Riku awoke to the sound of a soft knocking on his front door. He wanted to pretend he did not hear it but when the noise of a key being put in the lock followed, he knew who it was and woke up further. He carefully slipped out of Cloud's arms (they had fallen asleep on the third movie) and padded across his living room toward the door.

He got to it just as the door cracked open and was only slightly surprised that his visitor was Sora and not Seiya. The spiky-haired teen grinned at his best friend before turning and quietly closing the door. "Morning, Ku."

"Hey." Riku threaded his fingers through his tousled hair. Cloud was still asleep on the sofa so deciding they should talk in the kitchen, Riku gathered up the plates on the coffee table to clean up. Sora automatically picked up what he missed and the pair headed into the kitchen.

"Looks like you got things worked out." Sora noted as he set the dirty dishes on the counter beside the sink.

"For now, at least." The older teen agreed. "I have a bad feeling this was just the beginning of a lot of stupid fights."

Sora frowned. "You guys will be okay though, right? I mean, you aren't going to break up over any of this."

"I think we will be." Riku sounded a bit uncertain but not with any significant concern. "Cloud's really trying and I just have to let him handle things as he needs to. I just get so frustrated sometimes."

"Yeah, I get that." Sora laughed. "I'd be frustrated, too."

Riku turned on the tap and added soap to the filling sink. "So, what brought you over and without Leon?"

"Mom ran out of eggs and your closer than the store."

"Ah." Riku dropped the dishes into the hot sudsy water. "Well, she can have all I have. I need to run to the store later anyway."

Sora bounded over to the fridge. "What are you and Cloud doing today?"

"We haven't talked about it. I know we have to finish the stuff from yesterday. Did you and Leon make plans?"

"Wakka has some extra tickets for the blitz game this afternoon." The younger male pulled out the mostly full egg carton. "You and Cloud wanna go?"

Riku was not particularly interested and he doubted Cloud would be. "I'll ask Cloud when he wakes up."

"Kay." Sora closed the fridge and watched his friend clean dishes for a minute. It was weird but the domestic stuff seemed to suit Riku as well as physical labor, academic thought and simple fighting. There really was very little he was bad at.

For a long time, Sora had been jealous of Riku for that but it had passed. There were still bouts of envy but Sora was now very aware of all of Riku's faults and the burdens he carried. He was bred to be perfect, to excel at everything, but there were terrible consequences of that to his personality and ego. It was a strange balance.

"You better get those to Seiya." Riku chuckled. "If she has to come find you…"

"She'd probably send Leon and that would be worse." Sora turned for the swinging door. He pushed it open and found Cloud on the other side about to come through. "Morning, Cloud. Bye, Riku. Call if you wanna come with."

"Okay." The silvered male responded as Sora left and Cloud entered. Riku smiled at his fiancé's messy spikes and the faint lines from the sofa on his lightly freckled cheek. "Morning."

Cloud made a noise in greeting, hiding a yawn behind a fist. He groggily made his way toward Riku. "Tell me there's coffee."

"There can be." Riku set a cleaned glass in the drying rack. "Coffee's in the pantry, top shelf and the brewer is next to the fridge."

"Great." Cloud retrieved the grounds and set to work. When he came to the sink for water, he used the hand not holding the coffee pot to brush the side of the teen's face. "How are you this morning?"

"I'm great." Riku smiled, flicking his eyes toward the older man. It was extremely heart-warming to be here in this house, with this man, doing such normal, everyday things. He imagined this was what it would always be like after they were married.

Cloud leaned in for a quick kiss before going to the coffee maker and starting his morning beverage brewing. "What was Sora here for?"

"Seiya needed eggs." Riku finished the last dish and rinsed out the sink. "I'm going to have to hit the store tomorrow after you leave…"

He quickly moved the conversation forward. "Everyone's going to a blitzball game this afternoon. Any interest?"

"Not really. I've never much cared for sports but if you want to go…"

"Not particularly." The teenager crossed over to where Cloud stood. He slipped his arms around the older man's waist and kissed the side of his neck. Cloud somehow managed to pour his coffee during this. "Call me selfish but I want you all to myself today."

He felt Cloud chuckle against his chest. "I won't argue with that."

"Good." Riku released him. "I'm sure we can find something to do around here."

"Well," the blond started slowly. He took a drink of his coffee and flicked his eyes up at Riku. "We could talk about our house back home."

Riku's heart swelled. "I really like that idea. I don't even know what design you picked out."

"I have the design and blueprints with me. The foundation and outside framework is done but there's a few details that we need to decide on like the exterior and kitchen set-up before they can go further…"

"Go!" Riku shooed him with a bright grin. "I'll get breakfast started."

-0—0—

They spent the next two hours hovered over the blue-prints of what would be their home in just a couple of months. They agreed that they did not like the brick layout for the front of the one-story house and to substitute it for stonework. They also picked a lighter wood for the eaves and wood work outside. Riku hated the kitchen design and brought out his sketchbook to completely redo it.

Cloud watched his lover with a soft smile as he animatedly drew and idly talked to himself about where to place things and why. The blond could care less about the layout of the kitchen or even the rest of the house for that matter. However, he knew Riku did and this meant more to his young fiancé than almost anything.

It was the one thing he could give Riku without reservation. That thought pained him deeply because he wanted, needed, to give Riku more. The young man had all of his heart and Cloud gave him all of his love and devotion with no uncertainty or hesitation but there were things that it was not as easy to surrender to him.

"What do you think?" Riku abruptly asked, breaking Cloud of his thoughts.

"Hmm?"

Aqua eyes fixed upon him and Riku smirked. "You aren't paying one bit of attention."

"It's your kitchen." Cloud glanced at the sketch Riku had done. "That looks really practical. I think I could actually work in that kitchen."

"Not till I have a chance to break it in, love." Riku grinned. "I'd like to have my kitchen new and functioning for at least a month before you burn it down."

Cloud huffed indignantly. There was no bitterness behind it though because he knew he was a disaster in the kitchen. Tifa still hadn't let go of the one time he tried making pancakes back in Edge. The bar had not been able to serve food for two days after.

Riku's phone rang and he frowned a bit as he got up to answer it. Why was Jacen calling him? He knew he didn't have an appointment today; he had made sure to have his now weekly therapy session before his birthday.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Sorry to bother you." Jacen sounded apologetic. "I just needed to change your session next week to the day after."

"Oh. Yeah, that's fine."

"Good. How was your birthday?"

Riku lifted his eyes to Cloud and he just knew Jacen would hear his smile and the absolute joy in his voice. "Absolutely fantastic. Sora gave me the best gift ever."

"Do I want to know?"

Biting his lip, Riku turned and paced a few steps. "Got any free time today?"

Jacen sounded intrigued. "Appointment-wise or other?"

"Other."

"My last appointment is at three-thirty. It should be done by four-thirty."

"Do you want to meet up at the coffee shop at five?" Riku smiled. "Cloud's kinda addicted to the stuff."

There was a pause then Jacen laughed. "Sora finally dragged the mysterious fiancé here, huh?"

"Actually, it was a group effort but Sora's responsible for it happening."

"Well, I look forward to meeting him. I'll see you both at five."

"Cool." The eighteen-year-old hung up and turned back to Cloud. The blue-eyed man was curiously worried. Riku walked back to the table and sat down. "We're meeting with Jacen at five."

"Jacen…?"

Riku angled his head. Cloud knew who Jacen was. He had to have mentioned him at least… He frowned deeply as he realized that he never had brought up his therapy with Cloud. How had that never come up?

Suddenly rather nervous, Riku placed his hands on the table. "Yeah, um, Jacen's my therapist. I guess I never brought that up."

Cloud pursed his lips. While it did not really surprise him that Riku was in therapy, it bothered him that he had not been told before. He supposed that it did not matter anymore but he was still irked about it. "Why didn't you tell me back when you told me about the medicine?"

"I don't know…" Riku turned his face down. "I guess I just assumed that all of that kind of went together. I mean, they aren't going to just leave it at some pills for a suicide attempt."

Blue eyes widened and Cloud nearly stood. "Wait, what?"

The younger man blinked at his reaction. "You know about that."

"No," Cloud said slowly. "All you said was Sora found you in a bad spot. Suicide was never mentioned."

"I wasn't going to kill myself." Riku would hold firm to that position no matter what anyone else tried convincing him. "I just… She wouldn't shut up. I thought that maybe…" he sighed and slumped back. "I don't know what I was thinking. I just wanted the pain to stop."

He felt ashamed of himself and couldn't bring himself to look at Cloud. He knew he should have handled things better; he was also well aware that he created most of his own problems. He had become overwhelmed with keeping his secrets from everyone and that on top of Jenova's random outbursts… he should have just come clean with everyone from the very beginning.

He heard Cloud's chair scrape against the tile and glanced up. The blond stepped over to him and pulled him up by his arm. Riku easily complied and instantly pressed himself against his lover's body. Cloud's arms wrapped around him and he felt tears start to form.

"I'm sorry," Cloud murmured.

"Why?"

"You didn't think you could talk to me." Cloud rubbed his lower back. "And I think that you still feel there are things you can't come to me for."

What Cloud said was true. There were still subjects that there was no way he could talk to Cloud about. He could not discuss his problems with Jenova with him because that would just remind him that Sephiroth was his brother and likely further convince him that Riku was going to one day end up like him. He didn't want to add to Cloud's concerns.

"Riku." Cloud pulled away far enough to look him in the eyes. "Don't ever think you can't talk to me. I love you and I am here for you. Even if I react badly at first… I'll calm down. I'm doing my best to accept the situation with the whole Jenova thing. I hope you believe that."

Riku moistened his lower lip and nodded. "I know you are. I'll try to be more open with you. I just… I don't like hurting you. You've been damaged too much by the whole nightmare already."

Cloud smiled lightly. "I hurt more knowing that you're suffering alone because you don't want to hurt me or anyone else."

Sora had said the same thing to him months ago when Riku was still in the hospital for 48 hour observation. The boy had completely broken down on him and made Riku swear to him that there would be no more lies and that he would come to Sora if things ever got bad again. It hadn't been until then that he realized that his lies had caused those he loved more pain than what he was trying to protect them from.

…And now Cloud was reinforcing that.

"Don't cry." Cloud reached up and wiped at his eyes. "It's okay now. I understand why you did it; I do the same thing. But you and I, we're not alone anymore and it isn't just us against the darkness. We both need to remember that."

"Yeah." Riku's tears dried and he took a breath. "Sorry about that."

"Don't be. This was just one of the many things we needed to cover before our wedding day." Cloud chuckled and brushed at his cheek. "We can check that off the list."

Riku laughed and dropped his head against Cloud's shoulder. He felt like another weight had been lifted from him, one he hadn't known was there amongst everything else that weighed him down. "Good."

"What time are we at?" Cloud asked softly, not moving away.

"I don't know. It was ten when Sora showed up…I'm guessing noonish." Silver hair shifted as Riku turned his head. Suddenly, he needed to be as close to Cloud as possible. "We should go finish things with Seiya…."

"That's what I was thinking." Cloud kissed his head and tried to move away. He chuckled when Riku wouldn't let him go. "We're going to have to move at some point, Riku."

She was stirring. Riku clung a bit tighter and placed a mental block against her. He knew that she would try to take advantage of his emotional state for the past two days and waited to see what she did. She didn't seem to be trying anything; more like she was reminding him she was there. As if he'd forget.

"Riku?"

"Just… give me a second…"

Sensing that something was off, Cloud wrapped his arms tighter around him. Riku absorbed all the affection and the stirring went away. Cloud always made her go away.

He slowly drew back and smiled weakly. "Sorry."

The older man frowned in concern. "What happened?"

Huffing out a breath, Riku reluctantly explained. "Every once in a while, Mother likes to remind me that she's still here. She hasn't tried anything since Sephiroth was here a few months ago but…"

Cloud nodded in understanding. He knew how it worked well enough to get what Riku was saying. While he had never had to deal with Jenova personally, he assumed that Sephiroth had picked up the same techniques when he was under her influence and that he was very familiar with. Often, Tifa had been the only one to pull him back from the brink.

Fear pulled at his heart as it really sunk in just what Riku was. It still didn't matter to him how the teen had been created but he could not deny those facts either. Riku was going to have to be dealing with Jenova and everything that went with her for the rest of his life. Cloud could only pray that he was able to help him with that terrible legacy.

"I'm okay now." Riku met Cloud's eyes to prove it.

Cloud nodded.

"So," Riku brushed at a long blond spike. He had sudden need for Cloud and he pulled the man's hips against his, shifting. "What do you say we go upstairs and get in the shower…" He saw the change in Cloud's blue eyes. "Take a nice, long time washing…" He leaned in and nipped at his fiancé's pierced ear. "Then spend some time in bed before checking in with Seiya."

Cloud grinned with lust. "Lead the way."

-0—0—

"That was a wild game." Sora commented, walking backwards with his fingers laced behind his head.

"Yeah it was!" Tidus agreed animatedly. "I can't believe we lost! We should have had that win in the bag!"

"The coach kept making bad calls." Wakka shook his head. "I don't know what he was thinking with that last play, ya."

Tidus and Wakka continued complaining about every wrong call that was made and Sora glanced over at Leon. The sable haired man walked casually beside him, looking quite comfortable in his jeans and t-shirt. The change in attire fit him well. "So, whatcha think of Blitz?"

"It's a very interesting game." Leon squinted his eyes against the sun. "It's a lot simpler than I thought it would be."

"There's a lot of technique." Tidus interrupted. He sounded prepared to defend his chosen sport against the off-worlder.

"I noticed." Leon commented easily. "Wakka must be really good to have a scholarship."

"Tidus is better, ya." The ruddy-haired teen in question grinned at his friend. "They're gonna be throwing money at him."

"I hope." The blond frowned. "My old man says it's the only way I'm affording to go to college."

"You'll be fine." Sora assured him. "You've been the star player for two years now and next year will be the same."

Tidus grinned a bit. "Yeah."

"So what's next on the agenda?" Leon asked. While he didn't mind hanging out with the teenagers, he felt a little awkward with them. Not only was he a complete outsider, he never was much of a teenager when he was a teenager.

"I've got to get home." Tidus grumbled. "Jeckt's in one of his moods."

Both Sora and Wakka looked at him sympathetically. Leon did not know what it was about but clearly Tidus' father had issues of some kind. He doubted the other two would be giving him that expression if it was teenaged over-dramatization.

"Yeah." Tidus nodded at Leon. "I won't see you before you leave so it was cool meeting you. Hopefully I can make it to Radiant Garden."

"I hope so." Leon nodded back.

The boy waved to his friends and took off to the right. The three continued their walk into the residential area of Destiny Islands. It was early evening and they passed several adults coming home from work. The adults glanced at Leon curiously but greeted Sora and Wakka easily. One could tell that it was a fairly close-knit community.

"How long do you have, Wakka?" Sora glanced at his friend.

"Till ten." Wakka pursed his lips. "Ya know what? We should take Leon to the Boardwalk."

"Okay." Blue eyes turned toward Leon. "That sound okay? We can get some really fresh shrimp po' boys, like caught this morning shrimp fresh."

Leon chuckled. "Sounds great. I could seriously live here just for the seafood. I miss that back home."

"Is there even an ocean on Radiant Garden?"

"There's two that we know of." Leon placed his hands in his pockets. "We haven't been out to them but we found several maps of the planet that show them. Eventually we'll have to put a team together to go out and explore."

"That would be awesome to do!" Sora jumped a step in enthusiasm. "I would love to do that! Me and a couple of others could just wander around and map out everything we find."

"Sora?" Wakka's tone was a mix of curious and serious. "I really have to ask this; why aren't you moving to Radiant Garden, too?"

Sora paused. He had not expected the question and it threw him for a moment. "What do you mean why aren't I? This is my home, my mom's here, you guys are here…"

"Well, don't take this the wrong way, but me, Tidus and Selphie noticed a while ago that, well, you aren't here."

"Huh?"

"All you talk about is Radiant Garden and everyone there." Wakka noted. "Even when you're here, your mind is there. Riku may have had the actual breakdown and he may have a more specific reason for leaving, but it seems to us at least that you'd be happier there, too."

Leon watched Sora's reaction to Wakka's observation carefully. The boy's blue eyes had darkened in thought as he considered the other's words. Leon did not know much of what went on here and was interested to know if what Wakka said was true. He would have to ask Cloud later if Riku had made the same observation.

Sora worried his lower lip. He had not told anyone but he had entertained ideas of leaving Destiny Islands along with Riku. He had noticed over winter break that he was happier there and it felt more like home every time he visited but… he couldn't leave the Islands.

Could he?

"This is home." He said firmly. Even to him it sounded like he was convincing himself. "I belong here as much as I would anywhere else."

Leon narrowed his eyes slightly but remained quiet. He was definitely going to have to talk to Sora about this later but for now, it was probably best to move the conversation forward. "On the subject of home, do you think your mom would want to come with us to the Boardwalk? I feel like we should do something for her after all she's been doing."

"We can stop by the house and ask." Sora decided. "Mom's never been too big on the Boardwalk…no idea why."

"I don't think she likes crowds." Wakka suggested as they turned down Sora's street. "She's happier behind the scenes."

"Yeah, I can see that." Sora nodded. He fixed his attention ahead of them and spotted Riku and Cloud leaving his house. "Wow, they did make it over before evening."

"It looks like they're in a hurry to leave, mon." Wakka chuckled. "Wonder where they're going. That's not the direction of Riku's."

Leon noticed the couple did seem to be rushing somewhere, as if they were running late for something. "It would be interesting if they decided to go to the Boardwalk also. Maybe they made reservations somewhere."

"That's possible." Sora conceded. "There's a really good place on the South end that Riku really likes. He and Seph went twice a week."

"Seiya will know."

"Mom knows everything." The spiky-brunet laughed. "We'll ask her about it and met up with them later."

"Works for me," stated Wakka. Leon nodded in agreement.