Yippee! No more shopping! :D
Kay so, half of this chapter is a flashback. So...that's why the italics part is in present-tense.
Chapter 28
Third Person~
Squall, as if he was a pouting child, stared out the window with his arms crossed over his chest.
"You know what I don't understand?" He said.
Cloud didn't respond, just kept driving.
"Cloud, I don't understand why we thought it was a good idea to settle down. Honestly, what's the point?" Squall wondered.
Cloud looked at him. "Excuse me?" He asked, obviously confused.
Squall, upon realizing his mistake, shook his head. "That's not what I meant and you know it."
"Fine," Cloud admitted. "but what were you talking about?"
Squall's focus was once again captured by the window. "Why...why do we have families?" He murmured.
Cloud blinked. "Because...well...why not?"
Squall glared at him. "Because they're always in danger. Because it's pointless."
Cloud slammed the breaks. Fortunately, they were on a very old road that hadn't seen a car for years.
"'Pointless'? How is it pointless?" He demanded.
"Cloud," Squall said in an even tone. "We aren't human. We don't die. You and I are going to be twenty three forever."
Cloud closed his eyes. "Yeah...I know." He mumbled.
Cloud stands on a stage before a crowd of strange people. To his left, Zack. To his right, Aerith. She holds his hand and draws invisible patterns on his palm. Squall stands a few feet away from Zack, not wanting to be too close to the trio.
A young man with longish brown hair stands in front of the four. He flashes a reassuring smile at the nervous blonde then turned back to the jovial, brooding and angelic members of the crowd.
"Welcome wielders of the Keyblade. Tonight, we are here to bring these four youngsters into our society." He sends a smirk in Zack's direction.
"Squall Leonhart." He says.
Squall steps forward, an indigent look on his face.
The man reaches out and puts his hand over Squall's eyes.
At first, nothing happens. Then, Squall screams and tries to pull away but a kind of magic holds him in place.
The man lets go. Squall stumbles backwards as a bright flash erupts from his hands.
The boy (Squall:Hey!) looks down and sees a silver blade in his hand. It has the hilt of a pistol grafted smoothly into a blade.
The other man nods and turns to the crowd. "Behold! Squall Leonhart, wielder of Braveheart!"
Applause. Cheer. They are truly glad to have Squall in their ranks.
The sort-of-stunned boy returns to his place.
"Zack Fair!" The man calls.
The black-haired boy bounds forward to stand next to him.
"Sir yes sir!" Zack salutes.
The audience laughs and one old lady calls: "He's just like you were Terra!"
The man, Terra, chuckles. He then performs the procedure on Zack.
The SOLDIER knows better then to squirm or cry out, Cloud knows. But he can tell Zack is in pain by the way he digs his nails into his palms.
Another flash. A Key appears in his hand. Blue and black seem to chase each other up the blade.
Zack swings the blade around to test it and hits Terra in the side of the head.
"Erp!" The boy squeaks. Terra blinks and says: "Erm...Behold! Zack Fair, wielder of Hero's Sacrifice."
Zack smiles wearily as the older weilders clap and walks back to Cloud's side.
"Aerith Gainsborough!"
Aerith squeezes Cloud's hand.
"It'll be ok." He whispers. She smiles nervously and glides up to Terra.
Terra nods to her and gently placed his hand over her face.
The auburnette lets out a small whimper of pain. It hurts Cloud to hear it.
But then, Aerith's Keyblade makes it's appearance.
It is white, with blue vines and flowers twisting their way up the blade. Two upside-down angel wings are curled over the hilt.
Terra smiles warmly at Aerith and Cloud takes a subconscious step forward.
"Behold! Aerith Gainsborogh, wielder of Earth's Defense."
Aerith goes back to stand with Cloud.
"Cloud Strife."
"Good luck." Aerith whispers, smiling sweetly.
"Cloud Strife!" Terra calls again, looking at him.
Cloud hurries to his side. He feels a little nervous at first. Terra covers his eyes. Cloud was shaking with fear.
Suddenly, a terrible pain racks his body. It feels like his face was being held over a huge fire. Then, it seems like he was being ripped apart from the inside.
He just barely hears Aerith say "Stop! You're hurting him!"
Cloud can't stand this pain any longer. He feels something cool solidify in his hand. He doesn't know what it is or if it will end his suffering. He knows nothing except 'raise arm, slice sideways.'
The pain stops.
Cloud opens his eyes and looks down.
He sees two things: the black Key that seems to contain smoke wrapped in bandages in his hand. And he sees Terra lying ten feet away, a wound on his forehead bleeding a little.
Terra stands up. He walks back to Cloud. The blonde suddenly feels nervous.
'What if they take away my Keyblade? Can they even do that? I didn't mean to!'
Terra puts his hand on Cloud's shoulder.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he says, almost a whisper.
"Behold. Cloud Strife. Wielder of the Keyblade, Imaginary Hero."
There is silence. Cloud is afraid they are angry at him.
Then, deafening applause. Cheering, they are cheering. For Cloud! The blonde just stands there for a moment, frozen.
But then, he allows a small-very small-smile. He steps back to Aerith.
Terra turns to the gradually quieting crowd.
"There you have it," He says, smiling a smile much larger than Cloud's.
"Four more wielders." He turns to said wielders. "Now that you have been accepted by your Keys, you will never age. Never die unless killed in battle. Also, you will be stronger, faster."
Zack is obviously liking what he's hearing. He grins and pumps his fists in front of him.
"Yeah? Yeah?" He is very excited.
Terra chucks. "Calm yourself. There are a few rules you must abide."
"Or what?" Squall grumbles.
Terra turns his head slightly.
"Or you die."
"Oh." Aerith squeaks.
Squall just rolls his eyes.
"As a Keyblade wielder, you must use your unique powers for good."
The four wielders stare at him.
"That it?" Zack asks.
"Erm...pretty much."
"Earth to Cloud!" Squall yanks Cloud from his flashback.
"Um...sorry. What was the question?"
Squall rolled his eyes.
"Are you gonna drive or not?"
Cloud blinked. "Oh. Right."
~x~
"I can't believe it." Squall whispered in awe.
The stood outside Angel and Leon's apartments. It was raining hard, so they were soaked.
Cloud had the top of his jacket pulled up over his head, feeling quite cold and irked.
Squall, on the other hand, barely felt anything.
"She...never left." He murmured.
"Nope. Never. Now let's go!" Cloud dragged Squall inside.
The doorwoman stared the two men down. She had a dyed red beehive hairdo and matching heels that made her a total of three feet taller. Her make-up could've been all of Picasso's paintings melted and poured on her face.
She was truly scary.
"Wat?" She demanded in a nasal New Jersey accent.
"Um.." Cloud said, a little intimidated. "W-we're here to see Riona Heartil-I mean Leonhart. Riona Leonhart."
The woman sighed. "And who are yoo two?"
"Um...I'm Cloud Strife. He's Squall Leonhart." Cloud told the lady awkwardly.
The woman leaned forward until her and Cloud were nose-to-nose, forcing him to look at her cross-eyed.
"What kind of person names their kid Cloud?" She demanded.
Behind Cloud, Squall facepalmed.
"Uhm...I do not know how to answer that question." Cloud said.
With that, he spun around, grabbed Squall by the back of his shirt and ran to the elevator. Behind them, the doorwoman shouted profanities. She cursed rainclouds and fluffy clouds and clouds that came from airplanes.
Cloud shoved his love-struck partner into the upward moving trolly and hit the eight button so hard it cracked.
"That was..." Squall began, but Cloud put up a hand. He pinched the bridge of his nose with the other hand.
"Don't."
They rose a few floors.
"So...why did your parents name you Cloud?" Squall wondered.
Cloud turned and was probably about to knock Squall's lights out, when the doors screeched open.
Squall darted out and Cloud trudged behind him.
The brunette sprinted down the hall to door eight.
He placed his hand on the shiny doorknob. Then, took it away and examined the worn brass.
Sure enough, carved into the knob by a rusty pocket knife, were the letters:
SL+RH
Squall smiled a little and rubbed his thumb over the message.
Then the door swung open and hit Squall in the face. He flew backwards and hit the wall. His vision went to black.
"Squallie!" A voice (such a beautiful voice to Squall) squealed.
Riona tackled him and snuggled into his arms.
"Squallie..." She whispered, tears leaking out of her eyes.
"I missed you."
Squall was surprised, but then he pulled her to his chest.
"I'm sorry Riona." He murmured. "I...thought I would never see you again."
She looked into his eyes. "I never doubted you. Not once."
Squall knit his brows. "What do you mean?"
"I always knew you would come back." Riona said.
"Always."
They got up, Cloud stood over them.
Riona beamed and walked back into their apartment.
Squall started to follow her, but Cloud grabbed the back of his collar.
"That's why we have families."
X
Well? Did I do ok? I wanted to incorporate some uh...Liona? Yeah...that'll work. Oh, quick explanation: The Keyblader immortality thing was the reason Squall never had to eat or sleep or anything. Not because of Naminé like I originally planned.
Oh and you'll find out why Zack and Aerith got married instead of Cloud and Aerith later.
See ya.