A/N: Yay, the last chapter! This is it. Enjoy. :)
Thanks: PrismRain13, KC-Chan13, and M. L. Ayala, my beta reader.
~ Okay, so Leon had definitely read the letter, there was no doubt about that anymore. That look said it all. ~
During dinner, Yuffie kept stealing furtive glances at Leon whenever she thought that no one was looking. His face was dangerously unreadable all the time, which made her wonder if he'd read the letter already or not. Honestly, a brick wall showed more emotion than he did. Of course, the fact that his every move was being watched by curious eyes, didn't go unnoticed by the brunet swordsman himself.
Eventually, the man sighed, being tired of her little games.
With an ominous look on his chiseled face, he put down his knife and fork and looked at her, his jaw flexed. "May I ask what's with these weird stares?"
At once, all eyes were on her and she felt how her cheeks started to grow warm at the sudden (and for the very first time unwanted) attention. She gulped, not expecting that he would be so... direct about it. Then again, this was Leon they were talking about. Of course he would be direct about things. That was his style.
"What do you mean?" she inquired, quasi innocently.
She couldn't fool Leon with that, though.
"What's gotten into you? Did you spike my drink? Poisoned my food? Because if that's the case..." he threatened.
The nimble ninja started to blush at his words. "No, of course not! I'm a sneaky ninja, not a friggin' cold-blooded murderer!"
As soon as she'd uttered those words, she looked down at her plate again, her lips pressed into a firm line. Okay, so maybe he hadn't read it then, otherwise he would've mentioned something about it, even if he was Leon, right? Besides, he'd always sucked at lying, so she would've seen it in his eyes if he had read the letter. That last thought made her feel more relieved, but not that much. After all, how much time did she have left?
When she heard the scratching of a chair, she looked up again, curious. The silent brunet had gotten up and now walked towards the sink. He calmly washed his empty plate, put it on a rack to let it dry and went straight up to his bedroom. Yuffie hesitated slightly, before stuffing her mouth full with the remains of her food (it would be such a waste to throw that away, right?) While still chewing on her delicious meal (courtesy of Aerith), she got up too and followed him to his room. Aerith sighed when the young ninja left her plate behind on the table, shaking her head.
Meanwhile, the raven-haired teen took a deep breath before opening the door and stepping inside. As always, she didn't knock first, if only to annoy Leon some more.
"What are you doing here?" was the first thing Leon said to her, after looking up. "Did you need something?"
She let out a nervous laugh when their eyes happened to meet and mentally face-palmed. Well, if he didn't think she was crazy before, he sure did now!
"Oh, you know; I was just checking up on you. See how you're doing and stuff."
The look on his face told her that he didn't believe a word of it. What a surprise. The day he would believe her, she'd know that something was wrong. Well, at least she tried, right?
"Yuffie, you saw me only ten seconds ago," Leon deadpanned.
Oh... right. No wonder he thought it didn't make any sense.
"Well, a lot of things can happen in ten seconds," the girl argued, putting her hands on her hips.
That was when her eyes fell on the yellowed piece of paper in the swordsman's hand. It was slightly crumpled and seemed to be a decade old. As soon as she recognized it, all blood drained from her face and her ears started whizzing.
Oh god. Stay calm. Don't let him notice that you're screaming in panic...
"Yuffie... are you alright?" Leon asked slowly, as a light frown appeared on his face. He studied her face for a good moment, but didn't know what to think of it.
Oh, too late for that...
She realized that she had to look horrible if he actually asked her that question. After all, Squall never worried about her... or about anyone for that matter.
"Did you... read that?" she asked, her voice quavering.
She needed to know this, but at the same time, Yuffie would rather shut her ears and run out of the room, away from the painful truth. Because what could she do if the answer to that question was 'yes'?
Leon seemed to have noticed the strange tone in her voice and he followed her line of vision. "No, not yet. I was about to start when you decided to barge in like you owned the place."
Any other moment, the raven-haired girl would've taken that as a severe insult, but now... she was kinda distracted. Now that she was sure that he hadn't taken a look at the letter yet, she felt a small twinge of hope. Perhaps she could prevent this whole nightmare just in time.
"That's good. Just throw it away. You shouldn't read this."
Leon raised a thin brow at that. "And why is that?"
"Because... you shouldn't."
It was quiet between them for a moment, until... "That's a very convincing reason." The sarcasm was practically dripping from his voice. "You know, Cid said the exact opposite. According to him, my life would change after I had read this letter and since we all know what happened last time I believed you... I'm going for Cid's side of the story this time."
Yuffie decided to put an end to this. She'd waited long enough. The young ninja rushed forward and tried to snatch the piece of paper out of his hands. As expected, the brunet man swiftly turned his body away from her to prevent her from grabbing the letter. However, in her haste to get the letter, Yuffie fell over something (probably her own legs. For a great ninja, she could be pretty clumsy sometimes). She let out a surprised yelp and couldn't avoid her head slamming against his nightstand. Hard.
The last thing she heard, was a rather shocked "Yuffie!" before she lost consciousness and everything went black...
Yuffie groaned, as she finally gained consciousness again. Damn, her head hurt like hell. No... that was the understatement of the year. It kind of felt like she'd caught a bullet with her skull, or something. Not that she knew how that felt. Thank heavens! If her throat hadn't felt as dry as a desert, she would've started screaming and cussing because of the pain.
She opened her eyes, ever so slowly. The bedside lamp was on, which provided her enough light to look around in the room. Leon's room, that is. The teen blinked as realization hit her; she was lying in Leon's bed...
Surely, the man himself wasn't currently in the room and for the first time in her life, she was glad for that. She had never thought that his bed would feel so... comfortable. She sighed, contented, as she took in her surroundings. The small room was neat. Leon's leather jacket wasn't draped over the chair like usual and the case in which he always kept his Gunblade when he was inside, was empty, too. This meant that he'd gone outside, probably to train in the Secret Waterway, or something. Seriously, that guy was all work and no play. The raven-haired girl doubted if he'd ever had fun in his life. \and every time she would try to give him something to laugh at, he would only snarl at her. It was as though he didn't allow himself some happiness.
At that moment, the bedroom door opened and Aerith stepped in.
The woman smiled when she saw her, before closing the door behind her. "I see you finally woke up?"
"Yeah... How long was I out?" she questioned.
Her voice barely sounded like her own at this point, but she paid no further attention to it.
"Oh, not too long," the elder female replied. "Barely thirty minutes."
"Oh... Where's Leon?"
"I don't know. When I came in a few minutes ago, he rushed out of the room before I could ask him where he was going. He acted a little weird," she replied, thoughtfully.
That last sentence piqued the younger girl's interest and she feared the worst.
She slowly sat upright in her bed and looked at the pink clad woman. "...He did?"
"Yeah. I don't think I've ever seen him act like that before. He looked a little spooked. If you hadn't been unconscious back then, I would've thought it was because of you..."
As soon as she'd said that, Yuffie shot out of bed and looked around her again. She even startled Aerith with her sudden move. Her emerald green eyes rested on the younger girl, as she seemed to be searching for something. Something told her that Yuffie knew why Leon had behaved so uncharacteristically, but she decided not to press further on the subject, knowing that it would only freak the poor girl out.
Unfortunately for Yuffie, there was no trace of the letter anywhere, not even on the desk. Had Leon gone outside because he'd...
In that case, she was in deep trouble.
"Oh boy. What am I gonna do now?" she muttered, more to herself than to Aerith.
"Yuffie... Is everything alright?"
Aerith's voice brought the Wutaian girl back to reality again.
She shook her head. "I uh... I did something really stupid that was supposed to stay a secret until the day I died... But I think that Leon found out about it, so now I'm screwed."
The fact that all Aerith said was, "Oh. Do you want me to talk to him?" made Yuffie a little suspicious.
It sounded as if she knew about the subject, too.
Nevertheless, she replied with, "No, it's okay. I need to solve this myself this time."
Unfortunately.
"Alright then. If you need me, I'll be in the living room," Aerith spoke, before leaving Leon's room.
Okay, so Leon had definitely read the letter, there was no doubt about that anymore. That look said it all. The first few days, he'd acted rather weird. Well, weirder than usual. The silent brunet had given her these long, hard, creepy stares that gave her a funny feeling in the stomach. However, he did act nicer to her now, even if it was only a little... Or was that because she was starting to call him Leon more often? Whatever, she'd go with the first one, because that sounded better.
She could sense the small changes, though. At first, whenever she would try to come closer, he'd always back away. That had always been the case, whether it involved a stupid joke (which he never laughed at, by the way), or trying to talk to him about more serious issues (to which he never responded, save for that glare that could melt solid gold). He'd just been out of reach...
But something told her that it wasn't like that now. Not anymore. Something about him had changed, she'd felt it as soon as she'd rested her eyes on him that day after the stink bomb incident at Cid's shop (well, the old guy deserved it, didn't he?). Panic had instantly risen, but the stubborn guy hadn't said anything about the matter and she hadn't asked about it, either. Yuffie had concluded that maybe he was testing her, trying to find out if she still thought the same about him. To be honest, this had surprised her, because the Leon that she knew would actually see this as a good reason to start another fight with her. But he hadn't...
Perhaps it had been a good idea to write that letter years ago, even if she'd never intended to show it to anyone (especially not to him!). Maybe Cid had realized what it would do to Leon once he got to read it. Maybe she should be thankful that the ex-pilot had told him about it.
Drat, now she owed the man. That was honestly the last thing she needed...
"Yuffie!"
The young ninja blinked a couple of times, confusion written all over her face. "Huh?"
It was only then that she noticed how her fighting partner was glaring down at her. She gulped, wondering what she had missed this time. By the looks of it, it was something serious. Oh, now she was really in for it.
"Focus. If you keep acting like a lovesi- like you are now, the Heartless will eat you alive before you realize it," Leon chided, coolly.
"Sorry," she muttered, looking down at her shoes.
But what did he expect? How can one concentrate when your training partner is so hot that he sizzles-
"I mean it," he added, warningly.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm read- Whaaah!"
She was barely able to block the blow he threw at her, but thankfully, her reflexes were quick enough. Although that didn't stop her from falling backwards and landing hard on the cold floor of the Secret Waterway, on her butt.
"Ow!" She grimaced, rubbing the sore spot.
"So that's what you call 'ready?' How interesting..."
As a reply, Yuffie stuck her tongue out at him. "You're so mean!"
"...I thought that's what you liked about me?"
Again, Yuffie blinked dumbfoundedly. That question... what was she supposed to say to that? She didn't miss the playful tone in his voice, either. But the question was, was it just a joke, or...?
At once, she felt how heat rose to her cheeks. Meanwhile, Leon made his way to her and extended a gloved hand towards her. She quietly took his hand and let him help her get up.
"Just try to concentrate some more, okay? I won't always be there to watch your back... even though I'm trying to be," he spoke.
Was that a promise of him to always watch out for me?
She nodded and stood in a fighting stance once again. This time she would make sure to block him.
Yes, he had changed alright, the raven-haired teen mused. But sometimes, changes weren't that bad. And who knows, maybe some day, he wouldn't just see her as a little sister-figure. Until then, she would wait for him and try to win his heart over by telling more stupid jokes. He did like them, after all, even if he stayed quiet about it. She just knew it by the way the corner of his mouth would quirk upwards. If that wasn't a telltale sign, then she didn't know what was.
After years of working on this, it's finally finished. I can hardly believe it myself. Thanks a ton for sticking with me throughout the years and reading this collection till the very end (I know what you're thinking now; c'mon woman, it's only fifteen chapters!). You guys are awesome and I'd like to give you a big hug and virtual cookies for that! :) And of course, I'll never grow tired of writing Squiffies. In fact, I'm working on some ideas for a challenge at the moment, which involves lots of Squiffie entries. :P
The reason that I didn't make this one all fluffy was because this takes place near the end of KH1 and Leon only now becomes aware of Yuffie's feelings. My other Squiffie one-shots take place during KH2, including the one in which he actually kisses her. Hope that explains things.
REVIEW SHOUT-OUT: celticskyedancer, AreYouStillThere, Anna-sky Valentine Nox, LoreilDarksky100, dannielovessora, KlonoaDreams, NinjaSheik, XxX-SparklingEyes-XxX, BlackButterfly9, The Waterbender, KC-Chan13, and last, but certainly not least, PrismRain13.