Whispers in the Roses
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Final Fantasy VII › Yaoi - Male/Male › Cloud/Vincent
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
12
Views:
1,272
Reviews:
11
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Currently Reading:
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Category:
Final Fantasy VII › Yaoi - Male/Male › Cloud/Vincent
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
12
Views:
1,272
Reviews:
11
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Final Fantasy VII, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Chapter Six
Whispers in the Roses
Flora Winters
I do not own Final Fantasy VII.
Summary: Vincent wants to put Cloud’s heart back together again, but will Cloud let him. This story will contain boy love, some language, and violence.
Chapter Six
Cloud was looking out the window at the spooky storm which seemed to perpetually haunt the Haunted Hotel. Vincent had stopped in earlier and had left him tickets to go out and enjoy himself. He was holding them in his hands and sighed a little sadly. Well, he was thankful that he wasn’t in the room where she had been. It silently hurt him to even think about it. He didn’t want to think and about an echo of her still lingering in that room just down the hall. He wondered if Vincent knew he feared the little fact.
He turned away from the window and walked over to sit down on his unmade bed. He looked up at the painted ceiling and squeezed the tickets in his left hand. Did he want to go out? He didn’t know. Was he ready to face the general public? People would see his face and probably go crazy with a mobbed frenzy of thanks for saving their lives. It caused him to shiver just a little bit. People could be rather frightening when they were excited. Just thinking about such a possible scenario had him shaking his head. People needed to go to bed and stay there. Go to bed, people!
He fell back with a soft thump against the blankets. His shoes were by the door and that would require him to get back up in order to put them on. He really was getting so goddamned lazy. Cid would probably ride his ass if he was to get fat. Hell, yuffie would beat his ass if he lost his muscles.
A yawn was just about to bitch slap him cross-eyed when a sudden knock came at the door. Perhaps if he ignored it, they would simply go away. His left eye twitched when the knock came again. It looked like he’d be putting his shoes on after all.
“Yeah,” he said, opening the door, looking out into the candlelit hall. There wasn’t a damn person there. He pursed his kissable red lips into a sneer and cocked an almost white brow. He suddenly rolled his eyes. It looked like the spirits that were attached to this place wanted him to go out, too.
He gasped when he heard a soft chuckle come from behind, causing him to spin around, and see nothing. It felt like a gentle hand had just stroked his iced over heartstrings. He put a hand to his chest and smiled softly.
“All right,” he whispered, keeping the door open as he slipped his feet into his shoes. “You win…like always.”
He picked the tickets up off the bed and left. A warm wind rushed by his right cheek and it smelled of roses under a misty silver moon. He wanted to bottle it and keep it with him for forever.
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Cloud had won the monster battle with flying colors and people had gone rampaging insane. He was missing his shirt and his right shoe. Well, a woman had ripped his shirt off and he had tripped out of his shoe. It was no telling who was sniffing and snarling over it right now. All that mattered is that he had managed to escape with his pants still on…for the most part.
Where the hell was Vincent? He had nearly lost his life to those crazed psychopaths. Why in the world would anybody crave that kind of attention? It was stupid and not healthy at all. He should have stayed in his room.
He suddenly took notice where he was and felt afraid. It was the auditorium with the stage where he and Aeris had had their first and only date ever. How in the world had he wound up here?
He kicked his other shoe off, sending it flying into the shadows. What was the point in keeping it? He would never see the right one again anyway. He would just have to get a new pair sometime soon.
He looked around. The whole place was empty. This place was usually packed with spectators and actors wanting to make it big. What was wrong here?
“Would you say I became a hero?”
He began walking down the marble steps and they were like ice under his naked feet. He couldn’t answer the spirit which haunted him. He couldn’t let go. It wasn’t that he couldn’t, he just wouldn’t! He didn’t want to let go of the love that had freed him from the emptiness of existing in loneliness.
“Look, Cloud,” her voice said and he could hear the smile in it. “The stage is all yours.”
He walked up onto it and looked out at the all the empty seats. The stage was all his…but he didn’t want to stand under the single spotlight alone. The both of them deserved to be here with him. If it had not been for their strength, courage, and love, he wouldn’t be here now. They had saved him. They had saved him from himself.
He blinked and tears streamed from his molten blue eyes like silver streams of precious moonlight down his bone white cheeks. His bottom lip trembled when the sound of a beautiful electric organ began to softly play a haunting melody. Was there someone here? He didn’t see anyone.
“Come on, Chocobo Head,” Zack chuckled from the instruments direction. “Will you sing for me?”
A gentle beating of drums began to play from his left. He looked to see that there was not a person with him. The drums were just sitting there, but they were being played. He could hear the music in his head. It was all around him.
“Come on, Cloud,” Zack said. “You know you want to.”
He looked to see that he could suddenly see his own ghostly reflections all around him in mirrors he hadn’t noticed before. They were all different shapes and sizes and it was only him in them. All of them were just floating around him on invisible strings he was sure.
The organ and the drums gently blended together and the music was in a soft, perfect harmony. He looked around a mirror to see that he was all alone in the large auditorium. There was no danger in anybody hearing him.
He looked at his face in the mirror and wiped the tears away. He needed to get out in the sun. He needed to do something. There was a dead guy looking back at him. His eyes widened. There was a dead guy looking back at him. Zack was peeking out from over his shoulder, smiling.
He looked down to see a pair of large hands gripping his narrow waist, wanting him to move with the music. He used to love to dance. So, he began to move his body gently to the beat just to make him happy. Suddenly it was just him in the mirror and his voice gently flowed all around the auditorium as he let the words rise like a silver fount from the depths of his soul.
Closed off from love
I didn’t need the pain
Once or twice was enough
And it wall all in vain
Time starts to pass
Before you know it you’re frozen…
He began moving with the flow of the music, looking into mirrors as did so. He could see reflections of his past surrounding him in all of them. He stopped in front of one, watching Zack hand a younger him a gorgeous red rose. The spiky haired man was asking him out in the shower room with just a towel around his sexy waist. He smiled as he looked at his younger self’s stunned face. He had been stunned speechless and others had just been stunned period. Zack’s eyes were so blue and they were holding such an open vulnerability. He couldn’t believe he was serious. Why would someone like Zack want to date someone as worthless as him?
“I like you,” Zack said, smiling with all honesty. “I just want you to know this.”
Cloud watched the younger him take the rose and just walk away with it. The image began to fade like mist in the sunlight. He remembered how he had put his nose to the fragrant red petals once he had gotten out of the room. He hadn’t wanted anybody else to even see him doing so. He could only smile. The guy had been relentless with his wolfish pursuit of him.
But something happened
For the very first time with you
My heart melted into the ground
Found something true
And everyone’s looking ‘round
Thinking I’m going crazy
That was the truth. He could see it all in the next mirror. Everyone was looking at him like he was crazy. Why in the world would he want to date an arrogant SOLDIER First Class? The answer was simple. He was not using this opportunity to go up in the world. No, he had fallen in love with him over those many months of training. Zack had always been there for him with a warm smile and a comforting shoulder to lean against. He had even completed some of his missions for him. Well, he had tricked him into completing those few little missions for him. He could be such a sneaky little bitch queen when he wanted to be.
“You’re such a wimp, Cloud.” A SOLDIER Second Class sneered at him. “We’re starting to think you’re either crazy or he’s just crazy for dating you. What in the world does he see in you? Maybe you should just dump him and save yourself the heartache. He will throw you away. You do know that, right? I know him. He gets bored so easily.”
He watched his younger self punch him right in the face. They guy fell over backwards onto his ass with a grunt. He had to be honest. He had really surprised himself. He had not thought himself capable of hurting another person.
“Shut up, Zan!” His younger self snarled angrily. “I don’t give a fuck what you think!”
He had to look away.
I don’t care what they say
I’m in love with you
They try to pull me away
But they don’t know the truth
My hearts crippled by the vein
That I keep on closing
You cut me open and I
“Do you mean it?” He heard himself asking from behind him. He spun around, facing another mirror. It was large and heart shaped. His younger self was kneeling down before Aeris in the slums, sniffing her basket full of flowers. He could feel even more tears stinging his eyes.
“I’ll give you a flower,” she smiled, pulling one out for him. “But, it will cost you a kiss.”
She was suddenly gone. They were both gone. He was all alone in the mirror. He could see the blood. His arms were covered in bleeding gashes and they flowed like crimson ruby streams down his pale white flesh, dripping to the floor at his feet.
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
You cut me open
The mirror flashed to his left and it was in the shape of a star. He turned, seeing Zack walking towards him through a shimmering white rain. The drops fell all around his walking form like glistening diamonds.
“Zack is gone, Cloud!” A harsh voice yelled at him. “He’s dead! She’s dead! Quit fucking killing yourself over it! Move on!”
SHUT UP!
Trying hard not to hear
But they talk so loud
Their piercing sounds fill my ears
Try to fill me with doubt
Yet I know that their goal
Is to keep me from falling
Hey, yeah!
Powerful arms wrapped themselves around him in the mirror and Zack was resting his chin on his shoulder, smiling at him. He could smell his sweet cologne. It was so crisp and fresh. It was all around him. He had almost forgotten it. How could he? Oh, how he wished this was real. He wished he could feel those arms and not just the memory of them. He wanted it to be true. He wanted it so badly. His chest felt like it was crumbling away into dust.
But nothing’s greater
Than the rush that comes with your embrace
And in this world of loneliness
I see your face
Yet everyone around me
Thinking that I’m going crazy
Maybe, maybe!
He stepped up to the mirror, reaching out, wanting to step into it. It was like looking out of a window into a never ending filed of flowers that stretched on into the sky for forever.
“You need to get out, Cloud,” Tifa’s voice came from behind him. There she was, standing at a door in another mirror. “”You just need to do something. You’re going to go crazy if you don’t.”
He could see himself turning away from her. He looked so stricken. Had he really looked like that? Is this what everybody was seeing? “You…you want me to…go?”
“You loved him, Cloud. I get it. Really, I do. You loved both of them. But, this isn’t healthy.”
Loved?
No! Its love!
He would always love them. He will never stop loving them! There is no loved! Its love, goddamn it! LOVE!
“You don’t understand,” his reflection whispered to her retreating shadow. “You try, but you will never feel the pain I’m feeling. Nobody will ever know or understand my pain.”
His eyes widened. Nobody knew his pain. Nobody would ever understand how he felt.
But I don’t care what they say
I’m in love with you
They try to pull me away
But they don’t know the truth
My hearts crippled by the vein
That I keep on closing
You cut me open and I
He could suddenly feel the rain falling down on his head, and feel the slippery mud under his hands. He could feel it under his nails and could still remember how slippery that mucky slush had been.
“ZACK!”
He turned to another mirror and stumbled backwards. NO! He didn’t want to see! Stop it! Why wasn’t he looking away! Make it stop!
He watched himself fall to his knees, seeing that his hands were suddenly covered in bloody mud that was trailing all around Zack’s fallen form. It was his. It was Zack’s blood. He could see it on his face and he could actually smell the coppery scent. It was so sweet and sickening. It reminded him of apples.
He watched Zack reach up and pull him down against him.
“I…love…you…”
Thunder echoed from the mirror and lightning filled the glass as his voice filled the cold air.
And it’s draining all of me
Oh they find it hard to believe
I’ll be wearing these scars
For everyone to see…
A light flashed above his head and the music was suddenly so soft. It was like a snowy white feather falling from a black sky. His voice flowed from his lips like a whispering molten starlit stream.
I don’t care what they say
I’m in love with you
They try to pull me away
But they don’t know the truth
My heart’s crippled by the vein
That I keep on closing
You cut me open and I…
His voice soared higher than those in which he was named after. It was strong, clean, and sweeter than amber honey in the sunlight. He looked to see that tears of blood were streaming from his eyes in the smooth glass.
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
You cut me open and I…
The glass all around him cracked and his voice soared like a siren’s over the sound of its shattering violence. His voice was like a pair of mighty wings, cutting like razor sharp daggers through those dark clouds in all the falling fragments, scattering them in its powerful wake.
He looked up at the ceiling with tears dripping from his chin, shimmering like crystal droplets in the light. He trembled when he felt a pair of arms wrap around him and he leaned his head forward. It looked like his head was enveloped in a halo of golden-white radiance.
He could feel that oh so familiar press of possessive lips against the back of his neck. He wanted Zack to be here. He wanted him so much. It was killing him. He looked to see that he had cut his arm. He watched the ruby stream flow from the tiny gash down his milky white flesh.
“I did it all for you, Cloud,” the voice whispered, arms squeezing him gently. “I wouldn’t let them take you away from me.”
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
You cut me open and I…
He lifted his head, seeing that he was all alone amidst the shattered mirrors. There was nobody with him and all was silent. He looked around with blurry eyes and wiped them away with the back of his palm.
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
He stumbled to his feet and realized that he was trapped. He was completely surrounded by broken shards of glass. If he moved, he would cut his feet all to hell. But, he had to leave. So, he just held his breath and ran.
Why had he left the room? He should have just stayed there. He should have just waited for Vincent to come see him. That would have been the smart thing to do.
He just ran.
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Dio, the owner of the Gold Saucer, stepped from the shadows in awe. It was like the savior of the world had been lost in some enchanting and horrific dream up there. He had never heard such an amazingly beautiful and haunting voice in all his life. The blond had sent chills racing down his spine when all the mirrors had shattered.
“Cloud Strife,” he said to himself, turning to the shadows behind him. “Where had he been hiding that voice all this time?”
Vincent was holding the blonde’s left shoe in his talons. “Trapped and drowning in sorrow.”
“What?” Dio asked him. “What are you talking about? That kid saved the world.”
“What do you think?” Vincent asked him. “Does he have the job?”
Dio looked down at his feet. “I think I need a tissue and some anti-depressants.”
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Vincent turned from him with shoe in hand. He had to go find Cloud. He was really worried about him now. What the hell had been going on up there on the stage and what had happened with the mirrors? There was glass all over the place. He had wanted Cloud to sing for Dio in the room, but they had found him here, singing like there was nobody around to hear him.
Where had his other shoe gotten off to? How come he hadn’t had a shirt on?
“Shit!” He hissed, suddenly racing off in a red blur in the direction Cloud had ran, realizing the blond had ran through a sea of broken glass. “He’s probably cut himself.”
His cell phone began to ring. He reached down into his leather pocket and picked it up.
“Hello?”
“Vincent?”
“Yes.”
“How is Cloud?”
“He’s good,” Vincent lied. Why in the world was Tifa calling him now.
“Is he getting out any?” She asked.
“He won the Monster Battle Contest,” he told her, knowing that was true. He had heard the announcements all over the place. Maybe that’s how Cloud had lost his shirt and shoe.
“Oh, that’s good,” she said, sounding excited. “I’m so happy that he’s doing things.”
Vincent told her all was good. She sounded like the guy’s mother.
“I really have to go now,” he told her, running up the steps towards the faculty lift. “I think Cloud wanted to go eat at the new restaurant Dio just had built.”
“Oh,” she said, sounding even more pleased. “That’s wonderful. I’m glad he’s eating again.”
“Yeah,” he said, pushing the spooky green button that said Ghost. “I’ll take good care of him. I’ll tell him you called, okay?”
“Thanks,” she said. “Take care, Vincent.”
“You, too,” he said, hanging up, pushing the stupid button again, and cursing for it to hurry up.
Was he panicking? Yes, yes he was. Cloud was the kind of guy who never knew if he was hurt or not. He was probably standing in a pool of his own blood, wondering why his feet were wet.
“COME ON!” He yelled, punching the machine. It jolted with him and it began to rise. “That’s more like it.”
TBC…
Please review and tell me what you think. Thank you all so much for your wonderful reviews. Next chapter, Vincent and Cloud have some action. I promise. It’s getting good. I hope all is well for everyone. Take care and stay safe this weekend.
Flora.
Note: Song lyrics belong to Leona Lewis.
Flora Winters
I do not own Final Fantasy VII.
Summary: Vincent wants to put Cloud’s heart back together again, but will Cloud let him. This story will contain boy love, some language, and violence.
Chapter Six
Cloud was looking out the window at the spooky storm which seemed to perpetually haunt the Haunted Hotel. Vincent had stopped in earlier and had left him tickets to go out and enjoy himself. He was holding them in his hands and sighed a little sadly. Well, he was thankful that he wasn’t in the room where she had been. It silently hurt him to even think about it. He didn’t want to think and about an echo of her still lingering in that room just down the hall. He wondered if Vincent knew he feared the little fact.
He turned away from the window and walked over to sit down on his unmade bed. He looked up at the painted ceiling and squeezed the tickets in his left hand. Did he want to go out? He didn’t know. Was he ready to face the general public? People would see his face and probably go crazy with a mobbed frenzy of thanks for saving their lives. It caused him to shiver just a little bit. People could be rather frightening when they were excited. Just thinking about such a possible scenario had him shaking his head. People needed to go to bed and stay there. Go to bed, people!
He fell back with a soft thump against the blankets. His shoes were by the door and that would require him to get back up in order to put them on. He really was getting so goddamned lazy. Cid would probably ride his ass if he was to get fat. Hell, yuffie would beat his ass if he lost his muscles.
A yawn was just about to bitch slap him cross-eyed when a sudden knock came at the door. Perhaps if he ignored it, they would simply go away. His left eye twitched when the knock came again. It looked like he’d be putting his shoes on after all.
“Yeah,” he said, opening the door, looking out into the candlelit hall. There wasn’t a damn person there. He pursed his kissable red lips into a sneer and cocked an almost white brow. He suddenly rolled his eyes. It looked like the spirits that were attached to this place wanted him to go out, too.
He gasped when he heard a soft chuckle come from behind, causing him to spin around, and see nothing. It felt like a gentle hand had just stroked his iced over heartstrings. He put a hand to his chest and smiled softly.
“All right,” he whispered, keeping the door open as he slipped his feet into his shoes. “You win…like always.”
He picked the tickets up off the bed and left. A warm wind rushed by his right cheek and it smelled of roses under a misty silver moon. He wanted to bottle it and keep it with him for forever.
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Cloud had won the monster battle with flying colors and people had gone rampaging insane. He was missing his shirt and his right shoe. Well, a woman had ripped his shirt off and he had tripped out of his shoe. It was no telling who was sniffing and snarling over it right now. All that mattered is that he had managed to escape with his pants still on…for the most part.
Where the hell was Vincent? He had nearly lost his life to those crazed psychopaths. Why in the world would anybody crave that kind of attention? It was stupid and not healthy at all. He should have stayed in his room.
He suddenly took notice where he was and felt afraid. It was the auditorium with the stage where he and Aeris had had their first and only date ever. How in the world had he wound up here?
He kicked his other shoe off, sending it flying into the shadows. What was the point in keeping it? He would never see the right one again anyway. He would just have to get a new pair sometime soon.
He looked around. The whole place was empty. This place was usually packed with spectators and actors wanting to make it big. What was wrong here?
“Would you say I became a hero?”
He began walking down the marble steps and they were like ice under his naked feet. He couldn’t answer the spirit which haunted him. He couldn’t let go. It wasn’t that he couldn’t, he just wouldn’t! He didn’t want to let go of the love that had freed him from the emptiness of existing in loneliness.
“Look, Cloud,” her voice said and he could hear the smile in it. “The stage is all yours.”
He walked up onto it and looked out at the all the empty seats. The stage was all his…but he didn’t want to stand under the single spotlight alone. The both of them deserved to be here with him. If it had not been for their strength, courage, and love, he wouldn’t be here now. They had saved him. They had saved him from himself.
He blinked and tears streamed from his molten blue eyes like silver streams of precious moonlight down his bone white cheeks. His bottom lip trembled when the sound of a beautiful electric organ began to softly play a haunting melody. Was there someone here? He didn’t see anyone.
“Come on, Chocobo Head,” Zack chuckled from the instruments direction. “Will you sing for me?”
A gentle beating of drums began to play from his left. He looked to see that there was not a person with him. The drums were just sitting there, but they were being played. He could hear the music in his head. It was all around him.
“Come on, Cloud,” Zack said. “You know you want to.”
He looked to see that he could suddenly see his own ghostly reflections all around him in mirrors he hadn’t noticed before. They were all different shapes and sizes and it was only him in them. All of them were just floating around him on invisible strings he was sure.
The organ and the drums gently blended together and the music was in a soft, perfect harmony. He looked around a mirror to see that he was all alone in the large auditorium. There was no danger in anybody hearing him.
He looked at his face in the mirror and wiped the tears away. He needed to get out in the sun. He needed to do something. There was a dead guy looking back at him. His eyes widened. There was a dead guy looking back at him. Zack was peeking out from over his shoulder, smiling.
He looked down to see a pair of large hands gripping his narrow waist, wanting him to move with the music. He used to love to dance. So, he began to move his body gently to the beat just to make him happy. Suddenly it was just him in the mirror and his voice gently flowed all around the auditorium as he let the words rise like a silver fount from the depths of his soul.
Closed off from love
I didn’t need the pain
Once or twice was enough
And it wall all in vain
Time starts to pass
Before you know it you’re frozen…
He began moving with the flow of the music, looking into mirrors as did so. He could see reflections of his past surrounding him in all of them. He stopped in front of one, watching Zack hand a younger him a gorgeous red rose. The spiky haired man was asking him out in the shower room with just a towel around his sexy waist. He smiled as he looked at his younger self’s stunned face. He had been stunned speechless and others had just been stunned period. Zack’s eyes were so blue and they were holding such an open vulnerability. He couldn’t believe he was serious. Why would someone like Zack want to date someone as worthless as him?
“I like you,” Zack said, smiling with all honesty. “I just want you to know this.”
Cloud watched the younger him take the rose and just walk away with it. The image began to fade like mist in the sunlight. He remembered how he had put his nose to the fragrant red petals once he had gotten out of the room. He hadn’t wanted anybody else to even see him doing so. He could only smile. The guy had been relentless with his wolfish pursuit of him.
But something happened
For the very first time with you
My heart melted into the ground
Found something true
And everyone’s looking ‘round
Thinking I’m going crazy
That was the truth. He could see it all in the next mirror. Everyone was looking at him like he was crazy. Why in the world would he want to date an arrogant SOLDIER First Class? The answer was simple. He was not using this opportunity to go up in the world. No, he had fallen in love with him over those many months of training. Zack had always been there for him with a warm smile and a comforting shoulder to lean against. He had even completed some of his missions for him. Well, he had tricked him into completing those few little missions for him. He could be such a sneaky little bitch queen when he wanted to be.
“You’re such a wimp, Cloud.” A SOLDIER Second Class sneered at him. “We’re starting to think you’re either crazy or he’s just crazy for dating you. What in the world does he see in you? Maybe you should just dump him and save yourself the heartache. He will throw you away. You do know that, right? I know him. He gets bored so easily.”
He watched his younger self punch him right in the face. They guy fell over backwards onto his ass with a grunt. He had to be honest. He had really surprised himself. He had not thought himself capable of hurting another person.
“Shut up, Zan!” His younger self snarled angrily. “I don’t give a fuck what you think!”
He had to look away.
I don’t care what they say
I’m in love with you
They try to pull me away
But they don’t know the truth
My hearts crippled by the vein
That I keep on closing
You cut me open and I
“Do you mean it?” He heard himself asking from behind him. He spun around, facing another mirror. It was large and heart shaped. His younger self was kneeling down before Aeris in the slums, sniffing her basket full of flowers. He could feel even more tears stinging his eyes.
“I’ll give you a flower,” she smiled, pulling one out for him. “But, it will cost you a kiss.”
She was suddenly gone. They were both gone. He was all alone in the mirror. He could see the blood. His arms were covered in bleeding gashes and they flowed like crimson ruby streams down his pale white flesh, dripping to the floor at his feet.
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
You cut me open
The mirror flashed to his left and it was in the shape of a star. He turned, seeing Zack walking towards him through a shimmering white rain. The drops fell all around his walking form like glistening diamonds.
“Zack is gone, Cloud!” A harsh voice yelled at him. “He’s dead! She’s dead! Quit fucking killing yourself over it! Move on!”
SHUT UP!
Trying hard not to hear
But they talk so loud
Their piercing sounds fill my ears
Try to fill me with doubt
Yet I know that their goal
Is to keep me from falling
Hey, yeah!
Powerful arms wrapped themselves around him in the mirror and Zack was resting his chin on his shoulder, smiling at him. He could smell his sweet cologne. It was so crisp and fresh. It was all around him. He had almost forgotten it. How could he? Oh, how he wished this was real. He wished he could feel those arms and not just the memory of them. He wanted it to be true. He wanted it so badly. His chest felt like it was crumbling away into dust.
But nothing’s greater
Than the rush that comes with your embrace
And in this world of loneliness
I see your face
Yet everyone around me
Thinking that I’m going crazy
Maybe, maybe!
He stepped up to the mirror, reaching out, wanting to step into it. It was like looking out of a window into a never ending filed of flowers that stretched on into the sky for forever.
“You need to get out, Cloud,” Tifa’s voice came from behind him. There she was, standing at a door in another mirror. “”You just need to do something. You’re going to go crazy if you don’t.”
He could see himself turning away from her. He looked so stricken. Had he really looked like that? Is this what everybody was seeing? “You…you want me to…go?”
“You loved him, Cloud. I get it. Really, I do. You loved both of them. But, this isn’t healthy.”
Loved?
No! Its love!
He would always love them. He will never stop loving them! There is no loved! Its love, goddamn it! LOVE!
“You don’t understand,” his reflection whispered to her retreating shadow. “You try, but you will never feel the pain I’m feeling. Nobody will ever know or understand my pain.”
His eyes widened. Nobody knew his pain. Nobody would ever understand how he felt.
But I don’t care what they say
I’m in love with you
They try to pull me away
But they don’t know the truth
My hearts crippled by the vein
That I keep on closing
You cut me open and I
He could suddenly feel the rain falling down on his head, and feel the slippery mud under his hands. He could feel it under his nails and could still remember how slippery that mucky slush had been.
“ZACK!”
He turned to another mirror and stumbled backwards. NO! He didn’t want to see! Stop it! Why wasn’t he looking away! Make it stop!
He watched himself fall to his knees, seeing that his hands were suddenly covered in bloody mud that was trailing all around Zack’s fallen form. It was his. It was Zack’s blood. He could see it on his face and he could actually smell the coppery scent. It was so sweet and sickening. It reminded him of apples.
He watched Zack reach up and pull him down against him.
“I…love…you…”
Thunder echoed from the mirror and lightning filled the glass as his voice filled the cold air.
And it’s draining all of me
Oh they find it hard to believe
I’ll be wearing these scars
For everyone to see…
A light flashed above his head and the music was suddenly so soft. It was like a snowy white feather falling from a black sky. His voice flowed from his lips like a whispering molten starlit stream.
I don’t care what they say
I’m in love with you
They try to pull me away
But they don’t know the truth
My heart’s crippled by the vein
That I keep on closing
You cut me open and I…
His voice soared higher than those in which he was named after. It was strong, clean, and sweeter than amber honey in the sunlight. He looked to see that tears of blood were streaming from his eyes in the smooth glass.
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
You cut me open and I…
The glass all around him cracked and his voice soared like a siren’s over the sound of its shattering violence. His voice was like a pair of mighty wings, cutting like razor sharp daggers through those dark clouds in all the falling fragments, scattering them in its powerful wake.
He looked up at the ceiling with tears dripping from his chin, shimmering like crystal droplets in the light. He trembled when he felt a pair of arms wrap around him and he leaned his head forward. It looked like his head was enveloped in a halo of golden-white radiance.
He could feel that oh so familiar press of possessive lips against the back of his neck. He wanted Zack to be here. He wanted him so much. It was killing him. He looked to see that he had cut his arm. He watched the ruby stream flow from the tiny gash down his milky white flesh.
“I did it all for you, Cloud,” the voice whispered, arms squeezing him gently. “I wouldn’t let them take you away from me.”
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
You cut me open and I…
He lifted his head, seeing that he was all alone amidst the shattered mirrors. There was nobody with him and all was silent. He looked around with blurry eyes and wiped them away with the back of his palm.
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
He stumbled to his feet and realized that he was trapped. He was completely surrounded by broken shards of glass. If he moved, he would cut his feet all to hell. But, he had to leave. So, he just held his breath and ran.
Why had he left the room? He should have just stayed there. He should have just waited for Vincent to come see him. That would have been the smart thing to do.
He just ran.
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Dio, the owner of the Gold Saucer, stepped from the shadows in awe. It was like the savior of the world had been lost in some enchanting and horrific dream up there. He had never heard such an amazingly beautiful and haunting voice in all his life. The blond had sent chills racing down his spine when all the mirrors had shattered.
“Cloud Strife,” he said to himself, turning to the shadows behind him. “Where had he been hiding that voice all this time?”
Vincent was holding the blonde’s left shoe in his talons. “Trapped and drowning in sorrow.”
“What?” Dio asked him. “What are you talking about? That kid saved the world.”
“What do you think?” Vincent asked him. “Does he have the job?”
Dio looked down at his feet. “I think I need a tissue and some anti-depressants.”
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Vincent turned from him with shoe in hand. He had to go find Cloud. He was really worried about him now. What the hell had been going on up there on the stage and what had happened with the mirrors? There was glass all over the place. He had wanted Cloud to sing for Dio in the room, but they had found him here, singing like there was nobody around to hear him.
Where had his other shoe gotten off to? How come he hadn’t had a shirt on?
“Shit!” He hissed, suddenly racing off in a red blur in the direction Cloud had ran, realizing the blond had ran through a sea of broken glass. “He’s probably cut himself.”
His cell phone began to ring. He reached down into his leather pocket and picked it up.
“Hello?”
“Vincent?”
“Yes.”
“How is Cloud?”
“He’s good,” Vincent lied. Why in the world was Tifa calling him now.
“Is he getting out any?” She asked.
“He won the Monster Battle Contest,” he told her, knowing that was true. He had heard the announcements all over the place. Maybe that’s how Cloud had lost his shirt and shoe.
“Oh, that’s good,” she said, sounding excited. “I’m so happy that he’s doing things.”
Vincent told her all was good. She sounded like the guy’s mother.
“I really have to go now,” he told her, running up the steps towards the faculty lift. “I think Cloud wanted to go eat at the new restaurant Dio just had built.”
“Oh,” she said, sounding even more pleased. “That’s wonderful. I’m glad he’s eating again.”
“Yeah,” he said, pushing the spooky green button that said Ghost. “I’ll take good care of him. I’ll tell him you called, okay?”
“Thanks,” she said. “Take care, Vincent.”
“You, too,” he said, hanging up, pushing the stupid button again, and cursing for it to hurry up.
Was he panicking? Yes, yes he was. Cloud was the kind of guy who never knew if he was hurt or not. He was probably standing in a pool of his own blood, wondering why his feet were wet.
“COME ON!” He yelled, punching the machine. It jolted with him and it began to rise. “That’s more like it.”
TBC…
Please review and tell me what you think. Thank you all so much for your wonderful reviews. Next chapter, Vincent and Cloud have some action. I promise. It’s getting good. I hope all is well for everyone. Take care and stay safe this weekend.
Flora.
Note: Song lyrics belong to Leona Lewis.