Final Fantasy VII
Memories Not Forgotten
Author's Note: After finally sweeping through my brand-new copy of Final Fantasy VII, I've decided to delete the older version of the story, and start out new. A few more things I must point out.
(1)The characters' costumes and such will be the ones from the game, instead of Advent Children, as it was in the older version of this story.
(2)The time place of this story is set DIRECTLY after the game. As in, right after the fight with Sephiroth.
(3)Sticking to my usual manner, I will not least pairings just yet. Mainly because I simply haven't decided. I like to leave the couples out at first as a surprise.
(4)The rating may go from T to M if I find it needed.
(5)In the older version, I pointed out that if the reader(s) didn't like the idea I had for my story, to not read it altogether. This, apparently, was the reason for my lack of reviews. So, here I am, asking what whether you hate how the story turns out as it moves along, or like it, maybe even LOVE it, don't forget to review.
(6) There will be no characters from Advent Children in this fiction. No Kadaj, or anyone. However, I will be throwing in a few of my own characters from time to time. Not Mary Sue's, mind you. More along the lines of my own NPC's. Probably the only Mary Sue I'll actually be using is the new main antagonist, and his lackeys.
)Disclaimer( I do not own Final Fantasy VII, or any of its names, characters, and so fourth. Square Soft owns all of which.
That should do it. So without further adieu, let's try this once more.
Chapter 1
On The Way Home
The large room was dark, absolutely dark. It was wide, meaning there was much space for moving around in, but she dared not to.
There she sat, in the corner of this dark and lonely place, cold steel at her back and legs. She was huddled in the corner, with a blanket curled around her. Suddenly, a faint queasiness came over her.
'Gawd… I wish we could just get there already!' She thought.
Yuffie sat quietly against a control panel on the bridge of the Highwind. After their fateful battle with Sephiroth, much of the group was far too tired to fly anymore. So they 'anchored' the ship just on the border of the Great Glacier, and decided to sleep through the night before continuing their journey back home.
How she hated the fact that they all agreed to go their separate ways once they reached Rocket Town. Yuffie had grown so used to being around all these people, she couldn't possibly leave them behind.
Plus, she wasn't looking too forward to returning to her father back in Wutai.
But it was eventually agreed, and the long trip to Rocket Town would be the last journey they would all take… together. All except, of course, for Aerith.
It had hit the young ninja directly when she witnessed the flower girl clad in pink murdered in cold blood at the hands of a former Shin-Ra general. But she knew who it had hit hardest.
'Cloud.' She agreed in her mind.
Cloud, he could be a real jerk sometimes! Always threatened her with that huge sword of his if she ever stole their materia again. Not that she had thought about it once or twice, but she always thought against it. That sword was really huge!
Then there were the others. Silently the ninja sat up straight from her huddled position, still trying to stay warm, naming off each member of the group.
'Red XIII.' A little odd, being a talking red dog, but still a respected member of the party. Yuffie recalled a point in their trip when she actually had the nerve to throw a stick, and tell him to fetch it. And she would never forget the cold look she received, never again making such a mistake.
'Tifa.' The only remaining female of the party besides herself. Though she always seemed distant, instead wanting to be around Cloud, it was nice to sit and talk with a fellow female now and then. Maybe it was just her, but Yuffie often felt odd being in a group of mainly men.
'Cid.' Another jerk! It seemed no one could say a single thing to that man without him spazzing out and cursing like there was no tomorrow. All in all, though, Cid was a gentle man, and looked out for her, as well the other members as well, despite being somewhat of a potty-mouth.
'Vincent.' Distant, cold, often uncaring. She had mixed emotions for the marksman clad in crimson. Often she actually thought she was in love with him. What could it have been? The fact he was so distant? Still, he might not have been so open about his emotions as she would have liked.
'Cait Sith.' Well, she didn't know much about the odd character that was Cait, but he was still a good guy—er, toy—to be around. Though she knew Cait was only a toy being controlled by a Shin-Ra employee, it was figured none of them would meet the man behind the toy. So they grew to like the toy instead.
'Barret.' Since the two barely spoke with each other, maybe she wouldn't have missed him that much.
A strange figure caught Yuffie's eye, just as she named off the last person. She turned, squinting to look beyond the black veil that surrounded her. "Who's there?"
It appeared to be a large, round white figure, with a smaller shadow on top of it.
"Cait?"
Slowly, she got up from her place, letting the blanket fall off of her. She wore nothing but the green top and the tan bottoms of her outfit. She saw no need to change into sleeping attire. Taking soft steps, she edged toward the odd thing, and as her eyes became used to the dark, the object became more and more clear. It was Cait!
But was 'he' awake? Maybe the person who controlled him was asleep back at headquarters. The toy was stone still, and didn't move in any way.
It wasn't until Yuffie outstretched her hand to gently touch the soft fabric of the giant moogle, that all was silent and still. The moogle tipped forward, the head silently thumping against the floor. The cat body on top was sent flying, smacking Yuffie in the chest region.
With a shriek, Yuffie bounded back to her corner, and dove underneath the blanket, and all was silent once more. That is, until a familiar voice rang out from across the bridge leading to the rest of the ship.
"What the hell is going on? Shut up! Some of us are trying to sleep!"
It was Cid.
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By now the snow was falling harder than it was before. Nothing could be seen for miles except snow. And roughly twenty miles into the horizon, mountains. It was freezing. Not freezing like a euphemism. It was literally below the freezing point.
A flame-haired figure stood out above the others. Decked out in a blue suit, he was huddled upon the ground, dangerously close to a fire. His legs were brought up to his chest, and his arms were crossed in front of them to try and keep himself warm.
"Reno, sir!" Came a voice from behind him.
The Turk looked around to see a soldier, in a plain Shin-Ra soldier red outfit. A pistol was settled at the soldier's belt.
"What?" The redhead replied, clearly annoyed.
"Sir," the soldier began, making a small salute, "Your orders?"
How annoying. The idiot interrupted his thoughts for something like that? "Cloud's little buddies are supposed to be nearby. Apparently they're to fly over this area sometime at dawn. We're to camp out here and intercept them once they pass." He finished, and waved a dismissive hand,
With his orders, the soldier saluted again, and vanished into the swirling snow, possibly to the troop's own fire.
Weapons were all gathered in a small cache dug nearby. Rocket launchers, guns of all sorts, grenades, and extra magazines of ammunition. Since he was deployed as the leader here, Reno called the shots. Or, that's what he would have wished, as he was once again interrupted by a voice.
"Reno." The voice was plain, and rough sounding.
"Rude, there you are." Reno eventually stood up, and turned to meet the bald Turk in shades. "What's the news?"
"The Highwind is just nearby." Rude spoke lowly, not liking to talk so much. "Cloud and the others have anchored down for the night."
Taking this information in, Reno closed a fist against his chin, thinking. "Where do you think they're heading to, now that Sephiroth is gone?"
"….." Rude did not reply, only grunted, as if to say he didn't know.
Then it hit him. They were returning to Rocket Town. He had heard that the old pilot was traveling with them, and was going to return home after the journey.
"Rude, have the troops set up their camps over that way," Reno stopped, only to point a finger in a direction in front of him. "If they are returning to Rocket Town, we'll catch them as they cross that mountain range."
The other Turk simply nodded, and was about to walk off, but felt he had to ask one last thing. "Reno… exactly who is paying us for this?"
"………"
Reno cringed, wishing he hadn't ask that.
"I'll tell you later, Rude." Was all he could say at the moment.
Rude barely heard him over the howling winds, but he trusted his fellow Turk. So, he turned, and walked off to give the orders. Reno in the meanwhile re-crouched next to the fire, trying to warm his frozen limbs while recalling what had happened earlier that day:
Reno had been walking around the fields between what was left of Midgar, and the nearby Chocobo Farm, for no real reason. Now that most of the Shin-Ra employees were all dead, it seemed the Turks were nothing but mercenaries now. They were all dead. Rufus, Scarlet, Heidegger, and a few others. The rest, like Palmer, Hojo, Tseng, and Reeve were unknown to him where they were. All he knew was that the Turks were on their own.
In fact, Reno had often thought, as he wandered the fields by himself, what were they going to do for money?
Odd that almost right then, a voice had called out to him.
"Want a job?"
Acting purely on instinct, Reno had pulled out the EMR rod, ready to fight off whatever had chosen to attack him. "Who the hell?" Was he hearing things?
"I said do you want a job?"
There it was again. He couldn't be going crazy. Again he asked against the wind, "Who are you? No, WHERE are you?"
Right then, several lines of silver light rose up from the ground, and in an instant, a figure was standing before the armed Turk.
Dressed in the oddest of ways was a man of about Reno's size. His hair was long, about shoulder length, and neatly cut like silk. And it was a light cyan color. Reno hadn't even bothered worrying about his clothes, he was more drawn towards the bright color of the other man's hair. "What kind of job?" He asked straightforwardly.
The other man's lips curved at the ends, forming a smirk of sorts. "Nothing major. I just want you and your partners to take out several people for me."
It seemed this man wanted to get straight to business. So, he was going to also. "Who's the people, and how much?"
"I want you to take down Cloud's ship, the Highwind, with all of his little friends inside it. I'll pay you twenty-five-thousand gil if you do."
Reno's jaw dropped. Who did this clown think he was? "Cloud and his entire bunch? In the Highwind? I wouldn't do that for one million, pal. Try again." He shot towards the cyan-haired man.
The other immediately said back, "Well, how much do you want?"
"You probably don't even have how much I want."
"Try me."
"Two-million?"
"Done."
"I'll provide you and whoever you take along with you all the necessary equipment you need." He finished.
After receiving the man's PHS number, Reno turned to leave, but shot the mystery man one last look over his shoulder. "Who the hell are you anyway?"
He barely had time to answer, as he vanished the same way he had come. "Just call me Narak."
"Weird name." Reno spoke aloud to none one, before turning and heading off to inform Rude and Elena of their jobs.