Chapter 1: Rebirth
A/N:
I don't own any of this. :'c
Cloud's POV
"I will… Never be a memory," were the last words to leave Sephiroth's wicked smile before his singular jet black wing enveloped him in a feathery cocoon.
The threat became empty to me as I began to watch each individual feather separate from the protective shell before being carried away by the wind. Kadaj immediately fell to his knees as he hit the roof of the building I stood on, making me shift my posture just in case he still had some fight in him. Unfortunately my suspicions were correct and he stood up before making a pathetic attempt to dash toward me.
He only made it four steps forward before he tripped over himself and fell into my free arm, his sword made a metallic clang as it fell from its wielder's possession.
"Brother…" he groaned as he stared into my eyes as if he were seeing me for the first time.
It was a sad sight to see, but I felt no remorse. This man had managed to bring back the darkest memory in my head without care for how much pain and suffering he would've caused had he been successful. Not a single bone in my body felt sorry for the remnant as his inevitable fate caught up with him. If I killed him now this would all end once and for all, but something stops me. I feel a warm presence, the same warm presence that allowed me to realize what I had done to myself and those around me these past few months.
Water lands on Kadaj's face as rain begins to pour from the clouds above despite the sunlight that was still striking both of us. The remnant begins to look past me, shifting his gaze toward the heavens.
"Mother, is that…?" He whispers to seemingly no one at a volume only I can hear.
His expression of pain becomes one of what looks to be joy as he begins to raise his hand up into the air. After a final breath the remnant's body slowly transforms back into the lifestream we are all made of, leaving behind green lights when he completely disappears.
The weather shows no signs of changing as rain continues to fall, and for once, I allow myself to be at peace. I pay no mind to the fresh wounds I acquired during my final battle as I stare up at the emerald colored lights moving in a myriad of different patterns. I listen to the sound of my slow breathing before shifting my gaze to the airship hanging gracefully in the sky.
I know all of my companions are up there, waiting. Everything I've done, this strength I've found, it all wouldn't exist without them. I had selfishly distanced myself away from them in an effort to help, but little did I know that I was the one who needed helping. I'll do my best to make sure that never happens again.
It's all over, there is nothing left to do but go home and make sure I buy the first round for everyone. For now though, I close my eyes and let the elements caress my face. The sun feels warmer than usual, and the air was fresher than I could ever remember. I had finally found the place where I belong. This was ho-
A curse escapes my lips as I feel pain erupt in my chest before I hear the distinct sound of a gunshot behind me. The shock is enough to send me down on one knee as I try to cope with the immense agony I was in. All the feeling in the wounds that Sephiroth had left came rushing back to me only amplifying the pain.
"We'll go together…" I hear the distinct sound of Yazoo's voice from behind me before he drops his weapon.
"Together, we'll play…" Loz chokes out in agreement.
Instinct takes over, and I lose control of my body as I struggle to stand up. Letting out a fierce battle cry I turn around and sprint toward the source of my suffering paying little mind to the blade in my hand scraping across the rooftop.
The last of the remnants raise their arms showcasing the materia they stole from me as they conjure up a fiery blast. I should be running the other way, finding a way to avoid this but my body presses on causing me to leap into the air with my sword held above my head. I want nothing more than to chop these two in half but my opportunity never comes, and the explosion hits me head on.
I don't know how much time had passed, but I felt my consciousness return to me. It felt like I was floating and everything around me was… warm. Did I survive the blast? Am I currently being blown away by it? Am I dead? My eyes refuse to open and take in my surroundings, but for some reason I find comfort in that. In fact, I don't have a care in the world in this void of the unknown. Part of me wants to just lay here forever and forget the passage of time.
The feeling of someone's hand touching my forehead breaks me from my trance, but my eyes still refuse to open. Like before, I feel the lack of control over my body. I'm not frightened this time, and the hand on my head is connected to an even warmer presence. One I have definitely felt before.
"Mother?" I hear myself ask seemingly out of the blue.
"Again?" I hear the distinct sound of a woman's voice that I know I've heard before but I can't seem to match a face to it. "Why is everyone calling me their mother lately?"
I find myself feeling sorry for not having an answer.
"I guess they must be fond of you." A male voice replies for me. I've heard this voice before too, but I still can't place it with anyone.
"We can't take this one yet. He still has something important to do." The feminine voice states calmly making me feel slightly disappointed in myself.
"Tough luck, friend. Sounds like you don't have a place here," the male voice continues.
"As if I have never felt that before," I think aloud, but the words fall on deaf ears and soon I feel myself falling.
It seems I can't catch a single break as I awaken feeling more pain rack throughout my body. I'm able to cough three times before sitting up and turning to my right to dump the contents of my stomach all over the… sand? The soft grains confirm my suspicion by shifting under my weight while I try to steady myself. The ringing in my ears subsides and is quickly replaced by the sound of the ocean as it laps at the shores of a beach.
Costa del Sol? I ask myself before the serene sounds of nature are blocked out by those of the people around me. Some were hooting and hollering, enjoying their time wherever I was but nearby I heard soft whispers. Finally realizing I had complete control over my body, my eyes open before instantly shutting closed as the bright sunlight overhead makes its radiant presence known.
"Hey, are you alright?" I hear a woman ask in a stern yet caring voice.
I open my eyes again, this time a bit slower to let my eyes adjust to the brilliant light. Instead of seeing the sun this time, I see two brown orbs staring back down at me with curiosity. The woman who voiced her question stood slightly over me as she got to her feet and I slowly do the same, ending up as the slightly taller one.
The attire she wore was definitely for the beach, her lazily buttoned long sleeve shirt was held in place by a purple and gold halter top that resembled the top of a bikini. She wore what looked to be half of a skirt that matched with her top, and black stockings that lead into her red shoes.
I stared at her a little longer than I would've liked, but I wasn't too surprised to find that she was staring at me with the same expression I had. We both looked slightly outlandish to each other, and as soon as I turned my head I realized the small circle of people around us felt the same way about me. I was still in the same dark clothing I wore during my fight with Sephiroth, but I quickly realized that all my injuries were healed. The weight I felt on my back let me know I had all of the pieces of my fusion sword in their respective places.
Finally taking the time to take in my surroundings, it was evident that this was not Costa del Sol. The beach still went on for as far as the eye could see, but that's where the similarities stopped. There was a few, albeit small, wooden piers that extended slightly out into the ocean, but they were overshadowed by a large concrete one in the distance that connected a building to the land.
A few buildings sat a good distance away from the shore and behind them sat some kind of curved wall that made me wonder if it was a tunnel of some sort. The buildings themselves included a cafe that helped me notice that my throat was dry and my stomach was empty. It probably wouldn't be 7th heaven, but I'd eat a whole chocobo at this point.
Seeing that the people around me weren't going to stop staring any time soon, I began walking out of their little circle which someone immediately broke as I stepped toward them.
"You're not even going to thank her?" A voice yelled from behind me.
I turned around to find a man with flaming red hair giving me what I assumed to be his best attempt at some kind of intimidating look. My continued silence only irritated him further and he began to take a few steps toward me. Conflict wasn't the first thing I wanted to happen after waking up on the shore of some unknown city, but if he was looking for a fight then he was about to find one.
"Gadot calm down! It's no big deal!" The woman from before exclaimed before pulling him away by his arm.
"No big deal Lebreau? You saved his life and he just walks away!" He fumed.
Quickly putting two and two together I realized that what he said was probably true. She had probably given me CPR which was why I woke up in the first place.
"Thanks." I say dryly which puts a smile on Lebreau's face.
"See, was that so hard?" Gadot asked still trying to get a reaction from me, but I ignore the comment and continue toward my initial destination only to be stopped again.
"Hey you dropped this!"
Turning around once more, I find a blonde haired boy who had a toolbelt around his waist and goggles on his head. He wore more clothes than the last two people combined and had an excited smile on his face. In earnest, he didn't look that young but he definitely wasn't an adult yet.
I swiped the pouch of materia that he held in his outstretched hand a little faster than I would've liked to, making him flinch slightly. The smile on his lips died almost immediately, but he didn't say anything.
"Thanks," the word fell out of my mouth again, making who I assumed to be a teen smile.
"No problem!" Was his jovial reply. "With how quick you took that out of my hand I guess it's pretty important to you huh?
I nod before I return the pouch to my pocket and continue heading toward the cafe. The pouch in question was given to me by Tifa who had received it from Yuffie when she arrived during our fight against Bahamut SIN. Luckily the pouch remained closed, the teen could've accidentally caused some havoc had he opened it and taken too close of a look.
Along with the materia, some gil was in my possession but it certainly wasn't a lot. I'm sure it would probably be enough to stay somewhere for a night or two and eat while I got my bearings. I remembered the conversation the ethereal woman and man had while I was floating, it replayed in my head over and over again. What important thing did I have to do? How would I know when I had done it?
Letting my current needs take priority, I decide that those questions would have to wait for now. The only thing I want is for people to stop talking to me so I could get something in my body to prevent myself from passing out again. My prayers go unheard as I hear someone begin to run to meet up with me as I ascended the handful of steps to the cafe.
"Hungry?" It was Lebreau again.
I hold in my exasperated sigh as she matches my pace toward the building. I'm thankful that she made sure I didn't die in water so I let her fascination with me continue. Letting the direction we were walking in answer her question for me, I opt to stay silent as we walk through the entrance.
"I'll cook you something up, on the house!" she said cheerfully, and to my surprise, before heading behind the counter and getting to work.
Taking the seat closest to the counter, I watch her as she cooks. My tired muscles thank me as they relax a bit before a plate of hot food is presented in front of me along with an orange colored beverage. I eyeball it for a second, not wanting to show just how hungry I actually was.
"I was going to pour you a tall glass of water, but judging by how you were on the beach, I'd guess that you've already had your fill." She laughed, causing me to crack a smile which I hide by wolfing down what was on my plate.
"I guess almost dying works up an appetite." Lebreau playfully added in what I assumed was an attempt to keep her one-sided conversation going.
If almost dying makes people hungry then I must be famished considering I can count the amount of times I've almost died in the past few hours on two hands.
"Thank you," I finally take the time to say now that the plate and glass in front of me were empty. The meal was a lot tastier than I expected, but I couldn't tell if it was Lebreau's cooking or my hunger that added the flavor.
"It's nothing! If you want I can get you some more." She seemed all too happy to keep me around.
"Hey Lebreau, didn't Snow say something about not giving free food to every guy you have a crush on?" A new voice chimed in from the entrance.
"No Yuj, I don't think he did." The raven haired woman's smile turned into a smirk before she continued, "I do remember him telling you something about slacking off, and last I checked, it's your shift."
"You got me there," he laughs before walking behind the counter and into my view.
The newcomer's hair was long, going slightly past his shoulders, and a vibrant shade of blue. Feathers decorated his attire making me think that he probably spent more time thinking out what to wear than the other people I've met so far. A smile seemed to be plastered on his face as he got to work cleaning before stopping to stare at me.
"What's his name anyway?" He asked his friend despite the fact that I sat directly in front of him.
Lebreau clearly took a second to think before she probably realized that the only things I've said to her so far were thanks and thank you.
"Cloud," I answer before she gets a second to ask me the same question.
"No fair!" She pouted, "How come you told him your name but not me?"
"You never asked," came my reply in a flat tone which amused Yuj.
"Never seen you around Bodhum before, where abouts on Cocoon are you from?" He asked, getting back to work while Lebreau took a seat next to me.
I wasn't about to sign off on a conversation with these two with the important things I had to do looming over my head, but it was obvious that they had some useful information. First off, I had to find where 'Bodhum' was on a map since I've never heard of this place before, secondly what is 'Cocoon', and lastly I need to find out if anything big was going to happen soon. Unfortunately, not all places had something like Meteor hanging in the sky letting the people below know they were doomed. In this instance, I kind of wish they did so I'd at least know where to point my sword.
"Edge," was the reply I came to immediately regret on account of the two workers giving me a look like I'd just grown a second head.
Lebreau was quick to bounce back though, "When you say 'Edge', you don't mean the Hanging Edge, right?"
"No, of course not." I respond hastily, with that kind of question giving the right answer was a complete coin flip. The look on her face made me lean toward no, and the sigh of relief that came from her lips let me know I chose correctly.
"You had me worried for a sec there," she laughed, "If you were from the Hanging Edge that would mean you were centuries old."
Making a mental note of that, I shift in my seat slightly before deciding that this conversation was probably over. I'm not willing to put in more effort to get a small return, more questions would answer themselves if I just got up and looked around the rest of this seaside city. The sun signified that it was sometime in the afternoon, and I probably had enough time to explore a bit before it got dark.
Before I get a chance to stand up, Yuj asks another question that makes me have a little more confidence that this small talk would go somewhere.
"Did you come out here just to see the fireworks festival? The swords on your back make me think you came here for other business."
"I'm a delivery boy." This answer seemed like enough to convince both of them.
Before the conversation got any further than that, I heard the sound of heavy boots enter the small cafe. This time I didn't bother to wait for the person to come into view and I turned my body to see them. The stranger was a tall man, probably a foot taller than me, whose clothing consisted of baggy black pants, a cream colored trench coat, a white shirt, and a black beanie. Like the rest of the people I met, save for the one with red hair, he had a smile on his face. People really didn't have anything to worry about here. Must be nice.
"Oh god, the boss is back." Lebreau pointed out with a slight groan in her voice.
"Come on guys, I'm not THAT bad am I?" He threw his hands up in mock innocence before leaning against the counter next to us.
"The worst!" Yuj yells from his position in the back of the room.
The blonde shook his head before letting out a sigh, "Always trying to make me look bad in front of new customers."
"Hey now, that's not true. You do that yourself with the scruff on your face," the raven haired woman sitting next to me teased before her boss pushed her off of the stool.
Stealing the seat he had just pushed Lebreau off of, he shifted his attention toward me, "That's a lot of fancy swords you have there…" he waited, hoping that I'd fill in my name for him. Naturally I didn't, but Lebreau was more than happy to do so.
"Cloud huh?" He paused for a second, directing his gaze upward as he seemed to think it over a bit, "Can't say that's any worse than Lightning."
"Yikes! Don't let her or Serah hear that." The blue-haired employee warned causing the light-haired man to laugh.
"Don't worry, I won't." He addressed before turning his attention back toward me, "I'm Snow."
That name almost caused me to fall out of my chair after hearing his comment about mine. I don't think you can really point out the unusualness of someone else's name when your name was just as bizarre.
Hoping for a fast exit, I allowed the silence between us to grow, but I didn't get my wish.
"So, do you know how to use them?" Snow asked as he propped his elbow on the counter and leaned on his fist.
I simply raised an eyebrow at that question. There was no way he seriously thought that I carried around this much weaponry without having a clue how to use it.
"I'll take that as a yes," he smiled before sitting up straight and taking up a more serious tone. "Listen. Us three," he pointed to himself and his two employees, "Are a part of a group called NORA. We make sure it's safe around here and I was wondering if you'd be willing to help us out during the fireworks festival. Wouldn't want the wildlife to get too curious when there are lots of people visiting."
It took a lot to stop myself from audibly scoffing at them once I heard they, 'made sure it was safe'. All three of them hardly looked the part, but I'd be more than willing to take their money. Plus, if anything did show up around here, then I could actually protect the people. Finally things were going somewhere.
"What's in it for me?" I confidently ask.
"In it for you?" He looked almost appalled as he heard those words come out of my mouth before straightening up once more. "Well, you get to be a hero, and that should be its own reward."
Seriously? I shake my head before finally getting up from my seat, "Not interested."
"Hey, hold on a second!" The self-proclaimed 'hero' stops me before I walk out. "Where are you staying? Just in case I change my mind."
"Nowhere, I came out here for a delivery and now I'm leaving." I lie, trying to attract as little attention as possible.
"You mean you're not staying for the festival?" All three of them ask in unison.
"Tell you what," Snow began. "We'll give you a place to stay and three free meals each day from today until the day after the festival, but you have to join NORA and two days after the festival you have pick up stuff from Palumpolum for us for free. Seeing as you do deliveries already, that last one shouldn't be too hard."
He laid the offer in front of me with a cocky smile. Part of me wanted to walk away just to remove the expression on his face, but the more practical part reminded me that I had nothing to bargain with. I didn't have my bike to go look elsewhere, and I didn't have enough money to pay for both food and shelter for too long. This would give me the opportunity to get to know this place a bit better before I had to do things on my own.
"Works for me." I agree, "Where am I staying?"
"Lebreau will show you," he said before walking out and heading down the beach with his hands behind his head.
The place I was staying wasn't too far away from the cafe, and I was able to take a look at what was on the other side of the tunnel. Various buildings greeted me with lots of lights symbolizing this place as even more of a tourist attraction. There was a large circular plaza where many people congregated in between the buildings and the tunnel separating the area from the beach.
I made some mental notes of several locations while Lebreau told me more about NORA and what exactly they did. I'd be staying at the house where they stayed, and with me showing up it made six of us. Six was a number much smaller than I initially expected, but after seeing some people in military uniforms I realized they weren't exactly alone. From what I gathered it seemed like these people were basically vigilantes looking for adventure. Why the military didn't get in their way was beyond me, but that was neither here nor there. The only positive thing out of this briefing was that if I claimed to be working with NORA, people wouldn't be so suspicious about my weapons.
Their house was a bit bigger than I expected for a vigilante organization being funded by a cafe. I was concerned that I'd have to share a room with others, but apparently they had a guest room free since Gadot, Yuj, and Maqui liked to sleep in the living room. Strange, but I didn't bother to ask why, might as well just take it without a second thought. They had a small kitchen area directly to the left of the entrance, and the living area in question was to the right. Both were slightly partitioned off by furniture.
The door to the room I'd be staying in was in the far right corner of the main room and I headed to it immediately. All of the others were still out with the sun still on the horizon, but the crippling weight of exhaustion had consumed me.
"Well, I'm heading back to the cafe. Gotta make sure Yuj doesn't burn down the place," Lebreau said as she saw me walk toward the door. "If you need anything, you can always find one of us over there."
I nodded before smiling slightly and walking into the guest room. It was as standard as anyone could expect, a bed sat against the far wall with a window behind the headboard. Next to the bed was a nightstand with a lamp sitting on top of it, and across from it against the wall connected to the door was a large desk.
My heavy boots landing on what looked like a wooden floor was the only sound in the room as I walked over to the desk. Sleeping on sharp metal objects wasn't exactly ideal so I began removing my equipment. Realizing it would be much easier to set aside, I decided to combine the blades of my Fusion Sword before propping it against the desk.
I began with the First Sword, it being the largest and main foundation of my weapon. Freeing it from the sleeve on the harness that I wore over my back, I held it in front of me to examine its symmetrical blade for a minute or two. My clothes were fixed and my wounds were healed when I arrived, so there was no reason to believe that nothing else hadn't changed.
Satisfied, I then brought the Hollow Sword up to bear. It was the piece I turned to when the First Sword was unavailable for whatever reason. After inspecting it briefly I slotted it into its place, ruining the symmetry the main piece had. Now one side had much more surface area to it, making it the front of my weapon.
I made sure to look over the remaining pieces which consisted of two side blades and two back blades. The side blades were mirror images of each other with similarity to daggers when it came to size, they had a mechanism that allowed me to fold their handles like a switchblade. The back blades were long swords that were also mirror images of each other. They both had a saw toothed edge on one side and a flat edge on the other. Aptly named, the side blades went on the sides of the First Sword, and the back blades went on the back to bring together the appearance of a buster sword.
With that task complete, I removed the harness on my back and tossed it on top of the weapon. Before the piece of equipment was able to land, the soft mattress of the bed had already finished greeting my tired body. Being able to finally rest after the fight with Sephiroth was probably the greatest gift I have ever been given. Or so I thought.
Suddenly waking up in an unknown place and meeting several different… personalities… had taken my mind off of everything. The exhaustion I felt, the pain, all the events leading up to the final battle against Sephiroth, but everything included all the good things too. My friends and the idea of family that Tifa seemed to love so much were gone too. Part of me wanted to believe that I had still woken up somewhere on Gaia, but the people here didn't seem to know what or where Edge was. They referred to this place as Cocoon, a name I had never heard before in my timing traveling around Gaia.
I wanted to believe I'd see them all again, the smiles on their faces now that the reason for the Geostigma was gone, but I wasn't so sure that my wish could ever come true. It was pretty obvious that the things I had asked for so far went unanswered, but they also lead to good things. There was a roof over my head, and food in my stomach so I had some positives. Problem is, throughout my life things never seemed to go my way. I wasn't about to believe that would change.
Sleep couldn't come soon enough.
A/N: Chapter one down, so many more to go. To start off this author's note I want to give a humongous shout out and thank you to iLady A. Without her pushing and prodding, this story would simply not exist. So thank you to her for supporting this idea from the beginning. She is working on an amazing CloudxLight fic titled "I'll Never Forget" and I highly recommend it.
I also want to give a shout out to wolf777 for being supportive and for giving me some helpful feedback. He is also working on a CloudxLight fic called "A Stormy Reunion" which is another read I would highly recommend.
I would be lost without the help of those two skilled writers so if you get a chance please throw some support their way.
I really hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this story, this is my first attempt at an FF fanfic and a fanfic of this size. Please review if you have a moment, I love feedback whether negative or positive. If you liked what you've seen so far, feel free to drop a favorite or a follow because there will be much more to come!
Until next chapter, peace.