Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This story is mine, as are the OCs. This chapter is a little more mellow, a preemptive cool down for the more action-packed chapter coming up. Enjoy!

..:-X-:..

107 – Really Bad Day

The light drizzle had evolved into a full downpour by the time Rinoa ducked in through the back door of Merlin's house. There was no way that she was sprinting across town to her apartment in this mess. She shook herself slightly of the rain and peeled off her jacket, hanging it up on the rack before registering the scene in front of her.

Aerith and Tifa were both slouched in the patched up furniture in the back den of Merlin's house. If their postures were any indication, it had been a rough day. Aerith had a can of whipped cream in her hand and a box of chocolate in her lap. Tifa had dark circles under her eyes and was halfheartedly munching on the remains of a pizza crust. Half of a pizza was sitting in the delivery box on the coffee table. Aerith looked up when Rinoa walked in.

"Oh, is it," Aerith hiccupped, sounding on the verge of tears. "still raining?"

Rinoa stood there uncomfortably. "Um," She looked at her soaked appearance. "Yes." She glanced from Aerith, to Tifa, and back to Aerith. "Are you two okay?"

Aerith's face crumpled. "I'm a monster." She doubled over, dramatically dropping her face against her knees.

Rinoa squeaked and looked to Tifa. "What is wrong with her? And you?"

Tifa lazily pointed at Aerith. "Existential crisis." Then she pointed at herself. "Sleep deprived bordering on hallucination." She swiveled her head on the couch to look up at Rinoa. "What sucks in life for you? Pull up a seat. We're commiserating."

Rinoa fidgeted. "Um…not—not much. I'm…I'm okay."

"Bull SHIT." Tifa announced, slapping the couch next to her. "Aerith almost killed somebody, and I feel like a blimp." She gestured to the unshed pregnancy weight around her middle. "I can count the hours of sleep I've had this week on one hand."

Rinoa grimaced, awkwardly perching herself on the edge of the couch. "You just had a baby less than a month ago. And…" She looked to Aerith, "You almost killed someone?"

Aerith hiccupped and sat up, "Yuffie was pestering me about my research and I got angry. I—I—I think I used it on her."

Rinoa's eyebrows shot up. "You used…your heart summoning powers on her?"

"They're not summoning powers and Ididn't-meantoItwasanaccident-andnowIwanttodie." Aerith babbled before abruptly tilting her head back, aiming the nozzle of the can at herself, and unleashing a mound of whipped cream into her mouth.

Tifa chuckled and suddenly snorted. "Everything you say sounds like we're underwater." She rubbed her eyes. "I accidentally put energy drink in the coffee this morning…I can see sounds."

Aerith briefly chewed and swallowed the whipped cream. "We've had a pretty rough week, Rinoa." She sniffed, "I think we all have." Then, with a comedic amount of sincerity, she asked, "How are you?"

Rinoa started to respond with the default 'fine,' but suddenly found her chest constricted and a burning sensation across her nose and eyes. "I'm still unemployed and I have zero investors interested in helping me start my own business." She buckled, breaking in front of them. "It's so hard, and I just feel stupid and naïve for thinking I could do this on my own."

"No!" Aerith set her comfort food aside. "You want to open a bakery, I believe that you can open a bakery. I'd offer to help…but…I'm broke." Fresh tears bubbled over.

Tifa snatched up a slice of pizza. "Here." She handed it to Rinoa.

"Is this comfort food?" Rinoa took a bite of it.

"No, but it's greasy, and we're all going to get fat and die anyway." Tifa mumbled, savagely eying the remaining pooch of her stomach. "Might as well enjoy the ride."

"At least you have a baby and a husband who loves you." Rinoa whined around a mouthful of pizza. "I'm completely alone. Just call me Rinoa 'Solo' Heartilly."

"I'm here." Aerith pointed to herself. "Your roommate, remember?" Tifa snorted again and Rinoa sighed, wiping at her brimming tears. "I want alcohol. And ice cream. And tacos." Aerith slumped back on the couch.

"Agreed." Rinoa bobbed her head.

The back door opened again and Jake darted into the room, soaking wet. He took one look at the crying, hormonal mess of women in the den and paused.

"Did somebody die?" He asked after a trepid moment. "It smells like pizza and broken dreams in here."

"Aerith almost killed someone with her mind powers." Rinoa pointed. "I suck at life, and Tifa is a zombie."

Tifa snorted herself awake, having been dozing on the couch. "Hey. HEY." She pointed at Jake. "No men. There are no Y chromosomes allowed during our pity party."

Jake paused for a long moment, and then his shoulders shook and he burst into tears. "Tabaeus hates me." He sobbed. "She won't answer the phone, e-mails, texts. I even sent her a carrier pigeon, and I think she killed it."

"Aw!" Aerith extended her arms. "Come here. This is a safe place!"

Jake sank onto the couch into Aerith's arms and Tifa shrugged, snatching up the phone. "We're going to need more pizza."

"I'll go check the freezer for ice cream." Rinoa got up and went to the kitchen.

..:-X-:..

108 – Storm on the Horizon

The rain storm dragged into a second day, not as heavy as the day before, but the pitter patter of the rain on the streets sounded like a torrential downpour railing over the roof of Cid's body shop. Beverly meandered out of the office and onto the work floor; she was supposed to meet Cid here ten minutes ago, but because of the storm, there had been a number of power outages across town, and he had to deal with those situations. That was obnoxious, but she understood: Restoration Committee duties trumped a woman-friend.

It was just early afternoon, so the shop was open, but the storm had dissuaded most customers, and only a plucky mechanic named Kendra was in, disemboweling an entire truck's engine by the looks of it. Beverly sent her a short wave of greeting before walking further out onto the floor. It was strange to see the place so quiet. Normally there were engines roaring, welding machines hissing, and mechanics grumbling and hollering at each other from across the room. The rain on the roof tempered some of the silence, but it was still eerie.

Beverly snorted as she recognized the old green jeep that belonged to Leon and Tifa. She swore she saw the clunky thing here in the garage more often than she ever saw it out and actually being driven. It wasn't dusty by any means, but the vehicle had more or less secured its parking spot in the corner of the garage, between a rack of tires and Cloud's Fenrir.

Something moved between the jeep and the motorcycle, and she jumped, bringing a hand to her heart in surprise as Cloud abruptly appeared from behind Fenrir.

"Jeez," She exhaled, chuckling at herself. "Nearly scared me half to death."

"Sorry." He grunted an apology, tossing the rag that he'd been polishing the motorcycle with onto an open toolbox. "Thought you saw me."

"It's dark in here, and you're wearing all black," She snorted. "If it wasn't for that crazy ass hair of yours, I probably wouldn't have seen you at all."

While she and Cloud had had few conversations, and he never struck her as an overly happy sort, she found herself concerned when he flatly ignored her remark and started putting away his tools. She didn't push conversation and instead just continued to mill about the floor, inadvertently finding herself loitering near the jeep.

It was a funny little vehicle. Rebuilt and tinkered with and worked on: it had the look of a well-worn rustbucket that had seen its share of miles, but it also had an eagerness about it, like a new car right off the showroom floor wanting to go, go, go! She'd heard that the couple had rebuilt it together, more or less, and that since then, when it wasn't being driven, it had become a sort of safe haven for people who wanted some alone time. She had frequented the garage often and found Aerith or Leon or some other soldier that she didn't know just lying in the back of the jeep with the hatch back popped open.

Today it was empty, and Beverly canted her head, slipping around toward the back of the truck and peering inside. The back seats were folded down and the tail of the jeep was clear. What was it about this thing that made people deem it as their 'happy place?' Curious, she glanced over at Cloud, who had stopped working on Fenrir and was also idly staring at the jeep, and then she popped open the back hatch, hopping to sit just on the edge of it. Pursing her lips, she pushed herself back farther, glancing around. The upholstery was worn from other contemplative bodies that had sought quiet solace back here. The roof was scuffed in a few places, and there was a small marker drawing of a smiley face there also.

Beverly smirked and glanced out the window. "I guess this jeep must have magical powers beyond my comprehension, because I still don't see why you guys hang out in it."

Cloud didn't answer, arms folded and leaning against the back end of Fenrir, staring at the driver's seat of the jeep, looking deeply in thought. Beverly blinked, frowned, and climbed out of the hatch.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

He shrugged one shoulder, eyes not detaching from the steering wheel. "Fine."

She closed the hatch and sauntered between the jeep and Fenrir. "That bike is as polished as its ever going to get; are you considering working on this thing now too?" She nodded toward the truck.

Cloud made a low noise and straightened, "No."

She narrowed one eye. "I don't want to pry—"

"Then don't."

She huffed, "—but I think I understand."

His eyes slowly slid from the driver's side to her face. "Understand, what?"

"I went through it too. Your friends start getting married, having kids, doing these big grown-up things, and you start thinking: what am I doing with my life?" She stopped when she noticed the deadpan expression on his face. "Maybe that's not the center of what's going on here," She corrected and gestured absently to his stiff posture, "but it's definitely a part of it."

She didn't expect him to open up and talk about what was on his mind, as he was clearly troubled about something, but she'd be remiss if she didn't at least leave that door open for him. She wasn't quite old enough to be a mother to most of the Restoration Committee, but that didn't mean that her maternal instincts didn't kick in when she saw their sad puppy faces.

"Something is coming." He muttered, so quietly that she wasn't sure if she was meant to hear it. "Soon…but she said—I don't think we can stop it."

Beverly paused, his tone making her stomach knot. "What do you mean?"

Cloud abruptly walked away, toward the exit. "I need to look up something."

Then he was gone, and Beverly was left standing there, bewildered.

..:-X-:..

109 – Camaraderie

Leon let the silence in his office hang between him and his best soldier for a long moment. He sat forward, elbows on his desk, hands together, absently staring at her over his fingers. Private McCallister had been under his command for too long to be shaken by the stare, unlike any new recruits who would be trembling leaves at this point. Instead, she sat straight, hands in her lap, at attention—always at attention—and quietly waited for him to proceed, staring right back at him patiently.

The problem was that Leon wasn't sure how to proceed. He had never, in all the years that he had known this woman, seen her behave the way that she had last week. For all intents and purposes, she had lost her mind for those few seconds when she was wailing her fists over Private Mindy Tallman. Leon had had to physically remove her from the fight before she could deal any serious injuries to the other woman.

But the damage was done, the rumors spread, and a response was being demanded from him. It had been well known beforehand that McCallister and Tallman had something ugly in their mutual past. It was their personal business; Leon had felt no inclination to ask or involve himself. But to see his stone-faced soldier lose control like that, he couldn't let that slide. He had already talked to Cloud, who had been running Tallman and her fellow recruits through basic training. Tallman wasn't anyone special, and she hardly had a background that would associate her with McCallister…again, it wasn't his business to assume anything.

"I just finished filing the report on the incident that happened last week, involving you and Private Tallman." He started flatly. When she didn't respond, he exhaled and lowered his hands to the desk surface. "Do you want to explain to me what happened?"

He refused to believe that Tabaeus McCallister would flip out and attack a fellow soldier for something as mundane and trivial as 'boy troubles.' That may have been a factor, but McCallister had gone through more than enough of this war against the darkness to develop a stronger immunity to drama than what she had recently displayed.

McCallister shifted slightly and replied in a formal tone. "I lost my cool, sir. I regret that I let my emotions cloud my judgment. My behavior was unacceptable. I embarrassed myself, you, and this department. For that I am deeply sorry. It will never happen again."

Leon eyed her for a moment and sat back in his seat, drumming his fingers briefly across the edges of the arm rests. He didn't want to open this box, but he had to ask her now. "What is the nature of your history with Private Mindy Tallman?"

She pursed her lips—the only sign of emotion at all. "Complicated, sir. Not worth going into detail about."

"I disagree." He shook his head slowly. "I had to write a report detailing the incident. You assaulted a fellow soldier in public, in the middle of town, with dozens of onlookers." He drew a breath. "I got plenty of Jake's perspective, but I pray that there is more to this situation than Tallman hitting on him."

"There is, sir."

"And what is it?"

McCallister's gaze slid to the edge of his desk before snapping back up to his eyes. "We knew each other a long time ago. Something happened. She betrayed my trust."

"How?"

Her eyes unexpectedly softened into an almost pleading look, as if to say: please, don't make me answer that. Her tone, however, was cold. "Unforgivably."

Leon didn't offer an immediate rebuttal, allowing another silence to balloon inside the office. McCallister didn't move or offer any additional details, and he didn't press. But he had to press, didn't he? One of his soldiers had attacked another soldier: that couldn't be left uninvestigated.

"Who is James?" Leon asked as delicately as possible.

McCallister had been visibly angry and upset during the exchange last week, but it wasn't until Tallman brought up the name 'James' that McCallister had attacked her. And, asking the question now, Leon saw a similar state take over her.

Without blinking, McCallister shot from her chair as though it had shocked her, standing on her feet, ramrod straight and arms snapped at her sides. The color drained from her face.

"Permission to be dismissed." She asked, voice tight and eyes ahead, not meeting his.

Leon looked up at her for a few seconds. "Granted."

She turned on her heel and wordlessly walked toward the door. Leon hesitated, but then stood. He hated this, but she was forcing his hand.

"I'm going to have to suspend you, Private." He said plainly. "You attacked another Allied soldier, and your refusal to supply explanation will be treated as insubordination." He deflated at using the words 'suspend' and 'insubordination' regarding her.

McCallister paused by the door and glanced back at him. "I understand, sir."

She started to leave again, but now Leon had gone from curious to concerned.

"Tabaeus." He dropped any guise of formality.

She half turned again, hand on the doorknob. "Yes, sir?"

He frowned at her guarded expression. "Are you all right?"

McCallister momentarily stared at him, blinked, and lowered her shoulders. "I'm always all right." She said quietly before taking her leave of his office.

..:-X-:..

Preview for next week: As soon as Cloud fell after Agent Mike through the portal, it felt as though a bucket of ice water had been dumped over his head.