Do do do doo dooo doooo

Doodoodoodoo doodoo doo de doo

Cloud remotely noticed that his cell phone was ringing and looked down towards his pocket.

It's her… again.

He took out his cell phone and flipped it open with a practiced flick of his wrist. Cloud hesitated just slightly before pushing the ignore button. He then decided it was better just to turn it off. Cloud put the cell phone back into the pocket, adjusted his shades and revved the engine of his motorcycle just a little.

Of course. Why would he answer? He hasn't answered the last hundred times.

Tifa set down the phone on the cradle harshly. She knew that taking out her anger by hitting her phone wasn't going to help much in the long run, but it was just too hard to resist.

Speaking of hitting things…

Tifa quickly walked to the elevator that took her to the hidden basement of 7th Heaven and hit the hidden down button. When she entered the makeshift AVALANCHE headquarters she eyed her punching bag that was so worn that some of the stuffing was falling out.

I really should get a new one…

She then proceeded to pretend that the worn punching bag was a certain spiky-haired blonde and punched it until it was no longer of any practical use.

Cloud parked his bike and got off. He took his shades off and put them away. He squinted his eyes slightly as they adjusted to the light.

Why is it so bright out?

Well, it wasn't actually that bright. It was one of those days where the clouds hung over the city and magnified the sun to the point where you could get a nasty sunburn if you weren't careful. Cloud entered the Chocobo farm's barn and looked around.

"Hello? Billy?" Cloud called out.

The barn was dark and it didn't appear that anyone was there. Suddenly, Cloud heard some objects falling behind him to his right. He tensed and turned, his mako eyes glowing with a bit more intensity.

"Oh, sorry Cloud! I didn't mean to scare you. I was just looking for something and I didn't hear you. I must have been too absorbed in my searching."

"Oh, no problem Billy-- I was just here for Zack."

Zack had been Cloud's faithful black chocobo for three years now. He was the best-trained chocobo that Cloud had ever had. More than that, the human Zack had been a good friend to Cloud. All he had left of him was his buster sword. He felt that by naming his most trustworthy traveling companion after Zack that he was paying respect to him. He wasn't too sure about the whole thing now. I mean, does anybody really want a chocobo to be named after them? But, alas, it was already done.

After Cloud had taken Zack out for a ride and brought him back to the stables, he was brushing him just as his pager went off.

Another job? About time...

Cloud took note of the number and the address. He was familiar with the part of Midgar where he was supposed to go. Actually, ever since the events of two years ago, he knew the layout of Midgar quite well. Even now, with Midgar in ruins at some places, it had improved since the days where ShinRa monopolized it.

When Cloud entered the building he noticed several things. Firstly, everything was white. Almost unnaturally white. Secondly, there were guards in black suits scattered in front of certain doors. Thirdly, that some of these guards looked familiar-- particularly the one with the red hair, and the bald man that had dark sunglasses.

Turks… this just makes my day.

Cloud couldn't believe his bad luck. If there was anything that could make things worse, he didn't even know what it was. Luckily, the two Turks seemed like they were going to behave themselves. They were both looking surprisingly professional and they pretended not to take notice of Cloud, even though Cloud knew they were aware of his presence.

Oh well… into the lions' den.

Cloud figured the door the Turks were guarding was exactly the place he was wanted to go so he set his eyes straight at the door and continued towards it. Once he got within a few feet, Rude opened the door for him without even giving him a glance. Cloud shifted his gaze to the right and saw Reno giving him a sassy grin.

Damn Turks, never change.

Cloud just ignored him and stepped into another glaringly white room.

Inside the room Cloud was surprised to see not only a man in a wheelchair, but a man in a wheelchair with a sheet covering his body and face. Cloud instantly found himself feeling distrust for the man.

He seems suspicious.

But then again, maybe the poor man just had some disfiguring scars from a near fatal accident or the such.

But, why would he be involved in something like that?

"Ex-SOLDIER Cloud, thank you for coming."

Okay, how does he know that? ShinRa was basically destroyed to the point of Reeve being one of the last people who truly knew about ShinRa and the companies workings. Unless…

"Rufus ShinRa?" Cloud ventured.

"Nothing gets past you, ex-SOLDIER Cloud, as I expected. I have a propos--"

"I have no need of your service," Cloud interrupted.

"You might want to hear me out. I don't expect you to believe me, but I can offer you something you would never imagine is possible. I want to offer you redemption, ex-SOLDIER Cloud."

"What do you mean by that?" Cloud replied, harshly.

"I can bring her back, Cloud. I can bring her back to life."

Cloud's first urge was to yell that Rufus was a liar, but he wasn't about to behave like a seven-year-old child in front of Rufus ShinRa. He was beyond puzzled.

Why is Rufus offering to help me? How is it even possible to bring Aerith back?

"Don't play games with me, Rufus! I know that's not possible."

"Why, ex-SOLDIER Cloud, I didn't expect you to believe me-- certainly not immediately, anyways. Just muse over the thought. Consult your friends. Come back here in two days with your answer," Rufus said calmly from underneath the white sheet.

"What do you want from me in return, Rufus? I know you; you won't give me something for free," Cloud voiced his suspicion.

"Why, let's just say that ShinRa feels responsible for her death and we-- I would like to rectify the situation as best as possible. Remember, come back in two days." Rufus said with a flick of his hand to signal for Cloud to leave.

Cloud followed suit and walk past the Turks and out the door.

END CHAPTER I