Something interesting struck me today. Have any of you noticed that not ONCE in any of my stories has the sentence "I Love You" been uttered by any of the characters? That was intentional. I believe—not that you really have any reason to care about my opinion—that "I love you" makes things seem likea bubble-gum romance of some teeny-bopper highschool drama. Love should be expressed through actions. Most people—or so I've found—forget that, and think that the words are enough. It's used far too freely. Granted, there are a few cases in which the sentence is entirely appropriate (such as with a married couple/ soon to be weds), but here (at least in these two stories), I don't think it's necessary. I also can't stand it when the words "Boyfriend/girlfriend/lover" are added to describe a person. It has the same feel as said teeny-bopper highschool drama, and quite frankly, it irks me. Again, not that you have any reason to care, I was just...I don't know. To each his own I suppose!

Al-Bhed Theif- Thank you very much for your review. Yeah, I thought it would be too messy to have him actually feel bad. That kind of stuff sometimes turns out corny anyway!

AquilaStrife- Thank you for the review. I'm glad you liked it. I'm sorry about your lack of KH2. I really hate to do this, but...IT IS A KILLER GAME! THE GRAPHICS ARE AMAZING! The FMV graphics are indeed as good as—if not better than—the trailer too. To me, the only problem is that the plot is a little hard to follow, and it's pretty short considering. (Not that I've beaten it yet...) Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get it soon!

Losthimagain- Thank you so much! That question occurred to me as well, after all it's not very KH if Riku and Sora aren't in it. Originally I was going to, but I think it's a bit late for that. Oh well.

XO'MagickMoon'OX- Thanks for the review! You don't like how Seifer was portrayed? I thought it was pretty funny. Hah! I really enjoyed writing the argument scene, so I'm glad it came out well. I agree. It would have been a mite corny if Seifer had felt guilty. I wanted to try something different! Also, I didn't know there was such a problem with update alerts. I may have to go check out mine as well. Thanks for the heads up!

Angstluver- Thank you very much for your thoughts! I hope you enjoy the next chapter as well!

Man, that was long, but a process that was necessary. I really appreciate the reviews, so do keep them coming! On with the story! I own nothing!


The chilly wind flipped the lapels of Cloud's jacket up around his face. He snorted in annoyance at both the cold and his slightly aching fist. Neither of the issues were important at the moment though. Leon was.

Seifer lay crumpled at his feet and a little blood dripped from his nose. Without even acknowledging him, Cloud looked skyward. He faintly remembered watching Leon running off to his right. Behind him stood the dorm room, so there wasn't a possibility he had returned home without Cloud noticing it (at least not through that door). That probably meant Leon was still roaming around outside.

Almost immediately he wanted to punch himself in the face. How could he have left Leon alone to wander around the campus? It was dark, and cold, and... there were far too many possibilities as to what could have happened to him. His demeanor flipping completely around, Cloud instantly changed from the previous dark and strong body guard to the worried and frantic mother hen. He abandoned Seifer's body in search of his roommate.

Just passing the library and gallery, Cloud dimly noted that there were hundreds of places that Leon could have been. It was dark and the shadows that hung over nearly everything provided even more cover for those who didn't want to be found. It was Leon's determination against his. Who would surrender first?

The cold was a very important factor, even more so than the late night and danger of stalking around in the dark. His hands were still quite cold, even with them shoved deep into his pockets. As thin as Leon was, it would take no time at all for the air to chill him to the bone. Inevitably he would catch a cold, and inevitably he would blame Cloud for it.

Quickening his pace, Cloud scanned the area as best he could. With the number of buildings alone, the possibilities were endless, but with the addition of night, the whole search was nearly impossible. The dark silhouettes of the trees licked up the side of the building, mocking his worry and snickering at his advancement through the frigid night. Still, he checked each side of both buildings and nearly every nook and cranny visible. Leon wasn't anywhere to be found.

Reluctantly, he pressed on, dimly wondering if there was some place in the area that he had forgotten. Turning the corner of the walkway, he could hear the low buzz of the street lights above. The dim light did little to aid his cause, but at least he wasn't stumbling around in complete darkness. One of the school buildings was in sight, as was the student resource center.

First, he tried the doors. He hoped that Leon might have gone inside to warm up. That thought alone put Cloud's mind at rest. Giving the handles a quick rattle, he discovered that the doors were locked. Well, at the very least, he had eliminated a few hiding spots. With no time to appreciate the elimination, he hurried on to the next section of the campus: the court yard.


Leaning back against the cool ceramic of the bathtub, Leon was deep in thought. Upon returning home a while ago, he had decided to take a bath to relax his mind and dissolve some of the chills from running around outside. The warm and lightly fragrant water did little to relax him however, because his mixed feelings and thoughts about Cloud were yet to be dealt with.

He sank lower into the water.

Cloud hadn't returned home, giving him a while to brood in solitude, but the want to have him near again was a little distracting. He wanted to question him about Seifer, talk to him, but moreover, he just wanted to make sure he was okay. It was strange. They had only been apart for a short time, but already, Leon was beginning to miss him.

Why did he miss him so much? He looked toward the ceiling thoughtfully. Cloud had been what Leon would have considered to be unreasonably kind for quite a while. (Well, unreasonable for Cloud anyway.) He had done everything from walking him to class, to coming in quietly just in case Leon was trying to study or—depending on the hour—sleep.

Now as he was sitting in the tub musing, he smiled at how peculiar it made him feel. It was a bit strange feeling so well thought of. It was exciting, and flattering and endearing all at the same time. After all, the majority of his life had been spent as the object of mockery. In fact, up until a few months ago, Leon had thought Cloud was the epicenter to all his misery. Now though, with a few adjustments to their dorm life, a compromise or two and a little thoughtfulness, Cloud had changed it all, and the change was... lovely.

As great as the niceties were, surely that alone wasn't the reason. Maybe it was just Cloud's presence that made him feel so happy. That had to be it. Without really noticing it up until now, Leon had always enjoyed the time that they had spent together, even thought quite a bit of the times had been spent locked into a disagreement. Some of the times when he was alone in the hallway, he would inadvertently glance over his shoulder, expecting to see Cloud running up behind him.

Then there were the instances that had occurred recently. Cloud had kissed him—an act of affection all by itself—and then once Seifer had shown up, he had protected him with a passion that Leon found exceptionally flattering. His face flushed in remembrance. Cloud could be perfectly wonderful when he wanted to be.

Sighing in contentment and feeling that the water was beginning to lose some of its heat, he found the lever with his foot, pushed it up and let the tub drain. Wherever Cloud was at the present moment, he hoped he would return soon.

As he watched the last of the water swirl down the drain, a thought occurred to him. Cloud had been gone for quite some time. Leon recalled the time he himself had spent outside thinking, and then adding in the time it had taken for him to finish his bath. Added together, that was quite a time span. Where on earth was he? Surely Cloud wouldn't be out there looking for him...would he?

Hopping up, he grabbed the towel on the rack and quickly dried himself off. There was simply no way. Surely Cloud would think he had sense enough to come home from the cold autumn night! His face flushed again, this time from embarrassment.

Cloud had actually never seen him return, after all he took the back way into the dormitory to avoid watching Cloud and Seifer argue. All this time, he had been taking a nice warm bath and Cloud was probably miserable wandering about the campus.

By now Cloud was fueled with the desire to hurry home as well as the initial cause of finding Leon. It was getting colder, and he could feel it. His fingers were going num, his face was freezing, and he was getting just the slightest bit tired of seeing his breath come out in puffs. He had checked the court yard twice before deciding that Leon was definitely not there. That certainly took a lot of time since the majority of the plant life consisted of bushes and small trees...which meant more places to look. The whole venture was getting discouraging. When Leon didn't want to be found, he wasn't going to be found.

He stared at the sky in frustration. The moon was full and luminous. It was time to give up the search, and time to return home.

Leon had just finished dressing, and was searching around the room for his door key. When he was in a hurry, he tended to get flustered, making the search far more difficult than it needed to be. Glancing to his side though, he noticed it sitting in an extremely obvious spot on his dresser. He really hoped his search for Cloud wouldn't be as ridiculous.

Snatching up the key, he rushed to the door. Wherever Cloud was, he hoped he was alright. He threw open the door however finding himself struck. He was just in time to see Cloud, standing there fishing around in his pocket for his own key.

Cloud looked up from his pocket and realized that Leon—the one whom he had been searching for during the past half an hour—was standing in the doorway with a look of quizzical shock splayed across his face. Instead of first thinking how dense he had been for not looking in the dorm in the first place, Cloud's primary thought was how glad he was to see that he was alright.

Without even thinking, he pulled Leon into him hugging his roommate warmly.

"Man, am I glad to see you're okay."

Leon's face flushed a bright pink. His arms were stiff. "Um...thanks. Glad...to see you're...um... okay too." He tried to smile, but the burning sensation in his face wouldn't permit him to do so properly.

Then it suddenly became silent—uncomfortably so—and Cloud's face flushed as well. Now that he was standing there with his arms wrapped around Leon—something he had done again without really thinking—he wasn't exactly sure what to do next. Quickly he dropped his arms to his sides and chuckled nervously.

They stared at each other in silence until Leon said quietly, "Um...why don't you...come in and...um...warm up?"

Cloud nodded and followed him into the dorm. It was indeed much warmer than it was outside.

"So..." He began. "You've been here the whole time?"

"Um...well, I've been here for a while." Leon said nervously while adjusting the thermostat that they both knew had been broken for a while. "I...didn't know you were looking for me."

"Ahem...well...I mean... you know..." Cloud peeled off his coat and put it on the hanger.

"...Yeah. That was...um...awfully nice of you."

"It's nothing."

Now they both sat down on their beds facing each other, not making the conversing any easier since they could both see each other clearly. It was quiet again. Leon looked at his hands on his knees, and Cloud looked at his bed spread trying to come up with something to say. Then he had it.

"You...smell nice!" He said with a grin. Suddenly he realized how weird that sounded and tried to cover his embarrassment with a fit of coughs.

Leon's face turned bright red and it spread to his ears. "I...had a bath earlier." He inclined his head to the bathroom. "Um...you can use it...if you want to. It'll help you...um...warm up?"

"Oh...n-no thank you. I'm...er...fine."

Just as expected, the uncomfortable silence filled in the room. Cloud was embarrassed about so forcefully hugging Leon at the door, and Leon was embarrassed because Cloud had been looking for him in the cold when he was actually in the dorm. Cloud mistook Leon's embarrassment for fear and figured he had made him uncomfortable, and Leon became even more embarrassed at Cloud's increasing rate of embarrassment. They were feeding off each other.

Leon couldn't take the silence, so he asked the question he had intended to ask anyway. "So...um...what happened?"

"You mean after you Left?"

Leon nodded.

Cloud saw the opportunity to rid them of the silence. He stood up nervously and began to speak. "Well..." He was getting skittish again. That meant he had to start pacing, pacing and ranting. He marched back and forth across the floor blathering on in nervousness, sometimes repeating himself but never stumbling over words.

Leon watched in amazement as Cloud went on and on. He probably wasn't even thinking about what he was saying, he was just talking. Much of it he didn't understand, no matter how smoothly Cloud spoke, but he did catch a few interesting pieces. Poor Cloud's face was turning shades of red Leon had never seen on another human being, and the way he jabbed his fist in the air at times made Leon think he was going to start a governmental revolution.

Cloud was trying not to act nervous alright, but it was all coming out in his speech. Had Leon not been so jittery himself, he really would have enjoyed watching Cloud go off on a tangent. Slowly though, Cloud's voice began to meld evenly. His words started to come together into complete thoughts as he recounted events from the last hour or so. The pacing hadn't recessed at all though.

Leon kept his eyes glued to his hands, as he listened. He nodded now and then to ensure Cloud he was paying full attention, but he mainly stayed still. There were things he wanted to say to Cloud. The thoughts he had conjured up earlier while musing in the bath needed to be put to words, he thought. But then he heard Cloud's feet stop pacing the floor. He looked up. Cloud's eyes were fiery and dauntless.

"...and then I decked the bastard."

Leon gaped suddenly. "You hit him?" He asked, not finding himself as upset as he would have thought. Cloud shrugged lightly in affirmation.

And then they were silent again. Leon bit the inside of his cheek. Cloud seemed to relax a bit more, but then he noticed the disquietude of thoughtfulness manifesting around his roommate. Leon was thinking again, but what about, Cloud was lost.

Leon was searching for the right way to begin. He had so many things to say, his heart was throbbing with the need to get them out. Formulating his feelings into words however was difficult. He was saddened by his own inability to speak.

Cloud tipped his head to the side, eying Leon with curiosity and concern. "Are you okay?" He asked stepping forward. The coy yet strained expression of his face did something to his heart. It was rapidly pounding at his rib-cage with a ferocity that threatened to split his chest open. He wanted to hold this delicate entity in front of him. He wanted to feel it's beauty in his hands and envelope himself with the feeling of warmheartedness congenital to holding fragile works of art.

Gently, he placed his hands on Leon's shoulders. "Hey," He spoke in a voice thickly covered with concern. "What's the matter?"

Leon looked up with a start. His hands were wringing together in his lap. He could see the blue flicker in Cloud's eyes. They were fair with the effervesce of quartz glass.

His thumbs softly caressed the skin of his neck, and Leon's breath caught in his throat.

"Leon," Cloud said gently. His finger tips followed the angle of his jawbone to the softly glowing pink in his cheeks.

Leon finally mustered up enough courage to speak."Cloud..." He breathed just above a whisper. "Earlier today...you...kissed me."

Cloud looked shameful for a moment, his face flushed lightly. "Oh...um...right."

"Did you mean it?"

"Did...did I mean what?"

"Did you mean to kiss me...or...was it an accident?"

"I..." His face was burning now, like the color of blooming roses. "I...did," he decided with a sigh. "I did...and I'm sorry if I was out of line. I just..." Cloud let his sentence drop.

"I see." The ends of his lips tugged into a bit of a smile. "Cloud?"

"Yeah?"

"I...I want you to kiss me again."

"What?" His mouth hung agape.

Leon continued. "I...I like how it feels. I like how it feels with you."

Cloud looked into his eyes intently, they shimmered with an aqueous beauty.

So Cloud dipped his head downward. Their lips touched and they were kissing and he could taste the breath held in Leon's throat.

Leon pulled away slowly, his lips quivering in excitement and curiosity.

"What...now?"

Cloud smiled down at him with deep affection. "We'll figure something out."


Goodness! One more chapter to go! Please review—assuming of course that you've read—and you have my thanks!