Disclaimer:I have reached a rough patch in life and havent been writing lately. But here it is. I don't own anything really.

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Cloud's headphones blared in his ears, under his spiky hair. Closing his eyes, he drifted into a slumber. He dreamt the dream of dreams. In his dream, alone in a room he stood. He stared into a mirror, hanging on the wall. He gazed into the mirror for what seemed to be forever. Seeing himself devoid of color, he freaked out and tried to break the mirror. When his hand collided with the mirror, it melted all over his hand, encasing it in glass. It soon engulfed his blue shadow on the ground, and he was then paralyzed. A group of figures walked into his dreams. There was two men and one little girl.

The man on the left stepped forward, light naturally flowed toward him and his features were illuminated. He was tall with jet black hair. His golden shoes matching a claw on his left arm. Cloud followed his cloakup to his face. He gnashed his teeth to reveal his fangs. Pulling back his cloak, revealing a shotgun with gold light eminating from it. The light danced in Cloud's eyes, it spelled out: Death Penalty.

The girl on the right stepped forward, basked in a dull blue light. She was very short, a child. Cloud stared into her eyes, boring into her soul. He saw her black, tainted heart screaming into his mind. He dissearned a phrase from the constant yelling. "Where are you Daddy?" Her brown hair tapered to her neck and rested along a sword, diamond edged with "Ragnarok" emblazoned in it.

A fiery blast ignited the air, singeing the hair on Cloud's body. The Fire came from the man in the middle's hand. "Divine am I, inside and out" he bellowed. Bringing his hand to his face, he lighted his visage. His black hair, shaped like Cloud's hair. His nose, exactly like Cloud's. Everything about him, was like Cloud. He ran towards Cloud, jumping over him, and blinding him with a ring of Fire. Cloud fell backwards without the support of his sword. "Soon, you will wake up from this dream, and you will have to decide what to make of it," he said, "First off, I'm Zack. We were in SOLDIER together," he was interrupted by the fact that Cloud was on his feet, "Why do you defy me?"

"I can't let you live anymore," Cloud cried out, "if you die, then me and Aeris can live together and the world can move on."

"But, I'm not here," Zack said, "I'm here to warn you that we will be coming back for you. We are going to kill you. You have no reason for living in this world, you stole Aeris from me and I want her back. Even now, Aeris is moving away from you, fearing that she will die too. She doesn't care about you. No one does."

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"You're wrong!" Cloud awoke screaming.

Aeris rolled off the bed and floated above the floor, sound asleep. Cloud looked down to her and gazed and her body. Limply floating, her beautiful brown hair fell across her face and to the floor. Her nightgown cascaded the ground. She opened her azure eyes and looked at Cloud. She fell to the ground with a crash and jumped to her feet.

"What were you doing?" she huffed.

"I was just looking at the one I love, is that a crime?" he said.

She stormed out of the room gathering up her blankets, as a tear trickled down her soft face. "What the hell is her problem?" Cloud questioned. He ran after her and found her in the basement sitting in front of the TV. "What's wrong?" he asked her.

"I am afraid. You just scared the shit out of me. I had a dream. In which you killed yourself to releave my pain." She cried with every word that came out. "And when I awoke, I thought the dream was true, and you were a ghost."

"It's all right I'm not going to leave you. As long as we are both alive, I will protect you." Cloud proclaimed.

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The next day, Cloud and Aeris got news of a monster in Junon, that was harassing the townsfolk. "We got it under control," they said. Rushing to Junon with utmost haste, Cloud and Aeris never spoke. In Junon, they found a scattering of bullet shells and a smell of hard liquor. Perched on the roof of the house next to the elevator, they saw a dark skinned man. They recognized his face. It was Barret Wallace, an old friend of Cloud but somehow different. Cloud knew that his forearm was taken by a hail of bullets, but now his entire arm was engulfed in metal. Also his eye emitted an annoying red light.

"Eh, Cloud... Heh heh heh, it is you. I barely recognized you," Barret barked.

"Why are you here? Why are you messing with the people here?" Cloud asked.

"By killing off people here, I knew that you would run to the rescue. I've got a message for you, from a Mr. Project X, he says 'Don't worry Cloud, in the end you will have two choices, come to my side or die,'" Barret recited, "You are so predictable. You're gonna try and find Mr X and kill him. So I'm here to fulfill Mr. X's wish, I'm gonna kill you."

Barret's arm started to flail about, spraying bullets at Cloud and Aeris. Aeris bellowed "Contego" and erected a shield to cover Cloud. Cloud charged toward Barret and brandished his sword to reflect sun into his eyes. "Damn, that stupid eye of his," Cloud thought to himself. Barret's arm transformed into a gigantic cannon and pulled everything in, even Cloud. Aeris took out her rod, and screamed, "Casses", against the roar of the vacuum. Out of her rod, shot a blue light that wrapped Cloud, and formed a barrier between him and the cannon. He was stopped from being sucked in, not by Aeris, but because Barret had collected enough energy. Barret jumped into the air and unleashed his Catastrophe upon Cloud and Aeris. In a blur of emotion and thought, Cloud pulled out a Red Orb. Spewed from the orb, was a skeletal figure with a large cauldron. Hades lifted the cauldron and absorbed all of the energy from Barret's attack. The cauldron shattered and destroyed Hades. Hades took the full force, except for a peice of debris, which knocked Aeris unconscious. While Barret was amazed of his own power, Cloud seized the moment. Cloud rushed to Barret's side and grabbed a knife and dug out Barret's eyes. Cloud took the targeting eye and shoved it into Barret's throat. Cloud tore off Barret's arm and shoved it through his torso. Barret's blood erupted from his wound and spattered Cloud. Aeris regained consciousness, and saw Cloud dumping Barret's body into the ocean. They left Junon with a friend gone, and a burden weighing on their mind.

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On their way back to Midgar, they stopped in a clearing, Aeris said, "What will happen to Marlene? I know Barret had been training her with a sword ever since her father died. So do you think she can take care of herself?"

"Wait, who were you talking about?" Cloud's ming grinded to a halt and rewinded.

"You know, Dyne's daughter, Marlene, she was short with brown hair, about to her neck. Spunky little brat, she always liked you, she'd protect you even though she was to weak," Aeris recalled, "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," Cloud said, "Tomorrow I'm going to Gold Saucer to talk to someone about a job. You can stay here, just don't go check on Marlene, Ok? I'm sure she's all right."

"All right, I promise," Aeris said.

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Cloud never spoke of his dreams with Aeris. He never talked of Zack or Sephiroth. He was trying to protect her. Anyway he could. Cloud lived in fear of Zack and his two minions coming to kill him. He didn't want to get away from Aeris, but it was for her well-being. The next night, Cloud set off for Gold Saucer to find Cait Sith and Yuffie. Cait Sith, in his years under the control of Reeve, became a formidable opponent. Yuffie for the past weeks, had been training with Cloud to increase her skills. Only while Cloud was with them, was Aeris safe. Zack never knew where Cloud was, that is why he visited Cloud in his dreams. Aeris was safe for now. But how long would this last?

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End of Chapter 3. It's longer than the other two and I hope you liked it. It might seem choppy but that is because I tried to fit alot of ideas into this chapter. If you like it fine, if you don't fine. I need reviews please. I need to improve. Constructive criticism. Next chapter, will entail Cloud's stay at gold saucer. And someone is going to die. I wont tell who though. Tune in for next Chapter of:

Final Fantasy: Project X