I'm trying to go for shorter chapters but due to my long-ish first chapter, I didn't want to give you guys anything less.

Well here's the next chapter. I honestly didn't expect people to like what I had so far so I'll try my best to make this story worthwhile!

"Hey Sora! Roxas says you're grounded."

Sora only shrugged as his best friend caught up to him in the hallways.

"He says 3 months but I'm not sure if that's possible…" said Riku and threw his arm around Sora as they walked out together.

"Well that's what Dad said," Sora muttered. The two stopped by the bike rack to wait for Roxas who finally came out of the building and said bye to Hayner.

"So if you're grounded, I'm still allowed to hang out with Roxas right?" Riku questioned and Sora lightly hits his friend,

"That's so mean! You WOULD abandon me!" he pouted.

Roxas rolled his eyes, not believing that he just walked in on that of all things.

"Sora, you know that doesn't count as 'abandoning' you," Roxas stated but Sora only crossed his arms, keeping that pout, "Riku and I were planning on going to the arcade today. We can walk you home before we-"

"I can go home myself!" Sora announced, placing his hands on his hips.

"…You sure?" Roxas asked, raising a brow. Sora only nodded,

"You guys go have fun. Don't worry about me!"

Riku and Roxas only exchanged glances before Sora nodded again and turned to head home with the two saying their goodbyes to him before heading for the arcade.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Sora kicked rocks around as he skipped down the street; but he didn't get very far before he stopped when he spotted Leon leaning against a building with his arms crossed.

"Mr. Leon?" Sora approached the man in leather. Leon opened his eyes to see Sora staring blankly at him.

"Sora right?" Leon asked and Sora only nodded, "Just call me Leon."

"Okay, Leon! So what are you doing here?"

"I was…I wanted to see you," Leon replied, not exactly wanting to say he was waiting for Sora and his brother.

"Oh? Why?"

"…Can we talk somewhere more private? You can pick."

"Okay! Oh! I know! Scrooge's place! I want Sea Salt ice cream!" Sora announced and pulled Leon along to the Scrooge's ice cream parlor. That's when Leon found himself buying ice cream for them both.

Sitting down at a table outside, Sora eagerly ate his ice cream.

"Sora, can you tell me about your family?" Leon asked, taking his time in eating his classic chocolate ice cream.

"I guess so, but why? And…don't you and Dad know each other?" Sora wanted to ask that, and actually completely forgot about it until Leon brought his family up.

"Well…yes, we do know each other," Leon nodded, "So can you tell me a little about your family?"

Sora saddened before he sighed.

"Well there's not much to say. I mean, I have a twin brother, Roxas. I'm actually the older one but everyone thinks Roxas is for some reason. Cloud is my Dad but…I don't know who he was with. Dad never talks about it and hates it whenever we bring that topic up; so we almost never do. Although…I really wish I knew who it was. I don't want to say it but…I think Dad likes Roxas better than me. I know what you're going to say! It's not true, yada, yada! But Roxas is better than me at everything! Especially school! And I just…can't compare…so I've always thought that maybe whoever Dad was with would like me better."

"…I'm sorry then, Sora. I won't comment on that then," Leon stated and reached over with a napkin to wipe Sora's face of all the ice cream that didn't reach in his mouth, "So Cloud is your only parent? He took care of you your whole life?"

"Y-Yeah…At first, I thought I was adopted because I wasn't blonde. But Roxas and I look pretty much identical except for the hair; and Roxas looks a lot like Dad."

"I see…"

"How do you know, Dad?" Sora asked and finished his ice cream. Oh how Leon wished Sora forgot to ask…

"We…met in high school through a friend, Tidus."

"Uncle Tidus? I haven't seen him in so long!" Sora exclaimed excitedly, "So you're friends with him too?"

Leon only chuckled at how excited Sora suddenly got.

"Yes, it was kind of funny actually. But yeah…that's how we met and became friends."

"Then…why did Dad act like he hated you if you were friends?" Sora asked and Leon mentally cursed himself for setting himself up like that.

"We…I…I guess I did something to upset him. Okay more than one thing and I did more than upset, I really hurt him."

Sora suddenly looked hurt himself as he slid into his chair, almost afraid.

"…Why would you?" What an innocent question…but so hard and almost hurtful to answer.

"I didn't do it on purpose! I mean, I would never ever intentionally hurt someone I care about. But…things got out of hand I guess. And I never saw him again after that. Until I ran into you that is."

"Wow…" Sora leaned forward in his seat again, the enthusiasm creeping back to him, "Maybe it's destiny that it happened! You met again! So maybe…fate's giving you guys another chance!"

Leon wasn't sure why, but he felt the urge to smile even for a for seconds,

"Maybe…"

"…You actually LET Sora go home by himself?" Cloud questioned when Riku and Roxas came back to his place later that day only to be one Sora short.

"We…yeah…" Roxas's head fell, shortly followed by Riku's, as the two cannot come up with any reason or excuse. Cloud was really tempted to yell at them but finding Sora came first.

"Get out and look for him," Cloud ordered and the two were out the door in less than a second. Upon seeing Roxas reaching for his cell phone, he knew the boy would find Sora so Cloud only went to his door and closed it without worrying. If it was the other way around, he'd be more worried but he trusted Roxas to find Sora.

"Sora! Where are you?" Roxas exclaimed in worry. First last night and now this!

"Hm? I'm in the park!" Sora answered cheerfully.

"…Why are you in the park!"

"Because I wanted to take a walk…"

"…By yourself?"

"No! With Leon!"

"With…Oh! YOU'RE THAT MAN FROM LAST NIGHT?"

"What man?" Riku immediately asked in concern.

"Um, yeah! He was waiting for me after school!"

By this point, Roxas had the phone on speaker and both Riku and Roxas had their ears next to it in time to hear that.

"Sora! That could be a pedo!" Riku exclaimed.

"No kidding! Especially after meeting you LAST NIGHT and not to mention Dad looked like he wanted to kill him!" Roxas added.

"He treated me to ice cream! Don't be mean to him! We'll head back home right now if you're so worried! Sheesh!"

"Ice-cream-giving-pedo…I'm beyond worried!" Riku shouted.

"Me too! Don't move! I'll come get you!" Roxas ordered.

"Aww…fine! Treat me like a baby!"

Roxas can pretty much visualize Sora pouting at that moment.

"Good, now keep talking to me until I get there!"

"Yeah, yeah…" Sora muttered.

Sora had to switch between talking to Leon and Roxas until Roxas and Riku got to the park.

"Hi Roxy! Hi Riku!" Sora waved from the bench he sat on with Leon.

"Wow it really is the man from last night," Roxas muttered but Riku already made a dash to Sora without even hearing Roxas's comment. With a sigh, Roxas ran after Riku.

Riku practically yanked Sora's arm off, or so he thought, when Riku pulled Sora away from Leon,

"Who the hell are you?" Riku demanded while Sora pulled his arm back,

"…Who are you?" Leon shot back.

"His best friend!" Riku replied and pulled Sora back again.

"His savior."

"What?"

"Riku!" Sora slapped Riku's hands away, "He's telling the truth!"

"I just want to know why he's meeting with you again," Roxas stated and crossed his arms when he approached them.

"Well, Leon and Dad knew each other. Don't you think it's kind of like fate that they met again? So we were thinking we can try and repair the friendship! Right?"

"Not really," Roxas shook his head, "Not after seeing the way Dad acted."

"But you don't know the story!"

Leon placed a hand on Sora's shoulder, getting his attention.

"It's alright, Sora. I should probably go now anyway. I'm sure you have homework to do too."

"Aww…okay…" Sora pouted and gave Leon a hug, ignoring his brother and best friend's warning expressions "See you later, Leon!"

"Hn, thank you. Be a good boy now, Sora," Leon patted the boy's head before standing up to leave.

"I will!"

After Leon left, Roxas gave Sora a disapproving look.

"What?" Sora asked as Roxas shook his head at him.

"You said 'I will!' when a stranger tells you to be good boy? But when Dad tells you that you reply with 'yeah, yeah'!"

"…Your point?"

"Ugh…" Roxas's face met his hand and shook his head again.

The two dragged Sora back to Cloud and unfortunately, the first thing Cloud asked was,

"Where were you, Sora?"

But before Roxas could cover it up, Sora immediately replied:

"Talking with Leon!"

Upon seeing Roxas's reaction, as well as Cloud's face, Riku was smart enough to take his leave.

"Uh, see you two at school! Bye!"

"Bye Riku!" Sora waved, completely oblivious to what trouble he's going to be in.

Upon shutting the front door, Cloud took in a breath to try and calm himself down.

"You were what?"

"Talking with Leon," Sora answered again.

"Why?"

"Because he wanted to meet with me."

"I swear, I will never let Sora walk home by himself again," Roxas stated, trying to ease his father.

"You don't need to baby me, Roxas!" Sora exclaimed.

"…Roxas, go to your room. Sora I need to speak with you," Cloud requested and Roxas immediately ran upstairs.

"Dad, why do you hate Leon? He's a good person!" said Sora, knowing at the very least that this conversation was going to lead to Leon.

"Sora, you knew him over the course of two days…I don't think you can judge him. So: Stop seeing him!"

"But why? He's really nice!"

"Sora, I've known him for far longer than two days. Even if he did help you out, I forbid you to see him again!" Cloud exclaimed, his anger tone rising.

"But Dad!"

"No 'buts' alright? Never see him again!"

"Give me one reason why!"

"I'm your father, I don't need to!"

"You're not being fair!"

"I learned this from experience: Life is never fair!"

"…I learned that from experience too!" Sora cried and wiped his eyes before running to his room.

"Sora!" Cloud shouted after him but Sora only ignored him and slammed his room's door as hard as he could.

Cloud groaned and fell back against the wall.

After staying like that or a few more moments, Cloud went up the stairs and knocked on Roxas's door.

"Roxas," he called and trained like a soldier, Roxas immediately opened his door.

"Yes, Dad?"

"I'm going out for a bit and leaving you in charge. You know the rules: Don't open the door or answer the phone and make sure Sora does his homework and doesn't run away."

"S-Sure! But the window…"

"I sealed it," Cloud replied before the question came out, "I trust you, Roxas."

"Th-Thanks, Dad!"

Leon fell on his couch after wandering around a bit more, buying Sora a toy to give to him later and finally headed home to rest. Sora and Cloud ran through his mind all day but his thoughts were interrupted due to constant knocking and doorbell ringing. With a groan, he got up from his couch and went to the door.

Upon opening it, he was greeted with a hard slap.

"Stay away from Sora!" Cloud ordered while Leon felt his throbbing cheek and tried to get his senses back.

"Ow…" Leon let out and looked at Cloud who was giving him his signature death glare, if he supposedly had one.

"That would've been a punch but I didn't want to break your jaw," Cloud added, with a hint of sarcasm.

"Ow…Cloud, uh, nice to see you again too…"

"Don't butter me up. Now again: Stay away from Sora!"

"Cloud," Leon's hand left his cheek and he threw his hands up, "Cloud please. I know I'm probably your number one hated enemy right now but…Sora is-"

"Sora and Roxas have nothing to do with you!"

Leon fought the urge to glare back as he stared at Cloud.

"I think you and I both know that's not the case at all…"

"Oh that's the case and it's staying that way! If I catch you near my sons again, I'll…"

"You'll what?" Leon challenged, "Really, tell me. I would love to know!"

Cloud looked up and down Leon's body before slapping him again.

"Then I really will break your jaw!"

"Ah…okay fine I deserved that but please stop hitting me…" Leon's hand went to his other cheek again. Man Cloud can slap pretty hard.

"I'll stop when I feel like it! Or better yet: When you decide to stay away from my sons!"

Leon's hand dropped from his face and took in a breath to calm himself.

"Cloud…do you want to step in real fast to…talk?"

"No."

"Cloud, please."

"No."

"Cloud…I promise I'll stay away from them if you just come in for a moment."

"…Fine."

Leon closed his door when Cloud stepped in and stood there, keeping his arms crossed while averting Leon's gaze.

"…You know you haven't changed at all since high school," said Leon and walked past Cloud, motioning to the couch to invite Cloud to sit but Cloud only looked away in decline.

"Neither have you…only you grew your hair out but I recognize that scar anywhere," Cloud commented.

Leon felt himself smile a bit at that but it quickly went away when Cloud finally looked at him again with that same amount of hatred.

"What do you want, Squall? I rather not leave Roxas to watch over Sora for too long. The boy is as hardheaded as you unfortunately…"

"Really now? And you love him anyway?"

"I would answer that but you wouldn't know what love is even if it crawled up your pant leg and died."

"Ah…" Leon quickly gave up on that fight, "Well to answer your original question: I guess…I just wanted to talk."

"Well I don't! Not with you!"

Seeing to how making Cloud impatient wasn't the best idea, Leon sighed in defeat.

"Alright, I won't waste your time anymore. I promise I'll stay away from Sora and Roxas."

"Good!" Turning around Cloud reached for the front door but Leon quickly went in front of him.

"One more thing, Cloud, please."

"…Hurry up," Cloud growled and reached past Leon for the door again to open it.

"…I'm sorry."

A pause. It's the kind of pause that can either be a good thing or a bad thing, Leon wasn't sure.

"…I'm sorry for everything. I really am."

Cloud looked over his shoulder and stared at Leon; both unsure for how long.

Deciding to take the risk, Leon slowly approached Cloud and reached a hand out to him. When the hand touched Cloud's arm, it knocked Cloud out of his trance. In a split second, Cloud's hand once again met Leon's face.

"Ow! Cloud!"

With a huff, Cloud opened the door and stomped out.

"Cloud!" Leon called after the man again. Seeing Cloud wasn't going to stop anytime soon, Leon quickly picked a bag he left at the front door and ran after Cloud as fast as he can, "Cloud wait! Please!"

Leon watched Cloud get on Fenrir and he quickly grabbed onto the handle bars before Cloud could take off.

"Cloud wait!"

"Don't make me actually hurt you!" Cloud pointed at him in a threatening tone.

Leon only sighed in defeat again and held out a large bag to Cloud.

"I will keep my promise and won't see Sora again. So…can you give this to him for me? I was going to give it to him the next time I see him. It's a doll he wanted when we went window-shopping. I went back to get it after his brother picked him up," Leon explained and held it out, waiting for Cloud to take it. Cloud only looked between the bag and Leon a few times before he hesitantly reached for it.

"…Fine."

"Thank you, Cloud."

"Hn…" Cloud only looked away and sped off after Leon let go. Leon sighed to himself once more and watched Cloud head home. He stood in that same spot on the street until the last of those blonde spikes were no longer visible.

He lingered there a few moments longer before taking out his phone.

When you walk away, you don't hear me say-

Sora picked up his phone from his bed upon hearing that ring tone.

"Hello?" he greeted and perched himself on his elbows while continuing his manga.

"Sora, it's Leon."

"Hey Leon!" the boy greeted and bookmarked his page before sitting up.

"I'm sorry, but I can't see you for a while."

"Huh? Why not?"

"I had a talk with your dad. Don't tell him we exchanged contact information though."

"Believe me, I won't!"

"Now Sora, I need you to help me out."

"Anything, Leon!"

Cloud entered and slammed his front door. Seeing 'Squall' again pissed him off beyond belief. He tossed the bag on the couch, telling himself he'll give that to Sora when he gets ungrounded.

Cloud knew he was going to lose his mind if he doesn't vent to someone NOW and thus picked up his cell phone.

"Pick up, pick up, pick up, pick up…" Cloud muttered as he impatiently tapped his foot.

"What's up, Cloudy?"

"Zack!"

"Whoa, what did I say?"

"Nothing! I'm sorry! I'm just very angry right now!"

"Aw, poor Cloud. Do you wanna come over and talk about it? Aerith and I are about to have dinner."

"Dinner? Oh right…" the blonde lightly slapped himself for forgetting to prepare dinner for his own kids.

"You're that troubled huh? You hold on, Aerith and I are coming over!"

"What?"

"Don't worry about it, buddy! You know I will always have your back!"

"Th-Thanks, Zack…"

Roxas and Sora got a treat when Zack and Aerith arrived to join them for dinner. For Roxas, it was that he saw them like family. They were like his uncle and aunt. To Sora, he agreed with Roxas but he was more happy on the fact that Cloud can't yell at him if they have guests over.

Dinner went smoothly and the twins as well as Cloud loved Aerith's cooking like no other.

After dinner, Cloud ordered the twins to the clean the table while Aerith offered to help. While they do so, Zack and Cloud went to the family room.

"You seem so tense!" Zack commented and rubbed the blonde's shoulder for a few moments before they sat down, "So what's wrong?"

"…Sora ran from home last night."

"Oh my, is he alright? Well he seemed alright during dinner-"

"I got him back last night and he's grounded but something happened and he won't talk to me about it. Sora said he was 'saved.'"

"Isn't that…good?"

"He ran into Squall…who 'saved' him."

Zack's eyes widened and found himself speechless for a few moments.

"…Squall?" Zack repeated, "We're talking about Squall Leonhart right?"

Cloud only nodded as he stared at the ground.

"…Do you want me to go pound him, Cloud?"

"Eh, n-no it's alright," Cloud shook his head, "I already smacked him a few times today, telling him to stay away from Sora because he spent today with my son without my knowledge."

"He didn't hurt Sora right?"

"No…" Cloud shook his head and sighed, "But seeing him two times in a row…I'm just…I don't know. I feel angry, frustrated and…"

"Well that's normal. The guy was a douche."

Cloud held in the urge to chuckle at that comment. Zack wasn't afraid to express anything.

"What do I do, Zack? I feel lost."

"Cloud," Zack threw an arm around his best friend, "There's nothing you need to do. Just stay away from him!"

"…He said he was sorry."

"And you believe him?"

"…Good point!"

"He didn't…hurt you right?" Zack asked in a serious tone but Cloud only shook his head,

"No, not at all."

"You sure?"

Cloud looked up to think and only ended up nodding,

"I'm positive."

"That's almost scary and I somehow can't imagine that."

"Doesn't matter. I told him to stay away and that's that…"

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