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: Leon knows how to kill owls. Not that he does… In this chapter at least.

Letters of Safe Distance

Chapter Four: Egging On

Finished writing his reply, Leon pocketed Cloud's letter and got up from his spot against a tree. The message intended for Tifa was returned to the carrying tube, which was now in his back pocket. The gunblader started walking back to Merlin's house. There was nothing else to do – he had read his letter and written a reply. Now he only had to wait for an owl to be available.

Merlin must have finished up by now. He thought. After all, all it takes is for him to shake his hands and splutter some crazy words and the owl is as good as new. In Leon's perspective, the bird wasn't all that bad – he himself had been worse and survived. A potion or two might be enough. Who knew? He definitely didn't, the only thing he did know was how to kill the animal, but that wouldn't be very helpful.

The man was now out of the woods, the afternoon sun harsher on his eyes, the trees no longer providing shade. He had quite a bit to think about, but he made an effort to remain as silent in mind as he was vocally. Deciding to look at his hometown, which was now fully in view, he took it all in. The changes around Leon were evident – the people were happier, Radiant Garden was now finally fully rebuilt, new species of animals seemed to be around and there was now no threat hidden in the shadows. Everything was as it should be, now that the doors between worlds were closed and no harm could befall this world.

He was mildly surprised that he had arrived at his destination without realizing – he was usually much more attentive. The brunet was not surprised, though, by the fact that the three women that he had parted ways with only maybe half an hour or so were still by the door to Merlin's house, their home. He still found it strange that the wizard had not finished yet.

The three people sitting on the bench near the door, each exhibiting different levels of worry on their faces, noticed him approaching, but before he could ask what was the hold-up, the door to their home slammed open, a restless wizard popping out and, extending his arms into the air to pull up his sleeves, declared that Chocobo had been treated and that everybody could come inside.

Doing so, even if some a bit hesitantly at first, as they entered the house, what they saw was not what they expected. Not in the least. Moomba was worriedly hopping around a puzzled looking mass of yellow feathers – which the group soon noticed was actually Chocobo – which was now on top of the living room table, comfortably surrounded by a couple of blankets. Behind them, curiously watching the exchange of squawks – mostly from Moomba's part – and nodding its head to some of what the red bird was declaring, was a beige owl with a pale pink coloured beak, a spot on the top of its head of the same tone and some oddly coloured purple feathers on the lower part of its wings.

Merlin approached the trio of owls like it was the most natural thing to do, the recent addiction of an owl not even noteworthy for him. Yuffie squealed with glee and dashed to the table to join Moomba in what she believed to be a "glad you're okay" dance. The red bird didn't seem to mind. One would say it even welcomed any positive attention to its companion. Taking the constant nodding of the new owl's head as a sign that it too was happy for Chocobo, the ninja grabbed it by its wings and forced it to join her akin to tribal dance, the bird shocked at the treatment at first but soon happily squawking in rhythm with the girl's impromptu singing. In the meanwhile, Aerith too joined them, if not in dance, in joy. The young woman pulled up a chair and sat in front of the yellow bird, silently asking if everything was alright, receiving a positive answer. Leon made no attempt to approach the table, opting for leaning against the wall, a little to the side of the door, crossing his arms over his chest instead. Tifa, on the other hand, sat on the couch, a ways from the table, critically eyeing the recent addiction to the mailing service, she assumed. Of them all, even though both the gunblader and her were equally indifferent to what was happening, Tifa was the only one who found it strange that there was indeed a new owl in their midst. First we have Yuffie talking to birds, them we have a weird new owl… What's next?

Leon heard someone stomping in their general direction, so he assumed Cid was coming back home from wherever he had gone to. Saying nothing, he eyed the door warily and stepped to the side a bit, readjusting his position just in case. Just as the brunet had thought, the door to the house slammed open, the distance from his previous spot proving vital to not being hit. Only Merlin was startled by the sudden violence, the others had soon grown accustomed to outbursts such as these and discovered that, unless the man was acting on a wrong premise, that it was best for him to let it all out and then they would try to calm him down. With the bang of the door hitting the wall came an enraged yell, directed entirely to the ninja in front of Cid. The older man stomped towards her, a string of profanities being spat out of his mouth. Laughing nervously, squeezing the new owl for dear life, Yuffie backed away until she could step back no more. As Cid loomed over the young girl, the old wizard cursed his lack of foresight when he decided that the door to his house would open inwards, Tifa tried to stifle her laughter, Aerith tried to calm Chocobo and Moomba and Leon raised an eyebrow, watching the current events. The blond man kept yelling at the girl, reaching out to grab at her shoulders to try and shake some sense into her, but as his hands came flying in her direction, Yuffie raised the owl as a shield. Cid was taken aback; he turned his head towards the other owls and started counting.

"One, two…" – he looked at the one his soon to be victim was clutching – "Three… Three? Why the hell are there three owls? As if two weren't enough! Are you fucking kidding me? Don't you idiots think this is going too far? Sure, the other bastard is gone, but he always is! More owls won't make that ungrateful son of a bitch come back any sooner! He's not the only one who needs to grow up, you all do!"

The furious man had every intention of continuing, his eyes jumping from one person to another, the target of his rage now of a larger number, his face flushed red and his fists prepared to slam onto any near surface, but he didn't manage to do so. Leon had straightened himself, his brow furrowed. He couldn't help but find it ironic that Cid of all people would say that Cloud needed to be more mature – to be honest, the older blond man was much an aggressive child in his own way. The ponderings of the gunblader were unbeknownst to Aerith, as she stood up from her chair and spoke.

"You will be quiet and you will do it now." – Her voice held a note of authority, one which no one could dare defy. Leon stepped back, still looking murderously at the older man. Yet, Cid still tried to argue, his mouth opening again, to no success.

"I said be quiet!" – Aerith had raised her voice and it echoed in the quiet air. – "Sit down!"

Taking advantage of the situation, Yuffie fled to Tifa's side, owl still in hand, hugging it to her chest. It had made no noise whatsoever when used as a shield and it feared for its life, but now it seemed to be scolding the ninja in a hushed tone. Cid walked to the table where Chocobo was still resting, now trying to hide itself with the help of the blankets surrounding it. The man glared at both Chocobo and Moomba, the latter glaring back, assuming a defensive stance. He pulled a chair and sat down, tightly crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked defiantly at Aerith. He had been put in his place, for the time being, and he certainly did not like it. After he settled down, the young woman took the chance to speak again, this time in her usual tone of voice.

"I'm very aware that the current situation with Cloud may not be the most pleasant for some." – She looked at Cid directly. – "And that some of you may believe that it is truly hopeless. But he is our friend and we don't leave our friends alone when they need our help, even if they don't think they need help from anybody. We will get through this and we will do our best to get Cloud to come back home quickly because he wants to and not because we force him to do such." – Aerith paused, taking a breath to calm herself. – "Now, there seem to be some things we don't currently know. Will you please enlighten us, Merlin?"

The old wizard snapped to it at the sound of his name, escaping a trance like state in which he immersed himself on his thoughts about what to do in these situations. As the young brunette in front of him sat down, he stood up, straightening some of the wrinkles in his robe.

"What do you need to know, m'dear?" – Merlin was a bit confused. – "Is it about our new friend?"

"Yes." – Answered Aerith, back to her calm demeanour. – "And about the strange attack of the cactuars. They were the ones who attacked Chocobo."

"I expected as much, judging by the needles. It's actually quite simple, really. With the closing of the doors between the worlds, there is now no need for the cactuars to change locations. They did so because there were seasonal occurrences of low temperatures in their original habitat, but now there is no such thing. As you might have noticed, the connection a world shares with another is not simply a means of transportation between the two; it is also a factor of influence. In this case, a world, most likely Atlantica, influenced the temperature of the world we live in. The door between the worlds made the temperature of the spot were the cactuars lived the same as the one in Atlantica, thus making them search for warmer places, since they are only able to live in hot locations. But they seemed to notice that it happened every year, at the same time during the same extent of time, so they returned to their original habitat once the low temperature period ended. That's why you all believed they were migratory creatures, when they were not from the very beginning."

"And the owl?" – Chimed in Yuffie, with said creature in her lap.

"Ah, you mean Moogle." – The elderly wizard smiled. – "Well, it's our new friend. As you probably noticed, I've been locked in my room quite frequently. That was because I was trying to find a way to make the owls' job easier. And that's where Moogle comes in – it is a very special owl. Notice its purple feathers, they are not just an odd development of genetics, they are what makes Moogle the fastest owl in the world. And the better part is that it doesn't even get too tired. The feathers are my latest work, they were made with some rather special ink extracted from a plant of the…"

"Spare us the rant, Merlin, keep it short and sweet." – Tifa spoke up, sighing. The wizard cleared his throat.

"Well, yes, very well. To put it simply, I enhanced Moogle's natural high speed to make it faster. That way it can carry urgent letters to Cloud. And since Chocobo may still be in shock after the attack, even if it is otherwise perfectly able to fly as it did before, as is Moomba, Moogle will serve as a backup owl of sorts."

The entire room seemed to understand, some of them happier with the news than others. Merlin then told them that their letters had been sent and that they probably had replies. He snapped open Moomba's carrying tube and laid the letters on top of the living room table, in front of the two owls. Leon was the first to move, taking Chocobo's tube from his pocket and snapping it open, letting the letter addressed to Tifa fall next to the others. He then declared the other letter in the tube was his and that there was no need for it to be on the table as well.

He was asked why was it that he had the letters in his possession, but Merlin answered in his behalf, telling everybody he had thrown the tube at Leon on an impulse to get everything out of the way. That seemed to satisfy whoever asked, and everyone grabbed their respective letters, returning to their original spots, reading quietly to themselves. Cid wasn't bothered that he didn't get a reply – he was expecting it, actually. He looked at the people around him, trying to figure out what was in the messages addressed to them.

Leon wasn't doing anything, just leaning against the wall, so the blond man didn't pay much attention to him. Yuffie was now back on the couch, owl in her lap, laughing at something she read. That idiot must have got something good then. That or she's an idiot. My bet's on the second option. The ninja said something about "Cloudypoo being such a sour-puss" and that "he needed to have a little more joy in his life, amazing ninja Yuffie-style". Mentally, Cid called her a myriad of unpleasant names, very fitting according to him. At the same time, he noticed a smile forming on Aerith's lips. Something good too, then? Maybe he's coming back soon, or maybe the ass' gonna visit for a brunch. He snickered. Looking at Tifa, the scenario was much different. What's her problem? Was she the only one to get bad news? Ah, tough for her. Why doesn't she run away like her little friend, then? The man looked away from them all. He questioned himself on whether he should write a letter to Cloud again or not. It would be useless, though. That idiot, as he called him, wouldn't answer back. To hell with it. He decided not to waste his time on worthless things.

It seemed everyone had finished reading the letters addressed to them, so Merlin took the chance to interrupt their thoughts and declare that now would be a good opportunity for everyone to write a letter to Cloud, so the owls wouldn't be leaving after it got dark. A glance towards the window showed that the afternoon was coming to an end, night soon stretching across the sky. With variant levels of haste, Tifa, Aerith, Yuffie and Merlin all went to grab pieces of paper. Cid and Leon remained in the living room, Chocobo and Moomba both still atop the table, Moogle incapable of escaping the ninja's grasp and thus being carried with her in search of paper.

"Not gonna write that bastard, are ya?" – Asked the grumpy blond man.

"Already did." – Leon didn't seem to want to talk, as was usual. His tone in no way invited Cid to continue the conversation. Sadly for the younger man, it was useless.

"Really? Pretty eager, were ya?" – The man laughed.

"Do you have something you need to say to me?"

"Oh, no. It's none of my business." – He smiled. – "I just find it strange, that's all. Commander Leon, leader of us all, ice in person, going outta his way to trade a few letters with the runaway son. Even tryin' to act all secret about it. Don't strike me as usual, to say the least."

"You're right." – The gunblader looked Cid directly. The older of the two nodded, a smirk on his lips. – "It's none of your business."

"That it isn't." – Cid laughed. – "But I don't think you know what you're getting yourself into."

"That's something you don't need to concern yourself with." – Look turned to glare, patience started lacking.

"That's true." – Smile still in place, Cid kept pressing on. – "Well, you keep havin' fun."

Leon stopped the conversation at that point. It was true that he was finding it pleasant to some extent trading letters with Cloud, but he knew what he was getting into very well. He was trying to get to know the blond swordsman better, and if that brought him back, great then. What Cid said didn't matter, he was just trying to make him mad, to make up for the humiliation he must think he suffered at Aerith's hands by taking it out on him. The man is an idiot.

As he thought that, everyone got back into the room. Tifa seemed to be a little better, chatting with Aerith pleasantly. Yuffie was bothering Merlin with questions about Moogle, which the owl seemed also interested in hearing. As the women preoccupied themselves with writing their letters, Merlin declared that Moogle and Moomba would be the ones to go, not only for Chocobo to rest, but also for the newest owl to learn the way. Moogle would be carrying a note from him, as well, explaining why there was a need for the new bird and what it served as. Chocobo complained, squawking indignantly because it was being left out. Merlin argued that it was still injured from the wound, even if he had healed it completely, but the owl seemed to answer with something that made the old man change his mind. What, only he, Yuffie and the owl knew. Asking either one of them would not provide understandable answers, so it was hopeless to try and imagine.

"Okay, Chocobo, you can go then. Ah! That reminds me. Even if Moogle is to be used as an owl for urgent letters, please try to use it once in a while so it doesn't get lazy or forgetful of the way. "

After that, those who had to write their letters did so with no noise from those who did not, owls included. Once they were done, Leon went around the room and picked up all of the messages, taking the chance to slip his into the little pile. He noticed Cid's smirk, but he didn't care about it. Yuffie's smile, however, caught him off guard. As he handed the papers to Merlin, the wizard put two letters into each of Chocobo's and Moomba's carrying tube and his note into Moogle's. He opened the door and the owls flew out of the house, heading towards the friend in the distance.

Dear Sourpuss Cloud McDowner,

You're too negative for your own good, you need to be happier! Ya need to smile more often!

I know it's not easy for you, being such a downer and all, but the awesome ninja teacher Yuffie, expert on smileology, will give you tips on achieving happiness.

Number 1: Don't sweat the small stuff, they aren't important, that's why they're small!

Number 2: A candy a day will keep all your frowns away!

Number 3: Owls are lovely animals and petting them makes people happy!

Number 4: Remember, you are awesome (though I'm the awesomest person alive, and thus awesome-er than you), so it's okay to feel good with yourself.

If you keep all of these things in mind, it'll be okay! You'll be a happy Cloudy in no time! Oh! And just since I know you need something practical to work with, here go some Happy Exercises! (Since it's you, I won't charge you. This time!)

One: Right after you wake up, smile!

Two: Smile through the day, even when you don't feel like it!

Three: Laugh once in a while! Things don't need to be really funny, just laugh at any opportunity!

Four: Think about all of your amazing awesome friends (like yours truly) and about all the good moments we spent together!

And that's it! If you can do all of this, you'll be the happiest man alive! (The happiest woman being me, and the happiest person me as well.)

Write back quickly! I'll be waiting for a report on your progress.

Happy hugs,

The amazing Joyful Ninja, Yuffie.

Dear Cloud,

It's hard not to worry when one of your dear friends is away from you trying to deal with complicated personal issues, but I'll try. I know it's important for you, so I'll do it for you, Cloud.

I won't lie to you, there are some people who would gladly march towards you and drag you back down, and there are even some who don't care about whether you return or not. I can't control people's thoughts, but their actions are a completely different topic. I will prevent everyone from bothering you, Cloud, but for that I need you to keep you word and return as soon as you think you can.

To be truthful, I have no idea what you are going through. When this world changed, no, when it returned to normal, I embraced it completely. I cherished the peace and quiet, I loved the smiles on people's faces, and I enjoyed every single ray of sun like I had never felt the sun shine on me. We went through difficult times before, Cloud, and I know that you assumed a role to protect yourself and all of us. I also know that sometimes it's hard to change all that we know as true, more so when that involves how we are as people. I truly hope you figure everything out.

All of us miss you, though some will no say as much. We only want you to be happy.

Well, I think we've talked enough about this, don't you think? How are you, Cloud? Good? I hope this letter finds you well. Please tell me whatever you want to tell me. You can always speak to me.

My best wishes,

Aerith

Dear Cloud,

What you think is only your business is our business as well. You're not alone in this world, even if you sometimes start saying stupid things like that. All of us are here for you; all of us are your friends. All of us care, though you don't always seem to.

Will you come back soon? You really don't need to deal with your problems alone. I know you always do this, but it could be different now!

Ah, well, it's useless isn't it? You're not going to change just like that, at a snap of a finger, are you? No. And no one expects you to.

I only wish you could make an effort to show that what we do for you, that all of our worries serve some purpose. I'm not saying you should go around hugging everyone – honestly, I'd be scared if you did! – but a simple "thank you" or a "I care for you too", or even a "we're friends" would be nice. But maybe that's asking for too much, isn't it?

I'm counting on you to come back as soon as possible, you hear me? Just remember you are missed.

All the best,

Tifa

Extra large chapter this time, I'm sorry. I'll try to keep that in check, not to worry.

Next update is The Lover's Guide. Comment if you'd like.