Kompression

Description: It began with a house and a dream, but by its end, there will be magic, murder, and the answers to questions long dead but never destroyed. The boy in his basement will see to that. CloudxSquall, AU.

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy 7 and 8 both belong to Square(-Enix), so don't look at me.

A/N: The FFVII Remake has made me realize that I have been doing Aerith a HUGE disservice for years. My characterization of her in all of my fanfictions so far have been based on her portrayal in Advent Children and Kingdom Hearts, i.e. the self-sacrificing earth mother type. And yeah, she has these characteristics, but what I had forgotten in the many years since I last played the original and now is what a fantastically sassy brat she is. I'm not going to go back and fix all of my old stories, but from now on, I'm writing Aerith the way she should be. She's sweet and kind, sure, but she's also a troublemaker and she swears. In other words, she's amazing. :D

15

It was well past nine in the morning by the time Aerith had arrived at the house, taken care of Vincent to her satisfaction, and had the entire situation explained to her by Cloud and Irvine. With all that accomplished, she sat at the kitchen table with a mug of tea, tapping her mouth idly with one finger as she processed all the information. Cloud sat at the head of the table where he could keep one eye on Squall and the other on Vincent. The former seemed content to sit at Cloud's elbow, having recently woken up from a short nap. The latter was nearly obscured by a wall of plates, glasses, and take-out containers, having quite literally single-handedly worked through the leftovers in Cloud's fridge.

"It's rather like a fantasy novel, isn't it?" she finally commented. Her bright eyes found his, and she frowned disapprovingly at him. "I wish you had told me sooner."

Not in the least bit remorseful, he shook his head and replied, "Sorry, but it was far too dangerous. I didn't want to tell you now, but I had no choice."

She pouted at him a little but didn't press the issue. Instead, her semi-accusing gaze shifted to the other end of the table and the man whose heavily-bandaged arm had been anchored to his body by one of her slings. "Speaking of," she said meaningfully, "I still don't know why I was summoned here at three in the morning. Your explanation left that part out."

"Because I don't know the details myself," Cloud stated. He, too, looked across the table to the only man who knew those answers at the moment. "Vincent? Care to do the honors?"

His friend had sat silently the entire time, allowing others to speak while he focused solely on his recovery. To Cloud's watchful eye, he had seemed mostly himself if a bit subdued, but when the conversation settled squarely on him, Vincent averted his eyes and an unfamiliar expression flitted across his face. It almost looked like shame.

"I …" he said with uncharacteristic hesitation, "I attempted a method to strengthen my magical power, and I succeeded in that endeavor."

The table fell silent as everyone waited for Vincent to give further details. When it became apparent that none would be forthcoming, Cloud frowned heavily and challenged, "That's it? You're not going to say anything else?"

Vincent shook his head. "No."

Annoyed, Cloud opened his mouth to protest, but Irvine beat him to it. "Are you kidding me?" the man exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "We were worried sick about you, and you're not even going to tell us why?"

Vincent flinched as if the older man had struck him. "It's for your own safety," he said quietly, his voice barely carrying across the table.

Cloud's frown deepened, and he leaned forward over the table. "Just a minute, Vince," he said, pointing a finger at him. "You told me last night that what you were about to do was dangerous, and I respected your desire to keep the details to yourself. But you did it; you succeeded. The danger should have passed." He lowered his hand to place it firmly on the table and demanded, "Are you telling us that it hasn't?"

His friend's expression told him everything before Vincent had even inhaled. "I honestly do not know," he answered slowly. "What I've done … well …" His eyes fell, and he stared sightlessly at his remaining good hand. "It isn't forbidden, per se, but it is widely regarded as far too risky to attempt. To my knowledge, I am the only practitioner living to have been lucky enough to have succeeded. All others either failed or died long ago."

"Which means," Cloud finished for him, "you have no precedent to follow and no one you can ask for help." When Vincent nodded, he dropped his head into his hands and sighed. "Remind me why you did this again."

"It was the only thing I could think of to help Squall," his friend answered quietly.

Next to Vincent, Irvine was frowning and tapping out a rhythm on the table with his fingers. "Okay," he interjected, "but that still doesn't explain why you can't tell us what happened. What's so dangerous about knowing what you did?"

Vincent turned to him to answer, but before he could, Aerith clapped her hands together lightly and announced, "I know! You made a deal with the devil, right?"

The three remaining members of the conversation all stared at her in varying degrees of horror and shock.

"What?" she asked their expressions. "It's classic as far as witches and the occult are concerned. And," she added, raising a finger with a smile, "it would explain why Vincent is so hesitant to tell us about it. Who knows what the devil would do if we knew the details?" She grinned broadly at her joke.

"I like her," Irvine announced to the table at large as Cloud returned his head to his hands.

Vincent sighed and shook his head. "The devil as defined in the Christian religion does not exist," he stated in that teaching tone they knew so well.

Cloud peered through his fingers suspiciously at the words "as defined in the Christian religion," but Aerith had moved on with barely a stumble.

"A demon, then," she countered smoothly.

"Oh, I've seen this show!" Irvine cried, far too cheerful for Cloud's liking. "Vincent sells his soul to a demon, and then we spend the rest of the season trying to find a way to save him!"

Aerith's giggles spilled across the table as Vincent rolled his eyes at the pair of them. "I have already explained this," he sighed tiredly. "What you call a soul is merely the inherent magic that a person possesses. Upon the person's death, their soul returns to the collective where it is redistributed to the next generation. It cannot be bought and sold. It is not something that can be transferred from one entity to another."

"Actually, it can," Irvine interjected, leaning forward with a grin, "as long as you trap it in a spell. Like my soul. It was moved in its entirety from my original body to this one."

"Hmm, that is true," Vincent conceded, a pensive expression settling onto his face. "But," he continued undeterred, "just because it can be done doesn't mean that a demon would be interested in it."

"What do you mean?" Irvine cried. "Demons are notorious for wanting as many souls as they can get their claws on!"

Aerith nodded her agreement, but Vincent waved his good hand at them in dismissal. "Again," he stated, "you are relying on Christian teachings and popular fiction. In reality, demons, if such a moniker is even appropriate, are beings of pure magical energy. The magic within a human soul is nothing to them."

Cloud swallowed hard. He could tell where this "lesson" was going, and it was tying his stomach into knots. Carefully, he asked, "What would a demon want from a human, then, if not their soul?"

As he had suspected, Vincent's natural tendency to teach had taken over and blinded him to the implications of what he was saying. "A physical form," he answered without hesitation. "As magical beings, they are unable to interact with the world unless a physical being, such as a human, creates a connection between them. Once that is established, the demon has access to the physical world via the human's body, and the human has access to the demon's superior magical powers."

"Which is what you did," Cloud said darkly, his eyes fixed on his friend, "isn't it, Vincent?" As Vincent's eyes widened with the realization of what he had revealed, Cloud finished, "You created a connection with a demon, increasing your own strength while letting the demon have access to your body."

The silence that fell over the table was thick and heavy with the weight of everyone's horror and distress. To Vincent's credit, he didn't look away but met Cloud's stare with a strange kind of guilty courage. The look of a man who had done something desperate but was not about to apologize for it.

"Yes."

Aerith gasped gently and leaned forward in her chair. "You have a demon inside you?" she whispered. "Right now?"

Vincent shifted his eyes to her. "Yes," he replied quietly.

Her eyes widened in what Cloud belatedly realized was not fear but fascination. "Can it hear us?"

One dark eyebrow slowly began to work its way up Vincent's forehead. "He can, yes."

"Oh, he's male? What's his name?"

"Aerith," Cloud interrupted, frustrated. "Enough. We are talking about a demon, not a cat."

She frowned at him in that way that meant she did not appreciate his tone. "I'm aware of that," she huffed. "However, it seems that our concept of what a demon is is fundamentally wrong. The way Vincent described them, he could just as well have been describing a unicorn or a fairy."

"You know fairies are insanely dangerous, right?" Irvine muttered. "Not sure a unicorn is much better."

"My point," Aerith continued, "is that we shouldn't just assume that he's evil."

"He nearly burned Vincent's arm off," Cloud half-growled. He was more than used to the nurse's kind heart, but in this case, it was starting to piss him off.

"Actually," Vincent said, cutting them all off, "all of you are correct in some form or another." Turning first to the woman beside him with a resigned expression, he once more slipped into teacher mode and explained, "Miss Gainsborough is correct in her assumption that demons are not inherently evil. However, they are also not inherently good. Like humans, their morality varies with the individual. This is why it's so dangerous for a practitioner to summon one. Because there is no way to tell what type of demon will answer the call. Whether they will be kind or cruel, whether they will like humans or despise them. There is simply no way to know ahead of time." He paused and closed his eyes for a moment, as if saying a silent prayer to himself. In a lower voice, he continued, "I was extremely lucky that the demon who answered my call does not dislike humans and was interested in our situation."

"You mean time compression," Cloud stated.

"Yes," the other man confirmed, turning to look at him. "While I have been recovering my strength, he has been running calculations and counterspells through my head, and I can now confidently say that we can both remove the fear spell from Mr. Kinneas's soul and return the segmented section of Squall's soul to his body."

"Hey, that's amazing news!" Irvine cried happily. He threw an arm around the young man sitting next to him and pulled him closer. "You hear that, Squall? At this rate, you'll be back to your normal bastard self in no time." Squall just blinked lazily at him; thankfully, this entire conversation seemed to have flown over his head.

"Go on, Vincent," Cloud said, not wanting the conversation to get derailed. "You were saying that we're all correct."

"Yes," his friend replied with a small nod. "The point that Mr. Kinneas made -" Irvine cleared his throat pointedly. "My apologies. The point that Irvine made about fairies is also valid in this case. Demons may not all be evil, but they are all decidedly not human. Their motivations and thought processes are often very difficult for us to understand because of how alien they are to our normal way of thinking.

"Which brings us to this," he said quietly, looking down at his bandaged arm. "This was … a test. A way for him to gauge my resolve. I agreed to it without knowing exactly what he intended to do, which was a failing on my part. I assumed that such a test would not put my life in danger. If I had known, I would have taken a few more precautions."

"But you still would have done it," Cloud stated.

Vincent met his eyes unflinchingly. "Of course."

"In any case," Aerith soothed, "what's done is done. Now," she continued, more business-like, "I have a shift this evening and will want a nap beforehand, but before I leave …" She leaned forward, her eyes dancing. "I want to see some magic!"

Vincent smiled at her and pushed his chair back so he could stand. "Your wish is my command, fair lady," he said smoothly, giving her a little graceful bow.

Aerith leapt to her feet, clapping her hands and grinning from ear to ear. Across the table from her, Irvine stood as well. "All right, let's do this!" he enthused. "Just tell me where to go and what to do, and I'll do it."

Slowly, Cloud pushed off from the table and rose from his chair. He was still angry at Vincent for being so reckless and he was extremely uncomfortable with the thought of a demon inhabiting his friend's body, but for the sake of moving forward with helping Squall, he supposed he could put aside those concerns for the moment. That didn't mean he had to pretend to be happy about it, however.

Vincent took in Cloud's continued disapproval without comment, his intelligent eyes sweeping over Cloud's frown before returning to the taller man beside him. "As a first step," he instructed, "go put your right arm around Cloud's left shoulder. Cloud, step a bit more away from the table, please, and put your arm around Irvine's waist." As they moved to do as ordered, Vincent came around the table to stand on Irvine's left.

"Okay, now what?" Irvine asked once he and Cloud were in position. Vincent didn't respond; instead, he flicked his fingers outwardly towards Irvine's face. The man instantly crumpled.

"What the - ?" Cloud cried, suddenly saddled with the tall man's weight, but before he could finish the question, Aerith was there, taking some of it from him.

"Oh, no you don't!" she scolded Vincent who had been attempting to do the same thing. "I am not letting you injure yourself further, mister." She took Irvine's left hand and slung his arm around her shoulders, mirroring Cloud.

"I am perfectly capable -" Vincent began, but the look Aerith gave him had him backing up with his good hand held up in defense. "Very well. If you would follow me." He turned and began walking to the basement door, explaining, "It will be easier to do everything downstairs."

Aerith began to move forward, but Cloud stopped her. "Hold on. There's no way we're getting him down the stairs like this. It's too narrow." He took a moment to consider their options, then ordered, "Steady him a second for me." She obeyed, allowing him to bend down and haul Irvine up on his shoulder in a fireman's carry. Turning towards the door, he said, "I got him. You help Squall downstairs."

"Got it!"

By the time Cloud had made it down the stairs with his long-legged burden, Vincent had disappeared into the back room. Cloud found him in a corner, drawing a second magic circle, smaller than the original one but seemingly just as complex.

"Where do you want him?" Cloud asked. He bounced Irvine slightly with his shoulder for emphasis.

Vincent looked up briefly before returning to his task. "Anywhere is fine for now. I'll have to wake him up before we begin."

"Is that safe?"

"It should be. The trigger for the fear spell doesn't appear to go farther than the stairwell."

Cloud nodded and carefully deposited Irvine onto the floor. As he straightened, Aerith wandered in, her eyes wide.

"I left Squall sitting at the desk," she explained to his questioning expression. "I didn't know if being in here would upset him."

"It might," Cloud replied as she continued to look around greedily, "but he'll have to come in here eventually." When she frowned in response, he clapped her on the shoulder gently and offered, "I'll get him. He's calmer when I'm around."

"That is certainly true," Vincent commented, and something in his tone made Cloud tense. With a silent prayer that Aerith hadn't noticed, he retreated into the other room to wait for the wizard to finish his preparations.

Just as Aerith had said, Squall was at the desk, his head pillowed on his crossed arms like a bored student in study hall. Cloud wandered over to him and leaned against a clear section nearby. Almost without thinking, he threaded his fingers through the kid's hair, gently combing and massaging his scalp. Squall tensed at the unexpected contact, but quickly relaxed once he realized who it was. The complete trust the young man exhibited made Cloud's heart hurt with how full it felt.

"You ready to get some of your soul back, kid?" he asked quietly, his fingers continuing to card carefully through Squall's hair. He received no answer, Squall having shut his eyes to fully enjoy the petting he was receiving. Looking at that handsome face, Cloud couldn't help but think of its twin in the other world. "Maybe the other you will start talking to me again," he half-joked. "You think that's likely?" Tilting his head back, he stared at the ceiling for a minute before sighing, "Well, at the very least I owe him an explanation for last night. I'm sure I freaked him out, leaving that abruptly."

Squall huffed softly, a sound which Cloud took to mean he agreed. Either that or he was indicating that he hadn't fallen asleep and was still listening. Whichever it was, it made Cloud smile.

Vincent called for them a few minutes later. As they moved into the back room, Cloud kept his eye on Squall to make sure the younger man didn't react poorly, but the room seemed to have no effect on him, likely because he couldn't actually see it. Relieved, Cloud propped him up against a wall and went to help Irvine who had just woken up and was unsteadily getting to his feet.

"What happened?" the tall man half-slurred as Cloud took him by the elbow. "How did I get here?" He looked around, then added, "Where is here?"

"The basement," Cloud informed him, hauling him the rest of the way up. "Vincent knocked you out so we could get you down here without a repeat of last week."

Irvine nodded, his eyes still not quite focused. "Oh. Okay." He swallowed, then grimaced. "Why does my mouth feel like I just ate a dozen pixie sticks?"

"My apologies," Vincent replied from the corner where his now-finished circle sat. "That is a side-effect of the spell. It will wear off soon. Now," he motioned for them to approach, "please come stand inside this circle."

"This is so exciting!" Aerith cried happily. She had taken a position near Squall, for which Cloud was grateful.

"Maybe for you," Irvine grumbled as Cloud helped him to the corner. "I'm still trying to get my brain to work." He stared for a moment at the circle, then turned to Cloud and said, "Vincent graffitied your floor. Why did he do that?"

"Don't worry about it," Cloud told him. He shoved the other man upright. "You okay? You can stand?"

"Yeah, I'm good." Irvine waved him off with a hand. As Cloud backed off several steps, he turned to Vincent, kneeling on the floor, and asked, "What do I do?"

"Stand still."

Irvine grinned. "Okay. I can do that."

Vincent lifted his head and grinned back, and in that moment, Cloud thought he saw the slightest hint of a red glow in the wizard's eyes. "Then let's begin."

Touching the outside border of the circle, Vincent bowed his head and began to chant. It may have been his imagination, but to Cloud it seemed as if the words spilled from Vincent's mouth into the circle itself, flowing along its borders, filling it from the outside in. As the last word of the spell left Vincent's lips, golden light sprang from the circumference of the circle, creating a column that shot to the ceiling. Irvine's body went taut, head snapping back, eyes closed, but his face remained peaceful, indicating that he was not in pain.

As Vincent began to chant again, Cloud felt a tension in the room begin to grow. It wasn't as oppressive as the counteraction to the fear spell, but it was still strong enough that Cloud could feel the hair on his arms stand on end. Very gradually, the column of light began to spin, picking up speed as the spell went on. At the same time, Cloud noticed a ring of black appear around Irvine's upper torso. It, too, began to spin, in the opposite direction of the golden column, expanding and thinning as it did so as if being pulled from Irvine's body. When the two finally met, the black ring barely visible due to the extent of the stretching, the outer column flashed once and stopped moving. The inner ring had disappeared.

Vincent's voice died away, the golden column receded, and Irvine relaxed and opened his eyes.

"Are you okay?" Cloud immediately checked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Irvine replied with a nod. He shook his hands out and stretched his shoulders. "It itched a bit, but mostly it was just warm."

"And now you should be able to go up and down the stairs without issue," Vincent commented, rising to his feet. He rubbed at the back of his knees as if they hurt. Considering how long he had been on the ground, Cloud wasn't surprised. "Let me check."

A wave of his hand, and Irvine's soul was projected on the wall. There was the frozen section that indicated Squall within time compression, but the black border around it was gone.

"Excellent," the wizard said with a smile. "Now for the more difficult part."

On their own, Cloud's eyes moved to Squall, leaning against the wall and waiting. A wave of anxiety had surged up through him at what was to come, but one look at the woman standing beside the kid chased it away in favor of deep amusement.

"You having fun, Aerith?" he called.

"Yes!" she squeaked, her eyes dancing and her smile so wide that it honestly looked a bit painful. "This is amazing, Cloud! I love it!"

"Aren't you a woman of science?" Irvine teased her.

"And?" she shot back. "There is nothing saying that magic and science can't coexist. Right, Vincent?"

Vincent sent her a smile. "That is absolutely correct." He turned away and bent down to retrieve something from the floor, pointedly ignoring the way Aerith and Irvine were making faces at each other like a couple of overgrown children. "Here," he said, rising and turning to the man next to him. "Choose the correct one."

Cloud choked. Vincent was holding four candles. "Vince, are you serious?" When the dark man simply nodded, he asked, "How is he supposed to - ? How could he possibly know which -?"

"Close your eyes," Vincent interrupted, instructing Irvine in a gentle, almost-hypnotic voice. "Breathe. Clear your mind. Then, when all is still, open your eyes and choose."

"Um, okay," Irvine said, his eyes darting nervously back and forth between them. Cloud's horrified expression was clearly freaking him out, so Cloud quickly wiped it from his face and replaced it with a neutral one. He nodded encouragingly at the tall man who shrugged and closed his eyes as ordered.

Nearly a minute of heavy silence passed before Irvine opened his eyes again. He looked down at the candles and, without hesitation, reached out to take one from Vincent's grasp. "This one," he said, his voice thick with something Cloud couldn't identify.

"Are you certain?" Vincent asked him, still in that gentle tone.

"Yes," the other man answered immediately. He lifted his eyes, a dazed, glazed-over look to them. "It was … calling to me."

"Excellent," Vincent said, the business-like clip returning to his voice. He placed the rejected candles back onto the floor, then plucked the chosen one out of Irvine's unresisting fingers. "Cloud, please situate Squall in the center of the circle. Irvine, with me."

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Cloud crossed to Squall's side. Distracted as he was, he didn't notice the change until he had reached out to take hold of a thin shoulder only to have his arm snagged by two grasping hands in response. Surprised, he snapped his attention to Squall's face and realized that the kid was only barely managing to not freak out. He was successfully keeping most of the fear out of his expression, but his entire body was trembling slightly.

"Hey, it's okay, kid," Cloud soothed gently, lifting his free hand to brush Squall's bangs out of his eyes in a gesture he knew was comforting to both of them. "I'm here. It's okay. Just breathe, all right? I'm right here."

Next to them, Aerith finally noticed that something was wrong, but thankfully, she just watched and allowed Cloud to handle it on his own. When he caught her eye briefly, she smiled and nodded encouragement. He nodded back his thanks and returned his attention to the problem at hand.

As Squall leaned into Cloud's touch and tried to calm down, Cloud began analyzing this spike of fear and trying to find the source. Based on the kid's lack of sight and the general positive tone to what had been said recently, there was only one real possibility.

"That spell scared you, didn't it?" he murmured, detaching gripping hands to hold them in his own. "The power surge that went through the room. It's okay. It was just Vincent. Not her. She's nowhere near. You're fine."

Squall let out a shaky breath and squeezed Cloud's hands, appearing to calm down a bit. Encouraged, Cloud continued, "Once you're ready, Vincent is going to do another spell. I have no idea how that one is going to feel, but I promise you that Vincent will never hurt you, okay? Never."

The hands in his were steady, so Cloud took that as the sign to move forward. "Let's get this over with, okay?" he coaxed. "Then we can take a nap. Heaven knows I need one."

Encouraged by Cloud's hands and Aerith's giggles, Squall stepped away from the wall and allowed himself to be led into the very center of the circle. As they passed, Cloud noticed that Vincent had stuck the candle into one of the small circles that had originally held them and lit it. Now he was instructing Irvine to kneel down and place one hand on either side, fingers touching the outer border of the circle.

With Squall properly situated, Cloud took a moment to brush away his bangs one last time before exiting the circle and finding a spot near Vincent. He wasn't about to let anyone know, but he felt extremely uncomfortable seeing the kid back in the center of this thing. Even though he trusted Vincent and knew what was about to happen was a step forward towards freeing Squall, it couldn't stop the twisting in his gut or the clenching of his heart.

"I heard what you said."

Cloud turned his head to look at Vincent who had his eyes closed and his hand extended in front of him as if preparing. For a moment, he thought he had imagined the words, but then his friend spoke again.

"I will die before I allow any harm to come to him."

Both exasperated and touched, Cloud snorted and replied, "How about you stop trying to die and work on living instead?"

The corner of Vincent's mouth lifted in a small smile. "If you insist."

And he began to chant.

Cloud shifted his eyes back to Squall, fixing them there with an almost desperate strength as the words began to flow over him. Silently, Aerith appeared at his side and took his hand.

"Are you okay?" A compassionate whisper.

"Yes." A stilted reply.

"Are you sure?"

The power swelled. Cloud swallowed and focused on his breathing.

"No."

She hummed quietly in response, rested her head against his shoulder, and gently wound both of her arms around his. "Everything will be fine," she soothed.

Cloud just nodded.

The column rose, and suddenly Cloud felt like he had stepped backwards in time. The blue cage that surrounded the levitating young man, the sparkling blue vein that led from the candle to the center, the peaceful yet vacant expression on Squall's face, it was all the same as that first night. Only Squall's clothes had changed. The sight made Cloud's stomach roil, and he had to fight the urge to burst into the circle and tear Squall from its grasp a second time.

Aerith squeezed his arm, likely reacting to his tension. He could feel her eyes on him, but he didn't dare look away, not when the power in the room continued to grow and grow and not stop.

Something flashed in his peripheral vision, and that, combined with Aerith's gasp, finally wrenched his gaze away. Irvine's entire body was glowing with a sparkling, colorless light. The man himself was beyond still, barely seeming to breathe as he knelt there with his eyes closed and his fingers pressed to the floor. As Cloud watched, the light began to shift downwards, sliding down his arms and pooling in his hands.

The timber of Vincent's voice changed, and the light shot from Irvine's hands, down the blue vein of light, and into the column surrounding Squall. Everything glowed blue for half a second, and then it was over. The chanting stopped, the power receded, and the spell faded away.

Cloud leapt forward to catch Squall as the kid's feet hit the ground, his limp body not even attempting to stay upright. Gently, he scooped him up into his arms and held him close. To Cloud's surprise, Aerith was there half a heartbeat later, feeling Squall's forehead, checking his pulse, and gently lifting his eyelids to check his pupils.

"Thanks," he said softly, feeling so much more than that one word could convey.

She sent him a small smile in reply. "Of course."

A few feet away, Irvine groaned and fell over sideways. Next to him, Vincent bent nearly double, bracing himself against his knee with his good hand. As Aerith rushed over to check on them next, Irvine whined, "I'm so tired. I feel like I just ran a marathon, and I didn't even do anything."

"I think a rest would be beneficial for all of us," Vincent gasped out. "Just let me verify …" He trailed off, motioning for Cloud to come closer. Cloud obeyed, and a moment later, Squall's soul lay projected on the ground. One of the quarters, previously dark, was now full of motionless light.

"You did it," Cloud whispered, stunned. He lifted his gaze to his friend in awe. "Holy shit, Vince. You did it."

Vincent smiled, his eyelids fluttering. "Thank the gods," he whispered before sinking to the floor.

Cloud ended up carrying first Squall, then Vincent up two flights of stairs to their beds. Fortunately, Irvine had enough strength to walk on his own, although Cloud made sure to hover nearby just in case. Once everyone who had been drained through use of magic was safely resting, Cloud helped Aerith gather her things and escorted her to her car.

"I feel like I shouldn't let you go," he confessed as she unlocked the doors. "Like I should force you to stay here where it's safe." He sighed slightly and shook his head. "But I can't do that."

"No," she agreed, "you can't." Taking a step toward him, she gently placed a hand on his arm and smiled up into his worried face. "I'll be fine," she assured him. "I both live and work almost forty minutes away. If she wants to target me, she'll have to find me first."

"She found Irvine," he reminded her, but Aerith just scoffed.

"Irvine is local," she argued, "and he drives a banana." She pointed an accusing finger at the yellow monstrosity in his driveway.

Cloud snorted hard. He couldn't exactly argue with that one. "Just be careful," he said, pulling her into his arms for a quick hug.

"I will," she promised. Pulling back, she poked him in the shoulder and demanded, "Keep me in the loop with what's going on. I'm happy to patch you reckless boys back together, but I expect to be kept updated for my trouble, deal?"

"Deal," he agreed readily, but as she moved to get into the car, he stopped her. "Actually, Aerith, there's one more thing." Once she had returned her attention to him, he explained, "The next step is to get Squall to break another lock which causes him a lot of pain and puts a lot of stress on his body. The last time we did it, he was in the hospital under constant supervision, so I wasn't too worried. This time, though, and for all the times after, he'll just be here." He paused, knowing full well what he was asking. "Do you think there's any chance you could stay over on the nights we do it to watch over him and make sure nothing goes wrong?"

She frowned a bit, considering. "I suppose I could do that," she eventually said. "I mean, my schedule is really tight, but I can probably make the time. But I can't do it tonight," she stated, wagging a finger at him.

"That's fine," he assured her. "I want to catch Dream Squall up on everything before we start again."

"Okay." She tapped her lips for a moment, then offered, "What about tomorrow afternoon? My shift ends at 5AM. I could sleep for a bit, then come over and you guys could get it done before dinner."

"In the afternoon?" Cloud echoed, surprised. "But Squall and I both have to be asleep."

She shrugged at him. "Squall still takes lots of naps, right? And I can give you a mild sedative to help you fall asleep." When he frowned at her, unconvinced, she pressed, "I have to be awake for it in order to keep a proper watch, and I'd rather not stay up all night, thanks."

"Okay, fine," he capitulated, throwing his hands up. "You win. See you tomorrow." He turned away but was stopped when she threw her arms around him for a second hug.

Her head on his shoulder, her lips just below his ear, she murmured, "You really care for him. Don't you?"

Cloud shifted so that he could hold her properly and rested his cheek against the top of her head. He let his heart fill with all the fear, worry, relief, and joy that they had just experienced. "Yeah," he confessed softly. "I really do."

She squeezed him gently, a gesture of support and love. "I know you'll save him. I believe in you."

"Thank you."

They stood together for a few more moments, enjoying the quiet company, before Aerith pulled away and gave him a sweet smile.

"See you tomorrow."

"See you. And thanks again."

He watched, a smile on his face, as she got into her car and pulled out of his driveway. Once her car had disappeared down the road, he turned and went back into his house. He was more than ready for that nap, and once he had retrieved the lion pendant, he was going to gather Squall into his arms and hold him like he would never let go again.