Chapter Fifty-Two - Breaking of the Fellowship

"Huh. You know, I think I might know where that is. Yeah, small world, huh? Anyway, you think the Tiny Bronco can make it to Gongaga? Well, yeah, obviously not all the way to Gongaga, but there's a bit of coastline east of there... Uh-huh. Cid would know. So see you in a couple days."

Zack closed his phone and looked across at Kunsel. "Cloud has a lead on the temple."

Kunsel didn't take his eyes off the road. "I heard. Figures it'd be near Gongaga."

"Well, the actual temple might not be there. The priestess they talked to gave them directions for finding the way to get into the temple."

"I don't suppose we know what we're looking for? A map? A key? A teleporter?"

Zack stared at the side of Kunsel's face until Kunsel glanced over at him and shrugged. "Didn't get much sleep."

"Never would've guessed. Want me to take the wheel for a while?"

Kunsel laughed. "Like I'd be able to sleep with you driving."

"Hey, I'm not that bad." Zack took a look back. "Well, never mind. Aerith and Tifa are both out and I wouldn't want to wake them."

"They did help out a lot with those sahagins back there."

"And the skeeskee that tried to sneak up on us afterward." Zack chuckled. "I've never seen anyone apologize for hitting a monster over the head."

"I think she was apologizing more for screaming while hitting it. Remind me never to sneak up on Aerith. Ever."

Zack laughed before covering his mouth and checking to make sure he hadn't woken either of the girls. "So, should we camp in the hills outside Gongaga or crash at my parents' again?"

"ShinRa might know about this way in, too, so I think we should avoid the town. Best not to press our luck any further than necessary."

"Yeah. Aerith is going to be pretty disappointed, though. She really likes my mom."

*7*7*

"You're not smoking!"

"Don't $&^% tell me what to do on my $^%& plane!"

"I will unless you want me to barf all over your plane!"

"Stuck up brat!"

Cloud did his best to block out the argument going on at the front of the plane. He certainly had enough to think about, usually ignoring everyone wouldn't be a problem.

Except he really didn't want to think about what he had to think about. Listening to Yuffie and Cid bicker, until Vincent stepped in with a glare that could freeze Gongaga in the middle of summer, seemed pleasant in comparison.

Especially since he might not get to listen to them for much longer.

How much longer was one of the many things he was struggling with. He'd promised Izayoi to see Yuffie safely back to the rest of the group, so another day at least. But how was he going to slip away then? Everything he came up with ended with Zack and Tifa leading a search party to find him. He had to find a way to leave without that happening. Preferably something that didn't involve him telling anyone why he had to leave.

There was no way anyone would let him leave after that. They were too forgiving, too self-sacrificing for their own good. He would not let any of them die because of him.

"You're troubled."

Cloud jumped at Vincent's voice. How the man managed to walk without making a sound in those armored boots scared Cloud more than just about everything else about him.

Vincent didn't react, he'd probably grown accustomed to people jumping around him. "I don't care what it's about, but if it affects your ability to lead us..."

"It won't." Cloud met Vincent's cold gaze with an icy one of his own. He would not be intimidated. "I'm only leader until we meet up with Zack and the others. I can handle it."

"Good."

*7*7*

Cid glowered at the buggy before rounding on the rest of the team. "Which of you yahoos is responsible for this?"

At average height, the only human male shorter than Cid was Cloud. Still, everyone, even Barret, backed away from Kunsel. For his own part, Kunsel raised his hands in defense.

"We were attacked! Several times!"

"Yeah, well we ain't goin' nowhere in this thing 'til I give it a good once over. Y'all stay here and don't touch anythin'!"

Barret glared at Cid's back as the pilot stormed down the beach to the Tiny Bronco. "What crawled up his ass?"

Zack shrugged. "What hasn't?"

Behind them, Cloud motioned for Tifa to step away from the group with him. She felt a little apprehensive about it. He shifted nervously and wouldn't look at her.

"Is something wrong?"

"Tifa... I know it's late and now might not be a good time but..." He held out a brightly colored bag with Wutanese symbols running down one side.

She looked from the bag to him. He had his face turned away from her. The gesture reminded her of something, but she couldn't be sure what. "Cloud? What's this for?"

"Solstice. It's okay if you don't want..."

"Of course I do." Tifa took the bag and opened it. Inside sat a little oval hair clip. A traditional Wutanese water pattern dominated the surface with a faint dusting of cherry blossoms along the top edge. She looked back at Cloud. He had dropped his arm but still stubbornly refused to look at her. "It's beautiful."

He turned just enough so he could glance at her from the corner of his eye. "You don't mind?"

"No. Why would I mind?"

The only answer she got was a shrug.

*7*7*

Children milling about, all excited. All except one who never even came inside.

So many presents. Bright ribbons and tissue. Except one small box wrapped in brown paper.

All the presents were handed to her from the children who brought them. Except that one.

It appeared on her doorstep after everyone left for home.

*7*7*

"Tifa. Hey." Barret's voice roused her out of the memory-dream.

Still groggy, she yawned before answering. "Is it my shift already?"

"No, it's jes' Cloud wen' ta use the toilet and hasn't come back. I want ya ta keep watch while I look fer him."

Tifa nodded even though she wanted to look for him, too. What could have snuck up on Cloud and defeated him without a sound?

*7*7*

He was afraid of that. Sure, he could avoid detection easily enough, but Barret was stubborn and just might get lost looking for him. He was leaving to avoid putting his friends in danger, not lead them into it.

When had he started thinking of Barret as a friend?

Probably around the time when he started thinking of people other than Zack and Tifa as friends.

Nothing to do about that now. He slipped out of the bushes behind Barret.

"What are you doing here?"

Barret spun around, gun arm halfway up. "Cloud? Damn, can't see under all'a these trees. Where ya been?"

"Behind a bush. Why?"

"Ya was takin' too long! Thought som'in' mighta eatin' ya."

Cloud shrugged. "Sorry."

"hmph Jes' head on back. And try to find a closer spot next time."

Cloud didn't sleep much the rest of that night. Bits and pieces of strategies and contingency plans flitted through his head. None of them satisfactory.

Sneaking off in the middle of the night had seemed like his best bet, but he had been counting on not being seen. He thought Barret was the least observant. Disappearing during his own watch was out of the question. It was irresponsible and cowardly.

The whole thing felt cowardly. Staying, leaving, no matter what he did he felt like he was running away.

Dawn spread over the jungle before he decided that he just had to wait and look for an opportunity. Izayoi had said that he had to leave when he felt he was getting close to what he was looking for. Maybe he still had some time.

*7*7*

The view from the sea cliff was, at the risk of sounding cliche, breathtaking. Literally, with the wind factored in. Aerith took one step toward the rocky ledge before gasping and almost jumping back into Zack's arms.

"It's like the wind is trying to suck me off the edge!"

Zack tried, and failed, to repress a chuckle. "Nah, it's just that the wind is coming off the land this time of day. You get here in the morning and the wind is going the other way."

"Hmm. It's a little scary."

"It's okay to be scared." Zack hugged her tighter and turned to the others behind them. "You guys can do what you like, there's something I want to show Aerith."

Barret waved his good hand. "Fine! Jes' don' ferget what we're here ta do."

Cid snorted. "We'll be luck if they remember we're even here once they're outta sight."

"Wha... Eeeew! Can't they save that for an inn or something?"

Aerith turned deeper shades of red until Zack led her out of earshot.

"It's not far. There!"

Following the line of Zack's arm and finger, she gasped. Barely a few yards in front of them a small stream rose from the edge of the cliff in a frothy spray. "How does it do that!"

"There's always an updraft at the edge. Little streams like that one get caught in it so they look like they're flowing up."

"It's beautiful." Aerith leaned into Zack. "But it's a little sad, too. The stream never gets to meet the ocean."

"Sure it does. It just takes a little longer." Zack pointed up to the grey clouds gathering further out to sea.

"Kind of like us."

Zack laughed and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess so. I hadn't really thought of that."

She looked up at him. "I don't know why you left such a wonderful place, but I'm glad you did." She hugged him and buried her face in his shoulder. Thank goodness he had left his armor behind this once. "Maybe it's selfish of me. I'm just so glad I met you."

"Hey, you make it sound like I'm going somewhere."

"You did once. I know it wasn't your fault, but sometimes I get scared."

"Aerith..." Zack pulled away, holding her steady by her shoulders. "To me, you are the most wonderful, beautiful girl in the world. And I've met a lot of girls. Wait, that came out wrong."

Aerith laughed through the tears building in her eyes. "I think I know what you meant."

"Uh, right, so... huh." Zack looked around, then at his feet, then at Aerith. "I really should do this when your mom and my folks can be here to witness it, but until I can make it official... Aerith, I want to marry you."

He expected her to be happy, excited, something. Instead he was faced with nothing. Was she in shock? But he'd already almost proposed once.

Finally, she smiled. Weak and maybe a little forced. "You're sure?"

Zack's jaw nearly dropped to the ground. "Am I...? Aerith, I've already almost proposed to you once, I spent almost a year running around the planet to get to you, of course I'm sure!" When he saw her look away his voice dropped. "But, if you're not..."

"That's not it. I did try to move on, but I couldn't. And when you came back I was so happy. I'm still happy. But there are things I'm not sure about. Things about who I am and what that might mean for the future."

"Then talk to me." Zack held her shoulders as he looked down into her face. "Please. I don't care that you're an Ancient. To tell you the truth, I've know about that for years. One of the Turks let it slip once. But knowing that doesn't matter. I. Love. You. So, please, trust me."

Aerith finally met his gaze. "I do."

*7*7*

Zack and Aerith were off somewhere, Nanaki was keeping an eye on Yuffie, Barret and Cid were having a friendly (for them) argument, Cait seemed to be trying to get Vincent to say more than two words in a row, Tifa was cleaning up the last of the lunch stuff, and Kunsel was reading. Maybe now would be a good time to slip away.

"Cloud?"

He stopped but didn't immediately acknowledge Tifa's presence. It was probably childish, and he hated himself for it, but this sudden inability to find even a few moments by himself frustrated him.

Tifa stood a few paces behind Cloud, shifting from one foot to the other. "I was thinking I should have given you something for the Solstice, too, but I couldn't think of anything."

"That's fine."

"No it's not! You gave me such a lovely gift and I haven't given you anything!"

Cloud couldn't face Tifa now. Even the way they stood, she could probably see pink along his hairline.

Words. He had to come up with something to say that would put her mind at ease. But nothing came. There probably weren't any words that would work. Not when he was planning to leave as soon as possible.

Tifa spoke again. "Well, since we might be here a while, I thought... maybe... I could teach you a little more martial arts."

Cloud nodded. He didn't trust his voice.

They started out with a review of the stances. Again, Tifa was somewhere between impressed and shocked at how well Cloud caught on. As they moved on to punches, she noticed that the few times she had to correct him was because he was trying to mimic her movements exactly. Something that was, at best, awkward because of the difference in height and sex.

The power behind his strikes scared her a little, too. She knew she couldn't risk sparing with him.

That thought reminded her of the first lesson she gave him. Red rose in her cheeks at the memory of his face hovering over hers, his eyes wide and lips slightly parted.

Cloud noticed. "Tifa? Are you okay?"

"Hmm? Oh, I..."

Kunsel chose that moment to save Tifa from Cloud's question. "Can I have a minute?"

"Yes. Of course. It's about time we took a break, anyway."

Cloud glanced at Tifa as if to say that he wasn't buying it, but nodded, anyway.

"Right. So, I was going through these logs when I ran into a list of names. There's one here that I was wondering if you'd recognize."

Cloud looked down at the line Kunsel pointed to. "Aske Strife." Bits of memory came to him. A sad voice, his mother crying, an old shoe-shine kit with the initials A.S. scratched into the bottom. "That's... Why? Why is that name there?"

"It's a list of rector personnel who submitted to medical examination. Apparently it was part of some preliminary studies for the Jenova project."

"But, that doesn't make sense." Tifa frowned. "None of the people at the reactor were from Nibelheim."

Kunsel turned to her, eyes wide with curiosity. "Really? Why's that?"

Cloud's voice, barely audible as it was, surprised them. "It's dangerous. They say the dead pass through the mountain on the way to the underworld."

"Huh. I guess that's not too far off considering all the mako in... Hey! Where are you going?"

Cloud ignored him, hoping that if he said nothing then maybe his companions would let him go. A foolish thought, but he suddenly felt desperate.

A hand, small, calloused, and so beautiful, wrapped around his wrist. "Cloud?"

He shook his head and kept walking. That is, until he bumped into a solid object wearing a maroon sweater.

"Can you at least tell us where you're going?" Kunsel said.

Nothing.

Kunsel took a deep breath and tried again. "Look, I'm sorry if I brought up something I shouldn't've. I'm just trying to figure out what's going on."

Still nothing. Cloud didn't even twitch.

"Cloud? You still in there?" Kunsel tilted his head slightly, trying to get a better look at Cloud's face.

At that moment, Cloud jumped back. His hand was halfway to the hilt of his sword before he seemed to remember where he was and sort of relaxed. Before even Kunsel could react, Cloud turned and ran for the treeline.

Tifa and Kunsel started after him but were stopped by the appearance of a red cape in their path.

"Leave him be."

"Leave him?" Tifa gaped at Vincent. "Why? He needs help!"

The whole event drew the attention of the rest of the team. Cid knocked some ash off his cigarette before speaking. "Ya can only help someone if they want it, and that kid doesn't seem ta want anybody's help."

Kunsel frowned. "He's not a kid, you know."

"A kid's a kid no matter what age." Cid shrugged. "And that one's almost more of a kid than the princess."

Tifa looked ready to protest until Kunsel set a hand in front of her face.

"He's right. In case you haven't noticed, he doesn't really act twenty-one."

Barret snorted. "When I was that age, I was workin' the coal mines an' courtin' Myrna. I git ta Midgar an' there's kids that age hangin' round doin' nothin'. Age got nothin' ta do wit' it."

"Got to do with what?" Zack would pick that moment to come back. He looked around before turning serious. "Where's Cloud?"


Yes, yes, I stole the chapter title from LotR. It's one of my favorite stories of all time. One of the first I was introduced to, even. And it seemed to fit. I had thought that Cloud would stay with the party until after the return to the Gold Saucer, but it doesn't seem to be working out that way. So what now? Some very bad stuff. Hope you like it!