The blonde child slowly opened the front door, scanning the room to check for any signs of movement. The living room was dimly lit with faint lights glowing from the lamps that hung on the walls, the small flames flickering in the fire place, making the shadows in the room dance vibrantly among the still furniture and home decorations as evening settled in. After making sure the coast was clear, he walked inside, quietly shutting the front door as he trekked silently through the front room, hoping to slip into his bedroom unnoticed.

"Cloud Strife!" He sighed in defeat, rolling his eyes at the mention of his name. He knew better than trying to slip past by her.

"Hi mom," he mumbled.

"Where have you been, young man!?" the voice scolded.

A tall woman stomped into the room. She had the same hair color and almost the same hair style as Cloud did, wearing a white apron and a slim orange dress. She glared at him with blue eyes, the same as his, her hands on her hips. Clearly, she was angry.

"Do you even realize how late it is?" the woman scolded him. "You were supposed to be back an hour ago!"

Cloud remained silent. He kept his eyes on the floor, not wanting to look at her.

"Do you have ears?" she continued. "Can you hear me? I asked you where have you been!"

"Nowhere!" Cloud shouted, finally looking at her.

"Then why did you come back so late?" she asked.

"It doesn't matter," Cloud grumbled.

"It does matter, young man," she said. "I told you to be back by 7 PM, and its past 8 already. Why do you keep coming back so late? And what's with this new selfish attitude of yours?"

Cloud spit in disgust, turning his head away and unintentionally revealing his cheek to her. She then gasped slightly as she saw the side of his face. She sighed, calming her voice and changing her tone.

"You got into another fight, didn't you?" she asked sympathetically.

Cloud realized his mistake as he tried to cover his cheeks, but she had already saw the wound on his face and his dirty clothes. She wondered why she didn't see it before he had walked in.

"Come on." She took Cloud by the hand and walked him to the bathroom. She sat Cloud on the toilet stall and pulled out a cotton ball, dipping it with rubbing alcohol.

"This will sting a little," she told him.

She carefully rubbed the wet cotton ball on his wound. Cloud winced at the first at the slight sting of the alcohol, but felt nothing afterwards except for the cold wetness on his cheek. All the while, he continued to avoid looking at his mother.

"Where else?" she asked Cloud. He remained silent.

"Where else?" she asked again, but more forcefully.

Cloud lifted his hands, revealing the blood on his knuckles. She dabbed more alcohol on the ball and cleaned the wounds on his hands. Afterwards, she pulled out a small pink bottle of ointment and applied it to Cloud's wounds.

"You need to stop this, Cloud," she told him gently. "This is the third time already, but you look worse than before."

"I can't help it," Cloud explained. "That kid across the street-."

"Cloud, hun!" she interrupted him. "I told you to avoid him if he keeps picking on you."

"I know that," Cloud defended. "But he started it, kept calling me Chocobo head and-."

"I don't care if he started it or not," she interrupted, "Fighting with him or anybody is bad. Cloud, this is getting out of hands. I don't know why you keep getting into trouble with all these kids."

"It's because they're immature and stupid."

"And that gives you a reason to pick fights with them?"

Cloud didn't answer as he watched his mom wrap the bandages around his hands.

"Cloud, just because they call you names and pick on you doesn't mean that you have to hit them to the point your knuckles bleed out," she said. "You were so nice and quiet. What's gotten into you?"

Cloud remained silent. He didn't dare look at her even as she leaned closer to his face to cover his cheek wound with a band aid. He knew why he kept fighting with the kids, why he had given his mother so much grief in the past few days. Ever since the accident at Mt. Nibel with Tifa Lockhart, he kept blaming himself for not being strong enough to protect her. The other villagers and the children blamed him as well, and as a result, he grew angry and fought with the other kids because he saw all of them as immature. He told himself that he was better than the rest of them, but deep down, he knew he was only trying to hide his own weakness.

"There," his mother said as she finished bandaging his wound. "Now, I don't want to see you fight another kid and having to patch you up again, okay?"

Cloud nodded, but kept silent as he stood up to walk out of the bathroom, but his mother stopped him.

"Cloud, hun, I'm serious," she continued. "Ever since Tifa's accident, you've been acting this way, and its gotten worse."

She picked at his spiky hair, brushing off the dirt that she had missed before.

"You never told me what happened that day- you didn't you tell anyone at all, for that matter, but I know that whatever happened, it wasn't your fault."

Cloud didn't say a word as he kept his head down, clenching his fists and avoiding her look.

"Cloud, you know that no matter what happens, no matter what you do, I'm still your mother. And that means that I'll be there for you no matter what. So don't get into any more fights with the other kids, okay? I know it must be hard to make friends with them, especially if they keep blaming you for what happened to that Tifa girl. But you know what the secret is to overcoming hate?"

Cloud raised his head and gave her a curious look.

"What's that?"

She smiled at him, gently putting her hand over the band aid on his cheek. He flustered slightly at her touch.

"It's love. When you learn to love, you have a long heart, a big heart, and with love, you learn to deal with the hate of this world. If you must fight, dear, fight hate with love."

Cloud gave her a confused look. "I don't get it."

"I know you don't, but someday when you're older, you will. And I know that you'll grow up into a strong, handsome man who will be full of love." She pecked him on his forehead before walking out, leaving Cloud to ponder on his mother's words.

"Love, huh?" Cloud asked himself.