Final Fantasy VII 1. Prologue

R e m i x

_By Chaxra-san_

--

Summary: Two months after Advent Children, all is peaceful until Cloud finds Kadaj alive in Aeris's church. Can he keep the remnant's survival a secret?

A/N: Omg I'm terrible... Another new story... And I've still got four other stories running too!! Ah well. This came into existence after I was listening to the song 'Innocence' by Avril Lavigne, and after I heard the lines 'I'm waking up to see that everything is okay The first time in my life and that's so great'. Then I thought, what if Kadaj was ressurrected (Sp? Seriously, I hate spelling that word) and ended up living with Cloud... Thus is this. I am aware that are lots of other stories along the lines of this plot... Please don't be discouraged by this. Fans of Lithium will be pleased to know I am updating today. Also, cheers for the fact that this is my first multi-chapter story with no OCs!! WOOT!! Please, if you like my writing style, please please please look at my other fanfictions! -Chibi eyes-

Disclaimer: For once I can finally say that there is NO-ONE and NOTHING that I own except for the story.

On a final note, Denkigaku-chan, would you please hurry up and join FanFiction already?!

-Prologue-

Cloud was sitting in Tifa's bar, staring down into his drink. Vincent sat next to him, doing exactly the same thing; only he was staring at Reno with raised eyebrows.

The redhead Turk was completely drunk, and was practically falling off his chair.

"Hey, Laney... Why don' we get outta here?" he slurred, leaning on Elena's shoulder.

Elena promptly shoved him onto the floor.

Reno's hand stuck up in the air from behind the table and waved at Tseng, who was quietly talking to someone on his cell phone.

"How 'bout you, Tseng-Tseng?" asked Reno.

Tseng glared at him.

Tifa walked out from behind the counter, holding a bucket full of cold water. She handed it to Elena, who tipped its contents over the drunk Turk.

"FWAH!"

Reno sat up, swept his soaked hair out of his eyes and shook his head, sending droplets of water spraying across the floor.

"What the hell was that for, yo?!" he demanded.

His eyes came to rest on Elena, who had one hand on her hip and the other holding the now empty bucket.

"Well, at least you're slightly sober..." she sighed and gave the bucket back to Tifa.

Reno muttered obscenities under his breath as he stormed off to the bathroom in search of a towel.

The bar doors swung open and Yuffie bounced into the room, followed by Cid.

They went up to Tifa and said, "We need alcohol!"

While Tifa served them, Vincent turned to Cloud.

"Cloud... Are you alright? You've been distant," he said.

Cloud looked up at him, and answered, "I don't know... It just feels like something important's gonna happen today."

"Gawd, Cloud, what've you got to worry about? Sephiroth's dead, so are those creepy remnants (shudder) and there's no crazy guys trying to take over the world!" said Yuffie, lightly tugging on one of the spiky parts of Cloud's hair.

The swordsman sighed and shook his head.

Reno came back, holding a towel and still looking damp.

Upon seeing Yuffie, he said, "Should you be in here, _kid_?"

The ninja bristled at the emphasis he put on the word 'kid' and shot back, "Yeah, _old man, _I can drink legally now. So there."

Reno stuck his tongue out at her and walked back to where the other Turks were sitting.

"Laney, do you know just how hard it is to make my hair look good? You've ruined it!" he whined.

Tseng looked as if he was about to bash his head into the table.

He raised his voice slightly, still talking on the phone.

"What was that, sir? Pay decrease for Reno? Sure."

Reno gave him a horrified expression and grabbed the phone off him.

He then retreated to the corner, where he engaged in a whispered desperate sounding conversation with the president of the Shinra Company.

Elena reached forward and shook Tseng's hand, both with smirks on their faces.

Cloud drank the remainders of his glass and stood up.

"Cloud, where are you going?" asked Tifa.

"The church," he answered, avoiding her gaze.

"But you promised that you'd stay here today and spend some time with the kids!" protested Tifa.

Cloud shook his head and muttered, "I have to go there."

"No, you don't! Why can't you just let go and move on?!" she said, slamming her hand on the counter. "She's dead, Cloud! She's not coming back, so get on with your life!"

Cloud abruptly turned and walked out the door. Tifa sighed angrily and started drying glasses with such ferocity that Vincent was sure they'd break.

"Ooh, drama," said Reno, after handing the phone back to Tseng with a disgruntled expression on his face.

Elena hit him over the back of the head.

--

Cloud parked his bike outside the church. He stared up at it for a moment, before entering it.

The dust stirred up around him as he walked down the aisle.

He stopped suddenly as he saw something lying in the flowers. Something black... and silver...

His eyes widened as he realized that it wasn't a thing, it was a person. A person that Cloud recognized and knew to have died two months earlier. Kadaj.

Slowly he walked up to him.

The silver-haired teenager was either asleep or unconscious, Cloud noted as he drew closer. The floor creaked underneath him, and he froze. The remnant stirred slightly but didn't wake up. Cloud relaxed again and knelt next to him. He sat watching him for a few minutes, unable to bring himself to wake up the teen.

He was uninjured, and was wearing the same leather outfit that he had last time they met.

_'Should I kill him now? I don't even know how he got here...' _Cloud thought. _'Probably kill him, it'll be better in the long run. Then the others will never need to know...'_

He quietly pulled out one of his swords and held it over Kadaj.

He hesitated, remembering the events after their last battle, on the tower.

Kadaj had looked so... pleadingly at him, like he didn't want to die.

Cloud cursed himself inwardly. _'I can't think this way! I need to get rid of him! But... what if the other two are alive as well? Then they might try to do another reunion or something...'_

Unfortunately for Cloud, Kadaj woke up to see his enemy kneeling over him holding a sword.

Kadaj frantically crawled backwards, and Cloud, startled by this, stood up. The remnant's panicked stare flicked to the swordsman, then behind him, where the open door was.

He made a run for it. As the flash of silver sprinted past him, Cloud turned and followed him. He managed to trip over Kadaj onto his back and pinned him to the floor, where the younger man struggled.

He tried to kick Cloud but missed completely.

"Just stop moving already!" said Cloud exasperatedly.

Kadaj ignored him.

"Stop moving or I'll hit you," he warned.

Kadaj continued to thrash around, much to Cloud's irritation. He slapped the remnant across the face with his free hand.

He stared up at the blonde with a shocked expression.

_'I told him I would, so why's he so surprised? Anyway, shouldn't he expect that from an enemy?'_ thought Cloud, confused.

Then he noticed that the teen wasn't looking at him, but at the space to his left.

A warm hand touched his shoulder and he jumped.

A girl's voice giggled and whispered in his ear, "I didn't know you could be so twitchy, Cloud."

"A-Aeris?!" said Cloud, wishing Kadaj wasn't there so he could confirm the flower girl's presence.

"Yup! Oh, and you can let go of Kadaj now, the doors are shut," replied Aeris.

"But..."

Cloud looked up and saw that the doors were definitely closed. Hesitantly he sat back and allowed Kadaj to sit up.

The remnant scuttled around the other two and retreated to one of the fallen pillars.

Cloud turned around to face Aeris.

"You're here," he stated quietly.

Aeris smiled at him then said, "I suppose you're wondering why Kadaj is alive?"

He nodded.

"Kadaj, come here please," called Aeris, but he shrank back behind the pillar.

"I'll get him," said Cloud and advanced on Kadaj; now searching for escape again.

Cloud scooped up the struggling teen and carried him back to Aeris, who looked amused.

They sat down on a bench, with Kadaj in the middle.

"You put up quite a fight earlier," commented Aeris.

Kadaj scowled at Cloud and folded his arms.

He sat glaring at the floor, until he asked, "...Why am I here?"

"You've been given another chance. To make things right, in a sense. Although there's not much you can do to change what you've done, is there?" Aeris replied.

"So what, I have to look after him or something?" interrupted Cloud.

"Yes," said Aeris cheerfully. "Cloud, it's not like the world's ended," she added, after seeing his horrified expression.

"Where are my brothers? They were alive when I died, so where are they?" asked Kadaj.

A pained look crossed the flower girl's face, and she replied gently, "Kadaj, they're dead. The building exploded just after you died, and it killed them too."

Kadaj stared blankly at her.

"I'm sorry, Kadaj," she finished sadly.

The remnant got up and ran to the end of the room and sat in the corner, not looking at either of them.

Cloud half rose to bring him back, but Aeris stopped him.

"Let him be alone for a while."

Cloud watched Kadaj, wondering what he was feeling, if he could even feel at all.

"The others hate him though, what will I do?" asked Cloud.

When he thought about it, the only ones that wouldn't immediately kill Kadaj if they saw him would be Vincent and himself.

"They don't have to know right now. Why don't you just not tell them?" she suggested.

"Tifa's gonna hate me when she finds out about this..." groaned Cloud.

"Look after him, okay?" said Aeris and stood up.

Cloud blinked, and then the girl was gone.

--

Read & Review nicely, if that's okay.

To be honest, I hate saying this, but if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all, please.

And also, to the person who calls himself/herself/itself 'still stupid' or whatever the hell you choose involving the word 'stupid'; you really must be stupid to call yourself stupid, then flame people and say their story is stupid when you appear to be more stupid than the story. I find that ridiculously idiotic. And I'm begging you, for your name USE CAPITAL LETTERS AT THE START OF EACH WORD!! They were not invented for people to blatantly abuse them!! Also, I would like to enquire as to what exactly you think your latest victim has done to violate the TOS? Because I see nothing in those stories that is wrong with the way we're supposed to write. And I am the kind of person who looks through things carefully, and notices mistakes. I believe you are an idiot. Apparently you do too. Enjoy your pathetic amusement, flamer.

Please review the fantastic authors of Slightly Sinister Sinestra, who was flamed by the above cretin, yet has incredibly good stories. One of theirs that you may have seen around is Mental Highschool.

You can pretty much gather the idea of the story from the title, lol. And as you can see, I love having a go at a flamer who has a fair amount of untruthful thoughts about people stories. 'Cept for FanFiction Eater. You're cool. ;)

My apologies for any typos in A/Ns. My keyboard sucks. Apologies also for my ranting. There is usually a lot of ranting in the first chapter, then it eases off.


	2. Beware Springloaded mattresses

R e m i x

_By Chaxra-san_

--

_Go ahead as you waste your days with thinking  
When you fall everyone stands  
Another day and you've had your fill of sinking_

_With the life held in your  
Hands are shaking cold  
These hands are meant to hold._ - "Move Along", All American Rejects

--

A/N: Fear my extreme lack of ranting this time. While I was writing this chapter, you wouldn't believe how hard it was for me not to laugh out loud.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot. If only... -Thinking of the possibilities-

This chapter: Kadaj and Cloud fight, Kadaj discovers the evils in Aeris's church, and Cloud sneaks into the Seventh Heaven.

Chapter One - Beware spring-loaded mattresses

After checking that all the doors and windows were either locked or impossible to get through, Cloud left Kadaj to do whatever he had been doing and started cleaning out the back rooms, where his bedroom and the bathroom was. It was very messy; he had forgotten how long it been since he'd been there.

He remembered how he'd dragged a whole heap of furniture into the church and started living there after Aeris died.

The place was so peaceful, and no one ever went there, so he was alright.

Tifa had been worried about him though, but then again, she always was.

_'Aw damn,' _he thought suddenly. _'I'm gonna have to get somewhere for Kadaj to sleep...'_

He walked out to where he'd left Kadaj.

The remnant glared up at him as he approached.

Cloud noticed that his eyes were red. _'Was he... crying?'_

"It's your fault."

Kadaj's words interrupted Cloud's thoughts.

"What?" he asked.

"It's YOUR fault they're dead!" said Kadaj, and lunged at Cloud.

He hit him in the stomach, and the blonde retaliated by pushing him into the wall.

He stood up and tried to attack again, but Cloud grabbed his wrists and held him there.

Instead, Kadaj kicked him in the shin.

"STOP IT!" yelled Cloud. "IT'S NOT MY DAMN FAULT!"

"Shut u--"

Cloud cut him off. "YOU shut up, and sit down!"

He let go of Kadaj, who stayed standing.

"I said, sit down!" said Cloud furiously and shoved him over so hard that he slid across the floor.

The teen sat up, but didn't try to get up again. Instead he glared at the swordsman, rubbing his wrists.

Cloud sighed, massaged his temples and breathed out slowly, trying to calm himself down.

"Okay..." said Cloud and walked over to Kadaj. He sat in front of him. "This is what happened. You died, with the rain falling, just like it did when I chased you here, and..."

--

_Cloud stood on top of the building, with the healing rain falling heavily around him._

_His eyes were shut. 'It's finally over...' he thought in relief._

_The peacefulness of the scene was quickly interrupted, as a bullet slammed through Cloud's back and passed straight through. He gasped and fell on one knee. _

_Behind him, two remnants stood, both panting._

_The one with longer hair, Yazoo, looked like he was about to collapse, and was holding a still smoking gunblade in one hand._

_"We'll go together..." he managed, before dropping the gunblade._

_It made a clunking sound as it hit the ground on it's barrel before landing sideways._

_"Together we'll play..." said Loz with difficulty._

_Cloud stood up slowly and turned, picked up his sword and ran at the remnants._

_Loz and Yazoo raised their arms, in which you could see glowing materia._

_Then there was a flash of blinding white light, and an explosion._

_On Cid's airship, everyone jumped as they heard the explosion._

_"What the hell just happened?!" shouted Cid._

_"CLOUD!" yelled out Tifa and Yuffie._

--

"...When I woke up, I was just over there," he pointed at the flowers behind him. "in the pool of water that came from the rain. It dried up a few weeks ago, though," he finished.

Kadaj's head was down.

"They were stupid... to have died like that..." he muttered in a strained voice.

Cloud watched him, alarmed as tears fell from the remnant's eyes.

Slowly he crawled forward and hugged Kadaj half-heartedly.

He was even more shocked when Kadaj returned the gesture, leaning his head on Cloud's shoulder.

"I wish _you_ were dead," choked Kadaj.

"The feeling is mutual," answered Cloud dryly.

--

"I should go out, get some food," stated Cloud and stood up.

Kadaj, who was lying a few metres away in the flowers, replied, "Am I coming too?"

Cloud snorted.

"Do you really think I'm that stupid? You'd just run away," he said.

"True," agreed the remnant nonchalantly.

"Oh, I got a room for you."

Kadaj was trying not to look interested, Cloud noticed.

"Here, I'll take you to it," offered Cloud.

Kadaj followed Cloud into the back rooms, where Cloud pointed at a door at the end of the hall.

The pair looked into the room.

"Not very clean, is it?" said Kadaj.

"It's better than the one next to it... (shudder)"

_'Now go in...' _thought Cloud, waiting to make his move.

Kadaj stepped into the room.

Cloud quickly pushed him further into the room, slammed the door in the surprised remnant's face, and locked the door.

"HEY!" yelled Kadaj's muffled voice. "What the hell did you do that for?!"

Cloud smirked, and replied, "I don't trust you to not try and get out of the church. You can wait in there until I get back."

"This isn't fair!" the teen protested.

"Aeris told me to take care of you. She never said I couldn't stop you from running away."

"...Isn't this child-abuse?"

"Does it count for teenagers?"

"I dunno. Teenagers aren't really children, are they?"

"No, they're young-adults."

"Oh."

"I'll be leaving now. See you in a few hours, Kadaj!" yelled Cloud over his shoulder as he left, twirling the key ring around his finger.

"HEY! GET BACK HERE!"

"NOT GONNA HAPPEN!" shouted Cloud in a singsong voice.

Kadaj growled. Seeing as Cloud was apparently quite gone, he started yelling random insults at the blonde, knowing that no one could hear him.

He kicked the door hard. And again. And again.

"Why (thud) the (thud) hell (thud) are (thud) you (thud) such (thud) a (thud) bastard?!"

He turned and glared at a chair in the corner.

There was a book on the table next to the bed. He picked it up and threw it at the chair, which collapsed as soon the book hit it.

"Either that's a really heavy book, or the furniture in here is VERY old..."

He picked up the book. It was pretty heavy, for a book. But generally not hard enough to break a chair.

Kadaj turned to where the bed was.

"Now _that _looks dangerous," he said, eying the rickety frame.

Cautiously he leaned forward and poked the mattress.

"HOLY SHIVA!!" he yelled as two rusted springs shot out from the mattress and past his head, embedding themselves in the wall behind him.

"This place is pretty damn evil for a church..." said Kadaj nervously. (Poor Kadaj. This place really doesn't like him very much.)

--

Cloud got on his bike, and put his hand in his pocket.

"Aw damn... My wallet's in my room at the bar..." he muttered. _'Operation Retrieve Forgotten Wallet Without Getting Caught By Bartender has begun...'_

He sighed and started the bike up.

--

When Cloud arrived outside the Seventh Heaven, he noticed that the bar was now shut. Good, because that might mean that Tifa was out. Bad, because now she shouldn't be busy with customers, so it would be harder for him not to be seen.

Or he could just go straight through and get it.

He opted for the last choice after several minutes of thinking of the possibilities. After all, he was no Turk. Cloud wasn't exactly great at sneaking around, plus the chocobo-hair was a dead giveaway.

--

Kadaj leaned against the wall.

"At least there probably isn't anything left to nearly impale me with," he said mournfully.

"Might as well sleep until he gets back..."

He yawned and fell asleep not long after.

--

He was so close... _'Just reach out and turn the handle, Cloud...'_ he told himself, stretching an arm. _'Nearly there...'_

"CLOUD STRIFE, WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?!"

"Shit."

"SHIT'S RIGHT! IT'S WHAT YOU'RE IN NOW!"

Cloud sighed as an enraged Tifa dragged him downstairs.

"I was so close..." he said sadly.

"What was that, Strife?!"

"Nothing."

"Hmph!"

Tifa pulled him into the lounge. She let go of his arm and pointed at a chair.

"Sit! Now!" she ordered.

Vincent passed by the open door, and paused to throw a sympathetic glance at the blonde.

"Tifa... can't we do this later? I've got stuff to-"

"SHUT UP, STRIFE!" snarled Tifa, before turning to Vincent and giving him a sweet-as-sugar smile. "Vincent, could you please shut the door for me?"

Vincent silently closed the door and quickly walked down the hall. _'Good luck, Cloud...'_ he thought.

Tifa spun around to face Cloud, and glared at him.

"Do you know how upset those kids were when I told them you couldn't take them out?" she asked.

"Tifa, I-"

"No, you don't know, because you weren't there. I thought that after all that business with those remnants that you'd stop this... But I was wrong."

Unknown to Tifa, Cloud had already zoned out.

_'That room was in pretty bad shape... And there's only one window... And it's locked shut... There's so much dust in there, wouldn't people suffocate in there? Shit, what if he dies?! Then Aeris'll come and kill me too! And I'd still be stuck with Kadaj!'_ he thought despairingly.

"Cloud, would you at least pretending that you're listening to me?!" asked Tifa crossly.

"Look, I'm really sorry, okay? It's just that..." he started. _'What, 'I have that crazy remnant that turned into Sephiroth, kidnapped Denzel and Marlene, summoned Bahumut and is also the one that you hate the most, living in Aeris's church with me'?'_

"Dammit, I can't tell her that!"

Tifa put her hands on her hips. "Can't tell me what?"

Cloud slapped his hands over his mouth. Tifa raised her eyebrows.

"Um... nothing," he said in a muffled voice.

"That's it. If you're so desperate to live in that dump, then go ahead. I don't care," said Tifa and walked towards the door.

"Tifa, wait," said Cloud, got up and grabbed her arm.

Tifa spun around so fast that her mouth collided with Cloud's.

Both jumped backwards abruptly.

There was a long uncomfortable silence, with neither of them looking at each other, both blushing.

"You're forgiven," muttered Tifa, so quietly that Cloud nearly didn't hear it, and left the room.

Cloud stared after her in wonder, and touched his lips lightly.

"Whoa..." he whispered. _'Gah, I forgot about Kadaj!!' _

He ran upstairs into his room, found his wallet after ten minutes of frenzied searching, then sprinted downstairs again.

_'To the church!'_

--

Cloud quickly unlocked the door, and after seeing Kadaj sitting against the wall, his mind automatically went, _'He's dead.'_

"Shit, I killed him!" yelled Cloud.

Kadaj jerked upright and gazed blearily at the swordsman.

"What the hell are you doing making so much noise when I'm trying to sleep?! This room sucks, by the way. There is evidence of it up there," he said grumpily, gesturing at the springs that were still sticking out of the wall.

"You're not dead!!" said Cloud, half relieved and half annoyed that he had come all the way back for nothing.

"Of course I'm not dead, you ass!"

Cloud stared at the springs.

"How'd that happen?" he asked.

"I'd give you an example, but I need a sword, 'cos I doubt there's anything long and hard around here," Kadaj replied indifferently.

"What? I'm not letting you have a sword!" protested Cloud.

The remnant rolled his eyes.

"Even if I tried to run away or attack you, what would be the point? I have nowhere else to go anyway. And I only want to borrow a sword, idiot."

"Stop insulting me!"

"You were the one who locked me in this room. I could've suffocated. I think that's good enough reason for me to insult you," Kadaj pointed out.

Cloud sighed in defeat and pulled out one of his swords. He handed it to Kadaj, who stood up and stepped back.

"I advise you move behind the door," suggested the teen.

He then reached out with the sword and poked the mattress with it.

Cloud jumped as several more orange springs exploded out of the grey fabric and greeted the wall in the same fashion as the springs before it.

"...Crap."

"I said this room sucks."

Cloud looked down at Kadaj, and said, "Actually, this was a temporary room so you wouldn't destroy the good one. And give me my sword back."

Kadaj passed back the blade, and complained, "How can you hold that thing? It's ridiculously heavy."

"With ease."

Cloud pulled him out of the room and outside the church.

"Now we are going shopping," he announced.

"I thought you didn't trust me?" asked Kadaj suspiciously.

"You already proved that you're at least a little more trustworthy than you were before by not doing anything incredibly stupid when I was gone. Oh, and wasn't that chair standing when I left you?"

The remnant looked embarrassed.

"Yeah... it was..." he said uncertainly.

"So why was it in pieces?" questioned the blonde.

"I threw a book at it... and it broke," he explained.

"...Okay, so you did do one incredibly stupid thing while I was gone. Get on the bike."

Kadaj got on the bike and blushed as Cloud sat behind him.

It wasn't the first time that Kadaj had ridden with someone else; he'd been on with his brothers, mostly Yazoo, but it felt odd riding with Cloud.

"I pray that nobody I know sees us..." muttered Cloud under his breath.

--

Next chapter: Cloud and Kadaj go shopping, but encounter Yuffie, Marlene and Denzel while there, Kadaj gets new clothes and they attempt to clean the church.

Hmm, now for my author-showcase! (Yes, I will do this each chapter. Cross your fingers and hope you'll be picked lol)

KadajxCloudLover! She is a good friend, and a great author. Check out her stuff!

Her most recent story is More Than A Memory, which is a CloudxZack one-shot, from the end of Crisis Core, so if you haven't already seen or heard about the ending, don't look unless you want to know!!

Oh, and go look at the stories of Kigakari! Don't make the new people feel unloved!! Yes, I am the only reviewer thus far. It makes me feel bad that other good authors aren't being seen!! My first stories kinda sucked, and they still got reviews, so why don't the people who start off with good stories get any reviews?! This rant has officially ended. Have a nice day/evening.

R&R nicely please!


End file.

Final Fantasy VII, Angst, Humor