I just want to say that I'm sorry to everyone who is expecting updates on Probation, The Catalyst and any of my other fanfics. I had writer's block and my laptop died. But I'm starting to work on chapters and hopefully my computer is coming back soon. As for this fanfic, well... It's actually written by two people: Myself, and Shest. We met at an anime convention; I was cosplaying as Claire and Shest was cosplaying as Cloud and I gave him a blue feather. Then we decided to make a comic/doujinshi, but I draw better if I have a detailed visual of what's going on so we decided to write a story. Actually that went kind of the other way around, but whatever. This is the crossover story that Shest and I have come up with for Claire and Cloud. Enjoy.

Lost Between Words

Chapter 1

Claire awoke to the soft chirps of birds calling out to each other in a romantic, though chaotic chatter. Like every morning that she woke up, it was six in the morning. Claire was a woman who rose with the sun. She had gotten used to waking up this early the first year that she had begun her farming, getting to the point where she even woke before her alarm.

It was almost an unnecessary item, but she liked to keep it around just in case. After all, there was always the occasional late night of foraging, or the drinking sessions with her friends. Though sometimes she would cheat and reset her alarm for another two hours of wondrous sleep.

Despite being so young, Claire was already quite the successful farmer. It seemed that her life here in Mineral Town was exactly where she was meant to be. Her barn was filled and she was working on making another - as was her chicken coop. Her crops filled over half of her fields and were growing quite nicely. Every year they seemed to be growing more and more beautiful - especially so if she double sewn them. She also had a wonderful tree that supplied honey year round and juicy apples in the fall. Her home was still the tiny claustrophobic shack that she had started in only a few years ago on her nineteenth birthday. Still, it had all the necessities and luxuries that any farmer could hope for: a large warm bed, bookshelf, nightstand, shelf; to keep her ores, rocks and lumber, refrigerator; for keeping her produce cold and crisp, toolbox, and even a one level basement where she could grow out-of-season foods. This was rather useful, considering that the season was now winter, also known as the dead season, as no crops grow.

Feeding her dog and cat, named Satch and Naito, respectively, Claire then moved outside and to the barn. She fed and brushed her cows and sheep, paying special attention to one that she had impregnated with a special device called a Miracle Potion. She noted that her cow seemed to be rather annoyed with something, seeing the cow rather restless was a little worrying. She could also feel the muscles of her animal were tense under her touch. Had a wild dog found its way into the barn? She frowned to herself, pushing back a strand of long golden blonde hair behind her ear. If there was, then this time she was definitely gong to hit the darn thing with her hammer. She was fed up with the little beast.

Sneaking past her large animal, she looked around for anything that could resemble the feral creature that plagued the outskirts of town. What she saw instead caught her attention. Blonde human hair and black fabric.

"Oh my god!" She ran over to the figure that was half hidden in the hay, finding a young man around her age laying unconscious. "Hey... hey, wake up..." She murmured, gently shaking him. She felt around for a pulse, finding one that was slightly faint. She could tell from the moving of his chest and stomach that he was breathing which was a relief. Hastily, she took out her watering can and poured some water into her cupped hands. This was a rather difficult task, as she had to place the can in between her legs. Once her petite hands were full of the clean water, she tilted his head as best she could with her elbow and tried to pour some into his mouth. During this task she pushed aside the berating inner commentary of how she should have done so before she filled her hands. She hadn't exactly been thinking of the most methodical way to go about doing this and mostly acted in panic.

Violent images from past memories crashed through his mind and spread like wildfire showing him... reminding him of things he never wanted to remember, things he was better off forgetting.

It had to be a dream; such things never usually bothered him so much. His thoughts felt disconnected and weak as if it were someone else thinking them. His emotions, however; cut at him unwillingly with edges left jagged from years of neglect and mistreatment. The pain and confusion was much easier to ignore when awake.

Somewhere in his distant thoughts he thought he heard someone talking, possibly to him even, but it was immediately overpowered by the bombarding images that were harassing him relentlessly. It was all he could do not to scream out in pain and frustration.

The sudden gentle kiss of something cool dripping down his face dimmed the memories making it possible to push them aside, even just a little, as his mind slowly gained the ability to process coherent thought once more. His eyes, however; felt heavy, too heavy to open them, as did his body, but at least the images had faded and he was now more conscious of what was happening around him. Over the ringing in his ears he could make out sounds of animals but he wasn't able to put any of the sounds to names quite yet.

Another touch of the same cool substance ran down his throat at the same time he took a breath causing his body to tense and forcing him out of his paralysis as he began coughing. His whole body ached making it painful to move. There was a surprised gasp and someone shifting away, noted by the creek of the wooden floor.

Finally he opened his eyes, squinting from the sudden bright light of the morning sun. Everything was hazy and his vision spun. He closed his eyes again for a few moments before opening them once more, repeating this several times as he waited for the world to come back into focus. Blinking for a final time he found himself staring into the eyes of a girl. Her blue eyes were filled with concern as she stared back at him. Startled to find a stranger so close to him, especially in his weakened state, he jerked away unconsciously, sending a jolt of pain through his entire body as he did so.

He bit down a groan and closed his eyes again, forcing his emotions to the back of his mind. His mind raced as he tried to remember why he was here or where here even was but no distinct memory was any help to him. Taking a deep breath he opened his eyes and watched the girl carefully. Finally getting a good look at her he saw that she was older than he had initially thought, probably around his own age. It didn't matter though; he knew he had to leave immediately. She was better off not knowing him; he didn't want to bother her any longer than necessary.

Ignoring his body's protests he slowly staggered to his feet trying his best to appear in perfect health. Bits of hay stuck to his hair and clothes and his vision swam but he ignored that too. The faster he was gone the better.

Claire jumped when the strange young man suddenly rolled from his original position, barely able to keep in a squeak of surprise. She was about to speak when he stood up fully and began to walk towards the barn's entrance.

"H-H-Hey! Stop!" Claire cried, jumping back in front of him. The sudden loud call from their owner made the cows moan their calls, stamping their hooves and the sheep bleat, huddling together behind the cows. Claire tried desperately to keep him in place, or stop him from leaving the warm safety of the barn. Though he tried to hide it, she could tell that this young man was in no condition to be walking around.

Now that his thoughts were a little clearer, he vaguely remembered staggering into this building the previous night for some warmth and sleep, the building that he now recognized to be a barn.

She didn't know what to do. She needed to go and get Doctor and Elli, but their Clinic was on the other side of the village. She knew that if she tried to leave to get them, that he would surely leave the barn.

Looking at him now, he had rather strange clothes. And on his right hand held a rather large and heavy looking sword. It didn't look like it was possible for anyone in Mineral Town to lift - well, maybe Gray. He was a blacksmith that wielded heavy hammers and tools to make various things with his grandfather for a living. All anyone could say was that he was practically the star attraction of the girls on beach days when he ever decided to go swimming. But even then, Gray would probably have a hard time easily holding and wielding this ridiculously large weapon. Then again, she could probably give Gray a run for his money. While she was a small and fragile-looking creature, she was a farmer. She often went into the mines with Gray to look for ores and other valuables and even caught the local lake's Kappa with her fishing rod once - the strange creature was not happy. She also worked on her fields all day, so that had to count for something, right?

But the sword and clothes... everything about this man hinted that he was a foreigner. Someone from far away - farther than Forget-Me-Not Valley, Flower-Bud Village, Waffle Island, Sugar Village, Hinata Island or even the nearby city. She couldn't think of any other place nearby that he could have come from, which meant that he probably came from even further away - possibly from a different country altogether. She shook herself out of her mental tangent and followed the man to the barn door.

"Come on now, you're in no condition to move." Claire told him softly, extending her hands out to him.

His eyes wandered back the woman standing before him as she spoke once more. Her voice was softer this time and she held out her hand as a friendly gesture. He glanced at the outstretched hand briefly but made no move to take it or even acknowledge it any further.

"You gave me a scare. I thought you were already dead, do you really want to go out in this weather? It's snowing outside for Harvest Goddess' sake. You'll kill yourself." How... How could she convince this man to stay put while she ran to the other side of the village to get the doctor? Maybe if she rode her horse Reign? He was getting pretty fast. She was sure that he would win the Horse Races this year. But before she could properly plan this out, she had to make sure that this man was going to stay put.

Would he become violent if he wasn't allowed to leave? Would he start mindlessly swinging that ridiculously large sword of his around, killing her animals and possibly her just to get away? Who or what was he? Some sort of outlaw? Even if he was, she couldn't just let him die. He could barely stand let alone survive outside in the middle of winter.

She tried to stay calm, though her heart was pounding in her chest, and her breathing was slightly audible. She felt the adrenaline rushing through her body. She was truly scared. Though whether scared of this man attacking her and her animals, or scared of him dying, she didn't know.

She looked incredibly anxious but he couldn't tell whether or not it was his presence or if she was actually really worried. Automatically assuming the former he shifted his grip on his sword and pushed past her as carefully as he could so as not to scare her any further.

"I'm fine." He mumbled in a soft voice as void of emotion as he could make it. He attempted to fix his grip on his sword once more wishing he had enough strength left to actually carry it. All he could manage to do was drag the end in the dirt. He felt exhausted and if the sword hadn't been so important to him he would have just dropped it were he stood and left.

A cow nudged his shoulder as he passed almost causing him to drop the weapon anyway. He stopped and stared blankly at its placid expression. Without thinking he raised a gloved hand to touch the animal's face. It looked so peaceful, making him feel slightly envious of its simple and carefree life. Upon remembering that the woman was still there watching him, he hesitated, hand frozen just above its nose. His hand tightened into a fist and dropped quickly to his side as he started towards the door again.

He pushed open the large barn doors just wide enough to let himself pass. A sudden sharp pain on his right side almost forced him to double over but he ignored it as best he could. Unconsciously pressing his free hand over the wound he continued to trudge on. The surge of pain brought back the memories of why he had come to the small town in the first place. The roads had been icy and he had lost control of his bike while riding much too fast.

Closing his eyes for a brief moment he sighed internally, thinking to himself, I guess I should probably go find it and hope that it still runs...

To say the least, Claire was a little stunned at the strange young man's behaviors. But if her cows weren't scared of him, then she shouldn't be, either. There was a strange gentleness to him, witnessing his bizarre actions when he raised his hand to pet the nose of her cream-coloured cow was a testament to that. In fact... it was almost cute when he realized that she was still watching and immediately retracted his hand.

But for whatever reason he wasn't listening to logic. She could tell that somehow he was injured. He was limping heavily and he was clutching his side with his free hand and struggling not to stumble. She couldn't care for him in her house. She had to get him to Doctor as soon as she possibly could. Even if she had to resort to a bit of violence.

Her hands gripped around the shaft of her mallet-like hammer and slowly took it out of her rucksack. She quietly took a few steps towards the man while he seemed to be pausing because of the pain of an injury. She felt so guilty, standing behind him and holding her hammer, knowing that she was going to hit an injured person.

Outside, she heard a familiar crunching of boots in the freshly fallen snow. "Claire?" A gruff voice called. Her heart skipped a beat, immediately recognizing the voice. It was the awkward blacksmith that worked just a little ways up the road from her. She was a little surprised to hear him outside. Had it really been three days since she sent her axe to be upgraded?

"Gray!" Claire yelled as a sort of battle cry as she threw her arms down, the hammer falling on the man's back. She heard a grunt and watched as he fell to the ground. She dropped her hammer and her hands raised to either side of her head. "Oh Goddess, I hit an injured man..." She whispered to herself. She ran to his side, hoping that he was still conscious or breathing. It was at this moment that the shy and soft-spoken blacksmith opened the door to the barn. In his rough clenched fists he held a necklace made from gold and a diamond. He dropped it when he saw the man on the ground.

"Claire... wha-?"

"Gray, help me get this guy to the clinic!" He complied without another word and picked the blond man up with only slight difficulty. Claire ran past Gray and to the horse stable, where Reign was. Grabbing her horse, she jumped on with ease and raced back to the barn.

At the Clinic, the four were crowded around the stranger. Doctor had just finished bandaging his wounds and injuries. Elli had also just returned from having taken the man's strange clothing to wash. "Claire..." Doctor began. "I'm glad you brought him here. He wouldn't have lasted the trip up Mother's Hill in this condition." Claire nodded. Her farm was just before the forest, lake and Mother's Hill. He would have come through there and that must have been how he ended up in her barn. How he saw that and not the chicken coup or her own house she wasn't sure. The snow had come down heavily last night, so she could only assume the visibility was terrible. "I gave him both doses of Turbojolt and Bodigizer. He should wake up, soon. Anything else I would rather wait until he's conscious to see if he has a negative reaction. Without any medical records I wouldn't want to chance it."

Claire sighed in relief. Looking at the face of the supposedly sleeping man, she saw exactly how handsome he truly was. Of course, this village made her quite accustomed to being around handsome men. This village was like a breeding ground for beautiful people. But it was a different kind of beautiful than that in which this young man had, which only further proved of his foreign heritage. But why was he travelling around in the middle of winter? And what's more, on Mother's Hill. She heard stories about Mother's Hill in winter. The gruff and burly carpenter that lived just south of her property, Gotz knew perfectly well just how dangerous the place was. She remembered when he finally told her his sad story. While none of that could deter her from going up there as often as she pleased, she became noticeably more careful. She couldn't count how many times she stepped on a hidden patch of ice and almost slid off the edge of the path, dangerously close to sliding down the hill.

She sighed, pulling up a chair and sat down beside the man's bed. She couldn't just leave him. What if he woke up while Doctor and Elli were off doing chores and he wandered outside in this condition? Gray had left not very long ago, she realized, and she had asked if he could ask Rick to take care of her chickens. She hadn't been able to do so while taking care of this person. Her chickens would be fine. Rick and his family owned the Poultry farm just cross from the blacksmith's. So it wasn't that long of a walk. She would have to thank Rick with a basket of Spa Boiled Eggs when everything was taken care of. She knew by now that anything concerning chickens would be that man's favorite.

Cloud groaned as his scarring dreams were gradually replaced with real pain. His head felt clouded with a thick haze and he found it incredibly hard to think. However, he felt much warmer than he had been in quite some time, even though he wasn't exactly sure why.

Slowly he opened his eyes, immediately sensing that something wasn't right. He squinted in the bright lights trying to figure out what was wrong. Breathing in deeply, he squeezed his eyes shut for a few brief moments to give both his vision and thoughts time to clear.

Upon opening his eyes once more he was a little more successful in determining where he was, or a least what kind of place he was in. Some sort of hospital. Instantly a wave of panic swept through him as memories of the last time he had found himself in a medical type setting invaded his mind. Experimented on like he were a lab rat...

Cloud shot upright on the bed he was on; his heart was racing and he was half expecting to be either tied to the bed or violently shoved back down by men in white lab coats. He was surprised to find little resistance as he sat up, but before he could process anything further a wave of nausea replaced the panic and the room began to spin violently.

He held a hand over his eyes trying to will the world to stop moving but all he could do was fall back on to the bed breathing heavily. Because of his sudden movements his side burned with a new flame. He clenched his teeth together to stop himself from crying out. The rest of his body hurt too but compared to the pain in his side the rest was just a minor throbbing.

Small hands wrapped around his broad shoulders, placing a bit of resistance on his body to place him back down. Cloud tensed slightly from the sudden temperature difference on his side as a cool cloth was placed over his wound. He wasn't sure if it helped or hindered but the coolness gave him something else to think about. Then his forehead met with something cold and wet - a cold cloth. Claire had placed the cloth on his forehead, while another woman, the nurse Elli had tried to force him to lay back down.

"Elli, did Doctor look at his side? That seems to be an area to look at." There was no immediate response from the brunette.

"I'll get Trent to take another look at him. But I'm sure that he swept through the man's entire body during the initial examination." The blankets that were over his chest were removed, and fingers pressed as gingerly as possible around the area.

"I'm no expert, but it feels like it's pretty tender. You sure he didn't miss spots? I mean, when was the last time you saw Doctor sleep?"

"True... the poor man. We've both been rather busy, what with Stu catching a cold, my grandmother's condition. Lillia's new bouts of sickness and even Barley is feeling his age." Claire looked down at the blond, her fingers lingering on his body before moving to the bowl of cold water, where another towel rested.

"Lillia hasn't gotten any better? I always get so worried for her during winter. And just imagine Rick... If thinking about Lillia gets me worried imagine what it's like for her son."

"Rick's a strong, reliable man, and Lillia is a strong, resilient woman. But now we should take care of this stranger." Claire nodded, taking the spare cloth and dipping it into the water. She wrung it out before opening it and placing it over the sore spot on his side.

Claire leaned over after Elli left to get the doctor, and she frowned. "Idiot. You must have some sort of death wish." She raised her hands once more, pausing briefly over his head before brushing his spikes from his face. Then again, she didn't exactly help with his situation, did she? A pang of guilt entered her body and she wished that he wouldn't remember that little fact. If he did, she was fully prepared to profusely apologize.

The voice stole his focus away from the pain as he tried to figure out where he'd heard it before. Tifa? He wondered silently. It sounded like something she would say, in the same disapproving tone and everything.

He would probably never hear the end of it if Tifa ever found out he'd crashed his bike while speeding on a mountain covered with ice. However, he'd felt it had been necessary because after weeks of searching he had finally sighted his target on his radar, which was a considerable improvement from following wild tales and general directions. It was a fast creature and he had to ride full speed just to keep up.

Tifa had tried to talk him out of taking the mission, telling him it was too far away and to just let a mercenary closer to the area deal with it. But he had insisted that if the others had been capable of taking it out news of it wouldn't have had to travel so far. Unable to argue any further she had sighed loudly, called him an idiot and pretty much ordered him to not do anything stupid.

Why would Tifa be here though? Not that he particularly knew where here was; it just made no sense for her to have followed him. Then again it kind of did; she always seemed to worry excessively about him. He decided it didn't matter because if she was here then he had nothing to worry about.

He opened his eyes again relieved to find that the room had stopped spinning. The room he was occupying was mostly empty save for a chair or two and the bed he was on; the walls were white giving the room a bright glow as light coming in from a window reflected off them.

A young woman sat beside him watching him with eyes that spoke she was determined to make sure he stayed where he was. Cloud blinked first in surprise to find it wasn't Tifa and then in recognition when he realized that it was the same girl from the barn.

Putting the facts together he came to the conclusion that he must have passed out trying to leave and this woman had somehow gotten him to medical help. Despite being in a strange place he felt his entire body relax a bit as his past experience with doctors was ruled out.

Unable to take her watchful eye, Cloud turned his head away and stared at nothing in particular; he was wasting time lying here. While he did not deny that he had needed some rest there were other things that needed to be done, not to mention that he had to eventually return home. Of course, in order to do that he had to find his bike and he could almost guess that it would probably need some repairs done before it would run again. His target was probably long gone by now, however; if he left immediately he might still have a chance.

Slowly Cloud lifted himself up on to his elbows, wincing slightly as he did so, and turned back to the woman. "Where are my things?" He spoke in a quiet but firm voice. "I have to leave."

Thanks for reading. We enjoyed writing this. Please leave a review, it would be much appreciated. We'll be updating slowly as we're both rather busy, especially Shest. Takes a long time to write a response lol.