Yay for Ch. 4! If you can't tell already, I like awkward moments, so this story has a lot of them.

Diclaimer: I don't own KH...

"Speaking"

Writing

/Thinking\

Leaving the shop, the two males headed into the second district, passing by playing children and gossiping adults. They passed through, and headed towards the third district.

The plaza had soft music playing, and Aldrick saw older couples dancing to the tune as children played with their toys nearby. The teen watched, trying to follow the dance steps of the couples. He never really liked dancing, but, every-so-often, he had the urge to start.

After a minute of clumsy movements, and a hearty laugh from Cid, a now red Aldrick followed his roommate to a door that was adorned with a picture of fire. The shop owner pulled out a lighter from one of his pockets, sparked a flame from it, and set it against the door. The flame on the door reacted to the flame from the lighter, and the door's flame lit up, and the entire door lifted up, making a doorway as Cid repocketed the lighter.

The room beyond the door was a large, spherical cavern. Water surround a small island into the center of the cave, with a shabby looking home taking up most of the island's space. Aldrick stared at the house, before looking down at the water. A small groan was let out as the teen gazed upon the only dry path to the house; five stone platforms floating in the water. They moved left and right, and Aldrick sighed.

/I could do this in the game...but I can't jump like Sora...\

"You gonna jump?" The teen jumped in surprise, as Cid had leaned over and whispered into the younger male's ear.

"Gimme a minute!" After a deep breath, and a few steps back, the teen made a running start, and leaped, barely making it onto the platform. He took a moment to brace himself, then flashed a proud smile at the mechanic.

Cid's only response was walking forward, then casually jumping, with apparently very little effort. He landed gracefully next to the teen, flashing him a small smirk. "I hate you." was Aldrick's response.

As the man pulled out a toothpick from his pocket, the teen stepped back, reaching the back edge of the platform. When he thought the timing was right, he ran and jumped.

Aldrick successfully landed on the next platform, but because it was going in an opposite direction than the previous one, his feet slipped out from beneath him, and he started to fall face first towards the water.

There was a centimeter between his nose and the water when he stopped falling, his breaths making tiny ripples on the surface of the liquid. Cid had jumped over and grabbed the back of the teen's borrowed shirt, barely stopping him from becoming drenched.

"You need some help?" Cid sneered, having fun with the teen.

Aldrick turned his head to the side, away from the man, and mumbled a barely audible "...Maybe."

The shop owner chuckled, and, in one swift motion, lifted the teen into his arms, and effortlessly jumped across the rest of the platforms. Upon reaching land, he set the now blushing teen down.

Cid stretched a little, a smirk on his face as he said "That was pretty easy."

The younger male turned a brighter shade of red, and said "Shut up!" as he stormed into the house, a chuckling Cid following.

Aldrick looked around the room seeing it bare except for a few pieces of trash scattered around the room, and a book cover that rested on a raised platform in the center of the room. The pages of the book, which were bundled under the cover and tied together with a thin, red ribbon, seemed to have been torn out. An innocent looking note sat on top of the cover, and a curious teenager decided that the note should be read.

Cid, please fix this book. I feel bad for it. Thanks. -Merlin

Blinking at the note, then looking at the book pieces again, Aldrick realized that it was the 'Winnie the Pooh' book that Cid had fixed in the game. "Cid, I believe this is for you..."

The mechanic walked over and glanced at the note. "...hn." A quick grunt was let out, and he grabbed the book cover, along with it's pages, and shoved them into one of his pockets.

The shop owner walked over to an oddly-shaped stone, and stood on it, motioning for his apprentice to stand next to him. When Aldrick stepped on the stone, Cid stomped his foot, and the stone descended into the sewers below.

Once the stone stopped moving, Cid immediately walked down the stairs in front of him, leaving Aldrick to do his usual routine of following his roommate.

"What did I tell you about fighting things near the shop?!" Cid's gruff voice bounced off the walls, echoing to Aldrick, who started to walk down the stairs.

"I did what was necessary at the time." The same cold voice he had heard before. /Squall...no, Leon...\

"Regardless, you could have damaged the shop! Or, even worse, you could have damaged my new apprentice!" Aldrick stopped walking, his hand covering his mouth to stop from letting out a gasp. /Does that mean...that Cid cares for me?\

As the teen continued to descend down the stairs, hearing who he thought was Leon say a distant "Whatever."

Reaching the bottom step, the youngest of the three males took a few steps in, only to stop and stare. Leon was there, all right. He had apparently been working out, his gunblade leaning against the wall. His tight, leather pants showed his hips, accentuating them. His boots seemed wet, as if he recently stepped in the nearby water. What had Aldrick really staring was Leon's muscular chest. His shirt was by his gunblade, and his muscles were shining in the faint light from the sweat that had formed from the apparently intense work-out. Cid had his arm around Leon, showing their friendship. /Cid...and Leon...together...Ack!\

Aldrick quickly turned around, trying to hold his now bleeding nose shut. He could hear a very slightly confused gunblader ask "Is he alright?", which was quickly followed by "Yeah, he's just kinda odd." from the mechanic.

/No! I've got to stop these thoughts!\ Aldrick started to panic a little, his mind flashing some 'suggestive' thoughts.

"Ki...Aldrick, you might want to move..." Cid had said, a little worry in his voice.

"Why?" That was all Aldrick could get out when he turned around. He was suddenly interrupted by a shrill scream of "Ninja!" and being tackled to the ground by a black haired girl. His hands flew out to try to keep his balance, causing his plugged nose to gush blood. He lay on the ground, staring up at the ceiling in a daze. "Ow..."

"What the fuck did you do to him?!" It was Cid, who had rushed over and gave Yuffie a hard knock on her head.

"Ow! I didn't do anything! Well, I tackled him, but I didn't touch his nose." Yuffie tried to get herself out of trouble, as a set of footsteps came from the stairs, followed by a soft "Oh my!"

A piece of metal could be heard being placed on the ground, and Aldrick could suddenly smell something. "I smell...flowers..." He sat up, his nose blood-free and his body no longer in pain.

He turned to thank whoever had helped him, only to see Aerith. A quick gasp was followed by a quiet "Thank you..." as he stood up to brush himself off.

"I'm glad you're okay. After hearing that you're Cid's new apprentice, I don't think that you being hurt would have gone well." A small giggle came from her. She lifted the tray that was beside her, and put it in front of Aldrick. He noticed four glasses, and guessed one was for him. He took it, nodding in thanks, and looked at it. It looked like soda, so he figured trying it wouldn't be too bad.

Leon was about to say something, when Cid held up his hand to stop him, watching Aldrick as he, Leon, and Yuffie took their glasses, but didn't drink from them.

As Aldrick took a drink, he shuddered, not able to tell what he was tasting until Aerith spoke up. "Do you like it? I always thought soda tasted great with milk." He struggled to swallow, but managed to choke it back. He gave a small nod, saying "Yummy..." before turning away and sticking out his tongue in disgust.

"You should have told him not to drink it..." The teen heard Leon, who was putting his shirt back on, whisper to Cid , and made sure to remember that it was the mechanic who had wanted this to happen. An evil smile lurked it's way onto Aldrick's face as he looked towards Cid. /Just remember, payback's a bitch.\

With Aerith now gone, as she headed back to grab the cookies she made, the three older people in the room poured their drinks out onto the ground, and Aldrick willingly followed suit.

The teen's eyes pleaded to Cid that he wanted to head back, and the mechanic nodded. "Me and the ki...Aldrick should be heading back. We have to eat, yet, and we have an early day tomorrow."

The two others nodded, and Yuffie started to pout a little, mumbling something about it "Not being fair..." The two started to head back up, and met Aerith on the stairs. Her tray now held many cookies. She seemed sad that the two males were leaving, but Aldrick took a cookie, which quickly cheered her up.

Once back into the cavern, Cid, without so much as a word of warning, picked up his roommate, and leaped across the floating platforms, setting Aldrick down once they reached the other side. The teen, though blushing, only turned a faint pink, and he stepped out of the cavern, into the light of the setting sun.

He looked at the cookie, and took a small bite, spitting it out quickly after tasting it. This time, he couldn't even fathom what she used as ingredients.

"She puts soy sauce in them." Cid had come up behind the teen, and walked past, heading to the shop in the first district.

"..." He couldn't come with anything to say as he tossed the cookie to the side, running after the man.

Back in their home, Cid started making the two steaks, and Aldrick sat in the living room, watching the television. He had been flipping through channels until he found a news station, talking about some squirrel that had apparently stolen enough peanuts from a store to fill a five pound bag. After some other random news stories, and a weather report saying there might be a chance of rain, Cid called for the teen, and motioned to the two steaks that sat on plates on a folding card table.

As he sat in one of the folding chairs, he examined his steak with a look of confusion. There was, what Aldrick guess, about a pound of random seasonings on it. Being a little fearful of the meat, he poked it with his fork, realizing that the fork wouldn't even go in. "Ummm, Cid? I can't eat this."

Cid had been chugging a beer, a lit cigarette between his finger. "What? Is it too strong for you?"

"In a sense..." Aldrick, with the mechanic now watching, stabbed his steak as hard as he could. The tines bent with relative ease, and the teen lifted his now bent fork. "...Yes, it is."

Cid just shrugged, and continued to chug his beer. Aldrick excused himself, and got up, going into the bathroom and closing the door. Once he was done taking care of business, he flushed and stepped out, only to have a pair of blue and white striped pajama pants tossed into his face. "You can wear those." was all the mechanic said before going into the bathroom himself.

Aldrick quietly changed, and crawled into the bed, his thought turning to the day he had. He had never been this happy in the longest time, and he smiled as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

To be continued...

Byne: And Ch. 4 is finished! Woohoo! R&R...please?... -makes Chibi eyes- Pweeease?