Chapter 13
Cloud caught Kotetsu's shoulders as she dropped to all fours, the blade in her chest now completely covered in blood. Cloud watched as her eyes darted back and forward, her inner conflict clearly evident.
"Kotetsu?" Cloud's softly spoken words visibly calmed the girl, a small smile tugging at her lips.
"I..." She coughed hard, blood spraying over Cloud's front. He caught her chin gently and forced her to look at him. "Did it." Cloud smiled sadly as he began to tear at the cloth that hung on his waist.
"How on earth...?" Cloud almost flinched when he had heard Sebastian's voice, having had completely forgotten about the scum bag not so far away from him, so intent on saving Kotetsu. He placed the fabric he had removed onto the ground next to the now panting girl, a quiet apology as he readied himself for Sebastian. "You think you're so fucking smart with your big ass sward and bad ass attitude. But I tell you now, this isn't over!" Sebastian dashed to the other girl lying at the doorway, his tazer out and charged. Cloud waited for the girl to come to before he spoke.
"Woossa Narii." Sebastian glared at him as he shocked the girl again, this time covering the girl's ears. Cloud just raised his voice. "Woossa Narii." The girl dropped to the ground again, lifeless as Sebastian kicked her and screamed.
"I fucking hate you!" Cloud smirked as the man began to break in front of him. Sebastian's eyes flew open as he cackled manically, picking the girl at his feet up. Cloud readied his sward as he made his way to the pair, intent on freeing the girl and killing Sebastian. Cloud stopped in his tracks as he groaned in annoyance, Sebastian producing another Knife, not so big or as intricately decorated as the last, and held it against the unconscious girl's neck. She was a lot younger than Kotetsu, her body a lot more under developed. She was really only a child, and Cloud couldn't risk her life. Though leaving her to go back with this asshole was probably just as bad as advancing on them now, but he would just have to take that chance. "Not so tough now, are we?" Cloud physically winced as he felt the war within him, but the girl's best chance was for him to just obey. Whether he hated it or not was irrelevant.
Cloud waited for Sebastian to shuffle backwards out of the church and made his way to the door to watch the man take off, the girl flapping uselessly behind him like a loose rag. Cloud pushed through the doorway, ready to hunt the man down again when he heard Kotetsu's gurgled coughing from behind him. He slid to a stop as he looked back at the church, frustration plaguing him.
If he left now, would Kotetsu die?
But he had to save the girl in Sebastian's clutches. Who knew the atrocities the man would do to her for her failure...
Cloud cursed as he returned to the church, deciding that Kotetsu was in more of a definite danger of death. He felt his heart skip a beat as he rounded the doorway, Kotetsu's sprawled body rolling back and forth as she tried to press the black cloth onto her wound, around the still protruding dagger. She struggled to sit up as she choked on her own blood, the gargling sound painful to Cloud as he rushed to her side.
"Everything is going to be okay." Cloud rubbed his hand through her hair tenderly. "I'm going to fix this. I'm going to make everything okay." Kotetsu smiled weakly, though she felt a little underestimated as Cloud fussed over her. She could look after herself, and to be honest, she was more than impressed that she had broken her master's hold.
Correction: Previous master's hold.
Cloud was her new master, and by choice too.
Kotetsu held back a scream as Cloud gently pulled her up into his arms. She let her head rest on his shoulder as he raced down to the pool at the end of the aisle, noting the ground shaking slightly as the deadly machines made their way towards the church. Sebastian must have sent them in a hope to finally kill the blonde, but he was ready, of course.
"Cloud..." Kotetsu's soft and weak voice scared him a little as he placed her gently on the wooden floor before jumping into the water. Kotetsu flinched at the coldness as some of the splash landed on her, and watched as Cloud winced, steadying himself in the calming, rippling water. She couldn't help but admire how pretty the little pool was, and wondered how she hadn't seemed to notice its beauty before now. Cloud slipped his arms gently underneath her frail body and pulled her close to him again, bringing her back to reality as pain racked through her.
"This is going to be really cold, so bear with me." Kotetsu nodded slowly as she opened her eyes to look at Cloud again. His hair was a little more floppy than usual, the wetness weighing it down. Kotetsu smiled broadly as Cloud nuzzled her cheek with his nose before dipping her quickly into the water. Kotetsu felt her breath become a little laboured as she felt relief and extreme cold hit her. She couldn't help but touch her stomach and chest as she felt the thick black tar lift from her, freeing her from one more torture. She giggled slightly as saw it disappearing into a sparkling green hue, her fingers making it wisp like smoke as she moved her hands through it. Cloud smiled down at her as he too enjoyed her happiness, but soon became serious as a loud crash knocked the doors from the far wall. Kotetsu felt her stab wound sting as she pressed her hand down on it again, trying desperately to stifle the blood flow. Cloud placed her back on the wooden floor and jumped out of the pool. Kotetsu heard loud, sharp noises echo around them as Cloud deflected bullets coming in their direction with his once again brandished sward. She then felt Cloud's strong arm pull her up into a sitting position and lean her over his shoulder, then wrap around her legs and hoist her up onto him. The pain was unbearable as she cried out. Cloud stood as he continued to deflect bullets, which she would have appreciated more as extremely impressive had the situation not been so painful. Kotetsu felt a burning, sharp agony continue to streak through her but she kept herself together as Cloud jumped up onto the nearest fallen pillar that lead up onto the roof. "Hold on." Kotetsu weakly grabbed hold of the back of Cloud's tank top, though she could feel her fingers failing already as she tried to push away from his back, distancing the dagger to a safer angle.
"Down." Cloud looked over his shoulder to try and hear what she was saying better. "Put down." Kotetsu pushed further away from Cloud, but she quickly gave up as she felt her wound tear a little. She whimpered slightly as Cloud continued to run, avoiding blasts and bullets expertly.
"Hold this." Cloud sat Kotetsu on his bike and rested his head on her shoulder for a moment, Kotetsu unsure how they had managed to get to it so quickly. She took the sward that Cloud was thrusting into her free hand, the weight of it almost pulling her back off of the bike again. Cloud then jumped onto the bike in front of her and opened the side compartment where he kept all of his sward upgrades. Kotetsu watched as he kicked started his bike while pulling two of them out. She smiled as he looked over his shoulder to check on her. "I've got your back if you've got mine." Kotetsu nodded as she looked back over her shoulder, Cloud zooming off as the monstrous metal abominations caught up. She felt her chest ache as she tried to manoeuvre herself so that she could face the disappearing church, the heavy sword in her hand proving to be quite a hindrance. "What are you doing?" She heard Cloud bellow over the sound of his bike, but she just kept at her struggle, grabbing Cloud as she felt herself almost fall head first off of the bike. Cloud held his arm out so that she could stabilise herself better, his hands full. Kotetsu pulled her hips back onto the seat and was pleased to find herself successfully back to back with Cloud. Now she could really do some defending. She used the sward as Cloud had done before to deflect the bullets, the resonating sound quite ear piercing even with the roaring engine beneath them. Cloud swerved this way and that, Kotetsu trying to hold herself on with only her legs. She could feel herself becoming quite woozy and her vision was beginning to blur, clearly blood loss taking its toll. Her arms began to build with lactic acid, the weight of the sward having more of an effect on her than she had anticipated.
"Faster!" She felt panic fill her as the metal creatures began to seriously gain on them, their guns much louder than before. Cloud looked back over his shoulder to see the need for more speed, but he was going as fast as he could realistically go. His bike was in much need of some TLC, and was protesting as he pushed as far as he could. "Cloud!" Cloud felt his whole bike shoot forward, the heat of an explosion almost burning his bare skin.
"Kotetsu?" He felt her body lean back on his, and he could feel her laboured breathing.
At least she was breathing.
Cloud leant his bike side to side, avoiding the onslaught of explosions that were surrounding them all of a sudden. On his fifth lean, he felt Kotetsu slip, and barely caught her with his now free hand as she tumbled off of the bike, her legs scraping along the ground. He pulled her up and across his lap before spinning the bike back towards the chaos, his sward too important to leave behind. It didn't take him long to swerve alongside it, his expert juggling skills allowing him to lift it and hook it onto the bike. He narrowly avoided being smashed to pieces as one of the metal weapons jumped up into the air above and attempted to stamp down on them. Now he really needed to get a move on.
Cloud's beloved bike groaned as it followed his will, its complaints going unnoticed as he desperately tried to save himself and the girl he had grown so fond of as of late. He looked down now and then to check that she was still breathing, and was relieved to see her eyes flickering open to stare at him. He could see her lips moving, but couldn't hear her as the bike roared in annoyance once more.
Another explosion knocked Cloud slightly off course as he pushed his stead on, the sight of Midgar comforting. Rufus wouldn't allow the people of Midgar to see him using his machines again, his need for their trust too prevalent in his quest for peaceful world domination. The last thing he needs now is an uprising.
Cloud looked back to see that he was indeed right, the metal machines stopping in their tracks on the horizon, relief washing over him.
"It's alright." He smiled down at Kotetsu to see her smiling weakly back. "We're safe." Cloud opened up the compartments of his bike and slotted his swards in. "For now anyway."
...
"I can't believe he was waiting for you like that. And with another of those poor children." Kotetsu could here Tifa stomping as she paced the room they were in. She could feel the dull ebbing pain of her chest as she struggled to open her eyes, but her body seemed to be ignoring her will power right now. "I can't believe that he thinks this is okay!" Another set of footsteps walked over to Tifa and stopped her in her tracks. Kotetsu could feel the presence of three people around her.
"Look Tifa. We're gonna stop this clown." Reno was the second set of footsteps which meant the third person was probably Cloud. Kotetsu felt her pinkie twitch as she desperately tried to regain control of herself. Breaking someone's psychological hold over you was quite tiresome it would seem... "You need to chill out. There's no use in getting all upset like this when we gotta think straight." Kotetsu felt Cloud's warm self approach her, his almost scolding, bare hands feeling her forehead for a fever.
"You should have seen her." The room fell silent as Cloud spoke, Tifa and Reno waiting patiently for him to continue. Cloud continued to brush back Kotetsu's hair, which she had come to love about him over the time they had spent together. "She just..." Cloud hesitated as he tried to find the right words. "Snapped out of it. I could see it. In her eyes. They just changed from cold determination to warm understanding. And triumph. She was so proud of herself." Kotetsu felt Cloud's confusion.
"So why, if she could control it, did she do this?" Reno's voice was unexpected, and made Kotetsu jump a little. He quickly brought her back to reality, Cloud's trance that he seemed to put on her smashing to the floor.
"I think..." Kotetsu heard Tifa hit Reno somewhere clothed, followed by a hushed 'oof'. "Maybe she just didn't trust herself. Maybe it was a one off thing she did. Maybe she couldn't hold on to herself long enough to avoid hurting me. Maybe she felt it was just best if she was out of the picture, so I could get on with what I needed to do." Silence fell on them again. "What bothers me was Sebastian's reaction. He seemed, terrified, not by the possibility that he had been defeated by Kotetsu, but terrified that she might die. He could have attacked with that girl at the end of his knife. He could have tried anything, but he didn't. He just... fled." Kotetsu was not very sure how to deal with this information at all. All the things her master had said to her did not equate to this new emotion. Worry for her life? Cloud must be wrong.
"Come on Tifa." Kotetsu felt Tifa and Reno starting to walk, the air around them swirling as it was disturbed by their movements. "We'll let you have some time with her."
"She's going to be fine." Tifa piped in, feeling Reno was being a little morbid about the whole thing.
"Yeah." Cloud sounded sure, but there was something mixed in with it. Disappointment? Shame?
...
Cloud stood in the doorway as he watched Kotetsu toss and turn in her sheets, her pillow long discarded in the farthest corner in the room. He listened intently to her mumblings, but could never make any sense out of them. Kotetsu's eye's flickered frantically behind her lids, obviously in deep distress. Cloud would often wake her, rescue her from her monsters and demons that would chase and torment her. Sometimes he would even lie with her until she slept again, her fingers clutching at his clothes desperately as she drifted off into another onslaught of torture.
But tonight was different. Tonight she had almost died. Again.
Cloud watched as she pushed something or someone away from her, begging them to stop touching her. He could only imagine the horrors she had seen in her time, being the only female of the small killing squad they had rescued. And she wasn't at all a bad looking girl either, but that didn't make it any less horrible or more justifiable. He often found himself staring at the beautiful girl when she was around, and craving her when he was alone at night was not uncommon, especially since he had spent that night with her the week before. He would watch Tifa and Reno enjoying each other's company, the odd kiss and cuddle here and there, and couldn't help but wish for the same with Kotetsu. He wanted to make her feel special, make her feel like she mattered. Wanted to protect her from all this hurt she seemed to carry with her, and all the physical pain she just couldn't seem to get away from. He hated when she would shy away from things because she thought she didn't deserve them, or was too incapable of them. He hated watching her beat herself up, watching her let people walk over her and use her. He especially hated when she let people make her cry, when she was clearly much better than any of them. But of course, for some reason, this was all inbred in her. He longed to know more of her past, longed to know what it was that kept her up at night. He wished she could talk to him, wish that she could speak more than she did. It would be much easier to help her.
"Cloud?" Kotetsu's soft voice broke Cloud from his thoughts, making him almost cry out in surprise. How long had she been awake? Awake and seeing him stare at her so hungrily...
Kotetsu watched the blonde curiously as she sat up, a hot blush forming in her cheeks. She cringed as pain hit her, her chest still healing from earlier, but any signs of that pain vanished almost immediately as she became suddenly very hyperaware of her bare legs not being covered by her sheets, since she was somehow only in shorts and a t-shirt. Stupid nightmares, making her kick all her covers up... That was when she noticed some bandaging and plasters on her shins...
"Just came to see if I could wake you. You were crying out in your sleep again." Kotetsu lifted the sheets to cover her face as she apologised relentlessly. "It's fine, don't worry, and no you didn't wake me, chill out." He made his way over to the bed and began pulling her sheets down, covering her legs up again. He then sat on the edge, trailing his fingers gently through her thick hair. He loved her hair. Now that it had been trimmed and tidied, she looked really healthy. Cloud almost lost his control when Kotetsu closed her eyes and moaned slightly at the contact she was getting, something she had taken to doing as of late. He could see her blush, but she remained still as he continued to caress her hair and then her face. He cupped one side with his hand, and stroked her lips with his thumb. Kotetsu let out a sigh as she snuggled into the touch, dropping the sheets and freeing her hands. Cloud took one of them in his free hand, interlocking their fingers and playing with her thumb with his. He loved the little bits of contact she allowed. They weren't helping much with his self control, but god he just didn't care at times.
Kotetsu loved the sensations that rocketed through her whenever the blonde paid this kind of attention to her. Before she had never wanted to be touched, but with Cloud, she just couldn't get enough! She opened her eyes and stared at their locked fingers, a small smile tugging at her lips. She had no idea what to do, no idea how normal people initiated such things as kisses and hugs. Her old minder had told her of them, told her that when the time came she would know, that it would just happen, but she was beginning to wonder if she was broken. She felt the weight of the bed shift as Cloud moved closer, the hand on her face moving away from her now cold and tingling skin. He then sat next to her on the edge of the bed, motioning for her to move up. She did, making sure that their fingers stayed interlocked for as long as possible. Cloud then slouched down until he was lying out on her bed, his perfect smile in place. Kotetsu felt her heart do a couple of somersaults as she took up the usual position next to him, her head placed perfectly between his shoulder and neck, her arm over his chest, and her left leg slightly draped over his. Cloud's arm wound round her, except a little lower than usual this time. She blushed hard as she felt his fingers brush against the bared skin of her lower back, shivers running up her spine. He played around with the hem of her shirt, tugging it and letting it bounce further and further up her back. He chuckled softly as she tightened her grip around his waist, his hand returning to rest on her lower back.
The two lay like that for a while, Kotetsu battling with sleep. She tried her best to take in these moments as much as she could, but sleep always took her before she had soaked in everything. But tonight would be different, god damn it!
Cloud sighed softly as he felt Kotetsu's fingers run up and down his side, slightly tickling him but perfect at the same time. He allowed her to fumble about for a while until she got more confident, her strokes venturing to his chest where she began to doodle on him. It was strange, but the girl probably had no idea what to do, though he wasn't complaining. It was kind of... nice, in an innocent sort of way.
Kotetsu felt frustration hit her as she started to draw spirals and zigzags, all over Cloud's clothed chest. She had not a clue what she was meant to be doing, but she was pretty sure it wasn't this. Before she had just been stripped of her clothing, told what to do, but it was like Cloud was testing her! He just lay there, waiting for something, but she had no idea what!
Cloud turned to face the girl, and almost laughed at her face of sheer concentration. He hadn't realised she had been trying so hard. If he hadn't been so happy and desperate to be with her, he would have gone and got her some paper and a pen, always curious as to what it was that she was always drawing. Was it the same thing each time?
Kotetsu suddenly sat up and faced away from Cloud, scratching her head as she felt her skin burn from the force of her blush. One day her cheeks were going to melt off... Cloud sat up behind her and gently placed his chin on her shoulder, sighing softly.
"What's wrong?" Kotetsu shook her head, her hair flicking onto Cloud's face, rendering him blind for a moment. He pulled back from her to allow it all to fall from his face and returned his chin to its perch on Kotetsu's shoulder. He waited for a while, allowing the girl time to collect her thoughts. He then leant back down on the bed, tugging at Kotetsu's arm gingerly. Kotetsu smiled as she lay against him again, but refused to make eye contact. She then felt the bed shift beneath her as Cloud repositioned himself so that he was now looking down at her. Their eyes connected.
And without warning, Cloud leant in and gently touched his lips on Kotetsu's. Kotetsu felt heat rising in her, her eyes opening wide in surprise. He applied a little more pressure when Kotetsu relaxed, a little nervous that she was just going along with this. He pulled back slightly and kissed her again, his hands shaking in anticipation. Kotetsu hadn't kissed back yet, which was worrying him slightly. He tried for a third time, and pulled back when Kotetsu did nothing.
"Sorry. I thought..." Cloud cleared his throat, embarrassed by the whole thing.
He had thought wrong.
He stood up from the bed then, rather suddenly, and headed to the door, hoping that the girl would just forget what had happened. Kotetsu stared after him, her heart being crushed by such a quick and small reaction. Had she done it wrong? Or maybe Cloud had realised what she really was and that he could never love her. Realised that she was nothing but a weapon, a murderer.
Herro! And god am so sorry. Been so busy with work and courses and life that I've been doing this chapter on and off for a wee while now. And I'm so sorry for the lateness and I had forgotten how much of a horrid cliff hanger i had left you guys with...Again appologies. XD
But yeah. Kotetsu and Cloud's relationship almost reached the next level, but Kotetsu's too inexperienced to return how she feels. So how will Cloud deal with his thoughtys of rejection? and How will Kotetsu fix the mess that was made? All in next chapter XD Which you will be happy to know i have started working on lol! XD
Hope you like and enjoy! XD