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FF7 - Restore - chapter 4.1
Holy fuck, the last time I actually posted a chapter of this fic was almost a year ago. I hated that stupid dialogue scene SO MUCH ARGH. ... I'm giving myself performance anxiety, I swear.
New version of the previous scene (not too different actually but. Hn.) is going up in a second and I'll link it here.
Prologue - table of contents.
(note: this is still unbetaed. If you notice any characterization or grammar concerns, I'd love it if you tell me; I'll fix it.)
"Heart attack, apparently."
Cloud ran his fingers through sleep-tangled hair and checked the time on his cell phone. Barely five AM. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, wishing he could have slept a little longer before getting the news. What time was it in Wutai? He didn't know.
"Oh... Poor Yuffie. That's..."
Cloud nodded, head bowed. Of the whole Avalanche gang, she'd been the only one to still have family; Tifa's father and Cloud's mother were gone with Nibelheim, Bugenhagen had passed on a year or so ago, and even if Cid still had relatives, by now they'd been estranged longer than not.
"She's still so young..."
Cloud had been younger, but drugged as he'd been, he hadn't fully realized he was an orphan until he was about the age she was now.
It was always a little strange to remember that Yuffie was almost twenty-one now. For them, she was still a bratty teenager, the baby of the group. Still acted like it, too, all bounciness and impulsive decisions. Cloud wondered if she would act like that again from now on.
His phone beeped; he checked the screen, frowned. "The Shera will be in Kalm to get Barret in five hours, it leaves us one and a half to get ready before we have to drive over." He glanced at Tifa, voice quiet. "If we're both going with the bike. If you take the van, you should probably leave earlier."
He wasn't sure he should go. On one hand, Yuffie would need emotional support. On the other hand, Tifa was better at it and he didn't want to be a continent away if Sephiroth woke up. Zack... Cloud remembered him from his teenage days as awe-inspiringly strong, but he had no clue how that measured up to the levels Cloud and Sephiroth were at, now. And he didn't know much about Aeris' magic.
But Yuffie wasn't just a grieving girl. Now that her father had died, she was the Lady of Wutai.
Cloud frowned and left the bed, turning on the ceiling light. He didn't follow Wutai politics all that closely, but everyone knew Yuffie had done her very best to dodge her father's attempts to groom her as his successor. Lord Godo had taught her some, but not nearly as much as he could have. Her way to help Wutai was to roam the world, looking for things to bring home, and to train its children in martial arts so they wouldn't be powerless if attacked again; Cloud couldn't imagine her sitting on a throne, doing paperwork, or dealing with ministers. She wasn't patient or subtle in the slightest.
She was going to need someone to watch out for the sharks in the water, just as much as she would need friends to comfort her.
"Cloud?"
"... Mmh. I was just thinking about politics." He pulled on the shirt he'd taken off, only a few hours ago, and stepped back into his shoes. "It wouldn't hurt to show that she has powerful friends..."
"Ah, I see." Tifa looked even more worried now; evidently it hadn't been her first thought.
"Reeve won't be able to stay long... He has WRO to take care of." Cloud went through their list of friends in his mind. Cid would offend and scandalize every single nobleman in Wutai before a week; Barret would prompt them to duel. Red could be wise, but he knew little about human politics, and people would see him as more of a talking guard dog than as a sharp-minded advisor -- which could be an asset, but only if Yuffie had someone else to rest on more visibly. Vincent, maybe, if he could be found in time...
And maybe Yuffie's father had been smart and had perfectly competent advisors ready to step in and support her to the end. It was hard to trust outsiders, though... But from their point of view, Cloud was probably the one who was an outsider.
And they had Sephiroth in the attic to worry about, too.
"I'm going to wake up Zack and Aeris," he said. Perhaps they would have insight, perhaps not, but they needed to be told anyway.
When he opened Tifa's bedroom door, Zack was already peering through Cloud's own bedroom door, bleary-eyed and his hair just as much of a mess as Cloud's own. He seemed to have helped himself to a pair of Cloud's boxer shorts.
"Was that a phone?"
Even now, with so many pressing worries, his voice still made a little thrill of shock go up Cloud's back. Zack was real. If Cloud reached out, his hand would find sleep-warm flesh. He didn't reach, even though his history of vivid hallucinations still insisted he needed to make sure. "...Yeah. Yuffie -- one of our friends, her father just died."
"Oh, hell."
Zack gave him a commiserating look and stepped back, allowing Cloud to stand in the doorway. Aeris was curled up on her side in the middle of the bed, her long hair strewn in waves over Cloud's pillows. Cloud wanted to laugh, a little, imagining her slender body relegating big strong Zack to the edge of the mattress. It was surprisingly easy to see.
It made him wish he'd forgotten about their stupid argument and spent the night watching them sleep. Even with the knowledge that today would be exhausting no matter what he chose to do, he couldn't feel like it would have been time wasted.
"Cloud?"
He blinked and looked at Zack. The man stood with his hand on the doorjamb, head tilted expectantly.
"--Ah. I'm just woolgathering. Tired."
Zack nodded, and then slung an arm around Cloud's neck without warning. Cloud twitched and had to force himself to relax.
"I'm gonna have to train you all over again, I see," Zack said with a little too much good cheer for this topic and this hour of the night. Cloud sent him a half-hearted glare, which he undermined some more when he didn't even try to get free.
"I'm not that bad anymore," he said, rueful. Granted, he still had a healthy sense of personal space, but that was nothing like how averse to physical contact he'd been when he joined the army.
Zack was just as warm as Cloud had suspected. Solid, too. Cloud wished he could just bask a little longer, but there was precious little time to waste. He shrugged his shoulders; Zack sighed, and ruffled his hair affectionately before letting go.
"What are you gonna do?"
Cloud ran a hand over his face, futilely trying to kickstart his brain. "I don't know. It's not like I can just decide not to go -- it's her father's funerals. She might forgive me eventually, but I'd never forgive myself. But what else can I do?"
Zack rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, where is it? If it's not too far, you could hop over and come back..."
"Wutai."
Zack winced. "Ouch."
"Did I mention Yuffie is Lord Godo's only heir?" Cloud asked with a touch of cynicism. Zack's wince turned into a full-blown grimace.
"You've got interesting buddies... Aw hell, so there's all that stiff upper lip business on top of it. She's gonna need friends even more." Zack sighed, sympathetic. "In that case it's not like you can stuff him in a crate and bring him along. Pretty sure the Wutainese wouldn't be too happy to have a grumpy, half-awake Silver Demon doing a jack-in-the-box impression in the middle of their court."
Cloud groaned, in full agreement. "Taking him along is right out." He had visions of a riot in the city, people trying to throw the sleeping man on Lord Godo's funeral pyre... "Yeah, definitely out."
Zack nodded. "Okay, so Seph stays in his tower."
Cloud blinked at him. What...? -- oh, right. Sleeping princess. The thought of the Demon General in a pretty dress awaiting true love's kiss startled a small chuckle out of him.
"... If I stay here to guard him, everyone is going to demand to know why. And Yuffie doesn't need the stress now. But if I go, I'll never be back in time if anything happens."
"Aeris and I can't go anyway," Zack said with blunt practicality. "It's not like a funeral is the best place to go 'heya! We just returned from the dead, how'd you do'."
Cloud grimaced faintly. "That... would probably be bad." And wasn't that an understatement.
"So there you have it. We stay, you go. Tell people afterwards."
Cloud tried not to look too skeptical, but from Zack's vaguely offended glare he didn't succeed. "Aeris isn't an offensive fighter, and I'm not sure you can win against him on your own."
"I could hold him back long enough for Aeris to knock him out again, if he wanted to run." Zack yawned, stretched his arms over his head, muscles rolling under tanned skin. You would think being dead for so long would leave him out of shape, Cloud thought confusedly. But then again it wasn't really Zack's body...
"See something you like?"
Cloud jerked, tearing his eyes away from Zack's chest. The man was laughing silently, shoulders shaking with mirth.
"...You're not conceited at all, are you."
"Aw, poor tired zoning-out Cloudypoo."
"Cloudypoo?" Cloud got a headpat for his troubles, and batted Zack's hand away halfheartedly. "Will you quit it already. I'm twenty-six, not sixteen."
"... Really? Wow. My baby is all grown up."
Zack sobered up, crossing his arms over his bare chest and leaning against the wall. He gazed up at the ceiling, frowning.
"Not sure what kind of security measures we could take that would satisfy you..."
"He's resilient to magic, if I recall right," Cloud said. "I'm not sure the Sleep spell will hold long. Maybe pills..."
"Nah, a chocobo dose would only keep him down for three hours tops. Then when he'd wake up he'd have a drug hangover to take out on us."
Zack had said the last bit as a joke, but Cloud couldn't help but visualize it happening, and he grimaced. "Mnh. The only place I can find restraints that would hold him is Hojo's old lab in the Midgar ruins..."
"Shit, Cloud." Zack stared at him, visibly pained. "Are you sure you really want to do that?"
Cloud felt a little sick at the very mention of the labs, of the possibility he'd have to return there, but he made himself consider it anyway, forcing past his visceral reaction. No one deserved the labs. Not even Sephiroth? Used as punishment it made him feel dirty -- as if Hojo was looking over his shoulder being proud, shit, either kill him or don't, he didn't torture people -- but in everyone else's best interests... He didn't know. It wasn't like he planned to cut Sephiroth open, and the examination tables were built pretty sturdy, with lots of straps to distribute the pressure and keep from digging too sharply into flesh...
He imagined Sephiroth falling asleep in a dusty attic and waking on gleaming metal. Strapped down flat on his back, all that strength useless. And the scent, Hojo always had everything cleaned with manic precision but the stench of chemicals and fear never went away. He could almost smell it now; if he inhaled too deeply he feared he'd be there again.
"... I... No." Cloud chuckled a little, though the sound held little actual amusement. "Hell no. If he isn't crazy now, he would be if he woke up like that."
Zack nodded, opened his mouth to say something else, but then Cloud felt his barrier pop like a soap bubble and stiffened.
"Get Aeris," he said as he darted in his dark bedroom to get a sword and a handful of Materia from the rack. "Tifa's in the shower. Get ready to move them. Barrier's down."
He went to the staircase without another word, stalked up to the attic. He didn't know whether Zack would have asked to come with him or told him to relax; both were unacceptable. As far as he knew Sephiroth had woken up refreshed and ready to mow down a crowd of civilians or two. If Zack tried to follow, Cloud would just kick him down the stairs.
At first glance he could see no one in the attic. The window was closed, and the latch was on the inside, and the thought came to him that perhaps Sephiroth had just moved in his sleep; it didn't look like he had left. Cloud slowly moved across the wooden floor, sword ready, stepped around the chest of drawers blocking the view.
Sephiroth sat on the edge of his mattress, long legs crossed loosely, one foot extended over the planks just enough to pierce the barrier.
Cloud came to a stop just beside the chest of drawers and watched him.
It was -- strange. Strange expression on Sephiroth's face, almost absent, eyes unfocused; strange position, as if he'd deliberately popped the barrier to warn Cloud he was up. No -- not 'as if'.
He could have left. He hadn't.
"Strife," the man greeted him quietly, looking up at him.
Cloud wondered if Sephiroth had come awake with the thought that it was time to die. When he gave a faint nod of greeting, Cloud couldn't help but nod back, polite, his sword still held firm and ready.
Sephiroth ignored the weapon, looked up at the skylight with a neutral expression that didn't, to Cloud's eyes, manage to hide a trace of wistfulness. Outside a couple of stars melted away into the first blush of dawn.
"You'll have a better view if you get up," Cloud said quietly, and even to himself couldn't tell why.
Sephiroth looked at him then, surprise lurking in his strangely solemn eyes. Cloud wanted to cross his arms defensively, say he could still change his mind and would Sephiroth prefer that? But it might have... he didn't know. Broken something, ended it. So he stood quiet and waited.
Sephiroth slowly unfolded his legs and climbed to his feet, and made his way through the clutter. He didn't try to open the window. He didn't look at Edge or the ruins of Midgar -- just at the sky.
It was a little surreal. The attic, the civil behavior, that proud and lethal almost-god standing barefoot and shirtless in the dust for the privilege of taking in the view of rusty Edge through a dirty window.
"It's early for a phone call."
Cloud frowned, startled out of his thoughts. "That's what woke you up?"
"Yes." Sephiroth glanced sideway at him. A hint of humor sparked in his green eyes and went into hiding again. Cloud arched an eyebrow, prompting him, and while Sephiroth still didn't look directly at him, he did keep talking. "That ring tone..."
Heh. It did sound similar to President Shinra's personal line. "Afraid of another callgirl emergency?"
It was only when Sephiroth turned to meet his eyes that Cloud realized he shouldn't have known about the time a prostitute left with the content of Shinra Senior's personal safe. Shouldn't have remembered Seph's execrable mood when he stalked down to the mess hall and growled in clipped words that he'd spent half the day at Don Corneo's and the rest combing the slums for a whore he hadn't even found in the end, and good riddance to her; that would teach Shinra to call the police next time instead of an army general. Shouldn't have known what that ring tone sounded like, because he had never heard it.
Shouldn't even have understood, from so many silences, that the little ups and downs of Sephiroth's ordinary Shinra days were even still remembered, after he'd tried to become a god and everything that ensued.
Sephiroth's eyes narrowed, staring at Cloud as if trying to guess how much he knew and how. But if there was a list of things Cloud didn't want to discuss with him, that unexplainable moment of understanding was probably close to the top.
"Phone call was from Wutai," he said, not even knowing why he bothered to tell him except that he needed a distraction. "Lord Godo Kisaragi just died."
Sephiroth arched an eyebrow. "Assassinated?"
Cloud was taken aback. "Not to my knowledge." But now the possibility was a little more present in his mind. There were poisons that could make it look natural -- especially in Wutai.
Sephiroth's thoughts had followed a different path. "It seems an internal matter. Why were you called?"
Cloud arched an eyebrow. Yuffie had been there when they crossed paths -- but then again he probably hadn't really made the link, or cared to remember. "Yuffie Kisaragi was part of Avalanche."
"Ah. I see." By his faintly puzzled frown it was obvious he couldn't place her, though.
"Scrawny brunette with a boomerang. She whacked you a couple of times."
The frown didn't change. "... If you say so."
Cloud snorted quietly, amused despite his best judgment.
"Who is next in line after... Lady Kisaragi?"
"Why on earth do you want to know?" Cloud asked, instantly suspicious.
Sephiroth turned to face him, neutral, almost blank. "Would she be desperate enough to commit suicide?"
Cloud stiffened. "Hell no she wouldn't. What --"
Sephiroth lifted a hand to ask for a little more patience; Cloud didn't know why he granted it.
"Is her public persona such that a layperson could believe it of her?"
"...What are you implying?"
Sephiroth crossed his arms loosely, head tilted with casual elegance. "That back when his wife died, Lord Godo spent a lot of time avoiding well-meaning attempts to help him join her. Not all of them came from Shinra." Cloud stared; Sephiroth sent him a cynical look. "Wutai politics owe a lot to their status as a warrior nation."
He couldn't be serious. Could he?
"Warrior," Cloud said. "Not politician. How is that even comparable?"
"The only difference between politics and war is that in politics you have to look clean while you bury your enemy six feet under. The burying need not be metaphorical."
Cloud hissed between clenched teeth. "Enough. I get it. Why are you telling me that?"
Sephiroth nodded his head toward the window and the lightening sky outside.
A warning in thanks for being allowed to see a sunrise? Damn it, the bastard wasn't allowed to make him feel guilty. Cloud grunted an acknowledgement and leaned on his sword, pretending not to care, not to notice the General's face as his eyes roamed over the rough landscape. From the window Cloud knew you could only see a little of Midgard's ruins and the old reactors; then there was Edge and its salvage-built houses, and the half-dead plains stretching far behind.
"I do have a noted tendency to paranoia," Sephiroth allowed.
Cloud had one too; and now with some corroborating facts his own paranoia was flaring up. "They wouldn't believe it," he said. "Not Yuffie. She's too... No. She's very public about her opinion on 'giving up'."
"Then for the moment at least she is safe. It would look too suspicious if she had an accident so soon."
Cloud shook his head in disbelief at the whole situation. Sephiroth was being so polite, it was so wrong. "You're trying to mess with my head, aren't you," he said, and didn't even know how serious the comment was.
Sephiroth arched an eyebrow at him in that aristocratic, 'beg pardon?' way. "... I assure you I'm not."
"Uh huh. Right, so--"
Aeris's voice rang from the staircase. "Cloud?"
A jolt of pure adrenaline ran through his veins at the thought of her coming into the danger zone. It didn't even matter that she'd been fine before he found them yesterday. Cloud stiffened and called back, "Stay where you are. I'll be there in a minute."
The moment was definitely over. He didn't have to tell Sephiroth so; the man just turned away from the window and sat on the mattress, legs crossed.
Cloud stood in front of him in silence, and then shook his head at his own soft-heartedness and said briskly, "You might wake up again. Whatever happens, don't leave the room. I'll take it as a breach of our agreement." They both knew what would follow if that happened.
"That was always understood, Mister Strife."
The hint of mockery in his voice made it easy for Cloud to cast, dropping him like a stone with no warning. Sephiroth toppled backwards on the bed, eyes fluttering closed, folded legs slowly relaxing, dragging on the wooden floor.
Under the dirt, the bottom of his feet was crisscrossed with half-healed slices and puncture marks.
Sector Five. The rubble and glass crossed with no shoes. He'd never mentioned it, of course. Damn him.
None of it looked infected -- it wouldn't get infected easily, not with his mako levels, but the wounds were still dirty. Growling under his breath, Cloud reached for a healing spell -- then he paused. His first instinct was to fix him, because it was wrong to let someone go without treatment, prisoner or not -- but this was Sephiroth. Slaughterer of many, threat to the human race and the Planet as a whole, cold-blooded enemy. Of course he hadn't complained, he had known Cloud wouldn't pity him for a few scrapes.
Cloud still didn't pity him. And even then it was still wrong.
He threw a restore spell at him, the knitting flesh pushing out the debris, and then in quick succession cast two layered shields around the mattress, and a spell of Silence; Sephiroth had no Materia at hand anyway, it didn't matter if he was made unable to cast, but Cloud knew from experience it would muffle sounds, make them harder to comprehend or pay attention to, and perhaps the waking town wouldn't disturb the man again. And then he turned around and stalked out, and he didn't look back.
+
Aeris woke up more exhausted than she'd been when she fell asleep. Things were dark and heavy, and oh, she was so tired.
"...ris, babe, wake up."
The world wasn't green and entangled and there. She shivered, confused, sought the voice that was a million voices, found nothing. The silence, the absence was deafening.
"Aeris, c'mon, hon. Cloud and Tifa need you."
She opened her eyes again, and blinked at Zack's face -- fuzzy around the edges until she blinked, and then he was solid and clear as he had never been back in the -- "Oh."
Aeris closed her eyes, took in a deep breath of slightly musty man-bedroom scent, and laughed.
"... Um. What? Do I have something on my face?"
Grinning up at Zack, she reached to pat his cheek. Her hand was heavy.
"No, seriously, what's funny?"
She poked his nose with a finger and nudged him back to give herself the space to sit up. When she stretched her arms overhead, her muscles ached all the way down her back. It was marvelous. Her head wouldn't clear, though. She yawned. "I do hope you have a great reason not to let me sleep."
Zack sobered up; so did she, smile falling away. Had something happened with Sephiroth?
"Yuffie's dad passed away."
Aeris' first reflex was to say 'no, he hasn't!' Because she would have known, wouldn't she? "Are you sure?" she asked instead, fingers curling in the blankets on her lap.
Zack gave her a surprised look. "Cloud and Tifa are expected for the service, so... Yeah, kinda."
Aeris shook her head, surprised despite herself. She knew better than to count on her gift -- it had always been erratic. She didn't know Yuffie's father that well anyway, they'd only met once; it wasn't such a surprise that she hadn't felt him cross over. Perhaps it was the tides, the closeness of the Lifestream waning, pulling away from her... She wasn't in the Lifestream anymore; of course the all-present knowing would stop.
Back when she was alive the first time, she had known for her mother's uncle that she had never met, known before Elmyra did, because Elmyra's uncle was connected to Elmyra, and Elmyra was connected to her. She had known for Zack, even though at the time she hadn't been able to put a name to that sudden, unprompted sorrow.
"... Hm. It can't happen all the time, I guess," she said quietly. Zack tilted his head and gave her an inquisitive look.
"What can't happen all the time?"
"Ah, nothing important. Woolgathering again." She slipped out of bed, wobbling, and leaned on Zack for a second, for warmth more than for balance. She'd forgotten how touching someone felt. How warm and heavy and solid, so little like touching minds in the Lifestream and yet so comforting.
"... Cloud's upstairs with Seph," Zack said quietly. "Trying to decide whether to stay or go. ...Told me to get ready to move you and Tifa out."
Aeris winced. "I see." She needed to make sure they weren't arguing. "I'll be right back," she told Zack, and slipped out of the bedroom.
"Babe--"
"Wait for Tifa," she said without turning back. She stepped in the staircase.
The attic was silent; she didn't know whether that was a good sign.
"Cloud?"
The answer came back right away, tense and stern, making her wince. "Stay where you are. I'll be there in a minute."
Aeris hesitated. She would have liked to see Sephiroth, exchange a few words perhaps in the rare event that he felt sociable. In the end, though, it would hurt Cloud's feelings if she disregarded his warning. She didn't want another argument.
Cloud came along after a short time, a sword over his shoulder, his eyes already weary. But he smiled at her anyway, eyes lingering on her face. She smiled back. Oh Cloud. She wished she hadn't had to drag up all those old hurts.
She preceded him down to the corridor, bare feet light on the floor. The sensation was strange, distracting. She splayed her toes and smiled.
"... What are you doing?"
Aeris chuckled and turned to face him. "Wooden floors. I missed them."
"You did?"
She couldn't help but laugh at his bemused expression. "I missed everything."
"Oh," he said quietly, and nothing else, so she stepped closer and leaned against him, her side to his chest, her head on his shoulder.
"Everything. But you and our friends the most."
He breathed out in her hair, an arm coming up to hug her shoulders briefly. "...I missed fresh-baked bread a lot, when I was in the labs."
Aeris huffed and poked him in the chest with an accusing finger. "Of course you say that in the middle of the night, when all the bakeries will be closed."
Cloud chuckled softly as he leaned away from her. She allowed him to put some distance back between them, her own smile growing more subdued.
"I want you to promise me he's going to stay asleep."
Aeris blinked and tilted her head, not sure how to read that. "Well, of course. Isn't that what we agreed on? The neighborhood will be safe, I promise."
Cloud shook his head, allowing her to see how tired he was. "I don't want you to promise that the neighborhood will be safe, Aeris. I want you to promise that you will keep casting those Sleep spells, and he will stay under, and at no time will he wake up."
For a second she was a little hurt that he was looking at her like that -- as if he couldn't quite trust her to be on his side. But there was precedent, wasn't there? She hadn't asked anyone's opinion before going to pray for Holy either. She still didn't regret it.
"I admit it might be... tempting," she said quietly, "to sit him down at a table and feed him, or allow him to take a bath. Or look out of a window."
She caught a strange expression on Cloud's face, but it was gone too fast for her to read it. She tilted her head in question, but he was impassive once again.
"... I know you'll be the one who has to kill him if I'm wrong." She didn't think she was wrong, but that wasn't the point.
"I do trust you," Cloud said, a bit fast, like he'd been rehearsing it and he wanted to be sure, sure she got it. "But ... I'm the one he gave the right to judge him. That means I'm responsible."
She placed a hand on his chest, fingers spread open. "I know, Cloud. I won't let him wake up. I promise."
Cloud nodded slowly, shoulders relaxing. "And you won't let Zack wake him up either?"
She rolled her eyes at him, amused. "How many copies do you want that contract in?"
Cloud snorted quietly, and his eyes softened.
"Because I'm sure we could get Reeve's legal team on it, if we ask nicely..."
Zack emerged from the angle of the corridor and peeked at them. He was smiling, but Aeris could tell he was worried.
"I'm going to Wutai," Cloud said decisively.
"You are?" Zack blinked. "-- I mean, okay. Of course you are. Ah, but don't worry, we'll hold down the fort!"
Aeris chuckled quietly. Subtle way to pretend they hadn't noticed something had made Cloud Strife change his mind and they weren't considering it important enough to comment on and there was no need for Cloud to feel awkward about it. Not.
"That's what I'm worried about," Cloud muttered, and accepted another Zack Fair hair ruffle with minimum grumbling.
"Don't be like that. Everything will go just fine."
"Yeah, about that," Cloud said, nudging him in the ribs with an elbow. "Like I told Aeris, I'll be much obliged if you don't wake him up. At all. Ever. For any reason."
"...What if there's a fire?" Zack asked, not quite managing to make it sound like a joke.
"He'll burn," Cloud retorted, but it didn't even sound angry. It was more like a memory of anger, the awareness that he perhaps should have been. "... Shove him in a potato sack and drag him out if you really have to. Just don't wake him. I know the spell will wear off, but, just cast again. Please."
Zack sighed quietly, surrendering. "Aye-aye, sir."
"How about you go tell Tifa and take a shower?" Aeris suggested to end the uncomfortable conversation. "I'll make you two something to eat; you're going to be in transit a while."
"That'd be great, thanks," Cloud said, and walked off down the corridor, still looking preoccupied.
Next.
New version of the previous scene (not too different actually but. Hn.) is going up in a second and I'll link it here.
Summary: Post-advent children. There are some people Cloud and Tifa never dared hope to see alive again. You know what they say about things too good to be true. Meanwhile in Wutai, a sinister plot is brewing...
In the last episode... : Aeris puts Sephiroth to bed in Cloud and Tifa's attic and the little foursome have a heart-warming little chat about how come Aeris and Zack even bothered to bring that crazy asshole killer along, srsly wtf. Then they sleeps. Mm sleeps.
Then Yuffie's dad keels over somehow.
Prologue - table of contents.
(note: this is still unbetaed. If you notice any characterization or grammar concerns, I'd love it if you tell me; I'll fix it.)
"Heart attack, apparently."
Cloud ran his fingers through sleep-tangled hair and checked the time on his cell phone. Barely five AM. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, wishing he could have slept a little longer before getting the news. What time was it in Wutai? He didn't know.
"Oh... Poor Yuffie. That's..."
Cloud nodded, head bowed. Of the whole Avalanche gang, she'd been the only one to still have family; Tifa's father and Cloud's mother were gone with Nibelheim, Bugenhagen had passed on a year or so ago, and even if Cid still had relatives, by now they'd been estranged longer than not.
"She's still so young..."
Cloud had been younger, but drugged as he'd been, he hadn't fully realized he was an orphan until he was about the age she was now.
It was always a little strange to remember that Yuffie was almost twenty-one now. For them, she was still a bratty teenager, the baby of the group. Still acted like it, too, all bounciness and impulsive decisions. Cloud wondered if she would act like that again from now on.
His phone beeped; he checked the screen, frowned. "The Shera will be in Kalm to get Barret in five hours, it leaves us one and a half to get ready before we have to drive over." He glanced at Tifa, voice quiet. "If we're both going with the bike. If you take the van, you should probably leave earlier."
He wasn't sure he should go. On one hand, Yuffie would need emotional support. On the other hand, Tifa was better at it and he didn't want to be a continent away if Sephiroth woke up. Zack... Cloud remembered him from his teenage days as awe-inspiringly strong, but he had no clue how that measured up to the levels Cloud and Sephiroth were at, now. And he didn't know much about Aeris' magic.
But Yuffie wasn't just a grieving girl. Now that her father had died, she was the Lady of Wutai.
Cloud frowned and left the bed, turning on the ceiling light. He didn't follow Wutai politics all that closely, but everyone knew Yuffie had done her very best to dodge her father's attempts to groom her as his successor. Lord Godo had taught her some, but not nearly as much as he could have. Her way to help Wutai was to roam the world, looking for things to bring home, and to train its children in martial arts so they wouldn't be powerless if attacked again; Cloud couldn't imagine her sitting on a throne, doing paperwork, or dealing with ministers. She wasn't patient or subtle in the slightest.
She was going to need someone to watch out for the sharks in the water, just as much as she would need friends to comfort her.
"Cloud?"
"... Mmh. I was just thinking about politics." He pulled on the shirt he'd taken off, only a few hours ago, and stepped back into his shoes. "It wouldn't hurt to show that she has powerful friends..."
"Ah, I see." Tifa looked even more worried now; evidently it hadn't been her first thought.
"Reeve won't be able to stay long... He has WRO to take care of." Cloud went through their list of friends in his mind. Cid would offend and scandalize every single nobleman in Wutai before a week; Barret would prompt them to duel. Red could be wise, but he knew little about human politics, and people would see him as more of a talking guard dog than as a sharp-minded advisor -- which could be an asset, but only if Yuffie had someone else to rest on more visibly. Vincent, maybe, if he could be found in time...
And maybe Yuffie's father had been smart and had perfectly competent advisors ready to step in and support her to the end. It was hard to trust outsiders, though... But from their point of view, Cloud was probably the one who was an outsider.
And they had Sephiroth in the attic to worry about, too.
"I'm going to wake up Zack and Aeris," he said. Perhaps they would have insight, perhaps not, but they needed to be told anyway.
When he opened Tifa's bedroom door, Zack was already peering through Cloud's own bedroom door, bleary-eyed and his hair just as much of a mess as Cloud's own. He seemed to have helped himself to a pair of Cloud's boxer shorts.
"Was that a phone?"
Even now, with so many pressing worries, his voice still made a little thrill of shock go up Cloud's back. Zack was real. If Cloud reached out, his hand would find sleep-warm flesh. He didn't reach, even though his history of vivid hallucinations still insisted he needed to make sure. "...Yeah. Yuffie -- one of our friends, her father just died."
"Oh, hell."
Zack gave him a commiserating look and stepped back, allowing Cloud to stand in the doorway. Aeris was curled up on her side in the middle of the bed, her long hair strewn in waves over Cloud's pillows. Cloud wanted to laugh, a little, imagining her slender body relegating big strong Zack to the edge of the mattress. It was surprisingly easy to see.
It made him wish he'd forgotten about their stupid argument and spent the night watching them sleep. Even with the knowledge that today would be exhausting no matter what he chose to do, he couldn't feel like it would have been time wasted.
"Cloud?"
He blinked and looked at Zack. The man stood with his hand on the doorjamb, head tilted expectantly.
"--Ah. I'm just woolgathering. Tired."
Zack nodded, and then slung an arm around Cloud's neck without warning. Cloud twitched and had to force himself to relax.
"I'm gonna have to train you all over again, I see," Zack said with a little too much good cheer for this topic and this hour of the night. Cloud sent him a half-hearted glare, which he undermined some more when he didn't even try to get free.
"I'm not that bad anymore," he said, rueful. Granted, he still had a healthy sense of personal space, but that was nothing like how averse to physical contact he'd been when he joined the army.
Zack was just as warm as Cloud had suspected. Solid, too. Cloud wished he could just bask a little longer, but there was precious little time to waste. He shrugged his shoulders; Zack sighed, and ruffled his hair affectionately before letting go.
"What are you gonna do?"
Cloud ran a hand over his face, futilely trying to kickstart his brain. "I don't know. It's not like I can just decide not to go -- it's her father's funerals. She might forgive me eventually, but I'd never forgive myself. But what else can I do?"
Zack rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, where is it? If it's not too far, you could hop over and come back..."
"Wutai."
Zack winced. "Ouch."
"Did I mention Yuffie is Lord Godo's only heir?" Cloud asked with a touch of cynicism. Zack's wince turned into a full-blown grimace.
"You've got interesting buddies... Aw hell, so there's all that stiff upper lip business on top of it. She's gonna need friends even more." Zack sighed, sympathetic. "In that case it's not like you can stuff him in a crate and bring him along. Pretty sure the Wutainese wouldn't be too happy to have a grumpy, half-awake Silver Demon doing a jack-in-the-box impression in the middle of their court."
Cloud groaned, in full agreement. "Taking him along is right out." He had visions of a riot in the city, people trying to throw the sleeping man on Lord Godo's funeral pyre... "Yeah, definitely out."
Zack nodded. "Okay, so Seph stays in his tower."
Cloud blinked at him. What...? -- oh, right. Sleeping princess. The thought of the Demon General in a pretty dress awaiting true love's kiss startled a small chuckle out of him.
"... If I stay here to guard him, everyone is going to demand to know why. And Yuffie doesn't need the stress now. But if I go, I'll never be back in time if anything happens."
"Aeris and I can't go anyway," Zack said with blunt practicality. "It's not like a funeral is the best place to go 'heya! We just returned from the dead, how'd you do'."
Cloud grimaced faintly. "That... would probably be bad." And wasn't that an understatement.
"So there you have it. We stay, you go. Tell people afterwards."
Cloud tried not to look too skeptical, but from Zack's vaguely offended glare he didn't succeed. "Aeris isn't an offensive fighter, and I'm not sure you can win against him on your own."
"I could hold him back long enough for Aeris to knock him out again, if he wanted to run." Zack yawned, stretched his arms over his head, muscles rolling under tanned skin. You would think being dead for so long would leave him out of shape, Cloud thought confusedly. But then again it wasn't really Zack's body...
"See something you like?"
Cloud jerked, tearing his eyes away from Zack's chest. The man was laughing silently, shoulders shaking with mirth.
"...You're not conceited at all, are you."
"Aw, poor tired zoning-out Cloudypoo."
"Cloudypoo?" Cloud got a headpat for his troubles, and batted Zack's hand away halfheartedly. "Will you quit it already. I'm twenty-six, not sixteen."
"... Really? Wow. My baby is all grown up."
Zack sobered up, crossing his arms over his bare chest and leaning against the wall. He gazed up at the ceiling, frowning.
"Not sure what kind of security measures we could take that would satisfy you..."
"He's resilient to magic, if I recall right," Cloud said. "I'm not sure the Sleep spell will hold long. Maybe pills..."
"Nah, a chocobo dose would only keep him down for three hours tops. Then when he'd wake up he'd have a drug hangover to take out on us."
Zack had said the last bit as a joke, but Cloud couldn't help but visualize it happening, and he grimaced. "Mnh. The only place I can find restraints that would hold him is Hojo's old lab in the Midgar ruins..."
"Shit, Cloud." Zack stared at him, visibly pained. "Are you sure you really want to do that?"
Cloud felt a little sick at the very mention of the labs, of the possibility he'd have to return there, but he made himself consider it anyway, forcing past his visceral reaction. No one deserved the labs. Not even Sephiroth? Used as punishment it made him feel dirty -- as if Hojo was looking over his shoulder being proud, shit, either kill him or don't, he didn't torture people -- but in everyone else's best interests... He didn't know. It wasn't like he planned to cut Sephiroth open, and the examination tables were built pretty sturdy, with lots of straps to distribute the pressure and keep from digging too sharply into flesh...
He imagined Sephiroth falling asleep in a dusty attic and waking on gleaming metal. Strapped down flat on his back, all that strength useless. And the scent, Hojo always had everything cleaned with manic precision but the stench of chemicals and fear never went away. He could almost smell it now; if he inhaled too deeply he feared he'd be there again.
"... I... No." Cloud chuckled a little, though the sound held little actual amusement. "Hell no. If he isn't crazy now, he would be if he woke up like that."
Zack nodded, opened his mouth to say something else, but then Cloud felt his barrier pop like a soap bubble and stiffened.
"Get Aeris," he said as he darted in his dark bedroom to get a sword and a handful of Materia from the rack. "Tifa's in the shower. Get ready to move them. Barrier's down."
He went to the staircase without another word, stalked up to the attic. He didn't know whether Zack would have asked to come with him or told him to relax; both were unacceptable. As far as he knew Sephiroth had woken up refreshed and ready to mow down a crowd of civilians or two. If Zack tried to follow, Cloud would just kick him down the stairs.
At first glance he could see no one in the attic. The window was closed, and the latch was on the inside, and the thought came to him that perhaps Sephiroth had just moved in his sleep; it didn't look like he had left. Cloud slowly moved across the wooden floor, sword ready, stepped around the chest of drawers blocking the view.
Sephiroth sat on the edge of his mattress, long legs crossed loosely, one foot extended over the planks just enough to pierce the barrier.
Cloud came to a stop just beside the chest of drawers and watched him.
It was -- strange. Strange expression on Sephiroth's face, almost absent, eyes unfocused; strange position, as if he'd deliberately popped the barrier to warn Cloud he was up. No -- not 'as if'.
He could have left. He hadn't.
"Strife," the man greeted him quietly, looking up at him.
Cloud wondered if Sephiroth had come awake with the thought that it was time to die. When he gave a faint nod of greeting, Cloud couldn't help but nod back, polite, his sword still held firm and ready.
Sephiroth ignored the weapon, looked up at the skylight with a neutral expression that didn't, to Cloud's eyes, manage to hide a trace of wistfulness. Outside a couple of stars melted away into the first blush of dawn.
"You'll have a better view if you get up," Cloud said quietly, and even to himself couldn't tell why.
Sephiroth looked at him then, surprise lurking in his strangely solemn eyes. Cloud wanted to cross his arms defensively, say he could still change his mind and would Sephiroth prefer that? But it might have... he didn't know. Broken something, ended it. So he stood quiet and waited.
Sephiroth slowly unfolded his legs and climbed to his feet, and made his way through the clutter. He didn't try to open the window. He didn't look at Edge or the ruins of Midgar -- just at the sky.
It was a little surreal. The attic, the civil behavior, that proud and lethal almost-god standing barefoot and shirtless in the dust for the privilege of taking in the view of rusty Edge through a dirty window.
"It's early for a phone call."
Cloud frowned, startled out of his thoughts. "That's what woke you up?"
"Yes." Sephiroth glanced sideway at him. A hint of humor sparked in his green eyes and went into hiding again. Cloud arched an eyebrow, prompting him, and while Sephiroth still didn't look directly at him, he did keep talking. "That ring tone..."
Heh. It did sound similar to President Shinra's personal line. "Afraid of another callgirl emergency?"
It was only when Sephiroth turned to meet his eyes that Cloud realized he shouldn't have known about the time a prostitute left with the content of Shinra Senior's personal safe. Shouldn't have remembered Seph's execrable mood when he stalked down to the mess hall and growled in clipped words that he'd spent half the day at Don Corneo's and the rest combing the slums for a whore he hadn't even found in the end, and good riddance to her; that would teach Shinra to call the police next time instead of an army general. Shouldn't have known what that ring tone sounded like, because he had never heard it.
Shouldn't even have understood, from so many silences, that the little ups and downs of Sephiroth's ordinary Shinra days were even still remembered, after he'd tried to become a god and everything that ensued.
Sephiroth's eyes narrowed, staring at Cloud as if trying to guess how much he knew and how. But if there was a list of things Cloud didn't want to discuss with him, that unexplainable moment of understanding was probably close to the top.
"Phone call was from Wutai," he said, not even knowing why he bothered to tell him except that he needed a distraction. "Lord Godo Kisaragi just died."
Sephiroth arched an eyebrow. "Assassinated?"
Cloud was taken aback. "Not to my knowledge." But now the possibility was a little more present in his mind. There were poisons that could make it look natural -- especially in Wutai.
Sephiroth's thoughts had followed a different path. "It seems an internal matter. Why were you called?"
Cloud arched an eyebrow. Yuffie had been there when they crossed paths -- but then again he probably hadn't really made the link, or cared to remember. "Yuffie Kisaragi was part of Avalanche."
"Ah. I see." By his faintly puzzled frown it was obvious he couldn't place her, though.
"Scrawny brunette with a boomerang. She whacked you a couple of times."
The frown didn't change. "... If you say so."
Cloud snorted quietly, amused despite his best judgment.
"Who is next in line after... Lady Kisaragi?"
"Why on earth do you want to know?" Cloud asked, instantly suspicious.
Sephiroth turned to face him, neutral, almost blank. "Would she be desperate enough to commit suicide?"
Cloud stiffened. "Hell no she wouldn't. What --"
Sephiroth lifted a hand to ask for a little more patience; Cloud didn't know why he granted it.
"Is her public persona such that a layperson could believe it of her?"
"...What are you implying?"
Sephiroth crossed his arms loosely, head tilted with casual elegance. "That back when his wife died, Lord Godo spent a lot of time avoiding well-meaning attempts to help him join her. Not all of them came from Shinra." Cloud stared; Sephiroth sent him a cynical look. "Wutai politics owe a lot to their status as a warrior nation."
He couldn't be serious. Could he?
"Warrior," Cloud said. "Not politician. How is that even comparable?"
"The only difference between politics and war is that in politics you have to look clean while you bury your enemy six feet under. The burying need not be metaphorical."
Cloud hissed between clenched teeth. "Enough. I get it. Why are you telling me that?"
Sephiroth nodded his head toward the window and the lightening sky outside.
A warning in thanks for being allowed to see a sunrise? Damn it, the bastard wasn't allowed to make him feel guilty. Cloud grunted an acknowledgement and leaned on his sword, pretending not to care, not to notice the General's face as his eyes roamed over the rough landscape. From the window Cloud knew you could only see a little of Midgard's ruins and the old reactors; then there was Edge and its salvage-built houses, and the half-dead plains stretching far behind.
"I do have a noted tendency to paranoia," Sephiroth allowed.
Cloud had one too; and now with some corroborating facts his own paranoia was flaring up. "They wouldn't believe it," he said. "Not Yuffie. She's too... No. She's very public about her opinion on 'giving up'."
"Then for the moment at least she is safe. It would look too suspicious if she had an accident so soon."
Cloud shook his head in disbelief at the whole situation. Sephiroth was being so polite, it was so wrong. "You're trying to mess with my head, aren't you," he said, and didn't even know how serious the comment was.
Sephiroth arched an eyebrow at him in that aristocratic, 'beg pardon?' way. "... I assure you I'm not."
"Uh huh. Right, so--"
Aeris's voice rang from the staircase. "Cloud?"
A jolt of pure adrenaline ran through his veins at the thought of her coming into the danger zone. It didn't even matter that she'd been fine before he found them yesterday. Cloud stiffened and called back, "Stay where you are. I'll be there in a minute."
The moment was definitely over. He didn't have to tell Sephiroth so; the man just turned away from the window and sat on the mattress, legs crossed.
Cloud stood in front of him in silence, and then shook his head at his own soft-heartedness and said briskly, "You might wake up again. Whatever happens, don't leave the room. I'll take it as a breach of our agreement." They both knew what would follow if that happened.
"That was always understood, Mister Strife."
The hint of mockery in his voice made it easy for Cloud to cast, dropping him like a stone with no warning. Sephiroth toppled backwards on the bed, eyes fluttering closed, folded legs slowly relaxing, dragging on the wooden floor.
Under the dirt, the bottom of his feet was crisscrossed with half-healed slices and puncture marks.
Sector Five. The rubble and glass crossed with no shoes. He'd never mentioned it, of course. Damn him.
None of it looked infected -- it wouldn't get infected easily, not with his mako levels, but the wounds were still dirty. Growling under his breath, Cloud reached for a healing spell -- then he paused. His first instinct was to fix him, because it was wrong to let someone go without treatment, prisoner or not -- but this was Sephiroth. Slaughterer of many, threat to the human race and the Planet as a whole, cold-blooded enemy. Of course he hadn't complained, he had known Cloud wouldn't pity him for a few scrapes.
Cloud still didn't pity him. And even then it was still wrong.
He threw a restore spell at him, the knitting flesh pushing out the debris, and then in quick succession cast two layered shields around the mattress, and a spell of Silence; Sephiroth had no Materia at hand anyway, it didn't matter if he was made unable to cast, but Cloud knew from experience it would muffle sounds, make them harder to comprehend or pay attention to, and perhaps the waking town wouldn't disturb the man again. And then he turned around and stalked out, and he didn't look back.
+
Aeris woke up more exhausted than she'd been when she fell asleep. Things were dark and heavy, and oh, she was so tired.
"...ris, babe, wake up."
The world wasn't green and entangled and there. She shivered, confused, sought the voice that was a million voices, found nothing. The silence, the absence was deafening.
"Aeris, c'mon, hon. Cloud and Tifa need you."
She opened her eyes again, and blinked at Zack's face -- fuzzy around the edges until she blinked, and then he was solid and clear as he had never been back in the -- "Oh."
Aeris closed her eyes, took in a deep breath of slightly musty man-bedroom scent, and laughed.
"... Um. What? Do I have something on my face?"
Grinning up at Zack, she reached to pat his cheek. Her hand was heavy.
"No, seriously, what's funny?"
She poked his nose with a finger and nudged him back to give herself the space to sit up. When she stretched her arms overhead, her muscles ached all the way down her back. It was marvelous. Her head wouldn't clear, though. She yawned. "I do hope you have a great reason not to let me sleep."
Zack sobered up; so did she, smile falling away. Had something happened with Sephiroth?
"Yuffie's dad passed away."
Aeris' first reflex was to say 'no, he hasn't!' Because she would have known, wouldn't she? "Are you sure?" she asked instead, fingers curling in the blankets on her lap.
Zack gave her a surprised look. "Cloud and Tifa are expected for the service, so... Yeah, kinda."
Aeris shook her head, surprised despite herself. She knew better than to count on her gift -- it had always been erratic. She didn't know Yuffie's father that well anyway, they'd only met once; it wasn't such a surprise that she hadn't felt him cross over. Perhaps it was the tides, the closeness of the Lifestream waning, pulling away from her... She wasn't in the Lifestream anymore; of course the all-present knowing would stop.
Back when she was alive the first time, she had known for her mother's uncle that she had never met, known before Elmyra did, because Elmyra's uncle was connected to Elmyra, and Elmyra was connected to her. She had known for Zack, even though at the time she hadn't been able to put a name to that sudden, unprompted sorrow.
"... Hm. It can't happen all the time, I guess," she said quietly. Zack tilted his head and gave her an inquisitive look.
"What can't happen all the time?"
"Ah, nothing important. Woolgathering again." She slipped out of bed, wobbling, and leaned on Zack for a second, for warmth more than for balance. She'd forgotten how touching someone felt. How warm and heavy and solid, so little like touching minds in the Lifestream and yet so comforting.
"... Cloud's upstairs with Seph," Zack said quietly. "Trying to decide whether to stay or go. ...Told me to get ready to move you and Tifa out."
Aeris winced. "I see." She needed to make sure they weren't arguing. "I'll be right back," she told Zack, and slipped out of the bedroom.
"Babe--"
"Wait for Tifa," she said without turning back. She stepped in the staircase.
The attic was silent; she didn't know whether that was a good sign.
"Cloud?"
The answer came back right away, tense and stern, making her wince. "Stay where you are. I'll be there in a minute."
Aeris hesitated. She would have liked to see Sephiroth, exchange a few words perhaps in the rare event that he felt sociable. In the end, though, it would hurt Cloud's feelings if she disregarded his warning. She didn't want another argument.
Cloud came along after a short time, a sword over his shoulder, his eyes already weary. But he smiled at her anyway, eyes lingering on her face. She smiled back. Oh Cloud. She wished she hadn't had to drag up all those old hurts.
She preceded him down to the corridor, bare feet light on the floor. The sensation was strange, distracting. She splayed her toes and smiled.
"... What are you doing?"
Aeris chuckled and turned to face him. "Wooden floors. I missed them."
"You did?"
She couldn't help but laugh at his bemused expression. "I missed everything."
"Oh," he said quietly, and nothing else, so she stepped closer and leaned against him, her side to his chest, her head on his shoulder.
"Everything. But you and our friends the most."
He breathed out in her hair, an arm coming up to hug her shoulders briefly. "...I missed fresh-baked bread a lot, when I was in the labs."
Aeris huffed and poked him in the chest with an accusing finger. "Of course you say that in the middle of the night, when all the bakeries will be closed."
Cloud chuckled softly as he leaned away from her. She allowed him to put some distance back between them, her own smile growing more subdued.
"I want you to promise me he's going to stay asleep."
Aeris blinked and tilted her head, not sure how to read that. "Well, of course. Isn't that what we agreed on? The neighborhood will be safe, I promise."
Cloud shook his head, allowing her to see how tired he was. "I don't want you to promise that the neighborhood will be safe, Aeris. I want you to promise that you will keep casting those Sleep spells, and he will stay under, and at no time will he wake up."
For a second she was a little hurt that he was looking at her like that -- as if he couldn't quite trust her to be on his side. But there was precedent, wasn't there? She hadn't asked anyone's opinion before going to pray for Holy either. She still didn't regret it.
"I admit it might be... tempting," she said quietly, "to sit him down at a table and feed him, or allow him to take a bath. Or look out of a window."
She caught a strange expression on Cloud's face, but it was gone too fast for her to read it. She tilted her head in question, but he was impassive once again.
"... I know you'll be the one who has to kill him if I'm wrong." She didn't think she was wrong, but that wasn't the point.
"I do trust you," Cloud said, a bit fast, like he'd been rehearsing it and he wanted to be sure, sure she got it. "But ... I'm the one he gave the right to judge him. That means I'm responsible."
She placed a hand on his chest, fingers spread open. "I know, Cloud. I won't let him wake up. I promise."
Cloud nodded slowly, shoulders relaxing. "And you won't let Zack wake him up either?"
She rolled her eyes at him, amused. "How many copies do you want that contract in?"
Cloud snorted quietly, and his eyes softened.
"Because I'm sure we could get Reeve's legal team on it, if we ask nicely..."
Zack emerged from the angle of the corridor and peeked at them. He was smiling, but Aeris could tell he was worried.
"I'm going to Wutai," Cloud said decisively.
"You are?" Zack blinked. "-- I mean, okay. Of course you are. Ah, but don't worry, we'll hold down the fort!"
Aeris chuckled quietly. Subtle way to pretend they hadn't noticed something had made Cloud Strife change his mind and they weren't considering it important enough to comment on and there was no need for Cloud to feel awkward about it. Not.
"That's what I'm worried about," Cloud muttered, and accepted another Zack Fair hair ruffle with minimum grumbling.
"Don't be like that. Everything will go just fine."
"Yeah, about that," Cloud said, nudging him in the ribs with an elbow. "Like I told Aeris, I'll be much obliged if you don't wake him up. At all. Ever. For any reason."
"...What if there's a fire?" Zack asked, not quite managing to make it sound like a joke.
"He'll burn," Cloud retorted, but it didn't even sound angry. It was more like a memory of anger, the awareness that he perhaps should have been. "... Shove him in a potato sack and drag him out if you really have to. Just don't wake him. I know the spell will wear off, but, just cast again. Please."
Zack sighed quietly, surrendering. "Aye-aye, sir."
"How about you go tell Tifa and take a shower?" Aeris suggested to end the uncomfortable conversation. "I'll make you two something to eat; you're going to be in transit a while."
"That'd be great, thanks," Cloud said, and walked off down the corridor, still looking preoccupied.
Next.
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Ah, I love this story so damn much that it's one of the few fics that I often think about IRL. I adore everyone's interactions with one another and you're so good with the little, little things that most authors completely brush over. And that's why YOU are the only one that could make me believe that this OT5 could even possibly work.
When he opened Tifa's door, Zack was already peering through his, bleary-eyed and his hair just as much of a mess as Cloud's own. I'm not sure if something was edited out, or if I'm not making a connection, but what was Zack peering through? His hair, maybe?
I also like the edits that have been made. I remember a snippet of Cloud and Sephiroth's convo before, and I appreciate Seph's train of thought here in this version. Of course he'd suspect foul play, and you nailed it. Also, I think that the last scene in the last chapter flows much MUCH better now. Everyone's emotions feel very genuine IMO.
So yeah. Restore? <333333333333333333 jfdksjfksajf; /flail
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Ahh, Cloud sleps in tifa's bedroom, zack slept in cloud's bedroom and is peering through that door, i was trying to shorten it, but you're right it's weird. XD *edit edit*
♥ u.u~
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♥ Yesss, Sephy T^T~ Cloud was really trying to be a hardass there but he just went squish inside a little bit. Hahaha. XDDD
You're in class? You bad, bad girl. D: I certainly do not condone the -- oh who am I kidding. Just don't get caught. XDDDD Is the class that boring?
(*cough* just remember Tifa is also involved in it. In fact she and Cloud are already sorta vaguely together. For a certain value of together. XD I'm hoping it'll work as a fivesome but i'm letting it develop on its own, see what happens. It's bound to feel more natural. Action scenes are easy to plan for when I build a plot, but I have a hard time planning emotional reactions.)
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I think Cloud more than anyone else can understand the desire for the sky and the freedom, so to see Seph so much like himself for a moment must give him little melty feelings.
It was Ginsburg, who does well enough in a pinch, but this was much more interesting by far.
Tifa is at best one of those characters I tolerate. You write her well, but I still have a hard time forgiving her for actions in game and movie. And I love me some OT4.
In a large way, I am not at all surprised with Aeris and Zack going happily along with you. They seem to be the type that would go along with just about anything if it sounded like fun!
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nice to see you working on Restore again. i've never read OT5 FFVII fanfic i think.... it'll be good to see how you pull it off..... especially with Tifa and Seph considering she has a massive grudge against him.
...btw refresh my memory... where's Marlene and Denzel? and what's going to happen to them when Tifa and Cloud go to Lord Godo's funeral and support Yuffie?
also Elmyra's gonna wanna know Aeris is back from the dead...also also *falls asleep at keyboard*
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Tifa/Seph interaction is going to be... interesting. Like, violently so. XD
Marlene is with Barret visiting Elmyra in Kalm, Denzel is with friends, Tifa sent him away when she thought there might be a fight. and yes, yes, the elmyra/aeris reunion is part of the plans. Go to bed, hon. XD
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I love Seph's paranoia, he's so logical! And potato-sack!Seph, that would be such a cute icon!
Hope to see another update!
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(ahaha chibi seph in a sack pic. I AM TEMPTED.)
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I like the scene. I like the lingering tension and doubts on Cloud's part, and the kinda soft way Zack and Aeris are tiptoeing around him. They strike me as looking for some trust and being a little hurt that its slow to come, but are trying to let Cloud come around on his own. Your writing Seph in an interesting fashion. He doesn't really seem to want redemption, but he doesn't seem to have any malice in him either. Your bringing a kind of grace to his actions that's of interest to me. You get the sense that he literally has no plan at all, but is also playing a very subtle game of chess at the same time. To give a more specific example, I dig how he essentially popped the spell Cloud cast to say "Hey, I totally didn't break our deal or leave...but I could have if I wanted to". He'd make a good cheshire cat if this was wonderland.
The scene was a little subdued, but I liked it. It very much rings of early morning and getting things back in order after they've been scattered into disarray by a night of hard sleeping.
I am once again finding my mind expecting dirtier things from this story than come about. Case in point- Cloud being absent minded and paranoid. Zack being asked to 'get the girls ready to move out'. Tifa in the shower. Long story short, I was expecting a badly beaten Zack to be the one in need of healing magic...and not regreting a moment of it. Eh, probably too soon.
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They strike me as looking for some trust and being a little hurt that its slow to come, but are trying to let Cloud come around on his own.
Yesh yes yes yes~ ♥
Sephiroth is really messed up at the moment. XD Oh, so many issues to play with.
He'd make a good cheshire cat if this was wonderland.
Are you TRYING to give me bunnies? D:
...XD I thought about it! But, yeah, really not the right moment for Zack to accidentally see Tifa naked. Also at the moment they're all tired and tense enough that he'd just say "oops sorry" and she's twitch but say "no problem" and pretend really hard nothing happened.
As for the future, it will interest you to know that at the moment there's exactly one bathroom in the whole house.
(by the way I totally did not draw friggin floor plans for Tifa's bar/house, complete with emergency weapon racks and wall-mounted telephones and kitchen appliances. Nope. Not me. That would be such a nerdy way to waste time. >__>;; )
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Wait! I didn't...err...okay, I said that badly. Its not my assumption that you don't have focus or that you love some of your plot children more than others....I really meant that you have several ongoing projects your writing, and many of them are not set in this universe. I was commenting the number of projects set in, say, Naruto's world, than in Final Fantasy. I really, really didn't mean to come off like your slacking or something :/ Please believe me, I know exactly what you mean by adding and subtracting from a story for a long time without it fitting together right...
I'm really sorry if I'm coming off as one of those whip cracking fanboys that's always whining about updating and watch the website like a hawk for any hint of new stuff. Its lovely to get new stuff when it comes, but you have my permission to shoot me in the head if I ever imply you should work at anyone's pace but your own. Your doing wonderful work, Mrs. Asuka. Go where the inspiration takes you, and go at the speed that works for you. And thank you.
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Meeting in 5, gotta go fast, but here's the beta reader bits that stood out to me:
"In one hand, Yuffie would need emotional support. In the other hand" -- it's usually "on" rather than "in" for that particular phrase pair, don't ask me why. "On the one hand (or side)/on the other" is how I'm used to seeing it.
"restrains that would hold him" - restraints
"If he isn't crazy now, he'd be if" -- normally 'he would be (verbing)' does contract down to 'he'd be (verbing)', but this isn't quite the same structure. Would-be is the verb itself, rather than the modifiers for another action verb, so in this case it'd be "if he isn't crazy now, he would be if he..."
Breech of contract - homophones again. Breech(es) are trousers. Breach is a tear/rip/hole in something. I'm pretty sure it's breach of contract.
"I admit it might be... tempting, to sit him down at a table and feed him, or allow him to take a bath. Or look out of a window." - There's no signifier of which of them's speaking here, and because of the paragraph breaks it could be either. I'm *guessing* it's Cloud, but some kind of indicator would help?
gotta run, but yay for more fixit-fic! ^____^
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I posted some of the Seph/Cloud dialogue some time before, yes. (... in... august, actually, so quite a long time ago. *hangs head*)
Bwee! Beta-type things. *edit edit* Thank you very much, dearest.
... Breech/Breach -- I know better aaaargh fingers.
And the quote actually is Aeris. .__.;; She says she's tempted to mother Sephiroth a bit, and when she mentions letting Seph look out a window as a kindness Cloud gets the "... which is just what I did augh thanks for the remindeeeerr" twitch. It's not very clear, but i'll have to be more than half-awake to fix that. *makes note*
Thank you for the help. ^______^
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Just in case, here's the quick and rather sketchy and unbalanced summary of the game I wrote for someone else, in case the game gets confusing:
http://askerian.livejournal.com/424383.html#cutid2
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And I gotta say, this is a wonderful fic! I love the reactions Cloud and Tifa have to their resurrection, and how suspicious and paranoid they are of Sephiroth. I haveta admit, I'm intrigued with the whole mysterious death of Godo and Cloud has to decide on whether to go or not; his little moment with Seph was very...subtle and perfectly done. No force, no sap, just a faint hint of awkward that kept it from flopping.
...You nao have my undying affection!! ♥ ♥ ♥
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thank you for the comment! I shall attempt to write more fast. Evil ff7 characters who don't want me to write them. x___x;
mina_skitty's rp journal
You and this fic got me started on loving FF7, then you showed me coyo and my coffin was sealed and oh, so happy this got updated!!! The revised 3.3 makes much more sense now, I'm glad that you tweaked it. So, when's the next update? *grin*
Re: mina_skitty's rp journal
Oh thank you for commenting on the new 3.3 version T___T I agonized for so long on that stupid scene. *gurgledie*
So, when's the next update?
... >_>;;;; that... is a good question.
mina_skitty's rp journal
Well, it was obvious that you worked damned hard to beat it into submission, so that deserves some commentary. *uses phoenix down*
Well, whenever the inspiration strikes you. I had feared that the fic had died, so I'll be happy if/when it is updated.
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Poor Seph, why doesn't anyone like the ex-mass-genocide generating silver demon?
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And, I wonder. u.u