Chapter One

Lost

As soon as Cloud wakes up, he knows that something was wrong. He felt... weird. There was too much noise around him for him to be in the 7th Heaven. Where am I? When Cloud opened his eyes, he's in a familiar but unfamiliar place. There is a bunk above him, one that he faintly recognizes as a ShinRa bunk if only because of the symbol etched into the bottom of it. Confusion spread like a thick mist through his mind, before he begins to internally freak out.

Where, exactly, am I? Surely someone was pulling a prank on him. But, as he pushed himself into a sitting position, and turned to look around the room, he noticed others within. Some people were fully dressed in ShinRa grade trooper uniforms, others were just groggily waking up like he was.

A door slid open and the room filled with the noises of people quickly getting into place, right at the foot of their beds. Cloud, though, still did not move for several long seconds, blinking sleep from sky-blue hues. It was only when a voice called for attention did he realize that this wasn't some type of elaborate prank that Tifa and the kids could pull off on him. There were too many people, everything was all too real, and for a moment he felt the real fear etching into him that he somehow had dreamed everything that had happened to him for the past several years.

Panic was clearly shown in eyes far too bright to simply be human, though he barely noticed when several troopers urged him to get up before the Third Class SOLDIER that was their assigned leader would get over there. Shoving his panic to the side, Cloud quickly slid out of the bed and practically flung his uniform on. He couldn't dwell on anything right now. He had to figure out what was going o-

"Trooper Strife!" THe voice of the Third class SOLDIER rang out throughout the room, and Cloud froze in place, oddly terrified when truly he shouldn't have been - he's lived this all before, he knows what happens, who's important, what to do to please the Third class SOLDIERS.

"Sir yes sir!" Cloud responded in the proper way, uniform barely hanging on his form. He hadn't properly put it on at all. The entire outfit was almost in shambles with how many buckles he had forgotten to tighten.

Before the Third could even think about jumping down his throat, the door flew open again, and the Third spun around, clearly about to yell at whomever had barged into his troop's bunks when he realized exactly who had barged in.

It was Zack Fair, First class SOLDIER, someone who Cloud had known ages ago, someone Cloud had watched die right beside him, someone who had tried to protect him. Alive. In the flesh and only a few yards away from him. Truly, Cloud had never been more surprised than he was in this current moment.

Zack, alive and grinning, Zack Fair - someone he had tried to become and pretend to be. For several minutes he just couldn't breath. Now he knew he must be dreaming, or something similar. There was no way that Zack could be living, breathing only a few feet away from him, absolutely no way. Yet he was.

And Cloud was dumbfounded, unable to even react as the spiky-haired First made his way over to the Third and grinned.

"Sorry to bother ya, but orders just came in. We're heading out at 0800. We'll be needing some-" Zack cut himself off, blinking and looking towards Cloud. A grin flashed over his lips at the sight of the spiky-haired trooper. "Hey, spikey! I didn't know you were apart of Honan's group!" Clearly, Zack knew him but..but didn't, and merely waved in greeting before he and the Third walked off to the side to talk.

Clearly, though, Zack had inadvertently saved him from being yelled at, and he was rather grateful for that - it gave him time to try and figure out what was going on, to figure out. Cloud calculated, and decided that there was no way that he could ever dream something like what he had, so he deemed that the Planet had done something - it must have.

He accepted whatever the planet was doing, but he needed to know why, it's entirely not okay to just be thrown back in time several years to face the horrors he had nightmares about almost every night. It wasn't okay that he had to deal with this all again - wait. If he was sent back in time, did that mean that Aerith… Was Aerith alive? And Sephiroth, too. Both of them had to be alive.

That was how he would know. If those two were alive, then surely he had been sent back in time. Cloud had to assume that the Planet had used the lifestream to cause this, and if it had - surely someone else remembered, too. Maybe he'd try to find Aerith later - he had to find her and ask her what she knew. But worse, he had to check something urgent.

He felt far too weak, almost like he was human again. Cloud hated the thought - his body ached but not in the good way. He absolutely hated this, and for a moment the old Savior was just tired. Am I still enhanced? Cloud frowned at the thought that popped into his head, fingers twitching as he quickly fixed his uniform.

Okay, so he had to figure out a few things - he had so many questions for Aerith, but he didn't know exactly where he could… the church. He had nearly forgotten! Aerith always tended to the flowers there… before she died. Perhaps she was there now.

Positively vibrating with energy, Cloud felt the raw need to go find Aerith, to pull her close and hug her and practically maim her with questions. Soon, he sighed, soon I'll find Aerith and see if she remembers.

But for now Zack and the Third were back, and clearly there was going to be a mission, with the expression on Zack's face, and the hidden worry on the Thirds. Cloud had to guess that a good portions of the troopers were qualified to go, but would more than likely lose their lives on this mission.

Memories came quickly, mind whirling with them. He remembered a good portion of the missions he had been sent on, ages ago. Where he was determined to not give up until he made SOLDIER, where he was terrified fighting for his life, where he had thought many times this is it, this is where I'm going to die.

But he never did die. Cloud had managed to stay alive, every time.

Shaking his head free from the thoughts that plagued his mind, Cloud listened to the very brief description of the mission, and was told to be ready within the hour. Generally before missions like these, Cloud would spend the entire time preparing for it, but now… more than anything he wanted to find Zack and just talk to him. If only for a few minutes.

Lucky for him, it seems Zack wanted to talk to him, too. In the next moment, a heavy arm fell across his shoulders and he was led out of the bunks, the First already rambling about getting Cloud something to eat because he's a growing boy and he was so skinny, that he needed all of his strength. Cloud had to admit, he quite enjoyed Zack's mother henning. It was comforting, to think that no matter what Zack would just accept, and move on.

The small diner was just outside of the ShinRa building, and though he knew that Troopers weren't allowed many places, he also knew that having Zack with him overruled those rules - because Zack was… well, he was Zack. Simple as that.

Having ordered almost as much food as Zack, Cloud couldn't help but grin sheepishly at the SOLDIER's look. It would be one pricey breakfast. "Spiky! C'mon, my wallet's been stolen once already, I don't need you to drain it, too!" The SOLDIER whined, and Cloud had the image of a Puppy in mind yet again.

"But Zack, I thought you said that I needed to eat more." Cloud grinned, teasing Zack like an old friend, "and that you're as skinny as a twig, order as much as you want spikes!" He murmured, almost perfectly mimicking the First. Zack stared at Cloud for a moment, almost as if he were astonished by the blonde's words.

"Have you been talking to Angeal? I swear your sassiness is as bad as his." He grumbled, accepting his fate at being poor for a little while longer, if only because he did adore the chocabo.

Cloud blinked at the name, only knowing it through Zack's words and ShinRa's posters. And the memories that he seemed to adapt from Zack years ago.

Cloud rolled his eyes, though, and responded easily enough. "Like he'd spend time talking to troopers." He sighed, annoyed by the prospect that he was a trooper. Even if he hated ShinRa, it had always been his dream to be one of them, to achieve what no one had ever thought he could.

Zack huffed, grinning a little. "Yeah, well, you don't need him when you got me, spiky!" Obviously, Zack was happy at the prospect of having Cloud all to himself.

Far too soon and not soon enough, their meals arrived and it was complete silence as they both practically destroyed their plates. The only comment, which Cloud ignored, was made by Zack. "Geeze blonde, you eat as much as a SOLDIER does!"

The meal ended in high spirits, and soon they both headed off to get ready for the next mission - it wouldn't be a long one, but it was still dangerous all the same. Cloud knew that he wouldn't have any weapons beyond the firearms supplied - troopers rarely got their hands on swords, and weren't paid enough to get their own usually.

Cloud would be stuck with the firearms for now, until he could figure something out. Maybe Aerith could help him - she knew all about his sword, the various parts and how they slotted together. She was one of the only people who knew how it works, and that was because of all the time spent in dreams with her. Even if it collectively was all fleeting moments, he simply hoped that it really had been Aerith rather than a dream he had talked to for nights on end.

Soon enough, he was efficiently ready for the mission and they were deployed, cramming into the tight space of the helicopters easily. Zack, a few Thirds, and about three or four troopers were on the first, and the rest followed in the few choppers behind. Cloud had managed to get in the first one, but he already knew by now that flying did not sit right with his stomach.

Quickly, without anyone's notice, he ducked down two pills and swallowed them dry. The flight would take about nine hours, and he could sleep through most of it rather easily. So he did.

When it was close to the time they were going to land, a heavy hand fell on his shoulder and he was startled awake. Blinking, hazy eyes focused on the spiky head of hair above him. "Zack?" He questioned groggily, disoriented once again, but remembering all too quickly what had gone on.

"C'mon, up and at'em! We're going to be landing soon." Zack's cheery voice woke him easily, and he nodded. Shoving himself into a more awake position, he began to work out any kinks, stretching lightly. He truly hated flying, and wished that Zack had waited until they had landed to wake him up, but decided against snapping at his raven-haired friend.

As soon as they touched down, Cloud was the first one out of there and dragging in a few lungfuls of breath, if only to calm himself down. Once he was sure of himself, he pulled his helmet on and followed the rest of the troopers, who were just touching down and getting out as well.

Literal Story~

The mission was over with surprising lack of involvement on the trooper's side. It was a rather easy one, and there was only one reported injury… which, funnily enough, was Cloud's own. He'd misjudged a shot, got himself distracted and received a cut on his head because of it.

Zack had freaked out as soon as he learned of this, and mother-hened over him as soon as the battle was over. Cloud was grateful for materia in that moment, because if it didn't exist Zack would've thrown a fit at how much he was bleeding. He had tried reassuring the idiot that yes, head wounds bleed a lot, and that yes he would' be okay.

"Zack! I'm fine, it's just a cut - seriously, I don't even need a Cure." He sighed, obviously enjoying the attention, simply just annoyed that Zack was worrying so much for him, when his health didn't matter as much as Zack's. In this time, he… he was going to make sure Zack stayed alive this time.

Cloud was distracted enough and exhausted enough to not even notice when they had taken off, his mind far away as his thoughts raced across countless memories and countless encounters. The last thing he remembered before any of this happened was fighting Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz.

He couldn't remember much before, or after that. It was like that particular moment was stuck in his mind, but he was unable to actually access the full memory. Sighing, he closed his bright hues and pretended sleep in favor of thinking.

Aerith surely would know something. She had to be apart of this all - she was an Ancient, and she was far more connected to the Planet than any living person he'd met. But what if she didn't remember? What if, truly, all of those memories were simple dreams that he'd constructed in his mind?

I can't think like this. They're memories, I can feel it. They're all real… Even if Aerith doesn't remember, I can figure out everything for myself. With that thought, Cloud restlessly fell into a light sleep, completely forgetting about the heavy sleep aids that rested in the pocket of his uniform.

Literal Story~

When he woke up this time, they had just touched down and Zack was nowhere to be seen, probably having gone off to report to the Director like he should. Cloud carefully and easily pulled himself free from the light safety restraints and made his way off of the chopper. His stomach growled, and he knew he should eat something, but he really needed to talk to Aerith, and soon.

As soon as he changed into something less… eye catching than the uniform given to ShinRa troopers, Cloud made his way silently over to the church. Would Aerith even be there? It was rather late, and it seemed that she hadn't come out here many times during the night years ago. She usually kept to the days, knowing that monsters roamed far more often at night than they did at night.

As Cloud reached the church doors, he rested his forehead against the wood, taking a deep breath. If Aerith wasn't there, he'd return tomorrow regardless of any missions or stray Firsts that wanted to snatch up his attention. These thoughts that plagued his mind had to be dealt with as soon as possible, they couldn't lie in wait for several days.

The doors were pushed open quietly, and booted feet clunked against the floorboards of the church. There, among the beautiful flowers, was Aerith. She was crouched in the middle of them all, looking completely happy and she was alive. Just like with Zack, for a few harsh moments his heart stopped dead in his chest.

Aerith didn't even seem to notice him at first, either. She seemed so focused, caught up in her thoughts that even when Cloud came closer she didn't hear him at all. Crouching down right where the floorboards met the garden of floors, Cloud waited. He wasn't going to disturb her, and if she wasn't ready to talk to him or didn't know who he was, he'd simply claim he came to see the flowers.

But it seems his fears were unfounded as Aerith lifted her gentle green gaze caught his panic ridden blues. Aerith's eyes widened, and for a heartbeat they simply stared at each other. The moment passed, and Aerith all but flung herself at Cloud, laughing and smiling. "Cloud! I was wondering when you'd come!" She was all gentle smiles and clear, understanding eyes.

Grateful that she knew him, that she remembered, he curled his arms around her and pulled her close, a soft smile on his own face. They stayed like that for several moments, before she pulled back and looked at him a bit guiltily. Clearly, she had something to do with this all, just by the look in her eyes.

"Aerith… what's going on?" He questioned quietly, confusion swirling in the depths of his sky-blue hues.

"I can't… exactly say everything. But… Sephiroth came back, before. And you - you died Cloud. You were the Planet's last line of defence, and we had no idea what we could do." She sighed, sitting back on her heels and giving him a soft, strained smile. "The Planet had a backup plan, though, in case this happened. We used the lifestream to try and stop it all. The result is where we are now… This is the only chance we get to fix everything." The ancient smiled, though there was a sad look in her eyes.

"We need to save the planet. She cares too much for the people, the good and the bad, but she can't use the lifestream to save us again." Aerith shook her head, slowly standing up and offering Cloud a hand even though he truly didn't need it.

The information took several moments to process in Cloud's calculating mind, but he nodded nonetheless and took the offered hand, rising to his feet as his eyes clouded over in thought. They needed to save the planet? Fix everything? Where to start, how was he even going to try to do any of this?

In this time, he was only a lowly trooper, and Aerith was still just a girl, an Ancient under watch by the Turks almost constantly. There wasn't much they could do - they had limited resources, limited time. How could they come up with a plan to fix everything?

Shaking his head, Cloud sighed. "Aerith, I know that I was the saviour of the planet but… I'm just a trooper now, and if no-one else remembers everything, how can we devise a plan to save everything?" Lifting a hand, he scratched at the back of his head - a habit he had gotten from Zack.

"Well… there is one other person who remembers… But it wasn't the planet's doing. Vincent remember, at least in flashes he does. He's still sleeping though, so we can't entirely count on him to help until we wake him up." Cloud eyed Aerith for a moment, thinking quickly. "But before that, Cloud, you need to become SOLDIER. The planet saved most of your enhancements… but as a precaution I would at least try. It'd be easier to get higher in ShinRa now, anyways, and be able to stay close to Sephiroth… and Zack."

"Alright, well-"

Mid Sentence, his voice was cut off by the sound of the church doors being pushed open and Zack walking in, clearly exhausted but energetic at the thought of visiting Aerith and seeing her. Upon noticing she wasn't alone, though, Zack promptly started with a bewildered look on his features. "Cloud?!" He questioned, walking up to the pair. "Since when have you been coming here?"

Sheepishly, Cloud stepped a little back from Aerith as he eyed his friend. "Ahh, well.." He trailed off, nervously scratching the back of his head and sighing. "Aerith is a good friend of mine. I met her a while ago when she was selling flowers." The explanation wasn't necessarily a good one, but it would work to settle Zack's mind - he was sure of it.

Seeming to accept the words as they were, Zack grinned and pulled both of them close, his arms curling around both Cloud's and Aerith's shoulders. "Well great! We can be a big family then! Cloud gets to be the moody teenager!" Grinning, Zack left go of Aerith in favor of messing up Cloud's hair, dragging mock-annoyed protests of 'not the hair!' out of Cloud. Zack let go of Cloud soon enough, though.

"I just came by to see how the flower's were doing and to check if Aerith was still here." He said simply, rolling his shoulders and glancing towards the Cetra. "It's pretty late outside, you know you shouldn't stay out this late Aerith, regardless if you're worried about some animal trampling on the flowers!"

Aerith made a face, indicating that this was clearly an old argument between the two. "I don't want the flowers to be ripped up, Zack! Besides, it's not that far from my house, I think I could avoid a few monsters." At that Zack rolled his eyes, locking arms with both Aerith and Cloud and leading them out of the church.

"Your flower's will be fine Aerith, don't worry about them! C'mon, me and Cloud will walk you home. Your mother worries about you too much, and I swear she'd take my head off with that spoon of hers if I wasn't there to protect you and you got her!" Zack joked, and it went on for some time like this as they walked Aerith back.

Honestly, Zack was such a talkative person - he made up for Cloud's silence ten fold. When they met Aerith's mother at the door, she thanked them with a smile and asked them if they wanted to stay for a late dinner. Claiming that they both were exhausted, they were able to leave fairly quickly after bidding them both goodbye.

The walk back to ShinRa was quiet, but not in a bad way. It was soothing, to just be able to walk with Zack and knowing that Zack was there, and alive. This day, though weird, wasn't going to bad. If what Aerith said was true… then maybe they could fix everything. Maybe he didn't have to kill Sephiroth, and maybe Zack wouldn't have to protect him and die in the process.

The possibilities were endless, and he had to admit that he was oddly looking forward to the rewrite. Anything could be better than how it played out the first time, surely. All he had to do now was to quickly climb the ranks of SOLDIER before the Nibelheim mission. Before Sephiroth could learn the apparent 'truth' of his creation.

Perhaps he could find the old files of the real truth on Sephiroth. He knew that Hojo did have the files shoved in the darkest corner of his lab somewhere. But no matter what, he couldn't let Sephiroth find the fake files.

He would save them, all of them. This time, he could do it. And if he didn't… then there was more at stake than just his own life. The Planet could be destroyed if he didn't do this. He had to fix this - it wasn't his mistake to fix, but he could and would do it nonetheless.

With that thought, he made his way into the barracks for the Troopers, waving Zack off and saying goodnight to the male. He paused at his bed, staring at the uncomfortable mattress and thin, thin blankets. Sighing, he stripped down to just his pants, and slipped under the paper-thin covers. He had grown up in Nibelheim, he could take a little bit of the cold, and honestly was used to it. He prefered it to the warmth sometimes.

Even though his thoughts were plagued by uncertainties, and the possibilities he slept like the dead.