Okay, second story of the day. This one is a response to AerithGast88's Clorith Challenge
Challenge was:
Remember on ff7 after sector 7 was blown up? And cloud originally intended to rescue Aerith from the ShinRa building until Barret and Tifa caught up with him? What if they didn't and Cloud had to save her alone? How do you think Cloud would save her on his own?
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, they belong to SquareEnix. No profit is being made.
I'll be There
Prologue
He sighed irritably as his two companions continued to argue behind him about whether Avalanche or ShinRa were to blame for the disaster that had just occurred. Cloud glanced back at the crushed Sector 7 plate with disinterest. It was unlikely anyone had survived the attack and even if they had, they would not escape the carnage and would die anyway.
He moved his gaze back in front of him, staring off in the distance. A small frown played on his face, signalling he was thinking something, which was not easy with Barret and Tifa still discussing things behind him.
"Say Cloud, ever been a bodyguard?"
He didn't know why but for some reason all he could think about was Aerith. Normally, he could not care less what happened to anyone. He did not even want to keep the promise to Tifa, his own childhood friend. So why did he feel he had to go after the flower girl?
You gave her your word, you're her bodyguard
He shook his head lightly at the thought. There was more than that. He just didn't know what and he wouldn't get any piece until he found out why. That meant he would have to rescue her. Of course, that would be after he apologised to his mother, the thought of which made him grimace. He remembered her reaction to him when he had protected her, what was she going to do now that Aerith had been kidnapped right under his nose?
Running a hand through his tangled blonde locks, Cloud knew he had no choice. With a sigh he started walking away, Tifa and Barret still blissfully unaware of his disappearance. He didn't think he could take anymore of Barret's criticism and complaining anyway. As for Tifa, well, admittedly he did feel guilty about leaving her so unexpectedly. She would probably be worried sick about him. But recently, he had noticed she tailed him everywhere, something that annoyed him to no end since he couldn't figure out why she was doing it.
Elmyra's house loomed ahead of him and Cloud came to a halt outside the front door. Just hours ago he had been sneaking out of this door, certain that Aerith would never catch him and he would be able to get to Seventh heaven undetected. Except, he found Aerith leaning against the Sector Five wall and casually commenting on how he was up early. The memory brought a small smile to his lips, which he completely wiped off once he realised what he had done. Shaking his head, he pushed any thoughts of Aerith from his mind and knocked on the door. The first step to rescuing Aerith…and figuring out what it was about the woman that made him think of her.
