The Pack

Disclaimer: If I owned Kingdom Hearts there would already be a Yaoi anime series featuring all of the male characters. So no, I don't own them.

Chapter 22

I opened the door to the house and was met with sound of my mother humming as she worked in the kitchen.

Something I haven't heard in a while. I entered the kitchen slowly. "Hey, how are you?" I asked.

My mother jumped a little before turning to me. "When did you get here?" she asked.

"Like five seconds ago. I have to go to school tomorrow so Squall walked me to the house earlier than usual." I said.

"Cloud… I just want you to know… Your father and I… we know we abandoned you when you probably needed it most but we never stopped loving you… no matter how much I might have wanted to erase all ties at the beginning… I never could and I never will. I love you son and though I can't be forgiven for what I've done to you, I just want you to know that." My mother said with tears in her eyes.

I stood there with my eyes wide open. I couldn't believe that those words had been spoken. I blinked a few times before looking her dead in the eyes. "I… I love you too…" I said in a very soft voice. I took a step towards her but stopped afraid that I might get ahead of myself.

But when I felt my mothers arms wrap around me I pulled her into the tightest embrace I could manage. "M-mom…" I managed to say with the huge lump in my throat. My mother kissed me on the cheek and continued to hold me.

I had forgotten the feeling… the feeling of having parents and being held by them. I sighed and just basked in the feeling.

"If you ever need anything… anything at all… I want to be there for you again." She said into my ear.

I smiled and pulled away from her. "Thanks Mom. I'll keep that in mind. I should head to bed though. I really needed that week off. I feel like a new person." I said.

Mom smiled and nodded. "You even look different… happier, I mean." She said

"Goodnight." I said and moved out of the kitchen.

"Cloud?" she asked.

"Yes?" I looked to my mother again.

"Did you hurt your leg? You're limping really badly." She pointed.

I blushed. "Uhhh… no I, uhhh… actually yeah, I hurt my leg…" I mumbled before limping quickly into my bedroom.

I covered my face in embarrassment. After finally being accepted into my family again, my mother notices the aftermath of my passionate buttsex with Squall…

With a small chuckle, I moved into my bed and fell asleep with no trouble at all.

-The Pack-

The next morning I woke up early and got ready for school. When all that was done I headed towards the front door to begin my walk to school.

"Cloud." I head my father's voice behind me.

"Yes, sir?" I asked.

"Breakfast?" he asked,

I looked at him in surprise. "Um… sure." I said.

My father pointed to the kitchen. "Help yourself to what's there." He said with a small smile.

"Thank you." I said and moved into the kitchen. I made some toast and moved towards the door once more. "I'll see you later, Dad." I said.

"Don't stay out too late… or just call us if you are." He said.

I nodded before setting out towards school while munching on my toast. Though school would be as boring as it's always been. I was excited to go and see if maybe I could look at it with a new perspective. Anything could happen.

Most of the day was just like any other day. But I did notice some things that I never really appreciated before. Like the view outside from the third floor window or the class clown's jokes. But there was one thing that was going to happen today that I was really, really cool.

My biology class was taking a field trip to the National Zoo. Evidently we would have to write a paper on the differences between captive and wild species.

All of my peers and I boarded the bus, some chatting amicably with others. But I entered the bus quietly and found a nice window seat in the back. I was about to doze off when the teacher began to speak.

"Okay, you are all juniors and seniors in high school. You all should know how fieldtrips work. Find someone you are relatively comfortable with and stick with him or her until the end of the trip. Buddy system, you know the drill." She said.

I ignored what she was saying. Unless someone approached me to be my buddy, I would rather just be by myself.

"Excuse me, Cloud? Do you have a buddy?" A male voice said from next to me. He stressed the word buddy in a sarcastic way as if he was exasperated and didn't really think it was necessary.

I looked to my right to see a tall light brown haired boy. "No." I said.

"Well now you do." The dude said.

"I don't mean to sound like a dick but, who are you?" I asked really wanting to know what my new buddy's name was.

"I'm John. I know your name already. You're pretty popular among the student body around here." He said with a smile.

"Really?" I asked highly skeptical.

"Yeah, you're the really hot blond dude with no friends." John said as if he was talking about weather.

I nodded. "Thanks for letting me know that I'm at least acknowledged." I said in a completely sarcastic voice.

"Just being honest." John said.

"I have friends by the way, they just don't go here." I said in my defense.

"I believe you." He said.

"So what animal are you going to focus on?" John asked.

"Wolves." I said quietly as the bus started to move toward our destination.

"Cool, cool. I think I'm going to focus on the black panther. They're pretty cool." John said in a contemplative voice.

I nodded and sighed before looking out the window.

Are you okay? I jumped when I suddenly heard Squall voice in my head.

'Yeah I'm fine. I'm just a little bored. I can't help but feel as if I don't need any more friends so I'm blocking out this poor guy next to me. I feel kind of bad though.' I thought to him.

I miss you… like crazy.

'I miss you too.' I thought to him and closed my eyes. I thought about Squall thinking maybe I could reach out to him that way. I smiled when I felt warm feelings travel up my spine.

'I love you.' I thought to him.

I love you too. You know, your dumb kid actually managed to piss Riku off. I had to pull him out of the line of fire.

I chuckled. 'What did he do?' I wondered.

He tugged on Riku's tail one too many times. I didn't try and stop because he needed to figure it out for himself.

I laughed. 'You are too much… the both of you.' I thought.

"Are you okay Cloud? What are you laughing at?" John asked.

I looked to John and smiled. "Someone on the sidewalk was walking very strangely. I found it very amusing." I said off the top of my head. Yes, it was pretty lame but it was the only thing I could thing of in a matter of seconds.

John gave me a weird look but I shrugged it off. I leaned against the window and drifted off as the ride went on.

It was maybe ten minutes later that I felt someone shaking my shoulders in an attempt to wake me up. I sat up and shook away my drowsiness before standing.

We got off the bus and I smiled at the giant attraction in front of me.

"Now remember, you're here for a specific purpose so be sure to ask the experts about the animals you choose to focus on. And if I see any of you goofing off, you will certainly have a detention Saturday morning." The teacher said.

I nodded before following the rest of the class to check in. After about twenty minutes, we were finally able to enter the zoo. I quickly moved over to get a map before heading my way inside the Zoo.

I opened the map and continued to walk as I read the map.

"Cloud! Wait up! I'm your buddy remember?" I turned to see John running towards me.

"I want to get as much information possible which means I can't waste time. So if you are really going to be my buddy, keep up with me." I said.

"Yes, sir!" John said as if impressed by my assertiveness.

I moved through the crowds of people down the brick pathways and when I finally got into the section of carnivorous mammals, I started to look around instead of keeping my head in the map. John was quickly following at my heels.

As I went down the path on the left, my ears started to pick up the voice of a zoo worker. She must have been using a microphone to speak to the gathering crowd.

I frowned when I discovered they were around the area set aside for the wolves. With a sigh, I started to weave my way through the people to the front.

When I finally got there I looked to my left to see a Zoo employee standing on a boulder inside the wolf exhibit.

"So for all of the newcomers to the Radiant Gardens National Zoo, we actually have two new wolves in this exhibit. We believe them to be mother and child. The large female over by the trees we named Hera and her son, located by the pond is named Hercules. Surprisingly, they have tried to integrate themselves in with the other wolves in the exhibit. We think that mother and son have formed their own pack and do not wish to join the others." She said.

I looked at the wolves around the exhibit. Hera was actually a lot larger than the other wolves in the area. She just sat next to the tress looking bored.

I smiled. It kind of reminded me of Riku.

"… are very prideful. They refuse to have their food given to them. We actually have to give them something they can hunt down. Otherwise, they won't eat..."

What the employee was saying about these two new wolves was actually kind of peculiar. I turned my attention back to Hera and my eyes widened when I realized she was looking at me dead in the eyes.

"… these two arrived, we definitely weren't sure that taking them would be the best choice. They certainly are quite the handful…"

I sat quietly as we exchanged glances. Her blue-green gaze was extremely focused and one of the most striking stares I had ever encountered.

"It is just me or is the wolf staring right at you?" I heard John ask from next to me.

I shook my head at him.

"… and Hercules don't ever respond to their names. They do what is needed but don't ever turn their heads when their names are called. They seemed to be the wildest pair we've ever had here at this Zoo…"

I looked at Hera again for another minute before looking over to the pup over by the pond.

I smiled. He was larger than both Sora and Kairi. I wondered if maybe he was older than them. I wasn't sure of the difference between an actual wolf and a Loup Garou.

The pup looked up and I smiled at him. He was so cute.

Out of mild curiosity to see if it would work. I thought to him. 'Hello there, little one.'

The little pup jumped as if it had seen a ghost and started to scramble around as if looking for something.

'Can you hear me? If you can, walk over to your mother.' I thought to the little pup.

He paused in his scrambling before walking over to his mother. I smiled. I couldn't believe that actually worked.

'My name is Cloud. I am the human that is looking right at you. I'm about to put both my hands on the glass wall of your exhibit.' I thought to him before placing both my hands on the glass in front of me.

The little pup looked around at the glass when he spotted me he started to walk over. As he started to get closer, I could see his caution start to rise.

'I won't hurt you. I just want to get a good look at you. I have some pups at home who are almost your size. But they aren't just wolves, they are Loup Garou.' I thought to him.

"Oh my god, Cloud! That wolf puppy is walking right up to you!" John exclaimed loudy.

The pup jumped and started to retreat.

'Wait. Please come back.' I thought to him before turning to John. "Please don't scare him off." I said to him in a very serious voice.

"S-sorry. But this is amazing! Everyone is watching you! Even the Zoo employee… it's like the little pup knows you or something." John said.

"Please shut up." I said as the pup started to come closer to me again.

'Hey, do you think you can communicate back to me? What's your name?' I thought to the little pup.

The little pup ran to me suddenly and I knelt down to be at his level. I pressed my hand to the glass again and I smiled when his nose met my palm through the glass.

'My name… is Hayner. You have to help us! Mother says this place isn't where Loup Garou belong. I don't like it here, everyone keeps looking at me.' The little pups boyish voice appeared in my head.

My eyes widened. 'You're Loup Garou?' I wondered.

The pup yipped and started to lick at the glass. I smiled. He was so cute.

I felt the crowd start to back away from me and I jumped when I felt a pair of hands pull me away from the glass. I struggled out of the hold and was about to turn to snap at who ever pulled me away when I noticed the large female wolf snarling and growling at me through the glass. Her glare was terrifying but I decided I would try and pacify her.

'I already knew of your kind. I may be a human but I'm a member of a Loup Garou pack. My mate is a beta.' I thought to her.

Her snarl diminished but she continued to growl. That's impossible! Her voice snapped.

'It's true and I'm going to bring my mate here to see you. You don't belong in this exhibit and I want to help you get out.' I thought to her.

She grunted. I still don't trust you.

"Dude! That wolf looked like it was out for blood. Good thing I pulled you away. Let's come back to this exhibit later…" I heard John said.

I ignored him. 'Squall… you need to see this. I'm at the Zoo. Do you think you can sneak in? This is really, really important.' I thought to my mate.

I'm coming. Squall's voice sounded serious.

"You wanted to see the panthers, right?" I asked John, hoping to get him distracted.

I would have to lose him soon.

A/N: Review and you shall receive!