The Illusion Of Morality

♡ by あおそら

“It’s just… I refuse to wear a white dress…. I mean, a dress for a whole day. So, yeah, I thought why not wearing a full suit like you? But I wanted to know if it was a problem or not for you. Are you sure it’s okay?”

Trut to be told Yuffie knew how important it probabl was for him to have a normal wedding like a normal person and have a normal day at least once in a while… but both agreed on picking a dress and surprising him only on the big day.

   “I guess we will, won’t we?”

    It was an odd request, but Squall was more than willing to oblige. After all, it wasn’t supposed to be his day, everything was really up to her. As long as his partner-turned-fiance was satisfied, he was too.

“Absolutely.We will be the most handsome couple ever. Aaand .. hey, if same-sex couples can rock the double-tuxedo we can do it too.”

To think that from her point of view she was doing all of this for him… because she didn’t really cares about written contracts or big parties to know how much she cared about him.

“Of course. You know I could never compete.” He smirked, regarding her antics with his usual quiet amusement. 

“It’s just… I refuse to wear a white dress…. I mean, a dress for a whole day. So, yeah, I thought why not wearing a full suit like you? But I wanted to know if it was a problem or not for you. Are you sure it’s okay?”

Trut to be told Yuffie knew how important it probabl was for him to have a normal wedding like a normal person and have a normal day at least once in a while… but both agreed on picking a dress and surprising him only on the big day.

   “I guess we will, won’t we?”

    It was an odd request, but Squall was more than willing to oblige. After all, it wasn’t supposed to be his day, everything was really up to her. As long as his partner-turned-fiance was satisfied, he was too.

 Despite his doubts, the familiarity with which her name was spoken caused her head to jerk in facing him, short locks of black whipping around her cheeks as brown eyes darted to rest on him. There was something there, maybe. She knew the other, but it was hard to collect her thoughts when she was so disoriented, and part of her knew there should be the same excited happiness to see him like there before.       Instead, it was like someone had tossed a stone into the well of emotions, and the sound of it hitting water never echoed back up. It was startling, and would be undoubtedly terrifying…if she could bring fear into her mind. It seemed her joy was not the only emotion stolen from her with the disappearance of her heart. Recognition clicked though, even if he was still left looking something like a dear in the headlights.

            “…Leon-?”

      He stared, entirely at a loss for words, as she turned. How could she be here, now, of all times? Yuffie was hardy but not immortal, as evidenced as he had watched the life drain from her eyes and her blood stain the ground - no, no, none of that mattered anymore.

      The way she spoke his name was confused, as if the very mention of him was a question she had yet to figure out, but so genuine. It might have made his heart stop for a moment. 

      He approached because words would do him no good at this point, his thoughts were forming and dissipating before he could find a way to speak them. This was wrong, it had to be, and yet..

      Halting before her, he observed the features of the girl. Everything about her seemed to be molded perfectly in the image of his deceased partner. Her voice, too, matched the range of the ninja he had known. There was an uncertainty in her eyes, as if she was struggling to focus on any particular thing. A drowsy haze.

      He extended his hand to her. Yuffie or not, it wasn’t going to her any good to sit on the concrete of a foreign land.

         Trips to Twilight Town were something that Leon did not hold in particularly high regard, something about the nearly unwilling shift of the sky reminded him of the years spent watching stars blink out in the perennial night of Traverse Town. But he had become something of a vagabond following the incident and the sight of the eternal auburn had to be better than stone and half-built houses.

        The mere sight of the gorge was enough to send him into state of fury, he’d been there when it happened and he’d watched with empty lungs as she died there. Two weeks had given him enough time to recover from the initial shock, or so he thought. But if the mental image was entirely gone, as he claimed, why was he avoiding his home altogether?

        Perhaps he needed more time to work through his inevitable depression - Aerith had spent her time between mourning trying to educate him on something called the five stages of grief, but Leon regarded her, along with everyone else, at a cold distance. No words could be spoken to ease him. They knew better than to try.

        He paced through the town, not displeased to find the streets barren. It was entirely how he expected it to be. Didn’t people flock to see the sunsets of this place? Wherever they’d disappeared to, it wasn’t here.

        So then why, when he turned the corner, did he encounter an unconscious girl? She wasn’t dead, her chest moved slightly as she breathed, face-up on the concrete. Then she stirred, with her back to him, while he noted the familiar cropping and color of her hair and..... 

        No.

        It couldn’t be, but her hair and her frame and his clouded mind caused him to react on instinct.

The real reason behind the FF7 hype.