Saying Good-bye
Disclaimer: After so many years, I know we should own them, but damnit, they are too expensive.
Warning: There might be a character death in this story…sorry.
There was a light murmur of voices surrounding the theatre as the patrons all began to file out after the play. One couple separated from the rest of the crowds as they decided to detour through an alleyway in order to take a short cut to the parking lot where they had left the car.
"That show is always so amazing," Aerith smiled and wrapped her arm around her husband's, loving how warm he was even through the thick sports coat that he wore. "I think I can understand why Genesis has seen this so many times. I think he last said that he's up to nearly 100 times."
The dark haired man chuckled, his own arm wrapping around his wife's waist and pulling her close to him. "I know he's your uncle's step-grandson, but Genesis is a little bit odd. Though I have to admit, I wasn't sure that LOVELESS was going to be everything that it was cracked up to be, I did like it."
Flipping her long brown hair over her shoulder, the slim woman laughed lightly at the joking manner of Zack, knowing that he had been more excited than she had been to come see this play. "Come on, Zack," she giggled. "This has been the best anniversary ever. I wonder how Roxas and Sora are making out with the kids."
"I'm sure they're fine, sweetheart. Palom and Porom love your brothers, probably a twin thing. And Chime has probably been asleep the whole time. It's whether or not they could get our little Onion Knight to settle down. I swear, he's got more energy then the two of them combined, which is a big accomplishment," laughed Zack as they turned down another alley.
"Would you rather them all be quiet and sullen like Cloud? Or even worse, they could be like your brother and sisters," joked Aerith. It was a common topic of discussion between them, who of their siblings did their four children act like.
"Oh lord, I hope neither of the girls end up like Fang," Zack laughed, "But enough about our families. Today is our anniversary. It is all about us and celebrating the most wonderful 10 years of our lives," Smiling at the smaller woman, the dark haired man couldn't believe how much he still loved the woman after so many years together. There was never a day that his love for her or their four children didn't grow. He was thankful for every one of them, and wouldn't change anything. A gasp of surprise from beside him caused Zack to look down at his wife.
Aerith's bright green eyes were wide as saucers and focused forward. Curious as to what had caused that reaction from his wife, the dark haired man looked in the same direction, his stance stiffening as he saw a stranger dressed in dark clothing in front of them, a gun held unsteadily in front of him.
"Drop the purse and jewelry and no one will get hurt!" there was intense desperation in the man's voice that frightened Zack more than anything. In all his years on the force, he knew that there was nothing more dangerous than someone full of desperation. Carefully moving so that he was now standing in front of his petite wife, Zack tried to discretely reach into the front of his coat for his gun clip, only to realize that he wasn't wearing it tonight.
"All cars in the vicinity, report to a shooting on Trine Avenue. We have reports of two victims down, suspect is still in area. I repeat: suspect is still in area and believed to be armed. All cars in vicinity, please..."
The voice came over the radio and caused the two men in the squad car to look at each other in unison.
"I believe that that's our sign that our coffee break has been cut short," the darker of the two said with a smirk as he reached up and buckled his seatbelt. Normally, as a detective, he didn't go on patrol. However, tonight had been a rare night that he had been at the station with his long time friend, and the current police captain, Basch. They had decided to take a trip to the local coffee shop during a lull in the calls.
"I suppose so," the blond man smiled, the scar that ran along his left eyebrow crinkling with the action. Within seconds, they were off, lights and sirens on the squad car lighting up the night.
They drove through the darkened streets with purpose towards the address that they were given, all other thoughts escaping from their minds. Training and instincts took over as the streets passed namelessly, both men knowing that the quiet times that they had been experiencing lately couldn't have lasted. They only could hope that they would make it to the scene before the two victims were lost.
It was apparent the moment they turned the corner that they were not the first on the scene, but that wasn't going to stop them from assisting in anyway they could. Stopping the car, both men pulled out their badges as they stepped out of the car, flashing them at the perimeter guards.
"Detective, we just arrived, we're setting up the perimeter right now, and trying to apprehend the shooter. We have two down, both with gunshot wounds, one male one female. We're trying to get ID's for them, but their personal effects were all taken. I'm assuming that this was just a mugging gone wrong. Best we can tell, the male victim jumped in front of the female after she was shot. Paramedics are on the scene now." the officer who was obviously in charge began to brief the two officers of higher rank, leading them over to the police line. Neither man recognized him as he wasn't from their precinct.
"Thank you, Lieutenant," Basch said, lifting the yellow tape for himself and his colleague to enter the scene.
Angeal began to look over the scene, seeing the two victims on the ground, surrounded by EMT's when the bloodstained dress of the female victim caught his eye. It was a pale pink, and it reminded him of one that his daughter-in-law had. She had mentioned that she was planning on wearing it the next time that she and Zack were going to the theatre. Not wanting to dwell on those sorts of thoughts when there was a possible homicide, the man of dark hair then looked over at the other victim. The sight he saw made his blood run cold. The male victim had a familiar head of spiky black hair. With a gasp of distress, the detective rushed over to the blood covered man, a sense of dread filled him, and he hoped that for once, his instincts would prove to be wrong. Hadn't Zack said that he and Aerith were going to the theatre to celebrate their anniversary tonight?
As much as it hurt him to do so, Angeal ignored the still form of his daughter in law, more concerned about his son. Within a few steps, he could tell right away that this was his worse nightmare coming to life. His son was lying prone on the ground, four blood stains growing larger by the moment scattered over his chest and shoulders.
"Angeal!" a voice echoed deafly on the detective's ears as he knelt down, placing his son's head in his lap as tears began to fall down his cheek.
"Zack! Puppy, come on. Answer me. Don't do this to me, son," there was a frantic panic seeping into Angeal's words as he tried to get a response from the man in his lap. He could feel that his son's breathing was shallow, and he was struggling for breath.
"Pops..." the whisper was barely audible as the sounds of the night filled the air around them. It all sounded so faint to the detective, while the whisper was all he wanted to listen to.
"Hang in there, Puppy. Help is on the way. We'll get you to the hospital and get you stitched up. You're going to be alright." though he attempted to hide it, Angeal knew that the panic was turning to hysteria and he wanted to appear strong for his son.
A few wet coughs sounded from the prone man as he reached out a single hand behind his father towards where his wife lay. "Aerith..."
Sparing only a momentary glance over to the brunette woman's position, it sent more pain through the detective's heart as he saw the EMTs shaking their heads and removing their instruments from where they pressed against her still body. Looking back down at his son, Angeal had barely noticed that the medical personnel had begun attending to Zack's injuries, as long as he wasn't asked to move. The detective just took his sons hand and said "Aerith is over there, Puppy. You've got to hang on for her and the kids. Hold on Zack, hold on," he continued to sputter out words of comfort, mostly for himself, as he finally allowed the tears to fall down his cheeks. Looking back down at his eldest child, Angeal's eyes went wide as he saw that Zack's eyes were closed, sending a new wave of terror through him. "Zack! No, Zack!"
"Detective, we have to get him to the hospital, now. He's losing too much blood. If we don't get him transported now, we'll lose him." The words that the EMT was saying were muffled and distant to the dark haired man, none of them really registering to him. All he knew was that Zack was suddenly being lifted from his lap. When he felt the release of pressure, Angeal stood up in a very zombie like state. He refused to let go of his son's hand, concerned that the warmth seemed to be draining from it with each passing second.
"Angeal?" A voice sounded from somewhere that seemed to be far off, but the dark haired man still turned towards it, only too faintly see the police captain standing there with a look of concern on his face.
"Basch…my son…I don't know…what do I…with him…" Angeal stuttered, unable to finish a thought or sentence. The blond man nodded and placed a hand on his friend and colleagues shoulder, a sympathetic look on his scarred face.
"Go with him, Angeal. Don't worry about anything else. I will take care of it all. Godspeed and I hope everything will turn out alright."
Still in his daze, unable to voice anything else, the dark haired man just followed beside the stretcher that his son laid on unmoving, walking along until they stopped to lift the stretcher into the back of the waiting ambulance. As soon as it was placed, Angeal climbed in next to it, holding onto his son's hand for dear life, trying not to think of his daughter-in-law on the cold ground, never to smile or laugh again. He had to stay strong for his son, something that was going to be much harder than anything else he had ever done before.
"You done?" A soft voice spoke in the car as they pulled into the parking spot at the hospital. The blond man reached up and wiped away the few remaining tears as his boyfriend placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing in support.
He just nodded, rubbing his forehead for a moment before taking a deep breath. "I can't believe that she's gone. I don't want to believe it."
"You will make it through this, Cloud. You will," the dark haired man said, knowing that phrases like 'It will be okay' and 'Things will get better' were pointless to say.
Cloud took a moment to collect himself once again, knowing that he was going to need to be the support for his younger brothers once he got into the building. "Let's go," he whispered, his voice hiding all traces of how upset he had just been. The two men got out of the car, and began to walk towards the large building looming in front of them. Despite the fact that they were never an outwardly affectionate couple while in public, Cloud found himself reaching for Squall's hand, needing to feel that constant support for a little bit longer.
As they approached the hospital, the blond paused again for just a moment, not knowing what to expect when he got in there. He had received the call from his mother telling him that Aerith and Zack had both been shot during an apparent mugging, and that Aerith hadn't made it. Unfortunately, his mom had been too distraught to be able to tell him Zack's condition. The shock had been too much for Cloud to ask either. All the information he had been able to get out of his mother was which hospital that they had taken him to.
"Cloud," a voice broke through his thoughts, causing the blond to turn towards it. There, in the smoking area and leaning up against the wall was Zack's brother, nursing a cigarette, his girlfriend leaning up against his shoulder.
"Terra, how is he?" Squall questioned, unsure if Cloud would be able to answer in his current state of mind.
Taking another long drag off his smoke, Terra let out a sigh. "Punctured lung, shattered collarbone, several perforated organs in the abdomen, massive blood loss. He's in surgery now. He hasn't woken up yet either. He was conscious when Dad got on the scene, but he hasn't been since. The doctor said though they might have to put him into a medical induced coma afterwards though." He then butted his cigarette out in the receptacle, pulling another one out right away and lighting it.
"Terra…" His girlfriend Aqua said, rubbing her hand up and down his arm. She knew better than anyone that when Terra was this stressed, he chain smoked in order to keep himself from falling back into old habits. Though he had been clean for a little over 5 years, he sometimes still felt the urges he had when he was at the height of his addiction. In times of great stress, he dealt with those urges by chain smoking. It was definitely much better for him to do that than the alternative.
"Is everyone up there?" Cloud asked, unable to ask about any other details at the moment. It still seemed so surreal and unbelievable. And once he entered the hospital, he felt as if it would become more real and truth. Out here, it still felt like a dream.
Letting out a stream of smoke, Terra just nodded. "Yeah, your parents brought Sora and Roxas and the kids, Xigbar just showed up with his family. Fang, well, I'm just going to say that I'm glad Vanille is there with her. Dad's worse though. Yuna is on a flight now, but she won't be able to get here until tomorrow afternoon."
As soon as Cloud heard that Sora and Roxas were upstairs, he began heading into the building, knowing that he had to get up there as soon as possible. All he could think was that his brothers were up there and probably were barely holding it together. They didn't have the ability to be able to shut their emotions off like he did.
Letting go of his boyfriend's hand, Cloud let out into a run, already knowing where in the hospital he was heading. Everything blurred around him as he made his way towards through the corridors, ignoring everything and anyone until he came to a set of double doors, and through the window, he could see many members of his family sitting inside, everyone with a saddened look on their face. Opening the doors in the silence caused every person in there to look up at him, but the only ones that Cloud was concerned with at the moment were his brothers. Before he got the chance to finish looking around, the blond man found himself surrounded by two sets of arms, two smaller bodies also being pressed against him.
Looking down for only a moment when he heard the soft sobbing of both his brothers, Cloud wasn't surprised to find that Sora was holding Palom while Roxas had Porom in his arms. It seemed as if the two sets of twins had a special bond between them, and Cloud was glad for that at the moment. The two four year olds would need some sort of support going through this, and as long as Cloud was able to support his brothers, it would hopefully in turn help his brothers support their niece and nephew.
"Cloud…"Sora whispered as he sniffed back a few tears, feeling his brother's arm wrap tightly around him and pulling him closer.
"I know, Sor," Cloud said with a sigh. His other arm wrapped around Roxas, pulling the five of them in all close together. For so long it seemed as if Aerith was the glue that held them together as siblings, and now the blond man knew that it was going to fall on him to fill that role. Before anyone else could make a sound, Cloud lead them over to an empty couch, knowing that the sleeping Palom and Porom would quickly get heavy in their uncles arms. After a few moments, the blond noticed that Roxas and Sora both seemed to zone out, staring into the room in front of them and not saying a word, just leaning into Cloud.
Cloud's mind however would not have the chance to zone out like that. Though he barely registered Squall, Terra and Aqua entering the waiting room, the blond knew that his boyfriend had come to stand beside the couch he and his brothers were now occupying, leaning up against the wall. Now that he knew that he was there for his younger brothers, Cloud knew that there was one more person that he would need to be able to be there for during all this. A quick scan of the room showed him that the child was nowhere to be found. He did however see Chime fast asleep the way only a two year old could be in the corner of one of the chairs that had seen better days here in the waiting room. His mom was keeping a close eye on her, while his dad was sitting next to her with his head in his hands. Cloud couldn't even face either of them right now. Not until the found out how Zack was doing.
Another door opened, and for a moment, every head in the room turned towards the door leading towards the operating room, but a collective sigh of worry, pain and anxiousness sounded from every one in the room when no one came through it. Instead, Cloud's eyes were drawn straight to the other door in the room, a door leading to a restroom. Standing in that doorway was the other person who Cloud knew would need him. His nephew and godson, the child who still refused to go by his given name thanks to a nickname Cloud had given him back when he was an infant. As soon as the blond child saw that his favourite uncle had finally arrived, he ran over to him just as Cloud got his arms removed from around his younger brothers.
"Uncle Cloud…" the boy's voice was so shaky, and it occurred to the blond man that of the four children, only the eight year old would really understand what was going on with his mother and father right now. The others were all too young to really understand right away that Mommy would never be coming home again and Daddy was still not out of the woods yet.
With no other words, Cloud allowed his nephew to fall into his arms, wrapping his arms around him and allowing the child to cry. As soon as he did, they both felt Sora and Roxas wrap an arm around them as well, allowing their grief to be shared over the loss of Aerith and the fact that Zack was still in critical condition.
"Thank you for coming in. I realize that this is a very hard time for you all," the lawyer said, sitting down behind his large mahogany desk, opening a folder as he did.
Cloud sighed, wanting to be anywhere but here but knowing how important it was for him to be present at this meeting. It had been hard leaving the hospital, but at least he had been able to convince his nephew to go home and get a little bit of sleep with Squall. The past three days had flown by in such a blur that even Cloud was finding his emotions showing. Everything was becoming too much, and it was beginning to take its told on everyone.
"We understand," Locke said, squeezing his wife's hand as he looked over at his oldest son- now oldest child. Now more than ever, it was obvious that Cloud was the one that held them all together and remained stable. He wasn't sure how any of their family would have been able to make it through the last few days without him. Even the ones most affected by Aerith's passing and Zack's coma, the four children, had come to depend on Cloud more than anyone. He had really stepped up, showing a side that no one would have ever expected the blond man of possessing. Despite everything else going on, Locke could not deny the pride that he felt for all of his sons and how they were handling everything, especially Cloud.
"I know that you would all like to get back to the hospital as soon as possible, so we will get through this as quickly as we can. Now as you all know, I have here, the last will and testament of Aerith," Leon said, pointing to the single piece of paper that was sitting on the large mahogany desk in front of him. "I understand that this is difficult for everyone here, but it is mandatory."
"We understand completely," Angeal said, his hand resting over the smaller one of his youngest daughter. Yuna had been silent since arriving back in town a few hours after Zack had made it out of surgery, and hadn't said a word since visiting her brother's bedside. Doctors had been unable to tell them how well the surgeries had gone, due to the fact that the injuries that he had received had been so extensive, that they put him immediately into a coma. There had been no change in his condition for the past few days and doctors were now worried that he would never wake up.
"There are a few things that we need to discuss, especially where Zack is still in a coma. But our first concern is the children. Obviously Aerith's husband would be the one to take care of them, however where he is still incapacitated, other arrangements must be made. Luckily, I had spoken to them about just this sort of situation shortly after their youngest child was born, so they have made those arrangements."
There was no sound in the room for quite some time as they all tried to take in the thought of what would happen if Zack never woke up. It was a thought that none of them wanted to entertain, but it was something that had to be considered. Celes and Locke looked briefly at one another, unaware that their daughter and son-in-law had thought of something like this.
Angeal was equally as silent, still not able to accept the fact that there was the very real chance that his puppy would never wake up. He heard Yuna begin to cry beside him again and wrapped his arms around her. She was taking this a lot harder than everyone else, spending every moment she could in a silent vigil beside Zack's bed, next to her eldest nephew.
"I believe that you already knew this, didn't you, Cloud?" Leon said, looking at the blond man, earning gasps from everyone else in the room.
Cloud couldn't bring himself to look at his parents or Angeal, but remained looking at his folded hands. This was supposed to never happen. When he had last sat in this office, it had seemed that he would never have to be here ever again. Suddenly he felt the eyes of his parents and the others in the room bearing down into him. "Yes," was the only thing that he found himself able to say.
"Cloud has been appointed executor to the will and legal guardian of all four children until such a time that Zack is able to care for them again. As such, he will receive the funds from the estate to support them. I understand that this might not have been the arrangements that you were all expecting to hear, but this was what both Aerith and Zack wanted. They believed that this would be the best arrangement for the children," Leon said, trying to gage the reactions of everyone else in the room.
"Cloud?" Locke said, looking over at his son, still slightly in shock at the announcement. Celes let out a slight gasp beside him and clutched his hand tighter.
With a sigh, the blond man reached up and brushed some of his corn blond hair out of his eyes. "Squall and I talked about this with…" he paused as his breath hitched upon having to say the names of his sister and brother in law. "It was their decision. They didn't want to burden any of you with raising young children. They will need their grandparents to be just that: their grandparents."
"But are the two of you ready to take care of three children under the age of four? I know that you two are in a stable relationship, but you are only 23. Are you sure that this is what is best for them?" Angeal questioned.
Once again, Cloud found himself unable to meet anyone else's eyes, continuing to just stare at his hands. "We will do what we have to do. It's all we can do, and we just have to keep the best interest of the kids in mind. Don't think that we will keep you from seeing your grandchildren, we're going to need help."
At that moment, Celes stood up and let go of her husband's hand before walking over and kneeling in front of her son. "All you will have to do is ask, sweetie. I trust in Aerith's decision. Until Zack wakes up and is able to come home, I believe that you and Squall will do an excellent job at taking care of those children," she whispered as she wrapped her arms around the blond man, pulling him in for a tight hug. For the first time in recent memory, there was absolutely no hesitation as Cloud returned the hug.
"Why don't you two head on home and get some rest? I will update you on any changes here," Angeal said as he entered the room where his son lay, still unmoving and attached to so many machines. He had just come back from taking Yuna home, the first time that he had been able to do so for over a day. He had left her in Fang's care, his eldest daughter handling this whole situation so much better than he had thought that she would have. The dark haired man knew that it had a lot to do with the perky redhead girl that Fang had grown so close to.
"I can't go Pop Pop. I have to be here, just in case," the young blond whispered, his arms and head propped up on the bed next to his father's bare arm. With his green eyes closed, the young boy could almost ignore the multitude of tubes, monitors and IV's that were attached to Zack's arms.
Letting out a small sigh, Angeal looked over at the other blond in the room, hoping that he would be able to get Cloud to agree to take his grandson home. He knew that the other kids were all at home with Squall, Sora and Roxas. Chime was just confused about the whole thing, taking it all in like a two year old could. Palom and Porom had attached themselves to Sora and Roxas respectively and at the moment refused to leave their sides. As depressing as this whole situation was for everyone, the one bright side was that it was bringing everyone closer together.
"Cloud, what do you think?" Angeal asked as he adjusted his own position on the other side of the bed as the two blonds.
The older blond then looked down at his nephew and as always, he could feel his heart going out to the young boy. "I don't think another hour or so will be a problem, Angeal. Then we can go get a bite to eat and go home for a bit. Then we can come back first thing in the morning," he said, placing a hand on the child's shoulder. His nephew's normally bright green eyes were missing a lot of their normal light, but they radiated thankfulness to his uncle. It was obvious to Cloud that he didn't want to leave his father's side for any length of time until Zack was in stable condition. The doctor's still hadn't been able give them a better diagnosis for the dark haired man, or if he would wake up at all. There hadn't been any change in his condition for the last couple days, either for the better or worse. It was just a waiting game now.
"Thanks, Uncle Cloud," sighed the child as he laid his head back down on the bed next to his father's arm. He looked up at Zack's face, surprised at how pale his skin looked compared to his dark hair. Looking at him like this, he could almost imagine that his Dad was just asleep and not clinging to the edge of life. If he watched long enough, it almost looked like his eyes were moving, as if Zack was dreaming. The boy known as the Onion Knight could still see the sky blue of his father's eyes. Wait, that wasn't just his imagination…. "Dad?"
0Angeal looked over at his grandson, wondering if he was going to start talking to Zack again and would want a little bit of privacy. But he was completely surprised by the sight of his grandson's eyes lit up with surprise and hope for the first time in a week and his gaze fixed on his son's face. Not wanting to get his own hopes up. But for the first time in a week, he could feel his heart swelling. Zack's eyes were open a crack, sweeping the room and coming to rest on his son.
"Dad! I'm here! Come on, Dad," the young blond said, taking his father's hand into his own. Cloud stood behind his nephew, his hold on the younger blond's shoulder tightening.
"Aerith?" the single word was clear despite the oxygen mask that covered most of his face.
The other three all just looked away, unable to say anything in response. It was hard enough for the rest of them to deal with Aerith's death, but to tell Zack that his wife, the love of his life, was gone. There was no way for any of them to be able to say those words.
The silence from the three others was enough for Zack to understand and the only response he was able to give was a single tear escaping from the cloudy blue eyes, and a tighter squeeze to his son's hand.
"Dad, it's okay. We're here," the young blond said, trying not to start crying himself. He knew that he needed to stay strong for his father; it was something that he had been taught by both his parents as long as he could remember. It was just something he never figured that he would have to do for his dad.
"Zack," the prone man said, his head slowly turning towards his son. The blond boy winced at the use of his given name, something that only his father called him very rarely. It wasn't as if the child was ashamed or didn't like his name, but he had always just been more comfortable being called Onion Knight.
"Yeah, Dad?" The child whispered, moving closer to the top of his father's bed in order to hear him better. He could feel the tears welling up in his eyes, but wouldn't reach up and wipe them away.
A few pained breaths escaped from the man on the bed, and everyone in the room could tell that Zack was in more pain than they expected him to be with the amount of morphine they had been pumping into him for the past week. None of the rest of them could say anything at the moment, sensing that Zack wanted to speak and that they wanted to be able to hear his quiet words. "Take care of your brother and sisters…" Even with just those few words, it was obvious that he was gasping for breath and it was difficult for him to produce any sound.
"Dad? What do you mean? It's going to be alright. You're going to come home and I'll help you with Palom, Porom and Chime, but you're going to come home with me." That was the moment that the blond boy realized what his father was saying. There was no way that he could hold back the tears now as they started to flow freely down his cheeks. He couldn't release his father's hand, needing to have that contact and Zack to know that he was there.
"Puppy? You're going to be alright. We're all here for you; the Doctor is on his way. Hold on, Puppy," Angeal said, choking back his own tears as he stood up and placed his hand on his son's forehead, pushing some of the limp, dark strands off his face.
"I'm…" it sounded as if Zack was struggling greatly for breath and the pain was becoming too much for him. "Aerith…I'll see you…." All at once, everything crashed down on the other three in the room as the machines began to go wild and the sky blue eyes disappeared beneath eyelids for a final time. The young boy let out a loud and mournful groan as he finally allowed his tears to fall as he pressed his head into his father's still side, unable to hear any more breaths. Angeal echoed his grandson's pain as he laid his head down next to his son's, his pained cries being muffled by the hospital bed.
At that moment Cloud lost control of everything, tears running down his face as he stepped up and placed his hands on the dark haired man's shoulders. "You bastard!" He cried, shaking the still body. "You can't leave your children! You selfish bastard! You can't do this!" In his distraught state, the blond man began to shake Zack's lifeless body. "Come back, please! Please! Please!" With each plea, the shaking got weaker and weaker. Angeal suddenly was over beside Cloud, pulling him off of his son, his arms wrapped around the blond man's chest.
"Cloud! Cloud! Stop it! He's gone!" Angeal cried, surprised that he felt the normally strong man shaking. Cloud then reached one hand up and grabbed Angeal's forearm, before the two of them fell to the floor, sobbing as the reality of what was happening truly sunk in. Knowing that there was someone else that would need them more than ever, Cloud held out his free arm and instantly his nephew was there and the three of them knelt there, crying and knowing that life would never be the same.
"This car sure brings back memories, doesn't it Cloud?" Squall asked, trying to break the silence that had encompassed the car for the past hour. Normally the lack of silence didn't bother either of them, but today it just seemed to be too much. In the past month, the two of them had gotten used to the constant chatter that came along with the four children that they had taken custody of and though they hadn't fallen into the parenting role perfectly, they were making it through it with the help of all their families.
Cloud still just stared out the front window, in a bit of a daze. "Huh? What?" he said articulately, looking over at his brunet lover. It still surprised him that Squall stuck around after all this that happened, but he was grateful for it every moment.
"This car. A blue station wagon. The first time that we spoke, you had to bring your mom's car to your uncle's garage when I was still working there and I drove you and Little Zack home," Squall said as he pulled the car over into a parking lot.
"You mean OK," Cloud smirked and interrupting, finally listening to what Squall was actually saying. "You know that he hates being called by his name, especially now."
Squall huffed a single puff of laughter out, "Yeah, I know. Anyway, I thought that he was your son. But it was a car like this, a blue station wagon."
"Except it was the devil's car and it was the ugliest thing ever. At least this one works and doesn't have that stupid panelling all along the side," a true smile came onto Cloud's lips now as he looked up at the building that they had come to stop in front of. He knew that Squall was just trying to calm his nerves. Reaching across the centre console, the blond took his boyfriend's hand, squeezing tightly. "Thank you."
Squall raised one dark eyebrow as he looked over the blond. "For what?"
Taking in a deep breath, Cloud couldn't meet the other's eyes. "For sticking around. I know that this wasn't the plan for us. We never expected to have four kids so suddenly. We've never even talked about adoption before, and now we suddenly have four. You know, if this is something that you don't want, I wouldn't blame you for leaving. I won't hold it against you."
"Cloud," Squall sighed, "Shut up and cut the crap."
"What?" he questioned slightly confused.
Squall rolled his stormy eyes and rubbed his thumb over his lover's knuckles. "If I didn't want this, I wouldn't stay. You are stuck with me, whether or not you like it. Deal with it. Now, I believe that we are expected in the relator's office in only a few minutes to finish signing for the house. Ready?"
"Ready," Cloud nodded with a small smile. They could do this.
This story has been in the works for a long time, and we're glad that it is finally done. And hopefully this is the first of several stories from the famtreverse over the next little while.
If you like this, check out the rest of our famtrevserse stories and leave feedback for more!
The end