Project: Trinity

Chapter Two: There was me...

Another Author's Quickie: Hi to...everyone! First off, the primary reason I was able to post the next chapter up so soon was because I had it done early. But, with the dreaded SAT's lurking around the corner this weekend, readers should expect a minor/major delay in upgrading. Sorry!

Second, but no less important, a BIG thank-you to the slew of readers who kindly condescended to convert their feelings into words of encouragement. The unexpected positive response I received in reviews really made me want to hug you all...but, perhaps some things are better left unsaid. Oh, and special thanks to Snowri, my first reviewer [Really? A Leon-Yuffie fan? Hmmm...I wonder how that would work?], and It's Gonna Rain, for writing a really conducive review. Thanks again to everyone! I'll try to add a new chapter every week or so.

Disclaimer: Well, considering that Squaresoft & Disney has currently rejected my proposal to buy Kingdom Hearts from them, it is suffice to say...no, I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

Leon gave Yuffie a cold stare. "Well, that was interesting. What the hell just happened?" he said in his traditionally blunt way.

Yuffie pursed her lips and groaned, burying her head in her hands. "I screwed up bad."

"That was obvious." Leon crossed his arms and tapped a finger on the table. "Could you elaborate, please?"

Yuffie threw him a dirty look, but said with a sigh, "I mentioned something that was a mistake."

"No kidding. That's the closest I've seen Aerith to having a panic attack."

"It was because of you, you jerk! If you hadn't been shouting at me so much, I wouldn't have said 'Cloud'!" Yuffie slumped in her chair and moaned. Leon waited for her explanation to continue in impatient silence, knowing what a drama queen Yuffie was.

When no further explanation followed, he prompted in annoyance, "So? What is 'Cloud'? Would you care to tell me things that make sense?"

"Not what, who," Yuffie corrected, busily chewing on her fingernails. "Cloud used to be...uh...well...He saved Aerith once, a long time ago. They used to be really close. Until...until a demonic, psychopathic, bad-ass creep separated the two of them. She hasn't seen Cloud since." Yuffie was clearly struggling for words, and Leon nodded curtly.

"I get the picture." Heartsickness. It figured, he thought to himself. Girls were always the maudlin, sentimental type. He stood up and walked to the backdoor, his hand reaching for the doorknob.

"Well?" Yuffie demanded. "Aren't you going to help me look for her?"

He looked back incredulously at her, swinging his gunblade over his shoulder. His face clearly showed he had no intention of doing so.

Yuffie's face contorted into one of disbelief and disappointment. "Aerith needs someone to comfort her! Why are you so damn cold?" Leon snorted and ignored her comment, about to leave. "But...didn't you see something wrong with her...?" Yuffie pleaded slowly, as if pondering something.

Leon tilted his head up, refusing to answer. Yes, he thought silently. Aerith looked dazed. Frightened. Like she knew what was coming, had dealt with it before. Somehow it didn't seem to him that Aerith would get so shocked just from one mention of a name. "It's your problem. You go deal with it." Though he felt a twinge of guilt from being so heartless, it really wasn't any of his business. Aerith's past belonged to herself, after all, and he would not get involved. He had promised himself that before.

Just as he turned back to open the backdoor, however, his thoughts were interrupted with a bang as a blonde middle-aged man staggered through the door, his voice breathless.

"Cid!" Leon shouted in alarm, the shock wearing away enough to allow him to speak.

"The...heartless...here..." Cid wheezed out, sinking against the kitchen counter.

As if on cue, a black Shadow slinked behind him, readying itself to pounce on the victim. With a quick left-handed swipe Leon sliced through the creature and swung the door closed in mingled disgust and fear.

"There's...more coming," Cid said, regaining a bit of his breath. Yuffie pressed her glass of water into his hand, which he gulped gratefully. "They just swarmed over the first district like rats. I tried my best for a while, and managed to herd the people into the top of the workshop, with Aero on. But you know that my magic lacks the strength to last long enough. So I ran all the way here. We have to help them get into safety!"

Leon tensed, readying himself to battle again, quickly loading up his gunblade and snapped the holder shut. "Leon!" Yuffie turned to him, horror on her face. "Aerith!" The single word was enough to make Leon curse violently, and he gritted his teeth in annoyance.

"Aerith? Isn't she here?" Cid asked bewilderedly.

"Come on, old man! If she was here, you think I'd be asking?" Yuffie cried out in frustration.

Leon thought for a tense moment, turning his back on the two bickering colleagues. Quickly he came up with a tentative plan of action, and turned around, immediately assuming the position of leadership he had grown accustomed to. "Yuffie. You go with Cid to District one and protect the people in the workshop. Cid, I want you to prep up one of your ships, any ship that you think is capable of flight and holding a lot of people. Traverse town is no longer safe. We need to get out of here."

They nodded quickly, and Yuffie ran a hand over her shuriken for reassurance. "What about you?" she asked.

Determination glinted in his eyes as he headed for the backdoor, gunblade gripped tightly in his hand. "I'm going to find Aerith."

* * *

She felt incredibly tired, incredibly wasted. Like she had been wrung out, hung out to dry, and now someone was trying to stick pins in her. Wearily she shuffled on, clutching her chest, heaving painfully. The throb in her head was getting louder, stronger. Where am I going? she thought numbly. It didn't matter. Away, away from it all...

A cry was ripped out of her throat as she stumbled, her cheek grazing the rough, gritty cement path as she fell. Weakly she placed her hands on the cold ground, forcing herself back up. Something fluid slid down her cheek, splattering in tiny crimson drops onto her white dress. Blood, she realized dully. My blood. She shut her eyes tightly, fighting hysteria as well as the fervent urge to cry. Jerkily her right hand reached up to touch her cheek, running a finger down the gash in her skin. It was hard to tell where the cut began and where it ended, since blood kept gushing out of the wound and onto her hands. She opened her eyes again, staring in frozen shock at the way her hand was covered in crimson. Spasms of dread shot their way up her nerves, awakening her headache to its full capacity. Like an atomic blast, a wave of fresh, sharp pain slammed her back onto her knees.

Her mouth opened and closed, gasping like a fish struggling out of water. Futilely she clutched at her chest, crumpling against the whitewashed wall of an abandoned building in the alleyway. Her heavy, laborious breathing came out in strained breaths, and inwardly she felt herself being ripped apart. No! Her weak plea dissolved, overwhelmed by the physical torture her headache was enacting upon her. The agony was familiar; she could dimly remember the same kind of torture the day the sky fell down.

Leave me, she begged silently. Let me go. No more! Her pain began to take form in front of her, a purple black cloud that twisted itself into grotesque shapes. Horrified, she lurched back as far as she could, her back pressing against the rough wall of the abandoned building. "Stay back!" she whispered harshly. The shadow seemed to leer at her, and finally it split into a dozen black bug-like creatures with blinking yellow eyes. Two dozen bug eyes focused on her, their antennae waving frantically, as they crept closer and closer.

Aerith crouched down, huddling into a tight ball, trying to avoid the shadows. Two of them, the vanguard of the group, leapt upon her and dug their claws into her arm. Yelping, she tried to fling them off; the pain was real, it wasn't just her imagination! Four bright red claw marks appeared on her arm, blood seeping out of them in bursts. Like that day--Ragnarok--the world ended... She screamed.