Disclaimer: Even after all this time, we own nothing. The lyrics: Blaque – Questions.
Beta: Azrax (Thank you, once again.)
A/N (Anae): It's been quite a time since the last update. Sorry, next post will be within two weeks, I promise! Hope to see you still with us, though.
…Tifa, again. Seems we never get rid of her. *sigh* But we got some Cid as well! He's QttQ's, and gotta say, I love how she plays him.
Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter!
A/N (QttQ): Sorry for taking so long with posting this chapter! We'll be posting more frequently from now on, we promise! This chapter is one of ponderings and explanations rather than actions, but I hope you don't find it too boring. Also, I apologise if my Cid isn't IC, but do try to manage with him. : Thankyou for sticking with us this far! The show still goes on!

Chapter XIII: These questions

I never longed for no one,
yes its true.
Seems like these questions keep me here with you.

Silence was a natural state for both Leon and Cloud. That was the reason for their smooth co-operation - because they really could work together when they weren't on the opposite sides of the field - and the flow of understanding that always seemed to be present between the two of them. Even now, as they returned to the house after a long while of merely sitting on the roof, they did so in silence.

There were questions that needed to be asked, for sure, but this wasn't the time for inquiries. If anything, this was the only moment when the men could find rest. The presence of someone who asked nothing, demanded nothing and even did nothing was more comforting than anything else. Leon was aware of the delicacy of the situation, of the fragile surface they now were treading on. Cloud's past had returned to haunt him in more ways than one, and the blonde fighter had to face it; Now or never.

Leon had no idea what part he would end up playing in this little act. They were surrounded by Cloud's friends now, and along had come Aerith, who had - according to Leon's understanding - once meant the world to Cloud. The deck had been carefully shuffled, however, and the cards that had been dealt out were completely foreign. And even if Leon knew that every other person in the house probably felt just as confused, it didn't aid his personal agony one bit.

There were so many things that needed to be explained. Leon had slowly been digging his way into Cloud's past during these past weeks, and at one point, he'd actually believed to have reached the very core of the secrets the blonde was hiding. Now, however, he had lost all confidence in the matter. These people knew Cloud much better than he did and Aerith's appearance proved that there were still many things Leon didn't understand.

Yet, Leon didn't become desperate. Even if he felt like an outsider in the crowd that consisted of Cloud and his long-time companions, he didn't allow himself to dwell in self-pity. If anything, the situation had boosted Leon's determination in finding out what it really was that had molded Cloud into the man he was today. Instead of feeling left out, Leon took the moment as an opportunity to learn more. No one else knew as much about Cloud than these people Now was the time to complete the puzzle, to solve the mystery that Cloud was.

It was with these thoughts that Leon returned to the house. Tifa was there to greet them when they stepped in and Leon could've bet all of his money on the feelingthat the woman had been waiting for their return with anxiousness. Cloud said nothing when Tifa told him that Yuffie had moved her things from her room and that Cloud could now move into her quarters. Tifa seemed to understand, however, because she merely directed Cloud to the second floor and watched the blonde climb the stairs and disappear. Briefly, Leon wondered whether Tifa and Cloud shared the same silent understanding he had become so familiar with.

When a door closed on the second floor, Tifa's eyes slid over to Leon. Immediately, the brunette felt less at ease. Tifa seemed to be the one who made the rules in this household. Not only that, she seemed to feel very protective about Cloud. It was something Tifa and Leon shared, but it also made Leon feel the tiniest bit of discomfort. For some reason, Cloud was in bad condition more often than not when he and Leon were together. This, he imagined, didn't sitwell with Tifa.

"You're staying too, I guess?"

It took a while for Leon to determine whether the tone was rude or not. When he found no hostility in Tifa's gaze, however, Leon decided that it was just a question among all others. He nodded briefly, shifting slightly to ease his own restlessness.

"I'm sure you've noticed that the house isn't huge." Tifa crossed her arms and examined Leon, her expression unreadable. "Yuffie's room isn't big, but it shouldn't get too crowded with two people. If you and Cloud don't mind, you should share."

The way Tifa spoke left no room for refusal. It made Leon wonder just how much Tifa saw of what went on between Cloud and himself. Their situation was hard enough to understand from his point of view and it must've been extremely confusing for someone else, but for some reason, Tifa seemed to have formed her own opinion rather quickly. Deciding not to fill his head with more thoughts than he already had in stock, Leon simply repeated his nod.

Anxious to get away from the dark eyes that seemed to be able to drill through his skull and enter his thoughts, Leon moved towards the stairs. He halted at the foot of them, however, glancing over his shoulder, suddenly remembering his manners.

"Thank you for letting me stay."

This time it was Tifa's turn to reply with a short nod. Apparently they had reached an understanding of their own.

Tifa hadn't lied when she'd described Yuffie's room as small. Even if the girl had moved her things somewhere else, there wasn't much space to work with. When Leon entered, Cloud was sitting on the rather small bed, his Buster Sword resting against the wall in the corner. He looked up when Leon stepped in, but he said nothing, and Leon merely eyed the room before speaking, himself.

"We have to share a room."

Not that he minded. Cloud showed no signs of dismay, either. It offered Leon some relief, because he was utterly lost when it came to the complicated situation between Cloud and himself. If Cloud was prepared to share a room with him, however, it had to mean that everything wasn't completely lost.

The bed, Leon quickly noticed, was an issue. There was only one, and even if there had been another bed to use, there wouldn't have been any room for it. Even if Cloud was comfortable with the idea of sharing a room with Leon, he might not have been at ease with the thought of sharing a bed with him. The last time they had done so, it had resulted in multiple cuts and bruises wounds Leon hadn't knowingly wanted to inflict. The events of that night were still raw in his mind, and he suspected that they hadn't faded away from Cloud's memory, either. It would be better to put some distance between the two of them, if not for anything else, then to prevent that moment from
repeating itself.

"I can sleep on the floor."

It was a quick offer from Leon and when Cloud's eyes focused on him, they held no understanding. It took a moment for the blonde to trace the gunblader's thoughts, but when understanding finally lit up in Cloud's gaze, he softly shook his head.

"There is no need."

It was the most simple of gestures, but when Cloud rested his hand on the bed, next to himself, and invited Leon to sit, the brunette knew that the foundation for something new had been laid out. Nothing had been said, not really, but the look in Cloud's clear blue eyes was enough to comfort Leon.

The situation might've been very unstable all over at the moment, but they seemed to have something to hang onto. At times like this, that was what counted.

In order to not destroy the fragile balance everyone seemed to find during the next day, Leon kept to himself for a while. He was full of questions, but he realised that some of them were too bold to be asked. A few, however, were of the kind that constantly bothered Leon. As days passed, he finally decided to speak his mind instead of asking himself the same questions over and over again - questions he didn't have any answers to.

Of Cloud's friends, only Yuffie and Tifa were familiar to Leon. Cid, on the other hand, he had never seen until they'd left the Colisseum and come here. Of all the people that lived in the rather small house, however, Cid was the one Leon felt most comfortable approaching. The man was a tad older than the rest, gruff and rough around the edges, but he seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. That, and he had enormous amounts of knowledge stored up between his ears, collected from various places during the years. That was the reason Leon finally decided to talk to the blonde mechanic.

According to Yuffie, Cid knew a bit about everything, but most about machines of all kinds. He was the one who fixed things when they broke down, even if he did so while smoking an entire packet of cigarettes. Cid was kind, even if that wasn't the first impression a stranger got. So, comforted by this information, Leon approached the older blonde when he found him in the back yard, doing his best to put together a mountain of metal pieces.

"Cid?" A grunt was Leon's only answer, but he took it as an encouraging sound. Stepping closer, he crouched down next to the mechanic, examining the heap of machine parts in all different shapes and sizes. "What are you making?"

Cid tightened a bolt and tugged at it, making sure it held before leaning back slightly to admire his handiwork.

"A bike." He replied, his voice filled with determination. "An' what a beauty she'll be. 'M telling you, Leonheart. When she's done, ya won't believe she ever looked like this."

Leon eyed the pile of rusty parts that had probably belonged into machines of all kinds. He had no reason to doubt Cid's skills, but he was having a hard time imagining the parts in one, functioning object.

The way Cid cleared his throat and lit up a cigarette brought Leon's eyes back to the mechanic. Inhaling deeply, the blonde blew out a puff of smoke before speaking again, this time meeting Leon's gaze.

"But that's not what ya wanted to talk about, was it?"

Leon was surprised. He was aware of Tifa's accurate senses and Yuffie's way of prying into things that didn't belong to her in the first place, but this was something he hadn't expected. Cid had guessed that there was something he wanted to ask?

"Yer not the kind of a man who chats when it ain't necessary." Cid seemed to be reading his thoughts, but he was doing so in a friendly manner. He wasn't telling Leon to turn around and leave, even if his intentions had been so obvious. "So spill it. What's bothering ya?"

Leon wanted to say that it wasn't exactly a matter that bothered him, but he decided against explaining too much. And, to be honest, it had bothered him for a while now, the matter he wanted to discuss with Cid. Ever since he and Cloud had ended up in a vicious quarrel, to be precise.

"There are things I don't know." Leon said, choosing his words carefully. He didn't want to seem too curious. "Things I think you might know."

Cid turned his eyes back to the metal constellation, picking up a piece and turning it in his hands. He nodded quietly, moving his cigarette to the other corner of his mouth, signaling for Leon to continue. Clearly, neither one of them were of the talkative kind, but Cid seemed to be ready to help him. That was enough for the gunblader.

"Mako." Straight to the point, like always. "What is it?"

Cid's brows knitted together, but he didn't stop his examination of the plate of steel.

"Mako." The word rolled off his tongue like poison. "It used to be a good thing, back in the days. Comes from the Lifestream, that stuff does." Cid dug forth a pen from his pocket, drawing lines onto the piece of metal, creating markings only he could understand. Even if the lines were neat, his hand was shaking with badly controlled anger. "But when ShinRa started using it, they made it into somethin' else. Fuckin' bastards."

ShinRa. That was a name Leon recognized. It was hard not to; the name was everywhere, because the company was quickly taking over the markets in just about everything. Listening carefully, his curiosity steadily growing, Leon chose to keep quiet, not wanting to interrupt Cid in any way.

"ShinRa used mako to create energy. Still do." Cid made a sound of dismay in the back of his throat, his expression darkening. "But then someone came up with the sick idea of putting it into people. Whoever thought of that is a goddamn idiot." Cid shook his head, clearly a tad agitated. Leon, knowing only what Cloud had told him, was slowly starting to put the pieces of information together.

"Mako might be good for yar machines, but it ain't good for yer body." Cid's tone was almost disgusted. "It changes a man. Yer not a human being if ya have too much of that stuff in yer system." Cid's eyes flashed into Leon's direction, his final words somewhat hushed. "It'll make ya a monster."

A monster. Not a human being, but something less. Someone who didn't deserve to walk in the light like other humans did. Leon had heard these words before, and slowly, he was starting to realise just what had molded Cloud into the man he was today. But there were still things he didn't know and information he lacked.

"Cloud has been exposed to mako, hasn't he?" The fighter had spoken of mako poisoning - a term Leon hadn't understood. Now he had a vague picture of just what had been injected into Cloud's body, and - even if he didn't want to admit it - the thought terrified him.

Cid put down the metal piece he was holding and turned towards Leon with a sigh.

"Yeah Poor kid." The blonde man shook his head, suddenly looking much more tired. "I dunno the details, but I do know that Cloud's been through whole lot. He's a tough one."

Leon hid his disappointment. He'd thought that Cid would know more about
Cloud's past regarding the mako. He couldn't exactly complain, however, so
the brunette simply pushed the matter aside to bring up another thing that
had been on his mind.

"If you don't mind me asking about something else." Again, Cid merely grunted in return, but Leon had learned that it wasn't a negative thing. "Aerith mentioned someone. Someone named Zack." Leon paused, not really knowing how to continue. He knew that Zack had been Cloud's friend, and that Cloud blamed himself for his death, but that was all he knew. Clearly, Aerith had known Zack, as well, so perhaps Cid had, too.

The mechanic's response didn't require any further questions from Leon.

"Never met the kid." Cid sighed, his posture sagging slightly. "A shame, really. I dunno much 'bout him. If you wanna know more, ya'll have to ask Tifa or Aerith. Just know that we have Zack to thank for havin' Cloud with us."

No luck there. Leon would have to go to someone else for information. His options weren't very pleasant, however. For some reason, Leon didn't feel comfortable around Tifa, who seemed to see right through his shell and straight into his soul. Aerith was a whole different story, but Leon didn't feel at ease around her, either. Out of the two women, he would definitely choose Tifa once he gathered the courage to approach her with his questions.

"Thank you for telling me all this." Leon rose from his crouching position, hoping that he hadn't raised any suspicions with his thirst for information. He just wanted to know what Cloud's past withheld, and now he had the chance to find out. He was surrounded with people who were very close to Cloud, people who had been there for years. If they didn't know something, then no one did. "You've been a great help."

Cid just nodded, going back to his work.

"Anytime." As Leon headed back into the house, Cid's words followed him. "It's good to have ya around, Leonheart. An extra pair of hands is never a bad thing."