Title: Broken Promises, Shattered Dreams

Author: Kursed SeeD

Warnings: Angst, Yaoi, maybe some fluff... somewhere.

Pairings: Leon/Cloud, Squall/Seifer (Only in Leon's memory.)

Notes: Yeah, yeah. It's just what the summary says. 'Times passes and hope wears thin. What happens when Leon takes comfort in another?' If this story does not go *entirely* with the storyline, please forgive me. Just pretend it's sort of an AU and leave it at that.

Disclaimer: Yeah, right... like I own Kingdom Hearts...

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Memories

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It had been three years since he had last seen his love. Three years spent crying in darkened spaces, wanting desperately through seemingly endless nights and hoping against hope that he'd see him again one day.

After three years, hope begins to wear out.

The man, once called Squall Leonhart, had come to a bitter conclusion a couple of months ago. A conclusion that he had tried to ignore, but always came bubbling back up to the surface when he dreaded it the most. A conclusion he could no longer ignore.

Seifer was gone.

That was a thought that tore him in two. He didn't want to think that he'd never see the man he loved again. He wanted to continue to hope and pray that he'd come back... but it was just too draining... Three years was long enough.

"Leon?" A soft voice interrupted his thoughts.

He turned towards the younger man.

"What are you doing? It's getting pretty late and it's cold out here..."

Leon scoffed at Cloud. He was Shiva's bitch, he could handle a little cold weather. It surely wouldn't kill him.

"Mind if I join you?"

Leon shrugged in response, which the blonde took as a 'yes'.

Cloud leaned against the railing, looking out at the sky. "So... what are you thinking about?" He asked after a moment, not really expecting an answer.

"Just... things."

Cloud almost rolled his eyes at Leon's response. So predictable. "What things?"

Leon jerked away from the balcony and shot the younger man a cold glare. "None of your business."

Cloud watched silently as the brunette walked away, retreating back into his little shell. Like he had always done. Like he would always do.

He sighed to himself and watched as some birds flew by. Sometimes he was envious of them. If life got hard, they could simply fly south, where only warmth and sunshine awaited them.

'What a foolish thought...' He rested his head on the railing. 'I bet if Leon could hear me he'd probably just snicker.'

Leon. That man was more of a mystery than even Cloud himself. Sure, Cloud was a private person, but within reason. There were a few people he spoke openly with, like Aeris and Cid. But Leon, on the other hand, acted like opening up to anyone would mean the end of the world.

Cloud could imagine what Leon's list of deadly sins looked like. 'Talking to people', 'Sharing' and 'Being nice' certainly had to be on the list. Along with 'Trusting people', 'Complaining' and 'Saying more than a paragraph a day'.

It was frustrating to Cloud. He knew something was hurting Leon, that he had lost someone or something very important to him when the Heartless had invaded, but Leon wouldn't open up to him, despite Clouds' countless attempts.

He sighed again. He didn't know why he felt such a strong need to comfort the older man, but he did. And Cloud had never been one to doubt his emotions. A feeling that strong required no questions. He was resolved to help Leon... no matter how long it took, or how far he had to go...

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Leon bit his lip and curled up into a ball. All he wanted to do was sleep, but he couldn't. Bits and pieces of his past life kept washing over him. They were both annoying and painful, like unwanted house guests.

"Hey, princess! Whatcha say me and you get a bite together down at D'Lengos later on?"

D'Lengos had been there 'special spot'. They often went to dinner there, just to get away from all the hustle and bustle of everyday life. It gave them a chance to be alone with each other, to spend some quality time together.

Leon remembered that Seifer had found out about the place much by accident.

"Well, puberty boy, you're never gonna guess what happened. Me, Quisty and Chickie were out looking for that damn cave we were supposed to find around Timber and guess what we ran across? This nice little restaurant. I think you'd like it. It's quiet and peaceful... isn't that your kinda thing? Anyways, we should go sometime. Whatta ya say?"

He felt a sudden chill, which was kind of ironic, since he had thought earlier how impossible it was for him to be cold. Leon drew the blankets around him as more memories washed over him.

"Look, we need to stop pretending that there's something special between us, because I know there's not. I've known that for a while now, I guess I just didn't want to believe it. Just... go to him and be happy, okay Squall? If not for yourself, then do it for me. I want to see you smile again and I know he can make you do that. Now go."

Rinoa's words to him seemed like a lifetime ago. He and Rinoa had supposedly been the 'perfect' couple. After a while, though, both of them had realised it was only a sham. The only thing they had between the two of them was a friendship, and a fragile one at that. Leon remembered how surprised he had been that night, both at Rinoa's perception and his own sudden realisation. Afterwards, he had felt almost foolish. How could he have loved Seifer almost his entire life and not realise it?

"Wow... where'd that come from? Oh hey, wait... don't turn away from me. I'm just really surprised, that's all. Don't give me that look, it's not a bad thing, 'coz... well... you see... I... uh... that is... I... kinda feel the same way... about you..."

There was a ghost of a smile upon Leon's lips as he remembered Seifer's reaction to his sudden declaration of love. Leon had been nervous beyond belief and just sort of blurted out "I love you." He had mistaken Seifer's look of shock for one of disgust and had turned to leave, but was euphoric when Seifer had stopped him with a revelation of his own.

Everything after that was just history. Of course, there had been everyone's reactions when they had found out about the pair.

Leon could have almost laughed at their reactions, every last one of them so damn predictable.

Zell had been shocked. "Wha? You and Seifer? I never knew, man! Congrats or something, I guess?"

Of course, Quistis had claimed she knew it all along. "I knew there was a special something between the two of you. The way you fought, interacted... I'm glad I know for sure now."

Selphie had jumped up and down like a child overdosing on candy. "Booyaka! I knew they didn't come any gayer than you two!"

Irvine had offered a sly wink. "So, is he as good in bed as I hear?"

Leon supposed that Rinoa's reaction had been the most comforting of them all. She had hugged him and held him close, whispering in his ear. "I'm so glad that you did that, Squall. You'll finally be happy now, and so will I."

Leon frowned in annoyance as he heard something wet splash against his pillow. He hadn't meant to start crying. He didn't want to cry. He didn't want to remember.

However, he knew it was useless to try to fight the oncoming rain of tears. It happened every time he got lost in his memories. It made everyone seem so close to him, almost close enough to touch them. The pain of realising he was the only one left couldn't even begin to be described.

He buried his head in the pillow as the sobs wracked through his body. 'Why... why did this have to happen? Why did you have to leave me, Seifer? You promised you'd never leave me...'

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Cloud sat up in his bed instantly. He could have sworn he heard someone crying. He strained to hear. Yes. It was definitely someone crying. But who?

Without a second thought, Cloud stood up and padded barefoot out into the hall. He paused for a moment, listening closely, and began to follow the noise.

He stopped when he reached Leon's door. When he pressed his ear against the cold wood he knew for sure. It was Leon crying. But why?

Cautiously, Cloud knocked on the door. "Hey, Leon? You alright in there?"

No one responded, so Cloud knocked again, this time harder. "Are you okay?"

After a few moments a muffled reply came. "I'm fine. Go away."

"But I-"

"I said go away."

Cloud's shoulders sagged in defeat. Of course Leon didn't want his help. Leon didn't want anyone's help.

"Fine, fine." He muttered, making his way back to his room.

Later on, in the safety of his own bed, he once again began to wonder. What had made Leon, the 'cold unfeeling bastard' cry? Was it that loss of someone or something that Cloud had thought it was? Or something entirely different? And what would he have to do to be able to help Leon, like he so longed to do?

Cloud sighed to himself. So many questions... and he didn't have a single answer for any of them.

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Author's Notes: Will Leon ever be happy? Will Cloud figure out what's wrong with the mysterious brunette? What happened to Seifer? And the most important question of them all... Will there be any Riku/Sora action?! (Okay, this is *me* we're talking about here... somewhere or another, there's *bound* to be some Riku/Sora action.) Anyway... to continue or not to continue? I'll leave that up to you.

-- Thanks to Zencreation for beta-reading this for me and giving me the name of this fic! Love ya, hon! --