The girl was strong, she was like a very scared animal that was trying to escape and attack him at the same time, but he wasn't going to let go, even if it was getting quite difficult to achieve; Luki had to be somewhere behind all that madness, and he was determined to find her and bring her back. Perhaps he was even making a false promise, no body was certain anymore if the deaths on that place were or not permanent anymore, he wasn't sure at all, nothing was for real. But it didn't matter.
Minutes seemed longer than usual when struggling against death personified, he kept repeating the same thing, over and over again, until she started to calm down, or at least it was what he thought, a mistake that he was about to realize.
Everything went silent for him, and all he saw was a lightning of metal, and even the pain took a bit to be registered by his brain. That particular pain, he was too familiar with it, the coldness of the blade through his skin, cutting through his muscles as clean as a surgeon would do, and then, that burning feeling taking all over the area; oh, of course he knew the feeling, but that didn't mean he had gotten used to the pain. It hurt, a lot, but not enough to make him back off and release her. At least it hadn't been a stab across his chest.
The look in her eyes perplex him, she seemed more focused than before, the madness was still there, but there was a glimpse of humanity on her eyes again, it goes without saying humanity has proven to be able to do some of the most cruel actions over the world. So, her stare was far from a noble one, but it was more human than before.
Cloud moved very slowly, releasing the grip on her arms, hoping, really hoping she would keep distracted with her sudden "victory" while he moved one hand to his back and made a sign to Vash, It was like a silly slow wave with his hand, but he was hoping the other man would understand that he was ok, and not to try anything, yet.
Hold still... just, wait... He pleaded in his mind. Things were far from perfect, but at least she wasn't snarling at him anymore. He swallowed nervously after thinking on his words, just to realize he had been biting the inside of his lower lip, to the point of making it bleed. The next thing he'd do was too risky, but he did it anyway, backing off now would be worst. He placed both hands over Luki's side of her head, holding her face, if not, a bit tenderly, and looked directly into those unique eyes.
"Luki... Listen... I know you can ...she will be back, she won't leave you alone, and neither will I..."