Chapter 1
Walking down the cobblestone path, I made my way to the center of Midgar. Well the new Midgar at least. The old one had been basically destroyed by the meteor that fell nearly 5 years ago. I stopped as a few kids ran in front of me, nearly knocking me over. I was about to yell at them when I noticed that they stopped when they got to the alley. I looked at the thing that the children's focus was tuned on. A man stumbled down the alley, clutching the wall and groaning in pain. Some sort of viscous liquid poured from his mouth. I felt the bile rising in the back of my throat and I quickly darted from where I stood. As soon as I got a comfortable distance away from the horrific scene, I sighed and looked at the monument that stood in the middle of city square. It was a statue of an artist's recreation of the meteor that fell. I quickly walked forward as a group of people came up behind me and I darted into my usual alley. I was a tramp; a homeless girl who lived on the streets, working as prostitute. I looked up as the sky began to darken to a dull crimson. I sighed, my work shift had begun. I slowly stripped off my leather jacket to reveal a skin tight, sleeveless black tube top. I stepped out into the oncoming night as the normal people began to go to their houses and the other tramps appeared on the scene. A few men drove by in their cars as the dull thud of my black biker boots hit the pavement, the occasional car slowed down to look at me and I would give them a sensual sideways glanced before they sped back off again. I smiled grateful that I didn't have to have sex with them. I didn't want this lifestyle I just choose it because it was where I came from. I had always been from the slums, born and raised, and I guess that life just stuck with me, even when I was with SOLDIER.
There was a time when I was known as the only girl at the ShinRa Electrical Power Company, aside from the ones that were associated with the Turks. It had been a handful but somehow I made it, probably those mako shots. It was a better time back then. My family was fed and had a place to call home, I had a good job, and I had…friends. But then it all changed. One day, everything just went to shit. One of the First Class SOLDIERS went M.I.A, and then another one went with him. After that point, everyone started to die. We lost the life of a First then another went haywire and then one of my best friends died. Zack Fair. He was so happy and determined. He had the type of personality that made you believe like he could fix any problem, like he could save the world, like he could be a hero. Which, in my opinion, he had, he always had been a hero and, even though he was gone, he always will be a hero, well, to me at least.
Zack and I had been good friends since we grew up in the backwater desert town of Gongaga. Our favorite pastime was chasing tumbleweeds through the streets and adventuring into the badlands a little ways outside of the village. I was a few years older than him but we had known each other since he was old enough to talk and we spent every waking minute together until I had to move to Midgar. I remember crying my eyes out every day for the week before we left. Zack cried with me because we had thought that it would be the last time that we saw each other. Did we ever get that wrong? A few years later we met back up at SOLDIER and it was like I had never left. Aside from our missions and training, we never left each other's side. I had so much fun with him. He was constantly smiling and was always eager to be on his feet. He hated sitting in one place for too long. But that changed when he got that fated mission to Wutai. His mentor left, he was forced to kill him and in turn got killed; his dream shattering before he even got a chance to taste it.
"Excuse me" I heard a voice say and I turned around. A beefy girl with stringy, greasy black hair stood behind me with her arms crossed. Her face was plastered in hideous make-up that made me cringe with disgust.
"What?" I asked giving her that same tone she gave me.
"You're on my turf" she said and started walking towards me. My hands automatically clenched and my arms bent a little.
"I wouldn't come any closer if I were you" I warned her but she didn't listen. I crouched down a little as she approached, then her hand reached out for me and I stepped to the side, grabbing her wrist and elbow before bringing it down on my knee. There was a satisfying crack that informed me that her arm was broken, that plus her wails of pain. I let her drop as I walked back towards my alley. This is what the street life consisted of, fighting, selling your body and living in a box. Well that's what mine was like; others had a sugar daddy to go to. I huddled myself against the cold brick wall after I had wrapped my leather coat around my shoulders. A cool breeze had settled over the city and I shivered. The ground was damp from rain that had stopped yesterday and it soaked through the seat of my jeans as I sat; dreaming of a better life, dreaming of my old life. My eyes fluttered closed as the decrepit silhouette of the ShinRa Electrical Power Company towered over the buildings, reminding all of us of the dark secrets that lay within its walls.
Rain fell from the sky as a young blonde boy trudged along on the road, dragging what seemed to be a large sword behind him. I knew that sword anywhere. It was Angeal Hewley's Buster Sword. I started running towards the boy as he came closer. If he had that sword it meant that something happened, that something happened to Zack.
"Hey!" I shouted and the boy looked up, his cerulean eyes glazed over and swirling with mako energy. I could tell by the redness around the edges of his eyes that he had been crying. "Why, why do you have Zack's sword?" my words tumbled out of my lips as my body shook. The boy's eyes widened before getting even more blurry.
"He's gone" the boy said softly. My heart sank.
"What do you mean gone?" I asked and he shook his head while tears fell from his eyes.
"He's…dead. The ShinRa troops killed him" the boy said. My knees buckled and I fell to the ground. My body felt useless as his words sunk in. he was gone, Zack was dead. My best friend wasn't coming back. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I stared at the boy who fell with me and was crying as well. I looked down at my knees and sobbed uncontrollably. Nothing in this world or the next could bring him back. As I cried I felt two arms wrap themselves around me and I realized that the boy was hugging me. Seeking some sort of comfort I hugged him back, burrowing my face into his shoulder. As I took a deep breath I could smell Zack's scent on his clothes and saw that they were, in fact, Zack's. It was his First Class uniform. I cried harder. 'Why wasn't I there? Why couldn't I try to save him? Why did he have to take it all on himself?' Soon the tears died down but I still clung to this boy I didn't know for dear life. He provided the warmth and comfort that I usually found with Zack. I could feel as his shaky breaths settled down. I pulled away and stood up, looking out to the direction from where the boy came. I held my hand out to him and he took it, using it to stand up.
"Who are you anyways?" he asked and I looked at him.
"My name is Ari. Ari Akane." I said and he smiled a little.
"I'm Cloud Strife" he said and a gear clicked in my head.
"You're the Cloud that Zack talked about" I mumbled and it seemed to make him blush. I smiled a little though the pain in my heart was unbearable. I went to grab for the Buster Sword but Cloud jerked it back.
"Zack gave it to me" he said and I nodded, slightly hurt.
"Just make sure it doesn't kill you like it did to its last two wielders." I said and began to walk away. Cloud hurried to follow me. I turned slightly to see him struggling to lift the heavy piece of bulky metal so I stopped.
"At least let me carry it for a little bit" I said with a reassuring smile which he seemed to trust. He let me grab the hilt before I swung it over my shoulder, placing it securely on the magnetic holder on my uniform.
A cold wind woke me from my sleep and I slowly looked around. A hazy mist had settled over the streets, making them look bare and forgotten as dawn approached. A blue glow lit up the sky and ground as the sky above faded into the colors of the rainbow as the sun rose just under the horizon. I shrugged my arms through the sleeves of my jacket and walked out into the street. No one had woken up yet so everything remained silent; waiting for a new day. I breathed in and the air chilled my nose and caused me to sneeze, which was quiet loud considering I was one of the only ones awake. My stomach growled and I tried to think about anything but food but I guess that's what happens when you haven't eaten in a few days. I walked down a street and clutched my hand to my stomach, trying to find something that I could eat. None of the food vendors were out so any chance that I could steal from them flew out the window. When the pain grew, I let out a small yelp and doubled over to my knees. My face contorted with pain as the pain ate away at my midsection. I wanted to hurl but had nothing to throw up. The pain subsided and I got to my feet again. I walked down the street and stared at my feet, my dream of last night haunting me. I had always felt guilty for not being able to help Zack. I always felt like if I had gone with him to Nibelheim then I could have at least tried to help him.
I was so caught in my memories and shame that I didn't notice the person in front of me and; consequently, I ended up hitting them. I fell on to my ass and groaned in pain as my ass became sore and another wave of pain flared in my stomach.
"Watch it" said a male voice and I got mad.
"Why don't you?!" I snarled as my head shot up. I immediately bit on my tongue as I looked at the man I bumped into. His blonde hair was spiky and it reminded me of a chocobo's feathers. His blue eyes stared down at me with… well, nothing. It was like they were empty, void of all emotion but somehow I felt like I knew this guy. As his eyes looked me up and down, he offered out a hand which I took and he yanked me to my feet. When I finally got a good look at his eyes I could see the same swirling mako energy in the eyes of the boy I met ten years ago.
"Cloud?" I asked and he looked startled.
"How do you know my name?" he asked and I smiled a little.
"It's me, Ari Akane" I said and his eyes widened. A little smile came across his lips then disappeared.
"it's been so long" he said just as softly as the first time I spoke with him, though this time it was in better context. I shrugged.
"It has…how are you? You seem to-…" I never got to finish my sentence as a swelling pain shot from my stomach and outwards, into my chest and to my limbs. I ground my teeth together as I sent to my knees.
"Ari?" Cloud asked as he went down with me. I could barely hear him as I began to black out. The last thing I remembered was being swopped into Cloud's arms.
