Dive to Oblivion
-Squirrel Tamer

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

Chapter 13
To Die For

Where are we going Squall?

Somewhere...and it's Leon.

You could be a little more specific you know.

I could.

Yuffie sighed, Squall got on her nerves sometimes. She wished he wouldn't try to block her out so much. And now he was leading her down street after street, a never ending journey. He also hadn't told her anything at all. Didn't even mention the meetings yet.

It angered her to no end, but Squall was like that.

Yuffie realized that they had turned down the alleyway. That's when she realized where he was taking her.

No way. I'm not going into that gross, moldy sewer. It's been four years it will probably be grimy all over. She argued.

What? The Great Ninja Yuffie afraid of a little dirt? He asked her teasingly.

No one insults me! She yelled to him, I'm going with you now.

He told her and then he slipped between the bars and entered into the Secret Waterway. Yuffie sighed. She wished that Squall didn't always have to be so serious. And why did they need to go into the sewer?

Yuffie took one last glance around, before slipping through the bars and chasing after Squall.



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They all followed, all five of them. Sora had chased after them closely followed by Lee and Aerith. Cloud after Aerith and Riku in the rear.

Sora was worried. Leon, no, Squall's voice had sounded really funny when he told Yuffie to come with him. It was like he almost wanted her to stay. It made Sora very nervous, so of course he had to follow them.

Lee had promised herself that she would stay with Sora and help him plus she never turned down an adventure. Aerith had and idea of what was going on, but she just wanted to be sure everything was okay. Squall had acted pretty weird just then, it was strange, but you could almost hear the emotion in his voice.

Cloud followed Aerith. He knew what Squall was doing, they had just discussed it. He was only there because he vowed that he would never lose his Aerith again.

Riku followed because something told him to. He felt split, part of him wanted to follow and the other part figured that this was a chance for escape. But Riku followed.

And so the five of them crept behind Squall and Yuffie as stealthily as they could. All of them prepared in case of an attack.



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They stood there for a while, waiting in silence. Somehow just standing beside Squall was enough. She knew it was weird for her to have such deep feelings for him, but he was her protector. When the Heartless attacked fourteen years ago, he had done everything he could to get her onto Cid's Gummi ship. He saved her life more than once. He was her hero.

And she loved him for it.

Which is why she was content to just stand there beside him. To hear him breathe.

He turned to her then, pulling her out of her thoughts. He looked at her for a long time and then he reached out and pulled her into his arms. She was confused. He was hugging her, really hugging her. She reveled in it.

Then he let go and stepped back, calling his Gunblade to him and getting into fighting stance. She whirled around. A dozen Heartless were standing behind her. She pulled out her shurikens and readied herself for a fight.

Let's go Yuffie! Squall yelled to her, she just nodded and then began flinging the Shurikens at the Heartless. They had little effect. But she didn't give up, just kept fighting.

She managed to kill one, but she realized that killing just one had taken too much strength. The Shurikens just weren't working. She didn't give up though, she knew that, if she had to, she would fight to her death.

she muttered under her breath. She hoped that Squall was having more luck than she was.

Come on Yuffie! Don't give up! Squall yelled to her, he hated forcing her into this but he had to know.

I'm not! She yelled back, but then she tripped. She felt all the Heartless pressing in on her. Felt them trying their best to get to her heart. She knew it was over, all over.

Don't give up Yuffie. Please don't give up. Squall called frantically. It was too much for her he knew. He began pushing his way through to her.

Yuffie heard his words though and heard his concern. No, she wouldn't give up. Not Yuffie Kisaragi.

And then she felt her Shurikens change. The edges became tinted in ice. She had some how managed to use Blizzard magic on her weapons and she knew that magic weapons worked more effectively against the Heartless. Yuffie picked herself up, and began slashing away again, but this time with an advantage. Squall nodded in approval when he saw her get up and then together they quickly destroyed the rest of the Heartless.

Then he turned to look at her, he looked impressed, I knew it was you. He stated and then he wrapped Yuffie into a tight hug. Dammit Yuffie, I'm so sorry I made you do that.

She gently pushed him away from her and looked up into his eyes.

What do you mean, you made me do that? I mean, you didn't know that the Heartless were going to attack, right?



She was began to grow angry, why wouldn't he answer her?

Tell me what you meant Squall, she told him firmly. He wouldn't look at her though, he was refusing to meet her eye and refusing to answer her at all. She felt something inside her explode.

TELL ME! She screamed at the top of her lungs.

He turned and began to walk out of the Waterway.



She hated him, why did he always have to be so stubborn? She wished that he would die.

She felt a great ball of anger and resentment well up inside of her. She had never felt so angry, what would the others think if they saw little Happy-go-lucky Yuffie furious. Thinking of the others reactions made her calm down a bit. She knew they would be worried if she became mean and sour, they might start asking questions that she wouldn't really want to answer.

Like asking her about her feelings for Squall.

She sighed, she was still angry. But she wasn't going to show it. So she turned to follow Squall, who had been waiting for her. She smiled to show she was okay, he nodded.

Then a dark shadow swooped over her head. Yuffie threw herself to the ground and watched in horror as the shadow grabbed Squall and then disappeared.



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All five of them watched as they saw Yuffie struggling for her life while Squall did nothing to help her. Sora had tried to run in to help but Cloud held him back. Aerith was watching the fight while nervously wringing a cloth in her hands. Riku was watching the fight with a look of great interest on his face, not even noticing when Lee had inched behind him.

Lee was terrified of the Heartless ever since they had tried to steal her heart. She knew that if Sora hadn't saved her then she probably wouldn't be there then. She also remembered that her mother had warned her that her heart had been weakened. She knew that she was easy prey for them.

She tried to focus on something else besides the battle. She tried focusing on each one of them. Cloud's face was expressionless which made her grow bored. She hated to see the worry on Aerith's face. Sora's face reminded her of the pain in her shoulders. And whenever she looked at Riku she didn't feel right. So she settled for looking at herself.

Actually she looked at her reflection in the mirror. There it was, her new face. At least that was how it started, but slowly her face began to change it became the face of a young woman who was crying and calling out in pain, while clutching a hand to her heart. It was Yuffie.

Lee was confused. Yuffie had seemed like someone who was almost always jolly. It seemed strange to see her crying. Crying made her look different. But it was unmistakable that the woman was Yuffie.




A mirror to see behind the masks, to what lies in the heart.




Lee spun around, no one was there. But she was sure that she had heard someone say something. She began to walk a little, to where she thought she had heard the voice, when Riku grabbed her by the arm and started shouting things at her that she wasn't understanding. Then they were all running out of the Waterway. But she wouldn't move, she had to figure out who was talking to her.

Then she felt herself being lifted. She heard screams and someone was crying. She was scared, the only thing she knew was that she was being carried out. She felt tears run down her own cheeks as she snuggled herself against someone's nice warm chest.

Suddenly, she wasn't so confused anymore. She was starting to become aware of what was going on. She saw that Sora and Aerith were running ahead of them. Cloud was carrying Yuffie who was struggling against his grip.

She looked up and saw that it was Riku who was carrying her. He was looking ahead and running, not even bothering to explain what was going on. She was trying to remember what had happened. But she couldn't think straight.

Suddenly the ground shook and a large creature stood in front of them. Sora had already run up to it and was slashing away at it.

It's a Guard Armor, Sora yelled to them, He guards the Traverse Town Keyhole.

Everybody seemed to understand him. Cloud let go of Yuffie and ran to help Sora. Yuffie followed him while yelling, You're going to pay for taking Squall.

Lee struggled to get up, but Riku held her there.

Let them fight. You don't seem well enough yet, He whispered to her.

Lee stopped struggling. She didn't know how, but Riku realized that her heart was weak. She shook her head and then stared at the now raging fight.



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Squall struggled against the dark chains that were keeping him there, though he didn't actually know where was. All he knew was that he was in a dark room with a large glowing sphere in the middle, that showed Sora, Cloud and Yuffie fighting off a giant Heartless. He also knew that there was somebody else in the room with him, he felt their presence.

Who's there? He shouted, Let me go.

I don't think so Mr.Leonhart, whispered Fi, I think you better watch the show first, She told him, while pointing to the sphere showing the fight scene.





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Yuffie cast Blizzard on two more of her Shurikens and then threw them with all of her might. They cut through the Guard Armor with ease. She stole a peak at her fighting companions, Sora was having very little problems due to the addition of Oathkeeper and it looked as though Cloud had actually used Thunder magic on his sword.

She turned back to the fight, devoting all of her concentration to beating the large Heartless, it was as if she thought that somehow winning would bring Squall back. She didn't know what had happened back there. All she remembered was a dark figure swooping down, grabbing Squall and then disappearing with him.

Yuffie choked back a sob, she couldn't think about Squall. It would make her mess up and lose, although the way the battle was going it seemed as though their win was assured.

She smiled and began throwing Shurikens one after the other. She wondered if Squall would have been proud of her if he would have been there to see her.

She threw another Shuriken and then the Guard Armor stopped. She pumped her fist in the air and cheered. Then she looked over at the others and realized that she was the only one smiling. She glanced over at the Guard Armor and saw that it was slowly turning towards her. It flicked its head back towards Sora for a moment, as if it didn't realize what it was doing. Then the head came back to look at her, and slowly it came closer, Yuffie tried reaching for her Shurikens but found she was too frightened to move.

None of the others moved either. The Guard Armor raised his large hand and made a fist right over Yuffie's head, prepared to strike.



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NO! YUFFIE! Squall yelled with all of his might. He knew that if that Guard Armor struck her she would not be able to survive the blow. He was so mad, he was stuck here and there was no way to help her at all, what good was he if he couldn't protect her?

Are you ready to surrender your heart yet? Whispered a voice from behind him.

He turned to the woman beside him.



Fi sighed, Look, it really is very simple. You let me take your heart and I'll call off that big, old meanie who's attacking your girlfriend.

She's not my girlfriend...

Fine, whatever. I'm just telling you that if you let me have your
heart, I won't let that girl be crushed.

Squall looked at the sphere, he saw the terrified look on Yuffie's face. He turned to Fi, Fine. But how do I give you my heart?

All you have to do is stop struggling and give in.

And so he did.



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Yuffie doubled over, the pain was too great. She felt herself falling over, she heard voices, so many of them all around her. She didn't care though, the pain was all she cared about.

Because the pain told her exactly what had happened.

Squall Leonhart, had just given up his heart.

Yuffie screamed as loud as she could, then she leapt to her feet and began running towards the Bell Tower. Aerith ran after her.

What does all this mean? asked Sora, who was a little shocked about the sudden disappearance of the Guard Armor.

It means that Squall's lost his heart. Cloud muttered bitterly.

Maybe we should go follow Yuffie and Aerith to make sure that they're okay, Lee said.

No, let Aerith handle Yuffie, she is not your responsibility. You three know your responsibility, to seal all of the worlds, starting with this one. Cloud told them and then pointed to the keyhole that had just appeared on the picture of the flower.

Sora nodded and then slowly made his way over to the keyhole. With a heavy heart he lifted the Kingdom Key and sealed the door, saving the world, and then he turned around, wondering why he couldn't save hearts instead.


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A/N: Now for some explanations.

I know very well that there are people out there who find the idea of SquallxYuffie romance disgusting. Personally I love it, but I'm leaving this chapter open to interpretation. In this story when two people are connected it doesn't necessarily mean they're in love. It just means they have a strong bond. Love is only sometimes a part of it.

So if you have a problem with the idea of YuffiexSquall, don't flame me. Just think of them as really good friends who have developed a brotherly and sisterly bond over the years that they fought the Heartless together.

I just wanted everyone to know this because I would hate to lose any reviewers.

I probably won't be updating as often because school's started.

And if you want to know when this story will be updated, check my profile and look at the stories I've written. The one on the bottom will be the one I update next. Unless I've got writer's block on that story.