Promise
Final Fantasy VII

By: Bahamuts AngelVII

A/N: Italicized means thinking. If you like this story, read my similar one called Blue Ocean.

Chapter One

Cloud and his friends sat around the huge dining table in the old mansion in Nibelheim, contemplating the scraps of old paper in front of them. They had been this way for quite awhile, since about seven that morning. It was now three in the afternoon. Cloud's eyebrows furrowed down in concentration as he mouthed the words on the paper. Tifa sat next to him, sipping her red wine as she casually looked over hers. Yuffie and Vincent sat across the table from Tifa. Yuffie tried to keep interested in her paper, but she kept sneaking looks at the clock, while Vincent stared blankly at his. Barrett and Cid, whom had gotten bored, were secretly playing a game of Poker under the table. Cait Sith, who was now just Reeve, was also deep into his paper, like Cloud. Red XIII studied the documents on the table, but his efforts were in vain. This had been going on for such a long time, they were getting bored.

"Rrrrrggh! This sucks. I'm getting so tired of this. Can't we take a break or something!" Yuffie exclaimed, exasperatingly, at Cloud. He was the one who was making them do this, after all.

"No!" Cloud replied. He slammed his hand down on the table, annoyed. Don't they know how important this is? "We're so close to finding out how to bring Aeris back! Don't you guys care about her?"

Wide-eyed, Cloud's friends warily looked back down at their paper. Timidly, Tifa placed her hand on Cloud's back and rubbed it a little. He looked into her eyes, looking scared and ashamed. He's so close to getting her back… He'll be so sad if it doesn't work. We have to try our best to help him.

"Come on, guys. You know how long we've wanted Aeris to come back…" Tifa said quietly to her friends. She turned to Cloud and patted him again, but on the arm. "And you, Cloud, we're trying our best. You can't get mad… We've been trying to solve these puzzles for hours."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry, guys." Cloud flashed a weak smile at them before looking down. "How about," Cloud said, stronger. "How about we go to a restaurant for a late lunch. When we come back we can work more."

A wave of consent went throughout his friends, and they all stood up to go to the nearby café. As they walked down the steps and out the front gate, Cloud fell behind the rest of the group and motioned Tifa to come over to him.

"What is it, Cloud?" She asked.

"What if… What if it doesn't work? What if all of this is fruitless?" Cloud asked her back. He looked so gloomy.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure it will. But for now, let's go eat." Tifa replied, acting happier than she really was. In truth, Tifa was worried about the same thing Cloud was worried about. If Aeris can't come back… Cloud will lose all hope. Tifa smiled reassuringly at Cloud before catching up to Yuffie.

"Hey, Yuffie?" Tifa called to her, jogging the last few steps to catch up. "What do you think will happen if this doesn't work?"

"Well…" Yuffie started. She coughed to clear her throat as she opened up the door to the Café. "I think what we first have to worry about is figuring out how to decipher the Ancient's scriptures first. Then we can worry about if it works or not." Yuffie said with a smirk. Leave it to an immature little ninja girl to make Tifa feel like an idiot. Well, that's why she loved her.

"Haha. Yeah." Tifa agreed. Smiling, Tifa followed Yuffie into the café.

The café that they had walked into was a hoity-toity type of place with the waitresses and waiters that wore beautiful black or white dresses and Armani tuxes. It was a café in name only. It could've been a five-star restaurant owned by some million-dollar company, except that the owner, who started his "café" as an actual café, wanted it to stay that way. He did get quite rich, though.
On the back wall, hidden behind a layer of acrylic green beads, was a door that lead to a nightclub. It was open during the day to, and was where the crew was headed. Cid nodded to the waiter that was swooping towards them with menus under his arm. Cid opened the door and walked into the dim lighting.

"So much for lunch." Cloud mumbled. He walked over to the bar, where a tired middle-aged man stood behind the counter wiping mugs. "Hey, Steve." He said while slipping into his seat.

"Oh, man. I love this place." Reeve commented as the rest of them slid into their bar stools. "Hey, how about a double shot of tequila!" Reeve shouted down the counter.

"Come on, ass wipe. It's three in the afternoon." Barrett thumped Reeve's back and tipped his glass of water to his lips. "Wait till nighttime, at least."

"Yeah, yeah. Steve, pass me a cup of coffee then. Black, no sugar, no cream." Reeve nodded in thanks as he received his steaming hot mug of coffee.

Cloud, who was sitting on the other side of Reeve, sipped his apple cider thoughtfully. I wonder where we could go to find out about reading Cetra writing… Who would know the most about Ancients? Cloud considered the bright neon flamingo behind the counter next to the ticking clock, which read 3:34. Ancients… Aeris… Her mother… Ifalna… Gast. Professor Gast. He would know, he would know more than anyone… But he's dead. But he had those video tapes, and all those books. Maybe… A swelling hope rose in Cloud's chest. He immediately hopped off his chair and banged his fist onto the dirty counter.

"Guys! We're going to Professor Gast's house!" The friends watched as Cloud disappeared out the door.

Yuffie sighed and stood up. "Well, we should follow him."

Two hours later, Cloud stood at the head of the Highwind and watched as the pilot landed the ship with ease. The group filed out of the ship and into Gast's old house.

"So, remind me, why are we here again?" Cid asked Cloud. "I'm guessin' that wasn't a joy ride."

Red XIII licked his paw and ran it over his face. "Probably to look through Gast's research and see if he knew anything about Cetra writing."

"He's right. Okay, guys, split up." Cloud said as he walked towards the shelf of videos sitting in the corner. "Tif, can you help me look through these? Cid, Barrett, go look through those tapes in that bin. The rest of you, look through those books, please." Cloud said, pointing to three giant shelves full of old and dusty books.

"Yay." Yuffie commented dryly.

"Let's get started." Red XIII said, ignoring Yuffie. "There's a lot to get through, especially if we don't want to be here by night."

For seemingly endless hours, Cloud and the gang scoured over the tapes, videos, and books, but couldn't find anything. Mostly documentaries on materia, mako, and that sort of thing. As Cloud was about to lose hope of ever figuring out the documents waiting back in the old mansion, he noticed an old tape wedged between the shelf he was looking at and the wall. It had no label, and had obviously been lost for years. Well, there's nothing left for me to lose anyways… Cloud popped the tape into the VCR sitting on the table next to him and watched as the TV flickered to life.
Cloud called over his friends, and they all silently watched the image on the screen. There was Aeris as a little baby, and Ifalna. Gast seemed to be taping the whole thing. In the corner was the date. Cloud recognized the date as three days before Hojo burst into their lives.

"Honey, put the camera away." Ifalna said, annoyed. She flapped away the oncoming Gast with one of her hands as she sang to Aeris, who was crying.

"No, I need to tape our moments of little Aeris. She's so cute!" Gast remarked, still filming. After a few moments of just Ifalna's singing, Gast started talking again. "What language is that?"

"Cetra. I learned it long ago, from my grandparents." Ifalna replied. She seemed to deflate a little, talking about her now dead family. "It's a very curious song." She murmured.

"Oh? How does it go?" Gast asked.

"Well, the translation is a little fuzzy, but it goes something like…" Ifalna started singing and mumbling the song. "Treasure what you've always dreamed of, my little one. Even when the one you love is gone, there's always a way to bring them back. Even when you thought all was lost, if you let the light guide your way… The shining paths will guide you to the heavens, where you will find the ancient tombs of the Gods. Bring the jewels of the sea, the stones of the mountains, and the tears of the air to her resting place…" Ifalna let out a small laugh. "The rest doesn't translate too well. Anyway…"

"Wait, wait, wait. What kind of song is that? Seems more like directions to something, if you know what I mean." Gast said, sounding put off.

"Honey…" Ifalna sighed set Aeris down in her crib, who let out a cheerful giggle. Ifalna tucked her hair behind her ears, and when she did she looked a lot like Aeris. Only her face looked a little older, and a little wiser. She sat down at the table and looked at her husband. "Please don't let this get out, because this is the secret pride of us Cetra. The hymn is just a song, remade out of the steps you can take to resurrect a Cetra."

"You can bring back a dead Cetra!" Gast shook with surprise and there was an obvious note of thrill in his voice. "Please go on." He said, suddenly sounding much more business-like.

"The song is just a way for us to remember. Yes, you can bring back a Cetra. You see, we have a little bit of lifestream running through us, as well as a special substance that runs through our veins. It allows us to hold onto this world, and if the right steps are taken, we can come back from our endless roaming around the planet. The song I sang showed all the steps…" Ifalna paused. "Come on, let's get some lunch." She spun around and flashed one last smile at the camera. The image diminished and paused, leaving her smiling face on the T.V.

The crew stood in silence for awhile, awed by what they had seen. Yuffie let out a little whimper. Cloud turned around with tears in his eyes. He was the first to speak.

"Well, now we know how to bring her back."

A/N: Review please!