Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as is McCallister and Nestor. Enjoy!

..:-X-:..

179 – Any Happy Little Thought

For justagirl8225

"Aerith, come on, it'll just take a second." Yuffie crooned, swinging the little bone at her.

"Ugh, Yuffie, please." Aerith avoided the thing in Yuffie's hand. "I'm busy."

"Good thing it's easy then!" Yuffie chirped.

Tifa looked up, chewing on the end of her pen, and watched the two from where she was sitting on the couch in Merlin's house. For the past five minutes, Yuffie had been pestering Aerith to pull on the other end of the wishbone that she had found.

Cid and Leon had stumbled in half an hour ago, twitchy from dealing with an armada of Dancer Nobodies in the Borough. They had promptly disappeared into the back room to clean up and probably eat something before going out on the next round.

"What, out of wishes?" Yuffie was pressing, bouncing on her heels after Aerith.

Now she was just messing with the poor older girl. Aerith frittered over the mess around the computer, closing open books and carefully moving abandoned drinks and mugs from the hardware units.

"As a matter of fact," Aerith finally looked at her in mock exasperation, "I couldn't wish for anything better than how my life is right now."

"Bull!" Yuffie called her out.

Aerith looked startled and then looked to Tifa for support.

Tifa shrugged, "Bull."

"But—"

"No one is that satisfied." Yuffie said, traipsing into the living room where Tifa was. "I'm not saying no one is happy with their life, but come ON. Wish for a new car, a mild winter, a diamond ring—"

Aerith's hands faltered on the papers she was fiddling with and Tifa covered her mouth to stifle her smirk. Giving her a chance to recover from Yuffie's assault, Tifa looked at the ninja herself.

"I'll play."

Yuffie put on a mask of suspicion, "You have wishes? We can't be wasting a perfectly good wishbone on something so dumb as International Special Brownies Day."

Tifa quirked an eyebrow, "Cid?"

"Who else?" Yuffie rolled her eyes and offered out the wishbone.

Tifa looked over to Aerith, who was blushing scarlet, and then spotted Cid and Leon moving around in the back kitchen. Facing Yuffie again, she reached out and grasped the other end of the bone.

"On three." Yuffie said, "One—three!" She yanked backward.

The wishbone snapped like an overstretched rubber band and Tifa nearly let go of it in Yuffie's enthusiasm. Even as Yuffie inspected her end, Tifa looked down and saw that the larger half of the bone was still in her hand.

"Aw, man." Yuffie haplessly tossed her shorter end in the trash. "You get a wish."

"Hm…" Tifa tapped her chin, looking meticulously at the bone, "Like you said, I can't waste this."

"Oh for Pete's sake, Tifa," Aerith snorted, "It's just a game. There's no real magic to it."

Tifa tilted her head and lifted up the bone, "O hear me, mystical wishbone, grant me the wish that I offer you now!" She regaled in an echoing voice. "May the—"

A loud popping and a string of curses made all three women look into the kitchen. A spray of white fluff sailed through the air and then Cid started laughing like he'd split a gut.

"What happened?" Aerith asked, stopping as Leon stumbled into view.

Tifa and Yuffie both tilted their heads.

"You're a comic genius, Cid." He was saying flatly, tossing the disemboweled canister at him and then seeing the three women looking at him.

"Shoulda seen your face!" Cid guffawed, "One wrong turn and splat! Whipped cream…EVERYWHERE!"

And indeed…Leon was covered in the white, fluffy whipped cream.

Tifa and Yuffie both looked at the wishbone.

"Damn." Tifa shot Yuffie and Aerith sly looks, "It worked."

..:-X-:..

180 – One of These Days

For Eva Von Dee

The pompous, flourishing air with which Council Representative Graham Nestor, aka the bane of Leon's existence, placed the folder on the desk in front of Leon was a giant warning sign that the morning was not off to a good start.

"What's this?" Leon asked flatly, picking up the file and flipping it open.

"How long did you think you could hide your little errand girl from me?" Nestor said, looking down his bulbous nose at him.

Private Tabaeus McCallister's military file droned up at him from the folder and Leon deadpanned, scanning down the words in Nestor's impossibly neat writing.

"I'm not hiding anybody." He tossed the folder back onto the desk, "She's my intern."

"It's been three years." Nestor placed his hands on either side of the desk, no doubt trying to look intimidating. But at five foot eight, 180 pounds, balding, and a turkey neck, the gesture didn't go very far. "Most soldiers are either promoted or gone by now."

"She's suited to where she is." Leon contemplated standing up, but decided against it.

"Her placement tests ranked her as 'suited' for technological training, which is not your specialty, sir." Nestor stressed the word.

"She hated technological training, so she switched to marksmanship."

"Not at your swaying, I presume?"

"Of course at my 'swaying'." Leon did stand at that, "You're not the special arms unit officer, here, Councilman, so I suggest you stop lecturing me about how to train MY interns."

"She's not your intern any longer." Nestor looked smug. "I signed the paperwork transferring her to Highwind's squad."

A bolt of lightning shot up Leon's spine, "You can't do that. Not without my authorization and her consent."

"Her consent? She's a private. You act like she has an opinion on the matter." Nestor chortled. "Honestly, Leon, she's just one soldier. There are ten thousand other recruits exactly like her."

In that split second, Leon reached down and snatched up the gunblade from where it was resting against the desk. At the gesture, Nestor's eyes went wide and he started to turn in fear, in slow motion almost. Too slow.

Half a second later, Leon swung the blade wide, in an air-slicing motion, and the honed edge of the weapon cut clean through the other man's neck, severing his head from his shoulders in one fluid motion.

Blood flew everywhere and the head flopped to the floor, rolling away as the body crumpled in a heap at the edge of the desk.

God, that felt good.

"Do you understand?" Fingers snapped in front of his face.

Leon blinked and found Nestor standing there, eying him strangely. Realizing that he'd zoned out, he cleared his throat. "What?"

"She's Highwind's responsibility now."

"No, she's not."

"Yes," Nestor took a step closer. "She is."

"There are not ten thousand exactly like her. She's MINE. I recruited her, I trained her, and I sent her into the field." Leon took a dangerous step closer this time.

"She's doing office work. Hardly the optimal place for a sniper." Nestor tutted.

"You tell her to shoot me, I'll tell her to shoot you. You're confident on how that will end?" Leon said evenly, looking from one of Nestor's beady eyes to the other.

Nestor looked slightly off put by that, "I would never—and she wouldn't—She has a moral and dutiful obligation to the Alliance and as an enlisted soldier, her loyalty is—"

"Get out." Leon nodded nonchalantly toward the door, "We're done."

Nestor huffed, straightening his jacket, and walked out, nearly plowing into McCallister as he did so. She subtly moved out of his way. He stuck a thick finger in her face.

"You WILL be put in your proper place, soldier. There are no playing favorites in this Alliance." He stomped off—point your finger at my soldiers again, Leon inwardly steamed.

McCallister didn't respond to that, just turned her eyes in utter bewilderment and confusion to Leon. "Were you two just fighting about me—"

"Don't let it go to your head." Leon shoved her file into his drawer. "What'd you need?"

..:-X-:..

181 – Don't Go to Bed Angry

For justagirl8225

Tifa stood with her arms folded. "But you're all right?"

Leon kept his back to her, dry swallowing the pain killers that Dr. Leng had practically threatened him into taking when he left the ER. A few bumps and bruises littered his bare back, but they weren't bad enough to need medication. The pills were for the concussion. She grimaced.

"Fine." He replied lowly, flatly. He might as well have yelled at her.

"I'm sorry I didn't answer the phone. I didn't realize I'd missed your calls until after I left—" She walked up behind him.

"It's fine." He balled up his bloody shirt and tossed it aside to the floor.

Tifa sighed, her eyes drifting to the bruise just behind his left ear, where his head had slammed against the rocks of the Great Maw. With that kind of head trauma, he'd need to stay conscious all night. Though, by the way he was keeping his back to her, he didn't want her help with that.

"I'll get some ice for your head." She half turned toward the door out of his bedroom.

"I'm fine." Was the grunted reply.

"No, you're not." Tifa turned back to face him. "You're pissed. This wasn't my fault. I feel terrible for not hearing my phone, really, I am. Do you think I just ignored your calls?"

His lack of response was response enough.

"You're unbelievable." She snapped. "You want to know why I was at Cloud's place last night? Or do you want to tell me what you assumed?"

"Stop." He exhaled, and she could hear the sheer exhaustion, weariness, and ache in that sigh. "My head just hurts, so I'm irritable."

"I don't hold that against you." She said, more quietly this time, and slowly placed her hands against the unbruised portions of his back. "But I hold the jealous reaction against you."

"I'm not jeal—"

"You know all that crap I went through with him." She said, sliding her arms around his stomach and hugging up against his shoulders. "We're just starting to talk again. You—" She pressed her lips against the skin between his shoulder blades, "—have absolutely nothing-" She kissed closer to his neck, "—to worry about."

He tilted his head a little before slowly turning to face her. She kept her arms around him, forcing him to turn in a tight circle. A cut above his eyebrow was being held closed by a butterfly bandage and there were shallow rock abrasions scratched over his cheek.

"Call it curiosity then." He asked; the heat ebbing out of his eyes slightly. His tone was definitely softer.

Tifa searched his face, found no real suspicion there, and drew a breath as his hands moved around her back. "He needed to talk things over and ask my opinion about something."

It was the truth, but that wasn't the bulk of what they had talked about. She wasn't sure if Cloud wanted her to keep it from Leon or not…If he asked, she wouldn't hide it. It was no real secret.

But the pain killers had taken the stiffness out of Leon's shoulders, and by the way his arms were pulling her closer, she doubted he was really in a state of mind to ask. Surely he cared though? Then again, she was so relieved that he'd escaped that rockslide with only a concussion that she wasn't in much of a state to care about her conversation with Cloud either.

He kissed her lips and she leaned into it, eyes drifting closed as they both stepped away from the shuttered window. Her legs touched the edge of the mattress and she involuntarily reclined, leaning back onto the bed. Leon bent over with her, and her pulse suddenly began to pump blood faster, heating her face.

"You trust me, right?" She asked, slightly breathless.

One of his hands, sliding down her back and over her thigh, nearly distracted her from his answer. "Of course. That's not what that was about." He said quietly, lifting his face enough from hers so she could look in his eyes. "It was the concussion talking."

Tifa looped one arm around his neck and pulled him to her, mindful of the knot on the back of his head. "Okay." She kissed him again, not breaking the liplock as they both slid onto the bed.

She let him unbutton and remove her blouse while she kissed his chest. When his hand brushed against the top of her pants, she involuntarily inhaled. His hand withdrew and he stopped, looking at her face.

"Are you okay?" He asked, a little breathless himself.

She took a moment. Was she okay? "Yes."

"Are you sure about this?" About where this is going? They had never…together…but he was half on top of her, and they were both half naked and…God, he smelled good.

"Yes." She nodded, "…Are you?"

He kissed her, slowly this time. "Yes."

She smiled into the kiss, feeling his heart against her chest. They continued to make out and soon the rest of their clothes joined her blouse on the floor.