Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. These ditties continue to be mine, as are Duke and McCallister. Glad you guys are enjoying these!

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013 – Hero's Welcome

The building was going to collapse any minute, the fire roaring like demon eyes out of the upper windows. The warehouse had been mostly abandoned, save for the night watch crew. Four out of five of the men were accounted for. A few others had gone inside to try and get that last guy out.

"Let go!" Tifa thrashed against one of the firefighters holding her back, "There're still people in there, dammit. Do your job!"

The building groaned as the fire ate away at the skeleton of it. The lean-to shed collapsed in a plume of black smoke that was a mass of darkness in the otherwise starry night sky. In addition to firefighters, some amateur sorcerers were tossing water spells at the inferno, to little effect.

Even at a safe distance, the heat and the light of the fire were making Tifa's eyes burn, but she distinctly saw three figures stagger out of the building. One was running. The other was supporting the third figure, who was barely staying on his feet.

The three men just cleared the building when the rest of the interior structure collapsed, causing the warehouse to buckle and implode on itself. Fire whooshed out in all directions, dying in the cool night air. Tifa violently threw the grips off her arms and ran forward with the paramedics and other rescue workers.

The first man was coughing violently from the smoke, his right arm burnt and smoke rising from his shoulders. Seeing a medic attending to him, Tifa went to the other two. They were both sooty and singed, but Leon kept the third man upright, though the guy looked on the verge of unconsciousness.

Leon handed the guy off to two paramedics before promptly hitting his knees as the smoke inhalation finally got to him. Tifa shouldered past the firefighters who were working to stabilize the fire and dropped beside him.

"Hey, hey, hey." She sputtered in a panic, glancing around, "I need some oxygen over here!"

"M'fine." Leon choked out, leaning forward on his hands and clearing his throat repeatedly.

A medic out of nowhere produced an oxygen mask and Tifa took it without a word, turning and quickly glancing Leon over. No serious burns or anything that she could see.

"Here." She held out the mask.

Leon coughed again, breathing shakily. "No, I don't need—"

"Just shut up and take it." She ordered.

He gave as deadpan a look as he could muster and took the mask, holding it over the lower half of his face and closing his eyes at the sweet oxygen it offered. Biting the side of her lip, Tifa looked around at the others being aided by paramedics. Burns and blood and broken bones all around.

"You are one lucky bastard. Running back in there, what were you thinking?" She snapped at Leon, whose reproachful glare fell short of effective. Shaking her head, she gave his shoulder a light slap. "Moron."

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014 – Vader's Revenge

Kawwwwg.

What the—

Kawwwwg-kew.

Leon looked up from the cleaning material he was working through the barrels of the Gunblade.

Kawwwg-kuh.

The intrusive, nasally sound started up out of nowhere. It was the kind of sound that grated on the nerves and made eyes twitch in reaction. Like nails down a chalkboard. Narrowing his eyes in annoyance, he stood and wandered out into the living room, looking around.

Nothing looked out of place, except for Tifa, sprawled across that ugly couch, limbs akimbo, mouth open, snoring like Darth Vader.

Kawwwg-kew.

Repressing a grimace, he reached down and smacked her shoe, hoping to wake her up just enough to stop the horrid noise. No dice. She just snorted in her sleep and shifted.

Kawwg-kuh.

Straightening, Leon looked around helplessly. Outright waking her up was a big mistake: he'd learned that fact very quickly. His eyes fell on a black marker resting on the coffee table. He tilted his head and picked it up, twirling it once through his fingers and looking at Tifa's face.

He'd pay for it later, but if one made that kind of god-awful noise when one slept, she was just asking for it. He popped the lid off the marker.

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015 – Light Show

Duke looked like she was having a spaz attack.

Tifa looked up briefly as the red-gold retriever darted here, then there, then back, and barked before jumping back across the floor.

Five minutes earlier, the dog had been calmly curled up under the coffee table. Now it looked like she was trying to follow something under the wood floor.

She looked over and saw Leon watching the dog have a conniption fit as well. She was about to voice a question, but then she saw the laser pointer in his hand, shifting back and forth. Sure enough, she saw the red dot dancing around on the floor, and Duke helplessly trying to catch it.

Tifa set her pen down and both humans just watched the show in amusement.