DEFINITION
What is death? What do we really understand the word 'death'? If you look up in the dictionary, it will give you stuff like 'demised', 'passed away' and other similar words. But what actually is the meaning of this word? Is it a condition? A situation where the soul leaves the body? Maybe something that comes to you when your time is up? Or is it the end?
OUTCOME
Death. It leads to many different types of emotion to those who know the dead one. Most of them are negative feelings. Some people cry. Someone people were stunned. Some even wished themselves dead so that they can join the one the lost. But sorrow is not the only emotion that plays with someone's mind when the one beside him or her is gone, forever. Some people live with something called fear. They are afraid of everything. They are afraid that their actions that led him or her to death will be avenged. They are afraid that one night the 'undead' will knock on his apartment's door or appear in their dreams. Death is dreadful.
WE ALL KNOW
All of us know death can't be prevented or predicted. It will happen to all of us but it is just a matter of time. It will happen in the next second, or maybe in sixty years time. When it's time, you can't stop it. It will come silently, and then take you away before you know it. Some of us believe in fortune telling. They go to a fortuneteller and ask them how long more they will live. Of course, some come out with smiling faces and some others with pale ones. But all this depends on yourself, whether you believe or not what you were told of. Remember, no one could stop it.
BUT WHAT IF…
As mentioned before, death can't be prevented. It will come no matter what you do or what you say. But what if you were given a chance to live after you experienced death? What if you were given the exact time left you are going to live? And finally, what if you were given a chance to fight against death itself?
Read on.
CHAPTER 1
Peace. Peace after a long, long fight. Peace through war. Fighting a threat that was unable to befriend with. The sweet feeling is just unbelievable. The ancient army was gone now. It will be gone, forever.
It was already a week after the alliance between the Shinra, Wutai and Fort Condor defeated the ancient army. It was a really tough fight. The ancient army was an extreme dangerous and frightful army but their pushed away their differences and fought against this threat. Although many had been killed in battle, their contribution will be forever remembered and most importantly, they had truely understood peace. Even though it would probably only last for a generation.
The city of Kalm was finally quiet again. This was a military based used by the alliance to feed their troops and provide shelter for the homeless. After the war many had went back to their own places and reunite to rebuilt their homeland. And now, for the Avalanche…
"Shera!"
"What is it captain?"
"What the hell is my %^)((*#%%^^& box of cigarettes?!"
Well, looks like Cid was still having problem talking to Shera. After the war, Cid and Shera bought a small house and moved out from the inn. Like old time day, Cid still yelled and shouted and Shera came running towards him to assist his needs.
"It is in your right hand side pocket."
Shera said while coming in through to the door after doing some shopping outside. Cid got a shock and checked his pockets. It was really in his pocket.
"Started getting old huh?" Shera said and smiled.
Cid didn't say a word. He couldn't admit his stupid mistake. He just took out a cigarette and started lighting it up.
"That's the fourth one today!" Shera suddenly stopped at her feet and shouted.
Cid stopped lighting his cigarette. He then mumbled something and put his lighter into his pocket.
"You are starting to sound like a nagging wife." Cid grumbled out loud.
"Hey, I am already half your wife. We stay in the same house for years and I do all the households work like every other wife does. They only thing left was you are too chicken to make a commitment." Shera hinted.
Cid kept quiet. What will the others say if he told them he was going to marry Shera? Shera had been staying in the same house for more than ten years and they can do exactly the same now. Well, not exactly, things have been far cozier lately.
"Shera, could you just come here for a minute?" Cid asked.
Shera looked at him curiously. For more than ten years she lived with him she never heard him said something like that. Is Cid really going to make a commitment?
Shera put down the groceries and sat down beside Cid. Cid then held Shera's hands.
"Shera, don't tell others what I will say today. Can you promise me that?"
Cid asked Shera to do him a favor. Shera continued to be quiet. She then nodded slowly.
"I am sorry for all these years. I should have treated you better." Cid finally spilled the beans after a short pause.
Shera hung down her head. She never expected to hear Cid saying something like that.
"From today on, I will try to treat you better. I know it's hard and probably too late, but I will try." Cid continued.
Shera brought her head up. The smile on her face made her look extreme beautiful for a lady at her age. Cid finally said it. Cid finally made a commitment she longed for.
"Well, it won't be too late. We still have about one third of our life left." Shera encouraged Cid.
Cid let go Shera's hands and touched her face. He slowly removed the spectacles and gazed at her eyes.
"But can I treat you the same way as last time in front of the others?" Cid asked.
"That depends." Shera said and kissed Cid. She then leaned over him and then…you know the rest.
"Aeris…"
"Tifa?"
Cloud looked into his mug of beer and murmured while sitting all day long in the bar. It been a while since he started behaving like this. Days after the war ended, he started to do some deep thinking about his relationship with Aeris. Before the war end there were too many events happening. Sephiroth's revival, the ancient army, he don't have time to do any thinking about his love relationship. Although he was under all kinds of pressure during the war, he preferred it that way more than sitting around in the bar thinking.
Cloud looked at his mug that was empty now. He just finished another mug of beer. He ordered another one from the bartender and the bartender put another mug in front of him. He cracked his head for a solution to that love triangle, but, well, so far nothing really turned up yet.
"Poor Tifa…"
A female voice was heard from behind. Cloud turned his head and saw Yuffie standing behind him. She had a smirk on her face after she succeeded in making Cloud respond to her.
"I wonder how she felt when you dumped her at the church at her wedding day?"
Yuffie continued making fun of Cloud. Cloud didn't say a thing and took a sip of his beer. Well, although Cloud didn't wanted to hear this, but the fact was he really tore Tifa's heart to pieces on their wedding day.
"Yuffie, stop it." Cloud requested.
"The look on her face when she saw you and Aeris together…" Yuffie continued.
"Yuffie, please." Cloud started to beg her.
"She was so…uh…gotta go, bye!"
Yuffie stopped and dashed out of the bar through the backdoor. Immediately a man came into the bar and looked around. It seems that he just lost something.
"Did you happen to see a young Wutai girl sneaking around?" The man said when he approached Cloud.
Cloud didn't say anything. He just pointed at the backdoor with his thumb. The man's temper shot up immediately and he too dashed out of the bar through the backdoor.
Yuffie, Yuffie. When will she change?
"Yo, Cloud!"
A gruff voice was heard. Cloud turned his head and saw Barret standing beside. Not only Barret was there, Vincent and Cait Sith was there too. They were all here to have their evening drink.
"Tifa said you were here the whole day. What wrong again?" Cait Sith asked.
"If you are me, who will you choose? Aeris or Tifa?" Cloud suddenly asked the rest.
Everybody looked at each other. They were surprised to hear Cloud say something like.
"I thought ya decided to be wit Aeris, isn't it?" Barret asked curiously.
"You abandoned your wedding and went to look for Aeris. I can't think of anything else why you did this if it isn't because of your feelings towards Aeris." Vincent replied coldly.
"I don't know. Tifa was hurt so badly since that day. I can't bear to let her hurt any deeper." Cloud doubted.
"So that's why you started having different thoughts? How would Aeris felt when you tell her that you are going to be with Tifa?" Vincent asked.
"That is the reason I asked all of you for opinion. No matter whom I choose to be with, I will surely hurt the other one. I thought of not making any moves on both of them for the time being. What do you guys think?" Cloud gave his opinion.
"That is a good idea but how long can you keep it that way? One day you are still going to decide, right?" Cait Sith added.
"Then at that day I will think of something else. Is that okay?" Cloud asked again.
Everybody kept quiet. Aeris and Tifa were both their friends and they understood Cloud's dilemma.
"Only time will tell."
Vincent suddenly broke the silent atmosphere. Cloud looked at him and took another sip of his beer.
"Let's hope so."
Cloud replied and left the bar with a lifeless look again.
CHAPTER 2
"Auntie Tifa, look!"
Marlene cried out and pulled Tifa's hand. Marlene then pointed at a row of flowers in front of the church of Kalm. Tifa took a look at the church and she remembered this place vividly. This was a place packed with refugees during the war. But before that, this was also the place where Cloud….
Tifa shook her head. This was the past. She didn't want to think about it anymore. Tifa followed Marlene to the row of flowers. Marlene's eyes glow with happiness after admiring the beautiful flowers.
"Marlene, is that you?"
A voice came from inside the church. Immediately a young lady walked out of the church. This young girl was none other than Tifa's love rival-Aeris.
"The flower girl!" Marlene cried out and leaped towards Aeris. Aeris hugged Marlene and kissed her on her head. Although Aeris was not in her original body, Marlene could still recognize her because of her kindness and friendliness.
"Hi."
Tifa made a short greeting. Aeris brought up her head and looked at Tifa. A surge of guilt filled her mind. Before the war ended, like Cloud, she didn't really thought of this matter and could team up and aid Cloud and Tifa is combat. But now she have plenty of time to think. She still can't get over with the fact that she broke up Tifa's marriage, at her wedding day.
Aeris reacted with a smiled on her face. There was nothing else she could do. The guilt inside her stopped her from being as friendly towards Tifa as before.
"So…Aeris, this is where you stay for the pass few days?" Tifa tried to start a conversation.
"The refugees needed help the first few days and I stayed to help. Now that they are gone, there are plenty of spaces for me to stay here. Don't worry, I will be fine." Aeris replied and looked at the church.
Tifa nodded. She felt like asking Aeris to stay with them, but she didn't do so. Something inside her stopped her from doing so.
"Marlene, it late. We have to go back to the inn." Tifa called out to Marlene and walked towards her.
"Go, Marlene."
Aeris said and handed Marlene back to Tifa. At this moment Aeris was stunned. She saw an engagement ring still on Tifa's finger. That's means that…
Tifa soon noticed what Aeris was looking at. She quickly hid the hand behind and quickly walked away with Marlene still waving at Aeris.
Aeris just stood there quietly. Tifa still have hope that one day Cloud will come back to her. This made her felt less guilty. But, deep inside her, she didn't want the day to come.
She can't bear to let Cloud go.
Cloud walked out of the bar and looked at the sky. It's dark already. Cloud stretched his arms after a long sit at the bar and started his journey back to the inn.
Cloud walked along the street slowly. He just wanted to clear his mind for a while. He didn't want to do anymore thinking. He was fighter, not a thinker.
Cloud suddenly stopped at the sidewalk of a tall building. He checked his pockets for a while and mumbled.
"My keys…"
Cloud checked his pockets again. He must have left his keys at the bar. He grumbled a little and turned around.
At this moment, Cloud heard something smashed behind him. He turned his head and saw some smatterings on the sidewalk. He looked up and saw a balcony full of vases but with an empty space the size of a vase. The smatterings on the sidewalk must be a vase that fell from that balcony. If Cloud didn't turn back, he would have been…
Cloud was glued to the ground for a moment. He eyes was still fixed onto the empty space of he balcony. Thank god he had forgotten his keys. Cloud cleared his thoughts and then headed to the bar to get back his keys.
He didn't know that something big is about to happen.
Cloud knocked the door and waited for a moment. No reply.
An hour after that incident with the vase smashing, Cloud went to the bar to get his keys and now he was standing in front of the inn. Cloud knocked the door again but nobody answered. Just like he expected, no one was here. The other members of the party have their places to hang out and just after that war, there were no customers coming to their inn and they have to close it down for a moment.
Cloud opened the door with his keys and entered. There was funny smell in the inn. He started becoming suspicious. He wasn't sure what that smell was, but it really smelt bad.
Cloud tiptoed into the inn. He walked along the corridor quietly and slowly followed the direction of the smell. Cloud didn't want to on the light because he didn't want to scare the intruder, if there was one. He followed the source of the smell and he was then led into the kitchen.
Cloud looked around the kitchen, the kitchen was like usual but the smell was much stronger in here. Cloud walked on to investigate.
He suddenly lost his balance and fell onto the floor. The floor was extremely slippery and made Cloud fell down with his back crashing onto the floor. Cloud forced himself up and checked the floor. It was kerosene and cooking oil. They were all over the kitchen cause that revolting smelling of kerosene and cooking oil fumes.
A thought struck Cloud's mind. The sound of a bell ring was heard. The oven automatically turned on and a small fireball rolled out of it.
Boom.
CHAPTER 3
"Marlene, come back here!"
Tifa shouted when Marlene kept on running around. Marlene was still a small kid and Tifa really worried for her safety. She didn't know she to tell Barret if something happened to Marlene.
"Quick! Get some more help!"
A shout was heard from a far. Tifa looked around, something was wrong.
"Auntie Tifa! Our house is on fire!" Marlene shouted at the top of her voice.
Tifa was shocked to hear this. She immediately ran back to the inn.
When Tifa arrived, many of the nearby dwellers were here already. They tried to put out the fire by showering the flames with pails of water but the fire was burning as hot as before.
"Tifa, what happened?"
Tifa turned and saw Barret, Vincent, Red XIII, Yuffie and Cait Sith behind her. Cid and Shera were with them too. Cloud wasn't with them.
"Where's Cloud?" Tifa asked with a panic tone.
"He headed back early. I fear that he…" Vincent answered and stopped.
Tifa covered her mouth with both of her hands. She can't believe what was happening.
"Cloud!"
Tifa shouted and ran towards the flames. The others quickly pulled her back to stop her.
"Tifa, don't go! You will get yourself killed!" Cait Sith persuaded while his mog pulled her back with his enormous arms.
"No! I got to save Cloud!" Tifa shouted and tears rushed out from her eyes.
"Don't go!"
Barret shouted and pulled Tifa back violently. Tifa fell onto the floor on her knees and tears flowed down uncontrollably. Shera kneeled by her and comforted her.
"Someone's coming out from the flames!"
A cry was heard beyond the crowd. Tifa immediately stopped crying. She stood up and looked at the inn. Someone was coming out of the flames. It was…
Tifa ran towards the person who came out of the flames. No mistake, this person was…
"Cough! Cough!"
The person coughed violently after coming out of the flames. He was covered with sooth and his right leg was lumping.
"Cloud!"
Tifa shouted and leaped towards Cloud. Cloud hugged Tifa and comforted her.
"Relax, Tifa. I am alright." Cloud said and patted Tifa back.
"I am so scared that you will…" Tifa said and tears formed in her eyes again.
Cloud looked at her. The happy face behind the tears showed how much Tifa cared for him.
"Here comes the ambulance! Quick! Send that man to the hospital on the double!"
Cloud looked at the crowd. They were rushing towards him.
"No, wait! I am not…"
Before Cloud could finish, someone from the crowd pushed Cloud onto a stretcher and carried him into the ambulance. They quickly shut the door and the ambulance left. Tifa was left behind, still in shock after the ambulance left. The others looked at Tifa expression and shook their heads.
"Now I understood why Cloud had a problem in deciding who to choose." Red XIII speaking out what was in everyone's mind.
"Cloud!"
A girl dashed into the hospital door and looked around. She saw the Avalanche next to the emergency ward in grief look. She asked them with a panic tone.
"Where is Cloud? How is he?"
No mistake. This girl was the flower girl-Aeris. Soon after the Avalanche contacted her, she rushed to the hospital as fast as she could.
"Cloud's…"
Before Vincent could finish, Aeris started sniffing. Tears then formed in her eyes and flow down uncontrollably.
"Wait, listen to me, Cloud's…"
Vincent tried to tell Aeris the truth but Aeris interrupted him again by crying on his shoulder. Looks like Vincent have the ability to make a happy news sounds grave.
"Aeris, listen! Cloud's NOT dead!"
Barret shouted so that Aeris hear every word clearly.
Aeris looked at Barret and blinked her tears off her eyes.
"What…Cloud's alive? But on the phone…"
Before Aeris could finish, everyone in the room stared at Yuffie. It was Yuffie who made the call to tell Aeris about the incident.
"Well…I just 'spiced' things up a little…" Yuffie said and slowly walked backwards.
"You told me Cloud's gone!"
Aeris shouted at Yuffie. Aeris had never been this mad before. Well, how can she not be?
"Hey, come on, it's just a practical…"
"That's not funny." Tifa interrupted Yuffie before Yuffie could defend herself. This time Yuffie had crossed the line.
The room became quiet again. Aeris started wiping off her tears. She can't believe that Yuffie made fun of her feelings towards Cloud, in front of the others. Aeris looked at Tifa. She was leaning against the wall quietly and her eyes were red too. Aeris realized that Tifa had been crying too. The reason, she didn't really want to know.
"Are you all with Cloud?"
A well-dressed doctor came out from a room. Everybody stood up and approached him.
"Yup. How long does he need to stay in the hospital?" Cait Sith asked.
The doctor looked at everybody. He looked a little confused with what was going on.
"Are you all really sure he came out from a burning house?" the doctor asked.
"Of cuz! What 'd ya think we all are? Blind?" Barret asked the doctor without patience.
"I examined his entire body and I can't find any burns, not even minor ones. He told me he didn't carry an elemental support material with him. I really didn't know how he managed to do that."
The doctor explained Cloud's condition. Everybody looked at each other. They can't believe that Cloud can survive this fire without even a single burn.
"What about his right leg?" Tifa asked the doctor.
"The wound on his right legs was caused by something that fell onto it. He told me that a wall fell onto his right leg and that made him trapped in the fire for quite some time. But what I couldn't really understand is how he managed to prevent himself from even a single burn when he was trapped for quite some time." The doctor expressed his inquiry.
Tifa was stunned for a moment. Cloud was trapped in the fire for a long time and his body temperature should have shot up to a very high level. But when Cloud hugged her Cloud body was only warm, the same temperature as normal. What was going on here?
"Uh, doctor? Do I need to stay in the hospital for checkup?"
Cloud walked out of the room using a stretcher to support his right leg. Everyone looked at Cloud. Cloud looked fine. He didn't look like he was suffering from any form of pain. He looked like he was ready to discharge from the hospital already.
"Cloud, right? You are ready to go home now. Take these pills according to the prescription on the label."
The doctor said and handed Cloud a few bottles of pills. Cloud thanked the doctor and the doctor looked at Cloud a strange way.
"Come to me again when something like this happen."
The doctor said and left the room. Cloud looked at the others. There were looking at him, as he there was something really wrong with him.
"Shall we…leave?"
Cloud asked. Everyone immediately started to react and helped Cloud.
Something really, really wrong was going on.
CHAPTER 4
"So this…was left?"
Cloud asked Barret that was standing next to him.
"Yup." Barret answered and nodded.
After they left the hospital, Cloud insisted on coming back to the location where the fire took place. Cloud looked at the enormous piece of charcoal, he himself couldn't even believe how he escaped the fire.
"Where are we going to stay tonight?" Cloud asked the others.
"You all can stay in our place. I know it's a bit small but we have plenty of couches, you all can sleep there." Cid suggested.
"So you and Shera will squeeze into one room, right?" Yuffie joked.
"Oh yes we will, aren't we, captain?"
Shera replied. Cid turned around and the others laughed. It was funny, but Cloud didn't react at all. Cloud kept quiet and he looked like he was doing some deep thinking.
"What's wrong, Cloud?" Aeris approached Cloud and asked.
Cloud didn't reply. He looked around the area. His eyes then fixed onto a lamppost. Cloud left the others and walked towards the lamppost. The others looked at him and wondered what he will do next.
Cloud cracked his fingers. He warmed up his hands a little by punching in the air. Then all of a sudden, he pulled off the cover covering all the live wires and punched straight into the bunch of wires.
Everyone was shocked to see Cloud doing something like this. What was he doing?! That was suicide! Cloud will be electrocuted and his brain will be fried to crisp!
"Cloud!"
This time it's Aeris turn to perform a reckless attempt to save Cloud from being electrocuted. Before Aeris could do anything, Barret pulled her back and a bright spark blasted in front of Cloud. The spark was so bright that it almost blinded everyone's eyes.
A few seconds later, the light dimmed down and everyone started to open his or her eyes. They only saw Cloud, standing there, with his a bunch of wires in his hands. He pulled it out bare handed. Aeris, relieved to see Cloud was all right approached him.
"Cloud, are you insane?" Aeris asked with a tone mixed with anger and worry.
Cloud didn't say anything. He just looked at his hand and then he looked at everybody. Everybody was eager to hear what Cloud was going to say.
"I felt a surge of energy seeped into me. I had the same feeling when I was trapped in the fire. I absorbed fire and bolt."
Everybody didn't know what Cloud meant. Cloud was invulnerable to fire and bolt? Two main elements of the planet? What was he talking about?
Cloud walked up and down next to the lamppost. The others looked at him and saw no burns or sign of electrocution. It wasn't possible! They all saw him punch into a bunch of live wires, he couldn't possibly had survived. What was going on?
"Sephiroth, what had you done to me?!" Cloud gripped his fist and then threw then into the sky. The others looked at him with fear.
Whatever it's happening, it must have something to do with Sephiroth.
In less than three hours, the Avalanche was on board the highwind heading towards Cosmo Canyon. After that strange incident, Cloud insisted on finding out what was wrong with him and Red XIII suggested that they start looking through books in Cosmo Canyon and solve this once and for all.
"Yo."
Cloud just leaned over the railing at the deck of the highwind. He gazed out into the horizon. Waiting to see the tower on top of Cosmo Canyon.
"Cloud!"
Cloud turned his head. He saw Barret standing behind him with his arms crossed.
"Yer deaf?!"
Barret scolded. Cloud didn't say anything. He didn't want to be bothered right now.
"Barret, I am not in a mood for a chat."
Cloud replied and looked out in the horizon again. Barret ignored Cloud's excuse and walked towards Cloud. He stood beside him and too looked out at the horizon.
"Did ya thought of how strong yer actually are?" Barret started a conversation.
Cloud didn't answered. He just remained silence.
"Come'on, say somethin'!"
Barret shouted again. Cloud still didn't react. He still remained silent.
"Say somethin' ya %*&#@(&#!!!"
Barret shouted at the top of his voice. He looked furious but he still waited for Cloud answer.
"Who asked you to come? Aeris or Tifa?"
Cloud finally spoke. Barret didn't reply this time. Cloud was good at this. At first Tifa asked Barret to cheer Cloud up, later when Tifa left, Aeris came and told Barret the same thing. Barret never liked the idea but he still did it for the sake of Tifa and Aeris.
"Barret, you are not going to get the job done. Go down and join the others."
Cloud advised Barret and continued gazing into the horizon. Barret mumbled something and went down to join the others.
Now Cloud was alone again. He was left with only his imagination. He really wanted to know what's wrong with him. Not long ago he was killed but then he was revived without even knowing how it was done. Then he switched bodies with Sephiroth and that made it more mysterious. Now, he was invulnerable to fire and bolt and that made the puzzle even harder to solve. He really wanted an answer. An answer that will explain everything.
"Cloud."
This time Cloud gave full attention to the soft female voice. Although he didn't turn his head, he already knew whom this was.
She slowly approached Cloud from behind. She then stood beside Cloud and looked at him.
"I am sorry about Barret. All of us are worried about you. Barret didn't really mean to …"
"I understand."
Cloud replied before Aeris could finish.
There was a long silence on the deck. Cloud and Aeris didn't say anything. They looked into the horizon together and wait for the sight of the Cosmo Canyon.
"Cloud, remember our date in the Gold Saucer?"
Aeris suddenly asked. Cloud looked at her. He never thought that Aeris would bring up something like.
"Yup. I still remembered how you kicked the evil dragon king out of the stage." Cloud replied with a smile on his face.
"That was your fault! You didn't act according to the script!"
Aeris blamed Cloud with a cheerful tone.
"Remember how you dragged me out from my room in the haunted inn?"
Cloud continued. Aeris chuckled and punched lightly on Cloud's shoulder.
"That was so long ago. I didn't even think of having a serious relationship. Why did you suddenly bring that up?" Cloud asked.
"It made you smile, right?" Aeris answered with a smile.
Cloud observed Aeris slowly. He hadn't seen Aeris smiling or being so cheerful for a long time. Ever since she was revived, everyday was tragic for her. His death, the war…there was too many to think other that having a relationship. Now, when everything was over, she could finally smile again. Although her looks changed slightly, she was again the cheerful flower girl Cloud once used to know.
"Uh, Cloud. Do you think we will go to the Gold Saucer together again?"
Aeris asked and tiled her head. Cloud started to get low again. He didn't want to think about all this but it was forcing its way towards him. He didn't know how to reply.
"Cloud, did you meant every word you said to me at your wedding day and just after you came back in Sephiroth's form?"
Aeris asked and didn't dare to look at Cloud. Cloud felt even more pressure crushing him.
"Was it all something rash?"
Cloud really didn't know what to do. He couldn't just leave Aeris here without saying anything.
"If for any reason you wanted to turn back to Tifa, just go. Don't hesitate and think too much about my feelings. I know that you really loved her to ask her to be your wife and I don't want to ruin your life by taking too much care on my feelings. I know it will hurt, but it will fade, slowly."
Aeris confessed her thoughts and brought her head up. She looked at Cloud and saw a strange expression in his eyes. She didn't know whether he was thanking her or hoping that she was not serious. Aeris walked away and before she entered the lower deck, she turned and said,
"Tifa still loves you."
CHAPTER 5
"Nanaki! Welcome back!"
The guards of Cosmo Canyon greeted Red XIII as soon as the Avalanche arrived at Cosmo Canyon. The guards too greeted the others and led them into Cosmo Canyon.
Cloud looked around Cosmo Canyon. It was still the same except for a few new buildings. The eternal bonfire was still burning like always, the inn was still filled with tourist who wanted to see the awesome scenery of the canyon and the planet simulation in the observation. The observing tower was still high on top, gazing into the star, like a astronomy observer looking out into space, hoping to discover something new.
Red XIII sighed a the sight of the tall building where he used to live with Budgenhagen. He missed that place, very much. Just that now Budgenhagen wasn't there anymore. He had gone away, leaving the observation in the trusty hands of his disciples. This wasn't a place Red XIII would like to spend his life in. He prefer to stay with the Avalanche, where he felt most at home.
"I remember grandpa used to keep a lot of books about the planet and magic in his observing tower. I think that we will find some useful there."
Red XIII spoke with a tone of wisdom and looked at the Avalanche. There were too many of them to squeeze into the observation room.
"That room is too small for so many of us. I only need Aeris's help to translate the ancient inscriptions. The others could go out and walk around." Red XIII excused himself.
"Red, can you too find out how and why I was revived?" Cloud asked before leaving the room.
"I will try. Say, Cloud. Why don't you try out spells that Sephiroth cast when he was in your body? There won't be anyone around the rocky area today and you can use it all for yourself."
Red XIII suggested and led Aeris up to the observing tower. Cloud thought for a moment and looked at the others. They seemed to agree with him. They were eager to know what power Cloud could possibly possessed. Cloud walked first, and led the others down to the rocky area.
On top of the observation tower, Aeris looked around the place. As far as she could remember, she had only been here once. That was when she first saw the planetary simulation Budgenhagen created. That time all they could think about was getting their hands on Spehiroth, not knowing the path that lies ahead. Those days were gone. Now they were heroes and heroines of the planet and had a huge responsibility protecting the planet. Boy she missed those days.
Red XIII opened a cabinet full of books. There were layers and layers of spider webs covering the books. Each of these books were coated with dust. Aeris took a few out and sneezed as a result of the amount of dust flying around. Red opened one of the books and it was all in ancient language.
"Let's start working."
Red XIII said and started going through an ancient book. Aeris carried and piled out the books on the floor. She took a look at those enormous piles of books. It will be a long time they will find an answer to this strange incident.
"Concentrate. Think only about the spell you are going to cast."
Vincent gave advice to Cloud on how to cast the spells. Just after Cloud told the others spells Sephiroth used to cast when he in his body, everyone with him were trying to figure out how to cast those spells.
"Freeze."
Cloud muttered while holding a materia and then a bright light appeared. At first came a very cold gust of wind and the bits of snow were seen. Then a eardrum-breaking sound was heard a huge piece of ice appeared in front of him. The huge chunk of ice stay floating in the air for a moment but then immediately broke into tiny pieces and shattered on impact when crashing on the ground.
"How did Sephiroth do it?"
Cloud asked himself again and again. He remembered that Sephiroth used to trap Tifa and Aeris in a huge chunk of ice in the last fight. That magic was similar to freeze, but it did no damage and traps the target inside for a long time. They figured out that Sephiroth had probably found out a new way to use freeze and now they were trying to cast that spell.
"Freeze."
Cloud muttered again and the same thing happened. The huge chunk of ice still breaks into pieces after a short while. There was something wrong here.
"What's so &*)%&^ important with a freakin' spell anyway? I say that we stop this before anyone gets hurt." Cid complaint after all this annoyed him.
"Don't listen to him, Cloud. Keep on trying. I know you can."
Tifa encouraged Cloud and gave a mean look Cid. Cloud just stood there thinking. Sephiroth did it with ease. It was probably that Sephiroth possessed something he didn't. Maybe what he was doing now was just a waste of time.
"Here. Try it with an Ice materia." Cait Sith said and threw Cloud an Ice material. Cloud caught it with ease and examined it.
"Can I have those two materia when you guys are finished?"
Yuffie asked and hoped she will get a satisfying answer. Of course, the answer was no. But that was not a problem to her because she could anytime…
"Cloud, are you sure that you saw Sephiroth using that spell?" Shera that was standing beside Cid asked.
"I am very sure I saw him using it. Aeris and Tifa were trapped in it and all he did was lifting up his hand and…"
Cloud stopped before he could finish that sentence. He looked at the materia for a while and then he threw it to Barret. He then walked forward and stopped.
"Stand aside."
Cloud commanded and lifted up his right hand. This time he didn't mutter anything. He just closed his eyes and concentrated.
It was a quiet moment. Nobody knew what Cloud was going to do. Cloud just stood there for a minute. The others watched silently and waited for something to happen. Nothing. The wanted to interrupt but afraid that it will ruin things, so they just continued waiting and waiting. Two minutes, three, four... Still nothing. No one could possibly cast a spell without using materias. They don't have the magic ability to do that. They needed magic source, like a materia. What Cloud was doing was a waste of time.
Cid and Barret started to get impatient when suddenly they felt the coldest surge of wind that chilled even their bones. They watched Cloud with awe. Nothing at first, then they saw something started forming in front of him. Immediately, a huge chuck of ice appeared in front of Cloud floating in the air. Everyone was expecting the ice block to crash and smatter but it didn't. After a few minutes it just remain intact their and hovered over the rocky terrain.
Everyone were shocked to see this, even Cloud himself. Cloud cast a spell without even using a materia. All he did was lift up his hand then close his eyes and viola, it worked.
"Interesting. You are somehow capable of casting magic without even using a materia. I believe that there are other spells that you can cast."
Vincent clarified after he witnessed such an incident. Somehow, Cloud was more powerful and mysterious than he ever imagined.
"Red, how many books left do we have?"
"All of them except for those behind you." Red XIII replied.
Aeris took a look around her. There were tons of books all in ancient language. She didn't know why Budgenhagen kept all these books, but all of them were very boring. Aeris stretched herself and rubbed her eyes. She was tired already. She looked out of the window and saw the huge chuck of ice Cloud cast that afternoon still floating over the rocks. She wished that she was out there helping Cloud instead of reading all day long in the observing tower.
"Any shortcuts?"
Aeris asked Red XIII. Red XIII shook his head. Apparently there was no easy way out. The only way was to read and read and read.
"I will have a break now."
Aeris said and climbed down the observing tower. She lay down on a lazy chair and looked at the ceiling. There must be a way other than reading through those books.
Aeris suddenly heard footsteps. She turned her head and saw Yuffie tiptoes away with a small backpack.
"Yuffie, what are you doing?" Aeris asked and looked at Yuffie straight in the eye.
"Uh…just getting back to my room, that's all." Yuffie said and scratched her head.
"Let me take a look what's in that bag."
Aeris said and walked towards Yuffie. Yuffie slowly walked backwards and she suddenly ran away towards the corridor.
"Stop!"
Aeris shouted and chased Yuffie. Yuffie was stealing again! When will she ever stop? Suddenly Yuffie stopped and turned back. Aeris took a look and saw Red XIII approaching Yuffie from the other side.
"Hand those materia back now."
Aeris said and took the bag of materia from Yuffie. Yuffie made a face at Aeris and walked away.
Aeris opened the bag and saw a whole bag of red colored materias. Those were the most valuable materias of their entire collection.
"Bingo!" Aeris suddenly cried out.
"What wrong?" Red XIII asked curiously.
"Is there any way we can get help from these summon creatures?"
Aeris asked Red XIII. Red XIII thought for a while. They usually used summon creatures to fight but they never really make full use of those materias. Summon creatures had more uses other than fighting enemies.
"Which summon creature will know best about our question?" Aeris asked Red XIII.
"If you wanted to know more about Cloud's revival, I think Hades is a good start." Red XIII suggested.
Aeris ransacked the backpack and found the Hades summon materia. She held it in her hand and she muttered something. In just a few seconds, the surrounding turned extremely dark and only Aeris and Red XIII were seen. Then, a figure appeared in front of them.
"I don't see a target here. Why did you summoned me?"
A deep toned voice was heard. A necromancer like figure that was mixing something in a huge pot asked Aeris and Red XIII.
"We are here to seek your knowledge." Red XIII greeted.
"All I can tell you was about death. What did you wanted to know?" Hades answered coldly.
"What can you tell us about dead?" Red XIII asked a very general question.
Hades stopped mixing the stuff in his pot and looked at Red XIII.
"Every living being has a body and a mind. There is something that connects the body and the mind." Hades said and paused for a moment.
"Death happened when that connection was broken. The connection will break when the body is no longer capable of supporting itself. The mind will leave the body and it will flow into the lifestream and join the forces of the planet." Hades finished his explanation.
"Cloud was invulnerable to bolt and fire. Today he could even cast an ice spell without any usage of materia. What was happening to him?" Red XIII continued asking.
"That I am not very sure because that was not my line of expertise. All I can tell you is that Cloud was special and there was a link between him and the planet." Hades answered.
"So who should we see to know what actually happened?" Aeris asked.
"That you have to find out yourself. Even if you meet the other summon creatures they will tell you same thing." Hades said and started mixing his stuff again.
"What did you know about Cloud and Aeris's revival?" Red XIII asked.
"When…"
"Hold it! We will save that question for later, right now I wanted to know why Cloud's always was so near to death?"
Aeris cut off Hades answer and popped out another question. Red XIII looked at Aeris curiously. There was something strange with her.
"Coincidence was the first answer. The second was someone was sent to eliminate him." Hades answered the question Aeris popped up.
"Who would send an killer to kill Cloud?" Red XIII asked anxiously.
"It was the…"
Before Hades could finish the sentence, Hades disappeared and the surrounding became brighter. In just a few seconds, they were back in Cosmo Canyon again.
"What happened?" Aeris asked Red XIII.
"Time's up. There's a time limit for each summon creature to appear. We have to wait for a few hours before we could summon Hades again." Red XIII answered.
Aeris nodded and put the materia back into the backpack. She then went downstairs towards her room.
"Aeris."
Red XIII stopped Aeris before she could leave the room.
"Didn't you want to know how you were revived?" Red XIII asked, as he was curious when Aeris suddenly stopped Hades from answering that question.
Aeris just tiled her head and smiled. She then continued her way to her room.
Red XIII watched as she left the room. He didn't understand what she meant. But he was certain of something. She was hiding something.
CHAPTER 6
"Cloud."
Cloud sat down at the observation tower of Cosmo Canyon looking at the stars. He didn't care to turn his head although the voice came from behind. He recognized that voice so well and he could guess who that was.
"It's late, Cloud. I think you better go down and get some rest."
Fading footsteps were heard right after the person behind Cloud finished that sentence. The person slowly walked away.
"Tifa, come here for a moment."
Cloud broke the silent atmosphere. Tifa turned around and walked towards him. Cloud was staring into the sky, looking at the magnificent Cosmo Canyon sky view, eluded in his own thoughts. Tifa sat next to him and stare off into the sky with him.
"The stars…they are beautiful right?"
Cloud started a conversation. Tifa looked out into the sky filled with twinkling stars. The stars at Cosmo Canyon were very beautiful; many tourists came from far to admire this spectacular sight. Tifa looked at the stars and recalled her past. She remembered the day where she and Cloud were still kids, talking and admiring the stars at the well in Nibelhelm. Cloud was so shy when he was a kid. She knew that he had feeling for her. But now…now…she wasn't so sure anymore.
"Tifa, I am sorry."
Cloud suddenly apologized. Tifa looked at Cloud. She didn't know what he meant.
"I am very sorry for not coming to the church that day. I was confused; I don't know what to do. Till now I still wondered whether what I did was right. I know it's hard to forgive me, but all I need you to know is that I am sorry." Cloud explained.
Tifa looked at Cloud but Cloud didn't look at her. He didn't have the courage to apologized to her face to face, eye to eye.
"Do you have any idea how I feel when you didn't come to the wedding?"
Tifa asked. Cloud didn't say anything. He just looked at the star-lit sky.
"At first I was worry. I really was. I was afraid that you had an accident or other things like that." Tifa said and sighed for a moment.
"Then I went all around to search for you in my wedding dress, hoping that you were safe and sound. But then I saw you and Aeris together. You were kissing her. At that time I didn't know she was Aeris. I really wanted to go in front and slap her and you in the face. But I couldn't. My mind was numb and all I saw was betrayal. That's why I couldn't face it and ran away." Tifa continued.
Cloud turned his head and looked at Tifa. She looked real calm and strong but he can feel that she was hiding all her fear and sorrow. She acted like she was talking about someone else and made it look casual. She just didn't want to show her feeling.
"And shortly after that, you left us without a word. After everything with Sephiroth was over, you were gone. You left both of us without even saying whom you actually choose. You left all of us in sorrow until you suddenly appeared again in a different form. Then again, you broke my heart by being with Aeris again, in her house..."
Tifa couldn't continue anymore. Her eyes started to become wet and she turned her head away so that Cloud didn't notice it. Cloud looked at the sky again, he recalled that cold night at Aeris's house in Icicle Inn. Aeris brought him back to her house and they nearly...
"What are you trying to say, Tifa?" Cloud asked because he didn't understand what Tifa was trying to tell him.
"All I wanted to say is that if you and Aeris wanted to be together, just say so. Don't do everything behind my back. Every time you break my heart you were doing it without me knowing it. It hurts, Cloud. It really hurts to know that someone you love was having an affair, with your best friend."
Tifa answered and tears started flowing down her cheek. She quickly wiped it off and left the observation tower.
Cloud looked at Tifa leaving the room. He felt really guilty after knowing how much he hurt his ex-fiancée. Everything went fine. His first date with Tifa, his marriage proposal, and the wedding settings...everything went fine until Aeris showed up.
"Did you only love me because Aeris was gone?"
Tifa asked and climbed down the ladder. Cloud looked at the ladder although Tifa had left.
Was Tifa right? Right about everything? Cloud was once again in a bad mood.
It was late at night. Real late. Cloud was still up at the observation tower while the others had all went to bed. Everything was still in the main hall until a figure appeared. The figure slow glided across the room and headed towards Cloud's room. Cloud's room was unoccupied; the figure slowly opened the door and entered his room.
"Bingo!"
The figure whispered when it opened a bag of materias. It was Yuffie all right. All the time she wanted to get her hands on these materias but she couldn't because Cloud was always guarding them. Now was a good chance to get those materias, now or never.
Yuffie slowly picked the most valuable materias. Most of them were summon materias. After filling up her bag full with materias, she slowly tiptoed and readied to leave the room.
"Bye suckers!"
Yuffie said and opened the door. Suddenly there was a faint glow behind her. Yuffie turned her head and saw the bag that she was carrying emitting a faint glow. Yuffie quickly opened her bag and saw only one materia glowing. She examined the materia and recognized it. It was a destruct materia. They seldom used it and Yuffie took it only because it was nearly mastered and she could sell it for a high price after she used it for a few more times. This materia was capable of breaking barriers, spell and..
"Ahh!!!"
A loud cried was came from above. It was Cloud's voice and he sounds like he was in trouble. She quickly got of the room and climbed up to the observation tower. It was dark up there and the lights weren't on. Yuffie could see someone in the dark standing over a body that was lying on the floor.
"Who is it?"
Yuffie shouted and the figure moved. It quickly dashed towards the window and jumped out.
Yuffie was alarmed to see this. That thing couldn't survive a fall from a place this high. Yuffie quickly ran towards the window and looked out. She saw a figure skillfully abseiling down a rope that was tied to the window a floor lower. The figure slided smoothly against the wall and dodged and evaded every obstacle in his way. He was a professional. Yuffie then used her ninja skills and abseiled down the rope too.
It was a tough climb downwards even though Yuffie was a skillful ninja. Yuffie tried to climb down faster but she was afraid that she might lose her grip and crash onto the rocky floor. A fall from this height will surely be fatal. Yuffie can only keep a constant distance between she and the figure but couldn't possibly catch up with him. He was way too fast.
After a descending for quite some distance, the figure suddenly threw something at Yuffie. Yuffie was hit at the leg and nearly lost grip. She checked her injury and found a dart sticking in her foot. With pain in her foot, she couldn't descend as quickly as before. The distance between the two became further. She pulled out a materia and blast the figure with an ice spell. It missed.
The figure saw Yuffie attacking and pulled out something from its pocket. The figure pointed something at Yuffie and a blast of lightning struck at Yuffie. Yuffie skillfully ducked and threw her shuriken at the figure. The figure cannot evade in time and was hit. It let go the rope and fell onto the wooden platform below. Yuffie abseiled until she reached ground. She approached the figure and took a look. To her shock, it was someone she knew, an ex-turk called Reno.
CHAPTER 7
"Wake up!"
A bucket of water splashed on Cloud. Cloud slowly opened his eyes and regained consciousness. After Yuffie jumped out of the window to pursue Reno, the others came up and saw Cloud lying on the floor not moving. Cid got the idea of waking Cloud up by splashing him with water and it worked.
"What happened?"
Cloud asked after him found himself soaked. He looked around and saw everyone here.
"You were unconscious when we found you. We found someone and we suspected he attacked you. Take a look." Tifa explained and pointed at the bed.
He saw someone lying on a bed tied up with ropes. It was his old friend Reno. Reno was still unconscious and Barret was standing next to him in case he did anything funny.
"I remembered I was looking out into the sky and then I heard some noise. When I stood up and checked outside, something hit me hard on the head and I went out." Cloud said and massaged his head that was still aching.
"Reno climbed up the observation tower outside with a hook shot and he failed to escape after he attacked you." Vincent explained how Reno attacked Cloud.
"When Aeris and I asked Hades for information, Hades said that someone sent someone to eliminate you. Hades didn't finished it and left. Now we know who was sent to eliminate you. Hades can be summoned again in an hour and I will find out who sent Reno to eliminate you." Red XIII added.
"There's a possibility that Reno was responsible for the fire that burned down the 7th Heaven before."
Shera suddenly said. Everyone looked at her. She usually didn't say anything but she was actually a very intelligent woman.
"I was a little curious how the fire happened. I personally went to the burned down inn before we left and I saw tins of kerosene behind the inn." Shera explained.
"I also found something that looked like a bomb in the inn. I wasn't sure whether it was really a bomb, but now I am positive because the turks were once experts in jobs involving explosives." Shera finished her explanation.
Everyone looked at each other. What Shera said made sense. The turks were specialized in assassination, if it wasn't because Cloud was invulnerable to fire, Reno would have killed Cloud already.
"I remembered something strange happened before the fire. I was walking under a tall building and then something nearly fell on my head. Was that only a coincidence or was it Reno's job?" Cloud mentioned about the incident where a vase nearly crashed onto his head.
"Hey look! Reno's wakin' already! Leave all yer questions for em!" Barret said after he saw Reno starting to come around to his senses.
"Speak! What sent you to take out Cloud?!" Barret shouted at Reno while grabbing Reno collar and attempted to strangle him.
"I ...don't...know what you are...talking about..." Reno said in a half-conscious state.
"Who sent you?!" Barret shouted again and shook him violently by grabbing his collar.
Reno couldn't say a word. He just woke up and felt his whole aching and now Barret was trying to squeeze something out of him.
"It won't work this way, let me try."
Aeris said and gently pushed Barret away. She fed Reno a glass of water because she knew that Reno was thirsty and he was tied up. She then waited for Reno to be ready and started asking.
"Why are you doing this?" Aeris asked.
Reno looked around. Barret and Cid were crossing their arms and looked at him with a sight sharper than the blade. The others were behind the two waiting for an answer.
"I...don't know. I don't even know where am I." Reno replied softly.
"Why you *&()&%&^%^&!!!!!" Barret shouted and threatened to kill Reno but the others hold him back. Aeris looked at Reno and asked him again.
"You don't remember anything?" Aeris asked.
"I...only remembered the day we left Kalm. I remembered I left Rude and Elena because I left something at Kalm, when I entered an alley in the town I tripped over something and I don't remember the rest."
Reno told Aeris what he remembered. Aeris could feel that Reno was not lying. Reno looked at Aeris straight in the eye when he was talking and usually one cannot cheat others through their eyes.
"Don't listen to him, Aeris. He was probably lying." Cid accused Reno.
"Wait, haven't you all heard about Amnesia? It was a sickness where the victim had a vibration on his head and made him forget things. That might have happened to him after he fell from the rope." Aeris defended Reno by giving reasons.
"Bah, That's too much of a coincidence. I say that he is hiding something from us and we are going to get our answers now." Cid said and went to get his spear.
"Hold on, Cid. Leave Reno alone." Cloud ordered Cid.
"Cloud, he tried to kill you and now you are stopping us from making Reno telling you why?" Cid asked Cloud with an angry tone.
"We can't get much by pushing him like this. He will say whenever the time is right."
Cloud said and left the room. Everyone looked at Cloud leaving the room. Some of them left the room too and some stayed to ensure Reno won't escape.
"You are a damn ^*&(* lucky guy." Barret cursed Reno while Aeris slowly helped Reno to lie down.
