Ceaseless Oblivion

I own nothing. Aside from my plush owl named Simon. True story!


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Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves. ~Henry David Thoreau

Cloud thought that he must have been going crazy. Only a madman would walk the path of forgiveness, and not choose the path of vengeance. Only someone with a bizarre streak in their body would try and do what he was attempting: being a good example for Sephiroth.

It was insanity, but deep in his heart, he knew that this was what he was here for. Cloud was killed off, and placed in this world, given the abilities he had, all for Sephiroth. Not saying that he had fully accepted that. But he was in the threshold of acceptance, of understanding that he and Sephiroth were alike. That was a given. Also, he was not so willing to write Sephiroth off as a lunatic, or someone who deserved to be locked away. The thought of Sephiroth in a prison somewhere used to make him happy, for only evil deserved to be placed behind bars, away from the society that he could not be a part of.

No. This time together, whether it was forced or not, showed Cloud that the way he had thought before, the way that he had thought of Sephiroth was wrong. Yes, the man had made a huge misunderstanding that resulted in the death of his mother, and everyone he had grown up with in his town, in his precious Nibelheim. Yes, the man had tried three times to eliminate the Planet. Yes, he had killed Aeris, the woman who he had once felt so close to. But to everything he had done wrong, the Goddess was there to set it right.

His mother and all those that were slaughtered for an unjust cause were now in the Promised Land, living the way that they deserved to live. The Planet was safe, and Cloud knew, that even if he and Sephiroth were to leave this bleak wasteland of a world, that he would not try and take over the world, and destroy it the way he had once longed to do. Also, Aeris was in the Promised Land, no longer suffering the way she had to on Gaia, living a life in the slums when she deserved so much better. All of Sephiroth's mistakes were atoned for, and all was well.

Yes, there were still major problems to be dealt with, such as finding a way out of this place and finally being allowed to rest in his peace, the one the Goddess promised him. But the main problem, the one where he feared, despised, and was paranoid of Sephiroth was now at an end.

That might have been crazy for him to think, much less follow through on. But, he had been allowed to see into the man's head, witnessing things that didn't even amount to the word horror. And, despite how much he had loathed Sephiroth, the truth was that he felt compassion, pity, and a huge surge of empathy for the man. So much, that he wished to help him, and ultimately, be a good example for him. If he could overcome that prejudice against him, who knew what Sephiroth could do?

Cloud had said that if Sephiroth had ever wanted to talk about anything, that he could with him, no matter what it was. If that was not the sign that he had changed, he didn't know what was. He knew that most of his AVALANCHE friends would be reeling away in horror had they found out about his predicament, that instead of being dead, he was trapped in oblivion with his once worst enemy. And once more, was beginning to understand, like, and enjoy the man's company. They would probably collapse from the shock of it all.

Still, Cloud could not deny the road that he was on: forgiveness. In order to forgive someone, Zack said that all he had to do was forget that there were mistakes, and not only forget, but accept that bad things had happened between the two. That sounded so much easier in theory he knew, for he was in the midst of that philosophy, nearly getting strangled from the words. But they were truth, which was the hardest thing to digest.

These thoughts occupied the blond haired male's head constantly, his mind spinning with ideas, notions of him forgiving Sephiroth for all that he had done. And not only forgiving, but trusting the man and wanting to help him just to help him. That was one Hell of a mission to take on, one that he didn't know he was prepared for.

Though, Cloud began to realize that it was easier when he stopped thinking so hard, and just…went with things. When he spoke to Sephiroth about his fear, and had their daily confession, it made things much easier than always keeping to himself about his problems. Tifa was right: he should open up more and let others help him. Like she had said before about his cell-phone, he never answered it, but he never threw it away either.

To that effect, Cloud thought that his past cell-phone had been his connection to people, his lifeline with numbers and names that were his family. It had been dropped in the river while fighting the Remnants of course, thus he had to start all over again, from that dreaded square one. He had no cell-phone here, nothing but his voice to communicate with. Hence, he had to learn to speak his mind so that he would not go crazy, or fall behind in his own self improvement.

And to his grand surprise, it worked wonders, miracles even. He had told Sephiroth about his hero worship about him without yelling and instigating him, telling him how he should have picked someone else to idolize. He had simply spoken to him the way friends would do, the way people would do who were trying to get to know and understand the other. That was what he was trying to do after all: be a better person, and find someway, through his talks with the man, to learn to forgive him.

There was something else too, something that had made him think that he was truly crazy.

The faintest spark had occurred between both him and Sephiroth, and he knew that Sephiroth had felt it too. It happened whenever the man touched his wings, making him think that his touch would satisfy him. It happened whenever they shook hands and didn't let go for what was longer than necessary. This feeling made him scared down to his core, for it brought back memories that were better left forgotten.

Still, he was willing to ignore all of that for the sake of the mission. If it was madness, then Cloud said so be it. Madness was oblivion, but it was the type of madness that banished abyss itself.


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Cloud woke up on his back, staring at the sky. It had not changed, for it was still the usual inky firmament that had existed the moment he had stepped foot into this world. He looked at it, and pictured great rolling clouds, a large yellow sun casting shadows through them, showing the world in a mixture of darkness and light.

He blinked away that fancy, for it was not real. He could not focus on the fantasy and still exist in reality. No. In reality, Cloud had to focus on the task at hand, which was covering more ground in this place. That, as well as opening up more, and learning to trust Sephiroth.

The man sighed, for that was a huge task. 'I am always Atlas it seems.' Cloud rose up from his sleeping position, stretched, and noticed that Sephiroth was sitting straight up. He was looking at the sky with a forlorn expression, the expression of a man who had been beaten down and broken, a man who was trying to make sense of the mess of his life. Cloud blinked a few times, and wondered where that train of thought had come from. Could Sephiroth still be sad? Was he still criticizing himself and what he had done, drowning in the sea of regret?

Cloud cleared his throat a few times and Sephiroth looked over to him, slightly startled.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Sephiroth raised his brow, as if he hadn't expected him up so soon.

"The dawn hasn't come yet." Cloud blinked a few times.

"Oh." Both men sat in silence for a moment, then Cloud decided he should outright ask the man if he was alright. "Sephiroth, I couldn't help but notice…your look." Sephiroth stared at him as if he were the most puzzling enigma he had come across in his entire lifetime.

"My look? Enlighten me." Cloud sighed and got up from where he was sitting, and before he could protest, took a seat beside Sephiroth. Sephiroth stared at him as if he were a man who had just done the impossible, a man who had overstepped some boundary that no one had ever done before. Well, in a way, he had. He had chosen to sit beside him that day instead of far away, like he always was. The fire separated them, the ruins of their campfire. But today, he wouldn't let something as simple as twigs and ash be a barrier between him and this man.

'It's worth fighting for. The Promised Land.' Cloud nodded his head, his convictions set and clear. He nodded his head, and began talking.

"Your look. It was something I would have seen on my face awhile back had I looked in a mirror." Cloud chuckled lightly, thinking of how silent and gloomy he had once been. He had blamed himself so severely for Aeris's death that he let it consume him, the way Geostigma almost had. Both of those things had been Sephiroth's doing he was well aware of. However, both of those things were gone, history compared to what was happening now. The path of forgiveness was about forgetting the mistakes and moving on with what was left, salvaging what remained. That was letting go as well, turning your back on what happened.

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, as if he still couldn't believe Cloud was telling him any of this. Cloud didn't blame him. It felt like someone else was speaking through him, though he knew that that person was undeniably him. Though, he was starting to get used to it, not feeling like he should open up his head and examine what was inside to see if it was all working right. Forgiveness was slight madness he knew, but it was the constructive type.

"You mean to say I looked like you?" Cloud looked to Sephiroth and couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips. He nodded his head slightly.

"Yes and no. I mean…we don't physically look alike, we just…" Sephiroth held out his hand, meaning to stop Cloud from tripping over his own words.

"I understand. That was a joke." Cloud looked to him, and despite himself, the situation, and the everything, he began laughing. He clutched his stomach and found that tears were welling up in his eyes from the act. This was crazy, for he hadn't laughed like this on Gaia. It was insanity to think that he could find humor and contentment in a world that had no light, and once more, find it in a world that held his former enemy.

Sephiroth looked down on him, and gave a slight chuckle. "Again, I suppose I should give up my life of crime and be a comedian." Cloud shook his head and wiped at his eyes. He couldn't remember the last time he had laughed that it had not been Sephiroth that made him that way.

Cloud held out his hands and attempted to smooth the conversation over once more.

"Alright. Here we go again. I should have just come right out and said this…Sephiroth, you looked kind of sad when I woke up." Sephiroth tilted his head slightly to the side, as if he had no idea what Cloud was talking about. Of course.

"I was not sad. I was just thinking about the technicalities of this world." Sephiroth picked up a loose stone, and threw it into the stream they traveled by. "For instance, that stream. Do you not find it odd that the water is clean to drink, despite us bathing in it?"

Cloud felt as if he had been thrown feet first into a tailspin. This was…odd. The facts were that Sephiroth was not sad, but had been focusing really, really hard on…the logic of this world? How ironic, seeing as how darkness never seemed to have that type of reason. It just was.

Cloud looked around him, as if trying to put a handle on Sephiroth's reasoning.

"So…you want to make sense of this world?" Sephiroth nodded.

"I don't see why not." Cloud had to admit, he had a few theories on this world as well, as well as some doubts. Like he had said before, there was no need to try to sort through or sort out darkness, or the purpose for it. It simply was there to counterbalance the light.

Cloud decided to share his theory with Sephiroth. After all, if Sephiroth had nothing to lose, neither did he.

"That's a good question…but Sephiroth, this world doesn't really have…logic." Sephiroth placed his hand on the side of his face, placing his elbow on the inner part of his knee. He looked like someone who was begging a rival to try and prove him wrong. It was the pose of one who enjoyed a challenge, and once more, wanting to see if anyone could best him. The only difference was, there was no signature smirk on his face, the one that let the world know that he thought he was better than the rest.

"Do you mean to say that darkness has no logic? That is just is?" Cloud was forced to agree. That was the way it was, and had to be. Sephiroth looked around and sighed, as if realizing he were in the grips of a moral dilemma. "That darkness is…evil." Cloud cussed under his breath. Shit. He hadn't realized what Sephiroth was alluding to: that since Sephiroth thought himself dark, a monster, that he had to be that way because it was expected of his nature, expected of him to be that way. Everything was in code here.

Cloud leaned in a little closer to Sephiroth, and thought of an almost brilliant way to end this misunderstanding.

"Sephiroth…first off, I'm sorry." The words stuck in his mouth like a rancid food flavor, like something disgusting had slid its way down his throat. That was the way pride tasted when it was swallowed down, ready to be digested by humility. Sephiroth looked up at him, and some of the shadows left his eyes.

"For?" Cloud shoved Sephiroth lightly to the right, the way he would sometimes do to Denzel when he was feeling affectionate, or what he had done with Zack when they finished an especially hard mission. Sephiroth looked to him like he knew what the gesture meant, and smiled lightly.

"You know damn well why. I didn't understand what you meant…but, you were speaking in code." He shook his head, not wishing to pick a fight. The time for picking fights was over and done with. "Also, look at me." Sephiroth looked at him, and scrutinized him until Cloud began to feel nervous.

The way his mako eyes looked him up and down, as if trying to decode and analyze every pore and fiber of his being was beginning to get a little…innerving. It made him feel like he was open and bare for the ex-General to see, allowing him the show of his soul and spirit. He wasn't ready for that yet. That would take serious time. If he chose to do that that is.

Also, that damned attraction was back. He could not help but notice the darker tones in the man's eyes, tones he had never seen before. At first glance, there was nothing but a clear coating of light green covering the man's pupils. But, deeper in the ocular there were flecks of hazel, spinning in like honey and jade, creating a stone that no man had ever uncovered. He was exotic then, a striking man with long silver hair in a black outfit, a man that Cloud felt his heart hammering for.

No! What was he thinking?

Shaking himself out of that train of thought, Cloud showed Sephiroth what he wished for in the first place: his arm. He stuck out his arm, and showed the way it illuminated, like crystal topaz beneath the skin, as if radiation were in his veins, showing all the way through.

"I'm glowing. Sephiroth…think of it this way. If Minerva had wanted for us to be in this world for any other reason than to be stranded in the dark, then why would she have given me glowing skin?" Sephiroth blinked a few times, his eyes widening in revelation. It appeared that even Sephiroth himself could not think of everything, even the most obvious of notions. Cloud made a little sound of triumph in his throat, one that let him know he had proven Sephiroth wrong.

"Also…if she wanted us to be stranded on the ground, then why would she have given me wings?" Cloud felt the bones stir under his skin, and in moments, his wings showed themselves, in all of their glory. He had finally gotten the hang of them, of flying, and of letting them ease in and out of his shoulder blades. Any human could adjust to anything it seemed, even this extenuating circumstance.

Sephiroth looked to his wings, as if he wished he had a pair of his own, some form of glory telling him that he was no longer fallen, a shunned warrior or a once hero gone rogue. Cloud felt a gall rise in his throat, the emotion one felt when they knew someone was envious of some of the traits they displayed. This was…weird to have someone he had once admired so much envy him. Cloud thought he had tripped into a parallel universe to say the least.

Cloud swallowed that gall, and continued with his final thought. "If this is true, that my skin is glowing to give us light, and that my wings provide us with flight…then why should it be so that the impossible can't happen?" Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "That darkness does in fact have logic."

He realized he was speaking in code too, in the metaphor that Sephiroth had constructed for himself. Cloud decided just to be simple about it. "To put it bluntly…Sephiroth, what makes you think that you can't change?" Sephiroth looked to him as if he had, in a short and simple sentence, summed up the doubts he had faced for the past few weeks. Cloud wondered how he had managed to summon up not only the words but the courage to say those things. Again, it was madness of only the purest sort, something that would nudge him in the right direction.

The man replied then. "I suppose…nothing. I believe Minerva set you here…as my example. Of what I should look to…of what I should and could be." Cloud felt his face begin to flush. He was no leader! He had taken the position a few times yes, saving the world three times, taking it upon himself to help everyone. But…to be looked up to in this manner…it was absurd.

Sephiroth looked at him, and his eyes filled with intensity then, as if he was finally understanding certain things. "That makes sense, doesn't it?" Cloud had to agree, with the way Minerva threw logic and symbolism at them made perfect sense. After-all, he had been leading Sephiroth this entire time with his light, taking the front position. That was something a General would do.

Cloud looked to his hands then, as if he had now just realized the enormity his powers carried. Yes, with great power came immense responsibility. The only question was, was he willing to uphold that position until the time came when he would have to give it up? If it meant finally resting in peace, then he would do what he had to do.

"It makes a lot of sense. And…I'll do it." Sephiroth looked to him once more, as if he were waiting for an answer. "I'll be your example. Just call me General." Sephiroth looked to him once, blinked twice, and chuckled.

"That will be the day Cloud, that will be the day." Cloud shoved his shoulder hard to the right, causing Sephiroth to sway a little. Both men shared a smile, as if they had reached another level of their understanding.

"Alright. Dawn or no dawn, let's get something to eat. Cadet, get up and help me." Cloud added an edge of authority to his voice, one that would have made Zack cackle had he been there. Sephiroth looked up at him, and chuckled a few times. The sound was light hearted, very different than his dark laughter in the beginning of their travels.

"And our workout?" Cloud eased himself up off of the ground, brushing some dirt off of his pants.

"After. Don't question my authority." Cloud held out his hand for Sephiroth to take, and the man took it, not thinking twice about the act. Trust could be in open gestures as well as in lessons. Sephiroth chuckled once more, and the sound was more like laughter, the sound of a man who was having a good time with a friend.

"I'll question it to the ends of time." Sephiroth turned on his heel and Cloud shook his head, knowing that behind Sephiroth's turned head, he was smiling. There was a first time for everything he knew, and this was the makings of their friendship.

Yes, it was like tiptoeing on a shattered glass ceiling and expecting it to hold your weight. But slowly, the glass was beginning to knit itself back together, creating a stronghold that oblivion itself could not break. Impossibility was far away in this abyss.

After exercise and the meal, Cloud and Sephiroth began comparing theories about this world, about the logic of it.

"Alright, the water stays pure. What do you make of that?" Sephiroth looked to his left as they walked through open and barren landscape, something that was almost identical to the place that they had first come from.

"It's magic." Cloud chuckled. The man could be quite…amusing when he wanted to be. "Minerva created this world. Hence, certain aspects are certain to be odd." Cloud shrugged his shoulders, and wished that he could be along side Sephiroth, instead of having to walk in front of him. Though, if he did that, then they wouldn't get anywhere fast.

If he walked in front, the light from his skin resonated to where Sephiroth could see what was in front of him, and Cloud could tell what was there before Sephiroth did. In a way, they were both looking out for the other.

"I'm just glad it is pure. And since we rinse our mouths with it to keep our teeth from rotting, it's obviously something magical." He chuckled, thinking that he was portraying someone out of character for him, a man who laughed and joked with his enemy as if they had known each other since childhood. It was strange, yes. But so what? It was not as strange as getting trapped in oblivion with said man, growing wings, and having skin that lit the way in a bleak landscape.

Sephiroth chuckled a little. "Yes, I am grateful for that. There must be some…chemical component in it that keeps it pure. It allows us to bathe and wash our bodies without soap, and we are still clean. It's a miracle." Cloud heard Sephiroth stop in his tracks to look at the stream next to them. His face was bowed, as if he were paying respects to the water itself.

Cloud walked over to Sephiroth and saw that he had gotten to his knees. He cupped his hands into the stream and took a long drink, not because he was thirsty, but because he was struggling to understand something, to make sense out of something that no sense could be given. Cloud did the same, and found the water to be refreshing and pure, much crisper than it had been in Midgar and Nibelheim.

A thought struck him then, and he knew it must have sounded ludicrous. But then again, most truth came from the ravings of ludicrous statement. Cloud turned to Sephiroth and began speaking his theory aloud.

"I just had a thought." Sephiroth scoffed in an amused manner.

"Let's see what the almighty General thinks." Cloud shook his head, and in a very spontaneous move, cupped his hands in the river and threw water on Sephiroth. Then, he began to laugh once again.

Sephiroth looked like a kitten that had been soaked through and through after a bath, his silver hair hanging in strips down his face. He wiped at his face and shook his head a few times, getting water droplets everywhere. Cloud wondered if that was alright, that the man wouldn't get offended with his show of…friendliness. If that's what throwing water at someone meant.

A voice told him that this was something that one would do with someone who they were interested in, someone who one wished to date. Cloud stumbled backwards from that thought, and felt himself trip mentally over his own feet. He was…flirting with the man?

The thought scared him so much, he didn't realize Sephiroth had nudged him over the edge of the river, winding him face up in three feet water. He had grabbed onto the river bank in his fall, his sense of direction falling away from him. So much, that he had not realized that he gripped Sephiroth.

Both men wound up in the river, sopping wet. Sephiroth sputtered and Cloud spat water out in between his teeth, shaking his head. He blinked a few times, and realized that with the way that Sephiroth had landed, he had wound up connecting his jaw to his own chest. Sephiroth was laying with his chin right where his heart was.

The man moved, and Cloud felt little shivers race up and down his thighs, little traces of fire in his bloodstream. What was this? Was it…attraction? Cloud felt his face heat up when Sephiroth rose on top of him, looking for all the world like the most soaked man alive. He also qualified as the most handsome man he had ever seen.

His hair was soaking wet and hung in strips around his face, framing his countenance as if he were posed inside a silver border, a man who was too stunning to be traced in wood. Sephiroth's eyes glowed like the inner workings of a gemstone found in the ocean, one that cast a ring of endless light up into the water, winking in the sunlight. They were lovely, even if they were the color of the mako he had once so despised. Right then, they were too beautiful for words. His face was perfect, literally, with thin lips, a fine and elegant nose, and eyebrows that framed his eyes in a gentle arch. No pore was seen, and everything about him was…polished. Pristine even.

Cloud knew that he should not have been thinking about this man in this way. No man went around and thought about their companions that way…no matter how attractive they were. He was straight! He had liked women, hadn't he? They were beautiful, curvaceous…but not they were not Sephiroth.

The man felt a sickening flavor fill his throat, for he realized right then, that he had never been into women. He had kissed Tifa goodbye, and had felt nothing. He had tried looking at women with barely any clothing, or no clothing at all, and still could not get his blood to stir, to boil. Oh dear Shiva…he was into men, wasn't he? It had taken oblivion to show him this truth?

An unfamiliar voice echoed in his head, one that seemed recognizable, and yet not. Then it clicked. It was Genesis's voice.

"Only a fool denies the obvious. Only a blind man degrades emotion. Only a conformer thinks himself a sinner." Cloud was about to cry out and ask the theatric what he meant, but with a faint chuckle, the voice was gone. He sighed and fell back into the water. This was utterly ridiculous. All he had wanted was to share a theory with Sephiroth!

"Can I ask you something?" Sephiroth had stood up and was wringing out his hair, combing through it with his hands. Cloud nodded and sat up in the water, thanking Shiva or whoever for making him think to put his wings in his back before they left camp. If he had fallen into the river on his back…he shuddered to think of the pain he would still have been in.

Sephiroth held out a hand and Cloud took it, avoiding the man's gaze. It was always best never to look the object of your past attraction in the eye lest old feelings stir up. Cloud was determined to crush those feelings, for certain emotions did die off, go away. He couldn't think of a world where he was allured by his past enemy, for it would do no one a bit of good.

"How in the Hell can your hair do that?" Cloud touched the spikes of his hair, not looking Sephiroth in the eye.

"Stay this way? I got it from my father. Or so my mother told me." He chuckled lightly and bent down to wring out his pants and shirt. Cloud would do pretty much anything to avoid Sephiroth's eyes right then. If what he had suspected had even the slightest bit of truth-Genesis's voice overlooked-then he knew that he was into men. The idea made his heart ache painfully in his chest, for he knew that no good could come of that.

What sort of life could he live for himself if he was…that way? A no good life, that's what. Granted, settling down and raising kids was out, since he was in limbo and could never go back to Gaia. But in the Promised Land, Zack mentioned that he had children with Aeris. Thus, relationships could occur in that afterlife, in eternal paradise.

Genesis's last words came into play then: "Only a conformer thinks himself a sinner." That…was interesting. Analyzed, the poetic sentence meant to say that society wanted him to look for a woman even when the thought of that did nothing for him. His heart might as well have been dead in his chest. Yes, he enjoyed Tifa, Aeris's, and even Yuffie's company. But that didn't mean that he had ever been attracted to them in that way. He had only grabbed Tifa and kissed her because it seemed right, like something a doomed man should do. Kiss a girl. But, it made him feel nothing.

Also, he meant that no matter what the laws stated, either by the community or society, that he was no sinner if he wanted to love someone of the same gender. Genesis and Angeal were a perfect example of that. He felt dumbstruck then, for he had just basically gotten permission to live the way he wanted, unadulterated, without any masks.

Cloud felt as if he were being torn into pieces right then, despite looking fine on the outside. In reality, he was simply wringing the moisture out of his outfit. But internally, he was considering himself, his options, and his sexuality. Never had he doubted himself like this before! He hadn't even considered the possibility of him being that way, aside from one minor thing he had done in his childhood. Even that was not the biggest dead-wringer for his sexuality.

Finally, after a hassle, he came to a conclusion: no one would judge him aside from himself. If Genesis and Angeal could be together intimately in this paradise, then he supposed he could find someone too, a partner, and live life comfortably in the Promised Land. He had no idea what this male would look like, but whenever he tried to picture "him" , he always wound up seeing a flash of metallic silver hair and startling jade eyes, exotic eyes that he would know anywhere.

No. That he could not accept.

It was one thing to accept that you were into men. It was a completely different frame of mind when you found out that you might have been, or currently were attracted to the man who had been your worst enemy.

Sephiroth's chortle brought him out of his self composed reverie. "I thought that you and Zack were brothers actually, since his hair does the same exact thing." He combed through his hair with his fingers, and Cloud watched, transfixed as the man bent to the left, raking his fingertips through his long silver tresses. In that moment, Sephiroth looked slightly androgynous, though Cloud knew very well Sephiroth was male. It looked like something a female would do he supposed, dry their hair that way when they didn't have a brush.

Cloud cleared his throat a few times, trying to clear away the image in his head, the only memory of his sexual antics when he was younger. He saw himself in his room a few nights before SOLDIER was due to come through the town on recruitment day. His mother was fast asleep in the other side of the house, which was good. He was indulging in something a healthy boy should have done: masturbation.

Quickly, Cloud began speaking, not wishing to relive a memory once more. "His hair…is interesting." He gave a slight chuckle, and felt a pang in his chest at the mention of being Zack's brother. In his minds eye, he saw Zack nodding, as if he agreed with Sephiroth's statement.

'We are brothers, Cloud.' Cloud blinked a few times, and was certain he was grinning like an idiot for a moment. He snapped out of it, and felt more at ease than he had been. This day was confusing to say the least.

"Alright, here is my theory." Cloud looked around and dropped to his knees at the river bank, letting the light shine from his skin on the ground. Sephiroth walked over to him and looked down at the ground, squinting his eyes.

"Strife, your theory is dirt?" Cloud shook his head, resisting the urge to laugh and bat Sephiroth away. That would be flirting, and none of that could happen. He simply would not allow it.

"No. The color. It's brown, the color soil is supposed to be." He rose to his knees and looked around their landscape. Cloud ran to his right and saw that a twig lay on the ground, as if it were the missing arm of one of the trees of the forest they passed. He held it up with the light of his arm, and gestured to it. "And this stick. It's many different shades of brown." Sephiroth looked at him and Cloud saw that he still didn't understand. For a man who had every sense altered for the better, he sure was slow to the obvious. Then, Sephiroth understood.

"Strife…your absolutely right." He looked around, as if he were looking at their world in a new light, the light of revelation. "This world…is not colorless. If it were, then everything would be one shade, one continuous color. Since the soil is brown and the stick is also brown, and we are in color instead of black…then this entire world is in color." Cloud nodded, and found himself impressed by the man. Though, it was not hard to be impressed by Sephiroth.

Cloud felt an uncomfortable feeling stir in his stomach, and he forced his attraction down, thinking all the while that he wished he had not thrown water on Sephiroth. That way, he wouldn't feel this…hot and bothered when he looked at the man.

Cloud decided to speak to distract himself from the screaming in his head. "That means, that this world is similar to our own. Only, without the moon or sun. No stars either." Both men looked up at the sky, as if it held all of the answers they sought. Sephiroth chuckled.

"You forgot clouds. There are no clouds either." Cloud felt himself flush and he quickly looked down, pretending like his shirt still needed to be wrung out. Whatever Sephiroth was alluding to in his strange metaphors and ways of talking in code, it was making him feel very nervous, as if he were on the spot.

"I guess I did. What's so great about them anyways?" He wrung out his shirt until it was dry, and instead of looking at Sephiroth, looked to the sky. Sephiroth chuckled.

"They bring rain. Snow. Without clouds, we wouldn't have the weather." Cloud kept his eyes focused on the black heavens, all the while feeling the man's gaze bore into him. He had always hated it when people stared at him. Truthfully, he was extremely shy. He had always kept himself encased inside his own walls, for that was where he was safe. Stability came from oneself, and nothing else. And having Sephiroth stare at him like that was extremely uncomfortable.

"I-I guess. We don't have weather here though." Sephiroth sighed and shook his head.

"No, we don't. No cloud exists here." Cloud, against his better wishes, looked Sephiroth in the eye right then. He wanted to know what the man meant by that, more than anything.

"Figuratively? Or literally?" Sephiroth shrugged. Cloud scowled. Ever the cryptic one.

"There are no cloud's in the heavens. But is Cloud here with me?" Cloud nodded to the last part.

"Y-yes. I'm here." Sephiroth caught his eye, and Cloud knew that that was where he had gone wrong. He should have learned to never look the man in the eye, for he would be trapped there, the way an insect would have been ensnared in a spider's delicate web.

Sephiroth nodded. "Good." He gestured to the left, motioning that he wanted Cloud to continue leading him. Cloud hurried to the front, feeling his face burn with embarrassment, and a newfound truth that scared him.

Without thinking, Cloud blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "I think I know what you mean. I'm here, and I'm…the weather. I'm the one who can change things." Sephiroth responded by clapping his hands together a few times in genuine applause.

"Yes. Yes you are." Sephiroth continued walking behind him, and Cloud felt himself wishing he could find that almost friendship they had, and surge that to the surface instead of this…blistering attraction. Yes, that was it. The attraction would be the death of him.

"Lead the way, General." Despite everything, his own mental turmoil, Cloud cast a smile behind his back. Madness didn't have to be so bad he supposed. But he would not succumb to the insanity of being attracted to Sephiroth. That was not constructive at all.

It would be destructive, the end of him.


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