Lean On Me (FF7)

64

~Cloud's POV~

The clash of our swords rings through my ears for the one millionth time in the past... Hour maybe? It still doesn't cover up Tifa's scream for Vincent and a twig of pain shoots through my chest at the thought of losing a friend. I was thinking maybe it would be Cait or Cid that wouldn't make it but Vince? He was at the bottom of my list. Sephiroth takes advantage of my moment of thought to kick me over, the tip of his Masemune pressed to my throat.

"Wow Cloud. I thought Zack taught you better than to let your guard down in the middle of battle," he taunts.

I roll out from underneath his blade and jump to my feet. Blood pours from the gash in my forehead that he made earlier and he still looks a little daunted from the wound I inflicted on his right leg a few minutes ago. Swear stings my cuts, dripping of my head just like my blood as I swing for him, my body spinning once with the blow. It hits him straight in the arm, thankfully not cutting it off. I think I would've vomited. He sucks in a sharp breath and stumbles back a little. But just as soon as he backs off, he's back in my face again.

"I'm getting tired of this, Cloud," he grits, shoving me backwards. I nearly fall but regain my balance fairly easily.

"Then just give up already," I frown, rolling out of the way of a slash.

"No can do. You see, I've been waiting to kill you since the da st the reactor. Somehow you managed to... Knock me over the edge when you were still a simple recruit."

"It's because you're..." He stabs through my shoulder and I cry out in pain, jerking back. "Weak."

"I'll allow you to believe that for now," he shrugs. "But I know you'll see the truth when you die."

"I don't plan on that happen in anytime soon," I retort, moving out of the way again. But that was just what he wanted. My sword flies from my hands over the edge of the cliff. Dumbfounded, I freeze, completely unarmed. He snapped my armlet earlier and the materia is long gone by now.

"That's not enough to..." I start.

"But this is," he smirks, his katana going through me for the fourth time in my life. I let out a hiss of pain as he effortlessly lifts my impaled body into the air, gripping the sword tightly in front of me as if it will stop the hurt. There's no getting out of this one, Cloud. This is the end. But Zack said I'd survive... The future can change. Then, out of the darkness, familiar voices fill my head.

"Don't give up, Cloud!"

"I still believe in a Cloud that knows he can forgive himself."

"Dilly dally shilly shally!"

"There ain't no gettin offa this train we're on til the end of the line!"

My head jerks up and I can see Yuffie in the window of the Highwind, on her knees and hugging Denzel to her as she cries. Denzel has one hand pressed up against the window as if he's helplessly reaching for me. To the side I see Tifa kneeling over Vincent's body and sobbing into her hands, Barret trying to get her to move. Cid is trying to help Cait wake Red up. Good. At least they won't witness my death. But of course, my luck once again works against me and a cloud moves just far enough that the sun create my shadow across the whole field we fight on. Cid is the first to look up at me, his blue eyes wide and mouth hanging open. I struggle to breathe as a suffocating feeling takes over and I lean back against the blade, my head flopping back lazily. I can already feel it fading... Just let go, Cloud. My hands slide off the blade and hang at my sides.