#ignore any spelling errors im just yappin bro

[ghostdice]

i got ahead of myself and accidentally wrote this long-ass post about leon and final fantasy 7. enjoy! :3

It was '97. Leon had gotten out of bed, for some reason or other, and through the dark of the shared living room, the glow of the television illuminated his roommate. It was the game they'd been looking forward to for a while– a JRPG about some guy who helps an eco-terrorist group fight some world-destroying company or something. Sleep had escaped him, so he sat on the couch behind them, looking on as they traversed the Planet as– Cloud, they reminded him.

In passing moments, Leon would take a seat as his roommate clicked away at their controller. Even if he didn't really understand it, it was impossible to deny the intrigue, and something about the world just drew him in. His roommate, pleased with his interest (and patient with his confusion) would try to catch him up on major plot he missed, and Leon would try his best to piece it together. The story was a lot, but he liked this little thing they had going. It was nice, being invited into this world, to shut his brain off and forget about himself.

It was '98, and the sewers were probably the last place Leon ever expected to find himself. Umbrella, one of the nation's largest pharmaceutical companies, creating biological atrocities for what, warfare? It was like a plot out of a– a game. He would've laughed if it weren't for the way his lungs ached with each weak breath. He sure as hell could use some materia right now, cast Cura or something. (Hey, his roommate would've been proud that he got that right.)

If Umbrella was Shinra, then that made him Cloud, in a sense. He didn't really see himself as a brooding mercenary, but ex-Soldier sounded about right. There was no way he'd keep being a cop after this. He'd take Umbrella down, track it as far as it goes and make sure this never happened again.

(Although, Cloud wasn't really Soldier, he recalled. And despite his aloof nature, he had a soft heart– his roommate had been adamant about that distinction. They had went on to explain that part about Cloud's broken mind. About the way Tifa had to literally go into his mind, find the lost, true Cloud– his younger self, his before– and help put him back together. "He's really just awkward. And lonely," they had said. They'd grinned at him lopsided after that, though their eyes held a reserved quiet. Something they couldn't say. "Remind you of anyone?")

And suddenly, it was 2020. It still sounded unreal. (Leon thought that about every year. How he managed this long, he didn't know, honestly.) He'd been scrolling on his phone, cherishing a brief reprieve from the endless missions, when he saw an ad. He raised his eyebrow. Final Fantasy 7 Remake.

Leon hadn't thought about that game in literal decades. His memory was blurry around the edges, but he could vaguely imagine the glow of the TV, the excited rhythm of his roommate's voice. (A voice he'd forgotten. For a moment, he wondered where they were now. If they were excited now too.)

A call popped up. Hunnigan. Leon spared one last glance at the image of Cloud, a new render of the original poster his roommate had hung on their wall- a gloved hand on the grip of his Buster Sword (he couldn't believe he remembered that, but he did. Thanks to an off-handed dirty joke his roommate had made about it), facing the Shinra building towering over him– unaware of what tragedy laid ahead. Of all the friendships he'd make, of the way the bad guy (Sephiroth, right?) would just keep coming back. He chuckled to himself.

"Okay," he told himself as he picked up the call. "Let's mosey."