A/N: (Gasp! I'm not rambling!) For those of you who are wondering why this is updated, I was reading through it cause I lacked inspiration, and I decided to change a few things. Like, it's more angsty, the PoV (now it's no one's PoV) and some parts that I didn't really like, and it's a bit longer (1,825 more words, to be exact!). Yeah, I call Squall Leon and Leon Squall, if that's confusing, sorry… So, there you have it, now read it, and please, please, please, review, it will make me very happy! Tell me which ya like better! Now, I go to work on my other fic!
Disclaimer: Don't own a thing except the plot. The Characters belong to Square, and the lyrics belong to a band called Superchick The song is called 'I Belong to You' and it's a pretty awesome song.
Word Key:
FlashbackPlain text
Thoughts/Emphasis"Yuffie! Just, get away from me! I don't want to see you, hear you, now, or ever!" Why wouldn't she leave him alone? Slowly, the ninja backed up, a stricken look on her face. She nodded, eyes, voice, set, she had decided.
"Fine. I will. I'll never get in your way again!" She turned and ran from the room tears running freely down her face. Not that Leon cared, but Squall's heart nearly broke in two. He was the cause, the reason she cried.
"Well, well, Leonhart. Congratulations. You've somehow managed to make her run out of a room crying twice in as many days." A low smooth voice echoed from a shadowy corner of the room. The owner of said voice walked into the light, revealing a man with spiky gold-blonde hair.
"Strife. So you heard it all?" Blue eyes flashed from behind a maroon cape, while his single wing twitched, showing how angry he really was. After all, Yuffie was like a little sister to him, she always had been, and now that he was back, things could continue like they had before.
"Didn't need to. That last bit was pretty mean." Leon sighed. Maybe.
"Whatever." Ah, the infamous line, the one that solves all problems. Squall hated Leon, wanted him and his uncaring attitude gone.
"You're going to apologize now." Cloud, Buster Blade leaned on his shoulder, turned and walked, tattered cape and cloth of the sword fluttering.
"…" Silence greeted his parting words, Leon was happy, almost, for causing such pain to Yuffie. Squall, though he didn't show it, cried inside. He loved Yuffie, had for some time now, but that, that, Leon, he refused to love, or to feel, except for botched joy at other's sorrow and pain. Slowly, he began to walk towards Yuffie's room, to apologize, but only because Cloud had ordered him. His thoughts turned to his explosion at Yuffie.
"Squall, I need to talk to you." Leon glanced at Yuffie, who stood a few feet from him, head down, short black bangs obscuring her face.
"It's Leon." She lifted her head slightly, enough that a faint pink tinge along her cheeks could be seen. Her mouth opened, closed, and opened again.
"Squall, I just wanted--" Leon swung his Gunblade in an arc, narrowly missing Yuffie, scattering her thoughts.
"It's Leon, and I'm training Yuffie. Go away." He went back to taking swings at imaginary enemies. Yuffie stamped her foot, and whirled Leon to face her, once again almost skewered.
"NO! I need to--"
"Frankly, Yuffie, I don't care." He walked away, in search of someplace less annoying to train. But, just maybe there was another reason for his attempted escape. The ninja had broken through so many of the walls Leon had built around Squall, trying to ease the pain of loosing those most dear to him to the heartless. If she broke through any more Leon might start to disappear, become nothing more than a memory, like Rin-
"Please Squall," She was running alongside the Gunblade wielder, desperately trying to stop him. Had one looked into her eyes, they would have seen so much pain and longing that they could cry.
"It's Leon." Stop talking to Squall, he's dead to the world, gone and he will not be revived. Inside Squall fought desperately, wanting to turn his body, grab Yuffie, shake her, hug her, hold her, kiss her…
"Just listen for a minute!" She grabbed Leon's arm, and he whirled, yelling. Squall cried, heart tearing, full of love for the ninja he could not let him self love; after all, if anything happened to her, and he loved her, then he would have to rebuild again. The pain from loving, it was too severe.
"No! You are a child, you can't even protect yourself. The only reason I'm your partner is because if it weren't for me, you would have died a thousand times, heart lost to the claws of the heartless!"
"But, Squall I…" Her indigo eyes began to fill with tears, heartbreak apparent.
"Yuffie! Just, get away from me! I don't want to see you, hear you, now, or ever!"
Leon stopped, thoughts whirling. By now he was to the petite ninja's room and he knocked on the door, which swung open. He peered in, no one there. As he turned to walk away, he noticed a small note taped to Yuffie's CD player, a prized possession. She had stolen it from someone in Traverse Town who had lost his or her world. Once she had discovered that it played music when, also stolen, CDs were put in it, it had never been more than a few feet from her. Leon picked the note up and read:
Leon, Aerith, Cloud, whoever reads this first,
So, if someone's reading this, they cared enough----- But now it's too late. Listen to my CD player, it -------- and it gives a better explanation than I can. Not that I care, but Leon, if you ever find Squall, tell him, --------
-Yuffie
PS High Tower 3:00 today
Parts were blotted out, perhaps by tears? He put the headphones to his ear, and listened; realization made his blood run cold.
"When love is gone, there's no arms to run to anymore
I'm all alone there's no one for me to live for
Letting go of the things I've always clung to
That's when I need to feel that
I belong to you"
A barrier shattered, only one more still around Squall's heart. Leon didn't like that, not one bit. He grabbed his Gunblade, then sprinted to the High Tower, only to see Yuffie, standing on the edge back to him. She looked down, over the edge, then slipped a noose around her neck. Oh, she hurt so badly, she wanted it all to end, she never wanted to deal with heartbreak again.
"Yuffie, no, please come here…" Some part of Squall didn't want to scare her or make any sudden moves for fear she'd hang. She turned and she was still crying, eyes red and puffy. She tugged on the rope connected to an overhead pipe and smiled sadly. The look on her face was enough to make a total stranger break out in tears, it had so much pain, misery.
"I love you Squall, but I just can't take it anymore. Any of it. You always cutting me down, everyone calling me young, no one caring what I think. I mean, maybe it wouldn't be so bad if Cloud and Aerith weren't married," it was true, they had been married less than a month after Cloud arrived. "because then I wouldn't feel so alone… without you… Heck, I'm surprised you're even here. Well, go-goodbye." Her voice broke on the last word, she shuffled back a bit, then paused. Leon lost then, the last barrier he had built broken and in ruins. Alas, too late, she stepped back and fell.
"YUFFIE!" He leaped forward without thinking, running on pure instinct. Squall slit the rope with his Gunblade, and managed to grab one of her arms as they fell. He held Yuffie securely under an arm, waiting to get close to a ruined pillar rushing up at them.
"POWER!" Words tore through the air, almost slicing it like a knife. The Gunblade changed shape slightly, grew and started shining. He held out the sword and rammed it into the side, they came to a stop after an arm-wrenching jerk. What to do now? He couldn't hold on forever, and Yuffie was unconscious. After a few seconds of contemplation he swung Yuffie out and wrapped his legs around her unconscious, face down, body. With his free hand he loosened and worked the rope down around her waist, then pulled the other end of the rope up and tied it around his own waist. There, now he had hands to climb with. After a few minutes of sweat, popping joints, and stressed muscles, he had managed to climb to the top. Hastily, Yuffie was pulled up, up to the top, stretched out, an Squall went to check her, to see if she lived still.
"Oh Yuffie, you'd better be ok!" He pulled off gloves and checked her vitals. Heartbeat, ok; breathing, yes; neck, let's see. Luckily, it hadn't been broken or her windpipe crushed in the short time she hung. But, what if there was damage Squall couldn't see, didn't know about? He wasn't a healer like Aerith! Sighing, he pulled the gunblade out of the pillar, and sat to think. He shuddered, could it have really been that bad for her? He started talking to himself, Leon was trying to talk him back into a hole, to get him away form the ninja.
"Well, I did yell a lot, and no one really thought of her as an adult, she acted pretty immature at times." He ran a hand through his hair as he talked.
"SO? She never tried to understand your pain, why should you try to understand hers?" He pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a migraine coming on.
"Well, she always wanted me to talk, about anything, so she did try to understand me." Leon squealed inside with rage, he was fighting a losing battle.
"Yes, she always bothered you, not caring when it was, night or day, remember all of her nightmares and how much sleep you lost when you shared the green room?" He did remember, they had all had nightmares, he still did.
"Yes, and I remember how when I had nightmares she would wake me up, and comfort me, even if I yelled at her. I had to 'keep the barriers up', how stupid could I be!" Leon attempted a final jab, one that always hurt deeply.
"You had to protect yourself, remember Rinoa!"
"So I couldn't save her then, I was 15! It's time to let go. I mean, what's so wrong with love?" A weight lifted off his shoulders, Leon going with it. Squall smiled, finally understanding what Aerith meant when she said to let go of the past. A thought struck him, one that made his blood run cold.
"I know I love her, but will she forgive me? I'll just have to wait and see if, when, she wakes up. Oh, please be alright…" He gave a sad smile. "After all, how can I woo you and ask you to marry me and such if you're, if you're… Just be ok, alright?" Squall let a single tear slide down his cheek, he hadn't been so obsessed with keeping it all bottled up. He ran his fingers down along her jaw line, her neck, and then along her waist before placing a soft kiss on her unconscious lips. The one in question curled slightly and moaned, coming back into consciousness. Biting back a sob of relief, Squall pulled her into his arms, buried his head in her ebony hair.
The now conscious ninja held a hand to her throat, tenderly, feeling where the rope had burned her skin, and where she would have an impressive bruise. Slowly, she blinked, then realized that if she were dead, she would not feel pain, or be blinking, trying to clear bleary eyes. And what was that warmth she felt? Come to think of it, what was the pressure around her abdomen, then over a shoulder? It was all a blur. She tried to speak, but it came out as a quiet squeak. She cleared her throat, painfully, and tried again.
"I'm… I'm alive?" Her voice was a harsh whisper, and she finally cleared her eyes, only to jump when she realized she was wrapped in Squall's arms. Not that his arms were the bad kind, but he had never touched her, much less given her a hug. She leaned her head back, then met Squall's eyes with her own indigo ones. Was that the remains of a tear on his face? No, it couldn't be. Stoic Leonhart would never cry.
"Leon?" He smiled with relief. Wait, since when does Squall smile?
"You're ok! And, it's Squall, alright?" Disgusted with the man, the one whom she had loved for years, she squirmed in his arms, now facing away from him. 'Yuffie, I'm so sorry, I did this to you.' Why did he have to save her? Is he just trying to hurt her more, by telling her to call him Squall? Tears began to run down her face, a way to ameliorate the rising feelings in her. What if Squall didn't really hate her? Maybe, just maybe, he had saved her for a particular reason. Squall sat, looking at her back, wanting to alleviate her pain. He leaned his head against her shoulder before speaking, earning a surprised speak from the ninja. She twisted slightly, facing him again, eyes wide.
"Yuffie? I am so, so, sorry. I never knew, never tried to understand. I just wish, that maybe, I could make it up to you. And one more thing, I, I love you too." She opened her mouth to speak, but found she couldn't. Squall was kissing her. It was a quick kiss, just a brush of the lips, but the blood rise to her face as shivers went down her spine. He pulled back, and blushed, a faint tinge coloring his cheeks. He leaned back into her, most likely to hide his face, his head on her shoulder, her face buried in his chestnut mane of hair. After a moment of surprised shock, she realized he was softly crying, his hot tears sliding down his face to her neck.
"Squall, are you ok?" She was worried, he says he loved her, and now he's crying, but what if it's all an act? He'd hurt her so many times, yet she continued to love him. Then, when it got unbearable, she tried to get out, to die and leave the pain behind, but he follows her to the brink and beyond, messing all of her plans up.
"I'm just glad I got there in time to save you, I love you so very much." He nuzzled her neck gently before continuing. "I'm more worried about you." She was so confused, he had been mercilessly cruel to her, and now he was all kind and gentle and loving. As if sensing her turmoil, he asked a simple question.
"Can you say that you love me also?" Her mouth worked, but voice had fled with senses. She looked around frantically, wanting to run, but having nowhere to run to. He smiled, and he had a look in his eyes that said 'I've got you in a trap!' but his tone and touch were gentle.
"Please Yuffie, I just want to hear you say it again." Frowning, he traced the area where a bruise was forming on her neck; fingers feather light. He let his hands wander from her neck, down her back, then around her waist. Poor Yuffie, it sure doesn't seem like Squall holding her. Maybe this was the real Squall, and the one who had been cruel was the one called Leon. Or, maybe a new type of heartless had popped up.
"I uh, it's kinda hard-d t-to concentrate, and I-I uh, you've n-never touched me before and uh…" She shivered, and of course that just gave him an excuse to pull her closer, hold her tighter. He leaned in close and spoke again, his breath tickling her ear. He whispered,
"You said you loved Squall before, what's the difference? Now that I've come to my senses, I just want to hear you say it to me. Four, simple, words. I love you Squall." She chose to change subjects, maybe get him to forget it. It had been easy to say it when death awaited, a friendly retreat. But now, all she could think of was getting away. 'Do you really want to get away?' a treacherous part of her mind asked.
"How are we going to get off of here?" She tried to take Squall's mind off those four words, and her own mind off the fact that she was quite comfortable in his arms.
"You know, if you want to, you can belong to me. Like in the song. I want you, want to own you, my dearest Yuffie. I know you love me, you said so, so you won't mind this too much." He moved a hand up to cradle her head, and he kissed her passionately. Not a simple brush, but a deep and sensual kiss. 'He's a really good kisser…' In fact, with out any conscious thought, she kissed him back, mentally kicking herself. Finally, contact broke, and Yuffie leaned her head against his chest, hearing his heart beat quickly, in time with her own.
"Yuffie, please just say that you love me. After that kiss, I know you do. I love you so much I want to…" He mumbled something almost inaudible, and upon further inspection of his face, there appeared a faint pink blush on his cheeks. What was he thinking? She sighed, there was no way out. But, she did love him, and it seemed her loved her also, so she took a chance.
"Squall?" he craned his head to meet her eyes. "I love you." The ninja was instantly pulled into another kiss, his warm hands rubbing her face, her back, then carefully caressing her neck.
"Oh, I love you so very, very much Yuff. Would you, um, never mind…"
"What is it Squall? You keep breaking off before you say something, what is it?" She was curious, and would not be put off until curiosity was satiated. 'I'm worse than that dead cat. Though, satisfaction brought it back, so I guess it's the cat formerly known as the dead cat--- Whoa, getting off track.' Squall heaved a sigh, he knew about Yuffie's curiosity. When he didn't speak for a moment, Yuffie had a surge of fear. Was he going to go back to being secretive, stupid, Leon? He pulled her closer, rested his head on her shoulder.
"Ok Yuff, you win. What I was going to say, was, well… I just hope that, someday, you'll m-marry m-me." His blush deepened, and he pulled back slightly to look at her better, uncertainty and nervousness in his gorgeous eyes. Yuffie smiled, she definitely had arms to run to now, very strong, muscular arms. Then a thought struck her.
"Hey aren't you supposed to have a ring, or something when you propose? And be formal? And get down on your knees? And---" She was kissed again, a way to silence her mouth. She grinned against his lips, feeling truly happy for the first time in months. He loved her, she was needed, and life had meaning again. After he pulled away, needing to breath, he gave a mock glare.
"Ok, fine. A ring…" He looked around, trying to find anything that could be construed as a ring. "Aha!" He drew a silver ring emblazoned with a lion head off his finger. Moving to his knees, he took a breath to start, but Yuffie pulled him back down, situating herself in his lap.
"This is comfier!" Came the explanation, when she got the raised eyebrow. He rolled his eyes and continued.
"Yuffie Kisaragi, will you marry me?" He begged with his eyes for her to say yes.
"Why? You've always hated me and in the space of 10 minutes or so you've kissed me, said you loved me and proposed. Why?"
"Because, before I came to Hollow Bastion, I lost a girl, one whom I loved. Rinoa. After loosing a second home to the heartless, along with other people I had made friends with, I gave up feeling; it just hurt too much, brought too much pain. So, I became Leon, tucked away all feelings except anger towards the heartless away. But you, you broke down every barrier I had up, till there was none left. And I realized, that all this time, it wasn't my anger that kept me going all those years, it was you, my light. That's why." He stopped, letting her digest his words. She snuggled close to him, there was a light breeze, it was fairly chilly. He smiled inwardly, now he had an excuse to hold her tighter, closer.
"Yes."
"Yes?"
"Yes, I will marry you!" She beamed at him, and a ring was slid onto her finger.
"Good." He leaned down, kissed her, let his hands run across her skin, making her shiver. After all, she was his now, his light, his ninja. "Yuffie, that song, the one you left with the note. Does it end with death, or something else?"
"I'll try to sing it for you, ok? That's the only way I can remember it." He nodded, and she sang, harshly at first, but soon her voice started to work better; melodious and low, he listened intently.
"Everybody needs to belong somewhere
Life can feel so alone with out someone who cares
And when life becomes something just to get through
That's when I'm glad that
I belong to you
I belong to you
You're the one who will never let me down
Won't let me down
I belong to you
I belong to you
Sometimes life brings more pain then we can bear alone
When hope is gone and I have no strength on my own
When nothing helps there's nothing that I can do
You surround me and show me
I belong to you
I belong to you
You're the one who will never let me down
Won't let me down
I belong to you
I belong to you
When love is gone, there's no arms to run to anymore
I'm all alone there's no one for me to live for
Letting go of the things I've always clung to
That's when I need to feel that
I belong to you"
"I see. Please," His voice almost broke, it held so much emotion "If you ever get to feeling like that again, tell me. I don't want to lose you." She nodded quickly before burying her head in his chest, tears rolling down her cheeks. The events of the past hour had hit her hard. He sensed it, and let her cry. Then, turning her face towards him, he wiped away the rebellious tears. After a few sniffles, she smiled.
"So, anytime I can get you, talk to you, call you Sqaullie?"
"Squall, not Squallie. Unless it's just us, then, I guess you can call me Squallie." She grinned, but sniffled again nonetheless.
"Yuffie, I won't let you down. Don't worry, I love you." He whispered this into her ear, and held tight as if he would never let go. "I won't lose another, to the heartless, or because of my heartless attitude.' At the same time they both jerked, hearing someone singing. Curiously, they looked up, looked to a platform a few yards higher, and saw the top of Aerith's head bouncing along. They both started yelling, a way off the pillar was not to be taken lightly. Her head stopped, and her gentle face peered over the side.
"Oh, my! I'll go get Cloud! And some rope!" At a nod she waltzed away, pink dress and braid blowing in the wind.
"Squallie? Can we not tell them about what I was going to do? I will sometime, but now, I just, can't."
"That's fine Yuffie, do we want to tell them about us?"
"Won't they get mad? I mean, I'm only 18 and you're 27. Will they think that's too much of an age difference?" She frowned, looked down, a bit apprehensive.
"Yuffie, I know I always called you childish, but mentally you're older, around 25 or so. See? Only a 3 year age gap." She frowned, looked uncertain. Gently he raised her chin up, to look into her innocent purple eyes.
"If you want them to know about us, that's fine, if you want to wait, that's fine too. Remember, their opinions won't change the way I feel." She thought for a moment, considering.
"Let's tell them, nothing good ever comes of secrets. Besides, now if they see the bruise, we can tell them it was from you kissing me." Squall smiled, glad she had some of her old spice back, then gave the neck in question a gentle kiss. Footsteps were heard, they turned their attention upwards, and Aerith and Cloud's respective faces appeared over the side. Cloud's eyes grew wide above his cape, they could barely hear him,
"I thought you were joking Aer!" Then he tied the rope to a pillar, ignoring Aerith's unwomanly derisive snort. Cloud threw the rope down, but it fell short; after a few tries, the rope was successfully caught by Squall. He took it and tied it around Yuffie's waist, paying no heed to her arguments.
"Squall, I will be fine, you go first." She feebly whacked his chest and he grabbed the hand, holding it at the wrist.
"No, you're going first and that's final. I want you back on safe ground. Remember, I love you." He glanced up, Cloud and Aerith were talking just beyond his line of sight, so he kissed her fingers. Up on the platform, Aerith had had a realization.
"Cloud c'mere." She pulled him back, then lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. He looked confused, but listened.
"Leon and Yuffie, they like each other! Isn't it marvelous?" He frowned, glanced at the swordsman who had a red tinge across his cheeks. Had one not known about the two it could have easily been taken as anger.
"What? He's about to pop like a tomato! Look at him, he's red!" Aerith just shook her head at her husband's ignorance. She patted him on the head, as one would a dog. He frowned at his wife, taking in the sparkling emerald eyes, smiling countenance.
"Cloud, you blush whenever I kiss you." His jaw dropped, pride severely bruised.
"I do not! And he was the same color when he was mad at her earlier!" She gave him a look, not the look, just a pitying glance. She leaned forward, a hand on his face, and kissed him gently. She pulled back to watch the damage. Sure enough, a reddish tinge, one that made it look like Cloud had been playing with rouge, spread across his cheeks. She smiled, evilly, it seemed, though to the passerby it would just be a sweet, kind, and sincere smile.
"Yes, honey, you do blush. I know it's not manly, but it's true. I rest my case, Yuffie and Squall like each other." She smiled innocently, though Cloud knew that inside she was doing a maniacal victory dance. He grumbled, and then Squall called up to them,
"Hey, Strife! Yuffie's all ready!" Cloud walked back to the edge, nodded, and set about pulling the pouting ninja up. After a cacophony of 'ows' she landed, on safe ground, with a very concerned flower girl's arms wrapped around her. Cautiously, she pulled her scarf up to cover her bruised throat.
"Oh, Yuffie! Are you all right?"
"Yes Aerith, I'm fine, a little sore," at Aerith's confused look she continued quickly. "From being pulled up, you heard me, it hurt! Heh…" A nervous smile.'Even if I am sore, it was still fabulous kissing Squallie.' A slight blush covered her cheeks at her thought. Aerith smiled,
"Is something going on between you and--" Cloud jumped in,
"Leon! Yeah, uh Leon, are you ready?" Aerith gave her husband the look, y'know, the one that sends small children running for cover. She had wanted to ask, but his bright sapphire eyes begged her to 'Leave it to them.' Aerith sighed, but complied, while Yuffie cursed whoever decreed that married couples could talk telepathically. Did they know? Oh well, it wasn't going to be much of a secret. Cloud broke the slightly tense silence,
"Jeeze Leonhart, can't you just bring your sword with you?" Yuffie peered over the side, he had tied his Gunblade up securely, and Cloud was forced to lug it up. The rope was thrown again, caught, and was soon tied around the heavier swordsman. This time it took longer, and Yuffie and Aerith were obliged to help. After a bit, Squall was climbing over the side but slipped slightly, earning a squeak out of Yuffie.
"Squallie!" She jumped forward and helped him up. As she wrapped her arms around him, almost breaking a rib, Aerith gave her husband a superior look. He mouthed,
"She gives everyone hugs!" She shook her head, and then watched as Squall brought the ninja's mouth to his own. Cloud choked, eye twitching both because of the sight before him, and because his wife was right. Aerith gave his hand a squeeze, and watched as the two lovers tried to suck each other's faces off.
"Leon? Yuffie? Is there something you'd like to tell us?" The two in question looked up sheepishly, then at each other, then back to Aerith and Cloud. The silence stretched, and Squall spoke up,
"It's Squall. My fiancé and I were just talking some things out, that's all. If you're done interrogating us we would like some privacy." Aerith's grin widened, Cloud choked again, and the other two walked off, hand in hand, Yuffie's head resting on his shoulder.
"I told you Cloud." Aerith spoke in an annoying sing-song voice, grinning in a way that would have scared the Cheshire cat. Cloud rubbed his eyes, and pulled the flower girl close.
"Yes Aerith, I know. And I should listen to you more often." She smiled, wrapped her arms around his waist.
"Yes, you should. Now, I--" She broke off as a they heard Squall swear and yell in the distance,
"We have to go back, now! I left my best pair of gloves on that pillar!" Cloud and Aerith peered over the side, sure enough, there were two leather gloves lying pitifully on the pillar.