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Well guys, I know it was a slow start, but I had to get the dream sequence in because I thought it would be a cool start. Chapter 2 is next, although I'm afraid the really good stuff won't start happening to probably chapter 3. Anyway, enough with the cliff hanger. On to chapter 2!
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"I said, show your self!" I'm not sure why my voice sounds so bold right now. I've never fought without my sword, and am not really sure how to box or anything like that. I've seen Tifa do it a million times and I try to copy her stance, but it feels awkward and this only heightens my awareness at how venerable I am right now. "Now is that the way to talk to an old friend, Cloud?" Suddenly the voice sounds familiar, and the swish of a flame in the corner of the room confirms who I believe it to be. "RedXIII, why are you here?" I ask. "Well hello to you to," he responds. "That is a question that must be answered later. Right now I am curious about you Cloud. Why do you come here so often?" "I think you know why," I say, a bit annoyed. I'm very happy to see him, but right now I really don't feel much like talking, let alone my personal thoughts being prodded. "Actually I don't," he says. "I am only here because I was trying to find you in sector seven and only found a jungle. But I found your scent and followed it here. Because your scent was so strong, I knew that you would eventually return, and look, here you are."
He walks forward. I notice his hair is much longer then I remembered it, and he has a necklace of some sort around his neck. It's short, in the shape of a web or something. At every intersection of the strings lies a materia of a different color. I recognize most of them. Restore, lightning, deathblow, revive, HP plus, and a couple others that I don't care to list off right now. What puzzles me is that there is a single material that I see and completely don't recognize. It's red, so I immediately begin to think of the summon materia that RedXIII took after the war, and realize that he took none that small. In fact the only one he took was Alexander, and I can see that quite plainly towards the bottom of his necklace, so this new red materia is a puzzle to me. I make a mental note to ask him about it later.
"I met Aerieth here, Red XIII. She was running from the Turks at the time. I happened to bump into her and she,… well,…We escaped, that's all. I come here…because…" Why do I come here? "…I don't know. Maybe it's because of the smell of the flowers." That's a flat lie. The flowers that used to grow in the center of the room are all dead. Nobody's watered them since Aerieth left Midgar o so long ago. Red XIII walks towards me and I see his stern, serious face, but his eyes give away his concern and compassion. They always have. I used to joke that he could never keep a straight face. He never got the joke. He always responded with something like, "I don't understand what you mean Cloud. How could I have a straight face?..."
"I know your heart, Cloud," he says interrupting my thought. "It's easy to see through. We should never forget the dead. Through their memory we can make ourselves stronger and wiser. Perhaps even more then they were themselves. But to dwell upon a life that no longer exists and to wish their return instead of letting them go, only prevents us from moving forward. You need to let her go, Cloud."
Something about his last statement set me off. "What business is it of your to delve to into my thoughts and my life! You have NO idea what she meant to me! And if there was a way to bring her back I'd do it in a heartbeat rather then have to live with how I failed her!" With that I turned and marched out of the room. Before I slammed the door I noticed RedXIII familiar stern face with those compassionate eyes. I also saw that his tail had stopped swishing back and forth.
I kicked a rock as I walked aimlessly through the streets of downtown Midgar. I didn't care where I ended up going or what I did. I was still mad at RedXIII, but really, I knew I couldn't be mad at him for long. He had good intentions. Plus, how could I get mad at someone who I knew was one of my best friends, and had probably saved my life more then once. Instantly I went back through my memories and remembered how once, I had been fighting a pack of ice wolves up in the north. Aerieth had just died the day before, and something about her death, or the cold, was making my actions slow and sluggish. I remember slashing down at one of the wolves, completely missing it. Before I knew it, three of them were on my back, scratching, biting, and ripping at my jacket and my flesh. Tifa furiously beat at one of them but its thick fur seemed impenetrable for her fists. That's when RedXIII jumped in. Unleashing a move he later called the "Howling Moon" he leapt upon the backs of the three wolves and one by one ripped at their throats. After the first two lay dying in a pool of blood, the third attempted to run away. But RedXIII sped after him in a bloodthirsty whirlwind, and the third ended up strangling to death as he, like the other two, had his jugular surgically removed via RedXIII's teeth. Shortly afterwards it was RedXIII who came to heal me of my wounds, since Tifa was too grossed out at the sight of my shoulder blade and bloody rib cage to do anything about it.
After what seems like ages of walking aimlessly, I end up right in front of the Honey Bee Inn. My intestines curl and I turn and run like a madman. Urg…that place still gives me the creeps.
Since I was already at the Wall Market, I decided to take a look around. Come to think of it, I haven't been here in ages. I look and see that not much has changed. Most of the people are still here. I could stop and have a conversation with them, but I still don't feel much like talking so I move on.
But fate it seems wanted me to talk that day. "Cloud! Cloud wait up!" I knew it was Tifa even before I turned around. She runs up much faster then I expected her to and she stops quite suddenly next to me. Despite all this she's not breathing very hard. Has she been working out? "Hey Tifa," I say, unable to think of much else. "Hi Cloud. It's good to see you. Hey, I didn't think I'd ever catch you here shopping." "Shopping?" I say. Then it hits me. "Oh yah. Shopping. Of course. That's what people do in the Wall Market. I shop here all the…actually this is my first time in the Wall Market since…" "Before the war, I know," she said, finishing my thought for me. Good ol' Tifa. What would I do without her and her ability to always read my mind. I try to hide my smirk, but I only end up looking right into her eyes. I forgot how tall I was compared to her, and now she looks questioningly back at me. "What? What's so funny?" she says. "Nothing, just…" I didn't want to tell her that I was laughing at her ability to interrupt me, so I ended up saying, "…I was laughing at how much taller I am then you." Before I realized just how stupid my comment was, I already had a hard elbow digging into my side, and yet, she was laughing too. "Well, if it wasn't for your spiky hair I'd show you just how much taller I am then you." That was her way of saying "I forgive you." "Thanks, Tifa," I said out loud. Again she looked up at me questioningly with her deep brown eyes. "For everything," I added. She smiled then looked away.
Later that night we were in front of Aerieth's old house. This was probably the last place I needed to be right now because once again, the memories of Aerieth came back with a vengeance. I entered and greeted Aerieth's mom. She seemed older and more haggard then I remembered her. Barrett came down with Meredith in his arms and he immediately bear hugged me with his free gun-arm. His arms were still just as massive as ever, and I had the strange feeling that I was a bug, and his bicep was the windshield. "Cloud! Where the hell have you been, man?" "Around." "Pffh, yah right. You musta been doin something Cloud. I know you. You can't stand still for a minute. And if you have been "around" like you say you have, then why the $% didn't you…" he glances towards Aerieth's mom, who had turned suddenly to eye him closely, "…uh…excuse me ma'am, why the heck haven't you been around here?"
I explained how I had kept busy with the cleanup of sector seven and how I had taken care of my free time by finding a place to live, and sharpening my swords once I had found one. This seemed to satisfy Barrett, but Tifa looked strangely at me. I was relieved that she said nothing, because I didn't want to explain any of my escapades to Aerieth's church or my recent run in with RedXIII.
Barrett and I continued to talk for a while, and then Tifa stood up to help Aerieth's mom with dishes. Barrett waited until she had left, then leaning toward me, he said in a whisper, "You and I need to talk Cloud, about Tifa." "What about her?" I whispered back. "Well, she's been actin kinda funny lately. Like a damn crazy woman. She's been saying weird things lately, stuff about dreams and…" "What?" I said, sounding more interested then I had intended. "…well…it's about Aerieth, or so she says. But I've heard her talking in her dreams. She does that sometimes. But it's not just Aerieth she's dreamin about. She's dreamin about some weird materia, and also she's saying lots of stuff about…I don't know how to say this, but uh…" "About me?" I interrupted. "Yah. I figured you knew. Cloud, meet me in the garden after dinner and I'll tell you more, not that I don't think you already know or anything, but you gotta know some of the stuff she's been tellin me and some of the stuff I've over heard her say in her sleep. It's damn crazy Cloud."