#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#
If everyone cared and nobody cried
If everyone loved and nobody lied
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride
Then we'd see the day when nobody died
If Everyone Cared- Nickelback
#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#
"Hello," Cloud spoke into his cell phone. "I would like to speak with Lieutenant Fair."
Moments later, a familiar voice hollered back from the other side of the phone. "Spike! How are you?"
"I'm good," the blond teenager replied. "I just got done with a mission."
"What'd you have to do?"
"My group got to scare away a small group of recon warriors."
"Awesome!" Zack yelled, causing Cloud to pull the phone a foot away from his ear. "Did, they put up a fight?"
"Yep," he replied, "but we killed a lot of them"
"Oh…" Zack said, sounding a little sad, but perking up a little when he heard Cloud ask him something.
"So, how'd your mission go?"
"Great!" Zack said, forgetting about his previous sadness "we took down a whole fortress of Wutai soldiers!"
"That sounds exciting!"
"It was! And the best part was that I got to fight on the same team as the great hero Sephiroth!"
"Lucky," Cloud said with a hint of admiration in his voice, "I bet he was cool to watch."
"Yeah, he took out at least ten warriors with one swipe of his sword."
"Wow."
"Yeah, but Angeal was awesome too. Even with a standard sword, he sent Wutai soldiers flying!"
"I would have loved to see that!" Cloud said with a little chuckle. "I bet those Wutaians were scared out of their boots."
"Nope, they actually stood their ground pretty well," Zack said, "we lost a few 3rd class SOLDIERS though."
"Oh," Cloud replied with a tinge of sadness "anyone you know"
"Nope, not this time," Zack replied with relief. He sensed that his friend was sad, so he changed the subject, "wanna hear how I did?" Cloud seemed to cheer up at once.
"Sure."
"I didn't do as well as Sephiroth or Angeal, but I wasn't the worst one either."
"Really," Cloud said in fake surprise.
"Oh, Come on!" Zack replied "I wasn't that bad! There was this one SOLDIER 3rd class that nearly killed us all by setting off a whole barrel of gunpowder!" Cloud laughed so hard at this that he couldn't answer. "You alright, Spike?" He was worried because he hadn't ever heard Cloud laugh so heartily.
"Yea," he said through laughter "I'm fine."
"I have to go," Zack said. "Sephiroth's calling an important meeting and I can't be late."
"Ok," Cloud said, still laughing, "I'll call you tomorrow."
"Alright, I'll talk to you later Spike."
Cloud sat on his bed, still quietly chuckling to himself. He stopped when he heard footsteps approaching and saw Dustin's head poke out through the entrance of the tent. Dustin was one of the few friends he had in ShinRa.
"Shane and I want to know if you want any dinner," he said. Cloud nodded and stood up to join his friend. They walked to the tent that looked like a cafeteria and they went inside. Shane waved to Cloud as soon as he saw him and motioned Cloud and Dustin to sit next to him.
"How are you doing?" he asked them.
"I'm good," Dustin replied.
"Yeah, me too" Cloud said, "I just got off the phone with my friend."
"You mean your boyfriend" Shane teased
"No!" Cloud said defensively, "he's just my friend"
"Yeah, sure, that's why you're so excited to talk to him all the time." Dustin pointed out.
"Will you two stop it?" Cloud said, playfully pushing Dustin into Shane.
"Okay," Shane said, "he is not your boyfriend"
"Hey," Dustin pointed out, "what about that girl you've been telling us about."
"Who, Tifa?" Cloud asked through a mouthful of food.
"Yea that girl," Dustin replied, "ever thought of dating her?" Cloud blushed a little.
"I knew it!" Shane shouted. "You love her don't you?"
"No!" Cloud said a little too defensively.
"Yes you do," Dustin remarked, "I can see you blushing from here" Cloud turned his head away from them, but his cheeks turned a deeper red than before.
"Come on," Shane said, "tell us Cloud"
"Yea," Dustin said, "do you love her or not?"
"Or maybe it's that one guy that you like" Shane said.
"I already told you that I don't have a boyfriend!" Cloud shouted.
"Maybe you do and you're trying to hide it" Shane teased some more.
"No I don't," Cloud said more angrily this time. He managed to calm down after a while though. "So what if I do like Tifa?" He asked. Dustin shrugged.
"Does she like you?" he asked.
"I don't think so," Cloud said, "She's never given me any signs."
"I think you should make the first move." Dustin said.
"Yea, hold her hand or something" Shane said.
"She's all the way in Nibelhiem," Cloud sighed, "and she's way out of my league anyway."
"You never know…" Shane pointed out
"I say that you should go for it!" Dustin shouted, "claim that pretty girl before somebody else takes her."
"How?" Cloud asked.
"Call her up and tell her how you feel." Dustin said as he patted Cloud on the shoulder.
"I don't know…" Cloud muttered.
"Go for it," Shane said, "you have nothing to lose!"
"What about my dignity?" Cloud asked "What if I make a fool out of myself?"
"How bad can you mess up when you're talking on the phone?" Dustin asked.
"Very badly," Cloud sighed, "trust me."
"Well, I still think you should talk to her" Dustin said.
"Yeah," Shane said. "How long has it been since you've had a real conversation with her?"
"Almost four months," Cloud reluctantly replied.
"Alright then" Dustin said "that should be reason enough for you to call her"
"But what if I get rejected?" Cloud asked.
"Then move on," Dustin replied.
"I don't think it would be that easy to forget about her," Cloud said, "she is my childhood friend."
"She's you're childhood friend!" Shane shouted, "I didn't know that!" Cloud nodded.
"We grew up together," he looked down at his almost empty plate of food, "although she rarely talked to me."
"Which is why it's important for you to start talking to her now," Dustin said, "you could catch up on old times and discuss memories from when you were a kid"
"You think she would like it if I talked about that kind of stuff?" Cloud asked.
"I don't know much about women, but I know that she would love it." Dustin replied. Cloud's face brightened a little.
"Alright," He said quietly, "I'll try" Of course Dustin and Shane couldn't keep quiet and they let out a cheer that caught the whole cafeteria's attention. Cloud was blushing madly and trying to find his phone. He must have left it in the tent. He hastily finished up his dinner and left his friends to head for his tent.
He never got the chance to make that call.
Within seconds the peaceful atmosphere of the camp was plunged into chaos. There were military units everywhere; firing at an enemy that Cloud could not even see yet. Then he spotted the black outline of Wutai warriors engaged in a heated battle with his ShinRa troop. There where at least fifty of them. There where dead bodies everywhere; bodies of friends and bodies of enemies. Cloud got lost in the confusion and took cover as a bullet whizzed past his face. He spotted a ShinRa brand rifle and grabbed it. He started shooting at the black figures. He saw someone standing next to him. He recognized the person as Shane.
"Are you doing alright?" Shane asked, quickly glancing at him before turning his eyes back to his targets.
"Y-yeah" Cloud replied shakily. He saw Shane nod his head very slightly. There was now a ninja coming toward him, walking like he wasn't in a big hurry. Shane had found his target and he flexed his hand on the trigger of the gun, waiting until the target came within range.
When it was finally in range, Shane shot him, but the Wutain was too quick. He raced like a blur toward Shane, sword poised and ready. Shane fired two more shots but they missed. Cloud had tried to fire a few shots too, but the ninja was too quick. In mere seconds he was right in front of Shane, and with a flick of his wrist, the sword impaled Shane.
Cloud backed away a few steps and then broke out into a run before the ninja could spot him. He refused to believe that the same friend he had been talking to moments ago was now dead. He ran fast as he could, but the ninja had already spotted him and was pursing him with the speed of lightning. Cloud couldn't possibly outrun it. The ninja's long sword sliced him across the back. He winced at the pain but was determined to keep going. He decided to run into the forest that was on the eastern side of the camp. Maybe he could lose him in the trees. When he entered the forest he noticed that a figure was following the ninja. He identified it as a ShinRa infantryman, but that was all he could make out. The ninja was finally catching up to him. He dealt Cloud a painful blow to the back of his leg and he fell to the ground. He stayed there and shut his eyes tightly, waiting for the finishing blow.
But it never came.
Something had pushed the ninja aside. From what Cloud could hear from his spot on the ground, a fight had broken out. It lasted for a few minutes until there was an eerie pause and then a loud cry. Then Cloud could feel hands picking him up and cradling him, like a rather large baby. He opened his eyes and peered straight into the familiar green eyes of his friend Dustin.
"You have to survive," he whispered to Cloud, "to tell that pretty girl that you love her."
Those were the only words he said to Cloud. Dustin put him off to the side under the shelter of a bush and faced the direction opposite of him. Cloud saw the black figure of the ninja crawl out from the bushes. Both of them were obviously suffering from heavy injuries, but both of them looked determined, like they were going to fight to the death.
They lunged at each other and Cloud squeezed his eyes shut until he heard a painful cry from Dustin. When he opened his eyes he saw a horrible sight. The ninja had impaled Dustin with his sword. An image flashed through Cloud's head; the image of Shane falling at the hands of that very same sword. He heard a gunshot and saw the ninja fall to the ground. Then, he saw Dustin fall to the ground. His rifle fell out of his hand as he fell. They were both dead.
Cloud could feel himself slipping away too. He silently wondered weather anyone would miss him if he died. He knew his mother would miss him. But would Tifa? Perhaps. . . Then there was Zack. He didn't want to think about it. It was too painful at the moment because he knew that his best friend would probably shed many tears over him. He wasn't worth it.
He felt something cold land on his cheek. He was lying on his side, curled up in a ball, but he could still see the sky. The sun was setting, painting the sky orange. He saw snow drift down from the sky and land on the ground. It was the first snow of the season. He saw the snow land on Dustin's body. Dustin's sacrifice would not be forgotten. Today he was warm and breathing, but tomorrow, he would be as cold and frozen as the snow itself.
Cloud's eyesight became blurry as tears flowed from his eyes and landed on the snow covered ground. Slowly, the outer edges of his vision started to go. Then everything went black.
#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#
And I'm singing Amen
Amen I, Amen I, I'm alive
Amen I, Amen I, Amen I, I'm alive
If Everyone Cared- Nickelback
#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#
A/N: Hello everyone, I am starting a new Fanfic! I hope you like it. This is not a one-shot; this is a multi chapter story. I am also adding an OC in the next chapter. Sadly, Zack will not appear in person until the very end however, he will be mentioned a lot in this story. I hope everyone likes the song lyrics I put at the beginning and end of the story. I think it really ties the story together. Oh, and I borrowed Dustin from chibipinkbunny. She's also beta reading this story for me. Shane is all mine though :)
Disclaimer: Everybody, except Dustin and Shane, belong to Square Enix.