Ok this is the first ff7 fanfic ive ever written so dont judge me!!i own nothing including the lullaby used in this song, which, if you recognised, is from mighty joe young if youve seen the movie!So enjoy chapter 1!!

Flames….that's all that I could see. Everything was burnt to the ground to ash…. And some flames still flickered within the surrounding smoke… nothing was left nor no was anyone…. My hometown had been burnt to the ground. I frantically began to search for my home, or, at least what was left of it, and my mother. I began running around searching, when I heard a cough. I frantically turned around and saw someone laying on the ground. I ran over to the person. I reached them and noticed it was my mother.

"Mom!" I cried falling on my knees beside her. I looked at her noticing she wasn't burnt in any way but noticed she was bleeding from her side.

She noticed me looking at her wound and quickly covered it up in hopes of me not worrying.

"Don't worry sweetheart… Its nothing." she said in a somewhat weak voice. I knew better.

She gave me a reassuring look that told me not to push the question anymore.

"Come on mom…let me get you somewhere safer than this place." I tried to help her stand up but she shook her head no.

"No….I…I'm afraid I cant…" she said .

I was fixing to argue back and tell her she had to try , but she pulled me down to lay next to her.

"I need you to promise me something Haley.." she said weakly.

"What?"

"Promise me that you'll take care of your brother…" she said, looking at me with sad but hopeful eyes.

"I…I promise!" I said strongly. My mother laughed weakly at my tone.

"I love you two very much… tell him I said that when you see him." she said sadly, shedding one tear.

"I will.." I started to cry.

My mother began to sing a lullaby that she would always sing to me and my brother when we were little.

'imba wimbo wa upepo, wakati unajiwa na

Imba wimbo wa upepo, wakati udoto tamu..' my mothers breathing was getting harder..

'wakona indoeala milele…' I sang the last verse alone.

I shot up out of my bed, sweating and crying…it was all just a dream. It had happened 5 years ago but it felt like I had just relived it all over again. I looked at the clock beside my bed. It read 4:30 A.M.. I was too awake to go back to sleep now, so I decided to get up and get dressed. I got up from my bed and walked over toward the dresser and pulled out my normal everyday clothes, which consisted of a purple tank top, short black shorts, my boots, and my gloves. After I had brushed my hair and teeth and had gotten dressed, I quietly opened my door and took a quick look around the hall. After I made sure no one else was awake, I quietly exited my room and headed towards the stairs. I quietly crept down them, hoping to wake the nobody up. Once I had reached the floor, I ran towards the front door of the 7th Heaven. I quickly turned the knob and opened the door and ran out, shutting the door behind me. Once outside, I breathed in the crisp, early morning air of Edge. For it just being 4 in the morning, there were already a lot of people out in the streets working or shopping. I noticed that the sun hadn't come up yet so I set off, looking for somewhere to watch the sunrise.

After about 30 minutes, I had reached the old church. Coming here always made me feel good and calm. I climbed up to the roof and sat down, watching the horizon and waiting for the sunrise. I closed my eyes enjoying the peace around me. I quietly began to hum a song my mom used to sing to me when I was little.

I continued sitting there, eyes closed, and humming, thinking I was alone….until I heard a familiar voice.

"Well babe what brings you here at 5:30 in the morning?" the voice asked.

I quickly turned around to face my unexpected guest. I looked up to come face to face with a flame haired man with an all, to familiar face.

Reno.

"….Reno? What are you doing here?" I asked surprised.

"Oh just stuff…actually I saw you running through town, and I was wondering where you could have been going in such a hurry, so I followed you."

Great so now a turk has decided to stalk me…could this get any better or worse?

"Oh" was all I had managed to say. I wasn't really in a mood to yell at him for following me.

He walked over and sat down next to me. Great. He probably came to ruin my morning.

"But," he started, "What are you doing here?" he asked me giving me a questioning glance.

"Well I couldn't sleep so I came here to watch the sunrise." I said

"Oh" was all he managed to say. I turned my gaze towards him. I noticed how his eyes shined when the tiniest thing of light hit them. His hair was tied up in its usual ponytail that went down to his back. His face was beautiful. And his lips looked so kissable…WOAH!!!!WOAH!!!WHAT! Did I just say I wanted to KISS RENO!!!!!

"Uhh, Haley? Are you ok?" Reno's voice brought me out of my insane thoughts. I noticed that I had been staring at him for more than a mere second.

"Huh? oh yea im fine." I said a little to quickly, but apparently he let it go.

We sat there in silence a few more minutes before Reno broke the silence again.

"Where's your weapon at?" he asked in a little concerned tone. I looked at him a moment in confusion until I actually realized what he was saying.

I had left my Hope Sword back at the bar, upstairs in my room. I left it there because I didn't really need it to come here. I mean there wasn't anyone or anything to fight, plus I didn't want to scare people. Besides, I was planning to fix it up some later…I mean I t doesn't need to be fixed because its already in perfect condition, but I was thinking about modifying, adding on some stuff….

"Oh! My Hope Sword! I left it back at the bar." I said answering his question.

He looked at me still, still confused, "Why?" he asked.

"Well.." I started off, "I didn't think I really needed it this morning, so I left It in my room at the bar. Plus I was planning on modifying it some later so yea…" I said finishing my answer to his question.

He just nodded when I answered his question. It had been awhile since I had seen Reno…at least 2 months tops, but every now and then, I would see him at the bar but we never really talked. This was the most I've talked to Reno since the battle against Kadaj and his brothers.

We sat there a few more minutes in silence. I would look over at Reno and his gaze was just on the horizon. I began to realize something was very off. Reno wasn't talking.

"Reno…"I started to say, "Is everything ok?" I asked in a concerned tone.

He broke his gaze off the horizon and met my gaze with his. He just grinned his cocky smile.

"Awww, is the little Strifette concerned for a turk?" he asked in an extremely annoying tone, using the nickname he'd given me a while back. He gave it to me so he could always tell who he was talking to, because since Cloud and I were brother and sister, he gave me the nickname, Strifette, seeing as im the girl Strife, and Cloud, being my brother, got to keep his last name with out any add on to it.

"Well you're being really quiet, and that's something your normally not," I said in an annoyed tone.

He just laughed at my tone. I turned my gaze back to the horizon, only to notice that it was beginning to light up.

"Reno shut up with your laughing and look!" I shouted somewhat. His laughter abruptly stopped and his gaze went towards the horizon. I heard a gasp of amazement and a "oh wow…" come from him.

I watched closely as the sun began to come up studying it. The lower part of the sky began to become a pinkish-purple mixed with orange, red, and yellow. As the sun began to rise up a little higher, the colors began to grow in the sky, as if someone were painting it over and over.

This was the best place, and probably the only place in Midgar, to come watch the sunrise and sunset.

"Wow…" Reno said with amazement in his voice, "This is probably the best sunrise I've ever seen!"

"Yea, well this the only place where you can actually watch it good enough…" I stated.

After a few more minutes of watching, the sun had finally risen up high enough to light up Midgar. I stood up and stretched, with a big yawn. Reno watched as I stood up, with a questioning look on his face.

"Well, this was really nice…" I said in a cheerful tone with a big smile, "I enjoyed the company!" I said getting a big grin from Reno.

"Yea it was. We should do it again sometime." he said with a look of hope in his eyes….hopes of me saying yes.

"Yea that would be nice…I'd like that." I said getting an even bigger grin from him.

I began to head towards the hole in the roof from which I jumped through to the roof. Before I could even get close to jumping through it I heard Reno begin to talk again.

"Hey ill walk you back." he said walking over to me, and jumping down the hole before me.

I followed in response, and jumped down with ease and grace.

We talked about whats been going on with our lives and such and before I knew it, we were back at the bar.

"Thanks.." I said to him.

"No problem…" he said with a smile in his voice.

"See ya around Strifette…" and with that, he left.

I opened the door to the bar quietly, as in hopes to not wake anyone who was still asleep up. I shut it very quietly behind me and began to walk towards the kitchen. But before I could even move 5 steps, I felt a hand enclose my wrist.

"Where do you think your going?" I heard a concerned voice ask.

"To the kitchen…to find some breakfast…" I said trying to move forward once more, but the grip on my arm was still firmly in place.

"Arrrgghhh…Cloud, let me go!" I sad annoyed. I turned around to face my big brother, only to see him smiling at me.

"Not until you tell me where you were…" he said, the smile disappearing off his face.

The one thing I will never understand is why he gets so upset when I go somewhere alone just to relax or something.

I gave a long sigh, "I went to watch the sunrise." I said.

His face didn't look as if he believed me.

"Alone?" he asked concerned.

"Well that was the intention of the plan…..but I had company later on…." I said sweetly. His face turned into a frown.

"Who else was with you?"

"Uhhhh….hehe…ummm…Reno.." I said very softly, in hopes he wouldn't here me.

"WITH WHO?!?!?!?!?!?!?" apparently he heard me.

See, Cloud still doesn't trust Reno….or the entire group of turks for that matter. Even though they've turned over a new leaf and everything, Cloud still has plenty for them left inside him. They still fight for Shinra, but they do it for the planet now, trying to fix their mistakes they made all those years ago. Even Rufus Shinra is trying to help fix his mistakes he made with Shinra, which kinda gives you the idea that he is sorry for all the problems and mistakes they caused. But, alas, Cloud still cant seem to realize that they're not all that bad as they used to be. Sure, they still killed people and stuff, but their attempts to help fix their mistakes is showing improvement.

My thoughts of Turk improvements and progress were interrupted with my brothers angry voice and face.

"Why the hell were you with Reno?!?!?!?!?!?"

Seriously you need to get your ears checked cloud…."I told you my intentions were to be by myself, but he just came and kept me company…..god why do you freak out about every little thing!?!? Its not a big deal Cloud! Its not the friggin end of the world!!!" I finished with lack of oxygen from talking so fast.

"Haley, he's a Turk! And a dangerous one too! I cant trust him!….and neither should you…." he said, talking softly with the last words of his sentence.

I looked at my chocobo head of a brother and gave him a very angry, yet sad glare.

"I never said I trusted him Cloud…but I think that he's trying really hard to improve his reputation… not as the bad guy, but the guy that says he's sorry for all the things he's done and caused…I don't see him as the bad guy I know about…but as the guy who's better than the way he really acts… I don't know if I can truly trust him…but I think that I can learn to trust him if can trust my mind…and my heart…" I said softly and started to walk away.

"But…" I said once more," You may not trust him now…and may never will…but you have your opinion and I have mine…yours may be that you will never trust him, but mine says to at least try….time will tell us what to do." and with that said I walked off and went upstairs, leaving Cloud to contemplate on my words.