Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This story is mine, as are the OCs. Enjoy!

..:-X-:..

125 – Stepping Stones

The morning after he agreed to keep an eye on Mikayla with Aerith for the night, Cloud awoke, meandered out into his living room, and found something unexpected. Or, rather, someone unexpected.

"Aerith." Cloud returned to the bedroom and poked her shoulder.

She mumbled something, curling up on her side. He poked her shoulder again.

"Aerith, wake up." He prodded.

"Mrph, what?" She rolled onto her back, opening her eyes blearily at him.

"Why is Tabaeus McCallister on my couch?" He asked flatly.

Aerith blinked up at him, her brows knit together, and she sat up enough to look through the doorway into the living room, where the soldier was lying across the couch, sleeping.

"Oh," Aerith sat up, rubbing her eyes. "She came over early this morning because Mikayla was crying, and she could hear it because her apartment is next door. Did you know that you live next door to Tabaeus McCallister?"

Cloud sighed and moved back toward the living room. "Yes."

"How did I not know that?" Aerith climbed out of bed and followed him. "I have literally never seen her anywhere in this building."

"She practically lives in Leon's department." Cloud mumbled, finding Mikayla squirming herself awake as well.

"What does her apartment look like?" Aerith asked, eying the sleeping soldier.

"I don't know." Cloud deadpanned, lifting up the two month old baby as she began to make unhappy noises. "Why did she come over?"

"Mikayla had been crying for over an hour. I tried everything." Aerith ran a hand through her hair. "Tabaeus volunteered to help. I guess she just fell asleep afterward." She squinted one eye, "What would her apartment even look like? It's weird to think about."

Cloud frowned and glanced at the soldier. "I'm uncomfortable with this."

"She's just sleeping." Aerith snorted.

"Exactly. I've never seen her do that. It's weird." Cloud muttered.

Aerith plucked some powdered formula from the supply bag and navigated into the kitchen to prepare it for Mikayla. The infant squirmed in his arms, and he shifted his hold on her. It wasn't even eight o'clock yet, but he figured he should call Leon and Tifa to give them a morning report…or at least let them know he'd have Mikayla home soon. Unfortunately, he had left his phone on the couch, and McCallister was currently on said couch. He bit the inside of his cheek and faced Aerith.

"Can you—" He offered the baby.

"Of course." Aerith said musically, taking Mikayla.

Cloud stood behind the couch and glanced down. He could see the top of his phone, wedged between the soldier's back and the seat cushion. Gritting his teeth, he slowly reached down to wiggle it out.

"Were you serious?" He asked aloud, trying to avoid actually touching the woman.

"About?" Aerith chirped from the kitchen, feeding Mikayla from a bottle.

"Moving in together?" He sent a half glance over his shoulder, reaching for his phone.

She paused, returning the look. "I thought you were asleep."

"Then why'd you ask?" He grimaced as his fingertips brushed the phone casing.

A semi-awkward pause passed. Cloud couldn't say that the thought hadn't crossed his mind…or Hell, even occupied his mind for a while. The idea was strange to consider…but a good kind of strange. The fact stood, though, that if he had asked her to move in with him and she had declined, it would have been awkward. But she had asked, she had beaten him to it, so now he just felt like an idiot.

"I just—" She trailed away.

"I mean," Cloud blurted, figuring he had to save this situation. "My answer still stands." He could feel her staring at the back of his head and he finally got his fingers around his phone, slowly retracting it out from under McCallister. "Living together, I mean." He stammered, grunting when his phone wouldn't budge. "I would…I mean, it makes sense. You're…and I'm…Are you still asking?"

He started to turn to face her, but his phone abruptly started ringing. Loudly. He jumped slightly at the noise, and McCallister jerked out of sleep, rolling away from his arm and off the couch with a squawk.

"Ugh." She grunted, sitting up and rubbing her shoulder.

"Good morning to you too." Aerith smiled before looking to Cloud. "Yes, I'm still asking." She said coyly.

"Then…yes is still my answer." Cloud replied and then remembered to answer the phone, turning away from the disgruntled soldier. "Hey, Tifa. Yeah, we're up. She's fine. We'll bring her over within the hour."

He caught Aerith's smile out of the corner of his eye and stifled his own. That was it then. They were going to move in together. The idea muted whatever Tifa was saying.

..:-X-:..

126 – Rebound

In a span of 48 hours, Yuffie's stealth and recon department's productivity had skyrocketed. Mission turnover tripled, paperwork output increased by nearly double, and the soldiers in her program had gone from getting work done on a regular basis to practically climbing over themselves to complete their work ahead of time. The other departments in the Alliance quietly observed the drastic change with approval; while Yuffie's interns were not lazy or flaky by any means, they had never been quite this…intense.

A few soldiers from Leon's weapons specialist department, notorious for being workaholics and overachievers, felt pity for the poor souls. No one really knew what had sparked this sudden surge, not even the soldiers in the actual stealth and recon department. When asked, they would simply shake their heads and move past the inquirer, trying to get more work done.

It was like they were all scared shitless, Cid mused.

That wasn't what caused him concern. Hell, his aeronautics department was almost as laid back as Yuffie's interns, but damn if he didn't want to light a fire under them sometimes. What finally sparked his concern was when, after no one could find Yuffie, he finally discovered her in the last place he would have ever suspected: her office.

She wasn't just in her office. She was working in her office…on paperwork. She didn't even look up when Cid stepped into the room, too busy mulling over files and pecking her fingers at her laptop every so often. She looked tired and wan, like she hadn't left that office in a while. She looked like Leon had when he first became head of the weapons specialist department. Cid frowned but didn't say anything for a full minute, taking in the bizarreness of the situation. She was clearly upset about something, and it seemed like this was an outlet.

"When was the last time you went outside?" He prompted.

Yuffie shook her head slightly, closing one file and pushing it aside. "What do you want, Cid? I'm behind on these reports."

"And for some reason you care about that." Cid lifted an eyebrow. "Your interns are running around like chickens with their damn heads cut off. You're voluntarily—alarmingly—doing paperwork. You're pissed about something, too angry to even take it out on Heartless. Instead, you're hiding yourself away in your office. The fuck, woman?"

Yuffie huffed and dropped her pen to the desk, straightening in her seat and looking at him. "Nothing. I'm fine."

"Bullshit." He folded his arms, leaning against the wall. "Spill it."

She scoffed and started to make a snappy retort, but her face abruptly fell and she cracked. "Trevor and I broke up."

Shit.

Cid inwardly flinched but remained outwardly impassive. "That sucks."

"He told me loved me." She lifted her hands. "What was I supposed to do with that?"

Ah, so she had been the dumper, rather than the dumpee. Not sure if that was better.

"Say it back?" He said sarcastically.

She ran both hands through her hair. "But I don't! And I realized that as soon as he said it." She snapped her fingers for emphasis. "All of a sudden things were getting serious, and it wasn't like I wasn't ready for things to get serious, but I wasn't ready for things to get serious with HIM. He's a great guy, Cid. He's nice and he's a goofball and he's sweet, and argh!" She made two fists. "I should have been in love with him. What is wrong with my wiring?"

Cid let her rant, but he stopped her there. "Ain't nothin' with you."

She fumed, glaring at her inbox. "And I'm not even sad that it's over. I broke his heart, Cid, but I feel…free. I'm…relieved. How sick is that? I should have—"

"Just because somebody is a good person doesn't mean you're obligated to fall in love with them." Cid interrupted.

It was bullshit to think that if someone was 'good' or 'sweet' or 'nice' that they were entitled to any kind of romantic feelings from someone else. Yuffie was beating herself up over nothing. She didn't owe Trevor anything. Sure, the man had been a pretty solid, stand up guy, but if it didn't fit, it didn't fit.

"Yeah, I guess." Yuffie slumped in her seat.

"But," Cid lifted a finger. "Just because you're having a crap week doesn't mean you have to put your entire department through Hell. What did you do to them?"

"Hm? Oh, that has nothing to do with this." Yuffie waved a hand. "Ol' Nestor got on my case last week about my reports being late. I tried to inspire my troops to up their game, but they were pretty lukewarm. So I…may have said that the last five soldiers to get their paperwork done for the week would be deployed on that upcoming two-week recon mission to Atlantica."

"Whoo." Cid exhaled and smirked. "That's mean." He held out his hand for a high-five.

Yuffie snorted ruefully and slapped her palm against his.

"Who are you to tell me not to put my interns through crap? Last year you tried to quit smoking for a week, and three of your soldiers are STILL in therapy." She pointed out.

"I said you didn't have to put them through Hell, not that you couldn't or shouldn't." After a beat, he continued. "You gonna be all right?"

"Pft, me? I'm…I'm the queen of all right." Yuffie gave a full body shrug. "In fact, I'm downright swell."

"Hm mhm." Cid quirked an eyebrow at her. "All right, Queen Swell. Might wanna talk to your troops. They're on the brink of ulcers out there."

..:-X-:..

127 – Separation Anxiety

"Moving in together. Wow." Tifa was honestly surprised. "That's big. Not unexpected, but still…He managed to spit out the question?"

Sitting across from her at the outdoor café, Rinoa snickered. "I heard she was the one who asked him if he wanted to live together."

Tifa snorted into her drink. "Sounds about right."

In her carrier on the table between them, Mikayla gurgled and kicked out her feet. Rinoa smiled and reached over, playing with the baby's little toes.

"Are you going to return to work?" She asked.

Tifa shifted, averting her eyes to her lunch. "Of course."

Rinoa noticed her discomfort at the topic. "Rephrase: do you WANT to return to work?"

Tifa met her eyes briefly, then looked to Mikayla, and sighed. "Yes. I still have a few weeks of maternity leave, but I've been itching to get back in the office, or back out on missions, or anything…But I can't take her to work with me every day. Before Mikayla was born, Leon and I were both always working around the clock. Neither of us can afford to constantly be taking afternoons or mornings off to stay with her…"

"You could hire a babysitter." Rinoa shrugged. "I'll be the first to volunteer on that front." She offered with a smile.

Tifa returned with a smaller smile but shook her head, "No. I don't—I don't want Mikayla to see more of a nanny or a babysitter than she sees her parents. I don't want to see her for a few hours every day after I get home from work. Besides, I feel like I'd just wind up being half productive at being a soldier and a mother…neither of which is acceptable."

Rinoa canted her head. "Sounds like a pickle." She toyed her fork through her pasta. "Have you talked to Leon about this?"

"Only for hours on end." Tifa smirked at Mikayla, who waved her little fists in response. "We both love her, but we both love our careers too. How are we supposed to make a decision?"

Rinoa looked thoughtful. "Well…Who says you can't take her to work with you? I've never seen a 'no babies' sign around the Alliance building. If your soldiers can handle war against the darkness, surely they can handle the most adorable little girl in the world."

"Ooh, how am I supposed to leave you?" Tifa murmured, reaching into the carrier and lifting Mikayla up. "It hurts just to speak it aloud."

She held her daughter in her arms and playfully mimicked Mikayla's cooing noises. Rinoa smiled across the table at the pair and took a sip from her lemonade.

"Are you getting any more sleep?" She asked.

The bags under Tifa's eyes were answer enough, and Tifa gave her a flat look that iterated that thought.

"Leon sleeps like…He used to be a light sleeper, but somehow he just doesn't hear her at night." She stated, rubbing Mikayla's back as the baby hiccupped.

Rinoa snorted. "Maybe he's just pretending."

"No, there's no pretending when she really puts her lungs into it." When Mikayla swiveled her head to look at her, Tifa gave her a wide eyed expression. "Yeah, we're talkin' 'bout you, little Miss Three AM."

"Yikes." Rinoa grimaced. "Every night?"

"More accurate than an alarm clock." Tifa chuckled. "Anyway, how are things on the entrepreneurial front?"

"They're not." Rinoa sighed. "Jake helped me get a part time job to cover bills and rent. How am I supposed to save money to start a business if I'm barely making ends meet?"

Tifa looked sympathetic. "It'll just take a little time." She fought back a yawn.

"Seriously, when was the last time you got a full night's sleep?" Rina moved back to the former topic of conversation.

"About a month before she was born." Tifa replied, shaking her head slightly to get rid of the residual yawn. "I don't know how Leon manages to do this AND full time missions."

Rinoa held her tongue, but there had been more than one occasion that she had gone to Leon's office to deliver paperwork and found him conked out behind his desk.

"I'm betting you could both use a solid eight hours." Rinoa observed.

"Tried that already," Tifa sighed. "I slept but I hardly rested; even knowing that Aerith and Cloud were watching her…It's hard." She looked to Mikayla lovingly as she set her back in her carrier.

"I've heard separation anxiety is rough." Rinoa lifted one shoulder. "But you'll have to cut that cord sooner or later. One day she'll be going to school, getting her driver's license, going on her first date—"

"Ugh, don't give me gray hair before my time." Tifa moaned, slumping in her seat.

Rinoa snickered, looking to the three month old infant. "Ooh, then college, and parties, and your own career. What do you think? Scientist? Martial artist? President?"

"Why do we hang out?"

..:-X-:..

Preview for next week: "One of the worlds on the outer rim of the Allied perimeter just disappeared."