8 June 1985
Cloud held his stick in his right hand, slowly moving in the patterns Sephiroth had taught him. He swung hard enough to make a slight whistling noise in the air, disturbing the grass with his harsh whips.
He had been practicing every day for the past week or so, sometimes receiving mental instruction from Sephiroth whenever the man had the opportunity to help him. It was not the same, however, and Cloud had some difficulty learning anything new without Sephiroth there to physically guide him.
The boy paused to catch his breath, shrugging off the mental "I told you so's" he received from Sephiroth as a result of not pacing himself. He leaned on his stick to lazily hold himself up.
Where are you at now?
I have just arrived near the ocean, which I will cross to the other continent.
Ocean? What's it like?
Noisy, Sephiroth said vaguely.
Is that it? Cloud thought there would be more to oceans. The books he'd read and the pictures he'd seen always made them out to be something either great or terrible.
I'm only staying here to rest. I will leave again tomorrow.
Cloud took his weight off of his stick, stretched, and began his routine again. Baba says you're taking too long. It wasn't entirely the truth. Jenova hardly ever spoke to anybody and would go completely silent at any mention of Sephiroth.
Did she say that or did you say that?
She said it!
I don't think so. Try rephrasing your statement.
Cloud didn't answer. He was too busy whipping through the air with his imaginary sword, or so he told himself.
How has your mother been?
She's okay. She's happy that Ba lets me see her whenever I want.
That's good to hear. Have they been treating you well?
Sephiroth always asked him that question whenever he was able to communicate with Cloud. Cloud wished he could say that things were always fine, but somehow he felt that Sephiroth could see through his white lies.
Baba won't make me food at all anymore. She said I should've been 'weaned' by now. What does that mean?
It means she's crazy.
Oh. Cloud wasn't sure whether to believe that or not, though he was leaning towards a no. But it's okay. I can make my own food now that she showed me how, Cloud said proudly. Oftentimes, though, he felt it was too much work for him and he'd protested as much to Jenova once.
"Living is too much work for me, yet I still do it," she had snapped bitterly. Cloud had made sure to keep his distance from her since then.
A sigh came from the mental link. Be careful, Cloud. I can only do so much from here.
Then come back.
You know I want to, but I can't. We've been over this many times already.
I know...
Another sigh. I swear that I will be back as soon as I can, Cloud. I promise you that, Sephiroth restated for the hundredth time.
Cloud simply nodded, though Sephiroth couldn't see the gesture. He zoned out now, Sephiroth's voice periodically commenting on his actions. The boy tried to correct his mistakes whenever Sephiroth pointed them out.
"Will you look at that?" Cloud heard behind him. "He's still doing it."
Kadaj sneered down at him when he turned around. Loz snickered lightly behind his brother.
"What are you trying to do, little brother?" Kadaj spat out the last two words mockingly.
"None of your business!" Cloud clenched his fists around his stick.
"It is my business." Kadaj closed the distance between them, looking down right over Cloud. "I just want to know what my little brother is up to."
Cloud stared up into those poisonous eyes, ready to whack his worst adversary in the face. "But I'm not your brother."
"Not my brother?" False hurt was in Kadaj's voice. "Really? That's a horrible thing to say!" Glancing at Loz and then shifting his gaze back to Cloud, he said with glee, "That only means I can do this."
Cloud yelled in pain as his arm was twisted and forced between his back before Kadaj kicked him down into the grass and stepped on him.
"Get off!" Cloud cried. He squirmed in vain to get out from under Kadaj. "It hurts!" He screamed when another weight settled on top of him.
"That's rude," Loz scolded, leaning on his foot to put even more of his weight onto Cloud.
"Didn't your idiotic whore mother teach you better manners?" Kadaj moved his foot onto the back of Cloud's head. "Scream all you like," he goaded. "She abandoned you. Sephiroth is gone. Nobody is here."
"GET OFF OF ME!" Cloud screeched. He couldn't move, couldn't feel anything but the crushing pressure Kadaj and Loz were putting on him.
He couldn't even breathe.
Kadaj laughed mockingly at that and put even more pressure on Cloud, causing the boy to scream louder.
"See that?" The weight was taken off of Cloud and he was yanked up by his hair. Cloud closed his eyes as the searing pain ripped through where Kadaj had his grip on wild blond locks. "The villagers are looking at us. But they're not going to help you. You know why?"
Through tear-filled vision, Cloud looked, barely able to see anything due to the distance away from the town. He couldn't see much other than brown blurry buildings. He was spun around so he faced Kadaj, who seemed to be wincing in pain.
"Nobody wants you here. You're better off dead, kid," Kadaj said with venom. He flinched, his right eye twitching. He clutched at his forehead with his free hand.
"I'm not doing anything!" Loz shouted into the air. He was grabbing at his head as if he had a raging headache.
Cloud cried out again as Kadaj threw him a few feet away. He scrambled to get up onto his feet and tightened his grip around his stick defensively, running off towards the town and crying for help.
"Mama!" he wailed at the top of his lungs. "Ma—!" He screamed again as loud as he could when he was tripped and dragged by his leg, loose pebbles digging into his skin and scraping it.
"Shut up!" Kadaj covered Cloud's mouth with his hand, and the boy was nearly strangled for biting the hand.
"What are you doing?!" the familiar voice screeched with horror. "Let him go!"
It was his mother. She was running towards him, and she tried to free him from Kadaj's grasp. Kadaj shoved her away while squeezing Cloud, his strength causing Mrs. Strife to fall hard while simultaneously hurting Cloud even more.
"Loz, deal with the woman!"
"I can't!" Loz doubled over, still clutching at his head.
Kadaj made pained noises as well, and he started to back away from Mrs. Strife who had gotten up and started running towards him again. Cloud's head rattled as Kadaj bumped into something and nearly made the both of them fall over.
"Release him."
"But mother—!" Kadaj tried to protest.
"You are making a scene and your brother has had enough. Release him." Jenova was stern with her words though her eyes were dull, as if she wasn't entirely there.
Cloud ran into his mother's arms as soon as Kadaj had released him. He looked back fearfully, finding Kadaj looking absolutely furious, and the youngest brother appeared twice as intimidating to Cloud with his face distorted by the pain he no doubt felt in his head.
"Go home."
"I—"
"Now." Jenova left no room for argument. "You, too, Loz."
"Yes, mother," Loz said, already leaving. Kadaj lingered before finally giving in and obeying.
Jenova looked at Cloud. No, not at him, a little more upwards. At his mother. She gave her a look, then turned and left.
Cloud held onto his mother's hand as she rushed him back home, and he caught sight of the villagers staring at them, some with fear, some with curiosity, and some with disgust.
That girl he had met... He couldn't remember her name at the moment, but she looked at him with pure disbelief. Confused, Cloud focused his gaze on her the longest before he was forced to face the other way.
Mrs. Strife sniffed, her face red. She set Cloud down on one of the beds and hastily left to look for something to clean and dress his wounds with.
"You're staying here with me," Mrs. Strife said shakily, reining in the nearly uncontrollable urge to sob, "and you're not going back to them for as long as I have something to say about it." She jumped as Cloud cried out when she put alchohol on his arm scrapes. "Oh, Cloud," she sobbed. "First they starve you and now...this!"
"I don't want to go back, mom." Cloud sniffed as another realization hit him. He now knew just how far Kadaj would go without Sephiroth there to stop him.
Mrs. Strife put bandages around Cloud's arms and lifted his pants, wincing at what she found underneath. She cleaned those scrapes and stuck some band-aids on there, moving on to wipe the dirt off of Cloud's face with a wet cloth. "Oh, dear, they're not taking you back. Not without going through me," she added more reassuringly.
Don't worry, Sephiroth's voiced said out of nowhere in Cloud's head. I made sure to punish the both of them.
"I don't want to go back," Cloud repeated. "I don't want to."
He hated Nibelheim. It was too warm, too close to people, and the townspeople were terrible. He wanted to leave it.
He hated Nibelheim. There was a village there, the mountain was a maze within a maze, and the dragons made terrible neighbors in certain times of the year.
He wanted to return.
In Costa del Sol, Sephiroth panted lightly. The heat was unbearable, and that made it difficult for him to channel enough energy to give both Kadaj and Loz migraines at the same time. He rubbed at his temples, trailing sweat around the places he touched.
He felt claustrophobic and awkward with so many humans around, and he feared that one day he would snap at somebody without warning and cause a ruckus. To the best of his ability, he kept out of the public and stayed indoors. Coupled with the fact that those people stared at him and (though uncommon) even followed him, it was quite a feat. Even so, he did what he could to keep Cloud some form of company, and hearing the boy's cries and feeling his pain tore him. It took a lot of effort for him to try to defend him despite the distance, and he was exhausted, though he had a feeling the heat had more to do with that.
He used more of his spare energy to prevent his aches and pains from transferring over to Cloud (it did not take much effort, however) and laid back on his bed.
Just thinking of Midgar and how two of his brothers (although Loz hardly had anything to do with it) were going after Cloud made him sick.
Notes:
Started: 2014年1月27日（月）
Finished: 2014年1月30日（木）
Uploaded: 2014年1月31日（金）
Just in time for the original Japanese release of Final Fantasy VII! Yay! I'll go play the Japanese version now~ (Yes, I do own the discs and know how to make them work on my PS1. Also, this will be the last time until I wait on uploading fics, too, for now. I promise.)
*eats popcorn while waiting for reactions*
In response to StrikeLightning: Whoa, you're the second person (that I know of) who I've made cry with this fic! ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED! Haha, I'm kidding. XD But wow, you actually dreamed about this story? O.o But don't worry about Cloud forgetting about Sephiroth. He won't forget about him, and that's all I'll reveal here.
Okay, I see that one of the notes in the last chapter was taken too seriously. I will spell out right here: I hate Crisis Core. I hate that game so so so so much, to the point where I even try to convince myself that it doesn't exist. I have my reasons for disliking that game, and I'm sorry if it offends anybody, but there will not be any references from it in here except maybe for Zack's last name being Fair, since he never had one in the original game.