Wow, I'm so glad to see the support for this fic! It's immense fun to write, and I'm glad other people enjoy it too. Gives me good reason to write it when I'm out of ideas.

Enjoy!

Broken Rituals- After Battle

Very few people truly understood what it was like to combat. Cloud used that particular word because it encompassed fighting and battling as well, and those were two different things to a seasoned fighter. Fighting implied the need to win at all costs, an all-out battle where the only thing that truly mattered was staying alive long enough to win. Battling implied a positive relationship, where the goal could be training oneself against a friend, or teaching a younger comrade, or for the pure enjoyment. That one could spill over into fighting, but fighting simply had a negative connotation. It was something hard to describe. Cloud couldn't say what, exactly, made combat a fight or a battle, he simply felt it. Still, the terms were so interchangeably used that Cloud hardly bothered keeping them straight in his speech.

To an inexperienced soldier, fights were frantic, where sharply-honed reflexes, if they had them, kicked in more than logic and rationale did. It was a struggle for survival, where the knowledge of your own helplessness and the fact that any wrong move could cost more than pride drove adrenaline into their brains like a drill to a nail, only making that franticness worse. To an experienced fighter, that adrenaline was a source of life, and the energy to continue this battle, but it never reached the levels needed to override logic. Every move was deliberate, every reaction carefully plotted into the makings of a larger plan by which to ultimately win. With the objective usually being death or out of commission, there was little care to take heed to where exactly you were aiming—any place was good, though of course, the deadlier the better.

When battling Leon though, he did have to watch out for where he was aiming. He didn't want to kill Leon, obviously.

Out of the rush and danger of fighting, battling was almost sensual, a dance in which adrenaline contributed to a racing heart, a constant flush to one's cheeks, where breaths were heavy and shuddering or shallow and husky. Where their bodies brushed against each other in light touches or full body-slams, and the heat emanating from them was almost suffocating. There was a deep-seated calm in their eyes that made them even more aware of every fluttering ghosting of their skin against each other, because the objective here wasn't death, or even victory, but pure, undiluted delight and pleasure. It helped that not only did their battles serve to ease the boredom and routine of their lives, but it also trained them. They were both so skilled, that even though they'd memorized every move and inclination of the other, Cloud's tendency to follow up a side swipe with a kick, or Leon's to feign just before an overhead blow, they still always managed to catch the other unawares somehow, to rise above the challenge of fighting someone who knew their body's every instinct.

It was absolutely exhilarating.

His mind always had to be sharp, constantly on the watch for a new move meant to catch him off guard, always while running through every limitation of his body, trying to figure out how to best Leon. It would have been thrilling to watch them, always on their toes, their minds exhausting themselves with the effort of coming up with something to displace any attempt to win by the other, all the while circling each other like a hostile wolf and lion. They'd discovered an array of new moves this way, with one of them stopping to ask the other if he could possibly repeat what he'd just done, to engrain the series of actions in his mind to call up later. The best parts, however, were when the contest became so desperate and intense that instinct took over, and Cloud was young and inexperienced again, living off adrenaline and only his body's well-trained reflexes led his body into the fluid forms he'd learned when young. Except it was different, because it wasn't a frantic struggle for survival, and he wasn't inexperienced, so he was able to enjoy their bodies' liquid, gravity-defying dance and appreciate the rush.

Cloud wouldn't trade it for the world.

Their swords clanged, sparks of fire stinging his skin before Leon threw off his weight, and Cloud had to do a backward round-off to avoid losing his balance and falling prey to the bite of the Revolver. With inertia still roiling in his steps, he sprung forward, and Leon was able to whirl to the side, but not in time to avoid the tip of the Buster sword, which dragged along his shoulder. Crimson contrasted beautifully with the neutral colors of Leon's clothes and hair. His momentum, however, allowed him to swing his blade in a full circle, catching Cloud's unprotected back. The blonde stumbled forward, drawing his breath in sharply before turning to face Leon again.

They stood in a stalemate, breathing harshly, their gazes cold and hard in this environment, though just underneath was that deeper understanding and respect that they held outside of battling, and deeper still, something else that they were unable to recognize in themselves, much less the other.

The gash on Cloud's back, though not debilitating, was hot and searing, and he shifted uncomfortably to alleviate the pain, glancing at his sparring partner. The Buster sword's deep bite trailed across Leon's shoulder, and was bleeding profusely. The brunet's breathing was labored, and he held his chest delicately, though the fire in his eyes didn't lessen, in fact, it only seemed to glow brighter, as if daring to tell him he was out of the game.

Well, Cloud knew better than to say that to Leon. Still, there were other ways to end the match.

Cloud let himself collapse on to the ground, Buster firmly encased in the stone floor, "I'm done for today," he fanned himself, watching Leon carefully out of the corner of his eyes. Usually, a tacit understanding led to the end of their training sessions, but when Leon was adamant about continuing, the only thing that would stop him would be for him to see that Cloud couldn't, or didn't, want to go any further—and Cloud used that to his advantage. It was odd, because there were so many instances where he'd be too prideful, or embarrassed, or simply afraid, to admit any sort of weakness, but maybe it was because he knew that it was for Leon's sake that he was showing weakness that he didn't mind doing it in these circumstances.

It took a moment of hesitation, but finally, Leon too, collapsed, his gunblade clattering to floor. Wiping the sweat off his forehead and giving Cloud an almost annoyed look, though the blonde knew better, he asserted, if only to make sure Cloud didn't misunderstand, "I could have gone another round."

Cloud chuckled, "Sure, tomorrow."

Leon fumed adorably, "You did that on purpose because you thought I couldn't go any further."

Cloud hid his smirk by taking his shirt off, wincing as his back was stretched painfully, "Heaven forbid I doubt Leon's ability, I actually just felt it was about time to call it a day," he stood, his legs shaking a bit as he tossed his shirt to the ground and slipped out of his shoes, whose straps he'd already undone. Vincent's cloak and claws were too much for this kind of close combat, and unfair in a match testing skill with blades, so Cloud always removed them, leaving them in a respectful pile by the entrance to the underground training area, next to where he left his things.

The water that flowed into their training ground was fresh and cool as Cloud dipped his head, letting the heat almost radiating off his skin be countered by it. Though he'd dubiously stared at Leon the first time he'd stepped into the water, the brunet had assured him the water was clean—it flowed downstream to the city, and Merlin had placed a purifying spell on it anyway, for this particular reason.

Leon's almost pouting glare—though Cloud would never dare call it that out loud—finally relented, and he followed suit, pulling off his shoes with his good arm, and stripping his belts, leather jacket, and his t-shirt as he stood up. He swayed momentarily as breathing came hard, his chest expanding painfully, and he tried to hide it, but luckily Cloud's back was turned. He shivered as he stepped in, going deeper and deeper until the water came up to his waist, and then found a stone he could sit on. The water chilled his body and eased his slight dizziness. Cloud submerged his head further into the water, before swimming over to sit next to the other man. Sitting, the water came up to the top of Leon's shoulder, but Cloud was in all the way to his chin, almost.

"Feels great… this is probably the handiest place to have a training ground," Cloud muttered, leaning his head back. His wing upturned the water behind him, tugged gently by the current. Even wet, his golden hair seemed to relatively hold that unnatural hairstyle, and the crimson heat hadn't left his face yet. His eyes were still bright from the excitement of battle, but Leon thought it was an almost unnatural glow, unnerving had it not been the fact that it was Cloud's, and somehow, that made it almost comforting.

Leon's eyes grazed over Cloud's small body, his bare chest distorted by the running water around, but he could see the faint scars—one particularly large one, though faded, in the center of his abdomen, and he knew from previous times, that it had a twin on his back too. He shuddered to think of how bad that injury must have been. Not that he was unmarked either, various scars marred his skin as well, and there was of course, the infamous one on his face that had its mirror twin too—on Seifer's face… He closed his eyes for a moment and the sneering smirk and lost eyes came to mind, but he quickly shook his head and locked them away again, focusing on Cloud instead. On his lithe body, with his beautifully pale skin and jadedly naïve eyes, they seemed as pitiful as jarring scratches on a diamond.

It's funny, he thought. When Cloud had first appeared, Leon had been immediately struck with a sort of wary respect. He could feel the steely tenacity, the pained aura that was so like his own, see the glow of his dangerous eyes, but he'd been doubtful, nonetheless, that Cloud could ever gain the upper hand against him.

He realized how badly he'd underestimated Cloud when he found himself on the ground, gazing up rebelliously along the length of the Buster sword digging into his chin. Since then, he'd found that though he could physically overpower him, Cloud's speed more than made up for it. They each used this fact to the utmost advantage in their battles, so that after a while it was a useless advantage because the other could counter it.

His head still felt like it was stuffed with cotton, so he stopped thinking so hard. Instead, the eddies of red that flowed around them caught his attention, and he absently reached up to brush his shoulder. The pain had eased thanks to the cold of the water, but it appeared it was still bleeding.

Cloud finally sighed contentedly and lifted his head, shaking it briefly to dislodge the water and spraying Leon in the process. And up until now he'd managed to keep everything but the tips of his hair from getting wet too…

"Watch it," he muttered, raising his arm to wipe the water off his face and immediately hissing andgritting his teeth, lowering his arm again to cradle it.

Cloud was instantly there, as he was so inclined to do when Leon was hurt, and it was attention that Leon was unused to, "Let me see that, it's still bleeding pretty badly."

"So's your back," the ex-SEED responded stiffly, embarrassed and confused, but Cloud ignored him and took Leon's arm gently. Leon wondered where the concern in his eyes came from, how it was possible that eyes that were so merciless in battle could be so soft and glow so peculiarly…?

A soft Cura was whispered, and the bleeding lessened, and the flesh began knitting itself slowly, so that in a couple days there wouldn't even be a scar. They didn't offer apologies, for in the heat of battle, anything went, and you could only hope that your reflexes were good enough to hold up against your opponent. It was unnecessary to apologize between them.

Slowly and tantalizingly, Cloud dragged his fingertips from his shoulder along his collarbone and then to his chest. Sapphire eyes narrowed worriedly as his fingers ran over the length of Leon's chest gingerly, where a large, dark bruise had arisen. Their battles were never gentle, but this one had been particularly rowdy, and at one point, Leon had been rammed painfully between the Buster and a hard place—in this case, a wall.

"You're having trouble breathing," Cloud stated, glancing up concernedly, and for once, Leon didn't feel the need to get defensive and refute that he was fine. This was just a routine tallying up of injuries—they were used to it. After all, in their worlds they'd grown up with the tallying up of casualties after battles and tending to their wounds.

There was a definite relief in knowing that Cloud already knew his strength, so he could indulge himself a little. He was surprised to find that he didn't feel that compelling need to hide all frailties and debility in front of Cloud. Was it because Cloud too, understood what it was like to have a duty to be strong, and to be the marble tower to others?—In his case Aerith, Yuffie, and even Cid took silent comfort in Leon's steely calm that could be counted on at all times. Leon could not, and much worse, did not know how to let them down.

Nor his walls of defense.

But with those currently suffering under Cloud's piercingly clear sapphires, polished into a soft luster by concern, he wasn't sure how to react. The blonde's fingers fluttered over his bruised chest, taking in the damage and gently pressing soothing waves of the warm Cure magic.

"Breathe in, deep."

Leon followed the instructions of the younger man without question, inwardly surprised at what that meant—when had he so easily began to trust Cloud? He'd never had a reason to distrust Cloud, but still… he'd simply done as Cloud had said without even really registering what he was saying, something he most definitely did not do, as a matter of soldier-bred suspicion. And when had Cloud gained that calm confidence when speaking to him, that of friends who have no doubts between each other? It's not like they were, not really, it was more of an… alliance… and yet Leon couldn't say that there wasn't something between them…

He grimaced as his chest expanded, and Cloud noted so and pressed right below his sternum. The pain was hacked off abruptly, and his head began to clear as he was able to breathe normally again. He closed his eyes, breathing once… twice… thrice... only to have them shoot open as he felt a warm touch tentatively pressed against his face.

"…Better?" such a beautifully soft tone out of equally beautiful eyes, as the small hand cupped his face and he knew there had to be something wrong with him because he was trembling under that innocently concerned gaze, laced with something much darker that enticed and terrified him all the more.

He swallowed and nodded, aware that his eyes were still wide and he tried to control the nervousness that had somehow sprouted at that gaze. The blonde flashed a quick smile, as if unaffected by it all.

"It's a trick I learned from Zax… it's a pressure point," his eyes got a far-off look after that, his hand playing idly with the water, and Leon remained quiet. He wanted to say thank you… but wasn't sure how. He was still trying to control his quickened breathing.

"It's useful," he said instead, and once Cloud looked up again, motioned towards him, "Let me see your back."

"It's not bad," he turned around anyway, and Leon was glad that he didn't have to contend with his piercingly clear eyes any longer. The quiet tension between them was so unnerving, and yet at the same time, it wasn't tension so much as unfamiliarity with comfort, but how was it possible that it was both? For, with no one else would Leon have been able to speak to so easily, or express himself to the extent he did with Cloud. They were both horrible speakers, but with each other, they could take the time to form the words they truly wanted to say. It didn't solve the problem, but there wasn't that pressure to say what they needed to say quickly, like they did under Aerith or Yuffie's expectant gazes. They expected nothing of each other… and when one expected nothing, it was easy to surpass the expectations, wasn't it?

Cloud's dark, glorious wing was raised high into the air above the wound, but Leon couldn't take his eyes off it. It ceased to amaze him, especially in moments like these, when it was ethereal and beautiful, and contrasting starkly with the creamy paleness of Cloud's skin. He laid his hand on the cold flesh at the base of the wing, and Cloud flexed his shoulders backin anticipation, breathing deeply. The smooth, leathery membrane quivered, water droplets rolling off as Leon ran his fingers from the base to as high as he could reach, holding back a chuckle as Cloud lowered his wing to allow him to reach the tip. It amused him how much the blonde loved the contact, and he had to admit, though only in a small corner of his mind, that he enjoyed it too. Otherwise he wouldn't do it in the first place, but he would rather not think about the reasons behind the action and just do it.

He fingered the area around the gash on the small of Cloud's back. Luckily, the Revolver hadn't gone deep, but it did look uncomfortable—anytime he shifted, the wound would pull. He muttered a Cure and there was a green shimmer that clotted the rest of the blood.

The only sound was that of the water trickling over rocks, a crystalline sound, and it flowed around them like the tinkling of a harp serenading the calm. His hands rested easily on Cloud's shoulders, listening to his breathing and the water, enjoying the moment. The skin underneath his hands was warm and inviting, and he sighed and leaned his forehead on the base of Cloud's neck and now the heat spread across his forehead and made him feel heavy and clouded, like he was under a trance where everything seemed to be going in slow motion and whirling about him.The air was molasses, and the sound of rushing water a far-off echo in his ears.

Minutes that seemed like days or years, or a second in retrsospect passed. In this position, it was easy to feel the sudden tension in Cloud's shoulders, and he felt the back of Cloud's head bump with the top of his as the blonde leaned his head back in surprise, but he ignored it. He was feeling drowsy and at peace, and he like the cold that bathed his body and the warmth that spread through his hands and face. And his scent… Leon thought it was familiar, warm and soothing, but he didn't know from where…it reminded him of burnt honey—something fiery, but sweet…

And Cloud didn't say anything, relaxing and leaning back, wondering what had come over Leon. He wasn't going to deny that he didn't like it—it was more surprising than anything, Leon was shy of skin contact, contact of any kind, it seemed, and yet here he was initiating it, and Cloud wondered how he was supposed to respond. He didn't mind—Leon's hands on his shoulders were a comfortable weight, and he could feel the warm bursts of air on his back as Leon's breathing slowed, and his own heartbeat slowed too as if in response to the calming atmosphere.

But he was afraid too, of what this meant, and he couldn't describe why exactly… was he afraid of getting close to Leon? Was he afraid of the comfort and intoxicating calm that was consuming him, a sort of dizzy rush that made him want to just stand there, with Leon's breathing warming his back, and now ghosting over his ear and along his shoulder, and he couldn't really register what was going on, only that he felt like this was a surreal dream, and he was dying, drowning in this feeling of dizzying calm…

"…Cloud."

"Leon…" he responded shakily, hoping his voice wasn't trembling like he thought it was. Leon's chin now rested on his shoulder, his hand having moved down to loosely cling to the younger man's forearm, and the hot breath made him shiver again. Cloud lifted his arm slowly, bumping it into Leon's cheek and hesitantly reaching further back, digging into his smooth, slightly damp hair, threading it through his fingers and with Leon's mouth at the shell of his ear, he was able to hear the contented noise that slipped from it. He turned his head slightly, exposing to Leon the curve of his neck, and murmured, "It's getting late."

Yet his hand didn't move from where it was entangled in Leon's hair, and Leon didn't lift his chin from where it dug into Cloud's shoulder, and neither truly minded, though they knew they were treading into unfamiliar and possibly dangerous territory… but it didn't feel like it.

"You're cold," was the eventual response, a low rumbling that made the blonde's breath catch with how electrifying it was.

"You're the one shivering," he pulled a strand of chocolate hair to emphasize his point. Leon's fingers were quivering on Cloud's arm, though he really wasn't sure whether it was just from the cold. How had this happened? How had they reached this point, where their bodies were so close they shared the heat that the water was slowly draining from them? It had happened so slowly, so naturally, so unconsciously, that it was almost frightening.

The sudden movement of Cloud stepping away from him, the hand that had been running through his hair sliding out—he'd hadn't realized how hypnotizing the feeling was— and the splash of cold water as his hand slipped off Cloud's shoulder and into the water jarred him from the trance he'd been under the whole time, and he stood in shock for a moment, regaining his bearings.

Cloud's glowing sapphires were watching him coyly, though his lips were pulled in a slight smile, and in a smooth movement, the blonde leaned forward, his hand pressing briefly against Leon's chest as did so, cold and wet from the water. His lower lip brushed against Leon's earlobe, and the voice was almost nonexistent, so that it broke like waves on a rocky shore before smoothing out like silk, "Let's go."

Then it was gone, though the trailing breath had traveled along his jaw and just above his own lips. Cloud turned back around, shifting through the current, and Leon shivered and watched him go, reaching up to touch his ear dazedly.

And he didn't know why, but something inside him was beating madly.

Wow... I get so... rushed or dazed when I write stuff like this, cause I get so caught up in the moment, it's just like your mind's floating somewhere... I hope I did a good job portaying the sensual tension here, because it's so hard to write, but so exciting at the same time. Now, here though I need comments on how I did with their in-characterness.