So this is my first FFVII fanfic. I played about halfway through the game and had to stop as school was being a pain. I know what happens though, so I'm not a complete idiot. XD I have also watched my brother play Dirge of Cerberus, read what Crisis Core is all about, and watched Advent Children (many times). I think this'll turn out alright, so yeah. Me done talking now. Enjoy!

Rated T for language and violence (not going to change it).

Disclaimer: FFVII and everything related to it (CC, DoC, AC) belongs to Square Enix. I only own the OCs created for this story.

Chapter 1: Reunion

The city bustled with the hum of engines and the chattering of its citizens as the sun rose. It was a warm spring day with a slight breeze in the air bringing some relief to the population. There was not a cloud to be seen in the bright, blue sky.

A woman at the prime age of 24 walked closer to the new monument in the center of the city. Her strawberry blonde hair was cut short, reaching down to her chin, and in layers with her bangs often getting blown in her face and obscuring her gleaming purple eyes from watching where she was going. She stopped walking in front of the new plaque in front of the monument and read:

Dedicated to a world that has suffered much,

But has proven it can always get back on its feet.

Jenova

Meteorfall

Geostigma

Omega

The woman looked up at the new monument. It was rumored that it was made entirely out of materials from Midgar, much like the last one. Except the new one now resembled a tree; a tree of twisted metal made from the ruins of a once powerful city. Encircling the tree was a one foot wide, one foot deep pool of water. She smiled as she looked upon it and took out a gil and tossed it into the water.

She turned and continued walking through the city until she came upon a building with a sign that had 'Weapons Emporium' emblazoned on it. She always chuckled when she saw it and today was no different. She walked into the store ready for the day.

Though it was extremely sunny out, Vincent remained in the shadows as much as possible as he made his way to his destination, Seventh Heaven. Now that he knew Tifa a little more, he was glad that she was able to reopen her bar. It gave the citizens of Edge a comforting sense of establishment after Meteorfall and helped ease them into a new city that they were still growing accustomed to.

He finally arrived at his destination mostly because of avoiding the crowds of people, but those he did encounter didn't hesitate to move back for him to keep walking. Though he should take offense, he actually found it slightly amusing as he still had his Turk persona, not to mention an extremely dark aura to make people intimidated.

Vincent walked through the entrance and shut the door behind him, knowing full well that it would be empty since it was in the morning. Well, it was almost empty.

"More pancakes please!" Marlene asked.

Tifa laughed. "But you've already had five. How many more can you eat?"

"Indeed and they are quite large for pancakes," Shelke put in.

"But they're so good. Auntie Tifa makes the best pancakes in the world," Marlene praised.

Tifa went over to Marlene and hugged her from behind. "Well thank you Marlene, but we need to save some for Denzel when he comes down, and Cloud when he gets back from his delivery," she told the little girl before kissing her on the head.

Marlene thought about it for a second and then nodded and smiled. "Alright," she agreed.

Vincent watched the scene with a very small smile on his face. He really did miss his friends–or as close to friends as he would let them be. "Is this a bad time?" he finally asked.

Marlene turned around in her seat and grinned from ear to ear. "Uncle Vincent!" she exclaimed gleefully. She ran over to him and hugged him around the waist.

Vincent placed his right hand on her head. "Marlene," he said kindly, or as kind as he could manage. "How have you been?"

"Good."

"Hey Vincent," Tifa said walking over to the two.

He nodded to her. "Tifa. It's good to see you."

"Right back at ya. I wasn't sure if you would show up this year."

"I wasn't sure either, but it just felt like I should."

"Did Lucrecia give you a push?" Tifa teased lightly.

He smiled sadly. "I don't really know. Maybe it was her, maybe it wasn't. But I'm here now."

"And that's all that matters to us!" Tifa laughed. "Come on in. Make yourself comfy. I can make more pancakes if you want," she said as they walked over to the table.

Marlene gasped and looked back up at Vincent. "Please say yes Uncle Vincent," she begged.

Vincent looked at the girl. "Sorry Marlene. I ate before I came, so I'm not really hungry."

"Denzel! Wake up! I'm sending Marlene up, so if you're not awake by then tough luck," Tifa called up the stairs. "Need anything to drink at least Vincent?"

"Just water will do," he replied as he watched Marlene hustle up the stairs and heard Tifa go to the other side of the bar to get his drink.

Shelke had remained at her seat during the conversation. Vincent took a seat across from her. "Vincent Valentine. It's good to see you again," she said to him.

He nodded to her. "Good to see you too, Shelke. How have you been doing?"

"Not too bad. I've been able to live somewhat normally here while doing occasional favors for Reeve and the WRO."

"She's been doing very well in my opinion," Tifa said as she came over and gave Vincent his water.

"Thanks," he said as he took a sip from the glass.

"No problem."

"Any word on the others?"

"Cloud should be back in a bit. He left early this morning to make a delivery in Kalm, so he should be back soon at least. Hmmm...who else? Ah! Reeve called and said he couldn't make it personally, but he'd send a Cait Sith in his stead."

"Oh joy," Vincent said sarcastically.

Tifa giggled. "I know. Umm, so Cait is coming along with Cid, Barret, and Yuffie since they're all at the WRO Headquarters and Red came a few days early so he could look around the ruins of Midgar."

"Why?"

"I don't know, but he said the visit would give him an opportunity to spend more time in Aeris' church and protect it."

Vincent grunted in agreement. Ever since Aeris's church was filled with the healing spring of water, people from all around the globe had come to see it. Most people had good intentions, but others did not and tried, and sometimes succeeded, in vandalizing the church walls. The group had washed off the spray paint and eggs with some volunteers, but they were all more cautious about letting people in.

"So we're all coming then, huh?" Vincent asked, more to himself than to the other two.

Tifa smiled. "I think it's a good we're all getting together. It's been a year since your Deepground incident, two since Kadaj and Geostigma, and four since Meteorfall. It's good to get together with old friends," she said putting a hand on the red ribbon tied around her left arm.

Shelke and Tifa watched as Vincent lifted his right and looked at his own red ribbon. "True," he said.

He knew the group didn't wear their ribbons everyday like they did for the two years after Meteorfall. They had decided to only do it on the anniversary of Meteorfall or whenever they felt like it as individuals. Now they added three more days to the list: when Kadaj became Sephiroth, the day after that when everyone with Geostigma was cured, and when Vincent defeated Omega.

Today was the anniversary of when Sephiroth came back and challenged Cloud in the Shinra ruins.

"Red said he would be coming back around lunch time," Tifa informed Vincent.

He nodded and took a sip of water as Marlene bounded down the stairs happily followed by a grumpy looking Denzel. The sight of him made Vincent think of Cloud when he woke up during their travels, smirking at the comparison.

"Alright Denzel, you're lucky Marlene didn't eat all of the pancakes," Tifa laughed as the kids sat at the table. He moaned in response. "While I'm making your breakfast, how about you at least say hello to Vincent?" she reprimanded as she turned and went into the kitchen.

"Hullo Vincent," he said groggily.

"Hmph," he responded in amusement. "Staying up late Denzel?"

"It wasn't that late."

"You call two in the morning not late?" Marlene scolded.

"What were you doing anyway?" Shelke asked.

"Cloud and I were watching movies," Denzel responded.

They all stopped talking as they heard the sound of an engine outside and turn off.

"Speak of the devil," Tifa said as she walked back in with a plate of food for Denzel and immediately turned around to finish off the pancake batter for Cloud's breakfast.

The door swung open to reveal Cloud himself. He walked in and shut the door behind him. Vincent looked over him. He seemed like the usual Cloud: spiky blonde hair, ice blue eyes, long black glove on the right hand and the short black glove on the left, dressed in the same outfit as the one he fought Sephiroth in two years ago.

"Hey Vincent," Cloud said as he walked towards the table, meeting his blue eyes with Vincent's contrasting red ones.

"Cloud," he responded with a nod.

"Uncle Vincent, is that the only way you greet people?" Marlene asked.

Cloud smiled, Tifa's laughter could be heard from the kitchen, Denzel chuckled as he ate, even Shelke managed to smirk.

Vincent thought for a moment. "I guess it is," he finally relented. Cloud sat at Vincent's left and as he did so let out a huge sigh of relief. "Long trip?"

Cloud rubbed his eyes and shook his head. "Not really. It just feels good to be off that bike."

Tifa came out with the final plate of food. "Here you go, Cloud," she said setting it down in front of him.

He nodded. "Thanks Tifa," Cloud stated before digging in.

Tifa pulled out a chair and was about to sit down when the phone rang. "You have got to be kidding me! Will I ever get a chance to sit down in peace?" she exclaimed to the high heavens before grudgingly walking over to the phone and answering it. "Seventh Heaven, this is Tifa," she said into the phone. She pulled the phone away from her ear as the person on the other end was yelling at the top of their lungs; even the people around the table heard it. The yelling died down and Tifa nervously put the phone back to her ear. "Oh hey Yuffie," she said after a time. "Yeah we're here. Well, Red isn't yet. He said he'd be coming around lunch time. How far out are you guys? - Alright, see you in a bit then!" Tifa cheerfully said before hanging up.

"So that was Yuffie, but who was the one yelling?" Cloud asked.

"I was told it was Barret who at the time suddenly got into a shouting match with Cid."

"Not surprising," Vincent put in.

"True. Yuffie said Cid was in the process of landing the Shera just outside Edge's boundary and that they should be here within a half an hour."

The group at the table continued to talk until the door yet again swung open. Yuffie, Cid, and Barret walked in; Cait Sith was sitting on Barret's shoulder. They exchanged greetings with each other. As everyone was getting settled and sitting in chairs, Marlene sitting in Barret's lap, Tifa and Yuffie went to get drinks.

When they came back and served everyone Tifa said, "Just to let you know, we're going to need to make a store run today. I didn't think we would need more than what I have now."

"That's fine. Vincent, Cloud, Barret, and I were wanting to go to the weapons shop here just to browse," Cid informed.

"That's perfect actually. You guys can go to your weapons shop while Tifa and I take Shelke and the kids to the store," Yuffie proudly said.

"What about me?" Cait Sith asked.

"What would you like to do?" Tifa questioned kindly.

"Can I just stay here?"

"Yep. That is perfectly alright."

The group agreed and began their preparations to make their errands.

Hope you liked! Rate, review, etc. =)