Author's Note: This is, I think, a one-shot fan fiction. I'm not sure, it
might be two chapters. As you all know, I'm in a depressed mood, so I
figured I would continue to write depressing chapters. Enjoy!
She looked down at herself. What was she wearing? She didn't own clothes like this. She wore a dark blue halter top blouse with light blue ruffles around the collar and front seem, down to the hem, which showed her belly. Her skirt was black and pleated, and see through to her black panties. Along her left side was a ruffled scarf-like material that stretched to her left knee. Her arms were adorned with purple sleeves detached from her blouse. A string was tied at each end to hold them on her arms. The string at her upper arm, above her elbow, criss-crossed and wrapped around her arm to her shoulder. She was wearing brown leather knee- high boots. Her hair lay straight down to her sides, out of its usual low ponytail. The hair behind her ears was wrapped in braids and threaded into different colored beads, hanging over her shoulder.
She couldn't believe it when she looked at herself. She felt uncomfortable, but judging from the way people were looking at her, she knew she must look beautiful. She kind of like the look, though she didn't know how she got that way. She walked down the street, noticing for the first time the strange city she was in.
There were lights everywhere. Oddly shaped buildings with windows and lights all over them. The city was a thousand times greater than Midgar, but she felt lost and alone. She looked around her. People were brushing past her, forcing their way through the crowded streets. Some knocked into her hard, forcing her to turn. She was still trying to figure out where she was. Finally she found a bench to sit down and collect her thoughts.
She had fallen asleep and woken up...here. She looked around at all the buildings once again. She could see ships flying overhead, whizzing through the air with ease. There were people everywhere, going every which way with determination written all over their faces. She didn't know any of them, but felt a strong connection to them for some reason. Was she dreaming?
She felt like she needed to go somewhere, needed to do something, but she didn't know what. Whose feelings were these? She looked around at all the faces, whirling around her like a cyclone. She was lost in a big city, and she didn't know whom to trust for answers. Her thoughts kept going back to someone. A man, with spiky blonde hair that was uneven and messy. She didn't know who he was, but he kept popping up in her mind.
There was something else too. She had memories of a different life. Memories of another man with blonde spiky hair. Her boyfriend? She couldn't be sure, but she felt a much stronger connection towards him. She placed her hands on her knees and sighed, hoping for some sort of sign to tell her what to do.
She looked across the street, at a mother and child. The mother was bending over listening to the child whisper into her ear. They wore such strange clothes. Clothes that she had never seen before, or at least, not that she could remember. The little girl started pointing in her direction and her mother nodded. The woman took her child's hand and led her across the street. They stopped in front of her and looked at her nervously.
"Sorry to bother you miss, but...my daughter and I...we're big fans of yours and we were just wondering...could we get an autograph?"
The woman looked down. Who was she? How did these people know her? She nodded in disbelief. She didn't know what name to sign. She couldn't remember her name and hopped for some sort of reassurance. She didn't want to be rude and turn them away, since they did seem to be enjoying being near her, but she didn't know what to say. She looked up at them and took out a pen as they handed her an autograph book.
"Whom shall I make it out to?" She asked. The woman looked at her daughter and smiled.
"Sasha, please. Oh you don't know how happy we are to finally meet you, Lenne."
Lenne. Her name was Lenne. At least she knew what to sign. She felt the pen flee her body, as if it had a mind of it's own. Somehow she managed a perfect signature with her assumed name. She didn't know how she pulled it off; she had never been called that before. She finished signing and returned the book to the little girl with a nod of her head.
"Oh thank you so much. This means so much to her. You're her favorite singer of all time! We have tickets to your show tonight and we can't wait!" The mother exclaimed, clasping her hands together in front of her chest.
Lenne smiled. She was...a singer? She had never sung before in her life. She didn't know what was going on, but she became more afraid than ever. She watched the mother and child run back across the street to continue shopping. Where was she? Who was she? She had a show tonight, but she didn't know where. She didn't know how to sing or even what to sing.
She stood up, deciding to find help. She could sense something calling her, like a building or something. It was strange, but she felt the urge to start walking. Her feet carried her through the city and to a large building. It stood as tall as the Shinra building, but twice as wide. There was a large glass dome covering the roof and it seemed to be some sort of a concert hall. She looked up at him, belittled by its massive shadow.
Again her feet swept her away, walking in the front door without a word said to her. She wasn't asked for a ticket or a pass or anything. She found herself walking up a long flight of stairs, rounding a corner. There was red carpet lining her walkway. She had no clue where she was but she felt an affinity for the building. She found a door with the name 'Lenne' engraved on it with a large star below it. She opened the door and entered, being greeted by friendly faces she felt she knew. She didn't know a single name, but it felt like she knew these people who sat her down and began applying makeup to her face.
He could feel himself underwater. He felt like he should be gasping for air but for some reason he was fine. He could see other people in the water with him, but he didn't know them. He swam around as they called to him, until his face hit something hard. He had swum into an invisible force field of some sort. He swam through the other people, and hit another glass wall. He was caged in. He put his hands against the glass and pressed his face against it. There were people on the other side, staring at him, like a monkey in a cage. They were sitting on bleachers cheering.
He and the other men were trapped in what seemed to be a giant sphere filled with water. The other men were yelling at him and he didn't know why. They seemed angry with him as he swam, telling him to get back to his place. Where was his place? He could hear an announcer calling out his every move as if he were an idiot.
"Our young star Shuyin, seems to be a bit confused. After being hit with a sleep attack by an opposing teammate he seems to have woken up with amnesia. He's swimming around the sphere like a caged animal, not knowing what to do."
Shuyin? His name was Shuyin? He had never been called that before, but then again, he couldn't remember being called anything else either. He didn't know who he was or where he was or what he was doing. He looked around at the other men as they continued to yell at him to do things he had never heard of before.
"Look out!" One finally said, but it was too late.
He woke up to a white room. He was lying on a bed in the infirmary for injuries. The nurse was applying a cold compress to his forehead. His eye hurt a lot, and he had a pounding headache. There was a bandage wrapped around his left elbow where they had drawn blood.
"That's one nasty bump." The nurse said to him. "It's not like you to get hurt out there, what happened?"
He didn't know what happened. He didn't know what was going on. He sat up on the bed, feeling woozy. He sat cross-legged and bowed his head. These weren't his clothes. He had never worn anything like them before. His shirt was yellow with black and red-checkered sleeves. His collar was brown and he had on dark blue shoulder armor. He had on dark denim shorts that reached below his knees, with straps hanging between each leg. He had on yellow sneakers with black trim and black leather gloves.
He put a hand to his head to cradle his pain. He had never been to this place before, he had never witnessed a sport such as he just had. He couldn't remember anything, but was released from the infirmary on the grounds of outward appearance.
He walked down the street alone, not knowing where he was. The city stretched into the sky above him, and there were lights everywhere. He had never seen a city such as this, it was much grander than Midgar, the only name he could remember. He walked along, looking up at the gray sky. Occasionally he bumped in to people, not paying attention to where he was going.
Someone was on his mind. He could feel her presence like a welcoming reminder, but he didn't know whom she was. There was someone else too, someone he felt that he loved, from another time, another world but he couldn't remember her name. He continued to walk, hoping to find some sort of clues to his identity, or the identity of the women he seemed to love.
He stopped at a large building and looked up at it. He could see a glass dome over the roof and felt like going inside. He wasn't asked for a ticket, the man at the gate just bowed to him as he walked in. He was led up the stairs and into a private skybox. He didn't know why, but he did like the attention he seemed to be getting. Everyone else knew who he was, so why didn't he?
He sat down in a large chair and looked around the luxurious room. Nothing. There was no one in there besides him. There was a buffet set up in the kitchen area, but other than that the room was empty aside from the furniture. He stood up and walked to the glass wall, pressing his palms and face against it to look out. He was definitely in a concert hall, but who was singing? There was no one in the stands and he knew that he must be well early. Maybe more people would show up to his room and help him to better understand whom he was.
She opened her eyes as if from a daydream. She looked around at her unfamiliar settings. She was leaning against a bar, with her head propped up on her hand. She had never been a drinker, but now she found herself behind the bar, like she worked there or something. She felt a cool draft wrap around her legs and she looked down. These weren't her clothes. She felt naked and tugged at the hem of her skirt.
She was wearing a very short black leather mini-skirt. She had on a white tank top that fell just a few inches above her belly button. Black suspenders stretched over her shoulders and attached to her belt. She had black and red gloves that stretched up over her elbows, with a metal plate over her left elbow. She had on red hiking boots, another metal plate on her left one. She went to flip her hair over her shoulder. It was tied at the bottom into a low ponytail, unlike she was used to.
Where was she? Who was she? She looked out across the bar, eyeing the patrons as they stared back at her. She didn't know them, but for some reason, they knew her. One came up and asked for a drink. She didn't know what to do. She had never heard of that drink before, let alone ever made one.
"Lemme get a Dying Midgar." The man said. She looked at him with a confused look on her face. He noticed it and frowned. "Hey, Tifa, you okay? You seem a little...different today. You get hit on the head or something?" The man asked.
Tifa? She didn't know anyone named Tifa. She looked around to her sides and realized that she was the only one standing there, and that he must be talking to her. She started to breath heavily as she turned from him, trying to think of what to do. She looked beneath the bar frantically for a drink list, trying to figure out what was needed to make such a drink.
She decided to give up and tell him she didn't know how. She stood up and smiled at him nervously, slamming her palm against the counter in a panic. He looked at her with a confused expression on his face. She couldn't tell him anymore, something inside her just wouldn't allow her to admit defeat. She began to grab random bottles of liquor and pour them into a glass, hoping that the end result would be satisfactory. She couldn't explain it, but that little something inside her seemed to know what she was doing. She finished the drink and handed to the man, who drank it with a grateful tip of the head.
"Damn good, as always Teef!" He said. He turned back to his table but stopped for a moment, then stepped back up to the bar. "Hey, did you finally cut your hair? It looks good." He added nervously, and then slumped back to his table.
She closed her eyes and smiled, lowering her head a little. She couldn't believe that she had just made a drink for the first time and gotten it right. She turned and leaned her back against the counter, looking at the shelves of liquor behind her. She couldn't remember cutting her hair, not recently. Where was she? She knew who she was, but she just couldn't remember her name. She looked out of the small window at the end of the bar.
Dirt streets and old garbage lying everywhere. She had never seen such a town. She could see lights from a few houses around her but the whole area was dim, unlike she had ever known. Zanarkand, a name that popped into her head, but she didn't know its meaning. Zanarkand had lots of lights everywhere, and she had never heard of a town such as this ever existing.
Suddenly she felt like closing down the bar, call it instincts. She alerted the patrons to her notion and they left, grumbling and stumbling about drunkenly. She closed the door and locked it, something she had never remembered doing. She leaned against the door for a moment, trying to take in all that had happened. She remembered...being with someone...but she couldn't be sure whom. She was...saying something, then she fell, and when she woke up, she was here.
She felt a sudden headache and pressed her fingers to her temple. She closed her eyes as the pain flooded her entire head. She slowly slid down against the door, until she was sitting on the ground. Where was she? How did she get here? She knew that she wasn't 'Tifa', but who was she then?
He was wielding a sword. It was the largest piece of metal he had ever seen before in his life. He couldn't believe that he could even hold it up. He was swinging it wildly with ease, much to his belief. He stopped and stuck the point of the large sword into the ground, and leaned on the handle to catch his breath. He looked around at his surroundings.
He was in the middle of a large clearing in the forest. It was a place he vaguely could recall going to frequently, but he knew not where he was. He looked down at his clothing. He was wearing dark blue pants with brown boots and a navy sleeveless turtleneck sweater with a large brown belt and suspenders. He also had on brown and navy colored gloves with a metal bangle around his left arm and a metal armor plate over his left shoulder.
He couldn't believe what he was wearing. He had never seen such strange clothes before in his life. He smiled to himself, an evil, sinister grin. It had worked. He could remember Vegnagun. He remembered activating it and pressing one lone button. He didn't know what would happen, but he had hoped for something like this. Somehow he had been transported into another dimension through Vegnagun. But what about Lenne? She had no clue what was happening at the time, so maybe she wouldn't even remember who she was. He needed to find her, to let her know who she was and what had happened. But how? He had no clue where he was or who he was now. He started to walk back to the forest.
He instinctively found his way through the trail he had made earlier, though he did not remember clearing one. He found his way out to a city, a small city, with blue cobblestone streets and small cottages. He had never seen such a town, but he had to admit, it was rather quaint. It was the perfect place to strike up a residence with Lenne, to settle down and start a family. He just needed to find her. She could be anywhere on this planet, and it angered him that he would have to search.
She should have been placed right in his arms, damn Vegnagun and its uncertainty. He needed to figure out who he was in this world, but how? He walked down the street, not knowing where he was going, but figuring that his body knew. As he walked he could hear someone yelling behind him.
"Cloud! Cloud!" A young girl's voice called.
He kept on walking, but couldn't see anyone else on the streets. Was he Cloud now? What a strange name for a person. Sounded kind of wimpy. The little girl kept calling out that name and finally caught up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"What's with you?" She asked angrily, bending over to catch her breath. She looked back up at him and glared. "Did you not hear me?" He shrugged.
"I didn't know you were talking to me." He said. She laughed hysterically.
"How many other Clouds are there in the world?" She asked. Again he shrugged as she looked at him suspiciously. "You look a little different." She said, scrunching her face to look at him. Crap, he thought, she noticed that I'm not who she thinks. "Wow you're wearing your hair down, that's it! When'd you start that?"
His hair? That's all that's different? He couldn't believe it, had he switched places with someone who looked identical to him? If that were the case then it would be much easier to find Lenne. He looked down at the girl in front of him. Not Lenne. This girl was much younger looking, with short dark hair. She was wearing khaki shorts and a green tank top. He figured he should say something so that she didn't suspect something was wrong.
"Today, I though I'd give it a try." He said, at last. The girl stood up, she was about sixteen.
"Oh I see." She said, nudging him with her elbow and giving him a sly grin. He looked at her, confused.
"What?" He asked. She giggled.
"You want to look good for Tifa, don't you?" She said, placing her hands over her mouth and continuing to laugh.
Tifa? He didn't know any Tifa, and he didn't care either, he just wanted to find Lenne. He looked off in the distance, behind the girl. There was a large airship hovering just outside of the town. He felt a strong knowledge of it, but he had never seen it before. Again, he decided to play along with the girl.
"You caught me." He said, blushing.
Why did he just blush? It was something he had intended to do, but it seemed to excite the little girl. Her mouth dropped open and a loud squeal came out, hurting his ears. She jumped up and down and clapped her hands together.
"Oh wow, you like her? She'll be so happy! Oh my god, you have to tell her!"
Oh crap, should he not have said that? Is there something between him and this Tifa girl that no one knew about? He had to admit that he felt a strange feeling for her, it must be from Cloud, but he couldn't be sure. He allowed himself to be led by the teenager onto the ship.
"You ready for the reunion, Cloud?" A gray-haired man asked, he seemed to be the pilot of the ship and he was smoking a cigarette.
"Uuh, yeah, sure." He said, awkwardly while scratching the back of his head. The teenager stepped up and chimed in.
"He changed his hair for Tifa and he's finally gonna tell her how he feels!" She said with a wink. Again, he blushed.
Whose life had he taken? A man with obviously strange friends and a childhood crush. He felt awkward, standing in this man's shoes, but it was the only way to save Lenne. He couldn't let her fade away into an afterlife like a normal person. She was too good for that. But to switch lives with someone of an alternate universe, that could keep her alive. He smiled at his plan. He did feel a little sorry for the people whose lives he and Lenne switched with. They would be returned to Zanarkand to die in their places. It was a loss he could deal with, as long as he would be able to live with Lenne.
She looked down at herself. What was she wearing? She didn't own clothes like this. She wore a dark blue halter top blouse with light blue ruffles around the collar and front seem, down to the hem, which showed her belly. Her skirt was black and pleated, and see through to her black panties. Along her left side was a ruffled scarf-like material that stretched to her left knee. Her arms were adorned with purple sleeves detached from her blouse. A string was tied at each end to hold them on her arms. The string at her upper arm, above her elbow, criss-crossed and wrapped around her arm to her shoulder. She was wearing brown leather knee- high boots. Her hair lay straight down to her sides, out of its usual low ponytail. The hair behind her ears was wrapped in braids and threaded into different colored beads, hanging over her shoulder.
She couldn't believe it when she looked at herself. She felt uncomfortable, but judging from the way people were looking at her, she knew she must look beautiful. She kind of like the look, though she didn't know how she got that way. She walked down the street, noticing for the first time the strange city she was in.
There were lights everywhere. Oddly shaped buildings with windows and lights all over them. The city was a thousand times greater than Midgar, but she felt lost and alone. She looked around her. People were brushing past her, forcing their way through the crowded streets. Some knocked into her hard, forcing her to turn. She was still trying to figure out where she was. Finally she found a bench to sit down and collect her thoughts.
She had fallen asleep and woken up...here. She looked around at all the buildings once again. She could see ships flying overhead, whizzing through the air with ease. There were people everywhere, going every which way with determination written all over their faces. She didn't know any of them, but felt a strong connection to them for some reason. Was she dreaming?
She felt like she needed to go somewhere, needed to do something, but she didn't know what. Whose feelings were these? She looked around at all the faces, whirling around her like a cyclone. She was lost in a big city, and she didn't know whom to trust for answers. Her thoughts kept going back to someone. A man, with spiky blonde hair that was uneven and messy. She didn't know who he was, but he kept popping up in her mind.
There was something else too. She had memories of a different life. Memories of another man with blonde spiky hair. Her boyfriend? She couldn't be sure, but she felt a much stronger connection towards him. She placed her hands on her knees and sighed, hoping for some sort of sign to tell her what to do.
She looked across the street, at a mother and child. The mother was bending over listening to the child whisper into her ear. They wore such strange clothes. Clothes that she had never seen before, or at least, not that she could remember. The little girl started pointing in her direction and her mother nodded. The woman took her child's hand and led her across the street. They stopped in front of her and looked at her nervously.
"Sorry to bother you miss, but...my daughter and I...we're big fans of yours and we were just wondering...could we get an autograph?"
The woman looked down. Who was she? How did these people know her? She nodded in disbelief. She didn't know what name to sign. She couldn't remember her name and hopped for some sort of reassurance. She didn't want to be rude and turn them away, since they did seem to be enjoying being near her, but she didn't know what to say. She looked up at them and took out a pen as they handed her an autograph book.
"Whom shall I make it out to?" She asked. The woman looked at her daughter and smiled.
"Sasha, please. Oh you don't know how happy we are to finally meet you, Lenne."
Lenne. Her name was Lenne. At least she knew what to sign. She felt the pen flee her body, as if it had a mind of it's own. Somehow she managed a perfect signature with her assumed name. She didn't know how she pulled it off; she had never been called that before. She finished signing and returned the book to the little girl with a nod of her head.
"Oh thank you so much. This means so much to her. You're her favorite singer of all time! We have tickets to your show tonight and we can't wait!" The mother exclaimed, clasping her hands together in front of her chest.
Lenne smiled. She was...a singer? She had never sung before in her life. She didn't know what was going on, but she became more afraid than ever. She watched the mother and child run back across the street to continue shopping. Where was she? Who was she? She had a show tonight, but she didn't know where. She didn't know how to sing or even what to sing.
She stood up, deciding to find help. She could sense something calling her, like a building or something. It was strange, but she felt the urge to start walking. Her feet carried her through the city and to a large building. It stood as tall as the Shinra building, but twice as wide. There was a large glass dome covering the roof and it seemed to be some sort of a concert hall. She looked up at him, belittled by its massive shadow.
Again her feet swept her away, walking in the front door without a word said to her. She wasn't asked for a ticket or a pass or anything. She found herself walking up a long flight of stairs, rounding a corner. There was red carpet lining her walkway. She had no clue where she was but she felt an affinity for the building. She found a door with the name 'Lenne' engraved on it with a large star below it. She opened the door and entered, being greeted by friendly faces she felt she knew. She didn't know a single name, but it felt like she knew these people who sat her down and began applying makeup to her face.
He could feel himself underwater. He felt like he should be gasping for air but for some reason he was fine. He could see other people in the water with him, but he didn't know them. He swam around as they called to him, until his face hit something hard. He had swum into an invisible force field of some sort. He swam through the other people, and hit another glass wall. He was caged in. He put his hands against the glass and pressed his face against it. There were people on the other side, staring at him, like a monkey in a cage. They were sitting on bleachers cheering.
He and the other men were trapped in what seemed to be a giant sphere filled with water. The other men were yelling at him and he didn't know why. They seemed angry with him as he swam, telling him to get back to his place. Where was his place? He could hear an announcer calling out his every move as if he were an idiot.
"Our young star Shuyin, seems to be a bit confused. After being hit with a sleep attack by an opposing teammate he seems to have woken up with amnesia. He's swimming around the sphere like a caged animal, not knowing what to do."
Shuyin? His name was Shuyin? He had never been called that before, but then again, he couldn't remember being called anything else either. He didn't know who he was or where he was or what he was doing. He looked around at the other men as they continued to yell at him to do things he had never heard of before.
"Look out!" One finally said, but it was too late.
He woke up to a white room. He was lying on a bed in the infirmary for injuries. The nurse was applying a cold compress to his forehead. His eye hurt a lot, and he had a pounding headache. There was a bandage wrapped around his left elbow where they had drawn blood.
"That's one nasty bump." The nurse said to him. "It's not like you to get hurt out there, what happened?"
He didn't know what happened. He didn't know what was going on. He sat up on the bed, feeling woozy. He sat cross-legged and bowed his head. These weren't his clothes. He had never worn anything like them before. His shirt was yellow with black and red-checkered sleeves. His collar was brown and he had on dark blue shoulder armor. He had on dark denim shorts that reached below his knees, with straps hanging between each leg. He had on yellow sneakers with black trim and black leather gloves.
He put a hand to his head to cradle his pain. He had never been to this place before, he had never witnessed a sport such as he just had. He couldn't remember anything, but was released from the infirmary on the grounds of outward appearance.
He walked down the street alone, not knowing where he was. The city stretched into the sky above him, and there were lights everywhere. He had never seen a city such as this, it was much grander than Midgar, the only name he could remember. He walked along, looking up at the gray sky. Occasionally he bumped in to people, not paying attention to where he was going.
Someone was on his mind. He could feel her presence like a welcoming reminder, but he didn't know whom she was. There was someone else too, someone he felt that he loved, from another time, another world but he couldn't remember her name. He continued to walk, hoping to find some sort of clues to his identity, or the identity of the women he seemed to love.
He stopped at a large building and looked up at it. He could see a glass dome over the roof and felt like going inside. He wasn't asked for a ticket, the man at the gate just bowed to him as he walked in. He was led up the stairs and into a private skybox. He didn't know why, but he did like the attention he seemed to be getting. Everyone else knew who he was, so why didn't he?
He sat down in a large chair and looked around the luxurious room. Nothing. There was no one in there besides him. There was a buffet set up in the kitchen area, but other than that the room was empty aside from the furniture. He stood up and walked to the glass wall, pressing his palms and face against it to look out. He was definitely in a concert hall, but who was singing? There was no one in the stands and he knew that he must be well early. Maybe more people would show up to his room and help him to better understand whom he was.
She opened her eyes as if from a daydream. She looked around at her unfamiliar settings. She was leaning against a bar, with her head propped up on her hand. She had never been a drinker, but now she found herself behind the bar, like she worked there or something. She felt a cool draft wrap around her legs and she looked down. These weren't her clothes. She felt naked and tugged at the hem of her skirt.
She was wearing a very short black leather mini-skirt. She had on a white tank top that fell just a few inches above her belly button. Black suspenders stretched over her shoulders and attached to her belt. She had black and red gloves that stretched up over her elbows, with a metal plate over her left elbow. She had on red hiking boots, another metal plate on her left one. She went to flip her hair over her shoulder. It was tied at the bottom into a low ponytail, unlike she was used to.
Where was she? Who was she? She looked out across the bar, eyeing the patrons as they stared back at her. She didn't know them, but for some reason, they knew her. One came up and asked for a drink. She didn't know what to do. She had never heard of that drink before, let alone ever made one.
"Lemme get a Dying Midgar." The man said. She looked at him with a confused look on her face. He noticed it and frowned. "Hey, Tifa, you okay? You seem a little...different today. You get hit on the head or something?" The man asked.
Tifa? She didn't know anyone named Tifa. She looked around to her sides and realized that she was the only one standing there, and that he must be talking to her. She started to breath heavily as she turned from him, trying to think of what to do. She looked beneath the bar frantically for a drink list, trying to figure out what was needed to make such a drink.
She decided to give up and tell him she didn't know how. She stood up and smiled at him nervously, slamming her palm against the counter in a panic. He looked at her with a confused expression on his face. She couldn't tell him anymore, something inside her just wouldn't allow her to admit defeat. She began to grab random bottles of liquor and pour them into a glass, hoping that the end result would be satisfactory. She couldn't explain it, but that little something inside her seemed to know what she was doing. She finished the drink and handed to the man, who drank it with a grateful tip of the head.
"Damn good, as always Teef!" He said. He turned back to his table but stopped for a moment, then stepped back up to the bar. "Hey, did you finally cut your hair? It looks good." He added nervously, and then slumped back to his table.
She closed her eyes and smiled, lowering her head a little. She couldn't believe that she had just made a drink for the first time and gotten it right. She turned and leaned her back against the counter, looking at the shelves of liquor behind her. She couldn't remember cutting her hair, not recently. Where was she? She knew who she was, but she just couldn't remember her name. She looked out of the small window at the end of the bar.
Dirt streets and old garbage lying everywhere. She had never seen such a town. She could see lights from a few houses around her but the whole area was dim, unlike she had ever known. Zanarkand, a name that popped into her head, but she didn't know its meaning. Zanarkand had lots of lights everywhere, and she had never heard of a town such as this ever existing.
Suddenly she felt like closing down the bar, call it instincts. She alerted the patrons to her notion and they left, grumbling and stumbling about drunkenly. She closed the door and locked it, something she had never remembered doing. She leaned against the door for a moment, trying to take in all that had happened. She remembered...being with someone...but she couldn't be sure whom. She was...saying something, then she fell, and when she woke up, she was here.
She felt a sudden headache and pressed her fingers to her temple. She closed her eyes as the pain flooded her entire head. She slowly slid down against the door, until she was sitting on the ground. Where was she? How did she get here? She knew that she wasn't 'Tifa', but who was she then?
He was wielding a sword. It was the largest piece of metal he had ever seen before in his life. He couldn't believe that he could even hold it up. He was swinging it wildly with ease, much to his belief. He stopped and stuck the point of the large sword into the ground, and leaned on the handle to catch his breath. He looked around at his surroundings.
He was in the middle of a large clearing in the forest. It was a place he vaguely could recall going to frequently, but he knew not where he was. He looked down at his clothing. He was wearing dark blue pants with brown boots and a navy sleeveless turtleneck sweater with a large brown belt and suspenders. He also had on brown and navy colored gloves with a metal bangle around his left arm and a metal armor plate over his left shoulder.
He couldn't believe what he was wearing. He had never seen such strange clothes before in his life. He smiled to himself, an evil, sinister grin. It had worked. He could remember Vegnagun. He remembered activating it and pressing one lone button. He didn't know what would happen, but he had hoped for something like this. Somehow he had been transported into another dimension through Vegnagun. But what about Lenne? She had no clue what was happening at the time, so maybe she wouldn't even remember who she was. He needed to find her, to let her know who she was and what had happened. But how? He had no clue where he was or who he was now. He started to walk back to the forest.
He instinctively found his way through the trail he had made earlier, though he did not remember clearing one. He found his way out to a city, a small city, with blue cobblestone streets and small cottages. He had never seen such a town, but he had to admit, it was rather quaint. It was the perfect place to strike up a residence with Lenne, to settle down and start a family. He just needed to find her. She could be anywhere on this planet, and it angered him that he would have to search.
She should have been placed right in his arms, damn Vegnagun and its uncertainty. He needed to figure out who he was in this world, but how? He walked down the street, not knowing where he was going, but figuring that his body knew. As he walked he could hear someone yelling behind him.
"Cloud! Cloud!" A young girl's voice called.
He kept on walking, but couldn't see anyone else on the streets. Was he Cloud now? What a strange name for a person. Sounded kind of wimpy. The little girl kept calling out that name and finally caught up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"What's with you?" She asked angrily, bending over to catch her breath. She looked back up at him and glared. "Did you not hear me?" He shrugged.
"I didn't know you were talking to me." He said. She laughed hysterically.
"How many other Clouds are there in the world?" She asked. Again he shrugged as she looked at him suspiciously. "You look a little different." She said, scrunching her face to look at him. Crap, he thought, she noticed that I'm not who she thinks. "Wow you're wearing your hair down, that's it! When'd you start that?"
His hair? That's all that's different? He couldn't believe it, had he switched places with someone who looked identical to him? If that were the case then it would be much easier to find Lenne. He looked down at the girl in front of him. Not Lenne. This girl was much younger looking, with short dark hair. She was wearing khaki shorts and a green tank top. He figured he should say something so that she didn't suspect something was wrong.
"Today, I though I'd give it a try." He said, at last. The girl stood up, she was about sixteen.
"Oh I see." She said, nudging him with her elbow and giving him a sly grin. He looked at her, confused.
"What?" He asked. She giggled.
"You want to look good for Tifa, don't you?" She said, placing her hands over her mouth and continuing to laugh.
Tifa? He didn't know any Tifa, and he didn't care either, he just wanted to find Lenne. He looked off in the distance, behind the girl. There was a large airship hovering just outside of the town. He felt a strong knowledge of it, but he had never seen it before. Again, he decided to play along with the girl.
"You caught me." He said, blushing.
Why did he just blush? It was something he had intended to do, but it seemed to excite the little girl. Her mouth dropped open and a loud squeal came out, hurting his ears. She jumped up and down and clapped her hands together.
"Oh wow, you like her? She'll be so happy! Oh my god, you have to tell her!"
Oh crap, should he not have said that? Is there something between him and this Tifa girl that no one knew about? He had to admit that he felt a strange feeling for her, it must be from Cloud, but he couldn't be sure. He allowed himself to be led by the teenager onto the ship.
"You ready for the reunion, Cloud?" A gray-haired man asked, he seemed to be the pilot of the ship and he was smoking a cigarette.
"Uuh, yeah, sure." He said, awkwardly while scratching the back of his head. The teenager stepped up and chimed in.
"He changed his hair for Tifa and he's finally gonna tell her how he feels!" She said with a wink. Again, he blushed.
Whose life had he taken? A man with obviously strange friends and a childhood crush. He felt awkward, standing in this man's shoes, but it was the only way to save Lenne. He couldn't let her fade away into an afterlife like a normal person. She was too good for that. But to switch lives with someone of an alternate universe, that could keep her alive. He smiled at his plan. He did feel a little sorry for the people whose lives he and Lenne switched with. They would be returned to Zanarkand to die in their places. It was a loss he could deal with, as long as he would be able to live with Lenne.