What Happened After.
A/N: It's advised you read the original story "Malady" by Ziggy Pasta first, then come back here. OC's are used in this fanfic, also ones whom aren't in Malady, so if you don't like that and still wish to read this story, please bear with it. I hope you enjoy.
An alarm clock went off, loud footsteps came near the door. Not much later somebody knocked on it. "Ratcliff! Time to get up! If you don‟t get up breakfast will go to waste!" A female said loudly. "Just five more minutes, yeah…" Ratcliff murmured, trying to put off his alarm. The door opened , not much later Ratcliff felt the cold air on his bare chest. He opened his eyes, glaring at the female whom was holding his bed sheets with a smirk on her face. "Seriously Haruka what was that for?!" Ratcliff shouted. "A Grown man, having problems with coming out of bed at morning, while he needs to look for a job. What do you think?" Haruka awnsered while she picked up some dirty clothes off of the floor. Haruka was a usually sweet 20-year old with light gray eyes and blonde hair. "Fine, yeah. I'll get up already, you just get out, yeah. I need to change." Ratcliff said getting up from his bed. Haruka skipped out of the room, closing the door behind her. Ratcliff sighed and got a towel from his closet, walking over to the bathroom. He threw off his sweatpants and went into the cabin. He turned on the water and he showered like usual. While showering the water suddenly turned ice cold. He screamed loudly and a certain "Sorry" came from downstairs. The water turned normal washed his hair and went out of the cabin and dried himself. After brushing his hair and drying himself, he went back to his room with his towel around his waist, put on some clothes and went downstairs to the kitchen. "Sorry about that just now, I didn‟t know you were showering." Haruka said. "That‟s alright." Ratcliff replied. "Ooohh! Is this your boyfrieeenddd?" A childs' voice said, in the normally empty chair sat a young girl with light brown hair and the same eyes as Haruka. Both Haruka and Ratcliff blushed slightly. "No Nana" Haruka said, "Ratcliff is just a friend." "Hi there... Nana." Ratcliff said."Nana‟s my cousin coming over for a while, try to endure her okay?" Haruka said softly so Nana Couldn't hear her. Ratcliff took a seat and ate breakfast. "So...Nana, how old are you...?"Ratcliff tried to start up a conversation. "I turned Twelve last week." She said after drinking some orange juice. "Happy late birthday then." Ratcliff said. "Oh yeah! Forgot Hehe, sorry... but I do have a „lil present for you." Haruka said walking over to the small wall closet. She gave her a small packpage. "Don‟t open it until you‟re home again." She said winking. "When did she get here?" Ratcliff asked. "Yesterday evening, you were already asleep though. Anyway, we should go now." Haruka awnsered. "Good luck today." Ratcliff said, getting up from his chair. "you too!" Haruka said as the two girls went out. Ratcliff attempted to clean the dishes, attempt failed. He let it be and went out. "Hello there Ratcliff,still looking for a job?" an old lady asked. "Hi miss Meddleton, Yes I‟m still looking for a job, yeah." Ratcliif awnsered. "Good luck then." She said. "Thank you, but I‟ll be on my way now,yeah." Ratcliff said walking towards the end of the street.
He walked into Midgar Edge, he felt that something was to happen there, good orbad he didn‟t know... neither did he at midgar edge, he went to some shops to see if they needed employees, but no luck. He searched a bit further, yet no looked on his phone: 4:12 PM, he decided to look for another 15 minutes, then he'd head home. he bumped into something or rather,someone. "Ow!" a brown haired girl said. "Oh,I-I‟m sorry about that, I didn‟t see you. You alright,yeah?" He apologized. And helped the little girl up. "Marlene!" A Familiar voice said. Hurrying over to her. "You shouldn‟t wander off like that." The male said. "Sorry Cloud, It won‟t happen again." She said, taking Cloud‟s hand. "Cloud...?" Ratcliff said. Now looking at Cloud‟s face. "Ratcliff...?" Cloud said. Ratcliff hugged Cloud in a reflex, but pulled away fast. Both of them blushed slightly. Marlene Giggled at the sight."It‟s been so damn long!" Ratcliff said. "Yeah, "L-let‟s get to the bar so we can talk." Cloud said still blushing a slight bit. "Yeah." Ratcliff replied. A phone went off, Cloud picked up. "Cloud speaking." He said. "Yeah, Marlene‟s here..." He pulled the phone away, a loud voice came out of the small cellphone, but it was not completely clear what the voice said. "Calm down Barret, we were planning on coming back right now..." Cloud said calmly. He put away his cellphone. "Sorry..." Cloud said. "Picked up the endless „sorry‟ again, yeah." Ratcliff said. "So-" Cloud got cut off. "Don‟t say it, yeah." Ratcliff said. Marlene giggled again. The three walked to the seventh heaven. "well, here it is." Cloud said. They went inside. "Marlene!" A large black man said. "Hi daddy!" Marlene said, running over to him. "I missed you." And more sweet talk followed. "Anyhow, who‟s the dude you got with you, spikey?" The large man asked. "This is Ratcliff, we haven‟t seen each other in ages." Cloud said, and put up something that looked like a smile. "N-nice to meet you." Ratcliff said stumbling. Staring at the man,or rather the man's arm. "Barret, „nd this here's Marlene." Barret said. "Where‟s Tifa? Normally she is waiting here..." Cloud asked. "She said she needed to pick Denzel up from that girls house... you know, with the moogle plushie." Barret said, Cloud nodded. They took a seat, "Well... How have you been,yeah?" Ratcliff asked. "well, last two years have been heavy again...but I‟m in one piece." Cloud awnsered. A smile appeared on Ratcliff‟s face. "You‟ve barely changed." Ratcliff said. "Neither did you." Cloud said. "I guess so... but man... how long has it been? More than five years I guess... But look at you Cloud! You‟re what...? Twenty-three now, and you still got your baby-face,yeah." Ratcliff Snickered. "Very funny!" Cloud said grimacing. "So How's your Motion sickness,yeah?" Ratcliff asked. "I can handle it better now. At least, if you call not hurling over someones pants and improvement." Cloud said. Ratcliff couldn‟t hold his laugh for a minute there, he hadn‟t laughed like that since the time he tried to have a conversation with a totally wasted person. And so the talk went on, and laughter was heard frequently. After a while Ratcliff‟s phone rang. He looked at the number, Haruka called."Have to take this one..." Ratcliff said, and Cloud nodded. "Hey, ehmm... where the hell are you?" Haruka asked. "At a friends place, why so upset,yeah?" Ratcliff awnsered. "well it‟s already six and I didn‟t hear a thing from you since noon." She said. "well sorry Mrs. Hanake for not reporting in frequently." Ratcliff said with a slight annoyance in his voice. Cloud gestured Ratcliff if he wanted to eat dinner here, and Ratcliff nodded. "It‟s just... you had me worried. And what was that just now? Sounded like the way you should talk to a Turk." Haruka Said. "Anyway, I guess we‟ll see eachother soon, I‟ll eat dinner here. Take care,yeah." Ratcliff said hanging up his phone. His head landed on the table and he sighed deep. "Something wrong?" Cloud asked. "Nah... it‟s just that the girl I live with was worried about me,yeah... that sounded so wrong,yeah... but it‟s not what you think,yeah." Ratcliff said. "She‟s just a friend and-" Ratcliff said, he got cut off by Tifa, whom entered the bar with two bags filled with groceries. "Guys, can you help me in the kitchen for a minute?" Tifa asked. Both of them sighed, they certainly did not like cooking, but helped Tifa anyway. "Ratcliff, you can cut the vegetables over there, Cloud can you help me with the fried rice?" Tifa rather ordered them than asked them. Ratcliff and Cloud obeyed. Cloud and Tifa focused on the rice. While Ratcliff attempted to cut the vegetables. "Ow! Crap!" Ratcliff suddenly shouted. He cut his finger. "You okay Ratcliff?" Cloud asked, With a package of bandages already in his hand, He walked over to him. "Cut my finger, but I‟ve had worse, I‟ll live." Ratcliff said. "let me help you, we don‟t want an ambulance picking you up." Cloud said dry. "Very funny" Ratcliff said, while Cloud gently patted the blood away with a clean paper towel and put a bandage on the small wound. "Now Ratcliff, if you hold the knife like this, and your hand just like this…" Cloud grabbed both of Ratcliffs hands and instructed him. A slight blush on Ratcliffs face appeared. "I-I think I can do that by myself now, thank you." Ratcliff said. Cloud didn‟t let go of Ratcliff's hands. "Cloud... This is getting pretty awkward." Ratcliff said with a bright blush on his face. "I can do it by myself now,yeah." Ratcliff tried to pull Cloud away from him. "I know, but this is payback for that hug in public." Cloud said. Ratliff blushed even more, blushed by all the teasing. "Ahem? I‟m still here... But you‟ve chopped most of the vegetables, so I don‟t mind, this time" Tifa winked. Cloud giggled, and mimed a small "Thank you" to Tifa. Both of them finished chopping the vegetables and they were pushed out of the kitchen. "well, we‟ve got that out of the way... Finally some time..." Cloud stopped in the middle of his sentence, hearing light footstepscoming down. "...Nevermind." He said. Marlene and Denzel came downstairs. "Cloud, Look! Look! Look What we made!" Denzel said, Normally he wouldn‟t be so hyper so it had to be something special. "We drew something really good!" Marlene said. Cloud and Ratcliff went upstairs to see what they drew. Ratcliff didn‟t know what to think about the drawing, it was badly drawn, not shaded and didn‟t even look like a chocobo, in short: It was more than horrible. He knew he shouldn‟t say anything to make them sad, but he needed to say something... "You both really improve by the day don‟t you?" Cloud said, like it was nothing. "I-Impressive, yeah..." Ratcliff tried to sound convincing. Tifa came upstairs to say that dinner was ready and set. They went downstairs and all took a seat around the two pushed-together tables."Tifa what is this?" Marlene asked. "It‟s fried rice, I got the recepie from Yuffie." Tifa said. Ratcliff took a bite "Delicious, you‟re a good cook,Tifa." Ratcliff complimented her. "T-thank you, ut don‟t forget that you and Cloud helpd me... " Tifa awnsered. The others also took a bite and Ratcliff contined to eat. He again forgot the time and maybe drank a drop or two too much. "Marlene, Denzel it‟s been past 10 already, it‟s way over bedtime." Tifa said. The two went upstairs and
Barret followed. "Well.. I guess it‟s time you go home..." Cloud said. "I... don‟ wanna go, yeah." Ratcliff said. "What if I walk you home? I honestly don‟t think you can stand on your own." Cloud said. "That‟d be great, yeah." Ratcliff answered with a slight blush on his cheeks."Let‟s go then... you lead the way." Cloud said, giving a hand to Ratcliff. "Thanks, yeah." He got up. They went outside, walking towards Ratcliff‟s apartment.
Ratcliff leaned into cloud. "I‟ve really missed you,yeah." Ratcliff said. "I
wish this moment could last forever, you and me... and no-one else, nobody to intrude us..." Ratcliff said. With a slight blush on his face. "I know how you feel, but I don‟t think I can return your feelings." Cloud said. "You sound, like a high-school boy rejecting the cute lil High-school girl,yeah." Ratcliff said looking down. "So-"
Cloud got cut off again. "don‟t say it,yeah." Ratcliff said. "You really haven't changed... but…in a good way,yeah." Ratcliff said, a satisfied smile on his face."... You did too." Cloud said with a slight blush on his face. They walked a while, and they finally came to the monument. "I don‟t wanna go home,yeah." Ratcliff said, leaning into Cloud even more."Then... Where do you want to go?" Cloud asked. "I don‟t know, somewhere where we can be together, yeah." Ratcliff said walking closer to the monument. "Keep Rockin‟ on in Midgar... right, yeah. " he mumbled."Hey, If... Something is wrong, you can tell me... you know...?" Cloud said. "I know
yeah, I‟m just happy, yeah." Ratcliff said. Cloud walked towards him, hugging him tightly
. "About what?" Cloud whispered in his ear. "About... You, seeing you and being with you ,yeah." Ratcliff whispered back, turning around to face Cloud. Ratcliff realized that Cloud was taller than Himself. "Actually, you have changed, you‟re taller then me,yeah." Ratcliff
said blushing. Both of them let go of Ratcliff."Can we... Go somewhere a bit more private,yeah?" Ratcliff asked, a bit embarrassed because of a small group of people passing by, the group of males stopped walking. The guys seemed amused by Ratcliff being embarrassed. Cloudstepped forward. "What do you guys want?" Cloud asked. "oh, we just want a little show from the gay couple." The leader of the group asked, he had an aura that was similar to Mejia and his eyes where slightly lighter then Mejia‟s were. "Shut up, kid."
Ratcliff said. "You pickin‟ a fight, dude?" One of the back members asked. "We don‟t wanna be responsible if you guys end up in the hospital." Cloud said, looking straight at the Leader of the group. "Oh the gays think the-" the leader got cut off by a punch in his stomach, wich came from Ratcliff. "Shut. Up. And. Walk. Away...Now" Ratcliff said slowly, trying to control his rage, he had thought he'd been over Mejia. However seeing the spitting image of him made something inside of him rage. The leader recovered from the punch quickly. "No, Not for you little fucks." The leader said. He could be Mejia himself if didn‟t have light brown hair.
"You want to fight? Fine, I‟ll go easy on you." Cloud said, pulling off a stick that was on the verge of breaking off of the monument. "Going easy on me, Fuck that! You‟re just a pussy!" he said. "You don‟t even know who you‟re talking to." Cloud said, still calm."Enough Fucking talk." The brunette said, Trying to punch Cloud. Whom easily dodged it. "You Scared? You scared?" One of the group members said. Cloud kept quiet and punched the group leader in his stomach, Whom fell on his knees. "W-What are you waitin' for? Get those fucks!" He whimpered. The group disobeyed his order by running away. "Cowards!" The leader screamed. "You remind me of someone very sad, yeah and I'm tellin' ya, his story didn't end well" Ratcliff said kneeling down to the group's leader, who looked slightly innocent. Ratcliff got up again and together with Cloud they walked away.
They finally got to Ratcliff‟s
apartment. "Wanna.. come inside?" Ratcliff asked. "I‟m fine... I think I shou-" Cloud said. "I don‟t think that was a question." Haruka said,Cutting cloud off while coming out the door. "Where‟s Nana?" Ratcliff asked. "Sleeping, do you think a twelve year old would be up this late? So... This is your friend?" Haruka asked, barely seeing Cloud because of the Poor
lighting. "Y-Yeah, I am..." Cloud said. "That voice... Are you... Cloud Strife?!" Haruka asked, a bit loud. "Oh yeah, say it even louder so the whole street can hear it..." Ratcliff said. "S-Sorry... It‟s just, you don‟t meet a hero everyday... Good Nana‟s Asleep, she would kill you by hugs." Haruka said. Cloud blushed slightly. A Hero... "T-That‟s alright..." Cloud said. "But I
should get back." "Be careful,yeah." Ratcliff said. Haruka and Ratcliff went inside. "If you don‟t mind I‟m going to bed as well." Haruka said, yawning. "I don‟t mind, I‟m going soon as well." Ratcliff said, Walking to the couch he fell onto it while grabbing the remote. He put on the TV and looked if anything was on the channels. Some debating about Geostigma
and news that was repeated a thousand times already were the only things that were on the TV,apart from some lame comedian. He turned off the TV and lights while walking to his room. He threw off his shirt and put off his trousers. He glanced out of the window and closed the curtains. He let himself fall on the bed, and went to sleep...
Ratcliff woke up because of a loud 'bang‟. He almost jumped out of bed and looked out of the window. He saw a fire not too far from his apartment. He looked at the clock, 3.18 AM
He put on some light clothes and almost ran to Haruka‟s room. He opened the door without knocking, and Nana came running to Ratcliff. "Ratty, What‟s going on?!" Nana Asked. "I don‟t know myself..." Ratcliff awnsered whilehe pushed Nana back to Haruka‟s
bed. Someone rang the doorbell. "I-I‟ll take it." Ratcliff said. He walked to the door with a high temper. He opened the door, Cloud and a Black haired male in red stood waiting. "C-cloud?" Ratcliff asked a bit confused. "Yeah, and this is Vincent. We need your help Ratcliff." Cloud said while coming in, the sword he was carrying made a slight scratch on the door.
"Sorry for that scratch, anyway, you think you can fight alongside us? Were short on arms an-" Cloud continued. "J-Just wait, Why are you even fighting? I thought you quit ShinRa..." Ratcliff said, more than confused. "You didn‟t tell him?" Vincent asked. "N-no...? Look, both of us work for AVALANCHE, and... Its really damned complicated to say in about five minutes, But... Can you help us fight...? Please?" Cloud tried to explain. "Cloud, Calm down, Breathe, and let the guy think..." Vincent said, putting his claw on Cloud's pauldron. Ratcliff took a deep breath, he did not expect Cloud to be in the group that saved Midgar Edge
two months ago. "Fine, I‟ll do it. With how many are we,yeah?" Ratcliff asked. "With you a total of six, well... Seven if Yuffie can control her Motion sickness." Vincent said,
walking over to the window to see damages so far. Ratcliff glared at Cloud. "If you needed men then asked me the second you saw me, yeah!" Ratcliff shouted. Cloud was amazed by the aura Ratcliff gave off that moment, it wasn‟t like him to be so pissed off. "What‟s going on?" Haruka asked. "Why is AVALANCHE here?" Her expression confused. "Long story Haruka-" Ratcliff tried to calm her. "Nothing, Long story! If you are going to fight in AVALANCHE then I will too, No discussion." Haruka said, while unlocking one of the normally locked Closets. Getting a gun out of the closet. "I Didn‟t know you could keep those in your closets." Vincent said. "Well, according to the law you can‟t... But I see the law as guidelines." Haruka said while giving the gun to Ratcliff. "you know how to handle these right?" Haruka said while getting one for herself. "That‟s a nice present for Barret." Cloud whispered to Vincent. "Now isn‟t the time to be joking,Cloud." Vincent awnsered. "Haru, What‟s going on? Why... is... Wow! Cloud Strife And Vincent Valentine are here?!" Nana said coming downstairs. "And this is?" Vincent asked. "Nana, my cousin, if you know a place where it‟s safe please bring her there, I can‟t leave her alone." Haruka awnsered while getting out some clothing out of the same closet. "Try these on, might bring back some memory. ,'Cause you can‟t go out in those clothes." Haruka whispered in Ratcliff‟s ear. "Nana, can you get your stuff within five minutes?" Vincent asked. "That‟s not even a question is it...?" Cloud asked. "I Can no worries!" Nana said running upstairs. A phone rang,
Cloud picked up. "Cloud speaking." "Evac at my section is complete, what‟s your status?"
Yuffie asked. "Evacuation almost complete, I‟ve got extra arms as well, give Tifa and the others a note that we‟ll take a little bit longer. I‟ll meet you guys at the bar." Cloud hung up, both Ratcliff and Nana came downstairs just after that. "I didn‟t wear this in ages,yeah."
Ratcliff came downstairs with his old ShinRa uniform on, only a bit... Customized. "Nice Customization you did Haruka." Cloud complimented. "Now‟s not the time for flirting spikey." Haruka said. "You got everything, Nana?" Ratcliff asked. "Yeah." Nana awnsered. "I‟ll cover your backs, Cloud you lead the way." Ratcliff said. They walked outside, taking small
shortcuts to the too long after they came at the bar. They walked inside. "Ratcliff! I see you agreed..." Tifa said, just after they came in. "I did, yeah. Also, this is Haruka, She‟s willing to fight as well,yeah." Ratcliff said, Haruka nodded friendly. "I‟ll take Nana upstairs to Marlene and Denzel." Cloud said, Ratcliff agreed. Not too much later more people
entered the bar. "Phew! Made it out alive, it‟s was a battlefield out there!"
A girl with short black hair said. " Said that we could‟ve gone with th‟ ship, said it!" A man with short blonde hair replied. " Yuffie, Cid. Welcome back you guys. These two‟ll help us out for now... By the way, have you seen Barret or Cait Sith?" Tifa said. "Ah, Pleasure... Cid Highwind." Cid said looking over to them. "Nope, Didn‟t see the boss or the cat." "I‟m Yuffie,
Yuffie Kisaragi, The champion of Wutai!" Yuffie said. " I‟m Ratcliff ,yeah." Ratcliff said. "Haruka Hanake." Haruka said. Cloud came back downstairs. " So, where are the others?" Cloud asked. " Haven‟t seen 'em haven't heard of 'em." Cid said. "I‟m going to call Barret." Cloud said, when suddenly Cloud‟s phone rang. " Speaking of the devil..." Tifa said, while
looking for her leather gloves. "Cloud speaking..." Cloud said while holding the phone a safe distance from him. "I Need backup Cloud! And fast, the stupid cat passed out, and Nanaki‟s Nowhere to be seen." Barret screamed, even with the volume down, Tifa who was at the other side of the room heard it. "I get it, we‟ll come. What-" Cloud said and got cut off.
" The Monument! The Monument! Main alley to the bar!" Barret screamed, That was clear. They headed to the center of Midgar Egde. Where they found Barret fighting against a group of Shadow Creepers. "You took yer time!" Barret shouted. "No time for talkin' big guy, even if you‟re the leader!" Haruka shouted back. Basically saying that this wasn‟t exactly 'Tea time with Luxord' They fought against a big group of Shadow creepers, Seven
versus twenty to be precise. After fighting the big group of Shadow Creepers and making sure all the fire was put out, Cid,Yuffie,Cait Sith and Barret went to the Airship for their business. And Ratcliff, Cloud, Tifa and Haruka went to the arriving at the bar, Tifa went to put Marlene and Denzel to bed. Haruka followed to take care of Nana. "thanks...Ratcliff, you and Haruka really helped us out." Cloud said, slightly blushing. "That‟s okay ,yeah." Ratclif said. He walked over to Cloud and gave him a kiss on his cheek.
Cloud didn‟t know what just happened to him, and after he finally realized
it Tifa stood before him waving her hand before his eyes. "Cloud...? You know you‟re standing like that for at least 10 minutes now...?" Tifa asked. "Huh...?" Was the only awnser she could get out of him. "you should go to bed, you must be tired... it‟s almost four o'clock, get some rest." Tifa said, pushing him up the stairs. "I‟ll finish up a part of the mess and then I‟ll go as well." Tifa .
Haruka and Nana were home again. Nana and Haruka went to bed just after unpacking Nana‟s stuff again. Ratcliff on the other hand just went to his room, drifting off to sleep silently.