Welcome to the next chapter of Crossfire. For reasons you will discover, this chapter shall be forever known as 'Love'. I am compiling this on an intensely emotional day, so every bit of this chapter will scream with love's beauty. On this fateful day, I happened to come across a monstrous turning point in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. That adventure is being accompanied by Devil May Cry 4, in which I have reached another emotional apex. Getting back on track, I entered the GW furnace this morning, and it was an experience like no other. Playing through that poignant vicinity, I couldn't help but think of other epic moments in video game history-like the Garden dance between Squall and Rinoa, or the end of Kingdom Hearts I. In regards to the Cloud/Old Snake relationship, this adventure made me realize something. It takes a GREAT character to fall in love with a much older person.
This morning was nothing short of epic, in every beautiful way.
And in addition to all of that, my family adopted a puppy.
That alone was a massive turning point. So I've been a pretty emotional mess while creating the notes behind this.
Warning: Emotional trauma, boy/boy love, more emotional trauma, and oh. If you haven't figured it out, kiddies, Old Snake will be a victim of emotion. If you're displeased with any of those story elements, I suggest you search for another tale to read. Thanks!
Love was omnipresent. It was staunch, giving the most bizarre soldier a chance of a lifetime. It never wavered, providing warmth to soldiers seeking the future-and giving dreams to a hopeful little girl. It was an unconditional friend, tying together an old hero and a young deliveryman. Age and foundation were defied as soldiers conversed with one another, sharing their thoughts on the inescapable battle. The future's threads were endangered as they approached fate, but their souls were riding on the wings of love. Love's melody was engraved on their hearts, even as they exchanged smiles over the cafeteria table. Tifa, standing in the cafeteria's exit, obserevd the simple elegance of love. With a rueful smile she caught the smiles of soldiers, and chuckled as they exchanged encouragement. Even when it was shared between strangers, love's divinity always warmed her heart.
Moments passed before she found herself grimacing, focusing on the advent of combat. Grim reality spawned fear, and fear collided with elation. Mortals were resolute in grasping their precious moments, for those moments were possibly their last. While it was refreshing to view smiles, it was horrible to know so many lives were about to be taken. Many of those were important to her.
"Hey! Hey, Tifa! Tifaaaa!"
She whirled around, a smile returning to her face. A slender maiden was making her way towards the Lockhart, evidently burning with a question. Soldiers were playfully knocked aside, right along with their plates and trays. Seconds passed before the rambunctious ninja arrived at her destination, heaving from the exertion of her flight. "What'cha doin'?" she asked, always a cheerful soul. Tifa couldn't suppress a smile, despite elevating apprehension. "I'm going to check on Hal," she replied, seemingly nonchalant but gravely worried. As she frequently did in the midst of conversation, she ran fingers through the front of her hair.
"You know, I can't bring myself to sit still. It's just too hard, and...I'm worried. I'd better check in on him."
Yuffie pawed at her chin, looking very much like a pensive scientist. "Go right ahead," she said gently, earning a tender smile. "Awesome idea. He was pretty upset at the briefing, and...well, we all know he's not the strongest apple of the bunch."
Invincible lemons darted into their mouths, as a result of Naomi Hunter's face. Naomi's passing hadn't been an easy situation for Hal to deal with, despite her deviousness. A part of the otaku appalled her deceptive nature, but as a whole, he was an indescribably sweet soul. He claimed to hate Vamp, who was responsible for the death of his beloved Emma, but the truth was out there. Hal Emmerich couldn't hate anyone if he was paid to. Little did they know, Naomi Hunter was the last thing on the otaku's mind. The world was unaware of it, but the angry half of his heart was in full bloom. In his eyes, he had every right to be angry with her. She was responsible for the pain of his oldest friend, and she used everything dear to him-just for information. Of course he would never truly hate her, but the anger was there. And he wished to turn his heart to true love, which was in the form of Tifa Lockhart.
Brutal sadness stabbed Yuffie's heart. "Can't even think about Spikey and Kitten," she whimpered, referring to Cloud and Snake (respectively). Snake earned the nickname 'Kitten' after a pouting session. The ninja believed him to be cute for words, and was fussy in the most adorable way. Thus the nickname. "Thinking about them hurts. It's like throwing myself in a needle bed."
Tifa couldn't disagree. She would have preferred death by fire to thoughts of Cloud and Snake. Her body instinctively blocked out images that disturbed it, and those precious gems fell into that category. Thinking about them was akin to stabbing herself with poisoned butcher knives. "I'd better get going," she told her friend, turning as if abruptly offended. She gave a final smile to the pouty ninja, her eyes plagued with sadness.
"Make sure you get some sleep. Don't bother the guys too much, okay?"
"Okaaaay! And remember, you're tonight's supervisor!"
The Lockhart chuckled. Yeah, I remember.
She walked away, leaving behind the hustle-and-bustle of the cafeteria. Plates continued to clatter on tables without her, and inspiration was passed between seemingly optimistic soldiers. Handshakes were passed without her, hands slapped backs, and laughter was resonant. All activity continued without her, falling into the distance as she walked towards a dormitory. Hands in her pockets, she lowered her head as happiness became silent. Yuffie was surely bouncing off the walls, rubbing elbows with the soldiers. The inseparable Cid and Barret were polishing weaponry, wiping out possible ammunition jams. She was all alone, walking underneath the starry night sky-and lost amidst a silent wave of instability. The whole world was silent, causing her to confront her an unstable reality. All around her, lives were changing. Hearts were experiencing revolutions, and tears were being shed. Friends, all of them intolerably precious, were going through titanic trials. Two in particular were facing the darkest battlefields of their lives.
Her head slammed against a dorm's door. I'm living through another nightmare. I hate this.
Gripping the doorknob, she took a deep breath. Her eyes were closed in a moment of preparation, then the door was slowly opened. In the grand scheme of things, formalities weren't needed. They were almost inappropiate, considering the intensity of the situation. The door slowly revealed a dark, dismal world-one that featured a distressed otaku. Only two sources of light were available, one of them being a laptop. The other was a candle.
Sadness erupted in her soft, loving eyes. "Hal?"
Gentle sniffs fell into her ears. Frantic shuffling of a knapsack, a laptop and papers greeted her ears. "T-T-Tifa?"
Leaving the door to its own devices, the Lockhart darted into the small room. As all dorms did, Hal's designated room only offered a few amenities, one of them being a bed. The otaku happened to be sitting on it, completely dishelved and in tears. Smiling, the maiden rushed to retrieve his fallen belongings, earning stammered appreciation. Their hands met as they reached for the same document, and fragile smiles ensued. The weight of the universe hung upon their shoulders, suddenly transforming them into exhausted twigs. "That's everything," the Lockhart said weakily, trying her hardest to smile. She organized every last one of his papers into a solid pile, earning a sigh of relief.
"Thank you. I really appreciate it."
The radiance of her smile was highlighted by the candle's flame. "Don't mention it," she said softly, noticing their faces were only an inch apart. At the realization of that fact, her heart began to glow. The desire to comfort and hold the Emmerich became synchronized with her heartbeat. Her face fell into another grimace. She knew she was about to ask an idiotic question, but the words she really wished to say were-unfortunately-inappropiate.
"How are you holding up?"
She hadn't seen him in an hour. In that single hour, Hal Emmerich aged twenty years. His brown hair was unkempt, his glasses were in an awkward angle, and he looked as if he hadn't slept in eons. "Fine," he replied, sending a dagger straight into her heart. "As fine as I can be, anyway. Thank you very much for asking."
Playful, childlike inquisitiveness emerged on Tifa's face. "You're all alone, huh?" she asked, sounding very much like a curious infant. "What happened to your little sidekick?"
"Oh, Sunny? She's still with Marlene and Denzel. I believe they're hitting it off really well!"
"Good to know."
Hal placed himself on her knees-a comfortable position. "It's nice to know she's made other friends. Friends her own age! I thought she'd be surrounded by old fogeys forever."
"She wouldn't have cared," the Lockhart said soothingly, eyes glistening. "You and Epyon mean everything to her."
So many words stormed into Hal's heart, all of them giving birth to tears. He was silent for a moment, plunging deeper into tearful despair. Tifa kept her compassionate brown eyes on him. "She means everything to me too, just as her Epyon does," he said, lowering his head. His voice was about to break, showing the emotional burdens he struggled to bear. "I'll say I love them until I'm blue in the face, but my love is worthless. I can't do anything for either one of them!"
For a moment, she could only watch. She could only watch as tears rolled down Hal's cheeks, and tremors ran through his body. She could only watch as tears ran down her cheeks, and each tear released heartache onto the calm world. The words 'I'm sorry' echoed throughout her mind a million times, choking her as she ached with desire. She ached with the desire to comfort him, to wipe away every last one of his tears. Strength welled up inside of her, pushing aside her surrender to tears. "You are doing something," she sobbed, eyes overflowing, Slowly, gently, she wrapped her arms about the heartbroken Hal.
"You are worth more than you know. You provide love, Hal. You provide everlasting, unconditional love. To both of them. People are lucky to receive that kind of love. Not many people are lucky enough to know such a wonderful, beautiful person."
Into her face he peered, slowly but surely. With a tear-stained face, he peered into the eyes that promised security. He peered into the eyes that promised unyielding affection, intimacy and solace. Hiccups popped out of his mouth as he acknowledge a shelter. "Th-th-thank you," a shivering kitten said, eyes seeking Heaven's warmth. A smile, dazzingly beautiful, melted into his heart.
"Th-th-thank y-y-you, M-M-Miss Tifa. Thank you."
Not another word was said. A weeping otaku buried his head in a maiden's chest, convulsive from pain. The maiden caressed his back, head placed against the top of his head-and eyes silently emitting raindrops.
Captain Mei Ling and the soldiers were awe-struck. Cloud Strife and Snake were the most bizarre couple, for a reason that stood out vividly. It was disorienting to view their differences in age, especially when they expressed their affection in public. However, no one viewed their relationship (with the exclusion of Meryl) with the slightest bit of scorn. While it was rather odd to see the two legends together, their relationship was undeniably beautiful. Smiles followed them wherever they went, accompanied by cheerful whispers. Snake loathed the way Cloud was wasting himself (that's how it was in his book, anyway), and Liquid made the cruelest remarks on their relationship, but an immortal bond was incessantly celebrated.
Smiling soldiers knocked one another in the chest as Cloud carried Snake, bridal style. Chuckles were exchanged, but all were playful. As the Strife attended to his beloved, the reactions of the soldiers did not matter. There was only one person in his world, and that individual-that testament to joy-was in his arms. Timeworn, the soldier found love's reassurance deep within the deliveryman's arms. His face was wreathed in crimson red shyness, but doubt plagued his vibrant eyes. "Are you sure about this?" he asked once his feet found the ground, gently planted by his knight. Cloud said nothing, but his eyes burned with the obvious desire to act. Snake watched him with the innocence of a small animal, his own eyes filled with worry. Both were at Cloud's door, facing one another. An ephemeral moment elapsed before the old soldier found himself pinned to the door, hand adjacent.
For a moment in time, the world was silent. The only sounds heard with the sounds of beating hearts, and heaving chests. Eyes spoke with one another, as they had done so many times in the past. Hunger was resonant in the eyes that had never experienced it, prior to the discovery of love. Timeless desire and burning wishes roared in two sets of eyes, singing Heaven's ever-faithful hymns. Snake waited for the Strife to move, body pinned against the door and eyes ablaze. Cloud's eyes pinned themselves to Snake's beating heart, eating and savoring everything in sight. The older male blinked, and was instantly greeted to a surge in fire. Before he could even breath, he found his lips set against the deliveryman's lips.
Fire rushed through both bodies, hearts beating and veins aching. Arms and chests were soon entangled. A door was kicked open, and two lovers passed through it. Burning, kissing, aching, they soon found they were the only ones alive. The world only offered the ocean's melody as an accompaniment. All others were absent. Nothing else existed. They only knew their breath, their arms, their lips.
Moans arose from both bodies. Dehydrated and starving all at once, Cloud laid his lover onto the bed. Bearing the disposition of a timid puppy, a blushing Snake peered into his knight's blue eyes. Smiling, the Strife laid his head against the other's forehead. "I've never been more sure of anything in my life," he whispered, voice heavy with lust. The giddiness of a school girl arose in the old male's eyes, and splashed all over his face. Smiles united, hearts united, and chests heaved against each other. Hands met, a heart stopped-
"I love you...as you love me. I love you...even more than the air I need."
Hands gripped hands. Shyness and self-degradation caused a body to instinctively tense up, but doting hands unfolded it. A smile erased throbbing anxiety, replacing it with the warmest euphoria. Glowing, blushing, Snake melted into the other's kisses. Raining, falling, dancing, kisses graced his face. His lips and forehead. The Strife had to restrain himself from kissing places that weren't yet exposed. Doing so would have wreaked havoc on his willpower, which was already weak when it came to Snake. His hands would see to the clothes problem, though. In a flash they ripped off a cornflower blue sweater, igniting a violent flame inside of his beloved's body. Despite the hatred he bore towards his weathered, wrinkled frame, only two things were important. He loved Cloud with a blazing passion, and Cloud loved him.
A blushing, smiling Snake might have been self conscious, but Cloud kept his true age in mind. His age was connected to the condition of his body, which the Strife adored with every waking breath. His lips kissed the scars of bygone battles, honoring them. Hands fondled fading wounds. Flames elevated at every shudder, kiss and smile. Hands gingerly removed the solid blue uniform of a deliveryman, shy yet excited. A muscular, moistened body hung over an older, scarred body, smiling with love's eternal glow. "I love you," the younger male whispered, as if he had just discovered light. Kisses rained onto a beaming soldier's face, neck and collarbone.
"I love you. I love you. I love you."
You mean everything to me, Cloud's kisses whispered. His hands moved as if they were sculpting a monument to Heaven. As soon as muscles tightened within Snake's chest, and a light degree of pain erupted, the Strife sent soothing waves of energy deep into his core. His body became a glowing pillar of the Curaga spell, healing its chosen mate with every movement. Smiles continued to flow as loving hands danced across a chest, stomach and thighs. "I love you," a young blonde whispered, memorizing every inch of his lover's body. When his heart's oxygen tried to respond, he placed two fingers against his lips. You don't have to say anything, gentle blue eyes said, playing with Snake's silvery white hair. I know of the love you bear. Let me show you mine.
Bodies began to rub another, lost in a synchronized rhythm. Whimpers united with moans as the outside waves rippled, flowing throughout time's effervescent glow. Moments were like ages, all of them born inside of dreams. After the flight of several dreams, though, Snake began to grimace. Horrified, Cloud brought his body's dance to an instant halt. "What is it, love?" he asked, panting, lust flowing. He was intensely horrified, as if he had accidentally opened Pandora's Box.
"Am I hurting you?"
Grunting, and still blushing, Snake shook his head vehemently. Inwardly, Cloud beamed at the child-like reaction. "It isn't you," the old soldier replied. At the mere sound of his familiar, husky voice, a thousand shooting stars shot off in Cloud's heart. "It's me, baby."
Cloud looked as if Snake had just said 'I'm Prince Imhotep' in Russian.
"Trying to shrug off something," the older male added, laughing at Cloud's facial expression. His face became darker than a cherry, for three reasons. He was well aware of his body's exposure, especially since all lovemaking had stopped. He had endangered their precious mood, and his body wished to malfunction in the middle of something miraculous! "What is it?" the Strife asked frantically, eyes wide. "Did I do something?"
"No, baby! I already told you, it's me! Just listen to me," the old soldier said soothingly, wrapping his arms around the other. With his face a centimeter away from Cloud's, he ran his fingers through a head of moistened yellow tresses.
"Listen. It's all right. It's just..."
The look on Snake's face gave Cloud enough information. "Don't pay any attention to him, or anyone else that laughs at you," he ordered, directing all wrath towards Snake's tormentors-seen and unseen. The one at the forefront of things happened to be Liquid, his remaining brother. Snake's PTSD gave him horrifying images, all of them accompanied by equally horrifying messages. Liquid was featured in many of his mind's slideshows, making the harshest comments against his union with Cloud. "Don't pay any attention to them," the young legend said, simmering his flames while running a hand over the other's body. The old soldier's smile broadened, as a result of unwavering chivalry. Cloud could have very well been a knight of ancient times.
"They don't matter. I love you, and-"
"Yeah yeah yeah," a rapturous puppy said, gently clamping a hand over the Strife's mouth. Feeling happier than he had ever felt before, he delivered words that were drenched in love's warm embrace. "Stupid of me to even say anything. I'm so sorry, baby."
"Don't be," the blonde growled, voice laden with desire. As a ravenous lion, he cupped Snake's face and kissed it. Their symphony was much faster than before, filled with the sweat and tears of love's true joy. Two bodies approached their breaking point, smothered in moist heat. Chests heaved, hearts throbbed, muscles spoke of an oncoming release-
-and the waves continued, cradling hearts underneath a quiet night sky.
Eras, all joyous and wonderful, passed between the two. They broke away from one another, heaving from exertion. Cloud spent only five seconds in self-recovery before using the Curaga spell, ridding Snake of unborn coughs and aches. Snake grunted as a result, looking very much like a disgruntled cat. "What?" a beaming Cloud asked, alarmed, light and euphoric all at once. Snake, face wreathed in blushes, turned away in a hurry-and covered himself in sheets. Mimicking a playful kitten, a smiling Cloud quickly dove underneath the sheets. Two bumps moved underneath the covers, laughing, grunting and wrestling. Five minutes elapsed before those bumps emerged, side by side. Glowing, they gripped one another's hands and said nothing for eons on end. Snake, snuggling against the blonde with closed eyes, spoke first.
"Thank you."
Cloud's mouth didn't respond, but his body did. Eyes were hungrier than ever, and a smile was infinitely warm. He ran fingers through Snake's hair, intent on observing-and memorizing-every last one of his actions. "Hope you're not one for pillow talk," the old soldier said, beaming and laughing. Cloud, on his own end, looked very much like a cat stalking its prey. "This is enough for me," the Strife replied, voice sending sensations through Snake's spine. "I'm happy to just have you here. Sleep, love, and dream. Dream of happiness. Dream of memories far away from here. Dream of peace."
"Well then," Yuffie's 'Kitten' said with a yawn, snuggling closer. "Guess I'll be dreaming of you."
Seconds passed. Old Snake had a smile on his face, completely peaceful and happy.
Cloud Strife had never been so sad in all of his life.
This was composed to Broken Wings of Trinity Blood and Shall Never Surrender of the Devil May Cry 4 OST.
This, by far, was the most emotional piece of my writing career. And so, as you can imagine, it s tremendously special to me. I ve always wanted to write an intimate scene between Old Snake and a lover, so that part alone was incredibly deep for me. Not to mention this was written during a turbulent time of my life.
Lots of love to you all. Thanks a million for reading! In the midst of ever-chaotic reality, I ll work on the notes for a third chapter. Hopefully meteors won t crash land onto my house and end everything.
