Finally I updated this story! I am so sorry for the delay guys, there really is no excuse for me being late other than just...well I don't even know the reason why. O.o but the main point is I updated! (yay)
Edited by: star-stickies
Disclaimer: I do not nor will I ever own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or it's characters.
Please review once you are finished reading. :) I would like to know how this fic is coming along so far.
The following morning Leon awoke with a monster of a headache. The covers on his body felt like lead that weighed five tons and it didn't help his migraine knowing that Cloud was with Zack all night; it was the main reason why he didn't get any sleep.
Guilt overwhelmed him as he moved the covers off of his sweaty body and shoved his face into his hands, cursing as he realized how much he had lost. He felt that all chances of getting Cloud back were slim to none, probably leaning more to the 'none' part. 'I don't know what to do to get you back…' He choked out a trembled sigh as he gazed down at his wedding ring that legally bound him to his beloved vampire. '…Cloud.'
When Cloud agreed on letting Zack love him, he didn't take into account that Zack would expect him to love him back in return, though he tried his best to attempt to.
Currently, Cloud was making Zack some breakfast in the kitchen; a task that he hoped would take his mind off of the situation, but to no avail. He threw the dirty dishes in the sink out of frustration and put his head in his hands, spreading his fingers so he could peek through, trying his best to glare at the onslaught of sunlight through the window. He cursed the time change, making him get up earlier in the morning and sleep earlier at night. It pissed him off, but it was a small obstacle that he could deal with. He used to be out during the day all the time when he was with Leon and raising both Sora and Roxas, but when it changed to being just him alone bringing up Roxas he would sleep while his son was at school, and then work at night. He had just finished plating Zack's meal when he jumped slightly at the feeling of strong arms encircling him. "Hey," whispered the intruder. Cloud felt his face flush slightly at the hold and replied back with the simple response that the raven lycan had just given him.
"It smells delicious." He purred, hands rubbing soothing circles over Cloud's stomach.
"Hn, you sure don't waste any time getting straight to your point, do you?" Cloud retorted, now cleaning up what was leftover of the food. Zack smiled behind him, "I never changed, Cloud." He lowered his head behind him and placed feathery kisses along Cloud's jugular, making the vampire let out a small hiss at the contact of his lips on his neck. The touch was making his skin burn, but the sudden feeling of Zack's tongue sneaking through his lips made him forget about the unpleasant burning, even though it intensified. Just knowing that he was finally being kissed like this again made him want to moan, despite the fact that he had to bite back a snappy remark when Zack left his mouth on his skin just a little too long and his neck started to blister; although it was unbeknownst to the lycan. Cloud tilted his head away and cringed up his shoulders, signaling for the lycan to back off. Feeling a hint of hurt when Cloud tensed up at him he moved away, just shaking it off as Cloud still not being over Leon yet. After all, he only agreed to let the lycan love him last night.
"So what are you going to do today, Cloud?" he brought up as he started to eat the delicious meal.
Cloud shrugged his shoulders as he watched Zack eat, his stomach letting out a sudden growl, "I'm good with staying inside." He glared toward the window again. Zack looked at him and smirked, "You are just like I remember." He shook his head playfully.
Cloud just moved his eyes over toward the other man, "Hm?"
The lycan moved his head from side to side again and graced the blonde vampire with a smile. "Well I'll go get you some food then. You can stay here if you want."
Cloud nodded as Zack chuckled and got up, putting his happy plate in the sink.
Grabbing his keys, Zack walked over to the door with Cloud following behind him. As the door knob turned, Zack's hand was yanked by Cloud. If Zack left him he would be alone again, even if he said he was coming back. But what would Cloud think of while he was alone? Would he think of how much Roxas doesn't want to be with him? How Leon doesn't love him anymore…? 'Shit.'
"Wait, Zack." the vampire whispered desperately.
"Yeah?" he grinned as he turned back around toward him, "What's wrong, Cloud?"
Cloud's mouth opened and closed again multiple times before actually gathering up enough courage to admit that he needed someone by his side. "I-I just…don't…want to be alone…again." He whispered, trying to hold back his emotions. He felt ashamed he was feeling this way; normally so strong and guarded, he didn't know why all of a sudden he was 'scared' of being alone. It was probably because he was afraid of where his thoughts would wander off to. Zack gave him a heartfelt smile before kissing him.
Everything seemed to stop for Cloud, just standing still with his lips tingling. He couldn't tell if it hurt or not, just that there was a tingling sensation going all through his body. Zack smiled as he caressed Cloud's chin and pulled his lips back, "Don't worry, Cloud. You're not alone." He shook his head slightly and put his hand on Cloud's shoulder.
Cloud slowly brought his fingers up to touch his lips, still feeling Zack's mouth on his own as he looked back up at the lycan. "Do you want to come with me?" he inquired, raising a brow.
Cloud bit the inside of his lip but felt safer at that suggestion. "Yes, but…" he looked around outside cautiously.
"Oh! Wait here!" Zack exclaimed, gently running past Cloud and up the stairs.
Folding his arms delicately and caressing his elbows, he waited for Zack.
"Here we go!" his voice called from the room, reentering with a light grey long sleeved shirt, made with thin material. "Will this do?" he asked grinning down at the other male.
Cloud let out a slight smile, "Yeah, that's fine."
"Awesome." Zack threw the shirt up in the air and caught it as it came back down. Cloud rolled his eyes as he showed off, waiting for Zack to run down the stairs and hand him the shirt.
Examining the soft material that was thrown to him, Cloud looked around, "Where's the bathroom?" he asked looking from side to side.
"Second door on the left." He motioned toward it.
"Oh, thanks." the vampire made his way into the bathroom to change. Zack waited in the living room patiently by the door with his arms crossed. 'Cloud…' he smiled at the room that the object of his thoughts disappeared into.
"Sora! Get up! It's time for school!" Leon called from downstairs.
"Mmmph…" Said teenager turned over in the bed and flung his arm across the mattress.
"Ow!"
"Wha-?" Sora yelled, falling on the floor in a tangled mess of covers. "Oh my gosh! Roxas I'm sorry!" he quickly got up from the floor and checked on his brother.
"Damn, Sora." Roxas rubbed his face.
"Ah man, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." He mumbled as he rubbed his eyes, "But I'd be getting dressed if I were you."
A light bulb seemed like it went off in Sora's head once he realized that he should indeed be getting dressed for school. "Oh yeah! Hey, you wanna come with?" he asked as he rummaged through his dresser drawers.
"To your school?" Roxas asked as he too got out of his brother's bed.
"Well, yeah." The brunette twin laughed, trying to pull on a pair of jeans, "It's a lot more entertaining than staying here all day or going to work with Dad."
"What does he do?" Roxas asked curiously.
"He works at a construction company restoring old houses, building new buildings and roads, stuff like that." He muffled through his top.
"Okay, well I guess I'll go with you, but-" he looked around, "Do you have a second uniform?"
Sora turned around quizzically while still in the middle of changing his pajama pants into his jeans for school, "Huh? We don't wear uniforms." He grinned as he threw some of his clothes over to his twin, "Here, you can fit into my clothes."
"You guys don't wear uniforms? Man, you're lucky." He stated, inspecting the wardrobe that was given to him. Sora just shrugged his shoulders as he went into the bathroom to take care of his hygiene, Roxas soon following.
While both washing their faces, Roxas noticed that he hadn't heard Leon's voice in a while. "Hey, why hasn't Leon called for us yet?" he asked, looking out of Sora's bathroom door.
Sora spat in the sink, taking out a brand new toothbrush from a side drawer and handing it to Roxas. "He normally knows that I take a while, so he just gets me up earlier."
"Oh." Roxas opened up the brush and squirted some toothpaste onto the bristles, "You're lucky again." He laughed.
Sora talked while Roxas finished up, "Not really. It's more of a 'I got you up so you get yourself ready to go on time' type of thing. I've been late to school countless times before just because I 'took my time.'" He emphasized, trying to mock his father as best as he could.
"Heh," Roxas wiped his mouth, "My Dad…" he paused, "Well our Dad I guess, Cloud. He-"
"-wakes you up then yells relentlessly for you to get your rump downstairs." Sora smiled at his brother while Roxas raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah, I know."
Roxas still looked confused.
"The cauldron, remember?"
"Oh! Right." He shook his head, remembering. While he caught up with his father and his brother the night before, Roxas found out that they had indeed been taking care of him and Cloud in the human realm. Like the time when Roxas had to walk home in the pouring rain without an umbrella though he never got wet. He never did understand it, he just thought that he was hallucinating and needed to lay off the sea salt ice-cream.
"Alright Rox, let's go. I can't wait for you to meet my friends!" Sora beamed at him.
Roxas smiled and ran down the stairs, following his brother.
"Okay Dad, we're ready!" Sora called as he jogged down toward the table where three bowls of cereal were waiting for them.
"Wow…" the blonde slowly approached the table, "I haven't had cereal in forever."
"Yeah," Sora twisted his face in embarrassment, "It's a cherished delicacy in this household." He laughed.
"Sora, are you criticizing my breakfast again?" Leon growled as he stepped out of the bathroom, drying his hair off with his pajama pants thrown on. Roxas had to turn away to cover up his faint blush; his Dad was hot!
"Nooooo." Sora whined cutely as he started munching on the cereal. He wasn't fazed one bit by his Dad's lack of dress. They both walk around shirtless all the time; it's their house after all. Roxas started to think why it was so weird all of a sudden, he and Cloud walked around shirtless almost everyday back in their house at home and he never thought anything of it. Come to think of it, that could possibly be the reason why Namine always got frequent nosebleeds whenever Cloud would be shirtless at Roxas' home while the two of them were working on a school project. Though the adult blonde would always immediately apologize, yell at Roxas for not telling him that he had company over and then proceed to run upstairs to get more decently dressed. Leon on the other hand could care less if Bahamut himself was in his house; he would still walk around like he wanted to. "Your breakfast is perfectly fine." Sora chimed.
"Uh huh." Leon turned, grabbing some juice out from the refrigerator for their breakfast.
"So Roxas, are you going to school with Sora today?" he questioned as he brought some glasses over and poured the beverage. Roxas just kept focused on his cereal, "Y-yeah."
"Well, you have fun." Leon smiled at his blonde son, then turned his attention over to Sora, "Sora, did you finish your potions assignment?"
"Uh…my what?" he looked confused.
Leon sent Sora a fatherly glare when he got up to go get a napkin for his son, who now had milk dribbling out from the corner of his mouth, "Sora don't even think about using your shirt."
"But it's nature's napkin!" he whined and folded his arms, rolling his eyes at how Leon wouldn't let him wipe his mouth on his top. Roxas finally got enough courage to look up at his father, now looking at his back. The blush on his face immediately vanished from his cheeks and his nervous expression was replaced with one of concern. "Dad?"
"Yes Roxas?" Leon asked, smiling at him and turning back around toward the table, throwing a napkin Sora's way.
"Uh…what…what happened to your back?" he asked cautiously.
The elder brunette looked down solemnly at the chair and closed his eyes, "Let's not talk about that, Roxas."
Sora squirmed uncomfortably in his seat at the awkward silence that followed. He never really questioned the marks on his Dad's back before. He always just let it go, thinking that it was always just something of the past.
"Oh, okay." Roxas nodded obediently, now kind of embarrassed.
"It's okay, Roxas." His father reassured with a small smile, "Hey Sora? I'm meeting with YenSid after work, so I'll be home a little bit later okay?"
"Mhmm," He hummed through a mouthful of cereal.
"Who's YenSid?" Roxas quirked an eyebrow, finishing off the last of his breakfast.
"YenSid is Dad's old teacher; he used to be his apprentice." Sora nodded frantically, proud that his father was apprenticed by a wizard of such magnitude.
Roxas mouthed an 'Oh' and nodded his head in slight understanding.
"Okay! We're done Dad!" Sora shouted, grabbing both of their bowls and placing them in the sink.
"Have a good day you two." Leon said as he walked them to the door, wrapping each one in a strong hug before releasing them, lingering a little longer on his hold on Roxas.
"Roxas?" Sora turned toward his brother as they started walking to school. "Why is your face so red?"
Said twin was trying to calm himself down from the shirtless hug that Leon gave him. It was hard to think that someone that attractive was his Dad! "Oh, I'm fine Sora, just nerves, I guess."
"Aw come on! You're gonna do fine." Sora held Roxas' hand and started swinging it back and forth as they commenced in idle conversation.
"So then we go to math class. I don't know about you but I suck at math!"
Roxas let out a small laugh, "Yeah, I'm not too bad in-eeEYAAH!" letting out a high pitched scream he jumped five steps back.
"Huh? Roxas what's wrong?" Sora stared in confusion at his brother.
"It's a snake! A huge fucking SILVER snake!" he yelled and started to hide behind Sora, hoping that the brunette could just zap it away or something.
"What?" Sora giggled and looked at the snake that immediately slithered past him at lightning speed, heading straight for Roxas. Sora knew automatically who it was and started scolding the reptile. "Riku, stop it!"
The snake ignored the command, instead, changing into a silver tiger mid-strike at Roxas who was punching it in the head as it tried to bite him. "Riku!" Sora ran over to his brother's rescue, trying to pull the huge feline off of him.
"What the fuck is this thing?" Roxas yelled as the huge silver animal still tried to attack him. This wasn't his imagination, was it? Because if it was…he didn't want to think about it. "Riku, damnit! I said get OFF! That's my brother you idiot!" The tiger was struggling in Sora's grasp, trying his best not to hurt the brunette teenager but effectively throwing Sora off of him where he landed a couple feet away on the sidewalk, "Riku, come on! Stop it! Please!" The tiger turned and ran over to Sora in a protective stance, now transforming into a lustrous silver wolf with more intimidating eyes than before. His teeth were barred and he was snarling, fur was sticking up on his back and his ears were pulled up against his head as he growled. Roxas was scared to death, moving back slowly on his hands and feet away from the creature.
"Riku damnit stop this or I'm breaking up with you! Do you hear me?" he bopped Riku on the nose, making the canine whimper and look up at him with pleading eyes. "Now listen to me." Sora's voice was stern to him, "That is my brother, the one that I talk about all the time! You should remember." He spoke with hurt in his voice, trying to guilt the wolf.
Turning to face the scared blonde boy, the silver wolf backed up and hung his head in a low pout.
"Good." Sora stated affirmatively, quickly forgetting his anger. He wrapped his arms around the soft fur, instantly returning to his regular bubbly attitude.
"S-Sora." Roxas shivered on the ground, "Are you actually dating that thing?" he asked in disbelief, remembering Sora's threat to break up with the silver beast. "It just tried to kill me!" he put his hand over his heart as Sora ran over to help him back up to his feet.
Sora laughed it off, "Don't worry Rox." He grinned, "That's my boyfriend, Riku." The wolf just looked up ashamed. "Aw come on Riku. It's okay." Sora tried to encourage him. The canine just huffed. "Come on Rox, you forgive him, right? He just misunderstood, that's all. I mean we were holding hands." He grinned sheepishly.
'My brother is dating an animal…? My brother…is dating an animal…My brother…'
Roxas looked uncomfortably at the silver creature before slowly nodding his head. He only forgave him for his brother's sake. If this were under any other circumstance he would complain to Axel about it. Normally he could hold his own when he was up against bullies by himself, but a snake-tiger-wolf…that was a job meant for Axel. That boy could take care of anything, especially if it involved Roxas. He caught himself daydreaming when the wolf started to change again.
He tensed up, wondering about the infinite amount of possibilities the beast was going to transform into next. Roxas was wincing while Sora smiled at the wolf as it was changing into a human form. The blonde hissed and put up his guard but once Sora smiled over at Roxas saying, "Tah Dah!" the blonde human calmed down some, gulping as he took in the figure before him. Beautiful silky, silver hair that came down to just above his back, milky white skin, and those piercing aquamarine eyes that were mesmerizing to just look into, now that they weren't filled with rage. His wardrobe consisted of light blue, scuffed up skinny jeans and a grey top. He actually wouldn't mind being mauled by him now; he was gorgeous!
"That…is your boyfriend?" he spoke in awe.
"Yeah." The silverette teenager replied, "I'm sorry." He walked over to the blonde twin who instinctively took a step back. Riku then turned to Sora, "I thought you said he forgave me…"
The sorcerer hugged his boyfriend comfortingly around his midsection, "He does! It's just instinct, Riku, don't take it personally." The taller teenager looked ashamed, so he introduced himself from afar. "I'm Riku, your brother's boyfriend." He stuck his hand out. Roxas did his best to approach him normally as he took his appendage and shook it firmly. "Well, I'm Roxas. The boy you just almost killed and your boyfriend's twin."
"I already said I was sorry." He rolled his eyes.
Roxas let out a small smile to reassure him, "Dude, it's okay, really."
Riku still looked unsure so Roxas changed the subject, opting for a question instead of an awkward silence, "So…Sora, does Le-Dad know that you two are dating?"
Sora and Riku looked at each other unsure, then back to Roxas, "Um…kind of."
"Kind of?" Roxas turned his head to the side.
"Well…" Sora rubbed the back of his head in nervousness, "Dad's kinda overprotective, you know? He knows that we are close and he already suspects but…he would kill Riku if he ever found out we were actually dating."
Riku then took a possessive hold around Sora's waist and smirked, making Roxas feel like a pansy because he was too much of a hard ass to suck up his pride and start his own meaningful relationship back at home. He didn't know that he was smiling until Sora grinned back at him and grabbed his arm. Soon they all were walking hand in hand to school, Riku on the right, Roxas on the left and Sora snug in the middle.
"Wow, this place hasn't changed a bit." Cloud observed as he looked around the town on their way to go pick up blood.
"Yeah, things have been pretty boring around here lately, especially whenever the Jenova's were in charge." Zack cringed at the thought.
Cloud's blue eyes squinted into a slight glare 'Jenova's…why does that name sound so familiar…?'
"Man, but thank Hyne that they aren't in charge anymore. Halloween Town was a wreck."
'Jenova's…' "Zack."
"Yeah?" he turned back toward him.
"What exactly are the Jenova's?"
"Oh, well you know that huge gang of sorcerers? Apparently one of their members was way up in the hierarchy and took control of Halloween Town. Man, life sucked." He huffed out a breath, "So I guess that you were pretty lucky that you moved to the human realm when you had the chance." He put his hand on Cloud's shoulder.
"Oh…" 'Why does that name sound so familiar…Jenova…'
"Well anyway, all is said and done now though. They're out of power and everything is back to normal." He shrugged his shoulders and went back to walking.
"Hmm." Cloud grunted as he continued to follow Zack through the town, passing neighborhoods, small parks and shopping districts, still trying to remember the foreign name. Not long in their walk did Cloud start to feel dizzy. 'Damn this sun, it's already getting to me.' He blinked his eyes, trying to adjust his vision and keep moving forward, lifting his arm up to his forehead to shield off any offending sunlight going to his eyes. 'Why…why is my head hurting?'
He then moved his arms over to cover his ears from what sounded like banging, but the sound waves felt like they were ramming into his skull. Taking in steady breaths and squinting his eyes, he looked over to where the obnoxious noises were originating from. 'Damn workers.' He thought as he looked over toward them, though once he did, his vision started to get blurry and he couldn't keep his footing, "Mmm…" clutching his hands harder around his head to try to ease the headache while at the same time trying to block the vicious noise from stabbing his brain, he tried his best to move forward.
"Cloud, what's wrong!" a black blurry figure moved on top of him; since when did he end up on the ground?
"Cloud!" a distant voice sounded.
'That voice…'
"Cloud! Cloud, can you hear me?" another blurry blob moved over him, but this one had more of a brown hue to it.
"Hey, back off! He's in my care now; I can take care of him! Since when have you ever cared about him?" the black blob yelled.
'Please be quiet…I don't know what's going on.'
"He's only been with you over night!" the brown blob bit back, "Just shut up, Zack! My main priority is to see what's wrong with him, not fight with you!"
Cloud then felt himself get lifted into the air. He felt sick.
'Please put me down brown blob…or is this black blob…?'
"You go get blood; I'll take him back to the house!"
"He can have my blood! I'm his mate!"
"Yeah, you wish. He's too out of it right now to even elongate his fangs to bite you! Just get some bagged blood so he can swallow it."
The other clenched his fists together as he had no time for arguing. Yelling to his coworkers that he would be leaving and that he didn't care if he didn't get paid for the day, he cast a teleportation spell, transporting him to the nearest supermarket. Hopefully the other customers wouldn't have a problem with a shirtless construction worker randomly popping up in the middle of the store. Once he recognized that he was in the store, he grabbed a few bags of AB blood, practically knocking down everyone in his way in order to pay for them. Now he had to remember where Zack lived.
"Come on Cloud, you'll be okay." Zack soothed as he brought a fan over to the nightstand, having it blow on Cloud's body. The lycan then moved to take off Cloud's shirt and was astounded by what he saw. Where the shirt was covering his body, all of the skin was red, but it didn't look like a burn. It more or less looked like his whole torso was being suffocated and squeezed till there wasn't anything left, like a naga and its prey. Zack went to the bathroom to wet a couple towels under cold water, draining them and placing them over Cloud's torso. The marks may have not looked like burn marks, but they sure as Ifrit were hot. He then placed a smaller rag on Cloud's forehead before heading to remove the vampire's pants to see if anything that happened on his torso occurred to his lower body. 'Damnit, where the fuck is Leon with that blood?' Zack cursed in his mind as he removed Cloud of all clothing. Once he saw that it was only his upper body he pulled back on Cloud's boxers and waited. He may hate Leon and they may be sworn rivals over Cloud, but now he needed him to get back here and quick. He climbed up on the bed beside Cloud and ran his fingers through his hair, "It'll be alright, Cloud." He kept nodding, hoping that they were doing the right thing. Cloud didn't need a hospital…did he? He moved down to kiss Cloud's shoulder until he smelt something burning 'What?' looking back down to where he kissed Cloud's skin a searing sound was heard and the vampire started to twitch, a small tear running down his face.
Zack shook his head in confusion, "Cloud, come on! Wake up and tell me what's wrong!" Zack yelled next to him. When he didn't get an answer he ran into the bathroom to wet more towels, changing out the old ones that now became hot and placing them on his skin, and another on the burn mark from his kiss.
"Zack?" Leon yelled from down stairs.
"Up here!"
In no time Leon came around the side of the bed and lifted up Cloud's head.
"Can't you fix him Leon? You're a sorcerer!"
"I may be a sorcerer, but I'm no White Mage." Leon quickly opened up the bag of blood, only on a corner so it would easily pour into Cloud's mouth. He tilted up Cloud's head to open up his throat passage as he poured a little bit of the blood down Cloud's parted lips, until he started coughing. "Damnit, come on Cloud. Drink it." Leon ordered, even though Cloud couldn't really hear him.
'Why am I hearing buzzing…? Why can't I open my eyes…? Why can't I move…?' Cloud thought once the blood started to pour down his throat. He didn't know what to do with it at first, he could barely function. 'Sleep…sleep sounds good.' He tried to lap up what little blood he didn't cough up before he passed out.
"Oh Cloud, please be alright." Leon pleaded as he gently poured down more blood, making sure that Cloud was getting some into his body and not into his lungs. His skin was searing at the touch, but the pain was worth dealing with to make sure that Cloud would get better.
Zack glared daggers at Leon. Why was Leon getting burned when he touched Cloud? 'I kissed him and I didn't burn. Sure I felt the intense heat of his skin but…I ended up burning him…what is going on?'
Once one bag was down Cloud's throat, Leon let out a grateful sigh and leaned his upper body down on Cloud's, their noses touching, "Hyne, Cloud… please be okay." He let out a sad chuckle as he felt Cloud's now even breaths on his lips. He could feel Zack glaring at him, but didn't say anything; he was Cloud's mate, not Zack. Zack could glare at him to his heart's content but he still wouldn't move. Lifting up his head he took off the towel from Cloud's forehead.
"I put that on him so he would cool off." Zack gritted out.
"I know you did, I'm just going to feel his temperature." Leon gazed at Cloud before placing his hand on his forehead. Once they came into contact with one another his hand seared, leaving steam in its wake.
"Gah!" Leon gasped as his hand was burning, but right before he ripped his hand away he noticed that the heat was transferring out of Cloud's head to his palm, relieving him of his fever, and that motivated him to continue.
"Ah shit!" he cursed, his hand felt like it was on fire as he pulled it back. Blisters coated every inch of his hand and fingers. He looked from his hand back to Cloud and put the back of it up against his head. It still burned, but not as badly. When he took away his hand he could tell that Cloud was doing better now as he turned in his sleep, but cringing once the mattress' material scraped against the sore skin on his back.
Zack was jealous as he watched Leon perform his healing trick. He tried to heal him too! Yet he wasn't getting any credit. Oh what he would give to be Cloud's mate, it was what he wanted ever since he met him. He looked over fondly at the blonde and stroked his hair, thankful when he didn't hear any indications that he was burning him.
Leon clenched his eyes at what Zack was doing, and instead moved lower to Cloud's abdomen and picked up the wet towel. It seemed to be working by taking the heat out of Cloud's body.
"Just keep changing these." Leon stated bluntly, forcing Zack out of his love entranced state. "Keep changing them out for cool towels, and he should be fine." He whispered, pathetically leaning his head up against Cloud's side, not wanting to leave him alone with Zack. He loved him so much.
"I love him so much." Zack spoke Leon's thoughts out loud, making the sorcerer's heart twist in uncomfortable knots. He looked back up at Zack. "I really do, Leon. It's so…sad as to how much I love him."
Leon shut his eyes, trying to keep his composure. "Well I love him so much that it makes me happy, not sad." He spat.
"Heh," Zack lightly scoffed as he kept running his fingers through Cloud's hair, combing down the blonde strands occasionally to outline the contours of his face. "You just don't get it do you?" he shook his head, "I love him. So much, there just isn't another person out there for me…and I refuse to let you steal him away from me again." He growled.
"I never stole him. He left you of his own free will." Leon sniped back.
Zack was quiet for a moment, contemplating the situation. "Well have you ever thought that maybe Cloud loves you because he's mated to you? Instead of being mated to you because he loves you? It wasn't his choice for you to be his mate. I bet if he wasn't ever a vampire and could fall in love with anyone he wanted to…that he would still be with me." Zack lowered his eyes. "Have you ever thought of that?"
Leon slowly stood up once Cloud began to stir in his sleep, "More times than you can count." He looked down at his seared hand as the blisters started to get bigger, some filled with pus, blood, and clear liquid. Either way, he needed to see YenSid now; his back was beginning to hurt and maybe he could heal his hand, too. "I know that whatever situation it is for Cloud, it's already too late for me. Even though I technically can't be mated to a person, I swear to Bahamut that I am so in love with him that I am mated to him."
"Hn." Zack laughed, "So the same goes for both of us."
"Listen, Zack." Leon stood up with authority, "I know that I can leave him in your care because I know you will take care of him. But I have to leave now." He said as he gave one last longing look to the sleeping Cloud.
"Hah, just like you, always leaving him whenever he needs you most."
"It's not like that! I have to leave and go see YenSid or else-" he caught himself at what he was about to say. He didn't want anyone's pity. "Just forget it. You wouldn't understand." He glared at him before leaving to go see YenSid, but not without taking a longing look back at the sleeping vampire.
Leon arrived at YenSid's door, now properly dressed with a shirt on. It was already opened before he could knock.
"Why hello, Leon. Come on in." he bowed to his friend and led him inside. "You came early today."
The old wizard shut the door as Leon took off his shirt and laid down, stomach first, on the table, lifting up his injured hand.
YenSid came over to examine it. "Rough day?" he joked.
"Cloud is back." Leon deadpanned. "This is because of him. I don't know why, but, whenever I touched him it was like I was taking his fever and whatever made him sick out of him…and transferring it to me."
YenSid smiled down at him as he began to heal his hand first before his back. Leon winced slightly at the procedure. "Cloud was sick?"
"Yeah…we don't know what happened to him…but he just got all dizzy and red and…I don't even know how to explain it, but I was so scared."
"Mmmm I see." The old man said. It was no surprise to him that Cloud came back at all or his sickness. One look into his crystal ball and he could see everything, though secrecy is key in the wizarding world, as to why he never let Leon in on any of it. Else things would not go as planned, for one would be expecting their future and try to make it happen, instead of letting it happen naturally. The whole course of their lives would be changed forever.
"Do…do you know what caused it?" he asked cautiously.
"Hmmm…yes. I do."
Leon let out a heavy sigh, "Then tell me what it is."
YenSid gave a slight shrug while still concentrating on Leon's hand, "They were talking about the Jenova's." he stated.
Leon turned his head, looking around in thought, "What does that have to do with anything?"
The old man paused and shook his head, "All in good time, Leon, all in good time."
The brunette growled and tapped the finger of his free hand on the table, "Whatever. I just want him to be alright." He rested his head down on the hard surface.
"He will be, trust me." YenSid said, wrapping up Leon's healing hand. "Ok, that is going to have to take about a week to heal." He stated, placing it carefully next to Leon's side, "Now, are you ready?"
The sorcerer took in a big breath, "As ready as all of the other times." He exhaled as he gripped the side of the table with his uninjured hand.
"This one will be painful as you already know, due to the settling of the poison deeper inside your body."
"Yes. I know." He took in a deep breath as YenSid used his magic to reopen the scarred wounds and slowly move up all of the poison to the outside of his body. The sorcerer immediately started to shake in fierce tremors, loud grunts and whines escaping his mouth as the poison moved back over the scarred tissue, making its way up into the awaiting expert hands of YenSid.
"Gah!" he seethed through his clenched teeth, taking harsh breaths, in and out. "Guh! Shit! MMmph!" he grabbed harder onto the table, shaking violently. He hated these sessions with YenSid, even though it would take all of the poison out of his body and benefit him in the long run, getting to that state was pure hell.
"It's alright, Leon."
The grunts and pants persisted as Leon tried concentrating on not letting any tears fall from his eyes. It just hurt so damn bad.
The procedure lasted another two hours, pure agony wracking through Leon's body.
"Alright Leon…we're done for today." YenSid spoke softly, gently sweeping away the sweaty hair that was stuck to Leon's forehead. "Now you need to rest." He patted Leon's back and walked over to his crystal ball. Something was nagging at the back of the wizard's skull as he was healing Leon and he needed to check on it instantly, and what graced his eyes shocked him. "Oh no…no no no no…" he shook his head and turned back over to Leon, who was now struggling to put back on his shirt.
With one last longing look back at his crystal ball he turned toward Leon slowly, "Squall…"
Said man hesitated in the task of putting on his shirt at the use of his real name, "Yes?"
"You…you need to be careful okay?"
Grey eyes looked at the old man skeptically as he finished pulling down his shirt, hissing when the fabric came into contact with his sensitive back. "I normally am careful. What are you talking about?"
"No Squall." He shook his head and sighed, "I need you to take this." He rummaged through his robe and pulled out a small vial with a feather etched on the glass.
'A Phoenix Down?' "Why do I…what's going to happen?" the tone of his voice more of an order than a question.
The aged wizard just shook his head, his long beard swaying in the process, "You know more than anyone that I cannot tell you. I'm not even allowed to change the future but…" he took in a big sigh, "This time I am making an exception. I need you to keep this with you at all times, do you understand me?"
The brunette sorcerer limped forward and took the vial from the elderly man's hand, examining it thoroughly and thinking of all of the possibilities as to why he would need a Phoenix Down. He was still skeptical as he put it in his front pant pocket, "Alright. I promise to have this with me at all times."
"Mmmm…" the blonde moaned on the bed, slowly turning on his side and squinting open his eyes. 'Why am I so wet…?' he maneuvered one of his hands down his stomach to find a lukewarm wet towel draped across his body.
"Oh thank Hyne you're awake."
"Hm?" Cloud blinked over at his side to see Zack walk over and sit on the edge of the bed. "What…what happened? And why am I soaked?"
Zack smiled and tucked back some of Cloud's hair behind his ear, "I don't know what happened, but I was scared shitless. You just passed out on our way to the supermarket to get you some blood. Then you started sweating and you were really hot, so I cooled you down with some towels."
Cloud moved up into a sitting position, massaging his head with his hand, "Oh…how long was I out?"
"A good six hours or so; it was really scary. I didn't know what to do." he moved over by Cloud, removing the washrags and towels.
"Then who did know what to do? Why am I not in a hospital?" he let out an exhausted sigh.
"Well, you started to calm down once I got some towels on you." He lied. "So I thought that you were fine, and just let you rest."
"Oh…" Cloud lay back down again on the bed, "I could've sworn…" 'I thought that someone else was here. It was probably just me hallucinating.' "Hn, oh well. I really want to thank you Zack. I owe you a lot, anything you want, don't hesitate to ask." He laughed softly, fiddling with Zack's shirt.
Zack moved Cloud's head onto his chest for him to adjust better, making the blonde blush and look away. They both sat like that for a long while, Zack running his hands smoothly through Cloud's hair and Cloud playing with the fabric of Zack's shirt.
'I wonder how Roxas is doing…I hope he's okay. His friends are probably worried about him back at school…' he let out a heavy sigh and closed his eyes, unconsciously leaning his head more onto Zack's shoulder.
"What are you thinking about?" the lycan whispered over to him. "Or rather, who are you thinking about?"
Cloud smiled and shook his head, "Just thinking about Roxas. I really hope that he's doing okay."
"He's fine Cloud. I'm sure that Leon is taking good care of them."
The vampire lowered his eyes and rested his cheek on Zack's chest to be more snug and comfortable. "Yeah. I wonder what he's doing today." he scoffed, "What they are doing today."
Zack tried to push past the thought of Cloud wanting to know about his family. He was jealous knowing that Cloud still belonged to them. Maybe he could change that. 'Hopefully. Hyne Cloud, I love you so much.' "I love you so much, Cloud." He voiced, unknowingly startling the man lying on his chest, who moved up to look him in the eye.
"…you…what?"
Zack just turned a sad smile toward him, "I love you, Cloud. I want to love you; I would do anything for you." He chuckled sarcastically and rolled his eyes, "But…Leon still stands in the way, right?"
"Don't talk about him." he stated, looking sheepishly back down at the blankets, then back up to Zack, not completely making eye contact, "It really scares me…to think about him, much less talk about him." he lifted up hurt eyes to Zack.
Zack's hopes lifted at what Cloud had just said. "He scares you?"
"No. He doesn't scare me. Thinking and talking about him does." An involuntary shudder ran throughout his body, making him realize just how much of a slim chance he had of getting Leon back. Bringing up a hand to his eyes he laughed pathetically. "I know it's stupid, heh, but…I just don't know. It's hard to explain."
Zack slowly moved forward, rubbing up and down Cloud's forearm. "There's no reason to cry, Cloud." He shook his head and tilted the blonde's chin up, "Come here."
Cloud innocently tilted his head to the side in question, "I'm normally not this emotional, you know?" He whispered as Zack brought their faces closer together.
Zack smiled sweetly at him and caressed his chin, their lips millimeters apart, "I don't mind."
Once their lips touched it was as if all of the pent up emotions were released between both males. Zack was madly in love with Cloud, that being obvious with the passionate kisses and moans that were escaping his lips. Cloud on the other hand was going through conflicting emotions, trying desperately to think of Zack as Leon. To show Leon how much he still loved him, he had to prove it to him. But he also knew that this was not Leon that was giving him the affection that he has craved for so long, it was Zack, and he just wanted to be touched and loved again more than anything. To feel such a strong emotion such as love, for both men, drove them on through their passion. Even though Zack's kisses were burning him, Cloud didn't pay any attention to them. He hardly even felt the pain due to the euphoric feelings that were overtaking his body.
(A/N: since is taking down stories with lemons in them I removed it, so I'm ending with where the lemon would have ended, but I had to keep this part in because this is a pretty big part of the story: so this is the end of the lemon. *sniff* i didn't want to remove it but I had to be safe. :( )
"Zack, I said stop! Please!" He screamed into the pillow as he felt an extreme rush of what felt like molten iron fill up his body at Zack's release. He continued screaming and yelling, helplessly hitting the pillow as he was being tortured. 'I…I never thought that this would be how it would end up…Leon…I'm sorry. Oh God I can't…I'm so sorry!'
"Oh shit Cloud! W-what happened? Oh Hyne I need to get you to a hospital!" Zack panicked as more of Cloud's blood swam with no protest out of his hole. He looked into Cloud's eyes; they were dull and red from screaming and crying. "Cloud, come on!" Zack swiftly pulled on his clothes and put Cloud's boxers on his limp body, along with a clean shirt. "Come on, Cloud." He pleaded as he lifted him up into his arms, "Oh Shiva, why didn't you say anything?" He ran out of the door with the limp body, feeling blood still seep out of Cloud. It was staining his boxers.
"I need a doctor! He needs help!" Zack yelled at the many nurses that adorned the front lobby of the hospital.
After a state of shock from the sudden intrusion, some of the nurses immediately started calling doctors while others took the stone cold vampire away from the man's arms. "Quick, what is he? What happened?" a doctor yelled as he stormed into the lobby. Once he saw the blonde he knew it was serious.
"He's a vampire and well, I don't know! He just started bleeding!" Zack cried to the white lab coat clad man as the nurses put Cloud on a ready stretcher.
"Are you his mate?" the doctor rushed as he pulled Cloud with him to the nearest emergency room, noticing the large amounts of blood that were transferring to his stretcher from the patient's buttocks.
"N-no…is that a problem?" he glared at the doctor. The doctor glared back, "I need his mate! Now! Do you know how to get a hold of them? He needs their blood." He stated coldly. "Now only authorized personal are allowed back here until we call for you. Leave all of your and his," he nudged his head toward Cloud, "information at the front desk. And do everything in your power to get a hold of his mate." And with that the door shut in the lycan's face.
Leon's back was feeling considerably better after his visit to YenSid earlier that day, and his hand was healing nicely. He was just going to rest on the couch for the remainder of the day until Sora got home with Roxas; he couldn't wait to hear about Roxas's day at school in Halloween Town. But those thoughts were put on hold when he heard the house phone ring. Rolling his eyes he sighed as he stuck out his hand, casting a silent spell as the phone moved forward to his grasp. He coughed and went back to his television program, "Hello?" he asked dryly. If it was some telemarketer then he was going to shove a firaga spell through the phone and have it blow up in the person's face on the other line.
"Leon?" the person sounded frantic…and kind of like a certain raven haired man that he wanted to maim.
"Yes. Who is this?"
"It's Zack!" So it was Zack. "Is everything alright?" His attention got elevated at Zack's tone. Cloud was supposed to be in Zack's care, and if Zack was frantic on the other line… "What's wrong?"
"It's Cloud! He's in the hospital and the doctors said that he needs you as his mate." He almost spat the last part, even though he was scared for the vampire's life.
All it took was Zack say the word 'hospital' and Leon was out the door with his car keys, driving like a mad man to his destination, "I'm half way there!" Leon was trembling, his hands suddenly clammy and trying to not wreck because he was so terrified of what was happening to his partner, his other half. Damn that hospital and forbidding the use of teleportation! If anything happened to Cloud he didn't know what he would do. He wiped at his eyes that were starting to become misty with tears, the faint sounds of car horns blaring and witches screaming on their brooms as they had to suddenly stop at intersections for the sorcerer to pass. But he wasn't paying attention to any of it. The only thing on his mind was what happened to Cloud and if he was okay. He was scared to death at all of the possibilities going through his mind, 'Cloud…what happened?'
He made a sudden right turn into the first vacant parking spot of the hospital parking lot, making a mad dash to the entrance, only because it was routine did he even remember to lock his car. Once the automatic doors opened he looked around frantically screaming Cloud's name, but he stopped once his eyes landed on the lycan who looked up at him with apologies spelled out all over his face.
"What happened?" he growled out, though he was too concerned to be angry at Zack right now.
"Are you Squall Leonhart?" the nurse next to Zack asked.
"Yes ma'am. Where is he? Is he alrig-"
"You need to come this way immediately; I'll take you right to him." she rushed, grabbing the sorcerer's hand, and running with him into the back room.
Yay, another chapter done. And the next one there will be a vote for all of the reviewers at the end of it. I think it would be nifty to read what you guys think you will be voting on. ^^ so if you want, you guys can leave your guesses in the reviews. I would love it if you guys would review on this chapter! (and on all the other ones to come) I'm very proud of how many reviews this story has for only being 3 chapters long. :) Seriously, I get so excited everytime I get a review. :) makes my day. (especially with all of the depressing skies and tornado sirens/warnings going on here).
So take care everyone! :) until next time! (which hopefully the wait won't be as long).