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raajThere's planned to be a part more for Tifa and Aerith, but I really wanted to write something just for Cloud too....though I got a bit sidetracked in this.
☄
Cloud rolled over in his sleep, and called out for Aerith.
They'd had to return to Gongaga--they'd found out something about Zack, and Aerith was desperate to tell his parents. He couldn't fault her eagerness. She cared about Zack...
Cloud wanted to tell Zack's parents, too. It wasn't that they had happy news to give. But it was still important news. At-peace news.
Rude and Reno were blocking the way again. Still shadowing them, and filling out their time with wasteful talk too. Cloud gestured for Aerith to get back and ready her materia, Barret and Tifa to come forward, Yuffie-- hang on. What were they all traveling together for? They should have split up.
"Not your best move," said a high, clear voice. Elena must have gotten herself sacked already, because the dark-suited female approaching them had wavy red hair instead of straight blonde, though Cloud couldn't quite make out anything else about her features. He reached for the Buster sword...
...It wasn't there on his back. Not his best move at all, and suddenly it was like he was helpless. "Cloud, get back!" Tifa hooked arms under his shoulders, moved him bodily behind a tree for cover, and he wanted to jerk out of the hold, tell her she was being stupid--even if he didn't have her finesse at hand-to-hand he could still crack a Turk's skull with sheer force, he wasn't useless--except he was. His legs refused to move for him, and the only sound coming out of his mouth was a stuttered pant, and his mind kept whirling back to the futile question of where his sword was.
Tifa smiled reassuringly for him, patting his head before running off to rejoin the others.
He wanted to scream at her. At all of them. At himself, because all too soon he could see Reno pulling back from the farce of a Turk-AVALANCHE skirmish to make a hand signal, and then there were Shinra "peacekeeping" troops flooding out of the woodwork of the Gongaga jungle to surround the fight.
His voice was gone.
Rude and the female Turk pulled safely back, melted into the ring of Shinra uniforms. Every gun was pointed at Aerith and Tifa and Yuffie and Barret and Red and Cait Sith who had made a loose circle themselves, covering each other's backs as if it would do them any good. Even now they were trying to protect each other; none of them could be the spy. Who had led them into the ambush?
"You ignorant traitor," came the breath of a chilling voice, and Cloud's heart froze as he realized, he was the one who'd led them... he was the only one who was safe right now...
The rifles readied in a chorus, despite Cait Sith trying to cajole everyone to take it easy.
Tifa and Aerith clasped hands and looked back at him. Pleading for the protection he'd promised.
Barret was too proud to ask anything and stayed turned away, shoulders ramrod straight.
Yuffie was screeching threats slurred together by unshed tears.
And Red at last broke the circle, leaping for one final attack, that split second before the beast and the rest of the world exploded into a much more vivid red with the report of gunfire. It seemed like some time before the stunned blond's vision returned to coherence again--a desolate, aching clarity of a blood-splattered world.
"...Tifa."
Ah. There was his voice. But it still was disconnected from him. Comrades' names simply tumbled out into the air in a manner turning keen with grief as Cloud marshaled arms and legs to finally move so he could reach them.
Not that there was anything he could do for them now.
His voice didn't seem to understand that. "Barret? Yuffie? Wake up. Aerith...Aerith." Glassy green eyes, the breast of her bolero stained a darker red--why hadn't the Turks kept her alive? Wasn't she supposed to be precious to Shinra? But they'd killed even her...everyone...
...He was going to kill every last one of them. He'd hunt them down--tear them limb from limb, it was the only thing he could think as his insides curled and warped with chilled-black sadness and white-hot anger.
Because if the power of SOLDIER wasn't to protect, it must surely be to destroy. Sephiroth had shown him that well enough.
"Cloud? Cloud." A woman's voice again, lower this time but it had to be the female Turk. She shook his shoulder roughly, callous to the fallen bodies around them. He snarled--did she really think she could kill him, when he was this angry?--and lunged upward into the darkness of the tent with a punch the woman barely dodged. "Cloud, wake up!"
"Stop, it's all right!" and the third voice came as another woman (was that Elena? She seemed too small, it didn't matter, she was Shinra as well) wrapped her arms around him, bodily stopping him from once more moving to attack Tifa.
...It was Tifa. The grip of nightmares and sleep was loosening, and Cloud could just see, thanks to his enhanced eyes, her long hair and the frame it fell around. Tifa was alive, okay, and to her credit, she let out an only slightly shaky sigh. "Back with us?"
'Us' was just Tifa and Aerith; Barret had the others. They were split up for the night so that even if Shinra did tail one of the parties somehow, they wouldn't end up with everyone surrounded. Cloud could remember that now. He'd decided it himself.
"Y, yeah. Sorry. ...Aerith--" The slight woman had practically bear-hugged him to slow him from going after Tifa in a disoriented rage, and at her friend's relieved sigh she'd relaxed and shifted to rub his back soothingly. But Cloud was already frowning and moving to disentangle their limbs, uneasy at the contact and the realization of just what she'd done. "You shouldn't do that."
"It looked like you could use it."
The hug? Cloud shook his head; he might not be comfortable with it, but neither was it the problem. "Don't--get close to me. When I'm like that... I could have hurt you." Even if it was faintly impressive that she'd done it, it hadn't been smart. He looked toward Tifa now, hoping they would both take the warning seriously. With her martial arts training, his childhood friend was nimbler than him, but if he had caught her with the punch, it could have done serious damage. "It's too easy with a SOLDIER's strength."
Aerith pulled back, but only a bit, still kneeling by his side. This close in the darkness, her green eyes almost seemed to reflect the mako glow of his own when they met. "You were crying out for us. Bad dream?"
Shame burned his cheeks, and he broke eye contact even though she could barely see him as it was. A nightmare, only because he'd done exactly nothing. Only because his head liked to play tricks. "It's over now." Sweat was still clinging to him, but he'd blame that on the humid heat of the Gongaga region. They couldn't be gone soon enough.
"...You know..." Funny. He'd seen Tifa bite her lip enough to tell when she was doing it by ear, registering the slight scrape of teeth against a chapped bottom lip. "You can talk to us if something's bothering you."
He hated the way he could imagine them looking at him. Kindly, but with pity for this moment of weakness. He wasn't-- "It was just a dream," he insisted. "Everything's fine." He'd never be caught without his sword in reality. His limbs wouldn't simply fail him. He was a SOLDIER, and...they deserved better than that.
☄
Cloud rolled over in his sleep, and called out for Aerith.
They'd had to return to Gongaga--they'd found out something about Zack, and Aerith was desperate to tell his parents. He couldn't fault her eagerness. She cared about Zack...
Cloud wanted to tell Zack's parents, too. It wasn't that they had happy news to give. But it was still important news. At-peace news.
Rude and Reno were blocking the way again. Still shadowing them, and filling out their time with wasteful talk too. Cloud gestured for Aerith to get back and ready her materia, Barret and Tifa to come forward, Yuffie-- hang on. What were they all traveling together for? They should have split up.
"Not your best move," said a high, clear voice. Elena must have gotten herself sacked already, because the dark-suited female approaching them had wavy red hair instead of straight blonde, though Cloud couldn't quite make out anything else about her features. He reached for the Buster sword...
...It wasn't there on his back. Not his best move at all, and suddenly it was like he was helpless. "Cloud, get back!" Tifa hooked arms under his shoulders, moved him bodily behind a tree for cover, and he wanted to jerk out of the hold, tell her she was being stupid--even if he didn't have her finesse at hand-to-hand he could still crack a Turk's skull with sheer force, he wasn't useless--except he was. His legs refused to move for him, and the only sound coming out of his mouth was a stuttered pant, and his mind kept whirling back to the futile question of where his sword was.
Tifa smiled reassuringly for him, patting his head before running off to rejoin the others.
He wanted to scream at her. At all of them. At himself, because all too soon he could see Reno pulling back from the farce of a Turk-AVALANCHE skirmish to make a hand signal, and then there were Shinra "peacekeeping" troops flooding out of the woodwork of the Gongaga jungle to surround the fight.
His voice was gone.
Rude and the female Turk pulled safely back, melted into the ring of Shinra uniforms. Every gun was pointed at Aerith and Tifa and Yuffie and Barret and Red and Cait Sith who had made a loose circle themselves, covering each other's backs as if it would do them any good. Even now they were trying to protect each other; none of them could be the spy. Who had led them into the ambush?
"You ignorant traitor," came the breath of a chilling voice, and Cloud's heart froze as he realized, he was the one who'd led them... he was the only one who was safe right now...
The rifles readied in a chorus, despite Cait Sith trying to cajole everyone to take it easy.
Tifa and Aerith clasped hands and looked back at him. Pleading for the protection he'd promised.
Barret was too proud to ask anything and stayed turned away, shoulders ramrod straight.
Yuffie was screeching threats slurred together by unshed tears.
And Red at last broke the circle, leaping for one final attack, that split second before the beast and the rest of the world exploded into a much more vivid red with the report of gunfire. It seemed like some time before the stunned blond's vision returned to coherence again--a desolate, aching clarity of a blood-splattered world.
"...Tifa."
Ah. There was his voice. But it still was disconnected from him. Comrades' names simply tumbled out into the air in a manner turning keen with grief as Cloud marshaled arms and legs to finally move so he could reach them.
Not that there was anything he could do for them now.
His voice didn't seem to understand that. "Barret? Yuffie? Wake up. Aerith...Aerith." Glassy green eyes, the breast of her bolero stained a darker red--why hadn't the Turks kept her alive? Wasn't she supposed to be precious to Shinra? But they'd killed even her...everyone...
...He was going to kill every last one of them. He'd hunt them down--tear them limb from limb, it was the only thing he could think as his insides curled and warped with chilled-black sadness and white-hot anger.
Because if the power of SOLDIER wasn't to protect, it must surely be to destroy. Sephiroth had shown him that well enough.
"Cloud? Cloud." A woman's voice again, lower this time but it had to be the female Turk. She shook his shoulder roughly, callous to the fallen bodies around them. He snarled--did she really think she could kill him, when he was this angry?--and lunged upward into the darkness of the tent with a punch the woman barely dodged. "Cloud, wake up!"
"Stop, it's all right!" and the third voice came as another woman (was that Elena? She seemed too small, it didn't matter, she was Shinra as well) wrapped her arms around him, bodily stopping him from once more moving to attack Tifa.
...It was Tifa. The grip of nightmares and sleep was loosening, and Cloud could just see, thanks to his enhanced eyes, her long hair and the frame it fell around. Tifa was alive, okay, and to her credit, she let out an only slightly shaky sigh. "Back with us?"
'Us' was just Tifa and Aerith; Barret had the others. They were split up for the night so that even if Shinra did tail one of the parties somehow, they wouldn't end up with everyone surrounded. Cloud could remember that now. He'd decided it himself.
"Y, yeah. Sorry. ...Aerith--" The slight woman had practically bear-hugged him to slow him from going after Tifa in a disoriented rage, and at her friend's relieved sigh she'd relaxed and shifted to rub his back soothingly. But Cloud was already frowning and moving to disentangle their limbs, uneasy at the contact and the realization of just what she'd done. "You shouldn't do that."
"It looked like you could use it."
The hug? Cloud shook his head; he might not be comfortable with it, but neither was it the problem. "Don't--get close to me. When I'm like that... I could have hurt you." Even if it was faintly impressive that she'd done it, it hadn't been smart. He looked toward Tifa now, hoping they would both take the warning seriously. With her martial arts training, his childhood friend was nimbler than him, but if he had caught her with the punch, it could have done serious damage. "It's too easy with a SOLDIER's strength."
Aerith pulled back, but only a bit, still kneeling by his side. This close in the darkness, her green eyes almost seemed to reflect the mako glow of his own when they met. "You were crying out for us. Bad dream?"
Shame burned his cheeks, and he broke eye contact even though she could barely see him as it was. A nightmare, only because he'd done exactly nothing. Only because his head liked to play tricks. "It's over now." Sweat was still clinging to him, but he'd blame that on the humid heat of the Gongaga region. They couldn't be gone soon enough.
"...You know..." Funny. He'd seen Tifa bite her lip enough to tell when she was doing it by ear, registering the slight scrape of teeth against a chapped bottom lip. "You can talk to us if something's bothering you."
He hated the way he could imagine them looking at him. Kindly, but with pity for this moment of weakness. He wasn't-- "It was just a dream," he insisted. "Everything's fine." He'd never be caught without his sword in reality. His limbs wouldn't simply fail him. He was a SOLDIER, and...they deserved better than that.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-03-12 12:34 am (UTC)(Er, sorry about the brevity here--I think I really have run out of things to say!)
(no subject)
Date: 2013-03-12 11:03 pm (UTC)