Author's Note: I'm going to go ahead and start this chapter before I forget what I want to say in it. By the way, I'm in the middle of writing three chapters for three different stories. I have completely lost my mind. If you find it, will you please send it back to me?

And something's wrong with the Document Manager and it isn't putting up my normal scene breaks, so I'm putting [Scene Break] instead.

Note to Annjirika: Personally, I love pancakes. But, because of all the sugar in them, they make me sick if I eat them in the morning. So, the thing between Squall and Yuffie about pancakes is actually the two sides of my brain fighting.

Note to xXRiku's SweetheartXx: A Squall plushie???!!! lets out high pitched squeal Oh, thank you so much. squeezes Squall plushie until eyes pop out

[Disclaimer: See the disclaimer in the previous chapter]

Chapter Two: Darkness

"Leon, please, you're going to have to lay down so I can look at your eyes," Aerith instructed as she led the man through the door of his room, the Green Room, and gently pushed him down onto the bed. "Now, you're going to have to open your eyes so I can clean them."

Leon clenched his eyes closed even tighter, causing them to water even more as he adamantly shook his head. "Can't you just cure them with magic?" he asked hopefully.

"If I were to cast cure on them without cleaning out the debris first, then it would just heal over it, causing the foreign material to become embedded within your eye. Which, in turn, would cause you to be permanently blind," the flower girl calmly explained as she pushed him back onto the bed as he tried to sit up.

While Aerith was trying to convince Leon to submit to her ministrations, Yuffie was digging through the first-aid kit, trying to find the bottle of eyewash. "Aerith, are you sure it's in here?" she called as she dumped the contents of the kit onto the table in the hope that she would have an easier time finding it that way.

Reluctantly leaving Leon's side, Aerith hurried across to the mess Yuffie had made on the table, quickly sorting through the items until her green eyes finally spotted the little squirt bottle. "Got it!" she exclaimed as she hurriedly crossed the room to wash Leon's eyes. "Leon, open your eyes."

"I can't," he muttered as he tried to force them open, only to find they reflexively slammed themselves shut at the pain. "I can't keep them open."

"Yuffie, get over here and pry his eyes open for me." The note of command in the flower girl's voice surprised the ninja. Normally, Aerith was all sweetness, but when it came to her friends' health, she turned into a dictator.

Leon felt small gloved hands lifting his right eyelid, which twitched as it tried to close itself. He hissed in pain as some of the debris scratched across his eye under the eyelid. "Ow, be more careful, couldn't you, Yuffie?" he complained.

"Yuffie, I can't reach his eyes if you're right there. You're going to have to move," Aerith's dulcet voice commanded the ninja, who resignedly released the Gunblade wielder's eyelid to find another spot to stand.

Seeing no other choice, the ninja carefully climbed onto the bed and over Leon to sit at the other side of his head. Once again, she gently opened his eye so Aerith could squirt the cleansing liquid into it. She felt her own eyes begin to water as she watched the various pieces of dust and debris flood out of the reddened eye with the liquid. "Ugh... I can't watch," she muttered as she turned her head.

As the eyewash solution was rinsing his eye, Leon squirmed on the bed, causing Aerith to miss his eye and spill the liquid on his pillow. "Leon," she hissed, "you're going to have to stay still."

"I'm trying," he said through clenched teeth, "but you have no idea how uncomfortable it is having, first off, this junk in my eyes, and secondly, having something squirted into them." Something unspoken must have gone on between the two girls, because the next thing he knew, he felt a someone straddling his chest. "What's going on?"

He heard a loud sigh. "We have to keep you still, Leon," Aerith murmured as she began to clean his other eye that Yuffie was now holding open. "So, I had Yuffie sit on you."

"But don't be getting any ideas, Squall. This is just a one time deal even though I know how tempting it must be to have such an irresistibly beautiful woman like me sitting on you," the ninja replied laughingly, trying to lighten the somber mood that had overtaken the room as she felt him trying to squirm beneath her.

A low growl made its way up Leon's throat as he felt the teenager shifting to a more comfortable position on him. "It's Leon and you're going to be--" He was cut off by the sudden rush of liquid in his eye, causing him to wince in discomfort.

"Okay, all the trash is out of them," Aerith said, mostly to herself before she began the familiar chant for Curaga. A green glow spread out across Leon, encasing him in its warmth as it healed the various cuts and scrapes he had accumulated during the battle. "There, you should be able to see now," the flower girl announced as the green magical glow dissipated.

Sighing in relief, Yuffie slid off his chest, allowing him to sit up. As he did so, he gingerly opened his icy blue eyes, only to close them once again. "Come on, Squall. Open your eyes," the ninja prodded from her position beside him on the bed.

"Why?" he questioned as he turned his head towards her voice. "I still can't see anything." Hanging his head in defeat, Leon ran his hands through his tangled mess of russet hair. "And my name is Leon." He felt two small hands grab his arm and haul him to his feet.

"Let's go, Leon. We're taking you to the infirmary. Maybe the doctor there can help," Aerith said soothingly as she led him out the door, Yuffie jumping off the bed and hurriedly following them out the door.

[Scene Break]

"Mr. Leonheart, can you please open your eyes?" the elderly doctor commanded gently as he stood in front of his patient, holding a penlight in one hand. Leon complied with the doctor's request, allowing the doctor to shine the light into his eyes. The doctor sighed when he saw that Leon's pupils did not dilate with the light. "Okay, you may close them."

In the back of the exam room, Aerith and Yuffie were sitting in the chairs provided; Aerith nervously wringing her hands and Yuffie biting her lip as she watched the doctor make a few notes on his patients chart. "So, Doc, what's wrong with Leon?" the ninja finally asked, curiosity and worry getting the best of her.

"I'm not sure yet. Miss Gainesborough, could you please tell me again what happened?" The doctor lay the clipboard with the chart on the counter and gave Aerith his full attention.

"Aerith wasn't even there when it happened," Yuffie interrupted, rolling her eyes. "And I told ya and Leon told ya that a Red Nocturne blew a hole in the concrete and some of the chips or something flew into his eyes."

Leon sat in silence on the exam table, just listening to the conversation going on around him as Aerith began to explain about her attempts at healing him. The whole time the only thoughts running through his head were what would happen if he was permanently blinded for life. Everything he did was based upon seeing what was going on around him. How could he use his Gunblade if he couldn't even see the creatures he was fighting?

"Mr. Leonheart?" the doctor called, receiving no response. "Mr. Leonheart?" he called again, this time a little louder and getting his patient's attention.

"What?" Leon shook his head to clear his mind. The last thing he needed was to start drifting off into his own little world. He felt the doctor take his arm and walk him to the door. "Where are we going?" he asked in confusion.

"I'm taking you down the hall to the optometrist's office. He can do a more thorough examination than me." The doctor calmly led Leon through the winding halls of the infirmary with Aerith and Yuffie following close behind, finally coming to a stop in a room filled with machines and an owlish-looking doctor reading over the various charts on his desk.

While the two doctors conversed, Leon was gently pushed into a chair in front of one of the machines and instructed to open his eyes. There was a soft whirring noise and a flash of light that went unseen by Leon as the machine examined his eyes. As the optometrist read over the results of the test, he let out a resigned sigh. "I'm sorry, Mr. Leonheart. But, it appears you have managed to cut your cornea," the specialist finally said.

"And what does that mean, exactly?" Leon asked through clenched teeth, fearing the worst. "In layman terms, please doctor."

The doctor turned away from Leon and looked at the two girls who were still standing in the doorway. "It means that for the next month or so, you will have to wear bandages over your eyes and have eye drops put in daily." As he said this, the doctor picked up a small bottle of eye drops, tilt Leon's head back, and place a few drops in each eye. "Ladies, please pay attention to what I'm doing as you will have to do it for the next month," he called, beckoning Aerith and Yuffie over while he pulled some gauze out of a drawer. Placing cotton over Leon's closed eyes, he began to wrap the gauze around his head.

Leon allowed himself to be guided out of the room by who he assumed was Yuffie. It was hard to tell, though. He had spent so much of his life relying upon his vision, that now that he had to make do without it, he found himself almost completely helpless. The sudden quick chatter to his side revealed that it was indeed Yuffie leading him out of the building.

"So, Squa-, er Leon, I guess you get to take a vacation from fighting, huh? You lucky duck," the ninja joked, trying to cheer her somber partner up. She hated the sight of him being so downhearted. Even though he was never exactly the upbeat type of person, he was even more depressing than usual.

Turning his head toward the sound of her voice, he tried to glare at her, but the effect was lost due to the bandages on his face. "Lucky? How can you say that I'm lucky, Yuffie? I can't see a damn thing and you call that lucky?" His voice came out in a strained hiss as his anger began to get the better of him.

Small hands were gently placed on his other arm as Aerith walked up to him. "Leon, maybe you should look on the bright side of things. The matter can't be helped, so why make it worse?"

"If I could see, then I would 'look' on the bright side. But, I can't see, so I can't 'look' on the bright side of things." Sarcasm dripped from his voice as threw off the flower girl's comments. "Just let go, I don't need any help," he commanded as he tried to shrug the two girls off his arms.

"Leon..." Aerith began, but was quickly silenced by the Gunblade wielder.

"I have to learn to get by without any help. I refuse to be helpless." He jerked his arms out of their grasp and started walking a little faster. Bumping into what he thought was a person, he apologized, "Oh, excuse me, ma'am," only to hear laughter from behind him. "What?" he asked angrily as he turned to face the noise of their laughter.

Yuffie, who was laughing so hard she was crying, clutched her stomach and doubled over. "Leon, th-that was a p-pole you walked into," she gasped in between her giggles. Her frame being wracked by her laughter, Aerith leaned against a building until she caught her breath.

Carefully reaching out, Leon felt what he bumped into, only to discover that Yuffie hadn't been lying. He ran one gloved hand through his hair, pushing the bangs out of his face and shook his head. "Fine, you guys can help me," he conceded as he could see no other choice in the matter.

The two girls approached him again, each taking an arm. "Well," Aerith began, "since I'm needed at the infirmary most of the time, Yuffie will have to be the one to help you."

"WHAT?!" both the ninja and the Gunblade wielder exclaimed at the same time.

"I don't want to spend all day being his 'seeing eye dog,'" Yuffie protested, releasing Leon's arm and backing away. "I have more important things to do."

"And I don't need a brat getting me into trouble all the time," Leon added.

"Hey, I'm not a brat, you--"

Aerith released Leon's arm and massaged her temples. "Look, there's no other choice in the matter. Yuffie, you have to help him. Not only because I'm at the infirmary most of the time, but also because if he runs into trouble, you'll have to fight off the Heartless. You know for a fact that I'm nearly helpless against them." Walking around to the other side of Leon, she grabbed his arm and pushed it into Yuffie's hands.

"But..." Yuffie began.

"No buts. Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to go pick up some dinner for us from the café. I want you two to return to the hotel and wait for me. Okay?" the pink clad lady said sternly.

Sighing in resignation, Leon and Yuffie muttered, "Okay," before beginning to trudge to the hotel in relative silence, with only the occasional "watch your step" from Yuffie and a "be more careful" from Leon.

[Scene Break]

After an uneventful dinner, Aerith left the ninja and Gunblade wielder alone in the Green Room while she went into the room she shared with Yuffie, saying she had to get something from in there. Bored, Yuffie picked up the trash from their dinner and carried it to the trash can, watching Leon stumble around the room out of the corner of her eye. "Need some help?" she finally asked after watching him bump into something three times.

"No, I'm fine," he insisted stubbornly. "I have to learn how to get around in here by myself."

Moments later, Aerith came back into the room, pushing Yuffie's cot with the ninja's stuff resting on top of it. Eyes widening, Yuffie began to widely shake her head. "Nuh- uh, Aerith. You can't do this to me," she protested angrily.

Confused, Leon sat on the edge of the bed he had finally found in his blind wanderings. "What's happening?" He knew something was going on, and, from the sound of it, it was going to be something he wouldn't enjoy.

Ignoring the temporarily blind man, Aerith argued with Yuffie. "Yuffie, we can't have him in here by himself all night. What if he needs something?"

"Aerith, I--" Leon began, only to be interrupted.

"There is no way in hell I'm sharing a room with him, Aerith," the ninja proclaimed, trying to push the cot back into the Red Room.

Leon decided to try again. "I really don't think--"

"Yuffie, you're staying in here. Besides, it won't be that bad. At least you have your own bed," Aerith said consolingly.

"Sure, you can say that. But you're not the one who is forced to share a room with the man," Yuffie retorted.

Leon stood up. "Can I say something?" he bellowed, causing both girls to stop their arguing and stare at him. Taking their silence as consent, he continued. "I'm a grown man. I don't need a babysitter. Especially not one who's still a baby herself."

Yuffie puffed up at the statement directed at her. "I'm not a baby," she pouted indignantly.

"Leon, she's staying in here. That's final." The flower girl pushed the cot over against the wall farthest from his bed. "Now, look you two. I don't want any fights or anything. And no more bickering. It's gets annoying." She wagged her finger at the two before turning to leave. "Goodnight." The door to the Red Room swung closed as she left them alone in the Green Room.

Tiredly rubbing her eyes, Yuffie looked up to see Leon still standing in front of his bed. "You need me to find you your pajamas?" she asked quietly, deciding it would be best to make the best of things.

"No, I..." he trailed off as he held his arms out in front of him and tried to find the dresser. Unsuccessful, he dropped his arms and head in defeat. "Yes, please?" he muttered.

The ninja crossed the room and pulled open the dresser drawer. "Okay, Leon, what do you wear to bed? Shorts or pajama pants?" she inquired softly as she dug around in his clothes.

"Shorts."

Grabbing the first pair she found, she placed them in his hands and led him to the bathroom. "There ya go. Now, don't come out until I tell you because I'm going to change while you're in there."

"Yuffie, I can't see anything, remember? I'm blind," he reminded her as he shut the bathroom door.

"Oh yeah. But, still.... it's the idea."

"Whatever," he mumbled through the closed door.

Author's Note: Okay, there ya go. Now that you've read it, maybe you should go and review it. That would be awfully nice of you to do. Anyways, I hope you're enjoying the story so far. And, once again, I'm gonna remind everyone that the basic idea of the story belongs to Vulpes Lapis. I'm just her slave labor. She's making me write it. Just kidding. I love writing it.