So here's the third installment of our little rewrite. Go us. Ahem.
This part simply focusses on the after-effects of the events at the Temple
of the Ancients, and Cloud's struggle to decide on what he needs to do.
Nothing really revolutionary or different, here, and there won't be for the
next part, either. This is mostly for the benefit of those strange few who
read fanfics without ever having heard of the series or game or whatever
that they are based on. Weirdos.
And now for the obligatory: This whole damn thing belongs to Square. The plot, the characters, the places, the names, the words, the situations, and, probably, my soul, although my lawyers are still looking into that.
There. Happy? Good.
You are entering the What If zone. . .
**************************************************************************** ********************
Interlude: The Dream and Gongaga
by Master Telanis and Ree-chan the Great
For a long time, there was nothing. And then something began to fill the void. Trees. A forest. A forest unlike any other forest Cloud knew. It was as though it was designed for travelers, having grown into an avenue. It was beautiful, and, although it seemed ludicrous to him, it sang.
The forest sang of times long-gone, wordlessly, but as undeniably as the existence of the Sun. It truly was a sight to behold. Then, a figure appeared.
It was Aeris. She walked out of the woods on one side of the avenue. In one hand, she held that strange staff. She smiled at him, and said, "Hey, Cloud!"
He tried to respond, but couldn't.
"Take care of the others for me. And let us take care of Sephiroth!"
Us?
As though his thought had been out loud, another appeared, from the woods on the opposite side. The woman had chestnut hair, and wore a pale dress. She looked at him with solemn eyes, which sparkled green. Her face was more deeply lined than Aeris's, but carried that same promise of gentle care. Even so, the woman looked almost mournful.
What do you know that I don't?
The woman appeared to listen, and then shook her head. Cloud was taken aback. The woman had heard his thought. He wondered if Aeris had, and had no way of knowing.
Aeris giggled, and began to run off. The woman followed behind, appearing to walk, but somehow keeping pace with the flower-girl. They disappeared. Cloud tried to follow, running as hard as he could, but he didn't move from his place, and his legs slid slowly through the air. He was beginning to feel desperate.
That was when another sound came, from above. Another figure lowered down to face him. Not surprisingly, it was Sephiroth. He did not seem to notice Cloud there, despite the fact that he was looking almost directly at him.
"Huh. . ." the silver-haired man said, "That one could prove difficult. She'll have to be dealt with." Without another word, Sephiroth turned and walked after the pair, at a leisurely pace. After only a few steps, he, too, vanished. Cloud would have howled his despair, had he had his voice.
Sephiroth! No! Stay away from her!
His thoughts seemed echoed from somewhere. He turned to look, and saw a figure beside him. He couldn't make it out, shrouded in a smoky- white haze though it was. He found he didn't care who it was. He turned to look again at the avenue.
Everything went white.
* * *
Barret and Tifa sat on stools, and watched Cloud's motionless form. In the corner sat Cid, puffing away at a cigarette. He was asleep, with the cigarette still perched fitfully between his lips. The room was hazy with smoke, only barely ventilated by an open window. The man sat in a lazy manner, but Barret could tell he was worried about Cloud. That was okay. They all were. And about Aeris, too, who'd gone to the Forgotten City without them. She'd left only a note to tell them about her plans to take care of Sephiroth herself. Damn girl. She was going to give him an ulcer. Probably ol' Spikey-Head, too. Probably already had. And Cid was looking kind of pale, too. Bad dream, maybe.
C'mon, kiddo, wake up. . .
He wasn't sure just why he was bothering with such thoughts. No one had any idea how long he might stay like this. He might wake up in the next few minutes, or not at all. What they should have been doing was going after Aeris, but no one was willing to leave Cloud's side. Even Cait Sith, who'd taken a break from the constant vigil he'd kept up until now, was still nearby. He'd gone to have a quick root through the junk-piles at the center of the jungle.
Yuffie, trying to seem unconcerned, was off haggling with the materia dealer in this small shanty town. Vincent was with her. Barret grinned. Those two were almost joined at the hip. As for Red XIII. . . he was somewhere around.
He turned to look at Tifa. Pallid, but otherwise straight-faced, she just kept a steady eye on the man lying on the bed. She didn't look up, not at him, not at Cid, or even at Cait Sith, when the Shinra employee - he gritted his teeth - had gone for his jaunt.
Man. He was NOT cut out for this stuff. He leaned back, and huffed a large sigh, resting his remaining hand on his gun-arm. He shook his head. He looked over at the Highwind Captain, and saw that he was awake, now. "Cid, why d'we follow this guy? Nuthin' but trouble. . ."
Cid shrugged. "Morbid curiosity?" He wheezed a chuckle around a lung-full of smoke. Barret laughed out loud.
Wiping a tear from his eye, he choked, "It'd be funnier if it wa'n't prob'ly true!" Then, as he calmed down, he returned his stare to the former SOLDIER, lying unconscious on the bed before him. Morbid curiosity. Most of 'em were the type to actually have that reason, too. One-by-one, he tried to imagine each of them poking a dead body with a stick. For each, it came quite naturally. "He's def'nitely made our lives a whole lot more int'restin'."
"Amen to that, Big Guy." With that, Cid butted his smoke out on the floor, stepping on it and crushing it to make sure it was out, and said, "I'm gonna go see where Cait is. It's dangerous, out there in the wreckage. You know. . . see if 'e needs a hand with anything." Without waiting for an answer, the Captain lifted himself out of the wooden rocking chair he'd occupied and went to the door. He opened it, and stood there a moment longer. He shivered. He exited, closing the door gently behind him.
Nonplussed, Barret shrugged, and returned to his watch. Tifa was a statue, and Cloud shivered, in a rather spooky imitation of Cid. Then, something else happened. His breathing changed. It went from the slow, steady breathing of a very deep sleep to a rather rapid, fitful pace. He was hyperventilating. He rose from his seat, even as Tifa sprang from a sitting position to a tense kneeling position beside the bed.
He shook his head again, feeling pity for the poor girl. She was absolutely head-over-heels for Cloud, but he didn't reciprocate. At least, not terribly visibly. Barret knew he did care, though. He just seemed. . . well, completely whipped by Aeris. In that moment, she looked exactly like a painting that had been hung up in her bar. It had been called Expectant Love. The girl in the painting had been wearing a dress, of course, but Tifa didn't wear dresses. Even in her shorts and tank-top thing, though, she was a pitiful sight to behold.
He turned his attention to Cloud, who was now restless, tossing and turning like a man pursued. Unconsciously, he touched his gun-arm. Then, he made a mental promise to himself, to Cloud, and to Tifa: Sephiroth would get his, in the end. He was living on borrowed time, now.
* * *
When his eyes opened, Cloud thought he was still in that strange avenue, and cried out, "Don't you dare! You hear me?!" Then, as things swam into view, he took in Tifa's face, shocked and pale. Behind her, he saw the mildly worried look in Barret's eyes, and the tense set of his stance. As Cloud looked at him, his vision swam again, this time with tears. He sat up, wiping his eyes.
Tifa said, "Wh-what?" Now she was crying. Cloud was about to tell her he hadn't been talking to her, but she got up and bolted from the room. He watched her go, wanting to follow, but knowing that, if he tried, he'd only end up on his ass. He turned to look at Barret.
"Th'hell's goin' on, Cloud?" demanded Barret.
The larger man's glare caused Cloud to look at the blankets in front of him. "I didn't mean her. I was yelling at Sephiroth."
Barret didn't say a word for a long time, and then his gaze softened. "What's up?"
"I. . . had a dream. It was Aeris, and some other woman. I think. . . I think it was Aeris's mom." He paused.
"Aeris's mom?" repeated Barret, a little uncertainly.
"Aeris has gone to take on Sephiroth by herself. They both have. Sephiroth knows. I think he's going to. . . going to kill her!"
"Well, SHEE-IT! Guess that means we're goin', too! Ready ta go, boy?" Barret didn't seem to be expecting an answer, so he did a double- take when Cloud responded.
"I'm not going."
". . .Come again?"
"I-I'm not going," Cloud repeated, voice wavering a bit. "After what happened at the Temple, I can't. I'm dangerous. I don't know what happened, but, if it happens again, it could jeopardize Aeris's life. ALL of your lives."
"You. . .?"
"I'm not going," he said for a third time. Then, he returned his gaze to the blanket.
"Cloud, I know what happened was nasty'n all, but. . ."
"No."
"But. . ." But what? Cloud thought. Barret didn't say anything to finish that. Instead, his voice full of ice, he said, "Fine. The rest of us're goin'! Seeya 'round, Cloud. . ."
The ex-SOLDIER didn't look up. He heard Barret's enormous boots stomp across the floor, and the door open. Then, he heard and felt it slam, making the entire shack shudder with the force of it.
He just shook his head. He just couldn't do it. He couldn't put all of their lives in danger because of his own weaknesses. They were better off without him.
But Aeris needs you, a voice whispered from the back of his mind. Damn conscience. He told it to shut up, but it persisted. You leave her to die, and you'll be no better than Sephiroth. You might as well have killed her yourself. And, besides. . .
"I can't leave her. I love her?"
Bingo, pally. Cloud was a little disturbed to find that his conscience had a way of talking that bore a terrible resemblance to Cid's own manner. Even so, what if it were to happen again?
Quit tryin' to talk yourself out of it, asshole. Go on.
Cursing silently, he threw off the covers and began searching for his pants.
* * *
Barret was saying, ". . .So it looks like we're movin' on without 'im. . ." Cid wasn't listening. He was staring into space, wondering just what it was that had happened in that hut. He'd been sleeping, dreaming his usual dreams about beautiful women, lots of money, and dancing cigarettes, when it had all changed. He'd found himself looking at a bunch of people, two of whom he'd recognized immediately as Cloud and Aeris.
The other bore such a resemblance to Aeris that she could only be the girl's mother. He wasn't sure just why he'd been watching this, but something told him it was important, so he'd paid close attention. Aeris's mom, in particular, caught his attention. She'd looked so sad, as she'd looked at Cloud.
The next thing he remembered was seeing Sephiroth, and knowing that he meant to kill Aeris. That was when he'd awakened, and known it was time to get the gang together, and move out. Now, it seemed, Cloud had opted to stay behind. Was this why he'd been shown what he'd seen? Because someone had to know?
"We gonna leave 'im behind?" Barret asked, more looking for a general confirmation than anything else.
Before there was any response, the door to the little hut where Cloud had been resting banged open, and the man himself stepped out, albeit a little unsteadily. He was still cinching his belt when he said, "Sorry about that, everyone. I guess I needed a few minutes to get my bearings. Ready to go?"
Cait saluted. "Yes, sir!"
Each in their own fashion, the rest followed suit. Cid, however, just nodded. He was now totally convinced that whatever force had guided him into that dream wanted him to know something. Whether Cloud had actually been there or not he had no clue, but he suspected the man had been. This meant that, although Cloud knew of Sephiroth's plans, and about Aeris's mother, he either did not mean to fill anyone in completely, or simply wouldn't. Morbid curiosity, fer sure. He was now following to find out what would happen next, on top of everything else.
Things were definitely going to get interesting.
**************************************************************************** ********************
Contact stuff: Master Telanis - deschain5@hotmail.com or veilsixclaw.signmyguestbook.com.
Ree-chan the Great - chaos_vincent21@hotmail.com or schuldich.signmyguestbook.com.
If flaming, gofckurself.signmyguestbook.com.
I have no idea when the next part will be out, as I am still in the process of writing it. Although, I imagine you can all guess what it will be about.
And now for the obligatory: This whole damn thing belongs to Square. The plot, the characters, the places, the names, the words, the situations, and, probably, my soul, although my lawyers are still looking into that.
There. Happy? Good.
You are entering the What If zone. . .
**************************************************************************** ********************
Interlude: The Dream and Gongaga
by Master Telanis and Ree-chan the Great
For a long time, there was nothing. And then something began to fill the void. Trees. A forest. A forest unlike any other forest Cloud knew. It was as though it was designed for travelers, having grown into an avenue. It was beautiful, and, although it seemed ludicrous to him, it sang.
The forest sang of times long-gone, wordlessly, but as undeniably as the existence of the Sun. It truly was a sight to behold. Then, a figure appeared.
It was Aeris. She walked out of the woods on one side of the avenue. In one hand, she held that strange staff. She smiled at him, and said, "Hey, Cloud!"
He tried to respond, but couldn't.
"Take care of the others for me. And let us take care of Sephiroth!"
Us?
As though his thought had been out loud, another appeared, from the woods on the opposite side. The woman had chestnut hair, and wore a pale dress. She looked at him with solemn eyes, which sparkled green. Her face was more deeply lined than Aeris's, but carried that same promise of gentle care. Even so, the woman looked almost mournful.
What do you know that I don't?
The woman appeared to listen, and then shook her head. Cloud was taken aback. The woman had heard his thought. He wondered if Aeris had, and had no way of knowing.
Aeris giggled, and began to run off. The woman followed behind, appearing to walk, but somehow keeping pace with the flower-girl. They disappeared. Cloud tried to follow, running as hard as he could, but he didn't move from his place, and his legs slid slowly through the air. He was beginning to feel desperate.
That was when another sound came, from above. Another figure lowered down to face him. Not surprisingly, it was Sephiroth. He did not seem to notice Cloud there, despite the fact that he was looking almost directly at him.
"Huh. . ." the silver-haired man said, "That one could prove difficult. She'll have to be dealt with." Without another word, Sephiroth turned and walked after the pair, at a leisurely pace. After only a few steps, he, too, vanished. Cloud would have howled his despair, had he had his voice.
Sephiroth! No! Stay away from her!
His thoughts seemed echoed from somewhere. He turned to look, and saw a figure beside him. He couldn't make it out, shrouded in a smoky- white haze though it was. He found he didn't care who it was. He turned to look again at the avenue.
Everything went white.
* * *
Barret and Tifa sat on stools, and watched Cloud's motionless form. In the corner sat Cid, puffing away at a cigarette. He was asleep, with the cigarette still perched fitfully between his lips. The room was hazy with smoke, only barely ventilated by an open window. The man sat in a lazy manner, but Barret could tell he was worried about Cloud. That was okay. They all were. And about Aeris, too, who'd gone to the Forgotten City without them. She'd left only a note to tell them about her plans to take care of Sephiroth herself. Damn girl. She was going to give him an ulcer. Probably ol' Spikey-Head, too. Probably already had. And Cid was looking kind of pale, too. Bad dream, maybe.
C'mon, kiddo, wake up. . .
He wasn't sure just why he was bothering with such thoughts. No one had any idea how long he might stay like this. He might wake up in the next few minutes, or not at all. What they should have been doing was going after Aeris, but no one was willing to leave Cloud's side. Even Cait Sith, who'd taken a break from the constant vigil he'd kept up until now, was still nearby. He'd gone to have a quick root through the junk-piles at the center of the jungle.
Yuffie, trying to seem unconcerned, was off haggling with the materia dealer in this small shanty town. Vincent was with her. Barret grinned. Those two were almost joined at the hip. As for Red XIII. . . he was somewhere around.
He turned to look at Tifa. Pallid, but otherwise straight-faced, she just kept a steady eye on the man lying on the bed. She didn't look up, not at him, not at Cid, or even at Cait Sith, when the Shinra employee - he gritted his teeth - had gone for his jaunt.
Man. He was NOT cut out for this stuff. He leaned back, and huffed a large sigh, resting his remaining hand on his gun-arm. He shook his head. He looked over at the Highwind Captain, and saw that he was awake, now. "Cid, why d'we follow this guy? Nuthin' but trouble. . ."
Cid shrugged. "Morbid curiosity?" He wheezed a chuckle around a lung-full of smoke. Barret laughed out loud.
Wiping a tear from his eye, he choked, "It'd be funnier if it wa'n't prob'ly true!" Then, as he calmed down, he returned his stare to the former SOLDIER, lying unconscious on the bed before him. Morbid curiosity. Most of 'em were the type to actually have that reason, too. One-by-one, he tried to imagine each of them poking a dead body with a stick. For each, it came quite naturally. "He's def'nitely made our lives a whole lot more int'restin'."
"Amen to that, Big Guy." With that, Cid butted his smoke out on the floor, stepping on it and crushing it to make sure it was out, and said, "I'm gonna go see where Cait is. It's dangerous, out there in the wreckage. You know. . . see if 'e needs a hand with anything." Without waiting for an answer, the Captain lifted himself out of the wooden rocking chair he'd occupied and went to the door. He opened it, and stood there a moment longer. He shivered. He exited, closing the door gently behind him.
Nonplussed, Barret shrugged, and returned to his watch. Tifa was a statue, and Cloud shivered, in a rather spooky imitation of Cid. Then, something else happened. His breathing changed. It went from the slow, steady breathing of a very deep sleep to a rather rapid, fitful pace. He was hyperventilating. He rose from his seat, even as Tifa sprang from a sitting position to a tense kneeling position beside the bed.
He shook his head again, feeling pity for the poor girl. She was absolutely head-over-heels for Cloud, but he didn't reciprocate. At least, not terribly visibly. Barret knew he did care, though. He just seemed. . . well, completely whipped by Aeris. In that moment, she looked exactly like a painting that had been hung up in her bar. It had been called Expectant Love. The girl in the painting had been wearing a dress, of course, but Tifa didn't wear dresses. Even in her shorts and tank-top thing, though, she was a pitiful sight to behold.
He turned his attention to Cloud, who was now restless, tossing and turning like a man pursued. Unconsciously, he touched his gun-arm. Then, he made a mental promise to himself, to Cloud, and to Tifa: Sephiroth would get his, in the end. He was living on borrowed time, now.
* * *
When his eyes opened, Cloud thought he was still in that strange avenue, and cried out, "Don't you dare! You hear me?!" Then, as things swam into view, he took in Tifa's face, shocked and pale. Behind her, he saw the mildly worried look in Barret's eyes, and the tense set of his stance. As Cloud looked at him, his vision swam again, this time with tears. He sat up, wiping his eyes.
Tifa said, "Wh-what?" Now she was crying. Cloud was about to tell her he hadn't been talking to her, but she got up and bolted from the room. He watched her go, wanting to follow, but knowing that, if he tried, he'd only end up on his ass. He turned to look at Barret.
"Th'hell's goin' on, Cloud?" demanded Barret.
The larger man's glare caused Cloud to look at the blankets in front of him. "I didn't mean her. I was yelling at Sephiroth."
Barret didn't say a word for a long time, and then his gaze softened. "What's up?"
"I. . . had a dream. It was Aeris, and some other woman. I think. . . I think it was Aeris's mom." He paused.
"Aeris's mom?" repeated Barret, a little uncertainly.
"Aeris has gone to take on Sephiroth by herself. They both have. Sephiroth knows. I think he's going to. . . going to kill her!"
"Well, SHEE-IT! Guess that means we're goin', too! Ready ta go, boy?" Barret didn't seem to be expecting an answer, so he did a double- take when Cloud responded.
"I'm not going."
". . .Come again?"
"I-I'm not going," Cloud repeated, voice wavering a bit. "After what happened at the Temple, I can't. I'm dangerous. I don't know what happened, but, if it happens again, it could jeopardize Aeris's life. ALL of your lives."
"You. . .?"
"I'm not going," he said for a third time. Then, he returned his gaze to the blanket.
"Cloud, I know what happened was nasty'n all, but. . ."
"No."
"But. . ." But what? Cloud thought. Barret didn't say anything to finish that. Instead, his voice full of ice, he said, "Fine. The rest of us're goin'! Seeya 'round, Cloud. . ."
The ex-SOLDIER didn't look up. He heard Barret's enormous boots stomp across the floor, and the door open. Then, he heard and felt it slam, making the entire shack shudder with the force of it.
He just shook his head. He just couldn't do it. He couldn't put all of their lives in danger because of his own weaknesses. They were better off without him.
But Aeris needs you, a voice whispered from the back of his mind. Damn conscience. He told it to shut up, but it persisted. You leave her to die, and you'll be no better than Sephiroth. You might as well have killed her yourself. And, besides. . .
"I can't leave her. I love her?"
Bingo, pally. Cloud was a little disturbed to find that his conscience had a way of talking that bore a terrible resemblance to Cid's own manner. Even so, what if it were to happen again?
Quit tryin' to talk yourself out of it, asshole. Go on.
Cursing silently, he threw off the covers and began searching for his pants.
* * *
Barret was saying, ". . .So it looks like we're movin' on without 'im. . ." Cid wasn't listening. He was staring into space, wondering just what it was that had happened in that hut. He'd been sleeping, dreaming his usual dreams about beautiful women, lots of money, and dancing cigarettes, when it had all changed. He'd found himself looking at a bunch of people, two of whom he'd recognized immediately as Cloud and Aeris.
The other bore such a resemblance to Aeris that she could only be the girl's mother. He wasn't sure just why he'd been watching this, but something told him it was important, so he'd paid close attention. Aeris's mom, in particular, caught his attention. She'd looked so sad, as she'd looked at Cloud.
The next thing he remembered was seeing Sephiroth, and knowing that he meant to kill Aeris. That was when he'd awakened, and known it was time to get the gang together, and move out. Now, it seemed, Cloud had opted to stay behind. Was this why he'd been shown what he'd seen? Because someone had to know?
"We gonna leave 'im behind?" Barret asked, more looking for a general confirmation than anything else.
Before there was any response, the door to the little hut where Cloud had been resting banged open, and the man himself stepped out, albeit a little unsteadily. He was still cinching his belt when he said, "Sorry about that, everyone. I guess I needed a few minutes to get my bearings. Ready to go?"
Cait saluted. "Yes, sir!"
Each in their own fashion, the rest followed suit. Cid, however, just nodded. He was now totally convinced that whatever force had guided him into that dream wanted him to know something. Whether Cloud had actually been there or not he had no clue, but he suspected the man had been. This meant that, although Cloud knew of Sephiroth's plans, and about Aeris's mother, he either did not mean to fill anyone in completely, or simply wouldn't. Morbid curiosity, fer sure. He was now following to find out what would happen next, on top of everything else.
Things were definitely going to get interesting.
**************************************************************************** ********************
Contact stuff: Master Telanis - deschain5@hotmail.com or veilsixclaw.signmyguestbook.com.
Ree-chan the Great - chaos_vincent21@hotmail.com or schuldich.signmyguestbook.com.
If flaming, gofckurself.signmyguestbook.com.
I have no idea when the next part will be out, as I am still in the process of writing it. Although, I imagine you can all guess what it will be about.