The Complete Opposite

Chapter XVI

When Cloud, Marlene and Sephiroth came back from their trip around Kalm, it was surprising that no one had started hyperventilating or worrying excessively when they found them missing. No note was placed in their absence, so when the trio came home to a quiet house with half of the AVALANCHE team assembled and continuing with whatever duties they had started. Vincent was closest to the door and simply turned his head briefly to acknowledge them before turning back to his newspaper. Cloud found it peculiar for the vampire-like man to enjoy reading the local news since he just didn't see him as a newspaper-reading kind of person. But, Cloud supposed, there were so many strange habits and characteristics about the man, both on his world and this one, that he really shouldn't be surprised at the new things he picked up. Glancing around the living room, Cloud spotted Cid and Yuffie talking to each other on the sofa by the stairs, each with their weapons in hand and pointing at some detail on them.

Marlene took Cloud by the hand and led him away to the kitchen and dining area where Cloud spotted Zack with... What was Zack doing with his sword? Cloud approached the man, causing the black-haired Ex-SOLDIER to look up as he sensed his presence. Throwing the older man a questioning look, Cloud let Marlene push him into a chair while she gestured for Sephiroth to do the same in one of the available chairs.

Zack grinned and laughed. "Ah, sorry about that. When I came home I noticed you were gone and had left your sword behind. I picked it up and started looking at it. Whoo, I was surprised at how heavy it was! And that glow? What is it?"

Cloud looked at the sword that he had been carrying for the past few years. "The Ultima Sword came from Gaea." When he looked up to see Zack's expectant look, he continued. "Well, when Ultima WEAPON was killed, from the carcass was the rough structure of the sword. With a bit of work, we got it into the shape of a sword fit for my handling and I've been using it since."

"You killed one of Gaea's WEAPONs? Man, how strong are you?" Zack whistled and looked down at the sword laid out before him on the table. He had a strong urge to poke it, but figured it would look as ridiculous as it sounded so he refrained from doing so.

Cloud shrugged at the questions and saw the engrossed expression on Zack's face as he looked at the sword. He remembered being just as interested in the sword when he first saw it too. At the time, though, they were so fixated on pursuing Sephiroth that it didn't matter what he was carrying, as long as it did the job in stopping JENOVA and Sephiroth's plans to rule over Gaea.

"So, if this is from the remains of Ultima WEAPON, then this must really pack a punch, huh? Just how powerful is it, anyway?" Zack thought aloud, raising a brow in Cloud's direction. And how powerful is he...?

Cloud shook his head in response. "It's a very powerful weapon, but no one can wield it easily other than myself. When the sword was forged, none of my comrades could swing it properly, so that was why they gave it to me."

Zack stood up and picked up the sword with a frown on his face, shifting his hands and gripping it tightly as he lifted it to where it was level with his shoulders. He grunted at the effort and then dropped back into his normal fighting position, shifting ever so slightly until he was dragged down to almost half his normal height. It was an uncomfortable position to hold, so he lowered the tip of the sword before dropping it, working strained muscles into the relaxed and more comfortable standing position.

"Golly, that thing's heavy. How in the world do you hold that thing?" He rubbed at his wrists and flexed his fingers as he eyed the blonde. Well, now it made sense as to why the man was more built than what would have been his normal body size. Still, the fact that the man still appeared slim was a surprise with all the muscle he probably carried.

Cloud got up from his seat and picked up the sword with one hand, compared to Zack holding it with two hands, and swung it into its straps, snapping them close. The movement was so effortless, probably easier than it seemed since he was so used to the sword.

The black-haired Ex-SOLDIER laughed at the motion. "Well, that just made me look stupid. But you said that none of your friends could hold it? Why is that?"

"The sword is probably meant for only you," Sephiroth said, directing the statement toward the blonde.

Cloud nodded. "I think so."

Zack sniffed and ran a hand through his hair. He studied the blonde man and the way he lightly kept his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. The posture seemed a little uncomfortable and perhaps even intimidating to people who didn't know how unthreatening and calm he really was. The pose seemed so natural on his body that the man probably hadn't even realized he had kept his hand raised to his sword.

"Hey, Cloud, can I borrow your sword?" said Zack. When the younger man turned to him in question, he answered, "I wanted to look at it longer. I'm sure you sleep with it close to you, but if you don't mind, I want to hold onto it for the night."

Cloud gripped the sword and hesitantly unlatched it, handing it out to Zack to take. He wasn't too bright on the idea of being separated from his sword for a whole night, but... well, it was Kalm and he shared a room with Sephiroth, after all, so nothing should happen, right? ... Cloud mentally shook his head. Sharing a room with Sephiroth without a weapon at his side...? He was very skeptical on the idea of being safe, but if nothing had happened to him as of yet, should anything happen without the security of his sword nearby? Maybe... he would just have to sleep lightly tonight just as a precaution.

Zack grinned and took the offered sword. "Great! Don't worry, I won't mess with it or break it. (I don't think I can, anyway.) You'll have it back in the morning. I'll probably be done with it by then."

Cloud nodded and rubbed his hand on the side of his pants as inconspicuously as possible, strangely feeling a little incomplete without it. "Ah, sure. Just don't leave until I get it from you."

The black-haired man nodded and patted the other man on the shoulder, reassuring him that the sword would come back to him just as it left. On cue, Marlene appeared from the kitchen and informed the group that dinner would be ready soon, so it was best to tell everyone else in case they were hungry. Cloud was army-volunteered into doing the job while Zack escaped with the excuse of having to put up Cloud's sword in his room while Sephiroth was simply deemed too high for the duty of errand boy and escaped to his room on his own. Cloud couldn't say that it was a bad thing, but he wasn't too comfortable with everyone enough to just go up to them and tell them dinner was to be served soon. Still, he did his job and gathered everyone around the table for a (somewhat) normal meal.

Cloud was one of the first few to excuse himself from the table that night, and was very itchy and edgy to an unexplainable extent. He supposed half of it was because he hadn't showered yet that day, but as for the other half... Well, he reasoned with himself, it could have been because he didn't have his sword with him. Even though he didn't have it with him while with Marlene and Sephiroth, he knew it was there at Tifa's, waiting for him. It shouldn't be different now with Zack having it stored in his room, but somehow, Cloud had an unnerving feeling about being separated from it, even if it was just down the hall. The Ultima Sword was too much of a part of him to let go, he figured, since he felt and was (practically) acting like a headless rabbit, jumping about all over the room, trying to calm himself down.

Haha, at least the thought of a jumping, headless rabbit can make me laugh.

The blonde sat down on the bed as he got himself to push away most of his ridiculous fear, and looked around the room in an attempt to find something to think about. He didn't have a lot of possessions with him, and none of them were interesting enough to look at for an excessive amount of time. In fact, he didn't even have clothes he could gawk over and plan what shirt he would where with what pants or vice versa. It wasn't that he needed new clothes, but that he didn't have anything to distract him or occupy his empty mind.

Throwing his eyes across the simple room, he caught the sight of the closet jarred open. On the handle of the door hung Sephiroth's pajama shirt. The shirt had a wing print on it from what he could tell, which he thought ironic for the man to wear. The One Winged Angel... he could almost smile at the title. After all, he had to admit, though the man was threatening to destroy Gaea, he was magnificent in all this glory. Frightening and powerful... that was the phrase he was looking for. Sephiroth was a frightening and powerful man, both with and without his God-like identity to back it up.

Though, Cloud thought, he could never see the man as loving or excessively kind. He was sure that that was not possible on any measure. After so many years of being pulled through all that pain and hardship, how could such a hateful man suddenly be gentle and human?

But, another part of him argued, this Sephiroth is completely different from the one you knew. You are in another world, Cloud, so you can't connect the two and say that just because you hated one you can hate another.

Why not? Why should he not hate this man? What did Sephiroth do to benefit him?

He named you an ally...

Oh, yes, that's right. Cloud snorted and fell back onto the bed. He supposed he could give the man credit for that. ... But, what did that mean? Ally... It was almost close to 'friend,' a word he wasn't quite sure he wanted to honor the man with, or be honored with. They could fight on the same side but as for everything else in between, that was a mess he didn't want to deal with.

"Strife."

Cloud sat up at the sound of his name. It had rolled off the man's tongue so easily that Cloud found himself curious as to why he faintly liked the sound of his name as he was addressed.

Sephiroth held a rolled up bundle of clothes under his arm. As he approached Cloud he handed the bundle to him before moving off to the closet to pull out a shirt, which he held out to the blonde as well. "Here. Go clean yourself."

Cloud stood up without question and took the shirt from the man. He had borrowed clothes from him before, when they had spent the night here and his clothes were covered in dirt, but do borrow once again without reason was strange. If anything, Cloud could just stay in the outfit he was in right now, simply letting them air out while he showered, but he guessed that Tifa would be vexed if he walked around in pre-used clothes in her house. So without a complaint, he found his way to the bathroom and shed of his clothes to shower. He loved the feel of cleanliness, even if it was just that of his body. It was hard to think of why, though... Still, he ran soap over his body and generic shampoo over his hair, limp from the water and some of it reaching just past his shoulders.

When he stepped out of the shower, he toweled off and looked at a foggy mirror. Wiping it with his hand, he stared at himself, not exactly thinking as his eyes ran over his features in the mirror. JENOVA cells... He didn't know how that thought crossed his mind, but looking at himself made him think about what JENOVA had told him back at Midgar several days ago, in how Hojo had messed with his body and made him what he was today. Scars, body, face and all...

What was worse, he wondered. Knowing JENOVA had a piece of herself inside him, or the fact that he couldn't live without his sword? The latter was actually more comical than frightening.

Shaking his head, Cloud flung water everywhere as he banished his thoughts. He turned to the clothes that Sephiroth had given him and saw it was a pair of dark pants and underwear, as well as a large shirt. He had a feeling that the pants and underwear were from Zack or someone somewhat smaller than Sephiroth, but the shirt was obviously from Sephiroth, and he knew that the sleeves would probably fall past his hands, and the length nearly down to his knees.

With a raised brow, he slipped into his borrowed clothes and found himself nearly falling out of the pants, even with the provided belt that was hidden in the bundle. And the shirt... Cloud turned back to the mirror and wiped away more of the fog, staring at his half-naked form. He buttoned some of the buttons and even so, with just the first two open, it nearly slid off his shoulder. He looked ridiculous! Laughing quietly, he finished dressing and gathered his laundry, snagging the hem of his pants while he was at it. The legs were made for someone taller than him (everyone was taller than him!) and he stepped carefully as he emerged from the bathroom, wiping a hand through his hair after he switched off the light and closed the door behind him.

After just a few steps, he ran into Zack who was whistling on his way upstairs, stopping when he spotted the wet blonde. "Hey, Cloud. Squeaky clean?"

Cloud nodded and hefted up the pants. "Yeah."

Zack looked over the smaller man and grinned. "My pants a problem for ya?"

"A little."

Zack took the bundle of laundry from Cloud. "I'll take these from you and get them washed." He laughed. "You might want to put that in on the last hole and roll up the legs if you don't want to keep holding it and tripping over it."

Cloud thanked the man for the advice and shuffled his way back to the room he shared with the Ex-General. He didn't find the man inside, and took the opportunity to drop the pants he had been holding. He had already inserted the belt on its last hole, as small as he could go, and it still didn't hold them up. The best they could do was barely keep them hanging off his hips, and just thinking about sleeping with the belt on was as uncomfortable as it sounded. With a sigh he folded up the pants and set them aside. The shirt was large enough to cover him decently, so there wouldn't be a problem there. As for sleeping like this with another man in your bed...

Well, as long as we don't touch each other, I'm fine... Thank the lord for elastic! Experimentally, he tugged the hem of the borrowed underwear and snapped it. It was obviously made for someone slightly larger than him, but thanks to whichever genius that made elastic, it snug to his waist, determined not to come off if unless pulled off. Now, for the sleeves, Cloud folded them a couple of times to at least let his fingers poke through. He had to button the shirt from top to bottom to keep it on him, but there was just a bit too much air flowing through...

Shrugging it off, he made over to the bed and dropped his shoes at the foot. A glance around the room did nothing to interest him, and his previous thoughts were pushed underneath him. In truth, he really didn't want to think about anything but if he could not distract himself with something to look at, he would have to occupy his time by thinking about something. He drifted over to the window and opened it, leaning outside. The wind caressed his skin and fluttered through his damp hair, slowly drying it. Night had passed over the sky and multiple stars winked in the sky. Cloud remembered looking up at the same sky seven or eight years ago at Nibelheim. He had made that promise to Tifa that when he became famous, he would come and save her whenever she was in trouble, like a knight to a damsel in distress.

"I want to experience that at least once."

And that never really happened. Though Cloud came to her when she was hurt, he couldn't save her. Not really.

"You promised... You promised that you would come... when I was in trouble..."

The image of blood pooling around Tifa's body made him shudder, sticking his head back into the room and wrapping his arms around himself. He didn't want to think about that now, but the scene was already playing in his head.

"Sephiroth! My family... my hometown... How could you do this to them!"

"Ahahaha. ... They have come again, mother. But they... those worthless creatures are stealing the Planet from Mother. But now I'm here with you, so don't worry..."

"What about my sadness? My family... friends... the sadness of my hometown being taken away from me? It's the same as your sadness!"

"Ahahaha. My sadness? What do I have to be sad about?"

Cloud leaned on the bottom frame of the window, bowing his head.

"I am the chosen one."

Sucking in a breath, he closed his eyes and curled his fingers around the frame of the window.

"I have orders to take this planet away from you stupid people for the Cetra. What am I supposed to be sad about?"

Opening them again, he stared up into the night sky as if it should tear open and strike him with a mighty fist.

"Sephiroth. I trusted you..."

"...I trusted you."

Shaking his head, Cloud felt his heart calm as the memory faded back to the depths of his mind, hopefully never to rise again. He made his way to the bed and threw himself upon it, smothering his face in a pillow. By accident, he had picked up Sephiroth's pillow and inhaled his scent, his smell memorized in his head as he slowly fell asleep.

It was amazing in how quickly he started to slumber, never even realizing his one-man audience pressed against the door to the room. Sephiroth had come in as Cloud was looking out the window, wrapping his arms around himself. He was surprised that the other man had not detected him, but stayed silent in hopes of discovering something that would help him learn more about the man, perhaps as leverage into gaining his friendship. However, what he saw instead was the feeling of fear and emotional pain, one that he was familiar, yet alienated to at the same time. When the smaller man, appearing so small in his large shirt, had said quietly, "I trusted you," there was a hint of betrayal coating those words.

Green eyes had silently watched the man fall onto the bed, drawing a pillow to his face as he unconsciously curled slightly as his body turned. A fatigue not caused by labor had washed over the smaller man, and Sephiroth felt like should react, but knew better than to do so. Though, he considered, he could draw up a chair and just sit by the bed. It should not disturb the blonde in his sleep, so he could do it without guilt of being too open.

Hah. Just keep telling yourself that, Sephiroth. One way or another, you're getting far too comfortably with him so quickly. One of these days, you're going to do something you're going to regret, and it'll take a million years to fix that mistake. Just like you did two years ago...

Sephiroth frowned as he sat in the chair. ...He sure as hoped not. He couldn't afford another mistake.

Cloud looked up at the world, folding his feet underneath him. The sky was beneath him, and felt solid and nonexistent at the same time. He reached out to touch the world, but as soon as his fingers grazed over its surface, it shook and liquefied as if it was about to melt under his fingers. He dared to touch it again, but when the world shook again, he laid his hands on his lap, settling on just looking at it.

The sun was nowhere to be seen amongst the endless sea of sky, but as if it was, he could see from its light. Stars danced around him, mesmerizing and endless. They spoke to him threw whispers, each movement spelling out to him to touch the earth and hold it in his hands, telling him it was okay. Cloud knew not to touch it, because it started to melt away every time he did, but the stars kept whispering to him and urging him to touch it, that instead of melting the world, he would solidify it and heal it. Still certain that he could still hurt the planet, he kept his hands where they were, curling them in the fabric of his large, borrowed shirt.

The stars danced more quickly, drawing his attention toward them as they weaved patterns around him in a hypnotic manner. It was very difficult to turn his head away, and it took everything he had to look away and stare at the planet instead. Like a dull flashlight in the dark, it radiated a small, shimmering light. He wondered if like a battery, he could touch it and make it glow brighter until it outshone the stars and pushed them away. Hearing the stars crowing around him, he gently reached out and touched the world. It shuddered under his touch, but then stayed still, glowing just as he had hoped, slowly shining brighter until it shone in absolute brilliance.

Never closing his eyes, he saw the stars back away, letting him cradle the world. But then, in great surprise, its brightness faded, slowly at first, then almost at once, returning to its dim glow. It shuddered in his hands and became more violent with every second he held it. Even when pushed out of his reach, the world shook like it was cold, the blues of its surface slowly draining and turning a murky brown, eclipsing the entire planet in a hideous, dark color, eventually turning black like ash. Cloud reached to touch it, maybe he could heal it, but before he could even come in contact with it, it crumbled, falling past him into nothingness.

The stars returned and danced once more, trying to comfort him, but with each word, instead of being relieved, he became sad. Lowering his hands, he spilled silent tears, bending his head back to stare up at the stars that danced around and above him. They cooed and crowed, directing him to look at another world not far away, appearing into his vision only because the other world was gone. He wanted to go to it, perhaps he could try again and not destroy this one, but something told him not to. Something told him to ignore the stars and stay where he was.

He wanted to call out to that voice, because it was different from the voices of the stars, but he didn't know if he should, or how to at all. The stars hissed at him and danced more wildly, arguing with him to not listen to that mysterious voice. But that voice was too comforting for him ignore. It was better to listen to that one voice than all the little stars. Closing his eyes, he raised one hand, calling out to that mysterious voice, determined to find it. He knew it would make everything right again.

He reached out and closed his hand around another, entwining fingers. Drawing the hand back, he let another hand brush over his eyes, holding his head back as the hand entwined with his let go and looped around his shoulders. Fingers grazed over the fabric above his heart and a palm laid there. Echoing in his ears was his own heartbeat, rhythmically pounding. The hand over his heart pressed against his chest before snapping open his shirt and sliding over his skin to rest over his heart again. His heart began to beat more quickly, going faster and faster until it ached in his chest. The hand pressed against his skin again, sinking into him and clutching the beating organ.

Pain seared through his body and he cried out for the end, but the hand squeezed and pulled, wrenching out his heart in one piece. The action threw a spasm throughout his body, and tears wet his eyes, falling past the fingers over his eyes down the sides of his face. The heart in the other person's hand still beat quickly, but soon returned to normal, beating in time with the pounding in his head and echoing in his ears. It ached, the feeling mirrored in Cloud's body. The hand squeezed and he cried out again, feeling the emptiness in his chest. The void was too big; he wanted that wholeness back.

With a final squeeze, the heart was destroyed, causing another violent spasm to jerk his body. But then the hand smoothed over his chest, resting once more over emptiness where the heart had been, and pressed there. Hot tears soon diminished, and spasms depleted. A new kind of wholeness filled the cavity of his chest, replacing the broken heart and radiating a new kind of wholeness throughout his body. He placed his own hand over the other, keeping it there, never wanting the wholeness to disappear. There were no stars, no world, no pain.

He didn't want the wholeness to go away...

Sephiroth laced together his fingers as he watched the blonde roll in his sleep and continue to hold his pillow to him, his hand tightening after a long moment. He averted his eyes to the open window to see the night sky gathering clouds over the area. He got up from his chair and settled his sword against the back before he moved to the window and looked outside like Cloud had done earlier that night. The moon was still visible amongst the clouds, but its shine over the town was slowly fading.

He wondered what the blonde man could have been thinking about to cause such reactions of pain and exhaustion. He wanted to ask, yet he felt like he should hold off because he would feel like he would be too forward if he did so. Cloud was an ally. He had yet to be labeled as a friend in everyone's eyes, and by far he could not be seen as a lover to any. Zack was more accepting to the change, as well as Red and perhaps even Vincent, but all of the other members of AVALANANCHE had yet to see the proof of his innocence. Sephiroth himself found it a little difficult to see the light of things, but he was a little more hopeful then the rest of his team because of his tragic past and blind wish to have another chance.

The rest of the hour passed by quickly as Sephiroth lost himself in his thoughts and stared up at the sky absentmindedly. By the time he pulled out of his thoughts, it took him a while to realize the sky was covered with dark clouds, threatening for rain. He withdrew back inside and shut the window as droplets of rain started to fall, splashing against the pane. Thunder rolled about in the sky and lightning danced amongst the clouds.

The storm had come rather quickly, he noticed, continuing to watch the sky. One could think of it as ominous. Glancing back at the bed, Sephiroth saw the blonde clawing at his chest, having completely discarded his pillow. Sephiroth quickly came back to the side of the bed and sat down in his chair, reaching out to the man as he was caught in some kind of painful nightmare. He opened his mouth to cry out, but nothing came out.

Sephiroth gently laid a hand on his shoulder and shook him. The blonde continued to clutch and pull at the shirt, always in the same place. Sephiroth tried to pull his hands away from his chest, but Cloud fought him.

What is wrong with him?

Sephiroth settled with pressing his hand over the spot that Cloud was clawing at, feeling to see if anything was wrong with him physically. When he found nothing wrong, he stared at the other man's sleeping face, confused yet relieved to see him relax. He wrapped his hand around Sephiroth's and pressed it there to his chest, hugging and keeping it there like a child with a doll.

The silver-haired man raised a brow in confusion as to what he had done to chase away the nightmare and why the blonde man was holding his hand, but he was grateful that the other man had stopped trying to hurt himself in his sleep. Whatever was wrong with him was pretty powerful, powerful enough to affect him outside of his dream as well as inside.

"Cloud?" he dared to whisper. But the blonde made no sign of wakening.

Sighing, Sephiroth turned his attention outside and watched the rain flutter against the window and bounce right off. The patter of raindrops was almost rhythmic that he couldn't look away from the image outside as he kept his hand enclosed in Cloud's. The atmosphere was almost serene if not for... He frowned as a dark flash passed the window just as lightning flashed across the sky. It was strange, but it was probably a bird trying to find some shelter, he assured himself. Hopefully, it was just a bird.

Cloud squeezed his hand and held it closer. Sephiroth glanced back at him awkwardly and wondered if it was okay to slip his hand out of the other man's, but as he looked at the way he held it, he decided otherwise. He could probably stay like this a little longer...

AN: Terribly sorry for the wait. I got distracted. ...Badly distracted. Heh. So, come back, I started to write. However, it seems that I will have to split my chapter in half. I'm not entirely finished with the second half, but I thought it would be best to go ahead and give it to you even though it's horrible and more like a filler chapter than a real chapter because all the action is in the second half. I agree with many readers that I've been lacking in some real butt kicking, so you'll have that soon, as well as more answers and more questions as to how well Sephiroth and Cloud are getting along. I really want to jump the gun, but I won't, don't worry. Sephy and Cloudie-boy are gonna have a lot of time to spend together and really work around the obstacles and get to know each other. (wink wink)

See you again real soon! Please remember to review. Thank you!

PS: (growl) I dislike FFNet... I came back and fixed some of the messed-up formating, but not much else. If anyone finds something else wrong with it, please tell me.