Cross My Heart

Words: 2 064
Genre: Romance
Pairing(s): Kid Squall x Cloud
Notes: Birthday fic for the very awesome ChaosVincent. This is most definitely pre-KH, once upon a time when even the sternest of heroes were cute and still learning their lessons.
Warnings: None. :D
Rated: G:DD

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With a wholehearted cry of would-be triumph, a pair of thin, bony hands grappled at the hilt of a sword, arms swinging downwards in a smooth arc with as much packed force as possible, putting every semblance of his being into his final attack. His body was covered with a sheen of sweat and water of glacial temperatures, hair limp and soggy, and the cheap, thin singlet that he had thrown on sticking to his tiny figure – completely drenched.

There was a vociferous sound that echoed through the clearing, resonating through the area and spreading to town even as it grew fainter with distance. Splinters flew, harsh breaths held in suddenly let out in sharp pants, birds startled by the noise taking flight.

They were eye to eye, glaring poisonously at one another as their shoulders and chests rose and fell rapidly, visibly – lips parted in order to greedily gulp in as much air as they could. The silence that accompanied their wheezing engulfed them momentarily before that bony grip loosened, dropping the wooden sword to the hard soil in defeat, stance shaky before eventually collapsing to the ground in a heap, gasping for air. The younger boy squeezed his eyes shut, fist clenched and slamming once into the ground in anguish.

The boy still on his feet let out a stuttered chuckle, lips curling upwards before he relaxed, and lowered his heavy weapon, threatening to fall over just as his opponent had but not willing to shoulder the shame of doing so. After a while, he eventually released the hilt of his own practice sword and let it clatter to the ground, forcing himself upright as he shot the loser a smug smirk, eyes glinting haughtily.

“In your face, chocobo-butt.”

“Sh-shut up! You’re just. . . lucky! Watch out or I’ll-”

“Or you’ll what?” The brunet interrupted uninterestedly, a smirk curling at his lips once again. “You’ll cry on me? Break down and wail over a broken nail like a little girl? Gosh, how scary.”

Familiar tears were welling up in those sea green eyes and, though he shot the boy a disapproving glare, Squall felt himself panic a little. The insane urge to rush to the blond’s side and try his best to console him and urge away the tears overwhelmed him and, momentarily, he remained frozen, unsure of what to do as he debated furiously with himself.

Cloud sniffed back a sob, angry with himself as he hastily scrubbed his eyes with the heel of his palm, sniffing lightly and trying his best to put on a brave front. His eyes and nose were red, a drying trail of smeared, unspent tears streaking across his cheeks as Cloud mustered an expression of indignance, completely unaware that Squall had already gotten more than enough of that heartbreaking face of his to be able to tease and taunt him any more so.

“Oh, Squall won. Good show on you, boy.”

Both heads turned to face a tall, gangly figure that was approaching them. The adult was dressed in a humble robe, his pale blond hair streaked heavily with white hair as his gnarly fingers grasped onto a long, heavy cane. He had an affectionate smile on his face and the typical mischievous twinkle in his eyes, lips upturned and partially covered by his silvery white moustache.

He gave both boys a once over, scanning them down from even through the layer of dirt and mud that coated them, stopping at Cloud, his face losing its pleasantness and slipping away to reveal disdain before it returned to appraise Squall reproachfully.

“You made Cloud cry again, young man?” He asked, tone tinged with a quality of fatherly sternness. As Squall opened his mouth to respond, Cloud scrambled to his feet, glaring furiously at the old man as he tried his best not to wobble too much.

“I’m not crying!”

Merlin raised a white eyebrow.

“I’m not,” Cloud asserted adamantly, stomping his one good foot twice for good measure, automatically wincing when he felt pain shoot up his calf and spike his knee, making him lose his balance and topple over.

Clucking slightly, the old wizard muttered something about silly boys and their need to be tough before patting himself down and pulling out a dark-coloured wand from one of the pockets in his robe, giving it a good wave or two and conjuring a first aid box, the bandages magically unravelling in midair and expertly rolling around the bloody wounds that littered both boys after the cotton swabs and disinfectant smartly shot themselves at the wounds.

He ignored their cries and shouts of pain and surprise, striding over to them and checking to see if the meagre patching up he did would hold. As he scanned the two, he noticed that they refused to look at each other. Eyes uncertainly glancing between the pair, Merlin squatted down in front of Cloud, patting his head with an upturned mouth before a shrill ringing tore through the air from his pocket. With a frown, he took it out – a golden pocket watch – eyebrows furrowing slightly as he looked at whatever was displayed on the face and heaved a slight sigh, glancing apologetically at the small blond boy.

“Well, I’ll leave it to you boys. I have other business to attend to right now. Be sure to get those wounds of yours checked properly, though.” And with that, he disappeared with a small poof.

An awkward sort of silence stretched out between Cloud and Squall, the older boy staring at his feet as the soft sounds of sniffing lightly caressed his ears. Squall absentmindedly bounced on the balls of his feet a few times, eyes straying from the ground to the side to catch just a small glimpse of Cloud’s swollen knee before hastily retreating, his fingers playing with the hem of his dirty t-shirt.

The great bell in the main tower of the castle was already starting to ring loud and regally, marking the 3rd hour of the afternoon. Squall forced himself to look up at the receding clouds in the sky, lips pressed together firmly as he strained himself to keep the abashed expression from his face though he failed miserably.

A light flush coloured his cheeks as he lowered his gaze once again, expression softening as the childish timidity of his guilt weighing upon his conscience took its toll. Squall inhaled deeply, fully aware that he was growing redder by the minute but completely unable to do anything more than what he had planned.

“M-my arm really hurts, you know,” he stammered out forcefully, defiantly keeping his eyes trained on the opposite end of the field as his ears burned red. Confused, Cloud merely took to staring at the back of Squall’s head as his hands gently dropped to his lap and exposed his tear stained face.

“Wh-?”

“S-so you know. I can’t really feel my fingers because you hit my hand too hard with your sword,” Squall pressed on, unable to look Cloud in the face.

The next few moments passed by in silence as a quiet breeze billowed gently through the clearing, blowing with it a few dried leaves that whispered across the long grass as Squall felt crestfallen at the lack of reaction. Maybe he had gone too far and Cloud was really, really mad at him.

Defeated, his eyebrows knitted together and the brunet bit down his lower lip, stifling a sigh. From behind him, he could hear Cloud’s laboured breathing as prominent as ever even though it had slowed down gradually as the younger boy toyed with the frayed edge of his ripped denim pants.

Squall stole a backward glance at the boy, noting the absentminded expression on his face as those lips twisted into a thoughtful semi-frown. Inhaling slowly, the older boy berated himself a little and felt that he could die from the embarrassment before he resolutely dropped onto grass in an abrupt motion, completely surprising Cloud.

“. . . sorry,” he murmured, looking away, the hand on the ground that was supporting his weight gently reaching over for Cloud’s and squeezing slightly.

“. . . you mean it?” A quiet voice asked, casting the brightest glimmer of hope yet in his pessimism.

“I mean it,” he replied, voice loud and clear and just slightly tinged with the overwhelming gladness that he was feeling at that point in time. He squeezed Cloud’s hand a little tighter.

“. . . really?”

“I do. I really mean it,” Squall said, turning around and grinning widely at the blond boy. A soft smile whispered across Cloud’s lips at that and he made a move to clean the dried trail of tears on his face. Dutifully, Squall cleaned his hands with the only clean patch on his soiled shirt and gently wiped Cloud's cheek, beaming at the light-hearted air that had overtaken the other boy's mood.

When they had brushed the dust from their pants and were hobbling towards the castle for a bath, Squall and Cloud had shyly intertwined their fingers together, squeezing gently every now and again.

The minutes passed by quietly, both boys staunch in their silence before the dirt path eventually dusted across sparsely to reveal a road of stone that had been buried beneath the soil that lead to the gates. They walked passively through, undaunted by the looming turrets or sculptures that had been carved into each pillar that adorned the road.

As the oldest and tallest of the two, it was Squall's job to take care of things like door handles which were too high up for Cloud (even if the blond kid had grown tall enough to be able to open doors like these on his own), especially since he had been recently incapacitated. Squall rubbed both palms together and curled his fingers tightly around the bronze ring of the door handle, gripping it securely. The door was a rich, dark colour and was made of a heavy kind of oak that was supposed to safeguard the structure from fire. It separated the castle grounds from the drafty halls.

At the sensation of a slight tug from behind, Squall halted momentarily - right before he was going to begin yanking the door open - and looked back past his shoulders to see Cloud staring at his own feet, finger clutching onto the hem of his dirty t-shirt.

A questioning expression graced his features, and before he could open his mouth to speak, Cloud had already beaten him to it.

“You’ll be with me forever, right?”

Squall paused a moment, mature enough to at least know that he couldn’t trust in ‘forever’. He was supposed to be with his parents forever, but they died and left him all alone. He really couldn’t promise anything, and he was only a kid, and he had no true strength to make big promises. Even so. . .

Squall closed his mouth, eyes lingering on the red that was staining Cloud’s ears before a small, timid smile curled at his lips.

“I’ll do my best to. Promise.”

Cloud hesitated slightly, eyes darting upwards to meet Squall’s confident, serene gaze.

“Cross your heart?”

“Cross my heart and hope to die.”

Squall took Cloud’s hand and squeezed it again, this time sliding both his hands around the blond’s skinny waist before giving him a quick hug. A little embarrassed, the younger boy protested slightly, completely betraying his weak demeanour with the great grin that was plastered across his face.

When Squall pulled away and wrapped his hand around Cloud’s once more, the blond leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, beaming once again at the older boy. Startled, the brunet could only raise his hand to touch the warm area on his cheek where Cloud had kissed him.

He turned scarlet.

With a giggle, Cloud yanked the door open and limped through the doorway, lacing his fingers with Squall’s other hand and pulling him forward when the older boy remained frozen. Adamantly looking everywhere else but at Cloud, Squall walked stiffly, body completely tense as he felt himself growing redder still. The blond smiled easily and led the pair through the corridor to the infirmary.

Maybe they couldn’t promise on forever. But anything close enough would be fine.

Cross our hearts.

the end