After days on the road, the truck stopped outside the town of Nibelheim. The passengers walked into the quiet village. Cloud carried his backpack over one shoulder as they walked the deserted streets. All the townspeople feared walking in the daylight, or nighttime for that matter, since the monsters appeared. When it wasn’t necessary to be outside, everyone stayed in their residency.

Sephiroth lead his panel deeper into the town.

“It must feel nice to be back home,” Sephiroth said to Cloud, “I don’t have a hometown.”

“How ‘bout your parents?” Cloud asked.

Sephiroth kept silent for a while, “My mothers’ name was Jenova,” he finally said. “She died right after she gave birth to me. My father…” Sephiroth unexpectedly stopped talking and didn’t continue. Cloud wondered why Sephiroth had suddenly cut short when he was about to mention his father. The boy didn’t peruse the topic. Whatever issues Sephiroth had against his father were his own, and Cloud didn’t want to involve himself in other peoples’ problems.

When they finally reached the hotel, the manager greeted them. He led Sephiroth and the others to their rooms. Cloud stayed behind in the lobby. He noticed an odd-looking old man wearing colored robes practicing fighting moves. Cloud didn’t recognize his fighting technique.

“Excuse me,” Cloud said interrupting the old man, “What fighting style is that?”

The old man said in a strong voice, “Don’t you know who I am? I am the world famous Zangan. I travel around the globe teaching children martial arts. I have one hundred twenty-eight students all over the world. In this town, a girl named Tifa is a student of mine.”

“Tifa?” Cloud said stunned.

“Tifa has good sense,” Zangan replied, “She’ll be a powerful fighter.”

The old man went on practicing his moves as Cloud left to join the others upstairs. As he walked up the hallway, Cloud saw Sephiroth staring out a window overlooking the Shinra Mansion.

“I’ve hired a guide to help lead us through the mountains,” Sephiroth said as Cloud approached. “I’ve heard she’s young. I hope we can rely on her.”

Cloud wondered if Tifa was the guide. It would have been ironic if it were considering she almost died years ago trying to climb Nibel Mountain. It couldn’t be her, Cloud convinced himself.

“You have a family here?” Sephiroth asked.

“My mother,” Cloud replied.

Sephiroth looked to him, “Sometimes I wonder what I would’ve become if I had my mother. Would I still be the powerful warrior I am today, or would she have driven me to have a different dream.”

“Yeah, maybe an accountant,” Cloud said jokingly.

Sephiroth smiled, “Maybe you should pay a visit to your mother. She’ll be happy to see you. I’m sure.” He turned his attention back to the window and said nothing more. Cloud was curious of what Sephiroth was thinking as he leered out the window. His green eyes were focused and seemed to be in deep thought.

He left the hotel and walked back to his old neighborhood streets. Cloud saw Tifa’s house next to his own home. Though he had returned to his town a failure he still wanted to see her, despite of how ashamed he felt. Cloud knocked on the front door of Tifa’s home. The door was open, but nobody was at hand. Knowing it was rude, Cloud entered the dwelling anyway. He walked up to Tifa’s room thinking she might be there. In the corner of her room was a piano. By the foot of her dresser were plush toys of Chocobos and Teddy Bears. Cloud saw papers spread across her desk. It was a letter from her friend Locke. He noticed his name mentioned in the letter and decided to read it. Cloud hoped Tifa wouldn’t catch him invading her privacy. He read the letter silently.

“Tifa, how are you? I just arrived in Midgar eight days ago. Yesterday, all the people from Nibelheim who were here got together to welcome me. The only person we couldn’t get a hold of was Cloud. But everyone agreed he wasn’t that close to us. So even if we asked, he wouldn’t have come anyway. Well, enough about him. Midgar is really something. But to tell you the truth, I feel so behind on everything…so out of it. Right now I’m living in the slums, but I plan to move to a really nice home, like the ones I’ve seen in magazines…once I make some money. But to do that I guess I have to find a job first. That’s right, I still haven’t found a job yet. I lied to my parents and told them I found a great job with Shinra Inc. I wonder if it’s too late to go back home? Sometimes I think I should’ve taken over my parents’ store. I just made it here to Midgar, but all I think about is Nibelheim.”

There was more to the letter, but Cloud stopped reading it there. The letter was beginning to depress him. He related himself with Locke at the moment. When reality hits childhood expectations, one would wish they could start all over with new dreams and new expectations.

Cloud silently left Tifa’s house and headed next door to his home. He felt fretful. His palms began to sweat as he thought of what to say to his mother after two long years of being away. When he left he had been fourteen years old. Now he was sixteen years old with a lot to explain to his mother. How would he go about telling her of his failure of not being accepted to SOLDIER? He shifted his backpack to his other shoulder as he opened the door. He found his mother in the kitchen laboring over the stove cooking food. She was still the humble and vibrant woman Cloud remembered from two years.

“Uh…” Cloud muttered.

She turned around, “Huh,” she saw a figure wearing a dark blue uniform with black gloves and steel-tip boots. For a moment she stood breathless, “Cloud! Welcome home Cloud!” She rushed to her child and cuddled him with an adoring hug.

“Hi, mom.” Cloud said as his mother held him tight.

“Come, come,” she said leading him to the living room excited, “Let me take a look at you.” She began circling around him absorbing the uniform.

“Hmmm,” his mother said. “You look so handsome. So is this a SOLDIER uniform?”

“…Mom, I…” Cloud wanted to tell her he wasn’t accepted, but he couldn’t find the courage to form the words. He decided to play the lie that he was a member of SOLDIER. His mother would never know the difference.

“What do you have here?” she asked as she took Clouds’ backpack. The mother opened it to find a helmet inside.

“Its part of the uniform,” Cloud explained.

“Can you put it on? I want to see the full affect of the uniform,” she asked.

Cloud reluctantly put on the helmet. It enclosed his whole head exposing only his sad hazel eyes.

“Oh my,” His mother said, “Your eyes look so dreadful in this helmet. So sad. Take it off.”

Cloud was beginning to feel dejected. She had seen the shame in his eyes. He felt terrible lying to his own mother, but it was easier just to lie than tell the truth. Cloud took the helmet off and tossed it back in the backpack.

“That’s better,” she said softly stroking his face, which made Cloud feel a bit more at ease. The mother always knew how to comfort her child.

“My, how you’ve grown. I bet the girls never leave alone,” she said smiling.

“Not really.” Cloud replied.

He placed himself across the soft couch and began to stare at the ceiling as his mother spoke.

“I’m worried about you,” she said concerned, “There are a lot of temptations in the city. I ‘d feel a lot better if you would just settle down and had a nice girlfriend.”

“I’m all right,” he responded.

“You should have,” his mother contemplated for a bit, “an older girlfriend. One that’ll take care of you. I think that would be the best for you.”

“I’m not interested,” Cloud said closing his eyes. He began to slowly nod off. His mother continued talking as he drifted deeper into his slumber.

“Are you eating right?” she asked.

“The company feeds us,” he said in a tired voice.

“Is that so?” she said, “You can’t cook, right?”

Her voice faded as Cloud’s consciousness began to leave him.

“I was worried sick about how you were doing,” she said

Cloud was now on the brink of an unconscious state. His mothers voice was like a gentle voice leading him through a dream. Her words were becoming fragmented, but still influential.

“Cloud…”

“You know, Cloud…”

“…Isn’t that right, Cloud?”

“I will always be your mother.”

Cloud had now fallen into a deep sleep. And her voice was soon gone.