----x. Renegade Hearts
Chapter 4: The Storm Is Over

She tossed fitfully in her bed, covered only by a white sheet although ice lay waiting just beyond the walls. Her breathing was punctuated by whimpers, and her fingers clenched and relaxed spasmodically.

She stopped suddenly, unable to explain or fight off the sudden blanket of dread that settled over her shoulders like a cloak of doom. What is it? She thought, fear rising up in her chest.

She stood in front of the First District exit to the second, indecision weighing heavily on her, Fear gnawed at her heart.

…d a r k n e s s…

Heart in her mouth, she shoved one door open and raced through, Her heart was pounding, her small hands sweaty on the shuriken she now gripped, her booted feet moving swiftly.

She halted suddenly at the wrought iron carving that decorated the top of the mosaic fountain. There.

Her heart plummeted, her mouth dried almost instantly. No…

A black-garbed figure was fighting for his life in the centre of the market place against thousands of black Shadows.

…S q u a l l…

Where did they come from? He fought on furiously, face totally composed. He didn't care if they had no conscious thought. He would show no weakness, no emotion, to anyone. Especially not his enemies.

…l o v e…y o u…

Whirling to catch three Shadows in mid-air with his weapon, he stopped suddenly, stunned. A young woman watched him from the First District entrance, her white face horrified.

…Y u f f i e…

A Shadow pounced for his unprotected back. Ripping its long black claws through his cloak, it sought the heart greedily. He fell forward, and the Shadows swarmed.

She woke with streaming eyes as an ear-piercing scream shattered the night's silence. It was her own.

Always a light sleeper, his hand reached instinctively for a weapon the moment his sleeping mind registered the scream. He came suddenly awake as he realized. That was her.

The revelation was followed by the sound of soft gasps and sobbing. Ignoring the fact that it was freezing and that he slept only in shorts, he slipped out into the tiny dark hall, to find her.

She was drawing breath for another scream when a figure stumbled into her room. "Yuffie!" It hissed, worry evident in its voice. Fumbling hands grabbed at her shoulders.

She lost the battle with grief, and launched herself blindly at the other person, sobbing. It was a sound filled with loss and never-ending pain. In his awkward yet comforting embrace, she let the emotions pull her away, tear her apart. The pain, the grief, the loss, the guilt. The anger, the devastation, the denial, the overwhelming sadness.

The pain.

Whirling to catch three shadows in mid-air with his weapon, he stopped suddenly, stunned. A young woman watched him from the First District entrance, her white face terrified.

…no…

As she watched him from the First District entrance, her white face horrified, she mouthed one word: Squall.

No!

She whimpered like an injured puppy, eyes fluttering open and closed, staring over his shoulder as though she wanted to tear her gaze away from some horrid spectacle only she could see but couldn't. Her fingers, like stiff claws, dug into his bare shoulders, hurting. He gritted his teeth and braced himself, tightened his embrace. I'm not the one who needs help. She is.

"Riku…" her voice was strained. Her eyes fluttered wide open suddenly, fixed on a spot behind him. "Squall…"

She screamed. "Squall!"

Her back arched, she screamed and fought against the arms that caged her like a trapped wildcat. Claws reached for his moonlight-marbled face – he leaned away from them swiftly. "Yuffie! What happened?"

I can't move… I couldn't move!

She stared at him, face ravaged by sorrow. Her dark eyes were like stormy pools; her hair was like wind-whipped clouds. "He's dead, he died… it's my fault!"

He smoothed her hair back desperately, eyes searching her own for answers. "Who? What happened?"

"Squall!" She shrieked again. "The darkness took him from me… I couldn't move, couldn't help him… he loved me!"

Riku gazed helplessly at her, the tiny, tormented body that was in his arms. Then his brow furrowed in determination, and he slapped her cheek – more of a pat, really, but still with enough force to sting. "Stop screaming, Yuffie," he told her calmly and firmly.

She gave a small gasp of shock, biting her lip suddenly as she stared at him. Little whines escaped her, like a small puppy that had just been kicked. Her thin chest heaved with the pressure of holding in her sobs. Her eyes glistened with the many unshed tears, as her face did with the marks of the ones she had already shed.

"I'll let you cry," he told her, "But only if you promise not to make such a big fuss over it."

A tiny agonized wail escaped her compressed lips, and she buried her face in her own shirt, pulling it up so she could wipe her face with the thin plain white cotton. She doesn't spoil herself, he thought sardonically as he hugged her tightly. It felt like he could wrap his arms twice around such a tiny figure, except that she seemed so fragile she might break if he did that.

"Riku…" she cried. "Riku – he's dead though! Dead!" she almost collapsed with the obvious weight of her feelings; he supported her tiny frame with his strong arms, not yet diminished with the lack of exercise following his injury.

"And now that you know it–" he replied, "–what are you going to do about it? You've been telling yourself that for a while now… don't you think it's about time you stopped? Maybe thought about it? That is the past now. If you want to wallow in the past now, that's your business. But there are people who care about you too much to watch you do that." He tightened his embrace as she flinched at his words, resting his chin on her mussed ebony hair.

Are you one of them…? She wanted to ask, really wanted to ask, but another, more pressing accusation came out. "And has this ever happened to you? Did you ever lose someone so dear to yourself that you thought about them all the time? Did you?" She tried to forget about how harsh that had just sounded, twisting slightly so her tear-streaked face could see his suddenly emotionless one.

The marble face hid a boiling turmoil of thoughts, one that threatened to overtake and wipe out every rational thought in his mind. Kairi… Sora… "So what if I have?" He said roughly, almost tempted to push the still distraught ninja away. "Is that any of your business?"

"Tell me." She said quietly- since when that night had she sounded more composed than he had? "Tell me. I've willingly shared my grief with you; now you share with me. Every small scrap of unhappiness at losing a dear one that has made you into what – who – you are today. If you don't tell me now, then one day it's going to become too much. You won't be who are you anymore. You'll be soulless. Heartless. Because you'll be bitter, or empty, or both, inside." Her dark eyes, almost black but for the glint the moon gave them, held such conviction that he was taken aback.

The silver-haired youth with the striking aquamarine eyes gave an inaudible sigh that Yuffie wouldn't have noticed if she hadn't been pressed against his diaphragm. "It was a while ago now," he explained quietly. "My best friend – my best friends – both left me. One was taken by the Heartless, and the other went to find her. And I haven't seen them since, except for when I had to fight him. I never wanted to, but I thought it was the only way I could save them – save her. They needed help, and because I didn't give it to them, because I though I could single-handedly rescue them myself, I've lost them. I don't know where they are now. I want to know, but I don't." a single tear glittered as brilliantly as his eyes on his cheek for a moment, then it fell onto Yuffie's hand.

Yuffie simply nodded, tears pricking her own eyes. They weren't for she herself anymore; they were for the stranger that she had rescued. Not for the one who had died – but for the one who lived still. She twisted back around so that her back was curved into his chest. "Riku?" she murmured, so softly he barely heard, lost as he was in his own thoughts.

"Hmm?" His eyes were closed now - he hated to cry.

"Let's go to sleep now. The mourning's over. Tomorrow, I want to visit his grave – will you come with me?" she held her breath as she waited for a reply.

He didn't even consider refusing, and answered swiftly. "Sure."

With a tiny smile of gratitude, the tiny ninja girl squeezed his hand for a second and snuggled into the warm body behind her.

The man she rested in the arms of opened his eyes for a second, and wondered if it could always be like this. Simple mourning, it happens and then it's over, just like that, and then moving on. Could it be like this? To spend time with ones you care about, with no worries...

Wow, fancy that. This was a bit of a Christmas update. But now, it ain't. Easter? That'll do me. Not much modifying in this chapter. There isn't usually with dialogue. Particularly angsty dialogue.

Love to all and Ann.

------Tally.