Chapter 2 - The Fighter
The silence following Tifa's pronouncement echoed through all of them. She was the first to snap out of it and take charge. "It'll be ok," she said, her voice betraying only a hint of uncertainly. "We just need to get it out. Just…wait here," she ordered as she ran out of the room.
Denzel was shaky on his feet and almost paralyzed with worry. "Cloud…I'm so sorry. I don't know what…I didn't mean to…"
Cloud shook his head and pulled Denzel closer by his wrist. "Not your fault," he said hoarsely. The effort of speaking so forcefully must have irritated his throat, because he began coughing again.
Denzel shifted uneasily on his feet, wishing he could do something to help. The acrid odor of smoke filled his nostrils and his eyes widened. "Cloud? Is that smell coming from you?"
Eyes watering as he got the coughing fit under control, Cloud nodded. Seeing the terrified look on the boy's face, he waved dismissively as if to say "It's fine," although he didn't dare to try to speak again.
Tifa rushed back into the room with some thick, horrid looking concoction in a glass. Cloud reached his hand out to take it, but she pulled the glass back. "You…probably want to be close to a bathroom." She smiled apologetically at the look on his face. "Sorry. It won't be pleasant, but hopefully you can vomit it back up. I don't know how else to get it out."
Looking resigned, Cloud nodded. He accepted a hand from Tifa to get to his feet and then the two of them left the training room. Feeling frustrated and helpless, Denzel picked up the swords and brought them to the back room. It wasn't much, but at least this was something he could do. He grabbed the cloths and cleaning solutions and scrubbed and polished the first sword until it shone. When he was satisfied that he couldn't make it any better, he put it gently into its place on the wall and picked up the second sword. He gave this one the same treatment, moving up to the hilt only when he could see his reflection in the blade. He used a leather treatment to restore the grip and cleaned out the materia slots. Finally, he replaced the sword carefully back on the wall.
He didn't feel any better. No amount of polishing could ease the weight in the pit of his stomach. In his mind, all he could see was the materia slot that had held the fire materia. All he could think of was the chip in that slot – the chip that he had put there.
Denzel desperately wanted to take refuge in his room, but it was too close to the bathroom from which the horrible retching sounds issued. He put on his headphones and tried to block out the guilt-inducing noises, but he could hear them over every lull and ebb in the music. Finally he tore off the headphones and threw them angrily at the headboard. He would probably regret that later, but at the moment he was overwhelmed with too many other emotions to make room for that one.
He went downstairs and into the bar area, hoping to restore some karma – or at least feel better about himself – by doing homework when he wasn't yet being forced. He sat down at their regular table and spread out his books and papers. He opened "The History and People of Gaia" and tried to read the assigned chapter, but the words blurred in front of his eyes. He kept seeing that look on Cloud's face, and hearing his hoarse reassurance: Not your fault.
He sat there for a long time, trying to refocus his eyes and his mind, reading the same sentence over and over without comprehending. Wasn't this what he'd been practicing with Tifa? He had to clear his turbulent mind if he wanted to use materia. As soon as the words crossed his mind, the thought of materia alone made him feel sick to his stomach again. He slammed the book shut and dropped his head onto his arms.
He wasn't even aware of her presence until Marlene plopped down in the chair next to him.
"What's wrong with Cloud?" she worried aloud. "He never gets sick! It sounds like he's been throwing up for hours in there."
Denzel was annoyed by her presence as much as her observations. He didn't even lift his head from the table. "Tifa gave him something to make him sick."
Marlene made a face at him. Lately, Denzel had gotten into the habit of peppering every response with sarcasm and then laughing at her for thinking he was serious. It was a mean streak he seemed to have developed since the school year started, since he'd been hanging out with those twins, Jesse and Jason. "Whatever you say," she muttered with a sigh. She pulled out her math book and paper and got to work, answering equations in her perfect writing.
They ate without Cloud that evening. He was still holed up in the upstairs bathroom. Denzel stabbed at his meatloaf moodily while Tifa came up with evasive answers to all of Marlene's questions.
"I didn't even know he could get sick," she said with wide eyes.
It was true. When the three of them had been dragging themselves around the house, moaning about a summer flu, Cloud had tried to keep all of them comfortable and fed. While they struggled with colds all winter long, Cloud never had so much as a sniffle, but he kept enough tissue around the house for an army. In fact, she couldn't remember a single time he'd shown any sign of illness, except for the Geostigma.
With that thought, she shot to her feet, upsetting her glass of milk. She ignored the white liquid racing to the edge of the table. "Tifa! Do you think he has some kind of disease, like when he got Geostigma?"
Tifa didn't even seem to notice the spilled milk. Denzel righted the glass, but most of it had already spilled and was dribbling in loud splats on the floor. He shot an annoyed look at Marlene as Tifa rushed to reassure her.
"No, no, of course not, Sweetie! He's just…it was something he ate earlier today. He'll be fine once he gets it out of his system."
Denzel didn't want to be any part of the conversation, afraid they would read the guilt on his face, so he kept his eyes downcast and tried to clean up the soggy mess with napkins. Neither of the girls even noticed, and no one said a word when he brought his still-full plate into the kitchen.
Later that evening, Denzel was stretched out on his bed, sketching, when the bathroom door finally opened. His pencil stilled as he listened to Cloud's footsteps padding down the hall. He waited until he heard Tifa's door close before daring a peek out of his room. Seeing that the coast was clear, he tiptoed to their bedroom door and held his breath.
"…no, but don't worry. I feel ok now. Maybe nothing will happen." Cloud's voice sounded rough, but Denzel felt himself relax incrementally at the lack of concern in his tone.
The bed springs creaked and linen rustled as one or both of them got comfortable in bed. "I called around a little bit to see if anyone had seen anything like this before –"
"Tifa, you shouldn't have done that. I don't want anyone –"
"Well I thought someone might be able to help! I don't know what else to do."
There was silence for a moment before Cloud prodded her further. "So? Did anyone know what would happen?"
Tifa sounded defeated. "No. Even Doc Marten said he'd never heard of it happening to anyone in all his years."
"Hmm. You know what? I'm not that worried. It can't be any worse than all the poisons my body has been subjected to. Maybe it can handle it."
There was a long pause, and the sound of shifting linen and kissing. Tifa's voice changed. "Your body is capable of some pretty amazing things." Cloud's laugh was low and rumbling.
Denzel felt a pinch on his arm and slapped instinctively at the bug, squashing it against his skin. He winced at the noise. The sound was soft, but still…
"Go to bed, Denz." Cloud's voice floated through the wooden door.
Denzel let out his breath in a huff. "I was just getting some water," he grumbled. To make it believable, he headed down to the kitchen and filled a small cup with water from the tap. He took a sip and then dumped the rest. He left the glass in the sink and made his way softly back up the stairs to listen at the door, but all was quiet in Tifa's room. He hadn't really expected anything. In fact, it was a miracle that he had managed to overhear anything in the first place without Cloud knowing he was there.
He returned to his room and shut the door softly behind him. As he got into bed, his eyes fell on the still-open sketchbook. He had drawn a burly-looking man with ruddy skin and a neglected beard. The man had a scowl on his face and his crossed arms rested on top of his protruding belly. The look in his eyes gave Denzel the chills. He closed the book and tucked it inside a nightstand drawer. He had no idea who the man was, but he supposed he'd find out eventually. He always did.
Denzel didn't sleep well that night. He woke up in the morning with a vague feeling of apprehension and memories of swirling colors, but couldn't piece together any of his dreams. He rolled out of bed and slogged down the stairs. Tifa greeted him cheerfully as he sat down at the table for breakfast, but the shadows under her eyes told him that she'd slept as poorly as he had.
Cloud came down the stairs as Denzel helped himself to eggs and toast. Denzel studied him discreetly as he dished up his plate. Cloud looked the same as he always did. His blond spikes stuck up in the air and his blue eyes glowed in the early morning sunshine of the kitchen. He snatched a piece of bacon from Tifa's plate as he walked by and she slapped playfully at his hand.
All four members of their unorthodox little family were at the table, acting like nothing had happened. Marlene was the only one who was truly oblivious to the events of the previous day, and she chattered about her upcoming school field trip and some new girl in her class. Denzel decided to follow the adults' lead and not talk about the incident in front of her.
The rest of the day passed much the same, as did the rest of the week, and Denzel came to realize that they weren't just trying to hide it from Marlene – no one was talking about it at all. He had tried to bring it up once when he was alone with Tifa, but she just brushed him off, assuring him that Cloud was too tough to be really hurt by something so small. The longer everyone acted like nothing was wrong, the more Denzel started to believe maybe there really wasn't anything wrong. Maybe it would turn out to be harmless in his stomach, or maybe – Denzel's butt burned in sympathy at the thought – it just came out the other end. In any case, he couldn't see any ill effects from it. Cloud looked the same as always, so maybe the boy was making too big of a deal out of it.
If he hadn't wanted to believe it so badly, perhaps he would have thought it strange that Cloud ended up canceling so many of their training sessions in the following weeks. He would have had more than a passing curiosity about the times he'd found Cloud in that room alone, or the increasing smell of burnt food permeating the air.
As it was, life just went back to normal at Seventh Heaven. Denzel did homework and chores; he ate and slept and trained. Although his sword training sessions were fewer, he spent more time with Tifa working on his materia. Marlene and Cloud seemed to be spending more time together than usual, but he supposed it was only natural since he was hogging Tifa so often for his materia lessons.
A month later, the four sat together at the breakfast table as usual, enjoying the relaxed and playful atmosphere before they would have to get ready for their various responsibilities. Marlene was animatedly telling a story while the others ate and listened politely.
As Denzel took a bite of his toast, Cloud shot to his feet, muscles tensed. Tifa paused with the fork halfway to her mouth. "What's wrong?"
Cloud stared in the direction of the bar. "Stay here," he barked, taking off at a run through the kitchen door. They heard the front door slam behind him.
The remaining three looked at each other, at a loss. Finally, Denzel spoke. "Tifa, shouldn't we—"
"Shh!" She shushed him with a wave of her hand. "Listen."
Denzel strained his ears, but it wasn't necessary for long. A horrifying melee of sounds was getting louder by the second. There were roars of beasts in several different pitches, the sound of wood splintering and steel bending, and the unmistakable whoosh of a sword whipping through air, terminated abruptly with each swing as it met its target.
Adrenaline pumping through him, Denzel charged through the door. "No, wait!" Tifa called, but he was already gone, too driven to reach Cloud to heed her warning. He burst through the front door into the blinding morning sunshine, squinting as he spotted the horde of assorted monsters at the end of the block.
At some point on his flight out the door, Cloud had retrieved First Tsurugi, and was dual wielding two of the pieces as he battled against the dozens of beasts. Denzel steeled himself. This was his chance. This was what he'd been training for!
He ran to help his hero, realizing only as he broke into the fray that he hadn't grabbed a weapon. Fear quickly overrode his earlier bravado. A cripshay eyed him hungrily and he began to back away slowly, hoping that he wouldn't startle the monster into attacking. It didn't work. The cripshay skittered toward him. Before Denzel could retreat more than a few steps, it had pinned him to the ground on his back. He pushed up against its stomach with all his strength, keeping its clashing teeth at bay, but his arms were starting to tire and the teeth moved closer. He closed his eyes and turned his head to the side, earning himself a few extra inches of space. A whiff of air cooled his face, and the cripshay was suddenly dead weight against his arms. He opened his eyes and shoved it off. The hollow blade of the fusion sword protruded from the middle of the beast's head.
Denzel looked over to where Cloud was smoothly fighting off more monsters than he could count, almost a block away. He had flung the hollow blade as a projectile to impale the cripshay. Without taking his eyes off the myriad of beasts, he shouted, "Denzel, get inside!"
Denzel growled and got to his feet, grasping the hilt of the hollow blade and pulling it free from the cripshay's head with a wet squelch. He was not a child anymore. He didn't need to be protected like one. "No," he said quietly, knowing Cloud could hear him.
He raised the sword and positioned his feet in the stance that was now automatic. He swung with all his might at a chuse tank that had been racing by. He felt a rush of elation as the sword sliced through the green neck and decapitated the beast.
The teen gripped the sword harder as he continued swinging at the charging swarm. The hot blood from assorted species was running down the blade and making the hilt slippery. Now there's something you don't encounter in practice. He was starting to understand why Cloud always wore gloves when he fought.
Denzel was desperately wishing he had some materia, but of course Cloud hadn't had time to equip anything in his sword, or even put on any armor. Denzel's arms were starting to get tired with the non-stop onslaught, but he felt more alive than he ever had before. This is why he does it, he thought. This is why Cloud keeps going out and killing monsters in the surrounding forests and the edges of town. Even though the people in town don't know, even though no one ever thanks him for protecting them, he does it for this rush. I get it now. Someday, that will be me.
He pulled the sword free from the midsection of the vice in which he'd buried it, every sense heightened with the thrill of battle. He could hear the overwhelming roar of the mob lowering in volume as more and more were defeated. He could smell the mingled odors of the beasts and the coppery tang of blood in the air. He could keep track of the dozens of monsters in his field of vision, could move with precision as his blade sliced through one beast after the next. And he felt, with terrifying clarity, the slippery hilt of the hollow blade slide from his grasp as a whole eater swatted it away.
Panicked, he spun around to retrieve his weapon, remembering what he had been told in training only as he felt the point of the whole eater's teeth stabbing into him, from his neck to the base of his spine: Don't turn your back on your opponent.
"Tifa!" With an urgency that Denzel rarely heard in his voice, Cloud screamed her name.
"Got it!" Tifa's voice was right behind Denzel. As soon as he crashed to the ground, he braced himself for another attack, but the animal was several steps away and its attention was not on him. He realized the monster had released him when Tifa's powerful fist had smashed into its jaw. A spinning kick sent it flying over the head of several other monsters, still alive but away from them for the moment. "Denzel! Are you ok?"
Tifa couldn't stop to look at him. With a flurry of fists and feet, she beat back the monsters trying to converge on the boy bleeding on the ground. Denzel tried to push himself up with his arms, crying out as the pain from his wounds seared through his body. It started to fade almost immediately though, replaced by a cool tingling sensation over each of the punctures. Within seconds, the pain was gone.
Marlene's voice, sounding younger and more desperate than he remembered, called out to him. "Denzel! Get up!" She was standing far away from the main action, breathing hard, even while concentrating on another spell. Denzel felt a wash of affection for her as he recognized the shimmering of the shell and protect spells encircling his body.
He snatched up the sword and jumped back into the fight next to Tifa, chopping off a tentacle reaching for her. They worked together as Denzel regained his previous momentum, the two of them slicing and striking through the mob. They were gradually moving in the opposite direction of Cloud, making the distance ever greater between them, but it didn't seem to matter. They were holding their own.
The blood froze in Denzel's veins as Marlene's shriek vibrated through him. Without thinking, he turned to run toward her, realizing his mistake almost immediately as he was struck down from behind. Ugh! I did it again! His head slammed into the ground, pain blurring his vision as he struggled to lift his head to see her. He had to make sure Marlene was ok! He had thought of the girl as his sister for years, and even though she sometimes annoyed him, the thought of losing her was unbearable. He pushed himself to his knees and spotted her scrabbling backwards, trying to dodge the lunges of a giant bird that he didn't recognize.
Something pounced on his back, driving him back to the ground. The air was pushed out of his lungs with a whoosh. The sounds of the battlefield mingled into a single, ringing tone as his vision darkened. The last thing he felt as he slipped into unconsciousness was a wave of heat.
Denzel opened his eyes to the tingling that he now recognized as a cure fading from his body. He struggled to orient himself in his surroundings. His legs dangled and his head was tipped back. With an effort, he lifted his head to see glowing blue eyes that seemed to shine with an unfamiliar tint of red. The red faded as his head cleared, and he realized Cloud was holding him bridal style. Cloud's face showed as little emotion as usual, but the clench of muscles in his jaw betrayed his anxiety.
"Cloud?" Denzel said hoarsely. "Put me down." He was too shell-shocked to be embarrassed by the way he was being held like a baby, but Cloud was holding him slightly tighter than was comfortable.
Cloud set him carefully on his feet, keeping his hands on his arms long enough to make sure he was steady. For the first time, Denzel took in his surroundings. Tifa and Marlene huddled around him, the former with concern coloring her expression, the latter with eyes red from crying. Beyond them was a charred mass of bodies that he could barely recognize as the hoard of beasts they had been fighting.
"What…" Denzel trailed off as he took in the devastation. In addition to the monsters they had been fighting, some buildings looked singed, and others were still burning with small fires as the townspeople doused them with buckets of water.
Tifa rubbed his back soothingly. "Let's go home. We can talk there."
They had moved about two blocks from the bar as they fought, and nobody spoke as the quartet made their way home. The destruction lessened as they got farther from ground zero, and Seventh Heaven was completely untouched. Tifa held the door open as they all shuffled inside.
They took their places at the bar table that served as their dinner, homework, and family discussion table during the bar's off hours. The kids looked expectantly at the adults. The adults looked at each other, communicating silently with their eyes.
Exasperated with the exclusive conversation, Denzel broke the silence. "So? What happened?"
Still, neither of the adults spoke. Hoping to nudge them into speaking, Marlene slowly started with what she knew. "All three of you were busy fighting. I was trying to cast protective spells for you all, and it was hard to concentrate because I was so scared, but I think they worked…" She trailed off and Denzel reached over to squeeze her hand reassuringly.
"They worked, Mar. Then what happened?"
Marlene closed her eyes as she recalled the next few minutes. "This huge bird came out of nowhere. I've never seen anything like it! It kept swiping and trying to peck me. I was backed up to a wall and I thought I was done for, but then Tifa came and slammed it into the ground." She swallowed, opening her eyes to look at her brother and gripping his hand tighter. "When I got up I saw Denzel was bleeding and…and then there was this fire everywhere and...what happened?"
Tifa took a breath and decided to address the simplest of her questions first. "The giant bird – it was a zuu. It's…not native to this area."
Marlene's brow furrowed. "Then what was it doing here?"
Tifa shook her head and Cloud spoke up. "We're not sure. I've never seen them outside of Mt. Nibel."
"Oh…kay…" Marlene trailed, anxious to get to the more pressing question. "What about the fire? Where did the fire come from?"
Cloud and Tifa exchanged looks again, but before they could speak, there was a pounding at the front door. As a public door to the bar, it was unusual for anyone to knock, but Tifa rose to pull it open. A burly man, looking slightly singed but otherwise unharmed, barked out his message. "Come down to city hall. Town meeting."
Without waiting for any kind of response, he jogged to next house over and banged on the door. Tifa let the heavy door swing shut. "I guess we'll have to talk about this later." She looked at the kids at the table. "You two stay here."
Both kids protested immediately.
"We were involved! We should be allowed to come too!" Marlene pleaded.
"I want to be there," Denzel said stubbornly. "If I'm old enough to fight, I'm old enough to talk about it."
Cloud looked perturbed. "You shouldn't have been fighting either, Denz."
Denzel jumped to his feet, ignoring the protest from his unsteady legs. "I'm almost as old as you were when—"
"Enough!" Tifa cut him off. "It's not up to us. Only 18 and older are allowed to attend town meetings. So we're going and you two are staying here and that's final."
Both kids closed their mouths. Tifa had invoked the angry tone that they all knew meant that it would be foolish to argue with her. There was also a 50/50 chance that she would launch into a tirade that would make their ears bleed.
Cloud grasped her hand and she calmed visibly, tipping the scales away from Ranting Tifa mode. "Let's get going, Teef," he murmured.
She nodded and let out a calming breath, but the worried lines around her mouth didn't relax. Cloud pulled her out the door and Denzel collapsed onto the couch, feeling the fatigue catching up with him. He had been through some exhausting training sessions and built up his stamina considerably, but he was woefully unprepared for the intensity of that battle.
He let his eyes close as he replayed it in his mind. It had been a long time since he'd seen Cloud in a real fight, beyond a handful of monsters easily dispatched in a few swings. But watching him this morning, he realized that the strength and speed he'd used when training Denzel was just a fraction of his capabilities. It was a depressing thought. It wasn't normal. How was it possible? If Cloud was never in SOLDIER, if he was never part of those mako infusions, how was it possible that he could be so strong and fast?
His brain was as exhausted as his body; there was no way he would be able to figure out the puzzle of Cloud Strife in his current state. Ignoring Marlene's questioning voice, he dragged himself up the stairs and collapsed into his bed. He was asleep the minute his head hit the pillow.
Tifa came up to wake him for dinner. He sat up groggily, feeling disoriented by the time on his clock and the late afternoon sunshine. Apparently he'd slept right through lunch, which they usually had at about the same time as the town meeting that day. The events of the morning came rushing back to him and he threw back his covers. This was his chance to hear about the town meeting and finally figure out what the heck was going on.
By the time he had washed his hands and made it down to the table, the other three were already there. Marlene was almost bouncing in her seat. "He's awake and he's here! Now will you explain what's going on?"
Tifa was trying to keep up a civilized semblance of a meal, but it seemed that no one else was interested in the food. Finally, she sighed and gave up. "Alright, fine. But really, there were more questions than answers at the meeting. People want to know where all the monsters came from, especially since some of them aren't native to this area, and no one really knows what they're doing near Midgar or how to even fight them."
Denzel snorted quietly. No one else in town really bothered to fight any of the beasts in the area. They just learned how to avoid them and used Cloud's delivery service whenever they needed to get something through one of the areas inhabited by those monsters. Cloud also kept a perimeter around Edge cleared out, which was large enough to keep them out of the town's rough borders most of the time.
Ignoring the rude noise, Marlene spoke up. "Did they all just show up today? Didn't you see them when you were patrolling, Cloud?"
Tifa looked startled, as if the thought hadn't occurred to her, and she turned to Cloud expectantly.
He shifted in his seat. "Yeah. I did. There were some different species around and more than usual, but I was taking care of it. I didn't see any reason to alarm anyone else."
Marlene eyed him shrewdly. "But you were sick all day yesterday, so you didn't do the patrol. That's why they got into town today. Does that mean…do you fight that many every day?"
Cloud crossed his arms and frowned. "Nowhere near. I don't know where they all came from."
More questions than answers, just like Tifa had said. But something was still bugging Denzel. He knew neither Cloud nor Tifa had taken the time to return to the house to get materia. "So who cast the fire? Was it you, Marlene?"
Marlene looked startled. "No! I went back and got the curing and support materia, but I didn't get anything to attack." She fiddled with a strand of hair, the way she always did when she was working through something in her mind. She looked up with wide eyes. "Does that mean someone else in Edge knows how to use materia now?"
Tifa hesitated. "I don't think so. No one admitted to it at the meeting."
Denzel looked at Marlene. She was still twirling the piece of hair, but she said nothing. His gaze moved to Cloud. His face was impassive as ever, but his eyes were seeing something far away from Seventh Heaven. Denzel had spent years learning to read the blond man's eyes, but all he could tell from them now was that he was deep in thought.
An audible growl from his stomach reminded Denzel that he hadn't eaten since breakfast, and he finally started to dish up some food. "So what now? What are we going to do about it?"
Tifa looked down at the behemoth steak she was slowly cutting on her plate as she spoke. "Well…they're talking about building a wall around Edge." She was being evasive for some reason, apparently fascinated with the sight of the meat.
Denzel prodded further. "And? Everyone knows Cloud's the only one that can really fight around here." His eyes lit up. "They should, like, hire him! He could totally get paid for doing what he does already!"
Tifa glanced at Cloud, but he was still off in his own world, so she answered again. The steak was now being cut into pieces small enough to feed a baby chocobo. "Um, no, that didn't come up. Some of the people volunteered to do patrol around the town…"
Cloud's eyes suddenly snapped back into focus. "I need to go see if there's more to be cleared out. I'll be back in a few hours."
The other three watched in startled silence as he grabbed his sword and his keys and walked out the door. It was hours before the time he usually did his run, and he hadn't even touched the food. For a man who needed to eat as much as Cloud did, it was an ominous sign.
Later that evening Denzel was sitting on his bed, sketching, when he heard a soft knock on the door. "Come in," he said without looking up. The door creaked open and the bed shifted only slightly under the weight of the smaller girl. "What is it, Marlene?"
Marlene leaned forward as she studied the sketchpad upside-down. "Denzel, how do you know those girls?"
His pencil stopped moving, but he didn't look up. "Uh, I don't. I mean, I've just seen them around town. Why, do you know them?"
"Yeah…" Marlene said softly. "They're in my class. Why are you drawing them?"
Denzel snapped the book closed, irritated. "Is there some reason you need to be in my room, or did you just come to badger me about my hobbies?"
He regretted his harsh tone when he looked up and saw the quivering of her lip, her eyes red from crying again. He ran a hand over his face wearily. "Aww jeez, Mar, I'm sorry. It's not a big deal. It's just a stupid drawing of some stupid girls I don't even know, ok?"
Marlene nodded, but her lip continued to quiver and tears slipped down her face. "It's ok," she said, her voice wobbly. "It's just…" She burst into full-fledged crying now, and Denzel sighed and pulled her into a hug, resting his chin on her head as her body shook. He was remembering the many times he'd done this when they were younger, when she was a little girl who needed constant reassurance that Barret still loved her, that she wasn't just a burden to Cloud and Tifa, that she was wanted. Denzel wasn't even sure that he was wanted, that he wasn't a burden, but he had murmured the words to her, over and over, until she believed them.
She had grown up to be smart and strong and resourceful and confident, and that uncertain little girl had been gone for so long, so why now? Denzel just held her and waited, knowing she was working up to it. She would get it out when she could.
Finally, sobbing into his shirt, she spit it out. "I couldn't do it, Denz. I tried, I swear, I wanted to, but you weren't moving, and the fire was so… and I thought…" she dissolved into tears again, leaving him to sort through her fragments of speech.
"You tried to…do you mean during the battle today? You healed me and you gave me protect and shell. I felt it and I saw it shimmering. You were amazing, Mar."
She pushed herself back up to a sitting position, removing herself from the protective circle of his arms as she calmed herself enough to be coherent, swiping at her face with her sleeves. "No, Denzel. Later. After Tifa took down that big bird. That…thing was on top of you and you weren't moving, and then there was fire everywhere and everything was burning and you were burning. Cloud ran over and picked you up before the fire even went out, and he yelled for me to heal you, and I tried, but you were so burned and there was this static in my head and I..." she looked up at him with big brown eyes begging for forgiveness. "I couldn't hear them, Denz. I couldn't hear the voices and I couldn't fix you!"
Tears were still streaming down her face freely, but the sobbing had subsided to those hiccupy gasps and at least she was making sense now. Denzel grasped her chin and brought her face up. "Look at me, Mar. I'm fine, ok? Whatever happened, it doesn't matter, because I'm fine now. You were brilliant today! No one else even thought to get that materia, but you did. You went back to get it and you cured us and protected us while we were fighting, and it would've been so much worse without you. You have nothing to feel bad about."
Marlene blinked her blurry eyes and pulled her face away from his hand, turning her head to stare at the wall. "You didn't see them," she said softly. "Cloud looked so scared. His eyes looked like they were glowing red, and he was yelling at me to do it, but I couldn't. Tifa finally snatched the materia away from me and cured you herself."
She wrapped her arms around her knees. "I've never seen them like that before, you know? I've seen them in battles, and they stay calm and they work together, even if something bad happens. Cloud never yells, and Tifa never panics, and the only thing I could think of…the only reason they would be acting that way…was that it was too late. For you."
Her eyes were haunted. Denzel wanted to say something else to reassure her, but he couldn't. He was still processing all of this new information. Finally, he sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Look, it's really late and we have school in the morning. Let's just go to bed, ok?"
Marlene dropped her arms and stood up, looking like her usual, collected self, other than her blotchy face and shaky voice. "Yeah. I'm sure you're still tired after that fight. I'll…I'll see you in the morning, ok?"
He gave her a fond smile. "Yeah. G'night, Mar."
The big battle was the only thing anyone could talk about at school the next day. Theories abounded about where all the beasts and the fire came from, ranging from marginally possible to ridiculously outlandish.
Most of them had seen (or at least heard about) the size and sheer number of monsters. They knew of the destruction they caused to the buildings and the unsuspecting townspeople caught in the onslaught. They knew that their classmate, the unassuming freckled boy who sat in the back of class, had been in the fray.
Denzel was an instant celebrity. His lunch table was crammed with people who wanted to be called his friend. His desk was surrounded by kids peppering him with questions, at least until the teacher ordered them all to sit down and be quiet. Although he didn't get much of a chance to tell his side of the story, the tales grew taller as they spread throughout the school. Even better, the girl he'd had a crush on all year approached him in the hallway on his way to Math class.
"Hey Denzel."
"Alicia. H-hey." Denzel rubbed at the back of his neck, an unconscious habit he had picked up from Cloud. He focused on not tripping over his feet as they walked.
"So umm…I heard about what you did during the monster attack."
Denzel was sure his face was burning up. "Yeah, well, the stories might have been a little exaggerated," he said nervously.
They had reached his classroom and stopped walking. His eyes were drawn to the piece of hair Alicia was twirling around her finger. "Well, it sounds cool. So…see you around?"
"Y-yeah. Sure." Denzel fumbled.
Alicia gave him a quick peck on the cheek, smiled shyly, and then turned and walked away.
Denzel was rooted in place, stunned. He watched her as she joined up with a few friends who had obviously been waiting for her, giggling, and they walked on together.
Jason bumped him with his shoulder, startling him from his daze. "Hey, man. You going into class or what?"
"Oh! Yeah." Denzel went and took his seat, fairly certain that the foolish smile stayed on his face throughout the entire afternoon. Overall, it was a fantastic day for him. He practically floated home after school.
If he hadn't been so distracted, maybe he would have noticed that everyone else was unusually quiet at dinner. Maybe he would have wondered why Marlene was wearing long sleeves and pants, even though it was sweltering hot. Maybe he would have asked about the unusually strong smell of smoke. Maybe he would have noticed the distant look in Cloud's eyes, and the nervous glances from Tifa. But he didn't.
As the little family gathered around him at one of the small round tables in the bar, Denzel rolled his eyes at their rendition of "Happy Birthday", but secretly he was pleased. They were goofy and loving and he felt as accepted in this family as he ever had with his parents.
Marlene was the first to give him a gift. She placed a medium-sized box in front of him on the table, saying "It's from Daddy and me."
Denzel was touched. Barret was friendly enough to him, but he wasn't the type to be remembering the boy's birthday. Marlene must have asked him to help pay for it since she didn't really have much money of her own. He peeled off the paper to reveal a polished wooden box with his name carved on the top. He looked over his shoulder at Marlene, but she smiled mysteriously and didn't answer.
Finding a latch on the front, he unhooked it and lifted a hinged cover. It was similar to a jewelry box, but instead of holding jewelry, it held dozens of compartments in three different sizes, with the smallest about the size of a marble, the largest the size of a golf ball. The compartments were grouped into different colored velvet layers. Marlene leaned over his shoulder, showing him how the upper layers could slide to the side to reveal the lower layers. "See, the yellow layer is for your command materia, the green for your magic materia, blue for support, purple for independent, and red for summon."
She stood back and waited for his reaction, but Denzel wasn't saying anything. Marlene was starting to get fidgety. Maybe he didn't like it. Maybe he thought it looked too girly. From her vantage point behind him, she couldn't see his face and she was starting to feel stupid.
But across the table from them, Tifa could see that Denzel was blinking rapidly. Finally he spoke, his voice wobbly and affectionate. "This is cool, Mar. Really cool. You're alright for a bratty little sister."
Relief washed over her face and she looked pleased as Denzel gave her a tight hug. She had spent over a month out in the garage with Cloud, working on her project as he worked on his. It really had turned out beautiful and Cloud was proud of the way she'd stuck to it. He was a little disappointed when she finished it, but only because he'd been enjoying the time he had spent with her in that stuffy garage. She had gotten closer to Tifa over these last few years and Cloud had missed the spirited little girl, but she was 12 now and turning into a hard-working, responsible young woman.
Tifa was next. She handed him a small box wrapped in shiny red paper. He ripped off the paper and removed the top of the box to reveal 5 marble-sized stones. There were 3 green, 1 blue, and 1 yellow.
"My own materia?" Denzel asked excitedly. "Wow, thanks Tifa! But um…why are they so small?" He had been practicing with Cloud's and Tifa's materia, which was much bigger.
"Because they're new," Tifa explained. "You'll have to level them up and they'll grow as they get stronger, but you'll be able to cast them much more effectively if you level them up yourself."
Denzel reverently placed the stones in the proper spots in the materia box. "These are amazing! Thanks, everyone. Cloud, can we go practice with these now?"
"Um, not quite yet." Looking shy and slightly embarrassed, Cloud slid a long, surprisingly light package across the table to Denzel. The teen gave him a questioning look, which was answered with a small smile. He had always received gifts from "Cloud & Tifa", always written in Tifa's curly script and perfectly wrapped paper. This one was clearly just from Cloud. It was loosely wrapped with the brown packaging paper he used for his delivery service and then covered with an excessive amount of tape.
Denzel tore into the gift with difficulty – did he seriously need to use packaging tape? – and after several minutes, he unwrapped enough to see the shiny metallic reflection. Getting excited, he ripped open the rest of the package haphazardly and dropped the paper shreds on the floor around him. He held up a longsword, beautifully made, perfectly balanced. The hilt was wrapped in strips of red leather, and 4 adjustable materia slots were set into the base of the blade. He admired it with awe. "Cloud, this is so perfect!"
Cloud made his way around the table and stood behind Denzel. "Look." He pointed out two small buttons on the guard, easy enough to reach with his thumbs, but out of the way where they wouldn't be accidentally bumped.
Curious, Denzel pushed the first button. A smaller sword separated from the main blade. It was spring-loaded and easy to release. He let out a whoop of joy and pressed the other button, popping off a medium sized blade. "My own fusion sword? Did you make this?"
Cloud gave a small nod. "Do you like it?"
Denzel set the swords on the table and jumped up, startling Cloud with a big hug. "Are you kidding? I love it! I couldn't have asked for anything better!" He released the blond man and bounced on the balls of his feet excitedly, reminding Cloud strongly of Zack. He had always had too much energy to burn.
Cloud couldn't help but smile, noticing absently that the boy was already almost as tall as him, and only 14. "Want to go try it out?"
"Hey!" Tifa interrupted. "Settle down, boys."
Their eyes were drawn to her with twin looks of dismay, as if she had dared to interrupt their playtime.
Tifa put her hands sternly on her hips. "What about the cake?"
Denzel's sudden popularity after the monster attack didn't immediately fade, but the interest in him dwindled as time passed. It was almost a relief. He was getting sick of being the center of attention everywhere he went and had started trying to lose his entourage at every opportunity. Even better, he'd finally found the courage to ask out Alicia, and she had agreed to meet up with him the following week, during their school break.
The week seemed to take forever as he fantasized about their date. On the last day of school before the break, he shoved his books into his backpack and headed out the side door of the school. He was surprised to see Jesse and Jason waiting for him on the other side of the door. They sometimes walked together if they happened to be leaving at the same time, but they had never actually waited for him before.
"Hey guys," Denzel greeted them. "On the way home?"
"Yeah. Wanna walk with us?" Jason asked.
"Sure," Denzel shrugged.
They started in the general direction of their homes and Jason nudged Denzel with his elbow. "Heard you got a hot date next week."
Denzel couldn't help the grin that spread over his face. "Yeah. With Alicia."
Jason whistled. "Nice! And what exactly are you planning?"
"Oh, just out for ice cream. And other stuff." Denzel grinned. "Cloud said he'd give me some tips."
Jesse laughed out loud. "Why would you take advice from him? I bet he's never even been with a chick."
Denzel blinked at him, perturbed. "What are you talking about? He's with Tifa.".
Jesse gave him a pitying look. "Dude, living in the same place and working together is not the same thing as actually being together." Jesse shrugged and looked back at the path. "Dad says he only stays there 'cause Tifa has a soft spot for poor, pathetic strays. Same reason she lets you and that mousy little girl hang around."
A flare of anger lit inside of Denzel, but he held it back. He shouldn't let it get to him. He knew that Cloud and Tifa were a couple. He knew that they loved him and Marlene as if they were their own. Why should he care what a couple random kids from school think? He tried his best to keep the bite out of his voice. "Maybe your dad thinks he knows Tifa 'cause he hangs around the bar or something, but he doesn't know anything about us."
The twins exchanged a look that he couldn't interpret.
"What?" Denzel asked uneasily.
"Well…you know they all grew up together, right?" Jason asked. He was a bit more mellow than his brother and usually wasn't deliberately mean. "They're all from Nibelheim."
This sparked Denzel's interest. He still couldn't imagine Cloud as a kid. "Really? Were they friends? What was he like?"
Jesse laughed derisively. "A loser," he sneered, pulling Denzel's eyes back to him. "Dad says he was just a weirdo, and taking that mako stuff just made him weirder."
The recently smothered flame of anger surged. "He is not!" he defended. "Besides, he didn't even get mako shots. He said he wasn't even in SOLDIER."
Jesse snorted. "Yeah, ok. His eyes just started glowing for no reason. They didn't look like that when he was a kid, you know."
For a moment, Denzel didn't have an answer. He didn't know why his eyes looked the way they did, but he didn't believe Cloud would lie to him.
"Anyway," Jesse continued, "everyone knows mako attracts monsters, and it's his fault they attacked Edge. That's what everyone said at the town meeting." He shrugged with an air of nonchalance. "I'm sure he'll be banished from town soon."
Jesse didn't see it coming. He only felt the explosion of pain radiating from the center of his face as Denzel's fist smashed into his nose. Jesse stumbled backwards and landed on his butt in the dust, screaming as he held both hands over his nose. Jason tried to stick up for his brother, aiming a punch at his friend that was easily deflected, and then his feet flew out from under him. His back hit the ground hard, knocking the wind from his chest. He struggled to breathe as his brother screamed, and Denzel turned away from them. He had lost his temper and regretted it already.
Letting out his breath slowly, Denzel turned around and held a hand out to Jesse. "I'm sorry, man. I shouldn't have reacted like that. We're friends."
Jesse's eyes were watering and he still held his hands protectively over his nose. "Get away from me, you freak! We are not friends!"
Denzel's hand dropped and he sighed. "Ok then." He turned and walked away, ignoring the stream of curses from behind him.
He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at nothing but the ground in front of him as he continued toward home. What a horrible way to end a great week. The twins hadn't been the greatest friends, but they were edgy and adventurous and they always had something new to show Denzel – usually the type of things Cloud and Tifa would not approve of. And he certainly hadn't wanted to make enemies of them.
He was deep in his brooding when a familiar sniffle reached his ears. He looked up, trying to find the source of the sound. He was passing what the kids called "The Wasteland", essentially a fenced-off dumping ground for trash. It was rumored that shady things happened there at night, but it was safe enough during the day.
Denzel froze and held his breath, listening intently. There it was again! A soft sniffle that was definitely coming from behind the fence. He climbed up to where the gap widened between the fence and the rocky wall that abutted the Wasteland, and pulled himself through. He navigated between the piles of garbage and stepped over some unidentified gooey substance on the ground. As he came around an especially tall heap of trash, he spotted the small figure huddled on the ground.
"Marlene!" He hurried to her side and squatted next to her on the ground. "Are you ok? What are you doing here?"
Marlene slowly raised her head from her arms. Her tear-stained face and wide eyes broke his heart, but his emotions swiftly turned to anger when he saw the bruise forming on her cheekbone. "Who did this to you?" he demanded.
She shook her head slowly and sniffled. "Just some girls. It doesn't matter." The unidentified goo was streaked down one side of her hair, and random pieces of garbage stuck to it. There were coffee grounds in her hair and trailing down to her shirt, which was also covered with assorted trash.
Denzel picked a piece of bread from the side of her head and tried to brush off the coffee grounds, but they were wet and some had sunk into her hair. He continued cleaning off the garbage as he said softly. "Tell me what happened."
Marlene looked distant. "They pretended they were my friends," she said hesitantly. "They said they wanted to show me something in the Wasteland, and then when we got in here they pushed me down and dumped a bucket of garbage on my head and then threw stuff at me." Her lip quivered. "I'm so dumb! I knew they weren't my friends, but I just wanted them to be…"
Denzel stood and helped her to her feet. "Let's go home, Mar. We need to tell Cloud and Tifa."
She froze. "No, we can't tell them! It'll just make it worse if they get involved."
He crossed his arms. "We can't just let them get away with it!"
"Yes, we can. It will be fine after the break, Denzel. They'll have forgotten all about me."
Denzel scowled. "Just tell me who did it, Mar."
"No. You'll try to fix it and I don't need your help. I'll deal with this myself."
He knew it was pointless to argue with her when she had that stubborn look in her eye. He sighed and let his arms drop to his sides. He led her through the piles of garbage and helped her through the gap in the fence. She was limping, and he stopped to examine her leg once they were outside the fence. Her knee was starting to swell.
Then he heard the last voice in the world he wanted to hear in that moment. Jesse.
"See, I told you. Makoid rage. Wait until we tell Dad."
Marlene burst into tears, humiliated. Anger pulsed through Denzel's head and he squeezed the materia in his pocket. "Leave. Us. Alone!"
A ring of fire sprang up around the twins. Jesse yelped and tried to take a step backwards before realizing they were completely surrounded.
Denzel looped Marlene's arm over his shoulder and started helping her walk forward.
"Denzel!" she hissed. "You can't just leave them like that!"
Fire was a little hard to control once it was out of your hands, and he really didn't want to hurt them. He turned around and sent a few blasts of ice to smother the fires, shooting the boys one last warning look. Then he helped his sister home.