A.N. For Clerith Week; Day 4: Rewrite the Stars

A Second Chance

Chapter 1: A weird dream

Cloud stared at the ceiling of Aerith's church. He's actually living there for a while already. Aerith's death, Geostigma, even his friends were big problems that were nagging at him. Geostigma was relatively new. No one really knew what to think of that, except that it was a deadly decease. And Cloud had it, too. Not that he minded. Dying was the best way to meet Aerith again. And there was no cure, he searched the whole planet for it.

His friends wanted him to 'do something'. To stop 'moping around'. To 'get over it'. How was anyone supposed to get over the death of someone you loved? It was impossible. He was researching about a lot of things till then. Many of these things had to do with Aerith. But the thing is, not even the Cosmo Canyon's have enough info's about the Cetra. Cloud was pretty sure she still existed in the lifestream. She had to be as a Cetra. Right? But then again, he had no idea how the lifestream worked with souls...Was there a way to bring Aerith back?

At some point in his research he had the absurd idea that maybe the time Materia could do something. Actually this was a weird Materia. It can slow down someone's time, speed up or stop it. But at some desperate point he wondered if it could turn back time. Of course this was not possible. He tried it multiple times, even maxed out the Materia. Everyone would surely think he's crazy...Not that he cared what people thought of him...Maybe he was crazy, but then everyone was who lost someone they loved.

Again, he took the Materia and held it up, looking how the moonlight shined through the orb. Why wasn't it doing what he wanted? Didn't the Cetra want to turn back time at some point in their lives? They helped creating Materia but there was none that could do this. The blonde glared at the orb and sat up. It's not like he'd get any sleep now anyway. Stupid time Materia...All the time he spent to awake the full potential of it...he'll never get this wasted time back. Cloud stood up, playing with the Materia in his hands absentmindedly. He walked around the patch of flowers in the middle of the church. There was nothing else he did recently. Just staring at her flowers —of course making sure they stayed alive— and thinking about how he should've saved her. And if there's something he could do now.

But there was nothing. Dying was the best option to see her again. There's no Promised Land without her there. Cloud tightened his grip on the Materia, before smashing it to the ground. To his surprise, it broke. And not even that, parts of the lifestream gushed out and then a bright light was blinding him.

He must've been unconscious, because when he woke up again he was lying on the ground. But it wasn't made out of wood...He was lying on stone. And mud. When he sat up he saw himself wearing his old gloves. The metal bracelets he used to wear. As he finally got into a sitting position he noticed the old SOLDIER uniform on him. His old Buster Sword lying right next to him. It wasn't as rusty as before, it was clean and polished like the first day.

He leaned against a stone wall and looked around. It looked like he's on a train station, but how did he get here? Then he looked up and saw a metal plate covering the sky, which...should be impossible. Midgar was completely destroyed...But it looked just like two years ago. Everything was there, people walk around as if nothing bad happened.

This must be a dream. A memory of how things used to be when Shinra still existed. But then a random cat jumped on him and its claws on his lap felt too real to be a dream. The blonde pushed the cat off of him and the cat scratched his arm. Yep, that's very real and hurt like hell. "Stupid cat..." He grumbled as the fur ball ran away. And the scratch marks stayed. If that was a dream, shouldn't he wake up by now?

"Cloud?" The blonde looked up, when he heard a certain voice calling his name. It was Tifa, wearing her old clothes. The old white shirt, the old short skirt. Things she didn't wear for years anymore.

"Tifa?" He mumbled, frowning up at her. This felt familiar. Only now was his head clearer...

"Cloud, what are you doing here?" She asked him worried and knelled down next to him. The blonde thought of something he could answer. Asking her what she did here and why Midgar was still intact could sound weird in case this was real. Still, his answer was different than the last time they first met in Midgar.

"I uh...was attacked. Barely got away." Yep, that's what happened when he arrived in Midgar. Zack died because of him, gave him his sword and with his hazy mind he walked the rest of the way back to Midgar, only to collapse in the Sector 7 Slums.

Tifa's eyes widened at that looked him up and down. "Oh my god! Are you okay?" She asked panicked, but he shrugged it off.

"I'm fine. Don't worry." And he really was. He felt better than back then. Of course if he didn't count Aerith's death...Which made him actually realize that if it was real...he still had all the memories of what happened. This whole thing just had to be a dream.

"Come with me. I'll bring you to a save place, okay?" Yeah, she brought him to the 7th Heaven and then he went to that mission with Barret, Jessie, Biggs and Wedge. And then he met her...Cloud nodded. He could just follow the dreams course. He definitely wouldn't mind seeing Aerith again one last time before he woke up.

Tifa helped him, when he tried to get on his wobbly feet. Two years ago he'd have snapped at everyone trying to help to maintain his manly pride, but he was more experienced now. Once he stood, he grabbed his sword and attached it to the magnet at his back. "So...you became a SOLDIER after all, huh?" Asked Tifa, as she led him to her bar.

"No...not really." He mumbled, thinking of his time in Shinra and what it brought him in the end. "I don't wann be involved with Shinra anymore."

The black haired girl looked at him with big, curious eyes. "Why? Did something happen?"

"A lot happened there..." Cloud ignored his friend's gaze resting on him, asking him if he wanted to talk about it. But he didn't. This was just some stupid dream, no need to talk about feelings there.

"If you wanna talk about it...I'm here." The blonde only nodded and then they were silent for the rest of the way. "There it is." Tifa pointed at the building that said 'Seventh Heaven' in big letters. "I'll introduce you to my friends." Again, Cloud only hummed and followed her inside. The whole gang was there.

"Hey!" Exclaimed an all to familiar voice and then a big guy invaded his vision. "You brought a Shinra dog here, Tifa?!"

"No! Barret, this is my friend. Cloud." Explained the girl, who stood between him and the bear of a man.

"Once a Shinra dog, always a Shinra dog." Growled Barret, reminding Cloud why he hated him at first. The blonde rolled his eyes at him.

"At least I had a real job." He mumbled more to himself, but the big man heard him.

"What did you just say?" He yelled and grabbed his collar. Cloud looked at Barret unimpressed, which made him more angry. "You Shinra scum!" And with that he practically threw Cloud halfway through the bar. The blonde hit a table and fell right off it again.

And when he came to, he realized he was still in the bar. People usually woke up when getting hurt or when they fell...And it did really hurt, too..."Barret!" Yelled Tifa with a scolding tone in her voice, before running to his side. "Cloud, are you okay?"

"Yeah." He mumbled, rubbing the back of his head. After letting Tifa help him up again, the girl glared at the Avalanche leader.

"Barret, I told you he's my friend! And he's no SOLDIER, he-"

"Ex-SOLDIER." He interrupted her, earning a confused look from her. "I'm working as a mercenary now." When he noticed Tifa's look, he shrugged and whispered. "That's an easier story." The black haired girl nodded in understanding.

Meanwhile the rest of the group where whispering behind everyone's back and Cloud knew exactly what they talked about. They wanted to recruit him for their mission. Then Barret noticed it, too and walked over to them. "Hey, what are you whispering around there?" He asked the trio and went to them. Then they told Barret their plan and he didn't look pleased about it.

"We don't have a guestroom..." Began Tifa and looked at him apologetically. "But you can sleep in our secret layer." Cloud just nodded he was okay with anything and he did already sleep down there. He followed her to the gaming machine and after pushing some certain buttons, they were brought down to their secret room.

Barret jumped down as well and scolded Tifa for showing him their secret layer. Having heard everything before, Cloud ignored both of them and just sat down on a chair. While the yelling continued, Cloud thought about his situation. Was he really back in time now? Was he able to save Aerith this time? Or was it really just some weird dream he's not waking up from? Maybe he'll find out when he'll go to bed...

Cloud's silentness made Barret angrier, but there was nothing he had to say right now. If Barret will actually throw him out then he'll just find another place for the night. But he knew he won't. Tifa will convince him. And after another few minutes of yelling Barret went back up, letting Cloud sleep there. "Sorry about Barret..." Said Tifa then. "He's a really nice guy when you know him better though."

The blonde hummed, knowing that already. Tifa stood there awkwardly for a moment, before going to the gaming machine. "Okay then...Good night, Cloud."

"Night." And with that Tifa went back upstairs and Cloud's been left alone. There was nothing left for him to do, so he decided to get to the couch and take a nap. And then he'll hopefully find out what's going on here.

When Cloud woke up, he expected to be in Aerith's church but as he looked around...He was still in the secret layer of the old Seventh Heaven. So it wasn't a dream, huh...Rubbing his hurting temple, he let the gaming machine bring him upstairs. There, the whole gang was already there, eating breakfast. "Good morning, Cloud." Greeted Tifa him, which he's only waving off. "Want some breakfast?"

"Nah, not necessary." He replied, but Tifa pouted and glared at him.

"Sit!" Rolling his eyes, he sat down by the counter and let Tifa feed him. "Listen, we want to ask you something." Began Tifa, as Cloud ate his breakfast. "You're working as a mercenary now, right?" He nodded. "We want to hire you. We wanna blow up a Mako reactor."

"3000 Gil." Was all he said, reacting just like back then.

"3000?! Are ya kidding me?!" Yelled Barret, but Cloud didn't react to it. He knew they needed him. Barret was grumbling around and went up and down the room. "Okay! But you better be worth the money!" He yelled into his ears again.

As far as he knew nothing significant changed during the mission. Everything played out just as he remembered it. Though this time his heart couldn't help but beat faster in anticipation once they left the destroyed reactor. Because he knew all to well who he's gonna meet very soon. He walked through the partially destroyed sector, dodging debris and SOLDIERs until he saw her. The cute little flower girl, trying to sell flowers to the people.

Cloud swallowed a big lump in his throat, his heart beating so fast it could break through his ribcage, as he saw her there, alive and well. He felt the need to run to her, hug her and tell her all the things he never could. But it would be weird. They didn't know each other right now.

His second thought was to just leave again. Letting her live a normal life instead of being pulled into all this mess. Everything that happened to her was because she met him. He dragged her into this. Maybe she'll live if he stayed away from her. No matter how much it'd hurt him.

But just as he wanted to turn around to leave, he found out he couldn't. Like, his legs didn't move as if an invisible force wanted him to stay right where he was. And then he felt something pushing him. It felt like a strong wind pushed him and Cloud was so not prepared for this that he fell to the ground. "Hey." Then he heard a voice he hasn't heard for two years...A voice he very early found himself falling in love with.

His heart skipped a beat and then another time when he dared to look up. There she was, looking at him worried. His heart thudded and soared at the sight of her and the urge to hug her and confess her his undying love for her came back. "Are you okay?" She asked, tilting her head to the side.

Cloud nodded, letting out a hum because his voice failed him right now. He quickly got back on his feet and readjusted the sword on his back. Then he had no idea what to do next. Last time he just tried to get away from here...But then he looked to the flowers. "...You don't see many flowers around here..." He said, feeling kinda stupid for his choice of words.

"You like them?" Aerith asked him happily, her smile brought back a familiar warmth inside of him. Then she picked the same yellow lilie and held it out to him. "Do you want one?"

His answer was clear and immediate. "How much?" He asked, even though he knew he paid 1 Gil back then.

But now her answer was different from last time. "Well, it depends on the customer. In your case...it's for free."

There's no way he'll let her go empty handed. "Don't be ridiculous. 10 Gil?" He asked, because 1 Gil was not enough.

She giggled and he felt so much love for her right now that his heart might explode right now. "I said you can have it." And with that said, she tucked it in his strap like the last time. The flower girl looked at the flower and then back up into his eyes. And Cloud felt like he could melt right then and there.

Before he could think of anything he could say to her next, she suddenly let her flower basket fall to the ground and flailed with her hands as if she's fighting something. Though he didn't know what...Then she looked back at him and grabbed his arm. "Help me!"

Her touch was tingling on his skin and went right to his core. But it also made the invisible forces visible. They looked like weird ghost creatures in black cloaks. One of them flew right towards them and Cloud acted instinctively. He pushed Aerith behind him and attacked the creature with his sword. But it vanished on impact. What the hell was that? They weren't there the last time. Though, Cloud couldn't quite concentrate on the enemy as Aerith held onto his arm while hiding behind him.

These creatures surrounded them and Cloud was ready to attack to protect Aerith. Until some SOLDIERs appeared. They wanted him to drop his sword -as if he'd ever do that. But what surprised him was that they apparently couldn't see these creatures..."They can't see them?" He mumbled, just loud enough for Aerith to hear it. It looked bad for them...they were surrounded by enemies. Just as Cloud decided to just fight their way through them -completely forgetting his original mission- Aerith surprised him again by running away. "Hey, wait!" He called after her, making her stop.

"Thanks for your help!" She called over her shoulder, as she disappeared in an alley. These ghost things followed her and he was about to follow, if it weren't for these soldiers getting in his way. Rolling his eyes at these guys, he tightened his grip on his sword and began to fight his way through them, till he'll meet the others on the train again.