Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or VIII or any of the characters or places in those games.
A/N:I just went on a Squall jag. When I replayed FFVII I realized that Squall and Cloud really are the same person, aside from hair, hair color and the fact that deep down inside Squall really isn't a wimp (I still love Cloud though). I am having fun exploring different aspects of Squall in my diffrent cross over and FFVIII stories. I hope you like it, and please comment. It's what reminds me to post more.
After he slipped into the life stream he had given up all hope. He reached out for the dark haired woman, but he had already forgotten her name, his memories slipped away as the eerie green liquid blocked out everything else. He felt that he was sinking into a bottomless pit, to the center of the planet or maybe just into oblivion. He felt something hot burn through his bracer and into his arm, lightning, counter, Shiva, Choco-Mog, sense, Ultima, phoenix, comet, destruct, cover and Bahamut Zero all fused into his consciousness. The Makoro energy melted through his equipment and clung to the Jenova cells, filling his body with the knowledge of the Centra and the secrets of the planet, connecting to something inside of him that he had been able to keep dormant.
"You're just a failed experiment!" the man in white, with the thick glasses had said, a ghost of him floating before his eyes. "You don't deserve a number!"
"Please! Please give me a number!" He shouted, the life stream flowing through him, and everything went black.
"Please, give me a number!" he begged, finding the darkness unbearable.
"Eight." A smooth, deep voice whispered back. "Is eight alright?"
He opened his eyes slowly and found himself in a strange room, the style was obscenely romantic, arches covered in blue, luxurious drapes and carefully designed blue and sliver wallpaper covered in scenes form the ocean. It filled him with a feeling like being enveloped in the ocean's tide, but safe at the same time. Ocean… stream… "Life stream…" He muttered, startled by his own voice. "The life stream, where is the life stream?" He said in tears, his sense of self flying apart.
"What is the life stream?" That deep voice said airily, a hint of tenderness and discomfort sneaking past his well built mental walls. He could sense the voices energy, the power of his spirit, the grim determination, the softness hidden behind layers of emotional barriers and mental walls, they were similar to his own, but the man inside was much stronger than him. He finally looked up to the man, who had spoken, and upon analysis he looked more like a boy, he couldn't have been older than eighteen. He was slim and on the short side, his limbs were long and lithe, he was a bundle of muscles, tension and power. He could have been a SOLDIER first-class; the passion of his aura could be felt across the room and made him feel weak in his presence. But he wasn't a SOLDIER; he was a SEED rank S. He wore tight leather pants that covered the tops of his black well polished boots. His leather bomber jacket had a lining of white feathers that almost paled against his creamy alabaster skin and it covered a plain white t-shirt. He wore black gloves that fiddled with a thick silver chain hung around his slender neck. There were three heavy belts clinging to his slim curvy hips. He licked his lips subconsciously and caught the boy's eye, they were a swirl of both blue and grey at once, like a gathering storm and they betrayed more emotion than his body language, the curve of his plump pink lips, the wrinkle in the scar over his well defined nose or the expression on his lean softly curved face. Strands of feathery chocolate brown hair fell into his eyes, making him look irresistibly beautiful, he had such full lips and thick lashes, and he would have been mistaken for a girl if there weren't something there, something distinctly male.
"I…" He sighed for a moment, taking in the scenery then coming back to himself, his cheeks flushed lightly. "The life stream is the flow of life, the energy of all living things and the will of the planet." He said sitting up slowly, his entire body hurt.
"Oh, that explains it." The boy said aloofly, no change in his expression but a glint of doubt lingering in his eyes, he rubbed his fingers over the bridge of his nose, worrying over the scar as he lost himself in thought. "Do you know what happened?" He asked after a time. "Do you know how you ended up off the coast of the Centra continent?"
"Centra?" he said with a jolt. "You mean the Ancients?" pain shot through his temples as he started to remember. Ancients, Centra and Life Stream resonated in his mind.
"…" The man said scrutinizing every aspect of him. "What is your name?" he asked finally.
"… You called me eight…" he said softly. "That's my number, you can call me eight. Who are you?"
"Squall," he said simply.
"Am I in Centra?" eight asked uncertainly.
"No… we found you by an old lighthouse on the Centra continent. We brought you back to Balamb to see a doctor. There still hasn't been reconstruction since the sorceress war." Squall said as a matter of fact-ly.
"Sorcoress?"Eight asked confusion in his Mako blue eyes. Squall let out an almost in audible sigh.
"So… how much do you remember?"
"A current pulling me in and names…" Eight said softly.
"Names?" he said quirking an eyebrow.
"Centra, Ancient, Life stream… Jenova… Sepheroth, Zacks, Vincent, Nimbelheim… Cloud?" Eight said, his voice wavering at the name that once was his own.
"Cloud?" Squall said with a smirk, thinking how easily the name fit his own, the wind and the clouds that make up a storm. He almost let the smile slip out as a short bouncy brunette entered the room.
"Yay! Looks like you're awake!" She said with a giggle. "You even have Squall smiling, so you must be something special." She said with a bright smile, reaching her hand out to him. He looked at it apprehensively. "I'm Selphie, what's your name?"
"… Eight."
"Eight?" She said wrinkling her nose. "That's not a name, it's a number. I have to call you something better than that. Didn't I just hear Squally say cloud? You look like a Cloud to me," She said with a giggle.
"No… I…" Cloud protested.
"It's a nice name, isn't it Squally?" She said, making him frown.
"Yeah, I guess." He said with a tiny smirk.
"It's settled then. Welcome to the team Cloud." Selphie said with a giggle, Squall shook his head and glowered.
"What team?" Cloud asked with a confused little smile, he liked the idea of joining a team.
"Ignore her," Squall said looking back at Cloud. "We'll send you home as soon as we figure out where to take you," He said reassuringly.
"Oh…" Cloud said with a frown, of coarse they wouldn't accept him… he was a defect anyway.
"Look Squally, you hurt his feelings." Selphie said poking Squall in the side mercilessly. "He tries to pretend that he doesn't need any of us, don't let him fool you," she said with a little giggle.
"Selphie, who's flying Ragnarok?" Squall asked, looking back at her with a frown.
"I left Zell in charge," just as she spoke the words the cabin shook. "Okay, I'm taking charge again," she said jogging out of the room. Silence pored over them and Cloud felt more and more useless. He couldn't tell them how to get home, he didn't know where he was… and he didn't want to be a burden.
"We'll be back to Garden soon…" Squall said to fill the silence.
"Garden? What kind of garden… like the church in sector seven?"
"You're kidding right?" Squall said with a frown. When Cloud didn't respond Squall let out a heavy sigh. "Garden is a mercenary organization; we take on jobs from the different states and train new recruits. If there is ever an emergency… like now, we… protect the planet." He said. The description felt ridicules, anyone who didn't know what Garden was had to be an idiot. But Cloud didn't look like an idiot, with those bright blue eyes.
"Are we on the surface? How far are we from Midgar?" He asked with a frown.
"… As soon as we get back to Garden, Doctor Kodikawa will look you over and then we'll do our best to send you home."
"Thank you… Why is a mercenary organization bothering with someone like me?" He asked a little bit confused.
"You want to be on your own?" Squall asked narrowing his eyes meanly.
"No! I mean… no, its just I didn't think that the leaders of an organization like that would give the okay to waste time on a civilian…"
"Well, since I'm the leader, I say we have time for that," Squall said fiddling with his jacket.
"Oh, Thank you… Sir."
"Just call me Squall, I get so sick of being called Commander…" Squall frowned and looked back at Cloud, he hadn't spoken to anyone this much in weeks. He had no idea why he was so compelled to speak to a complete stranger; a complete stranger who seemed about as vulnerable as a kitten and confused as hell. "I have some paperwork I should be getting to… you rest it should be a couple hours before we reach Balamb." Squall said rushing of the room.
"Wait…" Cloud said, but he was already gone.