Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Chapter Fourteen: Unexpected Reunion
'What the hell were you thinking, Cloud?' the eldest Strife brother cursed himself as he sat beside Leon in the Gummi ship. How could he have trusted a human? It went against everything he believed in.
Without the desperation tainting his judgment anymore, Cloud was finally realizing the severity of the situation. He had wanted to get out of the tower so badly that he had run straight into the arms of the first human that had happened upon him.
He didn't know anything about Leon. Hell, he didn't even know if Leon was the human's real name. He'd been taken in by Leon's pretty words like some naive fool.
It's not like Leon had done anything to give Cloud reason to trust him... outside of rescuing him from the tower, that is. Since they'd entered the Lanes Between, Leon had been silent and cold, almost acting as if Cloud wasn't there.
Although Cloud was a pretty quiet person himself, he was used to being surrounded by his brothers' constant chatter. The silence only made him sink into himself, where all of his negative thoughts continued to plague him.
Cloud shuddered as he forced himself to stop thinking of all of the worst case scenarios. He needed to find his brothers soon. They were his light... without them, he would fall even deeper into the darkness.
"Is there something wrong?" Leon finally broke the silence, seeing the distressed look on Cloud's face.
"...No," Cloud denied, not meeting Leon's eyes.
"You just looked as if someone told you that your best friend died," Leon pointed out, a spark of curiosity going through him as he saw Cloud flinch. "You can't tell me that nothing is wrong."
"It's none of your business," the blonde snapped defensively, causing Leon to sigh in frustration.
"Look, I'm only trying to help you," the brunette attempted to reason with the blonde. "I know you don't trust me and I don't blame you. We've only just met, but I promise you, I mean you no harm."
Cloud gazed at Leon with suspicion clear in his blue eyes. Seeing the sincerity in the human's eyes, the former merman relaxed.
"I'll hold you to that," Cloud finally decided. He would trust Leon until the man gave him reason not to. That's all he could really do.
Leon relaxed as well, seeing that he would no longer have to deal with Cloud's suspicious glares for the time being. The blonde acted like a cornered and wounded animal. The Gunblader wondered what had led Cloud to be like that.
"Where are we going?" Cloud asked after a few moments of silence.
"Traverse Town," Leon explained. "I have some allies there that would be willing to keep a lookout for your brothers. Not only that, but I think we ought to take some time to train you."
Cloud look offended. "I can fight just fine," he argued. Well... he could as a merman anyways.
"I've seen you on those legs," Leon declared. "You can barely hold yourself up without stumbling around. How do you expect to do so with that giant sword of yours?"
Cloud grit his teeth and looked away. H wasn't entirely accustomed to his human body yet but that didn't make him weak.
"I take it you weren't always this way. You give off the air of a seasoned warrior so I'm guessing there is something that happened that led to you being in this condition," Leon assessed.
"A spell weakened my legs," Cloud lied, not going into more detail. That was enough for Leon. He hadn't expected the wary blonde of sharing too much information with him.
"So you need the time to regain your strength," Leon said, proving his point about why Cloud needed to train. "You won't be able to fight at full strength the way you are and I have no intention of taking you with me anywhere if you are likely to slow me down."
Cloud glowered. He wasn't going to be a burden. He'd rather die than let that happen. "Fine..." he conceded. He was going to need to get acclimated to fighting as a human if he wanted to be strong enough to save his brothers. He was strong as a merman but he had a long way to go as a human.
KHKHKHKH
Leon observed Cloud out of the corner of his eye. They had been in the Lanes Between for well over a day now and the blonde had finally given into sleep. Even when Leon had put the ship on autopilot and gone to sleep himself, the blonde had remained stubbornly awake and untrusting.
Now, after their discussion, Cloud relaxed enough to succumb to the call of sleep and Leon couldn't help but marvel over how much more relaxed his companion seemed. The perpetual frown Cloud had on his face was wiped away and he looked to be finally at peace.
Leon wondered if Cloud would ever smile... probably not until his brothers were found most likely.
'Why am I even thinking about him like this?' he wondered. He was considering everything that he had done since he'd met the blonde. He climbed a tower to talk to him, teased him, offered his help in Cloud's quest and rescued him from the same tower. That wasn't something he would do for just anyone. 'He really is a Princess...'
Leon wasn't about to share those thoughts with Cloud, though. He had no doubt that the blonde would make good of his threat to run him through with his Buster Blade.
Leon went back to thinking about what he saw in Cloud that left such an impression on him.
The lengths the blonde would go for his family had impressed him, that much was true, but Leon was a little suspicious of Cloud's story. There was something he wasn't telling him. How had the blonde escaped his world? There was no way he could have just woken up here like he claimed. There had to be some reason someone sent him here... Leon aimed to find out what it was.
Cloud's feisty nature had captured Leon's attention too. He found it amusing and enthralling all at the same time. Cloud kept him on his toes and that made Leon want to bring more of that side out, which was why he teased him so much.
Then there was Cloud's physical appearance. As much as Leon wanted to deny it, he was quite strongly attracted to the blue-eyed beauty. His spiky hair, porcelain skin, glowing blue eyes, delicate facial features and lithe body all added up to a rather appealing sight. Leon couldn't help himself as much as he wanted to. Leon hadn't been with anybody since Rinoa and he'd intended to keep it that way.
But... could he really resist such a temptation?
'Get a hold of yourself, Leonhart,' Leon scolded himself. 'You promised him you wouldn't try anything.' He'd abide by his promise no matter what.
He was broken from his reverie when he heard a small whimper. Turning back to Cloud, he saw that the other man's once peaceful face was now long gone, replaced by a distressed one.
'He's having a nightmare,' Leon realized, wondering if he should interfere or let the nightmare run its course.
"Sora... Ven... Roxas..." Cloud moaned out, sounding heartbroken.
'His brothers?' Leon wondered to himself, putting the ship on autopilot. He didn't like hearing Cloud sound like that and from the looks of it, the nightmare was a bad one if the way the blonde was tossing and turning was anything to go by.
Climbing out of his chair to go to where the blonde was lying on the small cot, he tentatively reached a hand out to rouse him.
Glassy blue eyes snapped open almost instantly after Leon made contact with Cloud's shoulder and Leon suddenly found himself sprawled on the ground with the blonde in his lap with his arms wrapped around him and his face buried in his chest.
"C-Cloud?" Leon stuttered, much to his own embarrassment.
"Just shut up," Cloud pleaded, his emotions in complete chaos. He needed someone to ground him, even if he had to rely on a human to do just that.
Understanding dawned on Leon and he conceded to Cloud's wishes, wrapping his arms around the blonde and holding him as shudders wracked the younger man's body.
The nightmare must have been bad if the stubborn blonde was willing to let him see this vulnerable side to him even after he had made it clear that he didn't trust him very much.
All he could do was hold his companion until his emotions had calmed down a bit.
The moment they did, Cloud pulled himself out of Leon's arms, not looking at the man. Neither wanted to admit that they instantly missed the other's warmth.
"Thank you," he spoke reluctantly.
"No problem," Leon answered, still looking concerned for Cloud.
"Forget this ever happened," Cloud instructed calmly as he returned to his seat.
Leon nodded, eyes lingering on the faint red blush he had seen on Cloud's face as he'd passed him.
Resisting Cloud was going to be a lot harder than he thought...
KHKHKHKH
Cloud was cursing his own stupidity. How could he have been so stupid? As much as the nightmare had traumatized him, there was no excuse for burying himself in Leon's arms like that. It had been so long since he'd been held like that, though. It was usually him who was doing the holding, when he was comforting his brothers. The last one who had done that for him was Zack...
Despite himself, Cloud had enjoyed the feel of Leon's strong arms wrapped around him. It had created a warmth in him that he thought had died long ago.
Thinking back to the dream, he couldn't help but shudder again.
He'd been dreaming of being with his brothers again when things had suddenly taken a turn for the worse. The Darkness had attacked and no matter how hard Cloud had fought, he couldn't prevent his brothers from being stolen away. He could do nothing, trapped in Sephiroth's embrace, as his terrified brothers were consumed by the Darkness right before his eyes.
The thought of losing his brothers permanently terrified him beyond words. He wouldn't survive such a loss. They were all he had left...
"We're here," Leon broke through Cloud's reverie.
Cloud blinked and stared at where Leon was pointing to see a world emerging in view at long last.
"This is Traverse Town?" he queried curiously. Leon nodded.
"Many people whose worlds have fallen usually end up here," he explained.
"That's how you found your way here?" Cloud asked curiously.
"That's right," Leon agreed. "We may be able to get some information about your brothers but don't get your hopes up. There may not be any news either."
"I'll keep that in mind," Cloud replied. He knew the chances were small but it was worth checking out while they were here.
Once they landed, they collected their things and prepared to head out.
"Are you sure that you'll be okay carrying that sword around?" Leon voiced his uncertainty as he saw the blonde attach the oversized blade to his back. He recalled how clumsily the blonde had moved while in the tower.
Cloud glowered at Leon for underestimating him. "I'll be fine," he declared firmly. He'd grown accustomed to bearing the weight of the sword on his back.
Leon held his hands up in surrender before leading Cloud out.
The blonde glanced around the new world with fascination. He hadn't got a really good look of the one he had been stuck in, giving that he had been trapped in a tower.
"Is it always this dark around here?" he inquired. Leon nodded.
"Traverse Town is a world trapped between the Light and the Dark. It's stuck in Dusk, I suppose you could say," Leon explained.
"Ah," Cloud responded. "I guess that's why people who fall out of their worlds end up here?"
"I guess so," Leon agreed. "In fact, I'm a little surprised this isn't where you ended up. If you fell out of your world at random, you would be here. Being where you were, I can only deduce that somebody deliberately trapped you there. Are you sure there isn't anything else you can tell me how you got off of your world?"
Cloud averted his eyes. "I told you everything that I know," he insisted. "I don't know how I got there."
'He's lying,' Leon thought to himself with narrowed eyes. He wondered what was so important that Cloud had to hide how he had left his world. Leon wanted to find out but he knew that they were nowhere near a level of trust in which Cloud might confide in him.
"So where are we going?" Cloud asked, changing the subject.
"To go see Merlin, he's a wizard. He is our main contact with many of our allies, including the Keyblade Masters," Leon explained. He noted how Cloud's eyes sparked with interest at the mention of the Keyblade Masters. "You're interested in the Keyblade?"
"You can say that," Cloud responded, thinking of his brothers. "I've got a background with them."
Leon waited for Cloud to elaborate but when the blonde didn't, he just sighed. "Let's get going."
KHKHKHKH
Merlin turned and smiled at the brunette and the blonde that had entered his home.
"You came just on time," he smiled. "I was expecting your visit, Master Terra. I suppose this would be the young Ventus that Master Yen Sid spoke to me about."
Terra nodded politely at the wizard and Ven gave a shy smile.
"If you know that, I'm guessing you know why we are here," Terra remarked as they sat in two chairs facing Merlin.
"I do, but before we discuss the matter, we need to wait. Not everyone is here just yet," the wizard declared.
"What do you mean?" Ven frowned. Who else needed to get involved in this matter?
Merlin just smiled, a mysterious twinkle in his eye. "You'll see," he replied before he magicked his door open and lined a pile of pillows in front of it. It was like he was expecting something.
Terra just shrugged when Ven looked at him for explanation. No one could really make sense of the eccentric wizard.
KHKHKHKH
Cloud stopped short when he and Leon arrived at the watery pathway that led to the wizard's home.
"Is something wrong?" Leon queried, wondering what had caused Cloud to pause. He found the blonde's eyes trained on the water with a wary expression. "Don't tell me that you're scared of water too."
Cloud glared at him. He couldn't explain to Leon that he was afraid of falling into the water and revealing that he was a merman. The only thing he could say to explain his wariness, no matter how it shamed him, was...
"I can't swim."
Leon sighed, running a hand through his hair. With that knowledge, he knew that Cloud wouldn't be able to cross the pathway alone. There was still a very good chance he would fall in the water, especially with how clumsy Cloud was. He doubted telling Cloud that he would save him from drowning would provide the blonde with any reassurance.
"Unstrap your sword," the Gunblader ordered, earning a puzzled look at Cloud.
"What?" Cloud frowned, gazing at Leon suspiciously.
"We'll come back for it later. Just remove your sword," Leon repeated almost impatiently.
Cloud did as he was told reluctantly, wondering what Leon was up to. He yelped in protest when Leon suddenly swept him into his arms. "What the hell are you doing?" he hissed angrily, wrapping his arms around the other man's neck to support himself.
"Solving a problem," Leon said simply before he began to leap from rock to rock towards Merlin's home.
Cloud could do nothing more than hold on as tight as possible.
When they finally arrived at the entrance, Leon lost his balance upon his final landing and they went tumbling through the open door.
Cloud landed with a huff on top of a big pile of pillows and could only widen his eyes in alarm as Leon fell on top of him. Leon was only just able to catch himself before he and Cloud would have shared a very impromptu kiss.
At the moment, Leon was unintentionally pinning Cloud to the ground with their lips only an inch apart from another. Cloud do nothing more than stare at Leon, stunned. He felt a slight thrill run down his back, despite himself, as he saw Leon's eyes darken.
"Ahem," Merlin coughed politely and the two swordsmen snapped out of their daze. Leon rolled off of Cloud instantly, averting his eyes from the embarrassed blonde.
Clambering to his feet, Cloud turned to look at the wizard and gaped straight at the one looking at him as if he had seen a ghost.
"V-Ven?" the head of King Triton's guard stuttered, unable to believe his eyes.
"Cloud!" Ven exclaimed, rushing over and tackling his brother right back into the pillows.
Leon observed the interaction, recognizing Ven as one of the ones that Cloud had called for in his nightmare. Given how similar the two looked, there was no doubt in his mind that they were brothers.
'Is everyone in the family this beautiful?' Terra wondered, gazing at the two reuniting brothers curiously.
"I thought you were lost with our world," Ven babbled, not releasing his hold of his eldest brother. He had missed him...
"Did you honestly think I could let that happen when you guys need me?" Cloud asked with soft eyes, ruffling Ven's hair affectionately.
Leon couldn't take his eyes off of them. This softer side of Cloud was a real sight to see and the former SeeD found that he liked it.
"How did you get out? Don't tell me that the witch got you too," Ven frowned.
Cloud shook his head. "Sending me out of the world wouldn't have benefitted her at all after she went through the trouble of ejecting all of you. I would just bring you all back," he spoke with conviction. "I don't know how I ended up here."
He didn't like lying to Ven but he knew he could never tell anybody about the deal he had made with Sephiroth... and he couldn't exactly tell Ven anything different when Leon was still listening in.
"Do you think it was the King who sent you?" Ven wondered, sounding hopeful. It would be something that King Triton would do if it meant saving those who had been lost.
"It's a possibility," Cloud shrugged. It was the best explanation he could let his brothers believe for the time being, even if the King had fallen before he could have done such a thing. "Was this where you were sent?"
Ven shook his head. "I got thrown into a world that had already been consumed by the Darkness. If it wasn't for Terra, the Heartless would have got me for sure."
"Terra?" Cloud repeated before his eyes fell on the brunette that Ven had been sitting beside. He gazed at him critically. Terra could understand his worry. If he had a younger sibling, he would be worried about who they chose to trust when out of their element too.
He just hoped he passed Cloud's inspection.
"Do you trust him?" Cloud asked Ven. He wasn't too sure what he thought of the brunette. He seemed decent enough but there was no hiding the darkness dwelling within him.
Ven nodded earnestly. "I do. Not only is he a Keyblade Master but if he had wanted to hurt me, he would have already done so," he declared.
"Not to mention, even if I wanted to, Ven could beat my ass if he really wanted to. He packs one hell of a punch," Terra declared, a hand instinctively going to his abdomen in remembrance.
Cloud gave him a wary look. "Something tells me you know from experience," he declared, raising an eyebrow.
"I called him Princess," Terra admitted sheepishly, giving Ven an apologetic look for having mentioned it again. Something told him Cloud wasn't going to let him hide it.
They all turned when they heard Leon snort in amusement.
"What's so funny?" Ven wondered curiously. He didn't know why Cloud was glaring at the scarred man so viciously.
"It's nothing really... I'm just surprised how that title seems to run in the family," Leon smirked and Cloud reddened. The former SeeD didn't know if it was out of anger or embarrassment. It was most likely both.
"You called Cloud Princess?" Ven queried in awe. The guy sure had a lot of balls for that move.
"I rescued him from a tower," Leon said as if that explained everything. While Ven seemed confused, Terra understood well enough. However, he wasn't suicidal so he wasn't going to show his amusement directly in front of Ven's overprotective big brother.
Cloud was more than a little annoyed with his companion for making him lose face in front of his little brother.
Luckily, Ven didn't think any less of his brother but he was eyeing Leon in a very curious manner.
"Who are you, by the way?" the younger blonde questioned.
"Leon Leonhart," the Gunblader declared.
Ven pursed his lips in thought. The name seemed odd, considering the guy's first name was just a shortened version of his last name. "Is that your real name?" he pressed.
"Ven!" Cloud scolded his brother when he saw Leon clam up. He wanted to know the answer to that question too but he knew that it was hardly the right time to do that.
"Sorry," the teen apologized once he realized he had overstepped his boundaries.
Leon simply nodded in acknowledgement before turning to Terra.
"It seems like you guys have had a head start in finding the lost brothers," he remarked,
Terra nodded. "I let Master Yen Sid, King Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Aqua know of the situation and they spread out to find them. The girl that was cast off with them has been found in Agrabah and Aqua is going to collect her as we speak. As for the others, I'm not too sure about them yet," he explained.
"The Princess is safe?" Cloud perked up at the news, sighing in relief. Knowing that two of the four teenagers head come to find were safe and sound made some of the weight on Cloud's shoulders leave.
"Princess?" Terra repeated before glancing at Ven. "You didn't tell me your friend was a Princess."
"You didn't ask," Ven shrugged. While he did like Terra, he didn't feel all that comfortable sharing more than what was absolutely necessary.
"Fair enough," Terra conceded.
"Sora and Roxas are still out there somewhere," Cloud mused, looking a little worried. He hoped that they would be okay. "As long as they have their weapons they should be fine. What is it,Ven?" The eldest Strife felt a wave of dread course through him seeing the downtrodden look on his brother's face.
"That's the thing... The witch stole them from us," Ven admitted.
Cloud's jaw dropped. He hadn't expected Ursula to be capable of such a thing. "How could she have the power to steal the Keyblades? She must have had help..." he frowned, not noticing the startled look on Terra and Leon's faces.
"Your brothers are Keybearers?" Leon asked Cloud with narrowed eyes. That wasn't something that should have been kept a secret, especially if they were to be allies...
"All three of you have Keyblades?" Terra queried. He didn't know how that was possible. Having more than one Keybearer in a world was rare enough but to have three in the same family was something nobody had seen before.
"We don't know how it's possible either," Ven shrugged. "It just happened that way."
"No wonder that witch scattered all of you. Seeing all three of you must have scared her beyond all belief," Terra crossed his arms. One Keybearer in an area caught enough attention. He hated to imagine what it would be like being one of three in one area. It was somewhat of a miracle that they hadn't been discovered earlier.
"This makes finding them an even bigger priority. If they fall into the wrong hands, the Darkness could gain a terrifying advantage," Leon frowned.
"I won't let that happen," Cloud said sharply, recalling his dream, he would die before he let it come true and no one would stop him, not even Sephiroth.
"Then we should get you back into proper fighting condition as quickly as possible," Leon replied with a nod of approval over Cloud's conviction.
"Mind if we join you?" Terra queried. "Ven needs some work on strengthening his legs too."
Leon simply nodded, growing curious as to why two different culprits had cost the brothers their mobility. It couldn't just be a coincidence...
"Let's get started then," Cloud declared, eager to overcome this obstacle.
"Alright," Leon conceded before swooping Cloud into his arms again.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Cloud yelped, flushing in embarrassment about being held by the brunette in front of his little brother.
"We're going to have to go back the same way we came and you're afraid of the water, aren't you?" Leon pointed out. Cloud just grumbled and wrapped his arms around Leon to stabilize himself. He looked down so that he could meet nobody's eyes.
Ven watched the smirk that spread across Leon's face. If he didn't know better, he would have said that Leon enjoyed having his brother in his arms.
As Leon and Cloud left, the remaining two turned to the chuckling Merlin.
"He could have just used Float," the wizard commented in amusement.
"Leon's not the type to forget something like that," Terra mused.
"That means he is doing this on purpose," Ven realized. Did Leon like his brother? His eyes narrowed. He would have to keep an eye on the Gunblader. Not just anyone would be good enough for his big brother after all.
"Don't worry about your brothers, Ventus," Merlin said. "I'm certain you will all be together again sooner than you think."
"I hope so," Ven answered, thanking Merlin for his reassurance before turning to Terra. "Let's go."