A/N: Here's a little one-shot I wrote.
The last rays of the sun were still visible in the sky above Edge as Cloud climbed onto his large, black motorcycle. It was a rare occurrence, but he had actually managed to finish his deliveries early, which had earned him some extra time to plan his next route, or maybe spend with Tifa and the kids.
Normally, it would be pitch black by the time Cloud completed his route, but this time, the sky only showed the first signs of twilight, and faint shadows could be seen trailing after cars or pedestrians. Around him, a couple of shops were just now closing, and people were heading home after a long day's work, having managed to avoid traffic's normal rush hour.
Cloud was about to start his bike and join the surge of traffic when a new sound caught his attention, a swift shuffling sound, as if someone was sliding a slender pole across the sidewalk. The soldier turned towards the noise, half wondering why he even cared what it was.
To his mild astonishment, a college age girl wearing an old, dark blue sweater and faded jeans moved down the sidewalk in his direction, sliding a white cane in a rhythmic arc across her path. She had shoulder length dirty-blonde hair and thick, blue-rimmed glasses that distorted her hazel eyes. A Chocobo keychain dangled from the strap on the handle of her cane.
It wasn't her blindness that surprised Cloud. What surprised him was how quickly she was moving. For a brief moment, the soldier wondered if she was under attack. Instinctively, he reached for the Fusion Blade strapped to his back, preparing to fend off whatever monster could be chasing her.
However, as the girl came closer, Cloud noticed that she didn't look flustered at all. In fact, she seemed pretty happy, jogging and skipping down the sidewalk as if she owned the place. She smiled confidently as if to say "Don't underestimate me! I can do whatever I want!"
The girl stopped at the street corner, and Cloud figured that he shouldn't start up his motorcycle until she had crossed. He watched with mild interest as she looked carefully around her. At least she seemed to be looking. Cloud wasn't sure how much she could see.
Once the oncoming traffic had stopped for her and she concluded it was safe, the girl began to cross, still scanning her surroundings as she went. She seemed alert, but her motions looked automatic, as if she had done this a thousand times.
The second she was across the street, the girl resumed her brisk pace, her blonde hair bouncing behind her. Cloud was about to start up Fenrir when his gaze fell on something further down the street. An orange and white construction sign barred half the sidewalk. The blind girl wouldn't know it was there due to it being too high for her cane to detect, and she was headed right for it.
Cloud knew she would plow into it at any second, but there was nothing he could do to warn her. She was going too fast. Cloud gritted his teeth, bracing for the impact as if he himself were about to crash.
However, the crash he was expecting didn't come. About three feet from the sign, the girl's skipping faltered, as if she sensed that some barrier was blocking her way. Without stopping, she veered to the right and bypassed the sign, then continued on, the obstruction posing no inconvenience at all.
"Hm. The senses of a SOLDIER member…" Cloud muttered, somewhat impressed. But, the girl didn't strike him as someone who had wanted to be in Shinra's army program, and he wasn't sure if she would have even been accepted. Maybe she was one of Shinra's victims?
He shook his head, relieving his mind of the thought. She was way too happy to be someone who had experienced the power company's evil first-hand. She was just a normal person. Well, at least he'd have an interesting story to tell the kids when he got home.
Cloud revved up Fenrir's engine and drove the short block to Seventh Heaven. He figured he'd go upstairs to plan the next day's route and wait until closing time to see his family. He entered the dim restaurant and slipped quickly and quietly towards the stairs, hoping not to draw attention to himself. Thankfully the restaurant wasn't too busy, and the few people eating there paid him no mind as he passed.
The blonde warrior had just reached the base of the stairs, when an excited voice and two pairs of footsteps caused him to stop.
"Cloud's back early!" Denzel exclaimed. The boy put down the glass plate he was drying and ran to meet his adopted father across the counter.
Marlene, who had also come to greet him, beamed. "Do you have any stories for us tonight?"
Cloud nodded, pleased that he could deliver their request.
"Marlene!" Tifa called from down the counter. "Do you want to try and serve this customer?"
"Yes!" Marlene exclaimed, tossing her brown braid over her shoulder. The little girl hurried over to the restaurant owner, feverishly adjusting the folds of her white and yellow dress.
Cloud's gaze followed his adopted daughter, and to his astonishment, the same blind girl he had seen earlier was now waiting to be served. Across the counter, Tifa smiled, her cherry-colored eyes radiating kindness. Tifa's little waitress in training now stood by, eager to show the customer to her table.
After receiving a few whispered instructions, Marlene faced her customer. "Right this way, please," she said in her best grown-up voice. "Do you want to hold my arm?"
"Yeah. Thanks," the girl responded, her smile warm, yet a little shy. She gingerly grabbed Marlene's arm, trusting the seven-year-old to guide her to one of the nearby tables.
Curious, Cloud watched as the blind girl took her seat and disassembled her cane. It was made of metal, and the way it came apart in sections reminded him of the Fusion Blade, aside from the keychain.
"Cloud?"
The soldier turned at the sound of Tifa's voice. His wife now stood beside him, gazing at him with curiosity. Cloud glanced back at the table, where the blind girl was now ordering her meal.
"Who is that?" Tifa asked innocently, brushing a lock of long, brown hair from her face. "Do you know her from somewhere?"
"No."
"Oh." Tifa paused, a little puzzled by Cloud's abrupt response. "You seemed to recognize her…"
"I just… saw her on route," Cloud muttered. He was about to continue upstairs when Tifa placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. Cloud slowly turned back to her, wondering if there was something else she wanted.
Tifa smiled at him, knowing that if she didn't act, Cloud would miss out on a once in a lifetime opportunity. "You're curious, aren't you?" she guessed, her gentle eyes full of understanding. She nodded in the blind girl's direction, and removed her hand from Cloud's arm. "You want to know how she copes with life, how she does it all, why she can keep smiling even though her life seems hard."
"How-?" Cloud started to ask, stunned that she would have guessed the thoughts that he had only entertained for a few minutes.
Tifa leaned closer to Cloud, as if she were sharing a secret with him. "Because I'm curious, too," she said, her tone hushed.
Cloud nodded, appreciating at this particular moment that one of the best things about Tifa was that she could sometimes tell how he was feeling so he himself didn't have to express it.
Usually, Tifa accepted Cloud's quiet nature, believing he'd eventually decide to talk to people when he felt comfortable, but this was one of the rare times when Tifa tried to bring Cloud out of his shell. "You should go talk to her," she encouraged, much to the soldier's surprise.
"Why me?" Cloud asked, masking his emotion.
"Because I have orders to fill. And besides, you'll have more to tell Denzel and Marlene." Tifa squeezed the soldier's arm as if to wish him luck, then returned to her kitchen duties.
Cloud gazed at the blind girl sitting alone at the table and found that he was more than a little curious about her. Questions began popping up in his mind like the flowers at Aerith's sanctuary. Is she completely blind, or can she see a little bit? How does she get around the city? And cook? And clean? Does she live on her own, or does she have someone to help her? Does she go to school? Can she read and write?
If Cloud did talk to her, what would he even say? Would she even want to talk to anyone? Let alone him? He may be okay at talking to clients for his delivery service, but that was necessary. He wasn't the best conversationalist. He probably wouldn't be able to get two sentences out, or worse, he'd probably say something wrong and offend her.
The soldier still pondered this when Marlene bounded over to him. "Cloud! Cloud!" she exclaimed, her blue eyes shining with excitement. "You have to meet Brigitte! She's really nice!"
"Uh-." Cloud was about to refuse, but before he knew it, Marlene had grabbed his hand and was now pulling him towards the blind girl's table.
All too soon, Marlene let go of the soldier's hand and turned to Brigitte. "This is Cloud. He wanted to meet you," she said, beaming. "Oh, and your food is almost ready."
"Marlene-!" Cloud protested in shock, but his foster daughter had already gone to the kitchen to receive further instructions from Tifa. Cloud felt like he was swept up in a tornado. Now what was he supposed to do?
Brigitte looked up at the soldier. "Um, hi!" she greeted cheerfully, her voice tinged with nervousness. Her eyes darted from the soldier's blonde hair to his glowing, blue eyes, then to the sword that glinted on his back, as if trying to find somewhere to rest. Finally, they settled for his indigo uniform.
Cloud stared down at his hands and muttered a return greeting, wondering what Brigitte saw when she looked at him. For all he knew, she could be seeing him as a monster. He considered retreating for the stairs again, but if he did, he'd never get the answers to the newly forming questions in his mind. "Uh-" Cloud stammered, his heart pounding. What on Gaia did you say to a blind person?
Finally, he decided to go with the first question that came into his mind. It may not have been the smartest thing to do, but it was all he could think of. "So… you're… blind?" Cloud asked, his fingers tingling with anxiety. The soldier's mouth ran dry and he could already feel his face growing hot.
"Yeah," Brigitte answered, semi-consciously moving her hand to her cane on the seat next to her.
For a moment, Cloud thought he had already messed up, but Brigitte didn't look affronted. He thought of all the questions buzzing in his mind. How was he going to get them all answered? The gears in Cloud's head turned rapidly as he tried to figure out what to say next.
Then, to Cloud's relief, Marlene came out carrying a tray of food. "One BLT sandwich, one order of fries, and one lemonade!" Marlene carefully set the plate and glass down in front of Brigitte and proceeded to explain where everything was. Then she went to fill more orders.
Cloud had just enough time to find something to say. However, before he could consider them, the words had already passed his lips.
"What's it like… being blind?"
No sooner had he said it when he realized his mistake. Only too late did it occur to the soldier that she may not want to discuss something so personal. Someone may as well have asked Cloud what it was like in the Mako labs, or how it felt to have Sephiroth controlling his mind. "S-Sorry," he apologized hastily. "I didn't mean to-"
But the girl's smile only broadened, and she stared at Cloud with eyes that couldn't see, but seemed to know all. "It's okay! I get that a lot." She seemed as if she had been expecting this question to come up since the conversation began, and she was eager to answer it. "I'm not completely blind. I can see a little bit. I can see colors, and can read large print, but I can't see people's faces very well. Too detailed…"
The soldier listened intently as Brigitte explained about memorizing routes to different places and monitors that enlarged written print. Some things, like echo location and enhanced hearing, he could actually understand better thanks to his experiences with Mako energy. He now knew how she'd been able to dodge the sign on the way to Seventh Heaven.
Every now and then, Marlene would check in on Brigitte and voice a question that Cloud was reluctant to ask. "Is it hard not being able to see?" she wondered curiously, bringing her customer another glass of lemonade.
"Sometimes," Brigitte answered, taking a few sips of her drink. "I have to always get customer service to help me find stuff around the stores, and it's hard going to unfamiliar places alone. But, I do have some advantages, like getting to cut to the front of the line for all the rides at Gold Saucer. That's always fun!"
Marlene giggled. "Neat!" she exclaimed, and went back to help Tifa and Denzel in the kitchen.
The more Brigitte talked, the more Cloud didn't have to, and he was beginning to think the conversation wasn't going too badly, mainly because, except for the occasional question, he could keep his mouth shut. Brigitte even showed him the speech software on her phone, which, to Cloud's surprise, was speaking at an alarmingly fast rate.
"How do you understand that?" Cloud asked, listening to the robotic voice talking at a million miles a minute. He had only been able to pick up a few random words even with his Mako enhanced senses, but the girl seemed to understand it fluently.
"Practice!" Brigitte said, beaming with pride, "I also have a screen-reader on my computer that the World Re-genesis Organization gave me. It's a little glitchy at times, but it gets the job done. It's better than what Shinra ever offered."
Cloud nodded understandingly. He knew WRO was supposed to be finding ways to help the Planet and undo Shinra's damage, but he didn't know the organization developed equipment for disabled people. He hadn't really thought about it before.
Before anyone noticed, a half hour had passed. Brigitte had finished her food, but was still talking to Cloud, answering his questions as best as she could. But, Cloud still had one more question, and he hoped this one wasn't overstepping his bounds. "Were you born like that? Or did something… happen to…?"
However, his voice trailed off when he saw that Brigitte was looking out the window with a shocked expression, as if the sky had given her some horrible news, which it had.
"Oh no! I didn't realize how dark it got!" Brigitte exclaimed, panic evident in her voice.
"Something wrong?" Cloud wondered uneasily. But, then he glanced out the window and saw that the sky was now a deep navy blue, and it was nearly impossible to distinguish distant objects.
"I… don't do very well in the dark," Brigitte answered, her normal confidence waning. "I can't see as well. I'm not good at navigating. I mean, I learned how, but…"
Cloud's mouth tightened with concern. That explained why she needed help navigating the dim restaurant. What had he done? Because of their conversation, Brigitte would now have to walk home in the dark.
Tifa came over to gather Brigitte's empty plate and glass, Marlene and Denzel watching from behind the counter. "Is everything okay over here?" she asked. "Would you like anything else?"
"No, thanks," Brigitte responded hastily, rummaging through her bag. "How much do I owe you?"
"Five Gil."
Without looking at it, Brigitte pulled out a carefully folded note for five Gil and a few extra gold coins. "Tip." She said, motioning to the coins.
"Oh! Thanks!" Tifa said, scooping up the currency. "I'm sure Marlene will like that." Do you have a ride you're waiting for?"
"No," Brigitte answered, wringing her hands. "I walked here."
Cloud and Tifa glanced at each other, his wife sharing his concerned expression. There was no way they could send her on normal transportation because of the possibility of a monster attack. Tifa turned back to Brigitte. "Well, where do you live? Would you like one of us to take you home?"
"Oh, um..." Brigitte considered, fidgeting with the Chocobo on her cane.
She seemed reluctant to accept assistance, but he had to make this right somehow. He faced Tifa again. "I'll take her home," he offered, unsure if she would want his help.
Tifa nodded and turned back to Brigitte. She placed a reassuring hand on the blind girl's shoulder. "I have to serve other customers, but Cloud will take you home. Is that okay?"
"Yeah. That's fine," Brigitte agreed. Sighing with relief, she stood, slung her bag over her shoulder, and undid the strap on her cane. The stick assembled by itself.
"That's awesome!" Denzel remarked, his eyes gleaming with awe. "She's like a ninja!"
"Yeah!" Marlene chimed in.
Brigitte smiled in their general direction. "I should come here more often," She mused, grinning.
"You're welcome to come anytime," Tifa stated warmly.
Cloud said nothing, but found that he agreed. Brigitte's hard life was something the soldier could relate to, and he was eager to learn more. But, for now, he had a task to complete. "Where do you live?" Cloud asked, looking to find directions on his phone.
"276, Find the Way St.," Brigitte recited. "It's not that far from here."
"Find the Way St.," Cloud muttered, wondering why that sounded familiar to him. He turned to Brigitte. "Do you… need an arm?" he asked, offering his as he had seen Marlene do.
"Yeah," Brigitte said, grabbing onto Cloud's arm. Cloud waited as she thanked Tifa and the kids one last time, then the pair headed out into the warm night air.
They hadn't gotten very far when Brigitte spoke. "I'm so sorry about this. I should have planned better."
"It's my fault," Cloud responded guiltily. "I'm the one who kept you."
"Yeah, but I probably should have left home earlier so I'd have more time to eat and everything."
"It's no big deal," the soldier insisted.
The rest of the walk was silent. They had crossed two streets and a few driveways, Brigitte taking the same precautions as if she were alone. Finally, they reached Brigitte's apartment, and Cloud realized why it was so familiar.
"Hm. I delivered here," he muttered, but Brigitte heard him.
"You did?" she asked, her tone suddenly excited, "Like, a package?"
"Yes," Cloud affirmed quietly.
Brigitte looked as if she was trying to remember something important, then she gasped with realization. "Wait! Wait! Wait! Are you the guy with the motorcycle from earlier?"
"Hm? Yeah," Cloud answered, somewhat surprised that she had recognized him when he didn't remember delivering to her personally. He still didn't understand what the big deal was, but Brigitte seemed to grow more ecstatic.
"Oh, wow!" she exclaimed. "You're the one who delivered my new audio books!"
"Huh?" Cloud asked, even more confused.
"I'm starting another online semester at Edge University, and my textbooks were accidentally shipped to my parents' house. I was scared I wouldn't get the CDs on time, but thanks to you, I don't have to worry anymore!"
Cloud was stunned. When on his deliveries, he would only really pay attention to the addresses on packages. He mainly took account of their contents when filling out the order forms, but he never considered the big impact they would have on his clients.
Cloud glanced at the blind girl out of the corner of his eye. "Good for you," he said, his voice low and his tone sincere. He paused for a second, then turned and proceeded down the walk.
"Thanks so much for everything!" Brigitte called after him.
Cloud turned and was about to nod, but thought he'd better speak instead. "No problem," he responded, then began the short trip back to Seventh Heaven.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you thought! Also, feel free to check out my other stories!