Lucky Thirteen

'Giants Big and Small'

Cloud stood amidst a crowd of wild and cheering fans from all reaches of the kingdom. Since when had he gotten a fan club?

Oh yeah. Since...

"And whence he comes and whither he goes, nobody cares and nobody knows..."

It was the same icy voice Cloud had been hearing lately. It was the same voice that had haunted hours of both night and day, seeping into the corners of his mind that were just out of reach; the ones he couldn't control. And now it was there once again as he stood behind the podium and looked out at the thousands of people milling before him, shouting his name and cheering his praises, loud enough for all the world to hear.

"For never since time began.."

"Stop..." Cloud hissed between clenched teeth, careful to not let his discomfort show towards the surrounding people. For them there was no mountain Cloud could not move, no feat he could not perform. They did not need to think their savior was losing his mind...

"Has this little boy ever been seen."

Cloud had heard those words somewhere before, somewhere long ago in a childhood he couldn't remember. All he could draw up was the warmth of a fire and the rosy glow of his mother's face as she sat at his bedside and smiled down at him, lulling him to sleep with...

The dream changed. No longer was Cloud remembering his childhood. He was back in it. He was there, tucked up in bed, safely under the covers with his mother watching over him, speaking to him in her quiet and soothing voice...

"But he was not always cruel, you see. When the little children of the city grew sick and burned with fevers, burning so hot that each day they though for sure that they would die... Then the big giant took pity on the suffering of the children and he gently pulled the mountain breeze down from its home among the peaks, sending it along its way, up towards the windows of the sick so it might cool their fevered brows."

Cloud smiled, happy and content. He snuggled deeper into the warmth of the sheets and everything was far away. He was walking carefully along the line of consciousness, the only tie holding him to the present world being that of his mother's gentle voice.

But then he saw the shadows from the corner of the room.

"And whence he comes and whither he goes..." said the new voice, ice cold and sharp as steel.

His mother stopped mid-sentence and turned slowly around, her face a mask of cool, calm, and collected nature. A deep soothing hum swelled from low in her throat as her slender hand fell delicately on Cloud's shoulder as he jolted fully awake to stare at the demon, eyes wide with horror.

There was a metallic click, followed by the sound of a flawless blade being unsheathed, shredding the blanket of calm that Cloud clung to so desperately with that one effortless act. There was a silence so loud that Cloud felt his head would burst and his eardrums shatter painfully in only a second.

But it was only a second before it was all over.

With one graceful motion, with one glint of steel in the firelight, the blade rose and fell only once, deathly quick and wickedly sharp as it sliced through the air with such a howl that the air itself must have been hollering a death cry. And there was blood and there was warmth. And there was a weight that fell from the bed with no noise.

And there was Cloud, staring ahead with an expressionless face.

"Nobody cares and nobody knows."

"Hey." There was something pulling at him insescently...

"Hey." It wouldn't go away... But there was some sort of feeling rising up in the backwoods of Cloud's conscious mind that told him that he didn't want it to go away. Not just yet at any rate...

"Wake up," Leon whispered, tugging once more at Cloud's sleeve and peering cautiously down at the sleeping blonde. He'd learned from his earlier sleeping experience that Cloud was an... 'interesting' sleeper. Actually, 'hazardous' might have been the more appropriate word. In all his dreaming and in all his slumber, Cloud had nearly managed to give poor Leon a bloodied nose and a black eye.

...But then again, what Cloud didn't know wouldn't hurt him. And Leon couldn't help but instantly forget all the ("What the...?" "Nyuuuuuu..." "OWW! FUCK!" "Favuu..." "Cloud! What the hell are you?") pain as Cloud's eyes fluttered open and he rubbed at them groggily, muttering a few very coherent words in the process.

Words like... "Nnnyazzlefaph... vah?"

"...You're not awake."

"Nuu."

"Well wake up."

"Nn'ven uh pluz..."

"...What?"

Stretching his mouth into a shape so long it could almost be considered grotesque, Cloud let out a giant yawn. He took his sweet time, cocking his head to the left, then to the right. He opened and closed his mouth a few more times, blinked rapidly, and then finally allowed his gaze to fall on the rather puzzled Leon who crouched beside him.

"Not even a 'please,'" Cloud clarified.

"Please."

"Ttnkoo." And in that one half-second, Leon's hopes for Cloud being fully awake pretty much vanished, for Cloud simply flopped right back onto the floor, rolling himself into a wee little ball and turning towards the wall. Narrowing his eyes slightly, Leon drew his mouth into a thin line and slowly reached out...

Freezing cold fingers on neck! Holy crap!

"Hyaaah What're you doing, Leon?"

"Waking you up. Now come on."

Without much further explanation, Leon lead the stumbling, bumbling, mumbling Cloud out of the caravan. Zidane and Tidus were the only members of the little escort party that Cloud could see, the smaller boys standing off to the corner of the clearing, stroking the neck of the chocobo and smiling softly. Very cute.

Yes, very cute, but Cloud didn't pay much attention.

"Where are we going? Why are we stopped? What am I doing here? Who are-"

"I should've left you in the caravan," Leon muttered, striking off into the woods, Cloud right behind him. After another moment and after a slightly pained expression (which Cloud also missed) Leon then murmured a hurried, "Sorry."

"...Were you always this nice to me, or did someone spike your water supply?"

"Thank you. I assure you, your faith in me in greatly appreciated."

The woods around then seemed to move, twist shape, and change as Cloud and Leon proceeded. Having no idea where they were or what they were doing, all Cloud could do was tag blindly along and blink curiously at the towering trees.

"Don't mention..." Cloud started... and then he saw... "...it..."

Leon had led Cloud to a large open clearing, set on the very top of an equally large cliff and overlooking the entire forest. Fireflies milled gently around, only visible during the moments in which they chose to shine their light for the rest of the world to see, blinking here then there, going about as they pleased. Waterfalls, valleys, meadows, and woods, Cloud could see it all. There wasn't a definite horizon line between earth and sky. Instead, the two simply met somewhere at the farthest reaches of Cloud's vision and melded together, deep blue-green giving way to the darkest midnight blue, speckled with nothing short of the brightest stars. The brightest stars that dusted the entire sky, from on end to the other...

Leon's own gaze was rooted to the scenery around them, hands tucked in his pockets and a small smile threatening to pull at the corners of his mouth. "...Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Woooow. I mean... just..." Rather than fighting that little smile as Leon did, Cloud simply gave in, letting an enormous grin spread across his face. "Wow. Is this what you brought me out for? To show me this?" A small nod from Leon was all Cloud needed before he playfully rocked back and forth on his feet, nudging Leon and grinning even wider. "...Thanks."

"Hn." Leon watched as Cloud walked to the very edge of the cliff and plopped down, swinging his legs over the wide and letting them dangle in thin air. He watched... and tried very hard not to have a heart attack. "What was it you said? Don't mention it?"

"Yeah, that was it!"

"Well then, don't mention it."

"I won't." Cloud returned to looking at the sky as Leon sat down beside him, though the other man didn't take the pleasure and swinging his feet back and forth over the cliff-side. "Where'd the others go? Are they somewhere out around here too?"

"They had to meet up with someone. Zidane and Tidus are still back with the chocobo..."

"...You never see stuff like this back at Destati." Cloud's voice was barely audible and his attention clearly wasn't residing with the traveling crew that had hauled him all the way out there. It was like nothing he'd ever seen, to say the very least. All the colors and all the night noises (tree limbs creaking, leaves rustling in the wind, insects humming, animals sighing, birds chirping quietly...)

"What do you see?"

"Hm?"

"At... Destati. ...What do you see when you look out your window at night there?"

"...Well... You can see the city. Not all of it. Only a few buildings. Sometimes you can see through the windows, if people don't have their curtains shut. ...You can see some pretty interesting things that way..." Cloud let out an amused little chuckle, thinking back, but not really dwindling in the memories long. "You can see the tops of the trees from the paopu fields... They're all in rows. They're all the same size." With a sigh, he shook his head and sat up to glance at Leon as he said, "There's nothing beautiful about that place."

Leon just nodded, only once. The two sat side by side for some time before Cloud's curiosity finally peaked his interest. "What about you?" he prodded.

"What about me?"

"You know a lot about me. So..." Really, Cloud found it unnerving that Leon knew so much about him. It was just plain weird. So perhaps he figured that it would be nothing short of fair if the playing ground was leveled a bit. The only thing was, Leon didn't exactly read like an open book... "Okay. Instead of giving me a whole biography, since I know you won't wanna do that, you can just tell me what you can see from your window."

Leon blinked and simply stared at Cloud blankly for a moment.

"I don't have a window."

"...Eh?" "Well of course you have a- Honestly Leon. Where do you live, then? What does it look like?"

"I don't live anywhere. I go where I'm-" Frowning slightly, Leon shook his head, rephrased his words, and continued. "That is... I used to go where I was told."

Cloud grinned, poking Leon on the shoulder playfully and chirping, "But not anymore, remember?"

"Mm. I remember." Fingers straying towards the bed of grass spread out beneath them, Leon tugged a single blade of grass free, winding it around between his fingers lazily.

"...Okay then... Where do you want to live? You're done dealing with the whole bounty-hunting business. You can have a home and a window now!" At this, even Leon had to chuckle and that one little action made Cloud glow with pride, having gotten such a reaction from so stoic an individual. "So where'll it be?"

"I think... I think it might be somewhere by the ocean. So I can make sure you don't walk in and drown yourself by accident."

"Ha, ha. Very funny. Jackass. I'm serious."

"So am I. I do want to live by the ocean." The thin blade of grass braided in and around Leon's fingers finally snapped, pulled too taunt and wound too much around and around. Brushing the tattered remains of the grass from his lap, Leon shrugged. "Think about it. Waking up to hear waves breaking over rocks, smelling that air and feeling that breeze... You could look out your window and see nothing but clear sky stretching for miles and miles... You could watch the sunrise..."

"There'd be seagulls, right?"

"Of course."

"And they wouldn't be the annoying kind. They'd be the nice kind of seagulls. The kind that just fly around in lazy loopy circles and remind you of where you are."

"Right."

"What about the city? With the music and the noise... You could stay out and party all night long, sleep all day, wake up, and do it all over again. What about that?"

"Do I honestly strike you as someone who would enjoy partying all night long?"

"...Point taken. So what do you enjoy?"

Leon raised an eyebrow at Cloud, leaning back on his hands and glancing at him for a moment before focusing back on the night sky again. "I thought you weren't going to ask for a biography."

"It's not a fucking biography, man. Just a few stupid questions."

"You really do have quite the colorful language going on there."

"Hell yeah! And I'm proud of it."

"Do all serfs talk like that?" Leon plucked yet another long blade of grass, twining it around and between his fingers while Cloud talked, the blonde boy tugging his legs back from over the edge of the cliff, pulling them towards his chest and resting his chin on his knees. Dirt dusted the bottom of his pants, but Cloud prattled along, perfectly oblivious.

"Nah, of course not. But I got it from my uncle, ya know. He always talked like that. And since my mum and dad kicked the bucket when I was just really little, he raised me." Cloud grinned for a moment, but it quickly dissipated into a frown only half a second later. ...Right after he'd had time to actually think about the whole thing. "...Come to think of it, he did a really lousy job of it, but oh well. Cid tried."

"...Cid?"

"Yeah, my uncle. Cid." Cocking his head to the side, Cloud seemed to be meandering along the familiar road known as Memory Lane, bumping into old Uncle Cid by pure coincidence along the way. "...He disappeared a while ago. Hades' goofballs just showed up one day and hauled him off. But that was when I was ten or-"

"Eleven."

"...Yeah. ...How'd you know that?"

"...Lucky guess, I suppose."

"...Lucky my ass. You and your secrets. You can just take 'em and... and... Oh fuck, I don't know."

Leon smiled slightly, loosening his hold on the lone blade of grass and watching as a light breeze carried it up and over the cliff. Spiraling downwards, it quickly disappeared from view as Leon let out a small sigh.

"How about I make you a deal?" he started.

Cloud raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "...Shoot. What is it?"

"You ask me one question... anything at all. I'll answer it completely and truthfully. Alright?"

Cloud frowned, disappointed by the idea of only getting to ask one question. But still. Something was always better than nothing, right?

"...What were you doing down by Destati if you're through with bounty hunting?"

"...Ah..." Of course he had to ask that question. "...I... had... failed..." Leon's glance drifted back and forth between the ground and the sky. Obviously it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that he was getting just a wee bit nervous... "...at this last mission. I... didn't bring the girl Maleficent had asked for back to her."

Cloud grinned, elbowing the brunette playfully and giggling. "...Oh? Leon, you sex fiend. I had no idea."

"I let her go, Cloud. I didn't rape her."

"Why'd you let her go?"

"You already asked your question."

"But you didn't finish answering it! You promised you would answer it completely. That hardly tells me anything." Glaring icily, Cloud once again crossed his arms, pouty, prickly, and pissed off as all get out.

Leon smirked, leaning back on his arms as he calmly stated, "...If you really have to know, the girl was involved with an underground organization intent on ending the use of paopu-powered fuel and liberating the serf camps all over the kingdom. Maleficent wanted to put a stop to it before it got out of hand."

"...Are you serious?"

"Mmhm."

"Why haven't I ever heard about it?"

At this, Leon's smug look was replaced by one more serious as he leaned forward, staring off into the vast expanse of forest below. "Because they haven't done anything yet. My guess is that they're still planning." Trailing off for a moment, Leon allowed silence to hang in the air just briefly before continuing. "...I met this girl. I think she plans on striking once and only once and ending it all for good."

Both sat in thoughtful silence once more. It was... calming. Relaxing. Peaceful. And then...

"Oooh, Leon's got a little crush."

"..."

"...Hey man, ease up. I was just joking, okay?"

"Sorry."

"You don't have to apologize every time something goes all weird and awkward. It's not your fault or anything." Taking in a deep breath of air, Cloud let it all back out once more in a huge sigh, slumping his shoulders and picking up the metaphorical crowbar to once again try and crack Leon open for some info. "So this girl. Was she cute? Will you at least tell me that much?"

Leon scowled, shaking his head just once. "...You've asked more than just one question and I've still answered. It's my turn to ask you a question."

"Ugh, you gotta be kidding me. You already know practically everything anyway."

"No I don't."

"Yeah, well, whatever. You sure as hell seem like you do," Cloud replied flippantly, waving one hand lazily about in the air as he crossed one leg over another. For such a relaxing place, the forest sure seemed to make Cloud jittery.

"...Assuming for a moment that you believed in soul-mates and you believed in legends and myths..." Leon began, cocking his head to the side. "Who would you share a paopu fruit with?"

Cloud blinked stupidly, mouth hanging open, looking quite similar to those dead fish you can find in most marketplaces. Questions like... What was that? What's going on? What's he getting at? What the hell? Huh? What? EH? ...Yes, all these questions zipped through his head in the span of about half a second. Finally, he formulated a response.

"...I..."

"Leeeeeeon! Cloooooooud!"

Jolting forward, Cloud nearly went flying off the cliff. Thankfully, he was too busy snapping his head around towards the voice to notice that poor Leon's face had taken on the complexity of a piece of chalk. Stupid, stupid Cloud.

"Helloooooooo!"

"We're over here, Zidane!" Leon shouted towards the woods. Moments later, the smaller boy burst through the dense copse of trees, a grin stretching across his face and his hands tucked in his pockets.

"There you are!" He bounced over towards the other two, weird little monkey tail fanning out behind him as he did so. Cloud still hadn't figured out what horrid pairing had occurred for that tail to end up there, but frankly, he wasn't sure he ever wanted to figure it out in the first place... "For a second there, I thought you'd both disappeared on us. Paine should be back any minute with Wakka. She'll want you there the second she's back, or else she'll flip. You know how she is."

After a moment, even Zidane started picking something up and he blinked twice, glancing back and forth between Cloud and Leon."...I wasn't interrupting anything, was I?"

"Not at all." Leon brushed the question off and turned to Cloud, his voice losing that surreal sort of thoughtful air to it and reverting back to cold hard stone. "Come on Cloud, we'd better head back."

"...Can I stay here for just another minute? I'll be right there."

"...No escape attempts or anything? You promise?"

"Yeah, I promise. Sheesh. You'd think I was a freaking con-artist or something."

"Sometimes you can't tell."

Cloud rolled his eyes dramatically and let out a snort. "I think that would be the point, Leon."

Leon smirked and turned to go, but still couldn't stop from hesitating slightly at the forest's edge. Turning back to Cloud for a moment, he said, "If you decide to walk around a little farther into the woods... well, don't. It may look safe and sweet, but you can't be too sure. Just stay put if you're going to be out here and come straight back when you've decided you're done sitting around. Or thinking. Or singing. Or whatever it is you're planning on doing."

"Thanks, Leon. Hehe, I didn't think you trusted me."

"Why wouldn't I trust you?"

"...Ah... well... How the hell should I know?" Cloud snapped, scowling moodily. Why was it that Leon always got to ask the questions?

"Whatever." Finally heading off back towards the caravan, Leon threw one last glance and one last suggestion over his shoulder. "Don't stay out too long. Paine will go absolutely insane if she finds out that I let you out of my sight."

"...You still haven't explained all this to me, ya know!"

"I'll get there."

x x x

"At last may I upon this shore lighten my sorrow with soft tears. Alas, alas, I see no more my love, who yet my sadness cheers."

Huh... What? ...OH SHIT! I must've fallen asleep!

"And thou, oh raging, stormy sea, stirred by wild winds, from depth to height, thou holds my loved one far from me, and I am captive to thy might."

Cloud's eyes snapped wide open as he jolted upright, glancing left, right, up, and down before coming to the happy conclusion that he was actually awake and not locked in some disturbing dream world. ...But... if it was reality, then what was with the dumb rhyming voice?

"Hello?" Cloud pulled himself up to his feet, turning towards the woods and calling out again, "Is somebody there?"

Sure enough, someone was.

"My heart is still more wild than thine, for fate is cruel unto me. Why must I thus in exile pine? Why was my princess snatched from me?"

Draped leisurely over one of the many thick tree branches stretching up towards the sky was a... well... Cloud cocked his head to the side and scuttled forward a few feet, trying to get a better look. It was a... weird sort of... blue-ish kind of... monkey-critter.

"Excuse me! Hello!" Cloud waved both arms, trying to get the little monkey's attention. "Um... excuse me, but-"

"Oh lovely nymphs, from ocean caves, who know how sweet true love may be... come up and calm the furious waves and set a desperate lover free!" The little critter's eyes were shut tight, mind seemingly tripping off somewhere, lost in focus as words came tumbling out in a high-pitched garble.

"HEY!" Cloud was practically screaming at the top of his lungs and he couldn't help but wonder if he was going every so slightly insane. After all, he was about to ask the monkey for... "Do you know where the others are? I mean... this caravan thingy? Full of people? This uh... sorta tall brown haired guy? He has a little scar right..." Cloud poked the bridge of his nose with his index finger and drew it down towards his cheek by an inch or so, "here. And there's these other guys who-"

It was all Cloud could do to keep from letting out a girly little shriek as the monkey-thing leapt from the tree branch and landed nimbly on the ground in front of him. The actual height of the creature must have been no more than three feet, but it crouched low to the ground on all fours, making it only come up to Cloud's knees as it regarded him with beady little black eyes.

"Fallen into the fire, and so will you. On little Cloudykin! Tum-pa, tum-too!"

"...Cloudykin? What the!"

Skittering in circles around Cloud, the little blue 'monkey' chirped off rhymes one right after another.

"Beware, beware for danger is near, and those must feel who will not hear!"

"...Okay. I can see you're not going to be of much help." Cloud glared at the stupid creature and crossed his arms for what felt like the millionth time that night, regarding the monkey with a dark stare. "...So you don't know where Leon is?"

"Cut him from his arms forever, bury him in the rippling river."

"Never mind! Forget I asked!" Letting out an exasperated sigh, Cloud started in towards the woods, leaves crunching under his feet as he walked along. He knew that Leon was back at the caravan, most likely. The problem was just remembering where the caravan was. And the more he seemed to head in one direction, the more he seemed to get turned around... and even though it seemed as though he'd only walked three feet, it looked as though he'd long since left the clearing and cliff-face behind.

...That... had to be a bad thing.

But at least the monkey fellow hadn't followed him.

Cloud whined and came to a halt in the middle of the dark woods, the only light being the small patches of silver moonlight that managed to filter through the dense layers of leaves and branches above him. "...Where the hell did he go...?"

Though he'd been able to stifle his girly little shriek earlier, Cloud was unable to keep a howl of fright and surprise from getting away from him as a familiar little blue animal swung down out of the forest canopy, a broad grin on its smooth and alien-like face, sharp, pointy little teeth glowing white in the darkness.

"And whence he comes and whither he goes, nobody cares and nobody knows. For never since time began, I ween, has this little boy ever been seen!"

Eyes widening in shock, Cloud had to struggled to keep his voice from stuttering as he hissed, "Would you just shut up for a minute! I'm lost!" How did... how did it...? That rhyme... It was...

Grin snapping into a tiny pout, the little blue monkey swung up into the branches for a split second before falling back down into view, dangling from a tree branch by its tail. The creature threw a small twig towards Cloud, successfully whacking him in the head and shrilly crying, "Whoever can this trumpet blow, shall cause the giant's overthrow!"

Cloud glared, crushing the twig on the ground under his boot. "...Well aren't you clever. Idiot." Much to his surprise, the monkey's eyes widened for a moment before it clambered back up onto the tree branch, regarding him with a very pitiful little stare that made Cloud's heart ache with guilt. "...Listen, I'm sorry. You're not an idiot. I am. I'm just lost, okay? I don't know where I am or what I'm doing here... And I think I'm losing my mind. I... fell asleep over-"

And lo the monkey proved to be severely bipolar as its sad little gaze turned into one brimming with rage. Breaking another larger, thicker, and possibly quite harmful branch from the nearest tree, the monkey swung it back and forth through the air and hollered, "Though here you lodge with me this night, you shall not see the morning light! My club shall dash your brains out quite!"

Cloud's hands flung up in front of him defensively as he backed away a few steps. The thing may just have been a monkey, but even serfs learned to avoid menacing kinds of folks wielding big sticks. "W-W-Well, I didn't really fall asleep, buddy, I just-"

The monkey's voice took on a mocking tone, if one could really say that monkeys had tones. "Once upon a time when pigs spoke rhyme and monkeys chewed tobacco, and hens took snuff to make them tough and ducks went quack, quack, quack-o!"

"I'm not crazy, if that's what you're saying! You... you... you furry blue little furball!"

The monkey-like-thing seemed to bristle with rage, brandishing the tree branch in one hand and shaking the other in an angry little fist. "Well, come along! I've got two spears, and I'll poke your eyeballs out at your ears; I've got besides two curling-stones, and I'll crush you to bits, body and bones!"

With that, the monkey attacked.

CRASH. WHACK. BANG.

"OWW! AGGGHH! Get off me, you fucking hell-monkey!"

When Leon entered the scene he was greeted by a cursing Cloud who appeared to be wearing a rather ornate fur cap. Granted, when the fur cap started pulling Cloud's hair and biting his arm, even Leon couldn't deny that that cap was no ordinary cap. ...Indeed, it was just far from a cap period.

"Cloud!"

"LEON!" Flinging his arms to his sides and whirling around, Cloud managed to shake the confused little beast out of its blood-thirsty state as he bounded towards the other boy. "I found you!"

"Actually, I found you. And you are in deep shit."

"Oh no..."

"...What's that on your head?"

"I found it!"

"You mean it found you?"

"Shut up." Reaching upwards, Cloud took advantage of the monkey's momentary calmness and promptly pried the creature off his head and dropped it smack dab onto the forest floor with a dull thud. "It won't stop babbling nonsense. I don't think it even understands what I'm saying. Or if it does, it sure is a bitchy little-"

"Don't wake the stork, for frogs he doth kill: the danger that sleeps is a danger still." Both Leon and Cloud turned to look down at the little blue furred monkey which peered curiously up at them in return. The angry glint was gone from its eyes, instead replaced with... some sort of emotion Cloud just couldn't quite categorize.

"...It's a nix-spirit."

"A whatiewhat?"

"Nix-spirit," Leon repeated, crouching down until he was at eye level with the little monkey-like animal. "Take a look Cloud. This is Maleficent's finest work."

"...That thing? Wow." For all that she was the self-appointed queen of Coerion and everything, her 'finest work' sure didn't seem too fine. Cloud glanced at Leon. ... Cloud glanced at the nix-spirit. After a moment he said, "...Uh... Okay, if there's something significant about all this, I'm definitely missing it. Clarification?"

"It's a human."

"..." Both Cloud's eyebrows shot up and he crouched down beside his decidedly crazy companion. "Leon. Leon, look at me." Placing both hands on either side of Leon's head, Cloud pretty much forced Leon to look at him as he said, "Now I want you to look me in the eyes and repeat what you just said. Think very carefully about it."

"It's. A. Human."

"...Yep. You've lost it. Paine! Paaa-aaaine!"

"Cloud, shut up." Leon shook his head slowly and let out a weary sigh. "She used to be a human, at any rate."

"It's a she? ...How can you tell?"

"I can't. But she looks like a girl, doesn't she?" Personally, Cloud failed to see the apparently obvious gender signs of the nix-spirit, but if Leon said so... "One of Maleficent's most powerful little tricks is turning humans into nix-spirits. She doesn't do it often, because if word leaked out of what she did, there's no doubt that people would panic and rebel and it'd just be a huge mess. So she just reserves the special little treat for serious enemies or the most bothersome of all annoyances."

Reaching out towards the nix-spirit, Leon brushed his fingertips cautiously over the soft fur of her head and murmured, "I wonder which you were..."

"So what exactly are nix-spirits?" "I mean, okay, so she used to be a... girl, but...?"

"They have a nature related to pixies and nymphs, hence the 'nix' in their name. But for as long as they're under Maleficent's spell, all they speak in are rhymes and riddles. Even if they have something important to say, they're stuck beating around the bush with confusing phrases and jumbled nonsense."

"...Poor thing." The nix-spirit let out a little growl as she glared icily up at Cloud. It only took one beating from a three-foot-tall menace for Cloud to learn his lesson though, and he quickly corrected himself. "Girl, I mean. Poor girl." Looking back towards Leon, Cloud frowned slightly and added, "...But wait. So there's a way to break the spell?"

"Only Maleficent would know that."

"..." Cloud couldn't help but once again feel that horrid pang of guilt as he regarded the small blue nix-spirit standing in front of Leon. There had to be some way, some antidote... There had to be something. "...Isn't there anything we can do?"

"Treat her with respect and try to understand the information she's given us. What exactly was it that she said to you?"

"...Um... I uh..." If I told him all that, he'd only get worried. Plus I'd have to tell him about the rhyme I heard in my dream... Then I'd have to tell him about the actual dream... No way. "Not much. I mean, something about chickens and monkeys on drugs. And that's really about it."

"Are you sure?"

Cloud nodded firmly, trying to convince his conscience that he did the right thing. Rubbing his arms absentmindedly, Cloud frowned slightly and regarded the nix-spirit once again. How could they just get up a abandon her? After all she'd been through? "Can we bring her with us?"

"You don't even know where we're going." Leon tried to make his voice condoning, but really, he couldn't help but keep the amusement from shining through. Yeah, it frustrated him. ...But not that much.

"No I don't, but from what I've gathered, this whole thing has to do with Maleficent. And if that's the case then maybe we can help her..."

"...We don't have time." Standing up and dusting the dirt from his knees, Leon gave the small nix-spirit an apologetic look before turning back to Cloud, who looked just as upset, if not more so, than the nix-spirit herself. "I'm sorry. We're in enough trouble as it is since you wandered off. Why didn't you stay where I told you to?"

"I fell asleep! It wasn't my..." Oops. "Ugh, I didn't fall asleep. I just sort of... zonked out."

"So you passed out?"

"No. Girls pass out. I zonked out."

"Oh, right. Because there's such a difference."

"Exactly. But when I woke up, the forest looked different so I was just... really lost."

"Well that is why I told you to stay put." Shaking his head, Leon closed his eyes and massaged his temples with the tips of his index fingers. All this chaos really brewed up a wicked headache... "Listen, we really have to get a move on."

"Alright..." Cloud knelt down in front of the nix-spirit who scowled moodily at him, clearly still angry about the whole name-calling incident. For clearly, she wasn't really a furball or anything. "Hey listen, I hope you find a way to break the nasty spell thing. And I'm sorry I kept calling you an it. You're a very pretty girl, you know," Cloud stated with a little smile.

Seeming satisfied enough by that, the nix-spirit bounced away towards the nearest tree, scampering up its trunk with startling speed and ease before once again making herself at home and perching on a thick branch.

"Haste, valiant stranger, haste away, lest you become the giant's prey. On his return he'll bring another still more savage than his brother: a horrid, cruel monster, who, before he kills, will torture you. Oh valiant stranger! Haste away, or you'll become these giants' prey."

"Remember what she says, understand?" Leon asked under his breath as the both made their way quickly through the woods.

"Why?"

"Nix-spirits are said to have... I guess you could call it 'heightened knowledge'..."

"Farewell warrior, ever brave, drifting onward to thy grave!" Those were the parting words of the nix-spirit. And Cloud couldn't help but shiver slightly as he jogged to catch up with Leon, not wanted to be left behind in the forest once again.

x x x

"Boy, do you remember how it felt?"

"How what felt?"

"Being born."

"...No. Nobody knows that."

"Do you remember what it felt like before? Before you were born, when you were simply there, but not?"

"Of course I don't remember."

"I do."

"...Who are you?"

"I am you."

In the blackness of Cloud's mind, shadows twisted into a grin and noises bubbled up deep from within the caverns Cloud could never hope to see. He feet sunk into his, his hands were buried in it, and his cries were lost within it. "Where am I?" he wailed, only sinking deeper and deeper, his mind nothing more than a rapid slideshow of memories, old and new, good and bad.

"Cloud, I made cookies. Here you go..."

"I'm sorry, Cloud... Listen, I really... Man. I don't know how to tell ya this, kid."

"...May they rest in peace..."

"I said hurry up, you little-"

"Hey, it's okay kid. Don't worry about me, okay?"

"He went away. That's... all I can tell you, alright?"

"Leon!"

Wait...

"Leon! Stop!"

That wasn't a memory...

"Come back... don't leave me here... please... I believe you... I believe, I believe, I believe..."

And in only a split second, it ended. There were no more memories to cling to and no more visions to hold on to. Only the darkness around him and the chilling voice that still haunted him...

"Where are you, you ask? You, boy, are right where you began."

Cloud let out a small sigh, but it wasn't from relief or exasperation. Truth be told, he didn't know what it was from. But it was all the breath he had left before he closed his eyes and gave in.

"This is where I know you from."

Cloud's eyes blearily shot open and the entire world was thrown into some sort of blurry, foggy haze. ...It was about then that Cloud realized he was crying and he promptly buried his face back into his folded arms. But then there was once again a small, hesitant pull at his arm and Cloud lifted his head once again, thankful for the darkness the night cast on them. That way Leon couldn't tell he was crying.

"We can't find Zidane..."

"Still?"

Leon nodded once and the caravan fell silent. The only noise came from outside, Paine's rushed and worried voice, Rikku's optimistic and hopeful one... Cloud closed his eyes again, trying to will himself to get a grip and stop worrying about silly dreams. What he really needed to be focusing on was Zidane... Not this...

"What'd Tidus say?"

"He'd gone to get the chocobo some food from this caravan. When he came back, Zidane was just gone."

"...Oh."

"...I'm worried."

"...Me too."

Leon shook his head and Cloud thought he saw a small flash of a smile... but then again, his vision was still pretty messed up. He would've shrugged it all off had it not been for...

"No, I'm worried about you. Zidane can take care of himself."

"What, so I can't?"

"...I'm sorry."

"Stop saying that."

"Alright."

"Wait... why are you worried about me, for crying out loud?"

"...I hear you dreaming."

"...You do?"

"...Yeah."

"...Oh."

"Are you okay?"

Rather than answering, Cloud simply rolled over, facing away from Leon once again. It was childish and he knew it, but he didn't want to face more questions. He didn't want to face Leon's clumsily caring nature when he didn't even know why the brunette cared in the first place. He didn't want to face his dreams, he didn't want to face... He didn't want to face anything.

But Traverse Town was only a few hours away.

And there are some things that you just have to face.

(x) (x) (x)

The rhymes and riddles from the nix-spirit aren't mine. I just collected them from children's stories and rearranged some words and changed it around a bit so it fit. And it does fit. As far as the nix-spirit herself goes, are there any guesses as to who she might be? It's really easy, and if you know that and if you piece together her riddles, you can figure out almost an entire sub-plot and roughly half of the main plot. XD Whoo! That can keep you busy until I get around to working on chapter four.