This fiction's references are based off of the original Final Fantasy VII, and the movie Advent Children which was based off of it. For this work, the Kingdom Hearts series and Crisis Core prequel are considered alternate universes. As this is a "sequel," I will be trying to keep the past canonical. I'll probably also make several crafty attempts at Cloud's life, but that's beside the point. The name is pending change, and this tank currently does not have betas, and there is a welcome... rock. Hope this comes out well!

Chapter One: Greener Grass

The Northern Crater had long been an ominous location. Few souls had braved the climb up to its top: there was only one group he knew of that had succeeded and lived to tell, and he himself had never scaled it by hand. A site of speculation and terror alike, through the years it had remained a gaping wound; an aching memory in the planet. Oh, how deeply it had cut...

"Elena!" he shouted, firing at the dark outline atop her helicopter.

"G-g-... get out!" she gasped over the broadcast, her aircraft disappearing into the crater. He was losing control of his too. Something crashed into it from above, and a meaty fist shot through the glass of his window...

"It looks to be five stories deep, sir." Tseng adjusted his headset with one hand, other remaining white-knuckled on the chopper's steering wheel. Of all the places Rufus could have chosen to send him on a mission, it had to be his almost-grave site. It was only natural in a Turk's line of work to face many close calls through their careers – hazard pay. It was what made their jobs what they were. But the Forgotten Continent reached out to those who remembered it with chilling claws. He would never forget this place and its shrapnel-cold wind.

"Five stories?" came an unimpressed tone over the static. Cool, unemotional... if he had been anyone else, the Turk had a feeling he would have made it far as a Turk. "Is there anything down there that would interrupt our operations?"

Tseng licked his chapped lips as he felt his mouth go dry. Jerking to the side in order to make a sharp turn around protruding, broken earth, he took a deep breath through his nose. Faintly, the smell of mako and charred dirt drifted under it. "President ShinRa, sir: the Forgotten Continent is not a hospitable location-"

"In that case," Rufus leisurely cut in, "I've heard Wutai has decent year-round weather." He could hear the shuffle of papers in the background. What he wouldn't do to be at a desk instead of charting routes to certain demise.

Lowering the chopper deeper into the chasm, Tseng narrowed his eyes as his teeth chattered. The young man had filled his larger predecessor's role effortlessly, and it had impressed him to see how tightly he had reigned in some of his father's out of control ideas. Yet throughout the generations, he supposed ShinRa tenacity was meant to be a constant. "I'll... take a look around, sir."

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Flowers. Soft petals, brittle stems, sticky guts when broken... just another unimaginative design of that cruel, alien planet. Yet somehow, the woman before him looked content kneeling in the filth. Earthy brown hair framed her softly smiling face, swaying softly as she leaned over a daffodil. Emerald eyes twinkled with contentment, along with something deeper he couldn't quite place. She was nothing like the unfaltering pioneer who had guided he and his brothers to the Reunion.

"Hello, Yazoo," she chimed pleasantly, picking a flower and holding it tenderly to her chest. Rising off of her knees, she patted some stray leaves off of her pink dress. "You look lost."

He frowned, fingers running inside of the empty holster at his hip, searching for his gun: no luck, it was gone. This had to be a trick! "You're not Mother," he suspiciously murmured, fists balling at his sides. "Where is she?"

Putting her hands on her hips, she shook her head and clicked her tongue with a smile. "No, my name is Aeris." Smile fading under his irate gaze, she clasped her hands in front of herself and lowered her gaze. "I know how hard it can be to put the past behind you. If you aren't ready, no one is forcing you to stay."

Scowling, he shook his head once at her claim. What could this happy-go-lucky stranger know of his plights, and how dare she imply that Mother was just a part of the past? To be completely deaf to that encompassing, guiding force... devoid of all meaning. No wonder those humans looked so lost all the time, and so easy to lead like cows to slaughter.

Glaring at the youthful woman, he took a quick step back. "I have to go back," he whispered, his own uncertainty making his voice foreign to his own ears. "I have to go!" the silver haired man repeated, willing himself to accept it. Her sorrowful smile was the last thing he saw before plummeting into a blinding light.