What It Should Have Been

Written by: GQ and Zhak

Chapter Four: Back to Nibelheim…

Some months later…

"Finally! We're going home!" Zack cheered happily as he hopped into the truck after a long boat ride from Wutai.

"No, we're not. We're stopping-over at Nibelheim because I just received a text message from the President that we have to check out the reactor there…" Sephiroth muttered while reading the text message on his mobile phone.

"Aw shucks…" Zack muttered miserably.

Cloud was beginning to get carsick again, but he was trying to fight it off. "Where are we going again?" he asked with a queasy look on his face.

"Nibelheim…" Sephiroth replied. "Isn't that your hometown?" he added.

Cloud swallowed hard, feeling sicker than usual. "Well… not really… it's where I grew up; but I was really born in Midgar." He explained.

"Oh so you're really Midgarian." Sephiroth said.

"I'm Gongagan, actually." Zack pointed out to Cloud.

Cloud just kept quiet, thinking about Nibelheim. "We're going to Nibelheim! Finally, I can talk to my mommy and tell her the good news! …and then she'll be proud of me and spread the good news to everyone in town… and then they'll finally appreciate me for who I am!" he thought.

"Anyone in particular that you're excited to see once we get there?" Zack asked, interrupting his thoughts.

Cloud turned to him and smiled slightly. "My mom." He replied with a sheepish smile on his face. He didn't want to sound like a mama's boy.

"Your mother?" Sephiroth asked, seemingly amazed.

Zack turned to look at Sephiroth with a curious look on his face. "What about you?" He asked. Sephiroth looked at him. "What?" he asked.

"You never mentioned anything about your mother before." Zack pointed out.

All the other SOLDIERs in the same truck turned to look at Sephiroth as if they're also curious on who his mother is. Sephiroth just kept quiet and shrugged. "She's… JENOVA." He replied.

Silence.

"JENOVA?" Zack asked.

Sephiroth was quite hesitant as he realized that he never really knew anything about his "mother". He just swallowed hard and lowered his gaze to the floor. "I… never really knew her…" Sephiroth admitted.

They were silent for a few moments before the truck finally stopped. Cloud took a peek outside and saw that they were already in Nibelheim.

"Okay, go, go, go!" Sephiroth commanded, clapping his hands to indicate that they all move double time. Cloud, Zack and the rest of the SOLDIERs in their truck immediately moved out and assembled themselves in one area. Sephiroth slowly got down, breathing in some fresh air while looking around him. A few townsfolk had already come out from their homes to look at the visitors.

Sephiroth turned to the other SOLDIERs. "Okay. You can all take a break. We'll assemble here tomorrow at exactly thirteen hundred hours." He told them.

"Sir, yes, sir!" they all replied.

Cloud and Zack stood still and turned to Sephiroth. "So, are you going to the mountains now?" the latter asked.

"…I'm waiting for the guide." Sephiroth muttered while looking around.

"Guide?" Cloud asked. "I can just take you there. I mean, I know the way to the reactor." He told Sephiroth.

"No. We're following the President's orders. I think he requested for a guide. It's what he mentioned in his text message." Sephiroth replied, although it was evident through the look on his face that he was thinking that a guide is unnecessary because Cloud is just there with him.

"Who's the guide?" Zack asked.

They all fell silent when they sensed someone approaching them. A girl.

Sephiroth looked down at her and blinked. "Are you the guide?" he asked, looking at her from head to toe and then examining her face.

Cloud's mouth dropped open and he took a step backward. "YOU!" his mind was screaming, but he had lost his words.

Tifa instantly turned to the surprised SOLDIER standing next to Sephiroth… and she frowned. "…Do I know you?" she asked curiously.

Cloud just bit his lower lip and looked away from her. "I don't think so." He muttered.

Tifa thought for a while, narrowing her eyes on him.

"Sephiroth, I think we don't need a guide… especially that guide. I can just take you to the mountains and show you the reactor." Cloud muttered to Sephiroth.

Zack smiled at the girl and offered a handshake. "Hi! My name's Zack. What's yours?" he asked.

She smiled sweetly. "Tifa. It's a pleasure to meet you, Zack." She responded pleasantly as she accepted the handshake.

"Make sure you wash your hands afterwards…" Cloud told Zack.

Tifa instantly let go of Zack's hand and turned to look at Cloud. "I knew it. Cloud Strife." She snarled.

Cloud just shuddered. "Teefah." He said mockingly.

Silence.

"So you know each other?" Sephiroth asked.

"Oh yes. He's my boyfriend. Isn't that right, Cloud?" Tifa asked sweetly with a sarcastic smile on her face while looking at him.

Cloud just frowned at her, clenching his fists. She giggled. "So you're in First Class already, huh? But I'm not in trouble right now so I'm really curious why you're here." She told him.

"What does she mean?" Zack asked, turning to Cloud.

"Oh he promised me that he's gonna come back to save me if ever I'm in trouble." Tifa told him.

"Stay out of this." Cloud snapped at her before leading the way. "It's this way, Sephiroth." He began.

"Oh excuse me!" a man went after them, holding a camera. Sephiroth stopped walking and turned back to the man. It was Mr. Lockheart. "Yes sir?" he asked out of respect.

"Papa?" Tifa blinked, turning to her father in amazement.

"Can I take a picture of you with my daughter?" Mr. Lockheart said.

"Oh no! Don't! It might come out distorted once you have it developed!" Cloud told Sephiroth.

Tifa glared angrily at Cloud. "What do you think of me, a Samara?" she snapped at him.

"Well you were the one who came out from the well once when we were kids and scared me to death!" Cloud told her.

"Haha! So you admit you were afraid of me when I did a Samara impression when I was 10 years old! Heehee!" she cheered happily.

Cloud could feel his temper rising but he was still trying to control it. Sephiroth just nudged him, "Alright, let's have our picture taken with Tifa." He told Zack and Cloud.

"No. I'll stay here." Cloud muttered, standing still and crossing his arms while eyeing Tifa with an annoyed look on his face. Tifa just smiled calmly at Cloud, prancing towards Sephiroth but made a mistake of passing before Cloud… and so he placed his foot forward, causing her to trip and fell flat on her face onto the ground.

Mr. Lockheart was stunned.

"Oh my goodness…" Sephiroth muttered, raising his eyebrow.

Zack helped her up. "Are you okay, Tifa?" he asked with a worried look on her face.

Tifa slowly got up, regaining her composure and then dusting herself with her hands. "Bloody hell, Cloud…" she sneered.

"Gee… she sounds so much like an angry Rufus." Sephiroth told Zack with an amused smile on his face.

Tifa just turned to Cloud with a stiff expression on her face. "What is wrong with you?" she demanded.

"What is wrong with you?" he mocked.

Mr. Lockheart approached them. "Alright, that's enough, you two!" he said, pulling Tifa away from him. Cloud just looked at Mr. Lockheart with a dumbfounded look on his face. "How dare you show your face here again, you bastard child! And you hurt my daughter again!" he snapped at him.

Cloud's eyes widened. He heard it again. Bastard child.

Tifa clutched her father's arm, noticing the surprised reactions from Sephiroth and Zack. "Papa, that's enough." She warned.

"What do you mean, Tifa? That boy hurt you!" Mr. Lockheart told her with a look of disbelief on his face. She just kept quiet.

Sephiroth stepped forward, "Look, we're running behind schedule here. I'm supposed to be up there in the reactor at this point in time already but you are delaying it, mister. Now if you could settle this argument later on, then that would be much appreciated by me and ShinRa. In the meantime, I'll be taking this boy with me up there because he is one of my assistants in First Class SOLDIER." He told Mister Lockheart with a stern look on his face.

Cloud looked up at him with an unsure look on his face. "Gee… did he just try to redeem my reputation?" he thought silently but just shrugged it off.

"Very well… I understand and I'm sorry… but I just don't understand how that boy got promoted immediately to First Class SOLDIER, General Sephiroth." Mr. Lockheart said with a hard tone.

Cloud just bowed down his head, feeling ashamed that everyone was there to see him get humiliated.

"Because there is a great potential in him that even the President was able to recognize." Sephiroth said before smiling slightly, "Now enough of that. Shall we have our picture taken before we proceed to the mountains?" he asked calmly.

Silence.

"…okay." Tifa said flatly.

Cloud just stood still in one area while Sephiroth, Tifa and Zack had their picture taken. He started wondering where his mother was. He suddenly wanted to see her and talk to her. "Bastard Child… I'm tired of hearing that!" he thought angrily while glaring furiously at Tifa. "And my situation worsened because of her!" he thought before turning away.

"Alright, let's go now." Sephiroth signaled his companions. Tifa went ahead of them so that she can lead them. She walked beside Cloud, "Hi, Cloud! Hee!" she greeted happily.

Cloud pretended not to hear, and Tifa just shrugged. "I knew you were autistic." She muttered with an evil smile on her face. He glared unbelievably at her. She just smiled and started babbling, telling stories about Nibelheim to Zack and Sephiroth. The latter didn't seem to be very interested because he has already studied about it in history lessons, but the former seemed to be very amused with the stories.

Cloud just rolled his eyes each time Tifa would mention about the mountains… and he couldn't help but feel annoyed when she mentioned something which he has considered as a ridiculous urban legend: "They say that if a person dies, his or her soul goes to the mountains." And Cloud told her, "I thought it was the spirit?"

She blinked and turned to him. "I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to them." She said airily before proceeding. Sephiroth could feel the tension between the two of them but he just decided to ignore it.

"Sephiroth's not even listening to you. Maybe you meant him." Cloud corrected, referring to Zack. Zack just shrugged. "Eh…" he was speechless. Tifa turned her gaze to Cloud again and flashed a plastic sweet smile at him. "Cloud, just shut your mouth." She told him with a commanding tone. And as she turned her gaze back to Zack again, she felt a strong hand push her sideways, causing her to lose her balance, trip, and then fall to the ground, hurting herself.

Sephiroth was quiet but his eyes were wide in disbelief.

Cloud proceeded to walk while whistling to himself a happy and victorious tune. Tifa glared at him. "You pushed me!" she told him as Zack helped her up. Cloud turned back to him. "I did?" he asked innocently. "Like, yeah?" she replied airily. Cloud shrugged. "What if it was him?" Cloud asked, referring to Zack. Zack's eyes widen. "What!" he reacted in shock. Tifa turned to Zack. "You…" she began with an annoyed look on her face. He just shook his head. "No! Why would I even push you!" he reacted in disbelief before turning to Cloud, "Why did you say that!" he demanded.

Cloud just continued his way up the mountains with Sephiroth following after him, "Never mind that, Knightblade. It's unimportant." Sephiroth muttered, feeling a bit impatient already.

Tifa dusted herself and marched up to Cloud, pushing him forward, causing him to land face-first onto the ground. Tifa flipped her hair, "Didn't your mother ever tell you to respect ladies?" she demanded haughtily before going ahead of them again. Sephiroth just scratched his head before following after Tifa. Zack helped Cloud up. "You alright, buddy?" he asked with concern.

Cloud looked cross. "Teefaaaaaaaaaa!" he snarled angrily out of impatience. Tifa ignored his sudden outburst of temper and just went on walking while Sephiroth was talking to her, "Have you been up to these mountains before?" But before she could answer, Cloud was able to push her forward. She landed flat on her face, startling both Sephiroth and Zack.

And then there was silence.

Tifa clenched her fists and instantly got up without dusting herself, attempting to grab Cloud and start beating him up, but Sephiroth had to stop her by holding her back, "Alright, that's enough!" he said impatiently. "Let me go! That spiky-headed jerk has gone too far!" she snapped impatiently.

Cloud just smiled sarcastically at her before proceeding up the mountains ahead of them. "This way, Sephiroth." He said.

"Zack, just hold her back for us, please? I want to get this over with so that we could go back to Nibelheim and check-in at an inn and rest until tomorrow morning." Sephiroth instructed, handing her over to the other guy. Zack held her still, "…Calm down! Why are you so mad at him anyway?" he asked in disbelief.

"He just bloody pushed me, for crying out loud!" Tifa cried out in exasperation.

"Well you pushed him too." Zack said.

"Are you trying to justify that what he did is…" Tifa began with an annoyed look on her face, but Zack just shook his head, "You'd better keep quiet now, Tifa. I think Sehpiroth might lose his temper real soon…" he said warningly.

Tifa just bit her lip and took a deep breath. "Fine…" she muttered miserably as she went on with Zack.

Upon reaching the Nibelheim Reactor, Sephiroth immediately began to inspect the place. He peeked into one of the vessel-like containers. "Man…" he muttered before moving away from it with a frown on his face as if he was disgusted by what he saw. "I'm glad it didn't happen to me!" he thought as he moved to the next vessel. Curiously, Cloud took a peek into the vessel too… and he cringed. "What are those!" he demanded in shock.

"Those are… former human beings who weren't able to take the Mako exposure, so they mutated into those beings." Sephiroth explained with a deep frown on his face.

Tifa took a peek inside too and gasped before taking a step back. "Whassamatter, Teefaaa? Scared of the mutated humans?" Cloud teased with a sarcastic smile on his face. Tifa laughed sarcastically at him. "Actually I was just surprised because I thought you were the one inside!"

Cloud just glared menacingly at her but didn't say anything else. He just stood still before deciding to look through the glass of the vessel where she had peeked. He blinked and moved away from it before saying out loud, "I think it said 'oooh. Who's the ugly girl? I think I like her! Please make her mate with me so that we can spread our ugliness all over the Planet! Hoo hoo hoo!'" Cloud even did some voice-acting, talking in falsetto in an effort to imitate the monster.

Tifa laughed sarcastically, "Ha-ha-ha! Well then tell him that the name of the ugly girl is CLOUD so that he'll be happy!" she said airily.

Cloud clenched his fists.

"Alright, that's enough. Cloud step out for a while and stand guard outside." Sephiroth instructed. Cloud turned to him unbelievably. "What!"

"You heard me, Strife." Sephiroth said impatiently.

Cloud just decided the General's orders and walked out. Tifa made a face and followed after Zack and Sephiroth.

"What are we doing here anyway?" Zack asked Sephiroth.

Sephiroth thought for a while before saying, "The President wants me to check on it."

"What for?" Zack asked curiously.

Sephiroth was not even sure. He just shrugged. "Maybe so that he can know if there are problems in the distribution of electricity?" he replied. "You're not even sure…" Zack told him. "He never really tells me the reason." Sephiroth replied. "Did you try asking Rufus?" Zack asked. "Yes, but it seems to be a big family secret…" Sephiroth explained.

Zack blinked. "Oh. Okay…" he just muttered.

Tifa was curiously observing them. "You guys are from ShinRa?" she asked. Zack turned around to look at her. "Well… yeah. We're SOLDIERs. ShinRa SOLDIERs." He replied. Sephiroth laughed slightly, "Why? You're interested in becoming a part of us?" he asked her jokingly.

"Nah-uh. I don't think I could qualify. I'm too young." She told them.

"Well Cloud was barely 15 when he joined. Maybe you could too." Zack told her convincingly. She cringed. "You just talked me out of it." She muttered before tossing a lock of hair off her shoulder and turned away, crossing her arms.

"You really hate Cloud that much?" Sephiroth asked. "What's so hateful about him?" he added.

"A lot. Nobody really likes him because he's really strange. He came from the city with his mother one day… and then we just simply hate him. It's like…" she stopped herself.

Silence.

"It's like what?" Zack asked.

She almost said, "It's like the way we hate ShinRa in an impulsive way because they exploit the Planet's resources." But of course she had to stop herself because these men are from ShinRa. She might get herself imprisoned if she continued. "It's like… something is really strange about him…" she just repeated, meaning to sound vague so that they would be confused… and maybe leave her alone and forget what she said.

"What do you mean there's something strange?" Sephiroth asked.

"So what if he comes from Midgar? City people aren't that rowdy or anything like that? I'm sure Cloud isn't one of those?" Zack told her.

She just shrugged. "Bloody hell, I don't even understand myself on why he's so… hateful! I mean, don't you just feel the impulse to just make fun of him when you see him?" she asked.

"That's so mean." Zack reacted in disbelief.

"Well I don't find the spiky hair funny because I've seen a lot of spiky-haired people around the city…" Sephiroth stated flatly before turning to her. "Never mind, let's go back. Everything seems alright here." He told them.