Merc For Hire (Final Fantasy VII)

°Prologue°

Sky had carried her brother almost the whole way to Midgar, the city of mako. She glanced down at him, his head was hanging low towards the ground. She sighed and swept his blond spiky hair out of his face. He was almost as white as a sheet. 

“I know you’re still hurting, Cloud. Just… hang in there and I’ll get you some help.”

Cloud, her brother replied with a weak groan. Sky and Cloud had been moving on foot for hours, and Sky figured that a break was necessary. She lowered her brother down into a sitting position. She then sat down in the dusty sand-like dirt with her back against his, to keep him from falling over.

The blonde didn’t even notice it was raining until she felt a raindrop land on her nose. She stared up at the sky as it turned a light gray. Turning towards Cloud, she noticed that his fingers began to twitch a little. This brought a small smile to her face, knowing that her brother was starting to regain consciousness.

“How you feeling, Cloud?” Sky shifted from her position so she could fully see him.

“Better… Wait… Where are we?”

Cloud’s senses started coming back to him as he looked around. His eyes widened in surprise when he spotted the massive city ahead of him. “Are those…?”

Sky replied with a laugh, “Mako reactors. We’re almost to Midgar.”

“You… You carried me the whole way here?”

“Well, yeah. Not to mention that I healed most of your mako poisoning too.”

“Thanks,” Cloud smiled as he put his hand on Sky’s spiky blonde hair. “What would I ever do without you?”

“I dunno. Die or something?”

Cloud chuckled, “Really? Huh, then I must be the troublemaking twin then.”

“Hey, you can’t ever strip me of that title!”

Cloud stood up, he wobbled a little, but was able to maintain his balance. Sky followed him and stood up as well. She brushed the dirt off of her skirt, which was made from an oversized pair of First Class SOLDIER pants. Much like her skirt, her crop top was made from an old First Class SOLDIER shirt. Cloud on the other hand, wore a perfectly in-tact SOLDIER suit.

“We should go. It’s starting to pour.” Cloud turned to his sister.

Sky nodded in response. 

“Hey… You know you’re hurt, right?” Cloud gestures towards Sky’s arm which had a deep cut in it and a few scratches.

She dismissed the question by replying, “It’s only a scratch. No biggie.”

Cloud shook his head at her, trying to hide the smile that was creeping over his face. He should’ve known that would have been her response. Sky wasn’t the type of person to ask for help, let alone admit that she was injured. Cloud could tell by his sister’s beaten up body and contorting facial expressions that she was hurting. So, Cloud did what any older brother would do and he put his arm around Sky’s shoulder, supporting her so she wouldn’t fall over.

“What are you doing?” Sky questioned the motive of her twin brother.

“Repaying you for helping me back there. Somehow, I think you got rid of the mako poisoning.”

“Oh,” Sky became even more confused because all she did was use her healing materia to remove most of the status effects. She simply shrugged it off and continued walking alongside Cloud. 

They both looked at each other, smiled, and then said at the exact same time, “I’m glad to have you back.”

The blonde twins laughed, noticing how they said the exact same thing at the exact same time. They haven’t seen each other since they were around fourteen-years old. Cloud had left to join SOLDIER in the spring seven years ago. He wasn’t happy leaving behind his sister, his mother, and their two friends, Tifa and Moeka, but he decided to pursue his dream anyways. About a year later, Sky couldn’t take it anymore and she left to find Cloud, and here he was… With her again after seven years.