Chapter 3 - Responsibility

Len and Rin looked around. Cloud was nowhere in sight. He'd been there the night before, but now, he was gone.
Rin's lip started to tremble. "Len, he left us!" she wailed, tears flying.
Len held his sister close, wondering what they were supposed to do. It wasn't like abandonment was anything new to them, but Cloud had sounded like he wanted to keep them. Why would he suddenly up and leave them like this?
"It's alright, Rin." Len said, petting her hair. "Why don't we wash and eat something first? Then we'll see what's going on."
Rin nodded and walked back to the bathroom to get washed up. Len headed for the kitchen to try and figure out what food there was.
He was confused. The fridge had a few items he couldn't identify, a few he sort-of could, and some more simple ones he definitely understood. One of these was the carton of milk in the door. So he pulled it out and looked around for some bowls and the cereal Cloud kept lying around.
Rin came bouncing down, her hair wet and wrapped in a hand towel as Len finished putting breakfast out for them. "Yummy!" she squealed.
The twins ate in relative silence, wondering what they should do next. They had no idea how long Cloud was going to be away, or if he was coming back at all. The pack of dogs out in the yard were barking like crazy, making the twins even more nervous.
"I'm scared, Len." said Rin as they tried to clean the dishes.
"I am, too, Rin." Len replied as he put the milk back in the fridge. "But we have to try and stay strong."
Rin sighed, only to shriek as she dropped a dish, the glassware striking the floor and shattering around her. Scared, she tried to get out of the room, only to step on glass and cut her feet. Blood trailed after her as she escaped the room.
"Sit, Rin!" said Len. "Just sit down!"
Two dogs that had pattered in sat to either side of the sister. One of them, a huge beast of a dog, looked at Rin and gave her a big slobbery kiss right across her face.
Len took her foot and started picking the glass out, trying to be careful. He was grateful that the dogs were keeping Rin's attention as he finished plucking the shards out with his bare fingers. Now, where did Cloud keep the bandages?
"Stay out of the kitchen, alright?" Len said, trying to find that magical box with the red plus sign on it. He found it, but tying the bandages around Rin's feet was hard. His sister was ticklish, so the bandages were messy at best. But, the cuts were covered. Now to try and get the glass off the floor.
"Len, what are you doing?" Rin asked, getting another kiss from the big dog.
"I need the glass off the floor, or we're just going to get hurt again." Len replied. He took the big broom used for sweeping outside and tried his hardest to brush the glass away. It mostly worked, and there was a line of glass and dust against the wall when he finished.
"Len, it hurts to stand." Rin whimpered.
"Here, I'll carry you." Len said, helping Rin up onto his back. "Lets go out front, alright?"
The sun was high, meaning the day was about half over. The twins sat outside, hoping to see Cloud come home soon. They dozed off, leaning on each other, so they didn't notice the sun start to set. Or the pack of hound-like monsters coming towards them.
Len shifted as the temperature dropped. "Rin. Rin, wake up." he said softly, nudging his sister.
"Hmm?" Rin looked up at him. "Oh, we fell asleep." She suddenly spotted the monsters. "Look out!"
Len grabbed hold of her, putting his back to the monsters and trying to shield her. But the monster never hit.
The sound of a gun firing made both children flinch, but also prompted Len to try and see who had saved them. He gasped when he saw it was a tall man wearing a ragged red cape sitting astride a huge black bird. The weapon in his hand fired again, and Len wasted no time in trying to get Rin inside. But with how shaky his hands were, Len couldn't open the door.
The man got off the bird and walked over, immediately recognizing them as the two Cloud had brought with him to the bar the other day. Reaching over, he opened the door for them and followed them inside.
"Who are you?" Rin sobbed, scared beyond all reason.
"Vincent Valentine." came the deep response. "You're Cloud's pair, aren't you?"
Len nodded. He was shaking pretty badly, too. "Your not going to kill us, are you?" he asked, still holding his sister.
"That depends." Vincent replied. His hair nearly stood on end when Rin suddenly burst out crying. Couldn't they take a joke? He flexed his claw, trying to calm himself, when Len whimpered. That was about if for Vincent, and he raked his claws down the nearest wall.
That was it for the twins. They were both crying, whining that they wished Cloud would get back soon, why had he abandoned them like this?
There was a crunching of tires on rock, and Vincent almost breathed a sigh of relief. Almost. The twins were still crying, fraying his already unraveled nerves.
Cloud stepped in, flicking the light on as he did so. "Vincent, what are you doing here? What's going on?"
A hard smack echoed though the room, and Cloud found his arm and hand stinging. He looked down to see Len scowling at him.
"Why did you abandon us?!" he sobbed.
"I didn't . . ."
"You left us!" Rin screamed.
Cloud blinked at them. "I had work to do." he said.
Vincent went to walk out, pausing and putting a hand on Cloud's shoulder. "Try telling them first, before you leave." he said before continuing out and getting his chocobo.
Cloud sighed. "I forgot. You two didn't know I do delivery work, did you?"
The twins shook their head.
Cloud sighed again and stepped into the kitchen, noticing the row of shimmering dirt along the wall. "What happened?" he asked, looking back and seeing Rin's badly bandaged feet.
"I . . . I dropped a cup." Rin said softly. "I got scared, and ran out of the room and . . . and my feet got cut."
Cloud sat her down on a chair and unwound the bandages. "I'll be back." He went and retrieved the first aid kit, then sat down in front of Rin again and began working at the injuries. He heard her whimper a few times as he daubed the cleaning solution over the wounds, and noticed Len was watching over his shoulder.
Looking over, Cloud asked, "You wanna try?"
Len nodded and sat beside Cloud. Carefully, he tried to mimic what Cloud had been doing. It was . . . endearing, to say the least. Cloud realized that, if he was going to care for these two, some basic things were going to have to be taught. Things he should have told them, or shown them. Just like he should have shown Denzel.
`~`~`~`~O_O~`~`~`~`
Cloud rolled over and grumbled about inconsiderate fools as someone pounded on the door. Looking at his clock, Cloud got up and pulled a shirt over as he went to the door. "What?" he asked, answering. "Oh, it's you."
Tifa and Rude stood at the door. "What do you mean by that?" Tifa snapped. "I know you abandoned those kids yesterday." She pushed past Cloud and into the house. "And I see you still haven't fixed this crummy place up."
"I'm working on it." Cloud replied. He noticed Len and Rin had stepped out of their rooms and were now watching the exchange. "I have new fencing up, and the plumbing's fixed."
"It's not enough to make the place livable for two children! You're hopeless, Cloud, and I'm here to take the kids back with me!"
"I'm not stupid!" Cloud returned.
"You have about the same brain-power as the chocobo!" Tifa snapped back.
"You're not taking them!" Cloud argued. "How am I supposed to know how to do anything if I'm never given the chance?"
"You had a chance!" Tifa yelled. "And you failed, just like the chocobo-head you are!"
There was a sniffle from the direction of the twins, and Cloud clenched his fist. "Get out." he said as evenly as he could.
"I'm not leaving without them!" Tifa yelled.
Cloud grabbed her by the arm and walked her out the door. "I said, get out." Cloud repeated. He turned and let Rude leave before slamming the door in their faces. Turning back to the twins, he saw that they looked frightened again.
With a sigh, Cloud went and got the kettle boiling to make oatmeal. He looked back at the scared pair. There was no way he could leave them for the whole day, again. Tifa might just try to come and take them by force.
Picking up his cell phone, Cloud dialed his client. "Hey, Reeve. It's Cloud. - I'm doing not that bad. - I need to ask a favor. Can you handle today's deliveries? I have something that needs my time and attention right now. - Thanks. - Yeah, I'll explain the next time I'm in, alright? - Kay. Bye."
Len was looking at the kettle when Cloud looked back. "What's it doing?" he asked, reaching over to poke it.
"Don't touch." said Cloud. "It's hot." He put an oven mitt on Len's hand. "There, now it's safe."
Len looked at the mitten. "Huh?"
"The kettle boils water." Cloud replied. "It gets hot enough to burn skin." He picked it up by the handle using another oven mitt. "It's also hot enough to cook breakfast." He poured some of the water into the three bowls of oatmeal. "So, what flavor?"
"Huh?" asked Rin.
"In your oatmeal. What fruit do want with it?" Cloud asked.
"Oranges." Rin replied.
Cloud gave her a look. "Oranges in oatmeal?" He shrugged. "First for everything, I guess." He peeled the orange and put the segments on the oatmeal before placing it on the table in front of her. "Sugar?"
"Huh?"
Cloud shook his head. "Just let me know if it's sweet enough. Len, what do you want on . . . oh, you got it." He smiled when he saw Len, his hand free of the oven mitt, peeling his third banana and putting it on his oatmeal whole. Life certainly was going to get interesting.