Drabble #79: Strong

Summary: He had always thought himself weak, she had always thought he was strong.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything but the plot. Characters and places belong to SquareEnix


What if he had pushed Aeris out of the way? What if he had grabbed Tifa's hand instead of letting her fall? What if he had just stood up and helped Zack instead of letting the raven-haired soldier fight the battle alone? Would things have changed at all? Would Zack and Aeris still be here? Would Nibelheim still be standing? Would the Nibelheim children have stopped picking on him?

He was weak. He couldn't help anyone dear to him. He had watched his best friend be shot over and over again, the blood splattering against his still body because he was too weak to get up. He had watched as Sephiroth killed the woman he loved because he was too weak to resist his powers and take that little step forward to push her away.

"You sure drag around a lot!"

He frowned, staring up at the roof above him in annoyance. He didn't understand how Aeris could be so cheerful and forgiving around him. She was dead and it was all his fault. He had failed her just like he failed Zack, his mother, Tifa, the children.

At that moment, everything went wide and with a heavy sigh, he closed his eyes, knowing that when he opened them, he would be standing behind the flower girl once more.

"Hey," she greeted. "Long time huh?"

"Yeah," he replied dully. She sighed, shaking her head slightly. He knew because her braid was brushing against his back from the movement.

"You've got to stop this Cloud!" she whispered gently. "Zack and I hate seeing you like this!"

"I don't deserve your forgiveness!" he answered. She was silent for a moment.

"Why did I ask you to be my bodyguard Cloud?" she asked. It was his turn to be silent as he thought back to that day when he had fallen through the roof of her Church.

"Because Reno was there," he replied lamely. The truth was, he didn't really know why she had asked him to be her body guard. She giggled and shook her head again.

"No silly," she teased. "It's because I knew I could rely on you. I could see your aura, telling me that you had suffered most of your life, though you did not seem like you had on the outside. On the contrary, I thought you were a bit too confident and cocky." Cloud couldn't help but smile a little at this. Yeah, he had been a little bit of a heartless bastard back then. She continued. "But I believed you had strength and I wanted to make you see that."

"But I wasn't strong enough!" he said softly.

"No Cloud, you were strong enough. What happened at the City of the Ancients was meant to happen Cloud, you couldn't change that. I just had to survive to that point and you protected me that far didn't you?"

He was silent for a moment before he sighed. "Yes."

She put a hand on his shoulder as the world around him slowly began to change back into his room. "You were always strong enough for me, bodyguard," she whispered softly before she and her flower field disappeared, leaving Cloud alone in his room.

But for once, he felt happy about living.