Hey to everyone, again. How are you guys? Thanks for the wonderful reviews, I loved them greatly. But here is to the next chapter… Enjoy One more thing, I know in the game Aeris's name is "Aerith", but for Final Fantasy VII purposes, I'm using Aeris. P.S. I decided to change this from third person POV to Cloud's POV, in case you're confused about the "I"s.

Disclaimer: Don't own Kingdom Hearts, or any of the characters involved with this story… Dammit.

Warning: Yaoi/guy on guy action in later chapters. CxL, and brief Cloud nudity. ;

­­I take my armor off over my left shoulder, and the arm bracket-like armor and the golden spiked glove off, moving my arm freely now that the restrictions were gone. I let it clunk to the floor as it slipped out of my fingers, and take off the cape afterwards, rolling my neck to crack it. Aeris had wanted me to get cleaned up while she cooked… So here I was, stripping in their bathroom, about to take a well deserved shower. Next: the hip armor connected to my belt. That's quickly discarded to the side, and I take off my other glove, move onto the belts on my pants, the boots, and then finally I'm down to my last layers. My black wing stretches out, and I sigh, knowing why it was still there. I had thought Aeris was my light, but then why didn't my wing disappear? It was partially the binding to Hades' contract, along with a tie to the darkness.

I need to find my light, but who could it be if it isn't Aeris? Even if I don't love her anymore, she's still one of my closest friends… Why wasn't she my light? Rubbing my temples for a moment, I continue stripping, taking off the black shirt and loose black pants before stepping into the shower, turning on the knobs to the right temperature for me. The whole room starting to steam up, just the way I like it, with the air thick and wet. I grab the first thing I need- shampoo- and start scrubbing my hair as it defied the laws and stood as straight as ever, even soaking wet. It drooped a bit at the ends, but otherwise was practically untouched. This bothered me to no end.

I look down at myself as I wash up, studying my body to see if anything changed. My ribs stick out a little more, but I'm still well built. I think my dick's shrinking… I roll my eyes at myself, rinsing the shampoo out with a smirk. It'll come back, just watch. I lather up with the soap, scrubbing until I felt content with cleaning off the layers of sweat. If only I could wash of memory like dirt and sweat… God knows there's a lot I don't want to remember… Next I put the soap back, rinsing off and grabbing the conditioner, squirting some into my hand and rubbing it in my hair, setting the bottle back where it belongs. I have to admit, I smell a lot better now. Maybe taking a shower was a good idea on Aeris's part…

Rinsing out the last of the conditioner, I turn off the shower, stepping out of the shower carefully and grabbing a nearby towel. Suddenly, the realization that I don't have any clothes besides the ones I've been wearing for…too long, hits me. Sighing, I dry myself off, using the towel to cover my shrinking dick and my butt. I shake my head in a dog-like fashion, trying to get the insistent droplets of water to stop clinging to it. Satisfied with being decently covered up, I exit the bathroom, No one's in the living room, so I head to the kitchen, finding Leon and Yuffie playing cards at the kitchen table while Aeris was up cooking.

The kitchen was kind of dingy and bare, not to mention not very well lit. A little lantern-like light hung from the ceiling, lighting the room up in orange just enough so you could see clearly, but you couldn't really get any fine details out of it. It was clean, for the most part, and the worst thing about it was the cracked white paint on the walls. I have this thing where I just wanted to peel off all the cracked paint, but I know I can't, so I restrain myself. Luckily for them… I clear my throat, trying to gain their attention. Yuffie and Aeris look up and start blushing horribly, while Leon has this cool stare. Is it just me, or is the bridge of his nose turning pink..? "Oh, dear…" Aeris paused her stirring some sort of concoction in the pot on the stove. "You need clothes, don't you?" I nod, my wing twittering a bit. She covers her face in embarrassment with one hand. "I'm so sorry… Leon, could you-" Before she even finishes he stands up, walking rigidly as he brushes past me purposely. I watch him walk down the hallway, looking as if I had been offended by the brush by, but in reality I was just watching the way he moved as he walked. It was hypnotizing, in a way, and I couldn't keep my eyes from it…

Yuffie laughed, making me turn my attention away from the hallway. "What?" I ask her, my eyebrows both pushing together. She looked at me with a devious smile, giggling even more.

"Nothing." Her smile grew. "I just think it's funny the way you watched him." There was a glint in her eyes. I didn't say more, just gave her the "you-have-no-clue-what-you're-talking-about" look. She giggled again, barely containing her grin this time. Aeris just turned back to her pot on the stove, stirring contently, but still blushing. As I stand, I stare at a spot on the old partially rotted kitchen cabinet. A spot that looked like there was a stain of some sort, it was a darker color, maybe red or brown. It wasn't big, but it was noticeable enough for my eye. That isn't saying much, though, since my eyes don't miss anything.

I glanced back up when I heard a door open in the direction Leon had went in. He was standing next to me now, stone eyes staring hard into my skull as he held out the assorted clothes for me. I was surprised to see him so close so soon, so I turned to him, both eyebrows raised, and took the clothes from his arms. He smirked, taking pleasure in the slight weakness I showed. "They should fit you, but they may be too long." He told me, one eyebrow quirked as I averted his gaze once again. He had the upper hand and he knew it, which drove me mad beyond reason. How he had gotten that upper hand, though, I have no clue. I may be submissive, but I'll be damned if I give into him without a fight.

"Thanks." I mutter, before brushing past him defiantly to change into something more appropriate. I heard more of Yuffie's giggling as I entered back into the bathroom, and snickered, knowing he must have been watching me walk away as well. Well, at least I know I'm not the only one, now. The clothes are… Interesting, per say. A plain black turtleneck, but it fit rather tightly, and a pair of grey sweats that hung loosely off my frame, covering half of my foot in the process. No underwear, which in a way disturbed me, but I got over it quickly. I fixed my hair in the mirror, and dried my face more, then discarded the towel and moved to the kitchen once again.

Everyone was seated with plates in front of them, an empty space and a plate set aside for me, I assumed. Yuffie and Aeris looked up and greeted me with warm smiles, but Leon ate without even recognizing any of his surroundings. His eyes were fixed on his plate. That brat… I give the girls a charming smile back, taking my seat rather quietly and eating in my usual manner, somewhere in-between polite and piggish. I'm hoping it's more on the polite side of the spectrum, considering I'm in the company of two full grown women. Well… At least Aeris was a full-grown woman, there was no doubt about that.

Yuffie took a few more bites of her meal, looking to be in contemplation, then set her fork down on her plate, staring me down. I look up at her, a questioning look I suppose, awaiting her question or statement with my fork in mid air. "Cloud, where have you been all this time?" She asks in a hush, so unlike herself it scares me. I drop my fork to my plate purposely, crossing my arms on the table, setting my head on my arms as I thought. I don't know how to word this, since I haven't been doing to the most honorable work… But then again, I was talking to Yuffie, and I did work for AVALANCHE back in the day. Sighing, I look to the tablecloth, inspecting the fine weaving and crumbs resting on it.

I swallow before starting, "I… I'm not hungry." I sit back up completely, pushing myself back from the table and standing up. A high-pitched noise comes to my ears, kind of like when you're fixing a stereo station and you get mixed up signals from other places before the static. I rub my temple as Aeris and Yuffie scold me.

"What do you mean you're not hungry? Look at you, you're a stick! You need to eat!" Yuffie told me, standing up as well in over-emphasis of her point. My eye twitches slightly, and beads of sweat form on my forehead. I feel like I'm having some sort of allergic reaction to something, but I'm not sure what, or why. Aeris stands up as well, walking over to my side and placing a warm hand on my forehead. Yuffie gave a concerned look, while Leon just ate his meal, his eyes watching in half fascination, half pure and utter boredom.

I clench my teeth as the noise gets louder, both hands on my ears now. I hunch over a bit, as if that'd get rid of the noise tearing my eardrums apart. "Cloud?" Aeris asks softly, but causes me to wince. I stumble back awkwardly, back slamming against the nearest wall. It sounded like something was trying to contact me. Suddenly, a familiar, dark voice came back into my head.

"You think you got rid of me?" A cackle. "Well now… You're still a part of me, Cloud." The way he said my name gave me chills. It always has. "Don't think you would be rid of me forever. I'm looking for you, now that you're out of Hades' care. Don't worry, you'll see me soon enough." Another cackle, and the last thing I hear before I fade out completely is someone yelling my name. Funny though… It sounded masculine. And then an oblivious black.