Ch 1: Return

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters.

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Leon seethed in anger as he mulled over the earlier events of this day.

Earlier, he had been out patrolling with Cloud and Aerith for stray heartless. They hadn't exactly expected heartless to be there, though. So Leon fully blamed his current problem on Sora. True, that kid had said that only most of the heartless were gone, but he was definite in sayint that Hollow Bastion shouldn't have any at all.

Well, Sora had been wrong. The heartless had ambushed them, cutting off all escape exits and attacking with a fierce hostility.

On a normal day, the heartless would have been beaten easily. But they were stronger than usual, and their numbers did not seem to cease. And, though no one had the humility to admit it, the heartless weren't exactly losing.

Side stepping an attacking heartless, Leon quickly swiped his sword at it, only to have another one attack and leave a gnashing wound on his chest. He winced in pain, and killed the heartless. Staggering, Aerith came to Cloud and attempted to heal a large gnash a heartless had just put, only to have four more knock Aerith down.

Leon had watched as Cloud, cursing, tried to help Aerith, but more heartless were blocking the path. Leon tried to help, but more heartless were coming at him. He effortlessly killed them, but he was becoming tired, and was weak from blood loss; Leon looked at Cloud, and saw that he too had fatigue in his eyes.

Not good.

And as the heartless bowled him over, Leon knew there wasn't a chance of surviving. There were just too many. 'Heh, so it comes to this…In the end, I lose to the darkness…'

Shut up, Mr. Angsty.

Ugh. Leon was dying, and the only thing resounding in his mind was the name 'Yuffie'.

Leon figured that, of course, someone had to look after the youngest member of their group, and Leon was the only one who repeatedly volunteered to look after her.

Without him, Yuffie would get into a lot of trouble, and therefore that was why her name was on his mind when he thought he was going to die. Squall pointedly ignored his conscience, which didn't seem to agree.

The heartless were coming on to him, suffocating his air. Leon thought he was dead.

So why was he still thinking about Yuffie?

...Leon suddenly snapped his head up as a gunshot was sounded.

One, two, three, four more heartless were killed effortlessly by a gun, and the man wielding the weapon came into view. The man pummeled into the heartless, and was destroying them with a grace that most could not achieve. Squall caught a glimpse of a red cloak, and watched the newcomer effortlessly kill of the heartless.

…A red cape…a gun…

…It reminded him of something…Didn't Yuffie mention something like that before?

The man had finished killing the heartless, and Leon vaguely felt the essence of magic as it worked its healing capabilities.

When the man had finished healing all of them, he gathered his gun and quickly walked away.

He was drifting off to unconsciousness, when he heard Cloud's voice. "Wait! Vincent…?"

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Some time later, Leon looked hazily at the stranger, and observed him as his vision cleared. The man had on a tattered red cape, and was wearing a black shirt, black leather pants, and golden metal boots. He had long, messy black hair, and crimson eyes. His left arm was replaced with a golden claw. Leon supposed that was good for intimidation purposes.

On the whole, his appearance screamed 'Vampire'.

Leon wondered where he got that from; such labeling was usually placed by Yuffie. He supposed that Yuffie must have been talking about vampires one day.

The stranger was currently talking to Cloud.

"…How do you know my name?..."

Cloud looked a little uncomfortable at having a gun pointed at him. "We found you sleeping, you know, at the mansion! Don't you remember fighting Sephiroth, Vincent?"

Vincent put away his gun, but still looked rather suspicious. "I remember…Cloud…" He stepped back and eyed Aerith. A flash of doubt crossed his face, but it was quickly hidden under an emotionless mask. "Wasn't she…dead?"

"She was, but she's alive now." Cloud said, with pride and happiness. Vincent said nothing, and stepped back into the shadows. "Oh, and this is Squall Leonhart. We met after the heartless attacked. Squall, this is Vincent Valentine. He helped us defeat Sephiroth. "

"It's Leon." Leon didn't need someone else calling him Squall.

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"We haven't seen you in a while, Vincent. You should have at least told us that you were alive." Aerith had awakened and had been staring at Vincent in something related to shock and disbelief.

In truth, Aerith was joyful. Vincent was a good friend of hers, of course, but that was not the entire reason for her joy. It just so happened that a certain best friend of hers would be really, really happy at seeing him…

"Well, shall we continue to Hollow Bastion?"

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Leon returned to Hollow Bastion with Cloud, Aerith, and the newcomer Vincent Valentine. Vincent had barely spoken a word throughout the journey, merely answering one of Cloud's or Aerith's questions. They passed by Cid's shop, and Cid and Tifa made their way towards them, both looking angry.

"Finally! What took you guys so long!?!"

"Well, it's about damn time you were here! Where the hell were you?"

"We were just about to send a search party! Do you know how long you've been out?"

"Seriously, next time at least have the damned decency to call, or something-"

"We looked everywhere! We thought you were dead! You know how worried Yu-"

Both their voices died out when they finally registered that Vincent was there. Cid's expression was quite humorous, in Squall's opinion. Tifa had a similar expression of astoundment, but managed to wipe it off.

"Well, hello Vincent. Nice to meet you here." Elbowing Cid, she greeted Cloud and Aerith too.

"Er-yeah, well, nice seeing ya', vampire."

"…Hello, Cid, Tifa…"

The silence that followed was broken by a loud yell. "CID, TIFA, I STILL CAN'T FIND CLOUD, OR AERITH, OR - There you are, Squall! I was seriously gonna kick your ass if you had gotten yourself kidnapped, and then I would have had to fight the tournament by myself, and that so wouldn't be cool, and…"

Leon felt a surge of warmth as Yuffie started ranting and smiling at Leon. Looking back at Cloud and Aerith, she seemed about to launch in another tirade, but stopped abruptly as her gaze found that of Vincent's.

An exact ten seconds elapsed before Yuffie went "OH MY GAWD, it's Vinnie the vampire!" and she ran forward to hug him, and Vincent awkwardly returned the gesture.

Bile rose into Leon's throat, and cold daggers struck his heart.

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Later that night, Leon looked at his surroundings. He was in a bar. It was as bad as he'd imagined, but he was desperate for information. He found Cid shortly after, chugging down drink after drink. It was only until Leon was sure that Cid was drunk that he dared approach.

"Cid…I have some…questions." That seemed as good a start as any.

"Well, the hurry up and spit them out. I've got other things to do." Cid stared grimly at his empty mug, and promptly ordered another batch of beer.

"About…Vincent…" That name caused a wave of fury to come over Leon, although he wasn't sure where it came from. "Well…how do we know that we can trust him? It's possible that he could try to harm any one of us."

Cid laughed. "Ha! Vincent would never harm one of his old teammates. He journeyed with me, Cloud, Aerith, Tifa, Yuffie, and the rest of Avalanche, remember? I would know."

"Well then, what's his background? His past? People do change, you know."

"I suppose so. Hmfh. To be short, Vincent fell in love with a scientist's wife, said wife (name's Lucrecia, by the way) rejected him, and the husband, Hojo, experimented on Vincent. Vincent slept in a coffin for thirty years, and we woke him up."

"How old exactly is he?"

"Huh…Fifty seven." That was good, thought Squall. There was no way that he would be any sort of threat for Yu-. No. This interview was merely an ordinary assessment of another man. Yuffie had nothing to do with this. Vincent had nothing to do with Yuffie. He had to be sure, though.

"What was his –uh– relationship with Yuffie?" Great. He was thankful that Cid was drunk, and would hopefully not remember this conversation.

"She was head over heals in love with him."

Squall snapped his head back towards Cid. "What? Isn't he a little too old for her?"

"He's technically 27, same age as you. " And that, somehow, fueled Leon's incredulity. After all, surely Yuffie still had enough sense to stay away from him…

Cid shrugged, noticing Leon's internal struggle. "It was pretty obvious. Yuffie had a small crush on Cloud, then fell in love with Vincent. Vincent, based on afore mentioned love, rejected her, and Yuffie was heartbroken, or some other shit like that. Why do you care, anyways?"

"No reason." And with that, Squall abruptly exited the bar, trying to control his sudden jealousy.

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Cid stayed in the bar. Really, kids these days. Did Leon honestly think that he was drunk? Please.

Cid Highwood, master pilot, could drink twice that amount and still be sober. Cid felt no guilt for deceiving Leon, though. In Cid's mighty opinion, even an innocent Aerith or oblivious Yuffie could tell that Cid wasn't drunk.

Yuffie. Heh. Cid didn't really know what to think of Leon's sudden interest in her. He figured that he would just stay, far, far away from Leon or Vincent, and routinely beat up anyone who tried to hurt that darned brat. Nodding in satisfaction, he called to the waiter for another drink…

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Well, how was it? Any advice and/or constructive criticism?

Review, pretty please...?