Extension of Summary: When the planet becomes nothing more than a barren wasteland, Minerva begs the Lifestream to save the world. However, her meddling unintentionally warps time; making events slightly different from before and two souls reluctant to be heroes this time around.

A/N: My first real step into the FFVII world and I hope it goes well. Obviously this is going to be blatant AU (duh, it's time travel), and apart from the main plot and Cloud/Tifa-centric POV, a lot of this is just being created as I go, so any thoughts, opinions and criticism would be much appreciated.

I know it is a well-used theme, but I am going to try making it as original and interesting as possible. Further more, this is a challenge a friend created for me, so there is not much planned and a lot of improvisation has been implemented. A writing in progress that I will update as frequently as able.

Warnings: (Rated M for good reason) Violence, death, tragedy, gore, mild sexual content, graphic imagery and other intense themes as the story progresses. Het/Yaoi and Yuri pairings. Language! Twisted canon events, warped ideas and time travel/alternate dimensions…and anything really, that may or should possibly constitute a warning.

Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer applies for every chapter. I do not own Final Fantasy VII, any direct quotes taken from movie or game, or any of its characters.

No beta so feel free to correct any errors.

Synergy

Chapter One: The Chosen

…He was drowning in the pain. Vivid, intense and burning…unlike anything he had ever experienced and yet it was also hauntingly familiar. How was such a contradicting feeling even possible?

Unadulterated, acidic green light swarmed his senses as his mind began to drift and falter, while all rational thought unravelled quicker then a cloth beset by decay.

He struggled through the gnawing confusion, but it was thick and heavy, and only seemed to become more sluggish the harder he fought. Tried his best to retain the broken images of distorted memories that held great meaning, and yet, they seemed to merely slip through his fingers like water through a sieve. It was too much, too fast and he wanted the pain to end so he could hit the bottom of whatever cesspool he had been thrown into, lose track of all reality and finally disappear into that final abyss.

He did not know where he was...Did not know what had happened.

Could not remember why he was hurting...Did not want to remember the reason.

Could barely recall his name...Hated to feel so helpless.

Just wanted it all to end...

Blue eyes, once as clear as a summertime day and now a gleaming blue-green, shifted open slowly to the melodic sound of soft humming, along with the gentle feel of fingertips ghosting across cold skin in what seemed to be a soothing manner. A sensation he was positive that he had felt many times before, for numerous reasons and from countless people.

A puzzled frown instantly adorned his features as the previous weariness faded to a certain extent, and he sat up quickly, not noticing that the soft hum ceased with his rapid movement.

"So, you are finally awake."

The blue-eyed child, who had become mesmerized once he caught sight of his misty surroundings, snapped attentively towards the source of the voice only to find that he was seated before an astoundingly beautiful woman with long hair that shone and rippled like liquid silver and glowing eyes that contained the hues of a thousand molten colours.

"You have been asleep for a very long time." She whispered tenderly causing the child's momentary enchantment to end and his frown to return.

Who was she? What did she mean?

The mysterious woman suddenly laughed and even though it was a hauntingly beautiful sound, the boy could hear the latent sorrow buried deep within as it echoed across the strange, mist-enshrouded landscape.

"You do not remember." She announced as more of a statement then an actual question. "I should have known this would be a possibility…after all, He was down there for such a long time and you, you have been drifting for even longer."

The boy felt even more confused then he ever before.

"Remember what?" He found himself whispering hoarsely, coughing in surprise at his sore throat and strained tone. "Who are you talking about?"

The ethereal beauty did not answer immediately and simply tilted her head slightly, as she surveyed him in a quiet manner that left him with goose bumps and the distinct impression that she could somehow see right through him.

"Let us start with something simple, dear one." She then said with a warm smile and now shining eyes of purple and green. "Tell me your name?"

The boy found himself nodding on impulse, his blond locks bouncing at the sudden movement and brushing lightly against his pale skin.

"Cloud…" He answered without any hesitation. "My name is Cloud Strife."

He did not really understand how he knew this when the rest of him felt so foggy…It just felt undoubtedly true. He was Cloud, and he would only ever be Cloud.

The woman's smile grew faintly. "Good…and do you recall what happened to you, Cloud Strife?"

What had happened to him? He wondered.

Blue-green orbs closed in thought as he attempted to weave his way through the smokescreen that shrouded his mind. Scattered memories tried to force their way through the miasma of uncertainty and he pieced them back together carefully.

It came to him in a montage of obscure pictures, fast moving and blurred, but partly recognizable…Scenery depicting a quiet mountain-village, hidden deftly between the rock and ice.

It was Nibelheim and he had been born to its seemingly desolate wilderness.

A woman with the same spiky, blonde hair as his own but longer, a little darker and worn in a loose pony, with warm cobalt eyes and familiar calloused hands as she kissed him goodbye and made him promise to be home before dark.

His mother.

Frosted trees passed by as he walked along a winding river, yet to be frozen by the early winter chill, while faint footprints embedded the ice-coated earth before him.

He had been following someone…

A young girl seated beneath a large tree, her wool clothes wet and her dark hair clinging to slightly blue-tinted skin.

Tifa Lockhart, the Mayor's daughter…only, she was an orphan now, given that both her parents had fallen victim to a bad case of pneumonia and never recovered.

He had been following to make sure she didn't head too far up the mountain. There were old stories that if you climbed high enough, you could say goodbye to your loved ones and see them one last time, but Cloud knew it was not possible even if his neighbour had firmly believed in such a notion. Therefore, when he saw her leave her house with no company, the young blond had presumed the worst.

He was more than relieved to find her nestled at Mt. Nibels base, a little cold but no more worse for wear than if she had ventured onto the peaks arctic terrain.

"…Tifa?"

He remembered watching her jump, as if startled by the sudden noise, her red-brown eyes darting towards him in agitation and clearly puffy from crying. He remembered walking towards her carefully while she got to her feet…

Then there was that growl…A low, guttural sound that had the blonde's skin crawling and Tifa gasping, her eyes widening fearfully as she stared at something beyond his shoulder. He had turned even as she crept towards him and grabbed his hand.

Behind them had stood an animal he recognized as the Nibel wolf. Its jaw lined with unforgiving, razor sharp teeth…

…and then Cloud was lost completely in the memory.

Undergrowth snapping as the great beast suddenly lunged forward…Falling backwards in an attempt to escape, only to slip in the slick mud and snow while Tifa's alarmed shriek filled the air, before they both tumbled into the dark water churning below.

An icy pull swept through him, ripping away all warmth and biting into his very bones, seeming to freeze the very blood within his veins. The air was forced from his lungs as he struggled to resurface.

Limbs became numb and heavy, refusing to work, the water tumbling furiously around him while the river pulled him further down stream.

…and then there was green; an eerie glow that enveloped his entire vision…followed by white, hot pain, bright, endless and burning, stabbing and overpowering all at once…

Then nothing…Nothing at all.

Cloud's eyes snapped open as he let out a strangled gasp, turning quickly to stare at the woman beside him while an oppressive tingle called out in earnestness, making him think there was more that he needed to see.

"Did I…am I dead?" He questioned, afraid of her answer and yet morbidly curious at the same time, ignoring the cold feeling which lurked upon the dim edge of his mind. "Did T-Tifa die?"

The woman smiled in understanding; as if sensing his fear, but answered his question with a shake of her head before going on to explain.

"No…You are not dead, dear one and neither is the girl."

Cloud instantly felt relief wash over him, but her sad, careful tone gave him reason to be wary and that moment of peace found itself quickly replaced by his ever-growing confusion.

"Where am I then?" Blue orbs darted around to glance at their misty clearing bordered by decorative, stone pillars, with a carpet of silver-white and yellow-gold star shaped flowers. "It's no place I've ever seen and it's not in Nibelheim."

…and yet, he could feel he was lying. The flowers seemed so familiar, so close to his heart…but that was not possible, was it?

Cloud may have only been six years old, but he knew his home as well as he knew the back of his hand, and he was definitely sure he had never seen a place like this before.

The woman smiled tenderly despite his obvious inner struggle.

"You are partly right. It is not a place found in Nibelheim. However, we are not currently in the real world either."

"What?" Cloud was not sure if he had heard her correctly.

"This is what some may call a spiritual plane…Think of it like a gap between life and death, where time has no limit and there is no change." The woman murmured. "…I've made it resemble a place that is very special to me…as well as to you."

"That's rubbish." Was his angry reply, unable to keep the disbelief out of his voice and wishing this strange occurrence would simply go away so he could wake up.

"What do you see Cloud?" The woman quietly asked, appearing unfazed by his outburst.

Cloud took a few moments to look around in silence, his eyes eventually settling on a pair of large, stained-glass windows.

"It looks like a church."

"That's because it is, though it's not been used for a religious purpose in many years." She murmured while her multi-toned eyes flickered over every aspect of the area, until she turned her attention towards him once again, an unreadable emotion glittering in her expressive gaze. "That is, until you changed that."

Cloud frowned.

"What do you mean? I'm just a child. How can I change something that I have never even seen before now?"

The woman regarded him with that same intensity that sent shivers down his spine.

"I asked earlier, if you recalled what had happened-."

"-and I do." Cloud interrupted only to fall silent at her sharp look.

"What you saw was not your life, at least not in the sense you think it to be."

How can it not be my life? Was this some kind of sick joke? Was she delusional? He felt angry and afraid, nothing made any sense and it was only getting more strange by the second.

"Your name is Cloud Strife." She continued when he made no move to speak. "But the world you came from was very different."

"…" Cloud found he could not vocalize his current thoughts, a strange sense of unease overwhelming him and the tingle at the back of his mind buzzing almost eagerly in response to the woman's statement.

"I- I d-don't understand." He finally managed to choke out as his hands found themselves in a death grip with the hem of his shirt. "You're talking crazy!"

"It means exactly as it sounded." The woman said, her tone unrelenting yet oddly sympathetic. "You don't understand simply because you have yet to recall your true memories, only those of your past counterpart."

"M-my counterpart?"

The woman's expression turned grim.

"Many things altered when the Planet sent you back, Cloud." She spoke softly, as if afraid to let her voice go any higher. "It was a small price to pay to be given this chance, but it was a price nevertheless."

"Sent…back?" Cloud whispered his blue eyes wide at the possible connotations of that one sentence. It wasn't possible! "What chance?"

"There are so many things you need to understand and so little time with which I can explain." The woman sighed and rubbed her hand over her eyes as if weary before fixing him with her intense eyes. "You need to let go of your wariness and fear. You need to trust me."

"I..."

Cloud hesitated, wanting nothing more than to tell her to leave, tell her she was merely a figment of his imagination...but found that he could not. For some unknown reason, he knew he could trust her.

"Alright."

The woman smiled brightly as she got to her feet.

"Thank you Cloud." She said. "Let me show you something, which I think will help you to understand."

Cloud stood as well, watching her curiously despite the slight doubtful feeling in the corner of his thoughts. He pushed those feelings aside.

"Show me what?"

"Everything." She answered, extending a pale, slender hand towards him.

Cloud eyed it warily before looking into her ever-changing eyes.

"I still don't know who you are?"

"I am Minerva."

"That's your name; it doesn't tell me who you are!" Cloud snapped, unable to help feeling frustrated and scared.

"I am simply a voice for the Planet's will, nothing more." She said softly. "Now will you come with me?"

Cloud bit his lip, warring with his mixed thoughts and emotions until he sighed.

"Show me." He whispered taking hold of her hand carefully.

The air around them suddenly began to ripple. Cloud edged closer towards the mysterious woman, his eyes widening as she began to glow softly. The swell grew to swallow up the church walls, completely enveloping fragile blossoms, the peaceful scenery fading away only to be replaced by another of a room made from dark, comforting wood and with a cheery fire, blazing in the one corner.

"There you are." Minerva whispered, guiding the young boy forward with a gentle nudge. Cloud felt his body freeze.

There on the rooms only bed, laid an exact replica of himself, with thick woollen blankets drawn up to his chin and the same spiky blond hair sticking up at odd angles, but something didn't seem right...

"That's me?' Cloud questioned, needing to be certain this was really his own body he was looking down upon.

Minerva nodded.

"What's wrong with me?" He whispered softly as he stared into his own glazed blue eyes, different as they were now tinged with an emerald glow.

"Mako poisoning." Minerva answered him quietly. "You did not survive the river without injury."

Mako! The thought was sudden and jarring. So many questions answered in just one simple word.

The Lifestream in its pure form. Undiluted and raw.

...and Cloud was no longer in his room, or standing by Minerva's side. Instead, he found himself seated at an odd angle in the back of a truck, unable to move and in so much pain that he prayed for death, listening to a raven-haired man talk.

"So, what are you going to do once we get to Midgar?"

Cloud couldn't answer.

"We're friends, right?" Of course they were friends.

The same man ruffling his hair and whispering, "I'll be right back." Only to walk straight towards his death. His blood...staining everywhere...

"What I have shown you is the reality." A man with long silver hair and shining emerald eyes whispered. "What you remember, that is the illusion."

The same man stabbing him through the shoulder.

"What is it that you cherish most...Give me the pleasure of taking it away."

Those unnatural, glowing green eyes and a cold, hunted look that was more alien then it was human. Wisps of the man he once was, shining through on occasion, despite the fact that insanity and taint had long since claimed him. That 'She' had replaced his soul with that of a monster.

He was the true puppet.

"Eventually... all humans die. What happens to them after they die? The body decomposes, and returns to the Planet. That much everyone knows. What about their consciousness, their hearts and their souls? The soul too returns to the Planet. In addition, not only those of humans, but everything on this Planet. In fact, all living things in the universe are the same. The spirits that return to the Planet, merge with one another and roam the Planet. They roam, converge, and divide, becoming a swell, called the 'Lifestream'. Lifestream... In other words, a path of energy of the souls roaming the Planet..." The man named Bugenhagen trailed off with a sad sort of smile and Cloud understood in a strangely confused way.

"I am Nanaki, son of Seto...Warrior and protector of Cosmo Canyon." Red accepted his name and accepted the truth.

"C'mon Cloud, say something!" Yuffie whined.

"...Something..." He smirked when the little ninja let out an aggravated sigh.

"You irritate me." She whined.

"Strength without determination means nothing, and determination without strength is equally useless." Godo Kisaragi intoned, expression grave and merely a shadow of the once great man he had been.

"Marlene better be okay..." A man with a gun arm threatened.

"You're gonna give up and die, is that it?" An older version of Tifa demanded and when she received no answer, sighed sadly with a resigned expression clouding her features. "So it is..."

"There is no cure." He had murmured softly in response, a weak attempt to make her understand something not even he did.

"Yeah, but that's not stopping Denzel is it? Don't run. Let's fight this together. We can help each other, I know we can." Tifa's passionate outburst turned subdued and she looked away sorrowfully. "I guess that only works for real families."

It hurt.

"…but, I let you die." He whispered, the guilt as fresh as the day Sephiroth ran Masamune through her chest.

"Dilly dally, shilly shally." A girl with bright emerald eyes and a warm smile sang. "Isn't it time you did the forgiving?"

"Are sins ever forgiven?" He recalled asking.

"I've never tried." Vincent had replied, a man who carried a greater burden.

"Never tried?" Somehow the answer made him feel ashamed. "Well, I'm gonna try."

He stood on a hill where Edge could be seen in the distance. A young boy with messy brown hair stood beside him, gazing at the golden-yellow flowers that decorated the ground. The boy then glanced up at him, shielding his blue-green eyes from the sun.

"Did…Is this where someone died?"

"No…" Cloud said, shaking his head. "This is where a heroes journey began."

Rufus sighed.

"I acknowledge that Shinra owes the Planet a lot. It goes without saying that my company and I put the world in the sorry state that it's in...Therefore, it's our responsibility to set things right."

...things were never that simple and soon there was another threat to deal with.

"Don't worry. Leave Deepground to me."

"Vincent…" Cloud was smiling as he spoke over the phone. "Don't go getting yourself killed now."

"Rufus has asked me to marry him." Tifa declared with a large smile that had him returning the gesture automatically.

"About time." The dark-haired fighter slapped his arm playfully then her expression grew serious.

"You'll give me away, wont you?"

"I'd be honoured."

"I always thought I was a monster…" An auburn-haired man huffed softly, a wry smile pulling at his lips as he turned to face Cloud. "I remember Zack claiming quite passionately that I wasn't. That none of us were."

"Well, he was right."

The man sighed. "Maybe…"

"Stop it Genesis." He heard himself chide gently. "If there's one thing I've learnt, it's that there's no point worrying over the things we cannot change, but worrying over the here and now so that we don't come to make any more regrets."

"Goddess Cloud, when did you get so poetic?" Genesis inquired with a smirk.

Cloud smiled.

"I blame you." He said kissing the man on the cheek. Genesis laughed and pulled him closer.

"What would I do without you."

Pain.

Ever since Jenova had first been exposed to the ethereal river, she had spread throughout the Planet's blood like a virus, corroding and defiling it with her foreign presence…mutating it, until she had just enough control to unleash her fury upon the unsuspecting.

Death and destruction.

They had nothing left. Nothing but their memories of a time that would never exist again. Left to fight until Jenova consumed all within her path…Killing everything. Taking everything.

Despair.

People died, from sickness and poisoning. The land grew barren and turned cold. The Lifestream couldn't keep up with the decay and eventually, the strain was too much.

The Planet imploded.

Cloud could only watch in a grief-stricken sense of detachment, while the Goddess Minerva broke down as the world crumbled around them, the haunting cries of the deceased filling the air as they disintegrated into nothing, the taint of the Lifestream unable to hold them anymore. Soon, they would be gone too. Everything would.

'You know of what I seek.' Minerva called out to the Planet mentally. 'What we all seek. Jenova's grip on Gaia is far greater then I could have ever imagined and if we do not find a way to neutralize her, our future is doomed.'

The Lifestream seemed to bristle at this thought, its sense of self-preservation reacting to the idea of non-existence.

Protect. Fight. Weapons. It echoed and raged around her and Cloud flinched.

He didn't know why the Goddess was still fighting when he had given up the moment he died.

Tifa and Rufus were gone, along with their little boy that had only just been born to the world. Genesis was gone…Barret, Vincent, Yuffie, Reno, Nanaki, Cid and Shera…Marlene and Denzel. One by one, his friends and family had all fallen to the dying Lifestream and its efforts to stay alive.

Why couldn't Minerva let him pass on so he could join his loved ones. Why must his suffering continue?

'Jenova has corrupted the Planet entirely and soon there will be nothing left.' Minerva said. 'Every attempt ever made to defeat her has failed. Every step we have ever gained, she seems to always be one-step ahead. Now we have reached the end and she is going to win. We need help and I am willing to try anything.'

Anything, the voices murmured around her and Cloud shivered slightly at the contemplative tone they held. Anything, it repeated questioningly.

'Anything.' The Goddess agreed after only a moment's hesitation and Cloud barely had time to consider what this meant before the world exploded in white light.

The blond blinked, tears present in his haunted blue gaze.

"I remember everything." Cloud whispered, his thoughts returning to the present with a jolt. He turned to face Minerva, eyes glowing with his previous anger, now remembered and fully justified. "Why?"

Minerva sighed softly, looking older then he had ever seen her.

"I did what I thought necessary." She replied. "The Planet has sent you and Tifa back to make sure that future doesn't happen this time around."

Cloud blinked in disbelief.

"Tifa?"

Minerva nodded.

"You'll need someone to help, someone who understands…Who better than your sister."

"…but things, things are different." Cloud questioned with a confused expression.

"Something in the Lifestream altered." Minerva answered. "I don't know why or how, only that the Planet needed to adjust, thus a few things changed. Time travel isn't the natural order, after all."

"Both of Tifa's parents dying from the sickness, that is one of the changes right?"

Minerva simply nodded again.

Cloud was about to speak but froze at the desperate feeling that seemed to suddenly surround them, and for a brief second, his walls of coldness melted and he felt acceptance grow, until a familiar consciousness echoed around him. Then the Lifestream spoke and that pity vanished.

Hero. Saviour. Our hope and hero.

It seemed to echo and it appeared Minerva could also hear the Lifestream's forceful words.

"What?"

Do not question our decision. All you need to do is accept.

Cloud bristled angrily but did not say anything in response.

He could not argue with the Planet, for it only cared about it's self-preservation. It was an ingrained need to survive…and he could not fault it for something that was its primary function, but he could be angry at the Planets way of treating him.

"I am not a puppet. I am not your slave!"

You are our Weapon. You have been chosen to save this world. Do not fail. Failure is not an option.

Cloud opened his mouth to protest but Minerva cut him off by kissing his forehead and gently caressing his cheek with a sad smile.

"Do not take their ignorance to heart for all know of your sacrifices." She said. "I will be watching you. It's time to wake up Cloud…"

"No! I didn't ask for this damnit...Minerva!"

"Your loved ones are alive Cloud...You have a chance to make a difference...Take that chance."

"Wait!"

...but the Goddess was gone and the world was fading, then Cloud found himself staring up into the wooden rafters of his bedroom.

"Oh Cloud, you're awake." A familiar voice exclaimed and Cloud turned to look into his mother's teary blue eyes. She was sitting beside him, holding his one hand tightly in her own. "I was so scared."

Cloud felt his chest tighten, his anger at the Planet and slight disorientation forgotten for a moment as he took in every detail of the woman he had not seen in close to eleven years.

"Mum…"

She wrapped her arms around him gently. "Shhh love, everything will be alright now."

Cloud remained stiff and unsure in her arms.

It would be easy to rant and fight over what Minerva had done, how she'd taken him from his final rest, but that would be selfish compared to her selfless act to give the Planet a chance for survival.

He could be furious at the Planets inability to understanding the most complex emotions, but that too would also achieve nothing.

He didn't like it. He wasn't going to be a tool for someone else's grand scheme, as he had before…but he could accept that there was no going back now. He could accept that this was a second chance...but Cloud would be damned if he was dictated to in how he went about achieving said second chance.

His blue eyes closed as true exhaustion clouded his thoughts, falling asleep in his mothers warm embrace.

His recovery from the mako poisoning was slow, but in that time Cloud learned his mother had adopted Tifa. When he asked her why, Halenor Strife had responded.

"The poor girl has no one else so why not give her a family."

Cloud couldn't agree more.

Weeks went by before Halenor let her son leave his room, let alone the actual house. However, once he had acquired such a freedom, the blond immediately went off in search of a certain brunette, wondering why she had not come to visit, and if she was handling this as he was.

It took a surprisingly short amount of time to find Tifa and when he did, Cloud figured the old water tower to be a rather fitting place to meet. After all, they had made several promises here.

"…Tifa."

The girl turned at the sound of his voice, her tearful crimson-tinted gaze meeting his own and shining with an aberrant glow.

Mako eyes…

"Hi…Cloud." She murmured so quietly that he almost had to strain to hear her, a solitary tear slipping down her cheek as she gave him a bitter smile. "I guess the Planet's not done with us just yet."

A/N: Well, that is my introduction. I hope it was not too confusing and was at least partly original despite the extracts from canon (i.e. games, movies etc.).

Pairings are as follow. Keep in mind, this story is not romance-centred so the romance will only be light unless seen from the past.

Tifa/ Rufus

Cloud/ Genesis

Zack/ Aerith

Cloud's Mother/ Zangan

Yuffie/Shalua/ Elena or Cissnei (up to you which one?)

I will also like it if people could give me suggestions for other pairings…Possible characters to choose from include; Sephiroth, Angeal, Reno, Kunsel, Shelke, Vincent, Rude, Reeve, Elfé and many others. Obviously, you can suggest whatever pairings you want except for the people already paired up- as seen above.

Let me know via review or PM what you think and I will consider all opinions before deciding. Hope you enjoyed.