Kingdom Hearts - Blades of Three Realms

[[XIII] Roxas]

Crystal, Roxas, and Xion at least would help themselves to the ice cream while they waited for everyone else to get done making preparations for the party or whatever else they were doing in Tifa's absence. Yuffie and Zidane returned soon enough after acquiring more snacks for the party from the shopping district and also nabbing a small stereo from Cid's workshop so they could have some music inside the tavern. Zidane took it upon himself to start laying out the snacks while Yuffie set the stereo on a table and started fiddling with the tuning to try to get a clear signal.

"Hm, that's no good," Yuffie fiddled with it some more. "No, that station sucks, we need something fit for a party!" She adjusted the tuning a little bit more and finally found a station that was playing something halfway decent. "Well, that's good enough for now." Once that was taken care of she turned her attention to the others who were present. "Okay, so one of you has got to tell me how it went at the tournament. I mean, I already gathered from chatting with Zidane that Shiro won the championship, but it definitely sounds like there were some pretty intense matches leading up to it."

"Sure Yuffie, we'll tell you all about it," Crystal was glad to have the attention not on her for this visit given that the last time, only a few days ago, had been spent with Yuffie pawing at her for details about her relationship with Roxas. The tournament would be a breeze to talk about.

"You're in good hands hearing it from Crystal," added Xion. "She and Axel were having an active commentary about the whole thing so I think she knows what she's talking about."

"Which is good because even though I was there for most of it, Shiro did knock me out pretty good for a little while there so I don't know exactly what happened until after Sora got himself knocked out too," Roxas pointed out.

So while Tifa was interrogating Leon the others would be downstairs filling Yuffie in on what she had missed from the tournament. Leon looked up from his pacing, definitely looking more than a little stir crazy as he struggled to wrap his head around what he was even supposed to be thinking in this situation.

"Hey Tifa," Leon didn't relax in the slightest and went right on pacing. "Look, I thought I was okay with it. I mean, I fought the kid and he beat me and Cloud fair and square when we tested him at the Coliseum. He's not a bad kid. I know that. But ugh... seeing them together and being so touchy feely, I just don't know how I'm supposed to react to it. And they're not even that touchy feely or anything. You know, it used to seem like Crystal liked her personal space and wasn't even the hugging type, but now, I just don't know anymore. I'll admit, I'm impressed by how well she has adjusted to her situation. She's a resilient kid. And she obviously really likes him. And he seems to really like her too. And I know you all think it's cute. But gah! How am I supposed to handle this?"  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

of course, Shiro was at least willing to join in on the ice cream until he felt the aura coming off of Cloud, and the fact he was acting more emo than before, he would actually decline having anything before the party got into full swing, and instead grabbed Cloud by the collar of his shirt/scarf/whatever he could that could drag him out, and yanked him outside, clearly agitated now that he could tell Cloud was just being a surly child "alright chocobo-head, since it seems you want to keep acting like a man-child who got scolded, we're doing this talk. NOW." Shiro declared once they got outside letting Cloud go and proceeded to turn to him and summon a copy of Cloud's Buster Sword to stab into the pavement and lean against it looking at Cloud "what the hell is wrong with you, Cloud? i know Sephiroth is a touchy subject in general and i know he shows up from time to time to amuse himself in making you fly off the handle for whatever reason he has, but this has gotten to the point where if it doesn't stop, then Sephiroth or someone else may take advantage of this weakness in you and kill you, or maybe not you, but everyone you care about." Shiro would take a breath before continuing "right now... you're not even a -shadow- of the man who i know wields this blade i'm leaning on right here, all i see is an angry and scared child."

Axel had at least ignored Cloud's presence, even when Shiro finally got fed up and dragged the emo chocobo out so that no one else would bother them "heh, truth be told i kept commentary with her because she knows a bit more about Shiro's capabilities than i do, just like i knew the rest of the combatant's capabilities. as for the matches themselves... well, Shiro actually had fun poking and prodding at Leon when they fought, especially when he flat out decided to literally kick Leon in the rear, and i quote 'this is for all the times you tried to lecture me like you're an old man, get your act together and act your age instead of a doddering old codger!'" he said with a bit of a snicker, glancing upstairs before glancing back to the tales "Roxas did handle himself pretty well against Zidane and Pit, if i remember the angel's name right.." he said with some amusement and all.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

Cloud really didn't appreciate being dragged outside by Shiro if his glaring expression was any indication. "What's it to you anyway? Last I checked Sephiroth was your enemy too."

"Oh man, did he really say that to Leon?" Yuffie was cackling with laughter as she listened to the descriptions of the battles from the Coliseum. "Still, even if Shiro did come out on top, it sounds like Roxas here must have been a pretty tough contender too if he managed to outlast Zidane's Trance Mode and beat him to make it to the semi-finals with Sora."

"He's got some good moves," Zidane agreed. Clearly as far as Zidane was concerned there were no hard feelings about his loss. He had fun just by being a participant in the tournament.

"Come on, I really wasn't that impressive," Roxas protested as he was becoming somewhat embarrassed by all the praise being showered on him even though he clearly lost in his match against Shiro. "And besides, the only reason I was even competing was to make sure I haven't fallen too far out of shape by not taking my own training seriously until recently."

"But you were also looking after Sora because you realized his powers were sorely lacking out there," Xion reminded him. "You didn't have to, but you tried to help him."

"Yeah well, Sora is a real mess right now," Roxas admitted. "He wasn't even paying attention to how outclassed he was out there."

"And maybe you really weren't trying to impress anyone in particular with that match you had against Shiro," Xion continued. "But you know what, Roxas, I think Crystal actually really liked what she saw out there today."

Crystal and Roxas both went red at Xion's comment.

"Oh, now we're getting somewhere good!" Yuffie chimed in with an entirely too amused expression on her face.

"Really, it isn't like that!" Crystal tried to argue.

"Oh really?" Yuffie munched on some popcorn for emphasis. "I mean, you do kind of have a thing for flashy attacks and it sounds to me like Roxas was making quite a spectacle of himself out there. Are you sure he didn't seduce you with his cool moves?"

Crystal was floundering for a foothold at that point in the conversation. "Why would you even suggest something like that?"  

[Kailah S Majessta]

Watching Leon's minor freak out, Tifa tried to keep a serious face, she really did, but with the way he practically rambled on? She started laughing.

"Are you REALLY having that hard of a time with those two?" She sighed and calmed herself to be a little more empathetic, growing just a bit annoyed at his reaction.

"Look, Leon. She may be a capable girl, and a powerful fighter, but she's still a teenager. They're going to get these feelings, and things like this were bound to happen sooner or later." She walked over to him and set a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to have him stop pacing and look at her.

"Leon. Crystal's a smart girl, and you said yourself that Roxas is a good kid. People change and adjust with emotions. Kids grow up. I know you've been good about it all, but when there's nothing too intense happening, let them enjoy themselves. You were once a teenager too ya know, and YOU changed for better or worse, Squall Leonhart. Be glad hers is a positive step in the right direction with a good boy who can and will protect her."

Tifa began to walk towards the door and turned back to him, "Let it go and stop being a baby. They're just dating." Another step and a quick turn around, pointing accusingly, "And I swear Leon, if you don't stop pacing, I'm going to make you replace not just THIS floor, but ALL of them in this building, do you understand?!"  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro would just twitch an eyebrow lightly before getting off the buster sword he was leaning on, walking over to cloud, and pretty much flat out decking him in the face "he might be an enemy, yes, but i don't fly off the ******** handle whenever any mention of him is ******** made!" he said loudly, not enough to be full out shouting, but it was clear he was starting to get pissed, and any more and he might snap on Cloud "i'm doing this not for his ******** sake, but for -YOURS-, and Tifa's." he said finally, running a hand through his hair lightly "urgh... don't you see that this is what Sephiroth wants, he -WANTS- you to push everyone away, to focus all on him, and when he does have that attention and he does eventually get bored stringing you about..." he would slice his neck with his own thumb in a 'you're dead' motion "you'll be dead faster than Roxas going Limit break mode to beat me. and what then? you have people here worrying about you, no doubt if they heard you died... Tifa would be distraught, and i'm sure you know a few others who would actually miss you, maybe enough enough to want to take revenge on Sephiroth, and start the ******** cycle all over again." he then would trace Masamune into hand, and stab it next to Cloud's buster sword "you obviously aren't aware, but my capabilities with my magics allow me to see the history of weapons i pull from my reality marble, so i can actually mimic and utilize those moves for myself. this is why i'm so angry with you Cloud... yes i know Sephiroth is your own darkness manifested, but he is his own person too, a twisted individual to be sure but you shouldn't let your life revolve around him." he narrowed his eyes lightly "trust me, i'm not asking you to be buddy buddy or even act civil to Sephiroth should he show up, at least not yet, but god damnit don't fly off the ******** handle like some toddler not getting what they want!"

Axel had been giving the by-play to the matches when he heard the increasing volume of Shiro's voice, and just glanced up only slightly before turning his head towards the coming down Sora "oh, hey Sora. glad to see you're up." he said with a bit of a wave while finishing up the tale of Shiro versus herc and all. apparently he wasn't going to at least make Sora feel worse about his loss, and he hoped the others wouldn't either, well, he knew Crystal would have to in order to beat some sense into him and all.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

"Che, if you really know so much about me and Sephiroth, then you know why I can't just ignore him," Cloud would continue to glower at Shiro. "He won't just leave me alone to live my own life. He'll come after me and everyone I care about. If I don't take the fight to him, then he'll bring it here endangering everyone and everything I've ever cared about. He wants to see me suffer so I doubt he'd ever finish me off, but he wouldn't even hesitate to kill everyone else here to get a reaction out of me." Cloud gestured broadly toward the tavern where the others were either enjoying the party or doing their own thing right now. "So excuse me if I don't want to give him that opportunity by just leaving him alone to plot his next attack." He then lifted his own Buster Sword from over his shoulder and assumed a fighting stance. "He isn't like your Roveth, someone who can be reasoned with. Sephiroth is a monster." And then the sparks would start flying as Cloud fired off a Blade Beam before charging at Shiro head-on with a flurry of rapid-fire sword slashes that could be easily avoided, but did in fact pack a lot of power behind them.

"Hey Axel," Sora glanced around. "So, we're in Radiant Garden now, huh?"

"Yeah, we decided not to stick around for the crowd of adoring fangirls that wanted to mob Shiro," Crystal mentioned by way of explanation. "Besides, it's quieter and more comfortable here."

"You were pretty good out there!" Zidane naturally grabbed a hold of Sora in a headlock and proceeded to noogie him. "Next time you and me definitely need to have a proper go at it!"

"Gah!" Sora squirmed and struggled at being noogied by Zidane, but it was an exercise in futility as Zidane had a surprisingly strong grip. "Sure, of course I want to have a chance to fight you too. Actually, I was wondering about that ability you used against Roxas. What even was that?"

"Trance is kind of similar to a Limit Break, but it typically has a longer duration and different properties depending on who uses it," Yuffie would explain helpfully. "Although Zidane and Kuja are the only ones I've ever seen who can actually use it so it's impossible to be sure."

"Anyway Sora, now that you're awake, you should definitely join the party," Xion suggested.

"Yeah, it's not the same without you," Roxas would agree. At that point Sora did manage to escape from Zidane so that he could peer long and hard at Roxas.

"Hey, why are you and everybody being so nice to me all of the sudden?" Sora demanded as he continued to stare.

Sora's staring naturally made Roxas rather uncomfortable and he fell over backwards in his chair with a slight sweatdrop. "Well, for one, you were the one who wanted for us to try to get along better, right?" Roxas started to pick himself back up off the floor.

"It's not like we're giving you special treatment," Crystal added as she reached into the freezer that had been brought out by Tifa to toss an ice cream bar at Sora. "If one of your friends is feeling down, then you try to cheer them up. And the way you fought today you definitely aren't feeling quite yourself and that's okay. So, that's why we're going to help you through this as best as we can. Of course, it'll be up to you whether or not you want our help."

Sora caught the ice cream on reflex. "So, you mean, it was that obvious, huh?"

"So you lost one match," Roxas shrugged it off. "We're going to get you back into shape and then you can have another go at it. It's really not that big a deal. Although, even once you get all your powers back you still might not be a match for Shiro."

"Says you," Sora shot back starting to regain some of his confidence already. "If there's a way to beat him, then I'm definitely going to be the one to find it."

"I'm pretty sure the only person capable of defeating Shiro is Crystal," noted Yuffie. "And she'd accomplish it by making him not want to fight her."  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Axel nodded as he hummed a bit "not to mention Shiro wanted to get away from the Coliseum before he had to beat the living crap out of Hades just to get him off his case." he said, chuckling a bit in amusement, before glancing to Crystal, then back to Yuffie "actually... more than likely Shiro would never fight a true battle with Crystal, he'd treat it more as a sparring match really, that and she is one of the few people who have managed to thaw Shiro's heart out slightly compared to others, from my observations." he said, chuckling "plus, i'd feel more sorry for the collateral damage around them if they did fight." he said in a quip while looking to Sora as he sat down lightly "big ambition there Sora.. but for now why not set your goals a bit lower for now, like regaining your lost strength?" he suggested, smiling "Crystal did mention she wanted to help you out with that after the Games." he said calmly enough, while clearly ignoring the sounds outside.

Shiro had twitched an eyebrow, multiple times, but this time he just let out an exasperated sigh, and ruffled his hair a bit while dismissing the Buster Sword and picked up Masamune, starting to utilize his minimal movement footwork to narrowly dodge the Blade Beams and the Rapid fire slashes, eventually moving to swing Masamune to not slash Cloud, but to instead lock up the slashing movements of Cloud a moment using the hilt "ugh.. damn Lifestream giving me the hard jobs in things... looks like this adds another reason why i need to tear a new one into Sephiroth next time i stumble on him..." he more muttered to himself, before looking right at Cloud with his less than full of life eyes, his -true- eyes. "look,it's obvious i'm not the best person to handle situations that don't call for blunt hard facts..." he sighed, eventually backing up and using his Mad Blood enhanced strength to block another strike from Cloud using Masamune "let's at least talk about other things, like the life stream and your identity as its Golden WEAPON, something i've been wanting to talk about anyway." he said, at least trying to move the topic off Sephiroth , at least until he could get his hands on the one winged b*****d and kick his a** from here to Olympus Coliseum for not only the s**t he's pulled on Shiro himself, but also for ******** Cloud up so badly.  

[Kailah S Majessta]

"Honestly Leon, she practically IS your kid. Whether either of you realize it or not. And that's exactly why I'm having this talk with you. Believe me, we ALL want the best for her, for all of them, but they have some big responsibilities. This is why we should just let them enjoy the little moments." Tifa gave him a look. "And that INCLUDES budding romance."

After his comment about the stereo, confusion appeared for a second before she shrugged it off, "I'm not going to ask, I'm just going to be grateful it works. Unless Yuffie and Zidane are 'borrowing' one-" She put her hands up in a surrender motion, "You know what? Again, not going to ask. Let's head downstairs."

On her way she noticed Sora's door was open, internally grateful that at least he should be awake enough to enjoy the celebration, and walked into a lively bunch of music and conversation... missing two people.

One of which was her priority number three.

This worried her, as Cloud was prone to just up and leave to find Sephiroth whenever he felt it necessary, and that meant she would leave her tavern unattended (except for Leon and Yuffie for the most part- but even they had other things to do) to go find him and bring him back to himself.

Tifa casually walked to the group talking with Sora, "I'm happy to see you're awake and okay Sora. I can't wait to hear about how everyone did at the Coliseum! But before that... has anyone seen Cloud?"

Her question was answered by the sound of swords clashing outside.

"Hold on... I'll be right back."

She opened the door to see Shiro and Cloud, and decided not to get in the way- maybe it would benefit him to hear it from someone else. She hoped at least. It didn't make her look away, however, and she closed the door behind her staying a good distance, watching the two talk/battle.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

Leon nearly jumped again when Tifa just had to go and emphasize the bit about the budding romance again, but then he had to suppress a chuckle at Tifa trying not to think too hard about where Yuffie and Zidane might have acquired their party supplies from after being left unsupervised. He would agree that was probably for the best as he accompanied Tifa back downstairs to see just what sort of mischief everyone was up to. Cloud and Shiro were notably absent, but the rest of the group seemed to be keeping out of trouble at least. All in all, it was looking to be a pretty tame victory party.

"Well, the truth is, Shiro is someone I absolutely don't ever want to have to fight for real," Crystal would say sounding dead serious about it. "Even just sparring with him wouldn't really feel right either. As much as I need to hold back in general to avoid causing collateral damage with my summons, Shiro always has to hold back even more. I can't fight him at his level and he has nothing to gain from fighting me at mine which is why we've reached a sort of understanding that there wouldn't be much point to it. Besides, I'm not nearly as strong as everybody seems to think."

"But you've got it where it counts," Leon spoke up. "A sharp mind and an unwavering heart. You've never let anything stop you from doing what you believe is right."

"You bring people together and you bring out the best in them," Zidane added with a smile. "It's a different kind of strength that's difficult to come by and impossible to duplicate. Even someone like Shiro, who can barely see the worth in his own life, has been touched by your kindness and compassion."

"Of course, what Sora really needs to learn first is some humility," Yuffie pointed out.

"He really does," Xion would agree.

"Well, he does and he doesn't," Crystal shook her head. "His stubbornness and unwillingness to give up can be an admirable quality and it's gotten him this far, but for the challenges ahead he'll need more than just tenacity and sheer dumb luck to survive. Master Yen Sid asked me to help with Sora's training, but really it's up to Sora to decide whether or not he wants to learn what I have to teach him. There won't be any books or studying, but it will be the most difficult and dangerous task he'll ever face because the one he has to prove himself to is going to be himself."

"Okay, you've already lost me," Sora put on his usual confused expression as a show that he had only been half listening to begin with.

"Just enjoy the party for now," Crystal waved him off mildly. "The real training begins tonight once we're asleep. I'll find you in the realm of dreams and we'll wing it from there."

"Wait, you literally just said you don't have a plan," Leon stared in disbelief at what he was hearing.

"Having a plan would only serve to complicate things," Crystal gave a slight shrug. "Besides, I think Sora will probably benefit more from improvising."

"Are you sure that's safe?" Roxas was becoming slightly worried.

"Honestly, since we're dealing with the collective unconscious and shared dreaming all bets are off, but I promise to try to be as careful as I can be," Crystal gave Roxas a reassuring smile.

"Okay, I guess that's good enough," Roxas wasn't really convinced, but he was glad for the consideration. "And at least you always know where to find me." Oh yeah, he was totally blushing when he said that.

"That's right," Crystal looked slightly embarrassed about it too. "Even if I do get lost I know I can always find my way back to you. And that means that everything will work out."

"Oh my gosh, you guys are so cute!" Yuffie practically burst with enthusiasm as she brought out her camera to snap a few pictures of the two awkwardly blushing teens. "Oh yeah, these are definitely going in the album!"


"You know, it might help if you'd start making sense," Cloud wasn't letting up as he continued his rapid-fire assault of sword slashes against Shiro, getting more furious when he saw him bring out the Masamune again. "Because I really don't get any of what you're talking about. Life stream? Golden WEAPON? It's like you're speaking nothing but gibberish!"  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro would twitch an eyebrow as he continued blocking and evading the Slashes using Masamune, but he was not utilizing the movements of Sephiroth to anger Cloud more as he tried to collect himself instead of just simply going the preferred route of 'beat Cloud's head in and figure out how to describe things later "the Lifestream.. the best way i can describe it is that it's the life blood, the spirit of the worlds, it is purified mana to the highest degree." he said, keeping his gaze serious "it's hard to explain such a concept like that, but the Lifestream is what handles bestowing people magic unto others, it -can- be extracted and become what's known as Mako, and eventually Materia: Crystallized Mana given form, but the purest form of it is alive and has a consciousness. should the lifestream ever be in danger, it will send its warriors, it's defenders, it's monsters, known as WEAPONS, to take out whatever seems to be killing the Lifestream, and thus the world, eventually, if the WEAPONS aren't able to handle it, a... final trigger, is unleashed, in which it will summon the Final Weapon, Omega, and Omega will proceed to suck what's left of the Lifestream, killing off everything and everyone in the process, and then leaving the dead world behind to find another suitable for restoring the lifestream." he would tap the ground with Masamune a few times inbetween slashes "think about this Cloud, when you're tapping into your darkness, or light energy, do you feel something more.. ancient, more primal, just beyond the horizon within you, something that you know is instinctively yourself but can't yet be awoken outside of being given it's power, the Lifestream's gift, and using it to fight?" he asked, curious on if he felt anything, he might be talking to a prickly emotional chocobo head for crying out loud but he's trying to explain things well enough from what information he got in images from the lifestream when he had contact with it via the Frozen Flame's help.

Axel chuckled a bit lightly, looking amused in seeing Yuffie taking it to task to tease Roxas and Crystal while frowning when hearing the mention of it being dangerous to interact via the dreamscape, but kept calm well enough as he looked over to the resident thief (not Zidane, in his eyes), with a smirk "mind passing a couple copies over to me and Roveth once you get them developed?" he decided to ask, given he wondered if Gil would've come to at least keep an eye on Shiro, but given that he hadn't seen the golden king he left it be for now and just hoped Cloud and Shiro don't go overboard in their talk.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

"Sure thing!" Yuffie grinned back at Axel as she pocketed the camera to save it for later in case there were any other cute photo opportunities.

"What are they doing out there?" At that point Leon was becoming concerned about what was going on outside between Shiro and Cloud, especially when Tifa started looking worried and put her gloves on before balling her hands into fists like she might do something rash to try to disrupt the fighting and Leon wasn't sure he would be able to stop them.

Crystal could see it too and immediately lost her relaxed air as she quietly strolled out the door past Tifa and raised one hand up toward the sky forming a magic array that split open to reveal the aquatic serpent, Leviathan. Instead of the usual Tidal Wave assault that usually would have accompanied the great serpent, it merely sprayed water from its snout like a high pressure hose to drench the two combatants leaving Cloud soaked from head to toe while looking thoroughly disgruntled with his hair still perfectly spiked despite him being drenched.

"Just cut it out already!" Crystal growled at both of them. "Shiro, put that god damn sword away! Cloud isn't the only one being upset by you using Masamune! Everyone here has had issues with Sephiroth. So put it away and then you two socially inept idiots can go talk it out in the shower using your words like adults!"

Cloud actually faltered, partly because he was still disgruntled by suddenly being wet, but also because he was being reprimanded by Crystal, someone who usually didn't get particularly angry at anyone. "Alright, fine," Cloud put the Buster Sword away for the moment. "You know Shiro, I think I kind of get now why you usually let her do the talking," he quipped before heading back inside like nothing had happened, although he was still dripping wet from being blasted by Leviathan.

"Well, I guess that's one way to cool them off," Zidane grinned appreciatively as he watched Leviathan vanish back into the magic summoning array.

"You'd better be careful not to get on her bad side," Yuffie just had to tease Roxas again.

"Right, I'll take that under advisement," Roxas calmly brushed Yuffie off.

"At least you don't have to worry about her getting mad at you for no reason," noted Zidane. "Some girls can be really scary when they're angry." No he didn't just glance warily in Tifa's direction when he said that. Why would he do that?

"Would you two put a sock in it?" Leon sighed as he shot a menacing look at Zidane and Yuffie both. "And why exactly are you suddenly trying to scare Roxas?"

"What?" Zidane did his best to play innocent. "I'm just making sure he's prepared for what he's getting himself into. It's not like I said all girls are scary."

Leon sighed again, this time in exasperation. "Let me make one thing perfectly clear. Roxas doesn't need advice from a trouble-making, thieving little womanizer like you!"

"Wow, harsh!" Yuffie pouted mildly while patting Zidane on the shoulder. "Hey Leon, you don't gotta be mean about it."

"No, that's okay, Yuffie," Zidane was entirely unfazed. "He's kinda got a point considering I never made any progress with Crystal in the first place. I don't know how Roxas did it, but whatever he's been doing seems to be working."

Sora was understandably confused by everything that was going on at the moment. "So wait, Zidane, you were interested in Crystal?"

"Oh, it wasn't anything serious," Zidane waved him off with a smile. "I like girls and she's a girl so I might have tried flirting with her when we first met, but she totally brushed me off. She wasn't interested and I've always respected that. Although, I was always more than a little curious to know what kind of guy would be her type. I mean, she's not the kind of girl you can impress with flowers and a romantic evening on the town. She doesn't like pretenses or formalities like that." He folded his arms over his chest with a look of intense concentration on his face. "That's not to say she isn't secretly a romantic. I've seen those books she reads and that music she likes to listen to. She's definitely a romantic. Just not an easy one to get close to."

"Right, but you have to keep in mind that Roxas didn't try to get close to her," Yuffie pointed out. "Crystal was the one who wanted to find him and then after she did she seriously didn't know how to handle it."

"Don't talk about me like I can't hear you!" Crystal shot back while keeping an eye on Cloud and Shiro to make sure they were both properly disarming themselves.

Roxas smiled thoughtfully. He'd heard quite a bit now about all the trouble Crystal had gone through trying to find him and none of it had been for her own benefit. She had never intended to try to keep him for herself. She just wanted for him to have a real chance to exist without some bad group trying to manipulate him. And she had been willing, with Shiro's help, to fight some really difficult and dangerous battles just to keep it that way. It wasn't just for his sake either. Crystal was the kind of person who wants to help others without giving it a second thought. She wasn't always the best person for the job, but she wanted to at least try. The reason it was so hard for her to get close to anyone was because she cared so much about everyone. It was hard, but it wasn't impossible. That much had already been proven.

"You know what, Zidane, she's really not as complicated as you might think," was all Roxas was inclined to say on the matter.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro would turn his head to look at Crystal when she pretty much doused him and cloud, of course, he just sighed more tiredly than anything, and crushed Masamune's handle in hand, sending it back to his reality marble as he gave off a mental sigh, and just gave Cloud a small glare at his last quip, before deciding to just wash his hands of trying to convince Cloud, he -really- needed to find a way to contact the Lifestream if only so he could drag Cloud in with him and show him what he means. either way he'd at least keep silent for now about the Sephiroth thing as he would take the first bathroom available to get his shower, and his clothes changed. once Shiro had taken his shower and changed clothes back to his Spira garb, he would at least be dried off with a minor bit of a sigh in his mind, he would decide to wait for cloud to finish his shower before he'd continue onwards, he would at least get one thing said before he'd leave things be and just either relax or find something to do, like fiddle with something.

Axel would at least just watch as Shiro eventually returned downstairs to find a seat, idly pulling out his staff from when he returned from Spira beginning to twirl it a bit and all. "feeling less hot headed?" he'd quip, causing Shiro to look up a bit frowning lightly, and just sighed "i guess.. just annoyed at something else." he said, waving his free hand off, while he continued to wait, and Axel nodded to Roxas on his comments about Crystal to Zidane and all, but said nothing more for now.  

[Kailah S Majessta]

Tifa raised an eyebrow at Crystal after she literally cooled off the two fighting outside. She was thankful, to be completely honest- she was worried enough about the travelers as it is, then adding Cloud on top of that with a risk of him leaving again? Her stress levels were through the roof, although she'd never show it.

She removed her gloves, putting them away, and headed inside after a few seconds of calming herself before entering into the calamity that was her tavern. Making sure things weren't completely crazy for the moment, and showing a small smile at Leon joining in conversation (and not looking nearly as awkward as he did before), she headed towards the shower room and waited outside the door, quietly passing Shiro in the hallway on her way there, so she KNEW it was only Cloud inside.

Tifa didn't need to wait long however, and when the door opened, she spoke.

"Do I need to ask what happened at the Coliseum? Or WHO was there?" She turned to face him, "Are you even going to tell me, or am I going to be left in the dark as usual?"  

[[XIII] Roxas]

Cloud would emerge from the shower room in just a towel wrapped around his waist, not even so much as batting an eye at the fact that Tifa was outside waiting for him when he emerged after taking his shower.

"What do you want me to say?" Cloud frowned rather pointedly as he started walking toward the door to his room. "Sephiroth showed up while we were there waiting for the tournament. He wiped the floor with me and Leon both, but as usual he let us live and took off like we weren't even worth his time. What am I supposed to do? I can't keep losing to him like this. What if he shows up here next time? I can't protect you or anybody else if I can't even beat him. And lately it seems like it's gotten even worse." He stopped outside his door and paused to finally look at Tifa. "I'm sorry, but I'm just not strong enough the way I am now."


"I know, we should stage a mock battle!" Zidane suggested suddenly. "You know, something fun to really get this party going!"

"A mock battle?" Sora blinked, not quite getting it.

"Well, you see, Zidane here isn't just a thief. He's also talented in theater and works part-time as a stage actor," Yuffie explained with a huge grin on her face.

"Come on, help me move this table to make some room!" Zidane gritted out as he attempted to push aside one of the large bar tables without success. His tail twitched visibly as he strained to even move it an inch. "Oh man, this thing is heavy. I don't know how Tifa does it at all."

"I really wouldn't if I were you," Leon sighed in futility knowing he probably couldn't actually discourage Zidane at a time like this.

"Hey, I know!" Sora grinned as he brought out the Kingdom Key in his hand. "We just have to use a little magic to move it instead. Now let me think," he paused, looking extremely focused as he tried to recall which would be the best spell for the job. "Gather!" he called out as he began to utilize his Magnega magic to lift the table up off the floor. "Now where do you want me to put it?"

Leon stared wide-eyed in horror as Sora used his magic to elevate the table off the floor. "You've got to be kidding me! Didn't you just hear what I told Zidane?"

"What?" Sora did his best to look and sound completely innocent. "Tifa won't get mad as long as we don't break anything so this should be fine."

"Just set it over there," Yuffie pointed to an open spot against the wall. Sora gestured with the Kingdom Key to make the table move in that direction and then set it down gently, but kind of failed at the last second causing the table to hit the floor with an audible thud, although fortunately nothing seemed to be damaged in the process.

"Okay, so now that that's out of the way, you wanna have a go at being my demo partner?" Zidane grinned encouragingly at Sora.

"Um, sure, what do you need for me to do?" Sora wondered.

"It'll be easy," Zidane assured him. "You just make like you're attacking me, but make it really obvious what you're doing so I can dodge out of the way dramatically."

"Doesn't sound too hard," Sora nodded in understanding. "Okay, let's give it a shot!"

Leon watched in slight dismay as Sora and Zidane started going back and forth with Keyblade and daggers in hand. He really would have preferred if Zidane hadn't decided to turn the middle of the tavern into his own personal stage show, but it did look like the two of them were having fun. It was also reasonable to assume that any customers who might wander in would likely be entertained by the theatrics. Xion and Yuffie were certainly enjoying the performance as they cheered them both on.

"Wait, hold on, where are Crystal and Roxas?" Leon stared dumbfounded at the empty chairs that remained where the two had been seated.


Naturally, while Leon was distracted by Sora relocating the table with his Magnega magic he hadn't noticed Crystal and Roxas slipping out the door. In fact, if he had been paying closer attention he might have noticed Yuffie ushering them out while he was distracted.

"What was that all about?" Roxas wondered. He didn't exactly object to being outside, but he wondered why Yuffie had been so eager to chase them out like that.

"This is Yuffie we're talking about so I'm pretty sure she was trying to use Sora's antics as a diversion to give us a chance to be alone," Crystal rubbed the back of her head while looking pretty embarrassed for letting herself fall right for it too.

"So then, what should we do now?" Roxas really didn't understand what Yuffie was thinking. The sun was already starting to set and that meant it would be dark soon.

"Actually, this is kind of perfect," Crystal admitted looking up at the sky. "This way we don't have to try to sneak out later to stargaze."

"Oh yeah, I guess you would have thought of that since there's that fountain plaza area here that you like," Roxas remembered after he thought it over a bit more. "Okay," he added with a smile. "Let's go."

And so the pair headed off to the fountain plaza to wait out the sunset for the stars to appear.