Disclaimer: I haven't played Kingdom Hearts yet! However, I have spoiled it for myself already…hehe…^_^;;; So, forgive any inconsistencies you find in the fic from the game. Hee hee J

Chapter 1:

The Heartless came from every direction by the hundreds. Their dark shadows blotted out the colors of the Town. Soon, the brilliance would disappear as it had happened in the past. The hopelessness that pierced Leon in the heart was even more than what his body felt.

Lying on his back, in a pool of his own blood. Looking up into a dark, black sky. There were no stars, no moon. The buildings around him slowly fell apart and crumbled into the shadows. He could hear the screams of the people echoing through the rumble of the dying city.

It would happen again. They've lost their world.

They…

Her…

He could not breathe anymore. His chest hurt, as though his lungs have submitted themselves to the hopelessness. Blood gurgled up his throat, choking him even more. He heaved and hacked desperately to force air into his lungs. His vision blurred from the tears and pain.

His body convulsed violently at the absence of air. His cry was voiceless.

The last thing Leon saw was his outstretched arm before him fading away into the shadows.

The heartless laughed.

-------

Suddenly, he sprang up on a bed.  Coughing madly in a futile attempt to relieve himself of the pain. He pressed one hand against his mouth, yet blood seeped through his fingers. His chest burned, his arms were sore and his head continued to torture him with a dull, heavy pounding.

He could still hear the evil laughter. The visions of his dying Town swam across his head.

Slowly, the painful fit eased away. Leon clutched his heaving chest and took quick gasps of air.  As his lungs filled with the much needed air, he became aware of the other injuries that plagued his body. Wounds and bruises made themselves known to him all at the same time it made him feel faint and even weaker.

He fell back on the bed from exhaustion. Not even noticing the two gentle hands the supported his head and chest as he lay down.

It was dark and very cold. Leon shivered even as a warm blanket was placed over his body. The Heartless' laughter slowly faded away and melted into a strange mechanical whir.

Someone was whispering. Somehow, it made him feel safer. A soft hand gently caressed his forehead. As gentle as her whispering his name. Again and again.

Her…

He slowly opened his eyes and let themselves adjust to the dark surroundings. Although he felt the shadows still lurking, in this darkness, but it was calm now. The room was unfamiliar with the only source of light coming from a small window.  It was dark outside.

She whispered again. His eyes slowly focused on the figure that loomed above him. It was of a woman's.  With great effort, he lifted one trembling hand to touch her face if only to confirm what he was seeing. He caressed her cold cheeks for a moment, desperately trying to recognize her.

His heart leapt. He thought she had perished along with the Town.

"Aeris…"

She smiled and her warm tears began to soak his fingers. "You're awake!" She cried happily. "We were so worried about you, Leon."

"Wh-where am I?" He asked weakly, still caressing her cheek in his hand. Afraid that she would disappear into the shadows as well.

"We're in a Gummi Ship. It's been ten-eleven hours since we escaped Traverse Town."

Traverse Town. Leon's expression grimed as he remembered the colorful Town disappear in his nightmare. "What happened to the Town?" He didn't have to ask, he knew the answer. Even if it tore his heart even more that the pain of his injuries, Leon had to confirm it.

Aeris' long silence was enough.

His hand dropped to the bed and balled into tight fists. "It's gone too, isn't it?"

Aeris nodded and brought one hand to wipe away her own tears.

Leon shut his eyes and turned his face away from her. "Damn."  He was angry. Again, the Heartless were too strong for him. They took away their home again, now they were on the run. The darkness and the shadows were triumphant. Everything he saw and heard in that nightmare. Every ounce of pain and anguish from everyone that lived in Traverse Town was true.

"But-but we're together, right, Leon?" Aeris' voice broke through his troubled thoughts. She was trying to smile for him, as she always had. But he could hear her voice breaking. "Yuffie, you, Cid…we all made it out. W-we'll find another home and---find a way to stop them again."

"For how long?" He replied coldly, still facing away from her. "We find a home…try to get stronger…fight them--- AGAIN and they always win!"

"W-we just have to wait for Sora and the others to---"

"I'm getting TIRED of this, Aeris!" He snapped his face toward her. She flinched away from his furious face, and then attempted to regain her calm even as tears streamed down her beautiful face.

Aeris took a deep breath, and then smiled sadly. "Please don't lose hope, Leon."  She lay her hand gently on his tight fist, before tucking him again in his warm blanket. With another warm smile, she stood up. "I have to attend to the others now. Yuffie should be here in a while with some food."

He regretted just watching her leave the room. But the door closed before he could apologize.

----------

Leon slowly made his way through the dim corridors of the Gummi Ship. The corridor outside his cabin was lined with the surviving townsfolk. Some lay on mattresses, while others lay on the cold wooden floor. Men, women and children sat morosely to themselves. Paying little attention to him or to anyone else.

Already, their faces were gray with the shadow of despair.

He limped onward. After Yuffie had fed him, he stubbornly tried to get out of bed and walk. He assessed that his worst injuries were a couple of broken ribs and swollen lump at the back of his head. He couldn't remember how he was hit, or how he escaped. Then again, with all the Heartless creatures jumping at him at the same time, no one could isolate one injury from the other.

Yuffie escaped with a few bumps and scratches. She fell asleep while telling him how they found him and managed to escape. All the while her arms were wrapped around his waist. It wasn't like him to let anyone near. However, he knew that underneath her annoying talkativeness, she too had just lost a home.

He let her sleep on his bed. Put on his white shirt and black pants and left the room. 

He passed through more corridors and rooms. More survivors greeted him. There were many on the ship, but not everyone from the town would have fit in. He spun around making his way back the corridor to find the cockpit, where he spotted a figure in pink in one of the rooms.

Aeris had her back turned to the door while kneeling over a mattress where an old man lay. She was busy wiping the sweat from his haggard face with a towel; she didn't notice Leon step into the room.

The room was larger than his cabin and was lit by a single candle. Eight or ten injured people lay on mattresses, while others slumped against the walls. Leon made his way to Aeris. As he got closer, he could hear her humming to the old man while gently holding his fragile hand in hers.

"Aeris," He whispered, laying a hand on her shoulder. She jumped, startled and turned around to face him.

"You should be resting." She said quickly.

"I came to tell you the same thing." Leon knelt down slowly beside her. Wincing at the pain from his broken ribs. "Yuffie has filled me in on the details. She's asleep right now. You should do the same." Although she looked haggard, she would never admit that she was a thousand times more tired than she appeared.

Aeris shook her head slowly. "No, someone should be here for them when they wake up."  She tucked the old man's hand back in the blanket and looked at her hands on her lap. "You all fought very bravely. It's the least that I can do to---" Her voice trailed off and she just stared at her hands as teardrops fell on them.

"I-I wish I could have done more." She whimpered. "A lot of people lost their homes and friends. This man lost his grandchild---and the other one lost his wife."

"I'm sorry." Leon said. "Aeris, I shouldn't have---"

She looked at him. Tears streaming down her warm green eyes. "No, no, it's okay. We're all together, that's all that matters to me. I'm thankful, that it---it didn't happen to me."

When she looked straight into Leon's eyes the world around him froze. All he could see was her lovely face in an expression of a frightened little child confessing a most sacred secret. He found his eyes drawn toward her trembling lips when she asked: "Am I being selfish?"

He wanted to answer outright that she was being foolish. But she began to weep uncontrollably. All of the frustration, anguish broke through her defenses. She covered her face with her hands and bent forward in a trembling heap. Immediately, Leon gently scooped her up by her shoulders and propped her against his chest. One arm firmly wrapped around her shoulders, the other hand gently caressing her head.

"You silly girl," he said, pressing his cheek against her hair. "sometimes being selfish is the only thing that gives you hope." Leon closed his eyes and pressed her against him a little firmer. "I'll never lose hope, Aeris. If that's the only thing that would keep us together."

He felt Aeris' arm encircle his waist.  He let her cry and he'd tirelessly comfort her. It was a while before she calmed down, when she had fallen asleep in his arms.

-------------

Notesies: I decided to use the spelling "Aeris" instead of "Aerith" more out of habit. J