If Cloud Strife had known that his reward for defeating Sephiroth several times over meant becoming the Planet's sole Guardian, he might have hesitated. For the title sounded grand, yet there was a darker side to it.
He began to panic when the kids began to have their own families. Everyone by this time had aged in their own ways. Except for him. Even Vincent began to feel his age now that he was no longer host to Chaos.
"Oi, how the hell is it you still look twenty something, eh?" Barret asked one evening.
"Dunno." Cloud hadn't noticed until now. He compared himself to his friend, who had peppered grey hair.
Then there was Tifa. She had one strand of grey that grew bigger by the year. Wrinkles and laugh lines on both of them. It had been a while since he had seen the others, but he recalled how the last time he seen Yuffie, she too had began to age with a few small strands of greys and deep laugh lines.
Vincent still visited the bar occasionally, dropping by when not working with Reeve. However his visits were few and far between. He admitted that he could feel his body aging on the inside. Yet he was still perfectly fine on the outside. Even so his body was slowly giving out on him.
And here was Cloud Strife. Not a day older than twenty five in appearance.
He didn't notice. Cloud rarely saw a mirror. He lived day by day, occasional mercenary but stuck with his delivery boy job. Drop by the bar to ensure everyone he was fine. It was all the same routine.
Until it was pointed out that he hadn't aged.
The next morning Cloud pulled one of his disappearing stunts and left without saying a word. It had been a while since he had done this, so of course some of them called his phone. Cloud ignored them, instead focused on finding his own answers.
He traveled far, until he reached the Northern Crater. There he stood, staring off into space. Where was he supposed to go? He felt drawn here for some reason.
Just when he considered leaving he felt her presence.
"Aerith?" He looks around.
"I know why you're here." She replies with a sigh.
She was just at the corner of his eye to his left. He caught his breath, hesitating to turn to have her in full view. It had been years since he last seen her. Hell, even thought of her and the guilt began to eat away at the realization.
"You don't have to be guilty for moving on." She chided. He almost flinched.
"Anyway. You've been chosen as the Planet's Guardian."
"And what does that mean?" He asked.
"You are her champion. To guard her from anything that would destroy her. For this to happen, your life span is deeply attached to the Planet. Should she be close to death, so will you. Until the threat is eliminated."
"... So I am to be like this forever?" Cloud had a hard time wrapping his head around this news.
"I'm afraid so." Aerith nods solemnly.
It took him a while to fully process this realization. He still didn't think he understood it all even as he came crawling back to the bar and explained as best he could to Tifa.
"Guardian of the Planet?" She tests the name out.
"Shouldn't that be a cause for celebration or something?" Barret asked, then caught the sour expression on Cloud's face. "Right. You'd be all alone, wouldn't you?"
It was a fear of his. After pushing everyone away at one point, losing all of them became his greatest fear. And it looked like Gaia had some messed up sense of humor.
The news of his position as Guardian of the Planet didn't spread far. To anyone who wondered about Cloud's inability to age, they blamed on the mako and whatever experiments Hojo had done to him. Vincent was an easy prime example to compare, and eventually he was in on the secret too.
And so the years passed ever so slowly. However it was slow and quick to Cloud. He watched as everyone he knew passed on into the planet. He knew when their time came due to their close connections. And soon he heard the hum and hymn of the planet.
It was as if she turned him into a new shepard. He understood why she chose only one person. He was resilient enough that no amount of influence from a dead alien would control him. If he had another as a companion by his side would lead to too many struggles and pain on both ends.
Even so being so lonely tore at him.
And so Cloud slept. He found a cave, and promptly followed Lucretia's example and jumped into a pool of mako. In seconds he crystallized. Forever trapped in sweet slumber.
For centuries he watched from the Lifestream. He watched as the planet recovered, greenery and fauna returned. From the ashes of Midgar, Edge became it's own sort of paradise that Midgar only dreamed it could be.
For a time the planet was flourishing.
Then there was a taint. Cloud sensed it, but he couldn't quite pinpoint where this taint originated. Then before long he sensed it in the Lifestream as well.
Slowly Cloud pulled himself away from the well he had been using to watch over the planet. Unlike the taint in the planet, he could sense where the one in the Lifestream was. It left a taint that he could follow.
What he didn't expect was Sephiroth in the grasp of some giant monster. It had a skull for a face, stood taller than the man himself, with endless tentacles. They held Sephiroth tightly in a trap. Darkness oozed from the creature, and it seemed to pain Sephiroth if his face had any indication.
"... Sephiroth?" Cloud called out, unsure what to make of this sight.
The creature screeched, and Cloud was forced to fight. It only took a few swings of his sword and the tentacle monster was gone. The tentacles dropped Sephiroth in a pool of black mako. He emerged dazed and confused, eyes searching with clarity.
"You? Is this another one of her torments? Have you come to avenge everything I have done?" Sephiroth asked when his gaze met Cloud's.
"I'm no mirage. And no, I don't have any want to seek vengeance." Cloud offers his hand. "Are you truly yourself? Is her influence gone?"
"She's fading away. Time has taken her with it. Her only grasp was my existence here." He eyed the hand suspiciously. "Why would you help me?"
"I dunno." Cloud shrugs. "You're the first familiar face I've seen in a long while."
"So you grasp the familiarity." Sephiroth observes. "So what happens now?"
"... I dunno." Cloud wasn't so sure himself. "Why aren't you fully becoming part of the Lifestream?"
"She couldn't. I'm guessing being from her is partly why."
"But that was her, right?" That weird tentacle monster.
"That was an extension of her. Not herself."
Oh. So then some part of her did survive somewhere. Otherwise she wouldn't have trapped Sephiroth here In Between.
"Would you know where she is?" He grew curious.
"Maybe. Why?"
An absurd idea popped in his head. In an instant he smelled flowers around him. He didn't have to turn to know Aerith was standing with them.
"That's not a bad idea, actually."
"What?" Cloud turned in surprise.
"He's mostly himself now, without her influence. He can help you find her."
"For what purpose will I do that?" Sephiroth scowls at the sight of her.
"For your redemption, of course." She said matter of factly.