NEVER FORGET

CHAPTER ONE

"Look, how many times do I have to tell you people? I don't have any carpets to be cleaned! … No, I don't want you to put a carpet down for me. … I like hardwood floors! I'm going to live in this apartment with hardwood floors until I die! … What do you mean, 'when will that be?' Stop harassing me!"

Cloud slammed the receiver down, stalked over to the couch and flopped down, staring at the blank television set for a moment.

"Cloud…" came the rich, velvety voice from the bedroom, "yell a little louder next time. I don't think you woke up the people in Wutai."

Cloud draped his arm over the back of the couch and turned his torso. "I'm sorry," he apologised. I didn't want to wake you, but that same company has been calling nearly every morning for weeks." Cloud reached out his hand and pouted playfully. "Forgive me?"

Sephiroth laughed. "How could I say no to a face as cute as yours?" He came forward and took Cloud's hand in his. "Forgiven," Sephiroth murmured as he leaned forward and kissed Cloud tenderly.

Cloud returned the kiss and he watched Sephiroth as he strode into the kitchen. The silver-haired man wore only a pair of boxer shorts. Cloud enjoyed watching the play of his love's muscles as Sephiroth moved. He loved Sephiroth's body--his hands, his legs, his hair, his smooth chest, broad shoulders… Cloud shivered slightly and went into the small kitchen.

Sephiroth was leaning over the counter, waiting for his toast to pop. Cloud came up and wrapped his arms around him, pressing light kisses to Sephiroth's shoulder. Sephiroth purred, sounding like a large cat.

"I'm sorry for sleeping in so late," Sephiroth said softly.

Cloud just continued kissing, rubbing his hands over Sephiroth's muscular chest and stomach.

A soft, blissful sigh escaped from Sephiroth. "I supposed it's no more late-night reading for me—" Cloud's fingers played with Sephiroth's nipple—"hmmm… I prefer waking up with you in my arms…"

Sephiroth's words trailed off as Cloud's hands found the waistband of his boxers and slid down under the soft fabric.

A moan escaped Sephiroth's throat.

"The first moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were special."

"Really, Sephiroth?"

"Oh, yes, Cloud… you're so very special… mmmm… oh yes!"

Cloud writhed in pleasure, letting out gasps and moans of delight as the older man moved steadily over him. For the next few minutes, the only sounds were those of two men deep in the throes of desire and ecstasy. First Cloud, then Sephiroth cried out, and they melted into each other's arms on the bed. Cloud rested his head on Sephiroth's chest and Sephiroth held his lover tightly.

Stroking Cloud's blond hair, Sephiroth spoke softly. "We are meant to be, Cloud, I can feel it. We are one; always have been and always will be. If something in the future separates us, forcing us to be apart, we will still be one. And we will find each other's arms again."

"Promise?" Cloud whispered.

"I promise. Because… I love you, Cloud." He held his breath.

"I love you too, Sephiroth."

Sephiroth let out his breath in relief and felt his heart soar. He hugged Cloud warmly, and kissed his forehead. He stroked the young man's back as they drifted off to sleep.

Cloud easily admitted it—his lover fascinated him. He loved to watch Sephiroth as he went about all those normal, everyday things that everyone did. But for some reason, they did not seem so commonplace once Sephiroth was involved.

Sephiroth was seated across the small, round table. His perfect brow was furrowed in concentration as he worked on today's crossword puzzle. He twirled the pencil around in his fingers and he leaned his chin on his left hand. Then he would grin as he figured things out and would start scribbling furiously.

This open admiration was brought to a sudden end, as there was a knock on the door. "I'll get that," Cloud offered. He got up and walked across the apartment to open the door. No one was there; however, there was a long, white box on the floor. He frowned, picked it up, and glanced along the hallway. No one but the janitor.

"Phil?" Cloud called out.

The janitor turned. "Yeah?"

Cloud held up the box. "Do you know who left this?" he asked.

"Yeah—I left it," Phil replied, leaning on his cart. "Someone gave it to me and told me to leave it for him."

"Him? What did he look like?"

"I couldn't really tell, kid." Phil shrugged. "He was wearing a cloak and had a white scarf covering almost all of his face. His eyes were blue, and his voice was really raspy—it probably wasn't always like that, it was so bad… probably had a bad injury or something."

Cloud frowned. "Thanks, Phil." He went back into the apartment, making sure to lock the door behind him.

"Who was it?" Sephiroth asked, not looking up from his puzzle.

"Phil," Cloud replied, coming back into the kitchen.

"Phil?" Sephiroth echoed, this time glancing up. "The janitor?"

"Yep. Someone asked him to leave this for us." Cloud put the box on the table.

Sephiroth eyed the box. "What's in it?" he inquired.

"Don't know—I haven't opened it."

"Well, why don't we do that now?" Sephiroth stood, and lifted the lid off. He arched one of his eyebrows. In the box were two dead roses. "How cliché," he murmured.

"Okay, that's just sick," Cloud commented.

"Also very old." Sephiroth closed the box, then went and put it in the garbage.

"Who would send us dead flowers?" Cloud demanded.

"A very unimaginative weirdo," Sephiroth replied calmly.

A frown crossed over Cloud's face, and he looked dubiously at Sephiroth. "I'm not so sure it's that simple," he said.

"Oh, Cloud," Sephiroth smiles, fondly caressing the younger man's cheek. "You worry too much. I'm sure it's just a sick prank. You know how immature people are, and oddballs are a dime a dozen here in Midgar."

Cloud took Sephiroth's hand in his, Mako-blue eyes staring into Mako-aquamarine eyes. "Sephiroth, you know who we are. We both have reputations and we have had many enemies over the years. There are probably still people out there that we don't know about. They would love to get rid of one, or both, of us. Just because the past eight months have been quiet doesn't mean we'll be safe from now on."

A moment of silence passed, as Sephiroth regarded the young man in front of him. He held Cloud's hand, then tightened his grip in a squeeze, and kissed the back of Cloud's hand. He grinned wryly. "When did you get so smart?" Sephiroth teased lightly.

"I've had a good role-model," Cloud replied.

It looked almost as though Sephiroth was going to blush. "You're probably right, Cloud… it might not be a good idea to pass this off lightly. And considering your twenty-fifth birthday is right around the corner, this might not be a simple coincidence. We should keep our eyes open."

"I'm glad you agree." Cloud smiles, then leaned up to kiss Sephiroth gently.

Sephiroth and Cloud sat across from each other in a cosy booth. They held hands over the table as they talked, looking deeply into each other's eyes with the expression of true love. One could almost see the little cartoon hearts floating over their heads.

The sound of their waiter clearing his throat broke them out of their world. He placed their meals in front of them and walked away, shaking his head a bit. The two men chuckled, then dug into their food.

After a half-hour had passed, they were working their way through their shared dessert—a large banana split. Things were peaceful in the restaurant and Cloud and Sephiroth exchanged idle chitchat once they were finished. Then, ignoring the stares of the other patrons in the restaurant, they walked hand-in-hand out to the dance floor. They melted perfectly into each other's arms. Cloud rested his head on Sephiroth's chest, his hands on Sephiroth's lower back, while Sephiroth simply enfolded Cloud in his strong arms as they swayed together.

Everything was perfect. They were in their own world; no one existed but Cloud and Sephiroth. The music would change, and their movements flowed perfectly into the next rhythm and tempo, as though their minds and bodies were one.

Their heaven was suddenly and rudely destroyed only a few moments later.

Gunshots rang out. Women screamed. Tables were overturned as people scattered everywhere. There was the sound of glass being shattered. Commands were being shouted.

Cloud and Sephiroth were defenceless.

Sephiroth grabbed Cloud's hand and tugged him off the dance floor, shoving his way into the crowd of frightened people. He hoped that they could blend into the crowd.

Four men and a woman finally came into view, herding everyone into this general area. The five people were all wearing dark blue suits, and each held a gun—and all probably had other concealed weapons.

"Turks?" Cloud whispered incredulously to Sephiroth. He heard others whispering the same thing.

"It looks that way," Sephiroth whispered back. "And if they really are Turks…"

"They're most likely looking for us," Cloud finished for him.

"Exactly," Sephiroth said tensely, tightening his grip on Cloud's hand.

The woman stepped forward. "Well, now that we're all here," she said, "I supposed it's time to introduce ourselves. We're the newest generation of the Turks."

"They look pretty young, "Cloud murmured.

"My name," the woman continued, "is Adelle. I'm in charge of things. And the gentlemen are Dakota, Axle, Hunter, and Damon." Her eyes scanned the crowd. "Now… there's no need for anyone to get hurt, or die, here tonight. We're reasonable people."

"Oh, of course," Sephiroth muttered sarcastically.

"All we want is someone named Cloud Strife. If he comes with us peacefully, nothing bad will happen. However, if there is a problem with this, something unfortunate may end up occurring, and we don't want that, now do we?"

There was silence.

Adelle tapped her foot. "Come on, ladies and gentlemen…"

Still silence.

Adelle raised her gun, pointing it at a woman's head.

"There!" cried out a horrified bartender, pointing at Cloud. "He's right there!"

Sephiroth swore, as people started moving out of the way.

"Come on, Cloud," Adelle said.

Cloud sighed. He let go of Sephiroth's hand and stepped forward. "Happy?" he demanded.

"Very," she replied.

She raised her gun and pulled the trigger.

Cloud collapsed to the floor.