Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII/Crisis Core.
Title: Cloud
Summary: #1: Dissonance: Cloud was there. He could have saved his friend. He could have helped him.
Warning: Unbeta'ed.
To Zack
..
..
..
"Hey...Would you say I became a hero?"
..
..
..
There was something awfully heavy in the air.
Cloud grasped his SHINRA uniform, his steps were slow and dragging; He was clutching a huge sword that was silently scraping the snow on the steep mountain road.
..
..
"This is a symbol of my dreams and honor."
..
..
His breathing was harsh and exhausted. Clouds eyes were void of any light and recognition. He was walking, but he wasn't really thinking of going anywhere.
Cloud couldn't feel anything.
He was not aware of the falling snows on his front, the sourness of his clothes, the heaviness of his body, the stiffness of his feet.
He presently wasn't aware of any of those.
But despite the numbness he was feeling with his body, the surge of pain inside his heart was surprisingly throbbing so much. He was feeling it clearly, like it was the only thing he knew at the moment. The only thing that was left to him – the pain of losing someone – a friend – that he couldn't save.
Cloud stopped walking; the sword was dropped on his side. It didn't echo when it dropped in the snow. But it left a small buzzing sensation on Cloud's chest, a pain that was now resonating throughout his memories.
He died.
Zack.
Cloud let Zack died.
He was there. He was there all along, and yet…
The blank look adorning Cloud's pale face contort to a pained one.
Cloud was there.
He could have saved his friend.
He could have helped him.
..
..
""We're friends, right?"
..
..
He was a worthless friend. He let Zack fight – die – alone.
Cloud dropped to his knees and felt an unknown emotion gobbled his all. He grappled the snow with his numbing hands. Tears were again streaming on his eyes – like it had a mind of its own.
Like he didn't have any hold on it.
Like his tears betrayed his mind, now moving on its own selfish demands, letting all of what he was feeling at the moment flowed to his eyes. Demanding to be out. Demanding to be acknowledged.
..
..
"Live. You'll be my living legacy. My honor, my dreams...They're yours now..."
..
..
It was demanding Cloud to remember, to never ever forget.
That he let his friend fall.
That Cloud wasn't there when Zack Fair die – alone.
A deafening cry was heard echoing the distant mountain. A heart-wrenching cry of irreversible loss and dreams of what might have been's.
A splash of red tainted the pallid tint of the snow that was coating the path that Zack Fair once merrily walked in.
..
..
..
"So what if it seems hopeless? If it were me, I still wouldn't give up. Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honor as SOLDIER. Well, okay, you never made SOLDIER, but it's what's in your heart that counts."
..
..
..
From Cloud