"Random question, but... Why did you quit being a SOLDIER?" I asked Cloud as we were somehow passing through the tunnels.
"That is random." he said.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." I smiled.
But he kept quiet. Being a chatty girl, I wanted to talk more and more.
"Um, did you have any SOLDIER friends? Any war buddies?"
"No, not really." he said, cutting me off.
For some reason, I expected him to say Zack but that didn't happen.
"Oh, okay." I smiled again even though he couldn't see it since he was in front of me.
Without any other words exchanged, we reached outside soon after.
"There it is. The gate to sector 7."
"Looks shut. How do we open it?" Cloud asked with his cold voice.
I looked at him only to see he was already staring at me.
I felt a slight pain in my chest because I knew he wanted to probably get back home now. But no matter how much I tried to let it go, I felt really saddened at us having to part our ways.
"More importantly, how about we take a break? Sounds good?" I smiled, hiding my sadness.
"No, I don't have time for–" but I cut Cloud off, not wanting him to finish the sentence.
"Up there looks nice!" I said as I hurried to sit on the abandoned slide.
But he just kept staring at me, looking done.
Noticing that, I chuckled, "C'mon!" I urged him.
He sighed and went up to join me. I kept looking at him, trying to take in every single second of us spending together.
As he climbed up, I looked around and then sat down, having quite a view from this abandoned playground.
"You know, a long time ago, I used to sell flowers here."
"Oh yeah?" he said, somewhat as if he was interested.
He sat down next to me, but sat quite far away, just like before. And not being able to take it, I forcefully slid right beside him again.
He looked startled, but then looked away with a slight smile.
The silence was almost deafening.
"So, Cloud... You were a SOLDIER: first class, right?" I asked, cutting the thick air between us.
"Yeah." he said simply.
"Weird.." I looked at my feet as I was hugging my legs.
His warmth was radiating from him, making me realize he was right beside me. I wished we could stay like this forever.
"Really? What's weird about it?" he asked curiously.
I then got a vision of Zack, carrying unconscious Cloud before Zack would die.
"Nothing. Just that you were the same rank." I continued.
"Huh? As who?" he asked, his heading turning to me.
For some reason, this made me feel even sadder than before.
Zack was..
"The first person I've ever trusted besides my sister." I said sadly.
He seemed to take a notice of the sadness I was feeling, so he straightened himself, changing his sitting position.
"What's his name? I probably know him." he said with a hint of trying to help me track this person.
I felt myself staring blankly at the ground. I was sure that if I told him, he would get his headache again and seeing the future myself, it was probably a right thing to do.
"Zack Fair." I said.
And as soon as I uttered the name, he groaned in pain, hesitated and tried not to show it but he put his hand on his head painfully as he held it.
"Are you okay?" I said, feeling about about being the cause of this.
I put my hand on his hair gently as I was peering intensely into his face.
With my healing ability, I took his pain away while looking into his eyes.
Noticing that the pain was suddenly gone, he automatically looked at me, surprised at how close I was towards his face.
"Wow.. Your eyes.." I said with astonishment.
He looked away quickly, "Oh. It's 'cause of mako. All SOLDIERs have them." he explained.
I then pulled back, knowing I was probably making him slightly uncomfortable.
"Yeah.. I know." I said.
I stared at the ground for a while but then stood up, making him look at me, "Sorry, I'm bumming you out." I laughed it off to make him feel at least a little more comfortable.
As much as I hated to say it..
"We should go." I said as I went towards the climbing stairs where I let myself back on the ground.
With me already being down, he proceeded towards me as well.
If I was supposed to let Cloud go, I don't want him to leave sad with me.
"Gotta look forward, not back." I chuckled.
I turned my back on him and stood next to the entrance to sector 7.
"Here." I pointed at it with a slight smile.
It was a secret entrance under the slide we were previously sitting on. But I was only one of the few who knew about it so I knew it was hidden.
"This won't take long." I smiled as I crawled under the slide and pushed away the little passage door.
"Ready!" I said as I moved a bit away from the entrance for Cloud to see what I meant.
He looked surprised.
I then crawled my way back and now was standing right in front of him.
Seeing him like this, it was so hard for me to hold my tears back, but I somehow managed without Cloud noticing. There was this awkward silence, but it was because we knew what was coming next.
Knowing I had to say something so I don't start crying in front of him, I decided to speak up, "So..." but me and Cloud both said it at the same time which made both us stop right there again.
I chuckled, "Go ahead." I pointed at the entrance as I took a few steps back to make a space for Cloud.
His back was now turned to me. He was slowly heading towards it, but there was a hint of something bothering him, so he turned to face me again.
"You gotta be okay getting home alone?" he asked with a hint of concern which made my heart throb.
I felt my heart saying to cling onto him and not let go of him.
"And.. If I said I wasn't?" I said sulkily.
His eyes widened as he stepped towards me, "I'll go with you." he said as he started walking back.
I laughed out, "Don't worry."
He turned to look at me again, this time the sadness was visible in his eyes as well, "Guess this is it then." I said with a slight smile.
He was standing in front of me, looking straight into my golden eyes, "I had fun.. today." he said awkwardly as he complimented me.
I felt my heart beat faster at his sudden words.
His words confirmed this for me, I had to tell him how much I enjoy his company. Thanks to him, I was confident.
"Cloud, actually I have to tell you that I really love spending time–" but then the gate to the sector 7 opened with such a loud screech that it made me trigger my previous headache.
There was a carriage coming and to our surprise, we saw Tifa in it.
"Tifa?" said Cloud as he ran towards the carriage.
I wanted to chase after him as well but my headache was unbearable that it made me stunned at one place. I fell on my knees in pain as my hands fell on my head.
"C-Cloud..." I whimpered in pain as I was scared at how much this hurt.