More of the same warnings. Unbetaed. Copious scene breaks which may or may not be invisible like 2 of my last intro breaks have been.

Yes it's a cliché storyline, but it's fiendishly fun to write. Also the old tongue of Nibelheim is, surprise surprise, German. Most likely bad German at that. I just happen to love the language, but, don't worry, there isn't much of it in here.

Cloud felt like he was a piece of driftwood in the ocean. The 'waves' of the Lifestream were tossing him around like a toy in a child's bath.

He had agreed to undertake this unknown mission for the planet. For Tifa. For Aeris and Zack. Now he was stuck with the choice and all of the things that came with it.

"What do I need to do?"

Aeris had explained that no one really knew what exactly this would do to him. Still, he wasn't scared. What more could the universe do to challenge him? He'd already faced the end of the world more than once; he was prepared for the worst.

Aeris beckoned him into the pool in the center of the church. He waded in and waited. She and Zack dissolved back into the Lifestream and he felt them settle around him soothingly.

"Just relax and let us get you where you need to go."

Their souls blended and filled his body. His eyes fell closed as he could feel them entirely. Her light and kindness and his bravery and resolve. But what Cloud felt most was their all-consuming love filling his whole being.

"We'll never leave you, Cloud. Our love will never fade."

It was like he was falling through the water. If there was a splash, he didn't get to see it. His whole body was pulled under in one quick motion. It wasn't like sinking; no, much too fast to be sinking. Bubbles tickled his skin as they rushed towards the surface while he continued to fall deeper and deeper into the abyss.

A moment later, he recognized he must not be in the church anymore; the pool was only waist deep. The further he sunk the more he could feel Aeris and Zack assimilating with his own soul. Belatedly, he realized they were actually fusing with him. A familiar sensation; Zack had done this when he died.

His arms twitched uselessly under the immense weight of the water. He had to stop them somehow. If they fused with him like this, he didn't know if they could ever separate again. He'd have them forever as a part of his soul, but he would be truly alone. The spark that made each of them their own person would be consumed by what made him Cloud.

His eyes opened frantically and fixed on the small pinpoint of white light in all the blue and green. The water was mixed with the green tendrils of the Lifestream. Like fingers, the wisps threaded through his hair and soothed his fevered skin. It was like his body was burning from the inside out.

Cloud wanted to be able to cry; a sign Zack was almost completely a part of him now. He could hear the soft whispers of the Planet as he just kept falling; this was from Aeris. He was going to be alone. How could he fight if he didn't have something to fight for?

"Please… Don't go…"

It was too late, he realized, as he couldn't even tell where each of them ended and he began. Thoughts of them just brought up phantom sensations instead of the usual feeling of connection. Warm soil under his fingers and soft petals on his skin. The grip of the Buster Sword and taste of mako.

A small body held in his arms. Did Zack think of saving him from the labs this often?

The feeling of elation of seeing the one she loved before she died. Was that why Aeris smiled as she was murdered?

His body felt smaller all of a sudden. He forced his arm against the pressure and reached out for that small light that was now so far away. Why was his hand so little compared to what it had been?

Water rushed into his mouth but it wasn't like drowning at all. The green surrounded him and he was now falling more through what felt like air than anything else. Above the water sparkled and rippled. It reminded him of letting Aeris go at the Forgotten City. How fitting for him to go in the same way.

Little jewels floated up towards the water. He focused in on one and noticed that it shined like a diamond but it was almost perfectly round. He touched one and the tiny globe broke and wet his oddly dry fingers. Tears?

But… Cloud couldn't cry.

His body splashed into the Lifestream and he feared it would swallow him up. The falling was over and Cloud understood exactly what that meant.

He finally had his wish: he was dead.

No one was left here to welcome him.

It had been hours since he had stopped falling. The tears didn't stop for quite some time, and Cloud wasn't sure what to make of them. It had been so long since he'd experienced the feeling.

His mind had wandered restlessly across the course of his whole life while he waited to be shown the way.

Strangely, his thoughts drifted to his parents.

He could still visualize his mother's face… The one from Nibelheim. But thoughts of different sets also flooded his mind. Two parents, both filled with pride and love, from Gongaga. Two mothers, one that lived within the Planet and one that kissed the hurts and kept him—her—them safe.

Cloud tried in vain to push the thoughts of Zack's and Aeris' parents from his mind. He had been used to remembering Zack's as he had been bonded with his friend for almost a year before Tifa had unwound the two.

"That's my boy! Big, strong, and the spittin' image of his Pa."

It was ridiculous to feel anything in response to that. The rush of joy was stupid and illogical. Cloud looked nothing like Zack's father.

"You best eat all that okra on your plate, young man. Else the next time you have a run in with an ol' Touch-Me, Ma won't be able to turn you back into a boy again."

Cloud almost felt sorry for Zack. A childhood of being forced to eat distasteful things under the threat of being turned into a frog forever. Some of his memories were filled with Zack contemplating if being turned into a frog permanently was really worse than a plate of unpalatable vegetables.

Cloud's mother had been much more quiet and hands-off in raising her son. She preferred to impart life lessons after Cloud experienced something for himself rather than try to protect him from things. Zack's mother's motto had been, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

The lonelier side of Cloud missed the parents he never had more than the mother who endured her name being run through the dirt to allow him to live. Nibelheim wasn't kind to unwed mothers or their bastard sons.

Still, his heart longed to hear his mother's voice again. She had this melodic tone that calmed almost as Aeris could.

"Cloud…"

He smiled as the Lifestream seemed vibrate in rhythm with his memories of her voice. Like ripples on the surface of calm water.

"My little wolf, it's time to rise."

Rise?

He felt the sensation of warm hands cupping his face. The Lifestream cradling him was gone, which jarred Cloud out of his thoughts.

Cloud's eyes snapped open in alarm and found himself face to face with his mother. His mother. The one he watched burn to death so many years ago.

She smiled softly and her eyes crinkled with good cheer. Her hands softly caressed his cheeks and he had to force himself to take a shuddering breath to fill his empty lungs. His mouth tried to form words, but, from the silence blanketing the room, he had to guess he was failing spectacularly. His mother sat up and pet his hair tenderly. She was careful to work out any tangles with her fingers. She looked so… alive.

"Guten morgen, meine kleine Wolf."

He blinked stupidly as his brain worked to process the language he hadn't heard since before he left for Shinra as a teenager. His mother was one of the few people in Nibelheim to remain fluent in the old tongue. It was one of the nuances about their family that kept them at arm's length with most of the other villagers. For some reason, people figured it meant they had to be staunch worshipers of the old and forgotten gods as well. His mother did worship those gods, but it wasn't as if she spoke of it or held those beliefs against anyone else. Cloud had found later in life that many of the old gods were in fact real and connected to summon materia. They just weren't actual 'gods'.

Apparently, his mother had clued in on the fact that his brain wasn't working for him at the moment and she raised a curious eyebrow at him.

"A few hours into being sixteen and you're already having trouble waking in the morning? Don't grow old, my love," She laughed softly as she finished speaking and stood. She straightened the apron that Cloud just noticed she was wearing and turned to leave. With her back to him, she didn't see his hand rise of its own accord and reach out to her desperately. Would she disappear if she left?

"Mmm, find yourself soon, darling. I've been cooking all morning for your birthday," She advised happily as she left the room.

His birthday? Cloud's mind replayed what she said before that as well. Sixteen? He had spent his sixteenth birthday serving a double shift patrol in Sector 8. He remembered mostly because Zack had been horrified to hear about it.

Suddenly wide awake, he sat up violently and looked around.

He was in his childhood room and it was the exact same as it had always been. His fingers clenched and relaxed repetitively; even the sheet's texture felt familiar. A haunting poster of Sephiroth hung on the wall beside his bed. Clothes were flung about in every direction and he felt a twitch of annoyance at his younger self for the mess. The room was in every essence what you would expect for a boy his age.

Except Cloud wasn't sixteen, Nibelheim was gone, and his mother was nothing more than ashes.

None of this made any sense at all.

He stumbled out of bed and pulled on the cleanest looking clothes he could find in the pigsty of a room. The boards creaked under his feet in all the same places that they always had. Not even the Shinra replica town could copy those kinds of details. His lungs began to tighten and he started to hyperventilate to compensate with the feeling of not being able to breathe. His hands were shaking too much to even manage turning the door knob.

This couldn't be happening to him. He couldn't fucking be a teenager again. His mother couldn't be downstairs, because dead people stayed that way as long as they weren't Sephiroth.

Snarling in barely suppressed anger, he forced his hands to stop shaking and wrenched open the door. Within seconds, he was in the bathroom and had his hands pressed to the mirror. Naturally, something was wrong here too.

It was his own reflection in the mirror.

His body, his sixteen year old body, was staring back at him. No muscle, no mako, and no scars. His ear wasn't even pierced. He kept frantically pushing up his shirt to check for the scars that Masamune had left before dropping it in stunned frustration over and over.

Terrified, Cloud put his hand on the metal handle of the door and gave it a firm squeeze. Nothing happened. If he were his normal self, the handle would have been crushed. Overwhelming fear and disgust began to flood his body as he tried again with more force and found the results the same. He tore his hand away and backed up flush against the wall. His eyes darted back to the mirror. He looked like a shadow of his former self; chest heaving, arms shaking, eyes wide and wet, and paler then he had ever remembered being.

What was the point? What was he going to do for the planet like this?

If he couldn't repel Hojo's army in his old body, then it was impossible now! He couldn't even stop Sephiroth if he—

Was Sephiroth even dead? Cloud was suddenly 'sixteen' again, but did that mean that Sephiroth was just barely months away from coming to Nibelheim? Could Cloud even do a single thing to stop him?

The questions swimming in his head made him feel even sicker than he looked.

"Cloud! Love, come eat! I've prepared your favorites," His mother yelled from the kitchen.

Cloud didn't feel much like eating, but his stomach had different ideas as it growled loudly. He actually jumped in surprise slightly at the noise. His stomach hadn't growled since he had been in the labs.

With an extreme amount of effort, he reigned in his panic and set about fixing his expression to something less suspicious. It took several handfuls of water being splashed on his face to return his color to normal levels. Undeniably shaken to the core, he pressed his forehead against the cool wood of the door before exiting. It took more effort than he could even describe to finally open the door and he didn't even make it 5 steps before he had to pause again.

Poised at the top of the steps, he took one last slow breath before heading down to 'celebrate' his birthday.

It took all of one spin around town to convince Cloud that he really was in pre-mission Nibelheim. He could recognize every face in the small village. It was disconcerting considering the last time he saw these people they were either crazed clones or burning to death.

Unfortunately, it seemed as though the transition from his old life to this new one removed everything but the memories he stole from Zack. In the back of his mind, he was recalling a completely different childhood in the tropical village of Gongaga.

It didn't help that those false memories were much more appealing when compared with the real ones. The people of Nibelheim had never accepted Cloud, who had far too many strikes against him to fit in. He was a bastard child with no known father, his mother didn't keep up with the changing views, and Cloud was painfully shy as a kid. He figured most people assumed he thought himself better than them. They'd never guess all he had ever wished for when he was young was to be more like everyone else.

Still reeling with the new developments, he stopped to lean against the water tower in the middle of town. It allowed him to observe and concentrate at the same time. Walking around town was an exercise in dodging as everyone bustled about the tiny streets.

"Heh, heh… Sven! Give, heh, it back!" A girl's voice cut across his mind. His eyes widened and he felt his heart almost stop as a group of teenagers and kids came running through the area. Tifa… She was almost doubled over laughing as she tried to keep up with the boy in front who was kicking a ball away from the rest of the group. She was… so young…

And happy.

Cloud felt the real gravity of his situation finally hit him at that point.

The whole damn world was counting on him not to fuck this up.

If he failed… It wouldn't just be his mom and the town he'd lose. He'd watch Tifa die again.

Zack was probably alive somewhere out there. He'd be counting on Cloud too. And Yuffie. The rest of AVALANCHE.

Aeris was probably in her church, tending her flowers like usual, right now. She needed him to keep her safe this time. He didn't just have to fix everything the way he had before; he had to be better. That meant he couldn't let Sephiroth burn the town, kill the villagers, summon Meteor, kill Aeris, infect the planet with Geostigma, awaken the remnants… The list went on and on. He was also responsible for keeping Hojo from building his army of makonoids; something the good professor was probably doing as Cloud floundered in his hometown.

Instinctively, Cloud reached up to run a thumb over the ring around his neck and realized it wasn't there. His hand grasped vainly at his neck as though he could make it appear by magic. The dog tags weren't there either. The feeling hit him like a ton of bricks. His free hand went to his stomach and he was half surprised it wasn't covered in blood when he pulled it away. The two things he had left of Aeris and Zack were now history.

Cloud's eyes prickled as they filled with tears. It was like watching them die all over again. His breath came in shaky pants as he fought to keep his wet eyes from spilling over. He crouched down and held his head in his hands to hide his face from the world. The thought of someone seeing him was a million miles away from the front of his mind.

He needed to get his emotions in check. He may not be enhanced anymore, but his inner strength had nothing to do with that. Just because his body hadn't been through the labs didn't mean his mind hadn't. He would get nowhere if he continued to act like a frightened child.

From deep inside him an otherworldly calm filled him up. His hands shook slightly as he felt her within him. That was right… They had fused with him before he had fallen into this new life. He may not have anything to remember them by physically, but he'd always have part of each of them inside of his heart. Cloud lost himself momentarily in the comfort that the small piece of Aeris offered him. It would just have to be enough.

Unknown to Cloud, Tifa had looked up in time to see him drop down into his distressed position. She felt a wave of sadness come over her for the boy. Cloud had never really been 'one of the guys' in Nibelheim. She wondered sometimes how much of a toll that took on him. She promised herself to do something nice for Cloud sometime soon.

Finally back in control, Cloud's thoughts returned to the implications of this challenge. He was no longer enhanced; that much was obvious. So he'd have to build up strength and then find some way to get enough mako to pose even the slightest threat to Sephiroth. He snorted as he vaguely considered submitting himself as a voluntary test subject for Hojo. Whatever was left of Zack (and perhaps a little of his own feelings) inside of him let out a burst of unease and fear. Unnecessarily unnerved, he mentally soothed himself as he knew it wasn't a viable option anyway. He'd never be put in the Project S program at his current level. No, he was just going to have to do things the hard way.

Cloud spent the rest of his night continuing to celebrate his birthday with his mother. He didn't know how much time he'd have left to spend with her and it felt selfish to ignore her. Besides, it turned out that she had given him the one thing he needed most anyway: a sword. It was a small broadsword; both simple in nature and effective for his purposes. How she had known to get something like this made for him, he wasn't sure. Cloud was fairly certain he had never asked for a sword as a teenager.

"I had the blacksmith make it for you, darling. Is this what you wanted?"

He nodded as happily as he could at her. Even if it wasn't his real blade, it would do for honing his skills. Luckily, with more of Zack inside of him than usual, being happier in appearance wasn't so hard anymore.

With a keen eye he inspected every inch of the sword and was pleased to note it was well crafted if nothing else. He'd have to give his regards to the blacksmith.

It was just before dawn of the next day when Cloud 'woke'. He hadn't exactly slept, instead choosing to think over his situation some more, but eventually his unenhanced body's needs took over and he passed out for a short while. It was a small mercy that he only dreamed of the Lifestream. He half expected to wake up back in his old body in Midgar, but the reality sunk in when he recognized that nothing had changed overnight. He buried his feelings and got dressed as silently as possible. His mother had always been a light sleeper and Cloud desperately needed to get out of this house without waking her. He was in no state to be answering questions about his motives.

He grabbed his new sword and crept down the stairs. With careful placement of his feet, he managed to make it down the flight only making the boards creak twice. Yuffie would have still scoffed.

The kitchen still had the smell of his mother's amazing cooking lingering. She really had prepared all of his favorite meals from his childhood. It was a nice reintroduction into the necessity of eating. Still, he knew he'd have to avoid getting spoiled on it. His mother wouldn't be there to cook for him as he travelled to wherever his journey would take him. However, today, he could indulge, so he grabbed two of the leftover rolls from the cloth covered basket on the table. The carbs would help later.

The morning air was chilled despite it being August, which left Cloud off kilter a bit. He had long become accustomed to the endless heat of the Midgar area.

He warmed up with a few squats before breaking out into a casual jog towards Mt. Nibel. At the base of the mountain, Cloud removed his sword and preformed his usual exercises; the same ones he'd been doing for years. Or at least… he tried.

Fifteen pushups through a set of fifty, Cloud's arms began to give up on him. He tried to ignore the pain at first, but his strength gave out at barely twenty two. Growling at no one, he rolled over and started his set of sit-ups. He was able to get much further into the set, but still fell short enough that he felt his temper rising. This workout hadn't even fazed him slightly in his old body. He'd even considered upping the ante multiple times, but, since he didn't lose muscle mass, it was all just a formality anyway. It was easy to forget how much mako made a difference when it came to his body. No wonder he had failed the SOLDIER exam.

Cloud's fingers dug into the soil and he glared into the distance. He didn't have time to rebuild his strength like this. It'd take him years to even just barely reach the level of a SOLDIER 2nd.

Taking a deep breath and holding it, Cloud steeled his nerves and stood. He grabbed his sword and put it back on his back. His eyes jumped up to fix on the path up the mountain. He released the breath and took off running. He may not have time to do this, but he didn't have time to waste either.

Cloud kept at his training over the next three weeks, and, despite the agony after each day, he found himself improving much more steadily then he expected. Each mile got shorter and each set of exercises got a little closer to his hold standby. A plateau would be expected in due time, but the progress lifted his mood for the time being. His weight dropped sharply at first, and the last of his baby fat melted off, but by the end of the third week he could see the muscle filling in nicely.

This, of course, was due entirely to the fact that he spent almost all of his free time pushing his body to its limit. His mother took notice, but never tried to dissuade him. In fact, he often woke to find a meal prepared for him sitting on the table.

Over the last week and a half, his peers in the village had noticed the changes in him. The boys often tried to provoke a response, but ended up frustrated at his lack thereof. Tifa had paid the most attention of them all though. She quite frequently snuck up the mountain to watch him train, but he ignored her for the most part. Cloud figured that leaving her out of this giant mess that his life had become would probably keep her safer. She was, peculiarly, only twelve now. This meant she was the age she should be for him to still be in Nibelheim, but this gave Cloud no clues as to where his three extra years had come from. He didn't bother speculating on it; he had bigger fish to fry.

Such as the Shinra mansion. He had been mulling over the idea of burning the whole shebang to the ground. If it wasn't there, then Hojo couldn't conduct his twisted experiments there. He thought about doing the same to the reactor. Jenova had been flown to Midgar at the onset of the Wutai war for "protection" according to Hojo's diary from the future. She wouldn't be returned there until the end of the Wutai war if the diary had been correct. Cloud had no reason to question the authenticity of the book, given it had been written in Hojo's hand. He had recovered the log when he cleaned the mansion out following the destruction of Meteor. He had been looking for answers about what had been done to him and Zack in that damned lab. Unfortunately, Cloud would never be able to un-see the contents of that book.

It was on a whim that he grabbed his sword off the ground and began walking toward Shinra mansion that day. The plan seemed simple enough. Get in, get Vincent out, and then burn it.

Of course, nothing's ever simple for Cloud Strife.

"TIFA!" He shouted as the purple half of Lost Number grabbed Tifa in his clawed hand. She screamed and thrashed about as the gargantuan monster tightened its grip. He could see the blood dripping from the claw marks along her back. Why was she even here?

He had gravely underestimated Lost Number without materia and mako to back him up. It had smacked him around good and hard before Tifa had appeared out of the shadows and drawn attention to herself. For a few frozen moments, he expected her to dodge the attack like the older version would have done, but she was just a kid with no combat experience. Now he had to save her quickly.

Cloud rushed the purple half and managed to slip under the arm holding Tifa. He lunged forward and buried his blade right into the fleshy armpit of the hideous beast. It let out a horrible wail and dropped Tifa, who fell like a broken doll right to the floor. Lost Number thankfully retreated to recover, which gave him time to throw Tifa over his shoulder and, more or less, run for their lives. He didn't stop running till he had made it out of the Manor; slamming the doors shut and barricading them with the wood the villagers had taken to sealing the place up with. Lost Number's loud cry was muffled but still slightly audible from the outside. Still, it didn't seem like it was pursuing.

With a sigh, he turned back to Tifa who was lying on the ground where he had set her down. She was bleeding on her back and her leg was swelling by the minute. He suspected she had a broken leg. Her breath was even so he didn't think she'd suffered any life threatening injuries.

Cloud picked her up bridal style and started walking back to the heart of town. It wasn't the first time something like this had happened. Dread sunk in as he speculated on what her father would say this time.

It was just his luck that Mr. Lockhart was out socializing with the citizens, like he did fairly often. It was part of his duties as Mayor. His eyes landed on Cloud after a group of gossiping women had begun to scream at the sight of him and Tifa. He rushed over and all but snatched her out of his arms.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY DAUGHTER?! Tifa? TIFA!"

Cloud felt his eye twitch slightly from annoyance. She was hurt, yes, but no one was fucking deaf.

Another man came up and carefully pulled her out of her father's arms while saying something about getting her to the town doctor. Mr. Lockhart just stood numbly for a moment as they rushed his daughter away and Cloud figured this was a good time to get the hell out of there. He barely turned away when the man grabbed his shirt and yanked him back. Cloud's lips formed a tight line as he was dragged forcibly to the Lockhart's house… and then around the back of it. Fantastic.

"I told you… you… you little punk. I told you what I'd do if you ever came near my daughter again. I'm going to beat you to death." Cloud's eyes rolled from the dramatics. She had followed him. His fear about her welfare was already diminishing. Tifa was a strong girl; something like this would only be a passing event.

The seriousness didn't sink in until he saw Mr. Lockhart grab a crowbar from his pile of tools behind his house. Certainly he wasn't going to actually kill him, right? His body tensed, ready for a fight, as he contemplated his options. He could attack in return but he'd likely have the whole village on him if he did that. He could—he must have spaced out because the first blow landed then. It knocked the breath out of his body as the crowbar was applied to his gut. The swing wasn't too hard, thankfully, and Mr. Lockhart dropped the deadly weapon immediately afterwards. A punch caught him in the cheek as he reeled from the pain. It had certainly been awhile since he'd felt something like this. It almost hurt more than fighting Sephiroth. The wonders of mako. His eye swelled up as the blows kept connecting with the left side of his face. Where was his sword? Oh, right, laying against the mansion door.

As if time had finally caught up, Cloud suddenly caught the larger man's punch. The action must have stunned Mr. Lockhart, as he stopped throwing punches for a moment. Cloud took the opportunity to sweep his leg under him and knock the man off his feet. He hit the dirt hard and Cloud used this chance to put distance between them.

"You little fucking…. OUT! Out of my town by winter, Strife! If you're still here when the snows fall, I'll make sure you get locked out in them! Come anywhere near my daughter and again I WILL kill you, you worthless bastard."

Cloud didn't stay long enough to find out if he'd said anything more than that. He rushed home, stumbling every now and then as he bled into his already limited eyesight. His mother would have gutted Mr. Lockhart if Cloud had let her.

Out by winter, huh? So be it; he needed to be gone sooner than that anyway.

His training was on hold nearly a week as he healed up from his beating. Unfortunately, the time he put into planning was getting him nowhere. He couldn't burn the mansion, and blowing the reactor would harm those in town. Where was he going to go? Where did he need to go? Midgar, surely; but how? Getting across the ocean was neither easy nor cheap.

The answer came in the form of the one thing Cloud didn't even consider due to the absurdity of it: A Shinra recruitment party.