A/N: A treat for my beloved readers out there who are waiting for my other stories to continue...'''' I'm thinking about making a story about the movie, "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time"...should I do it? Need your feedback! Anyway, enjoy this little oneshot! ^^
At noon, a big black bike was speeding across the wide paved road of Edge leaving only a purring noise that echoed althroughout the city. Whenever the people saw it pass by, they couldn't help but whisper and cast concerned faces at the driver. Who shouldn't? He had been driving for hours non-stop since the break of dawn. Children, who were sitting idly, counted the times he had passed by. Currently, it was 19. Even so, he never stopped.
.-+-.
…that morning.
.-+-.
Denzel found him sitting in a corner with a pile of delivery slips and newspapers at his side. The Seventh Heaven bar was closed for the day—thanks to the sign Yuffie gave them. It was Sunday, a very special day wherein they clean the whole bar in preparation for another week of fun service to the people of Edge. Denzel was on floor duty so he had taken the mop and bucket out of the closet; Tifa and Marlene were out shopping. So, he was left with the blonde.
"Cloud…"
The blue-eyed blonde turned to the side to acknowledge the brown-haired boy. Denzel plunged the mop into the bucket filled with water and began to clean the floor.
"Somebody called in your phone earlier. You were asleep so I picked it up for you."
"What did they want?" He asked before returning to his papers.
"It was a guy; maybe in a radio or something…" Denzel trailed off until he remembered what he had heard that morning. "He said it was a survey. He asked lots of questions."
He continued to flip on with his business nonchalantly without thinking what he was saying to the boy with blue eyes like his, "What did he say?"
"What would you do if you were given 7 minutes with someone important that had passed on?"
As Denzel said those words, Cloud's eyes grew wide. He momentarily took off his gaze from the papers to the boy whose back was facing him.
"Would you face her? Would you talk to her? Would you embrace her? Would you kiss her?"
The blonde lowered his blue eyes to the floor and stared at his reflection.
"Radio men are so silly," Denzel scoffed before turning around to face the blonde. "Right, Cloud?"
The brown-haired boy dropped his mop when he saw that the blonde wasn't there anymore and that there was a revving sound of a machine outside. He crossed his brows and ran outside just to be left with a cloud of smoke and dust.
"Cloud?"
.-+-.
The words that he had heard from Denzel kept on repeating in his mind like a broken record. Only one thing came to his mind at the instant Denzel asked the very first question.
"Aerith."
He had an answer to that question too. In fact, he answered every question in his mind.
.-+-.
What would you do if you were given 7 minutes with someone important that had passed on?
"Nothing…"
Would you face her? Would you talk to her? Would you embrace her? Would you kiss her?
"No, no, no, no!!"
He stopped suddenly and viciously grabbed at his deafening ears. A pain like none other was stabbing at his chest, making him unable to breathe. He closed his eyes and pursed his lips as the pain grew more intense.
"How? How could I look at her face knowing it will disappear? How could I talk to her knowing her voice will only embed in a memory? How could I embrace her knowing it will slip from my grasp a second after? How could I kiss her lips knowing I'll never feel it softness anymore further?"
.-+-.
But, I…
I still want to see her after all…
.-+-.
After that one sentence, a single drop of water drowned every noise that rang throughout his head, his surroundings…everything.
"That was a little uncalled for, don't ya think?"
Slowly, Cloud opened his eyes and there he saw in front of him was a smirking raven-haired man who could only be his bestfriend. "Zack?
The blonde received a wave in response. He looked everywhere. He couldn't be dead. He was still sitting on his bike. He was still in Edge. No. It was different. He was in Midgar. Cloud averted his gaze to the First Class Soldier to get some answers.
"No, you aren't dead yet." Zack confirmed with a playful laugh.
Cloud's eyes traveled to Zack's left hand that was partially hidden in his ear. The blonde peered in closer and outlines of a cellphone became visible to his vision. He pointed at it and muttered, "That…"
"Oh, this?" Zack held the phone out and grinned. "Yeah, I finally got a hold of it when that person placed it down. You don't know what kinda fun stuff I've been doing with it."
That person… Cloud stared at his friend seriously and asked, "So, it was you..."
"Right again! And guess what?" The raven-haired man walked up to him and placed an arm all over Cloud's shoulder. "You've won a prize!"
Cloud looked at him dubiously. Zack jiggled the blonde's body and looked forward. Cloud followed him and he looked forward too. His eyes widened when he saw the same old church that he fell into years ago.
"You know how she is…" Zack whispered before shoving the blonde towards the old building. "Go to her, Cloud."
The blonde blinked many times, unbelieving what he's seeing and what he'll be doing. What would he do if he saw her? What would he say? With a determined heart, he got rid of those thoughts and took a brave step forward.
"Oh, and don't forget…"
Cloud looked back with a small smile of gratitude to his bestfriend.
"I'm the proof of your existence."
Hearing his statement, the First Class Soldier briskly shook his head and sighed heavily. It wasn't what I had in mind, but what the heck. That's the type of person Cloud is. I wonder if that's what she liked in him, Zack thought to himself.
"That, and one more thing!"
The blonde slightly widened his eyes then nodded, "Yeah…"
With a gentle smile, Cloud Strife turned towards the doors of the church.
"7 minutes."