A/N: So thanks to Niamh13 I have a new couple to obsess over and you guys have a new fic to read, if you're interested. Please be interested! Anyway this is a Clouffie fic R&r and let me know what you think. Also, each chapter will have a song in it, not sure if that makes this a songfic or not, but each one captures the feel of the chapter to me. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 7(squareenix) or Dear Agony by Breaking Benjamin, sad day

Timeframe: Two years after the events of Advent Children

Journey

Chapter One- Agony

I have nothing left to give

I have found the perfect end

You were made to make it hurt

Disappear into the dirt

"Cloud, this isn't working."

Cloud glanced up from the couch where he'd been lying. Ever since he had regained his strength while facing Sephiroth once again, Cloud had had very little time for resting. The world was still in chaos, he was needed to help put things right. Unfortunately, this meant he was almost never home, putting intense strain on his relationship with Tifa and their adopted son Denzel.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sick of this Cloud! You're never here, ever! Denzel and I know that people need you, Cloud, we know, but we need you too."

"Tifa, I-"

"No. No more excuses. Maybe you haven't noticed Cloud, but even now, even after you've forgiven yourself for her death, we still don't have you. Why is it that we still lose out? We need you here, Cloud. Come home to stay, please?" Tifa begged, tears standing in the corners of her eyes.

"Tifa, you know I want to be here, more than anything I want to be here with you and Denzel."

"Then stay Cloud, stay and be a family with us like you promised."

"I-I can't Tifa. I want to, but I can't. People out there need me, just like you said. I have to help, I have to-"

"GO THEN YOU BASTARD! GO AND DON'T YOU EVER COME BACK!"

Tears falling freely now, Tifa stormed from the room. Cloud stood frozen in shock. His mind, unable to comprehend what had just happened, reeled back and forth, desperately trying to find some other meaning hidden in her words. He found none.

Carry me to heaven's arms

Light the way and let me go

Take the time to take my breath

I will end where I began

And I will find the enemy within

'Cause I can feel it crawl beneath my skin

Dear agony, just let go of me

Suffer slowly, is this the way it's gotta be, dear agony?

Two hours later, with his meager belongings stuffed into Fenrir's saddlebags he glanced up at Denzel's window as he sat astride the bike. Denzel was standing in the window with Tifa and in contrast to her tears, he wore a cold hard look, a look a ten-year-old shouldn't have to wear.

Cloud could feel the child's anger from where he sat, it was unnerving how he had driven his family to this point. Cloud swung his leg back over the bike; his intent to go back inside and make thing right again clear on his face. However, together Denzel and Tifa shook their heads and Cloud knew that there was no going back, they didn't want him anymore. He nodded his understanding, remounted Fenrir, and drove off into the night.

Suddenly the lights go out

Let forever drag me down

I will fight for one last breath

I will fight until the end

As Cloud sped away, Tifa's tears became too much for her to bear. She reached for the phone, reached out to call her greatest source of comfort when Cloud was away, and now that Cloud had gone for good, she could tell him everything. The phone only rang twice before it was picked up:

"Tifa, what is it honey?"

"R-R-Reeve, I need to see you…" her voice broke like brittle glass.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"He's gone Reeve, Cloud's gone." Her voice was once again steady and calm, belying her inner turmoil.

"I'm on my way, just hold on."

Thirty minutes later, a sleek black car pulled into the driveway of Tifa's 7th Heaven. Reeve walked inside and Tifa told him everything.

And I will find the enemy within

'Cause I can feel it crawl beneath my skin

Dear agony, just let go of me

Suffer slowly, is this the way it's gotta be?

Don't bury me, faceless enemy

I'm so sorry, is the way it's gotta be, dear agony?

Cloud slammed his sword into the dirt on the cliff top where Zack had died. His new sword that is, he'd already removed the Buster Sword. The new blade would mark this place now; Cloud needed the familiar weapon's strength. He traded the new for the old, a fitting end to his new life; the reclamation of his old one. Cloud spent the rest of the night in front of his campfire, cleaning the rust from the battle scarred blade and honing it to razor sharpness with the whetstone Yuffie had given him for Christmas two years ago.

Leave me alone, God let me go

All blue and cold, black sky will burn

Love, pull me down, hate lift me up

Just turn around, there's nothing left

When the sun rose, Cloud had made his decision. He would retrace the steps of that journey they had made so long ago. He would go to the familiar places, to see and remember and (hopefully) to find himself once more. His first stop was Kalm, where four years ago, the new members of AVALANCHE had decided to stop the evil machinations of a madman, the place where lies and truth had mingled for the first time among them as he told his story. There his journey would truly begin.

Somewhere far beyond this world

I feel nothing anymore

Dear agony, just let go of me

Suffer slowly, is this the way it's gotta be?

Don't bury me, faceless enemy

I'm so sorry, is the way it's gotta be, dear agony?

Tired in both body and mind, Cloud climbed aboard Fenrir and drove off towards the rising sun, ready to face his past and his future. He wouldn't bow to them anymore, and they would never break him again.

I feel nothing anymore…