This chapter will be on Cloud and Leon more! And then everything still start being pieced together! Maybe…I hope I made it interesting at least.
Hmm…apparently I got mixed thoughts on Cloud being un-uke-like. Personally I like the Cloud I have. He wears the pants in the relationship! Lol!
And uh, I think this is a tad longer than the average?
To make up for their fighting, the two cuddled in Roxas's bed. Yes, in, under the covers and all.
"…I admit I was jealous," Roxas murmured as he caressed Sora's back. Sora was against Roxas's chest so he couldn't really look up at him but he snuggled closer.
"It's okay, Roxas. Don't worry about it. You're right…I'm not a vampire so I probably don't understand the differences in experiences in love."
"No Sora…there's not much of a difference at all. The real difference is that most vampires fall for other vampires. I only got mad and jealous because like I said: we're the masters of seduction. We can lure in almost any human we want to unless…well I'm not sure. I should probably ask your human father about that. I'm not sure what makes one immune to it…"
"It could be something as simple as love," Sora pointed out and Roxas shrugged.
"It could be…but I don't think it is. We vampires are attractive so we're attracted to others that are attractive as well. I know the following is going to sound weird but may I remind you I'm a couple hundred years old: Cloud is possibly the most prettiest human I've ever seen."
Sora pulled away from Roxas's chest to give Roxas a stare.
"Let me finish! Now normally, if we're attracted to someone just as attractive, we'd…want the person. Bite, have, whatever it is we feel like as it's really our own preference. But I felt nothing for Cloud. I didn't want to bite him, have sex, or-"
"Ew! Roxas!" Sora slapped his hands over his ears and Roxas pulled them away.
"I'm over a couple hundred years old!" Roxas reminded again, "But that's just it. I had no urges and he didn't seem fazed at all when he looks at me. That's why I don't think it's just love. I think it's because he mated with that…lion."
"What? The scent-marking thing?"
"Kinda…but just more effective."
"So…" Sora stopped himself and heavy blush rose to his face,
"Sora? What's wrong?"
Sora quickly buried his face to Roxas's chest as a reply.
"Sora?"
"Roxas…" he murmured into the blonde's shirt, "Theoretically speaking…if we had sex…then no one can touch me right?"
"Well that's…" Roxas paused and went into thought, "I never thought of that…" he surprised himself that he didn't think of that considering that's kind of on his list of things to do. Other times he eats whoever he has sex with but it's different with Sora as the killing part isn't on the list.
"B-But y-yeah…" the blonde stuttered as he blushed as well, "I think…theoretically speaking…that is probably t-true."
He could not believe this…he used to be so comfortable talking about sex but look what Sora has done to him!
"I…I see…"
"……Sora," Roxas lifted himself to perch himself on his side with the support from his arm so he can get a better view of Sora, "As much as I want you to live through this crisis…I don't want to, you know, do that, until you're ready and you love me."
"Really?" A sparkle of hope shone in Sora's eyes as he thought back to what Axel said.
"Really."
And all Sora could do was smile and throw his arms around Roxas to give him a kiss.
Cloud panted heavily; he doesn't remember the buster sword being this heavy…although it's been over 16 years since he last picked it up. Still, it did its job. When Cloud stabbed his blade through the chest of one of the vampires, the vampire turned to dust. At first, Cloud thought that was all he had to do. It took a couple more tries for him to figure out he has to aim for the heart. So when he cleared out half the group, the other half decided to flee, screaming about how Cloud is no ordinary human, and the irony is that they weren't that far off.
There are only 2 things Cloud will ever thank SOLDIER for, or more specifically: mako. And that is: His precious Sora, and today. After all, his enhanced strength didn't really come in handy anywhere else in his life(unless roughhousing-turned-sex counts).
Still, Cloud kept his guard up in case he gets a sneak attack. He cautiously but quickly approached Leon. He was scared but Cloud ended up lowering his weapon anyway to tend to Leon.
"Hey…Squall?" Cloud whispered, now knelt beside him. He got a grunt in response and Cloud sighed in relief.
"You should've…ran," Leon somehow got out as he took in deep breaths and rolled over to his back without taking his hand off his waist.
"Yeah, in your dreams maybe…now, how badly are you hurt? Can you stand up at all? How fatal is it?"
Leon kept his hand on his side and kept hitting Cloud's hand away from his injury instead of answering Cloud,
"Get Rinoa…"
Cloud simply nodded and felt his pockets and he thanked whatever's up there that he had his phone on him the whole time and he thanked even more when his was phone was working. He quickly dialed up Rinoa as he sat by his lover and intertwined their hands.
A moment later, the phone conversation ended with Rinoa saying she'll be there in less than 10 minutes.
"Cloud…"
"Hm?"
"Remember when I first kissed you?"
"Of course, there was a full moon-"
"No, not our first kiss when we were both willing. I mean our first-first kiss," Leon cut in and Cloud's face showed he couldn't quite remember.
"…Humor me."
Leon lightly shook his head but he smiled when he saw Cloud smile.
"I was in heat so I locked myself up for a while…and I heard Sephiroth has been spending lots of time with you so I forced myself to go to the bar. Of course because I was in heat, I was jumped almost the moment I walked in. Anyway, you helped me out of the people grabbing and pulling me but we both hit the ground. I asked for a favor, you said yes, I kissed you, and the next thing I knew I had an aching back because you threw me into a nearby table after you slapped me so hard I thought I passed out."
"Oh yes…I definitely remember now," said Cloud nodding, "So why do you ask?"
"I was just wondering…if I came out clean to you what I was and why I did a lot of the things I did…would you look at me any differently than when you found out at your own pace and by yourself?"
Cloud paused and went into thought.
"I don't know…I hope I wouldn't look at you or the others any differently if that were the case. Although…I'm glad you did what you did…"
Leon let out a light laugh but stopped short when it hurt him when doing so.
"But why? You've been picking on me about me keeping stuff from you since forever! But you're glad I hid the truth from you until the last minute?"
"Well…I honestly thought it was kind of romantic," Cloud shrugged and Leon raised a brow, knowing that couldn't be the full story so Cloud continued, "When I told Sora about us…he said it reminded him of Spider-Man's love. And I agreed."
"We are nothing like-"
"I know, I know…but think about it: you kept your true identity from me but you looked after me until you couldn't take it any longer and finally confessed what you were along with your love."
"……That's romantic?"
Cloud shrugged again,
"Yeah," he nodded, "I know you have no romantic bone in your body but I learned early that your most romantic work is when you're not thinking about it and do it. That's why I have no romantic expectations for you on White Day."
Leon playfully hit Cloud with what little strength he had.
"Gee thanks…but you weren't complaining on our 5th year anniversary."
"Okay, that one time was an exception!"
Cloud, for that moment, completely forgot the situation they were in. Even in a scary time like this, he can find happiness with the man he loved. Though it was only through that thought that he realized what Leon was doing this whole time: getting Cloud's mind off worrying. After realizing that, Cloud almost wanted to cry. Instead he leaned down for a kiss and a whisper of, "I love you…"
"I love you too…" the scarred man whispered back but as soon as he said those words, Cloud felt Leon tense up.
"What's wrong?"
"Cloud…go hide."
"What? No! I-"
The air got a bit colder and Cloud felt a shiver run up and down his spine. He reached for his buster blade but he barely missed it when he felt himself being pulled back, and away from Leon, by his arms. The movement stopped and he was repositioned on his knees. Someone landed in front of him and cuffed his chin though Cloud was already planning how to bite that hand if he could move; but he was forced to look at entrancing eyes with silver hair…
"My, my…now I see why Sephiroth fell for this human…" the one in front of Cloud stated.
"Let go of me…" Cloud growled and struggled against whoever was holding him.
"What do you two think?" the vampire completely ignored Cloud and merely looked at the two that held Cloud down. Cloud struggled some more but man, they had iron grips! But when he saw Leon trying to struggled into a stand, his mind almost went into panic.
"Hey human!" the one in front of him waved, "Come on, look at me…am I just as entrancing as Sephiroth was?"
Cloud merely frowned and spat at him a second later.
"You're not as half as entrancing as he was," Cloud stated, though no one was really sure if he was just mocking or being serious. And before that vampire decided to hit Cloud, Leon shifted which got the vampires' attentions. But after a couple of steps, Leon hissed in pain.
"Crap, I didn't think he could move…Yazoo! Loz! Take him! I'll handle the werecats' former leader…"
"Yes Kadaj…"
Before Cloud could even protest, he felt himself being lifted into the air. Still he shouted for him, "Squall!"
Kadaj wasted no time when Leon was distracted and took his chance to get behind the lion to sink his teeth into the flesh.
But Kadaj only had a few moments of blood before he was knocked off and forced to the ground. Kadaj only registered it was a werewolf on him and fought back, sharing blows and scratches.
"Kadaj…"
After standing, Kadaj gave the one that said his name a glance,
"Heh…Vincent Valentine…a pleasure," he playfully bowed before he quickly turned to a bat and flew off. Vincent immediately jumped to go after him but Rinoa grabbed his leg and the vampire hit the ground before he could transform.
"I need your help with Squall!" she cried, "We'll catch him later!"
Tidus shifted back and rushed over to Leon along with Rinoa and Vincent. Reno took a step towards him but stopped when he caught a small piece of black leather that Tidus tore off from Kadaj…
He quickly reached for it and tucked it away before rushing over to Leon as well.
"This is like a repeat of all those years ago!" Rinoa exclaimed with impatience when they all got Leon back to her tea shop in the back.
"Yeah but you know what would be great, yo?" Reno asked sarcastically, "Is if you did the exact same thing all those years ago!"
Rinoa took a moment to turn around and slap the red-head as hard as she could before returning to tending Leon.
"……I won't ask what happened all those years ago then," said Tidus, "Alright, I'm going to call up Naminé and we will begin searching for Cloud immediately!"
"Good, you do that. Vincent, tell me what blood type he is," Rinoa requested and Vincent felt a bit awkward leaning down to taste Leon's blood just to tell what blood type it is…
"And take Reno with you!" Rinoa added before Tidus left as she dug through her store closet for her blood supply.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Okay, well, we can split up!" Tidus suggested when Naminé arrived and the three stood outside.
"Shall I get Riku for help?" Naminé asked and Tidus immediately shook his head.
"Let him watch over Sora and we have the best sense of smells! Alright, well let's get a whiff of that sword and find Cloud!"
The three started off in the same direction in their animal forms but when Naminé and Tidus picked up Cloud's scene in two different directions, Reno faked his scent and they were forced to split up. Although, Reno thought he was quite on track so it wasn't a total lie. He was just looking for Kadaj instead of Cloud.
About 20 minutes later, Reno found himself standing before an abandoned church near a graveyard. He shifted back as he walked up to the doors and pushed it open before shutting it behind him.
"I believe this is yours, yo," Reno stated and pulled out the piece of leather out of his pocket.
"Nah…keep it," Kadaj stated and turned around to face Reno who merely tossed the fabric to the side, "Okay, you're either way more stupid than I thought for walking right up to us…or you're not here to save him," Kadaj pointed behind him where Cloud laid unconscious in the corner with his wrists bound behind him.
"I'm sort of in the middle. If they come find me, you guys can just take him and run and I won't say anything," said Reno and Kadaj nodded,
"Deal. So if you're not here for him…why are you here?" Kadaj asked and invited Reno to come sit at the only table in the church while he sat in a chair with his feet on the table. Reno only declined but walked closer. He looked around and saw Yazoo up at a broken window keeping watch and Loz stood beside Cloud.
"I guess I just want to know what you want with him, yo. You guys don't seem to want…Sora at all."
"Well that's right, we're not. See…" Kadaj threw his legs off the table and stood up again, "You look young so you weren't alive back when we worked for Sephiroth. We stopped working for him after some time. Basically, when we first heard Sephiroth fell in love with a human, we were going to rush right over and see. But…he was hidden well and only a handful of people actually got this human's first name which was obviously Cloud. Not only that, his lion partner had a different first name other's started to call him by to conceal their location even more! But when their child was revealed…well, everyone in the area pretty much knew where he lived so we made our way over here and it made our job of finding Cloud so much easier."
"So I assume you have a slight grudge with your past leader?" Reno assumed and Kadaj shrugged,
"You could say that…see, when the head Lady Vampire was slain, our former leader fell into a heap of depression. That's sort of why we left in the first place…it was a disgrace seeing that kind of weakness! Not many know this but Sephiroth did have one other lover, it just didn't last long."
"What does this have to do with Cloud?"
"Simple…Sephiroth's new lover was male vampire named Genesis. Although we have no idea where he is now. Of course, we all thought it was kind of strange since he was nothing like the Head Lady Vampire…except for the red hair. She dyed her hair red and put it down for a while…"
"Isn't your old leader and his girlfriend like...a million years old or something? I don't think hair-dying existed, yo!" Reno pointed out.
"She was very curious vampire and actually found a way to do it. It was better than her first way: squeezing berries on her head."
"You seemed to know her quite well…"
"My, aren't you observant…but that's not important. My point being is: Do you believe in reincarnation?"
"……You can't be serious, yo!" Reno exclaimed.
"Cloud Strife looks just like her but with shorter hair and before she dyed her hair red."
"So…a 'she' turned into a 'he' is what you're saying? Although…if this is true this totally explains why he's the prettiest man I've ever met!" Reno admitted as he stared at Cloud from where he stood.
"You can't deny that possibility…too bad there doesn't seem to be any pictures left of her," Kadaj shrugged and glanced at Cloud as well.
"So when are you going to be done with him?" Reno pointed and Kadaj smirked,
"Eh, haven't really decided. We're debating between: killing, eating, or have him and throw him back to your guys afterwards…or we'll just keep him around forever until we're bored!"
"Wow…you really did have something for that vampire-lady-person if you're going to use him to satisfy you, yo!" Reno pointed as if all these vampires are psychos.
"What? You're one to talk!" Kadaj pointed back, "I have a little something against our old leader…but I believe you're holding a grudge as well."
"……"
"So you are…what could a mere human do that a werecat would hold a grudge on him? Even if that human is exposed to mako, yes we did our research, it's still hard for him to kill a werefolk. Or is it something else?" Kadaj asked though anyone could hear the slight taunting in his voice as he started to circle Reno.
"Actually…you're pretty close, yo," Reno confessed, "Just not exact. Squall Leonhart was the head of all werecats back then…so I couldn't pin the blame on him."
"So you pinned it on the next best person which was the human?"
"Exactly…"
"So why can't you pin it on your now-former leader?"
"I guess the feeling just stayed…"
"I see…"
"Kadaj!" Yazoo exclaimed as he went into a stand at the window, "The Council is approaching!"
Loz took that as his order to escape with Cloud and did so out the back window.
"Oh man…why don't you quickly beat me up or something so I can't be blamed if you want to escape?" Reno suggested though Kadaj took half a second to agree and punched Reno in the gut before send him flying towards the doors which opened in time for him to land on Tidus. Kadaj and Yazoo took that chance to fly and escape but was stopped short by Vincent. A wolf howl cried from outside the church, getting Tidus's attention.
"Naminé found Cloud!" Tidus exclaimed and Leon, though still weak and bandaged, forced himself to come and nodded a thanks before going out and headed towards the back where he heard Naminé call.
"What the hell is he doing here, yo?" Reno exclaimed and since Tidus was off fighting Kadaj and Yazoo with Vincent, Reno groaned to himself since now it just became his job to look after Leon. He shifted and followed the direction Leon went. He got there in time to see Naminé practically yanking Loz around by the arm and Leon ripping apart the bindings on Cloud's wrist. As Reno approached the scene to at least help Naminé fight, he was stopped by Leon.
"Take Cloud back to Rinoa," he requested.
"Are you stupid, yo? You're the one that's weak, you should do it!"
"If other vampires attack us, I won't be able to defend either of us!" Leon bit back, "You're practically at full strength and you're fast! Please, Reno!"
Reno let out an angry growl before lowering himself to let Leon place Cloud on his back.
It bugged him…it bugged him like hell to have physical contact with Cloud. Since the day Leon gave up his leadership to be with Cloud, Reno told himself over and over again to pin everything on Leon instead of Cloud. Yet he didn't…because pinning it on Cloud was easier. He was human and he was defenseless. No laws protected him from hate. Leon was a leader and even if he isn't now, he's still protected from all kinds of hatred except for being with a human. It's not real protection obviously but no one would openly hate Leon if they valued their lives. But openly hating a human like Cloud was nothing, almost normal. Yet in the end, Reno just hated them both…
He hated Sora too…just for being their offspring. He hated that Sora existed, happy, and was alive…
Even Reno was getting tired of hating. Yet even knowing that, it was still hard, or even impossible, to let it go.
"Reno…?"
Reno slowed to a stop from his running when Cloud's voice reached his ears. Cloud lightly shook his head and blinked a few times before he looked around.
"Reno? What's going on?" he asked as he climbed off the lion's back.
"The Council busted in and saved your sorry ass, that's what's going on, yo," Reno replied as he shifted back and quickly put his hands in his pocket,
"Where's Leon?" Cloud asked with concern and Reno sighed.
"He's weak and all so he was supposed to be resting at Rinoa's, which is where I'm taking you now, but he's back there fighting I think," Reno motioned his head to where he came from.
"What?" In a second, Cloud dashed for it but Reno simply ran after him and grabbed his arm.
"Don't be stupid, Blondie!" Reno exclaimed and pulled him back hard, "You're weaponless and you're a human! You're only going to get in the way!"
"I'm not just going to leave him to fight!"
"The Council is with him!"
"I won't chance it! I'm not going to leave him! He's hurt and I'd give my life for him!"
"…You're insane you know that, yo?"
"……I love him. There's nothing insane about that."
Reno hissed to himself and unintentionally gripped Cloud's arm harder though Cloud did his best not to show it hurt but merely stared Reno down.
"You're not going, Strife! You're only going to get in the way and someone is going to end up dying except it won't be you!"
"Then we'll go to Rinoa's and pick up my sword!"
"You're still not going, yo! This is something a mere human shouldn't be caught up in! There's a reason why humans don't know we exist! It causes more trouble than they're worth!"
"Reno, you and I both know I'm not an ordinary human."
"Pth! I know that, yo! You're like a magnet that attracts all creatures to you and forces whoever's with you to risk their lives to protect you!"
"……You're never going to let that incident go are you?" Cloud asked, finally catching on. Reno released Cloud and glared at Cloud's staring,
"Why don't you try living in my shoes, yo?"
"Dammit, Reno! It wasn't my fault! I couldn't do anything!"
"And proving my argument!"
"Reno! I didn't know what the hell was going on! I had no idea vampires and werepeople existed! It's not my fault that I had a near-panic attack because a giant lion spoke to me! Not to mention I didn't even know why I was being attacked by vampires!"
"You were part of SOLDIER!"
"I wasn't exactly taught how to handle the overwhelming information I was getting! And I wasn't even there when the death happened, Reno! Squall came and saved me and I was taken away from the fight! He left me at Rinoa's shop before he went back!"
"……I actually always wanted to blame Leonhart for this."
"Oh Shiva, let it go, Reno!" Cloud shouted for the whole town to hear, "Because no matter how much you hold this grudge against either myself or Squall and even if you went as far as killing one of us, it won't bring your best friend back no matter how much we both want him back!"
Reno was beyond tempted to punch out Cloud but instead released his frustration with a threatening roar in which Cloud ended up taking a couple steps back but he kept a brave face.
"……I'm sorry, Reno…actually I've always been sorry," Cloud confessed in a more calmer tone, "I was happy when I fell in love with Squall…so I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you more. I already did regret losing our friendship…"
"It's too late for that, Blondie…everything is too late. I just wish Leonhart never came…never met you…never stayed, never had to drag Sephiroth into the mess, who never would've met you, and everything now wouldn't even be happening!"
"Well there's nothing we can do about that, Reno. And pinning this whole thing on Squall isn't going to change anything. In fact, I really shouldn't be standing around arguing with you about it because I have a husband to save!" Cloud was only thankful for the reminder as he stalked back towards the direction they came, forgetting about retrieving his sword.
"Damn you…" Reno growled to himself and quickly approached Cloud before hitting the back of Cloud's head and successfully knocking him out. He caught the limp body before it fell and he simply stood there holding Cloud…
"When are you going home, yo?" Reno, with a beer in hand, asked when Squall walked up to him by the wall of the bar.
"None of your business…" he growled and drank the soda he just stole from Cloud.
"No seriously, yo! Don't you have like…important-Council-worthy-stuff to do, yo?"
"Ugh, I don't know when I'll be gone okay? Just lay off!" Squall exclaimed as he stared in one direction and didn't give Reno a glance.
"Sheesh, alright, cranky-pants…" Reno was about to take his leave but tapped the leather-wearer for his attention before he did, "Just letting you know: leering at my bud, Cloud, isn't going to get his attention. At least not in a positive way."
"Shut up before I make you!" Squall threatened but Reno already ran while laughing out loud and Squall was tempted to run over and punch Reno out but the red-head approached Cloud who was sitting at the bar and talking to Tifa.
"Come and dance, Cloud!"
"No."
"Come on!" Reno unexpectedly pulled on the blonde and Cloud almost got pulled out of his seat but he held on in time.
"No!"
Reno leaned in and whispered into the blonde's ear,
"Someone's leering at you, yo. The dance floor is a great place to hide."
"I know someone's staring me, Reno. But I rather sit here and take it than go into a crowd of drunken people because I get groped enough times just by sitting here! I don't want to encourage people!"
"You're no fun!" Reno exclaimed and continued the pulling game.
"Go have some fun, Cloud," Tifa advised as she cleaned a glass, "It won't be so bad."
"No…"
Still Reno didn't give in and continued to pull Cloud but the blonde just refused to budge; even though Reno technically got Cloud off the seat, the buster sword-wielder just refused to release his grip on the seat. Reno suddenly paused to think and after he was done, he gave Cloud a quick tickle and it worked when Cloud yelped and released the chair. Reno took his chance and pulled Cloud across the floor by the leg.
Even though Squall was pretty much going to pound Reno later for hiding the blonde from his sight, Reno was good at running from him so he didn't worry. Although…he never expected Squall to be staying permanently; no one did.
None of them thought Squall's appearance would drastically change all their lives. And it really was all of them, even the people that were barely involved: Squall himself, Sephiroth, Zack and Aerith, Cloud, Tifa, Reno, and Rude…
Please read and review!