Path of Repentance

Chapter 3: Stolen Materia (Part 2)

By Vermillion Dragoness

Disclaimer: Not mine, Everything relating to Final Fantasy VII belongs to Square-Enix

A/N: Revised versions of the first two chapters are also up.

Oct/08/06: Thanks to the reviews and excellent feedback, I reworked the Cloud/Doctor/Nurse scene and cleared up some other confusion. Some significant changes and I hope it works much much better. Enjoy!

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It was a beautiful morning. The sun was just peaking over the horizon. Bathing the town in an orange-red glow. The mist that lazily crawled through the streets made the town appear like it was floating in the clouds. When the sun reached just the right angle, the mist would gain a green glow, a side effect of living where the lifestream was so close to the surface.

Most people didn't get up early enough to marvel at the quiet beauty. The few tourists were all too busy sleeping to take the time to appreciate the phenomenon unique to this region.

Most people weren't awake at this hour.

Unfortunately, the man who recently washed out of the lifestream was not most people.

A pair of panicked feet pounded down the halls of the sleepy clinic. The front door was opened, slamming into the wall and shutting with a bang in their wake. Shattering the quiet morning. Repeated shouts of, "Doctor!" echoing.

Racing across the moist earth, the young woman didn't miss a step at the green haze engulfing the town. Too focused on reaching her goal just a few houses down.

A few of the locals, fishermen making their way down to the wharf, spared her a startled glance as the normally composed woman tore down the street.

Finally, the pounding feet came to a halt in front of a modest little home. "Doctor Lee!" She cried, proceeding to pound on the door. "You have to make him listen! He won't listen to me! He's going to kill himself and I don't-"

"Calm down, calm down." Opening the door, a concerned Doctor Lee soothed. "Who's causing the problem?" He asked as he wiped the last of the shaving cream off his face with a towel.

The panicked nurse took a deep calming breath to steady her nerves. "The patient Miss Fey brought in a week ago." She gestured back the way she came. "The man everyone thinks is a SOLDIER. I walked in to do my morning check-up, and he was out of bed- Standing on his own!- and-"

"He's in critical condition! He can't be moving around like that!" The Doctor interrupted, frowning in concern.

"That's what I told him! But he just-just-!" Her hands shook in frustration. "He just says he has somewhere he needs to be and won't stop."

Doctor Lee was taken aback by the slight tremble in her voice, and then what she'd been saying hit him. "You mean… he's trying to leave! That foolish-." He paused to collect himself. There was no time to finish cleaning up if he wanted to reach his patient before something serious happened. Tossing the towel into a corner he pulled his lab coat off the coat rack by the door. "Lets go." It sounded like he would need to look as professional as possible for this patient.

------

Cloud was angry. Or more accurately, he was frustrated. He'd been out for a week. A full week! And that nurse expected him to just lie in bed for another full week. He'd wasted enough time recovering. Never mind the fact that he was wrapped from neck to waist in bandages. Or that his headache was getting worse before getting better. Or that any sudden movements of his upper body would cause him to close his eyes and hiss in pain.

Aerith was out there and needed his help. What did his own injuries matter? If anything, that dream two nights ago had shown him how important it was to hurry up and move.

Passing out for another two days after I first woke up…How weak have I gotten?

He'd awoken this morning with a strong feeling of urgency pulling at him. Sitting up had been a bit of a challenge. He'd sat there with a hand pressed to his forehead for many agonizing minutes, sweating. It had been all he could do to concentrate on his breathing until the dizziness and nausea passed.

Just thinking about it caused him to stumble a bit and grab the bed for support. His arm burned in protest to the sudden and harsh movement. Head bowed, he clenched his jaw shut tight against the bile he could taste in his mouth. One hand went to his head and he tightly grabbed hold of his hair. Pulling it to try and calm the spinning room. Willing himself to focus on the throbbing in the arm supporting him, and the stinging of his hair.

It wasn't as bad as when he'd first woken up, just like a very bad case of motion sickness –or so he told himself, but he couldn't afford having this weakness.

His breathing sounded heavy and strained to his ears, but he forced his back straight and stared at the wall ahead. Clearing his mind, he focused on calming his breathing and fought to return to normal. This feeling was nothing compared to the Geostigma he'd suffered with for a year. At least he hadn't passed out yet. He knew he could beat it if he just remained focused on the present.

A small smile came unbidden to his lips. Free. He was free of the Geostigma. It was hard to wrap his mind around. It had been such a constant presence for the last year. Slowly getting worse and worse as despair tightened its merciless claws around his heart. He'd been dying. Looking forward to the release death would bring. But now…

I want to live.

It was a liberating thought.

But he wasn't free of the phantom feelings yet. The claws imbedded too deep in his heart. But it was a start.

I can keep my promise, to live on for both our sakes.

The hand in his hair slowly loosened its grip as his breathing returned to normal. Letting out a frustrated sigh, he readjusted his blue sunglasses back into place. He'd found them on the little bedside table this morning, and they were doing wonders for his vision. They were comfortably familiar too. Like a cross between his riding goggles and Reno's sunglasses.

I hope Fenrir's okay. He absently thought, remembering the rough beating it had received. …And Reno and Rude, he grudgingly added.

Earlier this morning he'd opened the curtains to test his new glasses out. (His eyes were still too sensitive to see comfortably in anything but muted light.) And had been surprised to find himself staring at an oddly familiar town. The town itself he didn't recognize, but the buildings were unmistakable.

He was in Mideel. Or somewhere that looked like Mideel. In the 2 years he'd spent running a delivery service, he'd never come across a place like this. It was far too…untouched. He had no memory of the old Mideel, but he'd delivered a few packages to the reviving town. And this place only held a passing resemblance.

With Mideel almost completely wiped out by the unstable lifestream and the WEAPON that attacked it, the population was very small. Only a couple hundred at most. But this new town had to be at least double that. And that was only based on the parts of town he could see from his window.

The most disturbing part was, it looked like it had suffered an attack, but the damage didn't come close to what one of the WEAPONs was capable of. And you could only tell it had been damaged if you knew what to look for. The patched up holes, some as large as a person, and others in a pattern that could only come from bullets- The paint was a little brighter in those parts.

Doesn't matter. He reminded himself. I wont be here for much longer.

Zipping up his vest as high as it would go to hide what he could of the bandages, he took stock of his current possessions. His boots had somehow survived unscathed. But his pants and vest looked like they had gone through some heavy repairs. Nothing too noticeable, thankfully. Unfortunately, that was all that seemed to have survived. He couldn't find his shoulder guard and assumed it had been too damaged. Probably his sheath had met the same fate. Not like he'd need it, or his gloves, anyway, his swords weren't here, if the Nurse could be believed.

Hopefully he'd be packed and gone before the Nurse got back from wherever she'd run off to. Probably to get the Doctor, if he'd heard her cries right.

What was her name again?

Stuffing the last of the bandages into the sac he'd found in the Clinic's supply closet, he gave the little room one last sweep to make sure he wasn't forgetting anything.

The door to the Clinic opened, and the sounds of two people swiftly making their way to his room reached him.

Damn, I was too slow.

She must've found that Doctor. There was no way out of the room he was in besides the lone door (the window would be too difficult to maneuver through with his injuries), and therefore, no way to avoid the confrontation that was approaching him with quickening footsteps.

Dropping the sac on the foot of the bed, he turned to face the door. Leaning back slightly and crossing his arms with a little difficulty, he steeled himself and waited.

The Doctor and Nurse burst into the room in a flurry of self-righteous urgency. But both stopped dead in their tracks and stared at what greeted them. Fear crept its way into their faces at the sight of a man who could almost be mistaken for a SOLDIER, First Class. They stayed like that, the silence awkwardly long, trying to get their frazzled emotions under control.

What's their problem? He frowned at them.

The spell was finally broken, when Cloud winced slightly and shifted his weight. Bringing his arms, heavily wrapped in white bandages, to attention.

"You- you should still be in bed young man." The Doctor began, voice gaining strength as he continued, "You're in no condition to be moving around, let alone standing up." The Doctor took a few tentative steps towards him. "We haven't begun treating your mako poisoning yet. If you strain your body like this your condition will only get worse. So please, lie back down and-"

Irritated at the Shin-Ra Doctor's concerned tone, Cloud cut it, "I already explained it to her," nodding his head at the Nurse still standing in the doorway, "I'm leaving."

His tone of voice made the man pause, but he forged on, "But you just woke up. I can't let you go without assessing your physical and mental state-"

"I'm fine." There was no way he was going to lie down and let them examine him. He'd had enough of Shin-Ra poking and prodding where it wasn't wanted. The nightmares Hojo's lab was not something a person could just shrug off. Push to the back of their mind until it was suppressed to the point of forgetting it as well as many other memories, maybe.

It was bad enough he'd been under their care for the last 9 days. He wanted out and he wanted out now.

The Doctor was speaking again, in the kind of calm tone you would use to pacify a dangerous animal. Cloud found it very irritating. "I know you're confused, it's completely normal. The mako poisoning is affecting your mem-"

"Where am I?" He interrupted. He didn't have time to listen to what a Shin-Ra doctor thought was wrong with him.

"Uh, Mideel." The man said, a little thrown off by Cloud's attitude. "A small island off the coast-"

"I know where it is." Cloud stopped the explanation, frowning to himself. So he'd been right. But…what could it mean? Where had Aerith taken him? This Mideel either looked like what it had before WEAPON or… but that was impossible.

The future? …No… it's been a while since I was last here. It's nothing more than that. Right?

"Why are you being so rude?" The Nurse spoke up, finally regaining her courage, and jolting him out of his thoughts.

Betty, that's her name.

Cloud shifted uncomfortably under her scrutiny. He'd been much more polite to Betty earlier. But he couldn't help that any connection with Shin-Ra put him on edge. No matter how nice the Mideel Nurse was.

He needed the space to think things through, plan a course of action. He could worry about where (or when) Aerith had taken him when he wasn't in a Shin-Ra facility. With a Shin-Ra doctor breathing down his neck. And as soon as the painkillers he'd filched from the supply closet took effect, the splitting headache would be gone and his mind clear. He didn't need to explain himself to them.

But maybe he was being too hard on them. Despite the Shin-Ra insignia on the Doctor's coat, they weren't acting at all like normal Shin-Ra employees. And they didn't remind him of 'that time' either. They'd taken care of him for the last week and so far had asked nothing in return. Maybe he did owe them some explanation at least. And the betrayed look Betty was giving him was still making him uncomfortable.

"We're worried about you. When Yuu brought you in we were frantic and you-"

"There's…" Cloud softly started, "A friend I need to find. She's in trouble. And I can't waste any more time here." Uncrossing his arms and taking his weight off the bed, he grabbed the bag and wrapped the strap around his left hand. Letting it hang by his side. Not trusting his shoulders to take the pressure.

"Slow down." The Doctor brought his hands up in a placating gesture, "You need to slow down and think this through. Your injuries aren't healing like they should be. Your mind and body are in shock. If you'd just lie down-"

Cloud's frown turned a little menacing.

"Ok…" He back-tracked, "Maybe later then." The Doctor opened his mouth, fidgeting with his lab coat, and closed it. Cloud watched dispassionately as the man struggled with himself. Finally, straightening his coat he asked, "Answer this, at least. Are you sure she's…real?

"What." Cloud said, his voice gaining a sharpness that shocked the Nurse but that the Doctor seemed to be expecting.

"She could just be a spirit from the lifestream." He explained, "A phantom, who you think you need to find because a piece of spirit you absorbed was looking for her when it died." Sympathetically the Doctor continued, "Strong desires like that tend to remain, even after the consciousness has passed on." When Cloud gave no immediate response, his tone turned pleading, "I know it sounds crazy, and it goes against everything you were taught in school, everything Shin-Ra teaches, but you must believe me. I've seen it happen to too many people."

Cloud clenched his jaw. The Doctor had it all wrong. He knew painfully well what a strong desire and strong willpower could do in the lifestream. He had the injuries to prove it, had unknowingly suffered for over a year because of it, and that was only his more recent encounters with 'Him.'

…Sephiroth. A name that always brought him pain. Inescapable. Unforgettable. At least he's finally gone. His spirit cleansed of Jenova.

I will... never be a memory.

…I hope.

But anyway, this was different. He'd know if this was a foreign desire. It wasn't. It was his own desire to find her. Protect her.

"If you give it time, the desire will pass as your body stabilizes. You need res-"

"I said no." He shifted his weight to his other foot. Uncomfortable with trying to explain," I know she's out there-"

"I know it must feel that way now but-" Cloud tensed in anger at the interruption. His hands fisted at his sides as he held himself back from doing or saying something rash to the irritating man. He took a few steps towards the door, and the Doctor quickly realized his mistake.

"Please, be reasonable." He begged as Cloud brushed by him.

"If she's real," The Nurse cautiously said, refusing to move from her place in the doorway. Blocking his exit. "Do you know where she is?"

Cloud thought about it, turning his head to look off into the distance. This feeling…I can't explain it…

"The Main continent?"

Cloud shrugged slightly; unknowingly he'd been looking north, then nodded. It felt right. Somehow, something was telling him to head in that direction.

From behind him, the Doctor sighed. "Are you sure about this? I've never seen a case of mako poisoning like yours, a normal person would still be at death's door and-"

"I'm sure." Cloud stopped him, still irritated at the Shin-Ra's concern. He was fine. He knew to any untrained eye he would look fine. Only a slight crease of his eyebrows betrayed his headache, his sore muscles, and his throbbing shoulders. But he didn't know how much longer he could stand here pretending none of his injuries bothered him.

"Could you at least," Betty tried, her head down as she fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. "At least let us help you find a ride over?" The Doctor sighed again, coming to stand beside him as hands, damaged from years of working with chemicals, rubbed a worn face in frustration.

Cloud was indecisive about letting them help him any more. He was in debt to them enough as it was. But…as wary as he was of Shin-Ra Doctors (his eyes always falling to rest on the red-diamond crest of the lab coat) he didn't feel comfortable leaving them on a negative note. Despite how much he might try to convince himself otherwise.

And it looked like they were resigned to him leaving. So there should be no harm in getting a little help from them, "I was going to rent" More like Steal. "A local Chocobo."

"You can't ride a Chocobo in your condition!" The Nurse's eyes flew up to meet his, horrified. "The journey alone will kill you if some monster doesn't get to you first. It's suicide!"

The shot at his weakened state changed his mind. He couldn't accept help from them; they'd only try to slow him down. Mistakenly believing to be helping him. His eyes reminded him again of the Shin-Ra logo. They might even try to drug him. "Look, thanks for helping me. I'll return the favor someday. But I'll be fine on my own. Don't worry about me." The shocked young woman stepped out of his way as he walked through the door and headed down the hall. The Nurse and Doctor followed, both apparently at a loss for words.

"If…" From behind him, the older man hesitantly began, "If you hurry… you could convince one of the fishermen…"

Cloud turned his head slightly to look over his shoulder and offered a, "Thanks" to the Doctor. It was a better option than his Chocobo idea, and a little of the tension left his shoulders as he walked down the halls.

He could feel critical eyes on his back, looking for any weakness in his controlled walk. It lacked his usual grace, but they would find nothing wrong. He wasn't going to give them any excuse to argue for him to stay. So he kept his head high, his bag thumping softly against his knee.

They both followed him to the front door, telling him to come back if he ran into any problems.

Thanks but no thanks. He thought, not bothering to turn and respond. And too focused on keeping his strides even. Not once did he look back, even at the whispered "Be careful" from Betty.

-----

"Is he really going to be alright?" Nurse Betty said. She'd clearly been expecting Doctor Lee to be able to prevent their patient form leaving.

"Hmm…" He shook his head. "I don't know… I've never seen a recovery so fast. With his mako poisoning, he shouldn't even be able to stand, and look at him. You'd never be able to tell just how close to death he's been for the last week. He's driven to find someone very important to him. For his sake…I hope she exists."

Betty didn't look convinced.

"Sometimes…you just have to learn to let the patient go. We can only help them up to a point and then… the rest is up to them." Doctor Lee said, turning and going back inside the Clinic.

She just sighed in response, watching the man she'd spent so much effort on to heal, stride away from the Clinic. He walked with a calm assurance. Despite how much pain she knew he was in. If it had been any of the villagers in his condition, she doubted they'd even be able to stand up.

He was confident in himself and his abilities. And was full of determination. She'd never seen anyone quite like him. So now, watching him, she couldn't help but think that maybe he really would be alright. His strength was uplifting. It was nice to know good people like that still existed in the current world. Even if he had been rude. She would never forget him.

Startled, she realized that in all the confusion…

She forgot to ask his name.

-----

One foot in front of the other. That's what he had to concentrate on. One foot in front of the other. Back straight, head high and confident. One foot in front of the other. Rest when you find a boat.

He'd only made it halfway to the Docks, and already he was starting to tire. He had to keep up the illusion though, so he grit his teeth and forced himself to observe what he could of the sleepy town.

A few of the locals were awake. And he was glad it was only a few. Too many for comfort were giving him awfully strange looks. It didn't help that his clothes made him stick out like a sore thumb. Everyone was dressed in such bright colors, the styles reminiscent of Wutai. It was nothing like the drab grays and browns most people in Edge wore. Most people couldn't afford the high prices of the dyed fabrics, with all the factories that had shut down.

They walked with an air of unhurried purpose that had unsettled him at first. It felt like there was something wrong. Something…missing.

It hit him like a two ton Dual Horn. Despair. The town was missing the all too familiar air of despair that had clogged the streets of Edge.

It was good to know Mideel had been spared.

But then, he knew for sure was he wasn't in the Mideel he remembered… were there more cities like this? Where had Aerith taken him? Could this really be the future? Was everyone still alive? Was he…alone?

He didn't know how she did it, but he vaguely remembered a soft green light pulling at him. But…when he tried to think any more on it, or if he focused too strongly on the memory, all he remembered was the dizzy feeling of spinning out of control that he'd woken up to. And then he would feel lightheaded and fear he was going to throw up.

So he remained focused on the town. And putting one foot in front of the other. Pushing his questions and doubts to the back of his mind. He'd figure it out later.

The town was pretty remarkable. Providing an easy distraction. Footbridges high above his head connected the two and three story high buildings. Others, on a higher elevation, were connected to the ones lower and closer to the wharf. The interlocking bridges were unlike anything he'd seen in his travels.

It was while walking under one such footbridge, that he heard an excited scream come from overhead.

"Score!"

Glancing up, he had enough time to register the sword aimed for his face before he jerked back, tripping over his own feet in his haste and landing painfully flat on his back.

"Ugh." He grunted.

He ground his teeth against the pain, black spots dancing in his vision. Blinking rapidly, he stared up at the underside of the bridge. Slowly he pulled himself up into a sitting position, his muscles shaking with the effort. He blanched when saw the sword imbedded in the ground between his legs, missing hitting him 'there' by less than a foot.

He felt sick. Too close.

But then he did a double take when the sword's appearance finally registered. His mouth dropping in shock.

Impossible.

But there was no mistake. It was the Hollow blade from First Tsurugi! Staring him in the face and imbedded right between his thighs. Reaching up with the hand holding his bag, he grabbed the split red hilt. With only a little effort he managed to pull himself up until he was kneeling, then standing, the adrenalin rush at his near miss giving him strength. He pulled it effortlessly from the ground, his protesting arm ignored in his excitement at the familiar weight in his left hand.

"Hey!" a voice called down to him and he looked up at the repositioning his glasses on his face. "You're that guy I rescued, aren't cha! You can have this back too!" She yelled down to him, dropping another sword, which he dodged (without falling embarrassingly on his back), to imbed itself in the ground. A sword almost as tall as him. And he stared in shock again. Raising a tentative hand he touched the red hilt, not believing it was real.

The Main blade, in the open position, gleamed at him in the soft morning light. A weight, or anxiety, that had been eating at him all morning, dissipated as he turned his right hand and firmly gripped the hilt.

He'd been worried about what he was going to do against the monsters he was sure to encounter. And not just any sword would do. But if these swords were here, could the others be too? The thought eased his mind.

"Don't need it anymore anyway. Thanks for the materia sucker!" His head shot up to see her waving a pale colored materia at him.

That's not possible! His mind screamed at him.

She took off down the footbridge. Cloud pulled the Main blade free as he jumped up to the two story high walkway. He ignored the gasps of the people below him, the adrenalin narrowing his focus to the young girl running away.

He landed on the railing, a sword in each hand and his bag dangling from his wrist. Two people screamed when he appeared. But he only spared them a glance as they turned and ran away.

"Stop!" He yelled at the young girl. She turned and took one wide-eyed look at him before jumping off the bridge, falling two stories to land on the roof of a house below.

Cloud stepped off the railing and ran along the bridge. She turned and taunted, "You couldn't catch me in a million years old man!" Before taking off along the rooftops zigzagging and making impossible leaps in her efforts to lose him.

His injuries momentarily forgotten, Cloud was hot on her heels. Landing mere seconds behind her before taking off again. The tapping of their feet on the tiles echoing into the dusty streets below.

But he couldn't close the gap. Her head start gave her the advantage.

What's wrong with me? I'm faster than this!

The girl was getting desperate, her jumps becoming more and more risky as they started to run out of space and she realized she couldn't lose him that easily.

Before he knew it he was making his last leap, landing hard on the ground. Panting, he paused and coughed from the dust flying up from the impact.

The girl landed more gracefully. She tucked into a roll, turning to face him as she landed, the slight dust she kicked up quickly settling around her.

The chase couldn't have lasted for more than few minutes, but he was already reaching his limit.

Dammit! This is no good.

The girl finally had a chance to take a good look at him and the fear in her eyes disappeared. Replaced by a cocky grin. She put one hand on her hip, the other waving the materia at him. "Heh! Not bad. But it'll still take ya a million years to catch me!"

No…No way. The dust cleared. And Cloud was finally able to get a good look at her, now that he wasn't chasing her. He froze.

"But what can you expect with skills like mine!"

The bravado, the clothes, the voice, the stance! They all pointed to one person. But he couldn't bring himself to believe it. His eyes had to be playing tricks on him. This couldn't possibly be who he thought. She had to be a relative! The Doctor had called her Fey for Holy's sake…unless he meant…

"Hey! You know how to use that?" She said, gesturing to the two swords he'd connected into one during their chase. His left hand was clutching his bag in a death grip. "Ya wanna go? C'mon!" She made some punching motions with her fists. A move so familiar it made him sick. "I haven't had a good fight in a while! C'mon…what's the matter?" she smirked, leveling a fist at him, "Ya Scared?"

Fey…Yuu Fey…

"…Yuffie?"

"Well ya should…be…" She trailed off, staring at him in horror. "How did you-? CRAP!" She turned and took off into the forest, disappearing into the trees in the time it took him to shout a startled, "Wait!"

He took off after, questions clamoring in his head. The most prominent one being, What the hell is going on?

---------

"I'm sure of it," a man said, watching Cloud disappear into the forest from his hotel window.

He snorted at something the person on the other line said, "Who could miss the bastard, with hair like that." A pause before he exploded, "Of course he didn't see me! I didn't go near the Clinic. What do you think I am? Suicidal?"

He was silent for a minute more before replying in a calmer tone, "North. Chasing after some chick. Want me to fol-?" he cut off, interrupted.

Another pause, and then he dryly said, "His status? He was hopping from roof to roof like a damned Jumping."

"…"

"And if they don't talk?" He questioned, anticipation colouring his voice.

"Understood." He smirked to himself as he hung up, and couldn't help but think that his shitty day had just gotten better.

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A/N: So very sorry this took so long :( Real life caught up to me, as well as my uncertainty about this story. I've been rethinking how I want this story to go and I have an idea for the ending…it's everything else that's the problem :P Does the Doctor-Nurse-Cloud conversation sound too forced? I finally gave up trying to fix it :P Are you intrigued? Confused? Was I clear enough? Please let me know what you think:)

Also, would anyone be interested in being a Beta? Even if it's just to say: "Shut up already and post it!" ;) Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks to everyone (I can't believe I'm on people's C2s!), especially Yanslana, Midnightdark, MysticMaiden 18 for reviewing and reminding me how long I'd been keeping people waiting. And don't worry, the next chapter won't take nearly as long. I'm very determined to finish this…even if it kills me!