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You try your best to hide the grimace that begs to take over your facial features as some form of release; an outlet to deal with the flare of pain that suddenly strikes through your spine. It hurts like hell and although you are no fighter, you're still a healer who deals with minor injuries as you enter battles to be a good support. However, you can only do so much—it's hard to stand behind a façade when one moment you're perfectly fine standing, and the next you are about to double over from the way your back burns and throbs.
Your right leg abruptly fails from underneath you and makes you stumble, nearly tripping before an arm curls around your waist with reflexes that can compare to those of a hawk. You unintentionally end up leaning onto Cloud for support as he gently brings you to kneel on the ground, knowing that the change in position can help to stabilize your body. Your barely audible whisper of thanks is drowned out by the worried voices that erupt from all around you.
"Are you okay?" Tifa rushes to your side in just a few seconds (bless her sweet soul) and the hand she places on your shoulder practically takes all the ache in your body away. Seeing the concerned look on her face brings you to your senses in almost an instant, and you quickly straighten your back as if that would prove that you're uninjured.
"I-I'm fine," you say, and you internally cringe. Even you can hear the lies that are laced in your own voice. "My leg just cramped up, is all."
You ignore the stare that Cloud narrows straight into the back of your head.
"Are you sure?" Aerith pops up from behind Tifa. She turns to Barret, who is sporting the same troubled expression she is. "That doesn't just happen out of nowhere. Quick, get a glass of water."
"Very sure," you insist. Although your heart screams in protest when you peel away from Cloud's touch, you know it's for the better to not keep leaning into his hold (even though you just want to melt right into it) in front of the team and to appear alright and fine.
To your absolute dismay, no one seems to believe your statements of I swear I'm fine and if you don't get random cramps you're truly not normal, and you end up forced to rest in bed instead of continuing to talk about your plans of what's next with the team. You gulp, shifting under your covers and adjusting the way your head rests on your pillow, but nothing can get you comfortable enough to sleep under Cloud's gaze.
Throughout Gaia, soulmates aren't known to be uncommon, but they aren't exactly known to be common either. The only person you know personally to have had actually found their soulmate was a neighbor from your childhood that you were still in contact with. For her, she found her soulmate when she stubbed her toe in the same room as them and they had both jumped from the pain. The pain between soulmates is supposed to be shared right away.
But for you and Cloud, it's different.
You still don't know why. Your educated guess is that it has to do with the mako in him, but even if that was true, it still doesn't add up why the pain he receives doesn't go to you until minutes, hours or sometimes even literal days later. Only once before has it gone to you straight away (you recall the sting in your arm when he got pinched by Barret), and all of the other times it has gone to you after a long moment has passed. What is even weirder is that most of the pain that you receive on your own does not get transferred to Cloud, which leads back to your initial guess: he's too strong to feel your pain. Right now, you suspect that the pain you currently feel lingering on the skin of your back has been from the battle your team fought just this morning, with Cloud on the frontlines.
You ignore the way he piercingly stares at you from his spot across the room, arms crossed and tall figure leaning against the door. You can tell he is taking in the state that you are in, trying to tell if you are still hurt or not. You start to panic as he suddenly pushes off the wall and begins walking towards you, heart thudding uncomfortably against your chest when he appears beside the bed. The leather of Cloud's glove feels familiar when his hand wraps around your upper arm and easily pulls you to sit up, gentle and careful with his actions.
You don't know what to say, or if you should say anything at all when he grabs a chair from your desk with one hand and brings it towards himself. He casually takes a seat and makes no move to start conversation, and you can't help but flinch when you feel his index finger touch and slowly trace down your spine.
While Tifa's touch is comforting and full of warmth, Cloud's touch is rare and stimulating. You welcome it all the same, even as you feel yourself becoming more flustered for every second he continues to keep all of his attention onto your back—as if he can tell if you're hurting just by looking at it. However, you wince when he suddenly pokes at a tender spot that has pain pulsing through you, and now he can truly acknowledge your condition with raised eyebrows.
"It hurts," he finally speaks. It's a statement and not a question.
"Not that much!" You are quick to reassure him as if he is the one who needs reassuring. You're glad he can't see your expression from his position behind you—a great warmth had already coursed through your body and to your head just from his simple touch. "It may have only kicked in just earlier, but it'll go away very soon."
"How can you be so sure?" He shuts up whatever reply you have next with a hand on your lower back, and in just a few seconds, his hand cups your hip and tilts you back to meet his eyes. You gulp as he holds your eye contact like it's nothing. "Why do you always act like it's nothing when it's not? You're so stupid."
"H-Hey!" You stammer and gape at the audacity. "Maybe if you haven't gotten hurt in the first place—"
This is exactly what you wanted to prevent from happening. You don't want Cloud to feel guilty but he does, and you can tell by his expression and in the way he stares at you like he wants to say something but he can't.
So he doesn't. At least, not yet.
You yelp in complete surprise when his arms wrap around you, one of his big hands gently cupping your head and holding you against his chest while the other lightly, but strongly, grips your shoulder. It's shocking and uncharacteristic of him to hug you, but you welcome the special feeling as your arms move to hug him back. You try not to look at the muscles in his arm or to eye at his defined collarbone like a starved man, so you instead tuck your face further into his chest. You nearly start giggling like a middle-schooler when you feel him sport a small smile against the top of your head.
"Sorry," Cloud then quietly mutters. You don't interrupt to let him keep going. "There were too many, and one of them got a hit to my back. I should've known you would've felt it later instead of right at that moment."
You're assuming them means the enemies you were fighting, but you don't know who exactly because you were too busy trying to heal and be a good support. You were also trying to ignore the way your heart sped when you noticed him glancing at you, checking on you as if he wasn't mid-battle. You know telling him that it's okay will just make him narrow his eyes, so you only nod in response and try not to look too disappointed when he pulls away.
"Do you..." He averts his gaze in an almost shy way, and you internally grin. "...still feel the pain?"
"Nope. It's all gone, thanks to my danger prone boyfriend."
"You must really be alright if you're well enough to tease me," he deadpans. "You know I don't get hurt a lot."
You finally let out a giggle that shifts into a laugh when he glares at you. But you know he truly cannot be annoyed with you—the adoration he holds in his eyes as he looks at you tells you so.
"Is that so? I think I should be the one to dictate that, considering you can't even feel your own pain when you get hurt."
He clicks his tongue before he remarks, "I guess that means you should start working out more often then."
These are the moments you like to relish in the most. Between harsh battles and life threatening moments, these rare moments like dumb banter behind closed doors with Cloud are the ones you absolutely love to no limit. Never would you have thought that you would have a soulmate, let alone be able to find them.
But he's here, right before you, smiling a smile that no one else but you has seen before.
You wouldn't have anyone else as your soulmate, even if it hurts. Because for Cloud Strife, it is absolutely worth the pain.