A/N: Last chapter! Three people guessed right, so they get the first three pages of the new fic. The first chap of that comes out on Sunday. And for those who want to know, the next couple is...Roxas and Axel! WOOHOO! Anyways, thanks for playing:D

MATURE CONTENT AHEAD! *salute* Read wisely:D

Cloud

I'd convinced Leon to take a bath before me, making sure to tell him he didn't need to wait up for me and could just go to bed after he was done washing up. I refused to settle into my bed, feel the softness of it without Leon next to me. So, taking a bath after him helped stall some time, keeping me occupied while I waited for the hotel to become less busy so I could sneak into Leon's room. The hill view was quite amazing for a while.

When my hair stopped dripping with water and was only damp, that's when I decided to go out into the hallway, silently walking over to Leon's room, making sure nobody was there while I pushed the door open. Even if someone saw me, I doubt the person would instantly think I was going in there to give Leon a good night kiss and use him as a pillow, but I didn't want to screw anything up, so I was being cautious. Which is why I'd gotten two rooms to begin with.

Pressing the door softly shut behind me once inside his room, I peaked over to the bed, seeing Leon's sleeping form, leading me to smile as I tip toed my way over there. I wondered how long it would take him to realize I was here, I did know I wouldn't be able to climb into bed with him and surprise him, because the silly man was alert even while sleeping. I think I only managed to cross half the room...

"Did you get the rooms confused, Cloud?" Leon's voice was soft and full of humor as he rolled over and leaned up onto his elbow.

"No," I whispered back, walking the rest of the way, not bothering to tip toe anymore. "I waited a good measure of time in my room before coming into yours. I've been planning this ever since I got the two rooms." Crouching down beside the bed, I leaned onto the mattress. "Can I?" I asked, feeling shy for some reason.

"Get in here..." Whispering and scooting back against the wall, Leon opened the blankets to welcome me into his bed. I grinned, feeling a bit giddy as I climbed onto the mattress, sighing contently as he placed the blanket over me.

"Oh god..." I moaned, "I knew these beds would be amazing..."

Chuckling and kissing the back of my neck, Leon murmured, "What am I? Chopped liver?" His arm wrapped around me and held me close to his chest.

Twisting in his arms, I managed to turn so I was facing him. "I didn't try the bed in my room because I only wanted to try it with you in it." I told him, knowing how very unmanly that must be of me, but I don't think I could really care at this point. Shuffling closer, I loved the way his arms felt around me, and how soft his skin felt underneath my palm. I pressed my mouth against his neck, happily breathing him in.

"Cloud..." Moaning and shifting so his mouth caught mine in a soft kiss, he nipped a little at my lips. "I can't wait til we have our own house..."

"Our..." I repeated, lips moving against his, my stomach tightening in that good way it did whenever I was close to Leon. I kissed him, trying to keep it soft, but the fact that he said 'our' made me want to kiss him very deeply to show him how much I'd liked hearing that. And this was also very different... We'd only touched each other while in the stream. We were in a bed now. Would Leon still want to do those things even if we weren't in the stream? Maybe he was too tired. It had been a long day and tomorrow we had to do a lot of stuff. He probably just wanted to sleep. And the stream wasn't here...

Groaning, Leon surprised me by flipping me over so that I was on top of him, his fingers gripping and holding onto my hair and palming my butt at the same time. He slowly pushed his hips into mine, panting against my lips.

"This is new." I murmured, moaning softly as he created some more friction. Now, I'd never done any of this stuff, the things nobody talked about... I'd been with Klaus on an intimate level, but never had he touched me the way Leon did. He always went straight to the point. Straight to the point could be nice, but I was really enjoying that Leon wanted to do more than that and like me, wasn't talking about going straight to the point yet.

The library in the boarding house had a restricted section we weren't supposed to go into. They were books from foreign lands. I'd gotten my hands on one by accident... It came from Japan. I'd read some very interesting things that had made my head warm so bad, I hadn't been quite sure if I'd ever cool down again. Which is why I'd pushed it to the far back of my mind, never thinking of it again. That is, until now...

"Can't help it...You're amazing..." Still running his hands all over my body, he kept letting out small moans of pleasure. This man could melt me entirely with his words alone. Kissing him, I did it with care and fever, but then sat up, breaking the kiss so I could breath in, needing some air. I didn't stop our movements though, appreciating them too much. Palms flat onto his chest, I rocked my hips into his, my eyes hooding.

"Leon..." I moaned, his hands grasping my sides, encouraging me to continue. "Can I try something?" I managed to get out between pants.

"Yeah." He was panting as hard as I was, and the evidence of his excitement nudging up against my own. Swallowing nervously, I hoped to god he wouldn't freak out as I leaned forward, sliding down his legs some so I could press my mouth against his chest, placing soft kisses all over his skin, slowly making my way down. The book swore it felt very good, so I sincerely hoped it wasn't a lie or something only the Japanese could enjoy.

Moving my legs in between his, I managed to lie down onto my stomach, kneeling onto one knee while I slipped out my tongue, letting it slide down to his belly button, my left hand holding onto his hip, while my right settled onto his thigh, rubbing it softly while I let my kisses trail down below his belly button. I looked up quickly as I hooked my thumbs into the edge of his underwear, making sure he wasn't thinking me crazy.

His eyebrows were raised and he licked his lips, nodding his head. "I trust you..."

I gave him a smile and then pulled his underwear down, breathing in shakily as I prepared myself for what I was about to do. Averting my gaze from Leon's eyes as I wasn't sure I could do this while looking at him because this was all so very strange, and I couldn't be sure if he would like it, I let my right hand wrap around the base of his length, rubbing slowly.

Leaning forward, I grabbed some courage and then slipped my tongue out, letting it run up his length, moving up onto my elbows so I could swirl it around the tip of him, quickening the pace of my hand some before opening my mouth and slowly guiding him there, my lips wrapping around his dick. Okay, this was a little strange, but definitely not bad. Feeling somewhat reassured, I moved my mouth down his length, letting my tongue lick him, sucking gently.

"Oh shit, Cloud. That feels...ugh...amazing..." I felt his legs tremble as my mouth moved over and around him. Oh, that was good. Relieved, I relaxed, managing to quicken the pace with both my hand and mouth, opening my eyes so I could look at him and because it was hard to top the image of Leon so carefree, relaxed and very happy. I moaned, bobbing my head down on him faster.

Panting my name, his fists clenched the bedsheets and he was leaning forward, face spotted with a thin layer of sweat. "Cloud, it's coming..." He said quietly, almost unable to speak. Keeping my mouth on him, I sucked harder, squeezing him with my hand, moaning around him. His body stiffened beneath me, and I swallowed, continuing to do so when the liquidy stuff shot out of him.

This way we wouldn't have to worry about the bed sheets. It tasted a bit weird, but I could care less as Leon seemed to be doing very good, his member softening as I slowly released him, licking him softly, chuckling as his legs trembled every time I did, clearly very sensitive.

"It tasted very salty." I informed. He couldn't answer right away, as his pants filled my ears instead. Releasing the sheets from his clenched fists and slowly laying back down to relax completely, he sighed.

"That's good to know. I...I want to make you feel good too, Cloud. I've never felt this way with anyone before and it's all so new. But, " He slowly used his arms to sit up and scoot closer to kiss my cheek shyly. "I'm so very glad I met you."

Sitting up, I settled myself close to him, wrapping my arms around his neck. "Me too..." I murmured and then, "A Japanese book taught me that." I shrugged, "I'm not sure if I did it exactly right, but you seemed to like it." I grinned, rather satisfied with what I'd just managed to do.

"Yes, I did." In the dim light from the moon outside, I saw Leon blush. "You say," Gulp. "there's a book that taught you that?" He sounded very surprised and a little unsure.

I nodded sheepishly, "I wasn't supposed to read it. It was in the restricted section of the boarding school's library. But the guys dared me to go in there and get a book that is called 'Kama Sutra'." I ducked my head against his neck, grinning as I pushed us back down so we were lying on the bed. "The Japanese wrote it, showing the arts of..." Gulp. "Sex. Apparently these women called 'Geisha's' learn and then perform these arts on the man that... Well, they pay for it I assume."

Nodding slowly, Leon relaxed but not before sliding his hand beneath my underwear and gripping my dick in his hand. "I've heard of those. Not Geisha's, but they are saloon girls in America." Moving his hand up and down, he leaned in to kiss me. "Can I try that thing you did?" He asked nervously.

Grasping his shoulders, I kissed him sloppily, already gone in the sensation his hand was offering me. "Yeah. Yes, go ahead-" I moaned, "Okay..."

"Lay back." He instructed, and moved so that I could settle on my back and he settled on top of me, placing a kiss on my neck and mimicking my actions by trailing kisses down my body. Before he got to my underwear, he'd used his hands to pull it down. Removing them completely, he dropped them on the floor and only hesitated for a moment before settling himself on top of me and wrapping his hand back around me. "You ready?" I licked my lips, nodding my head, my fingers sliding into his hair, letting them rest there lightly.

"Okay. I'm ready." Licking his lips and sending me a nervous but determined look, he bent down and wrapped his lips lightly around the end of it. Humming, he quickly started licking and sucking, seemingly unable to get enough as his movements were quick and erratic.

My eyes widened, the tips of my fingers curling around his brown locks, thighs tightening and relaxing beneath him, a delightful shiver running up my spine. "Uh, oh, shit, that feels so gooo-" I moaned loudly, sitting up some so I could gently hold onto his head, my fingers stroking to his hair to keep on encouraging the wonderful movements he was putting on me. "I- Leon- You're so handsome..." I'm not sure how that came out, but it was true. "And sweet too." Yes. "I'm rambling..." I moaned out.

Panting harshly, I continued to blabber on lots of unfinished sentences that sometimes made sense, but mostly didn't, switching over to dutch by the time that rush was building up and my brain couldn't function coherently anymore. "Leon!" I warned quickly, body stiffening.

Refusing to move, he determinedly stayed put and swallowed every bit of what I released licking me as I softened. "Hmmm, that tasted different, but good." Smiling as he finally sat up and released me, he panted and waited for me to catch my breath.

"Leon..." I breathed, laying back, "Leon..." I repeated breathlessly, pulling him on top of me. "Leon." I chuckled, smiling. "That was very, very good..." I murmured, kissing him softly. "I'm happy I'm with you." I really was. "Not just because we seem to be very good at this type of stuff. I like being with you all the time. Even this afternoon at the dining table when I couldn't touch you, which was a tad irritating, but sitting with you is much better than not."

Settling himself next to me and pulling the covers back up around us, he sighed contently. "It is kinda hard, but as soon as we get the ranch back, we can do whatever we want, whenever we want. Okay?" Sounding a little sleepy, he nuzzled the side of my head.

"Okay." I agreed, pecking his lips softly, pressing myself closely against him. "Night Leon..." I murmured.

Leon

Waking up at my usual time, I smiled down at Cloud and gently kissed his cheek. Whatever it was that we had done last night had been amazing. I'd never heard about anything like that, but I guess it was a good thing that Cloud was an educated sort of guy. Quietly and carefully moving around on the bed, trying not to wake him up, I got out of bed and made my way over to my clothes and got dressed.

Grimacing at the star that was in my pocket, I sighed and pinned it to my chest. I'd never been a marshal before, but I'd heard it could be easy or it could be hard. With a town this size and this settled, I didn't really foresee a lot of lawlessness, but instead I figured there would be land and cattle disputes. It would be hard for an outsider to know who to trust, but it would also be a good thing to have an outsider to see the logic between disputes.

Taking one last longing look at Cloud, I shoved my feet into my boots and silently opened the door and went next door to Cloud's room. Better make it at least look like someone had slept in here last night. Quickly messing up the bed some, I glanced around and figured it looked good. His stuff was in here, it was just his body that wasn't. Grinning and leaving his room, I put my hat on and went down to the dining room.

On the way there I passed the front desk and didn't see anybody there. Shrugging, I figured that I'd talk to whoever was there later and work out us staying here for a week or so. After breakfast I was planning on going over to the marshal's office and check out the jail and see what sort of business needed to be resolved right away. It was on the opposite end of town the hotel was on, right next to the telegraph machine.

It was supposed make things easier when you had to send out warrant information. I also wanted to track down the mayor and see who the best candidate was for a deputy. Someone familiar with the town and everyone in it, preferably someone who wasn't connected to anyone and who could answer my questions. A deputy was a safe position as anything dangerous was usually done by the marshal or in a county, the sheriff. I should also find out who the judge was, as well as who to see about reporting to. Probably the governor or whoever was right under him.

Sitting down in the same spot Cloud and I had sat down yesterday, I spotted one of the girls from yesterday. Raising my hat to get her attention, I cleared my throat. "Can I get a cup of coffee and whatever is for breakfast please? And make it double for when my friend wakes up." Cloud usually didn't sleep very long past when I got up, so I was betting he would be right behind me.

"Yes of cou-" She tilted her head curiously, stepping closer before her eyebrows raised. "Oh! You're the new marshal?" She asked, smiling broadly, "I'll get you that breakfast right away, sir." She nearly walked away, but then turned back, reaching out to touch my arm. "My name is Lilliane, but you may call me Lilli." She blushed. "May I know your name?"

Smiling politely, I said, "Squall Leonhart. Nice to meet you." Tipping my hat in greeting I went back to staring out the window and watching the town come awake.

"I'm sure you will keep us very safe, marshal..." She murmured before giggling and finally turning to get me my coffee. Sighing, I dismissed her from my mind. I didn't need any type of distraction from moony females while I tried to settle into my new job. It paid a hundred dollars a month, plus whatever I spent on ammunition. Which was about twice what I would make as a cowhand and despite how rich Cloud said he was, we needed to play it smart and bring in money while putting the ranch back in order. If we ever got out there. I had the deed in my front pocket and it was going to go into the marshal's safe in the office for safekeeping. Whoever my deputy ended up being would have to help me find people who could help me oust those squatters.

Taking a sip of my coffee, I watched the general store open up and then the bank, followed by the seamstress. It seemed like such a perfect place to settle down. I figured I should write Tifa or send her a telegram informing her of where I'd be living for now. I'd let her know as soon as Cloud told me how much he wanted for half the ranch. Speaking of Cloud, I glanced around hoping that he'd finally rolled out of bed at some point.

I heard a cheerful female voice, "Are you sure? I won't mind just taking them and making sure they are clean by the end of the day." Cloud appeared in the dining room area's opening, the receptionist walking right beside him. His hair was sticking up in all directions, his shirt wasn't tucked in properly and his nose was crinkled as he stared at the girl.

"No, it's fine, thank you." He said.

"Really, Cloud? I can call you Cloud, can I?" He frowned, scratched his head, and nodded. "It wouldn't be an issue, it's a slow day." She pressed, giving him a warm smile.

Cloud yawned, "You know what, the moment my clothes need to be cleaned? I promise I'll come to you straight away." After giving her a sleepy smile, he walked away and came over to sit down at our table.

Once he was seated, he gave me a sleepy smile. "Maybe they don't pay her enough, hence why she's asking to do my laundry to earn some extra." I figured I'd keep it to myself about how she was obviously trying to get his attention and just let him wake up normally. Sipping my coffee, I glanced out of the corner of my eye and saw the other girl, Lilli I think, coming over with two plates stacked with food.

Placing the plates before each of us, she didn't walk off right away. "Squall..." She said, placing her hand on top of mine before I could reach for my fork. Cloud nearly choked on his sip of coffee, his eye twitching as he looked up at the girl. She cleared her throat delicately, not looking at Cloud once. "I'd like to invite you and your friend for lunch this afternoon. Charity and I wish to tell you everything you need to know on the town, I'm sure being the new marshal that would come in handy."

I gently moved my hand out from under hers and politely tipped my hat. "We'll give it a try. I'm not sure what my schedule will be like, but thank you for the invitation." No, she was not being very subtle. I had figured that the Charity girl had her eye on Cloud, but now I was pretty sure that they both had their eyes on us. I needed to be polite, but distant and hopefully that would discourage her a little bit.

Blushing she nodded, "Okay. Well, we'll be here." Giving me a smile, she gave Cloud a quick peek and then walked back off.

"Squall?" Cloud asked, his eyes pinned in a glare on the girl's retreating figure.

Blinking, I looked at him in confusion. "What?" Why did he just call me Squall? He knew that I preferred Leon, and he had never called me that before.

He shook his head. "I didn't call you Squall, the prissy little twit just did though." He growled out.

"What?" I said again, surprised at the venom in his voice. "What is the matter with you? She asked me my name and I told her it was Squall Leonhart." Shaking my head in confusion, I wasn't quite sure what he was mad at. "She called me marshal before."

He scoffed. "I'm not mad. I'm jealous, you silly man." He said easily. "That little curtsy, and the hand on top of yours and the soft voice and the-" He fluttered his eyelashes, "Squall..." He imitated her voice. "Ugh, women." He growled out for a finish.

Glaring at him, I took a bite of my flapjacks. "Does that go for the Charity girl that was basically panting after you all morning? I've never seen someone so eager to get a man out of his clothes like her." I narrowed my eyes at him, I guess slightly flattered that he was jealous of her, but if I was honest with myself I hadn't been particularly happy to see her fawning over him. "Just ignore her."

"Charity?" He frowned. "She's not interested in me." He seemed very sure of this. "And I did ignore her. I didn't tell her to stop it, did I? I behaved, sat back and let her touch you and be all coy because if I were to push her back and tell her I don't want her or any other woman touching you, we might just end up getting shot at."

I rolled my eyes at his obliviousness. "Did you see her panting after me asking to do my laundry? No, she was following you around, batting her eyes." Sighing and running my hands through hair under my hat, I tried to gather my thoughts. "I guess we are going to have to get used to attracting women." Glancing at Cloud, I licked my lips. "Especially you."

He looked surprised. "That was flirting?" He asked. "Well, now I'm definitely not going to let her do my laundry." He chuckled, leaning forward, his eyes telling me he wasn't cranky anymore. "Why especially me? Have you seen you?" He whispered just loud enough for me to hear. "Good Morning, Leon."

Wanting to lean closer and run my fingers through his hair, but biting my lip instead, I glanced around and made sure those girls were in the other room. "You are one beautiful guy, Cloud. Your hair and eyes, they aren't that common around here." I'd be in competition with the entire female population.

I saw him gulp, the tip of his tongue slipping out and his pupils became bigger, which they always did when he looked at me before kissing me deeply. "I may be uncommon, but you're gorgeous... I'm very, very lucky." He murmured. "And now I'm going to eat my breakfast before I do what I'd really like to do to you."

We quickly finished breakfast, it was quite good, and I was just sipping the last of my coffee when I saw Charity come back into the room, licking her lips while staring at Cloud. Oh man, this couldn't be good...

"Cloud?" She said the same way Lilli had said Squall, making me realize what Cloud had been jealous about. Wiping his mouth on a napkin, he looked up at Charity smiling down at him.

"Yes?" He said.

"May I have the key to your room, I'm going to get your laundry now."

Cloud blinked, "But, eh... I'm pretty sure I told you that it wasn't necessary."

She giggled, placing her hand on his shoulder and tugging on his shirt to straighten it. "You're so funny. You did agree, don't you remember? You were so sleepy..." Reaching out, she flicked one of Cloud's locks of hair out of his face, blushing. "It kept me from seeing both your eyes." She excused herself. Cloud blinked again, opened his mouth, closed it and then quickly snapped his head to the side, giving me a panicked look with huge wide blue eyes. 'Help'. He mouthed.

Clearing my throat and placing my napkin back on the table, I stood up. "Thank you for the breakfast, and if you're going to be doing laundry, you can add mine in as well. Come on, Cloud. I need to talk to you at the marshal's office. Let's head out." I couldn't think of any way to politely decline having his laundry done, and I wanted to get him out of there and away from her as fast as possible. We needed a plan.

"Yes!" Cloud agreed happily with me, jumping off his chair and avoiding touching her as best he could. "The nice marshal here is going to help me get my ranch back." He said, backing away from Charity as I caught up with him.

"Oh! You have a ranch?" She asked with a glint in her eye that set off warning bells in both my head and also Cloud's as he wrinkled his nose.

"Shit." He muttered, quickening his pace as we marched out of the hotel. "I think the first thing you need to do as a marshal is get more men into this town so women don't feel the need to cling onto the ones that set foot in this place." He shuddered. "I hope she won't be all over me every time we walk into the hotel." He added.

I nodded. "Yeah, you aren't the only one who has someone eying them like a piece of meat." Pointing out the way to my new office, I nodded in greeting to the various townsfolk who stopped to introduce themselves to the new marshal. I always introduced myself as Squall Leonhart, reserving the nickname of Leon for my close friends. Which was pretty much Cloud.

"Leon..." Cloud started after I'd managed to get us out of yet another introduction. "You're the new marshal of this town."

Looking at him in confusion I nodded. "Yeah...and?"

"They are going to count on you for a lot of things. You're the one who they'll go to when there is a problem." He pointed out some more obvious. "Don't you want to come across as a friendly person? Someone they can come to without feeling like they are bothering you?"

Unlocking my office, I stepped inside and held the door open for him. Thinking a little about what he said, I figured he had a point. Grumbling, I nodded. "I guess." Hanging my hat up, I walked over to my desk and dusted off the chair before sitting down. "I thought I was being friendly. I shook their hands." I must have been whining because he smirked at me.

"Yes, you did." He agreed. "But you have this way of looking at people that makes them feel like you don't have time for them." He shrugged, walking over to the chair in front of my desk, sitting down on it. "I thought you thought me useless for a good while in the beginning of our trip. Not anymore, but there was that moment. I know you don't want people to feel uncomfortable, but I'm afraid you're going to have to learn how to smile without people poking it out of you..." He grinned at me, clearly having a great time telling me all of this.

Rolling my eyes at him, I stuck my tongue out and rested my feet up on the desk. "Fine. I'll try and be more friendly, happy now?"

"No..." He whined. "That silly maid and the receptionist. What are we going to do about them? I don't want girls to chase you around, or me for that matter." He snorted, "Especially because I don't seem to realize it to begin with. They might lure me into a marriage proposal without my knowing it!"

Laughing out loud, I quickly sobered at the thought. He was right. We needed a plan. "We need a plan. We obviously can't tell them the real reason we want nothing to do with them, so what else can we say?" Leaning my head back, I tried to think of any really legitimate reason a man would discourage a woman.

Cloud pursed his lips, "We could be impotent." He cringed at that. He shook his head. "Men wouldn't say that out loud. Too much pride."

"Yeah and besides, how would we know we were impotent unless we'd tried it with a woman already. And we'd have to be married for that to work." As I said that, I suddenly had the best idea. "That's it!" I yelled, dropping my feet to the floor and making Cloud jump.

"We publicly try it with women and somehow fake impotence after that?"

Sending him a look for how silly and gross that idea was, I shook my head. "No, we say we're already married. We'll be married men. Off limits to other woman."

His eyes widened. "To each other? They'd kill us!" He shrieked, and then shook his head as he seemed to realize he wasn't using his brain. "We'd just have to pretend to be married to some random women, right? Because I don't really want to marry one..." He crinkled his nose. "Won't it be strange if they aren't with us?"

"No." My brain was quickly forming a plan. "No, we say that they're back east. They couldn't come west right away because of their health. And maybe, we'll go back east in a few months saying that we're going to visit them or something. They never come out here and we only visit. Make sense?" It would be perfect.

"Yes. But where would we actually go when we supposedly go east to visit our unhealthy wives? Is there-" He jumped up now, "Oh! Rings! we should get rings and that will show women instantly they don't even have to bother at all whatsoever!"

"Yeah. We can just say they were in our bags or something. And we really don't have to go anywhere. We can just stay out at our place for a few weeks." Closing my eyes, I tried to picture actually being out at our place...it would be nice.

"Our place..." Cloud sighed contently. "Okay, stop looking like you do, because your office has windows." He nudged his foot into mine. "We need to deal with this ranch issue quickly so we don't have to sneak around all the time."

"It's on my to do list for today. I promise." I winked at him. "I gotta talk to the mayor about some things, so I'll meet you for lunch at the hotel. Sound good?"

"Godsamme. Yes, okay. I'm not going back to that place without a ring though, so I'll go get us those and maybe just walk around and make nice. I'm your friend and the people know it, so if I'm friendly, they'll automatically believe you are too and so I'll help you with that until you learn how to smile." Straightening his shirt, he winked at me. "I'm giving you an imaginary kiss."

"I'll take what I can get." Smiling at him, I decided to get going on that ranch problem.

Cloud

After leaving Leon's office, I walked down the street, not quite sure where I would need to go to buy rings. I'd gotten caught by curiosity though, staring into every shop window and deciding I'd do like I told Leon I would, helping him out by making nice with people. The first place I went to was the bakery and that is where I got to say that I'm married for the first time ever.

"No Ma'am, I'm very much married."

The old lady behind the counter sighed, "Oh well, it was worth a shot, no one wants to marry my granddaughter."

I grinned. "I'm sure she's lovely. Give her some time and she'll find the right guy on her own."

"Aren't you sweet. Where did you come from?" She asked, handing me a piece of bread she'd made this morning with seeds she'd just purchased and she really wanted me to try a bit of it.

"The Netherlands, Ma'am. I'm here to take over my uncle's ranch. Strife ranch, five miles away from here? Me and my friend, he's the new marshal in town, got shot at by squatters."

And those were the things I repeated in almost every store because I was great at making conversation. The lady at the bakery hoped her granddaughter would marry soon so she wouldn't have to worry about her anymore and possibly retire. The seamstress was seven months pregnant.

"Squatters?" She shrieked, horrified as she sewed a button back on my shirt sleeve. She'd wanted to do that herself, I hadn't asked her or anything.

I nodded. "Yes! Terrible, isn't it? Would you happen to know who they might be?" I asked.

The seamstress didn't know, but the forger did.

"They're brothers, nasty little fellas. You'll need a marshal." The man told me in his deep voice, showing me some of the latest personal items he'd forged together.

"My friend is the new marshal." I let slip again. "Do you happen to make rings?"

And that's how I got us fake wedding rings to solidify our fake marriages with women back east. I went to the livery stable as well, knowing what that's what it was now and deciding Arrow and Kalinka would most likely be more comfortable here instead of tied to the post in front of the hotel. I just looked at the place though, wanting to ask Leon's opinion about it first, plus, there was no way I was moving Arrow myself. Big, mean looking stallion.

Armed with a guise and proof, I decided to go back to the hotel, figuring Leon would join me there soon as he'd most likely be hungry for lunch like I was starting too. Stepping inside, I fingered the ring in my pocket, slipping it onto my finger as I made my way over to the reception where Charity was smiling at me in warm welcome.

Smiling back, I pulled my hands out of my pockets, placed my hands on the edge of her counter and gave her a somewhat innocent look. "So, apparently we'll be staying about a week. Here's the money to cover both mine and the marshal's stay." I handed her the money, trying to read the look on her face, hoping she'd caught the ring.

"You're married." She said. Okay, so I guess she had.

"Yes, Miss, I am." I told her, glad I tested that line on the baker, seamstress and forger before her to make sure I could pull it off.

"Thank you for the advance, Mister Strife." She said, dismissing me. I smothered a grin at her sudden coldness. This ring should be cherished... And I'd make sure it would. It was the perfect repellent. Mighty happy, I made my way into the dining area and asked the girl who'd flirted with Leon earlier if she could bring me some lunch and for Leon too. There weren't that many people here, and the table Leon and I had picked as our own, was available.

The door opened and I recognized the sound of Leon's spurs as he walked inside squinting in the dim light. He dusted his pants off and glanced around smiling as he spotted me and stepped my way.

"Hey, Cloud. Did you order us lunch?" He sat down and glanced around, checking out the people in the room.

"I did." I told him and then fished the ring out of the pocket, sliding it over to him discreetly. "Works like a charm..."

Chuckling, he slid the ring on and thanked the waitress when she put down some meat and potatoes in front of us. "So, got myself a deputy. An older retired gentlemen by the name of Cid. You'll like him. Swears like a sailor and has a giant white handlebar mustache." Taking a bite, he nodded at me. "What have you been up to?"

Eating some food off my own plate because I was hungry, I answered. "I've looked around town, talked to some of the people. The lady at the bakery wants me to translate this recipe book she got from her grandparents. They were French. She also told me to tell you she's glad you took on the job and is very grateful." I chewed up some more food. "The seamstress says she'll make you some gun holsters after you come by to let her take your shoulder measurements and the forger wishes to talk to you about this issue his son is having with his neighbors."

He blinked and took a drink. "Wow. You got all that? You're really good at meeting people." Moving the food around his plate, he paused. "So, did you hear anything more about the squatters?"

I frowned, "Some. They're brothers and apparently quite rude. The people in town let them be because they threaten them when they stand up to them. They don't sound very nice at all."

He licked his lips and nodded. "That's what I've heard as well. I'm hoping that we don't have trouble with them. But I'm thinking that it might come to that. I plan on heading out there this afternoon as marshal to see if I can reason with them. If not, well, I'm hoping they'll listen."

"I'll come with you." I said instantly, not liking the hesitation he'd put there. "If they try and shoot again, I'll be there to help you out. I don't like guns, but I never miss when necessary."

"Cloud, I can't let you do that." Giving me a hard glare, he shook his head. "If something happens, you need to be safe. I'll take Cid and the mayor. We'll outnumber them and be peaceful."

"And I have to stay at the hotel and just hope you're right and things will be peaceful? It's our ranch, Leon, our being the keyword here. I'll be good, I promise. I won't get in your way or be a burden." I crossed my arms. "Animals? Sure, I'm not very good with them. But I'm good with people. People don't scare me."

Rolling his eyes, he patted his chin with a napkin. "Fine. Fine!" Sighing in defeat he looked a bit angry. "I'll be in my office. Come by in about an hour with your horse and we'll get going." Without a backwards glance, Leon grabbed his hat and was out the door before I could respond.

Mouth open, I let out an indignant sound, not happy he'd just walked out of here. Grumbling, I pushed my plate away, not hungry anymore. Silly man. I was just worried about him and couldn't just sit here and wait till he would be back. It wouldn't harm him to have me with them. I wasn't bad with a gun. And I really needed to prove to him I wasn't completely useless and that I wouldn't always screw up in tense and important situations such as the one we were getting ourselves into this afternoon. Sighing, I got up and went to room number six, deciding I'd just lie on the bed and do nothing for the next hour.

Leon

Stomping back to my end of town and into my office, I slammed the door shut, rattling the shutters in the process. What was wrong with me? Just the idea of Cloud going with me and getting into any kind of danger had spiked my heartbeat and not in a good way. He shouldn't even think about going out there after the way they'd shot at us.

It was hard enough to be thinking about the whole town and worrying about it, I didn't want to have to worry about Cloud's safety as well. He couldn't go with me. Nope. I was going to put my foot down and he was going to listen to me.

An Hour Later

"So, tell me there sonny, what part of Europe do you come from?" Cid was walking his horse ahead of me, along with Cloud and the mayor, chatting away as if nothing was the matter.

"The Netherlands. It's said we're very stubborn people and know exactly what we want." He pointed a raised eyebrow at me. Rolling my eyes at him, I just listened as Cid laughed and chatted with Cloud as we followed the trail out to Strife ranch. It did seem as though Cloud had the gift of gab. Both the Mayor and Cid were already more comfortable around him than they had been with me. I tried not to glare at him in annoyance

"You got yourselves a great marshal. He took a wolf bite for me." Cloud said. "He's not afraid of leeches either, and lets face it, he survived ten days with clumsy, unknowing foreigner me." He laughed, the mayor and Cid joining him into it.

He should not be allowed to be this great. Really. It was unfair of him. Finally admitting defeat in the face of Cloud's charisma, I took the lead and was happy to see the outline of the ranch house in the distance. Making sure that my marshal's badge was out front and that none of our hands were anywhere near our rifles, we slowly made our way towards the house.

"Okay, now first let me do the talking."

"HEY!" A shout came from the house. "Didn't we shoot you off our territory a while back?"

"Easy boys. I'm the town marshal and we'd like to have a word with you." Keeping my voice loud and strong, not giving the impression of backing down. Pointing at my badge we got close enough to see the first brother who was greasy and unkempt with yellow cracked teeth and a filthy shirt. "Relax, we need to talk to you about this here ranch." I couldn't tell the color of his hair under his hat, but he was about two hundred and fifty pounds of mean and tough cowboy not looking happy to see us.

He eyed me up. "We shot the last one. I'd quit if I were you."

"He's lying." The mayor assured.

"How can you be sure?" He returned, grinning widely, showing us all his missing teeth.

"Because there weren't any bullet holes, you jackass." Cid butted in.

"Hey! What the hell is going on down there?" Another shout and the other brother made his appearance. As nasty as the first one, this one had a wicked scar along the side of his face and I wondered why he seemed familiar all of a sudden. Shaking my head, I dismounted from my horse and walked forward, glad at least that my height matched theirs. "I'd like to see the deed proving your ownership of this ranch." Authority. I was the authority here and they were breaking the law.

He spat on the ground a few feet from me, and I was glad that the others were staying on their horses. "Don't need a deed. We own this ranch, so get the hell off our property."

"He's a liar. too." Cloud said to the mayor, pointing at the other brother.

I crossed my arms and leaned forward. "That's the rightful owner. So, unless you have a deed disputing his, then this isn't your property and I'll be happy to escort you off of it. How does that sound?" I was itching to wipe the floor with him. This was mine and Cloud's property, not theirs.

"Him?" The taller of the two laughed, staring at Cloud. "The cows will die and the crops will dry out. He don't own this ranch, you own a ranch when you know how to take care of it."

"Hey!" Cloud said, dismounting Kalinka so he could come to stand beside me. "What I can and can't do is none of your business. This is my property and if I want to let my cows die and my crops dry out? Then I can damn well do that. Now stop going up against the law and making your case worse than it already is and get the hell off my land."

Cloud. I wanted to turn and glare at him, shaking my head. Instead, I simply nodded, still looked at the scarred one, trying to place him. "Gentlemen, we want to resolve this quickly and quietly. So, unless you can produce the correct deed, then I'm afraid I'm here to escort you away."

Sending me a glare that would probably have frightened small children, he was about to say something, but thought better of it as Cid, still on his horse, cleared his throat.

"I wouldn't think about it, sonny." Which caused the brother's features to twist into a sneer. And that is when it clicked.

"You're Martin Bishop." Focusing on the scarred brother, his facial features matched the sketch on the warrant in my office, telling me he was indeed Martin Bishop, I didn't have time to spring into action to arrest the man because...

"Godverdomme!" Cloud pulled his gun out, letting a bullet fly which knocked the rifle the other brother had revealed out of the way, falling out of the man's hands. Cloud then ducked so he wasn't blocking me to aim my gun at Martin Bishop, who by now was about to pull out his own gun.

Time seemed to slow down and as the muzzle of his gun cleared leather, I dropped my hand to my gun and prayed that I was indeed faster than most people like my last boss had informed me. He'd warned me not to push my luck and tangle with anyone in my old town as I'd most likely beat them and be run out. So as I brought my gun up parallel to the ground, I could only hope that he was right.

Squeezing out a shot, I felt something slam into my gut and I got off two more shots in the confusion that followed. Red bloomed on his shirt and I saw his body jerk as my bullets slammed into him. Dropping to his knees in front of me, he looked surprised before his eyes rolled up and he fell forward.

"Martin!" The other brother shouted, running over to him.

Cloud appeared before me, looking worried. "Leon? Are you okay? He shot a bullet. Did you get hit?" Dropping to my knees, suddenly out of breath, I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. Gasping and coughing, I was trying to get enough air to speak. It sure felt like I'd been hit.

"Leon!" Cloud shouted, quickly kneeling down so he could hold me up. "Cid, make sure he doesn't get away." Cloud pointed at the brother holding onto Martin who was very much dead. "Where were you hit?" Cloud asked me frantically, helping sit down on the ground properly.

Pulling at my shirt, still trying to speak, I looked down. I'd felt it low and as I searched frantically for any sign of blood, I noticed my cartridge belt. Two bullets were fused together with a fragment of the third one. Oh thank god.

Gasping again, I finally filled my lungs. "Shit." Pant pant. "That hurts like hell."

Cloud leaned in closer, "Yeah? Wait till I kick you like the worried lover I am right now for putting yourself in danger like that." He hissed, backing off and then sighing in relief. "He's okay!" Cloud said, looking over his shoulder at the Mayor and Cid who were holding onto the one brother.

"Yeah." Looking up at Cloud's worried face, I smiled. God, he was beautiful, wasn't he? I was such a sucker for him and this just proved it. Leaning over on my hands, I took a deep breath as I stood up. Trying not to think about the man I'd just had to kill, I gave the mayor and Cid a thumbs up. "Let's get him out of here. We'll ship him to the capitol for prosecution. His brother was wanted, he probably is too."

"You alright, boy? That's a helluva lucky hit. Shit!" Laughing and escorting the brother to his horse tied up in the yard, they got him on there and started back to town, leaving us to get settled. We were the rightful owners now...or Cloud was.

"They're gone, right?" Cloud said, squinting in the general direction in which the others had left at. When I nodded, he glared at me. "Don't you ever scare me like that again!" Grasping my face, he pulled me down some, kissing me fiercely.

"Wow." Out of breath for a different reason now, I let me eyes close and think of only the kiss for a few minutes. Finally pulling back, I smiled down at him. "Hey, you're a ranch owner now. Wanna take a look around before heading back to get our stuff? Let's see how they've left the place."

"Hey." He said softly, making sure I didn't move away just yet. "It's your ranch too, you know."

"Oh yeah. Well, I haven't officially paid for it yet, so it's still all yours. But if you still wanna share it with me, I'll take it." Giving his cheek a soft kiss, I threw and arm around his shoulders. "Let me know how much I owe you."

Walking up to the house, his arm came around my waist, his fingers toying with my shirt edge. "Maybe we could just throw all our money together? Consider all we have now and all we will make in the future to be our money and not just yours or just mine. Since we'll own this ranch together, I see no reason why we would separate our resources as we'd both tap into it to bring this place back in order."

"You have the best ideas. No wonder I love you." As soon as I said it, I was glad I had. It made sense. Even if I didn't know every little thing about him, I felt so connected to him, and I never wanted to let that go. We could figure everything out together. Here, on our very own ranch.

I was about to reach out to open the door, but Cloud stopped me. "Wait, you love me?" He asked, moving so he was standing in front of me. "Just like that?" He breathed.

Smirking at him, I nodded. "Was it supposed to be hard? I mean, you were making it rather easy from day one." Reaching up to cup his jaw, I stared into his eyes. "Is that okay?"

"Easy." He murmured, his hands coming up to rest again my neck. "Yes, that's okay." He smiled, holding onto me as he kissed me softly. "You know you're the first person ever to tell me that. My family didn't-" He kissed me again, cutting off his sentence. "I love you too." He said against my lips.

A/N: Thanks for reading, hope you stick around for the next one!