Faded Dreams, Falling Like Rain
A Final Fantasy VII Fan Fiction by Sarah Digna Yudlowitz
Dream . . .
Dream of death . . .
Dream of moonlight . . .
Legal Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and all of its characters belong to the company of Squaresoft. I do not claim these
characters or the concept of the game for my own. This work is not to be distributed, sold, or posted anywhere without the
consent of its author. Comments and encouragements are always welcomed, as they are a part of the enjoyment of writing
Fan fiction. Please take this into consideration while you read the following fiction.
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Aurthor's Note: I have no life, and you don't care, because no one is reading this, la de da. Anyway, this way completed
shortly after the author threw herself around the house in a blind attempt to cure boredom. I've gone insane from it. Oh yes.
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Chapter Sixteen
The food was interesting . . . if anything else. The "president" was drinking one of the
expensive 200 gil juices that was procured from a beaten up vending machine of a caved in
store, and had various other goodies piled upon a blanket in front of him. Lilith stared down at
her food. It probably wasn't all that healthy, but she understood that this was all that they could
find in the Midgar shops that wasn't absolutely ruined or rotten.
Tifa and Yuffie were sitting across from her cross-legged. The "president," however, was
sitting next to her, eating generously of the food. They prompted her to tell her story, and she
did. She told of her days as a neglected Hojo specimen, and of her detached relations with
Sephiroth. She told them that every time they would meet, he was brainwashed, except for the
one time when he saw her and received a vision of Lucrecia. She talked about Lucrecia and
Vincent, how Lucrecia had died shortly after she was born. She told them how she wandered
Midgar as a mercenary and met up with Aiden, and how he died to protect her. She told them
over the funeral of the dead citizens how she had come upon Cloud before Aiden's death, and
how she helped him ease out of the case of Makou Poisoning he had, and how it had reminded
her of the many times Sephiroth had gotten it. And as the dawn rose, she told them about her
part in the Reunion at North Crater, how she was spared from Holy's affects, even though the
Sephiroth "clones" around her were burned to a crisp. She had received burns running up her
arms trying to save them, but they had wanted to die. It pained Lilith to hear such a thing.
Finally, Lilith told them about how she had met up with Cloud and Vincent, and how
they had all wanted to go to Midgar to see how badly it was shattered, and to help bring it back
together. The stench in the air was horrid. There was nothing akin to the stench of burnt flesh. It
wasn't just one body. It was most of the citizens. So many were dead. As Lilith ended her tale,
those crowded around, including the new president's crew, remained silent and pensive. Finally,
the new president spoke up.
"Your life was ruined by the Shinra, like all of ours, but see how we won in the end?
Welcome to Neo-Midgar, Lilith." He stuck out his hand for her to shake, and she took it
graciously. "My name is Cain," he said to Vincent, Lilith, and Cloud. He shook their hands in
turn. The morning sun over Midgar was beautiful, and a lot stronger than it had been the day
before. Tifa took a canteen of water from her belt buckle and walked over to the flower,
watering it timidly. "This," the newly introduced Cain said, gesturing toward a girl of about
sixteen who had dark hair and sparkling blue eyes, "is Linora. She drives the Ragnarok, back
there," Cain said pointing toward the vehicle. The pretty dark-haired girl smiled.
"Ragnarok is what we used to call the mutation Dragons that lurked everywhere," she
explained.
"Pesky things," Cloud muttered at her, after having been silent for so long, a very
uncharacteristic thing for him to do. Linora frowned.
"They couldn't help it. They were altered, like the residents of this planet that joined
SOLDIER, and were duped by the promises of Shinra, like us all."
"Are there others like you that are helping Midgar get back to its original state?" Vincent
asked. Cain nodded.
"There are a few others," Cain said, gesturing to Midgar's current state," but most of the
citizens that have survived Meteor and Holy's attack, have fled. Mainly to Costa Del Sol, I've
heard."
"Yeah, we noticed," Cloud muttered, remembering the Angry Villager scene that was
enfolding before him and Vincent when they were staying at the Shinra inn. Hee sweat dropped.
Tifa came striding back with the canteen reattached to her belt. She was smiling sweetly. Cloud
suddenly got an idea.
"Cain, do you know what kind of shape Sector 5 is in?" Cloud asked.
"It's a lot worse than here, since it's so near the center," Cain frowned. "Why?"
"I want to visit Aerith's church," Cloud said. "It was the only place where anything could
ever grow in Midgar."
"I think that 'flower' is really a sapling, Cloud! Just think . . . trees in Midgar! I think we
should name it!"
"Yddrasil," Vincent said, grinning. "The tree of knowledge, where everything had
started."
"Yddrasil," Tifa said, grinning, seeing how it rolled on her tongue. She decided she liked
it. "What's that from, Vincent?"
"An olde myth, Tifa."
"Very olde," Cloud commented. He had, after all, been born in Nibelheim. Norse
Mythology was something of a tradition for him to hear about. His mother would beam with
pride when she recollected that their surname had been in connection with the fire god, Loki.
Loki always got himself into strife, but always had a trick up his sleeve to get himself out of it.
Cloud smiled when he thought of the spirit Odin in his summon materia stash that he had used
several hundreds of times on his journey with his friends. Odin was his favorite summon. Oddly
enough, Cid's was . . . Shiva. Cloud couldn't figure out way. He sweat dropped again.
"What are you thinking about, Cloud?" Vincent asked, when he saw Cloud smile.
"Odin," he responded. "Do you think he's at the North Crater, too?"
"Definitely, Cloud. The Planet needs all of the help that it can get," Vincent responded.
"That's why we're pickin' up this dump!" Cain said, grinning madly. The crew, including
Tifa and Yuffie, whooped loudly, their fists held high in the air. A raucous of laughter passed
through them. They weren't going to let the devastation of the Planet's situation down. They
would help right what Sephiroth and Jenova had wronged. Even what Shinra had. "It's going to
take a damn loooooooonnnnng time to correct, but all of our misgivings are going to be erased,"
Cain continued, "and I'll be the one to lead us all into victory. Me, Cain Gaius!" More fists held
high into the air. More raucous laughter. Cloud couldn't help but smile. It was such a romantic
notion, to think of Midgar being a peaceful place where everything was in order, and the people
were more or less happy. It reminded Cloud of the Utopian Ideal. And that seemed impossible.
"Can I hear about this Aerith?" Lilith suddenly spoke up. Cloud smiled. Aerith would
love it if he told her story, he knew. But he also wanted to get to Sector 5 hurriedly. He was
anxious to see how Aerith's garden had flourished, or . . . if it was quenched.
"Do you mind if we go to Sector 5 now? I can tell you all about Aerith as we drive there."
Cloud put on a very Zack-like grin. Cain shrugged. He didn't see much of a problem with it.
"My crew can go days without sleeping," he said. "And you're the most interesting thing
that's happened to us since Tifa and Yuffie." Yuffie rasberried Cloud at that. Cloud blinked very
slowly. What was Yuffie's problem? He had never very much liked her anyway.
