Fandom: Kingdom Hearts

Pairing: Leon/Cloud later on

Rating: For now, PG 13. Will rise up later

Summary: Everything has changed. Coping with reality was never easy for him, but Cloud is going to deal with all the changes the way he knows best – by running away. Tough for him, someone found a loophole.

Warning: some curse words, nothing much.

Letters of Safe Distance

Chapter Two: Ruffled Feathers

The day after the letters had been sent was peaceful. At least, for anybody not waiting for a response. Aerith and Leon were both very busy with their daily chores: one of them with the obligations of caring for the people living under Merlin's roof and the other patrolling the streets for some sign of a Heartless threat or even for a petty thief. Neither showed much worry for the piece of paper that could arrive. The caring young lady because she didn't have any to show and the battle hardened man because it wasn't in his nature to let his feelings show.

The others carried on with their lives as usual; the only one to constantly ask if an owl had arrived yet was the bumbling ninja. She was always given the same answer: an object thrown her way from Cid, who was busy with his machines, a "not yet, don't ask me again" from Tifa, while she trained behind their house, a grunt or silence from Leon and a sweet request from Aerith that she go play outside, ensuring her that she would go tell her if an owl arrived. The only one she couldn't ask was the old wizard, since he had locked himself in a room saying that he had "preparations" to take care of.

The raven-haired girl wondered what the kooky old man was up to now, but decided to obey Aerith and made her way to the shopping area, scouting for someone to play with, fearing being turned into a frog as much as she feared being stabbed with one of Cid's tools.

It was early. Too early. And yet, there it was – a horrible pecking and scratching sound at his bedroom window. Cloud groaned, pulling back the covers on his bed and walking up to the place where the noise was coming from. The blonde haired man had closed the curtains the previous night so he wouldn't be disturbed by the sunlight. That soon proved to be futile, as Cloud opened the curtains and was met with an offending amount of sunshine.

Grunting in annoyance, he quickly noticed the source of that terrible sound – two owls, one yellow, the other red. Oh wonderful, he thought. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep unless he took care of the birds in front of him, he begrudgingly opened the window.

The red owl was quick to squawk indignantly, as if it had been there a long time and expected to be better welcomed. It started jumping and flapping its wings furiously, trying to intimidate the swordsman.

"I don't like you." – said the man.

The other owl remained silent, only making itself heard when Cloud turned his attention towards it for a moment, extending a hand to caress the top of its head. It was nowhere near as aggressive as the red one's squawk, much to the opposite – it seemed gentle and cordial. The red one tried to peck his hand away, offended by the show of affection towards its flight companion, but was unsuccessful.

The blond man eyed the owl warily, only now noticing the tubes strapped to their legs. What's this?, the man wondered. He would have to find out what they had in there. After all, they wake him up by pecking on his window and they bring some stuff with them – it wasn't such a far-off guess to say they had something for him. The problem was the owl with attitude issues.

"Are you going to show me what you got there, or am I eating owl fricassee today?" – said Cloud, glaring at the red owl.

Both owls turned so he had better access to the tubes on their legs, one of them doing this against its will, he guessed. Inside there were some pieces of paper, which he soon discovered were letters from the people he had left behind, judging by the handwriting. Closing the window, he sat down on his bed, an owl on each of his sides, and started reading. First the note from Merlin telling him the names of the owls (Chocobo and Moomba, eh? More like Chocolate and Monster.) and how to take care of them, and then the letters they'd sent.

The first one was from Yuffie, preaching about what "friends are for" and reporting what she had eaten. Knowing he had no other choice other than replying, he quickly made his way to the impromptu library to fetch a pen and something to write on. Once he had both items, he returned to his bedroom, where he had left the two owls –which, surprisingly, remained exactly where they were when he left the room-, and sat on his bed, contemplating if he should actually reply to Yuffie's letter and after a moment, he started to write something that would make the bumbling idiot leave him alone momentarily.

To Yuffie,

If you haven't already noticed from my absence, yes, I have left to take care of some personal matters.

I don't need your speech about what friends are for. Keep your childish notions to yourself, if you don't mind (and even if you do).

I don't care about what you stuffed into your mouth.

My regards,

Cloud

Next was a letter from Aerith. He braced himself for the motherly rant that would ensue and started reading. As he had thought, she wrote about being grateful for him leaving the note and whatnot. She also added that she had made an effort to calm everyone down. He was grateful for that. He supposed he owed it to her to reply.

To Aerith,

Thank you for preventing a mob of angry people from trying to drag me back home.

I don't think I'll do anything like this again, so don't worry. Keep on with your lives as usual. I'll be back when I've figured things out.

Until then, stop worrying so much.

My regards,

Cloud

He noticed some grotesque scribbles on a piece of paper behind Aerith's letter. Figuring it was Cid's handwriting, he started reading, expecting a paragraph full of curse words and insults. He was surprised when he read fully written and completely understandable sentences, even if they were offensive. Muttering a "Fuck you, mooglefucker!", he rumpled the letter and threw it at the wall, not even considering replying to that bastard.

After that was Tifa's letter. He wasn't too keen on reading it – she always brought up their childhood and tried to make him feel guilty. The first times she was successful, but now she was only being annoying. The past haunted him. He wasn't about to cower up in fear every time someone mention something that had happened before, but he sure as hell didn't want someone making him remember the tough situations he'd been through. He thought he'd read it and reply, just to make them worry a bit less and leave him in peace.

To Tifa,

What I remember or don't remember is something that concerns only me.

I'll come home as soon as I know that I can deal with all these changes. You guys shouldn't worry.

My regards,

Cloud

The last letter was something of a shock to him, even if he wouldn't admit it. He didn't recognize the handwriting at first, but he recalled some signatures he'd seen when he was delivering stuff to and from Merlin's house and made a connection between the writing and a name – Leon. The other man had always seemed too aloof and stoic to care if Cloud had left or even if he had died. Wondering what it was that the brunet gunblader could have written him, he quickly started reading.

It seemed as if Leon was reprimanding him at the same time he was trying to understand his actions and reach out for him. Slightly amused at the gesture, he decided to reply to Leon's letter as well.

To Leon,

Thankfully, I don't need your approval.

I don't see why one such as yourself, who hides behind a false name, would personify irony to this extent when you mention my "fragilities", as you call them.

I'm grateful that you do not expect to me to change. To begin with, I don't even think that is possible – no human being can change that much. We have to embrace our weaknesses, even if we loathe them.

There is nothing to forgive – you had something to say, and you said it in the only way possible.

Do you really understand why I "run away"? You keep on taking all responsibilities that come your way and dealing with them alone. That doesn't sound like a man that would understand the need to run away.

Some things were not meant to be understood by some people. I suppose you'll never understand me. It's a pity, actually. You seem to be the only one I could feel at peace with, exactly because you don't care.

I doubt you could manage to be angry, stone cold as you are. If you want to address me, then call me Cloud and I'll call you Leon, that'll be some sort of connection, right? That way you can express your opinion freely. Shiva knows your letter has been the most entertaining.

Yours sincerely,

Cloud

Dividing the replies in two equal piles, he put them into each of the owl's carrying tubes and set them free after feeding them with some bread he had in the kitchen. They'd be arriving at their destination soon, now that they knew exactly where they were heading and not stopping to sleep. Other letters would come, he was sure, but for now he didn't have to think about any of that. He made his way to the comfy sofa in the living room and started to watch some movie while he ate his cereals. Being away from the people he shared a connection with was turning out to be both relaxing and unsettling.

Chapter two done. Next up is a new chapter of "Peace", so this fic won't be updated that soon. I apologize to everyone who's enjoying this. Even so, please bear with me. This fic WILL be updated, just not that soon.