Author's Note: I reposted Chapter 16 about four hours after I first posted it. Just a lengthening of the ending scene.

Oh, Vulpes Lapis just started a new fic in the KH section called "Uptown Boys." Go read it.

Note to Viewing Pleasure: Really, I think the only reason I chose "Johnny Bravo" as the cartoon Yuffie made Cloud watch was because I love Johnny Bravo myself. I just don't get to watch it often enough. :)

–Disclaimer: Yes, I own Kingdom Hearts. And, yes, I have Squall locked in my closet so I can get him anytime I want him. And, yes, I am delusional.

Chapter Seventeen: Threads of Destiny

Yuffie awoke to the feel of a solid warmth behind her back and without thinking, she snuggled herself up against it even tighter. She was still in that half-asleep, half-awake state of consciousness, struggling to go back to sleep fully. That was when the old grandfather clock Squall kept in the living room decided to chime the hour, three in the morning.

Realizing that the clock sounded much louder than it normally did, Yuffie's eyes fluttered open and she noticed that she was in the living room and not her bedroom as she had originally thought. Before she even had a chance to process that thought, she suddenly remembered the few kisses she had shared with Squall and falling asleep on the couch with him. That would explain the warmth at her back and the heavy weight she just suddenly noticed on her waist, where he had held on to her to keep her from falling off the sofa. And there was a warm blanket covering both of them; Squall must have gotten up at some point during the night to get it and had climbed back onto the sofa behind her, managing to not wake her up either time.

She felt Squall shift slightly behind her and the grip around her waist tightened a little while his face buried itself in her hair. His warm breath on the back of her neck sent pleasurable shivers down her spine, something she had never felt before but found she liked the feeling. Carefully turning in his arms, Yuffie rolled onto her back so she could at least look at him as he slept.

But, as soon as she did that, Squall, who had been rolled against her back, now rolled so that most of his weight was resting atop her and his face was now in the crook of her neck. At first, Yuffie was a little scared with so much of him pressing her down into the couch, but that fear soon subsided and was replaced by a sense of security. It was kind of like he was protecting her with his own body, exposing his back to whatever danger there was in order to shield her from the same danger.

Yuffie rolled her eyes at the thought and silently reprimanded herself for thinking that. He had simply rolled over in his sleep, there was nothing more to it, she sternly told herself as she reached up the arm that he wasn't lying on and placed her hand on his back, gently stroking it. Even if his rolling atop her was accidental, she still enjoyed the feeling. Turning her head towards his, she placed a soft kiss on his head, lips lingering in the mahogany hair.

That was when her brain decided to remind her of what he had said: I think I'm in love with you. That one, single sentence was enough to send her mind into a whirlwind of confusion. Sure, she had enjoyed the few kisses they had shared, and, yes, she found him unbelievably attractive... but love? Love was something completely alien to her; she had no clue whether she loved him or not.

Before she could continue on with that train of thought, she felt Squall slowly shudder awake atop her and she unconsciously ceased stroking his back. He lifted his head from the crook of her neck, his sleep-filled eyes squinting slightly as he tried to focus on her face. That must have been when he realized he was lying atop her because he immediately rolled off and started apologizing. "Sorry, Yuf–," he started, but was cut off.

"Don't worry about. It was kinda comfy with all that weight," Yuffie admitted sheepishly, feeling a blush creep up her face. But, luckily, the only light in the room was from the green glow of the clock on the DVD player and her blush would go unnoticed.

"I'll keep that in mind," Squall murmured, quirking an eyebrow and leaning down to plant a small kiss on the tip of her nose. He pulled back, stifling a yawn and sleepily rubbing his eyes as he rested his head against the back of the sofa. "What time is it, anyways?"

"Just after three," she replied through a yawn, remembering the old saying that yawns were contagious. She suddenly realized that Squall was pressed as far into the back of the sofa as he could get and she was still wavering precariously on the edge, making her wonder how they had managed to sleep there at all during the night without feeling too crowded. "Squall?"

His eyes were already drooping shut, but he slowly opened them when she said his name and mumbled a sleepy "hm?"

"Squall, we're... uh... kinda crowded here. Maybe we should go to bed?" Yuffie suggested quietly, not liking the fact that he had little room to move. She, herself, didn't mind not having much space; she savored lying there next to him and sharing his warmth.

Reluctantly, he vaguely nodded his head; he had been enjoying the closeness as much as she had. Squall struggled to sit up, trying not to knock Yuffie off in the process, and stood up, stretching a little before reaching down a hand to help her up. He noticed she clutched her stomach and crossed her eyes for a moment as she sat up, probably an effect of eating too much the night before. "Maybe I should just roll you to bed... you ate three quarters of the turkey," he teased as he followed her down the dark hallway.

"Just let me grow my feathers in peace," Yuffie muttered back, stopping at her doorway and turning to face him as she leaned against the doorframe. "And, for the record, I didn't eat three quarters of the turkey. I only ate half of it." There was a smugness to her face as she said that, her chin slightly turned up and her lips turned into a playful smirk.

Squall stopped just inches from in front of her, looking down at her with his mahogany bangs screening his stormy blues eyes. "Just half of it, huh?" he whispered, raising one eyebrow as he leaned closer to her, his forehead nearly touching hers. He brought one hand up, slipping it behind her upper back, while the other hand traveled to her waist and gently pulled her closer until she was pressed against him.

Yuffie was fairly certain what was going to happen now as she brought her arms which had been slack at her sides up, one hand resting on his chest and the other finding its way over his shoulder and sifting through his hair. With breathless anticipation, she waited for Squall to close the minuscule distance between their lips, her eyes already half-closed.

When their lips finally did meet, it was electric. Where the few other kisses they had shared had been sweet and gentle, this one was charged with energy. Yuffie felt her mouth begin to respond in ways she hadn't known possible as the kiss continued and deepened. Feeling herself go limp, she was glad Squall had his arms around her or she would surely melt into a puddle on the floor.

As Squall released her lips, Yuffie's head slumped against his chest while she caught her breath. "I'm surprised," he murmured, stroking her back and burying his nose in her hair as he placed another soft kiss there. "My lips still work. I haven't used them for this in a long time."

"Yes, Squall. Your lips most definitely still work," Yuffie managed to say softly into his white t-shirt. "Believe me, they still work." Shyly lifting her head from his chest, she looked back up at him. That was when he again lowered his head to hers and while she was preparing herself for another breathless kiss, he simply placed a kiss on her forehead and slowly unwrapped his arms from around her.

He could sense the slight disappointment coming from the girl in front of him and he very nearly gave into the temptation to kiss her again. But, it was three o'clock in the morning and, although he had decided to shut his restaurant down for the rest of the weekend to give both him and his employees a break, he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep very late. So, he had reluctantly released her from his grip and took a step away from her. "Goodnight, Yuffie," he whispered, reaching a hand up to cup her cheek and gently stroke the flesh with his thumb before leaning down to kiss the other.

"Goodnight, Squall," Yuffie murmured as she leaned into his hand and closed her eyes, smiling when she felt his lips on her cheek. But, then his hand was gone and she opened indigo eyes to watch him walk down the hallway to his room and then shut the door. Sighing happily, she retreated to her own room and shut the door most of the way. That was when she realized was still fully dressed and quickly changed into one Squall's flannel shirts.

The scent that met her nostrils was even more intoxicating than before, perhaps because she had smelled it up close and in person so recently. Furrowing her brows, she briefly wondered how the shirts managed to still smell like Squall even after they had been washed. As far as she knew, he hadn't worn any of these shirts since she had been here. But, she was glad they smelled like him; it made her feel kind of like he was right here with her.

Sitting down on the edge of her bed, Yuffie suddenly noticed how cold and lonely her room seemed. After having slept most of the night on the sofa with Squall, she really dreaded having to slide into her own cold bed. It made her regret suggesting they go to bed. Of course, she had been partially hoping that he would allow her to sleep in his bed with him, like she had on Halloween.

She slowly climbed to her feet, biting the inside of her lip and thinking about, perhaps, just asking him if he would let her. "It wouldn't hurt to try," she muttered to herself, already walking across the room and placing her hand on the doorknob. And before she could even stop herself, she was standing outside Squall's room and had her hand poised to knock on the door.

"Squall?" she called timidly through the closed door, crossing her fingers and hoping he wouldn't send her back to bed. But, he didn't answer her and she slowly turned the knob and pushed the door open, finding him on his side on the bed with one arm thrown out in front of him and snoring lightly. She blinked a few times, wondering how he had managed to go back to sleep already when it hadn't even been a full ten minutes since they had parted at her doorway.

Calling his name once more and not receiving an answer, Yuffie silently debated whether she should just go back to her own room. That is, she debated it until a devilish smile came across her face and she simply decided to crawl into bed with him. If he didn't like it, he could easily tell her to go back to bed. Of course, he would have to be awake for him to do that and he was anything but awake at the moment.

So, creeping silently across the carpeting, Yuffie gently pulled back the covers and slipped into the bed with him, already feeling the warmth emanating from him and she was still on the other side of the bed. Slowly, she scooted across the bed until she was right next to him, lifting and moving his arm so she could place her back against his chest once more. She liked the feeling it gave her of having something warm and solid behind her. And she smiled when she noticed he had taken off his t-shirt when he had gone to bed; that made the feeling of his chest against her back even better.

"Yuffie?" Squall mumbled sleepily, raising his head and trying to keep his eyes open to look at her quizzically. "What are you doing here?" He really had no clue what was going on; only a moment ago, he had flopped into his bed alone and now he awakened to find Yuffie lying against him.

At the sound of his voice, she stiffened, afraid he was actually going to send her back to bed. "I... uh... my room was cold and I was freezing in there, so I thought I could come in here and sleep," she lied, turning her face to look at him and praying he would let her stay.

"Okay," he muttered, laying his head back down and moving his arm to around her waist. "To keep you from falling off the bed," he explained before falling asleep once more. Yuffie's only response to that was to snuggle up even closer to him than she had been moments before, and she didn't bother to tell him that the edge of the bed was more than a foot away.

- - - - - - - - - -

A loud fhump and the sudden loss of warmth as the blankets were pulled off his body awoke Squall, who quickly sat up and looked around the room, as though looking for any possible danger. He didn't see anything in the room and, rubbing his eyes, he wondered what the noise was and where his blankets had gone. That was when he vaguely remembered Yuffie crawling into bed with him in the early hours of the morning and he leaned across the bed to peer at the floor, where he found a Yuffie-sized lump tangled in the blanket.

The lump shifted and the blanket was slowly pulled away from her face, revealing a slight scowl as she looked up at Squall, who was still staring down at her, trying not to laugh. "You had to get non-stick sheets, didn't you?" Yuffie grumbled as she sat up, gingerly rubbing the back of her head as it had collided with the bedside table on her way down.

"Maybe we should just make you sleep on fly paper," Squall muttered playfully as he lay back down on the mattress, pulling the remaining sheets and blankets on the bed over himself and simply stared at the ceiling. It was a strange feeling for him to actually let himself get close to another person after little more than five years of distancing himself.

Before he could contemplate the matter further, a tousled head of black hair rose from beside the bed and rested itself upon crossed arms on the mattress. "You could've helped me up," Yuffie complained good-naturedly as she stared at him, blowing a fallen lock of ebony hair out of her eyes.

Instead of giving a verbal answer, Squall simply reached one arm out, encircling her upper arm with his hand and hefted her back onto the bed. "Happy?" he questioned with raised eyebrows as she sat in front of him and snuggled herself back into the blanket wrapped around her.

"Mm hmm," Yuffie murmured, trying to work up the courage to give him even just a little peck on the cheek. Inwardly, she laughed. Last night, or early this morning really, he had given her a toe-curling kiss and now she found it hard just to kiss his cheek. As she pondered this, she watched him with lowered eyes, noticing that he was staring at her as well. And just as finally found the courage to give him that little kiss, he was already climbing up out of the bed. "Where are you going?" she asked quickly, masking her disappointment with the curiosity she was known for.

"To get dressed and then to make breakfast," Squall answered simply, not realizing his tone was slightly cold out of habit as he grabbed a pair of blue jeans and white t-shirt from over the chair he had thrown them the night before. Normally, he would dress in his room, but since Yuffie was in there, he decided he would dress in the connecting bathroom instead.

Biting her lip, Yuffie kept her back turned from the bathroom door and instead studied the patterns on the blanket she was wrapped in. She had assumed that after last night, the so-called 'cold Squall' would disappear and be replaced with 'sweet Squall' who had kissed her. Apparently, she was wrong. Just as she was leaving his room to take a shower in the other bathroom, Aerith's words from little over a month ago came floating into her mind.

"About three years after his parents died, Leon was engaged to a woman he loved deeply. He would've done anything for her. But, only a month before their wedding, she, too, was killed in a car crash. That was when he became Leon. Before then, he was still Squall. But after Rinoa died, he just felt like he had lost everything and wanted to start over. He hurried with his studies at school and then moved across town, as far away from Rinoa's memory as he could get. And he changed. He became cold and he refused to let anyone close to him."

"The pictures..." Yuffie whispered to herself, remembering the photos she had found in his wallet the day she had stolen it. "He was so happy in them... that must've been the woman Aerith was talking about." Having been completely lost in her thoughts, she was surprised when she found herself in the bathroom already adjusting the water temperature with her clothes for the day hanging from the hook over the door.

By the time she had finished her shower and was getting dressed, Yuffie had come to the decision that she would ask Squall about the woman in the picture. And, maybe, just maybe, he would actually answer her and not become completely defensive about the whole thing.

The smell of bacon frying in the kitchen wafted down the hall and into her nostrils as soon as she opened the bathroom door. And, as if in answer to the smell, her stomach immediately made itself known with a loud rumbling.

With her nose in the air inhaling what her stomach considered to be an almost heavenly scent, Yuffie made her way into the kitchen, eyes darting around in search of the bacon. "Where is it?" she demanded with the slightly wild look that Squall had learned only came into her eyes when food was around.

"Where's what?" Squall asked innocently and confusedly as he shredded some cheese.

"The bacon! Where is it?" she demanded once more when she didn't see it either cooking on the stove or sitting on a plate. "I know I smelled bacon. Where is it?!"

"In the omelettes," he explained, gesturing towards the food in question as they quietly sizzled on the stove. Turning the flame beneath the pan off, he sprinkled cheese over the top of them and then slid them off onto two plates and set them both on the counter top of the kitchen island. And before he could even ask, Yuffie had already poured them both a glass of orange juice and set them on the counter as well, soon followed by napkins and forks. She did all this without making a sound, something Squall should have been used to by now, but was still amazed.

He must have been staring at her without realizing it, for as soon as they sat down across from each other on the stools, Yuffie raised her eyebrows and stared back. "What?" she asked curiously, cocking her head to the side slightly.

"I was just wondering how someone who has such a loud mouth can be so quiet," Squall replied, upturning his lips in a small smile before looking down at his plate and starting to eat.

"It's something you learn to do when your survival depends upon sneaking up on people and taking their wallet before they know what hit them," she said quietly and a little ashamedly as she remembered the countless times she had done so.

A silence fell between them, neither really knowing what to say after that. Squall opened his mouth, about to apologize for bringing the subject up, but Yuffie unknowingly interrupted him. "Um... speaking of pickpocketing," she began, having decided that now would be a good time to bring the pictures up since it was because of her stealing his wallet that she knew of them. "Who's the woman in the pictures you carry around?"

"How do you know..." Squall started angrily, ignoring the way the girl in front of him cringed at his tone. "My wallet... when you had stolen it, you went through it looking for money..." Bringing his elbows up onto the counter, he rested his head in his hands and furiously rubbed his temples.

Swallowing, Yuffie closed her eyes and asked one more question, knowing she shouldn't but unable to stop herself. "That was Rinoa, wasn't it?"

"How the hell do you know about Rinoa?!" he said in a deadly hiss, his eyes turning icy and narrowing into slits as they glared at her.

"Aer-.. Aerith told me that she died in a car wreck and that... that she was your... fiancee," Yuffie stammered nervously, terrified of the Squall before her. This was definitely not 'sweet Squall' and far worse than 'cold Squall.' The only way she could describe this Squall was as 'livid Squall.'

Eyes having gone from icy to now blazing continued to bore into Yuffie, as though they could see straight through her and into her soul. "Aerith didn't tell you everything then? She didn't tell you that I killed Rinoa?"

Having literally jolted backwards at that, Yuffie had to quickly grip the counter top before her stool turned over. "What?! she asked in disbelief, her eyes having widened considerably as they stared at him and begged him to deny what she had just heard.

"Let me tell you about it, Yuffie. Let me tell you about how I killed Rinoa."

"Are you sure we should be heading out into this, Squall?" the brunette in the passenger seat asked as she rubbed her hands together in front of the vents, waiting for the heat to kick in and warm the car the icy interior of the car.

"Everything will be fine, Rinoa. I know how to drive in weather like this. I was raised here, remember?" Squall reassured, reaching over with one hand to grip hers to help warm them. He kept his other hand on the steering wheel and his eyes on the road, watching as the small snowflakes hitting the windshield and melting on contact. "Besides, we promised your parents that we would be there eight."

Sighing, Rinoa ran one hand through her long black tresses, pushing the hair out of her face and turning to smile at her fiancee. "I know. It's just..." She trailed off, her smile wavering slightly as she considered something for a moment.

"It's just what?" the young man next to her prodded, returning both hands to the wheel now that the heat had finally started to warm the car.

"It's nothing, Squall," she said in what she hoped would come out cheerfully and carefree, but still sounding worried about something. Before Squall could further interrogate her, she leaned over the seat suddenly and gave him a hug from the side. "I love you, Squall." Her voice cracked slightly as she said those words, as though she were holding back tears.

At the amount of emotion present in her words, Squall jerked his head to the side to look at her. "I love you, too, Rinoa. You know that." He raised one arm to allow her body to lean against his before placing his arm around her back. It made driving a little awkward, but having her close to him made it all worth it. Lowering his head, he placed a small kiss in her hair, his eyes never leaving the road.

They drove like that for a few minutes longer before Rinoa returned to her half of the car, her gloveless hands wiping away a few stray tears on her face. She noticed the concerned look Squall was giving her. "I'm fine, really, Squall. I'm just so happy right now," she told him, smiling, but not realizing that it was a sad smile.

Before he had a chance to comment on her expression, he felt the car begin to spin out of control as it hit an ice patch he had been unaware of. Squall tried to regain control of the car, letting up off the brakes and gas as it would only increase the skid and turning the wheel in the direction he wanted to go.

Then there was the blaring sounds of horns as the car crossed into the other lane of traffic and the bright lights of the headlights racing towards them. And the noises. The sounds that would forever haunt him. The sounds of ripping metal, cracking glass, and the one sound he would never forget: Rinoa as she screamed out his name.

The next thing Squall was aware of was flashing blue and red lights above him and the sounds of people rushing around him. Trying to sit up, he found himself strapped down to a stretcher and unable to move. Slowly, he opened his eyes, blood rushing into them from the jagged gash between his eyes. "Rinoa," he choked out, his voice raspy and barely audible.

Yet, someone had heard him. A paramedic to his side that he hadn't noticed bent over him, shining a small flashlight in Squall's eyes as he checked the pupils' dilation. "Everything's fine," the young woman, no older than himself or Rinoa, reassured as she placed a cloth over the gash to staunch the bleeding. "You're going to be okay."

"Rinoa," Squall tried again, his voice a little louder as he tried to fight against the restraints on the stretcher. A movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention and he stared at it as best he could. Two paramedics were slowly rolling a sheet covered body across the snow-covered median when they hit a bump, causing an arm to fall out from underneath the sheet. But, it was the hand that caught Squall's attention... the hand that was wearing the engagement ring he had given to Rinoa months before.

That was when he knew. Rinoa was dead.

The whole time Squall had been relating the events of that night to Yuffie, he kept his head lowered in his hands, feeling the tears build up behind his eyes... the tears he refused to let fall. He never even noticed when Yuffie left her seat and walked around behind him, hesitating on what she was about to do. Biting her lips and waiting for the consequences of her actions, she wrapped her arms around him from behind and laid her head against his hunched over back.

He didn't even respond to her actions, seemingly lost in his haunted mind, reliving that night over and over again. "Squall?" Yuffie whispered into his shirt, tightening her grip around him slightly. "It wasn't your fault."

"I should have listened to her. She didn't want to go out in the storm in the first place," he mumbled into his hands, more to himself than to the girl behind him. "She knew what was going to happen."

Taking a deep breath, Yuffie closed her eyes and prayed to whoever was listening that she was about to say the right things. "That's right, Squall. She knew what was going to happen. But, she didn't stop you. It's not your fault, Squall. It was her time to go and she knew it," she told him quietly, but forcefully, trying desperately to get her point across.

"That doesn't make it not my fault, Yuffie," he insisted, just now noticing the arms around his waist and the warmth at his back, her comforting him the best she knew how. "It's still my fault she died. I was the one driving. I should have been more careful."

"It was an accident, Squall. You can't go blaming yourself for something like that. And, believe me, I know how the blame game goes. You think... you think that just because you were there when someone died, that it was your fault. Even if you weren't the one holding the gun, you think that if maybe you had screamed or ran to your neighbors for help, then she would still be alive and everything would be different," Yuffie rushed out, tears streaming down her face unheeded as she continued on.

At the feel of warm tears soaking through his shirt, Squall turned around on his stool, his turn to comfort as he drew Yuffie into his arms. "Yuffie, you were only four years old. There was nothing you could do," he murmured, gently stroking her short hair as she sobbed into his shirt. "It wasn't your fault."

"It wasn't your fault, either, Squall," Yuffie whispered once more, her tears finally slowing.

"I know, Yuffie," he sighed softly, placing a small kiss on the top her head. "I know." At that quiet admission of not being at fault, Squall felt as though a weight he had been living under for five years was slowly being lifted. It was still there, but not quite as heavy as it had been moments before.

Okay, so I'm not too happy with how the end of this chapter turned out. I was going to do things a little differently, but couldn't figure out how. So, we have this. Also, my brain has gone into meltdown and I'm not entirely sure when I can get back to writing this. I've just been under a lot of stress lately, and I might need to take a short hiatus. But, don't worry. The story is NOT dead. I WILL finish it. It just might take me a few weeks or so to get my brain back. And, really, I guess this can be the ending of Part 1 of this story. I just now realized that. But, I'll continue to add onto it later. I just need some time to get my brain back.