Prologue

I didn't know what I wanted.

I wanted this "family" to stay together. I wanted Cloud to move on from the past. Not because he just should, but because the past hurt. It hurts to think of the past. Cloud especially has a difficult time with it.

I wanted a lot of things, but mostly, I wanted things to be okay.

I thought things were okay and then Nibelheim burnt down. I thought things were okay and then Sector 7 was destroyed. I thought things were okay and then Denzel contracted Geostigma. I pretended things were okay and then Cloud left.

I am convinced that things will never be okay.

It started with him picking up my calls. At first, it caught me off-guard. Soon after, he started calling me.

"I just wanted to talk," he had said.

I laughed. "Since when did you want to talk?" I teased.

A pause. "I'm just kidding-"

"You want to talk," he simply says. "You want to talk, right?"

It's half a statement, and half a plea.