Years passed.
Time passed faster than anyone had thought. Things changed and so did the people. In Edge everything calmed down. Shinra Electric Company was still extracting energy from the Life Stream but Rufus Shinra was smarter than his father. He made the people from Edge trust him little by little and made himself seem as a savior. Surprisingly, it worked.
In Seventh Heaven things became normal. Tifa grew very busy with the bar, which turned out to be a real success. Marlene and Denzel were already reaching the teenage years and proving to be troublesome and loud.
Cloud tried his best to talk and socialize more yet the only person whom he could talk to freely was Eloise. Vincent, Cid and Barret were regulars at the bar. AVALANCHE was a strong and tight family and Eloise came to understand that on her own skin.
Eloise. Eloise Fair didn't change much. She was still afraid to open up and discuss what had happened. There were times she was really cold and scary but she was working on it. Waking up and suddenly going back to her former bubbly personality was impossible. She matured, she was a woman in her thirties already and all those memories were hard to push aside and move on as if nothing happened. Reno and Tseng were the two men who knew that the best. They met her when she was playful and happy but that was such a long time ago.
Eloise had her own issues. After her brother died, she took it upon herself to prepare Cloud for the biggest moment of his life. She used Sephiroth's methods, his mentality when fighting and even the ways he'd relax just so that in the end, Cloud could kill him. And he did; Cloud destroyed every remnant of that man except her. But Eloise couldn't face Sephiroth in any way and she left as soon as she believed Cloud was ready. However, Cloud found her a few years ago when facing Geostigma problems. Thankfully, it passed and they were all fine.
There was one thing that she couldn't ignore, though. The last battle between Cloud and Sephiroth was still vivid in her mind.
"This is not your fight, Eloise. We were never enemies. I taught you everything you know. I didn't kill your brother, I didn't kill Angeal and I didn't take Genesis from you. You don't have a reason to hate me. I was your mentor. I made you into the soldier you are now." Sephiroth said in a disapproving tone.
Eloise found herself speechless in front of his statement. He was right and yet it was not just about them.
"You took lives, Sephiroth. You started the crisis. You started the pain,"
"You still don't understand, do you?"
She frowned. What did he mean? His face was just a few inches from hers. She could feel his breath on her face and it smelled like medicine.
Sephiroth used to be blunt with Eloise in the past and never kept secrets from her. What hurt the most was that everyone she cared about left or died and everything she fought so hard to achieve meant nothing now. Sephiroth always encouraged her, was always there for her when they were in SOLDIER and acted as an older brother not only a co-worker. Against what most people thought about Sephiroth, she didn't have anything bad to say about him. Throughout SOLDIER, he was her support. He gave her the sword, he helped her control her energy and he taught her everything she knew about fighting.
"But you died, as well," The brunette mumbled dejected before she sighed and leaned her head against the window.
Cloud made a promise to Zack on that sorrowful day. He promised to take care of Eloise and become her brother in his place. Unfortunately Eloise did not accept him as more than a SOLDIER in training and when she finally grabbed his hand, he practically dragged her to Seventh Heaven and somehow emotionally blackmailed her into living there; or that was how it looked from her point of view. Since she wasn't paying rent and she had to earn money she started to help Tifa around the bar but that proved to be harder than expected.
Drunken men were very annoying and she had some difficulties with people getting too close. The bar was full most nights and she wasn't allowed to beat the customers.
Reno was another problem. Ever since she decided to stay in Edge, he made it his absolute mission to visit as often as possible, which was almost every day. However, Reno was the only person that could get a smile on her face. No matter what, he was her oldest friend. They were both really young when they met and they bonded quickly. That bond did not break.
Another annoying thing was her broken heart. Tifa and Yuffie found it vital to make her fall in love again. The poor victim was Vincent Valentine whose dark yet elegant personality seemed to fit Eloise. The truth was that she did find it a little easier to be around Vincent since they were both experiments of Hojo's and monsters that lost a lot in life but love was out of discussion.
Regarding her last meeting with Hojo, she couldn't forget one thing: the Deepground incident. She could swear she felt something familiar down there. She couldn't quite point out what but it was there. The mako energy inside her body made her tremble with anticipation.
"Hey, Eloise! I need you to go serve some customers, please! Two beers and one tequila shot. They should be at Table 5!"
Eloise pushed her thoughts aside and nodded. It was easier to give beers and snacks to people compared to fighting criminals and high technology but it wasn't necessarily comfortable too.
"Hey, girly! Why don't you come and sit with us, tonight?" The man reached out for her hand but she moved out of the way quickly. That urged the drunken man to talk bullshit behind her back. She rolled her eyes and ignored him completely. That was the only way to keep sane in such an environment.
That was what she had to do: give the orders to the customers and prepare drinks now and then behind the bar. It was her job. She couldn't help but wonder when she became a civilian. She was part of the army from the moment she became a teenager, about Marlene and Denzel's age really. They were always so playful and had so much energy. She was curious if she had been like that before because she could barely remember the happy times.
"Are you alright, Eloise?" Tifa asked when she noticed Eloise daydreaming again, "Can you stay behind the bar today? I'll take the tables."
Eloise nodded, thankful that Tifa knew how annoying it could get.
It was safer behind the bar. Eloise was quick in making drinks but she wasn't good in making conversation.
"So, this girl, she's an escort but she asked me when I'm going to leave my wife for her. I don't even know what she expects me to do. I mean I'm-"
Those kinds of stories came often. Eloise became good at blocking their voices out since it wasn't her business but that didn't stop them from talking.
"Two beers here, yo!"
Her head turned towards the redhead and his bald partner. Reno was a regular at Seventh Heaven. He winked at her and made a kissy face as if she was ever going to answer to such childish behavior. But he did draw her away from the man that was ready to convey his whole life story to a bartender.
"Did I save you again, Eloise?" He leaned on the bar to get closer to her.
"Yes. Thank you," She was still not as talkative as she used to but Reno was not the one to complain.
"So, I talked to Shinra about some things," He moved his eyebrows up and down suggestively.
"I'm not going to work for him." She stated quickly.
"It's only for errands! Like Cloud! You can choose which one you want to take. Besides, your fighting abilities are getting rusty," She stared blankly at her old friend as he continued, "Consider it. It's better than working with people, right? You love it when you fight. That won't change."
Reno has been trying to make her and Rufus meet for a few weeks now. That was not going to happen because Eloise knew Rufus wasn't a man she could trust. He probably had a lot of people he wanted assassinated and she was the perfect person to do that for him but she wasn't going to. She wasn't going to protect Shinra.
In the morning, Eloise had to stay back and wash the dishes. Tifa went out for a bit and Cloud disappeared, like always. She was all alone downstairs and the sun didn't even rise yet. She was mopping around when she felt a sudden pain in her side which was weird because she hadn't fought in a while. She ignored it and went in the back to arrange some boxes but the pain got worse. She suffered by herself for almost an hour until Tifa came back and found Eloise leaning against the bar, on the ground.
"Eloise, are you hurt? Did someone break in?"
The older woman shook her head. Tifa noticed the grip Eloise had on her side, moved her hand and saw blood.
"You're bleeding! Did you cut yourself on something?"
Eloise shook her head and moaned when Tifa applied pressure on the bloody spot. She helped the ex-SOLDIER into her room and placed her on the bed before she hurried to bring a towel and cold water. Eloise was getting worse for some reason.
The weird thing was that-
"You don't have a wound. The blood comes from nothing. It's so weird, you are completely fine," Tifa informed the older woman confused.
Eloise' eyes widened. That happened before a long time ago. She didn't have the chance to tell Tifa because she fainted, having fought for too long against the darkness.
Eloise opened her eyes and realized she was in her old room, in SOLDIER. As she walked around, she noticed how damaged it was.
"So we meet again," That deep voice sent chills down her spine. However, she didn't back off or look remotely scared.
She turned around and faced her mentor. He looked the same as always.
"I've been thinking a lot about what you said the last time. You were right; you have always been right no matter how much the truth hurt." She replied, thinking deeply about the words she wanted to use.
Sephiroth watched her quietly. She definitely grew up into a beautiful and strong woman but she looked nothing like she did when he first met her. Her hair was shorter, she was dressed differently and her eyes were deeper than before. Those pale blue eyes that enlightened her face were gone.
"You look like me." The former hero stated. "You became what you feared the most, Eloise." He started to trail around her, like a wolf, before stopping behind her. "A monster," he whispered in her ear.
Her eyes hardened and her whole body tensed.
"Whose fault is that?"
Sephiroth chuckled and took a few steps back.
"Yours. You gave up everything in order to become a hero. But in the end, you became me." He was trying to make her show her true colors, the ones of a monster but she wasn't one.
Eloise swayed her right hand to the left and she stared at Sephiroth with empty eyes.
"I'm not a child anymore."
"I can see that,"
There was energy swirling around her orbs. She opened her palm and turned to face her mentor.
"You can't see even half of it."
Sephiroth's eyes hardened. He saw the swirls of energy flowing around her hand and figured how angry she was. The woman formed a sword that looked very much like the one he gave to her when she had her first mission. He smirked.
"I see you still use that sword,"
"My mentor gave it to me. It would be a waste not to show him how much I learned to do with it."
Sephiroth grabbed his sword and attacked her. Eloise blocked it easily with her own, her eyes shining intensely in the same colour as her energy.
She pushed him away and got in a defensive stance. Sephiroth regained his balance quickly and started to launch attack after attack. He was best at fighting fast and he taught her that too. Eloise knew how to block his attacks and when to get out of his way. She was ready to swing her sword to the right and kick him while he was concentrated on her hand. It worked, partially. He was a smart fighter so he easily blocked her. Unfortunately, while trying to turn around and kick him, he grabbed a second sword and cut her side.
Eloise stumbled and leaned on her sword. It stung more than she expected. Taking a glance at her alleged wound she noticed the cut looked pretty deep.
"How can it hurt so bad when this is only a dream?" She asked feeling her body grow numb.
"Maybe this isn't a dream. I live in you, Eloise." He patted her head, like he used to before he added, "The Reunion will come soon."
"Eloise! Eloise wake up," Tifa grew even more worried when Eloise started to scream out of nowhere and squirm. She tried everything to wake her up but it didn't work. She called Cloud and told him to come home urgently.
"What's going on?" Cloud asked once he barged inside the room.
"I found Eloise gripping her side. When I took a look, she was bleeding," Tifa started, "But she had no wound, Cloud. I don't know where all the blood comes from."
Cloud sat on the edge of the bed and placed his hand over her forehead.
"Eloise..."
Maybe she heard him or maybe it was her body reacting by itself but she grabbed his hand and plunged her nails into the skin.
It took her a few more minutes until she woke up, sweating and breathing heavily. Her eyes were wide and she seemed scared. She let go of Cloud's hand and shoved the cover off, feeling very hot. Cloud and Tifa were shocked.
"It's happening again," She closed her eyes in pain and rubbed her face.
"What's happening?" Asked Tifa.
Eloise didn't dare look at the two.
Tifa was intrigued but she was also worried for Eloise's mental state. What was a woman in terrible pain a few minutes ago was now too calm and the pain vanished in the same mysterious way it appeared.
"It's fine. Maybe I scratched myself while working." was Eloise' explanation but both Tifa and Cloud knew that was not realistic. There was too much blood for an insignificant scratch.
After Eloise woke up, Tifa helped her friend wipe the blood and change in new clothes. Even after seeing with her own eyes and touching with her own hands, it was incredible to find that Eloise bled from nothing at all.
"Are you alright, though?" Tifa asked again just to make sure, "Are you sure you don't want to talk about this with me or Cloud?"
"I need to rest for a bit and I will be brand new tonight." Eloise assured her friend with a smile.
Tifa sighed and got up. She finished cleaning the blood and wrapped a bandage around her waist, just in case. Once Tifa left the room, Eloise laid back on the bed and unconsciously rubbed the spot where Sephiroth cut her.
"Why is this happening again? And what was he talking about...the Reunion."