Author's Note: Hi guys! Hope everyone's having a good weekend so far! Since you're here, I hope that means you're in the mood for some soapy drama, romance, and above all, YAOI! A few things I'd like to say before you begin; if you're here from the old fanfic, Plowed, then you already know what's going on. For new readers, please note that this is a semi-reboot, semi-sequel to another fanfic of mine. It continues where the old one leaves off, but I've made it so that you don't have to read the other fanfic (which was a bit of a drag, even to me!). There will be references to things that happened in the past that will be explained so even if you haven't read Plowed it should (hopefully) make sense.

As in the description, the main pair is Cloud/Squall; Riku/Sora and Axel/Roxas coming into focus as the story progresses. There is also past Zack/Cloud, past Irvine/Squall, and past Sephiroth/Cloud (which will become important later on). There are others but you'll just have to read to find out! Terra will eventually make an appearance as well C: What can I say? I love the brunet bishies!

Now without further ado... enjoy!

"So what made you come back?"

Seifer's voice...

"Nothin'. Do I need a reason to hang out with you?"

And mine...

"Well, yeah, considering you don't seem very fond of me... Other than..."

He's right... we've made out, and I like it... but I don't like him...

"I was just... bored."

Lying through my teeth. I was more like... pissed off...

"Wanna do something fun? ...Relax, blondie. It won't involve vandalizing the losers' houses this time."

Something... fun?

Shifting the weight of his daughter to free up one arm, Squall impatiently knocked at Zack's apartment door. The well-being of his son and whereabouts of his fiance were the brunet's only concern at the moment. He could care less about feigning camaraderie towards Cloud's ex-boyfriend.

"Where's Denzel?" Squall demanded as soon as the door opened.

"Well hello to you too," Zack greeted back in annoyance. Finding himself at the receiving end of an icy glare, he let out a defeated sigh, stepping aside to allow Squall into his apartment. "Your kid's asleep in the guest room," he directed.

"How is he? Is he alright?"

"He's perfectly fine, Squall. I think I'm pretty capable of handling one little kid."

Upon entering Zack's living room, for the tiniest fraction of a moment, Squall let the initial reason why he'd come to Zack's apartment slip his mind. The fact that there was another visitor in the room took him by surprise.

Or perhaps more-so, it was the fact that he recognized who the visitor was.

"Lea?" He could hardly believe it, but there he was, as fiery red-headed as he remembered him, sitting casually on Zack's sofa.

"Right... Forgot to mention it when you phoned me; I have another guest over," Zack pointed out, too late for it to matter now.

"It's Axel, by the way," the red-head corrected, annoyance clear in his tone. He crossed his legs, staying put in his seat. "Not that you would know that, Leon."

Squall eyed him curiously, almost instantly figuring out where the redhead's apparent annoyance stemmed from; it was almost like his fateful reunion with Cloud all over again. He sensed a similar type of resentment from Axel, perhaps not at the same level as Cloud's– he had only been friends with Lea, after all– but when Squall disappeared without so much as a word, it had been a slap in the face to the redhead all the same.

"Axel..." Squall repeated, testing out the name. "Of course..." He trailed off, vaguely recalling that detail being brought up by Irvine some time ago. "You changed your name."

"Yeah... But never mind that now... I hear that was your kid I met earlier," Axel said, setting aside the bitter feelings. There was no point in holding on to them now, he thought. He had already established that he couldn't really hold it against Squall for abandoning their friendship. "Cloud's kid," he added briefly.

"Yeah... That's... that's our Denzel..."

"Call me crazy, but, uh... that little girl in your arms couldn't be Cloud's too, could she? She doesn't look a thing like him."

Cissnei had been gawking at the unfamiliar, bright-haired man from her father's arms. Now that his attention was on her, the eleven-month-old buried her face shyly into the crook of her father's neck.

"No, you're right. She's not. Cissnei is... She's..." Squall was hesitant to admit it. "She's Irvine's."

'So... she's the one he was talking about...' Axel thought to himself, referring to one of his friends. He chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief. "Of all people... Never thought you'd be the first to end up saddled with kids. Zack maybe, but not you..."

"Hey, I'm right here!" Zack let out, never one to keep silent when being teased.

Squall let out a nervous chuckle, although he was glad Axel didn't question the matter further. "I know, I never thought of myself as the type either... but... I guess you just never really know until it happens..."

"Guess not," Axel agreed in retrospect.

The whole encounter was becoming very uncomfortably awkward for Squall; seeing his old high school friend in the midst of what could possibly be the end of his relationship with his son's father. He needed to get out of it as quickly and discreetly as possible.

"Axel... it's great that we got to see each other again and all, but... why don't we catch up some other time? I really need to get Denzel and Cissnei back home."

"Sure, you do whatever you need to do, don't get held up on my account... But you better mean it about keeping in touch, alright? Zell and Reno'll be pretty stoked to hear from you again."

"Yeah, of course..."

With that, Squall headed over to the guest room, Zack following close behind.

"Are you gonna tell me what's going on?" Zack asked as they reached the bedrooms.

Squall frowned, reverting back to his earlier mood. "There's nothing to tell..." he said, gently pushing open the door to the room where his son was asleep.

"Bullshit, Squall. I know something's up," Zack whispered, following Squall into the dimly lit room. "Cloud... Where is he? He came here looking like a zombie... he barely said a word to me."

Squall completely ignored Zack, striding over to Denzel's bedside. He checked the little boy's forehead for any signs of a fever.

Cissnei cocked her head to the side looking down at her brother. "Den-den?"

Squall let out a small sigh of relief. "He's fine now, Cissy. I wish I didn't have to wake him up, but... we have to get going."

"He doesn't have to go... he can stay here. I'll take care of him. His father brought him over here for a reason and I'm sure as hell he's not gonna be happy if he comes back here and finds that his little boy's gone."

Squall stood his ground, not listening to anything the raven-haired man had to say. "Denzel..."

"Daddy?" Denzel murmured softly as he came back into consciousness.

"Let's get you home."

"Figures no one would be home. Not even Roxas..." Sora shook his head at the empty house. As he climbed up to his room to call it a night, he wasn't sure who he was more disappointed with tonight; his family, or his so-called best friend. Either way, it hurt to feel like he'd been dismissed from the lives of the people he loved most.

"Your sister asleep, Denz?" Squall surveyed his children through the rear-view mirror of his car as he drove towards the city's highway.

"Yeah..." the little boy replied with a sigh of boredom.

"You okay? I know it's been... kind of a crazy day... Are you hungry? There's a convenience store up ahead. How about a snack for the ride home?" Squall was taking every precaution to avoid bringing up the subject of the boy's father. He didn't know where to begin explaining things to Denzel.

Denzel took a moment to think it over. "Okay. Can I have chocolate milk and cookies?"

Somehow, hearing Denzel's cheerful request only served to deepen Squall's guilt. His heart sank knowing it was only a matter of time before his son would realize his father was gone.

"Coming right up."

Something... fun..?

The heat was stifling, but Roxas would allow himself to bear it for a little while longer. He needed to understand.

The more Roxas thought about it, details in the fragmented memories of his dream, or nightmare, as it seemed, were becoming clearer. The crack in the wall was paralleled from one he saw in his everyday life, subconsciously creating the one in his dream. He remembered the real one led to a playground, not to a forest or an abandoned mansion.

The events of his dream, however, where plenty more difficult to discern from reality.

Seifer had definitely suggested they go 'have fun' elsewhere last night. It was last night, Roxas knew, because it was just before daybreak now. And that elsewhere was right here, in the older boy's own bedroom.

'That's right,' Roxas thought. 'Last night... we came here. I remember being pissed off at Squall... He hurt my brother. He cheated on him... And Seifer was... surprisingly comforting... In his own way. He offered me some pot to blow off steam...'

Roxas sighed, disappointed in himself. "Some good that did," he said to himself out loud, rolling his eyes. 'I must have ended up smoking the entire thing, if not more... I can still feel it in my system... But what's worse is that... I lost control of myself...'

Now Roxas was totally aware of what had landed him in his current position, what that obscure nightmare was really about.

'I let it go too far...'

Seifer's larger body emitted so much warmth, being cramped in a twin sized bed with the smaller blonde. Roxas knew just how far they'd gone, but he didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to think about how he still felt Seifer's bodily fluids slipping against his sore inner flesh, how even his own felt disgusting slathered on his skin.

'He didn't force me into anything...' Roxas shook his head, beginning to move stealthily out of bed so as to not awaken his bedmate. 'No. Not at all. I practically begged him to touch me. I wanted him to do it... I wanted to know what it felt like...'

"Zack..?"

"Sorry man... I really wish I was that person for you."

Cloud shot up, fully awake now, immediately regretting it after doing so. His head throbbed, heart beating so fast it hurt. He looked around the unfamiliar surrounding.

"Where... where the hell am I?" he asked himself, a second later acknowledging the stranger sitting in front of him.

Their eyes clicked.

"You... obviously don't remember anything from last night. I should reintroduce myself, now that you're aware... more or less. My name's Firion. You're in my apartment."

Cloud heard what the man said, but none of it had honestly registered. He slowly laid his head back down on the throw pillow of the sofa he was on, covering his face with his palms. This had to be a dream.

"I made some coffee for you if you want it... It's supposed to help. I know there's no real remedy for a hangover, but it's the only thing I could come up with."

It all felt like a hallucination to the blonde. This man in front of him couldn't be real. He uncovered one eye to look at him. Why did the lights have to be so bright?

Firion was sitting on the coffee table of his living room, holding out a mug for Cloud to take.

Cloud uncovered his other eye, then brought himself up to a sitting position. He accepted the beverage that was offered to him with a confused look on his face, trying to figure out how he'd ended up here in the first place. Cloud studied the man before him as if he was looking at a map of an area he'd never been to before.

Firion was a young, stalwart man, with a gentle face and friendly eyes; his characteristics were reminiscent of someone very familiar to the blonde.

"I'm sorry," Cloud started, amazed that he'd found his voice again, however rough it sounded. "Who are you?"

"Firion... You, uh, you were calling me Zack all night... before you passed out I mean. I take it... he's someone special to you..." Firion took something out of the breast pocket of his button up shirt. "I think this belongs to you," he said, holding out a small object.

Cloud eyed the glimmering object being held delicately between the stranger's fingertips, realization dawning on him as he got a better look at it. "That's... my engagement ring."

"Oh, is that it? ...Zack's you're fiance?"

"No. No, that's not it."

Before Cloud could halt it, his recollection was being flooded by the events of the previous day. His headache seemed to increase tenfold at that point.

"...Sorry, I'm... I'm not myself right now. I haven't even told you my name. I'm Cloud... if it means anything to you... I'm not some... crazy alcoholic, I swear... Last night was just... difficult."

"That's alright, Cloud. I understand..." Firion stood up, leaving the ring on the table for Cloud's taking. "I know how things can get... out of hand sometimes..."

Cloud kept a steady gaze on the man as he paced over to his kitchenette.

"Before you left the bar yesterday, you tipped the bartender with your ring... He came over to the table where I was sitting with my friends and told us about it... Started joking about how much he could get for it if he conned an amateur moogle... But after he got a few laughs out of us, he said he couldn't bring himself to keep it. He was the only one tending the bar, and I was the only one of my friends who wasn't drinking, so he asked me to return it to you. Then, when I found you..." Firion seemed to get nervous at this point. He swallowed before continuing. "You were... getting on your bike..."

"I... tried to ride...?" The severity of the danger Cloud had put himself in was beginning to sink in. He never thought he would ever drink himself to a point where he could no longer rely on his own judgment.

"I just... wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I'd have let you ride that bike."

"Thank you... Firion. I know I must sound really stupid right now. I mean... you... literally saved my life, and... that's all I can say... I'm so sorry. You really shouldn't have troubled yourself over it... but, I'm grateful that you did."

"Cloud... I know everyone hits a rough patch at some point in their life. Some people just deal with it better than others."

The urge to urinate awoke Sora earlier than usual. He was mumbling to himself on his way to the bathroom how he hated waking up just to pee, especially on a day he didn't have to get up for school, when the bathroom door suddenly swung open, barely a second before he reached it.

Sora let out a small cry of surprise.

"Shhh! Damn it, Sora!" Roxas came out of the bathroom apparently having just showered.

"Why were the lights off?! I didn't think anyone was in there."

"I just turned them off, genius. Gods, keep your voice down, it's too early to listen to your whining."

"What's the matter with you? Why are you showering at six in the morning on a Saturday? Where were you last night? Actually, where was everybody last night?"

"Like I know... Why don't you ask Squall?" Roxas spat out the name full of contempt. It didn't suit a boy his age, much less his personality. "I'm sure he'll be happy to explain away the mess he started. I'd love to hear the lies and excuses he uses on you."

"What're you talking about?"

"Figure it out yourself. I'm going to bed."

Sora watched his brother brush passed him, his need to pee seeming less urgent. "You," Sora started, before his brother cut him off by shutting his bedroom door, "just got up..." he finished softly.

Roxas had made a complete one-eighty from when Sora saw him last, and his hateful feelings towards Squall unnerved him.

'What was that all about?'

After only a short while, Sora gave up his attempt for a few more hours of sleep. His run-in with his younger brother that morning left him with the impression that his family's preoccupations last night were more serious than he initially believed. This way at least, it would be easier to forgive them for forgetting about his school performance.

Nevertheless, Sora had to wonder if his younger brother wasn't blowing things out of proportion; it was no secret how Roxas's attitude had changed towards their brother's fiance after finding out about his past.

'But... say Roxas does have a legitimate reason to be mad at Squall?' Sora thought.

Since things had come out into the open the year prior, Squall hadn't given the Strife boys a reason to judge him by his seedy history. Roxas had even regained some respect for Squall; this was definitely unusual.

Sora couldn't wait for the answers to come to him, deciding on taking his younger brother's advice to go to the source directly. He looked over at his clock, the glowing digits signaling it was almost time for Squall and Cloud to get up and start their day.

Once out of bed, Sora crept over to the master bedroom, surprised to see the door was slightly ajar. He took the liberty of peeking in, surveying the room. Its usual occupants were absent, and it looked like they had been so for the entire night. The bed was still neatly made, as it was Cloud's habit to do so every morning.

Becoming more curious, Sora went inside the room, looking into the adjacent nursery where his step-niece was still sound asleep.

"Weird..." he whispered to himself. 'Cissy's usually up at the crack of dawn.'

Sora checked up on his nephew next, finding him looking just as peaceful as Cissnei.

It was a relief to Sora knowing that his niece and nephew had been brought home since last night, but it still left him wondering why Squall and Cloud wouldn't be there as well.

Sora couldn't give up the possibility that they were perhaps somewhere else in the house.

As he stepped, at last, into the living room, the radiant morning sun filtering in through the window caught the brunet boy's attention. Looking at the shining orb over the town's raised rail system, it gave the impression that it was going to be a beautiful end of summer day. After a moment's gaze, Sora looked back down at the curb, noticing Squall's car parked in its usual spot, but not a sign of Cloud's gleaming motorcycle within view.

Then, out of the corner of his vision, a figure appeared sitting on their front doorstep. Sora immediately went over to investigate.

The hinges squeaked as the brunet boy opened the front door, startling the culprit out of his apparent daze.

"Squall! Hey... What're you," Sora paused as he looked down at the cement step,"...doing?" he finished, although, judging by the heap of ash and extinguished cigarettes, the question had already been answered. Now the question was, why?

Squall looked back at the teen, a half-consumed cigarette between his fingers. "Unbelievable... isn't it?" The words came out in a sting of self-reproach.

Sora frowned at him in confusion.

Squall's gaze dismissed itself from the boy, fixing itself at a point in the distance. "I haven't had a single smoke in as many years as Denzel's been alive... Six years..." Squall put the cigarette in his lips for drag. "Fucking unbelievable..."

"Are you... okay?" Sora brushed away the pile of ash and cigarette butts with his bare foot, taking a seat next to the older brunet.

"I stopped at a convenience store to get Denzel a snack... But I... I couldn't fight the urge... Not after everything..."

"After everything? What exactly is everything?" Sora's eyes sought to make contact with Squall's. He was concerned; the older brunet's level of distress was highly unusual. "What happened? And... where's Cloud?"

Squall's eyes finally met the teen's. "Sora... I don't know if... your brother can forgive me..."

Sora's eyes widened, but his expression softened almost immediately. He allowed Squall to elaborate.

"Denzel woke up sick yesterday... He had a fever, chills... He was coughing and sneezing. It looked like.. he'd be out for few days. And you know Cissnei just got over a cold.. a bad one. So I told Cloud I would take her to stay at Irvine's for a few of days until Denzel got better. I didn't want her getting sick again. For whatever reason, Cloud wasn't thrilled about it, I mean, he even argued against it for a minute... but I didn't think it was that big a deal, Irvine was due his time soon anyway. So I took Cissnei and left. He was supposed to stay behind to look after Denzel until I came back... but... apparently, he decided to follow me to Traverse Town."

"He left Denzel alone? He'd never–" Sora thought this sounded very unlike his older brother.

"He did, Sora. It didn't help that Irvine was just..." Squall scoffed, rolling his eyes, remembering how immaturely the auburn haired man had acted. And how stupid he'd been to play right into Irvine's game. "Sora... Irvine kissed me... and I didn't do anything to stop him," the brunet admitted at last.

Sora stood up silently, making a sharp about-face, ready to head back inside the house.

Squall caught the teen's arm before he could take another step, "Wait. Hear me out, Sora... Please."

Sora contemplated it for a moment, remembering what his younger brother had said. He decided he needed to hear it for himself, staying put and giving the older brunet a chance to explain himself.

"You need to understand... It.. it wasn't intentional. I didn't go out of my way, lying, or making excuses to go all the way to Traverse town and fool around with my ex. He kissed me out of a misunderstanding, and I... I just lost myself in the moment. It was as simple as that. But Cloud... He didn't have to react the way that he did. I was just about to break the kiss when he came up behind Irvine and took a swing at his head with his sword."

Hearing that, Sora's demeanor changed immediately. "What?! Was he okay?" It was incredible to think of his brother behaving in such a violent manner towards another person.

"It knocked him unconscious for minute but... he's fine now. He has a mild concussion... I'm not worried about him anymore. It's Cloud I'm worried about. He ran off to who knows where... All I know is that he came back here to get Denzel, then went to Hollow Bastion and dropped him off at Zack's place."

Sora sat back down, reflecting on everything he'd just been told. He tried to sort out his feelings on the matter; he wasn't angry at Squall like his younger brother was. Or, perhaps he just felt like he should be angrier. He needed to be sure of one thing first.

"Squall..." Sora piped up, after a good long minute. "Do you think Cloud's alright?"

"He has to be Sora... If he isn't..." Squall shut his eyes, the emotion becoming too difficult to contain.

"Look, I have to repay you somehow... If you won't take money, just... let me know whenever you need a favor, anything at all–"

"Come on, Cloud. You're making this more awkward for me than it already is... Honestly... I didn't save you're butt so you'd give me something in return. I did it because, it was the right thing to do."

"Alright... I understand. If only there were more people like you in the world, right?"

Firion let out a small laugh. "Right."

"Here's my number anyway, just in case you change your mind." Cloud was feeling more like himself and less hungover after coffee and breakfast with his new acquaintance.

"Thanks. Well... maybe after the trouble you've given me over it, I will take you up on the offer."

Cloud showed his amusement with a small smile. He felt almost nostalgic, as if this man had been a friend he'd lost touch with a long time ago.

Firion arrived at the spot where the gleaming motorcycle was still stationed. "Is this the one?"

"Yeah... You've got a good memory. Thanks again, Firion... I really appreciate everything you did for me. No, more than that, I'm... really grateful," Cloud said before opening the car door.

"Hey, Cloud... I don't know exactly what went down with you and your fiance... but if you were willing to throw away your engagement... and subsequently your marriage over it... I'm assuming it must have been too terrible a betrayal on their part. Just remember... forgiveness goes a long way... especially for the injured party..."

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you." Cloud stepped out of Firion's car, jumping right onto his Fenrir.

Firion finally parted ways with the blonde, feeling only the joy and fulfillment that came along with helping someone.

As Cloud rode off to an unknown destination, he pondered over Firion's advice, thinking it had been pure and heartfelt, albeit very naïve.

Perhaps it was too soon to think about forgiveness and how it might help "heal" him. Right now, all Cloud wanted was to make Squall regret ever having fallen for Irvine.

"Where's dad?"

It was the question Squall had been dreading to hear. He knew it was only a matter of time, and it came no later than breakfast time. He had thought of a million ways to explain what had happened to his six-year-old son, but when the time came he opted for the easy route.

"Remember how he dropped you off at his friend's place yesterday?"

Denzel nodded.

"Well, he got called for a job out of town while I was... at Irvine's. He told me he might be away the whole weekend so he's staying at a hotel." Squall wished at least half of that had been true.

"Oh... but I didn't even get to tell him goodbye or give him a hug and kiss. I was really sleepy yesterday 'cause of the cold medicine. Why didn't he tell me he was leaving? Daddy, I miss him."

"I know, Denz... it was all just very short notice. But, he'll be back before we know it, okay?"

All the while, Sora sat by, listening as Squall deliberately lied to his son. With no sign of his older brother, Sora was becoming hard pressed to keep his neutrality towards the situation.

Not much progress has been made from where I left off... but I hope I'm off to a good start! Tell me what you think... See you next time :)