020 | [Lets Test this Puppet's New Strings] [tag:Cloud]
When: Day 55 Morning - almost 24 hrs after this
Where: ShinRa Manor, Nibelheim.
( Recap: How it was left )
Where: ShinRa Manor, Nibelheim.
( Recap: How it was left )
It's like a dream that Cloud slowly wakes up out of; as if he is swimming upwards through murky water until he breaks through the surface. Sharp, clean air, blurry vision, hearing dimmed.
(He thinks that there's a sort of symmetry to this and Aeris; only, he let Aeris' drift below the surface of the lake, falling slowly and slowly, the edges of her body blurring until she became indistinct, and she faded away from their sight.)
(This is not something that he will tell her.)
It’s not a sharp awakening to reality. Cloud’s too tired for that, or maybe he’s just too used to be underwater. It’s not a sharp awakening to reality; rather, as if he were lying on the beach, the tide lapping at him, ready to take him back if only he would let it, the sun blaring down on him.
Cloud has a memory of Tifa leaning over him and assuring him that she will be back soon, and not to worry. (And there's also something about pies?)
(Wake up, please…)
He can… sort of remember what’s happened. He can remember being told to wake up. He can remember wishing that if this is a dream, to let him go on sleeping.
It’s that which gets him up; that, and Mideel. Losing oneself in a dream has never helped him, has always meant that a part of who he is, is lost.
[Hey, Spike. Look after this, for me.]
He gets up. The house is empty. No Tifa, no Denzel, no Marlene. That’s good; the kids shouldn’t have had to look after him. The pain he feels is a phantom; SOLDIER specs will carry him through, though, regardless of what is done to him. He still doesn’t flinch.
Cloud’s clean. He’s been cleaned, gore wiped away gently by Tifa. Bandages wrapped around him, even if he only needs them for a short amount of time. It’s possible that Reeve, or somebody else, stopped by; he can’t remember much beyond the escape. Flashes, here and there.
(There’s a pie in the fridge. He heats that up in the microwave, then works his way through it.)
His swords have been put away; now, he takes them out. The PHS he unplugs from the charger; it was left near him during his … sleep. Now, he wonders who he should call for an update, before he goes charging out there.
Sephiroth is still out there. The Remnants are out there.
There’s a sinking feeling within him.
Reply
Leave a comment