Chapter 24

Squall

Cloud was lounging on the couch dozing his slender legs resting over Squall's thighs while Squall was reading the newspaper just for the sake of doing something that kept him from falling asleep like Cloud. The summer had slowly changed in to autumn having left the days warm for them to keep on enjoying the fresh breeze blowing thru the apartment and allowing them to feel comfortably lazy. The sun was pouring in from the window and tickling Squalls bare feet on the carpet. Though it was Saturday neither of them had any pressing matter to attend to. Squall had quit his cafeteria career after it became too burdening after Squall had taken up the partnership with Cloud in running the delivery company. It paid enough for them to live rather comfortably but Squall knew he for one didn't want to do this for the rest of his life. The stress at all was enough to drive one mad. And he wanted freedom to shower Cloud with more affection and happiness, as cheesy as it may sound.

Somewhere in the darkest corners of his mind Squall had started to think he should probably decide what he wanted to do to earn enough to support their future. He glanced at the sleeping face of his better half and smiled, itching to kiss the slightly parted lips. He wanted to give Cloud a future where they could be content and happy without worrying about financial things. Squall had done some research about few possibilities but it would require him to take some courses to be qualified. The idea of returning to school wasn't really appealing to him but if it would grant him what he wanted then he would just have to suffer it.

Then there was the case of breaking the news to Cloud and what to do with the business. Squall had noticed how badly the current situation stressed Cloud out. Cloud wasn't the type to run a firm smoothly and took it way too seriously and into his heart. It was beginning to drain the blond out. Squall wanted to help more but he was busy with his own duties and Cloud always shooed him away whenever Squall tried to butt in on something.

Squalls train of thoughts was suddenly disturbed by a hard banging coming from the front door. The sound was enough to wake the dead and it easily pulled both him and Cloud back to reality. They glanced at each other eyebrows high before Squall go up to his feet.

"Uh, guys?" Sora's muffled voice came from behind the door calling out to them and Squall hurried to open the door. "We really need to talk to you." The boy sounded anxious, a bit scared, something that was very unlike Sora. Squall felt his heart sinking with worry about the unknown troubles causing Sora to be in obvious distress. He yanked the door open and Sora wobbled in Roxas in tow, looking as stunned as his brother did.

"Ok. You're in. Mind telling me what's going on? We haven't heard from you in weeks and now you turn up looking like the world has come to an end." Squall closed the door and followed the twins into the sitting room.

"Yuffie called." Sora had gone to sit down next to Cloud on the couch and Roxas had slumped on the lone armchair, his face emotionless with a hint of disturbance. That alone was enough to tell Squall something not so good had come up.

"And apparently she bore no good news?" Squall egged the twins on. Why was it so hard to pull the answer out of them now when they usually offered too much information about everything? Squall frowned.

"Well not exactly. Or, I don't know. Maybe it's bad. Maybe not. It could be. It could no-.." Sora babbled on, not really concentrating on anything what came out of his mouth.

"Oh come on guys, pull yourself together and spit it out!" Squall snapped crossing arms before him and glaring down at the twins.

"Yuffie has found our brother. He lives in Radiant Garden and is older than we are." Sora blurted finally out staring down at his hands on his lap. Squall felt his heart sinking and heard a stunned gasp coming from Clouds direction.

"What.. the.. how… What is it, I mean, who is he?" Squall was spluttering. He just couldn't fathom anything at the moment. Would this change something? How could he protect the twins if this said brother was to cause trouble to them? The thoughts raced thru his mind making very little sense. Squall sank on the arm of the chair Roxas was sitting on and ran his hand thru his brown locks.

"He.. uh.. According to Yuffie he is called Ventus. And uh.. apparently lives with his husband." Roxas' voice had been silent to begin with but it faded away quickly. Squall glanced at the blond young man and narrowed his eyes feeling more and more suspicious. There was definitely something Sora wasn't telling.

"And? Does he know about you? Or has Yuffie already dragged the guy here and you've just escaped from meeting him?"

"Oh come on Squall, do you think Yuffie would be that idiotic?" Cloud scoffed at this point in a small defense of his old friend.

"Actually, yes. I do." Squall growled. His opinion about the giddy girl had never been too high and it was plummeting rapidly at the moment.

"Yuffie said Ventus doesn't know yet so we can choose if we want to let the whole matter g-…" Roxas muttered his face still casted down at his knees.

"Like hell we are!" Sora burst out suddenly interrupting Roxas. "I mean… uh. I kinda already sent him a message…" His voice vanished slowly and he looked away from his brother embarrassed. "I was just so exited, you know… To know there is someone who's actually related to us." Roxas's eyes shot up looking livid with rage and he jumped up from the chair looking straight at Sora.

"Are you shitting me?! Why the fuck did you do that without talking to me first!" Roxas yelled looking like he really wanted to hit his brother and Squall almost jumped between them but didn't get the chance when Roxas started to pace around the room. "You always do this! What if he's a fake? What if he doesn't even want to know who we are? And if he does what if he's a complete asshole who just wants to laugh at our faces because we weren't wanted and he was!"

"Uh.. Rox.. You're wrong. He already answered that he wants to meet us asap…" Sora was rather pale at this point and sat frozen on the couch, fearing Roxas' next reaction. Though, Squall was quite sure Sora knew Roxas would never hurt him, not really. Roxas was the one to hold back in every situation where as Sora plunged forward with that never ending curiosity of his without any fear. But it seemed that even the patient ones had their limits. The blond twin had stopped on his tracks and stood staring the opposite wall his back to his brother.

"Sora." Squall decided to step in at this point before there was open warfare starting and addressed the frightened twin. "You should've told Roxas about contacting Ventus before you did. And you should've talked to me right after Yuffie had told you this, both of you. Sora you know you run into things without thinking too much and this is a huge thing to run into." Squall didn't even raise his voice but it had the effect he wanted; Sora had the decency to look embarrassed.

"I'm sorry… I just did it because I know if Rox knew he would stall the whole thing for weeks because he's scared and.. And because he wants to know as much as I do." Sora was at looking his twin who stood rigid his back to the other two. Squall wanted to smile. Sora wasn't exactly stupid to do all this. He knew his brothers weaknesses better than anyone and really, who could blame him wanting to know about a brother who suddenly appears in their shattered and rough life with no living relative in sight.

"I need to be alone." Roxas finally turned around and glared coldly at Sora who froze. With that said the blond boy walked out of the room and out of the front door slamming it behind him.

"He'll come around." Squall patted Sora's shoulder in an attempt to cheer him up.

"I know he does. I just hate it when he gets all butt hurt like this. It's not like I don't know he cares so much it makes him act like an idiot." Sora sighed and shook his head. "We're twins and it's hard to ignore what the other is feeling. I know he's scared for me but to be honest.. I worry more of him." The young man took a deep breath and rose up from the couch. "Better catch the idiot before I get too badly scolded at home." He offered a small smile at Squall and hurried after his brother leaving the two older men in sudden confused silence.

One week later

Cloud

They were driving, all four of them, to Radiant Garden to meet up with the mysterious Ventus whom Yuffie had managed to dig up from some dusty old papers in an office she had no place to be snooping in. And Roxas had finally swallowed his injured pride and had grudgingly come along after hundreds of pleas from his twin and few stern, but always loving, growls from Squall.

"Tell me again, why am I here and why can't those two just go by themselves?" Cloud murmured under his breath and looked at Squall who was driving the car and tried to ignore the nervous silence in the back seat.

"Because I need someone to keep me back if the fellow turns out to be an ass and tries to pull any stupid stunts on those two. And because they are legally still underage and being their guardian it's my duty to be there. Not that it matters much; I'd be there even without the law behind me." Squall had that grumpy, mad look on his face and Cloud hid his smile by faking a cough. It never ceased to amaze him how much Squall could care for his protégées. It didn't show much in normal situations but when a crisis rose up Squall turned out to be ferocious parental figure.

They drove the rest of the journey in silence. Sora was pretending to snooze but was obviously awake as Cloud caught more than once the boy staring out of the car window and chewing his lips. Roxas just kept reading his book, though he was reading rather slowly since Cloud hadn't seen him turning the page more than five times in the past two hours. Well, it was no wonder why the two were so unfocused. He knew he'd be on the edge too had he had a meeting like this coming ahead.

Cloud had been present when Yuffie finally called to Squall and told the whole story about how she had found out about the missing brother. She's been poking her nose around the past year without telling anyone but Tifa, apparently Yuffie was the one who had found Squalls sister too, and had eventually stumbled across the place where the twins had originally been taken into custody. And from there Yuffie had tried to track down the mother but instead there was nothing else but a death certificate to see. But from that she found also the living descendant; Ventus. A 25year-old man living in Radian Garden without the knowledge he had two younger brothers alive.

How one was able to dig out so much information just by following a name was amazing. Cloud pondered if he had any relatives he didn't know about but scoffed the idea off quickly. His mother had died when he had been young and his father before Cloud had even been born. So the idea was absurd and he had no real interest in family. He had all the loved ones he needed already, thank you.

Squall parked the car in the town centre but didn't get up. He squeezed the wheel gritting his teeth so hard they all could hear it.

"You two." Squall finally said with surprisingly calm voice and turned to look at the twins who were still abnormally quiet. "I'm going to be there the whole time. Don't worry and if things start to go wrong I'll just beat the asshole into pulp." Sora seemed to stir from his stupor at this.

"Squall come on… He sounded really nice. Please don't make that face in front of him or he's sure to run away the moment he realizes you are with us." Sora said with half scared half grateful expression on his face. Squall merely frowned.

The café wasn't very full when they sat down with their drinks to wait. Cloud wasn't sure he was even supposed to be here when the meeting would take place and had decided a while ago to slip outside when Ventus would eventually turn up. He was quite sure he wouldn't manage to drag Squall out that easily but he would try.

The door chimed behind them and Cloud turned to look at the incomers. He could just blink few times and then nudged Squall next to him to turn and also take a look.

In had marched a blond young man who looked so much like Roxas it was clear this was Ventus whom they had been waiting for. The man scanned the café and then spotted them. His eyes were as big and blue as the twins' eyes were. And now those eyes were sparkling with joy as the man rushed forward smiling from ear to ear reminding Cloud a lot like Sora.

"I'm so sorry I'm a bit late but the traffic, you know." Ventus grinned rumpling his hair with one hand. It was cut almost identically like Roxas' but was slightly flatter and shorter. "I'm Ven and you are most likely Sora and Roxas, right? So happy to finally be able to meet you." He seemed to remember something and turned around. "I almost forgot. This is my husband. Vanitas. Vani for short. He wanted to meet you too so I dragged him along." The exited young man blabbered on smiling sweetly at them.

Only now did Cloud notice the man standing right next to Ven. He was… how to put it. Dark. Jet black hair stood in every direction it possibly could. There was no smile on Vani's lips as he observed the crowd before him. His eyes were the palest brown Cloud had ever seen, like they were almost amber. If Squall had the air of silent I'll-kick-your-ass and grumpiness Vanitas had the air of silent danger clinging to him.

Cloud stood up and offered his hand to Ven.

"Cloud. This is Sora and Roxas' guardian Squall. We're gonna leave you three alone for a while, ok? I don't think your husband would mind coming with us so you guys can catch up first in peace." Cloud looked at Vanitas who merely nodded and simply turned on his heels and headed out.

"Oh, thanks." Ven looked baffled but pleased and sat down opposite the still silent twins. Cloud grabbed Squalls shoulder tightly forcing him to get up and out with him. It was a small miracle Cloud even managed that. He had half expected Squall to jump on either Cloud or Ventus and go berserk with suppressed rage. But the brunet came along rather tamely for once, which Cloud appreciated.

The bell chimed happily as the café door closed behind the three men and they halted to stand just outside the window as to see how things were progressing inside. Cloud was watching Vanitas' face as the man stared inside his eyes glowing in the midday sun. Then as suddenly as he had turned on his heels the dark haired man turned his glare onto the silent pair next to him.

"Boyfriends?" A low voice that was barely audible in the noise of the traffic surrounding them. Cloud felt his ears burning slightly. It still made his embarrassed when he needed to admit he and Squall were actually dating. Never the less he nodded. "Figured." Vanitas just shrugged his thin shoulders. Cloud could feel Squall tensing up next to him.

"How long have you been married?" Cloud asked before Squall could start voicing some unpleasantness. Stupid thing to ask but his brain didn't really come up with anything cleverer at the moment. Vanitas tilted his head and seemed to be counting a while.

"Four years now. Had to tie him down, someone would've taken him otherwise." A sheepish grin flashed on Vans lips but was gone the second it appeared. "Which one of you was the guardian?"

"Me." Squall growled. Cloud sighed inwardly. He was pretty sure Squall wasn't too happy about being dragged out and most definitely didn't approve of this tall young man who looked like he was nothing short of being vain, self centered and foul mouthed. In other words; everything Squall was himself. Except being vain. "Ventus never had inkling he had siblings? How did he react to the news?" Squall asked. Well, Squall had never been the one to beat around the bushes so straight to the point. Cloud rolled his eyes and crossed his arms before him.

"No, I don't think he had. You know nothing about his parents, right?" Cloud and Squall both shook their heads. Vanitas sighed and scratched his neck. "Ven never knew his father, kind of the disappearing type, you know. One of those assholes that dip their dick and fist into a woman who can say no just because they think they can change the guy just by being a punching bag." Vanitas' face darkened slightly. "The mother was indeed a piece of biggest idiocy I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. Oh, yes. I've met her." He answered to the amazed looks on Squall and Clouds faces. "She wasn't the parental type much so Ven was placed into custody at young age. She disappeared after Ven and I got into same foster home together. Not that it was very great either. The shit who housed us wasn't very heartwarming one either…"

"You both grew up in foster home? So you have no parents either?" Cloud was amazed. How easily people just made kids and then end up ditching them like they were disposable trash. Anger rose in him suddenly.

"Nothing too dramatic, I assure you." Vanitas replied with nonchalant shrug of a shoulder. "Being a brat to people who gave you your life does tend to make you either a git or a lovable dimwit like Ven. So, to answer the rest of question; the mother disappeared when we were about 7 years old and never heard about her since. So yeah, Ven was pretty shocked to find out he has younger brothers. But as I say, he's the lovable idiot so of course he's just thrilled." Vanitas didn't look too happy himself but as far as Cloud could read people the man didn't seem to hate the twins for stealing Ventus away for a while. "What's the story from your part?"

"Got the boys to myself about ten years ago when they I found them playing with my cat covered in mud and dirt, having no shoes even when it was already fall and dressed in just t-shirts and shorts." Squalls face was reflecting storm clouds as he recounted the past that still made the man furious. "Wished the bureaucrats a good trip to hell and kicked them out of my house right after telling them I'd be taking the boys in. They were 8 years old and had no home and no one to care for them. They kept running away from orphanages which didn't want them in the first place and in the end the officials had given up." Squall crossed his arm on his chest and furrowed his brow. "It wasn't very easy as I don't like kids that much but it pissed me off to see people neglecting innocent children like that."

"Guess they hit the jackpot when they strayed across your path then. There aren't many people who'd do that to strangers." Vanitas looked more impressed now and was scanning Squall with his amber eyes.

"So uh.. Vanitas. What do you and Ven do for living?" Cloud asked trying to push the conversation onto more lighter subjects.

"Oh, us? I'm a designer and Ven runs a bakery up in the town. The guy has such a sweet tooth it's a miracle he isn't fat." Vanitas cracked a grin which made him look more mad than human.

"What do you design?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Vanitas half smiled at Cloud. "Clothes, of course." He gestured at his attire. Cloud hadn't really paid much attention to what the other was wearing, he rarely did. But now that he did it became obvious that the clothes weren't the typical local market stuff. Vani's shirt was a mixture of grey and black with strange patterns. His jeans were slightly baggy but torn from random places. Heavy black boots and on top of it all was intricate black jacket. Of course, it all suited the slim man very well and it seemed that Vanitas knew it full well.

"Doing well, I guess?" Cloud asked.

"I can manage. But I help out at the bakery every so often so Ven doesn't feel like he's the only bread winner in the family." He glanced at the café window. Inside they could all see the brothers talking, Sora being the one waving his hands and being himself as usual. "Things seem to be progressing fine." Vanitas said surprisingly softly. Cloud glanced at Squall whose face was unreadable but seemed a little less tense. He inched closer to stand right next to Squall. The man had lowered his hands again to his sides and Cloud found Squalls fingers easily, squeezing them slightly. He felt the responding squeeze in return and felt his heart thump a little faster.

The talk between them trailed into daily things as they waited for the reunited siblings to finish up. Squall told about their past and daily things, Cloud adding some in between and Vanitas in return told them how he and Ventus had ended up getting together and in the end, married. To the outsider Vanitas seemed arrogant and unpleasant but as the young man opened his mouth it was obvious it was only surface. Cloud could identify with that and so, he knew, could Squall. They were both misunderstood almost always just because they didn't have the habit of welcoming everyone to pry in on their private matters. That job was left to Sora and it seemed, Ventus as well.

According to Vanitas, Ventus was a heartwarming person who could not believe there was anything wrong with people around him. Even though he had had an unpleasant childhood Ventus was still open hearted and cheerful to most people even if the unhappy life he had lived so far had left Ventus prone to depression from time to time. Also, Vanitas and Cloud found a common interest in motorcycles as it turned out Vanitas owned one himself.

They sat down in the shade of the tree outside the café, waiting. Cloud had fallen silent at some point, exhausting his ability to socialize much more in one day and was half heartedly listening the two next to him talking calmly about the current economic situation. Squall had previously quit his café working and had reduced the times he was working at the club too as he was demanded more to handle the stuff at their own firm. Cloud still felt weird saying it was their firm now, even if Tifa had been gone for months now.

The café door chimed and Cloud saw Roxas emerging from the door Sora in his tail. Ventus had lingered behind, probably to pay and the twins walked slowly towards the three sitting on the bench. Squall got up and looked down at the boys frowning.

"You ok?" Squall asked as the two halted before him.

"Yeah." Surprisingly enough, it was Roxas who answered. Cloud knew Roxas had not been that keen on meeting their long lost brother but all the worry seemed to have disappeared from the young face and he offered Squall a small rare smile.

"More than fine." Sora echoed his brother and smiled widely. "Heard some pretty interesting stuff about how two guys can have fun!" Cloud heard Squall choking and glanced at Vanitas who was listening next to Cloud. Vanitas just smiled widely and ruffled his already messy black hair.

"Well, I make a decent lover, I dare say." Vanitas grinned and Cloud felt his ears burning. He wasn't a complete novice when it came to gay sex, he had a boyfriend after all, but it wasn't a subject he was about to go talking in public. "Have you been talking about our love life again, my dearest?" Vanitas said louder as Ventus had appeared from the door and was walking towards them.

"Ohh, I might have." Ven smiled widely. "But it's no wonder I do. Vani is really.. mm, how should I say it. Passionate. Extremely so." He winked and laughed at the looks on both Cloud and Squalls faces. "I see they really are as stiff as you told me." He held his hand to Squall who was having problem keeping his face neutral but in the end managed to shake hands with Ven. "I hope I'm not too much of a disappointment to you. I really want to thank you for looking after my brothers. And obviously loving them too. Something I should've been doing but… Shitty life, yeah?" He smiled disarmingly at Squall who nodded.

"Shit happens." Squall mumbled as Ven turned to look at the twins again.

"I hope you will keep in touch. I can't bear to think we'd never see again." Ven smiled. Sora looked like he was about start bawling but ended up only hugging his big brother tightly. Roxas was shaking his head and sighed.

"Sora. Are you a complete idiot? Of course we are going to keep in touch, so stop acting like you're still a kid." Roxas snorted but gave Ventus a half smile. "We have your email, phone number and home address. And you have ours. Impossible not to hear something at some point." Sora seemed to sniffle into Vens shirt.

"There there Sora." Ventus smiled and hugged the clinging boy tighter and closer to his chest ruffling the brown hair. "You are so adorable I could never forget you!"

After that Sora took a deep breath and withdrew from Vens arms, smiling even if a bit tearfully, still quite widely. Vanitas stood up and walked to Ven and took his hand, bringing it up to his lips and kissing it lightly.

"Anything precious to Ven is fine with me. But we should get going or we'll get our family jewels tied into knot. I doubt that Aqua can keep the shop open alone much longer in her condition." Vani grinned.

"Oh, shoot. I did forget that." Ventus made a suffering face but smiled in the end. "Tough life, being self-employed."

They all shook hands once more and the twins hugged their brother for the last time before they parted ways. Cloud walked in silence next to Squall who seemed be spacing out. When he almost walked to a lamppost Cloud took Squalls hand and guided him around the pole.

"Earth to Squall." Cloud waved his free hand before Squalls eyes. "Should I perhaps drive back, hm? Or should we leave you in charge and find ourselves in the gutter in the end?" Cloud asked cocking one eyebrow. Squall shook his head as if to shake off some thoughts and to clear his head. He squeezed Clouds hand in his and gave a half assed smile.

"Very funny, asshole." Squall snorted. "You drive. I'm way too tired to focus on that stuff right now." A moment of silence before he continued. "You don't think I should've let the kids go back in the past. You know, to be placed in some real home with two parents. Maybe they could've found Ven earlier or something if they'd stayed in the system." Squall looked troubled and chewed his lower lip.

"Squall." Cloud said and halted, stopping them both in the middle of the street. "You know it was the best solution. Those two got much more from you than they could've gotten from pampering foster parents. It might've not been all dancing on roses but it's the reality. I doubt Sora and Roxas are complaining how you have stood by next to them in everything after you took them in." Cloud looked straight into Squalls eyes.

"Yeah…" Squall finally sighed and gave a small smile. He tugged Cloud along with him and they followed in the twins' wake towards the car in silence. Before they got there Squall stopped and turned to Cloud one more time. He glanced quickly around to see if anyone was watching then leaned closer and gave Cloud a quick, soft kiss on his lips and smiled. "Glad to have you with me. To kick me in the head if I start thinking too much." Cloud merely chuckled.

A/N

Life gets in the way of updating. Sorry about that.