My Fatal Reality

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Chapter 21 – Steal The Breath Away

Hayner slumped after Axel and Roxas, who were like glued to each other. Or mostly Axel was clinging on Roxas, while the blond tried to keep up a conversation in which Hayner could participate as well. But Axel didn't seem to want any more communication with Hayner, so the only thing he focused on was the smaller teen.

"Well, I guess we'll be heading back to Axel's place…" Roxas said to Hayner, as he squirmed away from Axel. He stood in front of the other blond and gave him a faint smile, "Thank you once more. Without you, I doubt that we'd still be in one piece."

"That was noth—…" Hayner was cut off when Roxas leaned up and pressed his lips on his cheek. The taller one felt red color spread all over his face. True, Roxas gave him a quick peck earlier, but he had been prepared for that one. This time he was totally taken off guard. But before he could start enjoying himself, Roxas had already pulled away and returned back to Axel's side.

Speaking of which, the redhead didn't seem too happy. He glared at Hayner as if trying to murder him with his eyes.

"C'mon Roxas, let's go." Axel muttered, as he grabbed Roxas' hand and started to pull him towards his place. Roxas gave glanced at Hayner for the last time, before obediently following Axel.

Once the two teens were out of his sight, Hayner slumped his shoulders and let out a long sigh. He wasn't sure what he saw in Roxas, but he supposed that it really didn't matter much. Axel and Roxas seemed to be happy together, so it was a happy ending for them.

"Hey, Hayner!"

Hayner turned around and saw his two best friends approaching him. Pence and Olette waved their hands at him and wide smiles present on their features.

"Hey guys." Hayner greeted the two, "What brings you here?"

Olette shrugged her shoulders. She glanced around, as if trying to search for something. She frowned and said, "I could ask you the same. I thought you were supposed to be out with that Roxas boy?"

"Yeah." Pence agreed, while eating an ice cream, which he had been holding.

"Hm." Hayner folded his arms above his chest and looked away from his friends. He couldn't tell them that Roxas had just rejected him. He created a smirk on his lips and cockily replied, "Naw, I figured that he wasn't my style. I'm better off without him."

Pence and Olette exchanged glances, but neither one of them said anything.

"Hey, c'mon!" Hayner chuckled, as he walked around the two teens and behind their backs. He leisurely draped his arms around his friend's shoulders, "I think we're good like this."

"You're right." Pence finished his ice cream, "We're perfect like this."

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Sora hugged Luca tighter and pressed his back against the car's seat. Sephiroth's piercing eyes stared at him intently, as if trying to murder him. He decided to focus on the scenery outside the car's window, when the atmosphere became close to suffocating. In the corner of his eye, he saw a small wooden chest next to his father. He wondered who was driving the car and where they were going, but was too frightened to ask.

"Sora, Sora, Sora." Sephiroth sighed and ran his hand through his silver hair. He then picked up the chest and placed it on his lap, "Some people can't pick their enemies, but you can't pick your allies."

Sora shivered, as he listened to Sephiroth. Each sentence made chills run down his spine.

"But it doesn't matter any more." The silver-haired man said, while moving towards Sora, "You're just like your mother. If she had stayed home and not gone with that bastard of a man, maybe I would have spared her life."

Sora was close to tears, when he felt Sephiroth's long hair touch his cheeks, as the older man leaned in to give a small kiss on his forehead. He clutched Luca and stared at the seat in front of him, where the Shadow was sitting. Its yellow eyes glared at him with blame and hate, as if he had done something wrong. But soon its expression changed into malice and wicked.

"I thought that you, my only son, might have always stayed by my side." Sephiroth whispered into Sora's ear, making the said one tremble violently, "But you're no different from Aerith and that bastard boy, who is not my son, much less your brother."

"B-but Squall is your son as well…" Sora mumbled quietly, but immediately regretted it, when Sephiroth slammed his fist on the car's window, right next to Sora's head.

"That, my dear son, is wrong. You share only half of the blood, which means that he's not qualified as a member of our perfect family." Sephiroth said loudly, yet he didn't yell, "Those foolish people will soon find out what truly happened to your dear mother as well as that nosy principal. But before I'm done with this world, I need to get few things done."

Sephiroth withdrew himself from Sora, who inhaled a shaky breath. But soon he was startled again, as Sephiroth placed his hand on his shoulder.

"And you shall help me. You have an honor to be the one to witness the death of your so called brother."

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Riku ran back to Yuna's house the fastest he could. Without even knocking, he slammed the door open and ran to the living room, expecting it to be full of people. But when he faced the empty room, his stomach twitched. He turned around and stood still for a while, but no matter how hard he listened to any noises coming from the house, he could hear nothing but absolute silence.

"Sora?!" Riku yelled, as he ran to the kitchen, but no one was in there either. He kept dashing around the house, yelling out Sora's name, but there was no answer to his call.

But Sora wasn't the only one missing. Everyone else had disappeared somewhere as well. Maybe they had run out to find out what the ruckus at Sora's house was all about, Riku thought. It was the most logical explanation.

Riku inhaled a deep breath, and decided that he should head back to Sora's house and look for Sora there. He ran back to the front door and opened it. He let out a small gasp when he saw his elder brother standing on the doorstep.

"Ze-Zexion!" was all that Riku could say, "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you." Zexion said simply, as he walked past Riku into the house and pulled the door close behind him. He eyed the place for a small moment, before focusing on his sibling, "Even though I never told you that you were grounded, you could have at least kept me informed."

Riku sighed and massaged his temples, "Look, I really don't have time for this right now."

"Oh, don't bet on it." The older one said, as he stepped in front of the door, making sure that Riku wouldn't try to escape from him, "After all the trouble I went through just to find you."

"Okay fine." Riku grunted, "Make it quick."

Zexion shook his head tiredly, "I'm not sure if I can." He replied honestly. Riku rolled his eyes and motioned towards kitchen, where they sat down by the table. Zexion clamped his hands together on the table and looked at his brother, "Kairi came by earlier today. Said she was worried about you."

Riku groaned, "I thought she understood to back off…"

"Riku." Zexion said sharply, making Riku wince visibly. The only person in the world who could terrify Riku was his dear brother. Not even Sephiroth could frighten him as much as Zexion. The said one stared bluntly at his brother, before saying, "I know that you don't really like Kairi, but she too is nothing but a human."

The silver-haired boy looked down at his lap, knowing where his brother was getting at, "But she was mean to Sora."

"That's not the case right now." Zexion raised his voice, as he slammed his open palm on the table, "She's much like our mother. Never knowing how to show how much she cared about us."

"She's not even close to what she was." Riku muttered, "Mother at least tried to care about us, while Kairi doesn't."

Zexion's patience was coming to its end. He inhaled a rather shaky breath and ran his hand through his hair, "A woman with a heart wouldn't throw her two sons out of her house. She's not like Kairi. She doesn't care and isn't afraid of showing it, while Kairi does care, but doesn't know how to show it."

"How'd you know that anyway?" Riku asked and narrowed his eyes, "You don't know what she's like."

"Maybe I don't, but I do believe her." Zexion said all too calmly, as he stood up and walked past Riku, towards the door, "And if you don't believe me, ask Axel. I just don't want you to hate someone who doesn't need to be hated."

Riku frowned, as he watched his brother leave. He sat still and thought about the things his brother had just said. He had noticed how Axel had always been slightly protective over Kairi, but Riku had never even thought of asking why. He guessed that they had been friends since forever, which is why they had such a strong bond.

Riku stood up and glanced at the clock on the ceiling. It was past midnight and no one could still be seen around. He sighed and shook his head, as he decided that he would continue his search for Sora.

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Cloud sighed in content, as the movie ended and he had stopped crying. He couldn't help it, but he always got emotional after movies like A.I. He looked at Squall, who was right next to him, holding him against his chest. Cloud had started to wonder whether loving a freezer was as hard as he had thought it would be.

"Hey Squall…" Cloud purred and ran his fingertips up and down Squall's torso, "…You're still yet to tell me why you're being so awfully nice to me."

Squall 'hmp'-ed silently, before gently changing their position, so that Cloud was lying on his back, while he laid down next to him, pulling the other one as close to his side as he could. He could sense the questioning glance of the blond man, so he sighed and replied, "Isn't it kind of obvious?"

"To be honest, yes it is." Cloud laughed and poked Squall's ribs, "But I want to hear you say something. And you know what that something is."

The brunet man closed his eyes. It was now or never and he knew it. He didn't go through all this trouble for Cloud for nothing. He wanted to change his opinion on him. But he still was unsure what he truly meant to Cloud. He wanted to say it so badly, those three correct words that Cloud was waiting for.

Squall opened his mouth, but the words were tangled in his throat. As nothing came out, he closed his mouth and sighed. Whoever thought that confessing would be this hard? Squall held Cloud closer and breathed into his yellowish hair without saying anything.

"You're hopeless." Cloud stated with a small chuckle, before gently breaking free from Squall's embrace. The older one gave him a quizzical glance, as he walked to the other side of the room and picked up his white coat, which was lying forgotten on the floor. He turned around and looked at the man by the bed, "Well if you don't have anything to say, I guess I might as well leave…"

"No!" Squall jumped to his feet and ran to Cloud, before he could take another step, "I mean— no, don't go just yet."

Cloud smiled a little and slowly moved closer to the other man. Squall's hands found their way to his shoulders and pulled the other one inwardly closer.

"Well, Squall?" Cloud said innocently and tilted his head back a little, "Do you want to say something?"

Squall opened his mouth, but this time he was interrupted by a knock on the door. He cursed quietly, as he let go off the blonde male and slumped towards the door. Cloud snickered behind him, although Squall didn't understand how he could find the situation amusing.

Squall tore the door open and prepared to yell at the intruder, but before he could get a word out of his mouth, he was knocked down on the floor. His head spun a little and the only thing he could see was a tall silver-haired man inviting himself into the motel room. He was dragging Sora behind him, forcing him to follow him.

"Well well, what do we have here…" Sephiroth pronounced slowly, as he stepped over Squall and towered in front of Cloud. Sora tried to pull his hand free from his father's tight grasp, but could do nothing but squirm powerlessly. Sephiroth smirked at the blonde male, "So there was something going on between you two. Which makes this all the more fun…"

Sephiroth finally let go off Sora and closed the motel room's door soundlessly. Squall stood up from the floor, still feeling a little bit lightheaded from the harsh blow he had received from Sephiroth.

"What are you doing here?" The scar-faced man asked, "And how the heck did you know we were here?"

The silver-haired man chuckled and stared Squall with hatred flashing in his eyes, "Oh you know. I have money, therefore power. And besides, your dear little brother here couldn't afford risking the life of his loved one."

Squall fixed his eyes at Sora, who looked down at his feet. It was true that he had accidentally slipped about Squall's intentions to take Cloud to a local motel. Later on, Sora wasn't even sure how the hell he had ended up telling Sephiroth that.

"I… I didn't mean to…" Sora whimpered, as he felt Squall's heated glare upon him.

"Don't be mad, Leon." Sephiroth said cynically, as he walked in circles around Squall, "These will be the last moments of your life, so I'd advice you to use them wisely."

Squall was afraid, but on the outside he tried to remain as calm as possible. He folded his arms above his chest and followed Sephiroth's every move closely, "As if. What do you think you could do? Too much noise would alert the security and you'll be thrown out in no time."

"But I would still be able to kill you, wouldn't I?" Sephiroth stated victoriously. He picked up an empty salad bowl from a small table nearby the bed.

"Father, stop it!" Sora screamed, as he saw the evil glimpse in the corner of Sephiroth's eye, "Haven't you already done enough?"

The silver-haired man fixed his gaze from Squall to Sora, who was trying to pretend brave, although his knees were shaking violently. Sephiroth surpassed a laugh, as he glared at his son, who was a pitiful sight in his eyes. When Cloud noticed the death glare Sephiroth was sending to Sora, he stepped in front of the younger boy.

"Ah, so you're acting brave now." Sephiroth sighed and smirked at Cloud, "Don't worry, after I've dealt with Leon, I'll make sure to get rid of you as well. But don't worry…" he flashed his teeth and took few steps towards the blond, "…I can guarantee that you will learn to love the end of your life."

"Stay away from him."

Sephiroth chuckled and turned around. He saw Squall glaring at him with the most spiteful eyes he had ever seen. The situation was getting interesting, he thought, as he advanced towards the man, who was supposed to be his son.

"Who are you to order me around?" The man spat, as he stood tall in front of Squall.

Before Squall could even blink, Sephiroth threw the porcelain salad bowl at his head. The impact sent him to the floor, where he lied motionlessly. Blood coming from a small wound on his temple stained the carpet in mere seconds.

Cloud's eyes widened at the sight. He hid Sora behind his back and tried not to look at the brunet man lying on the floor. He swallowed his sobs, as Sephiroth slowly turned back around and stared at him. Cloud stepped backwards, pressing Sora behind him against a wall. He mentally prayed that a miracle would come and save them.

"Come here boy." Sephiroth motioned to Cloud, who didn't move an inch. The silver-haired man snorted and walked towards him, "Fine, I'll come there."

Cloud gulped. He looked over his shoulder at Sora, who returned his look. A reassuring smile came to Cloud's lips, although he was close to tears, "Don't worry Sora, it'll be alright."

Sephiroth grabbed Cloud's wrist and yanked him forward. The older one easily tossed him on the bed and climbed on top of him. Sora watched in terror, as Cloud struggled against the man. As he couldn't take it any more, he turned to look at his stepbrother, who was lying on the floor.

He had never imagined that things would turn out like this. All the people who were never supposed to be hurt had gone through so much for him. And the only thing he could do was to watch as the things got out of hand. Sora bit his lip and balled his fists. He took few steps towards his father, who was busying himself with Cloud.

"S-stop…" Sora said meekly, but too quiet for Sephiroth to hear. He cleared his throat and tried his voice again, "Stop it, Sephiroth."

This time his voice reached Sephiroth's ears, but the only thing he did was give Sora a small glance over his shoulder.

Sora realized that Sephiroth wasn't going to listen to him. He gulped, before jumping on the bed and attacking his father, hoping that he would be able to knock him off of Cloud. He grabbed the man's hands, pulled and yanked, doing everything to get him away from the blond, "Stop it Sephiroth!!"

Sephiroth let out a half-hearted laugh, before shoving Sora away. The brunet fell on the floor, almost next to Squall. Sora bit his lip to smother a cry of pain, as he stood up the fastest he could. But when he thought of attacking Sephiroth again, he noticed that the said man had gotten on his feet as well. Sora's eyes widened, as he realized that instead of Cloud, he was focusing on him.

"Oh, Sora. My dear adorable son, you know that you shouldn't have done that." Sephiroth scolded, as he reached his hand out and grabbed on Sora's shirt. He started pulling the unwilling Sora towards the bathroom.

Cloud lied on the bed, immobilized. He breathed heavily, not quite sure what was going on any more. Only a second ago, Sephiroth had hovered above him, but now he was gone and dragging Sora to the bathroom. Cloud tilted his head to his side and saw Squall on the floor. The brunet hadn't moved at all. Cloud's vision became blurry, as he forced himself up from the bed and crawl to Squall.

"Squall…?" Cloud asked quietly, as he grabbed his shoulder and shook him gently, "Squall…. Please say something… I… Sora is… I don't know what to do…"

Cloud laid his head down on Squall's back and started sobbing. He wrapped his arms around the other one, as he buried his face deeper into Squall's shirt. A thought of getting help crossed his mind, but he couldn't let go off the man he was holding.

"You… after all this time… don't go dying on me!" Cloud yelled, "Don't you dare…! We've gotta save Sora and get out of here… Stand up Squall, don't give up now!"

Meanwhile in the bathroom, Sephiroth was pouring a porcelain sink full of water. Sora sat in a corner, waiting for his father to make the next move.

"I thought that we would have done this together." Sephiroth stated suddenly, scaring the already frightened Sora, "You, me and Aerith. We could have been a family again."

Sora swallowed loudly, "D-do wh-what?"

"To die." Sephiroth replied simply, as he watched the sink fill with water. As the water almost spilled over the edges, he turned around and pulled Sora towards the sink, "But I guess it can't be helped. We will be together, however, so don't be afraid."

Sephiroth grabbed the back of Sora's neck and tried to push his son's head in the sink. Sora started immediately fighting, when he realized what his father was up to. He was going to drown him. He was going to die, just like Cloud and Squall would. And he would never see Riku again, if his life ended right there and then.

Sora placed his hands on the edges of the sink and fought back. Sephiroth groaned in annoyance and placed his free hand on the back of Sora's head and pushed harder. The brunet yelped, just before his head broke the surface of the water and his whole head sank into the freezing cold sink. He tried his best to hold his breath, but his lungs were already about to give up.

For a while longer, Sora tried to kick and break free from Sephiroth's grasp, but it was no use. He closed his eyes and tried to gather the last bit of strength he had. And when he started struggling again, he was amazed how easily he was able to break himself free. He pulled his head out of the water and gasped for air, which only resulted in loud coughing.

He looked around and saw Cloud standing there, his eyes focused at Sephiroth, who was staring right back at him. Sora felt dizzy and found it close to impossible to think clearly.

"But Sora is… Sora is your son!" Cloud said, tears forming in his eyes, "…Just like Squall's supposed to be! How can you do something like this to your own family?!"

Sephiroth rolled his eyes half-heartedly, as he pushed his hand into his coat's pocket, "How does this concern you? If you had been a good boy and stayed home with your mommy, nothing like this would have ever happened."

"What do you know what it's like in my home?!" Cloud yelled and balled his fists, "And what about Squall's feelings?! You can't just… barge in and… and kill him! It's not his fault if he's not your son!!"

Sephiroth pulled a gun out of his pocket and aimed at Cloud, "Stop acting as if you cared."

Both Cloud and Sora winced, as they saw the pistol in Sephiroth's hand. Sora looked at Cloud, who lifted his chin and tried to look as confident as he could. They both knew very well that Sephiroth wasn't someone to hesitate. He would pull the trigger if he needed to.

"What do you want from me?" Cloud asked.

"At first I thought that you might be nice to play with…" Sephiroth said, his eyes wandering up and down Cloud's body, "…But I think that we don't have time for that. And since it's impossible to keep people like you silent, I need to silence you for good. It's a shame, but can't be helped."

Cloud saw as Sephiroth slowly pressed the trigger. He closed his eyes and pressed his back against the wall.

Sora's eyes widened as he watched the scene. He was about to grab Sephiroth's hand and stop him from shooting Cloud, but before he could do this, something had already tackled the silver-haired man on the floor. Squall was on top of the older man and was struggling against him, and trying to get the gun from his hands.

"Stop interfering." Sephiroth hissed, as he kicked Squall's stomach and knocked him off of him. The brunet man grunted and made another attempt to steal the gun, but it was already too late. Sephiroth was back on his feet and now pointing his weapon at Squall, "I'm starting to get annoyed."

Squall stepped in front of Cloud. The blond sighed in relief, "Squall…"

"To the bathtub." Sephiroth said to Squall and motioned towards the tub, "Now."

Squall bit his lip and quickly turned around. He stared into Cloud's eyes and gave him a small smile, something that he had never done before. He touched Cloud's cheek with his open palm and caressed it gently, before mouthing, "I'll distract him."

"Leon, to the bathtub." Sephiroth said again, this time more persistently.

Squall gave the one last glance at Cloud's direction, before stepping in front of the bathtub. Cloud stared at the brunet man, his eyes wide and blurry. He could already tell where this was going to lead. But when Squall frowned and nodded his head towards the door, Cloud silently walked to Sora and grabbed his hand. He made sure that Sephiroth wasn't looking and gave his best smile to the scar-faced man.

Then Cloud turned around and walked out of the bathroom with Sora. He bit his lip so hard that he wouldn't scream and cry, because he knew that he was leaving something irreplaceable behind.

When Squall was sure that the two teens were gone, he looked at Sephiroth, "Do you want to bathe with me, father?"

Sephiroth growled and stepped a little bit closer to Squall and the gun in his hands was pointing straight to his chest, "Don't play dumb with me."

Then there was a shot. Squall's eyes widened, as something hit his chest and he fell backwards. He fell into the bathtub, although the falling seemed to last forever. He reached out to grab onto something, which would prevent him from collapsing, but only thing he could grab was a pure white shower curtain. But instead of keeping his balance, it only fell over Squall, as he landed on his back.

The pain on his chest was terrible. He looked down and saw a small hole, which bled like hell. Then he looked at Sephiroth, who smirked victoriously. Squall felt bad for letting the silver-haired man feel such joy.

But then he remembered something. He remembered Cloud. His soft hair and low voice. He remembered that sweet smile on his lips… on those lips, which he was never able to touch. And there was something else, but he wasn't sure what it was.

"Finally I got rid of you." Sephiroth said smoothly.

"I… I forgot to…" Squall mumbled, as he tried to recall what he had forgotten to do. The only thing he could think of was Cloud. And then there was this warm thought of Rinoa and the others, who had always been with him. But then there was Cloud again. And something he was meaning to tell him. A longing smile came to his lips, "…Cloud… I forgot to tell him… I love…"

But before he could finish his sentence, Sephiroth had shot him again and cutting him off, this time for good.

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A/N: It took me a lot of willpower to finish this chapter. I gotta admit that this was the most hardest things I've ever written.

And I can't help it how in all of my stories Sephiroth rapes, or almost rapes, Cloud. Shame on me. :(