Disclaimer: I'm sorry to break your little hearts, but no. No I don't own any of this.
Recommended reading in 3/4. (non beta version )
Finding Eden
By Tsuki Hoshino
A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success.
-Elbert Hubbard
There was one word for what Cloud was experiencing after leaving home; misery- complete and utter misery for the last five days.
'Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to rush into things…' Cloud thought to himself glumly as he hung over the edge of the truck bed. For a while he'd been allowed to sit in the nice cool cabin. That was, until he almost threw up all over the place. Then he'd been kicked to the back to bear with his rolling stomach, harsh sun and other undesirable elements.
He could almost here his mother's amused, "Tsk" in his head.
"Lovely day, isn't?" The driver mused to himself cheerfully, completely oblivious to the boy in the back contemplating several imaginative ways to kill himself.
"Oh yes." Cloud moaned, hanging over the side of the truck, face tinted in a lovely shade of green. "Best day ever." He seethed. "Couldn't possibly get any better then this."
The man behind the wheel nodded his head in agreement, sarcasm clearly lost as he began drumming his fingers in a far to chipper manner than was forgivable in Cloud's humble opinion.
When would the torture end? There couldn't possibly be anything else for him to throw up, except maybe his actual stomach.
"What a joy." Cloud mumbled to himself after being tossed around the truck bed. 'No use in turning back now though, is there?' He wondered leaning his head back to look up at the sky. The sun was going down, and he had another day until they hit port. By then, he hoped he'd be over this motion sickness thing. Though, Nausea was preferable to going home a failure. How could he face all those smug faces who never thought he'd amount to anything otherwise?
More importantly, how could he face her after making such a bold promise? Not in a million years, that was how.
"It's do or die." He affirmed, pausing for a moment. "Well, maybe not die…" Just never see her face again. That was way worse then dying. It was almost sad how bad he had it for her.
No matter what though, he was going to reach his goal. "If you don't have confidence in yourself, you won't accomplish anything." Cloud solemnly spoke to himself, tucking his arms behind his head as he lay in the bed of the truck. The sun was slowly descending, plunging the land beneath it into twilight.
It seemed like his motion sickness had finally abated for the moment, for which Cloud was vastly thankful for. Now that he wasn't puking his guts out it gave him a few moments to put things in perspective.
He thought about home, and if his mother would be alright without him. Sometimes Cloud felt a little selfish for leaving her there all alone. "But this is for her too." He murmured to himself, wanting her to be proud of him, wanting her to be able to brag about what a strong, capable son she had was a just another driving force spurring him on.
Even though she always talked about how proud she was of him, it was something that he knew every parent told their kid. 'She's going to be fine.' Cloud decided, closing his eyes for a moment. 'Mom's really strong…' And Tifa would definitely keep her company. Which was good, he was glad they got on so well with one another.
It didn't take long for those thoughts of home to make him miss it, so his mind wandered elsewhere lazily settling on the city he was headed too.
Midgar, a city bathed in the acid green glow of mako energy. He'd heard that it was a city suspended in the sky. The most technologically advanced city in the whole world. A place where you could find just about anything your heart desired. A place that never slept unlike the town he'd come from. 'It must be something amazing.' Cloud mused to himself, mind drifting away indolently as the heavens above darkened.
In the morning he'd be in Costa del Sol, and board a ferry. Hopefully his abated motion sickness would stay away. Far, far, faraway. That wasn't too much to ask, was it?
It didn't, and apparently it was.
Cloud wasn't sure what was worse, the five day trip by truck, or the two day boat ride which he spent hanging half way over the rail. He'd been mistaken as a "Jumper" twice. Although by the third hour on the first day he had half a mind to actually throw himself overboard to prevent any more wretchedness.
Somehow he made it through, a wonder really- all things considered. He was content to thank his lucky stars when land finally came into sight. He was the first one off the boat, and if he hadn't feared for his pride, he probably would have kissed the ground. Cloud mumbled a quick thank you under his breath to whatever force drove the world before slinging his bag over his shoulder as he wandered along the port that faced the city in looming in the distance.
Against the morning light, the green glow it was fabled for could hardly be seen.
Being so far away from home, looking toward a giant towering city all on his own was more intimidating then he imagined it would be. Squaring his shoulders, Cloud made his way forward. He had an appointment to keep after all.
Getting into the city was a task all in it's self, going beyond the train station was impossible if you didn't get a passport which stated your business in the city, and mundane things like that. When he mentioned joining the military, the woman behind the pane of glass gave knowing smile, and slipped a pamphlet underneath the cutout hole along with his passport.
"Take a step back." She directed, waving her hand at him lazily. Confused, he cocked his head to the side before hurrying to do as he was asked. After a hesitant step backwards, a flash of blinding light nearly gave him a heart attack.
"A picture for your I.D." She snickered at the startled look on his face.
Cloud's shoulders slumped. 'Eh…You could have warned me so I didn't look like a total goof.' He though in annoyance giving her a thinly veiled look of displeasure
"Just follow the directions, and stay on the train till the last stop. You'll be asked for your I.D, so just show it to them, and it'll all be good." She said. "The next train will be here soon, have a nice day. Next!"
"Thanks." Cloud mumbled, quickly shuffling to the side, doing his best to avoid the hustle and bustle of people as he settled on a bench nearby.
Opening the paper he'd been given, he took a glance at his I.D and immediately regretted it. His eyes were the size of saucers, and his mouth hung open awkwardly. It was horrible, like most official I.D's tended to be.
Next he scanned the contents of the pamphlet he'd been given, gleaning what Information he could from it until the train arrived and he shuffled his belongs back to his arms.
Doing his best to navigate through the narrow settings he mad his way into the very back of the steel cart that was soon to be packed like a sardine can. 'Is it like this all the time?' he wondered to himself, brow scrunching up indignantly when he was squashed up against a wall for a moment by a bunch of kids running by.
Shrugging it off, Cloud took a seat savoring the few moments he had by himself before he was squished between to large muscular men.
The cart he'd chosen had an unpleasant smell, and it was sorely lacking in the hygienic department. Trash was strewn this way and that- newspapers littering the floor and seats along with Styrofoam cups. Not only that but it seemed to be populated by thugs and miscreants.
'I think I picked the wrong car.' Cloud mused to himself miserably.
The ones upfront had been much nicer, probably being cleaned more often as well. Unfortunately with the way he was wedged in-between those two guys, there was no way he would be getting up until they did.
Cloud truly did have lousy luck.
One of the men besides him started making crude jokes to the other one, and they were laughing obnoxiously loud right into his ears.
Metaphorically he decided to grin and bear it, because on the outside he looked a bit like he'd had a whole mess of sour grapes for lunch and was clearly not enjoying them. Surprisingly his Motion sickness didn't return when the train set off. That was the one saving grace he could think of concerning Midgard's transportation.
When the two men he'd been wedged in-between had finally gotten off, the security had finally come to check his I.D on the way up to the plate, and when they saw the picture they had a good old laugh at his expense before leaving him in blessed silence for the duration of his ride.
He spent it having a nice long sulk.
Finally after what seemed like an eternity, he'd made it to ShinRa's headquarters and he couldn't be happier.
The upper plates stood in stark contrast to the conditions he'd first seen. In this place, the sky could be seen clearly and it was a welcome sight compared to the world below that had been dominated by steel. 'The city sure is strange.' Cloud thought to himself. Why anyone would want to block out the sun and then expect people to live below it was beyond him.
Sector 8 was filled with dazzling sights and sounds that would have been much too tempting for him to resist if he weren't so anxious. 'There's plenty of time for that later.' He reprimanded himself while tearing his eyes away from a big glitzy billboard. 'Right now you've got important things to do.'
Already his feet were nearing the looming building that dominated the city and housed that which dominated the world. It was huge, and hardly even finished being built.
It was more then a little intimidating, but then again it was meant to be.
Cloud stopped just outside the building and handed his things over to security to look through and approve after stating what his business was inside.
"Soldier eh?" One of the peacekeeping troops said, before shaking his head. "Good luck kid." He clapped Cloud on the back amiably before sending him through. "Straight to the front desk!" He reminded as the doors open and Cloud stepped through.
The boy from the country spent a moment admiring the clean cut and stylish interior. On both sides of the room, two massive stair cases with blue carpet lined with gold wound themselves up to the overhand above his head. His settings were posh and extravagant. Something one would expect only the wealthy to have.
People in business suits and lab coats milled around- and uniformed soldiers existed around the fringes keeping a wary- if not bored eye on the comings and goings.
A breathless little sigh escaped his lips. This was it. This was really it. He was really there. Gulping loudly, he hastened his steps and joined the relatively short line in front of the reception desk. When it was finally his turn, she gave him a key and instructed him to head up to the 13th floor where he could receive further directions. "Thanks." Cloud mumbled when taking the pass card being sure not forgetting his manners.
Once he stepped onto the elevator he was shocked at just how many floors the building had, it was beyond 40 stories. It was a behemoth. Pressing the button for his prescribed floor he took a few moments to lean against the wall and gather his thoughts. He was filled with anticipation and anxiety, worrying over what sort of trials he'd have to go through to join SOLDIER, and if he'd have the guts to make it.
The ride up wasn't nearly long enough in his opinion, because before he knew it the doors had opened with a screeching 'ding!'
Walking through, he was met with another reception desk- this time full of young men and one or two women fastidiously filling out forums on their provided for clip boards. He knew what it was on sight.
A doctors office.
Although he'd already sent in his papers and medical records, and had been checked out by a recruiter prior to leaving home, Shinra still felt the apparent need to poke and prod everything that came through its doors.
"Can I help you sir?" The brunette secretary behind the desk asked with a smile, although the look in her eyes were screaming for him to run before he died of boredom and paper cuts.
"I-I'm here for the recruitment…" Cloud said, grateful his voice didn't crack with how high pitched it seemed right that second.
"Oh!" The woman nodded, sliding another clipboard out to him. "Just fill that out, and we'll begin your physical examination." She said, turning back to her magazine.
Nodding his head, Cloud slunk to a nice dark corner of the room and began filling out the pages. After 20 minutes of tedious work filling them out, and half an hour of watching arrivals and departures his name was finally called by a nurse.
"Strife?" She asked, glancing up at him from behind the clip board. When he nodded, she led him through the stainless steal doors and took the usual information of weight, height, pulse and everything else. Then she led him to an examination room where he waited for an hour to be seen by a doctor which he expected to be the usual middle aged, boring man.
That wasn't what he got. Instead a girl who couldn't be that much older then he came skidding to a halt into the room, her honey colored hair an out right mess.
"Sheesh." She said, hands on her hips right before a clipboard came sailing out of now where and pegged her in the head. "Ouch!" She whined, rubbing the aching spot. "That was mean." She pouted, looking at the door.
"Uhmm…." Cloud began hesitantly. There was no way this could be his doctor, she was way too young.
As though she'd completely missed his presence, she whirled around to look at him, a laughably shocked expression stamped all over her face. "Oh yea." She laughed, looking at the clipboard she'd picked up off the floor. "Cloud strife huh…" She trailed off for a moment as she read on, eyes flicking back and forth over the twelve pages of information.
Within a minute she tossed the board away, and turned back to him. "From Nibelheim for SOLDIER, Blood Type AB, no known allergies, no prior military service." Noting his startled look, she grinned. "Photographic memory-I'm not a genius for nothin' ya know?" She perched delicately into the stool across from his bench.
All he could do was nod his head at her fast speech. "Uhmm..."
Ignoring him, she continued on. "I'm Ava Estelle by the way; you can call me Dr. Estelle. Or Ava. Or Estelle." She ticked off on her fingers. " Well, I guess it doesn't matter what you call me." Estelle explained, blinking owlishly.
"Uhm…" Cloud began again doubtful he'd be allowed to finish.
"What is it?" Estelle wondered, cupping her chin thoughtfully. "Are you mute?"
"No!" Cloud snapped, shaking his head. "I just….aren't you a little…." He really loathed the thought of saying it and seeming rude. Especially if she could pass of fail him for SOLDIER.
Instead she laughed, waving a hand at him. "Young? I'm 18." Estelle said, spinning the chair happily as she giggled away. "But I guess by most standards that's young for a doctor. With Shinra though, they always want the best of the best, and despite my age I am one of the best."
He wondered why if that was the case, why was she working in such a low position Estelle seemed to sense that too, for she went on to explain that due to a certain little trick she'd played, she'd been relegated to grunt work for the next week. "It's fine though." She said, wrinkling her nose. "As long as I'm out of that lab, I'll happily do anything, even janitorial work."
For someone so small, she talked a mile a minute, and it was all he could do just to keep up with her questions with a nod for yes, and a shake for no.
After a bunch of "What would you do" and "What do you think" behavioral and mentality questions had been asked, she went into the medical spectrum, drawing blood, saliva and some skin cells to send to the labs. "I'll go over it myself later." She explained.
"Okay." Cloud relaxed slightly. Things were going well so far, excluding the crazy doctor he'd gotten. 'Although I guess this is better then some anal retentive doctor. ' He thought, looking on the bright side for once.
Estelle jumped up to her feet suddenly, throwing a paper gown at him. "Time for the physical exam!" She stated snapping on a pair of latex gloves. "Hurry up and change!" she pulled the cloth curtain shut to give him some privacy.
Cloud looked doubtfully at gown, a look of annoyance striking his face. "This thing…" It was going to be like wearing a mini skirt.
"Hey hurry up! Or do you need help getting dressed?" Estelle wondered, sounding genuinely concerned.
"No! I can do it fine." Cloud scowled before going through the motions.
After that a series of highly embarrassing things were done to him he was allowed to redress.
"Alright, now for phase two!" Estelle cried, showing him the number two with her digits as if he didn't know what the number meant. "This is my favorite part." She stated happily, leading him down the labyrinthine halls to a room with a treadmill. "You get to do all the work and I get to sit around! First we start with a test to gauge you're endurance. We'll set the max limit to an hour and see how long you can full out run." She glanced at her watch thoughtfully, before telling him to take his shirt off.
Finally, something he could do. A smile slowly crept onto his face as she applied the numerous wires and gadgets that would chart his heart rate and several other things. At this point he was hardly listening to her ramble about.
"Okay, start!" Estelle cried her eyes wide energetic as she slammed her petite fist down on a big red button. The track machine started out slow, and become progressively faster as moments passed before he was all out sprinting to keep up with it.
"See the average human can run about 11 miles per hour, some can even reach 30 miles, but its hard to keep running that fast. Soldiers can run about twice as long, twice as fast. " Estelle explained over the intercom as she settled into a chair. "Ungodly right?" She asked more to herself as she rested her chin in the palm of her hand. "When you can't go on anymore raise your hand"
By twenty minutes he was sweating like a pig, and faltering every few moments. Every now and then his feet almost tumbled off the track before he quickly picked up the pace.
When he could finally go on no longer, Thirty minutes had passed and he was pleased to say that Estelle seemed impressed with his efforts. "Not bad." The doctor mused, tapping her fingers on the panel in front of her. "Take a few minutes and then move onto the bench press."
That was decidedly easier then running. He was used to lifting heavy things from farm work he'd done in the past. Compared to all the kids in town he was definitely the strongest.
Estelle hummed to herself before calling for him to lay down the weights. "Not bad at all Cloud. There is one final physical endeavor though." She said, ushering him towards the elevator. Using her key card she selected the 34th floor and then strolled down the hall dragging him with her.
The next thing he knew he was being strapped inside a large circular cage. "What is this?" He asked, suddenly feeling quite nervous about the whole thing.
"It's called a multi axis train." Estelle replied, straightening her white lab coat and black dress. "It's gonna spin you in six different directions at once, so we can see if you can keep your cool. Basically, last as long as you can, don't panic and don't throw up. Seriously, don't do the last one." She patted him on the side of the face with a cheeky grin before skipping away. "Ready?"
On the inside, he was screaming no. On the outside, he managed what must have looked like a yes, because she flipped the machine on anyways.
How he managed a total of twelve minutes was beyond him, one minute he was whirling in all different directions, up, down, left, right, diagonal, horizontal, clockwise and counter wise and the next he was staring up at Estelle upside down.
"You okay?" She asked, lips set into a thin like as she looked at him in concern. Her kindness was rewarded by Cloud throwing up all over her nice shoes. "…." Estelle simply smiled, eyebrow twitching slightly. "I-I'll take that as a no." She stated through her teeth, before screaming for a clean up crew.
After being given leave for a few moments while she went to wash up and find some shoes Cloud went to wash his mouth and lament about his chances of joining soldier reaching an all time low level possibility of zero. 'If only I hadn't thrown up!' He pounded his fists into the sink angrily. Still, she had seemed impressed by his endurance so, there was still a chance he told himself before making his way back to where she had left him.
Instead he found her secretary, an old and scary woman that looked like death on two legs. She'd been instructed to take him down to Estelle's office and she harshly reprimanded him for being a few seconds late. 'I bet this is the one who hit her with the clipboard.' Was the first thing that came to his mind upon seeing her.
Monochromatic halls were the scenery his eyes devoured as he was led along. There was nothing of real interest on the way to wherever he was being taken.
"Thank you." Estelle said to the old woman, nervously waving at the crone when they entered her office. Papers, folders, machines and test tubes littered the lab-like room in a manner of controlled disarray. Everything seemed to have a place that no one knew the method too but the woman peering into a microscope before him.
"Yes." The croon stated, sniffling distastefully. "Be sure to clean your office, it's a pigsty." With that, she slammed the door shut behind her upon making her exit.
"Evil isn't she?" The doctor stated, face completely bleak- filled with doom and gloom. "Makes a person wonder why the even wake up in the morning," Then she was all smiles again. "Oh well!" Estelle chirped, looking back into her microscope. "While you were bonding with the lovely Mrs. sunshine I was looking over your blood work." She explained. "The good news is, you're free of any untoward diseases."
He already knew that. "Thanks…" He decided to say instead. "And the bad news?"
A tiny, sad smile placed itself on her face, and he knew. "I see." Cloud sighed, eyes lowering to the floor.
"Sorry." Estelle mumbled. "If it were up to me, I'd accept you." She said, crossing her arms to ward against the guilt sinking into her bones. "Anyways, you don't want to join SOLDIER. They have lousy pay, and their always on call." She explained at his questioning look. "Its' hell on a relationship ya'know?"
Cloud shook his head. It would be hell on his relationship- or lack of therefore if he didn't make the cut. "I made a promise." He explained, biting his lip. "I have to make it…is there anything I can do? Was throwing up what made me fail- I can not do that." He said, large, blue hopeful eyes meeting hers. It was like looking at a wounded puppy.
It made her feel horribly guilty for what she was putting him through. "Uhm…You can try again next year." She said quickly, snapping her fingers. "Yea next year you'll be fifteen." Estelle crossed her legs thoughtfully. "Tell you what." She said smilingly. "I'll be your doctor then too! I'll handle the case personally."
"That's nice of you." Cloud mumbled, feeling a little flattered that she was being so nice, especially after her tossed his cookies all over her. Although he'd failed the first time, it wasn't so bad he supposed. "What should I do until then?" he asked biting his lip. He certainly couldn't go home just yet.
"Why not join the peacekeeping corps?" Estelle suggested, riffling around her desk for some papers. "Yea…that'll help you get some experience on the field." She stated, nodding her head seriously. "I can give you your inoculations and get you signed up and ready for basic training tomorrow. They just got a new group in today! They'll let you in on short notice with my prodding. " It was perfect really; he had some pretty good luck in her opinion.
"Okay." Cloud agreed reluctantly. It was a way to keep from returning home on such short notice anyways.
The truth of the matter was there was nothing in essence baring Cloud from being a SOLDIER Candidate except the doctor sitting before him.
Although his cells hadshown some resistance to Mako injections if done correctly and at smaller intervals he would have been fine. For her own personal reasons she was baring him from his goal.
Shinra seemed like a well enough place to work and be affiliated with on the outside. On the inside it was a different and much more torrid story. Working there was like wandering into a den of snakes. If only she had known then what she knew now... 'You check in, but you sure as hell don't check out.'
The truth of the matter was, once you've sold your soul to the ever growing monster that was Shinra, there was no turning back. Still, she took great pleasure in sticking it to the man by depriving them of test subjects and source material whenever she could. If she had her way- she'd have refused everyone who walked through the door today. Then again, that would be too obvious.
'Sorry kid.' Estelle thought as she began signing her name on the paper's she'd been handed. "Common lets go stick you full of needles." She stated happily, shoving her chair back and waltzing out of the room.
He was on his feet in seconds, following after her like a baby chocobo.
"Gee I never knew I was a pin cushion." Cloud mumbled sarcastically. For a moment she seemed absolutely stunned that he had a sense of humor before throwing out a high pitched laugh.
"Ohohoho! Someone's got a funny bone after all!" Estelle laughed, covering her mouth with her hand as she jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. "And here I had you pegged as a no funny business- stick in the mud-kinda guy!"
Looking slightly affronted by her physical assault on his person he crossed his arms over his chest defensively. "Only sometimes."
Estelle snorted. "I take back what I just said; you area stick in the mud." She mumbled upon opening the examination room door. "Take your pants off and bend over." She had to hide her smile when he looked at her like she'd sprouted wings. "What, I've already seen you nearly naked." She whined, stomping her foot. "Don't be so self conscious Cloudy-koo. The injections go in the buttocks."
Suppressing a shudder Cloud manned up and did as he was told. 'One step closer.' He told himself miserable as the humiliation commenced. 'One step closer.'
Some time later, she'd walked him down to the peacekeeper's training core and had a talk with the man in charge before returning to him. "Well this is where we say Bye bye Cloudy-koo." Estelle said, looking at him a little fondly. "Till next year or something."
Cloud found himself feeling a little sad that this was their parting. She felt like the first thing he'd met in Midgar that he could say he kinda-sorta actually liked. She was nice, if not a little annoying at times, but helpful too. "Yea." He said, looking down at his feet.
Estelle smiled slowly. "Oh I see…Your gonna miss big sister Estelle, right!" She squealed, latching onto him and cuddling him to her chest. "Don't worry! I'll definitely visit!" She pinched his cheeks between her fingers and pulled them like a piece of elastic. "So don't be so glum!"
"Never mind, I wont miss you at all!" Cloud yelped, rubbing his aching cheeks after slapping her hands away. "Whatever." He said, turning his nose up at her.
"Meanie." Estelle mumbled looking slightly hurt before making her way towards the door. "Well, you better get going for orientation; you don't want to be late for it." She said, never turning around to look at him until the last second. Her nearly ever present smile in place once more as she nodded her head at him respectfully. "Bye bye."
Cloud nodded his head back, a silent moment of understanding passing between them, and then she was gone. "Bye." He spoke to no one but himself, before making his way to the seminar, all his belongings carried over his shoulders.
After that he was assigned a bunk room, a platoon number and standard issue equipment and uniform before being allowed to settle in till the next day when his rigorous training would begin with the other runts.
He shared a room with ten other men of varies ages and backgrounds but out of them all he was the youngest and therefore the one at the bottom of the food chain. Or so one of the more obnoxious ones had pointedly told him.
"I'm Tandel." A tall, willowy man of 20 stated, taking off his helmet to reveal mousey brown hair and brown eyes before shaking Cloud's hand. "I saw you earlier at the gate." He explained, smiling slightly. "Sorry you didn't make it into soldier. Happens to a lot of us really." It was said as a comforting notion.
Cloud nodded quietly, feeling a little embarrassed. "Cloud." He introduced himself. "Its alright, I can just try again next year." He stated tiredly.
"Yea!" Tandel nodded his head in an upbeat manner. "You'll do fine."
He didn't.
Or the year after.
Both of those years had been spent failing his soldier exams, dealing with what he considered to be a vast majority of idiotic and immature roommates in a tight, close quarter's environment. Even Tandel who he had at first assumed to be polite turned out to enjoy teasing him.
Although the twenty year old asserted it was all in the name of good old fashioned camaraderie, Cloud didn't think reading the letters his mother sent him, or the very few Tifa wrote him even when he'd never written back- out loud was very funny. Cloud didn't find it amusing at all.
As a matter of fact, it pissed him off and usually ended in a friendly fist fight much to everyone else's amusement.
They were all on his shit list for some reason or another. Still, he hung out with them and ended up being the only blessed voice of sanity every time one of them wanted to pull some crazy stunt.
Which was nearly everyday. Those idiots seemed determined to kill themselves.
It wasn't such a bad place to be all in all-Sometimes. But he was still striving to become a soldier of Sephiroth's caliber.
Persistence was the key.
Estelle said he was getting better and better each year though, and that pretty soon he would definitely pass. He'd learned that her actual job was working in the SOLDIER department, so he took everything she said seriously. Except for the bad things she said about the program.
Those things went in one ear and out the other as they often did with young boys with a serious case of hero worship.
Sometimes, If Cloud was lucky enough he'd catch a Glimpse of the first class soldier's stalking the halls with all their prowess. It was always a good day for him when he did. It was like their luck rubbed off on him whenever they swept by.
He'd never forget the day he found out Estelle knew them quite well. "Those idiots?" She snorted, throwing her head back in laughter. "Nee, Cloudy-Koo, wanna know a secret about the first class SOLDIERS?" She grinned mischievously, putting a finger to her lips to signify it was on a hush hush basis.
Completely enraptured he leaned forward, eyes wide and nearly sparkling. "What?"
"They don't like needles." She stated, completely dead panned. "Especially Zack Fair. That little country bumpkin runs every time he catches sight of me." Estelle sounded horribly amused and positively devilish. She obviously took delight in being so scary a SOLDIER would run.
Looking a little startled, Cloud looked at her in disbelief. "No way!" how could heroes like them be scared of needles?
"Yes way." Estelle smiled patting him on the head. "Speaking of needles…" She trailed off, eyes catching sight of a streak of red disappearing around the corner. "OI! Genesis, get back here!" She shrieked, high heels clicking down the halls and leaving Cloud in her dust.
"I gotta draw blood or I'm gonna be in trouble again!" Her wailing could be heard from five different levels above and below the one they were on.
Cloud simply stared after her in complete and unadulterated wonder. Her speed was amazing.
Later that night, he swore he could a pitiable weeping that lasted for weeks, lingering in the halls of ShinRa's building and figured she never did catch up to Genesis Rhapsodos.
Then one day after his two year absence from home it came, the order to be shipped out and assist First Class SOLDIER Zack Fair.
It started out easy enough, get on the helicopter, go to Modeoheim and investigate some rogue Shinra SOLDIER.
The ride was quiet, the only noise being the propeller as it flew towards its destination.
Zack Fair was sleeping in the corner, dead to the world and Cloud was weighing the pro's and con's of taking a nap himself.
Then the helicopter got shot down and the feeling of free falling almost made him lose his cookies. He didn't, but the jarring the steel craft made as it hit the ground sent him spiraling into unconsciousness for a few moments.
When he woke up, he was outside the plane and staring up at the grey sky as it spit ice cold snowflakes all over his face.
"…Hey Guys!" Zack Fair called, hands cupped over his mouth as he looked high and low for his companions. Everywhere except behind him which, coincidently was where they were.
"We're right behind you." Tseng stated, brushing off his once immaculate black suit to free it from snow and whatever dirt might have landed on it.
"Oh." Zack immediately dropped his hands, and turned around, looking a little sheepish as he did so. "Right." He mumbled, making his way closer to them
Tseng looked up from his phone, and snapped it shut loudly. "No signal." He stated, sleek white face betraying no hint of annoyance.
Getting to his feet, Cloud shook off the snow, and adjusted his helmet and gear. 'Why didn't they give us coats?' He wondered, fighting off the chill.
"Well, at least we're all in one piece." Zack said ever the one to look on the bright side. "We'll be fine."
"Hm. Well, we do have someone used to the terrain." Tseng said, eyes looking straight at Zack, a faint hint of amusement lingering.
Zack rolled his eyes and held his arms out as if he were guilty of some great sin. "Yea yea, I'm a country boy. So sue me." He mumbled the last part under his breath as Tseng brushed past him. Quickly jogging after him, he soon caught up and passed the Turk. "Follow me guys!" He cried, waving a hand at the infantry men behind him before pointing his finger onwards into the distance.
It didn't take long for the Turk and the other grunt to fall behind Zack and Cloud. "Well at least someone's keeping up." Zack mused, eyeing the boy in blue that strolled easily by his side.
"Well, I'm a country boy too." Cloud explained, watching his breath turn into plumes of white in the cold wintery air. He was used to thick mountain snow. After a few moments of adjusting to the temperature, he'd quickly gotten over the initial coldness.
"No way! From where?" Zack asked arching a brow and crossing his arms over his chest as he stopped to lean close to the shorter boy.
"Nibelheim."
It sent Zack into fits of laughter.
"How 'bout you?" Cloud asked, arching a brow although the soldier couldn't see it.
Zack blinked, and jabbed a thumb into his chest. "Me? Gongaga." This time Cloud laughed, a short little bark of one. "Hey!" Zack whined. "You know Gongaga?" he asked, pointing a finger at him playfully as he moved forward causing Cloud to straighten up.
"No." Cloud covered his mouth with a fist to hide his smile. "It's just such …a backwater name."
"Ditto Nibelheim." Zack mumbled looking a little vexed as he turned away.
"Like you've been there." Cloud wrinkled his nose as his voice took on a defensive note. Quickly he moved forward as if trying to keep Zack's face in sight. He was curious about the newest first class SOLDIER.
Zack shook his head. "I haven't, but there's a reactor right? A reactor outside of Midgar usually means one thing." He said, holding up a single finger.
"Nothing else out there." The two of them said in union, smiles and laughs erupting soon after.
"Good news Tseng!" Zack cried out towards the lagging Turk a few yards behind them "Me and uh…" He looked towards his companion.
"Cloud." The infantryman said, pulling off his helmet and revealing golden locks to the world.
"Right! Me and Cloud here are both backwater experts! You're in luck!" Zack cheered, pumping his fist excitedly.
"Great." Tseng replied mock saluting them. He was looking hardly any happier then he had moments before as he struggled through the snow. "Carry on then." He waved his hand dismissively. He was of the opinion that the two of them were enjoying themselves a little too much at that particular point in time.
Carry on they did, laughing and swapping stories all the way to their destination which came all too soon in both their opinions. It was the beginning of something great, both in good and bad ways.
This chapter was a killer. I really wanted to get into the process of what it took to Join SOLDIER and why it was that Cloud didn't make it in the first place.
I decided that maybe the answer wasn't exactly because Cloud wasn't good enough, but because of other circumstances that will come into play Much Much later. (by much later I mean after Before Crisis, FF7, Advent Children, and even Dirge of Cerberus.
Originally I was planning to do it all under this story, but I think now, I'll do Finding Eden which will encompass BC and Ff7, then another story going into Advent and Cerberus, and then a final with my own continuation to wrap it all up.
The advent and Cerberus one is going to be called Paradise Lost Although I'm thinking maybe I should change the name of this story to that, and making the second one Finding Eden…Lemme know what you guys think.
Ahh, Ava Estelle was a joy to write...I enjoyed Zack and Cloud too actually!
Sorry for the super long wait by the way. Forgive this lowly worm *Bows*
