Prologue

He was here.

The hunter smiled at the sky. He was here, in this city. It was the beginning of what she had hoped for. All they had waited for since then would finally come to pass. The vengeance of all those empty deaths...

They had both come the same long way to get here, hunter and hunted. The thought had not crossed her mind before, but she had the time to consider it now. All the way from the icy mountains of Nibelheim, where all had burned, to the floating city of Midgar. It was the same here as it had been in their old home. The people on the top plate were engulfed in decadence, and the ones in the slums were choking on their own filth. Exactly the same as the end of their home. It should have been expected, she thought critically. What good could come from this unnatural place? Humans were the descendants of the Ancients. They weren't meant to live in the sky and not be able to see the stars.

It didn't matter that much. She chastised herself for thinking of it and not keeping watch for him. They'd all die. The calamity from the skies...the return of Mother would wipe them from the planet. Only three matters remained before it would come to pass.

She would kill him with her own hands.

*

Frustrated, Tseng turned away from his view of the street. He still hadn't seen what he was looking for yet. High atop the slums on from his perch on an apartment building, he couldn't possibly have missed it. A woman lay in wait in an alley below him, obviously a bounty hunter, but she had done nothing yet to irritate him yet. He still couldn't see them yet, and that was what bothered him. It was past the time limit. He wouldn't put it past Reno, but Jessie was normally so meticulous about these things, especially now...

His partner chuckled. "You don't need to worry yet. It's only been a couple of minutes past the deadline."

He smiled wryly at Rude. "Is it that bad? I was hoping I'd be able to keep it under control."

Rude laughed, the noise cutting through the cold air like a knife. He was grateful for the noise. It had been becoming too quiet lately. "You never could manage to hide your expressions well. Even when you were a Turk." He paused to rub his hands together. "It's cold tonight."

"I don't mind it. It makes it harder to smell the Mako. It gets worse when it's hot... but I'm rambling. Of course you know that. You've lived in Midgar longer than I have." Tseng coughed raspily. His years in the city were beginning to take a toll on him. He should have left when he had the chance.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. It comes and goes. I've been meaning-"

The explosion from the reactor interrupted him. Rude whistled lowly, looking up at the flames licking the sky. "I guess you got what you were waiting for."

Tseng grinned. He never thought he'd be happy to see something like that, and breathed in the smell of sulfur and burning Mako. "Do you think they're alright?"

Rude nodded. "Of course. You know that as well as I do. That's why you picked them. Reno's good at this sort of thing. He know this city and the reactors like the back of hand, and Jessie's the same."

"He had his doubts about her." Tseng sighed. "I did too, for a little while. It's hard to know where Shinra employees' loyalties lie, especially with someone in such a high position. But we needed a hacker..." He surveyed the land, watching people flee from the reactor. The bounty hunter was standing her ground. One in blue however, was not running away, but heading straight into it. "Hmph. Looks like the president's sent out his lapdog again."

Rude smirked, running a hand along the barrel of his gun. "Cloud Strife again? Want me to shoot him? He wouldn't think to look up here."

"No. There are too many witnesses. He'll probably go and get himself killed in a mission someday soon anyways." It still burned at him to see that man in the uniform that was once his. President Shinra's standards must have sunk so low. It was advantageous to them to have such a fool working for the enemy, but still...

"Don't let it get to you." Rude shrugged. "It's not worth it to get involved with the Turks. You know. There are still other people on the force who have the skills that Strife doesn't."

He squinted, and saw two figures run out of the reactor. Reno was dragging Jessie by the wrist and from the looks of it, she was putting up quite a struggle. He knocked over the bounty hunter as he ran past, sending her sword falling to the ground, and dashed past Cloud Strife, heading in the direction of the train. "Jessie and Reno just got out."

"We should get to the train then." Rude finished. "Elena should have some drinks ready for us when we get back to Seventh Heaven. We should celebrate tonight. It's our first step to taking down Shinra."

The Planet should rest a little easier tonight, Tseng thought, and instantly realized what a stupid thought it was. It sounded like the same sort of nonsense that she would have said. He pushed the idea out of his mind. "Alright. Let's go." He smiled brightly. "We should have a toast once we get to the base- to the future of Avalanche."

*

Cloud Strife jogged determinedly towards the reactor. He may be a rookie in the Turks, but he was certain that Biggs was wrong for not bothering to send the Turks to the reactor. Soldier couldn't handle this like he could! The rebels needed to be taken alive. All Soldier knew how to do was slice and dice.

Well, he'd sure show Biggs. President Shinra would be very pleased if he brought the rebel scum to him. Maybe he'd get a promotion. Or an apology from Biggs for yelling at him. Either one would be fine.

Two people came running out to the burning reactor, a gangly looking redhead pulling a girl along with him. "Halt!" Cloud drew his gun. That should have made them stop, at least according to his training. They were still coming though. "You're in violation of martial law! You're under arrest! Ah- I'll shoot! I have a gun! It's right here! I'll-"

"Sorry, I can't stop!" he yelled, knocking down a woman who was in the alley. "Whoops, didn't see ya there! It's my wife, she's injured! She'll be fine though, just gotta get her home and let her get started on dinner!" he grinned at the Turks puzzled countenance. "And you, sir, are doing a fine job of reading straight from the manual. I'd salute you if my hands were free. SOLDIER should be coming, so don't worry about us! Bye!" he ran into the crowd, and Cloud couldn't discern his position. Not that he could fire into the crowd anyway. Innocent people could be hurt.

"Dammit!" It was just his luck to mess up like that. He could have at least called an ambulance for the guy's wife.

"Feh..." The woman brushed herself off. "I wouldn't worry about it. You must be-
Familiar. I've seen you before.

"-Cloud Strife."

"Yeah." He shrugged offering her a hand. "Cloud Strife, of the Turks." Not if Biggs has his say, he thought dejectedly.

"Thank you." She bowed lightly, and picked up her sword, swinging it in a figure eight. "Do you know what happened?"

"Umm...not yet. Watch the news tonight, I'm sure it'll be there. Don't worry though, Shinra will catch the people who did this. It's not going to happen again. Not if the Turks have anything to say about it!"

"Well, that's certainly impressive." Her voice sounded faintly sarcastic, but the expression in her eyes looked earnest. Those eyes... They glowed, just like someone in SOLDIER. "Excuse me? Is there something on my face?"

"Huh?" He shook his head, realizing that he had been staring. "Oh, no! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to seem rude, it just... Your eyes, they're very pretty."

"Thank you." She sheathed her sword, moving around that heavy thing easily. "I was... in SOLDIER. But that was a long time ago." A flash of anger crossed those beautiful green pools, but disappeared quickly. She glanced to the right. "You'd better go. I think your commander wants you."

He turned. Biggs was off screaming in the distance. He could barely make out the words, but he looked furious. "Yeah. I probably should. There's not much left to do here."

"We'll meet again, I hope."

He raised his eyebrows, surprised. "Yeah, that'd be nice. The Turks are headed out for the Temple of the Ancients tomorrow, but I'll be back soon. I- I mean that-"

"CLOUD! GODAMMIT, WE HAVE TO GO!"

"It was nice meeting you!" He waved, heading towards their car. She watched him get in the back, and the car sped down the street, faster than it should have in a residential area.

Cloud. We meet again.