Purest of Heart

By. Lady Kisaragi

Chapter Two



"Her heart beat is unbelievable! It's thumping so fast I can barely count the beats!"

The flower girl stated, as she sat on the bed with two fingers pressing along the young ninja's neck while she felt her pulse. Leon had brought Yuffie to Aeris and placed her convulsing form onto the bed in the green room. He had remained calm throughout the whole ordeal and just waited to see what Aeris had to say about Yuffie's condition. Aeris shook her head, as she motioned for Leon to come to her, she having a bit of a worried look on her face.

"Leon, you have to do something to stop her from convulsing or she's going to hurt herself."

"Me? Why me?"

"I can't hold her down long enough. I'm going to the item shop to see if they have anything that might be of any help."

"But Aeris..."

"Please do this for me, okay?"

"...fine."

With that being said, the woman in pink ran out of the room shutting the door behind her. He did as asked, as he would remain here with Yuffie until she came back, actually Leon seem to always graciously accept any task she gave him. Leon sighed heavily and looked at his young comrade shaking on the bed. His boots stepped heavily across the floor, as he leaned himself over the bed to pin the girl's arms down onto the bed. Her body just continued to jerk, as she panted and breathed in and out in a raspy voice.

"Yuffie stop it..."

It was more of a command directed towards her, though of course she didn't stop as she couldn't hear him. Beads of sweat forming on her forehead and slowly rolling off along the side of her face, Leon shaking his head as he noticed pinning her down wasn't helping at all.

What's wrong with her?

He moved his hands from her arms and pulled one up under her back and one behind her head as he lifted her up slowly from the bed. Her head pressing along his chest, as Leon held his young comrade against him. He had taken the liberty to changing into some dryer clothes, so he wasn't really soaking wet anymore. Their bodies pressed along against one another with the girl tugging on his jacket and her head rubbing into his chest vigorously. Leon rested his hand against the back of her head in a gentle manner, his head lent down along near her ear as he spoke in almost whispering manner.

"Yuffie, stop it now..."

He wasn't sure if had heard her or not, but her violent shaking had started to slow down until going into a complete halt. Yuffie breathing heavily taking breaths in and out against his chest making Leon's hand raise and lower on her back. He pulled back a little and looked at her to see if she had wakened yet.

"Yuffie?"

After a moment of not getting a response, he leaned his head down to press his ear against her chest to listen to her heart beat to see if it had slowed down now as he kept his arm behind her back to hold her as he listened to the light thumps against her chest.

Man...my head hurts and why is it so hot?

"I can't hear it all that well through the fabric..."

He said to himself, as he lifted his head up and started to unwrap the scarf around her neck and toss it aside. He probably reduced any kind of heat, since she was sweating a little. He glanced at her green top with the straps that held it up that wrapped around her shoulders.

I can't lift her shirt up...but I need to hear her heart beat...

He was hesitant of even pulling up her shirt and it just felt very...embarrassing. No, no why would Leon be so flustered over anything like this, it's just Yuffie anyway. After coming to a conclusion now, he gently tugged down the front of her shirt just enough for him to press his ear against her chest. He listening to the steady pace of her heart beat, it seemed like it was going back to it's normal rate, that is until it started to race faster now, where he could almost feel it against her ear.

It should have slowed down by now...why is it speeding up all of a sudden?

Unbeknown to Leon, the young shinobi had slowly waken, as he was listening to the fast pace of her heart racing, as it was a bit of a rude awakening for her to wake up to find Leon with his head against her chest. He could feel the heavy pants of breath brushing down against the top of his head. This making the young swordsman look up at the wakened girl, who's face was flushed with red, as both of them looked back at one another a awkward silence lingering in the room.


Aeris pulled the wide double doors of the hotel behind her as her and Cid walked inside and made their way down the hallway, she glanced at blue bottle in her hand that the three ducklings from the item shop have given her. It might not help Yuffie in which it could slow her heartbeat, but it could ease any pain that she might have in her chest at least.

"Hey, don't worry about the kid I'm sure she'll be up and about soon, causing all sorts of havoc and crap for everybody." He said, as the toothpick shifted along the corners of his mouth. Aeris glanced at him and gave a nod as he tried to reassure her.

"I just hope she isn't having any kind of heart trouble or..."

"Pfft, she's too young to be having any damn heart attacks. If anything she cause other people to almost get a heart attack the little--"

AIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

The Gummi Pilot's sentence was cut short, as there was a sudden shriek of a female coming from down the hallway from the green room. Aeris had immediately thought of Yuffie in some terrible pain or trouble and proceeded in running down the hallway with Cid following her. She grabbing the door knob and turning it as she barged into a room in a panic.

"Yuffie! What's wrong!?" She yelled out panting heavily, before seeing the flustered girl on the bed with her arms put out with Leon who was on the floor looking at her in some surprise and agitation.

"What was that for!?" He yelled out, not too pleased with her actions as he looked at her.

"For being a pervert!"

"Pervert? Haha, yeah right! That'll be the fucking day when Leon becomes a some kind of pervert." Cid laughed, as she shook his head. Aeris was somewhat relieved as she placed a hand on her chest.

"I'm only going to say this once. I was not trying to do anything to you beside listen to your heartbeat." He said in a low tone, before getting up to dust him self off as his arms folded across his chest, he looking somewhat annoyed now at his comrade.

"Wh...what happened? Why am I here any way?" Yuffie asked, but she clearly wasn't getting any answers from Leon, who just stood there with no expression on his face. She frowned as she looked over at Aeris who approached her.

"You collapsed out in the third district and Leon carried you here. I'm so glad you're all right, I thought you might have been having a heart attack." She said, putting on a weak relieved smile.

"Heart attack? I think I'm a little too young to be having a heart attack. Though Cid is a completely different story." She said, looking over at the pilot.

"Sure, whatever kid." She huffed a bit at the word 'kid', as he sometimes used all the time with her.

"Oh just go back to chewing on your straw old man." She countered, as she looked at Aeris who seem to pull her into a embrace a little taken aback and confused about the sudden and tightly growing embrace.

"Aeris...you can let go now...I'm fine really..." She coughed slightly, as the pink clothed woman finally let go and smiled at her.

"I'm sorry, I'm just glad you're all right, that's all." She put on her best smiled, before getting up and moving over to Leon as she handed the bottle over to him, before she whispered something to him. Yuffie was slightly curious of what Aeris was saying, if it was so important that she would just whipser to Leon about it.

"I guess so..." Leon said in a low tone, as his back rested against the back of the wall as Aeris nodded her head to him.

"Thank you, now..." She said, as she turned around facing Yuffie. "I'm going to the Accessory shop with Cid and will be back sometime later, you might want to stay here and rest for awhile Yuffie..."

"No way!" She protested right away, as she already didn't like the t hought of being cooped up in this room, it was so boring. "I'd rather be training in the secret waterway with Leon hours on end than stay in here doing nothing. Come on."

"Well, I guess you could go out and walk around and all for awhile, but only if Leon is with you, okay?"

"Damn it woman, come on I don't have all day. Customers could come by at any moment I don't want to lose any business." Cid said, brushing a hand back against the front of the corner of his mouth, as he turned and walked out the door.

"Oh honestly Cid, no need to get to rude about it." Aeris said, as she placed her hands on her hips in some annoyance before following him out of the room to leave Leon and Yuffie alone in the green room.

"H-h-hey Aeris! Man, what a jip." She said, as she swung her legs over the side of the bed stretching them out, before standing up slowly.

"Maybe you should take her advice and stay in here and relax. You DID collapse." Leon said, though Yuffie wasn't expecting him to say anything, well anything like that anyway.

"You're starting to sound like Aeris and what did I just hear now? Squall Leonhart showing concern for me." She stood up and and clapsed her hands together holding them against her cheek. "That's so sweeeeeet."

He looked at her unamused at her sarcasim and also flinched at the name 'Squall', "That's Leon and I just don't want to end up carrying you back and forth here everytime you passout." Yuffie frowned at him before throwing one of the pillows off the bed at him, even though he caught it with his right hand.

"Well, fine don't carry me then let me stay there til I wake up or til heartless come to swarm over my body to steal my heart or something then."

He tossed the pillow aside and looked at her, "Don't say things like that..."

"Why not? Not like it would have a big affect on you if it did happen right?"

There was a long pause of silence, as his answer didn't come, yet. Leon was somewhat in a mixture of confusion, as this was contemplating through his head.

"See?" She said, before she slipped on her shoes and ran out of the room, not giving Leon a chance to respond to this. The only thing left behind was the yellow scraf lying the bed. He sighed heavily, before hitting his fist back against the wall before remembering what Aeris had told him.

Damn it...

He walked over to the bed picking up the scraf before walking out of the room to go find Yuffie, though he already knew where she already was anyway. It was the same place where she usually went when she was usually upset or mad at him.

The roof of the gizmo shop.

"Squall! Squallie wait up!"

"Hm...?"

The young 16yr old boy stopped in his tracks, as he turned his head back to see a small 7yr old girl running towards him waving her hands around at him, smiling the whole time as she was holding a yellow stuffed bird in her arms. After a moment, it seemed like she had disappeared right before him, but in reality she just tripped and fell in the snow. She sat up, as her face was covered in the cold snow. Her lips begining to pull back into her mouth before she started to cry out loudly, as she was upset from the fall. Squall quickly walked over to her to see if she had cut or hurt any limb, she didn't... He shook is head and almost laughed, Yuffie seem to have a way of being clumsy. One minute she's smiling the next she's crying like a newborn, Aeris seem to always end up healing most of the scratches she got all the time.

"Hey, calm down you're okay." He said, as he leaned down to her level dusting the snow away off her face and hair. He lifted her up on her feet and looked at her, as she wiped her eyes slowly as he rubbed the top of her messy dark hair. "There, I told you were all right. You won't let any ol' snow get to you right?" He smiled, as she had clamed down now as she smiled back at him, as she nodded her head. "Good. Now, what is it you came out here for? Shouldn't you be with Aeris?"

"Maybe, but she was going to make me play with dolls again. I hate dollies."

"Ran away again did you?" He shook his head a little and looked down at her, "Heh, right I know, but what's this then?" He asked, as he pulled up the stuffed bird from the snow handing it over to her before she snatched it.

"It's a chocobo not a dolly squallie! They're different."

"Ah, my mistake then. You came out here to show me your christmas gift then? I guess it's kind of cute."

"I'd like a real one! One that zooommms, and warks! Anyway, close your eyes!"

"Why?"

"Just do it squallie it's a surprise and don't peek!"

He did as the little girl said, as he closed his eyes. "I'd never do that."

"Okay, now open them."

He opened his eyes and was faced with the stuffed chocobo she was holding, laughing to himself, as he nearly tumbled back from looking at it's huge plastic blue eyes.

"It's for you, bet ya didn't think I wouldn't get you anything huh?" She said, a big smile on her face as he took it gently from her hands.

"Oh, maybe for a minute there. This is the best present I've gotten since last year."

Her cheeks were slightly pink from the cold and embarssement as she was bubbling with glee that he liked her gift. "Alright, now it's your turn to close your eyes and you don't peek, I know how you are." He said, as she sticked her tongue out at him, before he did the same back.

Yuffie then closed her eyes and sighed a bit, "It better be a good present!"

He laughed at her words before he shuffled around in his pocket taking out a long yellow scraf, before he began to wrap it around her neck. "There we go, you can open them now."

She beat him to it, as she looked at the scraf around her neck, she gleefully touching it as she seemed to like it, along with it's color.

"Sorry, I didn't get a green one they were all gone."

"It's okay Squallie, I love this....neck wrapping thingie. Yellow is mah second favoritest color." She smiled widely at him, as he stood up.

"Heh, that 'thingie' is called a scraf, it'll keep your neck warm. It's a little big for you, but you'll grow into it." He took her hand, as he had the stuffed chocobo under his right. "Come on, Cid is probably looking for you."

"Nu uh, he probably still sleepin." She said, as tugged at Squall's hand as they walked back to town. "But, let's go before he wake up!"

He grinned a bit, "Sounds like a plan."

With that being said, be pulled her up under his left arm before starting to run back to down as a quick steady pace. Yuffie laughing joyfully, as her scarf swung back and forth in the air, as she did under his arm. Her fingers pressing into the fabric, as she knew she would always keep this gift forever. For Leon, it seemed just this little girl's friendship would be everything he would ever need and treasure.

TBC

Well, that's finally done with. Finally got to do the second chapter to this now, bleh I was trying to get use to writing my story's on Bleh, but I guess this second chapter came out pretty okay what do you think?