Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Gaia is aware of her many reflections. She can feel her sisters and their shared connections, their fates, their destinies… all woven from the same threads yet creating entirely different tapestries from even the slightest of deviations. This reflection of herself could feel the Calamity from the Skies upon her body. It was watching and waiting for a time to strike, to enact vengeance for the prison she and her children forced the parasite into to keep all other life safe until a champion could eradicate the threat once and for all. The cost was heavy but Gaia and her children knew it would be far heavier without their sacrifices…

So Gaia was satisfied and it was time for her to rest.

Until, that is, she could feel The Calamity’s presence growing stronger once more and woke from her healing slumber.

What she woke to was the passing of time, much longer than her rest was meant to be, her body and lifeblood being devastated by human greed, her parasitic nemesis growing stronger by the day due to the human Scourge who tampers with her children, her lifeblood, and The Calamity, and finally, herself growing weaker by the moment and so few allies left…

Soooooooo yeah, she decided to tweak fate just a little bit.

It was far easier to send her voice to her children, no matter how unrecognizable they became under The Scourge’s hands, to complete this mission than to wait for devastation enough to send a WEAPON or her Champion. Her sisters have proven that that price is not worth being paid.

If she is anything, she is patient. It takes days… weeks… months… of reaching out to her children, her voice a mere whisper as they are stuck in the cage forged from her bones rather than next to her veins. But then the day arrives that her children fought so hard for, both on her behalf and their own.

The Scourge did not notice that the continuous escapes of her children were all carefully planned. Some distracted the human-parasite predators sent to capture or kill the escaped children, while others slowly whittled away at their targets to not arouse suspicion and have their plan thwarted.

Eventually enough damage was done, their preparations complete. Then when The Scourge entered the trap, Gaia pushed her presence through her lifeblood, and The Scourge was met with devastation unlike any other…

She is not supposed to, but for all her sisters that The Scourge sped towards their death as a puppet of the parasite, she relished in his screams until his soul was eradicated by her lifeblood just as his body was.

There. Everything was prepared for her Champion to finish the job, to fulfill his destiny, to be the hero and save Gaia and set all her children back onto a path of cohabitation and healing…

At least that’s how it was supposed to go… but hey, so long as it gets there eventually, she can keep being patient.

Chapter Text

Gaia has one messed up sense of humor. 

Nothing else can explain the past year of bullshit.

What makes Cloud so confident you may ask?

Let’s go through the checklist:

1. Gaia has sent him back into his younger self’s body, approximately his 16 year old self, in the fucking past. 
2. No warning, just waking up in his younger body in Shinra barracks all to have a mental breakdown in front of squadmates he doesn’t remember.
3. No enhancements followed him back.
4. Because Gaia sent him back to when he was in the infantry, he still has to work off his contract with Shinra or end up in generational long debt from the fine Shinra would slap him with. He still gets flashbacks to the paperwork nightmare that was.
5. All the work he and Avanlanche put into saving Gaia has been completely undone and he still has no idea how to save the planet on his own without enhancements.

The only good thing he’s found out while adjusting to the crippling depression, being forced into a body still going through puberty and without enhancements, all on top mind fuckery of time travel-

Hojo is apparently already dead?

He’s not fully sure what the fuck happened there, only that whatever did happen, it was caused by Shinra’s neglect to the building’s structure. Specifically the pipes. Which somehow led to them tossing more money at Reeve and his department, meaning that there was a surge of plumbing jobs made available throughout this ridiculously massive building.

So yeah, Cloud, in his Gaia induced moment of mania, decided the best way to stay away from SOLDIER until the end of the three years left to his Shinra contract was to transfer to the maintenance crew.

As a plumber.

Don’t ask him how the hell it made sense at the time. It certainly hardly made any sense as they explained that they’d allow the transfer of his military contract to enter a position they needed to staff asap and since he showed promise with his repair skills. Then dumped a mountain of papers he had to sign so that they could make the transfer official. Hence part of the reason he has paperwork trauma now.

Since Cloud was already two years into his contract when he woke up here, and it’s been a little over a year now since he’s become a plumber, there’s only two years left in this Shinra employment nightmare. Yet he still hasn’t made any progress in somehow figuring out how to get rid of the mako reactors, how to take out the President and the other directors that are outright unable to be spared for the sake of the planet’s future, or how to get rid of the biggest threats of them all.

Jenova and Sephiroth.

For some odd reason, unlike before he was sent back, Sephiroth seems to have retreated from the public eye, from fighting as a SOLDIER in general even when the conflict against Wutai hasn’t finished yet. Which is another thing he’s made zero progress in fixing…

He’s heard too many reasons for what was potentially the cause to really feel any of the Shinra employee gossip was reliable but everyone seems convinced it has to do with family matters. The only family Sephiroth should have is either dead or an alien currently snoozing in Nibelheim so Cloud’s not sure even that common gossip comment is true.

That is until today decided to prove him wrong.

He knew something was off when Pol had a grin this morning that was not their typical mischievous cheer, but instead clearly restrained insanity before dumping a request in the SOLDIER apartments into his hands, despite Cloud making it clear he didn’t want anywhere near those floors.

Cloud had even reminded Pol about his one request, Pol had just grabbed his shoulders and with a tone perfect amounts defeat and frustration with life that he could relate to all too well they had mumbled, “Shinra wants plumbers for practically every floor. Does it make sense? Not at all. It’s a seventy stories tall fucking building. Did they even give us enough staff for such bullshit in the first place? No. And half the staff are incompetent, untrained, or can’t handle their own goddamn jobs without someone holding their hands despite having the skills to do it alone. You’re one of our few competent workers that we can trust. For the love of everything on this planet do me and Ollie this favour Strife and we will give you a pay bonus, weekly top plate restaurant dinners on us until it's over, and shiny new tools of your choice- for you to keep not Shinra’s cheap ass attempts at underfunding this department by loaning the equipment- and even have your name at the top of the list for next pay increase, so long as you cover those damn floors of chaos for the next month before we die from aneurysms."

There is enough self awareness that Cloud can admit he can be an asshole. He could’ve said no and he’d know that Pol and Ollie would’ve respected that boundary. The thing is, Pol and Ollie were good people, actual good people despite being in this evil infested company and have somehow earned Cloud’s respect so he unfortunately doesn’t want to disappoint them. Plus the deal was good, really good actually, and it was only for a month. He knew the SOLDIERs floors had a reputation but he’s handled worse. And Cloud figures he can keep himself out of sight without too much trouble…

So like an idiot, he had said yes and now he has to face the consequences.

He didn’t expect those consequences he has to face to be three youthful faces he knows all too well even if they’ve shrunken down to toddlers from the nightmares he still has from geostigma.

“Are you the fix-it man?” A small chubby albeit still hauntingly familiar boy questions, “We can only let in the fix-it man.”

Cloud gapes down at the Remnants crowding around the door to the SOLDIER apartment he was given this morning. His eyes jump to the number by the door to that on his card and PHS and they all unfortunately said the same number, 797.

”It’s plumber, stupid.” Kadaj hisses to Loz, whose eyes begin to water as his lip wobbles.

Deciding to ignore whatever the fuck fate decided to do this time, he sighs heavily, dragging a hand down his face before reminding himself the sooner the job is done, the sooner he can leave.

“Stop crying, Loz.” Yazoo huffs.

“M’not crying!” The boy clearly about to cry whines.

“Can you show me the toilet that’s clogged?” Cloud asks before Loz is able to really start crying, it seems to work since all three pairs of mako eyes snap back up at him. Not sure how he feels about the eerie silence they fall into to just blatantly stare at him though… He decides to ignore it, it’s above his paygrade.

Kadaj steps away from the other two, looking over his shoulder in a dramatic way a kid can’t pull off without it being hilarious. Kids are just too tiny, on top of that Kadaj looks tiny even for a kid, “This way.” In a tone that’s far too serious for a naturally childishly high pitch.

Taking their cue from their tiny leader, Yazoo and Loz follow after Kadaj into the- honestly it’s a pretty decently sized apartment. Before Cloud makes it very far, literally having just walked through the doorway and into the entryway, closing the door behind him and moving to follow the trio of toddlers until Yazoo’s head snaps back towards him so quickly Cloud nearly grabs for a weapon, “No shoes inside. Those are the rules.”

Waiting for his heart to stop racing quite so fast, Cloud bends over to undo his work boots since he doesn’t really feel like arguing with his former enemies that somehow became two years old. Once he stands back upright, he notices the three pairs of eyes peeking around a door, no doubt the bathroom in question, watching him as if he were some sort of wild animal they were told to observe and document.

Taking a quick glance as he walks towards them, he notes that the apartment is nice, albeit a bit messy with kids toys strewn across pretty much every surface and some dirty dishes waiting to be dealt with at the sink but it definitely could be worse. The style of everything is every bit sleek modernity with blacks, whites, and greys that Shinra can’t seem to get enough of. As he finally reaches the bathroom, the three little Remnants part for him, or rather try to keep their distance from him while also undoubtedly hovering to see what he’ll do.

And yup, that’s one shit clogged toilet.

Cloud’s nose curls slightly at the smell, thanking the fact he didn’t have his enhanced nose right now, but he’s definitely smelt worse during this job. His hand smacks the bathroom fan on to hopefully lessen the stench a little bit anyway, “Either of you know what caused it to clog?” He asks, not really expecting them to answer or know the actual cause.

“We went potty.” Loz offers, glancing nervously between Cloud and the toilet.

“Loz is a baby and didn’t want to go alone.” Yazoo grumbles in a tone that’s clear he doesn’t want to be blamed for this mess.

Kadaj crosses his little arms before glaring at the toilet as if it had caused him personal offence, “We flushed but it won’t work like it’s supposed to!”

Cloud takes in the information as he sets his tool box down on the counter and grabs the bathroom’s plunger from the corner it was left in, until it finally sinks in and he looks down at the trio with confusion, “Wait, you all used the toilet at the same time?”

A truly impressive eye roll comes from Kadaj, “No dummy, we took turns.” Yazoo and Loz nod their heads in agreement.

Staring down at the wide eyed faces Cloud restrains the sigh trying to escape, “I meant did you all go to the bathroom and only tried flushing the toilet after each of you went.”

“Oh. Yeah. We did that.” Loz confirms while he nods his head.

Cloud stares at the toilet with a grim clarity that somehow Gaia has sent him back in time just to deal with his former enemies’ shit. Or maybe this was her revenge for him not fixing her problems faster…

At least it should be an easy fix… unlike the state of the world.

So without delay Cloud, with his mighty weapon the plunger, gets to work.

As the disgusting mixture within the toilet bowl he shall not bestow any details too squelches from his plunging attempts, he discovers a noise certainly not coming from a certain toilet.

He only pauses for a moment before continuing, not wanting to alert the toddlers he’s paying attention now- and sure enough after another squelch, he hears it clearly.

Giggles.

Taking a subtle glance over his shoulder, he sees each of the three boys covering their mouths with their hands to smother the noises but when he intentionally makes the noise this time, it’s clear in the shake of their shoulders that they can’t hide their amusement.

Kids.

With one final plunge the clog finally comes undone and the toilet clears itself out. Restoring peace to the bathroom once more.

Cloud doesn't expect the three cheers his success earns.

“He did it!”

“Fix-it man fixed it!”

“We can use the toilet again!”

The job now done, he sets the plunger back into its place, he’s certainly not the one cleaning it, and washes his hands, “It should be good to go now but promise me that if you all have to share a bathroom trip, flush between each of your turns. Otherwise there might be too much for the toilet to try to flush and that’s how it’ll clog.”

When he turns around from drying his hands off, he doesn’t expect little hands to be holding out bills of gil to him. Cloud raises his brow and asks plainly, “What’s with the money?”

The three toddlers all look up at him as if he’s stupid, Kadaj of course being the one to explain to the supposed idiot, “Dad said if we clog the toilet then we’d have to pay you to fix it.”

Ignoring the chill that rushes down his spine at the thought of who would be considered dad to these three, Cloud shakes his head and grabs his toolbox wanting to book it out of there now, “Shinra pays me, I don’t need your money. You guys keep it for candy or something.” He definitely hasn’t stooped so low as to take money from children.

Except Kadaj apparently doesn’t like the word no, none of them do. Loz starts looking like he’s about to cry again, Yazoo staring at the gil in his hands as if the money’s somehow lied about what it is and that must be why it was refused. Whereas Kadaj storms up to him and smacks the gil against his stomach with a glare, “No! You get paid or it’s- it’s-” Kadaj’s face slowly starts turning red with frustration as whatever word he’s looking for eludes him.

“...Exploitation.” Yazoo mumbles softly and Cloud does not have enough sanity left in him to question how they tied that particular word to a worker not being paid money for their job. He tries one more time, “I’m not being exploited, Shinra is paying me to fix your toilet.”

Loz hiccups and tears really start rolling down his face, “W-We exploited him!”

For the love of-

“Fine, I’ll consider it a tip this one time, not payment, since I’m not being exploited.” At his words all three kids immediately beam with victory and run up to him to shove the money either into one of his uniform’s many pockets or smack it against him until he takes it like with Kadaj.

Once he’s gotten his money, the three start pushing his legs out of the bathroom, while muttering to themselves, “He’s been paid.” “Dad said that’s when he can leave.” “Okay you can go now. Bye.”

And just like that they’re back at the entryway and he’s slipping his boots back on, Loz even handing him his next boot for him when he finishes the first, and no he’s not forgetting what happened between him and the older versions of these three but-

Well, they don’t look older than two or three and he still hasn’t seen an adult around. Not that he wants to see the dad in question… not at all but- kids this young aren’t meant to be unsupervised right?

So before they can manage to shove him out entirely, he glances around one more time, noting now that there’s three plates with unfinished snacks on the coffee table and some kid’s cartoon channel on the tv. But no sign of adults apart from some pairs of shoes around the door in a cubby and one pair for one of the adult’s rows missing from one cubby.

“Are you three home alone?” Cloud can’t help himself from asking.

The three Remnants all visibly tense, their eyes wide as if caught doing something they weren’t supposed to and in a blink Cloud is pushed out into the hallway, his toolbox shoved across the floor after him, then a door slammed in his face and the sound of a lock clearly snapping into place.

“BYE BYE!” “GO AWAY NOW!” The two louder boys shout from behind the door that Cloud can only blink at in surprise.

Was he…?

Was he just kicked out by toddlers?

What the fuck has his life come to…