Kingdom Hearts

Feather in the Breeze

By Lucky_Ladybug

Notes: The characters are not mine and the story is! This takes place around the current "canon point" of my Beyond This Morning verse and Cloud and Sephiroth are very close. I honestly hadn't planned to write anything for Tumblr's Whumpuary. But this idea hit me, so here it is.

Prompts: Day 1 - Sacrifice/ "This Will Hurt"

Zack tried not to panic when he woke up one morning and found that Cloud wasn't anywhere in the house. It wasn't unusual for him to go for a walk, or a fly, or to go back to his old home to think for a few hours.

He hadn't done any of that since their nightmare had started, however—preferring to stay there and collapse in on himself in his room or try to outwardly be strong for Zack. For him to have left now, he must have reached his breaking point.

Or his mysterious teleporting power had activated again, but Zack tried not to think about that either. The last thing he wanted to have to consider was that Cloud might have sent himself to who knew where and then be too upset to find the way back home.

Once Zack was sure Cloud wasn't anywhere in the house, he headed for the front door. He would try Cloud's house first. He caught sight of a picture of them and Sephiroth as he walked, and he had to turn away before he lost it.

Nevertheless, unshed tears pricked his eyes as he left the property and walked down the hill towards the main part of town. "Oh Seph," he whispered. "Where are you, Pal? Were you really . . ."

He trailed off as the memories from that horrific experience played through his mind again—all three of them attacked by one of those weird dragons at the Dark Depths, fighting with all their might against it, backed into a literal corner by it. . . . Sephiroth had flown forward, staving it off with a powerful blast and then another as he had tried to lead it away from his friends. The dragon had retaliated, the power increasing with each attack. Finally, when they were far enough away from Zack and Cloud, the most alarming explosion of power had lit up the twilight sky. When it had faded, the dragon had lain dead and Sephiroth . . .

Zack couldn't stop the tears now. The only thing left of Sephiroth had been several scorched blue feathers. Cloud had run over in disbelief, gathering them frantically in his shaking hands. Then, staring at them, fully processing what it meant to find them and only them, he had screamed. Zack had never heard Cloud make such a blood-curdling sound in all his life.

Zack probably would have done the same thing if he had been alone.

He had struggled to be strong for Cloud, and Cloud for him, but their hearts were too shattered. They had been a family, all three of them, but now it was splintered, the beloved head of their family lost. He and Cloud had been trying to go on, because what else could they do? But Cloud, it seemed, had finally reached his breaking point.

Zack wasn't surprised when he heard frantic movement as he reached Cloud's house. It sounded like the furniture was being thrown every which way. Had Cloud finally snapped so hard he was breaking everything? Zack cringed at the thought. The furniture was old and ratty, but Cloud had hung onto it. He hadn't wanted to destroy it or replace it. He would be upset when he came back to himself if he had really done that.

Zack hastened up the steps, through the open front door, and then just stopped and stared in shock.

Nothing was broken. The chair and couch cushions were strewn in all directions, with Cloud kneeling in front of the rest of the couch and shakily reaching for a lone blue feather laying in the space usually covered by the cushions. He held it up, blinking back tears, and then added it to a small collection in his left hand.

Zack approached slowly, not wanting to startle him. "Cloud? Buddy, what are you doing?"

Cloud turned to face him, tears streaming down his cheeks. "This is all that's left, Zack!" he cried, holding out the pitiful selection of feathers. "There's no more of him. He's gone! And I . . . I . . ." He spread the feathers out in his hands. "This isn't much at all, is it?! I never threw any of them away, even when I was ticked off finding them everywhere. This is barely enough to maybe make three fans! And I got so upset about this?!" He hugged the feathers to him. "This is nothing. Nothing!" He sobbed, unable to hold his pain back any longer.

Zack stared at him. "Oh Cloud. . . ." He sank to his knees, hugging his friend close as they both cried.

He had been wrong—something was very broken. And he didn't know how they were ever going to fix it.