Page Count for chapter: Six

Chapter Three: Bath and Bedtime

Cloud shook his head at the messy state Sora and Riku were in. They may have cleaned up the mess they made while making cereal, but they really didn't know how to clean themselves up. Cloud held out his hands to them.

"Let's go get you two washed up," he sighed. "You're a mess." Sora instantly latched onto his hand and stuck his thumb in his mouth. Riku took his hand as well but refused to suck on his thumb. He thought that was for babies.

"I'm going to wash them up," Cloud informed Leon. "You see if you can find something for them to wear."

Leon raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

"I don't know," Cloud said, somewhat defensively. "Don't parents usually keep their kids baby clothes?"

"Responsible ones usually do," Leon shrugged. "I guess I can go look through the closets to see if I can find anything."

"You do that, I'll take care of these two," Cloud nodded.

Sora took his thumb out of his mouth and looked at Riku questioningly. "Ri-Ri, if they want clothes, why don't they just look in the dwesser?"

Riku shrugged. "I don't know. Grown ups are weird."

"Ya, these ones are really weird," Sora agreed and stuck his thumb back in his mouth as the pone suddenly rang.

"Should we answer it?" Cloud asked.

Leon shrugged.

Cloud rolled his eyes. "You answer it then find some clothes," he ordered and led the two boys upstairs to the bathroom. Leon went to answer the phone.

"Hello?" He spoke softly.

"Hello? Who's this?" A voice practically screeched in his ear. "You don't sound like Sora or Riku, who are you?"

"Leon," he said simply.

"Oh well, that's nice," the annoyingly chipper voice sang. "What are you doing answering my phone, Leon?"

"Are you Sora's mother?"

"Yes, I am, now who are you?"

"A friend."

"…Why are you at my house?" She pressed.

Leon was silent, thinking quickly. He really didn't think it would be the best idea to tell Sora's mother that her son was a three year old again.

"Sleepover."

"Oh that's wonderful! My little Sora needs to have more interaction with people besides Riku. Not that I don't love Riku, I do as if he was my own, but really, they need to meet more people. They're always together and I'm pretty sure neither boy has any other friend but each other."

Leon was pretty sure that was wrong. Riku was one of the most popular boys at school and since Sora was his best friend, he was just as popular as well.

"But anyways, I suppose that doesn't matter since you're obviously there and must be his friend otherwise you wouldn't be having a sleepover."

This woman was starting to annoy Leon.

"Anyways, be a good boy and fetch my son for me, will you?"

Now what did he do? Sora was three, he couldn't talk on the phone to his mother, she'd notice instantly. Well…maybe not instantly, if her airhead behavior was anything to judge by. So Leon did the only thing he could think of on such short notice, he told the truth.

"He's taking a bath."

"A bath? But I thought Sora hated baths. I remember when he was little he would kick and scream and refuse to take one. He always had to take a shower with his father because he just refused to let me bathe him. I can't believe he's finally started to take them, how wonderful."

Hmm…Leon would have to tell Cloud that Sora hated baths so they could avoid the screaming.

"Oh well, let me speak with Riku then please."

Leon stayed quiet again. He couldn't tell the truth this time because it would sound very strange if he said Riku and Sora were taking a bath together.

"He's…asleep."

"Asleep? At this time? Oh, he must've had training today. Why when he was little the only way we could get Riku to sleep was to let him run down to the beach and back to wear himself out. Otherwise he never went to sleep. Sora would always sit on the porch and wait for him because he was too little to keep up with his big friend. It was the most adorable thing."

Leon said nothing, but made a mental note to tell Cloud this as well.

"Well then, I don't suppose you'll take a message and pass it on to one of them will you?"

"…Yes."

"All right, tell Sora that we're stranded somewhere about three hours away from Traverse Town. It's this nice place called Wonder Land and they're even throwing a tea party soon. We won't be back for while, I'm afraid."

"I'll tell him."

"All right, thank you, Leon, that's quiet thoughtful of you. Tell my boys I love them, buh-bye!"

The phone hung up with a click and Leon put the receiver back on the hook.

"…That…was painful."


Leon walked upstairs to the bathroom, expecting to find Cloud in the room with the little boys. He was surprised to see that they weren't there and followed the noise of talking voices to the bathroom. Cloud had Sora sitting in between his legs on the bathroom sink and was wiping his face off with a washcloth. Riku was sitting next to Sora and playing with Cloud's hair, which the teenager didn't seem to mind at all.

For a moment, Leon just stared at the scene before him. He never realized how gentle and caring Cloud could be. He was talking to Riku and Sora in a kind voice and being gentle as he cleaned off Sora's face. Leon started to smile at them before blinking and mentally shaking his head.

What the hell was he thinking?

Leon cleared his throat and Cloud turned to look at him.

"Who was on the phone?" He asked.

"Sora's mother," Leon answered.

"Momma?" Sora looked suddenly hopeful. "Is momma and papa coming home soon?"

"Uh…no," Leon felt a little bad as Sora's face fell and he sniffed a little.

Riku reached over and patted his friend's head. "It's ok, Sor-Sor," he said. "I'm still here." Sora looked at Riku and smiled shyly before putting on a brave face –that looked a lot like Riku's, actually.

"Hey listen," Cloud suggested, trying to cheer the younger boy up. "Why don't we go shopping tomorrow?"

"Shopping?" Sora asked, cocking his head cutely.

"Yup, to get you some clothes, since obviously we're not going to find anything even if we did look," Cloud sighed at that.

Riku frowned. "Clothes are boring."

Sora quickly nodded his head. "Yes, clothes boring."

"You'd rather run around naked?" Leon asked. The boys thought it over before Riku nodded.

"Ok, we go shopping," he agreed.

"Yes, shopping," Sora imitated Riku perfectly. Then he yelled, "Potty!"

Cloud and Leon blinked at him. "What?"

"Sora needs to potty!" Sora whined and suddenly started wiggling on the sink.

"Sora just learned to potty in the toilet," Riku informed the horrified teens. Riku decided to take pity on them. "You need to get him off the sink before he pees himself."

"Oh, right," Cloud shook his head and picked Sora up, placing him on the floor. Sora ran over to the toilet and pulled up his overlarge shirt and climbed onto it.

Leon and Cloud turned away quickly. Somehow it just felt wrong watching their friend go to the bathroom, even if he was only a toddler now. They heard him go then jumped down and flushed the toilet.

"Hands!" He called out happily, holding his hands high in the air and not touching anything. Once again, little Riku took pity on the confused Leon and Cloud and told them what to do.

"You gotta wash your hands after you potty," he stated, matter-of-factly. Cloud bent down and picked Sora up, holding him up to the sink while he washed his hands. He handed Sora a towel and set him on the sink next to Riku again.

"Done!" Sora exclaimed, throwing the towel away. Riku gave him a high five and patted his head.

"Good Sor-Sor," he smiled.

Sora patted his head in imitation of Riku, "Good Sor-Sor."

Cloud glanced at Leon at was very surprised to see an amused smile in his face. It was really small and no one would notice it if they didn't know Leon that well, but it was there, none-the-less. Cloud decided he liked Leon when he smiled like that. It softened up his face and didn't make him look so intimidating. Cloud blinked and lightly shook his head.

What the hell was he thinking?

"Ok…so now what?" Cloud asked.

"Bath, of course!" Riku exclaimed and Sora pouted.

"No bath," he pouted stubbornly.

"What? Why not?" Cloud asked him.

"Sora's mother said that he hated baths," Leon spoke up. "She said he always took a shower with his dad."

"Why were talking about that with Sora's mother?" Cloud asked, genuinely confused and curios.

"…"

"…Right. Anyways, Sora, you need to take a bath," Cloud ordered but Sora just pouted more and crossed his arms to complete the look.

"No bath."

"Riku, tell Sora to take a bath," Leon order, but Riku shook his head with a small smile.

"Nope, Sora won't listen to anyone when it comes to bath, not even me," Riku grinned evilly and Leon glared at him before turning to Sora. Cloud was trying to cajole Sora into the tub, now filling with water, by bribing him with toys. It didn't work.

When the tub finished filling up, Riku jumped effortlessly from the sink, nearly giving Cloud a heart attack. He held up his arms and looked expectantly at Cloud. The blonde leaned over and removed the overlarge shirt. Riku then jumped into the water and happily added some bubbles.

"Now look," Cloud turned back to Sora. "Riku's in the tub and he's having fun. He's even got bubbles; don't you want to play with the bubbles?"

"Not in the bath tub," Sora shook his head stubbornly. Cloud sighed and tried to think of something else to do.

Leon shook his head annoyed and walked over to Sora. He pulled the shirt off the protesting boy, picked him up, kicking and screaming, and dropped him in the water gently. Sora looked shocked for a second before he started crying.

"Leon!" Cloud exclaimed. "You don't do that to a child!" Leon just shrugged at him.

"Shh," Riku patted Sora's head. "It's ok, Sor-Sor. I keep you safe." He put an arm around Sora's shoulder and Sora stopped crying.

"No like bath," Sora sniffed and grabbed Riku's hand tightly. "Want out."

"We're just going to wash you first, and then you can get right out, k Sora?" Cloud asked.

"Want out," Sora repeated pitifully.

"Come on, Leon," Cloud said, rolling up his sleeves. "I'll wash Sora, you get Riku."

Leon looked at him. "I don't wash anyone put myself."

Cloud rolled his eyes angrily, "Oh for goodness sake, Leon," he growled. "They're kids. Just wash him so we can but them to bed."

Leon hesitantly grabbed a washcloth and wetted it before pouring some liquid soap on it. He cautiously moved forward, as if Riku were a dangerous animal, and started to scrub at Riku's skin.

"Owe," Riku whined. "That hurts, stop." Leon stopped scrubbing and instead looked over at Cloud.

Cloud was being gentle with Sora, just as he had been before. He wasn't scrubbing but wiping the washcloth casually over Sora's pale skin. Leon watched him for a moment before copying his actions with Riku. He figured he was doing it right because Riku didn't complain again.

Though, when it came time to wash the boy's hair even Riku, who had been good throughout the whole bath, started to whine. Neither boy wanted his hair washed and both were causing problems because of it.

Eventually, Leon had to hold one boy still while Cloud washed their hair as quickly and gently as he could. When they were done, Sora lifted his arms to be picked up and was staring at them miserably. Cloud hurriedly pulled the little boy out of the water and wrapped a towel around his shivering frame. Cloud felt really bad for forcing little Sora to take a bath when he was so obviously afraid of it.

Leon, meanwhile, picked Riku up and wrapped him in a towel as well. Riku shook his head and sent water flying everywhere. Leon scowled as some water hit his face and Riku giggled.

"All right, guys," Cloud nodded. "Now that you're all clean, it's bed time."

"No it isn't," Riku stated and Sora nodded his head. Cloud slumped his shoulders in defeat.

"Now what's wrong?" He asked.

"He needs to run first," Leon answered and Cloud glanced over at him.

"Run?"

Leon shrugged. "Sora's mom said that Riku never went to bed unless he ran to the beach and back, to wear himself out."

"Once again," Cloud frowned. "Why were you talking to Sora's mother about this stuff?"

"…"

"…Right," Cloud sighed. "Um, ok. Let's find you something to wear and then you can go run." He walked out of the bathroom and came back a couple minutes later with two of teenage Sora's shirts.

"These were the smallest clothes I could find," Cloud slipped the shirts over Riku and Sora's head. They fell to their ankles.

"It's ok," Riku shrugged. "I still run."

Leon walked Riku to the door and the moment he opened it the four year old was gone. Sora bounced out onto the porch happily, holding a stuffed teddy bear, which looked remarkably like him, close to his chest as he watched Riku running. Riku ran to the shoreline that Sora's house was on then turned to come back.

He repeated the process twice before collapsing on the porch, exhausted.

"Now bed," Riku panted. Sora was already half asleep standing up but he still managed to speak.

"Hmm, Riku has to go potty first," he yawed.

Leon sighed and picked Sora up, since it was obvious he wasn't walking anywhere on his own, and let Riku lead the way inside and back upstairs to the bathroom. Unlike Sora, Riku didn't like an audience for this particular activity. He closed the bathroom door and came out a minute later demanding help to wash his hands.

Once that was done, Cloud carried Riku to the bed where Sora was already sleeping. He tucked him under the covers and smiled as Riku grabbed Sora, unconsciously muttering, "My Sor-Sor" in his sleep. Cloud sighed and flicked off the light, heading downstairs to where Leon was watching TV.

"We forgot to call our parents," Leon commented dryly; Cloud just waved it off.

"They'll get over it," he fell onto the couch. "I'm exhausted."

A few minutes later they were both asleep with the TV still running some random infomercial.


A/N: How do you think I did with Leon and Cloud's characters? I think I got Leon pretty well, at least. I also enjoyed the part when Leon just picked Sora up and dropped him in the bathtub. Really, that's not something you do to a kid unless they really need. Like if they had just been playing in mud then you could get away with that, otherwise, no.

REVIEWS!

Question from Lady Samurai: What's with all the vacations Sora's parent's take?

Answer: They just like going places. I mentioned before that Sora's family didn't have much money, well it's 'cause Sora's parents always go places and use up all the money.

Comment to Luthien-Ikari: Ya, that's what I meant. And I can't wait to see how the doujin's doing. When you're ready to post it, I'm going to put a direct link to your Devian Art page so that everyone can see them. That is, if you don't mind, of course.

Next Time: Chapter Four: Teenage Moms; in which Riku and Sora go missing, steal candy, everyone meets Kairi and Wakka and secrets are revealed.