Chapter 2
On the trip back into Edge Cloud had had a lot to think about, and he began to wonder what else he might have been wrong about in his assumptions. His arm throbbed like nobody's business, but considering the deep bruising from the falling debris he really wasn't all that surprised. He had, to the shock of his AVALANCHE companions, insisted on riding back in the chopper with the Turk instead of taking the Shera back. That was more so he could think without the rest of them hounding him more than any other consideration, though, especially as Rude seemed to know when to hang back and not bother a person, probably something gleaned from the years of dealing with his partner, who though boisterous, seemed to have those moments when he desired privacy just as much as Cloud himself did.
Ocean became mountains, mountains became forests, forests became plains, and then plains became city as the craft skimmed over the land. It had given him a chance to think, to run the entire experience through his mind and figure it out to some extent. He watched Elena holding the slender Turk's hand as they approached the medical center, and suddenly noted the camaraderie between them, It was like a family, in a way, and he wondered how he'd never noted it before. "It's more than just working together then?" The blond warrior asked the question in genuine curiosity.
Elena just chuckled warmly. She had always been the one that got on easily with most anyone she met, which was both a good thing and a bad thing. A good thing because when they needed someone to negotiate with someone who did not trust them she could usually succeed where few others did. A bad thing because she had a tendency to talk FAR too much. "Sort of. It wasn't always this way, but after Meteor. . .well, most of us either didn't have family left in the first place, or didn't have any left after Meteor, so we became our own family in and of ourselves. Tseng and Shachou are like our father figures, Rude's the big brother, I'm the baby sister, and Reno. . .well he's the annoying middle child that's always making noise to get people to see him. It's an odd family dynamic but it seems to work."
That actually brought a bit of a smile to the normally stoic former SOLDIER's face. It was a dynamic he himself understood well, as he and Zack and Sephiroth before the general had gone mad had shared one much like it. Zack had filled Reno's role in their little family, while he had been the baby brother, and Sephiroth had been the older brother. Angeal had been the father figure for the group. And again the realization that the two of them were not so different struck him. It was something he had not at all expected to discover.
The touch of skids on helipad was not as gentle as it would have been with Reno piloting, but neither was it overly rough, indicating that Rude was a fair pilot as well. By the time they landed the slender redhead was either deeply asleep or unconscious, and Cloud could not help but marvel at the trust in his companions that it showed that he allowed that to happen. He himself was not certain he would have allowed himself to fall asleep with a threat to his own well being present, even if he did have allies present. Or perhaps the slim Turk no longer considered HIM a threat? That was another confusing thing to ponder upon now.
He watched the doctors take Reno back to have his leg set, and chose to think more on what he had learned. Cloud now wanted to try to find a way to make up for the things he had done to those who had called him brother, but he was not sure how. He shook his head at the doctor who asked about his arm. "It's only bruised, I'll be fine." he assured the man as Tifa and Yuffie came in. Tifa had seen the way he had watched the lithe redhead as they had taken him away. "Don't even try to tell me you're actually WORRIED about him, Cloud." Her voice held a teasing lilt to it that made him smile slightly.
"Not worried. ..just. .. curious." Yes, curious, that was what he was, more than anything else. "Everything I thought I knew about them is supposition and hearsay, and I'm not certain what to believe anymore." Which "them" he meant was left up to Tifa's imagination, but it applied to both really. "What does a man do when all of his long held beliefs have been turned on their ears?"
"You adjust is what you do, and act on the new information at hand." The dark haired bartender gave Cloud a soft smile when she spoke, and she set a hand on his. "You never were very good at adaptation though, were you?" The voice still held that subtle tease to it, as it always had. "Do you regret what you've done? Or is there something else you've been left to think on that you are not sure how to understand?"
He shook his head once more. "I have to find a way to correct what I've done. Both to the three remnants, and to the Turks whom I fear I have severely misjudged. NEITHER are what I believed, and how to reconcile that, I don't know. With the remnants. . .well I fear it's too late to fix the mess I made with them."
"You know it's funny. I watch you now, and I know that something inside you SCREAMS to be forgiven, and to forgive. Perhaps you should deal with the one you CAN clear matters with first. . .then perhaps go to the church, talk to Aeris, as I know you do at times. Perhaps she can arrange a meeting with the three so you can clear that up, too. Worth a try, right?" Tifa's voice held a serious tone now, but it was hopeful, too.
As Reno was wheeled back up to a room after having the broken leg set and casted, Cloud nodded. "Maybe you're right. It's not right to hate someone simply because they have dirty hands when yours are no cleaner than theirs. As soon as he's no longer groggy from the sedatives I'll make my peace with Reno and the remainder of the Turks, then I'll go speak with Aeris."
Cloud's entry was greeted by a slightly cock-eyed smile. "I know, Strife. Ya feel bad ya misjudged us an' ya wanna apologize. S'okay. I misjudged you, too. Maybe we can be friends eventually, ne? Who knows, we'll see when it comes, right?"