Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

”And here we are, alone. Again. Irony.”

“There's no irony here, but you decided to save me in the end.”

“Because how can I leave you, Cloud? After everything that has happened?”

“Grh. You say it like it was something good. But…”

“But?”

“It was fascinating in some ways.”

“Huh.”

“Ha.”

The AVALANCHE were doing well after what had happened in the ShinRa Corporation building, — Tifa swore — as evidenced by the new bar building, happy members, and healed wounds. She was quite happy, too.

Cloud, too, seemed relaxed at first, as if he had finally said goodbye to the past, but then… something changed.

***

“Cloud?” Tifa called out to her friend in the street.

He was concentrating on feeding the cats and paying no attention to the passers-by. Strife reminded her of a frowning Chocobo who was offended by something.

Cloud stroked a cat furiously, saying: “You're all black, too, and your head is white. Don't stare at me with your green eyes, I know I screwed up! ‘It has no matter,’ I said. What has no matter? What?! Gaia, I'm sure he thought I was an edgy teen again…”

He slammed his forehead against the nearest wall, groaning. The cat meowed in agreement, and Tifa blinked.

Then Strife noticed her and assumed the usual “cold” expression, releasing the cat. He looked so calm that Tifa wondered if she had imagined the scene.

“Tifa, wanted something?” Cloud asked softly.

“No, just talk,” she said, shaking her head with a smile. After all, she might have been imagining things.

***

Barret considered Cloud as a good friend. At first, he seemed suspicious to Wallace, mainly because of the past in the ranks of the detachment of SOLDIERS, but Strife regularly helped the AVALANCHE, arranged diversions and was not so emotionless after all.

There were a couple of things that bothered him — like the sudden appearance of a Wutai war hero, Sephiroth, who was clearly interested in Cloud, and didn't look like himself.

But that was the end of the list of complaints.

Until this day.

“I hate Genova,” he heard from behind the bar. The words repeated.

Barret looked around the corner and froze. Cloud was enthusiastically beating the dummies to the ground with strange punches and looked terribly angry. He dusted off the sawdust and sweat and continued his training.

“I hate Genova, I hate Hojo, I hate ShinRa, I hate Sephiroth…” he stopped for a second, shook his  head, and muttered loudly enough, “No, not that.”

Wallace was already surprised enough, but on the words “Fuck the Ifrit's fucking universe!” he lost the final meaning of what was happening. He preferred to just… leave Cloud alone with his thoughts.

He seemed to need it.

***

Red considered Cloud suspicious because he had seen his eyes glisten green next to the Sephiroth of all people, so he kept an eye on him after his remarkable escape from the ShinRa building.

At first, he even doubted the correctness of his conclusions, because Strife behaved even more normally than during the operation, but then Nanaki began to notice oddities.

Red XIII put them into three categories. The first is “inconsistencies in behavior”. The second is “strange power”. And the third, his most hated one “error, error 404”.

In the first one, he wrote down everything he had seen and heard strange from Cloud, trying to put them together, but nothing worked — the pieces of the puzzle did not fit together.

For example, the incident at lunch.

“I swear, no matter what it looks like, this curry will cost you all at least indigestion.”

It was a regular order from their favorite restaurant for takeouts, which food Strife always enjoyed eating, but this time for some reason he was stubborn. Tifa just snorted and put a spoon full of rice in her mouth.

She flashed red and waved her hands in panic.

Red looked from Tifa, who had run to the bathroom, to Cloud, who — he could have sworn — was smiling, the tips of his lips barely lifting.

Nanaki heard him grumble with his animal ears: “Damn it, he needs to do better than that if he wants to celebrate the anniversary of his time travel memorably. This is the second time in my memory —“ he hid his slightly blushed face behind his hands.

Red XIII caught himself thinking that he did not understand.

Things from the second category were easier to see, because ShinRa Marines came to their “headquarters” almost every day.

Cloud fought well, at the level of a first-class SOLDIER, just like he said. But there was something… when Strife forgot about outsiders, his hands slipped on the sword, and the movements became barely discernible to the eye. These moments didn't last long, and Cloud was quick to catch himself.

The speed of his movements at such times — and the strength, for that matter — was horribly like that of a former General.

But unfortunately for Red, that wasn't the worst part of what was happening to Cloud.

“By the way,” Tifa asked thoughtfully. “What was that thing in the flask in the ShinRa building? We didn't have time to find out, but it's interesting, creepy…”

“Genova,” Cloud snorted, turning a page in the book. “This is an alien body that has regained consciousness and is now the mother of Sephiroth.” And added, after a moment. “Technical one”.

“It was definitely —“ Lockhart hesitated. “Exhaustive answer.”

Cloud, it seems, has not yet finished, so looked offended.

But he continued anyway: “And mine. Technically.”

Red felt as if the chain of events he had somehow managed to construct was being destroyed before his eyes.

And, no matter how Strife was questioned that night, he kept silent, covering a mocking smile with a book.

***

Aerith couldn't understand what was going on in the Lifestream, past and present. At first it was little bells, like minor duplicates of events, then there were deviations from the original past, and then she began to see a conditional future!

No, Aerith was completely confused about it, really.

All her ancestors, too, were running around in a panic, not knowing what to do or how to deal with it.

Even Gaia, who should have known everything, sent a horde of whispers to earth in terror, to catch all the anomalies. For some reason, they were hunting Aerith herself, but she really didn't know why.

And so, she met Cloud Strife.

Whispers swirled around him, passing through him, trying to take his soul, but somehow just slipping through him, as if he were not material. It was like the eye of a storm.

Aerith’s heart leaped in recognition. Cloud Strife — Zack had told her about him.

Is it possible that he is the cause of the unrest in the Lifestream? It didn't make any sense, because the person who was looking at her didn't have the faintest idea about whispers. Aerith decided that she would ignore him.

…

The next time she met him was in her Church, in flowers. Cloud was surprisingly calm about everything except friendly teasing, and Aerith relaxed against her will.

The feeling of false security around him faded a little as images of sadness, loss, and the unfulfilled flashed through his mind in the Lifestream. These were pictures of future death, which meant…

Cloud somehow saw the future. Gainsborough didn't want to think that a sincere Strife could be cheating on her.

…

The last doubt disappear at the moment when Cloud burst into the lab, heavy breathing and a little shaking from the strain. He gave her a high five after she left the cell, and in his case, that's the highest level of trust.

Even if Cloud is guilty of interfering, it doesn't change the fact that he's a friend.

…

The Sephiroth was creepy. But Aerith was not afraid of the thousand whispers, because she was used to them during her time with Cloud, but of the look that the Wutai demon and Strife shared.

Cloud seemed to forget how to breathe for a moment, and then his eyes lit up unnaturally Mako-blue with deafening rage. He didn't hear Tifa, or Barret, or her as he leaped over the chasm to the Sephiroth.

Aerith had no doubt of Sephiroth’s involvement in the temporal paradoxes.

At one point, Cloud and Sephiroth stood side by side, frozen in unarmed poses, and Gainsborough was struck by how well they looked on the same side.

After that, she wondered if Sephiroth could ever have been on the side of the AVALANCHE. And it wasn't impossible, which is surprising.

…

She should have died.

This realization came to Aerith on the third day after the last battle, because the events of the ShinRa building were finally postponed as “the past”. Somehow, the actions of both Cloud and Sephiroth had saved her from the inevitable.

Sephiroth stopped the meteor himself — for what?

Cloud was on the level of the future-past of himself — how?

She sat with her head in her hands, trying to calm her thoughts. Strife came up to her side and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

“You're alive, and that's all that matters,” he said, and Aerith understood.

Cloud Strife's diary 1st page

I woke up in the past a week ago and it's the wrong past! I can't say that I don't like it, because Aerith is alive, the battle in the ShinRa building went without serious losses, and during the collapse, most of the residents even managed to evacuate.

But I'm pretty sure it was all because of Sephiroth, because from my pre-universe memories, I realized that he knew something. He… he stopped the meteor! The one he killed Aerith with for last time!

Anyway… it really helped. AVALANCHE won't understand this “help”, but for a man — me — who has spent most of his life fighting him, progress is obvious.

Now… I think I should tell you how I ended up in the past, and why I'm not surprised that the Sephiroth is here, too.

Hell, I thanked Sephiroth. If he ever gets into my mind again, I,will kill him for the fourth (fifth?) time!

2nd page

After the last battle with Sephiroth, he disappeared for a long time, compared to the previous times. For ten years! I never thought I'd miss him after six years, but it's a fact.

Not for Genova and the battle with that feathered monster. But for Sephiroth — the constant presence, the listener, the taunts and secrets he kept from me… I missed our battles.

So I took his return on my thirty-seventh birthday in a neutral way. Unlike Tifa and everyone else, who immediately began to speculate about what he had come back for.

I asked him directly.

“I’ll never be a part of your memories, Cloud.” To be honest, I remembered those words for all those years, and the answer was not very surprising.

After three more years of peaceful life, the oddities began. The stars fell by the hundreds during the night, and Sephiroth admitted that his genes were responding to something, and we all knew that “something was coming.”

3rd page

This “something” was the rebirth of the universe. No one survived it except Sephiroth and me. And I wouldn't have been able to if Sephiroth hadn't covered me with his wing.

We lived on the remains of Gaia for a couple of months until I felt I was dying. After all, I am not a deity like Sephiroth, so my term has been set. But a dying universe had contacted us, begging us to save it.

We agreed — what else? I'd have been dead in a few weeks, and Sepheroth would exist on the remains of planets for all eternity.

The next thing I remember, I woke up here, in a completely different reality.

And I've dealt with it, you, sucker!

Chapter Text

“Man, you’re an idiot”.

”Are you the one who is telling me that, Cloud? Anyway, what are we going to do?”

”Agh, I don’t know! Dyin’ sucks! How have you handled that five times?!”

”You have hysterics, Cloud”.

”I know—“.

”I’m with you.”

”Stop saying such shit from teenage drama, you, idiot”.

”You sound almost soft like.”

”Shut up!”

Idiocy was not a characteristic of Sephiroth, but he doubted it now. He was in the past, about — exactly — the moment Genova took his form.

And he took it from her. It sounded ridiculous, but that's exactly what happened. The universe definitely had a sense of humor.

Sephiroth’s idiocy was that he forgot about Zack and Cloud, who were being tortured by Hojo. Not quite, of course. It was not until the third day that he finally recovered from time travel, and only then did he begin to plan ahead.

It was a pity that he not managed to get up to the tragedy in Nibelheim. Then he could have avoided the pointless sacrifices that Genova wanted… but he was used to working with what was there.

Sephiroth decided not to save Zack and Cloud immediately, waiting for their escape. Make sure that Strife was safe, take and cure Zack — the plan had definitely been worked out.

Hojo was worth the wait. He should have kidnapped Aerith, but after that, Sephiroth saw no point in letting Him live.

There was no need to kill Aerith herself. Given that his — and Cloud's — goal now was to save the universe from destruction, they would need all the strength they could muster.

Sephiroth has also noted that Cloud did not travel with him, because otherwise his face would have graced the headlines “escape from ShinRa”. This was not a bad thing — he would just have time to prepare all the conditions for creating a reliable plan to save the world.

So, in general, Sephiroth had a lot to do.

***

Sephiroth?! Genova said for the first time in a couple of months. Sephiroth swore, covering his mouth with his fist. That's just what was missing.

Sephiroth managed to get his name added to the list of ShinRa company executives and watched the world from his office. He closely watched the lives of Aerith and the other members of the AVALANCHE, checkedon Zack and Cloud every day…

And then his own mother, in whose body he now walks.

Sephiroth begged leaving from the Council, hurrying to his room, trying not to show that a God from another planet was shouting in his ear, demanding an explanation. And — the door finally slammed shut.

“Yes, mother?” Sephiroth answered, finally.

Why didn't you let me take control of the body, Sephiroth? Genova asked, puzzled. I would have caused more destruction in a day than you have in two months.

Sephiroth sighed, exhaled, and mentally composed himself.

“I'm not going to destroy the humanity,” he said. Genova fell silent in shock, speechless for the second time in two months. If only not for the same amount — the Wutai monster melancholically noted.

But this is our legacy! My legacy! she said desperately. Sephiroth felt sorry for her. He was sorry for her anyway.

“I know, mother, but you must understand that I am not saying that I refuse destruction in General, only local destruction,” Sephiroth teased. “I like to destroy things, but wiping everything is not an option.”

Genova was genuinely perplexed, because she had been created solely for that purpose.

“Do you love me as a mother loves her son?” she said a firm Yes. “But there are still millions of people in the world who love their children as much as you love me. And if we destroy everything under contract, then one day the son of one such woman may die.”

Genova paused, startled, considering what she'd heard. Sephiroth knew that she had a very sharp maternal instinct — for him and, in the future, for Cloud — in a very certain sense — and decided to take advantage of it.

It was a shame, but what you can't do, for the sake of Clo… universe.

All right, she finally said, reluctantly easing the pressure on his brain. I will only endure this if there is any destruction.

“That won't be a problem any time soon,” Sephiroth recalled with a chuckle, relieved that the attack had gone so easily. He expected more resistance from Genova.

And I'll be in your head as long as I want, Sephiroth, she drawled playfully. Ah, here it was.

***

And the boy? Cloud? Genova asked once. Sephiroth choked, distracted from the attacking ShinRa members.

He left the company pompously, slaughtering a couple of battalions. Sephiroth had already learned all the information he needed from Hojo and president, that Cloud and Zack were still in stable condition, and judging by the time frame, they were preparing to escape.

“He traveled, too, mother, you've heard that before —“ he replied, disgusted with the methodical slaughter of the infantry.

I don't mean that, she snorted. You think about it, you figure out the options, the scenarios, you wonder when it will follow you. Don't you think this is too much for an ordinary “puppet”, Sephiroth?

He couldn't help but embarrass by this remark. In front of him, the last of the attackers flew colorfully, landing exactly in the pile of the others.

“I admit, he did become my friend in the future of the first timeline,” he said quietly.

Fiiine, Genova drawled. After a moment, she added, but you should know that even though he is also my son, your Union will not be considered as incest.

“Mooother”, Sephiroth groaned.

***

Sefirot narrowed his eyes, picking out the very warriors who were supposed to kill Zack. The whispers behind him protested, trying to pull him back, but the One-winged Angel just sat back and waited.

He couldn't just mindlessly pull the Fair out of the siege, he had to somehow keep the events in the right order. So Sephiroth came up with a plan.

He just had to kill the shooters who would have delivered the final blow, and Zack could handle the rest on his own. Then Sephiroth would link this piece of reality to a conditional moment after the meteorite hit — and right after the conditional (again) key event, Fair would be on the team.

The perfect plan, Sephiroth thought proudly as he took off.

He stabbed them with Masamune’s blade, flashing into the others’ field of vision for a couple of seconds, and then disappeared. They only had time to blink.

Per-fect.

Yes, Genova agreed.

***

Saving this guy, Biggs, was an experiment. What if he directly breaks the time branch? It was the same motive he had with Barrett. What if he kills him?

Besides, Cloud clearly didn't understand. (And it was satisfying).

Despite the fact that he did not move his consciousness, but after the appearance of the Sephiroth and the subsequent changes, the memories were deeply embedded in  loud's head. The visions of Aerith’s death and meteor were only a small part of what he remembered.

“Seven seconds ‘till the apocalypse, Cloud. But what will you do with it? Let’s see”, he chuckled, and…

One. Sephiroth disappeared, leaving a single feather.

Two. Cloud started to turn around.

Three. He looked at The Buster Sword with complete incomprehension in his eyes.

Four. Cloud's blue eyes still burned with incomprehension.

Five. He moved toward the exit from the Reality’s End.

Six. The movement continued without changing its trajectory.

Seven. Cloud stopped.

Recognition flickered in his eyes, and they widened, and he groaned,

“Damn it, Sephiroth!”

Sephiroth’s diary 1st page

I went back in time. And this is the happiest event since the moment that Cloud turned out alive after the end.

I think I felt the moment of the explosion in ten seconds, and spent all those seconds trying to get to Cloud and cover him with my wing; then he called me an “idiot” for it.

(I swear I don't even mind it.)

And then Strife started dying, and I couldn't do anything. Helplessness was definitely not a feeling I wanted to experience even in the vast future.

And the universe, which had previously evoked no emotion, seemed the embodiment of hope.

The only thing we were asked to do in exchange was save the world, but it was nothing new to him, and I could kill.

2nd page

All it takes is to destroy all such as mother who caused the destruction and restart of the world. They successfully destroyed their own planets, unlike Genova and me.

(Thanks To Cloud).

In any case, our job is to kill, and we were sent here to do it, and we didn't expect anything else, but, you know?

We’re not going to be just a weapon anymore.

Chapter Text

“Is it possible to change the timeline if we go back?”

“Of course, but the Planet will interfere with you. I'll try to help.“

“…Well. As long as Cloud is okay.”

“Strife said the same thing. ‘As long as Sephiroth is okay‘.“

“Huh.“

“You care so much about each other. Given your history, this is astounding.”

“…“

Immediately after Zack got to his feet, Cloud dragged him and AVALANCHE… to drink. His mood was either wonderful enough to make him want to drink, or terrible enough to make him want to do the same. Tifa and the others were in shock anyway. Zack, too.

But no one objected to Cloud.

In any case, what happened that Fair came back to life, and how did Strife come to live like this? …Many things.

***

A week ago, when Aerith went to visit her Church, she returned with Zack alive in her arms. He was unconscious, but breathing and stable — and the healing materia was doing its job. Next to his bed, Aerith and Cloud sat for the whole day, sometimes taking turns.

But the emotions of this return were different. For the entire AVALANCHE.

Tifa and Aerith simply did not believe that he was alive, Barret, Red and Biggs did not know who he was, but they saw their reaction and were also happy, but Cloud…

Red saw him once muttering to himself, “Crazy bastard, I can't believe he did this… Why wasn't I there?!“ and made sure that Strife had gone mad.

He was glad, but he didn't look surprised, even though Tifa knew he'd seen Zack die. It was almost as if Cloud had expected this twist of fate.

“I can't believe he's back,” Aerith gasped. “How could he walk here if you stopped at those distance from Midgar?” Cloud muttered something under his breath again.

Tifa put her arm around Gainsborough’s shoulders and smiled.

“But he's back! And when Zack wakes up, we'll ask him anything we want,” Aerith smiled carefully, “Then we will hug him, talk to him and return to AVALANCHE activity with new strength!”

Lockhart laughed, and Gainsborough clapped her hands together. Barret echoed this with a loud laugh. Aerith paused with a sigh.

“Anyway, why doesn’t Sephiroth attack us?” Aerith asked with a worried smile touching Zack’s unconsciousness body. Cloud huffed.

“Really, why are you so worried about him?” He asked. Everyone gazed at him, stunned.

“Cloud —“ Tifa stated carefully, “He literally burned Nibelheim to ashes”.

Cloud laughed.

“We went through this a lot time ago”.

AVALANCHE looked at him with shock.

***

“Zack!” Aerith shouted, leaping from her chair. Nearby, the other members of the AVALANCHE awoke. Fair moved, blinking, and tried to sit up. He was stopped by Cloud and Gainsborough.

“Where am I?” Zack asked hoarsely, his eyes unfocused. “Cloud?" Aerith?” he focused on them. “What are you doing here?”

“You're in Midgard,” Strife explained excitedly. “It's een a long time, so the situation in the world has… er… changed. But everything is well”.

“Yes,” Aerith said. “You're safe in the Seventh Heaven bar, we're here, Tifa - remember Cloud’s friend? - is, too. That's all right”.

“Okay,” Zack breathed, and went back to sleep. Aerith refused to leave and stayed by his side.

The AVALANCHE went to their rooms, but Cloud… went out into the streets, disappearing there until dinner the next day’s evening.

Or rather, he was spending time with someone, and someone even witnessed it. A very small one witness who couldn't tell anyone anything, so no one found out about it.

***

Cloud shouted into the void.

“Sephiroth!” One-winged Angel himself came from the shadow of the nearest house, in home clothes, t-shirt and jeans. “You nor do not nor did not care about the timeline, do you?” Strife asked, narrowing his eyes.

Sephiroth snorted, adjusting his tail on the back of his head.

“I want to remind you that thanks to you, Whispers no longer threaten our plans, so I can do whatever I want”.

Cloud scratched his head, exhaled and clearly already thought about the answer.

“I know, Seph. But Zack's death clearly occurred earlier than all the events in the ShinRa building, so I conclude that you did it ‘before’,“ Strife smiled. “Am I right?”

“Absolutely right, Cloud,” Sephiroth agreed easily. “Angry that I didn't tell you this before?”

He shook his head. “It's a good change, I'm glad of it, but… unexpected. I wasn't surprised or anything, but I couldn't quite believe it until I heard Zack’s voice.”

Cloud sat down on a piece of wood that had been set up as a bench.

“Tell me next time. A big difference in the history of the worlds after all”.

Sephiroth smiled lightly and pressed Strife’s head to his chest, pulling him into something like an embrace.

“Okay”.

Cloud closed his eyes.

They stood there for a couple of minutes, but then Marlene came around the corner, sleepy, rubbing her eyes with her fist. Strife flinched and hastily pushed Sephiroth away, disentangling himself from his arms.

“Mr. Cloud?” she asked. “When are you going to go home? I've been waiting for you for long enough…”

“I'm on my way, Marlene,” Cloud said softly, patting her head. “I just need to talk to Seph, and then we’ll go home. Okay?”

“Yes”, Wallace said, looking amused.

Sephiroth chuckled, leaned close to Cloud's ear, and whispered:

“She definitely adores you.” Strife blushed.

“Fuck off”.

The One-winged Angel smiled with satisfaction.

***

Zack began to interact more or less with the surrounding reality at the end of the week, now endlessly chatting with members of the AVALANCHE. Aerith was at the top of the list for the number of conversations, Tifa and Barrett second, Red third, and Cloud, for some reason, kept them to a minimum.

Rare contacts were too intense and ended in embarrassment. Cloud went into the wilds of newly built houses and did not return for several hours.

Zack was upset, too. Unbelievable, to the point of emotional exhaustion. And Cloud decided that it was no longer acceptable.

***

“Given what I'm about to tell you, drinking is the only option,” Cloud snorted, ordering several beer’s cans. (AVALANCHE preferred frugal drinks).

Aerith giggled, and Strife looked at her reproachfully. She obviously knew something, but she didn't say anything.

“Anyway —” Red growled thoughtfully, but Cloud interrupted him wearily.

“Red, please be quiet. I’m shocked, too,” he said, “Okay, let's start with the main thing… — arghhhhhh. I mean… ngh”. 

Cloud moaned something inarticulate, rubbed his eyes, and downed a can of beer. And second one. Barret whistled in admiration.

“Well”.

He caught a deep breath, took another couple of sips, and said on a single breath: “SephirothandItimetraveled”.

Tifa said: “What?”

Cloud's response this time was calmer: “Sephiroth and I timetraveled. He did a few hours after Nibleheim and I — immediately after the ShinRa building accident. He created a new timeline, bringing changes like living Biggs and Zack. Aerith is also alive because of him”.

Tifa opened her mouth, closed it, and blinked. “What?”

“I certainly wasn’t expecting this when I saw the Lifestream visions,” Cloud admitted to AVALANCHE with a sigh.

He started, his eyes lit up a little, he whispered softly, “Oh, now I'm sober” and added:

“But it's probably the only logical explanation for all the changes in this world and —“ he nodded at the wide-eyed Zack in the corner. “— This guy.”

Aerith, making an imperceptible movement with her hand, also took the alcohol in her hand. Zack looked at her with round eyes, Tifa put her hand to her mouth in shock, and Barrett leaned back on the sofa with a “no fucking way”.

“I knew it,” she admitted, opening the jar. “Cetra is in contact with the Lifestream and the Planet, and she started panicking around the time of the first time change. Cloud fully told me about this just a couple of weeks ago”.

The reaction to these words was crushing: the AVALANCHE wheezed. Strife smiled.

“What a reaction”, he commented.

A voice echoed from the shadows.

“How could you expect otherwise, Cloud?” General Sephiroth raised his eyebrows mockingly, folding his arms.

“Believe me, before my memory came back, I thought only in anger,” Cloud said. “Will you introduce yourself? Well, it’s not that necessary”.

The One-winged angel straightened his t-shirt — an ordinary t-shirt — sighed, sorrowful and sad, and sat down next to Strife.

His hair was pulled back in a ponytail, he was dressed in jeans and sneakers, and on the mentioned t-shirt was the inscription “do not date with E.T.s.” If it weren't for his extreme pallor and narrow-pupiled neon eyes, he would have looked like an ordinary midgardian.

“Pass the beer, please?” he asked.

Cloud retorted. “You can get it yourself, giant”.

“I can't, dwarf,” Sephiroth said, “I have a wing”.

A black shape appeared behind him. Cloud cursed and tried to push him off the bench. Vainly.

The AVALANCHE continued to watch in silence, their jaws dropped, except for Aerith, who shook her head approvingly.

After a couple of minutes, Zack finally decided to insert a word into the conversation between Cloud and Sephiroth: “Can we talk closer to business?”

They looked at each other and their eyes widened.

“Hell,” Cloud slapped himself on the head. “We forgot!”

“I can't believe it, but we actually did,” the former General confirmed.

***

”…So we'll be gone for a couple of months,” Cloud explained. “It won’t take that long to destroy Genova's kin, considering our strength. Right?”

They were standing at the exit from Midgard, next to a fully fueled Fenrir that had been built and then modified for planetary travel. Sephiroth was checking how holding Masamune in a hand feels, and Cloud was saying a final good-bye to his friends.

“Yes,” said Sephiroth. “Besides, I need a break from my mother's constant presence in my head.”

All the members of the AVALANCHE grinned, already used to such jokes from him.

Sephiroth had been living in the Seventh heaven bar for four months, and had settled in there. Zack was back on his feet completely and looked happy. Cloud had finally stopped hiding his power, which Red was the first to notice.

In general, they needed only ne thing to settle on quiet, peaceful life — only to fulfill the promise made to Universe.

Aerith and Tifa hugged Cloud tight, Barret gripped him in a bear hug, Red rubbed against his leg, and Biggs shook hand, and they did the same thing with Sephiroth, and he really looked shocked.

“All right,” Cloud said, laughing. “We have to go.” He sat on the Fenrir and snorted. “Jump in, Seph”.

Ex-General snorted, but obediently landed behind him.

“Don't fail, please”, he said, grinning.

Cloud smiled as he put on his glasses.

“You bet!”

Chapter Text

(The scene where Sephiroth and Cloud told Aerith everything. It was not included in the story for purely chronological reasons):

“Are you two dating?” Aerith raised an eyebrow at Cloud and Sephiroth. Strife flushed, and the ex-General couldn't help but chuckle.

“Is that all you want to know?” he asked. “Because considering everything we've told you in the past hour, it's also worth noting. Especially your death.”

Aerith gave him a pejorative look, snorted, and replied: “As long as they don't try or plan to kill me in this timeline, I don't care what happened in the others. But if you decide to go off the rails again — “ Gainsborough waved her staff significantly.

Sephiroth swallowed, and Cloud chuckled. They both knew what the last Cetra was really capable of.

***

(Marlene is playing with the Sephiroth. Did it come out of its uneven tone? I'm kidding, I just didn't know where to insert it to make it look natural):

“Will lady Charley have tea?” Sephirot asked, holding up the doll.

“No, she's in the Park with Princess Cherry,” Marlene said knowingly, grabbing the ex-General's arm and putting the lady in the kitchen. “But Stella will.”

It was this idealistic image that Cloud found when he entered the bar. He glanced around to see if anyone was nearby, then sat down on the sofa.

“What are you doing here?” he asked Sephiroth. “And, Oh, hi, I forgot to say hi.”

“Hello,” One-Winged angel said. “I was passing by – to see you, of course – when Marlene saw me and called me to play with dolls. Considering I didn't have a childhood, Cloud, I decided to make up for lost time.”

Strife flushed. Then he took another doll – a dog figurine – and put it next to the two girls in the park.

“Sorry, Seph, I'm a little bit tired after the mission,” Cloud said, scratching his head. “Why aren't you hiding, by the way?” Sephirot grinned, pretending to pour tea.

“Sixth sense.”

“Oh, Yes,” Stryfe said without enthusiasm, remembering. Marlene looked at them both.

“Mr. Sephiroth, do you have wings?” there was adoration in her voice.

The former General raised his eyebrows and pulled Cloud to him.

“Not only I,” Marlene happily squeaked, and Strife sighed and released wing with Sephiroth.

“You'll owe me,” he said.

The One-winged angel only smiled warmly.

***

(AVALANCHE's reaction to Cloud and Sephiroth's teamwork [spoiler: they are in shock]. The reason? TIMELINE):

“Oh, there are SOLDIERS here,” Barret whistled, adjusting his glasses. “Judging by the strength, five second-class, and two first-class,” he squinted at Cloud and Sephiroth's battle stance. “Can you handle it?”

“No problem,” Sephiroth said with a grin, summoning Masamune. “Cloud?”

“With Limits, but no Genova,” Strife replied, smiling. “Back to back?”

“Of course.”

Two seconds later, they were gone – they were in the fight. Aerith opened her mouth, seeing the first combo, Red approvingly looked to the Octoslash.

Tifa snorted, noticing that Sephiroth was playing pranks. But, in fact, Strife and the former General were absolutely synchronous, and if not, they supplemented each other with blocks and blows. Lockhart didn't know if it was because of Genova or if they'd just developed the interaction themselves, but it looked impressive…

She stopped the thought in mid-sentence with a completely uncivilized curse.

Barret exhaled. “In Gaia's name…”

Sephiroth and Cloud destroyed five buildings in one blow. Aerith sighed, frowning.

“I asked them not to use this level of power,” she said. “but, you know, boys.”

She snorted as if that was the norm.

AVALANCHE looked at each other and accepted this fact as normality — with a half-alien they have already seen enough of it.

***

(Nice dialogue between Tifa and Sephiroth, because they have crash. Why didn't I insert it? Tifa didn't want me to do this):

“If you hurt cloud, Sephiroth, I will kill you,” Tifa said, sitting next to the One-winged angel. Sephiroth raised an eyebrow.

She ordered a large beer, took a long drink, and turned back to him.

“I will”.

“I know, believe me,” the former General agreed easily. “I'll kill myself if I cause him any pain, too,” he said, taking a sip from his own mug.

“Why would you?” Tifa smiled bitterly. “After Nibelheim he was supposed to hate you, but now I don't even know who he is.”

“He was forty when we timetraveled. A lot had happened in twenty years, and he had changed. About the first question: after clearing my mind, I realized how much pain I had caused to Cloud, and decided that now I would not let anyone touch him.”

Lockhart frowned, drank the rest in one gulp, and sighed.

“Any connection?” She finally gave up.

Sephiroth sighed sadly.

“The motivation is the same as yours,” he said. Tifa blinked, then fell back on the bar with a groan, laughing.

“Really?”

“Yes,” he breathed.

“Can I create a “Cloud Strife lovers’ club?” Tifa asked ironically.

“Of course,” Sephiroth agreed. “The company's sign will be the Wutai demon Sephirot himself…”

They realized the irony of what was happening and laughed.

“Peace?” Lockhart asked, holding out her little finger.

The former General looked at her hand in disbelief. But he answered with his own, smiling at her.

“Peace.”