My apologies for anyone who's unhappy with how this story is ending. I think I've been rather fair to everyone but you all knew only one could win. There's one more chapter to go.

Please leave me a detailed review if you can. Thank you.

Riku sat in the highest remaining tower of the castle. It was a large airy room, with an opening the shape of a heart on either side to let wind pass through. He wasn't sure why he had chosen to come here of all places. Maybe it was to punish himself.

He despised this place. He was one of several people who favored simply demolishing the thing and putting up anything else. This damn castle was the focal point of too much sadness. That included his own.

He had long lost track of the time he'd been up here. Long enough for the sun to now be hanging low in the sky casting long shadows. Lately, twilight had really been calling to him. So much for the road to dawn. Maybe he should fade back into the darkness.

He'd owned up to what he'd done. Broken the hearts of the two he loved more than himself. What was left for him to do?

No he couldn't. He had to live with the full consequences of his mistake. That meant living in the same world as those whose lives he ruined. He had to watch them struggle to put things back together and then finally face the day when Cloud and Sora would find someone new to love and move on.

Gods that one hurt.

Sora deserved all the happiness in the worlds. He had given so much and never taken a thing for himself. There had to be something out there for him. He supposed, were Sora to find another, he would be able to handle it. In fact, it would make him quite happy. Somehow, he knew that Sora would always be a part of his life and that was enough.

Cloud was a completely different story.

He couldn't even contemplate the blonde with someone other than him. It was just wrong, impossible. Yes, Sora was his other half, the light to his darkness. But Cloud simply completed him. Cloud was his light.

He had gotten confused in his own mind and because of that, probably ruined everything. Sora, while likely to remain part of his life, will never forget this. Forgive him, yes that was a given. The boy forgave everything but his heart would be forever scarred. Riku would carry that weight with him forever,

He'd be completely surprised if Cloud ever spoke to him again.

So he was totally thrown when he heard footsteps and the soft clinking of buckles.

He didn't turn to look at him. "Why are you here?"

"I don't know."

Silence.

"Is Sora…?"

"Leon's with him. They ordered me to find you."

Riku snorted. There was a bitter quality to it. "I completely destroy his life and shatter his heart and he still…"

"Yeah." Cloud agreed. Leon was doing the same. Maybe those two would be able to heal each other.

"What do you want, Cloud?"

Cloud bit his lip. It was time to be honest, completely throw caution to the wind and let it all out. It wasn't like it could make things any worse. "I want to be with you. I want you to be happy and I want to be the source of that happiness. I thought that by letting you go and knowing you were happy, I would be content. I'm not. I hate myself for it but I can't stand to see you with Sora. I don't want you with anyone else.

"It's selfish, I know but you're supposed to be with me. I belong with you. I know this deep in my heart and soul. I'm not alive without you."

Cloud didn't realize he had started crying until his hand automatically reached up to wiped them away. He felt some weight lift off his shoulders now that he'd purged his true feelings out. He'd finally been honest with himself and the one he knew he'd love forever despite the outcome of today.

Riku remained in his place, back still turned. "I love you."

He sighed and his head tilted down. "You realize Sora will always be in my heart. He is just as much a part of me as I am him. Even if we never speak again, we will always be together."

"You're two parts of a whole." Cloud muttered.

"Yes." Riku chuckled lowly. "I wish I had understood that before I created this mess. Sora will never recover from what I've done to him."

"I don't believe that."

"No? Well, I pray your right." Riku slid off his seat and faced Cloud. He met those blue eyes with his own tear filled green ones. "I need you, Cloud. You're the one I'm in love with but there are conditions. If Sora is ever in trouble or needs me, I won't hesitate to go to him. I will die for him of I have to.

"If you can't accept that, we can never work."

Cloud kept his eyes trained steadily on Riku. He knew every word Riku spoke was absolute truth. Could he handle these facts? Could he honestly deal with it if and when Riku would leave him when his destiny called, possibly to never come back?

If he wanted to be with him, he'd have to.

He walked forward. He stopped about a foot from the silver haired teen, noting again just how beautiful he really was. How did he ever bring himself to walk away?

"You have your destiny and I have mine. I've made it through the worst of mine and that was because of you. Yours continues and until it's finished, if it's ever finished I want to be right there beside you." He slowly reached out to touch that pale skin. "Whatever it takes, whatever I have to do."

Riku's eyes had teared up and a thin trail ran down both cheeks. He didn't deserve this. He had done so much damage, how could this man still love him? Then Cloud kissed him lightly and he sobbed. His knees gave out and he dropped to the floor, Cloud carefully holding him against his chest.

Sora had calmed down considerably and was now staring at the bubbling water. Leon hadn't moved from his position and simply waited until Sora was ready. He really wasn't sure what he could do for the boy or even why he was attempting it.

No, that was a lie. He knew why he was here.

"You love Cloud, don't you?" Sora sniffled.

That came up a lot faster than he thought it would. He knew the subject would be addressed at some point but Sora had jumped right to it. And he could not avoid it. "Yeah, I do."

"Why?"

"Why?" He echoed in confusion.

"Why do you love him? What is about him that captured you heart?" That voiced contained so much pain but there was an inquisitive, almost thoughtful tone.

Leon was talking before he decided to. "I don't really know. He reminds me a lot of myself and yet he's so completely different. He's dealt with real, truly terrible things in his life. There are horrors he's faced I can't even imagine. I've had to go through some tough things but they pale in comparison to what he's faced.

"And the darkness has marked him. It's taken a toll on his entire being but he hasn't given up. I see how much he struggles, how hard he has to fight and I understand why he distances himself. He can't trust himself. He makes me feel like a damn self-centered bastard for thinking I've got thing so bad.

"Yeah, I'm terrified to let people in but that's because I don't want to be hurt again. He pushes away to save the one's he cares about. He's so selfless, it makes me mad sometimes. In the end, he ends up hurting himself which feeds the darkness and it's just this viscous circle."

Leon took a breath. "I love him and hate him all the same time. I love his giving heart and hate his self loathing. He deserves so much more than he believes he does and I just want to show him that."

Sora moved up to turn and sit on the stone. He kept his eyes downcast. With lower lip sucked in a bit, he was obviously thinking something over. "I guess, what I'm really asking is how does he make you feel?"

Leon stepped forward and took a place beside the teen. He laced his fingers before him. "I hate seeing him upset. I feel this tightening in my chest if he's unhappy and when he's angry, all I want is to destroy whatever the source of it is. Same goes for anything or one who causes him pain. Hell, I once took on Sephiroth for him and barely escaped with my life."

"You did?" Sora glanced over. "Wow."

The older man nodded once. He sighed and his shoulders slumped a bit. A tiny grin overtook his face. "Cloud has one of the most beautiful smiles I've ever seen. It's not particularly large or over bearing but it lights his entire face. I live to see that smile."

"Yeah." Sora whispered. "I understand that."

They sat together in a comfortable silence.

"Riku almost never smiles. He smirks a lot but so do you and Cloud. In fact, I always thought he had a lot more in common with you two than he ever did with me. Sometimes I wonder how we ever got together. We're so different, like night and day I suppose.

"We balance each other. I only feel whole when he's with me. But that was true even before we began dating. I think the reason I fell in love with him was I knew he'd never leave me. We belonged together and so it just made sense to become lovers."

Sora licked his upper lip. "I love being with Riku. I don't ever want to be separated from him again but I've realized something. I don't need to be Riku's boyfriend to love him. He won't leave me, he promised. We will still be together forever. Even if Cloud is added to the equation, it won't really change our feelings."

Suddenly, he looked over with a little smirk. "Course I'm gonna totally miss the sex. He's really good at that."

Leon found himself shaking his head but with a slightly amused smile. "Didn't need to know that."

"Probably not." Sora agreed.

"You really mean all this?"

"Yeah." Sora nodded. "It still hurts really bad but eventually I'll heal. It's gonna be a while before I'll be comfortable around Riku again and I don't know how long it will be before I'm okay with him and Cloud."

Leon snorted. "Right now I don't think I ever want to see Riku again."

"I understand."

"I've got an idea." Leon spoke slowly. He couldn't believe he was about to suggest this.

Sora seemed intrigued. "Okay, what?"