Title: Only in 1,000 Ways
Author: ~AVA~
Rating: PG13 – R (at most, depending on situations)
Game: Final Fantasy VII (after Dirge of Cerberus)
Characters: Reflective Vincent, Semi-Emo Cloud, Crazy Insane Reno, Slap Happy Yuffie, Papa Cid, the Kids
Pairing(s): Vincent/Cloud
Warning(s): Language, Adult Situations, Emo-ness (from the Chocobo)
Summary: Sephiroth's back with a vengeance, wreaking havoc in Cloud's dreams.
Notes: Written instead of/around my JRock fanfics. Because I'm totally uncool and boring like that.
Disclaimer: SqueEnix beat me to it! Noooo!
Date: March 3, 2009

After a posting hiatus of... too long... I bring back something new. Wow, I suck. lol But if you could see the list of JRock series I've begun... and yet to finish, mostly... you'd understand. I think my JRock and Moon Child are on a semi-permanent hiatus. I dunno, we'll see. For now, see if you can enjoy this. :) Let me know how it goes.

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Prologue

Cloud woke in a panicked sweat, gasping in the cool night air. Sitting up, he let the light blanket fall from his bear chest and pool into his lap. Panting quietly, he rubbed his face with a shaking hand. Beside him, Vincent stirred in the darkness, rolling onto his back and peering at the younger man through the shadows.

"Cloud?"

Shaking his head roughly, the blonde slipped from the bed and into the hall. Vincent lay in silence, listening to the others receding footsteps, before letting go a deep breath. This was the eighteenth night, if he recalled properly, that Cloud had done this. Unknown to his companion, Vincent was always awake when Cloud fell into slumber, and he knew the exact moment that the dreams began to plague his sleeping mind. But Cloud would never own up to these things, and Vincent wasn't one to push. Cloud would wake in a frenzy and leave the room. It would be hours later before he'd come back, and Vincent would pretend to sleep again, not allowing himself to really rest until he felt Cloud curl up behind him and drift off again. Then, he'd turn over and draw the young man into his arms, will the nightmares away, and sleep.

Vincent wasn't sure what to do at this juncture. He'd followed Cloud from the room the first night and ended up ensnared in an argument with him over petty things. After that, Vincent had learned to leave Cloud to his own devices.

Settling himself back into his pillow, the dark eyed vampire studied the shadows along the ceiling. He considered speaking with Tifa about this behavior, hoping maybe she could help sort things out. He almost didn't notice when Cloud came back into the room until he felt the bed shift.

Cloud curled against Vincent's side, resting his blonde head on the sturdy shoulder beneath it.

"I'm okay," he whispered.

"I hope so. Cloud, what's going on?"

Cloud tensed. Vincent could almost envision the expression of sadness mingling with Cloud's normal blank one.

"He's back," Cloud finally whispered, his voice almost too quiet to hear.

"Who is?"

"Sephiroth." It was Vincent's turn to tense. "In my head, I mean," Cloud quickly amended. "All in my head. My dreams turn to nightmares. Vincent… he's trying to kill me."

Vincent remained silent, pulling Cloud tighter to his side. He carefully kept his clawed arm away, but the one he could still use, now devoid of its characteristic glove, petted the soft skin of Cloud's back. Skin to skin like this, Vincent could feel Cloud's heartbeat, and he knew Cloud could hear his. Slowly, the blonde drifted back into sleep. Once again, as he'd begun doing, Vincent willed the nightmares to stay away, but he could not sleep. When the first rays of dawn began to creep over Edge, Vincent let his eyes fall closed finally. Daylight always made the shadows weak. He only hoped it worked on nightmares, too.

"Are sins ever forgiven?"
"I've never tried."

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Hey look! I'm posting something! Tell me it sucks. XD And I call Vincent a vampire because... well... I don't know what else to call him. lol