Author's Note:

(First of all, I am SO sorry that I'm only NOW getting this in. I was suffering from a severe case of writer's block, and I sought assistance in chipping it away. (Thanks, Rem!) Anyhow, this first paragraph is why I made the story PG-13. Nothing is described in detail, but the implication is there. Enjoy!)

Chapter Six

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The dawn brought with it the refreshing newness that so often accompanied a restful sleep. Griff opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling of the small house. Sitting up, he looked down beside him. Tasha lay there, her bare arms held close to her equally bare chest, which happened to be appropriately covered in sheets. She murmured, and opened her sapphire-blue eyes, looking up and smiling at him. "Good morning," she said. Griff smiled back, and leaned down to kiss her. She returned the affection, smiling even after the contact was broken. Griff stood up, reaching for his pants, which hung draped over the back of a nearby chair. He pulled them on, picking up and examining his tattered shirt. Throwing it aside, he picked up his harness and strapped it on, making sure his swallow was firmly attached. There came a knock on the door, and Tasha sat up, holding the sheets over her chest. "Come in," she said. The door opened, and Yuffie entered, speaking quickly. "Leon wants to kno--" She was cut off, having caught sight of Tasha, sitting in bed, covering herself, but this didn't affect her as much as seeing Griff standing nearby, shirtless, muscular, and looking, in her mind, very hot. Not in the temperature sense, either. Yuffie went bright red. "I'm sorry! I'll just, um….wait outside." The girl quickly stepped back out of the house, blushing like mad.

Leon stood against the wall, his arms crossed, as usual. "Well? Are they awake?" he asked, his voice low. Cid stood not too far away. Yuffie remained facing away from him. "Um…yeah, they're awake. They'll be ready in a little bit. Err…gotta' go!" The girl ran full speed away from them, leaving Cid to laugh loudly, the man having seen her expression. The door opened soon afterward, and Griff emerged, followed closely by Tasha, fully-clothed now, save for her gloves, which she was busily pulling on. Leon looked up at them. "Are you guys hungry?" he asked. "The others are waiting in the First District."

Griff nodded, not having eaten since the storm, which had to have been two days ago, at the very least. Tasha did the same. Cid jerked his head in the direction of a set of doors on the lower level of the square. "That leads straight to the First District," he said, spitting out his toothpick. "Leon and I have been patrolling all night, so it should be safe. There's a small restaurant next door to the Item Shop. The others are waiting for you. I'll stay on patrol with Leon." Griff nodded, turning toward a ramp which led to the lower level, with Tasha behind him.

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As the doors closed behind them, Tasha glanced around. In front of them, at the other side of the square, was a group of tables and chairs, each one neatly spaced. Aerith turned, and waved when she saw them. Sitting at the same table were Sora, Goofy, Donald, and a man she did not recognize. He was dressed mostly in black, with spiky blonde hair. He wore a tattered cape of the deepest red, and his eyes seemed to glow. His left hand was encased in a type of claw, which was gold in color. At his side, was a sword easily as long as he was tall. The blade was broader than his shoulders. He looked at her, and she suddenly felt uneasy. She was jolted back to reality when Griff put his arm around her shoulders. "Let's go eat," he said with a smile.

He led her over to the tables, where Aerith greeted them. "Did you have a good sleep?" she asked, her eyes just as warm as always. Tasha nodded, pulling a vacant seat over to the table. There was a plate full of food in the center, and she eagerly heaped her plate full of it, as did Griff. This brought a boyish grin from Sora. "I take it you two are hungry," he said, taking a bite of his breakfast. Goofy looked over to the spiky-haired man, sitting across from Griff. "Gawrsh, Cloud. Why don't you eat something?" Goofy asked, concerned. The man called Cloud shook his head. "I'm not hungry," he replied, all the while looking at Griff, who was happily scarfing down his breakfast. After a moment, Griff paused, feeling Cloud's gaze upon him. "Something wrong?" Griff asked, slightly annoyed. Cloud made no response. Instead, he got to his feet, picking up his sword. As he walked away, he stopped. "Hold on to that which you hold dear," he said, facing away from them. "It might suddenly be taken from you without warning." With that, he left, and only silence followed him.

"That was a threat, wasn't it?" Griff said, starting to stand. Tasha laid her hand on his arm to calm him. Griff stares after Cloud, watching him pass through the doors to the Third District. "Don't worry about it," she said softly. "I'm sure if he was threatening us, Sora, Donald, and Goofy wouldn't let him get away with it." She glanced at the three, and was reassured with a nod from Sora. "I don't know what's gotten into him lately. He seems more…I don't know…distant."

Griff sat back down to eat, still staring at the doors. "I'll go ask him," said Aerith, after a long pause. With a sweep of her dress, she headed for the doors. Pushing them open, she went through. Cloud stood in the middle of the square, gazing up at the sky.

"How long do you think it's been?" he asked, not looking at her. Aerith approached, not answering his question, but asking one of her own. "Why were you so mean to Griff? He just might prove a valuable ally." Cloud shook his head. "I'm sure you've felt it," he replied, turning toward her. "Felt what?" Aerith asked.

"Griff might be the one."

"What are you talking about?" said Aerith. Cloud turned his gaze back to the heavens. "His heart is unstable. It is strong, but it could easily be tempted by darkness, just to protect those he loves." Aerith closed her eyes, finding truth in his words. "But he's so powerful," she said. "How could the dark sway him?" Cloud shrugged. "It nearly got me, didn't it?"

Unable to say more, Aerith turned, heading for the door. "Don't tell him what I've said," Cloud called after her. "It will hinder his ability to fight if he worries about the dark." Aerith stopped, nodded once, then continued, her footsteps echoing in the empty square. From above, Leon rested his foot on the rail, listening. "There is more to this Griff than I first realized," he said to himself.

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Sora finished his breakfast, gulping down the last of his juice. He pushed away from the table, stretching his legs. Goofy patted his stomach, which looked a little bigger than it usually did. Donald took this last opportunity to shove the rest of his eggs into his mouth. He swallowed, and his throat seemed to expand for a moment, until the meal finally went down. Griff stood up, bending over to almost touch his toes, then he rotated at the waist, keeping his torso as low as possible. There was a satisfying snap as his back popped. Sora cringed. Griff straightened his posture again, and leaned against a pillar that supported a balcony above them. Tasha leaned her chair back, resting her head against him.

Sora yawned, glancing at Tasha. The young woman was busy smiling up at Griff, her eyes bright. She reminded Sora of how Kairi would always smile when she looked at him, even when he was planning on yet another duel with Riku. Sora probably had a good idea of how she might look now, still waiting for him back on Destiny Islands. He'd promised to return to her, but he still hadn't found a way to. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the Oathkeeper key chain, Kairi's lucky charm, given to him before he went back to seal the Door of Darkness. Standing up, he put those thoughts on hold. What was important now was that they did their best. It was then that Cloud reentered the restaurant. "Griff, Tasha, would you two mind coming with me?"

The two looked over at Cloud, and slowly stood, their chair-legs scraping across the stone that decorated the floor of the restaurant. Cloud slowly headed in the direction of District Two, with Griff and Tasha not far behind. "Where are we going?" asked Tasha. Cloud cast a glance over his shoulder. "You'll see," he said simply.

Their trek led them to the alley behind the Hotel. There were two waterways, one was barred. The other wasn't. Both were wide enough to fit two Large Bodies side-by-side. It was through the open one that Cloud walked, and motioned for the others to follow. They soon found themselves wading waist-deep in water for some distance, until finally, they sloshed into a cavern, where the water level significantly dropped. They were now ankle-deep, and it was only a matter of stepping up onto a rocky "shore" in an underground cavern. Up ahead, Tasha spotted a staircase, curving up and around to the left. There was a sort of offshoot to their left, leading to the image of a combined sun and crescent moon. "Where are we?" she asked.

"We're in the Secret Waterway," said Cloud, his blue eyes glowing even in this dimly-lit place. "It's where Leon and I often train." Griff stepped forward. "Why did you bring us here?" he asked, his voice echoing slightly.

"I need to ask you both a question. What exactly did you see when your world was invaded? What happened right before the Heartless appeared?"

"There was a storm," Griff began, "but there wasn't any rain. The Heartless all of a sudden just started popping up from nowhere." Cloud nodded, then turned to Tasha. "What did you see?" he asked. "I remember a sort of high-pitched ringing," said Tasha. "The air seemed to ripple, like a pool, then they just started pouring out of it before I could even realize what was happening."

Cloud nodded again, his glowing eyes showing nothing. "And you two didn't both end up in Traverse Town," he replied. Griff shook his head. "I woke up in front of a castle," the young man said. "Why wasn't Tasha there too?" Cloud fell silent for some time, trying to come up with a suitable explanation. "It was you," he said finally. "Your heart was in turmoil. Of course, the Kingdom Castle was the best place to end up."

Griff opened his mouth to speak, and a scream split the air. Cloud whirled around, drawing his enormous sword. Griff released his swallow from his harness, looking about himself. "What's going on?" he asked in alarm. Cloud broke into a run. "Trouble in District One," he replied. Griff and Tasha followed after him, their footsteps splashing water into the air as they went. They sloshed through the waist-deep water once more, and clambered out of the waterway tunnel, where they were met by no less than seven Heartless, wearing armor and wielding shields with dog heads mounted on the front. "Defenders," Cloud said softly. "Watch out for their shields. They bite. Oh, and don't forget that they can cast ice or fire magic. Get around behind them if you can."

Tasha extended her claws, squaring her stance. The Defenders moved in, surrounding the three, crowding them in an already-narrow alley. Cloud took the initiative, pointing his sword at the nearest Defender, whose shield had begun to glow a bright orange. "Sonic Blade!" Cloud half-shouted. A bluish aura rose up around him, and he shot forward, piercing the Defender's shield, driving his blade through the creature's armor. The Defender sparked, and dissolved into a pile of dust.

Griff was next, performing an upward slice, which was deflected by his target's shield. The Defender reeled backward, having been knocked off-balance. Tasha took this chance to deliver a series of expertly-timed slashes, cutting through the Defender's armor, and destroying the Heartless. Cloud, meanwhile, had busied himself with drawing the remaining Defenders' attention away from the two teenagers, who seemed to be doing a fair job of holding their own, Tasha's small victory having caught his eye. She reminded him a lot of Tifa, her martial arts techniques polished to near-perfection.

Griff leapt backward from his current opponent, who had sent a stream of bone-freezing ice almost directly into his face. The young man shivered, having momentarily forgotten he was without a shirt. The Defender suddenly spasmed, then disintegrated, crumbling away to reveal Tasha, who had managed to circle behind the Heartless and deliver the killing blows. They exchanged a quick, unspoken thought, their eyes locking, and then returned to battle the remaining four Defenders.

Cloud swung his sword above his head, leaping into the air. He pointed the tip downward, directly at the unfortunate Defender's head. The ex-SOLDIER dropped, skewering the Heartless as his blade punched all the way through and into the ground. He jumped back, removing his blade from the concrete as the trio turned to face an equal number of Defenders.

At Cloud's signal, the three charged, filling the alley with the sound of clashing steel. When the sounds faded, all that was left of the Defenders were scattered piles of ash and debris. Not giving themselves any time to think on the battle, the trio ran full-speed out of the alley toward District One.

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(Once again, I'm sorry for getting this update in so late. I've been busy with all my schoolwork. Graduation Day is fast approaching! *gulp* I can only hope for the best…)