Note to you from me, LatteJazz:
"Rescued" revolves loosely around an incident in the original Final Fantasy VII game. In one climax, Cloud is 'puppeteered' by Sephiroth and gives him the valuable Black Materia, with which Sephiroth is able to summon a disaster called Meteor. The summoning of Meteor awakens a WEAPON (a creature the earth uses to defend itself) with an earthquake. The earthquake causes Cloud and his companions to be separated--Cloud falling into the lifestream, and the rest of the company scatters. Apart from Cloud, they reform and search for him, which is where Rescued picks up. When I say it is based loosely on the game, it's because...well, you'll see. In this chapter and only this chapter, most dialogue is actual in-game dialogue.
Inspired by "Waiting for the World to Fall" by Jars of Clay; lyrics [bolded] copyright to them. Characters, dialogue [in this chapter] and concepts copyright SquareEnix. Oh, bother! Nevermind that--I own nothing! Nothing, ya hear?
I've put a lot of time and effort and thought into this, making each word count... I hope you...enjoy?...it. =)
CHAPTER
I'm afraid it's been too long to try to find the reasons why…
"Cloud! It must be Cloud!"
There were no words for Tifa's hope. After weeks of torturous searching, they had found him at last. Excitement rippled through her while happy butterflies tumbled in her stomach. Her spirit soared. Finally! She was tantalizingly close to the half of her which had been missing for so long.
Up the worn village path she danced, hope lending wings to her feet. The rest of her party struggled to keep up with her and fell behind, but she had forgotten all about them in her newfound state of bliss.
'At the clinic,' she recalled the villager's words. It had to be close now. In a town as small as Mideel, which was traversable in seconds, how far could it be? Auburn eyes sparkling, Tifa raced on. Emerald undergrowth rushed past her; every now and then she caught a glimpse of sparkling ocean. It seemed the whole world was brighter—its vivid colors, the tranquil sky, the sunshine chasing her feet. She sprinted faster, consumed with fiery anticipation and joy.
There!
She turned pell-mell and approached a building, confident that this was what the villager had been describing. White paint peeling, the clinic was stilted and nestled into a thick blanket of jungle foliage. Several high windows looked out to the west across the ocean. A ramp and stairs led up to a tired wooden door—Tifa flew up the steps four at a time, barely touching the ground, and burst through the door.
If only she had been prepared for what lay on the other side of that door.
~ x ~
I let my world close in around a smaller patch of fading sky
"Here now!" From a counter across the room a middle-aged doctor looked up, startled by Tifa's intrusion. He frowned. "The way you're running around, you'd think Meteor had fallen." He straightened and crossed his arms, a slightly inquisitive expression shaping his aging face.
"I'm sorry, but I heard a friend of mine was being taken care of here…?" Tifa scanned the room impatiently.
"Friend?" the doctor asked. Brow furrowed, he looked her over. "Oh, yes! That young fellow? Don't worry, your friend is next door. But I'm afraid his condition is…"
Tifa didn't hear him. She was already through said door and in the adjacent room, utterly oblivious to the doctor. At the moment the only thought on her mind was that, somewhere in this building, was Cloud.
The room she had entered proved to be a long, tiled white hallway that carried the unmistakable aroma of hospital. The windowed wall to the right was of no interest to her, but the left was lined with various doors—rooms for patients, she assumed. She peered through the glass panel in the first door: empty. And the next: empty as well. She hurried down the hallway, not panicked but not at ease as her shoes squeaked on the pristine floor. Where was everybody? The nurses, doctors, patients? It was so quiet. As the sunlight filtered faintly across the room, she discovered that one of the doors had been left ajar. She edged closer, and then caught her breath.
"Cloud?" An unmistakable shock of spiky blond hair was just inside the room. Tifa sprang toward it.
Back facing her, he sat on a chair and stared out a window. He hadn't heard her call his name, but Tifa rushed up behind him anyway, giddy relief flooding through her. "Oh, Cloud! I'm so glad you're safe! All along, I--" Her eyes were moist with rapturous tears that transformed the world into a happy blur; and, though there was usually a mutual distance between them, she couldn't stop herself from flinging her arms around his neck...
Tifa had always known Cloud to be a reticent, reserved sort of person. As such and having known him almost better than he knew himself, she expected only perhaps a brief embrace or long-awaited exchange of words. Even a simple, "Hello, I missed you" would have sufficed. But none of these occurred, and Cloud remained peculiarly silent. At the very least he could have turned to look at her—but he was as still as a statue. Bewildered, Tifa drew back and crept to his side, intently watching him.
"Are you all right?" she asked hesitantly. Instead of tuning his gaze to meet hers, he bowed his head and stared at the floor. Only then did Tifa realize that he was not all right. Because his feet were resting on metal platforms and a blanket was spread across his lap and his arms lay limply to the side and his back was slouched, inert, and…and Cloud was sitting in a wheelchair.
"Cloud?" His name barely escaped her frozen lips. Dream-like, she reached out to softly touch his shoulder. This time he responded with floundering, faltering motions and tried to raise his head. It lolled limply to the side and he stared obliquely at Tifa. More unsettling than his ragdoll body was his eyes. Though always an intense blue, they seemed extraordinarily luminous now, and emitted a bizarre cerulean glow. They stared vacantly into space—lifeless. It as if his familiar orbs had been replaced with a stranger's—and the stranger's eyes were crazed, distant, empty. Dead.
To the cold floor Tifa sank on her knees, transfixed. Fighting back a wave of nausea, she gently took one of his hands in her trembling own. If he noticed, he did not show it.
She desperately searched his face for a hint of recognition. "What's wrong, Cloud?"
His head lolled sideways again as if he didn't have the strength to hold it up. Slowly, his eyes roamed about the room until, finally, they stared at Tifa. Or, more accurately, through her. He blinked.
"A…gurk," he muttered hoarsely.
Paralytic with disbelief, Tifa shook her head. "What…what happened to you?" Hot tears blurred her vision, distorting his face into a whirl of white and blue. Her throat was suddenly a twisted knot.
"Mako poisoning," replied a voice. Tifa hadn't heard the doctor come in, but there he stood in the doorway.
"…quite an advanced case," he was saying. "It appears this young man has been exposed to a high level of mako energy for a protracted period of time…he probably has no idea who or where he is now. Poor fellow, his voice doesn't even work…he is literally miles away from us, some place far away where no one's ever been…All alone…"
"D***. That's evil." Cid Highwind stared somberly over the doctor's shoulder, eyes narrowed. His words barely reached the stricken Tifa.
She tried to say his name again but couldn't seem to choke out anything more than a sob, which was likely the fault of the tears that streaked down her face. She made no effort to suppress them, but leaned her forehead against Cloud's knees and shut her eyes, willing herself to wake from the vivid nightmare. But twisted reality wouldn't allow for that sort of thing and it never does; she opened them again and Cloud was still there, oblivious to anything and everything as she wept and held his pale hands.
"Why? What do you want me to do?" she tried to say. He stared back at her, ghosted eyes empty and void.
"Please, Cloud! Talk to me! Tell me that you see me, that you can hear me…Tell me, please…"
That was the day the world shattered.
Your thoughts: I would love to hear them. :D