Why did I write this? Because a stroke of inspiration at 3am hit me and now I present the one work that I didn't wanna write for reasons that will make themselves known later. I'll keep this as short as possible. This one felt like a sucker punch to gut with every word I typed down.
"That's some mighty fine brew you got there, Rude."
"Thanks," grunted the redhead's former partner curtly. "Anything else?"
Reno shook his head. "After that? Heck no. It's got me all fired up now. Thanks man."
"No problem. You sure it's alright for you to stop by?"
A snort. "Yeah, man. All good. Just needed this. Pre-mission stress relief y'know? Take the edge off."
The bald headed man nodded, pushing up his sunglasses while doing so. As Rude wiped down the countertop, the two settled into a companionable silence. Until she walked in.
"What're you two doing? Reno, happy hour isn't until nine," called the raven tressed beauty as she pressed her lips to her husband's cheeks.
"Nothin' much. Just a visit. Sampling your new product too. After this? Mission with Valentine. Strife too."
Immediately Rude cleared his throat. His wife turned away from him. Reno tried to apologize.
XXX
"No, it's fine," she muttered, shutting her red-brown orbs as she willed herself to focus on something else. Anything else. Anyone but him.
Anyone but the man who had walked out on her. Denzel. Marlene. Anyone but the boy whose promise under the night sky was nothing but a distant memory.
But Tifa had never been one to forget. She had walked in one day and caught him with a bag slung over his shoulder. He was going somewhere. A short trip. After all, he had proven himself to her. He wasn't waiting to die anymore. Come what may, they would face it together. At least that was what she thought at the time. Until he had broken her. Just a short phrase had been enough.
"I'm done," said Cloud Strife as he walked out of Seventh Heaven ten years ago.
XXX
He hated rain. Despite his perceived grimness and brooding image, Vincent hated rain. More than that, he hated waiting. Which was what he had done for the past hour, squatting atop a building across from Seventh Heaven as it poured. But for all his frustration, the marksman knew that there was one other person who was in a far worse situation. "Cloud, should we go?"
"No, let him," replied his partner, idling atop Fenrir in the alleyway below his perch. He knew the bladesman disliked coming back here. A decade ago, the SOLDIER had simply left the bar. When the other members of their party had asked him why, Cloud kept silent. But Vincent knew why. To the crimson clad man, looking down into the shadowed alley was akin to looking at himself during his AVALANCHE days. Cold. Predatory. Desperate. The blonde had never given any of them a reason for why he had abandoned his family.
But Vincent understood. After all, he had been in Cloud's place before. The swordsman was trying to stop something. Something dark. Something terrible. To protect his family. A shame that doing so meant cutting himself off from them. Realizing that, Vincent made a vow.
"Reno," rasped the gunslinger into his earpiece as he eyed the rider in the alley. "You've had an hour. Genesis is on-site. We're going. Now."
Vincent vowed that he would not allow his friend to become a monster like him. One day, Cloud would get to go home. Explain himself. The Mako infused warrior wouldn't be alone anymore.
But as Cloud slipped his riding goggles off, Vincent was reminded of one thing: he was failing.
XXX
A decade had gone by since his last visit to this corner of the Planet. A decade since he had made the hardest choice of his life. But deep down, Cloud drew strength from this backstreet of Edge. After all, it was home. Or it would have been.
Had it not been for that attack on Junon.
Had it not been for the desperate plea of his friends in the Lifestream.
Had it not been for walking into her church one day, only to find her flowers wilted.
Had it not been for his eyes, now almost permanently hidden behind the tint of his goggles.
After Geostigma and Deepground, he thought everything would be fine. There would be peace and he would build a home with her. But as always, life had had its way with him. Everything had pulled him away from home he had always wanted. That was a fact of life Cloud had come to terms with a decade ago. A single bag slung over his shoulder, the blue eyed bladesman had attempted to leave without his family knowing. They could never know about the signs he had seen. He would only endanger them. But he had been too slow in saying his goodbyes to Seventh Heaven. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, Tifa caught him, having brought Marlene and Denzel to school. "Where are you going?" she asked, a playful quirk on her lips as the adoration in her eyes only made what he was about to do more painful.
"I'm done," he lied through gritted teeth. He had never been happier. And now that was gone. The sword wielder had expected anger. Grief. Confusion. But Tifa was Tifa. She always smiled. For everything life threw at her, she smiled. And she had many. The one before him then was the false one. The one he had learned to hate every time she tried to hide her feelings. Every time her heart had shattered. On that day, Cloud cursed his enhanced hearing. For once, he wished that Fenrir's engine drowned everything out. That the hustle and bustle of Edge in the morning was enough to remove his ability to hear. Because as he gunned his bike down the street, the power of his senses made Tifa crying alone that much louder.
But now he slipped his goggles off, looking with sick but clear eyes upon the one place left on the dying Gaia that still brought him any semblance of emotion. Scanning the sidewalk, Cloud tracked two figures. The first was a boy. Tall. Shaggy, brown hair. The second was a girl. Shorter than the boy. Smiling. As they reached Seventh Heaven's doors, Reno burst forth, hastily greeting them as he climbed into a sleek car and sped off into the downpour.
"Cloud, we're going," came Vincent's voice into his earpiece.
"Just…" he trailed. "Just give me a moment."
As the four figures gathered on the sidewalk, the WRO's best operator knew to look upon them would only hurt him. But he did anyway.
Denzel, who had grown so tall.
Marlene, who had become so lovely.
Rude, who now stood in his place.
But his narrow view from the darkness hadn't allowed him to see her. He didn't have to. The blonde could turn around and leave on the other side of the block. They would never see him. But he would never see her either. So he did what he did best: he simply watched the girl next door from afar.
Revving Fenrir, he saw their eyes dart to him as he pulled into the street in front of them. His former children recognized him immediately, their eyes downcast. Rude's lips simply narrowed dangerously. And her?
As he moved his goggles over his eyes, his gaze met hers. For all their years apart, Cloud Strife swore Tifa Lockhart was still the prettiest girl on Gaia. A few more lines. A few more wrinkles. They had only made her even more beautiful to him. He saw them as she smiled at him. Not the fake one he hated. His favorite one. The one she had given him as they awoke beneath the Highwind. The one she had given him the evening he had returned home after defeating the Remnants. The one that had kept him going for a decade. But this one wasn't the same as before. It spoke not only of her compassion but her sadness as well. Against it all, he found himself smiling back.
"Words aren't the only way to tell someone how you feel," remembered the lone warrior, her words echoing in his mind.
He knew then she understood why he had left. After so long, she finally knew why he had left as her carmine orbs met his.
His eyes. No longer the color of the sky. They were gone. Instead radiant red-brown met ill Mako green, his pupils slit-like and inhuman. Pulling his goggles on, Cloud knew he had to leave again. The SOLDIER was glad he had seen her. Because as Fenrir roared down the quiet city street away from remnants of the life he had dreamed about, he knew it would be the last time.
*sighs* I am so sorry. As I was writing this down, I thought maybe I could do a story. Y'know multi-chapter. But as I got to the end, I realized I couldn't do this. Way too depressing. If it hasn't sunk in yet, this is like a bad timeline. If Weather was the good post-DoC timeline where our heroes get some peace and quiet but reunite to fight the good fight again in the future, this is the really bad one where it all goes to heck. My idea is that here, the WRO is stretched thin because to the average person, they look just like a Shinra copycat. That means they're hated. That means our heroes are basically pulled into the thick of things again. That means things suck. So yeah. Leave a review if you feel like it. Those are appreciated. Always. =) Now you know why I didn't wanna write this story. But yeah 3am does things right? I apologize again. Really. I'm really sorry.