A/N: I don't own anything of Kingdom Hearts, only this one shot, which takes place a couple of hours after the previous one. Yuffie wakes Leon up in her own creative way, while making a scene to get what she wants from Leon. Let's meet the cruel and mean side of Yuffie Kisaragi!

Enjoy reading and let me know what you think of it! ;)

Thanks: KairiDestiny, dannielovessora and SecretAgent99, my beta reader.

~ Leon was lying motionless in his bed. Yuffie snickered. This was too good to be true. ~

The next day Yuffie woke up quite early in the morning, although when she looked outside it still looked like it was night. It was almost depressing to her. She sat in the kitchen, along with Aerith and Cid. She hadn't been able to sleep that good like last night for...ages. She'd been a bit afraid that she would get nightmares of Leon's exciting story, though, but it fortunately hadn't happened.

Yuffie and Cid were at the table, eating. Aerith had finished her breakfast already and was now doing the dishes. She always did the dishes, for Cid was almost never at home and Leon was... Leon. There was no other explanation for that. It almost looked as though she didn't dare to ask Leon to do the dishes. Yuffie thought that Aerith maybe was afraid of him. But then again, Leon sometimes did look intimidating and his glares didn't reduce that fact.

When Yuffie glanced up at Cid's nearly empty cup of coffee, she got a brilliant idea. If Aerith just cooperated with her now...

"Aeri, could I have some coffee, please?"

To be honest, she'd always wanted to try it, but when she had asked her parents once, they had said that her heart wasn't strong enough yet to try it. She had wondered what that meant. Cid laughed, but pretended he was coughing violently when he saw the angry look on Yuffie's face.

"No, dear, that sounds like a bad idea to me. You're too young for coffee. Besides, you don't really need it, do you?" Aerith said.

"You and coffee? Hah! Do you want to become even more hyper just to make us crazy?" Cid snorted.

Yuffie pouted at that and put her hands on her hips. "Hmph. It doesn't even look that tasty, anyway."

"Then why bother trying it?" Cid asked again, before bursting out into laughter.

Yuffie just ignored him. The man could be so annoying sometimes.

"I don't understand why people actually like it. It's just like smoking, you're punishing yourself. Grown-up people are all weird and crazy and...weird in every possible way!"

Aerith just smiled and said nothing and Cid started to laugh even harder, muttering something about those "grown-up people." When he finished laughing, he poured the rest of his coffee into his mouth.

"I better get to work, before my customers start complaining about me always being too late. Hey brat, behave a bit, will ya, and be gentle with Aerith. Then you won't be punished by me when I come back," he said, ruffling the ninja's hair.

He got up and walked to the door. Yuffie stuck her tongue out at his back. Yes, but that was all she had. And he dared to call her immature. Unbelievable.

"Oh, I almost forgot..."

Cid turned and walked back to Yuffie, who wondered since when he had become so oblivious. Was he getting old, or something? Yuffie also noticed how Aerith stiffened a bit, but hardly a fraction of a second later there was nothing to see of that. What was wrong with everyone today?

"I think now you're finally old enough to learn to defend yourself. Aerith thinks differently about this, but times have changed. I have made something special for you. If you find someone who wants to train ya, you can pick the weapon up. It's in my shop," he said softly as his eyes were focused on Aerith's back for some unknown reason.

"Really? Oh, thanks, Cid," Yuffie whispered softly, smiling at the prospect of her becoming a tough ninja.

In her eyes appeared some little twinkling lights of excitement. She gave him a quick hug before he turned away from her and walked to the door.

"I'll see you guys tonight! See ya!"

"Bye, Cid," the two girls said in unison.

Once the door went shut, Yuffie began to speak, rattling like a waterfall. It almost felt like a daily routine, but every day she had something else to tell Aerith. And Aerith didn't mind at all for it really was interesting to know more about Yuffie's thoughts, even if they were pretty strange.

"It's kinda stupid that there is no sun here, right Aerith?" Aerith didn't even have the time to give her a proper answer, because Yuffie just went on. "You know what I think? I think that once we arrive in Hollow Bastion again, everyone will be dead scared of us when they see us, because we are all looking so pale by that time, because of the lack of sun, you see? They'll probably think we're vampires and-"

The plate Aerith was holding almost slipped out of her hands when she heard these shocking words. Yuffie immediately realized that she had said something stupid, again. Now she would start playing the worried mother again, just like always. Didn't she know that she was far too young to be a mother? Apparently not.

"Yuf, have you been reading horror books again? How often do I have to tell you that that's not a good idea? Especially not for someone like you. You'll only get nightmares and become paranoid," Aerith interrupted her, somewhat admonishing.

Yuffie waved it off with her hand, like it was nothing to worry about. "I haven't read anything, Aeri! Leon just told me a nice story, because he wanted to get rid of my nagging, or something like that," Yuffie lied convincingly.

She wanted to see how Aerith would scold Leon in her presence. That was his own fault, anyway. He should have paid more attention to her last night. This was what he got because he hadn't even listened to her.

Aerith gasped for breath, being utterly shocked at this revelation. "He did what? And I told him more than once that he should not-"

"Probably we should behave like vampires too, making them even more suspicious, for we must stay out of direct sunlight, because we aren't used to it and otherwise we will burn. Furthermore, our eyes will suffer from the light, so we should try to sleep at day, while we make the streets unsafe at night, hehe. Man, I really can't wait to go back!"

"Me neither," Aerith whispered softly.

There was a long deafening silence after that. Aerith tried to wash the plates that she hadn't washed yesterday, cleaning and scrubbing, while Yuffie quietly ate her cornflakes.

"Aeri, I've finished my breakfast. Can I wake up Squall now?"

"Yes, please do that. I've got my hands pretty full with these plates here. But do it gently, otherwise we'll see him all day with an irritated head, okay?"

Yuffie's smile widened in an instance. "Okidoki!"

She quickly got up from the table, almost knocking her own chair over, while casting a lot of unnecessary noise in the process and walked straight up to Leon's room. She stopped in front of the door, hesitating a bit. It was very important that she opened the door very softly, otherwise he would wake up immediately and then it wouldn't be fun for her anymore.

With bated breath, she opened the door bit by bit. Leon was lying motionless in his bed. Yuffie snickered. This was almost too good to be true. She tiptoed to his bed. His bare torso went slowly up and down in a slow, steady rhythm. That meant that he was still asleep, which was very nice, since everything went according to plan.

Wow, she had never thought that he was so muscular. Now that he wore no shirt for a change, she really could see it clearly. She found it almost a sin that she had to wake him. He looked so peaceful for once in his entire life. Especially his face was different now. She saw him for the first time without a frown on his face. He almost looked...cute, in a way. In her head she counted down slowly.

Three...

She couldn't wait to see that confused, maybe even shocked look on his face. Too bad she didn't have a photo camera, so she could take pictures of him.

Two...

Would he get mad at her? Maybe he would start to scream or something. Was this worth it? What if he didn't want to talk to her after this anymore? Would there be a way to make it up to him?

One...

Well, there was no way out of this anymore. This was it; the grand moment. She couldn't chicken out now!

"SNEAK-ATTACK!" she shouted loudly.

This made Leon wake up at once.

He immediately opened his eyes and half sat up, clearly shocked and confused at the same time. "Huh? What the-"

Yuffie then jumped on the bed and began to tickle his sides. Leon had barely time to react. He had already lifted his head, leaning on his elbows, but the force with which Yuffie landed on him, pushed him back automatically. He might have looked cold-hearted and sometimes even mean, but he had a big weakness. If there was something he couldn't stand at all, it was being tickled. His face was already red due to the effort of not trying to burst out laughing.

"Yuffie, stop it," he snorted.

That was the signal for Yuffie to tickle him some harder. Leon now roared with laughter. He rolled away from Yuffie in one quick move and pinned her hands quickly down above her head so she couldn't tickle him anymore. Being a little surprised, she blinked her eyes, clearly wondering how it was possible that he had captured her so quickly. Yuffie looked up at him, seeing her own reflection in his steel blue eyes. His dark chestnut colored hair hung around his face, pointing to all directions. He did look funny.

Leon was the first one who broke the almost deafening silence. "What are you doing in my room, Yuffie?"

He sounded very calm, almost monotone, but Yuffie knew that this was when he was in the most dangerous mood.

"Good Morning, Squalliekins! Have you been sleeping well?" she greeted cheerfully, ignoring his question.

"It's Leon, and yes, I have been sleeping very well, until you decided to wake me up like that. What do you think you're doing?" he answered, grumpily.

"What do you mean?" Yuffie asked with innocent voice.

Leon rolled his eyes. "Quit playing games now, I'm being serious."

Now it was Yuffie's turn to roll her eyes. "You're always being serious, that's nothing new to me."

Leon decided to ignore that comment for the time being. "Honestly, why did you do that? Don't you know it's very dangerous to wake people up in such a way? They can get a cardiovascular collapse, if you know what that is. Or is that what you want to happen to me?"

Yuffie's dark eyes grew slowly wide with shock, while Leon just squeezed his eyes together in suspicion. Did he even want to know what she planned now?

"N-no! Of course not! S-sorry, I really didn't know. Aerith just told me that I should wake you up. I didn't want to hurt you or anything, I just wanted to see you laugh or smile, even if it was just for once...you never smile in my presence...please don't be mad at me."

She looked away quickly. Her lower lip started to tremble. Leon began to feel guilty. What was he supposed to do if she would suddenly begin to cry?

He sighed, wondering what he should say to her. "Listen, I'm not mad at you. I just don't want you to wake me up that way... okay?" he asked patiently.

Yuffie looked at him again, obviously clearing up. "Okay, I'll wake you up differently from now on. But I must admit it was pretty funny to hear you howling with laughter. I guess I should do this more often now."

That last sentence she had said to herself softly, but Leon had heard her clearly. "And I also don't want you to tickle me like that anymore... It's very...annoying to say the least."

Yuffie tried to restrain her laugh. When she noticed that he was looking at her in that special way again, which always made her feel uncomfortable, she began to blush.

"Hey, Squall?"

"Yuffie, my name is Leon!"

"Yeah, yeah. But what I was going to say is um... I don't mind lying here like this, but eh, what are you going to tell Aerith if she walks in?" Yuffie asked teasingly.

Leon blinked his eyes once, before realization hit him. "Oh. Right. Sorry."

He quickly let her go and stood up slowly. He himself had totally forgotten that he was holding her down. Yuffie quickly got up, too. She was afraid that he had seen that she had blushed.

"I'm going to take a shower and change my clothes first and then come down."

"Okidoki! I'll let Aeri know...whoa, that rhymes! Awesome!" she chirped happily before she left the room.

Her footsteps sounded like hammers that were hit against boards. Leon shook his head. He still marveled at her energy. Where did she get it from every day?

Once he arrived downstairs, Leon saw that Yuffie sat at the table, accompanied by Aerith.

"Then I hope for you he'll say yes, although I doubt that. We all know- oh!"

Aerith stopped mid-sentence, which made Yuffie turn around. The conversation they were having immediately seemed to fall silent when they noticed him. Leon raised a dark eyebrow, just looking at the two of them. Aerith just smiled, but Yuffie quickly looked away, something she did a lot lately.

"Good morning," he said.

"Good morning, Leon. Do you want some tea?"

"Uh, only if there's no more coffee left," he replied.

"Coffee? You, too? Ugh! I really don't get you!" Yuffie complained.

She rose from the table and waddled back to her own room.

Leon raised another eyebrow as well and looked at Aerith. "What was that all about?"

"I think she's a little bit angry, because she's the only one at home who's not allowed to drink coffee," Aerith said, chuckling slightly.

Leon just shook his head. Some people were really incomprehensible. Yuffie undoubtedly belonged to that group of people. He hadn't even started breakfasting when a smiling Yuffie walked in again.

"Wow, you changed very quickly from mood. What happened?" Aerith wondered.

"Squ-I mean, Leon? May I ask you something?" Yuffie asked.

She decided to call him as he pleased this time, because she had only one chance to get his approval.

"..."

"Leon?" she tried once again.

"Do you have to?"

Aerith coughed once softly, to indicate that she thought he was extremely rude. Leon sighed, getting annoyed again. He began to suspect that this could be the issue that they were discussing before he had entered the room.

"What do you want now?"

"Well... Cid has made a weapon for me and I can't get that weapon until I've found someone who wants to teach me how to fight properly. So, now I was wondering if you could, uh...umm... would you like to be my teacher? Pretty pretty please?"

She started to use the pleading puppy-eyes again, but Leon wouldn't fall for it this time. "No."

He didn't even have to think about it.

"B-but, why not? Am I too small for you? I'm not a kid anymore! Even Aerith agrees at that point!" she exclaimed indignantly.

"Don't exaggerate so much," he muttered annoyed.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Leon, if you don't teach her, then who wil-"

Aerith stopped talking when she heard a soft but heartbreaking sobbing. She and Leon turned almost at the same time to Yuffie to look at her. Yuffie had put her hands over her eyes and was clearly crying. Her shoulders were shaking violently and suddenly she looked so young and fragile. Almost as young and fragile as she was at that horrible night that she had left Hollow Bastion along with the others, fleeing from the Heartless.

"Oh, Yuffie!" Aerith cried, shocked.

She still remembered how broken she had looked at that time. She gave Leon a somewhat reproachful look, that more or less said, "Look what you did now!"

Leon did nothing. There wasn't much he could do or say at this time, anyway. Aerith could handle this situation without his help.

"You hate me, don't you? That's why you don't want to teach me, right? I bet that if it were possible, then you would never even want to see me again. Don't think I'm too stupid to see the truth, just because I'm younger than you. You made it very clear to me yesterday that you don't think I'm worth your time. You did nothing to make me feel comfortable. You've never even smiled at me, not even in the past two years, when I tried to make you feel better! I've always wanted to have a big brother, like you. I have always looked up to you, while you act always mean and cold and-"

At this point her voice broke, so she couldn't continue talking. Aerith stood immediately below Yuffie and held her in her arms, while trying to comfort her as much as she could.

"Please don't think that way, Yufs. Leon will certainly teach you how to fight, for he doesn't hate you at all, right, Leon?" she asked, looking him straight in the eye, almost forcing the right answer out of him.

Leon bowed his head. He felt so guilty that he muttered a quick "Yes."

He looked at Yuffie. He had never thought he could do her so much pain with just dismissing her as an apprentice. Yuffie looked from under Aerith's arms at Leon. To his amazement he saw that she stuck her tongue out at him, when she saw that he was looking at her too and then she quickly looked away from him. Aerith hadn't noticed anything, as usual.

It took Leon only a split of a second to realize what just had happened.

That sneaky little snake!

She had put it all in scene, just to get her own frickin' way! She would pay for this. He suddenly remembered that his father, a mighty warrior, had once told him long ago that women had 76 different funds that she could use against men, but that the tears were her most dangerous weapon. Apparently Yuffie had already discovered that. Oh, she really was bad!

"Why don't you put on your coat, so you and Leon can go to Cid together to get your new weapon? It's pretty cold outside and I don't want you to go alone with all these Heartless lurking outside. Then I'll let Leon know of what I think are practical exercises for you to learn," Aerith suddenly said.

Yuffie looked at her in quasi-amazement and slowly wiped her tears away. "Really? O-okay. If that's what you want," she replied, still trembling slightly.

She turned and slowly shuffled to the coat rack by the front door. She flashed Leon a devilish grin and winked at him when she moved past him. Leon just frowned, narrowing his eyes and thinking, 'Just wait till you have to do what I say when we'll be training. Let's see if you'll still be able to smile then...'

"Aerith, do you realize that she's a danger to herself and everyone around her? And you want me to train her to become even more dangerous? Do you have any idea what you just have suggested? Don't you think this world is already in enough trouble without her participating?"

"Leon, give her a chance. She's doing her very best, if you haven't noticed yet. I'm afraid I can't say the same of you, you know. Moreover, you're the only one I entrust this task."

Leon ran his hand through his hair and thought about the situation. Aerith probably wouldn't believe him when he said that Yuffie wasn't as good and pure as she always thought.

"Fine, but don't expect me to sacrifice all my time to her," he muttered petulantly.

After saying this, he left the room, almost knocking Yuffie over, who came back to Aerith and hugged her intently.

"Thanks, Aeri! I love you!"

Aerith smiled. "Anytime, Yufs. I love you too."

A/N: Thanks for reading! =) Hope you've enjoyed it. ^_^ R&R, please!

Next chapter: Another time where Leon's babysitting our favorite ninja, who's...scared of monsters in her closet and under her bed?