"Thank you for joining us, Cadet Strife."

Not trusting his voice with the nerves trying to eat him alive, Cloud can only manage a squeak and a small nod in President Rufus's direction. He knows Sephiroth had assured him he wasn't in trouble, had even offered a parting "Everything's fine" as he guided Cloud to a chair, the man's gloved hand entirely too hot against his shoulder. But as he glances anxiously around the table, the troubled looks that greet him certainly do nothing to keep the doubt at bay. Even Reno looks uncomfortable, and Cloud just knows there's something wrong with that.

He looks to Zack for reassurance, but when the teen won't even meet his eyes, face downcast, Cloud just knows things are bad. Unable to control the anxiety now, he really hopes that the table hides the way his hands tremble in his lap as he croaks out. "A-Am I in trouble, s-sir?"

The President grimaces, though over what Cloud has no idea. "Not at all. I merely asked you here to talk."

"About what, M-Mr. President?"

"The truth."

.

.

.

Reeling.

Cloud's pretty sure that's the word he wants to describe this light-headed, confused feeling of his. Was the President serious? Were they all serious? This was insanity. Complete, utter insanity. Was he seriously supposed to believe that he had killed Sephiroth – the Sephiroth – as just an infantryman? In the future? He's sure his face must be quite the sight as his brain tries to catch up. "So… you're saying I'm a clone of Sephiroth?" Cloud sounds out the words carefully, still not entirely believing that they were coming from his mouth.

The "Used to be, yo!" goes completely over his head as the President replies, a hint of amusement on his aristocratic face, "A failed one, yes."

His entire body still processing – and failing spectacularly – Cloud really hopes the expression on his face doesn't telegraph exactly how much of a nutcase he thinks the President is, how much of a nutcase he thinks everybody is, but this just makes absolutely no sense. They didn't honestly believe this, did they? But as he looks around the room desperately, he finds no support, Sephiroth and the Commanders hidden behind unreadable masks, Zack's expression unnervingly uneasy. "But… I look nothing like Sephiroth."

"Hence the 'failed' part." A smirk splits the President's face, the man appearing to be enjoying this far too much.

Wait. That smirk.

You loser! Why would we want to be friends with you?!

Once more, he finds himself soaking wet on the bathroom floor, Johnson sneering down at him, Cloud unable to blame the toilet water for the shine to his eyes.

That's right. That's the exact same look Johnson had worn their first week of training when he had insisted that he and Cloud would be the best of friends. The same look that had remained caked on the teen's face as he and his friends dragged Cloud into the nearest bathroom stall and flushed his head in the toilet.

He had thought things would be different here. And he had been so desperate for even one friend that he had foolishly clung to Johnson's every word – Wow, you're really good with a sword. You're so amazing. Wanna hang out sometime? Ironically, he had made friends that day, but not in the conventional way. His roommates – who up until then had been unsure of how quiet and antisocial he was – had taken one look at his drenched self and had unanimously decided that he was worth knowing. Why, though, he still hasn't figured that one out.

But that betrayal – Johnson's betrayal – pales in comparison to this one.

And that's what this is, isn't it? A betrayal. He should have known, should have realized that it was too good to be true. Sephiroth, Zack, everything. But now – now everything makes sense. All the words of encouragement, all the don't you remember me's, all the uncomfortable looks around the table as the President started weaving his fanciful, fanciful tale.

The little voice in him tries to convince him he's overreacting, but it's far too late for that – the cold has already started to set in. He knows that this betrayal will really hurt later on, but right now he's just too numb. Everything with Johnson, everything in Nibelheim had already proven that Cloud couldn't trust anybody. If only he could stop being so nave.

"So that's what this is." The concerned trio of Cloud?, Spikey?, Little bird? only half make it through the fog as he lets out a bitter laugh. "I thought Midgar would be different than Nibelheim. But, well – ha! – I'm usually wrong."

His hands shake from where they're pressed on the table – he's not sure when he had stood up – but at least he's not crying. He had promised himself after the toilet fiasco that he would never cry in front of a bully again. Taking a deep, albeit unsteady, breath, he sets his resolve before turning to the President, his chin raised defiantly. "Mr. President, I formally tender my resignation."

He doesn't miss the collective gasp around the room, but he only has eyes for the President. The President who returns Cloud's defiant look with an almost bored one of his own. "Oh?"

"I quit."

The smug look is back as President Rufus shuts him down. "You can't quit. I own you."

Anger builds in his stomach, the words Ex-SOLDIER. I quit. on the tip of his tongue. But Zack is at his side in a second, the once calming hand on his shoulder now unbearable. "Mr. President, I'm going to take Cloud back to his room. Some time to think things through will be good for him."

"Very well." The President nods shallowly, still watching Cloud. "Cadet Strife, you are not allowed to leave the Tower. Do I make myself clear?"

"What?"

"Yup! Very clear!" Zack answers over him, tugging Cloud towards the door. "C'mon, Spike."

As they leave, Cloud doesn't miss Sephiroth's "Rufus! This is what I was talking about!" Nor does his miss the pain that flashes through Zack's eyes as he shrugs the teen's hand off, curling in on himself.


"Cloud, please. Tell me what's wrong."

Cloud thought ignoring the teen the entire way back to the cadet dorms would have been enough, but apparently Zack didn't get the message. He's just glad nobody was around to see the SOLDIER force his way into Cloud's room – he really can't handle more gossip about them now. Well, if silence didn't work, perhaps flat-out denial would. "I don't know what you're talking about, Zack."

"What did you mean by thinking Midgar would be different from Nibelheim?" Zack stands in front of the closed door, blocking Cloud's only retreat, hands on his hips. Cloud finds that his only recourse left is staring at the metal floor, hoping that not answering this time around would be enough. But he's not that lucky. "I'm not leaving til you tell me, Cloud."

Cloud practically growls, tugging at his hair in frustration. "You already know that I didn't have any friends in Nibelheim. I was already used to the kids there pretending like they wanted to be my friend only to have it turn out to be a cruel prank. Heck, it even happened with Johnson, but I figured that was just because he was… well, Johnson. I just didn't think t-that…" Voice breaking, he finds himself unable to finish the rest of his sentence.

But Zack seems to understand anyway, too-hot hands lifting Cloud's face up to see the horrified look on Zack's own. "No. No. That's not what this is," Zack vehemently denies. "I swear. You're my best friend, Cloud. You've always been my best friend."

Cloud huffs out his own denial. "We've only known each other for two months, Zack."

Zack apparently doesn't agree, the teen shaking his head forcefully, his hands still on Cloud's face. "No, we haven't. You just don't remember yet."

"Because of time travel? You know how crazy that sounds, right?"

"But it's the truth!" Zack groans, dropping his head as if to rest his forehead against Cloud's. When Cloud tenses in his hold, though, he seems to think better of it, straightening back up, a hurt look on his face. "Come on, you can't tell me that you haven't noticed anything strange! Weird feelings or sensations, things that just seem out of place…"

"Zack…"

"What about that dream?" Zack looks like he has just won the jackpot at the uncertain look on Cloud's face. "You know, the one in Hojo's lab. That wasn't a dream. I was there with you, Spike. In the mako tank next to you."

Something about that just sounds so familiar, Cloud almost able to make out 'Feeding Time'… that's our chance! scratched into glass. But he won't fall for it, it has to be his mind conjuring things up to match the teen's story – he doesn't want to lose Zack. Though, he supposes he already has. "I want to believe you, Zack, but I can't…"

"Please, Cloudy…"

"I-I just… I just want to be alone," he confesses, staring anywhere but at Zack, unable to drop his gaze to the floor with Zack's (slightly trembling) hands still on his face.

Zack lets out a shaky breath, but doesn't deny him. "…Ok. If that's what you want, buddy." The teen's thumbs smooth a trail underneath Cloud's eyes, wiping away nonexistent tears – he had fortunately been successful at not crying in front of the other so far – instantly drawing Cloud's attention back to Zack's worried face. No wonder he had such a hard time when it came to Zack. The teen was really good at this acting thing, apparently. "But don't leave your room, ok?"

Resisting the urge to cross his arms in front of himself petulantly (protectively?), Cloud sighs exasperated. "Am I seriously under house arrest?"

"Please, Cloud," Zack practically whines, worry turning to distress. "Somebody wants Sephiroth dead and they may come after you first."

Cloud scoffs, barely stopping himself from rolling his eyes. "Right."

"Have you not seen Sephiroth's fanclub? There are all kinds of photos and posts of the two of you." Zack looks close to begging. "It's open to the public and the President thinks if this assassin has access to it, he'll know that you're Sephiroth's weakness."

Cloud's sure his face cycles through a hundred different emotions at that revelation – shock, fear, confusion, disbelief, suspicion – before shuttering completely. Him, Sephiroth's weakness? That was certainly a tactic he never saw coming. "This isn't funny, Zack."

"It's not a joke! Gaia!" Zack yells, hands dropping from Cloud's face as if burned, the teen's own eyes wild. The change in Zack is immediate, though, when he notices how Cloud shrinks away from him. Deflating instantly, Zack's voice is weak when he apologizes. "Sorry for yelling… I'm just so scared that something will happen to you, Cloud. That you'll get hurt and I won't be there to protect you…again."

Cloud sniffs and finally does wrap his arms around himself. "Ok…"

"Ok?"

"I won't go anywhere."

Sagging with apparent relief, Zack lets out a shaky breath. "That's… That's great. Thank you, Spike." Zack runs a hand through his own hair, all nervous energy. "I… I know you don't believe me and I know how crazy being from the future sounds, but I swear it's all true. Just think about it, please." Cloud can only offer a grunt in response, his arms tightening around himself. "Can I come back in a few hours?"

"O-ok."

"Great." Zack goes to leave, but pauses, hand on the doorknob, as he turns worried eyes back to Cloud. "If you hear or see anything weird – anything at all – call me, ok?"

"…Ok."

Finally alone, Cloud throws himself on his bed – totally not like a damsel in distress – and sobs. He wants to believe Zack. Gaia, he wants to believe him so much, but Zack was just so perfect. Too perfect. He had learned the hard way that good things like this never happen to him. But why did it take him so long to figure it out this time?


"Uh… Tifa. Who's the scary-looking man waiting at the town gate?"

"Shit!" Tifa swears when she sees the red headband and brown tassel vest. Even from the bridge of Cid's airship, she knows exactly who that is. She had hoped her letter would be enough. Apparently not. "That's my dad."

Barret, the self-imposed leader of their ragtag group, raves as they descend the airship. "I thought you said he knew where you were going!" Not waiting for more than a shrug in return, he approaches her father first, trying to make friendly. Tifa just hopes that Barret's size will serve as enough intimidation for the man to hear him out. "Mr. Lockhart, I am so sorry. We thought you knew – "

Thwack!

If the sound of cartilage cracking isn't enough to tell Tifa that her father had broken Barret's nose, then the man groaning on the ground, holding his bleeding face definitely is. Her father hovers over the downed man, fist still raised, body shaking with rage. "What did you do to my daughter?!"

"Dad! Calm down!" Throwing herself in between the two, Tifa stretches her arms out to the side, hoping that that will be enough to appease her father.

It isn't.

Her father turns the full force of his ire to her, his face and neck splotched with red. "As for you, young lady. You are in sooo much trouble. Leaving for Gaia-knows-where in the middle of the night with two strange men, only a note saying you would be back in a couple of days to let me know that you had gone anywhere? You'll be lucky if you aren't grounded for the rest of your life!"

"But I told you my friend needed me!" She resists the urge to roll her eyes (or stomp her foot again) – that seriously would not help soothe her father now.

"Oh? And just who was this friend?"

Tifa takes a deep breath and tries to brace for the fallout. Even with how she has tried to sway her dad's opinion of Cloud, she knows he won't be happy – he still wasn't entirely convinced that the Mt. Nibel thing wasn't all Cloud's fault. "Cloud."

Eyes flashing, her father's face turns a worrying shade of purple. "Cloud? You traveled to a different continent to see that boy?"

"Yes, dad." While she isn't entirely successfully at keeping all the exasperation out of her tone, she luckily refrains from continuing with 'Keep with the program' like she wants to. Voice dropping to a near whisper, she makes sure nobody else can hear her before continuing, "Some cadets in his program tried to rape him. He needed me, dad."

A horrified look crosses over her father's face, the man struggling with his thoughts for a second. His show of empathy is somewhat encouraging – at least he doesn't hate Cloud that much. "While I'm sorry that happened to him… you did not need to go all that way to console him."

Tifa scoffs. Of course she did. "Everybody here treats Cloud like a freaking pariah since my fall." She ignores her father scolding her for her language, her eyes steel as she continues, "He doesn't exactly have many friends nor the confidence to make any after everything we all put him through. He. needed. me."

"He shouldn't have told you to climb Mt. Nibel!"

She finally does stomp her foot this time, her eyes flashing. Did he not even listen to a word she had said before? "I. told. you. It was all my idea. I thought if I climbed Mt. Nibel, I would be able to see mom again." Choking on her words at the thought of her dearly-missed mother, she scrubs the tears away with the back of her hand. "Cloud only followed to make sure I was ok. He tried to save me when I fell, but he fell too."

Her father looks unimpressed and she just knows that he still doesn't believe her. "All the other kids said that Cloud goaded you into it. Are you saying that they're all lying?"

"Of course they're lying! They didn't want to get into trouble and they never liked Cloud in the first place. They all thought me climbing Mt. Nibel was a great idea until we got to the base of the mountain, then they chickened out. Cloud wasn't even invited, but he was the only one brave enough to follow me. And this is the thanks he gets." She can't help the little scoff that passes her lips. Why would her dad believe kids like Butch over her?

"Right." Tifa feels her hackles rise at the amount of disbelief in that one word. "Why, pray tell, did you wait so long to tell me?"

"I tried telling you a few weeks ago, but you wouldn't listen to me. Before that, I didn't exactly remember what happened. I mean, I was in a coma for days after that fall."

"And now, all of a sudden, you remember with startling clarity everything that happened."

Tifa wishes she was an adult again. She would totally take killing Behemoths with her bare hands over this. Any day. "Yes. I do. Which is why I'm telling you now."

"Well, why didn't Cloud say anything?"

"Because he's always blamed himself for me getting hurt. Always thought that if he had been just a little bit faster, that it never would have happened. That he would have caught me, rather than fall with me. It's the entire reason he went to Midgar to become a SOLDIER in the first place." As she finally does roll her eyes, she can't help the feeling of liberation at the surprised look on her father's face – though whether from her (totally justified) attitude or the revelation she just sprung on him, she doesn't know.

As if knowing he had hit a wall, her father sighs and runs a hand down his face. "Why didn't you just ask me to take you to Midgar then? If it meant so much to you."

"Because you don't exactly like Cloud and Cid's airship is faster."

Her words finally remind her father of her companions, the man's anger back as he turns to Barret and Cid again. "How do you even know them?"

"They're my friends."

A vein on his forehead pops as his eye twitches, her answer apparently doing little to appease him. "Friends?" His voice is low, dangerous, like he's holding himself back from attacking again. Barret raises his hands in front of him warily, as if trying to calm the man. Either that, or to protect his newly-healed nose – probably fixed with the help of Cid, though blood still stains Barret's face. "Just who are you two? And what have you done to my daughter?"

"What? Dad, they haven't done anything!"

Her father raises an eyebrow, entirely unimpressed. "Oh? Don't think I haven't noticed how you've changed, young lady. One day you're still the same cheerful, carefree little girl, and then the next it's like you've seen war. Like you've been to hell and back. You hardly smile anymore and don't even get me started on these nightmares you keep having."

"I…"

Tifa's not really sure what she wants to say, but her dad has already turned back to her companions, arms crossed stiffly in front of him. "Now, I won't ask again. What have you done to my daughter? And you better answer quick before I have you locked away for the rest of your lives."

Cid has only managed to readjust the goggles on his head and offer a weak, "Now, Mr. Lockhart…" when Tifa cuts him off. "Dad. You're causing a scene." Holding up a hand to stop the stereotypical I'll show you a scene, she pleads with him, "Please, can we take this inside? I swear I'll tell you everything."


"So… you're saying you're from the future." From the way her dad stumbles to the coffee pot and pours himself a cup, Tifa can tell he's still processing.

"Yes."

Dropping unceremoniously into his seat, her father still looks stunned as he sips at his coffee listlessly. "And some… alien made Sephiroth – the Sephiroth – try to destroy the world and only Cloud could ever beat him? And you and your… friends here fought alongside him?"

She doesn't like the way he stressed 'friends', like it was some sort of joke, but she'll let it slide this time. "Yes."

Barret and Cid sit across from them, cautiously quiet as her father tries to absorb the information. "I have no idea what to make of this…" Her father groans and downs the rest of his coffee in one large gulp.

Tifa sighs – coffee isn't what he needs right now. "Dad, that won't help. Give me a sec." And she's out of her chair with a quick hop before she can think things through. Rummaging through the cabinets, she's not surprised that he doesn't have exactly what she needs, but she knows how to improvise. Vodka, tequila, orange, cranberry, and lime juice – that should do it. Dumping everything into a glass jar she found in another cabinet, she reattaches the lid and shakes her concoction, resisting the urge to throw it high in the air to show off. Straining it into a tumbler, she sets the ruby red liquid in front of her dad with a soft, "There, Cosmo Canyon."

It's not until she sits back down and sees the pinched looks on Barret's and Cid's faces and the entirely horrified one on her father's that she realizes a 14-year-old probably shouldn't know how to make a cocktail. Whoops.

The calm before the storm lasts for only a few seconds, and then her father stands abruptly, his chair knocked violently to the floor. "WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN TEACHING MY DAUGHER?!" he bellows at Barret and Cid, that unhealthy purple tinge back to his cheeks.

Tifa's out of her seat in a second, too, hands on her hips as she scowls at her father. "You don't believe me!"

"Time travel? The war hero Sephiroth burning Nibelheim to the ground? Of course I don't believe it!"

She can't hold back her growl – she hates that he would believe Butch and the other kids about Cloud over his own daughter. Hates that he would allow his suspicions to cloud his judgement – pun very much intended – so much so that he wouldn't give any of her friends a chance. Well, drastic times and drastic measures. "Fine. I'll prove it to you."


"Well?"

Barret flounders at the expectant look Tifa throws his way. "Well what?"

"Well, do you want to be useful and break the lock for us?" She asks, gesturing to the front gate of Shinra Manor.

Grumbling, Barret pulls his gun from its holster – she still can't quite get over the fact that it was no longer attached to his arm – and fires three quick shots into the lock, the fixture falling to the ground destroyed. They would need to find a new lock when they were done – they can't let anybody else wander in there. "You sure are bossy…"

As Tifa reaches for the door to the manor, her father finally manages to work past his alarm. "Tifa, there are monsters in there."

"Yeah, that doesn't really bother me," she replies nonchalantly, casually flinging the door open. Like the first time she had entered the manor all those years ago, she comes to a complete and utter stop when she enters the foyer. But not for the same reasons as that time. No, this time because the manor doesn't have the same overwhelming, ominous aura to it, though she's not sure if that's because she's older (mentally) or because the horrors she had witnessed haven't technically come to pass yet.

As she crosses the foyer and approaches the stairwell, a snarl is the only warning she has before a Wererat launches itself at her from the shadowy recesses of the room. Her father only has time to cry "Tifa!" before she has quickly, efficiently, and perhaps a little violently roundhouse-kicked the monster – "Don't mess with me!" – sending it flying across the foyer and crashing into the balustrade. She watches annoyed as it collapses to the floor, motionless – it really should have known better than to bother her right now – before turning to her unsurprisingly disturbed father. "See? Nothing to worry about."

Her words do little to ease his concerns, though, her father staring horrified at her as if she had just sprouted an extra head. Barret and Cid seem equally troubled by the display, Barret taking a cautious step forward before remarking, "You're scary as a child."

Tifa scoffs and raises an eyebrow at him – he really had no room to talk with how easily riled up he normally was. "You watched me scream in Sephiroth's face and this is what you can't handle?"

"T' be fair, kiddo, that's not the first time we've seen you hollerin' at Girlylocks."

Tifa can't help but chuckle at Cid's choice of nickname – she'd have to remember that one – as she steps coolly over the downed monster and continues up to the second floor, not even bothering to worry about the creaking stairs. If they held her adult weight years in the future (past?), they wouldn't have trouble with her 14-year-old self now.

Her father is thankfully still silent as she leads them effortlessly to the bedroom off the right – honestly, she could do it in her sleep, and frankly had whenever her nightmares reared their ugly heads, the ones where Tifa was always too slow to save Cloud from Hojo's experimentation. Pressing the 'hidden' button with perhaps a little more force than necessary, the 'secret' entrance grinds open, revealing the spiraling staircase down to the basement. Honestly, she is almost a little offended to call it a secret entrance with how easily apparent it is – unless Hojo specifically designed it that way… If that's the only reason Sephiroth ever found the labs, she swears she'll go back in time again just to kill Hojo herself.

If there are any monsters in the basement, they wisely keep their distance, her father's worried voice the only thing breaking the eerie silence as they make their way down the tunnel. "Tifa… We really shouldn't be here."

"Yeah, yeah. We won't be here long." Tifa tosses the door to Hojo's lab open, waving to the machinery inside. "Here you go – your proof." Her father makes a strangled noise in the back of his throat as she leads him to the large glass capsules against the wall. "These are the mako tanks that Cloud and Zack were left to rot in. Or would be, if Hojo was still alive this time around." She then turns him to the rather obvious torture apparatus in the middle of the room. "That's Hojo's examination table." Her wry look is met with an entirely horrified one when she turns to face her father. "I don't think I need to explain what that's for."

"Good Gaia…"

Not giving her father time to digest, she drags him around the cursed machinery and leads him to the library in the back. "This is where Sephiroth went insane… would go insane, before burning Nibelheim to the ground." Grabbing a book seemingly at random from the shelf to her left, she's pleased to find it's the exact one she was looking for – everything was still where she remembered it. "Here, dad. A bit of light reading."

He accepts the book with trembling hands, face ashen white as he begins to recite the words within. "…A lifeform in a state of s-suspended animation, excavated from a 2000-year-old stratum… named this lifeform J-Jenova?"

Nodding at her father's questioning look, she re-explains. "They misidentified Jenova as an Ancient. Rufus's father was obsessed with the idea of the Promised Land, thought that it contained unlimited mako and that only an Ancient could guide him there. So, he approved the experimentation." Her father starts to turn green around the gills as she continues her tale. "They injected some of Jenova's cellular material into unborn fetuses in an attempt to create a human-Ancient hybrid. Sephiroth was one of these unwilling experiments. But while he and the other children didn't show signs of being able to communicate with the planet like an Ancient, they were stronger, faster, healed quicker than their regular human counterparts."

"Y-you mean…"

Tifa nods again. "Yes. That was how the SOLDIER Project began. Now, they didn't tell these children how they were enhanced. And Hojo… That bastard Hojo never told Sephiroth about his real mother, not even her name. Just told him that Jenova was his mother. And he specifically left all of this for Sephiroth to find. He wanted to know what Sephiroth would do if he found out the 'truth' – called it his final experiment." Tifa shakes her head aggravated. "Except it wasn't the truth and Hojo knew it! Most of the things in this room are lies to make Sephiroth think he's a god, that Jenova's an Ancient, and that humans were responsible for the Ancients' demise."

"You said Jenova was – is – an alien."

"Yes. The Ancients referred to her as the Calamity from the Skies. She – it – crash-landed on the planet 2000 years ago with the intention of destroying all life on Gaia. The Ancients managed to seal it away, but not before their numbers were drastically reduced."

"And Sephiroth…"

"Came into contact with Jenova, found all of this, and went insane. Though I'm told the insane part was him being controlled by Jenova…" She still wasn't entirely satisfied with that excuse – he's the strongest man in the world and the one thing he can't handle is a parasite? Admittedly, a giant-ass, alien parasite, but a parasite nonetheless.

Her father sags against the bookshelf, the book in his hand falling to the floor forgotten. He looks like he wants to throw up as he concedes, "You… you were telling the truth…"

Her answering smile is a little grim as she replies, "I wish I wasn't."

Before she even realizes what's happening, she finds herself wrapped in her father's arms, the man's voice heartbroken as he whispers, "I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that."


A/N:

- I don't actually drink (I'm old enough to, I just choose not to), so hopefully the part where Tifa makes a cocktail made sense. I originally was going to have her make a regular cosmo, but I figured tequila would be something Mr. Lockhart would more likely have on hand than triple sec. I saw somebody on Youtube make their version of Cosmo Canyon with vodka, tequila, cranberry juice, lime juice, and the juice from a blood orange and it looked legit.

- Originally, I was going to have Rufus ask Cloud if he knew why he was there. Cloud wouldn't know, but something about Rufus's face would just piss him off, so he would subconsciously reply "Cause you're a manipulative bastard." Then the color would drain from his face when he realized what he just said/how silent the room had gotten. But Rufus would just have raised an eyebrow and been like "Well, it's good to know that you're still in there somewhere." Not that Cloud would have any idea what that was supposed to mean. - I was really tempted to add this in, but it didn't really flow with how the rest of the scene went, so I dropped it. I still wanted to share though.