After all these years, Cloud was still here. The rusted plates that had hid Midgar away from the world had fallen, now broken and rusted. The people had all gone, having fled or returned to the planet. One of the few things still left standing was the church in Sector 5. Aerith's church, which had become Cloud's home, since he had nowhere else to go now. It was so cliché, it was almost laughable. A sinner living in a church. He knew he shouldn't be here, after everything he'd done, but he couldn't bear to leave this place. Leave them. This was his punishment, to live in the knowledge that he could have saved all of them, but he wasn't strong enough. Or maybe he was, and he didn't want to. Cloud wasn't sure what the truth was anymore. He made sure of that.
No matter where Cloud had run, he always followed him. That little voice in the back of his mind that pushed him closer and closer to the brink of madness. Some part of him hoped that if he came back here, she would protect him. It was selfish, but then so was he. If he were even half the man he'd claimed to be, they'd all be here instead. Instead of…
Footsteps. He could hear footsteps. But how could that be when everyone was…?
No.
Not here.
This place is sacred.
Cloud stood up. He knew before he even turned around who it was. The only person it could ever be now.
The man who had given me everything, and had taken it all away.
Sephiroth stood in front of him, a small smile playing on his lips. Cloud stood as tall as he could, as if some little display of defiance would scare him off. As if fighting back had ever worked.
Sephiroth slowly raised his arm, hand outstretched to Cloud, as if he were giving him a choice. They both knew that Cloud would give in. He always had, and he always would. It was written in his blood, the Jenova cells that coursed through him would always make it that way. Would always rig the game in Sephiroth's favour.
Cloud took an uneasy step forward. Sephiroth's smile widened slightly, those unnerving green eyes watching him like a hawk.
Another step, and another. Cloud was slowly making his way closer, limbs not quite coordinating, as if he were being puppeteered. And wasn't he? Sephiroth had always been fond of calling him a puppet. His puppet.
The only one left.
The only one that had survived.
Doesn't that make me special?
He shakily stretched out his arm, each uncertain step dragging him closer and closer to his inevitable fate. Their fingers grazed, and he slowly slid his hand into Sephiroth's. Sephiroth's fingers closed over Cloud's hand, uncharacteristically gentle. Searing pain shot up Cloud's arm as Sephiroth tightened his grip, squeezing tighter and tighter until Cloud's legs buckled under him and he fell to his knees.
Where Sephiroth had always said I would end up. Begging for forgiveness.
Cloud looked up, Mako-diluted eyes struggling to focus as the pain became unbearable. Sephiroth loosened his grip, still tight enough to keep Cloud where he wanted him, his free hand softly trailing down Cloud's face.
And Cloud, like the fool he was, leaned into it, eyes drifting shut. He wanted to say he was just grateful the pain had stopped, but that wouldn't have been the entire truth. Jenova cells or no, in a twisted way, Cloud loved him. And he knew that in as twisted a way, Sephiroth loved him too. Two halves of one whole, incomplete without the other, destined to always find their way back to each other, no matter how far they were flung apart. Sephiroth had taken everything from him, everyone he'd loved, but then puppets couldn't love, could they? And weren't they better off without him? Without the pain and suffering that inevitably came their way because of him?
Sephiroth was helping him, and he was too blind to see it. Too stubborn, desperately clinging onto the scraps of humanity that he had left. All he had to do was let go, become what was destined for him. It would all be so much easier if he gave into the darkness threatening to consume him each passing day. Give it the control it so desperately craved. Give him control.
Sephiroth gently pressed his thumb to Cloud's lips, his fingers hooking under his chin. A shiver ran through Cloud, and he couldn't honestly say it was an unpleasant feeling. He had been alone for so long, everyone gone but him, destined to blindly stumble in the dark until he gave in, told Sephiroth what he'd been wanting to hear from him for so long now.
"What is it that you want?" Sephiroth spoke finally, voice soft and low as Cloud had remembered it. As it always sounded in his dreams, the ones that left him sweating and trembling in the night.
Sephiroth stroked his thumb against Cloud's cheek, so gentle compared to what Cloud knew he was capable of that it was unnerving. It had been so long since Cloud had felt a touch that wasn't his own, and he craved it, craved that affection, as if he were a starving man at a banquet.
"Forgiveness," Cloud replied, and his voice cracked, barely a whisper.
Sephiroth smiled, a rare, almost kind smile, and he knelt down in front of Cloud, pulling him close to him. Without a second thought, Cloud threw his arms around him, wanting and desperate to be wanted in return.
"My poor puppet," Sephiroth spoke low in his ear, "You are forgiven."
And Cloud broke, like a child, tears streaming down his face, as if he had been saved. And in some sick way, he had. Sephiroth ran a hand through Cloud's hair, holding him as the walls that Cloud had built up inside himself all those years finally came crashing down.
Cloud eventually quietened, and Sephiroth pulled back to look at him.
"Look at you," he said softly, almost affectionately. "You pushed all of them away, and left yourself alone. But no matter how much you try to push me away, I always come back. Do you know why?"
Cloud bit his lip, not quite able to meet Sephiroth's piercing gaze. He shook his head.
"I think we're a little beyond lies now, Cloud." The way he said his name, with such reverence, would be enough to bring Cloud to his knees, if he wasn't already there. Like it had in the past. "It's because I love you. Not like the others thought they did. No one can really love a creature like you. None but me. Because I see you for who you really are. And I love you regardless."
Sephiroth's words had always been like venom. They stung and broke him, but afterwards came the warm lull of sleep. And no one who loved him could really mean to hurt him, could they?
Cloud forced himself to look up at Sephiroth. Those unnerving eyes, watching him, like he could see right through him. As if something were pushing him, Cloud leaned forward, pressing a kiss to Sephiroth's mouth. It had always been this way between them, Sephiroth never forced him, never made him do anything, but despite his best efforts, Cloud always found himself here, in some way or another, giving all of himself to the man who did nothing but take from him.
Sephiroth kissed him back, pulling him closer, and Cloud's breath hitched. He needed this, needed the closeness, the intimacy of another person more than he could say. He always hated himself for it, but he needed Sephiroth. Craved him like a drug, and no matter how long they were apart, that nagging feeling was always there, impossible to ignore.
Sephiroth stood up, breaking the kiss, and out of desperation, Cloud threw himself at his feet.
You said you wouldn't leave. Please don't leave me.
With an almost pitying smile, Sephiroth held out his hand again. Cloud shakily took it, and Sephiroth pulled him to his feet.
"This is all I ever wanted for you, if only you'd stop fighting."
Cloud smiled, and his face felt strained. It had been a long time. Sephiroth led him along the walkway, and for the first time, Cloud didn't look back. He didn't need them anymore, just as they hadn't needed him. He had everything he needed right here, in Sephiroth.
Right?
Note:This is written as an AU where everyone dies after the fight with Sephiroth except for Cloud. (As if life wasn't hard enough for him.) I've been a huge fan of FFVII for years now, but this is the first time I've actually posted anything, so I hope it's okay! Thank you for reading!