Author's Notes: Whee, new chapter! Hope you enjoy.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


Betrayals and Disappointments

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sora wanted to turn around to the old goat and stick out his tongue. They had won the match, even though Phil had told them they didn't stand a chance. However, sticking out your tongue and going "Nyah, nyah, nyah!" wouldn't have been mature at all... not that Sora cared about maturity. But he didn't want to give Phil another reason to declare them 'non-heroes'.

"You're no heroes yet, but you ain't doing bad. Lucky you came to me for coaching."

Sora started to roll his eyes, but a tall blonde man walked by them, the edge of his cape brushing against Sora. Sora's gaze followed the man; there was something... powerful about him.

"Something tells me he'll be a tough one to beat. Who knows, maybe you'll end up facing him."

Sora shuddered slightly. That man looked like he could and would destroy anything in his path; facing him wouldn't be fun at all.

But, if he had to beat him to see Riku, then he would. Even if it took everything Sora had, nothing would stop him. He wouldn't let it.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Cloud stared out at the young boy, who was smiling broadly at his victory.

"That little punk is your next opponent, okay? Now, don't blow it. Just take him out."

Cloud raised his eyebrows at Hades' tone. Was he... afraid? "The great god of the Underworld is afraid of a kid? Sorry, but my contract says-"

Hades threw up his hands, interrupting him. "I know! You think I don't know? I wrote the contract! I know it says you're only required to kill Hercules in this tournament. But you've gotta fight that kid to get to him. Come on. Hey, it's like that old goat says, 'Rule 11: It's all just a game, so let loose and have fun with it!' I mean, a casualty or two along the way is no big deal, right?"

Cloud closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Sora was just a kid. But... it was the only way he could... He didn't even want to think about it anymore. He turned around and walked away, not saying a word.

Hades watched Cloud. "Geez. Stiffer than the stiffs back home. Still, suckers like him are hard to come by..."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hey, Cloud's fighting Sora... wanna go watch?"

Leon couldn't care less about who was fighting.

"Oh, come on! It'll be fun!"

Leon frowned slightly as Yuffie jumped in front of him, putting her face mere inches away from his. "Go away."

"But, don't you wanna watch?!"

"No."

"Hmph." She sat back down, frustrated. Leon was still being a cold ass, no matter what she did to try to get him involved. He should have been at least a little bit happy; hell, they had won the tournament they had entered. Wasn't that why he had come here? To prove himself?

"So... who'd ya think will win?"

Leon shot her a blank look.

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Between Cloud and Sora."

"...."

"Well, since you decided to give me your lovely opinion, I'll give you mine. I think Sora's going to win."

"...Why?"

Yuffie shrugged. "Because he's so freakin' little! He could just like, bite Cloud in the knees repeatedly, and Cloud could never reach him! Because Sora's so short!"

Leon rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Get everyone out of the arena NOW!"

The sudden shout had both Leon and Yuffie up on their feet in seconds. They raced into the lobby, their weapons drawn.

"What's going on?!" Yuffie shouted.

Phil turned around to both of them. "Cereberus is in there!"

"Hades must have let him loose." Hercules muttered from his position on the floor, where he was bent over somebody.

"Is he in there... alone?"

Phil shook his head, "No, those stupid kids decided to go in there and fight him."

Yuffie turned towards Leon. "Shouldn't we go help them?!"

Leon put Hyperion away and rubbed his temples in annoyance. "No, they can handle it."

"But, I-"

"I said no."

Yuffie's shoulders sunk. "Fine... asshole."

"Is he going to be okay?" Phil asked Hercules.

Hercules looked up at him, a dark look in his eye. "Should be. His wounds are pretty bad, though, so he'll need a steady supply of potions."

"Who ya got there?...... Cloud?!"

Leon lifted his head up in surprise.

"Is Cloud okay?! What happened?!"

"I told ya, Cereberus is in the arena. He just happened to show up while Cloud had his back turned." Phil said flatly.

"But, is he alright? I mean, I know Hercules just said he should be alright, but he looks pretty bad to me... does he need some cure magic?"

Leon leaned over and looked at Cloud's broken form. He felt a small twinge of something in his stomach, but he wasn't sure what it was. He didn't really care, either. "He'll be fine." Leon said evenly. Cloud wasn't the type to just up and die because of a monster attack. Cloud was a survivor and always had been. He would be fine, and Leon was sure of it.

"Hm... he still looks pretty bad to me, though..."


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Cloud sat on the doorstep, wanting to hit both himself, for being so stupid, and Hades, for being so... well, evil.

He had woken up about fifteen minutes after the attack. Hercules had taken the time to heal him, so he was only a tad bit sore. Hercules had told him to take a potion every hour for the next day or so anyways, just to be safe.

Physically, Cloud felt fine. Now, mentally...

"Hey, are you alright?"

Cloud's head flew upwards at the voice. It was the boy from earlier; the one who had beaten him. "Yeah." He said evenly, not wanting to get into it.

"So, why did you go along with him, anyway?"

Cloud frowned slightly. Now he could understand why Leon didn't like the boy; he asked too many questions for his own good. But, he had tried to kill the boy, so he just might have owed him an explanation. He sighed. "I'm looking for someone. Hades promised to help. I tried to exploit the power of darkness, but it backfired." He stood up. All he wanted to do for the next million years was sleep. Just crawl under his blankets and never return. "I fell into darkness, and couldn't find the light."

"You'll find it." Sora said softly, offering the older man a sad smile. "I'm searching too."

Cloud felt a twinge of sympathy for the boy. "For your light? Don't lose sight of it." He dug into his pocket and pulled out a small white ball, handing it over to the Keybearer.

"How about a rematch sometime? Fair and square, no dark powers involved."

"I think I'll pass." He said evenly.


Sora nodded understandingly.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sora leaned against the window and sighed to himself. He hadn't found Riku. He had hoped so much that he would have, but...

"Hey! No sad faces!" Donald squawked from the drivers' seat of the Gummi ship.

Sora looked down at the ground. "Yeah, yeah..."

"Don't worry, ah-huh, I'm sure we'll find yer friends!"

Sora looked out of the window, into space. He hoped Goofy was right, but he couldn't ignore the bad feeling growing in the pit of his stomach.

Whoever Cloud was looking for, Sora hoped that he found them. Sora knew the pain of wanting and didn't want anyone else to be cursed with it ever again.

"Say, do you think King Mickey is down there?" Goofy asked excitedly, pointing at a new world.

Sora ripped himself from his thoughts and looked down at the green paradise. Maybe Riku would be there...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hey!"

Cloud opened his eyes and lifted his head wearily. "Hey."

Yuffie sat down beside him. "You feelin' alright?"

Cloud nodded, closing his eyes again.

"That's good. We was worried 'bout ya!"

Cloud doubted that. Not that Yuffie had been worried, but that Leon had.

"You should always be on you guard."

Cloud snorted. Figures Leon would say something like that.

"Oh, come on, Leon! Cloud had no way of knowing that monster would appear!"

"He should have been prepared." Leon replied flatly.

Yuffie rolled her eyes.

"Hey... I'm pretty tired, so..."

"Right, right. We'll just go now and let you get your rest!"

Cloud listened as the pair exited his room. Only once they were gone did he open his eyes again. He didn't know whether he wanted to laugh or cry. He had almost gotten killed trying to bring that Seifer guy back for Leon, and Leon was still as cold as ever. Of course, Leon didn't know that Cloud had been trying to help him. Hell, if Leon had known, he probably would have looked at him coolly and said something like, "I don't need your help."

Cloud sighed. Just because he had failed this time, didn't mean he wouldn't try again. But... not until his sides stopped hurting. Until then, he just wanted to sleep.

-

-

Author's Notes: Thanks for all the reviews guys! ^___^ I'm glad everyone likes this story so much. ^_~ For a few notes:

Nataku: I know Leon doesn't seem like the type to cry, EVER, but I wanted to emphasize exactly how much Seifer meant to him, and how much it still hurts him. At least, that's my goal anyways!

TRT14: Of course Sephy will show up! Just not for a couple of chapters, since in the game Phil said he had to 'clean up' and you couldn't fight for a while. Plus, I want to wait until Leon starts feeling stuff for Cloud (well, consciously anyways) before the almighty Sephiroth shows up. ^_^ And yes! Riku/Sora! They're the minor pairing in this story, but hopefully you'll see them (or at least Sora, for now) at least once a chapter! ^_^

Okay, if you notice any grammar/spelling mistakes, let me know! My beta HAS returned, but I told TRT14 I'd have this chapter up by this morning. ^_~ (Sorry 'bout that! I slept all day. o.0) I do hope you enjoyed, though! Review and lemme know!