[Cloud frowns as he watches Sephiroth. Is reaction is largely silent, but it's there. Cloud hasn't spent the past two years and change watching his Hero to not notice the little shifts in his stance, or the way his eyes pull away when he's thinking about something.
But the question that's ultimately asked by the Silver Elite is a serious one, and Cloud leans against a nearby chair as he considers it. He's thankful when Levy opts to break the tension finally.]
No, it wasn't the Sage's vision. Sephiroth was...he wasn't around in that one. [All of the blood cast with the Masamune in that possible future was on his own hands.]
This was further back, when we wound up seeing the end of a previous cycle. We wound up riding shotgun in that cycle's Heroes. Most people I think were in other people they knew...Sephiroth and I were in our... [His lips twitch briefly.] Our future selves, at least as far as Gaia is concerned.
[He looks back to Sephiroth, his own gaze more steeled and serious than his Hero's in this moment.]
I have wondered that, yeah. For a while I thought it might be better if I caught up. That would make me a 'better' Hero, I'd be stronger and know more of what I should be doing. And maybe Tifa wouldn't have been so distant. [That she kept him at arms length because of his age and told him to forget their promise still stung.]
But the more I thought about it the less I believed it. I know there's a lot at work here with why we're in this world, but there has be be a reason I woke up here as I am. And you too.
[He took a long breath, chewing on the inside of his cheek.] What about you Sephiroth? What does "forward" mean to you? Don't tell me you WANT to be that version of yourself?
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But the question that's ultimately asked by the Silver Elite is a serious one, and Cloud leans against a nearby chair as he considers it. He's thankful when Levy opts to break the tension finally.]
No, it wasn't the Sage's vision. Sephiroth was...he wasn't around in that one. [All of the blood cast with the Masamune in that possible future was on his own hands.]
This was further back, when we wound up seeing the end of a previous cycle. We wound up riding shotgun in that cycle's Heroes. Most people I think were in other people they knew...Sephiroth and I were in our... [His lips twitch briefly.] Our future selves, at least as far as Gaia is concerned.
[He looks back to Sephiroth, his own gaze more steeled and serious than his Hero's in this moment.]
I have wondered that, yeah. For a while I thought it might be better if I caught up. That would make me a 'better' Hero, I'd be stronger and know more of what I should be doing. And maybe Tifa wouldn't have been so distant. [That she kept him at arms length because of his age and told him to forget their promise still stung.]
But the more I thought about it the less I believed it. I know there's a lot at work here with why we're in this world, but there has be be a reason I woke up here as I am. And you too.
[He took a long breath, chewing on the inside of his cheek.] What about you Sephiroth? What does "forward" mean to you? Don't tell me you WANT to be that version of yourself?