Until Next We Meet
A/N: This story is centered around a yaoi pairing. If that is not in your tastes, please exit and try another.
Chapter 1
~o+o~
"Over here!"
Leon turned his head, squinting into the last rays of sun shining through the house they were currently ransacking. He stood from his crouched position, grunting softly as his muscles stretched, and made his way over to his cousin.
"What'd you find?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"A jackpot. Leon, look at all of it!" Noel's dark cerulean eyes were glowing with glee as he pointed into the hidden cabinet he'd found. "Nobody else even knew it was here! Oh, we're gonna eat like kings tonight, yeah!"
Leon shook his head a little with a small smirk at his cousin's antics. Though it was true they'd been living on a bare minimum of late…this would probably get everyone's moral up a little. Especially Zell's.
He looked into the cupboard with icy gray eyes, quickly cataloguing what he saw in his mind. After a few moments of silence (except for Noel's stomach, which was growling), Leon made up his mind.
"We won't be able to carry all of it with us, even if we all took an equal share. And that's assuming the girls and Sora could carry as much as us without being slowed down." Even as he said it, Leon eyed the heaps of canned foods with a gluttonous lust. "Let's grab what we can and bring it back. We can come back later and get more if needed."
Noel was frowning, but the truth rang clear as he gave the cans another look. "You got it," he nodded, crouching down to gather what he could into his satchel. Leon did the same; there were all kinds of soups and vegetables and things he'd never really paid attention to when he went shopping at a grocery store before. These people had really stocked up—too bad they were long dead now.
When the two emerged from the house, gingerly stepping over the broken door, careful to avoid glass when they could, they made their way silently down the street in what they were sure used to be a cookie-cutter neighborhood. Now all they could see were broken windows and cars haphazardly left in random places along the streets, sidewalks and lawns.
Neither said a word, just to be safe. They hadn't met another living human for nearly a year now, but it never hurt to be careful. Other scavengers could be very territorial and violent, and Leon would rather not get involved with that. Besides that, he definitely didn't want any stray eidolons to happen across them. That would be serious trouble—the fatal kind.
After an hour of trekking along to the outskirts of the neighborhood, Leon and Noel returned to their campsite located in a small hollow of the forest they'd called their home for the past several days. The two paused at the same time, listening for a moment before Leon raised his hand to his lips and made a bird call.
It was answered almost instantly, followed by a loud "whoop" from somebody just out of the line of sight.
"Leon's back, Leon's back, and Noel, Noel too!" came a shout, and as they walked forward they were greeted by a bubbly young boy. He had the same dark brunette hair as the elder two, and blue eyes almost the same as Noel's. A smile graced his face as he stood before them, expectantly.
"Sorry, Sora. We didn't find any cookies on this trip, either," Leon chuckled, ruffling his younger brother's hair as he walked by.
"Awwww, man! There's no such thing as cookies anymore! What is the reason to live?!" he shouted, only to be swiftly shushed by his cousin.
"Hush, Sora," Noel growled, cupping a hand over the boy's mouth. "If you attract an eidolon to us, we'll make you fight it."
Sora gave a level stare, showing just how much time he'd spent with his elder brother throughout his life. Noel laughed at how very Leon it was, effectively breaking the serious tone he'd just had. "Don't think we won't though," he laughed as they followed Leon into the campsite.
"Yeah, whatever. Like you guys would really throw me to the eidolons. You love me more than that!"
The small clearing was all hustle and bustle—well, as much as it could be so with six people. Selphie and Rinoa gave a cheerful greeting as they saw Leon and Noel return, pausing in their work to keep the little fire they had going. They had to choose the kind of kindling and wood they used carefully; too much smoke would undoubtedly draw attention.
"I hear you still haven't found any cookies," Rinoa smiled sweetly.
Leon was about to answer when Noel interrupted, "Nah, we have something better."
Zell looked over, idly scratching the tattoo on his face as he looked them over. "Is it food? Cause that'd be awesome."
"Yes indeed, and look at all we have to offer," Noel smirked smugly.
With an unceremonious flick of his wrist, Noel emptied the contents of his satchel onto the small makeshift table they used to prepare what food they could find. Leon did the same, albeit more carefully so as to keep the contents from spilling over onto the ground.
Zell was next to them in an instant, eyes wide and mouth slightly open. Selphie was behind him, pushing him out of the way to get a look for herself. Rinoa lingered behind, smiling softly as she watched Leon's quiet smile at the reactions from his friends.
Sora cooed and rubbed his belly, grabbing onto Noel's arm. "Food…real food…not caterchipillars or bite bugs or wendigos…but food!"
Noel gave a laugh, patting his cousin on the crown of his head. "We've never actually caught a wendigo. Those things are vicious."
"What do we eat first?!" Sora exclaimed, ignoring Noel's comment.
"Ah-ah," Leon cut him off, putting a hand in front of the food store to stop Sora's approach. "We're not going to eat all of it in one sitting. We need to save what we can for when we get hungry later. Let's sort through it and see what all we have here."
"But we…we can eat some of it tonight, right? Right? Leon, please, please, pleasepleaseplease Leon please!"
"Yeah we're eating some tonight. But!" he said sharply to cut of Sora's howl of joy, "We're first going to look through it and see what all we have. No exceptions. That means you, Zell."
"Yeah, don't worry Zell," Noel smirked, laughing at the pout on the blonde's face, "there's plenty more where this came from."
"Woo-hoo!" Selphie yelled, accentuating with a fist pump. "More food! So when are we going back to get it? We can all go!"
Leon traced a finger along his brow in thought while starting piles for each type of food they'd managed to carry back. "I was thinking we could go back tomorrow. Leave at dawn, get an early start. Then we'll grab what we can carry—and I'm warning you now, there's no way we can take it all, so don't try and convince me otherwise when we get there. After we're done there, we'll make our way south, towards the Great Salt Lake and Esthar. I think if anybody had a chance of surviving, it's them. Does everyone agree?"
Selphie nodded thoughtfully, adding, "Yeah, it makes sense. They were known for the best military defense around the world. I wouldn't be surprised if they're all just carrying on as normal behind their giant shields. And the woods run down that way as well, so we'd have cover the whole way. Well, at least til we hit the sand."
"Sounds good to me," Noel said. "So long as we stay on the move, I don't think we'll have much of a problem. Unless we get an unwelcome visitor, but we can keep watch for that like we've been doing."
Rinoa quirked her lips. "Navigating the river that runs in the woods between here and Esthar might be a bit tricky, but we can cross that bridge when we get to it I suppose. Esthar seems like the most logical place to go to me as well."
Leon looked to Sora, even though he didn't expect much of an opinion from his younger brother. He was slightly surprised when he didn't find the boy obsessing over the many canned goods, but instead eyeing him with a thoughtful gaze.
"But what about Hollow B—"
"No."
The curtness of Leon's reply had everybody looking at him, aside from Noel who was politely looking down at his cans, organizing them and occasionally breaking the silence with a clink when he set one down too heavily.
Rinoa and Selphie glanced at each other, unsure of what was going on, but Sora stared at his brother resolutely, even though Leon had looked down to help Noel with the food.
"Leon, we can't just leave him—"
"Enough, Sora."
"What if he's still alive?" Sora said quietly.
Leon's face twitched as if he were trying not to raise his hackles, before he stood abruptly and strode away from the camp.
When Leon was a safe distance away, Noel sighed, not looking up from the arranging of the cans. "How many times do I have to tell you not to bring up the past, buddy?"
Sora was frowning, an almost angry look on his face. "I know he's hurting. I understand. At least, I can empathize. But he keeps forgetting that I love Cloud too. I've known him for as long as Leon. Maybe I wasn't engaged to the guy, but I lived with them since I was little. I love him too." There were tears in his eyes before he was done speaking, and he rubbed a fist at his face to keep them from falling.
Noel's lips were downturned in shared sadness as he pulled Sora into an embrace, letting the boy take comfort from him.
"I know he can be a little cold when it comes to things like that," Noel started slowly, ignoring the stares of the girls at this strange turn of events, "but you just have to remember how much stress he probably has. He's like the unofficial leader here, and everyone turns to him for everything. And we all loved Cloud, but Sora…Leon's probably haunted by the fact that he doesn't know what happened to him. And what would happen if we did go to Hollow Bastion and found him…" he trailed off, not wanting to say it out loud. "Would you want to see that?"
Sora shook his head, withdrawing from Noel's hold. "I understand. I just wish he'd talk about it."
Noel gave a sad smile. "This is something he doesn't want to share with anybody but Cloud."
Sora nodded, sniffing and occasionally wiping at his eyes as he set to work on the assorted cans. Selphie opened her mouth to ask, but she closed it again; even she though this topic too sensitive to ask about. Rinoa was frowning, staring in the direction Leon had headed off in. Worry and something else, something more ugly brewed in her eyes before she got ahold of her emotions. She sighed and glanced to her side, taken aback when she found Zell crying, a can pressed to the side of his face.
"Zell, just what is your problem?" she demanded, the whole situation getting too out of control for her liking.
"I just—I just never thought I'd be so happy to see corn," he gasped, rubbing the can against his cheek.
~o+o~
"Hey, send it over here!"
"Yeah, and then she was all, "No." I mean, what the hell man?"
"Dude, get this!"
"Make way for the General!"
It was organized chaos as usual, with the hundreds of people bustling around the commons area of the caves the colony lived in. The caves of Hollow Bastion, home to the last organized sanctuary of humans, were surprisingly normal, if you didn't count martial law and a very limited space to move about in. Cloud thought it all rather drab, though he'd never say as much out loud. He'd never liked crowds, but it was just a part of life here.
A militia grunt tried to make way for Zack and his party, of which Cloud was a part of, with little success. Zack was laughing, making a joke with one of the soldiers up near him, but the blonde just found himself sulking rather than taking part in the fun. That's how it had been since this whole mess had started, close to two years ago. He just couldn't find the energy to care about things as much as he used to.
"Hey, Sunshine!" And there was that stupid nickname again. "C'mere, I gotta talk to you." Zack was all smiles, as usual. For other people, that would just make Cloud resent them for being so happy with times such as they were, but Zack was different. He couldn't really dislike Zack, no matter what he tried.
"So how's that electro-stuff going?" he asked Cloud as soon as the blonde was beside him. They were in the passage that led toward the hangar now, and it was quiet enough to speak at a more comfortable volume.
"Uh, same as ever I guess. Why?" Cloud asked, trying to keep his suspicion at bay.
"Oh, you know…just…asking…" he trailed off, looking ahead of them at the light emanating from the hangar's open doors.
"Spit it out." Cloud wasn't in the mood.
"Oooh, blondie didn't get his nappy today did he? Okay. Well, we were talking, me and Seph, about trying to get the helicopters up and running—"
"And you want me to give them a nice jolt," Cloud finished, tone flat.
"You got it, babe. Think you'd be up to it any time soon?"
"That's up to Bahamut. Why don't you take it up with him?" Cloud asked sarcastically, sighing as they walked through the large open doors.
The caves the colony currently lived in—the ones carved deep into the mountain's belly—served as Hollow Bastion's military base before the war started nearly two years ago. The hangar was where all of the equipment was kept, and where the various militia members were tending to the ones that were damaged by the eidolons several years ago.
"Lucky the eidolons attacked here first, as heartless as that sounds," Zack commented, ignoring Cloud's reply. "Most of the tanks and helicopters survived without even a scratch. And the armory, too…"
"Yeah, too bad the entrance to the caves didn't fare as well." Cloud grimaced as he thought about the large gouges into the rock and the holes blasted into the walls farther up toward the mouths of the various cave entrances. The mechanism that controlled the shutters that closed over the mouths of the caves was blasted clean away, and that was the militia's top priority at the moment—to get that fixed and get some more security.
"Chin up, blondie. The apocalypse may have happened, but we were strong enough to survive." Zack laughed, but had he been looking at his companion he'd have paused. Cloud's eyes were hooded, and he frowned unconsciously. "Anyway, wanna give it a go? Here's one, if you wanna try." Zack turned, Cloud's face back to its regularly impassive expression.
Cloud's mouth scrunched a little as he reached out to touch the helicopter before them, and he stilled completely. An ethereal glow shimmered from beneath the back of his shirt, showing a faint, fuzzy outline of the spell carved into his body that bound him to the eidolon Bahamut. A pulse shuddered out from him, echoing for a few feet and then dissipating, causing the soldiers gathered around to gasp and mutter.
When Cloud moved again, he coughed, putting a hand to his mouth as he faltered. Zack grabbed him by the shoulder and kept him on both of his feet, looking at him with concern.
"You okay buddy? That doesn't usually take so much out of you."
"I'm fine," Cloud grunted, shrugging Zack's hands away from him. "I just haven't called on him in a while, that's all."
Zack didn't look convinced, but let it drop. He turned instead to the militia men around them and motioned to start the helicopter. When they tried, it started immediately, causing Zack to let out a cry of victory.
"Man, that electricity you have works like a charm!" he laughed, thumping Cloud on the back.
"It's not electricity; that's Quezacotl, as everyone is well aware. Bahamut is non-elemental…it's just…energy, in its purest form." By the time Cloud was done speaking, it sounded more like he was talking to himself rather than the man beside him.
"Well whatever it is, it's the stuff for sure! When you're feeling better, would you mind giving us a jumpstart, babe?"
"Yeah…and stop calling me by those stupid nicknames."
Zack gave him the smolder that had all the girls swooning. "I call 'em like I see 'em, honey buns."
Cloud rolled his eyes, his face heating up despite himself. "Whatever…" he trailed off, unable to think of a better comeback.
"Boy, we sure are lucky to have you summoners with us," Zack smirked, deciding to let his companion off the hook. "You guys are all sorts of useful."
"Yeah, all three of us. And you're lucky I was even in Hollow Bastion when the shit hit the fan. I was only here to visit Tifa."
"Yeah?" Zack perked up, keen on learning something new about Cloud. The blonde was always shut so tightly; hearing him open up a little got the elder of the two excited. "Where are you from then, if not Hollow Bastion?"
"Radiant Garden," Cloud answered softly, his eyes softening.
"Got any family?"
Cloud's jaw clenched and he turned away from Zack, crossing his arms. "Are we done here? I need to go rest."
Just as Zack was about to answer, a shout echoed throughout the large hangar, causing both of them to turn and look toward its source.
"Cloud! Hey, what are you doing?"
Tifa jogged up to them, her long, dark hair flowing beautifully in its pony tail. She smiled at Zack and looked to Cloud, holding out her hand.
"Sorry General, sir, but I require some of Commander Strife's time if you're not using him," Tifa beamed, already pulling the blonde behind her.
Zack chuckled, giving a small wave of farewell. "I'll see you tomorrow, Cloud."
Cloud nodded before letting his friend lead him out of the hangar and back into the crowded commons. From there, Tifa chose an offshoot that went towards one of the large sleeping rooms.
"Tifa, where are we going?" Cloud inquired, though he wasn't too concerned; curiosity drove him. Tifa rarely called on him while he was on duty, and when she did it was always for a good reason.
"I don't wanna spoil it. C'mon, we gotta get Aerith first; she'll kill me if I don't let her tell you too." She continued to pull her charge through tunnel after tunnel, until Cloud realized where they were going.
"She got stuck with the kids today?" Cloud smiled.
"Stuck? She loves those screaming snotbags. But she's done in like, five minutes, so let's go wait for her!"
After another minute or two of walking, they silently entered a smaller room full of children. They stood in the back, listening to Aerith's stories to keep the children occupied. She saw them walk in and smiled with a wink before turning her attention back to the children.
"Does anybody know why we're in these caves? What happened two years ago?" she asked in her quietly patient voice.
"Aerith, I know! The eidolons attacked for no good reason!" a little girl said, her hand raised high.
"Yes, that's good!" she laughed. "But those eidolons aren't the same as the ones humans can summon…like Auntie Tifa, or Cloud, or Seifer. They can summon the good eidolons."
"I thought they were all bad!" a boy shouted from somewhere in the throng of children.
"Nope. The eidolons they summon are here to help us. The summoners can talk to their eidolons, and they made sure that Ifrit and Bahamut and Odin are on our side, so don't worry.
"When the bad eidolons appeared two years ago, one that looks like Quezacotl sent out a big electric pulse that turned all the electricity off in the world. That's why none of the cars or phones or anything like that works anymore."
"Can't you just turn them back on?" a child asked.
"No, unfortunately. Whatever happened broke them permanently, and now we don't have the resources to make everything again. Not yet, anyway." Aerith smiled sadly, before putting a more upbeat tone in her voice.
"But we're getting there! Soon, we'll have everything we need to beat the bad eidolons and get back to normal life. Until then, we've all got to do our part in this colony. Every job your parents give you is important, so don't complain too much. Okay?"
The children nodded and started talking amongst themselves, giving Aerith leave to talk with her friends as her replacement walked in. She nodded a thanks and left with Cloud and Tifa.
"History today?" Cloud asked, a smirk on his face.
Aerith shrugged with a smile. "For young children, they're curiously interested in what happened. They want to know why we have to live in these stuffy caves, mostly," she laughed softly.
The three made their way towards one of the giant sleeping caverns, the girls chatting cheerfully and Cloud adding when he had something to say. When they arrived, they sat at one of the many fire pits, resting on the furs and blankets that were used as makeshift bedrolls.
"One thing I really hate is how we have no privacy. None," Tifa complained, pouting.
"I will admit that at first, sleeping in a communal room, especially one of this size, made me uneasy. I think you could fit at least two football fields in here. Probably more," Aerith commented, craning her neck to look all around.
"It's better than nothing," Cloud muttered softly. The girls nodded, unable to argue. "Anyway, what's this news you have for me? I find it unlikely you found something out before I did—you know, being Zack's second in command and all."
"We overheard this from the Silver General himself," Aerith smirked, leaning forward.
"Yeah, he asked Zack to keep it quiet til they saw if they could get the aircraft working," Tifa added, moving to rest her elbows on the ground as she laid down on her stomach.
"And just how did you manage to eavesdrop on Sephiroth without him noticing?"
"Well, we were looking for Zack…"Aeirth started.
"And we found him, and…" the other girl added, rolling her eyes to the ceiling.
Cloud rolled his eyes, a good-natured sigh on his lips. "Tifa, I have no idea how you were chosen by Ifrit. Aerith…I can't insult you. Never mind."
"Hey!" Tifa exclaimed, raising herself onto her hands. "I resent that."
"Kidding, kidding…now unless you actually have something to tell me, I'm going to find somewhere to recover."
Tifa cocked her head. "I felt the pulse you sent out earlier. Were you trying to wake something up?"
"Yeah, the helicopter. It worked, so I'm going to be working on those for a while."
Tifa stuck her tongue out. "It's so awesome you can charge things like that. All Ifrit lets me do is burn stuff." When Cloud gave her a look, she laughed. "Okay, okay…well, we heard that the militia might be going out on search and rescue missions!"
Cloud blinked. "Like…going out to see if anyone's still alive? That seems kind of…pointless."
"No, no, cause there are people out there!" Aerith started, but Tifa shushed her quickly.
"Shut up, we'll be in big trouble if this gets out!" After an exasperated look at her friend, Tifa looked back to Cloud. "Yeah, you know Odine brand? They're starting to reproduce some of the things we had before. I think they're even trying to get communications to be easier, instead of the stone-aged ways we have now. I think they'll have radios back before long," she whispered excitedly.
"I know they've been working on that, but…this just seems a bit far-fetched. It's too soon; all of our resources have been spent on getting the doors to the entrances fixed or on defense," Cloud murmured, brow creasing thoughtfully. He looked up as Tifa opened her mouth, but raised a hand to cut her off. "It's not impossible, just improbable. I can't see Sephiroth agreeing to putting out manpower that might be killed out there by a stray eidolon. Anyway, I'm falling asleep here…" he trailed off with a yawn, raising a hand to his mouth. "I'm gonna find a quiet corner and turn in for now."
Tifa and Aerith were both frowning, but didn't object when the blonde stood and walked away from them.
~o+o~
A/N: I know what my past readers are thinking: ANOTHER STORY WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU WOMAN. Unfortunately, this story has been bouncing around the inside of my skull for so long that it's drowned every other idea out for now. xD
Anyway have some Cleon. There's been a sore lacking of it recently. :D