"What! Who?" Cloud asked astonished at the sudden urgency.
"We…we couldn't tell. It was too quick," Tobias continued to explain, still huffing and hunched over. By now, Chrissie had managed to pull herself out of bed and over to where the action was being held at the doorway. She dismissed any pain that she felt to help her friend.
"Where did it happen?" Chrissie asked sternly.
"In the back streets. We were heading back when we heard a gun shot and that's when we found him lying on the ground with a bullet hole through his head." By him, Tobias was describing their more chubby member of the group, although he was not truly chubby just more muscular than the rest.
"Where's the body?" Chrissie continued to give him the third degree.
"The murderer probably took it. We fled too fast to try and recover the body. There were more gun shots so we figured there was more than one," Tobias had finally been able to explain the story for he controlled his troubled breathing.
"Shit. Who would do this?" Chrissie began to pace around the room, worried of their new situation. Obviously this was not going to be a safe haven for them, but their concert was in less than three days. "Cloud, come with me."
"What?" Cloud felt suddenly that he was put into a situation that he would rather try to avoid. He scratched his head in confusion as he watched Chrissie put on a shirt and belt herself up with armed weapons. "No…we don't even know who did it."
"I don't care. If they're going to threaten my big debut, then they obviously have a death wish," her voice was strange, for it held quite the evil edge to it. Cloud for once was frightened of a girl, but then she wasn't exactly your average to goodness female that he was working with.
"You're acting irrational," Cloud protested against her thoughts. He found his words cut off quickly as he felt the rush of air of a zipping bullet past his head.
"Damn, I missed," she concluded as she looked over her gun. Cloud's knees were shaking, and he could feel the hot sweat dripping down his brow. "Here," she said as she threw the gun towards him. He caught it, almost fumbling it out of his hand.
"Thanks," he gave his little appreciation. He knew there was no way out of this situation, so he reluctantly went along with Chrissie's crazy idea.
Cloud soon found himself slinking along the dirty streets of the Gold Saucer. Even for a weekday, the amusement park was crowded and trash was littered across the sidewalks and roads. Darkness claimed dominance over the sun, and now only shadows loomed from where the street lamps could not shed their light. Thunder rolled in the storming clouds overhead, and the lightning acted as an alternative to the sun, flashing for a second a light that would blind any man.
Cloud's sneakers tapped quietly on the gravel path as he was walking with long, unnatural strides. Chrissie was a few feet ahead of him, slightly hunched and her head constantly turning to any noise that was emitted in the night.
"Chrissie. Chrissie!" Cloud whispered her name in the night, attempting to attain her attention. She stopped in her tracks and turned back to look at him. He stayed quiet and simply threw his arm forward, pointing down the blackened street. "Guess what, there's nothing there."
Chrissie was agitated that he held no faith in her. She shook her head and had started to continue her walk when she was knocked completely off her feet. She flew to the hard ground; head first, her face sliding on the loose rocks. A body nearly twice her size held her down to the ground, and she tried to regain her bearings.
Cloud saw the sudden onslaught and stood in disbelief. The man that held Chrissie to the ground was large and muscular, but no face could be seen with the little light available. For some reason, Cloud couldn't move. His body forbade him to help this woman who was surely to die just under the pressure of the monster that held her.
He watched as the man took out the switchblade, and he also watched as he mercilessly flung it into the girl's body. She screamed for help as she felt the blade enter and exit her right arm that she had luckily held up to protect her pathetic body from the masked murderer. Her cries of agony filled the silent night, echoing off to the stars.
After regaining his self-control, Cloud pulled the handgun from its holster and took aim on the man before him. His finger squeezed the trigger, but the shot that came out was not from his gun, but from another that blew through his hand. He dropped the gun suddenly and clenched his hand in his other fist, close to his chest. His eyes went wide as he looked up to see another man standing in the shadow of a building with a gun aimed for his head.
"Fuck," Cloud cursed and he found himself dropping to the ground to dodge the bullets that were now shooting at him. He rolled in the dirt to safety, but not before he grabbed his gun with his good hand. Drawing the gun up for aim again, he pulled the trigger and with a single shot defeated his foe that had almost blown off his hand.
Chrissie on the other hand was still struggling with the man and the switchblade. Her blood covered her arm and was being flung into the air with every hit of the blade. Pain was not eminent any more, rather rage filled her tiny body and with a single movement, she placed her fit on the man's stomach and catapulted him through the air.
He landed five feet from her sprawled on his back. She quickly scrambled to her feet and began to assault him with her hands and feet. Kicking and punching wildly, he finally curled up in a tiny ball and admitted defeat to her. Of course, she had no room in her heart for forgiveness, thus she continued her beating until she finally made a deathblow to his head.
She breathed heavily trying to catch her breath and to stop the adrenaline rush. Although she had wished that her adrenaline hadn't of stopped for she could now feel the consequences of her arm being lashed.
"Holy mother of God!" she screamed in the night and keeled over in a balled position, still on her feet however. Skin was hanging and she could clearly make out bones that had been cut in two in her forearm. She should have been passed out on the side of the street, or even dead from the pain and loss of blood but this wasn't the first time that she had taken such a beating. It was now easy for her to ignore the pain in her side from her broken rib as she solely focused on her lacerated arm.
"We're alive," Cloud stated observantly considering asking if everything was all right would be quite redundant at the moment. He looked down at his hand and noticed the large bullet hole that was through the lower palm, close to the thumb.
"Shut up," Chrissie's anger and pain was evident in her voice. She stood, continuing to hold her arm close to her body and trying to cradle it.
"Come on, let's get back to the Inn," Cloud suggested as he noticed the injury she sustained.
"No, there could be more. We have to get them before they try to kill us!" she argued, her voice cracking, torn from hysterics and crying.
"Who are they?" Cloud asked, perplexed and very worried about his friend's behavior.
"Fucking Shinra agents! God damn it, they're trying to eliminate their screw-ups," her voice started to calm down a little. "We'll be lucky if those bastards haven't killed the other two yet."
"I know Shinra. Remember? Ex-Soldier standing in front of you, so I'm sure that's all they had. I'm amazed to that they had two, for anything that top secret would only be pressured on one agent, not two. Anyway, it's obviously not that serious yet for they haven't sent in the Turks," Cloud tried to reassure her, sensing her fear.
Silence then loomed in the air, making her turn her back and with her good hand put it up to her temple. She didn't want to cry, she tried everything to stop the tears from welling up in her eyes, and the action was involuntary. The silence didn't help either, but reluctantly the storm clouds began to shed their own tears upon the earth, sending an uproar along the streets.
Her blood on her arm washed away, only to reveal new blood to the flow from the wounds. Her eyes dripped a salty liquid as she sobbed endlessly. She felt her body weaken and finally her legs could no longer support her and she collapsed to the ground. The years of mistreatment and torture on herself finally took a toll on her weakened state.
Cloud stood astonished at her display. He wanted to help, but the only thing he could think of doing was standing and watching her body become drenched in the falling rain as she sat on her behind on the cold street. Lowering his head, he decided to walk over to her whimpering body to hopefully assist her in some way or another.
"Chrissie," he said her name calmly and he hoped it sounded somewhat sympathetic in a way. He wanted her to understand that she was not alone in this world, for he would be there for her. After all of their time in the warehouse, he figured that he had to have some type of feelings for her, intimate or no they were still there. "Chrissie, come on. Let's get out of here."
"Cloud, have you ever made a wish on a star?" her question truly was out of nowhere. Her voice was desperate, yet calm and sweet, something he had never heard from her before.
"Can't say I have," he answered truthfully.
"Do you think they would ever come true?" she asked, finally looking up at him, her eyes red and tears still streaking down her white cheeks. Her eye make up was beginning to leave black lines in the corner of her eyes and they were trying to make their own streams of color down her face. She was so tired and weary, and looked like a helpless child in the busy streets of Midgar. She was soaked from head to toe with sweat, blood, and the rain, yet for some reason she looked like the most beautiful creature in the world at that single moment.
"I don't know," he couldn't think of any other answer. "But all I know is that for people like us, we don't need wishes or miracles, we need each other."
With the little strength she managed to wrangle inside her tiny body, she lifted herself and dove for Cloud, her arms open waiting to clasp around his body. She ignored the aching in her arm as she felt two powerful arms graciously accept her. Her legs once again went limp beneath her, but she felt herself be held up. And so she wept uncontrollably in the already drenched shirt of her friend as she indulged in the embrace.
They stood in each other's arms for a time that neither of them dared to count. The comfort they felt with each other was both frightening, yet too strong for either of them to stop. Her sobbing finally ceased, as did the rain above their heads. The black cloud's separated, only to leave the blue night to light up the shadows with its beautiful array of stars. The moon also hung in a small crescent, still enough to illuminate the open fields and streets.
Cloud was the first to gaze up into the painting that hung in the sky. A smile gleamed on his face as he watched a brilliant light stream across the night only to ignite and then diminish to nothing but a small light that soon disappeared all together. He glanced down at the woman in his arms only to see the stars looking back at him through the reflection of Chrissie's eyes.
Love? His mind pondered as he searched in her eyes. He knew the truth, but to show it now would ruin his life. The biggest deed in his life was to be done in the next few days, and to fall in love now was a stupid and selfish act that would surely cause all of their deaths.
Chrissie on the other hand felt her heart racing, but that was only once she realized what was happening. She wanted to run and hide…fast. She didn't want another moment with him, but something kept her there. Some strange tension she suddenly felt told her to stay, for it would be all right. Her heart and mind were at argument again, so she simply decided to shut both of them out and let her soul lead her.
"We'd better get you back to that hotel-place," Cloud spoke, suddenly forgetting the name of the inn that they were staying at. He smiled his comforting smile, as to not frighten her considering she was in such a vulnerable position. She said nothing as she put into consideration the shape of her arm, and that it was now to the point where she felt no pain, nor any feeling, and the fact that she was having difficultly staying conscious; it sounded like a rather fair time for them to head back to safety.
"Yeah, that would be nice," she agreed and tried to maintain her own balance. Cloud still held her, but only with his hands on her hips to keep her steady on her feet. She kept both her hands on both his shoulders, but her plan failed as she stumbled backwards from exhaustion. Cloud was quick to react, for he kept her from once again falling in the dirt.
They both stayed silent, and Cloud simply lifted her tiny body up in his arms; one supporting her back, and the other arm supporting her flimsy legs. He then simply began to walk in the direction of the inn, not even looking back on the lifeless bodies on the street, and truthfully keeping most of his attention on the unconscious form lying in her arms.
"Shit," he cursed as he noticed that her body finally could not handle the pain, stress, and loss of blood. She became dead weight in his arms and it was obvious that she would not awaken for a long while.
Author's Note: Okay, I decided to make it a little romantic. Yeah, I don't believe in love and all that jazz, and yet ironically I enjoy writing about it. I think my story is going under Drama/Romance, considering this will definitely not be the end of "love" in the story. I don't know, perhaps other people like it. Sorry if Cloud is becoming very "un-Cloud" like, but that happens when you're introduced to another aspect of society. Think about it, he used to really have no morals and such except destroying Sephiroth and saving the planet. Oh, and hating Shinra…so, me with my over active imagination decided to expand on his characteristic. It's really quite enjoyable and should be tried by every Final Fantasy VII fan. Loving the characters becomes even more fun…