Title: Only Until Dreams

Rating: M

Summary: Cloud has been in love with a dream for quite a while. What happens when he meets the real thing? LC side-RS

Wow! unbelievably happy so many people reviewed! It totally cheers my day up when people read my fics, especially since I'm such a newbie in this fandom. Anyway, go LeonCloud! (They're practically canon since KH2!)

VVV

Chapter Two: Love's Labor's Lost

VVV

Knock, knock.

Cloud groaned as he heard the annoying knocking sounds. Whoever it was, he or she would have to wait. It was six in the morning, and he was cranky until eight. "Go away," he murmured, before burying himself into his pillow, drowning the incessant and getting louder knocks. He didn't even bother to think about who it was, seeing that the person was already inside his apartment and knocking on his bedroom door. All he wanted to do was go back to dreaming about Squall.

The blonde girl on the other side of the door sighed. "You asked for this, Cloud," she whispered, before taking a deep breath and—

BAM!

Cloud shook awake when he heard the sound of his door being forced open. He looked up to see Naminé grinning at him proudly, holding an axe. "Hey there, emo kid."

The blonde stared at her, then at his broken door, and then at her again. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY DOOR?" he shrieked, standing up and throwing a pillow at her.

His cousin ducked it, laughing. She waved the axe about. "Oh, it's just something I do when I want to interrupt Roxas' and Axel's private time together." She smirked. "Now rise and shine, Cloudy boy, your fluffy brethren of the same name are already out with the sun." She pushed back the window curtains, making the sunlight blind Cloud momentarily. The male blonde moaned and dove for the covers. But Naminé seemed to have anticipated this and pulled his blankets, dragging Cloud with her.

How did my little cousin get this strong? Cloud thought in disbelief as Naminé succeeded to pulling him onto the floor. "Okay, okay, I'm up!" Glaring at her, he stood up and looked around his bedroom. "The room's a mess, thanks to you." He eyed the broken door. "It's going to cost me a lot to get that fixed."

Naminé waved it away dismissively. "I'll get Axel and Roxas to take care of it for you. And I'll clean up everything, don't worry."

Cloud rolled his eyes. "You have your brother and his boyfriend wrapped around your little finger, Nami."

She grinned. "I have my ways." She put her hands to her hips. "Now that you're up, you can help me with my dilemma."

"The great Naminé? Needing my help?" Cloud shook his head, amused. And then his brain began to work. "Hey, wait a minute—Naminé, how did you get into my apartment? You don't have the keys!"

Naminé gestured to the axe. "What do you think I used this for?"

Cloud gaped at her. "Are you seriously telling me you axed down my apartment door? What will the neighbors think? You might be a serial killer on the loose, for cryin' out loud!"

She rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, everything will be fixed by the time we get back." She threw some clothing at him. "Now go take a bath and get dressed. We have lots to do today."

"We do?" The blonde blinked. "Hey—I haven't agreed to help you yet!"

"Yeah, but you still will," Naminé pointed out, smiling evilly. "Won't you, Cloudy?" She waved the axe around for good measure.

He cursed underneath his breath. Damn his cousin and her manipulative ways. "I don't really have a choice, do I?" He shot a dirty look at her before going to the bathroom.

Naminé smirked. "I have you wrapped around my little finger too, cousin dearest."

VVV

Riku was not in a good mood.

Actually, he was only in a good mood when he was with Sora, or when he was having sex with Sora. He did that a lot most of the time. So he was always in a good mood.

But not today.

Leon was totally pissed off over the fact that they supposedly scared a customer away. Hah! Riku knew better—it was probably Leon and his scowling face that scared that customer. But no amount of reasoning worked with his employer. Leon had deliberately separated him and Sora today. So he was stuck working with Yuffie on the counter and Sora was with Leon throwing clothes into the washing machines. He groaned in frustration.

Yuffie patted him sympathetically. "Aww, don't be so depressed, Riku. Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

"How is that supposed to make me feel better?" Riku growled, annoyed. Yuffie wasn't helping.

Yuffie blinked. "Uh, I dunno, really. I'm just spouting random love quotes in hope that they'll fit your situation."

Riku buried his face in his hands. This sucked. "If he doesn't loosen up and continue cutting my time with Sora…" he raised his fist. "You should get him that boyfriend soon, Yuffie. Or so help me."

The perky brunette smirked. "Don't worry, I've got everything planned out. In fact, I'm kind of meeting up my cousin today."

"Are you setting him up with your cousin?"

Yuffie shook her head. "Nope, I'm setting him up with my cousin's friend."

"Male or female?"

"Male. Spiky hair, blue eyes. At least, that's what Aerith said."

"Cool." Riku brightened up. "Kind of like Sora, don't you think?"

Yuffie thought about it. "Hmm, I guess you're right…."

"Can I come along and meet him?" Riku asked, now genuinely interested.

"Why not? Maybe you can help us come up with a good plan…two heads are better than one, right?" Yuffie chuckled evilly. "And we can even bring Sora along!"

Leon poked his head out of the storage room, frowning. "Less talk, more work, both of you."

The two of them rolled their eyes. "Yes, sir," they said, giving him a mock salute. Once he was gone, they both turned to look at each other.

"So have to get him that boyfriend," they chorused, shaking their heads.

VVV

"So, your cousin is dragging you along to do what?" Sephiroth asked. He, Zack and Aerith had already met up for their daily lunch meeting and the only one missing was Cloud. So they called him up to ask him where he was.

"She's dragging me to find furniture for their new home." The blonde didn't seem too happy about it. "She and her brother, along with her brother's boyfriend, are getting a new apartment. So she wants an advice of a gay man to help her."

Zack chuckled. "Poor, poor Cloud."

"Anyway, I'm really sorry but I can't meet up with you guys today…" They heard a voice in the background saying, "Cloud? Do you think Axel would want fireproof carpets?" and Cloud sighing. "This will probably take long. I'll just tell you guys all about it tomorrow." With that, he hung up.

"Hmmm…furniture shopping," Aerith mused. "One of my greatest loves." Her eyes sparkled. "I wish Cloud brought me along."

"Yeah, he should have," Zack agreed. "You're an expert on gay men."

Sephiroth snorted. "Well said, soldier."

Aerith rolled her eyes at them. "Thanks for being so supportive, guys." She looked at her watch. "But it's a good thing Cloud isn't here…Yuffie's supposed to meet me here and we're going to plan how to set Cloud and her friend up."

Zack perked up. "Can we stick around and help?"

"Of course you can!" Aerith clapped her hands together. "The more, the merrier. Plus…" she bit her lip, "I really want him to get a boyfriend soon. He needs one, don't you think?"

Sephiroth nodded. "Yeah, he does. We should help him as much as we can."

"Aerith?"

The three looked up to see a girl with chin-length hair with two males in tow. She ran eagerly for the brunette. "Aerith!"

"Yuffie!" Aerith stood up to hug her cousin. "I haven't seen you in ages! You look great!"

"So do you!" she chirped.

Aerith turned to look behind her, checking out the silver-haired male and the spiky-haired one. "Who are your friends?"

Yuffie turned, as if she had just remembered them. "Oh yeah—this is Riku," gesturing to the silver-haired one, "and Sora!" She wrapped her arms around both of them. "They're my little helpers."

Aerith giggled. "I was wondering if one of them was the Leon you were telling me about. Because if it were, he's definitely too young for Cloud."

Riku shook his head, grinning. "Well, if I were Leon, I wouldn't mind dating an older guy." He looked around. "Where is he, anyway?"

The brunette shook her head. "Oh, he's not here. He had something else to do." She gestured to Zack and Sephiroth. "But these are my other friends, Zack and Sephiroth. They're together."

"Really now?" Yuffie smirked. "How ironic! So are Riku and Sora!"

Zack laughed. "Hey, if we're going to get a gay couple together, we might as well have help of gay men, right?" He nudged his boyfriend. "Look, Seph, he's like a mini-you."

"You think?" Sephiroth scrutinized Riku.

Riku rolled his eyes. "No way; I'm way hotter than him."

"Riku!" Sora shoved his boyfriend. "Be a little more polite!"

"Aww, c'mon Sora! It's true!" His eyes narrowed. "Unless you think otherwise."

The spiky-haired boy blushed. "I don't! I'm just saying you should watch what you say unless you want to come off as a completely egocentric jerk!"

Yuffie sighed. "But Riku is a completely egocentric jerk, Sora."

"Hey! Whose side are you on?"

Aerith laughed. "If you people can quit arguing for a minute, maybe we can think of a way to set up Cloud and Leon."

"I'm listening," Sephiroth spoke up. Zack nodded, and so did Sora. Riku rolled his eyes and shrugged.

Yuffie looked around. "Okay…any ideas, anyone?"

"Well…"

VVV

"So…why are you moving in with your twin brother and his boyfriend again?" Cloud asked as Naminé looked around for a good wallpaper. "I mean, they're both guys, Naminé. I mean, sure, one of them is your brother, and they're both gay, but—"

Naminé rolled her eyes. "As if those two would even dare to make a move on me. Plus, those two are so into each other no one can get in between them."

"Yeah, but…" Naminé raised her hand to cut him off.

"Look, Cloud," she began, stopping her endless search for wallpapers to stare at her cousin. "Roxas and I have always lived together. We're inseparable. I can't live without him, and he can't live without me. Now he wants to move in with Axel, and he wants me to come along with them. And it's really nothing to me, you know. I don't mind living with both of them, as long as we're together." She smiled softly. "Plus, I can't possibly pay for an apartment rent all by myself. So I need roommates."

Cloud laughed at her last remark, but he could easily see that Naminé was serious about what she was saying. "Well, I guess you'll be fine. You're Naminé, after all."

"Of course." Then she held up two wallpapers; one had a greyish hue and the other was dull white. "Which one looks better?"

The blonde rolled his eyes. "You've got to be kidding me. What sort of choices are those? They look exactly alike. Has color been lost to your world?"

"Hey, it's for my room," Naminé said defensively. "And I don't really like a lot of colors."

"If you keep this up, you'll blend in with your own wall," Cloud joked. "Even your clothes, dear cousin, are the same shade of white."

She raised a finger. "Remember, I brought you along to give me advice for Axel's and Roxas' rooms. Not my room. So don't bother."

Cloud shrugged. "If you wanted help for picking furniture and other stuff for your apartment, shouldn't have you brought Axel and Roxas along? They're the ones who are going to be living with you, you know."

Naminé shook her head. "Those two are worse at these things than me. And that's saying something. If you had seen Axel's previous apartment—" she rolled her eyes, "—and you already know about Roxas' wonderful fashion sense."

Cloud snickered. "Oh yeah. As long as it's in black and white, it'll be fine."

"Exactly." The blonde female nodded. "That's why I need you. At least the place won't be too drab." She winced. "Color has been lost to our world indeed."

"Don't worry; that's why you have me here." Cloud patted her encouragingly. "Now where were we?"

Naminé held up the wallpapers again. "I like the dull white better," she said. "What do you think?"

"Whatever you want."

"'Kay." She shrugged, and took the one she wanted.

Cloud smiled as Naminé began to look for a couch to buy. She and her twin brother, Roxas, were his only cousins—in fact, they were his only living relatives now. Naturally, Cloud was very attached to his two cousins. He was like an older brother to the two.

The three of them shared the same blonde hair color, though Roxas' seemed to a shade darker while Naminé's had a shade lighter. They also had the same sparkling blue eyes, which made everyone comment about how much they all looked alike.

Roxas had recently entered into a relationship with a man named Axel. Cloud wasn't very trusting of the redhead, but Roxas seemed to be happy. And Naminé didn't have any objections, so he let it go. Now, things were certainly developing between them, since Roxas was actually going to move in with Axel. Cloud was a little unsure on this step, but nothing wrong had happened yet, so he couldn't come up with a good enough reason to counter this decision.

Oh well. As long as they were happy and no one got hurt.

He smiled in satisfaction. Everything was fine.

VVV

"Okay, we have three possible set-ups. A) The two of them will know that they're being set up, therefore enabling them to recognize each other. B) Only one of them will know that they're being set up. Or C) Both of them will not know they're being set up and will end up being pleasantly surprised by it." Yuffie looked up. "So what do you guys think?"

"C is obviously the best choice," Sora said thoughtfully. "I'm just not sure about the whole 'pleasantly surprised' reaction."

"Yeah, Leon would probably leave in the middle of the date to murder us the minute he realizes that he's being set up," Riku commented.

Yuffie winced. "You've got a point there."

"Cloud won't be too happy if he finds out we're setting him up…" Zack said slowly. "Is there any way to make it look like a complete and total accident?"

Aerith sighed. "I don't think so…" she bit her lip. "Actually, we told Cloud we were going to set him up. Did you tell this Leon that he was going to be set up?"

Yuffie snorted. "And risk being mutilated and unemployed? No way, honey. Leon holds way too many cards in his deck over me."

"Well, Cloud didn't exactly agree to being set up, anyway," Sephiroth remarked. "So we can just pretend that we're not going to set him up anymore. Even though we still are."

"How are we going to do that, then?"

"Well…" Aerith began thoughtfully, "It's best we get them to meet in a group date first. That way, it won't be awkward and it won't look too much of a set-up if there's a lot of us. See, Cloud isn't exactly the most sociable person around…"

Riku smirked. "We could say the same for Leon, but then that would be a huge understatement."

"It's settled, then," Yuffie said in a decided tone. "A group date. But to where?"

"Well, we could all have dinner someplace nice, but not too fancy," Sora suggested. "Then we could go out after to watch movies or go to the skating rink. You know, where they don't really have to be forced together. Just so they could know and recognize each other."

"That's a great idea!" Five voices exclaimed at once. Sora blushed.

"Sora, I really underestimate the amount of intelligence in you," Riku marveled. Sora rolled his eyes as his boyfriend wrapped his arm around his waist.

Aerith turned to her cousin. "So when can we do this?"

Yuffie smirked. "How about tomorrow?"

VVV

Leon tapped his watch impatiently as his three employees entered the Laundromat, all smiles. He wasn't as happy as they were, though. "Where have you three been?" he said, glaring at each of them. "Your lunch break is only thirty minutes. You took an hour and a half with that break. I've been left here to take all the customers alone."

Riku snorted. "You say that as if we get a million customers every day."

The glare intensified. "The three of you, get to work. Now."

Yuffie grumbled, Sora sighed, and Riku rolled his eyes, but they all began to perform their respective jobs. Since the punishment was still effective, Yuffie and Riku went to the backroom, and Sora joined Leon at the counter.

"So where did you go?" Leon asked the brunette, in a much milder tone. Sora was most probably the sanest and the most honest of the three. In fact, he liked Sora best of his employees, because he was somewhat normal and not as annoying. Lately, though, Riku had been affecting the brunette, so Leon decided they should be separated for a time being. The whole punishment thing was just his nearest convenient excuse—but of course, he wasn't going to tell them that.

Sora smiled cheerfully. "We met a couple of Yuffie's friends."

Leon frowned. He should have known. "No wonder you took forever."

"Oh, they were pretty nice people, Leon," Sora protested. "In fact, I think we're meeting up with them again tomorrow."

"Not during store hours, I hope," Leon muttered.

"Of course not! We're all going out for dinner!"

"That sounds nice," Leon said in as much as a cheerful tone as he could muster. But then again, Sora was happy enough for the two of them. "Have fun, then."

Sora paused for a while. "Maybe you should come along," he suggested. "The more the merrier, right?"

Leon stared at the brunette uncertainly. He hated people—most of them, anyway. And those he could tolerate weren't exactly people he really liked. "You probably don't want me there."

"Don't be silly, Leon!" Sora said, shocked. "We wouldn't mind at all! Plus, it'll be a great chance to make friends!"

"I don't need friends," the dark-haired man said stoically.

"You can never have more than enough friends!" Sora continued, oblivious to Leon's mumblings. "It'll be fun! I'm sure you'll like them!"

"I don't know…"

"Please come?" By this time, Sora was using his puppy dog eyes. It was unbelievably convincing.

Leon sighed. "Fine, I'll go. But don't blame me if you guys don't have a good time."

"Yay!" Sora cheered. "It'll be so cool with you there, Leon!" The dark-haired man just nodded and faced the opposite direction. Sora giggled. When Leon wasn't looking, he sent a thumbs up in Riku's direction.

Riku, in the backroom, cheered inwardly when he saw his boyfriend send him the signal. "Sora's done it!" he whispered excitedly to Yuffie.

Yuffie shook his head. "Man, your boyfriend's good, Riku."

Riku smirked. "I know. I know."

Meanwhile, Leon was groaning to himself.

How did I get myself into this?

VVV

After several hours of furniture shopping, choosing wallpapers, making bargains and being forced to carry everything, Cloud and his cousin made their way back to his apartment.

"I hope the doors are fixed," he mumbled darkly. Cloud wasn't exactly the most cheerful person after being dragged around the mall for more than an hour. He got reasonably cranky when he was in there for three hours, and was officially evil when they had gone past the five hour mark. Since they had been there since morning and it was already three in the afternoon, the blonde wasn't exactly in the best mood.

His cousin didn't seem to care, though. But then again, she could twist anyone to do her bidding. She smirked. "Don't worry about the doors. Now…are you ready to see your new and improved pad?"

Cloud looked skeptically at her. "You guys didn't burn it down, didn't you?" He was only joking, but you were never sure with Naminé.

The blonde shook her head. "Nothing like that. Now close your eyes." He obediently did what she said, and then he was led to his apartment.

The door opened and Naminé tugged on his hand. "You can open your eyes now."

Cloud opened his eyes and—

"Whoa." Cloud blinked. When they left the apartment, the doors were all axed down and the place was a mess. Now…

Now the place was spotless. And the doors were fixed. Amazing.

He turned around to see the Roxas, Naminé and Axel grinning at him. "Told you we'd take care of everything," Naminé said, still grinning. "You like?"

Cloud gazed at his apartment. Never before had his place been this clean. It was practically sparkling. Even before he moved in, the place wasn't this clean. It was like heaven. "Me love," he murmured, unconsciously fingering his furniture. "No dust! How did you do it?"

Roxas shrugged. "Axel and I took care of the broken doors, and my darling twin sister cleaned everything up." He wrapped an arm around Naminé's shoulder. "She's a miracle, really."

"Exactly the reason why we want her to move in with us," Axel added. "She's a minimalist and a cleaning freak. The best roommate anyone could have."

Naminé smiled. "It's nice to know I'm appreciated."

"This is…simply amazing," Cloud said as he looked around. "Where did you get the time to clean up, Nami? I mean, we were out the door the minute I finished taking my bath and you were with me all the time we were shopping."

She shrugged. "I cleaned up while you took your bath. You probably just didn't notice as when we left. And I got Roxas and Axel to dust around a bit."

"This is…whoa." Cloud was still left somewhat speechless. "Hey—do you think I can hire you as my housekeeper?"

Naminé laughed. "Sorry, but I've already been hired by some other people." She gestured to her brother and his boyfriend.

Cloud shot a look at Roxas. "You have to lend her to me sometime."

Roxas shrugged. "Sure, why not."

Axel looked at his watch. "I gotta get going," he said. "Larxene's going to kill me if I'm late again. Bye, Rox." He kissed his boyfriend lightly on the lips and left the apartment.

Roxas turned to Cloud, biting his lip. "What do you think?"

Cloud sighed. "Well, I think he's a bit too old for you, but hey. He seems nice enough." Since he was like an older brother to the twins, they always went to him for advice. Well, Roxas did, anyway. Naminé was good on her own.

The younger blonde heaved a sigh of relief. "That's good. I was afraid you wouldn't approve."

"It's your life," Cloud pointed out.

"Yeah…but it's always good to ask people for their advice," his cousin added. "I have to go, too. See you, Cloud." With a small smile and a wave goodbye, Roxas left.

Cloud turned to his cousin. "Not leaving yet, Nami?"

She smiled and shook her head. "Nope." She sat down comfortably on the couch. "Not until you tell me what's on your mind, dear cousin."

Naminé. Perceptive as always.

"How'd you know?" he asked softly as he sat down next to her.

"Hmm…just a feeling." Naminé took hold of his hand. "So? Who is he?"

Cloud laughed. "You even know it's about a guy. You're just amazing." He sighed. No point in keeping it from her. "I've told you about this guy I kept dreaming about for the past year, right?"

Naminé nodded. "I drew him for you one time, I believe."

"Yeah…" Cloud remembered that afternoon when he told Naminé about Squall—back then when he didn't know his name. His cousin had nodded understandingly, took out her pastels and began to draw. After a few minutes, there he was in front of him—in a drawing, yes, but Naminé had drawn him with so much detail and precision that it was as if she had seen him before. He had gaped at the drawing.

"How—"

She had smiled knowingly. "I can see him in your eyes."

"What about him now?"

"I…his name is Squall," he began hesitantly.

"Squall, then." Naminé folded her hands, expecting more.

Cloud bit his lip. "I…I think I've met him."

"You think?"

"Well, they look alike—" He took a deep breath. "But…you know…he's a dream, right? How can he be real? It's just not possible! I mean—"

"You're not sure if he's really him, or just someone who looks like him." Naminé's no-nonsense voice interrupted his hesitant speeches, voicing his thoughts exactly.

"Uh…yeah, I guess." Cloud sighed. "Why do you even bothering asking me when you already know what I'm going to answer, Nami?"

"Because I want to hear it from you yourself." She stood up. "You have to realize certain things on your own." She smiled kindly at him. "Don't worry. Things will work out." With those cryptic wordings, Naminé left his apartment, leaving Cloud to his own thoughts.

What did she mean by that?

VVV

"Hey Cloud!" Aerith greeted cheerfully as he entered the library where she worked. A little too cheerfully, in his opinion.

Cloud had been up all night thinking about Naminé's words. His cousin had this uncanny gift of predicting the future, and he wasn't sure if what she said was a warning or an assurance.

To make his day even worse, he didn't dream about Squall yesterday night. It was enough to send warning bells ringing in his head—after all, his dreams had been on-going and he rarely closed his eyes without seeing the dark-haired man before him, no matter what he was going through. So why stop now?

"Hi," he replied softly, sitting down on a table near her desk and biting his lip in contemplation.

Aerith blinked. "Something the matter?" she asked.

"No…it's—" Cloud struggled to find the words, but he gave up. There was no use in trying to explain to Aerith. It wasn't as if she wouldn't understand—it was just too complicated. He forced a smile. "It's nothing, Aeri."

The brunette scrutinized him worriedly, but knew the blonde too well to try and get him to talk when he didn't want to. With a soft sigh, Aerith stopped staring at him, much to Cloud's relief.

"Did you have fun shopping with your cousin?" she asked instead.

"A little," Cloud replied, glad to have something else on his mind. "But you know me and malls." He made a face. "We don't mix."

Aerith laughed. "Yeah…the most time you probably spend there is when you watch movies."

"Very true," he agreed. "So what did you guys do yesterday?"

"We met up with my cousin and her friends," Aerith explained. "In fact, we're planning on all going out for dinner tonight. Wanna come?"

"Sure, I guess…" Cloud looked at her suspiciously. "Is this the same cousin who you were planning with to set me up with someone?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, it is Yuffie, but you already said you didn't want to be set up. I respect your decision, and I'm not going to force you. We're just all going out to eat. Wouldn't that be fun?"

Cloud paused to think about it. Maybe Aerith had finally decided to leave him alone with his love life. That would be good. Plus, it would never hurt to mingle with new people… "Okay, I'll come," he decided.

Aerith clapped her hands together in delight. "Great! Zack and Seph are coming, too. Now we're all in this together!"

Cloud couldn't help but smile as his friend chattered excitedly about how fun tonight would be.

And maybe she was right. Besides, Cloud needed a distraction for the moment.

VVV

They say that fate governs most of your life, but sometimes, human hands are the ones who help you in the right direction. They work hard to show you the love that they think you will need.

But after all that work they've done for you…will it all be lost because of selfishness, insecurity, and misleading perfection?

Friends are supposed to help you, yet they meddle in your affairs. Maybe fate isn't as mystical as you thought it would be.