A/N: Hello! It's been a while, but I'm back… yet again! I'm loving Cloud Strife in Smash. I never thought I'd see the day, indeed. Anyways, I'm going to do a bit of an odd thing here and follow Kingdom Hearts!Cloud since my knowledge of Final Fantasy VII is very limited. There will be some minor spoilers for Kingdom Hearts 2 and Advent Children if that concerns anyone.
I listened to kylelandry's Eternity Memory of Light and Waves piano cover while writing this, so if you'd like, you can too! Enjoy!
x - x - x
He awakens to a gentle touch on his forehead, fingertips ghosting across his skin and the wispy ends of his hair. A dim light reflects against his eyelids, rendering the world a mellow red.
Cloud Strife stirs and places his hand against the woman's slender one, mumbling in his hazy stupor. "Aerith . . . ?"
He jolts awake and darts to his feet, a hand on the hilt of his Buster Sword. Her touch is gentle, but her hand is cold. It's the gloves.
"Who are you? What do you want with me? Where's Sephiroth?" His tone increases steadily in alarm as his grip on his blade tightens.
Before him kneels a young woman, a princess judging by her regal gown and decorative head ornament. Her calm countenance does not stir and she continues to sit there like a little porcelain doll, gripping a gaudy and oversized flower in her hand. Suddenly, a few little creatures make squeaking noises and scurry away in fright. Cloud observes the flowers on their heads, the young woman before him, and the church-like chamber he's in and his heart begins to ache.
"I was told this memory would comfort you," the woman explains softly and casts the flower aside. "I am sorry to have startled you. I am Zelda, Princess of Hyrule."
"Who told you that? Hades?" He grits his teeth, before a sigh filters through his lips and he loosens his grip on his Buster Sword. The exotic slant of her eyes narrows in sympathy and Cloud averts his gaze. "I see." A silence ensues. "Zelda, then."
Cloud realizes she isn't going to follow suit and forces himself to sink back down onto the platform, painted blue and gold on a glassy surface. He casts a cursory glance around the large and royal chamber. Light streams in through glass windows and sconces line the walls. Glancing further down, he notices they're on an elevated platform and the drop down is quite vast. It would inevitably lead to his untimely death. He focuses his attention back onto the young woman, looking at her but not quite gazing into her eyes.
It's just another world I'm passing through. I won't be here for long.
"Sorry. I don't do royalty," he explains shortly, though his voice is softer now. "I just don't see why people who were born into a life of luxury should be treated any better than those who have suffered."
"That's fair," she concedes. "May I ask for your name, brave warrior?"
He immediately wants to refute that appellation, but suppresses the urge and instead says, "Cloud. Cloud Strife."
"A fitting name for the place you've landed in, I suppose. This is a refuge for warriors whose worlds have either been lost or fallen into darkness. We battle each other in hopes of becoming stronger so we may one day return."
"I see," Cloud murmurs. "Another refuge . . . "
"Oh?"
Zelda's eyes lock onto him, an effulgent blue, and he's suddenly stricken by how stoic she is. Her lips are pursed into a fine line and any trace of a smile is nonexistent. Just like him.
"The last world I was in was called Hollow Bastion. I'm not willing to disclose anything more than that."
"That's fine," she replies calmly. "Would you like to meet the other fighters, Cloud?"
He's tempted to pull his perfunctory 'Not interested' and move on, but the thought of Sephiroth appearing keeps him rooted in place. They disappeared in the same flash of light? darkness? and if Cloud fell into this world, it is likely that Sephiroth could be here as well. He wouldn't put it past the silver-haired man to follow him across the multi-verse for the sole purpose of tormenting him in front of a large crowd. Besides, he has a feeling there's a higher power at work if his memories were able to be so easily infiltrated . . .
"Fine," Cloud concedes. "How many are there?"
"Over fifty."
The thought is enough to make him cringe, but he decides to go through with it anyways. Zelda stands up in one smooth motion and he follows suit. They gaze into each other's eyes for a moment, and he notices how prim her posture is, how tall and commanding she suddenly seems when she had looked so breakable before.
Her cupid-bow lips part and she says, "Complete." A warm glow engulfs them both and the world segues effortlessly into a grand mansion. Cloud glances around at the vast foyer, before spotting Zelda before two large double doors.
"Ready?" she asks calmly and holds open one of the doors.
"Y . . . eah. As ready as I'll ever be," he deadpans and proceeds. As soon as he enters, a loud and booming voice exclaims, "Cloud Strife Storms into Battle!"
Half of the crowd erupts in cheer and the other half mutters something about, "Another blond anime swordsman." Cloud wears an utterly impassive expression as he walks down a long carpeted hallway, masking his jittery insides in the face of overstimulation. Everything is too loud, colorful, garish. He misses the muted colors of his home land.
He searches for silver hair in a crowd of fighters, but he only finds two twins garbed in cloaks. Of course. Sephiroth wouldn't be stupid enough to show up in a place like this. He'll catch me when I'm alone, in the darkness.
The warriors are interesting enough, some critter-like and others resembling a more human form like himself. Some of the puffballs remind him of moogles and a shock of yellow makes him think of the chocobo birds.
Cloud approaches the end of the hallway and quickly disappears behind the doors. He escapes to another room where the others won't find him and flops into a chair, raking a hand through his blond hair.
"I can't stay here for long," he mutters. "How do they know so much about me . . . ?"
"Because I told them."
He darts to his feet and grips his Buster Sword. A man bearing one dark, feathery wing and a long sword steps out of the shadows. He tosses his silver hair over his shoulder and smirks.
"Hello, Cloud."
"Sephiroth!" He grits his teeth and adopts a battle stance. "So you did follow me here. It's time we settled things once and for all."
"Now, now, Cloud. There's no need to be so rash. If you can't even defeat the other fighters, how could you ever hope to defeat me?"
"I never said I couldn't," Cloud counters defensively.
"Please." Sephiroth looks down at him from the bridge of his nose. "If a mere child could defeat you in the Coliseum, then what makes you think the others can't?"
"I was weak back then, but I'm stronger now," Cloud says testily and grips his blade closer to his body.
Sephiroth gazes at him for a long moment, before lifting his long and slender sword to Cloud's neck. "Prove it."
The sound of soft footfalls causes the silver-haired man to lower his sword. He smiles with hidden malice as his dark wing shrouds his body. "Better find your light soon, Cloud."
He vanishes without a trace and Cloud drops to his knees in defeat. Beads of sweat dot his forehead as he curses the one-winged angel to the depths of hell.
The door resounds and Cloud's face returns to one of calm contemplation. He stands up but doesn't bother to turn around.
"So how was it?" Zelda asks as her long and elegant strides come to a halt.
"I wasn't expecting to be inducted like that," Cloud says bluntly and turns around.
She stands before him with her calm demeanor and her gloved hands perfectly by her sides. Her face does not change, but something in her voice shifts as she asks, "Would it have been preferable to meet them all individually?"
She must be teasing him.
"I guess not," he concedes and his gaze drops off to the side. "Listen, I've decided to stay here for the time being, but I won't be here for long."
"Very well," Zelda says and begins walking. "Allow me to show you to your room."
Cloud follows her wordlessly out of the room and up the stairs. He notices all the grand portraits on the walls of the fighters and their home lands, and he can't help but wonder who's calling the shots here.
"Here we are," Zelda says as they approach a door with the symbol of his sword on it. "I hope you're able to make yourself comfortable here, Cloud."
She opens the palm of her hand and proffers the key to his room. He accepts it and turns to leave.
"Let me know if you require any other assistance," Zelda says mystically and turns away. "I am always nearby."
"Why are you being so nice to me?" Cloud asks abruptly and turns back around. He realizes what he sounds like and closes his eyes. "I just . . . "
The brown-haired woman gazes upon him with a stoic expression, though her eyes are surprisingly emotive. "Because I see something unique in you."
Cloud's gaze drops off to the side. "Don't," he growls softly. "I'm not here to make friends."
"A friendship is a mutual endeavor," Zelda advises. "It won't happen unless you desire it."
" . . . I'll keep that in mind," he says shortly and enters his room. He closes the door and sews his eyes shut as he presses his forehead against the wall and switches on the light.
x - x - x
The days pass by in a blur. The mansion is surprisingly jocular for warriors whose worlds have been lost, though Cloud supposes it reminds him of his friends back home after their worlds fell into darkness. He finds it equally disenchanting and revitalizing, though he still prefers to keep people at a distance, plagued by fear and nightmares and visions of Sephiroth.
"Laughter is the only cure for a broken heart," an angel with glassy blue eyes tells him after he notices Cloud staring at him one day after a particularly odd prank. He flutters his wings and pure white feathers fall to the ground. "If we have the chance to become stronger alongside each other, then why not do it with a smile?"
Similarly, a young woman with cobalt hair shares her own story. "My world fell into darkness due to a lack of trust. I foresaw a dark fate and went back in time to try and correct it, but I rewrote my own future in the process."
"My country was rife with war," a young man with unruly blue hair tells him. "The beorc and laguz couldn't settle their differences and ended up undoing each other in the end."
That's it, Cloud thinks as he wields his blade like a weapon that could end the universe. The loss makes them stronger.
He dominates the stage with his Buster Sword and brings about the end with his Omnislash.
Tell me what you cherish most, Cloud, Sephiroth whispers in his head. Give me the pleasure of taking it away.
"You just don't get it," Cloud mutters hotly and slashes incessantly at his two other opponents. "There isn't a single thing I don't cherish!"
His eyes glow a kaleidoscope of colors and he brings down his opponents with a final slash. The memory fades and he merely walks away afterwards, tossing a 'No hard feelings' at the dark angel and large penguin he just defeated. The others 'ooh' and 'aah' at his fancy moves, and Cloud feels more like a trophy than a human being.
He sits in the dining halls later that day, wrapped in solitude, and consumes his sandwich. He stands up at the same time as Princess Zelda and they lock gazes. She's with her hero today, a young man garbed in green with the same elfin ears.
Her expression remains painted and polite, and it suddenly dawns on Cloud how heavily guarded she is, even in the presence of her friends. Though with how tall and commanding she is, and his slightly ungainly walk, she appears more like a mentor and he a pupil.
The young man notices him staring in their direction and offers a compassionate smile. Zelda merely smiles mysteriously and slips away.
x - x - x
Cloud usually trains on Battlefield for the sake of practicality, but he desires a change of pace today. He notices a stage called 'Hyrule Temple', a temple suspended in the sky, and hesitantly chooses it. These are memories of the smashers' home worlds, and he would rather not toy with them unless need be. Perhaps that is the true reason he limits himself to one stage.
He lands on an elevated platform in a ruined temple in the sky. Doric-style columns and pieces of large edifices surround him, and moss grows on the ground that was once beautiful and sacred. Cloud looks down into the maelstrom of clouds and wills himself not to fall down.
He proceeds down the broken steps and sees a figure. Zelda stands on a circular platform in the mist, strangely beautiful and martyr-like. The wind shifts, exposing her back, and Cloud glances away.
"Princess Zelda."
She turns around after a long moment, revealing her profile. "I thought you didn't do royalty."
She's teasing him again.
"I don't," he says simply. "But . . ." Maybe for you. "This was your home, wasn't it?"
"Remnants," Zelda says quietly and lifts her gloved hand, as if she could capture the world within it. "My world was overtaken by the twilight. Horrible, atramentous creatures came and devoured everything. How about you, Cloud?"
Cloud wonders why he's even bothering to respond to these questions, why he's even here in the first place. There's a pervasive sadness about her that reminds him of himself, reminds him of what he went through and of darkness and Sephiroth and hatred.
He sticks his Buster Sword into the ground and says, "I can't remember if my world faded into light or darkness. All I know is that I'm searching for a man named Sephiroth, the one who embodies all the darkness within me."
She remains silent as the wind gently tousles her braided brown hair. She reminds him of another woman with curling brown hair, only more staid and impossibly wise. "I admire your valor," Zelda says after a long moment. "It occurred a few days before my coronation as Queen. I gave up my kingdom and my people to the twilight. I hurt him, and . . . her."
Him, Cloud surmises is the hero garbed in green that she was with. Her . . . ?
"The one his heart belongs to," she elaborates, and an awkward silence ensues. Cloud stands with his arms folded across his chest and his Buster Sword stuck into the ground as he closes his eyes and contemplates.
Zelda continues to stand there, unaffected and colder than the white rose. Cloud's eyes fly open as everything comes together: the circular platform, the ruined temple, her martyr-like position and . . . the ledge.
"Wait," he commands suddenly and takes a step forward as his tone increases steadily in alarm. "You weren't thinking of . . . jumping, were you?" The words taste bitter on his tongue and he hates himself for saying them.
"So what if I was?" she asks quietly and the wind billows again. Her hair shadows over her eyes as she begins walking forward.
"Don't do it," Cloud says and lifts his Buster Sword out of the ground, because he doesn't know how to do anything but fight and mourn. He's the last person equipped for this conversation, but maybe that's why he's perfect for it because they're two souls suffering from the same wound. "We all make mistakes. It's about learning to forgive and forget. Someone very important taught me that."
She stands at the very ledge, past the shrine-like structure, and turns around. Her eyes are so blue and lachrymose, that Cloud doesn't know how he didn't see it before. He glides forward and reaches for her, but she sails backwards into the cloudy depths and disappears. Cloud gazes into the maelstrom with wide blue eyes.
Zelda descends a few moments later from the hovering platform.
"Damn you!" Cloud bites out and grits his teeth. Inside, he knew she would return, but he hates her for making him feel.
"Did I frighten you, Cloud?" Zelda asks as she begins walking forward.
"No," he says suddenly and averts his eyes. "I just . . . " He'd never get used to this blasted system of seeing people jump off of platforms and into various chasms.
"Would you like to try it, then?"
"No," he says, louder this time, but she's giving him that all-knowing look that suggests she can read his mind. He closes his eyes. "What if I don't come back?"
"You will," she says, standing at the ledge like the vision of a sun goddess as she proffers her hand, sans the gloves. "I promise."
Cloud gazes at her for a long moment, before abandoning his sword and propensity to fight and argue and resist and takes her hand. "I believe you," he murmurs even as he gazes down into the maelstrom and wonders if Sephiroth is waiting for him down there.
They fall together, head-first this time. Cloud closes his eyes and sails through the cloudy depths, that really feels more like heaven than a chasm, as the wind rushes through his pale blond locks and he feels himself slowly letting go . . .
They descend from the platform and Cloud lets go of her slender hand.
"So how was it?" she asks for a second time.
"I feel lighter somehow," he remarks as he rakes a hand through his blond hair and the flaxen light cuts through the haze.
"Maybe you're the one who needs to forgive and forget," Zelda says teasingly and he scoffs and they both revel in how unguarded this is.
"At least I'm not the only one." He goes to pick up his sword, having abandoned it for just a little while, and when he looks at her again, he no longer sees a faux flower girl or a princess or a martyr but a young woman with a silent strength. "Maybe . . . it's something we can learn to work on together."
His voice is quieter than he's ever heard it, and he thinks he should hate himself but he doesn't. Zelda smiles, and it looks like the first break of dawn.
"I'd like that, Cloud," she says softly.
x - x- x
A/N: And there's my little version of the leap of faith. It always gave me a strange satisfaction jumping down from Hyrule Temple with a parasol and floating down to the lower half during the Melee days.
Anyways, I like this pairing a lot, friendship or something else. I likely won't continue this, even though I have enough to go off of to make it longer, but I may write more Clelda in the future. Thanks for reading!
- mystic moogle