Chapter Text
It was a simple delivery he was supposed to make. Get a package from Junon and deliver it to a buyer at Edge, then get his Gil transfer to his bank account. The whole thing didn’t even weigh that much so he simply held the cardboard box under his arm as he drove through the Old Republic streets at ridiculous speeds.
Fenrir’s engine roared behind him as he slowly creeped up the perimeter of Edge. After having already cut his was through the Mithril Mines an hour prior and the swamp right after them, he thought everything would be smooth sailing from there.
Cloud managed to reach his motorcycle in a timely manner and was on good track to reach his destination with record time. Not like there every were any complaints if he did get a package late by some accident. The Fusion Sword definitely helped in that regard.
Having seated himself comfortably on his favorite way of traveling he blazed through the roads and evaded any enemy without so much as a speck of dust hitting his cheeks. Of course, lady luck was never on his side as one second the road was even and on the other wind blades cut through the stone roads.
Using his strength, he turned Fenrir around 90 degrees and let the tires screech loudly to the heavens. The whole construction shook as his speed went down and the bike stopped moving. Cloud quickly removed the protective goggles from his head and glanced around at what blocked his path.
His question was soon answered as he as a large bird fly in and try to take his head off. Raising his broadsword high he blocked the things path and pushed back. His mako enhanced body easily shrugged off the enemy attack and let him clearly see just what picked a fight with him. “A Zu this close to a city?”
Yet this one wasn’t a regular Zu he sometimes encountered further into the land. This one possessed red feathers that glowed in the faint morning sunlight. The beast flapped its massive wings that could easily tower over the old Remnawave Towers and generated huge waves of wind that pushed even trees down with their force.
But Cloud Strife stood tall and proudly, readying his blade to strike true. A small fry like this wouldn’t even come close to taking him down. A single well times hit, and the monster would lay dead at his feet. “Sorry, but you started this.”
A single step forward and he dashed at his foe, the Fusion Sword possessed to strike. The large bird shrieked before trying to hit him with its claws. The blond warrior positioned his blade and parried the strike, unintentionally letting the claws scratch one of the materia placed inside.
Having successfully executed his move Cloud jumped up and slashed the Zu’s neck, severing it from the body. A shower of blood exploded as the entire body fell to the ground, dead.
“And that’s that.” He swung his sword to the side and removed the animal’s blood from its silver blade. Using his free hand, he rubbed the red liquid off his face and moved to return to his bike. Unfortunately for Cloud the corpse had a different idea.
Instead of the body disappearing and returning to the planet the whole carcass began to shine in a bright red light. In a split second the whole place was engulfed in crimson flames that burned everything they touched.
Thinking fast Cloud brought up the sword to cover his body, believing it to be the best protection for the time being. The next thing he heard was a loud cracking noise, the same one would hear if they broke a porcelain cup against the floor.
What happened was the materia that was previously scratched by the beast got hit directly with the flames of the dead monster. A chain reaction occurred as suddenly another explosion occurred, that one of a bright golden light that easily outshined the sun. And Cloud was right in the middle of it, taking the brunt of the entire reaction.
Next thing he knows he’s feeling his arms get covered in burns and a sudden loss of ground. ‘Huh?’
And then he’s falling fast as gravity pulled him towards the ground. He tried to open his eyes, yet his eyelids stayed shut as he could feel everything go downward. Wind brushed past his ears as he registered the sudden coldness around him but that wasn’t truly important. He tried to position his sword into a bracing position as he was holding it a second ago.
Only to notice that he wasn’t holding the Fusion Blade in his hand. In fact, he couldn’t feel that he was holding anything in his hand. Cloud then managed to open his eyes and saw that he was falling empty handed. “Wait, why are my hand so small?”
The next thing the swordsman could feel was pain through his entire body. Every nerve was on fire as he barely managed to gurgle out a groan. What? Getting experimented on for 5 years was far worse than a simple fall like this.
He tried to gather his bearings, yet his body refused to move at all. The only thing he could tell was that his shirt and pants were getting soaked by the pool of water he had just landed in. He was thankful that it wasn’t a river or a deep lake.
The man tried to cast a Cure on him but remembered that he wasn’t holding his sword or was anywhere near one. Not only that but his bangle wasn’t present either. A loud sigh escaped him, and Cloud waited patiently for his enhanced healing to kick in and put him back on his feet.
He waited. And waited. And waited until his eyes closed and sleep took him. Because of that the man never saw as the water he was in glow in a green light and beginning to travel into his body.
His young and untrained child body to be exact.
——
Cloud opened his eyes watched as the sun's radiance cover his body. He couldn’t feel anything wrong with his body and thought that his enhanced body healed all wounds. Standing up his wobbled slightly at the sudden lack of proper footing. He felt a little bit stiff when moving around but still managed to turn around and look at the place he landed in. A large azure crystal was cracked as that was where he summarized, he hit so hard and fell headfirst into the water.
Glancing down he saw the sudden lack of water and shrugged, not really caring what happened to it. He wasn’t payed to wonder about such minuscule things. The former eco terrorist then took in his surroundings and watched for a way to exit. Unfortunately, all he could see were rock formations that blocked any way out. But still feeling the sun beams on his face Cloud gazed up and immediately saw his way out. “Just how far did the Zu’s explosion throw me?”
He had already been quite far away from any mountain range or and cave like places. The entire path to Edge lacked any sort of cave system as most of the grounds didn’t possess any great natural resources. He briefly wondered if the monster was some new breed but decided to leave the thought for later as he had to return to his bike and deliver his package.
Cloud bent his knees and jumped up, knowing he’d easily clear the distance and land perfectly as he always did. What he hadn’t expected was to hit his head over the ceiling and bounce like a stone back down and hitting the crystal once more.
He cursed loudly and stood back up, questioning what had happened. The blond stared back at his escape path and couldn’t understand how he suddenly couldn’t control his body and land correctly. His eyes easily caught pieces of rocks and gravel disconnecting from the rocks and falling back down onto the ground next to him.
The man shook his head and glanced back at the blue crystal he landed on again, briefly catching his reflection in the rock. “Huh?”
He could believe just what he was seeing in his reflection. His eyes were still glowing in a bright green that she like so much yet everything else was different. His entire body was almost a meter short. His previous lean but toned muscles that were built from grueling battles and long training were gone, replaced a small and young body with a scrapped and destroyed shirt. “What…”
Cloud couldn’t even understand what he was looking at. He almost jumped back in shock at just what he was looking at. As if almost on autopilot he jumped away and escaped from the cave. He ran as fast as his body could take him and searched around for some sort of answer. Why was he so young again? What exactly happened when the second explosion occurred? Why were his eyes glowing with mako green yet with much more intensity? His once blue and green eyes that shinned only in the darkest of night were now full of light. A much more vibrant and stronger green pierced through them, enchanting them even further than before.
The teen was almost tempted to touch them, thinking that they might have become materia.
He shook his head at the dumb thought and tried to find the logic in the whole situation and racked his brain as he ran through the eerily familiar rocky terrain. Did the materia that cracked somehow reverse his age? Was the new species of Zu related to the guardian deity of Junon, Phoenix, and that its holy flames bathed his body in a healing fire that turned it back into that of a child? No, he had been smothered by its blessed power many times before, those holy embers closing all wounds and revitalizing his fighting strength. That was why he knew that if the Phoenix couldn’t age him back them some random bird doing that was even less likely. ‘With every solution I come up with more questions keep coming up.’
Everything was answered as he reached some sort of path and started walking along it. Time passed as he slowly went down until he reached a large ravine and found a shocking discovery. A wooden bridge that had collapsed and was dangling from the edge precariously. “No way?”
He glanced around, no believe just what he was looking at. His eyes couldn’t find any sort of Shinra stamps that became present when he and his friends returned here in search of Sephiroth. The whole place got taken over by that company and turned into a healing center for those with severe mako poisoning. But as he now glanced around there were no signs of any construction from the company. If any he’d probably find it further down the road up near the reactor.
“Did I travel back in time?” Was the orb of memories that broke his Time one… Was it possible that everything was just a hallucination or a bad dream in his head. Cloud slapped himself twice and then rubbed the mark he left on his face. “Definitely really.”
The now young teen just watched pensively his surroundings and tried to wrap his head around his new environment. “I traveled back in time. My mom should still be at home, worried just where did I wonder off to…”
It felt surreal to the blond kid. He hadn’t thought about Claudia Strife, his hard-working mother with did her best to provide her child with everything he’d ever need. Years had passed since he last even though about visiting the small grave, he dug for her after his true memories returned to him. By that point in his life, he had been grieving for someone who left an even bigger impact on his life.
“…!” His eyes widened as adrenaline rushed through his body. He was back in time! He was back before everything went bad! That meant that she was there!
She, who always welcomed him with open arms was probably all alone without anyone who would spend time with her. He still remembered the nights she confided him in her loneliness as no one ever tried to get to know her and watched from the side as she went along with her life. How she hated the humans who murdered her dearest planet and ignored her pain and cries.
How she would lean into his side and cry every time the planet she loved so dearly was overlook for creating more Soldiers and running cities. Those nights made them grow even closer and made Cloud detest everything that caused his dearest pain.
But now he was in the past. And she was alive once more.
In a matter of seconds his body became a blur as a wide smile was ever present on top of his lips. The inner child in him ran wild as he jumped from tree to tree, branch to branch in total happiness at the thought of being with her again, even if she didn’t know just who he was. Seeing her just once more would be enough to soothe his soul.
In that single moment it was clear just what his goal in life was once more. He was Cloud Strife, and no one would stop him from getting his ass all the way to Midgar and reuniting with her.
But before that, he still had business with a few people before he would leave for a long time. A good friend and a bitch down in Shinra manor.
“First things first, need to get a weapon.” The blond kid wasn’t dumb enough to believe that he could raid that place without arming himself at the very least. He knew some hand-to-hand combat thanks to his basic infantry training back in the day and some spars with Tifa after Meteor and Geostigma left their mark on the planet. His old friend wanted to get back into the swing of things and see just how she would measure up in a fight.
While their spars were short on account of both of them having jobs and Cloud being a recluse that’d rather tend too flowers than drink in a bar, he got a fairly good grip on how to properly handle himself if his blade wasn’t near him.
But that wouldn’t be enough if he encountered some beast crafted by Hojo. That bastard knew how to make nightmare fuel that could leave a whole battalion in an infirmary.
Unfortunately, his plan would have to wait for another day as he needed to get himself a Chocobo and ride it all the way up another mountain. That meant walking quite far on foot to reach an old airstrip which would probably take a whole day or so until he reached it.
That was how Cloud found himself acquiescing and making his way back to the village. And if he remembered correctly, he shouldn’t expect a warm welcome from the populace of his small hometown. ‘Shity adults and their smooth brains.’
He did not share much love for those people who all but despised him by the time he initially set of to join the Soldier program. Even after remembering how they all turned into ashes at Sephiroths hands he couldn’t bring himself to care after everything they did before hand. Even Tifa’s father threw himself at death did elicit much of a response from the hardened warrior. That man blamed him for the mistake of a bunch of brats and a girl who didn’t know better and endangered everyone with her, believing in a foolish tale meant to scare them off. And who got the blame at the end? Him!
At the very least he wasn’t a meek child who thought himself better than his peers anymore. “Well, now that I’ve somehow gained mako enhancements…” No, Cloud was far above such petty things as trying to one up some snot nosed brats. His age and many confrontations with loss and defeat gave him valuable wisdom that his child self lacked.
In the back of his mind he knew that he always did try to act far more mature whenever he was near his flower girl.
His best theory was that he landed in one of the many Mako life-springs that still existed around the world. Hitting it with enough force to make Gaia aware of him.
Cloud chuckled at his thought. He sometimes wished he could have joined her when she spoke with flowers. Her smile and understanding expressions everything she leaned down and talk made him want to also start talking and understanding what the planet spoke about. “Maybe I should ask mom if I can help in the garden…”
He might not posses the same green thumb she had but the many days they spent traveling through the many different terrains of the plant she always did her best to educate him and sometimes dragged Nanaki into the discourse. The Watcher of the Valley always held helpful insights about what plants were and weren’t dangerous thanks to his keen sense of smell.
So engrossed in his memories the teen was that he never noticed when he finally managed to stumble his way back into the village.
Cloud was deep in thought as his feet dragged him into the town square near the water-tower. Most villagers who noticed him stared in blatant shock and pointed fingers, seeing just how recked his clothes were. Unbeknownst to the warrior his appearance was far worse than his skewed knowledge of what normal was like.
Unlike him who was used to walking with torn clothing from battles and covered in blood from head to toe the citizens of Nibelheim weren’t. Most gazed on in horror at the bruises on his body and the faint gashes that still had dried blood near them. His favorite white shirt was closer to pink and red with all the blood that had seeped into the fabric.
Most of them were too scared to walk up and even try to help the boy. And even those who were considered it backed off and forgot about it when Brian Lockhart strode in with fury painted all across his face. The man looked like he was on a warpath with the collision course set for Cloud Strife.
With his sleeves rolled back and an arm winding up for a punch none got in his way as he began to pick up speed. “You worthless vermin!” The man did not slow down and threw the sloppiest punch of the century at the poor child that still wasn’t paying attention. All the onlookers watched with baited eyes as they expected the young boy to fall over, clutching his head in pain.
“AAAHHH!??”
A loud screech of pain resounded throughout the town square. Everyone’s mouths dropped to the floor as the elder Lockhart was turned around and barely standing on shaking legs.
None saw it coming when Cloud of all people lashed out seconds from the offending fist hitting him by grabbed the opposing arm and twisting it without a sweat. They all watched as Brian was humiliated by a child not even one third his age.
On his end, Cloud was momentarily confused by what was occurring. Getting interrupted during his stroll down memory lane the teen acted on instinct when someone tried to land a punch on him. A simple twist of the arm and he hand the offender gasping in pain. Then, not feeling like enough pain had been dealt for intruding in his personal space he kicked the attacker with a little bit of enhanced strength.
A loud snapping sound was heard as everyone saw Lockhart collapse like a sack of potatoes and froth at the mouth. At the same time Cloud snapped out of his daze and saw who he had just out down like a dog. As he was about to open his mouth and say something someone beat him to the punch. “Cloud!”
His eyes widened slightly when he heard his name spoken by such a familiar sounding voice. One that in his later years he slowly started to forget along with her face. By the time he no longer hid behind the façade of an ex-Soldier he lacked any sort of photo and everything they once owned burned to crisps in the fire.
Cloud’s head turned slightly and watched in wonder as his mother ran towards him and grabbed his shoulder. “Are you alright, where have you been…” Her eyes wandered around and saw the many bruises and torn articles of clothing on her precious boy’s body. The many sharp cuts and blood that clung to his skin. “S-Son, aren’t you in pain?”
“Not really…” Her child shrugged and stared deeply at her face, not even blinking as she searched for any other wound on his body.
‘Mom.’ This was how his mother looked. How much he had inherited from her. Cloud looked at her face and did his best to memorize every single part that made up her countenance. He wouldn’t even dare to forget how she looked again. “Can we go home, I’m hungry.” He did his best to speak like a kid who just went through the biggest shock of his entire life and wasn’t entirely there yet.
“Of course.” Claudia’s eyes softened as she helped her boy walk straight back into their home, not letting him out of her sight for a single moment.
——
Cloud was instantly put in his small childhood room and placed in bed and told to undress from his destroyed clothing. He quickly discarded them in favor on standing without a shirt and staring at his body in the mirror.
Compared to his younger past self he already had significant more muscles on his body. He summarized that whatever properties the mako water he landed in had, greatly bolstered his development and began to rid him of any waste. He could visibly see small black droplets coming off his body as everything was reconstructed to the maximum. He could tell that his body was going to get even stronger than ever before and couldn’t help but kneel down and put his hands in a prayer.
It didn’t come easy as his body cried in pain at when hitting the wooden floor, but he resisted the urge to cry out and held his hands together. “I know I’m not the best at this and I can only hope to emulate what she did back at the forgotten capital…”
Cloud felt kind of stupid as he kneeled there and tried to find the right words. “I don’t know if you can hear me, but I hope you remember that she’s constantly doing the best she can and trying to reach you with her words. So please learn to talk to her and keep her happy until I find her again.” His hands disconnected as he returned back to a seated position and glanced around in the hopes of seeing some kind of sign of the planet whispering.
“Figures.” He smiled ruefully, knowing that his words probably went straight to the void… But a small part of him hoped they reached both Gaia’s ears and hers. ‘All voiced that reach the planets ears will eventually reach those of the Cetra.’ He still remembered their brief interaction with the fallen Gi and their wandering spirits. Those who were damned to an eternity of suffering.
“No time for me to mope around now. I’m on a thigh schedule from here going forward.” Cloud was ready to get out and start moving but stopped as he gazed out his window at the small garden his mother had spent years cultivating.
He gazed at the grass that bent under the currents of the wind. “It’s moments like these that you have to slow down, right?” A small smile graced his lips as he shook his head and went to find his mom. Some things could wait a little bit longer.
Later that day he surprised his mom by grabbing a watering can and asking if he could help in the garden, trying to hide how excited he internally was and hoping to improve his gardening abilities until his reunion.
Later that day as night overtook the sun and Cloud replaced his bandages after promising that he wouldn’t do anything too taxing he glanced at the moon and observed it silently. ‘Just wait for me Aerith, we will definitely be reunited.’
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Cloud couldn’t have known that just as he was speaking his prayers to the planet someone on the other side of the planet was crying silently inside her church. Her face was filled with tears that raced down her face as she clutched the hem of her skirt in sadness, having spent another day without making any new friends.
Her sobs filled the empty space as only her flowers listened to the last Cetra as she poured her heart out. “Why won’t they simply listen to your cries? I can even forgive them for ignoring me but why do they all have to be so cruel?”
Each time she traveled around with he flowers someone would come through and knock it out of her hand, before stepping on them and running away. And every single time she was left to pick them up and almost burst into tears at their broken petals and stems. “Please, can’t I just have him back with me? Must we be separated until I meet him on the upper plate?”
She spoke yet no answer was given back.
Aerith didn’t know yet that the planet had always been listening and was ready to give her last descendant the happiness she deserved. Just as Jenova plotted to take over the lifestream so too did Gaia enact her master plan.
The difference was that the planet held far more trump cards in her deck than the alien could ever imagine. And one of her central pieces had just been brought unto the board, ready to end the war before it could even begin.