Okay…I probably shouldn't be doing this with how busy I am, but one of my friends recently introduced me to Crisis core and Advent children, and this has been bugging me today, the plot bunnies are driving me insane! Anyway…here goes, this might be taken down if it ends up going nowhere. This will also be the first time I use a male character. :D

…

"Cloud! Cloud! Answer me!" A desperate female voice shouted into the smoke-strewn field. It was Tifa.

…...

Her friend had charged into battle, forcing her to stay behind and watch the orphans while he defended the city. An unknown entity had called upon a behemoth nearly bigger than imaginable. Whether from a summon or some other strange phenomena, almost for certain, Shinra was involved. Multitudes of troops were marching on the city, with the behemoth as their cover. Cloud was foolish, and had gone on his own.

…...

Now Tifa searched the field frantically, Cloud's failure to answer her pleas only increasing her panic. Worse, now it was beginning to pour rain, increasing the fog and drowning out her cries. She clenched her fists in frustration, then cupped her hands around her mouth and nearly screamed his name.

"CLOUD!" Tifa shouted, drawing out his name for a few long moments. She went silent then, and she could have sworn she heard a faint noise. She took a few more steps tentatively in the direction she'd heard it, then for sure, started running, still calling for him. It was nearly impossible to see, the rain nearly blinded and deafened her. In addition, she noted with slight pride and disgust, the ground was slicked with blood wherever she stepped.

Tifa sprinted towards the source of the noise, not hearing it again for some time, and just as she was slowing to listen again, something appeared in front of her foot and she tripped, very nearly ending up in the mud as she caught herself on her hands and knees. She then realized what exactly she'd tripped over.

The behemoth's tail, the very end of it, had been draped in her path. For an instant, she scrambled back from the hulking shadow in the gloom, but upon closer inspection, she came across countless wounds from a blade...large and deep enough to only have been done by one person.

Cloud... Tifa heard the soft noise again, much closer, and she followed it along the length of the monster lying prone on the ground. She accidentally stepped on a few Shinra troops on the way, but she came upon a place where a large pool of bright blood had heavy drag marks for quite a few feet. When Tifa spotted the wide scrape in the earth alongside the drag, she knew for sure he'd been here. And now he was hurt, badly.

Tifa called again, getting no answer, and she looked up into the foggy sky and rain, hoping for a miracle as she started forward again. She tracked Cloud's blood trail for a ways, unsure of where he was going or why. She had to choke back a cry every time she found a large splatter or in places, streaks across the grass where he'd fallen and dragged himself back to his feet. The splatters soon all melded into one long drag mark, and Tifa started running again. She heard the noise again, very nearly on top of her, and she slowed, realizing the morbidity of the scene she'd just come across.

Cloud was stretched out on the ground, face down with his sword in hand. His golden blonde hair was dark and damp and hung limp, streaked with blood, around his face. The noise she'd been hearing had indeed been Cloud, but he hadn't been calling for help. The sound had been him coughing and choking on his own blood. Tifa dropped to her knees in shock next to him, gingerly resting her hand on his armored shoulder. Cloud shifted his gaze to her, and it seemed to take all his effort to even speak.

"T...Tifa..." Cloud whispered, his voice thick and hoarse. Blood poured down his chin and out the corner of his mouth, and Tifa could see his teeth were stained with it. She, as gently as she possibly could, rolled him onto his back. Cloud tried to be stoic, but groaned in pain. It was only now Tifa realized she was kneeling in a spreading pool of his blood.

"Heh...this...seems familiar..." Cloud murmured, staring up into the rain with glazed eyes as blood ran into his ice blue gaze. Tifa nearly choked, realizing the implications of what Cloud was saying. She let out a small sob, and Cloud raised a gloved hand towards her. The leather was sliced and a gash ran along the back of his hand halfway up his forearm, but Tifa took it gently in both of hers anyway.

"Hey...don't...don't cry..." Cloud said, struggling to stay awake as his life bled away on the field. Tifa tightened her grip slightly.

"You're just going to die on me, Cloud?! What the hell is wrong with you! What about the kids? Who's going to protect them?" Tifa said with tears welling hotly in her eyes. Cloud smiled, meeting her eyes.

"You...are..." Cloud said quietly. "I'm...counting...on you..." Tifa squeezed his hand again.

"But what about the kids? What am I supposed to tell them? God, Cloud, they all wish they could be heroes like you!" Tifa said, more grieved than angry. Cloud's mouth twitched up into a smile, his voice relaying the words of his mentor and best friend.

"Tell them...embrace their dreams...If they wanna...be heroes...they need to have dreams... and...honor..." Cloud said, trailing off. Tifa sobbed again, pressing herself to his chest despite how torn his body was. Cloud slipped his arm around Tifa as best as he could, a smile still on his face and his sword still in hand.

"Till...we meet again..." Cloud said, using his last strength to hug her tightly before he let his eyes close and his body relax. His hand slid from her shoulders, landing with an unnaturally loud thud in the grass.

"Cloud...? Nooooo..." Tifa groaned, then started wailing, higher and higher pitched until her keening was sure to be heard by someone, though no one came. Tifa threw back her head and shrieked to the sky.

"CLOOOUUUD!"

…...

Cloud felt himself slip away, the agony of his wounds disappearing and being replaced with a sense of bliss. He heard a faint whisper, and tried to follow the source.

"Cloud…everyone's waiting, come." A female voice, so familiar yet he'd never heard it, called to him. Cloud gave a mental nod, and then felt as if he were weightless. Then, everything went black and silent.