Three Kings
A Final Fantasy AU Fanfic.
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy 7 characters do not belong to me, but to SquareSoft…
This is an AU fic, it contains shounen-ai, and it may also contain Yaoi later on in chapters. Don't like? Then don't read.
The cold temperatures of Mount Nibel didn't help to lower the hot temperatures of Nibelheim Town. Though the town exhibited terrible winters, there were also terrible summers. The sun caste a yellow glow over two young boys who were running across the beach sand. They were too engrossed in their game of catch to really notice the heat. The dark hair young boy was in the lead, looking back now and then to see if the boy with white hair and black shirt was catching up to him. They were both grinning ear to ear. The white haired one stopped running and crossed his arms across his chest.
"Hey Zack! I don't want to keep running after you anymore!"
Zack suddenly stopped, hoping he didn't look as disappointed as he felt.
"What's the matter Seph?"
Sephiroth gave him a look of annoyance and placed one hand on his hip.
"I just don't want to… its getting too hot"
"Oh come on, gimme a break! Don't blame it on the weather… Face it, you can't catch me!"
"Oh shut up, I could if I wanted to"
"Right Seph, of course you could"
Sephiroth heard the sarcasm in Zack's voice. Sephiroth hated it when Zack made fun of him, it never mattered how innocent the joke was to Sephiroth. Zack knew this and when he saw the look of anger in Sephiroth's face, he began to laugh hysterically. He suddenly found himself with his face on the sand.
"What the…!"
"You think you're pretty funny don't you?"
Zack laughed again, only to get Sephiroth angrier.
"I AM pretty funny"
They were both interrupter by a soft laughter. They both looked up to see the small child with spiky blond hair and they smiled innocently. Sephiroth got to his feet and dusted his sandy pants.
"Hey Cloud, what are you doing here?"
Seeing Cloud took the two ten-year-old boys by surprise. The eight-year-old never left town by himself, and to have walked the two-hour road to the beach alone, was shocking.
"I wanted to play with you guys. Neither of you were at home so I figured you were at the beach."
Cloud's voice sounded weak and tired. He had his hands behind his back and that made him look too shy for his own good. Zack got to his feet and started walking towards Cloud.
"You alright?"
"Yeah… so um… what ya guys playing?"
Zack and Sephiroth looked at each other and they both shrugged.
"Catch"
They both replied in unison. The word brought a smile to Cloud's face.
"Can I play?"
Sephiroth shook his head.
"We just finished playing, it's getting late and we were about to head back home."
It wasn't exactly a lie, Sephiroth knew the Zack would have convinced him to stay and keep playing catch. But he wouldn't play now.
"And we have to study for tomorrow's math test too… right Zack?"
They both saw the disappointment in Cloud's eyes. Zack placed his hand around the blonde's shoulders.
"Oh come on Cloudy, don't look so down… tomorrow after school, we could get together and play some more, just like last time."
"Yeah Cloud, and we'd even go and try to catch some bugs if you want to"
"They are butterflies, not bugs Sephy."
Zack laughed and with his other free hand pushed Sephiroth lightly away.
"You hear that Seph, they are butterflies"
Sephiroth was visibly annoyed with Zack, he quickly stepped closer to him and pinched him on his arm. Zack gave out a little cry as he nursed his pinch site.
"That was mean Seph"
Cloud started to laugh but suddenly a fit of coughs hit him. Zack quickly patted his back to help ease the coughs. They soon stopped and Cloud too a deep breath, wincing in pain.
"You alright kiddo?"
"Yeah…"
Sephiroth shared a look of concern with Zack. He turned around and started to walk away.
"We better get going, the sun will go down in a couple of hours, and its not safe after nightfall. And besides… I don't want to miss supper."
The other two boys shuddered at the thought of being caught by nightfall. Nobody was safe in the dark. The monsters always came out at nighttime. They both silently started to follow the older boy not too far behind.
"If we're not home before eleven tonight, I want you to go to bed. No staying up late you hear?"
Zack sighed heavily and he sat up from the couch. He was irritable for the fact that he was missing his favorite T.V show and his mother was in the way.
"Yes mom…"
"If you need anything, I left the number of Major Lockheart's house next to the phone."
"Alright, alright… Can I watch TV now?"
"No, you're suppose to be studying for your test"
"I've studied all week"
"You said the same thing last time and you failed your science test"
They heard a voice coming from the front door.
"Sylvia? Hurry up will you, we'll be late!"
"Coming honey!"
She looked sternly into her son's eyes.
"We'll be back from the meeting soon."
She kissed him on the brow and walked away. Zack laid back down on the sofa and turned up the volume of the TV.
"Dad?"
Sephiroth walked into the kitchen to find his father putting on his black jacket.
"Where are you going?"
His father looked at him and smiled.
"There's a town meeting at the Mayor's house that I must attend."
"Another one?"
"Yes, another one."
His father started to walk out of the kitchen and towards the front door.
"Don't step out of the house Sephiroth… and I mean it."
"I know…"
"And don't go to bed late, you have a test tomorrow and you must be on your best condition."
"I know…"
"If anything…"
"I know I know… dad… its not the first time you left for a meeting leaving me home alone. You don't have to worry… I'm a fighter too."
He felt his father eyeing his strangely. He suddenly found himself eye leveled with his father who had gotten on his knees.
"You are still too young son… but I don't doubt you won't be able to defend yourself with… 'human' attackers… but monster…"
"I can… I have before"
The man smiled in memory, remembering how his son attacked a baby Nibel Wolf. He gently ran his hand through his son's hair.
"Alright… but still… just…"
"I know dad…"
"Good"
The pounding at the door startled them both. His father hurried to open it.
"Sylvia… Zane…"
Sylvia smiled sweetly.
"Hi Vincent… are you ready?"
"Yes… yes…"
Vincent looked back at his son and smiled before he walked out the door closing it behind him. Sephiroth looked at the old clock next to the door. It was only seven o'clock and he had nothing else to do. He ran to his room and sat by the windowsill. Looking out for monsters in the night.
Cloud slowly got out of his bed and walked up to his brother's bed. The light from the moon radiated through the window and made the room less dark. He accidentally bumped into the bed causing his brother to wake and quickly turned his head around in surprise.
"Cloud?"
"I had a bad dream… you don't mind if I sleep with you Rufy?"
Rufus smiled and patted his bedside raising a side of the blanket, and Cloud quickly got under the covers. Rufus held him close running his hand through the blond spikes.
"Rufy?"
"Hm?"
"Thanks…"
Rufus chuckled softly and kissed his brother in the brow.
"Rufus? Do you think mom and dad will come back?"
Rufus sighed softly.
"Do you want them to come back?"
Cloud seemed to think about it and took a minute to answer.
"No…"
"Good… because they are not coming back"
"Will you two shut the hell up? I'm trying to sleep in here!"
The voice sounded weary in sleep, it came from the bed closest to the window. Both Rufus and Cloud started laughing.
"Nice of you to join the wake Reno"
"Yeah, yeah…"
Author's notes: I decided to re-write this story. I wanted to make Cloud, Seph and Zack much younger than before. Rufus and Reno will stay the same age. I wanted to go more into their personal lives before everything that happened on the other story.