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Bro. Fucking drunk headcanon
Cloud makes Tifa film him revving Fenrir on his most fire ass gear and then spends HOURS editing his vids for social media. And then he makes Denzel do wheelies on his bicycle for the camera and be posting that Big Dog sound talm bout “I taught my boy every thing I know” 💀💀💀💀
He goes to them fucking bike meetups feeling cool af when them young mfs check out his mods
Post AC Strife-Lockhart-Wallace family hcs
• Tifa makes Cloud & the kids learn how to cook so that they can be more self sufficient while she works. Cloud sucks so bad he is demoted to Marlene’s level of microwave Mac and cheese and turkey sandwiches
• Marlene eventually moves back in with Barret as her primary residence but C & T have a completely open door policy for her and they keep a bedroom so that she has somewhere to stay every time she comes over
• Cloud is That Parent™️ who storms up to the school every time his kid gets a bad grade and demands to know what the teacher was thinking cause hello his son is a genius and you just don’t get that. Fucking obviously
• Tifa gets some employees for the bar and she can take off more nights to spend with the fam and also date nights ❤️🔥 though she had to learn how to not micromanage and let them do their thing
• They take Denzel to the sector seven memorial whenever he needs to go and they all sit and rest together because it helps them more than sitting alone
• Tifa gets a new truck and Cloud is only allowed to drive in very rare circumstances. When they go out together Tifa always drives because Cloud is a speed demon and is rough on the brakes. He is also a horrific backseat driver and Tifa is just 👹
• Cloud and Tifa buy a house so that they can all have more room than the apartment above the bar but they keep getting so busy that moving takes forever and it’s just a building with wrapped up mattresses and boxes of random shit for ages. Tifa then decides she hates the kitchen and spends months remodeling it 💀
Actually these are all canon because I said so 💅🏾
Theory:Denzel was intended to be Cloud and Tifa's son in Advent Children
I feel that in the early planning stages of the project that would be come Advent Children.
The story was set eight to twelve years down the line from Final Fantasy VII, Cloud and Tifa were living together with a child(Denzel and were likely married as well. Cloud's involvement with investigating the disappearing children wasn't just him being a good Samaritan, his son was missing.
For some reason this story line was scrapped, maybe the team or someone above them thought it was a bad idea or they just wanted to retain Cloud’s lone wolf persona, but they liked the character of Denzel so they retained him.
In Advent Children Denzel is Cloud and Tifa's figurative son that is his role in their lives and the story, his design especially the hair is what you'd expect of their child.
At one point, perhaps Denzel was their literal son as well.
Source
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Finally posted an update. Been trying to focus on just getting one story done at a time, but somehow three keep swimming around, demanding attention at random times.
This was a fun one to write, though. Hope you enjoy! Preview snippet below:
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Denzel wasn't sure how much time had passed, but at one point he woke up in the attic room, freezing. It was late at night, and the window was cracked open, a chill breeze coming in, rustling the white lacy curtains. Sleepily, he walked to the window to shut it. Outside, the calm village roads were visible, undisturbed like a painting. The sky was a gradient of deep blues and black, barely lighter on the horizon facing Edge, with a myriad of stars dotting the cloudless skyscape.
It was quiet, so quiet, and Denzel thought of the turbulent weather likely ripping through Junon at that moment. And he thought of Cloud, somewhere lost in the belly of that city, deep in the abyss.
The last few weeks had been a blur.
After Elmyra's death, everything was a whirlwind of sorrowful meetings with people he hardly knew, a funeral that he barely attended, and Marlene's persistent tears. Barrett was staying at the house in Kalm with them until all of Elmyra's affairs were in order. Denzel didn't know exactly what that entailed, but he got the feeling it would take a long time. He hardly slept, and when he did he dreamt he was back in Junon with Cloud in the abandoned hospital wings. A sword heavy and lethal in his hands. It was exhilarating.
He didn't know what to do. He felt uncomfortable, displaced and unwelcome. He didn't belong here, in this serene picturesque evening, but he also didn't belong in a chaotic bloodbath turning his stomach into knots. He felt like he should be nowhere. There was no place for him.
He leaned against the base of the windowpane, head down across his arms. Below in the house, he could hear Barrett snoring.
He knew he should feel sad that Elmyra was gone, but deep down, so far down that Denzel himself could scarcely admit it, he felt nothing for the woman except a vague thankfulness that she'd opened her home to him. But he felt no love for her. It made him feel terrible inside. And his mind was a mess of longing for Cloud and uncertainty of where he should head next. He couldn’t stay here, no matter what.
Yes, there was school to attend, and yes, there was Marlene. He'd assumed Barrett would take her back to Corel soon, maybe extend the offer to Denzel too, but really there was nobody out there who cared for him. Nobody, perhaps, except Cloud.
Suddenly, the buttery sweet scent of flowers curled under his nose. It was a strong aroma, much too strong to have wafted up from the bouquets decaying downstairs.
A chill went down Denzel's spine. The attic ghost.
Gulping, he very slowly lifted his head. In the reflection of the glass of the window, there was an unclear dash of color—pink and red and beige. The suggestion of a woman. With a start, Denzel spun around, but the room was empty. There was nobody standing there.
"H...hello?" Denzel whispered, remembering Marlene's stories of the woman in the attic, how she'd speak to her. "Are you… Is someone there?"
The curtains rustled slightly despite the window being firmly shut. The scent of flowers lingered.
Don’t Wake Me
02—
There was a noise. It was a distant irritating buzz, disturbing the dreamy blackness of space. Steadily, it ebbed closer, drawing into a lower frequency, then a hum. The noise was bothersome, troubling. It collected the vast emptiness into physical sensation, and Denzel felt it pulling him downwards. Away. Back.
The noise went on, pausing occasionally but always resuming. It intrigued him. He couldn’t remember anything quite like it up here, in this space. And he’d been here a very long time. He couldn’t remember how long, exactly, but that didn’t matter. Time didn’t matter. He knew this.
The hum became more clear like a radio tuning in, and he felt an awful pain in his chest. It hurt like a sludge creeping through his heart, and his veins beat tidal waves in response to the sound as it came closer. He wanted to fight against it, felt compelled to resist it somehow yet he had no means to do anything but listen.
And gradually, the murmur became words. A voice.
“—and there was nothing quite like it. A billion of them. I don’t remember ever seeing so many in my life, not even out in Nibelheim.” A pause. “I guess that’s one benefit of no cities. No lights.”
The words continued, but they became fuzzy again. The darkness around Denzel was melding into something tangible, constricting. It was impossible that sounds could create such a physical presence, but the two senses of hearing and touch were indecipherable from each other, and the voice was choking him.
Then he remembered. He’d heard this noise before. Perhaps a long time ago? It came back to him like a strange detached memory.
“I’d brought you some doughnuts anyways. I mean, even though… well, I don’t know.”
Yes, he recognized this voice. The speaker was someone… he struggled to recall. It was so hard to think! Especially with that oppressive rhythm building around him, solidifying. Changing.
“She’s still lost out there, I think.”
A terrible being was looking at him through the darkness. Denzel could feel it. It was searching, clawing, wanting to take him.
“Sometimes I wonder if you’re still lost out there, too.”
It was a bright point of light. A sudden jolt of discovery. The thing had found him. It grabbed him, pulled him in. Under. Denzel wanted to scream, but he was already trapped.
“The best I can do is hope that one day you’ll come home.”
Home… The single word reverberated, and it had an odd calming effect. Like a tranquilizer, paralyzing the pain that raked his body as it formed and pulled and tightened.
Then he awoke. With a spasmic gasp, the world burst into existence around him. Burnt metallic air filled his lungs and he coughed. He retched as he realized there was something in his throat. A tube. He yanked it out.
“Denzel!” The voice was bright and happy and very loud. Right next to him.
Through a difficult brightness, so completely different from the space he’d been safely living in forever, a man came into view. A young blonde man with bright blue eyes.
“...Cloud…?” Denzel’s own voice was small, weak. The other reached out to put one hand on his shoulder, a warm kind gesture.
And suddenly he remembered everything. The calamity from the sky. The dream world. The other side. Tifa in Mideel. Yuffie in Edge. Cloud in the rain. Waking up from a coma. Frantically scribbling in a journal. Climbing the stairs to the roof of his fake school on a fake afternoon. Falling.
Falling. Falling.
“Cloud!” The realization that he’d somehow made it back leapt through his heart and mind, bringing tears to his eyes. Desperately, he held onto Cloud’s arm, smiling, shaking. He’d done it! Cloud was here! Which could only mean… “You’re awake!” he rasped as enthusiastically as he could. “You’re here with me, on the other side! We got you out of Edge!”
What was the last thing he remembered? The asset, the man with the black hair, appearing in Edge. Pointing at Denzel with his hand in the shape of a gun. Pow!
Cloud didn’t respond because he was hugging Denzel so tight. Like there was nothing else in the world. The happy embrace settled after a moment, and Cloud held Denzel’s shoulders, beaming with excitement.
“Yes!” Cloud said, “Yes, I awoke and I was in the Fort. And you were... “ he stopped suddenly, then smiled again, brushing off whatever thoughts he’d been speaking, then, “It doesn’t matter. You’re awake now. You heard me! You must have. I’ve been speaking to you. Just like in our dreams!”
For some reason the final sentiment unsettled him. The way Cloud had said it, maybe. But no matter, Denzel shook it off.
“Yeah,” the younger man replied, taking his first look around the room, “I heard you talking about…” he thought for a moment, “doughnuts!”
The room around them was small and sparse. A dingy place with nothing but the bed, a chair, medical equipment, and a single hanging bulb. It did not look like a hospital.
“Oh yeah, the doughnuts!” Cloud let out a laugh. “That was a while ago!”
There was no window, and the walls were concrete. A large crack snaked up one corner. Denzel tried to calm the panic rising in his chest. Was he still asleep? Was this some sort of… trick? He breathed out, steadying his pulse. He remembered the thing searching for him in the great nothingness.
“H-how much time has passed?” Denzel asked. He stared at Cloud. The blonde didn’t seemed to have aged at all, so it was difficult for Denzel to gauge. But of course, Denzel reminded himself, the Jenova cells likely had something to do with that. Or the Mako. Or whatever else he’d remembered hearing about Cloud. It was very possible Cloud would outlive all of them.
Suddenly Denzel felt nauseous. He leaned over and threw up, or he tried to. There was nothing in his stomach but clear awful bile. The feeling persisted.
“Slow down. It’s okay,” Cloud soothed, patting Denzel on the back and holding a towel for him, “It’s okay. Everything’s okay now.”
Denzel got a hold of his stomach spasms and leaned back, wiping his mouth, but something felt very wrong here. Hadn’t he woken up from a coma before, with Cloud in the room like this, and everything had been turned upside down? Hadn’t his perception of the world been under fire once before already?
“Relax and take it easy,” Cloud continued, “Everything is just fine.”
The words echoed inside his mind. Just fine. The recent infinite darkness opened up in his memory. Timeless.
“What happened?” Denzel finally asked after catching his breath.
Cloud smiled again. He hadn’t stopped smiling since Denzel woke up. It comforted Denzel. Despite this strange place, this strange awakening, everything was alright. Their mission had been a success. Cloud was here.
“You’ve been in a coma for a long time. We’re in Junon. You’re safe with me.”
“And the others?” Denzel asked, eagerly looking towards the door, “Where’s Tifa? And Marlene?”
Cloud’s smiled faded. There was a beat of silence, then he said, “Marlene… She didn’t survive the Fort collapsing.”
The news hit Denzel so hard he stopped breathing for a second. His sister—the woman he’d come to love as his sister—was dead. Gone. Tears stung his eyes. He gasped, choking on the sudden sharpness of sorrow. It wasn’t fair.
“Wh...what?” Denzel blinked. “No...”
“I’m sorry.”
Desperate memories raced through his head. What was the last exchange he’d had with Marlene? When was the last time he’d seen her? Her face, somewhere in his memory, turned towards him, smiled. Her last moments, what had those been? Denzel began crying. He couldn’t stop. He hadn’t expected there to be this loss, even though he should have anticipated the possibility of it. He and Marlene always knew that death could come swiftly, yet somehow he’d gotten it into his head that they’d always survive, always be together.
Cloud hugged Denzel. “D...did you see her?” Denzel mumbled against Cloud’s shoulder. “At the Fort. You woke up there… Did you see her?”
A tightness wound in Denzel’s chest. He wouldn’t open his eyes, couldn’t let Cloud see the drenched mess of his face. This close to the blonde, Denzel felt other memories surface. The rain dripping off a glinting sword in the ruins. This man had killed so many, had been at the Fort while Denzel was… asleep or dreaming or… lost in Edge with the man with the black hair. Caught in some nightmare. Marlene had been dying while Denzel slept.
Cloud had been there.
“I saw her,” Cloud spoke softly, “I wasn’t with her when she died, though. She was brave. I know that much.”
Denzel pushed Cloud away, wiped his tears with the edge of his sleeve. It had been war, and people died in war, Denzel reminded himself.
“What about Tifa? Did she also…?”
“No,” Cloud replied quickly, “No, she wasn’t at the Fort.”
This brightened Denzel’s spirits. The mournful woman trapped in Mideel was resilient, determined. She was a survivor.
“But she isn’t here,” Cloud continued. This was hard for him to say. His voice wavered and he looked away, shoulders sagging. “I don’t know where she is.”
There’d been an attack, he relayed to Denzel. After the Fort collapsed, survivors had gathered in Junon. A base of operations was set-up and the ruins of Edge were scoured for the living. But there were many who didn’t want Cloud with them. He was, after all, the apocalyptic weapon of the alien. A cold warrior who’d sliced enemies apart without hesitation, killed their friends, their families. It wasn’t over for them, and they could never forgive Cloud. Even if Tifa and Yuffie and Vincent vouched for him, the past could not be undone.
In the middle of the night, a large band of survivors attacked. The WRO fought back, supporting Cloud, but Cloud refused to take arms against anyone. He fled. Tifa was with him for a while, but she too was branded a traitor. They got separated in the chaos.
“I never saw her again.”
Denzel didn’t know what to say. He’d known other survivors to be ruthless, especially the scavengers.
“She and the rest of the WRO. Yuffie, Vincent…. I don’t know where any of them are.”
Then a new group joined the battle. The Jenovites from Kalm. They still worshipped Cloud and once they learned he was being hunted down, they took up arms and came to Junon. Cloud was alone, surrounded. He had to defend himself. Denzel got a striking mental image of the blood-soaked sword once again cutting down soldiers. Just like it had in the ruins of Edge.
“When the fighting was over, the people from Kalm stayed here. With me. They helped rebuild parts of the city.”
The fear and hatred people harbored for Cloud didn’t surprise Denzel. He remembered how others had treated him once they’d learned the monster haunting Edge had a link to the young man. He’d been a social pariah. Now the monster itself was suddenly living in their midst like another victim. How else could they have responded?
“I...wish I’d been awake to help you,” Denzel finally said.
Cloud waved dismissively. “I’m glad you were safe here. It was a nightmare.”
“She’s out there somewhere, though. Right? She’ll come back for you. She spoke of nothing but you while you were away.”
A faint smile traced Cloud’s lips but then he shook his head. “I’ve...searched for her, for a long time. If she was alive, she’d have come back by now.”
The finality in Cloud’s voice made Denzel deeply sad. Time had passed. Tifa was gone. Marlene was dead.
“At least we have each other,” Cloud said, mirroring Denzel’s thoughts.
They embraced. It was a bittersweet reunion. But Denzel was thankful for it, deep down to his core. Somehow he’d found his way back home.
Cloud training Denzel
"And defend!" Cloud called with a proud look on his face when Denzel managed to almost expertly block his attack, "excellent," the blond smiled when their eyes met and for once he didn't have to look down so much as Denzel had managed to sprout right up after his last growth pains.
"Am I really getting better?" Denzel asked chewing his bottom lip, trailing his metal bar on the dusty ground leaving a line in it.
Cloud gently clapped his hand on the teenager's shoulder, "you are, I honestly wasn't expecting you to pick up defending so quickly and that isn't an insult. It took me a long while," he admitted with a faint blush on his cheeks.
"I don't believe that," Denzel grinned with a small laugh, "you've always been awesome with a sword,"
Cloud smiled again, but this time is was slightly melancholic.
“No, like you I had a mentor,”
“Were they as good as you?”
Cloud laughed and flashed a toothy smirk up at the sky.
“He was the best,”
far too lazy to do a promo, but i did a thing earlier so i’m hopping between here and denzel
