Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is not owned by me. Neither are any Disney characters or Final Fantasy characters. If they were... Then I probably would have never been allowed to play FF games, and Kingdom Hearts wouldn't be rated E anymore, MUAHAHAHA!
-P-u-P-p-E-t-
Vexen's words had struck him. Was he really just Marluxia's puppet? Was he that easily manipulated? Sora contemplated the things that had led him here. All along he had been playing into Marluxia's hands. It was so stupid...why hadn't he noticed? He was so weak-what was the point of continuing on? How would he ever find Riku if everything he did help the adversaries- without him knowing it!
Riku...he wondered what had happened to him. Did he escape the doors? He must have! Though Riku's heart may have been weak, his determination was astounding. There was no way he would have given up. Plus the King was with him. Sora knew within his heart that Riku had escaped, but where was he now?
It felt so strange to be separated from his childhood friend for so long. They had only seen each other a few times since that fateful night on Destiny Islands and more than half the times it had been as enemies. It hurt to think of his friend as an enemy-even more so that since they had been apart, Sora found that perhaps his attraction to Riku wasn't just friendship. But there was no point thinking about that...it was just wishful daydreaming, and very intangible because of their complete separation.
Sora hacked at a few Heartless, though his heart was not in it. Was killing these playing right into Marluxia's hands as well, was he supposed to be killing them? When the area was clear, he sat down on a barrel near a column, not wanting to do anything. Was he giving up? He didn't know. Was this something Marluxia wanted, too? Was he really just doing whatever the strings told him to? Sora was surprised when something wet dripped onto his leg, leaving a spot. He realized he was crying.
-p-U-p-P-e-T-
Riku glared at the patch of air that had been occupied just moments ago. Ansem's words had stung him more than he felt like admitting. Since when was he a puppet? Since he gave himself over to the darkness, let his body be ruled by Ansem. Why had he done it? Because he was hurt, he had been weak. Seeing Sora seemingly give him no thought as he had his own little adventures with his newfound friends.
Riku still found himself smarting over it, though he had resolved that it wasn't really Sora's fault. If anything he felt guilty that he was so weak that he forced Sora to accept responsibility as Keyblade master, instead of himself. Sora-his childhood crush since before he could remember. Not that he would actually SAY anything about it. He still had a hard time admitting it to himself.
But back on to the task at hand. Ansem. The one who claimed to be pulling Riku's strings as a helpless puppet. Was it true? Yes, and it scared him to think that everything he did was because of another person willing it away. He could still feel Ansem laughing at him from inside. He wished he could do something about it- anything, since at the moment, all he could do was stand and fume at his helplessness. His damned helplessness.
He pulled himself together, throwing his mask of assuredness back over him, and stepping through the next door, hoping to find some answers that would help him through his dejected state.
-p-U-p-P-e-T-
Sora looked up quickly at the sound of approaching footsteps, grabbing his Keyblade cautiously, expecting a Heartless or another one of the 'Organization'. Instead, he found himself watching the sway of a blood-red cloak caressing black attire that encased the figure under them. A black wing hung behind, which moved fluidly with each step. His eyes traveled up to see striking blond, spiky hair, of which few strands dangled in front of disturbingly blue eyes.
"Cloud?" Sora asked, wondering why he was approaching him, wiping his eyes self-conciously, trying to forget that he had been crying.
"Hey Sora." Cloud said in his strangely soft voice. It wasn't really soft, yet the almost hidden undertones in his voice made you think that it was.
"Um...hi. What're you doing here?" Sora asked him, all too aware of the dark spots on his pants from the tears. His face was probably puffy and red as well.
"Well, this is the colliseum, isn't it? I'm still signed up whether I like it or not." He explained in a defeated manner. Cloud looked at him closely. "Sora...are you all right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, I guess..." Sora replied, looking down at the ground.
Cloud raised an eyebrow at him. "You guess? What happened?"
Sora sighed, "It's nothing. Stupid really." he said quietly. For some reason the blonde's presence calmed him.
"It doesn't seem like nothing to me." Cloud told him wisely pulling another barrel close with his clawed arm and sitting on it beside Sora. "Wanna talk about it?"
The blonde's willing and helpful attitude was just what Sora needed at the moment. Though Cloud was older than him, and had probably gone through traumatic experiences in his life, he had a way of making people feel at the same level, as if no one's problems were better or worse than others. Whatever it was, it got Sora to talk. "Well, like I said, it's stupid, but...Vexen said something to me. He told me that I was just Marluxia's puppet... It made me wonder. Is it true? Am I really just...a puppet?" Sora stared at his hands that were now shaking in his lap.
Cloud made and incomprehensible noise, which caused Sora's eyes to shift upwards to the blonde's face. He was surprised to see that Cloud's expression had darkened, and he was glaring at the air, apparently caught in memory.
"C-Cloud?" Sora asked apprehensively, "Are you okay? Did I say something wrong?" He was taken aback and slightly afraid at the utterly cold look on Cloud's face, and was profoundly grateful that the look was not being directed at him.
Cloud's face softened at Sora's voice, and he turned to look at him. "It...wasn't you. I was just remembering something from the past, that's all."
"Oh." Sora replied, then, unable to abate his curiousity, "What happened?"
Cloud looked silently for a moment, before answering with another question, "Didn't curiousity kill the cat?"
Sora couldn't help but grin as he shot back, "Yes, but satisfaction brought it back. Besides, since when was I a cat?" He was trying to bring a smile back to Cloud's face, which looked utterly forlorn without it.
It worked. Cloud smiled softly, "Alright, you win -this time." He sighed, his face going distant again. "Do you...remember Sephiroth?" he asked quietly.
Sora nodded. How could he have ever forgotten? It had been the hardest battle in his life, forcing him to use everything he had to offer, and still he lost. Multiple times-to his shame. Plus, silvery hair and piercing green eyes were not something you saw every day- unless your best friend was Riku, whose features were remarkably similar- but like Sora was brooding earlier; He didn't see him often at all anymore. "Yeah, what about him?"
"Well...at one point...I was his puppet. I would do anything he wanted me to. It went beyond him putting me into situations where I'd be forced to act the way he wanted, into actual control of my body." Cloud shuddered, "He..he almost made me kill her myself..." He said almost inaudibly.
Sora stared at him silently, shocked at this revelation. It seemed that Cloud's problems in the past were much worse than his own now. "Who's 'her'...?" He asked softly, his curiousity getting the better of him again, and he was profoundly glad to not have been a cat.
Cloud did not look at him, and it soon became obvious that he was not going to recieve an answer. He wisely backed off, realizing that he may have stepped a bit too far.
They sat in silence for a while, and Sora took the oppourtunity to let his gaze wander over Cloud's figure. The cloak trailed across his back, fastened across his neck and shoulder in some unseen manner. The edges of it had seen much wear, as they were jagged and torn. The black ribbed wing added a menacing contrast to the crimson cloak beneath it, seeming to be a foreign part of Cloud's body. As if it were a recent addition. It quite possibly was. The claw on his hand was gold and shined- obviously well taken care of, and it rested on his knee, the other arm lay across the metal in an unmoving caress. His intense blue eyes gazed unseeingly at the air before him, full of turmoil as he recalled something that must have been unplesant. The fleeting smile had left his pale lips entirely, making Sora depressed as well for reasons unknown.
Finally, unable to stand the silence anymore, Sora decided to ask another question of his brooding companion. "Cloud...how did you get over it? Being a puppet, I mean." He clarified, hoping that Cloud would break out of his disheartened shell.
Cloud's eyes once again met Sora's lighter blue ones. "Why do you ask the hardest questions?" He asked in return.
Sora thought the question rhetorical, but as Cloud didn't volunteer anything else, he opened his mouth to answer, not sure of what he was going to say.
The blonde, however, did answer Sora's question. "I suppose I tried to destroy the puppeteer."
"And did it work?" The brunette pressed.
After another long pause, Cloud offered, "Well...yes and no. I thought him dead, and that kept me going for a while...but the thought that I had been a puppet still haunted me in the dark corners of my mind, and it turned out that I didn't even destroy him, really. As you have seen. He hasn't bothered me at all since I knew he was still alive, though."
"So...you never got over it?" Sora asked, worried. Worried that he, too would never get over the horrors of being manipulated.
"Well, never fully, no. But I found that focusing your mind on other things and finding distractions helps...a lot." Cloud replied, once again averting his gaze to look at nothing. Nothing visible, anyway. It was obvious that he was looking at something, if only in his memories.
Sora watched expressions play across the youthful adult's visage. Happiness, sorrow, pain, and content were a few of the emotions that he caught from the suddenly emotion-ridden face. "What...kind of distactions?" the younger one asked, interupping the recalling of memories.
Cloud smiled faintly, and as he looked at Sora, there was a pink tint to his cheeks. "Uh...people, I guess. I found someone...who meant something to me. Someone who distracted me from the cruelties of life you could say."
"Like a girlfriend?" Sora asked him.
A small smirk touched the pale lips as Cloud answered, "...Yeah, something like that."
"Who was she? Is she? Do I know her?" Sora pestered, unable to help himself.
Cloud's face closed off, and he remained silent. Realizing that he may have gone to far, Sora stayed noiseless as well.
The silence was eventually broken by the elder. "Was. And, yeah, you know...him."
Sora blinked at that revelation. He never thought that Cloud was gay. But then again, he never bothered to think about his sexual preferences, so it wasn't as big a shock as it could have been. Upon further thought, Cloud WAS good looking. His pants clung to his hips well, and his creamy cheeks were virtually umblemished. Sora could only think that the skin under his clothes was probably just as perfect.
He suddenly realized where his train of thought was going, and did his best to switch tracks quickly. He was in a personal crisis, and didn't have time to think about Cloud's sexiness...even though it was rather apparent now that he thought about it. Or didn't think about it. DIDN'T.
Still, his overwhelming curiousity pushed him to ask; "Who? Who's 'him'?"
Cloud again paused, contemplating whether he should tell. Coming to a decision, he answered, "Squall...or Leon as he now likes to be called."
Sora's eyebrow shot up of it's own accord. Questions flitted through his mind. Cloud and Leon were an item? How long ago? How serious were they? Who was on top? He forced a blush from his cheeks at the last question, preferring not to think about it.
He searched for something to say, and finally decided on, "Oh..." Great, smooth talker you are there, Sora. How dumber can you get? "So...he distracted you from your memories?"
Cloud nodded soundlessly, his blonde hair flicking with his head movement. "Yeah...we broke up a couple months ago." He said, answering one of Sora's unspoken questions.
"I'm sorry, Cloud. And here I am asking you all these questions about the thing you've been avoiding, and you don't even have someone to distract you from it." Sora apologized, feeling awful.
"Maybe..." Cloud said, piercing Sora's blue eyes with his own, "But it's nice to be able to talk about it with someone who's going through the same thing. Besides...you do a pretty good job at distraction as well, Sora." He smiled caringly.
Sora couldn't help the heat rising to his cheeks and he knew he was blushing furiously. What had Cloud meant by THAT? Perhaps he was reading a bit between the lines, but was Cloud hitting on him? "So... You're saying all I have to do is find a distraction, and maybe even get rid of Marluxia?"
"That's what I did. I'm not sure if I was going about it the right way, but it worked for me." Cloud was still smiling at him in a way that sent butterflies flocking to his stomach.
Sora smiled back at the usually quiet blonde. "I appreciate your help and advice. You didn't have to sit down and talk with me, or anything." He told him thankfully.
"I didn't have to...but I wanted to. It just doesn't look right when you're unhappy, it mars your cuteness." Cloud told him unashamedly.
Sora felt himself blushing redder. Yeah, Cloud was definitely hitting on him, but for some reason it didn't drive him away at all. In fact... "You're the one who's looks are messed up when you're sad. You look so much better when you smile." The brunette told his older companion truthfully. "Not that you don't look attractive when you're not smiling or anything." His eyes widened and he clamped a hand over his mouth, face heating once again. He had meant that last comment to be in his head, but for some reason it slipped out.
Cloud laughed, "Well, that's nice to hear. Did you mean it, or were you just saying that to be nice?" he asked, still looking at him in a way that made Sora sure his entire body was roughly the shade of an overripe tomato.
"Oh, well...y-yeah, I meant it." Sora stuttered, "I mean...I can see why Leon liked you and everything. When I first met you I thought you were just like all the other people who had sold themselves to darkness. You proved yourself though, and I appreciate all the help you've given me. I just don't get why you'd help someone like me..." Yeah, he was flirting, but so what? Cloud started it, and he was hot, too, so what was the matter? Maybe...maybe even Cloud could be his distraction, since he and Leon had broken up... Was Cloud looking for someone again?
"Why wouldn't someone want to help you, Sora?" the blonde asked rhetorically. Sora shivered inwardly at the sound of his own name from Cloud's lips. His name...being spoken in the soft voice that was Cloud's... "You're sweet, kind, even funny at times. You have an irresistable, adorable pout, and the way your hair falls into your face is just downright cute." He told Sora flagrantly, reaching his unclawed hand that had a glove on it which stopped at his fingers, up to brush a stray lock of brown hair out of Sora's face, hooking it behind his ear.
The blush that had finally subsided from Sora's cheeks now came back in full force. "You're flirting." he accused the golden-haired seducer.
Cloud smirked, "...Yeah, I am." He said unabashedly. "Do you mind?"
Sora was taken aback at that question, and his opinion of Cloud went a notch higher. He was asking Sora's permission to flirt with him? He smiled shyly and replied, "No, I suppose not. You make a pretty good distraction."
Cloud leaned closer to Sora. "You're a better one." he told him.
The brunette shook his head. He could smell a faint spicy scent coming from Cloud. In fact, if they were any closer he'd probably feel his breath as well. "No I'm not. You're much hotter than I am." He clamped his mouth shut again. I did NOT just say that to his face!
The smile Cloud gave him was one that sent tingles running through his body, and the blonde leaned even closer to Sora. His prediction was right, he COULD feel Cloud's warm breath. It flowed over his face like a plesant gentle breeze. "Sora...you are amazingly cute." Cloud drew a deep breath, as if he was preparing to get a brick thrown in his face or something like that. "May...may I kiss you, Sora?"
Sora blinked at him before the full implicatins of what had just been asked hit him, causing a set of pink cheeks to show themselves brightly. Cloud...had just asked to kiss Sora. CLOUD! He could hear the blood rushing swiftly through his veins, and he wouldn't be surprised if Cloud heard it as well. He looked into the blonde's deep blue eyes, genuinely touched that Cloud had asked him first. Not that he would have minded if he didn't ask and just did it anyway, but this earned the blonde a LOT of respect in Sora's book. He licked his lips because they had suddenly gone dry, and nodded, giving Cloud permission.
He could feel the breath that Cloud had been holding let out across his face, and the quiet blonde closed the distance between thier faces, brushing Sora's lips patiently with his own.
The feel of Cloud's pale lips were silky and soft, and a thought flitted through his mind of why he hadn't ever done this before. When Sora didn't pull away or show any signs of dislike, Cloud let his lips press more firmly against the brunette's. The blood rushed through his veins faster than ever as his heart pounded wildly. Cloud was kissing him!
The lips on his own broke contact, and Cloud leaned back away from Sora. He seemed to have an almost sheepish look on his face, which Sora thought didn't fit him at all, so he smiled reasurringly. The look on Cloud's face slowly melted away to be replaced by a kind smile.
Neither of them really knew what to say, and as Cloud opened his mouth to try, there came loud scuffling sounds which could only be the presence of one thing. Heartless. Sora grabbed for his Keyblade, prepared to go fight them off- as always. Instead, he felt a staying hand on his own, and looked up to see Cloud standing in front of him.
"Sora...let me handle them. You've been doing so much lately, and I've been doing practically nothing. Stay here or go somewhere else and focus on doing what you have to to defeat Marluxia." The older one told him.
"But-" Sora protested, only to be cut off by Cloud's finger being placed gently on his lips.
"Please, Sora. You have enough on your plate already, and I have nothing to do." Cloud said in a tone that gave no room for argument.
Sora sighed and nodded, giving in. "Be careful then."
Cloud gave him a reasuring smile. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. If you ever need anything don't hesitate to ask me, okay? I'll see you again, Sora." And with that, he turned and walked away towards the sounds in another part of the coliseum.
-P-u-P-p-E-t-
There's still at least two-ish chapters left to be written of this story, so that's why I decided to just change it from oneshot to a few chapter story. I needed reviews to keep me going, or I'd probably just tuck it away in my computer and never look at it again. Which would be a waste, since I'm rather proud of this story. Please review?