Cloud Strife hated Nibelhiem summers. Ever since he was a kid he hated them with every fiber of his being and this summer was no different. He lay there in his bed at his house staring at the slowly oscillating fan above his head, pondering how he could get any cooler. It was too hot to walk to Tifa's Bar and Aeris (She had been revived using the shattered remains of the sacred Holy materia) was living in a Neo-Shinra funded, reconstructed Temple of the Ancients. That of course was way out of the picture for our spiky blond haired hero.
Barret was taking care of his daughter, Cid wasn't a personable person, Red was too boring with all of his talk of history and Vincent was downright angsty. Not to mention he didn't feel like falling prey to Yuffie's kleptomania. Needless to say, the overwhelming boredom wasn't helping Cloud's mood any. Just when Cloud was tempted to bang his head into a nearby wall to stop the boredom, he heard a knock on the door.
"Oh thank god…" thought Cloud as he walked up to answer the door. "Who is it?" he yelled. Surprisingly no one answered. Cloud nervously got his Ultima Weapon and flung open the door only to find that there was no one there. "What the…" Cloud pondered. He looked down at his feet and found a small brown package on his doorstep. He looked outside all around but no one was around. "Wonder what's inside…" Cloud asked to no one in particular.
He walked inside and sat down on his bed again before opening up the mysterious package. Resting atop two strange-colored materia was a note. Cloud began to read the note, which stated:
Dear Mr. Strife.
It has come to our attention that you are lacking sorely within the adventure department and we have sent two of our complementary materia for your enjoyment. Due to the nature of this event, we cannot tell you the true nature of this materia except one is an aura and the other is a skill. We warn you however that once these special materia are equipped onto a weapon, they cannot be unequipped, so choose wisely!
Sincerely, Golden Saucer.
Cloud folded the note up and stared down at the two materia. One was pink with swirling red inside while the other one was a misty gray, like smoke or mist. "Hmm…couldn't hurt to try them out on something…" Cloud thought. He walked over to a large trunk at the foot of his bed and dug through it until he found a spare Buster Sword, all slots open for materia. "Perfect!"
Cloud then equipped the Buster Sword and pondered where to use it. After a few minutes of deliberation, he decided to use the skill on the monsters just outside town. Cloud then gathered some items, double checked his materia and walked out the door…and right into Tifa.
"WHOAH! Sorry Tifa! Wasn't expecting you!" Cloud exclaimed nervously, for he had ran right into Tifa's expansive chest.
Tifa just gave a giggle and replied, "Oh, no problem. I wanted to surprise you, because you might be bored or something."
"Well I was until a few minutes ago…I got a package from The Golden Saucer with two weird materia in it. I was just leaving to test them out…you want to come with me?"
"Sounds fun! Lets stop over at my house before we leave so I can get my equipment."
"Affirmative." Cloud jokingly responded with a mock salute. He then started walking forward when something smacked his butt. He turned around with a jump, his face wide with shock. "Tifa!"
"Um…there was a mosquito on your butt…I didn't want it to bite you." Tifa explained, laughing nervously.
"Oh. Well, thanks Tifa, I wouldn't want to be walking around scratching my butt in public." Laughed Cloud. He then continued walking in the direction of Tifa's house and has he did, he didn't notice Tifa's dreamy look that was pasted upon her face, nor that the pink materia he had equipped in his Buster Sword was glowing very bright…