:: I :: Retracing Steps
Two days after, both Tifa and Cloud made the journey from their home in Nibelheim to the East Continent. Their destination was to be Midgar City, where the journey had begun long ago. Their boat from the Corel Strait had docked in on the beach to the north of the old Shinra capital, and the couple had decided to use one of the new helicopter-taxis to make the journey to the magnificent ruin where their quest had first started.
Little was said on the way. Cloud had not ventured into this part of the world for quite some time, and it was relatively hard to get used to it all over again. The once barren plains that had surrounded the outskirts of the city were now fertile and green, rolling fields of flowers and trees, and streams and wildlife. The Planet, Cloud thought, is very green; just like the Lifestream - and he felt quite proud with himself at making the connection. And then he felt strange in his heart as he remembered how it used to be, with the feelings of hope and despair, that could not quite be divorced from the other, and the inescapable hate. And now there was just peace.
He and Tifa paid their fare and stood back as the helicopter ascended into the air. Once it had disappeared into the sky with a whirl of spinning air currents, the two turned and walked down a grassy slope and took in the sight before them.
Midgar, too, was green, and no longer that cold and silvery grey. At least, it had become more so since Cloud had last seen it. The derelict city stood as a poignant message to all those who had witnessed the apocalyptic event that had nearly cost the Planet its life. Houses stood, gutted, reduced to their simple construction framework. Walls of metal and brick lay scattered far and wide for all to see. The empty shell of the ruined Shinra Building still towered over the rest of the sad, shattered site, and even from the distance, Cloud could make out the now faded red logo that had been the insignia of the Shinra Company. Crawling green climbers had grown over the rusting remains, and there was no doubt that the city of Midgar would soon be lost in a sprawling jungle in a few centuries time.
"Makes you think of funny things, doesn't it?" Tifa remarked, holding back her wind-tossed hair. It was the first time she had spoken since they had left the helicopter.
"You said that in another ruin a long time ago," Cloud quipped "In the City of the Ancients, if I recall rightly."
"Well, it does, doesn't it." Tifa continued "Think about it. This is where I lived for four years. I joined AVALANCHE here and opened up the Seventh Heaven. This is where Biggs and Wedge and Jessie died, and where everything began." She bit her lip and her chin trembled ever so slightly. "When I think about it, Cloud...your mother chose this place for me. If she hadn't brought me here..."
She stopped, but didn't cry. Cloud reached out and placed his arm around her shoulders, trying to comfort her.
"Lots of happy things happened here too," he said softly, and she nodded.
They walked to the edge of the ruin, their feet crunching on broken glass and railing. The skeletons of the old slum houses stood around in their unsightly clusters, crumbling to bits. To Cloud's right stood the still imposing remnants of an old church. He turned to look at Tifa, who was inspecting a house not far off.
"Tifa, which sector do you think this was?"
Tifa straightened, looked about her thoughtfully.
"Sector Five, I should imagine." she replied "Why?"
Cloud did not answer. He walked slowly up to the old church and then stopped. Amongst the rotting floorboards was a carpet of bright yellow flowers, touching the building's corpse with a ray of sunshine. And then, a little further on, lay a little patch of sky blue. Cloud walked on until he came up to the small flowerbed. Bending over, he cast his eye over the tiny blooms to inspect them. He touched a petal here, there. He recognised them straight away. Forget-me-nots. Smiling a little to himself, he plucked at a stem, and brought it to his lips, gazing up at the wall opposite him. A life-sized figure of Christ on a crucifix still looked down at Cloud from its place on the wall.
"Sephiroth almost took your place," Cloud half-whispered, "but not quite."
It may have been a trick of the light, but the face of the statue almost seemed to smile.
Tifa was standing beside him.
"What's the matter Cloud? Memories?"
Cloud stood up and turned to his lover, not bothering to answer her question. With the demeanour of some shy schoolboy, he held out the forget-me-not to her.
"Here, have this," he offered. "I never gave it to you the first time round."
Tifa looked mildly puzzled as she received the flower.
"First time..." she examined the bloom carefully, and after a short moment, her eyes began to cloud over. "Oh." was all she could manage to say.
The new presidential building was quite full and bustling, but no Reeve was to be found inside.
"He's gone abroad to oversee the new regulations of the Mako Reactors," his secretary informed Cloud and Tifa after inquires into his whereabouts.
"Well, where exactly could we find him?" Cloud asked the small, smiling, smartly dressed woman. "It's very important."
The woman shrugged.
"He's on the New Continent at the moment. He may be in Gongaga, or Corel, or..."
Cloud sighed.
"Don't worry, miss," he reassured. "We'll find him."
A couple of days later, a blue-bricked, quaint mining village came into sight on the horizon. Kalm Town was still as calm and peaceful as it had been before. People still went about their normal business as before., only seeming mildly surprised at the presence of Cloud and Tifa.
"This is where we'll see Elmyra." Tifa said, looking about at the still strangely turreted towers.
After asking around for the whereabouts of Elmyra's home, the two were directed to a small house on the edge of the village. This had been painted in a fresh coating of indigo paint, in keeping with the rest of the town.
"What a lovely house!" Tifa exclaimed at the tiny, gabled building. "We should have one like this, Cloud."
"Don't even think about it," Cloud warned, as he knocked briskly on the door.
Elmyra, who poked her head round the side as she did so, opened it slowly. Cloud had not seen her for a very long time, but she seemed to have gained a more youthful appearance in the years since their last meeting, for her cheeks glowed, her eyes were bright and she was a little plumper. She gasped in surprise to see them at first, then a wide smile lit up her pleasant face.
"Cloud! Tifa! How nice to see you at last!"
She bestowed them each with large hugs, and then stood back to look at them.
"You're both looking marvellous!" she enthused.
"So are you."
Elmyra actually blushed.
"Lady Luck's been good to me recently." she paused and smiled "It's such a coincidence that you've come along now. I have some special visitors you'd like to see."
Cloud's interest was aroused.
"Oh? Who?"
The older woman tapped a forefinger against her nose.
"You'll soon see."
They were led through a narrow, yet cosy little corridor, and then into the living room.
At the window of the room was standing a little girl, with large brown eyes and hair pulled back into a neat ponytail. As the two entered, she turned from the sun-illuminated pane to gaze at the visitors. As she did so, her face broke into a wide smile; the next moment she had run into Cloud's arms.
"Cloud! Tifa! You're back!"
Cloud held a seven-year old Marlene to him, then knelt down so that he could look into her face. She still possessed those familiar sparkling chocolate-coloured eyes, wide, sweet and precocious, even alluring for a girl her age. Cloud found himself grinning in spite of himself.
"How much you've grown!" he cried.
Marlene glowed and stood up a little straighter. "I'm going to be eight next month."
"Really? What a big girl!"
"She sure is, ain't she."
Cloud and Tifa looked up to see a beaming Barret, standing up straight from his seat in the corner of the room. This Barret was much different from the old one: no longer rough and moody, he exuded the sort of joyful presence that was typical of someone who was now contented with his life.
"Hi, Barret," Cloud greeted, perhaps a little more sombrely "Long time, no see."
"Yeah, strange, isn't it. Us meeting up here." There was an undertone to his voice that showed he felt as solemn as Cloud in the remembrance of their old comradeship "Well, I guess it had to happen sometime soon."
He gave Cloud a mighty clap on the back, then caught Tifa up in a bear hug.
"Barret!" Tifa cried, after she'd disentangled herself "Your gun's gone!"
Barret lifted his right arm comically. He was wearing a long-sleeved shirt, and from underneath it a mechanical false-hand was peeping out.
"Why would I keep that ol' thing for?!" he joked "I'm no eco-warrior anymore, am I!" he waggled the metal joints expertly "I'm gonna get a skin of latex done soon, and then this hand will be as good as new."
"I think daddy's funny without his gun," Marlene remarked seriously, and they all laughed a little.
After Elmyra had all sat them down with cups of tea, the talk began. A question had been nagging Cloud for quite some time now, and he needed to get it out of his system.
"So, Barret," he began after carefully setting down his cup on the nearby coffee table, "Why are you and Marlene here anyway?"
Barret began to flush a little, oddly enough.
"Well...Marlene's kinda attached to Elmyra. It comes from those days when Elmyra was takin' care of my little girl, you know."
"Oh. I see," Cloud lied casually.
"Well, as you know." Barret continued quickly, with a hint of embarrassment "I've been rebuilding Corel. As a matter of fact, the job's nearly finished. So I thought I'd take Elmyra up there to see how it looks. It's sort of...a thank you present for all she did to take care of my Marlene."
Elmyra had been sitting quietly drinking her tea with a demure, innocent look on her face that remained as she spoke.
"In fact, we were leaving to go tomorrow. Would you like to come?"
Cloud nodded.
"That might be a good idea. You see, Tifa and I have been making plans to go there anyway."
"You have?" Barret looked surprised, and Cloud hastened to inform him and the others of the intended journey. When he had finished, actual tears were standing in the big man's eyes.
"Retrace the old journey? Cloud, do you know how much that would hurt not only me - but all of us?"
"Maybe that's why we're going." Cloud put in thoughtfully, "To finally wash our hands of it."
Barret simply nodded. "Yeah. But Cloud, there are things I don't want to forget about that trip. I think we all learned something. You know Cloud, it feels kinds weird to say this, but...you're actually my friend. And when I think about all that happened , I kinda understand why."
Cloud smiled to show he understood too.
Another sleepless night caused Cloud to slip out of bed and take to wandering downstairs. The night was decidedly warm even for summer, and this had added to his discomfort. As he reached the bottom of the steps, he was surprised to see the light on in the kitchen. Feeling puzzled, he pushed open the slightly ajar door.
Elmyra was sitting at the table, her eyes unfocused and her fingers closed around a glass of water. She glanced up as Cloud walked in, then passed him a weary smile.
"Can't sleep?" she asked knowingly "Neither can I."
Cloud sat down opposite her. He knew what she was thinking of.
"Are you coming with us?" he asked the older woman. Elmyra sighed, shrugged and sipped at her glass of water.
"I don't know. Perhaps. Perhaps not. Maybe I'll stay behind in Corel when we get there and let you get on with whatever it is you want to do."
Cloud knew Elmyra's true purpose for going to Corel, but he said nothing. He knew also why she wasn't too keen on following the others on the route of their old quest.
"I wouldn't worry," he tried to reassure her. "I'm afraid of doing it too."
Elmyra glanced up at him sharply, and there was a bitter expression in her eyes.
"Why?"
"Partly because of the same reason you are afraid."
The woman's hands slumped on to the table, and despair filled her face as Cloud touched the worn fingers. The lips of the other trembled ever so slightly.
"Aeris," was all she could say.
Even to hear the name caused Cloud's heart to jump. That was why he hardly mentioned it anymore.
"It's all right," he whispered pathetically, knowing it was all a stupid lie. Elmyra shook her head slowly.
"No, it never will be. I miss her too much. Her voice...sometimes I think I can hear her voice..."
"She's too good to be in this world," Cloud interjected, almost whimsically.
Elmyra stared up at him.
"You speak of her as though she were alive."
Cloud wondered whether he should tell the woman the truth. No; it would break her spirit further, because she would never see that angel again, even though she were still somewhere in this world, alive.
"Sometimes," he chose his words carefully "it's hard to think of her as dead."
A tear rolled down the cheek of the woman beside him.
Next: The journey continues, Tifa and Cloud discuss their relationship, and Barret is forced to face what lies in his heart.