Overall, it took Leona a good week to sort out her plan and really solidify it. The only reasons it had taken her so long were due to Ralf's insistences that she "hung out" with him and Clark whenever they decided to go out or just hang around the military complex. As Leona viewed the two men as her only friends (Heidern being the "father" figure and Whip having disappeared to who knew where), she would always acquiesce. Her comrades would continually do their best to get Leona to talk, to get her to laugh, to act -human-, but that was not who she was. She had learned to bottle up her emotions and keep them under tight wraps because of the demons that threatened to break free of her hold. Sometimes she would nod, very rarely she would respond to a question or two, and once in a blue moon she would smile. Apparently, her stoic attitude did not deter Ralf or Clark because they -never- gave up.

As there were no current missions for the team, Leona spent as much time as she could tracking Yagami while she thought out a plan, one that might actually work. It didn't take her long to find a pattern in his traveling - she only hoped he would keep it by the time she could actually get out and try to confront him. Luckily, -because- there were no current missions, it wasn't hard for Leona to leave the compound. As Heidern's "daughter", no one ever questioned her, including her "father" because, like a real paternal figure, he was just glad that she would sometimes get out on her own. Every one knew she had a level head, so there was no reason to worry.

Dressed in black jeans and a blue top as she was almost certain Yagami would not take her seriously, or think she had some ulterior motive, if she wore her military uniform, Leona made her way through the streets of Southtown, keeping to herself, keeping focused on her personal mission and ignoring the cheers and calls from a few men as she passed them. Yagami, as she had come to learn, was a lover of music, and every night, around the same time, he would show up at the same jazz bar in the eastern area of town, drink, enjoy the music, then return to his hotel room at some ungodly hour in the morning. He was a creature of habit, and in a way it surprised Leona because he was, otherwise, such an unpredictable man.

Jazz was not Leona's personal favorite genre of music, having a particular fondness for classical and symphonic, so when she entered the club, her nose scrunched up at the sounds. But, she wasn't there to listen to music, and, soon enough, she was hoping she'd be so involved in conversation to the point she wouldn't even notice the noise. It wasn't hard for her to spot Yagami, sitting in a dark corner, brooding with some sort of alcoholic beverage - his aura was massively powerful and gave off the distinct feeling that he didn't want anyone near him. Leona simply ignored it and walked right up to him.

"What do you want, woman?" he asked as she reached him, not bothering to look at her.

Without asking, Leona pulled a chair away from the table and sat down across from the man, her arms folding over one another on the table top as she looked right at him. Steps one and two were complete - finding Yagami and getting him to notice her. The rest of the steps would certainly prove to be much harder. "I need your help," she stated, not taking her eyes off of him. There, the beginning of step three - asking for help. Although, it didn't exactly come out as a question...

Snorting into his drink, Iori placed the glass back down on the table, but still refused to look at her. "That's nice."

How was she supposed to counter that? For a brief moment, her brows furrowed and she looked down at the wooden table, as though trying to find an answer within the grains of wood. Leona had never been a student to the art of speaking, so she was confused. Perhaps if she actually asked him rather than stated it. "Would you help me? Please?"

"And why does the little military princess need help from a man like me?" He continued to not look at her.

Leona wondered if she should take some sort of offense to his description of her, but at the moment, it was not important. He had answered her question with a question of his own. She had to keep this.. conversation.. going. "Because you are the only person who can teach me to control my powers. You have learned to control yours, haven't you?"

"Two full sentences. I'm surprised." After taking another sip of his drink, he finally turned to look at her, his upper lip curled back in such a way so that his K9 was showing, long and sharp.

Both she and Yagami had been at many of the King of Fighters tournaments, so it was no surprise that he would make a comment such as that; it was a well known fact that Leona was a very quiet and anti-social individual.

With a shrug, he slouched down in his seat before turning away from her, his eyes traveling elsewhere. "Can't help you, being powerless and all."

Leona could detect annoyance in his words, whether it was for her question or because of his comment, she didn't know. Either way, it didn't matter, because she hadn't spent a week of planning to simply be turned down. She was getting desperate because for the past two nights - the nightmares were preventing her from sleeping at all. As she was beginning to view it, Yagami was her only hope. "Please. You're the only one who can help me."

"Get lost, kid. I said I can't help you."

Kid? Leona was certain he was not that much older than her, nor was he familiar with her, so why would he refer to her as such? No matter. She would not be deterred. "Please, Yagami Iori, I need your help."

The red-head just ignored her, his large fingers curled tightly around his glass, his eyes, half covered by his bangs, staring off in any direction but her's.

For a few moments, Leona just stared at him, slowly becoming more and more desperate. It was hard enough that she had -admitted- she needed help, even harder that she came to an establishment such as the one she was in, and worst of all, she was being -forced- to speak, to try and think of what she could or would have to say to get him to listen to her. Truth be told, if Ralf or Clark saw her now, they would be beyond surprised to the point they might think she were on some sort of hallucinogens. But, again, she would not give up on weeks of planning, she would not return to her barracks for more sleepless nights. Yagami was right in front of her, and she would get what she wanted: his help. She quickly racked her brain, trying hard to find the words. And it was -very- hard, but eventually, they came to her:

"I have come here to ask for your help. You and I are of similar blood. You know the pain that I have been dealing with. Would you just ignore a fellow man in desperate need of your help?"

A student of speech she may not have been, but her words seemed to hit home. Iori's head whipped around to glare at her, his lip curled back in a snarl. "I said, get lost!"

Apparently, Iori's anger was contagious, because Leona was beginning to get just as upset. "I won't!" she nearly yelled, slamming a fist into the table top. And immediately, she regretted it, because her fist caught on fire, pale blue flames licking the air. Anger and annoyance immediately left her facial features as she stared down at the flames, her eyes wide in fear and confusion.

Standing up quickly enough to knock his chair over, Iori cursed loudly and stared down at the flames. Without a word, he grabbed her other wrist and physically dragged Leona out of the bar and into a back alley. By the time he threw her back into the brick wall, the flames had extinguished. "What the fuck was -that-?" he growled, finally meeting her gaze.

Lips parted in surprised, Leona's heart raced as she shook her head. "I don't know." It was the first time the flames had come to her hands while she was awake and conscious. She was startled. With a low snarl, Iori pulled his gaze away from her and started to pace back and forth in front of her, muttering things under his breath. Leona stared, first at her hands, and then at him. It wasn't how she had planned things to progress, but perhaps it was for the best.

Abruptly, Iori turned around to face her, his right arm snapping out, palm slamming into the brick wall beside Leona's head. Her eyes widened at the sudden movement; she wasn't afraid of Yagami, just startled by his actions. "Do it again," he growled.

Leona shook her head. "I can't. The flames just come on their own. This is the first time it's happened while I was awake."

"Angry enough to cause the Orochi Flames.." he muttered under his breath, his eyes narrowing as he thought. "When else did the flames come to your hands?"

"When I wake up, after having dreamed about them."

Pulling his hand away from the brick wall, Iori started to pace again, muttering incoherent thoughts and words.

"I assumed it was because of my blood," Leona spoke up, her hands having dropped to her sides. Her blue eyes followed his pacing form.

Iori shook his head. "Not the flames. None of the other Orochi Eight had the power of flames. Different elements, yes, but the flames belong to Kusanagi and Yagami.." No longer pacing, he turned to stare at her. "Blue.. Kusanagi are crimson.. Yagami purple because of the pact.. but why -blue-?" He wasn't speaking to her, but rather studying her as he spoke his thoughts aloud. "Who were your parents?" This time he spoke up, loud enough for her to hear and respond.

"I don't know.. I don't remember anything from my childhood."

And again, Iori started to pace in front of her, muttering under his breath. "Father or mother one of the descendants of the Eight.. would account for the blood, but not the flames.. Or maybe it would?" Brow furrowing, he stopped his pacing once more and stared down at Leona. "When was the first time the flames came to you?"

Leona shrugged: "A few weeks ago, maybe." His eyes narrowed further as he continued to study her. Leona was beginning to feel like some sort of freak with the way he was muttering about her and staring at her. In a way, it was unnerving, but she would not be forced away from her mission. Raising her chin just slightly, she continued to meet his gaze; she would not be swayed otherwise.

"Heh," he suddenly snorted. "You're a strange one. Maybe I -will- help you. But don't think I'll do it for free."

She found herself standing straighter, taller. "You stare at me as though I'm a science experiment. Finding out why I have these powers isn't payment enough?"

Without warning, the taller man stepped closer to Leona, a smirk pulling at his lips as he stared down at her, mere inches from her face, his head tilting to the right, hands slipping into the pockets of his pants. "Ore ga kowaii no ka?"

She stared right back at him, unwavering. "No."

Apparently he found that funny, because he quickly turned around and laughed, a short bark from his throat. "Alright, woman, let's go," he waved an arm in the air as he started to make his way out of the alley.

She had done it? She had convinced Yagami to help her? Were Leona a normal woman, she would have smiled, but, as her life was anything -but- normal, she didn't. Instead, she nodded and followed Iori out of the alley, muttering under her breath: "Ninmu kanryou."

Leona's Favorite Music
At first, I thought of making her favorite industrial or even electronica, possible techno or trance, simply because of her hobby: "Inspecting factories". Everyone laughs at that, I know, and well, yeah, you can see where I'd get those genres as possible favorites. However, all those types of music are either loud, have a ton of bass, or are just chaotic (don't get me wrong, I love -all- those genres, so I'm not badmouthing them). But, -because- of that, coupled with her fear of the Riot (chaotic in and of itself) I see Leona leaning more towards -calming- music.

Leona's Speech

I figured this fic would be fairly easy to write, at first, considering how much of a fan I am of Leona. But then I realized that I am the type of author that explains a -lot- of things through character speech. If you know Leona, you know that -that- is pretty much an oxymoron, considering Leona very, very, very -rarely- speaks, and only then to her team mates. Because of that, I tried to do my best of explaining -why- Leona says as much when she does throughout this fic.