Let Me Tell You A Bedtime Story

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

Characters: Cloud, Marlene and anyone else in the house who wants in!
Progress: Ongoing
Summary: It's time for bed, kids!
Location: Strife-Lockhart Household, Lindblum
Date: March 1804, the night of the ball
Warnings: NONE. Seriously, none at all.


Heading home once it was well past bedtime, Cloud took his family inside and while they did whatever they wanted to do, he went straight for the bedroom. Suit. Off. NOW. He was not the kind of man to wear a suit or tie and wearing both had him so uncomfortable. Once he'd stripped right down and reclothed into a pair of pants he could sleep in, Cloud adjusted the ribbon on his bicep and turned to leave the bedroom, heading back downstairs to find Marlene. She was the youngest, and he always thought it was best she was in bed first, then would deal with the others.

Crossing his arms over his bare torso, Cloud smiled down at Marlene. "Time for bed, Marlene. Come on," he offered his hand out to her, ready to go and help her get ready for bed and tucked in.

Comments

[littleprotector.livejournal.com]

Cloud would find Marlene spinning in her dress, giggling to herself. She loved it! And Eiko's birthday party had been so much fun, even if there had been a lot of grown-up stuff. She'd been used to that in her short life though.

She stopped, tumbling slightly, still laughing. "Aww, Cloud! Bedtime already? Can't we stay up a little longer?"

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

Cloud laughed quietly, still not one to express himself very openly. "No, come on, it's past your bedtime. If you're good, I'll tell you a story."

With that, Cloud scooped her up, holding her against him and making sure not to damage her pretty dress. "I'll tell you any story you want, but you've got to get ready for bed and brush your teeth, okay?"

[littleprotector.livejournal.com]

She sighed heavily. "Fine..."

She curled her arms around his neck, leaning back to look at him slightly. "Any story? Anything I want?" She was already thinking of what he could tell her.

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, anything," he murmured, carrying her up the stairs and towards her bedroom. He'd sort out her dress then help her get washed up and into bed.

Hugging her as he carried her, Cloud was actually pretty glad he was at least good at this part of fatherhood. It was when they had problems that he was completely stuck for what to do.

[littleprotector.livejournal.com]

After getting washed up and changed, she was all ready to curl up into bed. But! Story time came first. She was a good girl and papa Cloud promised her.

"Hm... about that story..." She played with her braid for a minute, thinking. "Tell me about something you did! Maybe... when you were younger? And tell me about Zack!"

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

Sitting down on the bed, after fetching the hairbrush, Cloud shifted her in front of him and began untying her braid to brush her hair. "Something... I did?" Oh crap. Well, he didn't exactly remember much at all of his life as an infantryman, thanks to Hojo.

A small frown creased his brow as he unthreaded the braided hair to start brushing it. "Well, I didn't have a very nice time when I was in ShinRa, Marlene, so it's not really going to be a nice bedtime story." Running the brush through her hair, Cloud wrinkled his nose. "But Zack... I can tell you about him. He's a hero, because he saved my life lots of times."

[littleprotector.livejournal.com]

She nodded. She didn't know too much, so she didn't want to pry. She'd stay still while he brushed her hair, even though she was still all excited from the birthday party. Kids and parties just were an excitable combination.

"But you're a hero too, Cloud. Is Zack the person who in-..." She paused for a moment. Think of the word, Marlene. She had heard the word before, but she just couldn't think of how to say it.

"Is Zack the person who made you want to be a hero?" When in doubt, use other words.

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

Cloud frowned at that. "No... Sephiroth was. I wanted to be a hero like Sephiroth, so I left Nibelheim to join SOLDIER." Never actually made SOLDIER, but that didn't matter very much anymore. "Zack was the one who kept my spirits up and tried to help me to get into SOLDIER."

Once her hair was brushed, Cloud started to braid it again. He'd quickly learned how to braid hair when he and Tifa had taken Marlene in, and while he thoroughly adored her, having Denzel in the house had evened the odds. Shelke joining the family meant the boys were outnumbered again, but Cloud loved them all, so it was alright.

"When Sephiroth burned down Nibelheim, a bad doctor took me and Zack away and put us to sleep for four years," he murmured, threading her hair. "When we got away, I was really sick for a year, and Zack took care of me. He's my hero, and I wanted to do him proud." As far as living legacies went, Cloud was sure he'd done a bad job at it.

[littleprotector.livejournal.com]

Marlene sat quietly while Cloud explained things to her. She had known Sephiroth had been a SOLDIER before, but she didn't know that Cloud wanted to be like him. She thought about that for a moment until she felt her hair being braided again, to which she adjusted in her seat, giving Cloud more room to braid. He was gentle, and she smiled slightly. They taught him well.

"I think you're doing a great job... but that's just me. But I know Tifa and Denzel and everyone else will say that too."

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

Cloud laughed slightly, putting the brush aside and curling his arms around her for a cuddle. "Now do you want a proper story? A nice one?" He didn't know what story to tell her, but he'd come up with something. He doubted it'd be very nice to tell her anything he'd done previously. His life had been pretty grotesque.

Settling back against the headboard, he wondered if Denzel and Shelke would want to join them. Then again, he knew it was important to spend individual time with each child.

[littleprotector.livejournal.com]

Marlene wrapped her arms around him, then settled in against him, pulling her blanket up.

"Okay! Make it a good one!"

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

Securely tucked up in bed with his youngest child, Cloud rested his chin on her head.

"Alright. Once upon a time, there was a princess who had the prettiest eyes and the nicest hair in the whole of the kingdom. Everyone loved her, because she was just so beautiful and kind, but the person who loved her the most was a common boy. There was nothing special about him, but he was in love with her..."

Putting a fantasy spin on a true story would work, right?

[littleprotector.livejournal.com]

She'd arrange a bit of blanket on Cloud too, only because she didn't want to seem like a bed hog. He was sitting with her in it for right now. It was only logical, right?

She leaned her head on him, listening. She was totally liking the story so far, and she was listening intently.

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

"One day, the boy asked the princess to meet him at the top of a hill, and he made her a promise. If he could go to a far away kingdom and learn to become a Knight, just like the world's greatest Knight, he'd rescue her if she ever needed saving." Cloud's eyes were filled with emotion. This was as true a story as he could ever tell.

Shifting a little, he stroked her head gently. "So, he went away, and tried to be a Knight, but all he could be was a Squire. It made him sad, but a really great Knight told him to keep working so the boy tried his hardest."

A frown creased his brow. "On a special Knight's job, the boy went with his friend, the new Knight, all the way back to his home kingdom but he had to hide his face or the princess would know he hadn't become a Knight yet. But then the world's greatest Knight did something really bad and destroyed the kingdom."

[littleprotector.livejournal.com]

The story was beginning to have its effect on Marlene, and she was beginning to settle down. She yawned a bit, the day's events catching up with her. A great party, meeting new people, and a story before bedtime? This was the life. If every day was like this, she would be one happy camper.

"I hope the boy kicks the bad Knight's butt..." She murmurs.

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

"Sort of... but the battle was too much for the boy and even though he won he was hurt really bad and the mean wizard came to take him and the good Kight away. He locked them in the dungeon for years, and when the good Knight finally managed to break them out, the boy was took sick and tired to make it on his own." His voice tightened for a moment but he managed to calm himself down just enough to keep on tell her the story.

Glancing down he noticed she was getting sleepy. "So, the good Knight carried the boy around everywhere, saving him from monsters and walking all the way back to the far away kingdom where they met. But it was too late, and the wizard had got his dark army to stop the good Knight. The good Knight battled until the very end but he lost." Cloud sighed sadly. He hated this part of his story. "The good Knight made the boy his living legacy, and told him to keep going and be a hero... but that's a story for another time, little lady."

[littleprotector.livejournal.com]

By the end of that, Marlene could barely keep her eyes open. Still, she was defiant. She wanted to hear the rest of the story! It was getting good, even if the mean wizard's army killed the good Knight. She needed to hear the rest. Cliffhangers sucked!

"But..." She yawned. "Why can't we finish the story now?"

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

"Because you need to sleep and we won't have a story for next time if I tell you it all now," he replied, sliding out from under her to lay her back down in the bed, pulling the blanket up and tucking her in.

Cloud smiled as he knelt beside the bed, leaning in to kiss her head. "I'll tell you a story about your daddy sometime, too..." He brushed his hand over he cheek and kissed her head one more time. She needed to sleep and he needed to check on the others.

[littleprotector.livejournal.com]

"Aw man..." Half murmured, she snuggled into her pillow, curling up under the blanket after her papa slid away.

She mumbled something about wanting to hear that story too, but it was incoherent mostly. Sleep had claimed the little girl, all tuckered out from her best friend's party and her papa's awesome story.

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

Once Marlene was asleep, Cloud smiled, and even though Aerith and Zack were alive in Gaia, he still silently asked them to watch over her like always.

Retreating from the room, after putting out the light, Cloud closed the door behind him and headed off to go and deal with the other two.

[xnotyetaherox.livejournal.com]

Denzel had been listening in on the story from outside the door; but when he heard Cloud moving, he quickly ran and dove into his own bed, snuggling down and into the blanket, pulling it up to his chin, to pretend he had been there all along.

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

Heading to Denzel's room, Cloud slid the door open and smirked slightly. "Enjoy the story?" Mako gave him enhanced senses; he'd heard Denzel make his rush back to bed and put two and two together. It wasn't like he was going to tell him off for it, after all.

[xnotyetaherox.livejournal.com]

Busted. Totally busted. Denzel sat up slightly, giving Cloud a sheepish grin. "You heard me, huh?" He rubbed at the back of his neck, scrunching up his nose. "It was a great story... I don't think it was all made up though."