Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ A Hearts Second Chance ❯ Chapter 13 ( Chapter 13 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
Cloud stood at the counter in the kitchen chopping the vegetables and meat for dinner tonight. The angry tap of the knife had Nichodemus hiding under the coffee table in the living room, waiting for the angry man to leave for the day. With every downward motion, Cloud felt his anger rise, and it was all Sephiroth’s fault. It had only been a week since he had collapsed from Hojo’s last experiment on him and Sephiroth was stubbornly insisting it was nothing more than a treatment. On top of that, the damned bastard of a doctor had ordered, yes ordered, Sephiroth to return today for another treatment. Even Zack was concerned over how close together the sessions were. Throwing the ingredients into the slow cooker for tonight because he knew he would be too busy to do any cooking tonight. After cleaning up his mess, Cloud left the apartment and headed to the training grounds to meet up with Zack. He hoped a long and grueling sparing match might be enough to burn off his anger.

Lilly was standing in the clearing near her new home gasping for breath. Holding her stomach, she dropped to her knees. “That….was….a….cheap….shot.” she said through gasps for air.
Vincent just looked down at her. They had been here only a couple of days during which Vincent had been testing Lilly’s abilities. She was far more skilled than he would have guessed; she just lacked the strength to do any real damage during their fights. If what Lucrecia said were true, she would need to become much stronger in order to fight Sephiroth should the time come.
“Again.” Vincent barked. He watched her struggle to her feet, stumble forward a couple of steps, then take a fight stance. Her breathing was ragged but she faced him without hesitation.
Lilly could feel her heart pounding as she waited for his next attack. She knew the only way these training sessions ended was when she was so physically exhausted she couldn’t move or she lost consciousness. She smiled as the mid day sun heated her body; at least she was still on her feet. When they had started these daily sessions, she had not lasted long against his attacks. It made her feel somewhat better that she had lasted half a day before she started to weaken.
Vincent jumped at her swinging his fist to make contact with her chest. She dodged throwing a punch at his face, he blocked. They exchanged blow after blow as her vision began to blur. She swung at him, missed and staggered forward, then fell to the ground. She tried to lift her body up but her arms wouldn’t support her.
She heard Vincent sigh. “We are done for today.”
Vincent knelt beside Lilly as she panted; fighting to keep her eyes open as she glared at him, but her tired body won the battle. As her eyes drifted shut, her breathing became even. Vincent reached out to brush her hair from her face, and then he bent over and lifted her to carry her back to the house.

Zack lifted his sword blocking Cloud’s attack then swung his sword throwing Cloud away. Flipping Cloud landed on his feet launching at Zack again. Too easy. He sent Cloud rolling across the grass.
“You know if your emotions are in control you’re never going to win.” Zack said laying his sword on his shoulder.
Cloud growled, jumped to his feet and jumped at Zack again. This time Zack knocked Cloud’s sword away, grabbed the blonde’s arm and flipped him onto his back. Kneeling on Cloud’s chest Zack said, “I can guess what’s bothering you, but getting angry is not going to help the situation.”
Cloud glared up at his friend, knowing Zack was right but unable to help the anger boiling his blood. “You knew what he was going through all this time. Why didn’t you stop him?” Cloud shouted.
“Because he wouldn’t let me.” Zack hissed at the accusation. “Don’t you think I tried?”
Cloud stopped struggling and looked up at his angry friend. He watched as Zack closed his eyes and took a deep calming breath, opening his eyes again Zack smiled down at him. “If it bothers you so much talk to Sephiroth about it.”
Standing Zack reached out a hand to cloud. The blonde looked at Zack’s hand, then looked up into Zack’s blue eyes. Feeling a little ashamed for attacking his friend Cloud took his hand allowing his friend to pull him to his feet.
“Come on lets go get some lunch.” Zack said picking up Clouds sword and handing it to him.
“Okay.” Cloud muttered, turning to follow his friend.

Lilly groaned as she opened her eyes, rolling over on the bed she looked out the window at the dark sky. Sighing she sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. The room swayed a little but at least it did not spin like it had the first time she had been beaten to the ground by Vincent. Closing her eyes she wondered briefly if she should go back to sleep but decided she needed get up to stretch her tender muscles. Walking from the room she looked in each room on the top floor of the house, frowning she went down the stairs and searched the rest of the house. Vincent was not in the house at all, grabbing a piece of fruit off the table, Lilly walked out onto the porch. Again, empty. Where could he be?
She stepped off the porch and walked towards the woods with no real destination in mind. She wondered the forest listening to the sounds of the nighttime animals around her. The sound of rushing water nearby drew her, turning in that direction she finished off her fruit and threw the core into the trees. Coming around a large boulder, she saw a beautiful waterfall but what had her ducking back behind the boulder was Vincent. A very naked Vincent standing below the cascade of water. Holding her breath, she peaked around the boulder. He was still there and it appeared he hadn’t noticed her intrusion.
He stood there running his fingers through his long black hair as the water ran down his tall lean body. Even with the scares crisscrossing his body she could not stop the flood of desire heating her blood. He dropped his arms and turned jumping into the water.
Waiting and watching lily felt jealous of the water’s contact with his body. As he emerged from the water, he pushed his hair out of his face, then swam through the water towards a spot near Lilly. Standing in the shallows, Vincent walked up onto the bank of the lake created by the waterfall. Swallowing hard, Lilly watched the trails of water rolling down his pale back to his perfectly sculpted ass. It took all her willpower to stay where she was when all she wanted to do was rush over to where he was and follow the water droplets with her tongue.
Then his body went stiff and his head snapped in her direction. She jerked behind the boulder clasping her hand over her mouth. Closing her eyes, she listened hard trying to hear what he was doing, but the waterfall overpowered any noise. Bracing herself, she peaked around the boulder but he was not there. Sighing in disappointment, she turned and walked back to the house with a small smile on her face. His beautiful backside would give her pleasant dreams for days.
Vincent watched Lilly as she walked back to the house. He had not expected her to be awake yet, so thinking he was safe from prying eyes, he had bathed in the waterfall. The condition of his body still bothered him and he did not want anyone to see the horrible scares Hojo had carved into his body during his experimentation. As Lilly neared his hiding spot, he heard her humming with a smile on her face.
Chaos chuckled from inside him. She likes what she sees.
Vincent just growled at the demon. Turning he walked away from Lilly, it had to be a coincidence because there was no way a woman would be interested in his body.

Cloud sat in a chair by the window looking out at the starlit sky. When Sephiroth came home this time, he had barely made it past the door before he collapsed. He heard a moan from the bed and turned to look at his patient. Sephiroth had kicked the blanket off his body during his fever-induced thrashing. Getting up he walked to the bed and pulled the covers over Sephiroth while silently cursing Hojo and himself. He should have said something before Sephiroth left this morning but he had been afraid of his response. Cloud knew Zack was right and he needed to talk to Sephiroth about this.
Nichodemus jumped up on the bed, lying on Sephiroth’s chest he mewed. Cloud stroked the cats ears then went back to his chair. Why did he not have the courage to confront Sephiroth about this? He had fought with the man so many times even killing him once. Why was he unable to say what he felt? Looking at the man lying so helplessly on the bed he realized why he was being such a coward. He was afraid of loosing Sephiroth. Turning to the window Cloud knew he would have to get the courage to discuss these experiments with Sephiroth soon or he would loose the man he had come to love.