•10-years later•
"Aurora, keep up!"
"Aura, at this rate, be glad you just get the position of infantrymen."
"I know you two are just provoking me but that really hurts, ya know?" Pushing past all the obstacles that were all arranged before me, I used my sword to knock down all incoming throwing knives. Along with that, I'm getting hit with high damage spells, dodging those were tough but I am managing just fine.
"Aura, watch out!"
As soon as I heard my name, my head shot straight up. The first, or rather the only thing I noticed, was the tall tree that stood up high right in front of me, maybe around ten to fifteen seconds away. Changing my footing, my feet slid on the wet soil which came about from the previous night's rain, which did result in me getting a few scrapes but I'd take that over being slammed on a tree trunk. I regained my footing and cleared the mud away.
"That was close, thanks Cloud!" I knew it was the little blond the moment I heard my name, he did often like to watch my little test runs with Mom and Dad.
In a span of a few seconds, I located Dad's position. He raised an air around him that was very intimidating but if I were to beat and get through him, this would be the east part. The hard part? He dances with his blades, not in a literal form but if killing looked beautiful, how else would anyone describe it?
"You look very scary right now Dad, mind turning it down a notch? You know for your daughter's well being??" The reasoning wasn't going to work but if it helped calm me down and stop my shivering, I would do it endlessly.
He held his blades lightly, almost like I was an easy game to beat.
'Sorry, dad but not today.'
I took a deep breath and calmed my nerves. Physical strength and speed, that was what Arthur's test for me was and so I gave him exactly what he wanted. I duped him by running straight toward him, he blocked his chest area, probably expected that I would attack straight ahead but I slid right by him and used Bloodlust.
The blades he held close had clattered to the ground, all he could do now was stand still, slightly shivering. It wasn't over yet, I pointed my sword right at his abdomen, this way he knew that it was his defeat and I could sense uneasiness in the air lift.
"You did well Aura but your mom won't be an easy one to get through," Dad remarked, dusting off his hands. He came by me and patted my shoulder, a way of wishing me luck, I needed it if I was facing mom next.
"Also a little heads up, among the two of us, I think you are the more scary one, my little angel." I snickered at his little note and slightly beamed at the thought but there was no time to waste.
My need to find mom elevated as I felt the presence of mana all around me, I could tell she won't be going easy on me.
'Guess I gotta narrow it down.'
Use Mana detection?
Yes No
'Yes!'
This would help me find a cluster of mana of all forms situated in one area, if there is one thing I'm certain of, mom is strong and she tries to hide her prowess but with a little help from my system, her location would be an easy find.
There it was, I felt a mess of mana all concentrated to the left of where I stood. I raised my guard but my planning from this point on was not spot on, my palms had begun to sweat and the grip on my sword grew.
That's when I felt a sudden rush of heat headed straight towards me. "Shit!" I rolled and crouched, an attempt to dodge the high-level fire attack [Firaga], I managed to not take any blows but I did get a few cuts.
I made use of the barrier materia I had kept with me and built a barrier, it wouldn't last that long but I needed the protection. I pushed forward, there were a few hits but it was like they were meant to taunt me rather than harm me, would be safe to say that I was getting irritated with every step.
"Ah, there you are, you ready Aura?"
"You've provoked me enough, I think you know the answer to that."
Raising my sword, I prepared for any further attacks, my annoyance earlier was now masked with a certain need to just get through with this.
She concentrated on every single blow and I had to halt now and then to defend against any attacks I couldn't simply dodge. Mom would be testing my defence, agility and mana skill, no room was left for me to hold anything back but I couldn't throw everything at her.
Her speed quickened, attacks grew fiercer and my dodging soon turned to returning every spell thrown at me.
It looked as though she wanted to end this in one shot but before she could do that, I tried to absorb whatever mana I could in that second from the area
'Looks like I have enough.'
I cast my hand forward and tried to stop all movement from mom's end, hoping that she wouldn't be able to cast her final spell.
Her limbs froze in position and I could see a look of surprise just flash past her face, I moved in a timely fashion and placed the sword to her neck from behind her, it wasn't far from touching her skin, just what I needed.
"Hahaha....you pass!" I hear mom say in a cheerful voice.
"I pass?"
"You pass."
I felt the satisfaction of hearing those words just build up inside me, my happiness could no longer be contained and so I came out of the test area laughing uncontrollably.
"I passed!!" I saw dad waiting and jumped onto him, "I knew you could do it! With this, it's settled."
"Oh my little Aura leaving home this early all to join SOLDIER, I'm so proud of you." Mom was closed behind. "Well, I did have good teachers." I smiled widely at my parents that were standing proud.
I did several tests to see if I was qualified, some theory-based, others were cognitive and this was my final one to see if I was physically capable. I don't know if everyone who goes to join Shinra's forces does this sort of prep work but it was a lot of hard work.
"Oh right, Cloud was watching you from afar, he was here a few— there he is, I think you'll need to talk to him, the kid looks a little down." Dad subtly pointed at the little blond that was standing around, blankly kicking the stones around.
"Yeah, I'll be back in a moment then."
To fill in with the little stuff that happened over the ten years, everything went according to how the original story was set, meaning Cloud had grown distant, even slowly began to believe that Tifa had disliked him.
Tifa had befriended the kids in the village and had grown quite popular in this little town of ours
I'll be honest, I disliked all the kids she made friends with. Behind her back, they would talk about Cloud as if they had little needles in their mouth but whenever I went over to stop them, they would all scatter as though they were afraid of me. Which they should be but at least let me tell them 'peacefully' that it's wrong to speak about people like that.
This only led to Cloud hating them and developed his Complex. He would often call them names, say that they were all immature, that none of them know how foolish they are. I discouraged him from saying harsh things but I suppose he found me a bother and I was shut out for a while too.
When Tifa turned eight years old, the inevitable happened. Her mother had unfortunately passed away, her condition got too severe, no one was let inside the Lockhart residence.
Tifa hadn't taken her mother's passing well and just like in the original plotline, she ventured into Mt.Nibel in hopes of seeing her again.
Cloud and I had followed her, we did our best to convince her to turn back but our efforts meant nothing for she no longer paid attention to anything around her. She lost her footing and slipped, I rushed to her side, catching her, I noticed that Cloud had held on to her too. Thankfully this time, no one fell but Tifa was a bit shaken, she wouldn't see anyone, Cloud and I included, he started blaming himself for the unfortunate event even though he only did all that he could to help and not cause harm.
There were a few changes in the timeline but nothing drastic.
"Hey Cloud! Uh, what's up?" I lightly tapped on the floor and observed him a little, he looked rather aloof, his face was covered by his hair so it was hard to read, "Cloud?"
"Huh? Y-yeah hey..." He slightly lifted his head but didn't make eye contact, it made him look, well, lost.
"You okay? You look a little...spaced out I would say." I took note that his posture grew inwards like he didn't want to let any of his emotions lay bare.
"I was thinking about stuff,"
"Yeah? do you want to be alone? I'll leave if that's the case."
"N-no, I was thinking of a way to become stronger—"
I nodded at his words till "—like you."
"What?! Um Cloud, ahem, why do say that?" I almost choked on air but I stood upright and tried to look like I wasn't surprised, "You're strong and I wanna be strong like you, maybe even join SOLDIER."
'Wait so it's me this time, not Sephiroth that makes him want to join SOLDIER?'
"But Cloud, SOLDIER is—"
"—like a den of monsters, I didn't forget." I was taken a bit by surprise, I said those words when he was only four years old, I looked him right in the eyes and he slightly flinched, I sighed softly, seems as though that I can't bring up why he remembers trivial words.
"Alright but!"
"But?"
"Just be sure you train your hardest, I'll even tell dad and mom to help you."
"Oh well actually, Arthur has already been helping me..."
"That old man, I knew he was a softie! I just hope he hasn't been pushing you too hard at least. Well Cloud, I hope that you can join me soon." I grinned, getting myself up, I extended out my hand to the boy, which he grabbed with delight.
We both exchanged a few words and said our goodbyes later on. I would leave in 2 days for Midgar. Dad did say that someone will come to get us once we step out of Nibelheim, I'm assuming that someone is a Turk but I'll only know by that time.
To think after all that, I'll be going to the very place that may or may not be the end for me in this world, it's terrifying honestly.
I've been getting re-occurring nightmares, nightmares of seeing Cloud and Tifa reach out to me as I stand far away from them but every time it would be too late, I would run to them but by the time I make it, I see flames burn wildly around me like it's ridiculing me for not be able to do anything.
The dream re-winds and starts all over again with the same thing just happening while I can't lift a finger. I just felt the fear build up every night, the thought that I could see that same dream that night just stopped me from sleeping and just shaking in place. It hurts more to know that I have to pretend that I'm doing okay when morning comes by to mum and dad.
I wasn't certain if it meant something or was it just my fears catching up to me.
Some nights I would just stay up, wishing that when I wake up again, it would be when I'm in the apartment, lying on my couch just waiting for a game to be delivered to my doorstep. That was all I was doing, I was just living a simple life.
Was it wrong of me to think this way? Should I just wait and see what happens? If I just live quietly will I just be brought back like nothing ever happened, seeing that maybe all of this was a dream, would I be back where I was?
I took a step back from my thoughts and went to the training area. When I get worried, scared, angry, I would often go clear my head by training, even if it meant that I would overdo it.
At this point, I'm scared that I may do more harm than good.
"Aura? It's past midnight, don't tell me you plan on overexerting your body again." I heard a soft, groggy voice call out, I didn't expect it so I yelped quietly and turned to see dad holding a lamp. It took me a moment to realise what he meant till I noticed it was pitch black no matter where I looked. "Sorry dad, I didn't think I would do it again," Placing my sword back in the scabbard, I just crouched down from the same place I was standing and ruffled my head, "Just a lot on my mind since the real test isn't so far off and I just wanted to take my mind off things."
"It's okay Aura, you don't need to apologise for that, for now, just come inside and we'll talk there."
I followed dad back to the house. He prepared some warm tea and set the cup on our dining table, "You wanna let it out? I'll be happy to listen kiddo." I took a seat, grabbed the handle of the cup and chugged the tea, "I-I'm not sure, dad. I keep letting myself drift into my thoughts and just do things to let my mind wander, before I know it, It's almost the next day and I have a sword that is still held on to my hand to the point that I get bruises on my palm." I gaze at the calluses that formed around my hand over time. From the wrist above, all I could see was bruises, cuts, scars that I got from getting this far.
Dad had poured the next cup of tea and set it down. He just listened at my needless banter all the while offering me shots of which I could tell was simple chamomile tea.
'If only I could replace the tea with Vodka shots.'
This time I took it slow, I sipped softly and set aside the little cup, "I just worry that I may not be the right fit for the whole SOLDIER thing, I know it's a big deal but part of me just wants to stay home with mom, Cloud and Tifa and just protect what I know rather than what I don't, part of me wants to run out and see how far I can go, see how far I can reach with all that you and mom have taught me, is it selfish of me to think this way?"
"No, no it's not. Aura, I'm not good with words but I think it's alright if you back out from this but I do think it's best if you do the test but I can't push that because that's what I want. I know you may feel homesick, you might feel the need to just give up and just stay where you are, you may even ask 'why am I doing this? what's the purpose of all this?', I would just tell you to find that purpose. It may be a hard and long journey but if you find that purpose, the way you feel, the way you think, it may just all change."
Dad has a fierce look that laced over his eyes, his face held a strong expression, an expression that would take a lot to falter.
"This is a big deal and you have to leave home but I just don't want my little Aura to worry this much. I'm sorry if I can't be there for you all the time but if you need anything or you don't feel like going that far, you can come straight home okay? It just scares me that it feels like you're growing up faster than you should." His voice cracked and I saw a face of pain, worry, concern— all flocked together.
"Thank you, dad...you know, I want to do loads of fun things with mom and you but I also want to protect all that you've done for me, so I'll do this, I'll do it for myself so that maybe I can find that purpose." I got up from my chair, giving him a big bear hug, we both said our goodnights.
To say that I felt relief was an understatement, I wouldn't say that all my worries were washed away from that talk but I felt lighter than before.
• • •
"You ready to go?"
"Yeah mom, I got everything I need—Oh right, one sec!"
It was time for me to leave, mom was sending dad and me off but before that, I almost forgot to return some important items.
"Here, I don't believe I'm allowed to have this on me but this did help me on how to use it." I placed a small, leather-strapped bag on mom's hands. It contained all the materia she lent me for when I was training.
'I do have some of my own but I'll keep them on me, in my inventory, don't wanna get in trouble for it.'
"Aura, take care of yourself and if you ever feel troubled come straight home, okay?" She gently stroked my head, smiling as though she'll never see me again. Her mouth had parted, almost as if there was something more to be said but she just continued smiling.
"Mom!"
"What—"
I gave her a good squeeze, I could feel that she was caught off guard but all she did was chuckle and hugged me back.
"Sister Aura!!"
Mom let go of me. Patting my back, she pushed me forward to the two little runts that came calling out to me. "Tifa! Cloud too!"
"Sister Aura, why didn't tell us you were leaving?" Tifa had her eyes look straight at me, searching for an answer maybe. Her face had tensed up, she dropped her head in a matter of seconds, a possibility that she didn't want anyone to see that she was upset, "I'm sorry Tifa, I didn't want you two to be upset and fret over when I would be leaving."
"You could have told me...I wanted to say a proper goodbye." Her voice had cracked subtly. Tifa's grown taller in the last few years but it didn't change that among the three of us, my height was not to be misjudged. I knelt to level myself to her, "I'll come back don't worry. I can't promise when but I will be back, this is my home after all." I patted her head as softly as I could, I wasn't sure if it was due to my action or the fact that I was leaving but Tifa began whimpering, her tears had fallen on the soil below.
Cloud was close behind the little girl, hearing her cry made his nose scrunch up and his brows knitted. Grabbing her hand closest to him, he gently comforted her, "I'm sorry Cloud for not telling you either."
I only got a nod in response. The boy had just stood quietly beside Tifa, whose tears had halted but her head still hung low.
"Well...I'm off now, mom if you could just take these two." I nudged her a little. No words were exchanged but the two little ones were taken back, I said my last goodbyes and walked to where dad stood.
We both made our way to the place we would eventually get our ride to Midgar. There I saw it, a black little car. The windows were rolled up so it was hard to see who it was that was driving it. Dad and I quickened our pace when we laid sights on the vehicle.
"You took your time." A rough voice stated, it sounded familiar but I couldn't put my finger on where I would have heard it though.
"Tseng, I didn't think you would show up."
Hello~
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•Cecil•