100 Themes Challenge

Author: RubberDuckyPinwheels AKA TynDawn
Pairing(s): SephirothxCloud, Slight ZackxCloud hints
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Square-enix and do not own any of the mentioned characters, places, etc... and am merely borrowing them for entertainment purposes and will return them in mint condition back to the shelf from whence they came.
Theme: Light
Author’s notes: Wow, I’m on such a roll lately, in the past few days I’ve added more to ‘The laying of Boundaries,’ Wrote two chapters of a whole NEW fic, And I’ve updated here once and now this too! Wow O.O; How long will the rapid updates last? I unno… . Review?

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“Cloud?”

It was so cold? Why was it so freezing?

“Cloud…?”

What was going on?

“Cloud!”

That voice…he knew that voice, but who’s was it again?

“Cloud…!”

Maybe…maybe, it was? Was it…?

“CLOUD!”

Zack was growing desperate now as he held the unconscious blond in his arms, watching the way that Cloud’s eyelids flickered lightly and gave him hope of seeing those eyes open. Maybe…Maybe he’d be okay?

The SOLDIER growled in frustration and pulled Cloud closer to his chest. The blonde was completely naked, exposed. There was absolutely no clothing left, it was all in shreds and was tossed in the alleyway that Zack had found the blonde in. Cloud’s skin had been marred with bite-marks and nail-scratches, freckles of blood were splashed across his shapely cheekbones and accentuated his blonde hair in a completely sick and twisted way. Among the marks of blood, were tiny tears and salty trails, mixing idly with the crimson liquid, but with as disturbing as all of this was to the childish ideals of Zack Fair’s mind, the most disturbing and haunting thing of it all was the way that Cloud’s lips were curled into the faintest of smiles.

Cloud was…smiling?

After all of this?

Why, How could he be smiling?

Cloud couldn’t really be happy!

Could he?

Zack shook his head and laid Cloud back against the ground for a moment, tearing away his own shirt and wrapping it around the blonde, trying to fend off the stready rain-drops that beat against the boy, though one shirt didn’t do very much good.

“Come on, Cloud! Just wake up!” He hissed under his breath as he turned his eyes around the alleyway. To be quite honest, he didn’t know where he could take Cloud…but maybe…maybe he could.

Zack picked up the blonde, holding him close, trying to conceal all of the boy’s naked skin and nudity that he could manage, and he ran.

He bolted through the empty and muddy streets of Midgar, running just as fast as he could as he cradled the blonde to his chest.

Zack was more than terrified now. Even as he ran and jostled the blonde, Cloud didn’t make a single sound.

By the time Zack reached the church, he was panting and his chest was heaving. His hair was matted down to his face and his chest was shivering, the hairs on his neck and his body standing up from the cold…but on the other hand, or rather, in his arms…Cloud was still so cold.

He threw the doors open.

Aerith wasn’t there.

She was no where in sight.

This could have been good or bad, Zack didn’t know.

He decided that wood floor would only be worse for Cloud at the moment and thus laid the boy among the flowers. Lifting his head, he searched quickly for something that he could use to cover Cloud.

--

What was…that?

Cloud’s mind reeled silently at something brushing against his skin, so soft…so gentle, but…it wasn’t skin.

Cloth? Clouds? Silk?

Cloud’s eyes finally managed to open, his body rolling weakly among the tiny mass of growing and prospering flowers.

Yellow…white…?

But…there aren’t any flowers in Midgar…

Then what were?

Giving a groan, Cloud’s eyes adjusted and met the view of dozens of flowers around him, his attention soon drifted above him when he felt something flowing and settling over his chest. Zack had finally managed to find a thin cotton blanket, probably one that Aerith used on the cooler summer nights when she wasn’t yet ready to go home.

“Wh…Who…?”

Cloud mumbled out lightly when he saw a blur of a face above him. He could recognize it. Zack breathed in relief and went to his knees.

“It’s Zack…” He said quietly, brushing a hand over the top of Cloud’s forehead, “You’ll alright now Cloud, You’ll alright,”

Cloud begged to differ, giving a low groan as he stretched slightly under the blanket, an unbearable pain ripping through his backside as tiny drivels of something fell from his thighs. What was that? He couldn’t even remember what happened.

“Z…Zack,” He moaned out lightly, fighting to keep his eyes open as he moved his arms behind himself, wanting to sit up. Before Zack gave an answer, he moved behind the blond and pulled the boy’s back to his chest, cradling him carefully,

“Careful, Cloud, You’re going to hurt yourself,” Zack warned idly, letting out an unhappy sigh,

“Hurt?” Cloud leaned his head back against Zack’s bare chest, turning his head and absently noting that he smelled like rain-water, “What…what happened…?”

The cadet cringed mentally as he tried to come up with his own answers. Only now realizing that he was naked, he pondered on the pain that came from behind him and came to only one conclusion.

Was he…

Did someone just…

Rape him?

Had he been raped?

Really?

Cloud’s throat tightened at the thought, but Zack answered soon after,

“You…you don’t remember?” Zack was puzzled, and gently ran his hand through Cloud’s hair, “Cloud you…” He sighed out. How was he supposed to explain something like this? “You were with Sephiroth again…”

Sephiroth.

Something inside of Cloud was comforted as a smile flittered across his features.

“Sephiroth…” He sighed out, relaxing against Zack’s chest as his head rolled up and he stared toward the ceiling of the church.

That was right.

He’d been sleeping with Sephiroth for…he didn’t even know how many years.

Sephiroth was rough, he always had been. He was never too kind or gentle, he didn’t worry too much about Cloud’s state of comfort…and Cloud kinda liked it that way.

But…something interrupted Cloud’s contented thoughts.

“Why do you let him do this to you, Cloud?”

Zack’s voice was somewhere between frustrated and worried off his ass.

Cloud only rose his eyebrows and blinked lightly,

“I…It doesn’t bother me,” Cloud responded and turned his eyes away. He knew exactly what Zack was talking about. Basically…Zack was asking, ‘Why do you let him use you?!’

Maybe Cloud wanted to deny that he was willingly letting Sephiroth use him, but…he knew it was true. It was true from the very start. Sephiroth was using Cloud, and Cloud was letting him do it.

Cloud…wanted it.

Well, it was wrong to say that he wanted to be used, but…he wanted to be with Sephiroth…he just had to be around the man. He couldn’t get him off of his mind. Sephiroth was like…an aftertaste. One taste of him, and he was stuck there at the back of your throat forever. Nothing could get Cloud’s mind off of him.

“Doesn’t bother you?” Zack seemed all the more perplexed, his arms shaking lightly, but he didn’t know if it was from the cold…or the slight anger that he felt at Cloud being so…so willing to subject himself to something like this. “Cloud,” He drew in a sharp breath, “He just screwed you unconscious in an alleyway and left you there,” He tried to stay calm, “You could have died out there!” He failed.

Biting his lip, Zack lowered his eyes, “Cloud…just…I don’t get it. Why do you put up with this? I mean…I know that you…that you…” He cut himself, not wanting to say those words that he knew would sting his throat.

So Cloud finished it, “…Love him,”

“Yeah…I know that you do…but Cloud, he…Sephiroth doesn’t care about you. He doesn’t love you,” Zack’s throat burned slightly as he said it, but he knew it was true…they both did.

“I…I know that, but…It’s okay…I just, It doesn’t matter if he’s using me…I just…I want to be around him. I can’t just…” Cloud pursed his lips and closed his eyes,

Zack sighed solemnly, “Let me love you for him,”

Cloud fell speechless as his eyes dropped down to the ground, “…Z…Zack…I…”

”I know that I’m not him Cloud, I know that you want him, but he’d let you die out there without another thought. He. Doesn’t. Care.” Zack drew in a sigh and held the blond closer to his chest, “…Not like I do…” Zack moved his head, lighting pressing a kiss to the back of Cloud’s ear, his eyes flicking out to the window and catching sight of the tiny rays of sunlight that sneaked their way inside. “I’ve always been here for you Cloud, you know that, but I don’t want to just be in the background anymore, I don’t want to be a last resort for you and forgotten the rest of the time,” He continued, “I know that you don’t love me Cloud, I know you don’t…but I just…I want to be able to love you, I want to take care of you…please, just let me,”

“But Zack,” Cloud’s voice wanted to argue back, though, he body wanted to succumb to it, “…I can’t, I don’t want…”

Zack lowered his head, “Use me if you have to,” Zack said quickly, “Just like you let him use you. You don’t have to love me Cloud, you don’t have to care about me, and you don’t even have to call me or look at me, just let me take care of you…”

Cloud closed his eyes and found one of Zack’s hands, lifting it up to his mouth and kissing at the palm as he gave a frown. The skin wasn’t smooth like Sephiroth’s, it was imperfect and marred from years or training and accidents, years of being human. It wasn’t what he wanted, wasn’t what he needed. Zack was too…too caring, but…

“I can’t love you Zack…and I won’t love you, but…I want you to love me, I…I need it…Please Zack, It hurts when…when no ones love you,” Cloud’s voice cracked lightly as he finally came to that realization. Cloud didn’t need the pain that Sephiroth could and always loved to give him. Cloud needed one thing and one thing only, he needed love…just like a child did. He needed someone there for him and he needed gentle hands and even gentler kisses and he needed that one person who would always be there to give it to him.

Cloud hated himself for the fact that Sephiroth could never love him, but…if Zack could love him,

Then Cloud would let him…

Just for a little while and only when no one could see,

When all of the light had disappeared from the world and when Zack could and would be the only one to light his path.