DISCLAIMER: The law now allows me to buy alcohol, and I hate it but I may just have to go do it, because I'm so sad about not owning Kingdom Hearts. .:sniff:.
AUTHOR'S NOTES II: Yep, I had my twenty-first birthday! Wasn't really all that exciting, but it's kinda fun to know that there's pretty much nothing I can't do now because of my age. And Rent rocks my world. Seriously, long time Rent-musical fan here, and they got the movie just right. Go see it, it's amazing (and I worship at the feet of Jesse L. Martin).
This chapter officially replaces Last Resort Two as the longest thing I've ever written for fanfiction at almost 11,500 words, and also the longest thing I've ever written just for creative purposes. Give me a little and something tells me that the "longest thing ever" record might be broken soon (it's currently held by a research paper I wrote in high school). And Taming also tops the 50,000 word mark with this chapter. I win at NaNoWriMo! (Sorta. I didn't officially enter, but I wrote the current seven chapters all within a one-month period, from mid-October to mid-November, so I sorta met the goals and it feels pretty good.)
And just remember, I'm an action girl at heart - not gore necessarily, but action. One-on-one fights. .:grins:. That should give you a pretty good hint as to why this chapter is my favorite so far. Don't forget, review replies and fun facts are up in my livejournal at www . livejournal . com / users / tairako (copy, paste, delete spaces). I know ff.n finally initiated a review reply system of their own, but you can't reply to the anonymous reviews like that, so I'm keeping the whole mess over on my LJ.
(Soundtrack: "Cotton-Eyed Joe" no, I'm not joking by Trick Pony up until the point where Sora runs out, and "Classical Gas" by Vanessa-Mae from her album The Violin Player for everything after.)
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"Why do you have that?" Sora asked, confused, as he hung on to the front door of his apartment.
Cloud just stared at him as if he were brain-dead. "You… me… Leon… five others… big fight… remember?"
"OH!" Sora yelped, actually jumping as the connection was finally made. "Damn, mine's at the dojo!"
"It'll be okay, we'll just go by there on our way over. But come on, we've gotta get going now."
Sora got ready in record time, changing out of the clothes he slept in into his usual black gear for fighting, and raced out of the door with Cloud right behind him as he was still pulling on his gloves. They couldn't start the Competition until everyone was there, but they were dangerously on the border of being late. Both of them flat-out ran, dodging the streams of people that were making their way to the Second District and startling no few of them, and tore through the doors and into the dojo.
Master Bersi raised an eyebrow at them from his semi-usual position on the floor. "Cuttin' it close, aren't you?"
"I just need my sword!" Sora said quickly, once more tearing across the room – and jumping when Bersi suddenly put one of his arms in his path as a blockade, his momentum actually carrying him forward several feet in his jump.
"Calm down, you're not that late." The master stood, shaking his head. "Kids your age, always rushin' to get everywhere. You're gonna be useless in the fight if you don't calm down and get your breath back. Now." Bersi walked over to the rack and pulled out Sora's sword, handing it to him hilt-first, as was proper. "Get over there, but walk. Sanero's already there, and I'll be comin' right behind you."
Sora bobbed a sketchy bow to the teacher as he accepted his sword. "Thank you… and sorry." Adding on a grin with his apology, they both left the dojo and headed down the small, packed alley in the direction of the rising murmur of noise.
The sight that greeted Sora's eyes as he and Cloud rounded the corner of the alley into the long plaza of the Second District wasn't exactly what he had expected. With all the talk of a festival, and everything that had happened with Namine and Kairi and the "dates," he'd thought he'd see something like a tent city encroaching on the area. Instead, except for people crowded around the edges, the plaza was still mostly unobstructed. Someone, probably one of the masters, had marked off four large squares with white chalk marching in a row down the plaza, and the people of Traverse took extra pains to avoid stepping inside, despite the fact that the squares took up a great deal of the room. Many more people were lined along the balconies and terraces that enclosed the district, including his parents; they were standing with Cloud's mother just over the fountain near the door to the First District, an area where they could see just about everything but what was happening at the far end near the Gizmo Shop. Sora waved enthusiastically to them to make sure they saw the two of them, and their parents waved back; when Cloud realized who Sora was watching, he also held up a hand in a sort of salute. Some tents and temporary stalls made of tables had already been set up on the upper level, but still nowhere near the amount he expected.
"So where's this 'festival' supposed to happen?" he asked Cloud, almost under his breath.
"As people get eliminated, we don't need so many squares anymore," the blond explained, gesturing to the two on the ends to illustrate his point. "After the first eliminations, the next round uses the two in the center, and then the last fight only uses one of them. So the spaces get swarmed after we're done with them. And a lot of stuff is in the First District as well."
"Ah-huh." Sora didn't have time to say anything else, as Master Sanero's voice suddenly rang over the crowds, yelling at them to move and let the fighters through. With good-natured catcalls and loud cheers for their favorites, the crowd parted in several places to give the competitors clear paths to the fighting area. Cloud and Sora managed to shove their way through the bodies just before Leon emerged from the direction of the First District; Riku came from the Gizmo Shop and Yuffie simply performed her trademark move of avoiding the crowd by jumping over everyone from a high building, surprising everyone as no one knew she'd been there. Uo wriggled in at the last moment, her small body very well suited for slipping through the press.
The ninja had something very large strapped to her back, something that looked like an oversized shuriken and big enough to slice him in half. Sora definitely found himself wishing that his name and Yuffie's weren't drawn together, as he would much rather stay in one piece. "Uh, Cloud… What's that?"
Glancing over, the blond groaned a little. "Her conformer… It's big, it's sharp, and it spins fast."
"Good to know. What would you recommend?"
"Hope whoever gets her knows how to duck. And everyone watching does, too."
"OVER HERE!" Sanero bellowed, pulling his shapeless cap off his head and reaching into a pocket. It was impossible for Sora not to notice the way that people drew slightly away from Leon as he passed, and it wasn't simply because of the gunblade slung negligently over one shoulder; Cloud had his buster sword, a much larger weapon, resting on his shoulder guard as normal, and people weren't giving him the kind of space they were giving Leon. It seemed Leon was right; the people of Traverse were scared of him, for better or worse. Sora knew that Leon didn't really like it here, though he never said why he stayed, but it was obvious that the peoples' fear wasn't helping him at all.
Cloud and Sora were the last of the eight to gather around Sanero, who by that time was shaking his cap, something rattling inside. When Leon had decided that he would, indeed, compete, it had brought the total number to eight, and Bersi and Sanero had heaved a sigh of thanks that this year things had worked out evenly. Most years there wasn't a good number for a series of progressive fights, meaning they had to find ways of juggling everyone to still produce fair results. It was a problem they had to deal with all too often and were glad not to have to this time.
The last two fighters were also members of the sword class, a pair of fraternal twins who seemed to have several general traits in common yet look nothing like each other. Addem and Wil were both tall and rather thin, with brown hair and eyes, but their faces had entirely different builds, their hair and eyes were completely different shades, and Addem was more outgoing while Wil was the most laid-back person around. But the brothers were inseparable; Sora still hadn't figured out who they hung out with, if they hung out with anyone but each other, but they were both friendly enough. They were eighteen, Cloud's age and a year older than Riku, but neither of them possessed the innate skill that Riku, Cloud, and Leon seemed to have in spades. Sora began wishing with all his might that he be paired off against one of them, or Uo, for his fight; he knew he wouldn't last past the first round, but at least with one of those three he would last longer. And probably hurt less, too.
"All right," Sanero said at last, opening his hat and holding it out to the crowd of young people in front of him. "Everyone take one, and no lookin'. The two with ones go to that end-" he motioned to the fountain, the area where Sora and Cloud's parents were "and so on down to four." This time it was the Gizmo Shop his looked at. Glancing quickly at Cloud, Sora took a deep breath and stuck his hand into the hat before anyone else could, wanting to find out fast who he'd be against.
He pulled out a simple round blob, probably made of clay, that someone had painted the number two on. He didn't have to move anywhere, so he simply stood back as the others received their numbers and began drifting off. He noticed quickly that Riku, Leon, and Cloud were all moving away, and he heaved a sigh of relief; he didn't need to be slaughtered that badly. Leon moved into the first square, followed by Addem, who was watching the unexpected addition with a look that was curious instead of frightened, thank goodness. Wil followed Cloud down to the fourth square, the farthest away from Sora and their parents, both moving at a sedate pace but Wil almost ambling. Uo quickly moved to the third square, followed by Riku, who was limbering up with a few practice swings with his strange black blade.
Sora blinked. Leon and Addem, Riku and Uo, Cloud and Wil… That left…
Oh no…
He turned with a sinking sensation in his stomach to face his own opponent: none other than Yuffie. The ninja was starting to grin at his discomfort, not the feral grin that he would expect, but still a grin that promised amusement at his dawning fear. "Beginning to wish you didn't sign up?" she asked, pulling a strap that hung by her hip that seemed to release her giant conformer from its confines.
He swallowed, holding up his sword. "Just don't kill me, okay?"
"Oh good, someone who knows his limits." Yuffie was flat-out beaming at this now, clearly loving every second of it, holding up the giant razor-edged pinwheel with shocking ease.
Up and down the plaza, the other pairs were also readying their weapons and settling into battle stances, with Sanero standing between the second and third squares watching all of them. Finally deeming them ready, he started to bellow at the top of his lungs, making sure that all participants and spectators could hear him. "You all know the rules! Thirty minute time limit! Forfeit or knock out! No hitting below the belt!" At least they were fairly evenly matched on that, Sora only being a little bit taller than Yuffie. Sanero quickly got out of the way before yelling his last directions. "NOW! BEGIN!"
The air was suddenly filled with roared cheering that drowned out even the clash of weapons as all four fights kicked into gear at once. Sora didn't have a chance to focus on any of the others as Yuffie's conformer went ripping for his head, and he threw himself immediately to the side. He could tell that he was going to be counting on his speed and relatively small size in this fight more than he ever did with Cloud, as Yuffie was even quicker than Uo, the acknowledged fastest person in their class. He dove into a roll and came up inside the reach of her weapon, swinging the sword up towards her ribcage, and she quickly launched herself backwards and out of his range, smaller shuriken appearing in her hand and being quickly flung at him. He dove and rolled again, barely avoiding them, continuing to chase her, and then jumped into the air to bring his blade down in a chop that she caught on the crossbrace of her conformer.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Kairi had taken shameless advantage of Aerith's good nature and her friendship with her stepsister to weasel a place next to her right in the middle, on the side with the Hotel, and away from Cid's usual position from the bell tower's terrace. One of the swordsmen had asked the pink-clad girl almost a month before if she wouldn't mind standing on call as healer; they always kept plenty of the restorative drinks around during the Competition, but having an actual person there made it much easier, and old Machie's strength was starting to fade. Aerith had agreed immediately, and so she was afforded the best view of anyone, as close as they could get her while still keeping her safe. Kairi had thought that she would be watching her cousin's bout the closest, or her best friend's, but when Kairi could tear her eyes away from her own focus for a moment, she found the healer girl looking down the length of the plaza, to the very end where a blond-capped black shape wasn't even breaking a sweat in his own fight.
"Aerith? Why're you watching Cloud?"
Aerith glanced at her and smiled, then simply turned back to continue watching. Making a mental note to investigate that more later, Kairi turned back to the second square, where her stepsister was attempting to make mincemeat of her friend.
She wasn't watching Riku's fight, as it wasn't Riku she was worried about; he could hold his own against Uo, even though she would give him a workout. No, Kairi was worried about Sora. Growing up with Yuffie (and, to some extent, Cid), and being good friends with Riku and Kyo, she couldn't help but know something about fighting even though she didn't practice it herself. Sora was good, that was certain, but he was untrained, and it showed. He continued to charge Yuffie when several times it would have been better to make her come to him, and while he proved very good at getting inside her defenses, she kept escaping. They were wearing each other down, but Yuffie definitely had the upper hand. Even as Kairi watched, one of her shuriken sliced Sora's cheek open, leaving a thin trail of bright red blood in its wake. Kairi personally thought that using live weapons in this thing was just asking for a disaster, but no one could be persuaded not to.
Sora's strength was waning, though she could tell he was refusing to fall over, just as Riku had told her was his habit. Yuffie could read it too, even better than her, and pushed herself just that little bit harder, trying to take him out even faster. Enthusiastic cheering suddenly resounded from Addem's end of the plaza, and Kairi spared enough of a glance in that direction to note that Addem had, indeed, been beaten by Leon already, then looked immediately back. She was just in time to see a slightly grim smile on Sora's face, and she knew it was because he was glad that he wasn't the first eliminated. A few minutes later came another roar, from the opposite direction, and without even looking she knew Cloud had won his match as well. And still Yuffie and Sora continued to hack at each other.
It wasn't too long after that that Sora stumbled, foot catching itself on the ground, and Yuffie took shameless advantage of it. Throwing her conformer in a wide arc to free her hands, she quickly spun around with a vicious kick that connected with the side of Sora's head and sent him sprawling, making him drop his blade and clocking his head against the ground as well. Sanero quickly rushed to the edge of the square as the crowd's attention all turned to Yuffie and Sora; if he stood up quickly enough, it wouldn't count as a knockout with the win going to Yuffie. She caught the conformer and instinctively sank into a crouch again, watching the boy closely. He groaned, pushed himself up with his hands – and fell on his face again, not rising this time.
Yuffie started jumping around like a maniac as the crowd cheered again, and Aerith quickly slipped from her place to run to Sora's side, Kairi following her closely. By the time the younger girl arrived, Yuffie had stopped her victory dance and Aerith already had him propped up in her lap, hand resting on his left temple as he groaned and tried to protest the touch. Strapping the conformer to her back once more, Yuffie wandered over to Sora's other side, across from Kairi, and looked down at the boy she'd knocked silly. "Tough little bugger," she commented – but without her usual asperity. In fact, it almost sounded… complimentary?
Kairi quickly shook the thought from her head and concentrated on Sora. A green light shone around the hand Aerith rested on his temple, disappearing apparently through his skin and hair. The cut slowly vanished from his cheek, though the blood it had lost remained behind. His color, which had been starting to pale, quickly improved to his normal tone, and as he opened his eyes she could see them starting to focus properly once more. When he saw the faces of the three girls above him, he gave them a weak grin. "Least I didn't go down first."
"Shhh," Aerith whispered, pressing that hand more firmly to his temple. "Let me finish, then you can talk." Sora nodded, just enough so she would know he agreed, and fell silent; the more green light that was pushed into his body, the better he looked. It was only a few seconds later that he opened his eyes entirely and they focused easily; and when he grinned it was his easy, normal grin, and Kairi grinned back as she realized how worried she'd been over him. Pushing himself off Aerith, Sora gave Kairi a thumbs up before looking at Yuffie, still grinning a little. "I thought I told you not to kill me."
"Well I didn't, did I?" Yuffie countered, one arm draped negligently over a spike of her conformer.
"But you did give him a mild concussion," Aerith told them, standing gracefully and brushing a little dirt from her knees. "I thought the goal was not to hurt each other."
Yuffie shrugged. "He wouldn't've stopped otherwise. And you were here."
"I know, I know. And it looks like I might be needed for the next one, as well."
Riku and Uo were still going at it; Uo was just too good at dodging him, though she wasn't getting many chances to attack. The silver-haired boy kept chasing her around the square, clearly frustrated, as was she; he could parry with the best of them. Finally, several minutes after Aerith had fixed up Sora and with the crowd pressing up close, Riku made a desperate lunge that knocked her feet out from under her. When she pushed herself to her feet again, he was ready; putting all his power into one swing, everyone could hear a crack as the dull edge of his sword connected with her right arm. Uo cried out in sudden pain and dropped her rapier, clutching her arm and sinking to her knees. Aerith quickly maneuvered her way through the crowd (somehow she didn't seem to push) to the girl's side, kneeling once more. Placing one hand above the break, the green light again appeared and began to flow into the girl, giving her body the strength to put several weeks of healing into just a few moments.
Sora and Kairi could barely see it from their position; the crowd had closed in around Riku and Uo while Sora was still being tended. They knew that Riku had won, but it would be nearly impossible to make their way over to him for the next few minutes. So Kairi turned to smile at Sora, once again making his mind stop working even though she didn't realize it. "You did well."
"I, uh…" he stammered, hand going to the back of his head. "Ah… thanks, Kairi."
She giggled. "We really have to work on your ability to accept compliments. You lasted that long against Yuffie; you did very well."
He could just feel the red pouring into his face even as he tried to beat it back. "She still just about killed me, I didn't do that well."
Grinning, Kairi nudged an elbow into his side. "Tomato. Embarrassed because I'm telling the truth?"
"No! I just… uh…" That red was only getting worse, and he could swear there was a physical jolt when he accidentally brushed her hand with his arm.
"Sora?" she prodded when he didn't continue.
"I, uh…" What was the matter with him! "Sorry!" he exclaimed, and began dodging between people in the direction of the dojo, his speed putting him out of her range quickly.
"Wait! Sora! SORA!"
But he was long gone.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Bersi, Addem, and Wil, neither of whom had needed Aerith's magical touch, finally succeeded in pushing the crowd back again so the two semifinal fights could take place. The crowd was noisier than Cloud could remember at these things, perhaps because the competitors were much more… energetic this year. Normally the first fights were all over very quickly, as the stronger members of the class weeded out the weaker, but the addition of the new elements of Leon and Sora, and Riku being paired off against a person who could drag him into a long fight, had added a new level of excitement to that first round that carried over. Wil and Addem were both smarter than Sora in one way; when it had become apparent that one more blow would finish them as it had finished Sora, they had forfeited and stayed in one piece. Now they helped the masters perform crowd control as Uo stood off to the side, rubbing her still slightly tender arm, with Aerith next to her.
Once they finally had the middle two squares clear, Sanero stepped forward once more, giving the crowd a patented "teacher" glare that shut them up quickly. Finally, he nodded in satisfaction. "ALL RIGHT!" he bellowed again, and pointed at Yuffie and Leon, then to one of the squares. "You two there!" Then to Cloud, Riku, and the other square. "And you two there!"
The rules called for a ten minute break between rounds to give the healer time to tend to anyone who needed it and to allow the fighters a breather. All four had been given a restorative as well, to put them in full health and make the field as level as possible, so when the two pairs stepped into their areas, it was almost as if the first round hadn't taken place.
Yuffie couldn't help but shake her head at the irony as she cracked her knuckles and freed her conformer from its straps. "Well, you're gonna get that fight you seem so eager for. Happy about that?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" Leon countered, giving a couple of practice swings with the gunblade to loosen up his wrists and shoulders.
"Thought so," she muttered, studying him carefully. The problem with this one was that she had no idea what he was like. She'd been too busy dealing with Sora to see how he fought, while he'd had at least a little time after Addem forfeited to watch her own fight. She'd also never seen his weapon before; it looked like a sword, and he seemed to be handling it like a sword, but what about that gun-like handle? Could that thing fire bullets? Hell, would he even be allowed to fire bullets? She rather thought he wouldn't, but she couldn't be sure. Yet another thing to watch out for.
Riku and Cloud watched each other evenly, studying, Cloud's sword over his shoulder as usual and Riku holding his easily off the ground. They hadn't fought against each other in almost a month – not, in fact, since Cloud had begun practicing with Leon, though Riku didn't know that. But their almost silent rivalry was kicking up completely, checking each other for any chinks, any gaps that they could use to their advantage, any way to take each other down. A month ago neither could beat the other unless some stupid thing happened, like one of them tripping. Had anything changed in a month?
All four of them settled into their guard stances, watching their opponents. Yuffie had to give Leon some credit; he wasn't berating her, wasn't yelling at her, and in fact seemed to be treating her as a serious opponent – in other words, he was behaving exactly as fighters were supposed to behave, a courtesy she rarely received from anyone except her master. Maybe she should've agreed to a practice bout before this, if that was his normal mode of operation, but it was a little too late now.
"NOW! BEGIN!"
Unlike the previous round, not one of them immediately jumped into the attack, and the crowds stayed subdued as they waited for the first move. Both pairs circled each other, measuring – and finally the first one to move was Riku, lunging forward with a vicious swipe at Cloud's waist. Yuffie was quickly behind him, jumping backwards instead for a clear throw with her conformer, as Cloud spun on his heel and parried Riku's attack. Leon easily blocked the conformer with a loud CLANG from the weapons, but by that point Yuffie had a few of her shuriken out and was firing them at him in quick succession.
Most of the focus was on Riku and Cloud, as Riku was clearly the favorite of the four. He was well-known, well-liked, respected, and talented; Cloud barely talked to anyone, Leon was new and frightening, and Yuffie was crazy and isolated. But it took several eyes off Leon and Yuffie's bout, which Yuffie could only like as Leon shocked her by managing to block her shuriken with the flat of his blade. All of them. No one, not even Cloud the one time she'd fought with him the year before, had been able to do that. She quickly threw herself into a mid-air twist to evade her own weapons as they ricocheted back at her, throwing her conformer again only seconds before landing in a somersault. Leon was once again held back by having to evade her weapon, but he quickly followed up his advantage and moved after her. His footwork was much slower than hers, and she could probably evade him forever – but he was certainly stronger, and as she caught the conformer once again, she knew he was also the better fighter. With the restricted space she couldn't keep running away from him; eventually he'd catch her, and his blows would hurt more than hers. Her best hope was to find a hole in his defenses as quickly as she could, and exploit it.
Several yards away, Riku and Cloud were nothing but a blur to those watching. Neither of them could match Sora, Yuffie, or Uo for basic speed, but both of them could – and did – throw around their swords like children's toys, tossing them from one hand to the other and back again within a second, swinging hard and fast from just the wrists to cut down on the time needed for one action. The crowd who could see them, usually extremely vocal, was stunned into near-silence as everyone simply stared at the battle. Even as they were watching, within three seconds Riku attacked, then Cloud, then Riku twice, then Cloud once more, their swings and jumps moving them around the open space almost in a dance. Once a shower of sparks even erupted from their blades as Riku caught Cloud's sword on his and scraped it free, the sharp edges grinding against each other with a terrible screech.
Yuffie and Leon had blocked the other fight, and indeed all their surroundings, out of their perceptions completely, Yuffie using her conformer as a giant shield half the time to catch his attacks on and half the time attacking, searching as fast as she could for that opening she knew he had to have somewhere in his defense. Another attack – not there – and another – not there either! – and another – not- wait, THERE!
She quickly let the conformer fly, getting it out of her way, and threw her arms up in a crossed guard above her head as he swung the gunblade down in a fierce chop, taking advantage of her own moment of open defense. What Leon was not expecting, however, was for the gunblade to crash down on her arms – and to rebound back with a very audible CLANG, jarring both his arms up to the shoulders and drawing the stares of the wide-eyed crowds. He reacted quickly on instinct and threw himself back, arms still shaking a little but not dropping his weapon, and Yuffie's combination kick-punch missed him by inches. He continued moving back, shaking the feeling back into his arms, and noticed that his gunblade had slashed open her long, thick gloves – and that glints of metal showed between the slashes. Armguards, he registered, swinging the gunblade around once more to block another kick and an immediate punch, and then Yuffie sprang up to catch her conformer, hanging in the air as she took a turn at cleaving him head to toe.
Cloud could feel it as he fought Riku. A month's steady practice with Leon, someone who hadn't been trained in the same ways he had, who had a different fighting form, probably more extensive training against others with various weapons – all of that had altered him slightly, altered how he fought, how he reacted, nudging his concentration up a notch here, his speed up a tad there. It wasn't much of a change at all, though with time it probably would be – but for right now, it was enough.
Riku could feel it as well, feel how his opponent was different, and spent only a split second wondering how in the hell that happened, then threw himself into the fight with his entire body and mind. His focus and concentration was legendary when he applied it, he could always push himself a little faster than he thought he'd be able to, and that's exactly what he did now, determined not to lose to Cloud for the second year in a row. Their blades and feet sped up and they were actually rising off the ground now to meet each other in the air, landing only long enough to push up again, trying to drive each other to ground and thus to defeat with the crowd gasping in amazement.
Leon parried Yuffie's chop, but just barely, and dove to the side before she could land and try yet another kick on him, but he knew what to do now. He began to press the attack again, and she returned to defending with her conformer; apparently blocking with her arms was just as jarring for her as for him, with the force he put in his attacks. Every attack sped up just a little more, and she matched his speed, whirling to defend and occasionally attack again, once managing to throw three more shuriken.
That was what finished her. Fast as wildfire, he sliced his gunblade up – and through one of the shuriken, making the spectators yelp in astonishment. Paying no attention to that, he angled the blade to once again ricochet the shuriken back at her, and as she twisted to avoid them once again he swung without thinking, catching her in the side of the head with the flat of his blade much as Riku had done to Uo. Yuffie cried out and crashed to the ground, conformer clanging down beside her and bouncing a little, slicing one of her arms above her gloves. She most definitely would not be getting up again, and Leon took just one moment to catch his breath before shoving the gunblade at someone standing nearby and moving to kneel at her side, checking to see how extensive the damage was.
Riku and Cloud heard and saw none of it, trapped in their deadly world of spinning swords, but the pace and speed was beginning to tell on Riku. There was no question about it, Cloud was different, different in a hundred tiny ways that alone or even in small groups would have made no difference to their fighting ritual, but when added together spelled his demise. He tried to keep going, keep up the speed, the attacking, the blocking, but his breath was starting to come rough in his lungs, and his feet were beginning to falter-
And Cloud swept his blade from his hand. It went spinning over the heads of the watchers, who cried out and ducked, to crash into the wall of the plaza several feet and several bodies away. Riku quickly spun to face Cloud again, panting heavily and not wanting to believe what had just happened – but there was the buster sword, point at his throat, only a mere two inches preventing him from taking a much closer shave than he wished.
"Do you yield?" Cloud asked, breathing almost as hard as him, but the giant sword never lowered one millimeter.
"…Yes," Riku heaved, backing away and bending in half to brace his hands on his knees, taking great gasping breaths to revive himself and trying to prevent the bitterness of defeat from worming its way into his mind.
Aerith struggled through the crowd to reach Leon and Yuffie, the former of which had turned the latter over very carefully, revealing a small cut in her scalp above her ear, and the girl moaned in pain as he very, very gently pushed some of her short black hair aside to assess the damage. The pink-clad healer fell to her knees next to her friend, nodding to Leon to hold her steady, as she placed both hands on the unhurt portions of Yuffie's head and closed her eyes to concentrate.
"Concussion," she heard him say quietly. "I didn't mean to hit her that hard…"
"Shhhhh," she briefly insisted, and he fell silent, letting her work. Under Aerith's hands and her miraculous green light, the cut disappeared almost instantly, and Leon absently wiped the trickle of blood away, more concerned than he'd let on. He'd underestimated her; underestimated her speed and power, the amount of training she'd had, her number and type of weapons and how far she was willing to go to win. So he'd overcompensated – and he'd broken her skull open. That wasn't at all what he'd intended; he'd forgotten how small a girl she really was, someone who barely came up to his shoulder even when standing straight, and how easily she could break simply because she had been so tough. It was lucky Aerith was there; his blow wouldn't have killed her, but it would have caused her a lot of pain he didn't want her to have.
Suddenly Yuffie's hand came up and she pushed her friend's hands away; Aerith opened her eyes and blinked out of her concentration haze as Yuffie, against all good sense, pushed herself to her feet using Leon's shoulder as a brace. She still looked pale, even for her, and while the cut was gone her eyes still wouldn't focus all the way, but she managed to look shakily down on them anyway.
"Don't want that," she mumbled to Aerith, stepping – almost falling, really – back a foot.
"But Yuffie-"
"I'm fine!" And going against all she should be able to do in that state, the ninja turned and ducked between two entirely shocked onlookers who couldn't stop her in time, her small size making her easily disappear among the crowd.
"Yuffie!" Aerith yelled after her, standing and preparing to chase her down, until a heavy hand landed on her shoulder.
"I'll go after her," Cid said around his toothpick. "You gotta stay here, these two'll probably need you in a minute," he commented, motioning to Leon with his head in order to indicate which two he meant.
Thanks to Cloud and Sora, Leon knew exactly who Cid was and what he looked like, and if there was one thing he didn't need then, it was her father figure glaring at him angrily as he was sure Cid was about to do. "Sir, I'm sorry for-"
But Cid cut him off with a shake of his head and a wave of his hand. "You didn' mean to, I don' think, an' she knew getting' into it she could get hurt. Go ahead an' fight, I'll bring her back t'get unhurt."
Leon nodded silently, watching Cid as the tall man easily forded the crowd in the direction his "daughter" had gone. When he turned back, Aerith was looking at him speculatively. "Yes?"
"Nothing," she replied, and turned away – but Leon had to wonder if it really was "nothing."
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Sora sat on the lone bench in the dojo, head tilted back against the wall, eyes closed, wondering for the thousandth time how stupid he could be. Even accidentally touching her made him clam up and turn into a beat, made him lose track of his words and sound like an absolute moron. He was hopeless – and there was no way Kairi could ever go for anyone as hopeless as he was.
He didn't know how long it had been since he'd come in there; he hadn't heard any roars from the crowd, so he couldn't even tell if the next set of fights had begun or not. He knew where Kairi would be right then, though: intently watching Riku fight Cloud and cheering him on, keeping half an eye on Yuffie against Leon… He idly speculated on just who would win those matches before another wave of stupid, stupid Sora! crashed down on him and he continued berating himself.
The creak of the doors opening startled him into sitting up straight, peering at the figure framed in the doorway. With the sun behind the person, he couldn't immediately tell who it was, but as the figure entered the room, it resolved into Riku – a slightly beat up, though mostly whole Riku, who watched the ground as he walked instead of looking confidently before him as he always did. Sora quickly stood, wondering what had happened. "Hey Riku, you okay? Is it over, or-"
"Yeah, it's over," he replied, looking up at last, and Sora took an unconscious step back at the bitterness in his eyes. "Two years… two years now I couldn't beat him, and it was supposed to be me this time."
"…Cloud won?" Sora asked to make sure, not without sympathy. He'd been fighting Cloud as well, and while he knew he'd improved, Cloud had been improving as well with facing Leon, and so he couldn't find much difference in their bouts.
"Yeah," Riku said bitterly, stopping in the middle of the room and shaking his head. "Once again, Cloud walks away with everything… The title, even my cousin. What the hell she sees in him…" he continued, almost in disgust, with Sora growing more uneasy nearby. "He thinks he can just take everything like he deserves it for being crippled, and he doesn't, and you just encourage him." Sora's eyes widened dramatically as Riku's almost babbled line of accusation swung on him as well. "He hasn't earned anything, hasn't worked for it like I have, hasn't even tried to be human since then, and then you come along and just make him certain that he is entitled to all this."
In one part of himself, Riku knew that he was making no sense and telling no truth. But his major fault was overconfidence and pride, and at the moment his pride was being ripped to pieces by that picture that hung in his brain of Cloud's sword poised to kill if he so chose. He hadn't even been taken out by a lucky swing; it had been a freak accident, on his part, that had forced him into surrender instead of fighting to the end as his pride demanded. So the part that knew that what he was saying was wrong was buried under his shattered confidence and the sudden self-doubt that had come flooding in when he'd been defeated, and he couldn't hear it at all.
"Just like you." And now he rounded fully on Sora, glaring at the younger boy, and Sora was suddenly very, very glad that he had a sword while Riku didn't. His hand grasped the hilt next to him as Riku continued on, sounding almost delusional but staying right where he was and speaking in a rational voice. "You come here and Namine's singing your praises and Master Bersi holds you higher than me and Kairi keeps talking about you and you get to tutor her, and Yuffie doesn't try to kill you. What makes you so special?" Sora didn't answer, not at all sure how to handle Riku now. "What makes you so great? Do you really think Kairi's gonna pick you over me?"
Sora could barely keep his jaw from dropping; when had Riku figured that out? He'd been careful never to mention her name, and he only mentioned he liked someone when the information was forced out of him (except with Cloud and Leon). "Riku, I-"
"You don't deserve her, Sora!" he half-yelled, still not moving but becoming more passionate by the moment. "You haven't been here for her in the past, you don't know her like I do, you haven't liked her for as long! What the fuck makes you think you'd be better for her than me? I can help her, I can give her whatever she wants, I've helped her through enough to be owed something!"
Sora frowned, straightening up at last as it looked like Riku wasn't going to attack him. "Do you honestly think it's about who can give her more stuff? Get off it Riku, it's about who'd make her happy. Don't you care about that?"
"Of course I do!" he replied loudly again. "I can make her happy! I know I can!"
"Riku," Sora began, going slow so he wouldn't begin yelling as well, "it's not what you think, it's what she thinks. You think she owes you something for being her friend? You're crazy! I never said anything because I wanted her to make up her own mind, not having someone make it up for her! It's Kairi's choice who she likes, me or you or someone else, and you've gotta learn to live with that!"
A loud gasp from the door that Riku had never closed drew both their attentions, and Riku's face went slack and Sora nearly dropped his sword when they saw Kairi standing there, watching both of them with her hand over her mouth and her eyes wide. She couldn't believe what she was hearing; her eyes kept darting back and forth between them, finally coming to rest after a long time on Riku as her hand slowly dropped from her mouth.
"Kairi," Riku began, voice full of honest regret now, "I didn't-"
"Riku," she interrupted in a whisper that still showed her shock, "please… not now."
"But Kairi-"
"Please," she half-begged, half-commanded, eyes shifting away from him. "Please," she repeated, "just… go, and let me think."
Sora couldn't help but feel sorry for Riku; no matter how he expressed it, even if the motivations were a bit misguided, he honestly cared for her – but that misguidance and self-confidence had just ruined his chance with her for now. And he knew it. Opening his mouth to make one last plea, he closed it without speaking and walked out the door, being careful to avoid her, not shutting it after him.
Sora sank onto the bench again, feeling incredibly drained, and set the sword at his feet before hanging his head. He heard Kairi take a tentative step back and thought she would leave, and the sound of the door and sudden lack of sunlight would have confirmed it had it not been for her footsteps and her… aura, he suspected, approaching him. His sword teacher back on the Isles had made a big deal about sensing "auras," instilling it in all of them so they could close their eyes and use some sixth sense to "feel" where another person was in the room. He was so keyed up now, even with the drained feeling, that he didn't need to concentrate in order to sense her moving closer to him, finally stopping only a couple of feet away. "Sora…" she began hesitantly, not sounding very happy.
"I'm sorry, Kairi. You didn't need to hear that." He didn't look up, forearms resting across his knees.
She sat down on the bench as well, over a foot away from him and not moving any closer. "So it's true, then? You like me?"
"Does everyone know?" he asked with a kind of bitterly ironic humor. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised… I'm no good at hiding things."
"You hid it from me well, and the others… I only had a hunch, and I only got that last week." He could feel her looking at him, but he didn't look up to meet her eyes. "Did you mean the other thing you said, too?"
"Which other thing?"
"About why you never said anything… about how it was my choice."
"…Yeah," he replied, sighing. "I didn't want to pressure you… I'm sorry, I just want you to be happy."
There was several seconds of silence from next to him, and finally Kairi broke it by saying, "Sora, I don't know what to say."
"You don't have to say anything…" He finally looked up, standing up at the same time and preparing to go. "It is your choice. It's what'll make you happy. Me and Riku'll be all right, don't worry. And I… You're a good friend, too, Kairi, and I'd like to stay friends." Shaking his hair out of his face, Sora began to head for the door – until a small hand grabbed his and pulled him to a stop. He looked back in surprise at Kairi, who was watching him with an almost confused look.
"I've only known you for a month and a half," she said, almost to herself. "I mean, I know you don't need that long to become friends, but I thought you needed more than that for…"
"For what?" he asked, not pulling away.
Kairi flushed faintly but didn't look away from him. "For… anything else to develop."
His heart leapt, but he beat it down, unwilling to jump to conclusions just yet. "What do you mean?"
"I mean how in the heck did I get to know you so well?" she asked, still looking confused. "I can give you a list of your habits now, just because they keep getting stuck in my head. You know you squint when you read? You just do it all the time, no matter what it is, and you never give up on anything. Even fights. You like to laugh and grin and make everyone feel good, and everyone likes you because you're just such a fun person, and I've had more fun studying math with you for the past six weeks than I can ever remember with any other schoolwork."
"Kairi-"
"And it makes no sense and confuses me but at the same time it makes all the sense in the world. Don't you get it?"
He didn't respond, still unwilling to believe this would go where he wanted it to go, because he didn't think he could take the pain.
Kairi pulled herself to her feet using his hand, not letting go even once she was up, and looked him straight in the eye. "I have no idea how, or why, or when, but at some point I fell for you, too." His breathing stopped as she continued. "Like I said, it makes no sense, but they always say that this isn't supposed to make sense, but they underestimated it severely, and-"
"Kairi," he interrupted when he could breathe again.
"What?"
He didn't stop to think; he just did it. Pulling her to him with their joined hands, he finally did what he'd been wanting to do since the first time he'd met her and put his arm around her waist – and kissed her. He had no prior experience with kissing, but it just felt like the right thing to do, and he could feel her tentativeness as a match for his own as she hesitantly kissed him back. He didn't back away as she slowly raised her free hand to rest against his cheek, and she didn't jump when he pulled her just a little bit closer, so he finally decided they must be doing something right.
And of course their private moment just had to go and be interrupted by a loud SLAM as the doors were unceremoniously shoved open, causing them both to jump and break apart in a hurry. "YUFFIE!" Aerith's voice echoed through the room, and the girl in pink didn't even realize what she'd interrupted as she dashed away in the direction of the Third District.
"Uh…" Sora said, turning to look at Kairi a little blankly. "Do you know what that's about?"
"No… I followed Riku over here while Cloud and Leon fought." She turned slightly pink, which Sora thought only made her look cuter, and he couldn't keep himself from smiling at her, which only turned her more pink. "I, ah… That was really nice, Sora," she said, unable to look directly at him.
"I meant it, Kairi. I want you to be happy."
And finally she smiled, and she reached out to take his hand in hers, squeezing it a little as she stepped closer to him. "You already make me happy, you loon."
And he couldn't help but grin his widest and pull her in for another kiss – this one slightly less awkward.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Cloud and Leon stood face to face in the one ring left uncrowded with wide-eyed spectators. There hadn't been a Competition this intense in years, and everyone was focused on the last two left, wondering just what they'd see this time.
They had no idea what they were in for.
"Seems like we always end up like this," Cloud commented as he watched the spectators back away a little further.
"Just our habit, I suppose."
"All right, boys," said Sanero, stepping up once more and glancing between them both. "This is it. You two ready?" Both of them had had a rest and a restorative potion, so both nodded their heads without hesitation, swinging their blades into guard position. "Don't forget to stop if I say stop, now." They both nodded again; if their practice bouts were any indication, the match might just get ended by the time limit this time. "Now you know the rules, so you obey 'em. And don't kill each other fer god's sakes!"
Both of them smiled at that, a little grimly, and shook their heads minutely.
"NOW! BEGIN!"
Cloud had a bad habit of underestimating his own skill in comparison to Riku's. There was no doubt Riku worked hard at his own skills and was very talented, but when push came to shove, as it did in the last round, even before practicing with Leon, Cloud was still above the silver-haired boy, though neither of them knew it. Riku's main tactic was an all-out assault right at the beginning, which was usually very effective but used up his energy much faster. Cloud had the stamina to hold that off and to keep going afterwards. And that stamina had only improved with fighting Leon – and, ironically, Sora, who was faster than either of them.
So after a month of practices with Leon, both of them could read each other like an open book – and neither held back anything.
The gunblade and the buster sword met with a clash of metal and a shower of sparks, making the onlookers jump back as they both whipped their blades around and brought them in for the attack quicker than could be seen. And another, and another, turning and moving back and forth and pushing each other around the area with their swords while never relenting on their attacks, each as fierce as he could be. The crowd stood as far back as it could manage, everyone's eyes wide and nearly silent at the display before them.
Leon brought the gunblade around in a quick waist-level slash which Cloud parried with a circular flip of his own blade, only to turn the block into an attack as he tried to bring the massive sword down on Leon's head, which the gunblade wielder caught on his edge and forced back, cutting viciously down diagonally, making Cloud jump back into a block, and over and over and over again until, at last, as with Cloud and Riku their feet were leaving the ground.
There were certain techniques that were known more widely outside Traverse, and while Leon certainly wanted to learn the ninjas' form of high jumping, in a way he already knew part of it – and had begun teaching Cloud. What seemed natural and normal coming from Yuffie, who was light, small, and a ninja, after all, made even Bersi and Sanero's jaws drop as Cloud and Leon began leaping in the air, still fighting at the same furious speed, but hanging in the air for several seconds before falling to earth again. Both young men were leaping over the heads of the crowd, blades clashing as many as six times each before they touched ground again only to spring at each other once more. More speed and more exertion flew from them, and soon, though it went completely against the rules of staying inside the square, Cloud, followed quickly by Leon, were kicking off the walls of the plaza in the middle of their jumps to give them even more force and speed. The people below them could only gape in amazement.
Cloud wasn't sure how much time had passed – it seemed both like eternities and nothing in that concentrating state – but something suddenly broke through the battle-induced focus, the absolute last sound he wanted to hear right then: a faint crack from his left arm, the artificial one, that immediately made him shift the buster sword to his right hand to continue blocking and attacking. He knew what had happened: he'd put too much strain on it in one day, overloading its capacity for abuse as he was also using the non-living metal to block a couple of Leon's attacks, and it was giving out on him. He would have to fight one-handed now, or forfeit; fortunately, he was trained to fight with only his right at the same speed he fought with both.
Unfortunately, however, Leon was as well – and he could fight just as well with either hand as with both. He'd been switching back and forth between his right and the left throughout the entire fight, and Cloud knew that he'd realized what had happened as well – and although he knew that in a practice bout Leon would stop to make sure that his friend was all right, this was no practice bout, and even if Leon halted Cloud wouldn't. So he could actually see the decision in Leon's eyes to press this, press him harder, and put a quick end to it so they could get Cloud the attention he needed.
He wasn't wrong, either. From somewhere unfathomable Leon dredged up just a little more strength, just a little more speed, and Cloud continued to block, but more and more he was reduced to twisting out of the way and after only a minute he could barely attack anymore. The feeling in his stump was numbing away, and control of the hand came awkwardly, and his right arm was starting to tire with the force Leon was bringing to bear on it – and after awhile he just couldn't take it anymore. The next time he landed, going to one knee with the buster sword held in a weak guard in front of him, he didn't spring up again.
Leon landed in a fighter's crouch six feet in front of him, gunblade held out and ready to the side, and they only realized then that they were both breathing heavily, exhausted, and sweating all over. The spectators were still stunned into silence, and as Leon straightened up, feeling the fatigue in every muscle in his body, Cloud looked up at him very calmly. "I yield," he heaved, still breathless enough so that it was hardly understandable. "Find Cid."
Leon nodded, but before he could move a tall form came up beside them both: Aerith, smiling, holding two small bottles and giving one to each of them, which they quickly swallowed. The bitter taste they were reluctantly getting used to swamped them for a moment, and both began coughing, the nicks and bruises they'd managed to inflict on each other during the fight disappearing almost instantly and large portions of their energy being restored to them. After both of them had stopped shuddering from the effects, they shook their heads, and Leon held out one gloved hand to his friend. Cloud grasped it and pulled himself easily to his feet. And only then did the crowd break out of its stupor to roar with amazement and celebration, louder than it had ever been.
They both looked at the people around them, more than a little stunned by the reaction, and the space around them and Aerith quickly disappeared as people swarmed in to congratulate both of them and rave about the fight and their techniques and the speed and the jumping and everything. But Leon saw the wince on Cloud's face and the difficulty he was having with his arm, and so he began trying to break a path through the people to get the three of them out of there and to somewhere private they could have Cid look at Cloud. It was very hard to do, as people didn't seem to get the idea that they wanted to leave and kept trying to talk to them, and eventually he just reached back and pulled Aerith in front of him from her place beside Cloud. She instantly understood, and her calming personality, and the fact that they were leaving with the healer, made people move aside much more quickly.
Eventually they made it up the stairs, around the terrace, and into the Hotel; the owner was a rather sensible man who understood what they needed and provided them temporarily with the keys to one of the rooms, done all in green, and they quickly retreated there to let Aerith examine Cloud. Making him sit on the bed, she quickly pushed up his now-slashed sleeve and pulled off the now-slashed glove, checking on his arm above the metal joining. In only a few moments, she nodded. "You're okay, at least in the ways I can help you."
"It's the arm. Something's dislocated." Cloud actually had to hold up his left hand with his right to show it to them. The hand itself had popped partially out of the wrist joint, exposing wires that Leon could only assume were something like nerves and providing him no pivot point for his wrist and almost no control for his fingers. No wonder he'd stopped fighting with both hands. "It's happened before, I just need Cid and his toolkit. Where is he?"
Aerith frowned slightly, turning to look at Leon. "You didn't see him come back with Yuffie, did you?"
Leon couldn't help a mild frown as well; she was still running around in that condition…? "No, but maybe he took her home?"
"What?" Cloud asked.
Leon briefly explained what had happened in the fight between he and Yuffie, making Cloud's eyes widen a bit in surprise, then narrow again in concentration. "If Yuffie doesn't want to be found, then she won't be… Not even by him. But she can't just not get something like that treated."
The brunet nodded and looked at Aerith. "We'll both go look for them. Whoever finds one or both of them brings them back here immediately, agreed?"
Aerith couldn't help a smile. "As long as you tell me your name."
And he couldn't help but smile back – very slightly, but it was there. "Leon."
"Aerith."
"Then let's go."
Leaving Cloud (and the gunblade) behind and each taking one of the keys, Aerith left through the front of the hotel, being better able to deal with the crowds (both now and at any other time), while Leon went out on the small balcony attached to the room. Wonder of wonders there were only a few people haunting the alley below, the one with his former "usual" entrance to the waterway, the path he planned to take to the Third District to avoid the crush of people. He had very little hope of finding the ninja, but a large man like Cid couldn't fit in the small spaces she could, and there was at least a chance he would be at his home.
Vaulting over the side of the balcony, Leon landed a little awkwardly, reminding him once again that he needed to find that Master Carran and see if he could learn the ninjas' way of jumping. Ignoring the few people who turned to congratulate him, he strode off down the alley, past the dumpling stand, and straight into the water. Pulling the key to the padlock out of his pocket, he quickly opened the contraption and went inside, shutting it behind him before anyone could really tell where he had gone.
There hadn't been much rain lately, so the water level had gone down somewhat, which he could only be grateful for. He'd never fallen on his face down here, but it was always a possibility, and one he didn't want to have happen at all. The path was much darker than he remembered it being, and he realized with a mild curse that the batteries in the lamps he'd put down there must have finally run out. Pulling off his right glove, Leon muttered to himself quickly, and a small seed of fire began to grow in the air two inches from his palm, growing quickly into a fierce, though heatless, little blaze about three inches in diameter that lit the way before him very nicely.
The last thing he expected to find was someone else in the waterway – but there she was, the elusive ninja, sitting sideways in the door to the stairs and leaning her back against the arch, head tilted back and eyes closed. The fire illuminated her better as he got closer, tinting her skin like a tan and pulling out orange highlights in her hair, and with her small size she almost looked like some sort of faerie out of the old tales.
Her head slowly tilted to the side and one eye opened about halfway as she registered the light from the fire. "Who is tha?" Her speech was still a little muzzy, a little slurred, and it was clear she hadn't even gotten herself one of those infernal potions to help with her concussion. He slowly approached her and knelt, making sure not to make her run away, and she blinked up at him in an effort to make her eyes work properly through the concussion and the hazy light. "Ohhhhh, it's you. 'Sit over then?"
"Yes, it's over." She didn't seem inclined to bolt, which was a good thing, but he would rather take her back to Aerith of her own volition rather than by using any force.
"Betcha won," she said, eyes closing again and head once more falling back, and she winced a little as it hit the arch with a small bump. "Y'blocked m'shuriken, you gotta be good… too good… bastard…" But she cursed without any feeling behind it, and he knew it was just more of her babblings.
It was definitely time to get her back to Aerith. "Come on, we have to let your friend finish healing you."
"Don' want it," she protested, almost like a child, rolling her head away from him.
"Yuffie…"
"Don'," she insisted.
He sighed; she might kill him for doing this later, but right now it was the best thing for her, and she was small enough to make it easy. A muttered word extinguished the fireball in his hand, and he carefully slid that arm beneath her knees and his other behind her shoulders, ignoring her somewhat garbled protests as he carefully rose to his feet, cradling her against him. She hit his chest a couple of times in protest, but soon gave up on that and just curled against him, almost like a cat.
Leon shook his head. This girl was full of contradictions, was more annoying than anyone else in this town – and yet that annoyance only made her more interesting. In a place where people were afraid to step on his shadow, she'd look him straight in the eye and tell him exactly what she thought of him whether he wanted to hear it or not. He'd never really met anyone like her in his life.
It had become more than the money, more than helping a friend. Now, Leon just honestly wanted to get to know her – because she was different.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Aerith had found Cid in the First District, checking out Master Carran's home and still searching for Yuffie, and together they'd fetched his tools from the Accessory shop and made their way back to the Hotel where Cloud was still camped out on the bed, gingerly testing his arm. Rattling off a mild tirade about how these things weren't exactly indestructible and what in the hell did he think he was doing, the pilot-cum-mechanic had pulled out several screwdrivers and a pair of tweezers and began hooking Cloud's arm back together while Aerith told him about the fight. It wasn't a long process, but the sudden reconnection of nerves made Cloud jump and grit his teeth every time it happened, though he didn't cry out. Finally Cid could simply take both pieces, one in each hand, and pop it back together, good as new. "I'll wanna look at it more later, but right now you gotta make a public appearance an'-" his look quickly went to Aerith, who blushed faintly "-I know there's other stuff you wanna do. It'll hold you; come by t'morrow an' we'll sort the rest of it out."
"Thanks, Cid," Cloud said, standing and extending his hand to him.
"Can I get some help?" a deep voice called from outside the back.
Recognizing Leon's voice, Cloud led the other two to the balcony and looked over – and all of them were amazed to find the man in leather standing down there with Yuffie apparently passed out in his arms, which was not a good sign. Aerith's eyes widened as Cloud asked, "Where was she?"
"In the waterway. I can't climb up there holding her, come down and help me."
Cloud quickly jumped over the side, and working together they managed to hand Yuffie up to Aerith and Cid while moving her the least they could, and her guardian carried her over to the bed that Cloud had recently vacated. The two young men climbed up quickly and joined the small group as Aerith sat down next to her friend and once again placed her hands on her head.
"She only made it worse running off like that…" she murmured, then shook her head and closed her eyes, the green light blooming around her hands again. The one good thing about Yuffie being passed out was that she couldn't complain; head trauma patients could too easily slip into comas while sleeping, or even die, before a healer could see them. Yuffie had made her injury worse by slipping away, though Aerith couldn't tell how; she just poured more power into her friend to heal her.
Within twenty seconds Yuffie had returned to her normal color and her breathing had deepened; even though Yuffie didn't open her eyes when Aerith did, the healer still smiled. "She's really sleeping now. She lost a lot of energy, but she's fine, and she should be up in about an hour."
Cid nodded, taking his customary toothpick out of his mouth as if it were a cigarette. "I'll stay here with her then, you kids run along an' have fun."
"I don't like the crowds. I'll stay, you can go." But the look that Cid gave Leon at that statement made the gunblade wielder quickly change his mind, and he followed Cloud and Aerith out of the room as they left.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
AUTHOR'S NOTES II: Yeeeeeeeeah SoKai! Yes, Riku knows a lot sooner than Joey in the movie - but don't worry, that particular storyline isn't at all over. I'm devious and plotty, remember? It's gonna come back. But I'm going to be trying to shift more attention onto Leon and Yuffie from here on out - partially because that's the way the movie goes, and partially because they're supposed to be the main pairing. And now that they've actually sort of "come together" things can really get started - plus you get to find out about their pasts and what makes them tick. Everyone in this thing has a past - even Cid, even Bersi and Sanero - but the storyline has needed some to be kept quiet. By the end it'll all be out in the open, though.
A very big THANK YOU and wonderful credit to AngelKairi for her idea that she let me swipe - the metal armguards in Yuffie's gloves. She first did it in her story Rebuilding Lives (which is highly entertaining, go read it now) and said I could use her idea for my Yuffie. It was just such a "Yuffie" thing to do that it was perfect for her, and perfect for Taming. It'll also pop up at some point in Last Resort.
Remember, review replies are up in my livejournal! Let me know what you thought!