{Chapter 5: Pandora's Box}

Cloud thought he would crash after such a long day, but strangely, it was ceiling appreciation night again.

Convoluted thoughts were flooding his brain, breaking through like waves in the ocean, drowning him. A moment, he was at the church with Aerith, watering the flowers and watching her pink dress billowing in the wind. Next, he was twelve again; curling up in a corner trying to speak but he has forgotten everything, even words, the Don was looking at him with disgust as he cries in the corner.

Another wave crashed and suddenly his mind was taken over by the scene from his recent 'dreaming' again, he was falling through the air, looking at a silhouette falling with him, the sound of a girl calling his name like birds chirping in the skies. He felt like the walls of his room has melted away and he was flying through these dreams.

Flower fields, a magnolia tree and a small voice asking "were they always blue?". He felt helpless like a child again, with monsters hiding in the depths of his mind that he could not run away from. He heard the piano play again, swallowing the thoughts and the walls were back… there was finally peace as he slept.

He slept through most of his Sunday until the ringing of his phone woke him up around late noon.

"Mr. Strife?" The voice greeted and he let out a soft grunt to acknowledge. "This is Doctor Gast's assistant. Don Corneo has just passed out and sent into the ER. We are still doing our diagnosis."

Don Corneo was away for vacation in his Junon mansion with Scarlet. "I will be there in a few hours." Cloud answered.

"Mr. Strife, Doctor Gast suggested that Doctor Hojo should join the diagnosis."

"I'll bring him."

"Thank you Mr. Strife." The assistant replied before the call ended.

Cloud called Tseng to prepare FMG's plane and Reno and Rude to get Hojo before stepping into the shower. Don's health has been steadily degrading since last year, which was the main reason why Cloud took over FMG prematurely. Although Cloud was never close to the Don, he owed his life to him. To public, he was Don's adopted son, who will eventually take over the empire.

Before FMG, Don Corneo has ventured in many other businesses, some less presentable. He was a name that every family knew, for he has huge influence in both the darkness and lights of the society. Cloud knows he can never measure up, but always did his best to make the Don proud. The main reason Cloud has not seen Don as often these few months, was mostly due to the presence of Scarlet, who he absolutely abhors.

When Cloud arrives at Junon, the Don has already been discharged and is resting in his mansion. He rushes to the Don's room to check on his condition while Hojo joins Gast in the Don's study.

"Look at the good son!" Scarlet laughed. "Taking his own sweet time to visit his dying father."

Cloud ignores her comment as he closed the bedroom door and walked towards the Don, who was deep asleep, breathing softly. He did not bother to ask Scarlet about the Don's condition to prevent any conversation with her.

"That's the difference between a real and an adopted son." Scarlet let out an exaggerated sigh and smoothen a stand of her platinum blond hair behind her ear. Cloud turned a quick glance at her; her fringe frames her sharp face in styled curls, with the rest of her hair tied in her trademark high ponytail. The bright red lipstick looked like it has just been recently touched up and Cloud turned his attention back to the Don. Every second of breathing the same air with her made him nauseous.

The Don's face was a sickly pale, his greasy blonde hair scattered about the pillow. He was an overweight man nearing his fifties, with the sides of his head balding. Cloud has always reminded the Don's assistants to take care of his health better. The Don was not a respectable man, especially during his younger days, but he was a man with huge presence nonetheless.

Cloud sat beside the Don's bed and watched over him silently. It wasn't long before he noticed Scarlet walking up behind him.

"Acting like a filial child now?" She snickered, leaning closer to him. Cloud shifted, but she continued moving closer until he was overwhelmed by the scent of her suffocating perfume. "Don't worry, he is stable now, just asleep."

Her face was barely touching his, and Cloud moved to stand up. Before he could move away, Scarlet placed her hand on his waist and whispered in his ear. "You visiting him? Makes me want to laugh..."

Cloud could smell her stale cigarette breath and slapped her hand away. He stood up and moved away from her. "You think I am a slut, a whore who sold her body to the Don?" She asked in a sarcastic tone. "If only you knew... You are much, much worse!"

Cloud had enough of her nonsense, and stormed towards the door.

"Poor Cloud-ie boy! You don't even know anything!" He heard her voice echo behind him as he shut the door.

He walked away from the room where he would not wake the Don and punched a hole into a wall with a silent grunt. He breathed heavily and rested his head against the wall. All the recent events were about to drive him crazy.

Taking a moment to push away the thoughts of murdering Scarlet, Cloud collected himself and walked towards the study where Hojo and Gast were. As he was about to enter, he hears a heated conversation and stopped outside the door.

"...need another… heheh... few years before the vessel is ready." Hojo croaked.

"How many years?"

"At least... two." Hojo laughed.

"The Don's condition is getting worse by the day and I am dying here trying to postpone the degradation!" Gast shouted.

"Heheheh… That is your problem, Doctor… Gast."

"You are just delaying so you can have more time to play with the vessel!" Cloud hears a slam on the table.

"Doctor… Gast, I will have you… know... that insulting me will bring… dire consequences… heheh… the Don knows fully of how much effort has been put into this… experiment…" Hojo laughed. "The Don knows… only I have the capability to perform such an advanced... surgery…"

Cloud felt his blood run cold but he could not understand a thing about what he just heard. Mechanically, he opened the door. Perhaps he did not want to hear any further, perhaps he wanted to ask, he did not know.

"Mr. Strife!" Gast stood up from the couch, spilling the X-ray graphs on the floor. Cloud watched as a drop of cold sweat trickled down his temple.

"...Doctor Gast." Cloud greeted but could not find his next words.

"Oh, Cloud!" Hojo greeted him in his usual villainous voice.

"I would like to understand more about the Don's condition." Cloud walked over to the coffee table to join them.

Gast sat back down on the couch and picked up the folder with his trembling hands. "The Don's reports shows that his major organs are starting to fail."

"Since when?"

"Earlier this year." Gast flips the file. "Mostly due to his cholesterol levels and lifestyle choices.

So it was natural, Cloud thought. It came early for Don but no one could cheat death. Cloud flips the health reports and scrutinized the contents.

"We would suggest bringing the Don back to Midgar for treatment." Gast suggested.

"The… treatment would be much… better in Midgar indeed." Hojo agreed.

Cloud nodded and continued to read through the health report. "I will get Tseng to arrange the flight back to Midgar."

"Heheh… No need to worry." Hojo replies after a while. "I can ensure that the Don will continue to live… heheh... for a long… time."

The comment somehow bothered Cloud. He feels as though there was a current flowing underneath the surface of what he sees, something everyone here knows except him. Scarlet, Hojo, the Don, Gast… they all know something that concerns him, but no one would tell him. "Are you both hiding anything from me?"

Gast chokes on his tea and hojo laughed. "Nothing… of course…" Hojo pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and stared at Cloud. "Nothing… at all…"

Cloud had unknowingly tighten his fist around the report, crumpling the flimsy plastic folder. When he sets it down, he realised parts of the soft plastic has broken off from the force of his one hand. Hojo looks extremely intrigued by this, snatching over the folder, flipping it through the air to check its stiffness.

"Such strength… Cloud…" Hojo beamed. "Such… incredible strength…" He laughs hysterically, studying the cracks in the folder.

Cloud slaps off the small pieces of plastic that were clinging to his hand and left the room. He could feel his emotions slowly getting out of control; he hated the way everyone spoke around him when it feels like they were speaking about him. He walks briskly to the room allocated to him in the mansion and closed the door with a loud thud.

He shuts himself in the bathroom and switched on the lights. The fluorescent light illuminated his features, and the spikes of his hair glimmered softly in the reflection he sees within the mirror. He washes his hands over and over under the warm water until his skin were wrinkled and stiff, but he could not wash away the coldness in his blood.

Cloud studied his reflection in the mirror. He felt like a puppet on strings, a clown on the stage, a… vessel. He splashes water on his face and placed his hands on the sides of the sink, leaning his body weight against the cold porcelain. The water from the tap continued to flow as he tries to drown out his emotions.

He realised once again, how alone he truly is.

The next morning, Cloud knocked on the Don's room and Scarlet answered the door, with only a towel loosely wrapped around her body.

Cloud frowned in disgust as the reeking smell of sweat, cigarette and… more, hit him as the door opened.

"The Don is busy..." She answered with a smile, pointing towards her body. " And does not want to see you."

"I will be around if he needs me." Cloud turned to walk away.

"You're not needed here." The Don's voice echoes from the room.

Cloud turns back to look at the Don from the opening in the door. The Don was lying on the bed, his chest bare and his arms were propped behind his head. His greyish blue eyes scanned Cloud with disgust. "Close the door, Scarlet."

Scarlet blew him a kiss before closing the door. Cloud ought to have been used to the Don's coldness, but he still stood silently at the door for a good minute before walking away. He felt the skin on his face about to be burnt away from embarrassment, the senses from his fingers dulled from anger.

He was angry at himself mostly, he knew the Don would never be pleased to see him, no matter what he did; yet he would try again and again. It has been thirteen years since his adoption, since the time when he was practically mute and handicapped. He feared that a part of the weak imbecile still remained deep within him.

Cloud spends his week in Junon visiting the local FMG branch and giving talks to the local team. He spent days meeting up with the local country manager to review the sales figures and spending, as well as meeting up with business partners and banks to discuss about the next quarter's plans. He was always good at keeping himself busy with repeated tasks.

He continued to visit the Don every morning, had lunch with his business partners, discussed about Don's health with the two doctors after dinner, went to the gym and stared at the ceiling until morning to repeat it over.

It was already Friday when he was finally back in Midgar; and Cloud took the time to settle some paperwork in the FMG headquarters that evening after sending the Don back to his Midgar mansion. He was barely there for a moment when Elena knocked on the door.

"Mr. Strife," She greeted. "Ms. Tifa is here."

It was already after office hours, but Elena tend to stay behind if Cloud were in the office. "Let her in." He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "You should go home Elena, I've troubled you enough while I was away."

"No problem at all, sir." She smiled and opened the door for Tifa to enter.

"Cloud?" She asked, walking over to his desk.

He did not want to answer; in fact, he did not want to have any human interactions today. He was still struggling to toss away and lock his emotions in a chest under the ocean.

She walked closer to him, while Cloud continued to reply his emails on his laptop, occasionally signing off the files on his desk.

"Sorry to bother you while you are busy." She smiled, her voice soft and comforting. "I'll just wait for you then."

"What do you want?" He asks without looking up to her.

She seemed to be taken aback by his attitude today as she shifted the weight on her feet. "I just wanted to thank you for that day. I received a courier with my shoes the next day… I know you arranged it… And I brought your shoes-"

"I said I didn't want them anymore." He cuts her off before she could say anything.

"Oh…" She places a box on his desk, and opens the lid, tilting the shoes up so he could see them. "They're still in very good condition. It's just that you've been keeping them in the boot of your car, so there were some cracks. I did my best to recover them."

He did not bother to look up at her.

"Leather is like wine." She continued. "You have to take care of them… like a lover, like an old friend and they can stay with you for a long time."

Cloud stopped typing on his emails and thought about her words. Her voice was like a feather in a breeze, beautiful and carefree. But her words were like knives on his heart; he has no lover, friends or family.

He closes his laptop and stood up; he leaned forward on with a hand propped on the desk to examine the shoes. He picks up the shoes and held them high under the light. The shoes were polished and the cracks that were previously there, were all smoothed out. "Do you know where I got these shoes?"

"Huh? No." She looked at his profile.

"These were a present from Aerith." He paused to look at her. "Do you know Aerith?"

Her face was a little pale when she nodded. "Your… I mean… previously you and her…"

"We were engaged, but as you can see from the news, we are no longer together."

There was a long period of silence before she spoke again. "I'm sorry. I didn't know-"

"When I say I didn't want them anymore, I meant it." He walked to the side of his desk where the empty trash can was, and dumped the shoes inside. "You should leave now."

For a moment, she just stood there and watched him. He knows he must seem very different from the last time they met, but he honestly just wanted to be left alone.

"Cloud?" She asked. "You are acting weird today."

He slumps into his chair and ignored her question.

She walks over to the bin and picks up the shoes, putting them into the box again. "Even if these shoes were a memory of a past, you should not just dispose of them like that." She frowned. "Good or bad, memories are a part of us and you should not take it out on a pair of shoes like a kid."

Cloud could feel his patience draining. He avert his eyes and focused on his laptop again.

"Did you hear me?"

She reached out to grab his hand and he slapped her hand away.

"I know how you are feeling, Cloud." She whispers patiently. "I… heard about your father. When I was young, my mother was really sick too."

He rubs the bridge of his nose again.

"You can talk to me, Cloud." She reached out to hold his hand again, this time he lets her. "We are friends aren't we?"

He felt like his head was about to explode; with a deep breath,he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him. She stumbles against the foot of the table and lost her footing. He pins her against his desk and lowered himself above her, such that they were mere inches apart. He could feel the warmth of her breath on his lips, her eyes were wide open and shimmered under the bright fluorescent lights.

Slowly, he kissed the corner of her lips. He feels a breath hitch in her throat and he moved slowly to cover her entire lips, brushing against them tenderly. He could hear the deafening heartbeat again, and the scalding heat of her breath and her skin beneath him. Finally, he felt the coldness in his bones melt away.

Cloud pulled her hand over her head and kissed her harder now, his teeth pulling on the velvety skin of her lips, until he tasted blood. She returns the kiss like a lost child, innocent and sweet.

He knows now.

"You like me." He pulls away from her, his free hand moved to rub against the gash on her bottom lip. It was a statement.

Her face was a deep red, and her hair were splayed across the table. With an arm extended above her head and the other helplessly grabbing onto his shirt. She looked like a goddess ready to fall. "What is it?" He asked, "was it because I carried you that day? Or because I helped you the first day we met?

Her eyes were still drowsy from the kiss previously, but he could see them move, shifting focus from his one eye to the next. Trying to understand his words.

"Or is it because of what I have?" He asked in a low voice.

"What?" She whispered.

"Status... money..." he shrugged and leaned back, putting some space between them. "That kind of stuff."

Cloud watched as her brows furrowed together and a hint of anger flushed her cheeks.

Slap! Cloud could feel his left cheek burn from the sheer strength of the hit. She struggled free and kneed him in the stomach before standing up.

"You jerk!"

Tifa pushed him back into his seat, and he could see tears building in her eyes when she turned and ran out the door. Looking at the pair of Charles that were haphazardly thrown into the box, he let out a sigh and closed his eyes as the coldness crept back into his bones, engulfing him in darkness.

He rubbed his lips together and wondered what was wrong with him today.

Xxx

I'm using the ff app to upload this using my phone... can't do authors note as I usually do.

But to you who are reading right now, you know I love you!