Reparation

Okay, first off, major hugs to Axurel who was kind enough to give me a summary for this story; super special thank you hugs to you. And of course thanks to dark-spirit, Miroir du Symphonie, PlayfulSylph and Kitsune Kit who are nice and took the time to review. Reviews make me want to hug you all so much! (I'm in a huggy mood)

Reparation

Cloud was exhausted yet oddly refreshed when he finally returned from Crystal Fissure, having vented everything onto the unsuspecting heartless still loitering there. As he expected the house was dark when he sneaked inside, everyone doubtlessly upstairs asleep. He winced slightly when the top step creaked loudly, tip-toeing down the hallway to the bedroom where his bed was waiting for him. Sleep was a good idea at this point; his head was now getting retribution for all the heavy thinking he'd done all day. But, he thought contently as he came to a stop in front of the bedroom door, it was worth it. He now had a rough idea of how to proceed even if putting it into motion was going to be difficult.

He had to raise an eyebrow when he walked into the bedroom; the curtains and windows were still open and Leon had collapsed on his bed, boots and belts still on; not even bothering to get under the covers. He heaved a sigh as he crossed the room and shut the windows and curtains.

Hopeless…

Shaking his head, he pulled back the sheets on his own bed before creeping over to where Leon slept. With a furtive glance, he bent down and removed the boots and belts as carefully as he could, breathing a sigh of relief when the brunet simply muttered in his sleep before stilling again. Nodding to himself in satisfaction he picked the man up and transferred to the other bed, tucking in the sheets in an almost instinctive move before kneeling beside the bed. He sighed again, a feeling of relief seeping through him, and leant forward to tuck a familiar, rebellious strand of hair behind Leon's ear.

"Even when you can fight, you still need looking after." He muttered with a fond exasperation as his fingers lingered over a troubled forehead. He jerked his back quicklky when Leon stirred, eyes widening as a whimper parted the other's mouth before the brunet slipped back into a deep sleep again.

"Clo'…sorry…"

Cloud didn't sleep at all that night.

XxX

Leon felt disorientated when woke up that morning. He could have sworn he'd collapsed on his own bed. He was pretty sure he hadn't bothered to remove his footwear or belts and he most certainly hadn't crawled under the blankets either.

…and what was his forehead tingling?

His hand unconsciously clamped over his forehead as he walked downstairs, mumbling a greeting to Aerith's chirpy 'good morning' as the woman flipped pancakes. It wasn't until Yuffie asked if he'd walked into the door that he became aware of his hand's position. Muttering an incoherent response he lowered his hand and checked the schedule on the fridge to confirm it was his shift for patrol duty. With a nod towards the girls he grabbed his gunblade and headed out; speeding up just a little when Aerith noticed him.

"Squall Leonhart! Get back here and eat your breakfast!"

She glowered as he all but flew around the corner and out of sight before turning on her heel and rushing back indoors and upstairs. "That's it! I'm going to sic Cloud on him!"

Yuffie fell off of her chair laughing.

XxX

"Something is wrong when Aerith comes to me for help you know"

"…"

Cloud sighed as he walked further into the bailey, eyeing the brunet with a frown as he continued to slash at the air. He held up a paper bag. "Bagels. Eat."

"Not hungry." Leon mumbled and moved to walk past Cloud towards the exit. An arm shot across his path, a palm slapping loudly against the concrete wall as his path was blocked. Eyes focused on the offending appendage he frowned his annoyance before a bagel filled his vision.

"Eat." Cloud repeated, amusement trickling through his voice. The thought that Leon could look after and repair an entire city yet still fail to take care of himself caught his interest and tickled his humour with its irony. It silently reaffirmed his confidence with the familiarity of it all, as Leon quietly took the bagel and sat down against the wall to eat. Cloud found himself recalling no fewer than a dozen occasions in which this scenario had been acted out. Though, he was sure it was because of homework back then…

"Hopeless." He murmured reflexively and stilled when Leon's head jerked up in surprise and grey-blue shot towards him.

Their eyes met.

XxX

R&R

I have exams; exams which are the true devil's spawn and do scary things to my poor overworked mind so please be kind to this update.