By Jesse Schiff
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A Phone Call Back to NibelheimNow was a time when Cloud was sure of himself. He'd just gotten back from a night on the town with some drinking buddy who's name he couldn't remember. All he remembered was there had been a lot of drinking and running around, a lot. They were celebrating the guy's recent promotion into SOLDIER, and it was just after a parade Cloud had marched in. Things seemed to going perfect that night, it stood out among Cloud's lonely nights since he was a child.
In a narrow, dark, and warm corner with a payphone, Cloud fumbled in his pockets searching for coins. He spent a good two minutes with his hands in his pants pockets, grunting because his fingers couldn't scoop up the change. Finally he managed to get two large ones and he immediately pulled his hand out, flinging the coins against the wall. That guy with the spiky black hair laughed as he saw Cloud do this, and watched him bump into the wall as he tried to bend over and pick up the change.
"Take off your helmet." He said.
Cloud mumbled and managed to pull his gray and blue helmet off without unbuckling the back. His face was flushed, and he looked like he took getting these coins very seriously. The guy smirked and walked over to him, his black leather boots by Cloud's red face, which was practically on the floor.
"Here, man." He said, leaning down and picking up the coins easily.
"Th…thanks." Cloud tried not to slur. The black haired guy handed Cloud the change along with a hand to help his new buddy stand up.
"Take it easy there, you're still a kid." The guy said, and patted Cloud on the shoulder. Cloud hugged the payphone terminal, as he felt a little woozy standing up so fast. Then he smiled and told the guy he was alright, he could handle it from here.
"Alright, man. Hey I'll call you tomorrow. I hear our squad's going on a pretty important mission in a week or two."
"Yeah, yeah. Tommorow." Cloud said, waving his hand as he lowered his head against a shoulder. The guy just smirked again and walked off with some flashy looking woman who was laughing.
Now he held the coins in one hand and tried inserting them into the little pay slot on the phone terminal. It took him a good minute, but he managed to get them in. The hard part was actually dialing the number, which he failed to do. An operator came on after he'd dialed 0 a few times.
"Sir? Would you like to make a phone call?"
"Yes, phone."
"What number would you like me to dial for you?"
Cloud had to repeat the number twice, as the operator couldn't understand him the first time. Then she disconnected and there was a ring tone. Suddenly Cloud's heart was beating a little faster. Someone picked up,
"Hello?"
"…"
"Hello? Come on… who is this?"
"H…hi."
"Who is this?"
"It's…"
"Hold on please." The girl stopped Cloud before he could finish, and he heard her talking in the background,
"No, no dad! The song doesn't go like that!" Her voice was something foreign to him, even though he'd known it for so long. He could hear a piano playing in the background.
Suddenly Cloud was looking down at himself. He knew he was drunk. He was drunk and buried away in some seedy back hallway somewhere… somewhere in Junon. He wasn't a SOLDIER like he'd promised her he'd be. He was just some kid no one liked that had grown up to be some guy no one liked. And here he was in the back of some bar in Junon instead of fighting monsters somewhere or saving some town as a SOLDIER.
"Sorry! May I ask who this is again?"
"No… it's noone. Wrong number…"
"Are you sure?"
"Wrong… sorry… wrong number…"
"Ok then, bye." And she hung up.
Cloud listened to the buzz of the disconnected signal, and let it linger for a while.
"Bye…" He whispered, and missed the receiver as he tried to hang up the phone. He stood up straight and caught his balance momentarily before he felt very, very sick. He left his helmet in the corner by the wall as he stumbled down the dark hallway toward the nearest bathroom.
"Gross!" Some woman yelled as Cloud threw up in the sink beside her. He looked up at his reflection and all he could make out was a blurry pale-faced loser with blonde hair.
"You fucking idiot." Cloud said at his image, and balled up a fist. The women ran out of the bathroom as he punched the mirror and cracked it all the way to its edges.
"And stay out!" The muscle-bound bouncer yelled as he pulled Cloud by his collar out the back door. He swung Cloud against the adjacent wall and walked back inside, shutting the rusted metal door behind him. Cloud slumped against the wall, still feeling sick and now dizzy. He noticed he was wet for some reason. It was raining out.
"Nice day out." Cloud said to a couple of shifty looking guys coming out of a nearby gambling parlor. It was actually 2 AM. They stopped for a moment, then decided against robbing him. A Shinra soldier might come back looking the next day, so they kept on walking. Cloud looked up as a flash of lightning cracked across the sky. He slowly got to standing after the two guys left.
"How the hell do I get home?" Cloud said with a slur, not remembering where he was or how he'd gotten there.