Disclaimer: I don't own these guys, squeennix does. Side note: I have
decided to make Vincent a huge part of this story because I an see many
opportunities for action with him. Also PLEASE R&R or I see no
reason to really continue this fic, I am hopin' for at least four
reviews by the time I do my next chater.
Homecoming... Again
"Sometimes people need someone to hate... They need a scapegoat. And sometimes people need someone to love... They need a hero." -DaChao. From: Life in Context: The Travels of The Founder of Wutai.
"Cloud! We're almost there! Wake up!" Tifa turned around in her seat at the front of their buggy so she could poke the sleeping Ex-soldier who was dozing off in the back. "Wha? What's happening?" Asked the groggy, spikey haired man. "
We are almost to Nibelheim." Vincent answered for Tifa, showcasing his ability to talk without displaying any sign of emotion whatsoever.
The former turk was the only one who chose to return with Cloud to Nibelheim besides Tifa. Having showed up just as they were leaving, Vincent gave no reason as to why he wanted to accompany them on their journey, and though Cloud considered the man a friend, both he and Tifa knew that friendship had nothing to do with this matter.
As he acknowledged Vincent -the driver of the buggy- Cloud wondered, once again, why the dark clothed man had decided to come back with them. After meteor, when everyone had gone their seperate ways, Vincent had simply vanished, only to reappear at the same time the Advent Children surfaced. Offering no explanation for his absensce, whenever someone asked him where he had been, Vincent's stony visage tightened. Without another word Vincent would just turn on his heel and leave, -not just the room- but the entire location itself. Once, after someone had dared to broach the subject with him, Vincent had been spotted in a completely different town from where the offending question had been asked.
Letting his gaze slip to Tifa, -whose light blue tank top and cream coloured shorts provided a stark contrast to Vincent's burkha like red and black robes- Cloud wondered what she would do once they got to Nibelheim, after meteor she had decided to spend most of her time cleaning up the mess which the dark summon had left behind. But now, after Geostigma, there wasn't that much of a mess to clean up... What would she do?
"Hmph." Cloud laughed at himself, she would think of something, she always did, it was he who needed some direction. He had no idea about what he would do once he got to Nibelheim. The only reason that he was going there was to avoid slipping back into the life of a recluse. Nibelheim itself had seemed the obvious place to head for. It was the closest thing he had to a home town, and also Tifa, whom he counted as his best friend, had decided to return there as well. Cloud mused, For once I'm the one who is doing the following instead of telling everyone else where to go. "Cloud! Dreaming when you're awake is just as bad as dreaming when your asleep! Snap out of it!" Tifa teased, punching him on the shoulder perhaps a bit harder than was needed. Cloud looked around, "Wow" he thought. "We are almost there." It was amazing how after everything that had happened, Nibelheim's countryside looked almost the exact same as it had when he had left it those what was it ? Ten years ago?
-----------------------------------
As they entered what was now the City of Nibelheim, (The folk of Midgar needed a place to relocate to after all!) Cloud noticed that the place seemed deserted, there wasn't any more than two or three people for every five blocks they passed.
"It seems really quiet here." Tifa murmered, her face pressed against the buggy's window. "Sinister even." She looked around nervously, biting her lower lip while at the same time pulling down a strand of her hair and then twirling it around her finger. Both were nervous ticks of hers. She looked around to see if anybody else was nervous, thinking that maybe she was just imagining things. But Cloud WAS nervous, Tifa could tell by the way he was scratching the back of his head. Vincent, well... He didn't seem to care.
As they neared the hotel they were staying in, the wearabouts of the cities population became evident.
The entire town...
They were...
They were all...
In front of the hotel!
There must have been hundreds, no thousands of people lined up and down the sidewalks leading to the hotel! Not including the huge mass of people around the hotel building itself. As they drove up wide eyed with shock and disbelief, the crowd started cheering wildly. It's a good thing that this buggy is fully enclosed or we would be mobbed, thought Vincent.
Looking around, the main thing the group noticed was the large amount of Cloud fan signs. There were "We love you Cloud!" and "I love you Cloud!" Signs being held up by women of all ages. Some of the younger women had put hearts where the word love was supposed to be written or spelled it differently. One attractive looking girl in a low cut red tank top had even gone so far as to write "Cloud, will you marry me!?" on her sign. There were also a number of toddlers yelling at the top of their lungs while jumping up and down, some proudly brandishing in their tiny hands badly spelled and sometimes illegible signs they had made all by themselves.
Cloud shrank back in his seat, what was going on? Why was everybody cheering for him? Because he had defeated Geostigma?
The former soldier shook his head. This did not make sense, after meteor he had gone on largely unnoticed. Now, after Geostigma he was the talk of the town? What was going on here?
He shook his head. One thing was for sure, if he did not greet the crowd NOW, they would probably start a riot. Cloud shook his head, there was only one thing left to do. He lifted the handle to his door, and then, ever so cautiously, he gingerly stepped out of the buggy.
And the crowd went crazy.
The screams permeated the atmosphere for miles around. At the center of it all was a portly, older looking man wearing a black sport coat, beige khakis, and black dress shoes. Cloud could tell that he was important, it was evident in the way the crowd scrambled to move out of the old guy's way as he passed them, as well as in the six bodyguards that were flanking the man at all times.
"Cloud Strife! Nibleheim's favourite son. Please come this way to the podium, the crowd really wants to hear you talk." The man said, red faced and puffing as if he had just finished running a marathon.
"But what about my friends?" Cloud asked, looking back he could see that they were standing in front of the buggy being largely ignored by the crowd. "They'll be fine. Send for them later!" The old man said, "Now we really must be getting to the podium!" As he said the word podium the old man grasped Clouds arm with a surprisingly firm grip, dragging him towards the podium. "Oh and by the way," the portly man said, "my name is Krist Roenick, and i'm the mayor of Nibleheim."
Stepping up to the podium, Roenick lifted his hands up into the air. "Ladies and Gentlemen! Kids of all ages!"
"What is this a circus?" Muttered Cloud to himself. "Please welcome-" The mayor continued. "The two-time saviour of the planet! The man who single handedly brought down Sephiroth himself!" Roenick was forced to stop for a second as the crowd erupted into a caucophony of cheers.
"What are we, chopped liver?" Tifa thought from her place beside the buggy. She looked over at Vincent, who seemed equally perplexed at the situation, not that he would have been comfortable with the attention anyhow.
"Ladies and Gentlemen may I introduce CLOUD STRIFE!" At these last words from the mayor the crowd went even crazier than before. And Cloud could have killed the person who started yelling "Speech, speech!" Because pretty soon the entire crowd was yelling it and Cloud was being pushed behind the podium by a grinning Roenick.
"Um, I'm not really very good at giving, these types of erm, -things." Cloud stammered, his palms sweaty, "Why the hell am I so nervous?" he thought. The words seemed to be rolling off his tongue like molasses. "I just wa-, I just wanted to say, thank you for this honor so very much. This, -to be appreciated- is the greatest gift anyone has ever given me." Cloud paused. "Thank you." The crowd went into hysterics again, "What a load of bullshit." Sephiroths killer thought to himself. "I can't believe I said that crap." Sure he had meant some of the stuff in his speech, but most of the time he had just layed it on thick, and these people were actually buying it!
The mayor gently pushed Cloud out of the way and stepped back up onto the podium, grabbing the mike. "But this is not all we have for our brave hero is it folks?" The mayor paused long enough to get an elongated "Nooo." From the crowd. "Oh no, the biggest surprise is still to come! Cloud if you would follow me." The mayor climbed into a small limousine and motioned for Cloud to join him. Waving to the crowd as they drove away, the old man turned back in his seat and started to chat up Cloud, talking about random things whilethe former soldier bobbed his head in response, not paying attention to what the mayor was saying in the slightest. He was far more interested in the black leather upholstry which covered the entire interior of the limo. "Damn thats nice." Cloud thought.
"Cloud?!" "Cloud!" "
Wha?" The former soldier rubbed his eyes as he came out of his thoughts.
"We are almost to the location!" The mayor practically sang the last part, so eager was he to show Cloud his surprise. "And here we are!"
Cloud looked around, confused, what were they doing in front of the Shinra Mansion? He didn't get what was going on here. Did the mayor want to show him the renovations he had done to the place? Because by the looks of it, some heavy renovations had taken place since the last time Cloud had visited the mansion. The entire building was repainted and there were some major structral changes to the outside as well.
There was also the crowd. Somehow the entire population of Nibelheim had managed to get from in front of his hotel to the mansion at the other end of town before they did. There was also another podium that the mayor was dragging him towards. But he never made it to that podium, the mayor dropped him off a short distance from the podium and walked the rest of the way by himself.
"Cloud Strife!" The man said once he had reached the podium "May I present to you, your new house!" Roenick swung his arm around to indicate the cream colored walls of the Shinra mansion. He seemed very pleased with himself as he watched the blonde man's jaw hit the ground. "Oh and I almost forgot," the mayor grinned, "Your new accomadations come complete with transportation as well." At that moment, a garage door opened, revealing three of the nicest motorcycles Cloud had ever seen, as well as a beautiful Jaguar decked out in a stunning british racing green.
"Well," The mayor said to him. "I'll be leaving you now to let you get aquainted with your new home. Farewell!" The old man said as he hopped into his limo and left.
The young hero felt his eyes widen in horror, how could the mayor do this to him? Leaving him alone to handle this big crowd. He didn't know how to handle crowds! The only time he had ever handled a crowd had been in full riot gear and with a shotgun in his hand.
"Please God, or Planet, or Aeris, or, someone! Get me out of this, please!" Cloud prayed.
He looked around, no luck, everything was still the same. No fireballs were raining from the sky, and no Bahumats were lifting screaming crowd members into the air. It looked like all hope was lost. But then, he felt a drop, just a single drop of rain on his head, then another, and another, and then pretty soon it was pouring out. The crowd disolved pretty quickly after that. Townspeople were running back towards their homes as fast as possible.
The former soldier grinned, and after thanking whoever it was he prayed to that had answered him, he too had the sensibility to run inside his new home.
----------------------------------
There was one person still standing in the rain outside the mansion in Nibelheim. She was Tifa Lockheart, and tears were streaming down her face. Cloud was gone, inside the mansion, and he had not even cared enough to try and find her. Vincent, well, he had left the moment her back was turned and only heaven (or hell) knew where he had gone. The young women moaned, falling onto her knees, crystalline tears mingling with the soft dirt below. It seemed that once again in her life Tifa was,
Utterly...
Singularly...
Alone.
----------------------------------
Okay, I hope you people like reading this chapter! I was up all night typing in the pitch black darkness on my palm pilot so my parents would not no that I am still awake. So I want at least four reviews because this chapter is about four times longer than the previous one. Thanks to everyone who will and has reviewed!
I don't believe it! Nearly a week since I finished writing this story and i'm still editing in! There are not enough hours in my day. Thanks to everyone who put this on their favourites list. Bye! Its done!
P.S. Remember, review review review! Tell me how I can make it better and what you like about it! Also, I know there was no action in this chapter but there will be tons in chapter 3 (where vincent comes in) and there is a possibility that this might cause the rating to move up to "R" as well.
May you live as long as you want to and want to as long as you live!
Homecoming... Again
"Sometimes people need someone to hate... They need a scapegoat. And sometimes people need someone to love... They need a hero." -DaChao. From: Life in Context: The Travels of The Founder of Wutai.
"Cloud! We're almost there! Wake up!" Tifa turned around in her seat at the front of their buggy so she could poke the sleeping Ex-soldier who was dozing off in the back. "Wha? What's happening?" Asked the groggy, spikey haired man. "
We are almost to Nibelheim." Vincent answered for Tifa, showcasing his ability to talk without displaying any sign of emotion whatsoever.
The former turk was the only one who chose to return with Cloud to Nibelheim besides Tifa. Having showed up just as they were leaving, Vincent gave no reason as to why he wanted to accompany them on their journey, and though Cloud considered the man a friend, both he and Tifa knew that friendship had nothing to do with this matter.
As he acknowledged Vincent -the driver of the buggy- Cloud wondered, once again, why the dark clothed man had decided to come back with them. After meteor, when everyone had gone their seperate ways, Vincent had simply vanished, only to reappear at the same time the Advent Children surfaced. Offering no explanation for his absensce, whenever someone asked him where he had been, Vincent's stony visage tightened. Without another word Vincent would just turn on his heel and leave, -not just the room- but the entire location itself. Once, after someone had dared to broach the subject with him, Vincent had been spotted in a completely different town from where the offending question had been asked.
Letting his gaze slip to Tifa, -whose light blue tank top and cream coloured shorts provided a stark contrast to Vincent's burkha like red and black robes- Cloud wondered what she would do once they got to Nibelheim, after meteor she had decided to spend most of her time cleaning up the mess which the dark summon had left behind. But now, after Geostigma, there wasn't that much of a mess to clean up... What would she do?
"Hmph." Cloud laughed at himself, she would think of something, she always did, it was he who needed some direction. He had no idea about what he would do once he got to Nibelheim. The only reason that he was going there was to avoid slipping back into the life of a recluse. Nibelheim itself had seemed the obvious place to head for. It was the closest thing he had to a home town, and also Tifa, whom he counted as his best friend, had decided to return there as well. Cloud mused, For once I'm the one who is doing the following instead of telling everyone else where to go. "Cloud! Dreaming when you're awake is just as bad as dreaming when your asleep! Snap out of it!" Tifa teased, punching him on the shoulder perhaps a bit harder than was needed. Cloud looked around, "Wow" he thought. "We are almost there." It was amazing how after everything that had happened, Nibelheim's countryside looked almost the exact same as it had when he had left it those what was it ? Ten years ago?
-----------------------------------
As they entered what was now the City of Nibelheim, (The folk of Midgar needed a place to relocate to after all!) Cloud noticed that the place seemed deserted, there wasn't any more than two or three people for every five blocks they passed.
"It seems really quiet here." Tifa murmered, her face pressed against the buggy's window. "Sinister even." She looked around nervously, biting her lower lip while at the same time pulling down a strand of her hair and then twirling it around her finger. Both were nervous ticks of hers. She looked around to see if anybody else was nervous, thinking that maybe she was just imagining things. But Cloud WAS nervous, Tifa could tell by the way he was scratching the back of his head. Vincent, well... He didn't seem to care.
As they neared the hotel they were staying in, the wearabouts of the cities population became evident.
The entire town...
They were...
They were all...
In front of the hotel!
There must have been hundreds, no thousands of people lined up and down the sidewalks leading to the hotel! Not including the huge mass of people around the hotel building itself. As they drove up wide eyed with shock and disbelief, the crowd started cheering wildly. It's a good thing that this buggy is fully enclosed or we would be mobbed, thought Vincent.
Looking around, the main thing the group noticed was the large amount of Cloud fan signs. There were "We love you Cloud!" and "I love you Cloud!" Signs being held up by women of all ages. Some of the younger women had put hearts where the word love was supposed to be written or spelled it differently. One attractive looking girl in a low cut red tank top had even gone so far as to write "Cloud, will you marry me!?" on her sign. There were also a number of toddlers yelling at the top of their lungs while jumping up and down, some proudly brandishing in their tiny hands badly spelled and sometimes illegible signs they had made all by themselves.
Cloud shrank back in his seat, what was going on? Why was everybody cheering for him? Because he had defeated Geostigma?
The former soldier shook his head. This did not make sense, after meteor he had gone on largely unnoticed. Now, after Geostigma he was the talk of the town? What was going on here?
He shook his head. One thing was for sure, if he did not greet the crowd NOW, they would probably start a riot. Cloud shook his head, there was only one thing left to do. He lifted the handle to his door, and then, ever so cautiously, he gingerly stepped out of the buggy.
And the crowd went crazy.
The screams permeated the atmosphere for miles around. At the center of it all was a portly, older looking man wearing a black sport coat, beige khakis, and black dress shoes. Cloud could tell that he was important, it was evident in the way the crowd scrambled to move out of the old guy's way as he passed them, as well as in the six bodyguards that were flanking the man at all times.
"Cloud Strife! Nibleheim's favourite son. Please come this way to the podium, the crowd really wants to hear you talk." The man said, red faced and puffing as if he had just finished running a marathon.
"But what about my friends?" Cloud asked, looking back he could see that they were standing in front of the buggy being largely ignored by the crowd. "They'll be fine. Send for them later!" The old man said, "Now we really must be getting to the podium!" As he said the word podium the old man grasped Clouds arm with a surprisingly firm grip, dragging him towards the podium. "Oh and by the way," the portly man said, "my name is Krist Roenick, and i'm the mayor of Nibleheim."
Stepping up to the podium, Roenick lifted his hands up into the air. "Ladies and Gentlemen! Kids of all ages!"
"What is this a circus?" Muttered Cloud to himself. "Please welcome-" The mayor continued. "The two-time saviour of the planet! The man who single handedly brought down Sephiroth himself!" Roenick was forced to stop for a second as the crowd erupted into a caucophony of cheers.
"What are we, chopped liver?" Tifa thought from her place beside the buggy. She looked over at Vincent, who seemed equally perplexed at the situation, not that he would have been comfortable with the attention anyhow.
"Ladies and Gentlemen may I introduce CLOUD STRIFE!" At these last words from the mayor the crowd went even crazier than before. And Cloud could have killed the person who started yelling "Speech, speech!" Because pretty soon the entire crowd was yelling it and Cloud was being pushed behind the podium by a grinning Roenick.
"Um, I'm not really very good at giving, these types of erm, -things." Cloud stammered, his palms sweaty, "Why the hell am I so nervous?" he thought. The words seemed to be rolling off his tongue like molasses. "I just wa-, I just wanted to say, thank you for this honor so very much. This, -to be appreciated- is the greatest gift anyone has ever given me." Cloud paused. "Thank you." The crowd went into hysterics again, "What a load of bullshit." Sephiroths killer thought to himself. "I can't believe I said that crap." Sure he had meant some of the stuff in his speech, but most of the time he had just layed it on thick, and these people were actually buying it!
The mayor gently pushed Cloud out of the way and stepped back up onto the podium, grabbing the mike. "But this is not all we have for our brave hero is it folks?" The mayor paused long enough to get an elongated "Nooo." From the crowd. "Oh no, the biggest surprise is still to come! Cloud if you would follow me." The mayor climbed into a small limousine and motioned for Cloud to join him. Waving to the crowd as they drove away, the old man turned back in his seat and started to chat up Cloud, talking about random things whilethe former soldier bobbed his head in response, not paying attention to what the mayor was saying in the slightest. He was far more interested in the black leather upholstry which covered the entire interior of the limo. "Damn thats nice." Cloud thought.
"Cloud?!" "Cloud!" "
Wha?" The former soldier rubbed his eyes as he came out of his thoughts.
"We are almost to the location!" The mayor practically sang the last part, so eager was he to show Cloud his surprise. "And here we are!"
Cloud looked around, confused, what were they doing in front of the Shinra Mansion? He didn't get what was going on here. Did the mayor want to show him the renovations he had done to the place? Because by the looks of it, some heavy renovations had taken place since the last time Cloud had visited the mansion. The entire building was repainted and there were some major structral changes to the outside as well.
There was also the crowd. Somehow the entire population of Nibelheim had managed to get from in front of his hotel to the mansion at the other end of town before they did. There was also another podium that the mayor was dragging him towards. But he never made it to that podium, the mayor dropped him off a short distance from the podium and walked the rest of the way by himself.
"Cloud Strife!" The man said once he had reached the podium "May I present to you, your new house!" Roenick swung his arm around to indicate the cream colored walls of the Shinra mansion. He seemed very pleased with himself as he watched the blonde man's jaw hit the ground. "Oh and I almost forgot," the mayor grinned, "Your new accomadations come complete with transportation as well." At that moment, a garage door opened, revealing three of the nicest motorcycles Cloud had ever seen, as well as a beautiful Jaguar decked out in a stunning british racing green.
"Well," The mayor said to him. "I'll be leaving you now to let you get aquainted with your new home. Farewell!" The old man said as he hopped into his limo and left.
The young hero felt his eyes widen in horror, how could the mayor do this to him? Leaving him alone to handle this big crowd. He didn't know how to handle crowds! The only time he had ever handled a crowd had been in full riot gear and with a shotgun in his hand.
"Please God, or Planet, or Aeris, or, someone! Get me out of this, please!" Cloud prayed.
He looked around, no luck, everything was still the same. No fireballs were raining from the sky, and no Bahumats were lifting screaming crowd members into the air. It looked like all hope was lost. But then, he felt a drop, just a single drop of rain on his head, then another, and another, and then pretty soon it was pouring out. The crowd disolved pretty quickly after that. Townspeople were running back towards their homes as fast as possible.
The former soldier grinned, and after thanking whoever it was he prayed to that had answered him, he too had the sensibility to run inside his new home.
----------------------------------
There was one person still standing in the rain outside the mansion in Nibelheim. She was Tifa Lockheart, and tears were streaming down her face. Cloud was gone, inside the mansion, and he had not even cared enough to try and find her. Vincent, well, he had left the moment her back was turned and only heaven (or hell) knew where he had gone. The young women moaned, falling onto her knees, crystalline tears mingling with the soft dirt below. It seemed that once again in her life Tifa was,
Utterly...
Singularly...
Alone.
----------------------------------
Okay, I hope you people like reading this chapter! I was up all night typing in the pitch black darkness on my palm pilot so my parents would not no that I am still awake. So I want at least four reviews because this chapter is about four times longer than the previous one. Thanks to everyone who will and has reviewed!
I don't believe it! Nearly a week since I finished writing this story and i'm still editing in! There are not enough hours in my day. Thanks to everyone who put this on their favourites list. Bye! Its done!
P.S. Remember, review review review! Tell me how I can make it better and what you like about it! Also, I know there was no action in this chapter but there will be tons in chapter 3 (where vincent comes in) and there is a possibility that this might cause the rating to move up to "R" as well.
May you live as long as you want to and want to as long as you live!