Leon walked through the marketplace and walked up to a shop that sold ice cream.

"Hey" he said blandly to the attendant who had their back to him "Can I get two sea salt ice cream bars" he ordered. He then looked puzzled when the attendant turned around and revealed herself to be Tifa. "What are you doing here?" he asked confused

"Oh I asked Huey, Dewey and Louie If I could do some work for them at one of their shops. They were happy to have me" she said cheerfully

"Is this to get more money?" Leon asked and Tifa turned away from him.

"I never picked you as an ice cream guy" she pointed out

"It's not for me" he responded "Yuffie asked Eddie if ever had one. When he said no she demanded he go out and try some. But when he was unwilling to move I got stuck with going to get it"

After he was done Tifa reached down and picked up two ice cream cones in each hand.

"Here you go" she said. He then handed her money to pay for it and took the cones in each of his hands. But then a third one appeared before his face.

"What's this for?"

"It's for you. On the house" she said.

"I don't want one" he backed off a little

"c'mon" she urged "I'm about to get my break, we could have one together"

"I think you and I both have bigger things to worry about" Leon said as Tifa looked on solemnly. Seeing this Leon shuffled the ice cream to one hand, reached into his pocket and placed some more money on the counter "Here" he said "That's a tip just for you"

Tifa looked at the money and then back to him "Thank you" she said with almost teary eyes. Silence overtook them but Leon's eyes never went away from her.

"Are you going to come by and work later?" he asked as she looked up at him "I mean…. If you have time."

"I'd like to" she said cheering up "Yeah, definitely" she smiled.

Nodding to her Leon walked back off to the Restoration Committee headquarters. He knocked his shoulder into the door to open it and then stoically walked in as everyone's eyes were now on him. Yuffie sat on the arm to the couch, over Eddie who sat on it.

"Do you got it?" Yuffie asked

"Does it look like he got it?" Eddie sarcastically commented

Leon walked over to her and forcefully handed off the cones "Here" he said blandly before he walked off and Aerith watched him go off into a corner.

Yuffie then handed off the second ice pop to Eddie "Here try it!" she encouraged.

Eddie looked at it curiously and then gave it a lick and then sucked his lips in, in disgust "It's sour" he complained

"It's sweet!"

Aerith looked over to Leon who stood in the corner of the room flipping through a book. She then walked over to him.

"Leon" she called to get his attention "Are you okay?"

"Uh huh" he muttered keeping his back to her

"Are you sure? We could talk if you want"

"No need" he mumbled. Silence overtook them for a moment.

"Leon I know you're not reading the book, now talk to me" Aerith demanded in a sweet tone.

Leon let out a sigh "No need cause there's nothing wrong. Even if there was it would probably solve itself"

"How's that?"

"By walking through the door" he muttered

"What's that?" Aerith asked "I didn't hear you". Then the door knob jiggled and Leon snapped his head around to see who was about to walk through. He was expecting a young woman with black hair and clothes who recently began selling ice cream to walk through but instead got a cranky looking Cid and the first thing he saw was the long full hope filled eyes of Leon.

"And what are you looking at?" he let out confused. All eyes then were on Leon who looked around the room with shifty eyes as he tried to think of an excuse.

"The door sounds creaky" he lied "Maybe we need to fix it"

"Well put it on yer to do list" Cid said as he closed it behind him. Everyone then went back to what they were doing as Leon stood stoically in the middle of the room. Aerith had walked off to look at Pooh's storybook while Yuffie and Eddie continued to argue over the consistency of the ice cream.

Leon then walked over to the private eye and put a hand on his shoulder

"I'm telling you it's sour-"Eddie felt something on his shoulder and he looked up to see Leon looking down at him "Can I help you?"

"Can we talk..alone" Leon affirmed. Eddie looked from him to Yufie

"Yeah why not" he said getting up. Then he passed the ice cream off to Yuffie "Here don't let it melt on me" he said before walking off with Leon to the back of the room so no one else could hear them. "Alright what's up Leon" Eddie said gruffly

"How's your case coming along?" Leon asked

"Straight to the point, I like that" Eddie said.

"Well?"

"Eddie looked up at the clock before turning back to him "I got a lead I'm meeting up with in about an hour. Says he's seen him around"

"Who's the guy?"

"Confidential" Eddie said. Leon was about to snap at him before Eddie quipped first "Don't worry about it, your girls gonna be happy soon enough"

Leon now at a loss for words went back to looking back at the door "Thanks" he said

"Anytime" Eddie said gruffly before facing away from Leon to go sit down. But then he let out a sigh and turned back to the swordsman "Sorry if I was a little tough" he responded "I'm just trying to my job and keep a certain privacy level" Eddie told him

"I understand" Leon said as he kept his eyes on the door.

Eddie's eyes shifted from him to the door and he was going to say something but decided against it. He then turned off to go back and look at his reports and begrudgingly argue about ice cream flavors.

But an hour later duty called and Eddie left to go meet up with his informant. The whole time after their conversation and long after he left Leon kept his eyes on the door, unflinching waiting for someone to walk through it, but that person never came.

The sun had now set over the town and everyone was turning in for the night, everyone except Leon that is who kept his eyes on the door. He was fixated on it that he did not hear the footsteps approaching from behind him.

"Leon" Aerith outstretched her arm to him "Are you sure you don't want to talk"

"I'm fine" he responded

"Alright….Everyone else is in bed now, you might want to think about getting some sleep too" she recommended

"Yeah.. I'll be up in a minute". Without another word said Aerith retracted her hand from him and walked up the stairs.

Leon stood a few moments more staring at the door before letting out a defeated sigh. Then he turned around and made his way up the stairs. But then he heard something; the creak of the door opening.

"Tifa!" he let out as he turned around. But that is not who he saw because Eddie Valiant had just walked through the door.

"Well gee I didn't know we looked so much alike" he said sarcastically

"Sorry" Leon muttered

"It's alright" Eddie shrugged "Let me tell you, this was one heck of a work day" he said as he walked in and took his coat and hat off. "I got a lot done today, how about you?" Leon was silent "Your tired, that's fine" Eddie said as he sat down. He then took out his briefcase which had all his money in it and began counting it. But Eddie felt a lingering feeling in the room and he looked over his shoulder to see Leon still looking at him "Hey, you alright over there?" he asked but got no answer "Maybe you should turn in for the night" he recommended

"What's that you got there?" Leon asked

"A job well done my friend, a job well done" Eddie told him with a grin.

Leon looked from Eddie and into the dark of night outside. He had a really bad feeling building up inside him and it was something he felt like he was going to have to take care of himself.

Taking a deep breathe he then bolted across the room and in front of Eddie. Shocked by the sudden surge of energy from the otherwise stoic man Eddie did nothing but stutter as Leon snatched up all the money in front of him and then sprint out of the house.

"HEY!" Eddie shouted as he got up "Where are you going!" he screamed after him.

Tifa walked through long, dimly lit hallways in a building on the edge of town. The flights flickered as she walked through. She could hear her footsteps echo down the hallway. She walked down it until she came to a door and she stopped in front of it. She reached her arm up to grab the knob but hesitated for a moment. Biting her lip and cringing she finally mustered up the courage to open the door.

She opened the door to another dimly lit room by only one light. In the shadows was a desk with a chair behind it and a large man in it. The wall was littered with TV's that surveyed the whole compound and beside the desk where two dogs who once Tifa had walked in began growling at her.

"Huh?" a voice let out from the shadows "Ah Tifa" he said turning to her as she stood under the light and he laid his arms out on the desk "Welcome, welcome" he said eerily. "Hey boys come on, is that a way to treat a guest, and a lady none the less" he chuckled as the dogs backed away from her. "So.." he said getting her attention on him " today's the day. Do you have something for me?" he asked

"Well I um… I" Tifa stuttered

"Speak up" Sykes said as he lit a cigar "Not even a mouse could hear you" he then leaned back in his chair

"Well I don't have the money" Sykes eyes snapped on her "yet" she snapped and Sykes eased out of his lean.

"Well.. it was supposed to come to me today, now what am I supposed to do?" he asked. Tifa stuttered in response "I mean come on, a good looking girl like yourself, surely wouldn't have wasted your time on silly little chores around town"

"No of course not" Tifa responded. "I mean I have some of the money, just not.. all of it"

Sykes started to rub his head "Oh excuses, excuses. What can I do with excuses?" he rambled

"If you just give me some more time I c-"

"Tifa" Sykes said coldly as he raised his hand into the light "You don't have the money "Then as he was about to snap his fingers an alarm went off. "Eh?! What's that?!" he asked turning his head around. His attention was then brought to the monitors next to his desk. Through the monitors he could see that the front door was slashed open and the door was off the hinges. "What the.." Sykes muttered as he checked the other monitors and pulled his gun out. "Huh? What's this?" he asked aloud as he looked on one of his monitors. He saw a man running down the hallways.

"Leon" Tifa whispered as she recognized him on the screen.

Sykes then cocked his gun. "This isn't a party" he said as his attention moved towards the door. "Move" he snapped at Tifa and she shakily did so as his dogs began growling.

They heard footsteps echoing from the hallway. They kept getting louder and louder and then a silhouette appeared from the other side of the door and the knob jiggled.

Sykes raised his hand as the door began to open. "No wait!" Tifa shouted to him.

Leon then busted through the door and looked around the room. The first thing he saw was a man sitting at a desk in the shadows and two vicious doge growling at him. He then snapped his head left and saw the person he was looking for.

"Tifa" he panted

"Leon.. what are you doing?" she asked

"I came to-"

"Can I help you" Sykes asked from the darkness.

Leon walked over to him, taking out all the money as he did and then slammed it on the desk before him.

"There's the money, it's done now" he said sternly as the money still lay before Sykes as he looked at it uninterested. He then turned to Tifa "Come on" he said and he took her hand and they turned to leave.

"Hold it" Sykes called out with his hand raised to them. They both then turned around and watched as Sykes with a cigar in his mouth counted all of the money before him. Then when he was finished he inhaled his cigar, blew smoke into the air and spoke "This doesn't cut it" he said

"What? How? That's the amount she borrowed from you Leon stated "I know it is"

"Oh it is" Sykes agreed "But there's an interest rate. So.." he said getting up "Where's my interest?"

"You've gotten what you owed and that's enough" Leon said

"Is that so?" Sykes asked as he puffed his cigar and put it in his ashtray. "Are you saying you're not gonna pay me?"

"I'm saying you should be fine with what you get"

Sykes looked him over "Who is this guy?" he asked intrigued

"He's a.. um" Tifa muttered

"A friend" Leon said confidently.

"Well Mr. Friend, I still need my money" Sykes stated

"You got back what you lent, that's payment enough" Leon stated "I think that's fair"

"Fair?" Sykes repeated as he looked the two over

"What do you think of that?" Leon asked

"I think this has all been entertaining" Sykes chucked eerily as he raised his hand "But the party is over" he then snapped his fingers.

Then suddenly the two dogs snarled and jumped up towards them bearing. Leon threw himself in front of Tifa as the dogs jumped on him and tackled him to the ground, biting, tearing and gnawing into him.

In shock and disbelief of what was going on Tifa looked from Leon on the floor to Sykes who stood in the shadows. He nonchalantly put his gun back in its holster and then replaced it with a cigar which he examined and then put it in his mouth and then lite it with a match.

"Sykes! Stop!" Tifa pleaded to him but he paid her no mind as he sat back down at his desk as his dogs continued to viciously attack Leon who could not defend himself from. The dogs relentlessly bit into Leon as he crawled across the floor to escape them but to no avail. Tifa then jumped over to Sykes in an attempt to stop "Sykes, Please!" she begged with teary eyes as he continued to ignore her. She had to think of something fast in order to get his attention.

"Please" she whispered "I've been taking money from the restoration committee" Sykes raised an eyebrow "I need him alive". A grin then formed on his face and he raised his hand and snapped his fingers and upon doing so the dogs ceased their attack and walked off. Tifa then ran over to Leon's side to assess his wounds. His clothes were torn and He had scratches accompanied deep bite marks all over his body. He let out a groan as she held him.

"I think there's hope for you yet" Sykes grinned "I'm proud of you Tifa, you're starting to think big" he congratulated her as she picked Leon up and leaned him over her shoulder and headed for the door. "I'll give you one more day" he said holding up his forefinger "But" he said getting her attention "This is your last chance".

Tifa nodded to him and hauled Leon up the stairs, through the hallways and out of the building and into the nightlife of the town.

"Come on, I've got to get you home" she said as she tugged him along. There was only silence between them other than the sound of their footsteps and Leo's weak breathes. "Don't worry" she kept reassuring him "You'll be alright". Leon remained silent aside from his wheezing. "Did you hear anything back there?" she asked him and he was silent "If you don't want to answer that's fine but… she paused "In case you did I didn't mean it…what I mean is… I want to get my money the right way. I wouldn't steal from anyone, least of all you" she stated

"I know" Leon sighed "I gave you everything I could"

"Thank you"

"Do you have his interest?" Leon asked

Tifa was silent "Not all of it"

"What are you gonna do?"

"I'm gonna get you out of here first"

"After that"

"…..I don't know".

The two of them did not exchange words for the rest of the trip back to the committee headquarters. When they got there Tifa opened the door with her shoulder and walked into the dark room with Leon over her shoulder. She felt her way through the darkness and at his request laid him out on the couch.

"Are you sure it's okay if I just leave you here?" she asked standing over him

"Go" he waved her off "get some sleep"

"I don't think I can get much sleep after all this" she said to him but he made no response. She looked him over as he laid there on the couch, the only sign of life was deep painful breathes. "Why did you come all the way to find me?" she asked "Why are you are so worried about what happens to me?"

"Why not" Leon said looking up at her. Shifting her eyes away and nodding she turned away and walked towards the door. "Leon" she called to him

"What?"

"How can repay you for everything you've done for me? Is there any way I can thank you"

There was a long silence before he answered "When you're on break…." He paused "Let's have ice cream together"

"Alright" she nodded with a weak smile as a tear went down her face before she closed the door behind her.

Leon laid alone on the couch in the darkness wondering how to fix the problems he was in. He stayed up for the rest of the night thinking it, the only thing keeping him company was the large assortment of material goods around him.