Battle Scars

By Childhood Aspirations

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts II, Final Fantasy, or any of the characters.

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Leon lowered his sword finally, allowing the point to touch the ground. His whole body ached; he was exhausted. He was pretty sure his sword didn't usually feel this heavy.

The hordes of Heartless had been defeated.

A chill wind blew through the valley outside Hollow Bastion, but Leon didn't shiver. He didn't allow himself to feel the cold, pushing it into one corner of his mind to bring out later, when he could acknowledge it.

Cloud was nowhere in sight. Somewhere alone the line, Leon had lost track of the spiky-haired blonde and his huge weapon, wrapped in tattered cloth and bound with brown leather strips.

It was kind of hard to avoid seeing something like that, which meant that Cloud was definitely…somewhere…else…

Leon was too tired to even finish the thought in a remotely intelligent manner. He glanced up at the sky, wearily pushing his brown hair out of his eyes. The beam of light was gone, but he could still picture it.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy were gone with it, somehow sucked from the battle and torn from the world. No doubt they were off to save another one.

He couldn't find it in his heart to envy them that. Keeping Hollow Bastion safe was difficult enough.

"Leon."

He turned at the sound of his voice. Tifa was standing there, watching him. "What is it?"

"Come on. The others are over here." She pivoted and started walking away; he followed her, barely managing to keep his sword from dragging the whole way there.

The others consisted of Cloud, (so that's where he'd gone) Aerith, who was administering potions to those who needed them, Yuffie, who was just in the act of receiving one, and King Mickey, with Keyblade in hand.

Cloud looked up when Leon neared and gave him a brief nod before turning his attention back to the King. Tifa moved closer to listen in on what the King was saying.

Aerith looked up and smiled at him gently, casting a potion over his head without a word. Apparently he looked as much like he felt to be worthy of one. He stood still, feeling his wounds knit together again. A part of the weariness lifted, and he found he could stand a bit straighter. His sword wasn't quite so heavy anymore.

Yuffie, sitting on the ground with her arms resting on her knees, caught his eye. She met his gaze and gave a faint smile, mirroring the level of exhaustion he still felt. He moved to stand over her, looking down at her.

"Have fun?" she murmured, but that wide grin was missing from her face and the fact that she wasn't bouncing on the tips of her toes seemed to contradict the usual image.

Concern emerged from the mass of emotions in his heads, but he pushed it away quickly…most of it, anyway.

"Sure. You?"

"'Course," she said, pushing herself up slowly. She wobbled slightly on her feet, and Leon almost reached out a hand to steady her before snatching it back, biting his tongue. She didn't see, fortunately. She turned and walked off by herself.

Aerith came up behind him, hands clasped behind her back, worry written on her normally peaceful face. Leon glanced down at her and then toward Yuffie's retreating back.

Muttering something under his breath, he took off after her.

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Aerith smiled gently, watching him go.

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Yuffie only looked at him as he fell into step with her, and Leon searched his mind for any sign of intelligence. He had to say something to her.

He couldn't think of anything.

So he studied her discreetly instead.

Her short black hair glistened with sweat, as much plastered to the back of her neck as was long enough. He glimpsed scratches running down her slender legs and arms. One potion apparently hadn't been enough to cover all the damage. Dirt smudged her cheeks and the tip of her nose.

One side of his mouth tipped up into a smile, just as she stopped walking and turned to face him, brows raised.

"Are you just going to walk with me, or do you have something to say to me, Leon?" she demanded, tapping one foot on the ground impatiently.

That half smile vanished as quickly as he could make it. He cleared his throat. Say something. "Are you alright?" He froze immediately afterwards. That wasn't exactly what he'd meant by "something."

A small smile tugged at Yuffie's lips. She almost looked…pleased. "Yeah. It takes more than Heartless to keep me down." She bit her lip and threw her arms around him abruptly. "We did it, Leon! We beat 'em!" Drawing away quickly, she grinned, apparently not embarrassed at all, and skipped away.

Leon stared after her, which for him was the equivalent of gaping. Did she just-? Yes. She'd hugged him.

And it had felt like nothing he'd ever felt before.

That's gonna leave a mark.

A mark on his memory.

A mark on his heart.

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(A/N- I apologize if Yuffie and/or Leon seemed out of character, which they probably did. I don't really know anything about them regarding their lives and personalities inside Final Fantasy. I only know what I've observed in Kingdom Hearts. Anyway, hope it was at least decent. Please review! Thanks! -C.A.)