Another Time, Another Place

Authors Notes- An almost novel-length Final Fantasy crossover bringing Kuja to the world of FF7 as another threat appears. Features several pairings, along with the return of some characters I was too sentimental to kill off. Feedback would be greatly appreciated as I spent a long time working on this- it ran to over 50 pages of tiny font in the end. I apologise for any details which may be wrong within this fic. I haven't played either game recently.

Pairings- Sephiroth x Kuja, Cloud x Aeris, Vincent x Tifa, Rufus x Tseng, Reno x Yuffie.

Disclaimers- I own none of the characters mentioned hither. Contains slash, angst, swearing, violence and character death.

Edit- Upon a friend's advice, I have broke this up into several chapters. I personally dislike reading multi-chaptered novels, but as it was this story was a little too intimidating. Thanks to Jao Maxwell and Goddess of Light for renewing my faith in fanfiction.net. I was getting rather disillusioned after no-one had reviewed this in days *mwah*.

The early morning sun was a faint pink, blushing across the dawn sky and tumbling through the windows of a small and pleasant home near the coastline of Costa Del Sol. It faintly illuminated the room nearest to the sea, and danced across a sleeping face. A dark dusting of lashes flickered across a pale cheek, and ruby eyes opened and gazed sleepily upward.

Tifa yawned and lay for a few minutes, bathed in the soft pink light. The only sound was the soft suck and release of the tide not far from where she lay. After a few moments, she slid from the tangled sheets and padded softly across the wooden floor. The scorching heat was less noticeable at this early hour and she wandered out onto the balcony, enjoying the cool air. It had been five years since Sephiroth's defeat now, she mused. Once he had died, there had not been immediate relief. No perfect bliss, no slipping back into happy, normal lives. They had gone through too much to ever be the same again.

Yuffie had flourished. Young enough to spring back after the horrors she had faced, she had blossomed into a beautiful young lady and an adept warrior. Reluctantly returning to Wutai, she had taken over as the ruler and under her care the town had grown into an independant settlement, no longer relying on Shinra or tourism. Thanks to Cloud, really. He had seen the miles of lush green land that lay unused around Wutai and given Yuffie his stable of Chocobos. With a little advice, Wutai had a flourishing industry, breeding tough Chocobos for travel and racing. Yuffie still travelled the world, adding to her already excellent materia collection. She visited Tifa and Cloud frequently and seemed cheerful enough.

Barret and Marlene had moved to Corel Town. There were too many bad memories lingering in Midgar for them to make a fresh start. The end of Shinra lead to a massive demand for coal, which Corel Town was happy to fill. Under Barret's command, they had become a flourishing town and it had been slowly rebuilt. Marlene was thankfully young enough to remember little of those dark days, except for a strong memory of when "The Flower Lady" had come to save them all. Barret had been unhappy, troubled by the memories of all those he had killed. But slowly, time had healed. He had Marlene to look after and a town to rebuild. And now, he and his daughter seemed content enough.

Vincent.. Tifa mused. No-one had really seen him much. He didn't say where he lived, although she had a sneaking suspicion that he spent a lot of time lingering around a beautiful lonely waterfall, clinging onto guilty memories. He would never change.

Cid? He had been the luckiest of all, perhaps. He'd finally started treating Shera with some decency and much to everyone's amazement, they were a happy couple, despite frequent bickerings. They even had a troupe of small children running around their home in Rocket Town. Cid claimed they drove him up the wall and spent long hours tinkering in his workshop to get away from them all, but he was a good father according to Shera. Even if he couldn't tell their children apart.

Red XIII seemed to be coping, although not particularly well. He spent long, lonely days roaming Cosmos Canyon ceaselessly, searching for enemies under Seto's stone gaze. No monster dared come near the little town now. He seemed happy to be defending his home and fulfilling his duty, but Tifa thought there was something a little sad in his obsessive hunts for dangerous creatures. Perhaps if there was another of his kind around..

And that left Cloud and herself. A somewhat touchy area. The year after Sephiroth died had been.. hell. Cloud had wandered the world, searching vainly for a trace of Aeris. Tifa privately thought it was useless and the Cetra had moved on. But she followed faithfully, helping wherever she could. Then at last Cloud, half-insane, had given up on chasing a ghost and they had by an unspoken decision decided to share a house near Costa Del Sol. Slowly, Cloud had gone back almost to his old self and rented a small shop where he sold finely crafted weapons he made in the evenings. Tifa sold materia she gathered during her long Chocobo rides around the continent and they co-existed happily enough. But Tifa knew that when Sephiroth's sword had pierced Aeris, it had driven a deeper wound into Cloud's heart. Maybe he had loved Aeris, maybe he hadn't. Either way, she knew that the love that had once started to grow had been extinguished that day and would never be relit again.

Still, they were quite happy. She dressed quickly and left the little house. "Morning, Storm," She greeted the black Chocobo that raced anxiously around its field. He had been a gift from Yuffie when she last visited and Tifa was quite attached to the little bird. "Got nothing for you," She apologised, scratching his soft dark feathers. "Want to go for a run?" She needed to dispel the faintly unhappy memories that had been stirred up.

"Waaark!" Storm pressed against the side of the fence eagerly. Tifa smiled and opened the gate. She knew her Chocobo well enough to have no need for saddle or rein and she sprang up onto his slippery warm back. "Come on then," She clicked her tongue and the Chocobo bounded out of the field and jogged eagerly down the path leading to the beach.

It was secluded here, none of the tourists that inhabited the beach further down and Tifa leant forward as Storm's strides lengthened and he stretched out eagerly. She nudged him gently into full speed. The wind stung her ruby eyes and brought a taste of salt to her lips as the golden sand and cerulean seas blurred around her. Storm was one of the fastest Chocobo ever born and he loved to run. Here, was peace, with only the drumbeats of Storm's feet and the rushing of the wind. Tifa's long loose hair streamed out behind her as she clung tight and low onto Storm's warm back and felt the troubling thoughts slip from her mind and be blown away on the wind they generated. Lost in speed, it was perhaps ten minutes before she straightened up and gently brought Storm back down to a steady jog.

"We've come a long way," She murmured, eyeing the landscape. Storm jogged, still eager below her. "Back home now," She gently chastised him and he turned round and began the long walk back. Tifa leaned back, the sun just beginning to scorch her bare shoulders slightly and the day brightening around them.

Cloud was just stirring as they returned. She thanked Storm with a handful of mimmet greens and turned him loose in the large field. He could easily jump out if he wished, but Chocobos usually bonded for life with their owners. Tifa entered their home and was sat brushing the wind's tangles from her long dark hair when Cloud got up, his spiky hair mussed with sleep.

"Morning," He greeted her as he collapsed into a chair. "Been out?"

Tifa nodded. "We went all the way down to where I found that Contain Materia last year,"

"That far?" Cloud raised an eyebrow. "You should be more careful, I don't want you getting attacked and there's all sorts of monsters down there.."

Tifa smiled. "And you know that Storm can outrun every one of them. Besides, I'm not exactly helpless,"

"I know, I know," Cloud smiled ruefully. He knew he'd never have defeated Sephiroth without Tifa's deadly kicks and spell casting abilities. "I can't help worrying though, after all that's happened.." His voice faded away and Tifa knew instantly what was on his mind. Would he ever stop blaming himself for Aeris's death?

"Coffee?" She changed the subject and the day progressed as usual. She managed their little store whilst he fiddled with weapons round the back. It was a pretty uneventful day, one or two friends in the area calling in to speak to her. It was perhaps 2pm when he re-appeared.

"What do you think?" He asked, raising a finely-crafted metal shuriken. Tifa could see at a glance how the razored edges would cut through bone and hide.

"It's lovely," She said, admiring the metal inlays. "For Yuffie...?" She smiled, knowing he had not made this weapon to sell.

"It's her birthday soon," Cloud smiled. "And she needs something to defend herself with- did you know she's been messing around by the Northern Crater? There's all sorts of monsters there,"

"With all that materia, I pity any monster who approaches Yuffie," Tifa smirked. "The poor thing would be instantly vapourised,"

Cloud laughed. "You're right," He said, laying the weapon gently down. "Let's take a break now, hmm? Business isn't exactly raging right now,"

Tifa nodded. Although visitors came from all over the world to buy their weapons, hardly anyone had bought anything today. Just some hospital order for Restore Materia. Not that they need worry after all the funds they had amassed during their travels. The store was more of a hobby than anything else. It kept them from dwelling on thoughts of the past and gave them something to do. "Let's head back," She agreed and locked the store door. They headed back to their home, weaving through excited children and camera wielding tourists.

Much to their surprise, when they got to their home, there was already someone there. And the last person they would have expected to turn up on their doorsteps. For there, almost blending with the shadows as he leant against the wall was...

"Vincent?"