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raajThe ending deviated from what I had first planned to do (which involved Cloud waking up to find Aerith by him, and them talking a bit before being surprised by a Touch Me with both bolting and/or being toad'd for a half-amused-half-exasperated Tifa to cart) buuut as that might have been too comedic I'm okay with changing that. I think this works better; I'll have to sit on it a bit and see if the mood still seems right.
"I can hear them."
"I think we all can."
Cloud was sure of what Tifa and Aerith were whispering about; the thick jungle their camp was situated in for the night was full of the croaking of Touch Mes, unusual amphibians who could turn their victims small and green as well. Nighttime in the Gongaga region was far from quiet, and as a result not proving very restful yet.
"Stupid frogs," Cloud muttered to himself, rolling onto his side to twitch the fabric of the tent flaps and make sure they were closed. He had already done this several times, without really keeping track, and this time Aerith burst into laughter. "I'm keeping them out," he said firmly. What was so funny about that?
"Of course, of course, hee hee. Are you scared of the frogs, Cloud?"
"Terrified of how loud you'll shriek if they get in here..." It occurred to him just after the words were out that he was egging her on, an undoubtedly poor idea if he wanted to get to sleep soon. It was second nature though. Part of him liked the banter.
"Oh it just surprised me the first time. I think they're rather cute. So were you."
…She was not bringing that back up.
Tifa laughed, but then thankfully tugged lightly on one of Aerith's wispy curls as if to rein the other woman in. "You're going a little loopy. Come on, shhh."
"But you thought he was cute too, right?"
"I suppose..." Cloud narrowed his eyes as Tifa looked over her shoulder; he wasn't sure how well she could see him in the darkness of the hour, but she had to know she was about to pick a side here, and the smart side was hi— "The ribbiting was funny."
Great. "See what happens the next time either of you get shrunk," he huffed, ready to end this before he got ganged up on more. "Now come on, let's sleep. I thought you'd be more tired, Aerith..."
The outline of his main teaser's head turned away sharply, and Cloud had the feeling he'd overstepped himself. But her voice was still light: "Why? I wasn't the one hopping around everywhere."
Whatever he did next was going to be wrong. If he brought back up everything bad that had happened long before the Touch Mes, she'd be annoyed he wasn't dropping it. If he left it alone, she'd have needed to talk about it. He muddled: "...Kind of a rough day..."
Understatement. They'd walked into Shinra, twice, and the Turks had gotten everyone riled up over the possibility of a traitor, ridiculous as that was. But that hadn't been enough, and they'd had one more random encounter, this time with the parents of Aerith's old boyfriend.
If Aerith wanted to talk about Zack, he'd listen, but he was really starting to dislike the guy. No wonder Elmyra had shooed him out of her house that night. The SOLDIER First Class with zero class had done a real number on Aerith. It had been five years, but she still got upset over him.
The longer the silence stretched with response from Aerith, the more Cloud realized that even if he was willing to listen, he didn't have the first idea what to say. It had been five years, after all. She was being… sensitive. Unless—
He shook that thought away. "We'll be up early to meet with Barret and the others," he said, breaking the uneasy silence. "So we've got to rest now. All of us." He glanced down to Tifa at those last words, remembering she had been a little funny and evasive in the village as well. But she would have told him if she knew Zack, right?
Ugh. At this rate, he just wanted to forget about the guy. Cloud laid back and stared up at the slope of the tent's canvas before his eyes closed. As he slowly drifted to sleep, the humid air of Gongaga's jungle began to let down rain.
It was drizzling when he next opened his eyes, but it was hard to focus on the pitter-patter of raindrops when Aerith was staring at him where he sat. "We have to go back."
"What?" Was she kidding? Not from the look in her eyes.
"We should tell Zack's parents what happened to him. Are you forgetting again?"
The accusation hurt in spite of how lightly it was said; Aerith didn't make digs like that. Cloud felt even worse as he remembered—of course it was a big deal for her, she'd cared about him. "Sorry. I didn't mean to…"
The moss green of her eyes softened as she nodded. "I know. What you mean to happen and what actually happens are two separate things."
Didn't exactly make him feel better. He looked to Tifa, but couldn't catch her eyes before she slipped out of the tent to rouse the others. The ex-SOLDIER took a deep breath, but for some reason, he just couldn't find his cool. Still, he had to do this. "Let's go." It was the right thing to do--they'd found out something about Zack, and Aerith was desperate to tell his parents. He couldn't fault her eagerness as she hurried out of the tent to rouse the others. 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.
The thought of how his parents might react made the trek back to the village blur together: at first interminably long, and yet it seemed like no time had passed when AVALANCHE came to an abrupt halt, finding that 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, moving him bodily behind a tree for cover. 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—back at the campsite? Impossible.
Seeming unaware of just how absurd this situation was, Tifa smiled reassuringly for him before running off to rejoin the others.
He wanted to yell 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, melting 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, and Yuffie was screeching threats slurred together by unshed tears.
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 stunned mako eyes could focus again--taking in the desolate, anguishing vision of a blood-splattered world.
"...Tifa."
Ah. There was his voice. But it was no longer connected to 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." Green eyes now glassy, 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 curtain of long hair and the frame it fell around, then a glint of her pearl earring. Tifa was alive, okay, and to her credit, she let out an only slightly shaky sigh. "Back with us?"
"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." He looked toward Tifa now, hoping they would both take the warning seriously. Martial arts training had made his childhood friend 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 eyes almost seemed to reflect the mako-green 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 hardly 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 usual 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.
They deserved better than this too, having to share a tent with a loose cannon. What was wrong with his head tonight? He rose to his feet, cursing as he hit the roof of the tent with his head. Not smooth. Get it together.
"Cloud?" Worried.
"I'm not in the mood to go back to sleep right now," he told Tifa. Both of them, really. It was obvious Aerith was still watching him. "I'll be outside."
He didn't have to say not to follow him; he doubted they'd be eager to.
It was still raining. He didn't care, leaving his makeshift bedding behind to stagger out to the dampened remains of the evening's campfire and sit on the fallen log they'd dragged over. He toyed with his PHS, wondering if he should check on Barret's group before remembering they would have called if there were problems. Entertaining as it might be to think of how pissed off Barret would get to be woken up at this hour, and Cloud well out of reach for punching, a check-in was unnecessary.
Despite that brief amusement, Cloud wanted to punch something himself. The nightmare had him way too wound up if he was actually worrying about the others. They could handle themselves. They were getting clear of the area, and there wasn't a thing in the world that could make him change his mind into heading back. Even the reason his subconscious had cooked up seemed laughably flimsy. They had so many more important things to worry about than…whatever Aerith had wanted to tell Zack's parents. Hah. He actually huffed out a laugh at that, irritated as it was. Figured his imagination was too lazy to fill in something that important, the whole reason he'd lead his team into such obvious danger.
But it really had felt like there'd been something. …Maybe he'd just misplaced it because of what had happened later in the dream? Pale lips pinched into a frown. It had been important news. It—it felt like something he should know. But he couldn't grasp onto anything firmer than that feeling of should know, should know, are you forgetting again?
Didn't matter. He hadn't even known the guy; he really needed to stop thinking about this.
Somehow he must have managed to distract himself; Cloud woke up in the gray of early morning with a foggy head. The air had turned slightly cool with the rain, which had slowed to only a fine mist, though it still seemed enough to be giving Tifa trouble with starting a fire for cooking breakfast. And though his back was to Aerith, the woman was very audible in wrestling tent rods into submission, especially as she started to scold the inanimate objects. They'd let him sleep through the typical morning task of packing up, apparently taking his word on not waking him up a step too far—he didn't remember any nightmares after he'd fallen back asleep. Or dreams at all. He didn't have many. But then, why would either of them want to chance it after he'd swung at Tifa?
It should have been good they were taking him seriously and using caution, but he couldn't help a sting of dismay. "Aerith, wait a second… I'll help," he said, rising from the log. His blanket slipped from off his shoulders to the ground, and he stopped to pick it up. Might as well pack it away now, rather than leaving it about.
"I've got it, I've got it! And good morning."
"Did you sleep okay?" Tifa asked.
Yeah, since they'd left him alone to take care of packing themselves… he didn't say that, simply grunting as he folded the blanket over an arm.
…Wait. The blanket?
He hadn't taken it out with him. Which meant, even though they'd let him sleep, one of the girls had wrapped it around him, still risked coming close. And he looked at both of them, but soon realized it would be impossible to tell: it was a small gesture that either Tifa or Aerith would have done.
Aerith spoke first, though. "What is it?"
Was it her, then? He held up the arm still draped by cloth. "The blanket…I didn't really need it."
Her green eyes turned to Tifa and Cloud's followed—so it was her?—just in time to see Tifa roll her eyes and feel mildly affronted. Especially since he was sure Aerith had mirrored the action on her end. "What?"
"You're welcome," Tifa said pointedly.
Oh.
"Thanks." Not that he was sure who he was thanking. …But then, when he thought about it, they probably both deserved it after last night.
"I can hear them."
"I think we all can."
Cloud was sure of what Tifa and Aerith were whispering about; the thick jungle their camp was situated in for the night was full of the croaking of Touch Mes, unusual amphibians who could turn their victims small and green as well. Nighttime in the Gongaga region was far from quiet, and as a result not proving very restful yet.
"Stupid frogs," Cloud muttered to himself, rolling onto his side to twitch the fabric of the tent flaps and make sure they were closed. He had already done this several times, without really keeping track, and this time Aerith burst into laughter. "I'm keeping them out," he said firmly. What was so funny about that?
"Of course, of course, hee hee. Are you scared of the frogs, Cloud?"
"Terrified of how loud you'll shriek if they get in here..." It occurred to him just after the words were out that he was egging her on, an undoubtedly poor idea if he wanted to get to sleep soon. It was second nature though. Part of him liked the banter.
"Oh it just surprised me the first time. I think they're rather cute. So were you."
…She was not bringing that back up.
Tifa laughed, but then thankfully tugged lightly on one of Aerith's wispy curls as if to rein the other woman in. "You're going a little loopy. Come on, shhh."
"But you thought he was cute too, right?"
"I suppose..." Cloud narrowed his eyes as Tifa looked over her shoulder; he wasn't sure how well she could see him in the darkness of the hour, but she had to know she was about to pick a side here, and the smart side was hi— "The ribbiting was funny."
Great. "See what happens the next time either of you get shrunk," he huffed, ready to end this before he got ganged up on more. "Now come on, let's sleep. I thought you'd be more tired, Aerith..."
The outline of his main teaser's head turned away sharply, and Cloud had the feeling he'd overstepped himself. But her voice was still light: "Why? I wasn't the one hopping around everywhere."
Whatever he did next was going to be wrong. If he brought back up everything bad that had happened long before the Touch Mes, she'd be annoyed he wasn't dropping it. If he left it alone, she'd have needed to talk about it. He muddled: "...Kind of a rough day..."
Understatement. They'd walked into Shinra, twice, and the Turks had gotten everyone riled up over the possibility of a traitor, ridiculous as that was. But that hadn't been enough, and they'd had one more random encounter, this time with the parents of Aerith's old boyfriend.
If Aerith wanted to talk about Zack, he'd listen, but he was really starting to dislike the guy. No wonder Elmyra had shooed him out of her house that night. The SOLDIER First Class with zero class had done a real number on Aerith. It had been five years, but she still got upset over him.
The longer the silence stretched with response from Aerith, the more Cloud realized that even if he was willing to listen, he didn't have the first idea what to say. It had been five years, after all. She was being… sensitive. Unless—
He shook that thought away. "We'll be up early to meet with Barret and the others," he said, breaking the uneasy silence. "So we've got to rest now. All of us." He glanced down to Tifa at those last words, remembering she had been a little funny and evasive in the village as well. But she would have told him if she knew Zack, right?
Ugh. At this rate, he just wanted to forget about the guy. Cloud laid back and stared up at the slope of the tent's canvas before his eyes closed. As he slowly drifted to sleep, the humid air of Gongaga's jungle began to let down rain.
It was drizzling when he next opened his eyes, but it was hard to focus on the pitter-patter of raindrops when Aerith was staring at him where he sat. "We have to go back."
"What?" Was she kidding? Not from the look in her eyes.
"We should tell Zack's parents what happened to him. Are you forgetting again?"
The accusation hurt in spite of how lightly it was said; Aerith didn't make digs like that. Cloud felt even worse as he remembered—of course it was a big deal for her, she'd cared about him. "Sorry. I didn't mean to…"
The moss green of her eyes softened as she nodded. "I know. What you mean to happen and what actually happens are two separate things."
Didn't exactly make him feel better. He looked to Tifa, but couldn't catch her eyes before she slipped out of the tent to rouse the others. The ex-SOLDIER took a deep breath, but for some reason, he just couldn't find his cool. Still, he had to do this. "Let's go." It was the right thing to do--they'd found out something about Zack, and Aerith was desperate to tell his parents. He couldn't fault her eagerness as she hurried out of the tent to rouse the others. 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.
The thought of how his parents might react made the trek back to the village blur together: at first interminably long, and yet it seemed like no time had passed when AVALANCHE came to an abrupt halt, finding that 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, moving him bodily behind a tree for cover. 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—back at the campsite? Impossible.
Seeming unaware of just how absurd this situation was, Tifa smiled reassuringly for him before running off to rejoin the others.
He wanted to yell 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, melting 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, and Yuffie was screeching threats slurred together by unshed tears.
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 stunned mako eyes could focus again--taking in the desolate, anguishing vision of a blood-splattered world.
"...Tifa."
Ah. There was his voice. But it was no longer connected to 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." Green eyes now glassy, 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 curtain of long hair and the frame it fell around, then a glint of her pearl earring. Tifa was alive, okay, and to her credit, she let out an only slightly shaky sigh. "Back with us?"
"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." He looked toward Tifa now, hoping they would both take the warning seriously. Martial arts training had made his childhood friend 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 eyes almost seemed to reflect the mako-green 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 hardly 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 usual 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.
They deserved better than this too, having to share a tent with a loose cannon. What was wrong with his head tonight? He rose to his feet, cursing as he hit the roof of the tent with his head. Not smooth. Get it together.
"Cloud?" Worried.
"I'm not in the mood to go back to sleep right now," he told Tifa. Both of them, really. It was obvious Aerith was still watching him. "I'll be outside."
He didn't have to say not to follow him; he doubted they'd be eager to.
It was still raining. He didn't care, leaving his makeshift bedding behind to stagger out to the dampened remains of the evening's campfire and sit on the fallen log they'd dragged over. He toyed with his PHS, wondering if he should check on Barret's group before remembering they would have called if there were problems. Entertaining as it might be to think of how pissed off Barret would get to be woken up at this hour, and Cloud well out of reach for punching, a check-in was unnecessary.
Despite that brief amusement, Cloud wanted to punch something himself. The nightmare had him way too wound up if he was actually worrying about the others. They could handle themselves. They were getting clear of the area, and there wasn't a thing in the world that could make him change his mind into heading back. Even the reason his subconscious had cooked up seemed laughably flimsy. They had so many more important things to worry about than…whatever Aerith had wanted to tell Zack's parents. Hah. He actually huffed out a laugh at that, irritated as it was. Figured his imagination was too lazy to fill in something that important, the whole reason he'd lead his team into such obvious danger.
But it really had felt like there'd been something. …Maybe he'd just misplaced it because of what had happened later in the dream? Pale lips pinched into a frown. It had been important news. It—it felt like something he should know. But he couldn't grasp onto anything firmer than that feeling of should know, should know, are you forgetting again?
Didn't matter. He hadn't even known the guy; he really needed to stop thinking about this.
Somehow he must have managed to distract himself; Cloud woke up in the gray of early morning with a foggy head. The air had turned slightly cool with the rain, which had slowed to only a fine mist, though it still seemed enough to be giving Tifa trouble with starting a fire for cooking breakfast. And though his back was to Aerith, the woman was very audible in wrestling tent rods into submission, especially as she started to scold the inanimate objects. They'd let him sleep through the typical morning task of packing up, apparently taking his word on not waking him up a step too far—he didn't remember any nightmares after he'd fallen back asleep. Or dreams at all. He didn't have many. But then, why would either of them want to chance it after he'd swung at Tifa?
It should have been good they were taking him seriously and using caution, but he couldn't help a sting of dismay. "Aerith, wait a second… I'll help," he said, rising from the log. His blanket slipped from off his shoulders to the ground, and he stopped to pick it up. Might as well pack it away now, rather than leaving it about.
"I've got it, I've got it! And good morning."
"Did you sleep okay?" Tifa asked.
Yeah, since they'd left him alone to take care of packing themselves… he didn't say that, simply grunting as he folded the blanket over an arm.
…Wait. The blanket?
He hadn't taken it out with him. Which meant, even though they'd let him sleep, one of the girls had wrapped it around him, still risked coming close. And he looked at both of them, but soon realized it would be impossible to tell: it was a small gesture that either Tifa or Aerith would have done.
Aerith spoke first, though. "What is it?"
Was it her, then? He held up the arm still draped by cloth. "The blanket…I didn't really need it."
Her green eyes turned to Tifa and Cloud's followed—so it was her?—just in time to see Tifa roll her eyes and feel mildly affronted. Especially since he was sure Aerith had mirrored the action on her end. "What?"
"You're welcome," Tifa said pointedly.
Oh.
"Thanks." Not that he was sure who he was thanking. …But then, when he thought about it, they probably both deserved it after last night.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-05-15 06:34 pm (UTC)I think this way works a lot better; there's still the tonal shift, but it doesn't feel as abrupt as there's the implied time-passing. I do like how you shifted things into the dream and made the situation ambiguous; I confess I hadn't immediately grasped that (despite having read the earlier versions) it was the dream until the Turks ambush. I like that little snippet of conversation between Cloud and Aeris as well with her insisting there was something to tell Zack's parents, and how Cloud's mind is on the verge of putting the situation together but he's either forgotten it again by the point of the dream he's truly aware of, or his unconcious has linked little bits and pieces together for the scene. This felt better actually depicted then the inferred version before - and I like the idea of the inferred conversation that dream!Aeris alludes to.
While with meta-knowledge its a bit pained for Cloud to think of Zack like that, BUT in-character and at this point in the story-line, it seems very right for him to have such a bad impression of Zack; all he's able to grasp is what Aeris told him, and even if she does miss him, he's going to come off seeming uncaring and a bit of a jerk for leaving her like that. And also that he rejects his unconcious hinting he should go back - and that again feels right for Cloud; he really has nothing to say. Aeris could admit her relationship, but ultimately offer no real comfort to Zack's parents. But then his memories are pushing to surface but can't quite make it; and he has that maddening feeling he should know what Aeris was going to say - if not more then what she personally could tell them.
The new section! I love Aeris wrestling with the tent rods ("into submission") and scolding them as well. And I like Cloud's inability to pin down who did give him the blanket (I'm currently interpreting it as they both did).
Definitely think this version works better, and its nice to see it merged together now.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-05-16 01:31 pm (UTC)and how Cloud's mind is on the verge of putting the situation together but he's either forgotten it again by the point of the dream he's truly aware of, or his unconscious has linked little bits and pieces together for the scene.
For me to write the scene, it was that he was close to putting it back together (because the rest of the dream is very, very much about abrupt death) but he still isn't ready to accept what happened (so Aerith is the one who knows; kind of a stand-in for the "real Cloud" that way), but the fun of it really is that it could go different ways. I'm glad it worked for you!
Haha yeah, the thing with Zack is pretty terrible. I... just have always really enjoyed the subversion of it for some reason. Cloud is very loyalty/responsibility-based, even if he has no sense of that at the beginning of the game. But especially the loyalty. If someone screws with his teammates, he has an issue with them. If someone screws with his teammates by breaking their trust, I think it's pretty fair to say he despises them. At the same time it's been five years and Aerith is always downplaying it so he's not going to blow it up into a huge deal, but he's probably thought that he wouldn't mind socking the guy one if he ran into Zack somewhere and the guy turned out as big of a jerk as he's starting to sound. (But he really wouldn't, since Zack isn't. ...Normally. I have had Cloud sock Zack upon (re-)meeting in roleplay, actually, because Cloud was freaking out over an unexpected flashback and Zack got up close to him while he was panicking. Anyone would have gotten punched at that point.)
And of course, the reality is, if Zack was anywhere around for Cloud to run into, Cloud would never have thought that. And he's not going to be very happy he did... So it's just. Interesting for me.
Haha at first I was wondering "wait, wouldn't Tifa have better luck taking down the tent on her own since she's taller and stronger" and then it was like "oh pft, Aerith would say she works with rods all the time, it's fine!" and it seemed funnier that way. I think I just like Aerith being a chatterbox and scolding for the sake of venting. XD
For me, it's that one girl did it--because she happened to be closer to the tent when they thought of it. It really doesn't matter which one because they both would have.
I do like this version better too. I think there are small things that may or may not change when it's finally put up on a fanfiction site, but overall I am much happier with this as one whole segment.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-05-16 09:35 pm (UTC)I like the idea of Aeris being the stand-in for the real Cloud in the dream... and that makes me think that Cloud's mind has put together Zack from what Aeris has said, with bits and pieces he retained but doesn't understand from him and Zack travelling together, and Zack talking to him about anything and everything - so his mind has connected the two of them together.
The subversion of Zack works! And again, while its pained that he thinks that way about his friend, he doesn't yet know the truth - and possibly more importantly it emphasises that he cares about Aeris, that he's not happy with the guy in her past that has upset her so badly, however much she's hiding the extent. And I also like the idea that he is fiercely protective of his friends so isn't keen on anything that has upset him. Haha for the regular punching in RP - at least Zack is going to be one of the lesat damaged by a wild mako-enhanced swing from Cloud.
Yes! I can totally see Aeris arguing that point, and I really do like the chatterbox/scolding for the sake of venting (cf. Elmyra in-game; "That child loved to talk" or something similar...)
It does work very well as one segment now, and I really like some of the ambiguous time-passing as we switch from Cloud being awake to dreaming to awake then dreamless sleep and the misty morning...
(no subject)
Date: 2013-05-17 06:17 pm (UTC)Ahhh. I see how you can get Cloud connecting the two that way.
Haha yeah since the punch wasn't even aimed or anything, Zack was if anything more hurt by the 'MY BUDDY IS SUDDENLY OUT OF HIS HEAD???' thing. But yes, it's very much that Cloud has no issues with the real Zack, just Zack as Aerith (and Elmyra's caution) painted him. (And even there he might vacillate a little, thinking maybe she's being sensitive--but then again Aerith deals with enough in her life that either she is taking it in proportion and it really was that bad, or she's blowing it out of proportion because it's been kind of a final straw after everything else. I think it's mostly something where, if asked by someone else what the deal is with Aerith and Zack, Cloud wouldn't pretend he remotely understands it or how much of how Aerith tells it is accurate considering her actions aren't matching her words; but he still wants for her to have some kind of resolution on it
punching a jerk totally counts as resolution/be able to move on and not be upset. ...And going by the one dialogue choice this may also be a little selfish of him wanting her to stop thinking of Zack because it makes him jealous. Oh, Cloud.)Haha, child Aerith has often been very chatty when I've seen her played/written for for that line of Elmyra's. The talkativeness really is fun to write for.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-05-17 08:35 pm (UTC)Ah - I can really see Zack getting hurt by his friend being out of his head like that. Completely agree that Cloud wouldn't have any issues with the real Zack (AC and CC taking pains to show them as friends), and that his actions are entirely derived from Aeris and Elmyra's reactions to him in the past. Hard to choose between which way Cloud might take things; Aeris taking it in proportion or it's a final straw on top of other things - so I think him vacillating like that make sense too. Definitely agree he'd likely admit he doesn't or can't work out just what their relationship was (and the audience was on the same page in OGC since basically we could only interpret from the slim evidence what it was like for the couple. CC changed that a fair amount, but its why Zack was... reasonably consistent if very skewed before the Compilation) - but wanting some kind of resolution (haha - yeah punching would definitely seem his preferred resolution at present) so she can properly move on and not have this question she's held onto for five years.
And oh, yeah that dialogue option... (another point on the Cloud did like Aeris concept though).
Ah, I can see Aeris' talkativeness being fun - I think I keep forgetting that aspect a little - I need to give her more dialogue...