Disclaimer:

We all know I don't own anything from FF7 or square-enix/soft. No characters. No locations. No vehicles. No Chocobo. All I own is myself, and I'm not even sure about that one.

Oh well, at least this story's mine. See, I can see the silver lining to every Cloud... :-p

Sorry, couldn't help that one :-p

Don't upset the Lifestream... I want to share the fun too! Wait for meeeeeeeeeee!

Part 1: The quiet place

Mako rose from the clear pool of water, encircling the children standing in it. The pale green particles, glowing with a cerulean tint, brushed against their skins, playing with their hair and guiding their hands in front of them. Filaments of the spirit energy formed then followed the children's arms to the tips of their fingers, where they pooled; slowly, a shape began to appear amidst the Mako brightness.

It was that of a man, reclining in repose over the water, like an angel brought from heaven to the real world by the innocent hearts of those children, an answer to their plea. The figure glowed brightly for a moment, blinding those gathered at the edges of the pool, and suddenly, the insubstantial form became reality.

"…Cloud…"

He opened his eyes to a familiar sight: for a moment, he could not quite place it, nor recall where he was. No matter. He felt so good right now, so at peace… weightless. Everything was a hazy, comfortable blank in his mind, as in one of those dreams filled with the warmth and contentment of sun-filled days from which no one wants to wake up, ever. For a moment, he let himself be cradled by the fading sounds of dear, familiar voices, whispering to him as he floated upon warm waters. Here, he was free… but free from what?

That was when he began to feel; he first felt the cool water lapping at this skin. Then, he felt the hands on him, slim and light, fragile and somewhat protective too. Where was he? He was… floating? He looked up, rising from his reclining state into a standing one. He saw the ring of children as his feet hit something solid: the floor.

As he looked around, he knew why it had all seemed so familiar to him; he had spend many nights here, looking at the stars through the ruined ceiling, thinking of the past and of his failures.

He was in her church.

A girl from the group of children that encircled him spoke up solemnly.

"She said to wait here and Cloud will come back."

'What?' He suddenly remembered the explosion. The feeling of weightlessness as he had seemed to hover in an immensity of light. Peace.

'She…? Is that why I fell here, again? Because she guided me?' And then something else hit him; how could those children have known it?

But he didn't have time do follow this question through.

"Welcome back," said Tifa.

She was so happy… Cloud was here, he was all right. Watching him reappear was something that she would never forget. Joy had flooded her heart, yet she had not been able express it; she had wanted to jump in the water, run to him but something had held her back. Always, there was something to hold her back. Maybe if she tried hard enough, it would go away… yes, it would. She was sure of it.

Cloud turned around and he saw them. His friends. All of them were here, from Tifa to the taciturn gunman. Most of them were smiling at him. A welcoming committee? An emotion he had not felt in a long time touched his heart and settled in it, warming him. Joy, and something else that he couldn't quite define.

"I'm back."

His voice was as solemn as Vincent's. That didn't matter to Tifa. That was the way Cloud had been as a child, always so solemn, so serious. Instead of alarming her, it made her feel safe; the man before her was the Cloud of Strife of Nibelheim, the boy whom she knew to have come to her rescue time and again, first in the mountains when they had been kids, then later on in the reactor and so many times afterwards during the war. All she could do was smile, and look at him, surrounded by children.

"There are still children with the stigma."

Nanaki's voice broke the spell that seemed to have bound Cloud and Tifa. The latter suddenly remembered that she was not the only one to have waited for Cloud; Denzel, who was almost hidden behind her, still feeling so uncomfortable in the midst of so many strange grown-ups. She hoped that he come out of it after some time spent with all of them. She moved aside and bent down; gently wrapping her arm around his frail shoulders, she watched as Cloud nodded.

"Yeah." A soft smile appeared on his lips. This was something he could do. The water… it was the Great Gospel. It was her gift. It was like her, for it not only healed physical wounds and illnesses, it healed the wounds inside too. As it had healed him, it would heal this child and all of those who still waited to be freed from the malicious illness born from JENOVA. He slowly came forward, towards his family.

"Hey. Let's get you fixed up." Tifa squeezed Denzel's shoulders as the latter nodded shyly. Her heart melted. He reminded her of Cloud as a child, in so many ways it hurt. Silently, she sent a prayer to Heaven.

'Goddess help me. I want his life and Marlene's to be good lives. Happy lives, even though they are bereft of their real parents. Help me protect them from all the fear and suffering this world has to offer. Help me protect my family… help me and Cloud both.'

Cloud was now right in front of them. Tifa didn't know what he was thinking… but she could see that he was himself again. More confident, more optimistic. Stronger.

"Come on. I'm here." The blond swordsman stretched out his hand to Denzel and patiently waited for the latter to come to him.

"It's ok." Tifa encouraged Denzel who looked even shier as he nodded, his brown locks almost hiding his eyes from view. Then, he stepped in Cloud's waiting arms. The young man effortlessly lifted up the small body and slowly let him down in the centre of the pool. The boy shivered as his skin came in contact with the cool water but he didn't say anything; instead, he was thinking…. Could this water really heal him? He had had one bad experience with water already… but this was Cloud; he could trust him. So he stayed quiet and watched the man he had waited for so long to come home silently and deliberately cup the water in his hands, and pour it over his head.

For a moment, nothing happened; all he could feel was the wetness of his hair and the coldness of the droplets of water as they dribbled onto his skin. And then, something amazing happened… his forehead was tingling… and suddenly, the weight that had been pressing him down for so many weeks was gone; his heart no longer hurt, his pain… it was gone!

His fingers found none of the roughness of the Geostigma on his skin; it just encountered normal skin, albeit still a bit sensitive. And his reflection in the water… the scar was no longer here! That ugly, purplish bruise which had been a sign of sure death… It was really gone! He looked up and turned to the ones who had held him during his illness, told him not to give up, told him that one day, he would be OK. He looked towards Tifa and Marlene and laughed out, joy and amazement in that short vocal expression.

He was cured! His laugh was like signal that everyone was waiting for; cheers erupted from the assembly and many dropped into the water, eager to be cured too. Eager to live. The previously indolent crowd was almost in a state of euphoria now. Children played in the water, laughing and calling to each other as the adults cheered them on, smiling and crying at the same time.

And in the midst of all that, his gaze came back to her. Their protégé, their child, was no longer in danger. She smiled at him, that sweet smile that had won so many hearts in Nibelheim, including his, so many years back. The smile that always spelled hope and promised brighter days. His deepened… and her smile changed. Tifa just felt the locks and binds that had stopped her before, she felt them slip away.

"… Don't try. Just do…"

'Thank you, Rude.'

She had been the one to hold herself back. Always, it had been her fears, her uncertainty. She had fought with imaginary shackles in which she had imprisoned her heart all that time, a safety net that had in fact stifled her and frozen her in place when it came to express her innermost, most private feelings. Now that she knew, there was nothing to hold her back. As the last of her chains fell away, everything seemed to come to a standstill. Her eyes grew soft and her features quiet as she opened her heart to him, finally. But words would be useless here; instead, she put all of her feelings for him in her eyes, the windows of her soul, and in her smile, the voice of her true heart. 'I love you.'

For a moment in eternity, they held each other's smile, hers as gentle as the first snowflakes of winter, as warm as the first rays of spring, his open and happy, true… he suddenly broke away, shyness overcoming him. He felt a bit stupid; this was the kind of smile that would have meant the world to him ten years back… and still did now. But this was too new for him. So many emotions, so many good ones, he didn't know how to handle it all; he didn't think he had ever felt this happy ever before. So, he looked away, but his heart was singing…

A smile lingered on his lips as he watched the children jumping, playing, and splashing about around him. He had once thought long ago children to be a bloody nuisance, stupid, even when he had been one himself; he had not realized until this very moment that it was their refreshing innocence, their love of life, that he had envied. Their freedom, their spirit. His childhood had been miserable, as he had walled himself off from the others, mired in his feelings of inferiority.

Maybe he could help these children get through the rough spots of their lives; yeah, that would be something that he would like to do. He now understood Tifa's actions as she helped all the orphans that she could. She was younger than he was, but was wiser, kinder. One day, he would make it up to her, for being there for him and for pounding his head in place when it needed to, but most of all for putting up with him.

Tentatively, he touched the small hands stretched out towards the sky. One day…

He turned around, drinking in the sights, the sounds, and the joy around him. And that was when he saw them.

For a moment, he thought there was something wrong with his eyes. She was talking to two crouching kids, behind AVALANCHE. And further down, near the door, was the indistinct figure of a man in a navy SOLDIER uniform. Could it be…? But most of his attention was on the woman in pink, as she straightened up and walked away, seemingly ignorant of his incredulous eyes on her, watching.

For all he could do was watch. It hurt to see her… but she was gone. He had wished time and again, two years ago, that there were some way to bring her back. But the weapon used against her had been JENOVA cells, in the form of the legendary Masamune. It had infected her system, killing her instantly, her half-Cetra ancestry lending her a susceptibility to those alien cells that most purebloods, either human or Cetra, did not have. There was no way to raise the dead, to bring them back to the world of the living. And even if it were possible, what would be the penalty to be paid for such an act against nature?

And so, he watched her go, remaining as still as a statue in the middle of playing children, lost to the world around him but for the girl whom he had loved and who had loved him in return despite his failings. Later on, when the others would ask him the reason why he had become so still, he would only smile and shake his head. Only to Tifa would he tell the truth, because he knew that she was the only one who would fully understand him.

The fading figure stopped some feet from the door and slowly turned around. Cloud felt his heartbeat speed up and then still as he saw her for what could be the very last time. She was just as he remembered her: the brilliant green eyes, soft brown curls, perfect pale skin, gentle pink lips stretched in an easy smile. Her voice came to him as clear as if she was standing right next to him

"You see… everything's all right." And with a last smile, the young woman who would forever be twenty-two turned away and left, disappearing in the brilliant light of the sun. The other figure smiled his signature lop-sided smile, lifting his gloved hand in a casual farewell before following her outside.

"…Everything's all right…"

Somehow, she had always known what to say to him. Now, he knew that she was all right, and happy. Even if her death had been painful to all of them, her dearest wish had been to protect the Planet, and her death had actually allowed her to fulfill that wish. For he knew, without a doubt, that she was the one to have awakened the Planet, urged it to take matters in its own hands and save them all in an unprecedented outwards flow of the subterranean Lifestream to destroy Meteor.

Tifa, Marlene, Denzel, Barrett, Nanaki, Reeve, Cid, Yuffie and Vincent – they were a team and would always be there to help each other out. All that one needed to do was accept the help that is offered by a friendly hand. Yeah, everything was all right.

And that peace that he could only find in dreams… he felt it in his heart then. He watched until both figures had disappeared in the bright light… he silently said goodbye to Zack, and to Aerith.

"I know. I'm not alone."

A new smile appeared on his lips, stronger, for it didn't have its source in anything else but in the people around him, his friends in life and in death, those who cared for him and who meant a lot a him. He would live in the present, for them and not for memories that should be left to rest after having given so much. No, he was not alone.

"Not anymore."

Author's notes:

Next chapter will be the epilogue! I hope i can release it before Xmas... I am currently studying for my finals, so wish me luck!

I hope you liked this chapter. I tried to put everything that I feel everytime I watch this scene in the movie. And I love the music too... /hums/ I don't know about you, but I feel a bit nostalgic and i get teary-eyed when I think that this arc is almost over. A bit like a mom who's watching her baby leave home for university or to get married. All grown up already... when did that happen? When i read all of the chapters... :-p stop snickering and just give me the tissues, will ya?

The title of this chapter is also that of a song by In Flames. If you're not in rock and even less in metal, forget it. If the contrary is true, then you SHOULD listen to it, it's awesome! It has absolutely nothing to do with this scene in particular, but i liked the feel of the title...

Oh, and i should be posting some Xmas surprises on myotaku! I'll tell you when, ok? ;-)

Celeste