#the song is about cloud and aerith and the fact they will be together again

[aeirithgainsborough]

i am afeared that aerith and clouds play-up in the trailer was a psych-out and that her and zack will be together post her death, or whatever happens instead. do not want this to be true. but i am scared

There is no part of me that believes this will happen.

[asoulofatlantis]

First of all I have to mention Aerith had Eye-Contact with a stunned Cloud multiple times. It was cute.

Cloud and Aerith first meet on a city street with worn cobblestones, were people were rushing past them.

She sings about them meeting at "our place" which the game will later reveal as the church.

Overall the song is full of Cloud and Aerith AND I may add that in a recent interview it had been confirmed that this song is IN FACT about Cloud and Aerith. Canon Lovesong everybody! (Now... Julia also had a canon lovesong with Laguna and they did not end up together for better - and not worse - but still!)

I feel like this song is also a little bit about a future timeline. You know, where these two will have an actual chance to be together evermore. She sings about meeting again and him finding her and everything, so... yeah... I feel like its a bit about a "what if" - kind of timeline that gives them yet another shot at a happy ending.

That moment was a real tearjerker and I was never a fan of Avalanche and still say that.

Aerith is crying at the end of the song and I think while writing it (yes, she wrote it herself) she realized that her time is almost up and that her wish for being together forevermore with the one she loves is not going to come true, as he, to say it with the words of Caiths divination, is losing what he cherishes most.

I can tell you I absolutly love that song and it really brings tears into your eyes. The only version that is sadder than this one, is when someone puts the full version on with scenes from both games about them and their sad ending.

Anyway... back to our Skywheel-Date!

[rabid-heart]

Good Bones

For @sefikuraweek Day 2 - Prompt: New Beginnings

Sephiroth asks Cloud to move in with him and Cloud says yes. But once the house hunting starts and Cloud rejects every possible suggestion, Sephiroth begins to doubt if Cloud’s heart is really in this relationship.

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Notes/Warnings: None really, other than one tiny brief mention of sex.

Inspired by the song "The Bones" by Maren Morris.

AU – Everybody Lives! Shina is no more, Sephiroth and Cloud have been dating for a few years, and now their biggest argument is about finding the right place to start this new chapter of their lives together.  

(There is angst, because Sephiroth is just an angsty guy, but really the whole thing is just purely indulgent fluff.)

Read on Ao3 | See Previous Day

---

“No.”

Sephiroth sighs, exasperation, exhaustion, and annoyance evident from the crease in his brow. He moves his hand away from his face and points at the laptop screen, while turning to his very stubborn boyfriend. “What’s wrong with this one now?” he asks.

Cloud simply huffs, as if that sound were enough to explain everything, and then walks away to the kitchen, leaving Sephiroth once again a little more than frustrated. It is not as if the former General himself was perfect at vocalizing his own thoughts and needs, particularly after a lifetime of being forced to suppress them, but Cloud’s pointed lack of clarity around this whole escapade had long begun stressing Sephiroth’s discipline and patience.

He pushes his chair back away from the desk and leans to watch Cloud dig into the refrigerator and pull out one of the soft-drinks that the blond had stocked in Sephiroth’s apartment. Those drinks are one sign, but there are many others – pieces of Cloud everywhere in the two bedroom condominium he had bought with his Shinra savings years ago: a blanket strewn on the black leather couch; junk food on the kitchen island (Sephiroth was never allowed junk food in his former life, but even after obtaining freedom from Shinra and Hojo’s strict meal plan, he had yet to develop a taste for that stuff); a toothbrush in the bathroom; some clothes and underwear in one of his dresser drawers. Even beyond those facts, Cloud himself arguably spent most of his nights with Sephiroth here, instead of in his actual living quarters in the house he shared with Zack, Kunsel, Aerith and Tifa (a place that Genesis not-so-affectionally dubbed the frat house).

They had been dating for over two years, though they had known each other for longer. In the end, Cloud Strife had now become invariably and inextricably woven into the fabric of Sephiroth’s life and space. He would either wake up to the blond in his arms or to a text message from Cloud. Most dinners they shared together, holding hands huddled in a restaurant booth or making a game of distracting each other while cooking. When Genesis and Angeal sent their wedding invitations, Cloud and Sephiroth’s names were on the cards together, as one. So, while Sephiroth had, admittedly, little relationship experience before this, asking Cloud if he would like to start living together seemed like a natural progression of the dance.  

He did, on the advice of Aerith and Tifa, try to make the actual asking a romantic affair. He bought Cloud’s favorite whiskey, lit candles in the apartment, asked Aerith for her best roses. Cloud had seemed thrilled at the prospect, the usually scowling face instead blushing brightly throughout the evening. When Cloud had said yes, it started such a swell in Sephiroth’s heart that he was sure there was nothing else he could ever be more grateful for in his life. He had carried Cloud to his bedroom and made sure that the blond knew just how much he loved him, well through the night and into the hazy hours of the morning.  

Then, something changed. They had agreed to find a new place, something that would let them have a true fresh start, something that they could turn into forever. But every open house Sephiroth suggested, every listing he found online had gotten summarily shut down. That would not have bothered Sephiroth as much had the blond provided more thorough explanations for his rejections, or at least explanations that were not so contradictory. Too far away from everything. Too close to the city. Too traditional. Too modern. Not enough space. Too much space. I don’t like the carpeting. I don’t like the kitchen. I don’t like the bathrooms.

Sephiroth had studiously jotted down the curt notes that Cloud had offered and then tried to adjust, come up with new possibilities. And yet, nothing seemed to please Cloud, not in the slightest. It became bizarre. Cloud did not act picky about anything other than his motorbike or his hair. And it did not make a difference that Sephiroth offered to finance renovations on an existing property to make it perfect. Cloud would shake his head, say it was too troublesome, and then move on to something else.

Sephiroth had considered himself an intelligent man, but this behavior tore at the boundaries of his understanding. He had begun to think that he had done something wrong, something to cause Cloud to suddenly grow cold on the idea of living together. He wracked his photographic memory for something – an offhand comment or gesture, a sign, even discussed the possibility with Genesis and Angeal over their weekly lunches together (Genesis called him a paranoid shithead, and while Angeal was much nicer about it, he essentially hinted at the same idea) – but could not find anything suspicious.

It had then dawned on Sephiroth that perhaps what Cloud was getting cold to was not the concept of moving in together – that maybe it was him. When that thought arose, he had quickly tried to push it down, bury it with all the other dark parts of his mind that he worked very hard to control. But try as he might to ignore it, it continued to nag away in the corners of his mind.

Even now, as he watches the blond kick close the refrigerator and wander into the living room to sit in front of the television, Sephiroth cannot help but wonder. Did Cloud really love him? Sephiroth had said it first, had felt it really from the moment Zack introduced them, and he was stunned into silence by the brilliance of those sky-blue eyes. Back then, Cloud was shyer and sweeter, but he had a stubborn streak a mile wide that often clashed with Sephiroth’s arrogance and tactlessness. They had fought often in the beginning, stumbling over misunderstandings and insecurities. But after a few honest and true conversations, things began to blossom. Sephiroth found himself being less afraid of being truly known and more willing to be honest and emotionally open. And Cloud in turn became more confident, less doubtful of his worth. They began fitting perfectly into each other’s lives, like pieces of an unusual, but beautiful puzzle.

Or at least, that had been what Sephiroth thought.

He turns to the computer screen, opened on a lovely four bedroom home just at the edge of Midgar proper – close enough to enjoy the central city, but far enough for peace. It has the large master bath, hardwood floors and open concept kitchen that Cloud had requested, and the laundry room, gas-range stove and garage that Sephiroth desired. Sephiroth had thought he struck the right compromise and had been excited at the idea of showing Cloud this new listing. But when they finished dinner and Sephiroth had pulled open his laptop, Cloud was simply as dismissive as he had been before.

Resignation begins to creep on Sephiroth now, like spiders crawling up his back. Dread, too, starts to mount in his chest. The weeks of this, the stress, the wondering, the doubt, the fear – it is too much, like an itch under his skin that he could not scratch for relief. He had pushed this conversation out for so long, under the guise of his own paranoia, but now, enough had become enough.

Sephiroth stands and walks into the living room. He reaches down for the television remote and shuts the program off, turns to face a perplexed Cloud and says, “I believe we need to talk.”

Cloud pauses, soda halfway to his lips, before putting the can down on the coffee table (no coaster, Sephiroth notes with a mild hint of irritation). “I was watching that, you know,” he responds casually.

“Cloud, I am serious.”

“You always are.”

Sephiroth closes his eyes, wills himself to breath, to calm, to still. “Do you still want to do this?” he asks, looking down at the blond sitting cross legged on his couch.

“Do what? Move in together?”

For a moment, Sephiroth considers taking the out – letting Cloud admit that he is not ready to live with him and allowing them to just resume their relationship as if nothing had happened at all. But Sephiroth knows that would not be enough for him now. He loves Cloud, wants to spend the rest of his mornings and nights with this man, but if Cloud does not feel the same, if he wants his freedom, then maybe it is best to let the blond go. Even if it means breaking open his own heart.

Sephiroth decides to push forward. “No. I mean our relationship.”

Cloud’s eyes suddenly widen in shock. “What?”

“Do you wish to continue this relationship?”

"I heard you,” Cloud says, standing up now. His face looks flushed, with anger, with embarrassment. “What I don’t understand is why you are asking this. What happened?”

Sephiroth looks down, for he knows if gazes in those blue eyes, he could never gather the necessary strength. “For the last few weeks, you have shown disinterest in every option for a new home together. I have tried my best to listen to your comments, but nothing seems to be right. I thought perhaps the true issue is that you no longer desire a life with me. I simply— I just…”

The words become trapped now, blocked by the swelling sorrow and fear in his chest. Is this it? Is he going to lose Cloud? Will he never hear that bell-like laughter, watch those blue eyes glaze with love and pleasure, dance in his living room to imaginary music with that lithe body, kiss that beautiful neck and those happy lips ever again?

He does not notice that Cloud has stepped close to him, until he feels a warm hand on his chest. Cloud glances upward, and the eyes Sephiroth loves are tinged with fear. “You don’t want to end this, right? You don’t want—”

“Of course not,” Sephiroth insists suddenly, grasping onto that hand tightly. “I love you. I love you more than anything, more than life itself and I--”

Then, Sephiroth stops, because Cloud, inexplicably, strangely, starts laughing. The blond presses his face against Sephiroth’s chest, and he can feel the vibrations of Cloud’s amusement and relief running through his body. It leaves Sephiroth feeling all the more mystified for it, and in his confusion, he finds himself locked in place and unable to move.

Finally, Cloud pulls back and looks at Sephiroth with slightly misty eyes. “You scared me, for a moment. I thought that you…oh, Gaia, Sephiroth. I’d never leave you, not for anything in this world or the next. I just needed another few weeks, that’s all.”

Sephiroth blinks at him, tilts his head. “I do not understand.”

The blond pauses for a moment, biting his lip in the way that he does whenever he is considering something. Then, he reaches down and tugs on Sephiroth’s hand. “Go get your jacket.”

“I don’t—”

“You won’t regret it, I promise.”

Sephiroth’s mouth opens to protest, to question, but Cloud is already moving, shoving his feet into his boots and slipping into his coat. The blond fishes into the ceramic bowl on the table next to the front entrance of the apartment and takes Sephiroth’s keys in his fingers. “I’m driving,” Cloud explains. “Now, c’mon!”

There appears to be no other option. Though his mind is still reeling from the whiplash of the last few moments, Sephiroth takes his jacket from the coat closet and follows Cloud down the hall, into the elevator and into the parking garage. Cloud is at his car quickly, with a springing nervousness to his step that Sephiroth only sees whenever the blond is excited about something. That recognition only serves amplify Sephiroth’s bafflement.

But he goes along anyway, watches as Cloud hops into the driver’s side of his car and complains again about having to adjust the seat for Sephiroth’s “impossibly long legs.” They drive in relative silence, Cloud with one hand on the steering wheel and the other entangled in Sephiroth’s own. It only takes a few minutes (with Cloud’s borderline reckless speed) for them to reach the edge of the city proper, and another ten or fifteen to reach the outskirts. Sephiroth recognizes their route. Since the deconstruction of the plate, the reactors and the wall, more and more residential districts have cropped up on the land surrounding Midgar, especially now that the Planet had begun to heal, and the ground had begun to repopulate the grass and flowers that used to be so scarce.

Finally, Cloud pulls up in front of a plot of land, with an unfinished two-story house sitting atop it. Some of the roofing had yet to be completed, windows installed, and outside walls painted, but the construction appeared strong and in good progress. Attached to the house is a large garage, and there is an unpaved path winding from the front door to the street. Though it is far from finished, looking at it now, Sephiroth can image the quiet, peaceful beauty of the place – the flowers they could plant along the walkway, the welcoming double-doors of the entrance, the little mailbox they could stand at the end of the path to the street. The house is slightly larger than most of the ones Sephiroth had been considering, but it still seemed comfortable all the same.

Sephiroth turns to Cloud now, bewilderment on his face. It is his turn to ask, “What?”

Cloud glances at him quickly, skittishly, then releases his hand and jumps out of the car. “Now, I know it’s a mess, but you should see the sketches Genesis gave to the contractor.”

“Genesis?” questions Sephiroth, as he steps out of the car. His mind flickers briefly to the lunch he shared with his two oldest friends earlier in the week, to Genesis’s teasing of his suspicion. He almost wants to sigh in mortification.

Cloud takes Sephiroth’s hand again, begins leading him up the path. “Angeal, Tifa and Aerith helped too, with picking out designs of stuff, making sure it would be things you’d like. Zack was useless, though, said we could just use him to help us move in.”

Us? Move in? His mind craters on the verge of shutdown. He stops abruptly, halfway to the front door, and Cloud turns to him with worry on his face.

“I’m sorry,” Sephiroth begins. “I’m sorry.”

Cloud is in front of him now, his hands around Sephiroth’s shoulders. He leans forward on his toes and closes the distance, kissing him gently but insistently, as if trying to push back the doubt and the fear that had been spilling from Sephiroth these past few weeks. He keeps going, tugging on the lapel of the man’s jacket to bring him even closer.

Then Cloud breaks the kiss, almost too soon. “I love you, Sephiroth Crescent. I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you.” He then walks backward, and with a guilelessness that seems so at odds with the ferocity and skill of that kiss (but that was Cloud, that special contrast of sweetness and steel that made him so appealing, so seductive, so irresistible), he motions to the house behind him.

“So, I built you a house. Well, technically, it’s still in progress.”

Sephiroth tries to say something, but nothing comes out of his mouth. And yet, when the realization hits him, relief floods through his body like water over fire, and he can’t help but feel his cheeks tug into a wide smile. He pulls Cloud back into him, kisses him again and again, trailing his lips down that delicious jawline, the lobe of that ear, that wonderful neck. In between kisses, Cloud breathes out words in delight.

“It was an old building partially torn down and they said renovations would be done in six weeks, but they kept delaying things and finding issues and I was getting so nervous and I—”

“Mmhm,” Sephiroth hums, just kissing Cloud again. He can feel the blond laugh against his lips, but he merely takes the opening to explore the blond’s mouth, and almost rumbles in pure thrill at the way that Cloud’s laughter melts into a soft moan.

Then, the blond pushes him back, blushing red. “Stop, we’re in the middle of the street!”

The former General finally backs up, but can’t stop himself fully, can’t bring himself not to nip that adorable nose. “Alright.”

Cloud smiles but glances askew, apologetic. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to send you on a wild goose chase for a mystery home. I just wanted to surprise you, and I wanted to build something for us. For our new beginning.”

The two then turn to the building now, still empty and still incomplete. But with a bit of magic and imagination, Sephiroth could see it – the promises of comfort, of love, of peace, of a whole lifetime, held up by the good bones of this house. He could see the garden out front, Yule decorations hanging from the roof, the warm glow of fireplace light within. Most of all, Sephiroth could see himself happy here, for the rest of his life, with the man that he could hardly believe he had the good fortune to love.  

Cloud squeezes his hand, softly, gently. “I can show you the sketches, if you’d like?”

“No need,” Sephiroth whispers, as he dips down to kiss him once more. “If it’s from you, I know it will be perfect.”

[skania]

Hollow: an ode to Cloud’s regrets about Aerith

I’ve always felt Hollow is about Cloud’s regrets after Aerith’s fate. But after finishing the Original Final Fantasy 7 game, I realized the lyrics outright quote and reference things Cloud says about Aerith in Disks 2 & 3.

So if I was convinced before, now I just can’t see the song being about anyone nor anything else.

I’ve been posting my thoughts about it on Twitter the last few days, but I figured it was worth putting everything together in one single post to illustrate just why I feel this way. I’ll divide the post in a few parts:

What we know about the song

Where we hear the song in Remake

The name of the song

The song lyrics and its ties to the OG (and to AC)

The imagery of the song

Could the song be about multiple people? nope

I’ll illustrate each point with images from the OG and occasionally Advent Children, so beware of spoilers for both! In contrast, there are only a few spoilers from Remake, including one cut-scene from the ending and a scene from Chapter 14.

What we know about the song

The song’s lyrics were written by Nojima and the music by Uematsu. In the Behind the Scenes, Uematsu explains that the song is sung from Cloud’s perspective and gives the vocalist clear instructions to make the vocals fit Cloud’s character.

This was further confirmed on a recent interview, where Uematsu said: “[...] the song is supposed to be about Cloud's inner feelings” (source).

Similarly, Nojima confirmed that one of the two keywords he received to write the lyrics was “told from Cloud’s point of view.”

Even more interesting, however, is the following:

I interpreted [Hollow] as "a ballad for a man who lost something important to him."  — Nojima

In other words, Nojima wrote these lyrics thinking about Cloud having lost “something important” to him. In Japanese, the wording is 大切なもの, which means both “something important” or “someone important” depending on the context (comment from the translator).

Both have already been used from Cloud’s point of view, in regards to Aerith.

In the OG, it’s used when Cait Sith predicts that Cloud will lose Aerith. “What you pursue will be yours. But you will lose something dear." In Japanese, “something dear” is written with the exact same wording used by Nojima:  大切なもの

The same wording is also used in Cloud’s cameo in Final Fantasy Tactics, where he’s featured alongside Aerith.

As for “someone important”, Aerith has been described as Cloud’s 大切な人 "important/precious someone” more times than I can count. Like here, for example:

... [Sephirot] took away my important/precious someone. 

So just from the wording alone, we can establish a link to Aerith. However, this is far from being the only way Hollow is connected to Aerith.

Where we hear the song in Remake

The very first time we hear the instrumental version of song in Remake is in Chapter 8, called “The Flower of Reunion” in Japanese and “Budding Bodyguard” in English. In other words, the first time it plays is on a Chapter entirely dedicated to Cloud and Aerith.

But even more telling is the very first moment we hear the song. It’s when Aerith briefly separates from Cloud in the Sector 5 Slums. It literally starts playing the instant Aerith leaves the party.

Then, it continues to play throughout the chapter as Cloud & Aerith reunite and do different quests together.

Fittingly, the second time we hear the instrumental version of Hollow is in Chapter 13, as Cloud & the party step into the places that Aerith first showed to Cloud  — except that this time, Aerith isn’t with them because she’s been kidnapped by Shinra.

Meaning, Hollow’s instrumental version only plays in Sector 5. Aerith’s Sector.

The last time we hear the song is, of course, in the credits of the game. Where the full version of Hollow plays in full. But I think it’s interesting to think of the moment when the song starts to play.

First, we focus on Cloud & Aerith, standing on a barren place as rain starts to fall down on the party (this will be important later). It’s only after this very shot that the camera pans to the sky and Hollow starts playing.

So three out of three times we hear Hollow, the song can be connected to Aerith.

Which makes perfect sense IMO, because everything about the song itself is connected to Aerith.

Including its title.

The name of the song

While the song is sung in English, the original lyrics were written in Japanese. The original name of the song was actually 「 空っぽの雲 」 “Empty Cloud”, which then became「からっぽの空」aka “Empty Sky” or “Hollow Sky”. And in fact, the Instrumental version of the song that plays in Sector 5 — again, Aerith’s sector —  keeps the Japanese name.

Of course, both “empty” and “hollow” carry the same meaning:

“Having a hole or empty space inside”.

You know what was meant to evoke this exact same feeling in the players? Aerith’s death.

The feelings aroused by Aerith’s death are “a great emptiness” and “If I had know this was coming, I’d have done things differently”.

These are the exact same feelings Cloud sings about in Hollow. 

And what’s more, his pain after losing Aerith was recently referenced in the Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary Exhibition with the following quote:

Which takes me to:

The song lyrics & its ties to the OG and to AC

Since the song was originally written in Japanese, I will be using @gurekura’s literal translation as well as the official translation of the lyrics. You can see their original post on Twitter HERE.

I think that when you read the lyrics, it becomes very obvious that it’s written from the perspective of the original Cloud. The Cloud we see in the Original FF7 as well as in Advent Children, among others. So, of course, it’s no surprise that these lyrics perfectly match various scenes.

What’s telling though, is that just as we’ve seen until now, the lyrics are a perfect match for scenes focusing on Cloud and Aerith.

1.

2.

No matter whether you take these lines literally or figuratively, “healing” easily evokes images of Aerith. Who not only is a healer  — we even see this in AC, where Aerith heals Cloud of Geostigma — but also reaches out to Cloud as he’s broken by pain and guilt in AC and helps him recover.

But while this is all fine and dandy, I can understand why people may think of different scenes while hearing these lyrics.

However, their link to Aerith becomes even more blatant as we go. In fact, from here on out, the lyrics basically quote Cloud’s words, feelings & thoughts in the OG as he faces Aerith’s death.

3.

Was it all a dream? Will I ever know?

Foolish and blind to everything Had I realized, had I noticed it sooner, Would you be here in my embrace?

Word. For. Word. These are literally Cloud’s feelings, pain and regrets after losing Aerith.

4.

Then we have the chorus, where the references to Aerith are also clear because she’s always been known for her bright personality, and for keeping a smile on her face even in the hardest of times.

Remember how Kitase said that “If I had know this was coming, I’d have done things differently” was one of the feelings he wanted to inspire with Aerith’s death? 

That is exactly what Cloud is singing about in this chorus. But this will become more obvious when we get to the end of the song.

5.

This is honestly unequivocally about Aerith, who hid her pain and the weight of her mission behind smiles and comforting words to not pain Cloud and the others.

Hidden within your smile There were secrets

But I was empty I just demanded

This fits perfectly with how blinded Cloud was by his own pain after he lost her, and how this kept him from realizing the truth of her sacrifice.

6.

Then there’s the second chorus, where Cloud once again sings about all the things he would do differently if only he were given a second chance.

And what he wants to do most of all, is to be able to notice Aerith’s pain and the truth hidden behind it.

What’s more, while players may have missed it given the graphics of the OG, Remake itself shows that this is indeed how Aerith is. She is always hiding her pain and heavy truths behind a smile. The perfect example comes in Aerith’s Resolution Scene in Chapter 14, where Aerith tries to reassure Cloud that she doesn’t mind staying in the Shinra Tower.

She does her best to keep a bright smile and a happy front. But if you look closely enough, you can see the sadness in her eyes, a clear reflection of her true feelings.

7.

Lastly, we have Cloud facing the truth. That despite all his regrets, despite how hard he may wish to have a second chance, Aerith is gone. And the song takes us full-circle.

You’re no long here, so I’m empty. Again, this fits perfectly with the feeling Kitase wanted to evoke with Aerith’s death.

And Cloud feeling this way is also backed-up not only by his behavior in AC, but also by insight from Tifa, as shared in Dismantled:

Plus, of course: “She was gone in the blink of an eye. But the pain never went away.”

So really, given everything I’ve mentioned above, I just can’t see this song being about anyone but Aerith. Because the lyrics clearly evoke thoughts and emotions Cloud himself said about her in the original game.

And if you keep Aerith in mind, then...

The imagery of the song

In the Behind the Scenes, Uematsu  also talks about the imagery that inspired the music. This is what he says about it:

Nojima also confirmed that  [Cloud] “standing in the rain” was the second keyword he received to write the lyrics.

The moment I heard this, I thought of one particular scene from Advent Children:

This scene fits the imagery on multiple levels. Cloud is alone, standing on a barren and empty place, as rain pours over him. He lets the rain wash over him, eyes closed.

In this scene, that rain is Aerith’s Great Gospel. It starts falling the moment Kadaj hears Aerith’s voice, heals everyone it touches from Geostigma and Tifa outright speaks to Aerith as she watches a droplet of the rain.

Of course, there’s no way to know exactly what image Uematsu was talking about. But I find this particular scene quite fitting, given all the ties the song has to Aerith.

Not to mention that in the Final Fantasy 30th Exhibition, Aerith says the following about Cloud’s pain after her death: 「もう、泣かないで. 雨になっちゃうよ」 “Don’t cry. You’ll make it rain”. (source)

So, there we have an explicit link between rain — and Cloud’s anguish after he loses Aerith.

To wrap this up, I’ve seen people suggest that the song is about multiple people. I respect that everyone has the right to have a different view-point, but personally, I can’t help but to disagree with this particular one.

Could the song be about multiple people?

There is no evidence of this in the song. At no point does the song switch its focus. At the contrary, the references and themes remain the same all throughout-it  — as does its subject.

Your shining smile = Once more, shine brightly = Once more, laugh again = Hidden within your smile, there were secrets = Had I noticed sooner, would you still be in my embrace? = Show me your smile one more, this time = I'll notice the truth hidden inside your tears

The subject and the imagery remain constant, so it’s safe to assume the song is about one person and one person only. 

And given all the things mentioned above... I hope you can now see why I can’t think of anyone else but Aerith.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading!

[dansantcaparet]

From the moment Cloud falls to Aerith’s Church, all the way to Wall Market, it is nothing but Cloud & Aerith one-on-one. Beauty, fun, flirting, & flowers. Magnetism, electricity, and excitement. Soulmates reunited (the automatic trophy for the "Budding Bodyguard" chapter is "Reunion" — “Reunion Flower” in Japanese):

Aerith’s Church & flower bed is beautiful. Cloud & Aerith poetically run through the breathtaking rooftops. Cloud saves Aerith from falling (holding her like a Prince holds his Princess). They pick flowers together at her house. Give high-fives in the tunnel. Share a date in the park. Fight in the battle arena. Cloud even dresses up as a girl. Aerith watches Cloud dance. The red dress. Fireworks. Magic. Chemistry. Love.

The perfectly constructed romantic progression. Then, after ALL that, Cloud is obsessed with rescuing Aerith from Shinra HQ. Cloud has to constantly remind Tifa & Barret that finding Aerith is the #1 priority. He is her bodyguard, after-all. At the very end, Aerith is the one who confronts Sephiroth and asks everyone to join her in stopping him. Unlike Tifa, Aerith is the main storyline. Aerith propels the story forward with her Cetra heritage. Cloud x Aerith is literally given a dream scene where Cloud states he wants his OWN SAY on loving Aerith. The dream scene is also found in the credits (unlike the Tifa hug). By the time Cloud goes from Aerith’s Church, to Wall Market, to Shinra HQ, Tifa’s lackluster moments are long forgotten. Tifa is given filler scenes during the first few chapters. Her promise scene is muddied within Jessie’s side-mission. In-fact, everything Tifa gets is overshadowed by Jessie, and eventually forgotten after Aerith comes into the picture. As a Clerith, the Remake is more than anything I could have ever DREAMED of. Remember: in the dream scene Cloud disagrees with Aerith’s proposition that his feelings aren’t real & states he wants HIS OWN SAY on loving Aerith. After Aerith says Cloud’s love for her isn’t “real,” he completely disagrees with her:

Cloud wants his own say on the matter.

This is SE’s way of telling us the REAL Cloud loves Aerith. This is SE’s way of making it crystal clear that these are Cloud’s feelings; *NOT* Zack’s. Again — Cloud wants his OWN SAY on the matter. ��

In regards to Zerith, in the Remake Aerith states she must move FORWARD with her life: 

In the OG, Aerith said Zack & her were "never serious," that her relationship with him is "in the past now," and that Zack probably moved on because he's a "real lady's man." The Remake confirms this to be true. Aerith wants to move FORWARD with her life. Plus, we know from the CxA Gold Saucer date that although Aerith initially liked Cloud because of Zack, she grows to like Cloud for Cloud. — The great flower debate: Aerith gives the flower to Cloud. Whether or not Cloud gives it to Tifa, it still initially represents the reunion between “lovers” Cloud & Aerith. Tifa has to inquire about the flower. Cloud doesn’t automatically give it to her without prompting. Later, when Cloud interacts with the flower, he still associates it with Aerith:

Cloud doesn’t want to admit to Aerith that he gave the flower away.

After going to Aerith’s house, which is filled with flowers, Tifa confronts Cloud about the origin of the flower (ie: Aerith). As if she knows Cloud's heart is with Aerith.

The automatic trophy for “Budding Bodyguard” is “Reunion” — “Reunion Flower” in Japanese. — Aerith brings Cloud’s happiness to the surface — he slowly starts to high-five her on the reg. In addition, while sleeping at Aerith’s house, Cloud is triggered into a real memory of his Mother telling him to have an “older” girlfriend. Between Cloud’s memory of his mother, and his desire to be playful with Aerith, we are witnessing Aerith evoking the real Cloud back to the surface. I mean, hell — Cloud is now willing to sit around and pick flowers for a living. With Aerith, that is, of course. Cloud even vows to rescue Aerith from Shinra HQ at “all costs” and wants his “own say” on if he is allowed to fall in love with Aerith:

“Gradually, Aerith’s warm cheer begins to melt Cloud’s frosty exterior.​It is the heroine, Aerith, who opens Cloud’s eyes, and helps bring him closer to understanding the mystery that is his past.” ~Square Enix​​

—

“Hollow” — Official FF7R song:

Smile bright​ Once more​ This time​ I will never let you go​​

"Hollow" also plays during Sector 5 (Aerith's Sector). This is when Cloud & Aerith spend tons of one-on-one time together. I was wondering why I thought her Sector had the best new song in the game. Now it all makes sense ^.^

[secret-engima]

Fic title thing - heart held close to the moon and Neptune

...

...............

Neptune ... Neptune was the Roman god of the sea right? ... Just looked it up and yes he was so-

>:D

FF7

Mer

AU

But rather than EVERYONE being mer or whatever, it’s ONLY the three Soldier Firsts of canon. Sephiroth, Genesis, and Angeal who have never met any other mer, because Shinra are immoral and terrible and use propaganda to promote the idea that Mer aren’t REALLY just like humans in intelligence and emotional range and soul, they just happen to look human-ish on the top half. And because Mer are seemingly extinct (read: in hiding), they have nobly “Resurrected” the lost line of the “most exotic creatures of the sea” in Sephiroth, Genesis, and Angeal and claim to be in the process of cloning female Mers to “reintroduce the species”.

Except mer are NOT animals.

Mer are the children of Gaia’s oceans, the pulse of her waves and tides, touched by her moon on high. Mer are MAGIC and they will not be contained.

They escape, by the skin of their teeth and with many bloody scars, helped by the last of descendant of the True Mer (Aerith) who can walk on two legs for a time because of her half-human blood. They flee, out into the wild waters, just the three of them as a pod, rapidly protective of their little Pod Queen Aerith, their little sister in their eyes for all it would doom mer to extinction again. So they swim, up river and through lake and through the sea, and sometimes Aerith stops to visit the human woman who cared for her as a child and to tend the garden on two legs while the other three lounge in the little pond and sing softly together, and it’s ... nice.

Then Aerith meets Zack. Zack who is a cheerful sellsword rather than a Shinra plaything, who still respect the Old Ways as best as an ignorant human can, and Aerith adores him and so despite what they want, Sephiroth, Genesis, and Angeal refrain from dragging him below the waves and eating him for trying to court their sister. But Zack is genuine and not cruel like the other humans they’ve met, he gets along with Elmyra and dotes on Aerith and Angeal ends up taking him under his fin after Zack nearly falls in and downs in the pond because surprise this idiot CAN’T SWIM, and really that is that. They have another human in the pod.

Zack tells them all sorts of stories, of the lands they’ve never seen. Jungles and deserts and icy mountains, and in those stories one name and description comes up a lot, the other, younger sellsword Cloud Strife. A fierce little mountain girl who still swears to the Old Spirits and avoids Fairy Circles and will not set foot on a boat until she’s made a sacrifice to the lost Children of the Sea. He describes his “little buddy” so often during his tales that really, it’s no wonder Sephiroth RECOGNIZES the woman while on a solo hunt, struggling in the water, bubbles escaping her mouth and nose, arms and legs bound from where she’s been THROWN OVERBOARD by pirates stealing the ship she had booked passage on.

Sephiroth screams and the storm screams back. The pirates stand no chance and Sephiroth pays them no more mind as he dives down for Cloud, ripping the ropes apart with his claws, swims her up to the surface and realizes that the storm he just summoned is a PROBLEM. The waves are too high for him to keep the human’s head above the water and she’s already NOT BREATHING and Sephiroth can’t just- UNSUMMON a storm, but this girl is Zack’s friend and Zack is pod which makes THIS ONE pod and Sephiroth-can’t-let-her-die-.

Sephiroth holds her close and sings-sings-sings, struggling against death, screaming to the moon to spare this human, to make her SURVIVE somehow, because Sephiroth has too few people in his life and he cannot afford to lose any of them, even one he has never met before.

And Sephiroth-

Sephiroth was Hojo’s finest creation. He was grown from the blood of the most Ancient mer. The Wild Kin even Aerith’s race of mer feared for their power, their savagery, their ability to wrap up the world in their voice and SHAPE it the way they wanted. Jenova is not an alien virus in this au, oh no, Jenova was The Sea Witch. The most feared and powerful and deadly o the Wild Kin, the last to fall in their war against the much more numerous humans and Cetra mer that had banded together against the Wild Kin and their Sea Witches. Jenova was the one who cursed the Cetra and decimated their numbers, she was the one to freeze the great northern sea mid-motion like a glacier around a great crater.

Jenova is, in a morbid, cloned sense, his mother.

Sephiroth sings.

The world obeys.

The body in his arms changes.

Cloud breathes in water and does not drown.

When Cloud groggily wakes up three days later, it’s to one very frantic Zack hovering over her face, the sky above her head, and the weird sensation of being submerged from the waist down. She remembers being knocked off the ship and sits up in confusion-

Looks down and doesn’t see legs.

The glittering tail of ink black and spiraling ice blue twitches spasmodically under her stare, responding to her desperate attempts to move legs that AREN’T THERE ANYMORE.

Cloud starts screaming and all the glass and quite a bit of nearby stone shatters.

While Zack and Aerith help deal with ... THAT whole mess, Sephiroth lurks guiltily in the nearby river, not daring to enter the pond while Genesis whimsically notes that aside from the ice blue swirls, her tail exact same shade of black as his, so does that mean she’s a full blooded Wild Kin now? Genesis and Angeal aren’t, because they have bright red and bright blue scales with black highlights respectively, sign of Wild Kin blood but not nearly as pure as Sephiroth’s jet black and trademark silver hair and slitted eyes. Angeal slaps Genesis over the head and says there are bigger things to worry about, because SINCE WHEN was any kind of magic strong enough to transform a human into an ACTUAL MER and what do they do now? Sephiroth already tried turning her back, but it didn’t work, because that kind of Song that remakes the world itself can only be used on a person on that large a scale ONCE, so now they’re stuck and how will they explain any of that to Zack’s formerly-human friend.

Sephiroth continues to lurk at the bottom of the river, feeling very guilty. He didn’t mean to do that. He meant to save her, not transform her, and the entire thing tastes too much of Hojo’s lab and his unwanted experiments and talk of using Sephiroth’s blood to create clones or hybrids.

Maybe once Zack and Aerith calm her down she won’t entirely hate him?

Who is he kidding, she’ll probably try to gut him with her bare claws.

(Anyway a sort of Modern-Fantasy AU where Mako is a thing but the SOLDIER program isn’t, Mer are a thing, and Fem!Cloud and Sephiroth end up doing an enemies to lovers slowburn but more in a you-transformed-me-against-my-will-so-I-HATE-YOU to friends to lovers way.)

(Also Hojo tries to do more evil shenanigans and Shinra hopes to conquer the world, but that all gets shut down by the Pod because fun fact you can’t run a wold spanning empire if all your ships keep mysteriously getting sunk. It’s not like you can helicopter EVERYTHING over the water, especially since all air traffic gets rapidly shut down by the mysterious super storms that blow in when they try. Reeve eventually gets accidentally kidnapped by the Pod and converted to their side so he starts looking into non-Lifestream power alternatives and Rufus is on board because honestly there’s nothing like a couple of mer arguing, IN YOUR LANGUAGE on whether they should eat you for your sins to make you rethink your life choices and by extension all your evil father’s life choices.)

(Also also Vincent and Felicia are both experiments by Hojo to see if he could create human-mer hybrids. Felicia is a sea serpent and Vincent sometimes forgets that Legs Are A Thing and so just sighs tiredly on Elmyra’s floor in all his red and black octopi glory. Veld is pulled on board the “lets kill Hojo and reform Shinra” boat after he nearly gets his throat torn out by his long lost daughter only for his long lost Turk partner to tackle her and talk her down from accidental patricide.)

(For reference, Sephiroth is a black beta fish with some silver edging on his fins, Genesis is a red with black stripes lionfish, and Angeal is a long-suffering blue and black lions fish. Aerith turns into a long-finned koi, and discovers quite by accident that if you kiss your human boyfriend enough times he gains the ability to breathe underwater and transform into a mer for a few hours before changing back into a human again.)

(And because I’m on a roll, Nanaki is still a cat-lion-thing, Cait Sith has underwater capabilities, Jesse, Wedge, and Biggs are all incredibly baffled humans who aren’t sure how this is their life now, Tifa would like to know when and how her best friend became a Mer (Cloud: It’s all catfish’s fault. Sephiroth: hey.) Barret is a monstrously overprotective dad and Marlene is the world’s cutest baby mer and Sephiroth would literally destroy the world for her if she asked him too. Genesis would help him. Angeal would just sigh and hold Marlene out of the danger zone.)

[kyokokitten]

Just because I like Cloud/Tifa doesn’t mean I don’t like Aerith. I really do, she’s very sweet and caring and kind. I just believe that she is still in love with Zack and her heart wouldn’t belong to Cloud, even if she did live. I believe she said that Zack was the first guy she ever “Loved” because she, just like everyone else at the time, thought he was dead. If, in fact, he is still alive, I think her affection will go to him. Plus, this game takes place what, a week after Zack supposedly died? She is definitely not the type of person who would get over the death of someone she loved so quickly. I think she wants to move forward so that she doesn’t have to be sad about it so much, but I don’t think that means in a romantic relationship with Cloud, I think she just means in life in general. I also don’t think Cloud would do that to his best friend. I believe that Cloud sees her as part of his family, just like the other party members and as a friend. He’s also her protector because he promised her mother and Zack he would do so. Her death weighed so heavily because he failed them and her and lost part of his family. Another thought that occured to me; yes, hollow does play when cloud and Aerith are together, however , it's when she's talking about Zack. Also, it's a pretty sad and haunting song, so I don't see it as a romantic moment at all.

I see he and Tifa more romantically. He flirts with her a lot, he always protects her instinctively rather than Aerith (not that he ignores her or anything if she is in danger, but he seems to lean more toward protecting Tifa), she breaks through his false memories and is the only one to do so. He agreed to a date with her, while Aerith had to kind of force him into one. He did promise Tifa that he would be there if she ever needed him. I don’t believe he was forced to say it, I think he was just a kid trying to be tough and was a little bit shy and didn’t want to admit he liked her. He finally said it because he does. He comforted and hugged her, willingly. He wouldn’t even give Aerith a high five at first, I doubt he’d have hugged her. They just seem a lot closer and he seems a lot more comfortable around Tifa. He seems happy around her. Everyone else seems to make him at least a little bit tense and uncomfortable.  I've always thought Aerith could sense Tifa and Cloud's connection. She was even willing to put herself in danger to get them together again, and she hadn't even met her yet. She could see how upset Cloud was that she was taken. It doesn't seem like she'd be one to put herself between them. It really seems like she genuinely wants to see them happy. Also, the flower. It seemed like maybe Cloud had forgotten he even had it, but when Tifa asked about it he remembered what Aerith said it represented and gave it to her because that's how he feels about her. He's all coy when she asks him when he became so sweet and told her a guy can change. To me that means that he may have been a little insecure and shy, not wanting to admit his feelings at first, when he was younger, he feels more like he can be more comfortable around her and show his feelings more now. When he and Aerith talk about it later, he acts like it wasn't a big deal because he's not an emotional type of person who tells his feelings to someone he just met, but again, I think Aerith can tell. She knew what the flower meant and what giving it to Tifa meant to him.

Anyway, those are just my thoughts, I figured I’d elaborate some more on earlier posts. Obviously square is changing some things about the game and the future is uncertain. But this is how I feel about it. 

I’m so sick of the shipping wars...they give me anxiety...it makes me think that maybe I’m in the wrong fandom if people can be so horrible to each other and not just like what they like and leave others alone...but I love this game...I’ve loved it since the original and I love all of the media that has come out since. I don’t want to give up on it...I just wish I didn’t have to see people argue about something that is pretty much just an opinion on who you like together because none of it is set in stone (except that Aerith and Zack were in love) (at least not yet, it could be in the future).  I just want to look through recent posts and find screen shots and artwork and people talking about how much they love it...not arguing and being nasty..

[silver-wield]

SE will release the new soundtrack next month and one of the track I curious about is called Aerith theme Cetra. I saw CAs said this was a mixed of Main theme(or Cloud’s according to them) and Aerith’s theme. I don’t know whether they lied or not because I didn’t catch the song during the game, but have you heard it? I think it’s from chapter where the team was locked in Shinra tower and Aerith begin to told her story in that scene

There is a point where a few bars of the main theme play, then Aerith's theme plays, then Jenova's or Sephiroth's theme plays while in her room during chapter 17. It's a foreshadowing plot track, not romantic and the themes aren't mixed together like in the acoustic cd track coming out in December that literally blends together the main theme and Tifa's into one song, which is utterly beautiful. They also conveniently leave out the antagonist part of the track that plays because half truths and outright lies are how they gaslight the fandom into believing their bullshit.

What isn't bullshit is the fact the slide scene track is called the first guy I ever loved. So, thank SquareEnix for more zerith canon food 😁

And the track listing for the resolutions matches the ultimania where Tifa's is first.

And Aerith's track foreshadows her death, yet again lol

[greensaplinggrace]

Hi, I just wanted to ask if you would be willing to dabble in a prompt about Cloud having a wing? Like maybe something where it first manifests in a really bad situation of some kind and he's just horrified and scared about it, and runs away from everyone because he's terrified of what they they think. They then him and end up reassuring and comforting him? Just- angst to family feels? There is a distinct lack of Cloud wingfics haha 😅 so I was just hoping you'd be interested.

I debated a long time about this being pre-Sephiroth reveal and post-Sephiroth reveal and finally decided to place it earlier in the game. I hope you don’t mind! This an AU where the Sector 7 plate never drops.

-UPDATE! This prompt has an alternate fill - VERSION 2 - HERE IT IS ON AO3

*TW for self esteem issues, self hatred, blood and injury, a brief contemplation of self harm/mutilation, hallucinations

- If you want to send in a prompt, the guidelines are HERE and HERE!

---

“I don’t believe it for a second!”

“It’s true! In front of dozens of people, too, including Madame M.”

A bellowing laugh fills the room, and Cloud stares furiously at his tumbler as the table nearly cracks beneath the force of Barret’s gun arm. “I knew he was full o’ shit! ‘I don’t dance’, my ass.”

“He was so good at it. By the end of the song, he wasn’t even following Andrea’s lead. It was like he just fell into the music.”

“Aw! I can’t believe I missed seeing Cloud finally let himself go.”

“Oh, it was wonderful, and he was blushing like mad the whole time. But you haven’t even heard the best part, yet!”

Cloud bites back a groan and hunches his shoulders, angling himself as far away from the rambunctious group gathered around the corner table. He catches sight of Tifa working her way down the bar with a rag, an apologetic smile on her lips, and sighs in defeat when she doesn’t even think to say a word in his defense.

“What, that it only took him glancin’ at the walls of Wall Market before he broke out dancin’? Cause we already knew he was repressed.”

“Barret!” It’s Tifa who finally protests, but it’s too little too late. Cloud sinks into his seat and wishes the entire world would disappear. His drink sure does, though not nearly fast enough. He grabs a nearby bottle and refills it himself.

“He’s got a point, though.”

Aerith giggles as if she knows a thing about him. “Cloud’s just shy.” 

He is not shy. 

“Shy or not, he was certainly willing to dance for Tifa.”

“And-” Cloud can fucking hear the wink in her voice. “-wear a dress for her.”

The room explodes into chaos. Cloud scowls against a blush as everybody bursts out laughing, voices overlapping in glee and disbelief. Even Tifa’s grinning, eyes sparkling with amusement when Jessie bounces over and slams stomach first into the table. She’s flushed on Gaia knows how much alcohol, eyes bright and cheeks rosy.

“I knneww he liked you!” she exclaims a bit too loudly, and Cloud winces. Half of him wants to speak up against the fact that they’re all gossiping about him when he’s right here. The other half of him just wants to remain quiet, refusing to give them the satisfaction of knowing he’s affected. “Did he really? It mm...must have been- so pretty! I bet it was the- the most amazing thing you’ve...ever seen.”

Cloud would say it was the most ridiculous thing she’d ever seen, but Tifa actually blushes.

Huh.  

Cloud tries not to blush as well with the realization, turning away from the two as Jessie resumes the conversation amidst Tifa’s embarrassed silence. The others are busy, all chattering and mellowed out, scattered around the bar in small groups and talking about whatever it is drunk environmental activists usually find interesting. 

There’s a simple camaraderie in the people around him. More than friends or acquaintances could ever be. A family.

He almost feels like an intruder, sitting here silent and morose in the midst of their comfortable chatter. All easy touches and loving warmth. Even Aerith has settled into the group as if she’s always been a part of it. She’s moved on to her second bottle now, talking animatedly with Barret about flowers, and how Cloud hadn’t ever expected them to get along like moss on a boulder is a mystery to him. 

They look...happy. All of them do.

Fondness prods at the boundaries of his chest as he watches them. A wholly unfamiliar feeling, and one Cloud isn’t keen on courting at the moment. He can’t allow himself to think like that, not when he knows he’s unwelcome here. Barret had been right about this being a team - a family - that Cloud isn’t a part of. He’d been right to kick Cloud out the first time around.

He empties the rest of his drink in one go and doesn't even pause to deliberate further. It tastes like ashes.

He shouldn't have even lingered this long. Sitting here brooding at the bar while everybody has fun, bringing down the mood like one giant dark intrusion in their bright little haven of safety and warmth and... 

Had his presence annoyed them, and that’s why they’d ignored it? Or had they even noticed him to begin with? Tifa certainly had, otherwise she would have left to go join in the celebrations of her family- her new family. One that Cloud isn’t part of anymore.

He stands to leave. The world tilts for a second, and he has to catch himself on the bar as his feet trip up underneath him, breath hitching and vision blurring. Nobody comments or moves to help him, though. Nobody even looks his way. So he staggers until he’s walking and makes a beeline for the front doors, past every joyful conversation and a smattering of giggles, until he’s bursting outside in a rush. 

At once, he’s hit by a blast of the cool night air and the dim glow of the porchlights. For a second, the two worlds meld together - the quiet peace of the night and the warm, brash camaraderie of Seventh Heaven. A soothing lull to the strain of reality. Then the sounds cut off abruptly as the doors click shut, and all he’s left with is silence.

Cloud stumbles over to lean on the nearest metal railing, avoiding the stairs like the plague. Leave. He inhales deeply, the air crisp and refreshing, and breathes out some of the fogginess in his mind. They don’t want you here. He opens his eyes again and stares blankly at the ground below him, uncertain and on edge. Green flickers in the corner of his eye, a breath like ice ghosting through his hair. He swallows thickly and tells himself it’s the breeze, but slitted, sickly eyes grace his vision, and he has to duck his head over the railing to calm the tremors that arise.

“You think these people will accept you, once they know what you are?”

He breathes in shakily and grits his teeth against a response.

“You’re lucky they don’t care for you.”

They do. 

They don’t.

He clutches at his hair and tries to make the world stop spinning, panting so loudly he can hear it past the rush of water in his ears.

“Imagine how disappointed they’d be if they learned what goes on inside your head?”

Cloud shakes his head and takes in another breath. He refuses to answer. Refuses to give anybody the satisfaction of knowing he’s hurt - knowing he’s weak.

He doesn’t want them to accept him. He never did and he never will. He’s stronger than that.

“Cloud?”

He jumps at the voice - real and alive and right there - heart racing for a moment in pure, unbridled fear as he thinks that Sephiroth’s finally become real. That the man can finally hurt him. Then the rest of it catches up to him. It’s a girl’s voice, small and high and above him. Not next to him. Not Sephiroth.

“Marlene?” he asks in disbelief, half convinced he might still be hallucinating. Yet when he races down the stairs and turns to face the source of the noise, it’s a little girl’s head peeking out at him over the edge of the awning. “How the f- how did you get up there?”

“I- I didn’t do it on purpose. I promise!” Her voice warbles with tears, and Cloud shifts uncomfortably. This is decidedly not his problem.

“I’ll go get Barret.”

“No! You can’t!”

He glances through the windows of the bar, where Barret’s laughing uproariously at whatever Tifa’s said. The man would kill for his daughter, and he’d probably beat Cloud’s ass for even considering not telling him. Cloud doesn’t need that right now. Barret already hates him enough, but at least he’s still willing to foist off his money. “You won’t get in trouble.” Probably. “He should know you’re safe.”

“But I will!” Marlene wails, and Cloud winces. “Daddy will be mad. I’m not s’post... supposed to be out here.”

“You're not allowed, you mean.” 

Marlene sniffs again, lower lip quivering as her eyes start to water, and Cloud’s heart drops when he realizes she’s about to cry. “Please don’t tell Daddy! I only left out the window to see the lights. I didn’t mean to get stuck.”

“Can you go back to your room?” Cloud asks, though he already knows the answer. If only things were that easy.

“N-no...It’s dark and- and I can’t see. Please help me down, Cloudy...I’m scared.”

“It’s not- don’t call me that.” Marlene sniffs again, and Cloud sighs, squeezing his eyes shut for a second to fight off the growing headache. “Fine. Just...don’t move. Stay right there.”

He steps further from the building and examines the walls in the hopes of finding somewhere she could climb down, but she really has gotten herself trapped in the most unfortunate place possible. She’s on top of the awning, perched on the highest peak. Her knuckles are white from the death grip she has on the edge, knees occasionally sliding down the curve before she corrects them. Every time she so much as fidgets he feels his heart hit his throat, and by the time he’s finished examining every inch of the building, he feels more sober than he ever has in his life.

She’s much too high up, he concludes. This really is a job for Barret.

“You’d have to jump,” he finally says as he rounds the front of the stairs again, keeping his voice soft to avoid startling her, “we need to get Barret.”

“No! Don’t tell Daddy. He’ll be angry.” 

Barret couldn't be angry with Marlene if his life depended on it. “I don’t think so. He just wants you safe.”

“You’re lying.” Marlene hiccoughs, voice cracking on the last word, and it takes an effort for him to remain still in the face of her distress. Something like guilt and understanding twists up inside him, but he can’t think too long about it.

“I’ll be right back,” he says, though every word feels like pulling teeth, “just don’t move and B...Dad will come save you.”

“But I want you to come save me! Please dont- please don’t leave!” She yells out in a panic, and then she’s moving, letting go of the roof and pushing to stand with too much force, feet sliding and eyes widening as Cloud’s stomach lurches in fear. 

A dozen things happen at once, blurring and loud in the rush of panic. Marlene’s scream pierces the air, wood cracking and light flooding the area with a series of yells, and Marlene falls. Her scream cuts off as she hits empty space, and Cloud moves like he’s never moved before, feet skidding across the concrete and launching himself from the bottom step with a vicious gust of wind.

He doesn’t know how he reaches her in time. Doesn’t know anything except that he manages to snag hold of her before she even drops a foot, pulling her to his chest and curling around her with a snap. The harsh movement interrupts his flight, and in the next moment it’s Cloud that’s falling, wrapped tightly around his precious bundle as his back meets the top step. There’s a sickening crack, pain igniting across his back and forcing the breath from his lungs, but he doesn’t even think to let go. Not as every step afterward makes the pain spike and not as they finally hit the concrete, wrought metal a dark and twisting sky above them.

Marlene’s shaking on his chest, torn by hiccoughing cries and too afraid to let go, but at least she’s alive. Cloud almost wants to cry with her at the relief he feels seeing her there, safe and breathing in the cradle of his arms. Her small fingers are fisted in his shirt, head buried against his chest, and when she looks up at him her face is wet with tears.

“Is- is it over?”

His lungs feel too constricted to answer, chest tight, and before he can gather his thoughts or his breath there’s a thud of footsteps and a rise of voices. Other people, he realizes blankly for a second. Then, Barret - Avalanche, as awareness finally catches up to him.

“Marlene! Marlene!”

“What the hell happened?”

“Oh Gaia, is that-”

A shadow falls over them, and within seconds Marlene is pried from Cloud’s arms. Barret instantly sweeps her into a crushing hug, a spill of soft, comforting words pressed into his daughter’s hair. Cloud struggles to sit up when the other man turns away, hoping to capitalize on his distraction before anybody realizes a simple fall practically took him out. His face burns when he finally manages to push himself upright, but nothing could prepare him for the sight of everybody else standing there as well. Silent and frozen as they stare at him with wide, horrified eyes.

Cloud tenses and goes deathly still. His voice catches at the back of his throat, shame and pain and a dozen other things making his arms shake beneath his weight. He knows he should say something, but no words would be able to justify the fact that he’d almost let a child die. Now they know. Now they-

“What is that?” It’s Marlene who asks it, voice small in the heavy blanket of silence, and Cloud blinks in momentary confusion.

Then a feather falls into view, and Cloud nearly goes faint with shock. Before he can stop to think, he’s bringing his hand up, fingers splayed and stomach twisting as he reaches up to catch it. He expects dust and shadow - for the feather to disappear as every other has. Except that when his fingers wrap around it, all he feels are soft, delicates vanes and a thin shaft. Real.

No!

Cloud throws it as far away from him as he can, panic rising when all it does is catch on the air and keep drifting. Like a real feather should. Panting, he staggers to his feet, casting about desperately for Sephiroth as he grabs for his sword. Yet his hands hit nothing and all he sees is Barret and Tifa and Marlene, shocked and terrified and stunned. All looking at him and not anybody else . Or, more accurately, something behind him.

Cloud doesn’t need to see it to know, of course. The weight off balances him and has him trying to catch his footing, tripping backwards as they all just keep looking. Not saying anything. Not doing anything. Just-

“Are you a monster?”

And Cloud can’t bear to hear their answers. To look for one more second at their disgusted expressions and horrified eyes. The spell has been broken, Tifa opening her mouth to speak as Jessie gasps and moves forward, and Cloud trips backwards again, boots scraping loudly on the ground as he staggers around in a wide circle.

“Cloud!” It’s Tifa.

Tifa. She knows what Sephirtoth did. She knows he’s a monster-

And he can’t look back - can’t look into her eyes and know that she hates him.

So he runs.

He runs until his feet ache and nothing makes sense. Until the stares and gasps he draws from onlookers drive him deeper into the bowels of the scrapyards with the burn of shame and fear and hatred.

“I told you,” Sephiroth hisses, and Cloud spins in the center of a closed metal clearing to face the bastard, but all he’s met with is more walls.

“Shut up,” he snaps, “shut up!”

“They know you’re tainted, now”. Cloud doesn’t even need Sephiroth to tell him that. Doesn’t need Sephiroth to let him know that his mind is cracked and broken. That his body isn’t his own.

Cloud can’t even look at the metal for fear of seeing his reflection; gleaming snake eyes and a cruel smirk. He already has enough of Sephiroth. He already knows he’s a monster. He doesn’t need to see it. As if the voices in his head hadn’t proved it. As if the green flashes and painful hallucinations hadn’t already told him. Now his corruption isn’t only on the inside. Now it’s outside of him, too. A morbid display of his weakness and his failure. Proof that he can’t control what’s inside his head, let alone the appearance of his own body.

He holds back a sob, chest jumping and lips thinning. There’s a corner of the clearing that’s shadowed and dark, sheltered by a jagged metal overhang, and he forces one foot in front of the other. The sound of something dragging behind him makes him want to vomit. Pain sears through the appendage, pulling at his chest and back and making his shoulder ache. Snapped, he thinks, and has to push the thought to the back of his mind because he doesn’t care. 

If he’s lucky, the thing is broken beyond repair.

He drops down and crawls beneath the overhang, pulling his knees to his chest and pressing against the cold metal. Stretched out in a gruesome, bloody display is the wing, nearly unnoticeable in the darkness of the night, and he presses his eyes to his knees so he doesn’t have to see it. The pain is a stark reminder, though.

He really is a monster.

They’d all been so scared of him. Tifa had been the worst, of course, but Marlene’s fear was palpable. Even thinking about it makes his eyes wet, and no amount of rubbing them on his pants can brush away the tears. Aerith had been wide eyed, fingers pressed to her mouth in shock, and Barret had looked thunderous. Probably from allowing Marlene anywhere within a foot of Cloud.

He curls into a tighter ball and tries to fight the heave of his shoulders, but it’s a fruitless endeavor. There’s a feeling of loss that burns, even as he reminds himself that he’d never been a part of their family in the first place. One that has him wishing he could cut the fucking wing away. That he could make everything better. Head back to Seventh Heaven and beg for their forgiveness.

If only he had his sword.

The mere thought has him shuddering in phantom pain, and he resists the urge to pull the wing closer for protection. 

“Cloud?” A voice breaks the silence, and Cloud freezes at the sound. It’s Tifa’s voice, and she’s close enough to be right on top of him.

Then another voice speaks up, echoing down the walls of the alley he’s in, and Cloud ducks down to press even further into his hiding place at the sound of Barret’s approach. “Oi merc! Where the hell are you?”

“Barret, you’re going to scare him off.”

“Kid can take care of himself.”

“But did you see-” 

A light swings into view, flickering along the battered edges of Cloud’s feathers, and both sets of footsteps immediately come to a stop. Cloud swallows and closes his eyes, trembling with fear or embarrassment, he doesn’t know.

Have they come to hunt him down? Or kick him out?

Tifa wouldn’t do that.

Cloud doesn’t say a word. Neither does Barret and Tifa. Their light lingers on his wing for a long time, and he wonders if they’ve finally noticed how ugly it is. The gruesome bend and twist of an unnatural limb.

“Oh Gaia. Cloud, are you hurt?”

It takes a greater effort this time around to resist pulling his wing closer, wrapping it around himself and shielding his body from prying eyes. The light hasn’t moved, but he knows their gazes have, and there’s not even a millimeter more space between himself and the walls that could help him shift away.

“That don’t look natural.” It’s not. “Shit, do you think it’s broken?”

The light moves, then, over bloody patches and the scattered feathers ringing his form. Cloud feels nauseous just looking at them, undeniably grateful that they haven’t turned to dust even as he wishes they would.

“That looks like a lot of blood…” Tifa worries, and Cloud flinches when she takes another step forward. “We need to get him back. Cloud, can you move?”

He doesn’t know what to say. Doesn’t know what they want from him. His mouth feels sealed shut with fear and loathing, and he can’t even swallow past the knot in his throat anymore. As if it isn’t shameful he’d been so weak as to get injured in the first place. Now he has a fucking wing sprouting from his back and all he wants to do is cry. Are they here to mock him? He just wishes they’d leave.

“We’re just here to help. Please, Cloud.”

It shouldn’t be Tifa begging. It shouldn’t be Barret approaching with light steps and a soft voice. Shouldn’t be either of them here to see him like this, offering help.

This is all so, so wrong. They should be afraid of him. They should hate him.

He knows he does.

“It’s okay-”

“It’s not.” He inhales like he’s drowning, throat tight and vision blurred. “I’m a- I’m like- Sephiroth.” The word is acid on his tongue and Tifa’s startled inhale only makes it worse. He’s a fool for reminding her, and now she’s going to abandon him. She’s going to realize this was a mistake and she’s going to leave.

“You’re nothing like him.”

Cloud almost chokes on his sob, tension cut away so abruptly his limbs go numb with the shock of it. He collapses in on himself, biting his lip to stifle the tremors, but the rest of his body shakes with each breath.

“I told you before that I was wrong about you, kid. That wasn’t a joke. You ain’t nothin’ like that sick fucking bastard.”

Cloud shakes his head. “You’re wrong. You’re wrong. I-I see him- I-”

“You see Sephiroth?” Tifa sounds faint, but Barret powers on as stubborn as ever.

“That doesn’t mean a thing, okay?” he says, and the conviction in his tone eases the band around Cloud’s chest. He takes in a shaky breath, latching desperately onto Barret’s next words. “What you see isn’t real, and having a wing don’t mean a thing except that you’ve got a wing.”

“Sephiroth has-”

“Sephiroth doesn’t have shit cause he’s a dead sonofabitch.”

That brings with it a whole host of worries Cloud hasn’t allowed himself to think about since he got here, and another silence descends between the three of them. The pain in his wing is a lot more noticeable now that he’s gathered enough wits to focus on it, and he can’t help the slightest hint of hope from forming - that they actually mean what they say. That they still care.

“You ain’t a monster, and Marlene shouldn’t have said that.” Barret lowers himself to a crouch, the hard edges of his expression melting into something soft as he continues. “You saved her. You saved my baby girl, and I will never forget that.”

Cloud had failed her. He’d almost let her fall. Yet he can’t bring himself to correct Barret, careful of the tentative trust.

“I ruined your gathering,” Cloud ends up saying instead, though he’s not entirely sure why.

Barret snorts. “Gathering was ruined as soon as you left.”

Should have snuck out. “Sorry.”

“That’s not what he meant,” Tifa says, sighing. She lowers herself to kneel beside Barret, and Cloud’s surprised to see nothing but kindness and concern in her eyes. That small bubble of hope grows when she smiles at him. A shy, reassuring twitch of the lips. “He meant that we missed you after you left. Aerith was worried she’d upset you.”

“But it was a…” Private affair. 

Gaia, he’s such an idiot. It was stupid to worry about such a thing in the first place, and it only goes to show just how weak he is that he’d even been bothered at all. Cloud has never been shy about who he hangs out with before. He’s never cared before if people accept him. Yet the sting of Barret’s words had felt fresh, the mockery of a few days ago - of extra money and saying they wouldn’t need him - like a new cut across his skin. It hadn’t felt scarred over in the moment. Hadn’t felt anything but raw and exposed as they’d all laughed around him - at him.

“We wanted you there. Hell, it woud’a been nice to hear the story from you.”

“I’m sure you would have told it better. Though Aerith does have a...way with words.”

A hint of a smile finds its way to Cloud’s lips at that, but it rapidly gives up the ghost when his gaze lands on the wing again. He eyes it warily, swallowing down bile and blinking away the afterimages of blood and a sword and silver hair over monstrous eyes. He shudders at the memory, pulling his knees closer to his chest. There’s a limp, broken rasp of feathers over concrete as he moves, and he has to peel his gaze away before he does something he’ll regret.

“Cloud…” Tifa begins hesitantly, fingers outstretched toward his wing. They’re frozen, her voice hesitant as she speaks. “We never talked about what happened in Nibelheim. Sephiroth…”

“I know.”

She gives him a tiny nod and says nothing for a while, then: “you aren’t a monster. You’re not like him, and I could never hate you for this. You and Sephiroth...you aren’t the same. Even if-” She squeezes her eyes shut, lips pursing and shoulders hitching as she calms herself. Cloud and Barret both wait patiently. “Even if you see him...Sephiroth. You need help.”

“We can help you,” Barret pitches in, low and so unlike himself that Cloud thinks for a moment he might be fever dreaming or in an alcohol induced coma.

“The others are waiting at the bar for us, too.”

“Trust me when I say they’ll come out here themselves and scream your name for hours if we don’t return with ya. Your little flower girl threatened me. I ain’t never been threatened by someone so tiny in my life.”

“Everybody wants to help you,” Tifa says, “Please. I- we... love you.”

“Well, I wouldn’t go that-” Tifa’s hair practically cracks through the air as her head whips around, and the burn of her vivid red eyes has Barret cowed. Cloud can’t quite hide the smirk that appears this time around, and Tifa shares a smug smile with him when Barret scowls at the both of them. “Uh huh. I don’t know why the hell I thought our friendly neighborhood merc here was the only Nibelheim bastard. You’re both just feral pains in my ass.”

The word choice is uncomfortable, but for the first time that night, the pang of rejection doesn’t follow. Barret looks relaxed around his wing, now. As does Tifa. Neither of them appears horrified, anymore. They don’t look disgusted.

“I’m...I don’t know what to do.” He has to pry the first words from his mouth, but he isn’t even aware of the next words until they fall like fire from his lips. “It hurts.”

His face heats with shame, yet Tifa and Barret don't mock him. They don’t call him weak or useless or a sorry excuse for a SOLDIER. And he forces his muscles to unwind, inhaling deeply and exhaling at length. They wouldn’t hurt him, he reminds himself, these people are safe.

“It’s okay, Cloud,” Tifa soothes. She rises slowly, every movement of her approach projected, and Cloud would protest the treatment if he wasn’t so painfully grateful for it. When she falls to her knees outside his shelter, the careful compassion on her face hasn’t changed. “We can patch you up. Just like when we were kids.”

He hesitates. “Here?”

“Back at the bar,” Barret corrects, “ain't no way we’d be able to heal you up out here, otherwise. Even if it were daytime.

Cloud takes another fortifying breath, comforted by Tifa’s solid support. Yet voicing his concerns is still too much, and he subsides reluctantly into the shadow of his safe haven.

“We’ll take the back alleys,” Tifa says, and Cloud blinks at her in surprise. Her flicker of a knowing smile is like a benediction, a soothing run of words like water over his skin. “We aren’t that far from Seventh Heaven, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Okay?”

He nods, and Barret’s loud clap is almost enough to make him jump. “Aight! Let’s get movin’. You think you can stand, SOLDIER boy?”

“I’m not an invalid,” Cloud barks with a scowl, “I can move just fine.”

“We could carry the-”

“Don’t!” He regrets snapping immediately, wincing and looking away. “I can move it myself.”

“It’s got to be painful. Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Don’t...don’t touch it.” He pauses and flicks his eyes to her, then over to Barret as the other man shifts to stand. They both came for him. They want to help him. 

They consider him family. He blinks the tears from his eyes and looks away, crawling slowly from his shelter. Tifa is warm at his side, Barret steady and unwavering before him. Neither of them leaves.

They came for him. “...thank you.”

“Anytime.”

Cloud might just believe them.

[finalhxaven]

🎵

Send me ♫ and I will make a 5-10 SONG PLAYLIST for our muses! (Still Accepting)

Special Edition: Break Up Cloti and Feel Good Cloti (I’m here to break your heart and then piece it together again lol)

Break Up Cloti

1. Good For You (from “Dear Evan Hansen”)

And you say what you need to say So that you get to walk away It would kill you to have to stay trapped When you've got something new Well I'm sorry you had it rough And I'm sorry I'm not enough Thank God they rescued you

Tifa to Cloud. An angry Tifa upon realizing he would rather be at the church than at home has a few words to say regarding their relationship. She doesn’t tend to be angry much, but at some point with Cloud’s lack of communication reaches all time levels, she would reach a breaking point and say something much like she did in AC. It sounds almost like she’s hurting him on purpose, but there’s another poignant line that sounds very Tifa in this song, being: 

I'll shut my mouth and I'll let you go Is that good for you? Would that be good for you, you, you?

Where she would be openly saying that she really doesn’t know what she could do to make him happy. 

2. Explosions by Ellie Goulding

And as the floods move in And your body starts to sink I was the last thing on your mind I know you better than you think 'Cause it's simple darling, I gave you a warning Now everything you own is falling from the sky in pieces So watch them fall with you, in slow motion I pray that you will find peace of mind And I'll find you another time I'll love you, another time

Tifa to Cloud, and I KNOW I’ve sent this to you before ;) She spends so much time trying to make sure he is okay that she loses self confidence that she as a romantic partner can BE that for him. That if she is always attempting to help keep him together, she gets consumed in it too. And she leaves, even if it might mean someone’s not going to be there to help him pick the pieces up. It’s so bittersweet because he does love her, but his mind is so scattered and still making the effort just to gather itself up, but due to those efforts, it doesn’t leave much for her to have someone. 

Even so though, maybe another time... If things were different...

3. Honest by The Neighborhood

Patience, test my patience. If I made it too hard for you maybe you should've changed it. Say it, you should say it, 'Cause I'd say I was wrong just to make it fill all the spaces. Waiting, always waiting. If I gave you control would you say that (We could've saved it?)

Cloud to Tifa. As much as I love Tifa, if they were to end their relationship this would NOT be all on Cloud. Girl is never honest with him, she always hesitates and almost handles him with kid gloves because she doesn’t want him to break. To not treat him with honesty is painful, and it would make Cloud doubt himself too. 

4. Recover by Chvrches

I'll give you one more chance To say we can change our old ways And you take what you need And you know you don't need me Blow by blow Honest in every way I know You appear To face a decision I know you fear

Tifa to Cloud. But what if she DID be honest? At the culmination of their incapable asses to say ANYTHING, she explodes and tells him he has to be the one to do it. To end it, or to change things. But one thing she DOES want to have affirmed or denied, is whether he feels he even needs her. 

5. Terrified by Among Savages

Yeah, it has been such a long, long time I've been asleep trying to sleep away my life Cause I'm terrified and I'm ruined by this mess Cause I needed you more than I needed to be blessed

I swear I’m not TRYING TO REGURGITATE SONGS FFFF. Cloud to Tifa. The guys been through so much and having uncertainty in a relationship doesn’t help when he’s over here still trying to figure out who he is as a person. He DOES say he needs Tifa, that she helps make him whole, but to see her have doubts also UNDOES him rather than helps.

6. I Hope by Rebecca Ferguson

Loving ourselves comes so easily Forgiveness was like the biggest sin to me And where there was war I wouldn't walk away But after a time I realized that for me to grow I've got to let go

This one is really rough and really particular, if he was interested in Tifa but fell in love with Aerith. The whole song is pretty self explanatory, it’s about Tifa moving on. 

7. Miracle by Madeon

I've been trying to be every man you saw in me But in my eyes I just flicker out And blur like ghosts Before I go, I know Can you show me a miracle? I wish I'd stay the night, but I've got to go to America And this could take a while (mm-hmm) Isn't it time that I come alive? Endless in this life but I don't know how And so I'll go So I'll go

I give up, I’m giving you all the songs I’ve talked to you about I’m just SO SORRY REALLY I AM. Cloud to Tifa. 

So many expectations on a single person’s shoulders makes them crumble rather than thrive. He leaves to find who he really is, and yet. At the same time... 

Can’t you show him a miracle, Tifa?

And what you actually came for: Feel Good Cloti

1. Sway (Chainsmokers Remix) (I’m not linking this one you KNOW IT ALREADY)

Stop! Take it slowly, darling This time I'm feeling a change Stop thinking too much about it Love's gonna heal us again and again Sway! Just move with me, darling And I'm going to move with you too Can't stop, now you got me started On top, such a beautiful view

Words aren’t the only way, right?

2. Mountains by Emeli Sande

He said I'm going to have a bed with lots of pillows And that we're going to build a house with lots of windows And when we have the kids we'll tell them to remind we Of where we were now so we never get lazy

Tifa to Cloud. This is a visceral understanding on how Tifa feels towards him, that even if everything isn’t perfect or luxurious or grand, she really doesn’t care so long as they build something together. But more so than that, they will have a future together based on the dreams and wishes they make now. Also the mountain metaphor and them being from Nibelheim, a mountain town is...

I’m clever okay??? Tell me I’m clever!

3. You and Beautiful World A vocaloid song by Yuyoyuppe

There is something I need to tell you, and though I look for the words I cannot find them. Even though the things to say Are overflowing, I still can't do it. Look at me... Repeating this... All over again...

These words have no heart behind them, just a closed mind; Unconcerned actions are becoming bright. I don't need love like in dramas and such. Just to be by your side That alone is enough for me That alone is enough for me... That's all...

A love confession is hard for Tifa, she was never so good with words and especially when it comes to Cloud. But she’ll try again until she gets it right. For the one she loves, she’ll do anything, even if it scares her. 

4. You Can Be King Again by Lauren Aquilina

You've got it all You lost your mind in the sound There's so much more You can reclaim your crown You're in control Rid of the monsters inside your head Put all your faults to bed You can be king again

Tifa to Cloud. There’s a reason she stays by his side the entire time, and it isn’t for shits and giggles. The love she has or him as pure, and is inspired by the true belief she has in him that he can be more than what he is right now when losing his mind. In OG, she stays by him because she still BELIEVES in him. And that’s some true kind of love right there.

5. Break The Silence by Richard Haddock

I can feel it coming and it's falling down on me I've been losing all control of everything I see Am I losing all my mind on my own? You have been here all along, I know Trying to break the silence My mind speaks in between Feeling trapped and isolated Like it was only just a dream

Cloud to Tifa. Plotwist he knows she’s been by his side the entire time and it motivates him to keep going until he breaks free to the real him.

6. Ultimately by Khai Dreams

Ultimately I don't understand a thing I try to do the best I can I know you try to do the same We're just so bound to make mistakes You could call it a disposition I apologize for all your tears I wish I could be different But I'm still growing up Into the one you can call your love I don't know if I'll ever be enough I'm throwing in my chips I guess I tend to push my luck

Cloud to Tifa. He’s loved her for a long time, but from the very beginning felt he needed to earn you. Grow to become someone worthy of her. Because for all his self loathing and unusual way of going about things, he never stopped going AFTER her. And Tifa finds that so damn charming that he’s always fighting for her, despite the fact she never needed him to. She just wanted HIM. 

7. Omoide Kakera by Nano

I hear the sound of your voice, I hear it echo inside my dreams Turning into memories as they start to fall away And the tears that I cry, washed away by the rain I promise this is where I'll be, Waiting for you

Tifa to Cloud. She’s always waiting for him, to come back. To her, to home, to who he is. But the one constant he will always have, no matter what. 

She’ll always be there. No matter what.

[ivalice-tifalucis]

My ramblings on FFVII Remake

The irony never lost on me that after so many years on tumblr, I finally act on my username, actually post things related to FF.

So I finally finished FFVII Remake this Wednesday although stupidly I quitted the game before the credits finished rolling so I had to replay the last part again on Saturday. Thank goodness I already knew what to do so I only needed an hour to finish the last part. Took me 2,5 weeks and close to 50 hours of gameplay to finished as I also have real life obligation to do and couldn’t just play video game for whole day. And oh my god what an experience. As non OG fan who got introduced FFVII and FF in general because in 2006 her school best friend couldn’t stop yelling about Advent Children, who have watched Advent Children for god knows how many times even though she could barely understand the context, who felt weird at Dirge of Cerberus, and who cried stupid at Crisis Core ending, this game is beyond my expectation.

In 2015, when they announced the release, I was like ‘ oh great, finally they’re gonna make this after all’. I have waited for the remake for almost a decade at that time yet I felt empty because I was no longer care so much about FF anymore. I still haven’t even played FFXV yet I waited that for so long since the first FFVersusXIII trailer. So finally Square Enix got their shits together, great for them.

And then FFVII Remake was released. Y’know what, I didn’t even see the trailer. I didn’t care. But then covid-19 happened and I was bored. My brother kept suggesting me to buy FFVII Remake, said that the game got great reviews and I’ve waited for so long. I was like ‘ok, let’s see what the fuss is about.’ I never actually play the PS one game because 1) Never got the chance to, and when I could have the resource to play it, 2) I lost interest in FF. So it’s a good way to play a game you only read about it all this time. Then I read some of the review and bits of spoilers, because I’m that kind of person, that the game is not exactly a remake, that it’s only first few hours of original game, which quite dissapointing at first because you thought you’re gonna play like the real ans whole reimagined FFVII. And people talk about Zack. That’s what pique my interest more. I thought it’s only flashback because Zack did appear as flashback in OG but then spoilers said he’s alive??!! What??? Ok gotta have this game.

And so begin my geeky nostalgic journey. I haven’t heard The Prelude for so long and it was so beautiful hearing it on the menu. I stopped to listen to the song. Then the intro, beautiful, exactly what I always dreamed about if FFVII got a remake. Then the first bombing mission is done and Cloud met Aerith for the first time in Loveless street. And holy maholy, ‘wait, is that- omg The Promised Land from Advent Children!!!!’ Yep that sold me. No getting away from this.

By the release of this game, it brought me to realization that not every FFVII fans are keen of Compilation of FFVII which is too bad because I love Compilations with all its ups and downs. I wouldn’t like FFVII if it’s not of the Compilations. What makes FFVII far more interesting than other FF series is the mystery and big world building. Midgar is only tiny piece of Gaia compare to what we would explore in later Remake chapter. Every characters, good or bad have their own story and mystery. And while many of the backstory is explained in the OG, some of them got fleshed out in sequels and prequels. Listening to The Promised Land brought me to realize that FFVII Remake is not merely a remake but more like another chapter or maybe the first chapters that could conclude FFVII for good. Because I would love to see at least the definitive end of FFVII, where at least all the mysteries are answered. 

The introduction of the Whispers or Arbiters of Fate during first encounter with Aerith made me realized immediately that this is what people meant when they said FFVII Remake defied from OG. I think if used well Whispers could give deeper impact to Remake. It adds more mysteries but it could also answer mysteries. Yes, including Zack’s fate. It depends on how Kazushige Nojima and Tetsuya Nomura used it. Of course I’m also a bit anxious. I don’t remember what but something Nomura did and said in the past is actually what made me driven even further from FF and honestly I’m afraid. I never played Kingdom Hearts but I heard people talk about how it becomes bumbling jumbo which I agree since that’s the reason why I never play KH because I had no clue what it is even about. Even reading the plot made my head hurts. And in the last two years I have been let down by my favorite franchises that are Game of Thrones and Star Wars sequels. However I’m optimistic because I don’t think Tetsuya Nomura would want to destroy his own legacy. FFVII is what makes him the top tier guy in Square Enix in the first place. It’s his precious baby and he has complete control over it. 

In other topic, the game is absolutely beautiful. I had doubts when my brother told me they used Unreal while FFXV used Luminous Engine which based on what I saw on youtube made FFXV so beautiful and immersive (I hope someone could explain to me why). FFVII Remake is also beautiful game within its capacity. Of course because the engine limitation there are few downs on the graphic and render. I couldn’t get over that door in Sector 7 slums looks so unrendered I thought the game had rendering delay. But overall the game has reimagined Midgar perfectly. Other than objects that you could way too easily kick, there is so little bug. Other than Crisis Core, which was only PSP game and couldn’t do much, this is the only time we see Midgar before disaster other than the OG game. And Midgar is amazing. The upper plate, the cities look modern and well planned while the slums look so lively and dense. The Wall Market is festive and crazy, the mission is also crazy. I had a great laugh and snicker all the way during this part. Exactly what I would imagine Wall Market would be when I read about it all this time. The puzzles are great. The gameplay is also great. It’s not repetitive and makes you feel accomplished. Each enemies require different approach. I sometime had to look into walkthrough so I could find a good suggestion on how to defeat certain boss, after I failed so many times. There is a need for strategy so I have to prepare what kind of materia and accessories I would use on certain character which sadly lacked in the last FF game that I played almost a decade ago, which was FFXIII. 

The music, damn I haven’t stop listening to Hollow since I finished the game. You notice that the previous posts had me got mind blown by it. Nobuo Uematsu has done it again. He touches my heart with his music, and he has done it again. The rest of the soundtrack is also great. Did I mention that I stop for a while to listen to The Prelude? Also got nostalgic and humming along with Main Theme, Aerith’s Theme, Tifa’s Theme, Shinra’s theme, Those Who Fight.

All in all, the fact that I couldn’t stop talking about this game, to me, is indicator that this game is amazing. 9/10 (because I don’t like that they used Unreal).

[wuekka]

For the ask, clerith for the ship, and Cloud and Aerith for the characters?

Oh man, this will become so long...but thank you anon for asking. :D

001 | send me a ship and I will tell you:

When I started shipping it if I did: Clerith...Let's see, first place I know Cloud and Aerith is from Kingdom Hearts 1 quickly, but when I really started to ship them was probably after watching Advent Children, that ending with the time halting down as Cloud sees Aerith, and smiles to her, it's beautiful. (Yes, I came into this ff-fandom from AC, don't shoot me...)

My thoughts: They are tied so well to the ffvii's story, I have had moments like "Wait, that really was canon, why is love triangle still a debate?" Like original game literally has lines of how Cloud and Aerith are perfect to each other, you can't get more overt than that.

What makes me happy about them: Cloud's character development/opening up starts with Aerith, she gets him to open up again, which is done really well in FFVII/Remake, it isn't "find them annoying, then love them" trope, Cloud pretty much from the start acts different with her than with Avalanche/Tifa at the start of the game.

What makes me sad about them: At this moment, Hollow makes me almost cry, it's very very easy to read it as Cloud/Aerith song, just "Reach out to me, heal every wound and make me whole." Gets me.

things done in fanfic that annoys me: I don't actually read fanfiction about them, but I can say fanon things. Cloud didn't absorb Zack's personality. He just doesn't act like him apart from few mannerisms. Aerith doesn't like him because of that. That's a fact game and other FFVII-media has pointed out multiple times Aerith likes Cloud as Cloud.

things I look for in fanfic: I don't know. Non-sexual stuff if any?

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: Zack for Aerith, but Cloud honestly I can't think of anyone.

My happily ever after for them: I can't think of much, but I mean, Kingdom Hearts...with them reunited.

who is the big spoon/little spoon: Cloud needs hugs, so little spoon Cloud.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: Remake makes me want to say flower-picking, but Cloud's promise to go fly with Aerith on Highwind/airship was something I would like them to do.

002 | Give me a character & I will tell you

How I feel about this character: Cloud is awesome, and Remake brings out his personality so well. He gets more quickly irritated than original Cloud, but original-game Cloud was a little bland, not completely blank like Link, but his personality was hard to grasp, more left to the player, even though there were moments you could see it, his dorkyness.

Aerith is such a good character, I love her, she isn't just a pure, always knows what to do goodness, she's sassy and street-smart. I also like that moment in Cosmo Canyon, where she feels really lost, like stuff does get to her, she just doesn't show it.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: I do or at least shipped Zack/Aerith, then with Cloud I don't have anyone apart from Cloud/Aerith..

Oh wait, Remake, Roche/Cloud and Rufus/Cloud are interesting dynamics, but not really romances..same with Cloud/Sephiroth, not really romance, but foe yay..? Tension is there, with all 3.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Barret and Cloud are amazing in the Remake. Cloud and Vincent parallels are 👏👌 I need scenes with them in eventual Remake part 2.

Aerith...I like her quasi-friendship with Tseng? Or that's how I see their relationship, I know Tseng has feelings for her (which is why I'm wierded out they didn't fix Remake's flashback with little Aerith and Tseng) but I don't know. Aerith and Red XIII are also so cute together.

My unpopular opinion about this character: I don't think Aerith knew she was going to die. This is something that characters in original game actually argue about, but I side with Tifa on this and say she didn't know.

Cloud...I don't think he has any romantic feelings for Tifa during or after Final Fantasy VII, unless player makes those choices. Also, I interpret him saying to Tifa "You all laughed at every stupid thing.", that they laughed at him.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: That Highwind ride together....Also, Cloud talking to Vincent about Aerith, him and Vincent are in a similar position, both lost women they loved.

my OTP: clerith.

my cross over ship: Honestly, Kingdom hearts Squall/Leon has a a nice dynamic with both Aerith and Cloud :'D

a headcanon fact: ummm...Cloud is the only one of the party who knows everything about Vincent's past? They can relate, so they talk.

[panjiku]

The OTP Game

Pick your 10 top OTPs without reading the questions: 1.  Mimato (Yamato Ishida × Mimi Tachikawa — Digimon Adventure) 2.  Clerith (Cloud Strife × Aerith Gainsborough — Final Fantasy VII) 3.  Zutara (Zuko × Katara — Avatar: The Last Airbender) 4.  VaniHopu (Hope Estheim × Oerba dia Vanille — Final Fantasy XIII) 5.  LuluShir (Lelouch Lamperouge × Shirley Fenette — Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch) 6.  KAIMiku (KAITO × Miku Hatsune — Vocaloid) 7.  MaouEmi (Sadao Maou × Emi Yusa — Hataraku Maou-sama!) 8.  MikoChiyo (Mikoto Mikoshiba × Chiyo Sakura — Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun) 9.  Lancaster (Jaune Arc × Ruby Rose — RWBY) 10. SasuSaku (Sasuke Uchiha × Sakura Haruno — Naruto)

Do you remember the episode/scene/chapter that you first started shipping 6 (KAIMiku)? In 2011 I got curious about wtf Hatsune Miku was and watched World is Mine then Another: World is Mine and it all went downhill from there :’D

Have you ever read a FanFiction about 2 (Clerith)? Yeah, but I haven’t read any in a VERY long time. I think the last FF I read for them was somewhere between 2002 and 2005, ahaha.

Has a picture of 4 (VaniHopu) ever been your screen saver/profile picture/tumblr? No, actually.

If 7 (MaouEmi) were to suddenly break-up today, what would your reaction be? *SOBS GROSSLY*

Why is 1 (Mimato) so important? Mimato was the first fandom I ever truly was a part of when I was a teenager and then got back into when I picked up drawing again in my 20s. I made an LJ community (yamatoxmimi) and was friends with a lot of FFN writers back in it’s heyday; I keep in touch with a few oldfarts of the fandom. And it’s amazing that such a crack ship has so many supporters even to this day :> In their respective world though they’re 1/4 of the Chosen Children. As a pairing, they’re not important towards the story at all considering they only interact once in the series, bahaha... *cries softly*

Is 9 (Lancaster) a funny ship or a serious ship? More of a funny ship though they have their serious moments.

Out of all of the ships listed, which ship has the most chemistry? Ahhh, it’s so hard to choose?! I’m going to say Zutara. They went from bitter enemies to trusting each other, a betrayal and then earning that trust back to eventually becoming a power duo. They’ve both had similar life experiences that they’ve bonded over and the tension between them urrghh. And they just work so well together. I’ll be honest though, Clerith probably has the best chemistry, especially since they pretty much were attracted to each other on their first meeting. But instead of having this entire post be about Clerith, I figure I’d talk about another pair, hahaha.

Out of all of your ships listed, which ship has the strongest bond? CLERITH, fosho. Their love transcends death *cries* Aerith’s presence lives on in Cloud and helps him even in the Lifestream; they’re connected to each other spiritually. Though literally SasuSaku has the strongest bond. I mean Naruto as a whole is about bonds, especially within Team 7, hehe. Y’know maybe I should switch my answers for this with the last one, lmao.

How many times have you read/watched 10’s (SasuSaku) fandom? Hoo boy, going through all of Naruto is a job, but I think I’ve re-read part 1 of the manga like 2-3 times while it was still in syndication. I dropped it a little bit into part 2 then picked it back up near the end and I don’t follow Boruto at all, but I did read the Sarada side-story after the original manga ended. I’ve watched all of Naruto’s original anime once, but only about 5 episodes of Shippuden.

Which ship has lasted the longest? In real life? Clerith. In universe? SasuSaku.

How many times, if ever, has 6 (KAIMiku) broken up? Hard to say since I don’t know all of their songs. Also depends on which version of a certain song you consider your canon (i.e. From Y to Y). But that’s the beauty of Vocaloid: you can use the characters as you see fit :>

If the world was suddenly thrust into a zombie apocalypse, which ship would make it out alive, 2 (Clerith) or 8 (MikoChiyo)? LMAOO, Clerith, hands-down. I can’t even imagine Mikorin and Chiyo in a zombie situation unless it was one of Nozaki’s manga ideas xD

Did 7 (MaouEmi) ever have to hide their relationship for any reason? Yeah, as individuals they do. Emi as the Hero Emilia Justina and Maou as Demon Lord Satan. And it’s very strongly hinted that Emi harbors feelings for Maou which she denies/hides. I’d imagine if they got together they might try to hide their relationship for awhile if they were to ever return to Ente Isla but we’ll just have to wait and see since HataMaou isn’t over yet :)

Is 4 (VaniHopu) still together? QAQ noo… They’re doomeddestined to be star-crossed lovers till the end of time. In fact the last time they were together were in the original FFXIII ;^;

Is 10 (SasuSaku) canon? *flails and cheers* It’s the only pairing on my list that’s outright confirmed and shown being canon. And it still feels so good after 15+ years of shipping it.

If all 10 ships were put into a couple’s Hunger Games, which couple would win? HMMM. About half of my list is power couples so this is a toughy. BUT I think LuluShir would, if only because Lelouch would use his geass to come out on top, lmao. Though thinking about eye powers now, SasuSaku might because of Sasuke’s Rinnegan. Definitely a tough choice between those two pairs; depends on whose eye would trump the other :D

Has anybody ever tried to sabotage 5’s (LuluShir) ship? Beeeeesiiiiides the other Lulu ships…? *shields* Not really sabotage, but C.C. said it was a bad idea for Lelouch to get involved with Shirley if he wanted to pursue his dream (please excuse is this is wrong, it’s been so long since I’ve watched Code Geass. Definitely need to do a rewatch soon esp with the upcoming third season). And… oh… well, I guess Rolo >_> *cough*

Which ship would you defend to the death and beyond? Alllllll of theeeeeem~ But my OTP of all OTPs will always be Clerith, so them first and foremost.

Do you spend hours a day going through 3’s (Zutara) tumblr page? Not at all until very recently (like since a week ago). It was always a ship I idly supported until I got back into ATLA again, and now I’m hopeless :’D

If an evil witch descended from the sky and told you that you had to pick one of the ten ships to break up forever or else she’d break them all forever, which ship would you sink? I… well, most of them are impossible or separated somehow anyway… but… M-Mi…mato…? Because it’s utter crack and they only interacted on-screen once (thanks to tri) so nothing would change anyway ;-; I was going to suggest MikoChiyo, but at least they have their canon friendship (which is BEAUTIFUL btw) so I gotsta pick the obv pair that has no chemistry except in fanon.

[lettersofsky]

Streaming Shenanigans

@chaoscheebs gave me “I really like a man who’s good with his hands,” for Strifesodos and I immediately went to Streamer Friends Dynamics and it’s not NSFW in the slightest. Just fun cracky nonsense in this one! To help balance out the last one.

Tip Jar

“Chetchi says you’re terrible.”

“Chetchi doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

“Malborowaifu doesn’t think you’ll do it either.”

“Why don’t you ever read out the nice comments,” Cloud complained, gaze focused on the screen in front of him. He flicked his gaze to Genesis’ form, registering the other man’s teasing smile before returning his attention to the game.”Boost my confidence, or something like that.”

“They’re so hard to find though,” Genesis whined, burrowing further into his warm jacket and focusing on the chat he had opened in front of him. “Everyone’s complaining that you’re butchering their favourite songs.”

“I’m not butchering them!” Cloud said, amusement colouring his tone as he selected the next piece of music for the night. “I’m barely missing the notes!”

“Whatever helps you get through the day,” Genesis responded, leaning back against the couch. He brought up the poll for the next song selection and groaned when he saw what the next few songs would be. “They’re going through my music library again,” he whined, gazing at the titles of four songs by one of his favourite bands.

“I’ll make sure to butcher those,” Cloud promised, flexing his hand around his controller as he started the song. “Find something nice to say while I do this.”

“Alright,” Genesis said, switching back to the chat and reading what the comments that crawled across his screen. It was just a small stream tonight, late and easy-going for the subscribers, usually the second Friday night of the month was reserved for the four of them a fighting game of some kind but both Aerith and Sephiroth were own of town and they’d decided to just relax with a rhythm game.

They’d started with a few songs that Cloud liked before opening up to viewer requests, when things got fun. They’d sent in the most amusing requests; troll songs, opening themes, actual requests and he even thought he’d recognized the Chocobo Warriors theme song amongst the pieces Cloud had already played through, then they’d starting sending in some of his and Cloud’s favourite artists. Watching Cloud become frustrated over his inability to play his favourite pieces of music was amusing to say the least.

With Cloud’s request for him to find something nice to say to him, the chat was flooded with questions, queries and encouragement. He snorted at a few of the more amusing messages from Cloud’s more amusing subscribers, shifting to a comfortable position as he responded to the ones that had caught his eyes.

“Aerith and Seph are away, Drago,” Genesis answered one of the questions in the chat, skimming the crawling words for compliments to give Cloud once he was done with his current track. “They’re searching for replacements.”

“They won’t have to work hard for that,” Cloud muttered, pulling a laugh from Genesis’ throat. The chat erupted with amused responses to the man’s words and a few people that didn’t quite grasp their particular brand of humour needing to have the joke explained to them.

The track finished in the next minute, showing off Cloud’s score and his overall ranking. It was a decent score, much better than the scores he had gotten little more than an hour before, Cloud was definitely getting better as he went. The chat had noticed as well, if the flood of congratulatory messages was any indication.

Cloud set down his controller on the table in front of him, reaching out towards where Genesis was sitting. “Come here,” Cloud urged, patting the space next to him before holding his hand to him again. “I wanna see the trash they’re saying about me.”

Genesis snorted but grasped Cloud’s hand and allowed him to tug him from his comfy seat and next to him, burrowing into his side to soak up as much of the other’s warmth as he could. He handed the man the device he had been reading the chat on, leaving him to interact with the viewers as he got himself comfortable again.

“Shut up guys,” Cloud grumbled, rolling his eyes at the camera for the audience. “We’re not being ‘sweetly domestic’, Gen’s just being a heat sponge again.”

“I’m stealing that term for later,” he informed the other man, stretching his legs out along the couch until he was tucked against Cloud’s side. “It’s perfect for us.”

“Don’t encourage them,” Cloud said, words coloured with an exaggerated sigh. His hand lifted from where it had been resting and started to run through his hair with absent-minded movements, pulling a pleased noise from Genesis’ noise as he relaxed against him completely. “Chetchi’s threatening us with fanart, again.”

“I love Chetchi’s art,” Genesis said, teasing smile in place as he looked up at Cloud. “The one they did of you and Seph as Air Pirates is the most adorable thing ever.”

Cloud flushed slightly but ignored him, focusing on interacting with the chat for a bit. “Thank you for the compliments Gravedigger,” he said, eyes moving over the chat quickly. “And thank you, Breezy, for the grievous insult to my skills.”

Genesis smiled, content to listen to Cloud talk to the chat as he remained pressed to his side and enjoyed his warmth and the relaxed feeling of the stream. It wasn’t that uncommon for them to end up curled up together during the streams, despite how flustered Cloud always got, and the viewers were well aware of that fact; Chetchi’s wouldn’t be the first piece of them curled up together, nor did he think it would be the last. A lot of them were incredibly cute and he loved embarrassing Cloud with them.

He focused back on Cloud when a particular comment caught his attention, turning towards him and speaking without a second thought.

“- not just dating me for my looks, Ravencloak! There’s other reasons!

“I really like a man who’s good with his hands.”

Cloud paused, looking down at him with flushed cheeks and an expression that told him how foolish he was being. He blinked after a few moments, turning away from him as he responded. “I’m glad you said ‘man’ instead of ‘person’ there.”

“Oh?”

“Yup,” Cloud answered, gaze purposely trained on the chat. “If you had said ‘person’ then you’d probably dump me for Aerith at least once every month.”

Genesis opened his mouth to say something in response but froze, considering what Cloud had said. “Point,” he said, reaching out and taking his device back from Cloud. “The things that woman can do with her hands are positively sinful.”

He felt no qualms in labelling Aerith that way; she was a champion at fighters and ensured that they remembered it. During one of their previous streams together he’d turned the video onto her hands so the viewers could see the exact precision and speed of her hands during the matches; to say it was impressive was putting it lightly. It was one of their highest viewed clips, aside from the one where Seph and Cloud got jumpscared by a RPG-maker game.

“Yup,” Cloud agreed with a soft laugh, reaching out and picking his controller up again. “Now, which of your favourite songs am I destroying first?”

[hamaon]

IN DEPTH FANDOM QUESTIONS: Final Fantasy VII

 WHO WANTS TO READ 3000+ WORDS WORTH OF THIS STUFF

Top 5 favourite characters: Cloud’s story is very impressive for a 90s JRPG protagonist, and the glimpses of personality you get over the course of the game and towards the end especially are divine;I gave my heart to AVALANCHE early on, a moment of silence for all those who died so young;the image I have of Elmyra is a lot groovier than what there actually is in the game, but I’m hanging on to it;Tifa won me over just by her battle animations, and from these modest origins it grew and grew;

Nanaki is so serious, and also a baby.

Other characters you like: The bravest pilot-in-training who could. I believe in you, little guy.

Least favourite characters: “The hidden optional characters”, is what I was going to say, but I like Yuffie much better than Vincent. I actively dislike her character design (what is even going on there), but she’s vengeful and proud. All the characters in this game are more enjoyable if you highlight their unsavory qualities.

Vincent, though, is a miss. An unfortunate combination of things that I don’t care about. His main contribution to the story is giving more insight on Hojo and Sephiroth (and the Turks, I guess), but what I’d like to know more about are things to do with Gast, the Ancients, and Aerith’s involvement, and he has nothing to do with that. Also, Shinra by itself just isn’t interesting to me, it’s their involvement with the main characters (especially in the first areas of the game) that is fun, and again Vincent misses out.

There’s also the fact that- if there’s one mythological being that I couldn’t care less about, it’s vampires, and he shares a lot of the aesthetics, and- I don’t like using him in battle. The only time I used him during my first playthrough was when the party first crosses the mountains past Nibelheim, and taking him to the boss battle at end of the dungeon was a bad idea. It liked fire, and Vincent’s monster form whatever-beast liked producing said fire, and one thing led to another.

I love his theme, I guess, but I don’t even think of it as his theme. It’s the theme of the basement of the Shinra mansion and its fantastic, creepymonsters.

Also, Aerith, but more on that later.

Otps: I’m into Cloud/Tifa, but less for the chemistry and more for narrative reasons. I just think it makes a good story? Watching them dance around their memories of their shared past is the true heart of the game, for me.

I like that it’s romantic on Tifa’s part, but when you go back to the beginning of the game, once you know what sorts of questions the characters have been holding back on… how much of it is romantic on Tifa’s part, again?

I like that it isn’t romantic on Cloud’s part… until you get to the Lifestream, and the cause of this mess and the most honest truth at the core of it all was just a little boy crushing on the popular girl next door.

I like the idea of them deciding to stick together, the two survivors, now that they can admit out loud that they never really even knew each other.

I like how, with all of his regrets and failures, Cloud never did fail her.

(And I kind of like that the underdog in the triangle got the guy, in the end.)

I used to be passionately into Aerith/Tifa, early on – her interactions with Tifa are the best I liked Aerith – but I’ve let go of it, since. It’s okay to enjoy relationships without making them romantic, past me.

Not sure whether this is is an “otp “or a “notp” thing, or something else entirely, but I‘ve become very attached to the idea of Cid/no one as of late. Maybe the plot circumstances forcing him and Shera to stay separated helps them realize that it’s healthier this way. I want Cid to be grouchy and middle-aged and difficult to deal with on his airship, with his loyal crew and no romantic interest ever again.

And honestly, I’d be all for an AU where Cloud derails the plot by running off with some random AVALANCHE member in the early Midgar portion of the game. Jessie is the best candidate. Let Cloud and Jessie elope.

Notps: Cloud/Sephiroth. Aerith/Cloud as a reciprocal thing, because I enjoy their interactions better if Aerith isn’t serious about him (Cloud -> Aerith is fine, though).

Favourite friendships: Barret and Tifa. It was framed more as “Barret supports Tifa”, but I imagine that Tifa used to babysit Marlene quite a bit when AVALANCHE was smaller, so it evens out somewhat. They have a lot of shared history between just the two of them.

Aerith and Tifa. And listen, this isn’t pretty, but I want to think that they didn’t like each other that much, at first, even if it didn’t show – because why would they be rude towardseach other? Why wouldn’t they want to rescue innocent people? Maybe Aerith is a bit dismissive towards Tifa, unconsciously. Overrules her on things, without thought. I want Tifa putting up appearances that she enjoys Aerith’s company more than she really does, when really at times she makes her uneasy in ugly, jealous ways. All of that beingsomething they are already correcting themselves on come Kalm, quietly. On the way towards the chocobo farm you can see them walking together more often than not, and it continues that way until Aerith skedaddles.

Cloud and Yuffie. I just think that the detail of the shared motion sickness is nice and genuine. And in general, Cloud is yanked around by the story so much, it’s nice that he has someone he can be a mentor figure to. Good for the both of them.

Favourite family: Cloud’s, painfully unexplored as it was. It would benefit the game if there was just a touch more about Cloud’s mother. Just one more little scene, late in the game, to underline that she was loved, and that she’s gone, and that he doesn’t want to talk about it.

Favourite episodes: The entire Lifestream sequence where player-Tifa finally gets some answers to questions that have been left hanging since the first five minutes of the game.

Actually no, the entire game starting from where Cloud starts unraveling at the Noozupooru and the title of player character bounces back between a couple of party members as you’re putting the story together, culminating in the Lifestream sequence. But especially the Lifestream sequence.

Favourite season/book/movie: Original game? I think I liked the short animation thingy, Last Order, when I saw it ~ten years ago, but I can’t be assed to rewatch it now.

Favourite quotes: Any, as long as it comes with rustic typos in it. Absolutely beautiful.

Best musical moment: “Overworld“, as I had originally written down, like Tina’s theme, is a beautiful epic that encompasses all the highs and the lows of the narrative, but having listened to it for way too long while watching my friend play the game I’m in the “can’t stand” part of my cyclical relationship with the song. So let’s talk about Cid’s theme instead!

My first exposure to Cid’s theme was in the form of a background midi on a friend’s angelfire page, and I had no idea where the song was from. The file that I eventually managed to download on my computer was named something to the effect of ff7-cid, which told me nothing. No one in my family played video games.

As I said, I downloaded song. I used some .mid-to-sheet-music converter software on our computer to make it playable and printed it out. It wasn’t made for piano (and I definitely wasn’t good enough at notation to make an arrangement of my own), so I’d just follow along the notes as I put the midi on. I never did learn to play it. I never got a group together to try to play it – there’s nothing impressive about this story.

Fast forward several years, and I played the game. At that point it had been a long time since I had listened to the original midi, but I still remembered that I had built something way more epic around the song than what actually went down in the game. Not that Cid’s quest for the skies isn’t impressive, but it had sounded like something that would play during a last stand type of scene at the end of a story. My bad.

It’s still an impressive piece.

Moment that made you fangirl/boy the hardest: You lose control of the main character! That’s pretty metal?

When it really disappointed you: My introduction to the game was Advent Children, which I don’t think I had many strong feelings about? But I saw people online mourning the death of Aerith’s character (made even worse by Crisis Core) and how she was supposed to have been amazing in the game. So I played the game expecting something truly spectacular and… well, FF7 doesn’t have bad writing, I don’t think, but the characters definitely need you to meet them halfway before you can truly appreciate their potential. And Aerith mostly just hit on Cloud, so I was unwilling to even try. Disappointing, in the truest sense of the word.

I have a history of hating most Final Fantasy romance, and most of the characters doing most of the romance-inclined things. Edge hits on Rydia? Shit character. Locke hits on Celes? Shit character. Rinoa hits on Squall? Shit character (okay originally I liked her for that and only started hating her later in the game, adding her to the list here isn’t fair). Zidane hits on Garnet? Shit character. Yuna hitting on Tidus initially made me label her as a shit character as well, and I can actually pinpoint the very line of dialogue that made me stop thinking of her that way, but my main point is that in the beginning of FF10, I hated Yuna.

Anyway, I like to think that every time Aerith is hitting on Cloud, she’s joking! Because that’s what the root of my disinterest in engaging with her can be traced back to! Most of my headcanons are about Aerith, honestly. I make kind of half-hearted efforts to like her, occasionally, but I need to do it on my own terms – in order to enjoy her character, I need to be able to own her character. Otherwise I’m in a situation where I don’t care for the character much, and every time people point out some feature about them that makes them “perfect”, the bitterness increases. The “I was pretty neutral on this character, but everyone talking about how they’re the best thing ever made me loathe them” feeling. Yeah.

Saddest moment: I’m currentlythinking about the Nibelheim flashback where Cloud just plain refuses to talk about his mother and that’s a sad moment, isn’t it?

Most well done character death: Rufus went out gloriously. The whole scene with the multiple delayed laser beams whose projections you had to keep track of was magnificent, plus a corrupt corporation sacrificing everything for the greater good was pretty nice. Redemption in death.

Glad he wasn’t retconned into having survived or anything, that’d just ruin everything.

Favourite guest star: Cid had his moment in the spotlight, before slinking back into the shadows until XII?

Favourite cast member: Character, okay. Tifa, probably. A bunch of neutral to positive character traits, distinct nostalgia in the character theme, some half-assed writing, best animations in battle, a role that was fantastically spot-on in unravelling the main character’s labyrinthine headspace.

It’s less who Tifa is as a character, and more the good vibes surrounding her role in the story and some of the aesthetic decisions that went into creating the character. I mean, she’s a female monk. Just give her a version of the AC outfit that isn’t all black and stillhas the suspenders.

Character you wish was still alive: Nanaki’s mom.

One thing you hope really happens: Nanaki’s mom becomes an actual character in the remake. She completely drops out of everyone’s consciousness once it turns out that the Dad was the Important One. You have this rare heroic mother who is remembered for her feats in battle, only for her to disappear from the story completely. I’d like for Nanaki to remember them together. Wasn’t she supposed to have been something of a role model for him, before?

Most shocking twist: When the nameless Shinra grunt took off his helmet.

I keep thinking back to that gifset of that scene with the caption “that’s what Final Fantasy VII is all about, Charlie Brown“, and. Yeah.

When did you start watching/reading?: After Advent Children came out.

Best animal/creature: I have so many feelings about that one house in the Sector 7 slums. Primarily ”how“ and “why“. And “rocket launchers”.

Everything inside the sunken Gelnika is super cool, too. As is the Ruby Weapon, or however you capitalize that. Ruby WEAPON.

Favourite location: First visit to Nibelheim, if I’m being honest. Basement of Gold Saucer, if I’m not.

Trope you wish they would stop using: Will they?? Or… won’t they?? Let’s drag this love triangle shit on f o r e v e r.

Like please, FF10 was the best because they settled the will they won’t they thing pretty early on, just let this matter be resolved so we can have some development in some direction, please. Let him get on with his relationship with Tifa so we can have some real progress, let him break it off for real, just do something. As long as it isn’t ”he’s hung on Aerith forever“, because that goes directly against the development at the end of the game. Give him a new love interest, if you don’t want to piss anyone specific off, just stop beating this horse, it’s been dead for twenty years.

One thing this show/book/film does better than others: That’s what Final Fantasy VII is all about, Charlie Brown.

Funniest moments: When I was playing the game with a friend, and she triggered the bug where you don’t get portable save point in your inventory, and we only noticed halfway through the final dungeon. We still beat the game without any save slots. It’s not a very difficult game.

Couple you would like to see: please just fuckign Cloud/Jessie.

Actor/Actress you want to join the cast: Anyway, I’d like it if there were more female characters in the party, with more varied roles. Any of the main party members besides Barret, Reeve and Vincent could have been female, I think (I like Barret as a father, and Reeve is such a late reveal that it wouldn’t serve the intended purpose. And Vincent is optional). Cid, Nanaki, someone new? Cloud? Maybe Jessie could survive?

Actually, unpopular (?) opinion time, somewhat related, hang with me here, but I don’t think Tifa being ancillary to Cloud’s story is a bad thing at all. He’s the main character, his story is the most important story of the game, and her story supplements his story beautifully. The problem is that after the first disc, she’s the only active female character of any real importance. That’s where her propping up Cloud starts becoming a problem.

More female characters.

Favourite outfit: I love Aerith’s design, it’s spectacular. At first glance all you can see is pink, but it’s super practical, and plain, too. Some of it is probably because that’s how the game is designed in general, no one is very decorated, but still, Tifa wears earrings.

A simple dress, practical shoes. A plain bow, crude metal bracelets, and some random string around her neck. It’s like she just picked one up one day and went, why the hell not? That’s actually something I do when I’m cleaning and find pieces of string or broken rubber bands. Just tie them wherever, arm, neck, around my head.

It’s my headcanon that her dress was originally white, but it was washed with something red (that seems to be her color, no?) and was accidentally dyed in the process.

The short jacket is my favorite. I like the idea that she’d go for that big-shouldered look in other outfits, too. It looks so weird. I love it.

Favourite item: All materia. The ‘all’ materia.

Do you own anything related to this show/book/film?: Nothing official aside from the game itself. A couple of art prints. There’s one with Nanaki with his cubs looking over the ruins of Midgar that I need to get framed at some point, if I have the money.

What house/team/group/friendship group/family/race etc would you be in?: AVALANCHE all the way. The concept of bitter eco-terrorists is something that resonates closely with so much of my youth.

Most boring plotline: A lot of Barret’s stuff could have had better focus, unfortunately. Tying things back to Marlene & Elmyra & the working class more would have been appreciated.

Most laughably bad moment: I can’t decide between the kidnapping of Elena and Yuffie in Wutai, and the cannon-top slapdown between a corporate executive and a lifetime martial artist. It’s a horrible tie.

Best flashback/flashfoward if any: So much is centered around the Nibelheim flashbacks, let’s pick something else.

Cid’s Rocket Town flashback is pretty good, it makes you feel the frustration, and it manages to humanize him at the same time. Also, it isn’t a montage info-dump flashback, which FF7 falls victim to, occasionally.

Most layered character: Much of the plot is about putting different aspects of Cloud back together, sometimes more than figuratively, so, Cloud.

Most one dimensional character: Palmer. You know, because he gets run over by a… truck…

Scariest moment: The Shinra tower, after you escape from the jail. There have been just enough uncomfortable elements shown to you beforehand. There was something unnatural in that tank earlier, but it’s gone now. The soundtrack turned Silent Hill all of a sudden. Maybe you could receive comfort from the masses, now that you are facing a shared enemy of a new, strange caliber. The tower was bustling with life just moments ago.

But where is everyone.

Grossest moment: Cid yelling at Shera. Shut up, shut up, shut up.

Best looking male: Once you get past all the associations you have with white/silver-haired men in Japanese media, and the fact that it’s Sephiroth, Sephiroth is quite pleasing to the eye. The boob window is nice. Looks strong without being overbearing.

But at the end of the day, it’s still…. Sephiroth.

Best looking female: Everyone is a pile of polygons, but in my mind’s eye I always imagine Ifalna as a breathtaking beauty.

Who you’re crushing on (if any): no.

Favourite cast moment: I don’t keep up with creator commentary. I like to live dangerously.

Favourite transportation: All chocobos are beautiful in their own way. Incidentally, nothing that came after the original game counts as canon to me, and Cloud became a chocobo rancher near Corel. He goes snowboarding with Yuffie, sometimes, when she’s visiting and he’s trying to catch rare breeds in the mountains.

Most beautiful scene (scenery/shot wise): Midgar, as a whole. The dirty neon lights hiding eco-terrorists and secret flowerbeds. The ruins in the epilogue, when you end the game unsure whether most of the player characters even survived Holy. It just feels like a lot of love went into creating Midgar.

Unanswered question/continuity issue/plot error that bugs you: I was discussing Cid’s small pre-final dungeon Loveless monologue with The Friend Who Played Through My Copy Of Final Fantasy VII, and we came to the conclusion that we couldn’t come to a conclusion. It’s just… vague. Is it talking about dying? Who/what is supposed to work as a parallel to this play?Is it just a bad translation?

While we’re at this sort of thing, let’s talk about sequel stuff! and how Zack is what finally ties all the loose ends back together. About Cloud. About Aerith. He’s an explanation and a motivator, and from a story perspective, unimportant as a character with motivations of his own. Ultimately it doesn’t matter why he did what he did, only that he did them. He should never have been in the spotlight. In Final Fantasy VII, Zack would never have been in the spotlight.

Moreover, he’s gone. Aerith, the one who’d most benefit from having some answers, is gone. And it was fine that way.

Best promo: Uh. The FF4 flash ads with ostriches in them.

At what point did you fall in love with this show/book: Nibelheim.

[clerithraven]

Happy Birthday, Cloud

Cloud was just getting off his bike when he saw Denzel running out of the house at full sprint. After a few moments, it was Aerith who he saw outside the door rushing after the boy. He could hear them laughing as his wife stared chasing their kid around the house.

“Denzel Strife! Get back here.” Aerith called to the kid. She had her phone in her hand which she kept brandishing in the air, her wedding rings glinting in the sunlight. “What did Tifa mean by that call?”

Curious as to what got his usually mild-tempered wife in a fit, he walked toward the backyard where they were now dodging each other, then stopped and just stared at one another. Getting a closer look, Aerith was scowling at their son with her hands on her hips. But he could see the telltale sign of Aerith biting of the inside of her cheek, obviously trying to do her best not to show a grin and look intimidating to their boy instead.

Denzel, however, looked unaffected by her scowl. In fact, he seemed like he was enjoying his mother’s display of mock temper. The kid also knew about Aerith’s telling habit, knew he wasn’t really in much of a trouble as his mother would like to let him believe. The kid knew a lot of their habits after living with them for almost a year, just like how both he and Aerith knew Denzel’s quirks.

Cloud chuckled to himself when he saw Aerith narrow her eyes to appear more terrifying which Denzel answered with narrowing his eyes as well. The boy was utterly fearless, and it was all Aerith’s influence. Deciding to break the stare down, he continued on his way toward them.

Denzel must have heard his approach because his head whipped around toward his direction. The sight of him got Denzel’s expression to light up more than it already had and he dashed to him. Denzel went behind him and proceeded to use him as a shield against his mother’s playful ire.

“What did he do?” Cloud tried to sound stern. But he was also fighting the smile that threatened to break out of his expression.

Aerith was fighting a smile of her own as she crossed her arms. “Nothing.”

Huh? Tilting his head down to stare at the boy who hid behind him, Cloud asked, “What had your mother acting crazy again?”

Denzel followed Aerith’s example and imitated her reply. “Nothing.”

That got Cloud narrowing his eyes at them both. “Not buying it.”

Aerith had forgotten that Cloud was on his way back before they began the chase that could potentially get them exposed. Tifa’s call had distracted her so much. Her attention had focused on Denzel and the discovery of his undisclosed part-time job in the bar that Tifa ran.

It had been unexpected coming from Denzel. Aerith knew he had been struggling in the past selling off scrap metal just to survive on the streets on his own before they found him, which was why Cloud and Aerith vowed never to make Denzel go through that again. And as far as she knew, Denzel wasn’t really the type to want for something he didn’t really need.

Denzel knew he had been caught by his mother. He had forgotten to tell his aunt not to reveal the fact that he was trying to earn money. He didn’t know what his mother and aunt had talked about exactly, but from the bits and pieces he was able to overhear, it clearly involved the time he spent working at Zack and Tifa’s bar under the guise of visiting them and Marlene who was currently staying with them while Barret was away for a while. It had been the perfect cover, too bad he got busted.

Thankfully, he already got what he wanted before he got busted. It was currently hidden on the very back of the bottom drawer of his dresser.

Cloud continued to observe Aerith and Denzel, certain they were up to something. Mother and son had too much mischievousness in their blood not to get in trouble.

Aerith could see how Denzel really didn’t want to reveal the reason for his secret activities. She had a hunch as to what was driving their son, which was confirmed by the way he was avoiding the subject in front of Cloud. But since it would be likely similar to her own hidden agenda, she took pity on her boy.

She gave an exaggerated sigh which caught the attention of the two. “Go on, Denzel. You’re all sweaty now from running around. Go wash up.” She indicated their house with a tip of her head.

Denzel’s relief was so visible on his expression that Cloud followed Aerith’s example and let the boy go inside and do as he was bid.

Cloud turned concerned eyes toward her. “Should I be worried?”

“Mm-mm.” She shook her head and told him, “It was just us playing around.” She wasn’t going to let Denzel’s efforts to go to waste, especially if her hunch was correct.

Cloud didn’t look convinced though, but he gave it up. “If you say so.” No use trying to pry anything from the both of them as both were equally stubborn. Denzel clearly got his stubborn streak from Aerith.

“Come on, let’s go inside.” She tugged at his hand as she led them inside their home. Cloud was all too willing to follow her lead.

It was a little before midnight, after the fourth movie their family of three had watched together. Their living room was a mess after a popcorn fight broke out between Aerith and Denzel as they took turns insulting each other’s movie choices. Both had tried roping him into the argument, but he wisely chose to disengage and let them hash things out, their laughter filling their home.

The fight had ended in a tie, with Aerith corralling Denzel upstairs to get themselves cleaned up while he dealt with the aftermath of their antics.

Cloud was just about to finish his delegated task when he heard two soft voices singing in sync from behind him. He turned around in surprise as he heard his wife and son singing ‘Happy Birthday’, and it was directed at him.

Denzel was holding the cake very carefully in both hands as if he was afraid he was gonna drop it, while Aerith was lighting the candles that were set atop it. Once she was done, she rested her hands on Denzel’s shoulders as she took a place beside him. Through it all, they sang to him.

Cloud had once again forgotten his own birthday. Well, he never really celebrated it anyway. He had spent so many years alone, never being accepted by others when he was a kid, then never letting others that close to him once he had grown older. Celebrating the day he was born had been unnecessary since he went on his own. He had closed himself off from the rest of the world. A lone wolf.

That changed when he met a flower girl on the streets. When Aerith came into his life, celebrating their birthdays together became a welcome experience, but never one he expected. It was just one day out of three hundred and sixty-five.

Aerith had reasoned that their birthday celebrations were a way to be thankful for the other being born. It gave them the chance to meet one another, enabling them to spend their lives together, staying by each other’s side through the good and the bad.

Truth was Cloud saw no point in celebrating that fact once a year. He was grateful for having been lucky enough to have Aerith, and now Denzel, every day of his life – and he did his best to make damn sure they knew it.

Aerith had to bite back a laugh from the look of absolute astonished disbelief on Cloud’s face as she and their son wished him a happy birthday. No matter how many times she celebrated the occasion with him, he always seemed to forget it. It only applied to his own though. Cloud never forgot hers.

She knew Cloud didn’t really agree with her reasoning for celebrating his birthday. For Aerith, it was important to thank Fate for bringing Cloud into this world on the exact, special day, even as they did the same every day of their lives. Cloud might not be receptive of the concept yet, but she knew he was beginning get with the program. She just needed to get Cloud used to it, give him a little incentive to make the day all the more memorable for him.

Good thing her present was ready. Well, Cloud played a part in it too, and will still play a large part in the coming days. Still, hers was the main role of the whole thing.

After the song finished, Aerith leaned in to whisper in Denzel’s ear. “Go on.” She gave Denzel a slight push towards Cloud.

Denzel wasn’t going to mess up a perfectly good chocolate cake. So he made sure he had a firm grip on the cake. He had seen his mom preparing it in secret, making sure it was perfect. She did it after his dad had to leave the house for a while to help his uncle Zack on an errand for his aunt Tifa. Denzel figured it was just a ruse his mother had planned with the couple.

“Momma said to make sure you make a wish before you blew on the candles,” Denzel told Cloud solemnly.

Cloud glanced at Aerith with a raised brow. It seemed his boy had been given a mission by his wife. He crouched down in front of Denzel, gripping his head in the back with a gentle hand. He made sure Denzel could see the truth in his eyes when he said, “I can’t really make a wish since I have everything I need right here.” His lips tilted up at the sides in a small smile full of contentment.

Cloud’s voice was laced with such tenderness that it brought happy tears to Aerith’s eyes. “That’s quite the dilemma,” she murmured fondly. She went to her boys and took the same position as Cloud. “How about we have Denzel help you out, Cloud?”

“What do you think, bud? What should I wish for?”

Denzel appeared to think about it, before he gave a hopeful yet sly smile. Aerith knew that look, knew what was going to come out of his mouth. She was anticipating it, actually.

“Then, you can wish for a baby brother for me.” With that, Denzel gave Cloud an expectant stare as he held the cake and the candles out to his father.

Cloud choked on a laugh, caught off-guard by the wish. He should have known that was coming. Denzel had been hinting at it more and more recently. “All right, let’s just go with that then,” he agreed. He blew on the candles afterward, and then gave Aerith a mischievous grin. “Guess we have a wish to fulfill.”

Aerith just laughed in reply. Clapping her hands as she stood, she announced their next activity. “Presents!” She took the cake in her hand and waved for Denzel to go first. Cloud straightened as well.

Denzel ran toward the small rectangular box wrapped in blue that he had placed on top of the table a while ago and took it to Cloud. “I had Uncle Zack help me get this,” he shared as he handed it over to Cloud.

Cloud took it in his hand and carefully divested it of its cover. Lifting the lid, he was taken aback by the gift enclosed in the box – black leather gloves similar to the ones he had.

“I saw how damaged your current pair is,” Denzel explained.

He ran his fingers through the pair reverently, feeling the soft texture. Then he saw the design embossed on them: a howling wolf. This must have cost a lot.

Aerith could see the question in Cloud’s face. “Denzel took a part-time job running errands for Zack and Tifa in their bar.”

That was when Cloud put the pieces together. The scene of Aerith running after Denzel earlier that day when he got home now made sense. Aerith had mentioned a call from Tifa, he recalled. “I’m guessing you just found out today, too?”

“Yep.” She popped the ‘p’ for emphasis. “The little rascal started running the minute I got off the phone and saw me. I chased after him by reflex which, in hindsight, was ridiculous I admit since he wasn’t in any trouble.”

He agreed, careful not to say anything more that would get him an evil eye from his wife. “Thank you for this, Denzel.” He hugged the boy to him, tousling his hair in an affectionate gesture. The fact that Denzel worked hard for it made the gift all the more precious to Cloud.

“My turn!”

The excited declaration had both males’ heads swivel in Aerith’s direction, who was now standing a little ways away from them with her hands behind her back. She skipped, actually skipped her way toward Cloud and Denzel.

In each hand she had a long rectangular white box wrapped only in a pink ribbon. One she gave to Cloud, the other to Denzel.

“I get one, too?” The boy’s brows were drawn, his confusion palpable.

Aerith didn’t say anything else besides, “Open them.”

Cloud and Denzel simultaneously pulled the ribbon free then lifted the cover off the box. What Cloud found stole away his breath. Surrounded by crepe paper was a white stick, a positive sign on the screen near one end. Denzel had started whooping the minute he saw what was inside the box. He obviously knew what they were for.

Absolutely floored, Cloud cast wide mako-blue eyes toward the green-eyed girl who had always given him everything he needed and more.

“Is this... Are you... Really?” he breathed. Cloud couldn’t seem to get his brain to work enough to formulate coherent sentences, couldn’t get enough air to circulate.

Aerith was now laughing with Denzel who was cooing at Aerith’s abdomen. She gazed at Cloud before she said, “I took two tests. Also had an appointment with the doctor yesterday.” She gave him a blissful smile. “Eleven weeks, Strife. We’ll be meeting the new addition to the Strife Family in March.” She radiated with so much joy as her gaze clung to his. “Looks like your soldiers did their job during the honeymoon.” She added playfully in a conspiratorial tone.

Cloud went weak at the knees as emotions threatened to overwhelm him. He realized he was actually shaking. He kept a hand on a chair to keep himself from toppling over, his gaze going to the floor.

“Denzel, I think your dad’s in trouble.”

“Nah, Momma. He’s tough.”

“You sure?”

“You can check on him if you want.”

The sound of Aerith’s delicate footsteps moved toward him after that whispered suggestion.

Then he felt her in front of him. Her hand ran soft caresses from his hand, up his arm, ending with a palm on his cheek. His gaze was tilted upward and Aerith’s face came into view.

“Hey.” A tender hello.

“Hey,” he returned, his voice hoarse with suppressed emotions.

“So...” A giggle from her smiling lips. “I’m pregnant, Cloud.” Her thumb traced the shape of his lower lip. “Your wish is about to come true. Fancy that. Fate must love you.” The last was a whispered caress. She touched her forehead to his, the gesture one they often used for affection.

Cloud couldn’t help but laugh at that. Fate had kicked him down a number of times in his life before, had even tried to take away the woman he loved. It was about damn time Fate gave him a break.

He caught the the first break when he met Aerith, then his friends. Then Denzel came into their lives, and now a new life he had created with the love of his life. So much had been given to him. It had him full to the brim with a sense of joyful euphoria. He almost thought he was dreaming. But it was real. He figured Fate owed him this happiness from all the agony he had endured in his lifetime.

Aerith took Cloud’s hand in hers and laid it against her abdomen. “We made it, Cloud.”

His knees buckled with the force of his emotions. He would have fallen had his wife not been there to catch him. It put him at eye level to her abdomen, right were their child was safely nested inside. Scared and shaking, Cloud laid a gentle hand over the area, his touch feather-light. He didn’t want to do anything that would harm his unborn child.

I’ll protect you and your mother, kid. I vow it. I’ll protect our family.

Cloud could feel himself tearing up. He pressed a soft kiss against her stomach, and then tilted his head up toward the woman who was his very heart, the woman who held the other half of his soul. Wet blue eyes met equally wet green ones. A smile filled with rapture followed. And then they were laughing in each other’s embrace.

A chaste kiss against salt-laced lips. “Thank you for being born, Cloud.”

Cloud pulled Aerith down with him and clutched her close to his body. He was too overcome with emotion he could do nothing but nod, keeping his face nestled in the area between her neck and shoulder.

Arms suddenly enveloped them both, and as one they turned toward the boy who they saw as their own. Cloud and Aerith each reached out a hand toward Denzel. Teary-eyed as well, he took their outstretched hands.

Cloud just continued to hold his family in his arms. Their faces wet, they basked in the moment of celebration. For the life that had already been given, for the new life that had come to be and would soon come to join them.

Happy Birthday, Cloud Strife! [08.11.17]

Wow. I’m finally done with this! My birthday gift for the birthday boy. When I heard that his birthday was coming up, I had planned on just making gifs about him. But then Aerith went and told me her idea of a birthday gift for Cloud, and BAM! Hello, fanfic. I’ve gotten a lot of kind words from readers of my fanfic. I just hope you’ll like this as well. I had fun writing this, and I hope you feel the same as you read it.