Kalli's Journal

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Storms and Sun

Sora opened his eyes before closing them quickly again, a little surprised at the amount of sunshine streaming in through the window he hadn't bothered closing the night before. There didn't seem to be much of a breeze coming in off the water.

He opened his eyes again and blinked a few times. No, the curtains were only moving in tiny ripples at the edges of the window where they'd been pushed some time before. Sora couldn't remember when - he tended to forget to close things, other than doors. But it hadn't rained in quite some time... Not since-

Slowly, Sora reached back to where another lump was firmly entangled in the bed covers. Still there. The lump moved a bit, seemingly irritated with the blankets for a moment before settling back.

Sora let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in. And then he wanted to laugh. Cloud was still there with him, at least for another day.

He didn't know how long it would last, but he really didn't care. The years had taught him that even if he couldn't keep a person with him, he could keep memories of that person in his heart. Cloud had taught him things he'd never forget, ranging from swordplay to the simple philosophy of someone with a single purpose who couldn't help but be ensnared along the way.

That single purpose... Sora knew Cloud would leave, because Cloud tended to do that. He would vanish like he arrived, in the midst of a storm that shook every roof and tree and rewrote a bit of the coastline. That was Cloud.

Sora could remember his surprise - he was still surprised - at seeing Cloud down on the beach, soaking wet and looking angrily around as if the bright sun rising over broken tree limbs and loose shingles was somehow at fault for his problems.

And still surprised, Sora had to admit, at the sight of Cloud's back as he pulled off his wet shirt after being quite literally dragged back to where Sora had been living since reaching eighteen. Sometimes there were gaps in his memory, places that hadn't quite ever filled in, and moments he was unsure of, but Sora knew Cloud had not always had such even skin, marred only by a few light and fading pinkish scars.

He had reached out and touched, partly out of curiosity and partly because of things that Leon had told him about Cloud that went quite well with things that he was slowly discovering about himself.

Not quite knowing what he'd been doing and a little unsure why Cloud wasn't refusing, stopping hadn't even been an option - not until they'd re-imagined that surging storm with their bodies and then awkwardly looked to one another for an answer.

Weeks had passed. Cloud still slept on the far side of the bed as if somehow it kept him impartial and dedicated to his task.

And Cloud would claim that he could only follow his quarry, so Sephiroth had to be somewhere... Sora wasn't sure he was supposed to be looking, though. He'd always found Sephiroth in the past and had to pull his keyblade from where it rested just to keep the peace.

"It's morning," Sora said as he reached back and shook the lump behind him, a little unsure at first if he'd found a shoulder or hip or arm or knee. Cloud thrashed about - had nightmares sometimes.

"I know." There was just a bit of slumber left in Cloud's voice, making it sound soft and young. Sora had noticed that - Cloud didn't seem to age. Whatever he was, the passage of time hadn't affected him.

"We can..." Search. Comb the beach. Ask around for any clue. Head out to the island that had been taken over by younger children. Go anywhere...

Bring everything one step closer to an ending.

Sora wanted to ask if Cloud would consider staying, if he could, if there was any way to slither and struggle out of the tight grip of fate even though he knew the answer. He wasn't supposed to mess with other worlds and other hearts even though he always did. Such was the power of the keyblade. It was... temptation.

When he was younger, it hadn't quite felt like that. And even though he and Riku and Kairi had swore they would never try to use their blades on something benign, the temptation welled up every now and again.

With Cloud, it was strong, if there was a way to break bindings.

"Ask around the outskirts again. He can't subsist solely on his own." Cloud sounded more awake, and he burrowed out of the blankets and slid from the end at the end of the bed onto the floor before stretching.

Sora just watched him, no longer bothered by the bright light coming in through the window as he focused on the angles and curves of Cloud's body, at what was there and what wasn't. That wing...

"You don't change."

"Huh?" Sora scrambled out of bed, trying to cover his nudity without thinking that Cloud was the one he'd been naked with.

"Looking at me with such curiosity," Cloud replied as he pulled on his pants. "Don't."

"I remember," Sora said slowly. He did, even if those memories were a little fuzzy in parts, even though the events had only been a handful of years prior. Too fuzzy, as if...

They both had their secrets and things better left unsaid.

"Outskirts," Sora finally echoed. He had clean clothing somewhere. And they would create plenty of memories, things to stash away in his heart and keep safe.

Already he and Cloud had crossed paths three times, all thanks to Cloud's dual-natured curse. Parting would not be permanent. They could...

Sora smiled as he glanced one last time towards the window before concentrating on finding clothing of his own. The sun was shining brightly on the day and when dusk fell, perhaps he would offer one of his secrets in exchange for one of Cloud's.