Disclaimer: Don't own anything, as much as I wish I did.

He was falling, watching as the ground came closer, and the only thing he could think was that he had done this before. He didn't know when; he'd certainly never tried to kill himself before, not like this, and so the memories that came to his mind as he fell were unbidden and confusing, though not entirely unwelcome.

Well, why not? He could dwell on someone else's life as he fell, it was much better than thinking about his own. After all, that was what had gotten him here.

The last time (but there hadn't been a last time), he had told himself that he would be fine, that he would see them again – he had told them that before he had let go. The last time, he had fallen for what seemed like forever until he blacked out, and when he had woken up it had been in a bed of flowers with someone else. He didn't know who that someone had been – all he remembered was brown hair and gentle touches, letting him know he was alive, that he was okay – that everything was going to be okay.

Cloud closed his eyes. He didn't want to remember this non-existent memory anymore, because something told him that it ended in tragedy. He simply fell, his mind carefully blank until he hit it.

The unbidden memory came flooding back as he hit the roof, boards groaning under his weight and snapping almost instantly, scratching at his clothes as his limbs slammed against the broken-off ends. He kept his mouth firmly shut, refusing to cry out – he had chosen this, had chosen this, damn it. Instinct made him curl up, protecting his head and vital organs, but he didn't care, even if it was only because he could feel himself fading away.

For the first time in a long time, Cloud Strife smiled as the darkness took him.

"Is he awake yet?"

A voice filtered through the darkness, bright and piercing and utterly annoying, like that of a younger sister begging for candy. Cloud groaned mentally, wondering if this was hell, but then another voice answered.

"Yuffie, quiet! You'll wake him!" Cloud froze. He knew that voice – it was the voice from the memory he had encountered as he had fallen. It was a woman's voice, calming, beautiful. He understood why he had loved her, even if the events had never taken place, but he didn't love her now. Her voice was the same, but the notes in it were different – more maternal, less like a lover and more like a very good friend.

"Aerith. Yuffie. If you've finished checking on him, perhaps we should leave." Another voice, quiet and calm and gruff, somehow warm and cold at the same time – a man's this time, one that didn't threaten to make more false memories (they weren't his, even if he was in them – maybe the memories of someone like him, in another world, but not his) appear. Cloud relaxed, letting his eyes open slightly as he heard a door begin to close.

All he saw was brown hair.

When Cloud woke again, it was to the sounds of cross grumbling and swearing. "Playing house maid to some idiot kid for some girls who think he's cute and an old wizard who is probably breaking my computer…"

The man's grumblings were cut off as Cloud coughed.

"What?! Oh! Well, it's about damn time you're awake. Don't get up or the girls'll have a fit – I've got some oatmeal for you here. The name's Cid."

Cloud stared at him for a moment. Did this mean he wasn't dead? Noting that Cid raised an eyebrow at his silence, he quickly amended. "Cloud."

Cid grunted. "Well, someone will be up here later to check on you. Eat and then get some rest." With that, the older blond left, leaving Cloud to his thoughts.

Unfortunately, that was exactly what Cloud didn't want right now. Sitting there, a bowl of oatmeal in one hand and a spoon in the other, was not how today was supposed to have happened. Today wasn't supposed to have happened at all, not for him; he should have been dead. He would have been dead, if they hadn't found him, hadn't taken him here.

Cloud growled, slamming the oatmeal onto the bedside table before standing. Rest be damned; he was going down there and finding out what the hell these people were thinking. Adrenaline pumping, Cloud made it to the door before exhaustion took its toll and he collapsed, head thumping against the unforgiving floor as he faded into darkness yet again.