Unburdened At Long Last(Cloud x Harem Stories)

Unburdened At Long Last

It's Christmas time. A time for family and friends and lovers to gather. A time for good cheer and carols. Although, one person was not feeling that much Christmas spirit.

In a bar called Seventh Heaven, in the newly rebuilt Sector 7 slums, sat a lone blonde man with eyes of blue and green.

This is Cloud Strife. A man with a long and tragic backstory. He was a boy from the village of Nibelheim, a former worker for the Shinra Electric Power Company, considered a SOLDIER due to how powerful he was, a mercenary and a hero of the world.

That's what everyone else would about him. However, his psyche was and still is considered to be shattered.

He had to endure a lot during his life He hadn't seen his father. He was isolated as a child and never had any friends. He had a crush on the girl next door named Tifa Lockhart, but, he viewed the other kids she hanged around with as immature and stupid.

However, he only looked at her from afar, never talking to her. When her mother died, she went up climbing to Mt. Nibel, looking for her mother. Cloud, in worry for his crush, followed after. When he got on the bridge, it snapped causing them to fall. Cloud made it mostly unscathed but Tifa. . . .she was stuck in a coma for a week. When her father found them, he got mad at Cloud for not taking care of her and for him to stay away from her.

From that day, Cloud was angry and viewed himself as weak and pathetic for not being able to take care of those he loved. That's when he developed philophobia.

He became afraid of falling in love. He was scared of what might happen if he failed to protect his loved ones. That when the idea of joining SOLDIER came in.

After her week long coma had passed, Cloud told Tifa to meet him on top of the water tower. She wanted to know why and he told her everything except for what her father had told him. She told him to make a promise to her.

That if she were ever in trouble, he would be there for her. So, he agreed. He left for the bustling city of Midgar to join Shinra's SOLDIER program. Despite his best efforts, he became a measly infantryman.

He met a First Class SOLDIER named Zack Fair, who was from the village of Gongaga and he looked up to him as much as the leader of SOLDIER, Sephiroth.

Time had passed and he went on a mission toward Nibelheim. They had to investigate something related to Shinra. Upon arriving there, he was shocked at who the tour guide was.

It was Tifa.

However, that very same day, would be when the chaos would ensue and become something larger. Sephiroth discovered many unexpected things and in doing so, did something that angered Cloud immensely.

He burned down the whole village, killing everyone. Including his mother. From then on, he went off to find Sephiroth and when he did, couldn't believe his eyes. Zack was down and Tifa was unconscious and Sephiroth was looking at a mysterious being in a container. He then took Tifa to safety and took Zack's Buster Sword and impaled Sephiroth with it. Sephiroth, enraged, took his Masamune and impaled Cloud and hoisted him into the air. Cloud, with what remaining strength he had put himself back on solid ground and threw Sephiroth into a wall, causing him to fall into the lifestream.

But his troubles were merely just beginning. From there, the Shinra scientist Hojo recovered and injected cells into Zack and Cloud. Eventually, both had escaped, but Cloud was suffering from mako poisoning. Zack tried to take him to Midgar only to be intercepted by a whole troop of Shinra soldiers. Zack did his best to hold them off, but he didn't make it. He died, saying some words that he hoped Cloud could hear him say.

Zack: C-Cloud, y-you are my living . . . . . legacy.

When Cloud arose, he found his village buddy dead. This was Cloud's final straw as his mind had officially broken. He let out a powerful yet agonized yell. The yell of a man who believes he had lost everything. After calming himself down, he took Zack's words to literal heart and he took the Buster Sword and his memories and walked to Midgar.