The Three Silver-Haired Men

Eric opened his eyes only to blink in confusion. He was not in the smithy with his father but instead, lying on a bed of snow. He stood up, wondering why he wasn't freezing. His blue orbs looked around, widening as they saw a circle of fire ahead of him.

Inside the circle lay a woman, her pink dress hugging her body as her brunette hair acted as a cushion for her to lay on. Her eyes were closed and she looked as if she were in deep slumber. Eric smiled slightly and walked towards her, ignoring the impossibility of the situation as he walked right through the flames. He knelt next to her, his fingers softly brushing a single curl from her pale face. Slowly, he leaned over and gently pressed his lips to hers, a soft moan escaping him at the touch. It had been weeks since he had last saw her.

Emerald eyes fluttered open, fixing themselves upon his own sapphire orbs. His smile remained as he stroked her face while she sat up. Her own hand travelled to his face, mirroring his touch.

"Are you to come to me at last? Do you finally know who you are?" She asked her voice heavy with longing. Eric sighed softly and lowered his eyes.

"They call me Eric the blacksmith, Eric the dragon slayer and Eric the Hero of Midgar." He replied sadly, a hint of hope hidden behind the words. It was Aerith's turn to smile at him.

"Ah, but these are just titles." She replied wisely. "One honest, one honourable and one honoured. None of these are who you truly are."

"Why does this have to be a dream?" He whispered as he pulled her towards him. She nuzzled herself into his chest and sighed.

"It's the only way I can communicate with you." She replied softly, her eyes closing at the feeling of being close to him. "I will still wait for you." She added. Eric smiled at her and tilted her chin up.

"Hopefully not for much longer." He answered before moving to capture her lips in a passionate kiss.

Eric awoke properly later that morning and dressed. He laughed to himself as he walked past Cid's room only to find a brunette woman sleeping soundly beside him as they lay under the covers.

He set off for the castle, wanting to thank Rufus for offering to look after the materia for him. However when he entered the room, all he was greeted with were the grim faces of Sephiroth and the King. He looked between them in puzzlement, his blue eyes narrowed in curiosity.

"Your Majesty, what's the matter?" He asked. Rufus sighed as he rubbed his forehead. The simple act made Eric even more uneasy as he sat opposite Rufus, awaiting an answer. The King realised this and after a short moment of silence, he locked eyes with the blacksmith.

"Kadaj and his brothers know of your materia." He answered angrily but also with the hint of worry. The blacksmith frowned. He didn't know anything about these men and Rufus could see that from the reaction. He moved his hand from his face and gripped the table instead.

"They go from Kingdom to Kingdom destroying villages and killing innocent people." He explained. "We have had a truce with them for ten years so Midgar has been safe from attacks."

"So what is the trouble?" The dragon slayer questioned.

"Materia." Sephiroth replied coldly. Eric turned to him with a slight glare. The taller man ignored it as he leaned against the stone wall.

"Your materia is what they want. They have declared war on us." Eric's eyes widened as he turned to Rufus for confirmation. A simple nod proved that the words were true. The blacksmith let out an annoyed sigh as he closed his eyes.

"This is my fault." He whispered softly before he looked up with determined eyes. "Let me fight with you." Rufus stared for a moment, checking to see if the blacksmith's eyes could reveal if he meant the words or not. When he was satisfied that Eric truly wanted to fight, he gave a small nod.

The air was cold as the troops gathered on the grass field. Eric stood next to the King as he watched the silver-haired men's army came to a halt and he couldn't help the slight satisfaction that Rufus' army outnumbered theirs. The last few hectic days sure seemed worth it now anyways. Rufus caught the blacksmith's eyes and smiled slightly as if reading his mind. Their eyes turned to the messenger riding towards them, a large black flag carried in his hand.

"My Kings do not want to fight you." He began, looking at Rufus. The king smirked slightly.

"Since we outnumber you I'd believe that." He replied coldly. The man glared at him but continued.

"They will not harm any of these people if you hand over the dragon's materia." Rufus glanced at Eric and then back at the man.

"You're asking the wrong man." He answered. "If you want the materia, take it up with the dragon slayer." The army erupted in cheers at the title but Eric kept his gaze on the man as he turned and ran back to the silver-haired men. He sighed and turned to Rufus.

"Let me fight the kings Your Majesty. I don't want anymore bloodshed on my account." Rufus looked uncertain but saw the determination in the blacksmith's eyes. He nodded slightly and Eric rode forward. He stopped at a distance at which he could still not quite see the Kings' faces.

"I believe that you want something of mine." He called to them. "Well, you are welcome to try to take it…but you have to fight me first." He warned. He heard the men laugh before the one in the middle tilted his head to the side.

"Big words…for a blacksmith." He teased before his voice became serious. "It takes more than materia to make a man worthy to fight a King."

"And it takes more than a crown for a man to be a King!" Eric cried back. The silver-haired men were stunned and glanced at each other.

That seemed to be the final straw as they dismounted their chocobos and took their weapons. Eric also dismounted and drew his sword. As he turned back to the Kings, his eyes widened as they fell on the one in the middle. Eric narrowed his eyes as a feeling of uneasiness traveled down his spine.

Slowly, his eyes traveled to the left and fell on a man with shorter hair. His frown became deeper as the feeling increased. He moved his eyes to the right, falling on the last brother as he took a step back. Now was not the time to have a strange feeling.

The shorter haired one was the first to attack, bringing his sword down towards Eric's head. The blacksmith countered immediately and quickly swung his weapon to block the double attack by the longer haired brothers. He kicked upwards, and headbutted the smaller longer haired man and quickly blocked the series of attacks on Kadaj. Loz quickly joined in and Eric began to struggle with tiredness. Kadaj punched the blacksmith across the face, causing him to fall to the ground and his sword to fly out of his hands.

"Nobody has won against me and my brothers." He sneered. "Me and my brother always work together." The ringleader sneered.

That last sentence was all he needed to awaken his memory as images flooded his mind.

Suddenly, a thud caught his ears and he turned his head and gasped as he saw a ladder leaning against the wall. But that wasn't the only thing terrifying the royal heir. It was the fact that a silver haired man was climbing up it, his smirking green eyes fixed on the boy.

He turned and threw his arms around his father's waist, sobbing uncontrollably

"Jessie, you take Cloud and go." The King commanded.

Jessie! That was his mother.

Jessie took Cloud's hand tightly before she lifted him up, his head resting on her shoulder. For a moment, she hesitated

"Zack…"

Zack: His father.

Another silver-haired man, who had shorter hair than the other, had come up behind Zack, taking advantage of the fact that he was busy with the other.

the second man plunged his sword into Zack and the scream of pain that ripped from his father's mouth ripped his ears.

His head was on his mother's shoulder, facing the opposite direction and in the distance he could see his home, his Nibelheim growing further and further away

Nibelheim! His father's kingdom, his hometown.

another silver-haired man seemed to be the leader of the small group. He looked a lot like the man who had climbed the ladder at the palace except his hair was a little shorter and his face a little paler.

The whistling sound cut through the air as the arrows flew across the bank, aimed at the three people in the river

"You are nothing but a slave of Midgar." Kadaj continued. The dragon slayer glared before he shoved the man away with all his force and grabbed his sword. The sudden movement caused Kadaj to jump slightly and the blacksmith took the chance to attack and throw the silver-haired man's weapon to the ground. Loz moved quickly but not as quick as the blonde, who turned and slashed downwards across his chest. Yazoo tried also but the younger man countered and pushed him to the ground, kicking his weapon away.

"I am Cloud, son of Zack and King of Nibelheim!" He cried as he looked at them all.

"You killed my parents but now you are beaten. Your Kingdoms will be divided between Midgar and Nibelheim. I should kill you all for what you did…but that won't give me any satisfaction."

He turned to walk back to where Rufus' army stood, cheering and crying his name. Kadaj snarled and quickly grabbed his weapon, ready to attack Cloud when he had his back turned.

The blonde turned in a split second and drove his sword through Kadaj's chest before roughly pulling it out. He looked at Yazoo, silently daring him to try too. However, the other looked down in surrender and Cloud turned to walk again. Rufus leaned over to Sephiroth.

"I want him tied to the House of Midgar forever." He said. Sephiroth frowned.

"What do you have in mind?" He asked.

"Tifa will marry Cloud of Nibelheim." He replied with a smile.

A.N: Sorry for the long update guys but I was away on holiday for a week so sorry again. The next chapter however, is half written and should be up tomorrow as well as a couple of my other fics, mainly Madly Truly Deeply, Spellbound and Don't Know What You Got. I'm busy editing all the chapters I had pre-written for my stories so it took longer than I wanted to update. However, Final Destiny and Together We Stand will be updated this week as will Click the Switch and The Darkest Light. Thanks for being patient.