Author's Note: Phew, that took quite a bit of writing! I started it when I didn't have access to a computer, so I had to copy a lot of it onto the computer as I was typing it. I really don't like doing that, but since my computer time is limited I don't always have much of a , this story is pre-AC, just a quick thing about the interactions I think would have happened between Cloud and the rest of AVALANCHE before he finally accepted what happened in the past in AC.
Can't Choose Family
"You have eight new messages."
Cloud took his phone away from his ear and stared at it, mild surprise registering on his face. He had checked his PHS earlier in the day, and there hadn't been any missed calls then, let alone messages. The most he usually got was maybe one or two calls from Tifa, asking about his state of health and telling him when there were new deliveries to be made. Eight calls on the same day were unprecedented.
Worry began to gnaw at his stomach. Had something happened? Were Tifa or the children in trouble, or hurt? Accidents happened, after all, and even if it were a small childhood injury, one that came about no matter how skilled the caretaker, Cloud would never forgive himself for ignoring a call about it. Concern about his adoptive family led Cloud to examine the brief slice of information given about each message. Only two of the missed calls (the first and the last) were from Tifa, and both were from the phone at Seventh Heaven, and not her cell. That relieved the tension worming its way through his gut. If anything had happened, Tifa would have used her PHS to contact him. It was a system they had worked out, since Cloud wasn't much inclined to answer his phone unless it was an emergency.
His fears eased, Cloud turned his attention to the other messages, and the ones who had left them. After a moment of looking at the screen of his phone, he exhaled lightly in an amused sigh. The rest of the calls were all from other members of AVALANCHE. The swordsman mentally reviewed his calendar. He usually only got calls from the whole group when there was a celebration. But there were no upcoming holidays or birthdays, and nothing had happened to anyone so much as he knew. Finally Cloud gave a mental shrug and attributed it to coincidence.
Cloud turned off his motorcycle instead of leaving it idling as he had been doing. He hadn't been planning on stopping, because he hadn't expected to have any messages, but now he was curious about why he had gotten called not only by Tifa, but the rest of his friends as well, and he wanted to listen to the recordings. He had been making good time on his current delivery. He could spare the time to hear what was going on in his friends' lives. The ex-SOLDIER selected the first message, from Tifa, and put the phone to his ear.
"There's another delivery waiting for you at Seventh Heaven." Tifa's soft voice greeted him through the phone. "It's supposed to the Chocobo Farm. When you're finished with this set of deliveries, you can stop by to pick it up, okay? See you soon, Cloud. And don't forget to take care of yourself." the bartender's tone at the end of the message was admonishing. She was always reminding him to be careful or to remember to get enough sleep. It would have annoyed Cloud if he didn't know that it was just a part of Tifa's personality to worry about people. It was what made her such a good caretaker for Denzel and Marlene.
Reassured that Tifa and the children staying with her really were fine, Cloud moved on to the next message. This one was from Cid, which wasn't all that surprising. Cid had called occasionally to request that Cloud do a delivery for him, usually of some piece of machinery. Cloud steeled himself- Cid was loud and vulgar by nature- and played the message.
"-ing little shit can't even pick up the damn phone!" Cid's message began with what sounded like the tail end of a rant, probably one that had been going on since Cid had started dialing Cloud's number. "Damn, Spiky! What's the point of givin' us your number if you ain't gonna pick up? An' you need to do something about your voicemail. It's boring as hell." There was a pause and a sigh, most likely from Cid taking a drag on his cigarette. "Anyway, I called to say that you numbskulls owe me a lot. The Highwind didn't take well to getting' trashed. It's taking ages ta fix, and even th' stuff that didn't get damaged during that shit with Meteor and Holy is actin' up. It'd probably be less work ta build a whole new airship," there was a muffled clang, and a yelp from Cid. "Shit! SHERAAA!" The pilot bellowed. He likely hadn't meant for Cloud to hear it, but at the volume of his voice it was hard not to hear. "There is no way this thing is working! I told you we'd hafta replace it!" Then in a much lower voice the man hissed, "Fuck, that hurt." He probably didn't mean for Cloud to have heard that either. "By the way, if you end up over by Rocket Town, stop by my place." He said, moving into a new topic. "The Highwind may be blown to shit, but I finally fixed the Tiny Bronco, and I got a new project I wanna show ya. Call me if ya get any problems with Fenrir, ya hear?" Then, a beep signaled the end of the message.
The message after Cid's was from Yuffie. Cloud almost winced. Yuffie was another person who tended to not watch her volume, especially when she was excited. She didn't swear like Cid, but she tended to ramble. The swordsman couldn't help but wonder if his friends had come up with a plot to bother him into visiting them.
"Hey, Cloud1" It's me, Yuffie," the ninja's greeting was cheerful as always. "I guess you still aren't picking up your phone, huh? Too bad. It really wouldn't hurt you to have conversations with living people, you know." The girl gave a huff of annoyance before continuing, "I wanted to know if you were stopping by Wutai anytime soon, or if any of the others are. Godo's holding some ceremony or something, and he wants some other members of AVALNACHE there. As if I'm not enough! Humph!" Of course, knowing Yuffie, she was eager to see any of her friends, and was just complaining for the sake of it. "You're allowed to come as long as you don't get all mopey. We don't allow depressed people to Wutaiian parties, got it? You'd better call back, or else!" And Yuffie's message was over.
Cloud didn't recognize the next number, and he paused a bit before playing the message. It should be safe enough, since only AVALANCHE had his cell phone number.
"I seem to have called at a bad time, Cloud." Nanaki's smoky voice sounded apologetic. "I would call back later, but I do not believe that I will be answered then, either. Also, I do not want to trouble anyone by having them dial for me again." The fire-cat seemed irked at his lack of human hands, as always. "As for the reason I have called, I have found some information pertaining to the location of my clan, but it is… cryptic. Bugenhagen and I were hoping for a third opinion, perhaps from you or Vincent. Please stop by if you are interested," there was a brief pause. "Also, this number is Bugenhagen's. If you could, please pass it on to Tifa. I know that she was worried about not having a way to contact me. Thank you, Cloud." There was the sound of fumbling and seemingly distant conversation before the message ended.
Noe that he was halfway through the messages, Cloud paused for a moment to check the time again. He still had plenty of time, unless the messages were too long. He should be able to finish them.
"What up, foo'?! Tifa said that you weren't at the bar, so I tried callin' this phone. You better not be ignorin' that girl, chocobo-head. No point in findin' a family if you ain't gonna let them act like it." Barret's words were reminiscent of Cid's words about his phone. The two of them were quite similar, Cloud reflected- they acted tough, but they truly cared about the well-being of their friends, even if they tried to hide it, "Whatever. Not my place ta say. You're a grown-ass man, even if you mope more than a teenager. There's a chance that there's oil in th' Northern Continent- nowhere near th' crater though, so don' worry. I'm headed up there ta check around. It could take a while, maybe a few months. Pass that on to Teef, I fergot to tell 'er when I was at the bar. Phone'll still work, so don't forget to give me a call. Talk to ya soon, spikey!"
The next call was another one from Cid's PHS. Cloud, once again, assumed it was a delivery request, though why he didn't just call Tifa about it was a mystery. Cloud played the message, fully expecting to be greeted with more cursing. Instead, there was a slight pause before he heard a deep, velvety voice that was definitely not Cid's.
"…Strife. I apologize if this call was misleading. Highwind let me borrow his phone, but he said he had already called you today." Vincent's voice seemed more emotionless over the PHS than it did in person. Even so, it was good to hear from the ex-Turk- after Meteor, he had been harder to find than Cloud himself. "After I leave Rocket Town, I will be passing by Edge. Please notify Tifa for me. I do not have her phone number, and Cid has forgotten it," there was a pause during which Cloud could hear a voice in the background, but he couldn't make out the words. "Highwind also claims that you have been ignoring us, and threatens to hunt you down with a wrench if you do not answer the next call you receive," the message ended.
Cloud shook his head with resigned amusement about the whole call. Tifa would be pleased when he told her. After all, the two members of AVALANCHE that were hardest to contact would be accounted for in one call. They would both end up going by Seventh Heaven sometime soon, so Tifa would be able to see for herself that they were all right.
There were only two more messages. One was from Reeve, and the last was another one from Tifa. Cloud wasn't surprised by either one. Reeve was hard at work building up his new World Regenesis Organization, and he often called on Cloud or other members of AVALANCHE for help. They all usually accepted, since they wanted to make sure that Reeve's W.R.O would not start off by continuing Shinra's legacy. Tifa, on the other hand, called all the members of AVALANCHE on a regular basis, and Cloud most of all.
"Cloud. It's Reeve. I'm sorry to bother you, but I need an opinion on something. You know that I've been needing funding for the W.R.O for quite some time now. Or at least something other than the small donations that we have been getting so far. I have just recently received a large amount of money, along with an implication that there will be more following. The donor wished to remain anonymous, but I get the feeling that it is from Rufus Shinra, based on the amount given. I wanted to know if you agree with that assessment, and if you do, what you think of it. It's a quite complicated situation, as it always is with Shinra, and I could use any advice that you have to offer."
Cloud could see why Reeve had called him. The rest of AVALANCHE would probably want to know about this as well, and would end up debating it quite a bit. There would probably be suspicion from quite a few people, and Cloud himself was not too keen on trusting Rufus quite yet. But if it was from the Shinra Electric Company, the fact that the donations had remained anonymous seemed to indicate that Shinra didn't want a handle in the W.R.O yet.
Before Cloud could get too absorbed in his thoughts, Reeve spoke again, distracting him. "I also heard that you and Tifa have started a delivery service. I wish you good luck with that, and I hope it doesn't get too dangerous. There are still plenty of monsters out there, after all. Make sure you don't give Tifa reason to worry. I hope I hear from you soon."
Reeve's call had been businesslike as always, though polite and friendly. The man really did want to help the Planet, Cloud reflected, even if he was often trapped because of his methods. Sometimes, the blonde swordsman thought, it was easier to go up against an insanely powerful ex-general than to deal with all the paperwork that Reeve faced every day.
"Cloud!" The final message started with a very enthusiastic greeting from Marlene. "Tifa said you didn't answer your phone when she called you. Are you busy? Daddy just dropped me off at Seventh Heaven, because he's going to be gone for a long time and he can't take me with him. Come back soon so I can see you, okay? Tifa said that we'd make cookies when you came back. Which kinds do you like?" There was the sound of a voice away from the phone, probably Tifa's, "Denzel and Tifa want to talk to you too. I'm giving the phone to Denzel now. Bye!"
"Hey, Cloud." Denzel's greeting was much more reserved than Marlene's. "It's too bad that you didn't pick up the phone, but Tifa says you're busy. Is making deliveries really that much work? I guess it is, because you always go up to your room when you get back. Marlene's sharing my room while she's here. She's okay, for a girl. Come back soon, though- there're too many girls here. We need to even it out. See you soon."
Then it was Tifa's turn. "Sorry about calling you again, but the kids really wanted to, even if it was just to leave a message." Tifa told him. "You will come back soon, won't you? Even if it's only to pick up that new delivery. Marlene really wants to see you, and it's been a while even for Denzel. You'll stay at the bar, won't you? Last time you came by Edge you just disappeared for most of the time. At least stay for one night. They'll be really disappointed if you don't."
Cloud flinched. It was true that he wasn't really spending much time around them. He had been staying at Aerith's church when he went to Edge, instead of going to the bar where Tifa lived. He knew he was avoiding them, and he regretted it. But it was easier than dealing with Tifa's sad looks and her questions about why he was spending so much time on the road instead of with them. He couldn't explain it to her. He couldn't even explain it to himself, really. He just felt that being around them would put them in danger, would hurt them. He didn't want them to be hurt, so he stayed away. It was safer.
"Call back to let us know that you're coming, okay? I know that you're almost finished with this round of deliveries, so if you're putting it off, I'll know. And I know that Barret probably called you too, so don't forget to call him back too. You know what they say, Cloud: You can't choose family. See you soon." And the message ended.
Cloud stares at his phone for a moment, thinking over Tifa's words. He stared at his PHS intently, as if it could tell him what she meant. Finally, he shakes his head and puts his phone away, to continue on his delivery. As he starts up his motorcycle, he can't help but think that what she's saying is true. She isn't giving him a choice. None of them are. He's stuck with AVALANCHE for a family, whether he likes it or not.