Prologue

Tifa Lockheart sighed as she switched off the little television. Without its light, the bar in Seventh Heaven was dark and quiet and Tifa strode across the room and drew the curtains, looking out over the quiet town of Nibelheim. It had been almost two years since the Meteor incident and she had spent this time happily in Nibelheim. There was nothing in the world that could make her go back to Midgar.

ShinRa had of course rebuilt the city... though only to a fraction of its smaller glory. All the slums had been reconstructed, hundreds of people trying to scrape a new life for themselves. The ShinRa building was rebuilt with only twelve floors and all the mako reactors bar one in the centre of Midgar, were destroyed. She cursed under her breath. After all the trouble they had caused , it disgusted her that a Mako reactor should remain intact, sucking the life from the planet. Yet, over a year ago when all the other reactors had been destroyed, Rufus, President Of ShinRa , had insisted that one reactor would supply the city with enough energy while doing no lasting harm to the planet. And so the reactor in Midgar had been left intact while around the world all other reactors were bombed or demolished.

Unfortunately,as Tifa saw it, it gave Midgar a source of power that no other city or town had and therefore an advantage over the rest of the world.

Who could stand against Midgar now she wondered? Who could stand when all the heroes were gone?

After the incident each had gone their seperate ways, having had done their bit for the planet what was the left to do but live the peaceful lives they had earned?

Cid had gone back to Rocket Town and had married Shera, before working on a new Airship for the ShinRa- The Pandemona. The mighty ship had only recently been finished. And as it was bigger and mightier than the Highwind, the president had let him keep the older ship and Cid worked constantly on the ship, upgrading it, bettering it to meet the challenge of its new rival, which Cid had described as a WeaponSlayer- a new model of battle airship.

Vincent had returned with Tifa to Nibelheim, taking up residence in the abandoned mansion, and at night he patrolled the town slaying any wandering beasts that crossed the town borders from the mountain above. During the day he slept and studied the many books in the mansions basement, seeking the answers he needed so badly.

Barret had taken Marlene back to Corel and helped rebuild the town into the mining success it once was, and with no Mako reactors it became a wealthy town. Earlier in the year Barret had been named the new Mayor of Corel.

Yuffie had returned to Wutai - albeit with considerably more materia than she had left with.

Cait Sith models had become more popular than ever and Reeves had started making mini models as presents for children.

Nanaki had returned as Guardian of Cosmo Canyon where he also took up his grandfathers place in his research laboratory. He had also settled down with another of his kind and had three young playful cubs.

As for Cloud, he had been offered a place at the head of SOLDIER and spent his days scouring the world for monsters to kill, to keep the communities safe.

And so since the incident everything had been peaceful and life had been good and in the whole Tifa was content.

Until today.

The newscast had taken the world by storm but for Tifa it had unsettled her more than anything else.

Last night, President Rufus had been assassinated.

And Tifa knew who the people would choose as his replacement.