Chasing Destiny

Cloud Strife

"If I ask you something, will you promise not to laugh?"

You lift your head to stare up at him, slightly taken aback by the look of seriousness on his face.

"As long as it's not too stupid, yeah."

You start to laugh as he rolls his eyes, though you immediately stop when you realize he's nervous.

"I'm being sent to The World That Never Was, to make sure that world is purged of the Organization, Nobodies... everything that lurks in the shadows. I know it's not the most exciting place in all of the worlds, but I'd love for you to come with me."

His fingers are running through your hair as he speaks, probably as a way of calming his nerves. Your eyes widen, and he quickly adds:

"But you don't have to, of course! I'd understand."

You bite back a smile as you reach up, placing a hand on the side of his face. His skin is warm beneath your touch, most likely from embarrassment.

"If you're going, I'm going," you tell him, reveling in the look of relief flashing across his features.

Cloud doesn't respond, instead leaning forward and capturing your lips with his. You immediately react to his touch, your hands delving into his hair as he pulls you closer against him on his lap. Reality sets in as his fingers dig into your skin, as if desperate to touch more of you, all of you. There was a future beyond this journey, and the idea is nothing sort of thrilling.

[♥]

An hour later, you and Cloud left Headquarters. Apparently he was supposed to have left last week on his mission, but he had been waiting for you to wake up and walk around again, so that he could bring you along with him. It was so sweet, it almost made you want to cry again. But thankfully, you didn't (though saying goodbye to everyone was almost excruciating; even the excitement of living with Cloud wasn't enough to dull that pain). Roxas and Axel promised to visit soon, to show the two of you around the world in case Cloud was to miss a sign of the Organization. After one more hug and vow to keep in touch with everyone, and you and Cloud were off in Axel's portal.

You arrived atop the castle, and didn't even feel nauseous at glancing over where Vanitas had died; the guilt had died after your dream had ended in the morning. Cloud never let go of your hand as the two of you made your way through the castle, searching for any sign of anything amiss. None was found, so the two of you focused instead on finding the living quarters. Axel and Roxas had given you rather vague directions, and after a few hours of wandering, you were able to find a section of the castle that was filled with anything two people could need; bathrooms, numerous bedrooms, a fully functioning kitchen, a large living room... It was kind of weird, since the Organization had lived here previously, but you were just happy to be there with Cloud.

Life continued like this for months. The world was set right, all signs of the Organization gone. People started moving back to the world, thrilled to live in a place with as much mysticism and excitement as The World That Never Was. After not much time at all, it had turned into a rather large city with a very active night live; at all times of the night music could be heard blaring from the clubs scattered around town, perpetual dark skies keeping the population free and uninhibited.