So... you know how I said that the title would give away the second chapter? I lied. I hadn't written the second chapter yet, and the story turned out to be a lot longer than I originally intended. Riku's secret was going to come out in this chapter, but things didn't turn out that way. So I think I'll have to change the title. The one on ffn, not the secret one the file is called on my computer.

On a completely unrelated note – I went as Cloud to an anime convention a week or two ago, and I was going to get a picture with a Riku that I saw at one of the panels… but I had to leave before it ended…
*Sigh* Maybe at the next one…

Cloud awoke the next morning to a violent pounding on his door, accompanied by an even more obnoxious call having something to do with ten minutes, cold water, and scissors. He couldn't really see what tied those things together, but then again, it was five in the morning, so he wasn't exactly thinking straight.

Rolling to his side to slide out of bed, he found his progress impeded by something on top of him. Looking down, he saw Riku's head on his chest, moving around a bit and making the cute little noises that announced his awakening.

Not a bad way to wake up, actually.

After a few moments, Riku's eyes had cracked open, and he lifted himself up onto his forearms, looking sleepily at Cloud.

"Good morning," Cloud smirked, smoothing down silver hair. Riku gave him a soft smile, leaned in for a kiss and then lay back down, cuddling into Cloud's neck.

Cloud kept running his fingers through Riku's hair, enjoying the small humming noises that the action elicited. He had missed waking up to this.

The peace was shattered a few moments later, however, when there was once again a knock on the door, this time accompanied by Yuffie's voice: "Yo ~ Spiky! Squall says that if you're late, he's pairing you with me today!"

At this, Cloud shot up, dislodging Riku as he practically jumped out of bed and began to get himself ready. Riku gave a low chuckle. "Well. I see what motivates you in the mornings. I'll have to remember that the next time I need you to help me with something."

Cloud was too busy to respond with even a glare as he pulled on his clothing and started a dash to the door. Riku caught him by the back of his shirt, pulling him backward until he could give him a kiss.

After a few moments, however, Yuffie popped back into Cloud's mind, and he pulled away, shouting back a "Bye! Love you!" as he ran through the doorway.

Down in the kitchen, Leon was standing by the door, looking at his watch. He didn't look up as Cloud rushed out of the hallway, giving Aerith a peck on the cheek as she held out a mug of coffee for him. Yuffie looked slightly put-out as he grabbed a piece of toast with his other hand and got to the door just as Leon was walking out.

Although he was glad to have something to do with his time, Cloud found that the Restoration could be very tedious. Most of his days were spent down by the old castle, moving pipes around, rebuilding walls, and clearing passageways. About a week ago they'd found a way down into the waterways, and Cloud's current project was mapping them out. Which meant trudging through water all day.

Oh well. The heartless had started acting up again recently, so at least he got to do some fighting, instead of working with the townspeople like Yuffie did.

The first half of the day was uneventful enough, and by the time lunch came around, Cloud was not only soaked up to his knees, but his brain hurt from all of the gates and switches he'd been using all day. Leon had been adamant about keeping them in place, though, as he wanted to maintain the castle's defense systems as much as possible.

When he came back aboveground, he saw that Leon and Cid were already eating in the study, the latter tapping away at the computer between bites. Cloud grabbed the last sandwich, leaning up against the wall with it and a bottle of water. His mind was blessedly empty – or perhaps just water-logged – as he ate, looking over Cid's shoulder at a bunch of code he neither understood nor cared about.

The three were almost finished eating when they heard running footsteps, followed by Sora crashing through the door to the study, panting heavily. "Se…Se…" Sora stopped and put his hands on his knees, taking in a few gulps of air.

"Well, spit it out, kid," cracked Cid.

"…Sephiroth…"

Cloud had his sword in seconds. Before he could begin questioning Sora, however, Tron popped up on the computer screen, scaring Cid half to death.

"User, there is an unidentified presence on the castle grounds. It somehow managed to evade my sensors, and is now hovering above the eastern third floor balcony."

"It's him," Cloud growled. Without another word, he pushed past Sora, rushing through the halls with Leon right behind.

As soon as they had turned the last bend, Cloud stopped dead, snapping his sword into position. Even when Leon ran into him from behind, he didn't move a muscle.

Sephiroth.

The bastard was right there, only a few yards away, staring into Cloud's eyes with that infuriating smirk.

"It's been a while, hasn't it? Cloud. I'm terribly sorry I haven't been around, but there were more important matters to take care of."

"Shut up," Cloud growled. "What do you want?"

"My, my, you're slipping, Cloud. I would have thought you'd already figured out my entire plan." Sephiroth looked beyond Cloud. "It seems you've brought a friend."

"You leave him the fuck alone."

Sephiroth chuckled. "Ah, I see. Your lover, perhaps?"

Cloud leaped at Sephiroth with a shout, blade slicing into the floor as Sephiroth flew upwards.

"It seems I've struck a nerve. And here I was merely curious about the life you've managed to piece together in my absence. A cheap imitation of your life within the darkness, I presume. No matter. I'm here to reclaim you."

"Not a chance, you sick bastard."

There was that sadistic smirk again. "You reject me, and yet your heart still yearns for the darkness."

"Shut up!"

"Temper, temper. I'm simply trying to help. Soon you will wish you had accepted my offer."

"What do you mean?" growled Leon, stepping out from behind Cloud.

"It would seem that you are just as ignorant as your lover," Sephiroth replied, smirking at the growls this elicited from both men. He continued, "You should know by now that darkness will never be truly gone from this world. Always it seeks to reclaim its own, searches for a way to… resurrect. And just when you think you've defeated it for good…" Sephiroth snapped his fingers and the balcony filled with Defenders, causing Cloud to jump back to where Leon was standing. "It's back. Just remember, you aren't the only one who has been touched by the darkness."

The Defenders attacked, mercilessly snapping and bashing at Cloud and Leon who had hastily taken up battle positions. By the time the last shield clattered to the ground, Sephiroth had disappeared. Cloud stabbed his sword into the ground with a roar before noticing an object lying where Sephiroth had been, well, floating. He bent to pick it up. "What do you think this is?" he asked Leon.

"I don't know, but this whole thing is making me uneasy."

Cloud turned to leave, but Leon stopped him. "Umm… Cloud?" The man gave him a questioning look, so Leon just pointed at the other's shoulder.

Cloud cursed. His wing had come out again. "Well, that won't be going away any time soon." He cursed again before making his way back through the winding halls to the study, followed closely by Leon. Sora, who had been anxiously picking at the remains of a sandwich, jumped up at their entrance. "What happened? Why were you gone so …" Sora paused, eyes trained on the object in Cloud's hand. "Umm…what's that?"

"We don't know. It was a parting gift from our dearest friend," said Leon, Cloud tossing Sora the object in question.

"But," began Sora, a quizzical look on his face, "Why would he give you a rotten paopu fruit?"

Dun dun dun!

The more of this story I write, the longer and more complex it wants to be. Beyond the next few chapters, I'm not even sure what will happen. I guess it all depends on how Cloud takes the truth about what Riku is doing…

This chapter was a bit short, but I wanted to end on the paopu thing.

Anyway, Happy New Year's a bit late, and now that I'm actually working on chapters in order, I'll try to update sooner.

Many, many thanks to the lovely people who reviewed and favorited! (as well as kicked my ass in gear to post this chapter.) I'll try not to draw out the suspense for too long… there's just so much that needs to happen!

As always, reviews earn you my love.

~WindWisp