Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as is Mikayla. I went on a writing binge this weekend, mostly for filling the prompts for this collection, so here's another update sooner than expected! Papa!Leon makes a return in this chapter! I regret none of this. Some tidbits from future chapters of T Minus One Year are in this too. Not necessarily spoilers, just tidbits. Enjoy.

..:-X-:..

024 – Protective Sibling Syndrome

(For The Sacred and Profane; Prompt: 'Tifa meeting Ellone and her going all big sister on Tifa until she discovers just how right she is for Squall.')

Tifa sat at the kitchen table, trying not to give away how incredibly uncomfortable she was as she sipped at her tea. The woman across the table from her stirred her own tea quietly, but her eyes stayed directly on Tifa. The house was empty save for the two women. Leon was due home soon, having gone to pick up their daughter from the babysitter, but it wasn't soon enough.

This was the longest Tifa had spent alone with his 'sister' Ellone, since the woman had returned to Radiant Garden just a few weeks earlier. Tifa had the strong impression that the older woman didn't like her. She couldn't put her finger on why. Ellone didn't know anything about Tifa or her life with Leon.

Ellone was thin and looked frail. She was no physical match for Tifa, even if she tried to attack her…for some unfathomable reason. Well, who was this Ellone? She had just come swaggering back into Leon's life…She had no right to be making demands or being disapproving of Tifa! She had married Ellone's brother and borne his child. She deserved some slack! Ack, why was she feeling so intimidated by this woman?!

"You have a lovely home." Ellone broke the awkward silence.

She sounded polite and friendly enough, but why was she staring at Tifa like she was trying to interrogate her?!

"Thank you." Tifa replied, cursing the little waver in her voice.

"I was a little surprised to learn that Squall had changed his name." Ellone remarked. "Was that your idea?"

Tifa's eye twitched, "No. He was Leon long before I met him."

"So you haven't known him very long."

"We've known each other for almost five years now."

"Hm."

Where was Leon?!

"Well, you seem to make him happy." Ellone said quietly.

There was a tone there that Tifa didn't appreciate.

"That's part of the job description...of, you know, being his WIFE." Tifa muttered.

"Has he always had that limp?" Ellone changed the topic.

"No. He had knee surgery several months ago. He's still in physical therapy. It still hurts sometimes." Tifa answered curtly.

"Right, he told me. The MX9 Campaign. You two weren't on the best of terms during that mission." Ellone said over the rim of her tea cup.

Tifa bristled. "We were going through some difficulties, sure, like all couples. It wasn't sunshine and rainbows all the time. It still isn't."

"I find it odd how you expected him to accept wholeheartedly your…history with Cloud Strife…" Ellone said. "But you flew off the handle the instant that Rinoa Heartily returns to his life."

"I didn't fly—" Tifa stopped herself, getting her voice under control. "I didn't take it as gracefully as I could have, but under the circumstances…"

"You didn't trust him?"

"I trust him." Tifa snapped, feeling her neck growing hot. "It just took a long time for either of us to be in a place that was conducive to a relationship, and we were still on pretty thin ice when Rinoa came back. There was never a question of—"

The back door opened, signaling Leon's return. THANK GOD.

"We're back." Leon announced a few seconds later, coming in through the kitchen, holding their four month old with one arm.

Ellone got to her feet. "Welcome back." She beamed.

Tifa deflated at the kitchen table, feeling cross-examined and unsure how to shake that feeling. She stood and emptied her tea cup in the sink. Their daughter Mikayla squealed as Ellone swept her up. Leon's sister seemed to have taken any affection that she could have given to Tifa and channeled it all toward the baby girl.

Then again, Mikayla had the power to make even CLOUD giggle, so there was no telling how powerful the baby's magic was over a woman like Ellone.

As Ellone cooed all over the baby and carried her into the living room, Leon set the mail on the counter, looking to Tifa. "You look beat."

"Your sister hates me." Tifa bemoaned, leaning against the sink counter.

"What?" Leon snorted, opening the fridge and tugging out a bottle of water. "No she doesn't. Ellone doesn't know how to hate people."

"Well, she learned how." Tifa exhaled. "I swear, all afternoon, she's just been asking me these questions. They sound innocent, they should be innocent," She pointed at him. "But she's gathering evidence, I just know it."

Leon looked amused, unscrewing the bottle of water. "Evidence of what?"

"That I'm not right for you." Tifa folded her arms, "That I'm a bad wife and a terrible mother. She adores Rinoa; I know she does. I'm the harlot that stole you away from her."

Leon choked on his water at that, coughing through a laugh. Tifa smacked him on the arm. He took another tentative drink from the water, looking at her teasingly.

"My sister does not think you're a harlot."

"You didn't see…She had this look in her eyes." Tifa framed her eyes like hand-binoculars. "Like she was trying to read my soul…or melt me down to a puddle. You don't see it because she thinks you walk on water and Mikayla—"

"Abababa habukala!" The baby babbled from the other room.

The both of them leaned out of the kitchen to see Mikayla waving her set of plastic keys at Ellone, who smiled and started playing peek-a-boo with her.

"—is, let's face it, the most adorable child on the planet." Tifa admitted.

Leon shrugged. "Truth in that statement at least."

Tifa gave him a flat look. "You're mocking me."

"Of course I'm mocking you." He nudged her with his elbow. "Besides, even if she doesn't like you, what does it matter? We're married. We have an awesome daughter. What can she do about any of that? I'm not going to stop loving you just because Ellone doesn't like your hair."

Tifa touched her head. "What did she say about my hair?!"

"Nothing!" Leon raised his hands, "It was an example."

"I don't hear her bashing on your scar. Have you explained that to her? Or the name change? She thinks I convinced you to do that, you know." Tifa rambled. "As if I would ever…You know I think changing your name was utterly silly."

Leon frowned lightly, sighed, and stepped into the living room. "Ellone, do you hate Tifa?"

Tifa balked, smacking his shoulder again.

Ellone looked up, holding Mikayla at arms' length. "Of course not. What in Kingdom Hearts would give you that idea? I think she's lovely." She smiled.

Leon turned away from Ellone and looked to Tifa. "There, see?"

Tifa looked past him, where Ellone was staring flatly at her again. She sighed and looked at him. "Fine, you win."

Leon gave her a playful look, "What did I win? Do I get a prize?"

"You get the honor of having me NOT kick your butt in front of your sister and infant daughter." Tifa pointed out. "You have no idea what this afternoon has been like."

"Right," Leon looked at her, deadpan, "I have no idea what it's like for someone who cares about YOU to hate ME. I'm imagining someone blond, much taller and stronger than my petite, skinny sister…"

"Cloud never hated you."

Leon's eyes widened, "Oh really? Where WERE you for the first year that we were dating?"

"Okay, he didn't like you, but he didn't HATE you."

"He set me on FIRE once."

"That was an accident." Tifa said. "But you admit that you think Ellone doesn't like me."

Leon groaned, walking away from her and into the living room. "Bath time."

Ellone glanced over. "Oh, can't I do it?"

"Nope." Leon plucked Mikayla off the couch, "It's Dad Prerogative. I do bath time, and Mommy does bed time, alternating every other day."

Ellone blinked and glanced over at Tifa. "That's…organized."

Tifa pointed, "His idea, not mine."

Mikayla giggled and Leon kissed her neck. "Who knows, maybe tonight we'll get a first word?" He looked at the infant. "Da-da, right? Dada? Eh?"

The little girl just clapped her hands together. Leon shrugged and proceeded to carry her upstairs…leaving Tifa and Ellone alone together again.

He did that on purpose, Tifa twitched.

She busied herself with picking up some of the toys that Mikayla had strewn about the living room, and Ellone checked her watch.

"Do you want help with cooking supper?" Ellone offered.

Tifa hid a grimace, already seeing where this was going. The woman had been staying with them in their house since she had returned to Radiant Garden. She had never seen Tifa cook, barring the odd afternoon snack or salad. Recently married, Leon had just been forced to deal with Tifa's poor cooking. While she had been pregnant with Mikayla, however, Leon had all but taken over the kitchen. After Mikayla had been born and even to the present day, the kitchen was considered Leon's territory, and he almost shooed her owt whenever she tried to bully one night of cooking on her own.

Sure, it was romantic, and Leon was a cooking god, but Tifa had a feeling that Ellone saw Tifa's lack of culinary skills as a shortcoming. After all, a good wife would be able to cook for her husband and child, right?

"Oh, uh, Leon actually bought some stuff yesterday, said he was going to cook a surprise tonight." She said.

"Oh." Ellone said. "So do you ever cook?"

"No, I don't." Tifa snapped. "Is that a problem?"

Ellone straightened, "I'm just concerned that Leon seems to be pulling a lot of the weight around here."

"I don't cook not because I can't or I refuse to." Tifa put her hands on her hips. "Leon just beats me to it. He's better at it than I am. Happy? Don't you dare imply that I'm a bad wife."

"I never meant to presume—"

"We're partners. It's give and take. Sometimes I do some of manly stuff and sometimes he does some of the things that women usually do. Like I open the jars with the stuck lids and he cooks."

"And you seem to have the temper…" Ellone remarked.

"Maybe I just don't take kindly to people coming into my house and insinuating that I'm not good enough for my own husband. He picked me. Not Rinoa. We made a beautiful baby. Deal with it." She folded her arms, slightly out of breath.

Ellone paused, looking at her evenly. She slowly smiled. "Is this Tifa?"

Tifa blinked, "What? Don't patronize—"

"No, no." Ellone lifted a hand, "Squall—Leon—keeps telling me these stories about you two: the missions, the battles, and everything, and how you're so headstrong and willful. You've been so…quiet and evasive since I've arrived…I decided to push you to see if you were actually this vibrant woman that my brother told me about…or if that was just some kind of façade."

Tifa gawked. "You…This was a test?"

Ellone chuckled, "Yes! What, you thought I would immediately dislike you for no reason? Sure, I was a little wary of you at first…but my brother was always so withdrawn and shy when we were growing up. I see him so happy now…and I think I have you to thank for a lot of that." She canted her head, "I can tell that you really love him. You're both happy together."

Tifa was still reeling from the conversation whiplash. "Uh…yeah, we-we are."

"I'm sorry for putting you through all that." Ellone apologized. "Though I still think that Leon embellished a little on some of those stories…"

"He probably did." Tifa said, slowly letting her guard down again.

"He didn't really tear up your old couch with his bare hands, did he?"

Tifa lifted her shoulders, "Actually, that's true."

Ellone raised her eyebrows, "And did you really break his arm while you were giving birth to Mikayla?"

"Now that—" Tifa pointed, "—It wasn't his arm…Just a few fingers."

Ellone looked shocked.

"Don't look at me like that. Have you ever had a baby?"

Ellone sighed, "No."

"It hurts." Tifa drove the point home. "He's lucky I didn't break something else of his…"

Ellone snorted, covering her mouth at the escaped laugh. "And your car?"

"Jeep, actually. Why? What did he tell you?" Tifa asked apprehensively.

"Only that you bought a broken down jeep and he had to fix it all on his own."

"What? Of all the—" Tifa marched toward the stairs, yelling up to the bathroom. "Leon! Why did you tell your sister that I dumped the Jeep on you?! That was a group effort!"

Leon poked his head out of the bathroom, wearing a pirate hat and a mustache made of soap bubbles. "I know not this 'Leon'. There is only Captain Bubbles! Arr!" He shook a fist and rejoined Mikayla in the bathroom.

Tifa sighed and looked to Ellone. She shrugged. "You heard Captain Bubbles…"

..:-X-:..

A/N: All of the stories and backstory to this one are explained in my older Lefa stories, primarily As the Sun Sets on Mushroom Clouds. Though the parts with Mikayla are from future chapters of T Minus One Year.

I might be enjoying the Mikayla cameos too much, but Leon in Dad Mode is too much fun to pass up. Enjoy the cavities from the fluff anyway.