(Sorry I took so long! But I've got my inspiration back!)



~Guardian~



Leon had come to one simple conclusion.


Children were the most annoying beings in existence.


Presently, he was in the Hollow Bastion library, half-lidded eyes watching the newest addition to their rag-tag group of psychos, a hyperactive little boy named Sora. Leon sighed in exasperation as Sora and Yuffie ran about the room, occasionally knocking over a book or two, but not paying much heed to that.


And he, Leon the Spirit Hunter, poor disgruntled soul that he was, sat at a reading table in a dark, secluded corner, his face resting in his hands, most likely thinking to himself, Why me, God?


It was at this point in time that young Sora decided to come and pay Leon a short visit. With the way he was sitting-hunched over with his hands covering his face-he appeared sad in the boy's eyes. So the child bounced (yes, literally bounced) over to the young man who was probably plotting to kill himself to be free of this world filled with crazed children, or, mayhaps, just crazed people in general. Cloud Strife the Shadow Hunter being a prime example.


"Are you crying, Mister Leon?" the boy asked as he reached the aforementioned man's side, his illegally large eyes holding a half questioning, half sympathetic look.


"No, Sora," Leon replied, not bothering to hide his irritation (as if the six-year-old boy noticed anyway), "I am not." The Spirit Hunter shifted his position so that his bored blue eyes were turned upon the small one.


"'Kay!" Sora chirped happily.


"A-ha!" Yuffie cried, appearing from behind one of the myriads of bookshelves in the room. "Found you, Sora!"


The boy ran off on the spot, giggling like mad, Yuffie close behind. Leon groaned, his face once more hidden in his hands.


Why me, God?


"There is something odd about that boy, don't you agree?"


By now, Leon was quite used to Cloud's random and sudden appearances. Not that it wasn't still creepy as all hell.


"What do you mean by 'odd'?" he asked, turning to face the spiky- haired man he knew was beside him.


Cloud's violet eyes glinted with well hidden amusement.


"So you really haven't noticed," he said. "Imagine that. The Demon was actually right for once." He was silent for a moment after those words were spoken, and then he scowled, muttering something incoherent.


"You still haven't answered my question, Cloud," Leon persisted. "What's odd about the kid? Other than the fact that he's incurably hyper."


The Shadow Hunter chuckled, but then he took on a serious expression.


"It's not yet time," he said cryptically. "You will find out eventually."


Cloud was long gone before Leon could ask just what he was talking about. He sighed, annoyed with the violet-eyed swordsman for being so damned mysterious. And then, he reached another conclusion.


Cloud was a lunatic.


But...what was it that the Shadow Hunter had found so odd about Sora? What was it that made him different from any other child? He certainly looked normal enough.


Leon glanced over at Sora and Yuffie once again. The two had calmed down, and Yuffie was, at present, reading to the small boy out of some book. After another short period of time, Yuffie paused in her reading and said something to which Sora nodded enthusiastically. Then he heard six words that he wished he hadn't emerge from the shinobi's lips:


"Hey, let's get Leon to come!"


Thus, the two youngest inhabitants of the Hollow Bastion were beside him in an instant, staring at him with pleading eyes. Yuffie could not hold such a face for very long, and ended up bursting into a fit of hysterical laughter. When she finally calmed down, she addressed him more seriously.


"Squall, d'ya mind coming with us?" she asked.


"It's Leon. And that depends. Where are you going?"


"We, oh anti-social one," Yuffie said grinning broadly, "are going exploring, so we're not going anywhere in particular, just a bit of random wandering. Please come?"


Leon frowned, looking from Yuffie, to Sora, then back again, before finally replying:


"...whatever."


"That means 'yes' in Squall Speech," Yuffie whispered to the child beside her, who promptly giggled.


"Leon," the Spirit Hinter corrected, choosing to ignore the rest of that sentence.


And so they were off.


"Why exactly did you want me to come?" Leon asked after they had been walking a few minutes.


"'Cause you're way too serious for your own good," was the girl's answer. "You need to loosen up a bit."


"At least I'm not a weirdo like Cloud," he muttered.


"I wouldn't go that far."


"Did you say something?"


"Nothing at all!"


He was seriously beginning to regret coming along with them.


They had been walking for another good while, when Sora, who had been walking slightly ahead of the adults (though it was difficult to tell whether or not Yuffie could be classified as such), gasped and disappeared into a room. The two Hunters blinked in confusion before running into the room after him. They were met with a sight they had certainly not expected.


"Wow..."


That was the only word Yuffie could think of to describe the room. It was washed over in sunlight, as there was a large open window on the cathedral ceiling that the sky was visible through. The room itself was a garden; various flowers, trees, and shrubbery all around. A stream flowed through the center of that garden, emptying into a small pond in the back of the room. But what stood out the most about it was a large umbrella- like tree, its leaves a soft pink, and its trunk sporting pale bark. A solitary marble bench rested beneath it.


Leon was slightly amused by the young shinobi's awe, but he could not deny that the place was indeed beautiful.


"Aerith would have a field day with this place," Yuffie murmured.


"I'm gonna go back there!" Sora announced suddenly, pointing to the pond at the other side of the room.


It was quite a large room, so that pond was rather far away. However, Yuffie forced a smile and sent the boy on his way with a "have fun, kid!"


As soon as he was out of earshot, Leon looked down at the girl who stood beside him.


"You felt it, too?"


"I did," Yuffie replied. "And-and I think I know what-" She froze, staring past her comrade.


He turned to see what the problem was, and spotted a man with silver hair glancing about, a frown fixed on his face. He seemed to be ignoring them completely.


"It...couldn't be..." the Wind Hunter gasped.


She was slowly reaching for her shuriken, when the man finally acknowledged their presence. His frown deepened.


"Do not misinterpret my intentions," the man said simply.


"Wh-what do you want here?" she managed to stammer, holding her weapon defensively.


"It's alright, Yuffie."


The Shadow Hunter had made yet another random appearance, beside the wielder of the giant shuriken. She looked up at him, confused.


"Cloud, what-?"


"It's alright," he repeated. "He has only come here to collect his charge, that little boy, Sora."


Cloud offered the man a half-smile.


"Isn't that right, Sephiroth?"