(A/N) I started working on this right after I posted the last one. Didn't expect to finish it so fast. I already knew where it was headed. The only figuring I had to do was how to get it there. Sometimes that can be harder than you think. But… meh. Whatever. Story of life.
[edit] Sorry, I forgot to answer the question in my last note. Lloyd is Lloyd Irving from "Tales of Symphonia". I mentioned him because Cloud's little outfit came out looking sorta like his clothes. I haven't exactly finished the game yet, but it's a really good game. I strongly recommend it if you're interested. But keep in mind it was made about six years ago, so the graphics aren't top shelf. But if anything they're cute. They look like little chibi people. I only say, level up as much as you can!
--
It'd only been a few minutes since Kozue last spoke. And I was still a little on edge but I was able to put it out of my mind by the time we'd reached North Corel. No one was going to cut my head off. Zack wouldn't let that happen. Definitely not. And… Kozue wouldn't let them hurt me… would he? At the Gold Saucer I would've thought not. But lately… I dunno. He wasn't acting the same way he did. I couldn't understand him at all. No. He wouldn't let this guy hurt me. Sure he was rude and short-tempered when no one was around but he'd proved that his main concern is my wellbeing plenty of times. That and he wasn't completely unreasonable. He let me take Orion with us. Sure it took some… uh… prompting. But he still let me take him. I'd already decided he was a good guy. There was nothing left to question about it.
"Cloud." I heard Kozue say. I showed him he had my attention but provided no verbal response. "We're getting close. We can go to the inn for the night but… I only ask that you let me do the talking. Okay? I don't want anyone to know who you are. It might be trouble."
Usually I would want to know why but, given the circumstances, I understood. "Okay." I nodded.
"Alright. I'll go in and pay for the room. You stay outside with the bird and we'll sneak him in later." He said looking forward at the collection of shacks.
"Can't we just… I dunno… ask if he's allowed inside?" I asked.
"Well… if you want to take the boring approach." He shrugged. I think I'd take my chances with the less complicated plan.
"You'll be good, won't you Orion?" The bird looked up at me and behaved as though he understood. He almost looked as though he'd nodded in agreement. That wasn't normal. But I guess it was possible. I looked ahead of me just to see that the inn was just ahead.
"I'll go on ahead." Kozue said placing his hand on my shoulder before walking off. Well. Wasn't this familiar. But I could get used to it. Kozue wasn't like everyone else. He was up front with me. I could tell he was running around hiding information from me. But he was honest. Perhaps too honest. Well… on some things. Some things that mattered. But on other things…
"I did say he was hard to read." I sighed. I guess what I really meant was that being around him made me feel as though I were in good hands. And even though he was rude, blunt, and sometimes condescending… he had a very calming tone to his voice. "You like him doncha'?" I asked the bird. Orion chirped a happy reply. So I guess that meant yes.
"Hey!" Kozue shouted waving for me to come over. I took the sign and walked over listening to Orion trail after me. Once I got close enough to see Kozue clearly I was... I was kinda weirded out. He was smiling. And it looked genuine. That never happened. Not that I remembered. Kozue smirked if anything. This wasn't natural. And when I got up there it got even worse. "Hey, kiddo, looks like we're staying here tonight." He said wrapping his arm around me and pulling me into a rather odd hug. I thought it was awkward, but he didn't seem to mind it at all. "Something the matter?" He asked in the same unusual tone he'd been using. I shook my head as though to say 'nothing'. "Okay then." He said patting my back. "So. This lovely young lady has just informed me that your pet can stay. There is but one condition. You must be sure that he does his business outside. Can you handle that?"
I nodded slowly. No one had ever talked to me like that before. Not really. It was odd.
"Alright, Yuichi, go get Orion while I finish this up." He said shooing me away. Okay. I had to guess that my name was Yuichi as long we were here. I could deal with that. Just as long as the name didn't stick.
"You're son is so cute." I heard the woman at the desk say.
My jaw dropped. That was outrageous! How could she even believe that I was Kozue's son?! "That explains why he was being so nice." I said under my breath.
"Kweh?" Orion chirped.
"C'mon." I said. "We'd better get inside. It's getting dark." Orion responded with one of his usual noises and trotted off toward the inn. I stayed still for a moment more. Though I couldn't tell why. I guess I was waiting to hear the airship. But there was nothing. Suppose I wasn't getting out of here that easily. So, now thoroughly disappointed, I dragged my feet hoping the more time I wasted the faster Zack got here. I guess that'd be too much to ask for anyhow. Perhaps he'd be here by morning? "Oh well…" I sighed.
"What's wrong?" Kozue asked. He'd been standing in the doorway waiting for me. Probably still trying to play the role of my father. And when I didn't answer right away he ushered me into the room and shut the door. "Be honest with me…" He said putting his hands on my shoulders. "Is it because I'm pretending to be your father?"
"Huh?" No. I didn't care. Kozue was a bit of a jerk but he was probably a hundred times better than my real father. So I shook my head.
"Are you sure? Because if it is you can just tell me." He sounded oddly sincere. "There isn't much I can do about it now but, you know… it's not like I want to be your father or anything. She just assumed it."
"I don't care." I said putting my hands up as though to distance myself from him. "Really I don't." Did people actually care about things like that? I suppose they did. But I didn't.
"I just want to be sure about this."
"It's not that." I said getting a little annoyed by this. "I just… miss my friends. That's all."
"What? But you've got the bird. Isn't he enough to entertain you until they get here?"
"Uh… That's not really…" That's not the point. What was this guy's problem? "Entertainment isn't the issue. I just miss my friends."
"What do you mean?" He asked. All I could do was stare after that. He couldn't understand that I missed my friends? Did this guy even have friends?
"I'm just… worried about them." I had been separated from them for far too long. And they didn't have Kozue to take care of things. He handled those drunken idiots without even having to lift a finger. That had to count for something.
He raised a brow skeptically. "You are worried about them?" What was that supposed to mean? I was about to answer but he cut me off. "Forget about that. Look, we're going to wait until the girl at the desk finishes her shift and then we're going to go out to get some things and… food?" It was odd that he said that last part with an upward infraction but I guessed that I wasn't supposed to think too much on it. He didn't seem to care about it.
"Why do we have to wait?" I was hungry now. Augh. My stomach was eating itself. I hadn't eaten since the bowl of chili. And that was practically two days ago.
"Because the girl gives me the creeps."
What?! That was why he was going to let me waste away?! "Then why did you come on to her?"
"I didn't come on to her." He shot back. "She just… I dunno, threw herself at me."
"But you were talking to her all flirty."
"It's called being charismatic."
Charismatic? Kozue had the ability to be charismatic? He never really showed that side to me. I mean, I suppose he seemed charismatic. But I never really saw it because he was always too busy being… well… a jerk. "Okay." I sighed. "How long do you think it'll be before she clocks out?"
"Not long, I think she has the day shift." He said glancing out the doorway.
"Okay." I sighed letting myself fall backwards on what I assumed was the bed. It kinda hurt more than I'd expected it to. I guess that was a dumb idea since the bed was essentially a mattress on the dusty floor. But I sat up as soon as I could when I heard a squawk. "Orion?" I asked when I turned to see him all ruffled up and in the middle of the bed.
"You sat on the bird, huh? That's nice." I heard Kozue laugh.
I just made a face and leaned back making sure not to sit on Orion. Although I hoped he didn't expect to sleep in the bed tonight. That may be potentially problematic. But I soon found that it wouldn't be because instead of settling back down he stepped off the mattress and found a spot in the corner. It seemed as though it only took him thirty seconds to fall asleep. Understandable. I was exhausted too, but I wasn't gonna fall asleep before I could eat…
--
"Cloud." I heard Kozue sigh as he nudged me with the tip of his boot.
"Ow..." I groaned sitting up. "What?"
"You fell asleep." He said rolling his eyes. I did? But I'd tried so hard to keep myself awake. At least I thought I had. I remembered being persistent to stay awake and get some food and then…
"Oh… uh…" After that there was nothing. I guess I did fall asleep. Whoops. "Sorry." I said yawning. "How long has it been?" Not too long I hope.
"About an hour and a half or so…" He answered. That was longer than I thought it had been. I wanted to apologize again but he put his hand up to stop me. "It's got nothing to do with you." He said pulling me up onto my feet. "She was about to leave when her replacement came by and they decided to chat for another eighty minutes before she actually left. Annoying I know, but I saw that you were asleep and figured you didn't have to stay up with me so I let you be."
"Didn't you get bored?" I asked. I knew I would've been.
He just looked at me in a confused way but at the same time he was smug. It was weird. "I don't get bored." He said bluntly. "C'mon. You're hungry, right?"
I was about to answer with much enthusiasm but my stomach beat me to it with a loud, complaining grumble. So in the end my reply was an embarrassed twitch of a smile. And that was all that was necessary. After that he just led me out of the room and waved to the person at the desk to make sure he knew we were going out. The man at the desk looked up briefly, made a mental note of us, and went back to reading a magazine that Kozue wouldn't let me see the cover to.
In the end it was only a short walk before we found a place to eat at. It was a little shack of a place with only a counter separating the kitchen and the row of stools that we sat at. It seemed the cook could make a variety of things but I just wanted an inexpensive sandwich. It was a simple ham and cheese sandwich with pickles, banana peppers for flavor, and a bit of salt and pepper on top all on Italian bread. With, obviously, a coke to go with it. "And you?" He asked Kozue.
"Just give me a soda." He said nonchalantly. The man nodded and went out a back door I hadn't previously noticed.
"Aren't you hungry?" I asked. He had gone without food for at least as long as I had. "Do you not have enough money to pay for yourself?"
"It's fine. I'm not hungry. Just focus on eating you food. You need it." He answered looking around for some reason. I cocked my head in confusion. I needed it? Did he… not need it? That was an odd way to phrase it if that wasn't what he meant.
"But I haven't seen you eat this whole time." I said still thinking it was a money problem.
"I'm fine, trust me. I don't want to bother with the wasted effort." Wasted effort? He wasn't making any sense again. But he didn't seem upset or trying to hide anything so I figured I'd just ask him later. So I did as he told me to and focused on eating my own food. Especially when the man came back with the soda.
Kozue stayed pretty quiet after that. The whole time just watching his surroundings and occasionally sipping his drink. He was an odd person before, but now I was even more confused. Mostly because he made it seem as though he didn't need to eat. So then… was he even human? I was so confused. And I knew that in situations like this you weren't supposed to think about it too much, but it was human nature… or at least my nature to try and solve the puzzles put in front of me. However, I didn't exactly have enough information to finish this one. So this was mostly hurting my brain, but I just couldn't drop it. All of these odd things made me think I knew him even more. So, who was he? He had to be someone important. It had to be something so painfully obvious that I was missing it. But I…
"You all done?" I heard him ask in his 'father' voice.
"Huh?" I asked looking up. "Yeah…"
"Okay." He said standing up from his seat. He then handed some money to the man behind the counter. The man looked at it and then gaped at it.
"This is way more than what you owe me."
"Just take it all." Kozue replied starting to walk away.
"But you gave me one thousand gil. You only owe fifty." Whoa. What?! That was a gross overpayment.
"It's a generous tip." Kozue answered taking me by the arm and walking off. I wondered where we were going now. He said he needed to get some other things but food was the only reason I came out here.
"Can't I just go back to the inn?" I asked. It didn't feel right to leave Orion alone for too long.
"You most certainly cannot." He answered.
"Why? I'm really tired."
"Because it's not safe." I sighed in response to that. "Don't give me an attitude about it. You're life is being threatened, there are people hunting you down. Only a complete idiot would be stupid enough to leave you alone. No. You're staying right here where I can keep an eye on you."
As annoying as it was, there was a lot of logic behind it. So I could only murmur the last of my frustration on the issue and stare down at my boots. They still had the same shine they had as new boots. That was weird. I'd been walking around dusty roads this whole time. Come to think of it. I also noticed that my pants were still white. Not even a trace of dirt on them. Pointless information, but an observation. This outfit had to be the weirdest thing I'd ever been in. I was surprised no one had asked me if I were royalty yet. Especially when Kozue shelled out all that money. It made me curious as to how much he had. I considered asking. But that would be rude. And I didn't know how he would take it, so I kept my mouth shut. That is until I winced from a sharp pain on my forearm. I looked down and saw that the whole time we'd been walking I'd been slowly working at the bite from the dog. But I couldn't help it. It was itching like nuts and I'd managed to scratch to the point of irritation even with gloves on and through the sleeve. It had felt as though I'd reopened it. And it stung so bad. It was like scratching sunburn. "Ouch."
"Are you alright?" Kozue asked.
"Uh…" I knew it was a standard question but come on. Really? "No."
"Okay." He said carefully lifting up my right forearm and examining it I guess. I couldn't see how he could. As it was now with the clothing covering it, there didn't appear to be anything wrong. "Let's go." He then led me over to the nearby tool shop. I was kinda surprised it was still open at this hour but grateful. But not for long. The man at the counter was asleep. "Hey!" Kozue shouted banging his fist on the counter abruptly. That man was so shocked that he fell out of his seat.
"Y-yes?" He asked getting up.
"He has an arm injury that's acting up." He said pointing at me. "Do you have anything for pain?" He asked. I took note of the impatient drumming of his fingers as the man thought.
"We have potions. Will that work?" He asked.
"Yes." Kozue sighed. "I can't stay long." I heard him mumble.
"Fifty gil." The clerk answered producing a vile of purple liquid.
"Fine." Kozue answered tossing the gil with one hand as he took the potion with the other. The entire time keeping his head down. And as soon as he had the potion in hand he led me back out. Once we were back on the street with no people around he stopped, looked around and then just walked back to the inn. I followed him closely until we got back to the room. "Sorry about that."
"No problem." I answered gritting my teeth trying to ignore the impulse to itch. Just telling myself that if I itched it was going to hurt. That potion would be a nice thing to have right about now. "Kozue…"
"Hmm?" He asked looking up from previously staring at the potion. "Oh, right. This." He said handing it to me. I tried to uncap it as best I could but my left hand was shaking from wanting to itch so bad. "Do you need some help?"
"Uh…" Well yes. But I didn't really want him to do anything.
"Just give it here." He said taking it back. He took the cap off effortlessly, of course, but he didn't give it back to me. I looked at him in confusion. "Come here."
"What?"
"I'm not going to let you hold it, you'll drop it. Now come on." He answered.
"Why…?" I trailed off a bit once I'd realized what he meant. No. No way. Absolutely not. No. I shook my head furiously. I could so do it myself. He didn't have to give it to me.
"Cloud, don't be stupid." He said taking a few steps towards me. "You're having tremors. Just let me give you the potion so you can go to sleep." It was true that I wouldn't be able to fall asleep, voluntarily, with this painful itch. "So…" He said grabbing my lower jaw and forcing my chin up. The cool leather of his glove made me gasp; in the short moment after I'd inhaled he stuck the vile, bottom up, in my mouth. "Stop being difficult." I watched a smug little smirk spread as he spoke.
I let the liquid spill down my throat and then just held the vile in my teeth while I glared at him. But the pain did go away, so I guess I couldn't stay too mad. "Stop being snarky." I replied after spitting the bottle out and catching it. I thought that got him but he kept on smiling. That was frustrating.
"Nice one." He said sarcastically. "By the way, genius, you're blushing."
"What?!" Oh no way. Why did that have to happen? Why did that always happen?! I turned around and covered my face with my hands, even though that didn't help much. If anything it made it worse.
"Now you're just being dramatic." He laughed. "Stop embarrassing yourself. It's a perfectly normal reaction. I really don't know why people must further their own embarrassment just because they're embarrassed that they're blushing. It makes no sense." What? Now he wasn't making sense. Again. "Right. I forgot how intelligent you were." What did he mean by that? "Anyway. Bedtime, as a father would say it."
I yawned just thinking about it. But I wanted to know something first. "Wait, can I ask you something?"
"I can't guarantee an answer." He said folding his arms. "This isn't that whole thing about me lying to you, is it?"
"No. At least I don't think it's relevant. So…" They were just me wanting to know something random. "Why did you freak out in the shop?"
"Oh, that? The shop owner knew me. Not the clerk, but the owner. I heard him sleeping in the back."
I raised a brow. "I didn't hear anyone sleeping in the back."
"Then consider a hearing aide." He replied. I narrowed my eyes. He was good. Very good. "Okay." He said clapping his hands together. "If that's all, please, get some sleep." I wondered whether or not to use the bed but he answered before I even got to ask. "No, just take the bed."
"What're you gonna do?" I asked. He got me the food. I should let him have the bed.
"Don't worry about me. I'm going to stand guard." He answered waving his hand dismissively.
"But…" I didn't expect him to glare. "But aren't you tired?"
"No. Now just go to sleep." He sighed practically shoving me onto the mattress. "I'm not going to let something happen to you by making the classic mistakes, so stop trying to set me up for it." All I could do was blink with confusion. "I'm serious. What usually happens when the guards leave the person they're protecting alone?"
I shrugged in response. How was I supposed to know that? I didn't get to see many movies and all the books I read had no scenarios such as this. He slapped a hand to his forehead and then let it slide down over his mouth, as though he were trying not to say something insulting. Obviously I'd made myself look stupid. Of course, when didn't I do that? It seemed that was all I did around Kozue.
"If the guards leave the person that they're trying to protect, they either A: get captured, B: are killed, or C: get ra…" He suddenly fell silent.
"Get what?" I asked scratching the back of my head. He didn't answer. "Kozue?"
"Huh?" He said looking as though he'd just snapped out of a trance or something. "Oh, uh… nothing. They get… ratted out by a spy or something. I don't know. I spaced and lost my train of thought."
"Uh… okay." I said looking around the room. There was a hole in one of the walls that I guess was supposed to count as a window and Orion was curled up on a stack of papers in the corner. Kozue sat down under the window and leaned against the wall, very carefully. I sat up on the mattress and pulled off the boots; then, very quickly, hid my legs under the sheet of a blanket. Kozue didn't seem to notice so I decided not to be self conscious. I was about to let sleep take me, but I remembered that he mentioned something and then didn't go into detail on it. "Hey, what happens if they fall asleep?" I asked. He looked up from staring at the floor and looked as though he'd forgotten what we were just talking about. "You were just talking about classic mistakes. So, what would happen if you fell asleep?"
"Theoretically, you'd be stolen away by a silent assassin or something of the like. Then it would connect on with the other options I just listed. But more than likely you'd be taken back to base and then killed."
That was expectedly blunt. "Way to mince words, no really, I feel so safe now." I said sarcastically.
"What would be the point of mincing words?" He shrugged. "That never helps anyone. Especially if they know the truth deep down past their state of denial." He then looked as though he'd just realized something. "But there's nothing to worry about. I won't fall asleep."
I swallowed hard and leaned back letting my head rest on the old, almost flat, pillow. My energy was running low and I wanted nothing more than to fall asleep, but I couldn't. Not right away. I turned over onto my side and watched Kozue get up to turn out the lights, a part of me hoped that he would say something else that was reassuring, but he didn't. He just walked back to the window, sat down, and stared at the floor. What was he thinking about? Did he really expect me to believe that he would stay up all night long? I tried to think of so many things to blot out what Kozue had said. But none of it was working. What kind of books did this guy read? I probably wouldn't ever know that either. So I focused on other things while subconsciously trying to stay awake. I had to guess that it didn't work once I'd noticed my vision had faded.
--
When I opened my eyes all I could see was white. All around. There was nothing else se for a dark figure approaching. I squinted to see, but I couldn't make out who it was. "Aerith?" I asked. The name seemed to have come out of nowhere along with the image of a brown haired girl with soft, caring eyes. But it was not her. I could just barely remember this person. It was the man who had visited me before and looked like an older version of me. The one that I'd dreamt about a while ago but couldn't remember what he'd said to me.
"Try at another guess." He said looking around suspiciously.
"What's the matter?"
"Nothing. I'm just… not supposed to be here…" He answered.
"Where's Aerith?"
"That's not important." He said placing his hands on my shoulders. Once he did, my mood seemed to go down. It was like all my emotions fled at his touch and left only depression. "Just remember, be wary of the General." His tone was a serious one even though his statement was vague and ridiculous.
"The General?" I asked raising a brow. "What does he have to do with anything?"
"Everything." He answered shaking me slightly.
"I don't understand what you mean. The General doesn't even know I exist." I sighed.
"No! He does. He's…" He looked up abruptly and glanced around. "Damn." He released me and then turned to leave.
"Wait. Where are you going?" I asked following him.
"You ought to wake up." He said starting to run, but he stopped and looked back. His jaw dropped and his eyes widened. I wanted to look back, but at the same time I didn't think it'd be a very good idea. "Shit." The man growled. "They're trying to flood me out." He took off running and at that moment I turned to see a wave of black hurtling towards us. "Run!" He shouted.
"You don't have to tell me twice!" I answered dashing after him. This was insanity! Was I the one doing this? "What's going on?" I asked with staggering breath.
"Next time." He answered running forward and disappearing.
"What?!" He left me alone?! What was I supposed to do? Keep running?
Apparently that wasn't an option; I could already see the darkness creeping up in my periphery. It didn't take it long to sweep over me and blot out the light completely. I tried to keep my legs moving but there was nothing to give me momentum anymore. From the light feeling I was experiencing, I had to guess that I was just floating in the dark. I couldn't see anything. Not even the hand that I was experimentally waving in front of my face. A bit of time passed and I was beginning to get used to the darkness. It wasn't that bad. At least I was the only one in it. But then a red light appeared from below. It was faint, but in this darkness it made quite a bit of a difference. So I looked down at it. Then all at once I felt a falling sensation hit me, the red light was getting closer and brighter. I couldn't hear it but I was sure I was screaming for help. My body hit something, but it took a second for my mind to catch up to me.
--
"Are you alright?! What the hell happened?!" Kozue shouted while shaking me a bit roughly.
"What?" I asked still a bit dazed. The shock was too much. It had been a while since I'd had a dream like that. I mean, sure, nightmares were frequent. But I hadn't had a falling dream since I was eight. I'd forgotten how much of a jolt they gave a person. Not to mention that story that if you ever hit the bottom, your body thinks you've died and then you actually do die. Yeah… remembering that wasn't helping me calm down at all. I could feel myself trembling, and my breathing was heavy. I couldn't figure it out. I knew the danger was over, but I was still terrified. And from the looks of it, so was Kozue.
"What happened? One minute you were asleep and then the next you were screaming and thrashing around. You really scared the bird." He answered setting me down.
"Orion?" I looked around for him, but I couldn't see him anywhere. "Where's Orion?"
"He's hiding somewhere." Kozue said trying to calm himself down. "He got scared when I couldn't wake you up. He thought something was hurting you." He paused and glanced up and down my body. "You're not hurt, right?"
"No. Why'd he think that?"
"Cloud, you wouldn't wake up. And whenever I touched you, you'd scream even louder. I'm surprised no one from town came to see what was going on." He shrugged regaining his usual demeanor. "I thought you were dying."
"Oh… sorry." I said looking around for my boots. That dream must've been a lot longer than I'd thought seeming as how the sun was already up.
"Don't be sorry. Just tell me what that was all about." That sounded more like an order than reassurance. So Kozue was going to show this side again?
"I dunno. I was dreaming and then the guy and the darkness, then the red light and I fell. I can't get hardly any of the details." I said rubbing my temples with my fingers. "Oh, but the man said something about the General. Something I was supposed to remember."
"What was it?" Kozue asked taking on a deeper level of interest.
"Uh… I think he said be wary of him. Whatever that means." I answered rolling my eyes. "Crazy, right?"
He didn't answer again. He just had that 'in intense thought' look on his face. But after several moments he nodded. "Yeah… crazy." And even though he'd answered, he still sounded distant when he said it.
I ignored it as best I could and slipped on the boots while looking for the chocobo. He wasn't on the stack of papers, he wasn't under the window or in it, and he couldn't be outside because the door to our room was closed. I tried clicking my tongue against the roof of my mouth, but there was no response. "Orion." I called listening for the kwehing reply.
"He's in the closet." Kozue sighed.
"Where's the closet?" I asked looking around. I couldn't see one.
"It's the hole behind that sheet." He answered.
"I thought that was a curtain." I said walking up and pulling it aside. But, sure enough there was a hole behind it with nothing in it but a few boxes left behind from past guests. "Orion?" I asked looking down at the curled up ball of fluttering green feathers. "C'mon." I said trying to coax him out.
"Kweh?" The little bird replied.
"It's okay. I'm alright. Everything's fine now." I offered him my hand. It looked as though the trembling had stopped. That should help to convince him. "How well did you sleep, Kozue?" I asked trying to be casual to help Orion feel better.
"I told you. I was standing guard. I didn't sleep." He answered.
"You didn't sleep at all?"
"Not a wink." He replied stepping toward the door. "I'll be right back."
"Where are you going?" I thought he said that it was a bad idea to leave me alone.
"I'll just be down the hall. Yell if you need me." He said leaving rather quickly. That was weird. I got the feeling that he wasn't coming back. But I suppressed it. Kozue wasn't going to abandon me after staying up all night to make sure I was safe. He'd be back. Probably just checking out.
"Wark!" The chocobo squawked.
"What's the matter?" I asked. I suppose this would be the point where Kozue would've told me to stay still and be quiet. But Orion was still squawking madly. "Shh. It's fine." I said picking him up. But I didn't get up; instead I crawled into the closet and sat as far back into it as I could. Just in case there was any trouble. I did my best to try and keep Orion calm while trying to steady my breathing at the same time.
"Finally." Somebody sighed. "I thought that guy would never leave." I couldn't see past the sheet covering the closet, but from the thud I had to guess that they came in through the window. "Now where's the kid?" They asked making slight movements. They must've been looking around for me. And since I'd recognized the voice to be Yazoo, it definitely wasn't safe to call for Kozue. "Cloud." He called with a laughing tone. "Come out, come out, wherever you are."
Orion shifted in my lap, almost like he was about to run for it. I stiffened my hold on him to prevent any wriggling or chances of escape. If he ran Yazoo might kill him.
"C'mon, Cloud, let's move this along. Get out of the closet." Yazoo sighed pulling the sheet away. I was a deer in the headlights. But Orion leapt out of my arms and ran out the door before Yazoo could even think to react. Too bad I couldn't do the same. But I tried. I jumped up and kicked him as hard as I could before I made a break for it. He'd fallen to the ground and didn't get up so either I hit him really hard or I hit lower than I'd aimed for. But what did I care, it wasn't my problem.
"Kozue!" I shouted running for the exit. I only stopped when a bullet hole appeared next to the door just as I was about to leave. Obviously, Yazoo hadn't stayed down long enough. I turned to see the man getting to his feet, gun in hand.
"I don't want to shoot you." He said aiming the gun directly at me. "But I will if I must."
"You didn't have a problem with it last time." I growled gripping my upper left arm. Thankfully that one wasn't bothering me. None in particular were bothering me, but… meh. The point was that he shot me last time. And then he was a complete jerk about it.
"I only did it because I was told to." He sighed while rolling his eyes. "Direct orders, as is this."
"Sadistic bastard." I mumbled directing my attention to the floor.
"I knew he should've sent Loz." He slapped a hand to his forehead but kept his aim steady.
"Well then why didn't he?" I asked. Loz would've been better. He wouldn't have been the best person to see, but I would've preferred him over Yazoo.
"That's just petty, he hurt you too."
"But he felt bad about it." And there was the point that he didn't shoot me. There was a difference. Sure, he beat me up. But Yazoo shot me. I could typically get over being beaten up, what other choice did I have? It happened a lot. But he shot me!
"Tch. He only felt bad because you cried and made him realize that you weren't…" He did the same thing that everyone else was doing. The whole spacing out thing in the middle of a sentence. "Never mind. I'm just trying to say that I'm sorry too." That was… unexpected. But mostly that it sounded sincere. "I don't like it when you're mad at me, so… I'm sorry."
"Really?" I asked withdrawing slightly when he stepped forward.
"Yes. But that doesn't change the problem at hand." He then moved so fast that I didn't notice him come closer. The next thing I knew, he had me by the arm and was leading me out of the inn. And, despite his apology, he was handling me a bit roughly. My arm was twisted behind me and the gun was being jabbed into my side. And when we walked past the counter he pulled me forward to use as a blocker so that the inn keeper couldn't see the gun.
"Where you going, Yuichi?" The older man asked from his desk.
"Um… I uh… have you seen my… father?" I asked. Please say yes. Please say yes.
"Nope. Can't say that I have." He answered. Dammit! Where did you go Kozue?! "You alright? You look kind of pale."
"He's fine." Yazoo answered. "His temperature is a little high, but I'll take care of it. Like his father asked me to." I rolled my eyes, which got the man's attention. "Right, Yuichi." He almost growled.
I didn't answer. And Yazoo wasn't too happy about it. He made that clear when he pressed the gun closer to me. It surprised me that he did and I must've looked shocked because the inn keeper got out of his chair. Yazoo jabbed me again, but harder this time and I had to fight off the urge to make a whimpering noise. "Uh… wait!" I said holding my free hand out in front of me. I dunno why. I guess it would help to block him or something, but… "It's true! I just didn't answer before because I felt sick!"
"Oh, now his stomach's upset too. We really should be going." Yazoo sighed pulling me along after him as he left. "That was close." He said casually. "You realize I wasn't going to shoot you, right?"
"What?!" He wasn't going to…? So I just…? The jerk just tricked me into cooperating.
"No. I'm not allowed to kill you." Yazoo laughed. "I would've killed him instead."
"Oh…" Well. I guess that was bad. Really bad. So I would've had to cooperate anyway. "Yazoo?" I asked when I'd realized my eyes were burning. "Did you… get rid of Kozue before this?"
"Kozue?" The name didn't seem to be familiar to him. "You mean that guy that stayed up? All. Night. Long?" Seriously? I guess he was telling the truth then. So I nodded. "No." He shook his head. "I waited for him to leave, remember?"
"Oh… yeah." I said staring at the ground. My bottom lip started trembling, but I held it back. I refused to cry about this. So what if Kozue left me here to die? After all of that and he ditched me? Who cares? It didn't matter. I guess I should be more broken up about Orion leaving me too. But then again, he was at a disadvantage in this situation. Whatever! Try not to think about it. Do not cry in front of Yazoo. Loz, maybe. Yazoo, no! So… "Where are we going?"
"Just to the outskirts of town to find my bike. Then I guess it's game over for you." He sighed.
Maybe but… "Only if you can catch me!" I shouted running back the way we came. It took me no time at all to pass by the inn, but Kozue was still nowhere to be seen. All I had to do was find him. He'd fix this.
--
I'd reached the outskirts of town but, hopefully, far away from Yazoo's bike. And it was a little surprising that he hadn't caught me yet. He hadn't even shot at me or tried to injure my leg to stop me. I glanced behind me to see if he was still there. He was. He was also aiming at me. I had to say, I kinda expected him to appear in front of me just in time for me to bump into him. But what was I complaining for? This was a good thing. "Whoa!" There's the bullet. Right at my feet. The noise made me jump up and fall. Probably the exact reaction he'd wanted.
"Are you quite done?" He asked approaching slowly.
"No." I grumbled getting up and taking a fighting stance.
"You can't be serious." He laughed.
That was the expected reaction. But… "I am." There was no way I could win, but I was gonna fight him. All I had to do was stall him while hoping something would happen. It usually went that way.
"You don't sound too confident in yourself." He said putting his gun away. "But… I'll humor you."
"Humor me?" That was just so… so… rude. I almost didn't want to bother fighting him anymore. I knew I couldn't. I knew it, okay. But I had a point to make. I couldn't give up just because of a scathing remark. Geez. If I'd made a habit of doing that I'd never accomplish anything. "Whatever." I said rolling my eyes.
"Come on then." He answered.
I shrugged internally. I really didn't want to do this. Maybe there was something better to do…? No. This was all I could do. The only other option was giving up and going quietly. That was never the thing to do. But I… I couldn't do it. But I had to. "Uh…"
"If you won't make the first move, I will." Yazoo sighed running forward to throw a punch. I did my best to dodge it, but he was too darn fast. I staggered backwards when he'd punched me in the jaw and was surprisingly only bruised. I thought he would've broken it with hardly any effort. He must've been holding back. That just added on to the insult! How was I supposed to put up with this? Especially when he was trying so hard to trash my already dangerously low morale. I couldn't keep this up. "What's the matter?" He asked grabbing the back of my head. I felt him push me forward and I thought would fall over; but instead his knee hit my gut completely knocking the wind out of me. And then he kept repeating the action until I felt like something was going to brake. "I think we're done here." He said gripping my wrist. I wanted to swear at him or at least spit, but I still couldn't breathe. Not that I would've had time to do anything, because shortly after grabbing my wrist he spun around and tossed me. I felt myself go flying but hardly remembered the landing. I knew that afterwards I felt like I wanted to puke, and that quickly turned into a need to pass out. But I couldn't. That was what he wanted. If I went out for even a second he'd have me. So I tried to think about what there was to do, which was harder to do with the growing pressure on the situation. Mostly it was that Yazoo was getting closer. And I doubted that he'd let me be.
So. What was there to work with? From my current position, nothing. Absolutely nothing. Or at least not that I could see. There was dirt. I quickly scoped the rest of the area. There was something glittering a few feet away. Something golden and… sharp! That would work! Too bad I couldn't move. "Come on." I grumbled. If there were any time for adrenaline to kick in, now would be the time.
"Would you just stay down? I don't like hurting you." He said when I propped myself up on my arms. But again, he didn't seem to have a problem with it. Besides, how could he think that I would just give up if he asked me to? I kinda wanted to live. "Stop!" He shouted when I got on my feet. I wasn't going to. But I might fall down. I still couldn't breathe right and my legs felt a little weak, but I'd do my best.
"You wish I would give up, but I won't." I answered wobbling slightly.
Once I said that he almost panicked and then started hitting me, just enough to knock me down, over and over and over again. But each and every time I got back up. It seemed to drive him nuts. But eventually he hit me so that I fell right next to the glinting object. I had no idea what it was, all I knew was that it was sharp and small enough to throw or conceal. So conceal it I did. Holding it just right with the handle in my palm and the blade hidden behind my arm. "Have you had enough yet?" He asked. I shook my head and tried to get up again. "No, no, no, no, stop. Please, just stay down." He said walking over and lifting me up by the collar of my shirt. "Why do you keep on getting up?"
"Isn't it obvious?" I asked swinging my arm up and driving the blade into his shoulder. "I want to live." How many times did I have to say it? If some guy showed up to take you to your death and you had the ability to stall him by refusing to be knocked out, wouldn't you and your subconscious self try as hard as you could to do so? One would think so. But for now he seemed to be shocked and I took the opportunity to get as far away from him as I could.
"AUGH!!!"
But then again, it probably wasn't a good idea to hurt Yazoo. Before he looked bored, now he looked mad. Very, very mad. That was made obvious when he pulled out the small blade and threw it at me. I had to dive out of the way for it to miss me. As it turned out, that was the least of my problems. Because when I looked back at Yazoo he had his gun again. And it was aimed directly at me… again. "Uh…" Great. Now I was way too tired to move.
"Why did you stab me?!" He growled. "Why won't you give up? Why do you make me do these things?" That wasn't good. "You're going to make me shoot you, aren't you?" I shook my head. But he just smirked. "Too late now." He said taking three shots.
All I could do was close my eyes. So much for surviving. I was still determined to live, no matter what the cost. But after this, even if the shots didn't kill me, it was going to be hard to keep myself alive for very long. It was weird. Even though this all happened in an instant, everything was all slowed down. I had plenty of time to reflect on my life and how awful it was. And even though there were many things I probably shoulda wished had gone another way, I only had one regret. It was probably a little too soon to be thinking about my regrets and all, but I… I…
"What?!" I heard Yazoo gasp. It caused me to look out of curiosity, but I kinda wished I hadn't.
When I opened my eyes, I saw the three bullets spinning in front of me. But they weren't moving any closer than an inch away from my face. "What?" I didn't get it. But when I reached out to touch one I was pulled away by a strong arm.
"Sorry I'm late, kid."
"Kozue?" Gaia, thank you! He showed up! I was so glad to see him that I completely forgot about Yazoo and hugged him. He looked a little surprised by it but I wasn't gonna let up because of that. I thought he'd ditched me. He had no idea how happy I was to see him! Even more so when my bruises started to disappear. I didn't think he was going to come. "I thought you'd left." I said aloud.
"To be honest, I had." He answered. I let go and backed away slightly. That wasn't good. "Oh, get over it." He said wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me back. "I had to. But when the bird came running after me screeching about something, without you, I knew something was up."
"Who are you?" Yazoo growled.
Kozue smirked and replied, "Someone who thinks you shouldn't let your emotions lead you. It might get you into trouble." I buried my face in his jacket. Anything to distract him. He shouldn't be taunting Yazoo. I just wanted him to fly me out of here. "Cloud, stay back." He sighed stepping out in front of me.
"Kozue, don't do it. He's too powerful." I warned. Was he an idiot? A reckless idiot?
"Tch. Powerful." He scoffed. "If you think that's powerful, then allow me correct you and demonstrate true power." He then summoned a sword out of nowhere and darted forward. He moved so fast my eyes couldn't track him. He was much faster than Yazoo. How was that even possible? Normal people couldn't move that fast. Of course, I guess… having that wing and all… he couldn't be a normal human. After that he surprised me further by blocking every one of Yazoo's shots with his sword. And Yazoo dodged each swing of his sword. They both continued on like that for several minutes before Yazoo turned towards me and fired.
It all happened so fast that I couldn't register it. He'd fired, and then… Kozue appeared in front of me. I only noticed when I heard the bullet catch in his chest. "Kozue!" What happened?! Why did…?! How could he?!
"That was underhanded of you…" Kozue grinned as he dropped his sword and fell to the ground. He was clutching his side, so that had to mean that it'd missed his heart.
"I was ordered to use whatever means necessary in order to accomplish my mission." The gunman answered casually.
"Is that so?" He asked. "How far are you willing to go to accomplish said mission?"
"What do you mean?" Yazoo appeared to be just as confused as I was. I mean really, what was the point of that question?
"Just wondering if you're prepared to die trying." And with that Kozue forced himself onto his feet; only faltering once as he did so. It was hardly noticeable. But I didn't linger on it. Mostly I wanted to know where he'd gotten the strength to stand. I felt uneasy… or unnerved actually. Like I wanted to say something but all I could do was stand there gaping like an idiot. Yazoo almost looked the same. But his expression quickly changed to alarm when the black wing spread out from Kozue's back. The look on his face made it obvious that he wasn't expecting that. Especially when the man flew at him and tackled him. But instead of just pushing him over, he didn't let go. And with one beat of his wing, they were both gone. I couldn't even tell which way they'd gone on account of the dust that had flown up and threatened to blind me. I heard Yazoo call out but the noise was coming from all around. That was it. It took me a while to realize it, but that was it. They were gone. I was relieved but partially concerned… but for who? Did it matter? I suppose I was able to get over it because I quickly dropped the topic and fell to my knees just trying to catch my breath. No time for concern, I was just relieved the danger was gone. Now I just had to calm myself down and find a place to hide while I waited for someone to come find me. I wasn't sure where I could go though. I didn't have any money.
"Cloud!" I heard someone shout. I looked around searching for the one the voice belonged. Talk about good timing. Of all the people, Zack was running towards me. And when I saw him… I felt something. But I couldn't tell what it was. I guess I was just… really happy to see him? I dunno. He was all I could think about when I thought I was going to die. But I shook it off as best I could. I had to get a hold of myself before I did something stupid. But… "Cloud, are you okay?" He asked as his eyes trailed up and down my body. Which afterward his eyes widened for a second; as though he'd just noticed something. "What are you wearing?"
Oh… it was only that. "I'm fine and…" I took a moment to look down at the outlandish outfit I was stuck in. "… please don't ask." I didn't really want to think about the stupid outfit. Admittedly, I would have to explain it and how I couldn't get the dumb thing off. But I didn't feel like explaining anything right now.
"There are bullets everywhere…" He gasped looking at the ground. I looked in the same general direction and noticed that there were. I hadn't noticed them before. But now that I'd thought about it… I did hear a lot of clanging when those two were fighting. Kozue must've been deflecting the bullets with his sword. But I stood by what I said.
"Can I explain this at a better time?" I asked accidentally sounding a little annoyed. But he didn't seem to care. He actually looked concerned again. I turned away and disregarded it as best I could… for now. The concern was actually appropriate at this time. Still, I got up and walked over to the blade and snatched it up. But I was careful not to let Zack see it. If he did, he might get all weird and smothering. And, just to be safe, I wiped off the blood as best I could and hid it in my empty pocket. Didn't want him to go looking for it later. Not to mention it could turn out to be quite useful later on.
"You sure you're okay?" I couldn't really answer before he picked me up. And my feet were dangling. I didn't like it whenever someone did that. It always made me feel so short. But I wouldn't mind it as much if he held me more securely. So I tried to adjust myself to try and get the desired result.
"Yes." I answered remembering he'd just asked me something. I kicked a little trying to get him to catch my legs but he put me down instead. That wasn't what I wanted. And usually I'd forget it, but this time I didn't want to. I hadn't seen him for a while and I'd been wishing for him to be here since I'd been separated so… I definitely wasn't going to just stand there and pretend everything was fine.
"But the blood?" He said glancing at the crimson drops covering the ground.
"It's not mine." I answered jumping up into his arms. It was a little aggressive of me but I didn't care. So I repeated my actions from earlier and this time got the result I'd been wanting even though it took him a couple seconds. I rested my head on his shoulder almost subconsciously. And even when I'd noticed what I'd done I didn't care. Why should I? I wanted to find out. Kozue made me feel as though that were the right thing to do. Then I felt my skin, accidentally, brush against his. It felt nice. It felt very nice. The sensation was a bit of a tickle it was so light. I couldn't quite name it… so I tried to recreate the feeling by brushing up against him again. Only this time it wasn't an accident. But that only made it better. I didn't know how, but it was much better this way. His skin was unexpectedly soft and warm. It was pleasant… and… familiar. It felt so good that I did it a few more times and only gained a sense of control when Zack tensed a little.
I guess he had noticed… but he didn't seem to react negatively to it. Sure he was shocked but he didn't yell at me. So I didn't really know what to do. Should I stop and feel embarrassed and stupid or…? Or should I keep going? I'd stopped to think it through and it was a much harder decision then one would think. I didn't know what was going to happen. So how could I figure out what to do? Oh Gaia I hated this! Should I? Or shouldn't I? I… I… I took a deep breath and quickly gave him a light peck of a kiss on the cheek before looking away and staring at the ground. That was possibly the biggest mistake of my life. My gut had told me it was right, but my mind was screaming that'd I'd done wrong.
He sounded as though he'd just tried to say something, but it didn't quite come out. So I turned my head slightly and glanced over out of the corner of my eye. "Oh no!" I gasped. I'd done wrong. I'd done wrong, wrong, wrong! His face was beet red. I didn't know what that meant, but it couldn't mean anything good. What should I do?! Uh… "Zack?" I asked trying to get him to say something. But he didn't answer. That wasn't good! Oh man! What had I done? "Zack, what…?" Uh-oh. I stopped when I felt him shift a little, but it wasn't in a good way. He was falling backwards… and he was still holding me! "Zack!" What was he doing?! I tried to get free but he wouldn't let go.
"Dyah!" I yelled when he fell over. The loud thudding noise his body made when it hit the ground sounded like it really hurt. And I shuddered a little from the bracing grip he'd suddenly put on me. "Zack, let go." I said trying to wriggle out of his arms. I got my legs behind me but he just wrapped his arms around my upper body. "Oh, Gaia, why?" I asked closing my eyes; but for only a moment. I wasn't going to give up. There was a solution to this. "Zack?" I whispered. "Zack, wake up…" I would pinch him if I could, but I could hardly move my arms. "Zack, are you okay?!" I asked getting a little worried. He had to be alive, I could feel the slight rise and fall of his chest. I kept up my struggling while I was at it. He had to let go at some point.
"Hmm?" He groaned. Oh thank the planet, he was alright. Now he could let me… I tried to get up thinking he would release me, but he didn't. Why wouldn't he let me go? I almost started thrashing to get free. "What's wrong?" He asked sounding a little groggy.
What did he mean 'what's wrong' he had me in a freakin' death grip! "You blacked out, and now you won't let me go." I answered. I knew it sounded like a complaint, it was supposed to be. I didn't like this. But when I tried to get up again he tightened his hold. "Agh. Zack." I tried to shout but he was crushing me. This wasn't good! And as if it weren't already bad enough, he rolled over so that he was on top of me. "Oh no." I murmured looking away. He was mad. He was very mad. He was going to torture me. Just like the guys! Oh crap! "No. I won't do it again. Please don't. No. No, no, no, no, no!"
He must've heard me even though I tried to be quietly pathetic… but still pathetic. Either way, he got up off of me and backed away. "Sorry, Zack…" I said sitting up. "I didn't mean to make you mad."
He raised his hand and shook his head as Kozue did whenever I'd done something unnecessary. "No." No? Was he not accepting my apology or…? "Don't be sorry." Don't be? But he got mad at me. Shouldn't I apologize for doing… that? "You didn't do anything wrong." He shrugged while walking up to me. I stood up and dusted myself off. "I thought I did to be completely honest." What? I didn't get it. What did he do wrong if I didn't… what? "I guess I did get a little carried away though." I still wasn't getting this. Was he saying that he'd overreacted?
He walked over and pulled me close to him when I wasn't paying attention. "Ah!" I gasped. What was it now?! I didn't have much time to protest before he leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. At least I think he did. I felt his lips on my skin. Just thinking about it made me feel all warm. Perhaps too warm. Oh no! I was blushing! No! I turned away and tried to hide it but that just seemed to make Zack laugh. No! I was so embarrassed! I guess it wasn't that bad, all it did was make him hug me. It made me feel a little better. I didn't even mind it that much when he squeezed me tightly. At least he wasn't crushing me to the point that I thought I might puncture a lung.
"Huh?" I looked up at him when he glanced behind. I looked but there was nothing. And I was about to ask but he pulled my body closer to his and let me lean against him. This I liked. It made me feel safe. I really liked it when he rested his head in my hair. It made me feel all funny and giddy. It was so nice. It made me feel like I wanted to laugh. Nothing could ruin this moment. This meant that Zack felt the same way about me that I did about him, right? I still wasn't sure whether or not this was okay. I mean, we were both guys. But… I guess some things just happened.
--
(A/N) Okay. First, Cloud talks WAY too much. Every time! His chapter always comes out longer! And I have to apologize but the way things turned out I need to do another fill-in chapter and then a Genesis point of view. Just warning you of what's to come. I didn't plan this. I swear. I mean it PuppetofDreams!