To The Morrow, For the Past
Chapter 24 – A New City
It had been a week since they had returned from Lucrecia's cave and Aerith was no closer to finding the answer to their current problem. Cloud hated not knowing what to do next, but he was somewhat used to it. Most of what he did he made up as he went along. He realised that he had a habit of seeing a problem, going to where the problem was, and then just somehow fixing it.
Now, however, it wasn't really an option. Getting too close to Jenova without a containment plan was just a bad idea. Back when he was journeying to stop Meteorfall he'd had the rest of his party to snap him out of Jenova's control, now three out of five of their party were susceptible to her influence. Which meant just going there and seeing what they could do would probably result in more harm done than solutions found.
Which meant that Cloud literally had nothing to do with his time until they could think of something. This mission was proving to be his longest yet, and he didn't like it.
Which was why he found alone in a bar one evening. He wasn't entirely sure why he was there, but it probably had something to do with homesickness. The bar reminded him of 7th Heaven and for a moment, he could let himself believe that he was home. The bartender wasn't Tifa, and he didn't recognise any of the patrons, but it was as close as he was going to get.
Unfortunately, being alone in a bar attracted the wrong kind of people. He had been sitting, nursing his drink when a bulky man slid in to the booth opposite him. He regarded the stranger for a moment, a displeased look on his face.
"Can I help you?" His tone was probably a little more icy than it should have been, but Cloud wasn't exactly in a good mood.
"Sure you can darlin'." The man gave Cloud a smile that set him on edge. He supposed it was supposed to be charming, but it came across a lot more creepy. "You can start by givin' me your number."
Was this man seriously trying to flirt with Cloud? If he was, he was going the complete wrong way about it.
"Not interested." Cloud informed him, wanting the man to just go away.
"Oh come on, why else would you be here? A pretty face like yours shouldn't be alone in a place like this if you aint lookin'." The man leaned over the table and Cloud leaned back a little.
In his time, he'd been well known and most people were intimidated by him. The man who could kill Sephiroth wasn't someone to be trifled with, and there weren't many people that would approach him. And those who did had done it with a lot more respect.
In this time period, he wasn't quite as well known, but he wasn't exactly unknown. He'd gained a reputation for matching Sephiroth in battle and he was one of only three First Class SOLDIERs. Honestly, Cloud hadn't expected to be bothered.
"I'm not here for you." Cloud told the man, trying to make his disinterest even more clear.
"But you could be." The man moved his eyebrows in a strange way and Cloud absently wondered if that had ever worked.
"You have no idea who I am, do you?" He asked, starting to actually be amused. He could handle himself if this creep tried to take things too far, and Cloud was starting to hope that he'd have an excuse to hit him.
"Nah, I'm new to town. Should I? Are you someone famous?" If anything, that seemed to excite the man even further.
"Something like that." He shook his head and picked up his glass, downing it in one go. He fully intended on leaving. "I'm leaving." It wasn't an invitation, but the stranger seemed to take it so. He followed Cloud as he left the bar.
Once outside, Cloud turned on the man, weapon drawn and held to his throat. "You need to learn how to take no for an answer." He growled.
"Hey! Hold up, I thought you were just playin' hard to get!" The man had his hands in the air and was standing very still. Good.
"I have no idea how you got that impression, but you need to learn better social skills. Get. Lost." He moved his blade back only enough for the man to be able to flee, but he didn't. Instead, he just took a step back and glared at Cloud.
"You'll change your mind." He told him, "I'm gonna be in SOLDIER, then you'll be chasin' me." He finally stepped back and left.
Cloud had no idea who that was, but he knew one thing for sure. Regardless of whether or not the man made it into SOLDIER, Cloud would never be interested.
– – – – – – –
By the time Cloud returned to the plate, he was in an even worse mood than when he'd left. Instead of going home, which had been his original plan, he found himself heading to the training room. It was in use, but he decided to wait in the observation area. Now that he was a First, he'd found that the Seconds and Thirds would actually ask him for advice. It was strange, but Cloud had actually found it flattering.
He was sure that whoever was using it, wouldn't mind him observing and he didn't really have anything better to do.
He wasn't expecting the occupants to be Sephiroth and Zeke. They seemed to be sparing and Zeke was more or less keeping up with Sephiroth. The older man had a lot more experience, but Zeke had the same enhancements which gave him an advantage. He was smaller than Sephiroth, and faster, he'd also had some training with an ex-Turk and had his own style.
Cloud hadn't seen Zeke fight since he'd been five years old. The boy had improved dramatically and Cloud had to admit that he was both impressed and proud. Zeke had learned how to use his disappearing blade to his advantage, letting it go from one hand so that it could appear in the other almost instantly. It made him a lot more flexible in his style.
It also left a lot of openings that Sephiroth wasn't above exploiting. Cloud had noticed that none of Sephiroth's blows actually did any damage – not even a scratch – only striking hard enough so that Zeke could feel them. Once again, Cloud was impressed with Sephiroth's abilities to pull his blows at the last moment.
Sephiroth seemed to notice him and after a moment called the match to an end. As soon as they had put their weapons down, Zeke doubled over to catch his breath, grinning from ear to ear.
At some point in their battle, Zeke's hat had fallen off, letting his hair spill down his back. Cloud retrieved it as he walked into the room and handed it to his son, who quickly put it back on. "That was impressive." Cloud commented, a hand on Zeke's shoulder. "You're using some of Tifa's and Yuffie's moves."
Zeke nodded, "And Vincent showed me some stuff too. Swapping hands was his idea. I need to practice though." He admitted, touching his side where Sephiroth had landed a few blows. "I keep leaving my left open..."
"That's because you're used to fighting with your left hand." Sephiroth told him. "You simply need to practice more. Eventually you'll learn."
"I'd probably learn quicker if you'd actually hit me." Zeke had a small pout on his face, "I'm not a baby."
"No. But you are my friend's child. It would not do me well to harm you."
"Actually, Zeke's right." Cloud's hand was absently rubbing at the scar on his chest. He had learned a lot faster because of the pain. He'd made sure to cover that gap after the second run in with Masamune. "I had a hole in my defences that I didn't shake until after I was impaled a few times."
A strange look came over Sephiroth's face, but Cloud ignored it, continuing with what he'd been saying. "I'm not saying you should stab him, but don't be afraid to hurt him a little. He has the same enhancements as you, he'll heal." Pretty quickly too.
After a moment, Sephiroth nodded. "The room is yours, if you wish to use it." Sephiroth offered, gesturing around.
Cloud shook his head, he actually felt better now, he didn't need to let off any steam. He wasn't entirely sure why the stranger in the bar had pissed him off so much, but now that he was among friends, it didn't seem to matter. "How about dinner?" He offered instead.
– – – – – – –
"So, are you coming to the SOLDIER exams?" Zack asked the next morning over breakfast.
"What? I'm already in SOLDIER..." Had Zack hit his head or something? Why would Cloud need to redo the exams?
"Hah! No. For the new batch. We get more recruits every six months or so, and there's a new lot coming in today. We're allowed to go and watch and if we like someone or dislike them, that gets taken into account. Actually, if one of us says no, then that person doesn't get in even if they pass everything."
Had Cloud really been in SOLDIER for six months already? Half a year. A lot had happened, but it didn't feel that long.
"Can I come?" Zeke asked, once again with his mouth full. Cloud shot him a look and the boy swallowed before repeating his question. "Can I come watch?"
"Sure." Zack grinned, "The more the merrier. And you never know, you might learn something."
"Doubt it." The boy once again attempted to steal some of Zack's food, but the man was quicker this time. It had become somewhat routine and Cloud watched in amusement as the boys had a small mock fight with their knives. While they were distracted, Cloud swooped in and stole the piece of bacon they were fighting over.
"Hey!" Both Zack's cried foul but Cloud just smirked at them as he ate the meat.
– – – – – – –
There were a lot of new recruits this time, far more than there had been when Cloud had joined. At least two dozen young men were waiting with various levels of anxiety. Cloud spotted a vaguely familiar face and frowned as he watched the man.
For all of his boasting and his over inflated ego, the stranger from the bar was decidedly average when it came to sword work. Cloud smirked and shook his head, knowing that the man would most likely fail. Regardless, he turned to Zack and asked him a question.
The recruits hadn't expected a second combat test, and they stood around in confusion and apprehension as the doors opened. Cloud strode in to the room and those that recognised him gave a hasty salute. The man that had Cloud's attention was giving him a confused look.
"You think you have what it takes?" Cloud asked the man, "If you can beat me in battle, I will personally sign off on you joining."
"Just who are you?" The man asked, taking a ready stance. "You challenged me, but you aint even got your sword..."
"I don't need it." Okay, so maybe Cloud was showing off a little. But this man deserved to be humiliated. There was no way that Cloud was the only person that he'd pursued in that way, and the idea of this man getting away with unspeakable things made him angry.
The man smirked and raised his weapon. "Fine. Don't cry to me when you loose." And without waiting, he lunged, aiming a powerful blow at Cloud.
Cloud simply stepped out of the way. And then again, and again, for the next ten attempts. There weren't even any close calls and Cloud wondered just how long the man had been training for. It obviously wasn't very long.
After about five minutes of dodging blows, Cloud began to get bored so he changed tactics. When the man next rushed him, he stood his ground, moving at the last possible second and disarming him in one swift move. He turned and aimed the sword directly at the man's throat.
"You need to check your ego." Cloud told him, "You're impulsive and disrespectful. You are unable to follow orders and won't take no for an answer." His tone and his arm were steady. "Until you can learn your place, we will not be accepting you into SOLDIER." He handed the sword back and turned to walk away.
"And who the hell are you to make that decision? I passed the first exam! I got what it takes!" The man really didn't know how to take no for an answer, did he?
Cloud had reached the door but he turned back to look at him. "Cloud Storm, SOLDIER First Class." He introduced himself before making his exit.
When he got back to the observation room, Zack was cackling. "You should have seen the look on his face!" Zack told Cloud, "He was getting so pissed off with you! That was mean! What did he do to piss you off so much?"
Cloud just shrugged, feeling a little heat on his face. He probably shouldn't have been so impulsive, but the man had needed an ego check. "He hit on me and wouldn't take no for an answer." He told Zack with a another shrug, "I had to threaten him to get him to back down." Beside Zack, Cloud could see Sephiroth's face darken, but the man didn't move, instead he watched the SOLDIER applicants.
The man from the bar had been practically thrown out of the room, and Cloud only hoped that that would be the last he saw of him. The others were all chatting excitedly and Cloud realised that they hadn't known that the Firsts were watching.
– – – – – – – – –
It was still new to Cloud, the fact that he was a First. It had been something he'd once dreamed of, but now... now it was just another rank. But the way that other people regarded him reminded him strongly of the people of Edge in the days after Advent Day, when word had got out that it had been he and his companions that had cured Geostigma.
He wasn't entirely sure he liked it. Some people looked at him with awe, others with fear and he missed the days when he could just blend in with the crowd. Of course, walking around with Sephiroth and Zack would have prevented that anywhere, but he'd been expecting fewer looks aimed at him and more at his friends.
They had been sent to Junon. Cloud wasn't entirely sure why, but he'd jumped at the chance to leave Midgar for a while. He'd been disappointed when Zeke had refused to come and had decided to spend the week with Aerith instead, but that didn't take away from the fact that it felt good to be under the sun. It had been Sephiroth and Zack that had been given the mission, but when Cloud had asked to join them, he wasn't told no, so he had.
Apparently the mission they'd been sent on had been over quickly and now they found themselves with some downtime. Zack had insisted that they check out the local bars.
"You might not be able to get drunk," He told them, "But I can, and I think I deserve a night of fun!" Cloud rolled his eyes at him, but agreed to come along anyway.
Which is how the three of them ended up inside a dimly lit bar below street level. Zack, true to his word, had got drunk and was attempting to sing something on the karaoke machine. He was quite terrible and Cloud wondered why he'd chosen to sing a song from Wutai when he obviously didn't know the language. Still, it was amusing. When Zack came back to their table, he found Cloud trying very hard not to laugh.
"What?" He asked, standing up as tall as he could with his hands on his hips, this only made Cloud let out the laughter he'd been holding in.
"Do you realise that you pronounced those words so wrong that you spent the last three minutes singing about breasts?" He asked, unable to contain his mirth.
"What? What's the song supposed to be about?" Zack asked, tilting his head to one side.
"A young girl asking when her father is returning from the war." Sephiroth informed him, a smile playing at his lips. "And you somehow made it about female secondary reproductive organs."
"Huh?" Zack looked between them for a moment, swaying slightly at the motion. Cloud reached up and snagged the man's collar, pulling him to sit on his seat, just in case he fell. "You guys understand Wutanian?" He asked.
Sephiroth shrugged, "I fought in the war." He pointed out, "The higher ups thought that it would be beneficial for me to understand what was being said."
Zack turned to Cloud, who had finished laughing and was now taking a sip from his ridiculously bright cocktail. "I travelled the world with Yuffie." He said, and when neither men seemed to understand who that was, he explained, "Godo's daughter."
Zack still didn't seem to understand, but Sephiroth's eyebrows rose. "The princess of Wutai accompanied you on your journey?"
"Well... She mostly tried to steal our materia at first. But yeah, she ended up being really useful." Cloud was keeping his voice down, but he doubted that anybody could hear them over the general din of the place – and the next drunk person trying to sing.
"How old was she?" Zack asked, frown on his face. He looked like he was trying to think, but was having no luck.
"Sixteen when we set off. Twenty-Three when I left. She took over after her dad got sick, so we didn't see much of her over the last few years." And hadn't that been a shock. Suddenly someone from his makeshift family had been an empress of a quickly blossoming country. "Wutai bounced back pretty quickly after Meteorfall. They'd been the last to gain mako energy, so they knew the best alternatives." They'd actually been an invaluable resource to the WRO.
"Did she..." Zack was slurring his words but still managing full sentences. More or less. "Did she used to call herself 'Treasure Princess'?" He asked.
"Probably." Cloud shrugged, he didn't really know much about Yuffie's past. She didn't seem to want to share it, so nobody had pushed.
"Huh..." Zack fell silent and shook his head. "Anyway, your turn!" He tried to pull Cloud out of his chair, pointing at the karaoke machine.
"Not a chance." Cloud chuckled, "But we should probably get you to bed."
"Aww but Cloud, you know I have a girlfriend." Zack mocked. Cloud shook his head and somehow managed to walk Zack out of the bar, Sephiroth following close behind.
– – – – – – – –
"I don't understand why somebody would imbibe enough to lose fine motor skills." Sephiroth said to Cloud after they'd dropped Zack at his quarters. The SOLDIER had had trouble unlocking his door until Cloud had taken over.
"Sometimes it's nice to let go." Cloud told him, remembering that Sephiroth had never been drunk, "It's a euphoric feeling, liberating." He shrugged. "Trust me, Zack's not a bad drunk. I've seen a lot worse."
"You mentioned you lived in a bar."
"Above it, actually. But yeah. After Meteorfall a town called Edge was built outside the ruins of Midgar. Tifa started a bar there and..." He shrugged, "After the end of the world, a lot of people want to get drunk. I had nowhere else to go, so I stayed with her."
"Tifa is the one who survived Nibelheim?"
It was then that Cloud realised that he really hadn't told his friends a lot about his past. Sure, he'd told them the major points – Nibelheim, Meteorfall – but he hadn't told them the small things. The things that he'd taken for granted and now missed desperately. He nodded.
"Yeah. I grew up with her, and when I made it back to Midgar five years after Nibelheim, she took me in. Introduced me to Barret and she got me to join them." He smiled wistfully, "It was only supposed to be one mission. Then we ended up saving the world."
"You don't talk about them much." They found a nice spot to sit, looking out over the ocean. They were perched on the edge of one of the levels. It would have been a dangerous position for most people, but the SOLDIER's reflexes and sense of balance were enough to keep them from falling, and even if they did fall, they probably wouldn't have been too hurt.
"It's... hard." Cloud admitted, looking up. Unlike in Midgar, the stars were visible and he'd always liked looking at the stars. "I can't ever go back." He continued, "I'll never see them again, even when I return to the planet. My whole family..." He shook his head, "But at least I have Zeke." He told him, "If I didn't have Zeke, I'd find a way back. Planet be damned."
"Perhaps that is why he was sent here." Sephiroth mused out loud. "You worry for my sanity, but you could be just as deadly if you lose yours."
Cloud had thought about that, a few times actually. He'd wondered what he would do if he went completely insane, if he allowed Jenova to manipulate him, or even just to take over him. He nodded in agreement. Unlike Sephiroth, he already knew where to get Black Materia. He would be able to get Holy from Aerith before using it. He would be able to succeed where the Sephiroth from his time failed.
But somehow, Cloud knew that wouldn't happen. He shook his head, "No." He told him, "I've lost my mind. A few times." He admitted, "And all I did was shut down or believe I was someone else for a while."
They were silent, both thinking on what Cloud had just said. After a moment, Cloud sighed and stood. "I want to see the stars. Properly." He told Sephiroth, offering the man a hand up.
– – – – – – – – –
You didn't have to go far outside of Junon to see the stars. As long as you looked in another direction, the light from the city didn't do much to dampen them. So Cloud lead them to a small cove that hid most of the light pollution and lay down on the sand, looking at the sky. The sound of the sea was close by and it relaxed him. As long as he wasn't on the sea, Cloud quite liked the sounds.
After a while of silence, Cloud let out a laugh. Sephiroth looked at him with curiosity. "I'm just thinking that I'm glad my fan club aren't going to see this." He told his friend. "Laying on the beach at night, watching the stars..." He shook his head. "They would read too much into this."
Sephiroth was quiet for a moment before he let out a soft sigh. "I will admit," He said quietly, "That there are times that I must remind myself not to do the same."
"Hmm?"
"A sunset walk along the edge of the plate. Bringing food to my office when you decide I have neglected to eat enough. A moonlit walk along the edge of the plate. Dragging me to dinner in restaurants. And now, stargazing on the beach in a private cove..." His eyes were trained on the sky, but Cloud could still see the soft look of longing on his face. "Then there's the touching." He continued, "You will put your hand on my shoulder, or lean over me casually. That isn't something I'm used to..." The younger man sighed. "Your words have made your intentions clear but they haven't heard your words. I would have come to the same conclusion."
Cloud found himself moving into a leaning position, looking down at Sephiroth. The man was right. And for the first time, Cloud truly realised how much his actions had effected the Silver General. Right now, staring at the sky, he looked so sad, so lonely. Cloud didn't know what to do.
"I'm sorry." He said, unable to find any other words that fit.
Sephiroth shook his head, "I... don't want you to stop..." He admitted, "I may not have your interest, but spending this time with you..." He shook his head and didn't continue. Cloud wasn't sure if it was because he didn't have the words, or because he just didn't want to say them.
– – – – – – – – – –
