Title: Soaring

By: Metamorcy

Rating: M (for safety)

Pairing: Leon/Cloud, Riku/Sora, Axel/Roxas, Demyx/Zexion

Disclaimer: Don't own and if I did, the whole world would be filled with yaoi!

Summary: High school was never a normal place. And it only got weirder when the Leonharts came along… Cleon, Soriku, AkuRoku, Zemyx AU

More past!!!

Beta'd by Tokyomewmewlvr!!

Chapter 8: Intense

Zexion blinked his large blue eyes, glancing out the window from within the car every once in a while then to his older brother, Squall, who was sitting in the back seat with him. He looked around curiously, absorbing everything he saw. He was only six years old and the whole world looked so wide, big, and bright. Everything was so new and exciting to him. His tiny fingers reached over towards his brother, his chubby fingertips brushing against the skin. Squall looked over, blinking, and tilted his head curiously to the side before understanding Zexion's movements. He reached over to pat his younger brother on the head gently, messing with the pale hair.

"Where are we going?" The smaller boy whispered softly, tilting his head downward towards the floor of the car. There was a half empty tissue box and a couple of magazines scattered along it. His small feet were swinging up and down, not able to touch the bottom.

"To see Dad's friend." Squall looked at their father, who was driving, turning the wheel gently. He noticed the sharp gaze that went into the distance then his father paused to look back when the car stopped for a moment. There was a red light beaming through the window.

"You two comfy?" Lagura, their father, sang happily, grinning ear to ear.

The boys in the back nodded.

"Good, good." Lagura went back to the road, humming to himself. When the light turned green, they were off again.

Zexion blinked and leaned towards Squall, feeling safe with his big brother. But he saw something in the distance from his spot, a green light. It wasn't the one they had just passed over but another that was ahead about twenty feet. They were just about the pass under it when he noticed something at his side window.

It was a bright white light. It was coming at them so fast.

His eyes widened as he felt the thing crash into them. He heard a loud screech and a bang. It soon followed with a hard shove. Everything was moving, turning, twisting, bending. There were screams all around him and the grip on his fingers tightened for dear life.

Then everything went black.

By the time consciousness started to come back to him, he could heard his name being repeated to him.

"Zexion! Zexion!"

The younger brother twitched, opening his eyes but stopped immediately when the pain shot through his face. His tiny fingers reached up to cover his left eye when it had originated from and felt a copper-scented liquid drip down. It fell to his chin, either dripping off or it would run down his neck. It was sticky and warm. The same liquid fell down his arm. And there was something else, something sharp there and his fingers could feel it. Every time he touched it, the pain would intensify. He managed to open his right eye to look around though he had to wait for a while to get the black spots from dancing and clear up. His eye went down to his hands, all covered in red. His ears were ringing, he couldn't hear a thing. He spotted his brother to his side, looking over him in concern.

"Brother…"

Zexion noticed that Squall's face was covered in the same sticky liquid then trailed his eye upward to something else. His right eye widened in shock. He could see a large gash that went across Squall's forehead and he could make out something white from within the blood. There was a pained expression on his older brother but Squall contained it in. Zexion saw the lips move and it took him a moment to register the voice as the buzzing died down.

"Are you alright?"

Zexion lifted up his other hand to go up to cover his left eye. "My eye…"

"Does it hurt?"

Zexion nodded.

"I see. Don't touch it, let it be." Squall tried to calm down and wiped some of the blood away from his eyes, smearing it further. He looked over the car, Zexion doing the same. The left side of the vehicle was caved in, the scent of oil was thick in the concentrated air and a blinking light flickered on and off to where the crash had occurred. Metal was bended everywhere and there were pieces of it scattered around them. Glass was broken, laying on their bodies or on the floor. Every time they tried to move, he would brush against it and it hurt. White pillow-looking things were blown up at the front two seats and there were sounds echoing all around. There was screaming, people yelling in the distance. Smoke covered most of the area, they couldn't see from beyond the windows.

"Daddy?" Zexion called out, looking at their father. The older man grumbled softly, his face completely buried into the pillow thing but when Zexion looked down, he saw something sticking out of the driver seat. There was a long metal pole coming from the backseat, the end just missing his legs. The red liquid was running along it, coming from through the seat covering. His eyes spotted Squall running a finger under the cut, wiping more blood away and smeared it down his eyes.

"Brother…?"

Squall noticed the gaze and gave a reassuring smile. "It's okay, I'm alright."

Zexion didn't seem convinced but he believed in those words as hope. That everything would be okay, that everything would turn out okay. He shifted around in his seatbelt, looking at the other car. The person behind the wheel had his head in it, the horn going off.

The sounds of voices got closer and then faces began to appear in the windows, calling out to them. But they faded as he felt his strength getting weaker. He leaned over to his brother, wanting some comfort and warmth as he began to feel cold. Squall reached over and patted Zexion's head and held the other closely. His eyes narrowed at the other driver and scolded. But he could only think of his brother's safety, only that.

He tightened his grip, ignoring the pain in his head and the pounding from within.

Zexion didn't mind the tight grip. His eye hurt and his vision was getting blurry. His fingers gripped Squall's clothes, nuzzling his right side of his face into the clothes for protection.

Then he blacked out once more.

The next time Zexion woke up, it was in a bright white room. He could smell medicine and the overused cleaning products. There were sounds all around and he concentrated on the voices in the distance. His eyes opened up carefully, still remembering about his left eye. Funny thing was that he could no longer feel pain but he couldn't see anything through that area and as he reached up with one hand to feel the place, he could tell that something was covering it. It was a rough material and recognized it as some bandages from memory. His one eye glanced around the room to the voices and spotted his brother to the side of him, in another bed, sleeping. The beeping sound that came from the machines echoed in his ears and there was a drippy thing he had never seen before connected to his arm.

"How are my sons?! You must tell me how they are!"

Zexion sat up slightly. 'Dad…'

The other man that was standing beside his father, who was currently sitting up in bed, sighed. He was dressed in a white coat and there was a woman in the same colored clothes next to him. "Sir, please, calm down. You're still recovering from your surgery. The stitches are just barely holding."

"I'll calm down when I know how my sons are." Lagura settled back down into his bed, leaning back against the pillow and looked at the doctor.

"Alright. Well, your eldest son, Squall, has a cut across his face from one of the metal pieces. It was quite deep and he needed stitches to keep it from opening wider. But he'll be fine and just needs to recover. There will be scarring through, there's no helping in that." The doctor noticed some of the tension in the room ease, mostly from his father and Zexion too. He had been concerned about his brother, seeing as there was a thick bandage covering the top of the head. Squall was going to be alright. He was so happy to hear that.

"And my youngest?" Lagura asked.

"Well…during the crash, a piece of glass got into his left eye. Luckily, it didn't go deep enough but it was beyond repair. We managed to keep the eye alive by repairing the veins and tissue however since the blood vessels inside were ripped apart, it discolored the eye and will remain like that color for the rest of his life. And because of the damage that was done, the eye will forever be blind. He'll never be able to see out of it ever again."

"W-What…?" Lagura gasped, eyes widening. He glanced over to Zexion, who had fallen back down onto the bed.

Zexion reached up and touched the bandage carefully. He felt anger rising up.

"A-And what about the other driver? What happened to him?" Lagura tried to calm himself down but as the heart monitor jumped, it wasn't possible.

The doctor paused a little at that. He turned to the nurse, giving her some kind of signal. "It's best if I tell you that later. Right now, you need to rest to recover. Both you and your children are alive and well. That's all you need to know right now."

Zexion turned away, growling to himself. His fingers clenched the white sheets. The driver was alright, it was so obvious. That's why they didn't want to tell his father. Damn that man…

Damn him!!

Present time…

Zexion placed a hand on the kitchen chair, pushing it back so he could sit. He stared at his brother, who was cooking breakfast and sighed. His blue eye scanned over the silverware and plates that were neatly placed out on the table. The lights were on since it was still dark outside and for some odd reason, today Riku and Axel had decided not to crash in, which was fine. He didn't mind those two at all, they covered the areas of speaking him and his brother too couldn't since both Leonharts were always quiet while they were loud. But it was nice to get a break from them every once in a while.

Even Leon had commented that too much silence could drive a person insane.

Zexion shook his head and watched his brother move his right hand that had the spatula in it. He momentarily spotted his reflection on a knife, his cold expression. Zexion looked away.

He hated his face, more than his brother did his own.

Because of his eye, he had to hide everything. Leon couldn't but he had gotten used to the stares he had gotten when people looked at the scar that split his face in half. Zexion wasn't able to do so. He loathed the mark and still despised the driver that had done this to him mostly because the driver had gotten away with no permanent damage. Zexion lost his eye, Leon got a scar, and his father had broken ribs and a pierced stomach while the driver had gotten away scot-free. It wasn't right and because no one died, it couldn't be counted as manslaughter, just plain old drunk driving with the man forced to pay the hospital bills and go to prison for a while.

But it wouldn't be long before the man came out of prison and would probably go back to his same routine, driving drunk.

Zexion glared at his reflection and momentarily tilted his face, reaching up with his right hand to push the bangs away. He saw his blind eye, his accursed eye, the red that peeked through. It was blood red, so bright, so…ugly. He glared harder.

"Zexion, no glaring at your reflection." Leon scoffed over his shoulders able to see his brother from the reflection of the glass window in front. "It's been a long time, almost nine years. You need to learn to live with it. I still hate my scar but there's nothing that can be done. At least you can hide yours behind your hair."

"I know…" Zexion's anger evaporated at his brother's words. It was true, his brother was right.

"Cheer up. I made your favorite French toast with sugar and blueberries." Leon placed the dishes onto the table with a sharp click, though it was obvious to tell that there was a little too much food for just the two of them. "I was expecting those two to arrive by now. Guess they're really not showing up today. Pity…"

"Perhaps not. We can save the rest for later today when they come over for dinner."

"Yeah."

Zexion took a fork full after cutting a piece off and swallowed it happily. He felt the warm food go down his throat and took a sip of water to help it go down better. He poured some syrup onto it to help the taste. "I bet they're going to come just as we finish."

Leon smirked. "Wouldn't be surprised if they did."

Just as Zexion was about to take his second bite, a door bell rang. "And there they are and I was so hoping for a quiet breakfast for the start of the day."

"They're right on time."

Leon got up from his spot, heading towards the front door to let their friends in. Zexion remained where he was at and continued to eat. He could hear the chattering in the background, coming closer and smiled softly.

Even with a bad eye, he really had to count his blessings for such a wonderful life.

Thanks for reading!!