Mercenaries
Chapter Two:
A Little Spark
Author's Notes:
Whoa… I'm not usually one for writing things like this, certainly not with Sephiroth and other characters in it, but it seems to work so well…
In case you didn't get where this fic was going, it's going into a big deep pool of bishie goodness. Yup yup yup! I'm unsure where the whole 'epic plot' will fit in, in fact, I doubt it will, but hey, fluff is what I'm best at. Fluff and angst that is…
Sorry for the patches of OOCness, but I'm used to KH, like I previously mentioned, where characters are often OOC and it's virtually impossible to keep a character the same. I've been told that I bend characters to my plots well, but I'm not too sure about that.
I have a bad history with Sephiroth, that bastard never lets me write him well….
Sorry that this chapter has so much dialogue, it was really annoying but it needed to be done. Squall needs to understand Cloud's past for his future to be decided. Cloud needs to understand Seifer's past to understand a part of Squall so that the bishie numminess can start…
Sora from Kingdom Hearts features in this chapter, if you don't know who he is, search for him on google images. He looks exactly like Cloud except with brown hair. Or at least he would if they were the same age!
Disclaimer:
I don't own anything.
Cloud waited by the door, so when the knock came, he just flicked the latch off and opened the door easily. Sure enough, Squall was stood behind the door, looking vaguely amused.
"Very clever," He drawled, before pushing passed the blonde. The two women who had come with him waited at the door. Cloud stepped aside to let them in, glaring at the Commander with as much venom as he could muster for someone so damn hot…
"I thought you might like it," Cloud replied. The brunette from earlier, wearing a long blue cardigan, chuckled.
"He did like it, but he'd have no doubt liked it much more if you'd have had a shower-" She stopped when the Commander threw her a sharp glance.
"Rinoa, keep your damn mouth shut. We're not here for you to play misguided matchmaker. I'm here to offer you a deal. We acknowledge your talents, and are willing to break out own rules to allow you to try to qualify for SeeD. We aren't going to ask you to spy on Sephiroth for us, that will be at your own discretion. However, I ask that you become an instructor immediately after becoming a SeeD. Is that a fair deal?" Squall asked. Cloud blinked, digesting the offer slowly.
The first thing that hit him was that Rinoa was hinting that Squall quite liked Cloud. Then everything else washed over him. He probably would never have accepted the offer if it hadn't been for Rinoa's little 'joke'.
"Yeah, I'll do it, but I want something more. I'm good at sword crap, but on the magic side… I'm a little crap to be honest. A little private tuition would be nice," Cloud fluttered his eyelashes slightly. The Commander raised his eyebrows, the corners of his mouth twitching as he tried to stop himself from smiling.
"You wouldn't be trying to make moves on me would you Cloud? If you were than that would be completely against protocol. Commander's aren't allowed to be involved with Cadets," He chuckled. Rinoa and the blonde woman, Quistis was it?, shared a look.
"I wouldn't dream of it, sir," Cloud replied. The Commander let out another small chuckle, it was deep, musical and obviously quite rare.
"Good, then you won't mind if I assign Rinoa as your magical instructor. Have a nice day, Cadet," The Commander walked out of the room. Cloud rolled his eyes, but looked at Rinoa.
"Sorceress Rinoa, I presume? It's an honour," He bowed low and looked up at her, examining her face. He had heard about her from other SOLDIERs and heard of her fearsome powers. She was pretty, with a happy face and smiling eyes. She looked motherly more than anything…
"Oh stop that!" She scolded playfully. Cloud straightened, smiling slightly.
"Yes ma'am. So, is he always like that?" The blonde asked. Quistis rolled her eyes, leaning against the wall.
"No. He used to be worse, at least now he has a sense of humour. He likes you. However, be careful, Squall is a complex kind of guy, and he has a very interesting collection of lovers. I'd be careful what you say and do around him. He analyses everything very carefully," Quistis then stood up straight, leaving the room. Cloud looked at Rinoa, who shrugged.
"Quisty doesn't like to see her baby bro get hurt, that's all…" The brunette explained. Cloud frowned at the term 'baby'.
"How old is he?" He demanded. Rinoa smiled slightly.
"Only nineteen… He just had to grow up fast…"
"I don't appreciate you two meddling. I'm not interested in Cloud, so stop your matchmaking now. He is an asset to Garden, but I am not grooming him so I can get into his sheets. Do I make myself clear?" Squall demanded, waiting for Quistis and Rinoa to nod their agreement. The whole gang were together in the 'Senior Instructor's Lounge' at the top floor of one of the glass towers.
"Whatever Squall. You have a crush on him! Admit it! Selphie did already," Rinoa said, gesturing to the girl who was still sulking that the cameras had been removed from Cloud's room. Squall rolled his eyes, but felt jade eyes burning into the back of his neck.
"Go on Squall. Admit it," Seifer challenged. The younger brunet turned to Seifer, his eyes cold.
"Seifer, just shut up. I'm not in the mood to fuck with you right now," He growled. Seifer clenched his fists.
"Oh that's funny, you were last night!" The blonde's voice was angry. Everyone's heads snapped towards the arguing pair of ex-lovers. Zell's eyes widened, and his mouth fell open.
"You're a bastard Seifer… You knew I still loved you and you used me last night. You left me for my best friend then came back to me because you knew I wouldn't be able to turn you away! Well, I did, didn't I? I kicked you the hell out, so turn your jealous eyes elsewhere. Look at what you have, you ungrateful bastard," Squall's voice was dangerously low. Zell got to his feet, tears shining in his eyes.
"Tell me it's not true…" The tattooed blonde, asked, his voice pleaded. Seifer didn't answer, Instead he turned to Squall, his blue eyes desperately trying to meet Squall's own.
"Tell me you didn't let him cheat on me with you!" Zell's voice was going strangely high pitched.
"Just like you failed to do for me? No, Zell, I'll tell you the truth. Last night, Seifer and I slept together. It was nothing special, it was a physical thing, and it was never going to happen again. Seifer got his little power trip he seems to get from cheating on people, and I got a little bit of a release. That was it. My part in this is over," Squall walked to the door. He let his shoulders sag.
"I'm sorry, Zell," He said clearly, before walking out.
"Sorry I'm late!" Rinoa called. Cloud smiled, getting up from where he was sat on the floor, putting his bookmark in place, before stuffing it in his bag.
"It's alright. It's not like I have anything better to do…" Cloud confided. She quickly threw off her long blue cardigan, to reveal her shapely figure, carefully enhanced by tight knee length shorts with a short denim skirt, and a black strap top. If Cloud had been inclined that way, he would have been extremely happy to be in this woman's company. Guiltily, he found himself wishing it were Squall…
"Of course… Well, What can you already do?" She asked. Cloud thought about it, before picking up his weapon.
"Hang on a second, why have you brought that? This is a magic lesson!" Rinoa said. Cloud frowned, how could you use magic without materia? Materia fit into the slots in the weapons so the user could cast magic... How could magic be used otherwise?
"I'm not sure what you mean… In Esthar we have to equip materia to be able to junction magic," Cloud explained to her. She frowned, before moving closer, examining Cloud's Buster Sword closely. She ran her fingertips over the cool glittering materia, before withdrawing her hand.
"So you have to have these materia things put in the hilt of your sword to be able to use magic and Guardian Forces?" She asked. Cloud sighed, this was going to be a long afternoon.
Squall walked into the training centre with the purpose of venting some of his anger at Seifer on some helpless T-Rexaur. However, when he got there, he saw Cloud and Rinoa, surrounded by various gemstones, laughing as Cloud made a pathetic attempt to cast fire.
"C'mon Cloud! You couldn't even light a cigarette with that!" Rinoa joked. Cloud shrugged, before glancing over his shoulder. He saw Squall and nodded his head, before gathering together the shining things, whatever they were, and putting them in a little pouch on his belt.
"Okay, so you're on your way… Let's see… Let's try an ice spell… Maybe your attributes will be better suited to that…" Rinoa was telling him. He listened as she explained, his face set in some kind of determination.
He took a red shining gemstone out of his sword hilt and slotted in an ice blue one, before concentrating. From the tip of the sword came a shot of ice, a simple icicle, being propelled at a force of one hundred miles an hour. It stuck into a tree two metres away and embedded itself there.
"Doing better already! Let's concentrate on your ice attacks then for now…" Rinoa said. Squall leaned against a tree, watching. Whenever Cloud did something wrong, Rinoa would correct him. Squall thought that the blonde kept glancing over, but it could have just been to check his surroundings before he cast magic.
"Oh, Squall, how long have you been there?" Rinoa asked, finally spotting him. The brunet shrugged, stepping forward.
"Long enough. What's with the rocks?" He asked, picking one up from near his foot. Cloud smiled.
"Surely the Commander of Garden knows what Materia is?" He mocked. Not in the mood for games with people who thought they were smart, Squall merely handed Cloud his 'materia' and waited for an explanation from Rinoa.
"I know we've always assumed that the Estharians could only use magic because of the Sorceress, and when she died, their magic went with it… However, it seems that they've found away to harness Sorceress powers into small gemstones infected with Mako. Combining the planet's lifeblood and the magic means that even those who cannot genetically cast magic, can do so with the help of these… materia… They have even trapped some of the Guardian Forces in them, although the Estharians call them 'Summons'. I think Odine must be behind it all, personally, Shinra would easily have bullied that guy into it…" Rinoa explained. Squall listened intently, before looking down at the stone.
"So if I wanted to cast fire, even though I haven't got any stocked, I could just use this stone and it'd do it for me?" He demanded. Rinoa nodded. Concentrating, Squall thought about his fire spell, and sure enough, three feet in front of him, a fire the size of a campfire started.
"Hm… Not bad. Water," He put it out with a casual flick of his hand. He noticed Cloud's slightly awe-struck gaze, but ignored it. He had to remind himself, he'd sworn off men since Seifer's little comment that morning.
"You're doing that thing again, Squall," Rinoa warned him. Squall came back from his gloomy thoughts to realise he had his hand to his forehead. Idly tracing the pattern of his scar, his other hand on his hip. Quickly withdrawing his hand, Squall sighed.
"I have a lot on my mind today, Ri, I'd appreciate it if you'd let me brood…" He said. She sighed, seeming to be torn between two frames of mind for a second. She seemed to decide and wrapped her arms around him, gently stroking his hair.
"Zell doesn't blame you, you know. He blames Seifer. He knows that you love Seifer, that you would have done anything to have him back… It was Seifer's selfishness that caused this mess, not you. Just leave it alone and everything will be sorted out by tomorrow, you'll see," She assured him. Although Rinoa's embrace was as warm and motherly as always, lulling Squall into his childlike dependency, he didn't want some newbie cadet seeing this side of him.
"You and Seifer Almasy?" Cloud managed to choke out. Squall scowled, what right did this cadet have to pry into his life like that? Rinoa should have waited until he was gone. Squall may have empathised with this blonde pretty boy, but now he just wanted to get away from him. He knew far too much for someone who he had just met.
"What of it?" Squall replied. The older man's face hardened from his shocked expression to one of a cold indifference.
"I just thought that you two were too different… That's all…" He said, and something showed through his voice. Squall picked it up immediately.
"We're very different but very similar. What I want to know, is what difference does it make to you?" The brunet demanded. Cloud's eyes widened, and he turned and ran, his pretty magic stones scattering on the ground.
Seifer and Squall?
The two deadly rivals?
How the hell could they be lovers?
Cloud wasn't sure why he was so upset. He had thought that maybe Seifer had been brought back to Garden for some kind of punishment, but it seemed he'd been forgiven, even by the person who had suffered most due to his arrogant one-mindedness.
"Cloud!" He heard someone yell. Not wanting to turn around, lest the tears finally spill, Cloud bolted for his dormitory.
Seifer, that murdering bastard, the one who had killed his beloved Aerith, his wonderful Tifa, his beautiful Kuja…
He had been forgiven and all he had done had been forgotten…
"Cloud! Open the door!" Someone called. Cloud just curled into a ball on his bed, sobbing into his pillow. It had finally hit home.
No matter where he went, his past would always find him and trap him. He was never free…
But Squall and Seifer…
Squall and Seifer…
Somehow, that drove the wound even deeper. Someone who Cloud had thought was quite hot suddenly appeared like a monster. So similar to Seifer, yet so very different. He was guilty of different crimes. He had pardoned a murdering evil wretch, allowed himself to be polluted by his disgusting poison and let all those back in Esthar who had lost so many friends and family members be left with no way of getting their revenge for what had been done to them…
Well, Cloud would get revenge for them…
Squall wasn't sure what had happened to Cloud, but he had no doubt that the blonde would turn up somewhere. Someone whose eyes glowed bright blue weren't hard to miss…
"I'm worried about him… I know we haven't seen him since the start of the Sorceress War, but I would have at least thought he'd have been glad to see us," A pretty blonde girl was walking past with another girl, who was tall and albino. Squall could have sworn she was Fujin wearing more revealing clothes, but kept his mouth shut. The two cadets saw him and saluted. He did the same, and they were about to go on their way when…
"His last letter said something terrible had happened to him… Cloud doesn't use words like that lightly," The albino said. Squall about turned, quickly catching up with them.
"Did you just mention Cloud Strife?" He demanded. The two looked at each other, nodding.
"You had better come with me."
In the 'Senior Instructor's Lounge' Squall gestured for the two girls to sit down. Seifer and Zell were still up there, so was Rinoa and Selphie.
"Oh, hiya Rikku!" Selphie said, waving frantically. Squall rolled his eyes, addressing the albino mostly.
"Tell me about Cloud Strife," He demanded. The albino turned her red eyes to him, seeming to think about her reply carefully.
"Paine Mazuki, SeeD Level 15. He was a First Class SOLDIER, however he is here now. He has suffered a great many injustices and has been robbed of many opportunities from a young age. In his desperation he joined SOLDIER, however he hated it. After escaping, Rikku and I came here from Balamb to look for him. He wouldn't answer his door," Paine said. Squall pursed his lips, this girl was good. She wasn't about to spill any of Cloud's secrets without the right questions.
"Elaborate for us," Rinoa put forward. Paine looked at her.
"His parents were abusive, and he was slung out onto the streets at an early age. He was taken onto an orphanage, travelling by sea. There he met some other children, one was adopted with him, as his sister, her name was Aerith Gainsborough. Once at his new home, a bitter clerk at the registry office renamed him from his previous last name to 'Strife'. He made many friends, the one closest to him being a girl named Tifa Lockhart. His life began to pick up, he became lovers with another guy, named Kuja… However, it was all short-lived. The Sorceress War took everything from him. All he had left was a few pictures and a sword…" Paine's eyes bored into Seifer's so the blonde beside her took over.
"Rikku Highwind SeeD Level Fourteen, though not from lack of trying. Cloud decided to join SOLDIER, because he idolised Sephiroth. He didn't just want to be like him, he really believed he could replace him. But things went wrong. Cloud hated it, he hated Sephiroth even more. He sought other dreams, other realities to be in. He began to idolise you, sir, but this time he was more realistic. He wanted to get to Garden, he believed somehow, that he could get revenge from there, revenge on the people who had caused him so much pain..." Rikku stopped her little explanation, looking at Paine. The albino continued, however, choosing her words a little better.
"He wanted to hurt people… In the end all he's hurting is himself. We told him again and again that Garden is not the path for those who just seek for power for their own agendas, but he wouldn't listen. He was so desperate to get away from SOLDIER. The last we heard from him he was on his way here. So we came. After that, you will have to tell us," Paine waited patiently for some kind of explanation.
"So that's it…" Squall said, clicking his fingers. "He wanted revenge on Seifer and Sephiroth. He didn't want to be working from the inside, he wanted to be leading a front line into battle…" He looked at Seifer, to see the blonde rubbing his eyes.
"You know what I'm going to ask you to do Seifer. Just get on with it," Squall got to his feet. "There'll be intervention if it looks like either one of you is going to get killed."
"Geez, that just fills me with self-confidence…"
Cloud heard a soft knock on his door. He sniffed, getting up, wondering who the hell it would be. He opened the door to see the Commander, with a solemn expression on his face.
"May I come in?" He asked. Cloud nodded, stepping out of the way and letting the brunet in. He'd never seen the Commander look so lost before… It was strange.
"I want to explain something to you. If you still feel the same way after, then please, go kick the hell out of Seifer," He began. Cloud's eyes widened. How the hell did they know about that?
"You have two very good friends looking for you by the names of Rikku and Paine. They will drop by later," Squall explained. Cloud's eyes lit up. Paine and Rikku were here? That crazy couple always made him feel better. It was a shame that Yuna couldn't make it…
"I want to explain the Sorceress War to you, not from the public point of view, but from the point of view of someone who was there and lived through every major event there…" The brunet looked into Cloud's eyes.
"So you know my story, now you're going to tell me yours?" He asked. Squall shrugged.
"Not really. I'm telling you what we all know of Seifer's story. The reason why he hasn't been executed, the reason he isn't locked up, the reason why he's been accepted as the Commander of Galbadia Garden," The brunet ran his hands through his hair, before yanking the hair band out of his pony tail, finger-brushing it.
"I guess I should start from the very beginning, but that would take up too much time. Let's say that Seifer and I grew up together in an orphanage and were never adopted, so we became the first students at Garden. I won't explain how that came to be, that's something between Edea, myself and the previous headmaster," Squall sat down on the bed, and without conscious thought, Cloud followed suit.
"We were constantly fighting. Now I know why. Seifer always wanted my attention, my acknowledgement that he had done something well. I assumed he was just an attention seeker, but he was only after my attention. I refused to give it to him. Eventually, he grew to realise that he actually loved me, but by then, he was convinced that I hated him. He was actually quite right."
"However, when we became SeeDs, things got out of hand. Seifer was dating a girl named Rinoa, who is now a Sorceress, but she chose me. I showed interest in her, so Seifer had to do something terribly outrageous to yank back the attention. He kidnapped the President of Galbadia…"
"Edea offered him a way to escape the death sentence, if he came with her. I know that the real Seifer would have just died for what he had done. However, this new Seifer just handed himself over. I knew then that something wasn't right… Seifer was a thrill seeker, he would have runaway or stood and fought. You could have said he was almost primitive in his thinking, but that is how he was."
"What I'm trying to say is that although, somehow, it was Seifer, it also wasn't. Seifer's memories, his words, his face, but the real Seifer was asleep inside him. He didn't remember a single thing he had done. He was found, washed up in Fisherman's Horizon, wondering how he had got there and where the President had gone…"
"He turned up in Balamb, after being told through beatings and rude gestures, what he had done. I took him in and cared for him, explaining things to him. Somewhere along the line, I began to fall-" Squall stopped abruptly. Cloud raised his eyebrows, as the Commander seemed to collect himself.
"He's not a bad person. Selfish and arrogant, yes, but evil, no. I'm explaining this to you now, before you go to the training centre to fight him. He's waiting there, ready to take a beating for your lost loved ones. He has long since accepted that he majority of the world cannot forgive him. He lets them come, try their luck, but they never manage to beat him. It's you turn, do you want to be the one who kills him?" Squall asked. Cloud thought about it all.
It hadn't been Seifer. He wasn't evil. He was just insecure. But he was still responsible.
"I will fight him, but I won't kill him," Cloud said firmly. The corners of Squall's mouth twitched.
"Confident," He commented. Cloud smiled back.
"Absolutely."
Seifer was waiting against the electric fence of the training centre, obviously the electricity didn't bother him. Cloud committed this to memory, don't use Thunder attacks because he's immune. He drew his sword, this small movement attracted Seifer's attention.
Seifer regarded him for a moment, then looked behind him to Squall. Cloud resisted the urge to look at the Senior Commander as well, instead he concentrated on Seifer. He slotted his most powerful materia into his blade, before getting into the 'ready' stance.
"Begin."
"Cloud! No!"
"Oh poopie! We got here too late!"
Cloud ignored the two voices of Rikku and Paine. He instead concentrated on dodging the continual string of electricity attacks heading his way. Deflecting one with his sword, Cloud concentrated on his magic.
"Thunder… Opposite of Thunder… Earth! I can earth him!" Cloud muttered to himself, hurriedly thinking about the summon. He might not be able to do magic spells, but he could summon monsters.
"Brotherly Love!" The voice echoed down, as a purple monster appeared. Cloud faded into the background and watched as a disembodied figure as Seifer took vast amounts of damage from the simple attack.
"Grr! Okay, you little twerp, you're observant. Let's see you dodge this though! Thundaga!" Cloud felt the electricity converge around him. Bracing himself, he felt the electricity move through him. He cried out as he felt his chest constrict. The electricity passing over his heart… If it continued…
"Seifer! Stop that!" He heard someone yell. Cloud felt the electricity leave him, but he couldn't breathe. His chest hurt so badly… He tried to get a breath but short gasps and grunts of pain were all he was capable of.
"For God's sake! Help him!" Someone cried. Cloud was vaguely aware of someone carrying him, warm arms cradling him as they ran… He closed his eyes, feeling dizzy. With a strange kind of calm he knew that if he didn't manage to breathe soon he'd die.
"Hold on, for Hyne's sake, hold on…" The person whispered into his hair. Cloud tried to reply that he was alright. Even the burning in his lungs from lack of air was fading now. Like his vision. Everything was just peacefully fading…
"Cloud! Snap out of it! You've dealt with worse than this!" Another voice, a woman's…
"Hear that Cloud. They need you… Just breathe…" The voice was hissing desperately. He felt himself being put down, hands pressing down on his chest, lips against his own, desperately getting his chest to relax.
"What's going on?"
"He's of an ice attribute. Seifer used Thundaga and…"
"Move out of the way Squall. You had the right idea, but we're going to need something a little bit more scientific to get him out of that. Out, all of you."
Peaceful oblivion welcomed Cloud with open arms…
"What part of 'go easy on him' didn't you get?" Squall yelled. He felt nervous, scared, worried, almost foreign emotions to him. What the hell had Cloud done to him?
"How the hell was supposed to know he had extremely low Thunder tolerance? No one told me!" Seifer replied back. Rinoa stood between the two, trying to play peacekeeper. Paine and Rikku had been sent to go and find Zell to drag Seifer away from Squall, before the brunet throttled him.
"Seifer, I told you to only use basic magic. What's basic about Thundaga?" He demanded. Seifer glared at him, before getting into Squall's face. Seifer knew how much Squall hated someone invading his personal space, and knew that this would almost scare the brunet.
"It's not just my fault that your little crush has got himself hurt. You could have stopped him fighting. If you had prevented it in the first place, then the pretty boy wouldn't have even been there!" Seifer poked his finger into Squall's chest. The Commander saw red, clenching his fists.
"Get. The. Hell. Away. From. Me," He said, the rage burning in his usually stoic eyes apparent. His anger with Seifer wasn't just about the incident with Cloud. It was years worth of anger, merely resurfacing. He tried to push it down, but when Zell appeared with Rikku and Paine, Squall couldn't contain his anger anymore.
"You did that to him! You knew he was having lessons because he wasn't too good at magic and with complete disregard for any semblance of chivalry you attacked him. What if he dies Seifer? More blood on your already stained hands?" Squall spat, almost immediately knowing he'd gone too far. Zell grabbed Seifer, tackling him to the floor to stop him from trying to rip Squall limb from limb with his bare hands.
"Stop it!" Zell said firmly, from his position straddling Seifer's waist, holding the blonde's hands above his head.
"Zell, get off me. Let me kill the stoic bastard!" Seifer growled. Squall rubbed his temples, this wasn't what he needed right now. Seifer always brought out the worst in him…
"No! Forget Squall and pay attention to me!" Zell's words stunned Seifer into silence. It worked on two different levels and the Commanders were unsure which one it was meant to be.
"Come one, let's go home," Zell said, referring to the senior's small chalet-like housing on the opposite end of the garden. Seifer nodded, and when Zell got off him, he stood up, helping the smaller blonde to his feet also. They walked off together, even though Squall was fairly sure he was going to hear more on that later.
The Medic, Doctor Shelinda, walked out of the infirmary, smiling broadly.
"He's awake. He wants to talk to you, Squall," She said warmly, her eyes twinkling with a girlish gleam. She obviously thought that there was something behind Cloud's innocent request to see the Garden Commander. Although Squall was often in the infirmary for something or other, he had never really got used to Shelinda, he much preferred the motherly Doctor Kadowaki…
Walking into the infirmary, Squall smelt the strong scent of Thunder magic, which he hadn't noticed before. Shelinda sniffed it too, before sitting at her desk. She gestured to the room where the beds were, letting Squall go in alone.
Cloud was lain on the bed, topless with a mask over his face to aid him in his breathing. His breath was a little gasping but he seemed to be holding up fine. Squall sat down on the chair near his bed, watching the gentle rise and fall of his chest. It was regular, there was nothing to be severely scared about…
The Mako blue eyes opened and met the storm of Squall's own, and for a moment, Squall thought he had been struck by a Thunder spell. His chest seemed to constrict, but at the same time, his heart raced, something must have been wrong with him.
A nice scent floated in from the main room… Squall swallowed, trying to tear his eyes away from those cerulean pools. They made him uncomfortably comforted.
"Aren't you going to ask if I'm alright?" Cloud asked, breaking the moment, to Squall's relief. The young Commander merely nodded.
"Geez, talkative. Yeah, I've been better, but I'm good. My pride is a little injured, but I accept the fact he is a far better fighter than I am, and I would have lost anyway," Cloud reasoned. Squall just nodded again, sitting there in silence.
He wasn't sure how to describe to the blond how worried he had been. Cloud would probably freak out… Squall decided not to tell him that, but instead, he decided to tell him something else.
"I'll have your SeeD exam set for three days time. Meet Rinoa, who'll be your mage and medic and Instructor Selphie, who'll be your observer at the main hall at 8am sharp. I'll see you at the briefing," Squall thought he detected a pout on Cloud's face. Smirking slightly, he thought of something really evil to do.
He leaned forward, gently removing Cloud's mask, brushing his lips against the startled blonde's own and rejoicing when he responded, hands getting entangled in Squall's long brown hair. The blonde let out a startled moan when Squall's hand slipped down the front of the sheets, his teasing touch making the blonde underneath him go wild.
In reality, away from his own erotic daydreams, Leon just stood up, smirking to himself, and walked out. Cloud was nothing short of unnerved.
Sephiroth sat in his room, staring at the opposite wall.
He had let Cloud go, now he had nothing… He had no one here to make his job worthwhile… Sephiroth hadn't believed in love until Cloud had come along, immediately intoxicating his superior officer with his amazingly carefree attitude and the most beautiful eyes, even thought they were tainted by Mako…
Damn… He'd been a goddamned angel and Sephiroth had let him leave.
Perhaps, like an angel, he should never have been trapped in a cage?
"Sephiroth sir!" A SOLDIER, one of Heidigger's Third Class officers, burst into the room. Sephiroth looked up from his reverie with a hint of anger gracing his features. The SOLDIER stood to attention.
"I have a report from Reno from the Turks, sir!" The SOLDIER announced. Sephiroth rolled his eyes. It was a Turks message, was it? Why on Earth should he care what the Turks wanted? They reported directly to President Rufus, why would they bother with him?
"Continue," Sephiroth said, standing up to get a glass of water.
"Reno says that they tracked an officer of yours, Cloud Strife, all the way to Trabia Garden. Once there he was approached by none other than the Commander, Squall Leonhart, and the rest of the Elite Squad of Garden. Since then, it seems that he's disappeared into the Garden protection network. Reno believes he was an informant working from the inside. Reno says that he personally heard the Commander try to convince him to come back to spy on you. He asks for your permission to discourage Cloud from telling Garden anything," The officer reported.
Sephiroth had frozen, his hand under the running tap, the glass overflowing. Cloud had been an informant for Garden? That was impossible… Cloud couldn't possibly have been working on two sides… Could he? And Sephiroth had been stupid enough to give him freedom to run back?
"Reno said to add that Cloud and the Commander seemed to be very friendly. It seemed to him that they were making eyes at each other…" The SOLDIER added. Sephiroth clenched his hand around the glass, shards of glass went everywhere, some into Sephiroth's palm, although he didn't notice.
"Make sure he tells no one," Sephiroth ordered. The SOLDIER saluted, before leaving.
Sephiroth was numb for a second, before realising what he had done. He fell to his knees, blood running from under his leather glove, down his arm. He'd just ordered the death of the one he loved…
Tears running down his face, Sephiroth eyed Masamune thoughtfully. Discarding the idea, he knelt there on the floor with the dim realisation that he would never see Cloud again, and it would be his entire fault.
Sora chuckled, he doubted even Riku would recognise him with his new bleached hair. Blonde didn't really suit him, but it was necessary for the SeeD mission. He saw Riku and waved, jogging up to his boyfriend with an air of joy.
"Whoa, I didn't recognise you with the new hairdo!" Riku exclaimed, embracing him and giving him a quick kiss on the temple. They weren't supposed to be out this late after curfew.
"C'mon, we have to go to the 'Secret Place'!" Sora laughed, pulling Riku along. Chuckling also, Riku let Sora pull him along, silver hair trailing behind him. Once there, they realised they were alone in the 'Secret Place'.
It wasn't really secret as such, more as a place that the Disciplinary Committee ignored and the Instructors all avoided. It was the make-out place, the place for couples to go, or people who couldn't sleep to meet other's like them. It was unusual for it to be empty…
"Why are we here Sora?" Riku asked, grouchily. He had been hoping to finally get the chance to spend the night in Sora's dormitory. In his opinion, a year was long enough to wait for the boy.
"I wanted to tell you something," Sora whispered. Riku raised his eyebrows.
"What?" He asked. There was silence for a while, and then Sora stood on his tiptoes to kiss the elder boy, a gentle chaste kiss that was so sweet, so Sora, so perfect that Riku felt himself fill with elation.
"Hello Cloud," Someone said. The two broke apart, looking around them to find a man dressed in a suit smirking at them. Riku was about to ask who he was, when a loud bang ran through the air. At first Riku wasn't sure what it was, but then he saw Sora falling beside him in slow motion, almost.
The gunman was gone already, melting into the darkness as though he was a part of it. Riku caught Sora, watching helplessly as the younger boy's face contorted in pain.
"Oh my god! Sora!" He yelled, trying desperately to get some kind of response from the boy. Surely it had only got his leg…
But Riku pulled a knife out of his boot, cutting through Sora's clothes to reveal the gunshot to have been in true aim. Straight through the left side of his torso, piercing a lung and probably Sora's heart as well…
"Riku…" Sora managed to cough… Blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth. Riku quickly put his finger to the boy's lips, trying to get him to save his strength until someone came, someone must have heard the gunshot. Doctor Shelinda would be here any minute…
"Save your strength…" Riku whispered, brushing hair from Sora's face. The boy chuckled.
"There's no point… I have to tell you… I have to tell you…" Sora's face contorted once more in pain, and he writhed in Riku's grasp. His blue eyes shot open, they were so rare, so beautiful, so very blue, almost glowing in the moonlight…
"…that I love you…" Sora finished his sentence. His body shuddered, and then was still. His chest didn't rise and fall any longer. His eyes remained open, sightless…
"No… No Sora, you can't leave me! SORA! I love you too! I'm sorry I pressured you into sex! I'm so sorry… I was selfish… Just don't leave me… Please… Don't leave…" Riku pulled the body close to him, kissing those quickly cooling lips, trying to get Sora to respond.
He was waiting for Sora to blink and take a huge gasp, yelling, "Only kidding! It was a good joke though, wasn't it?" but the boy didn't stir… He just lay there, still as the night around him. Riku let out a long wailing keen, tears spilling down his cheeks onto the cold body that was Sora…
Ending Notes:
I hated writing Sora's death, I love Sora and I wish I hadn't done that, however… It's vital to the plot line… See, the Turks think that Cloud's dead. An interesting turn of events for Sephiroth, no?
Coming up in the next chapter, Cloud's SeeD exam!
Please review!!