The first thing they noticed was scent of the flowers.

They were surrounded in a field of flowers that seemed to last forever. There were three of them lying on the ground, two men and a woman. The first of the two men stood up and after brushing him off helped up the chubbier man and then the woman.

He then asked "hey Biggs, Jess, uh where are we?"

The woman replied "not sure Wedge, what do you remember?"

Wedge then replied "I remember falling from the pillar seeing Cloud, some girl and Tifa and then ... nothing"

They all remained silent for a moment and then Biggs who hadn't said anything decided to add in "I remember being wounded by Shinra's troops when we were in the pillar." And after realising this decided to consider a disturbing possibility "Are we dead?"

Then a voice from behind them replied "yes I'm afraid so and you have been for while"

All three turned to face her, she was dressed predominantly in pink she had brown hair and was smiling sweetly.

"It's you!" Wedge blurted out.

"Who is she?" Jessie asked having never seen the woman before Wedge replied she was there when I...she was with Cloud and Tifa in sector 7 when the plate fell" the women nodded as a reply.

After a moment of thinking Jessie realised "but if you're here, then that means you're dead as well."

Wedge decided to chime in "does that mean you're an angel?" the woman in pink smiled at the question proposed by Wedge and answered yes I'm dead, but no I'm not an angel, I'm Aerith"

Biggs then decided to ask the question "was your death due to the plate falling?" which all the former AVALANCHE members present seemed to want to know all three looked curious to know whether her death was their fault without directly asking.

Aerith realised this looked Biggs directly in the eyes and said and made sure she was clear when she said "No, I survived the sector 7 collapse without any major injury. My death has nothing to do with you."

Jessie after letting out a slight sigh of relief she decided to change the subject "so, what are we doing here?"

Aerith seemed to be expecting this question and gave the answer "this is the life stream and as for why you've the planet needs your help" this response was a surprise Aerith further elaborated "the planet wants to send you back and later I will inform you of your tasks that the planet needs you to do. Of these tasks as and when it's deemed prudent to inform you of what we need you to do you'll be told."

This left all three speechless not only were they being sent on a mission they weren't even being told details what they were supposed to do. Biggs decided to speak up " what do ya mean sent back ? why can't we know our task now and do we have a choice? " Biggs realised that he had asked a lot of questions but given the circumstances he felt it was understandable.

Aerith was unsurprised by the questioning it was a lot to ask of them and these were at best unusual circumstances "well..." Aerith began to answer the question in the order she felt most comfortably able to "yes you do have a choice if you choose not to you will never be bothered by this again you will diffuse back into the life stream." She let out a deep breath and continued "as for the reason you can't know your task right now because it will be too difficult to explain until you've seen what has changed in the years since you've been dead. What I mean by sent back is that the three of you will be brought back to life".

All three AVALANCHE members looked at each other with surprised they were being offered a second chance; they had to do the will of planet for an unspecified role but given that they had willingly died for it was still an offer they all felt inclined to agree to. However as they had grown up with Shin-ra's false promises they had to be cautious of what the motivation behind this was.

It Jessie that spoke up to ask the pertinent question "is there a" and after slight pause finished with "a catch?"

Aerith replied "well apart from the job that the planet set for you which you will need to complete. There is only one other thing you need to know. This is your final chance; if you die this time around you won't be sent back again."

Biggs Wedge and Jessie all nodded in understanding at this and Biggs stated simply "I accept, after all we are the planet's protectors, what about you guys?"

Wedge said "Let's fight for the planet again!"

Jessie smiled at the sudden enthusiasm that her two friends had suddenly found and decided "I accept, I also want to help the planet, plus I don't know what trouble these two would get into without me to look after them"

"Hey" Biggs exclaimed "we're not that bad" Wedge just smiled at this with a look toward Aerith he simply said "thank you" Then everything glowed green and everything began to fade away.

Then the next thing of which they felt was rain. It only slight but it was enough to wake three fighters from their sleep. It quickly became apparent that they were surrounded by the remains of some ruined buildings. "So guessing we're back" was Biggs observation.

Jessie had to respond "looks like it. Any idea where we are?"

Although Biggs was sure it seemed so familiar he couldn't place these ruins "No clue, Yo Wedge any idea where we are?" Wedge took a look around and then a horrified look came and then Wedge stated seeming to disbelieve his own words "I... I know exactly where we are"

Biggs questioned "Where?" Wedge still with the look of utter horror replied "ugh-look directly behind you."

Both Jessie and Biggs looked behind them Jessie shocked exclaimed "It can't be! It just can't be!" Biggs took a moment to register what he could see. He saw the remnant of a large tower. He also recognised the tower that Wedge and then Jessie had seen. It was in such a poor state but it was not difficult to identify. That tower was engraved into their minds and with the same tone of surprise as his two friends Biggs could only answer "It is. That's Shinra Tower! That means these are the ruins of... Midgar."