Warnings: Slash...

Disclaimer: I do not own... dude... fanfiction says you anything?

A/N: So, chapter three is up! And I am happy about this. As you might have noticed, I love Aerith, and for some reason, I think she should be important here. Anyone doesn't, that's their problem. :Chuckles:

Now, if you would kindly leave a review, that would have made me really happy! Don't just alert or favorite (even though I LOVE that you do that as well), REVIEW dammit!!

:Fetches Vincent and makes him point Scorpion at you all: Okay??

Heheeee... So PLEASE ENJOY!! This chapter is deticated to my beloved Ivy, whom I haven't seen in a while... I think the freezer demons ate her... Oo


Healing

Chapter Three

"Secrets"

-

When Aerith came down from the bedroom in which Cloud was resting after making sure her beloved warrior had fallen safely asleep, she had to chuckle at the sight that met her.

She had known the others would be waiting for news about the blond's condition, but she hadn't imagined them to be quite this worried.

Merlin, Yuffie and Cid were all bunked up in the living room and the signs of their worry did not pass her by. Yuffie had fallen into a seemingly deep slumber on the couch, judging by her wide open mouth, not to mention the drool that dripped from it. (The petite girl always fell asleep if her brain had been overly used.) She looked as if she hadn't been sleeping for ages and the flower girl wasn't surprised to find her face partly covered in black.

She raised an eyebrow at Cid who tried to appear innocent, but failed miserably. Apart from the not so angelic expression however, he seemed even more grumpier than usual and his trademark scowl appeared sourer than ever.

Beside him, arms protectively folded over her chest, stood Tifa. The black haired woman had abandoned the bar and her deep brown eyes were red around the edges, something that told Aerith that she had been crying.

This made the healer's heart twinge. Tifa was not the one to shed tears easily, but this had certainly taken it's toll on her.

She looked kind of lost and Aerith felt like hugging her.

Merlin, the owner of the house was stroking his beard thoughtfully and his hat had slid down to the left and was now preforming a pretty impressive balancing trick. When he noticed Aerith, he jumped slightly, the movement causing his hat to fall off. After mumbling something uncatchable, he bent down and picked it up with a grace that did not all suit his age. Once he had placed it back on his head, he caught the Cetra's eyes and furrowed his brows. He was about to open his mouth, most likely to ask about Cloud's condition, but before he managed to speak, a voice beat him to it.

"How's Spike doin'?" Cid sounded rather unconcerned and gruff, but Aerith knew the ways of the pilot. Once he really cared about something, he would try to appear completely unemotional –well, unless he showed anger that was- and cold. The toothpick dangled from his lips as he spoke and his brows were firmly knitted.

She gave a tired little smile and nodded her head slowly. "He's doing fine, Cid. It took me some time to heal that gash, and the arm will probably always feel a bit stiff, but he'll live."

The pilot sighed in relief and the brown haired woman knew a burden was lifted from the older man's shoulder. He loved Cloud, despite the fact that he never really said so, and there was do doubt he would have been devastated if she'd harbored harder news.

"Stupid kid," he muttered then, and Aerith almost rolled her eyes. Typical Cid. Once the emergency was over and everything was confirmed okay, he wouldn't hesitate to comment about it in his usual gruff way, "ain't he ever gonna learn? He keeps getting' himself into deep shit all the time."

"Well," Merlin interrupted, "we are all happy that he is all right." He smiled behind his mustache and Aerith beamed back.

Tifa had yet to speak, but she was rubbing her temples slowly, eyes closed and mouth slightly open.

Aerith reckoned she was absorbing the news.

Sighing softly, she clasper her hands above her stomach.

Her gaze traveled to the sleeping ninja on the couch and Cid saw her look and gave a short snort. "Rude little brat. Falling asleep in a time like this."

Aerith decided to ignore him and just wandered over and placed a hand on the young girl's shoulder. She had merely touched her, before her spectacular ninja reflexes shot in. With a small squeal, she jumped out of her lying positions like a human lightning and in moments, she was standing on her feet.

"Where's the emergency??" She bellowed and peered rapidly around. Cid rolled his eyes and huffed loudly, while Merlin and Aerith had to suppress their laughter. Tifa just stared at her, as if she was not really there.

"Shh, Yuffie," Aerith breathed, "Cloud is resting upstairs, so keep your voice down."

The ninja turned her head so fast that the flower girl was surprised her neck did not snap. Deep, dark eyes penetrated soft, emerald ones. "He's all right? Cloudster is all right?"

Aerith smiled and nodded her head. "Yes."

A wide, happy grin ascended in the girl's face. "Yay!" She yelled and literally jumped with glee.

Her jump ended brutally however, when her leg got caught in the table leg and she fell rather ungracefully on her bum. Everyone in the house laughed.

Once their laughter had settled, the flower girl came to think of something. "Where's Leon?" She breathed, her eyes once again shining with faint worry.

Cid waved his hand at her. "He's outside. Muttered something about fresh air."

Aerith bit her lip. This was not surprising news. Leon had never been the type to hang around and wait for information. He'd simply take a walk, or go slice something with his gunblade. The ways of the lion was not hard to learn, but sometimes they could be quite confusing and strange.

"Well," she said then, "I'll go look for him. Let me know if anything changes here, okay?" By that she meant if Cloud should wake up.

"Tifa?" She turned to the bartender with a suggesting smile. "Would you like to sit with him?"

She gestured towards the bedroom, "he's probably going to be sleeping for a while, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind you being there."

The woman returned the smile and nodded. Aerith suspected it would be beneficial for her to see for herself that Cloud was going to be fine and Tifa possibly knew the blond even better than she did, so she trusted her to do a good job watching over him.

"I'll be going then," she informed before she moved for the door. "If you're hungry, there's dinner in the kitchen."

"Okay" Yuffie piped up. "We'll take care of Cloudster! Just make sure Squallie-poo has not jumped off a cliff or something."

No one found the comment all that amusing.

"Oh and," Aerith turned in the door frame, "don't let Yuffie near the stove."

That was a far better trigger; they all laughed. Even Yuffie herself.

--

She did not have to search for long. She had merely walked for five minutes before she saw his silhouette against the afternoon sky. His broad back appeared tense and his head was lifted stubbornly, as if he was trying to block out the world. Chestnut hair billowed slightly in the faint wind and his right hand rested on the gunblade.
From what she could figure out, the other one was tucked to right above his chest and she suspected that he was playing with the heavy metal chain around his neck. Griever. The reminder of his previous life and a symbol of his own personal burden.

"Leon?" she breathed, approaching his stoic figure carefully, "are you all right?"

He sighed, and his shoulders fell with the motion. Turning to look at her, he pinched the bridge of his nose and nodded. "Yeah," his voice strangely sullen, "just needed some air. And some time to think." He added as she walked over to him.

Placing a hand on his shoulder, she squeezed it comfortingly and smiled.

"I understand."

They stood in silence for a while, Aertih's hand gently massaging the swordsman's stiff muscles.

From what she could see of his face, he was rather upset and although he'd never admit it, probably pretty worried as well. His lips were nothing but a thin, stern line and his eyes burned darkly in their sockets.

"He's going to be okay, Leon." She said quietly and watched his expression soften a little. Closing his eyes, he gave a short hum and licked his lips. His way of showing he was happy with the information.

"What happened?" She asked then, green eyes filling with bewilderment.

"I don't know." He replied simply and drew a deep breath before continuing. "I just found him while I was searching the place for Heartless. There were no traces of a fight, but no blood trails either."

She furrowed her brows. "That's peculiar."

He snorted. It was more than peculiar. It was fucking impossible. How the hell had Cloud ended up there? And who was the one responsible?

"Listen," her hand fell from his shoulder and gently grasped his arm, forcing him to look at her, "you did what you could today, Leon. And without you, Cloud would not have been alive right now."

He swallowed, delicate, dark brows knitting faintly. Clearly, he was of another opinion. She almost rolled her eyes.

"When are you going to stop blaming yourself for everything?" He cringed a little at her words, and she mentally noted that she needed to step carefully. This was a sore spot. Still, he needed to hear this. "It's not your fault you know. Cloud got himself into this all by himself. All you did was saving him."

She caught his eyes and held them trapped. "He once came too late to save me," her voice quivered slightly at the memory, but when he opened his mouth to speak she silenced him with another stern look. "Cloud still blames himself for that event. And he thinks it is all his fault that Sephiroth got to me."

She smiled sadly. "As I'm sure you understand, it was nothing he could have done about it and I have told him so several times, but he refuses to believe me. He's stubborn like that." Her smile resembled a smirk for a swift second, "you two are very alike you know."

He gave her a look, but she just kept smiling. "It's true. You have more in common than you think."

--

Leon moved carefully across the floor and over to the bed where Cloud was resting. Beside the bed, on a wooden chair, sat Tifa. Sunlight flooded through the one mussy window in the room and her hair shone slightly, reminding Leon of a glory. She looked up when he entered and from what he could see of her face, she appeared calmer now than before. Clearly, Aerith had made the right choice, letting her watch over Cloud. She was holding one of his limp hands, her thumb gently stroking it in round motions. He nodded shortly at her and she returned the gesture with a small smile.

"How is he?"

She shrugged a little. "Well, he hasn't been awake since Aerith left him, and he seems to be resting just fine."

Leon raked a hand through his hair, still a bit uncertain about his purpose here. Aerith thought he needed to see for himself that Cloud was okay, but the dark haired swordsman wasn't sure if she was right. Seeing Cloud tied to the bed like this made him clench his teeth hard and his hands balled into fists.

"You can sit here if you want," came Tifa's soft voice and his eyes flew up and met hers, "I'll have to go back to the bar soon anyway. The profit will not appear out of nowhere."

He knew she was right. Tifa needed munny just as much as them and her bar was not exactly the most crowded place. Nodding, he walked over to her and shook her shoulder faintly before motioning towards Cloud.

"I'll... I'll watch him for a while." He stated calmly, although his voice was less powerful than usual. Tifa seemed to notice, but she didn't say anything as she rose to her feet and moved for the door.

"Thanks." She waved and waited for him to nod before she shut it behind her.

When she was gone and he could no longer her her footsteps in the hall, he turned to the sleeping blond in the bed and contemplated about what to do next. Leon was not used to taking care of others, and even though his friends and coworkers saw him as a collected and strong person with a strong will, he was most uncertain when it came to showing affection or things similar to that.

He regarded Cloud's sleeping form for another couple of minutes, but when his mind told him that he was being silly, he cleared his throat and moved for the bed.

He did not sit down, he just blinked dumbly at the chair, biting his lip.

"Are you gonna stay there all day?"

He almost jumped and would have done so if it wasn't for the fact that Squall, now Leon, Leonheart never jumped. That was out of his physical vocabulary. He eyed Cloud warily and noticed how the warriors bright, blue eyes were fixed on him.

Cloud was awake? For how long?

He narrowed his eyes.

"You're awake." He was pointing out the obvious, but right now, he was too perplexed to care.

Cloud almost rolled his eyes, and Leon's gaze grew sharper.

"Yes, I am." The blond breathed then and gave a short cough. Leon, still utterly aware stepped a few inches closer to him and grabbed a hold of the now empty glass on the night stand.

"I'll fill this." He stated and motioned towards the bathroom. "Wait."

Cloud could only nod and even if he felt a bit undignified, he was thirsty. When the brunet retreated with a full glass of water, Cloud felt the dryness in his mouth and smacked his tongue impatiently. This caused Leon to raise an eyebrow, but the former SOLDIER chose to ignore the gesture.

The brunet stood and watched Cloud for a couple of seconds, and now it was Cloud's turn to raise his brows.

"Won't you give me the water?" He croaked, voice harsh and dry. Leon, seemingly in his own thoughts shook his head faintly and moved towards the bed.

"Yeah, sorry." He raked a hand through his hair before setting the glass down and almost brutally grabbing a hold of the wounded blond, pulling him up in a sitting position. Cloud gave a wincing sound, but when Leon studied his face, it was as calm as ever. Supporting the blond with one arm, he took the glass and moved it to Cloud's lips.

"Drink," was the order that followed and Cloud didn't need to be told twice. Her drank so much and so fast that Leon had to firmly take the glass from his mouth with a comment about how too much water at once could lead to nausea. Cloud had almost pouted at this, and the lion actually had to suppress a laugh at the expression. It was so extremely out of character. Once he had put away the glass, he gently get go of the blond, who fell back to the cushions with a small sigh.

Leon decided to use the chair. He sat down beside Cloud, hands folded in his lap, thumbs rolling.

Cloud watched him for a couple of seconds, a somewhat thoughtful expression grazing his features. When Leon did not say anything, he simply shrugged and closed his eyes.

They stayed in silence for some time and after a little while, Leon found himself closing his eyes.

"I fought him again." The sudden sound of Cloud's voice made his eyes snap open and staring towards the bed for a couple of seconds, Leon sighed.

"I figured."

"How?" Cloud turned to look at him, ocean eyes wide with curiosity. "How did you know it wasn't the Heartless?"

"Because if it were Heartless you would have said so." He shrugged faintly and pinched the bridge of his nose. A gesture Cloud had gotten used to. Leon always pinched his nose when he was distressed somehow. "When you insisted on keeping quiet, I assumed it was hard to talk about."

"Oh."

Cloud did not really know what to say to that.

He supposed Leon was right.

He had never liked to talk about Sephiroth. Frankly, he would avoid it at all costs.

However, now he felt like it was only appropriate to spill what he knew. If the General was around, his comrades would need to know. Even if Cloud was his target, not they. The blond knew he would never have been able to forgive himself if anything happened to them because of him.

He'd felt that pain several times before, and it was worse than anything faith could ever provide one with. With a small shudder, he remembered the weight of Aerith's dead body in his arms, and in his head, he saw her slowly slipping into the glimmering water of the lake, her fair skin paler than the moon. Just after the sight vanished, it was replaced by the thorn body of Zack Fair, sprawled out on the hilltop under a darkened, heavy sky.

Feeling how his insides twisted, he gritted his teeth and forced the memory out of his head. He had other, more current things to concentrate about.

"Also," Leon's voice brought him back to that currency and although a bit pale, he met the swordsman's eyes. "That wound on your chest implies you fought someone carrying a sword. And let's face it, you're far stronger than a bunch of Heartless."

"I guess you're right."

"Have you told Aerith yet?"

"No." He answered simply, eyes darting to the bedsheets.

"May I ask why?"

"I don't want her to worry. She has enough to deal with already."

"But I'm sure she'd want to know. Besides, she's not stupid you know." Stormy gray eyes locked with his and against his will, Cloud found himself being drawn into their gloomy depths.

"I know." He uttered darkly, "I just don't feel like it right now."

"I see." There was no mocking in the gunblader's voice, just this smooth tone of understanding. A tone Cloud knew was not forced or fake. Leon never said anything unless he really meant it, at least not when he could have chosen not to speak.

"How did he find you?" The brunet asked after a couple of seconds in silence. "What happened? There were no traces of blood."

Cloud frowned a little. "I don't really remember all that much. All I recall is that I was traveling from the Coliseum and all of a sudden I was here, fighting him."

Leon raised his brows. "You mean you teleported here?"

The blond shrugged and he bit his lip. The room lay bathed in a warm, orange light and a soft breeze came from the open window. Cloud's hair billowed slightly in the wind, golden bangs dancing before his eyes. His face was beginning to gain some color and his freckles paled noticeably.

"I don't know. It felt weird though. He just appeared before me and smirked, but before I had the chance to attack him, I was surrounded by darkness and in a flash I was here. We both were."

"You mean at the Bailey?"

"Yeah." Cloud used his uninjured arm to rub his face and yawned, as if he was telling Leon something really boring. This was of course an act, and it was an act Leon was all too familiar with.

Squall Leonheart was indeed a master of disguises and knew all about denial.

"And that's all you remember?" Eyes narrowed, he regarded the blond, who just shrugged at him, waving a hand tiredly.

"That's all I remember."

TBC