Kingdom Hearts and its characters belong solely to both Square Enix and Walt Disney Pictures.

Implied (Well...more than implied)CloudxSeph. Clean, but very sweet and adorable, shounen ai (At least for the moment). Nice little Japanese words for homosexual. This is going to be the saddest chapter yet,leading up the chappy that I've been wanting to write since I began this thing.Warning:character death...and yuckiness.Eeck. Please enjoy!

Unspoken Reminiscence

Chapter 3

By: Emily Williams

(recommended reading music: Imaginary- Evanescence)

Huffing for breath, Cloud desperately tried to run across the zero floor of the castle, his feet slapping the water-like surface. He would not stop, he couldn't. He had to find Sephiroth; nothing else was more important. Skittering behind and around him were nasty creatures decked in black. As he had just began to leave the castle, they had suddenly appeared out of nowhere it seemed, looking ravenous for gods know what. Cloud had knocked a couple of the smaller ones aside, as he drew closer to the village. Their beady yellow eyes simply watched him struggle.

Cloud found it hard to be the person he usually was. He didn't want to feel so hopeless, without the dull happiness that lit up his face without reason. Inside he was panicking, his whole form almost refusing to keep him up as he trembled. Finding the main stair way into Bastion Central, the generic term used for his village, he flew down them, his feet only hitting about every other step.

Drawn by invisible strings, he could not rest until he reached it, like his feverishly beating heart was screaming. Feeling the uneven texture of where concrete met cobblestones, he pushed himself harder, into what would be safe closure, near Sephiroth, and away from those monsters. Everything would be okay, he whispered to himself immediately. No one could pop this bubble, it was like magic. That was much easier to believe at least.

Seeing the first tiled roof of the village, Cloud sighed in relief. Filled with new hope, he jogged into the main street, his eyes closed with a smile gracing his young face. Bending over, he grabbed the stitch in his side that he had failed to notice coming. He chuckled slightly at his own foolishness, thinking there was even something to be frightened of in the first place. He had made it. Still grinning, Cloud lifted his eyes up through his spiky bangs.

Cloud's childish smile dimmed almost instantly into wide-eyed horror. Bodies. No Corpses. But there was no word to describe it. He had been right. The village had not been touched. The buildings were unscathed, nothing broken. That made it seem all the worse.

People once bustling up and down this street, lay strewn across its face like leaves in autumn, soaking in their own blood and rainwater. Some of them looked untouched and could have been sleeping, but their eyes were stuck open in shock, dull and lifeless; they were dolls left out in the cold by whatever had come out to play. Chocking back a scream, Cloud's shaky knees finally gave way beneath him.

Everyone was…

...dead...?

He buried his head in his hands as if he could wash the image away, but it stuck like a stubborn stain. Cloud shook his head. How could this all happen? Hadn't it only a few hours ago that he and Sephiroth had parted. Hadn't everything been fine? Fine lines of tears made no hesitation in falling down his face. He felt sick, like he needed to vomit. But he couldn't, and he somehow knew it wouldn't make him feel any better.

He couldn't just sit there and tremble, even though that is what his entire body screamed for. There had to be some people out there alive, they could use his help. He was alive, while all the others had perished. He could never let that go to waste. Rubbing away the tears in his eyes, he pushed himself to his feet.

The sun had started to set, he noticed, splaying rays of oranges across the sky, and finally deepening into a stunning deep crimson, the color of which the ground he treaded was dyed. Symbolic, it seemed. Silently, he wondered how many doors had been closed today. Doors without keys, bolted ones. After this sunset, would he see the same thing when the sun rose, or would the sun fail to rise at all?

Cloud paced up and down the street, checking in every door, to see who remained. Anyone who had, would have most likely already had made a getaway, clearly abandoning the bodies of those who they had shared jokes with, told their secrets to, and supposedly loved with their very souls. Every time his hope rose, that he thought he heard a low moan escaping from a body possibly overlooked, that feeling would be squelched as he their cold dead eyes stared unblinkingly back at him. As he drew near the end of the village, Cloud's eyes were sore from looking and he was afraid that his tears had run dry. He'd seen to many people, people who would have made his friends scream at the heavens.

Cloud had nearly passed it up, wanting to leave it all behind. But his eyes caught it, catching on to it desperately. He stared helplessly at the body within reaching distance. "No...," at that moment, it was only a statement, escaping dryly. It couldn't be. "No…no, no!" this time he meant it, the harsh reality of the situation smashing denial into tiny glass pieces. With a quivering hand, Cloud reached out feeling the skin on the person's hand. Cold as ice. But it froze much harsher. "N-noo," he sobbed, its meaning finally under his skin.

He would never see her again, she would never be there grinning in her friendly way, offering kind advice or forceful reasoning. "H-how could you let them… kill you…?" he asked weakly, in disbelief. The raven haired girl offered no answer this time, her eyes staring out at him emptily, mouth slightly ajar. Every rock solid aspect of his life, seamed to fall apart. He never expected it. He never considered that someday, any of his good friends would live short lives. Tifa Lockheart so strong. So solid. But she wasn't an exception.

Cloud bowed his head in deep regret. Maybe… if he had been there, if he wasn't to busy being selfish, looking for a single person, he could have saved them.

As the moment seemed to settle down, he breathed in the empty, silent and stale air. It seemed to suck the life out of everything, but Cloud was filled with a strange calm. He took in a breath, letting his nerves calm down to a degree. He had to be sensible. He, at the moment was alive. Running around as an emotional wreck would get him nowhere. This way he could be more aware of what was going on around him. Damn, Sephiroth was beginning to rub off on him. He took another breath. What would he do now? He needed to escape. The first person that came to mind was Sephiroth. The voices in his head laughed sarcastically at the thought. What would Sephiroth do about anything? 'He might have some idea what was happening,' Cloud managed to convince himself. 'I need to make sure…that he's still…" he shook the disgusting idea out of his mind. Of course Sephiroth was alive, why wouldn't he be?

Cloud began to get up, when he froze in place. Cutting the silence came a scratching sound. It seemed to grow ever closer, in an eery pattern that reminded Cloud of only one thing. The beating of a heart. He kept still, fear pumping through his veins until he felt the presence almost upon him. He couldn't help it anymore. He turned around.

"I will not let you hurt them!"

The feeling in his skin began to return as the numbness in his mind turned to fury. His use, the way the darkness had so easily been able to string him up like puppet. The fact that he for even a few moments time he had lost control of his body and mind, became a hard-to-reach itch. This every passing moment, his anger grew. He was unsure how Ansem would now react, now that he had openly defied his will, but he didn't so much as suspect such a reaction.

His lips parted as he released a noise, that made Sephiroth nearly jump out of his skin, like the cry of something inhuman. If it were not for the Cheshire grin that devoured his face, Sephiroth would not have known that Ansem was laughing. But it was dry and cracked, like burnt paper, and reminded him of a broken record. It was not the happy laughter of a human beings', but more like something trying to say 'There is nothing you can do'.

He felt himself being filled with rage again. How could he laugh? He was killing his people. The heartless took over. He was dragging everyone into eternal darkness and he had the audacity left to laugh?

"How could you…? H-" Sephiroth whispered. " How can you stand here and laugh at their pain!" As if it were as natural as breathing, Sephiroth gripped the hilt of the Masumune. It came so fast that it couldn't even be considered a reaction. Sephiroth wasn't even aware that the blade had been drawn from its sheath, its gleaming metal humming ever so slightly. His head was in a mess, with to many thoughts trying to be comprehended at the same time.

Slowly, he could feel the angry fade away, making his mind feel blissfully empty. Sephiroth blinked, and suddenly he felt his mouth go dry. He didn't just…

He looked up, half relieved and half in horror, that his sword hadn't become lodged into his uncle. It has failed to pierce Ansem, but rather it had sliced right through the place he would have been only moments before. Sephiroth gulped slightly, withdrawing the sword from the empty air. Ansem wasn't there, but were had he gone. He looked around the small enclosure several times, not catching a glimpse of the man, nor his shadow on the floor. A sense of relief had been squashed by a deep painful feeling in his heart.

What was it that was willing to become? He had been so willing to end Ansem's life right then and there. He had never…considered it alright to kill someone, unless there was a war or something. There was no command, no one had told him to do it. Feeling disgusted with himself, he felt ready to drop his sword and never pick it up again. Killing was not an option.

But there was something deep inside that was excited, for after all, control over someone's life is the ultimate power.

Sephiroth shook his head, re-sheathing the masumune. The battle was not over yet. There was still something, he felt, that needed to be taken care of before he lost it all. But in suddenly, as if an alarm clock had gone off, he realized that the time was set, and it may run out before any of it. The people of the village where having their hearts ripped out as he sat there and thought. And Cloud, Cloud would be alive if he had anything to do with it. He had to get there quickly, before everything was lost.

He rushed down the hall but stopped momentarily as something caught his eye. As to why a random piece of parchment interested him, he wasn't quiet sure. But without reading it, he stuffed the paper in his pocket and began to run as fast as humanly possible.

Cloud stumbled back, his elbows gaining scratched from the rough floor. Once again, he had to move quickly before the creature in front of him make a devastating swipe. The large heartless peered at him sadistically through its protuberant yellow orbs, its hunger that had devoured many of the hearts of this village, was still not satisfied. Pressing his back up against the wall, he couldn't help but stare at the huge monstrosity. Cloud shivered. What was left of his rational thoughts told him to get up, show some courage, summon his buster sword and defeat the monster. But he couldn't, he felt like he was the mouse caught in the trap, and the cat was just waiting, savoring the success that was imminent.

"I-I…," Cloud stuttered, trying to find a way that he had to escape. He looked into the face of Tifa Lockheart, but it held no answers for him. He chocked on salt-ridden tears, his thoughts conflicting, and he couldn't help but weep. He wasn't strong enough.

"Cloud, get up."

I…can't…I'm not strong enough. This is it…I…

"Cloud... if you don't get up, you're admitting defeat. You can't do that."

…I…can't…Sephiroth…

"Don't give me that, Strife. Be a man and stand. There is always something. Be defeated by the sword, not because you abandoned yours."

Sephiroth had smiled then. Cloud admired those words, because there were so very few who could live up to them. He knew Sephiroth could.

He trembled, shameful tears filling his perfect blue eyes. He was a disappointment. He failed Sephiroth, failed the memory of him.

Faintly, Cloud could see the monstrous abomination raised a clawed hand, waiting to spring forward and end his life, everything.

Sephiroth raced forward, willing his legs to pump faster. He couldn't be late. If he was, than everything he knew and everything he had wanted up to this point, would be lying in pieces. The castle gates seemed heavy and resistant to his touch, but in his dismay pushed them open faster than he had ever felt the need to in his entire stay there. Even the air itself, made itself to slow the panicking teenager's progress. But never in a million years would Sephiroth allow anything to stand in his way. 'I will never lose you'

Gripping onto the stair rail with on hand, he swung himself over to the other side of his, not pausing before sprinting for a glowing elevator transport star. He touch it, letting its magic instantly place him on the platform and he reappeared at the bottom. And he could see the village a few stretches ahead. He would be in time, at least he hoped.

The monster's eyes glittered maliciously, flexing its claws through black shadowed sinus.

He sprinted across the street, ignoring the dead and bloodied bodies at his feet.

The heartless lunged, its lust for human heart prepared to drive its talons into it victim who like many of the others had begun to give up far before it was over.

He didn't want to see it end. Cloud turned his head away, shutting his eyes closed, a crystal clear tear drop leaving a thin trail down his face.

The monster howled in pain, its unholy voice piercing the air like fingernails on a blackboard. It retreated backwards, it offending claw dripping a blackish sludge that might have been blood had it been human.

Cloud slowly opened his eyes, blinking to get focus. The pain he had anticipated from death had never come, and he was pretty certain he was still among the living. Turning his head, he felt his heart jump into his throat and slide back down again.

The masumune hummed slightly, its shining surface soaked in the same black substance that of the heartless creature. Its wielder flipped the blade over, getting a better grip on the hilt. Sephiroth stared coldly at the creature, his heart beating a million miles a minute. His breathing was ragged, and his cheeks had turned a soft hue of pink from exhaustion. Had he intercepted the blow even seconds later, Cloud would be no more. Already, he had begun to feel the dark sewage-like hatred bubble up inside of him for that thing, for Ansem, for himself. "You bastard…" Sephiroth hissed. He wanted it to die. He wanted to see it hit the floor. It was a dark feeling and truthfully he couldn't help it. It was a lust to make sure that thing perished painfully, regretting the day it ever dared to touch what was his.

"S-seph," Cloud stuttered, breathing in relief. The shame and guilt was still there, but he was much more happy to see him.

By this time, the heartless creature had regained its senses and emitted a low deep-throated growl. It bore it's teeth, deadly sharp, pieces of flesh still hanging from its fangs. Upon feral instinct the thing bounded forward, intent on ripping its adversary to pieces.

Sephiroth side-stepped, causing the heartless to skid into a turn on its ebony heals. It sprang forward once again, its eyes glowing maliciously. Sephiroth made to dodge it again, but the monster had other plans in mind. Before he could make his getaway, it caught his arm in it's gigantic mouth, holding fast.

Eyes growing wide, he attempted to wretch his arm free, his face bearing signs of disgust while he watched his own crimson blood intermix with the all too solid darkness. Even wounded, the monster was still strong, relying only on it's instincts to not go down without a fight, ripping and clawing only until it was no longer allowed to do so.

"It's your fault…" Sephiroth spoke suddenly, his voice low and threatening. He trembled, a rush of feelings coursing through his body like liquid fire, as if this thing were the cause of all his misery, his frusteration. He clenched his teeth in anger, his eyes almost glowing unnaturally for a split second. With the hand on his trapped arm his flipped his bland over, so that the blade ran nearly parallel to the inside of his arm. With a sudden burst of strength and speed, he his arm shifted in the creatures mouth, and the weapon was thrust with a sickening quelch, completely through it's neck.

With a dreadful shriek, the heartless toppled over, spasming violently. Within seconds, the thing ceased to move at all, its darkish blood spilling out onto the cobblestones. Sephiroth's looks of pure hatred slowly faded into a spiteful, but satisfied smirk. He lifted his boot, and with no grace at all, kicked the thing in its ugly face.

"I'm sorry, but you'll be going to Hell alone today."

For a moment, he simply stood, staring at the mess he had made. The monster, for one reason or another, was slowly becoming translucent, its shadowy mass simply fading into the air until the masamune fell to the ground with a clink.

Sephiroth picked up the blade, doing his best to shake the black liquid off before sheathing it. He was about to sigh, when his eyes went alight again. Within a second, the silver-haired youth was beside his best friend, giving him the most thorough inspection he'd ever had.

"S-seph, what are you doing?" Cloud breathed, seeming to have found his voice. He brushed the other's hand away from his forehead. Ignoring the blonde's attempts to free himself, Sephiroth turned the other's face from one side to the next, searching for what would be the smallest cut, bruise, scrape or pebble dent. Seeming satisfied, he moved on from the face.

Cloud released a hiss of pain when Sephiroth's fingers ran down the side of his arm, only lightly brushing a large gash. It wasn't bleeding so freely as it had been a few minutes ago, but it still hurt, and it was bound to leave a nasty scar. That was if there was any left of him to scar when this was all over.

Pursing his lips, Sephiroth eyed the wound wearily. He didn't want Cloud to bleed anymore, it was obvious that it had already taken a toll on him, but he didn't even want to know how dirty it was. It could mean a lot of trouble if it got infected. He hated being caught in a dilemma, but the whole idea was to keep him alive for as long as possible wasn't it? Cloud winced as Sephiroth touched the injury once again.

"Forgive me…" Sephiroth muttered in the most humble tone Cloud had ever heard him use. "You know I'm not so good at this." He took a breath, his brow bent in concentration. Slowly, his hands began to glow a light green.

Cloud understood. His friend certainly was not a white mage in any respect. It was okay though. He had surprised even the village black mage, an aloof lady who everyone addressed by " 'Lu", when in just under a year he was prepared to become an advanced student. Adding his sword skills to the mixture, no one really cared that he wasn't the most excellent healer. Except Sephiroth of course. It irritated him regularly that after sparring matches he'd have to haul the blonde down to the white-mage's house, sitting quietly while Ms. Gainsborough batted her lashes and giggled without end. Oh yes, that would definitely have to be amended, before he went crazy and stabbed someone. And it wouldn't be Cloud. But it was sort of an issue now that Aerith was no where to be found. Sephiroth was trying his damndest to make a difference. Cloud felt embarrassed, getting so much attention. Not that it was unwanted or anything.

Gradually, the light grew stronger, the magic sending small currents of warmth up Cloud's arm before pooling around the wound. He could almost feel his cells attempting to stitch the veins and skin back together. Within a minute or so, it looked like it was fairly scabbed over, and wouldn't bleed any longer.

Finally allowed a slight reprive, Sephiroth sighed sitting back. For the first time, Cloud noticed that he really did look exhausted and had almost seemed to age in the few hours they had been apart. There was only so long one person could stand to be super-human. Cloud bit his lip, bashful and grateful, among other things.

"Seph...thank you, a lot."

The other looked up, raising an eyebrow. "Don't mention it. It was only a Cure spell."

Cloud turned slightly red, and coughed. "Um... that's not exactly what I meant." He smiled slightly. It was kind of embarrassing for some reason. "I wanted to thank you for...eck...well, you know, having my back... You...saved me."

"Oh..." Sephiroth muttered, giving a half smile. He moved his hair out of his face. "Again, don't mention it. It's not as if it was something I had to think about." He suddenly tensed as if to say 'Oh shit, did I just say something that fruity?'. "But Cloud... will you do me a favor? Promise you'll do it, no matter what I say."

Cloud blinked. "What do you want me to do?"

"Promise."

"Okay, Jeez." Cloud muttered. "I promise. Happy?"

The older one nodded. "Good. I need you to listen carefully to me. Are you listening?"

Cloud nodded.

"Okay," Sephiroth continued. "I want you to go to the garage. Don't stop until you get there. Find Cid. Get everyone you can onto a ship and get out. Do you understand?"

Cloud nodded again, but gave his friend an incredulous look. For a moment he panicked. "Seph...you're coming too, right?". He waited for Sephiroth to answer, not knowing if he should keep his promise.

At first Sephiroth didn't anwser, a guilty expression slowly moving across his features. He tried his best to give the younger one a confident look. "I'll come last. It's more important to get everyone else left out first."

"Okay." What did he mean, 'okay'. It definitely was not okay. He felt like he was choking on his own words, bringing tears to his eyes. What if he got killed? What if something just went wrong? But was there anything he could do about it. He had complied without thinking, knowing for some reason, that this was something that Sephiroth needed to do.

The tension in Sephiroth's face softened a bit, and he stood up. Grabbing Cloud's hands, he pulled the boy to his feet. He looked around, checking to see if the coast was clear. "I think now is a good time to go," he muttered.

"There's something I need to tell you, Seph," Cloud said quietly. "But I won't say it now. So be prepared to listen when we meet up again."

Sephiroth blinked, but nodded. "Alright."

The blonde took in a breath, and started running towards the castle.

Sephiroth watched him until he disappeared completely from his sight. He turned the other way, knowing that there would be more heartless, and perhaps more survivors. Moodily, he stuffed his hand in his pocket, drawing out the slip of parchment he had found in Ansem's lab. It was another one of Ansem's sporadically written reports. Not bothering to read it, he put it back in his pocket for safe keeping.

"I know you can hear me, and know that someday you'll pay for what you've done."

A/N: arg...> can't write death. Anywhoo. I appologize for not updating in like...over a year...? oo iono. this thing was at a stand still for the longest time, and I got off my ass to do it. And now, I say sorry in advance for errors of the grammarical kind. 'Cause I dont take no english...D: well, actually I do, and I'm pretty good at it, but I'm often late to catch my own mistakes, and Im to lazy to edit and reupload. I blame Last time I tried to upload something, it took out all my appostrophes and Quotation marks. And I have a feeling its going to kill all my other punctuation. So...sorry.

And yeah...I realize the time period where Cloud is getting attacked and Seph's comming to the rescue...seems rather...unlikely? And Seph's gotta be the fastest freak ever...but IGNORE it...please.

(GarnettVII- X3 thanku) (Kina-chan- 3) (Darknessed- oooh, thanks for the review. XD)