Chapter Sixteen

Leonard

Driving Graceona's truck through the wastelands as Kourtney watched the surroundings pass by, my thoughts revolved around our family's life over the last month. "Daddy?" I heard a small voice, looking at the child in the passenger seat.

"What is it, sweetheart?"

"Are you and momma gonna be happy together again?" pleading mako eyes looked at me, as a sigh escaped my lips.

"We're working on it, sweetheart. But yes, your mother and I are going to be happy again and we're going to be a big happy family again."

She smiled, then looked at the seat. "I was worried about you, daddy. After the way, I saw you every night."

"Why were you not sleeping?"

Daddy, I didn't want to sleep. You seemed different; your bedtime stories stopped. I didn't want to leave you alone. You have always been there for me when I was sick or sad."

I sighed. "Kourtney, you weren't supposed to see that. What was your reason to feel that you had to interfere with something that you couldn't have done anything about? It was my battle. It was something that I had to fight. Why did you feel the need to suffer it with me?"

"Daddy, you never missed telling me bedtime stories. I kinda guessed something was bothering you, with momma gone, and bubby Yazoo, Loz, and Kadaj not home. You seemed sad. I didn't want you to be alone. You never left me alone. I'm not going to say I'm sorry for something that I thought was right. I wanted to help you and see you happy again."

I pinched the bridge of my nose with a sigh. "You have your mother's attitude and my stubborn trait. Aren't the two of us in for a real treat?" I looked at her as she continued to look at me. "Well, I suppose I can't say much, if your anything like me, what good would it do?" I looked back at the road. "I want to say one thing, young lady. Having my stubborn trait will get you in trouble."

She sighed. "Daddy, I'm not gonna say I'm sorry. I didn't do anything wrong. You said it to momma. You can't put me in time out for doing something I felt was right."

"Time out, Kourtney? The road you headed down; you wish it was something as small as a timeout. A bad mental state that isn't good for anyone. I had seen that room every morning. Your mother lost her cool, and you as a young child, in a room in that state, with a man that was of no help to you at that moment, someone who had brought their suffering. How did you, no, why did you not just go to bed?"

"Daddy, I told you. I wanted to see you better, and happy again. I always thought you were in bed, then I would go to bed, at first. Then one night I had a nightmare. I ran to your room crying because I knew you would make it go away. When I came to your room, you didn't wake up. The nightmare scared me. The only thing that I wanted to do was find comfort. You seemed tired, so I got on the bed with you and fell asleep. I woke up covered in blood. I was so scared, I thought I had lost you. But when I heard you moving around, I wasn't so scared anymore, but I knew you were upset. You're not that hard to figure out, daddy. You try to hide things from me, but you never really do." I sighed, squeezing the steering wheel, chewing the inside of my lip. "It's okay, daddy, just please don't do that anymore, please."

I looked at her to see the tears forming in her eyes. "Come on, hug it out, sweetheart. I promise I won't do that to you again."

The child wrapped her arms around my neck as I wrapped my arm around her, focusing once again on the road.

Once I parked the truck in front of my father's home, the two of us got out of the truck. Kourtney ran to the front door. "Grandpa, we're here!" The child opened the door, continuing to run inside.

Once I got inside the home, I closed the front door, walking into the living room. My father sat in the chair. The news played on the television, though I doubt his attention was on the television. I sat down on the couch, looking at the small out-of-date box that was used for noise inside the large home, leaning back into my seat. Neither of us spoke at first. "You needed to speak to me about some new job?"

He looked at me. "Cloud thinks Kadaj and his brothers are planning something. They have been traveling to Midgar for weeks."

I sighed, laying my head on the back of the couch. "Cloud thinks that, interesting. The man that cries Sephiroth thinks three teenagers are plotting evil. Come on, are you kidding me? Maybe they want to visit there for innocent reasons. Not everyone who travels to ruins is seeking to resurrect a madman."

"Do you know anything about it?"

I looked at him, not moving from my position. "No, but it angers me that bird boy cries Sephiroth and wants to sulk when Sephiroth appears and gives him what he wants. You can't live a paranoid life and expect to get good results. I think it is something innocent, Gaia forbidden, that he found out I visited the town. It never hurts to see where we come from." I looked at the ceiling. "Besides, they are doing work for Grace. I'm sure it's nothing but an overactive imagination, nothing more, only everything less. But I'll ask them about it. I will not point the finger and make assumptions, not without facts."

The room got quiet as I sat up, looking at the television. "You seem tense, you alright?"

I looked at him. "Father, you know family runs deep with me. You know more than anyone how much I value my family and my devotion to them, even those who aren't my children. You can love adopted children as much as your child. What Cloud is doing is making assumptions about three teenagers that I have spent years with. Honestly, I'm offended by his lack of knowledge where his accusations don't sit well with me. While Cloud is out playing delivery boy, not paying attention to what he has, he wants to make claims of evil and foreboding scenarios about those I have welcomed into my home, called them my sons, it offends me to know that people I had got injured helping, can't respect that I have a life other than dealing with threats, Cloud's lack of knowledge about those three is leading him to make lies up in his head, all because he doesn't know."

I sighed. As my father placed a hand on my shoulder, I looked at him. "We all know the sacrifices you had to make to gain the family you have gotten. The JENOVA cells inside you keeping you alive, Cloud and Tifa would have never made the move for you to go through that. I was the one that made that choice for you. Leonard, you were young. You are my son. I lost someone I loved. I didn't want to lose you. Not after losing your mother. I wish there was some other choice to save you, but it was that or your death. I wasn't ready to lose someone else. I failed your mother."

I sighed. "Father, I'm not worried about the JENOVA cells. Looking at the life I have gained, I am thankful for them. I'm going to fight for my family, whether it be against Cloud or Sephiroth himself. I will see that my family is safe and happy. No matter the cost." I looked at the clock on the wall. "Yazoo is going out tonight and won't be home until later. I'm going to leave and catch him before he goes about his business. I'll meet you at the bar later. A friendly drink is what I need." I stood up. "Kourtney, Let's go home."

The child's footsteps came into the room. "Daddy, can I stay with grandpa? Please?"

I looked at her, then at my father. "I hoped we could go out for ice cream after I deal with something at the house. You sure you want to stay here?"

She looked at me, then at my father. "Sorry, grandpa. Can I come over when we move next door, then I can show you all my toys?"

My father looked at her, then nodded his head. "Okay, bye grandpa, thanks!" The child wrapped her arms around my father, who rubbed her hair and she ran out of the house.

"I'll talk to you tonight, father. I'll try to have something to tell you then." I looked at him with a sigh. "I don't blame you or hold anything against you. I thank you for taking me to ShinRa and saving my life, I never hated you for that decision, you carried me for miles, risking your safety to grant me mine, thank you is something I don't feel like I say it enough. But I love you. I love you more than a friend. I value having you as a father. Things I feel as though I need to speak about often. I'm sorry, father, for not expressing those emotions enough, but that will change from this moment on." He looked at me as I turned away from him. "Goodbye, father." I walked out the door leaving the home.