So here it is, the end of this little tale. I'm really not too pleased with it but I just find writing these pairings so awkward now...

Thanks for reading.

--0--0--

It was late evening before Sora and Riku located him in the Third District. The younger couple walked together easily, hand-in-hand, completely oblivious to any looks that came their way. As Cloud watched them approach from the corner of his eye, he found himself envying them a bit. It wasn't that they did not care what anyone else thought because Cloud could honestly say he didn't either but the simple fact that they were that comfortable with each other.

"Hey, Cloud," greeted Sora softly when they finally came up beside him.

He made a faint noise, acknowledging the teen. Continuing to study the mural that had been recently painted on one of the high walls, he waited for Sora to speak again. It was very unlikely that he and Riku had come all the way out there for just a casual stroll.

"Leon says we're leaving tomorrow," Riku announced quietly.

"I thought we were staying for a week." Cloud frowned. It seemed strange for Leon to suddenly cut the trip short. "Did he finish with everything he wanted to do here?"

The silvered teen shrugged. "Don't know. He just came in at dinner, said we were going tomorrow and left."

"He seemed upset about something," added Sora, giving Cloud an intent look.

Cloud glanced over. He knew Sora was baiting him and damn it if it wasn't working. By the way Riku was looking at him the older teen knew it, too. Curse them both.

"We wanted to check up on him but we already made plans," Sora commented slowly. "When he left, he went in the direction of Second District…"

The older man narrowed his eyes. "You know exactly where he is, don't you?"

The spiky-brunet grinned. "Maybe."

Cloud took several angry steps toward Sora. "If you knew-"

"He didn't," Riku calmly took up a position between Cloud and Sora. "It didn't hit him until this afternoon and we're not totally sure it's where he's going."

"I'm sure," Sora countered, pushing at Riku's arm to move him. The smaller teen shifted away from his boyfriend. "He used to go there when he was emotionally troubled. I can't believe I forgot about it. Me and Yuffie used to tease him mercilessly about it."

"So, where is he then?" Cloud muttered in irritation. He was this close to learning the answer to the question that had been gnawing at him since the first day here. Sora just needed to tell him where Leon had been disappearing to and this would all be over. He could stop fixating on it and pretend he was never worried in the first place.

Things would go back to the way they were.

"Oh, no," Sora smirked in amusement; however, his sky-blue eyes were anything but. In fact, there was a fierce determination to him that Cloud could not recall having ever seen before. "You aren't getting off that easily. You have to answer my question before I'll tell you where to find Leon."

Cloud knew at that moment he was screwed.

--0—0—

Approaching the address Sora had given him, Cloud's steps faltered. Why was he doing this? Sora had not given him any information outside the address and directions to it. When Cloud had asked what was there, the teen had only smiled and said, "You'll see."

He really hated enigmatic answers. All he knew was that whoever or whatever was at this location was something Leon did not want Cloud to know about. The reasonable part of his mind noted that Sora had said he and Yuffie had teased him about the place. That was cause enough for Leon to want to keep quiet.

Cloud was about to turn and leave when he caught movement in one of the dimly lit windows. He angled his head and took a step closer, curiosity getting the better of him. He wanted to respect the other man's privacy but he just had this overwhelming need to know.

He moved quietly up to the building, keeping out of easy view. He flattened himself against the wall beside the nearest window. That rational part of his mind tried to tell him that the sneaking really was not necessary but Cloud wasn't exactly known for listening to the rational part of his brain.

Peering over, he looked into the room. He saw nothing within it but some furniture. While the house appeared to be abandoned, the interior looked to have been recently cleaned. That was odd.

"Cloud."

The blond nearly jumped, whirling around at the sound of his name. Leon stood at the corner of the house, a mere four feet from Cloud. The younger man's expression was neutral but there was a strange mix of emotion in his steel-colored eyes.

"Why are you…?" Leon trailed off. An uncomfortable silence spread between them. After several minutes, Leon sighed and rubbed at the scarred bridge of his nose.

This action angered Cloud. It usually meant that Leon was frustrated with either the situation or person he was speaking to. The sable-haired man had no right to be annoyed with him. He was the one wandering off, the one who had started all of this.

The blond turned and took three steps away from the house before Leon again spoke his name. He paused but did not look back. The slight angling of his head invited Leon to continue.

"What's happening with us, Cloud?"

"I don't know."

Cloud could picture Leon's exact position. He was standing straight, feet barely a food apart. He likely had both arms hanging at his sides and his shaggy sable hair would have fallen forward, partially hiding his face. His expression would be his long perfected mask of coolness but there would be a slight tightness around his eyes.

He heard the faint rustle of moving leather and assumed Leon was leaving. However, it took only a moment to realize the boot steps were coming toward him. Before he could ponder why, Leon was in front of him and lifting his chin with a gloved hand to make Cloud look at him.

Stormy eyes locked with sky blue and something simply…changed. The connection between them that Cloud had been trying so hard to push away rose up and solidified. He saw the same thing happening in Leon's eyes.

Talking the initiative, Cloud took a step closer. He brought his body flush against the ex-SeeD and then waited. When Leon worried his lip, the blond faintly smiled. This was returned easily.

"I think," Leon spoke slowly, the hand that had lifted Cloud's chin now running along that man's shoulder. "That we both have been trying to keep the same thing hidden."

Snorting lightly, Cloud shook his head minutely. "You've done a much better job of it than I have."

"Sora and Riku had us figured out four days after everyone found out we were sleeping together," countered Leon. "They also knew that because we are who we are, neither of us would see it until 'our stubbornness was over-powered by our hearts'; Sora's exact words."

"That sounds like him," Cloud smirked. "I sometimes wonder how Riku deals with him."

"Then Riku does something more sappy."

"Exactly," laughed Cloud. He settled down quickly and re-took Leon's gaze. No longer caring what Leon's reaction would be, Cloud asked the question he had been after the answer to for days now. "Why have you been disappearing?"

Leon glanced away, embarrassment lightly coloring his skin. Cloud angled his head at this. He had never seen this emotion from the other man and was terribly amused by it. What could Leon possibly be embarrassed about?

"If I don't tell you, Sora will eventually," Leon breathed out. He took hold of Cloud's hand and stepped back toward the house.

Cloud followed him inside, curious as to what he was about to find out. The house had a slightly musty feel to it, confirming his earlier thought that the place was abandoned. He assumed that the recent dusting he noted had been done by Leon.

Leon had released his hand upon entering and taken the lead, guiding Cloud through the front room and kitchen. Before opening the door to the next room, Leon paused. He seemed to be preparing himself for something.

Cloud found this even more interesting. Lifting an eyebrow at the odd behavior, he quietly stated, "If I'm about to find out you have a secret wife and three kids, Leonhart, you better speak now."

Leon glanced back at him for a moment then rolled his eyes. "Damn, you figured it out."

The blond shoved his shoulder.

With the moment of brevity, Leon relaxed some. He turned back to the door and opened it. He stepped into the room muttering a watch your step before disappearing through the entry.

Cloud's mouth twisted, wondering what Leon meant by his statement. Not wasting the time to seriously ponder it, he moved forward and slipped through the doorway after him. As soon as he walked into the other room, he felt something under foot and heard a loud yelp.

He quickly retracted his step and a spotted puppy scurried away from him. He lifted his eyes and stared, brain not quite processing what he saw. The room was literally an ocean of black-spotted, white puppies. There had to be-

"There's ninety-nine puppies," Leon interrupted Cloud's thoughts. Three of said animals were trying to climb up the younger man's leg. "Plus Pongo and Perdita."

"Wow," Cloud breathed out. One of the small canines cautiously came over to sniff at his boot.

"Yeah," Leon sat on the small couch and his little gathering hopped up to sit on the cushions around him. "The first time I came here, only Pongo and Perdita were here and I noticed that they seemed rather sad. I started coming randomly to check on them, realizing that their owners were gone. I though that was why they were upset but then on my fourth visit, I saw a photo album had been knocked off a shelf and was opened to a page with pictures of dozens of Dalmatians.

"I have no idea why but I looked at Pongo and asked if these were his and Perdita's kids. I was only slightly surprised when he nodded. It turns out the puppies got scattered when the Heartless came."

"That's sad," Cloud commented. Four more Dalmatians had come over to investigate him. One rather enthusiastic one tried to jump up and eat one of the blond's straps.

"Lucky, stop it," Leon ordered gently. He idly scratched on the ear of the black eared one lying beside him. "Thankfully, Sora managed to locate them all during his travels. Now the whole family is back together and the people here check up on them for me, making sure they have everything they need."

Cloud lifted an eyebrow. "For you, huh?"

Leon looked up, not realizing what he said. He flushed at Cloud's smirk. "Well, you know how I feel responsible for everything…"

"Uh huh," Cloud laughed once softly. He carefully picked his way through the sea of spotted puppies to stand before his lover. "Somehow, I doubt that has anything to do with it."

Leon gave him a look.

Cloud shooed the two puppies clamoring on the cushion beside the sable-haired man and they leapt over Leon's leather clad legs. This disrupted the petting session and the three tumbled off the edge to play-fight on the floor. The blond then sat himself casually, back in the corner of the piece of furniture. "If it was just that, you would have told me about them earlier. You just didn't want me to know you're a sap for animals."

Leon snorted and opened his mouth to protest.

Cloud raised his hand and pressed his fingers to the other man's lips. When Leon closed his mouth again, Cloud removed his hand. He then rather suddenly leaned forward and kissed Leon deeply. It was easily returned with equal intensity.

They broke apart after several moments, Cloud bringing his hand up to run his fingers through Leon's lengthy locks. Leon settled his own gloved hand upon Cloud's leg, lightly rubbing at it. They quietly studied one another for a brief span of time, silently communicating in a way that was completely unique to them.

Abruptly, Cloud jumped. His face twisted as he made a noise and they both glanced down to see one of the Dalmatians biting at the blond's pant leg. It looked like the puppy was winning.

"Rolly!" Leon snapped out and the puppy immediately stopped. He seemed properly repentant and nuzzled at Cloud's leg in apology.

Cloud felt the corner of his lip curl up and he reached down to pat the dog's head. "So do they all have names?"

"Yeah," Leon watched Cloud for a moment. When the older male glanced at him in query, Leon pulled him to him, resting the blond against him.

They were almost instantly converged upon by ten small canines.

Cloud squirmed uncomfortably, noting that Leon was completely relaxed with the situation. He should have expected that. He smiled to himself and settled into the couch and Leon's side. "So are you going to introduce me to the family?"

Leon bumped against him. He slipped his arm around Cloud and with his free arm, began pointing and naming every single puppy. As he did, more of them came over to find places to sit and investigate the newcomer.

Cloud lost track of who was who after the twelvth one but he figured it didn't matter. He was content knowing that Leon was happy and more importantly, that the other man felt as strongly about him as he did him. When Sora had asked him his question to find out where to find Leon, he had been surprised how easily the answer had come to him.

He was not ready to openly admit to it yet but he knew that he loved Leon. He was sure now that Leon loved him back. They may not have made any big, heart-felt confessions but somehow, there wasn't any doubt.