Author's Note: I keep forgetting to thank the reviewers, so I'll say it now. THANK YOU! I would name you all personally, but that would take too much time, so I'll do that at the end of the last chapter when I finish, Okay? Anyways, I'm glad everyone likes the story so far.
[Disclaimer: Do you really need this? Okay, here goes, I DO NOT own Kingdom Hearts. I never will own it, no matter how much I want to.]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter Four
Squall and Yuffie ran out of the palace of Hollow Bastion, hoping to find someplace where Cloud would never dream of them being. The ninja still wondered about the fight Squall had instigated with the blonde, but assumed he would tell her about it if and when he was ever ready. But, for now, she was simply enjoying his company; he was actually acting human with her today.
Breaking the silence that had fallen between them since going outside, Squall asked, "So, where should we go?" He looked back at her, seeing the perkiness that had been gone from her eyes had finally returned.
"Hm? What did you say?" She was having a hard time paying attention, so lost in her own thoughts, trying to decide if Squall was being nice because he was after something. She wouldn't put it past him to use people for his own benefit.
"Where should we go now?" he repeated.
Yuffie furrowed her eyebrows in thought, "I have no idea," she finally admitted. Really, there were lots of places she would like to go with him, but she felt he wouldn't agree to being seen in public with her. "We could try the castle again. Maybe Cloud has given up his search by now."
The brunette laughed at the ninja's suggestion, "I think Cloud has murder on his mind. Unless you want me dead, we should stay away from the palace."
She tapped her chin in thought for a moment before answering him. "Well, what about the waterway under the castle? I don't think he'll go down there," she suggested.
Squall thought about it for a minute, then nodded. "You're right, he never goes down there." He took her arm and led her to the lift stop that would take them to base level, where one entrance to the waterway existed.
Once down there, Yuffie couldn't stand it any longer. "Okay, spill!" she demanded.
Confused, the Gunblade wielder looked at her, urging her to continue. "Come on! Why did you break Cloud's nose?" She tapped her foot impatiently.
Before answering, Squall heard a small, nagging voice in his head, she's worried about Cloud because she loves him. Shaking his head, his stoic demeanor returned, replacing the little bit of emotion he had shown towards her this morning. "It was nothing. I'd rather not talk about," he told her coldly.
The sparkle that had just so recently returned to her dark eyes faded abruptly, leaving the dullness that had been slowly taking them over for the past two years. "Come to think of it, Squall, I think I'll be returning to the castle." She spun around quickly, so he wouldn't see the tears welling up in her eyes.
"It's Leon," he called angrily to her retreating back. There she goes, back to comfort Cloud, probably. Maybe it's better this way, one half of his warring mind told him, while the other was desperately telling him to chase after her and tell her. What? Tell her that I love her? She'll just throw it back in my face. So he turned his back to her, and continued into the waterway by himself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once Yuffie reached the entrance to the castle, she trekked down the halls to her room, intent on taking a nap to try and forget what had just happened. I don't get it. One minute he can be so nice, and the next, it's like he's some kind of monster. What set him off this time? she silently mused, allowing the stubborn tears to fall. She quickly dried them, however, when she heard a voice calling her.
"Yuffie, where's Leon?" Cloud demanded angrily, his nose swollen and purple. His blue eyes had taken on a furiousness to them that she didn't know they could possess, seeming to pierce into her very soul.
For a moment, Yuffie pondered on whether to tell him where Squall was, or to protect the man she had secretly loved for many years. "He's down in the waterway. You know, the one under the castle. He said he was going to hide there from you." She sung like a canary, her anger with the man allowing her to squeal on him without any remorse.
The blonde's eyes widened for a moment. He didn't truly believe she would tell him where the Gunblade wielder was, but since she did, he planned to take advantage of it. "Thanks, Yuf," he called over his shoulder as he ran toward the entrance to the waterway, ready to take his revenge.
"No problem," she happily yelled back. Now, with a smile on her face she headed for her room, still wanting to take that nap. Yawning, she thought about how little sleep she had been getting lately. Her thoughts of what couldn't be running through her head, keeping her awake for countless hours every night. Not to mention the dreams that always jolted her out of sleep when she had just succumbed to the sweet slumber.
Finally reaching her door, she walked in and changed into a pair of pajamas. She didn't care if it was the middle of the day, she wanted to be comfortable while she tried to sleep. Laying down, sleep came surprisingly fast. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she was dead to the waking world around her.
The room was dark, like it always was when this particular dream came. Yuffie stood in the middle, knowing what was going to happen. She relived it every night in her dreams. As if on cue, the yellow eyes appeared, glaring at the young ninja standing stock still, praying to awaken before the nightmare progressed too far.
"Please, let me wake up," she begged to no one as the creatures began to approach her. She could just barely make out their horrendous claws as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. "Come on, Yuffie, wake up," she called as she pinched her arm. Nothing, the dream would continue, as it always did.
Suddenly, she wasn't alone anymore, but the presence was unwelcome just the same. A man stood beside her in the darkened room. She turned to him, begging, "Please Squall, help me." She knew what his answer would be, it was always the same.
"Why should I? If I save you, you're just going to be a nuisance to me." With that he turned and walked toward the wall, watching her as she cringed from his words.
"But I love you, Squall. I need you. I don't want to be alone anymore, please help me." She fell to her knees, pleading with the emotionless man who simply ignored her. Feeling the scratching of the claws on her bare arms, she began screaming helplessly, knowing no one would save her.
Yuffie hit the floor as she rolled off the bed, taking the covers that had tangled around her legs with her. She clutched her head that had banged into the bedside table as she crawled back onto the mattress. Curling into a fetal position, she began to cry softly, like she always did after this dream, knowing there was no one there to comfort her. I'm alone, so alone, she thought as the tears refused to stop flowing from her pained eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the kitchen, Squall and Cloud glared at each other over the table as Aerith quickly pulled out an ice pack from the freezer. She roughly handed it to the brunette, disgusted with the two men's bickering. Squall lifted the ice pack tenderly to his bruised and swollen shut left eye.
"Okay, children, this is going to stop right now!" Aerith lectured. "We're not leaving this room until we solve our problems. Understood?" Her bright green eyes glowered at them, daring one of them to cause problems.
Cloud spoke up first. "Well, I fixed the problem now. We're even." He gestured towards Squall eye as he said this.
Aerith turned her furious gaze on the blonde. "That's not what I meant, and you know it," she seethed through clenched teeth, surprising herself with the anger that had come out of nowhere.
"Um...are you okay, Aerith?" Squall asked timidly, afraid she might take his head off with a single swipe. He had never seen the flower girl this pissed off. Things must be really bad around here, he thought to himself.
The pink-clad lady's eyes narrowed at him, boring holes into his azure eyes. "I'm fine. The problem is everyone else. I really don't need this right now, not while I'm trying to deal with Yuffie as well." She rubbed her temples, attempting to force the migraine away. "Now, what has gotten into you two? You used to be such good friends," she almost sounded like a disappointed mother, upset because her kids are squabbling amongst themselves.
"He started it," Cloud yelled, pointing to Squall.
Aerith slammed her fist down on the table. "I don't care who started it, but I'm going to end it right now!" she screamed. Both men cowered under her wrath. She made sure she had their attention before she continued. "For the next week, you two will be doing all the chores. Including the cooking."
Squall looked at her, smirking. "You can't make us do anything, we're grown men."
"Wanna bet?" she growled. They both shook their heads, scared into submission. Aerith smiled, and said happily, "Good, now if you excuse me, I have some shopping to do." And with that, she skipped out of the room, leaving the men behind.
The brunette turned his gaze to Cloud, pitying him. "Damn, Cloud, I'm glad I'm not you."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Note: Okay, well, that chapter seemed kinda short to me, but oh well. I couldn't really put much more into it. I know, I know, Aerith is getting out of character, but come on, she can't really be that nice all the time, now can she? Let's just say that the fight between Cloud and Squall was the straw that broke the camel's back. Anyways, that little review button down there would really appreciate it if you would press it.
