Traverse Town I

"Squall? I think this is going to be the last time I speak to you."

"What? Why, what did I do wrong?"

"Nothing, Squall. I just don't think I'll survive the Time Compression."

"You will. You have to."

"Don't be silly, Squall. I just want you to know that I love you."

"But— Rinoa— Wait!"

"Goodbye, Squall. And don't be afraid to fall in love with anyone else. In fact, if you die without having loved someone else the way you've loved me, I will find you, and I will destroy your soul."

"…But—"

"And I'll have someone watching out for you and being your matchmaker just in case! Bye, Squally!"

"RINOA!"

'…Don't tell me Yuffie was the "someone" you were talking about,' Leon begged mentally, watching the self-proclaimed Great Ninja chattering at Cid, who simply continued with his gummi ship blueprints and nodded every once in a while, pretending he was listening.

Knowing Rinoa, he wouldn't put it past her. Sure, she loved him. …Which meant she had every right to tease him, damn.

"What do you think, Squall?" Yuffie asked, suddenly popping into the brunet's line of vision.

Leon blinked, then jerked back, scowling. "That's Leon."

"What do you think the wielder of the Keyblade will be like?" Yuffie continued, as if not hearing him.

'You heard me, you little brat. And you're ignoring it,' he thought bitterly, putting on his passive mask.

"I'm thinking he'll be tall, and strong, and have dark hair. …Oh, and his hair will be spiky. All guys carrying big swords should have spiky hair," she added, frowning thoughtfully.

Leon raised an eyebrow and glanced up at his hair. "Spiky?"

Yuffie laughed and waved it away. "Oh, I mean except you, Leon! You wouldn't look good with spiky hair! You look sexy just the way you are!"

"…Thanks," he muttered, rolling his eyes. "Glad I'm an afterthought."

"Oh, don't be silly, Squall!" she giggled, clapping her hands together innocently. "You're never an afterthought! I'm constantly cooking up plots to get you a boyfriend!"

Leon sighed. "It's Leon, number one. Number two, I'm straight. As in, I like girls. Girls. The people that have the same kind of anatomy as you?"

Yuffie laughed and waved it away again, as if she knew better. "Oh, silly, silly Leon! We both know you're gay! Don't be shy!"

Cid sighed, finally taking pity on the brunet as he opened his mouth to continue arguing. "Let it go while you still have some dignity, Leon. Let her have her delusions. She enjoys it. Besides, you arguing will just make her pushier."

Leon sighed and closed his mouth, then stood up. "Whatever. I'm going for a walk."

"Be careful! Don't get any more scars unless they're going to look just as sexy as the one on your face!" Yuffie called after him, waving, before bouncing back over to bother Cid.

Leon rolled his eyes as soon as he shut the door behind him, then started walking, wanting to put as much distance between himself and the ninja as possible. He wouldn't deny that the girl was a great ninja. He'd seen her take on Heartless. He knew. And God save anyone who didn't.

Deciding he didn't want to go back in and endure the ninja just yet (if she still, in fact, was in Cid's accessory shop), he leaned against the corner of the building and sighed. Aerith had mentioned that she'd seen the Keyblade wielder; it was a scrawny, spiky-haired kid. Well, Yuffie was at least right about the spiky-haired part. Good for her.

As the teen wandered out of Cid's shop, Leon sighed, feeling that the poor boy had been cheated of his childhood. "They'll come at you out of nowhere," he warned, frowning.

The scrawny teenager spun toward him, blue eyes wide in surprise. Regarding him warily, he asked, "Who are you?"

Leon sighed and walked toward him, shaking his head in frustration. "And they'll keep coming at you, as long as you continue to wield the Keyblade. But why? Why would it choose a kid like you?"

The teen scowled. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

Leon sighed again. "Never mind. Now, let me see that Keyblade," he ordered, taking a few steps closer.

"What?" The teen scowled again. "There's no way you're getting this!" he stated, getting in a battle stance.

Leon rolled his eyes, then grabbed his gunblade, also getting in battle stance. "All right then. Have it your way."

The clash, needless to say, did not last long. Leon, having more experience, was far superior in battle to the teen, who'd probably only just acquired his weapon. In fact, he had to hold himself back for fear of seriously injuring the teen. Seriously! Did that kid not understand when to give up?!

Watching the teen faint from exhaustion, he sighed. "Stupid kid…"

"Aw, you're slipping, Leon," Yuffie commented, smiling and placing her hands on her hips.

Leon sent her a dirty look. "I went easy on him. Looks like things are worse than we thought." He sighed bitterly. "A lot worse."

"Where should we take him?" she asked, squatting down and poking the unconscious wielder of the Keyblade. "We can't just leave him here."

"Of course we can't," Leon answered, sighing in agitation as he walked over and lifted the teen easily. "We'll take him to the hotel and wait for him to wake up."

"Oh, Squally!" The ninja grinned. "I didn't think you cared!"

"That's Leon," he snapped, and he swore that if he wasn't the Ice Prince everyone called him, he would have throttled her. "Grab the Keyblade."

"Psh, you don't have to be so bossy," she muttered, but did as she was told.

-x-x-x-

"Squall, get up!" Rinoa giggled. "Sometimes you're just so lazy!"

Squall refused to dignify that with an answer, instead choosing to roll over so his back was facing her. When he realized that she wouldn't leave just because of that, he pulled his covers over his head as well.

She huffed and crossed her arms. "Squall, sometimes you just infuriate me!" With that, she turned and stalked out of the room.

Squall smirked. "That's because it's so easy."

When she returned an hour later, her tone was joking, but he knew that inside her words was a hidden threat, daring him to ignore her any longer. "Come on, lazy bum. Wake up!"

Leon blinked his eyes open slowly, disoriented, then groaned and rolled his eyes as he realized it had been Yuffie who'd spoken the last words. He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands and sighed. 'I'm going insane… Yuffie and Rinoa are nothing alike! …Okay, that's just a lie to make myself feel better, but still!'

Yuffie leaned down toward the Keyblade wielder as he groaned and rubbed his head. "You okay?"

The teen nodded slightly. "I guess…"

"Those creatures that attacked you are after the Keyblade. But it's your heart they really want, because you wield the Keyblade," she explained, causing Leon to smile. He didn't have to tell her to explain. Smart girl.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Kairi," they teen stated in response, smiling.

"Kairi? Who are you talking about?" she asked in confusion, frowning a little. "I'm the great ninja Yuffie."

The teen blinked at her in confusion. "Huh?"

Yuffie looked back at Leon and frowned. "I think you may have overdone it, Squall."

He sighed loudly. "That's Leon."

The teen turned his gaze on the Keyblade, frowning. "…The Keyblade…"

"Yeah," the ninja agreed, nodding. "We had to get it away from you to shake off those creatures." She smiled. "It turns out, that's how they were tracking you!"

Leon nodded in agreement. "It was the only way to conceal your heart from them. But it won't work for long." He sighed and stood up from leaning against the wall, then walked over to the Keyblade. "Still hard to believe that you of all people are the chosen one." He grabbed the Keyblade. It disappeared from his hand and showed up in the teen's. "Well, I suppose beggars can't be choosers. What's your name?"

The teen seemed to be getting frustrated. "Why don't you start making sense! What's going on here?" He paused, then as an afterthought answered, "And my name's Sora!"

Yuffie shifted her weight from foot to foot nervously, then looked over at Leon. "Maybe you better explain, Leon. I'm no good at explaining things."

Leon rolled his eyes. "Tch, you've got that right."

"Hey!" she exclaimed indignantly, planting her fists on her hips. "That's not nice!"

"You said it first, not me," he replied, leaning against the wall again. He turned his gaze on the Keyblade wielder. "There's something you need to understand. There's more than just your world. There are many worlds. Every star you see? That's a different world."

"Every star?" Sora asked softly.

"Every star," Leon repeated, nodding. "They've been a secret because they've never been connected, until now. When the Heartless came, everything changed."

"The Heartless?"

"The ones that attacked you, remember?" Yuffie reminded him, tilting her head a little.

The gunblader nodded his agreement and explained, "Those without hearts. The darkness in people's hearts—that's what attracts them. And there is darkness within every heart." He frowned slightly. '…Except hers…'

Sensing Leon's impending 'melancholy mood,' as she had dubbed it, Yuffie quickly turned to Sora and asked, "Hey, have you heard of someone named 'Ansem?'"

"Ansem?" the teen repeated, frowning, then shook his head. "No. What about him?"

"He was studying the Heartless!" the ninja explained. "He recorded everything he found out in some reports—"

"Very detailed reports," Leon added.

"—And its pages were scattered everywhere!" Yuffie finished, as if she hadn't just been interrupted.

"And only the Key can get you from world to world," the gunblade wielder stated, nodding at the key in the boy's hands.

"So… this is the key?" Sora asked, holding it up and tilting his head.

"Exactly!" Yuffie exclaimed, smiling at him.

Leon sighed. "The Heartless have great fear of the Keyblade. That's why they'll keep coming after you no matter what."

Sora frowned. "Well, I didn't ask for this."

The ninja shrugged carelessly. "The Keyblade chooses its master. And it chose you!"

"So, tough luck," Leon added, standing up straight and waving it away. "It's always a shock when your world gets sucked out from under you."

"How did all of this happen?" Sora asked softly, brows furrowing together. "I remember being in my room…" Leon felt his heart twinge as a look of panic crossed the boy's face. "Wait a minute! What happened to my home? My island? Riku! Kairi!"

He sighed and shook his head. "You know what? I really don't know."

"But…" Sora sighed quietly as his face fell in despair. "But… my friends…"

"Sooner or later, the Heartless will find you," Leon stated, catching the boy's attention again. "You'd best prepare yourself."

The Keyblade wielder tilted his head. "Prepare myself?"

The older brunet nodded slightly. "To fight for your life. Are you ready?"

Sora looked down at his feet, frowning slightly, then stood up, pure determination in place of sadness. "I'm ready!"

Leon smiled a little but quickly hid it and turned toward the door. "Yuffie, let's go join Aerith. She should be there by now with the other visitors."

"Leon!" the ninja cried, pointing toward the center of the room.

Leon turned sharply, holding Lion Heart up in an offensive stance to find a Knight standing in the middle of the room. He turned a pointed look at Yuffie. "Yuffie, go!"

She didn't need to be told twice. "Good luck, guys!" she exclaimed, running out the door quickly.

The gunblader glanced at Sora and nodded. "Sora, let's go!"

"Okay!" the teen replied, readying his Keyblade.

Leon took the two steps forward to close the space between himself and the Soldier and hit it with the flat of the blade. It went soaring out the window. He rolled his eyes and sighed. 'Damn, that's gonna cost me extra.' Knowing he couldn't just let the Heartless get away, he sprang out the window after it. 'But the Heartless will pay for it,' he added mentally, smirking as he remembered the amount of munny the Heartless always left behind.

When Sora landed and next to him, he spared him only a glance. "Don't bother will the small fry. Find the leader. Let's go!"

And with that, they went at the Heartless around them. When Leon next turned, he momentarily panicked when he found the teen nowhere in sight. 'Oh, shit!' He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, easily slicing through a Soldier as it jumped at him thoughtlessly. 'That kid's gonna be the death of me, I just know it.'

"Leon, this way!" Yuffie exclaimed, capturing his attention.

The older man turned in surprise, then ran after her, knowing that somehow she was sure of where the teen would be. It freaked him out sometimes, though. She was like… psychic. It was annoying, and when you wanted to be alone, your senses had to be better than hers, so you could run away.

Because you had to run away if Yuffie was following you and you wanted to be alone.

Finding the teen in the middle of Third District, he couldn't help but sigh in relief. And seeing on each of the teen's sides what had to be the King's attendants— …Good heavens, what were they? A duck and a dog? Well, the Keyblade wielder was a teenager…

Oh brother, what a team they made.

"So, you were looking for me?" Sora asked the two in confusion.

They both nodded. "Uh huh."

"They, too, have been searching for the wielder of the Keyblade," Leon stated, nodding at them as he crossed his arms.

The dog turned to Sora, nodding as well. "Hey, why don't you come with us? We can go to other worlds on our vessel."

For some reason, the word 'vessel' coming out of the dog's mouth was hilarious. Leon laughed in his head but kept his passive mask on.

The teen frowned. "I wonder if I can find Riku and Kairi…"

"Of course!" the duck replied instantly.

Leon raised an eyebrow. Sure, Sora's friends could be on a different world, but the probability of that— …He'd best keep that to himself. Needing to raise the teen's spirits, he ordered, "Sora, go with them. Especially if you want to find your friends."

"Yeah, I guess," Sora sighed, frowning.

"But you can't come looking like that," the duck stated. "Understand? No frowning. No sad face."

"Yeah! Ya gotta look funny, like us!" the dog added, smiling.

The duck nodded. "This boat runs on happy faces!"

Pft. Happy faces. Leon almost snorted.

"Happy?" the teen questioned, sighing again. When he lifted his head, however, he had the cheesiest grin.

Leon could have died. But of course, he's Leon. He would not show his amusement. …Well, okay, so he snorted, but no one noticed!

The dog laughed. "That's one funny face!"

Sora grinned. "Okay, why not? I'll go with you guys!"

The duck offered his hand up. "Donald Duck!"

"Name's Goofy," the dog added, placing his hand on top of Donald's.

"I'm Sora," the teen replied, smiling, as he rested his hand on top of Goofy's.

Goofy smiled. "All for one, one for all."

Agh, if he watched any longer, he was going to smile. Leon turned to leave.

"Oh, Leon, wait!"

…Would God never love him?

Sora ran up to him and pulled on his arm pleadingly. "Come with us! Please?"

Leon felt his eye twitch. Damn those puppy eyes. Damn them. "No."

"He's right, Sora," Yuffie sighed, patting the teen on the arm. She then grinned. "The ship would never be able to fly with a sour face like Leon's!"

"Oh, I'm sure I could be happy enough for both of us!" the Keyblade wielder replied, smiling at her, before once again turning puppy eyes on the man. "Please, Leon?"

"He can't come!" Donald exclaimed, hopping up and down. "We've got enough people!"

"But Leon can help!" Sora exclaimed, turning toward the irate duck. "He's probably been fighting for years! He could help me train with my Keyblade as we go along!"

Leon could only describe the feeling building in him as horror. Horror and anxiety.

"Well…" Donald was beginning to concede.

"Hey! He probably knows a lot about the Keyblade that he can tell Sora, too!" Goofy added.

Lightning strike him now.

"…Fine," Donald sighed. "He can come."

"Yay!" Sora hugged the older brunet happily. "Leon's coming!"

"Come on. We should go stalk up on potions," Donald ordered, walking toward First District.

Leon mouthed at the place the trio had been standing wordlessly. "I… But… What?"

"Looks like you're stuck traveling with them," Aerith stated, smiling at him.

Yuffie absolutely cackled. "Leon's going on a trip! Leon's going on a trip!"

"…I'm going to kill you," he stated, grabbing Lion Heart again as he walked toward her. She let out a squeal and sprinted for First District as well. "Where do you think you're going?!" Leon exclaimed, scowling, then turned to Aerith with a small smile. "That should get rid of her for a few minutes, right?"

The healer smiled back at him. "Long enough for you to escort me to Cid's shop," she answered. "Then you can meet up with Sora, Donald, and Goofy. At least you can make sure that nothing happens to them, right?"

"The silver lining," he sighed, rolling his eyes. "Alright. I'll go. …But only because I don't want them to get hurt."

"Not because you really want to go look at other worlds?" she asked, smiling knowingly.

"No," he replied, scowling at her.

So, yeah, Leon has somehow found himself traveling with Sora, Donald and Goofy. And there will be lots of suffering. XD At least on Leon's part. Because we all know how blissfully unaware Sora and Donald are, and if Goofy does notice, he's not gonna say anything. Feedback is always appreciated, yo!