Disclaimer: Refer to Chapter 1, still don't own anyone.
Chapter 2
Morning seemed to be a torturous gift to everyone in the way it burned in through an almost empty home and the nearly empty, quieted halls of a hospital meant to be a source of refuge for the injured and house a place for the lost and weary to seek higher guidance. Streaming golden beams of the morning light was lighting up these places; each their own stage for what was coming, but its players was slow to rise. Enter the singular home that had been a place of sanctuary filled with warmth and hope, caring and smiling faces, welcoming embraces and charismatic charm. Filled with simplistic players that each to their own had a role to play in this act; the mother like figure but yet eldest Sister figure that saw over every squabble. A younger Sister was there to guide the misguided when the Motherly was unable to be at the beck and call of stilling the squabbles and shattered masses. Then finally, there was the little Sister. She was a role of the trickster and torturous little imp that found much joy in torturing those that were similar in position of being her older "brothers". But the "brothers", if that was what they were, were woven into a taboo act of love for one another, but it was shared then it was not shared of the same nature between the "brothers".
It was like watching the tale of Cain and Abel; it happened each time that the other threw their blows to one another.
Cloud would've fulfilled the role of Cain well.
He slew the Abel that was Leon, enough times to qualify.
Leon would offer simplistic gestures of just wanting to be in the man's presence and enjoy what they had, but then there were times that Leon would overstep the boundaries that had been set up in Cloud's simplistic, Cain-like mind. As a result of that, Leon would be hurt. Not in a physical sense, but the marks of the punishment for hurting Leon for overstepping those boundaries were imprinted on the brunet's mind.
No one had to look him over to know that they were there.
They were just there.
But now, the home that could've doubled as the Biblical Garden of Eden had been thrown into a turmoil stage change of Purgatory as it seemed; everyone was suffering in their own Hell. Even if the backdrop was of Purgatory, salvation was at hand as the Motherly figure, Aerith got up from the floor from her constant vigil over a quiet and comatose like Cloud to prepare breakfast. This house and the family within its walls were not going to be allowed to fall into despair even if one of its own was gone from the stage. Tifa stirred next as she saw that Yuffie was still out cold since last night as she walked, begrudgingly into the kitchen.
"How's Cloud holding up, Aerith?" Tifa allowed a glance over her shoulder as she saw that the blond was still huddled against the wall, the only signs that he was still alive was the rise and fall of his chest; "I guess he's still kicking himself over Leon…"
Aerith kept her gaze down at the bowl in her hands, "You want one or two pancakes, Tifa?"
Whenever Aerith would answer a question with something that wasn't relevant to the question; it usually meant she didn't want to answer the question or with the present situation, she didn't want to dwell on the present situation. Dwelling on what happened and what could've been done to change it was not her style. Vincent had not slept at all through most of the night and it wasn't because of the lack of not having Cid in his bed with him; he was not someone that required sleep as much as others.
"Morning girls," Vincent grumbled out as he sat down at the kitchen table, "Before you ask about Leon, Cid called me after he had been allowed in to see Leon, finally, and they may be keeping Leon in for a while; they want to ask Leon about why he did what he did…"
Tifa seemed crestfallen, "Did they say whether or not we can see him?"
"Leon…Leon…"Yuffie grumbled out from the sofa as she neared the edge of the sofa and the floor.
Vincent shook his head, "Cid didn't mention whether or not they would allow him visitors after last night's near miss…as far as Cid could find out; Leon coded at least three times before they pump his stomach," a soft chuckle came from Vincent next as he sipped on a cup of morning coffee, "Cid wasn't too pleased when he found that not only had Leon taken at least almost two bottles of sleeping pills; he chased them down with almost an entire bottle of the Rum from Port Royal."
Aerith chuckled to herself; it was her way of trying to hide her grief and pain about Leon, hoping her salty tears wouldn't fall into the batter cooking on the stove top, "That's Cid for you…"
Soft sniffling could be heard from the wall Cloud had taken to becoming friends with during the night; he couldn't believe the others were making light of the situation. Leon had nearly died, three times. To him, it was just a sick and twisted way of looking at the situation, but even in the hard times its best to make light of the situation. Cloud couldn't bring himself to do it, Leon was his soul and life and he had been the one, in a figurative way, placed the pills and Rum into the man's hands. While the others were making light of the situation, Yuffie started came to as she smelled the scent of fresh coffee and pancakes in the kitchen. It didn't take long for her to get over things as she bound into the kitchen, poking in and around Aerith's waist while she swatted at the girl's hands to keep out of the batter.
"Come on, Aer, let me just have a taste of what you're making…I bet they're not as good as Leon's," Yuffie felt tension rise in the kitchen as everyone seemed to halt everything they were doing, but then it turned as Yuffie pulled away, "I'm sure they're going to be good, Aerith."
Vincent was willing to endure the hounds of Hell for anyone, he was willing to put up with the fact that everyone was upset and worried about Leon, but the fact that it was as depressing as a Memorial for someone that wasn't even dead, that was something he could not stand much longer as he placed his mug down on the counter, "I'll call Cid up later and see if its alright with the Doctor that Leon have visitors…because I am going to go crackers in this house if you guys don't start getting happy. Leon wouldn't want to see you guys the way you are now…"
"Breakfast is done!" Aerith chirped up among the cold demeanor hanging over the house as the others turned to sit down and eat; no good going to see Leon on empty stomachs.
As if the lights had been blotted out like a real play, the lights moved to the quiet halls of the Hospital. The Hospital was beginning its dance of morning routines; patients were to be attended to, assure that during the night one of the patients didn't decide to die during the night. Vitals and Stats had to be checked, stir a patient here and there that was destined for another place; be it home or surgery, breakfast carts were starting to roll through the quiet halls towards hospital rooms. Sounds of wheeled carts wheels creaking and squeaking was the sound interrupting the silence of the Hospital halls, but the sounds of machines beeping and doing their own musical dances were coming from the occasional open room's door. Moans and groans of patients soon followed the beeps and wheeled carts wheels as well as the sound of family that had spent the night had loved one's bedsides as they checked on their loved one. The Hospital was becoming an ecliptic music hall of sounds that were being made by the most magnificent instrument that has ever been created that could not be created by human hands. Doctors were groaning at the realization that they had been on their feet for the last twenty-four or forty-eight hours or even longer without a moment of rest while cheerful Nurse's walked in. Those were the younger one's while the older Nurse's grumbled at the cheerful way the youth walked in, stupid to the way of how this Hospital changed them like the changing seasons. There was one final player that had yet to awaken amongst the sounds of odd bells and whistles; Leon.
Leon had spent a good part of the night in and out of sleep, unable to sleep in such a strange and awkward place; he had grown use to sleeping with Cloud and wakening to the blonde's arms slipped around his waist. Cloud's nose would be buried so far into the back of his scalp that he had to take a double take now and again to assure that he wasn't feeling cold because of an open window. Those feelings had not bothered to venture towards him last night and he couldn't roll to his side like he would've wanted to; damned I.V. that they had instilled in his arm had assured that wasn't going to happen. For one reason or another, Cid had found a way to fall asleep and at some point in the night Leon had managed to find a way to sleep to the sound of Cid mumbling about Vincent with a smile on his lips. Hearing the man's voice talking in an enchanted voice about the one in his life seemed to bring Leon some peace to fall asleep as his thoughts drifted to Cloud. But he hadn't been left alone in his sleep; he had thought when his World was destroyed by a force that had been entangled with the Darkness of the Heartless he had feared that the Guardian Forces he had obtained through hard work and training had all but left him. As unfortunate as it may have seemed, one seemed to have stayed around, housed about his neck this entire time.
~Flashback~
"…Why do you still lay here awake, Proud Prince of Balamb Garden? Rest is good for your harmed body…" a creature had appeared to Leon during the night that had come in the form of a mountainous beast with a mane of deep chestnut brown with a body build colored of a lighter chestnut color, "And why is that you are in this sterile place and not at home within the arms of the proud Wolf…? Did you and proud Wolf have another fight?"
Leon simply shook his head as he gathered his knees to his chest, hiding his tearful face from the proud animal, "I did something stupid…I tried to die to get away from the proud Wolf's pain against me…"
The animal seemed to nuzzle his soft muzzle up against Leon's, attempting to get the man to look up at him and as he did; he saw that tears in Leon's proud face. Its tongue lapped out at the tears that were falling until he felt Leon's arms bound around the animal's neck, pressing his face in against the animal's wild mane; it didn't have the heart to push the usually brooding man off of him. All it could bring itself to do was sit on its haunches and rest its head up around Leon's as it placed a proud paw about the man's back; bringing Leon in closer as to hold him like a cub that was looking for forgiveness after it did something bad. Leon's tears caught themselves in the animal's mane as the animal unwound from Leon; it wanted to hear more about what Leon had done and why he had done it.
"What did you do to yourself proud Prince…why did you want to die and why do you think proud Wolf is going to want to hurt you now?" the lion waited for Leon to answer as the man gathered his thoughts about him.
"…I took some pills that weren't not for me to take and I drank a liquid that I know Cid will not to be too happy about that I drank…and I did it because…" did he truly have an answer for what he had done? Did he really need a reason for wanting to escape from it all and the cause of why he had done it? "…because…I thought the proud Wolf was leaving me and didn't want me anymore…at least that's what I thought…and now, he might want to reprimand me for harming myself and thinking such stupid thoughts…"
A soft to heavy sigh came from the lion as it raised its paw to cuff Leon like a bad cub, but it simply placed its caring paw on the man's shoulder, "Silly proud Prince…proud Wolf will love you no matter what you do and he would never leave you…he thinks too much of you to leave you…"
"That's what he promises, but sometimes…"Leon started to yawn; it seemed that conversing with the Guardian Force, Griever had all but worn the man out, "…sometimes I don't know…if…it's worth the…"
Leon seemed to be drifting off as he curled up against the lion's paw, resting his head in against the crook of its leg, "Sleep now proud Prince…Sisters come tomorrow with proud Wolf, probably proud Wolf, to see you tomorrow…need strength to face Sisters, especially little Sister."
With a soft groan, Leon had drifted off to sleep.
"Leon…hey Son, time to wake up," Cid groaned as he rubbed one sleepy eye with one hand as the other softly shook the man awake, "Doc's here and wants to talk to you."
Leon groaned, why couldn't people just leave him alone for five more minutes? "Don't worry about it, Mr. Highwind, he's had a rough night and usually when cases such as his have come through something like what he went through…they tend to want to avoid all contact, if at all possible."
Cid was lost in what the Doctor had said, "Give it to me straight, Doc, only had some country bumpkin education as a kid and fancy big words like that and wording like that kind of makes the head a little too befuddled…"
"In simple terms, Leon has to wake up when he wants to; he's got a road to recovery ahead of that's going to be hard since he doesn't want to face his "family" after trying to commit suicide…he's feeling guilty over what he did," the Doctor remarked as he looked over Leon's chart, but what he or Cid didn't see was that the man had cracked his eyes open, "Good Morning, Mr. Leonhart."
"Morning," things were going to be none to simple or easy for anyone now.
Leon only started talking in singular words or phrase of lines when he knew he was in true trouble or didn't want to speak to anyone. Cloud usually was the one that got this kind of treatment or people Leon wasn't familiar with; it had become a safety net to fall into whenever things got too bad for him to handle. The only person he knew that spoke in singular words or phrases had been a young woman known as Fuujin that ran with the man who had been the one to make him doubt being loved.
Cid grumbled to himself as he fought back thumping Leon upside the head, but the Doctor seemed to stop that, "You hungry? Because I'm sure I could wrangle up a breakfast tray for you from the breakfast cart."
"…Sure."
"Anything special you would like?" the Doctor was attempting to make conversation; the only way to get to a patient that had attempted Suicide was to attempt and be as friendly as possible, but not too quickly, "Eggs, toast, something easy on the stomach?"
"Coffee."
Cid was slowly losing it, "I wouldn't mind a cup of tea, but I've got a question, Doc."
The Doctor turned his gaze towards Cid, but always watching Leon out of the corner of his eye, "What is it, Mr. Highwind?"
"Would it be alright if my "family" came to visit the kid? They were kind of shaken up after last night's fiasco with the ambulance being called out and the near death experience the kid had last night…I'm sure they'd want to see him," Cid watched for a change in Leon's expression, but it hadn't changed from the hardened glare of a Lion plastered on his face.
"I don't see any harm in it, but the visits are going to have be short because I've scheduled a time for Leon to speak to someone in our Psych department; it only seems best that he speak to someone about what happened," there was no ill movement from Leon; it was as if he was a simple statue watching and admiring the unfolding drama around him.
Lovely, another person to blab my woes to.
Cloud had been in quiet counsel with his own seemingly quiet and to itself personal Guardian most of the morning; the animal was a stoic and quiet wolf that had appeared to him after Zack's death and during his times of brooding. It had been the reason Cloud had appeared short and uptight when around Barrett and the others, especially Tifa during the time of AVALNCHE. Eventually, Tifa had managed to piece together what had happened to her childhood friend. But it had been Aerith's "special" personality that had brought the wolf forth; her gentle kindness and Cloud's seemingly quiet and not too forward interest in the brunette healer had caused the animal to slink forward. It liked Aerith and her gentle ways. But to the Wolf, Tifa was seen as a companion and possible mate for its Host; it was destined forever to be a Lone Wolf, but Cloud shouldn't be. When Aerith had been killed by Sephiroth, the animal all but went to hiding and seclusion, leaving Cloud with the bitter anger that had been in the animal's heart which had fueled him to destroy Sephiroth. It was only after their World had been destroyed and they were forced into hiding into the World they were in now that the wolf had once again come out of hiding. Especially once it realized that Aerith was alive, Cloud had all but thrown his arms around the woman when returned from his showdown against Sephiroth in the Coliseum. The animal was all but ready to pounce out of Cloud, its Host, and lather the woman's face in affectionate licks and nuzzle itself in against her chest, but that all changed once its senses had locked in on Leon.
Leon had been something else.
Griever was never one to go looking or sending out a scent for someone else to pick up on its want for another to latch onto, but its mere sad demeanor was hidden behind the mask Leon had placed on himself to hide from the World. He buried all of his pain of the past down deep and away from everyone, but his Guardian Force, Griever, wore it like a badge of honor and it had become the come hither scent that the wolf, Fenrir, had picked up on and sought after. It was those scents that lead Fenrir to try and nearly kick his Host's ass into realizing he had someone that liked him in many ways was right in front of his face and could use the companionship. If not on a level of platonic love for the man, at least someone to talk to or at least spar with because asking Yuffie to fight him or even Tifa was just asking for Cid to beat the man upside the head.
"Stupid Lion knows he messed up, but he's afraid you'll hurt him if you see him or if he sees you…if you do see Stupid Lion, be nice to Lion…he's hurting bad, Host…you hurt him deep, Host," Fenrir paced back and forth in front of his Host as now and again he would send soft growls and grunts at Cloud, "Stupid man you are…Stupid Lion loves or at best loved you and what you do? You spit in his face with telling him to not wait up for you when you got back from your Mission at Land of Dragons. Be glad this One not leaving you to be like every normal human Host; empty and soulless…"
Cloud sighed as he ran his hand through his hair, waiting for the animal to stop pacing; he was getting dizzy, "What do you suggest I do? See him or not see him? Either way, he's going to be upset and frightened of me…"
The animal finally stopped pacing as it huffed out a heavy sigh as it seemed to give Cloud a dignified glare, "This One say you take your time with Lion…Lion is going to be skittish for a while after what happened…Give Lion space and when time is right, then you may approach him, only if he wants you to approach…"
"You better be right or else I'm going to have one hyperactive Ninja, a big breasted terror and a quiet, but fierce Healer and an even more pissed Airship Captain and his Dark Angel lover on my ass," Cloud heavily sighed as he rubbed the pads of his fingers against his temples, "I've got to get up and eat breakfast before Yuffie kicks my head in."
"Good luck, Host and remember; Lion might need space, afford him that much…" with those final words, Fenrir disappeared from Cloud as the man uncurled his tightly balled body and made his way for the kitchen table.
Cid was content with his mug of tea as he watched Leon staring at the plate of food in front of him and the half drank or hardly touched of coffee on the tray table; he hadn't seen Leon move an inch after the Doctor had left. A soft sigh came from the Captain as he moved out of his chair and for the doorway, "I'm gonna go make a call to the House, let 'em know that the Doc gave the green light to see you, the girls will be happy to hear it."
"…If Cloud comes," Cid stopped at Leon's coarse voice speaking up that was laced with a shaky tone of fear and rejection for the man, "…Tell him that I don't want to see him, at least, not just yet. Its nothing personal, I just need to get my thoughts in order."
"Can do kid," Cid finished his travels out the door and down the hallway towards the Ambulance bay where he had been dying to smoke out of every orifice if it was humanly possible the night before, "Hey Vince, got news for you on Leon."
Vincent made soft grunts and groans as he listened contently to his loves voice over the phone; filling him on every detail about what was going to happen, Leon was going to have stay for about a week at local rehab center. At least Leon didn't know about that detail just yet; he was going to be allowed Visitors throughout the day, today only, but they would have to be brief since Leon had an appointment with the Psych Department's Doctor. What crushed Vincent but what he saw coming was Leon's proclamation about Leon not wanting to see Cloud, at least not yet. Vincent took it all to heart as he heard the tired tone in his lover's voice and he could tell the man was probably due for a cigarette break or two, or more by this point. Just the thought of a jittery Captain without his cigarette fix, fight the urge to snap at someone because of lack of nicotine and even more, lack of a certain Dark Angel, just made the man laugh.
"I'll pass the information on to the girls and Strife…I don't know how Strife will take the news, but I'll handle it when it happens, we shall be over this afternoon…Yes Cid, I'll bring you your smokes…Just calm down and try and have a clear head for Leon; he needs someone with a clear head around him right now…Alright, I'll see you then my love, goodbye Cid…" Vincent hung up as he let out a heavy sigh, "…Time to face the wolves."
Food didn't seem appealing to Leon at the moment; the taste of the activated charcoal they had passed down his throat to get the pills out of his system had still been on taste buds. Everything that could have passed by his lips just made him want to gag, but the smell of the food was filling his senses and making him internally salivate; even Griever was starting to salivate. He was whining at Leon to eat something because he felt he was wasting away; how could a Guardian Force waste away if it was only an a subconscious spirit in his mind? Griever had several arguments to come back with, but Leon wasn't about letting something in his subconscious get the better of him. To shut up the whining Lion that had turned into mewling kitten; he was going to forcefully feed himself and to his surprise, it didn't taste as bad as it looked or tasted going down as he made himself believe.
"I see someone's got a healthy appetite," a gentle voice called from the doorway; it was the Morning Nurse and everyway, she reminded him of his old girlfriend, Rinoa Heartlily, "How are you today, Mr. Leonhart?"
Leon was about ready to swallow the fork and the mess they called scrambled eggs all in one moment, but he had Griever to kick him back into real time as he swallowed the gob of egg and placed the fork down, "…Fine."
A soft smile graced the young ladies face, "That's good to hear, I'm just here to check your vitals and then I'll be out of your hair."
"…Fine," Leon remarked as a dust of blush crossed his face; he tried to hide the scar on his face, but it was hard to not miss.
"I guess you're a man of very few words," the Nurse began by taking the man's blood pressure as she stuck a thermometer into the man's mouth, "Can you hold that in there for a moment?"
Leon greeted her with a gentle nod, "Thank you," she began to go about her routine, but she never once noticed the scar on his face, "Have any visitors coming to see you?"
The man simply shrugged his shoulders; how could he answer if there was a thermometer in his mouth?
"Oh, sorry about that," she softly chuckled as she took the thermometer from the man's mouth, read the temperature and jotted down the blood pressure, "Well, you're within normal ranges; it was nice talking to you, Mr. Leonhart."
Leon softly grunted as he turned his eyes to the side of the bed; why did everyone in this World have to remind him of someone he lost back on his own World? It was torturous and not fair; who was it going to be next? Quitis, Irvine, Selphie, Zell…or even his old man? Life was torturous like that and he didn't like it; that's why he didn't want to exist anymore if he had to face torture like that by having to lose that he loved or cared about. Thoughts of that night he had tried to do away with himself wafted back into his thoughts; it had not been the first time he had planned and almost carried out killing himself. A few months after he had arrived in this World, after something as silly as the way Yuffie had tumbled down a set of three or four steps and the way she had landed had made Leon nearly break down.
Selphie had done that during his Final Exam to become a SEED.
He had bought all he was going to need to end it all and to follow through with it; he had bought the rope, the pills that would be the secondary assistance should the rope not help him in his attempt to escape this reality. Unfortunately, that plan had to be halted after word had been received that the fabled Keyblade Master was going to be showing up as well as the King's envoys. Then the countless numbers of Heartless that had slowly started to show up in Traverse Town had all but halted it all, but once the final doors to Darkness and Heartless were dealt with. Leon believed it was fate giving him a second chance at leaving all of this behind, but when he sought the materials he had hidden away for the action; they were unable to be found. Rope that had been hidden away diligently had been used for a better use; it was being used to pack up things to move everyone and everything into the last place of Darkness, Hollow Bastion. Pills had been for the strains and pains of the slowly moving to Hollow Bastion and eventual reconstruction of the hollowed and darkened World into the place known now as Radiant Garden.
Fate, you fickle bitch.
That had been all Leon could say to it, but even as fickle a bitch as it could've been; when Cloud had appeared in Hollow Bastion shortly after the Group had arrived, something had come over Leon. Cloud's mere appearance stunned Leon to his core; he represented to him everything he had been feeling, loss, doubt, loneliness and just the want and need to be away from everyone. A broken and scarred man like him, it just had to be way from the man was dressed, but Aerith had managed to fix that in the man. When he had watched Cloud wrap his arms hesitantly around Aerith as she embraced him; he felt his heart burn with something as he watched the man's soft blue eyes look towards him and if he hadn't heard it himself. He could've sworn that the man had purred at the sight of seeing Leon; if Cloud was Leon's imagery personified image of everything the man was, Leon was Cloud's imagery personified muse. Leon to Cloud was an image of utter perfection even he was marred on his face; he represented everything Cloud wanted to be, pure and Light. But that had all changed within months after Restoration was over and it seemed more everyday problems were slowly creeping up on the peaceful Worlds. Cloud seemed to be more and more away from Leon and at first, Leon had been up for facing that challenge head on; alright, the man he had taken comfort and solace in had to be gone for long periods at a time. What was the harm in it all? Alone was something he had grown accustomed to and it meant he could spend sometime to himself and read, something he had missed when he had started spending so much time around Cloud.
It only got the demon thoughts of abandonment stirred up.
Cloud had at one time had been called back from a Mission somewhere because the bastard he had been chasing for months, even after Restoration was over, had returned to Radiant Garden. This time, he was seeking Cloud out using bait; Leon.
~Flashback~
"So…you came after all?" Sephiroth smirked as he kept a hand about Leon's throat by running his gloved fingers about the collar he had snapped about the man's throat, "I'm glad to see you came for your little pet…He hasn't been that fun to play with…"
Leon cowered away from the man's fingers but gagged as the man's other hand yanked hard on a chain he had attached to the collar, pulling him in hard against Sephiroth; he could tell the man was hard from the sensation against his thigh. It took everything in Leon's shattered self conscious to not melt into it and cave into the man's ill will in front of Cloud. Sephiroth was enjoying this far too much.
"Let him go, Sephiroth…I'm the one you want," Cloud growled out at the man as he gripped First Tsurugi in his hands, "He's not worth your time; he's already made up his mind about people…He doesn't take lightly to new assholes in his life."
"Is that so?" a dark smirk had crossed Sephiroth's features as he leaned down, pulling Leon up close to his face as the man's tongue traced a simple pattern of a heart on Leon's cheek, "Are you that much of a prude, Leon…?"
Leon cowered away as he tried to escape a few inches from the man but he had realized it wasn't worth it as he felt the chain nearly choke the collar about his throat, "…Cloud, please…call him off…I just want to go home…"
"Oh, I'm sorry little Lion, but once I find what I want…"Sephiroth yanked hard on Leon's collar as Leon found himself having to slam into the man's nether regions, earning a guttural groaning moan from the silver haired man, "…I don't give in or up on my little prize…I'm sure that Strife doesn't regard you as more then just a friend…"
"…He…he…"Leon couldn't think or speak, but all he knew what came next was that he was disrobed of his shirt and jacket, but everything else aside from his belts and boots were gone, "…Where…where am I?"
A soft sigh came from the bedside, "You're home, Leon…Cloud would've been here to tell you that, but Aerith is working on healing and closing up some of the wounds he sustained in his fight against Sephiroth…"
"Tifa…"Leon groaned out, but it was raspy.
"Just rest…"
That's all Leon wanted to do now; even if the sleeping pills had been flushed out of his system through the Doctor's shoving charcoal down his throat to save his life, there still remained on his mind the thought of sleep. Tossing and turning, fighting over how he was going to face Cloud after the stupid thing he had done the night before had left him ragged and tired.
"…I didn't know then, that was when you truly cared…but when did you start to stop loving me, Cloud…?" Leon groaned out as his eyes became heavy, sleep coming on him; a nap would be nice, he could be fresh and ready for his friends when they came to see him, "…When did the loving all stop?"
