AUTHOR'S NOTES: All Final Fantasy VII characters, vehicles and themes © Squaresoft, and no infringement is intended.
Repressed Memories
Chapter 2: A Tale of Two Swordsman
Written by Cloud

     As a simple stroke of luck, Zack's parents had supplied him with enough tents to last him at least a year, so we had found a quiet place to camp in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately it was colder than an icicle outside, making me wish we hadn't destroyed the Shilda Inn with our little duel a couple of hours ago. We had ventured off into the woods for a bit, the frigid night air freezing our lungs. I knew we couldn't go on like this for long, it would be pretty humiliating for the two would-be SOLDIERS to freeze to death at two in the morning out in the middle of nowhere. Somehow I doubted that anyone would care if I died, anyway.
     "Hey Cloud!" Zack called from a distance "This is stupid! Let's build a fire out of all of this dead stuff lining the ground!" I considered it for a moment, but instinctively knew that the pinecones and small branches weren't going to do the job. I was damn cold, and I was going to do something about it.
     "I gotta better idea, Zack!" I shouted back, unsheathing Quicksilver from its place on my back. I slashed into a gigantic tree like it was nothing but a toothpick. It stood for a second, as if it didn't see that four inches of support were missing from its base, then toppled over with a huge crash. Zack ran over, grinning all over. He unsheathed his sword and together we chopped the tree into fifteen pieces, and after ten minutes of carrying lumber, cursing, and piling the wood up, our bonfire was almost ready. But how were we to light it? Zack stepped forward, gesturing strangely as he thrust his buster sword into the ground. A brilliant bolt of lightning flashed down upon the logs from the darkened skies, setting them ablaze with a blue hot flame that almost instantly turned red. Zack stepped back, noticing the shock on my face.
     "What?" He asked, shrugging his shoulders.
     "You have materia?" I asked, somewhat mystified. I had always wanted some materia of my own, but none of the people in my entire town had the kind of money to buy the magical orbs that could conjure up the powers of the ancients. I had seen it only once before, when a man called Zangan had come to Nibelhiem, but he had only boring restorative spells. This was true magic. I guess Zack caught the fact that I seemed enchanted and began to laugh.
     "It's not that big of a deal, Cloud. My old man bought it for me, I've got an Ice, too." Tents, materia, and the biggest broadsword I had ever seen. Did his parents buy him everything?      "Why didn't you use it on me in the bar?" I asked, a tinge of anger in my voice.
     "Because you didn't have any to use against me, it wouldn't have been right. Besides, I prefer a duel to a magic battle any day. You're pretty good with a sword, ya know?" I couldn't help but laugh,
     "My first time using it."
     "What!?" He shouted, clearly angry, "But you defeated me! I've been training under swordsman since I was five years old!" I smiled at his outburst,
     "Money can only take you so far, Zack. The rest is what's in your heart. You were fighting for booze; I was fighting to save a man's life. There is a difference, you know." Zack only laughed- the burning embers of our bonfire crackled loudly in harmony.
     "Speaking of which…" He said, piddling through our messy inventory until he found the corked bottle, "Let's have some, shall we?" I was fourteen years old and had only drunken liquor twice, both times having puked my brains out.
     "What the hell?" I replied, taking a swig of the strong booze. "What is this stuff?" I asked, handing him the bottle.
     "Who cares, it's booze! So Cloud…tell me about yourself." I was a little taken back,
     "I though I already did."
     "Oh please…" he replied, taking a long drink of the intoxicant, "Don't lie to me, I know you go a lot deeper than that." My brain seemed to turn over in my skull.
     "Well…" I looked into Zack's eyes, and although he tried so hard to hide it, there was a warmth, a compassion there. I'd never trusted anyone before in my whole life, but somehow I knew I could trust this guy, this kid who I had met just today.
     So as the fire burned brightly into the night, I told him everything.
     I never had a father; no one was there to teach me to defend myself against a world that refused to understand me, that hated me simply for who I was. I remember…I must have been five years old…I was always shy as a child, I didn't know how to communicate. Or if I did, I somehow said the wrong things, always hurting people without even meaning to. I remember there was this group of friends, three of them. I wanted so badly to be a part of the group, but they just wouldn't let me in, ever. Tifa…Tifa was the only girl in the group, she lived next door to me. I used to look up at her window sometimes, used to feel so jealous to see the other boys in her house, in her room. On the outside they all seemed so stupid to me, laughing at every little thing, and especially me. Or maybe I just made them seem stupid inside my head because they didn't want anything to do with me. Mom was always there for me, but it wasn't ever enough to heal the damage that was being done to me every minute of every day of my life.
     Zack interrupted me, his voice barely catching in his throat,
     "This Tifa, the girl you mentioned…you fell in love with her didn't you?" I nodded my head; tears streaming unbidden down my face.
     "It was the worst thing that could have happened…" My voice trailed off.
     "What could possibly be so bad about love?" my friend asked, trying to share my pain. I continued to explain what had happened, my voice shaking as I spoke.
     They hated me, Zack, everybody…the whole damn town hated me. Whenever something would happen it was always my fault, even if I had nothing to do with it. I remember the day that Tifa's mother died. It was the first time, the only time I'd ever been allowed to come into her room. Her stupid friends were there of course, but on this day they didn't dare to pick on me. Tifa announced through her tears that she was going to see her mother- that she was going to Mt. Nibel. The mountain is a very dangerous place; it crawls with all sorts of monsters. Old bridges and backdrops make it hard to find the right path. Many people died a couple years ago building a Mako Reactor there. I couldn't let her go alone. Her coward friends left her at the base, too meek to follow her up. I ran after her, trying to stop her on the bridge that connects the two largest peaks together. She missed her step, and I ran to her caught hold of her hand. But it was too late, the bridge collapsed under us and we both      fell off the mountain. I got by with just skinned knees, but Tifa fell into a coma and those bastard friends of hers blamed the whole thing on me. Tifa's father has hated me ever since that day, and I'm afraid he always will…
     Zack put his hand on my shoulder.
     "What you did was very brave, Cloud. She might've died if you hadn't gone to her when you did. I'd be proud of that, no matter what the others thought afterwards." I nodded half-heartedly, taking a long gulp of the booze that I had forgotten only moments ago. Slightly buzzed, I decided to finish my story.
     After that, nothing seemed to matter anymore. I lost myself; I'd get into fights not even caring who it was. At this time, Tifa had been dating this guy named Samus. He used to bully me, like all the others, calling me horrible things in front of Tifa. Then one day I just lost it and I attacked him. There was nothing he could have done to defend himself, I was too enraged. I hit him again and again, he was out cold and my fists were still smashing into his broken face. I left one of his eyes completely blind. She just looked at me with those big brown eyes, like it was my fault all this had happened. Then the others dragged me off him, pinning be against a wall. There were five of them, taking free shots as the others held me against the wall. I screamed in rage, but I was totally helpless…
     I took another swig of the liquor. I was shaking all over, and my temples were blazing against my skull. I didn't know if the pain came from the booze or the painful memories I had conjured up out of my mind, but I knew that something inside was just not right. I clutched at my forehead, doubled over in pain. It was then that I realized this wasn't the first time this had happened to me…
     "Zack..." I said, gasping for breath, "Let's stop this…"
     "Alright Cloud. I think I got the point anyway, unless things got better for you…?"
     "No, my story doesn't have a happy ending." I replied. Zack made a face,
     "Cloud, your story isn't over yet! It's barely even started. Hell man, you're fourteen years old, you're too young to lay down and die like this!"
     "You're…you're right. Thanks Zack." He smiled, taking a gulp of the once full bottle and handing it back to me.
     "Any time, man. I don't know what the hell is wrong with those people, but I think you're great and a damn good person. You just have never been allowed to show it. I've known you for what, six hours? And I can already see through that cool exterior of yours."
     "I can't see through yours, though…So tell me about yourself, Zack. I want some serious dirt, and the fact that you're a teenage alcoholic doesn't count."
     Zack burst into laughter, and I was amazed that I had actually made someone smile. It felt so good, to bring joy into another's life instead of pain and suffering. I was something I had rarely experienced, something I would like to do more often. I made a mental note to remember this despite the enormous hangover I knew was coming tomorrow morning.
     "Well, let's see here…" the other started, "I was born in Gongaga, as I told you before, an only child, like yourself. I on the other hand, had a very loving father who would have always been there if something went wrong in my life. My father retired from Shinra with a great deal of money, enough so that he and mom would never have to work again. I was trained at an early age in the art of swordplay, and later on I realized that I wanted to join SOLDIER so I could be like Dad. You should have seen the look on his face when I told him, he was so proud… Anyway, awhile back I got fed up with staying in town so often. I wanted to be on my own so bad I could taste it, so I left home with the sword and materia, telling my parents I was joining SOLDIER. I didn't say right away, though." He grinned, downing the last of whatever intoxicant he had taken from the inn. He looked thoughtfully at the bottle, humor playing along his tired face. "Aeris doesn't like it when I drink stuff like this…"
     "Aeris?" I asked.
     "Yeah. Aeris is my girlfriend. She lives in Midgar. I hardly ever see her lately, but since Midgar is where the SOLDIER barracks is, that'll be changing, now won't it?"
     "You sound like you're gonna get some, Mr. Garek." I replied, grinning in attempted innocence that probably came off as mock-evil to the other drunken punk kid who sported an empty bottle of liquor in his hand. Zack snickered at my remark,
     "Naw Cloud, Aeris isn't like that at all. She's…pure. She's the most innocent creature I've ever laid eyes on…besides, that's what my other girlfriends are for!"
     "That's terrible!" I shouted, a tinge of anger in my slurred voice. I'd never had a girlfriend, and Zack had more than one at the same time! This was fair? A look of innocence filled his greenish eyes,
     "What? What's so wrong about that? They're always leaving you anyway, might as well have someone else to fall back on…" Maybe he was right, but it didn't matter one whit to me. I would never do that to a person. Maybe it was something about being hurt myself, maybe it was that voice in the back of my head that would plague me if I did, but it didn't matter. In my eyes, it was so wrong. So this is how the world really is…
     "Goodnight, Zack." I said, crawling into my tent by the heat of the fire.
     "Goodnight, Cloud." My friend replied, passing out in his own tent. Two minutes later he had begun to snore. My first night away from Nibelhiem. As I lay there pondering the events of the day and of the night that was all but gone, I drifted quietly into a slumber of my own.