Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mind, as are Duke, Kya Leng, and Jake Alms. Enjoy!

..:-X-:..

143 – Close Your Mouth and Open Up Your Heart

For justagirl8225

Every single color under the sun bedecked the surfaces of Radiant Garden. The entire population looked like they had jumped into a rainbow and returned to dance it all off. The sky was blue, the music was blaring, and smiles were everywhere.

And they had a right to celebrate, Leon thought, as a group of kids ran by wildly, laughing like they had just heard Santa was real. Today was the two year anniversary of the restoration of Radiant Garden, the liberation of their home world from the Heartless. The place looked like an entirely new world compared to the rotting mess that he and Cid and the others had returned to.

The entire Marketplace had turned into one massive dance floor. Some people were dancing around in groups, some just tapped their knees while the more adventurous threw themselves around. Leon had noticed that quite a number of those electronic dancing games had even made appearances, littering around the outside of the zone…for the group that was too old to find innocent dancing fun but was too young to be comfortable dancing formally.

Near the outside of one part of the Marketplace, a crowd of children had gathered around a long stretch of what looked like piano keys. Like an oversized carpet in the design of a piano. From the looks of things, Jake Alms had been the instigator there.

The stretch, upon second look, was less of a carpet and more of a mat of interlocking panels that lit up when someone stepped on one. What was more, he noticed, was that a few speakers had been set up, and the panels elicited a tone whenever each lit up. So it really was like an oversized keyboard.

From where he was standing—out of the way of the crazy dancing, thank you very much—Leon could see a few kids around 4 or 5 years old jumping up and down on the keys, nearly rolling with amusement at the noises that the panels were making. A couple of kids a few years older were sheepishly attempting to do Chopsticks, but they were being dissuaded by…Duke.

The dog had managed to make her way into the middle of the massive keyboard, but now she was stuck there. Leon smirked despite himself as the golden retriever stepped one way, her paw lighting up the panel and making a noise. She would yip and bounce back, only to hit another panel, which lit up and made noise. This continued for a while, much to the kids' entertainment. One boy did a baseball slide down the keys, lighting them all up and making a cascading sound. Duke barked and tried to escape again, but the kids were finding her too much fun to let her go that easily.

Radiant Garden had been brought back to life.

Leon exhaled, letting himself relax a little for the first time in…a long, long time. He wasn't sure where the others had gone off to—at one point he saw Cid drinking with a group of his gambling buddies and Yuffie haggling with the lady who ran the cotton candy machine—but he could see Aerith and Tifa over by the edge of the keyboard with the shy kids.

"You are the only guy I know who can manage to look gloomy at a party like this." Kya Leng, the chief of surgery at the Radiant Garden Hospital, said, having appeared on Leon's other side without him noticing.

"What?" He looked at her, "I'm not gloomy."

"You're lurking against a wall." The middle aged woman lifted an eyebrow at him.

"I'm not lurking." He said, folding his arms, "Just because I don't—"

Alms had found himself a woman who didn't reject him and waltzed the giggly red head past the two in such a frenzy that it was almost dangerous.

"—do that," Leon pointed, "doesn't mean I'm lurking."

Dr. Leng shook her head, "Well, anyway, you shouldn't lurk. You had a big hand in this. You should enjoy the celebration just as much as everybody else."

"…" He didn't respond.

The dissonance of the children's play on the piano board was interrupted as Tifa coaxed one of the shy little girls onto it, dancing on her knees with the girl and showing her how to do it. Duke had escaped, and was now frolicking after a group of boys. He watched the dog.

"She's beautiful." Dr. Leng noted, an odd tease in her voice.

"Yeah." Leon grunted.

"Look at her. She makes everybody smile." Dr. Leng went on.

Leon smirked and looked at her, but the doctor wasn't looking at Duke. She was looking over at the piano board. At Tifa. He felt his neck heat up slightly when Tifa looked over, saw them, and waved.

He cleared his throat and gave an awkward little wave back. "Yeah."

"And it looks like I'm not the only one who thinks so." Dr. Leng said quietly.

..:-X-:..

144 – Hold The Insomniac All Night

For WishingDreamer5

How in the world the Heartless managed to get their crap all over the INSIDE of the barrels of the gunblade was beyond him. Leon grimaced as he worked the cleaning cloth through the chambers of the weapon. The entire trigger mechanism was stuck with the gunk. Shameful. He had dismantled the entire thing on the coffee table and it was a mess.

Tifa was lying on her stomach, spread out on the floor behind the couch where he was working. He'd nearly stepped on her when he came in around six in the morning, just an hour or so ago. She'd been barely lucid. She'd been on assignment in Olympus for a week now, recent investigations into the whole Underworld set up and progress on the reconstruction of the Coliseum had been stringing her out. After so long in the heat and surrounded by dirt and sand, she needed to feel solid ground under her, she'd said.

She had been slightly sunburned on her shoulders and the top half of her face. The cool wooden floor probably felt good. Leon left her alone, even after she started mumbling in her sleep. She only did that when she was bone tired, so he didn't bother her.

It was incoherent mostly, and easily ignored as he worked the Heartless remains and other muck off of the gunblade. Every now and then one word might actually get pronounced, but it was usually something along the lines of 'purple' or 'earring' or 'omelet'.

"…Mmhm…no…huhmhm…wait…"

Something in her tone had changed.

Leon let his focus drift a little, slowing his motions on the trigger of the weapon so he could listen more carefully…just in case it turned into a nightmare.

"…p-please…mnh…Le—no…no…"

A single, unstifled sob escaped and that was all it took for Leon to set the gunblade down, stand up, and move around the couch, looking down at her.

Tifa had curled into a loose ball, trembling from whatever was plaguing her dreams. Her knuckles were balled into white fists by her head, and tears had gathered under her closed eyes, but they weren't breaking free yet.

Nightmares weren't uncommon around here: bad memories and traumatic experiences and all that, but he'd never seen her like this. It was unnerving.

Another, hiccupping sob made Tifa's shoulders hunch toward her ears, along with the murmuring, "Mhm…please…I'm sorry…hmmuh…d-don't l-leave…"

Tears were coming in earnest now, and alarm spiked up Leon's spine. He knelt down and grasped her shoulder.

"Tifa—" He gave her a small shake. "Tifa, wake up."

She flinched under his touch and he withdrew, but only just.

"—knew…I'm sorry…mh-no…no leave…Leon—"

That was enough solid ground.

Leon touched her shoulder again. When she didn't respond, he sighed and moved his arms under her knees and behind her back. He lifted her off the floor, and she didn't stir out of the nightmare. If anything, she just put her face into his neck and trembled as he carried her into her room. He slowly deposited her on her bed.

Maybe the time in the desert had made her delirious, or she'd spent too long in the Underworld. That place really messed with someone if you spent too long—

Tifa's eyes suddenly snapped open as he was straightening. "Rinoa…"

He froze solid. She wasn't awake. Her eyes were open, but she wasn't awake, her eyes impossibly wide and glazed. Her hand was fisted around his jacket at the collar.

"What?" He found himself blurting.

Her face crumpled, the side of her face red from lying on the floor. "I'm sorry—don't…don't hate me…Don't leave…"

Leon reached up and gently tugged her fingers off of his collar. "No one hates you." He spoke slowly, to get through to her. "No one's leaving you."

"…promised…"

"I know," He said, setting her arm down on the bed. "I promise that—"

"No—" She said breathlessly. "I promised—not to—She's—"

"Hey," He said, trying to curb her panic. "I'm not going anywhere. Go to sleep."

Tifa looked like she wanted to say more, but then nodded and just lay back, closing her eyes. Leon straightened, pausing, but she looked like she'd settled. He had no idea what had just happened, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know…but he'd ask her later…if he had the gumption. Damn Underworld.

..:-X-:..

145 – Not Just a River in Egypt

For justagirl8225

Whoever taught Nobodies to cast Gravity Spells should be shot.

Tifa had spent all night tossing and turning, aching and uncomfortable from the spell's aftereffects. Potions and Healing Spells mended wounds, not achy joints and strained muscles. As she blinked sleep from her eyes and saw sunlight on the wall of her bedroom, she figured that she must have gotten some sleep at some point, though her body was still aching.

Leon had checked on her periodically between shifts and eventually she'd come out of her stupor long enough to register him sitting beside her on the bed. Not touching her, not talking to her, just working on some paperwork or other. That's when she had realized she must look really pathetic if Leon was keeping a vigil.

From the warm weight at her back, he'd never left. Well, that was slightly ridiculous. She wasn't dying; he knew that. She blinked a few more times, waking up completely. The clock on the bedside table read 9 AM. She'd missed the morning meeting…So had he.

She started to turn her head, wake him up, and grumble this little bit of information at him. She only made it a half turn before going rigid and turning back around.

He was RIGHT THERE.

Not on the other side of the bed, not fallen asleep sitting up, as was often the case, and not with his back to her. Leon was practically right beside her, so close it stalled her breathing for a brief moment. While she was curled up on her side under the blanket, he was still fully dressed, on top of the covers, dead to the world…but that was definitely his arm draped over her side. Like it had always been there.

Seeing this, her skin tingled and she tried to reason this out. He'd probably just nodded off and ended up spending the night in here. They'd slept in the same bed before, either out of necessity on a mission or because exhaustion discouraged the other from going to their own room. But never this close. Leon would be mortified if he woke up like this…because there was no way they had ended up like this on purpose.

But Tifa couldn't bring herself to move. As much as she fought it, it felt nice. It felt nice to be held like this. Not in a sexual way or out of sympathy or pity or because they were stranded on a mountain and needed to preserve body heat…but just…because. And she wasn't completely sure if it was because she was just being held like she thought a woman should be held, or because it was Leon's arm that was around her.

Did it really matter?

Maybe Tabaeus McCallister had a point: she was fighting something that maybe she shouldn't. Tifa pursed her lips. No, she closed her eyes briefly. She was fighting this for a reason. Leon was the closest friend she had now. The past few years had proven that countless times. She had had a similar bond with Cloud…and then when she stopped fighting that feeling…it had blown up in her face.

She opened her eyes. She didn't think…She knew she couldn't go through that again. With Cloud, sure, it had hurt, but Leon…It was different. If this blew up, it would kill her. So she would just have to be careful that there would be no 'this' to ruin.

With this in mind, she started to sit up. Leon's arm slid to her hip as she moved, not pulling her back, not holding her put. Just a warm weight that invited her to stay. Maybe Leon said more when he was asleep than when he was awake. Was this almost-cuddle really unintentional? Or what if he really—

No, Tifa rubbed her face with one arm, but didn't move any farther away. He was still learning to let Rinoa go. Surely he was in no mental state to consider…They were friends. That was all. No matter how perfectly she seemed to fit under his arm or how comfortable this felt.

She really should get up.

The fact that they'd both missed the meeting meant that any minute now McCallister would be calling to make sure they weren't dead. But Leon had just come off an eighteen hour shift and Tifa…just didn't want to get up…not that she wanted to admit that.

Against her better judgment, she sank back onto her side, sliding one arm under her pillow to further support her head. All of the fight had left her for the moment. So she let herself sink contentedly into the sleepy embrace. The warmth of a body against her back made her belly flutter. Now that she was lying down again, she could just feel his breath on her neck, where her hair had fallen aside.

She could fight tomorrow.

Besides, her body was still sore from the Gravity Spell.

With this last thought, her eyelids grew heavy and she found it pleasantly easy to get comfortable again. She closed her eyes against the morning sunlight. As she drifted back to sleep, she could have sworn that she felt Leon's arm shift back to its original spot around her ribs.

But she probably imagined it.

Maybe.

..:-X-:..

A/N 143: Title from Little Less Conversation by Elvis Presley…because it's just an awesome song. If I didn't describe the piano board very well, imagine the Chopsticks scene from the Tom Hanks movie "Big", that's what I was going for.

A/N 144: Title from Insomniac, as covered by On the Rocks. Gosh, this was a hard one to write without getting too deep into the plot for As the Sun Sets on Mushroom Clouds…from here on I'm referring to it as ASSMC because that's a long title…

Lovely prompts, as always!