DISCLAIMER: Still not mine, and I'm still waiting for the delivery of a free Squall or Cid to my door! They promised me ten to fourteen days, damnit!

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Sorry about the slight delay for this one, folks. I meant to try and stick to updating at least once a week, but small things like projects and family reunions dropped in, as well as a slight block on this chapter. But life's been generally good, so all's well that goes well.

One reason I got stuck on this is because Last Resort got unstuck - in a major way. I now have four chapters of that story complete, and several others started. Unfortunately, none of them are the next chapter in the timeline, but hey, prewritten chapters are nice to have. It was fun; LR just started itching at my fingers and a bunch of stuff just spilled out. Expect more stuff for that one in the near future.

As usual, review replies and fun facts are up on my livejournal, www . livejournal . com / users / tairako (copy, paste, delete spaces, hit enter).

(Soundtrack: "Midnight Show" and "Under the Gun" by The Killers, off the limited edition of their album Hot Fuss.)

And now, on with the show!

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Yuffie… Did I see you talking to a guy out there?" Kairi asked in bewilderment when her stepsister came in the door. The grin Yuffie had plastered on her face quickly fell off as she kept going past the kitchen, where Kairi was leaning out, and down the hall in the direction of their rooms. Kairi quickly followed after her, wondering just what was up with her now. "Come on Yuffie, guys aren't that bad. Most of them are pretty fun. I mean, today Sora-"

The ninja spun, out of patience with the world and especially with her stepsister. "Stop saying that name! You've been saying 'Sora' more than 'Riku' lately, and it's getting on my last effing nerve! Guys. Suck. and that's all there is to it!" Kairi had absolutely no way to respond to that, but Yuffie didn't hesitate to stalk into her room and slam the door behind her.

Kairi was left out in the hall, completely confused. Sure, she and Yuffie didn't get along much now, or even particularly like each other, but… that wasn't Yuffie. She wasn't that crazy. But Kairi had no idea what to do, so the only thing she could do was go back to the kitchen, continue making dinner, and wait for Cid to come home. Both of the girls, somehow, managed to keep up a sense of connection with their guardian; both on different levels, but it was there. Maybe he would be able to figure this out.

The pasta she was making was almost ready when the front door opened and closed again, this time much more calmly than Yuffie's entrance, and Cid's gruff voice yelled out "Where are you two?"

"In here, Cid!" Kairi called back, sticking her hand (that was holding a wooden spoon) out of the kitchen and waving it to get his attention. "Come here for a minute!"

"Comin', jus' gimme a moment." She could hear him taking off his coat and hanging it up in the entranceway, and then the thud of his boots on the floor as he took them off and dropped them, and moments later the grizzled pilot entered the kitchen. "Whatever yer makin', it's smells good," he commented, leaning over to look in the pots on the stove.

Kairi pushed him back. "Later. Cid, there's something wrong with Yuffie." She kept her voice low; it was not at all a good idea to let the ninja overhear this talk, though she probably wasn't paying attention anyway. "She went off on me for no good reason, and I mean really went off, not like when we annoy each other. I don't know, it just… it wasn't her."

Cid glanced in the direction of the ninja's room, a little worry peeking through his in-control expression. "You want me t'go talk t'her?"

Kairi nodded emphatically. "Please? It's almost like she's depressed."

"An' Yuffie depressed ain't a good thing. All right." Glancing at the pasta that was boiling merrily away in its pot, Cid asked, "How long 'til that's ready?"

"It can wait another ten minutes."

"Ten minutes it is." Cid absentmindedly pulled a toothpick out from the box he kept on the fridge and stuck it between his teeth, a hangover from when he still smoked and absolutely needed something in his mouth. He left the kitchen, moving down the hall and wondering what exactly would happen with this "talk," until he could knock on her door with quick, sharp beats. "Yuffie?"

No answer.

"You better be decent, 'cause I'm comin' in."

The pilot was more disturbed by the sight in the bedroom than he'd ever let on. It was dark, as none of Yuffie's lights had been turned on, and… it was clean. The ninja was not one who was known for being able to see any part of her floor, much less all of it; when a cleaning frenzy hit, there was usually something wrong. Yuffie was lying on her stomach on her bed, face buried in a pillow, and except for the rising and falling of her back as she breathed she wasn't moving at all.

"Yufs?" Cid ventured, pulling over her desk chair to sit next to the bed. "If you don' look up I'm draggin' you off the bed." That got some response, in the form of a single raised finger in his direction. "Flip me off all you want, but I'm gonna keep annoyin' you until you talk t'me."

There was a grumbling sound from somewhere in the pillow; he meant what he'd said, and she knew it. The ninja finally looked up, glaring at him crossly. "What the fuck do wanna ask me?"

"I've been hearin' yer outta whack t'day. What's goin' on?"

Growling under her breath again, Yuffie shot a murderous glance in the direction of the kitchen before glaring back at Cid. "Nothing."

"That's bullshit an' we both know it." Cid folded his arms and leaned back slightly in the chair, looking infinitely comfortable and plainly not planning on moving. "You got somethin' t'say about it?"

"Nothing!" she half-yelled, extremely cross, throwing her hands in the air.

"Yuffie-"

"I mean it! You think you can just come in here and make everything instantly better, but you can't! It doesn't work that way, Cid! Just live with it!"

"Yuffie, as long as yer livin' under my roof-"

"Which won't be much longer! When I turn eighteen, I am out of here!"

That took him by surprise; Cid had somehow forgotten that Yuffie was going to be a legal adult soon, fully capable of living by herself and with every right to do so if she wanted. "Yer-"

"Leaving, yeah! In four months!"

"Why?"

"Why not?" she drawled sarcastically, eyes locked with his in a miniature battle of wills. "This place is too small and confining and boring and everything I hate!"

"It's a good place t'live, an' we've got th' shop-"

"No, you have the shop, Cid, you know I'm no good at doing anything with it! I can't make anything, and I can't handle customers! That's you and Kairi's jobs, not mine, and when I turn eighteen I'm gonna go get my own."

"But…where?"

"I don't know, somewhere far away from here."

Cid was positively floored; how had he forgotten that Yuffie would soon be able to leave, without him being able to stop her? How hadn't he seen that she'd want to? Having his face shoved into the truth wasn't a fun experience, but maybe it was something he needed… They'd all been in this town for so long, and nothing had varied in four years. Cid could well remember a time when the size of the town had grated on him much as it was doing to Yuffie now; maybe they all needed a change.

But better to let Yuffie cool down first; she plainly didn't want to talk about whatever was bothering her, and it was useless trying to make her do it. "You gonna come eat with us or no?" he asked, doing his best to sound casual.

"Not tonight," she replied, most of the fight drained out of her since he was no longer opposing her. "I'll get something later."

"We'll leave some in th'oven fer you, then." Deciding it would be better to not even mention the real reason he'd come in, Cid stood and replaced the chair he'd pulled over in front of her desk, then started to leave the room. He stopped in the doorway, glancing back at the ninja who had once again buried her head in her pillows, then finally left the room, shaking his head.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Cloud?" Sora asked anxiously as he followed the tall blond through the Second District. "I mean, what if he doesn't-"

"Chickening out on me, then? Didn't think you were one to do that," Cloud replied easily, not pausing in his strides. "It's not like we're gonna tell him."

"Yeah, but he's supposed to be solitary-"

Cloud groaned with exasperation and turned to look at his friend directly. "You didn't seem to care about that when you set him up to take out Yuffie."

Sora had the decency to turn scarlet with embarrassment as he realized just exactly how hypocritical he was being. "Well… he could've said no…"

"Just like he can say no now if he wants. Come on."

The eighteen-year-old had long ago discovered a way to get into the alley that didn't involve going through that door that everyone liked to hang out by, as he didn't much like to see them. The way, however, was a little tricky. He climbed the steps to the terrace with the door to the Gizmo Shop, Sora following, then turned at the top of the flight and eyed the sloping roof before him. In theory, it was simple: jump onto the Hotel roof, pull yourself over to the other side, drop onto the balcony of the Red Room below, and from there to the alley. He'd found, however, that over the past year or so as he'd finally settled into his full height, it had gradually gotten harder. He hadn't attempted it for months, and he wasn't entirely sure it would work now. But the only way he could find out was to try it.

"Watch." He backed up a few feet, then took several quick steps and launched himself off the top step and in the direction of the roof. It went better than he hoped, though not at all like it did when he'd been fourteen, as he managed to land on the roof but started to go sliding off. Quickly catching himself before more than his legs could fall off the edge, he pulled himself into a more secure position and knelt far enough away from the stairs to give Sora plenty of room. "Just like that. Only… not like that."

Sora snickered and nodded, grinning, and eyed the edge for a moment as if calculating. Then, to Cloud's vast surprise, he simply jumped, grabbing the edge of the roof with his hands, and yanked himself into an upwards somersault that landed him squarely on the roof. "Nothin' to it."

"…I hate you."

"I know." Sora's grin faded as he glanced over towards the alley, then back at Cloud, apprehension starting to gather in his features again. "So are we going?"

"Come on." Not thinking about what the return trip was likely to be like, as the balcony was even higher above the alley than the roof was above the stairs, Cloud led the younger boy over the flat peak of the roof and onto the balcony below, then into the little alley-off-the-alley that led to the back door of the most opulent house in the area: Riku's. Fortunately, hardly anyone was ever back there, so no one was around to see the two boys seemingly drop from the sky as they landed on the ground.

It had been four days since Riku had managed to recruit Leon, and as far as anyone could tell that venture was turning out to be a complete failure. No one had seen them talking, at all, and Yuffie herself was as scarce as Leon was these days. Usually she could be found in one area or another, either with Aerith or practicing her ninja skills, but she had strangely disappeared lately. Kairi had told Sora about that rather disturbing night the day after Leon's recruitment, but she was just as confused as the rest of them, as Yuffie also wasn't staying in the house. It worried her, and anything that worried her worried Sora as well, as Kairi wasn't one to worry without reason.

But Cloud had kept surveillance on Leon in the meantime, having learned from Riku that Leon was indeed a fighter of some sort. The blond had run out of people to fight against, plain and simple, and if the young man in the leather jacket was as good as rumor held him to be, he could possibly help him get whatever skill he hadn't tapped into yet outside instead of hiding in him. Watching from the clock tower one morning, Cloud had just happened to see Leon unlock the grate at the end of the alley and go down the dark opening, disappearing from view almost immediately, and he was pretty sure they'd at least partially solved the mystery of where he vanished to all the time. He still wasn't exactly sure why Sora had agreed to go, but he figured it couldn't hurt the boy to have someone else to spar against either.

"Shit," he cursed quietly as he saw the grate. There was a bright, shiny padlock holding it closed – and that lock wasn't open. "He's not in there, then."

"Hang on, let's look first."

"How? We can't get in."

"Now that's where you're wrong." Sora just seemed to be full of surprises that day as he pulled a slim piece of wire from inside one of his gloves and bent the end into a hook. "It's just a cheap lock, it shouldn't be too hard."

Cloud stepped aside to give him room to perform the technically illegal activity. "Where did you learn to pick locks?"

"From my friend Selphie, back on the Isles. She taught me and Tidus, but I was better than him- ah-hah." He'd been poking the pick around in the padlock while he was talking, but at his minor exclamation he suddenly yanked down on the pick and gave his wrist a peculiar twist. The top of the lock opened smoothly, and he quickly pulled the wire out and flicked the lock all the way open, stepping back to let the grate swing out. "Come on, if you want to check it out, let's go." Apparently Sora was in much more control now, as he started off down the tunnel in the wall before Cloud.

The path was very wet, as was expected; what they didn't expect was that the area would be lit. A diffuse light much the same as the light in the magician's cave seemed to almost radiate from the rocks themselves, enabling them to at least see where they were going. The water quickly deepened almost to the point of them having to swim, with various sized rocks to cover the bottom of the "stream" to turn an ankle on if they weren't careful. But the area opened out just ahead of them, into a small cave that was floored in rocks eroded smooth by the frequent gusts of water through there, and on the other side of the cave was a doorway with a stair leading up. Someone had hung two battery-powered lamps on the walls to provide some more lighting. And standing in front of the doorway was the elusive Leon – with a sword pointed right at them.

"What in the hell are you doing in here?" he asked bluntly, not lowering his weapon and giving them his traditional minor glare.

Sora had gotten his foot stuck (half on purpose, Cloud suspected) between two of the rocks and was currently pulling himself free, so Cloud was the one who was left to face Leon. He stopped walking when the water was ankle deep, folding his arms and watching Leon closely, not nearly as nervous as either Sora or Riku had been. "So you do swordfight."

"Do I need to ask again?" Leon asked, still holding up the sword, though Cloud could tell there was something odd about the weapon. He couldn't see exactly what, though. But Leon was holding it almost like a… gun?

"No. I wanted to see if you'd like to fight."

The sword didn't lower, but Leon's glare lightened a little as Sora finally came up next to his friend. "If you wanted to spar, why aren't you armed?"

"It's a little too big to go climbing over buildings with," Cloud replied as he stepped up onto dry land. As he did, Leon finally took a step back and lowered his weapon, and Cloud could see the gunstock that was in the place of the usual sword hilt, as well as the bullet chamber that seemed to be built directly into the blade. "What… is that?"

"A gunblade. You don't see them much in this town." Leon was sizing up the young man in front of him. He looked to be about his age, and was actually a little taller than him, something that was fairly rare. The arm he could see had all the muscles he'd expect in a dedicated fighter. And, most importantly, he wasn't running away. Leon didn't particularly mind being left alone, especially by the people in this town (most of whom didn't seem to even think that anything existed beyond their gates), but even he got tired of it sometimes. Even the other boy with the blond had done it, though he seemed to have improved some as he was no longer fleeing in fear.

"You two are the ones who're always up there," he said as he finally recognized them.

The brunet gave him a puzzled look. "Up where?"

"In the cave. It's just up those stairs."

The two looked at each other, both definitely surprised, and the younger one took off up the stairs at a trot. It wasn't long before he yelled down, "Hey Cloud! There's a moving platform up here! It levitates!"

"Well that should keep him occupied for a few minutes," Cloud said under his breath, looking at Leon once again. "So are you willing to give it a try or not? If you don't want to, that's all right; but I'd like the chance to fight against someone new."

Several moments passed, in which it was easy to hear Sora's muffled steps from above as he explored something up there, and Leon simply watched Cloud with those piercing eyes. When the blond didn't back away or start shaking, Leon finally nodded. "Get whatever you fight with. I'll take you."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Sora could only stare at amazement at the scene before him. After a quick trip down the waterway again to lock the grate they'd left open, he'd followed Leon and Cloud up the stairs and onto the platform, which turned out to take them into the dilapidated house on the island that they had never explored. After jumping over the large stepping stones and retrieving Cloud's sword from the dojo (and Leon immediately understanding why he hadn't carried it when they were climbing over buildings), Sora had settled in near the magic door to watch the fight that took place on the small beach.

And what a fight it was.

Sora was actually faster than both of them in terms of running and footwork, but not by much – and they were both much faster and more powerful than him with the swords themselves, even despite the hulking mammoth Cloud used. They swung and parried so fast that it was impossible to tell where one blade stopped and the other began until they pulled apart, and neither of them pulled back on the force of the blows. The loud clangs that came at least once a second echoed around the cavern, making it sound as if four times the number of people were fighting, and sparks flew as the blades hit each other repeatedly. They ducked and turned and spun quickly, and Sora realized just how much Cloud had been holding back in his training.

And a good thing, too!

It seemed like forever, but in reality it was only ten minutes before Leon called a halt and they both stopped exactly where they were, breathing harder but not falling over. Neither of them was even very flushed with exertion as they sized each other up once more. "Why are you favoring your left side? You could've had me that time," Leon half-demanded, resting the gunblade over his right shoulder.

"I have to," the blond replied. Sticking the buster sword point-first into the ground and bracing it with his right bicep, Cloud pulled up the sleeve and took off his left-hand glove, once again showing the gold hand. "This doesn't give me the control I need with that side, so I have to find other ways to do it."

"None of your teachers have ever taught someone in your position, have they?" Leon seemed to be almost… relaxing. It was very strange for Sora to see, after being one to shudder just from him walking by.

Cloud shook his head. "Master Bersi only has one eye, but that's different. Why? Do you know something I can do?"

"Maybe," Leon replied speculatively, studying Cloud's artificial arm. "I… knew someone like that, once, and he fought as well or better than anyone I'd seen." And then Leon turned to look at Sora, and somehow he seemed more human than he had before. "So what about you?"

"What about me?" Sora's eyes widened like saucers as he figured out what Leon meant. "Practice? Against you? I'm already dying enough, thanks!"

"Don't let him fool you," Cloud remarked casually as he pulled the glove back up his arm. "He's good. But he hasn't been doing it for as long as we have."

"And he already beats me up every day," Sora said, pointing at Cloud. "If I come home with any more bruises Mom's gonna think I'm being abused or something."

"You are, we just don't use that phrasing."

"Watch it, Fluffy."

Leon just shook his head, a little bewildered by the easy repartee the two of them had. To all appearances, both physically and with their personalities, they were complete opposites, and yet neither one of them walked away from the other. Maybe it was possible that this town had some people worth it in it, as futile as that had seemed at first.

"Ready for another round?" he asked, raising the gunblade again.

"Let's get to it." Cloud pulled the buster sword from the ground and lowered it into his two-handed guard position. "I've got a reputation to improve."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

An hour later, the two by-now-exhausted young men had lain down their weapons and were sitting on the beach they had churned up with their movements, regaining their breath and their strength. Sora stood nearby, skipping large, flattish rocks over the water with surprising skill. Well, Cloud thought, not very surprising when you remember he's lived next to the water all his life… God, being trapped in this town must be killing him.

"Would you please stop that?" Leon asked as one of the rocks misfired and landed with a loud PLOIP in the water. "My ears keep ringing as it is." Towards the end, when both fighters' resources were starting to flag, Cloud had gotten in a lucky swing to the top of Leon's head; apparently the gunblade wielder was still suffering the aftereffects, and the echoes certainly couldn't be doing much to help him.

"Sorry." Sora grinned sheepishly and dropped his last two rocks back on the beach, coming back over to flop down in front of them, looking back and forth between the two. "I'm surprised you guys aren't dead."

"Just give it a few minutes," Cloud said wearily. "I'm halfway there already."

"Heh, now you know what I feel like all the time."

"Rephrasing: give it a few minutes, and you'll be halfway there."

"But it was a good fight," Leon said, feeling more comfortable with these two already. He and Cloud had worked each other into the ground, something he hadn't had the opportunity to do in a long time, and in a way even the ringing of his ears felt good. "You've got talent."

"So have you." Cloud groaned a bit at he stretched, bruises and cuts making themselves all too easily known. "Sora, can you-"

"No problem." Already anticipating what Cloud would ask, Sora pushed himself to his feet and headed for the door to the Third District, walking through after it slid up and beginning to whistle as it closed behind him. Leon winced at the sound.

The two young men sat there in silence, watching the lake and the old house on the island and trying not to think about their injuries. After a few minutes in which Sora didn't return, Leon finally decided that it couldn't hurt to ask. "Do you know Yuffie Kisaragi?"

Cloud wasn't in physical shape to jump, but the question definitely startled him. It took him a moment to answer, but he didn't think Leon took it for anything unusual. "I used to. What about her?"

"What's wrong with her?"

Cloud snorted; he definitely understood the sentiment behind the question. "I don't know. She used to actually talk to people and have more than one friend, but after my accident she just sorta up and left everyone, in a way. Even her stepsister. Why?" Sora's little plot seemed to be pulling him in further and further. He was curious; how much of the mini-conspiracy would Leon actually admit to?

Apparently, all of it. "That kid Riku offered me money if I'd 'take her out'." He snorted a little, shaking his hair out of his face. "Too much to turn down, and by the week. I thought it wouldn't be that bad, but that depended on her agreeing to spar – and she turned that down incredibly rudely and slammed a door in my face."

Cloud sighed in disgust. "Sounds just like Yuffie."

"If I didn't need the money, I'd back out of it. Do you think there's any way you can convince her to just fight me?"

"We don't talk anymore, or I'd try. I honestly don't know how to do it."

The door slid open again and Sora came back, remembering to kill the whistling before the echo caught it. He carried two small bottles in his hands. "Sorry it took so long, but the dojo was out. I had to sneak into the infirmary and there was an annoying amount of people there today."

Cloud looked up, freezing in the middle of accepting his bottle, with a look on his face that clearly said that he didn't know whether to be indignant or not. "Sora, were you stealing from the infirmary again?"

"No, I just didn't want to wait in line so I picked the supply room door and left the money on the counter," Sora said as he rolled his eyes. "I didn't want you siccing Aerith on me – or Yuffie, if Pink Girl decided to send her after me."

Leon, plainly not at all concerned about the possible illegal status of the potion he was taking, pulled open the stopper and swallowed the strong-smelling liquid inside in one gulp, hunching over and coughing as the equally strong taste hit him full on. A moment later, Cloud followed his example, and as he began coughing Leon sat up, rubbing his eyes a little. "You got the high-powered ones, didn't you?" he asked, a little hoarsely, as Sora sat down again.

"Yep, and you two better appreciate 'em, they cost twice as much." But both Leon and Cloud looked much better, almost entirely back to normal. The only difference – and Sora knew he could never laugh at this – was the knot hadn't entirely disappeared from the top of Leon's head, making his hair stick up more on one side than the other.

Cloud shuddered one last time then finally sat up straight, feeling much more like his usual self. Glancing at Leon, he finally made a decision, and started to speak before he could change his mind. "So you want to know more about Yuffie?" Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sora jump a little, but Leon seemed not to notice.

"If it would help, yes."

Cloud simply turned and stared pointedly at Sora, and Leon followed his gaze. Sora started to shrink back under the intense stare of both pairs of blue eyes. "What?"

"Just tell him."

"Tell me what?"

"But…" Sora started to protest, then met Cloud's eyes again. "But… Oh, all right," he reluctantly agreed, deflating a little. Gathering his courage and hoping Leon decided to refrain from killing him, Sora slowly looked at him. "It was my idea."

Leon didn't expect that; this innocent-looking kid was involved in this at all, let alone the "mastermind" behind this ridiculous scheme? It just didn't make sense – until he remembered the first time he'd ever talked to Sora. "Was that why you approached me that day, when you said you'd found the money?"

"Yeah." Sora had the decency to honestly feel bad about everything; his head drooped slightly, and he didn't meet Leon's gaze. "See, she has this stepsister-"

"Who he's infatuated with," Cloud broke in.

"-and I'd like to go out with her-"

"He turns into an idiot every time he sees her."

"Shut up! But her guardian is Cid, and Cid's protective to the point of insanity, and he won't let her date until Yuffie does. And Riku wants to go out with Kairi too, and they've known each other longer and are better friends and he's got a lot more money. Kairi'll probably pick him, but… I had to try."

If this had been anyone else, Leon knew he probably would've hit them and just left. But he was fast discovering the same thing that Cloud had – Sora was just too genuine, too hopeful, to really be mad at. So while part of him was completely indignant at being used this way, another part of him was reminding him that he already knew he was being used – and as he was being paid quite well, it wasn't really being used. Really, nothing had changed except for the identity of the one behind it all. "So since Riku has more money, you decided to use him to get me."

"Actually, that was my idea," Cloud admitted. "And it was more because he wouldn't turn tail and run from you in fright. He came up with the payment thing on his own."

"Hnn." Even all the logic couldn't stop him from being slightly pissed off, and he fell into his normal unresponsiveness while staring over the lake.

"So, what do you think of Yuffie?" Sora asked, sounding slightly hopeful since Leon had decided to not thrash him.

"In a word, infuriating."

The sixteen-year-old winced. Not much of a likelihood, then.

"What can you tell me about her?"

Cloud saw his friend's face light up completely at Leon's question, and he shook his head, hiding a smile, before beginning to fill Leon in on what he knew of the history of the young ninja.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"You know, the Competition's coming up soon," Riku remarked to Kairi the next day as the normal group gathered in the alleyway to have their daily chat session.

"Less than a month, right?" Kairi asked with a smile, brushing a lock of hair out of her face and giggling as Mela pushed Kyo away from her and he tumbled to the ground. "Are you going to do it this year?"

The silver-haired youth grinned back. "Of course I am. It's the Competition, after all."

Kairi giggled again as Kyo latched onto one of Mela's ankles, apparently determined to annoy their friend today. "I wonder if Sora's going to… Does he even know about it?"

Since she wasn't looking at her companion, Kairi missed the brief flash of indignation that sped across Riku's features and was just as quickly stomped down. "I'm sure Cloud's told him about it."

"Yeah, I bet he has. Are-"

"So," he quickly interrupted, smiling at her when she turned to look at him. "After I win it, do you want to go around with me?"

Kairi's eyes widened briefly – it was the first time he'd ever asked her on anything approaching a real date, and she nearly squirmed with happiness. "If I can get away from Cid without getting you killed, yes."

He chuckled a little, and unobtrusively reached over to lace his fingers in hers, being careful not to let any of their friends see, which wasn't as hard as it could have been as Yusaru and the rest of the girls were now trying to stop Mela from kicking Kyo in some very uncomfortable places.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"All right, listen up!" Master Bersi barked that afternoon as the class finished loosening up for their lesson. "In just four weeks we've got the Competition, and you all better not embarrass me! Now, Riku, Kyo, front and center and let's see if that blockin' practice paid off. Kyo, defensive moves only-"

"What's this 'Competition' thing?" Sora asked Cloud as the two friends pulled their swords out of the rack. After finally finishing the unpacking, Sora's own blade had finally been uncovered in a box of his father's dirty laundry for some reason, and Sora was able to fight with a weapon he was familiar with. It was probably a bad idea to rely on the same weapon all the time (what if it broke or was stolen, after all?), but his skill increased a little with his own – which meant that his injuries decreased, which he heartily approved of.

Maneuvering them into a safe corner to watch Riku hack away at Kyo, Cloud folded his arms and began to explain. "It's a traditional excuse for the town to have a party, essentially. Bersi and Sanero started it when Sanero arrived in town about thirty years ago; there's a tournament in the morning for any of the students who want to compete, and there's one winner overall. The whole town turns out to watch – or to sell stuff after the tournament's over."

"So we're put on display for everyone to see?"

"If you want to think of it like that, yeah. You don't have to enter if you don't want to, you know."

Sora shrugged, wincing as Kyo missed a block and Riku scored a solid hit. "Maybe I won't… Except for Kyo, all of you are a lot better than me. I'd probably walk away with a few broken bones instead of a few bruises."

Cloud just shook his head. "You keep underestimating yourself. You're better than you think you are, you know." Glancing around quickly to make sure that no one else was listening, he lowered his voice so only Sora could hear. "And even if you lose, think of what Kairi'll say just for participating when you've been here for less than two months…"

That thought brought the younger boy up short, and he quickly looked at his friend. "Kairi's gonna be there?"

"Everyone's gonna be there," Cloud responded. "Plus, afterwards is about as good a chance as any for you to take her on a 'date' of some sort."

"I'm entering," Sora immediately declared, exactly as Cloud knew he would. Sora really was too entirely predictable at times, but in a strange way, it was part of his charm.

"I think everyone is. Including Yuffie."

"Wait, they let ninja compete?"

Cloud shrugged. "Why not? She's the only ninja trainee right now, and fighting against people in other disciplines increases your own skill. She's good, you know – nearly beat me last year."

Sora whistled lowly, shaking his head a little. "So who won last year? Riku?"

"No, I did." At Sora's surprised look, Cloud shrugged once more. "It was luck. He'll probably beat me this year."

And all of a sudden, Sora got another flash of inspiration in his eyes – the type that Cloud was rapidly coming to dread. "Hey, what about this… Maybe we can talk Leon into entering."

The blond hesitated; that idea wasn't as crazy as what Sora usually came up with. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more appropriate it seemed. "I don't know if even Riku can keep up with him." Several of the blows that Leon had landed with his gunblade had actually hurt Cloud, something that hadn't happened in quite a long time. "This might be just right to knock him off his high horse."

Sora, though, had a slightly different reason for wanting to involve Leon in the Competition: Yuffie was participating. From the talk the three of them had had in the cave, there was no hope for Yuffie to fall for him if they simply waited for her to do it. This would force them to at least be around each other for a day – they needed all the chances they could get.

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AUTHOR'S NOTES II: I've been planning that climb over the Hotel since the very beginning. I just love the mental picture of Cloud scrabbling to hang on to the roof. And oooooh, mystery with Yuffie! What's wrong with her? Well, I ain't tellin' - yet ; ) You'll just have to stick around to find out!

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