A/N: You have NO idea how long I've wanted to do this one. At last, a Kadaj/Marlene!!! Go me!
Credit for inspiration of this one goes entirely to Vampire Toy, whose stories Memories and Can't Forget is incredible. Go read them. They're awesome.
Characters: Kadaj and Marlene
Pairing: Virtually non-existant Kadaj/Marlene (but if you squint really hard, you could get romance out of it)
Genre: Slight Angst
Setting: The Forgotten Capital, Northern Continent
Music Listened To During the Making of This One-Shot: Here With Me by Dido, Missing by Evanescence, Noesis by Gackt, and Somewhere I Belong by Linkin Park (I got really into this one-shot).
Enjoy!
"Da-da-da-DAAAAH-daaa-daa- DAH-DA-DAAAAH!!!!"
"Yazoo?"
"Oh, God. What is it now, Loz?"
"..."
"Stop sniffling, you big baby. What is your problem?"
"Brother and the kid are screaming. How do I make them stop?"
"Easy. Kill the kid."
Loz began to sniffle again, tears falling from his cheeks onto the cell phone into which he was talking. Behind him, the petulant screams, accusations, curses, and repartees of two people were growing louder and more violent with each passing moment. Loz honestly thought that one of them was going to kill the other.
"You're not a nice man! You're a jerk!"
"You're a stupid, pigtailed brat!"
"You're a meanie! Take me home now!"
"No! And don't call me a meanie!"
A groan could be heard from the cell phone and Loz turned back his attention from the two nemeses to Yazoo, where many voices in the background made the middle brother's voice less distinct.
"Look, I don't know when I can get there. Just wait, alright? And don't cry, Loz."
"I'M NOT CRYING!"
Click.
-
Marlene didn't know why the big man had brought her here. The big man said that Brother had wanted him to. She had trembled during the whole motorcycle ride there. She trembled even when this new man began talking to the big man still holding her arm in an almost death-grip. Tall, almost as big as Cloud, skinny, and with pretty silver hair. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wanted to touch it, but then she saw his eyes and trembled again. They were the most frightening part of him – glowing, unnatural green and with cat slits. They were scary, yet fascinating. And they weren't at all kind and pretty like Miss Aerith's had been. They looked… crazy.
The skinny man had opened a box, the box she recognized to be in Aerith's church, Cloud's box. He opened it and retrieved one of the shiny orbs that lay inside, and it made his eyes glow even more, and they frightened her more. She hid further behind the big man, just barely peeking out around his thigh. He was still holding her hand tightly, and now she didn't want to let go anymore. Surely the big man would keep her from the skinny man, right?
Suddenly, the skinny man put the shiny orb into his arm, and it sank into his skin as if into water. It glowed more brightly for a few moments and his eyes shone with ecstasy until the light faded away. Marlene hid even more behind the big man, so that only the corner of her dress and her shoes could be seen.
Silently, the skinny man turned toward her, grinning at her as she peeked behind the big man's arm. Slowly, he walked over to them and bent over to reach her height. His voice was dripping with amusement and reassurance when he spoke to her.
"Hello, little girl. And what might your name be?"
Marlene peeked around the big man's arm again and saw the skinny man smiling at her. And suddenly, she felt her small body freeze, as if his smile had turned her into ice.
However, the skinny man seemed a little bewildered when she didn't answer, and so he tried again.
"My name is Kadaj. Will you tell me yours?"
Marlene shook her head, hiding again behind the mass of muscle that was clinging to her. She would have laughed at how funny his name was if she weren't so scared.
"Oh? And why not?"
Marlene remained silent as she tried to block out the childish voice, hoping that maybe he would leave her alone.
"Loz, make her talk to me."
"What should I do?"
"I don't care what."
The little brunette shivered when she heard this exchange. The sweetness had faded away and his face looked irritated. Marlene scooted out from behind the big man, whose name apparently was Loz, and stood beside him. However, when Kadaj noticed, his face suddenly changed and he was happy again.
"I wanna go home."
The happiness froze over for only a moment, and the silver-haired man took a moment to recover before his facial expression could change.
"But, why would you want to do that?"
"Because I don't like this place. It's creepy."
The man, Kadaj walked towards her and knelt down beside her. For a moment, she noticed that Loz had suddenly departed from her side and was now standing by the material box, sifting through the shining orbs. But then she noticed Kadaj again, who was now a foot from her face.
"Why don't you like it? It's not creepy, it's quiet. Quiet is nice sometimes."
"…not this quiet. This quiet is scary. Everything here is scary. I don't like any of it."
The smile on the cat-eyed man's face didn't quite match his eyes, the green eyes that watched her every movement with feline anticipation, waiting for her to give into his ruse.
"You don't like any of it? So do you not like me either?"
"I didn't say that."
"But you were thinking it, weren't you? You can't lie to me."
Marlene couldn't reply to this and backed away, increasing the distance between them, hoping greatly that he wouldn't care. No such luck.
"Is it because I'm scary? Do I scare you? Are you scared?"
Marlene opened her mouth to protest, but Kadaj had begun to laugh derisively, standing up and drawing closer to her as he continued his taunting.
"Scared little girl, like a little lost puppy. So, so scared, aren't you?"
As he continued, Marlene felt herself back into a tree. Kadaj was still coming closer, still chanting in a sing-song voice, his eyes glinting like mischievous emeralds, the onyx slits widening and narrowing menacingly with every step as he came closer, lifting a hand towards her. And since there was nowhere to go, Marlene could only think of one thing.
With all her might, Marlene ran forward and shoved Kadaj to the ground with enough force to knock him off balance and send him to the ground, a small shriek of surprise escaping his lips upon landing.
For a moment everything was silent. Loz had turned away from the box and was staring with wide eyes at the two, but his eyes weren't nearly as wide as Kadaj's, who were entirely focused on Marlene. Marlene, in turn, was entirely shocked by what she'd just done, and wasn't prepared for the silver-haired man's reaction.
"You stupid brat! What was that for?!"
Marlene cringed at his outburst for a moment before scowling and returning it with one of her own.
"You were being mean to me so you deserved it!"
"I was playing with you! Can't you take a joke, you stupid little twit?!"
"That wasn't a joke! That was mean and you were doing it on purpose, you liar!"
"I was not! Stop yelling at me!"
"I'll yell at you if I want! You started it!"
"Did not! It's your fault for pushing me when I was just trying to play with you! See if I'm ever nice to you again!"
"You're not a nice man! You're a jerk!"
"You're a stupid, pigtailed brat!"
"You're a meanie! Take me home now!"
"No! And don't call me a meanie!"
"I'll call you a meanie because that's what you are!"
"Am not!"
In the small distance, Loz could be seen on his cell phone desperately pleading with someone to return soon, but neither Kadaj nor Marlene noticed, and so both continued to yell until their voices became hoarse.
"Fine! You know what! Go fall in the water and drown for all I care!"
"You do it! Nobody likes you! You and your friends or brothers or whatever came here and hurt Tifa and stole from Cloud! You're just a bunch of mean selfish jerks that don't care about anyone but themselves! Nobody wants you so why don't you just go away!"
At this Kadaj remained silent and Marlene realized that she had said something very wrong, something very dangerous. The taller man just stared at her with murderous eyes before turning away and walking to the edge of the water, sitting down in silence, fists clenched tightly. In turn, she sat down, her back to him, and the silence continued.
"…why… why do you want to hurt people, anyway?"
Marlene turned to glance at the silver-haired man, unprepared for the shrug he sent her way as he looked up into the sky with faraway eyes.
"Mother wanted us to. We do everything she tells us to."
"… but, why? Hurting people is bad!"
Hearing this, Kadaj faced Marlene, his face bearing confusion. The small brunette couldn't understand his sheer naïveté, the pure honesty that he held, the belief that it was completely okay to hurt someone.
"Mother… she told us that we have to stop anyone from getting in our way of finding her. The more people we have to find her, the better. And when we find her, we'll finally be together, and we'll finally have a home."
"What, like a house?"
Kadaj chuckled and looked back up in the sky, closing his eyes to relish the feel of the moonlight. Marlene couldn't help but watch his face make the angelic transformation of blissful anticipation, the demon of earlier exchanged for the happy face of a childish faith.
"No. Like, someone to go to, someone who accepts us. We must find Mother, no matter what, so that she'll love us at last. And everyone who helps – well, she'll love them too. Anyone who tries to stop us, to hurt us or hurt Mother … well, we won't let anyone get in our way. We'll finally be a family and no one will ever hurt anyone again. When we find Mother… she'll love us, and we won't need anything else. Just us – a family at last."
"That's why there's geostigma. The planet's hurting people, so Mother wants us to take them to her. Anyone who doesn't love Mother… anyone who refuses her… well, they don't deserve to live. They don't deserve to be part of our family. We've worked so hard, Mother will surely love us when we finally find her and she'll heal everyone who deserves it, everyone who helped instead of getting in the way."
Suddenly, Kadaj opened his eyes and turned towards Marlene, an eager smile on his face.
"Do you have a Mother?"
Russet eyes widened at the sudden conversation swing; Marlene was too surprised by his somewhat erratic behavior to keep from unconsciously shaking her head.
"No… she died when I was very little. I don't remember her."
Kadaj's smile widened as he jumped up and hurried towards her. Marlene couldn't help but feel that those green eyes had turned somewhat crazy again and, hence, became intimidated when he extended his leather-clad hand to her.
"Come with us to find Mother; she'll love you and you'll never lose her! She'll adore you and no one will ever hurt you! I promise! She'll love you just like she loves us; just come with us!"
The silence that, at this, fell between them was very thick with indecision. Marlene couldn't help but feel the feeling of desire, the simple and innocent wish to have the mother she never really had. The one chance to finally be cradled in the loving, protecting arms of a mother, the gentle hands to chase away the nightmares, the lips to whisper to her and kiss her brow, the breast to lean against, the lullaby of a heart to peacefully soothe her to sleep. Was it so wrong to want this? Was this not the one thing Marlene desired most?
A smile. Laughter. A hand that held hers. And gentle green eyes that shone with maternal affection so long ago.
And Marlene remembered, the one person she wore the pink bow for, Marlene remembered why she could never say yes.
"…I'm… sorry, but I couldn't. I can't have a mother who would hurt people. Because… because Miss Aerith would be sad."
Kadaj was taken aback, to say the least, as the smile faded away into wide-eyed disbelief. Something in the little brunette's words made something in him ache, something spasm painfully as he soaked in her rejection. And there was no doubt about it – something told him that he could never convince her otherwise, that her decision was final. But how could she question Mother? How dare she question Mother?
These thoughts faded away as the sound of a truck roared in the distance, excited chatter of children accompanying it. Marlene, surprised at first, jumped up and hid behind the big man, Loz, who in turn, grabbed her wrist to keep her from running away. Kadaj watched the truck approach for a moment, watching as the children unloaded and Yazoo made his way to the other side of the water.
"They're all here. Are you ready?"
The youngest clone thought for a moment as Yazoo watched him, ever attentive to his leader. All of the sudden, Kadaj turned around to face Marlene, his face suddenly regaining his earlier feral wildness. A smile twisted his lips into a sneer, and he was no longer a blissful child, but a manipulative, subtly insidious demon once more. And Marlene felt a chill overcome her as he spoke quietly with words meant only for her ears.
"Well, if you won't come with us… they will."
And as he turned to face the mass of youths, Marlene silently begged.
"Cloud… please, come save us."
A/N: I'm a little worried as to Kadaj's personality in this. I portrayed him the way I see him in my mind, but I'm not sure if that really fits with everyone else. Oh well, I guess I'll find out eventually.
Well, it's been awhile since I've worked on these, so I don't know when I'll update again, or what pairing I'll do next. I was thinking something along the Vincent/Lucrecia alley, but I'd really rather keep on the road of Unusual Pairings, so any suggestions would be much appreciated. Oh, and constructive criticisms, please, I crave these.
Ja ne!
The Psychotic One
