Cloud lived in a trance after the day Garrett told his side of the story. It was noticed by everyone, even those not close to him. No smile in his eyes even if his mouth was. His eyes were seeing but his brain was shut off. Those closest to him felt their hearts break at the sight of him the longer he remained this way.
Even Sephiroth finally confided in their friends. He admitted it was difficult. He didn't know what to do. He explained to them that it was as if Cloud locked his heart away, and his brain was on autopilot.
"Man, if only I can take him to the church." Zack shook his head.
"Church?" Sephiroth gained interest.
"It's where I took him to find a physical place of peace for him to meditate on. He fell asleep there." The lieutenant explained.
"Is there anywhere we can sneak him into successfully?" Angeal wondered.
"Does it look like we can disguise ourselves and not be noticed?" Sephiroth pointed out.
"Wait. He's never seen the ocean." Genesis had an idea.
"What of it?" Sephiroth raised an eyebrow.
"He's being shown around in Junon with Rufus. See if you can get in on the party. Then when it's over you can take him to the beach."
"We will definitely be followed." The general wasn't sure about it.
"Not if Rufus is in on it." Genesis shrugs.
"That's not a bad idea." Angeal added.
"Do you have his personal number?" Zack looked up at the general.
"He will expect something in return." Sephiroth crossed his arms.
"I mean, he's been begging you to attend one of his parties for how long? You've declined all of them."
Not sure if it will work Sephiroth pulled out his phone. He knew Cloud was currently asleep deeply to not have a peak into what was going on.
"General Sephiroth, is this a blue moon tonight?" Rufus answered on the second ring.
"Get me onto your list of party guests for Junon." Sephiroth was straight to the point.
"All right. What am I doing this for? Not that I'm not opposing this decision, I'm just curious as to why."
"I have a surprise for Cloud. Oh, and I need your help with your sway over any photographers who try to follow us."
"Now this is where I'm going to need something in return for this favor. The Turks will already have their hands full with protecting me and now I have to extend that protection to the two of you." Rufus wasn't afraid to talk business with the general.
"I will attend six more of your parties as long as they're important enough for my level of attendance."
"General Sephiroth, you got yourself a deal. And don't worry, my lips are sealed. Cloud won't know a thing." By the sound of his voice Rufus was smiling.
Sephiroth hung up. He took in the shock across the room from the aftermath.
"What?" The general asked.
"You really love Cloud. You hate parties. But you just agreed to go six more for Rufus." Genesis was calm, but his eyes burned.
"Gen," Sephiroth didn't know what to do.
"It's fine. I'm good. I'm actually happy for you guys. I just can't help but feel a bit jealous." Genesis moved to grab his boots. "Good luck with the surprise date."
Sephiroth felt his heart sink watching Genesis leave. But he knew he couldn't comfort him. His focus should always be Cloud. But perhaps when things calmed down he can do something for Genesis. Nothing romantic, just enough to show that the commander still held a special place in his heart.
xXx
Cloud was lost in his own mind during the whole ordeal at the party. Rufus was all too happy to finally show him off. When prompted Cloud did smile. Everything seemed to be as boring as he knew it would be.
Until a very late party attendee arrived.
"Ladies and gentlemen, General Sephiroth has arrived."
At the mention of the name Cloud looked up in surprise like everyone else. How did he not sense him? Why was he here? Cloud glanced at Rufus, who was smiling his handsome smile. And he knew. The vice president was in on this.
Cloud returned his gaze at Sephiroth, who smirked at him. The blond felt his lover gently push against his mind, so Cloud opened the door. He hadn't realized that he could do that. It made him realize that maybe he had been doing it subconsciously, for he couldn't recall the last time he felt Sephiroth in his mind.
"Don't feel guilty. My presence here is for a surprise I want to show you when the party is done." Sephiroth's voice echoed in his head.
Cloud wondered about the press. But Sephiroth had his attention turned to elsewhere and Cloud had to stand around patiently. He kept his focus around Rufus, and the vice president noticed a change in his bodyguard. At the beginning of the party Cloud was indifferent. Now he was actually engaging and smiling.
The whole mood of the party shifted. And Rufus took advantage of the change. He proudly introduced Cloud to the more important people. There was a charming side to the young SOLDIER. Rufus was intent on encouraging him to let it out.
As hours passed the party came to an end finally. It was the last hour before the sunset. Soon the last of the guests left and all who were left were those connected to the company. Cloud sighed and his shoulders slumped. He sensed his lovers approach.
"I have something to show you." Sephiroth spoke softly.
Cloud turned his head as the general walked off in a different direction. Quickly he turned to Rufus with obvious confusion. At the VP's side was Tseng who appeared out of nowhere.
"Be sure this doesn't take long. Reno and Rude will interfere with any photographers." Rufus said before chugging the rest of his drink.
Well then. If they're covered then might as well. Cloud turned to quickly follow Sephiroth. They made twists and turns. Until finally they came to a somewhat familiar place. Cloud blinked, was this the inspiration for the cannon in VR room?
It was. And suddenly something caught his eye. The sunset in the distance. And a reflection? Cloud smelled salt in the air. And the breeze carried with it the familiar sound of distant waves. Cloud moved to as close to the edge he dared for a better look. He ended up stopping a good three feet away.
It was. The ocean. Miles and miles down. This was the same feeling as that dream on a cliff. Sephiroth stood behind him, arms snaking around Cloud's waist.
"Breathtaking, isn't it? I know it's not the same as the dream. But this is the closest I can replicate the edge of the world." Sephiroth whispered.
"It's perfect." Cloud couldn't tear his eyes away.
It was even better than the dream. The colors were mesmerizing. The warmth of the sun contradicted the chilly breeze. With every breath it was if he was breathing for the first time. It reminded Cloud of how unclean the air was in Midgar. It reminded him of the freedom of the mountains around Nibelheim.
After a moment Cloud turned around. He felt all the tenderness Sephiroth felt towards him. And Cloud knew that the general had been worried for him. Cloud wanted to kick himself. Instead he pulled Sephiroth down for a kiss.
Through the kiss they poured their love into each other in the link. Cloud felt overwhelmed. It was all too intense. The whole ordeal left him breathless.
And suddenly a distorted voice called out to them. They pulled away from the kiss with equal pain. Sephiroth actually flinched, and suddenly the sunset was too bright. Cloud raised a hand to his head, leaning to the side.
"Mother...?" Sephiroth finally made out a word.
Unknowingly Cloud was backing up. He was way too close to the edge and he didn't know it. He heard someone yelling. But it was drowned out with a vision. The image of a huge meteor crashing into Gaia. The target was Midgar.
The fiery disaster created huge winds that turned the flames into fire tornadoes. People screamed as they all tried to escape. Buildings collapsed. Others burned into ashes. Shinra tower collapsed and scattered into smaller pieces. All the while the screams were being drowned out.
Suddenly Cloud was falling. The vision cut for a split second. He reached out with a hand, hoping he could catch the edge. His gloved hand slipped away before he could grasp it. The vision of the destruction took over his eyesight.
A hand grasped his arm tightly. Cloud blinked. And suddenly he can see Reno. The redhead grit his teeth as he held onto Cloud with both hands. The blond choked in his terror that he could possibly fall to his death right now.
"You know, for an average height kinda guy. You're fucking heavy." Reno complained.
"Now isn't the time." Cloud panicked.
"Anyone wanna lend me a hand here?" The redhead yelled out.
In an instance Sephiroth came to just as Rude reached them. Before the other Turk could help, the general reached down and offered his hand. Cloud raised his other hand to grasp Sephiroth's. Together they pulled the blond back up and over the edge.
Cloud immediately wrapped his arms around Sephiroth, who embraced him just as tightly. Reno collapsed at Rude's feet gasping for breath. The blond was shaking as the terror slowly ebbed away in the safety of being held.
"Okay, what the fuck was that!?" Reno sat up, glaring at the pair.
"Reno..." Rude tried to calm him.
"Nah, fuck that! What exactly is going on with you two!? All this shit been going downhill since Cloud heard voices after his first mako injection! Then you two walk out of the labs practically ready to fuck and now this!" Reno gestures to the edge where they just pulled Cloud from. "Fucking shit, man!"
"I heard voices?" Cloud didn't remember this.
Reno pulled out his phone. He turned up the volume at its highest setting before he played it.
"Mother. Reunion. Reunion. Meteor. Reunion. Sleep. Sleep my sweet son."
At the words both Sephiroth and Cloud tensed. There was no denying it. That was Cloud's voice. But there was more to the words now. It couldn't be a coincidence.
"What? You know what it means now? Fucking tell me! What the fuck does this mean?" Reno insisted.
"We both had a vision. About a meteor. The size of it could rival the moon. It was aimed at Midgar." Sephiroth explained, voice shaking.
"Whoa, whoa. Hold up. Both of you? How does that work? How do you know?"
"We hear each other's thoughts. Emotions. We can't turn it off. The best we can do is focus on something else and ignore it." Cloud bit his lip.
"Are... You're joking, right? Please tell me you're joking." Reno looked like he was about to lose it.
At their silence the redhead looked up at his partner with pleading eyes. Rude silently helped him up to his feet. Reno paced back and forth a few feet, hands in gripping his hair.
"Oh fucking sweet Gaia, I did not sign up for this!"
"What do we do about this?" Cloud asked.
"What do we - we can't just stay quiet about all this! You almost just fell to your death!" Reno stopped, raising his arm at the edge again.
"And tell whom, exactly? The source of all this is obvious. But we can't exactly make a move without solid evidence." Sephiroth glared.
"Don't you think I know that? But we have to do something, you're both getting worse!"
"First, let's calm down and inform Tseng." Rude suggested calmly.
And so they did, albeit Reno was still grumbling to himself the entire walk back. He took the lead with Sephiroth and Cloud behind. Rude was at the rear. At the sight of them all together Tseng and Rufus turned in surprise.
"What happened?" Tseng frowned at the sight of their expressions.
"These two had another fucking episode. This time, they get a vision and apparently it pained Cloud so much, he almost fell off the edge of the cannon to his death. Almost fell with him rescuing his ass." Reno summed it up a bit angrily.
Alarm spread to the two spectators. Tseng looked at the SOLDIER pair.
"Start from the beginning."
"First, promise me you won't have us evaluated for any mental concerns." Sephiroth stated firmly.
"You have my word that I know you're not crazy." Tseng sighed.
So Sephiroth explained in better detail. Cloud listened, for once his mind didn't wander. At the end of it all, everyone processed the information carefully. The first to break the long silence was Rufus.
"In this situation, I believe the best option is killing Professor Hojo."
What? How could he just casually suggest that? This baffled Cloud.
"How? His labs are practically booby trapped for any attempts at his life." Sephiroth knew the layout personally.
"It will have to be very carefully planned. And someone not linked to any of us." Tseng agreed.
Suddenly Cloud felt a tug. A mental tug that didn't belong to Sephiroth. Was this the same entity that tried to reach out to him? A vision of a familiar mansion came to mind.
"Home?" Cloud wondered out loud.
"What do you mean by that?" Sephiroth turned to him. What? The general didn't get the same vision?
"Nibelheim. There's something in Nibelheim. I don't know what it is, but I just got a vision. I know where to go." Cloud explained the best he could.
"There's hardly any missions required for us to go that far out." Tseng crossed his arms.
"Vacation?" The blond wondered.
"You're in the middle of a trial."
"Know what, make up any excuse to send him." Rufus shrugged.
"If anything comes up I will immediately suggest Cloud to be the one to go." Although Tseng didn't like it, his hands were tied. "In the meantime, I want both of you to write any future episodes in great detail."
"Very well." Sephiroth agreed.
"Yeah." Cloud nodded.
