.

۵۵۵۵۵
-Chapter Nineteen-
Reunion
۵۵۵۵۵

When Leon came to, he was alone in Cloud's room, feverish and sedated. As some of the grogginess began to wear off and his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, he realized that he wasn't alone after all; a chair had been brought into the room, and there was a woman sitting in it. She was wearing a long, pink dress and had long auburn hair tied back in a ponytail with a pink ribbon. Leon tried to raise himself up, but fell back to the bed when pain flared in his right shoulder. A glance at the offending shoulder revealed professional bandaging. Right... The tournament. Sephiroth. The Masamune.

He attempted to lever himself up again, this time using only his left arm, and succeeded in elevating himself enough to bring the room into a more upright perspective, though his vision was still distorted. He squinted his eyes, attempting to bring the woman into focus. "Aerith?" What was Aerith doing at the coliseum?

"Good try, Loverboy, but wrong."

No, not Aerith. Leon couldn't imagine Aerith ever calling him Loverboy. Thank god.

"Megara's the name," the woman said, sashaying over to his bedside and placing a cool hand on his forehead. "Ooh, you're still burning up there, honey. Here, drink this." She handed him a small vial of amber liquid.

"What's in it?"

"Couldn't say," Aerith's doppelganger replied. "The healer left it."

Leon squinted his eyes again. No, the woman didn't really look like Aerith after all, and her eyes were the wrong color. "Just some water, please," he requested, indicating the glass on a small table that had also been brought into the room and placed beside the bed. He suspected that whatever was in that vial would just put him back to sleep.

"Suit yourself," she said, handing him the glass of water. "I'll go get Phil and Wonderboy. They asked me to come get them when you woke up."

"Wonderboy?" Was that the strange woman's nickname for Cloud? "You mean Cloud?"

"Herc," she replied with a roll of her eyes, as if Leon were a bit on the dense side.

"Hercules is here?"

"Got back two days ago," she informed him.

Two days? "How long have I been out?"

Megara shrugged. "Three or four days?"

"And Cloud?" Leon looked around the room for any sign that the blond had recently been there and found none.

Megara shrugged again.

Leon growled. "I have to get up."

"That's probably not such a good idea, Loverboy."

Leon ignored her comment and struggled to push himself up off the bed.

"Suit yourself," she said again and left.

Leon threw off the covers and dragged himself out of the bed, but immediately sat down again when the room began to spin. When it finally stopped, he took a closer look at his shoulder, wondering just how bad the injury was to disable him to such a degree. He was tempted to remove the bandage to inspect the damage for himself, but from the looks of it, it had indeed been professionally tended, and to undo what the healer had done would be counterproductive. He turned his attention to dressing himself instead.

Luckily, he was still wearing his pants – he didn't think he would be able to get them on with only one good arm – but that and his socks were all he was wearing. He spotted his jacket and shirt draped across the dresser, and his boots were sitting on the floor beside it. Rising slowly and bracing himself with one hand on the bed, he half walked, half crawled over to the dresser, retrieving the items and returning with them to the bed. He broke out in a sweat from the effort, and the room resumed its spinning.

He waited for it to pass and then attempted to pull on his boots, but the motion of leaning down immediately brought on another bout of vertigo, accompanied by an intense wave of nausea. He growled and fell back on the bed, extremely annoyed by his incapacity. Leon didn't do helpless well.

Refusing to give up, he decided to forgo his boots for the moment and concentrate on getting his shirt on instead. It was bloodied, and there was a slit in the shoulder, but it didn't matter because his arm had already started bleeding again, a bright red stain seeping alarmingly fast through the gauze. He pulled the shirt over his head and was attempting to maneuver it over his injured arm when Megara returned, followed by Phil and a man who Leon assumed was Hercules, along with a fourth person who immediately scowled when she saw Leon's state. The healer, no doubt. She motioned to Hercules, who held Leon down while she injected him with a syringe full of fluid.

۵۵۵۵۵

Leon was out cold for another two days, and when he awoke for the second time, he felt marginally better. His shoulder still hurt and his arm was largely unusable, but his fever had lessened to a manageable degree. At least he was able to stand without succumbing to crippling vertigo.

Megara was gone, nor was there anyone else in the room, but his shirt had been mended and washed and was folded on top of the dresser. His jacket was hanging on the back of the chair. As he was attempting once again to dress himself, more carefully this time, Phil and the healer entered the room.

"Good to see ya lookin' more like your old self," Phil said. "You sure gave us all a good scare for a while there. We thought you were a real goner for sure!"

"Cloud?" Leon asked.

Phil shook his head. "Herc's been down to the Underworld a coupla times, but there weren't no hide nor hair of him. Hades nor Sephiroth neither," he added.

The woman approached Leon with a handful of bandages and another vial of liquid. When he scowled at her in warning, she held up her hands in submission. "It's only to help with the infection and pain. It won't put you back to sleep."

"If you're lying..." Leon eyed his gunblade, leaning against the dresser.

"Word of honor. I just want to change your bandage."

Leon allowed her to do so, curious to see for himself the injury to his shoulder. It was only a small cut, held together by a neat row of sutures, but still ugly and oozing. The woman shook her head, baffled and somewhat embarrassed. "We've applied our most potent remedies, but it just doesn't want to heal."

Leon addressed the healer's confusion, as well as her concern. It was obvious that the wound had been well tended, and the fact that it was still unhealed was not her fault. "It's the nature of the weapon that caused the wound, not a lack of skill on your part."

The woman nodded, grateful for Leon's words of reassurance and relieved that it wasn't due to anything she had done wrong. After applying a new dressing to his wound and administering the shot, she left to get him something to eat.

"Where's Hercules?" Leon asked Phil once she had gone.

Phil shrugged. "Around somewhere."

"Could you find him for me?"

"What do you want with Herc?"

"I just want to talk to him," Leon replied, successfully pulling on his boots. Never before had he been so pleased by such a small accomplishment.

Phil eyed him suspiciously. "Then why are you getting dressed?

"Just go get him, Phil. Please?" He would beg if he had to, damn it.

Well, Phil wasn't pleased at all, but he did as Leon asked. Shortly after he left, the healer returned with a bowl of broth, which Leon accepted gratefully, and just as he was finishing it, Phil returned with Hercules. Leon hadn't been in very sound state of mind the first time he had seen the man and studied him more closely now. He was a very large, powerfully built man with a rather simpleminded expression, and the phrase 'All brawn and no brains' immediately came to mind.

Leon set the empty bowl on the table beside the bed and addressed the muscular man. "I was hoping to borrow your stone for a few hours."

He was met with three disapproving stares.

"I've already been to the Underworld," Hercules replied. "Several times. Cloud isn't there."

"Yes, I know. But I'd just like to have a look around for myself."

Hercules shuffled from one foot to the other, an almost painful look of concentration on his face as whatever passed for deliberation went on in his head. The moments ticked by.

Growing impatient at the needless delay, Leon stated, a bit too snappishly, "With or without that stone, I'm going. You can't stop me." A ridiculous assertion since Hercules could easily hold him down again while the healer gave him another shot.

The healer felt compelled to interject at that point. "Mr Leonhart, we are all happy to see you feeling so much better, but I must insist that you are still in no condition to be wandering around in the Underworld."

Well, that's the end of that, Leon figured – Hercules had readily complied with healer's previous direction – but to Leon's surprise, Hercules' face suddenly softened. Evidently, his laborious deliberations had finally given birth to a conclusion in Leon's favor. "All right," he said, "but I'm going with you."

The healer sighed in resignation, obviously not happy at having been overruled, but smart enough to know she had lost the debate. "Well, at least let me get a sling for your arm so you don't damage it further."

۵۵۵۵۵

Hades was aware of the two intruders as soon as they entered his realm and sent Sephiroth to deal with them. Unfortunately for Hades, Sephiroth had other plans – plans that didn't align with Hades'.

It was sooner than he would have liked; it would have been advantageous to have a few more thousand Heartless at his disposal, but Sephiroth was tired of Hojo's and Hades' machinations and his monotonous life in the Underworld. The only thing that kept him here was Cloud, but with his puppet back in Hojo's clutches again, it was time to put an end to their schemes and put his own in motion.

Besides, despite his title, the General had never been particularly interested in commanding armies; it was often less trouble to simply work alone. Still, when an army is gifted to you, free of consequence or expense, you would be a fool to refuse, and Sephiroth was no fool.

And in the end, whether he had ten thousand Heartless or none at all didn't matter; he didn't need them. They would only be a convenient tool for creating chaos while he carried out his carnage on other worlds. And now that he had access to the dark corridors, he didn't need a planet to reach those other worlds. Lucky for him that Hades was such a fool; the corridors were so much faster and more convenient, especially for one who had no fear of the darkness but, rather, embraced it.

Sephiroth opened a portal to the entrance of the Underworld and quickly located his prey. Stalking them like a cat, he followed them as they made their way through the Cave of the Dead, keeping to the edges and hiding in shadows every time Leon looked over his shoulder. But he soon tired of that game, and when they reached the winding passages to the Valley of the Dead, he circled around to get in front of the other two men.

Leon couldn't shake the feeling that they were being followed, but could never catch a glimpse of whatever was giving rise to his unease and chalked it up to his lingering fever. Still, he had learned never to ignore his instincts and remained on guard. He looked over at Hercules to see if the other man shared his concern, but he was too busy amusing himself by chasing after the vaporous bubbles floating in the air.

Leon also thought it curious that there weren't any enemies around. He was grateful for the stroke of good luck, but found it suspicious; he had heard that the Underworld was swarming with Heartless and hadn't been looking forward to fighting them off with the use of only his left arm. But whatever the reason, there were no Heartless to be seen.

Perhaps they were afraid of Hercules, Leon conjectured, or perhaps it had something to do with the power of the stone he carried.

The feeling of being followed suddenly ceased, though Leon's sense of unease did not, and as soon as they entered the Valley of the Dead he understood why: Sephiroth was waiting for them on the path just ahead. As soon as he caught Leon's eye, he disappeared around the bend.

So maybe it was Sephiroth's presence that had frightened the Heartless away...

They continued in this manner – Sephiroth waiting until he was sure that Leon had seen him and then disappearing around the next bend – until Sephiroth reached the entrance to Hades' Chamber. As soon as Leon made eye contact, Sephiroth leveled him with a look of challenge, both sinister and suggestive, and then entered the chamber.

Once inside, Sephiroth quickly opened the hidden entrance to Hojo's lab and slipped through the door, closing it behind him and then waiting on the other side until he heard the other two men enter Hades' Chamber. Hercules had been here several times before and never discovered the secret door, but Leon possessed a much more astute intellect, and Sephiroth knew that if the puzzle was going to be solved, it would be Leon who figured it out. "What's that?" Sephiroth heard the handsome man ask.

"The Well of Damned Souls," Hercules replied. "As God of the Underworld, Hades can summon the dead from its depths." This was followed by several minutes of silence as Leon, Sephiroth correctly surmised, explored the room, systematically testing every odd stone and mechanical device that might lead to a hidden passageway. Then Hercules again: "I've been here before, Leon. It's a dead end."

"Sephiroth came this way." Leon stated. "There has to be another way out." He reached up to one of the heavy metal sconces on the wall and tilted it downward.

As soon as Sephiroth heard the sound of the mechanisms sliding smoothly into place to open the door, he turned and fled, smiling to himself. Yes, Leon had indeed solved the secret of the hidden entrance, and in a lot less time than Sephiroth would have guessed. The man was not only handsome, but clever as well. He would make quite an engaging adversary should Sephiroth ever tire of Cloud.

۵۵۵۵۵

Leon and Hercules entered the secret door and made their way down a long spiral of stairs. At the bottom was a wide corridor lined with cells on both sides, each one containing a hundred or more Blue Flame Heartless, and at the end of this corridor was another door. It was open. They crept to the entrance and paused, hiding in the shadows on either side of the door to ascertain the situation before entering.

The wall on the left contained three cells similar to the ones in the corridor behind them, only much smaller in size, and in one of them was a man who would have appeared to be asleep had it not been for the red glow of his eyes. The adjacent wall on the far side of the room held an array of switches and gauges and monitors and dials, and a dark-haired man in a lab coat was standing in front of them, observing the monitors with his back to the door. Sephiroth was standing in the corner where these two walls met.

In the middle of the room were two stainless steel tables, outfitted with metal restraints, and a large cart filled with surgical instruments stood between them. At the far end of the wall on the right was a door, and four tall, cylindrical tanks lined the remainder of the wall, three of which were filled with a luminous green liquid laced with viscous black strands. Two of those contained grotesque mutations – whether of man or beast was impossible to tell – and the fourth tank was empty entirely. Cloud, stripped of everything but his boxers, was lying facedown and motionless on the floor in front of this tank. Hades was looming over him.

"You imbecile!" Hades was screaming at Sephiroth. "You were supposed to kill them, but instead you led them here, just like you led the Heartless to Traverse Town!"

A lower, more composed voice followed – Sephiroth. "How was I to know the Heartless would follow?" No, he hadn't known at the time, but had quickly figured it out: Hojo had used the Jenova cells from his body – S cells – to create the Blue Flame Heartless. He had a direct link to them.

"I don't give a shit whether it was done on purpose or not!" Hades continued his tirade. "You and Cloud have been nothing but trouble since the day you arrived. Get out, or I'll send you back to rot in the Lifestream."

"I will gladly get out," Sephiroth answered, "as soon as you return what belongs to me."

"You can have him, and good riddance!" Hades bellowed. "But this belongs to me." He placed his foot on Cloud's spine and reached for his wing.

"No!" Leon yelled, rushing into the room with Hercules hot on his heels, but he was too late to stop Hades from ripping the wing from Cloud's back. Immensely pleased with himself, Hades held the wing aloft with an evil sneer, the long tentacles that had attached it to Cloud's body oozing darkness and dripping blood. A strangled cry was torn from Cloud's throat and his body began to convulse.

Hercules made a beeline for Hades, locking him in a chokehold, and Hades dropped the wing to the floor, where it quivered for several moments before dissolving into a thick, black puddle and then disappeared altogether. Leon ran straight to Cloud, dropping to his knees and dousing the deep, angry gash in Cloud's back with every potion he had. The ragged flesh knitted itself into a thin pink line, but Cloud remained unresponsive.

With a malicious smirk, Sephiroth flipped a row of switches on the wall behind him – switches that controlled the power to the cells in the room, as well as the cells containing the Heartless in the corridor outside. Then he opened a portal and stepped through, closing it behind him. The man in the lab coat stole toward the door in the far right corner of the room.

At the sound of the lock on his prison disengaging and the descending hum of the magic-suppression field that held his demons in check powering down, the red-eyed man in the cell rose from his bed and opened the door. He immediately transformed into a dark, demonic-looking creature with two large wings sprouting from his back, and flew at the man in the lab coat with a deafening scream, mauling him with deadly swipes of long, lethal claws as a blinding sphere of energy shattered the four tanks, spilling their contents onto the floor

The green liquid flooded the floor, seeping through Leon's leather pants and stinging his flesh as a new wave of spasms racked Cloud's body. Ripping his arm from its sling, Leon rolled Cloud over and lifted him into his arms, soaking his chest and his arms with the burning liquid as well. Cloud's eyes were glazed and unseeing.

Lacking the strength to continue holding the man, Leon staggered to his feet and headed for the nearest table to lay Cloud down, but as soon as Cloud's back hit the cold metal surface, his eyes widened in terror, and the hand lying lifelessly against Leon's chest clutched reflexively at his shirt as if Cloud was attempting to claw his way back into Leon's arms.

"Okay, not there," Leon mumbled, "not there." Despite the torn stitches and the reopened wound in his shoulder, he lifted the man back into his arms, but immediately crumpled beneath the weight and fell back to his knees. Still he somehow managed to keep Cloud's body out of the toxic green liquid.

The strange man – back in human form now, though only slightly less demonic-looking with his long black hair framing a pale face and his red eyes, mirroring the color of the blood-red sash around his forehead – walked over to Leon and took Cloud from his arms. Freed from Cloud's extra weight, Leon grabbed the edge of the table and pulled himself up, leaning against it for support. He studied the man holding Cloud: though his appearance cautioned otherwise, the compassion in his otherworldly eyes and his obvious concern for Cloud led Leon to trust him. Indeed, he suspected that the strange man was "Vincent?"

The man nodded. "And you are?"

"Leon."

"Ah, Cloud's friend from Traverse Town. I have overheard Hades and Sephiroth speak of you."

Leon followed Vincent as he carried Cloud into the cell next to his and laid him down on the bed, placing the small pillow under his head and wrapping the blanket around him. He then turned to Leon and commanded in a deep, smooth voice, "Stay with him. I'm going to have a look around. I will see if I can find you some dry clothing, but in the meantime, you should get out of those. You don't look well, either."

Hercules, meanwhile, had summoned a white horse with wings and threw Hades, now bound, across the animal's back, then joined them in the cell. "I'm taking him to Zeus," he told them, fishing the Olympus stone out of his pocket and handing it to Leon. "Wait for me here. I won't be long."

As Vincent followed Hercules out of the cell, small spasms began to ripple through Cloud's body, becoming increasingly more intense with every new wave, and Vincent turned back to his friend. He sat down on the edge of the small bed and placed a hand on Cloud's shoulder, speaking to him quietly. "Hojo is dead, Sephiroth is gone, and Hercules is taking Hades to Mt Olympus. Leon is here with you." Once the tremors finally stopped, Vincent rose from the bed.

"What's wrong with him?" Leon asked.

"Mako poisoning," Vincent answered, indicating the four shattered tanks. "The shaking will likely get worse as the immediate effects wear off."

"And how long will that take?"

Vincent paused, considering his answer before responding. "That is difficult to say. It depends to some extent on the length of exposure, but there are other factors involved as well. Based on the fact that his exposure was less than a week this time, and Cloud is–"

"What do you mean this time?" Leon interrupted.

Vincent hesitated, fearful that he had said too much, but the worry written across Leon face convinced him to speak openly. God knows he had made more than his share of mistakes in the past, but he liked to think that nearly thirty years of deep reflection had made him a pretty good judge of character, and those instincts were telling him that Leon was an honorable man. "This is not Cloud's first time dealing with Mako poisoning," he admitted.

"But he will recover..."

Leon sounded almost desperate for reassurance, so Vincent attempted to provide it. "Cloud is much stronger now than he was during previous episodes. I am confidant he will be fine. There's nothing you can do to stop the seizures," he added. "but just being here will bring him some small measure of comfort. Though he is not entirely cognizant, he will be able to sense that he isn't alone."

As soon as Vincent was gone, Leon did as he suggested and removed his wet clothing. Clad now in only his boxers, the same as Cloud, he sat down and leaned against the wall beside the bed. Thankfully, the liquid – Mako, he know understood from Vincent – had receded through a drain, but the cement floor was cold and uncomfortable, and Leon quickly started to shiver. Though the unpleasant burning sensation on his skin had subsided, it had been replaced by an equally unpleasant "pins and needles" numbness, and his shoulder was throbbing with pain. He needed to lie down.

He thought about moving to Vincent's cell, but he didn't want to leave Cloud unattended. Feeling increasingly lightheaded, Leon tried to decide what to do, but when Cloud began to tremble again, Leon stopped thinking and simply gave in to what his heart was telling him to do. Slipping his arm underneath Cloud's body, he rolled the younger man over into his arms as he maneuvered himself onto the bed beneath him, nestling the blond against his side and halfway onto his chest, and resting his head on Leon's good shoulder. He covered them both with the blanket and wrapped his other arm around him.

Cloud's shaking gradually subsided, and Leon began to nod off as the effects of the Mako, combined with his lingering fever, took their toll, but when Cloud's shaking resumed, he immediately reawakened. "It's okay," he said gently, tightening his arms around the other man. "I've got you. I won't let go." He could hear the sounds of destruction off in the distance and wondered if Vincent had transformed again

Warmth permeated Cloud's body like the glow of soft light, and the distinctive scent that he instantly recognized as Leon's filled him with a sense of security. His head rolled back, and he stared with glazed eyes into Leon's. He attempted to speak, but all that came out was a breathy grunt. "Leh."

Leon brushed the blond strands from Cloud's face and combed his fingers through Cloud's hair, gently repositioning his head so that it was once again resting on his shoulder. "Shh, it's okay," he whispered, his cheek against Cloud's forehead. "I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere. I won't leave you." He continued to soothe the younger man, holding him close and stroking his hair until Cloud's breathing became slower and deeper. Succumbing to his own fatigue, Leon soon followed him into a deep sleep.

The next thing he knew, Vincent was back, regarding them with a curious, almost affectionate, smile. He was wearing the red cape and golden gauntlet that Leon was so accustomed to seeing on Cloud, but had to admit looked more suited to Vincent, and he was carrying the rest of Cloud's clothing. Hercules returned soon after, with Pegasus but without Hades, and together the two men managed to get Cloud into his clothes. Vincent removed his cape and fastened it around Leon's shoulders. "I am sorry; I was unable to find any suitable clothing for you. This will have to suffice."

Hercules lifted Cloud, still comatose, onto Pegasus' back and helped Leon climb on behind him, neither of the two men capable of walking out under their own power. They were a rather pitiful sight, Cloud slumped forward against Pegasus' neck, arms hanging lifelessly on either side, and Leon slumped forward against Cloud's back, his cheek resting against Cloud's shoulder and arms draped loosely around his torso. Pegasus raised his powerful wings, enfolding the two men in a protective embrace to keep his charges from falling off, and they made their way back through the Underworld, back to the coliseum and then back to Cloud's room.

۵۵۵۵۵

Leon drifted in and out of consciousness, unable to distinguish dream from reality, nightmare from memory. Strange visions assailed him. He was floating in a tank of green.

He saw himself as a small child, crying in the rain. A dark-haired man, dying in the rain. Cloud, blood smeared across his cheek, was crying.

He was lost in a barren wasteland. Watched as his world fell to the Heartless.

He was drifting through space. Slender dark vines crept across Rinoa's face and it morphed into Ultimecia's. Viscous black tentacles twisted around his body and he morphed into a monster. Two great white wings burst from his back and he flew away.

He was back in Cloud's bed at the coliseum.

He rolled over onto his side. There was a long silver hair on the pillow. The bed smelled like peppermint.

Cloud was asleep on his bedroll on the floor, and Vincent was sitting beside him, back against the wall with legs stretched out in front of him. The low murmer of Vincent's voice filled Leon's head with the background drone of white noise. He drifted back into sleep and dreamed.

He dreamed of fire. Flames consumed Balamb Garden, the orphanage, Traverse Town; consumed everything he had ever known and some things he didn't: a village nestled in snow covered mountains, a church beneath a huge metal plate.

He saw Cloud riding a motorcycle through a forest of glowing white trees, and through a barren wasteland. The ruins of a city covered with vines. A sword on a cliff.

A black feather.

Sephiroth floated into the arena, floated onto an altar. Aerith, impaled.

He saw a dark-haired girl in a cowboy suit falling down a long flight of stairs, Cloud falling through the roof of the church beneath a huge metal plate. Saw himself falling backward off a float.

Edea's ice spear morphed into Sephiroth's sword and pierced Cloud through the chest. Seifer's sword sliced his face.

He was strapped to a cold metal wall, electric current coursing through his body. Cloud was strapped to a cold metal table. The man in the lab coat was jabbing Cloud with cold, metal instruments and pressing something cold against Leon's shoulder.

Leon startled and opened his eyes, but it was only the healer applying a cooling balm to his shoulder. The calming scent of lavender filled the room, and he drifted back to sleep.

He saw Balamb Garden flying over the ocean. Seifer laughing on a dock.

Seifer swinging a big blue bat with Fujin and Raijin cheering him on.

He saw Selphie as a young girl, playing on a beach with a young Sora and a girl with red hair. A blond-haired boy with a stick and a red-haired boy with a ball. A silver-haired boy.

A white feather.

Rinoa was standing in field of pink flowers, Aerith in a field of yellow. Cloud was standing in a pool of water, surrounded by children.

Cloud smiled and Leon awoke.

۵۵۵۵۵

Still disoriented from the confusing dreams, it took Leon several minutes to regain his bearings. Once he was fully awake, he realized that Cloud was sitting in the chair beside the bed, slumped forward with his arms resting on his knees. When he felt Leon stir, he sat up straight with a look of immense relief on his face. "Welcome back," he said.

Leon pushed himself upright in the bed. "You're okay..."

"Yeah, I'm fine. How are you feeling?" Cloud adjusted the pillow behind Leon's back and then sat back down in the chair.

"I'm..." Leon paused. How was he actually feeling? Though still slightly unsettled by the disturbing visions he had seen in his strange dreams, his fever was gone, and his shoulder felt much better. "I'm good." he said.

As soon as he knew that Leon was all right, Cloud's expression changed from one of concern to an angry scowl. "Just what in the world were you thinking, going down there in your condition? You could have died, Leon!"

"But I didn't," Leon replied.

Cloud let out an explosive breath, as if he had been holding it in for days. "Still, you scared us half to death. Don't you dare do something that stupid ever again!"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you, but I was worried for you. I guess that makes us even," Leon said. He was genuinely sorry for making Cloud worry, but he couldn't deny that the blond's concern also made him feel a little warm inside. "I'll try not to do it again."

Cloud tried to maintain the righteous anger in his voice, but the smile on Leon's face softened his tone. "Well just make sure that you don't," he mumbled.

"So, how long have I been out this time?"

"It was the day before yesterday when you and Hercules came down to the Underworld."

Leon frowned. Another two days... That meant, he quickly calculated in his head, he had been here for ten days now, and most of them stuck in this damn bed. He ran a hand through his hair – his very greasy hair – and scratched at the stubble on his chin. He felt sweaty and greasy and gross from head to toe and longed for a shower.

"Where's Vincent?" he asked.

"He went back to lab with Hercules to make sure everything was destroyed."

Leon nodded. He was pretty sure that Vincent had already done a thorough job of that, but it didn't hurt to double check.

"Are you hungry?" Cloud asked.

"Starving," Leon answered, and right on cue, his stomach growled in affirmation.

Cloud chuckled softly and rose from the chair. "I'll go see what I can round up." Halfway to the door, he stopped and looked back at the other man. "And, uh... thanks, Leon."

"For what?" Leon asked. "I didn't do anything."

"You came for me, didn't you?" Cloud replied with a shy smile. "And you didn't let go."

Leon felt the heat rise to his face. Cloud had been aware enough to remember that? Well that was embarrassing...

Amused by the faint blush of pink that colored Leon's cheeks, but not wishing to cause the man further embarrassment, Cloud left the room, returning twenty minutes later with a bowl of soup. Though more substantial than the broth he had been given before, it was still far from hearty enough to satisfy Leon's hunger; he hadn't had anything solid in over a week.

The healer came in to change his dressing, affording Leon the chance to see what further damage he had done to his shoulder by his reckless venture into the Underworld, but he was pleasantly surprised by what he found. There were several new sutures, and the edges of the injury were jagged and puckered from the torn stitches, but it looked much better than expected. It would be an ugly scar – on top of the other ugly scar from Edea's ice spear – but at least it was finally healing.

The healer was also pleased and approved Leon's request for a shower. She applied a waterproof bandage over the wound and cautioned him to use his injured arm as little as possible, promising to return in an hour to exchange the temporary bandage for a proper one.

When Leon got back, freshly showered and shaved, Vincent and Hercules had returned from the Underworld and reported their findings. They had smashed the wall of monitors and disposed of the bodies of the two mutant creatures from the tanks, and Hojo's body had been thrown back into the Well of Damned Souls. The door in the far right corner of the lab led to a room lined from ceiling to floor with individual cells where the production of the Blue Flame Heartless took place, but Vincent had already destroyed everything in that room. There would be no more nefarious treachery taking place in the Underworld unless Hades completely rebuilt the lab, and Hercules vowed to make sure that didn't happen.

The healer returned as promised and replaced the waterproof bandage on Leon's shoulder with a light dressing, mainly to keep the wound from being irritated by his clothing. Then she placed his arm in a new sling and left. Hercules followed soon after, and Vincent, Cloud and Leon went to the small cafeteria that serviced the staff and the resident fighters when the coliseum was between tournaments, and there were no vendors in the courtyard. As they ate, they discussed their next course of action.

Cloud wanted to remain at the coliseum in case Sephiroth returned, but Vincent convinced him to go back to Traverse Town with him and Leon. "Hojo is dead," he pointed out, "and Hades detained on Mt Olympus, awaiting judgment of the council. Under the circumstances, it is highly unlikely that Sephiroth will return. If you still desire to come back here once you have fully recovered your strength, I will come with you."

Leon expected Cloud to protest, but he hadn't even attempted to push back. "All right," he agreed far too easily, and Leon felt the uncomfortable twinge of jealousy that had become all too familiar since Cloud entered his life. He forced the unwanted feeling back, reminding himself that he should be grateful that Vincent had succeeded in convincing Cloud to give up his unhealthy obsession with Sephiroth, at least for the moment.

They decided to stay in Cloud's room for one more night, and after a good night's sleep, they would return to Traverse Town in the morning.