Shinra explains the event as a test of their emergency alert system.
The experiment, meant to stimulate fear and the desire to flee in the populace, in order to encourage the unwilling to evacuate in times of true danger, was considered a success. The company sent out a press release on the topic and promised to hold a press conference to further discuss the issue later in the week, allowing for the very upset public to voice their concerns.
After all, they had found themselves, for reasons no on understood, fleeing for their lives from no real danger. No one could remember what had prompted the flight from Midgar; some had fuzzy images of a red sky, or the sight of buildings cracking and falling. None of that remains. The streets are as clean as they always are (which isn't very), nothing is damaged or broken. The sky is as grey and smog filled as it always is. Nothing has changed.
There is a change in leadership, however, for the company. Rufus Shinra, having long been in hiding, finally steps into the light to take over his late father's company, and his first act is to promise to deliver a new direction for the company, a detailed plan for redirecting the development of alternative fuel sources and a severe scouring of the science departments, long left un-examined.
Reeve is the only remaining scientific mind in the building. He becomes head of the new department overseeing the various research divisions, and works alongside the President and his Turks to ensure that every employee responsible for the company's past deeds is found, and made responsible for them.
It's all a goddamn relief for Cid Highwind. He never wanted the job anyway.
The view over Midgar is great from the deck of the Highwind. Sure, it's dirty. Air's full of smog, and smells like shit, but it's still a pretty lookin' city. It'll be nice to go home, though, once all this is over. 'This' being the destruction of every single bit of Hojo's research, and the promise of a new future for the planet.
After all, they couldn't just trust Rufus Shinra when he said he promised to do better, this time. They were gonna hang around and make sure he did.
It all feels like a weird dream, now. Sure, Cid remembers the fact they time traveled. So does everybody who was there that night when the machine flicked off. But he doesn't remember a lot of solid details of that other life.
His friends? Of course. He fuckin' loves 'em. He remembers the fight for their lives, for the planet, running across continents, breaking outta prisons, working as terrorists and freedom fighters and all manner of things. He remembers a life in which he didn't pull himself together after the rocket failed – and fuck if that didn't suck a dick – and he remembers a life where he was a far, far worse person.
Thank the gods for Jean Strife.
It's weird. The more time passes from that day, the more those memories become blurred and distant. He almost wanted to keep some of Hojo's research, if only to clarify and understand what was happening to him, but the team voted that down, and he understood the concern. Aerith assured him, he'd never actually forget. It was just normal. The same way the brain slowly filters personal memories, keeping the important stuff, letting the rest sink to the bottom.
"It feels weird, because it's so many memories, so suddenly," She told him, when they first discussed it. "The brain really isn't designed for that kind of memory dump, you know? So it feels like it's all being erased now that it's over. Really, your mind is just filing a bunch of really old stuff away, really fast, so you aren't bogged down by it all."
Makes sense, he guesses. And he doesn't honestly want the memories of being a drunk abusive asshole to remain crystal clear in his head. It just feels a lot like losing control, and that's a feeling he's always hated, no matter what lifetime he's in.
The door behind him slides open. Cid, leaning over the railing with a real cigarette in hand, doesn't bother to look back. His men know not to bother him when he's brooding.
A black gloved hand snatches the cigarette from his fingers, and flicks it off the edge. "Those are bad for you," A deep voice growls.
Cid's stomach does a god-damn back flip. Vincent.
Mother fuckin' Vincent. One of his best friends, a man he's fought gods and demons with. A man that, in another lifetime, drifted away from him. He cannot fathom how another version of himself married Shera of all people.
Shera? Really? Fuck it, he loves Shera, but not -
"Captain." Cid startles, head snapping up. The look on Vincent's face is knowing, and fond. "How are you adjusting?"
"Eh," He shrugs, nervous. "I'm alright."
"And Cloud?"
Right, that whole can of worms. "Haven't spoken to him bout it. Kid's got enough on his plate right now."
They're all dealing with remembering a lifetime that wasn't their own, with reconciling new relationships with people they barely knew days before. Cloud, on top of it, is having to remember a hell of a lot more, torture and disassociation and murders and death and – fuck.
"He really has been through it." Cid sighs, hanging his head. "I don't want to dump anything else on him."
"You shouldn't think of this as adding to his load." Vincent insists gently. The man crosses his arms, leaning on the railing alongside Cid. "It's reaching out to him."
"I dunno. Maybe." Cid sighs, running a hand through his hair. A nervous glance, and he looks back up to Vincent. "Vince, hey, uh, I'm sorry I made you uncomfortable all those times."
God he was such an ass. Vincent's been through so much already, and here he was makin' light of it, fuck. Vincent eyes him steadily, face hidden behind that high cowl, and Cid fights the urge to look away.
"You'll be returning to Rocket Town after this?" Slowly, Cid nods. "I'd like to come with you." Shock widens Cid's eyes. "Given everything that's occurred, and thinking of my own place in the world… it seems a place I could be of use."
"You – what?"
"Does your offer still stand?" It's clear from the shape of his narrowed eyes and tilt of his brow that he's smirking behind that cowl. "You asked if you could study my wings. Have you changed your mind?"
"Well, no – but Vince! I mean, that's," He swallows. "I'd never do that to you."
A hand touches his shoulder. "I know that," The other insists. "I know you, twice over now. Even before our memories returned, I saw what a good man you were, how much you care about the people around you. Nothing about you is in any way similar to that man." Vincent's hand falls away. "I trust you, with everything. With myself."
Fuck, he's going for it. Cid whips his hands out, grabs that damn cowl and pulls, and Vincent follows him easily, their lips meeting between them.
When he leans away, face flushed, its to find the other man smirking at him. "I think you should ask Cloud to join us in Rocket Town. Talk to him."
"Ugh," Cid throws his head back, but he's smiling. "Fine. But you're helping me!"
Vincent nods with a smile of his own, as he reaches out to take the captain's hand in his.
In the days and weeks that follow the incident, a lot changes for Midgar; for the planet.
Those who were suspicious of Rufus Shinra's promise to change begin to see it might be true. Highwind Industries reaches a deal with Shinra to start assisting in implementing clean energy solutions in the capital. Once that's functioning, they're planning to continue developing those methods in other major cities, until Mako energy is completely replaced. For the moment, unnecessary and superfluous uses of energy are being restricted, limiting the amount of lights that can be on in the city at any time, how late businesses and offices can remain open, how much power corporations can use without shifting to clean energy. With Reeve's assistance and the Highwind's expertise, it's not long before a real, workable plan is in place.
There's more to do, of course. There's going to have to be healing for the planet, work that Aerith and AVALANCHE plan to undertake. Barret was thrilled to be part of a reforestation and green campaign, and his team – Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge – followed with him. With the Cetra's guidance, they've already started returning life to the dead zones in and around Midgar, to massive success.
Standing miles outside the city, on an empty platform overlooking the canyon below, Cloud can see the green trees that have come to life outside the city walls. There aren't many, not yet. But it's a start.
Even though they are working slow, it's a better start than they had before. The Meteor and sudden destruction of the city meant a complete shutting off of all power, for a long time. People died. They froze, starved, they lost medical care and housing. While it may have ended the planet's suffering and led to its eventual recovery, it was a method that cost a lot of pain and lives. This way, a slow weaning off, will save more lives in the long run, and will help the planet recover slowly, too. Without a Meteor to necessitate the lifestream's interference, it's far stronger now than it was in the alternate timeline, according to the data the Turks have been keeping.
It all feels… so incredibly strange. Cloud sighs, sitting down on the stone, hand drifting over the dirt. The sword on his back feels incredibly heavy.
He hasn't faced Zack since all this happened. The man's memories returned in full, too; he'd already been inducted into Aerith's little secret society years before, and all this time he and his girlfriend both had been trying to guide Cloud and the others while fighting Hojo. Following them to Nibelheim, then to Rocket Town, Zack letting Hojo take him so he could protect Cloud, and keeping Cloud alive after they were imprisoned… Zack's done so much for him, twice over.
Cloud stares at the spot where the Buster Sword once stood, and his heart wavers. Zack's alive. He vividly remembers the man's death, because his memories have not faded the same way the other's have. He remembers so much, Aerith falling in the Ancient City, his mother and the burning village, the years of imprisonment, taking on Zack's life for his own, being controlled by him – it's all – so -
"Stop it," Gripping at his head, Cloud sighs.
He is not a stranger to having his mind invaded, to feeling his sense of self drift away from him. Now, he's having to re-adapt a lifetime as a 'normal' kid, to a life in which he watched his village burn and his family die, where he spent five years as a prisoner, where he lost his sense of self to trauma and mental coercion, he lost friends and loved ones and … fought him.
How the fuck is he supposed to live two lives?
"Penny for your thoughts?"
He heard her coming from a mile away. Cloud shrugs. "I'm sure you'll share it if I want it or not." The words sound mean, but they're fond. Aerith chuckles, walking over and brushing her dress under her knees as she sits.
"You…" Laughing to himself, Cloud shakes his head. "You are amazing."
Aerith Gainsborough. The hero who gave her life to save the planet; the hero who traveled through time to undo that sacrifice and make sure everybody had a better life the second time around. Who never thought of how hard it would be on her, on how difficult it was to go through alone. Her only concern, as always, was for those she loved, and the planet she called home.
The girl smiles back. "It's good to see you, Cloud."
A trembling hand reaches out and grips hers tight. "Still feels surreal." He admits, voice trembling. "Feels like your -"
"Yeah," She nods. "I thought it might be more intense for you. You fell into the lifestream, after all. You have Jenova cells, and a connection to the planet. All those memories, that life, they might… feel really, really real."
"They were real. They happened."
"Once upon a time." Aerith lifts his hand, presses it to her chest. "But they didn't really happen here. No one ever killed me, okay? You might remember it, but that's different from it actually happening."
"How?" He spins round, hand coming free so he can turn to face her. "How can it be different? I watched him kill you. I watched you die."
"I know."
"And you – you knew! And you played with the guy! You went to Golden Saucer with him, trained with him, you – the whole time!"
"I know," Her gaze softens, and Aerith sighs, turning to look at the sky. "When I decided to do this, I had a lot to think about. The planet was dying. We'd all gone through so much but it was too little, too late. Humanity wasn't going to make it for long. You were alone, and you'd gone through so much, lost so much. My struggle was over, but yours wasn't. I watched things get worse and I kept thinking how it could have been so different if just a few things had changed…"
"I was part of the lifestream, and my thoughts became actions. The more I thought of it, the more it became real. I found myself existing in two places, I was alive, I was in the lifestream. Eventually, I crossed over completely, into my eight year old self, all my memories and feelings from another life and death inside me. It was a lot."
"But once I succeeded, I knew I had to make things better. And that meant a few things." She shifts to sit closer to Cloud, her shoulder pressed against his. "I knew it would be hard for me to remember things that people hadn't done, to think of them as somebody else when I'd seen them do bad things. But this wasn't that person. They could be. But they weren't. This Reno never dropped the plate on Sector Seven. This Tseng never kidnapped me or took me to Hojo's labs. I can't hold them responsible for things they might do."
"So I decided – there was no point in traveling back in time, and changing things, if I was going to act like they were the same people." She nods to herself. "I had to give people a chance, to prove that changing the situation, the people could change too. I had to act like they weren't who I knew, because they weren't." Meeting his gaze, Aerith reaches out and grips his hand, tight. "Your Sephiroth – this Sephiroth – is not that one. That Sephiroth would never do what we saw this one do."
"Wouldn't he?" Cloud shrugs. "He was never a fan of Hojo. He killed the president in a really similar fashion, remember."
"He saved our lives, multiple times." The girl insists. "And he had a chance to do what Hojo wanted – to absorb Jenova, to become a 'god', to remake this world – and he didn't. You know what he did? He fought Jenova off."
"You fought him on the ship." Cloud remembers Yuffie's comments, and the terrible state of the Highwind after that day. "He -"
"He could have killed me then, and he chose not to. He chose to come with us, to stop Hojo, to save the planet. This Sephiroth helped end the disaster, not start it." Sighing, Aerith squeezes his hand. "I know it's hard, and I won't say we shouldn't keep an eye on him. But the dangers are lower than they've ever been."
His long time friend, now in two lifetimes, begins to tell him a story.
Of a little eight year old girl with eyes far too old for her age. Of a man, a Turk, convinced by the girl's sincerity and surety of heart, to take a chance that would save the world. Of a spoiled rich brat, with a secret spark of kindness in him, heavily repressed in a world that does not allow for kindness. Who, given the chance, the opportunity, enables the girl and the Turk to start making plans.
The threads spread; the more they need to reach out to others, the more people are brought into their fold. The first, and most powerful, are two of the three generals who serve the Shinra army.
"Genesis and Angeal?"
"We spoke to them ages ago, in the middle of the Wutai War." Aerith explains. "We had to have powerful people on our side, someone who could stand up to Sephiroth in a worse case scenario, and you, well, a lot of bad things had to happen before you could stand with him. Zack was still Angeal's student, and we wanted him to stay close to Sephiroth, not just to keep an eye on him, but hopefully to keep him on the straight and narrow. So, we asked the other two."
With the assistance of Reeve and Aerith's knowledge, taken from the lifestream itself, the two generals were healed of their weaknesses, and disappeared in the midst of the war. Shinra listed them MIA. Behind the scenes, the small team of Turks and a little girl now had two powerful free actors, able to travel vast distances and fight incredible monsters with ease.
"First goal was getting rid of Jenova. The more of her we got rid of, the better the chances that Sephiroth never snapped, and Hojo had nothing to work with."
Of course, there were pieces that were more difficult to obtain. They never could get close to Nibelheim, because of how closely guarded and watched it was by Shinra and Hojo. By the time they could, the incident at the reactor had occurred, and dozens of people had been experimented on, made part of 'Reunion'. Within a year of that event, Cloud found Vincent, and a few years after, Vincent destroyed the largest piece of Jenova, hidden in the reactor.
"It's hard to erase her completely." Aerith says, a fact Cloud knows well. "Small samples, and her torso, were still in Midgar, and we couldn't get through to them. So long as they existed, her will could still be exerted even over long distances. But she couldn't act without her free pieces, and we'd erased nearly all of them."
Then, there was removing Hojo from power, and eventually, dismantling the company. That was the part the Shinra was against the most. "Rufus and I fought a lot," The girl giggles. "He really does mean well, he's just a total dunce. You know, so sheltered and removed from the real world he doesn't have any idea how little he really knows. I think hiding out of sight in the under city these last few weeks has really opened his eyes."
Rufus Shinra wasn't comically evil enough to want the planet to die; but neither was he enough of a good man to give up a powerful position because it was the right thing to do. Now, having been through what they've been through these last weeks – and the appearance of his memories, perhaps – he's been far less combative towards Aerith and AVALANCHE's demands.
Zack had been Sephiroth's babysitter, for the most part. Someone to try and bring out his human side, and keep him from encountering Jenova, if possible. He was their most direct link to the man, and the one that had the best hopes of influencing the SOLDIER if push came to shove.
"He really does care about him, always has."
The two of them are now sitting near the edge, legs hanging off the end.
"So, what about me?" Cloud asks. "How was I part of the picture?"
"You weren't." She shakes her head slowly. "Like I said, you had to suffer so much to become the SOLDIER you were then. I didn't want that. Zack was planning to keep an eye out and befriend you whenever you came to Midgar, but you never did."
"I met Vincent." Cloud replies. "When I learned his story, I couldn't imagine joining Shinra. To think, it was all because of a dare." He doesn't remember if that dare happened in the other life, if maybe he'd been just a little less brave, or a little more unfriendly. Such a small little thing, making such a huge difference. "Is he… still around?"
Aerith looks up, towards the north. "He's there." She says quietly. "Where his body was before. Waiting, I think." Her gaze shifts to Cloud, and she leaves the rest unsaid.
Waiting for you.
"What do you think I should do?"
The girl stands, brushing the dirt off her dress. "I think you should talk to Vincent. And to Zack. Probably to Cid, too, because he's been acting really weird around you lately." Cloud had noticed that, too. Huh. "Check on your mom and the triplets. Then, I think you should go find him."
"And, then what?" He scoffs, standing as he does. "Bring the team and my master materia, my best swords?"
"Or," Aerith taps his chest with a finger, pointedly. "You could go talk to the Sephiroth you know. The one who slept with you in your childhood bed, who let a tiny Vincent lecture him on team safety, whose been by our side this whole time trying to help us all while fighting off Jenova's control."
Cloud's gaze darkens, and he turns, looking away.
"Just this once, I want you to try and believe that good things do happen." Aerith reaches out and touches his hand one last time. "Believe that this can be a good thing. And go talk to him."
Then, she's gone, walking back towards the airship hovering outside of Midgar.
It has been an incredibly weird month for Jean Strife. It's brought a lot of trouble, a lot of 'strife', if you will. She can't regret it, though. Though she mourns the pain it brought her hometown, the pain it brought her and her family, she cannot be unhappy that all this began, when it has, in the end, brought her son so much joy.
He has friends, now, dozens of them. She's met the first few, but since her kidnapping it seems like the group has near doubled. Now, Turks from Shinra address her son by name, they throw an arm around his neck and reel him in like old friends, and Cloud lets it happen with a scowl and an elbow into the man's side.
Now, company executives and division heads talk to her boy and ask his advice on what to do in the city, how to implement their plans. Civilians from the town – former (or possibly current) members of the eco-terrorists AVALANCHE act like Cloud has been one of their own for years, ribbing him and laughing good-naturedly at once another. They each breakfast, lunch, and dinner together on the ship before getting into the work day, and more than once she sees them gather in the ship's dock, piling up blankets and pillows and spending long hours into the night just talking, slowly falling asleep. It's as if they've been friends for lifetimes, separated for too long, and are only now able to make up for lost time.
He even knows a Wutai national and former wanted fugitive who has not only been pardoned for her actions but has been named the official ambassador for her nation, in what has become the first of many peace talks between Shinra and the Wutai.
What in the hell has her son been up to?
She's proud. Goddamn proud. Because whatever went down with that weird Shinra experiment, it was clearly dangerous, and it changed a lot in the aftermath. News nowadays almost seems positive. It's like things are finally turning around, as if the future's looking up. And somehow, she knows her boy had something to do with it.
Now, if only she could find some of that bravery for herself, and talk to him about it.
Standing across the ship's deck, watching Cloud speak to his friends, she hesitates. There he is, her previous boy, her little Cloud. She still remembers the stubby legs and chubby cheeks, the scrawny little brat that followed her around wherever she went. Time moves far too fast.
There, standing at his shoulder, steering the ship, is the man who gave her that precious gift. A friend – a good friend – one she did wrong by. She should've tried to reach out. Maybe she should have thought to move, she could have gone to Rocket Town, Cloud would have loved growing up in such a place, instead of the close minded backwards little town she's always lived in.
She should have…
A small shove to her leg draws her attention. Surprised, Jean glances down, and her gaze softens.
Little Kadaj stands at her side, swinging his arms. "You gotta be brave," He says, insistent. Behind her, the other two stand, both of them pushing at her legs, as if setting her in motion.
"Not talking makes mom sad!" Loz says, voice squeaking with how loud he is.
"Talk to brother, okay mom?"
Sighing, Jean nods, and starts to walk of her own accord. Yazoo and Loz stop pushing – the latter boy falls suddenly, having lost his balance, and she can hear the other two picking on him, but she doesn't turn around. She has to face this.
"Cloud."
The boy turns, smiling as she approaches. "Ma," He opens his arms, and hugs her, as he has every time they meet the last few weeks. She imagines he'll keep doing it for a while yet.
"We gotta talk about somethin'." She says quietly. "We can do it here, but if you'd rather go speak in private,"
"Ma, it's okay." He smiles, leans away. "Whatever you gotta say, they can hear it, too."
Glancing around at the group, she sighs, and nods. "Well, then."
"You don't hafta say nothin'."
Surprise lifts her gaze, and she looks past her boy, to the man behind him. Cid looks surprisingly serious, and she realizes, her gut sinking. He knows.
"Somethin' wrong…?" Cloud confused, looks from Cid to his mother and back. "What are you…"
She watches that incredible, brilliant mind of his kick in. She can practically hear the wheels turning. Remembering that she was the one who mentioned Cid Highwind in the first place; that she had known him years ago, for a short while, and remembered him strongly enough to bring him to mind, years later. Putting the timeline in place and recognizing the way it fits. Wide, green eyes snap to his mother, then to Cid, and all Jean can think is how those eyes used to be cornflower blue, like his father's were.
"Holy shit, you," Cloud gawks. "You slept with my mom?!"
Cid gawks back. "You moron! That's the first thing you say? Of all the goddamn things -"
"Well excuse me for findin' it weird that Captain Drink-yer-Damn-tea and my mother had a – a – what, a fling? A relationship?"
"How dare you talk to your father that way." Cid stands, hands on his hips, scowling at the younger man. "My first act as your father is, I'm groundin' you. Literally. I'm flyin' you to the north continent and dropping you ass first in the snow."
"That was already the plan, you -"
The argument is interrupted by bright, stunning laughter. Father and son turn as one, to see the woman with a hand over her mouth and tears in her eyes. Shaking her head, Jean Strife looks at the two men she loves most in the world, and she laughs.
"You two deserve each other," She says, wiping at her eyes.
The way they both grin, she thinks they agree with her.
When they're two hours out from their final destination, Cloud stops by Zack's recovery room.
He's mostly recovered by now. As a SOLDIER, he heals fast, even when near death, but the aftermath of healing was as exhausting as being injured. To recover that many injuries, he had to take in a lot of mako, and despite his high tolerance level, he was pretty out of it for a while.
Now, he's finally strong enough to stand on his own two feet, and get back to what seems to be his favorite pastime: squats. Cloud walks into the doorway and sees the man's back, up and down, up and down, and can't help a laugh. The man stands, and spins round, beaming at the sight.
"Hey, Cloud," Zack's expression is soft and gentle, and Cloud can't help the tears flooding his eyes.
"Damnit," Sighing, he wipes at his face. "I'm becoming such a softie nowadays."
"That's not a new development," Zack insists, smirking. The other man frowns at him playfully, then gasps when Zack grabs him and pulls him into a huge, hard.
"I'm glad you're okay, spike," He says softly, head tucked into the blonde's hair. "Like… really, really glad." To Cloud's shock, he hears a sniffle, and feels water trickling down his hairline.
"Zack…" His own eyes burning, he gives into the urge and returns the hug, just as hard and tight. They sway with the force, gripping one another the way only two people who had lived and died together could. "Thank you. For everything. For all your kindness and generosity and all the chances you gave me."
"Any time, Cloud," Zack insists, rubbing his cheek against the blonde's hair. "If I had to, I'd do it all over again, and wouldn't change a thing." Leaning away, the man smiles, ignoring the wet tear tracks staining his face. "We're both lucky Aerith's smarter than me, I'd never of thought of changing things up like she did."
Cloud smiles, shakes his head. "I just… I can't say it enough. Thank you."
"Don't thank me, Cloud." Shaking the man, Zack grins. "You saved the world, remember? You were my legacy and then some. Did better than I ever could! Now, we've got the chance to do things right, this time. To be heroes, together."
The words make him smile, but his look darkens, too. "I'm going to face him."
"Yeah, Aerith told me." Zack lowers his arms. "What do you plan to do?"
Cloud looks over his face, the forlorn certainty in it, and smiles. This is what is so incredible about Zack; about a man who wants nothing more than to go down there and see his friend, his former enemy, and yet stands here willing to let Cloud decide the man's fate, to let him choose the fate of the man that connects them both.
"I don't know." Cloud admits. "I have to see who he is now. He's helped us out a lot, but… why didn't he come back? Why's he here, of all places?"
"Knowing Seph, he definitely left because he thought we all changed our minds about him." Zack crosses his arms, and sits back down on the hospital bed. "And he picked this place because at heart he's a damn dramatic, theatrical little nerd. It's got historic importance to you both, and its miles away from where anybody or anything can get hurt."
The blondes eye's widen. "True. I thought about the history but… you're right. I hadn't thought about how isolated it is."
In another life, Sephiroth's real body, recovering from the damage done to it in Nibelheim, was hidden in the ice of the north. Controlling Cloud's mind, he forced the man to join him there, and to hand over the materia that summoned Meteor. This time, there's no coercion or force behind his choice, and there's no longer any threat that Meteor might be summoned.
(Aerith and her time traveling team had long since obtained and secured the black materia, and hidden it away in a very, very secret place.)
"The Sephiroth I knew… he was weirdly shy, honest, and well meaning. It was obvious he cared about people, he just didn't know how to get close to them." Zack nods as Cloud talks, clearly agreeing with everything the blonde is saying. "He wasn't evil. He wasn't a megalomaniac trying to destroy the world for his mother. But, that other time – it got so bad. Can we risk it going back to that?"
Zack tilts his head. "Can we risk becoming the kind of people who would put someone down for what they might do?" The fear that's been spinning in his heart, said out loud. Cloud tightens his hands into fists, clenched tight at his side. "It's okay to want him to be good, Cloud."
The blonde's head snaps up.
"Don't forget, I know him, and I know you," Zack grins. "You're feeling guilty about how much you want him to be redeemed, so you're trying to force yourself to more practical, more vicious about it." Embarrassed, the blonde turns away, and walks into the hall, towards the ship's exit. Behind him, Zack leans out into the hallway, shouting after him.
"Just go talk to him! If worse comes to worse, we'll handle it like we always have! But I don't think it'll come to that, this time around."
When he arrives at the crater, Sephiroth is there, waiting for him.
The man faces away from him, long black cloak billowing in the harsh winter wind. The bright, blinding sun reflects off the long expanse of snow, creating a overwhelming landscape of light. Sephiroth remains the only spot of darkness in the empty expanse, save for the long silver hair that glitters as it moves with the wind.
"I'm here."
Cloud's boots crunch the snow beneath his feet. He's wearing the uniform Sephiroth gave him; a SOLDIER, 1st class. The Buster sword remains on his back, and his arms stay at his side, as he comes to a halt a mere ten feet from the man who once almost destroyed the world.
"You were waitin' for me, weren't you?" Cloud crosses his arms. He has to shout a little to be heard over the wind. "Well? Are you gonna say anything?" The longer the silence continues, the more tense he feels, anxiety tightening his throat.
Slowly, Sephiroth turns. In the bright light of the sun, and the harsh shadows his bangs cast upon his face, Cloud can't see the man's eyes. But he sees the sword glint in the light as the man draws Masamune.
"Here we go again," Cloud complains under his breath, drawing the sword from his back.
The fight is as intense as any of their battles – their real conflicts – have been. The fight in Nibelheim, in Midgar, in the Ruins over Edge. They have fought so many times in a life that feels more like a dream than a life, now, and of all those fights, the one he remembers most? Is the one they had weeks ago, on snowy Mt. Nibel.
Sephiroth had lost, then, and broken free from the influence of Jenova or Hojo or whoever you would call it. Cloud dragged them both up the mountain before passing out, waking to find the other man had found them a cave. Talking about their parents, about family. Sharing his jacket. Snuggling, for warmth.
"Oh my fuck," Cloud parries a rather harsh blow and sneers. "We cuddled. In the snow! Like characters in a romance novel! God, my life is so weird,"
Sephiroth refuses to say a word. Cloud says whatever he's thinking, just the random thoughts on his mind, as they dance across the endless fields of snow. This is not a man having a friendly spar; this is a real fight, with the General's full strength behind his every blow, pushing Cloud to sweat and fight for the victory.
The fight grows harder, and harder, and Cloud grows less and less concerned. By the time they've both cast spells and throwing each other across the field, Cloud's smiling. He's having fun.
Because this is not Sephiroth, the destroyer of worlds, son of a goddess of death. That Sephiroth would not. Shut. Up. He always had to have the last word, had to be a smart mouth and taunt Cloud the entire time they fought. He never gave up the chance to get under his skin and mess with his head, and he never fought in such somber, complete silence as this.
This Sephiroth – his Sephiroth – is quiet, and serious. His face has a furrowed, constipated look on it that Cloud can recognize now as worry, as fear. He's afraid, and Cloud's heart rises with each and every realization. This idiot. The thought finally gives him the strength he needs for one final push, and the Masamune goes flying from Sephiroth's hand as he slams into the ground.
Cloud collides with the earth around him, blade sliding into the earth next to Sephiroth's head without touching a hair on him. One knee bent on Sephiroth's left side, the other on his right, Cloud lets go of the blade and puts either hand next to his head. Leaning in, he quirks an eyebrow.
"You done?"
"I had to know," The man says, finally. He looks a little off kilter; as if he were expecting more anger, more ferocity, and he's uncertain why it's not there. "I had to be certain you could – and would – still defeat me."
"Course I would," Cloud insists. "How many times have you come back? And who has put you down, each and every time?"
The man's lidded eyes lower. "I am still here now."
"You are still you, now." Cloud leans back. He's practically sitting on the man's torso, and the power and possessiveness of the pose has heat rising to his face. He's giddy with it. "I'm not going to kill you, Seph. Not when you're lying here askin' me to."
"I remember, Cloud," The man lifts his head, looking up, closing his eyes with a sigh. "I remember all of it."
"You weren't yourself."
"I was!" Insistent, the man sits up suddenly, moving Cloud back, until Sephiroth's sitting up and Cloud is practically in his lap. Both of them are red in the face now. "Jenova never controlled me, not how I controlled you. She spoke to me, and I chose to listen. I wanted to! Because I so despised this world that had denied me everything that everyone else had without trying!"
"We didn't exactly give you a lot of reasons to love humankind," Cloud mutters quietly.
"Cloud, how can you," Sighing, the man shakes his head. His silver hair is in disarray, his eyes wide and worried. Cloud sees the round pupils in those green eyes and smiles. "I'm a monster."
"You're a human," Lifting a hand, Cloud slides it beneath the man's long hair and onto his cheek, touching his face, and the other gives a quiet intake of breath that's half sigh, half sob. "You're a person, which also means you make mistakes, you fuck up. People are absolutely capable of horrible shit like kidnapping, experimenting, murdering and all the stuff you saw at Shinra. All those scientists? Were people. Just like you. And the you that gave in to Jenova because you were angry and lonely, he was human, too."
"And if I do it again?" Sephiroth asks quietly.
"Will you?" His other hand rises, cradling the other cheek, until the two of them are facing one another. "You didn't have a lot going for you in your other life, but I hope you know you got a lot more people on your side, this time."
"I do," The man lowers his gaze. "Aerith, she reached out to me so many times. Zack still became my friend, you tried so hard to introduce me to Vincent because you thought it would help us, thinking nothing of yourself – all of you giving up so much. And they knew," Shuddering, Sephiroth shakes at the words. "Zack knew, I would have killed the woman he loved. He knew and he still treated me so well."
"But what really shook me free from her?" The man lifts his head again. "When she had me fully in her grip, when I was listening to her voice and I wanted to watch the world burn – it was Vincent." Lifting his hand, he reaches into his jacket, and pulls out an envelope. "It was proof that when I was born… when I was created, I was not merely a thing for scientists to experiment with. That someone – just one person – saw me as a child."
A birthday card, ancient and dusty, slides from the envelope. The writing is faded and somewhat generic, a promise to be there for the family, from 'Uncle Vincent'. Cloud chuckles, feeling his own eyes grow wet.
"He saved me too, you know?" Cloud looks up. "Just happened to fall into the basement and met him years early. My first childhood was so damn lonely. Zack was the first real friend I had. This time… this time, I really got the chance to feel like I meant a damn to somebody, cause Vincent was there."
The two of them sit in the snow, curled up and cradling one another, wrapped up in each other's warmth. Slowly, they gravitate together, pulled towards one another, as they always have been. Cloud settles his forehead against Sephiroth's, and lets his eyes fall shut.
"What now?"
"Now," Cloud lifts his arms, moving his hands to rest on the pauldrons atop Sephiroth's shoulders. "Now, we get a chance to see where this story goes. We get to write it ourselves without anybody else trying to butt in." Opening his eyes, he leans a little ways away. "Now, I really wanna kiss you,"
"You," Sephiroth shakes his head slightly, smiling. "You are truly ridiculous."
"What?"
"You have a fetish of some kind."
"What!?" Leaning further away, Cloud looks insulted. "Where is this coming from? I thought we were having a moment."
"I remember those fights, before, and you were the exact same way. Those eyes, that scent, the excitement." Surprise widens the man's eyes. "You liked me."
"Of course I did, stupid! You knew that," Cloud scoffs and rolls his eyes. "You were hot shit your whole damn life, and you were my first crush, my gay awakening, my go to masturbatory fantasy, in both my lives, shithead. That didn't stop just cause I started to kick your ass, it just got really fuckin' complicated."
"I was trying to destroy the world! I killed people!"
"You were absolutely fuckin' bonkers." Cloud agrees. "And stupid hot about it. Runnin' around in leather and no shirt. I fuckin' hated you, and I had more than one fantasy 'bout losing and getting it rough and dirty on the battlefield, that's for damn sure."
His teasing has backfired, and Sephiroth's now beet red in the face, a fact which has Cloud sighing. "You aren't gonna be up to that kinda foreplay, are you? Man, there goes about half my spank bank."
The other bursts into sudden laughter, and Cloud's expression softens. His arms tighten around the man's shoulders, hands running through his hair. "So, what's the verdict?" Cloud leans in, forehead pressed to his. "Am I allowed to kiss you yet?"
"I suppose." Sephiroth says. "I have no idea if kissing is something I enjoy. If there were ever a person I wished to expose me to it, it would be you."
"Great, fantastic vote of confidence," Cloud snarks, and leans in. "Kissing, now."
They kiss. And some time later – much, much later – Sephiroth quietly confirms for the blonde that yes, in fact, kissing is something he happens to enjoy, very much.
They fly back to Rocket Town. There's some novelty to flying in the arms of another man – and what a man, Cloud thinks, squeezing those biceps – but it's also not exactly comfortable. The wind is loud, his head is freezing, and he can't exactly move around.
"Next time, I want ear plugs," Cloud shouts over the wind. "And goggles or a helmet or something!"
Within the hour, they touch down in Rocket Town. The Highwind hovers outside the city, still being unloaded at the air strip before its inevitable return either to the skies or the repair dock. Cloud steps down out of Sephiroth's arms and glances around.
"We said we'd met here, but I dunno if they expected us this early." He starts walking, heading towards what sounds like a large group nearby, and Sephiroth dutifully falls in line behind him.
Their walking brings them to, of all things, a baseball field. Vincent stands at the mound, wearing no glove save his own golden armor, holding a softball in the other hand. Behind first base, there's Barret, the big guy nearly covering the tiny kid holding the bat. He's gently helping Loz figure out how to hold it properly, and its obvious the man has had years of experience with little kids.
At second base there's Cid and Kadaj, who are mouthing off at each other by their behavior. Cid is snarking at the kid and trying to tease him into leaving the base, and the kid almost falls for it, time and again, before recognizing he's about to lift his feet off the base and stumbling back, grabbing at it viciously, to the blonde's amusement.
First base stands empty, Aerith cheering at the kid at bat, waving her arms. At third, there's Yuffie and Yazoo; out in the field, he sees Nanaki, Zack, Tifa, spread across the outfield. They've been out there the entire game, which has consisted of the three children taking turns at bat, and running the bases, over and over again, because – like any normal children – they don't want to stand in a field and wait. Much more fun to hit things and run.
Cloud looks over the field and laughs, surprised and yet delighted. Sephiroth only has eyes for the three munchkins, who he is staring at in dull horror.
"Them," He mutters.
"Now now," Cloud elbows him. "They're just kids, and they're totally innocent this time around. Second chances, right?" Smirking, he gives Sephiroth one last knowing look before walking out onto the field.
The boy at bat sees him and waves. "Brother!" Loz hops excitedly. "We're doing baseball!"
"Playing baseball, Loz," Barret chuckles, waving. "Wanna join us?"
"Sure we do!" Cloud cheers, reaching back to grab at Sephiroth's arm, pulling the reluctant man towards the mound with him.
Vincent stands watching them, a smile hidden behind his cowl. "Welcome back," He says, gaze shifting from Cloud to Sephiroth. The silverette falters, then slowly nods. Their eyes, alien green and uncanny red, meet. After a moment, Vincent tosses the ball, and Sephiroth quickly snatches the baseball out of the air. He's stunned still as the older man walks past him, clapping a hand on his shoulder, and leaning in.
"Your turn, son," He says, before walking off the field.
Sephiroth stares at the ball in shock, as Cloud turns to grin at Vincent's disappearing back.
"I told you!" The blonde shouts suddenly. "Didn't I? I told you!" Vincent just waves his gold arm over his shoulder, and Cloud laughs.
"There's one thing I don't get."
Sitting on a grassy knoll outside the town, watching the sky, Cloud turns to face Tifa.
"What?"
"One of the changes." She says with a sigh. Tifa's laying on the grass, glaring upwards, her arms crossed. "In our first lives, I had the biggest thing for you, ever since we were kids, like you were the love of my damn life."
"Right," Awkwardly, Cloud nods.
"Yeah, I know, it wasn't requited. Figured that out ages ago, between you and Aerith -"
"Me and Aerith was more a 'me trying to be Zack' and Aerith thing -"
"And then," The woman sits up, clearly peeved. "Then this time, for some reason, I swing a totally different way. Who knows, time and sexuality are all weird, but we're best friends, we're like siblings, and I love you, but not like that."
"Thank god."
"And instead," Tifa fumes. "Instead, I meet the most beautiful, the most gorgeous sweet perfect angel, and she's got the hottest goddamn hunk of man, and once again I am the forlorn third wheel between a SOLDIER, and the flower girl!"
Fuming, the woman throws her arms over her head and collapses back on the ground. "Why? Is something wrong with me? Am I cursed? You'd tell me if I was cursed, right Cloud? Stop laughing at me, this is serious!"
-fin-