• Aerith watched Squall pick up the umbrella to examine it, checking the blade and dexterity of it. "That's no ordinary--" she started as she winced when he slammed the tip of the umbrella to the ground, afraid that he was actually going to break it. When nothing happened to it, she was surprised. "Was...that really necessary?"
  
  Her face went into pure happiness when she found Squall was satisfied with this choice of hidden weapon. At least it had its uses. Taking the umbrella from Squall, she examined the top and tried to figure out why it wouldn't break. "Hm, you're right though, it is pretty durable." She couldn't figure it out. "So I guess we're taking this one with us, then?" Not waiting for a response, she sauntered herself over to the cashier, put the umbrella (which was quite long enough to hide a sword in it) onto the counter and stood with her Prism Staff in hand. She rang the small bell on the counter for assistance because the storekeeper was still in the back sharpening Squall's gunblade.
  
  "I'd like to buy this, please," Aerith said to the storekeeper who was eyeing her, as she was gesturing to the katana. She pretended not to notice, but kept a stern look on her face to indicate that he should back off.
  
  "I-it's 400 munny, miss. But half off if you'd like to trade in your staff."
  
  Aerith had to think for a bit. Was it worth it? She wanted to keep her collection of staffs and rods, but she wasn't going to use them now that she was going to be a master swordswoman.
  
  She looked at her staff and never made eye contact with the storekeeper. "I have enough munny to pay for it full price, kind sir." She took out her thin wallet that was hooked to a chain connected to a belt loop and took out her cash, dropped it onto the counter and took the umbrella-sword.
  
  "A-all right, m-miss." The storekeeper was shy but couldn't get the guts to ask Aerith out. Not with Squall behind her, at least.
  
  "Now unless you're done sharpening my boyfriend's gunblade, we'd like to be on our way please." Her eyes narrowed slightly. She wasn't going to part with any of her collection for one minute, and especially not to a guy that was trying to flirt with her!

((These are times when you know you've been playing Soul Calibur 3 too much))

((I love that game. :] Sorry it took so long to reply, too, I've been loaded with homework and whatnot.))

The man handed Squall his gun blade in the process, and Squall immediately begun checking it for scratches and anything else he could possibly kick his ass for. Nothing. It was wonderful; sharp; even polished! Squall was a happy man then and there, marveling at his gun blade's newly-finished sheen.

Then that's when it happened.

Boyfriend? Squall looked at Aerith quizzically, clearing his throat at her. He didn't really noticed she'd said it until he was done smiling at his weapon. He, then, blushed a bit, and turned away. He knew she was doing it to get the odd-looking shopkeep off her back, but Squall still felt a little weird when referred to as her "boyfriend".

"Uh, yeah," Squall said, his back turned to the both of them. "What she said."
He motioned to have Aerith follow him, but he kept ahead. He was still blushing a bit, and he didn't want to let Aerith think he had a "thing" for her. Biting his bottom lip, Squall swung the door open, finally looking at Aerith to hurry her along.

"Come on, dear," he said. "We need to go train."

"It's okay," he said as she apologized for stamping him as her boyfriend. He felt a little weird, especially when she started laughing so hard. Was it really that funny? Was it impossible that Squall could, indeed, be her boyfriend?

"I don't care where we go," he said, glancing over at her being crafty and whatnot. "I'm sure you've been out at least once to scan the surroundings. Where ever you wanna go, I'll go."

He tucked some of his hair behind his left ear, looking away from her. Not sure what to say or do, Leon sighed a bit. She was right. Squall couldn't be her boyfriend, could he? He was a bad boyfriend to Rinoa; he let her die. He was a bad friend to Aerith; he stressed her out.

Squall decided to let his ideas leave his head before he stressed himself out.

"Aerith," he said, his blue eyes trailing to her. "I promised you I'd help, and I'll help. Don't worry about it, okay?"
Hoping he wasn't becoming a nuisance, Squall maneuvered around Aerith and led the way to the tower. The girl had genuinely good ideas; he knew she'd be easy to teach. She would get the hang of it very quickly.. then she wouldn't need him anymore. She'd be making a lot of munny slaying Heartless, and she'd be able to protect herself. ...Why did he care? She'd be one less thing to worry about!

So that would leave him with nothing.

Leon stopped at the ladder, looking over his shoulder to check for Aerith. He sighed as he accidentally locked eyes with her, and moved out of the way to allow her to go first.
"So I can catch you if you fall," he explained, knowing she wouldn't fall. A part of him was hoping she would, so he could save her from harm and she would giggle a little while thanking him. Snapping out of his small daze, Leon nodded her on.

"I'm sure you'll do really well, Aerith," he said, finally. "I can't wait to watch you progress."

Squall was momentarily distracted by the falling staff, but snapped back into reality upon remembering Aerith. He almost laughed at this little situation, but kept it inside until he, at least, secured Aerith's safety. Her scream pierced his eardrums.

Squall held his arms out, bracing himself for the small bit of weight he was going to have to secure. She fell into his arms, as if it were a play or something, and he wrapped them around her. He cradled her, like a baby, if you will, with her calves dangling over one arm and her shoulders resting on the other.

Leon, then, begun laughing a bit. Her face was flushed, red, and she looked slightly out of breath. He wasn't laughing at her face, though, he was laughing at how ironic the whole thing was. Once his deep laughter died down, he gazed into her eyes with a pure, caring softness. He couldn't believe this happened, but was, at the same time, slightly happy to hold her once again. It seemed right to Squall; he couldn't help but smirk a bit.

"Maybe this isn't going to be as easy as I thought it was," he mused.

{{Sorry I've been gone so long. >< ))

He slowly climbed up the stairs, still slightly confused by Aerith's antics and whatnot. Standing next to her, Squall let the blade of his weapon hit the building top very gently, and he placed his other hand on his hip. It was beautiful. He'd been on top of buildings before, of course, but he'd never really looked. Constantly battling Heartless, and never having any time to himself. His life was dreary; he knew it.

"I wouldn't say it's for sport. I wish I could compete in it if it were, though," he said, trying to smile. "Life around here is hard to enjoy, though, with the everlasting darkness and all the Heartless that tend to pose as distractions."
Squall begun walking off, knowing Aerith would follow soon enough.

To the clocktower it was.

"Well, you've already got a few ideas, huh?" he said, not looking at her. Or, for that matter, even in her general direction. "How long have you been thinking about this?"
His stomach knotted up for some reason. Maybe she was doing this to get enough Munny to move out of their house. Maybe she was doing it to be able to protect herself, so she wouldn't have to rely on Squall for anything. Both? After all, Squall wasn't exactly a ray of sunshine. He cleared his throat.

His hands were in his pockets; he was standing tall, as if he were some kind of gallant gentleman peering over the town he protected. Quite the opposite was he, really. He was all brute strength; he had nothing to be proud of but the skill with his blade. In Squall's eyes, that was complete failure. His physical attributes would soon fade. Then what? Nothing. Squall had nothing.

Squall turned on his heel, and, as he swiveled, his hands were, then, transferred to his blade. He had a morbid twinkle in his eyes; the blue seemed to glow and penetrate the darkness. He had to get his mind off of his self-pity; he was making himself sick.
'Nothing's gonna change 'till I make it,' he thought to himself, giving off a faint smile to Aerith. He wouldn't lose her like he did Rinoa.
"Let's get started, then, shall we?"

"Leon doesn't fit me very well, does it?" he asked, charging forward a bit. Squall was slowly falling back into reality, and he wasn't completely sure why. When he changed into 'Leon', he had planned it; this change back wasn't staged. It bewildered him, actually. As Squall, he should be thinking about Rinoa, shouldn't he? He shouldn't be smiling and bouncing around with Aerith, right?

Before he knew it, Squall was fairly close to his friend. He hit her with the flat edge of his blade, jumping back. He smiled, due to the fact it was more of a childish hit than anything else. He was trying to annoy her; people tend to fight better when their emotions are in a mess.

"Alright. Seriously," he murmured, extending a finger and curling it up again. He was saying 'Come and get me', but without the words. He cocked his brow a bit. He needed to teach her offense before defense, because not many Heartless needed to be fended off. They were usually two, three hits tops. Except for the rare ones, of course, but those weren't Aerith's problem for now.

He had a wicked smirk placed upon his lips; he stepped once, pushing her back. He leaned forward a bit, his nose almost grazing hers. Instead, Leon pulled his gunblade away from the sword clash, ducking and winding himself around to her backside. He chuckled in her ear.

His plan was to keep provoking her, seeing if she'd lose her cool.

The cold, light graze was enough to make Squall shiver, but he didn't falter much. He grabbed the girl's blade with a bare hand, the sharpness of the blade slitting his hand open. It was a minor injury to Squall; it was more or less a papercut to him. He wondered if she would freak out.

He jerked downward on her blade; either she'd fight back, let go, or get flipped over him.

"I don't want to break your pretty umbrella, so you'd better watch yourself," he said, hopping over the girl and her umbrella. If he'd wanted to, he would've just blew the pretty parasol away with a shot from his gunblade. His eyes locked with hers before he completely hurled himself over the girl.

He wrapped his arms around her waist as he landed, across her arms, as well, suction-cupping her arms to her body. An eyebrow raised. She was still bent on taking him down; she wasn't really thinking.

Click.
Squall's finger was resting on the trigger of his gunblade. Squall pressed the blunt side of his blade against Aerith's stomach, pushing her back with a large forceful blow. His aim wasn't to hurt her, by any means, but he had to teach her something. Squall knew he wasn't a good teacher, though. He wished he could unleash his full potential on her, but he was waisting too much time and energy on not pulling the trigger; on not pushing the sharp end of his blade against her.

"Always like this?" he asked innocently as her blade came scarcely close to his throat. "What do you mean?"
He pulled away rather easily, throwing his gunblade away from his own grasp. He couldn't risk getting too into the fight and injuring the girl. She was making it fun, and when Squall was enjoying himself, he tended to go overboard.

He would play defense.

'Oh, so this is how you want it?' he spoke to her in his head, as well. If only they'd talk openly, they could probably develop something other than mocking each other and smacking each other around on a rooftop. Noticing and smiling at the menacing smirk Aerith gave off, Squall hunched over a bit. It had been quite awhile since he fought fist-to-blade.

His steady, penetrating stare was broken as a Heartless popped up near his gunblade. It seemed to sniff it, and it used its disgusting little paws to knock it off the tower. Squall's right eye twitched, and he ran at the little beast. Kicking it square in the temple, the small Heartless flew quite a way, making a sickening clicking noise. Squall had never heard anything like it before.
"Aerith," he said aloud. "I'll be right back."

Squall threw himself from the roof, seemingly flying through the darkness. He landed, knees bent, his hand on the cold ground. He swept his gunblade off of the ground, which had, unfortunately, gotten dirty from the drop. Pissed, vengeful, the weapon-holding Squall cursed under his breath.

Large Heartless, then, surrounded him. He looked up at Aerith, who was being surrounded, as well. So that's what that noise was all about. Greaaaat.
"Hang in there, Aerith!" he said, looking away from her to face his challenge.