A/N: I don't own anything of Kingdom Hearts, only this one-shot, which takes place seven years before KH1 and a few weeks after "Sneaky Little Snake." So Yuffie's still nine years and Squall's 18. I mean Leon. Now on with the story. Enjoy reading! ;D
~ He replied with the only and most logical answer he could think of at that moment, "It's Leon." ~
How was it even possible? Leon didn't know anymore. Had he been put under a spell? Had he been drunk? Everything could have been possible. It was beyond his imagination how it all had happened, just like that.
This was the second time he was tied to babysit that little hyperactive monster, which happened to irritate him immensely (both the task and the hyperactive monster if you were wondering). He was beyond frustrated. He had no idea how Aerith managed to do so, but at one point he stood almost literally with his back against the wall so he had no choice but to say yes.
He started to wonder how it was possible that Cid was always absent when Aerith needed a babysitter for Yuffie again. How did he know when he shouldn't come home? He had to ask the man about it, because Leon was always forced to do things he didn't want to and he was sick of it! He'd rather fight a thousand Heartless all alone than babysit such an annoying...thing (he knew no other word that was less offensive to describe the girl).
To add insult to injury, Aerith hadn't had the time to prepare something for them for dinner, which meant that Leon had to do it for him and Yuffie. He didn't quite remember how he managed to do so, but thank god Yuffie had been pleased enough with it to try it.
After she had tried the macaroni (one of the few things Leon could prepare), she had even said something like, "Wow, Squall! This is actually really good! Almost as good as Aerith's cooking. I didn't know you were such a good cook."
That had pretty much caught him off-guard, although his face stayed the same; expressionless.
He had replied with the only and most logical answer he could think of at that moment, "It's Leon."
She had sighed wearily, looking him straight in his steel blue eyes without blinking. He didn't know why, but her intense gaze had made him a little uncomfortable.
"You know, a simple 'thank you' would really have sufficed here. I guess you'll never get tired of repeating that one sentence, huh?"
He had shrugged. "I have no choice, Yuf."
The evening had passed very fast. Yuffie had ensured to talk his ears from his head, but miraculously enough, he had been able to tune it all out. Years of practice made perfect, right? Before he knew it, it was already eight o'clock, which meant that it was time for Yuffie to go to sleep.
This time, she had actually listened to him when he had told her so. Of course, he still had to convince her why she should go to sleep this early (the "Look, it's all dark outside"-trick wouldn't work, so he had to think of something new), but at least it hadn't been as hard as the first time.
He was slightly entertained by her famous (Well, for him it was more notorious, because it sounded incredibly off-key. One would think that people who can't sing wouldn't actually do so in public, but Yuffie somehow didn't feel embarrassed at all and was clearly an exception.) gargle-song again.
After brushing her teeth and changing into her remarkable pajamas, which had taken her thirty whole minutes, she had come back to him to give him a soul-crushing hug and wish him a good night, much to his dismay. He let her run amuck, though, because he didn't have the energy to start another argument with her at this time.
Then she had finally gone and left him alone, so he could continue with... doing nothing actually. Today had been the only day he had taken off. Spending it this way hadn't exactly been what he had had in his mind. He should thank Aerith for that one too.
He closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose and knowing fully well that he wouldn't fall asleep with so many thoughts that kept bugging him like musquitos. It didn't matter. He felt a terrible headache coming up after that pinching, so he stopped it, grunting softly.
He didn't know what made him do it, but suddenly, he opened his eyes again, only to see Yuffie standing beside him, clad in her favorite navy blue pajamas with pink moogle faces on it. He blinked, surprised, although his face didn't show any emotion. She blinked too. He blinked once again. She copied his actions.
"Boo," she greeted him softly, looking paler than a couple of minutes ago.
He quirked a thin, chestnut-colored eyebrow at her. "Why aren't you sleeping?"
"..." She didn't answer him and looked at her feet instead.
"Yuffie?"
Now he started to worry about her a little. It was nothing for her to stay silent like this, he had already learned that much from staying here. He shifted from his position from the chair he was sitting on when she finally looked up again.
"I'm... scared," she whispered, her dark eyes becoming as big as saucers.
That answer earned her a frown. "For what?"
She didn't raise her voice when she whispered a reply, "For all those monsters under my bed and in my closet. I can't sleep when they're staring at me like that and laughing soundlessly at me for no particular reason. I know for sure that as soon as I dare to close my eyes, they'll attack me and eat me alive. Monsters like little children, especially when they're scared to death. That's what Cid said after I told Aerith about his secret liquor cabinet above his shop."
"What?" he whispered back.
He hadn't intended to speak as soft as she had done, but something that he saw in those big chocolate colored eyes of her, made him do so. Once again, she had managed to make him more confused than ever.
This was just great. Now he also had to deal with a child who was scared of imaginary monsters in her bedroom, because of what that grumpy man had told her as revenge. Someone up there really had to hate him for putting him through all this.
"Yuffie, listen," he said, sighing. "There are no such things as monsters...in your closet or under your bed. Cid only said that because he was pissed of what you-"
"Monster or not, I'm not going back there."
She crossed her arms to emphasis her words. Leon sighed. This was getting ridiculous.
"Do you want me to check your room to kill those monsters?"
She quickly shook her head and her eyes became even bigger than they already were. "N- no! I'd rather stay here, where it's safe. I don't want you to risk your life, because then I'll be here all alone. Plus Aerith's gonna be pretty mad at me then."
Just when he had thought that things wouldn't and simply couldn't get any worse, something like that had to happen of course. He felt like beating the crap out of Cid right now. Scaring little children, he sure was feeling brave these days.
"But... I have two problems, 'cause I also can't sleep, so could you tell me a story, please?" she asked, looking up at him to meet his cold gaze.
The answer was written in his eyes and it was clear enough for her to change her tactics. It was time for the "puppy-eyes."
"Pretty pretty please? Sugarcoated and all?" she tried again.
"Wish I could, but I'm afraid I can't. I don't know any other stories to tell you. My mother only told me that one story that I already told you the other day, because it was my favorite," he lied rather convincingly.
Obviously, his mother had told him more stories a long time ago and he still knew them by heart, but telling fairytales was the last thing he wanted to do now. He didn't like these stories anymore. They were fake and wouldn't come true, especially not for someone like him.
"Oh, but that's okay. The old man Merlin, you know, the one who lives in the Third District, paid us a visit yesterday to bring me a book, so you can read that one for me, okay?" she chirped. "I'll go and get it. It's in the kitchen."
She ran away. He didn't question what that book was doing in the kitchen and why it wasn't in the bookshelf like it should be. Then she came back into view again, while holding something in her small hands. He saw it was a book indeed. Just great.
"Here." She handed him the book and started to pull him by his arm.
"Yuffie, if you're trying to pull my arm out of the socket, then I'd like to tell you that I still need this one to defeat the Heartless."
And the monsters in your bedroom, he added in his head, sarcastically.
She stopped pulling his arm to look at him as if he'd grown a second head. "Duh! The only place where we can sit both comfortably, without falling and getting hurt when one of us moves around, is the bed, so come on!"
He sighed, getting up and following her to the large bed with green covers at the corner of the room they were in. Once they had both seated themselves, Leon looked at the book again. The title was "Cinderella." That sure promised to be a long and boring story with a damsel in distress. Again.
He sighed wearily, realizing that the only way to get over with this, was just telling the story for her. He had no choice, because if he didn't, then Yuffie would be sure to tell Aerith about it, who would bite his head off. Figuratively speaking, of course, because fortunately, Aerith wasn't able to do something like that. She probably wouldn't do it even if she could have done it, anyway, but that was beside the point now.
He opened the book on the first page, where the story began. "Okay, so the story's called Cinderella. Once upon a time there was a young, beautiful girl..."
He noticed that Yuffie had moved a bit closer to him, so she could see the sketches, resting her head on his right arm. At first he stiffened slightly, smelling her shampoo with appel fragrance, but then he continued, trying not to sound too monotone. He figured that it wasn't as bad as he had thought at first. At least this had shut her up for a short while.
Almost two hours later, Aerith and Cid came home at the same time. Aerith was the first one who stepped into the Small House and found Leon and Yuffie, sitting on the bed and sleeping like a baby next to each other with their backs leaning against the wall.
She saw that Leon was holding a book in his hands. It was open on the last page. Coincidentally enough, his index finger was pointing at the words "And they lived a happily ever after." This sign just made Aerith smile sweetly.
"Where's that brat an-"
"Shh!" Aerith said, turning at him.
Her eyes glistened a bit.
She pointed at the two sleeping forms. "Isn't that just sweet?" she whispered, still smiling.
"More like surprising. I wanna see his face when he wakes up tomorrow. Mark my words, he's gonna be as stiff as hell for the rest of the week," Cid responded.
Aerith shook her head. She ignored his muttering and took the book from Leon's hands, closing it and putting it on the big table. Then she went to another room. When she came back again, she held a thick, folded, dark brown blanket in her arms.
She tugged them in as gently as possible, so they wouldn't wake up. Leon stirred slightly, but he didn't open his eyes. Instead, he put an arm around Yuffie's shoulders, as though he was trying to protect her for something. They both remained fast asleep till the next morning.
Some hours later, Yuffie was the first one of the two who opened her eyes. Rubbing them, she smelled the faint fragrance of some eau de cologne, from which she knew that only one person in this house used that one. Her heart skipped a beat or two after that realization.
Wait, she wasn't in her room and she also wasn't alone here. She turned and almost got a heart-attack at the sight. Squall was there next to her, still asleep. He had that peaceful expression on his face again. The one that she wouldn't be able to spot on his face when it was day. It was always night here in Traverse Town, so this should obviously be taken figuratively.
When she looked at the clock, she saw that it was almost 7:00 am. Seeing that it was far too early to wake him up, she decided to close her eyes again and try to sleep some more. And wow, his shoulder served as a perfect pillow. It was made for her head to rest on. Who in the world would've thought that?
A/N: Thanks for reading! Hope you've enjoyed it. ^_^ Reviews are highly appreciated! :) (Hint, hint, hint)