Birds of Prey

Title: Birds of prey
Author: Lchan
Rating: NC17
Pairing: Cloud/Kadaj
Comments: Epilogue. ;D Yay… I really like writing this story, and I am sad its ending. ;_;





Epilogue







Cloud had been back at Tifa’s Seventh Heaven for only a couple of days, and the only person permitted to enter his room was Marlene. Tifa’s presence was stoic, if not completely annoying and undesired, especially for what she had sent Vincent to do. The Turk himself tried apologizing, as awkward has it had been for him to do, shifting around on the spot and staring downwards, human hand clenched.


He claimed for his newest Sin, he would punish himself by returning to the Nibelhiem cellar, and to be awoken when Cloud felt the time was right.


Marlene was the only one who didn’t seem keen on asking him question after question, simply sat with her arms rested on the bed, chin there, her large brown eyes watching Cloud, even as he stared at the window, dark circles beneath his eyes.


“ Cloud. “ She whined after a moment, “ Tifa sent me up to ask if you would like to eat anything. “


His voice was hoarse and rough, “ No. I’m fine. “


“ You haven’t eaten since you got back, Cloud! “ She said with as much agitation that her little body could hold; which wasn’t very much at all.


“ I don’t want to eat. “ He said quietly and swallowed, the light from outside finally causing him a large enough headache that he had to look away, squeezing them shut for a moment, “ I was to suffer and wither away to nothing. “


It was harsh to say to a child, but Marlene had been through more than a normal child ever had. She had wisdom beyond her years, at moments. So upon hearing this, she looked down at the quilt and traced it with her finger.


“ Cloud. “ She said slowly, “ If you wither away, then who will be here for all of us! “


“ Tifa, of coarse. She wont be going anywhere anytime soon. “ He said, resting his head back and moving his arm around uncomfortably; they had some doctor slap a cast onto him, even though Cloud had suffered much worse wounds and simply let a powerful potion take care of it. But because of the entire Bahamut case, they were in low supply, so he had to allow his body to heal on its own.


“ But we all want you here with us! “ She curled her small hands in the sheet, “ Please Cloud! “


He made a noise and stared at the opposite side, easing the small kink that had gathered on the other side, “ I lost someone dear to me, Marlene, do you understand? “


“ Yes. “ She nodded, “ Tifa told me not to bring it up around you! “


“ She was right, for once. “ He sighed, “ It… it hurt me badly, do you understand? I may not… get well from this. Its like… Geo-stigma. “


“ But that’s gone, right Cloud? “


“ It is… no one has it anymore. But this is like it. Its incurable. “


“ Oh. “ She looked down at the sheet again, then sat back onto the floor, “ Is there anything I can do to help you, Cloud? “


“ No. “ He felt another onslaught of tears begin to rise; in the past couple days, he’d spent more time bawling and moping around than he had in his entire life. Sure, he’d actually cried when Zack and Aries had been killed, but this was different. It was coming from his very soul, “ Just… leave me in peace, all right? Check on me in a couple of hours… I need to take a nap. “


“ Alright. “ She rose and dusted off her dress, wandering slowly to the door, “ What do you want me to tell Tifa? “


“ That… if she can, try and make me something easy to eat… I’ll try that. “


She nodded sharply, holding the doorknob, “ Does that mean you might get better? “


“ I… I don’t know. It might… it might not. “


She smiled brightly at him and nodded again, “ Okay Cloud! Have a nice nap! “


She was finally gone, her small footsteps disappearing down the stairs. Cloud stared up at the ceiling in the absolutely silence following, then turning his head into the pillow and allowed the soft sob that had been building to finally bubble out.


The pain had been absolutely draining and unbearable, growing with every breathe he took, doubling every time he thought about Kadaj. And he just couldn’t stop –thinking- about him; every little annoying thing he’d do, like pull on the stray strings of his leather suit. Or his nasal and childish voice, or the way… the way that he could arch beneath Cloud that could completely unravel him.


He’d been in love before, but nothing had been this intense and sudden. It had been a fire when it existed, and now that it had been extinguished, Cloud was left with the chilling feel of lonliness that he could never shake off again. Sure… he could live with Tifa for the rest of his life, help take care of the stray children. But he didn’t want that life.


The adventure was gone, the absolute love was shattered, and now he was left with nothing. He stared at the wall, tears rolling down into the pillow silently, and he slowly closed his eyes.


Everything was just black and white to him again.

He was shaken awake by a small pair of hands, jolting a little in the bed.


There was a sweet dream, of Kadaj again, which had grown more and more numerous to the point that he saw those startingly green eyes staring at him whenever he closed his eyes. He was craving their menacing gaze.


“ Cloud! “ It was Marlene, “ Tifa made you soup, and I helped! “


“ Did you. “ Cloud said, sniffing raggedly and shoving himself up with his good arm, taking the offered spoon and making room for the bowl, “ Thank you very much then. “


She nodded brightly. It was dark outside; someone must’ve lit the candles in his room for him, “ Try it! Try it! “


He nodded and ladeled the spoon inside, little noddles flying up to the surface when he did and raised it to his slightly chapped lips. It was warm, the perfect temperature; leave it to Tifa to get that one right. And the taste was perfect as well; absolutely typical. But his throat rejected it almost instantly. He nearly gagged to hold it down and swallow.


“ Its very good. You’re going to be a wonderful chef when you grow up, just like Tifa. “


Marlene giggled behind her hand, “ I hope so! I help her all the time. “


“ That’s good. She needs the help. “ He forced down another spoonful, his stomach the only thing rejoicing at the first signs of food after so long.


“ Yep! And with the other kids… I always help! “


“ Good. “ He coughed into the back of his hand and exhaled, ignoring the little girls concerned expression and continuing to eat, until at least half of the bowl was gone, “ Where is Barret? “


“ Daddy? “ Marlene corrected, “ He’s downstairs! Under the bar, where he usually goes. With that little cat thing. “


“ Red XIII? “


“ No… the other one! “


“ Ooh, Cait Sith then. “ Cloud grimaced a little and swirled the spoon. He didn’t exactly feel comfortable having Reeve spying on them all the time in Cait’s robotic body, yet… he had helped them a lot over the years, regardless. He overlooked Reeve as a Turk and almost counted him as a friend, even though he’d never met the man in person before.


“ Oh… and what are they doing down there? “


“ Playing pool, I think. “ She blinked her large eyes, “ Cait Sith keeps winning because Daddy keeps stomping around down there! “


“ I’ll bet you find that funny. “


She smiled and nodded brightly; Barret did act comical when he got pissed off. It was a part of his character.


“ Here. Would you take the rest of this down? I’ll eat more later. “ He extended the bowl to her, and she took it while standing again.


“ Are you going to take another nap, Cloud? “


“ Yeah… I’m going to turn in for the night. “ He yawned again… why was he always so tired? He counted it as a part of his expression.


“ I’ll see you in the morning then! “ She went around the room, blowing out the candles and leaving little wakes of smoke billowing around the room. The candles must have been scented. She left with a soft slide of the door, and again, Cloud was alone.


Almost like he was being pulled though, he fell asleep rather easily.





The feeling was incredibly familiar.


He must have been floating somewhere that was incredibly beautiful, somewhere that he’d seen before, beautiful flowers that only grew in –her- place scaling for as far as the eye. The brightness about him bore down upon him heavily, and he had to close his eyes after a couple of seconds.


Someone was approaching him; he knew who it was, “ You’ve suffered a lot, yes? “


“ Yes. “ Cloud answered without moving his lips. The voice had come from the inside… a smooth hand touched his forehead, slipping beneath his bangs, warm and cool at the same time.


“ You don’t deserve to be alone anymore. “


“ What? “ He didn’t understand.


“ Kadaj! “ The voice said, undyingly cheerful, “ He’s being refreshed, returned. “


“ He’ll be reborn, and he wont remember me. “


“ Not exactly! He isn’t being reborn; he’s being sent back! The planet and I have agreed to something; you’ve saved it twice at your own expense, and the three Brothers were innocents under the influence of Jenova. They only knew what they have been taught. “


“ What will happen, then? “


“ The influence of Jenova will be completely wiped away from him. He’ll remember everything though, especially you. “


“ Where is he now? “


“ I cant tell you that! You’ll see him soon enough though, I promise you! “


“ How soon? Please… I need to know! “


“ You’ll see. “ The hand eased away, the jingle of bracelets following it.





All at once, Cloud awoke, jolting forwards and breathing hard, as though he had very recently run. Another one of those dreams? Geez, he’s been having a lot of those lately… he felt caught between wanting to cry out in joy and just cry in general; but he’d wait to actually see if Kadaj was returned to him before commencing with that.


Sitting up this quickly made his arm ache, but he didn’t care. He simply tore the sheets away, wandering past the bright morning window and wobbling when his body couldn’t quite catch up with his mind.


“ You’d better be right, Aerith. “ He growled when he reached the door, having an unusually hard time throwing it open. He swore that he could practically hear her innocent little giggle somewhere behind him, causing chills.


He held onto the bar awkwardly when he went down the stairs; it was on the same side as his broken arm, and he sighed heavily once he reached the bar level.


“ Is anyone here? “ He tested. Silence met him. Tifa must’ve taken Marlene some where today, because the little girl would have rounded on him in a second, just from hearing his voice. Little need to say, she was somewhat attached to him. Not even Barret met his voice, so he wandered out from behind the bar and looked around.


How soon was soon?


Was it even true?


When the –hell- are people going to stop pitying him, anyway?


He leaned heavily into the bars table top and ran his fingers through his blond hair, mussing it up more than it was today, and then resting his forehead on the counter top. It… it could take days. He didn’t think he could last that long, just waiting.


He didn’t want to wait anymore. He had waited fucking weeks to even get close enough to touch the Teen, and even longer to finally –touch- him. Hell, he’d even been waiting his entire –life- just to meet him, and suddenly it was torn away.


For these past few days, all Cloud had been living on was shattered, precious memories. About everything. Even being run-through by the Teen and the intense fire that his young voice could obtain when he grew angry enough. Memories couldn’t last him forever; hell, not even one hour more. He would have already clawed himself open from the inside by then.


He closed his eyes and listened to the noise from outside, the few people still inhabiting the Seventh sector. Glancing up at the clock every now and then, the one that ticked noisily along and –remarkibly- slow, calculated that fifteen minutes had passed since he first came down.


Then thirty.


Then forty-five.


An hour.


The front door of the bar opened, startling Cloud and making him whirl around, half expecting to see Kadaj standing there, completely fine, whole and warm again. Instead, Marlene ran into him and embraced him around his middle tightly.


“ Your up, Cloud! “ She squealed, “ Does that mean your getting better? “


“ It must’ve been your soup that did it. “ He placed a hand on top of her head, and glanced up. Tifa was standing there with a hand on her hip, a grocery bag in her other hand, probably containing that nights dinner.


“ Your not supposed to be moving around. “ She said, walking past him and around the bar, “ That’s what the doctor told you, but you’ve never listened much to what they’ve had to say. “


“ I listen. But I know more about myself than a doctor does. “ Cloud eased himself from Marlenes embrace, shooting a longing look at the door, which remained shut peacefully, “ Did you see anything strange outside? “


“ Not really. “ She was putting the groceries away, placing a loaf of bread on top of the fridge, “ Were you expecting someone else to want to kick your butt? “


“ Just wondering. “ Cloud placed his hand upon his head, suddenly feeling very dizzy again. Tifa watched him with concern until it passed, “ Worrying, you know. I’ve been doing a lot of that lately. “


“ Apparently. “ She smiled a little and put the milk away, crumpling the paper bag in her hands and tossing it into the garbage, “ I’m taking Marlene to see the other children today. “


“ To see Denzel, I suppose? “


“ Naturally. Her excuse is the ‘others’ as well. “


“ Hey! “ Marlene suddenly spoke up. “ I like the others too! “


“ Yes well… I am sure their all waiting for you now. “ She came around and took her by the hand, looking back at Cloud with a very pointed look, “ Do not over-exert yourself, or I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again. Got me? “


Cloud scratched at the back of his head slightly, “ I’ll try. Have fun, Marlene. “


“ Bye Cloud! “ She waved back at him, their shadows appearing sprawled across the wooden floor, and disappearing again with the sharp slam of the door in their wake.


Cloud, again, was left alone. He was placing himself into one of the barstools when there came a knock at the door. It was delicate enough to be Tifa again, probably having forgotten her purse or something silly like that; it was her nature to return once or twice before finally going off to where she had to go.


Stumbling t the door, Cloud pulled it open quickly, fully expecting Tifa to rush past him when he did so, muttering some kind of excuse and a apology. So Cloud had leaned himself against the open door, his exhausted state and depleating will weakening him again.


“ Hurry up, Tifa. I want to get back upstairs now. “


“ You’ve been crying for me? “


It felt as though Cloud had been stabbed in the heart. Yet without the pain… his current state didn’t allow his eyes to pull open right away, when he wanted them to, but a warm hand came across his cheek; Cloud knew who it was then.


Cloud stepped forwards blindly, now holding his eyes shut to keep back another set of tears threatening to weaken him, shuddering when arms enclosed around him, pushing against his sore arm, yet again. Not caring.


“ I thought you were gone forever. “ Cloud whispered softly and swiftly, wrapping his arm tight around around the Teens shoulders and hugging him as fiercely as he could, “ I’ve missed you so much… “


“ You were ready to die. “ Kadaj’s smooth voice purred into his ear, “ All for me? “


“ Of coarse. “ Cloud sniffed and pulled back enough to look at him. His eyes were still bright green, still slitted like a feline, yet warmer now. His hair was still white, as it probably would be forever, and smelled like the flowers growing in Aeries place. His leather suit was gone, now replaced with a simple pair of loose trousers and a moss-green shirt that looked almost new.


“ So then. “ Kadaj actually –smiled- at him, something that had never happened before, “ Are you going to let me inside? “


“ Of coarse! “ Cloud pulled Kadaj inside and knocked the door shut with his bare foot. Once the prying eyes of the street were gone, Cloud bent for a deep kiss, relishing in the feeling and almost moaning at the feel. Man, he had been craving that.


“ Happy to see me, I suppose? “


“ Yes. “ Cloud kissed him again, this time his cheek, blinking so quickly that a tear actually escaped, “ I love you. “


Kadaj gripped him about the waist, in a way that wouldn’t smash his arm so, leaned up toward his ear and first kissing the skin there, smiled, eyes still glowing with Mako energy, “ I love you, too. “



The End [ For real. >> ]

Yay. ^^ A happy ending, ne. Expect to see me write more about this pairing, because I think the two of them are ABSOLUTELY sexy together. @_@ Yay.