Rash, stubborn, eight year-old Cloud :

Disclaimer : Final Fantasy VII and its characters belong to Square Enix.

Author note : a materia-center story... again. This time the victim is Cloud.

Enjoy. Read and Review! kiss!

Takes place several months after the end of Advent Children Complete.

Thanks to my Beta reader EarendilElwing.

Chapter 1

It was an uneventful day in Seventh Heaven, until Cloud got back home after being gone for three days, making deliveries.

He now always felt at ease in returning home and being reunited with Tifa and the kids. Today was a good day. It would be an even better evening, since he was just in time to share diner with them.

He smiled widely at them when he entered the bar area, almost yelling the sacred expression "I'm home!". He was instantly rewarded with an equally sacred "Welcome home, Cloud!" by Tifa.

'Life was good,' he thought.

He hurried upstairs. The schedule in his head was clear: have a shower, tidy his things, enjoy diner with his family, and then finally help Tifa to open the bar.

He exited from the shower, feeling clean and relaxed. He began to undo his things: dirty clothes, money, maps and delivery papers were now scattered on the floor of his room. Only one thing remained at the bottom of his bag: a materia. Cloud had almost forgotten about it. One of his clients hadn't had enough money to pay for the package, so he had given him a materia. Cloud put it on his desk so he could decide later if he would sell it or keep it. Maybe he would ask Yuffie how much this materia cost. Without a doubt, she would know that.

Tifa called for him and the kids. He left his things like that and hurried downstairs.

The dinner was, as usual, delicious. The kids were a little hyper, as they were every time Cloud had been away for several days. Denzel was eager to ask him when he planned to go to the garage to tune up Fenrir, and Marlene made him promise to take her on a ride to see the sundown on the sea on the far west of Midgar. Tifa was all smiles and became giddy when he told her he didn't schedule deliveries for the next week-end, which meant a family trip was in sight.

Cloud spent some time reading a story to both Denzel and Marlene. Then he was finally alone with Tifa. He went straight to her side to dry the dishes she had just cleaned.

"Tifa, do you want me to help you with the bar tonight?"

"Thank you, Cloud. But it's ok; I don't think I will need any help this evening. You should check your delivery book. I wrote a lot of new requests on it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Don't worry." She kissed his cheek tenderly. He returned the kiss and smiled at her before going back to his room.

One hour later, Cloud had finished filing papers. He then decided to reorganize his box of materia, since it was only 11:30 p.m. and he wasn't tired yet. He sighed in front of the box; they had accumulated a lot of those things during their travels! He classified them by colors: red, yellow, purple and green.

The one he had placed on his desk was yellow. He took it and watched it attentively before setting it with the others. He hadn't had time to take a step when he felt something strange in his whole body. He felt as if he was falling. He fainted with a loud noise.

Denzel heard the commotion and ran to Cloud's room, soon followed by Marlene.

What he saw confused him completely. There, in Cloud's too-big pajamas, stood a blond-haired boy. He looked like Cloud, but a lot younger. Next to him was the opened box of materia.

"Cloud? What happened?"

"Whaaa! He turned into a baby!" exclaimed the young girl.

"Don't exaggerate Marlene. But he does look like a kid."

The kid in question looked back at them with confusion.

"Who are you?" he asked

"And you, who are you?" answered Denzel. His eyes were glued to the box of materia, the situation dawning on him.

"I asked you first!"

Denzel was taken aback by the harsh way this young Cloud spoke.

"I'm Denzel. You really don't remember me and Marlene?"

"I don't know you. Where am I?"

"We have to go get Tifa!" said Marlene.

"Definitely."

They both rushed downstairs, straight to Tifa.

"We have a problem!"

"Denzel? What is it? I heard something fall on the floor. Did you break something? Are you hurt?"

"No, but someone fell."

"It's Cloud, Tifa! Go to him!" explained Marlene.

"What?!"

"It's a materia problem. He turned back into a kid and doesn't remember us!" continued Denzel.

"Oh God, no!" Tifa whined.

"Can you two handle the bar a minute?"

They both nodded at her.

She entered Cloud's room to see a young version of the man she was living with.

"Cloud?"

The boy turned to her. She rushed to his side.

"Oh, Cloud! What happened?" She instinctively wanted to embrace him, but she was stopped by a slap on her arm.

"Don't come near me! Who are you and where am I?"

She was stunned by the anger that radiated from him. She tried to compose herself.

"I'm Tifa, and you are in Midgar Edge."

"What? You're not Tifa, and it can't be Midgar, I'm living in Nibelheim."

"I know, but it's a spell. You will go back to your normal self in no time, Cloud; I'm sure of it. Just be patient."

"Normal self? Are you saying I'm not normal? Who are you?"

"No, no, I'm not saying that. But just tell me, how old are you?"

"Eight, almost nine. You?"

"Twenty-two."

Tifa sighed. At least he answered one question. It was going to be a hell handling an eight-year old Cloud, because he was not a nice kid at this age. If she remembered correctly, this age was around the time after her accident on the bridge of Mt. Nibel, when everyone blamed Cloud. After that, Cloud became even more of a loner and more likely to get into fights. This was exactly the Cloud she had now in front of her eyes.

"Don't worry, Cloud. It's gonna be ok. You can use this room tonight. Just don't touch the materia. It's late, so go to bed and we will talk about this situation tomorrow morning."

"No. I want to go back to my mom. She must be worried."

"Yes, I know, but it's not possible tonight. It's dark outside, so you're staying here, ok? I'm going to find some clothes more fitting for you." She wanted to laugh, because he was too cute in his too-big pajamas. Denzel's pajamas should be more his size.

He grumbled something as a yes. She came back with a youth-sized pajamas, plus a T-shirt and a pants for tomorrow. She smiled sweetly at him to reassure him.

"Here, put that on. The bathroom is on your right when you exit the room. My room is on the opposite side, Denzel and Marlene's room is on your left. If you have any questions, just come to me. I have to go back downstairs; I can't let Denzel and Marlene handle the bar for too long. Be nice, ok?"

She ruffled his hair before he had time to slap her hand away. She closed the door and went back inside the bar area.

"Denzel, Marlene, I left him in his room. If you two don't feel like going to sleep now, try playing a game with him; that will make him happy."

They both nodded their heads at her and dashed towards the stairs. Tifa sighed; it was always troublesome with materia that altered one's state. She hoped it wouldn't last long before he turned back into a 23 year-old man.

Chibi Cloud looked closely around the room he was left in. He opened drawers to see clothes meant for a grown-up man, and looked out the window only to confirm this wasn't Nibelheim. He noticed a photo on the desk and recognized the girl and the two kids he had just met, but he was shocked to see a blond man with blue eyes that could be someone from his family.

'She spoke about a spell earlier and called me Cloud without hesitation... What does that mean?' he thought. He really didn't understand what was going on, but he had to leave to go back home.

His thoughts were interrupted by Denzel and Marlene pocking their heads through the door.

"Hey, Cloud? Do you want to play cards with us before going to bed?" asked the girl.

He looked at her as if she had gone nuts.

"Why?"

The two siblings-by-heart exchanged glances.

"Because it's more fun with three?" provided Denzel.

"I don't know how to play cards."

"No problem, I will show you; it's easy," chirped Marlene. She was already taking his hand to lead him towards their room, where they could play on the carpet.

"Leave me alone!" he spat at her as soon as he felt her hand on his arm and put some distance between them.

"I don't want to play." And it was true, the only thing he wanted was to be with his Mom. He didn't like to make her worry. She was the only person he truly cared about. Well, maybe the girl next door too, but that was his secret.

"Ok. No need to yell at Marlene. Goodnight then." Denzel took the girl's hand since she was still frozen by Cloud's sudden outburst. He closed the door and sighed.

Once in their room, the two kids looked at each other worriedly.

"That's what Tifa said: he is going to be hell to handle."

"But... but why was he angry at me? Do you think I did something wrong?" she was on the verge of crying.

"No, Marlene, don't worry. It must be scary to find yourself in the future without knowing it. Imagine yourself being transported 15 years forward. You wouldn't even recognize some of the people you are familiar with now."

"Mmmh, you're right. I hope the Cloud we know will come back soon," she said in a sad voice.

"Don't worry. He promised us he would always come back, remember?" he said to cheer her up.

"Yes, you're right. I know he will." She smiled at him.

They both went to sleep, not having the heart to play cards anymore.

Chapter 2 soon :)