Revised: 9/11/04 Well, going back through and redoing FORMATTING issues because can't keep fugucking consistent. -.-

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--- Shift in PoV

' ' Thoughts

" " Dialogue

::: Flashback

/ Suggested Soundtrack

( ) Disc – Track Number

/--/ No Music, Silence

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Squall knew that such a direct challenge would not go unanswered, but it seemed he had underestimated the strength of that retaliation as he was only able to release Aeris before the fist connected with his jaw. Cloud had pushed off with a leg and a battle cry, flapping once to give him the momentum needed to reach Squall, to make him feel the pain but not to break anything just yet. Oh, no. That would come soon. Coming upon Squall, he embedded his left fist into the other man's shirt before his other planted itself in his face. He hadn't 'pulled his punch', he just simply didn't swing into it; only let the momentum from his jump transfer all the power. That way, Squall was still able to apologize for what he'd done, and maybe beg. Kind of hard to speak with a broken jaw. That he would save for later.

After connecting with the man's head, he flapped once more, carrying Squall along with the force of his punch. And bringing his other hand to join his clenched one, he thrust Squall along the remainder of the hall and into the wall at its end. At the same time, he opened his wings to halt his own flight and watched as the other man crashed into it. Yuffie jumped to the side to avoid being taken out with Squall, staring first in horror as his body slumped to the floor then to Cloud's pissed off face as he touched down disturbingly gracefully. She glanced over to Aeris and Cid who shared her expression of terrifying fright on their own features.

Squall's groan directed their focus to him as he shook his head and gazed dazedly to where Cloud's blurry form stood glaring at him. Hand on his forehead, he used his other arm to push himself off the floor, doing his best not to stumble and grimacing into his hand briefly before trying to square up and face Cloud in a somewhat normal matter. 'Damn,' Squall thought, 'it's gonna be a hard win, this one.' Removing his hand from his face and straightening, he quickly glanced at everyone gathered in the hall before returning to Cloud's huffing form. His attention was momentarily snagged by Yuffie as she shifted closer to Aeris and out of the line of fire.

Dragging his attention back to Cloud yet again, his eyes passed over something he didn't remember being there. 'Of course…Yuffie,' he deduced. He flipped back and forth between his 'blade and Cloud's outstretched wings, as much as the hallway would allow anyway, then gave one more look at Yuffie and Aeris, whom was now tucked under Aeris's arms, before dashing forward to grab his gunblade. Cloud's reaction was instantaneous as he gave chase and they both came to face each other in the viewing room.

Squall did an about-face as soon as he got a fair distance from the other man, raising his 'blade in defense and shifting his legs shoulder-length apart to support both him and his weapon.

He watched Cloud for some time, judging whether or not the man would make any more moves. But it seemed he wouldn't as long as he held his 'blade up. Squall took a deep breath and spoke to the man across from him, and the audience he knew was just outside the doorway, "I'll be a gentleman and allow you time to retrieve your weapon." All he could do as he finished talking was to breathe and try to calm his frayed nerves, which wasn't working as he looked into Cloud's scathing eyes.

"Be a gentleman!?" Cloud scoffed harshly. "Then you shoulda stayed the fuck away from her like I told you to!" he added taking a step forward, clenching and unclenching his fists at his sides.

/Liberi Fatali – FFVIII: Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec (1-01)/

At Cloud's advance, Squall had hiked the blade up and slid his foot forward to come to a half offensive, half defensive stance. His intention had been to threaten Cloud enough to get him to back down; wrong thing to do, he found, as a sinister smile leaked across the blonde's face. Cloud, however, couldn't stop it from spreading across his lips as he looked from Squall to his weapon and back again. He all but spat, "I don't need any weapon to kick your ass." His fact stated, Cloud surged forward.

Squall was surprised, sure enough, and did his best to bat Cloud away without cutting him in half. 'Fast,' was the single thought he struggled to complete. He had yet to even touch the other man with his 'blade. Cloud kept dodging his swings, scooting just to the side with chest parallel to the blade, never breaking eye contact…and never losing that smirk. Squall began to slash with more and more force as the fight drug on, no longer really caring if he actually cut the other man or not. He just wanted to wipe that smirk off and get the man farther away from him, and most of all, to get him to take this seriously. He wasn't sure when he realized that Cloud was only playing with him, but he knew when he had, he had become quite disturbed.

Cloud had been having fun since the beginning of this match. He'd been dying for Squall to give him a reason to resolve this once and for all, and now that he had it, he was gonna enjoy releasing all this pent up frustration. His wings had been tucked back behind him to avoid slowing him down or being caught by a lucky strike from Squall. He wouldn't miss them should something happen, but it would hurt. Best to save getting rid of them for a time when he wasn't preoccupied. He hadn't been particularly trying; it was so easy to dodge Squall's swings. And as such, he moved rhythmically in an established pattern, not yet deviating. He'd been systematically getting closer to the blade itself and the wielder's grip on it, teasing and taunting the other man with both actions and words. But he was growing tired of it. Squall had not proven to be any challenge, whatsoever.

And just when his smile and attention had started to slip did the older man surprise him. Squall himself had apparently grown tired of this routine and had pulled his gunblade to the side after his normal swing, catching Cloud fully in the chest with the width of the 'blade and throwing him back. Turning his head from the position it'd been whipped into, Cloud's features schooled and focused as a menacing glare on the other man. That had actually hurt. He didn't think Squall would've been able to get much force out of a blow with him being as close as he was, but no matter. He would just have to end this little game now. "This little charade has lost its appeal," he said, bored. "You are no match for me."

"Oh? I've just hit you, and hard. You're quite red from it. I think this is getting very interesting. 'No match', you say. You've yet to hit me," Squall taunted.

"I could have killed you at any time," was the vicious reply. And ignoring Squall's mocking grunt of disbelief and insolence, Cloud beat his wings and charged at him. Anticipating it, Squall brought his blade and arms above his head for a powerful swing, no doubt severely damaging if it connected. Which it wouldn't, Cloud knew. He was coming upon the man and the blade upon him, so Cloud put his plan into action. He fully opened his wings, parachuting to a quick stop and caught the blade between both hands, much to everyone's audibly stunned surprise. He offered the other man a mocking smile of his own in response to Squall's widened eyes before giving one last taunt.

"You're about to see just how outclassed you are." And with that, Cloud wrenched his arms to his right, sending the gunblade flying across the room to rendezvous with the wall and clatter to the ground. Cloud straightened and observed Squall as he gripped his undoubtedly dislocated left shoulder, his pained blue eyes peering at him through bangs and a grimace. Cloud's own blue eyes were narrowed as he stared in contempt at the pitiful warrior across from him.

"This time," he said, voice laced with venom, "there will be no holding back." And both were vaguely aware of a shout from across the room and a questioning look trying to make its way through the grimace on Squall's face before Cloud closed the small space between them with the right fist he'd swung fully from behind himself, dropping the other man instantly with a satisfying thud.

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/Still More Fighting – Final Fantasy VII OST (1-20)/

They had all been watching the developments play out from the relative safety of the hallway. Cid had remained fairly quiet, chewing on some object Yuffie would rather not identify, and watching the fight intensely. She figured it was because he couldn't bring himself to stop Cloud after such an adamant display of defiance from Squall, and to make sure nothing happened to his ship, of course. Aeris and Yuffie alternated between hugging each other and biting their nails. Well, Yuffie acquiesced, she was the only one really biting her nails. But nevertheless, they were all in suspense.

There was really no telling what Cloud would do or how far he'd take it. They didn't know him that well, after all. Sadly, their mutual journey hadn't allotted much time to get to know each other. Sure, they were together for months on end, but so much of it was spent thinking of ways to catch up and get ahead of him than to become close friends. That brought Yuffie's mind to the topic Aeris let slip of her and Cloud getting married. There's no way those two could know each other as well as any of the other members of the group did. She was killed so early in their journey, it wasn't possible. 'Or was it?' Yuffie thought, looking up at Aeris briefly before being drawn back to Cloud at the threat he uttered.

She looked back and forth between Cloud and Squall. It was true, Cloud could kill Squall easily. Surely Squall had to know that as well. If not from the start, then from the disgusting ease with which he'd been dodging Squall's attacks and the punches he'd been throwing, mostly stopping short of their mark. The few he let connect serving the sole purpose of goading Squall even further on. It was obvious to all of them, she was pretty sure, that Cloud wasn't really fighting. It's not that he wasn't serious about this, he was. Of that Yuffie had no doubt.

He was more than pissed off, and when Cloud was pissed, he was lethal. 'Not that he wasn't any other time,' she reflected. But he was more apt to, how you say…overkill. But the threat held more truth than Squall was willing to accept. If that wasn't the case, then he believed Cloud wouldn't really do it. Fearing for the safety of the semi-friend she'd come to care for as Cloud cocked his arm, Yuffie uttered a panicked plea from the haven of Aeris's embrace that she was sure was shared among all those on the sidelines, "Don't kill him, Cloud!"

Cloud brought his arm back to his side after the swing, narrowed eyes watching every movement as Squall's limp body fell to the plating. He assumed a posture that spoke of many feelings through his body language; anger, disgust, hate, and satisfaction, among others. He had heard her plea, knew Squall had too by the look his face had assumed just before being smashed into oblivion. 'Well, until he awakens,' Cloud thought, 'then he'll be in a great deal of fucking pain… But he deserves that and so much more!' he finished vehemently, his still clenched fist shaking next to his cocked hip.

He was pissed. Extremely pissed. And while that punch sure had felt good, it did little to relieve his emotions. He still felt tight, everywhere. His muscles, his chest, his head, he couldn't stop himself. He felt like a chocobo about to charge, flaring breath through the nostrils, claw scraping the ground, and all. That bastard was going to get it, and next time he would not allow him to escape through unconsciousness.

The others had come through the door after Squall stayed down, Cid standing with mouth agape and staring dumbly at Squall's body, hands on hips in his dumbfoundment. "Damn, Cloud," he said more to himself but knowing Cloud could hear him, "didn't think you'd drop him in one hit like that."

Looking aside at Cid crossly, he replied, "Yeah, well, it won't happen again." Turning to snap his head towards Squall, he announced his plans aloud. "I'll be sure to give him what he deserves in full," he finished. He'd been glaring at the other man's face, his lip slightly curled, when he became aware of movement directly to his right. Using his peripheral vision, he saw that it was Yuffie and Aeris, with the former stopping just a ways from him.

Aeris passed in front of him and gave him such a disapproving look. Cloud…didn't know why she was looking at him that way. His face fell into confusion, body relaxing and fists uncurling slightly as he looked into her eyes after briefly sweeping across her face. Seeing the obvious 'what?' written in his features, Aeris looked away from him with an exasperated sigh and continued on to Squall.

The pain that wrenched through him at that simple combination of actions demolished any and all attempts of brain function. The pain was forcing its way up through his chest and out his open mouth; it was so hard to breath. He was suddenly alone in existence, only black surrounded him and he looked up from his feet to stare blankly ahead. Their forms were beginning to slowly come into focus and he was reminded why he'd been thrown into this state. Abandoned…abandoned again… "Aeris--" he choked out in a pain-filled gasp, hand falling away from his unconscious attempt to reach her.

The motion jolted him from his stupor and his head flew to the side as his entire body tensed, stiff arms at his side once again ending in tight fists as the pain consumed him. He couldn't take this anymore and Yuffie placing a gentle hand on his arm in attempt to comfort him proved to be the final undoing. He roughly shook her off and fled the room, trying the keep the tears escaping from his tightly squeezed eyelids hidden, lest he be shamed more.

Yuffie gave a quiet breath of surprise at Cloud's retreat. 'But what should I have expected.' She made eye contact with Cid as he, too, turned from watching the defeated warrior flee. Both of their faces shared a look of pity before Cid nodded once to her, dismissing her. Yuffie nodded back in acknowledgement and took off after Cloud. If Aeris wasn't gonna comfort her man, then Yuffie would. 'How could she do that to him?' Yuffie thought as she slid down the rails to the lower level. 'Even I understand why he was so upset. He had every right to be.' She shook her head in further disbelief at Aeris's actions. 'What is she thinking!?'

Looking around, she tried to find where he was. It was much harder than she thought. He wasn't making any noise whatsoever. 'He can certainly hide when he wants to,' Yuffie thought dejectedly. Deciding to give her eyes a little more time to adjust to the lowered light level, she slowly moved forward. Peering as closely as she could between stacks of crates looking for Cloud, she jumped and instinctively took a defensive stance, one hand automatically flying back to grab the shuriken that wasn't there as a very loud crash-type noise exploded in the dark room.

She remained in that position as she searched the darkness for the source of the sound and/or cause of it. Her eyes came across Cloud's silhouette, backlit from the smaller viewport behind, right arm extended into the stack of crates in front of him. She slowly relaxed and began to stand upright, quickening as she watched him spin and fall to the floor, slinking between the stacks.

Yuffie became slightly panicked as she lost him. He was completely engulfed in the shadows and all she had to go by were the shadows cast by the crate debris on the floor. She was thankful the viewport was there, no matter how small it may have been. That dim light was all she had. Intellectually, she knew there had to be lighting down here, but the hell if she knew where it was. So she carefully approached the results of Cloud's frustration, peering just to the left of where he'd been standing. There was only black. If he was in there, the deep shadows had swallowed all hints of him. She didn't know how far back this opening went; there could be a path all the way to the end of the ship, for all she knew. So she walked forward slowly, one careful step after another until her foot hit something. She thought it might have been his boot.

/Kogestu Souya – Juuni Kokki Ending Single (1-2)/

"Cloud?" she voiced softly, not wanting to disturb the quiet of the room. Slowly kneeling, she braced herself on her hand while reaching out with her right. She came into contact with his hair, as he had lifted his head somewhat, with slitted eyes peering at her. From the height her hand had been at, Yuffie had deduced that Cloud had probably been ducking his head under crossed arms atop his knees. He wasn't that short. She knew what being that short was like and he wasn't it. The pale blue light that flooded forth from even his narrowed eyes was enough to confirm her previous thought.

"Cloud," she voiced more softly this time, sitting back on her heels with hands in her lap and gazing at the light coming from his eyes. That's all she could look at; it was the only tangible form visible to her average eyes. "I'm…here for you at least, if you don't want to talk," she put out as gently as she could, even though she couldn't think of any way to phrase it that wouldn't be awkward to say. The shifting of his eyes away from her was an answer in itself, and she thought they would remain in silence until he did something that took her completely off guard. The tiny sniffle was surely not meant to be heard, and it was very faint, but that was definitely what she'd heard.

She surged forward to place her hands on his arms, her face opening up completely to him. He was hurting greatly and she wanted to comfort him, ease his pain, reassure him if she had to. He had fully lifted his head and opened his eyes, looking her straight on. It was only he that was in the shadows and the star light illuminated Yuffie's eyes much in the same way that Cloud's did his darkened space, only to a lesser degree. He could undoubtedly see the earnestness in her bared eyes, but she was unable to read the emotions held within his. His arms shifted and a hand was placed atop one of hers. Amazed at this step, Yuffie squeezed his arm, telling him that it was okay, whatever it was he was thinking or maybe just everything in general.

The blue light dimmed briefly as he looked down then back to her face, weighing some decision. He shifted further, arms falling from his knees and a leg laying flat against the deck. He was opening up to her, or starting to. Yuffie had had to move forward a bit to keep her hands on his arms. She knew it was the physical contact doing the work more than her words. Neither moved for a short while and Yuffie thought it would be up to her to make the next move when Cloud surprised her. He'd pushed off with the still-propped leg and embraced her, arms under hers to enfold her from behind as he buried his head into her shoulder. Yuffie's reactions were natural, motherly perhaps. But then again, she was female and her first instinct was to protect and nurture, things Cloud was very much in need of at the moment. Her right hand stroked his hair as she rested her head against his, and the left simply held him as he began his cleansing.

She had waited a short time after his intermittent sniffles and hiccups of stress ceased before turning her head to peer at the face that was now visible. Cloud was facing the viewport, probably looking beyond it, eyes half lidded and body slumped against her, fully relaxed. Looking down, she was able to see the drying tear tracks on the cheek highlighted by the pale light. The sight moved Yuffie in a way she couldn't describe, both painful and yet somehow, something else entirely. She moved her hand through his hair once more, watching as his eyes closed for a brief moment before barely opening again.

But at least this time it was in reprieve and not some other negative emotion. Still occasionally stroking his hair and enjoying just about everything of this circumstance, Yuffie voiced the commanding thought that had been troubling her since this morning. "Cloud," she said softly, gently, and as he made a silent noise of acknowledgement, she continued. "I don't think you should marry Aeris," she said in that same quiet tone, looking out at the stars with hand raking through his tresses. "…At least not yet."

He didn't say anything right away, and Yuffie began to fear that the wonderful companionable silence had been shattered until she felt him inhale and sigh out his thought, body remaining perfectly tranquil as his whispered his doubt, "I don't think I should either." And as Cloud was not going to leave this newfound haven of peace and rest, he simply lay there with closed eyes, cradled in Yuffie's lap and bathed in the faint glow of starlight.

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That's all for now.

Fixed display issue AGAIN. Damn keeps changing things and it's messing up my formatting. I have to keep going through and manually changing this crap. -.- So now the paragraphs should stay smaller and hopefully the time divisions will stay in place, now! Angry author!