To the Morrow, For the Past
Chapter 20 – A New Plan
Zack joined them just before dawn. He tripped over the prone form of Hojo (Cloud wasn't entirely convinced it wasn't on purpose) as he walked in to the camp. He waved and greeted Cloud, sitting next to the man.
"You got last watch?" He asked, picking up a stick and prodding what was left of the fire.
Cloud shrugged and looked around. "You didn't bring the helicopter?" He asked. He was rather looking forward to going back to a city, or a town, or anywhere with a bed and running water. He wasn't a stranger to camping out, he'd done it a lot both before and after Nibelheim, but he didn't enjoy it.
"Nah." Zack shook his head, "We kind of abducted a scientist..." He reminded Cloud, looking over at the unconscious man. "And until we know what we're going to do with him, I don't think we should go back to Midgar..."
Cloud nodded. He was about to reply when they were joined by Sephiroth. "I still think my idea has some merit." He said, and Cloud stared at him. Either Jenova's influence spread further than he'd thought, or Sephiroth was making a joke.
Zack, apparently, decided to take it as the joke and left out a bark of laughter. "I kind of agree, but we can't really do that..." Cloud found that he was disappointed that he agreed with Zack.
"But in all seriousness," Zack continued, "We need a plan. We're supposed to kill Jenova and save the planet, right? How do you even do something like that?" Both of them turned to look at Cloud who just shrugged.
"No idea." he told them, rubbing the back of his neck. It had been a long night. He hadn't even tried to sleep – he knew what awaited him in his dreams and he wasn't ready to face that. "But I think we need to think of the more immediate problem." He gestured at Hojo. "We can't kill him – he might still have answers that we need – but we can't let him go. We can't keep him – I'm pretty sure that Shinra wouldn't be too happy about us kidnapping their head of science – but we don't have anywhere to hold him. Until we figure out what we're going to do with him, we're stuck here."
The other SOLDIER's nodded and they both looked at the man. If it were anybody but Hojo, Cloud might have felt bad about the minimal shelter they'd given him. He had a sleeping bag on and was put by the fire. That was it. No tent, no thermal insulation. They hadn't even given him a hat. He was probably freezing.
"Well... if we want to get answers out of him, we need to wake him up. Maybe once we have answers, we'll know what to do with him?" Zack suggested.
"I may have a solution." Sephiroth spoke up. "We can't kill him, keep him... We should let him go."
"But we jus-"
"We can't let-" Zack and Cloud spoke at the same time and stopped abruptly when Sephiroth held up a hand.
"We are not the only ones disgusted by his actions." He started, "The people of Wutai believe him to be a demon and a symbol of Shinra's evil. I propose that we... leave him on Wutai."
Zack and Cloud looked at each other, then back at Sephiroth. "But... They'd probably torture him." Zack pointed out, and Sephiroth shrugged. He didn't care. Cloud could understand. The idea of Hojo being tortured was somewhat appealing. Sickening, but appealing. They wouldn't be the ones doing the torture, so it would be somewhat out of their hands.
Still... "That would make us no better than him." He admitted with a disappointed sigh. "No. He needs to be dealt with humanely. Treat him like a prisoner of war."
"Even after everything he's done?" Sephiroth questioned, "You still want to give him leniency? We should throw him in the Northern Crater and be done with it."
"He's under Jenova's influence." A soft voice joined theirs as Aerith approached. "He tried the serum on himself first. Every negative thought he's had in the last twenty five years has been amplified. She changed his way of thinking and effected his morals. He was never a nice man, but he wasn't always like this."
"So you think that after we take out Jenova, he'll be nicer?" Cloud asked, disbelief evident in his voice. Aerith just shrugged.
"I'll wake Zeke." She said quietly, "He should be a part of this conversation too." She left before Cloud could protest.
Zeke was only a child. A nine year old boy that had been thrown in to a terrible situation, and Cloud wanted him to have nothing to do with this. But Aerith was right. He was a part of this, a very important part, and he deserved to have a say.
It only took her a few minutes to return, dragging behind her a disgruntled Zeke. He looked positively grumpy to have been woken up at such an early hour. He offered the group a glare and dropped himself to the ground in front of Cloud.
"Just give him back to Shinra." Zeke grumbled. "He attacked me, I knocked him out. Self defence. Call it an accident."
Could it really be that simple? Hojo hadn't really woken up enough to know what was going on since he'd been knocked out in Nibelheim. Their story could hold water. "If we know where he is, we can go and get him another time, when we know what we need to ask him." Cloud added, contemplating Zeke's simple solution.
The other men hesitated, both looking at the prone form. "It... makes sense." Zack said eventually. "I mean, if we didn't, we'd pretty much have to defect, right? And right now, Shinra has resources we can use... But..." He looked at Cloud, "Wont he keep coming after you?"
"Probably." Cloud admitted, "And I still have no idea what he put in the mako to effect me..." Why was his life always so complicated? Couldn't he go back to the time when he was just a delivery boy and a father? That had been nice. No end of the world to worry about, no (real) enemies, no threats. He missed it.
"It's still the best idea we have right now." Sephiroth was reluctant, but he agreed with Zeke. "As Zack said, if we don't, we would have to defect."
"I'd rather we didn't do that." Everyone seemed surprised that it was Cloud that said that. "In my time, I was classed as an escaped experiment. The entire army was sent after me and my mentor. It took them a year, but they finally managed to track us down, and when they did, they came at us in full force. He died, and I barely got out alive. If we defect, something similar will probably happen. And I wont let it. Not again."
No. He'd have to bring down Shinra from the inside. Bring the whole company down before they left. Otherwise they'd never get any rest and nowhere would be truly safe.
"So we'll give him back, and deal with the consequences when they come up." Cloud finished, looking at the others to see if they agreed.
Sephiroth turned to Aerith, "You are our appointed leader." He said, a small sly smile on his face. "What do you say?"
Aerith shook her head, "We're far enough away from Jenova. You can be in charge." She said quickly and Cloud couldn't help but chuckle at the look on her face. "But I agree... on taking him back."
That was one problem decided on. Next, "Aerith... How long until Jenova's people get here?" He asked, "They hadn't come in my time..." So they should have at least fifteen years, right?
"When you came here, the planet reacted, and then again when Zeke got here, and when I was given her memories." She said. "In your time, they were just wondering the stars and headed towards us, but now... Jenova felt the fluctuations in the lifestream. She... called for a Reunion."
Well that wasn't good. Not good at all. But Cloud hadn't felt it, he hadn't heard the siren call. "I never felt it." He said, and Aerith shook her head.
"She called to her people, not to herself."
"I'm sorry, what's going on?" Zack asked, looking completely bewildered.
"Reunion." Cloud muttered, "I told you Jenova can control her cells?" Zack nodded, "Reunion is where she calls to gather them all up. Anybody possessing live J-Cells can't resist the call and will go to her. Regardless of where she is. It's... instinct." Cloud had succumbed to Reunion once. Chased Sephiroth around the globe to answer the call. He hadn't realised it at the time – he had thought he'd had his own reasons – but in hindsight he could see it for what it had been.
"So she's summoning her people?" Zack asked, still looking confused, "And they're going to come here. To do what?"
Aerith gave a little shrug and Cloud thought on it. "When Sephiroth – the Sephiroth from my time – went insane, he wanted to give the planet a massive wound. The lifestream would come up to the surface to heal it, and he wanted to absorb that power to make himself a god."
"Yep. He was nuts." Zack muttered, giving an apologetic smile to Sephiroth.
Cloud chuckled and nodded, "When that didn't work, he wanted to poison the lifestream so he could make the planet die and move on to the next. He wanted to ride the planet to a new one."
"You believe that it was Jenova's idea?" Sephiroth interjected, "Rather than.. his?"
Cloud nodded. "From what I can figure out, Jenova is a parasite or something. A parasite will use the host, and when the host dies, move on to the next. Maybe that's what they're trying to do? Or they might just want a place to settle and take over."
"If they live here, they'll die here." Aerith said quietly, "And if they die on the planet, they'll join the lifestream here and poison it."
"Wait-" Zeke sat up, suddenly a lot more awake. "If they die on the planet they'll join the lifestream?" The others just nodded slowly at him, wondering if he had a point, or if he was just now understanding the nature of life. "So... what happens if something dies above the planet, not actually on it? You wanted a way to kill Jenova without her joining the lifestream, right?"
Cloud frowned, he could see where this was going, and the idea... might work. "You want to send Jenova in to space?" He asked, and Zeke nodded. "And then what, make the rocket explode?"
Zeke shook his head quickly, "No. I want to send her in a rocket, and keep it going. If Jenova's people are trying to get to her because of Reunion, they might follow her and leave us alone!"
They paused to think for a moment and Zack spoke up with a shrug. "I mean... it's not a bad theory... Even if it doesn't work, and the aliens don't follow her, we've still got rid of this one..."
"There's only one problem." Everyone turned to Sephiroth as he spoke. "We have no way of getting her in to space."
"Shinra No. 26..." Zeke said slowly, "The space ship that Cid's gonna fly..."
Cloud had completely forgotten that, while the space program had been big news before the war, it had mostly been forgotten about since, and wasn't all that well known any more. Zack and Sephiroth were giving Zeke blank looks and Cloud decided to come to their rescue.
"Shinra No. 26 was the last prototype of a rocket that Shinra were developing. There's a model of it in the lobby of the Shinra building... I don't think it's finished yet..." He looked at Zeke who shook his head.
"Cid said that they tried the first launch in January 03."
"Eighteen months from now?" Sephiroth asked and Zeke nodded to confirm.
They sat for a moment, contemplating things. "I think," Cloud said slowly, "That we should take Hojo and return to Midgar. We can look into the space program from there and see if there's anything we can do to speed up the process. Aerith-" he turned to the flower girl, "Does the planet know how far away Jenova's people are?"
She paused for a moment, closing her eyes and then shook her head, "Not exactly," She said quietly, "This timeline is different from the others... but... soon... Maybe a year at the most?" She seemed unsure, and a little upset that she couldn't give them a better answer, but Cloud would take it. It was better than nothing. He smiled at her in thanks and stood up, stretching his sore muscles.
"If we take too much longer to get back, we'll raise questions."
"You guys stay here." Zack said after a minute. "I'll bring the helicopter out here... So you don't have to deal with Jenova again..."
Right. That. Cloud nodded his thanks and Zack set off at a run.
"I don't like that he's involved." Aerith said softly, still sitting beside Cloud. "We have to be but Zack..."
"Zack wouldn't let us leave him behind." Sephiroth reassured her, "If we tried, we would have hell to pay."
– – – – – – –
The trip back to Midgar was mostly silent, nobody wanting to say anything in front of the pilot. Hojo had been strapped in to one of the seats and was lay slack against it. Cloud couldn't help but keep looking at him, as if ready for something to happen.
Zeke was leaning as far as his restraints would let him, trying to see the ground passing below them. He'd always had a fascination with flying – ever since that first trip to Kalm on his first birthday – and was mostly content and quiet.
Aerith didn't seem to like flying. She kept her hands clasped around Zack's in a tight fist, holding on as if she were afraid that she'd fall if she let go. The dark haired SOLDIER just held on to her, giving her silent reassurance.
Sephiroth was reading something on his phone and didn't look up for most of the flight, seemingly content with whatever was on the screen. Cloud supposed that he was rather used to it by now.
Cloud just tried not to vomit. His stomach was rolling. He hated helicopters. With a passion. Airships were fine, he could deal with those. They didn't rock nearly as much. Boats weren't a problem, as long as they were big enough. Little boas rocked and swayed and were all around awful. Even the submarine had been better than this. Cramped and claustrophobic, but it never felt like they were actually travelling while using the sub. All in all, he felt pretty green and was somehow managing to keep his stomach contents down when Sephiroth finally looked up from his phone.
Something was subtly put in Cloud's hand and he tore his eyes from the horizon only long enough to look at it. It was a small pill and Cloud recognised it as a medicine for motion sickness. He swallowed it whole and dry, hoping it would kick in quickly.
– – – – – – – –
The helicopter landed and the party disembarked. Cloud hung back and snagged Aerith's and Zeke's clothing to make them stay too. He waited until the pilot was gone and the engine shut down before talking to them. "I have to stay above the plate." He told them, wishing with every fibre of his being that he could go below with them. "I have to make sure my position here hasn't been compromised." They both nodded in understanding.
Zeke wrapped his arms around Cloud and placed his head on his shoulder. When had he gotten so big? The boy was almost as tall as Cloud was now, and he was only nine. Cloud returned the gesture, holding his boy close for a moment. "Don't let anybody know who you are." He said quietly, "If they find out..."
Zeke nodded and pulled back, allowing Aerith to sweep in for a brief hug. "I'll look after him." She assured him. "He'll be safe with me." And Cloud believed her.
– – – – – –
Zack had volunteered to take Aerith and Zeke home since Cloud had been summoned to the Director's office almost as soon as they landed. Cloud knew he could trust Zack to be careful, and he could trust Zeke and Aerith to protect each other, but that didn't make seeing them leave any easier. He felt like a hand was squeezing his heart, crushing it tightly.
He felt Sephiroth's hand on the back of his shoulder and realised that he was attempting to silently comfort him, while still looking somewhat professional. To anybody who saw them, it looked like he was leading a SOLDIER to the office.
He took a breath. It wouldn't do to break down in front of the director. If he could get through the next few hours, he was sure that it would hurt less. They were safe, after all, it wasn't like they were gone for good. They were less than a mile away, after all.
– – – – – – – –
After the official debriefing, Sephiroth had asked for a moment alone with the director. Ignoring his curiosity, Cloud dutifully waited outside for Sephiroth and cursed the sound proof walls. It really was only a few moments before Sephiroth emerged, face unreadable. He stopped next to Cloud and took a breath.
"Food." He said, taking Cloud's wrist and pulling him to the elevator. Apparently Cloud didn't have a choice about eating, and he was too stunned that Sephiroth was dragging him along to resist. It wasn't until they were in the elevator that he looked down at their hands and then back at Sephiroth.
"I'm not going to run away..." He told him, shaking his arm as if to remind Sephiroth that he was still holding Cloud's wrist.
There was a moment's hesitation before Sephiroth let go, face flushing lightly pink. "Sorry." He muttered, and Cloud realised that Sephiroth was actually scared.
"Hey," Cloud's soft word caught Sephiroth's full attention and he looked at him.
Cloud threw a hand behind him and pressed the emergency stop button, giving them some time. "I'm not going anywhere." He reassured him. Until this point, he hadn't thought about how his disappearance would effect Sephiroth. Hadn't he been close to Angeal before he'd defected?
Sephiroth didn't say anything, just looked away as if embarrassed.
"Sephiroth." Cloud spoke again, "I'm okay."
That seemed to help a little, and Sephiroth gave a nod, eyes still averted. Cloud didn't know what else he could do. He was a little lost when it came to comforting friends. So instead, he changed the topic. "So, food?" He asked, releasing the elevator again, "I'm kind of sick of the canteen. Lets go somewhere else."
Sephiroth gave another nod. "Perhaps there's somewhere in Sector 8." He suggested, and Cloud remembered a place that Zack had told him about once.
"I think I know somewhere..." He nodded.
– – – – – – – –
"Tell me again, that you're not dating Sephiroth." Zack's arm was once again around Cloud's shoulders. The smaller man sighed and shook it off to turn and look at his friend.
"What are you talking about now, Zack?" He asked with slow irritation.
Instead of answering with words, Zack fiddled with his PHS for a moment, and Cloud's beeped. With a raised eyebrow at his friend, he opened it to find a forwarded email from... The Chocobo's Sword? Again, he raised his eyebrows.
"Your fan club." Zack prompted and Cloud groaned. "Look at it." Why did Zack sound so gleeful?
"Another sighting of our Chocobo confirms that he's close to Sephiroth. They were seen together out on a romantic evening meal in Sector 8's Tonberry's Knife, a well known romantic get away for Shinra employees."
Cloud's eyes narrowed as he read the mail. There were even some badly taken photographs of Cloud and Sephiroth. Sephiroth had a half smile on his face, as if he were trying not to laugh, and Cloud remembered that moment. Cloud had told Sephiroth a ridiculously bad joke that Zeke had once told him, and he'd been amused at the absurdity of it. Opposite him, Cloud was openly laughing at the same joke.
"This is just minutes after we heard reports that they were seen holding hands in the Shinra building, and that the emergency stop had been pressed in their elevator. Were they up to some naughty shenanigans? Time will tell."
Cloud sighed and closed his phone, pinching the bridge of his nose. "How can people take things so far out of context?" He questioned, "We weren't holding hands."
Zack was still grinning, "Cloooouuuuuddddd," He drew out his friend's name in a mildly mocking tone. "You're totally dating." He added, laughing, "Weather you realise it or not."
"We're friends Zack." Cloud reminded him and Zack just laughed harder.
"You've never taken me to a restaurant. Or for a long, sunset walk on the edge of the plate." Why did he find this so funny? He knew Cloud's history now, he knew why Cloud was reluctant-couldn't! So why was he pushing things.
Cloud scowled at him and saw Zack's mirth fade as he turned away from him and stormed away.
– – – – – – –
The lock on the door didn't slow Cloud down much. He picked it and let himself in to Sephiroth's office, slamming the door behind him before beginning to pace the room.
The man behind the desk sighed and put his head in his hand for a moment. "The door was locked..." He said slowly, but put his pen down anyway, watching his friend pace.
"Cloud?" He prompted after a moment.
Cloud stopped dead and turned to Sephiroth, "We're not dating!" He shouted before taking a breath and continuing with his pacing.
"I am painfully aware of this fact..."
"Then why are we the only ones who believe it!?" Cloud was still scowling. His emotions were already a mess. He didn't know why he was venting to Sephiroth, of all people, but Zack had seemed way too happy with the idea, and Cloud didn't really have anyone else at the moment.
He supposed he could go down to the plate and talk to Aerith about it, but that had too many risks. No doubt the Turks were in a tizzy with her having disappeared for three days.
"Ah." Sephiroth's voice brought him back to reality, "You saw the post then."
Yes he saw the post! It was very much out of context and who names a fan club that anyway! A thought occurred to him and he stopped his pacing, turning to Sephiroth. His scowl had been replaced with a frown.
"Wait... How did you see it before me?" Cloud was sure that Zack would have come to find Cloud the moment he'd got the email. Which meant it was sent maybe ten or fifteen minutes ago. So how... "Sephiroth..." He said slowly, "Are you a member of my fan club."
To his credit, Sephiroth ignored the flush that appeared on his cheeks and shrugged, "Knowing what rumours are going around is practical." He stated, "Lest one is brought up that I know nothing about."
Yeah. That sounded like bull to Cloud, but he'd let it slide. Suddenly exhausted, he threw himself down on the chair in front of the desk. "Sorry." He muttered, gesturing behind him at the door. Maybe he shouldn't have let himself in like that. He'd just been so worked up about everything. And he still didn't know why.
Sephiroth shook his head and looked down at the paperwork on his desk. "Do you think..." He said slowly, "That the potential threatening person that I have been tasked with watching," a small smile played at Sephiroth's lips. "Might be found somewhere outside?"
It took Cloud a moment of confusion to realise what Sephiroth was asking. They'd had a similar conversation once when Cloud had lured him away from his paperwork. A small smile formed on Cloud's face before it disappeared. "Probably not." He said sadly, "He probably doesn't want any more rumours going around."
"Hmm. I hadn't realised that he was one to worry about such things." Sephiroth countered, and for some reason, speaking like this was easier for Cloud. Almost like it wasn't actually about them.
And Cloud realised that Sephiroth had a point. Why was Cloud so worked up about the rumours about them? It wasn't like it actually effected him. He wasn't exactly perusing anybody else that would be put off, and he was sure that Sephiroth wasn't either.
"I think you might be right." Cloud said slowly after a moment. "Then, why don't we go and check the edge of the plate again?" At least it was already dark. It was quite late at night and there was no way this could be taken as a sunset walk. It would be nice to get away from Shinra for a while.
– – – – – – –