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Cloud was beginning to tire, it was bound to happen. He had been fighting The Remnants for days, unable to rest from a combination of the Stigma and their actions, and had been fighting Kadaj in an attempt to destroy the last bit of Jenova’s remains.
Why there even were Jenova remains around at all, was something he was very interested in knowing and would quite possibly lead him to knocking Rufus’ skull in.
Now he was fighting Sephiroth. Not just Sephiroth though, no. He was fighting a fresh Sephiroth, all on his own. Yes, this Kadaj-Sephiroth was a bit slower than the actual one and Cloud was sure that was the only reason he wasn’t dead yet, he hadn’t been prepared to fight Sephiroth on his own.
Especially after days without rest of any kind.
He landed awkwardly onto the slanted, crumbling ruins, feeling the tendons of his ankle twist and almost give out under him. The sensation drew a pained gasp from him, dropping to his knees from the pain and exhaustion.
Kadaj-Sephiroth was approaching him now, stalking towards where he had crumbled with a sinister smirk on his face. Cloud tried to get up, trying to get his feet back under him and steady enough to continue the fight against Sephiroth.
He could feel the burn of a Break running through his body. If he could just get up, then this fight might just turn in his favour.
Before Kadaj-Sephiroth could get any closer, a vaguely human-shaped red blur slammed into him, propelling them both away from Cloud. Cloud stared after the two for a moment, listening to the sharp sounds of colliding metal ring through the air.
He heaved a sigh, relaxing into the ground slightly. He could finally rest, even if it was only for a few moments.
He concentrated some of his energy into the Mastered Restore Materia held within his bracer, coaxing the magic into working to his desire. He soon felt the revitalising wash of Curative magic start to work at his injuries, restoring energy to his tired form.
He opened his eyes after cutting off the flow of energy into the Materia, turning towards the sounds of battle, searching out the combatants’ forms. He couldn’t quite make them out, the two barely more than coloured blurs of motion to even his enhanced eyes.
That left the question; Who was the person currently fighting Kadaj-Sephiroth? It moved too humanely to be Nanaki and Vincent preferred to fight from a distance, gunslinger that he was. Not to mention, he doubted that either of them followed them into the depths of the ruins.
He shrugged his shoulders, it didn’t really matter who the other was. If they wanted to fight a Sephiroth than Cloud was not going to deter them at all.
He turned his eyes away from the fight, flicking his gaze around his surroundings absentmindedly. It was actually kind of nice out here, it was quiet without the overwhelming bustle of people, the clouds were casting some nice-looking shadows over the ruins and besides the fight happening between the coloured blurs it was peaceful.
Meteor wasn’t coming down, Sephiroth wasn’t actively trying to kill him right now, nothing hurt too much at the moment. This was fine.
He heard a soft scraping sound from behind him, he turned cautiously preparing for a fight. He froze at the sight before him.
The other two remnants, Yazoo and Loz, had somehow made their way into the ruins and climbed up the side of the building. They looked awful, clothing and hair singed and burns littered their bodies. Last he knew, the Turks had been planning to bomb the two.
They were both using the other to stay standing, stumbling gradually closer to where Cloud was resting. He watched them openly until they were right in front of him.
He wasn’t sure what he expected, perhaps an attack of some kind but instead they collapsed beside him, curling towards him in some instinctual search for comfort. They eventually stopped moving when they had curled themselves securely around him, their pained breathing evening out a little bit.
Cloud didn’t have the heart to try to push them away, so he left there momentarily, thinking through what his next actions should be.
He should probably get them something more secure, preferably out of the elements. He needed to check around to see if there was anywhere they could rest.
He tried to stand up in order to search the area, but when he started to move Yazoo, the pretty one, clamped his hand around Cloud’s arm, halting him. Yazoo gazed up at him with pained eyes, breathing growing rapidly in panic as he tried to keep Cloud there.
Cloud pressed his hand to the crown of Yazoo’s head, ruffling his hair slightly trying to calm the distressed male. It worked with Denzel and Marlene, hopefully it would work here.
It seemed to as Yazoo’s breathing calmed slightly and the grip around his arm loosened minutely. He pressed him forehead to the other’s keeping eye contact as he spoke, hoping to convey that he was telling the truth, “Just going to look for somewhere safer. I’ll be right back.”
Yazoo gazed back at him for several minutes until he nodded in agreement, releasing Cloud completely, instead pressing into his brother’s body for safety. Cloud watched them momentarily, insuring they were safe before setting off to look for shelter.
He quickly searches the area, soon finding a building that’s not too destroyed to take shelter in. There’s no monsters taking refuge in the building, so he returns to where he left the two remnants.
Neither had moved from where he left them, beyond shifting to more comfortable positions on the hard concrete of the roof. They’re both hurt and exhausted from the explosion that had caused those injuries, Cloud would heal them when they got to the shelter.
He got them both standing with some effort and began to lead them to the shelter, it took some time for them to get there but they managed eventually.
Now they were all safely tucked away, while the two continued to fight outside. Loz was barely conscious so Cloud worked at healing him first, feeding energy into his Restore Materia and casting the curative magic over the larger male.
The Materia worked quickly, healing most of Loz’s wounds and leaving only faint bruises and burns that would heal quickly from the natural Mako running through his system. After he had finished healing him, Loz slipped into a deep, exhausted sleep against the wall.
Yazoo had been watching Cloud work through weary eyes, they were trained on Loz’s sleeping form now. Observing his even breathing intently.
Cloud placed a hand on Yazoo’s thin shoulder, drawing his attention away from his brother. Yazoo blinked at him blankly, Cloud held up the faintly glowing Materia he held in his hand as answer.
Cloud had more than enough energy to heal Yazoo. Yazoo’s eyes fixated on the gently glow of the orb in his hand, following it dazedly as Cloud moved closer to cast the magic over him.
Yazoo fell against Cloud completely as he began to heal him, resting his face against the hard plain of Cloud’s chest as the magic washed over him. He was quiet as the magic did its work healing the majority of his injuries until only a few minute wounds remained.
Cloud cut off the flow of magic when it had done all it could, pocketing the orb now that he was done with it. He looked down at the body resting against his, seeing dazed emerald eyes looking back up at him.
He lifted an eyebrow in question at the younger, only for Yazoo to burrow deeper into the warmth of Cloud’s chest. He rolled his eyes in bemusement and began to shuffle them both towards the wall.
If the other was going to use him like a pillow, he would at least have something to lean on himself.
He settled against the wall next to Loz’s form only to have the mass of bulk curl into his side and rest against him. He sighed at the action, slumping against the wall under the combined weight of the two.
Loz was resting contently against one shoulder and Yazoo was leaning against the other watching Cloud with dazed, tired eyes. He focused on Yazoo, watching hazy green eyes trace over his face.
Cloud froze when Yazoo raise his hand, relaxing when the other only reached up to trace the scar above his eyebrow, one the shooter had put there, overwriting the faint line left by Sephiroth at Meteorfall two years prior.
He hadn’t been expecting that, the wound had healed since their encounter in the Forgotten Capital, leaving only healed skin and the new scar replacing the old.
Yazoo continued to trace the scar on Cloud’s face, ignoring Cloud’s expression entirely as his pale finger moved over the skin continuously.
Cloud decided not to bother asking about it, the other probably had no idea about person space at all and was just doing his own weird thing. No, he wasn’t just letting Yazoo do it because he thought he was pretty and the little frown between his eyes was adorable. Not at all.
Why was Yazoo even frowning for anyway?
“What’s up?” He hoped the question wouldn’t freak him out too much.
Yazoo stopped completely, hand frozen on Cloud’s face as he stared at the blonde. The hand trembled slightly against his face as Yazoo stared at him.
Cloud thought Yazoo wasn’t going to answer him for a moment, then he spoke in his soft apathetic tone. “For some reason, I do not like the thought that big brother scarred you.” The answer was hesitant, Yazoo paused between his words as he thought through how to say what was on his mind.
Cloud stared at Yazoo for a moment, humming in consideration of the other’s words. He didn’t know what to say to that.
Yazoo seemed to accept his silence as an answer though, starting to run his fingers along Cloud’s face again. Only now a bit more confidently, running pale, slim fingers all over Cloud’s face, mapping it out.
Cloud shrugged to himself and allowed Yazoo to do as he wished, steadying his breathing so he could get a bit of rest.
He had been resting for a while when the red man entered. Yazoo who had by then finished running his exploration, raised his head from where it was resting against Cloud’s chest and flinched back into Cloud.
The man strode forward confidently, only to pause at the sense Cloud made with the two curled into him. “What on earth are you doing?” The man’s voice was incredulous as he spoke, staring straight at Cloud with cold eyes.
Cloud just shrugged in reply before giving his reason, “The Turks blew them up.” The man stared at him, one fine brow raised questioningly, rolling his eyes dramatically when he realized Cloud wasn’t going to say anymore.
The man moved closer until he could set Kadaj down on Cloud, moving himself away once he was free of the teen’s body weight. He watched curiously as Kadaj managed to tuck himself under Cloud’s chin, curling into the rain-damp fabric.
Cloud rolls his eyes in exasperation at the action but allows it.
He snorted in amusement from across the room, but Cloud simply ignored him more concerned about whether Kadaj was injured or not. A quick search revealed none and since Kadaj hadn’t flinched away in pain, Cloud was going to assume that the younger was fine.
Yazoo had been watching the man cautiously since he appeared, Cloud assumed that if Yazoo still had his weapons they’d be trained on the stranger.
The stranger turned to leave, shoulders shaking minutely from soft chuckles, he lifted his hand in farewell as he left. Cloud watched the redhead until he manifested a single large black wing and took off.
He hadn’t been too bad, Cloud supposed. Well, anyone else willing to fight Sephiroth instead of getting him to do it was great. He really didn’t want to be impaled by Sephiroth’s seven-foot sword again.
Cloud shifted slightly, freezing when Kadaj made a distressed noise high in his throat at the movement. Cloud tried to comfort the distressed teen, tugging him closer to his chest and running a hand along his back.
Yazoo’s returned to tracing the new scar, ignoring what was going on with his brother.
Cloud was soon able to calm Kadaj, leaning back against the wall as comfortably as he could under the weight of the three. Loz weighing down up of his limbs, Kadaj tucked against his chest and Yazoo draped over him running fingers over his scar.
Yazoo hummed contently, pressing closer to Cloud as he started to fall asleep. His fingers slackened, falling away as Yazoo rested his head against Cloud. Cloud hears him mutter softly, tone heavy with exhaustion, “My Cloud… big brother can’t have you.”
Cloud glanced at Yazoo out of the corner of his eye, wanting to question the shooter but the other had already fallen into unconsciousness.
Cloud was left to his own thoughts then, with the three using him as a living pillow. He should get out of the ruins, his friends were probably all worried about him. Not to mention he needed to figure out what to do with these three.
He doubted that Sephiroth would be able to return again; unless Shinra had more Jenova bits lying around somewhere. He really needed to ‘talk’ to Rufus.
That’ll have to wait until later though, the three are warm, heavy weights against him and he doubts he’ll be moving anything soon. Especially with how Kadaj keeps making soft noises of distress when he tries to move at all.
This was fine though, the rain from the church would heal the Geostigma, they were relatively safe where they were and he hadn’t been impaled today. Great results for a day, considering Shinra and Sephiroth had been involved.
He relaxed under the weight of the triplets and let himself fall into a light rest.
His friends would find him eventually, he’d worry about things then.