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Drumroll! Hooray! Update!
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"Breathe, ok? You're freakin' me out."
"Reno..." Tifa was still speechless as she stared down at the delicate mythril ring and the bright clear stone set in the center of it. "This is awful fast, don't you think?"
"I could do it slow if ya want. Here goes: Ti. Fa. Lock. Heart. Will...You...Marry...Me." He grinned. "How 'bout that?" Finally she shook it off.
"Yes you wonderful idiot, yes!" She hauled him up off the floor and kissed him hard. When she finally let him go, he gave her one of his room-lighting smiles.
"Now, I've gotta cal all my ex-girlfriends and tell each and every one of 'em 'See? Reno can commit!" he said, sliding the ring gently onto her finger.
"You idiot!" she said affectionately, tugging his ponytail.
They were interrupted by a faint snort. Both looked over to see the three boys at the bottom of the staircase; Yazoo carrying Kadaj. Loz stared, Kadaj looked vaguely amused, but Yazoo just had a blank expression.
Then Tifa realized she was straddling Reno on the floor wearig little else but an old t-shirt that didn't cover much. She blushed furiously and stood up, stalking back behind the counter without looking up. Reno just grinned at them upside down from the floor, and that didn't do anything to help how insane he usually looked. Yazoo frowned, then took Kadaj into the living room.
"No sense of humor at all," Reno groaned, rolling over and getting up. "Ouch, Tif, that stool hurt," he whined, rubbing his wrist.
"Stool? What stool, dear?" Tifa said sweetly, handing a plate to Loz.
"What have I got myself into?" he pondered aloud.
"Oh hush. Since Kadaj is eating down here, will you move one of the small tables into the living room?"
"I've signed up for enslavement," the redhead sighed, easily heaving one of the oak tables off the floor.
"Hey, big guy, grab some chairs, will ya?" Happy to be doing something, Loz followed with four chairs. "Put one on that end, one on that end, and the other two on the side away from the couch so your bro don't get left out."
"Yazoo? Can you help me in the kitchen?" Tifa called from the other room. Yazoo glanced at Kadaj who gave him a panicked look.
"It's ok, I'll be right in the other room, and Loz is here. I'll be right there." He squeezed the boy's shoulder and reluctantly wandered into the kitchen.
"Could you take the juice to the table for me? Then just grab a seat wherever you like. Thank you," she smiled warmly at the wary man/boy. His expression thawed a little before he retreated back to the living room. Kadaj looked exceptionally relieved at his arrival, and kept darting suspicious looks at Reno, talking affably with Loz.
"Don't worry," he said seriously. "The chicks will dig ya, they just love sensitive guys." Loz looked clueless, but smiled anyway. Yazoo scowled.
"Ok guys, you can talk about women later, the eggs are getting cold." Reno sniggered, and she rolled her eyes. "Take some bacon, pass it around." Reno sat in one of the chairs across from Kadaj, and after a moment's hesitation, Yazoo sat on the end next to him.
"Loz, can you make up a plate for Kadaj, please?" Loz jumped up to help, having Kadaj point to what he wanted. Yazoo watched them protectively while they ate, barely stuffing it in his mouth and going back for another. Meanwhile, Kadaj had discovered bacon.
"What IS this?" he asked, with a mystified and ecstatic expression on his face.
"The first of the four food groups," Reno said with his mouth full. "The other three are beer, nicotine, and - "
"Reno!"
"I was just goin' to say... uh...more beer! Yeah, that's it."
Breakfast finished in relative silence, but without much tension. Loz and Reno helped clean up, while Yazoo hovered protectively over Kadaj who had dozed off again on the couch, legs pulled up under the old t-shirt.
They were just about finished when Cloud returned, carrying several bags. Yazoo was practically bristling with tension at his entrance, standing menacingly between him and his younger brother. Cloud just shook his head and kept his mouth shut.
"Hey Tif?" Tifa was in the midst of trying to explain the concept of dishwashing to Loz, and didn't hear him, but Reno's head popped up from where he was washing down the table.
"Yo, Strife! Whatcha got there?" he jerked his head at the bags.
Rocks. Rocks to hit you with. Cloud thought wistfully.
"Clothes." He dropped them on the nearest table and peered in a couple of them. "Here, give this one to Loz...Yazoo, I think these are probably your size, but your pretty close to Kadaj so I guess you can swap if you don't like them."
Yazoo looked doubtfully at the blue jeans, t-shirts and sweaters, but managed to mutter 'thanks' before returning to Kadaj-guard duty. Cloud glanced at Reno and made looked from him to Yazoo and back. Reno caught on and yelled to the boy.
"Hey, can you give me a hand with this?" Reno asked, nodding at Yazoo. He looked back at his brother who smiled sleepily and shrugged.
"Yeah, ok." He tried to keep an eye on his brother while moving the furniture, but eventually he had to leave the room. Cloud, feeling rather childish, snuck in.
"Kadaj?" The boy's eyes came open abruptly and looked frightened. "Hey, please...I'm not gonna hurt you. We're brothers, right? No more crazy stuff. Just brothers."
"But, Mother is gone. We're not brothers anymore, are we?" he asked quietly.
"Doesn't really matter, does it? We both havea chance to make up for...everything. There's not reason to fight anymore, that was never really about us, anyway. It was all Sephiroth. I never wanted to fight you." Don't mention his mother.
"But Sephiroth's gone now!" Kadaj said, almost hysterically. "All gone, no more fighting, right?"
"Take it easy kid, no more, I promise. It's all over. Everything's cool. Don't be afraid. We're here to help you. So don't worry." Kadaj's eyelids fell, and he seemed to be trying to find energy to respond. "Hey, listen. Why don't I put you back in bed, get some more rest, ok?" Kadaj hesitated momentarily, then nodded slowly, eyes closed.
"All right, come on then," he moved to pick up Kadaj up off the sofa, when he heard an angry cry and was knocked sideways onto the floor. Weak but determined blows rained on his shoulders and chest as he looked up to a curtain of silver hair. "Yaz!" shouted Kadaj.
"Don't touch him!" Yazoo yelled at Cloud, and the blond was so startled he didn't know quite what to do. Then someone grabbed the boy under the armpits and across the chest, hauling him off, kicking and thrashing.
"Yaz! Hey, psycho kid! CHILL, all right?" Reno was shouting in his ear, and the fraternal nickname seemed to bring him around a little. "Good kid, just take it easy all right? He's not gonna hurt him. They're just talkin', ok?" Yazoo relaxed into Reno's grip. "Ok, can I let you go now? Not gonna go crazy on me are ya?" The boy waited a minute to answer, glaring at poor Cloud still sitting on the floor and nodded. Reno let him go. "Ok. So he's gonna put sleepin' beauty back to bed, and you go with him but play nice, yo? I only kill people on weekends, an' it's Thursday." The middle brother stood still, his back to Reno's chest, with great difficulty while Cloud gently picked up his young brother, flinching when Kadaj winced a little, and then went to follow them upstairs. Reno's hand on his shoulder stopped him momentarily.
"A few things around here make Tif sad. One of 'ems fighting. Under no circumstances, ya get me? People out there are just waiting for an excuse to believe you guys are bad. And what makes Tif sad, pisses me off, understand? Good. Go take care of your brother." Chastised, Yazoo followed Cloud obediently upstairs. He watched, albeit sulkily, while Cloud gently set Kadaj on the bed and helped him slide under the covers. Yazoo waited at the door, arms crossed, hiding behind the silver that veiled his face. Kadaj muttered a thank you, and Cloud turned to go.
"Yaz? Will you stay with me?" Kadaj's voice quavered. Yazoo was silent. "Yaz?"
Cloud turned to around just in time to see Yazoo's eyes slide out of focus as he collapsed and fell to the floor.
"Yaz!" Kadaj cried. Reno appeared in the doorway.
"What the...dammit!" He dropped to his knees and shook the Remnant. "What the hell? Hey, kid!"
Yazoo's eyelids fluttered. He tried to move weakly. Cloud turned on the light and they saw how pale he had gone.
"Easy kid," Reno said to Kadaj, who ws practically falling out of bed trying to get to his brother. "Ok princess, up we go," he groaned as he picked him up and carried him to the other side of the bed. Cloud raised an eyebrow.
"Princess?"
"Long hair, no beard, faints in doorways. Looks like a girl to me," Reno muttered under his breath. Kadaj scowled.
"It's not funny! What's wrong with him?"
"Just exhausted. He's not very strong to begin with. All the excitement. I had an ex-girlfriend does the exact same thing."
"What's going on?" Loz and Tifa stood in the doorway anxiously, looking past Cloud.
"He's tired, let him lie down for a bit, he'll be ok in a while. C'mon, everyone out, give 'em a chance to get his breath back." Reno herded all of them, including the reluctant Loz, out of the room and switched off the lights before closing the door.
Kadaj lay silent in bed, faint light tracing bars across the closed blinds. Yazoo looked exhausted. Tired as he was, Kadaj wriggled closer to him and hugged him.
"It's ok, brother," Yazoo said faintly.
"I know." Kadaj's voice was muffled against his brother's chest. "Why did you go after him like that? You're not strong yet. You'll get sick again. You need to get better."
"I can't ...couldn't let anyone hurt you. He hurt you before...I thought..." Kadaj hugged him harder.
"It's ok now. We're safe here."
"I won't let anyone hurt you, Kadaj." He fell asleep almost as soon as the last word was out, and his brother huddled closer before joining him.
"I know."
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Wow, Yazoo has told Kadaj twice in the last two chapters he's going to take care of him. Hope he lives up to it. It might kill him! I really hate writing sappy scenes, especially proposals, but I think that came out ok. Ironically both my stories on here have proposals, maybe I have a fixation? Anyhoo, thanks for reading, hope you likee! Read and review, and remember, flamers are on fire!
