Author's Note: Next chapter is up and running if you're reading this. Anyways, I'm glad everyone likes the story so far.

[Disclaimer: So far, everything in the story is owned by Disney and Square, not me. Not even my precious Squall. But, if he were real, then I would probably have to fight Yuffie for him and I would lose because she is a ninja, after all.]

Chapter Four: Midnight Rendezvous

Rolling over, Leon pulled the blankets for what seemed like the hundredth time during the hours he lay awake, unable to sleep while the ninja on the other side of the bed slumbered in peaceful bliss. Yuffie let out a soft groan, rolling over into the wall and pulling the covers back to her in her sleep, leaving her companion without them once again. Completely disgusted, Leon tightly gripped the edge of the blanket and yanked it back over to him, taking the girl with them.

Yuffie felt herself fly across the bed and land on something hard, growling deep in her throat at Leon for throwing her on what she believed to be the floor. Placing a hand on the surface, she pushed herself up, ready to berate Leon when she realized that she wasn't on the floor, but lying across Leon. She glanced at her hand and saw it lying on his stomach. My God! I thought I was touching the floor! He's got a stomach like a rock!

Leon was momentarily stunned as he felt her small body lie across his, her head falling just below his and the scent of her orange blossom shampoo wafted to his nostrils, where he inhaled the sweet and delicate fragrance. Shaking his head, he came back to his senses and decided to remedy the situation. "Yuffie, get off!" he snarled as he shoved her off of his chest and back over to her side of the bed, across the pillow barrier she had erected earlier in the night.

"Hey, you're the one who yanked me over there in the first place, Squall," she retorted, purposively dragging out the name he hated so much. Grabbing the blanket, she pulled back, only to fell resistance as Leon held tightly onto his side. "Give me back the blanket."

"Yuffie! You're a cover hog!" Leon growled as he refused to let her have the blanket.

"You snore!" the ninja retorted as she tugged impatiently on the blanket again.

"How would you know? I haven't gotten any sleep because of all your flailing around!" the Gunblade wielder said, his voice dangerously low.

Determined to have the last word, a triumphant smirk came across Yuffie's face. "Oh, yeah? Well, I can't sleep while listening to you moan and groan during your wet dreams." She pulled again on the blanket, finding that it slipped easily out of his grip while he lay there in stunned silence.

"I... wha... you..." Leon stammered, desperately trying to think of something, anything to say to her unjust and untrue accusation. Finding his tongue and brain refused to cooperate, he sat up and blindly groped for the pants that were lying in a heap upon the floor, pulling them on over his shorts. "I'm going for a walk."

At his announcement, Yuffie sat up and laughed as she watched him stumble towards the door and hit his shin upon the bedside table. "Oh really?" she asked sarcastically, raising her eyebrows. Laying back down, she decided it would be best to ignore him as she assumed he would be unable to find the door in his blindness. However, the sound of the door opening proved her wrong. "Damn it, Leon," she whisper-screamed as she jumped out of the bed and pulled him back into the room.

"Yuffie, let me go," the Gunblade wielder hissed as he felt her roughly haul him back into the Green Room. "I need to go for a walk." He insistently shrugged her hands off his shoulders, only to have her grab his arm instead.

"Fine," the ninja conceded disgustedly. "But at least put your shirt on and some shoes. We don't need you stepping on a nail or something and getting tetanus." She pushed him onto the bed and handed him his boots. "And let me get dressed first. I don't want half of Traverse Town seeing me in my pajamas."

Leon cocked his head towards her voice, a sneer playing across his lips at her statement. "I don't need you to go with me. I'll be fine on my own." Grimacing as he shoved a foot into his boot, he took the boot back off and shook it to see if something were inside it.

Rolling her eyes, Yuffie grabbed the boot from him and knelt down to place it upon his foot. "Don't need my help, huh?" she muttered. "You were trying to put your left boot on your right foot, you idiot." She quickly laced the boot up and did the same with the other. "Now wait for me to get dressed and I'll go with you."

Having no other choice in the matter, Leon buried his face in his hands as he sat on the bed, awaiting his guide who was hurriedly throwing on a t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. "The whole point of the walk was so I could have some time to think... alone," he muttered as he felt her place a hand on his shoulder to steady herself as she put her shoes on.

"Don't worry, Squallie. I'll be quiet," Yuffie said cheerily as she pat the top of his head, mussing his already tangled hair and leaping away from him as he lunged for her.

"Don't ever call me that again." Leon's voice came out in a low menacing growl as he arose from the bed and allowed Yuffie to lead him out the door. "My name is Leon."

Ignoring his comment, the ninja slipped her arm through his and dragged him down the hall and out the door into the Second District. "Ya know, I don't think I've ever been on a walk in the middle of the night before." She placed a finger to her lower lip in thought as she tried to remember. "Well, unless you count the battles with the Heartless at night," she conceded after a minute.

"I thought you were going to be quiet," her partner grumbled as he jerked his arm, and her, to the right and stalked off into the night, dragging Yuffie behind him.

Aggravated, Yuffie dug her heels into the ground in an effort to stop Leon, only to have him yank on her arm harder and pull her forward, nearly causing her to trip in the process. "Hey! Slow down, you don't even know where you're going?" she complained as she trotted alongside him to keep up with his fast pace.

Leon snapped his head towards her and she could just picture what his eyes would have looked like if they weren't covered with the bandages. Yes, she could imagine the icy blue flames that would be present in his eyes at that moment. "I know exactly where I'm going," he hissed as he pulled his arm away from her.

"Oh really?" Yuffie smirked as she stopped walking and stared after him. "And where might that be? Hm?" She tapped her foot on the cobblestones impatiently and crossed her arms over her chest as she awaited his answer.

Pausing mid-stride, Leon ran a hand across his face and turned around towards her voice. "I'm..." he trailed off, realizing he didn't know where he was going after all as he had simply left the hotel in an attempt to escape the ninja. Seeing as that didn't work, he quickly came up with a destination to shut her up. "I'm going to the Gizmo Shop."

Yuffie covered her mouth and let out a loud snort as she bent over laughing. "The Gizmo Shop?" she asked in disbelief as more laughter erupted from her small frame.

"Yes, the Gizmo Shop. What's wrong with that?" The temporarily blind man reached out an arm behind him and found a wall, which he immediately leaned against.

The ninja caught her breath and shook her head gently, smiling widely the whole time. "Leon, Leon, Leon. Just which direction exactly do you think the Gizmo Shop is?" By now, she had walked over to him and was propped up against the wall beside him.

Letting out a low growl, he stalked away from the wall and in the direction he was heading previously, away from the Gizmo Shop. "Don't patronize me, Yuffie. I don't need your help and I wouldn't even be out here if you hadn't said what you said."

"Leon, it was a joke! You know, when someone says something funny and you're supposed to laugh?" Yuffie sighed in exasperation as she pushed off the wall and followed him, making sure he didn't trip or walk into anything. When he didn't reply, she stepped in front of him, raising her hands to his shoulders and forcing him to stop. "Look, I'm sorry for my lewd comment. It was the only retort I could think of at the time."

He turned his head away from her voice, biting the inside of his cheek as he considered her apology. "Fine, you can come with me," he muttered as he offered her his arm. Sensing she was about to say something, he continued, "if you be quiet. I want to think."

Yuffie nodded, then realized that he wouldn't be able to see it. "Okay, I promise," she whispered as she took the offered arm and allowed him to walk in whatever direction he wanted, only pulling him to the side occasionally to avoid a puddle from the earlier rainstorm.

Leon meandered around the Second District with Yuffie in tow, eventually stumbling upon the door to the Third District. At least, he assumed it was the Third District as he couldn't actually read the sign, but Yuffie confirmed this as she announced that it was indeed the Third District door he had crashed into. Grumbling in response to her snide comment, he pushed through the door, entering the quiet and empty District.

Covering her mouth as she yawned, Yuffie leaned her head slightly on Leon's shoulder, quickly removing it when she felt him tense up. "Don't ya think we should be heading back now? It's getting kinda late, Squall," she mumbled tiredly as she stifled another yawn.

"Why must you insist on calling me Squall?" he demanded angrily, blindly following Yuffie as she dragged him through the First District doors and into the alley behind the Accessory Shop that she planned on taking as a short cut. She decided it would be faster to go through that alley to reach the alley behind the hotel instead of walking across the First and Second Districts to reach the hotel front doors.

Groaning in disgust, the ninja rolled her indigo eyes and vehemently shook her head. "Because it is your name. Your name is Squall Leonheart. Not Leon Leonheart!" she said angrily as she stopped walking, forcing him to stop as well.

"Squall died when Hollow Bastion fell. And he's not coming back!" Leon jerked his arm away from her and began to stalk off, shaking her off when he felt her tug his arm back to the side where she stood. "Let go, Yuffie!"

"But, Squall, there's a--"

Hearing her use that name even after he just explained again why he didn't use it, caused something to snap inside him. Shaking her off his arm, he growled, "For the last time, dammit, my name is Le--" He didn't finish the sentence as he felt himself falling down into something deep and slightly damp feeling.

"Leon, there was an open manhole," Yuffie called as she walked over and gazed down at him in the bottom, sprawled in a heap and groaning.

"I realize that now, Yuffie," he muttered as he climbed to his feet, reaching his hands out and realizing how small the hole really was as he was able to touch the walls surrounding him without moving. "Just find a way for me to get out."

"Sure thing. But, don't go anywhere while I'm gone." She bounded away from the hole without listening to the string of curses that followed her from the man below. "Rope. I need some rope," she muttered under her breath as she ran down the alley and to Cid's Accessory Shop. She quickly jimmied the lock and slipped inside, flipping the switch to bathe the store with the florescent lights. Looking around, she found a bundle of rope stashed away behind his counter, which she quickly grabbed and left the shop, locking the door behind her. When she finally reached the manhole, she tied one end to the nearest lamppost and dropped the other end into the hole. "There ya go," she called down happily.

"I can't see, Yuffie. What did you do?" Leon asked in exasperation.

Yuffie bite her lip and stared down at him. "I dropped some rope in there. Reach around for it." She watched as he complied with her wishes, or tried to as he kept missing it. "A little to the left... No, YOUR left," she hollered as she tried to help him.

His annoyance with the situation growing, Leon threw his hands up in the air. "I can't find the damn thing, Yuffie. You're going to have to get something else." He ran a hand through his hair as he tried to think. "Go get a pole or something."

"No. Look, just back up against the wall and don't move," the ninja ordered, watching him to see if he obeyed.

Leon pressed his back to the wall, confused as to what his young companion had planned to do. "What are--" he began, but was interrupted when he felt a rush of air and heard the sound of something landing in front of him.

Letting out the breath she had held as she jumped into the manhole, Yuffie arose from her crouched position in front of him, realizing how very small the hole was when she felt how close her body was to his. Any smaller, and their whole bodies would have been pressed together completely. She grabbed the rope that hung in front of her face and placed it in his hand. "There. Now climb out of here and wait for me."

The Gunblade wielder gently tugged upon the rope within his hands, testing its strength before using it to hoist himself up. "Yuffie, what did you tie it to?" he questioned suddenly, afraid she may have tied it to something not strong enough to support his weight.

The ninja rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips, knowing the effect was lost since he couldn't see her. "I'm not stupid. It's tied to a lamppost." Giving him a gentle shove, she urged him to climb. "Hurry up and get out of here. I don't like cramped spaces."

Sighing and silently praying that the knot she had made around the post would hold, he began the steady ascent to the surface, pulling himself hand over hand to get out. Finally, he felt the fresh air from above caress his face in a gentle breeze as he pulled himself out, releasing the rope as he stood. "Okay, I'm out," he called down to Yuffie.

"Duh, I can see that," she answered in annoyance as she began the climb out of the deep hole. Climbing more slowly and with more effort than Leon, she inwardly cursed both his stupidness and stubbornness for getting them in this mess in the first place. She reached the top just as her arms began to give way to the tiredness within the limbs. "Leon, lower your hand so I can grab it," she yelled.

"I can't see you to grab you," he countered from his position a few feet away from the manhole.

"I know that. Just walk forward a step or so and lower your hand. You don't have to see me for me to grab it." Sighing, Leon listened as she muttered "a little closer" and "to the right" as he walked back to the edge of the hole. "That's good. Now your hand, if you don't mind."

Reaching out, he felt the girl firmly take his hand and he pulled, taking a step backwards as he did so. In fact, he pulled a little bit too hard as he found himself being falling on his back to the ground with the ninja landing on top of him, her elbow hitting right below his rib cage and causing him to release a gasp of air.

Yuffie slowly raised her head from his chest and looked at him, noticing their lips were less than an inch apart. Trying to remove herself from him, she found their legs had become tangled as they fell and her arms felt too heavy to use. Before she could say anything, the man beneath her tried to sit up, not realizing how close his face was to hers. His lips met hers in an impromptu kiss and he instantly pulled back.

Gaining control of her limbs, the ninja jumped off of him, gently touching her lips with two fingers as she tried to think of something to say. "Uh... I... you know, I think we should get back to the hotel and go to bed. It's really late and I'm really tired." She loudly faked a yawn to emphasize her point.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," he muttered as he climbed to his feet and dusting himself off, trying to push the accidental kiss out of his mind but having difficulty doing so. The memory of the feel of her soft lips pressed against his kept forcing itself to the front of his thoughts, making it hard for him to think of anything else.

The ninja shook her head vigorously to try to remove the sensations running through her body when she thought of what had happened only moments before. It was only a kiss and he didn't mean it anyways, she stubbornly told her mind as she took Leon's arm, skirting around the manhole so they wouldn't repeat the earlier events.

Upon reaching the Green Room, both Leon and Yuffie collapsed onto their respective sides of the bed fully clothed, with the exception of their shoes, and tried to fall asleep. As the clock chimed the hour, three AM, Yuffie finally drifted off into a dreamed-filled sleep as Leon snored on the bed beside her.

Author's Note: Well, as we all can see, we have the beginnings of squffieness now. I love the squffieness. Anyways, make an author happy, and review.