If D Cloud is supposed to be real Cloud then I want his subplot to somehow relate to Cloud's actual life. I don't get where "fighting meaningless battles" comes from.
It very probably comes from the memory of the demises of Zack and Aerith. Cloud is weary of fighting and the tolls it takes- granted, I don't doubt several others are equally weary of such, especially Firi- and is basically the one to wonder 'what's it all about, what, really, am I fighting for?' Hence his initially being grouped with Cecil and Tidus- two people with reasons to continue the fighting in the present narrative- and Firion, with whom he finds his narrative mirror, someone fighting for a dream back in his homeworld. That dream, and the peace and happiness it represents is actually relevant to Cloud in FF7 and ACC. Because Cloud's not fighting just to save the world for its own sake, but for private reasons. And in Dissidia, he's not sure what the reason to continue is. And then he gets reminded through Firion that his private reasons for fighting still apply, even in the new world they're in- the peaceful life and safety of those he cares about.
But that's nowhere near as evident as the other stories.
Cloud's as a whole, is largely the weakest of the stories, probably because there's much less need to retread his trials and travails in detail yet again.
