Disclaimer: I do not own any Final Fantasy Characters. They are property of Square Enix. I am so jealous!!

Okay…this is gonna be something a little different than most of my other stories. It is similar to one of my other ones but it has different characters and a different story line. I just had this wild idea for a story so I figured I would write it so I wouldn't forget it. No doubt this will be pretty long but the individual chapters will be fairly short. Not too short though…I hope. As a forewarning, the characters may seem OOC and there is an original character. I won't tell anymore thought. Anyway, with all that said, I really hope you like it and please tell me what you think of it. I would also take suggestions and comments on how to improve it. Any help that could improve my writing would be much appreciated.

VII VII VII VII VII

Chapter 1: The Cure

The door to the lab opened making Marlene jump and turn around quickly. "Oh…I'm sorry. Didn't mean to jump you so badly."

Marlene smirked. "Yeah right." She shook her head and turned back around to her work. "What're you doing here anyway? Aren't you supposed to be training or something?"

"I've been training all day." She paused and sat down in the nearest chair. "Besides, I need a break and I was wondering what was going on here. Have you made any more progress?"

Marlene turned around with a grin on her face. "I wouldn't call it progress…I'd call it a complete success. I've had them all treated. I'm just waiting for them to start waking up."

"Really?!" She jumped up out of her seat with excitement. "You mean they're actually gonna wake up?"

"Yeah…come on…I'll show ya." Marlene explained as she walked to the door on the other side of the room. "They're just in the next room." With that, both young women walked throught the door into a long room lined with hospital beds, all with people spread out on then unconscious.

"Can you tell me who they are again…I keep forgetting all of their names." The young girl asked Marlene as she glanced around the room.

"Sure." She said as she started walking. "That right there is Cloud." She said as she pointed to his unconscious body. "He was like a father to me. He's really a great man. He never thought twice about protecting everyone with his life." She continued a little further and stopped at the end of Tifa's bed. "That's Tifa. She's the closest thing to a mother that I've ever known. Before all of this happened, I actually lived with her. Her and Cloud were in love. Half the time they wouldn't admit it but everyone knew." She walked a little bit further and stopped at the end of Reno's bed. "This is Reno."

"Oh…he's cute." The young girl said and received a worried look from Marlene.

"Reno is your father's worst nightmare." Marlene said making the young girl giggle a little. "He's not the brightest person in the world and he's a smart ass but he's a good man." Marlene walked a little further and stopped at the end of Rude's bed. "This is Rude. He was almost always working with Reno. He doesn't say much but he's also a good man." Marlene continued walking until she stopped half way between two beds. "That's Tseng and that's Elena. Like Reno and Rude, They were pretty much always working together."

"God…I wish I knew all of these people after all of the stories I have heard from everyone around here." She said to Marlene.

"Oh…you'll meet them soon enough." Marlene said as she started walking and continued until she got to Rufus ShinRa's bed. "This is Rufus ShinRa. His father was the President. After everything that happened with meteor, Rufus decided to help fix what ShinRa had done to the planet." She started walking again until she stopped right between Cid and Shera's beds. "This is Cid and that is Shera. They're married. Cid is a bit obnoxious but he's always been a part of the team. Shera is a lot different when it comes to attitude. She isn't obnoxious at all but they make a pretty good couple." She walked a little further and stopped at Barret's bed. She stared down at her father's unconscious body and frowned.

"Marlene…is something wrong?" The young girl asked curiously.

Marlene didn't answer the question. "And this is my father. His name is Barret. I know he isn't my biological father but he is the only true father I have ever known."

"I thought you said that Cloud was like a father to you?" She asked.

"Yeah…he was like a father to me but nobody could take my father's place." She looked over at the young girl and frowned. "I wish you could've met your mother. She was such a blast to be around. She was always so happy. You're a lot like her. Did you know that?"

The young girl looked down at the floor and frowned herself. "Yeah…Reeve has told me many times. " She looked back up at Marlene. "You know…Dad talks about her sometimes. When he does, it's always about her happiness. I wish that he talked about her more but I know that sometimes it's too painful." They stood there for a few minutes in complete silence, neither knowing what to say to one another.

"Well…I should be getting back to work." Marlene said with a small smile.

"Well…do you need any help with anything?" The young girl asked.

"Um…not really." Marlene answered making the young girl frown slightly. "Well…unless you wanna hang out here and tell me if anyone wakes up."

"Okay." The young girl said with a smile before Marlene left the room.

VII VII VII VII VII

The young girl paced the long room back and forth for about an hour until there was a sign of life. The man Marlene had introduced as Cloud was stirring in his bed. He was waking up. She ran over to his bed so that she could keep an eye on him.

Cloud's eyes fluttered for a bit and then opened fully. Everything was a bit blurry at first. "Great…you're awake." A young girl suddenly appeared in front of him. He blinked a few times and when his vision cleared completely, he was startled a bit by the young girl's vibrant crimson eyes. He didn't know who she was but her eyes seemed strangely familiar.

"Wh…who are you?" He asked in a low, raspy voice. She smiled and was about to say something when the door open.

"Emma…come on." A familiar voice invaded Cloud's ears making him turn his head to the door. The familiar voice was Vincent. He sounded the same as he remembered but he looked entirely different. He had lost his gauntlet and pointy boots. He had also lost the mantle and cape as well. The only thing that didn't look a bit different was his hair. It was still long and slightly wild looking.

"Emma." He said a little louder making sure that she listened. She stood up straight.

"Okay…I'm coming." She said as she slowly made her way to the door. As Emma slowly walked through the door past Vincent, Vincent didn't move.

"Glad you're finally awake Cloud." He said before glancing behind him to make sure that Emma hadn't left the room yet. He turned back to Cloud. "Someone will explain everything in a bit. Just sit tight." With that, he stepped out of the doorway and closed the door behind him.

VII VII VII VII VII

Emma had a guilty expression on her face as she sat in a chair opposite the doorway that Vincent had been standing in. "Am I in trouble?" She asked in a soft, innocent voice.

Vincent shook his head. "No." He paused for a second but then continued. "Next time call and let me know where you are."

Emma nodded. "Okay." She sat there for a minute in silence. "Do I really have to leave now?"

Vincent nodded. "You have training after school tomorrow so you need to get some rest."

"Awww…do I have to do training again?" She whined.

"Emma." Vincent said firmly with a worried expression on his face.

Emma knew that expression. It was an expression that he only used around her. She knew what it meant and she knew not to question or argue back after seeing it. "Okay."

Vincent opened the door to go outside. "Come on. I've got supper waiting." He held the door open and stood there as Emma stood up and slowly made her way out the door. Vincent turned to Marlene. "Just to remind you…Cloud is awake. He seemed a little confused a few minutes ago. You might wanna go in there and talk to him." Marlene nodded and watched Vincent walk out and close the door behind him.