Disclaimer: I don't own anybody or anything…I'm BROKE! Oh, wait, I own Yuki.
A/N: I wanted to make Cloud a little more open than he was in A.C., because in the end he seemed to be more relaxed. So yeah, that was on purpose.
Chapter 5
Confessions and Mistaken Identities
Yuki sat on a park bench, watching the trees sway in a breeze. Denzel sat next to her, swinging his legs and looking around. He did not seem to be bored, so they sat together, silent.
Yuki liked this silence. She had known about many different kinds of silence- the tense silence before a kill, the heart-hammering, sickening silence of hiding, and the sad silence of aloneness. This silence was something new, something different, the silence of two people who are so comfortable in each others' company that there is not really a need for words. They would talk, if they chose to, but not out of awkwardness or politeness. This was the silence of understanding.
They stayed that way for a while, watching the midday sun creep slowly down the sky. In the afternoon, the reverie was interrupted by other children, playing happily in the park. Two, a girl with a moogle in her hand, and a boy with soft blond hair, ran up to Denzel, gasping with exertion as they ran.
'Come play with us, Denzel!' the boy called as they ran up.
'Marlene's here too! She just got back!' the girl said excitedly. Neither one of them even saw the shadow of a woman that sat next to their friend.
Denzel did not run off. Instead, he hopped down from the bench and looked at the woman, lost in her thoughts.
'Is it okay if I go?' he asked quietly. Startled, Yuki looked at him.
'Of course you can go. You know you don't have to ask permission.' She said.
'No, I mean, will you be okay?' he asked.
'Don't worry about me, Denzel.'
He ran off with his friends, and she watched him for a while. It had never occurred to her that he might think she needed him. Maybe he knew she was broken. Was it so obvious?
She waited until the sky darkened, and then he ran back to her again.
'Come on, let's go,' he said, tugging at her arm. Obediently, she rose and together they walked, back towards the bar.
'You haven't met Marlene,' he said as they entered. 'Normally, she lives here, but Barrett took her on a holiday. She's back now, though.' He pointed at a girl who stood, with violet eyes and a soft, childish face, looking back at them.
'Nice to meet you,' she said, smiling at Yuki politely.
'Hi,' Yuki replied weakly, her voice sounding wooden. It was hard to meet new kids. Marlene seemed more carefree too, so automatically Yuki found herself clamming up. She could hear Marlene whispering to Denzel as they climbed the stairs.
'She's scary…'
'No, she's not. Anyway, heaps of people would say that Barret's scary.'
'He's not scary! He's nice!'…
Yuki sighed, and went towards the bar. Tifa was out, the bar usually closed in the afternoons. It was about 4.00; the bar would re-open at 5.30. That was Yuki's shift.
She grabbed a bottle of mineral water from the fridge, and started as the green glass reflected a person, seated at the table. She whirled around to confront them… and stopped.
Cloud sat at one of the tables, looking politely out the window. As she turned, he glanced at her involuntarily. Suddenly, they could not pretend the other one was not in the room.
'Hi…Cloud, wasn't it?' she said, flicking the lid off the water. 'Can I get you anything?'
'No, it's okay. I just came to talk to Tifa.'
'But, Tifa doesn't do the evening shift. She'll probably be out for a while.' He stared down at the table, tracing a pattern in the wood with a finger.
'That's fine. I'll wait.'
Yuki drank a little mineral water, wondering what she should do. Would it be rude if she went upstairs? No, she ought to confront him. She couldn't avoid him her entire life.
She strode to the table he was at, and sat down opposite him. He watched her but said nothing, a mildly angry expression glazing over his face.
'You remind me of someone,' she said, choosing a relatively safe topic. 'Your eyes. I've seen them before. I just can't remember where.' He said nothing. If anything, he looked even angrier then before.
Yuki knew that topic was no good, so she plunged into the next one.
'Look, I know we got off to a bad start. But you don't know what Vincent did. Him and Hojo, that is.'
Cloud sat up. His anger had turned sullen, but at least he wanted to listen. 'Why don't you tell me about it,' he suggested. Yuki took a deep breath, then released it and shook her head.
'I've never told anybody before. It's not exactly easy to talk about.' Even as she said the words, she knew that if he gave her the chance again, she would tell him. There was just something about the way he looked at her… She knew she had seen those eyes before. It made her feel as though there was some kind of debt to repay.
His face softened. She could see he was visibly trying to act nicer, controlling his anger.
'I never wanted to talk to anybody either,' he said. 'It's only lately that I've found I can.'
'Vincent should really be the one to tell you.'
'I'd prefer to hear it from you.'
That comment made her look at him, frowning. He seemed surprised at himself too, but he remained stubbornly silent. Yuki took another deep breath, trying to empty her emotions. Then, finally, she spoke, her sentences painfully short.
'He helped Hojo to lock me up. I was ten, at the time. He never helped, never cared, even when I saw my parent's faces. He grabbed hold of me. He let Hojo drive the needle in.'
Her voice wavered. She concentrated on breathing properly. She had never dared to say it aloud. 'I shouldn't have told you. It was up to Vincent. I'm sorry.'
'Don't apologise. You had to tell somebody.'
They sat in silence for a while, the atmosphere considerably loosened.
'You should forgive him, though.' Cloud did not look at her- the floor seemed more interesting. 'You don't know what he's been through.'
'I know enough,' Yuki muttered through gritted teeth. Luckily, Cloud did not hear.
Yuki jumped as her phone rang, flipping it open.
'Lee. What's the matter?'
'You are a bloody idiot.' Lee's voice sounded strained.
'Why? What's wrong? I…found…the guy,' she said, aware of Cloud's listening presence near her. She remembered the man, lying on the ground while his blood froze him to death- the target Lee had wanted her to kill. She'd stolen good money from that, too.
'It wasn't the target. It was his brother.'
'Shit.'
'Get rid of the real target, and do it now, before he has a chance to crank security up any tighter. He's already hired ten more bodyguards!'
'Alright, I got it. Bye.'
Moodily, she jumped up from the chair, nodded to Cloud, and left. He waited five minutes, and then left as he heard Denzel coming down the stairs. For some reason, he did not feel like talking to Tifa anymore.
…
Thanks, hope you liked it, even though it was a little short this time, please review!