I guess, at this point, there is little I can say or do to change the course of time. Even now, by explaining all this and showing you all of this I am merely trying to lift the weight of the past off from someone's shoulders, and perhaps gain him more respect. More sympathy, maybe, though I am positive he wouldn't want that now. A little empathy.

It was cold then. A cold, coarse sort of day. Not winter, not fall. I think it was the end of summer, maybe. I cannot remember it. Not that it mattered at all anyway. We were lucky it wasn't winter. We left no tracks for us to have for evidence as to where we were heading.

Cloud…

Cloud was in a state of shock. Some sort of sickness that I didn't understand. I couldn't get him help. We couldn't enter towns. We couldn't stay on the roads for long. Shinra was looking for us. All I managed to escape with was an extra uniform and my blade. I couldn't grab anything for Cloud. There wasn't any time, and he couldn't have kept it in hand even if I did mange to get him a gun, or something else.

So we walked. We walked as far as I could drag Cloud, occasionally getting him to walk a step or two on his own. We stayed out of sight the best we could.

It was Hell.