Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me. This fanfiction is based on the film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks's hit story, A Walk to Remember. In no way, shape, or form is this story meant to offend anybody.
In the chilling air of the midnight moon, Cloud Strife traveled through the darkness with a painfully numb feeling descended upon his chest. Normal teenagers would be at some sort of party, normal teenagers would be on a date, normal teenagers wouldn't be plotting to embarrass a new kid at school on a Friday night, but normalcy wasn't exactly his group's style of getting a good laugh. Usually, Cloud was a good sport about old-fashioned high jinks, but that night had been different from the others. Somehow, it had been darker, scary in a sense, too. In short, Cloud just had a feeling that wasn't sitting well with him.
Premature guilt?
He parked his motorcycle next to a black pickup truck, feeling the heaviness as he stepped his feet onto the concrete.
"Cloud!" The group exclaimed merrily.
"Hey," the blonde replied softly, being greeted by a bunch high-fives and pats on the back. "I am so ready for this. Wouldn't have missed this for the world."
"Good, man," Reno said with an obnoxious chuckle, "because this is going to legendary."
Cloud faked a smile, giving Reno a slight nod. Maybe he was just having the last-minute jitters, since he—or at least a small portion—couldn't come to the terms he was about to go through with. As if on cue, Tifa tossed him a cold can of beer, which would the trick of calming his nerves for sure. . .
Right?
"Guys," Tifa started, swaying her hips from side to side, "if Vincent doesn't show up, we should definitely go back to the dance!"
Reno rolled his eyes, folding his arms over his chest. "You know what, Teef? Take yourself."
Tifa gave the feisty redhead a cold glare, a soft pink painting her cheeks. "I wasn't talking to you, Reno." Her plum-brandy eyes lingered on his arrogant expression before she averted her attention to the beer-drinking blonde. "Cloud?"
Immediately, Cloud began shaking his head to and fro. "No, no way, Tifa. You know I don't dance."
"And with good reason," Zack, forever adorning a cheerful grin, laughed. "Have you seen Cloud try get down on the dance floor? Your boy, Cloudy here, struts his move like a confused catfish." The raven-haired man jumped around spastically, imitating Cloud's dance moves, and earned a few giggles from Tifa.
"Ha-ha, you're so funny I forgot to pound your face into rubble," Cloud chortled sarcastically, raising his fist in a joking manner. He then cracked a small smile for his best friend. "You know, I'd prefer if you didn't broadcast my vices."
"Hey, shut up!" Reno bellowed, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend, Elena, in a casual manner. "He's here. Act natural!"
Cloud tilted his head upward, drinking the remaining of the beer as fast his body would allow him. Then he tossed it to the ground, not caring if he was contributing to Global Warming.
"Vincent, my man," Reno murmured menacingly as the crimson clad man walked up to the crowd he was hoping to become a part of, "I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to show up."
"Sorry," Vincent apologized.
Reno sighed, trying to obscure the cunning in his voice, but was doing a really bad job of it. "Whatever man. Let's get this show on the road!" He clapped his hands together and gestured to the mako reactor. "That is," he stopped, smirking predator-like at the nervous Vincent Valentine, "if you're not scared. You're not going to chicken out, are you?"
"I wouldn't dream of it," he replied, keeping his tone even.
Cloud gave him a reassuring smack on the shoulder. "Don't pay any mind to him, Vincent. He's just a goofball that wants to freak you out.
"Is it safe?" Vincent questioned.
"Oh, sure. Yeah," he said, lying right through his teeth.
The gang walked over to the mako reactor, marveling at its enormity. Reno, however, only seemed bored.
"Okay, now remember why you're doing this, Vince. If you wanna hang out with us, you're going to have to prove yourself first. Show us you have guts."
Vincent nodded toward Reno, and heaved a sigh as he looked over to Cloud, who somehow showed no sign of fear. They began to climb the metal ladder, both extremely apprehensive at what was about to take place, but only one showed it.
"Have you ever done this before?" Vincent asked, attempting to prevent his voice from shaking.
"Yeah, we've all done this, buddy. Sure, it looks really high and frightening, but it's really a breeze. Trust me," Cloud advised, finally reached the top of the reactor. He glanced at Vincent, who seemed like he was calculating the odds of his death. "On three we'll jump, alright?"
"Okay," Vincent answered, giving one solemn nod.
"One."
Vincent bent his knees while Cloud just stood there, grinning at this nervous behavior, and yet still his conscience was eating away at him.
"Two."
Closing his eyes tightly, Vincent sucked in a sharp, greedy breath, and positively refused to let it go.
"Three!"
Cloud watched in amusement as Vincent went flying downward into the freezing water, belly-flopping as he hit the surface. Splash! His voice, though, did not moan and groan in pain like it should have.
"Re-Reno!" Elena screamed in horror, jabbing her index finger. "What the hell?! Oh, my God! Is he dead? Is he dead? Reno!?"
"Is he hurt? Is he okay? He's not moving," came Tifa's frantic cries. "Cloud! Get down here!"
Cloud's electric blue eyes went wide with bewilderment, frozen in fear. Again, the worried shouts from his friends shattered through his eardrums, breaking him away from his trance. He needed to act quickly before—
"Hey, who's out there?!"
the cops showed up.
Crap!
"Cloud, c'mon! We have to go!" Reno hollered, using his hands as a megaphone.
Instead of scurrying off with his friends which probably would have been the intelligent thing to do, Cloud dove into the very center of the lake, and swam over to Vincent. He quickly grabbed the limp body, bringing Vincent back to solid ground. Tifa clasped her hands around Cloud's muscular arms, trying to pull him away from the scene.
"Cloud, please let's go!" She begged, gritting her teeth.
He pushed her away. "No, no! Get out of here! Just go!"
Zack took a hold of Tifa's hand, forcing her from Cloud as he attempted to pump air into Vincent's unmoving figure.
"C'mon, Vince!" He shouted. "Come on! Don't you dare stop living!"
Vincent coughed at last, the clear water spilling from his pale lips.
Cloud took this as his golden opportunity to make his grand get away on Fenrir.
"Stop right there!" Warned the policeman, shining a flashlight around so that he might find the culprits, but Cloud knew better.
He wouldn't dare stop his bike if meant getting away without having to spend some time in the slammer. But when Cloud turned his head for the briefest second to see if Vincent would be okay, he wasn't counting on that stupid tree being there. Before Cloud could blink, he was sent soaring through the air, and landed on the side of his right ankle.
Well, things couldn't possibly get any worse, the ignorant blonde thought three seconds before handcuffs tightened around his wrists.
Limping all the way downstairs, Cloud ground his teeth together in order to prevent from cursing like a sailor. His head pulsed wildly, the thumping of his brain beginning to get on his nerves. His mother, Miss Strife (formally, Misses Shinra) turned around at the sound of her son's eternal complaints as he sat down at the dining table.
"Hey, Mom. I don't think I can go to school tomorrow. My leg is in really bad shape." Said Cloud as Miss Strife put down a plate of flapjacks. He took a forkful, drowning the food in sugary syrup.
"Maybe I should call your father," the blonde woman suggested, looking Cloud up and down wearily.
Cloud put the fork down on the plate before the breakfast could even come close to going in his mouth, disgusted at the mere mention of his father.
"No."
"Cloud," she sighed in exasperation, "you can't do stuff like that. You need your father. You need someone to teach you how to be a man."
"A man doesn't run out on his family, Mom. More importantly, that also doesn't make him much of a father either, just a sperm-donor," he explained, his expression growing hard and cold.
"This has got to stop between you and him!" She exclaimed angrily.
Cloud shook his head. "Mom, you just don't get it."
"You're right; I don't get it, Cloud. Regardless, he is still your father and he still loves you," Miss Strife replied, calming the tone of her voice.
Every time she looked at her boy, she saw the hurt and suffering in his blue eyes, and remembered that Cloud wasn't always like that. He used to be so full of joy and love that his smile very well lit up her whole world, and he used to be so close to his father, in fact. But as Cloud turned the age of twelve years, the days seemed to stretch into years as the Shinra couple no longer saw things eyes to eyes on how to handle their failing marriage. Rufus started to see another woman. Then one day, Rufus packed up his things and left his family behind to be with someone else. Cloud was the never the same.
Admittedly, Cloud's ultimate hatred for Dr. Shinra was partly her fault. After the divorce, Miss Strife changed hers and Cloud's name back to her maiden name, Strife. She was heartbroken, realizing the only man she had ever really been in love with didn't care enough to even try and rekindle their love. She stormed around the house for a year, hating her ex-husband's guts. Eventually, Cloud did the very same.
Ironically enough, that's when Rufus came begging for forgiveness, explaining that leaving was something his just had to do for himself. All he needed was a second chance to be the best man he could be, even though they all knew things would never be the same. He would never come back and reclaim his former wife, nor would he give up his new job with his new wife, but Miss Strife accepted his apology all the same and wished him luck with his new marriage. Angst-ridden, angry, and self-loathing Cloud would not forgive his father. He had never felt so abandoned.
"I know he hurt you, Cloud, but-"
"You know what, Mom? Suddenly, I'm not really so hungry." Cloud mumbled, frowning.
"I'm sure we have all heard about Vincent Valentine's tragic leap off of mako reactor by now, folks." Reverend Gast Gainsborough said, clasping his hands together, grimacing at the crowds of people.
Leave it to the all-knowing Reverend to have some sort of clue that there is something fishy about Vincent's not-so graceful jump, Cloud mused, feeling only slightly guilty about the incident. Reportedly, Vincent jumped because he attempting to commit suicide when Cloud showed up to save the day. Vincent was currently in a coma, so he wasn't going to dispute that.
"Let us all keep Mister Valentine and his family in our prayers, and have faith that he will recover soon, my friends. And let it be known that God has a great plan for all of us, even when you do not see it yourself. He is great and He will be there to sort out those are worthy and those who are unworthy." His gaze fell upon Cloud just then, and he all but sank into the pew; Cloud hated catching that stupid condescending glower from Reverend Gainsborough.
The old bat knows everything!
"However, the Lord will always be ready to show mercy to those who ask it of Him," he finished.
Luckily, the Church choir finally came on to preach the word of the Lord through song. Relief washed over Cloud, this meaning that there were only fifteen minutes to go until Church ended.
"Thank God," Cloud whispered to himself.
'If that has been a test
I cannot see the reason
But maybe knowing
I don't know is part of getting through
I tried to do what's best
But faith has made it easy
To see the best thing I can do
Is put my trust in You'
Cloud sat straight up when Reverend Gainsborough's daughter began to sing. Although, Aerith was not particularly special to look at, Cloud figured she must have gotten her looks from her mother. Back in the day, Miss Strife and the late Misses Gainsborough were the best of friends. There was only one picture of Ifalna over the fireplace at home, and Aerith seemed very much like her mother in looks. He would never tell another living soul that he had actually as gone as far as to study Aerith' appearance in contrast to her mother, let even think about her. She was, after all, a Bible-loving ninny like her father and was considered a geek by the standards of the cool kids.
'I saw one cloud and thought it was the sky
I saw a bird and thought that I could follow
But it was You who taught the bird to fly
If I let You reach me
Will You teach me?
For You know better than I
You know the way
I've let go the need to know why
I'll take what answers You Supply
You know better than I'
Right then, Cloud could have sworn Aerith was staring right at him.
Featured song: You Know Better than I by David Campbell. R&R