Rewritten Sept. 28. I adore the image of Sephiroth grilling in the backyard. The boys are just having a grand old time in this chapter.

Again, I don't own any of the characters used here.

Another hour passed as they used up the rest of the primer. It was pouring rain now, and the last thing any of them wanted to do was walk home in it. Hoping it would ease up soon, Sora, Zack, and Cloud sat around the front room near the picture window. The room still smelled of wet paint, now mixed with wet grass.

"This bites." Zack threw his head back.

"I'm starving," Sora complained. "We are totally gonna miss dinner."

Cloud watched the rain run down the glass. "I'm sure we're not the only ones."

Zack rolled his eyes. "You both have something called a phone, use it. Jeez, do I have to do all the thinking around here?"

Both spiky-haired guys exchanged a look before each shoved a shoulder of their raven-haired friend. He fell back with a 'hey' and the two took out their phones. They seemed very pleased with themselves.

Cloud frowned in annoyance, holding his phone before him. "It won't go through."

"Hold on…" Sora stood and paced a few steps, studying his phone's display. "Here we go."

He dialed out and after a minute, he grinned. "Hey, how's the weather over there? Yeah, I know. Uh huh. We're still at the house. Dunno. Oh, yeah? That sucks. Okay. A half-hour? We'll be waiting. See ya."

He hung up. "Riku and Seph are gonna pick us up."

"You could have let me talk to him," grumbled Cloud.

"Oh, get over it." Sora sat back down by the window.

Zack quirked an eyebrow. Sora was practically glaring out the glass. He caught Cloud's eye and saw the other was watching the teen with concern. Well it sounded like they would be here a while yet so… "All right, Sora. It's later. What's the freaking deal?"

The boy sighed. "It's nothing. Sakura's just being a pain."

"Sakura?" asked Cloud thoughtfully. "The girl who's been getting lessons from Tifa?"

"Yeah. She keeps trying to set me up with Pacifica."

"The blonde with the rack that rivals Tifa's?"

"Yeah."

Zack's eyes lit up. "Oh, that sounds like a hot deal. What's the problem?"

Sora shook his head and shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, I like Pacifica but I don't like Sakura butting into my personal life. If I want to go out with someone, I'll freakin' ask them!"

There was a note of anger in his voice.

Zack leaned back, bracing himself on his hands. "So would you go out with her if it weren't for Sakura?"

"Maybe. I guess… She is really nice and rather pretty." Sora bit his lip in thought. "We've only talked a few times but those went alright."

"So give it a shot. It can't hurt, and you might have fun." Zack frowned, "Unless you're only into guys. If that's the case than don't even try, you'll just make a mess."

"No," Sora said quickly. "No, I'm not just into guys. Girls are great, too."

Cloud was quietly listening to the pair, watching Sora. He smiled a bit as he noted Sora's expressions. The boy was not in the least bit embarrassed with discussing this with Zack. He wasn't even this comfortable talking to Riku about sex and relationships.

Leave it to Zack.

"Sooo…" Zack drawled out, a mischievous glint to his eyes. "You gonna go for it?"

Sora pursed his lips then shrugged, "Yeah, sure. What the heck? What's the worst that can happen?"

"She ends up pregnant and you're stuck for life with her obnoxious mother who will never see you as anything but a bum."

Sora gaped and a blush finally began creeping over his cheeks. "That is not going to happen, Zack."

"You said, what was the worst."

"Those were your words," agreed Cloud.

Sora looked between them. Zack had been totally right. He was seeing a side of Cloud he never saw. It was pretty damn fun, too.

Cloud tipped his head to the side, and then got to his feet.

"I guess they're here," quipped Zack.

"He does have a sixth sense when it comes to Riku."

The door opened and after a moment, the brothers stepped into the room. Both were a bit damp, but nothing as they should be considering the way the rain was coming down. Riku shook out his hair, grinning. "Gorgeous day, is it not?"

"Beautiful." Zack leapt up. "I was just thinking we should barbeque."

"We could." Sephiroth stated blandly. He actually looked tired. "A nice prime rib with grilled vegetables would be nice."

"Oooh, yeah," Riku agreed, nearly drooling. He stepped up to Cloud and wrapped his arms around his waist. He immediately began nibbling on the blonde's ear.

"I'm not a steak." Cloud commented all the while titling his head so his neck was easily accessible.

Sephiroth blew out a very faint sigh and moved away from the pair. He joined up with Zack and Sora, both of whom were also trying to ignore them. "The water is temporarily repaired. More will have to be done."

"Well, that's something." Zack folded his arms. "Everyone go home?"

"Nearly. Leonhart stayed behind." The older man glanced over. "He needs to rest."

Zack twisted his mouth. That was Sephiroth's way of telling him to check on the man. Why did Seph continue to pretend to be the cold hard-ass he clearly was not? The guy cared a lot more than he was likely able to express. He kept forgetting how devoid of affection Sephiroth's early life was.

"How come you guys aren't all wet?" asked Sora, looking over the tall winged man.

Sephiroth muttered something under his breath. A light smirk crossed his face. "Umbrella spells are a nice thing. You're now under one yourself."

Sora actually looked up but quickly realized how stupid this was and returned his attention to the two men before him. "So can we really grill in this rain?"

"We can."

"Sweet, come on." The boy got to his feet.

Zack laughed, flicking his eyes at the other two in the room. "I think we should leave them."

"Unfortunately, we'll need Riku tomorrow." Sephiroth turned for the door. "Go find Leonheart and drag him home, Zachary. I will have food waiting."

He stepped forward and waved his hand a touch. Riku suddenly winced and pulled away from Cloud with a glare. "What?"

"You may continue your activities when I don't have to see them." The elder had reached the door. "I thought you wanted steak."

Riku looked torn but the steak won out. He gripped Cloud's hand and followed after his brother. "I can have you whenever, but Seph's prime rib? Oh gods, there is no way I can pass that up."

Zack snickered. "He does make a damn good steak."

Sora headed for the door. "In that case, don't take too long with Leon. I'm starving."

The boy ducked out and after a moment, Zack followed going in the opposite direction.

He made it a point to not think as he walked, keeping his mind clear. This seemed to help the slight tremble in his chest. He watched the buildings he passed, the rain running down roofs to steadily hit the stone road.

He took a few long strides up the long incline leading into the works and once inside, he shook his hair of the small amount of moisture that had managed its way through the spell. The place looked deserted; maybe Leon had decided to go home on his own.

He knew that thought was unlikely even as he thought it. If they had not finished here, Leon would stay until he felt something had been done no matter how trivial of a thing it was.

The ex-SOLDIER walked toward the back, assuming the other would be there. Where that assumption came from, he did not have a clue. It just felt like the logical thing. Not that Zack was normally a logical person. However, Leon definitely was and Zack had no doubts this is where he would find the man.

He rounded the outer edge of the complex system of pipes, the faint rushing of water running through them echoing in the large chamber. An enormous filtering reservoir fed the system. More pipes drew in water from the falls and river outside.

Leon was leaning his weight on his hands, gripping the rail of the platform before it and watching the churning water intently. It seemed unlikely there was a professional reason for it.

Zack gazed up, drawn to the man's scarred face. It was lost in thought, grey eyes narrowed as they remained fixed on the termolutious water. Despite the expression, his body seemed relaxed. There was something serenely beautiful about it.

Leon suddenly straightened as he sensed the other man's presence. He turned and came down the stairs, not looking at Zack as he passed. "There's water."

"So I've heard." Zack put his hands in his pockets and fell into place beside him. "Seph says it's not finished yet."

Leon snorted and murmured, "It's never finished."

"Not until you die." Zack frowned thoughtfully. "Course that didn't stop anything for me."

The sable haired man said nothing and continued his hurried pace. He pulled a few steps ahead of Zack, clearly trying to avoid him. He just…could not deal with this right now.

Outside the rain had died to a drizzle. He did not pause upon entering it and simply kept moving. It was not until a hand gripped his arm that he slowed down and literally snarled.

Zack released him immediately. "What the hell's wrong with you?"

Something within Leon snapped. "What's wrong with me is you. Since you got here, everything-" He cut himself off, whirling around and resuming his pace.

Zack stood in shock for a second before racing up to Leon. He retook his arm and tugged roughly. "Everything what?"

The younger man shoved him off. He then took hold of Zack's shirt with both fists and pulled him close. Water ran down his face and Zack was almost certain that not all of it was rain. Leon was muttering to himself as he stared down at Zack's chest.

"I don't want this. I cannot… not again… I can't do this. I can't."

Zack simply stood there, letting Leon vent whatever this was that he obviously needed to get out. He had a fairly good idea what this was about. His chest tightened and he wanted to assure the other that things were okay, that he did not have to do anything.

He could not bring himself to say it.

Leon pushed him away and turned. He raised his head up, letting the rain run down his neck and matte his shoulder-length hair. He held his arms loosely at his sides

Zack bit his lip, resisting the urge to press that damp body back against his. It was as though he was addicted.

"Leon…" He trailed off, not sure what he wanted to say, what he could say.

This seemed to snap Leon out of it. He began speaking as if the past ten minutes had not happened. "Where are the others?"

"Uh, I'm not sure. One of the two houses." Zack rubbed the back of his neck. The spell was beginning to wear off and the drizzle was soaking into his black hair. "Probably shoulda asked that."

Leon took out his phone from an inside jacket pocket. He waited for whomever he dialed to pick up. "Where are you guys? Is he? We'll be there shortly."

The phone was returned to the pocket. It was silent for a moment, the wind picking up a touch to tug at both men's hair. The air was thick with unspoken words and denied emotion.

Leon angled his head down and to the side. "Steak sounds really good right now."

"Damn right it does." Zack's voice cracked once at the beginning but ended even. "Seph makes a good steak."

The younger one nodded. By unspoken agreement, they began walking again. They fell in side by side but not another word was spoken. Not even when they reached the house that Leon and Cloud shared.

You could smell the meat cooking from down the street.

"Is he actually grilling?" Leon muttered.

Zack laughed. "Yep. He can do it in almost any environment. He's got a real gift with fire."

"Unfortunately." Cloud's tightly controlled voice came from behind them. He passed them by, a bag in one hand and a case of beer in the other. "At least he's putting that talent to good use."

"Didn't I just buy beer?" Leon frowned.

"You did, and Riku's getting some hard stuff from Tifa's."

Zack grinned brightly. "Oooh, we're gonna get shitfaced!"

Leon did not look happy hearing this. "We have to be up early tomorrow."

"Oh, relax." Zack waved a hand and climbed the steps. "I'm kidding. It's gonna take a hell of a lot more than that to get the four of us even tipsy."

A muscle in Leon's cheek twitched but he went ahead into the house. Cloud watched him a moment before turning to Zack. Zack had wiped his expression clear. This told Cloud everything he needed to know.

He did not offer any advice or bits of wisdom because that simply was not him. However, he needed to do something so he set his things down and half- turned toward his friend. With long practiced moves, he proceeded to attack Zack's right flank.

Zack instantly began squirming, a rather feminine squeal escaping as he tried to escape Cloud's onslaught. It was the only place he was ticklish and only two people knew of it. In the end, he had to jump the rail to get away.

When Cloud hopped over it after him, however, he bolted to the back of the house. A large awning blocked out the rain over the deck and he pivioted on one of the posts. He ignored the startled and confused looks of everyone present and headed for the one who continued to calmly turn vegetable kabobs.

"Seph! Seph!" He slowed himself down by grabbing on to the former general's arm. "He's trying to kill me!"

"Back in the day, you considered that foreplay." He did not bother trying to detach the man clinging to his arm.

"Well it's not now!"

"What are you talking about?" Riku asked, suspicion dripping from his voice. He figured out immediately who 'he' was.

"This." Sephiroth barely moved, hand shooting out to pinch the exact same spot Cloud had assaulted.

"Augh!" Again Zack found himself twisting up, leaping away and almost into Sora. "I hate you both! I swear, I'm glad the two of you don't get along. I would be totally fucked if you ever decided to work together."

Cloud had appeared through the back door by now, having not even tried to chase Zack down. The beer had disappeared and he set the bag on the wood table. He brushed the side of Riku's face as he passed him, sending a light smile in the teen's direction.

Zack was still carrying on about how he hated being tickled.

Sora caught Cloud's eye and smirked. Then he slowly backed away. Cloud took the boy's place, expression showing complete disinterest.

In perfect unison, Cloud and Sephiroth's arms shot out and attacked either side of Zack's body.

The man dropped, practically screaming.

Sephiroth continued cooking and Cloud returned to Riku, who was staring at his boyfriend in total amazement. Cloud said nothing as he leaned against the railing beside him. Riku continued his disbelieving gaze for a minute longer before taking a firm grasp on his fiance's neck and engaging him in a kiss that was definitely not suitable for public viewing.

"That was so not fair!" Zack breathed out from the deck floor. Sora was snickering and the older man smacked his leg. "It's not funny."

"Yes, it is. Usually they all pick on me." The boy's mood was significantly better than it had been earlier in the day.

Zack gave the boy an evil look but took the hand offered him and got to his feet. Sephiroth was smirking lightly. "Oh, don't think this is over, General. I will have revenge."

"At least wait until I'm finished with these." Sephiroth shot a quick glance at his former lieutenant. "Not that I have need to be concerned."

"Oh!" Zack gaped. "That's, that's…"

"The truth." Leon said from the doorway. He leaned against the doorframe, one arm braced above his head. The other held a half-empty beer bottle. "I have no doubt Sephiroth can kick my ass and since he's kicked yours, correct me if I'm wrong, you can't be all that tough."

"Those are fightin' words there, Leonhart." Zack threatened, locking eyes with the other.

Something dark was stirring in those grey depths. "Any time, Fair."

Cloud and Riku had broken apart at some point and still wrapped in each other, they watched the exchange carefully. There was a whole unspoken conversation going on beneath the words. The tension between the two was nearly tangible.

Sora was also picking up something but was unable to quite understand it. He frowned for a second before deciding to switch the subject. "So, uh, the rain's let up."

He cringed at his lame statement but it did the trick. Leon moved from the doorway toward the grill. Zack turned his focus toward Sora. "Wanna hit the grass?"

Blue eyes lit up.

"Not until after dinner." Leon interjected. He was collecting the steaks and vegetables Sephiroth removed from the fire. "Which would be now."

"Ooh, food." Sora bounded over to the pair at the grill, hands greedily reaching for the platter.

"Back," Leon commanded.

Sora complied and stepped away. Once settled, Leon handed over the plate of food. The boy rushed over to the table, set the platter down and immediately grabbed a plate, loading it up.

Riku shook his head and cuffed his best friend. "Try saving some for those of us who actually worked today, Sor."

The younger one pouted but reduced his intake. He sat at one end of the table and actually waited for the others. Sephiroth killed the fire with a wave of his hand then he and Leon came over. Zack followed.

Once the group was seated, Sora placed his hands on the table. "Hey, uh, I wanna say something really quick."

He was met by five curious looks.

"Yeah, um, well I just wanna say that this," he loosely gestured around him. "This makes me really happy. It's kinda like having a complete family."

He stared at the table. "So, uh, that's all."

It was very quiet with only the pattering of the remaining rain sounding from the awning.

Riku smiled and leaned over to ruffle Sora's hair. "Sap."

"Shut up." Sora batted the hand away and the moment broke. He risked a quick glance around. Leon and Zack were exchanging brief looks, obviously trying to keep the other from noticing. Riku was across from him, looking happier than he had probably been in a long time. Beside him was Cloud and then Sephiroth. Neither seemed in the least bit uncomfortable next to each other.

The Keyblade Master felt his heart swell. It was not perfect but it was getting there.

Very light conversation accompanied the meal, all of it amicable. Zack was rather quiet but Cloud and Sephiroth somehow made up for it. Riku's expression grew increasingly brighter. While the words were a bit clipped, there was no animosity behind them.

"Well, Seph, once again a perfect meal." Zack leaned back. "Glad you haven't lost your touch."

"Yeah, that was better than Mom's." Sora praised.

"And that's saying something." Riku added.

Cloud glanced at his one-time adversary. "Just like I remember."

Leon mumbled something that sounded like agreement.

Sephiroth chuckled under his breath. "Thank you."

"Sooo." Sora drew out. He leaned forward to look at Zack. "Wanna go play in the grass now?"

"Is there dessert?"

"Only if you want to make your own." Sephiroth stood and stepped back, letting his wings stretch a bit. "If you have no further need for me I believe I shall make my leave and see you all tomorrow."

Riku looked up at him. Those eyes were swimming with admiration. "Thanks, Seph."

A faint smile appeared but Sephiroth only nodded before leaving.

"Come on, Zack." Sora jumped up. He smacked the man's back as he skipped past, kicking off his shoes.

Zack laughed and followed suit. "How well you think you can keep your balance on wet terrain, kid?"

"Well enough to kick your butt." Sora boasted, already waiting for the other to join him. He looked over at the table. "Come on, Riku."

The older teen shook his head. "I want my desert."

He slid from the bench, literally dragging Cloud with him. "I recommend you all stay outside for a while."

Cloud had locked eyes with him. "Better yet, stay at Aerith's."

Riku's shirt was already half-off by the time they disappeared through the door.

Sora shook his head and Zack snickered from beside him, simply declaring. "I love those two."

Sora snorted but did not add his own thoughts. He turned to Zack and dropped low. "All right, SOLDIER, let's see what you got."

"Get ready to be pounded, kid."

Both assumed ready positions well aware of the sable haired man who was watching them, particularly a certain raven haired fighter, with intense interest.