A/N: I don't own anything of Kingdom Hearts, only this one shot, which takes place ten years before the events of KH1. Yuffie is six years old and Squall's fifteen. This random idea suddenly popped into my head and I had to write it down, so here it is. This is where Yuffie meets Squall for the first time.

Thanks: NinjaSheik and SecretAgent99, my beta reader, for her hard work.

~ "You know what's your problem, Aerith? You're thinking too much. Relax! Enjoy life, for a change. What can possibly go wrong?" ~

Today was a beautiful, bright and warm day in a beautiful town that was called Radiant Garden. The sun was shining all day, the wind sang his beautiful song along with the many different birds, and the trees danced gently in the wind. It was hard not to smile just because the weather was so lovely. It was the perfect ice-cream weather.

Yuffie was outside with Aerith, her new nanny of twelve years old. They walked hand in hand through the clean, tidy and big streets of Radiant Garden to get some delicious ice-cream from the famous, rich and funny Mr. Scrooge MacDuck. The people of this great city all looked happy and cheerful, just like every other day, but today was the first day of summer, so that was just another reason to be happy.

Some farther away from the famous ice-cream store of the town, a tall, frowning brunet teenager of fifteen years old was leaning almost nonchalantly against a brick wall on the opposite of the shop, while he was staring at a far point in the distance, his overly blue eyes seeing nothing and everything at the same time.

"Hello, Squall," Aerith said kindly and she smiled, when she and Yuffie came past him.

The boy who was called Squall, tore his gaze away from the blue sky, but only for a short moment, so he could see who had called him. He watched the now twelve year old girl with the long brown braid. Her green emerald eyes were glistening brightly in the light of the sun.

His eyes traveled to the smaller girl with the long, silky black hair that hung loosely around her face. She was holding Aerith's hand tightly and she was looking curiously up at him with those big, chocolate brown eyes. Then he looked back to the elder girl again, the girl his best friend had a major crush on. Everyone knew that, except for Aerith herself... and Tifa. He nodded briefly at her as a sign of greeting and then turned his attention back to where he had first looked at. Aerith wanted to continue her trek to Mr. McDuck's ice cream shop, but the raven-haired girl decided to say something, causing her to halt.

"Hey Mister, didn't you hear her, or something? She said hi to you. You should say something back now. It's very impolite to ignore people, you know!" Yuffie crowed.

"Yuffie," Aerith whispered, warning her by squeezing her hand slightly, but she would have none of that.

The corner of his mouth twitched slightly, as if that comment made him laugh. He didn't look at the petite girl, though.

"Didn't your mommy and your daddy teach you any manners?" she began once again.

Aerith gasped for breath, softly but audibly.

Squall finally bothered to look sharply at Yuffie, as if she was bugging him, which, in fact, she was. "I don't have a 'mommy' anymore. She died before you were even born," he replied coolly.

Before I was born, even. As for my 'daddy,' he's far too busy with his own oh so important job as a journalist to pay any attention to me anymore. As of lately, I even see Aerith more than I see him. I'm not complaining, though. Not that you would actually care, he thought.

Yuffie noticed that he had a nice, but monotone voice. It sounded a bit forced, but it was still pleasant to the ears. If only he wouldn't look at her as if he wanted to burn holes in her face with his razor sharp eyes, then maybe he would be cooler.

"Oh...?"

Yuffie was clearly surprised. Everyone had parents, right? That was so obvious. How else could he be born? Artificial insinuation, or something? She had read it in one of Aerith's books, but she couldn't really remember the name of it.

"And what about your da-"

Apparently, Aerith decided that it was time to leave, because the next thing she did, was saying, "Sorry, she did not know. She didn't mean it in a mean way, or anything. I'm really sorry. Well, I guess we should go now. It was nice talking to you again. Take care. Bye."

"Hmph," Squall muttered something incoherently.

Aerith apparently didn't know how fast she should get away from him. It made her almost look as if she was afraid of him. Maybe that was true. Yuffie couldn't blame her, though. The guy had looked like he was about to eat them both alive.

She shivered involuntarily. Canibalism...eeeeew...

The little girl turned back to look at the boy again. When her eyes happened to meet that of Squall's, she turned quickly back again and blushed slightly. What a creepy guy was that! The townsfolk were getting stranger and stranger every day.

"Who was that?" she asked immediately, as soon as she was sure that they were safe and out of earshot of the pretty scary teenager.

"Yuffie, you met him some weeks ago for the last time and you've known him for almost your whole life," Aerith pointed out.

Little Yuffie didn't seem to catch the amusement in her voice, though. "So? Maybe I totally forgot about him, because he isn't that important. One month is a long time, you know."

"I guess that's true. That was Squall Leonhart, a good friend of Cloud, remember? That was not very nice of you, Yuffie. I'm sure you've hurt him a lot with what you said to him. He always used to visit you when you were little and you seemed to like playing with him."

Yuffie totally disagreed with that point and she proved that to her, too. "Nah, impossible. I would never play games with such a... guy-person. And I'm sure I didn't do anything to hurt his feelings. I mean, look at him! He doesn't really look as if he ever heard of emotions, let alone feeling them. Do you really think that a rock has feelings? 'Cause as far as I know, they don't," she thought.

"You're wrong about that. Squall is a very sensitive boy, he's just not as social as others. But he is always standing for what's right, and for his friends."

"Yeah, just a pity he only has one friend: Cloudieboy."

"I don't think that's true. He's quite popular... especially by the girls here."

At that point, the younger girl snorted incredulously. Populair? By the girls? Him? Shyeah, right.

"You know what's your problem, Aerith? You're thinking too much. Relax! Enjoy life, for a change. What can possibly go wrong?"

Aerith didn't answer her question and she just shook her head, while a small smile appeared on her face. Yuffie just didn't get it; what did a lively and totally awesome guy like Cloud see in a grumpy guy like what-was-his-name-again? Well, maybe today just wasn't his day. That would explain why he still looked so grumpy. She decided to ask Aerith about it, for she seemed to know more about that strange guy she strangely enough couldn't remember.

"Say Aerith, is he always grumpy like that?"

Aerith knew immediately who she meant. "I...think so. Why?" Aerith asked, looking at Yuffie.

"Oh, just wondering."

In fact, he had only recently become like this. Ever since he got that gunblade of his for his birthday, Squall had changed. He was more serious and didn't seem to allow himself to tell jokes, or even laugh. It was a strange thing, and truth be told, Aerith was getting a bit worried. She had talked about him with Cloud, but he had reassured her that this would be over soon enough.

"When?" Aerith had asked.

"When he finally admits that he likes Rinoa," Cloud had replied.

Just too bad that Squall was oh so sure that he didn't like the raven-haired beauty.

'Maybe Cloud and I can help those two get together. I'm sure Cloud would want to do that for his best friend, he's just so sweet!' Aerith mused. 'The question is, how...?'

Once they arrived at the ice-cream store, little Yuffie no longer paid any more attention to the mysterious Squall. She now had only eye for the many ice cream flavors. So many choices and so little time. The teenager was watching Yuffie and her caretaker closely with his cool, steel blue eyes, though, as he stood almost as motionless as a statue on that very same spot against the wall.

"I want that flavor!" Yuffie exclaimed suddenly, with a high-pitched voice. She pointed to the bowl with chocolate ice cream.

"Okay. Then I'll take...vanilla," Aerith decided.

"That's five Munny, Miss," said Mr. MacDuck, the cheerful ice cream vendor, who seemed to be...a duck.

But then again, stranger things had happened in Radiant Garden before and Yuffie was pretty much used to them now, so she didn't ask anymore how it was possible that a duck could sell them delicious ice-cream, let alone talk with them.

"Here you are, Sir."

Aerith paid him the money she had gained from Yuffie's parents this morning.

"Thank you, miss."

Squall moved away from the wall and walked slowly toward them. He had a feeling that they were talking about him. Well, if he was there with them, then they would probably finally stop gossiping about him. He didn't know why he didn't want them to gossip about them, though. It had never bothered him before. Yuffie was the first one who noticed his presence.

"Hi there, Storm!" Yuffie cried, when he stood beside her.

Aerith winced, because she knew what was coming next.

"It's Squall," he said, emphasising the last word, while sounding slightly annoyed, again.

Honestly, how hard was it to remember a simple, six-lettering name, even if you were this young?

"Oh. Sorry, Squall. I'll try to remember your name... for the next time."

She winked. Squall rolled his steel blue eyes. Yuffie then looked up at him. She finally had the chance to give him a good look, without being watched by him. Man, he was tall! He was even taller than Cloud, but Cloud was more muscular.

His eyes were blue too, but it had another shade. It wasn't as beautiful as Cloud's bright blue eyes. His eyes were stormy, or steely blue, or blue like the deepest depths of the ocean. Well, it really depended on the light.

Cloud's eyes, however, were a clear baby blue. Or more like forget-me-not's. His eyes were hard to forget, indeed. Squall's brown hair was also slightly longer than Cloud's impressive spikes.

Squall noticed Yuffie's stare and looked down at her. "What are you looking at?" he snapped, although he was fully aware of what she was looking at.

"At you." Yuffie answered as a matter of factly. "Do you mind?"

Was he blind, or something? she wondered.

"Yes."

"I don't care," she said in a sing-song voice, with a big goofy smile plastered on her face.

Squall wasn't surprised in the least. Yuffie had to admit that this guy had...something. Something unusual. Something mysterious. Something that even Cloud didn't have. It was there, but she couldn't see it, nor touch it. She didn't know what it was, but she wanted to know more about him.

She also had to admit that he was quite handsome and muscular, just like Cloud. Maybe they had more in common than Yuffie had thought at first. Maybe that was why those two got along so good.

Her train of thoughts was suddenly interrupted by Aerith. "Say Squall, could you keep an eye on Yuffie for me, please? It's only for a couple of minutes. It won't take too much of your time, I can promise you that. I forgot to buy two books for my mother. I'll be right back!"

What, was she really going to let her stay with - with him? Was she nuts? That was something she had been wondering a lot lately. It was a fact, Aerith was strange.

"But what am I supposed to-" Squall started, bewildered.

He didn't even have the time to object, for Aerith was suddenly gone. Squall sighed frustrated, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and indexfinger. He felt a terrible headache coming. Now that was just great! What was he supposed to do with that strange child now? They didn't even know each other that well, despite the fact that he had been with her a lot when she had been younger.

"Here's your ice cream, Mr. Leonhart," the ice cream vendor suddenly said.

He almost jumped at it. "Thanks."

Squall took his ice cream and handed him the money for it.

He just wanted to take a bite from it, when Yuffie decided to ask him curiously, "What flavor do you have?"

Squall frowned, wondering why in Gaia's name the annoying little girl wanted to know that. Honestly, what do you care?

"Strawberry."

"Do you like that?"

Obviously.

He tried not to roll his eyes. "No, that's why I chose that flavor, because I hate it," he replied sarcastically.

"Huh? Then why- Oh! It was a joke, right? Haha, nice one, although the sarcastic jokes and such aren't really my cup of tea. Most of the time I don't even get them! Can you imagine that?"

"Are you always... talking this much?"

Because if she was, then he really started to feel bad for Aerith. On the other side, he had an idea that Aerith liked that, otherwise she wouldn't have become her baby sitter in the first place.

"Hey, I'm just trying to have a conversation with you," Yuffie cried offended.

"Well, I didn't ask for a conversation," he noted coolly.

She pouted. "No, but... I did!"

Squall rolled his eyes once again, but said nothing. He didn't even bother anymore to tell her what his thoughts were. Chances were that she didn't get it, anyway.

"Well, you could at least explain why you're always so grumpy," Yuffie tried again.

"I'm not grumpy, I'm just..." he paused to find the right word, "thoughtful."

Then that explained why he was gazing up at the sky, or staring at the horizon all the time. She had almost thought at this point that he was halluciniating, or something. Man, that was a hard word, but her daddy said it a lot to her.

"Yeah, that's what they all say," Yuffie muttered jokingly.

"Then don't believe it. I don't care."

Yuffie frowned. Then was there anything he did care about? Probably not. This guy was giving her a head ache.

"Jeez, lighten up a bit! That was just a joke, you know!"

"Haha," he said dryly.

With that, the short conversation between them - if you could call it one - ended abruptly. Yuffie decided that she didn't like this Squall. He was too... dry and sarcastic for her tastes. So much that it even hurt when he said something mean to her.

Suddenly, Squall saw how a skateboarder came nearer and nearer, but he didn't look that dangerous, so the brunet teen decided to ignore him for the time being. Oh, did he hate skateboarders. The skateboarder didn't even stop when he almost knocked Yuffie over. That kind of irked him. He also grabbed the ice cream out of her hand and ignored her cries, while skating away.

"Hey! Get back here, you thief! How dare you stealing my ice cream? I paid for that! Well, actually I didn't, but my parents did, but you get the idea, so. HEY!" She gave up calling after him. "What a stupid guy. Is he deaf, or something?"

Squall was wondering why the child was talking so much to herself. He had heard that talking to yourself was the first sign of insanity. Maybe it was a good thing to stay far away from this child and her baby-sitter, even if the older one was the almost-girlfriend of his best friend. And even if she wasn't talking to herself, - besides, what did the skateboarder care where she had gotten the money from? - he would from now on stay away from her, for she was ignorant, like pink chewing gum that had the nerve to stick on your new shoes.

"Well, there goes my yummy ice cream."

She didn't look and sound as cheerful as she had been at first. Squall almost felt sorry for her. Keyword: almost. He thought about some sort of solution and then found one.

He put his ice cream in her small hands. "Here, take it."

Yuffie looked surprised up at him, clearly not knowing what he wanted now. Was it a joke, or something? The confusion was clearly written all over her face. He could even read it in her big eyes.

"What are you doing?"

"I don't want it anymore. You can take it, I haven't taken a bite of it. I also happen to know the guy who took your ice cream. Trust me, I'll make sure he won't do such a thing again."

He didn't want the ice cream anymore? Then why did he buy it in the first place? Why was he acting so strange? She would worry about that later. First she wanted to know whether he was serious or not.

"Are you sure? About the ice cream, I mean."

He nodded. He hadn't come here to eat ice cream in the first place. It had just been a cover to find out if they had been talking about him or not. Too bad he hadn't found that out.

"Absolutely," he replied.

"Wow, thanks!"

"That's...fine."

Okay, so maybe he wasn't that bad, she thought. He still was strange, though, but at least he wasn't... a duck, or coldhearted. Or a coldhearted duck, 'cause that would be even worse. She took the ice cream thankfully and started licking it - she didn't want to let him wait that long, just in case he would change his mind - just when Aerith showed up again. She had a plastic bag in her hand, in which probably were the two books she had mentioned earlier.

"Do you have the books?" Squall asked.

"Yes, thank you very much, Squall."

"No problem. I'm going."

He turned and started to walk away, because he didn't see the need to stay longer with them. Aerith was back, so he could leave the girl to her again.

"See you around?" Yuffie asked quickly.

It was a simple question, but she really hoped he would say yes.

He stopped and thought about it for a second. "...Maybe."

With that, he left the two girls alone and continued his own way, in search of the notorious skateboarder. Yuffie let him be, for she was satisfied with the answer. She was sure that he meant 'yes,' but didn't dare to say that in Aerith's presence. He probably was just shy, which was cute in some sort of way.

"Hey, is that your second ice cream?" Aerith asked surprised. "I thought you had taken chocolate first?"

"Not really. A skateboarder stole mine, so Squally gave his ice cream to me. Plus he kinda promised me to punish that stupid skateboarder. That's pretty sweet, huh? I think that proved that he's okay enough to hang around with."

Aerith laughed at Yuffie's peculiar logic. "I'm glad you're thinking about him that way. Now let's go back, before your parents get worried, okay?"

"Sure!" Yuffie cried enthousiastically.

She grabbed Aerith's free hand with her own free one and started to walk towards her home.

"Hey Aerith?"

"Yes, Yuffie?"

"Where exactly did this Squall live again?"

Nyuk nyuk nyuk. As soon as whe would know that, Squallie wouldn't have much privacy left. She grinned at that thought.

A/N: Thanks for taking the time to read this! =) Hope you've enjoyed it. ^_^

Let me know what you think of this one-shot. At least I had fun writing it, but I kept writing Leon all the time, instead of Squall, which was pretty annoying.

What to expect in the next chapter: The apocalypse. The night of the great attack, when the Heartless invade Radiant Garden and some people manage to escape.