Lullaby

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Genre: Romance

Rating: PG

Series: Kingdom Hearts

Pairing: Strifehart (Leon x Cloud)

Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me.

Description: Cloud has some unusual quirks, and Leon can't help but wonder why he bothers.

Notes: Hmm...the story is set somewhere in the KH2 universe. It's fuffy shonen-ai dribble, so if you're not into those three things, I suggest you run like a bat out of hell.

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He wonders.

Leon wonders what it really was that attracted him to the blond swordsman with the anti-social streak that's a mile wide. Then he thingks, that maybe it was exactly that. Maybe it was because he and Cloud understood what it was like to balance a whole world on their shoulders from time to time. Maybe it was because they both seemed to have trouble asimilating into normal society. The lion and the wolf; two of the world's most fearsome creatures. Why would they need anyone else to depend on? The ironic reality of it all was that they depended on others to fully express their strengths.

Funny.

Maybe this was the reason that they had somehow floated together. It seemed that even though the two had proven time and time again that they could take on legions of darkness without other's help, they somehow needed each other to keep their sanitys intact. At night, when they had found the time to be together, Cloud would cling for dear life onto the brunette while he slept. It was as if he feared that the feelings they shared were somehow an elaborate dream. In turn, Leon needed his love's touch in order to know this was his reality. Somehow they seemed to balance each other out, even though they were strangely alike.

Scratch that.

They were only alike in public. Cloud was an entirely different person in private. Well, in the privacy of Leon's company. Leon was sure Cloud had displayed behaviours that not another living soul knew about. While the two would sit in silence, Cloud would smile and act like a normal 23-year-old should. When Cloud was ready for a little excitement, Leon could witness a true master of seduction at work. Something that other people could never imagine Cloud being. Most of their friends believed that the two were incapable of even having a sex-drive.

Of course, they didn't go to bed with him every night.

Leon knew a softer side of Cloud as well; a cute side if you will. The blond swordsman had an arsenal of pet names for Leon; 'Lovely', 'Cocoa', 'Lion', and on occasions of trying to get something out of the gunblade master, he would be called 'Raindrop'. He didn't figure that one out until he found out what a 'squall' actually was. Cloud also had another very dangerous weapon he used on Leon, his famous 'pout face'. If anyone else saw it, they would fall to knees begging to know what they could do to please him. Even Cloud's ultimate enemy would fall to defeat under the gaze of that one look.

Too bad Cloud threatened to castrate Leon if he ever told anybody about his look.

And then, there was the quirks. Leon had a list a mile long. Cloud was an Obsessive Complusive. If even one thing had gone wrong with his daily routine, he quickly threw a hissy fit. Not too mention, on those days, Leon didn't see much action. Cloud's only excuse would be that, 'he didn't feel right'. Cloud also had frequent nightmares, which resulted in Leon being kicked to death and then the scream that made his heart wrench. Those nights, Cloud would stay awake until he was too exhausted to keep his eyes open. Unfortunately, being the caring person he was, Leon would also stay up with him. He even kept his eyes open a little longer after the blond went to sleep. Just to make sure he was alright.

The ex-soldier also had three different kinds of phobias. The first had clashed terribly with his personality: Monophobia. The blond was afraid to be alone. This explained why he always carried his cell-phone, even though he never answered it. Leon figured out sometime after they had dove into a relationship, that Cloud didn't pick up because he liked to keep people's voices with him at all times. Therefore, keeping his phobia at bay. He knew if the people who called were important to him, they would always leave a message. Leon had learned the hard-way of what happened when Cloud was left alone. He had come home one night only to find a crying blond on his bed. Cloud had been hysteric, and Leon still guilty ever after four months of their relationship had passed by.

Another phobia of Cloud's had previously been Agraphobia, or being abused sexually. And because of this, the first two months of their relationship had never gone past a kiss, no matter how much Leon said he would never do anything to hurt his 'Chocobo-boy'. The boggling thing was, Cloud had told Leon many times that he had trusted the man with his life and knew the brunette would never do anything to harm him. But, he would always be scared, because of the things done in his past. It wasn't until a month later that Cloud had been brave enough to attempt even something remotely sexual with the gunblade weilder. Cloud became more experienced with Leon's help, and eventually wanted to please his lover as many times possible in a week. The lion wasn't complaining.

The only phobia of Cloud's that Leon found annoying was Hemophobia, or the fear of blood. He couldn't understand why a warrior of Cloud's status could fear blood, especially since he had drawn his fair share. Leon found this annoying because during their sparing, if Cloud would accidentally draw blood from him, he would freak out and baby Leon. And if Leon couldn't reach the wound to bandage it, it took forever to get Cloud to dress it.

These were all things Cloud kept hidden from world outside of his relationship with Leon. But even knowing these things, the gunblade wielder could never figure why exactly that he loved the blond in the first place.

The rustling of sheets sounded distant, even the loud sigh that had woke him up had sound muffeled. Leon shook off sleep, knowing already what he would he doing the rest of the night. He kept his head against his down-pillow for a while longer, looking through sleep-fogged eyes at the blond sitting up next to him. He noticed that he wasn't acting panicky like he usually was when he awoke from his nightmares. Leon didn't even feel the kicks he usually delievered or heard that heart-shattering scream. Had he become so immune to Cloud's antics?

"...Cloud?" His lover's piercing-blue eyes met his cloudy grey ones. "Nightmare?" Usually, conversations between the two could be shortened to one word.

"No," Cloud shook his head slowly.

"What's wrong?" The swordsman sat for a moment, trying to think of an excuse to let his boyfriend go back to sleep. Unfortunatley, nothing came out. Leon sat up and pulled the blond close. Cloud laid his head on his lion's shoulder, eyes not even become the slightest bit heavy. Things were quiet, but that wasn't a problem for the two, since they seemed to have a form of telepathy. "Can't sleep?" Leon continued after a while. Cloud nodded, still not feeling sleepy. "Something I can do?"

Quite. Stillness.

Then an answer.

"Sing for me." It had come out more timidly than Cloud had wanted, but Leon had heard him. This still perplexed the brunette. Why would Cloud ask of such a thing? He had never done that for him before.

"Why?"

"...I heard you the other day...humming by the Lookout Point." Leon looked confused for a moment, chiding himself on being so off-guard. What if it had been a heartless or nobody instead of Cloud. He guessed that was for another time, though. The lion smiled, running his hand through the back of the blond's hair.

"What should I sing?"

"...Anything."

"Take me wherever you go,

Help me forget tomorrow

Love me your best and I know

All the rest will follow

Love me as well as you know

And everything else will follow."

Leon knew he when it came to Cloud, one didn't need a reason.

"I won't mind pretending

It's something that's never-ending

Would like to belive someday

We'll be living this way."

Cloud was Cloud, and that was all he needed to know.

"I know you tried

To show me you were on my side

Could it be that I've already found

What I've been searching for the whole world round?"

All he ever wanted to know.

"Take me wherever you go

Help me forget tomorrow

Love me your best and I know

All the rest will follow

Love me as well as you know

And everything else will follow."

Warm, steady breaths fluttered around his collar bone. The blond phobia-ridden, obsessive complusive, nightmare-filled swordsman was out like a light.

"Take me wherever you go

All the rest will follow

Help me forget tomorrow

All the rest will follow

Love me the best you know..."

Leon laid the blond back onto the bed, kissing his forehead.

"I love you, Cloud."

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Ending Notes: Yeah, so fluff-a-rific. I think I got a toothache from that one. It probably horribly sappy, but I'm usually not used to right writing serious stuff like this. The song at the end belongs to Breaking Benjamin, and I think that's all for this. No flames on how craptacular this is please, only constructive critisicm. It's, like, the first ever sappy story I've ever written. '