Title: Scars of Friendship
Chapter: 2/??
Comments: Thank you for your response! And for putting up with the amount of novelization of the game, particularly in these early parts. I promise you that before we even get out of Midgar, things are going to start to be very different. It should be apparent in this chapter that things are definitely changing.
Chapter Two:
Short Skirts and Reactor 5
Cloud entered Seventh Heaven feeling like he was coming home. He could smell Nibel Stew, Tifa's speciality, and he could smell the heavy scent of well-looked after wood. The bar had been well-polished and all the wood was well-treated, despite its place in the Slums. No one stold timber from AVALANCHE, Cloud supposed.
"Papa!" Marlene shouted. Upon seeing Cloud, however, she quickly turned away and went to hide. Cloud sighed. For some reason Marlene was terrified of him. He thought it was possible the eyes, but he couldn't say for sure.
Tifa came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a tea towel. Seeing Marlene hiding and Cloud stood there looking rather spooked she sent him a reassuring smile. She knelt down next to Marlene, putting her hands on the little girl's shoulders.
"Marlene... Aren't you going to say anything to Cloud?" she prompted, looking deep into the girl's eyes. Cloud took a moment to admire Tifa while she was distracted. Her long hair was swept over her shoulders and she had a smudge of flour on her cheek from the dumplings. Her clothes, too tight and faded to fit in with the slums, accented every curve she had, leaving little to the imagination. Her skirt had risen up when she crouched down and Cloud could see a length of tanned thigh.
She glanced up and Cloud pretended he'd been looking at her face all along.
"Welcome home, Cloud. Looks like everything went well," she said, standing up and letting Marlene hide behind her. "Did you fight with Barret again?"
"Yeah," he admitted. She looked disappointed at that and she glanced down at Marlene before she spoke again.
"Barret... Just wants to be careful..." she said, folding her arms. "You were always getting into trouble..."
Cloud squirmed uncomfortably at the mention of the past and pulled out Jessie's handkerchief from his pocket awkwardly, going to wipe his face to see if that would help make Marlene less afraid. He didn't notice the flower that fell out of his pocket until he followed Tifa's eyeline to it.
"Flowers? How nice..." she said, but she looked like she'd seen a ghost. "You don't see them often in the Slums..." Cloud wondered if she knew the woman who had given him the flower, seeing as she apparently had healed him...
"It's for Marlene, if she'd like it?" he said, holding out the slightly crumpled thing. Tifa watched as the girl snatched it from his fingers and hid behind Tifa again. Cloud sighed and straightened.
"I guess she's just a little shy," Tifa replied with a shrug. "She'll get used to you eventually."
Cloud somewhat doubted it. He'd never been good with kids... He'd never particularly wanted any either. Kids were just... things for other people. People who were confident with them. People who could, y'know, handle snot and puke and other things.
Tifa went to work behind the bar and Marlene went to hide behind the pinball machine. Cloud didn't follow either of them. Biggs and Wedge were sat at the tables, mopping stew out of their bowls with chunks of homemade bread. He glanced at Tifa, wondering if she was going to offer him any. She was too busy cleaning glasses and putting them on shelves to notice though.
He sat down next to Wedge and snagged his food. The other made a noise of protest but Cloud just stared at him until he gave up.
"Yeah, well, I was finished anyway... It's my second helping. Tifa always lets me taste her cooking!" Wedge said proudly. Cloud raised an eyebrow.
"I didn't think you people liked Nibelheimer food," he said, though he couldn't remember where he'd heard that before. Wedge looked confused.
"It's just stew," he said, looking mournfully at the bowl that Cloud had requisitioned. Cloud held up a piece of brown meat, dripping gravy into the bowl.
"What do you think this is?" he asked. Wedge looked at it.
"Beef?" he said, thinking Cloud was stupid. Cloud shook his head.
"It's Nibel Wolf," he said, popping it into his mouth. Wedge turned green.
"Papa! Welcome home!"
Cloud looked up to see Barret lumbering in. He looked around and saw Cloud was there and gave him a nod before picking up his little girl, swinging her round and then sitting her on one of his broad shoulders. Marlene giggled and tucked the flower behind his ear.
"Huh? Where'd ya get that?" Barret asked. Marlene stroked one of the petals.
"Cloud gave it to me," she replied. Cloud felt a stupid grin rising to his face.
Well, maybe you managed to charm at least one lady after all...
"And did you say thank you?" Barret asked sternly. Marlene shook his head.
"Barret, really, it's fine-" Cloud began but the black man gave him a dark look and he shut his mouth. Marlene looked at her feet.
"'nk you Cloud," she mumbled. It wasn't exactly the most emphatic display of gratitude but it made Cloud beam at her.
"No problem, Marlene," he said, trying to be friendly. She just cast him a frightened glance and then hugged her dad's head. Tifa walked back around the bar, folding her arms across her chest as she regarded Barret.
"Is everything all right?" she asked. Barret opened his mouth to say something then shook his head, glancing up to Marlene above his head. Tifa nodded and then walked back behind the bar, clearly not wanting to have anything else to do with the matter until Marlene was in bed. Cloud watched as Barret called a meeting and went to the pinball machine, activating the lift to the basement. It had freaked Cloud out at first, but now he was sort of used to the wacky ways that AVALANCHE hid themselves.
He still couldn't believe they'd managed to blow up a reactor.
He walked to the bar. He'd let AVALANCHE proper have their little meeting before he went and demanded money. Tifa looked at him with warm affection in her eyes.
"Sit down, I'll fix you something," she said. Cloud wondered what kind of wife she'd make. He'd come home and she'd fix him some whiskey and his dinner and they'd talk about all the ass they'd kicked that day or something... Somehow, he couldn't see it.
"Give me something hard," he said. She giggled and tucked her hair behind her ear. She went straight for the whiskey poured him a loose measure, dropping a few cubes of ice into the bottom. He took it and downed it, gesturing for another with his glass. With a smile, Tifa refilled it.
"You know.... I'm relieved you made it back safely," Tifa said, her eyes scanning him over for injuries. Cloud just stared back at her blankly.
"That wasn't a tough job for a SOLDIER..." he replied. Her face filled with colour and she turned away, wiping down the bar.
"O-Of course. I forget sometimes that you were..." she stopped and shook her head. "Sorry Cloud. I was miles away."
Cloud put the drink down on the bar. He wasn't sure how she could forget something like that. He couldn't. The hours of training-
-but hadn't that been with a gun?
-the calluses on his hands-
-but weren't they soft and work free?
-the mako of his eyes!
Cloud was relieved when that nagging voice didn't return. He got to his feet, clutching his head as he tried to ignore the pain shooting between his temples.
"Are you okay?" Tifa asked. Cloud gritted his teeth and forced a smile onto his face.
"I'm fine, Tifa," he replied. She watched him warily for a moment.
"Well... Don't forget to collect your pay from Barret," she said unnecessarily. Cloud nodded. There was no way that he'd risked his life for no reason. He tried to reassure her, but she still was looking at him like he had some kind of terminal illness. It made his skin crawl.
"Don't worry. Once I get that money from Barret I'm outta here," he said. Tifa winced but said nothing, picking up a glass and inspecting it to hide her expression. Cloud felt a little bad. Maybe he could stay around a little, for Tifa's sake, but really, there were no jobs in Midgar. He'd be able to earn more hunting monsters in the sticks than beating up thugs and blowing up reactors in Midgar. It wasn't even like he could hunt bounties, seeing as he was pretty sure Shinra wouldn't want to see him right now.
He walked over to the pinball machine and pulled the level, ignoring the way his stomach twitched as he went below.
*
Herta stared at the television in shock. AVALANCHE sure were getting better at what they did. The pictures on the news showed that the whole reactor had gone up, taking out most of the surrounding shanty town as well. Approximately three hundred people were injured and eighty were dead.
"Disgusting," she said, flicking the channel over. Anabel gave her a startled look but said nothing. Over the last five years the two women who had lost everything had come to accept each other's idiosyncrasies. They were both held captive by President Shinra to prevent the dirty secret of Nibelheim's destruction coming out. Although Herta wasn't sure what that dirty secret was supposed to be.
She assumed she was only still alive because the Turks had fought for her. Cloud had been one of them, and they had extended their protection to her by default. Reno had become a particular favourite of hers. He was crude, but that just made him all the more amusing. He made an old woman feel young again, particularly as he would flirt with her as freely as anyone else who happened into his line of sight.
"I honestly thought Cloud had destroyed them," Anabel said. Herta's hand tightened on the remote.
"They deserve to be destroyed. I hope Shinra catches them all and executes them!" she spat. Anabel seemed shocked by that and remained quiet, adjusting her shawl. Herta sighed and looked at the TV, which was now showing a game show.
"There someone in that organisation that hurt Cloud. I want to see her suffer for what she did," Herta said softly. Anabel murmured something but Herta was too lost in her thoughts to understand what it was she was saying.
She would speak to Rufus in the morning. Make sure that they looked for that Elfé first of all.
*
Elfé leaned against the wall in the hideout, surveying the scene. Barret and Wedge were arguing over the number of casualties while Jessie just looked guilty that her bomb had killed so many.
Pathetically weak... They're so amateur. Did I really give AVALANCHE over to these guys? Where is their backbone? We were something to be feared! We were an organisation to rival Shinra!
The lift descended with Cloud on. He glanced around the room, his eyes lingering on her no more than they did the rest. He looked absolutely dead. His eyes, thought glowing, often appeared focused on something beyond what normal people could see. Elfé knew now that he was seeing Zack's memories and trying to reconcile them into his own twisted version of the way things were, but she knew the others just thought Cloud was a bit of a whack job.
He is just a bit of a whack job, Elfé, but you have some responsibility in that too, don't you? Is that why you refuse to talk to him? Because in your own way, you think you have something to atone for and if you talk to him, he might remember too? Coward!
Wedge's eyes turned around to Cloud and he began to try to draw the other into his argument. Cloud really appeared not to care, far from the passionate but determined creature that Elfé remembered. This Cloud... wasn't really Cloud at all. Elfé hadn't known Zack, but she was pretty sure from Aerith's reaction that Cloud wasn't fully Zack either. He was just somewhere in purgatory.
Is he living for the sake of it?
"The next mission is to blow up the Sector 5 reactor," Elfé told him. Cloud looked surprised she'd spoken but he nodded and leaned against the wall beside her, resting the Buster Sword next to him. It needed a good oiling and sharpening. Elfé frowned.
Cloud had always used guns in the past right? SOLDIER used swords... Which meant that Cloud probably was really confused with having to use a blade right now. He probably didn't know how to care for it... Elfé decided then and there that she would make it her mission to get that sword buffed up and cared for.
"Yo! Cloud! There's somethin' I wanna ask ya!" Barret said. Cloud looked at him and Elfé felt a shiver go through her at how annoyed Cloud looked. The Cloud she knew had been cold but never... never...
"Was there anyone from SOLDIER there today?" Barret asked. Cloud shook his head.
"None. I'm positive," Cloud replied. Elfé glanced at Barret, wondering why he was asking.
"You sound pretty sure..." he said testingly. Elfé couldn't hold it back any longer.
"You know there were no SOLDIERs! SOLDIER has been disbanded already!" she snapped. Cloud looked at her out of the corner of his eye and Barret had the grace to look ashamed.
"When did that happen?" Cloud asked. Elfé bit her tongue and looked away, not sure what to tell him. Everyone else in the room was looking at him like he was odd though.
"It doesn't matter when it happened. The truth is that the only SOLDIERs left are fugitives... Which reminds me, Kunsel told me to tell you to include him on the next mission. He said he's got to come back to Midgar and his trail went cold," Elfé said. Successfully distracting Cloud from the issue of SOLDIER and moving the conversation on, she shut her mouth and waited for things to play out.
"Kunsel, eh? It'll be nice to have him back. Can't rely on SOLDIER boy here all the time," Barret conceded. Jessie frowned.
"Isn't Kunsel a SOLDIER too?" she asked. Elfé noticed that Cloud's hand went up to his temple and his eyes fogged for a moment.
"I knew Kunsel. He was a good guy. Got a promotion from some shit that went down in Gongaga with Wutaian terrorists," he said. Elfé winced at how he referred to something that had scarred his body and soul as 'some shit'. She'd have to warn Kunsel about Cloud's amnesia.
"Anyway, I came to collect my money. Let's go upstairs and talk," he said. Elfé watched as Cloud left without another word. Barret gaped after him.
"You know, that was mighty cold," Wedge said. Elfé snorted.
"You're hiring mercenaries. He's not going to be enthusiastic about the cause," she pointed out. Barret began to hit the punch bag and Elfé resisted the urge to laugh.
Even half-insane, Cloud was getting one over on AVALANCHE.
*
Reno resisted the urge to check his phone again. Rude was getting annoyed with him. Their mission had been to check out the remains of Reactor 7 and that was what they were doing. Although there wasn't much to check. It was still on fire in some places.
He glanced down at his phone. No new messages...
"Reno," he heard Rude groan and he put his phone back in his pocket.
"Sorry, buddy. Jus' expectin' a phone call, yo," he said. Rude kicked a bit of rubble aside with his foot.
"President will be pissed if it's who I think it is," he said, surveying the area. Reno grinned.
"Well, I always had a thing for playin' with fire," he replied. At that moment another bit of the flaming reactor fell down and Reno coughed as a fresh wave of burning mako stink rose into the air.
"Shit, I'm going to be glowin' by the time we finish here," he said. He reached down to move a chunk of metal with his hands that might have, once, been the wall of the reactor.
"You ain't healed your hand," Rude pointed out. Reno looked at his bandaged hand and shook his head.
"'s penance," he replied. Rude frowned slightly.
"For doing your job?" he asked. Reno shook his head.
"No, for failin', yo."
*
"Cloud... I'm asking you to join us," Tifa said. Cloud shook his head. He really didn't want to become known as AVALANCHE's pet SOLDIER. Although if Kunsel was with them, he could perhaps talk to the other man to find out how the hell he'd let them be so amateur about it all.
"Sorry, Tifa," he said, putting his hands in his pockets. Her red eyes filled with disappointment.
"But... the Planet is dying. Someone has to do something!" Tifa protested. Cloud's head felt fuzzy for a moment but then it cleared. Hadn't Tifa joined AVALANCHE out of hatred of Shinra rather than love of the Planet?
"Let Barret and his buddies do something about it. It's got nothing to do with me," he said. Tifa bit her lip as though fighting not to say something she'd regret. Figuring she was done, Cloud turned to leave.
"So that's it? You're leaving, huh? Just abandoning your childhood friend?!" she demanded. Cloud felt something clench in his gut and he stopped. He hunched a little, feeling her eyes in his back. It wasn't like that...
Well, c'mon ladies man, lets see you work some magic here...
"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied without turning to her. He heard her foot stomp on the wood.
"You forgot your promise too!" she protested. Cloud frowned, trying to remember ever promising her anything. Vague memories of a well in Nibelheim came back.
Help... Promise... Hero? Am I a hero now?
"You remember?" Tifa sounded anxious. Cloud looked up at her.
"I'm not a hero. I'm not famous. I can't keep that promise, Tifa," he replied. Tifa's gaze softened and she reached out to ruffle his hair. He put up with it, mostly because it felt comforting and familiar, though he couldn't remember her doing it before.
"But you did manage to join Shinra, didn't you?" Tifa asked. Cloud raised an eyebrow. Was she trying to blackmail him by using a childhood promise?
The pinball machine disappeared and Tifa dropped her hand from Cloud's head to watch Barret emerge from the hideout. He threw something at Cloud who caught it on instinct.
"Here ya go, short-stuff. A promise is a promise," he said. Cloud looked at the money in his hand and immediately felt his blood pressure go up.
"This is my pay?" he asked, staring at the money in his hand. "Next time, I want at least three thousand or you can go elsewhere."
"Cloud! You mean you'll-"
"What?!"
Cloud let the two argue it out and he folded his arms. Tifa seemed to be winning, mostly because Barret seemed to be rather distracted by her chest. He couldn't blame the guy. It was a rather impressive rack.
Should you be thinking like that about your childhood friend?
"Two thousand!" Barret finally said. Cloud rolled his eyes. Barely worth doing it for.
"Thanks Cloud," Tifa said, patting his shoulder. Cloud shrugged her off and walked to the bar.
"I'm going to need a drink if I have to sleep here tonight."
*
Tifa had never felt as awkward as she did that night. Sleeping all in the same room as AVALANCHE was bad enough without having Cloud in there as well. His nightmares woke everyone up on more than one occasion and Tifa wasn't sure if he was remembering things or just having nightmares due to pressure. Even so, he didn't seem to remember them when he woke up the next morning and the other members of AVALANCHE seemed to have the tact not to say anything.
"Good morning," she said warily. She didn't want to seem unnatural but at the same time she appreciated that the others were expecting her to broach the subject. "Did you... um... sleep all right last night?"
"Next to you? Who wouldn't?" Cloud replied, a charming smile on his face. It was out of character for the Cloud she knew, and she wasn't sure that she liked him flirting with her as much as she'd thought she would. Deciding to play dumb she crossed her arms and frowned.
"I'm not sure what you mean," she said lightly. Across the room from her, Elfé snickered. She walked towards them and then stood there, her hands in the pockets of her shorts.
"Me and Tifa are going this time," she said. Cloud frowned for a moment.
"And Kunsel?" he asked. Elfé shrugged.
"He'll probably meet us there. He usually stays away from the hideout so that he's not linked to it," she explained. Tifa watched Cloud's face blank, the trademark expression of him trying to reconcile his own memories and the made-up persona he'd created somewhere in his brain. She shared a glanced with Elfé. The brown-haired woman gave her a reassuring smile that made Tifa's stomach feel a little weird. She quickly looked away.
Now is not the time to start thinking about other AVALANCHE members as potential dating partners...
"Our target is the Sector 5 Reactor," Elfé said. Tifa watched Cloud's expression set into a determined one. "Head to the station first. Barret's going to fill us in on the train."
"Oh goodie," Cloud remarked sarcastically and Tifa couldn't help but blush at the innuendo.
*
Cloud stepped onto the train and tried his best not to wrinkle up his nose. Elfé being there immediately set him on edge. The woman had been described as dangerous to him by Tifa, who had said little more than that about her. Even so, Cloud could see by the way she handled herself that she was more than experienced in combat.
She stepped up beside him and leaned back. At first, Cloud thought she was checking out his ass and felt distinctly uncomfortable, but as he shifted he realised she was checking out the blade. She gestured with her hands in a 'May I?' way and he nodded, allowing her to lift the blade from his back.
She thumbed the edge and tutted, running her hands along the blade. He was slightly ashamed when her hands came across bits of rust dried on gore that he hadn't cleaned off yet. She didn't seem to mind that much though.
"I'll buff it up for you," she said, sitting down with it across her lap and drawing a cloth and some oil from her pocket. Cloud guessed he had no choice. "You'll have to take it to a weaponsmith for sharpening though. This thing is too long for your average whetstone."
That said she began to busy herself with the blade, sliding the grease along its dulled silver surface until a bit of it's original sheen began to show through.
"I said, you say sumthin'?!" Further down the cart Barret seemed to be attracting attention to himself again. Cloud left Elfé to her polishing and went to cool things down.
"It's empty.... c-c-c-cuz of guys like you!" A man in a cheap suit said. Cloud winced, knowing what was about to come. Barret whacked the guy across the head. He looked dazed from the blow and Cloud saw the other members of AVALANCHE turn their eyes away.
Is this what I've joined? A bunch of bullies?
"You... You've seen the news right? AVALANCHE says there'll be more bombings!" the suited man said. "Only devoted employees like me would try to make it into work today!"
Cloud managed to restrain Barret before the man managed to put a bullet in the man's head, but only just. The man paled and Cloud dragged Barret away and forced him to sit down. Tifa walked up to him.
"Barret! Behave yourself!" she scolded. Barret cleared his throat and looked away, staring moodily out of the train window. Elfé glanced up from where she was sat and then nodded to Cloud, holding out the sword. He moved back to her, taking it. Tifa followed him, watching warily.
"Seems like they've finished connecting the cars. We'll be moving in a minute," Tifa said. Cloud nodded as he attached the sword to the magnetic sheath on his back.
"What happens now?" Cloud asked. He hadn't been told much and he wasn't sure what the precise plan was other than 'Reactor goes boom'. Really, that was what most AVALANCHE plans seemed to add up to anyway.
"The security check-points are coming up soon. They'll ID scan all the carriages looking for fugitives. You have to carry your ID card at all times in Midgar. It's basically Shinra's way of trying to weed out terrorists and Wutaians," Elfé explained. Cloud nodded, sitting down next to her. Tifa shifted from foot to foot but remained standing. It seemed to amuse Elfé a little.
"Fake ID cards don't work any more so we're going to have to jump the train before we get to a checkpoint," Tifa explained. Cloud nodded. He'd expected something like this when he'd seen that Biggs was clutching a crash helmet in his hand.
"We should have three minutes before we need to get off the train..." Elfé mused, glancing at her watch. Tifa nodded and began to bounce on her feet a little.
"And when we do-" Cloud stopped when an alarm went off and red lights began to flash on the train. He stared around him blankly, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.
"Shit! They must have moved the checkpoints after yesterday's bombing!" Tifa shouted over the alarm. Cloud growled in his throat.
You mean they didn't check for changes before they embarked on this mission? What the hell Tifa?! I thought you were more organised than that?!
"Why wasn't it checked before we left?" Elfé shouted back. Cloud felt his respect for Elfé increasing. She was definitely much more suited to be leader than Barret was.
"Type A Security Alert! Unidentified passengers found! A search of all cars will be conducted. I repeat..."
Cloud noticed that Barret was rounding up all the other AVALANCHE members. Elfé and Tifa seemed calm, but the others were starting to panic. Barret himself was a little wild eyed as he tried to think of what to do. Cloud hissed between his teeth and glanced at Elfé.
"How do these scans work?" he asked. Elfé blinked at him.
"They'll scan each car one by one and then send Shinra guards in to arrest the people who they catch," she said. He nodded.
"From the front of the back?" he asked, grimacing as the alarm began to grow louder.
"Back," Tifa replied with certainty. Cloud nodded.
"We just keep ahead of the scan until it's time to jump train then," he said, before running to the front of the carriage. "Everyone, follow me!"
He didn't wait, instead running into the next car.
*
"Shit! You're crazy!" Barret yelled as they all lay by the side of the train tracks, breathless. Cloud shook his head, just glad that he hadn't jumped out into a pile of electrics or something else as fatal. Tifa and Elfé were slightly more beat up and the ex-leader was patching up a cut on Tifa's forehead.
"Yeah yeah, big guy. At least we're not too far from where we're supposed to be. Will the plan work without the others?" he asked, sitting up and trying to ignore a pain shooting down his side. Barret nodded.
"Yeah. Kunsel is meant to meet us somewhere around here," he said. Cloud felt something weird in his gut at the mention of the man's name. He wasn't sure why he felt the need to squirm and hide but he was sure that it was just something that would pass in time.
"Let's get moving then," Cloud said, getting to his feet. Tifa and Elfé followed. Barret lay there for a few moments more panting. The guy was the biggest of all of them and had fallen the hardest. Cloud really had no time for sympathy though. He nudged the man with his foot.
"Are you going to get up, Mr Leader, or are we going to wait for Shinra to search the train tracks for us?" he asked. Barret grumbled and got to his feet, ignoring Tifa and Elfé's smiles as he began to amble down the tracks. Cloud shook his head and followed, stretching out his injured side as he walked.
Eventually they came across a set of lasers. It was another security gate, and not one they could get passed. Cloud raised an eyebrow. He guessed they probably had been meant to jump off at the other side of those beams. He began to look for a way to switch them off when his eyes came across a grate. He walked over to it and began to loosen it. From the smell rising through it, it definitely led to the reactor.
"We can use this," Cloud said. Elfé leaned over his shoulder and inspected it before nodding.
"Yeah. That'll do all right. There aren't any obstructions and that smell is definitely mako," she said. Barret was looking at it sceptically.
"Am I meant to fit?" he asked. Cloud began to snicker.
"Well, we'll give you a good push if you get stuck," he replied. Barret began to swear at him and Tifa rubbed her temples tiredly.
*
Kunsel was tapping his foot against the metal of the walkway. He slid his hands over the handle of his sword as he waited. They were late. He'd known they were going to be. He had received a message from Jessie moments before explaining the situation to him. There had been an ex-Shinra man with them, and Jessie had managed to pull his old ID from the Shinra database. Naturally, his ID had set off the sensors. All ex-Shinra personnel were blacklisted almost on principle after all.
Kunsel sighed. They'd have been better off leaving the man on the train to face the music. He heard a clunk and then some pretty loud swearing in a thick Corel accent. He sighed again. That would be Barret.
"I'll fucking shoot you if you touch me again, Short-stuff," Barret was raging. Kunsel remained where he was. Moving would only startle them and he didn't want to end up shot in the foot like last time.
"It's not my fault that you were too fat to fit down the chute," a voice replied. Kunsel frowned, something in the back of his memory flaring at the sound of that voice. He squinted into the darkness of the storeroom waiting for Barret and the others to arrive.
Tifa came first, her cheeks a little pink. She was adjusting her clothes and she waved when she saw Kunsel, glancing over her shoulder as Barret hulked around a box, dark eyes glaring daggers at whoever was behind them.
Kunsel saw the glowing eyes through the gloom first. Bright mako blue that definitely identified the man as ex-SOLDIER. He then took in a few other things. The stride, the stature, the Buster Sword. For a moment Kunsel's heart leapt into his mouth.
Zack!
But then he looked again. As the SOLDIER's face came into view he realised he'd made a mistake. Blond spikes and paler skin, a less pointed face and a slightly more innocent expression.
Cloud...?
He stared at the Turk. Cloud had been announced dead five years ago on the same mission as Zack. Kunsel had always thought that if he was going to find them, he'd find them together. Now as he stared at Cloud's face, saw the strange way he teased Barret that was more like Zack than ever, and Angeal's Buster Sword attached to his back.
"Strife? It's Cloud Strife isn't it?" he asked, stepping forward. Cloud stopped what he was doing and turned. For a moment his expression blanked and Kunsel was reminded of the same dead eyes that he'd seen when Cloud had been in Gongaga. There was something else to this though and he saw Tifa chew her lip worriedly.
"Kunsel, right?" Cloud suddenly snapped out of it and reached forward to shake his hand. Kunsel shook it bewildered, his eyes straying to the scars on Cloud's wrists.
"I thought you were dead," Kunsel said, watching as something uncertain flickered in Cloud's eyes.
"Ah, well, I just had some business to take care of after Nibelheim," he said. Kunsel's brow furrowed.
"Was Zack with you?" he asked. Cloud's eyes took on the same blank, glazed quality as before and Kunsel wondered what on earth was wrong with him? Was he suffering from mako poisoning? It was the only reason Kunsel could think that Cloud would be standing before him with mako eyes after the SOLDIER program had been completely destroyed.
"Kunsel. I need to talk to you," Tifa said, grabbing his wrist and pulling him away from Cloud and Barret. The moment Tifa spoke Cloud seemed to snap out of whatever was wrong with him and he began to go over the plan again with Barret, his voice stern as he tried to wring every last detail out of the man.
"What the hell is going on with him, Tifa?" Kunsel asked, glancing at the blond. "Why in Gaia's name is he in a First uniform? Where did you find him? Was Zack with him?"
Tifa's troubled eyes looked a murky brown in the light and she looked down at her shoes. "Cloud... Cloud just turned up one day. The mako poisoning is so bad that he forgot who he was. The healer woman we used... she said that Cloud had taken on Zack's persona. I... I don't know if it's just pure insanity that caused that or mako poisoning. It's difficult to get an answer from him. You've seen how he just blanks anything that doesn't fit his version of the 'past'."
Kunsel scowled over Tifa's shoulder at Cloud. The Turk was doing a pretty good impression of Zack, it had to be said, but even so, there was so much that was wrong with it. Cloud's shoulders were too tight and hunched, the innate shyness showing through where Zack had exuded pure confidence and energy. Cloud's grin didn't meet his eyes, his punches were just the wrong side of playful to convey mischief. Everything about him was off somehow. He was acting, and someone who hadn't known Zack would just assume this was who Cloud was. A slightly off-centre individual.
Kunsel remembered seeing Cloud in the hallway once after the blond had returned to Shinra. They'd all known he was up to something, but no one had ever found out what. The Turks had seemed to know, as had Sephiroth, so the SOLDIERs kept their noses out. The Cloud that Kunsel had seen that day had still been a little jumpy, but he had at least known who he was. He had the quiet confidence of someone who had been to hell and back and could straighten their spine and declare to the world that they were someone unique and special.
This Cloud was a nobody. He was a hybrid of personalities he'd admired and stuck onto a frame like papier-mache over chicken wire. Even with the best will in the world, and all the paint and glue that could be stuck to the frame that Cloud had created, he was still only a grotesque caricature of Zack.
"I joined AVALANCHE specifically to get revenge for Zack. You knew this, Tifa... Why didn't you tell me you'd found a clue as to his whereabouts?" Kunsel demanded. He wasn't sure how much use Cloud would be as a 'clue' but he was willing to try. Tifa didn't have the decency to look ashamed of herself. She just looked over at Cloud, lost.
"Aerith wants him to heal on his own. She says his soul has been torn into pieces and if we push him he'll be torn forever. You won't get your answers from him, Kunsel," she said softly. At that moment Elfé appeared around the corner and smacked Barret and Cloud around the head, ordering them to get moving. Tifa gave Kunsel a pleading look before she returned to the group.
Kunsel watched as Cloud gave her a small smile that he'd seen a hundred times before on a different face.
"It would have been better if you'd died..."
*
Getting through the reactor was easy. Cloud almost felt it was too easy. Taking out the guards with him and Kunsel there was less than a joke. His blade easily slid through the bodies of the guards. When they got to the lift though, Cloud had to admit that he felt tired, almost like the blade was too heavy for him.
"I'm taking a turn next," Elfé announced as she got into the elevator. She drew her sword, a light-weight katana. Her eyes lingered almost lovingly on the blade as she traced her thumb along the sharpness of its edge.
Cloud blinked as the blade seemed to elongate before his eyes, growing longer and longer until its tip seemed to disappear into the metal of the floor. For a moment the hilt colour changed from an indigo purple to black and Cloud caught the scene of sweat and leather. He closed his eyes, breathing in a smell that seemed strangely calming to him. When he reopened his eyes the smell was gone, as was the illusion that the lights must have played on Elfé's blade.
The doors opened and Elfé leapt out of the lift. Wet sounds followed by the odd gurgle floated into the lift. Cloud waited for Elfé to reappear. Her face was splattered by blood, her shirt sticking to her in places, but she didn't seem fazed by it at all.
"The way to the reactor is clear now. Cloud, it's all yours," she said, taking a cloth out of her pocket and wiping the blood off her sword. Cloud saw Kunsel give her a strange look, which she returned in a steely fashion, before he took off, jumping between the metal support platforms. Unlike the last reactor, Cloud didn't have Barret slowing him down and he found it much easier to get to the bottom without trouble.
Behind him he heard the others puffing and cursing as they tried to follow. Seconds after his feet touched down on the main bridge to the reactor, he heard a second set of footfalls. He turned his head slightly to see Kunsel. The other regarded him for a long moment before he nodded and averted his gaze. Cloud felt a chill go down his back. For some reason Kunsel unnerved him.
Cloud took a few steps forward to place the bomb. The whole room seemed to turn red. Something was wrong. When he turned he couldn't see Kunsel anymore. He looked down at his hands. There was blood on them... Why was there....?
Before him there was a man... who... The Mayor of Nibelheim wasn't it? He stared as a shadowed figure that Cloud couldn't quite make out crawled towards him. The figure, whose only identifiable feature was glowing blue eyes, cradled the dead man against his chest.
"Sephiroth... Why have you let this happen...?" Cloud heard the being say, it's voice distorted, like it was talking through heavy static. Cloud watched as the figure used the long katana buried within the Mayor's body to rise to his feet and disappear further into the reactor.
"Goddamnit, Cloud, have your freak out elsewhere, yeah?!"
Cloud blinked and realised he was lying face down on the floor. He got to his hands and knees and stood up, gripping the rail. Kunsel was glaring at him as though he'd done it on purpose and Cloud immediately felt defensive. How was he supposed to stop things like this?
"Are you alright?" Elfé had beaten Tifa and Barret down to the reactor and she did look genuinely concerned. Cloud nodded.
"I'll be fine. Just... Memories... Things that happened," he said. Kunsel's glare seemed to lessen and he took a step forward.
"Memories?" he pressed. Cloud shook his head. Steadier on his feet now, he stepped around the SOLDIER and pulled the bomb out of his backpack.
"I don't want to talk about it," he said, unsure where his reluctance came from other than the desire not to have to share the destruction of his home town where Tifa was. He didn't know how much she knew about what had occurred in Nibelheim, and didn't want to hurt her by adding to her knowledge of the event. It was bad enough that...
The bomb. He needed to concentrate on the bomb. He set it down and began the timer just as Tifa and Barret managed to climb onto the bridge. He smiled at them as he gestured for them to continue onwards. Barret grumbled but led the way out of the reactor. Elfé gave him a smile as she followed. Kunsel agreed to take the rear guard.
They got through the main control room using Cloud's security code and managed to get to exit to the reactor before Cloud realised that something was wrong. He skidded to a halt, feeling Tifa run into the back of him as he stared at the guards that had effectively cut off every exit. He tightned his grip on his sword.
"Thought it was too easy," Kunsel said. Cloud glanced at him. The other looked grim though as he assessed the situation. Cloud just made sure that Tifa was protected between him and Elfé to his other side. The ex-leader seemed to read his mind and she moved over so that her body was placed directly between Tifa and the nearest Shinra guard.
"President Shinra?!"
Cloud glanced up at Barret's exclamation. Walking from the reactor was the fat, moustached man that Cloud recognised as the richest man in the world. His cold blue eyes regarded them all with disdain as he paused on the bridge, his hands in his pockets. His gaze was focused on Cloud.
"Why is the President here?" Tifa whispered to Elfé who just shook her head.
"Hm... So you must be that... what was it?" Shinra's voice held a tinge of Midgar twang to it that Cloud wouldn't have associated with such a well-kept man.
"AVALANCHE and don' ya forget it!" Barret shouted. Cloud winced and he saw Kunsel raise his blade higher as a guard took a step forward as though to attack Barret for his insolence.
"Long time no see, President," Cloud said, taking a few steps forward. He knew he had to draw some of the attention to himself and away from the others. Barret didn't know when it was best to keep his mouth shut and although Cloud respected the other's fighting abilities, he could tell when he was outnumbered.
"Long time no see...?" Shinra repeated, his mouth tilting up into a cruel smirk. "Oh it's you. You'll have to tell me your name. You see, I've already forgotten you. I seemed to have raised a number of traitorous bastards in my ranks, you see."
Cloud frowned. "It's Cloud Strife. SOLDIER First Class."
"SOLDIER? You?" The President seemed to find this amusing. "Ah, of course, it's probably just as well that you're a little touched in the head. With everything you had to do with Sephiroth... It's a shame a little bit of the greatness didn't rub off on you. Hojo would have been proud."
Cloud took a few steps back, pressure beginning to build up behind his eyes as he tried to ignore the sudden nervousness in his gut.
"I don' give a damn 'bout none o' that!" Barret pushed Cloud to one side. The blond staggered a little, gripping the railing and trying to make sense of the President's words.
Hojo? Who was Hojo? Sephiroth... I was a war buddy... A friend... Traitor...? What...?
"This place is going up wi' a-"
"Barret! No!" Elfé tried to interrupt.
"-big bang soon! So it'll serve y'all right!" Barret finished his sentence regardless. Cloud straightened, wondering if they really were going to have to fight their way out of this now.
"And such a waste of good fireworks to get rid of vermin like you... Then again, it wouldn't be the first time I've tried to kill some of you, would it Strife?" The President asked. Cloud just shook his head, bewildered.
"Vermin?! That's all you can call us?! Vermin? Y'all Shinra're the vermin! Killin' the Planet! So that makes you King of the Vermin, ya jackass!" Barret began to rage. Cloud shook his head, noticing that the grunts around them had taken the safety off their guns.
"Just shut the fuck up Barret!" Elfé shouted at him, grabbing him by the string vest and pulling him back.
"I'd listen to the lovely lady, if I were you. Alas, I'm a very busy man, so you'll have to excuse me. I have a dinner to attend with a very beautiful lady and I'm sure she's been dying to see me since our last meeting," Shinra said and at that moment a helicopter descended from above the reactor. Cloud covered his face to stop the wind getting into his eyes as Shinra disappeared into the helicopter.
"What's that noise?" Tifa asked suddenly. Kunsel was edging away from the centre of the bridge and was looking around him warily. Elfé grabbed Tifa's hand and pushed her to the side just in time for a large robot to zoom past them, knocking Kunsel off his feet and causing him to have to grab the rail so that he didn't plummet down into the Slums below.
"Robo-guard!" Cloud shouted and quickly raised the Buster Sword ready for battle. The grunts disappeared, obviously believing that the robo-guard would get the job done on it's own. Cloud had to agree with them. If he wasn't so confident that he and Kunsel were good SOLDIERs he would have doubted their ability to survive this.
"Use materia!" Kunsel shouted. Cloud blinked at him, wondering why the other wasn't just hacking at it with his sword. "Everyone use materia apart from Barret. Barret aim for the fuel tank or battery!"
Cloud felt as though his feet were glued to the floor. Kunsel had assessed the situation and worked out a strategy just like that...? Cloud looked at the weapon in his hands... It would have been blunted, no doubt, straight away... What was wrong with him? Why hadn't he considered materia...?
"That's the way! Tifa, use a Fire materia now to set light to the fuel!" Kunsel encouraged. Cloud watched as, suddenly in slow motion, Tifa used the fire materia and the fuel caught light. The fire spread and he realised that he was the only person close enough to the robot to be caught in the blast.
"Cloud!" Kunsel shouted in warning but it was too late. The explosion knocked him clear over the edge of the bridge and as he hurtled to the ground below, Cloud found himself praying.
Oh Planet please don't let this be the end...