'Long ago, in a time before you or me, a handsome prince put himself under a spell to get out of dealing with his ex-girlfriend, the Princess Lucrecia, who had coincidentally been knocked up by a rival prince. Before his long sleep, he was changed. You will know him if you see him. He wears a long, golden glove to hide an injury he received from the horrible rival prince, who was said to have been named 'Hojo', along with many other bodily changes. It is said that the only way to wake up the handsome prince is to give him a kiss…but nobody can remember where he is, so he sleeps, waiting for his true love to awaken him with a kiss. The End.' Tifa closed the book, looking at the bright-eyed young children. Everyone loved the tale of Prince Vincent. Girls dreamed of growing up and finding him one day, sleeping under a tree or out in a field, so they could awaken him with a kiss and probably marry him. Ever since the Lucrecia thing, he probably tried to look for a girl who would establish a concrete relationship early on and hide away somewhere secluded, to avoid dealings with potential competition. Tifa herself was fascinated with the story, because for once in a fairy tale, the damsel had to save the strong man, and it made her feel alive, which is why she read it to the children, all of them girls and only a few over the age of nine. Cloud stood in the corner of the room, smiling and rolling his eyes as Tifa told the girls that one day they might save the devastatingly handsome prince and fall in love. One girl raised her hand.

'Yes?'

'What does "knocked up" mean?' Tifa smiled at the girl.

'You'll know when you're older.'

'Ohhh…okay,' the girl said, nodding her head. Tifa put the book under her arm and began walking out the door. She slowed down to Cloud's emo corner and raised her eyebrows, nodding towards the door. He detached himself from the dark crevice of the structure to walk out with her.

'So…I hear you're going to Wutai for a week.'

'No, I haven't been talking about it for most of this week, Tifa.'

'Shut up! I just wanted to ask you something…'

'What?'

'If you run into an unconscious man with a golden glove, bring his body here so I can kiss him.'

'…'

'Cloud? Cloooud?'

'You're a freak. What if I'm traveling with a friend, who's a girl, like you?'

'You won't. Cloud, as far as I know, I'm the only friend-who-happens-to-be-a-girl that you know.'

'You make me seem anti-social…'

'You are kind of. Bye Cloud, see you tonight!' Tifa, at this point, ran off to care for more children, because she's motherly, and left Cloud to walk home.

The next day, Cloud began his journey. He was too mistrusting of commercial travel, so he decided to go on motorcycle, of course, to his destination of Wutai. He had packed everything he needed, because he had excelled in Boy Scouts as a young lad. Tifa dropped out of Girl Scouts, which was something Cloud liked to mock her for as he sorted mountains of badges for what seemed like the fourth time that day to poor Tifa. But now, he was alone, no badges or Tifa to have fun with, and while brooding, he conveniently forgot to stop to refill the gas on Fenrir. He knew he was almost to the inn he was staying in that night, though, so he didn't make too much of it. But, while engaging in an angsty flashback, he couldn't recall whether he had to turn right or left at the fork in the road, and decided in a fit of destiny-related stupidity, to turn left.

It didn't take long for Cloud to realize this wasn't the right way. There wasn't an inn in sight! He did, however, see a seemingly abandoned spooky old house. The cliché-ness of it all made Cloud more amused than afraid; there were cobwebs he had to flail through as he passed the front porch threshold and the stairs creaked. Fortunately, the door was unlocked, but it creaked itself open. Cloud sighed at it.

Cloud began to search the house, noticing the thick coating of dust and the small animals scurrying across the floor when they thought he wasn't looking. He didn't want to stay here, but his motorcycle was very low on gas, and he didn't like sleeping outside, because his hair frizzed. After inspecting the kitchen, he leaned back on what he assumed was a wall, only to feel it open slowly. Before he had time to react, because he was tired and frustrated, the door opened fully and it took a lot to keep Cloud from falling down the stairs. He straightened himself up and walked elegantly down the stairs. He found a light-bulb, trying to turn the lights on to properly inspect the basement. It smelled like mold…and something else. Something different, like a spice, but a spice you forgot about for thirty years. Instead, Cloud found a fresh, new white candle. He used some handy-dandy materia to light the candle; once lit, he saw the matches lying right beside the candle, but merely shrugged. You can't win 'em all, as Zack used to say, before he died. Maybe, because Zack had won at strip poker the night before, he needed to lose something, so the higher beings decided to take his life away. It made sense to Cloud. He shined the light to his left, and again to his right. Turning around, he shined the light again, and gasped.

Sitting in the basement was a beautiful black bed. Upon further inspection, Cloud saw that there was a man in the bed, sleeping soundly, curled up like a cat. Cloud approached the sleeping figure nervously, touching the red silk sheets and the bed's black wood frame. He looked down at the sleeping man. His hair was long and unruly-looking, sable locks framing his alabaster face. His facial features were beautiful, and Cloud couldn't resist running his hand across his cheek, as if checking if the man was real, and not made of porcelain. He tucked a raven lock behind the man's ear, smiling down at him, when he noticed his left hand, covered by a large golden glove. Cloud stepped back in surprise. Of course! It all made sense. He took the fair prince's hand in his own and looked down at him. He stared at those tempting, tempting lips and got on his knees.

'Tifa is gonna kill me ten times over for this one…' Cloud took his hand out of the prince's to cup his face in his hands and lean closer, feeling a calm, barely noticeable breath rush across Cloud's cheeks. Cloud licked his lips, not sure whether or not he should be doing this. But then he saw that gorgeous face, and his peaceful expression, and he couldn't resist. He leaned closer and pressed his lips against the other man's.