Disclaimer: I do not own the characters,locations, or items of Final Fantasy VII, they belong to Square-Enix.
Prologue
The Great Divide
"It is not the critic who counts, not the one who points out where the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotion and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of great achievement; and who, at worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.
Theodore Roosevelt
Sorbonne, Paris
April 23, 1910
Cait Sith broke the silence.
"Shinra's finished," the tiny cat said slowly, with an almost mournful tone.
Cloud glared out the main viewport of the Highwind. His eyes first surveyed the surreal, suspended plates that made up the metropolis and let his eyes travel up. They wandered up the Shinra Headquarters to the smoldering wreckage of the top few floors, and further still, to the giant Meteor that adorned the heavens, glowing scarlet against the blue backdrop of the sky.
"Meteor's going to fall in about..." he began.
"Seven more days," Red XIII cut him off quietly. "That's what Grandfather said."
Cloud turned to face his brilliant wolf-like friend. Though sitting and silent, his fiery red fur was ruffled in an agitated way.
"Red, you want to see everyone in Cosmo Canyon again?"
The beast paused before looking at him.
"Yes," he said, a longing tone in his voice.
Cloud turned to face Barret.
"You want to see Marlene, right?
The large man looked to the deck and shook his head.
"Don't ask me that," he muttered.
Cloud paced around the deck a few times, trying to collect his jumbled thoughts. There was just too much happening so quickly that it made it easy to forget the important things. He stopped and looked to his companions, who stood quietly, waiting for him to speak again.
"We'll beat Sephiroth," he started. "Then, if we don't release the power of Holy in seven days, there won't be a planet to protect."
Tears threatened to gather in his eyes, but he fought them back.
"If we can't beat Sephiroth, it's as good as death for us. We'll just go a few days sooner than the rest who will die from Meteor," at this Cloud hung his head in a slight fit of depression.
"Do not be thinking that you're going to lose before you even fight!" Barret's protest echoed throughout the silent bridge and seemed to bring Cloud back to life.
"No!" Cloud countered. "What I meant was," he took a deep breath,"what are we all fighting for? Save the planet? For the future of the planet?"
He shook his head.
"Sure, that's all fine, but really, is that really how it is? For me, this is a personal feud. I want to beat Sephiroth and settle my past." He looked to each of them with a serious mask covering his face.
"Saving the planet just happens to be part of that."
Some in AVALANCHE were clearly appalled, but still, few others remained unchanged by his remark.
"I've been thinking. I think we are all fighting for ourselves," Cloud struggled with his next words. "For ourselves, and that someone, something -whatever it is- that's important to us. That's what we're fighting for. That's why we keep up this battle for the planet."
Barret stepped forward. Cloud should have know Barret would eventually give his two cents. Cloud nodded to the former leader of AVALANCHE, Barret acted as if he hadn't noticed Cloud's gesture.
"You're right. It sounds cool saying it's to save the planet," Barret's voice dropped to a saddened level, "but I was the one who blew up that Mako Reactor. Looking back on it now, I can see that wasn't the right way to do things. I made a lot of innocent bystanders suffer."
Barret looked to the gun that was grafted to his right arm.
"At first, it was revenge against the Shinra for attacking my town, but now..." his voice trailed off for the first time looking deep in thought.
"Yeah," he grunted to himself. "I'm fighting for Marlene."
He looked to Cloud and raised his good hand into the air, clenched in a fist.
"For Marlene," he bellowed. "For Marlene's future!"
"Yeah, I guess I want to save the planet for Marlene's sake," Barret said, almost as an after-thought.
Cloud put his hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Go and see her. Make sure you're right, and come back," Cloud told him.
"All of you," he said to the others, "Get off this ship and find your reasons for yourselves. I want you to make sure, then I want you to come back."
Cid, leaning against the helm, piped in.
"Maybe ain't none of us will come back," he shrugged. "Meteor's going to kill us anyway. Let's just forget about useless struggling!"
Cloud banged his own shoulder with his opposite hand and said, "I know why I'm fighting. I'm fighting to save the planet."
Even as he said them he knew those words sounded hollow to him.
"There's something personal too," he continued. "A very personal memory that I have."
Cloud turned to the others. "What about you all? I want all of you to find something within yourselves. If you don't find it, then that's okay too. You can't fight without a reason, right?"
He looked to each of the people left in the room. "So I won't hold it against you if you don't come back."
-------I just felt inspired to write this. I've just finished this part of the game and I used the inspiration to plow through my writer's block (I hate those things). There will be a chapter for each character, so look for updates. Please R&R.
Prologue
The Great Divide
"It is not the critic who counts, not the one who points out where the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotion and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of great achievement; and who, at worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.
Theodore Roosevelt
Sorbonne, Paris
April 23, 1910
Cait Sith broke the silence.
"Shinra's finished," the tiny cat said slowly, with an almost mournful tone.
Cloud glared out the main viewport of the Highwind. His eyes first surveyed the surreal, suspended plates that made up the metropolis and let his eyes travel up. They wandered up the Shinra Headquarters to the smoldering wreckage of the top few floors, and further still, to the giant Meteor that adorned the heavens, glowing scarlet against the blue backdrop of the sky.
"Meteor's going to fall in about..." he began.
"Seven more days," Red XIII cut him off quietly. "That's what Grandfather said."
Cloud turned to face his brilliant wolf-like friend. Though sitting and silent, his fiery red fur was ruffled in an agitated way.
"Red, you want to see everyone in Cosmo Canyon again?"
The beast paused before looking at him.
"Yes," he said, a longing tone in his voice.
Cloud turned to face Barret.
"You want to see Marlene, right?
The large man looked to the deck and shook his head.
"Don't ask me that," he muttered.
Cloud paced around the deck a few times, trying to collect his jumbled thoughts. There was just too much happening so quickly that it made it easy to forget the important things. He stopped and looked to his companions, who stood quietly, waiting for him to speak again.
"We'll beat Sephiroth," he started. "Then, if we don't release the power of Holy in seven days, there won't be a planet to protect."
Tears threatened to gather in his eyes, but he fought them back.
"If we can't beat Sephiroth, it's as good as death for us. We'll just go a few days sooner than the rest who will die from Meteor," at this Cloud hung his head in a slight fit of depression.
"Do not be thinking that you're going to lose before you even fight!" Barret's protest echoed throughout the silent bridge and seemed to bring Cloud back to life.
"No!" Cloud countered. "What I meant was," he took a deep breath,"what are we all fighting for? Save the planet? For the future of the planet?"
He shook his head.
"Sure, that's all fine, but really, is that really how it is? For me, this is a personal feud. I want to beat Sephiroth and settle my past." He looked to each of them with a serious mask covering his face.
"Saving the planet just happens to be part of that."
Some in AVALANCHE were clearly appalled, but still, few others remained unchanged by his remark.
"I've been thinking. I think we are all fighting for ourselves," Cloud struggled with his next words. "For ourselves, and that someone, something -whatever it is- that's important to us. That's what we're fighting for. That's why we keep up this battle for the planet."
Barret stepped forward. Cloud should have know Barret would eventually give his two cents. Cloud nodded to the former leader of AVALANCHE, Barret acted as if he hadn't noticed Cloud's gesture.
"You're right. It sounds cool saying it's to save the planet," Barret's voice dropped to a saddened level, "but I was the one who blew up that Mako Reactor. Looking back on it now, I can see that wasn't the right way to do things. I made a lot of innocent bystanders suffer."
Barret looked to the gun that was grafted to his right arm.
"At first, it was revenge against the Shinra for attacking my town, but now..." his voice trailed off for the first time looking deep in thought.
"Yeah," he grunted to himself. "I'm fighting for Marlene."
He looked to Cloud and raised his good hand into the air, clenched in a fist.
"For Marlene," he bellowed. "For Marlene's future!"
"Yeah, I guess I want to save the planet for Marlene's sake," Barret said, almost as an after-thought.
Cloud put his hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Go and see her. Make sure you're right, and come back," Cloud told him.
"All of you," he said to the others, "Get off this ship and find your reasons for yourselves. I want you to make sure, then I want you to come back."
Cid, leaning against the helm, piped in.
"Maybe ain't none of us will come back," he shrugged. "Meteor's going to kill us anyway. Let's just forget about useless struggling!"
Cloud banged his own shoulder with his opposite hand and said, "I know why I'm fighting. I'm fighting to save the planet."
Even as he said them he knew those words sounded hollow to him.
"There's something personal too," he continued. "A very personal memory that I have."
Cloud turned to the others. "What about you all? I want all of you to find something within yourselves. If you don't find it, then that's okay too. You can't fight without a reason, right?"
He looked to each of the people left in the room. "So I won't hold it against you if you don't come back."
-------I just felt inspired to write this. I've just finished this part of the game and I used the inspiration to plow through my writer's block (I hate those things). There will be a chapter for each character, so look for updates. Please R&R.