A/n: Hello again. Next chapter is now up!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. I really wish I did, but I don't...

"What the hell was I doing? Why did I get so…angry?"

"Who you talkin' to?" a voice asked, extremely close to the blonde's ear. He knew that voice. Turning around, he found a hyperactive ninja just inches from his face, smiling brightly.

"No one. Go away Yuffie," Cloud sighed.

"Don't let Squally get you down. He's just…you know…Squally! He doesn't mean it. He never does," she said loudly. Cloud raised a hand and ruffled her hair slightly.

"Just…don't tell anyone I'm here," he mumbled, forcing a smile onto his face. Yuffie, bless her, looked extremely worried for the warrior. He looked a little forlorn, and Yuffie wanted to hug him. Which she did, catching Cloud off guard, sending them both sprawling.

"Yuffie! What the hell?" Cloud glared.

"Don't go all moody on me mister," she giggled. "You look so sad, and my Cloudy-kins shouldn't be sad. Not since you beat Sephiroth. There's nothing to be sad about!"

Cloud wished she was right. He should be happy now that the bane of his existence was gone, but he couldn't be. He hadn't found his light, and he didn't think he ever would. He was getting snappier with his friends, even going so far as to threaten Leon for what he knew was just their normal banter. But Leon was pissing him off lately. And he had no idea why.

The two of them started every morning the same way. One would make a comment, the other would reply with a similarly biting comment, both men knowing that it was just friendly banter. But this morning, he had felt disappointed when Leon had said that. He knew that the other man had not meant anything by his comment, but it had truly hurt him. Maybe Leon was right. Maybe he didn't care about his friends. Maybe he should just crawl into a hole and disappear.

"Sorry Yuffie. But really, just leave me alone."

"Alright Cloud. You sure you're gonna be alright?" she asked anxiously. She normally wouldn't be so worried, Cloud always wanted to be alone, but something about him seemed different. Like he was thinking about something. Maybe he believed what Leon had said. She gave it another try. "Squally really…"

"Shut up!" he snapped. "I don't care if Squally meant it or not. Just piss off!" At this, Yuffie did "piss off", tears in her eyes. Cloud glanced over his shoulder, feeling a little bad. He didn't mean to snap, but he didn't want to hear anymore about Squall. Bringing his knees into his chest and resting his head upon them, his eyes glazed over as he thought about everything.

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The door to Merlin's house swung open, startling the brunette a little, though he didn't show it. In ran Yuffie, tears streaming down her face. This wasn't normal. Usually Yuffie was too happy, but now she looked distraught. Taking a quick look around and checking that nobody else was in the house, he followed her.

"Yuffie?" he called softly, knocking on her door and entering. "Yuffie what happened?"

She let out a broken sob, pulling at Leon's heartstrings. She flung herself at him, burying her head in his shoulder. When she spoke it was muffled.

"Cloud. I went to see if he was alright, coz, well you know…but then he just snapped at me for no reason. Twice," she sobbed.

"What did he say?" Leon almost growled.

"He just told me to shut up and to piss off, but he was really mean. I only wanted to make sure he was alright," Leon patted her on the back, and then sat her back down on the bed.

"Where is he?"

"I told him I wouldn't tell," she whispered. Leon looked at her, questioning her sanity. "But…Alright. He's at the Dark Depths, just sat there. He probably won't have moved," she sniffed.

"Thanks Yuffie. I'll sort him out," he said menacingly. He wrenched the front door open, grabbing his gunblade as he walked away, Cloud the only feature of his thoughts. The bastard had gone way too far. He could snap at him all he wanted to, but to upset Yuffie so much, Leon would never admit it but he felt an overwhelming urge to protect the young girl. To make her cry so hard, it was unthinkable. The spiky haired bitch wouldn't get away with it.

Storming through the streets, he scared the townspeople already filtering into the streets, the harshness of his glare making them flinch back in surprise. They knew that Leon was a force to be reckoned with, but had never seen him in such a mood. He was usually quite stoic, replying with only a hello of his own when greeted, but this morning, no one greeted him. They could see rage in his eyes, and the gunblade held tightly in his right hand made the townspeople think that he was a man on a mission, and that anyone getting in the way would be cleared out of his path.

Cloud Strife…Cloud Strife…Strife…

"Strife!" he shouted on arrival at the Dark Depths. Said spiky haired man didn't move, didn't acknowledge that his name had been called. Leon dropped the hand holding his gunblade, the tip touching the floor and dragging as he moved forward. He knew that the blonde warrior had heard him, and knew that he would react to a weapon being drawn against him. "Strife!" he called again to no avail, the blonde man just sat, leaning against a rock wall. Leon was getting angrier by the second. Cloud was completely ignoring his existence. Well…not for much longer.

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Cloud had heard Leon call out to him, and had looked to him without moving. His eyes followed his movements as he stalked forward with his gunblade dragging along the floor. He knew it was a provocative move, but he didn't care. Leon could do whatever he wanted to him, he knew he deserved it. He closed his eyes again, just hearing Leon's footsteps get closer.

"Strife!" he heard him shout again. He ignored him again, even when the gunblade was raised once more. It fell inches from him, next to his left arm and was imbedded in the rock. He slowly opened his eyes to glance at it, then looked up to see Leon standing above him, glaring down at him.

"…What?" he asked slowly, his question only just audible. Leon scoffed, grabbing a fistful of his shirt and pulling him up. His back grazed against the harsh rock wall, but he didn't care. The small pain was a relief to him.

"What? Fucking what? What do you think Strife?" He pushed Cloud further into the wall, watching Cloud's lack of reaction. "Be a bastard with me all you want, but the others. Maybe what I said this morning was right."

"Yeah. Maybe it was," came the reply. Cloud lowered his head, hiding his lifeless eyes from Leon.

"Strife? Cloud?" he called softly. Cloud didn't look up. "Fucking look at me!" he shouted, grabbing Cloud's chin and forcibly raising his head. Cloud's eyes were no longer blank, confusion flashed through them as he stared at Leon, who had stepped closer to him. Their bodies were almost touching, each could feel the heat radiating from the other.

Leon's eyes held the same confusion and shock, shock at his own actions. This was the second time in the day that the two had been so close face to face, the second time in the whole of their friendship. They always stood close, back to back, but this was different. Leon could feel it. Something was tearing at his insides, making him feel something that he had not for a long time.

Leon's hand dropped from Cloud's face, but he did not move back straight away. Something inside him wanted to make him reach out and touch the blonde man again, to feel his soft skin under his gloved hands. His hands began to raise again, but he caught himself in time, reaching for his gunblade at the side of Cloud's body. Pulling it out of the earth in one swift movement, he turned around, heading back towards the town without glancing back.

When Leon had gotten far enough away, Cloud released the breath that he had subconsciously been holding in. Three words rattled around in his mind, the only three that mattered to him.

What the hell?

A/n: Woo! It's starting! I think I made Cloud a little (well a lot probably) OOC here, but I needed to give Leon a reason to be angry at him. I dunno. Your thoughts on this matter are welcome, as well as any other thoughts, so R&R. Reviews make me happy XD

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