Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This story is mine, as are Jake and McCallister. First chapter written on my new laptop! Woohoo! Just wanted to share. Enjoy!

..:-X-:..

037 – Peace of Mind

The training center for soldiers in the Alliance was always crowded. It was a large, state of the art facility, designed to help all enlisted women and men reach their peak of combat readiness. There were the general pieces of exercise equipment, running tracks, pools, and weights, but there were also shooting ranges, magic blast rooms, and sparring chambers, as well as obstacle courses and more passive exercise rooms for physical therapy and the like.

Because the center benefited everyone, almost everyone used it at some point, and it was often difficult to keep your own territory for very long. Cloud had found that Tuesday and Thursday mornings, right around dawn, tended to be the deadest period at the place. And while he usually preferred to train alone or at a place of his choosing—usually somewhere in the old castle ruins where he wouldn't be disturbed—it had been raining hard all night. The dark, angry clouds through the window almost guaranteed that it would remain rainy and stormy throughout the day.

Rain, he could handle. Flailing around in unprotected canyon land and waving a five foot long sword around during a lightning storm? He'd rather not.

So it was with mild hesitation that he had entered the premises. He had been correct in his assumption, though, as the crowd was considerably thinner at this time of morning, and given the nasty weather. He immediately found the most secluded spot in the training center and designated it as his. He wasn't here to do anything intense, really. The weather was just preventing his morning run. He'd just log his normal time on a treadmill and be done with it. He had a general reputation for liking his personal space and disliking idle conversation, so he would probably be left alone.

And yet, Murphy's law prevailed…

"You should tell her."

Cloud balked, nearly getting himself flung off the treadmill he was running on, at the sudden intrusion. He regained himself and glared sideways, finding Yuffie running on the machine directly next to his…out of the twenty or so machines lining the wall. She had a healthy sheen of sweat on her face and neck, and the wire of her headphones was bouncing as she pumped her arms. She had clearly been at this for a while. How had she managed to do that without him even noticing? Her question registered.

"What? Who?" He said, getting back into his running rhythm.

Without breaking stride, Yuffie clarified. "Aerith. Tell her."

Cloud inwardly groaned. Two hours alone. Was that so much to ask? He wasn't particularly close to Yuffie. He probably spoke less to her than anybody else on the Restoration Committee; not for any particular reason, they just…didn't hang out. Why was she buddying up to him now?

"You know what your problem is," Yuffie was prattling on. "Is that you're painfully obvious but you never actually just spit it out."

Cloud briefly closed his eyes. Maybe he would take his chances with the lightning storm.

"See, I always carry my emotions on my sleeve. I tell everybody what I'm feeling, so nobody knows what I'm really feeling." Yuffie explained. "But you're even worse, Cloud. You don't tell anybody anything that you're feeling, so naturally everybody can see it on your face."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Oho," She tutted. "So you've told Aerith that you love her, yes?"

Cloud snarled and tried to ignore her and instead focus on the treadmill.

"Hn, I thought so." She snickered. "How can you expect her to feel secure in this relationship if you can't say three simple words?"

"She knows." Cloud hissed. "It doesn't need saying."

"Of course it needs saying!" Yuffie threw her arms up in exasperation. "I currently have front row seats to a potential relationship that is being stunted by one of them refusing to acknowledge what's going on!"

"What? Who?" Cloud asked, desperate for a conversation shift.

"Tell Aerith you love her. With words. Every woman needs to hear it." Yuffie said sternly, not taking the bait.

Cloud felt a twitch of real irritation creep up his spine. "You're hardly in any position to be giving me relationship advice. Stop meddling."

Yuffie had reached the end of her stretch on the treadmill and the running tread slowed into cool down mode. She gradually slowed to a hasty walk, looking at him flatly.

"Fine. Take your own advice and see where that's gotten you so far. Where is Aerith right now?" She narrowed her eyes.

Cloud glared back at her. It was little secret that he and Aerith had been at odds for a week or so at that point. Because of that small rift, they hadn't exactly been on speaking terms.

"Probably at home…or the lab doing that research." He muttered.

Yuffie hopped off the treadmill. "You need to pay more attention, Cloud." Her hard gaze softened a little. "She's too proud to admit it, but she needs someone to be there for her." She started to walk away, but then added, as an afterthought. "She was evicted from her apartment two days ago. She's living with Rinoa now. Did you know that?"

Cloud said nothing as she walked away, but then he frowned and stepped off the machine, feeling lost and berating himself for it.

..:-X-:..

038 – That Familiar Stumble

It figured that the one book that Tifa was actually looking for out of the shelves and shelves of texts in Merlin's house just happened to be on the very top shelf. She had dragged a chair from the kitchen to the wall and was standing on her tip toes, but still could only just graze the spine of the book with her fingertips. What was the point of having shelves this tall if you couldn't reach the books on them!?

"Lookin' for somethin'?" Cid asked, announcing himself from where he was leaning against the doorway.

Tifa exhaled, stopping her stretching for the book and looking at him. "I've already found what I was looking for, but the…gosh…darned…thing is too high for me to reach."

Cid's eyebrow quirked, "Gosh darned? You kiss your husband with that mouth?"

Tifa huffed, making to reach for the book again. "Dr. Kim says the baby can hear things now…so…" Failing to reach the book, she glared at Cid. "Watch your tongue while I'm around, 'kay?"

Cid glowered, then sighed and crossed over to her. "Get down from there before you break your neck. I'll get it."

Then, from the kitchen: "Shit!"

Tifa blinked and Cid pointed. "That was Jake, not me."

She paused. "Why is Jake here?"

Cid climbed up onto the chair and almost easily plucked the book from the shelf. He read the cover and looked at her flatly. "Self-applying paint? Are you really that lazy?"

Tifa snatched the text away. "It's just a spell to make things easier, all right?" She paused, glancing toward the kitchen. "I hear he got rejected by McCallister again."

Cid snorted, stepping down from the chair. "Yeah. I tried to tell him to get over it and move on, but I think the rejection has made this more of a challenge to him." He frowned and looked to Tifa. "What's McCallister's damage? This is just cruelty."

Tifa sighed, "I don't know. I tried to ask her about it a few weeks ago, but she…almost exploded at me."

"Well, she needs to get her head out of her ass." Cid said, moving back in front of the computer in the main room.

Tifa bristled at that, unable to help feeling a little protective of the soldier. "Relationships aren't that easy, Cid. You should be fully aware of that after—"

Cid lifted a hand. "Now, don't lump me and Beverly in that category."

"—I was going to say after seeing Leon and me, and now Cloud and Aerith." Tifa said with a smirk. "Are you and Beverly finally in a relationship?"

Cid glared, "Just go talk Jake off the ledge or go home, woman."

Tifa snickered but left him alone, going instead into the kitchen. Jake was stationed at the table. Stacks of construction paper were lying in front of him and there was a shoebox full of folded, jagged corners of paper in it. He was smashing one wad of paper together and throwing it in the trash can.

"What are you doing?" She prompted.

"I think I've figured it out this time." He responded, taking up another sheet of paper. "First I was just unprepared. The second time, I misjudged her reaction. What was I thinking, throwing that over the top show at her? She's practically a hermit when it comes to these things. No wonder I scared her off."

Tifa grimaced. "Yuffie told me she thought it was romantic."

"Well, yeah, it was frickin' romantic." Jake looked at her. "But maybe romantic isn't enough. Tabaeus is a practical woman. I have to woo her in a practical fashion."

Tifa winced. This was almost painful to watch. He was trying so hard, but McCallister just wasn't responding to it. Tifa had to wonder how much of this whole business was about the soldier either having feelings for him and being too insecure to show it, or she didn't return his feelings and just wasn't being firm enough about her refusals.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, not looking too put off as he continued…whatever he was doing.

"Oh, just borrowing a book from Merlin." She said, absently gesturing with the text. Then, feeling slightly awkward, she said. "I've gotta go, but…see you later?"

"Yup." He replied, getting right back to work.

Tifa exchanged a high brow look with Cid as she left Merlin's, deciding to go for a walk before returning home for the night. She was starting to understand Cid's and the others' frustration when she and Leon had been doing their little dance of 'will they or won't they'. Watching Jake and McCallister fumble through this phase was exhausting. Surely she and Leon hadn't been that bad…

Upon that thought crossing her mind, Tifa laughed out loud and shook her head.

They had been that bad and worse. Kingdom Hearts be with those two…

..:-X-:..

039 – Happy Places and Smiley Faces

Rinoa was lying in the back of that old green Jeep. She had left the hatch open and was reclining across the folded down seats, arms folded under her head. She blew big blue bubbles with her chewing gum as she stared pensively at the felt ceiling of the Jeep. Someone had drawn a little smiley face directly above where she was lying, and if she stretched, she could have drawn it herself. She snorted; how many people really used this old Jeep as their thinking/alone/happy spot? Far more than the number of people who actually drove the thing, of that she was certain.

The interior smelled like new carpet and rubber. It was strangely soothing as she lay there, contemplating. For the past month or so, she had been working in the IT department of the Alliance, and so far, she felt like she had gotten absolutely nothing accomplished. Okay, sure, she knew it took a while to start seeing results and to make measurable progress, but she had been hoping to have achieved something a little more impressive than figuring out how to uninstall and reinstall a hard drive. She frowned. Computers were stupid.

"Oh." A sudden surprised sound reached her.

Rinoa lifted her head just enough to see Tabaeus McCallister starting to walk away. She sat up, grabbing her bent knee to lever herself up. "Hey, Tabaeus."

The soldier flinched with her back turned, caught in the act of retreat.

Rinoa smirked. "Whatcha doin'?" She asked in a singsong voice.

Private McCallister half turned back toward her, "I'm sorry. I was just…no one is usually here this time of the afternoon…"

"Well, we must have had the same idea, then." Rinoa smacked the floorboard next to her. "Take a seat."

"No, I can really come back later…"

"Misery loves company. Now sit." Rinoa smacked the floorboard again for emphasis.

Looking the epitome of uncomfortable at the prospect, the private awkwardly climbed into the back of the Jeep. Rinoa returned to lying on her back with a flop; McCallister remained sitting up, staring out of the open back hatch thoughtfully.

A beat passed.

"So…what's eating you?" Rinoa asked bluntly.

McCallister flinched again, "Er…Just…thinking…"

"Ugh, thinking sucks." Rinoa chirped, looking up at the marker smiley face again. "I've been thinking if I made the right decision in joining the Alliance. I mean," She pursed her lips. "IT was the only department that would take me, and I feel like I'm being more of a burden than a helping hand. Every computer that I touch either breaks down, starts smoking, or gives me the Blue Screen of Death treatment." She groaned, "I hate quitting things, but at this point, I just feel useless." She rambled on.

McCallister looked uncomfortable some more.

Rinoa looked at her, suddenly aware that she was carrying on about herself. "I heard you rejected Jake again…Sooner or later he's gonna stop asking if you keep doing that."

McCallister hugged her knees, avoiding eye contact. "Good."

"Seriously?" Rinoa sat up fully this time.

McCallister huffed. "Just because a guy asks a girl out, does NOT mean that she is automatically required to return the feelings."

"So you don't?" Rinoa quirked an eyebrow. "Because I'm getting mixed vibes here."

"I—" The soldier paused, color flooding her cheeks. "I don't know how—" She exhaled. "I'm not—I don't know why he—Look at me…Boys don't ask ME out on dates."

Rinoa deadpanned. "You're complaining that you've been asked out by a decent guy who genuinely likes you?" She mumbled sarcastically. "Boy, your life is SO hard."

McCallister glared at her. "My life does not revolve around…that, okay? I've never had to worry about it before, and as such I have had absolutely no training on how to handle it."

"You think any of us have?" Rinoa snorted. "It's a hit-and-miss game. You stumble, you fall, you pick yourself up and learn from your mistakes. There's no rule book or real logic to it."

"Well, there should be." The soldier grumbled.

Rinoa shook her head, "At least you HAVE a love life. All I've got is a malfunctioning computer and a smiley face to keep me company."

McCallister looked at her, started to give a meek smile, and then grimaced, dropping her face against her arms over her knees. "Why am I such an emotional retard?"

Rinoa laughed and poked the soldier's shin with her boot. "Preaching to the choir, sister."

A more comfortable silence settled between them for a while. Rinoa was glad to see the soldier starting to relax a little in her presence, when Private McCallister looked at her.

"I need to shoot something…You want to come to the range with me?"

It wasn't the most conventional girls' day out that Rinoa had ever been offered, but it was most definitely welcome at the moment.

"You bet." She beamed.

They climbed out of the Jeep, closed the back, and make their way to the shooting range.

..:-X-:..

Preview for next week: "Maybe…Maybe I'm not satisfied with the way things are. Would change be so bad?"