When the Lifestream seeps to the surface to counteract Meteor, Cloud finds himself smiling without even realizing it. It's finally over, and now he is able to start over. Although Tifa falls into a brief post-Meteor depression, it is Cloud in a surprising change in roles who is there to comfort her and drag her out of it. Free from Jenova's grip and finally aware of his true origins, he's anxious to start living his own life at her side; she's the closest thing to family he has. After paying respects to their dearly departed friend, Cloud, Tifa, and Barret start to move on.
Their first stop is Kalm, the town where Aeris' mother Elmyra is currently staying with Marlene, Barret's daughter. Even as father and daughter are reunited, the air is awkward and melancholy as the team breaks the news of Elmyra's own daughter's death. Elmyra accepts the news with grace, but the guilt remains. Even so, Cloud pushes forward in his self-decided New Life, and the group makes their final stop in Midgar. The city is in shambles, but people are slowly picking up the pieces, Cloud and his friends being no exception. They help wherever they can, scrapping a living while they sort out their options. It is Barret who suggests they make another move to the new metropolis of Edge where they can open a bar. People need a place to forget their troubles, have fun and be with friends, he reasons, and Tifa was already experienced in the business, so why not? Cloud and Tifa agree, and it's off to Edge.
The trio spares no time in building the new bar, enlisting neighbors to help. Barret immediately takes charge of the project, barking out orders while Cloud quietly corrects them. Even Marlene helps out, becoming the project's mascot as she cheers on workers and takes her place as Official Juice Tester--the bar is to be a place for everyone who needs to be with friends, even children. It is upon Marlene's suggestion that the new establishment is named "7th Heaven" in honor of their previous business.
Cloud becomes the go-between for Tifa and her suppliers, negotiating and delivering the ingredients needed to run the bar. Even though he knows little about the actual ingredients he is bargaining for -- not to mention he still is not completely comfortable making conversation with others -- he works hard at his job. He's determined to live his own life, and if that involves memorizing the names of these ingredients and negotiating for them, then that's what he'll do.
With Cloud and Tifa both secure in their new jobs around the bar, Barret steps up to confess that he needs to find himself before he can do anything else. Cloud understands his friend's predicament and fully sympathizes. With that, the other man takes leave, entrusting Marlene in the capable hands of Cloud and Tifa while he travels.
Cloud continues his work, traversing the continent with rented trucks or chocobos to pick up the necessary supplies. Soon he begins to take requests from other shop owners while on the road; the Planet is treacherous to traverse, making delivering parcels dangerous -- if not deadly -- for the unskilled fighter. After accumulating a bit of side pay, Cloud invests in a motorcycle, hiring a mechanic he met in his travels to tune it up and modify it to fit his every need. Although he doesn't tell Tifa of his extra work at first, once she catches on, she encourages him to make a formal business out of it. The result is Strife's Delivery Service, a small organization run by Cloud -- with the help of Tifa and Marlene -- that takes orders from and to anywhere he can travel by bike.
Unfortunately, life on the road forces Cloud to revisit his past, and he begins to withdraw. He pushes away Tifa's offers to help and stops listening to Marlene, preferring to take longer hours on the road that add to a rift in the household. He begins making side trips to Midgar to visit the old church when he's at a loss; it is on such a visit that he finds a young boy unconscious before the heavy doors, a Geostigma scar visible on his forehead. Convinced that the woman who once watched over the established had guided the child to him, Cloud takes the boy back to the bar. The orphan -- a former resident of the Sector 7 upper plate named Denzel -- is immediately accepted as a member of the Strife/Lockheart/Wallace family. Suddenly with a renewed sense of responsibility, Cloud begins to take fewer jobs to spend time with Marlene and Denzel. He also accepts Tifa's help more willingly, even agreeing that the boy was guided to them--to their family. He even smiles.
Then he discovers the Geostigma scar on his arm, and everything falls apart.
Source: On The Way To A Smile
