Pleasant Company
Cloud, 22
"You alright?" Tifa's gentle question was enough to rouse him from his sleep.
"I'm fine," he replied groggily.
"I thought you were having a nightmare," she confessed, almost sounding guilty. Cloud shook his head.
"Not tonight." Unlike every other night, he added to himself.
Tifa murmured something and then rolled over to get some more sleep. She was clearly exhausted. Cloud tried to follow her example, but sleep eluded him. He sat up and got dressed.
Cloud had expected to be the only one in the kitchen so he was surprised to see Yuffie there, looking forlornly out the window. She turned around.
"What are you doing up?" she asked, sounding almost accusing.
"What are you doing here?" Cloud countered. Yuffie gave him one of her trademark wide grins.
"Tifa offered me her room," she said. "I have some business with WRO."
There was a sly glint in her eye that Cloud was beginning to mistrust.
"Of course, I suppose as you and Tifa are sharing now, it's really just the spare room." Cloud shrugged. If she thought he was going to react to her teasing, she was sadly mistaken. It wasn't like there was anything for him to be ashamed of.
The girl watched him for a few moments before sighing in disappointment. She was so transparent sometimes. He might have been tempted to write her off as a child if he hadn't seen her passionately and responsibly campaigning for the rights of her people. She was a strange mixture of maturity and childishness.
The thought reminded him of the strange dream-memory. In the dream, he had kind of felt like that. He had been caught up in a world too big for him and forced to make the best of it.
"Hello? Anyone in there?" Yuffie was staring at him in annoyance.
"Did you say something?" Cloud asked.
"I asked if you wanted breakfast."
"I'll get it myself," said Cloud and he went to do just that. Yuffie was an A-class klutz, a rather bizarre trait for a girl trained to be a ninja. She was fine on the field, he had seen her fight enough times to attest to that. It was only when she was doing household chores that she seemed to have trouble.
Cloud heard the thundering of footsteps upstairs. The two kids were up and about. He waited for the inevitable ambush.
Marlene ran up to Yuffie happily and gave her a hug. Denzel, however, was more reserved in his greetings. Even after knowing them for six months, Denzel was still nervy around Cloud and the members of Avalanche.
Cloud prepared his breakfast and helped get the kids theirs, too. It would spare Tifa some work.
She still wasn't up yet, but he supposed she was tired from yesterday. Cloud was glad he could help her out, if only a little. Most of the time, he was out working, leaving her to look after the kids and manage the bar herself.
They were halfway through their breakfast before Tifa woke up. She looked delighted to see them all eating together. This made him feel vaguely guilty. He tried to be around as much as possible, but there was always so much to be done.
This weekend had been a 'gift' from Reeve. He had insisted that Cloud spend it with his family and promised not to call him. It was an opportunity he was honestly grateful for. He wanted to make an effort to be a bigger part of his family's lives.
Yuffie left quickly, saying that she wanted to catch Reeve early. She would need to, Cloud reflected, considering how busy the WRO was. Rebuilding a city was no small task.
"We should probably get going. I have to get an order list sorted out. I wish I could do it some other time, but…"
"If you don't get it done, it'll be ages before another truck is brought in," Cloud finished. "I understand."
The complete removal of the Mako industry had not come without a price. Petrol was still rare, cars which ran on it even rarer. They would start using coal energy, for now, but Cloud knew that wasn't the WRO's final objective. One day, the planet would be fuelled on totally renewable energy. In the meantime, they used what little resources they could find.
Tifa left with Marlene, who was determined to 'help'. Denzel retreated to his room, leaving Cloud on his own. It was exactly what he had been trying to avoid. When he was by himself, his thoughts turned automatically to the dream.
'Why show me, anyway?' he wondered pensively. Zack had called it a 'gift', so he supposed the older man thought he would enjoy it. He supposed he had, but in some ways it had only left him more confused.
Was this going be the only dream, or would there be more? Was he going to see all his unremembered past, or only the memories he had shared with Zack? And how was this possible, anyway?
Cloud had spent the day sitting fitfully around the house, trying to amuse himself. He had tried everything, from reading to watching TV to sitting outside. Nothing amused him for long.
The dull monotony of the day was broken by Yuffie's arrival. She had appeared exhausted and disgruntled.
"Can I stay here for a few days?" she pleaded when Tifa had asked her what was wrong. "Apparently, nothing's going to happen quickly and I don't want to stay with all the snobs up at the WRO headquarters."
Tifa had agreed and the girl had gone up to change and mind the kids. Cloud had to admit that it was nice of her to volunteer to help, even though he had mixed feelings about her staying around his house.
Cloud had wanted to hang around the bar, talking to Tifa, but there were too many customers for this to be possible. He wondered when they would finally find an opportunity to just talk.
Discouraged, he left to have a shower and go to bed. Maybe this dream would provide excitement to his otherwise boring life…
Again, they stood back to back, overlooking a desolate plain. This time, the rain had stopped and a hint of sunshine was visible through the thick clouds. The city which lay on the horizon was no longer Midgar, but Edge.
"What exactly are you going to show me?" Cloud asked.
"The final missing piece of the puzzle. The answer to a question you don't remember..."
Cloud went to turn around and beg more answers from his friend, but before he could the ground crumbled underneath his feet. He was falling…
Cloud, 16
The incessant screeching of Cloud's alarm clock relentlessly signalled the start of the day. Cloud would have liked nothing more to stay in bed and ignore it; he'd only gotten back from his mission the yesterday after all. It didn't seem fair that he had to go to the morning exercise.
But it was his group's turn and if he missed out on that, he would cop it from his sergeant and the rest of his team, who would most likely be punished for his absence.
Thoughts of SOLDIER and old promises eventually roused him from his bed. Regardless of his aching head and stiff muscles, he had to keep on going. He had to be strong.
The cold was enough to chill his highland blood. The main barracks was always poorly heated, so that on any cold days the hallways were freezing and the bathrooms worse.
It was raining by the time he got out to the training field, typical of Midgar. Never unpleasant when it could be horrible instead. His sergeant was waiting for them, looking completely disinterested in his task.
He sent them off, jogging through the muddy training course. While it would normally be fairly easy, today the combination of mud and general fatigue made the simple task seem impossible.
Nevertheless Cloud started off, making sure to keep a steady pace. He heard the grumbling from other grunts about the unfairness of the whole thing. Cloud personally thought if they had breath to complain then they were doing fine.
In the end, it was a struggle to keep himself from falling completely behind the main group. Pure determination kept him going. He just hoped that the training session would be over once the course was finished.
His hopes were dashed just after he crossed the line, muddy and wet to the bone. The sergeant gestured inside, to the relief of the tired infantry men, only to tell them that they were going to do weight training for the remainder of the session. They'd been given ten minutes to towel off and then they were taken straight to the training room.
Weights were Cloud's least favourite exercise. He nearly always fell behind. He just didn't seem to have the muscle mass to do the exercises and he wasn't putting much on. He arms ached nearly every night, but he only seemed to get weaker, not stronger.
The training room seemed to stretch on forever. It was strange, how much money Shinra put into ensuring their army had proper training equipment. They skimped money on their other equipment, their food and their pay, but not this. He supposed it was because SOLDIERs might use it too.
Everyone settled down at a station and waited for their sergeant to yell out orders. He did not bother to check on them, just sat on the front, demanding a hellish pace out of all of them.
A few minutes into the exercise and the physical effort of pulling the bar down was bring tears to his eyes. He grit his teeth and continued, until he felt a tearing sensation in his shoulder.
The pain was so bad he let go completely, instinctively reacting to try and lessen the pain. The weights fell down with a bang, alerting the sergeant to his predicament.
The sergeant stopped his counting and walked over to him.
"What's wrong?" his tone was anything but helpful. He sounded annoyed.
"My shoulder," he said slowly, trying not to burst into tears. 'I am not a child, I can do this,' he repeated to himself.
"Get to the nurses, then. There's nothing I can do for you." The class began to snigger. Embarrassment warred with indignation. They didn't care that he was in pain, they just thought it was funny to see the weakling struggle.
The sergeant moved away and continued the session. Cloud was left to try and sit up. It was difficult, as he couldn't put any weight on his left arm without his shoulder hurting. Eventually, he made it out of the training room, the mocking laughter of his group still stuck in his head.
He leaned against the wall, eyes closed, waiting for the pain to recede. When he kept himself perfectly still, the pain was bearable. He wondered if it was worth going to the medical centre after all. He didn't want to bother them if he just had a muscle cramp.
"You alright?" Cloud opened his eyes slowly. The SOLDIER from yesterday was staring at him, looking concerned.
"I just hurt my left shoulder a bit, during exercise. I'm sure it's nothing really." Cloud tried to keep his voice level, but his uneven breathing betrayed his discomfort.
"Why don't I check, just to be sure," Zack said in a way which made it perfectly clear he wasn't actually asking anything. He leaned over and gently pulled Cloud's training shirt down his arm.
"That's definitely swollen," Zack murmured. Cloud twisted his head, but he couldn't see anything. He could, however, feel the heat radiating in his upper arm. Zack gently prodded at the affected shoulder.
"At least you haven't broken anything," Zack said cheerfully when Cloud didn't react. "If you had, you would have probably cried out then. I'm guessing it's just a strain."
"Great," said Cloud sourly. "I guess that's not so bad, then."
"It could definitely be worse," the SOLDIER continued. "Here, I can help you treat it, if you want."
"You don't have to," Cloud said, feeling awkward. "I mean, you must be very busy and all."
"Not right now, actually," said Zack firmly. "Follow me."
The next thing Cloud knew, he was being dragged around the Shinra building by an over-enthusiastic SOLDIER. Every so often, staff would give Zack a strange look, which he would reply to with a smile of his own.
All the attention, even if it was second hand, made Cloud feel embarrassed. He didn't like the way people's eyes ran over him, almost certainly wondering what a mere boy could possibly be doing hanging around a SOLDIER.
Not that Cloud wasn't wondering the same thing. Zack could have easily just sent him up to the medical ward. It didn't make any sense for him to go out of his way just to help Cloud treat a minor injury.
Eventually, Zack pulled him into a small room. It was filled with cupboards and a small bed had been placed against the far wall. It was clearly a make-shift first aid room.
Zack let go of the younger boy and searched through the cupboards. He pulled out an instant freeze pack. He wrapped it in a cloth and handed it to Cloud.
"Hold it on your shoulder for as long as you can stand the cold. You should use these whenever your arm feels sore or looks swollen."
Cloud sat down on the bed and placed the packet on his injured shoulder, wincing at the cold.
"Thank you," said Cloud. "I appreciate the help. They don't let infantrymen access medical equipment without a nurse's approval. It's much faster this way."
"See? I was useful, after all." Zack looked so proud of himself, it made Cloud laugh.
"Have you had to treat many injuries?" asked Cloud. Zack nodded.
"Not everything's treatable with materia. Things like sprains, twisted ankles, we just have to deal with."
Cloud remembered that from his cadet lessons.
"Because materia only helps by rapidly accelerating emergency responses, right? It'll stop someone from bleeding out, but the rest has to heal on its own. Otherwise any one with a heal materia would theoretically be nigh-invulnerable."
Cloud found himself looking at the fine scars along Zack's jaw. Normally heavy materia usage added to the mako injections stopped SOLDIERs from scarring. He wondered why those particular scars had remained.
"Not bad," Zack said. "You seem to have the theory down pat, anyway."
"That's all I have down pat," Cloud said morosely, before he could stop himself. Zack sat down next to him.
"I'm sure you'll get things, at your own pace. It doesn't help if you push yourself too hard, you know." The last was said almost rebukingly.
"I have to keep up with the others," Cloud insisted. "If I fall behind, or do less, then my sergeant calls me weak."
"It's not about what people say," said Zack. "It's about doing what's right. For you, I mean."
"I suppose," said Cloud. "Maybe, if I'd been more careful, I wouldn't have done this."
"Maybe," said Zack. "You just need to take things at your own pace, that's all." Cloud sighed.
"It just seems like my pace is slower then any one else here. If I move at my own pace, how will I ever make SOLDIER?"
"Just do your best, and live with honour. If you've done that, then you've done more then most people, SOLDIER or not." There was a sad, wistful look in his eyes.
"Why are you helping me, anyway?" Cloud asked. "Surely I don't warrant this much attention."
"How much attention do you warrant, then?" Zack asked teasingly. "Should I have just left you there?"
"Most people would have," Cloud said. "I'm not their concern, so they don't care." Zack shrugged.
"Maybe you're right, but I think that's selfish. You needed help, so I helped. Nothing to it, really."
"I guess not," said Cloud, but he disagreed. Zack might not think it was a big deal, but it was to him.
'So I suppose us meeting was just a coincidence,' Cloud thought to himself. 'Unless I happen to go on another mission with him, I probably won't see Zack again.' The thought depressed him. He was really enjoying Zack's company.
"I could hardly leave you to the mercy of the under-staffed medical team," Zack continued. "What kind of friend would that make me?" Cloud froze. He could hardly believe what he was hearing.
Before Cloud managed to say anything, Zack's PHS beeped. He checked it quickly and then sighed.
"You are right about me being busy, though. Looks like I've got to run."
"Thanks again for the help," Cloud said. He gave Zack a shy smile.
"No problem. I'll see you around." The SOLDIER dashed out, leaving Cloud to his thoughts.
Cloud waited for a while, until his shoulder felt well and truly de-swollen. Then he went to get lunch. The whole time, he was smiling. Zack really wanted to be his friend. Someone as cool and generous as him not only acknowledged his presence, but apparently enjoyed it.
For the rest of the day, it seemed as if nothing could touch him. The casual cruelty of his dorm mates, the isolation of working at Shinra and the dismal conditions meant nothing to him. He had a friend now. For the first time since he had joined Shinra, things were finally looking up.