The streets were deserted and the shop windows and house blinds closed. It was earlier than I first thought it was, for the birds were not yet singing and a light mist hung on the ground.

I didn't know where exactly I was going, but I was just following the directions a faint voice in my head told me; go across the courtyard, take a right at the second alley, then a left. I wasn't paying attention as to where I was walking, but before I knew it, I was standing on a cliff, looking over a beautiful landscape.

It was breathtaking to say the least; it appeared to be a long-since-used battlefield, the castle to the right, and flowers bloomed everywhere as far as the eye could see. The flowers were in every color of the rainbow, making me think that if I went to the end of the field, I would find a pot of gold. But the most amazing sight was the sun rising from behind the distant mountains. The warmth of the coming dawn was nothing short of soothing as I stretched my arms out horizontally and soaked in the light, imagining that I was flying.

"Knew it wouldn't last long," a voice said to my right.

I dropped my arms and swung my body around towards the source of the voice and was surprised to see a young man much like Leon. He had spiky blond hair, a sharp face with baby-blue eyes, and wore all black; black trench coat with a lion crest much like Leon's, black pants, black boots, and a giant sword that seemed to be wrapped in bandages latched to his back. His arms were crossed against his chest and he was looking right at me, bringing me back to the statement he had said.

"What?" I asked confusingly.

He looked back to the sunrise and replied, "I said 'Knew it wouldn't last long.' Someone discovering my secret place, more simply."

That made sense and I immediately felt guilty. "I-I'm sorry; I didn't think anyone would be up here." I turned to leave.

"You don't have to go," the boy called back.

I looked over my shoulder. "Really?"

"As long as you don't tell anyone," he replied bluntly.

"Shouldn't be too hard; I hardly know anyone here." I walked back over to the ledge and continued to bask in the sunlight.

"So; you from another world?" The boy asked casually.

I couldn't help but laugh a little. "What gave it away?"

"You did say you hardly know anyone here."

"I guess I did." I walked over to him and held out my right hand. "I'm Hikari, by the way."

The boy looked at my hand for a moment before he unfolded his arm, stood a little straighter, and took it into his gloved one. "Cloud."

Despite being gloved, his hand was as cold as ice and I saw the white wing of my necklace turn more black from just below my eyes. I pulled my hand away, but not too fast as to offend Cloud. "You're lost, aren't you?"

Cloud made a small smile. "Guess you could say that."

Sympathy quickly took over and before I knew it and could stop myself, I began to read his heart and explained out loud what I heard and felt. "Your heart is struggling to balance the very little light and large amount of darkness within you. Because of this, you have pushed others away, afraid that you won't be able to control the darkness."

Cloud laughed slightly and his sky-blue eyes bore into me. "You a mind reader? Or did Leon and the others tell you all that?"

"How did you know I know Leon and the others?" I inquired.

Cloud leaned back against the wall behind him once more and crossed his arms. "I fought off the Heartless that tried to follow you after Leon and Yuffie took you to Merlin's," he simply replied.

"Oh, well, thank-you." I looked down and found myself blushing.

Cloud seemed oblivious to my bashful manner. "So, did they tell you?"

I shook my head. "They never mentioned you; they didn't' have to. I don't know how, but just now I was able to read your heart. I was taught that one's memories do not exist in the mind, but the heart." I looked back at him, my blush wiped away. "Don't push them away, Cloud. Whatever you think, never doubt that your friends will be there for you when the going gets tough."

That had Cloud thinking for a moment. "Strange. That's almost exactly what Sora told me."

My heart skipped a beat. "You know Sora?"

Cloud laughed again. "At this point, who doesn't?" Turning his head towards the coming dawn he added, "Met him a little more than a year ago. At first I only thought of him as a kid way over his head. But then he taught me something; he taught me that being a loner wasn't the answer to my problems, how that when things got out of hand, I shouldn't be afraid to turn to a friend for help. He showed me the light, in a sense."

I was dumbfounded; Sora sounded more like a wise old man who had seen many things in his time than a seventeen-year-old teenager.

"But then again; I could be digging too deep into this and he never even meant to say that stuff," Cloud remarked.

I felt like a cartoon character right then; one who was thinking they knew what had just been said was too good to be true and a giant animated sweat drop went down the side of their head. I shook my head to clear it, and with a smile on my face, turned back to the sun with my arms behind my back. "Sora seems to have that effect on people. I've never met him but he sounds really special."

"Yeah," Cloud simply said.

Silence followed as we watched dawn finish its arrival and announcing the start of a new day.

XXXX

I had to go after that. I promised Cloud I wouldn't tell anyone of his special spot if he promised to try and open up to his friends.

He wasn't too pleased with that, but had sighed and said, "Guess when I'm told to do the same thing twice, I might as well do so. Stay out of trouble."

I had nodded my head in agreement and hurried back to the courtyard, finding Leon waiting for me with a sword thats upper half looked like a pistol.

When I was before him, I hunched over with my hands on my knees as I tried to catch my breath. "Sorry… Were you… waiting long…?" Leon didn't reply and when I looked up at him, there was a confused look on his face. "What?"

"Where were you just now?" Leon asked.

"I went to watch the sunrise and met up with Cloud," I replied.

Leon's smirk returned. "So he's still around."

"How come every time you open your mouth, only insults and negativity come out?" I retorted, my hands now on my hips.

Leon shrugged. "It's what I do best. Now let's get started; show me you battle stance."

And so, for the rest of the day, Leon taught me the basics of fighting, from pulling off combos, to dodging and blocking enemy fire. Yuffie and the others came to watch from time to time and at noon, Aerith brought us all sandwiches.

My leg still slowed me down a little but I managed quite well; even Leon was impressed.

When the sun was sinking into the horizon and the street lights started to come on, Leon suggested we should stop for the day.

When we turned the corner to Merlin's, I saw someone- or something- hurry into the building. I looked at Leon to make sure I wasn't seeing things; his eyes were wide with surprise and before I could utter a word, he bolted for his home.

My body was heavy with fatigue so it took me a little longer to get to the door. There were no screams which both relieved and concerned me, but when I was finally standing in the doorway, what I saw was almost too hard to believe.