Should be obvious but: Character from KH will NOT appear in his KH age...I actually forgot how old Tidus actually is and I just played his game a couple weeks ago!
Sora waited with eagerness, or was that nervousness? Or a bit of both? Well whatever it was, it made his heart skip a beat when the front door swung open revealing a family friend that hasn't visited in ages.
"Why if it isn't Sora!"
"Uncle Tidus!" Though the nervous feeling quickly went away and became joy as Tidus picked Sora up and swung him while he hugged before setting the young teen back down in a matter of 2 seconds.
"Whoa, you're getting heavy, Man!" Tidus commented before looking at Sora's body, comparing his current height to the last time Tidus saw him.
"Hey!" Sora pouted and stomped his foot childishly.
"So what brings you here with…" Tidus's voice trailed off as he stared at Sephiroth, "…with someone I should know but I can't quite remember…"
Sephiroth only rolled his eyes at that,
"It's Sephiroth…" he bluntly replied.
"Ah…" Tidus nodded, as if okay, but in a flash he quickly pulled Sora close to him, "Sora do you have ANY idea who this man is?"
"Um…my best friend's dad?"
"…Oh," Tidus slowly released Sora and went back to staring at Sephiroth but his glance went back to Sora once more, "Are you serious?"
"Yes! You know? Riku?"
"Little RiRi?" Tidus asked as he held his hand out a certain distance from the ground to show how tall Riku was the last time he saw; but Sora only face-palmed. He will officially apologize to Riku about that nickname later, "But for real? RiRi is Sephiroth's kid?" Tidus pointed at Sephiroth who held back the urge to have his fist meet Tidus's pretty face.
"Of course! Can't you tell?" Sora wasn't sure if Tidus was joking or he really doesn't see the connection.
"Well sure they look similar but…" Tidus walked around Sephiroth, examining the man, "You actually got someone to love you?"
"Don't make me hurt you," Sephiroth threatened and Tidus in turn just smiled,
"That's the Sephiroth I remember! Haha! So really, what's my old friend's old bully doing with my old friend's eldest son?"
"Um…" Sora looked at Sephiroth, hoping the man can break the news but Sephiroth looked less than excited to do it so Sora sighed, "I was hoping, um…you could tell me more about Dad and his relationship with Le…I mean…Squall? You know…when they were in high school together?"
And suddenly, that nervous feeling came back with some tension as Tidus's little happy bubble was shattered and everything just became awkwardly silent and too serious for Sora's liking.
Roxas almost felt sorry for running home and pretty much ditching Riku, but it was the guy's own house so it shouldn't count. Even though Riku continuously begged Roxas not to go because that means he won't have an excuse not to be at his house since Sephiroth specifically ordered him to take care of his 'mom' while he's gone. Roxas mentally noted that he'll treat Riku to sea salt ice cream later.
"Dad!" Roxas cried as soon as opened his door and he hoped Cloud didn't have to stay later at Cid's place today.
"Yeah?" Roxas thanked the heavens that that wasn't the case and quickly ran to the kitchen where he heard Cloud's voice.
"Where's Sora?" Cloud immediately asked upon noticing a blonde but no brunette come into view.
"Um…" Roxas wasn't sure if he should just tell him, or give his father the note, "Uh…he's with Riku's dad…"
Cloud stopped throwing things into the blender and gave Roxas a long and confused stare,
"Why?"
"I'm not sure…Sora said he'll call."
"…Okay, hold on…" Cloud turned to face Roxas and took in a deep breath before letting it out to calm himself. Roxas thought this was as good as time as any to hand the note to him.
"But his dad did give me this to give to you," Roxas tried to say as innocently as possible as he held the paper out which Cloud immediately snatched up. Though the look on Cloud's face made Roxas think someone's going to die…but he wasn't sure who…
"Okay, okay…" Tidus was trying to take the whole story in and continuously asked questions to make sure he understood everything, "And then that's when you discovered that Squall was your other father?"
Sora nodded for the umpteenth time and Sephiroth wasn't fairing much better. The man looked bored out of his skull but Tidus said he 'can't leave yet.' They both agreed that Tidus would be the one taking Sora home after all.
"Alright…well I did not see this day coming at all…" Tidus shook his head and trying to take in everything, "Sora, you do realize that Squall is an insensitive prick that cares about no one but himself and-"
"If that was true, he wouldn't of had saved me!" Sora cut in, "And him being a jerk was a long time ago! People can change, Uncle Tidus! Like Sephiroth!" Sora pointed and Sephiroth wasn't sure if he should glare at Sora or thank him.
"Well he…ugh…alright, fine. Let's say he's a changed man. I still don't think it's a good idea to bring them together again. Hell is going to break loose, Cloud is going to have a mental breakdown, and then Zack's probably going to accidentally hurt someone, or just Squall, and then you and Roxas will have to be looked after when the mess is over…"
"Uncle Tidus! That's the worst case scenario!" Sora cut in once more, "And if you won't help, that's fine, I just want to know what happened!"
"Sora, lots of things happened. I wasn't close to Squall or even know details of their relationship. Almost no one was. What am I supposed to say?"
"Just tell the kid what happened! We already know that Strife was mistreated so just fill in the details!" Sephiroth exclaimed impatiently.
"Hey! It's not my place to talk about Cloud's life!" Tidus bit back and stood up from his couch.
"Then…can you tell us about when Dad left?" Sora asked before an unnecessary fight breaks out.
"When Cloud left huh?" Tidus repeated as he sat back down, "Well let's see…first he confided in me and gave me contact information that I swore not to give out to anyone else, especially Squall. I was supposed to pretend that I had no idea where he went either. Cloud went up to Twilight Town and finished school there. Not long after, you and Roxy were born. But good karma must've come around for Cloud because he had a place to stay, a friend's house by the name of Barret, and work which was owned by a friend named Tifa. A couple years later, he moved back around here. Myself, as well as Zack and Aerith, helped him find a place to stay and welcomed him home. Not long after, Cloud started working for Cid and it's been like that since. He did move back in time to see Zack propose to Aerith (okay I dragged him to spy on them) and of course attend the wedding."
"How was Squall then?" Sora asked, hoping to get a little bit on Squall life.
"Ugh, Squall? Well to be honest, every day I half-worried he wasn't going to come to school because he killed himself. Well I stopped thinking that after a while but he really was pretty down since Cloud left without a word. I almost felt sorry for him. After a while, it got boring watching Squall because he doesn't do or say anything. He almost became invisible to me. I just didn't care as time passed. And just like that, we graduated and went separate ways! I had no idea what happened to him!"
"Apparently no seems to know what happened to him except for maybe Reno and Rude," Sephiroth stated and Tidus couldn't help but raise a brow.
"Weren't they originally Cloud's friends?" Tidus asked but Sephiroth only shrugged.
"Sora did run into them with Squall so it's an assumption that they kept in touch…so why am I still here again?" Sephiroth asked again with a more threatening tone.
"Well in case Cloud calls in panic, he can yell at you instead of me!" Tidus answered enthusiastically, causing Sora's hands to fly into his hair,
"Ah! I forgot to call!"
"Dad went out," Roxas replied when Sora called home in an instant.
"What do you mean Dad went out?" Sora asked, not sure why Cloud hasn't called him himself and start yelling at him for being out with Sephiroth.
"I'm not sure…I gave him the note from Riku's dad and then, well…he just stood there staring at it for a while until he suddenly moved and ordered me to stay home until he gets back. So he took off right after," Roxas explained and now Sora was worried Cloud's attacking Riku right now or something…
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Sephiroth, Reno, Sephiroth, Reno, Sephiroth, Reno, Sephiroth, Reno, Sephiroth, Reno, Sephiroth, Reno, Sephiroth…RENO!"
With his mind made up on the red-head, Cloud ordered his son to be a good boy and stay home so he can go murder someone…not that he said that.
Angrily he knocked on the front door until it opened.
"W-Wha? Cloud?" Leon stuttered but he wasn't given time to say anything else when Cloud grabbed his shirt and pulled him close,
"Take me to Reno…NOW!" Cloud ordered through his gritted teeth. It wasn't too hard to figure out that Leon would know where the accident-prone idiot lived. After all, the only time Sora could've run into someone like Reno is either through Leon OR Reno was the one that Leon saved Sora from. It was only a matter of logical deduction and Cloud was glad he was right because Leon quickly obeyed.
So after a few simple calm knocks on the apartment door, the door opened, and in less than a second Cloud's fist met Reno's face.
"You know…you could've at least given him a warning," said Leon as he stared at Reno's sluggish body on the ground, "Because I think he's currently having a hang-over and you just made it worse but giving him a punch in the face."
"Shut up, Squall," Cloud growled, not caring what he had to say or whether or not Reno had a night of drinking before this. The blonde was about to leave but went back to give Reno a kick, "Remember this before you go molesting my sons! Whatever friendship we had, it's gone now!"
"What the...Cloud?" Reno groaned as he finally got events registered in his head but by the time he figured out he's lying on the ground with a bloody nose and his face hurts like hell, Cloud was gone.
"Cloud!" Leon called after him and was now debating whether he should stay and help Reno or run after Cloud…it was quite an easy decision, "Hey Reno, uh, sorry about that. I'll call Rude to help you."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
The lion man ran to catch up with Cloud, and like he promised he called up Rude to help Reno before the red-head bled to death from it if possible.
"Cloud! Wait up!"
"Go away! I appreciate you taking me to that idiot but now I don't need you!" Cloud shouted over his shoulder but Leon only followed…from a safe distance.
"Um, I just want to know why you punched him out," Leon questioned even though he was pretty sure he knew the answer but he needed to know how Cloud found out.
"Sephiroth told me what he did…" Cloud muttered and Leon's eyes only widened,
"Whoa!" the man ran in front of Cloud to stop him, "Sephiroth? You believed what Sephiroth said?" Leon exclaimed.
"Not to mention…if Cloud's thinking of the same crime as me then how the hell did Sephiroth find out about this?"
"Well he confessed to a crime that almost broke up my friendship with Zack so I really don't see what the point would be if he lied."
"Well…how did Sephiroth know?"
"Apparently Sora told him…" Cloud was now turning his anger towards Sephiroth at that thought.
"…Why did Sora tell Sephiroth?" Leon was just as confused and also a little anger and a sense of being protective was rising within himself.
"And that reminds me!" Cloud whipped out his phone and immediately speed dialed Sora.
"For the last time, Cloud: We. Are. With. Tidus!" Sephiroth repeated at least 5 times already where they were. When Sora's phone rang and he picked up, all three of them could hear Cloud screaming his head off that none of them even caught what he was yelling about. Sora handed the phone to Sephiroth after hearing the man's name several times and Sephiroth regretted answering it because hearing Cloud sound like he's PMSing was like torture.
"I told you it was a good idea to keep him around!" Tidus almost laughed only to receive a death glare from Sephiroth.
"Of course you wouldn't believe me…" Sephiroth growled and without warning, threw the phone at Tidus who almost dropped it but caught it after a few slips.
"Hello? Hey what's up, Cloud? Huh? NO! ARE YOU INSANE?"
"I'm grounded even more aren't I?" Sora asked but Tidus only shook his head with a look that said not to worry.
"Don't worry, Cloud! I will take Sora home! No problem! You can trust me! What? No I have no idea what happened to Reno after high school, why do you ask?"
Reno…ooooh! Sora suddenly remembered that creepy man.
"Ouch, poor guy…he met your iron fist! Haha!"
Sora's face suddenly lit up, wondering if Reno was the one that met Cloud's 'iron fist.'
"Alright, alright, I will. Later Cloud!" Tidus closed the phone before tossing it back to Sora, "Your dad said he'll have a talk with you when you get home and also: Cloud said he's sorry for yelling at you, Sephiroth!"
Sephiroth only muttered to himself before he stood up, ready to leave.
"Thank you, Mr. Sephiroth!"
Sephiroth only waved it off, only because Sora was Riku's best friend. Although Tidus laughing about what Sora called him made the silver-haired man tempted to turn around to give blitzball-boy his own 'iron fist.'
"RIKU!"
Riku groaned and paused his game before getting up,
"WHAT?" he shouted down the hallway as he walked down it.
"Are you giving me an attitude?"
"…No!" Riku shouted, a bit lighter this time when he reached his parents' closed bedroom door, not daring to step in unless he's told to, "Something you need?"
"Yeah…where the hell is your father?" Genesis demanded before going into a loud series of coughs.
"I don't know!" Riku wanted to groan impatiently but knew better, "Can I just…I don't know, make more soup for you? I can hear you coughing again."
"Fine, go do that…"
"Alright then…" Riku rolled his eyes before he headed downstairs.
Riku muttered to himself as he pulled out a canned soup to make. Sometimes he wonders why his red-headed father has to be a pain in the…yeah. It's not that they don't love each other but they just can't function together without Sephiroth. Sephiroth knew better than to keep Riku and Genesis together for more than 5 hours.
He learned that the first time he was absent for 8 hours and left Genesis and baby-Riku in the house only to come home to his family…without the house…
Genesis said something about leaving Riku by himself for a while and forgot about him; he also stated that he can't be blamed for the house burning down because it was Riku's fault and he at least saved their child…so Sephiroth couldn't really argue with that…
On the bright side, the incident is why the family now lives here and Riku met the Strife twins. However, ever since that incident, Genesis and Riku have had an odd relationship. Genesis holds a slight grudge(even after all these years) because Sephiroth withheld sex from him for about a month as punishment. Riku, while being a baby and thus not remembering the big incident, seems to have an unconscious feeling of a grudge as well against Genesis but just didn't know why. He even one time confronted Sephiroth about that feeling but Sephiroth never actually gave a straight answer.
So at this moment, Riku was tempted to throw in about a cup of salt into the now-done soup. He can already hear Genesis shouting for the soup that Riku is taking long to make (on purpose) so why not? Of course he'll probably be grounded afterwards but hey! That gives him an excuse to go to the Strife's twin's home late at night asking for them, or just Sora since he's the one grounded, to sneak out for some fun.
Though Riku's thoughts were halted with Sephiroth returned home at that moment and stopped Riku from wasting their salt and possible making Genesis even more ill.
"I'm sorry…" Riku muttered after Sephiroth finished tending to Genesis.
"Riku…just TRY to refrain from doing anything to that could possible make things worse!"
"He was yelling at me ALL afternoon!" Riku argued, "Asking where you were!"
"And I'll have a talk with him afterwards about that as well but…please, you're what? 15 now? You should be more mature than this."
"…I'm 16," Riku wanted to bang his head against the wall at that.
"And proving my point about maturity!"
Riku sighed and nodded,
"Alright I'm sorry…can I go see Roxas now? And where's Sora?"
"Fine, go ahead, be back before 9 and he's probably still with Tidus."
Riku would stay to question that but he just shrugged it off and headed over to see Roxas.
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