A/N:

So before I post my crossover, I decided to write something FF7 based. This will probably be a short series of sorts (maybe long...but probably not too long...oh me and my bipolar writing ideas). Anyway, if you like 7, you should read it and enjoy :D I'll get started on chapter 2, and if this goes over well, I'll post my crossover soon-ish.

Disclaimer: if I could own any video game, it'd be ff7, but I don't own any video games. boo. and even the plot line is a little amazing race (which I've never seen but anyway..) ish. but hey, I wrote this story so it's all good.

Oh and this is (probably) post DoC, but I tend to ignore that DoC ever happened (basically because I have no idea what to do with Shelke...)


Edge was wild. The usual grey and white city was suddenly filled with an assortment of colors. People could be heard laughing and skipping through the streets, taking in the fun filled day with pure eagerness. Red and purple and orange balloons floated through the light blue sky as another string was pulled.

"Denzel! Denzel, stop!" She ran up to the little boy, brown hair flying back in the gentle warm breeze. "What are you doing?"

His blue eyes blinked innocently. "Marlene wanted one." He gave a large grin as he pointed to the green balloon in his hand. "But I kept on getting the wrong colors so I had to keep going until I got the right one, right Tifa?"

"…just." Tifa patted his head. "Try not to ruin all of the decorations. Reeve put a lot of effort into making this for all of us." She straightened up. "It's an important day for him."

Denzel shrugged, "The anniversary, right? Why can't I join the WRO?"

"Because we need you at home!" Tifa gave him a quick smile and pushed him forward. "Well go and give Marlene the balloon. Cloud's making a speech soon."

"Hehe, who volunteered him for that one?"

Tifa's eyes moved from the little boy to the voice behind her, "…You did Yuffie, remember?" Her voice became flat as her eyes popped back up the teenager's stare.

"Oh! Hehe, yeah…well it'll be entertaining to see ol' Strifey try anyway." The ninja gave her an amused shrug and sauntered forward towards the martial artist. "Sooo Teef, how is life in your little happy family unit?"

Tifa blinked, "It's fine. The kids are going to school; the delivery service and the bar are going well…I can't complain." Except…

"Sounds boring if you ask me." Yuffie leaned back on her own hands. "I can't stay put in one place too long. The old man wanted me to go to Wutai…you know, train to be a princess…that kinda thing, but why would I do that when I can do the most ridiculous things across Gaia!" She gave a quick laugh, much to Tifa's dismay.

It wasn't as if she liked the world being in utter peril, but she had to admit that while they were off stopping Sephiroth or the Remnants there was a certain rush, a certain excitement. Now everything was routine. She'd clean the bar, check the balances, make sure Cloud had all of his deliveries in order, pack the kids lunches, send them to school, serve the customers…over and over and over again. It was so mundane, so, as Yuffie put it, boring. What happened?

Ever since she left Nibelheim, she strived to have a normal life, make a living for herself and settle down with someone. And now that all of that was finally falling into place…at least most of it…she found herself wanting something else. "I mean…I shouldn't complain."

"You mean, it's not paradise back at 7th Heaven?" Yuffie's grin widened at her self-made pun. "Is Strife still being a dumby about you guys? Because just say the word and I'll tell…"

"No! It's nothing like that! Cloud's fine…"

The ninja rolled her eyes, "Psh."

Tifa ignored the action, "Yuffie, there's nothing going on between us…for the fiftieth time. And it's just…I don't know, I guess I admire you."

The younger girl's eyes popped open, "…err what?"

"You still get to travel, to have adventures. I guess I didn't realize how much I missed that." She's helping Gaia while I'm mixing drinks. It was never really her idea to start up a bar again. Although she didn't mind it too much back in the slums of Midgar, after Meteorfall, she knew she could make a difference, a greater impact in the world than giving tours and handing out alcohol.

Yuffie flipped back her hair, "Yup, yup! Living the life. That's just how I roll…Come on!" She grabbed Tifa's hand suddenly and dragged her through the crowd and towards the small platform in front of the newly reconstructed Meteorfall monument. "Your Cloudy-poo is gonna speak soon."

The martial artist's head dropped. Cloudy-poo? "I hope he isn't nervous."

"Psh, Cloud talking for more than 10 seconds? Why should he be nervous?" Yuffie stopped her pulling force and suddenly stopped, front and center. "Yup, perfect spot!"

Tifa eyed the crowd around her, already seeing the masses start to form in front of the makeshift stage. Cloud was on the opposite end of the platform, sitting on the edge, his back turned away from the audience. She gazed briefly at his light blond hair, barely moving in the light brush of the wind. He fidgeted gently as a taller men bent down and touched his shoulder, a signal that the speech was about to begin.

The blond moved his body up and walked slowly to the front of the stage. His arms swayed numbly at his sides, and his head remained unfocused on the imposing group of people in front of him. There was a series of loud whispers scattered throughout the crowd, parents calling for the kids to keep quiet and muffled voices of confusion. "Um…hey." Cloud scratched the back of his head as he moved up to the microphone. "I'm Cloud Strife…and Reeve here asked me to say a little something. I guess he got tired of giving all the speeches." There was slight laughter from the crowd, feeding off of Cloud's nervous energy more than his humor. "So I got stuck with this job…can't say I'm really used to speeches. I'm not the best at public speaking."

"Understatement of the century," the young ninja muttered next to Tifa.

Cloud glanced down at her, but caught Tifa's reassuring glance instead. He continued, "I guess…I guess I can consider this more of a pep talk…something I've done before. You see, we'd all be nothing without the WRO." Cloud paused, "But then again, the WRO would be nothing without us either, no offense Reeve." There were more scattered laughs, and Cloud raised his hand to continue, "And…I guess what I'm trying to say…in probably one of the most convoluted ways, is that this celebration isn't just for the WRO. It's for everyone here on Gaia. It's because of all of our efforts, not just Reeve or mine or AVALANCHE's, that we've made it this far. And we'll move on even further, without Shinra or Mako."

There was another pause, but no sound was made by the audience or Cloud. Finally, after a brief period of awkwardness, the blond gave a shy smile, "…um, I guess that's all I really planned to say…thanks." Cloud gave a slight wave and turned his back to the stage, an uproar of applause trailing behind him.

Yuffie gave a mild clap, "Come on, he wasn't that good."

"For Cloud he was." Tifa wasn't clapping, only smiling. It was just her natural reaction. Her dark eyes watched as the blond hopped off the stage, ignoring the congratulatory pats of numerous WRO workers. He walked up to the young woman, soft smile fading.

"It was bad, wasn't it?"

"I'll say!" Yuffie jumped between them, "Don't quit your day job."

His Mako eyes glanced briefly at the ninja before turning to Tifa, "Reeve wants to talk to us."

She only nodded, looking past her confusion, "Um, alright. Did he say why?"

Cloud only shrugged and walked around the stage. "No." He led Tifa (and the always persistent Yuffie) to a large round table located behind the makeshift stage. "Where's Denzel?"

"With Marlene and Barret. Don't worry." She smirked a bit.

Cloud didn't answer, but gestured for her to sit down, next to a note taking Reeve. The older man glanced up from his notepad, then looked back down after turning a couple of pages. "Ah Tifa! Just the person I wanted to see."

She sat down as Cloud suggested, "…So Cloud has told me. You have a mission for us?" She had waited for this. It had been a while since she had done anything active for the WRO. The martial artist in her craved for adventure, for energy. She was starved of adrenaline. Tifa attempted to hide her excitement, hiding her anticipation by tapping the table ruthlessly.

"Not exactly."

Oh. Her hands stopped and her back straightened.

"It's more like a hunt."

Her eyes narrowed, "…Excuse me?"

"I need help finding …." Reeve's voice slowed, "…Something specific."

"Like what exactly?"

The head of the WRO glanced briefly at Yuffie before continuing, "….Materia."

"Materia!? You mean, you want us to find more materia caves? You and your silly robot were there when we took it all." The ninja hovered her right hand over her left arm, un-equipping the shiny green gem. "And there is no way you're touching any of mine or Wutai's."

Reeve held up his hands innocently, "No, no! Of course not. I want Cloud's."

The blond raised an eyebrow, "My materia's gone."

"Yeah…because you let the crazy triplets steal it…" Yuffie grunted and turned around.

Reeve ignored Yuffie's annoyed façade and faced the martial artist. "I've heard from Marlene that you saw it in the church?"

Tifa nodded, "Yeah…Loz must have taken it after he knocked me out, but what took you so long to ask me?"

The head of the WRO smile at this and went through his suit pocket, pulling out a thin piece of white paper. "Well, it took some planning..."

Cloud narrowed his eyes at this, "Planning? For all of us?"

"Yes, all of AVALANCHE. Ah here they come now!"

Tifa turned to where Reeve was directed, seeing Barret walk over with Cid, Red XIII, and Cait Sith. She smiled seeing them all together like this, all happy. "Hey guys!"

"Teef!" Cid walked over and gave her a solid embrace, "Looking good as always."

Cloud coughed a little, "How's Shera, Cid?"

"Perfect. Watching the youngsters as we speak. Now why did I need to fucking talk to you Reeve?"

The head of the WRO didn't talk right away. He bent over, picking up Cait Sith from Red's back and smirked, "Why don't you all follow me?"

"I don't like where this is going…" Yuffie slipped next to Tifa as the crowd of heroes began to follow Reeve.

Tifa shrugged, "He only wants us to find materia, Yuffie." I'd think she would be happy about that…

Reeve stopped and turned around in one of the quieter alleys in Edge. The air was a lot quieter here, and it only managed to build up Tifa's curiosity. "In honor of the 3 year anniversary of the WRO, my employees and I would all like you to conduct in a little…bet of ours."

Yuffie coughed, "Excuse me? A bet? And why wasn't I in on this??"

"I agree with the runt. I could go for some extra cash." Cid lit up a cigarette, "And what the hell did you guys bet on anyway?"

Reeve went through the inner pockets of his suit and pulled out a piece of paper. "It's simple really. It just involves the little mission I mentioned earlier to you all. Only we decided to make things a little more…interesting." He held the piece of paper up to his face. "We have a little office pool to see who can find the most materia."

"Haha really? "That's way too easy." Yuffie grinned but then crossed her arms suspiciously, "…what's the catch?"

"No catch! We even decided to make things a little easier by pairing you guys into teams."

"Oh! Shot not Cloud!"

The young blond gave the ninja a stern glare but just sighed, knowing it was better not to argue.

Teams? Tifa looked around to everyone else, not really sure what kind of game Reeve was trying to play. As much as she wanted to just drop everything and go on an adventure, in reality, she couldn't. She had a bar to run, a kid to look after. There was no way she could just leave it all. And Cloud too. Who would take over the delivery service while they were gone? She had to ask, "Reeve, it's a nice idea I guess, but…"

"Don't worry about the 7th Heaven, Tifa. I asked Shera to look after it and Denzel for you."

"What? My Shera agreed to that? Well this is just bullshit. Don't I have an airship division to run?" Cid exhaled a cloud of smoke, "Hell if I'm walking around this damn planet again."

"Oh shut up, old man." Yuffie jumped up and smiled, almost menacingly, probably a little too excited at the prospect of materia. "This is gonna be great. But what about Vinnie, Reeve?"

Reeve checked his watch, "He said he'd be here in a little while, but first I should check if all of you agree to this."

Tifa nodded, letting her optimistic side takeover. Forgetting her routine for a while would do her some good, but there was still one very important question, "So should we pick our partner now?"

At this Reeve's smile fell, obviously a little worried at the group's next reaction. "Well…the thing is, the WRO thought it would be more interesting if we picked them."

A/N:

Not really such a cliffhanger ending... but I wanted to stop there to get your opinions (YES YOU). I'm curious to see what teams you would like to see, and if you would like me to talk about all the teams (or maybe just a select few because that could get long and monotonous). I already have pairings (in two ways...) in my head, but I still want to hear your thoughts :D

coughreviewcough. It definitely won't make me update faster (...sarcasm).

-ASX