Woooo, updating. And it's not the last chapter. Eheh, the next one will be. XD

Okay, there IS a warning with this one though.

I have a lemon type scene thingy at the end. Soooooooooooo… My beta said I should bump it up to an M rating, but I don't see why I should have to make the whole thing an M rating when it's only like, a page of the story. Out of nine. So, please, let's all be mature here. I've warned you, don't go reporting my ass because you couldn't listen. Because, then I'll be sad and I'll have to hurt someone. So be kind…please? Besides, I'm going by movies. Like…The Notebook, and Catch Me If You Can. Which were PG-13. Which translates into Teen rating which… I'll stop rambling now. Now go enjoy!

Cloud was extremely curious as to how we had found out where Kairi and Sephiroth had been hiding him and Riku. But I told him that that could wait for later. Because as much as I was also worried and curious about what had happened to him, we needed to get back to Cid and the others. Not to mention that we were both bleeding and needed medical attention. But as usual, Cloud was being difficult. I couldn't say that I normally didn't find that characteristic of his to be endearing but, at a time like this, his stubbornness was not needed at all.

"I'll be fine," he said waving me as he picked up his ripped clothes to see what he could still wear. His Change had ripped open his shirt, but his pants were kind of okay so he put them on. "You worry too much. My leg isn't that bad." He turned and started to limp towards me and I guess the door. I don't know what the hell happened to his leg, but it was making him limp and he wasn't going to let me stand in the way of him being all prideful and all that other manly bullshit.

Yes, I know, I'd probably be the same way. But, that's not the point here.

Grabbing his arm – the good one – I tugged my jacket off and slung it over his shoulders. "Put that on. And then you're going to lean on me and we'll go back to Cid and the others." He obligingly put on my jacket, but continued limping towards the door. I strode up to his side and snapped, "Cloud, if I have to knock you out to be cooperative, I will." Cloud turned around and glared at me, but stopped moving. Good. Without saying another word, I grabbed the arm attached to his good shoulder and slung it around my neck.

"You're hurt too," he grumbled. The weight on my shoulder did make it…ache a bit, but I wasn't complaining.

"You're hurt worse. So shut up." I grabbed his hand that was over my neck and put my other arm around his waist, holding him up. I walked while he limped, and together we made it out of the door and into the hallway outside of the room. As we tramped down the hallway our footsteps echoed, emphasizing the emptiness.

"Where exactly are we, anyway?" Cloud asked. He wasn't looking around in interest, so I figured he'd been around here before. I didn't really want to think about why at the moment though…

I shifted him slightly on my shoulder before saying, "An abandoned warehouse in the forest." Above our footsteps we heard snatches of Cid's boisterous voice echoing down the hall. "That's them up there." Cloud nodded his spiky blond head. As we got closer, Cid sounded like he was talking to someone about death.

"I swear, if either of them is dead I will…" At that moment Cloud and I entered and Yuffie emitted a delighted, high pitched squeal. She dropped Kairi to the ground – she had been holding the red head in the air – and was now dancing happily towards us. "Well, there's one person you won't be accountable for." Kairi was kneeling, crumpled on the floor like a rag doll and she was sobbing. It didn't really make a difference to me what she was sobbing about; one way or another she had a hand in Cloud's pain. And Riku's too. Can't forget about Riku… Eheh.

"Cloud, are you alright? I, the Great Ninja Yuffie, caught Kairi before she could get away. With everyone else's help, of course." Though, she rolled her eyes when she mentioned everyone else. She was grinning happily and twirling her giant Ninja Star about.

Cloud nodded and said, "I'm sure you did most of the work, right Yuffie?"

She nodded and laughed. Cid had come over at this point and was examining both of us. "I think both of you should sit down. For now, at least. Until Tidus and Sora come back with Riku." Without even allowing time for Cloud to say something, even if he wasn't going to say anything, I slid him down off my arm and to the floor where he sat there and looked between all of us: from me to Yuffie, to Cid, to Kairi, and then off into space. Cid leaned towards me and whispered, none too softly, "What happened to him?"

"A lot happened to me," Cloud said. Cid dropped the conversation, looking at Cloud warily after his nearly emotionless response. Well, maybe not response since the question had been directed at me, but the point is made.

In an effort to direct attention away from the currently volatile Cloud I said, "How long have Sora and Tidus been gone?" They should have been back by now. I had probably been gone long enough what with fighting with the silver haired man and then dragging Cloud and myself back here. What was taking them so long?

Cid shrugged and said, "About as long as you. They should be back soon." And then the door eased open behind us. "Well, speak of the devil," Cid said enthusiastically. Riku was leaning on Sora and Tidus looked frustrated.

"Sora wouldn't let me help at all," Tidus said irritably to no one in particular. I couldn't blame Sora for not wanting anyone to help him; I would have refused anyone's help with Cloud. Unless of course, I was small like Sora and Cloud weighed twice my weight and I was about to drop dead on the floor because of that. Then I might have asked for help. Sora was sweating in an effort to keep an unconscious Riku on his shoulder until they both finally slumped to the floor.

Cid was roaring at Sora about not letting Tidus help them, while Tidus tried to look imposing behind Cid. Yes, he only tried. He never really got to the…imposing stage. Sora didn't seem to be listening as Cid ranted; he just sat there with Riku's head on his shoulder and his fingers touching Riku's cheek. I touched Cloud's head before striding towards the group. "Cid, leave him alone." It took Cid a minute to be compliant, but he finally stopped yelling and recrossed his arms over his chest while leaning backwards slightly and grumbling. "Was he sleeping when you found him?" I knew he was sleeping and not dead because his chest was moving. Sora sniffed and looked up at me.

"You…you mean he's not dead?" Ooooookay. Someone needed to learn a little more about human anatomy. I mean, I knew Sora was…special, but I didn't think that much so.

Tidus sighed theatrically and said irritably, "I told you he wasn't dead, Sora." Tidus turned around and walked over to Yuffie and Kairi.

Sora sniffled and I saw tears welling up in his big brown eyes. Oh great, here we go. "Yes, this is how we found him." Sora got himself under control and I looked Riku over. He seemed to have fared better than Cloud. There was a lot of bruising on him and his clothes were ripped up, but there wasn't much blood. Not nearly as much as was on Cloud. "He'll be okay?" I nodded and stood up. Hell, he was probably alright now as long as there was nothing wrong internally. Riku was probably just knocked out. Sora held him tighter to his chest and leaned his face on the top of Riku's head. Then Cid, Yuffie and Tidus convened around him and Cid was giving out orders again.

"Tidus, you help Sora with Riku." Sora's head snapped up and he opened his mouth to argue, but he then closed his mouth after Cid gave the younger boy a look. Sora looked at Cid sullenly as Cid continued. "Yuffie, you take Kairi. And I will take Cloud."

"I'll help you." Cid glared at me like he had a Sora. But I found him no more intimidating than I found Sora. Which was zero. "He's heavy." I could feel Cloud scowling at me from behind as if he could somehow cause me to burst into flames. Testy now, weren't we? He really wasn't all that heavy, but I didn't want to leave Cloud all to Cid.

The older man gave an exasperated sigh and then said, "Right. Let's go then."

It hadn't taken us too long to make it back home. The warehouse wasn't that far into the forest; just a little farther in than where it started. Even so Cloud soon fell asleep and Riku stayed asleep, snoring softly. We were all silent for lack of wanting to talk. Kairi made pitiful, repressed sobbing noises every so often, but that was it.

Once home, we all set about doing what needed to be done. Yuffie took Kairi away to lock her into her room. Sora, Tidus and Cid took Riku to Cid's room to patch him up and I guess get him to wake up. I, of course, took Cloud to his room…with Cid's help.

I stared at Cloud, laying on his bed and sleeping soundly. He didn't look like he'd be waking up anytime soon so I went and collected all the bandages and antiseptic and other medical junk. Sitting on the edge of the bed, I tenderly brushed some of his blond hair off of his forehead and ran my finger along the half healed gouge line under his jaw. Damn Kairi. I was wondering whether I should do this with him asleep or wake him up when his breathing suddenly caught in his throat and his eyes flashed open. Cloud sat bolt upright, one hand balled into a fist, until he saw me. He relaxed and said, "Oh. Squall." His mouth twitched into a smile as he looked around to get his bearings. "Home sweet home. Where's everyone else?"

"Doing what they need to do." He tried to swing his legs over the side of the bed and get up, but I pushed him back down to a sitting position. "And you need to stay here so I can fix you, again." I mock rolled my eyes and he laughed.

"As if I haven't had to fix you before. Besides, I'm hungry." He tried to get up again and when I pushed him back down he snarled at me.

I grabbed his face, avoiding the side of his jaw that was injured and swiftly kissed him. "Stop. Let me take care of you first, and then you can eat." He gave me a resigned glare but sat back on the headrest. I tugged off his shirt and his pants, leaving his wolfie boxers on. Cloud winced as the fabric scrapped against his injured skin. His injuries were…extensive. Another gouge was ripped through his chest, crossing perpendicularly to the one I had made earlier. Others were cut into his sides and traveled across his back. There were some on his legs, including a particularly deep one in his right thigh. Which explained the limping. Cloud's wrists were all torn up as if someone had run them through a blender. His shoulder was still seeping blood a bit and his side looked as though it had been stabbed.

"Damn."

Cloud laughed mirthlessly. "Yeah, damn is right. That stupid bitch, she did some sadistic stuff. And Sephiroth…" He released a defeated sigh.

I poured a good amount of antiseptic onto a washcloth and held it to the wound in his side. It looked like it was turning a funky color, so I figured that was as good as anywhere to start. Cloud winced and I said, "Is that who the silver haired guy was?" Cloud nodded and I pressed more antiseptic into the wound. After a few moments, I went to work on another one with a clean washcloth. You know, in case the other one had been infected. "So what happened to you there?"

Cloud looked away and out the window and at first I didn't think he would answer me. But then he started to talk to me. "Well, at first I thought I was just there with Kairi. Which, bad as it was, I could live with that. All this," he gestured at his body. "Wasn't so bad as long as I thought about you guys coming to get me." I raised and eyebrow and he rolled his eyes, saying, "I'm not saying it didn't hurt. Cause it hurt like hell. I'm just saying that I was able to hang onto some kind of hope that she wouldn't hang on to me." He looked back towards me as he paused.

"But, when I found out that he was there… He was the one who had kidnapped me out of the alleyway. And I guess that's how Kairi got a hold of Riku as well. We knew someone had to have been working with her. But never…in my wildest dreams, did I think he would have come back." Cloud paused again and I pushed him forward so I could look at his back. "Anyway, he told me some bullshit about being able to come back to life," I looked at him questioningly, but he didn't notice as he'd averted his eyes towards his feet at the end of the bed. "And how, he'd been thinking about me for all that time and how he realized he…wanted me."

I touched Cloud's face and said softly, "It's okay. I know this part already."

Cloud wiped at his eyes violently and said roughly, "No, I need to say it." He breathed deeply for a moment as I reached for the bandages to wrap him up again. "Sephiroth raped me, again and again. Sometimes he fed me, and sometimes I was able to fall asleep. But it was so horrible. I was in my worst nightmare and there was nothing I could do to stop it." He bared his teeth and I started to clean his leg. "That stupid bastard. I wanted him to just be dead and never come back. But he can come back." Cloud scowled and then closed his eyes.

"As long as I'm here, I won't let anything like that happen again." Cloud looked up at me as I wrapped a bandage around his leg. "I'm yours Cloud, and you're mine." A fleeting smile graced my lips before it melted back into my still face as I wiped his jaw with the cloth. No bandages there. Otherwise he wouldn't be able to eat.

Cloud's smiled back at me, before growing thoughtful. "Are you done now?" I nodded and he said, "Okay let's go get some food."

Laying there with Cloud in my arms again was a wonderful thing. And for once, we had clothing on. Eheh. My eyes traveled down his bandaged body and I felt anger welling up inside my chest for what Kairi and Sephiroth had done to him. All because Kairi was gone off the deep end. Disentangling my arms from around him, I rolled out of bed with a grunt and stretched. I rubbed my injured shoulder which Cloud had cleaned up before we left for food. He had insisted on doing it himself. The wound kind of hurt, but not incapacitatingly so. Getting dressed, I decided to go and see how everyone else was doing. I hadn't seen anyone but Cloud since we'd all split up yesterday and I didn't want to miss anything important.

As I opened the door, I heard Cloud's muffled voice say, "Where ya going?" I turned around but he was facing away from me and still looked like was asleep.

"To go and talk to the others." I heard his muffled acknowledgement and what sounded like him allowing me to go. As if he had the ability the stop me now.

I made my way down to the mess hall for food and saw Cid and Yuffie sitting and talking. Getting my food, I quickly joined them. "Leon," Cid said as his way of greeting. Yuffie grinned and called me "Squall" which I ignored. "How's Cloud holding up?" Cid's question, to which I shrugged my shoulders and nodded. "well, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, considering he's only been back for not even a whole day, he's doing pretty fine." I wasn't about to launch into why he was doing fine, or about our talk yesterday. If that was what Cid had been looking for, he was going to be disappointed. "Anyway, was Riku alright?" I figured he was, but, I asked anyway. No harm could come from asking.

Cid stuffed some eggs in his mouth and it took a few moments for him to answer. In which time Yuffie said, "I hope you two actually slept last night. Cloud probably needed the sleep and…"

"Yuffie, please," Cid said. Turning to me he said, "Riku's fine. In a lot better shape than Cloud was. But I think she hated Cloud more than she hated Riku anyway, so." Cid didn't know anything about what Sephiroth had done to Cloud, but I wasn't about to enlighten him. There wasn't any need to cause undue anger or harm or anything like that. "I still don't know what I'm going to do with Kairi though." He scowled.

"Maybe you should just exile her or something." Cid looked thoughtful, and nodded, making a thoughtful face. Or, at least as thoughtful as was possible for Cid.

Yuffie scowled and said, "Well, what is she comes back?"

"I don't she'd ever think of coming back," Cid murmured. "Everyone hates her," he stated in his usual coarse manner. "And the little brat finally realizes that." Yuffie nodded and shrugged, seeming to agree. "In the next couple of days," Cid continued, "I think we'll set everything up. Decide where she has to go and all that garbage." He looked from me to Yuffie. "Fine?" I nodded and Yuffie did so also.

With that settled, we split up. I grabbed some breakfast to bring back to the room because Cloud would undoubtedly be hungry. Unless he was asleep. Either one was fine with me because he needed both. Even though he had only been gone three days, he was pretty thin, thanks in part to his ravenous appetite. Opening the door to his – or, our – room, I saw he was apparently up: the bed was empty. "Cloud, I have food!"

I was a bit surprised, I admit, when he didn't instantly come running to scoff down whatever I had brought up for him. But then he grabbed me around the waist from behind and I felt him lean his head into my back. "I missed you, what did you talk about, and where is the food?"

I put the tray of food on the table and said, "Sure seems like you missed me. The food is on the table." He drew his arms from around my waist and walked to the table. He eyed the food and then stood before me, an eyebrow raised.

"You doubt me?" Cloud grabbed my chin and pulled my face down to meet his. Closing my eyes, I lost myself in the feel of him, something I hadn't experienced in all too long. He stepped forward and pushed me into the door, effectively closing it and pushing me against the wall in the same motion. His hands on my hips, my hands went to hold his face as his tongue slipped into my mouth to caress my tongue. He pressed his boxer clad hips into mine as he nipped at my lip and gripped my hips tighter in his hands. Pushing back with my tongue to delve into his mouth, I pressed back with my hips, feeling his arousal and getting more aroused myself by the minute. He pulled away, a devious look tainting his features as he said, "Still think I didn't miss you?"

I looked over his head, before locking his blue eyes with my brown ones. "I'm not completely sure I'm convinced yet."

"Oh, so now you want me to choose between you and food? How could you?" He turned around with a huff, crossing his arms. I reached out to grab his shoulder, but he moved away, just out of reach. For a moment, I wondered if he was really mad. But as I reached for him again, I caught a look at his face, and I saw a sly smile. So, where was he going with this then? I had ideas, but did he have the same ones?

Grabbing for him again, I expected him to just move away like he had been doing. But this time, he moved into me and pushed me. And I landed…not on the floor. The bed was under me and suddenly Cloud was sitting next to me, smiling like a gleeful kid. Albeit, a very impish one. "So now that you've got me here, what's your master plan?"

Cloud shrugged and said, "Take your clothes off and ravish you?" I made a thoughtful face, and shrugged,

"If you think you can. But it sounds like a good idea to me." Cloud reached down for my shirt, but I grabbed his arm and flipped him over. He winced and tried to hide it, but I instantly released his arm anyway. "Maybe we should wait," I said, sitting up.

Cloud glowered and growled. "No, I'll be fine." He touched my face, but I shook my head and pulled away.

He sighed and sat up as though giving in, but I guess I should have known better. He swung his uninjured leg around and pushed me to the bed with it, before sitting on stomach. "I told you, I'll be fine." He poked me in the chest. "You worry too much."

He was such an ass sometimes. "Fine, but if you start bleeding or anything, I'm putting you to sleep." He rolled his eyes, but conceded.

"Fiiiiiine." Still sitting on my stomach, he unbuttoned my pants, and pushed them as far down as was possible in his position. I did the rest of the work by kicking them off while he pulled my jacket and my shirt off. Then we pretty much picked up where we left off. He laid on top of me, kissing me passionately, while I returned it myself. My fingers tugged at the hem of his boxers as his teeth grazed my neck, his warm breath making the hairs stand on end.

Tossing his boxers somewhere around the room, I rolled him over, careful not to hurt him. Damn him. His hands went to my hips and my boxers as my hand slid down from his face over his bare chest and stomach, causing the muscles to tighten. Cloud managed to push down my boxers and he moaned in surprise as I took his manhood in my hand. I leaned down and kissed his chest as I moved my hand. His eyes were closed, and his mouth half open, his breathing quickened as I sped up. Cloud moaned as his hips arched up off the bed. "Squall…" I covered his mouth with mine, touching my tongue to his as he moaned into my mouth, his arousal heightening my own. Cloud's breath caught in his throat as he orgasmed, his muscles tightening in sweet tension and pleasure. His body shuddered with receding waves of pleasure and I wrapped my arms around him, cradling him to my chest. We sat there for a moment as Cloud regained a normal pace of breathing, a light sheen of sweat covering his body.

The blonde squirmed out of my grasp and pushed me onto the bed, leaning over me, his lips glided over mine. "Time to return the favor." He grinned roguishly as he grabbed me this time. The sensation of being at the hand of my lover, tingling through my body was amazing. It was as if I was flying up above the clouds somewhere in a land of pleasure where nothing could go wrong. Sure, not exactly poetic, but there wasn't really anyone way to describe it. Leaning my head back into the pillows and the headboard, I sighed heavily as Cloud increased the tempo of his hand.

"Mmmm." Cloud leaned down and licked the sweat off of my neck, leaving a line of tingling sensations along that spot. I groaned as I orgasmed and Cloud collapsed next to me, pressed up against my side, eyes closed with a content smile on his face. "See, I told you," he murmured.

I ruffled his hair and said, "It's not my fault if I care about you. It's your fault if anything."

He shook his head and opened his eyes to lock me with those gorgeous baby blues. "It is your fault. You didn't start off gay."

I pushed his head off my arm and said, "You didn't really give me a choice in the matter. I'd bet that you would still be chasing me now if I hadn't given in. You couldn't resist yourself, and I couldn't do anything about it." Cloud grinned and shrugged.

"That's more your problem than mine, though." I rolled my eyes and he kissed me roughly.

"Ready for round two?"

Yay! Not so bad, eh? My first one. –covers face- I actually didn't burst into flames writing it. lol. Alright. I'm off.