Zack...is that you?
A year has passed since AVALANCHE saved the planet from Sephiroth and Meteor.
Midgar was completely abandoned. No one even bothered to destroy the large city,
or take it apart piece by piece. They just left it there.
The rest of the world was recovering at a fast rate.
Cosmo Canyon, Rocket Town, Gold Saucer, Wutai, and the growing Corel, all competed against each other for power. The members of AVALANCHE who resided in these cities didn´t do anything political. The heroes of Earth all settled down, living life to it´s fullest.
AVALANCHE were chosen as heroes long before they even embarked on their quest to stop Sephiroth. And little do they know, their elite skills are soon to be needed once again...
Chapter 1: Alternative self
Cloud Strife was standing on the beach of Costa Del Sol.
A soft breeze blew across his face, relaxing him. He thought he smelled something strange for a second, and was slightly unnerved by it. But, the smell vanished the next second, along with the uneasy feeling. The blonde man relaxed as the feeling of discomfort went away. Cloud was content in just feeling the soft breeze on his face, and seeing the sun rise and set. Those things proved what he and his friends had accomplished a year ago.
He treasured them all. His friends. Especially one.
Cloud closed his eyes and smiled. He could picture her face perfectly behind his closed eyes.
(She´s so beautiful. No...she´s breathtaking! I can´t believe I nevereventold herthat back in Nibelheim.
Tifa Lockheart...yep, she has definetly "locked" my heart.) Cloud thought.
Just then, soft footsteps in the sand made him turn. His mouth formed into a smile once again.
A young woman came and stopped before him.
"Hey...what are you up to?" She asked.
Cloud smiled and looked out over the ocean.
"Just enjoying the view..." Cloud said.
(Yeah right! You´d rather look at her and you know it!) A voice in the back of his head said.
Cloud smiled and nodded to himself. (You are...so right.) Cloud thought.
The brunette stepped up beside him and looked out over the ocean as well.
"Hey...Tifa?" Cloud mumbled.
Tifa turned to him slightly.
"Yeah? What´s up?" Tifa asked.
Cloud looked at her.
"You´ve been living with Barret in Corel since Holy destroyed Meteor, right?" Cloud said.
Tifa looked unsure as what to make of this. But the fact that Cloud was smiling calmed her.
"Yeah, that´s right. Why?" Tifa confirmed.
Cloud closed his eyes and let the ocean breeze ruffle his hair before opening them again.
"I´ve been living in the villa here in Costa Del Sol for the last few months and that has been
really nice. But...it gets kinda lonely at times..." Cloud mumbled.
Tifa slowly processed the information, then her eyes widened. Could he? Was he?
Cloud noticed her reaction, and his smile fell to a grin. He was beginning to feel nervous.
"I was just thinking...would you...wanna live with me? In the villa?" Cloud said the last two sentences under
his breath.
Tifa was surprised at this. True, she had half expected it, but she had never thought that she was ever
going to hear it with her own ears!
Tifa was at a loss of words at first, but she managed to recover in a few uneasy seconds.
"Cloud..." Tifa smiled. "Yeah...sure...I mean, yes! Yeah, sure I will!" Tifa said.
"Really? I mean, well, you don´t have to do it if you don´t want to." Cloud said, happiness all too evident in his voice.
"Yeah, I want to!" Tifa said with equal happiness.
"Great!" Cloud resonated.
(Phew! I never thought she would say yes! This is going to be great!) Cloud thought.
Tifa beamed with happiness as she gazed into Cloud´s blue eyes.
(He, he actually asked me to come live with him! This is too good to be true!) Tifa thought.
They were both gazing deeply into each other´s eyes now, subconciously leaning more and more
forward. Cloud suddenly snapped out of it and backed off. This made Tifa snap out of it too.
They both looked away, blushing madly.
"Well...I ahh...think that´s great!" Cloud said, trying to cover up.
"Yes...errr...Yeah!" Tifa said, trying to cover up for herself as well.
Cloud racked his brain, desperately trying to think of something to say.
"Yo! Tifa! Get your cute little ass in gear! We´re leaving!"
Cloud thanked his lucky star as he saw Cid standing a distance away, a cigarette hanging from his mouth as
usual. Cid and the other AVALANCHE members had come to visit Cloud yesterday, and were leaving today.
Cloud and Tifa nodded to each other.
"I guess that´s my cue." Tifa said.
Cloud agreed.
Together, they followed Cid back to the Highwind.
Standing outside the Highwind, Cloud and Tifa faced each other again.
"So...you´re leaving huh?" Cloud asked.
Tifa nodded, her cheeks colouring from the memory of what almost happened earlier.
"Yeah..." Was all she managed to say.
Cloud smiled.
"So, have you changed your mind about what I said earlier?" Cloud asked.
Tifa blushed.
"N, no of course not! It´s going to be great, living with you!" Tifa answered.
When she said that, the young man standing beside her did something she never would have expected.
Cloud smiled. A truly happy and content smile. These smiles were very rare nowadays.
Tifa had experienced Cloud´s rare smiles often enough to be able to hide her amazement.
She smiled warmly back at him.
As the Highwind disappeared in the distance, Cloud sighed. For some reason, he felt lonely
whenever Tifa wasn´t there. He turned on his heels and walked back to Costa Del Sol.
(Tifa...) Cloud thought. His heart slowed down, beating harder for each breath.
Cloud didn´t notice this at first. It wasn´t untill he stumbled and fell to his knees that he felt it.
"W, what´s happening?" Cloud panted, sweat trickled down his temples.
A sharp pain was coming from his chest and he struggled to breathe.
His SOLDIER enhanced hearing caught the sound of approaching footsteps.
He struggled and turned his head. A skinny man stood beside him, smiling wickedly.
He had black hair and was rather tall. But what unnerved Cloud about this man was his ghostly white skin.
The man looked down at him, grinning even wider.
"What´s happening, you ask? Nothing. Nothing more than what´s supposed to happen." The man said.
Cloud growled. He fought himself into a kneeling position and faced the man.
"What do you want with me?" Cloud demanded.
He wasn´t able to draw his sword due to the intense pain that was running through his body.
The man smirked.
"Nothing. I just want you to die. It´s as simple as that." The man replied with a sickening smile.
Cloud grit his teeth, cursing his immobility.
"I put a special powder on you earlier. That´s what´s causing your current pain. I guess you wanted to know
that before...you...DIE!"
Cloud´s eyes widened. The man before him suddenly turned completely green, then he started transforming.
His body grew and took the shape of something clearly inhuman. The transformation was complete in a few seconds.
Cloud stared in both wonder and horror at the beast before him. It looked like a huge humanoid snake with arms.
The snake hissed at him, looking down at him with yellow eyes.
"I want you to die..." The snake hissed.
Cloud felt his body fighting the powder in his blood, it wast going very well though. He could tell because
of the frequent pangs of pain. (The Jenova cells in me should be able to destroy the powder since they can
regenerate. But, at this pace, that´s going to take a few minutes. Minutes that I don´t have.) Cloud thought.
"What do you want from me you freak? What have I done to you?" Cloud yelled, trying to buy time.
The snake quietly hissed, then it decided to answer.
"I want you to die...because you are the carrier of something that could prove to be a threat..." The snake hissed.
This didn´t help Cloud very much. The snake loomed over him like the shadow of death.
It revealed it´s fangs and slithered closer to him.
Cloud cursed his immobility for the umptenth time as the snake advanced on him. The snake reached
down it´s hands and grabbed Cloud. It lifted him to it´s face and opened it´s huge mouth, revealing long, sharp fangs.
Cloud grit his teeth and growled. (I am NOT going to die here today! Not a chance!) Cloud thought.
He clenched his eyes shut and reached deep inside of himself.
The snake dove in for the kill when a loud crack was heard, followed by a flash.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" The snake hollered in pain.
Cloud landed rather hard. He grinned at the snake, panting. (It looks like the Bolt3 spell did the trick!)
Cloud thought. He slowly sat up again, his eyes widening as he did so.
(I can move! Arrgh! I can move alright, but not a whole lot. For the first time in my life I wish that I had
more Jenova cells in me. If I had, then I would have chopped that snake´s head off by now!) Cloud thought.
Suddenly, a gunshot was heard. The snake shrieked in pain and reeled back. It´s yellow eyes searched
for it´s attacker. It found him instantly. Standing a distance away, was a tall silouette with a red cape
flowing around his body. His crimson eyes matched his raven black hair. He was holding a shotgun-like
weapon that looked like it could reach all the way from his chest down to his feet.
Cloud bit back some of the pain and turned around. A wave of relief washed over him.
"Vincent!" Cloud called out.
Indeed it was Vincent. The ex-turk lowered his weapon and nodded a greeting.
A loud roar from above made everyone turn to the sky except Vincent.
Descending downvards, was the Highwind! Never before in his life, had Cloud been so relieved to see
the big chunk of metal. Cloud grinned. Was he a lucky devil or what?
A long rope ladder fell down the Highwind´s side, and people started sliding down it.
"Yo! Spike! Need a hand?" Cid yelled as he jumped off the ladder and jogged up to the leader of AVALANCHE.
Cloud smiled, although pained.
"How...how did you guys know...?" Cloud asked.
Cid stopped beside him and lowered the Venus Gospel low to the ground.
"Your PHS." Cid said, eyeing the creature before him.
The rest of AVALANCHE hurried up to them. Tifa sprinted all the way up to Cloud and hugged him hard, earning
a pained gasp from the blonde young man.
"Thank goodness you´re allright!" Tifa said, true happiness in her voice.
Cloud managed to smile weakly. She released him and stood up, cracking her knuckles threathingly.
"What do you mean, my PHS? I have it right here." Cloud said and stuck his hand into his pocket, only to find nothing.
He looked around for it, spotting it a few feet from the giant snake. Cloud blinked, then realisation dawned on him.
"Of course...the emergency function...I must´ve pressed the button by accident when I fell." Cloud mumbled.
Cid grinned sideways at him.
"Yeah, right spike! I bet you were so afraid you were pissing your pants before you pressed the button!" Cid said.
Cloud grinned.
"Alright snake! Time to say bye bye!" Barret yelled and raised the Missing Score.
"We´ve just had a reunion, and here you come barging in, shooting off your rude mouth! That´s not nice!" Yuffie exclaimed.
She tossed the Conformer between her hands.
Vincent moved up beside Barret. He raised the Death Penalty to eye level.
"Taste the power of Death Penalty." Vincent wisphered, his cold crimson eyes completely lacked emotion.
"You´ll never get away with this!" Aeris exclaimed, twirling her staff, the Princess Guard, above her head.
"May I see your invitation card? Oh? Don´t have one? Well I´m sorry. You´re not wellcome here then!" Nanaki growled, baring his fangs.
"Come on then! I´ll teach you the sharpness of Venus Gospel!" Cid barked.
"And I, will make you wish that you were never born!" Tifa said, cracking her knuckles.
She adjusted the Premium Heart and frowned.
The snake hissed quietly, then it slammed it´s tail into the ground. Several dark silouettes emerged from the ground
and took the forms of seven monsters with four arms each!
"What the flying hell?" Cid swore.
Cloud tried to stand, or at least draw his sword, but a sharp pang of pain wouldn´t let him.
Tifa looked down at him.
"Cloud? What´s wrong? Why aren´t you getting up?" Tifa asked.
Cloud growled at the snake.
"That damned snake sprinkled some powder onto me earlier! Must have been when we were standing on the beach!
Whatever powder he put on me, is preventing my movements!" Cloud growled.
Tifa´s eyes widened, then she turned back to the snake.
"LET´S GET HIM!" Cid barked loudly.
Everyone charged the snake, but the monsters he had summoned got in their way!
Everyone soon found themselves fighting one-on-one with the monsters!
Their quest to stop Sephiroth a few months earlier had made them all into fighting experts.
Despite this, they were barely holding their own!
Tifa and Aeris tried to stay close to Cloud in order to protect him, but it was very hard.
The monsters they were fighting were in a league of their own.
Speaking of Cloud, the leader of AVALANCHE was doing everything in his power to help his friends. But he wasn´t succeeding in moving his body at all. The pain was so intense every time he moved, he thought someone pierced his chest with a burning sword over and over and over again!
The snake made it´s way towards Cloud, hissing menacingly along the way.
Tifa and Aeris both saw this and tried even harder to subdue their enemies, but they weren´t succeeding at all!
The snake moved in close to Cloud and once again loomed over him.
"Damn...! I can´t even move a finger!" Cloud wisphered.
He tried to summon a spell, but found that he couldn´t concentrate at all!
(It looks pretty hopeless...) Cloud thought grimly.
The snake hissed and backed a little. Then nails emerged from it´s chest.
The nails suddenly launched themselves at Cloud, they were connected to the snake by cables.
The nail whips struck Cloud with tremendous force, throwing him to ground.
Cloud let out several ear-splitting screams as the nail whips continued to strike him.
"CLOUD!" Tifa screamed, horror spreading through her body.
"Cloud! Hang on!" Aeris screamed and delivered another blow to the monster´s head she was fighting, making it stagger back a step.
It resumed it´s attack in a second though.
Pain. Pain was all Cloud could feel. Indescribable pain. The effects from the powder put on him earlier, paled in comparison to the nail whips attacks. Cloud couldn´t even think. All he could do was scream.
"CLOUD!"
"CLOUD! HOLD ON!"
"SPIKE!"
The members of AVALANCHE were trying with all their might to beat down the monsters and save their leader.
But it was hopeless.
Cloud´s clothes were ripped and blood flew freely around him.
"CLOOUUUUUDDDD!" Tifa screamed, tears running freely down her cheeks.
Cloud managed to formulate one single thought. (Help...) Then the pain returned full scale.
Suddenly, a white light flared in his mind and the pain mercyfully drained from his body.
Cloud took several relieved deep breaths. Then he looked up. He was standing on all fours in some place he didn´t recognise at all. It was like an endless void, filled with nothing but mist.
Then, someone appeared before him. Cloud squinted his eyes, but he still couldn´t make out any details about
the man due to the fog. A black silouette was all Cloud could see. He concentrated on studying the man´s shape.
He had a huge sword on his shoulder and spiky hair that traveled down his back.
Cloud couldn´t make out any details about the man, just that he seemed...almost...familliar?
The man suddenly chuckled!
"You´ve done well, Cloud! I´ll take it from here!" The man said.
His voice echoed throughout the area they were in.
Cloud didn´t understand. Then his vision blurred, and he slumped down on the ground.
"What?" The snake roared.
Everyone stopped fighting and stared wide eyed at their leader.
Cloud was standing on all fours, his head hanging down, holding one of the nail whips firmly in his right hand.
He didn´t look up, nor did he flinch when the snake tried to pull part of it´s weapon back.
The snake hissed angrily and flung another of his weapons at the blonde.
Cloud moved to the side with such speed that the nail whip missed!
He caught it with his other hand, now sitting on his knees and holding the two nail whips firmly.
"You...what are you?" The snake demanded.
Cloud frowned, then he let go of the nail whips. The snake immediately pulled them inside his body, staring at
the young man in surprise.
Cloud put down his hands on the ground. Then, a strong gust of wind erupted from his body!
The wind caught Tifa´s hair and lifted it from her back. She stared at Cloud in wonder, surprise, and a little bit of fear.
Cloud suddenly screamed, making everyone back a little bit.
Then, something that nobody had predicted happened.
Cloud´s hair grew longer, trailing down his back. Then it spiked itself.
Cloud´s muscles grew slightly less refined and he started growling, his voice sounded slightly different than usuall.
Cloud´s hair then changed from blonde, to coal black.
The wind died down, and so did the young man´s growls.
Cid gaped, his cigarette dropped to the ground. The rest of AVALANCHE went through similar reactions.
The young man slowly got to his feet, not turning around immediately. His wounds had been reduced to mere bruises.
"Damn you Strife! What is this?" The snake hissed.
The young man surprised everyone when he suddenly started chuckling!
"Sorry! Strife´s not here at the moment! Please leave a message and try again later!" The man said with humor in his voice.
Everyone was getting worried now.
"What the hell...? That´s not Cloud!" Barret said.
"Damn straight! Spike doesn´t look, or talk that way!" Cid exclaimed.
The black haired man slowly turned around, revealing his face to everyone.
"Cloud did his best, and now it´s my turn!" The man said, a cocky grin plastered on his face.
Aeris blinked once, twice, then she gasped.
"No! This can´t be!" Aeris exclaimed.
The man looked at her, his grin growing into a full-fledged smile.
"Sorry, Aeris! We´ll have to catch up on the reunion stuff later, ´cause I´ve got something to do first!" The man said.
In a swift movement, the Ultima Weapon was in his hand. He weighed the weapon in his hand while
studying it. (This is about the sharpest thing I´ve ever seen! No wonder, he got it from Ultima Weapon. Henche it´s name.) He made a few experimental slashes and thrusts before facing the snake. (The sword´s got pretty good balance as well.)
He thought. The man grinned at the snake cockily.
"...like taking out the TRASH!" The man exclaimed, finishing his earlier sentence.
"He...moves exactly like Cloud!" Vincent wisphered.
"What´s going on here?" Tifa wondered, too stunned to know what she was feeling.
Aeris just stared.
The black haired man put the Ultima Weapon on his shoulder and grinned.
"And? What are you waiting for? Christmas?" The man taunted.
The snake hissed angrily and thrashed it´s tail.
"DIIIIEEEE!" The snake growled.
It released the nail whips again.
The black haired man grinned, then he raised his sword and charged the snake head on!
The second before the nail whips were going to hit him, he sidestepped and brought his sword down,
severing the cables that held the weapons tied to it´s owner.
The snake hollered in pain and pulled the bloddy stumps inside of his body.
It stared at the charging man with hatred in it´s eyes. The man jumped into the air and brought
his sword down on the snake´s head for the final blow. But instead of cleaving the monster´s head in two,
the Ultima Weapon simply bounched off him! The man landed before the snake, looked questionally
at the weapon in his hand, then back at the snake.
Electricity was coursing around the snake now, he noticed. The creature´s tail had also disappeared.
The man made a powerful slash, only to have his weapon bounche back at him yet again. He tried again and
again, with no success.
"What´s going on here? Who IS that guy? And why can´t he get any closer?" Yuffie asked herself.
Vincent shrugged.
"That´s what we´re all wondering, Yuffie." Vincent said.
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha! It´s no use! You can´t come in range of me!" The snake laughed.
The man´s face was a mask of determination.
"Mind telling me why?" The man asked, his voice stone cold.
The snake laughed again, obviously pleased with itself.
"It´s my tail! I can spin my tail around so fast that it creates an impenetrateable barrier around my body!
You can´t touch me!" The snake hissed.
The black haired man pondered this for a moment, then he grinned again. He lowered his sword and bowed his
head. The snake lifted it´s arms and shrieked, deciding it was time to end the fight.
The black haired man focused his eyes on the snake. Soon, he could see something whizzling past the
snake over and over again. (I´ve got to time this right. I´m only going to get one chance to strike him down.)
The man thought. He gripped his sword with both hands and moved into a ready stance. The snake
prepared itself, then it lunged at the young man, bared it´s huge fangs and dove in for the kill.
"NO!" Aeris screamed, tears running down her cheeks.
Everyone stared at the young black haired man. They were all worried that he wasn´t going to make it.
A cloud of dust erupted from the two combatants, hiding them from the other´s view.
Everyone waited with every muscle tense. Then, a loud shriek broke the silence and made everyone gasp.
The smoke disappeared, and the victor was revealed.
The snake was lying on the ground, it´s head lay about a meter from the rest of it´s body.
The black haired man stood behind the snake´s fallen body in a stance that showed that he had just
delivered a devastating swipe.
All of the monsters that the snake had summonded were immediately reduced to ash as their master died.
"Interesting...he actually managed to time it right." Vincent said.
"What do you mean?" Yuffie asked.
"There are very few snakes in this world that can attack and defend at the same time.
This snake is no exception. In order to get close to him the snake had to stop spinning
it´s tail since it uses it´s whole body to move. Even though the snake moved with the
speed of light, he managed to time it right." Vincent explained.
Nanaki agreed with Vincent in his mind. He had seen it too.
The man slid the Ultima Weapon back into it´s scabbard and turned to the members
of AVALANCHE. The man eyed the people before him, one at a time.
His sea blue eyes stopped on a certain brunette. He slowly grinned.
Aeris stared at the man before her, then tears started running down her cheeks.
"I can´t believe it..." She wisphered. "It´s really him..."
Nanaki managed to snap out of the trance he was in long enough to turn to her.
"What do you mean, Aeris?" Nanaki wondered.
But Aeris didn´t answer, instead she stared at the young man before her.
The black haired man smiled at Aeris.
"Hey beautiful. Remember me?" The man said, his voice gentle and loving.
Aeris nodded, tears running down her cheeks. She smiled, pure happiness filled her being as she looked at the
man before her. Tifa eyed her with a questioning look. A sudden flashback reminded her of what happened earlier.
"Cloud! Where´s Cloud?" Tifa demanded.
The young man before them looked at her with surprise written all over his face. Then he relaxed.
"...Tifa, was it? Tifa...Lockheart?" The man said slowly, as if he was rememberingan eventfrom a long time ago.
Tifa didn´t budge.
"Where is he? Where´s Cloud?" Tifa demanded again.
"That´s something I would like to know too!" Barret barked.
Aeris took a few steps towards the man, tears of happiness running down her cheeks.
"Is it really you?" Aeris asked, her voice trembled.
The young man´s facial expression softened and he smiled.
"Of course it´s me...honeybuns." The man said.
This made Aeris laugh with joy.
"I knew it was you...Zack." Aeris said.
"What the hell? Zack? Hey! That´s the guy who was with Cloud in SOLDIER! Wasn´t it?" Cid said.
Tifa shook her head.
"No...no it can´t be! You´re dead!" Tifa exclaimed.
Zack didn´t say anything. He just looked at her.
"No...this is too crazy!" Tifa wisphered.
Aeris´ happy expression now faded somewhat.
"Zack...where IS Cloud?" Aeris asked.
Her voice was gentle but firm. Questions started filling her mind.
Zack put his hand on his chest.
"He´s right...Arrgh!" Zack suddenly grabbed his head and screamed in pain.
He dropped to one knee and seemed to be struggling.
"Cloud! Calm down! It´s me! Zack! Don´t you remember me? Uunnngg! Cloud don´t be so violent!" Zack yelled.
"What´s going on? Is Zack talking to himself?" Aeris wondered.
She was getting seriously worried, about Zack and Cloud. Zack continued to yell in pain.
"Cloud! It´s me, Zack! Your old buddy! Calm...DOWN! Arrrgh! S, seems you´re not going to listen to me!
Alright then! You win! I´ll go!" Zack struggled.
He looked at Aeris.
"Untill...untill next time! B, bye!" Zack said.
Suddenly, his whole body froze. He slumped forward a second later.
His muscles shrunk and became more refined. His hair shortened and changed from coal black to blonde.
By the time everyone had reached him, Zack was nowhere to be seen.
In his place, lay someone very familliar to them.
Tifa kneeled and turned the young man around. She gasped.
The man lying before her, was Cloud! He had regained the wounds he had before.
Wich, Aeris found rather strange, since Zack, or whoever it was, didn´t have any wounds.
"The hell...? Spike´s back!" Cid said, confused.
"But...what happened to Zack?" Aeris wondered.
She was confused as well.
Then, Cloud twitched. Everyone´s attention´s became focused on him.
Cloud slowly opened his eyes. He saw a blur of white, black, and brown above him.
His eyes slowly regained their focus and recognision filled his mind.
"T...i...f...a?" Cloud wisphered weakly.
Tifa smiled broadly and hugged him, rabbling on and on about how worried she was and many other things.
Cloud didn´t hear much of it, however. His mind was set on other things.
Cloud sat up quickly, wich he regretted a second later. He gasped in pain and fell back down.
"Easy, Cloud. You´ve had a rough day." Yuffie said.
Cloud frowned deeply. He glanced up at Tifa.
"Tifa? What...what happened?" Cloud asked.
Tifa´s facial expression changed from a happy one, to a thoughtfull one.
"I´m not sure...it was all so strange. We all thought that you were a goner, and then you suddenly regained your
strenght and caught two of the monster´s whips!" Tifa said.
Cloud´s eyes widened.
"What? I did that?" Cloud couldn´t believe it.
He had no memory whatsoever of doing something like that.
"Yeah, you did! But you released both of them afterwards. Then...then...you...you..." Tifa had trouble completing the sentence.
"...Transformed."
Everyone turned to the one who had spoken. Vincent looked down at Cloud with the usuall emotion-less expression.
His crimson eyes bore through the young man as he set them on him.
Cloud shrugged slightly and sat up, slowly this time. Aeris kneeled beside Cloud and put her hands together.
One of the Materia orbs in the Princess Guard glowed and Cloud was enveloped in a purple light. When the light faded, Cloud looked reasonably better. He had stopped bleeding and all the wounds had disappeared, except for the more major ones, wich had been reduced to mere scratches. Cloud stood up, but his legs wouldn´t support his weight. Tifa caught him as he fell forward, she put his left arm around her shoulders and helped him to stand once again. Cloud mumbled a faint "thanks Tif" and looked at his friends.
"I don´t know what to make of this. Not by a longshot. But listen. Whatever happened here...god, can´t the world stop spinning...!" Cloud´s last words fell into muttering.
Tifa gave him a supportive smile and turned to the rest of the group.
"Let´s discuss this tomorrow. Too much has happened to all of us today, too much to make any sense of.
At least that´s how I feel." Tifa said.
The members of AVALANCHE nodded in agreement.
Cloud gave Tifa a grateful smile.
The members of AVALANCHE all agreed to meet at that same spot the next day.
Everyone went into the Highwind to spend the night there. Except Cloud and Tifa, who went into Costa Del Sol to get some sleep in the villa.
As the sun set on the horizon, the wheels of destiny started turning.
Here´s a slight remake of the first chapter. Thanks to the user who told me about the things that were wrong in the fic.
Well, that should do it! Hope you´re all pleased! See you at chapter 2 and 3!