Title: Forsaken
Author: Emily Anderson
Rating: R; Strong Language, Sexual Interaction, Male x Male Relations
Game: Kingdom Hearts
Brief Summery: Destiny is not always what it seems. Darkness cannot live without light, but can light really live without the darkness? [Yaoi… Squall (Leon) and Cloud; Riku and Sora]
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone from Kingdom Hearts. It's all Squaresoft and Disney! They are the ones who own these characters… not me. So please… don't sue me for this pleasure I have taken in writing fic.
Feedback: Oh, yes, please! R/R all the way! I love Review! And you could e-mail me at [email protected] if you really want to for some reason.
Pre-note: Sorry Sora and Riku don't show up at all in this first Chapter! I just wanted to get something written for my friend Karo-chan. I asked what she wanted for Christmas and she wanted a Squall and Cloud fic, so, here it is. I just wanted to add in Sora and Riku 'cause I think they are wonderful. Lol. Hope you enjoy!
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Chapter 1
Fates Collide
The lonely wielder of a gun blade walked smoothly along as if the world could not faze him anymore. Truth be told… everything affected him. He wanted to protect everything and yet it seemed that all he tried to protect would be lost. He did love, once, but she was gone now. Dead. Like almost everyone else in the world he once knew and cared about. He had become more callous and cold since she died, even changing his name to Leon. Not that he much liked the name… it was just… Squall brought up some painful memories that burned his mind.
Even if he only wanted to live in the past others around him wouldn't let him and kept him stuck in his miserable present. He didn't know how to live, but his body just wouldn't let him die. It was like his subconscious was almost, well, masochistic and his body took it like the sadist it was. He had to find something to keep himself busy so he wouldn't end up losing himself to his heart and mind. Anything would do. Anything at all.
A fight. Well, not really a fight, but a tournament. That's why he was here today. It was an odd world he was on, but he wouldn't say a thing about it, not wanting to insult anyone. He peered up at the soft blue sky with the blazing sun shining down on them with a disgruntled look on his face. Of course, it had to be this damn hot on the day they were to fight. Seemed like nature didn't like to smile down on his fights at all. Then again, it could be just that it was always hot and disgusting on this cruddy little planet. Well, no matter, it just strengthened him for his next fight when nature was cruel on his body.
It wasn't like he minded being here today, but he didn't understand why that annoying pest Yuffie had to tag along. He hadn't been to warm to girls since his first love died and yet now he lived with, not one, but two girls. It seemed like a twisted fate of irony he would be forced to live in. It seemed like he ended up in places and situations he didn't want to be happening to him, but he would never complain because he just wasn't that talkative about his problems. Oh course, the fact that he wasn't talkative about anything at all was just a minor detail in the scheme of things.
As he was trapped in this reverie of the past he bumped into some poor, random victim of his daydreaming state. "Sorry," he grumbled out because it was probably his fault. The man who received the apology just gave a slight grunt and started to walk away in a stealthy pace, causing his cape to make a crack in the wind. Squall didn't catch much, but he did catch enough to piece together who this form was. The blonde hair, the deep blue eyes, that dark look… His clothes were different, but it could only be Cloud. The Cloud he knew as a child.
It seemed all his misery from when Rinoa died was suddenly washed away and replaced with a certain familiar one of being a child. His memories of playing with this blonde in the streets flooded his mind and made him ache with nostalgia. It was a time of innocence and a time even before Rinoa hardly graced his mind. It was a time were nothing but living for fun mattered. He yearned just to break down and hug the other man with sobs, but that wasn't in his nature so he merely had a falter in his cold gaze, but only for a moment before he brought back up his solid defense.
Quick enough he felt a body glomp on his back and latch on for its dear life. "Wake up daydreamer!" the annoying voice chirped. This obnoxious sound made the stern man grit his teeth. "If you don't stop staring at that gorgeous man's figure I'd start to think you would swing that way," she teased with a giggle, as she talked rather loud into his ear.
"I'm not STARING I'm just trying to figure out if it someone I knew," he said with a growl to his voice. One of his eyebrows twitched slightly and his figure became more tight and stern. He tried to shrug the girl off, but it seemed that she had a death grip on him.
"Oh? You mean Cloud? Sure you know him! Childhood chums!" she said with a laugh and hugged him deeper. He knew this annoyed the cold man and just wanted to make sure to keep it up.
Squall merely nodded to this, taking it in with a thought. It had been such a long time since he'd seen the other man. He wasn't sure if it'd be appropriate to go over and say hello like nothing ever happened. "Oh… and Yuffie? Let go," he said in a threatening tone. He felt, though, that the girl wouldn't let him go because it was in her nature to annoy him.
She squeezed harder to his back and shook her head. "Nuh uh! I'm never letting my Leon-kins go!" she said with a slightly evil cackle. "Wanna go over and say hey to him? I'm sure he's been lonely since he seems to have been alone since everything started to go wrong," she said with a slightly serious tone.
He glanced slightly over at her with an odd, but emotionless look on his face. "You think we should?" he asked trying to pull of an uninterested tone. "I mean, he probably won't even remember me," he said hoping his words were truly false.
"Who could forget the coldest man on earth!" she said as she finally hopped off of his back. "Oops, I lied. I will let you go," she commented as she winked and playfully stuck a pose which included one foot kicked up behind her, her head cocked slightly to the side, one hand to her side, one to her cheek and her tongue slightly peeking out of her mouth.
With that Squall gave an unpleasant look and started to walk away, and not toward Cloud. 'Come on! Don't be such a soil sport!" she said as she grabbed his hand and started to drag him toward Cloud. "Cloud-chan!" she yelled out, almost mocking him for a time that happened ever so long ago. She loved to tease the man when she could about the dressing up as a female bit he had to do.
The cloaked figure paused and groaned to himself as he heard a female voice choir through the crowd calling out his name. It wasn't that it was a female voice that bothered him; it was the certain female that called out his name that bothered him. He decided to act like he was merely pausing to take a look at one of the… erm… flames there. That's it. He was just a pyromaniac at heart is all? As soon as it seemed he was only stopping to examine the fire he continued on his seemingly oblivious way through the large masses of people until he stumbled over a foot. "What the—" he yelled as he turned and then groaned as he saw a short, black haired female.
"You can't escape from me that easily! And you know… it helps that I've known you for so long… I know you don't take that much interest in fire. You're just being a dork and trying to ignore me," he said with a pout. She crossed her arms and made a 'hmph,' sound and looked away.
"Well, then… if you seem to mad at me… I'll be leaving," he said and turned quickly away in hopes that she wouldn't pursue. Even with these false hopes he knew oh-too-well how persistent Yuffie could be.
"Uh, uh, Cloud-chan!" she yelled out and grabbed his arm, dragging him back to their little spot. "You aren't getting away that easily! Not after acting like a pyro just to run away from me," she commented as she let him go. She nudged Squall lightly and smirked. "Come on, say something! Don't be so shy," she said in her usual perky tone, just to piss Squall off even more.
"I'm not shy, damn it…" he said with a low and threatening growl to his voice. He shot a bit of a glare over at the girl and then looked up at Cloud with his blank face. It seemed like so much had changed in the other man, but it still seemed like he could reach out and touch his childhood. "He…" he began to greet Cloud when he was cut off all of the sudden by Yuffie.
"Oh yeah! Cloud-chan! Aerith is all right. I'm sure she'd love to see you again. She really does miss you, you know," she gossiped the truth for once. It seemed girls liked to stretch the truth, but this wasn't stretched in the bit. It might even be underplayed.
With these words that came from Yuffie's mouth, Squall stomach sank. He wasn't sure as to why he had this deep and sinking feeling inside, but it seemed like his soul was crushed and his heart was torn. "I'm getting ready for the tournament… You two have fun and chat. My gun blade is a bit dull," he said in an even more cold of a tone than he had held all day. Before either of them could stop him, he walked away from the scene of the crime.
Soon enough he had found a quiet area of the Coliseum, secluded, dark. He wanted to be alone to brood in his loneliness. He dragged his gun blade to the side and rested it next to his leg. Okay, so he lied about his gun blade being dull. It was rather sharp, really. He sighed and lay down on the concrete and sandy steps he had found to rest by. It seemed like it was high noon and the sun glared down so hard on his body. This warmth he felt, even warmer than the light of his heart, seemed to put him to sleep.
**********
Yuffie sighed rather loud as Squall stomped away. "There's no helping that guy. He just won't let himself get over it. It's like he thinks it's his entire fault. The thing that guy needs is to get laid," she said as she rolled her eyes. Her arms hooked behind her head, showing off some trying to show off some bust. It wasn't that she was showing off to Cloud only, this place had some other fine men wandering around.
"And what am I supposed to do about it? And wait… what happened? What are you talking about?" he asked as he narrowed his eyes on her with a confused look. Sure he wasn't a man of any words, normally, but when he was one and one he could be rather vocal for information. And information was exactly what he was to get.
"You mean you didn't hear? No… you wouldn't have! Rinoa and Squall… they were together, you know? Well… Rinoa ended up dying when all this stuff happened. It's a sad tail, but true. Now that man won't let himself be called anything but Leon. We humor him and call him that to quick his grumbling," she said in an annoyed tone. "Oh! And what you can do! Heh. I know how much you protested being with the ladies and how much you did fancy Vincent… So, why not try and crack Squall! He'd be a fun one!" she piped up in a perky tone.
A snarl could be seen across Cloud's face when she mentioned a certain vampire. "Why do you have to bring things like that up? I killed him. Can't you understand that? It haunts me every moment of my life," he commented with a threatening hiss to his tone.
"Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean it like that! I just meant that you swing that way… Jeez… don't over react, Cloud-chan," she told him as she waved his hand to try and cool him off a bit. She didn't want a pissed off man trying to seduce the cold one. It wouldn't be a good formula of things all in all. "Now come on… I know you have to be lonely! Just… at least talk to him. It won't hurt just to go and try to cheer him up, okay?" she pleaded with him. She wanted to get Squall in a better mood, though he was fun to piss off with being annoying. Even so, she wanted him happier and not such a grump.
"Agh… fine. Just to get you off of my back," he said with a grumble and almost a growl to his tone. He turned and caused his cape to hit the girl in the legs and before he could actually walk away she pounced on the cape.
"Grr! This thing hurts when you crack it against my leg! I'm taking it off!" she cried out and started to tug on it. This was fun. She liked to annoy the hot men. Although she wouldn't mind having one for herself she knew Cloud didn't have much interest in her and Squall was… well Squall. She thought the only way that man might have another relationship was if someone who could kick his ass entered the picture.
Cloud twitched a bit at the girl's new action. "Will you just let me go already!" he yelled at her with blue eyes glaring down. His anger seemed to layer him with a strange aura and a rather threatening one at that.
Yuffie stuck out her tongue at him before standing up and smirking. "You need to relax a bit more," she scolded with a playful tone. She waved her hand at him. "Now shoo. Go on and make him cheer up or something," she said as she turned from him and started to waltz over to the place to sign up. She had agreed with Squall well before hand that she would be the one to take care of the paperwork or whatever while he did whatever he wanted.
The man merely grunted and started to walk off to where he had seen Squall stomp off. Though, when he arrived he found the man fast asleep. He would wait until the man woke up… or until some time passed. Whichever would happen first he was uncertain. Now all he had were his thoughts and a lot of time to think.
**********
A gentle prodding at his side stirred him from his dreamless sleep. He found that he was covered in a thin layer of sweat and the sun was now slightly hidden by the tall walls. He groaned and rolled away from the person who was poking at him, he didn't want to acknowledge this person's existence, considering it was probably Yuffie to come and bother him. It wasn't like he was expecting to be able to fight until well later into the day since there was so much that had to be resolved with the fights first.
Cloud merely rolled his eyes and frowned as he walked up the steps and then proceeded to push Squall down them. He crossed his arms and glared down at the confused and tumbling boy. His eyes narrowed on the figure and he coughed. "That's what you get for ignoring me…" he said with a grumpy tone. He walked down a step or two and sat down, picking up Squall's gun blade with ease.
Even though Squall had earlier thought he could hug this man… no, not now. He wanted to attack him, but really, he couldn't. Cloud has his gun blade. Cloud also had his huge ass sword. Cloud had nice things called materia, which was his magic. Basically if he tried to fight Cloud at this point… he might as well kiss his sorry ass good bye. "Just go away… I was trying to sleep…" he said with a grumbled as he stood and patted himself down to get some dust off.
Cloud snorted lightly and shook his head. "Stop whining. I thought you were a man…" he grumbled out. All he received in return was an ungrateful grunt. "Hey, just because you lost someone close doesn't give you the right to be Mr. Angst. Everyone loses people they love. Deal with it. I didn't take my time to come and talk to a sniveling boy," he said as he stood up, setting Squall's blade back down. "Since you're acting this way, I am going."
As Cloud began to walk off he glanced at Squall and noticed his guilt-ridden figure. He wouldn't let himself break just because of the way the man looked. He wasn't that soft. The other one would have to come back to him and apologize. He had done nothing wrong and deserved some sort of make up for what he had gotten as a reaction.
"Agh… don't go, Cloud. Sorry… just… don't go," he reluctantly admitted he was at fault here. He never liked to admit he was wrong. Then again, most men won't unless it was life threatening. Something about the male ego seemed to keep him from admitting he was wrong for the high majority of the time. He had a feeling, though, if he didn't admit his wrong doing that Cloud would leave and never talk to him again. A little hurt pride could be taken.
"Fine… So… what have you been doing, Squall?" he asked as he turned and walked over to the steps, seating himself and setting down his large blade. He saw the visible wince of Squall's and raised and eyebrow. "Did I… say something wrong?" he asked in minor confusion.
"Eh… heh… I just haven't been really called that name for a long while. Not since Rinoa died, really…" he said with a bit of dismay hinted in his tone. He walked over to the golden looking steps and seated himself, placing his elbows on his knees and his head between his hands. He let out a well-held sigh as if he had been holding it for years.
Cloud merely sighed to this and shook his head. "Sorry to hear about that, but yes, I know about your loss of Rinoa. I won't call you 'Leon,' though. Your name is Squall and I'm calling you that no matter how much pain it brings. Pain just acquires strength for the one who receives the hardship. So, suck it up," he said as he ran his fingers over the blade handle. "You're the one who is still living… so live."
Squall merely shook his head to this. "No. I've tried to live before, but it just doesn't work. Living for me is to protect… and anything I seem to protect dies," he said in a slightly depressed tone and closed his eyes. "And you sure seem real sympathetic to my case…"
"What? Am I supposed to be? I don't think so. It's not in my nature. And you know… if you need someone to protect to live… find someone who is strong and isn't going to die," he said with a smirk and leaned back, placing his arms behind his head. "And stop moping. My love died by my own possessed hands. I wasn't in full control of myself and his blood tainted my soul. I wear what I do now to keep a constant reminder of him," he said in a chilled tone. His voice was as cold and icy as a deep and dark ocean.
Squall sighed and hung his head. "I know we all have hardships… It just seems like nothing right happens in my life," he said as he leaned back on the step and closed his eyes. "Guess I should just live, though. It isn't worth it being like this all the time, I guess," he stated in slight thought about what Cloud had said. "Oh, and I'm sorry to hear about Vincent. I heard about him before from the girls… Aerith seemed to avoid the subject," he informed Cloud with a softened tone. "She'd love to see you again."
At this Cloud just groaned. "She doesn't know what's good for her. That girl likes to get trouble to play with her. I think what she needs to do is realize I'm not the man for her and she should just move on."
"She's not a fool, you know. She knows you don't want any relationship with her… She just wants to see you…" he responded to Cloud. He proceeded to let out a calm sigh. "You should just give her at least that pleasure."
"I guess… I just don't want her clinging to me again."
"I can understand that," Squall retorted calmly. He opened his eyes and looked at Cloud with a smirk. "I vow to find someone to protect within a week's time and make sure they're strong if you will promise to at least see Aerith. Can we make that a deal?" he asked as he sat up with a hint of a smirk on his lips.
"Heh, yeah. We can make it a deal," the blonde man agreed with a nod. Slowly he stood up and extended his hand. "I wish you the best of luck, Squall. Your heart is strong and so is your will. The person will be a lucky one who gets you as your guardian. And best of luck in the tournament."
Squall stood up and took the other man's hand in his own and smiled. "Yeah, good luck to you, too. I'll see you after the tournament. We can take you to Traverse Town with us."
"Agreed."
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A/N: Okay… so this is my first attempt at a game fic… I hope it isn't too bad. If people like it enough… I'll write more… if no one likes it… I'll trash it. ^_^; And I promise if people like and leave reviews I WILL update this unlike my X-file and Harry Potter fic. (which I might update some day for my own reasons.)
Author: Emily Anderson
Rating: R; Strong Language, Sexual Interaction, Male x Male Relations
Game: Kingdom Hearts
Brief Summery: Destiny is not always what it seems. Darkness cannot live without light, but can light really live without the darkness? [Yaoi… Squall (Leon) and Cloud; Riku and Sora]
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone from Kingdom Hearts. It's all Squaresoft and Disney! They are the ones who own these characters… not me. So please… don't sue me for this pleasure I have taken in writing fic.
Feedback: Oh, yes, please! R/R all the way! I love Review! And you could e-mail me at [email protected] if you really want to for some reason.
Pre-note: Sorry Sora and Riku don't show up at all in this first Chapter! I just wanted to get something written for my friend Karo-chan. I asked what she wanted for Christmas and she wanted a Squall and Cloud fic, so, here it is. I just wanted to add in Sora and Riku 'cause I think they are wonderful. Lol. Hope you enjoy!
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Chapter 1
Fates Collide
The lonely wielder of a gun blade walked smoothly along as if the world could not faze him anymore. Truth be told… everything affected him. He wanted to protect everything and yet it seemed that all he tried to protect would be lost. He did love, once, but she was gone now. Dead. Like almost everyone else in the world he once knew and cared about. He had become more callous and cold since she died, even changing his name to Leon. Not that he much liked the name… it was just… Squall brought up some painful memories that burned his mind.
Even if he only wanted to live in the past others around him wouldn't let him and kept him stuck in his miserable present. He didn't know how to live, but his body just wouldn't let him die. It was like his subconscious was almost, well, masochistic and his body took it like the sadist it was. He had to find something to keep himself busy so he wouldn't end up losing himself to his heart and mind. Anything would do. Anything at all.
A fight. Well, not really a fight, but a tournament. That's why he was here today. It was an odd world he was on, but he wouldn't say a thing about it, not wanting to insult anyone. He peered up at the soft blue sky with the blazing sun shining down on them with a disgruntled look on his face. Of course, it had to be this damn hot on the day they were to fight. Seemed like nature didn't like to smile down on his fights at all. Then again, it could be just that it was always hot and disgusting on this cruddy little planet. Well, no matter, it just strengthened him for his next fight when nature was cruel on his body.
It wasn't like he minded being here today, but he didn't understand why that annoying pest Yuffie had to tag along. He hadn't been to warm to girls since his first love died and yet now he lived with, not one, but two girls. It seemed like a twisted fate of irony he would be forced to live in. It seemed like he ended up in places and situations he didn't want to be happening to him, but he would never complain because he just wasn't that talkative about his problems. Oh course, the fact that he wasn't talkative about anything at all was just a minor detail in the scheme of things.
As he was trapped in this reverie of the past he bumped into some poor, random victim of his daydreaming state. "Sorry," he grumbled out because it was probably his fault. The man who received the apology just gave a slight grunt and started to walk away in a stealthy pace, causing his cape to make a crack in the wind. Squall didn't catch much, but he did catch enough to piece together who this form was. The blonde hair, the deep blue eyes, that dark look… His clothes were different, but it could only be Cloud. The Cloud he knew as a child.
It seemed all his misery from when Rinoa died was suddenly washed away and replaced with a certain familiar one of being a child. His memories of playing with this blonde in the streets flooded his mind and made him ache with nostalgia. It was a time of innocence and a time even before Rinoa hardly graced his mind. It was a time were nothing but living for fun mattered. He yearned just to break down and hug the other man with sobs, but that wasn't in his nature so he merely had a falter in his cold gaze, but only for a moment before he brought back up his solid defense.
Quick enough he felt a body glomp on his back and latch on for its dear life. "Wake up daydreamer!" the annoying voice chirped. This obnoxious sound made the stern man grit his teeth. "If you don't stop staring at that gorgeous man's figure I'd start to think you would swing that way," she teased with a giggle, as she talked rather loud into his ear.
"I'm not STARING I'm just trying to figure out if it someone I knew," he said with a growl to his voice. One of his eyebrows twitched slightly and his figure became more tight and stern. He tried to shrug the girl off, but it seemed that she had a death grip on him.
"Oh? You mean Cloud? Sure you know him! Childhood chums!" she said with a laugh and hugged him deeper. He knew this annoyed the cold man and just wanted to make sure to keep it up.
Squall merely nodded to this, taking it in with a thought. It had been such a long time since he'd seen the other man. He wasn't sure if it'd be appropriate to go over and say hello like nothing ever happened. "Oh… and Yuffie? Let go," he said in a threatening tone. He felt, though, that the girl wouldn't let him go because it was in her nature to annoy him.
She squeezed harder to his back and shook her head. "Nuh uh! I'm never letting my Leon-kins go!" she said with a slightly evil cackle. "Wanna go over and say hey to him? I'm sure he's been lonely since he seems to have been alone since everything started to go wrong," she said with a slightly serious tone.
He glanced slightly over at her with an odd, but emotionless look on his face. "You think we should?" he asked trying to pull of an uninterested tone. "I mean, he probably won't even remember me," he said hoping his words were truly false.
"Who could forget the coldest man on earth!" she said as she finally hopped off of his back. "Oops, I lied. I will let you go," she commented as she winked and playfully stuck a pose which included one foot kicked up behind her, her head cocked slightly to the side, one hand to her side, one to her cheek and her tongue slightly peeking out of her mouth.
With that Squall gave an unpleasant look and started to walk away, and not toward Cloud. 'Come on! Don't be such a soil sport!" she said as she grabbed his hand and started to drag him toward Cloud. "Cloud-chan!" she yelled out, almost mocking him for a time that happened ever so long ago. She loved to tease the man when she could about the dressing up as a female bit he had to do.
The cloaked figure paused and groaned to himself as he heard a female voice choir through the crowd calling out his name. It wasn't that it was a female voice that bothered him; it was the certain female that called out his name that bothered him. He decided to act like he was merely pausing to take a look at one of the… erm… flames there. That's it. He was just a pyromaniac at heart is all? As soon as it seemed he was only stopping to examine the fire he continued on his seemingly oblivious way through the large masses of people until he stumbled over a foot. "What the—" he yelled as he turned and then groaned as he saw a short, black haired female.
"You can't escape from me that easily! And you know… it helps that I've known you for so long… I know you don't take that much interest in fire. You're just being a dork and trying to ignore me," he said with a pout. She crossed her arms and made a 'hmph,' sound and looked away.
"Well, then… if you seem to mad at me… I'll be leaving," he said and turned quickly away in hopes that she wouldn't pursue. Even with these false hopes he knew oh-too-well how persistent Yuffie could be.
"Uh, uh, Cloud-chan!" she yelled out and grabbed his arm, dragging him back to their little spot. "You aren't getting away that easily! Not after acting like a pyro just to run away from me," she commented as she let him go. She nudged Squall lightly and smirked. "Come on, say something! Don't be so shy," she said in her usual perky tone, just to piss Squall off even more.
"I'm not shy, damn it…" he said with a low and threatening growl to his voice. He shot a bit of a glare over at the girl and then looked up at Cloud with his blank face. It seemed like so much had changed in the other man, but it still seemed like he could reach out and touch his childhood. "He…" he began to greet Cloud when he was cut off all of the sudden by Yuffie.
"Oh yeah! Cloud-chan! Aerith is all right. I'm sure she'd love to see you again. She really does miss you, you know," she gossiped the truth for once. It seemed girls liked to stretch the truth, but this wasn't stretched in the bit. It might even be underplayed.
With these words that came from Yuffie's mouth, Squall stomach sank. He wasn't sure as to why he had this deep and sinking feeling inside, but it seemed like his soul was crushed and his heart was torn. "I'm getting ready for the tournament… You two have fun and chat. My gun blade is a bit dull," he said in an even more cold of a tone than he had held all day. Before either of them could stop him, he walked away from the scene of the crime.
Soon enough he had found a quiet area of the Coliseum, secluded, dark. He wanted to be alone to brood in his loneliness. He dragged his gun blade to the side and rested it next to his leg. Okay, so he lied about his gun blade being dull. It was rather sharp, really. He sighed and lay down on the concrete and sandy steps he had found to rest by. It seemed like it was high noon and the sun glared down so hard on his body. This warmth he felt, even warmer than the light of his heart, seemed to put him to sleep.
**********
Yuffie sighed rather loud as Squall stomped away. "There's no helping that guy. He just won't let himself get over it. It's like he thinks it's his entire fault. The thing that guy needs is to get laid," she said as she rolled her eyes. Her arms hooked behind her head, showing off some trying to show off some bust. It wasn't that she was showing off to Cloud only, this place had some other fine men wandering around.
"And what am I supposed to do about it? And wait… what happened? What are you talking about?" he asked as he narrowed his eyes on her with a confused look. Sure he wasn't a man of any words, normally, but when he was one and one he could be rather vocal for information. And information was exactly what he was to get.
"You mean you didn't hear? No… you wouldn't have! Rinoa and Squall… they were together, you know? Well… Rinoa ended up dying when all this stuff happened. It's a sad tail, but true. Now that man won't let himself be called anything but Leon. We humor him and call him that to quick his grumbling," she said in an annoyed tone. "Oh! And what you can do! Heh. I know how much you protested being with the ladies and how much you did fancy Vincent… So, why not try and crack Squall! He'd be a fun one!" she piped up in a perky tone.
A snarl could be seen across Cloud's face when she mentioned a certain vampire. "Why do you have to bring things like that up? I killed him. Can't you understand that? It haunts me every moment of my life," he commented with a threatening hiss to his tone.
"Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean it like that! I just meant that you swing that way… Jeez… don't over react, Cloud-chan," she told him as she waved his hand to try and cool him off a bit. She didn't want a pissed off man trying to seduce the cold one. It wouldn't be a good formula of things all in all. "Now come on… I know you have to be lonely! Just… at least talk to him. It won't hurt just to go and try to cheer him up, okay?" she pleaded with him. She wanted to get Squall in a better mood, though he was fun to piss off with being annoying. Even so, she wanted him happier and not such a grump.
"Agh… fine. Just to get you off of my back," he said with a grumble and almost a growl to his tone. He turned and caused his cape to hit the girl in the legs and before he could actually walk away she pounced on the cape.
"Grr! This thing hurts when you crack it against my leg! I'm taking it off!" she cried out and started to tug on it. This was fun. She liked to annoy the hot men. Although she wouldn't mind having one for herself she knew Cloud didn't have much interest in her and Squall was… well Squall. She thought the only way that man might have another relationship was if someone who could kick his ass entered the picture.
Cloud twitched a bit at the girl's new action. "Will you just let me go already!" he yelled at her with blue eyes glaring down. His anger seemed to layer him with a strange aura and a rather threatening one at that.
Yuffie stuck out her tongue at him before standing up and smirking. "You need to relax a bit more," she scolded with a playful tone. She waved her hand at him. "Now shoo. Go on and make him cheer up or something," she said as she turned from him and started to waltz over to the place to sign up. She had agreed with Squall well before hand that she would be the one to take care of the paperwork or whatever while he did whatever he wanted.
The man merely grunted and started to walk off to where he had seen Squall stomp off. Though, when he arrived he found the man fast asleep. He would wait until the man woke up… or until some time passed. Whichever would happen first he was uncertain. Now all he had were his thoughts and a lot of time to think.
**********
A gentle prodding at his side stirred him from his dreamless sleep. He found that he was covered in a thin layer of sweat and the sun was now slightly hidden by the tall walls. He groaned and rolled away from the person who was poking at him, he didn't want to acknowledge this person's existence, considering it was probably Yuffie to come and bother him. It wasn't like he was expecting to be able to fight until well later into the day since there was so much that had to be resolved with the fights first.
Cloud merely rolled his eyes and frowned as he walked up the steps and then proceeded to push Squall down them. He crossed his arms and glared down at the confused and tumbling boy. His eyes narrowed on the figure and he coughed. "That's what you get for ignoring me…" he said with a grumpy tone. He walked down a step or two and sat down, picking up Squall's gun blade with ease.
Even though Squall had earlier thought he could hug this man… no, not now. He wanted to attack him, but really, he couldn't. Cloud has his gun blade. Cloud also had his huge ass sword. Cloud had nice things called materia, which was his magic. Basically if he tried to fight Cloud at this point… he might as well kiss his sorry ass good bye. "Just go away… I was trying to sleep…" he said with a grumbled as he stood and patted himself down to get some dust off.
Cloud snorted lightly and shook his head. "Stop whining. I thought you were a man…" he grumbled out. All he received in return was an ungrateful grunt. "Hey, just because you lost someone close doesn't give you the right to be Mr. Angst. Everyone loses people they love. Deal with it. I didn't take my time to come and talk to a sniveling boy," he said as he stood up, setting Squall's blade back down. "Since you're acting this way, I am going."
As Cloud began to walk off he glanced at Squall and noticed his guilt-ridden figure. He wouldn't let himself break just because of the way the man looked. He wasn't that soft. The other one would have to come back to him and apologize. He had done nothing wrong and deserved some sort of make up for what he had gotten as a reaction.
"Agh… don't go, Cloud. Sorry… just… don't go," he reluctantly admitted he was at fault here. He never liked to admit he was wrong. Then again, most men won't unless it was life threatening. Something about the male ego seemed to keep him from admitting he was wrong for the high majority of the time. He had a feeling, though, if he didn't admit his wrong doing that Cloud would leave and never talk to him again. A little hurt pride could be taken.
"Fine… So… what have you been doing, Squall?" he asked as he turned and walked over to the steps, seating himself and setting down his large blade. He saw the visible wince of Squall's and raised and eyebrow. "Did I… say something wrong?" he asked in minor confusion.
"Eh… heh… I just haven't been really called that name for a long while. Not since Rinoa died, really…" he said with a bit of dismay hinted in his tone. He walked over to the golden looking steps and seated himself, placing his elbows on his knees and his head between his hands. He let out a well-held sigh as if he had been holding it for years.
Cloud merely sighed to this and shook his head. "Sorry to hear about that, but yes, I know about your loss of Rinoa. I won't call you 'Leon,' though. Your name is Squall and I'm calling you that no matter how much pain it brings. Pain just acquires strength for the one who receives the hardship. So, suck it up," he said as he ran his fingers over the blade handle. "You're the one who is still living… so live."
Squall merely shook his head to this. "No. I've tried to live before, but it just doesn't work. Living for me is to protect… and anything I seem to protect dies," he said in a slightly depressed tone and closed his eyes. "And you sure seem real sympathetic to my case…"
"What? Am I supposed to be? I don't think so. It's not in my nature. And you know… if you need someone to protect to live… find someone who is strong and isn't going to die," he said with a smirk and leaned back, placing his arms behind his head. "And stop moping. My love died by my own possessed hands. I wasn't in full control of myself and his blood tainted my soul. I wear what I do now to keep a constant reminder of him," he said in a chilled tone. His voice was as cold and icy as a deep and dark ocean.
Squall sighed and hung his head. "I know we all have hardships… It just seems like nothing right happens in my life," he said as he leaned back on the step and closed his eyes. "Guess I should just live, though. It isn't worth it being like this all the time, I guess," he stated in slight thought about what Cloud had said. "Oh, and I'm sorry to hear about Vincent. I heard about him before from the girls… Aerith seemed to avoid the subject," he informed Cloud with a softened tone. "She'd love to see you again."
At this Cloud just groaned. "She doesn't know what's good for her. That girl likes to get trouble to play with her. I think what she needs to do is realize I'm not the man for her and she should just move on."
"She's not a fool, you know. She knows you don't want any relationship with her… She just wants to see you…" he responded to Cloud. He proceeded to let out a calm sigh. "You should just give her at least that pleasure."
"I guess… I just don't want her clinging to me again."
"I can understand that," Squall retorted calmly. He opened his eyes and looked at Cloud with a smirk. "I vow to find someone to protect within a week's time and make sure they're strong if you will promise to at least see Aerith. Can we make that a deal?" he asked as he sat up with a hint of a smirk on his lips.
"Heh, yeah. We can make it a deal," the blonde man agreed with a nod. Slowly he stood up and extended his hand. "I wish you the best of luck, Squall. Your heart is strong and so is your will. The person will be a lucky one who gets you as your guardian. And best of luck in the tournament."
Squall stood up and took the other man's hand in his own and smiled. "Yeah, good luck to you, too. I'll see you after the tournament. We can take you to Traverse Town with us."
"Agreed."
**********
A/N: Okay… so this is my first attempt at a game fic… I hope it isn't too bad. If people like it enough… I'll write more… if no one likes it… I'll trash it. ^_^; And I promise if people like and leave reviews I WILL update this unlike my X-file and Harry Potter fic. (which I might update some day for my own reasons.)