Snow
-Squirrel Tamer

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.


Chapter 9: Cloud



Point of View: Yuffie.


"Ugh...I hate flying..." I complain between retching spells. Squall glances me out of the corner of his eye and then resumes staring out of the front of the Gummi Ship.

"Its great to be flying again." Our pilot Cid says. I can only groan and clutch my stomach.

"This was your idea." Squall points out. Of course it was my idea. I always have these ideas that seem good but then turn out to be bad ones. Like when I forced Squall to go on a date with me back in Hollow Bastion and then almost fell out of a tree. Yeah...bad idea...

But then again maybe seeing Cloud will make this stomach ache worth it. Of course part of the whole upset stomach may have to do with the fact that we lied to Aerith about why we were going to this world and then left her alone in a town filled with Heartless.

I groan again, overcome by another wave of nausea. Then I empty my stomach for about the tenth time. You'd think that by like the fifth time there would be nothing left to throw up.

I only remember feeling this bad once before and that was when I accidentally got drunk at a dance when I was six. I remember Squall carried me into the men's bathroom and I threw up everywhere. And then a bunch of boys came in and almost went to the bathroom with me still in there until Squall yelled at them to get out.

By then my hair had fallen out of its pigtails and was flowing into my face. I was sure my hair which had been so nice at the beginning of the night would be soaked with my own vomit. But then I felt a cool hand pull it out of my face. I turned around a bit to find Squall holding my hair back.

I smile out of the corner of my mouth, reliving my memories, but then it slowly turns into a twisted sick face as I feel myself begin getting sick again.

"You're going to throw up all over your hair Yuffie." I hear Squall tell me. I can't even nod or give any sign that I know. I just try to keep everything down.

I try pushing my hair behind my ears but its too short. I hope they have showers in this world.

But then I feel a soft cool hand gently pulling it out of my face. I sigh and then let it all come up. Then I close my eyes and lean back into the warm arms of Squall Leonhart.

I can tell that he's shocked by this. But I don't care. I'm just glad to know that Squall isn't gone. At least not yet.



~~~~~



"Here ya are. The Olympus Coliseum." Cid tells us and then heads back to the ship. "Just call me when you're done doing whatever you're gonna do. I'll be waiting outside the gates."

Then he hops in his ship and flies away to park the Gummi Ship.

"I guess we'd better start looking for Cloud." I tell Squall. And then we head to the large golden doors in front of us. We're almost there when Sora along with Donald and Goofy come flying out the doors running right into Squall and me.

"Sorry guys." He says, and Donald and Goofy nod, "We were just checking to see when the next contest is." He droops his head a bit, "Phil says not for awhile." He then smiles at us, "So you're here to find that Cloud guy right?"

"Yep." I hear myself say.

"Good luck! Hey where's Aerith? Didn't she know him too?" He asks looking slightly confused.

"Don't tell Aerith what were doing. If you do I'll kill you. Keyblade Master or not." Squall...no its Leon talking now says.

I feel like kicking him. But I know by the look on Sora's face that he's too scared to rat on us. So I play along and smile a we're-gonna-kill-you-smile. He backs up a bit and then runs a hand through his spiky hair.

"I won't tell." He promises. Then him and his companions say good-bye and head back to their ship.

Squall and I move closer to the doors when I notice a small black creature standing just in front of them. I scream and then fling a shuriken at the Heartless. Being a shadow it vanishes after only the third shuriken.

"Hades might be upset." A voice tells me.

I whirl around to find two big blue eyes staring down at me. He looks just like the day we left Hollow Bastion. His fathers cape is in even more shreds than before. His blond hair was just as spiky as I remember. And his blue eyes are just how I remember them.

I fling my arms around him and begin to cry softly. Cloud's back.

"Good to see you to Yuffie." He says casually. I unravel my arms and look up at him.

That's it? Ten years of separation and when he finally sees us again all he can say is 'Good to see you to Yuffie'? He doesn't even acknowledge that Squall's there. He doesn't even hug me back. He may look the same but he's changed. He's not quite so warm anymore.

"Cloud." Leon says nodding his head.

"Squall." Cloud replies.

"Leon."

"What?"

"My name is Leon."

Cloud gives him a confused look but doesn't say anything. He doesn't move either. No friendly pats on the back. No brotherly hug. Nothing. They just stare at each other unwilling to do anything.

"What's wrong with you two?" I ask them loudly.

They just ignore me.

"Whose Hades?" Squall asks him.

"Lord of the Dead. He controls the Heartless in this world."

"I see you know about the Heartless."

"Who doesn't?"

Something's going on between them that I'm not understanding. They both seem almost angry with each other.

"Why did you come here?"

"Why did you?" Squall retaliates.

"It was part of a deal." Cloud tells him.

"What deal?"

"The only deal that matters."

"What deal?" Squall asks again.

"It was ten years ago."

"What deal?" Squall persists.

"Do you really want to know?" Cloud asks him, his eyes showing a hidden sadness.

"Probably not. But you should tell me anyway."

"Then listen to what I'm going to tell you now. Don't interrupt me or ask questions. I probably won't be able to answer them."

He leads us over to the steps that lead out of the world and we all sit down. I lay my head down figuring that a long story is about to happen.

"You both know that ten years ago the Heartless attacked Hollow Bastion. Well when they first appeared Squall, Aerith and I met at the lobby and..."



~~~~


The sky was in chaos. Everything was wrong. Cloud ran blindly down the steps to the lobby of the castle. He tripped, fell and swore. But he was immediately lifted by two others.

"Where's Yuffie?" He cried over the raging wind. Dark creatures were pouring in all around them. They were only kept away by Squall's violent swings with his Gunblade.

"Isn't she with you?" Squall screamed his eyes filled with terror.

"No!" Cloud yelled.

"Damn!" He yelled and then sped off towards the rich section of rooms hoping to find Yuffie. Aerith then turned to Cloud and pulled on his arm.

"We have to find Cid! If his ships work then we may be able to escape. Once Squall has Yuffie they'll meet us there."

"Cloud! Aerith! Help!" Came a familiar voice. They both turned around to find Nero, Vino and Emos' brother, running towards them. He kicked a Heartless out of the way and then ran as fast as he could towards Cloud and Aerith.

But he never made it.

The long sword came right through his heart. He screamed as his life drained away. Aerith screamed and covered her eyes, while Cloud could only let out a horrified yell.

They saw the figure slowly remove the sword from the boy's heart. His eyes glinted maniacally. His long silver hair flew about his body.

"Sephiroth?..." Cloud choked out.

"No!" Aerith cried and then flung herself at Sephiroth beating her fists on his chest, "So many have died already. Why would you kill him? Why?" She turned around to Cloud, "Please Cloud help me. Tell him enough. Tell him-"

"NO!!!" Cloud yelled at the top of his lungs as he watched Sephiroth plunge his sword straight through Aerith's stomach. Cloud caught her as she fell. He felt her life slip away.

"No..." He cried softly weeping over her limp body. Her braids had come undone in the wind and now her beautiful long brown hair spilled over her shoulders. He then turned to Sephiroth, hatred burning in his eyes.

"I'll kill you," Cloud whispered softly. Sephiroth looked at him and laughed. Then he dissappeared.

"Come back coward! I'll kill you! You killed Aerith! You don't deserve to live!"

Actually you don't deserve to live. Sephiroth's voice chimed in his mind.

Cloud shook his head and then turned back to Aerith's limp body. He wrapped his arms around her again and began whispering soothing words in her ears. Words that she would never hear.

"I-I...I'll do anything to get you back Aerith...anything..." He told her softly.

"Anything?" Someone asked him. He turned around to find a man standing behind him. At least it seemed like a man. But its skin was blue and instead of hair he had fire on top of his head.

"Who are you?" He asked quietly.

"Goodness where are my manners?" He said and then held a hand out to Cloud, "I'm Hades Lord of the Dead. Hi , how're you doing?"

"Not good...I have to take Aerith to the ship to escape from these creatures." He said pointing at the creatures who surprisingly weren't attacking him.

"Don't worry you're safe. These creatures won't attack me. But I would like to point out to you that you're little friend there is well...dead."

"She's not...She's going to be okay...I..." But he couldn't go on.

"She could be okay if you really want her to be."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I'm the Lord of the Dead. So let's make a deal. I bring the girl back to life, and make sure she has a safe trip out of here. And in return you kill this guy for me."

"Kill?" Cloud's voice shook.

"Yeah. Kill. Don't worry, you'll be properly trained first. And I'll even give you fifteen years to do it. The only way for your sweetheart here to stay alive is if Hercules is killed or someone beats me in a battle. But you can't beat me, only someone outside of the deal can. Oh, and if you don't get the job done in fifteen years. Aerith goes back to being dead and you'll remain my humble servant. Do we have a deal?"

"No. If I don't kill him in fifteen years I die and Aerith becomes your servant."

"Wow you really like this girl don't you? All right fine, fifteen years, you die, Aerith humble servant, yadda yadda yadda. Do we have a deal or not." Hades held out his hand. Cloud looked at it for a moment then back at Aerith. He grasped Hades hand.

"Deal."


~~~~

A/N: So that's why Cloud is helping Hades. Sweet ain't it?