Prologue

Reno landed the helicopter in the town square of Nibelheim. As he and Rude got out, they looked at the teams putting the fires out.

"Well, it looks like this is going to be one hell of a clean up job. Sephiroth sure was busy." Reno said.

"You heard what Tseng said, it's going to be a cover up job." Rude reminded him.

Reno shrugged. "Whatever. It's our job, so it's all the same. Let's go see the reactor."

When they got there, they saw Hojo's lackeys taking away Cloud Strife and Zack Fair. When Reno moved out of their way, he saw a cowboy boot sticking out from behind one of the capsules containing test subjects. Checking it out, he saw a dark-haired girl laying in a pool of blood. Thinking she was dead, he went to pull her out to throw her in the cremation pit with the other dead, but he heard her groan as he touched her.

Carefully getting her out, he saw the extent of her injuries, and grabbed his pocket knife, cutting her top off in strips for use as makeshift bandages. Then he put his jacket around her to get her body temperature back up. When he carried her out of the reactor, she started mumbling.

"I knew you would save me Cloud, I just knew it." the girl said as she tightened her grip around his neck.

"There are no clouds, it's sunny out." Reno replied.

As soon as Reno got outside, a man ran up to him.

"What are you doing with Tifa?" the man demanded to know.

"You know her?" Reno asked.

"Yes, I'm Zangan, I'm her instructor."

"Then you can take her." Reno handed her to the man, but Tifa resisted at first.

"Don't leave me again, Cloud!" Tifa tried to hold onto Reno, but she was too weak, and Zangan took hold of her.

Once Reno was unencumbered, he went back to his duties as part of the cleanup squad, putting the girl out of his mind.

The members of AVALANCHE faced the Turks, weapons drawn and everyone had assumed a battle stance. Tifa stared at the red-headed man, something about him seemed familiar. Cloud and Barret fought the Turks off, for which Tifa was grateful. She had exchanged a few blows with the red-headed man, but for some reason she instinctively held back.

"Are you okay?" Cloud and Barret asked her after the Turks had fled. They had seen that she wasn't fighting at her best.

"I'm not sure. I'm going to find Zangan. I can't be losing my edge now." Tifa explained.

Tifa approached the cabin when she suddenly felt movement behind her. She grabbed the staff that was quickly descending towards her head and wrenched it away from whoever held it. Spinning around, she faced Zangan.

"Your reflexes are still good." he said approvingly.

"But the last fight I was in, I held back. That's unacceptable."

"Tell me about it. The water should be hot enough for tea now." Zangan said as he welcomed her into the cabin.

Once the tea had been served, Tifa started to explain. "I was fighting a red-headed man and for some reason I didn't really want to fight him."

Zangan stared hard at for a moment before walking to a chest and pulled out a package. "The next time you see him, give him this."

"How will giving him something help me fight him?" she asked as he handed her the package.

Zangan shook his head. "You're asking the wrong question."

"What's the right question then?"

"You'll figure it out when the time is right."

When her team ran into the Turks again, the Turks left them alone, claiming they were on vacation. That night, she took the package and knocked on the red-headed man's door, and when he opened it, he just stared at her, neither friendly or hostile.

"What do you want?" he said.