Hey everyone! Well, it's finally here- the last chapter of Enemies! I'm so sorry it took this long, school and the candidate cycle overpowered me. This is the first fic I've finished, so I'd like to thank everyone who read and reviewed, your support always made my day! So let's get on with the responses, and finish this story!
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Once the two men reached the hotel, Cloud lead them into a bar in back, grabbing a small table in the corner for them, and ordering two beers. He sighed heavily and looked at the brunette warily, as if he wanted to say something, but was holding back.
After a minute of silence and the delivery of the drinks, Cloud leaned his elbows on the table, clasped his hands together and leaned his forehead against them.
"So...you want to start?" came the weary, muffled question. Leon swallowed a bit painfully and took a gulp of beer to steady himself.
"Well..." Leon began quietly. "A few days after you left, I had a fight with Irvine. He was saying...some things that were pissing me off, and I couldn't put up with him right then. I went to look for him after dinner to apologize, and I heard his voice and Riku's coming from an alley."
Leon paused again to swig down more beer, and when he began again, he notice Cloud's eyes peering at him intently from over his hands, the rest of his face still hidden.
"Anyway, I heard Riku ask Irvine about his "progress" and Kinneas answered that it seemed to be going okay, that I still seemed protective of you," Leon stated, eyes avoiding Cloud and his face coloring slightly.
"Riku seemed pleased, but Irvine mentioned the fact that it was getting hard for him to lie to me, and that even though he was involved now, he still wanted to be friends with me, and he felt like he was hurting me," Leon finished, looking out the window where it had begun to rain.
"Leon," Cloud began softly, unsure of what to say.
"I was so stupid, I can't believe I thought he would still love me, and I can't believe how I just threw you aside when he came back!" Leon said, tears beginning to make their way down his face.
"It's just, he was the first person to get me out of my shell, and no matter how annoying he was at times, he understood me," the lion finished, not even trying to fight the tears anymore.
Cloud got up from his side of the table and came around to the brunette, embracing him.
"It's okay, I understand," the wolf whispered, stroking Leon's hair comfortingly. "We'll go back tomorrow and sort this out. For now, let's get cleaned up and get some rest," Cloud finished, wiping away the tears on Leon's cheeks.
The two got up from the table and left the money, heading upstairs to the hotel room Cloud was staying in to get some well deserved sleep.
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The two warriors returned home the next morning, to a house of very worried people.
"LEON!" a few of the group burst out when they saw him. "Where were you? Did you find Cloud? Is he okay?" Leon simply held his hands up silently, waiting for them to calm down. Then he looked back at the door over his shoulder and Cloud suddenly appeared there, with a few more bandages on than he left with.
"Cloud!" Aerith shrieked and threw her arms around him. "Where were you? Why did you leave?" Cloud said nothing and his eyes roved around the room until they landed on Irvine, standing anxiously next to a very calm Riku.
"You two have so much to explain," is all he said. This brought everyone's attention to the two, and Riku sighed.
"All right, fine," Riku said serenely. "When I arrived here with my friends, we were informed of the situation between Leon and Cloud. Not quite one thing, not quite the other. Hearing this, I formed a plan."
"Part of my story was true," Irvine took up. "I did get thrown into another world, and I was searching for everyone. I had heard bits and pieces, but nothing concrete. Then one day," Irvine got a far away look in his eyes, "I met this man named Ansem- it was actually Xenahort's Nobody. Then this kid," Irvine nodded in the direction of Riku, who smiled, "popped up and started attacking him. After everything passed, we talked, and he told me he knew Leon and where he was."
Irvine took a deep breath. "He also told me about another man named Cloud Strife. I learned that he and Leon were working on patching a rather rocky tolerance of each other."
Irvine smiled, "Then I learned that everyone saw something about the two of them that they didn't notice. Riku had secretly tried to plot his own scheme along with the numerous other matchmaking attempts that had already been made, but he was missing a few pieces. I sewed all that together- I had the perfect tie to you, Leon." Irvine looked apologetic.
"At this point I had already become involved, and I wanted to make sure you'd be happy without me, and this Cloud person sounded like he'd do a pretty good job, probably better, than me," Irvine finished, looking at everyone.
"I'm sorry we couldn't tell you sooner, and that I caused so much distress, I didn't expect that to happen," he added, glaring at Riku.
"Er yeah, sorry about that," Riku apologized sheepishly, looking sorry for the first time. As the silence finally lengthened all eyes turned to Leon and Cloud, who had remained silent the entire time.
The two looked at each other silently and turned to face Irvine and Riku. Leon looked at Cloud who gave a small nod.
"Well," Leon began slowly, "Irvine, we've known each other for so long, and we've gone through our own issues. Even though you did it in a crappy way, which wasn't entirely your fault," here a pointed look was aimed at Riku, "I understand your sentiments, and both Cloud and I appreciate them. We forgive you, and I hope you're happy with your new partner," Leon smiled.
"Thank you so much," Irvine replied, looking unbelievably relieved.
"As for you," Cloud picked up, turning to Riku, "well..." He and Leon smirked. All of a sudden Cloud jumped over the couch and darted toward Riku, who yelped, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him off as Leon raced toward Sora and also dragged him off struggling. The others heard a door open and slam shut with much kicking and shuffling, then a sudden click and muffled yelling and pounding.
The two returned smiling innocently, and simply replied to the inquiring looks in unison.
"We locked them in the closet." The group began to laugh heartily as the many issues had finally been resolved, and in the distraction, Leon pulled Cloud close to him and whispered, "I'll never be so stupid again. Please forgive me?"
Pulling back the blond wolf smiled and said, "Of course." With that, the lion was pulled down slightly into a passionate kiss, which they eventually realized the others had stopped to watch, the girls "awww"ing. They didn't care anymore.
OWARI
And there it is! The end of our story! Thanks again for all the support, and I hope to see you all on my next projects!
- ghostsofanime