Disclaimer: Still don't own any of the Final Fantasy characters, aside from the filler characters like Raechel.

AN: ^^; I intended this to have the unintentional violence/acts against Angeal happen in this chapter in regards to his ex boyfriend, Genesis, but I thought I'd be nice and save you guys on the number of words used in this chapter since I used A LOT in the last Chapter ^^; The unintentional violence/acts against Angeal will occur in Chapter 18 now. If you have a DeviantART account, you can this up on their by the Deviant: Rizafan203. So, check it out there too ^^

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Chapter 17

Night gives way to dreams or for some, nightmares, but it's the night that gives us the imagery and simplistic look that we can sleep quietly and peacefully without fear of the possible monster under the bed or in the closet. Smiles can be seen spreading against sleeping faces, but yet, smiles can mean many things; they can hide from us their true nature of what they mean as a façade mask upon the wearers face. Cloud's was, for the first time in a long time, real, the one upon Zack's one of contentment that Angeal had been willing to forgive him and let him lay curled up against him in their bed. But like the Puppy like personality Zack possessed; he had by the time the night had drone on and dawn was just over the crescent ridges of the world, he had found his place down near the foot of the bed. While others can sleep peacefully, there are those who are incapable of peaceful slumber. It is impossible when things of dark memories and nightmares plaque the sleeping consciousnesses of a man's mind. Angeal was just that; he had been able to fall into the bed with the one in his life and just enjoy holding him close and Zack had been just as grateful, but in the stillness. There was something that was draining on Angeal's mind as if the lie he had told Zack when he had been found screaming at himself was taking on a form of a beast in his thoughts. His nightmare had started out as a blissful dream; a dream of he and Zack roaming through a grassy knoll field where Zack had seemed to blissfully tackle the older man into the field of green. The innocent face of the young upstart was the only light he needed in the half powered lighted world, but as if the dream was meant to take a dark turn, Zack had changed into a whimpering Puppy. But there was something about his mannerisms; it was as if the Puppy was barking and growling at him that sounded like it was screaming and…crying?

Making out the words was the hard part until he attempted to go after the Puppy, who ran and ran, crying and whining and whimpering the same mantra like sentences over and over. As Angeal made to run after the Pup, a clanking of iron seemed to keep the man bolted to the spot; the nightmare had found its way into his blissful dream. Dark laughter had been heard slipping up around the shackled leg as an almost dark abyss snake began to weave its way around the man's leg till a hand formed in and around his throat and all too familiar voice awoke him.

"Time to wake up, Angeal…the dream…for you…IS OVER!" teeth sank into the man's throat as Angeal woke up in a start, screaming with a cold sweat pouring down from his brow.

There must have been someone plugging the ears of the others in the apartment because as Angeal looked down to where Zack had curled himself up at the foot of the bed; he had not moved a single inch or flinched at the sound of the man's screams. Thank Gaia that he hadn't. Explaining the reason now would have meant having to explain his actions later that afternoon; Zack could never know of the horrors of his now boyfriend's former relationship. The shackle on his ankle in the nightmare had been only a start of the dark turn in his pas relationship; it had become as the relationship had turned sour in the days of it, a metaphor for the fact that there was no way, no how; he would be leaving the relationship. Alive at best, dead probably if the man had had his way with Angeal.

"…Gaia…I…I…I don't know if I can do it…I want to assure for myself that he's changed, but…"Angeal looked down to where Zack was softly snoring; so innocent, so full of youth and vibrant quality, he didn't deserve Angeal, "…I have to, at least for Zack's sake. If he ever harmed Zack…I…"

"I don't care if Mommy says I act like a Puppy, I don't want to wear a leash…"Zack kicked about in his sleep, sleep talking was something that the man was known for, or at least Angeal had come to discover in the months he had come to know Zack, "No, Zacky no like the leash! No leash! No wear leash!"

Angeal chuckled softly to himself as he crawled towards the man as he ran a calloused hand along Zack's neck before whispering into his ear, "But I like it when my Puppy wears a collar…we have lots of fun with the collar or has he forgotten?"

Zack started to form a chuckling smile as he slowly opened his eyes to see Angeal looming over him, "I haven't forgotten, but…I think its time we went to check in on our little friend to see how he's holding up from last night's fun."

"Let him sleep, Zack…I'm sure he's still dreaming about Sephiroth because I'm sure he'll do well for Cloud," Angeal softly kissed on his young lover's lips as Zack met up to nuzzle in against the man's neck, "Besides…I still owe you a treat for being so well behaved these last days and so and for being willing to take on the duty to help out Cloud at the school yesterday."

"But I already got my treat…remember last night when I was dancing all hard on you?" Zack chuckled to himself as he pushed the man back as he straddled him, "Or do you need a little reminder of what I did…?"

Angeal's hands ran up and down Zack's arms before placing his hands behind the teen's head and pulling him in for a kiss, "…I'm fine not remembering, I remembered it well enough…" with another soft kiss the man pulled Zack down into his arms for a warm embrace, "…I love you, Zack…"

"I love you too, Angeal," Zack contently rested in against the man's arms; it was still early in their own way of thinking to get up and greet the morning, a few more minutes in bed together wasn't going to kill them.

- Sephiroth rolled over onto his side to the sound of something he thought he had heard, it sounded like the rude awakening he had gotten the morning before. But the sound was different then the cell phone ringing; it was coming from inside? Not only had Sephiroth been happy about the night he had spent with Cloud and his friends, but it seemed from the sounds coming from his subconscious was that; his alter ego within his thoughts, was still reeling from the night before.

"Have fun in there are you?" Sephiroth mumbled into the pillow as he tried to not laugh at how much fun the inner man of his inner mind, "Because you woke up me and I wasn't ready to give up remember last night."

The figure was still dancing about, content to dance to the music that was in his own mind, "Sorry about that Seph darling…Huh…last night was absolutely fabulous…I had no idea your little man's alter ego was so graceful…We danced and danced and then…"the figure paused as it fell into a fit of giggles before flopping onto bed of pillows, "Oh Seph…I'm so happy you found the cute blond…I can tell he loves you, but has a hard time tell it just yet, but all I can say is, don't take it too fast or else it won't last…"

Sephiroth quirked his head up as he heard the figure fall into a fit of giggles again, "Are you…giggling like a school girl?"

"I'm merely doing it because you are too prudish to do it! I'm just so happy!"

"…As am I…as am I…"

As much as silence was wanted after the late night the night before, but it wasn't going to last and it wasn't because of the dancing, spinning, and giddy, giggling alter ego gay man in Sephiroth's subconscious, the sounds of a familiar voice altered Sephiroth that someone was here. Especially the sounds of a crash coming from the kitchen and the all too familiar call out apology that Sephiroth had missed since the woman had left from cleaning up the apartment before this life changing situation happened.

"Oh phooey! I did it again, Mr. Sephiroth! I'm so sorry…I'll pay for that dish, I promise I will," the all too familiar house maid was at it again as Sephiroth realized that his time to rest and relax was going to be short lived as long as the maid was in the house, "I'm nothing but a klutz!"

Sephiroth rolled his eyes as the alter ego piped up, "Better do something about it before she breaks every dish in your house, Seph darling…"

"What do you suggest I do?" Sephiroth rolled his eyes again as he climbed out of bed and donned on a robe, "Send her home for the weekend with double the pay?"

"That's an idea, darling…"

"Oh Mrs. Smith!" Sephiroth called out as he started for the Living Room where he found the lady trying to pick up the shattered pieces.

The lady looked up from where he was picking up the pieces, "Oh, Mr. Sephiroth, I'm so sorry…I'll just see myself out and turn in my keys to your home…I deserve to be fired…"

Sephiroth chuckled to himself as he placed a hand on her shoulders, "Where else am I going to find someone so confident and trustworthy to clean my home…" he gave the now blushing woman a soft wink, "Why don't you take the rest of the weekend off…I've got some work to do and I'm going to need the silence around here. And don't worry about your pay; I'll make sure to give you a little extra then usual for your hard work and the time off."

"O-Oh! Oh Mr. Sephiroth, I can't do that…you can't do that…"Mrs. Smith was a flutter like a hummingbird as Sephiroth started to see her out the door, "M-Mr. Sephiroth?"

"Just go and enjoy your weekend, Mrs. Smith…Me and this house will be here when you come back next week, now…"Sephiroth slowly closed the door, "Goodbye Mrs. Smith."

Once the door was shut and the sound of Mrs. Smith was heard out in the hallway, Sephiroth let out a heavy sigh, "I thought she'd never leave, but now, we can get down to work, Seph darling," the figure slipped forward from its giggling fit as it rest his hands on Sephiroth's shoulder, "How about calling up blondie and see if he'd be interested in reminiscing over last night…maybe over dinner…tonight…here at your apartment?"

"Are you trying to convince me to ask him over, like a date?" Sephiroth quirked his attention and view towards the figure, "Or is this a ploy for you to get to see the alter ego within Cloud's thoughts again?"

"Maybe…maybe not…"the figure started to circle about to in front of Sephiroth as he tried to hide the look of 'Yes, I want him to come over.'

- Cloud had not been this happy about being out with his friends and at a Club nonetheless, the sensation of Sephiroth's lips against his lips last night had been there even after the Club fun was over. No one wanted to stick around much longer after the sight of the redhead from the College had all but gotten down on the floor with his partner, even the Club Manager had to kick the two men out before they created an indecent exposure scene on his Dance Floor. Having to depart for the car with Angeal carrying Zack off to the car to let Cloud and Sephiroth to say goodbye had been a challenge, especially for Angeal; Zack wanted to hang all over Angeal and have a little more fun with the man before they got in the car, but Angeal wasn't in the mood. When Angeal wasn't in the mood, then that meant that Zack was going to try harder and harder to get to the man into the backseat. Cloud had kept his hand interlocked with Sephiroth's hand as he saw the man off to his car; a faint had been painted almost permanently on the man's face till he had to hear the fatal words he didn't want to hear, telling him the evening was over.

~Flashback~

"I really enjoyed tonight…" Cloud blushed as he ran his thumb consciously over the top of Sephiroth's hand as the man turned him so they were eye to eye, "Did you?"

Sephiroth softly chuckled as he took his free hand and placed it behind Cloud's head as he brought their lips together, softly pulling away, "I did…I have to admit, your friends are a little crazy, but as long as they make you happy…I'm sure I'll learn to adjust to them…"

Cloud softly chuckled, blushing even brighter and darker, "Thank you…"

"Cloud," Angeal called out from the car he assured that Zack wasn't going to grab at him again; Zack was out like a light, "You ready?"

"Coming, Angeal…"Cloud's face seemed to go soft as he turned back to Sephiroth, "I've got to go…See you around?"

"Of course, I'll call you later…"Sephiroth softly chuckled as he turned for his own car, "Drive home safe, Cloud Strife…"

~End Flashback~

"Mnh…Morning already?" Cloud cracked an eye open as he saw the clock, it was almost ten o'clock in the morning; at this point, he would have figured Angeal and Zack would've been awake by now, but the sounds of silence told him otherwise, "I guess it is since there's no sounds of screams coming from Zack and Angeal's room…"

Zack was chuckling as he and Angeal walked out of their room together and it seemed to them, Cloud standing in the middle of the kitchen making breakfast didn't seem to deter their happiness. Angeal felt that all he could do now was attempting to be happy for as long as possible because that happiness was going to fade the moment he walked out that door later. He had been hiding from Zack his dark nightmare since the day he got the letter from Genesis' Parole Officer asking for Angeal to come to the Parole Hearing. Just watching Zack playing around, so happy and carefree with Cloud made the twinge of pain that he was hurting Zack slowly; or so Angeal so that he was, in his heart grow and grow.

No. I can't act down around him or he'll know something is up…the Pup can never know about him…He never should have to know about those kind of people…

Angeal's solemn daydreaming turned south as he heard Zack yelping at Cloud as Cloud was whacking at the teen with a spatula while keeping him at bay away from the breakfast being made, "Come on, Cloud! Just one little bite…I'm starving!" Zack whimpered as he tried again and yelped as hot grease hit his fingers matching with a higher one as he felt Cloud smack at him again with the spatula.

"You can wait until it's done," Cloud growled as he wielded the spatula at the whimpering man as Zack started for the kitchen table, holding his scolded finger against his lips as he sucked on it, "And I'm sure you aren't starving."

"Shows what you know," Zack pouted as he sucked on his finger, while now and again giving Angeal the eyes, "Angeal, tell Cloud to let me have a little piece of the bacon, I don't care if it's not cooked all the way through."

Angeal rolled his eyes as he sat beside the teen, "Just wait, Pup…besides, don't you have to get ready for that Movie Marathon of yours today?"

"That's right!" Zack had all but forgotten and he had forgotten about his scolded finger, "Hey Cloud, you're sticking around for that, right?"

"I guess I am…I don't have any other pla---" it was then that his cell phone chose to ring at the moment, "Hold that thought."

Sephiroth hadn't thought it out when he decided to call up Cloud's cell phone; plans had been made on the spot in his thoughts especially thanks to his inner alter ego giving him ideas, "You better hope that this works…"

"I'm sure he'll answer and he'll accept…besides, I know you've been itching to have him to come over and read over the work since you are the one that wants to him to be your Publisher for this work of yours," the ego seemed to be planning over the fun they could have, "Let's just hope he answers the phone soon!"

"Impatient much?" Sephiroth chuckled as he listened to the dial tone till he heard a voice come over the phone, "Hello? Cloud?"

Cloud bit his lower lip as he heard a familiar voice, "I'm going to take a wild guess and say this is you, Mr. Sephiroth?"

Kid knows his people.

"Yes, but please…just call me Sephiroth, I was wondering…were you planning on doing anything today?"

Please, please, please be free…

Cloud looked out to the Kitchen where saw Angeal beating off Zack from the food that Angeal had taken over command of cooking, "I was planning to hang with Zack and watch a movie marathon with him, but…"

CRASH!

"ZACKARY NATHANIEL FAIR! SO HELP ME, I'M GOING TO TIE YOU TO A BED POST AND YOU CAN STARVE THE REST OF THE MORNING!"

"ANGEAL! THAT'S NOT FAIR!"

"YOU SHOULD KNOW, YOUR LAST NAME IS FAIR!"

"HA, HA, HA…VERY FUNNY, ANGEAL!"

"TOUCH ONE MORE THING OF THIS BREAKFAST AND SO HELP ME…"

"SO HELP YOU WHAT?"

The next sound that came settled the fighting as Cloud rolled his eyes, "…But I guess I'm free now…I'd rather not be here if Zack and his boyfriend, Angeal decide to go at it like rabbits in the next five minutes…which is going to ruin breakfast."

I guess it pays to have friends that drive one another insane into fits of romantic flurries

"I was planning to work on the story today and was wondering if…you wouldn't mind coming over to help with some of the ideas or at least look over what I have so far…just to get your opinion," Sephiroth started to chew on his finger as he waited for Cloud to answer, Please say 'Yes.'

"I guess I can come over…let me go settle Angeal and Zack, get some breakfast, let them know my plans for the day and I'll be over later."

"Okay, I'll see you then," Sephiroth tried to hide the glee from his voice as they both hung up, "…I better start getting work on some more of that story before he comes over."