Rating: T

Genre: Angst / Drama / Romance / Psychology

Warnings: Man x Man

Disclaimer: I own nothing that could be claimed, except for writing the damn plot of this. If you can call it that.

Summary: He breathed in, shaky, fearful. "I love you..."A smirk stretched across his face, eyes darkly aglow and a soft, deep chuckle escaping his throat. "I know. You always did, after all..."

There, Here, Between

Sephiroth x Cloud

Chaos would lead to Harmony and Harmony would lead to Chaos. It is a never ending cycle that repeats itself over and over again – a law of eternity. Then why was he here? Why was he in this world as one of Cosmos´s Champions, when he felt chaos and twisting turmoil inside of himself? He didn´t belong here, because chaos was what attracted him – cat-like jade-eyes filled with insanity, black feathers spelling doom for all living things, a voice so smooth as silk that it would cut flesh like a certain Katana, silver flowing in the wind as if living steel and lips that spoke of death in the same breath as life...

"Sephiroth."

"Good to see you, Cloud."

A shiver ran up his spine and he was not certain of the cause – dread, hate, relieve or desire? There was nothing clear with this man, nothing save for his longing. An elegant smile twisted those lips, seemed predatory and alluring all at once. It drew him in, made him self conscious and almost embarrassed.

"Have you been waiting long?"

"I never wait for you. Why should I? You are my enemy, remember, Sephiroth?"

It was a lie and he knew it as well as his so called enemy did, for the smile only grew and he leaned in close to him, to whisper a seductive "of course" into his ear, brushing gold strands behind it.

They always played this game of denial, of knowing, yet deliberately ignoring it and acting as if it was all one sided, forced on his side, while it was given freely. He pressed his blade against the neck, hiding behind silver and hissed:

"Step back!"

It was the usual farce of keeping up appearances, of the denial that he forced upon himself, because, no, he could not desire nor love him. Not in his original world nor in this one so fragilely maintained by a tipped balance.

His blade was swiftly pushed aside and in a fluid motion were their bodies connected, slowly entwining each other like vines. Again he struggled in vain, did not even care when hands, arms and legs only tightened around him, pulling him closer, stretching him, devouring him, making him whole. And again fell they into their heated rhythm, their private dance as everything of him was consumed by piercing, fierce jade and soft, glittering silver and fluttery, silent black.

Nothing mattered when he gasped that name, lost within the other.

"Sephiroth..."

And a smirk played across those cruel, beautiful lips, delight in pools of jade as words were uttered he heard every time, feared them and embraced them.

"You are mine, my Puppet, do not forget, Cloud. But... I am also yours, for your strings have entangled themselves around me. Never forget..."

And a sigh passed their lips as their dance had reached the crescendo, drowning them in bliss while the worlds stopped for just a moment, just a fraction to let the pain be gone for a moment, before reality could shatter their dream once more. And they returned with absolute clarity, with dread and hopelessness, with desperation and suffering.

There was no world that could accept a Puppet that loved its Puppeteer, a Hero who loved his Nemesis, or simply a broken Cadet who loved his insane General. That was reality and they would escape it again and forever as long as this certain world existed. As long as that dark one winged angel could exist here – here where he was not dead, but alive...

Maybe he could say it now. Maybe the other could finally hear it in this twisted world, that which was denied to him in his own.

"Sephiroth..."

"Hm...?"

He breathed in, shaky, fearful.

"I love you..."

A smirk stretched across his face, eyes darkly aglow and a soft, deep chuckle escaping his throat.

"I know. You always did, after all..."