Memories

Written by Lutearina

-Prologue-

Cloud Strife was never one who had emotional break-downs. On the contrary, he was quite protective of his thoughts and feelings. His judgement on many things remains elusive to the majority of his companions, like a silver fish in the ocean, always seeming to be there, but when you reach for it, it disappears in a flash of sea foam in your face, and all you're left with is the slight taste of salt water, and a glimmer of what you almost caught.

Well, all but her.

"Her" was a touchy subject with him. If she had been mentioned in a room, Cloud would look up, startled, and an aura of dread and foreboding would settle about the room. The speaker almost always regretted mentioning her, and soon enough after the events, people stopped talking about her in his presence altogether. A slip of the tongue might have just sent Cloud off one day. He wasn't the most stable of protagonists, and, if anything, his cold demeanor would sometimes falter, and his true insecurities would take hold. This happened very few times, but most often when it was her that was in speech or thought. And since Cloud worked so hard to protect those emotions, it was hardly a wonder why he didn't talk about...