(no subject)

[herobydefault]

Who: 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.

Comments

[herobydefault]

Cloud turns red in the face and he shoots back, "You're dumb," without really thinking about it. It's been so long since he's joked with someone like that, even with Tifa just because things have been so hard here. But Stella shows up in Aerith's church and it's like they weren't even apart, like-

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?"

[goldenfirefly]

Stella giggles in answer to that, still a little weak, but getting there. Dummy. Total dummy. And she's so glad she can hear that out of him.

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."

[herobydefault]

"That must've been Aerith." So he hadn't imagined that laugh. Aerith definitely had a hand in this somehow. If wherever Stella was going wasn't pleasant -and if the core of Luceti was trying to devour her, Cloud can't help but think it couldn't have been- then Aerith might've been trying to save Stella from it.

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.

[goldenfirefly]

Stella's not sure what to make of Aerith being the source of that warmth, because she knew Aerith, talked with her and laughed with her, and how could she do something like that? She frowns a little as a result, but doesn't ask more about it. Not now, not when she's still trying to recover and feel more like herself.

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.

[herobydefault]

"Alright alright, I know you're feeling better now," Cloud sighs. She's sassing him, she's doing okay. He makes his way to the edge of the pool, pausing with an arm up on the floorboards.

"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.

[goldenfirefly]

He's worried, and she can tell. Stella herself is just too tired to bring herself to care about her own fate. Not just physically tired, but tired of this happening, tired of living, tired of this feeling every time this happens. She won't cast away this blessing given to her, but she does wish it'd stop happening to her, just this once.

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.

[herobydefault]

Cloud's gentle when he slips his arm from beneath her and leaves her in the water, pulling himself up onto the floorboards. His boots squish unpleasantly and his clothes drag, so he pulls off his belts and duster and leave them draped over a pew to dry. At least his shirt's mostly dry...ish...

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.

[goldenfirefly]

There isn't much of a reply for a while, her being underwater and concentrating on feeling better enough to actually give a response. Unfortunately for Cloud, this probably means giving him time to think too hard about what this is going to mean after all. It's like trying to get some sleep only for someone to jump on the bed and ask a lot of questions, so she ends up frowning a little before she relaxes again.

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.

[herobydefault]

"No, I mean..." Cloud trails off, looking at her floating in the water, wet glowing hair spread all over her shoulders and arms and trailing in the water and he feels dumb for his question. Of course she's going to stay in there; that's where she belongs, isn't it? Or the ocean, but she probably doesn't want to go into the ocean near Midgar. Still too polluted.

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."

[goldenfirefly]

Stella stays there for a moment, pressing her lips together and glancing down at the edge of the pool where she lounges... Then she hoists herself out with an exhale - still not recovered fully, it seems. But Stella's in a whole new world here, a realm beyond her understanding, and she can't spend the whole time in that little pool enjoying what it had to offer. It was time to explore the rest of it... or, at least, the church, until it was safe to go outside again.

"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.

[herobydefault]

As usual, Stella sees right through him. He'd be annoyed by it if it wasn't such a relief that she remembers him so well. Really, he's got no room to talk about being the one forgotten but Cloud's had enough of punishing himself for things in the past so he'll shelve that topic for consideration hopefully never.

"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.

[goldenfirefly]

While Cloud sleeps, Stella straightens up and takes the time to explore the place - quietly, quietly, so that she won't wake Cloud up. The glow of her hair recedes, leaving her with the blond hair that she always has when she walks on land.

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.

[herobydefault]

Cloud doesn't want to get up, for a minute. It's been a long, long time since someone else has been in his bed; during their journeys the party would occasionally have to double up, but just as recent are the memories of Luceti when he was with Zack and Aerith, and the few times all three of them were there and would pile into bed together. Sometimes Aerith was in the middle, sometimes Zack, but usually Cloud and while it made him feel coddled it also made him feel...protected. Which wasn't something he could ever recall feeling before, not even when he was small.

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.