Chapter Length 8 pages.

For all those who didn't like the Kairi/Wakka pairing, my apologies. It was just to add a little something to the story. After this chapter they won't be back.

Chapter Five: Thunderstorms (It's just a kiss)

When they arrived back at Sora's home, Sora and Riku bounced off somewhere to go play. Wakka set up a blanket in the living room and sat Eliot down on it. The little baby cooed happily and waved her chubby arms around playfully. Kairi smiled happily at the sight and headed to the kitchen.

"So, what do you guys want to eat?" She called.

Sora and Riku appeared out of seemingly nowhere and looked up at Kairi hopefully with wide, innocent eyes.

"Pancake?" They suggested in cute, little kid voices.

"We can't have pancakes at two in the afternoon," Cloud frowned. "Those are for breakfast."

Riku and Sora sniffed a little and turned wide, puppy dog eyes on Kairi.

"Please?" They whispered together.

"No, now come on you two, get out of…" Cloud didn't get the chance to finish because Kairi squealed and knelt down. She scooped Sora into a tight hug, but Riku managed to dodge her before she got him as well.

"Pancakes it is!" Kairi called and started looking through the cupboards for any pancake mix.

Cloud grumbled under his breath and sat back on the couch. Sora and Riku walked past him, laughing under their breath.

"Told ya," Riku whispered. "Works every time."

Cloud looked at them incredulous and Leon, Leon was tempted to laugh. But he didn't, 'cause Leon doesn't laugh.

After everyone ate a late lunch of pancakes, (Riku and Sora eating the majority of it) they decided to go to the park. Riku and Sora were bouncing off the walls from all the sugary syrup and they figured it would be a good way to let them blow off some energy.

"Besides," Kairi shrugged. "No one ever goes to the park anymore, so we won't have to worry about being seen."

So they gathered a few things like water and some apples for a snack and headed out.


The park was lively and filed with other kids and parents. Sora and Riku dashed off to go play while the teens found a spot on the grass and sat. They didn't talk much but just enjoyed being out in the sun and being able to relax for a little. A very little because soon Sora and Riku came running up them.

"Come play, Cloud," Riku tugged on his hand.

"Leon too," Sora grabbed and pulled on Leon's hand.

"Not right now, why don't you two go play?" Cloud suggested and took his hand back.

"No! Play with Cloud and Leon," Sora whined. "Please?"

"We've been really good," Riku added.

"Ya, really good!" Sora agreed, nodding his head vigorously.

"All right, let's go," Cloud sighed. "That includes you, Leon."

Leon looked at him.

"I don't care about your image in the least," the blonde reached down and grabbed Leon, pulling him to his feet before the other could protest. "Now let's go." They followed after Sora and Riku, dragging Leon after them.

Half an hour later, Cloud and Leon were, as they put it, released from the evil clutches of the devil incarnate. They collapsed (though it was in a dignified way) next to Kairi and Wakka, who were laughing at them amusedly. Sora and Riku, still full of energy, continued to play without them.

"Ri-Ri?" Sora called, trying to climb up after his friend.

"What?" Riku yelled back, not bothering to look at him.

"Why does Cloud and Leon look at each other like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like Mommy and Daddy, and Papa and Mama look at each other," Sora elaborated and finally made it next to Riku in the middle of the jungle-gym they were playing on.

"Duh, Sora," Riku rolled his eyes. "It's 'cause they love each other."

"But then why don't they bite each other like mamma and papa?" The three-year-old asked, confused.

"I don't know," Riku shrugged. "And it's not biting, it's called kissing."

"How'd you know?" Sora asked curiously.

"'Cause I know everything, got it?"

"Got it!" Sora agreed happily.

"Good," Riku nodded approvingly and started to climb higher, Sora quickly moving to follow.

"Hey, watch it twerp!" A loud voice yelled and Sora suddenly found himself falling. He hit the ground with a thud and blinked in surprise. When he realized what had happened, he opened his mouth and started crying loudly.

"Sor-Sor!" Riku exclaimed and leapt off the jungle-gym to his friend's side. "Are you ok?" Sora shook his head and kept crying. Riku turned to look at the large boy who had shoved his friend down and glared.

"You're gonna regret that!" He called and was suddenly climbing again. The other boy's eyes widen in fear and he started climbing higher as well. Before Riku had a chance to get the kid, someone grabbed him around the waist and pulled him off the jungle-gym.

"What's going on?" Leon demanded in a cold voice. The little boy Riku had been trying to attack started crying and a plump woman, wearing so much make-up she looked like a clown, came running over.

"What are you doing to my son?" She demanded, glaring at Leon.

Riku spoke before Leon could answer. "I'm going push him for hurting my Sor-Sor!"

Leon raised an eyebrow at him and looked at Sora. Cloud was currently holding him and gently getting Sora to show him a bloody scrape on his elbow. Sora had stopped screaming but was still crying quietly.

"What are you talking about?" The clown woman asked, apparently forgetting that Riku was only four.

"Your son pushed Sora down and hurt him," Leon stated coldly and gestured to Sora and Cloud. The clown woman looked shocked then turned angry eyes on her boy.

"Is this true, Jonathon? Did you push that little boy down?" She demanded.

Jonathon pouted, "He was in my way."

"Why you…!" Riku started thrashing about in Leon's arms, trying to get at Jonathon.

"Mommy, that boy's trying to hurt me!" The large boy wailed.

"It'd be no more then you deserved," his mother snapped. "Now you get down from there and say sorry this instant!"

"No!" He yelled. "Daddy says if someone's in your way then you move them! I didn't do nothing wrong!"

"Oh did he? Well your father and I will have a long chat about that," the woman hissed and grabbed her son, putting him before Sora. "Your Daddy shouldn't have taught you that, now say you're sorry to this boy."

Jonathon sniffed and glared at Sora. "Sorry."

Sora glared right back. "Apology not accepted. You're not sorry at all."

Leon and Cloud blinked in surprise. That was exactly like how teenage Sora was. He never accepted an apology unless the person actually meant it. Had he actually been like this when he was little, or was the potion starting to wear off?

"Ya, you'd better get away from my Sor-Sor or I'll push you down," Riku growled and the boy hid behind his mother.

"Enough, Sora, Riku," Leon ordered and the two feel quiet. "We're leaving."

"I am truly sorry about this," the clown woman sighed.

"It's fine," Leon answered, as Cloud stood up with Sora in his arms. "But perhaps it would be wise to tell his father not to teach things like this. It would be unfortunate if your son grew up to be nothing more then a playground bully."

The group walked away, back to where Kairi and Wakka were sitting, having seen the whole thing. Kairi tried to take Sora to look at his arm, but the little boy cried and hugged Cloud closer. Kairi shook her head.

"We don't have anything here to clean that with," she sighed. "You'll have to take him home. I'm sure Sora has a first-aid kit somewhere around the house, with how many times he manages to fall down."

"All right," Cloud sighed. "Then we're going home, we'll see you guys later."

"You want us to come?" Wakka asked.

"No, we'll be fine," Cloud smiled a little in Leon's direction. "I doubt that Mr. Protective is going to let either boy out of his sight again." He based this off the assumption that Leon had yet to put Riku back down.

"Yes, Leon is quite protective when he cares about someone, isn't he?" Kairi giggled. "All right, we'll see ya later then."

"Ya, bye man," Wakka nodded goodbye.

Leon led the way back to Sora's house, not noticing the small smiled Cloud wore as he watched him carrying Riku. Leon was holding him a bit closer then necessary and was absently running his hand through Riku's hair, unknowingly lulling the little boy to sleep. Cloud couldn't help but think Leon looked very mature like that.


Once they got back to Sora's house, Cloud had managed to find the first aid kit under the kitchen sink. Why they had it under the kitchen sink and not in the bathroom like normal people, Cloud could only guess. Then again, as he thought about it, Sora's family hardly seemed like a "normal" family at all.

It took a few minutes but Cloud finally got Sora's cut cleaned and a band-aid on it. Sora pouted when he saw the band-aid was a plain one since; they didn't have any of the special kind with colors or characters on them. When Cloud was done tending to him, he set Sora down and sent him off to play with Riku. He walked into the living room and found Leon looking out the window.

"What's up?" Cloud asked.

"It's going to rain," Leon muttered.

"How can you tell?" Cloud moved to the window. It was a little darker then usual but there weren't any rain clouds in the sky.

"…It's silent. There's no bugs making noise and everything seems perfectly calm. The wind is light and warm and the water has larger waves then normal. It's the calm before the storm."

Cloud looked at Leon in surprise. He had never heard the other teen talk like this. In fact, Leon was talking a lot more then he usually did ever since this whole fiasco started. The look on Leon's face as he stared out the window was relaxed and content. Cloud didn't think he'd ever see such an emotion as content on his friend's face. The blonde couldn't help but smile.

"Ya, I guess it is," he whispered, though he didn't know why. "Any idea when it'll get here? Because I am not letting Riku run around in the rain, no matter how much he screams."

"It was bad enough that we had them running around in shirts," Leon commented and once again, Cloud was surprised. Leon never voluntarily spoke unless he had a good reason to.

"We should call Ansem," Leon sighed and turned from the window.

"What, why?" Cloud asked, shaking himself out of his stupor.

"Because something is odd about those two and I think that the potion might be wearing off," Leon muttered. "They act way too mature for their age."

"That could just be from being forced to take care of themselves all the time," Cloud pointed out. "We've already established their parents weren't all that responsible."

Leon picked up the phone and dialed his science teacher's number.

"How do ya know Ansem's number?"

"…"

"…Right," Cloud turned around. "You do that and I'll try and find us some dinner."

He walked into the kitchen, not noticing Riku and Sora hiding behind the chair. The two little boys scurried upstairs into Sora's room.

"See, I told you they loved each other," Riku said in a, "I-told-you-so" voice.

"But then why don't they kiss like momma and papa?" Sora whined.

"I don't know, maybe they just being stubborn?" Riku shrugged.

"Stubborn?" Sora asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Ya, Daddy told me that when mommy's being stubborn then he never gets any kisses," Riku stated, matter-of-factly.

"Ok, so how do we un-stubborn them?" Sora asked eagerly.

"Hmm…" Riku thought about it for a moment. "Well, daddy always brings home flowers and then they watch a movie when I'm supposed to be asleep. We don't got any flowers, but we do got movies."

"So we make Leon and Cloud watch a movie and they stop being stubborn?"

"Yup," Riku nodded firmly. "But it'll have to be at night, that's when Daddy always makes up with mommy."

"Ok! So what movie do we have them watch?"

"Let's go look in mamma and papa's room," Riku suggested. "I don't think they'll like any of our movies."

"Right," Sora nodded, and dutifully followed Riku to his parent's bedroom. They two kids walked over to the cabinet underneath the television and pulled it open. They began looking through the movies, trying to find one that had a pretty cover.

"Hey, here's one!" Riku reached to the very back of the cabinet and pulled out two movies.

"This is perfect, it has two people kissing on the front," Sora exclaimed.

"Let's use this one," Riku suggested, holding one up. "It has two boys on it, just like Cloud and Leon." Sora nodded enthusiastically.

"Sora, Riku," Cloud's voice called. "Are you two up there? Dinners ready."

Sora giggled. "Heh, he sounds like momma."

"We'll put this in after dinner," Riku decided, placing the movies back in the cabinet. "Then they'll stop being stubborn for sure."

"For sure!" Sora echoed and the two ran downstairs to eat.


During dinner Sora and Riku couldn't sit still. They were bouncing in their seats and smiled happily as they quickly devoured their food, which was left over pancakes since Cloud didn't know how to cook and Leon wasn't allowed near the stove since he set it on fire making spaghetti.

After they finished their meal, Sora and Riku dashed up stairs to get their pajamas on. Riku said that he didn't want to run tonight because it was cold out from the incoming rain. If he had said that to his parents, they would have known right away that something was up, but Cloud and Leon just shrugged and accepted his excuse. They tucked Sora and Riku into bed and headed downstairs. The minute they shut the door, Riku and Sora jumped out of bed.

They snuck into Sora's parent's room and grabbed the movie before silently making their way downstairs. After seeing that Cloud and Leon were washing dishes in the kitchen, the two little boys snuck into the living room. They pushed the movie into the VCR and grabbed the remote on the couch. As Cloud and Leon came out of the kitchen, the boys quickly hid behind a chair, smiling at each other. Once the older teens collapsed next to each other on the couch, Riku used the remote to turn the TV on, and then press play for the VCR.

Cloud started in surprise when the TV turned on by itself. He glanced at Leon, who shrugged, and was about to get up to turn it off when the VCR clicked on as well and started playing a movie. Cloud choked on nothing as his eyes stared at the screen in shock.

It was a gay porno and apparently was halfway done because when the movie turned on, the two actors were already in the throws of passion. Cloud found his brain shut down as he stared at the x-rated material in shock. Leon was in a similar predicament but kept enough of his senses to rush to the TV and switch it off. He was horribly disturbed to find that he was…turned on.

"Umm…that was…" Cloud tried to think of what that was.

"Unexpected," Leon supplied.

"Ya, let's go with that," Cloud agreed as Leon sat next to him. Both were suddenly very uncomfortable.

Leon glanced over at Cloud and quickly looked away, cursing himself. He was acting like an embarrassed school girl. This was Cloud for crying out loud, his best friend since they were kids. The only person who could actually guess what he was thinking and interrupt his body language so well that sometimes it seemed they held entire conversations without speaking. He was acting ridiculous, he did not have a crush on his best friend, who was, by-the-way, a boy.

Did he?

Cloud, likewise, was having a similar dilemma. He found that he couldn't look Leon in the eye without being completely embarrassed. What would happen if Cloud admitted that the porn had been oddly…entertaining? It wasn't like he was gay or anything. It wasn't like he had a crush on Leon.

Did he?

Behind the couch Sora and Riku were pouting. They had been so sure their plan was full proof. But Leon and Cloud were just sitting in awkward silence, a very light blush on both their cheeks. It seemed that Leon and Cloud were much more stubborn then Sora and Riku's parents were.

Cloud was desperate to end the unbearable silence that had fallen between himself and his friend. His mind searched for a topic and grasped the first thing that came to him.

"What did Ansem say?" He asked.

Leon blinked at him before answering. "About what?"

"About Sora and Riku."

"That it could be the potion wearing off," Leon answered. "Or else they're just really mature kids."

Cloud snorted and leaned back, "We already knew that."

Leon leaned back as well, the tension disappearing from his shoulders. "Ya well, he bit my head off for calling at all. He's only just figured out how we made the potion in the first place, now he has to find a way to counteract it."

"Well, it's a start," Cloud shrugged. They fell silent and heard a quiet rumble that seemed far away.

"Thunder," Leon whispered, unconsciously leaning closer to the blonde.

Cloud, also unknowingly, leaned closer to Leon, "When I was little, I used to be afraid of thunder." He admitted quietly.

"Really? You think being named "Cloud" you wouldn't be," Leon teased.

Cloud ignored him. "My mother always told me not to be afraid of the thunder. She said that all it was, was the angles in heaven going bowling."

"Bowling?"

"Uh-huh," a small smile played on Cloud's lips. "Whenever there was a thunderstorm and Tifa was over, we'd sit at the window listening to the thunder. The louder the boom, the more pins the angles knocked down. The loudest ones were always strikes. When we got bored of that, Tifa and I would play hide-from-the-thunder," Cloud smiled fondly at the memory. "We'd stand by the window and duck whenever we heard thunder."

"I never played those types of games when I was little," Leon admitted. "It was always just another day for me. There was never anything special about the weather, it just was."

"Ya, we eventually stopped playing them as well, but it was fun while it lasted," Cloud smiled softly and glanced up at Leon. It was then he noticed how close they were. Cloud's head was resting on Leon's shoulder and Leon's head was resting on his own. Leon moved back a little and looked in the blonde's blue eyes with an unreadable expression.

Cloud cocked his head very slightly to the left and glanced at his friend, a little confused. He found himself moving forward slowly and was even more surprised when Leon also moved forward. They hesitated for the briefest of moments, before their lips met in a chaste kiss. They looked at each other briefly before Leon moved forward and captured Cloud's lip in a gentle, yet more powerful, kiss.

Cloud responded after a moment's uncertainty and Leon took the opportunity to deepen the kiss. He pressed his lips harder on Cloud's and ran a tongue over his bottom lip. Cloud hissed quietly in pleasure, right when a loud bang of thunder erupted from outside. The teens sprang apart, shocked as reality came crashing down. Before they could say anything a loud squeak came from behind the chair. Leon leaned back to see Sora and Riku huddled together.

"What are you two doing?" He demanded, thankful that it was too dark to see the blush on his face.

"Thunder bad," Sora whispered and hugged tighter to Riku when there was another boom.

"Lightning scary," Riku added and closed his eyes so he couldn't see the flash of it that followed the thunder. The storm was right on top of them now and there was thunder and lightning every few seconds.

"Come here you two," Cloud smiled kindly and held his arms out. Sora and Riku jumped up and joined the two on the couch. Sora crawled into Cloud's arms while Riku curled up next to Leon.

"Ya know," Leon muttered, feeling oddly talkative. "Thunder isn't anything to be afraid of. It's just angels bowling in heaven." Cloud couldn't resist the smile that spread across his face.

"What 'bout lightning?" Riku asked.

"That's just the angel's way of letting you know that there's about to be a big noise," Cloud answered. There was a bang of thunder and Sora flinched, huddling closer into Cloud's arms; Riku did the same.

"Why don't we play a game," Cloud suggested. "It's something I used to do when I was little."

"Game?" Sora sniffed.

"Yup, when you hear the thunder, you have to guess how many pins the angels knocked down, ok?"

"K," Sora and Riku muttered. They sat in silence, waiting for the thunder. It didn't take long before a rapid flashing of lightning lit the room for a second and crash of thunder followed it.

"How many do you guys think that was?" Cloud asked, gently rubbing circles on Sora's trembling back.

"Seven," Riku whispered.

"I agree," Cloud smiled. There was another, slightly softer boom.

"And that one?"

"Six," Riku again answered.

"Sora, why don't you guess the next one?" Cloud suggested. The brunette just shook his head and held Cloud closer. There was a crack of lightning and Cloud smiled.

"Ok, this'll be a big one," he predicted, and no sooner had he said that did a huge boom of thunder shake the whole house.

"Strike," Riku yelled, even as he grabbed Leon tighter.

"No like strikes," Sora whimpered.

"It's ok, Sora," Cloud whispered. "It's just noise, it can't hurt you."

"Ya, it's just angels having fun," Leon added, keeping up with their tale. "Would an angel hurt you?"

"Yes," Sora muttered sadly. Cloud and Leon exchanged surprised looks at this but Riku spoke before they could question him.

"Shh, Sor-Sor, it's a game," Riku whispered to him. "You like games."

"Not thunder games," Sora answered. "I'm cold."

Cloud sighed, "Let's go upstairs and get some sleep," he suggested. "You two need your rest."

Cloud and Leon carried them upstairs into Sora's room, but when they tried to put them down, neither toddler would let go. They were too afraid to be left alone and eventually Cloud and Leon gave in to their pleas. The older teens sighed and crawled into Sora's bed with them. It was a tight fit, but Sora and Riku hardly took up any room, so they all managed.

The teens stayed with the little kids until they were sound asleep. But whenever they tried to get up, Sora or Riku would grab them in their sleep and refuse to let go. They sighed and resigned themselves to being stuck where they were for the night. Cloud turned his head to the left and Leon turned his to the right; they were both too embarrassed to look at each other. After all, it wasn't everyday you shared a kiss with your best friend that just happened to be the same sex as you.

But, whatever, they'd deal with it in the morning.


A/N: It's been a long time since I updated…anything. But for anyone who reads my other stuff, he's the scoop. Forgetful Darkness will be updated later tonight or tomorrow. Power Within will be sometime during this week or else this weekend. Dying Happily Living Lonely, I haven't even started on the next chapter for that one, so it won't be up for a little while.

I'm going to have time to work on Thursday because my friend is being induced and we're going to be at the hospital the entire time…waiting. I hope she's not in labor long. But I can't wait! My sister is going to be like the number one baby sister for the baby so I'll get to see her lots! I'm so excited! Yay! New baby!

REVIEWS!

Comment to Seena: Ya, his real name is Squall Leonheart but in Kingdom Hearts he says his name is Leon. Sine this is a KH fic I figured that's what I would use. Your vacations almost over… (Whoosh)

Comment to Reina-183: Ya, I love that story. But I though mine was different from the other fics that have characters turned into little kids. 'Cause really, how many little kid fics out there have Leon and Cloud taking care of children? Sorry about the Kairi/Wakka thing, it was a spur of the moment idea. No worries, they won't make an appearance again.

Question from Kai's Phoenix: Does Sora and Riku get together as teens or kids?

Answer: Sora and Riku goodness comes next chapter.

Next Chapter: You get an insight about Sora and Riku's parents, Sora gets sick, Riku ask questions and Ansem gives them a call. Title: Back Again