Darling Cloud
By: Amatsu
Warnings: Shounen-ai/Yaoi which means a guy doing it with another guy. Probably OOCness. This is my first fanfic so it most likely sucks. You are warned.
Disclaimer: I would love to own Kingdom Hearts. That way Leon and Cloud will always be going at it ALL THE FRICKIN TIME! But I don't…and I never will. =(
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Chapter Three: Come Clean
'I can't believe this. Here I am with this little girl, walking to the ice cream parlor, to go buy ice cream…in the middle of winter! Who the hell eats ice cream in the freezing winter? Crazy people do. Kairi? She's crazy. Well, I guess that makes me crazy since I'm here. Why couldn't she choose a place like Starbucks or something. I could go for some hot chocolate right now. Leon makes good hot chocolate. Maybe I can get him to make me some later tonight.
…that is, if he's not mad at me anymore. Which he probably is. I wonder what he's doing right now. Plotting his plan to kill me when I get home. I can't believe he thinks I'm taking Kairi on a date. Yeah right, I'm 26 years old! (Damn, that's pretty old.) She's 14. That's 12 years apart! She's just a friend. Sort of like an annoying little sister. Besides, she's got that Sora kid. I'm sure she knows this isn't a date. Fourteen, ha!
Speaking of age, Leon's only 22. I'm older than him by 4 years! (I'm way too old.) Yet he's the dominant one of the relationship. Pssh…he thinks he's so mature and so cool. He was only able to legally buy alcoholic drinks just a year ago. Although he doesn't drink…or smoke…or anything that would be bad for his body. That's why he so…perfect. UGH! So disgustingly perfect.
Damn, I love him.'
"Cloud?" Cloud snaps out of his thoughts and peers down at the girl at his side.
"Yeah?"
"I asked you what's your favorite flavor and you never answered."
"Oh…you did?" He scratches the back of his head. "Sorry, I guess I was daydreaming."
She giggles. "It's ok. So what's you favorite ice cream flavor?"
"Chocolate." he replied, 'Leon likes vanilla. He says that he likes the plain an sweet creamy flavor. That's why I don't like it. Too plain. Chocolate is so much yummier.'
"Oh. I like strawberry!" She answers her own question.
"That's nice."
They finally reach the ice cream parlor and Cloud opens the door for her to go in first. Sure enough, no one was here. Just some workers and few little customers. Crazy people.
They looked over at the flavors and a worker behind the counter came up to them, "Hi, what can I get for you?"
"Oh, I would like strawberry cheesecake please." Kairi answered.
The worker nods and waits for Cloud order, "And for you, sir?"
Cloud looks at the flavors in the display freezer (or whatever that thing is called). He was going to just order chocolate but sat the vanilla tub right next to the chocolate tub. He suddenly had a craving for it. Why? He disliked vanilla. Maybe because it was reminding him of Leon. And he always had a craving for Leon.
He bit his bottom lip and looked up at the worker, "Is it ok if I could get a combination of 2 flavors?"
"Sure. What would you like sir?"
"Could I get chocolate and vanilla together?"
"Of course." the worker smiles and gets to work on making their ice cream. He comes back to the counter with one cone of strawberry cheesecake ice cream and another cone of chocolate and vanilla swirls in the other hand. He carefully hands it to them, "That will be 18 munny."
Kairi looks up at Cloud waiting for him to pay.
"Oh!" Cloud realizes what she's waiting for and shuffles through his pockets for some munny.
Of course he didn't have any munny. He wasted the last of it on breakfast this morning, not to mention he also owed Leon a new window. But he can't have a little girl pay for it. Then he'll owe her. Luckily, he fished out 20 munny from out of his pocket. How long has that been there? He glanced down and saw that these weren't his pants, 'Sorry love…' he thought as he handed over the munny.
"Thank you."
"C'mon Cloud, let's go eat our ice cream over there." She points to a booth and drags him over there.
They both sit down across from each other and Kairi begins to eat her ice cream happily. Cloud instead, just stares at his cone. Chocolate and vanilla. Complete opposite that was processed by milk and other junk all in the same way but came out to be two different flavors. The chocolate swirling with the vanilla so perfectly, reminds him of him and Leon. Two different personalities but they come from the same world on the same path. They are so perfect for each other…in so many weird ways.
Cloud first met Leon when he was 21. Leon was 17 and went by the name, 'Squall'.
Flashback
Cloud and his two companions, Tifa and Yuffie, walked through the forest, searching for chocobo to catch.
"Hey Cloud, why don't you check over there. Me and Yuffie are going to go check over here."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" Cloud lazily turns away and wanders off to the opposite direction. "Damn chocobos. With their fast running…and their loud 'warking' noises. Why does it gotta be so hard to catch those oversized birds?" he muttered.
He all of a sudden heard some rustling noises behind some bushes and turns his attention towards it. Some more rustling but he couldn't see anything behind the green shrubs.
He smirks, "I'll get you, you little bastard." Assuming it was a chocobo, he crept up quietly to the bushes and suddenly tackled it. "I got you!" He knocked it down and tighten his hold on...a body?
"Argh!" groaned an unfamiliar voice of the person he held captive.
"What the?!" Cloud released his hold, to find he caught a man. The man winced in pain as he open his eyes.
Cloud didn't realize the awkward position they were in and how extremely close their faces were. His body hovered over the man's, their faces an inch apart, breath mingled with breath, baby blue eyes met with blazing blue ones. And Cloud's baby blue ones couldn't stop staring. For a moment they stood like this, completely forgetting about everything else.
"Cloud!" called out a familiar voice.
"Uhh…" Cloud was lost of words.
"Cloud!" He didn't hear himself being called.
Cloud's two companions suddenly burst in from behind the bushes, "Cloud there you--" Yuffie paused in her sentence when her eyes came to the scene before her. Tifa gasped and shielded her eyes.
The man's eyes narrowed. "Could you get off now?"
Cloud blinked and he came back to himself. "OH!" He jumped back, "Sorry!" he blushed.
The other man stood up slowly, brushing the dirt and grass off his leather jacket and ruffled his furry collar. He ran a steady hand through his silken coffee mane, having it fall in to the right places. Cloud noticed the large scar streaked between his eyes, and for some reason, he shuddered slightly.
"Who's your 'friend' Cloud?" asked a very amused Yuffie.
The other man grunted and crossed his arms.
"What? Friend? No, I don't know him…I thought he was--" Cloud began.
"Squall!" Another female burst in from behind the bushes, "There you are! I was looking all over for you." A woman with long black hair dressed in blue noticed the people around and she turn her gaze to them, "Who are these people, Squall?" Squall shrugged not seeming to care who they are. "Do we know each other?" She asked.
"No…I was looking for chocobos, and I thought your friend was one of them, so I attacked him. Sorry." Cloud bowed his head and glanced at the leather-clad brunette.
"It's ok!" The woman chirped, "Right Squall?" The man shrugged. "Well anyway, my name is Rinoa. And this is Squall." She hooked an arm with his.
"Oh! I'm Yuffie!" She chided in, "and this is my friend Tifa, and blondie over there, is Cloud."
"So you guys are looking for chocobos? We are too! We hadn't had much luck, but I can't believe you thought Squall was a chocobo." She giggled.
"Yeah…uh…" Cloud scratched the back of his head feeling totally stupid. Why didn't he check first before he tackled the brunette, and completely embarrassed himself in front of this beautiful man. He stole another glance at Squall to see him glaring at him. Cloud quickly averted his eyes elsewhere, "Well…"
"If you ask me." Cloud's ears perked up hearing the low smooth tones of the beautiful brunette speak, "His head looks more like a chocobo than me."
"What?!" Having a really short temper, Cloud immediately was offended .
"Squall!" Rinoa scolded him, "That was mean!" Squall only grunted, trying to hide the smirk tugging at the corners of his lips.
Cloud's two friends burst out laughing and Cloud spun around to them. "What are you laughing at?" He demanded to know. They continue laughing and shook their flushed faces at him, to let him know their laughing at 'nothing'. "What so funny then??"
"It's funny, 'cause its true." Squall answered.
Cloud eyebrow twitched in frustration, 'What's with this guy?! He doesn't even know me at all, and he thinks he can make fun of me so easily! Well…I…ER!!' He growled and spun back around to the brunette, "What did you say!?" Cloud raised a fist at him.
"Squall!" Rinoa scolded him again.
Squall shrugged, a faint smirk playing on his lips and he leaned on one leg and casually placed a strong hand on his leather hip.
For a second, Cloud was mesmerized by his little movements but snapped back to his hot-headed little self, "Well…you…" He tried to think of a good comeback but couldn't think of anything to make fun of this beautiful, gorgeous man.
"Can we go now, Rinoa? I don't have time for this…" Squall sighed out of boredom.
"Oh…yeah sure." She turned back to the her three acquaintances, "It was nice meeting you all, but we have to go now. I hope we meet again. And I'm so sorry Cloud, Squall is never that rude."
"I'm not sorry." Squall added.
Cloud felt the anger rise again. "What?!" He whipped out his large buster sword and was about to charge at the brunette but was held back by his two friends.
"Cloud! Stop that!!"
"Let…go!! I'm going to get that…argh!"
At the same time Squall drew out his gun blade and fell into a defensive stance.
"Squall! Put that away!" Squall ignores her, eyeing the enraged blond, and he smiled. "Lets go Rinoa." With that he lowered his gun blade .
Cloud stopped his struggling when he saw the two people turn their backs and walked away. His two friends released him as he frowned, feeling very upset, but he wasn't sure why.
"Wow, that Squall guy is hot." Yuffie commented
Tifa nodded in agreement. "He is."
Cloud scoffed remembering what an ass Squall was, "He's not all that great."
"You're just jealous! You're blue eyes aren't half as pretty as his!"
"What?! My eyes are just as pretty!"
Yuffie smirked, "So you admit his eyes are pretty."
Cloud hadn't realized he just said that and turn a bright shade of red, "That's not what I meant!!"
"Ha-ha! Cloud has a crush!"
"I do not!!"
"Cloud has a crush!!"
"SHUT UP!!!"
That was the last time he ever saw those blue eyes.
Well, not until 2 fateful year later. Where their paths crossed again and emerged in to one.
End Flashback
"Cloud?"
He looks up at the girl.
"Aren't you going to eat your ice cream? It's already melting." She frowned seeing Cloud just and stare at the melting ice-cream.
"Oh yeah." Taking one last look, he licks the mixture of chocolate and vanilla.
His eyes widen, "Wow"
"Is it good?"
He nods, "Really good." He takes another lick. Real good.
"I'm so glad you like it!" Kairi grins happily but frowns again seeing Cloud just pause in his eating and he's starring at the cone again. 'He keeps zoning out. Is there something wrong?'
She furrowed her brows as the melting ice cream dripped to his fingers and she yelled out his name, "Cloud!"
"Huh?"
He looks back up at the redhead who has a big frown on her face, "What's wrong Kairi?"
She crossed her arms angrily and pouted, "Is there something wrong Cloud? You keep zoning out on me and barley talked during this whole date."
Now his eyebrow furrows, matching hers. "Date?"
She huffs. "Yeah!"
'She thinks this is a date? Oh no…" He thought for a second about how he will put this, "Um…Kairi? This isn't a date."
Her shoulders drop, unfolding her arms. "It's not?" She asks sadly.
Cloud shakes his head. "Kairi, you're 14. I'm 26. I could get arrested if I were taking you on a date. I'm just taking you to hang out like a brother would do for his sister." She frowns but doesn't respond so he decided to continue, "And I don't know how to tell you this Kairi, but…." He paused before he could say anything else. This is it. She had to find out sooner or later. Just hope she doesn't cry. He cleared his throat so that she looked up, and he knew she was listening, "…but…umm…I'm gay."
Her eyes widen and she gasps, "What?!"
"I'm gay." He repeated trying not to sound so confident.
"No you're not!" She slams her hand on the table making everything rattle. Good thing there aren't any people around.
"I am, Kairi. I have a boyfriend, and we've been together for 2 years now."
"Who??" She demanded to know.
He fiddled with his fingers and looked down, "Umm…Leon."
"Leon?!" He looked back up at her, "Your roommate Le--" She pauses, realizing it now, "Oh…"
"Yeah…"
She sinks back in to her seat and is silent for a moment thinking over this situation. After a awkward moment for Cloud she looks back up at him. "I'm sorry Cloud. I just thought…that…I…I don't know what to say." She sighs.
"It's ok Kairi."
Kairi then suddenly burst out laughing. Cloud blinked at her, wondering why is she laughing. At least she isn't crying.
"Oh my god…how can I be so stupid?" She continued laughing, "…how did I not know? It was so obvious that you are…now that I think about it…"
He cocked an eyebrow at her, "What's that suppose to mean?"
She laughed some more, "No offense Cloud, but you are a little girly."
"What??" He slams a fist on the table.
She calmed her laughter down seeing Cloud take it a little more than an offense, "I didn't mean it in a bad way, Cloud. It's just that I never realized the things you do were so…non-manly?" He narrowed his eyes, urging her to continue. "Like, you use moisturizer and chap stick. You shave your legs and anywhere else you have hair. You tweeze your eyebrows. You get manicures and pedicures, and you spend hours in the bathroom trying to get you hair to be perfect." She giggled. "It so obvious. How did I not know??"
"Hey!! I have sensitive skin! And who likes having their lips all chapped? So what, I don't like hairiness! Manicures and pedicures are perfectly normal for grown men! And you try taming, unruly thick blond hair!"
She burst out laughing again. He scoffed and folded his arms. She calmed herself again, wiping the tears from her eyes, "I'm sorry Cloud. I don't mean to laugh. It just that, you take care of yourself way better than me."
"Thanks…I guess." He muttered.
"Hmm…that's weird though…" She rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
"What?"
"You said your boyfriend is Leon right?"
"Uh-huh…"
"Well…earlier, I asked Leon if he was going out with anyone he said no."
"Oh, well, he was just trying to keep it from you until I told you myself."
"I see. Well, then I asked if there was anyone at all he immediately replied with a 'no'."
He winced, "Is that so…"
"Yeah, but I'm sure he was just trying to keep it from me, right?"
"Right." He forced a smile.
"Anyway, I'm glad we talked about this Cloud. I would had never figured it out if you never told me. Why didn't you tell me sooner though? You had me believing you liked me--" She paused in her rambling when she saw Cloud crush the already melted ice cream cone in his hands, and glaring at nothing. "umm…Cloud?"
He muttered something about Leon then scoffed. "C'mon Kairi! We have snow to play in!"
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Haha, I like the flashback I wrote for them.
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