Thank you so much to my three wonderful reviewers! It's your fault that I got this done so fast!

Cloud woke up, feeling like cotton had been stuffed into all five of his major senses. He coughed and someone put a hand under his shoulders to help him sit. Through bleary eyes, he glimpsed a white coat attached to the arm under his shoulder. Enemy! His mind screamed. Panic surged. The white coat was huge and looming. He rolled away, knowing that if he didn't run, run, run pain would follow, searing and scarring and uncaring.

He landed in a heap on the floor, not having noticed that he had been in a bed until then, tugged under covers now tangled around his legs preventing his escape. He moaned in fright as the white coat, man in a white coat he noticed eyes slowly focusing, leaned down towards him.

"Hm. I didn't know your son had a fear of doctors, Mrs. Strife?" The voice didn't seem hostile, but you couldn't trust that.

"No, I've never seen him react like this. The last time you treated him, he didn't seem to mind... Is... Is he gonna be alright?"

"I assure you, Mrs. Strife," the man said, walking away. "I'll do my best. It could simply be disorientation, but for now I'd rather not scare him needlessly. Why don't you try to calm him down?" The male voice disappeared behind a door and Cloud slowly began to relax.

A woman moved into his line of sight. She was wearing a skirt in a dark, earthy colour and a blouse in a much lighter shade, if not quite white. "Cloud dear, how are you?"

Cloud eyed her kind, blue eyes, the hair in a loose ponytail, the line of her chin and the turn of her mouth. "Mum!" He yelled, throwing himself into her embrace, breathing in her scent of wood and home-made bakery. He had missed that scent. ...Hadn't he?

"Oh, Cloud. I'm so glad you're alright!" And she pressed her lips to the top of his hair, her arms around him was like a vice, like she never meant to let him go again. Not that his own, barely reaching around her wait were any less tight. "When they said you had had an accident, that you had somehow fallen from the old well, I feared the worst!"

They sat like that, both clinging to the other for the next few minutes until the doctor returned through the back door, putting his now discarded coat over the back of a chair. He smiled at the display, mother and son all but oblivious to his presence. Just as it should be, really. He coughed discretely, not wanting to interrupt, but the kid had acquired quite a possibly serious head injury and he needed to check him now that he was conscious.

The boy looked up, his huge blue eyes catching the doctor's before he tilted his head to the side. "You're not scary," he said, sounding curious and fingering the bandage covering his temples, as though he hadn't noticed it before.

The doctor barked a laugh. "No, I should hope not, kiddo, or I'm in the wrong profession." Good to know that he could avoid the panic attack just by removing the white coat.

A tiny little nose wrinkled in disgust. His wife would have probably swooned at the absolutely too cute gesture when the kid replied disgruntedly. "I'm not a kid."

The man had to blink a little at that. Well, he was used to get that response from teenagers but from five-year-olds? That was new.

"Now, now, Cloud, don't be rude to the doctor," his mother interjected, before she picked him up and placed him back in his bed. "I'm sorry, doctor." She gave him a kind smile, smoothing back the unruly locks her son's hair consisted of. The son who had blinked in surprise when he was lifted.

"Well, Mr., you had quite the unlucky collision with the ground not too long ago." He had been unconscious no more than 15 minutes, which was perfectly normal, considering. "I need to check some thing, okay?" The kid nodded and the doctor fished a small light out of his bag. "Look into the light, please." He checked the boy's pupils, noting how the boy flinched at the light, however his pupils reacted normally. "Are you in any pain?"

"My head hurts a bit and it feels like my ears and nose has been stuffed with cotton." And like someone had put a wall of opaque glass in front of his eyes, but he didn't want his mum to worry.

"Mh, to be expected. What's the last thing you remember?"

The boy opened his mouth to answer, then snapped it shut, his eyebrows coming down in a frown. "I... I don't know."

The man didn't show how unnerving it was that the boy seemed to remember nothing, simply continued his line of questions. "Do you know what day it is today?" A shake of the head. "Ah, then I can tell you it's Tuesday, April 2nd. What day's your birthday?"

"August 11th." Good, prompt response.

"Who's your best friend?"

At this he hesitated, casting a look at his mother before answering. "Tifa Lockhart."

"What's your favourite food?"

Another look at his mother, who smiled encouragingly. "Uh.. all sortsa things. I like mom's pies, especially the raspberry one."

A quick enquiring look to his mother, who nodded, smiling. "He'll eat anything you put in front of him. Truly he should be about twice his size considering his appetite."

"He's a growing boy, it's only natural. Hey, can you write your name on this?" The clipboard and pen looked too big for the small boy, but he nodded and dutifully wrote his name. His full name no less and in a surprisingly even hand to boot. How unusual for a five-year-old. "Well. You seem to have a slight concussion and a case of amnesia, but I wouldn't be too worried, you remember the important things, right?" The boy simply nodded. "The memories will come back on their own, but you need to stay in bed for a couple of days, okay? Until your head stops hurting completely."

He turned, motioning to a frowning Mrs. Strife to follow him. They left the boy tentatively testing a bandage on his elbow. Closing the Strifes' front door behind him, doctor Morris found himself blinking in the sharp sunlight.

"Is he gonna be alright?" Mrs. Strife asked, before he could even open his mouth. He smiled reassuringly back at her.

"Yeah. Children of that age can bounce back from almost anything. As I said, his memories are gonna come back on their own, little by a little, I didn't want to pressure him and I don't think it's a good idea if you do it either. It's only gonna frighten him. Aside from the head injury he's got a few cuts and bruises, but nothing major. Just keep the scrapes clean. It's probably not possible to keep him in bed for two days, but just keep him there as long as you can."

She nodded, a faraway look in her eyes. "I didn't know that he could write yet."

He had to blink at that. "Please give me a call if there're any complications."

- - -

Astrid Strife had surprisingly little trouble keeping her son in his bed the first day (but then maybe that had something to do with the raspberry pie she baked). Around noon on the second day though, he got up from his bed and levelled her with a serious look that told her everything she needed to know about whether she'd be able to keep him down any longer.

"My head stopped hurting." She frowned, trying to see if he was in any way lying to her or being evasive. His eyes were clear though, not a hint of pain showing through.

"Okay. Just... what were you thinking yesterday?" He averted his eyes then, biting his lips instead of answering. "You still don't remember?" He shook his head dejectedly and she sighed kneeling down to look him in the eyes. "It's okay, dear, if you don't remember, then you don't remember, but please be careful, alright? I don't like when you you get hurt."

"Okay, mum."

She ruffled his hair affectionately. "Now go play." He gave her a quick hug, then dashed out the door. She frowned after him, wondering when he had become so affectionate.

- - -

Tifa and her friends were playing war, happily slinging mud at each other when he arrived. There might have been some kind of point system in the beginning and maybe there had been teams but now it was a free for all battle royale about who could get the most mud on everyone else.

Cloud hesitated at the edge of the battlefield, certain that his mother would be disappointed if he joined. But... It looked so fun!

"Uhm... guys? Can I play too?" Desperately trying not to let them know how insecure he was, but unable to stop shifting his weight, he peered at them through his bangs.

Tifa opened her mouth to answer, but was beaten by Wel. "No," he stated rudely. "You're all clean and it would be unfair 'cause we're already all muddy."

Cloud frowned, wondering if there wasn't some hole in that argument. It wasn't like he would be clean forever. His frown was met with the hostile stare of all three boys, while Tifa looked decidedly indecisive. "Oh, okay, I'll just watch then." For some reason he really, really, really didn't want to leave Tifa alone.

That was to set an example for his interaction with the group for several years. Whenever Cloud asked if he could join the game, either Wel, Dan or Meiday would refuse him, using bad excuses or just doing it for the fun of it. Meanwhile, Tifa would frown, look insecure, and not say anything. The whole thing rankled Cloud, because she was his best friend! Why was he suddenly not allowed to play with her? Besides, Tifa looking insecure was just wrong. In the end he stopped asking and just observed them from afar or from behind a hiding place.

That is, it set an example until Tifa's mother died.

When she died they held a funeral procession, but Tifa wasn't in it. Grief stricken she had stayed home, refusing to go out or acknowledge any consolation her father tried to offer. In the end he had been forced to agree to let her stay home if he didn't want to drag her with him kicking and screaming.

Cloud stayed behind as well. He had liked Mrs. Lockhart. You couldn't not like her, she always had an extra cookie for you and an extra hug or a band-aid. She was just a very lovable woman. Tifa had adored her, of course. And it was Tifa that had Cloud worried about. He understood death, couldn't remember a time when he didn't. Of course, he still didn't remember anything from before his fall from the well, so that might be it, but... He had heard Meiday's mother explain to him, that Tifas mother had gone on a long journey. In Cloud's not so humble opinion, that was a stupid way of saying it. Death was death, you couldn't make it pretty and trying just dragged out the pain.

He had to wonder if his own mother ever had tried explaining his father's death in such a way, but he couldn't imagine her doing that. She was too sensible.

So, worried about Tifa, he had stayed behind, wondering if he could get her to speak with him. Crying helped. If he could get her to cry and be there for her, maybe she wouldn't feel so sad. He was standing in front of her front door, wondering how best to approach her, when he heard the back door open and close.

Nobody but Tifa was home. It could only mean one thing; Tifa had left. As fast as his legs could carry him, he ran to the other side of the house just in time to see Tifa disappear around the corner of the neighbouring house, his own house his mind supplied unhelpfully. Why was she leaving her house? Her father had given up on getting her to even leave her room.

The blonde followed his younger neighbour around the corner and towards... Shinra mansion? What in the world could she be doing at that old, dilapidated ruin? Well, it was still standing, but Cloud suspected it was sheer luck it hadn't caved in on itself already.

No, he found, when she ran past the mansion too, she really didn't have anything to do at the old, oversized house. Instead she seemed to be headed to... Oh, no! The Nibel mountains. Cloud shuddered. Every child in the village had been told numerous horror stories about travellers, who had gotten lost in the labyrinthine trails or attacked by Nibel wolves or simply fallen and gotten stuck, calling fruitlessly for help until they died of thirst. Why were Tifa headed there?

He followed her, staying out of sight as best he could, considering he was still eight. But then, Tifa was nine months younger and she didn't seem to take notice, even when his blond spikes caught the sun and blazed golden in the way only light hair does.

He followed her for a long time, the entire time praying that no Nibel wolf would see them, two children, alone, defenceless and exposed, at the same time he was mulling over the best way to approach her.

He followed her at a distance all the way until they arrived at the old suspension bridge. When she took the first step onto the old, half-rotten boards, he had a sudden terrible vision of the rope snapping and the bridge falling, falling with Tifa's screams ringing in his ears.

"Tifa!" He yelled, running to catch up. There was barely a pause in her step as she looked back, seeing who had followed her all this way, before she continued. "Tifa! Don't step onto the bridge! It's dangerous!" But she was doing her best to ignore him, continuing her careful steps. He stood there, tripping, shifting his weight from side to side while the bridge groaned and whined as the wind and Tifa's slight weight pulled on it.

He swallowed. He had to get Tifa back, but if he stepped onto the bridge, it might be even worse. Casting his eyes around for a solution, he suddenly saw a spot where the rope was rotting away. That decided it for him and he sprinted as fast as he dared after Tifa, latched onto her arms and began dragging her back. She resisted of course, but fright made him strong and she hadn't gotten that far. A scant few meters from safety they both heard the distinctive sound of rope fibres snapping over the sound of the wind and Tifa very nearly pushed the other child the rest of the way.

They stumbled as soon as their feet hit solid ground, landing in a heap, both of them not caring as they observed how the wind pulled at the bridge, causing the last few fibres to snap. They looked on in horror as the bridge fell, almost lazily hitting against the cliff on the other side of the ravine.

They swallowed simultaneously, neither daring to look down at how far they would have fallen.

The first to catch herself, Tifa turned to Cloud, eyes blazing. "What in the world did you think you were doing?"

"Huh?" was the intelligent reply.

"If you hadn't randomly run after me, it would've been fine! The bridge would never have collapsed under just my weight."

"If I hadn't run after you, you would be lying down there now! Dead!"

"No, I wouldn't!"

"Yes, you would! That bridge would have fallen if you logged a stone at it!"

"Don't be stupid."

"I'm not. How much do you think I weigh?! And stop acting like you're older than me, you only just turned eight."

"You're only eight too!"

"But I turn nine in less than a month," he replied smugly.

She stuck out her tongue at him, but he didn't allow himself to be provoked and they lapsed into silence. A wolf howled in the distance and they both started, but the howl was far away an not taken up by any other predators.

"We.. we should probably get off the mountain. The burial must be finished by now and your father's probably worried." Cloud stood.

She didn't make a move to do as he had suggested. Instead, she pulled her knees to her chest and put her arms around them. "I miss my mum." He nodded, not knowing what to reply to that, but since he wanted to show her his sympathy he sat back down, close enough to touch but not crowding her. "Why... why did she have to die?" her pleading eyes turned to him and he bit his lip, trying to put his thoughts in order.

"I... don't think there's a why. Sometimes, people just die and you feel guilty and sad, you wonder if maybe if you had done something different, then maybe they didn't have to die, but... there really isn't anything you could have done. And blaming yourself... It just makes you even more unhappy and I'm sure your mum would have wanted you to be happy." He gave her a wan smile. Encouraging but not patronizing and not cheery.

"Can... She can't come back, can she?"

"No. I'm sorry." She nodded, her lower lip quivering. "If..." He swallowed, gathering courage. "If you want to cry, that's okay too. Sometimes it helps."

Her eyes filled with tears almost as soon as he mentioned the word cry. Cursing silently, he put his arm around her trembling shoulders. "Did..." her voice was shaky and she was interrupted by a sudden hiccough. "Did you cry... when you f-father died?"

"I don't know," he answered honestly. "I don't remember anything from before I was five. I was probably too little to understand anyway." He hesitated, she needed to let go. "I think I would cry if my mother died though."

That opened the flood gates and she started sobbing, burying her face against his slim chest. He tried not to grimace, knowing he had to sacrifice his shirt to whatever bodily fluids Tifa would leak. Ugh. Then again, he thought, placing his other arm around her as well, it was worth it if it made her feel better.

The cold, insisting wind had made his fingers lose feeling by the time Tifa's crying finally subsided and she lifted her head. She wiped her eyes, red from crying, then magically fished a pack of paper tissues from one of her pockets to blow her nose with. Eyeing Cloud's ruined shirt, she couldn't help the sudden laugh when Cloud followed and grimaced at the mess.

"I'm sorry." She really tried to sound apologetic, but somehow mirth was predominant.

"It's fine. My mum won't mind washing it. Say something about purpose and sacrifice or something."

"Oh." Tifa tilted her head, suddenly reminded of something. "Why can't you remember anything from before you was five?"

There was a few moments of silence, in which the blonde eyed her, head tilted to one side.

"I fell and hit my head. When I woke up I had amnesia."

"Wow, so you couldn't remember anything?"

"No, I could remember my name, my birthday, my mum, favourite food..." he hesitated. "You." He had to suppress a grin as she blushed slightly. "Things like that. But everything else was.. just gone. I didn't know what I had been doing. Ever. I didn't even remember how old I was."

"Really? But you said you remembered your birthday."

"Yeah, I just didn't know how long it had been since my birthday."

"Wooow, wicked."

The impressed outburst prompted a raised eyebrow and a wry grin. "If I'd known you were gonna be so amazed at my forgetfulness, I'd have told you sooner." He got up and reached a hand down to her, smiling. "Come on. We really gotta get off this mountain. It's too dangerous to stay and we wouldn't wanna be caught out when it gets dark."

They made their way down slowly, both of them stiff from the cold. Even in summer, it was pretty cold in the mountains. Despite Tifa wanting to get down fast to avoid any possible monsters, Cloud really didn't want any of them to fall and break something, especially considering that it was getting dark and neither of them were strong enough to carry the other the rest of the way down without risking even more severe injuries.

About halfway down, Tifa suddenly broke into a run. "Daddy!" She called excitedly and ran into the arms of her father, who easily picked her up an hugged her close.

"Oh, Life Tifa, don't ever scare me like that again, you hear? I already lost Maddie, if I lost you too... Tifa, I don't know what I would do."

"I'm sorry, Daddy." He ruffled her hair, resulting in a squeaked "Daddyy!" before he turned to Cloud with suddenly cold eyes. Cloud shifted his weight, wondering at the sudden hostility emanating from the adult.

"Why did you take her up in the mountains. I thought you'd know how dangerous it is, it's no place for children!"

"Wha'...? But, I di-..." Stopping mid-sentence, he cast a helpless look at Tifa. Tifa had gone on her own, but he didn't want her to get scolded, not when she had just been crying because she lost her mother. He swallowed. He would have to take the blame for this, no matter how little he might like it, he had to, to spare Tifa...

His thought process was suddenly interrupted by an offended squawk, coming from the sole female in the small party. "That wasn't how it happened at all! In fact... in fact, Cloud saved me when the bridge fell, 'cause if he hadn't dragged me back I would have fallen too and it was my own idea to go to the mountain and Cloud just followed 'cause he was worried 'bout me, and you really shouldn't be mad at Cloud 'cause Cloud's the bestest friend ever and he understands everything!" She took a deep breath. Both males blinked in astonishment.

Cloud's thought process had ground to a complete halt at the 'bestest friend ever' a warm and tender feeling blooming in his chest.

At the same time, Tifa's father was just trying to make sense of the long-winded monologue.

Another howl sounded, this time picked up by other of the canyon's predators. They were still a ways off, but the hunt had begun. All three humans swallowed and promptly started down the track, Tifa resting in her father's arms.

"So..." Mr. Lockhart began, eyeing the silent boy walking next to him. "Why didn't you tell me what Tifa just told me?" He was honestly curious. He had been about to give the boy the scolding of his life and the kid's flickering eyes had been clear indication that the boy had known and yet, he had remained silent?

"I... I didn't want Tifa to be scolded. Not... not when..." He trailed of but they all knew what he meant. Well, that was an unusually mature thought for boy of barely nine.

Lockhart nodded, grateful for the little Strife's thoughtfulness. In truth, he hadn't liked the boy's father, he had been arrogant and true to his name constantly looked for trouble. His son, however, seemed to only have inherited his mother's considerate nature. "Thanks, kid. For saving her and..." he eyed the dark patch on his shirt, still wet and clinging. "Thank you for being there for her."

The kid nodded, accepting the gratitude. "It was no problem at all, sir." He smiled.

NOTE: Don't be mistaken. This is adult Cloud in child Cloud's body, but it is an adult Cloud with severe amnesia who's treated like a child. Since there (obviously) aren't any cases studied of such a particular case, this is just my guess on how someone would react. Namely by thinking everyone else was right. He'd just have a more mature mindset than his peers. (Also, any memories he might have had is most likely suppressed due to sheer weirdness)

Also! Who can tell me the question the good doctor forgot? A question that might have told him something of exactly how severe Cloud's amnesia was.

Once again! Please R&R!