Author's Note: Bwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa last chapter. :3 So it didn't go on as long as it might have, but I have no idea where else to go with it. Besides, it's five chapters longer than it originally was, and you get to see where everyone ended up! ^-^

Chapter 14

"Welcome to the Book Bin!" The voice was muffled beneath a cupboard. "I'll be with you in a minute-! I just sent Yuffie on a break!"

Cloud smiled and leaned his arms on the counter. "I never would have thought that Yuffie would get a degree to teach preschool and then come to work as a cook here."

Leon yipped and jerked upward, then let out a short stream of curses when his head hit the top of the cupboard. "Ow! Son of a…" Finally spotting the cookie sheet he wanted, he grabbed it and leaned back out to send his lover a glare. "Says the guy who gets a bachelor's in auto shop and becomes a delivery boy."

"I like being a delivery boy."

"Yuffie likes dealing with ankle biters and coming to bake," the younger man retorted, frowning at him, before turning to the large bowl of cookie dough he was working with. "It's really not that surprising. Young children are the only ones that can keep up with her amount of energy."

Cloud huffed and rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I think she just likes teaching them not to talk to strangers. Then she teaches them her ninja skills."

"God, Cloud, I ask you to take lunch to her one time and you assume that's all she teaches them!"

"I had twenty little kids come after me and kick me!" the blond exclaimed, looking appalled.

"…Whatever, you probably deserved it," Leon muttered, then turned to flash him a smile. "So what are you doing here, anyway? I thought you were going over to help Zack and Sephiroth move."

Cloud raised an eyebrow, then smiled back. "Well, I was, but I found something in the mail that interested me more."

"Oh? And what was—"

"I HAVE RETURNED!"

Leon yelped as the bowl and spoon he'd been holding were yanked out of his hands and he was shoved to the counter. "Ack!"

"Just go talk to lover-boy before people think you're neglecting business," Yuffie added, already in an apron and twirling the spoon like a baton.

Leon decided he'd just let it go. Turning to the blond again, he tilted his head and used the towel around his waist to wipe some flour from his arms. "So what was in the mail?"

"Well, it appears to be a letter from Organization XIII Publishing Company," Cloud replied, waving the envelope idly. He smirked when the brunet immediately reached for it and lifted it out of his reach. "Wait a second. What does the delivery boy get for bringing this to you?"

The brunet scowled. "He gets to sleep in bed with his husband instead of being banished to the couch."

The older man frowned, lower lip jutting out into a pout, but he allowed the brunet to snatch the envelope from his hand. "Party pooper." The pout was soon gone, however, in place of a confused frown. "What did you write, anyway? I know you wrote that humongous thing with Yuffie, but you never let anyone else read it."

"That's because I don't want anyone to read it until it's published." Leon took a deep breath, then ripped open the envelope. "Besides, Yuffie didn't help write it; she just edited it."

"Yeah, so what was your story about?"

The brunet paused, unfolding the letter, then turned his gaze on the older man as he raised an eyebrow. "A ninja girl saving the world with her faithful lion sidekick and her faithful lion sidekick's pervert stalker."

"Ah, so it's your autobiography!" Cloud smiled cheekily.

"…Shut up." He didn't know whether he should be alarmed or not about Cloud knowing he was 'the faithful lion sidekick's pervert stalker.'

Taking a few deep breaths, he hesitated before beginning to read the letter.

To Mr. Squall Strife,

You really must thank Roxas. Lexaeus had read the first chapter of your story and gotten bored, and had been about to throw it in the trash when Roxas happened by and caught your name on the title page. Needless to say, he stole the copy you sent us, read it, and gave it directly to me. When he said he enjoyed the story, I was dubious at first, but Roxas doesn't like many books, so I started it.

I finished the story two days later. It was incredibly amusing for your first novel, and I believe I can honestly say that you appeal to many different audiences, because after I finished it, my assistant stole it and read it. It circulated through the main thirteen members of our company before I finally managed to get it back.

If you can get both Larxene and Vexen to enjoy the same story, it deserves to be published. Give me a call and we'll arrange a meeting to discuss the details.

Sincerely,

Xemnas Xehanort

Leon took a few deep breaths to calm himself, then turned, smiling brightly. "Yuffie, we're published!"

Yuffie let out a scream and flung her arms around him, accidentally shoving her cookie doughy spoon into his hair. "We're published!"

Cloud watched them embrace and raised an eyebrow, wondering just what had happened, but he supposed he was happy for his lover and his friend just the same.

Even when he didn't know what was going on.

"Hey, spiky! What's with them?" Zack asked, ruffling the blond's hair playfully.

The younger man batted him away, scowling. "Stop messing with my hair, Zack; like you have any right to make fun of me!"

The black-haired man smirked and struck a cocky pose. "I'm proud of my royal hedgehoginess, thank you! So, anyway, what's up with them? Did they decide to have an affair right in front of you or something?"

"Ha, no," Cloud replied, rolling his eyes. "Apparently, their book got published. You know, the one none of us were allowed to read?"

"Yeah, the one Yuffie began to beat me with when I tried to sneak a peek." Zack narrowed his eyes at his cousin but didn't really glare. He didn't care all that much. "So… Do you think they'll give us free signed copies?"

"No, they're cheapskates."

"Hey!" Leon and Yuffie exclaimed, turning to glare at them.

"…Well, you are," Cloud retorted, crossing his arms.

Leon huffed. "Why would you need a signed copy when you're sleeping with the author or related to the editor?"

The blond raised an eyebrow. "We could make a mint selling autographed copies."

"Ha, ha, ha." The younger man waved him away. "Don't you have some packages to be delivering or something?"

Cloud smirked. "Why, are you trying to get rid of me?"

Leon scowled. "Yes."

"Well, fine." The blond turned to leave. "I may be late getting home; there's a delivery I need to make to Twilight Town."

"You know what? You might not be late if you hadn't dawdled around here," Leon replied flippantly, but grabbed the back of his coat before he could leave. "Where's my kiss goodbye?"

Cloud sighed and turned back to him only long enough to brush their lips together. "Goodbye. Really, I have to go now."

"Fine. I'll try and keep dinner warm." Leon watched him go, then sighed and rubbed the back of his head. He frowned as his fingers came into contact with something sticky and pulled his hand back to look at it. "…Is there cookie dough in my hair?"

"What?! No, of course not!" Yuffie answered quickly with a nervous laugh.

The brunet stared at her for a moment before turning his attention to Zack. "Hey. What are you doing here? I thought Cloud was coming over to help you and Sephiroth move."

"Actually, Sephiroth bribed his brothers into helping us move, so we were almost finished by the time he got there," he replied, placing his hands on his hips. "I just came in to ask Yuffie if she wanted to go to dinner with us."

Yuffie frowned at him thoughtfully, then slowly shook her head. "No, I have a date."

"Oh? With who?" Leon asked, turning toward her and raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not sure; Kairi's setting me up on a blind date."

"…That will only end in tears," Zack stated bluntly, then shrugged and turned to leave. "Alright, your loss. Not my fault you're missing out on Land of Dragons."

Yuffie waited until she heard the jingle of the bell signaling that Zack had left. "…Actually, that's where my date's going to be."

Leon snorted. "I hope your date likes Chinese food."

"Shut up. He'll love it as much as I do."

"…I'm sure."

-x-x-x-

"…You know, I never thought you'd actually join a publishing company," Naminé stated quietly as she sipped her tea. "You or Axel."

Roxas smiled a little and looked down at his own cup filled with espresso and caramel creamer. "I never really thought I would, either. Axel I sort of expected, you know, because he worked in the Book Bin for so long, but I've never really liked books."

"So why a publishing company?"

"Because technically, they're not books yet." Roxas chuckled quietly to himself as his friend giggled and rubbed the back of his head. "I even got to read Leon's book before anyone else. Besides, I like some of my authors. And Axel's a good editor, so we're usually paired up together. We work well together." His smile grew. "We're publishing Leon's book and are going to try and contract him for a series."

Naminé smiled and nodded. "That's good. I just got commissioned for a job of three murals for a large company in Agrabah. They're even paying for my travel expenses like the hotel and the airfare, so all I have to pay for is meals!"

"That's great, Naminé! So what's Kairi going to be doing while you're away?"

The blonde blinked for a moment, then looked upward thoughtfully. "I think she's got a fashion show scheduled. She and Selphie have a new line of dresses, and Sephiroth is taking his mother and his cousin, Fuu, which is bringing out all sorts of press. You know, I think he's doing it on purpose, because he and Zack have a liking for Leon and Leon likes Kairi and Selphie and they know that making Kairi and Selphie happy will make Leon happy."

"…No," Roxas replied after a moment. "That's not why he's doing it at all."

Naminé blinked at him in surprise. "You mean you know?"

"Yeah, Riku told Sora, and Sora told me," the editor explained, smirking. "Apparently, Sephiroth's mom demanded that he take her and Fuu to the fashion show so that she could buy Fuu some stylish dresses, because she's finally decided she wants to date. I'm glad that she thinks that Kairi and Selphie make stylish dresses, though."

"Yes, especially if they buy some!" Naminé smiled brightly. "That would be just the kind of press they need!"

-x-x-x-

"You know, if designing dresses doesn't pay the bills for you, you can always start a business in matchmaking," Sora commented, smiling, as he placed a cup of tea in front of his best friend.

Kairi smiled a little as well. "Thanks for saying that, Sora, but I've really only successfully paired Yuna and Tidus, and they didn't need much help. And do you even know how many times I've tried to set up Yuffie with someone?"

"…That's true," Riku conceded. "I think you should just give up on her. She'll find someone who can handle her herself. Personally, I think she'd have to be incredibly lucky to ever get married. …And I think she's okay with that." He scowled and let out a frustrated sigh. "Sora, did you put paopu syrup in my tea again?"

"…Possibly," the brunet replied, before taking a sip of his own paopu-laced tea.

"I already gave you an engagement ring. I hate paopu syrup in my tea. In fact, I hate anything but tea in my tea. And we've shared enough paopu fruit and paopu syrup and paopu juice to have our destinies entwined for millennia! NOW STOP PUTTING IT IN MY TEA!"

Kairi blinked at the older boy, stunned, before smirking coyly and leaning toward the brunet. "Your fiancé is sort of anal about his tea, isn't he?"

Sora sighed and nodded. "Yeah. A lot of other things, too."

"I'm not anal! I'm just tired of paopu!" Riku scowled when the pair ignored him, then sighed in defeat. "Oh, whatever."

"So how is attendance at your dojo, anyway?" Kairi asked quickly, before he could get even more frustrated.

Sora tilted his head thoughtfully. "Well, I get mostly kids in my classes, and Riku gets a lot of teens, but when we have Sephiroth, Cloud, and Zack come have spars against each other so the kids can see, we suddenly get twice the amount of people—and quite a few adults among them, too."

"That's because everyone knows about the rivalry between Sephiroth and Cloud. …Even though we all know that Zack could smoke them both," Riku added, sighing as he pushed his tea to the middle of the table.

The brunet giggled. "Shouldn't you be cheering for your own brother?"

"No."

"I'd cheer for my brothers."

"I would too; your brothers are much cooler than mine. …Especially when they're pissed."

Kairi giggled as well and settled herself to watch the verbal sparring match occur. Despite how much they loved each other, they were still really competitive. And, as she always had when they were younger, she enjoyed watching them battle it out.

-x-x-x-

Leon sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he reached to unlock the front door of his home. He scowled a little as he felt the dry dough in his hair and growled quietly in frustration before letting out another sigh; he was too tired to be too angry with Yuffie. Stepping into the house, he idly tossed his keys onto the table and stretched tiredly, only to let out a yelp as the lights were turned on and he was met with a concerted shout of "surprise" from all of his friends.

Holding a hand over his heart, he stared at them for a moment before scowling. "What is the matter with you?!"

"Cloud told us about your book getting published and we decided we needed to celebrate!" Naminé replied, smiling sweetly. "And this was the only time we could all get together!"

"Yeah, Cloud sent out this group-wide text telling us to be here or else, and then Roxas sent out a text saying why, and we become a surprisingly large party when we're all together, don't we?" Sora added, smiling brightly as he bounced over to hug him. "Congratulations, Leon!"

Leon hugged him back for a moment before patting his pockets for his phone in confusion. "Text to everyone?"

"Contrary to popular belief, I'm not stupid enough to send you an invitation to your own surprise party," Cloud stated, smiling a little. "Thanks for the faith."

"…Sorry. It's just that sometimes you do things without thinking," the brunet replied, then leaned in and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you, sweetie." Then, he turned back to the rest of the group and smiled. "Thanks for the party, but I'd really like to wash the cookie dough out of my hair."

Axel snorted and waved it away. "Psh, please, go wash your hair. We can just get drunk with Yuffie."

Leon frowned. "…Suddenly I have no urge whatsoever to wash my hair."

"Hey! I'm not that bad when I'm drunk!" Yuffie exclaimed, frowning.

Laguna sighed and patted her on the head on his way to the cake. "Yes, my dear, you are."

"Hey!"

Roxas bounced up to him and smiled, holding his palm pilot in his hand expectantly. "So when should I schedule your meeting with Xemnas?"

"I'll have to get back to you on that," the brunet replied, chuckling, before letting out a yelp as he was grabbed in a headlock and given a noogie. "Seifer, I swear to God—"

"What? That you'll sick Shiva on me? …Again?" the older man snorted, then released him. "I hate to tell ya this, Squall, but having a dog lick me isn't exactly what I call threatening."

"Shut the hell up. What are you even doing here? I thought Cloud didn't like you." Leon began to reach up to fix his hair, but remembering the cookie dough, he decided he didn't care.

Seifer snorted again and reached up absently to fix his hair for him himself, showing that they were indeed better friends than most would guess. "He didn't invite me; Yuffie did. We were having dinner at the Land of Dragons when she got the text and booked over here. I was just invited as an afterthought."

"You were Yuffie's blind date?" The brunet frowned. "…You'd make demon babies."

The older man scowled. "Fuck you."

"I think our babies would be adorable," Yuffie retorted, sticking her tongue out at him, before poking him playfully with her fork. "Just think of little Asian babies with blond hair, or little American babies with black hair. I could eat 'em up!"

"…Like the cannibal we all suspected you of being," Axel muttered, only to yelp as the younger girl stabbed him with her fork in a much less playful manner. "Ow!"

"Bite me, pyromaniac!"

Seifer raised an eyebrow. "Well, I suppose since she's still technically my date tonight, I'll go keep her from killing anyone. …Tell Kairi that my debt is paid and I don't ever want to be a part of any of her blind dates again." He paused, then added, "And once I'm gone, tell your friend that I have no intentions of having babies with anyone yet."

Leon smirked. "So you'd rather make babies with Fuu?" He chuckled when the blond shot him a dirty look and quickly held his hands up. "I'm just kidding. Though I hear she's about to get more into the dating scene soon, wearing some expensive designer dresses and her own brand of sexy perfume."

"And just where the hell did you hear that?!" the blond exclaimed, spinning back toward him.

"A little birdie told me."

"…Go jump off a cliff."

The brunet smiled, then turned to go find his husband, only to get intercepted by Axel. "Ah… shouldn't you be molesting Roxas or something?"

"Yeah, well, I had something I wanted to suggest t' you," the redhead replied. "So, when you go talk to Xemnas, you're gonna talk about cover art, okay? And I was just thinking—"

"I'll ask your sister before I ask anyone else," Leon deadpanned. "But I haven't even scheduled the meeting yet, so I'm not going to worry about it until then."

Axel smiled. "I just wanted to make sure. Naminé is too shy to come up and demand it herself."

"Demand what?" Naminé asked in confusion, frowning, as she turned to look at them.

Leon rolled his eyes but decided to save the redhead from a beating from his sister anyway. "Respect and awe from all the men that meet you."

She stared at them for a few minutes, unsure of what to make of what she'd heard, before slowly nodding. "Oh. …Okay." She bit her bottom lip, then smiled bashfully. "If you need anyone to do illustrations for your books, though, I'd be willing to do it cheap!"

"Thanks. I may take you up on that offer." Once her attention was elsewhere, the brunet gave Axel a bland stare. "I think she did a good job of advocating for herself, Axel."

"Bite me."

.-.-.-.-.-.

Leon didn't get to wash his hair until about nine o'clock that evening; as it was, he still had his father and brothers there, drinking coffee and chatting while he took his shower. Once he joined them, however, he felt clean, if not refreshed, and sat down on the couch beside his husband. "Ugh! That was sweet, but never do it again after I've worked for twelve hours."

Cloud slid his arm around the brunet's shoulders and pulled him up against him, placing a gentle kiss on his forehead. "I thought about that, but I decided you'd be too pleased to be really mad. Besides, you enjoyed yourself, didn't you?"

"Oh, yes, I especially liked when the drunken Riku challenged the equally drunken Axel to a duel at the dojo. That'll be a mess that Sora and Roxas will have to pick up because then Driku and Draxel will be passed out cold." Leon yawned quietly but snuggled up to him nonetheless.

Laguna raised an eyebrow. "Driku and Draxel?"

"Sora and I made those up ourselves," Roxas explained, sighing, as he took a sip of his coffee. "It's short for 'drunken Riku' and 'drunken Axel.' …It's also used to describe the results of said creatures. Except usually it's following a string of curses. …Sora can get surprisingly colorful."

Sora scowled. "I swear, if any puke is involved this time, I'll turn the air blue. Do you know how hard I have to work to keep that place clean?!"

"…" After a moment's awkward silence, the older man turned his attention to Cloud. "So! Cloud! How's the delivery business?"

"Well, between delivering and working part time in Cid's Auto, not too bad. Especially because it's mostly business from Tifa, Aerith, and Cid. Though I do have a few people I'll make deliveries for, too, like Merlin or Yuffie. …Squall, too, if he asks me nicely enough," he added, nuzzling the brunet's head gently. "Well, I think Squall's fading fast."

"'m not," Leon mumbled, snuggling closer.

Laguna smiled a little and set his cup on the coffee table. "Well, I should be getting back home soon anyway. Goodnight, Squall. Congratulations."

The brunet hummed in appreciation but didn't open his eyes. "Thanks Dad."

Sora and Roxas glanced at each other before hurriedly standing as well. "We'd better go too. G'night Leon!"

"Congratulations on your book!"

"Thanks guys."

Cloud waited until he heard the door shut before lifting the other man into his arms. "Let's get you into bed, Squall."

"Okay…" Leon scowled a little as he was shifted around so that Cloud could lock the front door, but his expression relaxed after a short nuzzle to his neck. "'m tired, Cloud…"

"I know. We're going to bed right now," the blond replied soothingly. "But really, love; congratulations on your book. Looks like you've got another career on your hands along with the Book Bin."

The brunet scowled again. "No."

"Oh, so it's just a hobby."

"…Sleepy bye time now."

Cloud chuckled quietly and settled him into bed. "I guess we'll just keep up the forward motion, won't we, Squall."

"I love you…"

"…I love you too," the blond replied, bending down to press a quick kiss to his lips, before he slid under the covers as well. "Goodnight."

Snuggling up to him, the younger man sighed in content. "G'night…"

Well! I think that's the end of that! If you want anymore you'll just have to imaaaagine in for yourselves, 'kay? ^_~