Forgiven Planet Chapter 5: Memories of Mideel, a final fantasy vii fanfic

Chapter 5: Memories of Mideel

"What do you mean, he's GONE?" asked the doctor assigned to one Mr. Vincent Valentine.

"Hey, don't shoot the messenger. He left this note, presumably for the group of people he was in here with," replied the nurse, Rie (AN: The same poor girl that got stuck with Yuffie, but my faithful readers knew that. J This is one nurse whose work environment will be much better once this group leaves.).

"I see. Well… we'd better let them know about it, then."

* * * * *

DEE-DEE-DEE-DEE-DEE-DEE-DEE!

Cloud's eyes drifted open, but lacked any alertness.

DEE-DEE-DEE-DEE-DEE-DEE-DEE!

A couple more rings is what it took to shake him into reality and realize that it was his PHS ringing at his bedside. He sat up and reached over Tifa's body, sliding the sheets partially off her and exposing a part of her top half. This brought a smile to his lips, and he brushed her hair back and kissed her forehead before picking up the phone.

"Hello?" he answered, his voice full of sleep.

Tifa finally roused in her sleep when he answered the phone, but she seemed to be dreaming. "Mmmmmmmm…" she moaned, and sleepily went to throw her arm around Cloud, but ended up wrapping it around Cloud's knees, since he was sitting up. "Just… one more time, Cloud…" she said through her subconscious before rolling back over to her pillow.

Cloud would have been amused by this, but was too busy with concern about what the doctor on the phone had just told him.

"O…okay. We'll be right there. Thanks."

Cloud hung up the phone and set it down next to him on the bed. He let out a sigh and fell back to his pillow, wondering what to do next.

At this, Tifa finally woke. She rolled over and smiled at the sight of Cloud lying next to her. His arm covered his eyes. He had fallen back asleep. The smile on her face soon became mischievous. She slid out of bed and grabbed a pair of Ribbons from the discarded clothes scattered on the floor. Gently, she took Cloud's hands and raised them above his head, through the headboard of the bed, careful not to wake him. She took the first Ribbon and tied his hands together, keeping a pole between them. With the other, she gagged him lightly, waking him back up in the process. As soon as she knew he was awake, she tightened the gag to an acceptable level.

Cloud stared at Tifa, knowing there was nothing he could do until Tifa untied him. He tried to start talking, which just came out muffled moans.

Tifa smiled and straddled his stomach, tossing her head and letting her hair form a veil over them. "Good morning, Cloud. I'm ready for more, so it doesn't really matter if you are or not," she said with a sensual wickedness. She kissed his chest once, but his gagged responses were getting more urgent, rather than pleasured. She hesitated, then lifted her head and saw that his eyes carried a resistant look unlike what she would have expected. The brunette hastily untied her blond plaything and was met with the instant response of "Vincent's gone!"

"What? Why didn't you say something?" Tifa asked as she hopped off him. Cloud just stared at her. "Oh, right. Sorry about that." she followed up, blushing. She began to dress herself, and Cloud did the same.

"Don't be," Cloud responded as he slipped his shirt on. "In fact, give me a rain check on that. Please."

Tifa giggled as she tied her hair, which had been free during the night's events, into her signature ponytail. "Not to worry. It's a fantasy of mine, has been for some time. I don't plan on letting it go that easily."

"Is that so?" Cloud asked as he checked the room for any missing clothing or items before they checked out. "That intrigues me. You have any more in that dirty little head of yours that you might want to tell me about?"

Tifa grinned mischievously and headed towards the door, Cloud falling in step next to her. "You'll find out. But to be honest, just having you at all has been a fantasy of mine ever since I was old enough to have them."

Cloud stole a short but passionate kiss from her before opening the door to their room. "The feeling's mutual, Teef."

* * * * *

(AN: I'm kinda gonna rush through the rest of this stuff, because I'm anxious to finally get them out of Kalm and develop some of my plot ideas. So just know that there was some typical "Oh you're all right! Yay!" context in here, okay? Hopefully I can make up for it.)

The doctors at the Kalm Hospital had gotten to know Cloud and all of his companions in the past two days. (It's a small town, after all.) So, when the entire group showed at the hospital to learn of Vincent's absence, they brought them into a conference room used primarily for doctors' meetings. Nanaki made a surprise appearance, limping into the room and sitting in a corner once everyone else had entered. His front left leg was in a cast, but his presence earned smiles from everyone. The group was reunited and mostly rehabilitated, minus one former Turk and one puppet master.

Cloud pulled the note out of his pocket as Yuffie and Nanaki signed out of the hospital. The doctor had given it to him, supposedly from Vincent. It read,

Allow me to thank you for everything… by doing this alone. Should I find you again, this note will make far more sense. If I do not, farewell.

~ Vincent

Cloud sighed and tucked the note back away. He and his comrades stood at the gates of Mideel, and for the first time in months, there was no clear destination for all of them. He turned to face the group behind him, consisting of Tifa, Barrett, Marlene, Yuffie, Nanaki, and Cid. Sensing some fast approaching farewells, he took a deep breath and asked, "So, where is everyone off to?"

Eyes drifted back and forth, each wondering who would be the first to speak what was on everyone's mind: the party was finally going to disband. The mood was generally solemn as this fact set in, although the words had not yet escaped anyone's lips.

Tifa walked up and took hold of Cloud's arm. "You know I'd go anywhere with you, Cloud." The comment earned a warm smile from Cloud, and approving smiles from everyone else.

Barrett looked down at Marlene, who was holding his hand. She simply nodded. With that, he said, "Well, I bet Marlene'll be awful upset if she leaves'r Auntie Tifa, ya know? Maybe I'll jus' tag along with you n' the spiky head… if that's awright. We don't got muchuva home ta go back to."

Cloud nodded and smiled. "Yeah. That's awright," he said, playfully mocking Barrett's speech pattern.

Cid was the next to speak. "Well, you bastards have been nothing but trouble since the day I met you. I'm gonna be so damn glad to be rid of you, and the sooner the better. As a matter of fa…" He trailed off, his mouth still open. The cigarette he had been smoking dangled from his bottom lip for moment, then toppled to the brick path beneath his feet, the tip still smoldering red and black. One by one, everyone caught his stare and looked southeast, the same direction Cid was looking. As they did, each ended up with a similar reaction.

"W…what the hell is," Yuffie started before trailing off. Everyone knew what she was talking about.

Cloud's eyes went wide as the answer dawned on him. "That's… Lifestream. It's a pool of Lifestream."

* * * * *

A secluded mountaintop was the place he chose. He enjoyed being able to look over Kalm, the remains of Midgar, and that Chocobo farm at the same time. His eyes closed, he sat waiting for his fate, whatever form it would take. Prepared for a massive, painful struggle at best, he accepted his oncoming death in advance. He laughed, despite himself. "They say every man must face his demons at one point. Ironic that mine will be true demons."

With that, from his meditative state came an inner light. Like a star shining from his chest, it gleamed with an unnatural intensity. A grunt came from Vincent Valentine, as the first of his trials emerged from within him. The bluish colored star darted out from Vincent's chest, causing him to jolt as it did. Vincent took a deep breath as the hovering star began to expand and take form in front of him, glistening with an almost liquid quality as it did so.

Vincent rose to his feet and his face took a stoic quality as he recognized the creature forming in front of him. "So it begins… Galian Beast." He smiled very slightly, an action that any human around would have seen as sinister, and began loading his gun both with bullets and Materia.

He spoke aloud to himself as he inserted his Materia. "Ice… Cure… Counter…" He looked up at the beast, which had nearly formed completely and its shine began to dim steadily. "That will be all. I will save the real power for the real challenges. Beast, you have been a part of me for far too long. You have served a useful purpose, despite the nightmares and the anguish you have caused me. But now it is time… that you died."

Slowly, Vincent raised his gun, aiming directly between the creature's eyes.

* * * * *

"So what the hell's your take on THIS?"

"I don't know, Yuffie. Shut up and let me think for a second."

"You can't talk to me like that, you spiky-headed bastard!"

The discussion had been this way for ten minutes, everyone either too confused too say anything, or too confused to say anything useful. The mix of stress and confusion about this new development was obvious. However, now they had finally reached the site of the new Lifestream pool, which seemed to be perfectly round and about 150 feet in diameter, right between Kalm and Midgar.

"Yes, I can. I always have, so shut it unless you come up with something important to say." Cloud sighed. "This is just like it was in Mideel. It's Lifestream from the center of the planet. Does anybody have an idea on how to deal with this?"

Nanaki spoke up immediately. "Grandfather would know."

Approving looks exchanged from face to face, as this idea was silently tossed around between the party members.

"Well, then," the blond-haired leader stated matter-of-factly, "I guess Nanaki and I are going back to Cosmo Canyon. His gaze shifted off to the east a few miles, as he viewed the wreckage area of the Highwind. "Unfortunately, that's not going to be as easy as it has been in the past. This sucks. We're going to have to take a boat from Junon, which is probably a riot zone with everything that's gone on with Meteor and Shinra and all. Anybody still want to come with us?"

At that moment, an epidemic began to spread. It started in Cloud, and it spread to Tifa. From her, it reached Barrett and Marlene, who spread it to Yuffie, and finally even Cid caught it. Each of them was trying desperately to hide the smiles which inevitably spread to each of their faces. They all knew what it meant. An excuse had just been dropped into their laps to remain together for at least a little longer.

Simultaneously, everyone started talking about how much they would be needed for this, and that Cloud was helpless without their assistance. And so it was that Cloud and most of his companions remained together even after their battle with Sephiroth had concluded.

* * * * *

"So, what do you think they're gonna do?" asked the red-headed Turk as he handed the scope glasses over to a dark-haired former Shinra executive. The three members of the former special forces group and the executive stood on the roof of the Kalm hospital, given a clear view of Cloud and the rest of the group, despite the fact that they stood about a quarter-mile away from the small town.

"Hard to say. It's pretty obvious they're all freaked out, since it does look like the same thing that hit that island town." Reeve answered casually. "Chances are, they're going to find out. And I have a good idea where they would be headed to get that information. Thanks to Cait Sith."

"Cosmo Canyon, right? The place with all those hippies?" Elena chimed in.

"Yeah, that's right." Reeve answered. "But…"

Rude finished Reeve's sentence for him after he trailed off. "But they have to go through Junon, because their ship got busted up. And with Meteor destroying most of Midgar, and Shinra being torn to pieces, Junon is going to look like a war zone at this point."

Reeve sighed and nodded. "Yes. I'm sure the people have taken to the streets and started rioting by now. It's been on the verge of happening for the past week. The only thing that kept them down until now was the fear that Shinra might not be completely finished. But people won't believe that anymore. They can see what happened to Midgar, or more specifically, the Shinra Headquarters. It must be chaos."

Reno sat casually on the edge of the roof as Reeve handed the binoculars to Elena. "So what does that have to do with us?" the red-head asked thoughtlessly.

"Ooh, ooh, they're moving! Heading off to the east, it seems." Elena reported abruptly.

Reeve nodded. "Probably going to take that cave that the Midgar Zolom guards, just past the Chocobo Farm." He sighed, and a long pause ensued. Finally, the former Shinra executive pulled a Shinra standard-issue handgun from his waist, pulled an ammo clip from his coat pocket, and loaded up. "Screw it. I don't have a puppet anymore, but I owe those guys big for making fools out of them like I did. You three be safe. Hopefully I'll see you again." He turned and tossed his gun hand sideways once in a small wave over his shoulder, his back turned to the Turks.

Five steps later, a ricochet sounded, and Reeve was unarmed, his gun clattering several feet away from him. Reeve stopped, a knowing smile hidden from view as he remained with his back to the trio.

Reno's voice, rather irate-sounding, rose from behind the motionless executive. "The hell do you mean, 'hopefully I'll see you again?' You owe us back pay! You're not getting rid of us that easily!"

"Reno… you know you'll have to work together with Cloud, Barrett, and Tifa. We both know what they did, as well as those other Avalanche members they killed when they dropped the Sector 7 plate. I don't want you planning a secret revenge on them. We don't know what's going on yet, and whatever they're doing… might be more important." Reeve turned to face a fiery-eyed Reno. He looked ready to explode.

Reeve continued. "Reno. Promise me now you won't try to take revenge on them for what they did at the Sector 1 reactor."

Reno gritted his teeth to get through his response. "Killing them will not help me. It won't calm me. Revenge never solves anything. Only fools think differently. Time… is the only thing that will make me forget my sister's death."

* * * * *

Vincent raised his gun parallel to his face in a silent prayer for his adversary as the Galian Beast roared in front of him, ready to attack for no apparent reason. It was a dumb beast, mindlessly attacking whatever crossed its path. It had no knowledge of the fact that it had just emerged from within the man in front of him. All it knew is that this man was here now, and it needed to be destroyed. Now.

The beast charged Vincent in an unprovoked rage. The dark-haired man sidestepped the creature's massive punch easily, his cape swinging out to the side as he did. The purple Materia in his gun flashed with the chance to counterattack, but Vincent did not take it. Instead he spoke to the clumsy beast.

"I bear you no ill will, beast. Please forgive me for this. May you reenter the Lifestream peacefully."

After recovering his balance, the beast again rushed Vincent without a plan of attack whatsoever. The creature's huge fist rushed towards Vincent at an alarming speed. Too slow. The Galian Beast's fist connected with air. Vincent stood calmly ten feet behind the beast, his gun leveled.

BANGBANG!

The beast fell forward, a heavily bleeding bullet hole in the back of its head, its right arm, right leg, and one right between the shoulder blades.

(AN: But wait… wasn't that only TWO gunshots? No, of course. He fired his four shots so fast it just SOUNDED like two. Jeez, don't you people watch Trigun? *laughs maniacally*)

Vincent bowed his head in yet another prayer as the creature stopped moving, as it gushed blood which had a color alarmingly similar to Jenova cells.

Vincent felt the air around him heat up considerably as he remained silent with his eyes closed. He opened his eyes to see what had caused the sudden temperature change. only to see that the beast had risen to its feet, still bleeding profusely, and conjured a Beast Flare attack that surrounded Vincent where he stood. Dozens, even hundreds of small fireballs surrounded him, and he knew very well what they could do if they touched him. Calmly, the battle-hardened warrior looked around, only to see that there was no possible escape from this attack. The small, airborne, explosive fireballs began to draw close to him, almost magnetically.

With a sigh, Vincent bowed his head. I wish it hadn't come to this, he thought as the fireballs moved within inches of him. As the heat from the small explosives made his entire body sweat, Vincent dropped to one knee, seemingly defeated. Vincent's eyes flashed as he saw the first fireball explode, and he thrust his hand flat to the ground in frustration at the exact same moment. The first fireball triggered the rest to combust in a massive chain reaction, and Vincent was engulfed in a wave of flame.

The Galian Beast roared with satisfaction at its kill, and it turned to go, ready for its next victim.

"A clever trick, beast," came Vincent's voice from the site of the explosion. The area had been engulfed in smoke, and visibility through the artificial cloud was zero. As the smoke cleared, Vincent's form was revealed. He stood unscathed among the scorched earth around him, and calmly brushed some ice from his shoulder. He had cast Ice on himself to neutralize the power of the Galian Beast's fire-based attack.

"I had hoped to not use any magic against so lowly a creature. But so be it. Since you are a fire-elemental creature, I know what I must do now to stop you."

The beast by now had reacted to the sound of its prey still alive, and had turned to charge Vincent once again. Vincent removed the green Cure materia from his weapon and inserted a blue orb next to his Ice materia. As the creature drew within feet of the caped man, Vincent leaped into the air, and all three materia reacted as he fired a single shot. The bullet whizzed through the air, taking on a glazed appearance halfway through its flight. It struck the beast in its side, the area where a kidney would be if it were human, stuck there, and began to spread ice throughout the beast's body. Sluggishly, the beast turned and tried to create another Beast Flare attack to hopefully catch an airborne (and thus, unable to dodge) Vincent before he hit the ground. The small fireballs began to appear, much to Vincent's alarm. The miniature bombs closed in on Vincent as he began to descend. There was nothing more for Vincent to do to save his own life.

As he accepted his fate, the flare balls disappeared entirely, giving Vincent free passage to the ground. As he landed, he looked at his adversary and saw why. The ice bullet in the creature's side froze the blood in the beast's veins. As Vincent planned, the fire-elemental beast could not handle extremely low temperatures.

Vincent stood over the beast, examining it for a moment before firing a pair of shots into its head. He followed this by a final prayer. He prayed for the soul of the wretched beast. And then he prayed to keep his life through the next three battles to come.

(AN: Okay, the beginning was kinda dirty. So sue me for living out a fanboy fantasy. I won't make you sit though any more thoughts from my twisted mind, though. This is my first shot at battle writing, other than RPing in some online games, so I hope it turned out alright. Any comments are welcome via my suggestion box. ^-^

For those of you who are technical FFVII fans, answer me this question. What blue materia did Vincent put in his gun towards the end? Just a little quiz question for you. As a little prize, if you can answer the question, I'll incorporate you as an extra in the next chapter, if you'd like. Send me a character name, and I'll put you in it. Think of it like a contest. Everyone who gets the answer and sends a character to put in, I'll put you in. Send preferences on how you want them to interact, too. With any luck, (and enough positive feedback,) I can make them recurring! ^-^

Anyway, sorry it took so long getting this chapter up. College is something of a killer, but I won't bitch to you about it. You keep reading and I'll keep writing. I'd like to thank my loyal fans who have continued reading my first outing into fanfiction, and especially those who have offered feedback. Shadow Reaver, Cloud-Bahamut, Decembers-sin, and Piccolo999, thank you the most for continued support. I promise to try to get the next chapter up quicker than this one.)