[3]

With Axel making some excuse or other, he had left the shop just after Roxas and Cloud, leaving Sora to tend the bakery alone until he returned.

Sora hated times like this - times when he was alone. With the others around, it was easy to act like his old self, cheerful and happy. But the truth was, he wasn't doing so well. He worked long shifts every day so that he could work and not think. And then he went home so he could sleep and not think. But here he was, alone, not even a customer in sight, and he had nothing to do but think.

He had no idea where his life was going. Sure, a lot of that was because of the apparent breakup. But it was more than that, too. What did he have to show for himself? He'd followed his boyfriend's passions all the way out here to Twilight Town, and look where that had gotten him. Screwed over, that's where.

Some part of him still believed Marluxia would return. But even if he did, could things be the same? As much as Sora hated to admit it even to himself, as weak as it made him feel, he knew that if Marluxia walked in through that door right now, he'd find a way to forgive him.

And just as that thought crossed his mind, a figure did appear in the doorway, pulling the door open with a soft jingle. Sora's breath caught in his chest for a moment, but as soon as the figure stepped out of the glare of the sunlight, he saw it wasn't Marluxia. Of course it wasn't.

Silver hair spilled over his shoulders and down his back, long bangs almost obscuring aquamarine eyes completely. Everything about him, from his relaxed posture to his lackadaisical (albeit somewhat haughty) expression, sent off a chill vibe which inexplicably calmed Sora even from across the room.

Realizing that he was staring blankly, Sora quickly put on a bright smile. "Welcome to Paopu Heaven! Can I-"

"Ah. You must be the new guy."

"Huh?" Sora blinked, thrown off both by the sudden interruption as well as the words themselves. He'd never seen this guy before, how did he know that? "Are you a regular here or something?"

"Ehh, not exactly. This is my first time in here." The silver-haired man laughed as he said it, brushing the long bangs out of his eyes.

Sora looked puzzled, but before he could say or ask anything more, the stranger continued on. "I've actually just stopped by to give this to Axel," he explained, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a star-shaped keychain. "I found it with some old stuff...I thought he might want it."

"Oh! You're a friend of Axel's."

The stranger quirked his head, and a small smirk sat on his pale lips. "Something like that."

A bemused expression flickered across Sora's face, but he decided to let it go. "Well, Axel's actually not here right now. But I can give it to him, if you'd like," he offered with a smile. He accepted the keychain as it was handed over, tucking it under the counter to keep it safe. He'd have to remind himself to tell his boss about it.

"You looked sad," the stranger suddenly accused, apparently referring to Sora's expression when he'd first walked in. How had he even seen that?

"What? Me? No way. No sad face here," he laughed awkwardly, realizing he was on the verge of babbling. Wasn't his smile convincing enough?

The man looked at him for a long moment, not seeming to mind that he was flat-out staring. "Whatever it is, cheer up. You're too cute to be sad," he finally said. And with that, no further explanation of who he was, he turned and started walking out of the shop.

It was a spur of the moment thing; the words slipped from Sora's mouth before he even knew that he was thinking them: "What's your name?"

The stranger paused, raising his chin up and glancing back over his shoulder. "Riku," he answered before disappearing out the front door.

Cloud stared for a long moment, unable to believe the person standing before him was actually there. The name Leon was unfamiliar, but the face certainly wasn't. His hair was longer, and he was a little bit older, of course, but he was unmistakably the same man Cloud had known years ago. He still dressed in black and wore the telltale lion's head pendant around his neck. Not to mention the unforgettable scar right down the middle of his face.

"Leon, is it now?" were the first words Cloud managed to get out, quirking an eyebrow. When Sora had mentioned a Leon, he hadn't thought anything of it. He'd never known anyone named Leon. Once upon a time, however, he had known a Squall.

Leon responded with a wry smile and a one-shouldered shrug, though didn't offer any kind of verbal explanation of the apparent name change. Nonetheless, he stepped back, opening up the doorway so that Cloud could come inside. The reunion was a bit awkward, not like one of those movie reunions where things fall right back into place. But that was only to be expected - neither knew the other even lived in the same city, let alone so close.

"Haven't seen you since..." Leon started, but then let himself trail off, glancing away from the blonde when he realized where that sentence was going. Since the funeral.

Cloud shook off the comment, instead focusing his attention on looking around the apartment. The place was typical Squall. Er, Leon. It was immaculately clean and sparsely but functionally furnished. There were no pictures or any sort of "homey" touches. It was blank, distant, turned off from the world. Very much like the man that lived there.

To be honest, Cloud didn't know what to think of their relationship, or this reunion, for that matter. They weren't exactly friends anymore, yet once upon a time, they had spent a lot of time together. As a matter of fact, it had all started with Zack.

...

Cloud hiked the backpack further up on his shoulders, his thumbs hooked around the straps, as he made his way across the carefully manicured campus. One of the downsides of having a boyfriend who attended Hollow Bastion Military College was the fact that he could only visit on the weekends, which always felt far too short while the weeks in between dragged on.

He followed the familiar path across campus until he reached The Castle, the school's oldest dorm and current residence of his boyfriend, the black-haired Zack. Upon reaching the dorm building, he made his way up to the second floor and down to the very end of the hall, where Zack's room was located.

When he walked into the unlocked room, he already knew Zack wouldn't be there. He'd been called off on a spontaneous drill that morning, and he'd called Cloud to let him know he wouldn't be back until the afternoon. His roommate, however, was lying on his own bed, one arm tucked behind his head while the other propped up a book on his chest.

Squall was quiet and introspective - more a thinker than a talker. Certainly nothing like the vivacious and talkative Zack. Truthfully, when they'd first met, Cloud could hardly believe that he was Zack's best friend and willing roommate. But when Zack was busy, he was nice company, and he understood Cloud's need to just be sometimes - no small talk or chitchat, just silent companionship. On most weekends, his girlfriend Rinoa joined them, and the four all hung out.

"Hey," Cloud called over casually, already sliding the backpack from his shoulders and dropping it onto the floor.

Squall glanced up from his book just long enough to direct a brief nod in Cloud's direction. As far as his greetings went, that one was particularly friendly.

He made himself comfortable on Zack's neatly made bed, knowing he had at least another hour to wait before his boyfriend returned. "Squall?" he asked as he leaned back on the pillows.

"Hn." That was a yes, or at least what the other boy deemed adequate for one.

"What's the deal with the swords?"

The other boy gave a breath of laughter and laid the book down flat. "Zack never told you? Everyone here chooses a signature weapon to train with. Guns, swords, staves. Zack has a Buster sword, I have a gunblade. For us, they're like our identities around campus...our most important possessions. Zack probably doesn't even let you touch it, does he?"

Cloud snorted and shook his head. "Nope."

...

"Do you make a habit of carrying that thing around?" Leon's words abruptly cut into Cloud's thoughts, drawing him back to the present moment.

Realizing what Leon was referring to, his eyes widened as he suddenly remembered why he was there in the first place. "Oh." How could he have forgotten about that? "That's why I'm here, actually. Someone had mentioned that you might be able to help...My, uh, roommate sort of messed it up..."

Giving the damaged weapon a cursory once-over, Leon inclined his head in a slight nod. "Give me some time. But yeah, I can fix it. It's his, isn't it?"

Cloud only nodded silently, knowing the question really didn't need an answer anyway.

"He sounds fuckin' creepy."

Sora and Roxas sat on stools at the kitchen counter, eating the last of the spaghetti Sora had made. They did have a kitchen table, but thanks to Sora's messiness, it was buried under a mountain of stuff, and neither particularly wanted to deal with cleaning off the thing.

Sora shrugged slightly, not sure how else to explain what had happened at the bakery earlier that day. "I guess you'd just have to meet him." Something about Riku was just...undeniably alluring, something Sora had felt in his presence.

"What, are you looking for another boyfriend already?"

"No," Sora glowered. What he wouldn't tell Roxas, however, was that, while he meant that no, he wasn't entirely sure whether it was because he genuinely wanted to focus on getting his life together, or because he couldn't get over that small part of himself still waiting for Marluxia. As much as Sora loved his brother, Roxas just didn't understand those kinds of things. He'd never been in love, nor had he ever even been interested in serious relationships.

Sora sighed softly. "No," he repeated, giving a small shake of his head. "He was just...interesting." Riku, huh?

Another week later, and Axel was leaning over the bakery counter with a thoughtful frown on his face as he watched Sora pulling a tray of cookies from the oven. When he'd first seen Sora that night, now already an entire month ago, it had only been a sarcastic joke to offer him a job. He had to say, the kid was a strange one. He seemed cheerful so much of the time, but Axel could tell there was something beneath that cheer. He'd caught bits and pieces of Sora and Roxas talking, and he'd seen it on the boy's face whenever he zoned out. Axel liked to play the part of ignorant imbecile (it was more fun that way, after all), but he actually was much more thoughtful and observant than most people gave him credit for. Despite all of that, though, Sora had brought with him a certain light - a unique warmth that drew people to him. The customers absolutely adored him.

Of course, he'd brought something else with him, too. That something being the delightfully attractive Roxas, upon whom Axel now turned his gaze. Axel was impulsive, and he tended to make his impressions of people the second he met them. And from the moment he had walked in on the little blonde bomb going off in the shop, he'd wanted him. Admittedly, at the first moment, it had been a purely physical desire - Axel was used to that. But it was more than that now. From their daily bantering to that annoyed pout Roxas made when Axel finally pegged him, the redhead wanted him. And not just in the one-night-stand kind of way.

But even that wasn't all Sora had done. Over the course of that month, the kid had also managed to turn his legitimate business into a damn hang-out joint.

Roxas was seated at a table by the window, his laptop propped open as he typed away. He now liked to get out of the apartment and do some of his work at the bakery. Not that Axel actually minded him hanging around; the scenery was more than welcome.

Cloud had also been showing up much more than he ever had before. He was currently sprawled out comfortably at another table, having just returned from running a job.

Glancing up from his computer, Roxas asked, "So, Cloud, what is it you do, anyway?"

"I run a service - I transport important documents and other goods."

"He's a delivery boy," Axel simplified rudely.

Roxas snorted at Axel's blunt manner, but quickly disguised it beneath a cough. He'd die before letting that obnoxious redhead know he thought he was funny.

Cloud had heard it, though, and he glowered at both of them.

"It's Friday. Let's celebrate the weekend," Axel suddenly declared, utterly unphased by Cloud's fixed glare. The others all turned to look at him with quizzical faces; rather than be deterred, however, the looks only prompted him onward. "Y'know, a big party. Tonight. At my place. Sor, Rox, you should both come."

"You mean our place," Cloud reminded him dryly. "I'm glad you went ahead and decided this without asking me."

Axel only grinned back at him, not even bothering to put on a facade of shame. Just as Sora and Roxas both started to open their mouths with excuses why they couldn't go, Axel quickly added, "And by 'should,' I mean 'must.' I'm your boss, Sora, so you can't say no to me. And Roxas, you wouldn't let your brother go all alone, would you?"

Roxas immediately frowned. That conniving bitch.

So, finally got Riku in there! I promise there'll be more of him in the next chapter, haha, since there wasn't much of him in this one. xD

ALSO. Thank you so, so much to everyone who has reviewed, faved and/or alerted this story - I really appreciate it, you guys are awesome~ :D I hope I haven't disappointed you with this chapter, lol...