(no subject)
Dec. 18th, 2015 11:14 pmWho: Cloud and Stella
What: For once it's not Cloud waking up on the floor of Aerith's church.
Universe/CR: FF7-world, Luceti CR
Nobody else seems to remember what happened in that world. Not Tifa, not Barret or Cid. Nobody who was there. Denzel doesn't remember either, and it's not like he can check with Zack or Aerith.
God, he wishes he could. It took a few days of being alone in the wilderness for him to get through the worst of the grief of losing them all over again.
With nobody else to corroborate his story, Cloud doesn't know what else to think. He know Tifa and the kids worry, and he helps them with the move to the villa in Costa del Sol because Edge is dirty and dangerous and the benefits of being in a large city greatly outweigh the drawbacks. The kids are safer there, in a smaller resort town with a small school and enough room in the villa for maybe a few more. After the attacks in Edge a lot of people are moving away from the area. Just as well. Midgar sucked the life from this spit of land long, long ago.
Still, that leaves Cloud where he always seems to find himself, in the skeletal remains of something he feels should be remembered but for which he can't quite do much justice. Sometimes it gets bad, really bad, standing at the edge of where the plate had crushed Sector 7, air still stinking of melted beams and mako and turning his stomach when he thinks about just how many people died there. Biggs, Wedge, Jessie...the lady in the item shop who'd passed him a potion for free just because 'ya look too skinny, runt' and Johnny's parents, the gun shop owner who was an asshole but didn't deserve to go like that. He stands there trying to remember them, knowing only Tifa and Barret remain to help him with it and it's just more of the same, more of it all over again. Half in and half out of a past with which he's not sure he should be trusted.
It's the same with Luceti. Already he can't remember how green the trees were, he can't remember what the beer tasted like in the bars because it was different from here. He knows that, he just doesn't know how. He's already forgotten so many names, so many faces, he's forgotten hardships and triumphs. He remembers Zack had a chocobo that he loved and named after his mother but he can't remember her name.
He could go to freakin' Gongaga and find out, but he's too much of a coward to do even that.
"Holy's sake," he mutters to himself, turning on his heel and heading for Aerith's church. He's even annoying himself with his behavior now. Wasn't this what Tifa and Aerith and everybody had been trying to tell him? How long is he going to drag this out? Feeling sorry for himself, burdening himself like this isn't going to help anyone move forward, much less him. If Luceti was just a fever dream-
If it's something he made up in his head, to...to cope somehow, then it's about time he tried to forget it. Or at least time he admitted it. There was no Simon. There was no Nina, there was no Stella. Those things didn't happen, those people didn't exist.
Cloud moves aside the door to the church, still broken off from the struggle with Kadaj (and he'd have to fix that soon, it just doesn't feel right to leave it leaning up against it like a stone sealing a tomb). Night falls a lot quicker around here, the pollution in the air never quite clearing and lending itself to smother the sun as it dies at the end of the day. The church always seems to find the last little rays of sunlight though, so it's no surprise for the inside of the church to be light when the outside is nearing dusk.
Not like this though.
Cloud's hand is on First Tsurugi within seconds as he stares at the pool where the flowers used to be. His chest had tightened because at first it had looked like the glow of magic but no, no. Magic glowed greenish, glowed white and red for summons. This is blue, this is a soft blue, sky blue, a clean water blue that doesn't show up anywhere near the Reactors. More than that, there's a shape in the pool where it's coming from and whatever the properties the water has left (some healing maybe, even after cleansing the Geostigma), glowing isn't one of them.
Cloud takes a few steps forward. And then he stops.
"Stella," he says, gasps out and he's already running, already dropping gracelessly into the water and splashing over to her, wading through the pool and reaching out to pull her up into his arms. It's not possible, it can't be possible, but it's her. He hasn't forgotten her face yet, her name, she's one of the clearest pictures he has of Luceti and it has to be her because her hair is glowing. Right. Right, her people- they're some kind of ocean race or something, she can breathe in the water so it's not like she'd drown and this is Aerith's pool, this is-
Look what I found.
A sound like a giggle trips down Cloud's spine and he shivers, looking behind him though he knows he won't see anything. Was it her? Did Aerith find Stella somehow, in the Lifestream or- How?
Check on her first. She might need help. Cloud fumbles for the mastered Restore materia he carries around and pops it into his bracer, cradling her in the crook of his elbow and letting the rest of her float in the water. That'll do just as much good as a Cure 3, probably. "Stella," he says, louder, more insistently. If she doesn't know him- If she doesn't know him, he'll handle it from there. He'll manage somehow.
What: For once it's not Cloud waking up on the floor of Aerith's church.
Universe/CR: FF7-world, Luceti CR
Nobody else seems to remember what happened in that world. Not Tifa, not Barret or Cid. Nobody who was there. Denzel doesn't remember either, and it's not like he can check with Zack or Aerith.
God, he wishes he could. It took a few days of being alone in the wilderness for him to get through the worst of the grief of losing them all over again.
With nobody else to corroborate his story, Cloud doesn't know what else to think. He know Tifa and the kids worry, and he helps them with the move to the villa in Costa del Sol because Edge is dirty and dangerous and the benefits of being in a large city greatly outweigh the drawbacks. The kids are safer there, in a smaller resort town with a small school and enough room in the villa for maybe a few more. After the attacks in Edge a lot of people are moving away from the area. Just as well. Midgar sucked the life from this spit of land long, long ago.
Still, that leaves Cloud where he always seems to find himself, in the skeletal remains of something he feels should be remembered but for which he can't quite do much justice. Sometimes it gets bad, really bad, standing at the edge of where the plate had crushed Sector 7, air still stinking of melted beams and mako and turning his stomach when he thinks about just how many people died there. Biggs, Wedge, Jessie...the lady in the item shop who'd passed him a potion for free just because 'ya look too skinny, runt' and Johnny's parents, the gun shop owner who was an asshole but didn't deserve to go like that. He stands there trying to remember them, knowing only Tifa and Barret remain to help him with it and it's just more of the same, more of it all over again. Half in and half out of a past with which he's not sure he should be trusted.
It's the same with Luceti. Already he can't remember how green the trees were, he can't remember what the beer tasted like in the bars because it was different from here. He knows that, he just doesn't know how. He's already forgotten so many names, so many faces, he's forgotten hardships and triumphs. He remembers Zack had a chocobo that he loved and named after his mother but he can't remember her name.
He could go to freakin' Gongaga and find out, but he's too much of a coward to do even that.
"Holy's sake," he mutters to himself, turning on his heel and heading for Aerith's church. He's even annoying himself with his behavior now. Wasn't this what Tifa and Aerith and everybody had been trying to tell him? How long is he going to drag this out? Feeling sorry for himself, burdening himself like this isn't going to help anyone move forward, much less him. If Luceti was just a fever dream-
If it's something he made up in his head, to...to cope somehow, then it's about time he tried to forget it. Or at least time he admitted it. There was no Simon. There was no Nina, there was no Stella. Those things didn't happen, those people didn't exist.
Cloud moves aside the door to the church, still broken off from the struggle with Kadaj (and he'd have to fix that soon, it just doesn't feel right to leave it leaning up against it like a stone sealing a tomb). Night falls a lot quicker around here, the pollution in the air never quite clearing and lending itself to smother the sun as it dies at the end of the day. The church always seems to find the last little rays of sunlight though, so it's no surprise for the inside of the church to be light when the outside is nearing dusk.
Not like this though.
Cloud's hand is on First Tsurugi within seconds as he stares at the pool where the flowers used to be. His chest had tightened because at first it had looked like the glow of magic but no, no. Magic glowed greenish, glowed white and red for summons. This is blue, this is a soft blue, sky blue, a clean water blue that doesn't show up anywhere near the Reactors. More than that, there's a shape in the pool where it's coming from and whatever the properties the water has left (some healing maybe, even after cleansing the Geostigma), glowing isn't one of them.
Cloud takes a few steps forward. And then he stops.
"Stella," he says, gasps out and he's already running, already dropping gracelessly into the water and splashing over to her, wading through the pool and reaching out to pull her up into his arms. It's not possible, it can't be possible, but it's her. He hasn't forgotten her face yet, her name, she's one of the clearest pictures he has of Luceti and it has to be her because her hair is glowing. Right. Right, her people- they're some kind of ocean race or something, she can breathe in the water so it's not like she'd drown and this is Aerith's pool, this is-
Look what I found.
A sound like a giggle trips down Cloud's spine and he shivers, looking behind him though he knows he won't see anything. Was it her? Did Aerith find Stella somehow, in the Lifestream or- How?
Check on her first. She might need help. Cloud fumbles for the mastered Restore materia he carries around and pops it into his bracer, cradling her in the crook of his elbow and letting the rest of her float in the water. That'll do just as much good as a Cure 3, probably. "Stella," he says, louder, more insistently. If she doesn't know him- If she doesn't know him, he'll handle it from there. He'll manage somehow.
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Date: 2015-12-19 07:58 am (UTC)That was the last thing she remembered. Stella had stood before the very core of Luceti, ready to take her test... and she'd failed it. The screams of the Ferines overpowered her, rendered her unable to move, unable to do anything. It felt like she couldn't even breathe, her heartbeat overtaken by the blood pounding in her ears.
And when she opened her eyes, the gaping maw of the planet was open, then shutting around her, and everything became nothing.
For a short while.
The first thing Stella became aware of was light behind her eyelids, but there was no way to open them. It was as if she had no physical way to command that simple action. Something... someone was there, and the sensation she felt was matronly, as if she were being pulled into the loving embrace of someone she yearned to know. It was like the embrace of Nerifes when her soul had shattered, and she gladly sank into it. She'd died and had been brought back so many times now... perhaps now, she could be at peace.
Stella.
The sensation was cut off by someone pulling her, the water around her flowing and resisting and pushing with the motion. It faded for a moment, until the healing power of the materia washed over her and brought her senses back. Suddenly there was a warm body against her side, the air was cool yet pleasant against her skin, there was the sound of silence in her ears and - and when she was finally able to open her eyes -
Familiarity.
Stella's head was still swimming, and every part of her felt like lead. But there was a connection to this man, she knew that much, this man with the hair and eyes of a Ferines and yet wasn't. It was a struggle, but Stella still found herself slowly lifting her hand to touch his cheek.
"Cloud?"
It's quiet, barely a whisper, but it's there. Yes, she knows who this is. It's becoming more and more clear to her with every second that passes. This man, this person who became such an important part of her life, was Cloud.
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Date: 2015-12-19 08:23 am (UTC)When her fingers touch his cheek Cloud's heart leaps into his throat. It's almost too much. He remembers her telling him about what happens to her, about her death and how that had almost torn another part of him out because all of the kindest, most wonderful people die and then the people like him are the only ones left, the ones who could never be half as good but have to try and make up for the difference. Stella is one of those people, too good for anything, but Aerith had found her somewhere and brought her here.
His Planet isn't perfect. And he doesn't know if there's a way to get her back, alive, but he also remembers them talking about it while they sat next to the river, him showing her his home. He remembers passing her his phone with pictures of his friends, the beaches of Costa del Sol and Junon, all the kids. She'd wanted to see it, she'd told him. She didn't think she could go back to her world and he'd told her that she was welcome in his.
Now that she's here he's half panicking, but-
"Hey," he says to her, and his voice is all shakes and all warmth and his hand comes up to cover hers, press it against his cheek. He's remembering it all over again, how she'd made him feel so cared for and how it was like being with family, with Aerith, with the personification of love. How she'd pull him up when he'd get down on himself, how she'd shake him from his self-indulgent pity parties. How she'd just touch his hair, tug on the spikes and smile to herself like she knew the punchline to a joke she had yet to tell.
Whatever she wants. If she wants to go home, he'll find a way to get her there. If she wants to see his world, he'll show her the whole goddamn thing. "Welcome to my Planet, Stella Telmes." It's not much but it's his home, and for as long as she wants it, he'll be her home too.
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Date: 2015-12-19 08:54 am (UTC)He'd been there during her best and worst times. He'd brush her hair and try to style it in the way she usually does, only to fail miserably, but she'd be patient because it was him, and he was trying so hard for her. He was there when her heart was broken, held her when she cried and wondered what she was supposed to do with her life. He showed her a world beyond her village, one that was full of hope and care, and of cruelty and despair, but above all, there was love. This person holding her and looking at her with warmth and concern gave her so much, and...
Stella was on his Planet. She was in his home. Not Luceti, not Melfes. But his.
"I..."
Her voice feels so raw, so new, like she was using it for the first time. She tries again, tries to talk and tries to smile, and it's a weak, fragile one, but real and genuine,
"H-Happy to be here."
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Date: 2015-12-19 09:11 am (UTC)Cloud blinks and comes back to himself with a shake of his head, pulls himself back into now and away from then so he can pay her proper attention. There's no visible blood, he doesn't see any wounds or signs of struggle. He casts another Cure 3 just to be sure, but he doesn't think it's going to do much good if what she's suffering from is exhaustion.
He's got both arms under her to lift her out of the water when he remembers. Right. "Uh- Did you wanna stay in the water? It's also got it's own healing properties, so. You might feel better." It's unspoken but obvious that he'll stay with her in the water too, long as she needs it. Pruney fingers be damned.
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Date: 2015-12-19 09:20 am (UTC)But the offer to stay in the water is there, and Stella latches on to it. It's the one thing that's connected all of her worlds, even if they were so different on so many levels. Melfes has Nerifes, their god, their creator, their beginning and their end. Luceti's lacked this, but it was still fascinating on so many levels. This one... it was almost there, the feeling of Nerifes. There wasn't quite the connection that her core yearned for, but it was enough to feel a sense of comfort.
"Mmm," she hums in affirmation, closing her eyes and giving a slight nod to emphasize this. She knows he'll stay; she'd hunt him down and slap him silly if he just up and left her there.
Still... with her hand now free, she moves it again, this time to slowly curl her fingers in his shirt. If he wanted to leave, all he'd have to do is pull away. But she's sure he won't.
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Date: 2015-12-19 09:44 am (UTC)It clunks heavy on the floorboards and Cloud almost winces, the sound loud and harsh. "Sorry," he mutters, wading them back to the deeper section of the pool. He keeps an arm around Stella's shoulders but lets her mostly submerge, trying to fight his instinct to get her out of the water before she drowns. Most people drown when their faces are covered in water, that's kind of normal, but she likes it and her hair is glowing this beautiful blue so it must be good for her. There's no salt in this water, but maybe because of Aerith that doesn't matter? Who knows.
Either way Cloud's taking the time Stella's using to rest to try and absorb what this means. Luceti actually happened. It had to have, if Stella remembers him and he remembers her. And Aerith must remember her too, if he really heard her name, if that was her who pulled Stella here instead of leaving her to die. But why would she? And how? Cloud knew Aerith was powerful in the Lifestream but he hadn't thought she was that powerful.
"What are you even doing," he murmurs down to the water, running a hand through it again. He gets that feeling from before, that he's being laughed at, and returns his attention to Stella instead. He doesn't know if it's the glowing that's doing it but she looks exhausted, bags under her eyes and hair loose as it floats in the water. The hand in his shirt doesn't have any strength in its grip and he worries, for a moment, that something in this world is killing her, like they aren't compatible or something. She has a strong connection with her own world, doesn't she? What if this one is just too poisoned by Jenova and Shinra? What if it's seeping into her too, just by virtue of her being here?
Cloud pushes back the hair sticking to Stella's forehead. "I thought I'd imagined the whole thing," he says quietly. He's not sure if she's listening, but it's all right if she's not. Maybe just hearing someone else's voice will help her feel more grounded. "Nobody remembered but me, and my memory's not...reliable. Exactly. I thought I'd dreamed everybody up." He pauses, then, even more quietly, "I thought I'd dreamed you up. I'm glad I was wrong. I'm- sorry this happened to you, but I'm gonna admit I'm selfish and that I'm happy to see you again."
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Date: 2015-12-19 09:59 am (UTC)She takes a moment to think about what just happened. She'd died, again, and not by returning to her own world this time. It was Luceti itself that had done it. It had rejected her and absorbed her, a fate all too similar to her own back at home. Brought within Nerifes to live within its consciousness, only this time, it would've been dark and cold, rather than warm and comforting.
But once more, she'd been pulled out of death's grip. And somehow, some way, she ended up here on Cloud's world.
What happened to her?
It was better not to ponder about it too much, she thinks to herself. It was a blessing in itself that Stella was alive again, even though she was frankly getting sick of it.
She can hear him speaking; even if she's submerged, the Ferines' sense of hearing when under water had sharpened over the years of living with Orerines among them. At first, she takes it in as a soothing sound, the voice of a dear friend whom she'd thought she'd never see again. But when he finishes, the grip on his shirt tightens, and she lifts her head a bit to smile up at him once more, this time with more strength to it.
"You dummy," she says, stronger than the last time she spoke and with nothing but fondness to it, "I'm happy to see you, too. There's nothing selfish about that."
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Date: 2015-12-19 10:12 am (UTC)Shit. He doesn't know.
She sounds better though, less like she's going to die. Maybe enough to tell him what happened to her, because he'll have to tell his friends something when he shows up with this strange woman who glows when moist. "Stella, what happened to you? How did you get here?"
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Date: 2015-12-19 10:26 am (UTC)The next part, however... she's more unsure about. She looks away from his face, her gaze instead moving down to the water. What happened to her? How is she supposed to answer that when she herself didn't have all the answers either?
"I... I don't know," she replies, before she decides to try expanding further. "The planet - Luceti, it was going to send everyone home. It required everyone to go to the Core of the world and pass a test... and only then would they be free. It was better to be with someone, so... even though I planned to stay, I took the test to help a friend."
And by Nerifes, she hoped that friend made it out alive where she failed. She shuts her eyes as she explains further, "... I failed it. I remember the Core opening up and..."
At this point, her fingers curl into his shirt more until she's forming a fist. It had been terrifying, seeing the shapeless mass open its jaws wide, wider than anything should have been, and she fell...
"... And then, I was here. Something... Something warm pulled me here. I don't know how or why, but - I'm here."
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Date: 2015-12-20 02:56 am (UTC)Didn't the Malnosso say something about that? About their worlds being connected to Luceti by threads, that that was how all of them had ended up there?
Cloud glances out the windows. They're dark; it's already nightfall. The church would be safe through the night, but the surrounding area will be teeming with monsters soon enough, the horrible mutated kind that always seem to stalk the area around Midgar the most religiously. "We should probably stay here for the night. I should have some stuff still here, a sleeping bag or something- are you okay for me to let you go? You can't drown or anything, right?" Just checking.
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Date: 2015-12-20 03:46 am (UTC)But with that question, Stella looks up at Cloud, one brow raising.
"I can breathe underwater, Cloud." It's said flatly, but with a touch of humor to her voice. It feels good for him to concerned, but he really, really doesn't need to worry about her drowning.
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Date: 2015-12-20 08:13 am (UTC)"I need to check around outside and make sure nothing followed me here. You'll be okay for a few minutes?" He keeps asking, he knows, but how can he not be worried when that grip on his shirt is still so weak, when her voice is still so soft? Stella downplays things but the way she'd talked about the Core, how it had opened and I took the test for a friend...I failed... and Cloud knows the last thing he'd want after failing anything would be solitude.
And he's worried for himself a little, too. What if he heads outside, comes back and finds her gone? That she'd just been some kind of dream or hallucination? He's getting there, he's getting back to believing but it's just so hard to trust something that only he can see and hear. He's been so wrong so often. "You- you just don't go anywhere. I'll be right back." If she is a hallucination, it's better to get this over with. Better not to give himself the hope while he can still plausibly deny it.
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Date: 2015-12-20 04:27 pm (UTC)Rather than say any of this, though, she just smiles up at him, a little stronger than before, and moves her hand to place her palm against his chest instead.
"Go on. I'll stay right here."
There's not much else she can do, or anywhere else she can really go. If Cloud needs to check on the area, or give himself time to believe this is happening, or... whatever is on his mind, then Stella will push him off and let him go.
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Date: 2015-12-20 07:29 pm (UTC)The cold's never bothered him nearly as much as the heat so he can put up with it as he collects his sword and heads for the door, casting one last look at the pool before he ducks outside. Still glowing. She's still there.
His patrol around the church is quick and kind of sloppy, but there are no monsters in the immediate area and Cloud doesn't think there will be any soon. He's eager to get back inside but he still hesitates at the door, still gives himself a moment to prepare for the worst. Or maybe he's just being a coward.
Cloud ducks back inside and almost bends in half with the sigh of relief when he finds that soft blue glow still there. "We're good," he announces, for his sake just as much as hers, unable to stand the silence lest he give himself time to think too hard on what this is going to mean. He leans against one of the still standing pews to take off his boots and socks, try and prop them up somewhere so they'll dry out at least a little. "Would it be better for you to stay in there a while? Are you hungry or anything?" The questions feel so rote, so irritatingly necessary when really he just wants to drill her on Luceti. Do you remember this? Or that? What the hell was Zack's chocobo called because I can't remember but I should. God, this changes everything. If Luceti happened exactly how he remembers it then-
Then it means an awful lot of things.
But Stella is exhausted and probably frightened and upset and Cloud knows her well enough to tell that she's hiding something. One of those 'you're better off not knowing' somethings, which are almost always things she hides because she wants to protect other people. He's not going to pry it out of her but that doesn't mean he's going to leave her alone, either.
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Date: 2016-01-13 10:18 pm (UTC)Seriously, Cloud. Wait just a bit longer.
But after some time, the light in the water seems to shift. Stella's moving, sinking down to the bottom to really get a feel of where she is. This planet, Cloud's planet, and the water she's in... She soaks it all in, taking another moment to do so.
Then her head pops up above the water, near where Cloud is, and she leans on the side with her arms up on the floor, chin resting on top of them. "I am a little hungry, now that you mention it. But shouldn't we stay here, since it's night time now?" That much was obvious by the lighting of the area.
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Date: 2016-01-17 07:38 am (UTC)Rather, he's kind of realized that even if he remembers Luceti, he's spent a long time apart from everybody he met there, Stella included. There's things about her that he's forgotten both in mind and with his heart. He used to know this about her; know that it'd be harder to get her to come out of the water than to go in, remembers seeing her in the lake and joining her and coming in and out of the water so many times while she'd just stayed in and laughed at him and his cruddy swimming skills.
So instead Cloud just sits down on his bedroll and smiles at her. "I just mean I missed you. ...a lot. And I'm glad I never forgot you." He jerks his head down at his bedding. "I can stay up if you need me to."
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Date: 2016-01-17 08:09 am (UTC)"No, it's all right," she answers, scooting closer to his bedroll but not climbing onto it. She was still pretty soaking wet, after all. "You look like you need your rest. I'll be right here when you wake up, I promise."
Well. Maybe not right at that same spot, but right in the general vicinity, yes. She smiles back at him, as if to give him further reassurance, and leans her weight on her hands to look up at the hole in the ceiling, where the moonlight shines through.
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Date: 2016-01-19 07:21 am (UTC)"Just a couple hours," he promises as he shoves his pack around to rest his head on it. "I don't need much." He doesn't want to close his eyes because as beautiful as the glow of Stella's hair can be, through his eyelids it almost looks like the acid green of Mako and the last thing he wants to do is have a nightmare in front of her. He rolls over to give her his back and falls asleep surprisingly easy, and by the time he wakes up there's sunlight streaming through the windows. That was not a couple hours.
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Date: 2016-01-19 07:47 am (UTC)The church is a mess, that much is certain. Battles were fought here, and no one took the time to clean it up. Despite that, there was something peaceful about this place. It was as if, in a world full of chaos, this was the one place where there was calm. She liked it here, even though it still felt a bit like intruding on somewhere she didn't belong.
Stella knows she'll feel like that no matter where she goes in this world. She's the alien now, and part of her feels humored by it, while the rest of her just knows this... "imposter" feeling will take a long time to go away.
At least there's someone here she knows. Someone she cares deeply for, and who cares for her in return. With that in mind, Stella returns to where Cloud was, sits just above his head, and starts to stroke his hair with a little smile. After all this time... she can't believe she went to his world. She honestly can't believe she's actually seeing him again - touching him, hearing his voice. Seeing that recognition in his eyes, the way he was so receptive to her touch.
She thought she was dead, and she was brought here instead. Was she rescued? Was this the first place whoever rescued her thought of to bring her? Did they know Cloud would find her?
Stella tosses those thoughts around her head as well as many others, but she starts, realizing that she was nodding off right there. She still needs rest and she knows it, and while it's tempting to go back in the water and sleep there... instead, she lowers down to her side and curls up, fingers threading into Cloud's hair as she sleeps.
The water heals her. But she'd rather have stability and the knowledge that she's all right.
And she stays that way, even when the sunlight streams through the windows and even when Cloud stirs. She's a pretty light sleeper, but she was just so tired.
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Date: 2016-01-19 08:10 am (UTC)There's a hand loosely twisted in his hair and warmth against him and he doesn't want to move. But he has to, not only because he's gotten more sleep in one night than he has in years but because he remembers the night before and he's awake suddenly, with a gasp and a start until he sees the spill of golden hair curled on the floor and the woman it belongs to curled up next to him.
Stella. She's still here.
Cloud moves slightly until he remembers her hand in his hair and then settles immediately, resting his own hand on his stomach as he stares up at the ceiling. He can almost feel Aerith laughing at him because he's two parts uncomfortable and two parts relieved, with a dash of embarrassment that colors his cheeks as he lays stiff as a board, trying not to wake Stella up. She must've been exhausted, and he'd promised only a couple hours...damn. Next time he'll make sure to set his phone alarm. It's just never been a problem before because he's always traveled-
alone
-by himself and didn't need to worry about waking for a watch shift. ...shit, what if she was cold? Or sore, she had to be hurting, she wasn't even on the bedroll. She'll wake up if he tries to move her. Well, he can at least get up and open up the bedroll to lay over her as carefully as he can. He has to check on his bike and make sure it's all in working order anyway before they get out of here. They can stop in Healin for the night, get a room and rest up proper and then hopefully make it all the way to Junon by the following day, provided the mountain pass for vehicles hasn't caved in again.