A/N: Timestamp 3/24/16, quote by me, "Hopefully it won't take another 6 years to write chapter 3 holy crap"

Well uh. It wasn't 6 years?

Enjoy. I retconned that Denzel is 8 during this time (1 year after Meteor), not 9. Very important change. Idk why I thought he was 9 lmao. Sorry if my writing sounds way different between chapters I have no patience to go back and rewrite stuff.

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Cloud Is Not A Father Haha… Unless?

After a few days of rest, Denzel was well enough to get out of bed and join the family in their antics. His head still hurt, but the gross gooey discharge hadn't come back. He knew it probably would, but hopefully not as badly.

He knew people always got worse. There wasn't a cure. He was sick, and it was going to keep getting worse until his head split open and bled black all over the place. Probably.

He tried not to think about it.

He didn't feel horrible, yet. So he figured as long as he didn't feel like he was dying, then he wasn't yet. Marlene was really enthusiastic about helping him get better, and he didn't want her to be sad. She believed that if he kept trying, he would get better, so he decided to try anyway. Even if it didn't help in the end.

Tifa said if he rested that he would be okay, just like every other sickness. She was always worrying over him, and he didn't want her to worry, but… it felt nice. It kinda felt like he had a mom again. It felt too good to be true, but she said she wanted him to stay. She wanted him there, and so did Marlene. So he would stay, because what possible reason could he have to leave?

Cloud was.. nice, too. He mostly looked shy, but Denzel understood that. He was shy too, so he didn't bother Cloud. Marlene said that Cloud was usually really busy and never around, but he stayed home a lot lately. He didn't talk a lot, but when Tifa was gone Cloud always came to check on him and Marlene. Denzel knew he cared about them, but he was just… shy. He was more like a big brother, and Denzel liked that, too.

Marlene was less forgiving of Cloud's shyness though, and she pulled him along to play with them sometimes. Denzel was drawing with Marlene on the floor of their room when she went to get glasses of milk for them and came back dragging Cloud by the hand, begging him to join them. Cloud stumbled in behind her, protesting and saying that she was going to make him spill her milk, which sloshed dangerously in her cup. The next minute, Cloud was sitting cross legged on their floor, attempting to draw a dragon for them.

Marlene said AVALANCHE had fought a dragon before, so he would definitely know what it looked like. Cloud said no, he definitely did not fight a dragon. Zack did that, and it was much too powerful for him. That led to a short explanation of who Zack was (Cloud didn't say very much, and Denzel didn't press him) and who AVALANCHE were. Denzel couldn't really picture everyone Marlene was describing, but he hoped he wouldn't have to meet Marlene's dad any time soon. Marlene said he was like a big teddy bear, but Cloud said he was loud and had a gun in place of his arm! He sounded scary. Cloud reassured him and said Barret was strong and a good man, just like everyone else on AVALANCHE. They protected the Planet, so they would never hurt him.

Denzel didn't really care what Cloud was—whether a dad or a brother—he was just glad Cloud was there. They were a family. He had a family again.

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After Meteor fell, Cloud latched onto the first livelihood that would support him and Tifa, and anyone else he could help. That ended up being shipping goods all over the continent using a shitty motorcycle he found in an alley amidst the Midgar rubble. He spent most of his free time tinkering with the bike, figuring out how it worked and working with mechanics to see if he couldn't make something better. It was all he could do after the world had ended just to focus on his deliveries and learning how a motorcycle worked.

He felt like if he just tried, he could have done more. But every time he considered going out and searching for people to help—for orphans that could use directions to loving homes, or people starving in the streets that could have a hot meal if they only knew where to look, if Cloud went and told them because he had a bike and could do that if he just tried—he felt all the energy bleed from his veins and his mind seize up, thoughts spiralling around and around telling him that it was pointless, he couldn't help anyway, people didn't want him getting in their business anyway.

It was easier to just wait for Tifa to give him orders she received when people found out about their fledgling company. People came to him, and he never refused an order if he could help it. And in his spare time he worked on his bike, trying to figure out the wires and the tubes and slowly learning how to maintain something complicated for once in his life. It kept his mind off of all the things he couldn't change, all the people he couldn't save, the nightmares he had frequently of Sephiroth returning again to tear everything that he loved away, the fear that nothing he remembered or felt was even real because he'd made it up to avoid thinking about something else—

He took a deep breath, and let it out slow. He focused on the reflections in the polished metal of his bike in front of him, and the static in his head started to fade. His heartbeat pounded in his ears, but it faded as well and he remembered what he was doing with the wrench in his hand.

He didn't want to think about Zack. But… he also wanted to remember. He hated thinking about his friend because that ultimately led to the horrible memory of the clifftop fight, but he did want to think about the good memories he knew would resurface if he just tried. He wrestled with his feelings and ultimately fell back on his usual coping mechanism: just focusing on the man's smile. He couldn't formulate any coherent memories surrounding the smile, but the picture was something he could never forget. When the swirls of guilt and inadequacy threatened to take him over again, he just had to calm down, remember Zack's smile, and keep working.

It was hard. Tifa worried a lot. But if he even tried to step out of his routine, he'd slip off the deep end again, he knew it. He just had to keep moving until things got easier. Whenever that would be. Time healed wounds, right?

It had yet to heal any wounds.

He tightened the bolt he was working on and gave that negativity one final push. He told himself he was going to be better around the kids. He had to be better, for them. He wasn't Marlene's dad, or Denzel's really, but they depended on him. They didn't need him breaking down and running off to the church for days on end, as much as he wanted that.

His head was too full, all the time it seemed. He just had to keep moving, and eventually it would stop hurting so badly. Maybe. He flipped the wrench around in his fingers absently, searching for anything else he could tinker with, and he noticed the side door open behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and raised his eyebrows at the little boy standing there. "Denzel? You feelin' alright?"

Denzel nodded. "Yeah. Tifa went out with Marlene."

"Ah," Cloud murmured. He should probably spend more time inside, even if he'd rather not. The day slipped by when he was alone, nothing but his own thoughts as obstacles between him and nighttime's unconsciousness. If he went inside, he'd have to talk to people and not look like a headcase. He sighed. "So it's just you? Guess you're stuck with me for a while." He tried not to show how averse he was to that, since that wasn't entirely true. He liked being around the kids. He just wished he knew what the hell he was doing, ever.

Denzel nodded again. "You're working on your bike?"

Cloud blinked, then nodded. "Gotta keep it maintained. I like it nice and lubricated, everything pristine." He hesitated. "Wanna watch?"

Denzel's face lit up. Great, good choice. Cloud filed that away for future reference. Denzel spoke excitedly, "Can I help at all?"

Cloud nodded and motioned for the boy to join him, kneeling beside the bike. "I'm almost done, but I can show you what I did."

He went through his normal routine of what he did after every ride, then went into detail about the newest repair he made, hoping the kid wouldn't lose interest. Denzel's eyes never lost their shine, though, even if Cloud didn't think it was that interesting. He had only learned how to maintain his bike so he could go places, and so he could spend time doing something other than polish his swords. He went into more detail about other parts he wanted to replace once he got enough money, slowly turning the shitty alley bike he found into a custom masterpiece. He felt a little proud. He felt his bad mood slink away into the back of his mind as he focused on the rapt attention of an eight-year-old who for some reason thought he was the coolest person on the Planet.

He paused in his explanation, suddenly feeling adventurous. "Hey. Wanna ride it?"

Denzel actually gasped. "Really!?"

Cloud smirked. "Yeah. With me, of course. I don't think you could reach the footpegs. Let's go before Tifa comes back and stops us, huh?"

The overjoyed look on Denzel's face was enough to banish Cloud's thoughts entirely. Denzel had been so quiet and reserved, but to Cloud's relief, Denzel was still a child and could be excited by the prospect of doing something foolish and daring (in the hands of an amateur maybe, but Cloud was an expert driver and Tifa would live). He helped Denzel up onto his bike like he had weeks before when he had just found the boy, made sure he was hanging on tight, and turned out into the city, headed for the highway.

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"That was so fun, can we do it again soon!?" Denzel laughed, stumbling on unsteady legs before Cloud caught him.

"Hey, careful," Cloud said. "Tell Tifa I was careful and obeyed the speed limit, and she'll probably be fine with it."

Denzel grinned and looked around the bike, examining it some more. He seemed to be feeling just fine these days, not too weak to be a kid. "Hey, what are these for?" Denzel pointed to the compartments at the front of the bike. Cloud's swords were in his room at the moment, so Denzel wouldn't know they were housed there usually.

"You know my sword, the one with all the pieces?" Cloud asked. "I keep them on my bike to fight monsters out on deliveries." He got out a rag to wipe the dust off his bike and got to work.

Denzel's mouth dropped open. "You fight monsters? Oh yeah, Marlene said you help protect the Planet. Are there things trying to hurt the Planet?"

Cloud frowned, thinking for a moment. "No, not those monsters. They're just… out there. I don't think there are any more big threats to the Planet out there anymore."

"But it's still dangerous," Denzel said. "Aren't you scared?"

Cloud gave a short chuckle. "Nah. The monsters aren't that scary. I'm too fast for them to attack me, most of the time."

"Are you strong?" Denzel's eyes peered up at him in wonder.

"You'd probably think so, yeah."

Denzel put his arms up in the air. "Lift me up, show me how strong you are!"

Cloud quirked an eyebrow, then sighed and tossed the rag aside, resigning himself to humoring a child. "Grab onto my arm." He put his arm outso Denzel could grab onto his bicep, then lifted the child into the air effortlessly.

"Whoa! You only need one arm!?"

"You're not very big. Tifa can probably lift you with one arm, too."

"Wow, really!?"

Suddenly, Marlene burst through the door. "You're lifting!? Me too, me too!"

Soon, Cloud was swinging two children around on his arms, and Tifa was yelling at him to be careful and not throw them. Denzel asked Tifa if she could lift him with one arm too, and she reluctantly joined the shenanigans. She couldn't lose to Cloud, after all.

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A/N: This is short! I'm trying to update a bunch of fics that have been sitting for years, since I have joined the Covid quarantine world. I'm being paid to write fanfiction and not get people sick. Nice.

If you have anything you wanna see in this, drop it in the comments. I don't have a lot planned, so suggestions are welcome!