Butterfly Effect: Chapter 4
Jan. 27th, 2006 09:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bard_linnAuthors: Bard Linn and Kiraya
Genre: General/Drama
Pairings: None, at the moment.
Rating (Overall): PG-13
Summary: Vincent had known this would happen, had been expecting and dreading this moment for years.
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and all associated characters and symbols are the exclusive property of Square Enix and its associates. We’re just borrowing them for a while.
Chapter 4
This was probably the aspect of training Cloud disliked the most. He didn’t hate it, but… well, he didn’t like it either.
The fourteen-year-old flung his arm backward, successfully located a chair, and heaved it as his mentor. The next object that came to hand was a desk. He yanked a drawer loose, spilling its contents to the floor, and rolled away, barely missing an incoming attack from Vincent’s right hand. His teacher looked with amusement at the pile of old pens and papers, then neatly sidestepped the mess. Cloud mentally growled and glanced quickly around the room, looking for something else he could use.
Vincent referred to these sessions as “using the environment to your advantage.” His student called them “the times when you throw anything and everything you can at your mentor and hope he doesn’t get too close because you know you can’t beat him in hand-to-hand combat.” The idea was to train Cloud to use his surroundings to aid him in battle. He needed to know where everything was and figure out how to use it offensively or defensively, while managing to stay out of Vincent’s grasp.
He wasn’t very good at it.
Of course, he might have been better at it if Vincent would let him use a gun or his staff… but that was off limits in these exercises. His mentor only permitted hand-to-hand or whatever was already in the room.
“Ahh!” Cloud jumped as Vincent abruptly shot forward, bringing his left arm up again. The blond successfully countered the claw’s attack, the right hand’s slash towards his shoulder… but fell to the sweeping kick, seeing spots for a moment as his head connected painfully with the hard floor. “Oww…”
“Better. You were able to last much longer this time,” Vincent commented. He watched Cloud climb to his feet, looking for any serious injuries. Satisfied his pupil wasn’t badly hurt, the gunman began rearranging the objects in the room so they could run the exercise again. The Shinra Mansion was useful for this, at least; it had plenty of well-equipped rooms, relative privacy, and no one to complain about the mess they made.
“Um, Vincent, I’ve got to go home soon.” Cloud looked out the window of the mansion, glancing at the sun. “Mom wanted me to be home for lunch. She specifically mentioned it this morning.”
The ex-Turk hid his disappointment. His student had been making good progress today, and he didn’t want to stop. “All right. That’s it for now, then. Practice tonight.”
“All right.” Cloud bid goodbye to his mentor, sighing. He would much rather stay with Vincent — it was a Saturday, after all, and they usually did the most training on the weekends — but his mother had specifically requested he eat lunch at home today.
Cloud wasn’t really sure how much his mother knew about what was going on. She wasn’t dumb by any means, but… she didn’t seem quite connected with reality, either. She tended to accept things at face value, never questioning her son’s often flimsy excuses. He sometimes worried there might be something wrong with her mind. Vincent had mentioned some things…
On the other hand, she was very busy with work. Cloud knew his mother worked almost constantly in order to keep them fed and living comfortably without his father around to help anymore… and he felt more than a bit guilty about that. He had tried looking for a job to help out, but no one would give him one. He didn’t have any particular skills — well, not ones that would get him a job in this town, anyway — nor did he appear to have the strength for more menial work. And, to put it bluntly, he was too young. Jobs in Nibelheim were scarce, and no one was going to give one to a fourteen-year-old kid.
He supposed it was possible, that his mother had already figured out what was going on, decided it was okay, and just kept quiet. Cloud knew that if he were completely honest with himself about his abilities, he couldn’t predict her actions at all. In any case, his mother hadn’t questioned his frequent absences, meaning he could do what he needed without too many difficulties. “I’m home!”
“Cloud!” His mother beamed, embracing him. “Come, sit down. I’ve prepared a lovely lunch.”
The boy felt all of his mental alerts go off. His mother was Up To Something. His brow furrowed as he reviewed her habits lately. She had been busier than usual, and quieter. “Mom? What’s up?”
“Let’s eat first.” His appetite whetted by the morning’s training, the blond crammed the food down his throat, watching his mother warily. What was going on? “Cloud, I know I haven’t really been celebrating your birthdays the way I should have—”
“Mom, that’s okay. I mean…” Cloud hadn’t even really thought about his birthdays since about a year or two after he had rescued Vincent. He’d been busy with training, and then he had noticed the financial situation at home. They really couldn’t afford to celebrate the way some of the other villagers did.
“But I think this will more than make up for it.” The older blonde stood, moving to a nearby drawer and pulling out a thick envelope. “I know it’s late this year, but I finally got enough money for it, and you’re old enough…” Elanor handed the envelope to her son.
Cloud slowly opened it, looking at the papers within. “Tickets…?” Quite a few of them, too. This had to be terribly expensive; what had his mother been thinking? Cloud stared at her in surprise. They couldn’t afford to go on trips around the world…
…Wait a minute. Cloud looked again. There was only one copy of each ticket…
His mother smiled. “I know you’ve wanted so much to join SOLDIER, so I made all of the arrangements, and now… You leave in two days.” She hugged her son again. “Oh, I’m so proud of you! I know you’ll do well.”
Cloud returned the hug dazedly, his mind whirling. This couldn’t be happening!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Several hours later, Cloud stared at the tickets in his hand, still not quite able to process what his mother had done. It was true that he'd wanted to join SOLDIER. Even after Vincent had told him about what ShinRa was really like, he hadn’t been able to abandon his dream. At first he had wanted to join SOLDIER to become like Sephiroth, his personal hero… but after Vincent had told him his story, after Cloud had seen his mentor’s seldom spoken yet almost desperate desire to meet the young man he had tried to save, the youth had become determined to reunite the pair. And for that, he would need to become close to Sephiroth. Considering the man was ShinRa’s top general, there was only one way to do that: become a SOLDIER First Class and earn his superior’s trust. From there, Cloud would have to convince him to return home with him to meet Vincent.
And since Nibelheim was practically off the map as far as Midgar was concerned, he would have to be pretty close to Sephiroth for it to work. He supposed he could have tried to get Vincent to come to Midgar, but… the chances of that happening were next to nil. The man avoided the city in conversation constantly; Cloud had no idea how he would actually get the former ShinRa employee into it.
Vincent… He had best go tell his mentor about what had happened.
This was going to be complicated.
Cloud sighed and safely stowed the tickets away. He grabbed his coat — his cloak stayed with Vincent — and a flashlight. Quietly opening his window, he jumped down to the ground, grateful he didn’t need to use a rope anymore. Leaving that type of evidence made sneaking out and in of the house more difficult. In no time at all, he had retrieved his staff and begun the trip out of the town up to see Vincent.
His journey was thankfully uneventful, and Cloud breathed a sigh of relief as he spotted the tiny shack. The last thing he needed at the moment was another complication. He tensed again as he knocked, waiting for a few minutes, listening intently… only to jump as the door suddenly opened. Damn, he still couldn’t tell when Vincent was moving.
The dark-haired man raised an eyebrow, looking expectantly at his apprentice. Undoubtedly he wanted an explanation for Cloud’s sudden appearance, given the late hour.
The youth swallowed. “Um…”
“Come in, Cloud.”
The blond did so, pausing just inside the doorway. Now that he’d made it to his destination, everything he’d planned so carefully to say had completely deserted him.
“Sit,” his mentor urged after a moment, startling him out of an intense scrutiny of the already familiar hut; he’d hardly realized he was doing it. Again Cloud did as his mentor asked, perching on the edge of the bed as Vincent took the stool, just as they always did.
They sat in silence for a long time, the crackling of the fire the only noise in the tiny room. Finally, Vincent spoke. “You didn’t come for practice this evening.”
A sigh. He hadn’t wanted to miss it, but his mother hadn’t let him out of her sight, insisting he pack under her supervision. “I know.” Cloud looked down at his feet, planted firmly on the floor. He could remember when his legs were short enough that, sitting here, he could swing them freely. Vincent had found it rather annoying, but had never been able to make him drop the habit.
“Might I ask why you felt it appropriate to skip?” His mentor’s voice had that old warning tone to it, the one that meant you’d better have a damn good excuse or you’ll seriously regret this.
Cloud looked up into the stern face of the man who’d been like a father to him these past eight years, swallowed hard, and said, “I’m leaving for Midgar in two days.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“I’m leaving for Midgar in two days.”
Vincent had known this would happen, had been expecting and dreading this moment for years. His young protégé had too damn much admiration for Sephiroth to ever give up his lifelong dream, despite everything he’d told him about ShinRa and its propaganda and scandals and coverups. Still… some part of him had selfishly wanted Cloud to stay, training with him until such a time as they could take out Hojo together. To be abandoned like this, especially on such short notice… oh, how it hurt.
You couldn’t manage to make Lucrecia stay with you, he reminded himself bitterly. Why should this be any different?
His student fidgeted. “Vincent…?”
All his old defensive walls went up automatically. Perhaps emotionally distancing himself now would make it less painful; it had helped, at least a little, in his Turk days… “If you are planning to become a SOLDIER,” he began in a cold voice, “you are doubtless no longer in need of my skills. Consider this the end of your training.”
Cloud’s blue eyes were wide in disbelief. “But—”
”I will keep your gun here with me; it is no weapon for a SOLDIER.” He would not, could not look at Cloud, staring instead into the fireplace as he ignored the noises behind him of the blond rising to his feet, taking a few steps toward him.
“I—”
The pain in his student’s voice — former student’s, Vincent reminded himself sharply — was all too obvious. A tiny part of him, buried deep down, felt vindicated at that (good, yes, let Cloud feel as abandoned as he did). The rest of the dark-haired man ached in sympathy. He didn’t like hurting Cloud, not even in training. He bowed his head and closed his eyes, pulling his cloak tighter about him, feeling older than he had in years. “I have only two pieces of advice I can offer you. One: in Midgar, one can never be too careful. Two: above all else, stay away from Professor Hojo.”
“Vincent…”
“Go now.”
After a moment came the sound of footsteps, pausing near the door, the shuffling sound of someone turning… “Even if this really is the end of… of our training, I’d still like to see you once more before I go.” A deep breath. “I know you’re not really the type to see anyone off, but… would it be okay if I came by early that morning, to say goodbye?”
Vincent would not answer.
After a long moment, Cloud sighed, said a soft goodnight, and set out on his trip back home, leaving Vincent alone to stare into the flickering flames, burning further shadows into his eyes.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cloud paused again outside the hut’s door, waiting for a sound from within, hoping against all odds that Vincent would call him back inside and they could resolve this. The night stayed completely silent, though, broken only by the lone call of a dragon off in the distance.
Cloud’s hand tightened about his staff, and he swallowed hard, firmly telling the lump in his throat that it was not tears. Yes, he had planned someday to go to Midgar, become a SOLDIER, and bring Sephiroth back to meet his mentor, but… he honestly hadn’t truly realized that would mean leaving Vincent behind. As strange as it sounded, Cloud had never really thought about being separated from the man who was his teacher and only true friend.
Vincent’s words had hurt, and hurt deeply. Cloud couldn’t help but feel he had been thrown away. The blond had wanted to scream “I’m doing this for you!”… and yet somehow had not been able to open his mouth.
Ironic that Vincent had said Cloud didn’t need his training anymore; it was only those long years spent practicing that got the teen home in one piece, undetected. Cloud clambered up a pair of crates left outside of his window for just this purpose, then slipped inside. He placed his staff carefully under the bed, changed into his nightclothes, and lay curled up under the blankets, clutching his pillow tightly. Forcing himself to take a few deep breaths, he tried to calm down.
No matter what Vincent said, this wasn’t the end. Cloud wouldn’t let it be. He would earn his teacher’s respect back. He would accomplish his mission, no matter what got in his way. Sephiroth and Vincent would meet, and maybe then his master would understand why Cloud had been so determined to become a SOLDIER.
And maybe then Vincent would be proud of him.
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Genre: General/Drama
Pairings: None, at the moment.
Rating (Overall): PG-13
Summary: Vincent had known this would happen, had been expecting and dreading this moment for years.
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and all associated characters and symbols are the exclusive property of Square Enix and its associates. We’re just borrowing them for a while.
Chapter 4
This was probably the aspect of training Cloud disliked the most. He didn’t hate it, but… well, he didn’t like it either.
The fourteen-year-old flung his arm backward, successfully located a chair, and heaved it as his mentor. The next object that came to hand was a desk. He yanked a drawer loose, spilling its contents to the floor, and rolled away, barely missing an incoming attack from Vincent’s right hand. His teacher looked with amusement at the pile of old pens and papers, then neatly sidestepped the mess. Cloud mentally growled and glanced quickly around the room, looking for something else he could use.
Vincent referred to these sessions as “using the environment to your advantage.” His student called them “the times when you throw anything and everything you can at your mentor and hope he doesn’t get too close because you know you can’t beat him in hand-to-hand combat.” The idea was to train Cloud to use his surroundings to aid him in battle. He needed to know where everything was and figure out how to use it offensively or defensively, while managing to stay out of Vincent’s grasp.
He wasn’t very good at it.
Of course, he might have been better at it if Vincent would let him use a gun or his staff… but that was off limits in these exercises. His mentor only permitted hand-to-hand or whatever was already in the room.
“Ahh!” Cloud jumped as Vincent abruptly shot forward, bringing his left arm up again. The blond successfully countered the claw’s attack, the right hand’s slash towards his shoulder… but fell to the sweeping kick, seeing spots for a moment as his head connected painfully with the hard floor. “Oww…”
“Better. You were able to last much longer this time,” Vincent commented. He watched Cloud climb to his feet, looking for any serious injuries. Satisfied his pupil wasn’t badly hurt, the gunman began rearranging the objects in the room so they could run the exercise again. The Shinra Mansion was useful for this, at least; it had plenty of well-equipped rooms, relative privacy, and no one to complain about the mess they made.
“Um, Vincent, I’ve got to go home soon.” Cloud looked out the window of the mansion, glancing at the sun. “Mom wanted me to be home for lunch. She specifically mentioned it this morning.”
The ex-Turk hid his disappointment. His student had been making good progress today, and he didn’t want to stop. “All right. That’s it for now, then. Practice tonight.”
“All right.” Cloud bid goodbye to his mentor, sighing. He would much rather stay with Vincent — it was a Saturday, after all, and they usually did the most training on the weekends — but his mother had specifically requested he eat lunch at home today.
Cloud wasn’t really sure how much his mother knew about what was going on. She wasn’t dumb by any means, but… she didn’t seem quite connected with reality, either. She tended to accept things at face value, never questioning her son’s often flimsy excuses. He sometimes worried there might be something wrong with her mind. Vincent had mentioned some things…
On the other hand, she was very busy with work. Cloud knew his mother worked almost constantly in order to keep them fed and living comfortably without his father around to help anymore… and he felt more than a bit guilty about that. He had tried looking for a job to help out, but no one would give him one. He didn’t have any particular skills — well, not ones that would get him a job in this town, anyway — nor did he appear to have the strength for more menial work. And, to put it bluntly, he was too young. Jobs in Nibelheim were scarce, and no one was going to give one to a fourteen-year-old kid.
He supposed it was possible, that his mother had already figured out what was going on, decided it was okay, and just kept quiet. Cloud knew that if he were completely honest with himself about his abilities, he couldn’t predict her actions at all. In any case, his mother hadn’t questioned his frequent absences, meaning he could do what he needed without too many difficulties. “I’m home!”
“Cloud!” His mother beamed, embracing him. “Come, sit down. I’ve prepared a lovely lunch.”
The boy felt all of his mental alerts go off. His mother was Up To Something. His brow furrowed as he reviewed her habits lately. She had been busier than usual, and quieter. “Mom? What’s up?”
“Let’s eat first.” His appetite whetted by the morning’s training, the blond crammed the food down his throat, watching his mother warily. What was going on? “Cloud, I know I haven’t really been celebrating your birthdays the way I should have—”
“Mom, that’s okay. I mean…” Cloud hadn’t even really thought about his birthdays since about a year or two after he had rescued Vincent. He’d been busy with training, and then he had noticed the financial situation at home. They really couldn’t afford to celebrate the way some of the other villagers did.
“But I think this will more than make up for it.” The older blonde stood, moving to a nearby drawer and pulling out a thick envelope. “I know it’s late this year, but I finally got enough money for it, and you’re old enough…” Elanor handed the envelope to her son.
Cloud slowly opened it, looking at the papers within. “Tickets…?” Quite a few of them, too. This had to be terribly expensive; what had his mother been thinking? Cloud stared at her in surprise. They couldn’t afford to go on trips around the world…
…Wait a minute. Cloud looked again. There was only one copy of each ticket…
His mother smiled. “I know you’ve wanted so much to join SOLDIER, so I made all of the arrangements, and now… You leave in two days.” She hugged her son again. “Oh, I’m so proud of you! I know you’ll do well.”
Cloud returned the hug dazedly, his mind whirling. This couldn’t be happening!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Several hours later, Cloud stared at the tickets in his hand, still not quite able to process what his mother had done. It was true that he'd wanted to join SOLDIER. Even after Vincent had told him about what ShinRa was really like, he hadn’t been able to abandon his dream. At first he had wanted to join SOLDIER to become like Sephiroth, his personal hero… but after Vincent had told him his story, after Cloud had seen his mentor’s seldom spoken yet almost desperate desire to meet the young man he had tried to save, the youth had become determined to reunite the pair. And for that, he would need to become close to Sephiroth. Considering the man was ShinRa’s top general, there was only one way to do that: become a SOLDIER First Class and earn his superior’s trust. From there, Cloud would have to convince him to return home with him to meet Vincent.
And since Nibelheim was practically off the map as far as Midgar was concerned, he would have to be pretty close to Sephiroth for it to work. He supposed he could have tried to get Vincent to come to Midgar, but… the chances of that happening were next to nil. The man avoided the city in conversation constantly; Cloud had no idea how he would actually get the former ShinRa employee into it.
Vincent… He had best go tell his mentor about what had happened.
This was going to be complicated.
Cloud sighed and safely stowed the tickets away. He grabbed his coat — his cloak stayed with Vincent — and a flashlight. Quietly opening his window, he jumped down to the ground, grateful he didn’t need to use a rope anymore. Leaving that type of evidence made sneaking out and in of the house more difficult. In no time at all, he had retrieved his staff and begun the trip out of the town up to see Vincent.
His journey was thankfully uneventful, and Cloud breathed a sigh of relief as he spotted the tiny shack. The last thing he needed at the moment was another complication. He tensed again as he knocked, waiting for a few minutes, listening intently… only to jump as the door suddenly opened. Damn, he still couldn’t tell when Vincent was moving.
The dark-haired man raised an eyebrow, looking expectantly at his apprentice. Undoubtedly he wanted an explanation for Cloud’s sudden appearance, given the late hour.
The youth swallowed. “Um…”
“Come in, Cloud.”
The blond did so, pausing just inside the doorway. Now that he’d made it to his destination, everything he’d planned so carefully to say had completely deserted him.
“Sit,” his mentor urged after a moment, startling him out of an intense scrutiny of the already familiar hut; he’d hardly realized he was doing it. Again Cloud did as his mentor asked, perching on the edge of the bed as Vincent took the stool, just as they always did.
They sat in silence for a long time, the crackling of the fire the only noise in the tiny room. Finally, Vincent spoke. “You didn’t come for practice this evening.”
A sigh. He hadn’t wanted to miss it, but his mother hadn’t let him out of her sight, insisting he pack under her supervision. “I know.” Cloud looked down at his feet, planted firmly on the floor. He could remember when his legs were short enough that, sitting here, he could swing them freely. Vincent had found it rather annoying, but had never been able to make him drop the habit.
“Might I ask why you felt it appropriate to skip?” His mentor’s voice had that old warning tone to it, the one that meant you’d better have a damn good excuse or you’ll seriously regret this.
Cloud looked up into the stern face of the man who’d been like a father to him these past eight years, swallowed hard, and said, “I’m leaving for Midgar in two days.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“I’m leaving for Midgar in two days.”
Vincent had known this would happen, had been expecting and dreading this moment for years. His young protégé had too damn much admiration for Sephiroth to ever give up his lifelong dream, despite everything he’d told him about ShinRa and its propaganda and scandals and coverups. Still… some part of him had selfishly wanted Cloud to stay, training with him until such a time as they could take out Hojo together. To be abandoned like this, especially on such short notice… oh, how it hurt.
You couldn’t manage to make Lucrecia stay with you, he reminded himself bitterly. Why should this be any different?
His student fidgeted. “Vincent…?”
All his old defensive walls went up automatically. Perhaps emotionally distancing himself now would make it less painful; it had helped, at least a little, in his Turk days… “If you are planning to become a SOLDIER,” he began in a cold voice, “you are doubtless no longer in need of my skills. Consider this the end of your training.”
Cloud’s blue eyes were wide in disbelief. “But—”
”I will keep your gun here with me; it is no weapon for a SOLDIER.” He would not, could not look at Cloud, staring instead into the fireplace as he ignored the noises behind him of the blond rising to his feet, taking a few steps toward him.
“I—”
The pain in his student’s voice — former student’s, Vincent reminded himself sharply — was all too obvious. A tiny part of him, buried deep down, felt vindicated at that (good, yes, let Cloud feel as abandoned as he did). The rest of the dark-haired man ached in sympathy. He didn’t like hurting Cloud, not even in training. He bowed his head and closed his eyes, pulling his cloak tighter about him, feeling older than he had in years. “I have only two pieces of advice I can offer you. One: in Midgar, one can never be too careful. Two: above all else, stay away from Professor Hojo.”
“Vincent…”
“Go now.”
After a moment came the sound of footsteps, pausing near the door, the shuffling sound of someone turning… “Even if this really is the end of… of our training, I’d still like to see you once more before I go.” A deep breath. “I know you’re not really the type to see anyone off, but… would it be okay if I came by early that morning, to say goodbye?”
Vincent would not answer.
After a long moment, Cloud sighed, said a soft goodnight, and set out on his trip back home, leaving Vincent alone to stare into the flickering flames, burning further shadows into his eyes.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cloud paused again outside the hut’s door, waiting for a sound from within, hoping against all odds that Vincent would call him back inside and they could resolve this. The night stayed completely silent, though, broken only by the lone call of a dragon off in the distance.
Cloud’s hand tightened about his staff, and he swallowed hard, firmly telling the lump in his throat that it was not tears. Yes, he had planned someday to go to Midgar, become a SOLDIER, and bring Sephiroth back to meet his mentor, but… he honestly hadn’t truly realized that would mean leaving Vincent behind. As strange as it sounded, Cloud had never really thought about being separated from the man who was his teacher and only true friend.
Vincent’s words had hurt, and hurt deeply. Cloud couldn’t help but feel he had been thrown away. The blond had wanted to scream “I’m doing this for you!”… and yet somehow had not been able to open his mouth.
Ironic that Vincent had said Cloud didn’t need his training anymore; it was only those long years spent practicing that got the teen home in one piece, undetected. Cloud clambered up a pair of crates left outside of his window for just this purpose, then slipped inside. He placed his staff carefully under the bed, changed into his nightclothes, and lay curled up under the blankets, clutching his pillow tightly. Forcing himself to take a few deep breaths, he tried to calm down.
No matter what Vincent said, this wasn’t the end. Cloud wouldn’t let it be. He would earn his teacher’s respect back. He would accomplish his mission, no matter what got in his way. Sephiroth and Vincent would meet, and maybe then his master would understand why Cloud had been so determined to become a SOLDIER.
And maybe then Vincent would be proud of him.
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