Chapter Two

Loz and I found Leonard walking in the town. We ran behind him as he turned to face us. He stopped, allowing us to catch up with him. Once we did, we started walking once more. "So, Leonard? Where are you meeting Vincent?"

He looked at me. "The bar, Vincent takes Kourtney there to get her something to eat."

I looked at him as he massaged his injured wrist. With a sigh, he turned away from me. Five minutes later, we arrived at the bar walking inside. Walking towards Vincent, Kourtney saw us running towards us. She got to Leonard, stopping in front of him. "Daddy! You're here."

He bent down, collecting her into his arm. "Hey, kitten. Did you have fun with Vincent?"

"Yep, daddy! I showed him my new toy."

Leonard looked at her. "I bet that was fun."

"Leonard, how are you?"

I saw Vincent, who now stood beside Leonard.

"Good."

"I have things I need to do, so we can't meet tonight. You should use that time to get rested."

"Alright."

Vincent placed a hand on Leonard's shoulder, leaving us alone. "Let's get back home. Did you finish eating, Kourtney?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Good girl." He looked at Loz and me. "Let's go home." We left the bar. The walk home was silent except for Kourtney, who giggled and talked to Leonard and Loz. Once we arrived home, Leonard sat Kourtney on the floor, who ran upstairs. Leonard walked over to the couch, sitting down. The front door opened.

"Leonard, I brought you some dinner. You need to eat it before it gets cold." I looked seeing Tifa with a large bag. She placed the bag on the table, getting some bandages from her pocket wrapping Leonard's wrist. He looked at us.

"You two can go to bed. I'm going to go to bed soon. You three don't have to follow me around, it's appreciated, but I'll be fine."

I looked at Loz. "Let's go, Loz."

The two of us walked out of the room.

Leonard

"You need to tell them what's going on." I looked at her.

"Tell those three that their father is slowly going insane? Tifa, why would I do that?"

"It's not weakness to admit you need help. You won't let us help you, Leonard. Please let someone help you."

I sighed as she finished her task. "You think this is a love triangle with us? Cloud and I are just friends. He loves someone else; I care for you. I don't want you hurt again. I know how close you and Grace were, and I see what this divorce is putting you through. You don't need another relationship right now. You need to get your life together."

She stood up as I looked at her. "You need to rest. You've been going for a month. Give the coffee a break. Go lay down. I'll get Kourtney to sleep."

I stood up as the room started spinning. "We'll be fine. Shouldn't you be heading back? It's late."

She looked at me. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Tifa. I'm going to get Kourtney to bed. Then I'm going to bed as well."

She looked at me. "Alright, goodnight, Leonard."

She walked from the house, closing the door; I sighed, sitting back down on the couch.

Yazoo

I sat on my bed moments later. I watched as Leonard walked down the hall; I stood up, walking to the door. "Leonard, I got Kourtney to sleep a few minutes ago. Why don't you go to bed yourself? You look tired."

The older man looked at me, then into the room where the child slept. "Thanks, Yazoo. Maybe I will go to bed. Tifa brought something to eat when you and your brothers get hungry."

"Alright, get some rest. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Leonard walked into the room at the end of the hall, shutting the door. I closed my door, walking over to the bed, sitting down, getting my book, and started reading it.

Hours had passed by as I had put the food away earlier. I lie on the bed, trying to go to sleep. No one stirred, as it seemed everyone was asleep. I brought the covers under my chin, soon falling asleep myself.

A knock on my bedroom door awoke me. Wiping the sleep from my eyes, I stood up, walking to the door, answering it to see Leonard standing there. I looked at the clock on the wall. "Leonard, it's four in the morning. Is something wrong?"

He looked at me. "Kind of."

I opened the door, motioning him to come inside, which he did. I sat on the bed, looking at him. "Yazoo, I've not slept all night. All I can think about is something Tifa said last night." He sighed, looking at the floor. "I need help. I'm not telling everyone everything."

"You and Grace have a nasty breakup?"

"No, that was the truth. We're still friends. It's what I've been doing since the divorce. I've tried to ease the pain, from attempts at getting drunk to taking pills, and finally." He sighed, lifting his shirt sleeve, revealing many scars.

I looked at the scars, then at the man that refused to look at me. "If it bothers you so much. Why not try to work it out? I can see the spark is still there with you. None of this is worth it, Leonard. You have Kourtney, but I don't see how it has made you happy." He said nothing. I walked over to him, looking at him. "Who wanted this divorce?"

He sighed, looking at me. "I did. I felt we were growing apart with our work schedules. We never saw one another. We both had tried to make it work. But the damage had made the efforts void, I suppose.

"Come sit down on the bed."

He looked at me. "You need to sleep. We'll help you. I knew it was a mistake leaving you alone." I sighed as the two of us walked to the bed sitting down. Leonard looked at the floor as I sat beside him.

"You were always my favorite."

I looked at him. "Your favorite?"

He smiled. "Yes."

"Why me, though?"

"Because I feel as though I connect to you more than Kadaj and Loz. Sure, they're both great in their ways, but you seem to understand me more than they do. Like yesterday, you tried helping me then, even when I pushed you away. I felt trapped when Kadaj showed my bandages. You, however, though you were furious. You just let it go. It felt like you were more confused than angry."

I stood up as he looked at me, walking over to my closet, retrieving a black t-shirt, getting a pair of sweatpants from a drawer, giving them to him. "Here, get some comfortable clothes on. I'll go make you something to drink."

He looked at his clothes, standing up walking to the bathroom to change clothes. I walked from the room, going to the kitchen. I soon found what I was looking for, preparing a steaming cup of tea, taking it back to my room. Seeing Leonard sitting on my bed, I sat down beside him, handing him the tea. "Lavender and Cedarwood tea. You know the smell of this is enough to get me relaxed."

I looked at him. "I know."

Several minutes had passed by as I stood at the window. Leonard slept on the bed. I then lay back down on the bed, falling asleep myself.