Author's Notes:
I want to thank each and every person that read the original fiction, Sephiroth's Guide to Love and Deception. I never once expected that fanfic to be as big as it became (I honestly didn't even think I would get a chance to finish it, much less write a sequel!) so I really have to give everyone a big hug for the support.

EDIT as of June 14th, 2009:
I know there are a good number of you guys that have been waiting patiently and I really appreciate it. Thank you guys so much and I just want to express my fullest apologies for making the wait so damn long.

Definitely reread this chapter, as it's gone through a major change: I've completely revised this, as well as the following chapters (minus Kairi's) because I didn't like the way it was coming out. A long explanation for this is in my end chapter Author's Notes. A lot of stuff was reworded, completely taken out indefinitely or moved to other chapters. Hell, even the title of the story as been tweaked.

But enough of my babble, please enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer:
I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the Disney characters that appear in this fan fiction. All characters belong to their respective creators. All rights reserved to those people so please, don't sue. LOL.

Rated Mature for the following:
Strong Sexual Content, Violence, SLASH (Male on Male goodness), Preg ( non-male…for now), Fluff, Strong Language, and mentions of RAPE. With that said:

1. Don't bother flaming me because you don't like SLASH, also known as male/male relationships. I warned you so after this moment, you're on your own and should know where the ESC/BACK/END/WHATEVER key is on your computer. Any and all flames of this matter will be promptly ridiculed and ignored.

2. Might as well say there will probably be Kairi bashing of sorts. Don't get me wrong, I actually like her but for the story, certain characters don't (see SGTL&D) so there may be bashing. If this bothers you, please don't read.

3. I will try to keep everyone in character, as I myself hate out of control OOC-ness.

4. If you do tend to write graphically (most of the time) detailed sex scenes, whether it be same sex or heterosexual relations, either skip the part, the chapter or DO NOT READ THE STORY AT ALL. You have been warned will be thusly ignored if you flame me for it.

5. Read Sephiroth's Guide to Love and Deception first before you read this story, or you may get confused about to some things.

6. I still have no BETA reader and I'm sorry in advance. UPDATE: This is mostly my own fault due to not updating this story in a good while. I am currently gather a few to BETA all my stories but until then, I apologize in advance for any mistakes I didn't get and/or correct.

!!NOTE!!: Now I want to take this time to clear up a few things. After reading my story, I found a few mistakes that I'm surprised no one asked about. Sorry guys, but after the story got so long, I kinda forgot some stuff, lmao!:

(In the first story.)
Cloud/Sephiroth/Zack/Reno: Seniors
Rikku/Yuna/Lulu/Paine/Marluxia(if he were in school)/Zexion/Demyx/Axel: Juniors
Sora/Kairi/Riku/and the rest of the gang: Sophomores. (I have NO clue why I say juniors…)

(The classes are like my old private school: only certain classes are by grade, the rest are mixed up depending on the student.)

Xemnas: Riku's Uncle
Xehanort: Riku's father (I realized in the beginning, I called him Xemnas ^_^*)

Most of the characters have their original last names, for the ones I couldn't find, I made one up.

Summary:
After the horrific events brought on by Kairi, Sora and Riku are finally trying to put the past behind them. However, as a series of unfortunate events continue to unfold around them, the pair just may end up having to face the source of their previous nightmares. But does the girl want revenge? Or redemption? Oh. And something about a marriage, a baby, and possibly even, a murder.

Prologue is now longer than the original was Get a snack and drink, lmao. I also have AN's at the bottom. Now. With all that finally out and said: enjoy! Please. :}

Text in italics and centered = flashback scenes.

Sephiroth's Guide to Marriage and Revenge
Prologue: Graduation and Congratulations

It was always amazing with how such short spans of time could feel like an entire lifetime.

Life seemed to be one big dream as of late, simply melting all together, one day right into the next.

One particular brunette sat now, in the grand auditorium of the Academy, watching as the headmaster gave an emotional speech about this year's seniors.

His eyes drifted over to his elder brother, Cloud, who sat between his ravened haired best friend Zack and his lover Sephiroth, the trio paying the headmaster little attention as they stared into the audience, Zack making faces while Cloud acknowledging people he knew.

The blond looked right over at his family, giving a warm smile and the brunette, Sora, waiting until Cloud looked directly at him, made a funny face at Cloud. The blond arched a brow then attempted to return it before catching DiZ glaring at him, in disapproval. Cloud gave an apologetic look before trying to look ridiculously serious, his nose in the air and his eyes narrowed--apparently mocking Sephiroth--before the platinum beauty gave the blond a side glance and without warning, pinched Cloud on his inner thigh, sending the blond straight up out of his seat with a yell.

The headmaster, a small mouse that stood on a grand stack of books by the name of Mickey, paused in his speech, looking over at Cloud with concern while the deputy headmaster, an older gentleman by the name of Yen Sid, glared in disapproval, as eyes continuously fell on the now crimson cheeked Cloud.

There where a few snorts from his graduating class and spectators alike, Zack naturally being the loudest to laugh at the blonds' misfortune, as he sheepishly muttered his apologizes and sat back down. He glared venomously at Sephiroth who only stared back at him in a calm, calculating demeanor, arching his brow as if to ask what the problem was.

Headmaster Mickey waited until the room settled down, chuckling a bit to himself and shaking his head at the whole ordeal before continuing his speech.

Sora himself laughed before sitting back comfortably, glancing over at his laughing sister, who watched the proceedings amused.

As he watched her, his mind drifted to the memories of the past few months for her, his ocean blue eyes slowly coming to rest on the bump that was her stomach.

It certainly hadn't been the easiest thing for his sister once she had to admit to their parents that she was in fact, pregnant.

There hadn't been rest in the house for a week, her parents going back an forth with her about the event and how she was far too young and how it was far too soon for her to even think of something like that, let alone actually be doing it.

Ri, stood her ground, completely unmoved as she exclaimed time and time again how she wasn't ashamed of being a young mother, nor did she regret the deed at all…

"I'm happy," she shrugged matter of factly as she sat on the couch, DiZ pacing in front of her as her mother sat in an opposing arm chair, staring wearily at their daughter. "I know it wasn't one of my better ideas but hey, crap happens right?"

"This is not a joke young lady!" DiZ snapped angrily, glaring at her. "You have no idea what it's like--how hard it is--to raise a child Rikku! You are still a child yourself in all respects! You certainly still act like one!"

"Just because I'm not about to have a seizure doesn't mean I'm not taking this seriously," his sister snapped backed annoyed, glaring. "I can't change what happened and even if I could, I wouldn't. It's just something that happened because yeah, okay, I made a stupid decision not to take all the proper, necessary steps I should have to ensure this couldn't happen. But now that it has, I'm just going to deal with it."

"Alone?" her mother asked softly, looking at her daughter concerned. Ri shook her head. "No mom. Vin and I are going to take care of the baby."

"How can you be sure," DiZ demanded, his own concerned concealed by his disgruntlement and anger. "How can you be positive that he won't just abandon you now? Or that he even has the ways or means to support you Rikku?"

It was only then that Vincent, who had been surveying the entire scene the whole time, took a step forward into the room and out of the dark hallway, his red eyes trained on Ri before going then to her mother and finally DiZ. The two men stared at one another for a long pause before Vincent finally spoke.

"I am not a poor man Mr. Madison, though I am not one with a great abundance of fortune either. I have more than enough to provide for myself and my expected family. You need not worry for your daughter or our child, I can and will provide. And I want to be a part of Rikku's life, as well as my unborn child."

Then he paused, seeming to be in heavy thought before giving DiZ an almost challenging stare. "That is, if I am allowed to be. Though I will admit…even if I were not, it would not be easy for me to simply 'forget' and 'let this be'. I have no other family of my own at this time and…they both mean so much to me. I can honestly say that I can not just go away simply on a whim."

There was a brief moment of silence, DiZ simply glaring between Vincent and his daughter, whom beamed brightly at the raven haired boy, before shaking his head and began to speak. "I just don' think--"

Ri's face faltered instantly and she cut him off, standing to her feet. "I swear I'll move out and run away if you won't let us--"

"Relax," DiZ began with a sigh, holding up his hand for her to be quiet. "Ri…I just want you to understand that a baby isn't a game or a 'fad'. Babies are a huge responsibility young lady. You have to give it your undivided attention, all your time and money. This isn't like some video game that you can give away to someone or simply store away when you get bored with it. Your not ready." He glanced at Vincent. "Neither of you are ready."

"Dad relax," Ri sighed, looking bored with the entire argument. "Vincent and I have already thought up a name for the baby depending on it's gender--"

"This is exactly what I'm talking about! Rikku, there is more to preparing for a baby then--"

"I wasn't finished, geez!" Ri announced, looking annoyed though slightly humored, which only seeming to infuriate DiZ further. "Like I said, we already thought up names. We are going to get our own place so we can concentrate not only on our relationship, but the baby as well. I'm defiantly still going to school until the eighth--seventh--fourth month of pregnancy--"

"Rikku."

"--all right, I'll stay in school until the baby is due, then after that, I'll seek getting a private tutor for the first few months of my senior year so I can concentrate on the baby, then once I can completely establish things, I'll go back to school and graduate with my class." She looked over at Vincent who only stared at her silently. The she beamed. "Besides, when you have two brothers and a cousin with plenty of friends, that makes shopping for baby stuff a heck of a lot more fun! And cheaper!"

It took a few days after that argument before DiZ had finally accepted the news as much as he was going to at the time. And that was only after he sat down with Vincent and had a serious conversation with the young man alone. No one is really sure what exactly he said to DiZ to ease the tension of the situation but it did at least seem that the latter certainly respected Vincent a lot more afterward.

Cloud however, hadn't come around so quickly. He wasn't outright rude to Vincent, though he wouldn't speak to the raven haired boy or stop glaring at him and he didn't pretend he was too happy with the news of his baby sister getting pregnant.

He had all but refused to speak about the subject and no one dared bring it up out of respect--or slight fear of a bad reaction.

It only took a month later for the rumors to start however. Somehow, some way, some outsider had found out Ri was pregnant and horrible rumors began--Vincent had raped her and was some kind of abusive boyfriend and Ri was too scared to get away.

Then there was the one that Vincent had simply only wanted to bed his sister and had dumped her as soon as it was said and done, only giving her support now because he planned to take the baby once it was born, though no one that knew them had no clue how this was so believable considering they pair were openly romantic at times.

Another was that she'd tricked him into the pregnancy and Vincent was too sad of a loser to walk away and not be taken advantage of, which was Ri's personal favorite. She even suggested getting a whip and acting like a dominatrix at school for the fun of it but both Vincent and her friends suggested strongly against it. (Though Paine admitted it would have been funny.)

As with most rumors, no one really ever bothered with actually asking Rikku or Vincent about the matter, though it wasn't like Vincent would have opened up and it would have been amazing to get an actual answer from Ri, she was simply having to much fun with it. So instead, they asked their friends and family. Close enough right?

A few students tried to ask Sora about the matter but he simply declined as polite as possible, or played ignorant about the entire thing until he was left alone. Paine, having had her fill at some point, finally just kicked someone that asked her. No one was desperate enough to risk asking Sephiroth and Riku completely ignored the question all together. And so people eventually asked Selphie--who purposely gave different false answers to ten different people. By the end of the day, the story went something like this:

Ri tried to befriend Vincent--who might be the long lost brother of Wakka--only to find out that he had six other girlfriends. Once she found out, she tried to 'change him', only resulting in the pair sleeping together. Vincent, not realizing she was pregnant, dumped her because he didn't want one of his girlfriends--all six of whom he'd broken up with--to come out and try to kill her.

There was a climatic battle on top of the academy's roof between Ri and one said nameless girlfriend until, after nearly being knocked off the roof, she won the battle. Vincent then carried her off into the sunset, explaining why he broke up with her and they ran off to get married, having their honeymoon in the world of Fantasia.

And this, of course, all happened over a three day weekend.

The entire group wasn't sure if they were more amused at the story or the fact that some people actually believed it.

In any case, the entire group became annoyed with the entire mess, more so Cloud, who barely wanted to address his own sister on the issue, let alone some snot-nosed, rude freshmen that seemed to have the misconception that she was entitled to the information.

It was then that Cloud gave a heavy sigh and a curse that gained the entire cafeteria's attention, a look of utter loathing and annoyance on his face as he began to speak:

"Since 'leave me alone so that I may enjoy my lunch' alludes most of you people, allow me to just clear up any and all confusion surrounding my sister and her unexpected turn of events," he snapped annoyed, glaring from person to person.

"Yes, my sister is pregnant, no, I'm not happy about it but she is my littlesister so that makes me obligated to be an asshole about someone knocking her up. She wasn't raped, no one was tricked, and, Vincent isn't some dead beat that wants to abandon her or the baby," he continued, pausing to glare at Vincent with a look that clearly stated 'You better not be or I'll kill you.' The raven haired boy only stared back in silent observation. Cloud continued.

"It's just two kids--" "Kids?!" Ri snapped flabbergast. "--making very stupid, irrational mistakes--" "Irrational?!" "--without thinking about the consequences. But regardless, my sister is content, she's happy, and that's all that matters." "Erm…what about Vincent?" Zack whispered to him amused and Cloud simply glanced at him. "

And her happiness is all that matters." he repeated and Zack snorted. "Gotcha."

"Being as such," Cloud continued, ignoring any further input from his best friend. "I, for one, would greatly appreciate if all of you could mind your own damn business and stop harassing her, her whatever he is--" "The 'term' is man slave!" Ri joked and Vincent slowly rounded on her while Cloud proceed to ignore her. "--all of our friends and most importantly, leave me the hell alone so I can finish my damn," he paused to look at his tray, making a face and looked over at Zack who laughing said "Mac n cheese."

"Mac n--really? This is suppose to be macaroni and cheese?" he asked bewildered and Zack snorted.

"Rambling!" Ri called and Cloud rolled his eyes.

"Right, whatever---finish my food in peace. It's not your damn baby, you aren't going to do anything about it, so why care? It's none of your business, go find something else to stir up bullshit about. If she wanted you to know anything, I'm sure she'd tell you, my sister has a big mouth." Cloud finished before pushing the freshman's tray off of his table and on to the floor as a 'hint' that she could leave and went back to poking his food with his fork, completely ignoring the now protesting girl at having her food thrown to the floor.

"Gee thanks," Ri replied sarcastically, but seemed amused none the less and Cloud only glanced her way, giving her a stern look before turning to Zack with a sly look. "So…how much time do we have before the bell?"

"Uh, twenty minutes."

"Good," Cloud said, already getting to his feet and heading for the trash bin. "Then we're going out for lunch. Or home, where I can identify the food."

It would take another month before Cloud finally relented enough to except the fact that his little sister would have a baby--but he still acted a bit like a grumpy old man about it.

And Rikku--well, she was just being herself about the whole thing. She'd planned her own baby shower, which had been more like a bash then a quiet, cute affair. Complete with a stripper, though Vincent hadn't been too thrilled about that.

She and Vincent already had their place--they'd gotten a small little 'hut' she called it right on the beach, surrounded by Papou trees and plenty of shade. It was still very close to her families' home, which did wonders considering her little brother Sora often came around to assist her.

Even though everyone pitched in at some point, Sora (often dragging Riku with him) would go above and beyond the call of 'helpful little brother' in her delicate condition:

He spent good portions of his allowance on the baby, getting it whatever its grandmother or godmother (Mrs. London) hadn't bought it yet, not mention keeping his sister stocked up on her favorite foods. He'd actually read up on some of the same books she had, so when he babysat, he'd knew exactly what to do in an emergency. Then he helped Vincent, who'd been preparing in…another ways though neither ever really explained what they were doing and why.

They stored their ice chest (they'd gotten a 'special' one she told him) with a special formula for the coming baby, not to mention Vincent insisted on building the baby's carriage, cradle, and stroller, which made it virtually impossible to see the thing once it was in either, hidden under all the layers of drapery it had on it. The windows of their home were tinted to block out any sunlight, as well as the window curtains being black in color themselves.

Vincent had gotten special books of his own, all looking rather old to Sora, and read them constantly while Ri asked some pretty…he would think absurd questions about the baby while he was over there, helping out. Or maybe they were just jokes. Sora had never been sure.

The brunette in question looked over at his sister and her boyfriend, the pair sitting and watching the events on the stage unfold as Vincent absent mindedly rubbed her belly gently in small circles, his sister sobbing lightly into a tissue and muttering how she hated her mood swings. Anyone could understand--Ri wasn't much of a crier but since the later stages of her pregnancy, she seemed to be doing a lot of it lately.

She looked over at her brother gave him a cheerful smile and made a gesture to make fun of Cloud's hair before the pair laughed a bit and she turned her attention back on to the stage, Vincent glancing over and nodding his own acknowledgement before turning his attention back to the stage as well.

Sora turned his attention to his friends that sat right behind him: Tidus, Wakka, Selphie, and recently Wakka's official girlfriend, Lulu, who where all chatting as quietly as possible, though Lulu ever so often told them to hush as she was the only one paying attention to the speech.

They'd only come to the graduation because they had nothing better to do and Selphie had all but insisted. Sora didn't mind though, he loved having his friends around these days. He really enjoyed the company and it helped him…forget certain things.

He planned to enjoy the rest of the time they'd spend together as much as possible: they'd all be juniors next year, then seniors. Heck, Wakka had already applied for Zanarkand College, home of the infamous Zanarkand Abes, one of the best college Blitz teams in the world, though the school couldn't even consider the application until all his test scores came back, most notably, the *H.E.A.R.T.S. test that all seniors took in their second semester.

No one else had really put in much effort to pick a college though Tidus had hinted he wanted to make sure it was either close to Selphie's or the exact same place. The pair only seemed to strengthen their resolve to put their relationship back on track after finding out what had been done to drive them apart. They were stronger than ever and their friends couldn't be happier for them.

Out of the entire group however, Selphie, during a rather awkward moment, admitted to missing Kairi. Not one of her friends had said a word on the matter and the girl completely dropped the subject. Though since, she'd developed a rather odd relationship with Lulu, being the girl's personal annoyance, not to mention she'd strengthened her friendship that she already possessed with Namine`.

In an odd sense, Namine` had taken Kairi's place with everyone it seemed. Riku wasn't exactly fond of her however, he was never outright mean to the girl. Sora had forgiven her for her role she'd played in Kairi's little scheme, but it didn't stop the girl from apologizing profusely about it. After a while, he found that he rather liked being around Namine`, though it was suspected that she 'eased' his mind whenever he was around her, enabling him to find peace in the recent months with everything that had happened to him in the past year. She was suspected to have peered into his thoughts and memories of all the events, getting a good impression of how the brunette felt lately, considering he hadn't really opened up to anyone about the incident in general. Though if she had, she refused to say a word to anyone, even those the closest to her or Sora.

This was thought to be the reason why Riku didn't really appreciate the girl's presence. Sora refused to say anything even to him, in an odd sense, pretending that nothing had ever happened unless poked and provoked by their lawyer.

It was just…easier for him that way. Bottle it all in and try to forget…

The brunette had begun to say something to the group once they noticed him staring but paused when he felt someone slap him over the back of the head, glaring immediately to his immediate left. Roxas stared at him looking completely innocent while Axel who sat on the other side of the dirty blond, sat back down in his seat, smirking at Sora.

He blinked once then frowned at the pair. "What was that for?"

"You didn't hear me, did you?" Roxas asked, looking a little concerned. "Want me to smack him again?" Axel asked in mock concern and Sora glared at him. The red head look confused and shrugged. "What?"

Roxas rolled his eyes. "I was asking where Riku was. I think they're close to giving out the diplomas, Sephiroth's speech is over."

"Oh!" Sora smiled sheepishly, looked up to stage just in time to see Sephiroth stepping down from the podium as most of the audience gave him a standing ovation, his own class cheered loudly as he took his place back among the ranks. Sora blinked, a bit bewildered and Roxas laughed. "You missed the speech, didn't you."

He laughed sheepishly. "I guess I did…I wasn't really--"

"Paying attention?" Roxas finished, frowning a little concerned. "You space out a lot Sora."

"I was just…thinking about a few things," he admitted and Roxas only continued to stare at him, a light frown on his features before sighing and dropping the question he was about to ask. There was no point to it: Sora wouldn't tell him the truth anyway.

"Well…where's Riku?" he asked instead and Sora shrugged. "I don't know. He said he had to go do something but won't tell me what. He said it was a surprise."

"Oh, maybe it's something cute for you Sora!" Selphie gushed, leaning forward in her seat, eavesdropping on the conversation.

Sora simply shrugged as they all turned their attention back to the stage as a rather nice song began to play. Everyone was transfixed on the blond sitting in a chair with his sitar, strumming out the notes of a beautiful song he'd made especially for the occasion. When he wasn't paying attention to his instrument, his eyes were meeting with a certain silver haired youth in the audience. Zexion watched Demyx intently, a sliver a smile on his features, content.

Despite all the events the pair had gone through recently, what with Zexion's brief trial, the pair were rather happy together and well on their way both professionally and relationship wise.

It hadn't been easy however.

While it was rather amusing to watch the pair, Demyx being open about his feelings for Zexion while the latter tried his hardest to be more reserved, stumbling around his feelings awkwardly, it hadn't been so amusing once Zexion's father found out about the pair.

He outright refused his father's inheritance since he wouldn't except Demyx as his lover, much to the despair of both Demyx and his mother.

The last thing Demyx wanted to do was cause a rift in the family between father and son but Zexion was stubborn by nature, and had gone so far as not to even speak to his father as long as he was refusing to acknowledge his relationship with Demyx, not to mention he'd made plans to move out of his home without so much of a warning or word to his parents.

But the move had got put on hold once his own trial for his involvement in Kairi's little scheme came underway. While he was barely on speaking terms with them, his parents came to support him, though it wasn't a huge secret that his mother had to push his father into coming.

The trial had been rather short and sweet, with Zexion pleading guilty and as a result of the deal to testify against Kairi when her trial came about, not to mention he'd written a statement and recorded testimony on the matter, he'd gotten away with probation.

Demyx meanwhile, had come every single day, an hour earlier then each day of the proceeding. He sat on bench right behind the defendant's side, holding his hand when he could, calming him down when it appeared Zexion was getting upset, and even testified on his behalf as a character witness, completely giving the prosecution the shaft on cross examination.

It was no surprise to Zexion how Demyx cared about him but it did however, impress his mother, who despite Zexion telling them time and again abot Demyx, had believed the boy was nothing more than a 'phase' for his son. She became so intrigued that she took the time to pull him aside after the finale day of Zexion's trial and invite him to a private dinner with her.

She'd grown to love Demyx and began calling him her 'son', inviting him to the private victory dinner for Zexion's return home. With her persistence and Zexion's stubborn nature to completely shut his father out, which further upset his mother, while it may have taken a while and been begrudgingly, his father finally relented completely and complied, admitting while he didn't like the idea of his son being with 'a poor musician' he would no longer stand in their way: his relationship with Zexion was far more important. Zexion accepted his inheritance and his father blessed the union. As much as he was going to anyway.

The pair would both be seniors this coming year and Demyx was well on his way to becoming the lead professor of the music department while Zexion, after his senior year, was slated to take up an apprentice ship with professor Yen Sid, extended to him by the man himself.

The song finished and the audience clapped, Zexion and his mother giving in a standing ovation. Sora began to stand but paused when he felt a few pieces of popcorn pop him in the back of the head. He turned to glare at Tidus and Wakka, who tried to look as innocent as possible, Lulu eating the popcorn and glaring at him stony faced.

He rolled his eyes and glanced down the row to where his parents on the other side of his sister. Riku's parents sat right next to them, along with Riku's uncle Xemnas, that watched the entire proceeding rather disinterested, seeming far more intrigued by the palm pilot in his hand that was busy working on at the moment.

He was the man that had become Sora and Riku's attorney and from all accounts, Kairi's worst nightmare. Her attorney had tried without success three times to have him removed considering his relationship to Riku but the man was resilient, cunning and rather manipulative.

Sora rather hated talking to him to be honest, as he seemed rather distant and uncaring about anything other than getting justice and winning the case.

He looked up for a brief moment, his golden eyes trained on Sora, giving him a smirk and nod before going back to his palm pilot.

His children sat a few chair down from him them, talking among themselves and watching the proceedings. The three had gone home a week after Riku had made a full recovery. They'd kept in touch with phone calls and letters to their father and only came down on holidays or special occasions, such as now, for Sephiroth's graduation.

The trio tended to be interesting, to say the least.

Though the three never really said who was the oldest, though Yazoo, the tall slender brother with the longest hair, seemed to act the most mature. And antisocial. He only went out of his way to speak to his family or for some odd reason, Namine`. He seemed to be rather interested in the blond girl and had gone out of his way to go visit her every time they came to visit.

He didn't speak that much in general but when he did, he usually sounded completely bored or amused in a sarcastic manner, though he tended to be more of an observer than a social butterfly.

Loz was kinda odd. He looked like he was probably the oldest, and was the only person in the London family with short hair seen thus far. He had a wider frame and seemed more muscular than the others, though oddly enough, he was the nicest of the trio and acted slightly immature at times, like child. . He wasn't afraid to openly show his affection for his family (more so is late mother) under any means and was often teased by his brothers and cousins for it.

Though it did appear he had an uglier side when he and Cloud's friend Tifa had gotten into a disagreement when the pair, along with a few others, volunteered to help Aerith fix up a church. They ended up fighting and ruining the very garden they had been trying to help Aerith's set up. In the church no less. They'd worked out their dispute (which had been over a quirky little ring tone he refused to send to her via blue tooth…) and the two could now at least, stand one another. Though Tifa couldn't make it any less obvious she wanted a rematch.

And then, there was Kadaj. He had this air about him that while it could definitely intimidate and seem rather eerie, could also entranced those around him. His mannerisms reminded some people of Sephiroth: he spoke in a smooth, almost memorizing tone that drew people in. Though while Sephiroth's was naturally cold and calculating, Kadaj's seemed to be more about manipulation and cunning.

He always seemed to give off that there was more behind that charming smile of his, one that most could not put their finger on.

He was good at hiding his emotions, not hiding them in a shroud of mystery and emotionless stares, but instead, displaying the emotion he wanted people to perceive from him.

The light haired youth in question frowned a bit as Riku finally made his way back to his seat, ignoring the formers light complaints of having his vision blocked briefly.

Sora smiled as Riku took a seat by him, the latter returning the expression with a touch of guilt on his features. "I'm sorry it took so long Sora," he began and the brunette shook his head. "Not a problem. What were you doing though?"

"Something for Sephiroth," Riku admitted looking exhausted instantly at the idea, slouching further in his seat, causing Sora to laugh. "Was it that bad?!"

"You try looking for one diploma in a stack of like, thousands, and you tell me if that's not bad," Riku sighed and Sora looked puzzled. "I probably got them all in the wrong order too but there's no way I'm going back to fix them."

"Why'd you do it," Selphie pouted, wrapping her arms around Riku's neck and giving him a light hug but he only shook his head. "That only works on Tidus, Selphie."

"It does not," Tidus snorted and Riku looked unconvinced. "She can get whatever she wants from you when she does that."

"Bull cra--" He paused in mid sentence as Selphie instantly made a pouty face and hugging him around the neck, said softly "I want a soda…"

He took one look at her face and softened instantly. "What kind?"

"Sprite," she smiled and Tidus nodded. "I'll get you the biggest one they got."

"And if they don't have it--"

"I'll walk to the store, no big," he announced, already leaving his seat.

Everyone simply watched him walk away, the blond not even realizing what had just happened while Selphie puffed out her chest and looked pleased with herself, Riku smirking in triumph while making the motion of a cracked whip. The group laughed.

"Will ye shudup," a voice snapped from a few rows back and a few people, as well as the group, turned around to see Cid, cigarette dangling out of the corner of his mouth (unlit of course because Aerith wouldn't let him), glaring at them.

"Could you be anymore embarrassing?" Yuffie whined, giving the small group of friends a sheepish smile and wave while Aerith simply ignored them in favor of smiling at Zack. Leon, who was sitting to Cid's right, only glanced briefly at him before turning his attention back to the stage, more noticeably the blond that was Sora's brother.

Things hadn't worked out with Leon and Cloud, and while the brunette wouldn't say much on the subject (at least to most people), it was a little more than obvious to those paying attention that the feeling he carried for Cloud still resided.

Like Seifer, who was Leon's current boyfriend. It was no secret that the pair weren't exactly on the best of terms, more so since even though the group had moved back to their home (though Aerith was moving back to Destiny Island to be with Zack), Leon tended to spend more time on the islands--with Cloud--then back at home with Seifer.

The latter was quite jealous of their so called 'friendship' and had gotten rather tired of Leon pretending those feelings he had for Cloud didn't exist. Where the pair stood now was anybody's guess, as neither really talked about things and Leon's closer friends were keeping anything knew to themselves.

The elder man glanced at Leon, shacking his head a bit and calling him 'pathetic' under his breath before glaring at Yuffie for her comment and smacked her over the head, making her clutch the spot and wence. He gave a gruff grunt and looking satisfied, folded his arms over his chest as he focused on the stage.

He then paused to glare at the small group sitting ahead of him and they all turned back around in their seats, just as the handing out of the diplomas began.

"When I call your name," the headmaster announced in a loud, proud tone, glancing over at the graduating class. "Please come receive your diploma, then stand to the right just off the stage and wait for your classmates."

The entire room became silent except for the seniors whispering to one another as they all rose together and waited, the chairs disappearing from underneath them as soon as their bottoms left the cushions. Cloud and Zack joked about something while Sephiroth seemed preoccupied in his own deep thoughts. If a person didn't know any better, like that Sephiroth had a incapability to be anything but confident, he would have thought he saw nervousness flash through those Make green eyes.

But then again, when was the towering swordsman ever really nervous about anything?

The headmaster began calling peoples names and sure enough, Riku had indeed ruined the order the diplomas were in: the headmaster read the name on the first ribbon, then glanced down at the next, frowning a little before placing it down and calling the first one he'd picked up.

"Cloverton, Rude!"

And their classmates, along with members of the audience, family and friends being the loudest, clapped as the bald young man walked across the stage, though even he confused as to why he'd been called first, looking back at his best friend Reno, who shrugged lightly in response.

Sora glanced over at Riku who hunched a little. "Told you they got out of place."

"And you didn't at least try to put them back?"

"No."

"…Nice."

"Sora, you go through the trouble of trying to find one of those things buried in a sea of those things in less then five minutes--because it went by Cloud's original last name which starts with an 'S'-- only to have the whole stupid stack topple over, and put them all back in alphabetical order without getting caught." Riku grumbled and Sora snickered a little.

Headmaster Mickey picked up the next scroll on the pile, glancing at the ribbon then continued.

"Beauty, Bell!"

A whole group of people got to their feet and roared in applause and crying out support--in French-- a rather cheerful and jolly chubby man sobbing and hugging a equally so woman with a kind face, their small son it seemed standing in his chair and jumping a little until his mother scolded him to stop.

The beautiful brunette walked across the stage, her smile vibrate as she bent down and hugged the headmaster before accepting the diploma and after shaking the hand of Yen Sid and a few professors, she took her place next to Rude. She looked back on stage and waved gently at a handsome young man with blond hair and he returned the smile with a dazzling one of his own.

"Wallace, Barret!"

"Hell yeah, go Barret! Whoo!!" Tifa screamed, scaring a few of her other graduating class as the large African American male looked back at her and shot a thumbs up before proudly making his way across the stage, accepting his diploma after shaking Mickey's hand and joining the others. Cloud put a hand on her shoulder and rubbed small circles on her back with a solemn look. "It's…going to be all right Tifa, we'll make sure you get that *special* medication you need."

She punched him in the arm and he laughed.

"Okay, when Cloud and Sephiroth get their diploma, you guys get ready to cheer and make a total ass of yourselves, kay boys and girls?" Ri called over to them as Vincent helped her to her feet and Lulu immediately spoke up, glaring at Selphie. "Just as long as she doesn't slap me in the face when we jump out of our seats again. My eye was red for a week."

"And avoiding you is no fun either!" Selphie giggled sheepishly before turning to face Tidus when he touched her shoulder upon his return. Sure enough, he'd gone out of his way to get her a 20oz. bottle of Sprite, complete with an unasked for Heath bar.

"Aw, thank you Tidus!" she squealed, hugging him and taking her seat, Tidus smirking with a 'mission accomplished' look before taking his arm and placing it around her.

"Yugeski, Zack!"

There was a roar of applause as he strutted across the stage in a slow, dramatic fashion, grinning from ear to ear before pausing and raising his hands in a fashion that was telling the audience to get to their feet--to which a lot of the student body in attendance complied, Yuffie standing on her chair and holding up a sign that said 'Congratulations, Now Marry Aerith!' on it, much to the blushing brunette's embarrassment.

Sora paused in his cheering to look at his sister, who was making a face of pain as she tried not hunch over in pain, touching her belly and rubbing it gently as Vincent gently spoke in her ear. He watched as she smiled vibrantly at the worried look on the raven haired boy's face and assured she was fine before standing tall and joining in the celebration. Vincent simply watched her with great caution, no longer paying the graduation any attention.

Sora watched his sister a few moments more with worry before being drawn back to the stage when Zack gave Mickey a hearty handshake, before pretending to burst into tears, pulling the floating microphone that Mickey had been speaking through into his grasp and mock sobbing into it: "I would like to thank all the little people who made this a fun year for me! Freshmen, take a bow, love you guys and thanks for doing my homework when I didn't have time! Sophomores, thanks for always getting my trays and buying my lunches, dates cost you know and you understood that. You really got that and I appreciate it."

Cloud snorted while Sephiroth just shook his head gently at their friend's antics. Headmaster Mickey looked thoroughly amused while Yen Sid, not so impressed.

"And juniors, thanks for looking up to me and realizing just how awesome I am! I want to give a special thanks to all the professors who tried diligently to learn me something!"

"Nice to know you learned how to speak proper 'English', " Yen Sid murmured grumpily and Donald quacked out a laugh.

"I want to thank Cloudy, Sephy, Reni and Rudo for playing my best friends, you guys were awesome," he continued and they all rolled their eyes though Reno gave a mock bow. "I want to give a shout to my ridiculously gorgeous girlfriend, you guys can look but don't touch, Aerith, you're my everything!" he sobbed and finally Yen Sid snatched the mic away from him, Zack giving him a big toothy grin before Yen Sid slapped his diploma in his hand and pushed him toward the others.

After he was done chuckling, the headmaster continued.

"Normand, Reno!"

A storm of females started screaming their hearts out, making a few guys arch their brows while Reno only smirked, his look oozing 'Don't be jealous' as he pulled his sunglasses over his eyes and shaking Mickey's hand, took his diploma at the same time. He pulled the shades down just enough to look over the top of them at Rikku and wink at her, to which she rolled her eyes but clapped all the same.

"London, Sephir--"

Mickey proceeded to hold his ears as the auditorium erupted into thunderous applause, the entire student body getting to their feet or standing on their chairs, Zack, Reno, and Cloud pretending to be groupies and screaming like school girls, the latter pretending to faint with Tifa catching and fanning him looking mock worried.

Sephiroth glared back at him slightly amused before making his way across the stage.

Mrs. London was in tears as she cheered for her son loudly while Mr. London grinned from ear to ear, as if he couldn't look be more proud as Sephiroth walked across the stage with a grace and elegance that could be envied, taking his diploma and joining Zack and Reno, who were at this point, pretending to sob with excitement and love, still screaming like rabid fan girls--and touching his chest.

He narrowed his eyes at them and the pair slowly withdrew their hands, Reno forcibly coughing for good measure as they both looked away from his cold glare.

Once the excitement finally died down, the headmaster finally continued.

"Strife, Madison, Clo--"

This time it was Sora's turn to scream like a banshee, along with most of the audience, his mother bouncing back on to her feet along with Mrs. London and cheering, both women sobbing with joy now, proud of their graduates.

Ri gave a nod to Tifa who gave her back a thumbs up before she pulled on string that was hanging from the ceiling, the sky erupting into cloud of confetti and glitter, floating down towards the people on stage and first few rows of the crowd.

Cloud paused to take in the entire scene before glancing over at Ri expectantly, his sister having a silly grin and waving.

Yuffie had flipped over the sign she'd used for Zack and it now read 'Cloud for President!' while the others in her group cheered, Leon notably, more enthused than he had been the entire evening, causing Sephiroth to glare at him a bit.

All the cheering died down as he went to shake Mickey's hand, Sora taking the moment to look over at Riku, who oddly looked very pleased with himself, making the brunette stare at him a moment longer in a quizzical fashion just as Cloud accepted his diploma.

He held it up, looking directly at his mother and she with Mrs. London, erupted into shrilled applause excited applause before something attached to the rolled up parchment caught in the light, blinding spectators and causing some to cry out in surprise as Cloud flinch.

He paused to examine the diploma before making a bewildered face. Everyone watched in silence as he pulled something off the thin paper and held it in his hand before holding it up to the light, something once again catching and blinding a few on lookers.

"A…ring?" Cloud mutter softly, the mic now floating right in front of his mouth before he snorted and held it in his hand again. "What, did I win some kind of--"

He fell silent as he watched Sephiroth get back on stage and walk over to him, the pair staring at one another for a moment before the tallest of the two slowly got to one knee. Cloud's eyes bugged for a moment as he lost his breath. "--prize?"

A few people jumped at their mother's loud squeals as they did a small dance that resembled someone having to use the restroom (in his opinion anyway). They finally took a seat, Mrs. London all put pushing DiZ out of his so that she could be with Mrs. Madison, the pair watching the proceedings anxiously as they held hands, gitty looks on their faces.

Mr. London proceeded to look anywhere but at the pair of women while Yazoo, who was the closest to them, simply removed himself from his seat and stole another far away from the entire family while Xemnas casually helped DiZ up and into Yazoo's old seat, both too, pretending the two women weren't there.

"Mom, stop embarrassing us!" Ri hissed over at them, waving a hand at them to cease what they were doing before, with an utter look of confusion, looked down at herself and then at Vincent, who eyed her with concern.

She muttered something more so to herself than anyone else before she winced in pain and held on tight to Vincent, a flash in his crimson eyes. He tried to get her to her feet but she, for whatever reason, shook her head firmly and stayed planted in place, pointing at the stage and muttering something. He didn't look to pleased and didn't bother sitting back down as he watched her, his eyes glancing over to the exit ever so often, not paying attention at all to the pair on the stage.

But there was no grand speech of melodramatic declarations of love. Just a simple brush of the hand as Sephiroth took Cloud's into his. The pair kept looking into one another's eyes, unwavering and it was obvious that anything and everything Sephiroth had to say, he was telling the blond through his eyes.

A smile broke onto Cloud's face as he finally looked away, laughing a little and muttering that he couldn't believe this as Sephiroth finally spoke, his demeanor in a smooth, calm, and dare should someone say, loving manner.

A simple statement:

"Marry me Cloud."

More Author's Notes:
…I like that version a lot better. Once again, thanks guys for bearing with me and being so patient!

A few notes:
1. After reading the first few chapters for this story and finally deciding indefinitely where I wanted to go with the fiction, I have revised the prologue and first chapter. Kairi's chapter will remain untouched thus far. The main reason for the revision was that I didn't like how I conveyed or explained certain things (some of which was too soon). And the first chapter was written during a period when I had writer's block, so it wasn't really the best.

It's been a good while since I've updated this story for that reason mainly: I knew where I wanted to go with the story but hadn't really paved a way to get there. I ended up writing myself in to a corner and wanted to seriously think about where I was going to go with the story before I wrote it any further. I tried to avoid having to revise anything but in the end, after reading and re-reading things, I realized I really didn't have a choice as I grew to hate how some of the things were turning out.

Though I will say it wasn't the only reason: there were certain things that literally happened beyond my control (like having to move immediately or loosing the internet for a while, as well as a few of files for a good portion of my stories), and wanting to concentrate on other things in general.

2. At this point, no one other than Reno and Rikku know that Vincent is actually a vampire yet. This will be explained very soon though, probably in the next chapter, how they've gotten away with it thus far, especially with Vincent spending so much time around the family. Next chapter is a hell of a lot longer than before. So yeah, I'd give it another read, lmao. More to come but until then, as always:

Happy Reading!

~Kamirine