A Dream for Their Future
Introduction
Disclaimer: I own nothing about FFVII or anything surrounding the FF universe.
A/N: This was my first ever story (and still a work in progress) so I tend to go over it every now and then, hate every word I've written and rewrite chunks of it. I apologize for any frustration I've caused anyone. As with any writer I live off of the reviews of the readers: the good, the bad and the funny;)
Edit 4/1/17: It's been a year since last I posted to this story. A lot of that delay was because I couldn't make up my mind on where I wanted to go, so in the past-time I tweaked with what I had already wrote and I'm posting it all together. If you don't want to re-read everything that's cool, I didn't make any major changes to the plot as a whole. I mostly just patched up some plot holes I made for myself and added/changed some dialog here and there and mostly just put some meat on the bones so to say. For anyone who's reading it the first time, I hope you like it.
As always please let me know if you like it or not.
I also have a tumblr page now if anyone wants to reach out to me and yell at me for being so indecisive and lazy, or just chat about anything. It's under the same handle as my account here :)
The hardest part of a journey is the first step
Everyone thought they had saved the planet, but they had thought that before. The mighty heroes killed Hojo, Sephiroth, and Jenova. They survived the meteor fall. They fought the remnants and defeated Sephiroth again. They even believed they had a cure for geostigma. But there, they were wrong. Geostigma kept spreading like a virus and no matter how fast the heroes tried to cure everyone, this was one fight they couldn't win.
The planet was distressed. It knew that if geostigma wasn't stopped then it, and the lifestream within, would perish. Leaving just an empty shell behind. A capsule for the Jenova virus to spread out in the universe to other planets and infect them. In desperation, the planet hatched a plan. One that, if it worked, would destroy Jenova completely and save its charges. All it needed was to unleash its greatest Weapon…
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"Cloud"
"Cloud"
"CLOUD!"
Cloud froze as everything around him turned blinding white. His motorcycle vanishing underneath him. The marshland he was riding through fading into a haze that slowly morphed into a field of well-known flowers that spread as far as his eyes could see. Cloud was more than a bit surprised. He hadn't heard from either Aerith or Zack since that last time at the pool.
That was five years ago.
Regardless, the familiar sensation coursed through him as the memories came rushing back as if it were yesterday. The equally familiar ache came along with it. All these years and he still missed her…Missed them.
"Hello Aerith." Cloud said calmly, despite the bone deep exhaustion he constantly felt these days.
He felt the shadow of the girl he once thought he loved was pressed against his back. The warmth soothing and stabbing him as nothing else could. This was a pain he would gladly suffer the rest of his life if it meant he could still feel them.
"I was beginning to think you were ignoring me" a cheerful voice said behind him.
"No" he sighed "I've just been busy lately" …and he wasn't the one doing the ignoring.
"Trying to stop geostigma"
"Yeah"
"You can't Cloud" Aerith's voice turned sad "nothing can stop it now. It's too late. Geostigma has infected the Lifestream. The Planet just can't fight it off."
Cloud's shoulders slumped heavily but he wasn't surprised. The signs were everywhere.
"Yeah, I know. But I can't stop. They expect me to fix it, and I can't take that hope from them. As long as I'm fighting, they'll believe we can win."
"I know Cloud, and I'm so sorry" Aerith said, sorrow still lacing her voice "but that is why the planet – and I – are going to ask something horrible from you."
"What is it?"
"We need you to go back in time, before all this happened, and stop it before it even starts."
"What?" He couldn't have heard that right.
"The only way to stop Jenova and Geostigma completely is to stop it before it starts."
"What'll happen to the others?"
"They will never know their lives' were altered. None of this will have happened to them."
Cloud closed his eyes and hunched over. A fresh, new wave of pain lanced though him. To go back was a truly horrible thought indeed. Going back would mean he would lose Tifa, Barret and all the friends he made. He would lose Denzel, the child of his heart, Marlene, and the other children that had adopted him. They had all become his family, the backbone of his humanity. His reason to keep striving, to keep pushing forward when all he wanted to do was stop. If everything was fixed, their world would be all right, but he would lose everything. That knowledge almost dropped Cloud to his knees.
"I wish I could tell you that by doing this then everything you ever wanted for yourself would come true." Cloud felt soft fingers touch his sleeve.
"I'm not meant for happy endings" Cloud sighed, "how far back am I going?"
"A ways back, about two weeks before the Modeoheim mission. Do you remember it? That was when you met Zack."
"Zack" he remembered it. Well, Zack did.
"It won't be all bad; you will have all the tools and information you need. You'll keep your strength and skills too."
Cloud paused, his decision had already been made, only his reluctance held him back. He knew he wouldn't be able to even say goodbye to anyone. This was it.
Finally, Cloud sighed and asked "What must I do?"
"I'll tell you…"