Disclaimer: I own nothing! Just my personal musings.
Review Replies:
NinjaSheik- Thanks! I'm glad you think so!
kuroneko_03 (anonymous)- Thank you for reviewing! I'm glad you like it!
jtwsnw20- Sorry for the LONG overdue update! I hope this satisfies you.
flaxeneyes- I'm glad that they were still in character! I really tried to keep it somewhat realistic with them.
Leirative- I'm glad that you like it so far. Hope you enjoy the update.
Reviewwiz- I'm sorry that I didn't live up to your expectations but I'm unsure how to better my writing from your comment. Maybe some sort of tips or something would help me out? But I'm also sorry that there aren't goin to be any smut for a while to come. I like to drag it out for as long as possible. '
inadequate (anonymous)- I made another chapter so no worries there. I'm just sorry that it took so long.
As for the rest of you, Enjoy!
Chapter 2
When Sora woke up again it was nighttime outside and moonlight was streaming into the room. Sora groaned inaudibly, and opened his eyes to stare at cobbled ceiling. He felt stiff so he turned to shift into a comfortable position but tensed and gasped as his back roared in pain. Sora tried returning to his original position that he was in before but cried out in pain when that didn't work out at all.
The door to his room burst open, "Sora!" Leon rushed over and held Sora up, helping to dull the pain, "Relax, Sora. Come on, you need to relax!"
Tears started misting over Sora's eyes as he continued to tense up and jerk in every which direction, barely focusing on the words being shouted in his ears, "Hu-Hurts…Help…" He begged.
Leon gritted his teeth to keep his composure and called out for Merlin who was in the attic. The wizard teleported into the room in a cloud of smoke and took in the situation presented to him. He rushed over to the young blade wielder's side and muttered words underneath his breath, running the tips of his fingers along the wounds instilled on Sora's body, letting his magic flow into the young male, "Keep him still Leon, he's opened up some of the wounds again…" Merlin muttered, focusing on what he was doing.
Leon hugged Sora tighter and tried whispering words into the young man's ear to try and calm him down. It didn't seem to be working at first but slowly Sora seemed to relax and listen to what Leon was telling him. He stilled his movements even though it seemed to pain him to do so and rested his forehead against Leon's leather shoulder, tensing every so often.
Merlin finished healing up the keyblade wielder's back and moved away, letting Leon lay Sora back down gently onto the bed. He nodded to the older man and teleported away back to his studies in the attic.
Once Leon was sure Sora was comfortable where he was he stood to leave. He walked over to the doorway when a tentative 'Leon' brushed past his ears. The brunette turned and waited for whatever the young male wanted to say.
"Stay…stay with me…just for a little while…" Sora begged, eyes shining innocently.
Leon sighed and shook his head, "You need to rest and heal up, Sora. You shouldn't be awake right now." He stated sternly. Leon broke down when Sora continued to give him that dejected, lonely look. He sat down on the edge of the bed stiffly, unsure of what to do with himself.
Sora gripped Leon's hand tightly as soon as he was in range, sighing in relief instantly, "Leon…" he whispered.
"Be quiet Sora and go to sleep." He didn't mean to sound harsh but Sora shouldn't be wasting his energy trying to talk and Leon wanted out of this situation as fast as humanly possible. Unfortunately, Sora didn't seem to want to listen at the moment and tried again, "Leon…" this time there was a pleading tone to his whisper.
"No, Sora." And he added as an afterthought, "I'm leaving now since you aren't listening to me and going to sleep." He got up and stopped when Sora whimpered and tried to stop him from moving away, "Are you going to be quiet and go to sleep?" Sora nodded albeit somewhat reluctantly. The older man sat back down on the edge of the bed and waited for Sora to fall back asleep, smiling slightly when Sora closed his eyes.
Leon didn't know for how long he sat there but soon Sora was sound asleep, pressed up against Leon's hand and thigh. He pulled away slowly and disentangled his hand from the young man's grasp. Sora moaned his protest but quickly quieted and fell back into a deep sleep.
The stoic man moved slowly out of the room, moving around any articles on the floor that could possibly rouse the sleeping teen. Once a safe distance away from the room he went downstairs where the rest of the Restoration Committee were located, waiting for an update.
"He's fine now." Leon stated bluntly before walking past them and toward his kitchen. They all followed him, not satisfied with his brief and concise answer.
"What happened between you two? You were in there for a lot longer than needed if he was just 'fine'!" Yuffie argued.
Leon sighed and dug through his refrigerator for something to drink. For some reason his mouth was unusually dry at the moment, "He just wanted some company. That's all." He stated, ending the conversation. Leon sat down at his kitchen table and sipped at his drink leisurely, watching as the wall clock ticked each second away.
The others tried to get answers out of him but soon gave up when he wasn't going to give in.
Hours passed and he still sat there, thinking about what had happened near the Bailey and all the ways he could have prevented the accident. He didn't know how one of the Heartless had snuck up on him from behind but with that one slip he had nearly cost his friend his life.
Slowly each one of the restoration committee members said their goodbyes and left for their homes located around the town. Aerith was the last to leave and she turned and stared at Leon from across the living room, "Take care of him for us, alright?" She asked in her calm voice.
Leon waved his hand goodbye as a sign of recognition, "Will do." The door shut behind her and the house was finally silent once more.
When Leon was ready for bed, he couldn't help but to make a pit-stop by Sora's room to see how the boy was faring. The door creaked loudly and Leon froze when the keyblade bearer twitched and turned slightly where he lay. Once everything died down again Leon stepped over and stared down at the now peaceful person.
Sora had his mouth hanging wide open with a small river of drool flowing from his mouth. Leon chuckled at the childish looking hero below him before opening the closet door silently, pulling out his spare blanket and covering the young male with the wool blanket, the young man sighed his comfort underneath the fleece.
Leon brushed a lock of spiky hair away from his friend's face before running his hand through the messy locks. They were silky to the touch and he couldn't help a smirk when Sora leaned into his touch ever so slightly, his lips brushing his wrist.
Leon brought his head down and kissed Sora on the forehead, feeling immense guilt for what he had caused. He should have made Sora take a break. He should have taken more care to protect the teen from danger, "I'm so sorry…please forgive me…"
Leon sighed and left the young man to his dreams.
The next morning Leon awoke to a loud crashing sound in the next room over. He jumped out of bed and rushed down the hall, not caring to put any clothes on, before bashing open the guest bedroom door, "Sora?" he shouted.
Broken glass littered the floor as Sora clutched desperately to the dresser on the right side of the room. He looked better than he had the night before but Leon could tell that he still wasn't physically capable of holding his own yet. "What are you doing up, you idiot?"
"Leon!" Sora gasped eyes wide with shock. He took in the sight of a boxer wearing Leon and blushed profusely, "What are you doing without any clothes on?" He shouted back, unable to keep the comment to himself.
Leon barely registered what was being shouted at him and was more worried about getting over to the teen without slicing his feet on the shards of glass, "What are you doing out of bed? You should still be resting!"
The two men glared at each other, Sora out of annoyance at being babied and Leon at a loss from what to do.
Leon suddenly having a spot of insight turned, shouting over his shoulder, "Stay where you are! Don't move!" He rushed down the stairs into the living room and grabbed his boots, shoving his feet inside before running back up the stairs, nearly tripping when his left shoe nearly fell off. The gunblade wielder hurried back into the room and reached Sora's side, "Alright, I'm going to pick you up and set you back down on the bed. Okay?"
Sora nodded quickly, his voice seeming to have died from the idea of Leon carrying him.
Leon picked up the lighter man bridal style and Sora blushed profusely, feeling Leon's muscles ripple underneath his skin as he walked. He wrapped his arms around Leon's neck and held on tightly, telling himself that the only reason he was doing that was to make sure that he didn't fall.
The older fighter laid him down gingerly, careful to not upset any of the wounds on his back, "Now lay here and rest until your back heals up more. We can't have you tearing up your muscles anymore than you already have." He ordered.
Sora huffed, pouting visibly, "I can't stay here Leon! I have to protect the other worlds from the Heartless and Nobodies remember! The longer I'm here the stronger they become!"
Leon shook his head, massaging the bridge of his nose, "You have no idea, do you? How close you were to dying back there? It took all of Merlin's magic to bring you back. You heart had stopped beating Sora." He paused, noticing the shocked look on the younger man's face, "So please, just heal up. The worlds will be fine for a little while. They've survived longer than you've been around at least. They can last a few weeks."
Sora turned his face away, "If it bothers you that much Leon then fine, I'll stay put. But could you put some clothes on? You're practically naked."
Leon scratched his head, "Yeah, I guess I should shouldn't I?" He turned to leave when he thought of something, "Oh! Did you happen to step on any of the broken shard pieces?" The stormy blue-eyed man came back over to inspect Sora's feet.
Sora blushed immensely when Leon touched him, the feeling of the older man running his hands over his feet embarrassing him to no end, "I'm fine Leon! Stop being such a mother hen already!" He yanked his foot back only to have Leon look over the other one.
Once the older man was sure that there were no shards anywhere near Sora's person he left the young man alone to get dressed.
Sora sighed as he cuddled underneath the blanket Leon had covered him with last night. He would never tell the man that he had been awake but it pained him to watch the older committee member beat himself up over Sora's mistake. The keyblade wielder knew he had needed to take a break and knew the risks when he charged up to the Bailey that day. Leon had no reason to blame himself for anything in Sora's eyes.
Leon knocked on the door softly before entering, "I'm going to get food from the market, anything you would like in particular?"
Sora frowned, thinking, "Well, some sea salt ice cream would be nice…" He laughed at the blank stare he received, "Just some scrambled eggs would be fine. I'm not really hungry right now."
Leon frowned, "You sure? You should eat to regain your strength." He reprimanded.
Sora rolled his eyes, "I know what I'm doing Leon. I'll be fine, trust me alright?" He turned his face away, trying to find a comfortable position for him to lie in.
Leon sighed and exited the room. He didn't know what to do anymore. The taller man knew that he shouldn't coddle the young teen too much but he couldn't help but to worry about his well-being.
He exited his home and walked down the streets past Merlin's house and towards the stairs leading up to the Marketplace. Leon had to be grateful towards the old wizard, not just anybody would leave their homes to live in the attic of a coworkers' house in the chance that they were needed in case of an emergency. It really showed how important Sora was to the Committee members.
Leon smirked and sighed as he recalled his past encounters with the younger man, starting back a year ago when he first laid eyes on the scrawny teen back in Traverse Town. Sora had seemed so awkward and defenseless walking around, keyblade dragging along lazily behind him. Of course when he'd actually fought the bright eyed teen Leon never expected the teen to last as long or to beat him as he so nearly did.
Ever since then Leon had made it his personal goal to watch over and help the teen out as much as possible.
When Leon returned home from his expedition he set down the groceries he had bought on his small kitchen table making his way up to the guest bedroom to check on his charge.
When he opened the bedroom door he was shocked to find the blonde ex-SOLDIER sitting on the edge of the bed, patting Sora's hand while talking to him in quiet whispers.
The two males looked over at him, surprised. Cloud standing up to leave once he realized who it was standing there, "Don't forget what I said, Sora." He warned, nodding to Leon before exiting the room.
Leon looked back towards the doorway before occupying the space that the lone warrior just vacated, "What was that all about?" He asked, irked for some reason.
Sora just smiled at him, "What was what? Cloud just came by to see how I was doing and to see if there was anything he could do to help. That's all." He laughed softly, "It was really nice of him to take time to come visit. I was lonely until he showed up."
Leon scowled, mood darkening as he watched the mysterious man through the window next to the bed walking down the street towards wherever it is he goes, "That's strange of him," He kept his voice light while speaking, not wanting to give away his true emotions, "He never offers to help anybody unless forced to by Tifa." Leon paused, "And that's only when she can find him…" adding the last part as a grumble.
Sora smiled that a hundred watt smile again, "He's the best! He said that he's gonna come by and visit tomorrow. I can't wait!"
Leon smiled slightly and brushed it off. There was no reason to be upset over the fact that Cloud had kept Sora company while he was away. Seriously, there wasn't. At least, that's what his mind said. His heart on the other hand screamed that something was up, that the other man had a motive. The gunblade wielder squashed those feelings down into the deep recesses of his mind, determined to not think badly about the man. He barely even knew him.
Leon stood up and motioned towards the doorway with a gloved finger, "Well, since you're doing alright I'll head down and get your breakfast started. Shout if you need me alright?" He exited the room before he got the chance to hear Sora's answer.
Breakfast was served for the two of them nearly thirty minutes later and the gunblade wielder had taken it upon himself to cook Sora a few extra items for his meal.
"Whoa, Leon, there's no way that I can eat all this! I thought I told you that I wasn't hungry!" Sora exclaimed.
Leon looked away sheepishly, knowing he had gone a little overboard with his cooking, "I… just couldn't stop…" He defended.
Sora pouted and sighed, taking the overflowing plate filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, a biscuit, two medium sized pancakes, and one piece of toast- a full continental breakfast- and setting it on his chest to eat. With his back the way it was Sora had to eat while lying on his back and with slow concise movements. It was going to be interesting to not choke on the meal.
Leon laughed when Sora, once again, missed his mouth and the piece of syrup-covered pancake landed on his nose. He took pity on the young hero, removed his gloves and reached over to pick up the piece of food.
"I don't need help, Leon! I can do it myself!" Sora said.
Leon sighed and rolled his eyes, rubbing the piece of pancake across Sora's bottom lip, "You know that's not true. Now, open your mouth." Leon ordered.
Sora whimpered and opened his mouth slightly, eyes averted and a slight blush tingeing his cheeks. Leon pushed the piece of food inside his mouth, pulling back instantly when his finger brushed across Sora's bottom lip on accident when Sora started to chew.
Leon frowned when his fingers started sticking to each other, trying to get rid of it by rubbing his fingers together, "Ugh, I got syrup on my fingers." He sighed and disregarded it, looking around for Sora's discarded utensils. Leon patted around the side of the bed closest to the wall and found them covered in lint by the keyblader's hip. He sighed and set them down next to him. "Well you can't use these now." Leon said. He cursed when his fingers started sticking to each other. "Damn syrup." Leon muttered.
Sora let out a pathetic whine. "Leon, hurry up and feed me!" He begged.
The older man rolled his eyes, "Now you want my help? Well, hold on until I get some clean silverware." Leon said, rising from the bed with the dirty ones.
"No…I can't wait that long! Hand feed me!"Sora ordered.
Leon tensed and frowned. "I really think I should go get some utensils first." He said.
"Leooon!" Sora whined.
Leon looked over at the door then down at the pathetic looking face of his friend and sighed, "Fine, but you are going to owe me for a lifetime and no one, and I mean no one, hears about this. Got it?"
Sora smiled and laughed, "Of course. I would hate to ruin your image." He snickered.
Leon sat back down on the side of the bed and picked up the plate of food on Sora's chest, "Here." He held a slice of toast in front of the younger man's mouth.
Sora frowned and turned his face away, "I don't want toast right now! I want to eat pancakes!" He said.
"Do you really have the right to be picky?" Leon groaned and tore of a piece of the soggy food, "Ugh…open your mouth." Sora complied and Leon dropped it in, moving to tear another piece as his patient chewed.
After a few minutes Leon had to pause because his fingers wouldn't stop sticking to each other and he was sure that syrup had gotten on his leather straps on his forearm. He wanted to rub his hand on something but he had forgotten to bring up a napkin and there was no way he was going to wipe it on his pants.
Sora stared at him expectantly, "What's wrong Leon? Why did you stop?" He said.
Leon looked up at him, "It's nothing. It's just this syrup won't come off my fingers and I didn't bring a napkin with me. I'm sorry, it just annoys me." He reached down and picked up the last piece of pancake and placed it in front of Sora's mouth, frowning when Sora didn't try to take it, "Something wrong?" Leon asked.
Sora bit his bottom lip and reached up, gripping Leon's hand and opening his mouth. Leon dropped the piece of food into Sora's mouth, watching as Sora chewed on it more slowly than usual. He swallowed and pulled Leon's hand down licking Leon's middle finger.
"S-Sora? What are you-" started Leon. He blushed profusely when Sora sucked on the tip of his finger, feeling an awkward feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. Leon pulled his hand back but Sora just held on tight, determined not to let him go. The gunblade wielder didn't want to pull too hard in case of hurting Sora's back but he couldn't just sit there and let it happen. "Sora…what are you doing?" Leon demanded.
Sora glanced over at him, switching to the man's pointer finger, this time sucking on the digit as a whole. A hazy blush covered his cheeks. "You said you were sticky…so I was just licking up all the syrup…" He mumbled, not bothering to remove the finger in his mouth while he spoke.
Leon tensed and tried pulling his hand back again, "Sora, let go." He said. The unusual feelings in Leon's stomach unnerved him, which made him unsure of what to do or say in such a predicament.
Sora ignored him and moved to licking Leon's wrist and arm, gathering all of the syrup that had gathered there before moving in between the gunblade wielder's fingers.
This was where things got insanely awkward for Leon. He soon found out pretty quick that the flesh in-between his fingers were very sensitive which caused some unwanted bodily reactions. Leon gritted his teeth and looked away, wanting to pull away as fast as possible.
Sora glanced up at him, frowning when he saw the pained expression on Leon's face, "Leon? What the matter? Am I not doing a good job?" he asked.
Leon looked over at Sora before glancing down at his current problem, "Ah, no. It's…ah, not you." He said, trying to sound as sincere as possible.
Sora, much to Leon's demise, noticed the downwards glance and blushed immensely when he saw the prominent erection he was now sporting. It wasn't hard to miss since Leon was wearing such tight pants.
Sora bit his bottom lip and let go of Leon's hand to place his own on the older man's thigh, "If…if you want…I can help you with…with that…" he offered.
That… did it.
Leon jumped off of the bed and quickly strode over to the door, "Uh…I think I'm going to go downstairs and get you some silverware now." He mumbled, not waiting to bust out of the room and shut the door tightly behind him.
The brunette practically ran down the stairs, thanking whatever god that was watching out for him when someone knocked on his door. Leon opened the door and felt even better when it was Aerith's smiling face that greeted him.
"Good morning, Leon." She smiled, "May I come in?"
Leon nodded and stepped aside so that she could pass. He shut the door behind her and followed her as she sat down at his kitchen table, "Is there something you wanted in particular, Aerith?" he asked, opening the fridge to see if he had anything to drink.
Aerith smiled and laughed softly, "Something wrong Leon? You don't seem well." She patted the chair next to her, offering him a seat.
When he finally sat down next to her she regarded him silently. She knew that if she pushed too hard that Leon would never tell her what was bothering him. Aerith already had a hunch as to what the underlying problem could be but she wanted to make sure.
"It's Sora." Leon finally ground out.
Aerith hid a smile and tilted her head, placing her hand on his shoulder supportively, "You know that you shouldn't blame yourself for what happened. It was an accident and he is safe now-"
"It's not that! It…It's just…" Leon paused unsure if he should tell her what had happened.
Aerith patted his shoulder lightly, "It's alright. Take your time." She murmured encouragingly.
Leon glanced over at her before sighing, "Just forget about it. It was nothing, just a misunderstanding." He said, standing up and walking over to the counter across from the table. Leon pulled out a fork and knife and called over his shoulder, "You wanted to see Sora right? You mind taking these to him? He needed a new set since he dropped the pair that I gave him." He closed the drawer and turned around, walking back over and leaning against the table.
Aerith frowned slightly but nodded, accepting the two utensils, "I won't take too long." She promised.
Leon smiled and shrugged, "Don't worry about it. Take your time. I have to go bathe anyway so do you mind watching him for a while?" He asked.
Aerith chuckled softly, "Sure! I'm not busy today so take your time. I know you need it." She reassured, pushing her chair back and standing up heading back into the living room and up the stairs.
When Leon heard her greet Sora and the door shut again he collapsed into the nearest chair, holding his head in his hands. What am I going to do? He couldn't bear to face the younger man now after what had happened and he wasn't even sure what had really occurred. Maybe he heard him wrong? Maybe he got the wrong impression? Leon groaned. There was no way he had misunderstood but…what did that mean then? …Did Sora like him or something?
Leon groaned as he felt a migraine forming. He could think about this later. As for right now he needed to take a bath. There were still remnants of syrup stuck to his flesh and he couldn't stand the feeling of being dirty for much longer.
Leon heard Sora and Aerith laughing upstairs and he winced. There was no way he was going to be able to face Sora alone after this. Leon sighed and scratched the back of his head. Life was way too difficult for his liking.
A month passed since that embarrassing incident in the bedroom. Leon had made it his personal goal to avoid the healing teen as much as humanely possible with the man living in his guest room next door.
He would still take the young man his meals, and assist Merlin whenever possible but he made sure to never stay long enough to have to talk to the striving hero. The most they had communicated were a few chaste greetings and a strained smile. Of course, that was all going to change today. Merlin had deemed Sora fit enough to start moving around again. Which meant he was off of bed rest and now able to move around the house at his leisure. Leon, to say the least, was panicking. He had no idea what he was going to do but he wasn't ready to deal with their problem.
Unfortunately for him, no god was looking out for him now.
"…Leon?" Sora called. Tentatively walking down the stairs he tried his hardest not to show any sign of pain. It was awkward how walking had become such a difficult task to accomplish just by having to be bedridden for months.
Leon tensed as he finished pulling on his boots and stood up near the doorway, "How are you feeling?"He said. Leon glanced over in the teen's direction never once making eye contact.
Sora smiled and chuckled nervously, "I'm…I'm doing well. Thanks…" He stated, words seeming forced and far from the truth.
But to Leon that was enough for him and he smiled in return, "Well! That's good. See you around then." He waved, practically fleeing out the door.
Leon never saw Sora again after that. He had taken to working all day and coming home late into the night only to repeat the same routine the next day.
Of course, the other committee members had noticed this odd behavior but none of them could get either of them to spill the beans. Leon would glare them to death while Sora would smile and brush it off as if it were nothing. So Aerith and Cloud had become the younger boy's company until they felt he was well enough to leave.
It took a little while longer but soon enough Sora was finally able to go out and adventure to new worlds.
All of the committee members and the villagers came together and wished him well on his final day in Hollow Bastion. Even Leon found himself standing at the back of the crowd silently wishing him well on his trip. He knew his behavior was beyond childish but he knew that he would be able to get past that by the time the teenager returned.
Of course as luck would have it their eyes connected for that split second before takeoff and it felt like eternity, their eyes boring into each other, emotions and unspoken messages flashing between the two and then Sora was gone, traversing to worlds unknown.
TBC
Author's Note: Sorry for the long overdue update! I finally got my writing muse back and decided to work it to death since it left me. I had some major writer's block when writing this so if some parts don't flow right please let me know. Thanks!
As always, REVIEW! I would really appreciate it!
Momo