*Author's notes*
Hello Everyone! I am an FF7 Fanfiction writer from A03. A lot of people I interact and comment with have told me about this site and I thought I would start posting some of my works here for those who are interested in reading my stories. I always welcome any comments, feedback, criticisms, or suggestions so feel free to let me know what you think.
Thank you for reading!
An old wooden village stood in front of coal shaded mountains. The village was tiny and quiet, sunshine showing across the dirt roads illustrated small-town life at its finest. Every day children would run into the mountains for thrills or to scare their friends. The setting was perfect for a boring simple life, however, the story of Nibelheim would not remain normal or simple forever.
White and Green flashes of lights pulsed through the distance and one image after another popped into Cloud's subconscious like a slow revolving slideshow.
A secret lab hidden within a government mansion….
Monsters bathing in mako induced pressure sealed chambers…
Fires spreading across a small village, screaming people all over the streets of his home, his childhood house burning over every square inch of wood, him reaching out to his front door, not being able to go inside to save anyone.
A tall SOLDIER with a long, curved sword slashing away at everyone who tried to stop him…
The SOLDIER looked back towards Cloud with evil black and green eyes, walking straight into a tall fire the man disappeared into the distance…...
An old friend crying on the ground… "You promised, you promised you would protect me…."
No….. No this is too horrible….
"I'm Waiting…Cloud."
The dream disappeared into the present day.
Cloud was trying to remember when the visions of the past had started attacking him while he was attempting to sleep. The recurring themes of fire, death and flashes of green lights were starting to get old. Resigning any more attempts to rest he swung his legs off of the bed and walked over to his sword. Seeing the bunk area was empty it was time to look for the group.
He now stood up in the rest area of Fort Condor, after putting his sword on his back he climbed the ladders into the main hallways of the old battle tower that served as a great rest area while the group was on its way towards Junon, the coastal city of Shinra.
Moving past the thoughts of his previous personal tragedies Cloud pondered what glimpses of the past or maybe the future could lie ahead with the visions and dreams that had attempted to enter his subconscious even while he was awake.
There had been multiple times he had lost control of his inhibitions in Midgar, many instances where he had been brought to his knees, both hands on his head to bring control against the flashing lights that took him to places he didn't understand. What did all of these glimpses mean? Was what he was seeing even real?
Cloud had to get such deep thoughts out of his head. Remembering the past always brought painful memories that weren't welcome.
The stone of the interior passages showed remarkable construction techniques amongst the rebel faction that had taken the group in and offered shelter the previous night. Cloud had to admire how much hard work and effort went into the fortification of such a landmark towering against an empire as large as the Shinra Electric Power Company.
Climbing into the main hallways he looked down the narrow stone passageway to see Red and Barret talking to a rebel captain. They were standing near the café tables that were spread around the middle floors of the giant spiral tower. Wondering where the rest of the group had been when he woke up Cloud walked over to the ongoing conversation.
"You've done so much for us with the contributions you gave." The captain thanked Barret.
"We are more than happy to help take the fight to Shinra however we can." Barret replied.
"If you ever need anything from us please let us know and as always, our camps are always open to all of you, should you need supplies or to rest on your journey. Thank You so much for your support. We are always on the fight against Shinra, the same as your group and Avalanche."
"Thank you for giving us shelter."
Cloud chimed in; recalling how he and Barret talked with the rest of the group yesterday about donating Gil after watching the skirmish from up at the top of the tower the previous day.
"With your organization and determination one day we can defeat Shinra."
The captain nodded and Barret gave a nod to Cloud as they finished their goodbyes.
Red looked over at Cloud;
"Are you feeling refreshed Cloud? You seemed tired after all of the battles and travel yesterday."
"Yes, where are Aerith and Tifa?"
"They headed down about an hour ago, Aerith had mentioned she wanted some pointers from Tifa on hand to hand combat. My guess is they are training near the entrance at the top of the hill."
Cloud made a quick approving nod, the thought of Tifa sharing martial arts knowledge with Aerith seemed like a good idea. Maybe one day Aerith could give Tifa some pointers on how to use materia or spellcasting combinations.
"That sounds promising, have we prepared everything for travel to the next stop?"
Red looked back towards Barret.
"Yes, Barret has restocked and packed all of the food, water, and materia needed for a long journey."
Cloud responded.
"We were lucky a rebel site of this size was here to help when it did. We need to head towards the forests outside of Junon before we set up a camp at sundown at the end of today. Sometime tomorrow we should be able to make it to the underside harbors over there and we can work out what to do next when we arrive."
Barret finished talking to the soldiers near the tables and looked back at Cloud and Red.
"It's time to grab everything and head down to meet up with the girls."
Cloud, Red, and Barret headed down the ladder maze to step onto the top of the battle-scarred hill.
The previous days of journeying had brought plenty of excitement to the group. From catching Chocobos outside of a farmhouse to crossing the swamps infested with Zolom serpents to navigating deep Mythril caves on foot and arriving at the tower they were currently in right before a large skirmish between Shinra ground forces and rebel soldiers took place, it was a small miracle all of them were still alive and moving.
The spiral tower hovered over everyone as they walked out of a narrow rock entrance to see stairs going down to the top of the hilltop. After returning a quick wave goodbye to a few soldiers standing guard the men were saluted and told words of encouragement as Cloud and Barret walked past them. Thanking everyone for their help as they walked down the stairs the three found themselves standing at the top of a giant hill.
Cloud took the sight of the morning in and closed his eyes; he felt the sunshine move over the horizon. The feeling of open plains and adventure met his gaze as he opened his eyes to look at grass and trees as far as the eye could see. The sight was beautiful, almost as beautiful as the two young women practicing close quarter combat moves nearby.
Tifa was moving Aerith's elbows and positioning her body the way a master would speak to a student.
"That was great Aerith, remember to keep your stance wider to counter in case your opponent tries to knock you off balance."
Aerith nodded and shifted while paying close attention to Tifa's guidance.
"Ok, so do I defend from an attack in this situation or just punch?"
Tifa smiled and showed grace with her instructions taking Aerith's questions with a visual response.
"It is always better to use your opponent's aggressiveness against them."
Tifa moved her body to simulate forcing an opponent away from her and showed a flurry of powerful boxing moves Cloud was impressed to see from his childhood friend.
"After they rush in to strike, reposition your body to knock them off center and then raise your arm for a strong counter-attack."
"That's awesome! Ok like this?"
Aerith mimicked the moves Tifa had just performed, showing a strong ability to follow instructions she held her own before they both looked up at the others approaching.
"Well look who it is! Are you guys finally ready to move out?"
Aerith smiled at the rest of the group and looked into Cloud's eyes with the same happy face she always showed when he looked at her. Cloud repressed a quick smile and responded with the same emotionless point that always took over when he gave an answer to a question.
"Yeah, has she been giving you a hard time Tifa?"
Tifa smiled and held her hands behind her back.
"She is a great student, a lot better than any of the times I've tried to teach either of you."
Barret and Cloud looked a little offended but shook it off after nodding politely to Tifa. They both did remember times where they had asked Tifa about her fighting abilities and didn't respond well to her insight. Having mastered fighting with different weapons, Barret being a longshot and Cloud a swordsman they both didn't really see the point of hand to hand combat.
Red seemed to sense the tension and moved to change the subject.
"Now that we are all ready, shall we move out?"
Cloud looked down, "Yeah, we need to make it a long way before we set up camp tonight, Junon could be a two-day journey if we meet a lot of monsters or Shinra patrols on the way."
Everyone else nodded and the group looked at the tower one final time before heading down to the bottom of the hill.
Once everyone else had gone ahead Aerith had grabbed Cloud's wrist before they followed.
"Hey, are you feeling ok?"
Cloud looked up, sensing that Aerith was concerned he looked at her face.
"Uh yeah, Sleeping was a little rough, but I got a few hours in."
Aerith looked worried but she wasn't harsh with her tone. Her eyes looked right into Cloud's soldier induced mako eyes, studying his expression she held her hands steady and locked her fingers onto his.
"Are the visions still coming around? You have looked better since Midgar."
Cloud looked away for a second, Aerith then put one of her hands on his cheek, just like when he had the dream in the field of flowers at her house all of those nights ago. He peered into her eyes as a response and put both of her hands inside of his.
"I'm alright, I promise. There could be some old thoughts that are messing with my head but it's just a dream, right?"
Aerith smiled the same smile she always gave. Looking into his face she measured his response with a caring expression. She held onto his hands as long as Cloud would let her and let out a quick laugh.
"Yep, you know we should talk about your dreams one day Cloud."
Cloud looked down and held a quick laugh against his breath. Aerith's personality was always so disarming. He couldn't help but feel that their relationship was something more than a flower girl who was rescued by a mercenary. Cloud felt safe every time Aerith had taken his hands in hers. He felt like it was something that was supposed to happen over and over again.
"Yeah, I would like that."
Aerith had let go of his hands and skipped ahead taking one last look at the tower she looked back at Cloud and gave him a quick wink.
"So would I."
They both had picked up the pace to catch up with the rest of the group. Aerith had caught up with Tifa and the two appeared to be talking about Martial Arts techniques that Aerith had wanted to start learning from Tifa the next time an opportunity would come up.
Barret had stopped talking with Red about the kind of monsters they could expect on this side of the continent to look at Cloud as he stepped in stride with them as they walked onward.
"So, soldier boy, what's it like falling in love with two different women at the same time?"
Cloud almost fell over when Barret had asked him such a probing question. Thank goodness Aerith and Tifa were far enough ahead to be out of earshot. Red cleared his throat and decided he wouldn't be a part of the following conversation that Barret decided to bring up. Red seemed younger than the rest of the group and was a newcomer after all so such discussions of romance were probably not his area of expertise.
"If either of you need me for anything, I'll be walking further up ahead keeping the girls' company."
Cloud looked floored and stunned at the inquiry, Barret wasn't the kind of guy to bring on this type of talk.
"What in the hell are you talking about? I'm not in love with either of them."
Barret let out a quick laugh and looked at Cloud's face then let on what the mercenary could only interpret as a form of fatherly advice.
"Well if I dunno any better I would have thought you and Tifa were close. I know you had mentioned growing up together, but I never pegged ya for a guy who could make friends so easily."
Cloud didn't think this was enough to receive the accusation Barret had hit him with a minute ago, but he listened anyway to Barret's rambling as it continued.
"I know she cares for you deeply, I thought she was crazy myself because I see good guys hit on her all the time back at the bar. I've told her several times she needs to settle down and go on a date someday. Let one of these men show her the better side of Midgar. Tifa needs to stop worrying about all of us and have a life ya know?"
Cloud nodded, Tifa did a lot of worrying and it always ate at his heart that she would spend so much time wondering if a mission was going well or if anyone had gotten killed while out on a bombing run. Barret noticed Cloud's expression while he was talking, and it seemed to give him more motivation to make his point.
"But anyways I thought you cared about her a lot with the way you would both go on hunts and jobs and stuff, she never seemed upset with you the way Jessie complained about that attitude of yours. Maybe Tifa was just used to you and your stupid behavior."
Cloud grimaced a little at the shots Barret was taking, there wasn't anything earth-shattering here. Barret probably just needed to get some feelings out. He wasn't the friend making type so Cloud could at least lend an ear to what he had to say.
"But when we went to rescue Aerith at the Shinra building I saw a side of you that I thought would never come out. You were focused, obsessive, like the only thing in the world that ever mattered was rescuing this girl I had never even seen before. You practically pleaded with me to see her to safety on that rooftop, you didn't care if you made it or not. Only that Aerith was safe, I think you love her Cloud. As much or almost more than you love Tifa."
Cloud was ready to interrupt.
"Okay, Barret hold-"
Barret wasn't finished,
"Hey soldier boy, I'm not saying this is a bad thing! I was married once I know what it feels like to care about someone. I'm just saying it looks like they both feel the same way from what I can see where I'm standin'. Be careful where you go from here because we are becoming a family and I don't want to see Tifa get hurt."
Now Cloud was confused,
"What do you mean see Tifa get-"
Barret almost laughed again,
"Cloud come on; you really think I can't tell what's going to happen here?"
Cloud had come to a stop, he looked at Barret dead serious and shook his head.
"If you think-"
Barret was not done with his fatherly advice,
"Ugh don't think I don't understand; you are falling for this flower girl. She's got you in deep and you don't even see it yet soldier boy. I just want you to make sure you don't break Tifa's heart in the process. You seem to love her too. But I think you love Aerith something different and I hope you can figure it all out before some serious feelings tear the three of you apart."
Cloud just stopped walking for a minute, he needed to gather his thoughts before any more of this love talk derailed the path they were supposed to be continuing with. He looked up at the sky for a sign that he wasn't really worried about thoughts of love or romance. Seeing nothing but endless blue he walked on getting a quick chuckle from Barret and responding with a slight smirk he answered the previous inquiry.
"It feels strange to be where we are but for the first time in forever, I am looking forward to the future."
Barret gave a quick smirk and walked ahead leaving Cloud to bring up the rear alone.
Cloud then smiled as he looked on to his group of friends as they moved towards the rest of their journey.