Discover Top Posts Tagged with #khffxmas

merry christmas @spinejackel !!! i know its a bit late but i hope you like this anyways. i couldn’t find a whole lot of decent shots of xaldin/dilan, so i thought i would highlight this sickass prep swift move he does before the battle in kingdom hearts 2. i hope you like it c:

#khffxmas #spinejackel #khgifs #khedits #xaldin #kingdom hearts 2 #*mine #*gifs

This is some weird merger with DoCs Secret Ending???? I mean it’s after AC, but I wanted to do something a little different? For @pandajelo for the khffxmas secret santa! I hope you enjoy this, I apologize for the lateness!

Cloud looked at the devestation around him; even the members of Deepground were pawns of Hojo, suffering at the insane man's hands. He didn't really know too much about Genesis really, just peaks from the time with Zack's mind and fuzzy memories of a red Soldier First. The man infront of him was nothing like that. He was faded and grey, "degradation at it's finest." Someone he knew was supposed to be full of life and vigor. The dying Soldier looked on with a smirk, throwing an odd looking materia at the blond's feet.

"Infinite in mystery is the gift of the Goddess; we seek it thus and take to the sky. Ripples form on the water's surface, the wandering soul knows no rest."

"Wha-?!"

Cloud woke up in the infirmary. Wait. He closed his eyes and opened them again. Yeah. He was in the infirmary. Of Shinra. Specifically for the recruits. Things that should not exisit at this time period. And where was Genesis? Weiss's body? None of this should be here. He groaned loudly, suddenly hit with a spliting headache, and passed out once more.

When Cloud woke up next, there was a doctor standing over him. He glared, hoping that would ward off the woman standing before him. She just coughed and glared right back.

"Cloud Strife? You've been out cold for a few hours, the examination we gave you has determined it was only exhaustion. I understand you're trying to make it into Soldier, but pushing yourself too hard and ending up here is not the answer. Please be more careful in the future. Please sign these and when you leave you can just put them on the counter. If you have any questions, call for help." She handed him a clipboard and a pen and left in a huff. He sat there for a moment, then looked down at his hands. They were smaller, paler, and had no callouses, no scars whatsoever. What the fuck. He signed the paperwork in a hurry, dashing out of the room to find the nearest mirror. This had to be some weird sick joke.

Upon finding a mirror, he felt like he was going to be sick. A tiny child stared back him, nothing worn by fighting for his life, hair longer than it had been in a very long time. He was staring at himself from days far in the past, something he didn't even have in pictures. The only thing that wrong was the tired eyes, holding a look that was well beyond the age he appeared in the mirror. He didn't feel like he was dreaming, but there was no other explanation for this. He was long past the days of getting flashes from Zack, and this didn't have the same feel to it as it did in the past. He took a deep breath and wandered, trying to think of any explanation. And he wandered straight into a solid flesh wall and onto the ground. He glared momentarily before realizing who it was. Sephiroth. He stuttered, his mind flashing back to the last time they had fought. "I will never be a memory" and here he was. Right in front of him. He didn't think he could handle this. That dark smirk, Jenova leaking through into his eyes... but this wasn't the same man standing in front of him now. This Sephiroth looked withdrawn, tired, and oddly uncomfortable in his own skin. He was nothing like the nightmare from his memories. He slowly stood, dusting himself off, then realized neither of them had spoken.

"Ah, sorry. I wasn't paying enough attention." The silver haired man stared at him incredulously, making the blond think over what he'd said. Oh. "Sir." He was still eyeing Cloud, but as long as he kept Masamune out of sight, he was fine. "It's...fine, cadet. Just be more careful." It was a bit surprising for a cadet to be this blase, but it was honestly refreshing for the general. He nodded then went on his way. This left Cloud in even more of a daze. He seriously had no idea what was going on. Somehow he managed to get himself to the correct room and bunk. His hope was that if he fell asleep, he'd wake up to some sort of normalcy.

Why he thought something would change upon waking a third time, he wasn't sure. Alright. So this was actually happening. He thought back to the weird materia that Genesis had thrown. That must have been it. Maybe it wasn't too bad in all honesty. Everyone was still okay. Zack and Aerith could be saved. Zack was still alive. He could walk right outside into the hall and find him. Cloud felt his eyes start to water, this was ather overwhelming. Maybe...he could even save Sephiroth. but how was he going to go about it?

Getting food with a bunch of other cadets was not something he enjoyed doing. He tried his best to eat as much as he could, but he kept scanning for anyone he might know. It wasn't like the branches were seperated, everyone came to the mess hall to eat. Right on cue, there was Zack, dressed in a Soldier Third uniform. He blinked, trying to think of the information from when their minds melded together, as well as his own muddled memories. So they were still fighting Wutai. That was...weird. He'd literally come back to the beginning, which meant...genesis and Angeal were still around as well. It'd make things more difficult but he could do this. He'd save everyone.

Walking around trying to think of ways to introduce yourself to your dead best friend, now brought back due to time travel was not easy. It was during one of these bouts of pacing that he ran into someone again. This time it was Zack. At least he was quicker on the uptake this time.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where going." It was still really disconcerting to hear himself talk, his voice still held the heavier accent.

“Don’t worry about it! Although do you mind me asking where you’re from originally?” The dark haired man grinned, his own Gongagan accent coloring his words slighlty.

“Small town in the mountains. Nibelheim.” Cloud smiled, maybe the circumstances were different, but he was having a pretty similar conversation to the first time they met.

“Never heard of it! But I’m in the same boat. Gongaga, small town pretty much in the jungle.” He sounded so young, and his laugh wasn’t colored with loss or bitterness, Cloud almost started crying. “Well, I gotta run, but what’s your name? I’ll look you up and we can talk more, small town boys have to stick together!” The blond gave him his information and watched as Zack ran down the corridors, quietly talking to himself about Angeal. He’d really missed him.

Several days later, Cloud was much more adjusted to his new lifestyle. He trained everyday and worked out, used to being able to hold a lot moe than he currently could. Zack usually joined him, content to talk as he did squats and Cloud lifted.

“So Sephiroth is one of my mentor’s friends, and we’ve been talking I guess! Earlier he was telling Angeal about this weird little cadet. He wasn’t scared of him or anything, Sephiroth even said the kid glared! How strange is that?” He laughed loudly. “Some tiny unenhanced cadet glaring at our General, you don’t know anyone like that, do you Spike?

Cloud flushed, looking a bit sheepish. “That was me.”

“You’re the one? Of course you are. Ha, oh man, I gotta introduce you two! You open to meeting him?” Cloud hesitated but nodded his consent. It couldn’t hurt his chances to befriend Sephiroth, and honestly, there was quite a bit of history on his head. He hoped those feelings wouldn’t get in his way.

A few days later, Zack dragged him up the tower to meet Sephiroth. He was nervous, he really didn’t know if he would be able to push all the complicated feelings he had for Sephiroth aside to start a completely new relationship.

While lost in thought, Zack managed to get him inside a large office, excitedly calling out the Silver General’s name. Sephiroth turned, guard starting to drop, and froze.

“Seph! Hey! So this is Cloud, I’m pretty sure you’ve met before!” He chuckled to himself, and pushed the blond in front of himself.

“Hello, Sephiroth, sir.” The silver haired man in front of him was certainly not under Jenova’s control. He was stiff and nervous, not sure how to handle himself. The Sephiroth of his nightmares was angry and knew exactly what buttons to push. Even so, he still felt that undeniable pull towards the man, but he suspected it had nothing to do with alien parasites trying to destroy the world.

“Hello...Cloud.” He looked like he was trying the name out, and he realized this version of Sephiroth, the one completely untainted, was cute. Cloud felt like this was a bad realization to have right in the middle of the man’s office. “Have you been well?” Oh God. He was not going to develop more complicated feelings was he? He was, of course, that was the way his life worked. ‘The wandering soul knows no rest’ indeed.

“Yes. Um about the other day, I’m sorry about running into you and then glaring. I wasn’t having a fantastic day, and it was uncalled for. Sorry if I offended you or something.” Cloud scratched the back of his head, watching as Sephiroth glanced over to the side where Zack stood, the other man nodding encouragingly.

“It’s fine. I was just...surprised. That is not most cadets reaction upon seeing me. It was honestly a little refreshing.” A small shy smile crossed onto his face and Cloud smiled in response.

“That’s me, angry, awkward and refreshing.” Zack cracked up on the side, but the Silver General smile widened. They stayed there, talking for a while, and Cloud was shocked. He’d never really gotten a chance to actually get to know Sephiroth for himself, never got to see how he was, who he was. And that was when he knew he had to kill Hojo.

Hojo, although extremely paranoid about his work, was much less paranoid about his own safety. It was easy for Cloud, with his knowledge of what he assumed was now an alternate timeline, to hack into the systems he needed to get into. It was even easier to get the information that would stabilize Genesis and probably prevent the entire mess with Angeal from ever occurring. Cloud imagined this is what Yuffie felt like, sneaking around stealing information and sabotaging what he could of Hojo’s plans. For the most part, there weren’t cameras in the lab, the insane man being paranoid about someone stealing his work or worried someone would stop his unethical experiments. From there, it was just a matter of making sure to delete any data of the man from the World Network. All that was actually left was to get rid of the man himself.

Slipping into Genesis’s office to leave the information proved to be more difficult. Zack caught him prowling around and assumed he was looking for Sephiroth. Cloud, having finished leaving said information, didn’t refute his point. Apparently, the General had a ‘home visit’ from Hojo, which is why the man hadn’t been in the labs much. He grimaced in sympathy and told the dark haired man to wish him well before saying goodnight and scurrying down to his room.

A few days later, Cloud found himself with a few other hopefuls on a small mission. He thought they might be evaluating them, and he thought they did pretty well in his opinion. The real surprise was when Sephiroth came and pulled him aside.

“Thank you.” Cloud stared, utterly confused. “I know you did it. You didn’t cover your tracks quite as well as you think you did. Cameras. So thank you.” The General smiled and he was honestly one of the most beautiful creatures Cloud had ever seen in that moment.

“I...I had to.”

“I’m rather curious how you knew, but I’ll leave it alone. Just know that I am grateful.” He turned on his heel and left, leaving Cloud a little stunned. His squad mates swarmed him, asking him how he knew the General, why the man was talking to him. He answered that he was in trouble, because he honestly was. Those complicated tangle of feelings were coming back and strictly channeling into a single very obvious crush. He was fucked.

Zack took him out to some quiet cafe in Sector 7, assuring him that the food was great. They sat at a small booth, heads pressed close together.

“Listen man, I don’t know what you did, or how you did it, but Angeal is asking about you now, and Sephiroth straight up smiles whenever you’re mentioned. Even Genesis is being nice.” Cloud smiled and shrugged, stuffing his face with an advertised burger. “Alright fine keep your secrets. For now.”

“Can’t we just eat? That burger is calling my name.” Zack laughed, motioning for him to go ahead. They ate in silence, both of them too concerned with stuffing their faces. After paying the bill and wandering around the sector though, he was fair game.

“So, love ya Spike, but I gotta ask, uh, what are your intentions with Sephiroth?” Cloud choked, staring at Zack incredulously. The man was completely serious.

“Um, well, I mean...What?”

“I mean I see the way you look at him. He won’t notice it, but I sure do. And I can tell you he definitely likes you. He won’t make a move, so that’s up to you. But I’m obligated to tell you that I have to beat you up if you hurt him.” Cloud blinked, amazed they were even having this conversation. What if he failed in saving everyone and he had to kill the man all over? How much harder would that be if he actually went through with what Zack was suggesting?

“I don’t think so Zack, it’s impossible. It’s not something that’s going to happen.” The older boy grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks.

“What?! Why not? You obviously like him!! You should go for it, I think you’d be good for each other! C’mon Spike, what’s stopping you?” He could almost hear Aerith’s voice telling him to let himself go for it.

“Excuse me, I’m sorry to interrupt, but are you Cloud?” Cloud whipped around, and suddenly he was in tears and hugging a girl that probably had no idea who he was. Or maybe she did, you never knew with Aerith. She giggled, and her laugh was like music to his ears. “I’ll take that as yes.”

He let go of her, smiling sheepishly. “Sorry.” She glanced furitively at Zack, and he was sure the smile on his face couldn’t get any wider. “He doesn’t know, but I’m going to guess you do.”

“I..yes. I’m sorry for everything you’ve had to go through. You’ve been so strong. And I want to say, you should go for it. Everything will turn out okay.” He felt his face flush, and he opened his mouth to protest, but she shook her head. “There will be no Nightmares this time.”

“I don’t know what’s going on here, but hello, miss. I’m Zack. I have to ask, did it hurt when you fell?” Cloud and Aerith shared a look and laughed, but she took a step closer to the other man.

“I don’t know, I haven’t fallen yet. I guess we can find out if you take me on a date. And I’m Aerith.” She winked and started walking backwards. “Cloud, please keep in touch, and Zack, I’ll be waiting for a call.” She waved and turned, walking away with a skip in her step.

“What the hell man, you didn’t tell me you knew a cute girl like that!” Cloud laughed and shook his head.

“To be honest, I didn’t know I did either. So, how do I go about flirting with Sephiroth?”

Cloud seriously couldn’t believe he was doing this. He was pretty sure that he was going to be skewered on Masumune, but whatever. Wouldn’t be the first time. It wasn’t even that he was dressed particularly ridiculous, he was in civvies that consisted of tight jeans and a fitted t-shirt. It was just the thought that he was going up to the Silver General’s office to try and score a date with the man. What was his life anymore.

He knocked the office door, steeling himself when he heard an annoyed answer to come in. Sephiroth stood when he looked up, a relieved smile plastered on his face. “Hello Cloud, I thought you were someone else to deliver more paperwork.”

“No sir, just delivering myself. Is this a bad time?” Sephiroth glared disdainfully at the paperwork on hi desk.

“If you come back a little later, it may be a better time. Unless you needed something now?” Cloud shook his head.

“It can wait. I’ll let you get back to your work and talk to you later.” More time to prepare himself then.

The next time Cloud came in, the other two Soldier Firsts were also in the room. It was weird to see the man who started it all sitting there, but there he was. He looked healthier, brighter and more vibrant. Genesis crossed his legs, eyeing the blond in appreciation.

“This is him, Seph? I approve, he’s pretty cute.” Angeal rolled his eyes and stood to greet him.

“Hello sir, Zack talks about you a lot, I feel like I know you already.” The buff man laughed and nodded.

“I feel the same way. It’s nice to meet you Cloud. And thank you.” He grinned, rubbing the back of his neck.

“It was nothing, forget it. Just do me a favor, if you feel like dismantling Shinra, come up with a real plan.” The other two Firsts looked at each other in confusion.

“How-?” Cloud made a face, wishing he would have just kept his mouth shut. Instead of trying to flirt, he spent the next several hours trying to dodge their questions while chatting. It was a little exhausting.

By the time he finally got Sephiroth alone, he was ready. He waited in his office while he was out, and when the General entered, he was surprised.

“Cloud? What are you doing here?” The blond stalked up to him and stared him in the eyes.

“I’m just going to say it.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I like you.”

“I like you too, Cloud. I like to consider us friends.” He really wanted to face palm.

“That’s not what I meant. I’d like you to go out with me. On a date. Doing something. Holding hands, kissing, that sort of thing.” He held his breath, watching the silver haired man’s face closely.

“I...would not be opposed to that.” He looked shy, and Cloud felt his heart beat faster.

“Could I kiss you now?” He wanted to curse his height at this point, he was so small and scrawny, the other man had to stoop down. He felt like he got hit with a Bolt as their lips met, just a simple brush of lips, but it was perfect.

Maybe this was everything his life was supposed to be.

#khffxmas #secret santa #final fantasy vii #fanfiction #writing