DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN FINAL FANTASY OR ITS CHARACTERS!
Chapter 25: Finding Cloud
After training with Yuffie in Wutai's mountains for a few days before going to Rocket Town, we found out about Tifa's and Barret's sentence. We hurried with a plan to rescue them, fortunately Caith Sith contacted us, and we only needed to group up with Red at Cosmo Canyon (Vincent had decided to stay with Cid). Needless to say, that Meteor was now viewable from the orange sky, which cause panic and fear to every person in every town, and they all blame the AVALANCHE for it, since that's what Shinra stated. All respect I may've had on Rufus went immediately down the toilet, hence the reason why we're walking around Juno in disguised. Shera made a really good reporter out of me, getting my whole hair into a bun along with business cloths and a big sunglass.
One more time, we were planning something big and this time, failure wasn't an option, but first thing first, we needed to rescue Barret and Tifa from this place and get ourselves out. As soon as Barret and Tifa entered the room, Scarlet stood up and ordered the camera to start filming in their direction.
"What the hell is this? Who are these people!" Barret demanded.
"Why, we're recording your sentence, after all the public need to know that the ones who caused this catastrophe upon us are being punished, kyahahahaha!" Scarlet said with that cocky voice of her.
"Why you_" Barret was being restrained. I began to get anxious as well.
"We're start with the girl." Scarlet ordered.
"No, if ya' all executing someone, I'll be first!" Barret shouted, but only caused Scarlet to laugh.
"Kyahahaha! Camera this way, people just love goody good-byes… the people won't admit it, but they love this kind of stuff, kyahahaha!" She was saying while entering the gas chamber after Tifa and the soldiers.
"When do we interfere?" I whispered to Cait Sith who was beside me with a disguise.
"Soon… we have to wait for the right moment?"
Scarlet exited the gas chamber and the alarm went on suddenly. Weapon was approaching Juno and everyone but the soldiers and Scarlet, fled the area. Cait Sith used that chance to knock Scarlet down with sleeping gas while I put on my gloves and sprint towards one of the guards and jabbed, crossed and hooked the guard down. Cait Sith took care of the other guard while I was freeing Barret from his restrains.
"Cynthia! Didn't recognized ya' and you! I thought you were a spy!" Barret shouted while testing his gun.
"Let's just say I'm against public execution… let's get Tifa out of here!"
"Right" Barret rushed towards the gas chamber's door, but "It won't budge! We need a key!"
"Then let's hurry and look for one, Cait Sith, where to?"
"Follow me everyone" Cait Sith hopped his way out and led the way.
"Tifa! You hold your breath as long as possible, we're getting you out of there!" Barret said.
"Hurry Barret! I can't hold forever!" Tifa said behind the door.
As we stepped outside the doors, that despicable Scarlet locked the doors.
"Now you can't save the girl, fools! Kyahahahaha!"
"That witch! Cait Sith! What now?" I said.
"Oh boy, time for plan B… let's get to the airship, fast" Cait Sith said
"What! I ain't leaving Tifa!" Barret yelled at Cait Sith
"We're not leaving her, just, trust me!"
…
The airship was now taking off, and I suddenly saw a familiar figure moving outside on top of Juno's cannon, minutes right after Weapon was taken down by the cannon.
"Cid! It's Tifa, Cait Sith go and tell Cid to fly underneath the Cannon, Tifa's there!" anxiousness was almost taking over.
As soon as the airship went underneath the Cannon, I threw the stair case and not a second later Tifa jumped off and grabbed the stairs. It was almost like a miracle. As Tifa was on the airship's cockpit, I extended my hand to help her in.
"Welcome back, teacher!" I said with a smile.
"Thanks… " she forced a smile "What's this?"
"It's an airship! It's Cid's and we can ride on it, obviously! He said he was gonna teach me how to drive it too, cool right?" I said.
"You sure gave me a scare! Let's get down, everyone is waiting!" Barret said getting inside the airship.
"Everyone?" Tifa followed quickly after Barret, and a certain uneasiness overwhelm me, the time has come to plan our next move, and even though I was afraid of what might happen and what might not happen, I was willing to go on with it, I was going to stand beside my friends to the very end, and we were going, somehow, with some miracle, stop meteor from destroying the planet.
…
"What, does Cloud has to be here in order for us to be able to do anything? When did you become such a wimp Tifa? We started out fine without him, how come we need him so much now?" Barret was saying to Tifa as I entered the bridge.
"I know, I'm sorry… but… I need to find him." Tifa wasn't looking at Barret at all.
"Hey kid, don't you worry… we might not find him in the end, but we also got a chance that we might find him too, he isn't death. This baby will take us anywhere. I like Cloud, but I never really understand the kid, he was weird, plain weird, when I thought he was smart, he ends up doing something stupid… "
"He was a 4th dimensional person… I think." I said getting everyone to look. "You know what a 4th dimensional person is?"
"What hell is that!" Barret shouted.
I tried not to laugh at all, I wanted to look as serious as possible. "He's someone like Vincent… hmm, you know their usually quiet and serious and hard to make them laugh and stuff like that, a 4th dimensional person is someone who is weird in his own world, it's a slant we use… well, back home we call those people 4th dimensional." Everyone just stared at me… until I swear I heard Vincent chuckle.
"So, you're saying I'm weird then?" Vincent said.
"Yup, in your own word!" I was now holding my laugh with everything in me… until suddenly everyone started laughing as well.
"Well, then, Cid… where can we start? I need to find Cloud and I'm sorry if I'll make anything hard for you guys."
"No problem, but, where do you think we should start? I hadn't the slightest idea where to start looking for Cloud."
"How about around the planet's wound?" I said.
"Can't, that place is impenetrable for the time being!" Barret responded.
"When we left… " Red started "There was a lot of lifestream overflowing from the place… maybe Cloud was washed up by it… I remember grandfather used to tell me a place where everything was washed by the lifestream ended somewhere."
"Where?" I asked.
"I can't remember… "
"Then we should go to Cosmo Canyon and ask Bugenhagen. Cid, can we?"
"Of course we can, we should be there in a couple of minutes… you should eat something in the mean time."
…
Right after we left Cosmo Canyon, Cid headed the airship towards the South. There was suppose to be some islands there, and there might be a chance that Cloud ended up washed up there. For some reason, the possibility of Cloud being dead was zero. I was hanging alone on the cockpit, the hard wind hitting my face. I heard footsteps coming.
"You changed… so much. I remember how a crybaby you were when we first met, now look at you." Tifa said getting by my side.
I turned to look at her. "Yeah… hard to believe, huh?"
"You have no idea."
As I stared at Meteor, I wondered how much time left we had. "Cloud, he isn't a puppet… You don't believe that, right?"
"… I… really don't know. I need answers… "
"Well, I think Sephiroth twisted the truth… I don't believe that psycho… They say that the true always comes into the light… so those answers you're looking for… you're will find them."
"I hope so…"
"Tifa! Cynthia! Get your asses over to the bridge!" we heard Cid's voice from the intercom.
"Yes sir!" I gave small smile to Tifa and we went together towards the bridge.
…
There was a nice little village in one of the islands, so we started looking here. I went to one of the shops to stock up, and as soon as I entered the shop a mad-lady was running around all over the shop. Apparently she was buying everything she could lay her eyes on. When I went to pay at the counter, still staring at the lady, the cashier told me this was her third shop she visited, she was only worried about spending her money on everything she could buy.
"All that because she's sure the world's ending!"
" 'Fraid so, but I'm not complaining to be honest."
When I went to look for Tifa and Cid, they were talking to some old villagers… when I approached close enough.
"It's Cloud! It's got to be him! He's at the clinic, everyone let's hurry."
So we did, unfortunately… when the nurse took Cloud in a wheel chair…
"Cloud! What's wrong? Oh, no, please tell me that you can hear me? I'm here Cloud… please answer me… tell me that you can hear me… see me… "
Cloud, wasn't acting like Cloud. He seemed disconnected, he's words weren't working; he couldn't control his head to look up properly. It was, like he wasn't even there, only physically.
"Please, come with me… Let's leave them alone… I'll need to explain his condition." The doctor went outside the clinic, and we followed. He began to explain, that he was over-exposed to a large amount of Mako energy. It was all injected into his brain all at once.
"To be honest, I'm surprise that he's even alive." The doctor commented.
"Will he get better? Is there any treatment, therapy?" I asked while my heart wanted to burst out of my chest and my face and throat were burning.
"I don't know, all we can do is pray… "
Tifa exited to clinic, she looked like she was going to say something, and she did. She was going to stay at Cloud's side until he gets better. And so, that was that.
… … …
I have major writer's block; I don't know what else to write. Nothing wants to come out of my head. Well, this all I could manage, please… REVIEW! And thanks so much for reading ^,^