Inspired by a comment on Ao3 on the chapter 'At Long, Long Last' of Clerith Week 2017:
"Hey!" Cloud stirred. Too tired to move, even if he was lying at an awkward angle and the lights were on. "Hey! Wake up!" Cloud groaned. Barret's voice was particularly grating this morning, and lights seemed way brighter than earlier- Wait. The voice did not sound like Barret's. "Wake up and get the hell off of my fucking flowers!" Cloud opened his eyes; a man was looming over him, cigarette sticking out the side of his mouth. The memories flooded back a moment later. The robot exploding, his frantic grabbing at the ruined edge of the walkway, Tifa reaching for him, his grip slipping, the fall- "Hey!" He glanced up at the man. "You deaf?" the man asked as he nudged him with a boot. "Get off the flowers! They're my livelihood."
Groaning as his muscles screamed in protest, Cloud scrambled away from the man and onto the wooden floorboard nearby. "Sorry," he muttered as he waited for his head to clear.
"Damn well should be." The man crouched beside the patch of green grass and colourful flowers Cloud had been lying on. Quick fingers fussed at the crushed petals and stalks. "Don't know what the hell you were doing up there, but you almost gave me a heart-attack coming through the roof like that." The man glared at him. "Though, I suppose it was good the flowers were here. Without them I would just have a dead body I needed to deal with." His expression turned thoughtful. "Might have made decent fertilizer I suppose…"
Cloud struggled to his feet, one hand checking for his sword; still there on his back. "Can we try this again? I'm sorry, okay-"
The man laughed. "I'm kidding, kid." He regarded Cloud for a long moment. "Hell of a coincidence to run into you twice so quickly though." He raised an eyebrow. "Though guess I'm not that memorable?"
Cloud started to shake his head- Wait; he had seen the man before. In the confused aftermath of the reactor explosion, he found a man knocked to the ground who was shouting curse words after the culprit. Cloud offered him a hand up and paused to buy one of his flowers. "I remember you. You were selling flowers."
He nodded. "Guess you ain't completely blinkered." He held his hand out to Cloud. "Cid Gainsborough; I sell flowers and grow 'em. Only one who can it seems."
"You actually grow flowers?" Cloud stared at the mound. Supposedly impossible in Midgar, but evidence to the contrary was right in front of him. He frowned. "Haven't seen flowers growing since-"
"Still didn't get your name," Cid interrupted.
Cloud shook himself. "Yeah, sorry. Cloud Strife, mercenary."
"Guess there's not much else for ex-SOLDIERs to do." Cid seemed amused by Cloud's moment of panic. "Glow in your eyes is a dead giveaway. That said, never heard of an ex-SOLDIER before. Mighty interested in just how you managed that."
"Long story."
Cid shrugged. "I got time." He lit his cigarette.
"Isn't that bad for the, er, flowers?" Cloud asked.
"Nah," Cid said, shaking his head and letting out a cloud of smoke. "I know my plants. Got some philodendron there; takes care of the formaldehyde." He pointed at part of the mound with the lit cigarette. "Golden Pothos also deals with the smoke." Another gesture. "And the spider plant takes care of-" He broke off as a screech of hinges sounded from the other end of the church. A man wearing a blue suit with red hair was leaning against the door. "Hey, Cloud?" Cid sounded almost casual. "Your mercenary skills extend to bodyguard work?"
"Sure I guess?" Cloud frowned.
Cid nodded and relaxed a little. "Got a proposition for you then. Get me out of here and back home. Guess since you're former Shinra you're fully acquainted with-"
"-a Turk," Cloud said, confused for a moment. How did he know the man was a Turk? But he assuredly was - and certainly trouble.
"Right. Bad news the lot of them," Cid muttered.
"Yeah." Cloud sighed. "I can help, but it'll cost you."
Cid grinned. "Don't suppose you'd take a date as payment?" Cloud held his gaze without answering. "Figures." Cid sighed. "You get me home and there's a thousand gil in it for you."
"Deal."