Author's Notes: Well it's a little late, FF.N was having troubles uploading, but I finally got this to work after watching Tristan + Isolde with my mom. So here's the next chapter.

Seriously, I must be doing something right here! This sweetie has almost 50 reviews! WOW! Thank you, thank you, thank you for your support, and please keep it up! I really love writing this, and obviously you guys love reading, so let's see this through to the end!

I guess I forgot to mention it, but I'll list ages so you're not confused, since they're a bit vague. Riku is seventeen, Sora and Tidus are sixteen, and Roxas is fifteen. There, now that we're all clear, we can enjoy!

Chapter 9

"A Visit"

Another boring day in the office. There was nothing much to do at the moment—no new parents coming in for fostering papers, and nobody he needed to visit. So he'd gone home early, just because he really needed some downtime. He was at home now, relaxing in front of his computer. He was twenty-seven years old, but that didn't bar him from talking to a few friends on the Internet. One of his closest ones, in fact, was on right now.

However, Squall only seemed the type to be social online. In the real world, he was quiet, stoic—kind, but not necessarily showing it in his face. He had wide brown spikes that reached to his shoulders, and a long, thin scar on the bridge of his nose from an incident as a child. He'd gotten over it. Squall now made it his job to show children that they could be loved in other homes if theirs didn't want them, or that they could find acceptance in the most unexpected places. And he enjoyed his job. Nobody knew him as Squall, though. He had changed his name when he hit twenty-three—from Squall to Leon.

His fingers made takka-takka sounds on the keyboard as he clicked away, making a reply to his friend. He'd been speaking to this one since about a year ago, and he found he quite liked this man (or at least, he was told it was a man behind the other computer. Always the careful one, Leon took his word for it, but never fully believed it).

RiddlezindaMiddlez (That was his friend) u have any children?

GrieversKeepers: no. I just help them.

RiddlezindaMiddlez: i do too. I adopted a few.

GrieversKeepers: good for you.

GrieversKeepers: considering what i know about you they must be very happy.

RiddlezindaMiddlez: oh, u dont know me all that well

RiddlezindaMiddlez: trust me

RiddlezindaMiddlez: not many do

Leon frowned. Takka-takka-takka-takka.

GrieversKeepers: and the children?

RiddlezindaMiddlez: the only ones who know my favorite color is blue

GrieversKeepers: ha ha ha. (He really did smirk that time) I know you like blue.

RiddlezindaMiddlez: liar, i never told you...

GrieversKeepers: your font is blue, Riddlez.

RiddlezindaMiddlez: how observant of you. (Another smirk earned)

GrieversKeepers: is that a "you don't know just because its blue" or a "damn, he got it right"?

RiddlezindaMiddlez: lol. I think its a little of both.

Leon had to stop when he heard his phone ringing in the kitchen. Sighing, he typed that he would be right back and then got up to take his eyes away from the computer for a moment, stalking into the other room and picking the cordless phone up off its receiver.

"Hello." His voice was a bit monotonous today, but it was deep and smooth. Many described it as "mysterious".

"Mister Leon?"

He frowned. "This is he." Such a businesslike tone.

"This is Edea Highwind..."

"Ah. Tidus' mother."

"Y...Yes...I apologize if it's late for you, but..." As Edea paused, Leon checked his watch on his wrist. Late? It was five-thirty P.M. "Leon, if your schedule is free, could you come and see us right away? Tidus, he...he's having some issues..."

"Mooom! I'm not the one with issues!"

Leon jerked away from the phone and stared at it. Well, it seems someone was a sneaky little thing, eavesdropping on the conversation like that. Nevertheless, he said calmly:

"Good afternoon to you, too, Tidus."

"Oops. Um, sorry, man. But you know I can't trust Mom with this information."

"Tidus!" cried Edea.

"Well, it's true! You've been lying through your teeth already!" Tidus sighed into the phone. "But yeah, come over ASAP, 'kay? I want to talk to you about it myself."

"Tidus, you can't do this! Let me speak! I'm your mother!"

Leon shook his head. The two of them bickered for a little bit, and he almost disappeared into the background, had he not interjected suddenly.

"It's quite all right, Edea. If Tidus wants to talk to me face-to-face, then I'll give him the opportunity."

"...Well, all right, but I want to be there, too."

"Nooo, Mom, you'll mess it all up."

"Tidus Heartilly Highwind!"

"Uh-oh, the Three-Name!" joked Tidus. Half-joked, really.

"Tidus, listen to your mother." Leon warned. The teen just sighed.

"Fine, sorry."

"I apologize, Leon. Just try to be over sometime today."

"Actually, I wasn't doing much just now," Leon said, checking his watch again, "I could come over right away."

"That would be wonderful," Edea sighed. "Thank you."

"Not at all, ma'am." And then he paused, adding, "Tidus, I suppose I'll be seeing you in thirty minutes."

"Cool." Tidus said. "Thanks, Leon."

Leon nodded, but remembered they couldn't hear that. "Until then, Misses Highwind."

The other two on the line said their farewells, and Leon hung up the phone. He returned to the computer fairly quickly, just to say he would be gone.

GrieversKeepers: b. sorry, i g2g.

GrieversKeepers: last-minute appointment w/ client.

RiddlezindaMiddlez: i understand. c u later.

GrieversKeepers: later.

(GrieversKeepers has signed off.)

Tidus sighed as Edea applied another fresh cold pack to his beaten face. And Sora thought he'd been on Riku's bad side—apparently, Tidus had done something even worse than Sora! The sandy-haired blond had swollen red cheeks and a big fat bruise on his upper lip, plus his stomach hurt like Hell.

"Mom, you should have told him to go see Riku, not me."

"Are you nuts? That boy was the one who attacked you!"

Tidus opened his mouth to speak. Edea cut him off:

"And don't tell me that he's any different than I think—I think I know quite well how Riku is by now! I'm not permitting you to go near him as long as he's acting this strangely, do you understand?"

Tidus sulked, sighing.

"No phone calls to his house, no inviting him to your parties, no talking to him at school. Am I clear, Tidus?" Tidus mumbled under his breath, and Edea narrowed her eyes. "I said, am I clear, Tidus?"

"Yes, ma'am," the blond groaned. He hadn't won the first time he'd argued this, so he was giving up by now. He could scream about it until he was blue in the face, but it wouldn't help his argument any.

Edea shook her head and sighed, murmuring under her breath. "Boy rocks back and forth like a ship in a storm. Can't tell how he's going to act, who he's going to punch…why he's allowed to behave like that, I'll never know…"

"Leon's here!" Tidus jumped up then, tearing himself away from Edea's care to pull back the window curtains by the door, watching as a sleek little red Saturn pulled up to the curb. In black designing on the side was a profile of a lion roaring, his mane pulling across the side of the car like flames. It had been Leon's car since he wrecked his first one at twenty because of an accident, and Tidus noticed the brunet took very good care of it. Speaking of Leon, that was who was walking up to their door right now, and Tidus swung it open before he reached it.

"Hi, Leon! Thanks for coming!"

Leon was a little startled when he got a closer look at Tidus' face. "What happened to you?"

"Riku punched me."

Edea frowned. "Punched you? He tried to choke you, Tidus!"

Tidus glared at her. "MOM," he hissed under his breath.

"Choke? Punch? Riku?" Leon already looked concerned. Riku and violent tendencies were not good things to hear in the same sentence. He wasn't around for when Ansem was caring for him—Riku was pretty fight-susceptible when he was assigned to Leon four years ago, when he was thirteen, but he had apparently grown worse as the years passed. Leon couldn't understand what happened to make Riku so wrathful.

But he could guess…

Tidus winced as he met eyes with his Foster Agent. "Yyyeaaahh…we got into a fight at school, and…"

Leon crossed his arms. "I hope to God you didn't start it."

"Leon, look at me. Do I look like the kind of kid to start a fight?"

Leon gave Tidus a sideways glance. "I don't know, Tidus. You tried to maul Alex when you were younger…"

"That doesn't count!" Tidus whined. "He started it, and besides, he's a jerk!"

"Whatever," the older man shrugged. "So may I come in…?"

"Sure, sure!" Tidus stepped aside and waved him in. "Get comfy, and let's talk…"

When Leon was briefed by Tidus on what had happened, and the strange things he noticed about Riku that morning, Leon wasn't entirely happy to hear it. He had heard this situation once before, except it was with another kid at Riku's school. It was all exactly the same—the Gothic wear, the cold shoulder attitude, and the sudden assault at the end of the day. Leon remembered it perfectly. (He had a good memory.) This wasn't the first time Riku had repeated incidents, either. He tried to assign Riku to someone else, but Ansem refused to give him up, and it was only once in a while that things got this bad. Sufficed to say, Leon was running on very little evidence that justified pulling Riku out by force.

It bugged him. Much like Ansem did.

Sitting on Edea's couch next to Tidus, Leon put a hand to his forehead. He felt a headache coming on. He needed Aspirin.

"Hey Leon, can I ask you to do something for me?" Tidus asked.

"What's that?" grunted Leon.

Tidus peered up at him a bit, since Leon's eyes were shadowed by his hand.

"I'm really worried about Riku. I know I sound crazy, but, he's my friend and I love him like a brother. Sure, he's ill-behaved sometimes and he's a total nutcase on occasion…like today…but I know that he didn't used to be like that, because I knew him when he moved here. And I'm just worried that something might have happened to him. I can't do anything about it, though, especially now, so…" Tidus breathed in, taking a break, "…I was wondering if…if you could keep an eye on him for me? Or to try? Please, Leon?"

The foster agent sighed. "I've been trying, Tidus."

The blond fell silent in awe. "…I…I'm sorry…?"

"You're right, when you say Riku's acting strange. But I can't do anything about it. I'm just the agent who assigns him to his home. Unless Ansem gives him up or I gather enough evidence, I can't get him out of whatever trouble he's in."

"You mean you've been keeping track?"

"Only two other families ever got upset enough to call and complain to me. I assume the rest consulted Ansem." Leon shook his head. "That man…no one else who came to the agency wanted Riku. He was the only one who signed his papers. I couldn't refuse Riku the only home that would take him in…"

Tidus frowned. "Leon? What are you saying? Are you trying to say that Ansem's an unfit parent somehow?"

Leon paused, silent, then he looked up. Shaking his head. "I've said too much," he grumbled. "Never mind, Tidus."

"What? How can you just expect me to leave it there? You make it sound like you knew Ansem was doing…something…" Tidus' eyes widened. "Wait, is Ansem…?"

Leon grabbed his folder of papers and stood up. "I think we've had enough to talk about for one day." He said. Tidus gawked.

"But—!"

Leon gave Tidus a firm glare. "I said, I think we've talked enough." He shook the folder at him. "And don't take anything I say seriously, you know how I mumble."

Tidus leered at him and crossed his arms, pouting. Yes, he knew quite well how Leon mumbled. The man had been assigning and re-assigning him for five years since he was ten. Leon was practically his brother. But just because Leon would mumble didn't mean it wasn't important. Leon never mentioned something unless it was important. He was a very quiet man, and very to-the-point. If it was something worth mentioning, it was something worth investigating.

Not saying anything, Tidus watched Leon turn to the kitchen. "Misses Highwind? Your son and I are done talking. I hope that everything goes well. Make sure that Tidus heals up."

"Of course I will," Edea responded.

Leon nodded. Good, he thought. "Goodbye, then. I'll check in again in a few weeks—say on the sixteenth of September?"

"Awright! That's close to my birthday!" Tidus exclaimed.

"That would be nice." said Edea.

Leon nodded again and headed for the door. Tidus opened it for him, seeing him out. He waved to Leon in his little red Saturn before the man drove away, and as soon as he was gone and the door was shut, Tidus grew very grim.

Was Ansem really the unfit parent Leon seemed to think he was?

With the way Riku acted, one could only wonder…

Ansem stared at Riku from across the kitchen table, and Riku just looked down at it, waiting for the scenario to start. He breathed deeply, trying to calm himself, pulling up painful memories—prepping himself for the agony and humiliation about to fall upon him. Again.

Even his mind had given up. Normally, trauma at such volumes would cause a complete case of amnesia. It was logical; Riku was a textbook example. Except that, he'd experienced it so much, that his mental defenses had given up trying to guard him from the pain. He even remembered the times before when he had experienced mild amnesia, and only once had it ever been severe, but he somehow managed to come back from it. With Ansem's help. "Another reason why you owe me every part of your body," he'd said with his sickening tone. "Everything about you, you owe to me. I helped you get it back."

As horrible as it made him feel, Riku was forced into a corner if he disagreed, because in a way, Ansem was right.

"So you attacked your friend today, I hear."

Because you wanted me to do something, Riku thought, What else was I supposed to do?

Tidus deserved it, his obedient reflexes corrected him. He betrayed you. He made you lose your Free Day. He deserved every bit of what you gave him.

Riku wasn't sure if he was tightening his fists because he was angry at Tidus, for ruining his Free Day, or at Ansem, for forcing him into such a horrible spot. He even went so far once as to say that he loved Tidus. Deep inside him, where the flames of his true self were being smothered, a little tiny piece of him was crying.

"Yeah, so?" was Riku's defiant answer, only just convincing enough to keep Ansem's disgusting arousal hard. Riku didn't care anymore. He did everything just to Ansem's satisfaction, and that was it. Nothing more. He didn't want anything more.

"I'm very disappointed, Riku." Ansem stood up, his hands folded behind his back. "You've been a very bad boy."

Riku felt his consciousness sinking, lower and lower. Here it comes. Get ready. He hung his head, biting his lip, drawing a silent breath.

"And do you know what happens to boys like you, Riku?"

He remained silent. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ansem pull out a vibrating sex toy. Memories flashed in his head, about how familiar it was, and he clenched his fists tight, recalling the pain.

"They get punished."

Author's Notes: Ugh, the end. Another part I loathed writing.

What's this? Leon knows something! Oh ho! The plot thickens!