Never Meant To Be

by Valoja

Opening your eyes after having died years ago, you find yourself wondering what had happened and search a certain group of heroes in the hopes of receiving their help with the puzzle you have become. Years later, Cloud finds the diary you had kept during your second life, realising you never did tell them what had been going on. Reader x Cloud

3. Day 2

X1/XX/XXXX

Day 2

Last night I slept at Tifa's place, because apparently it was impossible for me to return to where I had once lived but she wouldn't say anything further on that subject. Today, Tifa had taken the day off. It looked to me that she had done so specially for me, but she kept on insisting that she had some personal errands to do (all of which she 'forgot' to do, of course). She showed me around the place, telling me this city was called Edge, built after a Meteor had destroyed Midgar. Hearing that hurt me for some reason and I concluded that I must have lived there before my death. Tifa did not want to look at me when I asked her if that was true, but I would find out later that day exactly what had happened. First she showed me around the shops in the city and we somehow bumped into – guess who – no one other than Cloud Strife himself. Tifa explained to me that he had some kind of delivery service going on and today seemed to be a good day for the man, for the corners of his lips were slightly pointing upwards. Later I would conclude that he may be just a shy boy, because as he joined us on our tour through the streets of Edge he seemed to use that pretty mouth of his much more than expected. He even asked me a few questions about what I remembered of my past and when I said to him that I thought I might come from Midgar, that very same expression that had been on Tifa's face an hour ago was visible on his too. It made me feel quite irritated but I wouldn't dare show this to the people who were being so kind to me while I was wondering about in this mysterious second life I was given. So instead I just waited in the hope that they would someday tell me what was going on here. I am not quite sure if I was lucky or rather unlucky to find out why they made such painful expressions only in the second day that I had re-opened my eyes.

They took me away from the bustling streets of Edge, over the highway and it seemed to take hours until I was finally allowed to step off Cloud's vehicle. The first thing that I felt had been confusion, because the place where we had been looked horrible. Dear whoever is reading this, you must try your best to picture a piece of land that one day might have been a beautiful, bustling place, home to many different kinds of people. I instinctively felt where all this was going and before Tifa could explain anything, I asked if this dead wasteland had been Sector 7. Even the sky above what used to be the plate itself seemed to be dark and grey. I didn't dare look at Tifa, in fear that she might nod but it was all in vain because I now knew what this was. I don't remember much of what happened next – please forgive me for that, dear reader – except for the tears that had appeared as if by magic while I tried to find my way through the remains of the slums of Sector 7, the place that used to be my home. I found the remains of a tiny garden that had managed to grow wildly because of the sudden lack of darkness and remembered watching a neighbour trying to cultivate it, but back then it had all been in vain. I walked past collapsed houses and I somehow even managed to recognise the building that used to be mine. I can vaguely picture Tifa and Cloud joining me in my search for memories as I dug through the stones that used to make up the walls of my home. As if by some kind of miracle, hidden under a rock, I found the picture that you might still find on the other side of this page. I could not look at it and did not want to, for I found the gap of my parents' appearance in my memories quite blissful, no matter how selfish that might seem. But everything seemed to get worse when I remembered there had been a special spot in all the rubble, but not knowing what made it so special I was dumb enough to climb over the dirt to find it. In a flash I remembered my very last moments, the sound of explosions and then the amazing sight of the plate that had always been my roof slowly falling.

Cloud blinked in surprise at the abrupt ending, wondering if maybe it had still been too fresh to write down after all. He turned the page and found the picture that you had mentioned to still be there, in the exact same condition as when you had found it on that day and remembered that he had never gotten a good look at it and went to inspect it.

It seemed to be an ordinary family picture that had been taken in a sunny place, maybe when they had been on holiday to somewhere other than under the plate? It was obvious who the parents were, standing tall and proud in the back while two younger people were kneeling in front of them. The girl was hugging a happy-looking dog while the girl in turn was being semi-tackled by a boy.

Cloud concluded that they must have been brother and sister for they had exactly the same hair colour. But then he seemed to forget how to breathe when he noticed the eyes of the girl, finding them to be exactly the same as those of the mysterious woman that had seemed to fall from the sky.

It still seemed far too weird to comprehend that one girl had lived in two completely different bodies, yet still be exactly the same girl nonetheless.