Lost & Found

[Fate Lingod]

As usually, Fate was spending his day hiding from Leon, Aerith, and anyone else one was one the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee. He hated doing work and would do anything to get out of it even if it meant he had to hide for a few hours or so. "I bet they forgot all about now," Fate tugged on his goggles around his neck as he came out into the open. "What to do, what to do?"Fate could hear his stomach roar out for food. He slowly walked over to Scrooge McDuck's ice cream shop that was located in the town square.

He sat down on a bench as he enjoyed his large bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. "They really didn't need me today," Fate said to himself, "Besides, Leon can held these Heartless by himself."

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Leon had been watching Fate for some time now and finallt decided to confront him. He sat down next to the lazy, carefree boy. "I knew I would find you slacking again," Leon signed as he placed his right hand on his forehead, "This makes it... 19 times, right?" Leon was a little disappointed in Fate.

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Fate nearly dropped the large bowl of ice cream. He was startled by Leon and from the looks of it his was disappointed in him. "C'mon! Don't do that!" Fate said, "You gonna make me feel bad now!" He saw that Leon still had the look of disappointment upon his face. "You're just tense! You need some ice cream!" Fate stood to his feet, "Not that Sea-Salt stuff though... It's nasty! I'll even pay this time!"

[Aerith]

((You stole my color!!!))

Aerith saw that Leon had found Fate. She slowly walked over to the two. As always she was a cheerful. She could see that Leon was disappointed and she pretty much knew who was the cause of it.

"Hello!" She said, "I see that you found Fate." She smiled as she watched the two for a short moment.

"I couldn't help but over here you talking about buying ice cream," She smiled, "I think it's about time for a break anyway. So why not enjoy some ice cream with friends."

[Fate Lingod]

((It's my color now ))

"What a drag," Fate signed, "I hate when you're like this. It just ruins my day." He saw that Aerith had made her way over. "It's so nice of you to grace us with your beauty today, Miss Aerith," Fate smiled. Fate had been 'crushing' on Aerith ever since the first day he arrived on Hollow Bastion. "Yes, I will buy you anything you want," He said as he smile grew more wide. Fate loved flirting. He considered himself somewhat of a ladies' man, but too bad they didn't think the same.

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Leon stood to his feet again. "Whatever," He said, "I'll buy." He placed his left hand on Fate's right shoulder and the headed over to the ice cream shop. He walked back over to the two with a large cake cone of birthday cake ice cream and handed it over to Aerith. "How's everything looking?" He asked, "Did the numbers drop?"

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"SQUALL... You're so blocking..." He thought as Leon bought the ice cream. He waited before Leon to walked back over before he said anything. "That's so not cool," Fate signed once again, "I wanted to buy her some ice cream. Besides, she likes chocolate oreo better than birthday cake!" It was clear that Fate was a bit jealous.

[Aerith]

"You're so sweet, Fate, and please just call me Aerith," She smiled, "We're all friends here." She gently took the ice cream cone from Leon, still smiling. "Thank you, Leon," She said. She could see that Fate was a jealous and she couldn't help, but to laugh slightly. It was cute that he had a crush on her, but he was too young for her. Anyway, he had crushes on all the girls including Yuffie if i'm not mistaken. He was just a little afraid of her. "Don't worry," Aerith said, "You can buy me ice cream next time, Fate."

She turned her attention to Leon. "Well, the number of Heartless haven't been increasing, but neither have they been decreasing," She answered, "Fortunately, the Heartless that are appearing are weak so they are easy to take care of, but Cid is trying to work on a solution."

[Fate Lingod]

Fate walked back and forward for a moment lost in thought. He had a solution to the problem that they had, but he was sure that someone had already thought of the same plan. "Well, we should just go to the heart of the problem," Fate through his arms behind his head, "You know what I mean?"

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Leon nodded his head in response to what Fate had said. "If only it was that simple," Leon said, "Heartless are created from the darkness within people's hearts. So if you can find away to get to the 'heart of the problem' without hurting innocent people that would be great, Lingod."

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"What a drag. How long have we known each other now?" Fate signed, "Three years. Never once have you called me by my first name." Fate tugged on his goggles once more. He remembered something that King Mickey had told him some time back about these new beings called Nobodies. "Well, I fear that the Heartless aren't our only problem anymore," He said, "King Mickey told me of these new beings called Nobodies."

[Aerith]

"Nobodies?" Aerith was confused, "Please do explain." She had never heard of these Nobodies, but from the look on Fate's face she could tell that they weren't good.

The first thing that came to her mind when he said Nobodies was the image of a really powerful Heartless, maybe someone like the Fake Ansem (Xemnas' Heartless), but she could be wrong... Completely wrong. She waited for Fate to explain.

[Fate Lingod]

"Well, I don't know much about them myself," Fate signed, "I know they are created when a strong heart leaves their body behind or something like that. Well, that's I got from what King Mickey told me." He tugged on his goggles for a moment waiting for either Aerith or Leon to say something. "I'm not sure what they look like, but i'm sure that there haven't be any around here."

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Leon held his right hand to his forehead again as he thought for a moment. "...So if a person is strong hearted more than like not only will a Heartless be created, but a Nobody also," He said, "We will have to talk to the King whenever we get the chance about these Nobodies."

[Aerith]

"I thought something completely different," Aerith said, "Well, we can only hope that we can stop these Nobodies before they become a major threat." She loooked at Leon and smiled.

"Still, we should tell Cid," She said, "It want hurt to see if he can find out some more information."

[Fate Lingod]

"That's true I guess," Fate rubbed his head, "But don't you think he gets tired of doing things for us?" Since Fate had known Cid it seemed that he was always doing something to help them out. He never complained once. In Fate's eyes it seemed that they asked for to much from Cid.

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Leon nodded his head in response to what Fate had said. "He enjoys what he does," Leon replied, "And he does what he can to help his friends." Nothing more was said about Cid. He turned his head in Fate's direction. "It's time for you to get back to work, Lingod," Leon said, "Your long break it over."