the exposures they had were used by Cloud's stupidity with the device. Leon was sure they had a few too many pictures of the blonde's nostrils.

"Well?" Cloud asked.

"Just a couple."

"What did you want pictures of?" he asked. She thought about it and looked to him with a tiny smile.

"I think… if we go inside, I can figure it out," she said. Cloud raised a brow.

"Inside? It's brighter out here though."

"We have lights inside, too."

"Well yeah, but I thought the point was the flowers—"

"Cloud?"

"Hmm?"

"Go inside and take your pants off," she said flatly. The blonde was surprised and stared at the girl for over a minute trying to figure out if she was serious or not. She eventually gave his shoulder a shove towards the house and he took the hint and wandered back inside with her. Aerith, camera in hand, giggled loudly before closing the door behind them. Leon sighed and held his face in his hands.

Don't they ever stop?

Leon was not looking forward to his combat assessment. Physical abuse and causing death were not high on his priority list, to say the least. Plus, any show of strength was sure to alienate him even more. He trudged around the halls, attempting to find the right place he was supposed to be with little success. He knew there was a training area and that it was by the gym, but he couldn't remember where that was for the life of him. He ended up taking a seat on a bench in one of the halls and sighing as he thought long and hard about his surroundings. His thought processes were abruptly disturbed when someone plopped next to him and leaned against him. He looked over to find huge blue eyes framed in walnut colored ski jump hair staring up at him.

"Hi again!" Selphie squeaked. He hadn't missed that voice in the least.

"Hi."

"Why so down?"

"I'm not."

"You sure seem like it."

"I'm frustrated. It's different."

"Why so frustrated?"

"This place is a maze," Leon said grumpily.

"Yeah it is. Where do you need to go? I might know."

"Wherever the combat assessments are."

"Oh! I know where that is!" she said happily and jumped up from her seat and tugged on his arm. She yanked him down the hall and into the main convergence area with the elevators. She hurried along down another hallway until they met a series of tables where there were students taking information. Leon gave his to them and they handed him some more paperwork and a pen and sent him inside. Selphie tagged along next to him, jabbering on about things he didn't care to listen to. He ignored her for the most part and only grunted where he felt it was appropriate. He was more concerned with the training area itself.

It reminded him of an ecosystem dome. It looked to be a fully functional indoor jungle. Trees and plants stretched far up into the air before disappearing into the dark behind the light fixtures. The floor was concrete covered in dirt and mulch with a path scraped away. There were fences and things blocking off big chunks of the landscape with ponds and water features spread out amongst them intermittently. Vines and branches hung down and rocks and logs littered the ground making some areas more difficult to traverse than others. All in all, it looked to Leon more like a jungle that had grown to overcome an industrial park. There was visible signs of manmade structures littered throughout; covered in mosses and lichens. He couldn't focus on it too long though.

"You just couldn't leave it alone, could you?" barked Seifer. Leon had hardly a second to react before the other's fist collided with the side of his face, sending him backpedaling. He would've been able to stay on his feet, but Selphie happened to be in his way and they tripped over one another, sending them both into the dirt.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Leon roared back at him. He quickly scooted off Selphie and helped pull her up. The Carrier could do much else to help her as he was pulled into Seifer's face by the front of his shirt and shaken.

"You just couldn't stay away! You had to gawk at her and then make a move, huh?" the blonde sneered, giving the Carrier another shake. He didn't give Leon a chance to respond before he reared back and landed another punch right into the bridge of the brunette's nose. He hadn't applied nearly enough force to break anything, but Leon's nose did spurt a fountain of blood down his face. He had absolutely no idea what prompted it all but his human side stepped aside for a moment and let his Totem's instincts leak through. Suddenly there was another male in his territory, threatening his dominance, and he just couldn't have that. It didn't compute.

There was no kicking, or punching, or flailing around. Leon simply grabbed onto the wrists holding him in place, dug his fingertips into the tendons fastening Seifer's wrist and hand together and squeezed. Pressing on those tendons on a relaxed hand and wrist is enough to make the fingers curl inward involuntarily, but crushing them rendered Seifer's grasp virtually useless. Once he was let go, Leon immediately pulled his fist back and shoved it straight into the blonde's jaw. Seifer was floored with a loud pained cry. The squealing wail that came from him afterward sounded almost inhuman. His jaw was broken and hung from the bottom of his face unhealthily. Once he realized what he had done, Leon stopped himself and didn't advance any further. He pulled up the bottom of his shirt and wiped at his nose. It was ruined anyway.

People crowded around them both, including the girl with the eye patch and the large dark skinned guy Seifer had been seen traveling with when Leon first saw them. Selphie tried to get the Carrier to show her his nose, but he insisted he was fine. There was such a sudden whirlwind of activity around them, he could hardly focus. People were throwing questions at him left and right, overwhelming him with anxiety and sudden claustrophobia. He shoved himself through the crowd and hurried further into the training center, finding a few trees to sit behind, hoping for some peace. He felt awful. His nose was the least of his concerns, though. For as much as Seifer may have deserved the retaliation, Leon couldn't get past the idea that he had lost control. Because of his ineptitude, he seriously hurt someone. The guilt was more overwhelming than the crowd of people. He balanced his elbows on his knees and held his face in his hands as he tried to pull himself together.

"Are you alright?" chimed a familiar voice. Leon looked up from his hands to see Rinoa sit in front of him, her brow creased in concern.

"I'm fine," he said flatly.

"You're sure? You left really quickly."

"I'm sure. I just needed to not be bombarded by people for a minute."

"Should I leave?"

"No, I'm over it," he lied.

"Okay good because I wanted to explain."

"Explain what?"

"Why he started it. I broke up with him."

"Okay…"

"When he asked why, I told him I had been thinking a lot lately, which I have. He asked me what changed and then I mentioned that you and I had talked and… he sort of took it to the extreme. I really didn't say anything other than 'we had a conversation' but he's… paranoid or something. I don't know."

"Possessive," Leon corrected for her.

"That too. I'm really really sorry. I knew he was mad, but he's only gotten physical with someone maybe once before. He yells a lot, but he's really not a violent person. I didn't think he'd start something."

"He must have cared for you a lot, then," he said. Rinoa pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them.

"I guess? I don't know. I told you that he's not mean to me, and it's true, but he's a completely different person once we're around other people. Like he's showing me off. Which… is sort of flattering but then he would blank out when we're alone, like I was just there and not someone he wanted to interact with. We talked and stuff but not much else besides that except the occasional kiss. We didn't really do anything together, go out, see people, anything."

Why are you telling me this? Leon asked her silently. He was almost afraid to be by himself with one person anymore. Between Rinoa and Reno, the over sharing was a bit much. The silence that followed the girl's confession made the air awkward. Leon pushed a piece of mulch around idly.

"Sorry," Rinoa muttered.

"It's fine. I just don't know what to tell you."

"I don't really know either. How's your nose?" she asked. He tried to inhale through it, found he couldn't, and touched the side of it.

"Tender and swollen. How's his jaw?"

"…Gross."

"Oh."

"But it's okay. They're going to fix him up and he'll be alright in a few."

"Oh yes. That… healing shit happens here," Leon muttered to himself, running his fingers through his hair

"Does Esthar not have healing?" Rinoa asked, quirking a brow at him. Leon didn't have an answer for her.

"How did you know where I was from? I didn't tell you."

"Everyone knows. I also happened to deliver a bunch of information-filled papers to you, if you remember. I may have peeked."

"That sounds… slightly illegal."

"It is," she said with a shrug. Leon raised a brow. He decided he didn't care after a second and let it slide. All the information in those files about him was incorrect anyway.

"Okay well… I'm glad he's okay. I'm going to go back to my room," he said, wanting nothing more than to bury himself in a hole somewhere.

"Wait," she said, putting a hand on his arm and stopping him from standing. She looked unsure and chewed on the inside of her lip. "Do you think you'd like to go out and get coffee sometime?" she asked. Leon had no idea what to make of her request and didn't have the mentality to think about it. He needed quiet; time to gather himself.

"I don't think so," he said as politely as he could.

"W-why not?" she asked, sounding worried.

"Do you really need to ask? Your ex just attacked me for having a conversation with you. 'Going to get coffee' probably equates to 'wanton fucking' in his mind and I'd really like my innards to stay inside me, thanks," Leon spat.

"Okay," She clipped. She took her hand off his arm and he was quick to exit from behind the trees. He half expected her to follow after him and head in the other direction, or something that would indicate she wasn't going to sit back there and mope all day. But she didn't, and it picked at him. He felt like he had stomped her into the ground by rejecting her and it took him all of two minutes to turn to mush and go back to see what her problem was. He poked his head through the trees again. She hadn't moved and was still hugging her knees and staring at the mulch emptily. He sighed.

"Are you going to stay back here all day?" he asked impatiently.

"Until I'm sure everyone's gone, yes," she said.

"…Why would everyone else matter?"

"Because being Seifer's girlfriend is damaging. I have yet to get anyone to like me because he's always around and no one ever separates him from me. So I'm waiting for everyone to leave because I don't want any more extra attention because of him."

"I didn't lump you two together."

"Not in a personality way, but he still influenced your decision. It's okay. I understand. You're completely right. He would probably get really pissed if we did anything together. Talking like we are now is probably enough to toss him off the deep again," she said, looking up at him and giving him a docile face. Leon furrowed his brows.

"Are you afraid of him?" he asked.

"I'm not afraid that he'd hurt me or harm me physically, but I'm afraid of his words. Even if he's a dick, and only has a couple of real friends, everyone listens to him."

"I don't think he gives anyone the choice," Leon said. She gave a curt laugh.

"That's part of it," she said. A short silence fell between them as the Carrier stewed in his thoughts. He resonated with Rinoa a little. Being social outcasts because of things they couldn't control probably wasn't the best basis to start a friendship over, but Leon really wanted someone he could related to. Even if she wasn't a Carrier, and her relationship with Seifer was probably more than he wanted to deal with, he couldn't deny that he knew exactly how she felt. Hardly anyone was lining up to spend time with him, either. All of his encounters so far had been by chance.

"Come on," he said, holding his hand out for her. She gave him a quizzical look.

"What?"

"You want coffee, right? I need to change my shirt, and I don't drink it, but I can go with you to get some if you want me to," he said. He couldn't decide if he was going to regret his decision or not. She stared at him with mild shock before she grabbed his hand and helped herself stand. She smiled.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!"