Quick Note: In this, Sephiroth, Jenova, and the Cetra do not exist. More explanation in the ending A/N.

Silence followed him, broken only by the wind which whipped past his clothes, causing the assortment of cloth, leather, and metal buckles to lightly ripple and clash against each other. Blond hair swayed as the man stood on the desert cliff which gave him the perfect view of the decaying metropolis that towered proudly amongst the dead land. The magnificent, repulsive, depressing Midgar, surely the modern day equivalent of a kingdom, burned Cloud Strife with too many memories, some fairly pleasant, others not so much, to put it lightly. Parts of his journey had begun there on that day, two years ago. It felt like such a long time ago, yet Cloud could remember it easily and clearly as if it happened mere days past.

He, Barret, Biggs, Wedge, and Jesse had blown up the Mako Reactor in Sector 1, and that was what had started the chain of events which all too soon changed Midgar and parts of the world. In the Shinra Electric Power Company's attempt to fight back against AVALANCHE and continue to take over the world with Mako, numerous lives, including the president's and several important members', were lost. The former glory of the Midgar Plate was reduced to the Edge, though the Slums did not undergo change as drastic compared to everywhere else.

He was brooding too much again. It was something he did more and more often as the time went by, especially as most of his friends had begun to settle down in Edge.

Turning away from the smoggy remains of the city, Cloud mounted Fenrir, opening the compartments and giving all of his sword pieces a quick look-over before starting the motorbike up and setting off towards the Chocobo Farm to complete his delivery.

The grating noises of the engine and the tires speeding across the earth were not loud enough to drown out Cloud's thoughts, and they came back with a vengeance.

At the time, it seemed right for him to fight alongside AVALANCHE to stop the Shinra Company, but as he continued to muse on the subject, he was questioning if it was really the best way. Of course, if Shinra had continued to use their Mako reactors to make fuel and spread all around the world, the entire Planet's lifeblood would have been drained to the point where nothing would ever survive. In short, it would have been the end of the world, and it would have been far too late to save it. Cloud was willing to help AVALANCHE for the greater good, but he had never anticipated so many lives being lost in the process.

Bombing the Sector 1 Reactor didn't only affect the parasitical machine. The explosion killed a lot of nearby people in the process, but that was only the start. Biggs, Wedge, and Jesse were long gone in the struggle; the Sector 7 Slums and Plate were gone along with those who did not make it out in time; President Shinra had been assassinated by Cloud in vain, as Rufus Shinra immediately came to take over; Heidegger, Palmer, Scarlet, and Hojo were gone as well; even more innocent lives were taken at the final battle between AVALANCHE, SOLDIER, and the Weapons which had been unintentionally awakened. Diamond Weapon did the most amount of damage to Midgar; it had reached the city and destroyed most of the Plate before Shinra had been able to use the Mako cannon to destroy the ancient creature. Sapphire, Ruby, Emerald, and Ultima were later destroyed as well, though with much difficulty and time. To this day, Cloud believed it was nothing short of a miracle for it to have even been possible, let alone done.

Fenrir practically glided along the paths, speeding onward past Kalm. Cloud adjusted his goggles a little and upped the speed, occasionally swerving to dodge a monster or two. He made no stops, and as the sky darkened and the sun began to set, he nearly cursed. He gunned the engine, not slowing down until the farm came into view. Finding a safe area to park, he turned off the bike, silencing it and causing the panicking chocobos to eye him warily, most with their feathers still puffed up in fear.

Guiltily, Cloud took the package and approached the edge of the large wooden pen, sticking out a hand. He waited until a chocobo approached him. The bird lightly touched his hand with its beak, and, to apologize, Cloud pet it, running his hand along the beak and moving upwards to ruffle the feathers on its head. The bird let out a quiet wark, and he stepped away to enter the barn and complete his delivery.

Cloud spared no small talk after the package was delivered and he was paid. Exiting the house, he saw little daylight left and estimated that he could just barely make it to Kalm. He debated over whether he should risk it or not when he heard a male voice behind him.

Jumping a little in shock, he turned around sharply to see a cloaked figure, their face completely hidden.

"It has been a while," the stranger said.

Cloud didn't reply. He gave the stranger a look, waiting to see if he would say any more.

"I've been wanting to see you again for so long."

Uncomfortable, Cloud replied, "Who are you?" He inched back towards Fenrir, but the stranger didn't move.

"Don't you remember me?"

This man was insane. Had to be. Cloud mounted Fenrir, took out the base of Tsurugi for intimidation and defensive purposes, and turned the engine on, causing several chocobos to wark loudly in fear.

"I've never seen you before in my entire life!" the blond yelled loud enough for the stranger to hear before driving away. Not looking back, he put all of his concentration on heading towards Kalm before it got too dark, slicing anything and everything that got in his way.

He was saddened. Cloud, the one he had been looking for for two years, thought him a stranger. He fingered the vial safely tucked away into his cloak, wondering if he would really succeed. He shook his head to clear the thoughts of doubt.

It took him too long to find Cloud again, and his time was short. He was not going to lose the blond, even if it cost him his life.

When he finally arrived at the peaceful town, he just realized how hard he was breathing. He didn't know when he had started panting, but he had to try a little to consciously bring his normal breathing pattern back.

He mentally slapped himself as he stowed Fenrir away and strode up to the bar. There was no need for him to be afraid. It was just some creeper that wanted to get under his skin for whatever sick reason.

The Kalm bar was sparsely occupied when near closing time, which Cloud found to his liking. He took a seat more towards the end of the table, two seats to the right away from an older man who appeared completely smashed and one seat to the left of a young woman who Cloud had a feeling was underage. He ordered something light, not wanting to go overboard while nowhere near home, though the abandoned church in the Sector 6 Slums really didn't count as a home. He nearly snickered at that. An abandoned church which a giant hole in the roof as a home. He really had something wrong with him for choosing that over Seventh Heaven in Edge.

The bartender popped the top off of his drink and passed it to him after Cloud paid for it. The blond brought it to his lips and down a third of it, watching from the corner of his eye as the girl next to him huffed when asked for a valid ID. She dug her hand into her cleavage and presented it to the bartender semi angrily. The wasted man on the other side of Cloud fell out of his seat and clumsily brought himself back up to a half-standing position, drunkenly wobbling out of the tavern.

Cloud sneaked a peek at the clock on the wall and at the bar's hours. Only half an hour until closing time. He nursed his drink, dragging the moment out and making it last until he had to leave to book a room at the inn. Nobody else entered the bar, and the few people inside began to trickle out. Soon, it was only him, the bartender, the promiscuously dressed woman, and someone who sat at the very end. Cloud took another drink before he heard the sound of sliding. He looked down to find a sealed bottle in front of him. He eyed it with suspicion, discovering it was enough vodka to knock him off his ass if he were to drain even a few swallows of it. Slowly, he looked towards the right, past the now drunk woman, and saw the cloaked figure once again.

Relatively good humor gone, Cloud pushed the drink away, not trusting it for two reasons. One: it had not been purchased directly from the bartender. He knew the bartender always unsealed the drinks before handing them out. Two: it was a pitiful and poorly concealed plan to knock him unconscious so he could be taken advantage of.

He was disgusted, yet he was also intrigued and slightly afraid. What did this person want from him? He was absolutely sure that it was the same person, but how he had been able to follow Cloud so quickly without him noticing was beyond the blond. Casually, he passed the drink back to the stranger, staring him down and very nearly forgetting about his own drink. He waited there again, watching the other for any movement whatsoever.

He smiled softly under his cloak, pushing the sealed drink back to Cloud. He missed the blond and his mannerisms. His memories brought visuals of smiles, pouts, frowns... They weren't enough. Memories were dull pictures compared to the real thing sitting near him. He cursed the serpent for taking it all away from him. He cursed the limits on being a Guest of the lower world.

Cloud looked disgusted as he lifted the transformed vial and put it down. The Guest began to doubt himself again. Perhaps that wasn't a good choice to persuade the blond to drink the liquid?

The mortal woman was shooed out of the bar by the bartender before he and Cloud were more politely asked to leave. Taking the untouched bottle of liquor, he trailed after the blond, following him to the Kalm inn.

"I'm sorry, all of our rooms are booked," the lady at the desk said, genuinely apologetic.

Cloud cursed under his breath. Just his luck. He was at least grateful that he brought camping equipment with him wherever he went. He was just about to turn around to leave when he bumped into the stranger yet again.

"He can take my room," the cloaked figure declared.

Cloud nearly scoffed. This bastard was desperate, wasn't he?

"Do you two know each other?" the lady asked hesitantly.

Cloud was veering towards saying no, but something told him to find out exactly why that stranger kept stalking him. The weight of his base sword comforting him, he nodded in response to the question, stepping to the side to follow the stranger to his room.

Once the door closed, he got right down to business.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

The stranger merely pulled down his hood, revealing pale skin, sea green eyes, and impossibly colored long hair. He looked at Cloud expectantly, as if that would help with recognizing him.

It didn't, and the stranger knew it. "I wish you could remember..."

"Remember what?" Cloud was getting tired of the cryptic phrases. He wanted solid answers, and he did not want to dance around for them.

"You and I, we knew each other. We both lived together peacefully above, until you were sent down here."

Cloud only put a hand on his side to express his exasperation, but said nothing more.

"This will sound impossible, but please, hear me out."

Cloud didn't reply to that, only waited for the other to continue.

"You are not from this world, and neither am I. We are from the heavens above; immortal beings which look down into this world with envy."

"So, angels?"

"If that is what you'd like to call it, yes. This world is nothing like home, and I wish to return. However, I do not want to return without you."

"If you know me so well, then why can't I remember you? Do you honestly think I believe you?"

"No, Cloud Strife, I, Sephiroth, am not convinced that you believe me. The very idea seems farfetched, but it is true. You were the one that meant the most to me, and you were banished."

"Shut up." He'd had enough. Turning around, he speed walked to the door, stopped by a hand tugging him back. He reined in the urge to simply take his sword and use it against Sephiroth.

"Don't leave. Please. Listen to me; it's all I ask." Hands hastily – desperately? – turned him around to make him face Sephiroth. "Here."

The vodka bottle was in Sephiroth hands, and he kept pushing it into Cloud's arms, urging to blond to accept it. Each time Cloud refused, the silver-haired man grew slightly frantic. The bottle glowed a dull green and transformed, changing into a red vial that fit perfectly into Sephiroth's closed palm.

"How—? What—?"

"This is the only thing that will let us go back," Sephiroth explained. "As the Restriction disallows me from forcing you to do anything against your will, I could not – and would not – simply stoop to low levels to force you to return with me. I was allowed only two years to roam this world to find you, and I did not want to let you go again. Never again."

Cloud furrowed his brows, not understanding a thing or how the liquor could have changed without the use of a Morph materia. "Let's say you are telling the truth. Why don't I remember anything from...before?"

"Anybody that is sent here, whether willingly or unwillingly, has their memories wiped clean and replaced with the memories of someone recently deceased. I am the exception to this rule because I am on borrowed time, though I did have to make sacrifices of my own."

Cloud stiffened. Memories from someone recently deceased? Did that mean that all of his memories were...?

"If you decide to return with me, all of your memories will be restored, and you will keep the ones you currently have."

Were his memories fake? Did Cloud Stife's memories really belong to someone else? He had been avoiding contact with Barret, Tifa, and the rest, having received no calls or anything similar in two years, but he had always assumed that they were as broken on the inside as he was and wanted time to themselves. Were they really ignoring him because they didn't know who he was? Because he was a total stranger?

"I—no. I don't believe you. I don't know how you know my name or what you really want from me, but I have no idea who you are nor do I believe your crack-headed story. I don't like how you tried to fuck with me, and I'm not putting up with it anymore." He moved faster out of the room this time, practically bolting out. Sephiroth didn't follow, or so Cloud thought before he nearly tripped into him outside in the middle of the town.

"Cloud, please. I only have a few hours left."

"Go back, then! I don't want anything to do with this!"

"Are you entirely sure about that?" Sephiroth gazed into Cloud's eyes, daring him to break contact. "Look at me and tell me that you don't want to return home. Tell me that you don't want to do this, that you want to go back and live the rest of a mortal life, lying to yourself and everybody else."

"You—"

"Yes, you want to return, or no, you want to stay here. Those are the only answer choices you have, Cloud." Sephiroth looked at him seriously, with a hint of desperation in his stance and eyes.

Cloud reached over and snatched the vial from the silver-haired man, unsealing the top and brandishing his sword.

"One wrong move, and I'll kill you, no matter what you say or do." The blond was questioning himself for even thinking about trying the idea, but he figured that he could do much more damage to the other man before the vial's contents could have any effect on him – he was sure that it was a sleep drug, and he knew that those took a little while to kick in. With a slightly shaky hand, he brought the vial up to his lips, drinking the tasteless liquid.

"Not all of it," Sephiroth said quickly. "Give me the rest."

The blond erupted into a coughing fit, nearly spilling what was left onto the ground before Sephiroth took the container from him and chugged the rest. Cloud gagged, the urge to vomit strong and hard to keep at bay. He began to feel light-headed, and his vision grew fuzzy. He thrashed as he felt strong arms circle around his abdomen, but his movement grew sluggish before soon stopping altogether.

He could not see a thing. He had no inkling to what was happening. All he was aware of were those arms and a feeling of floating, of being suspended into the air.

Images rushed across his mind. They moved far too fast and made his head hurt, but the majority of the scenes were of him and Sephiroth, together, smiling, laughing, arguing, sleeping, eating – anything imaginable for two friends or a couple to do. He began to remember more and more, and he was able to see more as the memories slowed down, most likely due to him getting to the more recent ones.

Yuffie, a mischievous little imp. She had stolen a tainted pear from the untouchable orchard, distributing the fruit and pitting the blame on Cloud, managing to convince Ifalna of Tamriel that is was all the blond's doing. He remembered being sentenced to a mortal life on the Planet below, banished for all eternity and having his memories stripped away. He leaned into the embrace of his partner, holding tightly onto him. So Sephiroth was right – his memories were fake...at least the mortal ones. As he heard the flapping of wings, he wondered how the person he had replaced died, if he or she was even around somewhere...

Wing flapping... Cloud turned and looked down, finding six white wings propelling him through the air, the soft, cloud-like feathers connected to the strong body holding him. He looked back at his lover, finding Sephiroth in his Seraph form, looking at Cloud like he had found the most precious thing in the world after losing it. The man winced, grimaced, then grunted in pain, releasing Cloud but continuing to hold onto him with his left arm. The right arm blacked, bursting into flames before turning into a black wing that appeared sharp and tainted.

"That is the price I had to pay to go below and keep my memories," Sephiroth said.

"Doesn't it hurt?" Cloud reached forward to touch it, nearly gasping as green light emanated from his gloved hand, making all of his clothing disappear and replacing it with a simple white tunic.

"It does." Sephiroth pulled him closer, soaring through the clouds and over groups of people, heading down the now familiar route home. "But it was worth finding the truth and bringing you back. The trouble I went through disproving Yuffie's lies..." He shifted Cloud into a better position. "It was worth it. I missed you so much."

Cloud grunted in pain, feeling burns coming from two points in his back. The pain shot through him like spears as he felt something tear out of his back. He awkwardly put his hand back to feel it.

Wings. Two white ones, too small for proper flight. He flapped them experimentally, finding them to be fully functional. He was amazed. Wings were difficult to earn, and he did not have them before the incident. Honored, he thanked whoever had bestowed them upon him and nuzzled Sephiroth's chest, a few tears managing to slip out from him despite how hard he tried to keep them in.

"I missed you, too, Sephiroth. Thank you for bringing me back. I don't know what I would've done if I had stayed there."

Sephiroth shushed him. "It doesn't matter anymore. What matters is here and now."

Bringing his face closer to Cloud's, Sephiroth brushed his lips over Cloud's, and the blond granted him permission to engage in a reuniting kiss.

Notes:

Idea conceived: 2013年12月1日（日）

Started: 2013年12月31日（火）

Finished: 2014年1月2日（木）

First story of the new year! I really wanted to get this out by yesterday, but I couldn't make it. Oh well. I really didn't expect this to go over 2,000 words without the A/N, let alone nearly reach 3,500. O.o Wow. However, I'm even more amazed that I've done a fic that isn't M-rated. That is very shocking to me, and I am not joking, either. ._.

Setting explanation: I really didn't want to do this, because a good story has its own plot and setting explained in the text and does not need any outside sources (author's notes, etc.) to explain it. I feel like I failed, here, though. Anyways, this is Advent Children, but with a lot of things altered. I know that the plot of the original game could not have happened at all without Jenova and the Cetra, but this is basically a Mako war between Shinra and AVALANCHE, had it continued that way without Sephiroth coming in to wreak havoc and taking the Planet hostage (sort of; that's not exactly how it happened, in case anybody who hasn't played the original game is wondering).

Personally, if this fic had a theme song that played at the end, I think it would go best with the ending theme to the anime Wolf's Rain, which this story was named after.