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Chapter 4: Flowers
Inspiration: Terra's Destiny Odyssey, during her travels with Cloud
POV: Third-ish (closer to Cloud)
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"You've been quiet for a while now."
Cloud was jerked from his thoughts by the petite warrior beside him, the pace of his steps picking up as he noticed he had been slowing down in his thinking. He was a bit embarrassed at having been caught like that but didn't much feel like admitting the real reason behind his mind's occupation. He locked his eyes somewhere ahead of them, not really focused but not looking at her inquisitive gaze, "...I'm always quiet."
Terra shrugged, barely a twitch of her shoulders, and murmured with a serene smile, "Alright."
She knew that often, if something was pressing on someone's mind that much, they would eventually share it. Pushing for the information would only shut him away.
They walked on in companionable silence for a bit and Terra started to wonder if he really was going to keep it to himself when he spoke quietly, "It's just... all this talk about covering the world in flowers. It has me thinking about someone." Why on earth was he telling her this? Already he felt himself regretting it at once, wishing there was a way to stuff words back into one's mouth. He hadn't talked about her in ages. He was trying to heal. So why bring her up?
Terra blinked at his words but in a moment of intuition just smiled and kept her eyes ahead of them, her voice soft, "Was this person important to you?"
Cloud clenched his teeth, wanting nothing more than to close the subject, but the words just spilled from his lips without his permission, "Yes. She was."
"Oh," was Terra's only response, slightly surprised. She wasn't sure about the 'was' that came from his mouth. Did that mean their relationship ended badly, or... was she no longer around? Either way, she felt that it would be tactless to ask about such a thing.
Fortunately for her, or unfortunately depending on how you looked at it, the dam holding back his words had collapsed and more and more of it just seemed to tumble out of his mouth, "She wanted to fill the city we lived in with flowers. It was a slum, all concrete and smog, so she wanted flowers to flood it. She had a church where they grew, even though flowers were nearly impossible to grow in the slums, and she sold them for a gil each to whoever would buy one. Things happened in our world though... terrible things, and the man causing them killed her. Right in front of me. I was completely worthless. I as good as killed her." He was surprised with himself. Both with how much he was telling Terra and how calm he could sound telling this story while his chest felt ready to collapse on itself at the memory.
Terra nibbled gently on her lower lip as she thought about what he said, wondering what on earth she could possibly say in response to something like that. She finally let her lip slip from between her teeth and murmured, "She sounds like she was very special."
Cloud could only nod, not trusting himself to speak again and have more flood out. The pain in his chest was concentrating on his heart, like a knife twisting into it. Yes... yes, she was special. And now she was dead.
"And... I don't think she'd blame you."
Cloud gave a bit of a start at Terra's words, looking at her out of the corner of his eyes. She didn't acknowledge his look, her eyes still straight ahead as she spoke, "You aren't the one that killed her and it's obvious that she's still in your heart. Wherever she is, I'm sure she's happy that you don't forget her or her dream. I know if I died I'd want someone to carry on my thoughts and dreams when I was gone. That way people would still remember me in a way that doesn't make them sad."
He didn't realize he'd stopped walking until Terra did and came back around to him, worry in her eyes, "Did... I say too much?" She realized it really wasn't her place to give him such advice and that he may not have appreciated it.
He looked down at Terra and muttered, "After she died in front of me... I felt like I couldn't save anyone anymore."
She gave a bit of a frown at his words and shook her head, "But you saved me, didn't you?"
Cloud averted his eyes, his voice almost inaudible, "I wonder..."
The look on Terra's face became a bit upset, her eyes firm, "You did. If you hadn't come, I would have lost myself to my power again. I'm sure of it."
He could only look down at the girl before him. It was true, he supposed... he happened along at the right time. He helped someone in trouble. He couldn't save everyone, but maybe that didn't mean he couldn't save anyone.
He took in the angry expression on her face, or at least as angry as Terra ever got, and put a hand on top of her head. He walked past her, his hand falling to his side as he carefully erected his walls again, "Come on. We have business to take care of, don't we?"
Terra looked after him a moment before moving to catch up, the frown lifting off her face. He hadn't rejected the fact that he saved her or that her words had merit, so even if he didn't tell her he accepted her words, it was good enough for her. At least they could be companions for a little longer.
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