A/N: This is only here so soon because SOMEONE on dA really wanted it. So. Yeah.


Cloud leaned against the wall just inside the door, breathing heavily and keeping his eyes down. Denzel was standing not far from him, the boys' blue eyes glaring accusingly as neither of them spoke. They could hear faint voices from another room which told of Marlene informing Tifa that they had a visitor, and Cloud tried not to think about what his Clone had been doing while he was gone.

It wouldn't do any good to get angry again right after he had made up his mind to try and help the situation as best as he could.

A door opened and Cloud lifted his eyes to see Tifa walking in, Marlene trailing behind her fearfully. Cloud hated seeing them like this - terrified of him.

"Cloud?" Tifa murmured softly, her eyes tracing his face and taking in the scratches which were obviously from the trees in the forest.

"I need to- I need to talk to him," Cloud said, not looking at the kids but keeping his eyes fixed to Tifa's. He needed her to understand that he was trying to make everything right again.

"Cloud," Tifa stepped closer to him, reaching a hand out to gently touch his arm. "I'm- I'm so sorry I didn't realise. He just..."

"It doesn't matter," Cloud said, shaking his head and stepping away from her. All he wanted was to hold her tightly and reassure her that he was the real one, but he knew he had a job to do first. It was important. "I want to help him."

"So do I!" Tifa agreed hurriedly. "I mean, it's not his fault that you were cloned, is it? And-"

"Cloud was cloned?" Marlene gasped.

Looking back at the young girl, Tifa nodded solemnly. "Yes, he was."

"So how do we know which is the real one?" Marlene asked, eyes wide as she stared at Cloud before glancing back at the door she and Tifa had walked through, obviously wondering about the Cloud who was still in his room.

"The one in Cloud's room at the moment is the Clone," Tifa said. "I know because he told me."

"But..." Marlene frowned, looking up at Cloud again. "So we've had the clone here for days without knowing?"

"Yes, but listen," Cloud moved over to Marlene and bent down so he was on her level. "I'm going to go and talk to him right now and find out exactly what he wants so that everything can be sorted out. You don't have anything to worry about. I'm going to protect you."

"How will we tell you apart though?" Marlene asked, her bottom lip quivering slightly.

Glancing up at Tifa, Cloud wondered the exact same thing. The Clone had already shown himself to be exceptionally good at impersonating him, so after Cloud went in to talk to him, how would the others be able to tell them apart?

"I'm not sure," Cloud admitted.

"Wait," Tifa suddenly said, eyes wide. "You arm, Cloud, show me your arm."

Straightening up, Cloud hesitated. Why did Tifa want to see his arm? She didn't know... did she? But how could she? He had never told anyone.

"Cloud," Tifa said, now more firmly than before. "Your Clone doesn't have geostigma. That's how we'll be able to tell you apart."

Remaining silent for a moment, Cloud stared into Tifa's eyes. There was pain in them and he knew it was because she felt hurt that he had never told her that he had also gotten the stigma. But at the same time, there was urgency. They both knew they would talk about it later, but for now there was a job to be done.

"You've got it too?" Denzel spoke up, bringing Cloud's attention to him. The boy looked horrified. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I-" Cloud swallowed. "I didn't want to upset anyone. I didn't want you thinking... that I wasn't strong enough to help you."

"You always were afraid of admitting the truth, weren't you?"

Snapping his head up, Cloud locked his gaze onto the Clone and narrowed his eyes.