Title: Expectations
Summary: Society thinks you're a freak. But me? I don't know what to think.
Warnings: boy/boy, bullying
Pairings: Leon/Cloud
Disclaimer: Characters and settings are not mine
"You can't get married in Converse, Squall."
"It's our wedding, Sora. If we wanted to, we could get married in cowboy boots and play the entire soundtrack of Broke Back Mountain."
"You've never even seen that movie!" the nuisance of a little brother counters.
"You don't need to see a movie to get its soundtrack."
"You are not getting married in Converse. Right Riku?"
"What's wrong with Converse? At least they could wear those again. Why would they wear dress shoes again?"
Sora buries his head in his hands. "Isn't it supposed to be special, or whatever?"
"What could be more special than a wedding in Converse?" you throw in. "No one gets married in Converse. That's special."
Even though Roxas had come and gone, Sora seemed to be getting on just fine. He was hurt, of course. It never took much to hurt Sora emotionally. But, the day you win a fight with such a kindred spirit is the day you wished you let them win. It's no different for Roxas. As for Roxas...well, he's figuring things out for himself, and only he can do that. He is...accepted in Xemnas Faustes' ring of friends. But, he's starting to question things more, and that's the best place to start crossing the tracks to our side.
It's a good day to live. A good day to laugh. A good day to be with you. How I'd relearned to do all that...well, it was a long journey. But: it was worth it. The best things in life are earned; you have to fight for them. I had fought demons, both inside myself, and outside myself. They will never hurt you or I again, I refuse to let them. The feral glow cannot frighten me. The steeled chains cannot hold me. The malicious whips cannot mar me. Certainly, I am no saint. But I need not be a saint to be yours. There is love between us. Beyond what they can see, or what we can verbally express. Beneath the skin, beneath the soul. But, we understand, the slightest caress is eternal love. The smallest glances are complete understanding. The quietest words are heard better than gunfire. We hear each other without speaking. You are me and I am you, blending together to fill the void of the other. It feels so long ago now, what you said when I asked you how you trust people. But I remember, well enough. You believe there are still people to be trusted, because of me.
And inappropriate relationships with fathers, trauma with foster mothers, and monsters like Quinn aren't something that seem to matter at this point. The things of the past are meant to lie in the past. To forget the bad and cherish the good.
Axel smiles. Yuffie cries. Rodger shifts. Aerith nods. Riku holds Vanitus' hand. And us... we look perfectly out of place on the alter, in our black slacks and high-tops with unbuttoned blazers. Out of place, but happy. Ecstatic, even. The best I'd been in a very, very long time. Blushing, giddy, and loving every moment, like every last butterfly that ever died had been come to life in my abdomen. Which is kind of scary to think about, but I can't think about it anyway, not with you looking so perfect in front of me.
The Reaper is not with us today. And, if he was, we wouldn't fear. Because we know he has to take us in a set, and that would just be too much to deal with, with our current energy.
The kiss is short, as not to freak out the few guests that had come. We'll make up for it later.
"When Leon and Cloud came out as 'boyfriends,' I was surprised. Not many people can affect him so fast. So, for the most part, I was surprised by the engagement. These two were made for each other. To a happily ever after most are too afraid to embrace," Erik praises.
"This guy used to care so much about people, that he didn't even care about people. But, he pulled through for me the night that I needed it most, and I'm going to be thanking him for it the rest of our lives. To finding a soulmate," you announce.
"Uh-huh," I say at my turn, the laughter dying down. "Well, 'this guy' over here had known me for less than forty-eight hours before he introduced me to the potential of his androgyny, he was so confident I would accept him. And you know what? I did. To unconditional love."
For the first time in forever, everything goes as planned. Everything except the empty seat beside you, where Seifer should be sitting. He wanted to be here, but Death had taken him away. I grasp your hand, rubbing your knuckles with an affectionate smile, that you understand means we feel the same.
At the end of it all, Axel drenches eight flowers in hairspray. "This will keep them from dying. I know you wanted him here...I did, too... Go see him. But, don't take too long, you gotta do your wedding thing and all." He winks. He's not sad, anymore. About me, anyway. He hasn't moved on, but he doesn't need to. We're like normal friends. Normal friends...with a dark secret. But I don't linger on that. the redhead is finding his way through the darkness, and doing a better job than most. He runs through the storm, in the hopes a brighter day will come. And it will, just not yet. He needs to wrestle a few more devils before he makes it to the other side and finds his rainbow.
And everything is right by the end of the night. An hour's visit with Seifer, and two days in the best hotel Vitum has. Yes, the only way it would have been better is if the emerald-eyed man's body had been living and been with us... But I couldn't have asked for a perfect wedding day and expected anything more than what we have. We have love. From two broken men, trying to put the pieces back together, but happy as they are.
A/N: So, no Honeymoon...I felt like it would ruin the vibe I had going. Epilogue is next! Then we're done! Wahoo~~~ Most of you probably didn't catch this, but Leon inverted his past quote on how he sees memories, just a fun fact that shows you how far he's come to being a happier person. (:
Sis: Don't worry about complaints! I love every review, and I'm glad you liked this. Yes, Cloud and Leon are very reliant on each other, here, and not just that, but they feel the need to support each other through these difficult times, which is how I think they would feel about any pairing you could put them in ^_^ Also, I didn't want Yuffie to seem as two dimensional as she'd been coming off in the story. Honestly, there was an entire subplot I had with her, but I dropped it because it felt so unnecessary. that little bit with her in the last chapter was the only thing I kept from the original idea, and it was extremely modified from its original, as the subplot never went through. Also, this might throw you off wanting to read it, but Loving Corpses is kind of Cloud/everyone (you'll understand when you get there), but the focus is Cloud/Seph. I hope you still give it a try ^_^
Thank you all so much for your support for my first continued work on here, you have all been so helpful and good to me. I'm sorry it wasn't any better than this, but I did do my best for you, when it really got going. I appreciate it. And I'm kind of sad this story is ending, but that just means I'll move on to my other recent work: Loving Corpses, and have to try harder and make it better. You're all great.