Title: Ready for It

Author: comeandgetmebabe

Disclaimer: I own Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. OH YEAH!

-NOTE- I have a head cold. BUT IT'S OKAY BECAUSE I WENT TO DISNEYWORLD!

So here we are, the last chapter of Ready for It. It's been a long, arduous journey filled with turmoil, angst, and mansex, but I think we can all agree it's been fun and suspenseful. Thanks so much for reading, you guys. I really appreciate it. And I hope you all had as much fun reading as I did writing!

(You can totally tell I'm sick. I haven't cursed once. And I'm being freakishly polite.)

I suggest you listen to Drops of Jupiter by Trainwhile reading this. It's what I listened to on a permanent loop while writing it.

LOL I SAY QUIVERING MEMBER (death)! AND HEY! THERE'S SEX! WHOO!!!

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the last chapter! And remember: Brussels sprouts are nasty. I know it has nothing to do with the story; I just wanted to get it out there.

LATER LOSERS!

READ!

/o/O/o/

Cid let out a heaving sigh, wiping sweat from his forehead and straightening his back. He had been out in the sun for a week, trying to repair the huge hole in the castle from Leon's fight with Sephiroth and it was taking far longer than he hoped it would.

"Christ, you'd think he could have been a bit more delicate…" muttered Cid, bending back down to hammer a plank of wood over the opening. He nearly fell into the hole, however, when a huge puff of pink smoke flashed next to him and Merlin appeared, peering intently at Cid.

"That's some progress you've made," mused the wizard, smirking beneath his beard.

"Aw, shut up, ya old fruitcake," snapped Cid, pulling himself up and squatting next to the old man. "It takes a long time to fix something this big."

"If you allowed me to help," said Merlin haughtily, "you'd been done by now."

"Hey, no magic in this castle, you hear me!"

"Magic, my dear friend, is what made this hole in the first place," said Merlin, a twinkle in his eye. Cid smiled slightly and sighed, gazing down at the hole.

"Told us where they were, at least…"

/o/

Yuffie and Aerith walked up the path to the Castle, arms loaded down with planks of wood and buckets of nails to help Cid repair the gaping hole in the roof.

"How'd you know?" asked Yuffie suddenly.

"What do you mean?" asked Aerith, gazing up at the lavender sky.

"How'd you know they were hurt?"

"The same way you did—I saw Leon's blast coming from the roof."

"Yeah but…" Yuffie struggled for words. "How'd you know they were together?"

Aerith smiled, cheeks coloring slightly. "I've always been able to tell with Cloud. Didn't you notice how he and Leon had been spending a lot of time together lately?"

"Yeah…"

"I just knew," said Aerith simply. "And I knew Cloud wanted to stop Sephiroth. And I knew Sephiroth knew about him and Leon—"

"How?"

"Sephiroth is…was Cloud's darkness. I doubt anyone knew Cloud better than Sephiroth."

Yuffie shivered, climbing the steps to the Castle balcony. "That's creepy."

"I know. But it's true. So obviously Sephiroth would try to take away Cloud's light by attacking Leon."

"But Leon? I mean, Cloud likes us too!"

"There's no stronger light than love," said Aerith simply. She winked at Yuffie. "But don't tell Cloud I said that."

Yuffie grinned. "Don't worry! I won't! But still," she said, looking quizzically at Aerith. "What did they look like…when you found them?"

Aerith was silent for a moment. A flash of a horrible image entered her head—one where Cloud and Leon, laying together, barely alive, covered in bruises and cuts and smelling of blood, were nearly dead. One where she had only arrived just in time to cast a Curaga spell—where if she'd arrived a second later, they would be dead. "They looked…bad. But I did what I could."

"They're all better now, though, right."

"Cloud still needs that crutch and Leon will have scars forever…but yes, I think they're okay now."

Yuffie smiled. They finally reached the top of the Castle where Cid and Merlin were standing. "Hey guys!" she called.

Cid snorted. "So perky…"

"Hello, ladies!" chortled Merlin, smiling through his bushy beard. "Come to help, I see."

"They're better help than you," muttered Cid.

"I heard that!" said a miffed Merlin.

"Please, you two, stop bickering," said Aerith calmly. She knelt down next to Cid and handed him a nail. "We need to fix this."

"Can we fix them instead?" asked Cid, rolling his eyes. "I came here to work on this at the crack on dawn and looked down and they were in bed…together."

Yuffie gasped, eyes lighting up. "Were they doing it?"

"ARGH!" yelled Cid, nearly falling into the hole. "No! They were just…sleeping! Yuffie, yuck!"

Yuffie giggled. "I dunno…I think they're cute together. And they're good for each other."

"Yes," mused Merlin, stroking his beard. "They've certainly changed each other for the better…"

"Where are they anyway?" asked Yuffie, squatting next to the hole to lay another plank of wood on it.

"They went to check out the Heartless Manufactory again," said Aerith. "It's been acting up again."

"What?!" shrieked Yuffie, nearly pushing Cid into the hole. "B-but they're injured! They shouldn't have to fight Heartless!"

"If there are Heartless then Tron will use the system to attack them. Claymores, you know?" said Aerith. "Besides, when I tried to convince them not to go, they were adamant. Since we won't let them patch up this hole, they insisted on going down to work on the Manufactory."

Yuffie nodded, finally understanding. "Hope they don't get stuck in the elevator again."

Aerith just smiled.

/o/

"Why do we have to do this?"

"We don't have to. You're the one who was sick of lying around all day."

"No! I just…" Cloud leaned against the wall while Leon pressed the elevator button next to Ansem's Study. "I just wanted to help. But I didn't want to—"

"Does it really matter?" asked Leon, taking a step back from the metal doors as he waited for it to come up. "I doubt anything is gonna be down there. Besides, you should be walking more, you need to build up your strength again to do things."

"Funny," said Cloud, grabbing onto the crutch Aerith insisted he use and hoisting himself into a standing position. "Aerith kept telling me I shouldn't be moving at all. Gotta heal my side and everything before I can fight."

"Who's talking about fighting?" asked Leon, not looking at Cloud. Cloud blinked, then smirked and looked away. The sharp ding! of the elevator stopped him from commenting on what a pervert his brunet lover was.

Leon tried to help Cloud onto the elevator but the blond swatted him away with his crutch. With all the dignity someone with a stick under their arm could muster, Cloud stepped into the elevator, wincing as a sharp pain ripped through his side. It still hadn't healed from his battle. Both Aerith and Merlin promised it would eventually but they hadn't given him an exact date; Merlin said he could fix it in a snap with his magic, but Cid had roared that if the wizard touched Cloud with his magic wand, he'd run his ship into the old fart's head (this had led to an argument about whether or not Merlin even had a wand, but by then Cloud had wandered over to Leon who was being patched up by Aerith and stopped paying attention).

Leon watched Cloud struggle into the elevator and then strode inside the metal box, standing much closer to Cloud than he did the first time they'd come there together. But then again, they were both different now.

Within a week, Cloud had changed. He smiled more, his eyes sparkling, and he laughed whenever something, even the smallest thing, was funny. He was still slightly standoffish—still refused to show all of his emotions, even to Leon. But they were learning. Clumsy at first, the two men were beginning to show sides to each other that they didn't even know they had. Leon made jokes, Cloud laughed at them. Cloud told stories about distant places he'd been to during his travels through the darkness, places like Cosmo Canyon and Wutai and Nibelheim and Leon listened, really listened. Leon would help Cloud walk during the day and Cloud would slowly massage a healing cream Aerith had whipped up into Leon's battered backside at night. The scars and burns were slowly disappearing into mere scabs and Cloud's side was steadily healing. They were both returning to normal. Slowly. Delicately.

But at night, after Cloud rubbed the cream into Leon's back, after they turned off the light, they would lay in bed together, in Leon's room. And they didn't know what to do. They couldn't touch each other—they were both too weak for that. And neither knew what to say—there was too much to communicate with mere words. So they would lay together and Leon would wrap his arms around Cloud's smaller form. Cloud would cuddle into Leon's chest and gently kiss his neckline, not daring to touch his back. Leon would make sure not to rest his arms on Cloud's injury. And he would tangle his fingers in Cloud's hair as Cloud lay soft kisses on his neck and cheeks and nose and eventually his mouth.

And then they would smile.

And go to sleep.

And dream.

Some mornings, four out of the seven days since Sephiroth had been taken care of, Leon had woken up to find his chest wet and tears dripping from Cloud's sleeping eyes. Ever since Sephiroth had left him, Cloud had regained the ability to cry, to be free. But he only did it at night. And he only did it with Leon. And on those mornings where Leon woke up to find his blond lover with tears trickling down his cheeks, he would kiss the droplets on his face and hold the blond tighter, whispering sweet nothings in his ears and wishing the nightmares away.

And like before, sometimes they went away and sometimes they didn't. But Cloud always woke up in Leon's arms. And that was all he needed.

Leon pushed the elevator button and draped his arm around Cloud's waist, making sure not to touch his injury. Cloud leaned into Leon, taking care not to push his battered back against the wall and put his head on the brunet's shoulders.

"What if there are Heartless down there?" asked the blond.

"Then we yell at Tron to beat 'em," said Leon simply.

Cloud snorted and rolled his eyes. "If Tron's doing all the work, why're we even going down?"

"Gives us something to do. Didn't we already have this conversation?"

"Yeah, but I just wanted to make sure—"

Cloud was interrupted by a loud crunch and a crank and then the elevator shook with a bump. Cloud yelped as he was pitched foreword, caught by Leon just before he fell. Leon himself had grabbed onto the railing lining the elevator walls and grasped Cloud by the wrist, preventing him from falling.

"You've gotta be kidding me…" muttered Leon as he helped a frazzled Cloud regain balance.

"It broke down again?!" cried Cloud in shock.

Leon reached into Cloud's pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He flipped it open and was dismayed to find that the battery was

"Dead?!" cried Leon. "Why haven't you charged this?!"

"I've been in remission," said Cloud stiffly.

"Oh Christ, you can't be serious…" muttered Leon. He grabbed the elevator phone and pushed the button on the panel, calling for help. After a few rings, Tron answered, much to Leon's surprise.

"You got it to work again?"

"The phone is in supreme working condition, sir!" chirped Tron, his voice muffled by static. "What's the problem?"

"Elevator broke down again, Tron. Could you—"

"I'm already working on it! You'll be out soon!" And the line went dead.

"Um…" said Leon, staring, perplexed, at the phone in his hand. He turned to Cloud, who had moved himself (with moderate difficulty) to sit on the floor. "Tron says he'll get us out soon."

"Great," said Cloud. He patted the ground next to him. "Sit. Watch you back."

Leon smiled slightly and slid down the wall to side next to Cloud, wincing from the pressure on his back. Cloud leaned his head on Leon's shoulder and Leon idly rubbed the blonds back.

"…So…" said Cloud after a few minutes of compatible silence.

"Buttons."

Cloud looked up, confused. "What?"

"Sew buttons. Get it?" said Leon with a smile. Cloud stared stonily back at him. "Aw come on, it wasn't that bad."

"Yes it was," said Cloud. He grinned. "That was terrible."

Cloud was gorgeous when he smiled. "I could have said something worse."

Cloud snorted. "Like what?"

"I dunno, but I bet I could think of something."

"When did Squall Leonhart start liking corny jokes?"

"Leon," said the brunet sharply. "Call me Leon."

"But that's not your name," said Cloud, pushing himself and turning to look Leon in the eye. "I mean—"

"I didn't push you when you were fighting your darkness, don't push me while I fight mine," said Leon stiffly, breaking contact with Cloud's brilliant green eyes.

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "You didn't push me?"

"No…well, yeah, but that was different."

"Yes," drawled Cloud, voice dripping with sarcasm. "I mean, my darkness almost got us killed and all, but as long as yours only has to do with your name, it's okay."

"Oh God, Cloud, please don't…" muttered Leon. "Can't we just…be happy. I mean, we're getting time alone."

"We get a lot of time alone," pointed out Cloud. "Yeah, Aerith watches us like a hawk, but still, we get to be alone at night—"

"Cloud, just…" Leon searched for words. "Just…come here, okay? And stop talking."

Cloud gazed at his lover for a moment before returning to his earlier position. He snuggled into Leon's side and let the brunet wrap his arms around him. Leon kissed Cloud's temple and smiled when Cloud kissed his neck. "I wish we could…"

"Me too," said Cloud. "Wait'll my side is fixed."

Leon grinned. "I'll ruin you for life."

"Too late. I'm smiling now. I'll never be cool again." Cloud heaved a dramatic sigh. "I'm even laughing now. Goddamn you, Leonhart."

Leon threw his head back and laughed. He smiled down at Cloud and chuckled. "I like this 'ruined' you better."

"Me too," said Cloud. And they were silent again.

A few minutes later, though, Leon realized the elevator wasn't moving yet. And although the part of him that loved being with Cloud didn't mind at all, the part of him that wanted to stop the Darkness did. "Why haven't we moved yet?"

"I dunno. Don't worry, you know Tron," said Cloud, trailing his fingers through the fur around Leon's collar. Leon nodded, though he was still worried.

"Leon, why can't I call you Squall?" Cloud asked suddenly. Leon blinked.

"What?"

"I know you couldn't protect everyone back when the world was swallowed by Darkness but…now you can. Can't I call you by your real name?" Cloud didn't look Leon in the eyes.

Leon looked down at Cloud and heaved a sigh. He didn't want to be called Squall because he didn't want to be associated with who he was when the world was destroyed—a weakling who couldn't save anyone. He wanted to be stronger, to be a different person. But in becoming strong…in becoming different…he'd become cold and standoffish, not even able to meet the Keyblade master without attacking him. But now…now he was different in another way. He could smile and laugh and…and fall in love. Maybe that was the changed he had really needed. Maybe…

"Only you."

Cloud looked up. "What?"

"Only you can call me Squall. And not in front of everybody, Yuffie would have a field day." Leon spoke softly, not meeting Cloud's eyes. The blond smiled and craned his head upwards to kiss Leon softly on the mouth.

"Don't worry," he whispered. "I won't."

Leon, now Squall in private, smiled and cupped Cloud's chin. He kissed the other man deeply and pressed his tongue against Cloud's lips, seeking entrance. Cloud eagerly accepted him and wrapped his arms around the brunets neck, gently pulling him downwards until Cloud was on his back and Leon was sprawled on top of him. Cloud flinched as Leon's hand brushed against his injury but smiled when Leon kissed his eyelids and licked the shell of his ear. Cloud gently ran his fingers down Leon's back, causing the older man to shiver from the mixture of tickles and pain. He kissed the blond harder, gently grinding his hips against Cloud's pelvis.

Cloud let out a mewl and pulled Leon closer, his fingers tangling in Leon's soft chestnut hair. Leon reached back and grabbed Cloud's hands out from his hair, pinning them above the blonds head. His other hand gently massaged Cloud's cheek while he pressed his hips harder against the blonds'. Cloud moaned in Leon's mouth, trying to pull his hands free so he could touch Leon. Leon chuckled slightly and let go of Cloud's hands, moving his mouth away from Cloud's in the process.

"Leon!" Cloud gasped out. "What're you—ah!"

Leon moved downwards along Cloud's lithe frame, gently unzipping his jacket and kissing his way down the blond man's pale, hard chest. He paused a moment and gently laid a small kiss on Cloud's bruised and battered side, making Cloud yelp. He stuck his tongue in the blonde's navel, turning Cloud's yelp into a moan. Leon finally reached the top of Cloud's pants, where he could make out soft, blond hairs leading downward. He unzipped the pants as well and let Cloud's quivering member pop out. Much to Cloud's lust filled pleasure, Leon took his cock in his mouth and began sucking and licking it, one hand rubbing Cloud's chest, heaving from the blonde's panting, the other reaching downwards to play with his balls.

That did Cloud in. He screamed out Leon's name, not even caring about the pain that pierced his side as he arched upwards. He came, yelling out "LEON!" into the brunet's mouth and fell onto his back, panting, tired, completely satisfied.

Leon pulled himself upwards and lay next to Cloud, wiping his mouth. "You look happy."

"Well, yeah…" said Cloud, grinning. "Want me to, ah…"

Leon leaned over and kissed Cloud, letting the blond taste himself. "I told you. I'm gonna wait until I can ruin you for life."

Cloud smiled and zipped up his pants and jacket. "I didn't call you Squall. Just to make you fell good."

"But you will from now on?" asked Leon, silently pleading him not to.

"Yup. So I'll return the favor when I'm healed, Squall." Cloud grinned and kissed Leon on the nose.

Leon flinched, still getting used to the name. Then he sighed and smiled. He pulled himself up into a sitting position and helped Cloud do the same, making sure not to touch his injury. Cloud once again leaned against Leon's side and sighed, content. Leon tried to think of horrible, disgusting things to make his hardon go down, but Cloud being so close to him didn't help. He got through it though, with a little help from an image of Merlin in Yuffie's outfit.

Leon was just about to ask Cloud if he though they should call Tron again when the elevator began moving again. Both men jumped, which made Cloud yet out a yelp. Leon had accidentally pushed against his side.

"Sorry," murmured Leon, standing and pulling the blond to his feet. Cloud stood awkwardly and straightened his clothing as best he could. Leon grinned and helped, playing with Cloud's collar and straightening his lapel.

While he was doing this, Cloud reached his hands up and placed them on top of Leon's. He looked into the brunet's eyes, drowning in the deep blue irises and said, "Are you ready?"

"For what?"

Cloud smirked. "For the rest of your life?"

"As Squall?"

"That too," said Cloud. His smirked turned into a warm smile. "For your life with me?"

Leon smiled as the elevator reached the floor below the top. He kissed Cloud lightly on the lips and held his hands. "Yeah," he said. "I'm ready for it.

The elevator doors opened.

/o/O/o/

are you ready?