The Isle of Besaid

Midgar. The mako city that once knew prosperity, that's what the Shinra Corporation would have you to believe at least. Now it's just a pile of rubble after the Meteor incident. The scent of mako filled the air, even miles out the stench still lingered. Those that once inhabited the city, those that called it home now had nowhere to go and risked the possibility of mako poisoning the longer they stayed.

Cloud stood atop an overhanging cliff, taking in the depressing scenery as he wedged the Buster Sword into the ground at the edge of the cliff. He was lost in his own world, a world of pain, guilt and anger. How could he have forgotten about his best friend, his only friend from Shinra? How could he forget Zack's sacrifice to save him?

Not only Zack's death was his fault, but also Aerith's. If only he was mentally stronger, if only he could keep Sephiroth out of his head. Maybe if he had been able to do that, she might still be here. Cloud's grip of the Buster Sword tightened. He was so angry at his own weakness, it disgusted him. Not only that, it haunted him.

After letting go of his old friend's sword, Cloud's mind went to an even darker place. A looming shadow casted itself over him. Images of pain, images of destruction, images of suffering. Cloud's mind was racing. The blue in his eyes transposed into a dark green and his pupils had formed into slits, like a cat's. He could see Sephiroth staring at him with a smirk as he stood in the centre of burning ruins. He saw a creature in the sky, a creature he had never seen before. The overwhelming pain brought Cloud to his knees. Everything started turning white and his eyes closed.

Birds chirped and the waves of a sea roared. Cloud awoke to find himself on a beach. Blinding rays of the sun beamed down on him. What was going on? Was he dreaming?

"Where… am I?" Cloud spoke aloud to himself. He placed his hand on his head trying to figure out what was happening, but his mind was in a daze. Suddenly, the rays of the sun that were blinding Cloud had been blocked. A girl's head popped up from behind him.

"You're in the Isle of Besaid," Her voice was soft and calming. Her eyes were astonishing. One blue, the other green. It was as if Cloud was in a trance, all he could do was stare at those eyes, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Cloud kicked up and landed on his feet, "I just wasn't expecting an answer."

Where on Earth was Cloud? Never had he heard of a 'Besaid'. If there was a place called Besaid on Gaea surely Cid would know, or maybe he would be able to check. Cloud put his hand in his pocket. No phone, great. Come to think of it, Cloud was in his old SOLDIER 1st class outfit and he had the Buster Sword. What was going on here? Upon examining the girl, she wore very odd clothes especially for this day and age. Where the hell had Cloud ended up?

"Well, I'm glad you're okay. My name's Yuna."

"Cloud." Yuna seemed a little puzzled by Cloud's response and her face morphed into a concerned look.

"Are you sure you're alright? Why are you talking about clouds?"

"Cloud is my name." Cloud chuckled as the young lady's face turned red ever so slightly, that was cute.

"I'm- I'm so sorry! I didn't realise! Please forgive me!"

"Don't worry about it. You're not the first person to make that mistake and you definitely won't be the last."

"Well then, Cloud, why don't I take you to the village? Maybe then you can get some rest and get something to eat, you look awfully tired."

Now that Yuna mentioned it, Cloud did feel pretty tired. Maybe it was because of the mental exhaustion of trying to figure out just where the hell he had found himself. Other than that Cloud was at a stump.

"Sure, lead the way."

!~!

Fiends weren't really a problem on their way to Besaid. Yuna was surprised at how fast Cloud could move that massive sword of his and at how easily he was taking out the fiends on the path. Not even Kimahri was able to take them out at the speed Cloud was.

Cloud wore strange clothes Yuna noticed. It seemed to be some kind of uniform, however it looked like it had been altered. He only wore one pauldron, which seemed like it had been through a lot of wear and tear, on his left shoulder and on his left wrist he wore an unusual, almost mechanical-like bangle. Black leather gloves covered his hands and the belt that wrapped around his waist had an unfamiliar symbol emblazed across it. His blond spikey hair went off in every direction, yet it was surprisingly neat. The main thing she noticed though, besides how nice his face was to look at, was the strange glow in his sky-blue eyes.

"So, Cloud. How did you end up on the beach of Besaid anyway?"

"Don't know," That wasn't a good sign, "to be honest, I don't even know where I am right now. I've never heard of Besaid."

Never heard of Besaid? Sure, it wasn't a very big village, but there was still a temple there. Summoners from all over travelled there to visit the temple and pray to the fayth. It looked like Cloud was in a worse condition than she initially thought. Maybe he was suffering from memory loss, after all he didn't remember how he even got here.

They continued down the twisting and turning path. Less and less fiends were showing up the further they walked. Yuna couldn't tell whether it was because they were getting closer to the village or whether it was because Cloud was scaring them all off.

"Hey Yuna. What are all these ruins?" Cloud asked.

"Oh, they're just old machina ruins. The rumours around the village say that there's lots of treasure hidden in and around them."

"I see," Cloud seemed confused, it was like he was trying to solve a puzzle in his head, "is that the village up ahead?"

"Yes, it is. There's not much here, but it's been my home for 10 years now and all the people are really nice."

"10 years, huh? Where did you live before Besaid?"

"I was born in Bevelle and lived there until I was 8," Again, Cloud had a look of confusion on his face, "after that I met Kimahri Ronso, he took me to Besaid."

"So, that makes you 18 years old?"

"That's right," Yuna twiddled her thumbs a bit before mustering up the courage to ask, "How old are you, Cloud?"

"22." So, there was only a four-year gap between them. Good to know.

At last they had reached the village entrance. Everyone was going about their daily business, shopping, bartering, cooking, the usual stuff. Yuna spotted Lulu heading straight in their direction. She had hoped to slip Cloud through without her noticing, but there was no getting past Lulu.

Lulu's walk swiftly turned into a quick jog and her eyes were fixed on Cloud. Yuna turned to him and saw a noticeable change in his eyes. They were no longer a pair of dreamy inviting eyes, now they emitted anger, hatred and fear. Cloud dropped down onto one knee and eventually his eyes closed as he passed out.

!~!

"Cloud?" What was going on?

"Cloud!?" That voice, that sweet voice could only belong to one person.

"Aerith?"

"Aha! Finally, you answered me! I'm sure you have a lot of questions right now, huh?"

Everything around Cloud was white. The ground was covered in flowers. As far as Cloud could see, there was no end to them. Aerith stood behind him, her back touched his back.

"That girl, the places she spoke about, the things she wore, none of it made sense. What's going on, Aerith?"

"Well, Cloud. Simply put, you're not on Gaea anymore. I sent you to this world, because it needs your help."

"So, where am I? Why does this place need help?"

"This is Spira," Aerith lifted her arms up into the air and stretched, "Spira is plagued. A creature known as 'Sin' runs rampant around the world, killing, destroying, making people suffer. Summoners from all over try to defeat this great creature, some have even succeeded."

"If they've already defeated Sin, why do I need to help?"

"After a summoner defeats Sin, they become a high summoner and the Calm, a time without Sin, begins. The only problem is, upon defeating Sin, the summoner will die. To make things worse, Sin isn't truly defeated. After every Calm it has always come back. The reason I brought you here was to help a certain summoner defeat Sin once and for all, I believe you've already met her."

"Who? Yuna? What difference will it make if I help defeat Sin? Won't it just reappear again? How do I stop it?"

"I can't give you all the answers, but you need to make sure Yuna stays alive."

"What does it have to do with me?"

"More than you think, Cloud. I know you might be having doubts about it, so don't tell anyone about where you're from until you decide whether you want to help or not. Stick around for a few days. Get to know a few of the people then tell me your answer."

"But I-" as Cloud turned to face her the scenery around him started to fade and the white light around him faded into black.

!~!

When Cloud awoke, he found himself laying down on a bed inside of a hut. His shirt and gloves were folded up in a neat pile at the end of the bed, while his boots were on the floor next to it. The Buster Sword was leaning against the wall in the corner of the room. Cloud sat up and noticed there was some resistance.

"Stop! You need to rest!" Yuna was pushing against his chest, trying to get him to lay back down.

"Cute," Cloud chuckled, Yuna's face had turned red again, "Don't worry. Now that I've had a few hours to recover, I should be fine. My body is durable."

Cloud realised that he probably ended up like this because of the mental exhaustion he must've endured after travelling to a different world. Yuna sighed and stopped pushing, realising she wouldn't be able to win.

"Actually Cloud, it's been a few days, not hours," That surprised Cloud, "Me and some of the other women have been watching over you while you recovered."

"Well, I'm feeling a lot better now." Cloud stood up and stretched.

"Really? Then why don't you show me the prayer?"

"Prayer?" Looks like this world was a lot different than Cloud initially thought.

"I knew it! You're suffering from memory loss!" This Yuna was pretty extravagant with her theories, but it was cute, and it would help Cloud blend in without giving the fact that he wasn't from Spira away.

"Actually, now that you mention it, I don't remember anything. Only my name and how to use that sword," Cloud pointed at the Buster Sword and tried to remain in character, "Since I don't remember this prayer, why don't you show me?"

"Alright! Let's go then!" Yuna grabbed Cloud's hand and lead him outside.

"Hey, wait!" Cloud hadn't even gotten his shirt on or his boots yet. She was shorter than him and moving quite fast, Cloud was stumbling a little. As they exited the hut, the bright light of the sun blinded Cloud.

After his eyes had adjusted, Cloud took in his surroundings. The village was small and quaint. He could hear some giggling in the distance. It was coming from a group of women looking in Cloud's direction. What was so funny?

Cloud also saw a woman dressed in black walking towards them. She wore a black dress, with a fur trim along the top, which was very low cut. There were many belts wrapped around her, almost as if the lower half of her dress was made from them. Cloud also noticed the top of a stocking peeking through a gap in the belts on her left thigh.

"Yuna, he should be resting."

"Yes, I know, but-"

"Don't worry, I'm fine." Cloud interrupted Yuna, he didn't want her to get in any unnecessary trouble.

"Well then, Cloud, would you mind telling me how you got here?" The woman dressed in black's voice was cold.

"I'm not sure, it seems I'm suffering from memory loss. How do you even know my name?"

"For a start, most of the women won't shut up about you. Quite frankly, it's annoying," The woman turned to Yuna and continued to speak, "Yuna, it's time for you to practice."

"Oh, that's right! Sorry Cloud, but I must go. Why don't you take a look around the village, maybe it'll help jog your memory speaking to some of the people?" Cloud nodded then turned to the woman in black.

"Since you cheated in learning my name, I think it's only right that you tell me yours." The woman turned her back to Cloud.

"Lulu." She replied as the two walked away from Cloud.

Cloud re-entered the hut where his things were and put on his shirt, gloves and pauldron. Upon examining the Buster Sword, as well as his bangle, he noticed that there was some materia placed in them. Lightning and ice materia were housed in the two slots on the Buster Sword, while a master summon and other supportive materia could be seen in the bangle. An odd combination, but Cloud couldn't complain. Materia had saved him more than once in the past.

Before he left the hut, Cloud thought about where he should go. Most of the places in the village just seemed like housing and shop stalls. The only significant looking building was the temple. Religion must've been important on Spira. Yuna had asked Cloud to show her 'the prayer' almost as if it was common knowledge. Furthermore, she looked very shocked when Cloud didn't know it, that must have meant this religion was important. It looked like Cloud would be visiting the temple first.

As Cloud entered the temple, he could hear a song being sung or rather, a hymn. Perhaps it was something to do with this religion. Whatever it was, Cloud found it calming. He felt as though it was made for this exact purpose.

Four statues of men could be seen further ahead, could these be the high summoners Aerith had told him about? Cloud walked further in and saw a man that looked like a priest, or at least he looked like he was in charge.

"Are you in charge of this temple?" Cloud asked.

"Yes, I am the temple summoner. How are you feeling, my son?"

"I guess you heard about me, huh? Seems I'm suffering from memory loss, I don't really remember much apart from my name. I was hoping you could teach me about this religion, hopefully it'll job my memory."

"Well, that is concerning. However, at least you aren't seriously injured, praise be to Yevon."

"Yevon?" Cloud assumed that was the deity they worshipped.

"Yevon is the name of our religion, named after the great Yu Yevon. He was a summoner that lived in Zanarkand one thousand years ago. While he lived in a time without Sin, life was not so peaceful. He lived in a time of war, between Zanarkand and Bevelle. Both sides used machina, machines, to try and destroy the other, that's when Sin appeared. Many believe that machina was the cause of Sin's appearance, which is why it is forbidden to this day."

"If machina has been made forbidden, why does Sin still come back after it's been defeated?"

"The answer to this is unknown, however it is speculated that once we have atoned from our sins, Sin will eventually disappear forever. If you wish to learn more, there is a library in the temple where you can read about the history of Yevon." Cloud took the old man up on his offer and he was shown to the library.

Cloud decided to read about the four high summoners that were on display. Eventually, he came to the most recent high summoner, Lord Braska. It said here that he travelled with two guardians, Sir Auron and Sir Jecht. Braska and his guardians defeated Sin, resulting in the death of Braska. The current where abouts of Jecht and Auron are unknown.

Reading further it was said that the Calm Braska had brought only lasted for a single year. Even though it was a short peace, Braska brought a time of happiness to Spira, something that they were in desperate need of.

The text continued. A profile of Braska was given that showed details of his life, including a family profile. To Cloud's surprise, it said here that he had a daughter named Yuna. Could that be the same Yuna he had met on Besaid? It must've been, she said that she was from Bevelle originally and it also said on the text that Braska was from Bevelle. So, Yuna was the daughter of high summoner Braska? That's a big name to live up to.

Suddenly, screams of panic could be heard coming from the outside of the temple. Cloud stood up and immediately ran outside. A giant, sludge type fiend had somehow made its way to the village and was causing mayhem. He had seen this type of fiend on the road towards Besaid, but they were much smaller than this one.

As Cloud got closer, he noticed Yuna, Lulu and a ginger haired man trying to fight it. Yuna was trying her best to support the other two by healing them, using what looked like a cure spell. Lulu was casting black magic elemental spells at the fiend, however they seemed rather ineffective. The ginger haired man was throwing an oddly shaped ball at the creature, which was able to swat it away easily every time it came in. Cloud walked up to the three of them slowly.

"Cloud!" Yuna exclaimed.

"Hey, you shouldn't be here, ya! Look for somewhere safe to hide!" The ginger man said to Cloud, did he not see the giant sword on his back?

"Don't worry, I'll take care of this." Cloud responded as he drew the Buster Sword and took a fighting stance.

Cloud leaped forward and a highly powerful ice spell was launched at him. Quickly, he readjusted his body position and moved out of the way by hopping from his right foot to his left foot. With great speed he continued his frontal assault, dodging each spell as they came at him. When he was in range, Cloud wasted no time and immediately unleashed a flurry of attacks that made the fiend screech in pain. Cloud stepped back and unleashed his braver attack, which ultimately resulted in the fiend's defeat. With the job finished, Cloud put the Buster Sword back on his back.

"WOAHHH! Dat was amazing, ya," The red head exclaimed; Cloud just smirked in response, "Nice to meet ya brudda! I'm Wakka, coach and captain of the Besaid Aurochs. I'm also a part-time guardian for Yuna."

"Cloud."

"That's his name! Unconnected to the clouds in the sky!" Yuna followed up with a smile and a giggle. She really could be cute when she wanted to.

"Thanks for the help, although it wasn't necessary." Lulu was as cold as ever.

"Aww, come on! Don't be like that Lu!" Lulu looked at Wakka like she was going to kill him.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Her voice was cold and stern, scary.

"Cya again Cloud, ya?" Wakka said as he ran over to a group of men, all of them seemed to be wearing the same uniform. Some kind of sports team? Lulu also walked away, seemingly to calm everyone in the village down.

"So, how'd I do?" Cloud turned to Yuna taking his infamous SOLDIER pose.

"Great! But I do wish you wouldn't jump in so recklessly. Did you even know what kind of attacks that flan would throw at you?"

"Sometimes you just need to go for it. It all worked out in the end anyway, right?" Cloud shrugged.

"I guess, but still. What if you got hurt?" Cloud laughed at Yuna's comment, which made her fold her arms and pout.

"You care that much about a stranger? You really are a dummy," Cloud placed his hand on top of Yuna's head and smiled at her, "but don't get me wrong, that's not such a bad thing."

Yuna seemed flustered and her cheeks had gone red. She seemed at a loss for words, as she stuttered and stumbled across her words. Cloud smirked.

"I think it's about time you taught me this prayer," Cloud patted her head once and began walking past her, "you coming?"

"Yes!"

They had made their way to the hut, where Cloud had woken up from. Both laughed and joked as Yuna showed him all the various prayers that the people of Yevon had to know. Cloud managed to get the basic one right, but the others were too complex for him to remember. He didn't really believe in all this stuff anyway; he was just trying to fit in and act like a regular citizen of Spira.

"Hey, Yuna. What's this?" Cloud asked picking up an object that looked like a ball cut in half.

"It's a sphere, it's used for recording and viewing those recordings."

"But I thought machina was forbidden?"

"There are exceptions. Most of the forbidden machina are things like weapons, things like spheres are more acceptable."

Cloud wasn't convinced by this religion one bit. There's no way the use of machina could cause something like Sin to be created, something more must've been at play here. The fact that some machina was allowed, further helped Cloud make up his mind. Why would the type of machina make a difference? He wasn't buying it.

Before the pair knew it, the sun had set, and the stars were out.

"So, what's with Lulu and Wakka?" Cloud asked Yuna.

"What do you mean?"

"The tension between them, couldn't you feel it?"

"Oh! Yes, but it's always like that at times. They get along really."

"Any reason for that?" Yuna shifted her feet when Cloud asked his question.

"I don't think it's my place to say."

"Fair enough."

!~!

Cloud had awoken to the sounds of screaming. He ran outside and drew his sword. Another fiend, the same kind as last time, had found its way into the village. Unlike last time though, Yuna and her friends seemed more prepared. There was also one other person with them. If Cloud had to describe them, he would only need two words. Blue Nanaki.

This blue Nanaki stood on two legs, unlike Cloud's Nanaki, and he wielded a large spear. It looked like he knew how to use it as well. With Lulu countering the spells of the fiend with her own and Wakka distracting it with his ball, the blue Nanaki was able to get in close and slash away. Before Cloud knew it, the fight was already over before he even got there.

"I told you we didn't need your help." Lulu said to Cloud as he approached them.

"I guess you did. But it seems like you needed his help." Cloud teased. Wakka and Yuna shared a look of horror as they interrupted the conversation and changed the topic as fast as they could.

"This is Kimahri Ronso, he's one of my guardians. Remember, I told you about how he brought me to Besaid. He's not much of a speaker, so I wouldn't try saying anything."

"I'll keep that in mind," Cloud scratched the back of his head and looked at the group, "so, you're all Yuna's guardians? Are there anymore?"

"No brudda. It's just us, ya," Wakka turned to face Yuna, "By the way, Yuna. Temple summoner says he needs to speak with you about something, says it's urgent."

"Thanks for letting me know Wakka." Yuna waved goodbye to Cloud and headed for the temple along with Kimahri and Lulu.

Cloud had returned to the hut where he gathered some items. Nothing fancy, just a few potions and ethers. As he made his way back outside, he was confronted by Wakka.

"Hey, where you goin'?"

"That's the second day in a row that fiend has made its way to the village. There must be a nest, right?" Cloud replied as he walked past the ginger hair man.

"And what exactly are you gonna do when you find it?"

"I'm gonna destroy the source, obviously." Cloud continued to walk as Wakka followed closely behind him.

"You're really gonna go do that all on your own?"

"That was the plan."

"Well, I'm comin' too, ya!" The two had stopped walking at this point and Wakka had his hands on his hips and had puffed out his chest. Cloud stood there for a moment and looked at him.

"No thanks." He replied as he turned around and continued walking.

"What!? Hey, slow down," Wakka ran to catch up to Cloud, "I'm not taking no for an answer! I'm gonna follow you wherever you go, no matter what you say! This is my village, ya? I want to help protect it too."

Those last few words resonated with Cloud. He too at one time wanted to protect his hometown, but he couldn't do it.

"Fine," Cloud had given in, "just don't get in the way."

"Alright! Let's get going, Bubby!"

"Please don't make that a thing."

"Hahahahaha, too late brudda!"

!~!

Wakka had led Cloud to a cave where the fiends were most likely coming from. Water dripped from above and echoed throughout the cave. They had come across some fiends, but there was no sign of the big guys yet.

"You sure this is the place?"

"This is the only place it could be, ya."

As they continued further into the cave, the fiends were becoming noticeably more difficult. It looked like they were on the right track after all, but something was on Cloud's mind. Last night, Yuna seemed a bit uncomfortable when he asked about Wakka and Lulu. She had told him to ask them about it, now seemed as good a time as any.

"Hey, Wakka? What's the deal with you and Lulu? She seemed awfully cold towards you the other day."

"I figured you'd ask about that, ya," Wakka didn't look at Cloud as he spoke, "I guess it was about a year ago now, my younger brother, Chappu, joined the crusaders. The crusaders are a military group dedicated to fighting Sin, I don't know what they're thinking. Anyway, Chappu, he- he passed away while fightin' for the crusaders. He was meant to marry Lulu, but he never got the chance to propose. Lu can be cold towards anyone these days, especially me. I'm the captain of the team he played for after all, not to mention he was my younger brother. She isn't over his death yet, but she isn't like that all the time."

"Everyone deals with death in their own way, I can't really blame her." In light of this new information, Lulu actually reminded Cloud of himself.

"She'll pull through eventually, one of these days."

The two ventured deeper into the cave. They were still easily managing to take out the fiends, that was when they reached the end of the cave.

"Huh? A dead-end!?" Wakka exclaimed.

"Look closer," Cloud pointed at a gap in the wall that had light shining through it, "looks like we'll have to squeeze through there."

"You gotta be kiddin' me." Wakka sighed.

"Stop whining and let's go."

Cloud was the first to go. As he made it through to the other side, he was perplexed by what he saw. A mako fountain? It was only small, but Cloud recognised that it was similar to the one on Mount Nibel. That explained why and how the fiends got so strong, they were being infused with mako.

"Hey, what do you see!?" Wakka shouted as he was midway through the gap.

"Just some strange liquid, never seen it before," Cloud lied, "I think it might be the cause though."

"Awight! Then all we gotta do is plug it up!"

"I'll take care of it," Cloud walked up to the fountain, however before he could do anything, he heard a noise, "Heads up!"

A giant mutated fiend leaped out of nowhere and attacked Cloud. Fortunately for him he had anticipated it and had already drawn the Buster Sword enabling him to block the attack. The fiend looked like a giant wolf that had wings on its back, it seemed to be a fusion of two supercharged fiends.

Cloud took a defensive approach to analyse how it fought. After blocking a few strikes, he was able to tell that it generated most of its power by using its wings to thrust forward.

"Wakka, keep it busy!" Cloud ordered as he rolled out of the way of a bite attack.

Wakka nodded and span his ball around on his finger. The ball lit up and electricity began to surround it. He dropped the ball and volleyed it straight at the fiend. The result; a direct hit to the face. It growled and foamed at the mouth, baring its teeth at Wakka. Meanwhile, Cloud had made his way to a wall where he pushed against it with his feet to generate more force. He flew through the air and sliced his sword through one of the fiend's wings. Immediately, he jumped against another wall and took out the other wing.

"Nice one, Bubby!" Wakka shouted as he gave Cloud a thumbs up.

Just then, the fiend's body began to change. Its skin began to dissolve, and it was replaced by a strange sludge type substance, similar to the flan. Cloud swung his sword straight through one of its legs, no good. The leg seemed to regenerate in an instant.

"What the hell is this?"

"I thought you were the expert, Bubby!?"

"Tch, so what's your brilliant plan, genius?" Cloud responded sarcastically.

Wakka smirked and did a similar attack to earlier, only this time it was ice that appeared around his ball rather than lightning. Cloud liked his thinking. He had seen Lulu use magic, so that meant Cloud could use his materia. He launched a flurry of ice and lightning spells at the fiend. After overwhelming it with a combination of Wakka's elemental ball attacks and Cloud's magic, the fiend was defeated.

"Hey, you never told me you could use magic, ya!"

"Neither did you," Wakka seemed confused by Cloud's statement, "the ball attacks."

"That ain't magic! That's just a technique I've developed over time."

"Whatever let's just plug this up," Cloud walked up to the mako fountain and sealed it using his ice magic. Why and how did this even get here? He'd have to ask Aerith about this, "come on, let's get out of here."

!~!

Cloud and Wakka had returned to the village just as the sun beginning to set. Wakka said he needed to take care of some things at the temple and made his way there. As Cloud made his way back to the hut he was staying in, he noticed Yuna standing in the centre of the village. Her arms were folded, and she was staring at Cloud.

"Where have you been!?"

"Me and Wakka were taking care of the fiend problem you guys seemed to have."

"You went without the rest of us!? That was reckless! You could've at least told us where you were going as well!" Cloud's lips flickered. He covered his mouth and turned away as he began chuckling to himself. Yuna struggled, but she couldn't stop herself from joining in with the laughter.

"Dummy," Cloud tapped her on her head, "but seriously, you don't need to worry so much. I can handle myself."

"I guess you're right, but even so, I can't help it."

"Lady Yuna! Come play with us some more!" Cloud and Yuna were interrupted by a small child. There were more of them waiting a few metres back too. Yuna knelt down and nodded at the child who ran back to the group in excitement.

"I'll leave you to it. Don't get into too much trouble," Cloud said as he walked past her. Before leaving, he looked back and smirked at her, "or else I'll have to come rescue you again."

Yuna had made her way over to the group of children, they were all whispering and giggling about something.

"Hey, Lady Yuna! Who was that man?" One of them asked.

"He washed up onto the shore of the beach, his name is Cloud." Yuna replied.

"Yeah, yeah! I saw him yesterday! He beat up that huuuuge monster with his cool sword!" Another said.

"Hey, hey! Is he your boyfriend? Do you love him!?" Yuna's face was turning bright red, she could feel her cheeks burning up.

"Well, I, uh- n, no. He isn't my boyfriend or anything like that!"

"Why is your face so red, Lady Yuna?"

"H, hey! I thought you wanted me to play some games with you?" Lucky for Yuna, she was able to change the topic quickly and easily. She found it awkward talking about things like love, it embarrassed her. Now that she was thinking about it, did she like Cloud? She had only just met him, it's not like she was in love or anything. He was nice to look at though. No, she had a job to do. Yuna didn't have time for things like this, her mission was to defeat Sin.

!~!

As morning came, Cloud gathered his things and started making his way out of the village. Yuna had spotted him from a far.

"Wait, Cloud! Where are you going?"

"I thought I'd go check out those ruins you told me about." Yuna breathed a sigh of relief, she thought he was going to leave the island.

"Let me come with you!" She demanded; Cloud just smirked.

"Don't you have training to do?"

"Not today! So please, let me come!" This girl wasn't taking no for an answer. Cloud sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Fine, let's get going." He eventually said, which made Yuna beam up. Cloud had already started walking, Yuna ran to catch up and walked by his side.

The two had made it to the ruins. Yuna put herself to use and scouted the area for treasure. Whenever she found something, she informed Cloud and allowed him to do the physical work of actually getting it. She had spotted treasure in all kinds of places, under the bridge and inside small crevices. Cloud had begun climbing one of the towers.

"Hey, don't fall behind!" He shouted down to Yuna.

She too started climbing up. Yuna wondered how Cloud made it look so easy, she was having a tough time getting up there. Noticing this, Cloud climbed back down to her.

"Here, jump on my back. I'll carry you up."

"Th-thanks." Yuna blushed as she climbed on Cloud's back. He had taken a hold of his sword to give her room to hold on.

As they got to the top, Cloud lowered himself down so that Yuna could get off, but she didn't want to get off. She was enjoying herself too much, the feeling of his strong back, the way she could rest her head on his shoulder, it just felt too good.

"Can I… stay up here?"

"Seriously?" Cloud sighed, "fine. But you better be the best treasure finder I've ever seen."

By the time the pair got back to the village, they were both covered in dirt and their clothes were stained. Thankfully for Cloud, the inn he was staying at offered a cleaning service.

Yuna ran up to Lulu and showed her the bag of goodies she had accumulated on her adventure. It was the first time he saw Lulu smile, there was even a hint of a laugh there. The two women exchanged some words and Yuna headed towards the temple.

"Thank you, you made her really happy today. Maybe I misjudged you."

"Well, she's got such a kind heart. I thought I should return the favour. That smile suits you, you should use it more often."

"Don't push your luck," Lulu paused for a moment, "if Yuna's happy, then I'm happy. So, I thank you for that."

Cloud didn't get a chance to reply, Lulu had already started making her way to the temple.

"Yo! Bubby! Come here!"

"Oh great." Cloud muttered to himself as Wakka called for him. He was stood with those people again; they all wore that same uniform.

"Let me introduce you to the team, ya?" Wakka had already started introducing them before Cloud even had a chance to say anything, "so, Bubby, how are ya at Blitz may I ask?"

"Blitz?"

"Oh, right. You still got that memory loss thing goin' on? Alright! Then I'll teach you, ya!"

Wakka began teaching Cloud about 'Blitzball' as he called it, his team was called the Besaid Aurochs. From his understanding it was a five aside ball game played in a water sphere. The rules seemed quite simple, but he wasn't sure how the players held their breath for so long. For Cloud it was easy, but that was only because of the help of the mako in his blood.

"How do you guys breath underwater for so long?"

"We don't, ya? The pyreflies allow us to breathe underwater." Wakka explained. Cloud didn't really know what pyreflies were, but he didn't want to ask. He'd already asked so many questions and he didn't want to appear completely clueless, even though that was exactly the case. He would have to read up on them at some point.

!~!

"So, what do you think? You still want out of here?" Cloud found himself back in the field of flowers, Aerith's soft voice passing through his ears.

"I guess, I'll stick around."

"Heehee, I knew you would. I'll present myself to Yuna when she prays tomorrow and explain the situation."

"Thanks," Cloud paused for a moment and turned to Aerith, "I found a mako fountain the other day, any idea what a mako fountain is doing on Spira?"

"Sorry, Cloud. I can't-"

"-tell me, yeah, yeah," Cloud sighed, "I guess I'll find out soon enough anyway."

"Well, this is goodbye, for now at least. Take care of yourself, Cloud."

"Yeah, you too."

!~!

"Wake!"

"Up!"

"Time!"

"For!"

"Training!"

Cloud awoke to the noise of Wakka and the rest of the Aurochs. His head throbbed from all the noise and he groaned. Cloud found himself having to use all of his will power to stop himself from hitting all five of them on the head.

"Do you have any idea what time it is!?"

"6am Brudda! You promised us last night that you would train with us today!" Wakka laughed.

"I'm gonna knock your heads off." Cloud grumbled under his breath as he slowly got up.

"What was that, Bubby?"

"Nothing, let's just do it."

Cloud was surprised at how intense the session was when Wakka described it to him. A 20-minute warm up, followed by a 40-minute circuit and after that, 1 hour of blitzing drills. The fun didn't stop there though. The last part of the session would be a 2-hour endurance run. These guys put in a massive shift; Cloud respected that.

"Hey! Come on, Bubby! You can do more squats than that!"

"I'm already doing more than you!" Wakka just laughed at Cloud.

After finishing the blitz drills, they had moved onto the running. Wakka had told them to run laps around the village. Cloud had already lapped the Aurochs 10 times as they approached the hour mark. It was at times like this he was glad to have the assistance of mako.

With 15 minutes left to go, Cloud had noticed Yuna coming out of the temple. She seemed to be having a heated discussion with Lulu, whatever it was Lulu looked like she caved in and accepted whatever Yuna was talking about. During this time their training session had come to an end.

"Well done boys! Make sure you stretch off!" Cloud had already started stretching before Wakka even said anything.

"Wakka!" Yuna called for Wakka and motioned him to come to them. Again, they seemed to be having a heated discussion, although this time it wasn't as intense, and it didn't last as long. This time it was Lulu who did the convincing and eventually the three seemed to agree on something. They all started walking towards Cloud, Yuna seemed nervous about something.

"Cloud, can we, um, talk to you about something?" Yuna asked. Cloud just nodded.

"You're a powerful warrior, anyone is able to see that much." Lulu said.

"And you seem to care about Yuna, somewhat." Wakka continued. They both turned to Yuna, who was looking at the floor and twiddling her thumbs.

"What is it, Yuna?" Cloud asked.

"I-" Yuna looked up at Cloud, her eyes looking straight into his, "I would like you, to be my guardian!"

Recently been inspired by all the new FF7 Remake trailers, so I thought I'd make a remake of my own! Looking back, I'm not happy with how Cloud in The New World turned out, so hopefully this remake will fix that! Be sure favourite and follow! And don't forget to leave a review!