Yay, ch.6 is up! And I got a review! And...I guess I should thank andrhats for reminding me to enable anonymous reviews. Oops? Oh well, no use crying over spilt milk...

"Speaking"

/Thinking\

Writing

His heart in his throat, and toilet paper shoved in his nostrils, Aldrick tried to calm himself down. /He was drunk. He just passed out. He looked so good...Ack! He's not interested!\

Aldrick banged his head against the door, letting out a large sigh. /Why me? Why him?...Fuck!\ He was confused, and being near Cid only made things worse.

After calming down a little, he opened the door, and let out a yelp in surprise. Cid, who was now semi-awake, had been coming to the bathroom, and now stood outside the open door. He gracelessly scratched himself as he walked in, grumbling "I gotta piss." The teen ran out, slamming the door behind him. A flush could soon be heard, followed by the shower being turned on.

Going into the closet, Aldrick grabbed the closest clothes to him. A pair of white boxers, beige cargo pants, a black leather belt, a pair of socks, and a black shirt with a green spiral on the back. Taking off the boxers from the night before, he hastily put on the clothes he grabbed, deciding that his shower could wait until later.

Leaving the bedroom, the teen went to the kitchen, grabbed an apple from the refrigerator, and headed back to the living room. Taking a bite as he sat on the couch, he tried to sort out his muddled thoughts.

/He's not interested. But, I can't deny my thoughts...or my feelings. I first thought that I was happy because I left my sub-par reality...but I'm happy because of Cid, aren't I?\

The teen heaved a sigh as took another bite. /He won't like me like that. I should...I should keep my distance...\

Footsteps could be heard after the shower was turned off. Cid could be heard going through his closet, grumbling inaudible gibberish. Aldrick rushed himself, eating his apple as quickly as possible to get away. He was about to take his last bite when the mechanic entered, wearing baggy blue pants and a forest green shirt. The master gazed at his apprentice, a look of confusion crossing his face. "What the hell happened to you?"

The teen returned the confused look with one of his own, then realized that there was still toilet tissue crammed into his nose. Tugging the temporary plugs out, revealing bloodstained tips, he calmly said "Oh, nothing. Just a small nosebleed."

"Let me take a look..." The shop owner walked over, and tilted the teen's head back, taking a careful look up each nostril. "Well, the bleedin' stopped, so you should be fine."

Aldrick, though loving the contact, blushed and swatted the man's hands away. "I told you it was nothing." Taking his last bite, he went to throw away his apple core. "Come up when you've finished eating. We'll get to work."

"...Sure." Cid then turned quiet. By the time the mechanic had grabbed an apple for himself, Aldrick had his shoes on and was at the top of the stairs, opening the wall to step into the shop.

The store seemed unusually quiet. Aldrick peered around, and noticed a slightly moving shadow in the corner by the fireplace. Quietly slipping his left shoe off, he gave it a strong toss, sending it flying into the corner. The teen was rewarded with an "Ow!"

"That voice...Yuffie?" The teen queried, and the hyper kunoichi stepped out into the open, flashing a faint smile as she rubbed her head. "I must be getting rusty for you to find me. But that's not the point. Now shush so I can get back at the old man."

Aldrick nodded silently. As the teen quickly retrieved his shoe to place it back on his foot, the ninja managed to scale the back wall of the shop, and stuck herself to the ceiling. Just as soon as the apprentice finished slipping his shoe on, a serious looking Cid opened the wall and stepped into the light of the shop.

A small and playful smirk appeared on his face, and the teen couldn't help but say "Uh, Cid? You might want to move."

"Why?" was all Cid could let out before being interrupted by a scream of "Ninja!", then was knocked to the floor by a falling Yuffie.

"God damn it! What the fuck was that for!?" Cid stood, holding up a certain 'Great Ninja' by her collar.

"That's for making me do your laundry. Besides, I need to deliver a message." The mechanic let the ninja go, and after giving a quick salute, spoke. "Sora has come back, and needs you to figure out what to do about an unknown gummi."

"Hm...alright, I'll be there." Cid went behind the counter, grabbing the mostly put-together book he fixed for Merlin. "The kid'll be good enough to deliver this to the old coot for me."

Heading out the door, holding the book and pushing out Yuffie, he turned his head, speaking to the teen with a hint of worry in his voice. "I'll send someone to watch over you. I'll be back sooner or later..."

The teen shrugged, and Cid seemed to look a little sad as he left, but the teen headed downstairs to deal with his own problems. Once back in his spot on the couch, the teen curled himself up, placing his chin on his knees as he listened to the silence, trying to figure out what was wrong with him.

/Why? Why was I such an ass? Why does it hurt so much? Damn it!\ No matter what the teen thought, he ended up back in square one.

Deciding that he just needed to keep busy, cleaning crossed his mind. "He does need it...Yeah, it'll give me something to do..." Going into the kitchen, he grabbed a few trash bags from beneath the sink, and slowly started to pick up the beer cans that littered the home.

Boots could be heard coming down the stairs, and a slightly emotional Aldrick tried to calm himself, in case it was Cid. Turning to see who had come, the teen was greeted with the sight of a certain stoic brunette, and sighed a little inside.

Leon just gave a small wave, and headed into the kitchen. As the younger male cleaned the living room, what sounded like running water and chopping could be heard. He peeked his head into the kitchen, and gazed in disbelief.

Leon was wearing a black apron, and was chopping vegetables for what appeared to be a soup or stew. Skillfully wielding the knife, he seemed as ambivalent as ever as the veggies were cut and placed in the pot.

Suddenly, Leon stopped, setting the knife down on the cutting board and crossing his arms. "What." Not a question, but more of a command to make Aldrick talk, which worked quite well.

"...I never expected you to be able to cook. In fact, I didn't expect you at all." Aldrick had walked beside Leon, and was poking his fingers together as he intently stared at the counter. His nervousness showed, but he stayed where he was.

"...Whatever. If I didn't learn to cook for myself, I probably wouldn't be alive. And the reason I'm here...is because Cid trusts me with you."

Aldrick looked up, eyes wide with surprise. "Wha...What?"

"Cid didn't trust Yuffie to watch you, she's too spastic. Aerith's cooking is deadly. I'm left. Besides, he thinks a lot of you."

Aldrick's eyes welled up with tears, and nothing came from his mouth. He just stared at the counter again, letting Leon continue.

"He read your journal. Now that you've started to distance yourself from him, he's worried about what you'd do to yourself."

This was what broke the teen's emotional dam. Tears trickled down Aldrick's face as he sobbed and sniffled. "I...I...I didn't want to get close...only because...because...I didn't think he'd...like me...the way...I liked him... I was an...ass to him...and he still...thinks of me. I don't know...what I should do..."

Leon shrugged, letting only one word come from between his lips. "Apologize."

Aldrick shook his head, his sobs becoming less frequent, his tears slowing in production. "I can't just apologize...It won't be enough..."

Leon reached in his pocket, pulling out a key and tossing it to the teen. "There are moogles on the top floor of this building. They synthesize items into new ones. They owe me a favor. Tell them I sent you, and they might help you with your problem."

The teen nodded. Heading for the stairs, he turned and said a quiet "Thank you..." before running into the shop and out the front door. The gunblader shrugged, saying "Whatever..." as he went back to preparing the stew.

Aldrick went around the back of the building, and stopped in front of the door. Looking down at the key, he realized the key chain attached to it was the profile view of the head of a lion, carved into silver. Taking a deep breath, the teen placed the key in the lock, turned it, and opened the door.

Aldrick was greeted by something cute and fluffy flying into this face, saying "Sorry, we're not open now, kupo. Please leave."

To be continued...

Byne: Yes, I find moogles cute and fluffy bundles of cuteness. More on them in the next chapter:) Now, R&R please -bows in hopes politeness will make people want to review more-