King of Fighters 1. Prologue

**Setting**: Ikari Headquarters, somewhere in South Town

**Time**: Fall; approximately September

**Reference**: AU; sometime after Ash has stolen Iori's powers

Disclaimer: _King of Fighters_, characters, etc are copyright to their own creators, I am merely a fan.

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Leona awoke, for the thirteenth night in a row, with a start. Deep blue eyes wide, pale skin drenched in sweat, she stared up at the ceiling above her, gasping for breath as her heart threatened to beat right out of her chest. Every night, for the past thirteen nights, it had been the same: she would fall asleep and some time during the night, nightmares would plague her mind until she woke up, sweating and gasping for air.

With a soft groan, the warrior closed her eyes, a hand coming to her forehead as she willed her heart to slow. When her breathing and heartbeat returned to something resembling normal, she slipped out of bed and padded on bare feet to her bathroom, the fluorescent light flickering a few times as she stared into the mirror over her sink. From a combination of the lighting and the recent lack of sleep, her skin seemed ghostly, almost gray, and if she didn't know better, she would have thought she was getting sick. And in a way, she was, because every time the nightmares woke her, she was certain that she would vomit.

Blood soaked images.. memories of her child hood.. memories from the '97 tournament.. Things that she could never remember when she was pulled out of the Riot were afflicting her mind, and at first, she had wondered how and why she was suddenly remembering these things, but after a while, she grew to not care. The images were disturbing her, mentally and physically. -That- was all she cared about. She didn't need to think about the blood, about the carnage, about the chunks of skin -she- ripped from innocent peoples' faces and necks. All that mattered was that she was a soldier, and these things should not, no, _could not_, affect her job. It had happened once, in the past, and she had nearly failed a mission because of it. Ever since then, she knew that she could not fail like that ever again.

Sighing softly, Leona gazed at herself in the mirror, reaching out and pulling a lower eyelid down to examine her eye. Blood shot, again. Ralf would certainly poke fun at her for it, as he had done for the past week. With another sigh, she tore her eyes away from the mirror only to look down at her hands. The tips of her fingers were slightly darker than the rest of her hands, the skin permanently stained from the blood she had spilled from all those innocent people. But that wasn't where her eyes were focused for she had gotten used to the discoloration. Instead, she stared at her palms. The normally pale and calloused skin was dark and scarred, burned, as though she had shoved her hands into a lit fireplace.

Blue flames.. raging infernos.. Images of blue fire flashed in front of her mind's eye, and she grunted, quickly shutting and rubbing her eyes as though trying to rid herself of the images. She had dreamed about that too, about strange blue flames. She had also awoken a few times during the week to find her hands encased in flame. The moment she noticed it, and her body began to panic, they were gone, as though she had just been dreaming it.

Leona gripped the sink before her and leaned forward until her forehead was pressed against the cold glass of the mirror, her eyes closed. What was going on? Why were these dreams suddenly bothering her? Why were they the same every night? If it kept up, she probably -would- wind up sick, what with a lack of sleep. Sure, as a soldier, she had trained her body to go without sleep for long periods of time, but never for -this- long. She was lucky to get a good three hours a night, and she was well aware that it was -not- healthy.

It was not something she enjoyed admitting, but Leona needed help. She needed to know why these nightmares were bothering her. She needed to know why her hands were spouting fire. But most of all, she needed to learn how to control the Riot, because -that- was what was -always- in the back of her mind every time she woke up. She was certain that -everything- was connected to her Orochi blood. Over the years, she had learned of eight other people who had a similar... problem. Six of them were dead and one of them was psychotic, which meant he wouldn't be any help. That only left one person: Yagami Iori.

Out of the other eight, Yagami was the only one who had, at one point, been in the same position as her - being controlled by the Riot. But he, unlike her, had learned to control it. If he, that undisciplined, rude, selfish man, could learn to control the blood curse, than -she- could too, she was certain of that much. The problem was, would he help her? More than likely not. But Leona -needed- his help, whether or not he wanted to give it. She knew she would have to break out of her own shell to try and convince him, in some way, to help her because Leona was not the type of person to ask for help, let alone -talk- to anyone outside of her Team Mates and "father". But, she was realizing that she would -have- to do both if she wanted to help herself.

After showering and changing, Leona left her quarters to make her way to the training room because when she was there, even Ralf never bothered to try and talk to her. It was in the training room that she would begin to formulate her plan.

* * *

**Fingers**  
The blood stains were inspired by the fic "Warrior", a King x Leona fic (no slash) and although it's a couple I don't like, the fic is still very nice to read.

A long time ago, I read a Leona x Iori fic on Sakura Lemon FF Archive, and honestly, it's what pretty much inspired this writing. Sadly, the site has been taken down, and I haven't been able to re-read the fic or give credit where it's due. If anyone knows who the author of said fic is (sadly, I don't even remember the NAME of the fic, it's been so long), or knows of a place where I can re-read it and thus give credit for bits and pieces that inspired my writing, please let me know.

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	2. Chapter One

Overall, it took Leona a good week to sort out her plan and really solidify it. The only reasons it had taken her so long were due to Ralf's insistences that she "hung out" with him and Clark whenever they decided to go out or just hang around the military complex. As Leona viewed the two men as her only friends (Heidern being the "father" figure and Whip having disappeared to who knew where), she would always acquiesce. Her comrades would continually do their best to get Leona to talk, to get her to laugh, to act -human-, but that was not who she was. She had learned to bottle up her emotions and keep them under tight wraps because of the demons that threatened to break free of her hold. Sometimes she would nod, very rarely she would respond to a question or two, and once in a blue moon she would smile. Apparently, her stoic attitude did not deter Ralf or Clark because they -never- gave up.

As there were no current missions for the team, Leona spent as much time as she could tracking Yagami while she thought out a plan, one that might actually work. It didn't take her long to find a pattern in his traveling - she only hoped he would keep it by the time she could actually get out and try to confront him. Luckily, -because- there were no current missions, it wasn't hard for Leona to leave the compound. As Heidern's "daughter", no one ever questioned her, including her "father" because, like a real paternal figure, he was just glad that she would sometimes get out on her own. Every one knew she had a level head, so there was no reason to worry.

Dressed in black jeans and a blue top as she was almost certain Yagami would not take her seriously, or think she had some ulterior motive, if she wore her military uniform, Leona made her way through the streets of Southtown, keeping to herself, keeping focused on her personal mission and ignoring the cheers and calls from a few men as she passed them. Yagami, as she had come to learn, was a lover of music, and every night, around the same time, he would show up at the same jazz bar in the eastern area of town, drink, enjoy the music, then return to his hotel room at some ungodly hour in the morning. He was a creature of habit, and in a way it surprised Leona because he was, otherwise, such an unpredictable man.

Jazz was not Leona's personal favorite genre of music, having a particular fondness for classical and symphonic, so when she entered the club, her nose scrunched up at the sounds. But, she wasn't there to listen to music, and, soon enough, she was hoping she'd be so involved in conversation to the point she wouldn't even notice the noise. It wasn't hard for her to spot Yagami, sitting in a dark corner, brooding with some sort of alcoholic beverage - his aura was massively powerful and gave off the distinct feeling that he didn't want anyone near him. Leona simply ignored it and walked right up to him.

"What do you want, woman?" he asked as she reached him, not bothering to look at her.

Without asking, Leona pulled a chair away from the table and sat down across from the man, her arms folding over one another on the table top as she looked right at him. Steps one and two were complete - finding Yagami and getting him to notice her. The rest of the steps would certainly prove to be much harder. "I need your help," she stated, not taking her eyes off of him. There, the beginning of step three - asking for help. Although, it didn't exactly come out as a question...

Snorting into his drink, Iori placed the glass back down on the table, but still refused to look at her. "That's nice."

How was she supposed to counter that? For a brief moment, her brows furrowed and she looked down at the wooden table, as though trying to find an answer within the grains of wood. Leona had never been a student to the art of speaking, so she was confused. Perhaps if she actually asked him rather than stated it. "Would you help me? Please?"

"And why does the little military princess need help from a man like me?" He continued to not look at her.

Leona wondered if she should take some sort of offense to his description of her, but at the moment, it was not important. He had answered her question with a question of his own. She had to keep this.. conversation.. going. "Because you are the only person who can teach me to control my powers. You have learned to control yours, haven't you?"

"Two full sentences. I'm surprised." After taking another sip of his drink, he finally turned to look at her, his upper lip curled back in such a way so that his K9 was showing, long and sharp.

Both she and Yagami had been at many of the King of Fighters tournaments, so it was no surprise that he would make a comment such as that; it was a well known fact that Leona was a very quiet and anti-social individual.

With a shrug, he slouched down in his seat before turning away from her, his eyes traveling elsewhere. "Can't help you, being powerless and all."

Leona could detect annoyance in his words, whether it was for her question or because of his comment, she didn't know. Either way, it didn't matter, because she hadn't spent a week of planning to simply be turned down. She was getting desperate because for the past two nights - the nightmares were preventing her from sleeping at all. As she was beginning to view it, Yagami was her only hope. "Please. You're the only one who can help me."

"Get lost, kid. I said I can't help you."

Kid? Leona was certain he was not that much older than her, nor was he familiar with her, so why would he refer to her as such? No matter. She would not be deterred. "Please, Yagami Iori, I need your help."

The red-head just ignored her, his large fingers curled tightly around his glass, his eyes, half covered by his bangs, staring off in any direction but her's.

For a few moments, Leona just stared at him, slowly becoming more and more desperate. It was hard enough that she had -admitted- she needed help, even harder that she came to an establishment such as the one she was in, and worst of all, she was being -forced- to speak, to try and think of what she could or would have to say to get him to listen to her. Truth be told, if Ralf or Clark saw her now, they would be beyond surprised to the point they might think she were on some sort of hallucinogens. But, again, she would not give up on weeks of planning, she would not return to her barracks for more sleepless nights. Yagami was right in front of her, and she would get what she wanted: his help. She quickly racked her brain, trying hard to find the words. And it was -very- hard, but eventually, they came to her:

"I have come here to ask for your help. You and I are of similar blood. You know the pain that I have been dealing with. Would you just ignore a fellow man in desperate need of your help?"

A student of speech she may not have been, but her words seemed to hit home. Iori's head whipped around to glare at her, his lip curled back in a snarl. "I said, get lost!"

Apparently, Iori's anger was contagious, because Leona was beginning to get just as upset. "I won't!" she nearly yelled, slamming a fist into the table top. And immediately, she regretted it, because her fist caught on fire, pale blue flames licking the air. Anger and annoyance immediately left her facial features as she stared down at the flames, her eyes wide in fear and confusion.

Standing up quickly enough to knock his chair over, Iori cursed loudly and stared down at the flames. Without a word, he grabbed her other wrist and physically dragged Leona out of the bar and into a back alley. By the time he threw her back into the brick wall, the flames had extinguished. "What the fuck was -that-?" he growled, finally meeting her gaze.

Lips parted in surprised, Leona's heart raced as she shook her head. "I don't know." It was the first time the flames had come to her hands while she was awake and conscious. She was startled. With a low snarl, Iori pulled his gaze away from her and started to pace back and forth in front of her, muttering things under his breath. Leona stared, first at her hands, and then at him. It wasn't how she had planned things to progress, but perhaps it was for the best.

Abruptly, Iori turned around to face her, his right arm snapping out, palm slamming into the brick wall beside Leona's head. Her eyes widened at the sudden movement; she wasn't afraid of Yagami, just startled by his actions. "Do it again," he growled.

Leona shook her head. "I can't. The flames just come on their own. This is the first time it's happened while I was awake."

"Angry enough to cause the Orochi Flames.." he muttered under his breath, his eyes narrowing as he thought. "When else did the flames come to your hands?"

"When I wake up, after having dreamed about them."

Pulling his hand away from the brick wall, Iori started to pace again, muttering incoherent thoughts and words.

"I assumed it was because of my blood," Leona spoke up, her hands having dropped to her sides. Her blue eyes followed his pacing form.

Iori shook his head. "Not the flames. None of the other Orochi Eight had the power of flames. Different elements, yes, but the flames belong to Kusanagi and Yagami.." No longer pacing, he turned to stare at her. "Blue.. Kusanagi are crimson.. Yagami purple because of the pact.. but why -blue-?" He wasn't speaking to her, but rather studying her as he spoke his thoughts aloud. "Who were your parents?" This time he spoke up, loud enough for her to hear and respond.

"I don't know.. I don't remember anything from my childhood."

And again, Iori started to pace in front of her, muttering under his breath. "Father or mother one of the descendants of the Eight.. would account for the blood, but not the flames.. Or maybe it would?" Brow furrowing, he stopped his pacing once more and stared down at Leona. "When was the first time the flames came to you?"

Leona shrugged: "A few weeks ago, maybe." His eyes narrowed further as he continued to study her. Leona was beginning to feel like some sort of freak with the way he was muttering about her and staring at her. In a way, it was unnerving, but she would not be forced away from her mission. Raising her chin just slightly, she continued to meet his gaze; she would not be swayed otherwise.

"Heh," he suddenly snorted. "You're a strange one. Maybe I -will- help you. But don't think I'll do it for free."

She found herself standing straighter, taller. "You stare at me as though I'm a science experiment. Finding out why I have these powers isn't payment enough?"

Without warning, the taller man stepped closer to Leona, a smirk pulling at his lips as he stared down at her, mere inches from her face, his head tilting to the right, hands slipping into the pockets of his pants. "Ore ga kowaii no ka?"

She stared right back at him, unwavering. "No."

Apparently he found that funny, because he quickly turned around and laughed, a short bark from his throat. "Alright, woman, let's go," he waved an arm in the air as he started to make his way out of the alley.

She had done it? She had convinced Yagami to help her? Were Leona a normal woman, she would have smiled, but, as her life was anything -but- normal, she didn't. Instead, she nodded and followed Iori out of the alley, muttering under her breath: "Ninmu kanryou."

* * *

Leona's Favorite Music  
At first, I thought of making her favorite industrial or even electronica, possible techno or trance, simply because of her hobby: "Inspecting factories". Everyone laughs at that, I know, and well, yeah, you can see where I'd get those genres as possible favorites. However, all those types of music are either loud, have a ton of bass, or are just chaotic (don't get me wrong, I love -all- those genres, so I'm not badmouthing them). But, -because- of that, coupled with her fear of the Riot (chaotic in and of itself) I see Leona leaning more towards -calming- music.

Leona's Speech

I figured this fic would be fairly easy to write, at first, considering how much of a fan I am of Leona. But then I realized that I am the type of author that explains a -lot- of things through character speech. If you know Leona, you know that -that- is pretty much an oxymoron, considering Leona very, very, very -rarely- speaks, and only then to her team mates. Because of that, I tried to do my best of explaining -why- Leona says as much when she does throughout this fic.


	3. Chapter Two

For lack of a better description, Yagami pampered himself. Leona had followed him back to his hotel room and promptly sat down in a chair when he all but ordered her to. When he crossed the room to raid his mini fridge, Leona found herself staring at the well furnished room. Honestly, she didn't think she'd be able to pay for a room like Yagami's if she saved up nearly five years worth of pay checks. The room was so fancy that Leona was actually beginning to feel uncomfortable. Until Iori shoved a can of soda into her hands.

"You don't look like the type to drink men's beverages," he smirked, sitting down on the corner of his bed.

"Thank you," she murmured, staring down at the blue can. As far as things went, Leona didn't know what to do next. She had completed her mission, that much was true, but what came next? She assumed Yagami would fill her in. Raising her head to ask him as much, she paused, finding him staring at her. "What?" she questioned him.

"Why do -you- have flames?" he countered her question with one of his own.

"I don't know. It's one of the many reasons I tracked you down," she murmured, her head once more lowering to let her eyes stare at the unopened can in her hands. "I assumed you would have an answer for me."

He snorted: "Nope."

She could still feel his eyes on her. "Why do you keep staring at me?" she raised her head again to meet his gaze. Leona was not afraid of this man, but the fact of the matter was that she didn't like -anyone- staring at her. It was rude, and it made her feel uncomfortable.

"You are a puzzle, woman. You have flames of Orochi when only the Kusanagi and Yagami should."

Raising her head just slightly, her chin jutting out, she spoke: "I have a name, and it is not 'woman'." Leona was used to being addressed as "Leona", "Heidern", "soldier" or other military titles, but never "woman". In fact, she didn't find the title degrading when it was certainly meant to be as such - she was just used to being addressed in proper military fashion.

Iori snorted into the glass he was drinking from. "Very well, -Heidern-," he smirked, emphasizing the name. "What exactly is it that you want from me?"

Had she not already explained that to him? Perhaps due to her general lack of speaking with people and general inability to properly express herself, she had not... explained herself properly. For a few moments, Leona stared down at the blue can of soda, finally pulling on the tab to open it as she gathered her thoughts. There was... so much for her to explain, and for a moment, she wondered if it was possible for her to do as much - to explain everything that had happened to her for the past month, to explain her problems. But, her soldier's mind kicked in, and she began to explain things as though she were reporting to one of her superior officers:

"For the past twenty one days, I have been having these strange... nightmares. Blood and gore filled visions, of people screaming and dying, of my hands covered in blood, standing among hundreds of dead people. I don't know how I know, but I am certain I am reliving things that have happened to me in the past, things that I do not even recall doing. Generally, I wake up in a sweat and nothing more, but sometimes the visions change. The dead bodies suddenly ignite into blue flames, and -then- I wake up and my hands are encased in the same blue flames." Leona finally lifted her head to look Iori in the eye. "I am sure you know that I do not have even the slightest bit of control over this... curse that we share, because if I did, I would not be having these nightmares, and I would be able to control the flames. I do not wish to relive the 1997 Tournament." Although it was almost completely unnoticeable, Leona was certain she had seen Iori shudder at her mention of the tournament, and she was positive he was remembering what he had done while under the Riot.

Iori merely grinned: "I didn't realize the military princess had such a large vocabulary. What was that, nearly seven full sentences? That must be a record for you."

Leona scowled, abruptly standing up, her mouth opening to reply to his rude words, but he shook his head and waved his hand.

"Stop getting so upset, Heidern. No wonder people call you the Ice Queen - no sense of humor."

"I do not see what is so funny about my problems," she muttered, sitting back down, refusing to look away from him.

Sighing, he finished off the brown liquid he was drinking before leaning back and dropping the glass on the night table behind him. Iori sat back up and continued to stare at Leona, apparently trying to figure out what he wanted to say, or to gather his own thoughts. "So you want to learn to control your powers, thus your blood, that it?"

Is that not what she had been saying since she saw him in the bar? "Yes."

"That's all you had to say, Heidern," he replied, getting up and walking past her, right into the bathroom. He closed the door behind himself.

Brow furrowing in confusion, Leona stared at the closed door, slightly puzzled by it. The sound of running water met her ears which only further confused her. Was he... taking a shower? Yagami had always seemed like a strange individual to her, but the entire evening was downright peculiar. So, he expected her to sit around while he took a shower? With a sigh, Leona finally took a drink of the now warming soda in her hands before settling back into her chair, straightening her back and looking in front of her. She was a soldier. She would wait.

* * *

That Yagami pampered himself was shown not just through the state of his hotel room, but of the length of time he spent in the shower. Perhaps the man had not even spent the entire time in the shower, but whether or not that was the case, the truth was that the water had been running for at -least- fourty five minutes before it had finally been turned off. The abrupt change in sound was what caused Leona to shift in her seat and glance at the clock on the cable box above the TV. It was nearing one in the morning. By then, the soda, still held between hands, was room temperature, and as she wasn't even thirsty, she finally placed the can down on the table beside her before shifting a second time and realigning her back.

Leona had spent the time thinking, something a quiet individual such as herself did a lot of. Yagami would help her. How would he do that? Would it even be possible for him -to- help her, what with his own powers gone? Even if she tried, would -she- be able to do what was necessary to help herself? She certainly knew she would, if it were -possible-. The problem was, she had no idea what was going to happen, or even if her mind and body were capable of doing whatever was needed to gain control of her powers. Lowering her eyes, Leona lifted her hands up and stared at them, at the scarred skin of her palms, the slightly darkened, burnt colors.

Becoming as lost in thought as she had, she never noticed Iori leaving the bathroom, never noticed him standing in front of her, rubbing a white towel against his wet hair. She finally took notice of him after he tossed the towel onto the bed, grabbed her wrist and hauled her right out of her chair. Brows furrowed, lips parted in surprise, she stared at him, wanting to scold him for treating her so rudely, but she kept her words to herself, as she almost always did. The surprise and annoyance she felt soon faded as she watched him stare at her hand, twisting and turning it to get a look at it in the light before grabbing her other hand and doing the exact same thing.

With a snort, he dropped her hand before moving towards his mini fridge to search for another drink. "The stains never do fade," he commented, once more sitting down on the corner of his bed, glass in hand.

Immediately, Leona's eyes moved to look at his hands, and for the first time, she noticed that the tips of his fingers were darker than the rest of his hands - stained from the blood, exactly like hers. With a nod, she sat back down, her hands folding in her lap. "And what of the scars, from the flames?"

"Nope," he shook his head before taking a long swig.

For a few moments, Leona just stared at the floor, well aware Yagami was still staring at her. Wasn't he supposed to be helping her? Shouldn't he be saying something, explaining things? Lifting her head to look up at him once more, she finally asked her questions: "What am I supposed to do?"

"No clue," he replied nonchalantly, quickly finishing off the drink before placing the empty glass on the night table beside the first one.

No... clue? "Then why did you bring me here?"

With a shrug, he moved back onto the bed until his back was leaning against the wall, his hands folding behind his head, legs straight ahead of him, crossed at the ankles.

Leona was confused. Was all of this a waste of time? Was he just playing with her? Eyes narrowing as she controled her annoyance, Leona stood back up. "I thought you said you would help me."

"I said -maybe-, woman. Did it ever occur to you that I might not have any idea -how- to help you?"

"Then, again, what was the point of bringing me here? Just so you could sit there and stare at me like I am some freak of nature? I came to you asking for help, and you have been nothing but rude and obnoxious."

A grin spread out over his lips. "Dunno'. But it seems to be doing you some good. You've been stringing together full sentences all night rather than just two word replies."

It was like something inside of her snapped. With a growl, Leona slammed her fist into the table beside her. "I did not come here to be mocked!" Immediately, her fist ignited in blue flames, and before she knew what was happening, Iori was in front of her, grabbing her wirst and yanking her hand towards him, eyes staring at the flames. Taken aback, Leona stared at him, her face softening, the flames extinguishing.

With a snarl, Iori looked down at her. "Damnit, woman, can't you stay angry for more than two seconds?"

Leona blinked.

Rolling his eyes, he dropped her hand and shook his head, moving away to once more sit on the corner of his bed. "If you've yet to notice, the flames are connected to your emotions. Fear while you're asleep, anger while you're awake."

She.. hadn't noticed that. Slowly, Leona sat back down and once more stared at her hands, her right slightly warmer than her left. She was beginning to piece things together.

"Control your emotions, you control the flames," Iori spoke up, leaning back on a palm and staring at her.

"And the Riot?" She didn't look up at him.

He shrugged. "Same thing, basically. At least for you. Control your emotions, control the flames, control the Riot."

Leona finally looked up. "What do you mean 'at least for you'?"

"I told you before. -You- shouldn't have those flames - they belong to the Kusanagi and the Yagami. You don't belong to either clan. At least, I don't think you do, but then again, if you don't know your own family..." he trailed off with another shrug. "You're probably just a descendant of one of the Eight Representatives of Orochi, each of which have their own type of powers. I can only assume your's is that blue flame."

"But why -now-? Why do these powers suddenly come to me -now-? It's been over a decade since the first time I Rioted, wouldn't the flames have come to me -then-?"

"What do I look like, some smart book-type scholar? I don't know."

Leona frowned. "So... what, I just... try to get myself angry, to force the flames, and then try to control them...?"

"The grunt catches on." Her eyes narrowed, he laughed. "You're quicker to anger than I thought. Perhaps the Ice Queen doesn't have such a cold heart after all."

"Perhaps. But at least -one- of us has flames hot enough to melt the ice," she countered, quickly catching on to his little game and realizing that she could play too.

All smugness left his face, and his eyes darkened as he stared at her, his upper lip curling back to show off a K9. "Listen, woman. I was nice enough to help you out, no reason for you to get all prissy and act like a little bitch."

Leona realized that all he had at the moment were words; without his flames, all he had left was brute strength, and in a way, against Leona, powerless, for she had strength as well. For a brief moment, she felt a bubble of pride begin to grow within her chest, but she pushed it down, refusing to give herself airs. She would not become an egotistical asshole like Yagami. "Nice? You have been nothing but rude since I first approached you. Perhaps you cannot stand that which you so easily hand out to other people."

He continued to glare at her, and Leona knew, without a doubt, that if he had his powers, he would have attacked her then and there, despite his so called hate of violence. It must have killed him, having to force restraint upon himself.

"Ya'know, I think I prefer the Ice Queen who can't string two sentences together rather than whatever the hell you are now," he growled.

As she continued to stare at him, it dawned on her that she had spoken more in that one night than she had in her entire life. Most of what she said -had- to be said because there was no other way she could explain herself to Yagami, but after that... Almost everything else she had spoken did not need to be said, but she had opened her mouth anyway. Part of her couldn't understand it, but another part of her realized that the moment she saw his stained finger tips, she felt like Yagami was the only person she could talk to about her problems freely. He had, after all, gone through the exact same thing. Ralf and Clark would never understand, but Yagami could because it was the same for him.

Turning her head away from him, she looked towards the curtained window, letting her emotions cool before she spoke up: "It's the same for you, is it not? You very rarely speak to people, and yet here you are, talking to me like a normal person. You see in me exactly what you used to be, but like me, you never had anyone to talk to who could understand the pain, the horror, the fear... No one who shared the scars." Rolling her hand over, Leona looked down at the scars and discolorations once more. "It pains me to say it, but I'm sure you realize it too - we are a lot alike."

For the first time that night, the roles were switched; Iori remained silent, snorting in annoyance every so often, while Leona spoke her mind.

With a nod, Leona got up from her seat. Nothing else would need explaining that night. "Thank you," she nodded again, looking down at him. When no reply came, she turned to finally leave his room and return to the barracks, but paused when he spoke up.

"Come back here tomorrow night. I wanna' see those flames again," he muttered, refusing to look up from the floor.

Leona realized that he was only causing himself more pain; he wanted to see the powers that he no longer had. But he had helped her, so perhaps this was his payment. After saluting him, she turned and finally left. She would return because, to her, it had been an order.


	4. Chapter Three

Once returning to her room, Leona changed into her night clothes before lying down to sleep. For the first time in nearly a month, she slept for almost the entire night, a full six hours before her nightmares, as usual, woke her up. Body covered in sweat, the soldier stared up at the metal ceiling above her, waiting for her breathing and heart to calm. Tilting her head to the side, her blue eyes moved to look at her alarm clock. Eight a.m. How long had it been since she had slept so late? That, between her nightmares and her missions, she was -allowed- to sleep that late? Normal women would have smiled, but Leona merely nodded in approval and sat up, running her fingers through her sweat-drenched hair.

The first thing Leona would have normally done was to get up and take a shower, but instead, she curled her legs in front of her, sitting Indian-style on her bed, and stared down at her hands. It had seemed so simple at first, but as she began to realize otherwise, her brow furrowed - how was she supposed to get angry? or afraid? If those were the two emotions that were supposed to trigger the flames, then things were going to be a lot more complicated than she thought they would be last night.

Overall, as a trained soldier, Leona very, very rarely let her emotions get the better of her, and because of that, she was very rarely angry. Last night had been quite the exception, though. As she thought about the previous night, she became more confused. Sure, Yagami Iori was the type of person who could easily annoy -any-one, but how had he caused her to be so angry so -easily-? Even thinking back to it, she didn't understand why she -had- become so angry. The more she thought about it, the more she quietly berated herself. She was a soldier. Her emotions could -not- control her like that. It was the whole reason she went to see Yagami in the first place.

But, if she didn't -let- them control her, then... no flames. No control. No sleep. Danger, for herself and her comrades. So, as she began to realize the course of events, Leona would have to first let her emotions free, let herself become angry or afraid, then learn to control those emotions and then channel them through her powers. With a sigh, she realized that the entire affair was going to be complicated. Anger was not a common thing in her life, and as for last night, well, it must have been a fluke of some sort. Fear, however, she -might- be able to use. There was only one real thing she feared in her life and that was her own blood, her curse. Perhaps, if she focused on -that- so intently, actually -allowed- herself to become afraid, then maybe the flames would come to her.

A knock at her door stopped her before she could even try. "Come in," she called out, finally tearing her eyes away from her hands to watch as Ralf entered her room.

After closing the door behind him, the American moved further into the room before stopping a few feet in front of her bed, his hands slipping into his pants pockets. "Hey, Leo."

Nodding in greeting, Leona sat up just a little bit straighter. "Is there a mission?" It was the first thing that had popped into her head, because, honestly, why else would anyone go out of their way to find Leona in her room. Although a soldier, Leona was fairly bad at reading people. She failed to notice the sadness in Ralf's eyes, the slight frown of his lips, how his hair was just slightly messier than normal.

"Uh, no," he shook his head. For a moment, he was silent, biting his bottom lip. "You mind if I sit?" he asked, motioning to her bed with his head.

Leona shook her head and watched as her team-mate walked over and plopped down on the corner of her bed with a sigh.

"Are you alright?" he finally asked, looking up and locking his brown eyes with her blue.

"I'm fine," she frowned, the question, in and of itself, fairly strange to her. It was true that Ralf and Clark very often asked her how she was doing, but it was always in some sort of public setting. Neither of them had ever come to her room at a fairly early time in the morning to ask her. Although she wasn't piecing things together, she was beginning to understand that something was bothering Ralf.

Nodding and muttering "good, good" under his breath, he sighed and looked about the unfurnished room, a hand moving up to the back of his head, fingers lightly scratching his scalp. "Well, uh, the Commander, Clark and myself have been worried, ya'know?"

Leona just stared at him, waiting for some sort of explanation.

"Well, you've been.. a lot more stoic lately. You're almost constantly in your room or the training room, and honestly, you haven't been looking too good lately." He finally turned to look at her again. "We all thought you might be getting sick or something, but then when you went out last night and didn't come back 'till nearly two in the morning, well, we didn't know what to think. We knew you weren't on a mission, and, well, I thought something might be wrong."

Although she failed to notice his change in pronouns, Leona -did- begin to realize where he was going. She never realized going out on her own would set off any alarms, but apparently, it had. Like a guilty child, she folded her hands tightly between her legs and shook her head. "I'm fine. There's nothing wrong." An all out lie, of course, but she didn't want to involve anyone with her own problems. They were -her- problems, and -she- would take care of them.

Ralf may not have been able to tell she was lying just from her speech, but, apparently, he saw the movements of her hands. A frown came to his lips and he stared down at her hands before quickly reaching out and grabbing her right wrist, turning her hand over and staring down at the burnt and discolored flesh. Brow furrowing, he grabbed her other wrist and turned it over to look at her other hand, brown eyes tracing over the various bumps and swollen flesh. "Leo, what the hell happened?"

"It's nothing," she shook her head, staring down at her hands and refusing to meet his gaze.

With a sigh, Ralf stared at her for a few moments. He brought her hands together, then cupped them between his own before looking up at her. "I know you're not the type of person to explain how you're feeling, or ask for help, or just -talk-, and I respect that, so I won't push the subject. I mean, heh, we all have our own secrets." He shrugged. "But, please, I hope you know that you can talk to me. I would -never- judge you."

All Leona could do was continue to stare at her hands, or his hands, as her's were currently hidden from view, nodding every so often while Ralf spoke. She heard him sigh, felt the bed move as he got up, but she wasn't prepared for when he leaned down over her and kissed her forehead. Her eyes widened at such an intimate expression, and for a while, she had no idea what to think or do. She also couldn't understand why her cheeks felt so warm, as blushing was not something Leona did often, if at all. Her ears registered the sound of Ralf's weight moving across the room towards the door, and when she heard the doorknob squeak, she finally looked up and spoke: "Trust me."

Ralf nodded, meeting Leona's gaze for the briefest of moments before leaving her room.

* * *

After her encounter with Ralf earlier in the day, Leona quickly showered and left her room, deciding that perhaps she should force herself to spend time with her team mates. If she did that, then maybe all worry for her would cease, and she would be able to quietly return to her room later in the day where she would have time to focus on her emotions. However, Ralf and Clark took advantage of how unusually sociable she was and forced her to go out with them, out to eat, for a movie, even some shopping, as Ralf kept going on and on about a James Black/Musso pattern S-guard Bowie knife he wanted to pick up. By the time Leona had actually returned to her room, fairly exhausted because she had actually had -fun- during the day, it was nearing midnight.

In some strange way, she felt bad, simply because she had agreed to Yagami's order of returning to his hotel room to show him her new powers, but she hadn't had a single moment to even practice calling the fire to her hands. He was not, of course, her commanding officer, but she felt as though she had failed a mission. For a few moments, she thought of staying in her room for another hour or two, to try and practice. But she knew it would be a waste of time; she was almost one hundred percent positive that it would take -hours- for her to actually conjure up fear or anger. Preparing herself for the punishment she assumed she would receive for not following orders, she quickly washed up before leaving the barracks to make the long walk to Yagmai's hotel room.

Once knocking on the door to Iori's room, Leona wound up waiting a few moments until he finally opened the door. He stared at her for a moment, whether sizing her up or trying to figure out who she was, she wasn't sure, but after another moment, he stepped aside and let her in. Pausing a few steps into the room, she was once again amazed by the state of the room. And for the first time, she realized that he actually -lived- in the room she was currently standing in. When he moved around her, his arm brushing into her shoulder in the process, Leona was pulled out of her thoughts, and watched him make his way into the small kitchen area. The stove was lit, and a gentle steam wafted from a sizzling pan. Was he eating this late at night? It never occurred to her that he was a night owl.

Thoughts of food quickly put aside, she realized that getting the truth out now was better than waiting. She preemptively steeled herself, her chin raising slightly before she spoke: "I have not been able to do anything with the flames. I--"

"I know," he simply replied, a wooden spoon in had as he poked the contents of the pan in front of him.

Her brow furrowed. How did he know she hadn't even practiced yet? "You.. know?"

"What, did you think you'd be able to control the flames after only a few hours?" He snorted. "Gonna' take a lot longer than that, Heidern."

She nodded, her chin lowering. "Then.. why did you want me to come back so soon?"

"The whole process may seem easy, in and of itself, but all I did last night was explain shit to you. I said I'd help you, but I haven't yet, so," he trailed off with a shrug. Flicking the fire off, he lifted the pan off the stove before pouring the contents onto two plates. After grabbing a plate in both hand, he stepped around to a small table and placed both plates down, sitting in front of one and grabbing a fork. "Ya' gonna' eat or not?" he looked up at her, motioning to the second plate.

Taken aback, Leona just stared, first at the plate, and then at him. 'Did he.. cook food for me?'

As though reading her mind, he smirked. "I may be an asshole, but I -do- have manners."

Nodding slowly, the soldier made her way into the kitchen and took a seat at the table, her eyes looking down at the plate of chicken and vegetables, a simply little stir-fry. Her fingers slipped around the fork beside her plate, but rather than eat, she just continued to stare at the food.

"Promise it's not poisoned," he spoke between bites, watching her while eating.

With another nod, Leona realized that -she- was the one being rude and quickly stabbed her fork into a carrot before bringing it up and popping it into her mouth. Her eyes widened ever so slightly because she was surprised; he cooked well. Apparently, he had noticed, because she heard him laugh, and when she looked up, he was watching her. Once swallowing the carrot, she lowered her fork before asking: "Why do you always stare at me?"

"Thought I already explained that." He finished his food quickly before saying anything else. "You, by all rights, should not have the power of flame. It doesn't make any sense, no matter how I try to reason or explain it. Think of yourself as a Rubix cube - annoying as fuck to figure out, but once it is, it's gratifying," he grinned, quite content with his simile.

Leona stared at him, blinking a few times. "So I gratify you?" she asked slowly, not understanding a word he said about Rubix cubes.

With a sigh, Iori shook his head, grabbed his empty plate and stood up. "Not exactly what I meant, Heirden," he spoke over his shoulder as he place his plate in the sink before turning around and leaning back against the counter, arms crossing over his chest. "You really don't get out much, do you?"

Once finishing her own food, she placed her fork back down and shook her head. All of her problems sprung from the curse of her blood. She was afraid to go out and meet people, afraid that they would not understand her or shun her because of her blood, and honestly, she wouldn't blame them. She was just downright terrified of what might happen if she -did- go out and the Riot was triggered.

"Aren't you supposed to be a soldier?"

Startled, Leona quickly looked up towards Iori, her brow raised in question. "Of course I am."

"Then why the hell are you acting like such a woman? Getting all upset and depressed over shit when it's mentioned."

Out of all the rude comments he had flung at her over the past two nights, what he had just commented on angered her profusely; not only was he badmouthing her as a woman, but he was questioning her as a soldier. Eyes narrowed dangerously, Leona stood up from her seat before turning to face him, feeling the anger bubbling in her chest and throat. For once, she was actually conscious of it, and rather than suppress it or push it back, she let it out, reminding herself that with anger would come the flames. Playing on his words, she snarled: "If being upset and depressed makes one a woman, than I guess you're more of a woman than me, crying and moaning over your lost powers."

Her words had more of an effect than she had assumed. Within the blink of an eye, Iori was on her, both hands clamping around her throat as he shoved her past the table and into the wall, Leona's chair falling over with a clatter. Leona grunted from the impact of her back on the wall, her hands immediately moving up to grasp his wrists. Blue flames began to spark at both her hands, but neither Orochi-blooded warrior even looked at them. Instead, they stared at each other, both snarling like the animals they became when under the Riot.

"I thought you hated violence?" Leona growled, pushing his arms back enough to prevent him from fully strangling her.

"And I thought you couldn't say more than two words," came his response.

For a few moments, the two fighters stayed put, Iori trying to strangle Leona, Leona trying to prevent Iori from doing so. Red eyes glaring into blue, the two just stared at each other, panting slightly from the adrenaline rush coursing through their systems. Eventually, although it seemed the two of them wanted to rip each other's throats out, they let go of one another, realizing that fighting would accomplish nothing. Iori promptly turned his back to her before stalking off towards his mini fridge, leaving Leona to rub her sore neck, the skin a bright red from his hands, the flames having extinguished some moments before.

After pouring a dark brown liquid and quickly downing it, Iori turned to face Leona, who moved out of the kitchen to stand a few feet away from him. "I wasn't exactly planning on that," he muttered, looking her over before pouring another shot.

"Neither was I. I apologize for the comment," she spoke quietly, watching him, her hands resting comfortably at her sides.

Once throwing back the second shot, he shook his head and dropped the glass on top of the fridge. "I meant the comment, though, just not exactly in the way you took it," he spoke, moving closer to her and reaching out to lift her chin up. He moved her head back and forth, getting a good look at her neck before nodding curtly. "Didn't do any damage."

For the second time that day, Leona felt her face turn warm, blood rushing to her cheeks and tinting them just slightly. It was strange having someone that was neither Ralf nor Clark so close to her that she could smell both his cologne and the trace of alcohol he had just consumed. When her heart momentarily beat irregularly, she worried that there might be something wrong, but when it didn't occur a second time, she dismissed the thought, blaming it on the rush her body had been in just moments ago. "Then what exactly did you mean?" she finally asked, still watching him.

Dropping his hand, he shrugged and turned away from her to cross the room and flop down into a chair. "Any time I mention something remotely connected to the blood curse, you get all upset and broody. You're a soldier. I didn't think soldiers were supposed to get all emotional."

It was Leona's turn to shrug. Following him, she sat down on the corner of his bed, her hands folding in her lap. "I have been conditioned to ignore most thoughts and emotions, but at the core of it, I am still a human. Were I on duty, I would not have acted in such a manner."

"You realize that if you want to control those flames, you can't ignore your emotions."

"Yes," she nodded. She had realized that this morning, before Ralf had visited her. The way she saw things, once she learned how to control the flames, she would be able to control her powers, her emotions and the Riot, and never again would she put her comrades in danger. "I'm willing to do anything and everything possible to ensure I learn how to control the flames."

As he stared at her, a feral grin spread out over his lips, and for a moment, Leona felt uncomfortable, unnerved. While she may not be an experienced person, she wasn't exactly naive; she had seen other men look at her the same way, and when Ralf threatened them, she had found out -why- they were looking at her in such a way. She fidgeted a bit, straightening her back, hands tightening their hold on one another, chin raising up slightly, head shaking to move her bangs away from her eyes.

With a short laugh, Iori shook his head: "Relax, woman, I'm not gonna' eat you."

And immediately, the discomfort disappeared as she frowned. "I told you my name is not 'woman'."

Another laugh emitted from his throat, but this time, it was good-natured and actually hearty, as though this laugh, unlike every other one that had ever left his lips, was his -real- laugh. "Alright, alright, Leona. Now let's see what we can do about those flames."

Leona nodded, for the first time actually feeling comfortable in Iori's presence. Whether it was from his laugh or from his usage of her actual name, she wasn't certain, but either way, the comfort she felt eventually lead to her being off her guard for the first time ever. She was calm, she was comfortable, and she wasn't steeling herself for an unexpected attack.

The second time her heart beat irregularly, she barely noticed it.

* * *

**"Leo"**  
I dunno'... I've always thought Ralf would use a cute nickname for Leona when it was either just the two of them (or three of them, when Clark was around). It's known he has feelings for her, and that he doesn't -want- those feelings known, so I figure he probably treats her like a younger sister more than anything else.

A note about Iori. I realize he seems a bit OOC on and off throughout the fic, but as I've told a few other readers, this -is- explained further on in the fic. Also realize, this story is done from Leona's PoV and not Iori's, so no one really knows what -he's- thinking.

One thing I do want to point out, however, is how he checks Leona's neck to make sure he didn't really hurt her. I pretty much played on his hatred of violence here, that he really -does- hate it and thus wanted to make sure he didn't go too far. (Then again, despite his "hatred of violent", he did give Soiree a nice little slug in Another Day snort)

* * *


	5. Chapter Four

Over the weeks, Leona would head to Iori's hotel room every night that she didn't have a mission and work on controlling her emotions. From a combination of her training as a soldier and Iori's incessant comments, it didn't take long for her to finally be able to call the flames to her hands at will. The problem still remained that she couldn't keep them ignited for long periods of time, and on top of it, she was unable to fight with them. Although Iori pointed out that it meant she didn't have full control over her powers, she was still quite happy that she could now control her emotions and call the flames in short bursts. On top of the progress with her training, while Ralf, Clark and her "father" never asked where she went every night, everyone had taken notice of a change in Leona's personality. During the day, she would always go out with Ralf and Clark whenever they asked her to, and while she was still very quiet and soft spoken around them, she smiled more often and gave off an all around comfortable vibe. Both of her teammates had taken notice of it, but neither would ask or comment on it for fear that it would cause Leona to disappear back into her lonely shell of anti-social-ness.

A routine eventually grew around the two fighters: Leona would show up at Iori's hotel room at the same time every night when Iori was cooking, the two would eat in relative silence, then move onto her training. It was the same every night, and every time Leona would continually be surprised at how much of a good cook he was. She finally went so far as to comment on it, actually joking about him using premade packaged goods from the store, but Iori just shook his head, insisting that he cooked it all from scratch.

"If you still don't believe me, show up earlier tomorrow night and I'll show you," he smirked, arms folded behind his head as he leaned back in his chair. He would always finish eating before her.

"Maybe I will," she countered, munching on a carrot. While Leona had always been told to eat as much as she could as fast as she could, simply because as a soldier, you may not know where your next meal came from, or if it -would- come, there was no reason for her to while in Iori's apartment, so she ate leisurely. "Besides, I would like to learn."

"Learn what?"

"To cook." She placed her fork down, her meal finally finished.

Sitting up straighter, forearms resting on the table before him, Iori raised an eyebrow as he looked at her. "You don't know how?"

Leona shook her head. "When does a soldier have time to learn? I can find non-poisonous berries in a forest, or pick out an edible mushroom, just enough to survive in the wilderness, but that's really it."

For a few moments, the red-head was silent, his eyes slightly shaded by his long bangs. What exactly he was thinking, Leona couldn't tell, but eventually, he shrugged and nodded. "Alright. Guess that's something else I have to teach you."

"You don't have to," Leona shook her head. "You've already helped me out more than I ever expected. Besides, there isn't anything I can really pay you with." That was one thing she had been worried about. The first time she approached him, he made it sound as though he wouldn't help her for free. Leona didn't exactly have much money, so she wasn't sure how she'd be able to repay him.

Iori grinned and waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. Besides, it might be fun. You know how to have fun, right?"

She frowned, her lower lip pouting out just slightly in annoyance. "Must you always poke fun at me?"

There was that laugh again, the one she had heard only a few weeks ago shortly after he had tried to strangle her. Immediately, her frown disappeared, but she continued to watch him.

Getting up from his spot at the table, Iori left the small kitchen and made his way towards his bed, sitting down on the corner of it and waiting for Leona to follow him. As she usually did, she followed him, grabbing one of the chairs near his bed and moving it so she could sit across from him.

"Now let's see how long you can sustain the flames," he nodded, leaning back on a palm and staring at her hands as she raised them into the air.

Staring at her own hands as she raised them in front of her, Leona concentrated on a mental image, the one she had begun to use a week earlier, one that immediately made her angry and caused the blue flames to burst from her skin. She concentrated on an image of Goenitz. His obnoxious blue outfit, his smug grin, his echoing, evil laugh, his multicolored hair. Although he was long dead, the mere thought of him caused Leona to be furious because -everything- since the 1997 Tournament was his fault. And with the briefest thought of the leader of the Orochi Eight, blue flames ignited around her hands, crackling quietly and licking the air. So caught up in her own anger, she barely registered Iori speaking to her:

"Try to keep them ignited for as long as possible. Keep the image in your mind, keep your anger going."

Smoldering in her silent fury, the blue-haired warrior continued to stare at her hands, imagining Goenitz's face in the middle of the flames. She wanted nothing more than to crush his head, to cleave it in half with her hands, to cause him to scream in dying pain. As her anger increased, so did the size of the flames. Eyes narrowing, she rotated her wrists so that her palms faced the ceiling, and with a jerk of her will, the blue flames gathered in the center of her palms. Rather than encase her hands in the flames, the fire moved until it collected into two small balls of flame, one in each palm. It had been as far as she had ever gotten in her training, to will the flames to her palms. After that, she had only been able to keep them there for about a minute, her anger, by that time, having ebbed away.

Closing her eyes, she concentrated on the flames themselves, banishing any thought of Goenitz in the process, and when she opened her eyes again, she saw, to her amazement, that the flames were still there. Normally, the moment she got rid of any thoughts of the blond and black haired man, the flames would disappear. Flexing her hands a few times, she tested the flames, moving her hands around, left and right, up and down, circular, but the flames continued to lick the air, continued to stay collected in her palms. Aside from the first time she had been able to conjure anger, and thus the flames, this was the most progress she had made in two weeks, and she actually smiled while staring at her powers.

Lifting her head to look at Iori, she opened her mouth to say something, but paused when she found him staring at her face and not her hands. Her entire face felt warm, and she let her hands settle in her lap, the flames extinguishing in the process. Rather than look away, Leona stared right back at him, the smile fading from her lips, her heart beating just a little bit faster. Before she could say anything, Iori shook his head and stood up.

"Keep trying to sustain the flames longer," he called over his shoulder as he promptly turned away from her and disappeared into the bathroom.

For a few moments, she stared after him, confused, the sound of the shower turning on registering in her ears. She never understood why he would sometimes just get up in the middle of their training and take a shower, as this had been the third time it happened since she first confronted him. She also didn't understand why he looked at her the way he had been looking at her moments ago. It was as though he wanted something from her, but was too afraid to ask. With a sigh, Leona shook her head, pushing the thoughts away so she could concentrate on the flames once more.

While he showered, Leona stayed seated where she was, continually calling to her mind and then banishing images of Goenitz. Each time she got rid of any thought of him, the flames would stay crackling at her hands longer and longer. After a good twenty minutes, it had gotten to the point where Leona could sustain the flames for a long period of time, longer than she had ever held them before. It occurred to her that the blue flames were -her- powers as one of the descendants of the Orochi Eight, and if that were the case, she would have to learn to fight with them.

Getting up from her seat, she moved away from the bed, centering herself in the room as best she could, her hands at her sides, the flames still crackling around them. Once she was certain she wouldn't set anything on fire, she spread her legs and bent her knees, arms raising before her as she fell into her normal fighting stance. For a few moments, she rocked back and forth, moving her weight between her feet, just getting used to the feel of the fire at her hands while in a fighting environment. Once certain that the flames would stay put, she began throwing punches out in front of her, two with her right followed by one with her left. After a few punches, the flames sputtered out, but she quickly recalled them to her hands before starting over again.

Eventually, she realized that it was all well and good that she could punch while the flames encased her hands, but it wouldn't really do anything for her in the long run. Brow furrowing in thought, she stood back up straight, bringing her hands in front of her to once more stare at the flames. She began calling to mind memories of previous tournaments, more specifically, memories of Kyo's and Iori's fights, their fighting styles and the moves they used which also incorporated their flames. It never really dawned on her before that not -all- of their moves centered around their flames. Picking one move that the two had in common out of her soldier's mind, Leona let her left hand drop to her side, keeping the right bent at her waist, fist clenched, flames extinguished.

The best way she could explain the move was that a short burst of their powers was pushed through the hand in a punch, the flames sparking in front of the fist, in turn, when the fist came in contact with an opponent. Testing the idea, she punched the air a few times, flexing the arm out before attempting to call the flame to her right hand. A few times, she would call the flame too soon, and her hand would ignite before the punch was fully thrown out, causing her hand to simply be covered in blue flames. No spark, no burst of power. Frowning, she continued trying the same thing over and over again, each time the flames appearing later and later in the punch. Finally, she got the timing down, holding back on her power until her punch went through, calling the flames at the last possible second. The small explosion that detonated in front of her curled fist wasn't anywhere near as large or fancy as Kyo's or Iori's, but it was something.

She repeated the process, throwing out a punch and calling the flames at the last moment, for a few minutes until she felt she had the hang of it, then brought her other fist up and did the same thing with it, eventually falling into the same routine as before: two with her right, one with her left.

"Not bad."

Startled by the voice, Leona quickly turned around to see Iori standing in the doorway of the bathroom, arms crossed over his bare chest, leaning against the door jam with his left shoulder, a white towel draped around his neck and over his shoulders. Cheeks flushed, heart pounding, Leona shook her head, having been so caught up in her own mind and personal training that she had completely forgotten about Iori. The sudden sound of his voice had completely taken her off guard.

"Sorry," he smirked, "didn't mean to startle you."

"No, it's my fault," she shook her head again, her muscles loosening up as her body calmed. "I shouldn't have let my guard down."

His lower eyelids raised up as he watched her. "Why do you do that?"

Her brow furrowed.

"Always keep your guard up as if you're about to be attacked. I wouldn't hurt you."

Leona shrugged, unable to find any words to reply with. Her face remained flushed and her heart continued to beat as she just stared at him, watching as he crossed the room, coming to a stop mere inches from her. She raised her head up to look up at him, trying to level their eyesight despite his four inch height advantage.

"I mean it," he continued, his voice dropping to low tones as he lowered his head. "I wouldn't hurt you." Reaching out, he brushed her hair away from the left side of her neck and leaned down, brushing the tip of his nose over the skin of her neck, right over the pulsating veins which reflected the beat of her heart. He lingered near the center of her neck, inhaling deeply.

From surprise and confusion, Leona wasn't sure what to do, how to act or what to say. Her eyes widened, vision blurring before quickly refocusing as various scents met her nose: the smell of his shampoo, his skin, faint traces of his cologne all mingled with a light scent of their dinner, as if she could lick his neck and taste exactly what they had eaten an hour ago. Despite herself, she started to mimic him, her head tilting to lightly press the tip of her own nose against the side of his neck, inhaling the mixture of scents his skin seemed to emit. She felt completely and totally light-headed, as though a fog were drifting through her mind, everything around her seeming to move in slow motion.

"It's getting late," he muttered, pulling away from her. "You should probably get going."

Leona nodded, moving back as well. Wordlessly, she turned away from him and started walking towards the door, each step seeming to clear up the miasma in her mind, her thoughts becoming clearer and more coherent.

"Come earlier tomorrow, and I'll show you how to cook."

Turning to look back towards Iori, she found him smirking, and she nodded in response, a tiny grin pulling at the corners of her mouth. With that, she left his hotel room to return to the barracks.


	6. Chapter Five

**Warning**: This is the chapter that causes this story to be rated M. Then again, I'm sure if the rating mattered, people never would have read this fic, but hey, figured I'd insert a warning.

Like the summary says, this is a Leona x Iori fic, so, here is the adult stuff. It's semi-descriptive, and just in case it actually -bothers- some people, I've sectioned off the heaviest parts by ***. While skipping that part might make things confusing, at least people have a -choice- as to whether or not they wanna' read it. XP

* * *

After a full night's sleep, Leona spent another mission-less day with Ralf and Clark. Throughout their day of going out and having lunch, Leona remained as quiet as she normally did, but responded whenever one of her team mates addressed her. For the first time, when Ralf had cracked a joke like he normally did, Leona laughed. It was short and quiet, but a laugh none-the-less, and Ralf grinned smugly when it happened. When night finally came around, she left two hours earlier than normal to once more wait outside Iori's hotel room until he opened the door and let her in.

"You're earlier than I expected," he commented, closing the door behind her.

She turned around to point at the door. "I could leave and come back later if you want."

Iori rolled his eyes in response, shaking his head as he moved forward and pressed his hand into her lower back, pushing her towards the kitchen. Leona scowled at his pushing, but obliged and walked into the kitchen, turning off to the side to let Iori move past her and towards the fridge. "Since you're early, might as well start cooking early," he commented over his shoulder as he crouched down to gather various items from the refrigerator. "Heads up," he called out before tossing a few items over his shoulder towards her.

Reflexes still as fast as ever, Leona caught various bags of vegetables - carrots, garlic, onions and peppers. After looking the food over, she placed the items down on the counter beside her before turning back to watch as Iori kicked the fridge closed with a foot and carried over a few more items - a few containers of chicken, mushrooms and various bottles of sauces. She raised an eyebrow, looking over all the items he placed down before turning to look up at him questioningly.

"Stir fry," he shrugged. "Simple and complicated at the same time. You can cut up vegetables, right?" he asked, pouring oil into a wok on the stove. When she scowled up at him, he smirked: "Guess so. Cut those up." He motioned to the carrots, onions and peppers.

Once she pulled a knife out of a small rack beside the sink, she stared at the vegetables before turning back to Iori. "Any particular way?"

"Not too big and not too small," he shrugged, not even looking at her.

Well that was helpful. With a light sigh, Leona opened up the vegetables and quickly washed them before placing them before her to begin cutting them up. No one would ever question Leona's ability with a knife; the speed and skill with which she used the weapon to cut up the vegetables with was phenomenal, despite the fact she had never cooked before. When she was content enough with the size and shape of everything, she turned to look at Iori and ask what she should do next, but she found him staring at her. "What?"

He just shook his head and laughed. "Guess you don't need any help with your knife skills," he smirked, pushing the chicken in front of her. "Might as well cut that up too."

With a nod, she took the chicken and cut it up as well, barely noticing how Iori stared at her hands while she worked. Once she was done with that, he began to explain to her the idea behind how the stir-fry was cooked, how the various sauces and spices were combined to make a delicious flavor. Rather than do any of the work, he stepped back and explained what she should do, watching as she followed his instructions completely. When all the items were in the wok, she held onto the handle with one hand, the other using a wooden spoon to poke and stir the contents around.

"It's not easy to make sure everything in the wok is fully coated with the sauce," he explained, for the first time motioning for her to move away from the stove. Taking the wok handle in hand, he shook the contents around before flicking his wrist, flipping the metal pan up and causing all of the contents to leap into the air before falling down back into the wok, not a single drop of the liquid spilling anywhere. "It's one of the best ways to make sure everything is evenly coated," he nodded, stepping away and motioning for her to do copy him.

A knife was one thing, but a pan was another, despite the fact she could easily use the item as a lethal weapon. Truth be told, Leona wasn't exactly sure how he had done what he did with the wok to make sure nothing spilled, and when she gripped the handle, she grit her teeth, somewhat afraid to try for fear she'd spill everything on the floor. When she heard him chuckle, she frowned and turned her head to look at him. "If you want me to spill this all over the kitchen floor, that's fine, but I'd prefer not to make a mess I'll need to clean up."

With another chuckle, he shook his head and stepped up behind her. "You can cut people in half with your hands, even call flames to them, yet you're too afraid to make a mess," he smirked, reaching out with his left arm and laying it along her's, his hand tightly folding over her own. "Like this," he muttered in her ear as he leaned over her, guiding her hand with his own to flick the pan and toss all the contents in the air before catching them again and lowering the pan back onto the lit stove.

The moment he touched her, all thoughts of the food in front of her were gone, her mind only focusing on his body - the feel of his chest against her back, his hand gripping hers, the flexing and rippling of the muscles in his arm, his breath on her ear. Her mind was becoming muddled again, and for the briefest of moments, she thought about pushing him away, but when she felt his nose pressing into the side of her neck, the thought quickly disappeared. It was hard to speak, hard to think, her mind only responding to what she felt and heard, her skin and hearing having become abnormally sensitive. His hair tickled her cheek as he lightly ran his nose along her neck, the sound of him inhaling the only noise registering in her ears. Leona felt her body slowly responding to his, and after a moment, it was hard for her to stand. Letting her muscles relax, she leaned back into him as a loud click reached her ears. She barely had enough time to realize he had turned the stove off before his right arm tightly circled around her waist and pulled her body tightly against his.

Her mind was long gone, put on a back burner as her body took control. Without really thinking, she leaned her head to the right, stretching the skin over her neck and giving him more access to it. In response, a low growl emitted from his throat, and after running the tip of his nose along her neck, inhaling her scent along the way, he bit down over the external jugular vein in her neck, not hard enough to cause pain or draw blood, but hard enough to leave a mark and cause her to growl in response. But growl was all she did because her body had surrendered to him, the bite being the last step in claiming dominance.

As if to cool the red swelling flesh he had just bitten, Iori pressed his lips into her pale skin, kissing it lightly as he pulled her hand off the wok handle and wrapped it, along with his own, around her body. Slowly, he pulled her away from the stove, kissing and licking her neck, every so often nipping at the flesh and eliciting soft and quiet growls from Leona. Wanting more than just her neck, he turned her around and stared down into her half lidded, glaze covered eyes, his right hand moving to the back of her neck before he firmly pressed his lips into hers. He could tell she wasn't very experienced with kissing by the way her lips awkwardly pressed back against his, but after a bit of coaxing, she soon followed his lead, her lips melding with his. Eventually, he slipped his tongue past her lips and greedily ran it along her own tongue, grinning ever so slightly when her lips reverberated against his, a half-moan half-growl stifled by their mouths.

Although he was gaining full and total control over her, Leona would slowly become a bit more daring, mimicking what he did and pushing her tongue past his lips and into his mouth. For a few moments, the two stood, hungrily kissing and ravaging each others mouths as if they had never wanted anything more than to taste each other, as if they had never really felt the need they currently shared. While the entire ordeal was completely new to the inexperienced Leona, Iori knew in the back of his mind that he had never wanted to taste, to dominate a woman like the way he wanted to with Leona. There was something about her that made his mind go crazy, as though her mere scent drew him to her. But all logical thought processes left his mind when he felt her wrap her arms around his neck, when he felt her body pressing against his.

Keeping his hand at the back of her neck, he lowered his left hand and firmly placed it against her rear, tugging upwards on it. Leona followed his movements and slightly lept upwards, using his hand as a guide so she could wrap her legs around his waist. Iori growled against her lips when he felt her hips rub against his, and kept his hand on her ass, squeezing it firmly before he slowly turned around and guided their bodies towards his bed, their lips never parting except to every so often gasp for a bit of air. When he felt his knees bump against the bed, Iori brought one up and placed it down on top of the bed before letting gravity guide Leona and himself down onto the bed. No longer needing to keep her legs around Iori's waist to keep her from falling over, Leona let her legs settle on the bed, her arms tightening slightly around his neck as she continued to kiss him, continued to enjoy the feel of his tongue on hers.

Letting go of her body, but keeping his lips locked with hers, Iori pressed his knees firmly into the bed to prevent himself from falling completely on top of her, his hands moving to quickly undo the buttons of his shirt. Once tossing his top off to the side, he pressed his hands into the bed on either side of her head before finally removing his lips from hers. He watched her for a few moments, grinning when she finally opened her eyes and looked up at him pleadingly - she wanted him to kiss her again. Instead, he moved his knee up, pressing it firmly between her legs causing the smaller woman to whimper and mewl beneath him. He pressed his knee against her a few more times, pulling back before pushing it between her legs, continuing to grin as he watched her writhe and try to rub back against him.

Bending his elbows, he leaned down over her, moving his face to the side of her neck and using his nose to brush her hair out of the way before licking and kissing the skin around his bite mark. His body shivered when he heard and felt her sigh into his ear, her hands moving down and under his arms to wrap around his chest, fingers kneading and lightly scratching at his skin. Iori kissed her skin continuously down to the front of her neck, up her throat and chin until he captured her lips again, quite content at the growling noise that reverberated from Leona's throat. Firmly pressing his knee between her legs, he groaned from a combination of the noises she emitted and when she bit down on his lip, drawing the faintest traces of blood.

After breaking the kiss a second time, Iori leaned back onto his knees and brought his hands down to her waist, strong and calloused fingers slipping under the fabric of her shirt and moving along the skin of her stomach and chest until they came to her bra. Annoyed that such a simple piece of clothing would stop him, he turned his hands around to grip a bit of her shirt before hooking his fingers under the under wire of her bra and pulling both pieces of clothing up over her head, Leona at some point having removed her arms from around him to follow his movements. Smirking in triumph, Iori leaned down over her, his lips immediately seeking out and wrapping around the soft flesh of her left breast, his tongue flicking out against the hardened nub of her nipple. The way Leona whimpered and squirmed beneath him only fueled his movements. He brought his other hand up and squeezed her other breast, pointer finger and thumb pinching and rolling her other nipple between his fingers.

For a while, Iori just leaned over her, switching back and forth between her breasts until both were red, swollen and glistening with a light coat of his saliva. Leaning back so he could look down at her, he watched Leona's face as he moved his right hand down between her legs, over the fabric of her jeans, his palm pressing into her womanhood. When her back arched as she pushed her body harder into his hand, he grinned and brought both hands down in front of him so he could quickly undo the button and zipper. Fingers hooking around both her jeans and panties, Iori wasted no time in slipping both articles of clothing off her, leaving Leona naked and trembling before him on his bed. He watched her for a few minutes, staring at her swollen lips, her heaving chest, her perspiring face and red cheeks.

***

Slipping off the bed, he knelt down on the floor, still tall enough to watch her face as he ran two fingers along her clit, quite proud at how wet he had made her. Without warning, he quickly moved his two fingers down and slipped them inside her, shoving them as deeply as he possibly could. He was rewarded with a loud cry. Iori watched Leona's face as he moved his fingers in and out of her, fucking her as good and hard as he could with his fingers, each squeal, gasp and squishing sound only pushing him harder, making him want her more. Unable to hold off his own need for much longer, he pulled his fingers out of her and brought them in front of his face, inhaling the scent of the woman he had marked as his own before slipping the fingers into his mouth and sucking off her essence, his eyes never leaving hers.

Quickly standing back up, Iori rid himself of the rest of his clothes before slipping back onto the bed, his hands moving out to grab her thighs and push her legs apart to give him enough room to slip in between them. Left hand slipping under her lower back, he lifted her body off the bed, his right hand grabbing onto his manhood which he then shoved completely inside her. Although he wanted to savor the look on the face, the cries she gave off when he first entered her, he could barely keep his eyes open, the feeling of how tight, warm and wet she was flooding all of his senses. Without another thought, Iori began to pound into her, his hands grasping her thighs and keeping her body slightly elevated off of the bed to keep her body at an angle.

Leona's entire world was filled of nothing but Iori, his scent, the feel of his body, his skin against hers, the heat of their bodies, the pounding of his hips against hers. Every time he entered her, she cried out, kaleidoscopes of color flashing before her eyes, her entire body feeling as though it were on fire. There were no thoughts, no reasoning, no worries, nothing except him and her and the animalistic needs of their bodies. Nothing was wrong, and everything was right.

When Iori leaned down over her, his hands pressing into the mattress to keep his body from crushing her, her arms quickly wrapped around his back, under his arms, fingers digging into his skin as she heard him grunt and gasp, her own cries and moans mingling with his. Eventually, he grabbed her hips and rolled over so that she was on top, his fingers digging into her skin and urging her to keep the pace going. Following his lead, she used her knees and thighs to keep her body moving, bouncing up and down on top of him, her hands pressing down onto his chest to keep her from falling over. She slowed down for a moment when he sat up, his hands slipping beneath her ass, each hand firmly squeezing each cheek before trying to get her to keep moving. Once she brought her arms around his neck, she followed his lead and kept riding him, a groan passing her lips when he craned his head down to bite and lick the skin of her neck.

Without words, Iori grabbed onto Leona's hips again and once more rolled over so he was on top, but he quickly pulled out of her before urging her to move around until she was on her hands and knees. Firmly grasping her hips, he guided himself back inside her, once more groaning at how tight she was, before continuing to pound her, his fingers digging hard enough into her hips to cause bruises, but at that point, neither of them noticed it. His movements eventually wound up quickening to the point he was frantically pounding into her, feeling his release so painfully close. He leaned over her and slipped a hand down between her legs, his fingers quickly searching out her clit and rubbing it violently, his fingers moving with the movements of his hips. His fingers were enough to throw Leona over the edge, because with a scream, her body froze up before shaking and quivering, her inner muscles tightening down over him. Quickly bringing his hand back to her hip he slammed into her a few more times before nearly roaring. He pulled her hips back into his as hard as possible, shoving himself as deeply into her as he could as his vision exploded and his essence flowed into her.

***

Once feeling his body begin to calm, gasping for breath, he slowly pulled out of her, cringing at how sensitive his skin had become. Gasping for air, Leona let her body relax and fell onto her side, not having enough strength to move. Iori, feeling just as weak as Leona looked, adjusted his body so he could lie down beside her on his back, his chest heaving as his body slowly came down from its high. He tilted his head to look down at her closed eyes and reached out with his closet arm, posessively wrapping it around her and pulling her body against his. When a quiet mewl escaped her lips and she curled up against the side of his body, he grinned, his male ego slowly inflating. Eventually, the two warriors fell asleep, the food long forgotten.

* * *

First things first, I want to thank the readers for the reviews and the messages you send me. Truthfully, I didn't think I'd get many readers since the KoF section is just so small (and, well, crappy, for the most part). Anyway, thank you, not only do I appreciate it, but it fuels my need to write.

And like I've told a few people already, the reason this chapter took so long was because I haven't been -happy- with it. I don't know what it is or why it bothers me so much, but it does, despite having edited it a few times. That coupled with the RL issues of finishing college and getting married in a few months has made my life a little hectic.


	7. Chapter Six

Consciousness returned to Leona, and she slowly opened her eyes to stare out at an unfamiliar wall. With a soft groan, she rolled over onto her back and sat up, realization finally dawning on her that she was still in Iori's apartment, in his bed, a blanket pulled up over her naked body. Grabbing onto the blanket, she pulled it further up her chest, various images coming to mind as she remembered what exactly had happened. She and Iori had slept together. No, that wasn't the proper way to describe it... They hadn't exactly slept together, hadn't exactly had sex... they had--

A furiously bright blush came to her face as she finally thought of the best way to describe last night: they had acted like animals acting on instinct, mindlessly screwing each other in the desperate need to mate. Raising a hand to the left side of her neck, Leona just sat in his bed, the blush quickly fading as she realized she -wasn't- embarrassed, nor did she feel guilty. What had happened hours ago had been so.. natural, that there couldn't be anything -wrong- with the whole thing. In fact, she actually felt as though a burden had been lifted off her shoulders, as though she were weightless and free.

The bathroom door opened, and her blue eyes darted over to stare as Iori walked out, apparently having taken a shower as his hair was still damp. He stopped in the doorway, meeting her gaze and staring back at her. A bubble of pride began to swell in her chest as she watched him, on some level realizing that he had branded her as his mate. She couldn't explain it, but she was downright happy and even smug, as though she were the Alpha female of a pride of lions. Any male that came near her would be swiftly beat down by Iori, and if any woman dared touch her mate in turn, Leona would make them pay.

While on some level, the train of thought was disturbing and it scared her, on another, Leona realized it was the pure and utter truth. Because of her blood, because of her curse, she was different from other people, just like Iori was. He, however, had shown her the blissful happiness and ecstasy she could feel, and she was thankful for it, finally seeing her life in a new light, one where she wasn't always depressed. Besides, the Riot had shown them both what they really were at the core of it all: animals.

"How long have you been up?" he finally asked, crossing the room to dig through his closet for a shirt.

"Not long," she shook her head, sitting up a bit and curling her legs underneath her, loosening her hold on the blanket, although it still covered her body. Her eyes traveled to the clock near the TV and noted the time: four in the morning. It was way past the time she would normally have left and returned to the barracks, but for some reason, she didn't seem to care; there was no current mission for her, and if one suddenly sprang up, she had her cellphone.

Grabbing one of his long white shirts from the closet, Iori tossed it towards her before speaking up: "Water's still hot, so feel free to take a shower if you want."

At that moment, a shower sounded like the most heavenly thing on earth. With a nod, Leona held onto the shirt and slipped out of bed, oddly enough, not feeling the slightest bit embarrassed that she was pretty much naked in front of him. She made her way towards the bathroom, but was stopped when he snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her back towards him, leaning down and immediately kissing the side of her neck where he had bitten her. A soft groan passed her lips when she felt his teeth bite down into her skin, as though trying to darken the mark, to remind her of last night. When he let her go again, she glanced at him over her shoulder before disappearing into the bathroom.

For a while, Leona stood in the shower underneath the hot water, just letting it soothe and relax her aching muscles. She hadn't realized it at first, but she was totally and thoroughly achy, as though she had bruises all over her body. It wasn't enough pain that she would whine and groan over it, because even if it -were- she'd never let anyone know, but it was enough to make her conscious of how much movement and flexibility she had shown only hours ago, having moved in ways she had never moved before. Once the aches and pains had faded to a dull throbbing, she quickly washed and dried off, pulling Iori's shirt over her smaller body. The article of clothing was large enough to be a night shirt as it ended at her knees. The first thing she noticed about it, however, was his scent - the smell of his body plus his cologne mixed with whatever scented detergent he used. Although he had certainly washed the shirt, she could still smell -him- on it, and just the simple thought of that caused a spark of warmth to flood through her body. Leona had never really noticed how keen her sense of smell was, or, perhaps it was only so sensitive for Iori's scent.

Shrugging the thought aside, she slipped out of the bathroom, the sound of a sizzling pan greeting her ears, the smell of frying vegetables and chicken hitting her nose. She moved towards the kitchen and paused near the counter to watch Iori mix the contents of a wok, the one she had been learning to cook in last night.

"Hungry?" he asked, glancing towards her. She nodded. "It won't be as crisp or fresh since it's been sitting in the sauce for hours, but it's better than waiting for me to cook something."

Leona didn't know why she said it, why she suggested it, but she opened her mouth the moment it came to her mind: "We could just go out to eat."

Iori turned to stare at her, an eyebrow raised. Apparently, he was just as surprised by the suggestion as she was, because despite last night, she was still Leona, the most quiet and anti-social fighter in the Tournaments. She just shrugged at him, still quite uncertain as to why the idea ever came to her. The point was, however, that she didn't -mind- going out to eat. She did it with Ralf and Clark nearly every day, so why not with Iori?

In answer, he flicked the stove off. "Better get changed then," he turned to face her.

With a nod, Leona turned back out of the kitchen and rummaged around on the floor for her clothing, well aware that Iori's eyes were on her the entire time. For some reason, she wanted nothing more than to please him, and so while getting changed, she took her time, slowly taking off his shirt before putting each article of clothing on at a time. When she bent down to tie up her sneakers, she heard the floor creak ever so slightly and felt him move up behind her, an arm snaking around her waist and pulling her back up and into him as he leaned down to kiss and nibble the side of her neck. Her heart beat out of rhythm for a while, jumping every time his tongue moved over her jugular, over the mark on her skin. With a soft sigh, she just leaned into him, her eyes closed, her heart beating fast. He owned her, totally and completely, and Leona didn't mind it one bit.

"Come on," he growled into her ear, kissing her neck once more before moving away from her.

Leona quickly tied her sneakers before turning around and following him out of his hotel room. They walked beside each other, wordlessly, as Iori led the way through the various streets and alleyways towards some establishment that was still open at five in the morning. The two were ravenous, ordering enough food for four people, and ate silently in the corner, Leona's back to the door, Iori facing it and glancing up every time someone walked in. Although the atmosphere wasn't as jovial and bright as it would be with Ralf and Clark, it was still quite comfortable, eating in silence and enjoying Iori being so close by, his scent lingering around him like a cloak.

As usual, Iori finished eating before Leona, but waited until she was done to head to the bathroom. After getting rid of their garbage, Leona slipped outside to wait for him. The cool morning air hit her face, and she inhaled deeply, enjoying the fresh scent of the wind, despite being in one of the more run down areas of Southtown. It was still early, and the sun wasn't due to rise for another hour or so, leaving the area about the restaurant dark with the exception of the fluorescent street lamps. Her soldier mind going into overdrive, Leona glanced around herself taking note of everything she saw and heard.

The sound of chuckling reached her ears, followed by the sound of footfalls. Two people, probably both men by the way they walked, the way the sounds their shoes echoed in the night. The closer the two men came towards her, the more she recognized their voices. She had, after all, on more than one occasion, been sent on a mission to capture them. Straightening her back, Leona watched as K' and Maxima rounded a corner and passed beneath a streetlamp, both of them freezing the moment they saw her.

"Gonna' try catching us again?" K' smirked, eyeing Leona up and down, quickly noticing a lack of two other people. "Won't be able to do much without your commando buddies."

Maxima simply rolled his eyes, muttering something about K's lack of tact under his breath.

"I only came here to eat," Leona simply replied.

K's attempt at picking a fight seemed to backfire before it even got started. Muttering something or other under his breath, he promptly looked away from Leona in an attempt to ignore her.

"Sorry, K's always been a little rude," Maxima grinned.

Shaking her head, Leona quickly changed the subject. "Where's Whip?" It had been years since she had heard from her fellow Ikari Warrior, but the last time Leona had seen her, she had been in the company of K' and Maxma.

"What do you care about my sister?" K' spat, turning back to look at Leona, apparently annoyed that she would mention Whip.

"K'.." Maxima muttered with a sigh and shake of his head. "We don't know, honestly. The last time you saw us was the last time we saw her. She's doing fine, though. If she's in trouble, she knows how to contact us," he motioned to himself and K'.

"You didn't answer my question," K' continued to stare at the blue-haired woman.

Leona followed K's previous lead and ignored him, turning her attention completely to Maxima. "If you see her, let her know that my team mates and I would like to hear from her. We miss her."

While Maxima nodded, K', as hot blooded as ever, let a low growl escape his lips, the tips of his gloved fingers sparking with fire. Raising an eyebrow, Leona watched him cautiously, wondering if he were stupid enough to actually start a fight with her.

"K'!" Maxima yelled, but the younger man ignored him.

"Is there any real reason for you to try and start a fight?" Leona muttered, already finding herself tired of K' despite having only been in his presence for a few scant minutes.

"There is if you continue to avoid my question," he growled, leaning back on his right foot, gloved fist raising, now completely engulfed in flame.

"If you had paid attention, you would have noticed I already did," Leona shrugged with a blink. It was easy for her to tell that K' was too hot headed for his own good, and eventually, it would get him into quite a bit of trouble. In fact, if he kept it up and Iori walked out of the restaurant to join her, she was pretty certain he would would make K' sorry.

"Don't talk down to me like I'm some idiot!"

Had she...? Leona was suddenly confused. She hadn't, intentionally, spoken in such a way, but apparently, K' took it that way. She was beginning to realize that perhaps he was still sore over their fight in the train... Either way, she had nothing to apologize for. Figuring she might as well end things before they actually started, she shook her head. "I didn't speak to you in such a way that you should take offense. I'll wait inside since my presence upsets you so much." After a nod to Maxima, she turned to go back inside to wait for Iori.

"Don't you turn your back to me!" K' yelled, and without another word, dashed forward, closing the distance between himself and Leona, quickly bringing his knee up towards the middle of her back.

Before her hand could touch the door, the sound of his feet rushing towards her came to her ears, and Leona spun back around to her left, her right hand snapping out and down to knock his knee away. Firmly planting his foot back on the ground, K' adjusted his weight before kicking out with the opposite foot, a kick aimed at Leona's right shoulder. The warrior, however, quickly brought her right arm back up, elbow bending as she brought her forearm up to greet and parry his kick. Beginning to get annoyed, Leona quickly shook her head before lashing out with her left fist, a spark of blue flames going off as it hit K square in the chest, hitting his solar plexus and causing him to stumble backwards a few feet, his eyes widening in confusion.

"Flames?!"

Before Leona said a word, Iori's deep laugh sounded from behind her, and she turned to look at him.

"See what happens when you try to attack a woman from behind?" the red-head smirked, his eyes on K' as he walked up beside Leona. She smirked inwardly, a twinge of pride hitting her as she realized Iori had seen everything. She turned her attention back to K', who appeared to still be quite confused as he stared at her.

Like Iori, Maxima laughed, loud and heartily, reaching out and slapping K's shoulder, hard enough to cause the smaller man to stumble. "Come on, aibou, don't say you didn't deserve that." Although he had seen Leona's new power as well, he wasn't making a big deal about it like K' was. "Besides, she's a friend of Muchiko's. What do you think your sister would say to you if she had just seen that?"

K' opened his mouth to protest, having turned to Maxima, but closed it with a grunt.

With a nod, Maxima turned back to Leona and Iori, nodding once to them before clapping a hand over K's shoulder and trying to drag him away before he started any more confrontations. But K' stopped and turned back to stare at Leona.

"Better watch it, woman," K' muttered, glancing at Iori before looking back to her. "If Ash finds out about your powers, he might come for them. Who knows what that fucker's thinking." After another moment, he nodded and turned to walk away with his partner.

When the two fighters were out of earshot, Leona muttered to Iori: "Do you think he'd try it?" She knew it was a fairly sensitive subject since his own powers had been stolen, but if K' was right, she might be another target, what with her connections to Orochi.

Iori just shrugged. "Maybe.. you and Yamazaki are the only two Orochi descendants left, and since he doesn't have any outward abilities besides strength.." he trailed off with another shrug, finally tearing his eyes away from the direction K' and Maxima had walked to.

For a few moments, the two stood in silence before Iori took off without a word, back towards his hotel room. Leona followed part of the way, but stopped half way when she realized what time it was. Mentioning it to him, and explaining she should return to the barracks before someone was sent out to search for her, she turned to leave him.

By the time Leona finally made it back to Ikari HQ, it was nearly seven in the morning, and oddly enough, she wasn't very tired. Once making her way to her room, she quickly changed before deciding to head back down towards the training room. Before she could even make it to the training room, she was stopped in the hall by Ralf. Her brows furrowed when he just stared at her, uncertain of exactly what emotions were playing across his face; he seemed angry yet afraid, worried yet upset.

Finally, he spoke up: "Where were you all night, Leona?" His voice was soft, but still, she couldn't discern the emotions behind it.

"I was out," she replied slowly, not wanting to lie to him, but not wanting to tell him the full truth of the matter.

Her reply caused him to frown, his eyes scanning over her entire face as though trying to find some better answer upon her skin. Immediately, his eyes were drawn to her neck, to the brown and blue bite mark, despite her hair being down and pulled over her shoulders. "What the hell happened?" he asked, fully concerned as he pushed her hair back to get a better look at the bite.

"It's nothing," she quickly replied, promptly stepping away from him and turning her head so the other side of her neck was more prominent, trying to hide the mark despite the fact he had seen it and knew it was there. She knew that he knew it wasn't an animal bite.

"What do you mean 'nothing'? Someone -bit- you, Leona, I wouldn't call that--" Ralf stopped talking in the middle of his sentence, his eyes still staring at Leona's, despite the fact she wouldn't meet his gaze.

Although he wasn't saying a word, Leona was pretty certain she knew what he was thinking. At first, he was probably worried because someone bit her, some maniac or the like, but by the way she acted, he was probably finally understanding that it wasn't a bite from some whacko, but a hickey from a man, one whom she let bite and suck on her neck to cause the discolorations and marks. After a few moments of silence, Leona finally looked up to see Ralf staring at her. He wasn't angry, and it thoroughly surprised her to see pain and sadness etched over every single bit of his face and eyes. She was totally and completely confused because she had whole-heartedly expected him to get upset for allowing someone to bite her. Why was he so sad?

"Was it Clark?" he muttered, voice low and twined with a bit of anger.

"No," she replied quietly with a shake of her head. When she saw some of the sadness leave his face, she was even more confused: would a "yes" have changed the way he was acting? Nothing made sense to her, and she had no idea what to say or do. Ralf, however, did. With a curt nod, the soldier peeled his gaze away from Leona's face before silently walking right past her and disappearing down the hall leaving Leona alone and confused. For the first time, Leona wanted to run to her father and ask him what had happened, why Ralf had acted that way. But at the same time, she knew she would have to explain everything, and the mere thought of that made her feel embarrassed. With a sigh, Leona tried to push it all out of her mind and finally continued down the hall towards the training room. Perhaps working out would help clear her mind and help her see things differently.


	8. Chapter Seven

_A/N: I never planned on writing from Iori's point of view, but when I got to the end of the previous chapter, I found myself more and more interested in trying it out. So, here it goes. Also, for those of you that kept worrying about him being too OOC, well, here begins the explanations._

_

* * *

_Iori was, for lack of a better term, confused. No matter how long he paced around his room, no matter how long he lied in bed, no matter how long he showered, every time he started to think, started to try and find a logical reason, he couldn't.

Why was he helping Leona with her powers?

Why was he helping Leona learn how to cook?

Why did he find himself so attracted to her, sexually?

Why had he put up with her for so long?

Why did the mere thought of another man putting a hand on Leona anger him beyond belief?

He wouldn't exactly say he cared for her, but at the same time, if he was willing to kill another man that touched her, did that mean he -did- care for her? Truthfully, there was no way he could really answer that because, simply, he had never, ever cared for another human being. He had never known his mother, his father had been a cruel bastard, any woman he slept with was just for a quick lay, and on top of it all, he didn't have any friends.

-Why- Leona?

Every time he was alone, which was how he spent almost all of his time, he would ask himself the same questions over and over, and every time, he couldn't come up with an answer. After being confused, he was annoyed, annoyed because he didn't understand anything. For some reason, when Leona was around him, he felt different. The one thing that he had actually figured out, which, to him, didn't count because it wasn't that big of a deal, was that the more he was around her, the more he felt.. different.

At first, when she had approached him in the bar, he had just been annoyed with her for bothering him, but her flames had intrigued him enough to the point he felt compelled to agree to help her. Before she even approached him, however, she had been nothing more than a stupid soldier who would sometimes get in his way during the King of Fighters Tournaments. That was it. Nothing more. Honestly enough, he had never taken much notice of her at all with the exception of the time she had also fallen into the Riot. But the more she was around him, the longer she was near him, he felt himself begin to notice more about her - the way she always stood or sat so straight, the way she'd raised her chin just slightly when she was trying to defy him, the way she would watch him with such intensity when he explained things to her, be it cooking or about the flames, and then there was her scent, the smell of her skin.

He wasn't sure what it was, but there was a sort of fragrance that lingered around her. Sure, every person has a smell all of his own, and most times no one notices it unless it's really foul, but there was just something about the way Leona smelled that made him feel the slightest bit light-headed. On top of it, while she didn't wear perfume, he could also smell the scent of her shampoo (some kind of apple, he was pretty certain) as well as a flowery body wash, or lotion. He'd also begun to notice lately that the more he took notice of her scent, the more he wanted to both screw her senseless and just down right dominate her.

At one point he had thought it was like some type of sexual pheromone, that he could detect something in her scent (and vice-versa for Leona, he supposed) that caused his systems to go out of whack. Iori was a learned enough man to know it's something that happens in almost all species, but he also knew the way it affected him, to such a large degree, was not something that happened to humans, so he quickly dismissed the thought.

Once returning to his hotel room, Iori paced in front of his bed, once more asking himself the same questions, but this time he had a new one to ask: would Ash try to steal Leona's powers? He wanted to say no, simply because Ash had only gone for the Three Sacred Treasures, but at the same time, he wondered if he was also interested in the descendants of Orochi. Like Iori had told Leona earlier, she and Yamazaki were the only two left alive, and, originally, neither had any outward powers except for extreme strength, but now that Leona had an actual power, things might change. "Especially since she can wield flames.." he reminded himself, muttering quietly.

He quickly lost track of time, trying to figure out answers or find some clues, but as usual, nothing came to him. Eventually, he lied down to sleep, oblivious to what time it was, and didn't wake up until he felt something touching his shoulder. With a grunt, he rolled onto his back and opened his eyes to find Leona staring down at him.

"You didn't answer the door, so I thought something was wrong," she explained before he even asked.

"How'd you get in?" he asked after clearing his throat and sitting up. "I didn't exactly give you a copy of my room key." For some reason, he knew he should be angry, but he wasn't.

With a shrug, Leona sat down on the corner of his bed. "I told the person at the desk I was your sister and that you were sick, so I came here to take care of you. Apparently, the woman at the desk had seen me often enough to believe me."

Iori wasn't sure why, but he found the whole thing comical, and he laughed, short and low, his lips pulling back into a smirk. "I didn't take you for the type of person who lies."

"I prefer to call it bending the truth."

Again, he laughed. The longer Leona was around him, the less she acted like the anti-social Ice Queen he had originally labeled her as, and he was pretty certain it was all because of him. His eyes left her face and traveled down to her neck, gazing over the bite mark he had given her the night before. The grin on his lips widened, partially because it was there and partially because she was wearing her hair up and back in it's normal pony tail instead of trying to use her hair to hide the mark. He was quite.. happy? content? No matter. Either way, he was glad she wasn't shy about it. In fact, he was quickly learning that she wasn't very shy at all.

Rather than do or say anything else, Iori just stared at Leona, his eyes tracing over every piece of her body as though memorizing it, and he quickly realized that he wanted her naked and underneath him while he mindlessly pounded into her. But before he could reach out and grab her, she quickly stood up and walked over to the kitchen to grab a small pile of papers.

"I brought your mail up," she commented, moving back over to him, but staying out of his reach. Apparently, she could tell what he wanted, but tried to avoid him. "The one on top might interest you."

At that moment, he didn't really give two shits about the mail, because he was quickly getting hard and impatient, but when his eyes glanced over the top piece she pointed out, he noticed the King of Fighters emblem on the upper left corner. "I didn't think the Tournament would take place until later in the year."

"It shouldn't, and this isn't exactly an invitation to the KoF," she shook her head, sitting back down and offering him the top item, placing the rest on the floor beside her.

Taking the invitation from her, he quickly read it over, muttering what he read under his breath: "I cordially invite you... tournament... normal participants... signed Ash.." Iori's eyes promptly narrowed, and a soft growl left his lips. So, the little shit was going to make a move, huh? Iori was certainly going to go...

"I received the same invitation, but read the bottom," Leona murmured.

Raising an eyebrow, he did so: "Rather than the normal King of Fighters Tournaments where contestants are free to team up with whomever they choose, in -my- little game, your teammates have already been chosen for you: Chizuru Kagura and Leona Heidern. Should one or more of your team mates not show up, then you will have to compete without them."

"I can only assume someone's been watching us, otherwise why would they put the two of us on a team?"

"He's stolen my powers as well as the seal from Chizuru, so maybe he's just putting you with us because you don't have any powers? As far as he's concerned anyway.." Iori replied, crumbling up the piece of paper and chucking it over his shoulder. Truth be told, he was furious, but at the same time, he wondered if Leona was right, and Ash was planning on stealing her new powers.

Leona shook her head. "If that's the case, then why not Yamazaki? I have always entered with the Ikari Warriors, and Ralf, Clark and my father have all received invitations as well.." she trailed off with a shrug.

"Then don't go? It's the only way to assure Ash doesn't try anything."

Raising an eyebrow, Leona just stared at him, and Iori was pretty certain his suggestion was a stupid one. "I will not run and hide. Besides, if I join this tournament as part of your team, then I will be safer in your presence, will I not?"

Despite the red haze beginning to cover his vision, Iori grinned. Sure, he didn't have his flames anymore, but he could still rip a person to shreds with his own hands, and if anyone attempted to steal Leona's powers, then he would rip -that- person to shreds before they could do anything. For lack of a better term, Leona was his woman, and any man that tried something with her would be killed by him. "I guess so."

Leona nodded and looked away, her eyes half lidded and glazed over as though lost in her own thoughts.

Iori watched her, his eyes once more tracing over her body, and he quickly remembered the pain growing between his legs. With a soft growl, he reached out and grasped her arm, moving forward as he pulled her towards him, and quickly caught her lips between his for a hard kiss. She didn't try to pull away, she didn't tense up, in fact, she let him pull her towards him, and the moment their lips met, she returned his kiss just as hungrily, her body moving until her legs were straddling him and she was sitting on his lap. Groaning against her lips, Iori automatically ground his hips against her, and his hands quickly went to work at ridding them of their clothing. While he was the type that liked to be in control, when Leona tried to push him off of her and to the side so that she could slip on top of him, he let her, actually quite surprised that she seemed to like being on top as much as she did. He would let her have her way, but only for a short while before his hands would grip her hips and force her to move faster.

When they were finished, Leona curled up against his side, her head resting on his chest. Iori pulled the blankets over them and possessively wrapped his arm around her, inwardly grinning. He had come to notice that despite her lack of experience (as he was almost positive that he had been her first) she was easily matching him in bed, something that no other woman had been able to; the whores he had slept with in the past were tiny, weak little things, and more often than not afraid of him. Leona hadn't lied - she wasn't afraid of him, and Iori actually admired her for it.

For the briefest of moments, he looked down at her already sleeping form and tried to wonder, yet again, why she had such a strange effect on him. But her scent licked his nose, and he let the light-headedness consume him and push him to sleep.

* * *

Before even opening her eyes, consciousness returned to Leona, and the first thing she realized was that she was warm, comfortable and just generally content. The second thing she noticed was that she was still in bed with Iori, because she could both smell him and feel his skin beneath her hand and cheek. It was an odd feeling, being light-headed and drowsy, curled up in bed next to a man she should honestly be disgusted by, but at the same time, it just felt -right-. After a few moments, when her body was fully awake, she slowly and carefully sat up, so as not to wake Iori, and tilted her head to peer down at him. Contrary to the intimidation he generally exuded, Iori looked fairly peaceful when he slept. The general scowl he kept upon his lips smoothed out, his eyebrows no longer creased, and she almost laughed at how his mouth hung open, just slightly, while he slept. She couldn't help but just.. -watch- him for a good ten minutes. The sound of her military issued cell phone ringing was what took her attention away from him.

With a cringe, she slipped off the bed and began rummaging around for her pants, finding them and quickly grabbing the small device, flicking it open and standing back up as she stared towards Iori to see if it had wakened him. As he was staring up at her, she knew it had. Frowning, she placed the phone to her ear, sitting back down on the corner of the bed.

"Leona here."

"Leona, where the hell are you?" It was Ralf's voice, loud enough so that she had to move the phone a good inch away from her ear.

Rather than answer his question, she took a page from Iori's book and countered it with one of her own: "Ralf, why are you using this phone? We were told it was only to be used to inform people of missions."

"Because we -have- a mission, Leona! Didn't you get an invitation to Ash's little competition?"

Well, yes, she did.. but she didn't exactly wish to tell Ralf, sooner than she needed to, who her teammates were. "Ralf, I saw the invitations you and the Commander received. You know as well as I do that I am not a part of your team."

"Yeah, but.." he paused. "You -did- get one, didn't you?"

"Whether or not I received one does not concern anyone. Now is there an actual mission that involves me, or not?"

"I... I..." Ralf groaned, and she could very easily hear the pained notes in his voice: "No. No, as you aren't on our team, you won't be a part of the mission.."

"Then I shall see you at the base later. You shouldn't have called me for any other reason than what the phones were given to us for."

"Yeah.. sorry.." He hung up.

Frown still on her lips, Leona folded the phone closed and stared at it for a moment before tossing it back on top of her jeans. Feeling the bed shift, she turned around to watch Iori sit up and lean back against the wall.

"I didn't think you could be so -mean-," he grinned, folding his arms beneath his head.

Her brow furrowed. "What?"

"Being so rude and cold to a man that loves you. I didn't think you had it in you."

"I don't know what you're talking about." She really didn't. Ralf didn't -love- her. Shrugging, she slipped back off the bed to gather her clothes.

"The grunt was loud enough that I think my neighbors heard him. And it doesn't take a rocket scientist to hear how much you hurt him. Sounded like a wounded puppy."

With all of her clothes bunched in her arms, Leona held them to her chest and stood back up to stare at Iori. She was too confused to scold him for calling Ralf a grunt, too caught up in what he was saying. Ralf.. -loved- her? Is that why..? There were some times Leona cursed her naivete, and with a soft groan, she sat back down on the bed, letting the clothes tumble out of her lap as she rubbed her hands against her face. Ralf had been so concerned because he had feelings for her. It made so much sense that Leona felt stupid for just believing that he was concerned for her as a friend and comrade. So.. -those- were the emotions she couldn't unravel earlier in the day when he had confronted her.

"You really didn't know, did you?" Iori spoke up.

"No," she sighed, just resting her face in her hands. What exactly was she supposed to do now? One thing was for certain - Leona did not reciprocate his feelings. At one point, she had had feelings for Clark because she viewed him to be so much like her, but she had eventually realized that nothing could occur between them. Ralf, however.. He was her commanding officer, even though she was the daughter of Heirdern. Would Ralf put himself in unnecessary danger during their missions -because- he cared so much about her? Things were certainly going to be strange and awkward, at least for a week or so. Lifting her head up, Leona stared across the room from her, realizing that she didn't want to be anywhere -near- Ralf for a while, simply because the mere -idea- of being near him felt strange and uncomfortable.

And the words left her lips before she could think of the repercussions and consequences: "Would it be possible for me to.. stay here.. until Ash's tournament is over?"

For a few moments, Iori was silent, and when Leona turned around to look at him, she could gather by the look on his face that he was trying to figure out an answer. Truthfully, she was expecting a 'no', simply because that was the kind of person he was, but at the same time, she expected a 'yes' because of how much he had changed around her, or at least that's what she thought.

Eventually, he nodded, his eyes coming back into focus and staring into hers.

Leona suddenly felt like a scared child. She didn't know love, didn't know how to deal with it, how it could affect her. She had an attraction to Iori, she had easily recognized and come to terms with that, but she didn't -love- him. Realizing that someone so close to her loved -her- just felt.. weird. Without really realizing she was doing it, she moved further onto the bed, slipped under the blankets, and curled up next to Iori, clinging to him like the scared child she felt herself as. She had always viewed herself as a hardened warrior, incapable of feelings because she didn't -need- them, even more so after she had first fallen into the Riot. But now that she was recognizing them, feeling their impact, she didn't know how to cope with it all. The thoughts and views that she had bottled up for so long were beginning to push to the surface, and she didn't know what to do.

"Why am I so different from other people?" she muttered into his chest, her eyes closed as though to fight off the thoughts.

"It's our curse," Iori murmured, an arm moving down from behind his head to curl around her, his hand resting on her head, fingers gently massaging her scalp.

Leona could feel a warmth spreading through her body, and she couldn't help but purr at feeling his fingers running through her hair. It was such a simple gesture, but she felt her worries slowly begin to disappear. Yes, it was their curse, she realized. She also realized that by leaning on each other, they could deal with it to the point of ignoring it, eventually even be able to push it out of their lives completely. Leona was beginning to realize that she didn't care about anything or anyone else in the world, that just being so close to the man that had marked her was enough for her. It was strange and even mind boggling, but it was good enough. The drowsiness and light-headedness she felt when being so close to him slowly invaded her mind, and she let it take her into the darkness of sleep.

* * *

**Pheromones **- a chemical that triggers a natural behavioral response in another member of the same species.

After this chapter, I don't plan on really lingering on why things happened as they did between Leona and Iori, so I figured I'd just explain it here. I took the basic concepts of pheromones, more specifically androstenol (a sex pheromone, possessing a musk-like odor, found in human sweat glands, is analogous to sex hormones and is secreted by the adrenal gland into systemic circulation in humans), and pretty much blew it up out of propotion, blaming it on Leona and Iori's blood curse. This is why I go into so much about smells and scents. Because Leona and Iori turn so animalistic when their under the Riot, it basically spawned this idea. Simply put, Iori was right, but wrong to brush the thought aside. Oh, well.


	9. Chapter Eight

Once he felt the rise and fall of her chest against the side of his body slow down, Iori knew she had fallen back asleep. With a sigh, he closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall. Why had he agreed to letting her stay in his hotel room, to pretty much live there with him until Ash's little tournament was over? It was another question to add to the pile of unanswered questions he already head. When she asked him, the first thing he was going to say was a flat out no, but before he realized it, his brain began to fight with itself. Or, -was- it his brain? Maybe it was more like his brain on drugs, because that's what it felt like, what with the constant drowsiness and light-headedness when Leona was around.

The problem wasn't that he had agreed to let her stay, the problem was -why- he had let her stay. He didn't know why. It, like everything else for the past month, confused the shit out of him. At first, he thought that maybe it was just the sex, that he wanted her to stay so that whenever the mood caught him, he could just grab her and fuck her into oblivion. But right after thinking it, he shook his head and nearly hit himself. Leona was not like all those whores he had slept with. In some strangely, animalistic way, he -had- come to care for her, and while he certainly enjoyed sleeping with her, "fucking her into oblivion" was something he would do to a whore, not Leona.

He was beginning to realize that despite the fact they both had the blood curse, she was ten times more pure than he was, and for some reason, he wanted to make sure she stayed that way. He was also beginning to see that Leona was what he had always -wanted- to be. His training, at a young age, thanks to his father, had been to harden and steel him against anything and everything, and he had lost his innocence at a young age because of it. Leona, however, despite being almost the same age as him, still -had- her innocence, despite having fallen into the Riot and killing people. Iori wanted to -protect- that innocence. While he also wished that he could obtain his own once again, he knew that was impossible. So rather than try for the impossible, he would do what he could to make sure Leona was protected.

In a way, Iori wanted to slap himself for having such sugar-coated, pansy-assed thoughts. But, it was the truth, and it felt right, especially since it was beginning to answer some of his questions...

* * *

I want to apologize to those of you that actually read this story. Not long after I posted the last chapter of this story, the end of the semester was creeping up on me. Shortly after that, I had to graduate, pack, move and get married. When I finally had the chance to sit down and start working on this fic again, I found out that the WordPad file was corrupt. The only thing I can think of that happened was that something happed to my CPU when I had it shipped by UPS from my previous home to my current. (Many of my written files were corrupt as well, which royally sucks.) Once finding out my writing had pretty much gone down the crapper, I basically gave up on it.

Recently, a friend of mine figured out how to fix the file so I could at least read it, albeit messy and with a ton of random coding mixed in with it. Either way, this is what I could get out of the mess. I'm not sure when I'll be able to get back in the swing of writing, but I have not yet given up on this fic.

Again, for those of you who have been reading this story and enjoying it, I apologize. I also thank you for taking an interest in what I've written. I'll try my best to get back to work on it.


End file.
