It was a nice day in the Slums of Midgar, the sun shining through crack in the upper plate that was once the bustling city. Now, however, the city is no longer in use, it's mako reactors no longer operational. All that remains are ruins of what was once the seat of wealth and power. AVALANCHE has since disbanded, everyone's gone their separate ways, but the gang still keeps in touch from time to time.
Cloud was walking the streets of the Sector 5 Market, when he spotted some beautiful looking flowers, which were a rarity item in Midgar.
"Don't see many flowers here in Midgar." Cloud said, as he leaned to smell them.
"Do you like 'em? I grew them myself." A woman replied.
"Yeah, they're really beautiful." Cloud replied, and as he looked up. He saw the owner, and to see a beautiful, young girl.
Now this girl looked not much older than Cloud. The girl had long brown hair plaited with a large pink bow tying it into a pony tail. Here emerald green eyes shined with such radiance. The girl was wearing a shin-length pink dress, red bolero jacket, and brown boots.
"Hello, nice to meet you." Cloud replied nervously.
"Hello to you, too." She replied shyly. "So, do you wanna buy some flowers? They're only 1 gil each."
"Sure, I'll by five of them." Cloud said as he handed her five gil.
So the girl wrapped the flowers up, and handed them to Cloud.
"Here you are. Thank you for your business. See you later." Replied the woman.
"Thank you." Cloud replied and walked home, his legs still trembling with nervousness.
On his way home, he pasts Tifa's house. Tifa and Cloud knew each other since they were little. Both of them grew up in the village of Nibelheim, which they rather not talk about where they came from, being that it's a place of bad memories and grief. Tifa was tending to her garden, when she noticed Cloud walking by.
"Hey Cloud, where did ya get those flowers from?" Tifa asked curiously.
"From this vendor in the Sector 5 Market." Cloud replied.
Cloud went on to tell her about the owner of the flowers and how beautiful she looked. He even told her that he wants to get to know her more, but he's shy, and doesn't know her name or where she lives.
"Oh, I can tell you about her." Tifa says as she's more than happy to help out a friend who has been nice to her over the years. "Her name is Aerith Gainsborough, and her flowers are quite beautiful as you can see. She lives on the outskirts of the Slums where she lives with her mother Elmyra Gainsborough. You should go and visit her sometime."
"I might just do that. Thanks, Tifa." Cloud replied.
"So where ya off to now?" Tifa asked curiously.
"Home, but first I need to make one more stop, first." Cloud replied.
"And where might that be?" Then it occurred to Tifa that Cloud was going back to where Zack, his friend made his last stand to let him live. "Do you want me to come with? Will you be okay?"
"No." Cloud replied. "I'll be okay."
With that, Cloud left without saying another word and walked away to the outskirts of Midgar, to the hill overlooking the decaying city of Midgar. Rain starting to fall as he arrived at the spot where his friend died.
