I'll say this much, Sora takes after 'Mommy'.
Sora took after Cloud, that much was obvious. His hair didn't lay flat, though the color was given to him by his mother, and was to forever defy gravity. They both had beautiful, large blue orbs that showed so many emotions. His features were a bit more femine than the model's, only slightly so though.
Personality wise, though, he took after his mother. Naive and oblivious to the point his parents wanted to strangle him at times. Innocent as the year is long. Sweet as sugar and a love for flowers. The only thing he got from his father in this area was his stubbornness, strength and that weird ability to make almost everyone love him.
Yep, he would have made a fine young lady if he hadn't been graced with certain male parts.
That's why Cloud dreaded the thought of dressed his son up in a dress, as Zack so often did with him. Even now, as their little male family made their way to the mall he was trying to persuade Sora that wearing a dress wasn't all that fun.
"Sora, sweetie, are you sure you want to get a dress?" Questioned the blonde, twisting his body so he could look at his son in the back seat. The boy was bouncing in his seat excitedly.
"Dress, Dress. Dress, Dre-" Sora stopped his chant as he heard his mommy's question. With bright eyes he quickly responded, waving his arms about. "Of course I do! I wanna be like Mommy!"
Zack laughed, looking through the rear view mirror at his adoptive son. It was all to amusing to him. "Yep, Sora's gonna be just like Mommy." The raven could feel the murderous aura next to him, blue eyes shooting icy daggers at him. He knew that if he wasn't driving at the moment he would certainly be a dead man.
As they neared the mall traffic got heavy, it always does. The mall was not only a mall but the very social survival for most, if not all, of Twilight Town's population under the age of thirty. Yes, 'tis the sad truth. And Cloud was thanking the heavens above for every spare second away from the evil building. With Sora so being so happy about the thought of wearing a dress it wasn't like he could deny that wish, however tainted it may be.
Yes, Sora was still chanting and still smiling at the idea of wearing the female clothing. It rather disturbed the blonde. A little boy who thought it was normal to wear girl clothing. Cloud knew it wasn't normal and only did it for his job and Zack's stupid fetish. Never once did he wear it in his everyday life. No, he would get to many stares.
Anyway, back to the actual story. They had arrived at the mall and quickly found a parking spot that a truck had just pulled out of. Giggling girls could be heard from the vehicle as it drifted away, not at all distracting the 'mother' from the thought of dresses and female attire.
Zack was all to quick to get out after turning the car off. Sora did the same, bolting out his seat and out of the car as soon as he was able. The hyper boy bounced up and down, begging his daddy to carry him on his shoulders. The man was certainly strong enough, he was a personal trainer. And with his quick to please attitude he was all to eager to agree.
Row after row of car after car was all Sora saw behind him but in front of him was the three story building that was Twilight Town's lifeline. He gave a girly giggle, small fingers weaving through black hair to help retain his balance. "Mall! Mall!" Shouted the boy, thrusting a tiny fist up into the air. Looking back again he saw his mom hadn't yet exited the car, seeming to be crying.
"Mommy, come on!" Called the brunette with a wide grin, the raven's expression the mirror image of his. Yes, if one didn't know better one would swear up and down that Sora was his child. Their personalities were both that of puppies. Well, Zack was more an extremely hyper dog but we're straying from the story.
Cloud took his sweet, sweet time getting out. The door was closed with an eerie and annoying creak. Well, he was here now. Better to just get it over with. Hey, he might even have a good time. Zack and Sora would and he really didn't want to be the one to drag that smile from his son's face. Yes, it was best just to go along with it. If it made Sora happy than he had no right to be so depressed over it.
Atleast, that's what he was trying to tell his mind.
Sora bound into the store, dragging his parents behind him. Cloud soon made the trio a duo as he went to speak with employees he knew. Tifa and Yuffie were some of his closest friends, though it sounds girly. They also helped him pick out new dresses when Zack decided it was time to buy a new one. Yes, they were saints since they kept him form revealing the embarrassing fetish to anyone he didn't know. Though, if they're halos were crooked or if their wings were turning black, he didn't know.
The busty girl known as Tifa was helping a customer who was much more modest than herself. A blonde wearing a suit that Cloud knew he had seen before but couldn't place. Moving on, though, his friends squealed as she saw him and threw her well muscled arms around his neck. She had been a professional boxer at one time but decided that she would rather help Cloud out with his boyfriend's fetish.
Like he said, he didn't know if her halo was crooked.
The customer just smiled and introduced herself. "I'm Elena Trusdale, I was sent here by Leon." Ah, that explains where he'd seen her before. She worked for Leon. Leon was Cloud's manager and they were very close. Not to mention that he was over protective of his favorite models, especially Cloud. "He's assigned me and a few others to look after you and your family. Don't worry, there's only four of us this time along with our own families."
Ah, remember that part about Leon being protective? Well, he tends to go a bit overboard with Cloud sometimes. Yeah, let's just say he had a small army surrounding him at one time. Things had gotten pretty nasty when Cloud declared he had a boyfriend to the press and his photographers forced him into dresses. Leon filtered all mail he got and over half were threatening or extremely hurtful. Another thirty percent were from rabid and crazy fans that sent in their pictures and other crazy things. He loved being a model but it was beginning to be a bit to stressful and messed up for him.
Anyway, he just nodded to his new bodyguard. "May I have the names of my new bodyguards?" Tifa started shaking him at this point, not letting the other girl have a chance to answer. Looking down he sighed. "What is it Tifa?"
That was about the time he was bombarded from the back by Yuffie, who now straddled his narrow waist. "Cloud!" Came her high pitched voice. "I thought you were overdue for a visit! What will it be this time, a ballgown?!" It seemed that the young girl had not yet noticed Elena.
"Ballgown? Don't tell me you wear dresses on the regular basis, Cloud." Elena smirked, holding in a giggle. What girl didn't want to dress up a boy like Cloud? Well, they had to be extremely sane to do that and this being girls he was talking about, they were hard to come by.
Cloud, however, was close to tears. Why the hell did his bodyguard, his female bodyguard at that, have to find out about this so quickly? Damn Yuffie and her loud mouth. Luckily there wasn't anyone else around. Otherwise he would probably need that small army again. Religious bastards who couldn't get over the fact that love was love would love to just kill him then. Atleast that's what the blonde thought and that was all that mattered.
Yuffie, being the oh so observant ninja that she is, noticed the customer at that moment and left a soulless Cloud on the floor as she greeted the taller woman. "Hello and welcome to Frills and Spikes, where we cater to all fashions and whatever fetishes your significant other might have." Yep, that was what this store was for alright. The humiliation of all sexes and fueling the fantasies of men and women everywhere.
Elena looked down at the other blonde and finally released her giggle. "So THAT'S it. Zack must have quite the fetish if he's dressing your boy up as a girl too." With that she pointed over to Zack as he held dresses up against Sora's girly form to see if it would look good or fit.
Sora squealed quietly as he hugged the fabric of a dress that Zack had picked out. The brown haired boy then bounded toward the changing rooms, Zack behind him with a smile. Indeed he seemed to be a proud father. And at the boy's age it wasn't hard to pass him off as a girl. When he got older, though, would be an entirely different story. People would definitely notice the lack of chest.
Sighing he accepted the help of Tifa as he got up. "Well, I still don't know the new bodyguard's names." He fully intended to get back on track with the conversation. It was a less painful task to think about than his precious Sora being put in a dress.
"Some pictures would be helpful as well." Voiced the blonde in an afterthought.
Elena just nodded and opened her mouth to speak before getting distracted by something behind him. Tifa's eyes followed hers, as did Yuffie's a second later. Cloud was the last to follow his bodyguard's line of vision. "Seems that they can introduce themselves."
Blue eyes gazed upon three men, all of them mid twenties at the most. One he recognized as Yuffie's older brother, Tseng. The man was rather orderly and kept his sister in line the few times he had visited her. The other two he was clueless about. A smug redhead with equally red tattoos under his eyes. The last one was a bald black man who seemed to make up for the redhead's obvious lack of professionalism.
"Tseng? Leon assigned you to me?" Cloud blurted out, obviously confused. He knew that Tseng was a bodyguard - one of the best if he remembered correctly - but he had never had anyone he actually knew as a bodyguard.
Beside the model Yuffie seemed about ready to burst and did, flinging herself at her brother with what he could only assume to be her hyper version of love. The wanna-be-ninja girl was latched onto the long haired raven within seconds, seated on his shoulders like the kid she so often acted like. Tseng's expression gave off that he wasn't very pleased about Yuffie's behavior but dealed with it.
As Tseng began to pry his sister off of himself the redhead stepped forward, smirking. "You know Tseng? Well then, saves us one more introduction." Smartass comment. Cloud was sure he could get used to that fairly quickly. Afterall, the blonde used them often when talking to Zack. "The name's Reno."
The man beside Reno lifted his head slightly. "Rude Jackson." Well atleast we had a name for him now. "A pleasure." Now didn't he sound so very sincere. Yeah, the professional tone just took several inches off the edge there.
Returning the greeting he simply gave a smile. It was nice to have such a clash of different personalities as his bodyguards. Usually they were either to protective or to professional. A balance was called for and these four balanced each other out perfectly.
It was then that Cloud remembered something about the group. "The Turks, right?" Tseng was in a not very well known but elite little group of bodyguards called the Turks, if the info he got from Yuffie was correct. She was proud of her older brother and talked about him whenever she found a suitable place in the conversation for him. The topic of his group had come up last time the man had visited his ninja sister. Heartwarming but annoying sometimes.
Elena spoke up this time. "Yes." Her voice was filled with slight shock. "I'm surprised that you even know the name of our group."
"But considering that you know my sister it's not that surprising to me." Tseng had pried his sister off of him by now. While brushing himself off he continued. "She does have a tendency to say things without realizing it."
"Hey!" Cried Yuffie in protest, driving her fist into the air angrily. Her dark gaze was now set upon Tifa and Cloud. "Aren't you gonna say anything?! I don't do that!"
Tifa just coughed, covering her mouth and adverting her gaze from the young girl. Cloud, however, was more tactful about it and almost gagged on his spit when she had spoke out. Instead, he managed to pull off a diversion.
"Look, Yuffie. Sora's modeling one of the dresses Zack picked out." Though he did so hate to use his own son to distract his hyperactive, and possibly ADD, friend he found it the best solution for the problem at hand.
Coal colored eyes immediately focused on the small brunette. The dress that covered his small frame was red in color and decorated with white frills. Very small black bows placed upon the frills completed the look along with some bright yellow sandals. They had heels as well, no more than maybe half an inch if they pushed it.
At this point Zack was taking pictures and holding in girly squeals. Yuffie didn't have as much restraint, though, and split the eardrums of everyone in the store. Reno was clutching his ears while Rude and Elena only held a slightly dazed look. Everyone else in their group was almost used to the painfully shrill voice of the girl.
Tseng did one better than just bearing the noise and knocked the girl in the back of head. It wasn't hard, just a reprimanding smack. "Yuffie, control yourself. Not everyone can stand your volume of excitement." A displeased frown graced his face as he looked down at her.
Yuffie just kicked up some invisible dirt and poked out her lip. No matter how many times the adorable little sister act failed she insisted on using it. "But he's so cute..." Her index fingers pressed against one another gently as she raised her head to stare at her brother with large eyes.
Zack, deciding that Yuffie should be spared from anymore abuse, waved at them. "Come on guys. Check out Sora, he's adorable!" His voice cracked at that last word, reaching unnatural tones for the male's voice. Picking his adoptive son up he now held the boy securely in his arms, making sure the dress was being held down by his arm as well. Now with the cross-dressing boy in his arms he wandered over to the group.
Tifa smiled and complimented Sora on his new dress. "Is this the one you want?" The nods from both Zack and Sora made it official.
Taking Sora from her fellow raven she carried him over to the counter, said fellow raven following her. Cloud and Yuffie stayed behind since she wouldn't be gone for more than a few minutes. Setting the child down on the counter she quickly found the tag and scanned it. "Nineteen dollars and seventy five cents." Came her soft voice as she read the register. The amount was quickly paid by Zack using his creditcard and Sora was set back down on the ground.
The boy yelled in excitement before running over to his mother, gripping the blonde's waist tightly. "Now I'm just like mommy!"
A burst of laughs followed the statement. The fact that Cloud was being referred to as 'Mommy' was bad enough but the kid had just blurted out his secret. Well...secret to everyone who wasn't his or Zack's friend. Yeah, cause Zack loved to brag about how good his soulmate looked in the dresses he picked out. Such things had been restricted to good friends early on, though. Cloud's rage wasn't a pleasant one.
"This job just gets more and more amusing." Commented Reno through a suppressed laugh. It didn't stay suppressed for long, though. When he finished speaking the laughs forced their way out, refusing to stop.
Rude said nothing but did clear his throat as if he was choking back his laughter for the sake of being professional. Elena wasn't all that surprised but gave a light giggle before patting Sora on the head. Tseng was taken aback but said nothing. His sister had been right in the many stories he had told her, it seems. Still, everything seemed so unreal.
Cloud's face went red. Wether that was from anger or embarrassment even Zack couldn't tell. The blonde didn't even know, to be completely honest.
Sora was once again picked up but this time by his mother, or so he called the model. "Let's get you home, how about that?" Cloud's face was lit up with a smile, skin still dusted red. Sora just hugged the blonde's neck and nodded.
"Yeah, you have school tomorrow." Commented Zack as he ruffled already messy spikes of brown hair. "The ride home's gonna be long with all the traffic and we still need to eat dinner." That left them about an hour before Sora had to go to bed.
Sora protested. "But I wanna play with Yuffie and Tifa!" His tone was whiney but he got his point across.
"I'll come over and play with you tomorrow, I'm off on Mondays." Stated Yuffie excitedly, a wide, toothy grin stretching out her face. Her schedule was weird but seeing as the store was open seven days a week not all that surprising. Mondays were slow days anyway, they didn't need as many people in the store.
With an excited yell Sora agreed and the trio left. Reno and Rude followed them after a couple of minutes. It was their job to protect Cloud and his family and they didn't need all four of them just for the ride home.
They arrived safely and the partners left for their own homes. They had a families of their own afterall.
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AN: Wow, long. I don't usually write such large chapters but this story seems to require them now that I've got the storyline mapped out. Well, thanks for reading, I enjoyed writing it. Kinda helps I don't have much else to do with the internet being cut off and everything. Plus writing in all the characters is fun. Hoped they stayed somewhat in character. I have a hard time with that sometimes. Please, review. They make me happy and I love to read your comments on the chapters and story. Lets me know how I can improve and if you like were I'm going with the story.