Final Fantasy VII: A Life Worn Through Time

Chapter 1: Beginnings

  Faith woke up in the middle of the night.  She sat up in her bed laid out across the floor.  Marlene and Denzel, the two kids she shared the room with, were still asleep.
  Pain shot up all over her body.  Her hands, arms, forehead and on her wings.  Of course her wings were folded to her body -unlike her "brother", she liked to show her wings and trot around like a Chocobo- but the black ichors still leaked from her infected areas.
  She grabbed the gauze lying on the floor near her head and lifted her long silver bangs from her forehead, and wiped the jet-black contents from her body.  She spread her wings, trying not to wake her stepbrother and stepsister or knock anything over.
  No matter how many times I clean it, she thought to herself, it keeps coming back.
She wrapped the gauze around her head and walked out of the room.  She walked down the hall into her stepmother and stepfather's room.  Tifa wasn't in the room, but Cloud was sound asleep in his bed after a long day's work.  Faith crawled onto the bed and laid beside him, trying not to wake him.  Cloud remained asleep as he breathed softly in his sleep.
  Faith closed her eyes and held her doll close.  She made a doll out of her late father out of fabric and other items.  While she made it, she almost forgot the deep blue eyes that resembled the sky.  She found a few sapphires while on her journeys and used them for the eyes. "There," Faith said once she finished, "Now it'll be as if you never left."
  Even so, this was not true.  Faith still felt lonely and lost, even when the doll was in her arms. And she knew it would always be that way.
  Tifa walked in with a glass of water and set it on her nightstand.  She noticed Faith in Cloud's bed and walked up to her.  She started to stroke her fingers through Faith long silver hair.  Faith opened her eyes and looked at Tifa with a look that said 'please don't leave me'.
  "Another Nightmare?" she said as if she knew how she felt. Cloud wearily opened his eyes at this.  He tossed himself on his opposite side to face them.
Faith didn't respond, she knew Cloud and Tifa already knew the answer.
  Almost every night for the past 4 years, it was always the same.  Tifa and Cloud didn't have to ask what it was about.
  They both noticed the white cloth on her forehead and realized what else was bothering her.  Faith's eyes were full of pain and told them that her fever had gone up again and the pain was coming in longer shots.
  "Do you want a bowl of ice-cream," Tifa asked, "It'll help the fever go down."
  "Sure..." Faith said in a weary voice. They exchanged glances. They knew she didn't feel good.
  Tifa stood up to exit the bedroom saying, "I'll get your favorite; Chocolate." Then she left the room.
  Chocolate was Faith's favorite because she'd dump the melted part on her head instead of drink it. Then her hair would be brown and she'd say she went to the salon and they did a terrible job.

  Cloud sat up in the bed.  Faith's eyes glowed a bright blue gleam and Cloud's robe on the foot of the bed floated into his hand.  Faith pulled the pillow over her head as he stood up and put it on.
  "It's okay," he said as he tied the lace around his waste, "you can look now." Faith put down the pillow and looked at her doll.
  Cloud walked over to her side of the bed and sat down next to her. He looked at the doll, and then at her. He could tell by looking at her that she was thinking about her real father. "When did you make that?" he asked as if to change the subject.
  "I made it on the night we went to Mt. Nible and checked on the Reactor," she said as she rubbed the doll miniature hands between her thumb and index fingers, "You and Papa were talking while I made it.  When you two fell asleep, I made one of you, Sephiroth and Mama..." She lifted her head from the doll and into Cloud's eyes.
  "And you made them all in one night?"
  "Mm-hm.  I worked on them all night.  That's why I was so tired when we went to check on Big Brother in the mansion."
  Cloud realized they were very important to her if she made them all in one night and still had them nine years later. "Can I see them?"
  Faith thought about it for a minute and nodded. She walked back into the bedroom and walked up to the dresser in front of the window. She kneeled down and pulled them out of the bottom drawer. She then walked back in to show Cloud. Tifa was back now sitting next to Cloud holding the ice cream and a thermometer. Cloud had the Zack doll in his hand looking it over.  Faith knew that it brought back memories for him as well.
  She sat in between them and handed the rest to him. Faith took the frozen treat and thermometer from Tifa and took her temperature. After a few seconds it. 102.3. Not good. Well, until the ice cream cooled her down.
  She took a few bites and looked over at Cloud. He was examining the dolls one-by-one. He was looking at the one of himself as a Shinra MP. Faith had gotten the detail very precise. She had used a small piece of red string for his smile.
Then he looked at the one of Sephiroth.  Once again the details were very accurate. But Faith had used a red string for a half-smile. Cloud wondered how many times she had seen that kind of smile on his face.  The one without anger or hatred.
  Finally he looked at the Aerith doll. But it was different. There was stuffing comming out of it.
  "Did you do this," he asked.
  "No," Faith answered, "I noticed it was missing after Mama died. I found it on the ground in the Forgotten City and it was like that. I never got around to fixing it."
Cloud turned his gaze to the Sephiroth one as if blaming it on him.  But of course, it was his fault.
  "I'm not finished with that one yet," Faith said.
  "What's wrong with it?"
  Faith positioned herself to where she could reach her angel wing that was exactly identical to Sephiroth's. She winced a little as she pulled out a single feather and placed it on the doll's right shoulder. "There, now it's finished."
Cloud chuckled a little. Faith had finished her ice cream. She took the bowl and dumped the melted treat on her head.  "Aw... I didn't asked for my hair to be dyed."