FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

STRONGER

_ Chapter 1 _

The familiar rumble of Fenir soothed Cloud as he sped through the familiar valleys and hills of Wutai. Yuffie had phoned him asking for him to come urgently, Yuffie had sounded serious, not her usual self, no...there was a definite fear hidden amongst her words but she wouldn't elaborate on at the time. She would only ask him to come as quickly as possible, when did Yuffie ever ask? The young Ninja would always tell you or demand you do something. Out of loyalty to his friend he more or less dropped everything and began making his way over to Wutai, truthfully he would have done the same even if she hadn't sounded so worried.

Thankful that he had brought along a handful of mastered materia with him, he had just finished doing a supply run to Coral for the reconstruction of the town. Barret had been using the money from the oil wells to rebuild his old town and from the looks of it it will be bigger and better than it ever was.

Cloud finally pulled into Wutai, stopping and dismounting his bike at the entrance of the town. Cloud had always admired the peaceful serenity of the town and didn't want to disturb it with the powerful roaring engine that was mounted in Fenir. Slipping First Tsurugi into its harness across his back Cloud grabbed the pouch that contained his materia and attached it to his belt before beginning his search for Yuffie. Cloud didn't have to look for long.

"CLOUD!" A familiar voice called, looking in the direction of the shout he saw Yuffie waving at him from the path leading to the mountains. Cloud walked up to the frantic ninja with his usual calm demeanour. "Cloud thank god you came!"

"What's the matter?"

"It's......" Yuffie paused as she struggled to find the right words. "I can't explain it. You need to come see it for yourself."

"All right then, Lead the way." Yuffie smiled and spun on her heel and began to sprint her way up the mountain, Cloud slowly jogged after her.

"COME ON CLOUD! HURRY YOUR ASS UP!" Yuffie huffed for the hundredth time that day. "HOW THE HELL DO YOU GET ANY BUSINESS BEING THIS SLOW?"

Cloud didn't answer, he casually walked up to the cave entrance that Yuffie was standing next to. "Is this it?"

"Yeah. Cloud just be careful in here okay? Several people have vanished from the cave since this thing showed up."

"What is it? A monster?" Cloud asked calmly. If it was just a monster then he would expected Yuffie would be able to handle it, she had proven her fighting skills when travelling with them to defeat Sephiroth.

"No, no! Nothing like that! It's just weird...don't know how to explain it."

Cloud didn't press for further details, instead he placed his hand on the hilt of First Tsurugi and began making his way inside. His mako enhanced eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light of cave allowing him to see. There was nothing special about this cave until he turned round a corner and saw a rippling blue energy in the far corner of the cave. Cloud turned back to Yuffie who wore a concerned expression. Turning back to the rippling blue energy Cloud slowly approached it remembering what Yuffie had said about people vanishing.

The energy sprouted from the ground, coming to about 4 feet in height, the edges rippled with energy, mako more than likely. The anomaly rippled like water would when it rained, constant ripples disturbing its surface although there was no rain here. Leaning closer to get a better look he was stopped as someone grabbed his arm, his other arm instinctively grabbed the hilt of First Tsurugi and he spun round seeing Yuffie with a fear filled expression.

"Don't get too close Cloud. It's not safe." Yuffie pleaded, Cloud released his grip on First Tsurugi and softened his expression and gave a nod which seemed to relax Yuffie some what. He was about to turn his attention back to the strange glowing anomaly when there was a surge of blue light from behind him and he turned round just in time to be consumed by the light, last thing he heard was Yuffie screaming.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Clouds eyes fluttered open and he sat up, he gripped his head as a surge of pain ran through him. It passed after a few moments and he slowly stood up and looked around his surroundings. Light filtered through the overcast sky making the waste land he was in even more morbid looking. Where was he? It took a couple of minutes until he realised he was in the wastes that surrounded Midgar. Why didn't he recognise it sooner? Or more to the point how the hell did he get here?

Thinking back the last thing he could remember was the cave that Yuffie had asked him to investigate, and her scream. Scouring the nearby area for any signs of the ninja; Cloud found nothing. Fear for his comrade gripped at his chest, he pulled out his PHS from his pocket and dialled her number.

'The Number you have dialled has not been recognised. Please try entering the number again.'

Frustrated and worried Cloud cursed silently. Cloud knew that Yuffie could look after herself, but her scream as they were engulfed in that light worried him. Her scream wasn't one of pain, it was one of fear. He had made it through unscathed but who knows where she ended up or how long he'd been unconscious... if she ended up somewhere dangerous and unconscious then she could already be... no, he wouldn't believe that. There wasn't even any proof that she got pulled in with him, she had been gripping his arm, so if she had been pulled in surely she would have ended up in the same place as him?

Tired of the thoughts he pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to prevent the approaching headache he got from over thinking things and pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind and focused on his current situation. Climbing up a nearby hill Midgar came into view only it wasn't as Cloud remembered it, this Midgar wasn't in ruins, it looked...brand new. Even from this distance you could see that the tower that served as Shin-Ra's headquarters was a hive of activity with all the lights that were on.

"What the hell is going on!?!" Cloud cursed out loud. Deciding standing there would not answer any of his questions Cloud began walking towards the city hoping that this was just some sort of dream and he hadn't woken up yet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Getting into the city hadn't been that difficult and Cloud found himself in the slums. The smell of decaying earth and mako filled his nose making him scrunch up his face in disgust. The smell still existed when this place was a ruin but it hadn't been this strong since the reactors had been shut down. But now the reactors were up and running and people once again inhabited the city. Had he gone back in time? It seemed the most likely reason. Midgar should be in ruins but now it was like it had been at its height before Meteor, it made sense... at least a little bit.

Cloud wandered aimlessly until his feet managed to take him to the church. Thoughts were flying through his mind. If he really was back in time did that mean Aries was still alive? Pausing for several long minutes at the door Cloud fought with his thoughts. He wanted to see Aeris again but if he had truly gone back in time then he would run the risk of changing the time line...changing the time line...could he really do it and change it for the better?

The thought sent a surge of courage through Cloud and he pushed open the door and walked in. The scent of flowers in the air was evident and a gentle light flowed in the windows. He saw that the flowers had once again taken their rightful place in the centre of the church instead of the pool of water that had been there in his time line. The church was empty, Aries was no where to be seen. Walking up to the flowers he knelt next to them and touched them, letting his fingers trail across them to confirm that they were in fact real and not an illusion.

A foot step caught Clouds attention, barely heard if it wasn't for his enhanced hearing and on reflex Cloud spun round and instinctively grasped at First Tsurugi. Upon laying eyes upon his would be assailant Cloud froze. Aries stood there with a worried expression, but it soon became a warm smile.

"Hello." She said. "Sorry I didn't mean to scare you."

"No... I'm sorry, it was my fault." Cloud replied releasing his grasp of his sword. His voice surprisingly calm as he laid eyes on his long lost friend.

"I was worried you might hurt the flowers. You don't see many flowers in Midgar any more but they grow here with no problems." Aeris said as she calmly walked past Cloud and began to tend to the flowers. Cloud just stood there silent, unable to take his eyes off of the woman before him.

"What's your name?"

"Huh? What?"

"Your name? Don't you have a name?" She asked, her tone laced with a mild sense of humour at his reaction.

"It's Cloud."

"Well nice to meet you Cloud. My name is Aeris." She smiled at him again before turning back to the flowers. Cloud moved over to a nearby bench and watched her. After a while she saw him staring at her.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" She asked while rubbing her cheek trying to rub something off.

"No.. sorry... you just remind me a lot of some one... some one I knew."

"This some one, where they precious to you?"

"Yes, but I couldn't protect them... in the end they ended up saving... me." There was an awkward silence for a few moments but Aeris broke it by beginning to hum, and returned to tending the flowers. Cloud let the sound of Aries voice sooth him and he felt himself relax, he hadn't realised how tense he was, he hadn't felt this relaxed in years.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cloud opened his eyes and found himself still in the church. He had fallen asleep to the sound of Aries humming. He had felt a lot better than he had in a long time. Looking around he couldn't see Aries and had assumed that she had gone home, it was late.

What was he going to do now? He couldn't hang around here forever, not if he was going to change things. If he hung around Midgar too long he might eventually bump into himself...or what about Zack? Aries didn't look far off the age that he first met her and Zack and himself had been trapped in the Shin-Ra Mansion for years, it was entirely possible that Zack had already escaped and they were on their way here right now.

Standing bolt upright and sprinting out of the church, Cloud ran as fast as he could towards the spot where Zack had been killed. There was no way to know if he was already too late or far too early but if by some cruel twist of fate he had been given the chance to save him he was not going to waste it. It was Zack who should have survived. Zack who should be here instead of him. Zack who should have saved the world from Sephiroth. He would have been nothing if it wasn't for Zack.

Cloud soon saw the gate and reached into the pouch that held his Materia and with a practised ease, smoothly slipped it into the bracer on his wrist. He charged the materia and fired the spell straight at the metallic gate that barred his path. The ice spell hit the gate and began to freeze it, not breaking his stride Cloud threw himself at the frozen area of the gate and the thick metal gate broke like a pane of glass.

Cloud sprinted across the wastes towards the spot he was all too familiar with, it was the place Cloud paid his last respects to his friend, the place that his best friend had died saving him in the process. It was dark but that didn't slow Cloud down, after Meteor, Cloud had more or less taken up home in the church and visited the spot daily when he wasn't away doing a delivery.

The hill came into view, even though Zack's Buster sword was not standing proudly at the top didn't mean Cloud wouldn't recognise it. A burst of gun fire shot a surge of fear through Cloud. It couldn't be happening! He wouldn't let it happen! Picking up speed again Cloud ran full pelt towards the gun fire. In the distance Cloud could make out a figure slicing through a squad of soldiers with a large sword, his movements were slow and sluggish, barely able to fight any more. A helicopter swooped over head and another burst of gunfire echoed out across the wastes and Cloud saw the person fall to the ground.

"NO! ZACK!" Cloud screamed pulling out First Tsurugi from behind him.

Cloud leapt to the top of the hill and swung First Tsurugi at the uniformed soldier standing over Zack, ready to fire at his helpless friend, the soldier had enough time for a look of fear to register on his face before Cloud cut him down. The other two soldiers that were there quickly opened fire on Cloud. Blocking the bullets with his large sword as charged them, Cloud quickly covered the distance and shoulder charged one of them, knocking them down, and spun round swinging First Tsurugi in a wide arc that struck the other soldier almost severing the man in half. Turning his attention to the last soldier that he had knocked down moments before Cloud dashed forward kicking the man in the head as he attempted to stand and ruthlessly brought his sword downwards killing him.

The helicopter once again swooped overhead turning in mid-air and opened fire in Cloud. Dodging the missiles with a quick roll Cloud charged his materia once again, moments later he fired half a dozen large icicles directly at the helicopter, several of them punching through the wind-shield. The helicopter began to spin out of control and crashed into a nearby hill, soon after it burst into flames as the fuel tank exploded.

"Cloud?" Zack called, his voice no more than a whisper. Cloud ran over to Zack but remained silent, he couldn't bring himself to speak. He was right here in front of him but he was badly hurt.

"Zack..." Cloud stuttered and continued to stare at the black haired SOLDIER.

"Cloud?" Zack whispered once again. "You look different..." Zack cringed in pain. "Guess they got me..."

"Zack hold on!" Cloud said slightly panicked and reached into his pouch that held his materia. He wished he had brought a full-cure but he hadn't, he would have to hope his mastered cure materia would be enough. Pulling the materia from the pouch he placed in his bracer and charged the spell to it's fullest, before releasing it on his friend. Zack glowed brightly as the cure spell washed over his body, Cloud kept pouring everything he had to keep the spell going. After several minutes Cloud was forced to stop as he had run out of energy to keep the spell going. Kneeling there panting heavily while staring at Zack's motionless body Cloud prayed silently that it had been enough. A few moments later Zack began to move and stood up, a little worse for wear but he was alive!

"What? Why you staring at me like that...Cloud?" Zack asked as he looked down at Cloud. Cloud could tell the range of emotions his friend was experiencing, he could easily follow them because of how expressive Zack truly was, it was one of the things about the man that Cloud found appealing. Cloud struggled to express himself most of the time, keeping his emotions hidden for the most part. "Is that really you Cloud?"

Cloud couldn't help but let out a chuckle, he had done it, he had saved Zack!

"What's so funny?" Zack asked confused.

"Nothing... nothing at all." Cloud replied standing up quickly and hugging Zack.

"Whoa!" Zack hesitated for a moment before returning the hug. "Thanks, you really saved my ass there. Lets get outta here before any more of them turn up though, all right?"

"Good idea, but we got to go get something first." Cloud turned for a moment to pick up First Tsurugi off the ground and placed it in its holder and walking in a direction away from Midgar.

"Where the hell did you get that sword Cloud?! And when did you change you clothes?" Zack asked confused.

"It's a long story."

"How the hell long can it be? I only left you a couple of hours ago when we got attacked."

"I'm sure it's around here somewhere." Cloud said aloud as he looked behind several rock formations.

"What are you looking for?"

"Well... I'm looking for me."

"That makes no sense!"

"It will in a minute." Cloud replied smirking over his shoulder at the black haired man. The pair turned a corner and there he was, Cloud's younger self slumped unconscious against the rocks.

Zack made a confused look and after a few moments of looking at both the Clouds he jumped between Cloud and his younger self drawing the Buster sword. A glimmer of fear showed in Zack's eyes which magnified when Zack turned round to see the still unconscious form of Cloud lying on the ground behind him before turning to face the Cloud standing before him. Zack readied his sword to fight but didn't move to attack, he was trying desperately to work out what the hell was going on.

"WHO ARE YOU!?!" Zack shouted. Cloud remained still, First Tsurugi still in its holder on his back. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!?!"

"Zack...it's me, Cloud."

"You're not Cloud! HE'S CLOUD!!!" Zack yelled motioning to the still form behind him.

"Zack..." Cloud took a step forward but was met by Zack's sword coming at him but Cloud easily dodged it and took several steps back.

"Zack please I just want to talk!" Cloud pleaded.

"THEN TELL ME WHO THE HELL YOU ARE!!!"

"It's me Cloud! Please Zack you have to believe me!"

"You can't be Cloud! That's Cloud behind me! You must be one of Hojo's experiments!" Several memories of the time spent while Hojo experimented on him flashed through Cloud's mind and Cloud felt the undeniable hatred for that man grow in the pit of his stomach.

"I am not one of Hojo's experiments! I am Cloud Strife! I killed that man years ago and if I ever get the chance I will do it again!" Cloud growled.

"Kill him again? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Zack... I'm from the future."