[Cloud's frown deepens. He knows things weren't perfect in SOLDIER, not with what he's learned since arriving here, and the rumors that flew around back home ran pretty thick. He was eager, but he wasn't stupid. And Zack's own warning to avoid SOLDIER hadn't come to him yet, but even then there was a line between SOLDIER the people and SOLDIER the ShinRa organization.]
I believe in people. I believe that the people of this world deserve to live, no matter what the Avatars and the Calamity and all the different Cultists do. They may be flashy, but they're just a handful of people. I believe in the Heroes too, all of us, even those that don't seem interested in saving this world. I know we keep being warned about betrayal, but there's always more to it than we get told. I can't just simply accept that we'd turn on each other on the level the Sage was showing us.
[He sighs and shakes his head, looking away from Sephiroth now, avoiding his gaze.]
And I still believe in you. I know you're worried about the Other You. The one that decided it would be better to work against the Heroes for his own goals. And he's probably at least partially to blame for that group of Heroes failing...
[He pauses, staring at a smudge on a wall while he lets that thought sit for a moment.]
But you're not him. Not yet. You have the choice. Even if you became him, you wouldn't be the same as him because you'd still have all your memories up to this point. You could still maybe make a choice.
[He finally looks back at Sephiroth, furrowing his brow and worry showing in his eyes.]
If the same happens to me, there's a chance I WON'T remember any of this. And that's another reason why I believe in everyone. Because I need them to believe in me if that happens.
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I believe in people. I believe that the people of this world deserve to live, no matter what the Avatars and the Calamity and all the different Cultists do. They may be flashy, but they're just a handful of people. I believe in the Heroes too, all of us, even those that don't seem interested in saving this world. I know we keep being warned about betrayal, but there's always more to it than we get told. I can't just simply accept that we'd turn on each other on the level the Sage was showing us.
[He sighs and shakes his head, looking away from Sephiroth now, avoiding his gaze.]
And I still believe in you. I know you're worried about the Other You. The one that decided it would be better to work against the Heroes for his own goals. And he's probably at least partially to blame for that group of Heroes failing...
[He pauses, staring at a smudge on a wall while he lets that thought sit for a moment.]
But you're not him. Not yet. You have the choice. Even if you became him, you wouldn't be the same as him because you'd still have all your memories up to this point. You could still maybe make a choice.
[He finally looks back at Sephiroth, furrowing his brow and worry showing in his eyes.]
If the same happens to me, there's a chance I WON'T remember any of this. And that's another reason why I believe in everyone. Because I need them to believe in me if that happens.