EPILOQUE
Squall
They sat together in the brightly lit corridor waiting for the officials to call their names and to get on with all the signing of papers and to do away with the routines they were required to go thru. The building was quite uninviting. Even in the sunlight it was dull and devoid of happy things. It was just another place where people worked for the benefit of other people. In this case it was the adoption office. Last time, when Squall had been in this kind of office it had been in another town and so damn long ago. And he had not gone thru many official meetings, in fact; none. He had just yelled at the social service people and kicked them out. He had received papers to sign in the mail and that had been the end of the whole thing of defining who was suited to take care of the twins. Boy had he been mad back then. It was a wonder no one ever had pressed him with charges as he had been just a little violent towards the agency people.
Very different compared to what it had been for him and Cloud doing this together. They had started the whole thing on an impulse after Squall had one fateful day blurted something like the house being too big for just the two of them and he might want to have some tiny feet running around the floors. Cloud had halfheartedly suggested taking in a cat or a dog but Squall point blank refused. He hated dogs and had no patience with cats or with anything smaller from that. Then one day Cloud had come home after work and given Squall a pile of papers to read about being a foster family to kids who went thru difficult time.
It was a bit shameful Squall had not thought about this himself. He had played a foster father for Sora and Roxas for so long he'd forgotten they weren't really related to him and the whole thing had started in that rather unpleasant atmosphere. So, he and Cloud had signed up for the process and after some time they had been called in and asked if they would like to take in one girl. Now they were here to meet the girl for the first time and to see if things would go well. If so, they could have her home with them in less than a weeks' time.
The whole process had been slightly unnerving. Squall didn't like to have strangers in their house digging up the possible dirt about them. Not that there had been anything to find, naturally. Cloud had been incredibly calm thru the whole thing which was saying a lot since usually it was other way around. Calmness came with age, Squall mused to himself and glanced at Cloud who sat next to him, head slightly tilted to the side, chin down and hidden in the turtleneck of his shirt and eyes closed. Squall felt his heart swell with happiness as he watched his dozing husband. What amazing stroke of luck he had had to end up loving someone like Cloud was. He really should thank Reno one day properly.
"Leonhart and Strife?" A woman called and peered out of one door left to them. Cloud immediately jerked his head up and blinked to shake off the sleepiness from his eyes. Squall stood up with him and they let go of the tight grip they had had of each others' hands while sitting there waiting. "Welcome back. Please, take a seat and we'll get on." She walked behind her desk and sat down indicating the pair of them to sit down before her.
"Is everything alright?" Cloud asked after they had sat down facing the woman.
"Well, yes. There is just one thing we should ask you before we go ahead to the meeting." The woman, her name was Iris, took out a file and opened it glancing thru it quickly. "Before you meet with her would you say you'd be ok to take in two girls at the same time?" She looked over her spectacles at the two of them. Squall frowned.
"I thought you said there was only one?" Squall said furrowing his brow.
"Unfortunately I forgot about her sister. Oh, please don't be too angry about this. The thing is she is three years older than her sister, whom you'd be taking in, and doesn't live in the orphanage much of the time as she attends a boarding school and is required to live there." Iris smiled in a way that reminded Squall of a person who was good at heart but was too damn unconfident to do things properly at the first try. He sighed.
"Well, it is stated in our application we're not against taking in more than one kid." Cloud got ahead of Squall and spoke quietly next to him.
"Oh, yes, that is correct. Now, the younger sister is already 13years old so her sister is 16. In few years she'll be at legal age and can decide what she wants to do by herself." Iris closed the file in her hands and took a deep breath. "Now, if you're ready we'll go see them both." She got up and waited for Squall and Cloud to get up on their feet too. She lead them out of the room back to the corridor where they had been waiting and walked ahead not waiting to see if they really were ready to see the girls so suddenly.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Squall muttered to Cloud and placed one hand on Clouds shoulder causing him to stop and to look at Squall. "It's not like they are in any peachy age, are they. Well, 13 I can handle but 16 is a lot more hassle than you'd want to have in your hands." Squall was sure Cloud had second thoughts about this when he shook his head.
"I'm sure we'll be fine. I don't care about the age. Besides, you managed fine with Sora and Roxas. Stop worrying and let's just meet them." Cloud reached for the hand resting on his shoulder and squeezed it tight. Without letting go he walked Squall behind him forward. Squall was amazed. He had had no idea how mature Cloud could be in this situation.
Iris was holding a door open when they reached her and stepping inside Squall unwillingly let go of Clouds hand. He didn't know whether or not the kids would disapprove their new guardians being openly gay. It would be easier to meet the newcomers without shoving the rainbow factor up their noses at once.
The room they all entered was quite plain, few uninteresting paintings on typical grayish white walls. Small low brown table in the middle of the three brown couches and on one of those sat two girls. One was lean, thin and boyish and had hard expression on her face and the other was smaller, even thinner than the other and had big blue eyes staring straight at Cloud and Squall behind a stuffed animal she held in her tight clutches. Both of the girls had pale pink hair, insanely pretty features and long, extremely thin arms and legs. So very unfed… Squall sighed.
"This is Claire and this is Serah." Iris had moved behind the couch the sisters were sitting and pointed first at the taller girl and then the other. Claire had mistrust written all over her eyes as she scrutinized them. "Girls, these gentlemen are Squall and Cloud. They are your new foster parents."
"Hello Claire, Serah. I hope we can get along." Cloud said quietly and sat down opposite of them studying the two in silence. Squall echoed him and sat down too next to Cloud. Claire seemed to have shut down completely and Serah seemed a bit confused, her eyes bouncing between him and Cloud.
"There is no mommy in the house?" Serah finally piped up. She was holding the big plush toy to her chest like a lifesaver and peered over its huge head.
"No. There is no mommy in our house. I'm sorry about that. If you don't want to come to our place because of that I'm sure…" Clouds words were cut in the middle when Serah seemed to gather more courage and spoke again.
"It's ok. I don't need a mommy anyway." She spoke with that ultimate confidence which only kids of certain age and mentality seemed have. Her face came visible and she smiled at Cloud and Squall such a disarming smile Squall thought it was a different kid sitting there. "I like you already. When can I go there, Iris?" Well, that sure escalated quickly, Squall thought to himself and dared to smile lightly at the girl.
"Well, you are welcome to come whenever they see fit to let you go from here." Squall said now focusing his eyes on Claire who still stubbornly sat in silence. "But I don't know if your sister is ok with all this." Claire moved her pale blue eyes to Squall and glared at him. Such a delicate face. It reminded him of someone but he couldn't make the connection at the moment.
"Oh, don't worry about Light. She's just here to make sure I'm going to be ok in the new home and then she'll go back to school and shoot people." Serah explained quite cheerily. Squall tensed at the last words and looked at the woman who fidgeted nervously.
"She means Claire will go back to the military school she attends. They handle weaponry there after they come of age." Irish hurried to explain. "The Balamb Garden Military School is the one she attends to. It's just outside the town." Squall's tension evaporated almost immediately.
"Really? It's the same school I went to when I was your age." Squall was impressed. They didn't take in just anyone. Claire must have something in her that qualified her to attend the prestigious school. She had narrowed her eyes and seemed to be thinking of something.
"You're Squall Leonhart." Claire spoke suddenly. Her voice was calm and low, slightly on the cold side. "The teachers use you as an example sometimes." She frowned.
"You know, Cloud has military background too." Squall said to avoid the confusion the recognizing of him had caused to Claire. Her eyes darted straight to Cloud who had flinched when his name had come up.
"Yeaaahh…" Cloud seemed to stretch the word on purpose and ruffled his hair. "Well, I never finished the program. I had a problem with taking orders from authorities back then. Obviously I grew out of that phase." Cloud smiled at Squall warmly who grinned back to him.
"Don't believe a word he says. He still won't obey anyone." Squall was feeling more relaxed, even if the situation involved people whom he didn't know well. It was thanks to Cloud who made his being here more than tolerable.
"Iris, when can I move in with my new daddies?" Serah piped the question again suddenly from behind her stuffed animal she had buried her face once again. Iris twitched and blinked her eyes moving rapidly from Squall and Cloud to the pair of girls.
"Oh, darling. I suppose it shouldn't take long. Maybe tomorrow soonest. But it's all up to these two gentlemen here. Do they wish to take you home with them?" She turned her head to look at Cloud and Squall properly, the question hanging in the air. At the same time Serahs huge eyes glued to their direction too. Squall looked at his abnormally calm husband and raised questioningly one eyebrow at Cloud. Cloud smiled and nodded, then turned to the waiting ladies in the room.
"We would be delighted to offer you a home to stay in. And to your sister too if she wants to." Cloud said, smiling softly to Serah who whooped hands in the air and jumped up to her feet excitedly. Claire had not moved a muscle in her porcelain face but seemed a little less tense.
"Fine." Claire finally said. She stood up and placed her hand on her sisters' shoulder and looked down at her. "You tell me immediately if you have any troubles with anything. Got it?" Claire seemed to melt when she looked at Serah. Her face softened even more and Squall was sure he saw a hint of a smile on her lips. It made a huge difference on her appearance and definitely not in a bad way. Maybe she wasn't as bad of an ice queen she pretended to be.
"Yes!" Serah nodded determinedly a serious with a smile on her lips. She obviously adored her big sister who was so calm, caring and protective over her. Squall hid his smile behind his fingers pretending to scratch his chin.
"When are you supposed to go back to campus, Claire?" Squall asked. "If you are allowed to stay for example the whole of tomorrow we all, the four of us, could go picking up something for your new rooms. And either of us can drive you back to school when needed."
"I need to return today. I got special permission because of our situation." She moved her steely gaze to the two men sitting across her and the joyous sister of hers and narrowed her eyes. "But I'll be free soon as the summer vacation starts next month." Claire stated in a way that sounded almost like threat. Squall raised one eyebrow at her but otherwise kept his cool and looked back at her, determined not to be intimidated by some 16-year-old. Even if she was verging on the scary side this moment.
"Then we'll be waiting for you." Squall said seriously with a straight face, hoping with all his might the girl would loosen up at some point or they would have some serious communication problems. But, with Cloud by his side it could be manageable and it wasn't like either of them didn't know from experience how to deal with people like Claire was. They both had been almost exactly like she was in the past anyway. It would be a challenge but Squall was sure things wouldn't go straight to hell the moment they would have their first opinion changes. Cloud looked at him, smiling that faint, soft smile of his and Squall felt his uneasiness subsiding. It would be ok, in the end.
Two months later
Cloud
It was one of those perfect, bright sunny days when the sun was shining, sky was the clearest blue and people seemed smile no matter where you looked. Serah had insisted the whole lot of them to get out of the house now and not hole up in there no matter how nice the house and the yard were. She had pulled that excruciatingly sweet and cute face and pleaded first with Squall, who was weak to her antics and after Squall was agreeing it was no problem to get Cloud going along. And to Serah, her sister was never a problem as Claire did anything she ever asked for.
Thus, Cloud found himself walking down the street with two pink haired girls ahead of him arguing about something and Squall a little way behind him. Cloud turned his head to catch Squall grunting irritated at the phone he was stuffing to his pocket before speeding his steps to catch up with Cloud and the girls. Cloud smiled at his husband and took his hand to his. It had gotten easier as time went by, to do this. To show affection in public. Not that they ever did much more that this, it wasn't in their nature to fawn over each other publicly.
Squall smiled widely at Cloud and even with the dark sunglasses hiding his eyes Cloud knew the smile reached those blue eyes. He liked seeing Squall like this; dressed in dark shorts, sneakers and a black tank top and the brown hair on a loose ponytail as Squall had finally let his hair grow longer. The brunet seemed relaxed and happy and that made Cloud happier than anything. As mushy and sappy it may be, Cloud didn't give a rats' ass as he was satisfied with his current life.
A gush of warm wind rushed past them and Cloud observed the two girls walking ahead them. He smiled at the sight of Serah shamelessly clinging onto her sister pouting about something, who in return did nothing to loosen her tight grip on Claire's arm or trying to erase the fake pout the smaller one was giving her. Cloud inhaled deeply the scent of warmth and sun, the flowers, the trees.. All the life that was so vibrant around him; he drank it in with deep inhales and closed eyes. Squall intertwined their fingers together and everything seemed to fucking perfect Cloud could've barfed over the image.
Serahs' sudden delighted squeal rang in the air and Clouds' attention immediately sought the frail girl. Seeing her still clinging onto her sister just a bit further and being in no obvious danger Cloud sighed in relief and pulled Squall with him to join the two. An ice cream trolley seemed have made Serah exited this time.
"Oh, oh oh… Can I please have on, pleeeaaase? Light? Cloud? Squall? Yes? Pretty please" Serah was hopping from one feet to another her eyes latching onto each of them in turn.
"Just one. If you can stop jumping around." Squall smiled at his small protégée. "I don't want to wash any stains from this dress, you know." Cloud shuddered inside from the mere thought to trying to remove chocolate from that pearly white fabric. The responsibility of having two underlings at home meant that they needed to know things like how to remove stains from clothes, fixing broken handbags or how to deal with hormonal instability every three weeks. And they synchronized those too! Cloud shuddered.
"I'll be good! I will be really good!" Serah exclaimed her eyes wide and full of confidence her guardians didn't believe she had in her at all. But, she had wrapped the two men around her little finger from the very first days she had been settling down in their home. Serah was the little queen and she ruled with sweet kisses she quite out of nowhere and quite often showered them with.
Cloud was smiling to himself, standing with Claire behind Squall and Serah who took her time choosing a flavor to please her urges today. Amazing how fast he had found his paternal instincts rising. Claire wasn't much to father about but her sister instead was a handful; cute as she was Serah was sometimes acting like she was still under 10. She could charm anyone, she could be determined as hell and yet she was indecisive and unsure. Cloud had found her crying more than once alone and his heart simply shattered when he was faced with those tears. He wanted to protect her in a way he hadn't felt before. Of course he felt protective over Squall too but that feeling was different from what he felt when he was thinking of Serah. Cloud ran his hands thru his hair observing the duo in front of him and ended up smiling despite the train of his thoughts.
After some painfully long consideration Serah finally ended up choosing mango as her flavor of the day and they could all order. While she stood waiting for the others, her frail fingers clutched the cone of ice cream carefully, her perfect rosy lips pouty as she was serious in trying not to mess her pretty white dress. She looked absolutely adorable like that and Cloud could only stifle an urge to hug her close to him and keep her there safe and sound forever.
"Why don't we sit down there, on the bench right ahead there?" Cloud pointed at a lone bench a bit further in the park they had entered after all had received their respective treats; Cloud had lemon, Squall blueberry and Claire surprised them with wanting strawberry. Serah almost started to bolt towards it but Claire stopped her before any damage was done.
"Walk slowly." Claire said sternly and Cloud marveled the effect she had on her little sister. Serah nodded once and walked carefully with Claire until they reached the bench and sat down.
"You know it's pretty disgusting how perfect life is on a day like this." Squall muttered under his breath to Cloud the ice cream disappearing into his mouth with slow licks. Cloud stared at the sight, almost missing the point of what Squall had said.
"Yeah, totally disgusting." Cloud said, distracted and cocked one eyebrow biting his lip. He started to turn away from the enticing view next to him when he caught a small stream of ice cream dripping down Squalls long fingers. "Your fingers are getting dirty." Cloud pointed out.
"Hm? So it seems." Squall reached for his pocked with his free hand where he had stuffed paper just in case of something like this to happen when Cloud reached out suddenly and took the hand in his.
"Here.. let me." Cloud leaned in closer to the hand that had been stained with the sticky substance and simply licked the skin carefully clean. He hadn't really stopped to think what he was doing but when the red colour gushed over to Squalls cheeks Cloud realized just what he had done. He blinked once but didn't let Squalls hand go. He knew he should feel embarrassed but somehow didn't really care much. There weren't many people around at the moment and no one had noticed anyway. Except the girls on the bench, of course.
"You know you could just use paper for that." It was Claire who spoke, Serah giggling next to her one hand covering her smile and her cheeks rosier than before. Cloud coughed and finally let go of Squall who just handed his ice cream to Cloud and cleaned the rest of the mess on his fingers with a paper he fished from his pockets.
"No need to be ashamed, it's quite normal for people who have been together a long time to do things like that without thinking." Squall said after a small moment of gathering his thoughts together and calming down a bit the flush on his cheeks still prominent despite his calm voice. He sat down next to Serah and ruffled the pink hair. "You don't mind, do you?" He pointed the question at both of girls even if he was looking more at Claire. Cloud almost held his breath while waiting the answer. They had refrained from touching each other when they were in the same room with the two girls and the subject of what was comfortable for them to witness had never cropped up.
"I don't mind!" Serah piped out, the ice cream decorating the edges of her mouth making her smile even more adorable.
"It's not a problem. It would be unnatural if you tried to hide your love." Claire finished her cone and then looked at the both men in turn her eyes softening. "It's nice to be in a home where you can show your affection." She almost smiled.
Cloud could feel his mouth hanging open. This certainly wasn't what he had thought would come out of her mouth. This wasn't what he had ever even hoped to hear. Squall was as stupefied as Cloud was and had fallen silent as well. What could you say after that? Thank you? Cloud racked his brains for a proper way to express what he was feeling at the moment; the relief, the happiness, the unexpected fondness towards that rigid being that was Claire.
"Thank you." Cloud managed to utter in the end and gave her a smile that, he hoped, would transfer all the rest of his feelings to her. It wouldn't be impossible to include the older girl after all to their weird little family and that made Cloud even more grateful that he was alive and had made the choices in his life which had led up to this moment.
A year and a half later
Cloud
It was raining hard outside, the sky a gloomy dark gray and the trees swayed sadly in the passing gusts of wind that blew the heavy raindrops to the windows. Cloud studied the view from the sitting room couch where he had lain down in the hope of reading a book but had found himself drawn to stare out of the window more than the pages. He thought how different things were now. He had had to grow up eventually from his petulant child manners and take a hold of his life. He had turned his whole life upside down after the accident and even before that the way had been laid before him quite clearly, even if he wasn't so sure he had wanted to see it then. But he had, in the end.
Cloud shifted on the couch touching his lips thoughtfully. He had woken up before Squall and sneaked downstairs to have a moment for himself but he found he was missing his partner already. They weren't very far from each other at the moment but even this small distance made Cloud feel slightly anxious. He considered going back up to bed and dozing beside Squall but decided against the idea as he knew the other was sound asleep and needed his rest. Squall had been stuck at work until past midnight and had crawled to bed only after 2am. Cloud had, as usual, woken up too early and the sleep had escaped him after he had opened his eyelids. Feeling no particular need to lay in bed doing nothing he had sneaked downstairs.
A sudden shower of rain peppered the window glass and Cloud sighed despite himself, feeling slightly elated. He was happy. More than words could describe. He had it all; the house, the husband, the kids, the white fence.. What more could he ask for? He was happy even with the job he had. So sickeningly happy he almost grimaced. What a sap he had turned out to be after he had turned to better side of thirty. But, as they said the brains sort of cooled down after that age and the useless, taunting, melancholy thoughts of the universe crashing down on you had toned down to a more thoughtful state. Which Cloud did not mind at all, he was just glad all the teenage angst had been evaporated after so many years of anguish. Had he known this when he was younger he probably wouldn't have believed it, but there it was; true.
A soft movement in the stairs alerted Cloud from his thoughts. A mass of wavy pink hair peered around the couch back and Cloud smiled gently at the drowsy face of his daughter. Earlier this year they had legalized the adoption of the two Farron girls who had ended up staying in their care. It had been Claire who had brought the subject up and that had been a huge mile stone. The adoption had finally been accepted in the court just last week and the Leonhart-Strife family had been more than giddy that day, although Serah had been the only one jumping around with joy. The rest three had been calmly smiling at each other but in their hearts rejoicing as wildly as Serah was.
"Did the rain wake you up?" Cloud asked softly, almost whispering as the house was so quiet at this hour and he didn't want to startle her by raising his voice. Serah just nodded and walked around the couch and crawled over Cloud and parked her slender body in between Cloud body and the back of the couch. Cloud moved onto his side facing the now snoozing girl. Serah buried her face to Clouds white shirt and cuddled up almost like a cat, the mass of hair falling all over her face and shoulders. Cloud leaned down to press his face to the soft curls and smiled. He wrapped one arm around the girls' body and hugged her close protectively.
Serah was already fifteen but she was unlike most of her age and had remained so pure at heart Squall and Cloud were worried sometimes she was a bit too naïve to cope in the real world. She wasn't much like her older sister on the outside and was usually mild and good mannered youth even if she exploded sometimes with uncontrollable joy. But she was devious at times, using her big blue eyes and tears against his poor parents, and sister, to get what she wanted. She had her moments of being a pain but Cloud still loved her like she was his own flesh and blood.
Cloud mused as he stroked gently Serah hair, closing his eyes and letting his thoughts wander aimlessly. He wasn't sure how often did children of this age come up to their parents and snuggle up to them but Cloud didn't mind in the slightest. She smelled good, was tiny enough to fit in almost any crack and Cloud loved her so much this moment he was about to burst. He hugged her even closer to his chest and kissed the pink hair, idly thinking he should tell her to start braiding her hair for the night as it was a nightmare to get that long hair brushed in the morning.
A moment later Cloud startled as a second rustle of fabric caught his attention. He lifted his head enough to see who was leaning over to look at them and found Squall smiling softly at the sight. Cloud couldn't help the grin that spread over his lips. Squall had his hair in such a state it reminded Cloud of birds nest more than anything else. The brunet was sleepy eyed and his t-shirt was rumpled from sleeping. So adorable.
"Scoot." Squall mumbled and climbed onto the couch to sit in the corner and let Cloud rest his head on Squalls lap. Serah sniffled in her sleep when Cloud moved to lay his head on Squall but didn't wake up.
"What woke you up?" Cloud asked quietly, closing his eyes when he felt Squall stroking his hair gently.
"It's cold without you in there so I just followed the radiating warmth from here." Squall yawned leaning his head to the back of the couch. "You know I can't sleep very long after you get up." Cloud could hear the smile in his voice.
"I'm sorry." Cloud hugged Serah closer to his body and snuggled his head on Squalls lap. The fingers in his hair continued their stroking. Cloud was feeling warm and sleepy by now. The silence fell over them like a blanket with only the patter of rain echoing in the house. The morning wasn't very far yet and Cloud allowed himself the moment of complete doing nothing. He inhaled deeply, the scent of sweetness entering his brains from Serahs hair and then exhaled releasing all his nonexistent worries. "I love you." Cloud suddenly said. He didn't exactly know why he had said that but there it was. In the end he didn't really need a reason for saying that.
"I know." Squall said, his fingers putting some more pressure into his touch. Cloud relaxed his heart skipping a beat or two.
Eventually Cloud drifted to sleep listening to Serah breathing softly in his arms, the warmth of Squall under his head comforting and safe. The rain was tapping on the window, wind whistling thru the cracks and crevices of the house; everything was silent, gray and peaceful. His life made sense and he was content and happy. Unbelievable but true.
THE END.
A/N
There. It is finished. Wow. I may lay down to rest now. Or roll on the floor. Thank you for reading.