Disclaimer: I didn't own anything in the last two chapters, so OBVIOUSLY I don't own anything now, unless I'm a millionaire with a ton of money that's able to buy Kingdom Hearts and everything along with it. Yeah. I wish.

PLEASE R&R! You know the drill! My weapons haven't rusted!

Yuffie clenched her hands into fists and stomped through Second District. Dark, heavy clouds brewed overhead, threatening to rain.

She practically just woke up from being almost fatally damaged and Squall had to lay the guilt trip on her. It wasn't her fault, it was an accident. He hurt her feelings so much...did he even realize how he was ripping her into pieces?

Her boots clapped onto the pavement. People moved out of her way and bustled to their homes and stores, trying to avoid the rain that would come falling down at any minute.

"Why can't I be like rain?" Yuffie moaned. She plopped down on a bench and bit her cheek. Rain made its presence known before it fell, had its moment of glory, and then left, leaving puddles that little children loved to splash in. Rain was welcome. Why couldn't she just come and go as she pleased without being scolded?

The sky lit up with lighting and thunder followed a few seconds afterward. Big, wet droplets of rain splattered down and cooled her face. A herd of people ran around frantically, gripping newspapers over their heads and trying to run into First District to the café.

Yuffie sat still for five minutes. The streets were deserted and the sides were starting to flood slightly. The smell of rain wafted up her nose.

She closed her eyes and raised her head to the sky. Her clothes were soaked through and through, and her hair was plastered to her face, but she didn't mind. It felt good...refreshing.

She opened her eyes and saw a dark figure out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head and stared. An old man sat next to her, staring at her intently. She shifted under his gaze, and yet she didn't feel uncomfortable.

"What's yer name, girl?" he asked her.

"Erm...Yuffie," she replied.

The man nodded his head. "The name's Ashford. Nice t'meet ya."

"Uh, yes, you too," Yuffie said as kindly as she could. She pushed her dark bangs out of her eyes and tried to see through the rain.

"What's a girl like you doin' out in the rain? Aren't ya cold?"

"Not really...I'm just fine," she said softly. Something about this man made her soften up and quiet down, like he deserved her respect and time.

His face was filled with generous wrinkles that crinkled over his eyes in a friendly way. A golfing, beret kind of hat in a plaid pattern covered his bald head. He was dressed in a long black coat and a pair of black boots. Propped against the bench was a knobby, wooden walking stick. She reminded him of her late grandfather...a really tough acting guy, but soft underneath it all.

"Hm."

"Hmm?" she said uncertainly.

"I said, hm."

"I know, but...never mind."

"You gotta problem you wanna talk about?"

"I...don't think...well, yeah, actually, I do."

He nodded his head thoughtfully. "I could tell."

"I just recovered from an accident...ahh...I was bedridden for quite awhile. I'm staying here with my friends, Aerith, Cloud, and Squall. You see, we used to live in Hollow Bastion, and then the Heartless overtook it. We traveled here, like most people did.

"We stayed here for a long time, just doing our best you know? Everything started to change...I mean I was forced to grow up and act tough...I just wasn't like that, I'm only seventeen. Squall is so distant, and I just can't connect with him, he is so...emotionless, and it makes me so mad...!"

"And ya like 'im, don't ya?"

"No, no I don't...!" Yuffie said, taken aback. Was it that obvious?

"I might be old but I'm not stupid," he said, and tapped his head with his finger. "This mind ain't startin' to disintegrate, yet."

Yuffie giggled and sighed. "I-I kind of like him, but Squall doesn't like anyone. He hates me, everyone knows so."

"Nah, I'm sure you're mistaken."

"No, I'm not..."

"How do you know?"

"I just do."

"If he hates you so much then maybe he actually likes you."

"No, he doesn't, he hates me!" Yuffie yelled loudly. "Why am I even talking to you?"

She stood up and heard a loud thunder crack. The old man sat on the bench, not moving a muscle. He pulled up the sleeves of his coat and traced three long slash lines that ran from his wrists to his elbow.

"This," he said slowly, "was made by a woman I used to know when I was about twenty-two. There was a huge war goin' on back then. You might know of it...the Killmanian War? Well, I was a soldier and one day I was fighting extra hard. The other army had overtaken most of the men. A was hiding under a log, positioning my gun, when someone jumped onto my back and started scratching me.

"I threw the person off my back and turned around. The person was actually a young woman about sixteen. She was dressed like a soldier from the other side. I drew out my gun, but something stopped me...I couldn't shoot her.

"She was just curled on the ground, saying over and over not to kill her father. Turns out I was aiming at him. I dropped my gun and went to her side. She was in shock or something.

"Anyway, after that I became obsessed with finding her again after I left her by the log. I dropped out of the army and I couldn't stop thinking about her. I wanted to find her and ask her about herself and find out her story and get to know her. But I thought she would reject me.

"After awhile I worked up the courage to find her. I knew she was working as a nurse on the battlefield. I still didn't know WHY she was dressed up as a soldier before but I was about to find out.

"I found her in a tent, treating some wounded men. There was some tension between us, but we started talking, despite the sides we had taken, and found out we had both been thinking about each other.

"We were banned to see each other because of the war by her father. My family didn't mind at all, but...we didn't listen to 'im. We saw each other and married while the war was still going on.

"By that time there was nothing her father could do. He let her go, he had to. She never saw him again...I despise that she couldn't know her father just because he hated our relationship. I wish I would have persuaded her to talk to him to this day."

"B-But what happened to her?" Yuffie asked, dumbfounded.

"She died when she was twenty seven. She was still working as a nurse, and uhh...someone invaded the tent and..." he coughed and choked a little. "I never got to say good-bye."

Yuffie sat next to the man and bit her lip. "I'm sorry..." she whispered.

"No need to say sorry. The thing is, when I worked up the courage to tell her how I really felt, what did I have to lose? Nothing at all. And look...good things came out of it."

"So what are you suggesting?" Yuffie asked hesitantly.

"I think you should follow your heart. It's your decision, of course, but I hope you think about my story," he said. He tipped his hat at her and stood up, gripping his walking stick.

"But what about you? Where are you going?"

"That's not important."

"B-but..." she stuttered. He walked away slowly and into the alley. Yuffie scratched her head. What was that all about?

She sighed and stood up. She would need to get back to the hotel. The rain still wasn't letting up.

She walked slowly towards the stairs leading to the strip. She pushed her wet black hair out of her eyes and ran towards the hotel doors blindly. The rain was distorting her view. Something hard blocked her path. She fell backwards and landed down on her butt.

"OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!"

"Ahhhggh! Stop that screaming!" Cloud muttered. He held out a hand. Yuffie grabbed it and felt herself being pulled up.

"Where are you going?" Yuffie asked. She looked over her shoulder and rubbed her butt. "Oh my gosh, there's going to be a huge bruise for a month!"

"Settle down, you'll be fine. I'm sorry. I'm going out to find Squall. He hasn't come back and it's already two in the morning."

"Two in the morning! How long have I been out?"

"A long time. I was going to get you, too, but here you are."

"He won't like it if you go and look for him."

"Who cares...Aerith has been having a cow over you two and she doesn't want anyone catching a cold."

"Oh. All right."

Cloud started walking in the opposite direction, carrying his huge sword over his shoulder. She didn't understand why he still carried it around. There were no more Heartless and he scared people with it.

Yuffie smiled and entered the hotel, shaking down to her boots. Aerith was sitting in the lobby, holding a blanket.

"There you are! Look, you're freezing! This isn't good for you to be doing, you just got over your injury!" she muttered in a concerned tone while draping the towel around her and wiping her wet hair with another.

"Aerrriiitthhhhhh!" she whined. "I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm going to take a nice hot bath right now, okay?"

Aerith dropped the towels reluctantly. "Okay, then. Don't overwork yourself!"

Yuffie groaned. All of the sudden Aerith was being so protective of her. Why couldn't she have been like this before?

She walked into her room and grabbed some pajamas and a robe from her drawer and closed the bathroom door.

In five minutes the bathroom was full of steam and the smell of a flowery bubble bath. She sighed as she lowered herself in and soaked.

Yuffie submerged herself into the water and held her breath as it washed over her head and entered her ears and nose. She kept her eyes closed and felt herself melting away...all of her thoughts were swirling to a slow stop...

Slowly she went up for air and sunk down again. Her body was relaxing here...no more troubles...just her, the water, and the good smells...and...

"Yuffie!"

Air bubbles escaped her mouth. She sprang up, gasping. "WHAT!"

"Yuffie, Squall is missing. Cloud can't find him anywhere."

"Is that all? Aerith, he doesn't WANT to be found. Just leave him alone and he'll be sleeping on the floor next to the bed when I wake up."

"No, Cloud found his Gunblade in the fountain at the bottom, and Squall wasn't anywhere."

"Huh?" Squall never went anywhere without his Gunblade. Even if he did, he wouldn't plop it into the water like it was a piece of used bubble gum! He had history with it!

"We're organizing a search party. Are you coming or not? Squall might have been seriously hurt!"

Pause.

"I'm sure he is just fine," Yuffie replied uncertainly. Despite her previous protests, she pulled a towel around herself and drained the tub.

"I'm coming, don't leave without me!"

She heard Aerith's footsteps walking away. Yuffie dressed into her pajamas and pulled the robe around her. No one would see her; it was the dead of night.

She sprinted out into the hallway. Aerith, Cloud, a few Moogles, Cid, and an unfamiliar couple were conversing in a circle. Yuffie stood next to them, her hands on her hips.

"So how is this going to work?" Aerith asked. Yuffie noticed everyone but she was fully dressed and equipped. She rolled her eyes at herself.

"We're going to split into teams. Aerith, you and I will go searching together. You two will go together, and the Moogles will go together. Well, I think that's it," Cloud explained.

Yuffie gaped. She was only standing right next to him!

"Hellooooo? What about me?"

"Oh, you..."

"What do you mean by that?"

Cloud took a step back. "Nothing, I forgot you were coming, I didn't see you."

"Suuure!"

"Look, Yuffie, this isn't time to get offended! Are you all right going by yourself?"

"Yes," she lied. Of course she didn't want to go by herself. It was dark outside, rainy, and weird people walked around.

"Good. Okay, let's move!" Cloud shouted exuberantly. She rolled her eyes. This wasn't a boot camp, was it?

She followed the others out of the hotel.

"At least it stopped raining," she muttered. She took the opposite path down to the fountain. She kneeled by the water and looked in. Underneath the shimmery ripples she saw Squall's Gunblade. She reached in and gripped it with one hand and then the other and pulled it out.

It dropped and clanked heavily onto the ground. She put a hand on her head and stood up.

"Geez, how much does that thing weigh?"

Yuffie left it there and started wandering around. She knew Squall was perfectly fine, but there was a nagging feeling that wouldn't leave the pit of her stomach. Why would he leave his Gunblade there?

She stuffed her hands into her robe and shivered. It was getting awfully cold outside. How long had she been wandering around and thinking? Maybe for a half an hour...where were the others? Did they find him already? She didn't see them going into the hotel.

She glanced around nervously and fell into a hole filled with rain water. She lifted her soggy wet foot out and sighed. This was not her day.

She walked along the side of the brick wall that served as a barrier from the upstairs to the downstairs. A piece of blue cloth was caught on a door of the shoe store.

Hesitantly, she picked it off and held it in her hand. This was the material to Squall's jacket. She looked at it and turned it over. Yes, this was definitely his.

She stuffed it into her pocket and kept on walking. Wherever Squall was, if he was still out, he was somewhere along the way.

She took a few steps forward and spied a dark lump of a figure a few feet ahead. It looked like a person. A hand flew to her mouth and stopped a shriek.

She took a timid step forward, then another, then ran quickly and dropped down next to Squall. He was sprawled out on his side. His soft, dark hair fell over his face and cast shadows over his eyes and nose and deepened his long scar.

She forced her trembling hands to take his pulse. She took his wrist and put her two fingers onto it and held her breath. There was a pulse; it beat very lightly, but there was one.

She let go of his hands and brushed the hair out of his face. There was nothing that seemed to be hurt at all...

A loud hiss and a meow echoed through Yuffie's ears. She jumped and turned around. An orange tabby cat was approaching. Its eyes were golden and were big and almond shaped. It had large paws and large ears. It was the most peculiar looking cat she had ever seen, but it was adorable.

"Hey, little kitty..." Yuffie whispered. It limped over to her, holding its paw up to its chest. She looked under his stomach.

"Aww, what happened to you, little kitty? I see you're a male. You're hurt just like Squall, aren't you?"

The cat purred and rubbed his head onto her hand. She smiled and turned back to Squall and put a finger to her lip.

"But where to put you, Squall...I can't take you to the hotel and get you fixed up by myself..."

"Yuffie!" someone shouted. Cloud and Aerith ran over to her from across the strip. Cloud rested his hands on his knees and bent over, panting heavily.

"You found Squall! What happened to him?" Aerith asked, rushing over to him.

"I checked his pulse. He seems fine...I don't see anything wrong. Except this poor little kitty over here," Yuffie said, and picked up the orange tabby cat. "Can we take him to the hotel? Pleeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaase?"

"Yuffie, we need to get Squall back to the hotel. We don't know what happened to him. Cloud, did you pick up the Gunblade?"

"Yeah, it's right here."

Cloud held the Gunblade in one hand and his weapon in the other.

"Well, we'll carry those back and you can carry Squall."

Cloud nodded and handed the Gunblade to Aerith. Once she had it in her hands she and the Gunblade fell like a heavy piece of iron to the ground.

"Uh-owwwwww..." Aerith moaned. The Gunblade rested against her chest. "Can't...breathe..."

Cloud picked the Gunblade up and chuckled. Aerith slapped his hand after he helped her up. "Don't you laugh at me!"

Cloud heaved Squall up and started toward the hotel.

"Come on, we'll pick this up on three," Yuffie said and gripped one end. Aerith gripped the other.

"One..." Yuffie said slowly.

"Two..." Aerith said with a smile.

"Three!"

At a snail's pace, they made their way to the hotel. Yuffie smiled and looked back at the beautiful orange cat following them, even slower with his broken paw.

Once they reached the hotel, Yuffie eased the Gunblade down and followed Cloud into the hotel. Cloud kicked open the door of their bedroom and placed Squall on the bed carefully. He took Squall's pulse again and shook his head.

"I don't know what happened. He seems fine, just knocked out. We'll have to ask him what happened when he comes to."

Aerith walked in, carrying the cat in her arms. He purred and rubbed his head onto her palm. She smiled down at it and sat on a chair by the bed.

"I don't know where this little kitty came from, but he is so adorable! I guess he's a new stray."

Yuffie sat next to her. "I think we should keep him here. Look, his paw is broken."

She tenderly touched the cat's paw and in return a soft mew of pain came from the cat.

"I can patch him up. What shall we name him?"

"Uhh...Minion!"

"Minion?" Cloud and Aerith asked together, bewildered.

"Uhh...yeah."

"But why?" Aerith asked, shaking her head and laughing.

"I don't know...it fits."

"No it doesn't," Cloud stated.

"Well, what would you name it?"

"Uhh...Cloud," he replied.

"CLOUD!"

He shrugged.

Aerith cleared her throat. "How about...Ranny?"

"Ranny?"

"Yes. He is orange, so you can get it from that."

"But it sounds more like Granny!"

Aerith threw her hands into the air.

"Then how about Meow?" she said sarcastically.

"Yeah!" Cloud and Yuffie said together.

Aerith's eyes widened. "I was kidding!"

A groan came from Squall.

Yuffie ran over to him. She stared down at his face, still so handsome and attractive.

"What happened?" he asked warily.

"You tell us," Cloud answered, sitting in a chair in the opposite way.

"I...I really don't remember..."

Meow, the cat, jumped out of Aerith's arm and limped over to Squall. Squall stared at it blankly, then a shadow fell over his face.

"What is it doing here?" he asked in a deep, menacing voice.

"We found him by you. He's hurt, like you," Yuffie said cheerfully.

"No. Get it out. Get it out NOW!"

"Squall, what's the matter with you?" Aerith asked.

"Didn't you HEAR me! GET IT OUT!" he screamed.

"What the hell?" Cloud said.

Yuffie was puzzled. When Aerith slipped and called him 'Squall' he didn't get angry. Well, at least he didn't get angry at her calling him by his real name.

Meow mewed.

Yuffie picked him up in alarm and held him close to her.

What is wrong with him? Yuffie wondered.

Squall stood up. Apparently, he had regained himself. He closed in on Yuffie, his eyes set on the cat.

She backed away from him. What was wrong? The cat hissed and leaped out of her arms and darted out the door.

Squall sat down on the bed, a vein uncharacteristically popping out of his forehead. His spiky dark bangs fell over his eyes and sheltered his facial expression.

Aerith and Cloud gave each other a look.

"Sq-Leon, it was just a cat. An innocent cat." Aerith insisted.

He shook his head.

"Come on, what's wrong with you?" Cloud asked. He sat next to him.

Squall raised his head and glared at them.

"Get the hell out of my room, all of you! I need time to think!"

Yuffie backed out of the door. How strange.

Aerith passed him one more concerned look and dragged Cloud out of the room with her.

They walked out of the hotel, arm in arm, apparently making their way for the café. Yuffie strayed behind and stuck her head in the door.

Squall was standing by their dresser, holding a very worn, crumpled piece of paper. He cursed under his breath and slipped it away into a drawer. She heard the metallic 'click' of a key being turned. He sat down on the couch and looked out the window.

Yuffie inched into the room. He either didn't know she was there or refused to acknowledge her presence.

"Leon?" she said, carefully remembering to call him by his new name.

"What is it, Yuffie?" he asked harshly.

"We need to talk."

He didn't answer her.

"Leon?"

"What!"

"What's wrong with you, lately? Why were you knocked out by the shops? Why were you so angry at the cat?"

She sat next to him.

"It is none of your business."

Yuffie furrowed her eye brows together. Squall was so secretive. He never told anyone anything. She remembered him from the Hollow Bastion when she was younger. He was always a little bit silent, but she knew she had seen him smile before. She remembered seeing him laugh, and even talk with people.

Her heart ached. What happened to the Squall? What happened to him so terrible that he had such hatred towards everyone? Towards the world?

"Leon..." her voice cracked and held a ring of a pleading tone.

He didn't answer.

"What happened to you...?"

He looked at her sharply. "What do you mean?"

"Why are you like this? I've never seen you sport any emotion whatsoever except your rage. What happened? I remember you when I was younger. You were different."

"Times change."

"Why won't you tell me anything?" she asked. Her voice trembled and her eyes started to water. Her chest felt hollow. Is that how he felt? Hollow?

He averted his eyes. She bit her lip and flung toward him and threw her arms around his neck. She hugged him hard, hoping he would feel something, anything, to draw a string of tenderness just to reassure her he was a feeling, emotion filled human.

Her throat tightened up and her heart cracked.

"Leon..." she whispered. She withdrew herself from him and looked down at his face. He kept his eyes away from hers and didn't say anything. Strange for him to not say anything after what she did. Before he might have yelled at her.

"Haven't you ever been held before? Haven't you ever loved anyone, ever felt anything?"

She stared down into his eyes. Did he have a mother to soothe his wounds when he was a child in Hollow Bastion? A father to teach him ball? Someone to read to him at night? To wipe his tears when he had a nightmare?

What about someone to ask him where he was going when he was older...or someone to reassure him when in pain? To tell him to follow his dreams?

Or was he always alone...?

"Yuffie...please...leave me alone..." he said hoarsely.

"I don't want to. I think you need someone right now."

"I don't need anyone. I can take care of myself."

"Surely you haven't always thought that."

"You have to depend on yourself, because in the end you'll lose everything, anyway."

"That isn't true."

"Yes it is. I know, it's happened to me."

She shook her head.

"I just hugged you a few seconds ago. Will that ever leave you? Won't you always have that with you in your heart, somewhere, tucked away, that will never leave? Unless you develop a freak case of amnesia or something, but..."

She laughed. There. That sounded more like her. For a minute there, she was afraid she was turning into an Aerith clone. Where did she learn all of this, anyway?

Squall shook his head. "You don't understand. You haven't lost anything. You've had everything you've ever wanted."

Yuffie narrowed her eyes. "ME! Me? I have never had anything that I have ever wanted! Where is my family now? Why can't we be back in Hollow Bastion? BECAUSE I can't bear to be there, Squall! I have to many horrible memories back there! That's why we ALL agreed to live in Traverse Town! To try and hide away what we fear the most! And what do I have? A few friends who don't take me seriously enough, that's what!"

Finally, he looked at her. "I never knew that's how you felt."

"I bet you don't know a lot about me!"

"Guess not."

"Why are you like that? It hurts me, Squall, it hurts everyone around you!"

"Why do you have to beat me up? Why do you bring up everything now?"

"Because, when do you allow me to talk! You don't let us talk to you, you push us away, especially when you need us most. Well, get it through your thick head that you can't go on without friends!"

He shook his head.

"Stop shaking your head at me. I am, for once, correct."

"Maybe, maybe not. It depends who you're asking."

Yuffie sighed. She just couldn't win with him. She leaned into the couch and turned away from him. She curled her knees up to her stomach and leaned herself against the arm of the couch.

A few minutes went by.

"Yuffie..." he said slowly.

"What?"

"You're right."

"I am?" she asked in awe.

"Do you need me to write it down with my signature?"

"Yes."

He stood up. "Well I'm not doing that."

Yuffie grinned. She stood up. He was almost a head taller than her.

"Squall?"

"Leon..."

"Squall?"

He sighed. "What?"

Yuffie smiled sincerely. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

"That's impossible," she said.

"I knew it."

She threw her arms around his neck for the last time and hugged him. A chill ran up her spine and a spark of happiness ignited within her when he hugged her a little bit back.

Yuffie kissed his cheek and bolted out of the room. He stood a moment longer and watched her go, then laid down on the bed.

AHHH, YES! We have some Squffie going on, now! I like this chapter! Amazing, isn't it! Don't forget to review! I promise to have some real action going on and a huge explanation on some of Squall's past (that I made up and has nothing to do with Final Fantasy 8). So, some questions to think about:

Who is the mysterious cat Meow?

Why was Squall so angry to see it?

What was the crumpled piece of paper Squall was holding?

When will the REAL SQUFFIE start?

Finally, will Squall allow Yuffie to call him Squall forever?

DUN DUN DUN!