Title: Severed—Connected

Word Count: 3752

Rating: M

Prompt from the Strifehart kink meme: Cloud or Leon suffers an accident and one of their limbs get severed. They deal with the shock after the incident together. Bonus if you include artistic sex after the initial shock (non-smutty sex).

Summary: When an incident changes Leon's life forever how will he learn to cope with the changes, simple, he turns to the one person who's always had his back, Cloud.

Warnings: Has dismembering in a non-super descriptive language & will have more mature scenes as the story progresses.

Chapter 1: Severed

The scream echoed through the rain and all throughout Hollow Bastion. It was a blood curdling scream, the kind that made the scariest of horror movies seem like a children's story in comparison. It was a scream that resulted only from a tragedy. Rain had started to fall from the darkened sky coating the stone city with its shimmering droplets.

It had all happened so quickly, one blink of the eye and the damage had been done. The blood was splattered everywhere, her face, hands, and clothes were all covered in it. It all started to drip and dilute with the hard pellets of water falling from the skies, but the color of red was the only thing that stood out from this black and white scene before her.

It was cut off in one clean swipe of that monstrously long sword, the girl fell backwards and let out a scream. Her hand had landed on something wet, not just wet but warm, she turned to look at it, her eyes widened. She screamed again this one louder than the first. Her hand was on the severed arm of her savior, the man that sacrificed his own arm for her … for her.

The man on the ground said nothing, did nothing, and moved nothing. He didn't have the physical strength to do anything but lay there on the muddied earth of the Crystal Cannon. His vision was blurring, no thanks to the rain, things were going dark, but something shone in the darkness. It had just been a single glint but he knew it was there, and strained what little vision he had left to find it. He found it alright, he had found him, watching, silently laughing to himself, smirking at what he had just done. Sephiroth.

Sephiroth, the silver haired devil, was licking the blood, his blood, off that overly long piece of metal that he called a sword. He was smiling while he swallowed every rain covered drop of blood that dripped off the metallic blade. The injured man wanted to throw up, not because the sight of his blood being lapped up as if by a hungry dog, but by the fact that the man was only doing it because he knew it would further torment the injured male.

The blood was all gone, all swallowed down by that pale skinned monster, the smirk on his face was haunting, filled with the knowing that he had won and that not just the injured male had lost but a certain other male had lost as well. That other male was his real target, his real reason for coming here in the first place; the other male was his sole reason for always coming back. Sephiroth silently mouthed something to him before he turned to leave, his single black wing extending to the extent of its length. He disappeared into the rain; the only signs of him having been there at all were a severed arm and the black feathers left behind on the ground.

The male was blacking out, accepting that this was most likely the end; the lion was proud that he was going to go out knowing he had protected one of his only friends. Everything was starting to go quiet, he could no longer hear the sounds of each of the droplets of water splashing on the ground, but he heard one final thing,

"LEONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!"

The world went black.

Flicker,

His eyes opened slowly, his lids heavy from lack of use. The world faded back into his vision, the dark colors slowly filling in the monochrome image. It was probably his room; he picked up the faint smell of gun powder and sword polish, definitely his room.

Flicker

He turned his head to the side to look at his bedside lamp, the bulb needed to be changed. He reached to turn the lamp off but nothing moved. He looked at his arm to see why it wasn't moving—but there was no arm to look at.

The memory of what happened flashed before him, his eyes slid closed and he let out a sigh. He didn't regret his decision, Yuffie was safe and that was all that mattered.

He looked at his now bare right side, his arm had been severed right at top of the arm pit, and the entire thing had been cut off, there was no nub; and as sick as it might have sounded he was glad there wasn't - even he thought that would be just plain depressing.

He heard a soft feminine sigh coming from the end of his bed. He slowly shifted his upper body so he could look to see who it was. It was Yuffie, sitting on the floor while resting her head on the edge of his bed. She had dark circles under her eyes, and her eyelids were red, definitely from crying.

Flicker

He let out a sigh of his own, his shoulders relaxing just a little bit. He didn't sacrifice his arm so that she could fall into a state of depression; that was so unlike the normally happy go-lucky girl.

"Yuffie." He whispered, the girl didn't even stir.

"Hey, Yuffie, wake up." Again he got no response from the girl.

He shifted his legs a bit, trying to shake the bed just the slightest bit to stir the girl from her sleep. That failed. He forgot that when Yuffie slept, she slept like a log, and judging from the dark circles under her eyes, she hadn't slept in a while. He stopped moving his legs. He'd let her sleep - she looked too peaceful to wake up, anyway.

Flicker

He slowly shifted his legs to the side of the bed, opposite of Yuffie, of course, and used his one arm to help him sit himself up. He was a bit dizzy; he assumed he must have been in that bed for a good amount of days - hell at least a week. He leaned over to nightstand and shut off the light. After a minute or so he felt the dizziness dissipate and he slowly stood up.

It was a bit weird at first, not recognizing his own weight. Surely he had lost a few pounds after being in bed that long but that wasn't his issue; it was the fact that he felt slightly lopsided, used to having an arm at both sides and not just one. That would take some definite getting used to, but he would cope somehow.

Once he felt balanced, he slowly took a step forward, then another, and then it was a definite walk. One step right after the other. He stepped as quietly as he could, not wanting to disturb the raven haired girl. Glancing at the mirror on the wall he took in his appearance; his body looked thin and sickly, his hair wild and disheveled, he was wearing only a pair of loose cotton trousers, on his top… he was covered in white. The bandages were fresh and crisp, clearly indicating they had been changed recently. They were wrapped securely around his waist, neck, and the place where his arm would have been. He looked away.

He continued onwards, carefully side-stepping the sleeping girl, as he quietly pushed open the door. There was a faint light coming from the stairs down the hall, and he walked mindlessly towards it. He held the railing as he descended, the last thing he needed to do was fall, considering his current state.

The light came from the kitchen, yet he didn't see anyone - regardless he entered. There was a plate of food with saran wrap on it and a note:

"Leon, just in case you wake up, eat this. ~ Aerith

By the way, put this in the microwave for a minute and a half."

He smiled slightly and wondered for how many days Aerith had left food down here for him; the girl was just too caring sometimes. He put the plate into the microwave for a minute and a half like she said to, and took a seat at the table. He looked out the window and saw the sky was cinereous indicating it was sometime around dawn. In what seemed like seconds the microwave went off; he had completely forgotten how loud the machine was.

Shit.

At the sound of microwave Cloud's eyes snapped open, his body already throwing itself out of bed, his hands already reaching for the doorknob, legs already carrying him down the stairs.

That beep could only mean—

There he was—Leon, standing in front of the microwave looking at it as if glaring would suddenly make the machine shut the fuck up, rewind time, and make what had just happened not happen again.

"You're awake." The blond stated quietly still unsure of whether this was a dream or Leon was actually giving the microwave a death glare.

"It would seem so." He responded, reluctantly moving his gaze from the wretched machine to the blond in the doorway.

"How're you feeling?" Cloud asked as he leaned against the door frame. He already knew he was going to get an unsatisfactory answer.

"Hungry." Cloud had been right, unsatisfactory.

"I clearly heard." He had to throw in his own remark - he hadn't bantered with the brunette in nearly two weeks he couldn't help it.

"Hmm."

"Food's getting cold."

"Yeah." Leon finally decided that the machine could live and that cold food was the reason he had even used the machine in the first place, he took his food and brought it back to the table.

Cloud fully entered the room and walked towards the counter, opened a drawer and got out a fork and napkin. He walked back to the table and sat down next to the brunette, leaning over to place the items besides the plate of food.

"Thanks."

"Sure."

Leon started to unwrap his food, slightly irritated that the tricky wrapping was proving harder to pull off with one arm than he thought. Cloud made to help him, but the brunette had already managed to pull it off. Leon stared, his food was all cut and neatly organized, string beans in one pile, mashed potatoes in one pile, steak cut into bite-able sizes in another, and some buttered bread on the side. The dark haired man realized he would never be able to properly eat his food again—his appetite disappeared.

Cloud picked up on his injured friend's suddenly sullen atmosphere and looked at the plate. He quickly understood.

"You need to ea—"

"I know," Leon interrupted, not to be rude, but…he didn't want to hear it, "Sorry." He stammered afterwards.

"It's alright." Cloud looked back to Leon's plate and felt like he had to say something, anything, "I get it…its hard…it's going to be real fuckin' hard and you—" he trailed off as he looked at Leon's face: he was crying. The younger man made no noise, but the tears continued to flow down his handsome face. Cloud's heart plummeted. Never before had he seen Leon cry. He doubted anyone in the entire world of Radiant Garden had seen their beloved leader cry.

The thoughts of all the things he would never be able to do again came crashing down on him like a wave of Heartless. He didn't try to hide it - he wasn't ashamed, and he knew that Cloud would never judge him. Hell, the blond man would probably understand better than anyone else. He knew that if he was going to cry, he'd prefer it be with Cloud than with anyone else…than even being alone. The warrior wouldn't pity him, wouldn't try to smooth over his situation, coo into his ears words of comfort. No, he would just be there with him, radiating an aura of support that had Leon trusting the man who'd covered his back from the beginning.

This man was his partner - the yes to his no. If there was something that he couldn't accomplish alone he knew that he and Cloud could conquer it together; he trusted the blond that much. So here he was crying in front of the one man he trusted the most - and like he had predicted, the blond said nothing. They sat there in silence until the morning sun rose high into the sky. The plate of food was forgotten.

The sounds of people talking were what woke Aerith; the store owners setting up shop in the square just like every morning. She yawned and stretched out her aching body - again she had slept terribly. It felt as though she hadn't slept in weeks and even her usual happy disposition seemed to be waning. Everyone else in the house was the same—miserable. They barely talked, none of them sure of what to say, none of them knew what to do.

Yuffie cried about six times a day, and once she started crying, she wouldn't stop until she nearly passed out from exhaustion. Cid sat in front of the computer and didn't move unless it was for food or the bathroom; he hardly even said a curse word. Merlin visited a few times a day to check on Leon and see if he needed any particularly strange medical attention; he never did, but regardless Merlin came every day. And she checked on Leon every hour of every day, and each time she prayed their stoic friend would just open his eyes already. From the moment Cloud had heard the news, he hadn't uttered a word. He had disappeared for the first three days then suddenly showed up in Leon's bedroom, sitting at his desk chair staring lifelessly at the injured man in the bed.

She slowly changed from her sleep ware into a dress that had definitely seen better days; she didn't have the energy to put any effort into her appearance lately. She headed downstairs to make herself a breakfast she knew she would hardly touch. As she reached the bottom of the stairs she saw two familiar backsides sitting at the table.

"Leon."

At the sound of his name the brunette turned in his chair slowly, facing the girl that had been kind enough to care and cook for him,

"Morning." He said softly as the girl approached.

"L-Leon…I—we…" She trailed off as her eyes welled with tears and her words got stuck in her throat. She inhaled one big breath of air before she let out her first sob. Then another, and another, and another. She fell to her knees and downright wept, the heavy burden of uncertainty and fear melted away with every tear.

Leon just watched the girl as she fell to her knees, smiling a little in hopes it would calm the crying girl down, and he was thankful that it seemed to work for the most part. She fumbled a little as she pulled herself up. She looked tired, Leon noted. She was sniffling but still smiling.

"I've never woken up so terribly, then was made so happy in such a short period of time before." Her voice was still a little choked up. Leon responded with an amused hum.

"When did you wake up?" She questioned as she made her way to fridge, suddenly rediscovering her lost appetite.

"Sometime around dawn."

Aerith smiled as she rummaged through the fridge for some eggs, over the past week and a half she'd had longed to hear Leon's voice.

"I'm assuming, Cloud, that you heard him with you super natural hearing and came rushing down at about the same time?"

"I guess." Cloud spoke to the girl for the first time since the incident.

"Well I'm glad. You've been like a puppy that's been thrown aside on the street." She joked. Leon turned with a raised brow at that, the blond just looked at the table clearly embarrassed.

"And Leon, before you make a sarcastic remark about being cherished," she walked away from the fridge, placed the eggs on the counter, and rested her hand on her jutted hip, "You are cherished; we love you Leon, and all of us here in Radiant Garden love you. And when someone is about to throw their arms around you and sob you're going to shut your mouth and let them do it. Understand?"

She didn't wait for his answer as she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in for a tight hug. She let out a shaky breath and she hugged him tighter,

"I'm so glad your okay." She started to cry softly and Leon just placed his hand comfortingly on her back. He was blushing slightly, but not because of the Aerith's touch. The fact she had said they loved him - not just because of his efforts to restore they're once beautiful home to normal, but the fact that he as a person was loved despite of all his faults slightly embarrassed the man.

Cid came to the house around nine that morning and his nose was met with the scents of a wonderful breakfast, something he hadn't smelt in what seemed like forever. He looked to the table and saw a sight that made him want to jump for joy…but he was a man he wasn't about to go jumping for joy anytime soon. He walked jauntily to the table, plopping down in the chair opposite of Leon,

"I was starting to think you were feigning sleep just to get off'a work, ya lazy fucker." He said with a toothy smile, his iconic piece of straw sticking out between his grinning teeth.

Leon snorted as a reply; the older man's tongue was a colorful as ever. Aerith brought Cid a cup of coffee before she returned to making her eggs.

"Ah, thanks darlin'," he said. She grinned over her shoulder, and Cid turned his attention back to the newly awakened brunette,

"So you wake up this mornin'?"

Leon nodded and Cid looked at Cloud,

"I'm assumin' that you woke up soon after?"

Leon smirked and Cloud just groaned.

Merlin showed up not too long after Cid. It seemed like everyone was coming in early today. He was overjoyed when he heard Leon's baritone voice from the doorway.

"Leon m'boy you're awake! Thank the heavens, I was starting to worry you might never wake up!" he expressed loudly as he made his way to join the group at the table. "Where is Yuffie, surely she's heard all the ruckus?" He questioned.

"Upstairs sleeping. She fell asleep on my bed. Let her sleep." Leon would have mentioned how she was mostly on the floor but he knew that despite her sleeping like a log though any noise, she was a ninja one touch and the girl would wake right up.

"I see - that sounds like a swell idea." Merlin started, twisting his beard between his fingers and hoped he wasn't about to ruin the happy mood,

"Now Leon, I'm going to have to check up on that shoulder of yours later, just let me know when you're ready, okay?"

"Alright, thank you." Luckily Leon seemed to be accepting his position gracefully and also knew that ruining the mood was not a good idea. His attention was brought to the stairs as he heard the creak of the first stair at the top, he never did get the chance to fix that. He knew what was about to happen and it wasn't going to be good.

Yuffie slowly descended the stairs, her mind foggy, body weary and aching, eyes practically blind from all the swelling. She didn't know what to expect, she had woken to an empty bed and the smell of Aerith's famous omelet. Her conscious told her she wasn't ready to face him, yet her body seemed to think otherwise.

She was already at the third step and her legs were visible to those in the kitchen. With each step the tension in the kitchen rose, no one knew exactly what to expect from the self-proclaimed-greatest ninja.

She was at the sixth step and her face had been revealed - she was looking at her feet.

She had reached the bottom – still, she looked only at the feet.

To be honest, Leon was scared.

He was scared of facing Yuffie.

He was scared of what she was going to do.

He was scared of meeting eyes with the girl.

He was scared.

"Yuffie." Leon whispered

Yuffie turned her head slowly at the sound of her savior's voice, her eyes hidden behind her short bangs, she still looked to the floor. Leon stood from his chair, unsure of whether or not to approach the girl. He looked to Aerith, who nodded her head in confirmation.

He took a step towards the girl - she flinched backwards.

Another step, answered by another step backwards.

"Yuffie, don't be afraid." Leon whispered. She shook her head in disagreement.

"Yuffie, please. Just look up." He whispered again and again she refused. He had enough.

"God damnnit Yuffie look up!" Leon roared, and the girl flinched as if she had been physically struck.

When she looked up, she already had tears welling in her eyes and she was biting down on her bottom lip to stop herself from sobbing. The change in the girl's attitude was like lightening as she ran at Leon, throwing herself at his chest, wrapping her arms tightly around the brunette's middle. Her sobbing was immediate as the tears flowed from her clenched eyes like overflowing rivers - her cries hoarse from the near two weeks of anguish. Leon wrapped his one arm around the girl, resting his chin against the crown of her head.

"I'm alright, Yuffie." He said in an effort to calm the girl. "Please Yuffie, I promise you I'm alright."

"But you're not alright!" Yuffie wailed and buried her face farther into the man's chest. "Look at you! Look what I did! It's all my fau—" Leon abruptly pulled the girl away from him, focused intently on her eyes.

"Yuffie don't you dare say this is your fault. It was my decision. It was you or the arm, I chose you." He said with a tone of voice that everyone knew he meant business.

"Stop lying! I'm not worth your arm! You've done more with your arm than I've done with my whole life! Stop ly—"

*SMACK*

Yuffie's was in shock, Aerith gasped, and the rest just kept quiet. Yuffie's cheek was already turning a deep shade of red, Leon had smacked her hard – real hard. She raised her hand up to touch the spot where she'd had been hit, the pain hadn't even registered. Next thing she knew she was being pulled into a one armed embrace.

"Don't. Ever. Say. That. Again," he leaned in to rest his chin on the crown of her head again, "You're…like a little sister to me Yuffie – wouldn't you do what I did if you were in that situation?" Yuffie wailed and threw her arms around Leon that was the end of that discussion.

A/N: So how'd ya guys like it? This has been SOOOOOOOOOOO delayed I can't even tell ya. I'm going to work on at least rolling a chapter out once a month. This is going to be a rather light hearted and yet dark and angsty I've yet to figure out which it's going to be most like (haven't developed the story enough yet haha).

Please leave a review they inspire me to write faster!