Cloud gasped, sitting bolt upright and grabbing his chest. He couldn't breathe, couldn't get enough air- He scrambled off the bed, hitting the floor with a 'thunk' when his legs got tangled in his bed sheets. Laying there for a moment, he stared at the -familiar?- ceiling, just trying to even his breathing, slowly trying to calm his heart. He laid there until beams of light made their way through the window and creeped along the wall. Slowly, he sat up and looked around, trying to place where he was. He blinked, eyebrows furrowing as he took in the dresser, the bed that he had been on, which looked eerily like- his blue eyes suddenly caught a reflection from a full-length mirror.

He didn't have to worry about slowing his heart down. He was pretty sure it just completely stopped.

"No. N-no, Aerith. Please-" He cut himself off, grabbing two handfuls of hair and pushing his head in-between his knees. He trembled, trying to process what he was seeing, what he was feeling, what the hell was going on-

He stayed that way for what had to be another hour or so just trying to get a hold of himself. His hands -small hands, no calluses, no scars, nothing- eventually slipped from his hair and he raised anguished blue eyes to the ceiling.

"Aerith, what have you done?"

Claudia Strife stuck her head out the kitchen door just enough to be able to see up the stairs.

"Cloud, time to get up! Breakfast's getting cold!" she yelled. A few more minutes passed with no response, and with a huff she put down the flower-print towel she had been drying her hands off with and made her way up.

"Up and at 'em, my Cloud! The day's wasting away with you-" Claudia opened the door to her son's room only to find it unoccupied "-still in bed?"

Claudia stuck her head out the door to look back down the stairs.

"Huh. Where on the Planet did that boy get off to already?"

Cloud slammed the old wooden door behind him, using his body as a weight to keep the door closed as the monster rammed its own weight against it. He could feel the shock of the impact run through his body every time it charged and he scrambled to keep his footing. Dust and grime covered his face and clothing and he didn't even want to know what got stuck in his hair. Cloud grimaced.

As soon as he could get over the shock of what had happened, Cloud had hightailed it to ShinRa Mansion. If what was happening was really happening, Cloud knew there was one person nearby he could count on to help him through this mess.

There were a couple things about the place that he had forgotten though...

Cloud winced again as the door behind him took another hit.

"Alright. Alright, so not now. Sorry, Vincent, but you'll just have to wait a little while..."

Cloud wearily made his way down from Shinra Mansion. He looked at his skinny arms, felt the way his muscles trembled from the efforts he had made to make his way along the first floor. Hell, he could admit it. He had to. He was weak. How was he supposed to get through anything when he couldn't even take out a couple monsters? He couldn't get through the first floor, how would he make it all the way into the basement without killing himself, never mind rescuing Vincent?

Cloud sighed, curling his hand into a fist. He would just have to get stronger. He sighed again, looking back at the mansion. Of course, that was easier said than done. But now Cloud had time. Suddenly, the meaning of that really slapped him in the face and he stopped walking. He had time. His blue eyes widened with understanding. He could become stronger before he ever stepped foot into ShinRa headquarters, and he could change things. But he had to start now. He only had six months.

Claudia Strife worried.

Cloud had come home that afternoon, taken one look at her, and had stepped straight into her arms to hug her tightly. It wasn't that he never gave her hugs. It was more that she would be the one chasing him, hugging him as he rolled his eyes and acted like he was only humoring her. He was just at that age where hugging your mom just wasn't 'cool' anymore, and he already had enough problems with the bullies of this town. Yet, here he was, covered in dirt and who knows what else, practically clinging to her. She had smoothed back his hair-as much good as that ever did- and had asked him if he was alright. He had only mumbled something insensible before stepping back and telling her he was going out for a bit.

She sighed, pausing in her preparations for dinner. The carrots she was chopping were chopped at a weird angle from when she let her concentration slip away. Not that it mattered, the stew would taste the same either way. But it was going to bug her a little; this stew was her pride, dammit!

"...Mom, why are you glaring at the carrots?"

Claudia jumped, putting the knife down and turning around with her hand to her heart. "I should just tie a bell around you! Honestly, giving me a heart attack like that."

He nodded a little bit. "Sorry mom. Stew?" he asked, watching her pick up a ladle instead and moving to the pot on the stove.

That was the other thing that was bothering her. He would look at her with this wistfulness in his eyes, like he was already missing her- even when she was standing right in front of him. And he had yet to give her more than a half-hearted upturn of the lips today. Well, she would just have to smile for the both of them then.

"Of course!" she beamed, adding in the carrots and stirring. "Stew is what all growing boys need. Hmm... make that what all men in general need." And, because she was a mother and she could... "In any case, you just make sure you find a nice girl who can make a good, hearty stew like this. Nothing else will do. An older girl, maybe." She winked at her son. "Just don't go looking for one too soon, you hear?"

"Mom!" Cloud exclaimed, a dusting of red along his cheeks. Claudia giggled, patting his cheek lovingly with her hand as she passed him. She began humming as she ladled the stew, unaware of the sad blue eyes watching her.

Cloud cursed, flinging his body down to avoid the wolf's lunge. He grappled to keep hold of the old dagger- more like just a sharp piece of metal stuck to some wood- in his hand. As the wolf turned back around to strike again, he realized that he really should have thought this out better... there HAD to be a better way to train.

Claudia watched her son do a set of sit-ups through the back window. She knew that whatever had happened that day he came back covered in filth had changed him, but it was almost like living with a stranger. It was still her son, but he was so different. He rarely smiled anymore and there was a new intense focus to him that hadn't been there. He would disappear for all hours of the day and come back bruised and scratched, blisters on his palms. There was a hardness to him when he thought she wasn't looking. He tried to hide it from her, but she was his mother for Planet's sake, and she knew there was something wrong.

She watched Cloud switch from sit-ups to push-ups and her eyes narrowed. If she ever found the people or thing or whatever responsible for this, she would make sure they knew why her last name was Strife.

Cloud cursed as a another "sword" broke in half. The damn flimsy sticks around here he tried to fashion into something even remotely resembling a sword might as well have been toothpicks for all of their effectiveness. Trying only ended with frustration and splinters. A lot of splinters.

"Mom... I'm going to join the army. To become a SOLDIER."

The plate slipped from Claudia's hand and shattered on the floor, but she hardly noticed through the fear coursing through her as she whipped around to face him.

Cloud grunted as he finally got the heavy lid off far enough for it to fall off the edge. He was sore, he had multiple scratches, and his body -as well as his pride- was bruised from his fights with the monsters roaming the mansion. Especially the "fights" in which he ran away and barricaded several monsters in different rooms because there was NO way his still-scrawny body would be able to handle direct contact like that, not even with the training he'd been doing, and especially without a decent sword. So when Cloud glanced down into the black shadows and saw two dark eyes staring up, his patience was wearing a little thin.

"Vincent, get your sorry ass OUT of the coffin. I have a lot to tell you."

So...

Hey guys! So I'm experimenting a little bit here. I don't really write fanfics but I wanted a badass back-in-time Cloud that doesn't get so trembly emotiony over stuff, so I'm trying my hand at it. Criticism, constructive or otherwise will be taken into consideration, so have at it!

I have no idea what Cloud's mom's name really is, but I read somewhere that Claudia was a name up for consideration or something. I don't know, I'm just going with it. Hope you got some enjoyment out of this!