When the Light Returned, Chapter Thirteen
Disclaimer – I own nothing except the story idea, don't sue please.
Sighing a bit to herself and nervously twiddling her fingers, Yuffie swung her short legs back and forth off of Leon's tall bed and awaited his return. He had told her he was going to visit Aerith and Cloud and have a short talk with them, but he would be back soon to talk to her, and he had something important to say. As she paused and looked up to the ceiling, she felt an almost imperceptible smile tug at her lips; Cloud and Aerith were just so cute, though six months ago, when Cloud first returned, she never would have believed that she would ever think that about the two of them.
She supposed it was because of Leon's acceptance to the whole situation. Though the first week or so was rather awkward, Leon choosing to eat his meals in his room and to socialize with the couple as little as possible, he gradually warmed up to Cloud, and soon the two seemed to actually be friends. Aerith, of course, was delighted with this unusual bond between the two of them. Yuffie, however, who still secretly harbored hatred for Cloud and maybe even a little bit for Aerith as well, found the match to be somewhat odd. However, after seeing that Leon really was ok with the fact that the two were dating and that Cloud genuinely wanted to make friends with both Leon and Yuffie, she decided to bite the bullet, let her anger from past events dissipate, and become friends with Cloud.
Her thoughts on the past were interrupted as Leon clomped into the room, a smile playing across his lips. Yuffie felt her own lips twitch upwards on their own accord; simply seeing Leon at all made her day, and seeing him so happy made her even gladder. "You're all smiles tonight. What's up, Leon?"
"Well," he cheerfully replied as he let his coat fall from his arms and to the ground, revealing the tight muscles on his bulging arms (Yuffie caught her breath a little and felt a blush tinge her cheeks), "I had a chat with Aerith and Cloud about love. Yep, that's right, love."
Though her first emotion upon hearing those words was hurt that Leon didn't confide with her this information before going to Aerith and Cloud, she also felt intrigued at his strange explanation. Love? Why would he talk to them about love? "Well…what do you mean? Why did you talk to them about something like that?"
"Because, Yuffie…" He now was on the bed next to her, and a brilliantly red rose had appeared in his hand. Yuffie gaped from the rose to his face as he smiled dashingly at her and finished, "I love you!"
Oh my God…Suddenly feeling slightly faint, Yuffie reeled on the bed and felt Leon catch her. Finally, her emotions were being reciprocated…finally, he had gotten over Aerith…
"I…I love you too…" Leon, still smiling, pressed the rose into her shaking fingers and leaned over for a kiss. Yuffie's eyes fluttered closed…
"C'mon sleepyhead! Aren't you ever going to get up? It's practically noon!"
With a gasp at the intrusion, I open my eyes enough to see Aerith standing over my bed with her hands on her hips, beaming at me. As I feel the dream receding from me and returning back to my subconscious, I groan a little. The same dream as always… "Ugh…Aerith, let me sleep a bit longer…pleeeease…"
"No way! We all have plans today, remember? We're going down to the restoration site and setting up Hollow Bastion's defense mechanism! C'mon, it'll be fun, and we should have left an hour ago! Leon just insisted that you sleep a little longer."
"Leon…" Without realizing it, I whisper his name and suddenly feel wide awake. Not surprising that he would be the one to look out for my well-being. After all, he is the most caring, amazing, handsome man I've ever met…Aerith's hands waving in front of my vision suddenly snap me out of my daydream.
"Ooh la la, does someone have a crush on Mr. Leonhart himself? When I came in here to wake you up, I did hear you whispering in your sleep…"
"Augh! Get out! Get outta my room!" Giggling, Aerith dodges the pillow I throw at her head and ducks out of the room, leaving me mortified and blushing. Was I really talking in my sleep? Did I whisper my love for him into the pillow? My dreams obviously show how desperate I am for a sign, any sort of sign, that he likes me as more than a friend. After all, it's been over six months since Aerith broke the news to him, and since her and Cloud have been dating. Six months is long enough to get over heartbreak, right? Six months is long enough to discover who was really there for him when he needed someone the most…right?
Yeah right. With that scornful thought bouncing around in my mind, I slowly arise, stretching liberally, and begin to change out of my pajamas and into my shorts and tank top. As usual, it's incredibly warm here at Hollow Bastion, and the clothes seem to stick to me as soon as I put them on. With a little sigh of disgust, I skip from my room and to the dining room.
Sure enough, everyone is up and waiting for me when I reach the dining room. Cloud, who is leaning against a wall close to the door, is closest to me, and he smiles that hesitant smile at me and gestures to the table. "There's some food left," he says in that quiet, contented voice of his. "It's probably gone cold by now, but it's still out." I return his smile and walk towards the table, all the while wondering at how different Cloud has become since he first returned.
When he first straggled in to Hollow Bastion, he wore that loosely-fitting, all-encompassing outfit, which he has since thrown away. Now he simply wears a black tank top, black jeans and a long trench coat with only one sleeve. His hair, once spiky and on the verge of being out of control, is now shorter and easier for him to manage. Those eyes, that used to be piercing to look at and frightening to comprehend, are now soft and gentle. He is now a quiet man, satisfied with life and at peace with his own warring self. The wry and sarcastic attitude he used to possess still crops up, every now and then, but it isn't the only way he knows how to act anymore, thanks to Aerith.
I glance at her as well, chatting amiably with Leon about the weather, and I realize that she has drastically changed as well. She, too, has shorn off her long hair ("It was such a burden," she smiled to everyone as they gaped at her new look), and her gentle smile comes even easier to her now than it used to. Having a wicked playful side, she loves to lightheartedly tease and joke with everyone, as she did with me earlier today. She glances over and notices that I'm looking at her, and she gives me an exaggerated wink. Knowing all too well what she is referring to, I look away and feel a hot blush spread over my cheeks.
"Good afternoon Yuffie! Good to see you're finally awake." I smile and nod to Leon, all too aware that my blush is still there, and grab a few Danishes; though they are cold and somewhat stale, they are a perfect breakfast for me. Taking a large bite of one and feeling the strawberry filling spill a little out of the corner of my mouth, I cannot help but think about Leon.
Out of the four of us here in Hollow Bastion, he is the one who has changed the most drastically in the past half year. Though at first he acted a bit listless and somewhat sullen to Cloud and Aerith, he eventually warmed up to them more than any of us had ever thought possible. After about a week of ignoring Cloud, he finally had a long conversation with him one day (the details of which I am still foggy on), and after that, they seemed to genuinely like each other and forgave each other for loving the same woman. They occasionally spar, as if they were old war buddies, to keep up their strength. Leon is respectful when it comes to Aerith, and he gives the couple their space. From what he tells me when we have our long conversations sitting on his bed at night, he is actually staring to move on. This is such a large change from the broken, almost hopelessly in love man that I knew before Cloud. It's so nice to know that now his love for Aerith doesn't get into the way of us spending time together…
"Are you tired or something, Yuffie? You've just stared at me for over a minute now…" Snapping out of it yet again, I blink and giggle.
"Sorry, Leon, I was just daydreaming! This Danish was just so good…I…couldn't think about anything else!" He laughs along with me, and everything is all right again, for the moment. But I cannot stop chastising myself in my head – all I've been able to do lately is dream about Leon, both when I'm sleeping and awake. I just need to snap out of it, and realize that even though Leon is my best friend, nothing can come of my attraction towards him. He's a good friend and nothing more…
"Well," I call out a little too loudly, "I'm ready to go! Let's get this show on the road!"
---------------------------
"That seemed to go pretty well," Leon smiles at me as he sits crosslegged on my bed, leaning his head against the wall. Nodding, I look out my high, barred window to the beautiful night sky. Hollow Bastion always did have gorgeous nights, with stars blanketing the sky from all levels. It's too bad we still have to worry about heartless and keeping them out of the castle. Hopefully, however, the defense mechanism we worked so hard to build today will help. I have a feeling it will aid us immensely. "Looks like, if this goes well, I'll be able to leave without worrying about you and Aerith's safety."
I am so busy wondering at my small vision of the sky that it takes more than a few seconds to dawn on me what he's talking about. "Wait…Leon?"
"I wanted to tell you first," he says quietly, smiling his gentle and handsome smile at me. I gape as he continues, "I know I'm moving on, and that life is great here, and everything…but I feel too different. I really do enjoy Cloud's company, and Aerith is so happy with him. And, of course, you're the one who's always stuck up for me, through thick and through thin. You've never let me down, Yuffie, and for that I am grateful."
The unexpected compliment makes me blush, and I now stare down at my feet. "But, Yuffie, I just can't stay here. Something about this place has changed so drastically I can't even name it. Though it's good in many ways, it's also terrible…I feel like I'm wasting away here, with the same three friends, knowing that nothing is really coming of my life. I've got to get out of here and adventure, experience life more."
Still looking down at my feet, I feel completely unexpected tears pulling at my eyelids, and my hands have started to quaver in the slightest. Leon…leave me? Leave me with only Cloud and Aerith as my company? As if he hasn't hit me with a hard enough sledgehammer in the last few minutes, he decides to continue talking. "I've had this idea for a while now, but I didn't want to leave if you all needed me to assist you in your battle against the heartless. But, after today and seeing how much this will aid us all, I realized that my time is up here. I can leave without worries…"
There are long moments of silence in the room. Now I sit curled up with my knees to my chest, staring indefinitely at the wall ahead of me. I know that if I don't look at him, I'll be fine, and I won't cry. I just have to stare at that wall, that comforting, never-moving wall, and I can try to forget about this crazy notion of Leon's.
"…Yuffie? What do you think about it?" Now I can feel his eyes boring into me. How can he ask to know my thoughts on the matter when I'm about to break down?
"If…if it makes you happy," I finally mumble. My explanation is just short enough that it cuts off before my shaking voice reveals my emotions and just long enough to put Leon completely at ease with his decision.
"Oh Yuffie, I knew you'd say that! You're such a good friend." As he companionably rubs my shoulder, I sink even deeper into myself. "Well, that was all I had to talk to you about tonight, really. I think I'm going to get some sleep now and think a little bit more about the whole thing. As usual, thank you for the advice, Yuffie…"
My entire curled body is suddenly embraced in his warm arms, and comfort courses through me. Then, unexpectedly, my eyes open wide as he gently presses his lips to my cheek.
"Besides, it's not like anyone's going to really miss me if I go," his cheerful words cut deep into me as he stops for a moment in the doorway. "Good night, Yuffie!"
And then, closing the door behind him, Leon leaves. For long moments his final words ring in my ears, along with everything else he has told me. Now I can let the tears freely fall, because I just told the man I love that it was perfectly all right for him to leave me and go adventuring.
"It's not true," I whisper now, far too late. "People are going to miss you. I'm going to miss you…"
Uncurling myself so I am splayed on my stomach on the bed, I bury my face into the pillow and sob. I feel just like Leon did when Cloud returned. My love is leaving me just as his did…
It's going to be a long night.
To Be ContinuedAuthor's Notes: Wow, I did it again. I finished a chapter within a day. I know it's odd – I wasn't sure how to start it, and suddenly the idea of her having a dream just seemed rather amusing to me. And I skipped the entire day because it wasn't really important to get all the details about. And maybe I was too lazy as well. Meh..
And isn't it funny how the best-laid plans seem to go astray? I had a general idea for this chapter, and I ended up expanding it so much that I couldn't fit all of my general idea into it. I might actually have to extend this out another chapter…but if I do, I'm still keeping my promise. One chapter still goes up a day until it's finished, no matter how many I have to add.
I hope you guys like it. Next chapter is finished and will be up tomorrow. Until then, PP