Title: Help Me, Save Me

Fandom: Super Smash Bros.

Rating: T

Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Friendship

Summary: Cloud needed help. He needed saving. He couldn't hang on any longer. However, the only person who kept him sane was the one he was close to. Cloud x Male Robin friendship. Suicidal thoughts. Based on how I dealt with my dark thoughts.

Pairings: Cloud x Male Robin friendship

A/N: Like almost everyone here, I too have dark thoughts. From what I had to go through with my past to internal conflicts I had with myself, to even downright thoughts of suicide. I also wanted to practice flowery descriptions of feelings this way and to also practice internal conflict in stories. So please, let me know if I was successful in capturing Cloud's emotions or not. Having Asperger's is pretty tough when you can't identify emotions in your own words honestly...heh. Also, for those who are feeling this way, please reconsider. There are people out there who care about you and they would be hurt if you ever did the deed.

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone in Super Smash Bros. or Final Fantasy 7.

ENJOY!

Help Me, Save Me

He couldn't hang on any longer. His life was dangling on the edge. The dark thoughts that haunted him continued to attack him viciously. To Cloud, it felt like he was hanging onto a ledge, and below him were the crashing waves of the ocean known as despair that could spell doom to him if he ever let go of that rocky, rough edge. Yet, to him, life had thrown so many harsh realities at his face, like someone was crushing his fingers so he could let go of the ledge he held on for so long.

First Zack, now Aerith. He lost his two closest friends...and one that he fell in love with. Aerith...he tried to protect her, and he failed as that damned Sephiroth stabbed her to death. He remembered holding her bleeding body in his arms as he tried to hold in a sob. Poor Aerith...so sweet and young, yet so cruelly killed.

Zack...he was his best friend. He still remembered that he broke himself and Cloud out of that horrifying lab, and how he protected him, only at the cost of his life. The Buster Sword that Zack gave him—something that he still kept to this day—was now Cloud's primary weapon, and nothing could replace it, for Zack's sake.

The more he remembered their deaths, the worse the pain had grew on him. He felt like he couldn't take it anymore, and he couldn't hang on to the ledge that saved his life, and his past—oh so cruel—continued to stomp his fingers. Cloud was literally at the brink of suicide. He considered it many times, though he had yet to do it, since Tifa would try to stop him anyway if he even tried to kill himself.

When he was given an invitation to Smash years later, he almost declined. Though thanks to Tifa's pushing, he decided to enter the fourth tournament. His only excuse was that it could help him become stronger so that his remaining friends wouldn't die the same way Zack and Aerith had died in.

He didn't expect to meet famous stars, such as Mario and Sonic, and there was that one man—that one man—who had changed his life...and saved it.

He still remembered the day they met...the Mansion was huge, and Cloud was easily lost in the corridors of the large house. As he searched for his room, he was met by a young man, possibly the same age as him, with black robes and with white hair. He had a tome tucked under his arm, and the man smiled at him.

"Hello," he greeted. "You're one of the newcomers, right?"

Cloud nodded, not saying a single word.

"What are you doing wandering around? Lost?"

Cloud hesitated. He wasn't the kind of person to ask for anyone's help. Not even a stranger. However, the confusing hallways and corridors made his head spin, so he reluctantly nodded before speaking, "I...can't find my room."

The man nodded in understanding. "I think it's near my and my sister's room. Master Hand had told everyone that you, along with a couple of others, were coming."

Cloud said nothing, unamused by this man's chatty nature. For someone who appeared to be a nerd, he sure was social.

"I'm Reflet, by the way," the man introduced himself, holding out a hand for Cloud to shake.

Cloud simply stared at it, though after a brief few seconds, he gripped Reflet's hand and said, "Cloud Strife."

Although he considered Reflet as just an acquaintance, he grew a bit closer to the white-haired man. Of course, part of that was Reflet had been "studying" him (which was actually stalking him), and the fact that he had helped Cloud find his room. Though one thing clicked with Cloud to Reflet. He grew fond of how he tended to babble on about silly facts about trivial things, and how powerful he was on the battlefield.

Soon enough—and even Cloud himself couldn't believe it—he and Reflet became friends. Cloud, however, tried to keep his distance. If anything, he could lose him as well. He felt like someone had laid a curse on him; that if anyone who became friends with Cloud would die soon. He didn't want that to happen to Reflet.

Even though life as a Smasher was okay, Cloud was still hanging on that ledge. His past continued to hurt him even worse, and Cloud could feel that he was hanging by just his few fingers. His suicidal thoughts came back, and this time, they were much worse than it was needed.

He didn't want to live like this. He didn't want to feel the pain anymore. Yet...he couldn't muster up the courage to do it.

Help me...save me...somebody…

He could still feel that his hands were slipping from the rocky edge, and life—the evil person who kept stomping his fingers—stomped them for one last time, and Cloud began to fall...fall to despair and even death—

"Cloud?"

Cloud jumped upon hearing a voice at his doorway. Without even himself noticing, he had been crying. His face turned a bright red, embarrassed that someone caught him crying to himself. He was a man—men weren't supposed to cry!

To his surprise, it was Reflet standing in the doorway—someone Cloud wished shouldn't had seen him crying. He turned his head, away from Reflet, and he gulped down a lump in his throat as his face was still red from both crying and from the mortification.

"Hey..." Reflet whispered, placing a hand on Cloud's shoulder. "You okay?"

For once...Cloud felt comfortable with Reflet. Even though he wanted the white-haired man to leave, he wanted him to stay at the same time. Tifa knew of his past, and she was there for comfort, though it wasn't enough. Yet, Reflet was the comfort he needed—his savior who grabbed his hand and pulled him up from the ledge he held on for so long. Reflet saved him. He saved his life and his sanity.

"...Just been thinking about my past, is all."

"Wanna talk about it?"

Cloud, to Reflet's shock, nodded. "Yeah..."

With Reflet, Cloud's sanity had been intact, and he got the help he so desperately needed. He was saved by Reflet from the waves of despair and death, and Cloud was no longer hanging on to the ledge of suicide.

Constructive criticism is welcomed!