Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are the OCs. Duke makes a comeback in this chapter! I've missed writing her in this thing; hopefully she'll poke her nose in more often for the remaining chapters of this story. Enjoy.

..:-X-:..

101 – Cats and Dogs

Duke the golden retriever was everywhere at once. As soon as she and Tifa had hit the park, the dog was bolting after squirrels, barking at water fountains, and romping around with a group of squealing children. Tifa let her go leash-free and continued her walk around the park. Duke was impervious to discipline in the park and rarely obeyed anyone but Leon. Given that Leon was at home with Mikayla so that Tifa could go for this walk, getting the dog back under control was going to be interesting.

For now, though, Tifa tried to enjoy the sun on her shoulders and the breeze in her hair. She could smell the grass and hear the birds chirping. Her body hadn't punished her this morning for the first time in a long time, and she was going to take advantage of that with a walk. It would have been relaxing, had her mind gone with her for the walk instead of barricading itself in Mikayla's nursery.

As it was, being in the park with Duke felt pretty pointless, considering that all of her thoughts were latched onto the baby. What if she got hungry? Was she crying right now? Was she okay? Was she comfortable? Did she need anything? How could Tifa be so selfish to be outside, watching Duke cavorting with kids, when her own child was at home needing her mother? Tifa stood in the shade of a nearby tree, arms folded as she mindlessly stared at a pigeon…only for Duke to lose her mind chasing after the pigeon, barking at the pigeon's insolence.

"She's outside in the daylight." Cloud hailed her, walking over to her out of nowhere.

Tifa blinked at him, "Just putting to rest those rumors that I'm a vampire."

He eyeballed the tired circles under her eyes. "That's still up for debate." He snorted.

It was then that Tifa noticed that he was holding Aerith's grey cat Piper.

"Is that Piper?" Tifa remarked. "I've never seen him without all the hair on his back standing up and his ears folded back. He looks cute when he's not hissing at people."

Cloud glanced down at the cat that he was holding with one arm. "Oh, uh, yeah. I'm…cat-sitting." He grimaced at the word and looked at her flatly, "Aerith had some research to do and Rinoa hates him."

"Aaand…he can't possibly be alone for a morning?" Tifa lifted an eyebrow.

"I'm…I'm trying to be the good boyfriend here." Cloud looked flustered.

Tifa snickered. "Not bad, not bad." She rubbed her temple, "I need to go home."

"How long have you been here?" He asked.

"Ten minutes…but a lot can happen in ten minutes." Tifa looked at him. "Mikayla might need a diaper change…or she might be uncomfortable. What if—"

"Leon can handle it." Cloud remarked.

He suddenly looked awkward, and Tifa narrowed one eye. "Are you okay?"

"I'm going to ask Aerith to move in with me." He blurted.

Duke barked abruptly, and Piper hissed, clawing his way out of Cloud's grip and chasing after the dog. Duke barked again, tail wagging, but her tail immediately dropped and she bounced away from the cat. Piper tore after her, and Duke turned and ran off, though she looked unsure as to where she was being played with or attacked.

"Oh." Tifa blinked, unfolding her arms. "That's…wow." When Cloud winced, she lifted a hand, "Good wow…just…unexpected. Don't get me wrong, but you two have been…moving at a glacial pace. What brought this on?"

Cloud looked at her sideways, the gaze heavy with implication.

"No." Tifa pointed at him. "You do not get to say that the birth of my daughter triggered your insecurity issues."

He lifted his hands, "I'm not. I'm just saying that…I wasn't considering asking her until I saw…Mikayla…And you with Mikayla. And Leon with Mikayla. And you three being all—" He vaguely waved his hands around in front of him. "Family-ish."

"Ish?" Tifa raised an eyebrow but then dropped it again. "Cloud, you can't benchmark your relationship with Aerith against my marriage. Leon and I can't be the yardstick that you measure against to see if you're ready for those kinds of steps. Do you want to take that step?"

Cloud frowned, "I…yes, but—"

"Ah!" Tifa cut him off. " 'Yes, but' is a punk's way of saying no. Why?"

"Since when do you say 'punk'? Stop it; that was weird." Cloud evaded her.

Tifa glared playfully at him. "Do what you want, but make sure it's what you want. Figure out what the 'but' is and talk to Aerith about it." Watching Duke strategically placing herself on the opposite side of a park bench from Piper as a defense, she sighed. "I'm going to ask you a question, and I will judge you less if you answer honestly: are you trying to 'walk' Aerith's cat?"

"…Yes."

"You're an idiot."

"You said you'd judge less."

"You don't want to know what 'you're an idiot' is less than." Tifa remarked. "Now, please go catch Duke for me. I haven't worked my way back up to running."

Cloud scoffed but stepped away from her to go corral the dog.

Tifa exhaled tiredly and ran a hand through her hair. "Thanks."

..:-X-:..

102 – A New Hope

"You need to take this seriously…I want you to be prepared for what is about to happen over the next two hours…" Leon said poignantly.

He was leaning against the kitchen counter on his elbows, looking meaningfully to his two week old daughter as she sat in her baby carrier. Mikayla looked back at him with mild interest, before her gaze was back up at the ceiling fan. She wiggled her feet at him.

"I'm going to take that as a 'yes, I am prepared.' Which means we," He reached out, lifting her up out of the carrier. "can begin."

Mikayla squirmed as Leon carried her into the living room.

"Mommy is going to tell you that this movie is silly, and that Daddy—that's me, remember—is silly for liking it." He stated, sitting back into the ugly old sectional couch in front of the television. "But she secretly enjoys it too. Don't tell her I told you…Our little secret."

He situated Mikayla in one arm carefully and propped his feet up on the coffee table. The DVD main menu page was already up on the screen, and he plucked up the remote with his other hand. He aimed it at the television and hit the play button, tossing the remote back onto the couch as the movie started.

The screen darkened and the title card began to play.

"Rule one: this is the correct order." Leon said, pointing at the screen. "Ignore the whole 'episode four' thing. This was the first, the precedent setter, and the original. Five and six follow as worthy sequels."

Mikayla hiccupped and raised her fists up to her face, waving them.

"What about one, two, and three?" Leon worded her wordless question. "We don't talk about those: rule two."

The infant squinted her eyes and fussed once, making a humming noise in her throat before casting her eyes toward the lamp on the end table. Leon smirked at her and took one of her fists between his thumb and index finger.

"Rule three: be wary of re-releases." He said, playing with her fist. "They try to change things and sneak weird additions under the radar every time, but we always notice." He tapped her chest lightly to make his point. "Han shot first, Jabba doesn't show up until Return of the Jedi, and no matter how hard you try, it is impossible to mimic the sound of a TIE fighter without someone laughing at you."

She shifted against his arm, and Leon adjusted his elbow to make sure she was comfortable as the opening crawl made its way across the screen, followed by a pan down to the opening scene. It had barely started when Leon's cell phone buzzed in his pocket.

With an irritated huff, Leon tugged it out, glanced at the caller ID, and answered it briefly. "Jake, I'm having a cultural experience with my daughter. This is no time for—"

"Uh…is this Leon?" That wasn't Jake.

He narrowed one eye. "Who is this?"

"This is Trevor. I just found this cellphone. Wasn't sure whose it was so I just called a random contact." The person on the line said.

Leon sighed. "Yeah, you found Jake Alms's phone. Do you know him?"

"Um…not enough to recognize him on sight."

Leon pursed his lips, glanced down at Mikayla and rolled his eyes. She just looked back up at him, her hand finding some loose material on his shirt and holding it there.

"Okay, where are you now?"

"I'm just outside the Alliance HQ building."

"His girlfriend works in that building. Let me call her and she'll find you." He said.

"All right, thanks."

Leon hung up and hit the speed dial for McCallister. "Just a second, munchkin." He apologized to Mikayla.

"Yes, sir?" Was McCallister's greeting on the second ring.

"Some guy found Jake's phone. He said he's outside headquarters. Are you there?"

"Where else would I be on a Tuesday morning?" She replied dryly.

"Just…whatever." He responded.

On the television screen, the signature sounds of the lasers blasting from the imperial cruisers to the rebel ships boomed through the living room. Far from being startled by the sound, Mikayla merely moved her attention from Leon's shirt in her hand to the movie.

"Are you watching Star Wars?" McCallister sounded deadpan.

"I'm inducting Mikayla." He stated plainly, smiling down at the baby.

"Mrph." The soldier snorted and hung up.

Leon set his phone down and returned to the more important matter at hand.

"Here we go." He murmured.

Mikayla wound up ignoring the film for the most part, and every little noise and movement distracted Leon from it—seeing as he had already watched it several times. In the end, Mikayla fell asleep in the crook of his arm, and Leon turned down the volume and watched her sleep. Her hand was twisted around his shirt again. The Force was strong with this one.

..:-X-:..

103 – Mistakes Made

Jake had his back to the front door of the animal shelter, sorting through the mail, when he heard the bell ring above the door. He kept his eyes on the mail in his hands as he spun around to face the person. "Good aftern—"

"Hello, Mr. Tour Guide." Mindy Tallman smiled as the door swung closed softly behind her. "Widow Harker told me I'd find you here."

Jake halted. "Oh, yeah…I…work here." He said, somewhat awkwardly. "Wh-what," He cleared his throat, "Why'd you hunt me down?"

The petite blond seemed to glide over to the counter, her gait bouncy but her expression drawn. "I'm…I need some help."

"You've been here for a while now, you should know you're way around." Jake said in a playful tone, but he set the mail aside. "What's up?"

"It's…Maybe it's just because I'm kinda new and don't know many people," Mindy said sheepishly. "but I feel like the people I talk to are…avoiding me. Like you," She tilted her head, "I had a great time with your little tour that you gave me, but you disappeared afterward and I hadn't seen you since until now."

"I don't avoid people." Jake shrugged. "I've been busy. Y'know, working here, oddjobs for the Alliance, some friends of mine just had a baby, so that's been—"

"My best friend hates me." Mindy interrupted, as though it was going to burst out of her if she didn't say it soon. "I mean…we used to be best friends. Okay, not really. We were kinda sorta friends…We knew each other…We were civil…But I screwed things up and now she hates me." She exhaled, running a hand through her curly hair.

Jake blinked. "I'm…sorry?"

"It's Tabby—Tabaeus McCallister." Mindy explained. "She hates me, and I think everybody here knows it. It's like people are trying to stay away from me to avoid incurring her wrath. She has some clout around here, doesn't she?"

Jake canted his head. "I'm not sure about 'clout,' but people are more wary of her superior officer's wrath."

"Commander Leonhart? Are they a thing?" Mindy narrowed one eye.

"No!" Jake choked on a laugh. "No, holy crap—No. He's half of the couple that just had a kid. Tabs and Leon are comrades, but that's all."

"Okay, I was wondering…He seems a little…okay, he's WAY out of her league." Mindy snickered and Jake frowned at that. She swallowed. "Listen, word around says you and Tabby are buds."

"Actually, we're—"

"And she'd never tell anyone why she hates me. I'd never tell anyone. Not after—" She pursed her lips, glanced down at the counter top between them, and then looked back up. "She trusted me a long time ago and I let her down. She doesn't forgive easily. I just want to make things right, but she won't even look at me."

Jake felt uncomfortable. "Well, I mean…Sure, she doesn't forgive easily, but if you're sincere, she'll see that. She's not heartless."

"No, but you have to admit that she's rough around the edges." Mindy stated. "Blunt, stubborn, and she never asks for help or lets you help even when you KNOW that she NEEDS it." She fumed slightly.

Jake was quiet.

Mindy calmed and looked at him. "Sorry. I guess I don't forgive easily either." She sighed and looked at him again, tilting her head slightly. "But I'm not rough around the edges."

She wasn't wrong. For a presumed soldier, Jake hardly saw any muscle tone on her, nor any callouses on her hands from handling weapons, like Tabaeus's hands had. Mindy's skin looked soft and tanned, not too dark but enough to tell you she had seen a good beach in her day. As soon as that thought registered, Jake abruptly went to start sorting the mail again.

"She's usually at the gun range this time of day." He deflected.

"Oh, because I need to be around her when she's carrying a loaded gun." Mindy chuckled, her laugh rich and throaty. "Jake—" She said after a moment, voice low and sultry.

"Hm?" Jake half turned, trying to give her the clue that he wasn't interested.

Mindy was having none of that and she reached out, grasping his shoulder. "Thank you for not being a jerk. Everybody else around here seems to be."

"Nah, they're great people. They're just—"

He was cut off as Mindy abruptly leaned in and pressed her lips against his. It was a moist, heavy kiss, and it tasted like her strawberry lipstick.

The bell above the door chimed again.

Mindy slid back, detaching her lips from Jake's, leaving him standing there dumbly. Then horror set in. He lifted the back of his hand to his lips. What had she just done?

The air seemed to shift in the office, and Jake turned to see that the newcomer was Tabaeus herself. She was holding his phone in one hand; she must have dropped by to return it after he'd left it behind somewhere. Her expression was wooden.

"Tabaeus—" Jake stepped around the counter. "This isn't—Let me—"

Without a word, Tabaeus turned and left the building, the bell chiming after her.

..:-X-:..

A/N: In a few of my other stories, Leon has had tendencies toward being a Trekkie and a Star Wars fan. This is just adding another brick to the igloo.

Preview for next week: "I don't want you in my life; I made that mistake once."