A Heart Renewed
By: CrimsonCrome
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, SquareSoft, or SquareEnix. I do own Patience Lyndenburg, Garrett, and any other OCs/ideas/settings I made up.
A/N: Thank you to all my kind reviewers: treasureplanet-gurl, A-Mystery-Indeed, Silver Phoenix-Dragon, BlindHeart, and Raine Ishida. Also, I am aware that the Kingdom Hearts characters are OUT of character, so please be patient with me. I'm having trouble with Tifa, Riku, and Roxas the most, but I'll do my best to fix it. If it only gets worse, I do apologize.
Chapter Four"So which way should we go?" Tifa asked Cid, who was finding himself a walking stick. They hadn't left the ship yet; they had wanted to gather up as much food as they could find.
"Well, if I remember right, then we should be able to go around those mountains and find the bridge to Vision Shores on the other side. Or maybe it was a bridge to Fate's Cove– anyway, we better start trekking. Anyone else want a walking stick?" Cid was biting his broken toothpick nervously and waited for an answer, no one spoke.
Yuffie was piggybacking a ride from Cloud, because of her broken leg. He was strong enough to support her and was willing to help his friend.
"Well," Leon said, walking over and sheathing his sword he had been practicing with. "Let's go."
They all began to walk to the northeast, along the shore.
XxX
Midday proved to be hot and sticky. The mosquitoes were biting and the sun was beating down on the moving party.
Cloud barely noticed these harsh conditions. He had buried himself in his thoughts.
Why did she have to die? I swear Sephiroth shall pay! She didn't deserve to die, all she wanted to do was help – all she wanted to do was heal them…
"Cloud?" The blond boy became aware of his surroundings again. Leon was staring at him with a weird look. "Did you hear me?"
"What? Uh, no," Cloud shook his head.
Leon sighed. "I asked if you wanted to take a break and let me carry Yuffie?"
"And I said no," Yuffie said angrily. "There's no way I'm getting on your back."
Cloud shifted Yuffie so that she was placed more evenly on his own back. "I can handle it."
Leon smirked at Yuffie. "After a while he'll get tired and I'm the only other one that can carry you."
"Back off," Cloud hissed at the stowaway.
Tifa looked back at them in alarm, but Cid didn't turn around. Cloud knew they had both heard him, but he didn't care. Something about this guy wasn't clicking with him and he didn't like it. He would carry Yuffie all the way back to the Dusk Islands through the ocean before he let Leon get his hands on her.
"Easy," Leon said, throwing up his hands in defense. "I was only joking."
"Yeah – well don't," Cloud said in a low, dangerous voice.
XxX
Night came after several brutal hours of trudging across the sand. Cid stopped the party below a small group of palm trees and began to set up a fire. Tifa laid out all the beddings for everyone and Yuffie, who was sitting on the sand by Cid, began to make supper. Leon and Cloud watched each other from opposite sides of the campfire.
Tifa came and sat beside Cloud. "The stars are beautiful."
Cloud looked up and saw them, really saw them, for the first time in years. Something tugged at his heartstrings for some reason at that moment, and he let out a heavy sigh.
"What?" Tifa asked him, concerned.
Cloud shook his head. "They are beautiful. It's just, the last time I looked at the stars, it was with Aerith."
Tifa turned her face away. Cloud didn't notice and lay down on the sand. He looked up at the black sky and all the lights twinkling in it. A cool breeze swept over him and he shivered. The night was calm, even the insects were off somewhere else. Cloud took in the moment, wishing desperately that Aerith were there.
Then Tifa lay down beside him.
His heart skipped a beat. She didn't touched him, just joined him at looking at the nighttime display of lights. Cloud didn't know what to do, so he just lay still and listened to her breathing. He didn't even see Cid help Yuffie over to the shore. Leon had disappeared earlier, off training with his gunblade.
"Cloud," Tifa whispered.
He almost felt robbed, like Tifa was taking Aerith away from him, by doing what he had done so long ago with Aerith the night before her death.
"What," he whispered, but there was no bitterness in his voice.
"I miss her," Tifa said.
And it was enough. Cloud no longer felt that Aerith needed to be the only one to share this time with him and he accepted Tifa into his memories. He relaxed. The moon was unusually bright, shining down on Tifa's pale face. Cloud smiled. It felt okay. It felt right.
Then the moment was broken as Leon came over and stood over the two. "Hey, is this walk across creation gonna be rated PG13?"
Tifa sat up. "Pervert."
Cloud sat up as Tifa stood and walked toward the sea.
"Aw," Leon said shaking his head in mock sympathy. "I ruined the moment."
Cloud stood and got in his face, then decided it was not worth it and went over to Tifa. She sighed as he came close enough to her.
"I didn't mean anything beyond friendship, Cloud," Tifa said, trying to reassure him.
Cloud put his hands on her shoulders and faced her. "Thank you."
Tifa smiled sadly and nodded.
XxX
The next day they walked and walked. When they finally reached the edge of the dark, looming mountains, Yuffie pointed through a thick grove of palm trees and shouted:
"Look! I see the bridge! And look! There's a town!" Yuffie had been riding on Cloud's back the entire way.
Tifa jumped up and down. "Whoo hoo! Civilization!"
They all walked a little faster, Cid leading the way. Leon was in the back, staring at the back of Yuffie's head, unsatisfied.
Cloud saw the bridge that spanned the vast ocean below, a sickeningly high drop. But the bridge was wide and sturdy, made of iron and steel. When they finally began to cross it, the party's shoes made a clanking sound over the cold metals. Cloud stared straight ahead at the place he had been waiting to see.
The town was lit up against the twilight. The smell of a nearby pizza place made his stomach grumble.
Yuffie tried to retie her ribbon around her head and it snapped in her hands. "Oh man! Stupid head wrap. Now I have to get a new one."
There were people everywhere looking on at the tired and dirty newcomers, a few raised an uncertain hand to opened mouths.
The town itself was sparkling. There were pizza shops, and homes, and street merchants with fruit stands. There was music drifting softly from somewhere in the distance. A mime came up to the tired group and began to walk like them, slumped and frowning.
Leon pulled his blade. "Get lost, loser."
The mime put on a disappointed scowl and put his hands on his hips. They continued onward, leaving the unhappy mime behind to play with a little girl.
Cloud was about to say something about the ridiculous number of pizza places on the island as he walked past one with a "Now Open" sign flashing, when a red headed boy ran out of it, dragging a terrified young woman.
"Out of my way!" He screamed at them, waving a gun.
Leon unsheathed his sword and pointed the gunblade at the boy. The red head stopped.
"Let her go," Leon growled.
Yuffie produced her oversized shuriken and stared at the young woman, who was crying hysterically. "Exactly where are you going with her?"
The red head sniffed and slowly began backing away. "Don't shoot me, or I'll shoot her," he said, whipping the gun to the girl's head. The woman screamed.
Cloud narrowed his eyes and memorized everything about the boy. He noticed a large wad of cash sticking out of the boy's black coat pocket. He had mid length, spiky red hair, green eyes, and tattoos under each of his eyes. His coat was black and he was wearing black boots.
Cid put his hands on his hips. "Hey kid, why don't you just put the gun down and no one will get hurt."
The boy shook his head. "No. The cops are on their way. I'm not stupid. Now just leave me alone and you can all quit trying to play hero."
Cloud gritted his teeth. The boy was backing toward another street. He was going to escape! The woman was crying, begging for them to help her.
"Please, it's not worth it," Tifa pleaded with him.
"Yeah you're right, it's not worth it! I'm not getting stuck in jail!" The boy turned and ran, dragging the woman after him. Leon took off in pursuit. Tifa and Cid followed behind.
"Man. I hate broken legs," Yuffie pouted as she watched them run after the boy.
Cloud looked around desperately for a bench to deposit Yuffie on, but found none. "I need to go after them," he explained to her frantically.
"Oh no, you are not leaving me behind," Yuffie said angrily.
Cloud sighed heavily. But it wasn't long before Leon and the others returned.
"Did you catch him?" Yuffie asked them.
"No," Leon said furiously. "He disappeared! Into a dark kind of – portal! I couldn't believe it!"
Tifa nodded. "Yeah, I've never seen anything like it."
Cid shrugged his shoulders. "He let the woman go though. She ran off screaming like a madwoman down some street. Everybody was looking at her like she was crazy!"
Cloud shook his head. He happened to glance over and saw a brunette come from the pizza place. He looked angry. Cloud wondered if it was because of the red head, which seemed like the most logical answer. He looked away and the group headed down the street toward a motel.
When they got there, Leon opened the door and they walked inside. The desk clerk was a sharp looking young woman with wavy brown hair and smart looking glasses.
"How may I help you?" She asked them as they came to the counter.
Cid leaned on the counter and looked her square in the eye. "Look, we need a place to stay, we just came from the Dusk Islands and we barely escaped. We have no money and we haven't got anyone to turn to. Do you think we could work to spend the night here?"
The woman blinked. "We accept credit cards…"
The door behind the counter swung open and a tall man with gray hair and beady black eyes appeared. "What's going on, Frieda?"
The desk clerk turned to him and pointed at the party. "They want to work to stay the night here. They're refugees from the Dusk Islands."
The man turned his attention to them and stared at Cid with his beady black eyes. "Well, I suppose if they haven't got the money to stay here, then we could put 'em to work."
"Thank you, sir," Cid said.
"Don't thank me just yet," the man said with an unkind grin. "You're cleaning toilets."
XxX
After four hours of doing work for the motel, including cleaning toilets, Cloud collapsed on his bed. Yuffie smiled at him gratefully from the other bed in the room.
"Thank you so much for covering my work," she said sweetly. "You're the best friend a girl could ever have, Cloud. I'll make it up to you."
Cloud shook his head. "Don't mention it. I get the bed to myself."
It was true, the agreement was that the girls, Tifa and Yuffie would share a queen sized bed and Cloud (because he worked Yuffie's share as well) got his own bed. Leon and Cid were to sleep on the floor with the bedding they had brought.
Cloud stretched out on the bed. His mind went, yet again, back to scattered memories of Aerith. His heart longed for her. He wished he were alone and a sense of irritability settled across his body. He listened to his friends; their breathing began to slow as they dropped off into slumber. Cloud wondered if they would notice if he began to cry. He got up and walked over to the window, the moon was shining on the street below. He watched a few people walk by.
Then he jumped as he saw a figure handing a flower to an older woman. He watched intently as the figure walked over and took another flower from out of a basket it was carrying and extended it to a man. The man shook his head and kept walking. Cloud's face was pressed up against the window.
Then it looked up.
She looked up.
Cloud looked deep into those blue eyes and felt his heart skip a beat.
It was Aerith.
He leapt over his sleeping friends and flung open the motel room door. He sprinted down the stairs and ran into the lobby. He didn't pause to look at the confused desk clerk and ran out the front door to the street.
He looked out – and saw no one. He began to search, but not even a single soul came forth to pass him by. Cloud was mystified. He called forth her name, but only the darkness greeted him.
When he turned to go back into the motel, a voice whispered to him, carried on the wind.
"Cloud…"
The blond turned and saw Aerith smiling at him several yards away.
He extended a hand to her, surprised. "Aerith."
She began to turn around and walk down the street.
Cloud ran toward her, not wanting her to leave him again.
The night was dark and the moon no longer shone, blotted out against the blackness of the night sky along with the stars.
"Aerith wait!" Cloud nearly had her in his grasp. He tried to touch her, but his hand went right through her. She vanished. "No!"
"Cloud…" he was startled to see her appear again, this time on the steel and iron bridge toward Foretelling Isle. He was confused, but followed her.
She waited, smiling up at him. This time he did not try to touch her.
"Aerith?" Cloud tried again.
She pointed toward the sky. "She stole it from us, the stars and the moon."
Cloud shook his head. "Tifa? No, no she was just trying to help."
Aerith shook her own head, still smiling. "No Cloud, it's gone, forever."
Growing increasingly perplexed, Cloud spread his hands wide. "I'm sorry, I won't let her take away anything else."
Aerith's face suddenly turned frightened and upset, tears poured from her blue eyes. "She will take you away from me," her voice was raspy, deeper.
Cloud looked on, shocked by what she said. "No, I won't let her."
"She already has!" Aerith screamed. Her face turned dark and she began to grow taller, her hair turned silver and her eyes burned. He took a step back, terrified. She had morphed into Sephiroth! The villain pulled forth his sword and swung it at Cloud's chest. He felt the skin rip from his body as the lethal blade licked hungrily at his blood. He felt himself falling, falling into darkness. He saw Sephiroth still on the bridge. He turned in midair and saw below him the black, looming ocean. Cloud's eyes began to close even before his body finally reached the water, which struck him like solid concrete.
"Cloud!" A hand was on the boy's shoulder. He shook it off, sweat drenching his bare chest and forehead. He turned in the darkness to see Tifa staring at him with a worried face. "What were you doing?"
Cloud noticed where he was. He was outside, on the edge of the bridge to Foretelling Isle. He took a step back and regained his balance. "What happened?"
"You don't remember?" Tifa shook her head. "C'mon, let's go back."
Cloud nodded in agreement. Then he felt the wind and noticed he was only wearing his boxers! He had been sleep walking through the town at night in his boxers!
Tifa looked worriedly at Cloud. "Do you remember anything?"
The blonde's dream came rushing back. His head spun. "Sephiroth."
Tifa looked around quickly. "He's affecting you here? How can that be? Isn't he still on the Dusk Islands? Is he here, Cloud?"
The blond shrugged. "I – I don't know."
Tifa walked closer to the boy, peering at the darkened alleys with dread. "Do you think he'll come after us? Or you?"
Cloud turned to her and stopped. She hesitated; he could tell she was afraid of the darkness. "If he does, his fight is with me. I will protect everyone I can. Don't worry."
Tifa nodded and kept walking toward the motel, he followed close behind.
When they got inside, the desk clerk was staring at Cloud with suspicion. It was not the woman, like it had been in his dream, but it was an older man, with a cigar lit in his mouth.
Cloud walked up the stairs slowly, remembering in his dream how he had, fully clothed, ran down these steps to get to her…
She was gone again. His heart ached. Sephiroth could even rip her away from him in nightmares.
"You're so quiet," Tifa said unhappily.
"I'm tired," Cloud replied, figuring it was the logical answer.
They entered the room and Tifa lay back down beside the clueless Yuffie. Cloud walked over to the window. He looked down upon the black streets and wished he could see her again. He turned away, not noticing a figure pass by.
The night no longer held terror for him.
His light had been stolen. He had to find it again.
The night went on, but Cloud did not sleep.
XxX End Chapter Four XxX