I wrote this as a thank you for ArcaneDesires on YGallery.

I only own the story, not the characters. Reviews would be really awesome, guys.

Stormy Reflection

The windows rattled in their frames as another rumble of thunder and a strong gust of wind worked simultaneously to shake the walls. It had been storming for a good hour now and there was no sign of it letting up any time soon. The lights flickered occasionally and it seemed highly likely that the power would go completely out at some point during the night.

Zack Fair entered the main room of the large bungalow he, Leon, Cloud and Riku had been sharing for the past three days. There were still four days of their little vacation and he really hoped this hurricane would not last that long. "When did they say this thing was going to be past us?"

Leon did not look up from where he was arranging candles. "The worst of it should pass in the next twenty-four hours."

"Good." The raven-haired man walked up behind his lover and slipped his arms around Leon's waist. He idly began placing kisses along the shorter man's neck. "Cause as much as the idea of being holed up indoors with you for several hours is a turn on, I'll start going stir-crazy really fast."

Leon made a faint noise, moving his head to allow Zack better access. "I don't care for being cooped up for extended periods of time either."

"Unless you're working," Zack muttered against his skin. "Then I can't pry you away."

"Humph."

Zack ran his tongue up to Leon's earlobe. He lingered there, lapping lightly at it and smiling at the faint noises that the other man made. Leon was not very vocal when it came to sex but somehow those quiet moans, gasps and groans were infinitely more of a turn on than any other sound could be.

"Have either of you seen Riku?"

Zack pulled minutely away from Leon and turned his neck just enough to glance at Cloud. The blond was walking across the main room from the married couple's bedroom toward the kitchen, brow furrowed with concern. "Not since this morning."

"Great." Cloud poked his head into the kitchen and quickly ducked back out. "Where the hell did you go, Riku?"

Leon broke out of Zack's embrace, frowning at his best friend. "I thought the two of you were taking a nap?"

"We were." Cloud took his phone from his pocket and pressed some keys. "When I woke up, he wasn't there."

The other two waited for him to finish his call attempt. It seemed very strange that Riku had disappeared like that. Over these past few days, the youngest of all of them had given no indication that anything was wrong.

No sooner had he hit the send key then they heard the customized ringtone Riku used for Cloud coming from the bedroom. The blond quietly cursed and closed his phone. "And he left his phone. Wonderful."

"All right, stay calm, Cloud." Leon advised. "I'm sure he just stepped out for a minute. You know how we all need a few minutes to ourselves every once in awhile."

"Yeah," agreed Zack. "Or maybe he ran out to the store to get some supplies. Riku's probably been in more hurricanes than all of us combined."

"Maybe." Cloud still looked extremely uneasy.

"Why don't we go downstairs and see if anyone saw him leave?" Leon suggested. He knew that Cloud would only grow more anxious the longer he didn't know where his husband was. The couple was very good about respecting each other's privacy but they had an arrangement that there would always be some sort of note if one was going to disappear for awhile. "It's probably a good idea to get an update on the weather anyway."

Nodding, Cloud headed toward the door. Zack caught Leon's eye for a moment and they quietly followed their friend out of the suites. The power was still occasionally dimming so they walked down the three flights of stairs to the main lobby of the building.

Several of the resort's other guests were milling about the seating area across the front desk and the bar behind it. The TVs were all giving weather reports and it looked like the main part of the storm was close to making landfall. Since it was not a very large hurricane, an evacuation had not been ordered but all of the windows had been boarded up and the staff had been placing sandbags along the beach-side of the property.

"Mr. Leonhart."

Leon and Zack turned toward the woman who had spoken but Cloud continued his search of the small crowd. The hotel's director of operations walked up to them with a grateful smile. Yesterday, he and the others had volunteered to help with the sandbagging for a few hours.

"Thank you again for all the help yesterday. It really made the whole process a lot easier."

"You're welcome." Leon returned easily.

"Hey," Zack called for the woman's attention. "You haven't seen Riku today, have you?"

"Riku… Oh, silver hair, right?"

"Yeah."

"He came down here about an hour ago. Our restaurant manager spoke to him for a few minutes and then I think he went toward the western veranda."

The western veranda? That was on the ocean front side of the hotel. Leon glanced back at Cloud who was already heading in that direction.

"Thanks, Kelly." Zack winked at the hotel manager. He had been flirting shamelessly with her since they arrived. Leon merely rolled his eyes at it, knowing that saying anything would not accomplish anything.

The couple followed after Cloud, Zack flicking his gaze at his lover. "You really hate me doing that, don't you?"

"You're a natural flirt." The sable-haired man replied simply. "I'm not going to try to change who you are."

"Good." The ex-SOLDIER laced his fingers with Leon's. "You know who's bed I'm in every night."

"And you know if I even thought for a second that you were doing more than flirting, you'd get my Gunblade to the face."

Zack chuckled. "Yeah, I love you, too."

Ahead of them, Cloud turned the corner at the end of the hall. There was a short corridor that led to large veranda that spread across the entire ocean-side of the beach resort. The veranda itself was split up into several sections; the first was a screened in patio that one entered from the hotel. It extended to the edge of the deck and the rest of the sections were rowed to the left.

Cloud could see Riku standing at the far edge of the screened area even before he pushed open the door. The hotel had closed off the outdoor areas of the resort due to the hurricane but it was unsurprising that Riku had ignored that. The question was why he had.

It was still pouring beyond the covered area but only the very outside edge of the screening was wet. Strong gusts of wind occasionally managed to push their way around the wide support struts. It tugged at both of their clothing and hair.

As Cloud approached, Riku turned his head to the side. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you."

Cloud stepped beside him and met the younger man's eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Riku smiled in assurance. He reached over and took Cloud's hand, squeezing it. "I came down because I finally remembered how they made that filtering system when the storms hit back on the Islands."

"I'm guessing you got side-tracked."

"I just…" He re-faced the ocean. The waves were coming in enormous swells, crashing in foamy white caps against the sand. "I had a sudden urge to come out here."

Cloud nodded, knowing that Riku would perceive it. Zack and Leon entered the patio area but lingered back near the door. They did not know what they had walked in on and hesitated to intrude.

"It's okay, guys." Riku called out. "I didn't mean to freak anyone out by disappearing."

"Just needed a breath of stormy air?" Zack asked. While the question was light, his tone was concerned. He and Leon stopped a few feet behind and to the right of the other couple.

"Heh, I guess you could say that." The youngest of the group worried his lower lip. "Does it seem strange to any of you that I feel really homesick right now?"

"No," Cloud replied. Both Zack and Leon made similar statements.

Riku released Cloud's hand and took a small step closer to the screen. He wrapped his arms around his waist, a gust of wind pulling at his loose shirt. "Did I ever tell you guys that Sumire was afraid of hurricanes?"

"She was?" Leon's voice was skeptical.

"I would think anyone able to work for Hojo wasn't afraid of anything." Zack commented.

The silver-haired male snorted on a laugh. "You would think that but she hated them. Small storms, even the violent ones, didn't bother her so much but when the hurricanes would come in… she'd get anxious. She would be more curt than usual, her body was tense all the time.

"When I was real little, I remember that was when I would get the worse of my testing done. In between tests, she would send me to my room and the only time I'd see her for those few days would be for tests. She brought all my meals to me and didn't stay as I ate; it was the only time we didn't sit at the table and pretend we were a happy little family."

Riku took a breath. The rain had eased up a touch but the wind increased. The temperature was noticeably dropping but Leon was the only one to really feel it. Zack absently pulled him closer and wrapped him in his arms as Riku continued speaking.

"When I was ten, she suddenly began having me go to Sora's when the hurricanes came in. While it was totally random, I didn't complain at all. At the time, I didn't care why she did it; I much rather spend a few days holed up in a house with Sora and Seiya anyway.

"After that, I grew to love hurricanes. Yeah, they were scary and there was always a lot of damage but… I got to be with the people who I had already begun to see as my real family. Those were three to five days when I knew I wouldn't have to take any tests, do any projects or assignments for her. I didn't have to deal with her constant disapproval… I was happy."

Out on the beach, the leafy branches of one of the smaller palm trees broke off and skirted across the sand. The rain again intensified and the wind was coming in steady gusts. The roar of the ocean filled their ears.

Riku turned toward the hotel. "We should get inside now. It's just going to keep building from now on and we don't want to be out here when the waves make it up the beach."

"You think they're gonna make it up here?" Zack queried, glancing out at the five foot wall of sandbags that that been laid out twenty yards from the veranda's edge.

"Some of them will." Riku took Cloud's hand and both sets of couples headed back indoors. "The sandbags are to block the actual ocean swell. Once the waterline starts moving up, the waves will become massive, possibly up to thirty feet."

"Damn."

"Yeah, the building is going to take a beating but they design these places to withstand it." Riku held the door open for everyone. "And this really isn't that big of a hurricane."

"The news is making it sound pretty significant." Zack commented as he passed his best friend's brother.

"Well, maybe for here it is but by my standards, it's a minor headache."

"That actually makes me feel a lot better about the situation." Leon took the lead as they walked down the hall. "I've never been through something like this."

"It shouldn't be too big of a deal." Riku assured, flicking his eyes at Cloud. The blond had been rather quiet for awhile now. "They have plenty of food and several power generators so we'll never lose total power. It's just going to be a matter of keeping ourselves occupied for a few days."

"Ugh!" Zack groaned and theatrically draped himself over Leon's shoulders, earning an annoyed look from the shorter man. "I hope you all can entertain me that long."

Leon shoved him off but there was an amused expression on his scarred face. "Learn to amuse yourself."

"Oh, I can." Violet eyes twinkled. "But it's so much better to do so with someone else."

"That sentence made no sense, Zack."

The couple continued lightly bickering as the four entered the stairwell and traipsed up the three flights. Cloud remained quiet and Riku gently squeezed his hand. When his husband glanced over, Riku murmured, "What's wrong?"

Cloud moistened his lower lip. "Something you said earlier is nagging at me. Or rather, how you said it is."

Riku raised a silver eyebrow, inviting Cloud to explain. Up ahead, Zack and Leon had stopped on the landing of the third floor and quietly waited for the other two. They had heard the whispered conversation and clearly wanted to hear what Cloud was about to say also.

As they ascended the last few steps, Cloud asked, "You now have a theory about why Sumire sent you to Sora's, don't you?"

Riku stopped and leaned against the stair rail. He folded his arms and studied the stair he stood on. "I know why she did and it really shouldn't bother me as much as it does. I mean, I benefited from it so it shouldn't matter her reasoning."

Zack frowned. "Alright, I'm sure the rest of you have a clue but I don't so I'm gonna ask; why did she send you away?"

"She didn't know what to do with me." Riku dropped his arms and pushed off the rail. "It was around then that my testing schedule changed to twice a week as opposed to the three times a month. Whereas before, she was able to keep me mostly occupied with all of that, she no longer had it to fall back on and she didn't want to be locked up with me for that long without something to do that allowed her the minimal interaction with me."

Zack winced a bit. He still did not understand how a mother, any mother, could be so completely detached from her child. "So you figure she just palmed you off on Seiya."

"That's pretty much what she did do." Riku shrugged. "Then again, she usually did that so I don't know why this particular occurrence is bothering me more than any of the others."

"You don't?" Leon asked. His tone indicated he did not believe that.

Riku met his eyes and after a moment, blew out a soft breath. "Even though I try to not let it get to me, it still hurts that my mother had no idea what to do with me, let alone any desire to try to figure it out."

The group fell silent. Allowing a moment to pass, Cloud pulled Riku to him and hugged him tightly. Riku smiled at the embrace, closing his eyes briefly and simply taking in the affection.

When he pulled away, he kept Cloud close and turned his head toward the other two. "Sorry for getting weird, guys. I really thought I was over all of that."

"It's family." Zack shrugged. "No one just gets over it. I know your brother still has lingering questions about his mother."

"Yeah," agreed the younger man. "Well, you all are our family now and none of us are going to repeat the same mistakes."

"Nope!"

Leon nodded, a soft smile on his face. "I vote we go back to the room, take advantage of the power while it's still here and play cards."

Zack grinned. "Ya gonna finally teach me to play Triple Triad?"

"Sure."

"Awesome!" Zack turned, placing his hands on his lover's shoulders and steering him for the door. "Let's go."

Cloud and Riku lingered a moment longer in the stairwell. The blond nuzzled into his husband's neck. "You really okay?"

"Yeah." Riku moved his head around so that he could kiss Cloud. "I can't change how I grew up or how Sumire treated me but I have a new family now, one that I will never doubt loves me. That alone makes up for the past."

Cloud smiled and gave Riku another kiss. "I always said I'd try to make up for all the love you didn't get."

Riku brushed the back of his hand along the older man's cheek. "You've done all that and so much more, love."

The couple shared a brief moment of peace. Riku then tugged at one of the long spikes framing Cloud's face. "Come on, I wanna see how much munny I can win off of Zack."