Disclaimer: I do not own FF7 or any of the FF7 characters. FF7 and the FF7 characters rightfully belongs to Square-Enix. I own nothing.
Alright, Chapter 7. I hope that you guys like this chapter. Most of it is a flashback/dream that Cloud's having. The flashback/dream part is at the very beginning and it's in italics. There's also the Cloud/Tifa pairing in this chapter. Oh, and this chapter also ends kinda open too, but it'll pick right up in the next chapter. Anyways, please feel free to leave a review/comment to let me know what you all think. Reviews/comments are always appreciated.
On the Run for Freedom
Chapter 7
In the small mountain village of Nibelheim, inside the inn, Cloud was upstairs in the bedroom looking out the window. His eyes widened as he watched Tifa outside walk past one of the houses. He continued gazing out the window, unable to take his eyes off of her. The infantryman pressed his hand on the wall next to the window when he saw her hair blow in the wind. The blonde remained in his trance as he took a deep sigh and said, "She's so beautiful."
"Yeah, she is really pretty," a familiar voice said behind him with a chuckle.
Cloud's eyes instantly widened in surprise as he quickly turned around. As he turned around, he nearly fell back into the wall. He saw Zack standing in front of him, smiling. Cloud's face turned red with embarassement, he had no idea that someone was behind him. He didn't want anyone to know about his long time crush on Tifa.
However, Zack already suspected that after they went up to the mako reactor. Cloud got injured during the mission, so Zack and Tifa brought him back here to recover. Zack was watching out for him while he was unconscious. After he woke up, the older man asked him if he knew Tifa. Zack suspected right then because he thought that the infantryman was acting so strange after he asked him that. Zack thought that Cloud was going to die of embarassement or something. During that time, Zack also discovered that Cloud looked up to him as a hero. Cloud told Zack that he's never seen him use the Buster Sword. When Cloud said that, Zack instantly remembered when he said the exact same words to Angeal a couple of years ago.
Cloud still felt really embarassed at Zack's sudden intrusion, he really hoped that Zack didn't know that he likes Tifa. Cloud looked up at Zack with his eyes wide and his mouth dropped open. The blonde had both of his arms stretched out and was up against the wall. His whole terrified looking expression started to make Zack feel a little uncomfortable.
"Sheesh, I'm not that hideous am I?" Zack asked with a small smile.
Cloud quickly managed to snap out of it and stood up straight. "Um, no sir!" He answered nervously in a shaky voice.
"Okay." Zack gave his friend a cheerful smile. "Oh hey," Zack reached into his pocket and held up his cell phone before continuing, "I got your text message." He put his phone back in his pocket before excitingly saying, "So come on, let's go to your mom's house!" Zack grabbed Cloud's wrist to try and lead him out of the room, however Cloud pulled away and managed to get out of the SOLDIER's grip.
"No, I can't." He shyly looked down at the wooden floor.
Zack's smile faded away. "Why not?"
Cloud continued looking down at the floor. "I changed my mind."
Zack placed his hands on his hips and said with a disappointed sigh, "You mean that you're not going to visit your mother?"
While still looking down at the floor, Cloud shook his head.
Zack couldn't fully understand why Cloud had suddenly changed his mind. He really hated the idea of Cloud not visiting his mother at all while they were there. Zack quickly thought of a way to try and change his friend's mind. With a big smile on his face, Zack replied, "Oh, come on Cloud. Visiting your mom ain't gonna be bad. As soon as she sees you, she'll run up to you and give you a big hug, like this." Zack suddenly marched up to Cloud, wrapped his arms around his waist, and picked him up. Zack now held onto him to where Cloud's arms were trapped at his sides and his feet was a few inches off of the floor.
"Hey Zack, put me down," the infantryman ordered in a surprised tone. He grunted as he struggled futily to try and squirm out of Zack's grip.
Zack ignored him. "Then she'll drown you with kisses, which I will not do. I'll leave that up to her," he joked with a loud chuckle.
Cloud stopped squirming as he smiled at his friend's words, trying not to laugh. "I mean it, put me down."
"Then finally, she'll ask you a lot of questions like," Zack briefly paused and changed his voice to try and sound like a woman, "Oh Cloud! It's been two long years since I've last seen you. Why haven't you written me any letters? Why haven't you came to visit?"
Cloud couldn't help but laugh at Zack's mother impersonation. Through his laughter he told him, "Zack stop it."
Zack ignored him again and continued talking in a feminine sounding voice, "What do you have to say for yourself young man?"
Personally, Cloud liked it when Zack would goof off and play around with him. Although Zack is his commanding officer, it reminded him that they're best friends too. Cloud's face started to turn red from laughing so much. Cloud managed to stop laughing long enough to give Zack a big smile and answer in a playful tone, "Zack, go be stupid somewhere else."
Zack looked up at Cloud with wide eyes and gasped at his answer. He continued talking in a feminine sounding voice as he loudly replied, "Cloud Strife! That's no way to speak to your mother young man. Why, I have every right to turn you over my knee and paddle your backside!"
Just as Zack said the last part, Sephiroth walked in. The general gave the two young men a strange look, confused at the whole scene. Zack and Cloud's eyes widened in surprise when they turned their heads and saw him standing in the doorway.
"I knew I should've went with that group of Seconds to Fort Condor," Sephiroth said with a sigh.
"Hey, isn't that where Kunsel went?" Zack asked as he continued looking over at Sephiroth.
"Yes Zack. Anyways, I should've went with them because whenever you two are together you're enough to make anyone go insane," the general replied.
'Hm, he must be in one of those moods,' Zack thought to himself.
Sephiroth walked towards a nearby wooden table as he told them, "Don't mind me, I'm just here to get my water bottle. You two carry on whatever it was that you were doing," Sephiroth calmy ordered.
"Um, we're just playing around," Zack explained, trying to sound serious. He was doing his best to not burst out in laughter at the whole situation.
"Fascinating," Sephiroth replied in his usual calm and serious tone. He obviously didn't really seem to care what they were doing as long as it didn't involve him. "I'm going back to the Shin-Ra mansion, so don't bother me." He looked at Cloud, who's face was red with shyness and embarrasement and said, "Zack will be in charge until I get back." He soon left after he grabbed his half filled plastic water bottle off of a nearby table. After the general left the room, Zack couldn't help but softly chuckle when he thought that he heard Sephiroth call them 'strange' or 'weird'.
Cloud let out a sigh as he roughly planted his forehead on Zack's shoulder and in a dissapointed tone, he told him, "Great job Zack. Now the general probably thinks that we're messed up in the head or something."
"Do you want to see your mom yet?" Zack quickly asked him. Almost like he didn't hear what his younger friend said.
"No, I want too. I..I just..." Cloud was unsure of what to say.
With his arms still wrapped around his friend, the SOLDIER carried him over to a nearby bed and plopped him down. Zack sat down on the bed next to him. "So, you still don't wanna see your mom?" Zack asked in a voice that sounded almost disappointed.
"No," Cloud answered plainly.
Zack suddenly looked at him with a sly smile. "Is that your final answer?"
Cloud looked down at his hands and nodded his head in response.
Suddenly, before Cloud even had a chance to act, Zack quickly jumped to his feet and playfully pushed him down on the bed.
Cloud quickly sat back up and asked in a confused tone, "Hey! What are you..?" Cloud didn't even get a chance to finish the rest of his question. Zack didn't waste any time and began tickling him, going for the blonde's chest, stomach, and ribs.
Cloud fell back on the bed and bursts out laughing as Zack mercilessly continued his tickle assualt.
"No, Zack!" Cloud shouted through his endless laughter as Zack continued tickling him. "Don't!" He shouted again as he brought his knees up close to him in a futile attempt to shield himself.
Zack joined in on the laughter and replied loud enough for Cloud to hear him, "I'm not stopping until you decide to go to your mom's house."
Cloud's face started to turn bright red from laughing too hard. "Can't!" He managed to shout through his laughs.
Zack smiled down at him and asked, "Can't or won't?"
Cloud didn't answer, instead he tried to roll over on his stomach to try and shield himself again. However, Zack quickly flipped him back over and continued tickling him.
"Is it a 'yes' yet?" He asked with a big grin on his face. Zack laughed at him when he heard Cloud suddenly let out a high pitched laugh. After hearing that, he joked, "And squealing like a little girl isn't an answer."
Cloud couldn't take it anymore. His face was bright red and his insides felt like they're about to burst from laughing way too much. He finally submitted as he shouted, "Okay, okay, okay!"
Zack suddenly stopped tickling him and sat back down on the bed next to him. Cloud remained lying on his back, trying to catch his breath as he's finally able to stop laughing. Zack looked down at him and smiled, "So, that's a yeah?"
Cloud nodded his head. His face started to return to its original color.
"Alright, now come on. We don't have time for anymore dilly dally. Let's go," he said in a cheerful voice as he grabbed Cloud around the wrist and helped him get up. Before they left, Cloud jogged over to the round wooden table in the center of the room and grabbed his helmet. He quickly put it on as he followed Zack out the door and down the stairs.
As they started going towards his mom's house, Cloud started to feel uncomfortable. "I don't know about this Zack. I mean, I um, I never made SOLDIER," he looked down at the ground and stated in a saddened tone, "she's going to be so dissapointed with me."
Zack looked over at him. "No she's not. I think that she'll be really thrilled to see you."
Cloud kept his eyes on the ground and replied, "But I promised her that I'd be in SOLDIER and I'm not," Zack placed his arm across Cloud's shoulder as his friend sadly said just above a whisper, "I failed."
Zack slightly raised an eyebrow and answered in a firm tone, "Hey, don't talk like that. You're still in training, remember?"
They soon reached Cloud's house, after he gazed up at his small white house with wooden trimming, the blonde shyly turned around in an attempt to leave. However, Zack stopped him by stepping in front of him and placed both of his hands on Cloud's shoulders.
The infantryman grabbed Zack's arms, trying to get out of Zack's grip so that he could go back to the inn. "I'm sorry, I can't do this Zack."
"Come on man. You can't come to your hometown without seeing your mom. I mean seriously, you haven't seen her in two years."
Cloud stopped struggling and swallowed hard as he listened to his friend's words. He really does miss his mother, and he would've felt terrible if he didn't visit her at least once while he was there. Unable to meet Zack's eyes, the young blonde revealed in a shaky voice, "I want to see her, but I can't let her see me like this."
Zack looked down at him as he answered, "Don't worry buddy, I got your back. I doubt that she'll be mad at you just because you're not in SOLDIER. I mean, you were a fourteen year-old boy when you promised her that, right?" Zack slightly tilted his head some in an attempt to try and see his younger friend's face, which was being halfway hidden by his helmet. Zack managed to see some of Cloud's face and noticed that he's blushing. The SOLDIER knew Cloud long enough to know the answer why his face was red. His face was red because he was feeling nervous. With a comforting smile, Zack stated, "Trust me. She's going to be really happy to see you. I know she will."
After he took a few deep breaths, Cloud answered, "Alright, you win."
Zack gave Cloud a big smile and patted him on the shoulder. "Good."
As they turned around, Cloud asked the older man, "Are you still going with me?"
Zack let out a small chuckle. "Of course."
They soon reached the front door of his house. Cloud took another deep breath as he slowly reached towards the wooden door. Once his hand reached the door, he just rested his hand there.
After about thirty seconds of just standing there, Zack looked at him and finally said, "Um, Cloud? You just move your hand to.."
"I know how to knock on a door," Cloud interrupted him in a slightly annoyed tone.
Zack raised his hands up in defense. "Okay, okay. I'm just sayin'."
"Sorry, I'm just..." Cloud nervously apologized.
"It's okay. Do you want me to knock for ya?"
Cloud looked down at the ground and shook his head. After he took a long deep breath, he finally knocked on the door.
A few seconds later, a woman with blonde hair wearing a pair of green pants, a brown shirt, and a white apron who looked like she's in her mid-thirties opened the door to greet them. She had a surprised and a confused look on her face upon seeing two soldiers at her door. "Hello," she paused for a couple of seconds to think of what else to say, "how may I help you gentlemen?"
Zack kindly smiled at her. 'Boy oh boy, you sure can tell that she's Cloud's mom,' he thought to himself. He was a little surprised at seeing how much her and Cloud resembled each other. "We just want to talk, that's all. May we come in, please?"
"Oh, yes of course." The woman moved over more to the side and invited them in.
After they walked inside, Cloud was a little surprised to see that the interior hasn't changed at all. Everything still looked the same as the day that he'd left to join the army.
"So um," Mrs. Strife thought of what to say, "is something wrong?" The last part of the question sounded very worried and concerned. She could feel tears threatening to breach through her eyes when she thought that something bad may have happened to Cloud. She couldn't think of any other reason why these men were here.
"No, not at all ma'am." Zack turned his head towards Cloud and smiled, "Someone just wanted to visit you."
Since Zack was looking over at the soldier standing next to him, Mrs. Strife also looked over at him.
Cloud took that as his cue to take off his helmet. So, he slowly raised his hands up to remove it. As he took it off, he stopped about halfway to where he held the helmet in front of his face. After a couple of seconds, he took a deep breath and lowered it to reveal himself to his mother.
The woman's mouth dropped open in surprise. "Cloud!" Mrs. Strife excitingly shouted with a big smile on her face as she tightly wrapped her arms around her son. "Oh, I've missed you so much," she told him. She gave Cloud a kiss on the cheek, followed by a couple of kisses on his forehead. She soon ended the embrace and gave him a warm smile as she started to get a little teary-eyed.
The young infantryman smiled back at her. "It's really great to see you too mom." Cloud looked over at the young SOLDIER member standing next to him. "Oh, mom? This is my friend, Zack Fair."
Cloud's mother kindly smiled over at Zack and shook his hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Fair. My name is Skye Strife."
Zack gave her a kind smile and replied, "It's great to meet you too ma'am."
"Will you be staying for dinner Mr. Fair? We're having stew."
"Yeah sure, stew sounds really good. By the way, you can just call me Zack."
"Oh, okay Zack." Skye focused her attention back on Cloud. "You've grown. Come over here so that I can take a better look at you," she ordered in a gentle voice as she grabbed the blonde by the wrist and led him in the center of the room with better lighting.
Zack let out a small chuckle when he saw Cloud's face turn red at his mother's actions. Once in the center of the room, Cloud's mom walked around him in a full circle. Cloud stood still and allowed his mother to look him over. "You have grown!" She exclaimed with a big smile. "I thought you did, you look taller now." She gently placed her hand on the side of Cloud's face and smiled. "You're so handsome too," with a soft chuckle she added, "I bet that the girls never leave you alone."
Cloud's face slightly turned red again as he shyly looked down at the hard-wood floor. "Um, not really."
His mother placed her hands on his arms and noticed his Shin-Ra infantryman uniform. Not knowing what kind of uniform that it was, she curiously asked, "Is this a SOLDIER uniform?"
Cloud's eyes suddenly widened at her question. He wanted to be honest with her, but he also didn't want to disappoint her. His mind went completely blank all of a sudden and he didn't know what to say, "N-no, it's um.."
Zack walked up behind him and placed his hand on his friend's shoulder as he interrupted him, "It's a SOLDIER 3rd Class uniform."
Cloud's eyes widened in surprise and his mouth slightly dropped open. 'Did he just...?' He thought to himself. He couldn't believe that Zack just lied for him. He really wasn't expecting that.
Skye gave her son a cheerful smile. "Really? Oh my, I'm so proud of you Cloud. I knew you'd make it in, you've always been such a good hardworking boy."
Zack gave Cloud and his mother a warm smile as he told them in a proud tone, "Your son's a great SOLDIER, ma'am." Cloud and his mom looked over at Zack as he continued, "He's actually one of the best that's ever served under my command, you have every right to be very proud of him."
"Aww, that's nice. Thank you, Zack. I'd be proud of him even if he wasn't able to make it in," she said in a sweet voice. "Oh, I have to check on dinner. Both of you boys can make yourselves at home. I'll be back in a minute."
"Do you need any help, mom?"
"No I got it sweetie." She went into the kitchen to check on the stew.
Zack and Cloud sat down on a nearby couch in the living room. "Hey Zack?" Cloud asked in a nervous sounding tone.
"Huh?" Zack asked as he curiously looked around the room.
"Did you really mean that?" He asked, looking down at his hands, his voice slightly shaky as he spoke.
"Mean what?" Zack asked.
Cloud continued looking down as he answered, "That I'm one of your best men?"
Zack smiled at him and gently patted him on the shoulder. "Of course I did. Seriously Cloud, have I ever lied to you?"
Cloud looked up at him and scratched his arm as he recalled, "Well, there was that one time when you said that my shoe was untied and it really wasn't."
Zack let out a small chuckle. "Dude, that was on April Fool's Day. You're suppose to joke around with people on that day."
Cloud looked down again. He forgot that incident happened on April Fool's Day. "Oh yeah."
Zack smiled at his friend as he said, "Your mom's really nice." Zack chuckled and told him, "She actually kinda reminds me of my mom."
The blonde looked up at Zack with a slight smile.
After a couple of hours, the stew got done cooking. The three of them sat down at the table together to eat.
"So Zack, where are you from? Were you born in Midgar?" Mrs. Strife asked in a kind voice as she stirred up her bowl of stew with her spoon.
Zack took a quick sip of some water before he answered, "No ma'am. I was born in a small village called Gongaga."
Skye let out a soft chuckle and said, "Gongaga? I like the way the name of your village sounds. It sounds so adorable, like baby talk." She softly chuckled and asked, "What's it like there?"
Zack swallowed a mouthful of delicious stew before he answered, "Um, well it's about the size of Nibelhiem here. It's out in the country. It looks kinda jungle like in some areas," Zack suddenly stretched out his arms as he informed, "and there's also a lot of really big mountains."
The woman smiled across the wooden table at him. "Oh, that sounds beautiful."
After being quiet throughout some of the conversation, Cloud started to scoot his chair out from under the table to leave. "Please excuse me, I'll be back in a couple of minutes," he politely explained as he stood up and began marching towards the bathroom.
His mother smiled as she called after him, "Okay, hurry back sweetie." After Cloud left the room, Skye looked over at Zack and gratefully said, "Thank you so much for being a good friend to my son, Zack."
"Yeah, you're welcome," the SOLDIER answered, unsure where this is going.
Skye's expression saddened as she explained, "When he was a young boy, before he left here, he never had any friends except for that Tifa girl. All the other kids were always so mean to him. They'd always call him names and start fights with him. Why, one day he came home with a busted lip. I was so furious that I just 'bout had a stroke. He did tell me that he gave the boy a black eye who did that to him."
Zack's expression also saddened as he continued listening to the woman's story. He couldn't figure out why the other kids treated Cloud like that. I mean, how can anyone be mean to someone like Cloud?
"Back when he was nine, he snuck out of the house and followed little Tifa up Mount Nibel because he didn't want her to get hurt. When she crossed a bridge, the wood broke and she fell through. She was holding onto the bridge trying to climb back up. Cloud ran over there and tried to pull her up." She leaned back in her chair and sighed. "They both fell through, she ended up in a coma-like state for a week."
"If you don't mind me asking ma'am, what happened to Cloud?" Zack asked in a sympathetic tone.
"He got hurt too, not as bad as Tifa. He managed to get away with scarred knees," she sympathetically answered. "After that," she paused to take a deep breath, "Tifa's father thought that it was Cloud's fault for what happened. Other than me and Tifa, everyone in the village blamed Cloud over that. They blamed him so much, that Cloud actually started to believe that it was his fault." She made a fist and lightly pounded on the table as she recalled, "Mr. Lockhart was wrong, I know my son. My Cloud's a sweet boy, he's no trouble maker."
"I'm sorry to hear that ma'am."
"Please, don't be," she said in a sweet voice.
Zack looked over at her and slightly raised an eyebrow.
"I just wanted to let you know that because he's never had much friends. I truly am grateful that he has a friend like you. I can tell that you're a very sweet young man," she told him in a kind motherly sounding voice.
Zack gave her a kind smile at her statement. "Thank you, ma'am. I'm very grateful too that he's my friend."
Mrs. Strife gave Zack a warm smile and told him, "He thinks a lot of you by the way."
Unsure of what she meant, he gave her a slight confused look and asked, "Excuse me?"
She leaned forward in her chair as she responded, "What I mean is that when he looks at you, he gives you a look like a young boy would an older brother who means everything to him," she revealed with a warm smile.
Zack didn't know what to say after her statement. He didn't know that Cloud had such a tough childhood. The SOLDIER wished that him and Cloud were from the same village, if so, he would've been his friend back then too. He couldn't help but feel bad for his friend. He already knew that Cloud looked up to him as a hero, but it made him feel good on the inside to hear someone say it.
With a kind smile on her face, Skye reached over and gently patted Zack on the hand. With pleading eyes, she told him, "Please, be a good friend to my son."
Zack returned the smile as he used his free hand to lightly pat her on the hand. With truthful eyes, he looked up at her and promised, "I will, you can trust me ma'am."
Cloud's dream suddenly fades away and he slowly begins to open his eyes. He looks around through blurred vision, unable to make much of anything out through his groggy eyes. He can feel himself slowly rocking back and forth and he can hear flowing water. After a couple of minutes, his vision starts to clear and he sees a bright blue sky above him. He squints his eyes when he sees the bright light from the sun. It looks like it's the middle of the day because the sun is shining really bright in the middle of the sky. He suddenly feels someone touch his leg. He looks down to see that it's Zack giving him a friendly pat on the shin.
"Hey, welcome back buddy. How ya feeling?" He asks as he smiles down at him.
Cloud remains silent as he looks at him with a tired and dazed look on his face. He sees that Zack has an oar in his hands. He soon realizes that they're in a boat. He figures that they must be navigating through some kind of river. Zack's sitting by the blonde's feet, using a single oar to navigate through the water. Feeling tired and a little nauseous from motion sickness, the blonde starts to close his eyes.
Zack looks down at his friend and notices that he looks a little pale. "Hey?"
Cloud opens his eyes and looks up at Zack.
"You okay?" He pulls off one of his gloves with his teeth and reaches over and gently places his hand on Cloud's forehead. "Hmm, you don't have another fever." Zack removes his hand and puts his glove back on and continues rowing. "You had a fever last night. Scared me." Zack smiles down at him before telling him, "I know that you probably miss our motorcycle. I do too." Zack lets out a sigh and says, "Sadly, during that ambush a couple of days ago an infantryman just felt the urge to throw a grenade at it. Man, good thing that we wasn't in it." Zack looks down and with a disappointed sigh, he states, "That jerk..I liked that motorcycle."
They've lost all of their supplies in that attack, even their food and water supply. So since then, they've been relying on nature and nearby villages for food and water.
Suddenly without any warning, the river's current becomes a lot stronger. "Hold on, buddy," the ex-SOLDIER orders as he struggles to steer the boat. Waves begin crashing and slamming into the sides of the boat as Zack struggles to steer past some large rocks. However, the water's current is forcing them towards a large amount of jagged rocks that's sticking up out of the water. Knowing that their only chance is to make a swim towards shore, Zack quickly throws down the oar in the boat.
Glancing over at his friend, Zack notices that he's still awake. Cloud's eyes slightly widen in surprise and confusion when the former SOLDIER suddenly grabs him. "Come on!" Zack orders in a loud voice, trying to talk over the sounds of the crashing waves so that Cloud can hear him. While tightly holding onto his younger friend, Zack urgently plunges them both into the river.
Okay you all, there's Chapter 7. I know that it ended kinda open, but I promise that Chapter 8 will pick up right where this left off at. Anyways, I hope that you all like it and please feel free to leave a review/comment to tell me what you all think about it. Oh, and just so that you all know, I'm going to end this story with Chapter 10. So, Chapter 10 will be the last chapter for this story. I just thought that I'd let you all know. In this chapter too, I was trying to make Cloud act a little bit kiddish in the flashback scene because he was sixteen on that part when they were in Nibelheim. I was also trying to make Zack and Cloud act very buddy-like in that scene, haha. About Cloud's mother's name, I got her name from Chibipinkbunny. At first I was just going to have her go by 'Mrs. Strife', 'Cloud's mom', and 'Cloud's mother' because I couldn't think of a name for her. But then Chibipinkbunny came to my rescue, haha. She gave me the idea to use 'Skye Strife' instead, and I liked how it sounded. So I decided to use that, thank you so much Chibipinkbunny, I really appreciate your help with that. Oh, and when Zack told Cloud that he got his text message, that was referring to the part in Crisis Core when Cloud sends him a text asking him if he wanted to go to his house with him because he wanted him to try his mom's cooking. He also said in that text that he felt more comfortable if Zack went with him. I really like the close bond that Zack and Cloud have. When it comes to characters that are best friends in video games, they're definitely my favorite. Anyways, I hope that you all like this chapter and I did have a lot of fun writing it.
