Disclaimer: I own nothing except for Emily, Mia, and Jules. They are my brilliant masterpieces.

Note: You should know that this takes place right after Final Fantasy VII.

The sun began to rise on a clear morning, but no one in Edge could see it. No Meteor hung in the sky, threatening the very fabric of the planet. It was no more. In the Eranda Inn in Edge, Cloud smiled to himself as he looked out the window. 'Beautiful, it was worth it.' He rolled over on his other side and watched Tifa sleep. She looked truly happy for the first time since she went with Avalanche on their first mission. 'Poor Jessie, Wedge and Biggs. They'll never get to see what a beautiful place the world can be.' Cloud sighed and got out of bed. Nanaki was lying on the floor at the foot of the bed. Cait Sithe was sitting in a corner curled in a ball on top of his Moogle. He looked like he was sleeping but really he was turned off. 'Reeve must be doing something. Wish he would come out and meet us one of these days.' Cloud walked over to the window and looked outside. Vincent was sitting in the middle of the Inn's yard.

Cloud went outside and sat next to him.

"It's gone. She won't be there, will she?" Vincent turned to face him when he sat down.

"I don't think she ever was there," Cloud said after Vincent had explained that he had waited the whole week for Lucrecia before they set out to fight Sephiroth; when Cloud had wanted everyone to discover who they were fighting for.

"But I saw her. The time I was there before. And the basket…It was the one she was holding before…" Vincent didn't sound very convinced.

"I think you might have hallucinated the whole thing. I mean, it was so close to the end of the world. Maybe… you didn't want to think she was dead. You were gone for two hours," Cloud said not sure if he was helping or not.

"Two hours?" Vincent was confused.

"Yup, from the time you entered the woods to the time you came out it was about two hours. We were worried. We almost came in after you." Cloud told him.

"Two hours…No. I wasn't there for two hours…. Maybe it was a hallucination…Or maybe I just spent more time wandering around in the wood then I thought," Vincent was thinking out loud and wasn't making any sense to Cloud.

"Could be… Either way, she wasn't there when you spent almost a whole week sitting in that cave holding the basket of bread watching the water fall. What makes you think going back there now will bring her back?" Cloud knew his words hurt but he was only trying to help his friend.

"Maybe Meteor scared her. Maybe she went into hiding when it got too close," Vincent was holding onto the only hope he had left and wouldn't let go of it.

Cloud sighed. "What do you want to do now?" Cloud asked the former Turk.

"I… well…. Part of me wants to go back to the waterfall and find her. The other part wants to go back to Midgar and look after the people there. Then another part just wants to continue on with life as it is now."

Cloud didn't know what to say. After a moments thought he answered, "We can't continue on like this anymore. Sephiroth is gone. Meteor is destroyed. Jenova is gone as well. ShinRa no longer exists and the Turks… Well I don't know what happened to the Turks but what else is there to fight? Nothing. I think we should all return home and try to live a normal life. Maybe meet up with Reeve. You could always hibernate again. Or you could go to the waterfall and live there. I can't tell you what to do Vincent, I really can't. You need to follow your heart," Cloud didn't know if the whole hibernating thing was a serious suggestion or not.

"I have no idea. What are you going to do Cloud?" Vincent sighed and looked at the mercenary.

"I don't know either." It was an honest enough response.'What am I going to do?'

Cloud and Vincent sat there in the middle of the Inn's yard for some time before Cloud's stomach forced him back inside to find something to eat. In the front room of the Inn that served as a bar and a reception area, Tifa and Barret sat together at the bar drinking away merrily.

"Hey!" Cloud called as he came up behind them.

Tifa's eyes lit up when she saw Cloud. She had nothing to fear anymore. Every thing she had been scared of was gone. Now all she wanted was to be with Cloud. She didn't care where she was, just as long as she was with him.

" Hey Cloud! Wat'cha doin' up so early in the mornin'?" Barret asked as he took another swig of his beer, already half drunk.

"I was talking to Vincent." Cloud answered sitting in between the two.

"When I got up you weren't in the room so I came here and found Barret swigging away at his beers." Tifa looked at Cloud in concern. 'He should be happier… What's bothering him? Cloud laughed at that. Barret hadn't been drunk since the last time they were in the Seventh Heaven.

"Yeah well I woke up to the beautiful sun. Yuffie, Nanaki, Cid and Cait Sithe are still asleep?"

Barret hiccupped, then answered "Yup!"

"You're acting like Reno! Trying to get yourself drunk like that!" Cloud teased Barret.

"Yeah well I ain't no double crossin' bastard like that coward is!" Barret spat drunkenly then finished of his beer and swore at the bartender who wasn't fast enough in getting him the next one.

Tifa ignored Barret.

"So, Cloud where are we going to next?" Tifa asked Cloud.

"Probably Rocket Town or Cosmo Canyon. Maybe even North Corel." Cloud clearly had no idea but Tifa seemed to understand why. 'He doesn't want to leave any of his friends.'

"Hey guys!" Yuffie cried as she came into the bar room. Nanaki followed her.

"Hey!" Cloud waved and Tifa jumped off her chair and walked over to the girl.

"You guys are never going to believe what I just thought of!" Yuffie said mysteriously as she walked past Tifa to stand beside Cloud.

"She kept bugging me with her theory that I finally told her to come tell you guys." Nanaki joked as he sat on his haunches beside Cloud. Barret hiccupped a couple more times and finished off another beer. He quickly got another then turned to Yuffie.

"What the hell are you so excited about?" He asked the teenager.

"Well, I was thinking that since we've been to all kinds of different places because of our…" She paused searching for the word to describe their travels. "Our… Mission I was thinking we could return to Kalm! You know to enjoy it a bit. It's a very pretty town!" Yuffie seemed satisfied with the idea considering that they did say they would return to some of the places they visited to enjoy their beauty once more.

"I think it's a lovely idea!" Tifa exclaimed now as excited as the teenager. She turned to Cloud. "What do you think?"

"I think it's a good idea… We just need to get Cid to agree to let us use the Highwind to travel around." His words made sense and they made Yuffie screech with delight.

"Sounds like a fuckin' plan to me!" Cid had entered the bar and heard Yuffie explain her plan to the guys.

"Wonderful!" exclaimed Cait Sithe, who was right behind him.

"Good. Then we all agree that we should travel to Kalm?" Cloud asked everyone around him. They nodded and murmured in agreement. "Good. Let's go ask Vincent." Cloud left the bar and went back outside where Vincent still sat staring at the sky.

"Vincent?" Cloud asked coming up behind the man.

"Yeah?" Vincent answered turning around to see his friends behind Cloud.

"We were thinking of going back to Kalm. Do you want to come with?" Cloud asked nervously.

"I knew you would come up with something to do… Let's go!" Vincent seemed all too eager to leave the Inn so everyone agreed. They gathered up their stuff, paid their bill, and hopped on board the Highwind.

"Let's go to Kalm." Yuffie cried excitedly.

Cid got the Highwind going in that direction and Yuffie nearly passed out with her motion sickness.

The Highwind landed in a field just outside the town. They really had no idea what they wanted to do there, so when they entered the town they wandered its streets. Yuffie was instantly intrigued by the tallest building in the town. It was a four story building that had a beautiful garden in front yard. The front half of the building was open and supported by pillars. Yuffie giggled and wandered through the garden. It was filled with beautiful flowers. Almost as beautiful as the flower Cloud had bought from Aeris when he first met her. No flower could ever be as beautiful as those who grew in the church in Midgar. There were several statues in the garden as well. They were of various people and creatures. One even looked like Nanaki.

"This statue has a very good likeness." Nanaki commented looking up at the one that was like him. It looked like him in every way except it was stone.

"Let's see what's inside!" Yuffie exclaimed walking in between two pillars to go inside. The rest of the group shrugged and followed her into the building.

In the building there were some potted plants and hallways that led deeper into the building. There was a staircase that led up to the next floor. In the middle of the room there was a large mat. Three girls stood on it sparing with each other. There was a pile of swords, shoes and belts beside the mat. They obviously belonged to the girls who were just using there fists and feet to hit each other. Cloud coughed to catch their attention.

They looked startled as they stopped in mid-attack and looked at the group who had just entered the building. They dropped each other's hands and feet and walked off the mat. They were barefoot.

"Welcome to the Untag" Said the first of the three. They stood in a line at the edge of the mat and bowed at them. "I am Emily," she continued. She had light brown hair and tanned skin. The girls didn't look to be more than nineteen.

"The Untag?" Yuffie asked confused. She had never heard of it.

"The Untag is a hotel." The second girl explained. She had extremely dark brown hair and was paler in skin tone than her friend. "I am Mia"

"I'm Jules," explained the third. She had brown hair but it was slightly darker than Emily's. She wasn't extremely tanned but she wasn't pale either.

"Do you mind if we look around?" Yuffie asked excited.

"That depends!" said a new voice, "Do you plan on staying?" Reno came out of the shadows of the back of the room. Rude was close behind him. They were also barefoot.

"Reno!?" Cloud was stunned to see the Turk here.

"Yes, that's me." Reno replied rather bluntly.

"You two know each other?" Emily asked confused.

"In more ways than one," Reno answered for Cloud. "What are you doing here Cloud?" Reno asked.

"Cloud!?" Emily stared at Cloud in horror. She began backing away from the group. Her friends looked at her with worried expressions on their faces.

"You should leave." Rude said in a firm voice. Reno went over to Emily and grabbed her arms. She began to shake violently. "Not again!" He exclaimed.

"What? Why?" Tifa asked surprised. Emily looked at Cloud again. He thought he noticed that her eyes glowed, like his, from being exposed to Mako. Her breathing wasn't regular anymore, it was fast, short gasps for air.

"It's a long story but you aren't safe here," Mia replied she looked at Emily again who was violently trying to break away from Reno.

"You will die Cloud!" Here, Emily broke out into manic laughter, "You killed me before you won't be able to do it again!" Emily then cried. But it wasn't her voice it was someone else's… Someone male.

" What!? I've never met you before in my life!" Cloud said stunned at the girl's threat. She broke away from Reno and ran to the pile of swords. She picked one up and began walking towards Cloud. She was crying.

Cloud drew his sword on instinct.

Reno ran to grab Emily again but missed as she went after Cloud.

"Emily snap out of it! I know you're in there!" Jules frantically ran over to her friend and stood in front of her.

"Get out of my way" Emily growled. The male voice was still coming out of her mouth. She pushed Jules aside who fell onto the floor. Tifa jumped into the air to kick Emily's sword out of her hand but Emily merely sidestepped her. Everyone was stunned. The only person who had ever managed to do that was Sephiroth.

Emily ran towards Cloud with insane speed and raised her sword to strike. Cloud raised his as well. The two swords hit each other. Emily and Cloud both tried to overpower each other. Finally, Cloud flicked his sword to the side sending Emily and her sword flying. She hit the ground with a thump. Her sword landed beside her. She looked at in disgust and threw it away from her. Her body then began to shake again. Reno rushed over to hold onto to her again.

"The hell was that?" Barret asked.

Rude shrugged and walked over to Emily. She was holding her head as if it hurt badly. Emily's breathing came in short gasps.

"I….am…so…sorry" She fought to get the words out. It was her voice again.

"It's alright. What happened?" Cloud walked over and kneeled beside Reno.

"My brother…. Is very angry with both…. You and me," Emily was still struggling with whatever her problem was.

"Your brother?" Cloud asked, confused.

"Yes my brother…. He's dead now…. You killed him didn't you?" Emily looked at Cloud, she was crying. Cloud looked at her very sympathetically. He was sure now that her eyes glowed of Mako but she didn't possess the strength to have been in SOLDIER, he could tell from their fight. Emily's body began to shake again. Reno tightened his grip on her arms to keep her from rolling away.

"Who was your brother?" Cloud asked.

Emily didn't answer. She didn't get the chance. She was lying on the ground beside Cloud. She looked at him with tears in her eyes, then her body gave a final violent shake and she closed her eyes. She was unconscious.

Reno lifted her up in his arms and carried her down one of the hallways.

"I guess we owe you an explanation." Jules said. She stood up rubbing her backside.

"What the fuck was that girl's problem?" Cid asked.

"You should sit with us in the dining room. It'll take a while to explain." Mia offered coming up behind her friend.

"You can eat with us." Rude grumbled.

Cloud looked at the others who nodded.

"Alright, lead the way." Cloud told Jules.