The sunset.
Cloud looked on. Helplessly, he shed an empty tear, the saltiness burning into his mind. The past few months had been intensely agonising. The whole experience had tainted and ruptured his memory, giving him more to think about than he'd care to remember. Every turn roused a previously unstirred memory from the hidden depths of his soul.
" Why didn't I kill myself when I had the chance? Things would be so different." He whispered mournfully to himself, glaring in extreme disgust at his palms; a source of killing and murder, innocent slaughter.
Sighing heavily, he hugged his knees as he watched the sunset over Midgar from a distance peak. Shuddering sharply, Cloud parted his lips and softly kissed the breeze, murmuring lightly, " I'm so sorry I couldn't save you, Zack. I held you back, and I can never forgive myself for that, dear friend. " An air of desperation wavered in his tone. Glancing edgily at the ground, he scooped up a handful of dirt, paused briefly to acknowledge this was where Zack had been brutally slaughtered, before almost regretfully releasing it into the gentle evening breeze, watching it blow wistfully away from grip. Blowing away, into the distance. Cloud could relate to the dust and grit as it drifted off on the last air current. Drifting away. Something he had done all too often; leaving everything behind to hide from his mistakes. In a way, seeing the dust fall further and further out of his view reminded him of all the people he treasured who'd drifted out of land, never coming back.
Sephiroth. Aeris. His mother. Father. At one point, Tifa, too, but by some mysterious fortune, she had been caught on an undertow current and reunited with him. He wasn't going to let her become another feather in gale winds.
Returning his gaze to Midgar, he smiled candilly. It was all over now. No more Sephiroth. No more corrupt Shin-ra politicians. No more pain. Cloud knew in his mind that fairy tale happy endings were restricted only to books. Life would never be a perfect heaven on Earth, but whilst he could just sit, like this, and take in all the beauty, stunning reality of the living world, he could just imagine, at least feel, this was heaven.
" I owe you so much, Sephiroth. Your intentions were bad, but in the end, you got what you wanted and deserved; forgiveness. "
The sunset was magnificent. Blues, reds, purples and oranges fused together on the skyline canvas. There was nothing more fantastic, nothing so undeniably beautiful. A gentle pulsating subtle green glow rose into the fusion of the evening pallet, dancing freely among the wild surroundings.
Picking himself up, Cloud dusted down his clothes. A determined, yet promising, expression on his face. Sighing lightly as the sun became drowned in it's watery bed, he smiled affectionately as he became a part of the green dance. Whirling and spiralling around in fluent motions, a natural ballet of mixed emotions, he felt at peace as he became the lead of the orchestra.
Cloud's ringing melody, reaching out into the deepest canyons an the farthest villages. Aeris' harmony singing in time and tune with the beat of the planet's heart. Sephiroth's bass rhythm, repeating eternally,
" It's all over. It's the end. I'm no longer afraid. Forgive me. "
Cloud looked on. Helplessly, he shed an empty tear, the saltiness burning into his mind. The past few months had been intensely agonising. The whole experience had tainted and ruptured his memory, giving him more to think about than he'd care to remember. Every turn roused a previously unstirred memory from the hidden depths of his soul.
" Why didn't I kill myself when I had the chance? Things would be so different." He whispered mournfully to himself, glaring in extreme disgust at his palms; a source of killing and murder, innocent slaughter.
Sighing heavily, he hugged his knees as he watched the sunset over Midgar from a distance peak. Shuddering sharply, Cloud parted his lips and softly kissed the breeze, murmuring lightly, " I'm so sorry I couldn't save you, Zack. I held you back, and I can never forgive myself for that, dear friend. " An air of desperation wavered in his tone. Glancing edgily at the ground, he scooped up a handful of dirt, paused briefly to acknowledge this was where Zack had been brutally slaughtered, before almost regretfully releasing it into the gentle evening breeze, watching it blow wistfully away from grip. Blowing away, into the distance. Cloud could relate to the dust and grit as it drifted off on the last air current. Drifting away. Something he had done all too often; leaving everything behind to hide from his mistakes. In a way, seeing the dust fall further and further out of his view reminded him of all the people he treasured who'd drifted out of land, never coming back.
Sephiroth. Aeris. His mother. Father. At one point, Tifa, too, but by some mysterious fortune, she had been caught on an undertow current and reunited with him. He wasn't going to let her become another feather in gale winds.
Returning his gaze to Midgar, he smiled candilly. It was all over now. No more Sephiroth. No more corrupt Shin-ra politicians. No more pain. Cloud knew in his mind that fairy tale happy endings were restricted only to books. Life would never be a perfect heaven on Earth, but whilst he could just sit, like this, and take in all the beauty, stunning reality of the living world, he could just imagine, at least feel, this was heaven.
" I owe you so much, Sephiroth. Your intentions were bad, but in the end, you got what you wanted and deserved; forgiveness. "
The sunset was magnificent. Blues, reds, purples and oranges fused together on the skyline canvas. There was nothing more fantastic, nothing so undeniably beautiful. A gentle pulsating subtle green glow rose into the fusion of the evening pallet, dancing freely among the wild surroundings.
Picking himself up, Cloud dusted down his clothes. A determined, yet promising, expression on his face. Sighing lightly as the sun became drowned in it's watery bed, he smiled affectionately as he became a part of the green dance. Whirling and spiralling around in fluent motions, a natural ballet of mixed emotions, he felt at peace as he became the lead of the orchestra.
Cloud's ringing melody, reaching out into the deepest canyons an the farthest villages. Aeris' harmony singing in time and tune with the beat of the planet's heart. Sephiroth's bass rhythm, repeating eternally,
" It's all over. It's the end. I'm no longer afraid. Forgive me. "