Step by step {Cloud/open}

[Squall Leonhart]

Lost in my little wasteland

I stop at my starting point

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Squall opened his eyes to find himself in an inn. Narrow light blue eyes reflected on the fan that was connected to the ceiling. His arm across his forehead and shielding his eyes a bit. He had that dream again, the dream that constantly haunted him. A dream where he was walking around in that desert once again, lost, no where to be found. His feet felt tired but he continued to walk anyway. Even though they begged him to stop and his logical senses told him that he was lost, he continued to walk just like the first time. He soon fell onto the floor with the only difference this time was that Rinoa didn't find him. She never saved him and she was left waiting for him on the flower field, the place they had promised to meet if anything was to happen. His eyes closed as he remembered her face when she told him about the nightmare, how she couldn't find him. Was she worried right now? Was she waiting for him at the flower patch? A sense of guilt was sent into his mind. He had forgotten about that promise two weeks, three days and...he looked at the clock five hours, three minutes and now fifty-three seconds. How in the world could he had forgotten about her like that? He had made a silent vow to protect her, to be her knight.

His free hand gripped onto the bed sheet as his greeted his teeth. She must be so worried right now and he doesn't even know how he got here. He was sure that it was not Ellone's doing, she had learned not to mess with time anymore, to never again mess with the past as it can never be changed again. So what happened? He slowly got up and stared out at the window onto the busy streets. From what he had gotten, the city was called Edge, a city he has never heard of. Chances are he was probably sent either into a very distant past or the very distant future. He couldn't remember the name Edge in any kind of historical recordings though so maybe he was in the future. Yet that didn't make sense due to the fact that no one had ever seen a gunblade and their guns didn't seem that highly advance. Also, there didn't seem to be that many flying ship and nothing about the Gardens let alone SeeD. There was also no familiar landmark at all and from the map he had gotten, it was nothing like his time at all. So he wasn't so sure what time period he was in at all. He had asked for the date and it was in 2010, a year that was the same as his own which only made him even more curious. Were they still in the same time period, they could have changed it if it was in the future after all.

He walked down onto the first floor and noted that there were many customers as usual. People don't seem to have homes in this place at all, actually a lot of people lived in the streets or this inn due to the fact that the owner was kind enough to accept everyone. Once he came down the manager walked over to him. "Good morning Squall." the man greeted him. He stared at the man for a moment before he greeted back. "Good morning." The man was quite kind, he had accepted the young adult even though he was quite poor. Even more was that the man gave him food and when he offered help, the man did give him jobs but always made sure that it wasn't tiring. Sometimes it felt like the man was patronizing him but his experience with his friends constantly reminded him that it was simply the man's kindness.

Without another words the male left the inn. The streets of Edge was as busy as usual. People walked down the path and the kids would run around playing their little games. He continued to walk down though in hopes of finding some clue. He needed to get back, to find his friends, to see his family again and most of all, to meet Rinoa at their promise place. His pace quickened in hopes that he would run into anyone, anyone he knew. Just anyone would have made him a bit happy. He was even hoping he runs into Seifer, the guy that he hated with a passion. The one that had given him his scar. Still just seeing the guy would let him know that he was not the only one stuck in this strange new setting that he knew practically nothing about. Most of the time, he would want to do his best to avoid the guy but right now he wouldn't mind the blond's presence. He had actually became that desperate for someone to know him that it scared him quite a bit. Yet no matter how much he walked, he didn't see any familiar faces. As usual, he remembered his dream, he might as well be stranded in that desert at the moment, he was lost in this crowd just like how he was lost in time.

Hm, what would Selphie say at at time like this? The girl was always so optimistic after all. Chances are it was probably something along with the line of 'At least you're not dead' or maybe 'Cheer up, you found your way through time, this can't be any harder'. That girl always seems to be able to find the silver lining to everything. He was sure that if she was stranded on an island alone with nothing for food except for water, she would still find a way to smile. It was in her nature to always be happy. Still she never stopped to surprise him on how she can always put a smile on her face. Soon his feet stopped and he looked up at the sky. It was just like the ones back home but yet it didn't make him feel like he was at home. This place was far too unfamiliar to that. He turned to scan the area and noticed a bar called 7th Heaven. As he stepped inside the bell rang and echoed the room. The place seems to be a bar so that meant that he might get some hands on some rumors. Maybe he can get some clue on how to go back home here.

[Rinoa Heartilly]

What's left to say with all that's come and gone?
Words get in the way and anyway the devils got your tongue.
And a storm brews inside and there's nowhere to hide...



It's gonna blow your cover sky high.
But if you let this thing go, it's gonna burn, it's gonna burn,
You're gonna take the whole world with you when you go..!

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“Where could he be...?”

Rinoa's voice was not above a soft sigh, her tawny eyes fixed upon the skies above as if they held all the answers. Clouds were painted a light purple, fading into the soft blues that were reminiscent of the sweater that she always wore: the one with the wings. It reminded her of him... Squall Leonhart. For the first while after her world was destroyed she had searched for him daily, and for a time she waited in the flower field where he had promised to meet her some two weeks and three days ago. Exactly twenty-four hours she had waited patiently, worrying with the ends of her hair as she gazed out upon the horizon praying for her knight to come.

But he had never shown... Though never once had it crossed her mind that the male would have stood her up or thought it unimportant. If anything he had forgotten about it, or something had come up and he hadn't been able to make it. She knew that if they didn't meet then, she would find him again someday... Perhaps she had to just stop looking, and wait for him to come to her or cross her path. It was impossible for her to do so, but the raven-haired woman was trying so incredibly hard to do so. Anything to bring them together again...

She had lasted a good week or so before something inside her head had snapped, and she had to find him. Something, anything that would lead her to Squall, and the young woman had searched endlessly across the lands in hopes that she would come across a breath of his name. It had taken a while to track someone down, but her fire had finally driven her into a strange place called 'Edge', and though she had been lost in a maze of buildings and off technology, she had discovered something that could help.

Someone had heard of a young man fitting Squalls description staying in what seemed to be a hotel. It was hard to tell, in all honesty, but that was mostly because everything was so different, unfamiliar... When she had asked the date, it had been the same as back home, but everything was drastically different. No one had heard of SeeD, the Gardens, or even Ellone... That damned sorceress had been the first thing on Rinoa's mind when she had woken up in a strange city that she did not know, in a completely different world... But of she recalled correctly, she had learned her lesson pretty damn well.

It didn't matter now, though. She was supposed to meet Squall at their special meeting place, but it seemed like that dream was impossible now. Instead she would come to him, one way or another, and swat him and interrogate him about where he had gone... But she would first melt and be immensely grateful that he was alive and well and finally back with her... Though there was a bit of a nagging voice in the back of her head that told her that she was being foolish and that he would not want to see her again. It was silly, she was sure, but nothing could help the feeling until she knew for sure.

That was what had brought her here to this particular inn. Rinoa looked up at it with what could be called a grimace, but there was a glimmer of hope deep within that made her enter calmly and quietly, approaching the old man behind the desk with a slight smile. It was hard to be confident in such a different place, no matter how forward and blunt she normally was. Taking a breath, she met the man's eyes before pulling out a small, worn photograph from her pocket.

“Excuse me, sir, but have you seen this man...?” Rinoa showed the man the picture, and he seemed to squint as he took in the information. “His name is Squall... Squall Leonhart. Any information would be useful.”

It took so long for the manager to respond that Rinoa began to believe he knew nothing, until finally she had a response. “Yeah, I know him. He's been lodging here.” Brown eyes sparkled with Rinoa's joy, and she was about to press the man for more information when he cut her off with a knowing smile. “He left this morning, not too long ago. You could probably catch him.”

Rinoa gave him a rushed thanks before nearly sprinting out the door, her mind racing as to where he would be. She was in a crowd of unfamiliar faces, but something inside her head was directing her where to go as she wove in and out of the bodes surrounding her... It didn't take long before she reached what looked to be a bar by the name of 7th Heaven. The woman chewed her lip for a moment before pushing the door open and entering.

Her breath caught in her throat as she looked around, her chest constricting at the thought that maybe, just maybe, Squall would be here. Something had to give for once... Rinoa walked slowly through, her boots hardly making a sound as she absently wandered. Honey-coloured eyes searched swiftly, passing over each face before something caught her eye—a lock of spiky brown hair. Could it be...?

She looked harder at the figure, squinting to make out the details... And the more she looked, the feeling that yes, it was him grew stronger. It had to be—his face was the same, complete with the scar... Her face split into a grin, but instead of rushing towards her she seemed to be frozen to the spot. Her lips were dry, but her eyes were wet with tears as she stared dumbly at the face she had been looking for. She could not speak for the longest time, but as she reached for the ring around her neck and clenched it tightly, she felt the will return to her.

One word escaped her lips, carrying on the still air. It was all she could manage, and she desperately hoped that he could hear her.

”Squall...”

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I know this is also for Cloud, but Tifa recommended that I post. <3 Sorry~

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[Cloud Strife]

"-insert deep statement about life here-"

Bar-tending… was more difficult than he had assumed. Cloud stood behind the counter, hastily preparing drinks for the few regulars that somehow had decided that mornings were the best time to drink. Luckily the bar was relatively empty, nothing compared the hustle and bustle that over took it once the sun began to set. But still it was tiring... give him the open roads and his bike any day. He’d been home for only a couple days, but he was already missing his job… maybe he’d get Tifa to close down the bar for a while, and they could take the kids somewhere else. Not that there was much on the Planet besides Edge, and the monsters that existed outside of it.

Then there was the fact that he had decided that he would show up again. At the thought of the white haired man, Cloud grimaced in anger and frustration. After they had last met… Cloud had hoped and wished that their struggle was over, that he could finally move past the living nightmare and move on with his life. He’d finally accepted the death of Aeris and Zack, and he’d finally begun to feel (for lack of a better word) safe in his nomadic and repetitive lifestyle. Then as quickly as the feelings of peace had come, they had disappeared, replaced with the feelings of anguish and guilt that had begun to define him only a year ago… He had even been having nightmares again.

Dreams that he was once again with Aeris… but she was dead, impaled with his own buster sword, lying there eagle spread, surrounded in a pool of crimson blood.. And then a cruel laugh. Then he woke up. Never anything more interesting, more descriptive that was always it. Just the image of her dead body… then nothing. It still scared him though, still made him begin to doubt the sanity that Tifa always tried so hard to reassure was still there. He wouldn’t be surprised if he woke up one day and was completely out of his mind though, it seemed likely enough judging by how his life generally went. Hey, he had been crazy before, it wasn’t so bad.

He sighed, and refocused his attention to the tasks at the hand, and begun to clean a couple glasses, a bit frustrated at the boring nature of the job. Turned out he still had the adventurous impulses of his youth after all… he had once jokingly offered to trade jobs with Tifa, but after only about two hours of this, he was getting bored. Last time he offered to watch the place while she went on errands with the kids. The man glanced up from his work and noted that the place was starting to clear out… great, maybe he’d just close it down, and Tifa could reopen it when she got there…

However as he moved around the counter to tell everyone else to finish up and leave, the bell above the door rang, and Cloud closed his eyes in pseudo exasperation. “We’re clo-,” As he opens his eyes, his words were cut short, and instead he rose his eyebrow in surprise at the man who had just entered. Well that was interesting…. Cloud had never seen him before. Not that he knew everybody in edge, but he rarely saw someone that he didn’t at least slightly recognize. Though there was something vaguely familiar about him…. Cloud couldn’t place it, instead he just stared for a moment. They were about the same size, though the man’s clothing was kind of weird.

“Can I help you with something?” He muttered, an attempt to be pleasant and 'hospitable', gone awry no doubt, but eh. Tifa would be irritated with him if he drove away a potential regular. His blue eyes were trained on the man’s face… he looked bit abashed, if not then just plain confused. “Not from around here?” Well, that much was obvious to Cloud, but he had to wonder exactly where the guy came from... he could be an employee of Shinra, or perhaps a new Soldier. But the blond warrior doubted

Before he could say anything more the bell rang once more, and he glanced towards it. He sighed once more, and decided that it was probably better to just suck up running the bar until Tifa got back, rather than close it down. Besides, one of these guys might complain to Tifa that he wasn’t nearly as charismatic of a host as her. He looked tiredly at the door, and found himself momentarily mistaking the new occupant for Tifa. But after a second, he felt foolish for the slip-up. Once again, it was a completely new face, one that he’d never seen round Edge. He didn’t even have time to respond to her entrance, as her face kind of caused him to get confused.

Her eyes were trained on the guy who had entered right before, and Cloud could only watch and wonder why she looked some exasperated while at the same time relieved. She only spoke one word, and though it was soft and wasn’t directed at him it somehow rose above all the other songs in the bar. He could only stand and watch, and wonder how this would all play out…. And whether or not TIfa would get back soon to relieve him of duty.

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-Raegs/Random-