Chapter Seven.

Riku opened his eyes and waited while they gradually focused. A few seconds later the post high headache hit and his green eyes grew clouded. The headache of coming down from a cocaine high was comparable to a sledgehammer being swung from close range, and Riku knew that the worst of it was still to come. He blinked back tears of pain and placed a corner of blanket between his teeth. He didn't want to bother the others with the moans of pain he knew were in store. Using a trick he had learnt in his time in the Darklands, he cast his mind to other times, anytime but this one.

Sora here…
A paopu fruit?
If two people share one, their destinies are intertwined. Come on, I know you want to try it…
What?
Never mind…
He had run off laughing then. If only he had stayed and faced Sora with the truth of what he had really meant. Things might have been so different.
On the island, things seemed so full of life. Everything was bright, the future, the present, and nothing mattered much. I must have been that way for a while, but Riku could hardly remember it; for him, everything changed as dark thoughts slowly crept into his mind. Unlike the others, Riku, even then, could sense that the Destiny Islands were not alone in the night skies.

These thoughts in his head, and the shadowy intuitions set him apart from his friends, apart from Sora. It hurt him when…

Oh god don't think of hurt…

Dragged back to his tortured body by the invisible bonds of agony, Riku gave into the pain a let his restrained tears flow. They soaked his cheeks and poured onto the thick blanket, drenching it. Riku didn't even notice his sodden bed. His pain immersed him too deeply.

xxx

In his room Cloud lay against the wall. Kairi lay next to him, her small back pressed against his. They had agreed earlier in the afternoon that she would sleep in his room so as not to wake Riku. The silver haired boy was in a deep coma-like sleep when Kairi and Cloud retired to bed. The evening was cold, and Kairi snuggled in closer to Cloud in her sleep, rolling over and throwing an arm over his hip. He stiffened and squeezed his eyes shut, trying hard to fall asleep, despite her sleeping restlessness.

Somewhere between trying to ignore the young girl behind him and attempting to stop shivering, Cloud fell into an uneasy doze. In his state of half-sleep his eyelids flickered and a dream exploded into his head.

Drip…drip…drip…Ratatatatat…
The sound of rain on his tin roof distracted Cloud. Wait, the sun was shining.
What?
Arms encircled his waist, turning him slowly around…

He rolled over…

'Aeris?' Troubled blue eyes met smiling aqua ones and she nodded silently. He raised a trembling hand and tentatively stroked her smooth cheek. 'It is you. Oh god I've missed you.'
Still smiling, Aeris pushed her face into his hand, as he moved his fingers down her neck, she let out a small moan. Sliding his fingers still further, Cloud pushed her rose colored dress down over her shoulders, moving her gently back towards the bed that stood just behind her.
Cloud could not fully comprehend what was happening, but suddenly he was lying on the bed, over Aeris who was suddenly wearing Kairi's clothes.

Cloud's arms rested on either side of Kairi, and in his sleep he lifted himself onto on elbow, seemingly looking at the sleeping girl.

'Oh Cloud,' whispered Aeris and he leant down and kissed her on the lips. He ran his hand over her face again and slipped it lower to slide the thin straps of the white singlet she was now wearing off her creamy pale shoulders. She arched her back and he scraped his rough palms over her breasts, pulling down the thin material.
When her small breasts were uncovered, Cloud caressed them softly, squeezing the nipples until they hardened. Easing himself up above her, he pushed her thighs apart and lowered himself on top of her, meeting her slightly parted lips in a passionate kiss.

Kairi was in a dead sleep. In her mind were formless imaginings of her and Riku, entwined like the lovers she wished they could be. Slowly she started surfacing from her sleep, enough to realize that it was not just a dream.

Thinking she was lying beneath the body of her silver haired child of shadow, Kairi responded, pushing her body into the one on top of her. She pushed her hips up and felt the arousal of the form above her. She met his lips in a heated kiss and raised her hand up to run it through the hair of the man.

The hair was not silky straight as she had expected. Her eyes flew open and she suddenly realized that it was not Riku lying on top of her, touching her. It was Cloud.

With her lips locked to Cloud's, all Kairi could manage was a muffled squeal to voice her shock and fear. She started struggling under him and was barely able to free her hands. She struck his back and tried to scratch at his face. Oh god, his eyes were only half open and glazed. What the hell was going on?

Inside Cloud's mind, Aeris suddenly began to thrash and struggle. He looked at her in confusion and narrowly fended off her hand as she tried to strike his face.
'Aeris, what..' he started to say, and grabbed her wrists, pinning them down to stop her from hitting him again. She screamed into his mouth, forcing him to break their kiss.
'What are you doing?' he tried to say, but she wriggled her hands free and slapped him across the face, jerking him from the remnants of his tangled dream.

Cloud threw himself backwards and fetched up against the wall breathing heavily. He stared at Kairi, lying on the bed, tears staining her cheeks. His mind was still fogged by sleep and he had no idea of what had just happened. He reached out his hand to touch Kairi's shoulder and was shocked when she flinched violently.

'Kairi what, what happened? Are you alright? Oh gods, what, did something happen to Riku?'

Kairi barely shook her head. 'Cloud,' she whispered brokenly. 'Why? How could you do that to me? Please tell me why.'

Cloud stared at her with wide eyes. 'What are you talking about Kairi? What happened? Tell me what happened.'

With a rush, the events of his dream came back to him and he fell back against the wall as realization hit him hard. 'Kairi, did I, was I, on you? Did I, oh gods…' he stopped, unable to finish.

'Yes Cloud.' Kairi said harshly, with a vicious tone to her voice. 'I woke up with you between my legs, touching me. Can you not remember trying to rape me? Was it that small a deal to you?'

Cloud's breath caught in his throat as the words struck him like a physical blow. Staggering to his feet he lurched to the door, rushing out and leaving Kairi sobbing on the bed. This was not him, he would never do this. Heedlessly brushing past Sephiroth, Cloud yanked open the front door and ran out into the cold night, blundering into the twisted back alleys of Traverse Town.

The fog opened before him, and closed behind, with no trace. With every step Cloud took, the light of the moon grew dimmer and fog closed in more thickly. By the time Sephiroth recovered his balance and poise enough to run after the blond fighter, there was no sign of him in the billowing fog.

xxx