Out of Control
A Final Fantasy VII Fanfiction by ArcaneWeapon
It was a bright, sunny day. Cloud and Aerith had just finished their twentieth date in the park, and to Cloud's surprise, she'd invited him back to her apartment. Now, they were standing in the main room of her single bedroom studio, staring into each other's eyes longingly.
Cloud took three steps towards Aerith. "Look, I just wanted to say that -"
Cloud suddenly found himself back where he'd started seconds ago. He took two steps towards Aerith. "Look, I just wanted to say that you've come to mean so much to me."
Aerith smiled at Cloud. "That's so -"
"... mean so much to me."
Aerith blushed and shyly looked away. "That's so sweet of you to say."
Cloud's face flushed too, as he nervously shuffled his feet. "I'd like to be your –"
"Husband," growled Cloud, forcing the word out with every ounce of control he possessed.
Cloud found his feet shuffling once more. "I'd like to be your boyfriend if you're interested."
The light around them suddenly seemed to dim, as if the entire world had lost a bit of its color. Cloud's eyes frantically spun around, his body unmoving, before he met Aerith's equally panic-filled gaze.
"I think it's gone..." Cloud whispered.
"Give it a moment, sometimes it comes right back after a few seconds," Aerith pointed out, her face taut with anticipation.
After several moments of nothing happening, they both relaxed slightly.
"I'm not sure how much more of this I can take," Cloud muttered.
"Where do you think this is going next?" Aerith asked. "I just want you to hug me already..."
Cloud walked over and warmly embraced her. "I know love, that's all I want too."
"What are you doing?" Aerith hissed, struggling not to let the hug overwhelm her. "You know what happened the last time it came back and we weren't where we'd left off!"
"Enough with the damn thing!" Cloud spat. "Who does it think it is, controlling us like this? I'm not some puppet dancing to someone's strings!"
"I know love, I know," Aerith replied soothingly, running her hand over his cheek. "I'm just as tired of this as you are. I can't wait for its attention to shift to someone else."
Cloud leaned in and kissed her, both of them losing themselves in the feeling as their lips and tongues danced together.
Aerith broke apart after several minutes, looking at him with amusement. "I almost lost it when you broke free and screamed husband."
"I'm more than just a boyfriend," Cloud said, his voice dropping as he walked forward, Aerith walking backward with him.
Once they reached the bed behind her, she fell backward onto it, Cloud landing above her and they scooted backward so Aerith's head was resting on a pillow.
Aerith's breath hitched as Cloud's hand slowly slipped under her shirt.
The light that had earlier been sucked away abruptly returned.
Cloud suddenly felt as if an invisible hand had grabbed the back of his shirt as he was ripped away from Aerith and thrown backwards. The entire experience was made even more bizarre by the fact Aerith was also flying through the air with him, a scared look on her face. They came to rest exactly where they'd been when the lights had first dimmed.
"… if you're interested," he heard himself say.
Cloud raged inside his body. How dare this entity do this? What gave it the right to take control of people and march them around like toy soldiers, carrying out its every demand? Cloud wasn't a toy. And he was done playing around.
He pushed forward, the muscles in his body going taut as he strained against the overwhelming control with the full force of his willpower. Cloud felt like the fabric of reality itself was tearing as he slowly stepped towards Aerith, her eyes widening in shock. He reached her after what felt like a year but was actually only a few seconds, his arms embracing her as his lips met hers once again.
"What are you doing?" Aerith asked against his mouth, panicked, her arms frozen at her sides.
"What I want to do."
Aerith hesitated for a moment more. "Fuck it," she muttered, her arms straining for a moment before they wrapped around him and she leaned into the kiss.
There was a series of loud explosions. Multiple things happened all at once.
A shower of small packages rained down from above, like confetti, and Cloud realized they were all condoms. He also noticed his normal black clothes had transformed into a purple ball gown, which was way too tight. A song about honeybees began to play from an undefined source. Joining the music, was a series of glowing lights of varying colors, floating through the air while leaving trails behind them and pulsing with the music as they passed through strange fluctuating shapes.
Cloud and Aerith both froze as they watched the surrounding madness continue to mount around them.
A golden chocobo burst through the door to the room, a moogle on its back, both of the animals looking around in terror for a moment before running back out.
Aerith let out a small scream as Sephiroth appeared out of thin air, a cup of tea with a faint floral print dropping from his hands to crash into the floor as he whirled around, his sword flashing out as he looked across the room.
Barret came barreling through the wall, brick and mortar flying everywhere. His eyes widened as he first saw Cloud and Aerith in bed, and then grew even larger when he noticed Sephiroth.
Tifa flashed into existence on the other side of Cloud, dressed in nothing but her underwear. Her face went beet red as she dove under the sheets, frantically looking around the increasingly insane scene Aerith's room was turning into.
The lights dimmed once more, as jarringly as they always seemed to.
"I think we just broke the world…" Aerith whispered so only Cloud could hear her.
"All right, what the fuck did you two do this time?" snapped Barret.
Sephiroth sheathed his sword, a look of irritation on his face. "Look, we're all just as tired as you with this whole situation. None of us are throwing tantrums that end up getting everyone else yanked all over, though."
He paused and glared at the two of them. "I was having tea with Mother, you know," he snarled.
"None of you understand what it's like," Cloud muttered, looking down.
Aerith sat up, adjusting her clothes before speaking. "Cloud's right. None of you have to deal with the level of control the two of us have to put up with every day."
"You're lucky, some of us would like a bit more attention," Kadaj said mournfully, off to the side.
Everyone ignored him. Cloud hadn't even noticed his entrance, much less that he was standing over in the corner of the room.
"Can I borrow something to wear, Aerith?" Tifa asked quietly, her head poking out from under the sheets, and Aerith rushed over to the closet to find some clothes that would fit.
"I've had enough of this," Sephiroth said, his single wing unfurling as he turned to the window. "It's going to take me hours to get back, and by then the tea will be cold…" He launched himself directly through the glass, ignoring the destruction he left in his wake.
"Well, if the party is over I need to get back to Marlene. You better not do this again," Barret warned, scowling at Cloud as he left the room through the hole he'd made.
"Does… Barret live next door to you guys?" Tifa asked hesitantly, now dressed in a light pink t-shirt and skirt.
Aerith shook her head. "No, that place has been empty ever since we moved here. In fact, we're the only ones living in this entire building."
"Oh… Well, that's weird," Tifa remarked. "I guess I'll leave you two alone and get back to Seventh Heaven."
"Are you just going to leave that dress on?" Aerith asked, giggling, once Tifa had left and they were alone again.
Cloud scowled and ripped off the clothing in question, throwing it into the empty corner of the room. "Will this damn music stop already?" he screamed, standing in only his boxers now.
Thankfully, the music and the lights seemed to respond to his voice and immediately cut out, leaving the room mostly in its original state.
Too drained to do anything else, Cloud and Aerith fell asleep in each other's arms, surrounded by hundreds of packaged condoms. They dreamed of a world where they were free to do whatever they wanted, unconstrained by the mysterious force that seemed hellbent on dictating their very lives.
Kadaj glanced around the ruined remains of the room, pulling the dress that had landed on him off and throwing it to the side. He was fuming that everyone had gone their own ways, while completely ignoring him. He'd get his revenge, one day. For now, he just left, feeling awkward as the couple snoozed on the other side of the room.
Cloud woke up. The lights were back. Aerith was standing in front of him, blushing and looking shyly away.
"I'd like to be your boyfriend if you're interested."
End Note: So yeah… This plot bunny kinda snuck up out of nowhere and ambushed me. I'm not even going to try and explain what just happened. Either you got it and you're hopefully laughing, or else you're wondering what the hell you just read. That's honestly fine too. This is mostly tailored towards authors, particularly of slow burns, but hopefully, there's something for everyone. In any case, I'm happy if this amused some people. I'm going to go back to writing my other story now...
I also have to give many thanks to my fantastic beta, Lichtschwert, for quickly giving feedback on a story that popped up out of nowhere. Thank you so much!