Note: Please, I know it's obvious but this is a homosexual relationship between Zack and Cloud. I don't wanna see any rude comments. I don't think it'll happen too often, if at all, but I'll put it here so no one can say they didn't know later. ^.^

He had thought that after seeing the world end twice the planet would take enough pity on him to let him die. After all of that surely he should be able to rest in the lifestream as well? Cloud looked blankly down at Marlene's lifeless body. She had been the last one, the last one of them to die. He had lost his family twice now.

Denzel had been the first one to go. Even after they cured the geostigma he quickly became feverish and bedridden. A few days later Tifa went in to wake him up and instead found his cold body. Aerith had told him that night that the planet hadn't intended for him to live through the epidemic at all.

"Cloud you have to understand—"

"Understand what?!" he practically growled back. "The planet wasn't happy that Denzel lived so to fix it she killed him?! Why? What the hell did he do?"

"Cloud… you have to understand," she whispered back brokenly and attempted to hug him as comfort.

The blonde steeled himself as the familiar warmth wrapped around him shoulders. The feeling that usually brought him solace did nothing but disgust him now. He grit his teeth and pushed her slowly out of his mind.

"C-cloud? Please, I didn't mean for—" she tried to plead but Cloud was done and soon she vanished from his thoughts. It was a few seconds later though that he felt another presence pressing at the edge of his conscious. He shook his head.

"Not now Zack."

And he was gone.

Tifa was the next one. It was much later on though. After all the crisis had ended they had made two camps. One in Wutai and another near the Edge. Yuffie, Vincent, and Barrett stationed up in Wutai and sent small shipments of food down every few months. It lasted them a few years but then a large bout of flu struck the fort in Wutai. Yuffie ended up sick and Barrett stopped making the deliveries to care for her. Vincent was the only one practically immune like Cloud so he took up the shipments himself.

Cloud secretly enjoyed when the pale man did come to visit though. In the few days he would rest they would have long conversations about all the different plans they had made (and failed) to kill themselves. It was a rather dark discussion and Cloud always made sure they wouldn't be eavesdropped on during it. He didn't need the troops knowing that he was thinking about suicide day in and day out. If their leader felt like that then surely everyone else would give up as well.

It was soon obvious though that the flu had traveled too with the food and soon infected the second camp as well. The elderly died out first which Cloud was secretly happy about. Less mouths to feed and they could move more efficiently in the case of an ambush. The kids were gone next. Tifa began to panic and always made sure Marlene had fresh water and food from the garden near the church. She made the hike everyday just so they wouldn't have to risk her getting the sickness from the food.

Of course though it soon became obvious that there wouldn't be enough for the both of them forever. Tifa stopped taking from the garden and began eating the food from Wutai again. It wasn't long before she fell sick. She made Cloud watch over Marlene and keep her away from her room so that the small girl wouldn't get sick as well.

Cloud soon took up on the daily commutes to the church and fed Marlene. When the young girl questioned why he never ate from it he simply replied that the Mako wouldn't let him get sick like everyone else. The camp in Wutai soon died out, or at he assumed as it had been months since the last time Yuffie or Barrett called in a transmission on their scavenged ShinRa walkie-talkies. Even their own camp shrunk down to no more than twelve people.

Tifa eventually passed away as well. Cloud hadn't even had to tell Marlene. She immediately burst into tears when she saw his expression. It was one of the only times the battle worn face showed any hint of silence. He woke up later that night though when he felt Marlene leave his arms. He didn't stop here though. Part of him knew she had to see her second mother's empty room before she could really accept the facts. It was the end of the world. The planet was dead. They were all going to die.

The next day it was obvious whatever traces of the illness had been left in Tifa's room were enough to get her sick. More died and soon it was just the two of them. In the last four days they had spent together Cloud stopped gathering food, it was obvious how pointless it was. As he sat there with her cradled in his arms he couldn't help but wonder how it had all come to this. He decided to join ShinRa when he was 14 and ended up being the last person on Gaia. Immortal. That's what Aerith said. He still could barely wrap his head around the concept. What about Vincent? Even he had been gifted with eternal rest. Why not him?

He looked back down at Marlene as he felt the her small weight began to diminish into nothing as she turned into the little pale green tendrils of the Lifestream. He let his arms fall lifelessly to the ground as the last gust of wind took away the final wisps of her.

"And now I'm alone," he whispered. "Can I die now?"

"It's not time yet Cloud," he felt the oh so familiar voice enter his thoughts.

He glared at the ground as he felt his anger begin to boil in him. His hands tore through the earth and left small craters in their wake as they fisted the dirt. "It's not time?You died almost thirty years ago and yet you have the audacity to tell me it's not fucking time?!"

"Cloud you have to understand—"

"No! I don't have to understand anything! Not a single goddamn thing. The world's ended twice, my family's died twice, I've been alone countless times and yet somehow all of you seem to deem that it's okay to ask more of me? Well you know what? Fuck it. Fuck it all. I have limits too and they were passed a long time ago. I'm going to get to rest and the planet can't—no, doesn't have the right to do shit about it."

"Cloud, there are plans for you. You have to believe me, Aerith and I tried to reason with the planet, hell even Tifa did as soon as she got here; all of your friends. No one thinks its fair but the planet won't listen. Please you have to believe me. It's out of our hands."

Cloud hiccuped as he held back the wave of tears coming forth. "Whatever…" he whispered brokenly.

"What?"

He shook his head. "Whatever, I'm done. Just do it so I can be done." He briefly felt a warm presence of a hand on his shoulder before it vanished.

He watched as his hands and feet began to glow a faint green and then disintegrate into nothing. His eyes drooped in his drowsy stupor. He couldn't bring himself to care though. It was obvious he was nothing but a puppet to the planet. He simply let go and let himself fall into the welcoming embrace of darkness.

- — -

AN: Yessum. I love the time travel idea that has come up in this series so I decided I try to play off that. I'll try to make it different though, I don't like reading the same thing. Different plots are necessary ^.^