Originally, this was going to be divided into two separate chapters. You know, one with lots of Leon/Cloud and one with lots of Yuffie/Kairi fluff. Only I figured I should just stick this in here now because it keeps the story moving a bit. ...BAH. Screw this, just read the note at the bottom.

Raspberry Heaven

'Memory Bank: Happiness is All the Rage'

Several days had trailed by since Kairi and Yuffie had visited the play island and not much had really changed in how the two interacted. Yuffie was still her normal perky self and Kairi was still... well, she was rather proud of herself. She hadn't been blushing like crazy that much.

Leon, however noticed other things that some of the less toned minds of the island obviously missed. Why? Well, it was just the way he was. That, along with the fact that spending years as Cloud's roommate had taught Leon that he always had to be looking for change. If you don't look for change, the next thing you know you'll end up with a roommate who's madly in love with you or something. Yeah, that was pretty much it.

What surprised Leon most was how oblivious everyone else seemed to be to the things that seemed so simple and obvious to him. Here was Yuffie, who had come out to Destiny Islands for a reason everyone had objected to and warned her about and flat out despised... Here was that Yuffie, completely abandoning her original plans and developing a crush on some kid. Cloud was doing who knows what with that 'old friend' of his, Tifa was growing even more supportive of whatever dangerous thing might have sparked between Kairi and Yuffie, Aerith was still wanting the world to be happy, and Leon...

Leon...

Leaning back in his battered old desk chair, Leon closed his eyes and rested his head on his folded hands. He'd just finished going through the month's income and outcome and whatnot, and was actually quite pleased. Granted, you really couldn't tell that just by looking at him, but he was. Since the restaurant had opened, a steady stream of regular customers had been flowing in and there were almost always more new faces added into the mix, be they tourists or visiting relatives to Destiny Islands.

He was successful, so he was pleased. Logically, it made sense. But the more Leon allowed his mind to linger on it, the more he figured that he wasn't really as successful as he first thought. And that thought led him to start wondering if his happiness was really happiness or not and then that though had him back-pedaling through time and space, trying to plant his finger on a time when he was really, truly decidedly happy.

All he got was a mirage of faces and images he'd thought he'd long since forgotten. Where were all those memories though? There were no voices in faces, no stories behind images. Just oversized mental canvases, littered with nothing but pure and simple junk.

"Cloud, you're impossible. Just look at this place. It's like you enjoy living in your own filth."

No, that was a memory from that very morning. It didn't really count, Leon figured. Opening his eyes, he surveyed the clock on the other side of the room. Seven o' clock, on the nose. They'd be closing up the restaurant and coming to bother him any minute. Figuring he didn't have much time left in his solitude, Leon rubbed his fingertips against the bridge of his nose as though he were suffering from some chronic sinus pains or just one hell of a headache. He had neither, but some part of him felt pained anyway, so he at least gave himself credit for trying to ease the pain.

Shaking his head, Leon simply sighed and reached for the bottom drawer in his desk. He'd put some cough drops in there when they'd first gotten that huge desk for him at an old garage sale. Might as well go the whole nine yards in trying to cure whatever it was that Leon didn't have.

Nestled under the old bag of cherry cough drops, Leon's eyes widened slightly as they fell on a small shoebox decorated with ribbons and picture clippings-- very girly looking. Tossing the cough drops to the side without a second thought, Leon's hands instantly flew to the little box, lifting its light weight up onto the surface of the large desk. If anything was going to jog his memories at all, this had to be it.

And sure enough, as Leon opened the lid and gazed down at the boxes scattered contents, it did. Notes everywhere and on everything. From matchboxes with quick messages on them to sticky-notes with longer messages, Leon couldn't help smiling as he read several.

Squall--

Yuffie and I made it back early from the movies but then it rained. Your place was closest so we crashed here for a while. If you wiggle your front door handle enough, it eventually unlocks, just so you know. We also had wild and crazy sex on your sofa. Just kidding!

Lots of love,

Rinoa

Squall! You are in deep shit the next time I see you, jackass!

Love: Cloud.

Squall, I borrowed some popcorn because I was out and Rinoa came to visit. Knew you wouldn't mind. You don't eat it anyway, you idiot.

-Seifer

Gently plucking a picture from the box and holding it carefully between two fingertips, Leon stared longingly at its glossy surface. It seemed like so long ago that they'd all been together up there... But how long ago was it, really? One year? A year and a half? ...More importantly, did it even matter?

The picture was of poor quality, really. But even though it was tilted to the side slightly and somewhat blurry, the image couldn't have been clearer for Leon. Everyone was there. Everyone was smiling. ...Well... Everyone was smiling except him. But Leon never really smiled at all to begin with, so that fact wasn't anything notable. Irvine and Zell stood side by side, next to them was Seifer, looking as haughty and regal as ever. Vincent, Reno, Zack... And then in the front sat four people. Rinoa and Yuffie, arms wrapped securely around one another and grinning wildly at the camera for all they were worth. And Cloud and Leon, though back then he supposed he was Squall.

Smirking, Leon couldn't help but chuckle at the image of him grudgingly having his arm wrapped around Cloud's waist while Cloud smiled blissfully at the camera, both arms fastened to Leon's shoulders in a half hug.

"Come on, Squall! Just put your arm here, dammit!"

"Squall, what's wrong?" Rinoa was looking at him like that again. Always, always she would flirt crazily with him at just the wrong moment. Seeing as they were going out, Rinoa probably figured that there shouldn't have been a wrong moment. Hah. Well that just showed what she knew. Any time Cloud was in the same room as them... that was the wrong moment.

"Nothing." It was an obvious lie and Squall knew it. Rinoa did too, he was certain, but he just ignored that fact almost as much as he ignored the girl herself. Certainly not the nicest thing he'd ever done and Rinoa certainly didn't deserve it, but that was just the way it was. Squall was focused on the blond boy across the room who had yet to even talk to him. Obsessed with some moron he didn't even know. Wonderful.

Following his gaze, Rinoa giggled and leaned against him so as to put mouth beside his ear, making her words unheard to everyone but Squall. "Cloud, right? You like him?" Coming from his girlfriend, it was certainly unexpected and ever Squall couldn't help but jolt back slightly, resulting in him whacking his head rather painfully against the wall of the building.

"What?"

"I said you like him. Come on, you know you do. It's kinda obvious."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Squall shrugged the statement off as quickly as possible, turning attention elsewhere hurriedly. But the damage had already been done and Rinoa hid a small smirk behind her hand, staying quiet for a moment before finally piping up again.

"You want me to introduce you guys? You haven't even talked to him once since he joined up, ya know."

"I don't care."

"You know you do."

"Whatever."

'Whatever' was really supposed to be said as 'No, now would you kindly shut up and just go away?' However, Rinoa had known Squall for quite a long time. In fact, she probably even knew what Squall wanted more than he did. And the strange thing about her was that she never really cared about the whole unwritten constitution of relationships. She was one of those weird and truly loony individuals who just wanted people to be happy. Squall thought she was just plain odd. But a loveable sort of odd.

Before Squall could stop her, the cheery girl had already vanished to the other side of the room where she gave an experimental tug on Cloud's sleeve to gain his attention. Squall watched with growing horror as Rinoa easily started up a conversation with the blond, waving her hands around to emphasize her already enthusiastic words. It was when she finally turned around and jerked her thumb towards Squall that he really got his first good look at Cloud with actual eye contact.

Soft locks of sun-kissed blond hair, enormous blue eyes... And Cloud actually smiled at him!

Squall reflected on that as he stared at the forest floor moments later. It wasn't his fault that he just wasn't a very socially-confident person... that was it.

"Hey there!" Gulping down a sharp intake of breath, Squall pivoted instantly on his feet to face the jackass who obviously didn't know when to give a guy a break. Cloud waved back at him, the picture of innocence.

"I got my body and my mind on the same page

And honey now, happiness is all-- the rage!"

Leon blinked sleepily and gazed around his office. Weird. He hadn't fallen asleep but... With a yawn, he stretched his arms lazily above his head and squeezed his eyes shut. Leon hadn't even known that such a silly little box could possibly hold all those memories.

Tucking the shoebox back into the safe drawer of his desk, Leon slowly moved towards the door. Telltale signs were already telling him that Cloud was either very hyper, very bored, very alone, or a mix of all three. The last probability was by far the worst, seeing as Leon knew that the moment he walked out of the haven of his little office space, the blond would be all over him. ...Well, more or less.

"And we could do more outdoor things

If we weren't so busy-- getting busy!"

"Cloud, will you kindly just shut up already?" Leon jabbed his thumb down on the power button of Cloud's trusty stereo which had been set up on the kitchen counter. There was only so much racket Leon could handle at certain times. Having felt like crap all day, Leon really didn't think he was capable of handling Cloud at all.

"Aww, you have no taste in music, Leon."

"Not your music. No."

Rolling his eyes, Cloud finished drying the plate he held and gingerly dried his hands on a paper towel before sidling up beside Leon. "He-ey, everyone's gone, ya know. I just hung around because I figured you'd need to lighten up after spending forever brooding in your stuffy old office. Wanna go get some ice cream or something?" After not even receiving a 'Bug off, twerp' or something of the like, Cloud instantly guessed that something was wrong. "I could make us something here too, if you're too tired to go anywhere right now."

Leon gazed steadily at the shorter man beside him, his mind wandering far away from the current time, place, and on-goings. The box Rinoa had given him before she'd moved... There was something that should've been remembered that wasn't. There was something that was just missing.

Needless to say, it was driving Leon absolutely crazy.

"Cloud, you said something once... a long time ago." He began to slowly pace back and forth in the kitchen, pretending not to notice that Cloud had become rather annoyed with the sudden change in topic. Switching from something as important as ice cream to something as dumb as a memory... Leon began to think it wasn't the best time to bring it up, but oh well. He'd already started anyway.

"Yep. I've said a lot of things and I'm sure that a bunch of the best ones were said a long time ago." Cloud rolled his eyes, crossing his arms and making a face, all one right after the other. Typical and yet rare. Mostly because Cloud simply did it whenever Leon was just getting annoying. ...Cloud didn't often find Leon to be annoying. Usually that worked the other way around. "You okay?"

"It was something about heaven or something."

At this, Cloud's eyes lit up, a small smile radiating from his face. "My raspberry heaven theory, huh?"

"That was it." Leon nodded once and then shrugged. "...I couldn't remember."

The room was silent for a moment as Cloud back-pedaled in his brain, trying to figure out where the hell that whole thing came from. "Is that what you were thinking about while you were back there?"

"I just... I was just looking through some old stuff and it reminded me of it, but I just couldn't remember. That's all." Cloud couldn't tell if Leon wanted to drop the topic or if he was simply trying to find a roundabout way to some answer he was looking for. Whatever. Leon looked like he could use some deep-thinking time anyway.

"Something like... 'It's stupid to have to die to get to heaven--'"

"--you know. I mean, if you kicked the bucket when everyone you loved was still alive, you'd hate your own heaven." Cloud's eyes were focused on the blue blanket of sky above them and if Leon hadn't known any better, he would've thought that the blond was simply talking to himself, completely unaware of Leon's presence.

Leon may have known better than to think that, but he was obviously still far from eloquent when dealing with certain things.

"So?"

"So here. This is it. Welcome to heaven." Cloud's focused returned from the sky, the boy spreading his arms wide around him and grinning like an idiot. Leon blinked, looked around, and blinked again.

"Cloud, we're sitting in a raspberry field. I don't even think we're allowed to be here."

"You're point?" Cloud studied the brunette for a moment before letting out a defeated sigh and allow his arms to fall back down to his sides. "I'm trying to be deep and meaningful here! Just gimme a chance, okay? You know, I don't even like raspberries."

"...So?"
"You're hopeless, you know that? You're really hopeless. Come on, it's not even that hard." Cloud stared pointedly at Leon, eyebrows drawn together in concentration as though he were trying to send Leon a mental message of what the hell he was talking about. "I don't like raspberries, yeah, but..." A few more moment dragged by and once it became clear that all he would get from Leon was a blank stare, Cloud gave up with one last defeated sigh. "Nevermind. It's okay."

"I still don't understand." That blank stare was back and more blank than ever. Somehow, Cloud wasn't surprised at all.

"I never really figured you would." A small smirk slowly spread across Cloud's face as he sauntered over towards the nearest counter, pulling himself up to sit on it and study the other man from afar. "Face it Leon, poetry is just not in your mechanics." Earning a sulky glare from Leon, Cloud let out a low chuckle before changing back to the most important topic, of course. "So... You want a smoothie or something? I could make a couple of Mako Poisonings for--"

"Do you think you could explain it to me?"

"Huh?"

"Your raspberry heaven... thing." Obviously, Leon just wasn't as willing to let the topic drop as Cloud was. It was on Leon's mind and he didn't understand it. The only logical action to take was to wheedle the information out of Cloud so he could understand. "It must've made sense at the time. I just didn't understand. Could you explain it to me now?"

Taken aback by the sudden realization that Leon just seemed downright adorable at that moment, Cloud had to take a few breaths and think his words through for a moment before responding, "...Nah. You gotta get it on your own, Leon."

Nimbly sliding off the countertop, Cloud made his way over towards Leon, coming to stop several inches away from him. He tilted his head back in order to get a good look at the taller man, though all he saw in Leon's face was confusion. Just like always...

"Cloud, what are you--?"

"Can I kiss you?" A nervous tongue slid out of Cloud's mouth, wetting his lips. Every single part of him was tingling with that nervous. It reminded him of that afternoon, too... Leon's simple presence was like a natural high for Cloud, but he'd only ever felt that nervous once before, when he'd finally gotten a moment alone with Leon and when he'd finally tried to come clean about everything he felt. "Please? Just once?"

"Why?" The question was so stupid, so heartless, it seemed. But it was so... Leon.

"Because I want to!" Gnawing anxiously on his bottom lip for a moment, Cloud continued to peer up at Leon with a worried gaze, refusing to break eye contact. "Please?" Break eye contact with Leon and you gave him a chance to run away. "...I won't do it unless you say I can." Let Leon get away... who knows when you might get another chance.

Months later? Perhaps. If luck's with you, that is.

"I don't understand you..." Leon had nearly ceased breathing altogether and that along with Cloud's sudden request... Part of him was shocked that he hadn't collapsed on the floor yet.

"You never do, dammit! Just. Let. Me." Cloud was pouting now, getting grouchy and frustrated, just like the adorable Cloud Leon had spent the afternoon with... what was it...? Not even a year ago, right? But it seemed like an eternity had passed. "Leon..."

"I don't understand you!"

"Well there's something we have in common!" Leon could hardly believe he was yelling. Especially at Cloud. Why? What had happened?

"All I ever did was be nice to you... Why can't you just..." Yeah, Leon was pretty sure those were tears sparkling in the corners of those big blue eyes. A stab of guilt was all he felt, but it was enough. Oh, it was more than enough. "Why can't you just tell me?"

"I... I don't..."

"Maybe..." Cloud scrubbed furiously at his eyes with the back of his hand, fighting back those stupid--

Tears? Since... since when had Cloud started crying?

"Maybe you don't love me..." Ignoring the fact that his voice broke and faltered and ignoring the fact that his eyes stung and hurt, his head spun, his heart slammed and buckled wildly inside his chest... Ignoring all that, Cloud took a deep breath and continued. "Maybe you don't love me now. Maybe you never did. But... You know... I love you. And I don't care if you... you know... if you love me or not. I guess..."

Silence fell upon the kitchen with a sickening splat and for a moment Leon feared that Cloud would leave that as another unfinished thought, another thing for Leon to figure out. Didn't he understand by then that Leon couldn't figure people out? Hell, he couldn't even figure himself--

"I guess I still hope that..." Cloud shoved a small smile onto his face and whether it was real or not... even Cloud couldn't tell. "I guess I still hope that even if you don't love me now, maybe you will. Maybe not tomorrow or the week after... or the month after... But maybe some day."

If you love me so much, why do you--?

"Smoothies!" Cloud did it. He broke the only hold he had on Leon and turned away. He'd said what he wanted to and finished with... sugar filled beverages. "Or ice cream. Do you want either?" His back towards Leon now, Cloud could predict the answer. He could see what would happen almost as though the entire thing was scripted, written out and performed like some syndicated television program. Disgusting, but easy to read.

You're gonna leave, aren't you? Give some bullshit excuse and go into hiding because I said all that... right? Tell me I'm wrong. I'm not and I know it.

"Um..." Leon rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, giving the back of Cloud's spiky blond head a puzzled stare. "...How about one of those... You know. Mako Poisoning, right?"

Cloud's eyes widened as he whirled around to face Leon, mouth hanging open in sheer amazement. He hadn't run away, he hadn't...

"Who the hell are you and where the fuck is my Leon?!" Adding more to Cloud's growing panic, Leon suddenly burst out... laughing. He wasn't chuckling, he wasn't being sarcastic or-- it was real, genuine laughter. And Cloud could only hold on for a few seconds before he started laughing too. No clue why he was laughing, but Leon was laughing... that was pretty damn funny in itself.

"Come on, finish up here and let's get home." Leon rolled his eyes, his laughter subsiding and just leaving traces of chuckles here and there, humor coating his voice like some sort of deliciously chocolate-covered candy. ...At least, that was Cloud's opinion of the matter.

"Hey, I thought you wanted a Mako Poisoning?"

"We've got ice cream at home. Besides, it's getting late..."

"Can we watch TV in your room and eat ice cream? Please?"

"...Okay..."

"Yay! Can I sleep in there tonight? Please?" This, however, received a skeptical look and Cloud was quick to elaborate. "I won't try anything... I swear!"

"...Alright then..."

"YES!" Grinning from ear to ear, Cloud darted around the kitchen, closing cupboards, stacking plates and then grabbing his keys. Hmm... Perhaps... "Do you think I could get the spatul--"

"No."

"Dammit! You're so cheap, Leon! God, you'd think I was asking for you to give me your damn virginity! ...Hey Le-on, do you think--"

"No."

How much torture could possible be caused by one innocent little trip to a grocery store? That was the question Kairi had asked herself when she'd first allowed for her mother to tow her along on this little... 'expedition.' Their conversation had been brief, but awkward. ...Actually, it was awkwardly awkward... if that made any sense.

For several weeks, Kairi had just felt like she was completely unable to relate to her mother anymore. But... she couldn't tell if it was her fault or not. Gone was the Janice that had always made lemonade and cookies for Sora and Riku whenever they came over to visit. There was no longer a mother there who seemed truly happy with her daughter and who believed she'd done everything right as a parent.

It was almost as though...

It was almost as though Janice were having second thoughts about everything. Did I make a mistake always letting her hang around with Sora and Riku, playing those boy games? Should I have tried harder to get her make friends with girls? Maybe I was wrong to let her wear those silly skorts instead of actual skirts? Perhaps--

And so it was that what once may have been an easygoing and simple task had turned into a hellish experience. It could all be summed up rather quickly, but it certainly didn't save Kairi the embarrassment that was tacked onto grocery shopping with her mother.

"Kairi, look here!" Ushering her daughter over towards a large display of magazines and tabloids, Janice eagerly picked up the latest edition of Good Housekeeping, waving it frantically under Kairi's nose, opened to the middle page. "Emma showed me this the other day..."

Or then there was...

"Kairi, you don't cook enough! What on earth are you going to do when you're married?" A small 'tsk' sound brushed passed her mother's overly-red lips, scornful and reprimanding, biting and clawing at Kairi's already tired and exhausted ego. "I already pity your husband, dear."

Of course, the worse still had to be...

"Kairi, hold still a moment..." Janice backed up, tilting her head to the side and looking at her daughter who was simply standing there, hands on the cart and looking rather impatiently back at her mother. Letting out a giggle, Janice grinned broadly and said, "Oh, I bet you just drive all the boys wild with those legs of yours. You're so lucky. My mother had great legs like yours, but me, oh I must have missed the gene. Just my luck!"

Just like every other human being on the face of the earth, there was only so much Kairi could take. After an hour spent in the produce section alone, Janice placed a slender finger on her chin, thinking of what else they could possibly cram into the cart. Meanwhile, Kairi was practically gnashing her teeth together, trying to keep from exploding at her mother. I can handle this. Honestly, she's just my mother. How bad could it--

"Oh, Kairi! I almost forgot! You needed more tampons, didn't you?!"

"Mom!" Kairi hissed. "Could you be any more loud??"

"Oh honestly, dear. It's not like it's a deep dark secret. Every woman goes through it for a long time and everyone knows about it anyway. You're at such a lovely age, Kairi! Having your--"

"MOTHER!" Wheeling the cart around to face her Janice, Kairi threw a rarely sighted scowl in her mother's direction, ice pouring from her usually cheery blue eyes. "I'll go get them, okay?! Just... Augh!"

"Don't you use that tone with me, young lady!"

"I'm not using a--" Closing her eyes, Kairi took in a deep breath of air. Calm down, Kairi. Just cool it. Avoid some stupid public scene here and just... deal with it. "I'll be right back, okay?"

Perhaps if Kairi ever had reason to get her driver's license, she would have been a speed demon. As it was, she tore through the grocery store, reaching the other side in five seconds flat and jerking the cart around the corner into the feminine hygiene aisle, determined not to set a record for speed-shopper-of-the-century, but simply to just get some stupid tampons and make her mother leave her alone. Just for a little while, at least.

Glaring icily at the perky little boxes lined up on the shelves, Kairi snatched a box and tossed it into the cart, hearing it hit the metal bottom with a satisfying bang. She grabbed another box, tossing it in beside it with slightly more force, creating an even more satisfying noise of--

"Kairi?"

Horror. It was all that was racing through Kairi's head and it had only taken a nanosecond to get there. Horror, horror, horror, nononothiscanNOTbehappeningtome...

But there was Yuffie, cheerfully bouncing away from her cart to embrace Kairi in a warm and friendly hug. In the middle of the aisle. In the middle of the freaking feminine hygiene aisle. The one that all the nervous little pre-teens sped past as fast as their legs could carry them. The one that all males avoided like the plague. Yep. That was the one that Yuffie was hugging Kairi in.

If Kairi had thought that she blushed too much when she was around Yuffie already... well, she revolutionized the action in a heartbeat, her face turning a brilliant shade of pink.

"Hey! Long time no see, right?" Obviously, Yuffie was one of those people who were perfectly comfortable striking up conversations while buying... Carefree as always, Yuffie easily reached out and snatched up one of the light blue boxes from the shelf beside her and Kairi, tossing it over her shoulder and into the cart behind her. "Whatcha up to?"

"M...uh...shopping."

Yuffie cocked her head to the side, peeing at the shopping cart behind Kairi. "Wow, lotsa veggies. Haven't you already finished growing?" Whether that comment was supposed to be lighthearted or joking or... whatever, Kairi was certain that her reddened face was only getting more so.

"I, uh... My mom's here. I'm just getting... uh... picking up some... nn..."

"Tampons?"

"Y-yes." Reverting back to my old stuttering self. Wonderful. What the hell happened to all the damn progress I made?!

Yuffie took another glance at Kairi's face and giggled, leaning against one of the shelves and saying, "You know, I was at this coffee shop after work today, right? There were these two ladies there... They must've been fifty or something. They were talking about their kids and their first memories or whatever." Yuffie rolled her eyes as though the very idea of discussing children was just so sickeningly... motherly... or something.

Kairi was standing there, probably looking very awkward and confused... not to mention horrorstruck, stupid, embarrassed...

"So one of them was all like... 'Well, Mark here, one time he comes up to me while I'm doing dishes and...' Ugh, she just went on and on! And you know, she's like... one of those really loud talkers so there's no way I can not listen, right? So she's going on and on about how Mark here got this pocket knife and stabbed a whole in her waterbed and then comes up to her and says, 'Mom, I need a bucket.' I mean, out of the blue, right?"

"Y-Yuffie... Uh...?"

"Hm?" Yuffie smirked playfully, still casually leaning against the damned shelf of... those stupid feminine hygiene products. What sort of asshole decided to call them that anyway?

"W-why are you telling me this here?" Especially when all I want to do is just get out of here?!

"Hehe! No reason." Yuffie tucked her hands into her pockets and made an attempt at an innocent grin, though it only came out looking more playful and evil than sweet and innocent. Poking Kairi's nose, Yuffie laughed again as the younger girl's eyes widened and her cheeks were painted with another brilliant color of red. "You just look so cute when you blush like that!"

"Kairi, there you are! I thought you'd left by--" Janice grinned broadly when she saw Yuffie. "Yuffie, dear! Hello there!" Her eyes just happened to stray to Yuffie's cart behind her and her grin faded to a puzzled expression. Why was that boy buying tampons?

Yuffie smiled sweetly at Kairi's mother and waved happily, pretending not to notice how Kairi suddenly looked as though she just wanted to melt into the floor.

"Why didn't you tell me Yuffie was a girl, Kairi? You made me look ridiculous." Those were the first words that came out of Janice's mouth since the incident in the store with Yuffie. It had been awkward, sure, but both Janice and Yuffie had laughed it off, though it was painfully obvious to Kairi that the laughter was fake, fake, fake.

"You never asked, Mom. You just... assumed."

"So she's been the one walking you home so much recently?"

"Mm..."

"Kairi... How do you feel about..." Janice hesitated, lowering her voice. "...Homosexuality?"

"Mom!"

"What?!"
"Why are we talking about this?"

"Kairi, I'm just worried, is all. I don't want... I don't want those friends of yours influencing you or any--"

"Stop it!" Kairi had just had it. She was through being polite and courteous and holding back. She was sick of dodging topics and telling white lies. But most of all... she was just sick of her mother's behavior. "Stop talking about them like they're, like they're sick and I'll get a disease from them! Stop making it seem like they're evil and they're wrong! They're not!!" Angry tears formed pools in her blue eyes, fire mixing furiously with it.

"You talk about it as though I were... insulting you, dear." Janice laughed. A cold, brittle, high-pitched laughter that was nervous. It was scared-- petrified at the thoughts and ideas that were slowly being pieced together in her mind. Kairi suddenly realized what she'd done. ...There would be no avoiding it now.

"I just worry, Kairi. I don't want you to be influenced at such a young age. You know I love you, but..." Janice stopped, mid-sentence.

"What, would you not love me if I was gay?" Kairi murmured.

Her words fell flat, swimming on the floor of the car as Janice drove onwards, deadly silent, drowning on that floor when they reached home. Both were silent, no more words falling to join those already said, the slamming of car doors and following darkness being the only funeral they ever received.

"Kairi... Are you?" Grocery bags were pulled from the trunk and Kairi pretended to be very focused on the task of unloading them. But it wasn't that easy... "Are you... gay?"

Maybe it was the way Janice said the word. Maybe it was just the way Kairi was raised. ...Maybe it was just because the little girl inside of her wanted to make her mother happy and to clear away her worries.

"No, Mom. Of course not."

Kairi was rewarded with a smile of relief from her mother and a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. It wasn't much of a reward at all. But it was said and it was done and the issue was dropped. And Kairi couldn't understand. The worst part was that she didn't even know what she didn't understand. Her feelings? Her earlier response to that... question? Her mother? Yuffie? ...Maybe she just didn't understand any of it.

First: Title of chapter and song snippet is Onelinedrawing's 'Happiness is All the Rage.' Ta da.

Second (and most important): RH will be taking a break. Ugh, I know. Damn, I hate leaving this fic, but I've tweaked this chapter so you guys aren't left on a cliffhanger for weeks or anything. Just expect lots of plot and shit when it returns from its hiatus. In case you don't read my LJ, I'm taking the next three weeks or so to do a massive wrap-up on PLB and OftB. So there will be updates, just not for this fic or for Lucky Thirteen.

Third: ...Man. I ruined that Yuffie/Kairi fluff sequence. ...I mean... ruined. It's de-fluffed and just... upsetting. Maaaaan.

--Ori