A Dream's End

[a.n.] Sorry for the LOOONG delay. My brain hurts from trying to write, can you imagine? But I'm trying to focus on Yuffie's character. It's like, I get her once, and then she just falls away. It's so strange, but I'm doing my best here people, please take pity on me.

You should have not only this chapter, but two more. And a tasty little one-shot for your enjoyments will be coming soon. Two, if I'm in a good mood. Hope you enjoy it.

Yech. I just wrote three chapters and two one-shots. See what my love for ya'll makes me do!? --sigh-- The reviews will be answered below. So enjoy this while ya can. And yah, so what if the title sucks? I ran out of things to say. –Sighs– My attempt at humor, guys. Humor me.

This chapter is hereby dedicated to Candace (Astaldotholwen, I think was how you spelled it?) with a great big Happy Birthday, and Moony, cause ya'll are just the greatest. And Moony-girl? -.- I so do not drool, dude. (Now who says that in "Mad Mod"? Three guesses but only one chance to get it right.) [araclyzm]

To Find the Un-findable

p.o.v. Yuffie

You know what's the worst thing about the weather in Traverse Town?

It changes.

That may not make a lot of sense, but hear me here. The weather here has this insufferable way of not staying the same for even the smallest bit of time. It could be all sunny (or moony, in the case of Traverse Town) and happy and just lovely and all that jazz for the first half of the day, and then all of a sudden, the storm clouds will appear and the wind picks up and you get that whole 'haunted house' scenario in a matter of minutes. It's so freaking annoying, how the weather seems to change every other day, when really I think the thought on everyone's minds is will it just please pick something and stay that way for a little while?

So, you got all this different kinds of weather spitting up every so often, and it gets so damn annoying 'cause it won't stick that way, and the weather just apparently knows that you hate it and it retaliates in a way that makes you just wanna leave this unbearable place to go somewhere like the Hollow Bastion (though that place is probably worse) or Neverland or something.

It may have been freezing last night, but I slept uncomfortably in the eerie silence of the Green Room until finally being jerked awake with a bam of lightning – or it could have been thunder – at around three in the morning. See, one thing to definitely be considered with me is that I absolutely despise rain. Rain sucks. Period.

Like so many things on my 'hate' list, rain is very near the top, beside Squall's attitude (not to mention his way of thinking, or is that the same thing?), seafood, and people bossing me around. Ever since I was six I've just hated it so much, when a rainfall lasted nearly a week and a half, not letting up even once during that period. I'd been driven half made by the time it let up, and when it finally stopped, I was the first one to run outside. I even stayed in one of Aerith's mother's garden rooms for the night following – and got into loads of trouble with my own parents afterwards – I was so happy.

Ooh, but I hated rain with a burning passion forever and a day after that. I wasn't scared of it – oh no, I could never be 'scared' of some water from the sky – but it irritated me to no end with how long it would go on or how much of it the sky would dare to spill.

The word thunder was the first thing to run through my mind when the loud bang announced itself to the Green Room, rattling no one but me. Well, the first word after 'what in the freaking hell was that!?'. And thunder is always to be associated with rain because together, thunder and lightning make? I'll give you three guesses, but only one chance to guess correctly. And if that makes sense, you'll let me know.

Crackle...BAM!!

"GYAH!!!" I screamed as I jumped up, jolting awake from what might have been a half-sleeping stupor, thrashing around as though the devil himself was after me. It took me more than a few minutes to figure out that the 'devil' himself was only the thunder crackling loudly and proclaiming to the town that a storm was brewing. But only when I finally shut my mouth did I feel a sharp pain on my back.

Someone had hit me.

Turning a little for no apparent reason, I saw Squall propped up on his elbows, staring at me like he'd never before seen me in his life and had awoken to the unwanted surprise of me in his bed.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" he hissed upon seeing that I finally saw him awake.

Correction. Squall had hit me.

Once concluding that, I narrowed my eyes treacherously low and grit my teeth so hard I think I chipped a tooth.

"ME?!" I growled in hardly a tone higher than his. "Who the hell gives you any right to put your hand on me SQUALL LEONHART!?" His name came out as a shout I'm sure carried into the Red Room.

He sat up entirely, shushing me with a strange glare that I've hardly ever seen before.

"It's Leon, and it was the only goddamn way to get you to shut up!" he seethed. "It's just thunder, Yuffie, not the damn Heartless or the bloody cavalry! What is the matter with you!?"

Ugh. Squall is such a jerk.

I rolled my eyes and tried unraveling myself from the sheets I'd somehow managed to get tangled in while I slept. "Well, excuse me if I happen to hate lightning! Squall, everyone is afraid of something so sue me if I can't stand lightning."

"Stop calling me Squall or I'll make you regret it, Yuffie," he hissed through teeth gritted harder than mine, earning an almost shocked look on my part. "You're supposed to be a ninja in a monster-filled world, how can you be scared of something as trivial as a storm? And it's thunder, learn the difference!" He scoffed and none-too-gracefully got to his feet, picking his way through the dark to the bathroom and slamming the door in a none-too-quietly fashion.

I coughed loudly at his would-be threat and threw the sheets fully off of me, getting to my hands and knees and yelling, "I CAN TELL THE DIFFERENCE, THANK-YOU VERY MUCH! And yes, I know I'm a ninja, but be happy I'm not afraid of the Heartless at the very least!" Huffing, I felt my voice going slightly hoarse, but couldn't resist adding, "You ass!"

The bathroom door was almost ripped off its hinges as it whished back open with the force of Squall's rage and he stomped out of it, not bothering to flick the light off. He looked so angry, it was kind of comical to see the great Leon Leonhart losing his cool. But I didn't dare laugh at him, because he very well looked as though he might've killed me if the given circumstance that I was nearer to the Gunblade than he was reversed.

"Well do you mind NOT yelling at three in the morning at least?" he yelled back, forgetting that it was indeed nearly three in the morning and it was a safe bet that the town was asleep.

There was a loud pounding at the door that connected the Green and Red Rooms.

"Hey!" Cloud's bleary voice tried its best to bellow through the door. "Do you mind having this lover's spat in the morning maybe? Some people actually like to sleep at night, you know!"

"STAY OUT OF IT BLONDIE!!" Squall and I both bellowed back.

"SHADDAP WILL YOU!" someone else yelled, but this time it came from outside the hallway door, followed by footsteps, which I took to mean that the offender screaming through our door had left.

Upon hearing Cloud's furious muttering fade away, I turned another glare at Squall, who had stayed rooted to his spot not three feet from the bathroom door, and he just glared back.

"Ya wanna get us kicked out now, Squall?" I whispered fervently, trying to keep my voice lowered for that very reason.

"Leon, and if I remember correctly, you're the one who started screaming and waking the whole town up," Squall said venomously in something bordering a whisper and his regular speaking volume, not once forgetting to correct me on his name.

"Well then you obviously don't remember correctly because you're the one who dared to put your hands on me as if you had the friggin' right to do so! Y'know, I could call the police on you for that!" I seethed, rising to just my knees so I could cross my arms in a defiant pose. Not sure how defiant it looked with me looking like a madwoman, my hair askew and crud in my eyes, but we'll get back to that later.

"And what are you going to say?" Squall mocked, imitating me as his arms crossed his chest. "That the twenty-eight-year-old year old man sleeping in your bed tapped you lightly on the back to get you to shut your mouth so you wouldn't get us kicked out of the damn hotel!?"

I didn't answer that, though I knew he won himself a point there, and continued to interrogate him on another subject. But nothing would come to mind except the fact that Squall hadn't stormed out of the room yelling that this was a waste of his time already. Then I just voiced my earlier thoughts.

"Squall Leonhart, you are such a jerk!" I finally screamed, squeezing my eyes shut as I did so, my hands balling into fists against my chest. "You're always so freaking difficult! It's lightning and thunder and I just happen to hate it, okay? When you hear a great big bang and you're half dead in a freezing room, a nineteen-year-old girl's imagination tends to run little wild, all right? So, yeah, I jumped out of my skin because I thought I was being shot out, but ya know, I'm not the first, so maybe you can just stop acting like such a big, macho, I'm-afraid-of-nothing-but-my-past, coldhearted, distanced shithead JERK for once and maybe take pity on me or just not be such a damn DOLT!?"

A long silence followed my proclamation as Squall stood in the buzzing light from the bathroom like a solitary speck of green in a lawn of brown grass, gazing at me in a way I don't think I'd ever seen. No longer did he seem angry; more like startled in a way he'd never been before, but it was a bad kind of surprise. It was as if he was disappointed in me.

And that kind of hurt.

But even more when he reached for his jacket I'd remembered at the last minute to sling back over the chair and pulled it on, slipping his boots on unnoticeably, too.

He shut the light in the bathroom off...

...Cast one last unseen glance at me...

...And grabbed his keys and blade before unlocking the balcony door and disappearing outside, shutting the door with him.

Leaving me to think about what I just said, and to wonder if he was coming back at all.

He's still a jerk, though.

I didn't go to sleep until around six in the morning, but it was a fretful kind of sleep filled with nightmares and lots of tossing and turning. I'd slept in again, of course, and I remembered even before I finally submitted to opening my eyes that Squall would not be there, whether or not we really had that fight last night. I was still furious with the man for being so damn difficult. There was a strong hammer thudding at the back of my head, and to make matters worse, I heard a soft pitter-patter of droplets on the window and knew as well that it was raining.

"Aw...c'mon..." I moaned into a pillow. "Why can't you stop raining...?"

There was another crackle of thunder as if in response.

Ugh.

How I wished that I could just turn over and go back to sleep.

But no, I couldn't. Not with that annoying noise made by the godforsaken rain, guilty thoughts of Squall, and the prospect of Aerith zeroing in on my 'thoughts' on the Romeo and Juliet thing. Especially that last one. If I got up and somehow wound up talking with her (like I always seem to do), she'd start questioning me, and I didn't even bother reading the thing. If I didn't get up, she'd probably be the one to rouse me and I'd have to face her right away. So basically I had no choice – then again, when did I ever when it came to Miss Rith?

There was a knock at the door.

Man, I really hated early-morning guests.

"We're closed!" I yelled groggily, unsure and uncaring whether the knock resonated from the hallway door or the Green Room/Red Room door.

"Who said it was your room to close?" came the muffled voice of a person too familiar for my taste.

I sighed when my thoughts strained themselves into working order and named the guy at the door: Daved Cassady, the Hotel manager of one year, and one hell of a pain in the butt. Staggering to my feet like a drunken fool, I ran a hand through my hair to try and comb it through and rubbed the grime out of my eyes. Opening the hallway door, I restrained my eyes from rolling at the man who filled the doorframe like cream filled an Oreo cookie.

I hated this guy no matter how high his IQ was or how smooth his manner and comments were – he was ruder to me than I could ever be, bigger than the Traverse Town Gizmo Shop, and meaner than Cid at his worst (at least to me, but that could be that he just dislikes me a whole lot). Not only that, but he constantly held the repulsive stench of three-month-old cheese thrown into a garbage dump and then urinated upon a few times, though his look, at least, was much easier on the eyes. It seemed to me that he had no patience for anyone but Aerith, and it was clearly obvious to everyone that he had a crush on the flower girl. Which is completely wrong, when taking into consideration that Daved is married and Aerith is three timers younger than he.

In other words, he was like Cid, only I happened to like Cid, and at least the gummy mechanic had the brains to take a shower every day.

Resisting the urge to cringe and cover my nose against the smell, I lowered my gaze to the floor, and breathed through my mouth as loudly as I could.

"Yeah, whadduya want?" I asked woozily, not at all wondering why the Hotel manager would have the grace to show up at my door.

He 'ahem'-ed and I was forced to look up. Despite the rest of his person, his face was relatively clean, his beard trimmed and his red hair smoothed back. His would-be-blue eyes were closed in frustration, as though it was a nuisance to look down upon me.

"Excuse me, Miss Kisaragi," he said in forced politeness and in such a fake English accent that I almost grinned derisively at him, but bit my lip and stood at attention – perhaps to spite him, I don't really know. But I forced all tiredness away from my being and spoke.

"Why, good day to you, my fine fellow," I responded in a just-as-fake accent, but it sounded so much better than his, I'm sure. "And how may I be helping ye today?" I remembered skimming that Shakespeare thing and noticing the out-of-the-ordinary words. Hopefully I didn't use these words wrong. Not saying that I cared what he though, I just didn't want this guy to think I was an idiot, too.

He stared down his pointed nose at me, every inch the refined gentlemen acting in the face of a rude person. "Good day," he replied scornfully. "And you'll be helping me by packing up your things and getting out of my Hotel."

I think my jaw fell and rolled across the floor.

"Ex-excuse me?" I stammered, collecting myself and fully looking at him without any thoughts of his lack of bodily hygiene. "What are you talking about?" Even though I knew exactly what he was talking about, I had to ask to make sure. If I'd learned anything from Squall after all these years, it was how to use a situation such as this to worm your way out of a bad ending.

Daved pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed dramatically, as though he was pretending to be sorry for me, even though we both knew that the action was indeed a fake.

"Look, Miss Kisaragi, if there's one thing I can't tolerate–"

"Besides me?" I butted in, looking livid.

He abstained from glaring. "Besides you," he growled in agreement, "is people – especially bloody teenagers and their damned boyfriends – yelling at three a.m. and waking up my entire Hotel." He gestured to the hallway behind him. "I had three people come to me last night complaining of the noise, one of whom reported that you verbally abused him before he would leave you alone."

"'Verbally abused'? I didn't say a word to anyone!" I lied, flicking my hair out of my face. "And he's not my boyfriend!" The second part was true, of course. But I knew the only person we 'verbally abused' was Cloud, and he would never report us. Just threaten us with his huge sword later, but never report us to the Big Guy. I mean, he had a grudge against Cassady for liking Aerith in the first place, so why would he set one foot near him?

"Well, whether you did or didn't, the entire Hotel most definitely heard you both, because my bedroom," – he meant the Manager's Room – "is all the way on the second floor, on the other side of the hallway, and I heard you clear as crystal even with my head buried under the pillow. Now, Miss Kisaragi, I do believe you owe me an apology. And if you want to stay in this Hotel, you will pay the fee for your indiscretion and disrespect of the rest of the Hotel and for disturbing the peace. If you refuse, you will be evicted. Is that clear?"

He looked down at me sternly, no longer sophisticated and regal, just angry and greedy for the money he knew I had no choice but to give.

Grumbling words you'd only hear Cid say, I closed my eyes and let out a long, ragged breath. "Well don't get your panties in a twist, sunshine," I grumbled to myself, taking care to make sure that he didn't hear, and backed into my room to seek out whatever amount of currency I had left of my weekly savings. Resentful as I was of giving up my money, I didn't savor the fact that I'd end up sleeping in some empty house in the Third District or other, and anyway, I'd just get my half of the munny back from Squall later, if I ever saw him again.

That thought struck a chord in my chest, but I ignored it fervidly, claiming internally that Squall was and always would be a jackass with no heart, and that perhaps it was better if I really never saw him again.

Digging up my munny in that jungle I call a drawer, I found at least one hundred – which was all I had left, I guess – and dragged myself back to the door, part of me urging myself to just apologize and give the guy his required amount before his stink melts up my room and Squall gets even madder if he came back, another part trying to keep me at the dresser so I wouldn't have to pay this guy just 'cause he was so unfair.

Stiffly dropping the munny in his grubby palm – and wondering vaguely if he'd ever clipped or cleaned his fingernails before – I stared up at him again, insolently crossing my arms in a loose fashion and giving him a look as if to say, now what?

"Well?" he said after a while, looking expectant as he counted his money.

"Well what?" I retorted, raising an eyebrow. He finished counting the munny I'd so unwillingly given him and turned away, looking smug.

"Good day to you," he answered, walking down the hall with a victorious air. He stopped halfway down and turned his torso (or tried to, considering his...er...weight problem, you could call it) to look back, one bushy eyebrow cocked. "And, Miss Kisaragi, if you ever pull another stunt like what you pulled last night, you will be evicted with a much higher fee and no chance of negotiations." With that, he turned again, no other comments about me actually not being the only offender in questions, nor any comments about who the doinks who squealed on us were.

But instead of questioning any of that and letting him presume I actually wanted his presence, I simply watched as he disappeared up the elevator shaft (within the elevator, of course), a hated storm cloud hanging over my head. Sighing with relief as he disappeared, I retreated back into my room, thoughts of Squall, Aerith, and smelly smells, but mostly Squall, on my mind.

Casting a gaze around the room, I realized that it felt so damn empty for some reason. Maybe it was just my thoughts about Squall not being there that made it feel so empty, because the room looked the same as it always had when I woke up in the morning. Whatever the reason, perhaps it was in an effort to make the place look different, but I did what I never did before: I made the bed. Not necessarily 'made', because I don't think shaking out the covers and letting them fall sloppily back onto the bed was to be considered made. That, and I never really liked making the bed anyway. But it was more than I usually did, so, I guess, be happy with whatcha got.

Thinking maybe it'd be a good idea to open the curtains as well, I reached over the bed and pulled them open. I was rewarded for my thoughts with a flash of lightning and a rumbling of thunder in the distance, both of which made me jerk backward in surprise. The storm must have really been bad. Ironically, there was also a kind of tension to the air that made me feel like jumping outside and smashing something.

Sitting on the edge of the bed with another look at the room, I tried to pin my thoughts on what was so wrong with this picture. I was mad at Squall. It wasn't the first time; no, of course it wasn't, 'cause Squall Leonhart always made me mad one way or another. But, I don't know, usually Squall just caught an attitude with me and kicked me off the bed or something, or just ignored me, not even bothering to fight with me. The worst he would do was just ignore me altogether. But this time was so very different from all the other times Squall and me fought. This time, he actually took part in the usually one-sided (one-sided as in, I'm usually the one who fights...he just doesn't really say anything) clash-of-the-words, and, more interesting yet, it was as if I disappointed him in some way, as if he expected better out of me.

That was actually kinda disappointing on my part, to tell you the truth. To have Squall expect a higher standard than what he saw was not uncommon – hell, it'd be wow-worthy if he didn't after being introduced to something – but I had long ago come to know that Squall looked forward to nothing from me and that used to suit me perfectly fine.

I have no idea how that relates to us getting into a fight. But something, some little annoying, nitpicking voice at the back of my head that everyone knows and just loves kept saying that maybe this time was different for another reason, not just that Squall had been disappointed in me. Was it because my last words to him struck something deep inside, just as they did in me?

I don't know. How my thoughts even came up with that last excuse is beyond me anyway.

Scratching the back of my head in frustration, I took to my feet, finding myself in the bathroom in no time at all. Deciding a shower might be best to calm my annoying thoughts, I closed the door behind me.

Maybe half an hour later, I came out of the steaming bathroom dressed in a small green t-shirt and black jeans, toweling my newly washed hair while trying to pull my sneakers on. Combing out my ebony mane, however short, was a nightmare. I loathed doing it myself, but would never let anyone else touch it.

But finally succeeding in getting it to look somewhat decent, I snapped on my general silver headband and looked around the anything-but-neat room, finding myself again on the bed, feeling somewhat at a loss of what to do. Squall was gone to who-knows-where, Aerith was most likely at the Infirmary, Cid at his Gummi Repair Shop, and Cloud at the Item Synthesis Shop. Today was a Sunday, the fourth of December to be exact, it was raining, and I was already bored as hell at 12:45 p.m. I was too mad at Squall (and myself) to actually spend time seeking him out and I didn't want Aerith bugging me.

For once in my life, I didn't know what to do. Literally.

What's a ninja to do when there's nothing that calls for her?

Apologize to Squall, said some stern voice that belonged in the trash.

Nuh-uh. Make me.

You owe it to him.

No I don't! Why should I spend time apologizing to someone who is such a jerk to me?

Is that always your line of reasoning? That you're the victim all the time?

Yes! Maybe. I don't know. What are you getting at?

You mean, what am I getting at.

Yeah. No. Ick. You disgusting thing, get out of my mind!

Not until I apologize to Squall.

His name is Leon!

I blinked, feeling as if I'd been woken up from sleep rather than a half-trance fight between me, myself, and I. God, that sounds so stupid. But did I just defend Squall's wishes to be called Leon? To myself? Good gawd, this stuff is messing with my mind...

Well, I s'pose my mind'll never leave me alone, will it? Even as I think it, I know I would sound so dumb if I were to say it out loud.

With quiet (and yeah, always gotta be a little reluctant) resolve, I pushed myself to my feet and walked over to the closet, pulling open the doors as slowly as I could. If there was nothing for me to do, I'd find something to do. Maybe get paid as well. Rummaging through the closet for a jacket of some sort, I saw Squall's leather one standing uncharacteristically alone – and there, for another matter. Squall never forgot to wear his jacket and was never seen without it on or with him, as if it was as sacred as the lion pendant around his neck. And wasn't I absolutely certain that I'd seen him tug it on last night?

I pulled it off the hanger and inspected it. Ah, there was a difference, one I noticed once it was fully out of the closet. Maybe it was all the clothing overlapping that made me miss what was obviously there, but this jacket was the one Squall only wore in winter, and only on the coldest of days. There was fur all around the nape of the neck and the sleeves of this jacket were much puffier than the other. I threw a look at the window, where, as if on cue, light flashed, followed by a bang, and the rain seemed to come down harder than before.

Smiling slightly, I shoved the jacket back inside – though the thought of walking around wearing the beautiful, warm thing and not having anyone see was almost too good a challenge to resist – and pulled another, thinner denim jacket out, one that that I had no idea from where it came, followed by my longest yellow scarf, which hung limply on a hook on the door. Wrenching the cruddy jacket on – it was bigger than I by a size, though it did nothing to steel me against the undoubted coldness of outside nor the rain which would most likely drench me in seconds – I wrapped the scarf tightly about my neck and mouth, remembering at the last minute to snatch a black baseball cap I'd found a while back off another hook and yank it on my head.

These garments, if at all, would at least help protect me some against the rain as I sought for some kind of task to do for the day. Which is really, really sad, considering I'd never done so before.

Don't be silly. You're going to find a quick job somewhere and get paid. You're broke, remember?

Sighing at this logic, I found my shuriken pouch and tied it at the belt loop of my jeans, grabbing my keys and stuffing them in my coat pocket as I looked longingly at the room again and left it, locking the door behind me. Only when I got outside did I change my tact and, instead of heading in the direction of the First District, made for the Third.

Something is so definitely wrong with me.

It's raining harder than I thought, I growled ferociously in my mind. Damn it, why couldn't I just stay in the Hotel? Who cared about finding a purpose or finding Squall; it was raining like hell was soon to come! Sheesh! It wasn't even spring! Spring called for this kind of weather, not winter. Man, Mother Nature's really tossing her cookies if she can't even get that right.

Grumbling as I made my way across the many feet of Second District to Third, I found I was probably the only idiot outside and without an umbrella. I was drenched straight through my jacket and hat and clothes, and it was as if I'd taken a second shower. Jeez. I was going to get so sick after this, it wasn't even funny.

Emerging behind the Second District/Third District doors, I held my hands over my head in a last ditch effort to keep me a little dry (though it was quite clear the effort was completely useless) and ran toward the brown door with the faded red flame, casting a first level Fire attack at it to open it. Of the spells I'd already been taught, Fire was the first and foremost I'd learned so I'd be able to get myself to Merlin's if the need arose.

The door open with a swoosh and I was gratefully allowed into the cave that housed a small body of water and Merlin's study. I shook off the water like a wet dog then growled at the analogy I chose to use. Dog. Hmph. What a joke.

Pulling the baseball cap off my head and loosening my scarf, I found I was worse than I'd begun to presume. Shivering and dripping from head to tiny toe – but using every single speck of dignity in me to not slip as I jumped across the stones – I was happy I'd chosen to come to Merlin's rather than swimming through the Waterway's acid water.

Landing with a grumble on the steps of Merlin's solitary isle, I circled it fully, coming to the green cloth and pushing it aside rudely, not much caring if the occupants inside weren't in the mood for guests or something along that line.

Inside, Merlin and the Fairy Godmother sat deep in conversation at the table, the Fairy Godmother looking completely annoyed, Merlin's face one of determined stubbornness. Both their faces jerked to look up at mine as I entered, cold and wet, and from their immediate reactions at having a guest, they appeared to have been waiting for someone.

"Merryweather, thank goodness you're finally here–" Merlin began before his eyes adjusted to see who truly stood in the doorway. I couldn't help smirking sheepishly at the wizard's fading eyesight and mistaking me for whoever 'Merryweather' happened to be.

"Hey," I hailed with a wave. The Fairy Godmother's earlier mask of annoyance changed to her regular one as she took in my appearance and bid me a hello and the customary 'oh dear!' that came with too much concern.

"My dear, is that Yuffie?" Merlin said, squinting behind his already thick glasses. I shrugged, then nodded.

"Last time I checked. I just wanted to get down to the waterway," I told them, pointing to the floor.

"Why, yes, of course, dear!" Merlin replied, gesturing almost absently at the floor and nodding as it opened to reveal a platform. But the Fairy Godmother had bustled over to me, waving her wooden wand recklessly around me until she was fairly certain her magic had been weaved enough to make me dry. I couldn't help sighing with the warmth that came from her magic and smiled truly at the elderly sorceress, never mind how much I just wanted to get down to the waterway and give Squall a piece of my mind. If, assuming all my thoughts of Squall were correct, he was there at all.

"Hey...thanks!" The Fairy Godmother smiled back and said it was her pleasure, before waving her wand again, to be followed by the appearance of a dark brown robe similar to her own, only of a different color. She handed it to me, saying it would keep me warm and would be a good raincoat for other occasions like now. "Wow...thank-you. Really." I waved at her in thanks and jumped onto the platform as it began to descend quietly into the Secret Waterway.

Okay, so I didn't know how to say a proper thank-you. Can ya blame me? I was still real grateful for the elderly woman's help, though I may never show exactly how much. I never said thanks and didn't bother trying to make it a habit.

Ten seconds before the lift stop, I heard the slashing of a sword, and knew right away that this was where Leon had sought shelter from the rain, if not anywhere else.

Ten seconds before the lift stop, I ran out of things to say. Why was I even looking for this egotistical, way-too-collected bastard? To apologize to him? To make him apologize to me? Why bother if I knew what the outcome would be: us more than likely getting into another verbal brawl? It was to be expected with him. Like I said. He's predictable. He can't take someone by surprise, which makes it all the worse for me.

Leon Leonhart...Squall Leonhart...whatever his name was, he was still the same.

{tbc}

[a.n.] F.Y.I, my darlings: 'Daved' is pronounced 'David', just so you don't pronounce it to rhyme with 'saved'. Darling Daved will be so offended.

As much as this chapter sucked, I do hope you enjoyed it. I had a headache near the beginning and a very strong urge to not write until morning (since it was night when I began), but I pushed myself to my limit for you guys. And anyway, I felt a need to end it earlier than usual, ya know? Hopefully ya'll will like the next chapter better.

And yeah, Squall –did– hit Yuffie, but it was completely understandable, ne? Muaha.

Anyway, length of chapter: 5, 774 words (damn! Not enough!) and 13 pages, excluding author notes and titles.

Sneak peak of next chapter: Yuffie apologizes, but not without having the satisfaction of throwing Squall into the mud. Aerith bugs, Yuffie again holds her own, and Blondie threatens us with his powerhouse sword for waking him up at three a.m. And yar, yar, I hear you when you say I should start moving the plot along. But too bad. –bleh–

And the reviews to be answered:

Deplora: Your stories are really lovely, Miss Deplora. I'm glad you like my work.

TiredAnii: Ah! You liked it, you really, really liked it! Muaha.

Astaldotholwen: You're right. –smile– And your poem is really cool!!! Thanks for the review.

BlueEyedDemon1: So it appears. . And I guess you guys'll be getting both the one-shot and chapter, ne? Enjoy!

Lithe: -sniff- Your reviews are so short and to the point, my friend. Never any criticisms? I still luff 'em. Thanks for reading!

Crimson Kasumi: "Love: Whatever That Was" will stay in my mind for a while. I'll write a one-shot or something with it! Muaha. Glad you enjoyed the chapter. I like writing long chapters, they are so FUN!

Eck. I didn't do a really good job with this chapter. I –did– finish it at midnight. PITY ME! If anything, it's not as good as the last chapter, but better than the rest.

-prays- Please agree, please agree, please agree... [araclyzm]