A/N: Hey guys! How is it going? I am dearly sorry. I really have no excuse. Well... except writer's block and when I finally did come back to this story, I accidently deleted Microsoft Word so I'm like, "Uhhh...Crap...They're gonna be SO mad at me." Okay, so I made this chapter long so you guys could be satisfied then I have to work on Camp Nightmare. Everyone's waiting for that too.

Chapter Eleven

An old shadow

In no time, Squall's reunion was swiftly torn from his grasp when his fellow comrades were separated from him in the blink of an eye because the heartless began to harass them. Because of the Heartless, Squall had been forced to take cover in the library. Perspiration dripped leisurely down his forehead as he carried the young lifeless ninja whom settled comfortably on his back, her arms drooped over his shoulders. He conveyed one step at a time, each more rapid than the last but never too fast. He did need to accumulate his energy if ever needed to flee. His destination was an intricate route, but he had a chance and was willing to take it. The light of the windows blazed brightly around the room when he walked. The metal on his belt reflected the sun's rays and would sometimes nearly blind the poor man.

His arms gripped Yuffie's small legs slighly harder each time as he climbed and climbed stairs that led to even darker routes of Hollow Bastion. Memories, soft memories of his friends popped slowly into the man's mind as he exhaustedly climbed one stair after another ever so slowly. The pain was beginning to clump and churn in his thighs quickly then disperse as if he had never had the problem at all. They were warning him and he would simply mutter, "You keep going or else you won't be going ever again," then his mind would lock them up to continue to climb another stair.

Slowly after he reached the top stair, his feet planted to the ground like stuck in cement. They would not move no more, and he would not force them to go any further for the moment. He dropped to his knees leaving an ache to rush through them then let himself catch his breath as quick as he could.

"Almost Yuffie," he murmured to the figure on his back, "Almost..." His eyes began to droop slightly.

"I can do it..." He left her on the ground then resting on his hands himself. Echoing effects left Squall's gasps protrude to an airy whisper. Aerith, Cloud, and Cid were somewhere in this huge place and he was going to find them some-

Squall's thoughts were interrupted when books crashed to floor. His hand reached for his Gun blade instantly as he searched for the form responsible. Sighing, he stood up stretching his knees as he reached for Yuffie. A loud clank broke the silence once more.

"Yuffie?" He croaked out. It was a sign the man needed some water after all the work he had been doing.

"Yuffie?" He spoke with more force. The spot she had been lying in was now an empty area covered with traces of body sweat. His breathing became shallow. Did the heartless take her? More books fell off the shelf causing him to glance over the railing. The only things visible at that point were books, books, and more books--Yuffie?

"Yuffie!" He called over the railing. The ninja was already under the stairs out of his sight. "Why the hell is she running? I hope she doesn't have those stupid mind illusions." A spurt of energy filled his legs as he hurried down the stairs, sometimes jumping over steps to get down to the bottom floor faster. The door was locked so Yuffie could not leave, but maybe he was wrong. That ninja was quite the sneak when it came evading him. She knew how to avoid him plenty in Traverse Town.

"Go away," a wry voice called to him. Squall followed her crying voice that begged him to keep away. His footsteps became quieter so he would not alarm the young woman.

"Yuffie," he called once more, "Come here. I want to know if you're okay." Sure, she seemed okay but he knew she wasn't. He wasn't okay either. They all weren't okay. Not in Hollow Bastion, anyway.

"No!" It was a matter of a second when Squall slid to his left because a blur of blue was forced his way. Quite the arm the ninja had. A small smile appeared on his face. His training had done well. Her instincts led her to throw another... and another.. and another after that. Each time, Squall would take advantage and move forward. By the time he was close enough, he reached out grabbing her wrists to refrain her from doing any more. She did not fight him though. It made him curious. Now, he knew she was not under those allusions but... scared.

"Squall," she murmured looking up to him so innocently. Her eyes seemed so empty. No emotion. He looked down upon her tiredly. "I..I'm sorry."

"Yuffie, forget everything you've seen here. Nothing is true. It was all Sephiroth's doing. Don't believe a word he said. I.." They were really at lost for words. Funny, they were so anxious to see each other, yet they have nothing to say now.

"Sephiroth," she tested the name aloud. First, to remember, then to test, and then scower at the name. "But it was you I saw, it was you who was there, who I felt, and it was you who..." She did not finish her sentence letting it roll off her tongue like she had forgotten and it was unimportant.

"I did what?" Squall pressed on. It was a moment of silence once again. That unbearable silence that seemed like an awkward eternity. "Please tell me-"

"You hurt me!" Although Squall had known that, it had taken him by surprise. Sure, she would obviously be angry, irritated, and emotional, but the young woman before him gave him signs of being intimidated, flinching, and backing away.

"...I...see..." Squall murmured letting go of her wrists and backing away slightly. He leaned against the bookcase, her gaze intent upon his actions. She was mildly confused by the way he reacted. His coldness seemed to be returning like it had always been there.

Yuffie blinked once-no wait twice before she stepped forward. "Wait... What are you planning?" She was advancing on his form. She was glaring slightly at the man who stood before her. He did not look tired anymore. He seemed calm and collected watching her advance forward towards him, while on the other hand, Yuffie was a mess with dark circles under her eyes.

"Nothing," he simply replied, "It's not like it's going to bother you anyway. You're so intent that I did something when you know that I could never do that."

"Hoolldd the phone," she hissed back holding her hands up. "Are we talking 'bout the same Leon I know. The same one who hurts me plenty during training and life."

"Life?" He inquired. What exactly did she mean by that?

"Yes life. Always. You're so...Cold. You have a cold heart. When it cracks, I see a brief light but then it's consumed by darkness. The very darkness that hunts us everyday, Leon-"

"Wait..Leon?"

"Yes, Leon." Her reply was stern and a bright idea came into his head. Okay, maybe it wasn't bright but he would finally put things to rest, and he would finally get the chance to help Yuffie. He moved forward, she started moving backward once she noticed this. Although Yuffie was fast, he was already practically on her. He slipped an arm around her waist and arm to keep her from struggling and grabbing her other wrist with his free hand. "Hey! You jerk!"

"Hey yourself," he told her, an almost cold feeling returned to Yuffie after he told her that.

"W-Wait. What are you doing?" She turned her gaze down.

"Look at me," he told her. She turned her head to her right with a glare giving him her answer.

"Yuffie," he told her more sternly.

"What!" A smile came upon his face, so when she looked up, it made her choke slightly. Gazing up into his eyes, she could see they flashed with almost... a mischevious glint. Damn, that hott unruly bastard... "S-Since when do you smile?"

"Since you woke up," he told her simply. A light red flush spread across her pale face. What was he trying to do? Make her turn into a ripe tomato? And why was he holding her like this? Even though she was irritated and glaring daggers at her trainer, Yuffie felt weird.

She knew what he was doing. A pout sprouted on her lightly cracked lips. "Leave me alone." A flash of coldness poured into his eyes before it softened slightly. "I can't exactly do that," he replied.

"Then let go of me you idiot," she retorted. Pressing her lips together, she began to hum a tune loudly. Not the best tune, but she didn't want to listen to Leonhart for sure.

"Yuffie."

"Lalalalalala," she began again. She couldn't really cover her ears. Squall had made sure of that with his arm fastened around her arm and back like a seatbelt and his other hand clasping her wrist.

"Do you want to hear what I have to say?" No!

"Lalalalalalala!" she began louder. He creased his eyebrows slightly in irritation, the old Leon emerging once again. He loved this ninja, but hell.. she can be irritating.

"Yuffie," he said over her tuning, "Shut up." She blinked. And again. Once more. Well.. that did it. She shut up. He never told her to shut up even as mean as he was.

"If you listen," he began as he eyed her, "I'll let you go." She rolled her eyes like people did when they were thinking. The russet-haired ninja didn't even have to think twice on that.

"Depends," she teased, "What kind of lecture you giving me now?" He rolled his eyes replying, "Do you want me to let go or not?" No..--YES! The ninja nodded looking up at him pouting slightly. It was her nature to make herself seem more innocent.

"You say you hate me for everything I did," he told her. Bingo. We have a genius here, ladies and gentleman.. Although, it's just us two. "And you probably think I think you're a brat who is irritating, annoying, naive, ignorant-" A little overboard there. I get the point.

"I get the point." His reaction was a slight smile and he added, "Do you want me to go on?" She simply nodded rolling her eyes. She is so stubborn. Shifting in what room Squall had left her, Yuffie noticed their position. Their bodies were pressed together almost... inappropriately. Her face began to darken, Squall not really understanding why but a smirk spread across his lips.

"I don't believe that though."

"..Huh? What? Why?" she inquired to him. Why indeed?

"No interruptions," he told her. He was trying to get her annoyed. His Leon side coming out for fun, but his soft Squall side still there (which was rare.) Her eyes burned ablaze with fiery passion of irritation.

"Okay! Go on your majesty," she muttered.

"You promise to listen?" He asked quietly.

"...Yes..." Why was he so intent of her listening? Squall was supposed to be a greedy bastard, who cared for no one but himself.

"Really?"

"Get on with it!" Her face contorted in bigtime irritation.

"Okay..Then listen well," he replied capturing her lips, putting enough pressure on them to keep her quiet, but not too much to keep them uncomfortable. It was a little more than gentle kiss. An instinct told her to close her eyes, keep quiet, let him and that is what she did for a moment. Dazed, he broke their light kiss and told her, "Sleep."

"...What?" Then it snapped in her head. No wonder she was getting tired. He was putting a sleep spell on her! "Damn you..." Then she grew limp. He was there to catch her. It was about time she fell asleep again. He knew she was not well. He had to find a way to make her shut up and tell her. It never occured to him that she might not even remember this at all when she woke up. By then, he hoped to have a cure for her, and he had faith they would be able to have destroyed Sephiroth. If only he was with Cloud and the others. This would be so much easier. He looked around now remembering they weren't exactly safe. He settled Yuffie in a piggyback again, her form comfortably settled on his back. Although Squall couldn't see it, Yuffie had a small smile resting on her lips.

"Alright. Let's go."

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"Who..." Aerith whispered, bewildered. She eyed him wearily while tilting her head in question. He emerged from the shadows.

"Don't worry," he replied to her question, "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm helping you along with Sora. I'm-"

"Riku," Aerith finished. A small smile spread across her face. "You're that boy Sora has been searching for." He merely smiled in return with a nod. She gazed around in curiosity. "Riku?"

"Yeah?"

"Where are we?" He scratched his head slightly as he walked passed her. "We're in a secret passage way that heads towards the Grand Hall. I might keep you here because so far no Heartless have attacked here, but I'm not sure I want to take that risk." Aerith studied him as he informed her. He was wearing a strikingly odd outfit and...he was weilding a keyblade!

"Where'd you get that?" she interrupted pointing towards his Dark Keyblade. "And your outfit. It's like a Heartless.." Shaking his wild straight silver hair, Riku gazed at her with his aqua eyes. "It is my sign of darkness. I have come back from Kingdom Hearts. I was the true wielder of the Keyblade, but... I turned to darkness." Aerith watched as he explained this to her. She walked around gazing about the room anxiously.

"Can you control the darkness?" she inquired, stopping to look at him. He glanced up at her, before he turned his gaze towards the wall.

"Yes...But not exactly." Aerith quirked an eyebrow and moved toward him.

"What do you mean exactly?" She asked once again. She had so many questions but not enough time. The flower girl was positive that he didn't like being asked these questions, however, her friends were in danger. He saved her. Maybe with his help, she could save them.

"I don't have the power that I used to have to control the heartless, but I can, however, keep them from striking me." Aerith's face dropped slightly in disappointment.

"Oh."

"But," he added quickly hoping not to let Aerith feel bad, "I could possibly keep them away from others." His expression darkened. "That is if I have to. Like you for instance. If no one was near you, I could probably keep it from striking you if it were to go after you, but that would take a lot of energy." And my heart would be open to the darkness... She gazed at him with her emerald eyes in the amount of light they had. Her expression softened.

"Riku..." She trailed off. This was weird. She hardly knew the boy, yet she was willing to tell him many things because of how frightened she was. He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder tilting his head. He gave a reassuring smile. "It's okay. Cheer up, okay? Once this is over, you can meet your friends once again." Aerith hesitated at the moment. Something didn't seem right, but at the moment, it was kind of hard to tell what was right or wrong in her situation.

"O-Okay," she replied making a move to move forward.

Trip.. Crash..

Uh oh..

The two were bundled in a heap on the floor, Riku was below Aerith dazed and confused. Aerith was lying on him sprawled out over him. If someone were to come and see the two, they would figure the two shared more than just a mere friendship. Her hand felt around to feel the body beneath her, then one eye opened. Soon, the other one. They flickered to his, before a dark blush spread across her face.

"O-Ooh... Oh!" She scrambled to her feet backing several feet way from the boy. "Sorry," she told him sincerely. "I am a bit clumsy when I am scared." He was silently staring at her.

What?

A laughter began to echo throw the gloomy halls. Riku was laughing. Aerith's face burned with embarressment, and she soon found herself stepping forward and pointing her finger at him.

"That wasn't funny!" It only made the boy laugh harder. He shouldn't be laughing! Their situation wasn't the best one they were in. Cloud would be furious, but Aerith had to admit... it was kind of funny.

"Yes, it was!" He replied quickly. Aerith glared at him, while she put her hands on her hips to appear threatening. She very well knew it wasn't doing anything. "Hmph." The sound echoed in the hall. Apparently, it wasn't the only sound. A loud crash in the distance caused Aerith to squeal out of surprise and practically jumped on Riku.

They began to back away as Aerith looked back behind her. "Whooa.." How exactly high was this area they were in? "Riku," she croaked out. His gaze was intent upon the darkness in the distance and the scratching noise along with it. "How are we going to get out of here?" The moment was a silent one knowing he was thinking.

"Get on my back."

"What?"

"Hurry!" She didn't even get a chance to argue with him, before he slung her around to his back in a swift motion and hurried to the edge of the hall they were in. Riku slid to a stop as they were peering over an edge. The both of them snapped their heads back when they heard a hiss that traveled at them quickly. Aerith peered over the edge. Where would they land?

"We're not really going to jump, are we?" Aerith asked in his ear. He paused a moment as a vicious grin settled on his face.

"Maybe..." He replied.

"Mayb-"

"EEEEEEEEEEEE!"

And he did. Her scream echoed in Hollow Bastion, Riku laughing the whole way down. Who wouldn't be terrorized? Riku actually fed off her suffering and fear.

"Lighten up! This is fun!" She her arms laced around his neck tightly, her eyes clenched shut. He landed on something hard. Probably the stone floor. Phew.. She poked open one eye and literally wanted to scream, although she was too afraid to do that. They were standing on one of Hollow Bastion's pillars that sprouted up out of Rising Falls. Since when had they gotten outside. "Ahh uhh..umm...R-Riku?" His stupid ability to jump so far. If he didn't have that, I wouldn't be screaming my head off.

A mere smile spread across his face but it was certain that he was concentrating. "Yes?"

"I really don't like you at the moment," Aerith told him plainly. Her eyes on his neck and back so she wouldn't glance down to see exactly how high they were standing.

"I know. You won't like me for what I am going to do next either." Her expression dropped to a gawk.

"What ...are you going to do?" He pulled out his dark keyblade, while he held onto her legs. The flower girl took this moment to glance over his shoulder and gaze forward. On the edge staring at them with their bright yellow eyes were heartless. They twitched anxious for the two to jump over to the other side, so they could devour their hearts. Her heart sunk. He wasn't going to fight them...Oh hell. She was going to die.

"Hold on!" Riku lept forward.

"I don't like youuuu!"

"I know."

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They worked together like dancers. They weaved in and out of Heartless with graceful agility, yet at the same time were warriors scouring the monsters in battle. Each and every step meant something, and if something were to go wrong, they might lose it all. Too bad Goofy and Donald weren't here. If they had been, the four would have been unstoppable.

Sora's head beaded with sweat, pouring in large amounts. He didn't seem to good until...

"Cure!" The warm light filled Sora, tickling his senses. Soon, Cloud followed.

"Damn," the one-winged-angel cursed, his cerulean gaze following the monsters that surrounded them. "There's too many." He back lashed his huge buster sword slicing a defender in half, while twisting around in a full circle with a blaze of fiery passion. A battle passion swelling within his eyes, a demonic feeling the warrior was obtaining. Ever since he had gotten that wing and fell... Let's just say he held a demon with in him that had yet to leave.

Sora's face filled with pleasure of battle. "Aww come on, Cloud! What kind of warrior are you falling out on the job?" Cloud felt a smirk arise and plant itself on his lips.

"Are you putting an offer on the table?" He inquired, a hint of excitement dripping in his voice. Sora swung his keyblade several times, before planting his feet on the ground staring at the one-winged-angel with his azure eyes.

"Bring it. First one to wipe them out will," he trailed off thinking. He swiped another couple heartless like he was dancing on his tip-toes. He tilted his head rolling his eyes in thought. "Get a date." Cloud tilted his head and turned to Sora in the mist of battle.

"Date? With whom?" A smirk filled Sora's lips.

"Aerith." Cloud's eyes widened. With his girl? Hell no. Sora would not get this!

"My girl?"

"Yep-swing- You're girl," he replied, "Soon to be mine." His voice was filled with a mocking sarcasm, although Cloud did not catch this. He stood as a wing began to evolve and expand. An energy bursted slowly twining around his sword.

"You're on," he replied vigorously. Sora has no intentions personally of dating the flower girl, but he knew it would pump the one-winged-angel through battle. They all knew Cloud was protective. Sora's thoughts snapped when he heard roars of hissing through out the room. He looked around with awe trying to find Cloud in the blur of dark mist. His mouth dropped and clank hit the floor.

"Wow," Sora murmured. He really loved that girl. Cloud breathed hard leaning on his buster sword gazing at the KeyBlade master with a smug smirk. "It seems lover boy is tired," Sora teased. Cloud glared and stood, "Would you like a go?"

"Uhh..no..That's alright-"

"Sin Harvest."

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Her hands remained clamped over her eyes. They were frozen shut to her face. Her whole body would not move at all. It was frozen to his body for the fear of what they had done. Riku had not tried to pry her off quite yet, but she was certain he would have to. Aerith was surprised he was not choking from how tight her arms were laced around his neck.

"We're safe now," he informed her. She did not respond. Maybe the shock still held her mouth clamped shut. He chuckled and walked along towards the main entrance to Hollow Bastion. "It's okay now, Aerith," he began, "We'll be out of here soon and you'll see your friends." He went awfully silent after that. Aerith twitched her shoulder until she figured out she could finally move.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Speaking of your friends," he told her. He ran inside, Aerith's gasps echoing...

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A/N: Phew.. Hey guys. Sorry bout the long wait. I can start writing again. I am feeling the mood. Just as long as I don't get grounded. :( That wouldn't be good so I'll try my best to update as often as I can. I have the next chapter planned out so I know that I will be updating as soon as I finish Camp Nightmare's next chapter. I hope you like this! It may seem out of character but come on! It's getting good right? Yay, Squall finally kissed Yuffie. Isn't that what you want? hehe

Starling 94

Please Review!

OH yah. Aerith and Cloud will still be together. I thought it would be funny though with Riku and Aerith to interact.