Probably a little off since I don't yet know everything there is to know about Crisis Core (curses... XP), but ah well. The cutscenes/cg sequences have hit me really hard, and I needed to write something. Dedicated to BelleDragon.
Disclaimer: dood, fanfiction. Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, and the characters and universes therein are the property of Disney and Square Enix. I receive no remuneration for this work; it is a parody and as such utilizes the Fair Use clause of the Copyright Act.
"I'll take care of you."
Cloud clutched his pillow to his chest and curled his body around it, forsaking the relative warmth of the bed in favor of the hard, worn planks of wood composing the floor in his room. He choked in a breath, holding the pillow tighter and burying his face into the soft fabric to muffle the quiet, despairing sounds he was unable to contain any longer.
He remembered bits and pieces of things now. The past few months he'd spent countless hours staring wide-eyed at the ceiling when he should have been fast asleep, reliving more and more fragments of his time with him...with Zack...playing them over and over in his mind.
"We're friends...right?"
He remembered Zack's little quirky smile, and the way his eyebrows would sometimes lift just slightly and soften his expression into something earnest, almost playful...a look Cloud imagined was reserved only for him.
He remembered that face—those eyes—very well.
He remembered parts of the ride they'd hitched in the back of that pickup truck, heading to Midgar. Zack's unwavering spirit and determination had always been comforting to Cloud, even through his mako-poisoned, motion-sick haze.
"My pride and dreams..."
He remembered that day now. Every moment of that day. Every day.
Cloud slowly rose with the first rays of sunlight filtering through the faded curtains, heaving an unsteady sigh as he replaced the misshapen pillow on the head of the bed and straightened the sheets a little. He rolled his stiff shoulders, settling one hand on his hip and moving his weary gaze to the brightest corner of the room, where the Buster sword lay propped against the wall. He walked up to it and touched the hilt gently, reverently. He closed his eyes.
"...I'm giving them all to you."