Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. I also have no affiliation with Disney's "Princess and the Frog." This collection is mine, as are McCallister and Jake. This chapter introduces a few new subplots, but just to introduce them…I'd almost say just teasing at them, really. Enjoy!

..:-X-:..

025 – How It Feels

Tifa wasn't sure what possessed her to ask that day. Maybe she just felt like it should be asked, and probably that no one had asked yet. If it didn't involve Heartless or missions or reports, Tifa doubted anybody ever really asked Private McCallister anything.

"Why did you turn Jake down?"

The soldier shoved another ream of paper into the bottom tray of the printer, pausing as she looked up. "What?"

"Jake. He asked you out a few weeks ago and you turned him down. Pretty flat, from what I hear." Tifa smirked, leaning against the wall of the copy room. "So…why?"

McCallister straightened, pressing a series of buttons on the printer. "Because he's Jake. Isn't that reason enough?" She laughed nervously. "I mean, that's what he does, isn't it? He dates women like most people change clothes. I didn't want to be another notch on his board."

Tifa frowned, "Have you ever seen him with another woman?"

McCallister looked at her ruefully, then paused. "No…but he talks about—"

"What all guys talk about." Tifa shrugged, "Doesn't make him a bad person. In fact, I think you two would do each other good."

"Pfft, I doubt it." The soldier said, punching the buttons again when the printer jammed.

Something wasn't right here. McCallister had that defensive air to her like she had just been dumped, or that SHE had been the one who'd been rejected, instead of the other way around. She was upset, and Tifa was curious as to why.

"What's wrong?" She asked delicately.

McCallister shook her head and smacked the printer. "Stupid thing always jams…"

"McCallister…tell me." Tifa pressed.

"Why?" The soldier rounded on her. "Why should I tell you? Nobody ever asks me anything. Nobody ever asks me how my day is or if anything is wrong with me. Nobody. Ever. And I'm OKAY with that." She emphasized, her eyes suddenly moist.

Tifa frowned, "I don't understand."

"He messed it up." McCallister said, giving up on the printer and turning away, leaning against it instead. "Everything was…comfortable…and Jake messed it up."

"By asking you out? Honey, it was a date, not marriage." Tifa tried to lighten the suddenly heavy mood in the copy room.

McCallister shook her head, closing her eyes briefly before looking down at the floor. "Look at me, ma'am. When have I ever had dates?" She looked painfully to Tifa. "I'm alone. I'm always alone. The only numbers in my phone are members of the Alliance. The only people I talk to are my superiors. I don't have friends. I don't have love interests. We tried that once, remember? And that didn't exactly—"

Emotion seemed to overwhelm her and she lifted a hand to her face.

Tifa took a step forward, but kept her distance. "You can't say you're okay with that."

"Not at first." McCallister drew a breath, regaining herself. "But I've made my peace with the fact that I'm a soldier and nothing more. Maybe other people can be a soldier and a wife, or a husband, or a friend…but I can't. I've tried. Yet…everybody wants me to be something so much more. Why aren't I enough the way I am? I'm a damn good soldier."

"Yes you are." Tifa agreed.

"Then just let me be that. Nobody has ever wanted me to be a girlfriend; I wouldn't know how to be one. I'm not beautiful. I'm not that smart. I'm not…anything worth pursuing. I've accepted that. Why can't everybody else?"

Tifa sighed, looking at her softly. "You're an idiot."

McCallister wiped at her unbroken tears in frustration.

Tifa walked up to her. "Are you so convinced that you're not desirable to anyone, that you reject anybody who tries to get close to you? Are you that insecure?"

"You say insecure." McCallister looked up at her. "I say realistic."

"Jake asked you out. He went out on a limb. That makes him braver than you in that way." Tifa said gently. "You're overreacting."

McCallister stepped away. "Don't do that. Don't you dare try to make me feel guilty for this." Her voice trembled. "Until you've been ignored by men while they chat up the 'hot girl', until you've had your heart broken time and time again by people who didn't even realize that you were there, until you become a wallflower in your own life…please don't tell me that I'm overreacting." The tears started to break free. "I promised myself that I wouldn't let myself be hurt like that anymore. I'm a soldier…and that's all."

With that, she turned and left the copy room, leaving Tifa alone.

Tifa watched her go and then exhaled heavily. Well. She had NOT been expecting to open that particular can of worms. It was a rare enough thing to catch McCallister showing much emotion at all…much less getting overly emotional like that. She wasn't sure how to deal with it. Apparently, neither was McCallister.

Leaving the copy room, Tifa pulled out her phone and dialed. Upon being picked up, Tifa simply said. "I think I figured it out."

..:-X-:..

026 – Black and White Issue

"You're overreacting." Aerith said, sipping at her tea.

"No, I'm reacting completely normally." Cloud argued, pacing a little. "How would you be reacting if one of the others were doing what you've been doing?"

Aerith looked utterly exhausted. Cloud had noticed how tired she had looked for a while, but now…with what he had seen just a few days ago…he really understood why.

"You would say they were being reckless and messing in dangerous magic." He said, pausing slightly to look at her. "How long have you been doing this?"

"Two months." Aerith replied, looking like a scolded child. "And don't act like you've never been reckless."

Cloud sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Fair enough…but…but with Sephiroth and the darkness, I was prepared. I knew what I was getting myself into. This—"

"It's light, Cloud." Aerith stood from her spot on the couch. "It's just light, pure essence the runs through everything. I'm starting to really see that. It's in you, me, the trees, the ground. It's the heart of Radiant Garden."

"Sora locked those doors, remember?" Cloud tried to reason with her. "There were doors to the worlds' hearts for a reason."

"To keep Heartless and evil from attacking them." Aerith said.

Cloud grimaced, "Or maybe it was to keep the light contained."

Aerith looked deadpan. "You aren't serious. Cloud, you're making it sound like you think the light is the bad guy here."

"No…but…you need oxygen to breathe, right?" He gestured. "But pure oxygen is poisonous. It'll kill you. Maybe light is the same way…The universe needs light and darkness both to run properly…Too much darkness and…Well, you know how that goes…I think too much light does the same thing."

"Too much goodness?" Aerith lifted an eyebrow.

"You were screaming in pain." He confessed.

She blinked. "No I wasn't."

"I was there, just a few feet away from you. The moment you touched that tree, you were screaming like you were being burned alive." Cloud exhaled heavily.

That seemed to be news to Aerith, as her brow knit in confusion.

"But…I was?"

Cloud crossed over to her. "I really think that you should just let this go."

Aerith frowned, "But I'm so close."

"To what? First concrete, then trees, where next? This…research…this…whatever you're doing." Cloud said. "It's hurting you."

"I can handle it." She said sternly.

How could he get her to understand this? He knew what it was like: the thrill of the search, the adventure of the unknown. He had followed it the end of the world and farther, until he had practically ended up in Hades' lair. He had found out the hard way that darkness was like a drug: once it pumped through your veins and into your heart, it was almost impossible to break free. And as much as he wanted to believe that pure light was different, he couldn't ignore that gleam in Aerith's eyes, that hunger in her movements, that desperation to push her knowledge of the unknown farther, pushing for that next hit.

But who was HE to say any of that to her? She was right; who was he to talk about recklessness and danger? He had practically thrived on it for years, and only recently broken away. He would sound like a total hypocrite, trying to warn her away now. But he had seen the ugly side of that unknown. Some things were better left alone…the heart of a world had to be one of those things.

"I know you can." He finally said. "But…you shouldn't."

"Shouldn't?" Aerith put her hands on her hips. "I shouldn't handle an obstacle when I'm faced with one?"

"No!...But in this case, yes." Oh, this wasn't coming out right at all.

"The Alliance is at war with the Heartless, Cloud." Aerith took a dangerous step toward him. "And every day, the Heartless are evolving into bigger and nastier things that have bigger and nastier ways of hurting people. Claws, talons, teeth, poisons, spells…It seems like for every one that we destroy, there are five more there to replace it, and I'm getting tired of doing nothing but pumping out potions and elixirs for battle."

She stopped short and Cloud also paused.

A long beat passed between them.

"You want…you want to weaponize the light?" Cloud said incredulously.

Aerith folded her arms, looking away. "Of course not."

But that had to be it.

"Aerith, this…this isn't right." He said slowly. "This is so…SO dangerous. At least with darkness, you know what you're getting into…but…I can't support this."

"Then don't. I'm used to doing things myself." She said and marched out of the room.

..:-X-:..

027 – In the Southland, There's a City

"This is fantastic!" Yuffie practically sprang out onto the sidewalk. "Oh, breathe that air!" She did a little twirl.

World NX7 was a much livelier and more colorful place than she had expected. Actually, on first impression, this place was the exact opposite of what she had expected from the reports talking about an unknown darkness that was non-Heartless-related. In fact, she and her squad had been patrolling the bayou and the swamps of the surrounding area, and they had come up with nothing. Sure, there had been that weird incident regarding an alligator with a trumpet, but that was far from being threatening…probably.

"Hey, check it out." Jake spun up beside her, holding a bright purple mask over the top half of his face, yellow and green feathers were sticking out of the top of it.

Yuffie chuckled and looked past him. There were rows of shops selling similar masks, beaded necklaces, and other festive trinkets. This world looked on the brink of a festival. What kind of awesome timing was that!

"D'you hear that music?" Jake said, sweeping the mask away from his face. "Sounds like a party. Let's go check it out."

Yuffie watched some of the traffic go by. "The recon team is still analyzing the uptown area. So far they've not turned up anything, but maybe this darkness is just tricky."

"Then let's go analyze a party." Jake took her hand to lead her into the fray.

Before she could cave in, however, a different sight started up the street. What looked like a hearse followed by musicians, sending soulful tunes across the boulevard. Yuffie bounced on the balls of her feet, tugging at Jake's sleeve.

"Jazz funeral. Just like in my pre-mission research!" She giggled.

"Ah…funeral…Not as much on the party side." Jake deflated a little.

"No, it's like this event—" She started to explain.

"Looks like another soul taking his final journey to the Other Side." A smooth voice drifted to them.

Both Yuffie and Jake turned to see a wiry man with a tall hat and a strange mustache leaning against the wall behind them.

"The other side?" Jake asked with a smirk. "Is that what it's called here?"

"Here…Well," The man shrugged with a grin. "Here is where all kinds of magic happens." He brandished an entire deck of tarot cards in one hand, the faces facing him. "Pick a card." His eyes slid from Jake to Yuffie. "Any three cards."

Yuffie had never been one for fortune-telling; sure it was entertaining, and funny as heck when it actually made sense, but she decided to go with it. She might as well enjoy the natural culture of the place while her team did reconnaissance. She drew three cards and looked at them.

The wiry man snapped it up. "Ah, the cards, the cards, the cards will tell. You are an adventurer." He grinned at her with yellow teeth, some missing. "But you never let anything stand in the way of a good time: my kind of gal."

He winked and slid over to Jake, and Yuffie thought she saw his shadow twitch slightly in delay before mimicking him. She blinked and shook her head, getting a creepy vibe from this guy.

"Sorry, who did you say you were?" She asked.

"But that's just your present, mon cher." He ignored her question, looking at the other two cards. "Your past is quite a scandalous tale…and I know my fair share of scandal." He lightly elbowed Jake in the ribs, who lifted an eyebrow at Yuffie. "And your future…well…" He looked at the card, frowned a bit, and then slid it into his breast coat pocket. "Who really wants spoilers?"

"But you're a fortune-teller, don't you kind of…spit in the face of spoilers?" Jake asked, sliding Yuffie a teasing look.

"Oh, I'm far more than a simple fortune-teller, boy." The man slid out a business card seemingly from thin air. "I got hoodoo, I got voodoo, I got things I ain't even tried." He winked. "And I've got friends on the other side."

Yuffie decided then: Creepy Factor Eight on the Ten Scale for this dude.

"Well, thanks then, but we really gotta go." She said. "We're due to show at that one…party…being thrown by that…man…"

"I guess that'd be Big Daddy La Bouff's fiesta, huh?" The man prompted slyly.

"Yup!" Yuffie went with it. "That's the one."

"Well, good luck with that one. Hope his little Diva Daughter don't steal all of the show, little adventurer gal." He tipped his tall hat, winked at Jake, and slipped into the shadows.

Both Yuffie and Jake stared after him, confused and befuddled for a beat.

Jake looked at the card, "Facilier." He read. "Weird darkness, huh? I think non-matching shadows might qualify for that."

"You noticed that too?" Yuffie looked at him. "I thought I was seeing things."

Jake flicked the card a few times before looking downtown. "La Bouff huh?"

"I think we're due for a party." Yuffie linked her elbow through his. "Whaddaya say?"

"You don't need voodoo to convince me." Jake chirped, following her.

..:-X-:..

A/N: Facilier is a tricky one to keep in character, fyi.

McCallister's 'tried that once' line is a reference to my older Mercy Trilogy, for those who have read that. For those who haven't, she got spurned pretty deep.

I got to visit New Orleans a few months back, and it was fabulous! From what I got to see, Disney's "Princess and the Frog" got the atmosphere right on. I didn't make it to Bourbon Street, but that's probably a good thing. I did make it to the French Quarter though, which was definitely a good thing XD

Preview for next week: "It's a good mask, sonny, but masks don't work on blind women."