Author's Notes: Over a year since my last update? I am so embarrassed. If any of my reviewers are still alive, this one's for you. Please enjoy the chapter, as short as it is. I'll try to update more often, but being a full-time college student with a part-time job, it'll take a miracle to get the energy and time to focus on writing. Not to say that the fic is abandoned--no, it'll just take a while to finish it, is all. ;D

Large, sky-blue eyes of a young child gazed trustingly at an older blonde-haired woman. She smiled and bent down to ruffle the little toddler's hair--

--And then she was gone.

The child learned far too young the pains of a world that should have captivated him with wonder.

Death.

Despair.

And with it came an incapacitating will to disconnect from a world that would only be full of hurt.

As Cloud became older, any semblance of childhood innocence that hadn't already been torn apart left him, and the sense of wonder and adventure most children were accustomed to as they explored the world quickly faded, only to be replaced by a constant guard and a weary observance for the slightest stir of trouble. Wide, sky-blue eyes brimming with curiosity and love began to narrow with suspicion and impatience. There was an older, more fatigued look about him though he'd barely aged past seventeen.

Cloud jerked from his seat, awake, and gave the classroom a bleary look. Leon stood at the front, his strong, commanding voice lecturing the students though he sounded as if he were about to drop dead from boredom. Cloud sighed and lay his head back down on his arms and waited.

The bell rang for lunch soon after and Leon sat down tiredly. He set up his lunch and cast Cloud an inquiring look. The blond stared back, unmoving. Leon sighed and shook his head before taking a bite out of his apple. He didn't look at the boy again, but something of a smirk appeared on his face as he heard Cloud get out of his seat and approach him. Leon nodded at a seat by his desk and Cloud took it. His piercing blue eyes never left Leon, and Leon could feel his penetrating stare. Finally he paused and looked up.

"Are you hungry?" Leon asked. He took another bite of his apple pointedly. Cloud swallowed and narrowed his gaze, as if debating whether he should give in to his hunger and accept. Leon waited for a few moments, not expecting a reply. When none came, Leon took it upon himself to give Cloud half of his sandwich and poured some more coffee into Cloud's mug.

Cloud carefully took the offering like an animal tentative that the food would be taken away just as quickly as it had been given. Leon rolled his eyes at the behavior.

"Eat," he commanded. The apple finished, Leon moved on to the other half of the sandwich.

"Thank you." Two barely audible words issued from Cloud's mouth, as if he were embarrassed that he had accepted Leon's benevolence as some form of charity for the weak.

"So," Leon began, "now are you going to tell me why you keep showing up on my doorstep?" Cloud, who had began to eat, deliberately paused.

"I'd rather not get into it," Cloud finally relented. He had an edgy tone in his voice. Leon supposed it was a touchy question Cloud only answered to because he had been generous.

"I'd rather you would," Leon replied in an impatient manner, "because if it means that this isn't a one-time thing I have a right to know."

"You have your secrets," Cloud began, referring to their little spat in the morning, "and I have mine. Let's leave it at that."

Leon scoffed, annoyed with the boy's attitude and negative behavior. The thought didn't even occur to him that Cloud acted almost exactly the same as Leon did.

"Whatever."

The rest of the day passed by quickly. The bell rang to let the students out, and Leon began packing up assignments and other papers into his briefcase. He cast a glance over to Cloud, who sat in his seat with a bored expression. Leon sighed and closed his briefcase.

"How are you going to get home?" Leon asked. He had finished cleaning up and was only waiting on Cloud. The boy looked at Leon with an unreadable expression. A moment passed before he shrugged and looked away.

"I'll walk, I guess," he answered in a plain voice. Leon scoffed.

"No you won't. Why don't you call your parents and get picked up? I've got a lot of work to do and I can't be wastin my time waiting on you." Leon sat down in his chair, his patience wearing thin.

"I…"Cloud drifted off, thinking about what he was about to say. "I don't..."

Leon waited for the boy to finish his sentence, but when he didn't say anything else Leon sighed and stood up.

"I have to get home, kid. What are you going to do?" Cloud looked down, his brow furrowed in thought.

"Can I…come…to your house for a little bit?" Cloud asked in a quiet voice. If Leon hadn't seen his mouth move, he wouldn't have been able to tell he spoke.

"You want to what?"

"I…" Cloud gave an aggravated expression before speaking up. "I was wondering if I could come to your house. Only for a little while." Leon's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"I suppose. Just make sure you get a ride from there, got it?" Cloud nodded, and Leon picked up his briefcase before moving over to the door. "Good. Let's go."

~*~*~*~

The two arrived at Leon's house shortly afterwards. Leon unlocked the door and invited Cloud into his house. The blond moved in, slowly taking in his surroundings before taking a seat on the couch. Leon set his briefcase on the kitchen counter and looked through the fridge.

"You can put on a movie if you want," Leon called. He was unsure how to entertain a teen, but movies seemed like the safe way to go. That would keep the kid occupied until someone came to retrieve him.

Leon looked anything edible in his fridge. It was nearly empty. Leon didn't eat a lot, but with a guest in his house he realized how pathetic the selection of food he had was. He settled for half a watermelon and cut it up into little squares. Bringing out two forks and some napkins, Leon made his way to the living room where Cloud sat on the couch, his eyes fixated on the screen.

Leon set the food down on the coffee table and took a seat by the blond.

"The Lion King?" Leon asked with mild surprise. The Lion King was a movie far from Leon's taste—it had belonged to Rinoa, and was one of her favorite movies. Cloud shrugged and made to grab a piece of watermelon before Leon pulled the bowl away.

"Use a fork," he answered to Cloud's questioning gaze. Cloud rolled his eyes and covered a smirk with a cough before picked up a fork before stabbing a piece of watermelon with it.

"I want my house clean," Leon replied to Cloud's mocking expression. He only then realized how obsessive-compulsive his response sounded. He shrugged it off and instead decided to focus his attention on the little lion cubs prancing and singing across the screen.

"You know," Leon began, "this is loosely based off of Hamlet." Cloud didn't look over, but kept his gaze on the television.

"Is that so?" Cloud replied in a distracted voice. Leon shrugged, supposing that it wasn't an interesting topic of debate and continued watching the movie. After a moment, Leon stood up.

"I'm going to go mark some assignments. I'll be in the room down the hall to your right." With that, Leon left the boy to his own devices and went to his study. Though Leon had spent the better part of last night marking, more assignments had mysteriously piled up and he thought it would be better to get them out of the way while his guest was being entertained.

Despite his exhaustion, Leon sat down and pulled out some assignments from his briefcase. Not much time had passed before Leon felt his eyelids grow heavier and heavier, until finally he lay his head on his arms and rested for what would only be a moment, unaware that he lay in an unceremonious position of one who was overworked and only then found a moment of respite.

By the time Leon woke up, hours had passed since nightfall. He cast a quick glance at his digital clock, reading 1:30 am. Leon let out a curse, standing up and stumbling around in the dark to find the light switch. When his fingers brushed against the switch and sterile bright light flooded the room, Leon's bleary eyes widened in surprise.

Cloud was asleep by the foot of his desk, curled into an uncomfortable sitting position with his head resting on his knee. He must have fallen asleep waiting for Leon. Leon sighed and moved over to the blond, nudging him slightly with his foot. He was up in a flash.

"What are you still doing here?" Leon asked in an unamused voice. Cloud stared at Leon. He knew the boy wasn't going to respond, so instead he walked out into the hall. His house was completely dark.

"You could have turned a light on," Leon told the blond as he made his way out into the hall, flipping switches as he made his way to the kitchen. Cloud remained silent. Leon finally turned around to face the blond.

"So what were you doing sleeping by desk?" Leon demanded. Cloud remained silent, but something of a blush creeped up on his pale face. "Why didn't you wake me up?" Leon asked, exasperated and baffled by the blond's odd behavior.

"I didn't want to disturb you," Cloud made a weak excuse, a bothered expression flitting across his face.

"Alright. It's one in the freaking morning. You need to call your parents and go home." Leon's voice made no room for argument. He was sick of the blond's inability to answer and the way he kept dodging Leon's questions.

"Can…I…" At Leon's quizzical expression, Cloud's voice bolstered. "I don't want to go home right now." Leon's mouth twitched downward.

"You don't want to go home," Leon repeated slowly, as if Cloud's mentality was incomprehensible. "And why is that?"

Cloud looked away and moved over to the couch, sitting down with a resolved expression. He spared a look at Leon, his blue eyes dark with a guarded expression. Leon raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, not moving from his stance.

"Look, kid. You've got to explain yourself. I'm not messing around with you anymore. You're beginning to overstay your welcome, so if you don't tell me what this is all about then you're just going to have to leave."

"I know," Cloud replied, a frown on his young face that resembled a pouting child, "It's…kind of—it's difficult to say. I'm just…I'm…" Cloud stuttered, unable to complete his sentence. His eyes widened piteously at Leon, almost begging him to be able to finish his words.

"Cloud, for the love of God," Leon ran his fingers through his hair in an exasperated manner, "please just spit it out. I'm tired."

Cloud deliberated for a moment, seeming to contemplate the situation. Finally, he stood up and made his way to the front door before turning around to face Leon.

"I'm not willing to compromise myself over this. I don't need your charity." Cloud gave Leon a glare that was meant to be malignant, but it showed more weariness than spite. Leon opened his mouth to say something, but Cloud beat him to it. "I'll get a ride."

With that, the small blond slammed the door shut on his way out, leaving Leon in an irritable mood.

"I hate kids." He muttered to himself, brushing his fingers through his hair as he made his way over to the bedroom. Though the boy's behavior had annoyed Leon beyond all reason, there was an unquenchable curiosity at the mysterious quality of his existence. He had considered many reasons that could possibly make Cloud act the way he did, but none made sense.

Abuse was one. But he had shown no fear—he had been guarded, but he never flinched at any close proximity between the two. He seemed to strong-willed and independent to take a beating or allow himself to otherwise be mistreated anyway. Despite that logic, Leon had seen no signs of bruises or pain.

Leon had also considered that the boy may be homeless. For the most part, however, he was clean and wore decent clothes.

Finally, Leon pulled himself into a pair of boxers and settled into his bed. Cloud wasn't his problem anymore, whatever the reason.

If you liked it, please review with your thoughts/comments. I'd love to hear what you thought. :3