Sweat-soaked Leather and Cotton, claim: leon
Title: Sweat-soaked Leather and Cotton
Author: fireflypenance
Characters/Pairings: Leon/Cloud, Aerith, (mention of Sephiroth)
Rating: R (warnings: m/m, character death)
Challenge: un_love_me & 31khdays
Prompts: 15. This is my desperation in action. // May 1 -- must have been late afternoon
Leon cursed himself as his knees impacted with the cobblestone streets of Radiant Garden. How he’d managed to come this far- He couldn’t finish the thought. It fled, broken into a million pieces, like a thousand butterflies. The dusky sky suggested it was late afternoon. Leon remembered that, from when last he’d looked up to the sky. His hands were digging into the stones, but unable to break or dig or tear. His fingernails protested from the pressure. His side hurt more.
His world narrowed to his hands, those fingers digging so hard and unable to do anything. He tried, fighting hard, grunting, nearly screaming, but nothing came of it. He couldn’t release his fingers, but he was light headed all of a sudden. What had he-
Frustration clung to him. It felt remarkably like sweat-soaked leather and cotton. His gloves were gone. He never wielded his gunblade without them. He studied bare palms, and marveled at cracked and broken fingernails. Despite the marks and all, they were remarkably clean. Hadn’t he been-
“LEON!”
A bellow, a scream. The scratching of boots against cobbled stones. A fall, a hiss of pain where knee struck stone. He heard it, even saw it out of the corner of his eye.
It was Aerith who knelt before him. Her hands gently cradled his, and she looked at his eyes.
“Leon, what happened? Can you tell me what happened?”
After all the fighting, after all the rest, was this his end? He felt very dizzy. Why was he dizzy?
“Leon, please. Why are you bleeding?”
Bleeding? He wasn’t bleeding, he-he gasped when she touched his side and drew back sticky red blood. How long had he been bleeding?
“Come on, Leon, we have to get you somewhere better to look at that.” she pulled one of his arms over her shoulders and helped him to stand. Leon hesitated, hand against his own side now, and was confused.
“Aerith?”
“Yes, Leon, it’s me. What is it?” She was trying to get him to Merlin’s house, which was closest.
“Aerith… where’s Cloud? Cloud was with me when we… when…”
Leon’s mind was racing. Aerith was suddenly very far away. Images came back, sounds, the stink of blood and darkness. A wing. A black wing. Silver and blonde. His own love, his determination. His gunblade, spiraling out of his hands, and in desperation he threw the last of his magic. A terrible moment of fear, before stomach clenching certainty. His knees against dirt, peeling off leather gloves to press bare hands against a wound that was already too bad to fix. Trying anyway. Not noticing when he’d been gashed open.
A hand raised to his cheek. Tears. His or… not his. A moment breathed between them, and a promise to live in his place.
“Cloud…. oh Hyne…” his legs buckled, and Aerith was unable to hold him alone. He fell back to the ground, curled in on himself, and ignored the blood.
“Leon?” Aerith whispered, already choked with tears. She understood. Too well, did she understand. Cloud had tried to face his darkness, with his light by his side, and it hadn’t been enough.
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Author: fireflypenance
Characters/Pairings: Leon/Cloud, Aerith, (mention of Sephiroth)
Rating: R (warnings: m/m, character death)
Challenge: un_love_me & 31khdays
Prompts: 15. This is my desperation in action. // May 1 -- must have been late afternoon
Leon cursed himself as his knees impacted with the cobblestone streets of Radiant Garden. How he’d managed to come this far- He couldn’t finish the thought. It fled, broken into a million pieces, like a thousand butterflies. The dusky sky suggested it was late afternoon. Leon remembered that, from when last he’d looked up to the sky. His hands were digging into the stones, but unable to break or dig or tear. His fingernails protested from the pressure. His side hurt more.
His world narrowed to his hands, those fingers digging so hard and unable to do anything. He tried, fighting hard, grunting, nearly screaming, but nothing came of it. He couldn’t release his fingers, but he was light headed all of a sudden. What had he-
Frustration clung to him. It felt remarkably like sweat-soaked leather and cotton. His gloves were gone. He never wielded his gunblade without them. He studied bare palms, and marveled at cracked and broken fingernails. Despite the marks and all, they were remarkably clean. Hadn’t he been-
“LEON!”
A bellow, a scream. The scratching of boots against cobbled stones. A fall, a hiss of pain where knee struck stone. He heard it, even saw it out of the corner of his eye.
It was Aerith who knelt before him. Her hands gently cradled his, and she looked at his eyes.
“Leon, what happened? Can you tell me what happened?”
After all the fighting, after all the rest, was this his end? He felt very dizzy. Why was he dizzy?
“Leon, please. Why are you bleeding?”
Bleeding? He wasn’t bleeding, he-he gasped when she touched his side and drew back sticky red blood. How long had he been bleeding?
“Come on, Leon, we have to get you somewhere better to look at that.” she pulled one of his arms over her shoulders and helped him to stand. Leon hesitated, hand against his own side now, and was confused.
“Aerith?”
“Yes, Leon, it’s me. What is it?” She was trying to get him to Merlin’s house, which was closest.
“Aerith… where’s Cloud? Cloud was with me when we… when…”
Leon’s mind was racing. Aerith was suddenly very far away. Images came back, sounds, the stink of blood and darkness. A wing. A black wing. Silver and blonde. His own love, his determination. His gunblade, spiraling out of his hands, and in desperation he threw the last of his magic. A terrible moment of fear, before stomach clenching certainty. His knees against dirt, peeling off leather gloves to press bare hands against a wound that was already too bad to fix. Trying anyway. Not noticing when he’d been gashed open.
A hand raised to his cheek. Tears. His or… not his. A moment breathed between them, and a promise to live in his place.
“Cloud…. oh Hyne…” his legs buckled, and Aerith was unable to hold him alone. He fell back to the ground, curled in on himself, and ignored the blood.
“Leon?” Aerith whispered, already choked with tears. She understood. Too well, did she understand. Cloud had tried to face his darkness, with his light by his side, and it hadn’t been enough.
[ x ] FRIEND to see updates
[ x ] comments are love