Another year, another trek to Midgar. Again he did not go alone, his grandchildren old enough to make the journey from Cosmo Canyon to the forested wilderness of what used to be Edge and Midgar. Again he would tell the story of his journey with the greatest of heroes, and again he would introduce the young ones to the only two-legged friend he had left on this planet.

Nanaki's paws bounced off of the hard surface of the plateau he traveled, two young cubs keeping up with his stride. It was the same path he had taken for centuries to visit old friends long gone and a church that was unrecognizable by any but he and Vincent. That place was sacred still, after so long.

The cliff face was in front of them now and Nanaki leapt, followed by the cubs. They hopped their way to the top, dust coating their legs as they made the final hop to the top. They approached and looked upon Midgar, a mesh of grey metal and green vegetation that finally took over the land three centuries ago.

Nanaki looked at his grandchildren, nodded, then let out a triumphant roar. They mimicked him as best they could, and he chuckled after a few moments. He looked over the ruins below them.

"This is Midgar. Or, what used to be Midgar."

One of the cubs tentatively stepped towards the cliff's edge, getting a good look at the scenery. "You said the humans used to live here?"

Nanaki nodded as he turned to look at the cub. "Yes, Khlali. Some still live nearby, but not within the ruins."

"What about them? Are they like the ones you talked about?"

His eye found the cub on his other side. "No. They live with the Planet, just like the ones that still live in Cosmo Canyon do, Reki."

Reki swished his tail. "Can we meet them?"

Nanaki shook his head. "Not today. Some of them know us, but most are wary." He looked back at Midgar. "Let's go."

He guided the cubs down to the Midgar plains, letting them take their time down the narrow passage on the face of the cliff.

The forest was deep and dark and full of life, noisy from birds and insects. If only the cubs had seen what it had been before! Nanaki guided them all the while feeling a deep nostalgia well up. Nostalgia and longing. How long had it been since he came here to see not just a friend, but friends? His eye saw the dusty ground of the Midgar Wastes for an instant.

Such a long time ago, but he could recall it as if it were yesterday. He wished the faces were the same. The voices, he remembered them. They came to him rarely. Just whispers on the wind or with murky images in a waking dream, telling him they were there with him. In his younger decades he would never have thought he would have grown so fond of humans after they had done so much to him and the Planet, but here he was, longing for a hug or being called "Red".

A clearing came into view after an hour of prowling and herding curious cubs. It was cradled by whatever remained of the plates above. Crumbled stone covered in moss enclosed a pool of spring water that was surrounded by yellow and white lilies. Pale sunbeams lit the holy space.

One wall was still somewhat intact; it was three feet high and crumbling little by little every year. Behind it was the burial mound of two heroes. It was a simple thing, made of round stones and a fading memorial stone that he and Vincent would clean. Nanaki had taken a few villagers of interest who lived near by to the mound to pay their respects.

"This was a church, a long time ago. No matter if the walls are crumbled, it is still a holy place." Nanaki came up to the spring as he minded his paws around the flowers a scent reached his nose, triggering something deep in his memory; perhaps it was a phantom smell from centuries past. "Humans made Midgar, and made many threats to the Planet. But, they also risked their lives to protect it.

"Midgar was a city that was full of humans and nightmares. The ground would not bare life, and the city used the Lifestream to power everything. It sucked away at the Planet's blood, and the green world around you was once a wasteland of dust and monsters." He looked at his reflection in the pool. His ochre eye looked back, studying the scar where his other eye should be.

Khlali hopped onto a collapsed and crumbling pillar. She balanced herself on the vine covered rubble. "Why did they try to kill the Planet?"

Nanaki looked back and rubbed his nose with the back of his fore paw. "It was greed. They were not trying to kill the Planet on purpose. But, it was the cost to be comfortable, and most ignored the possibility that the land they lived on would one day die because of them."

Reki huffed before bounding over to the pool. He sniffed around, sneezed, then batted at the water before looking up at his grandfather. "Humans sound stupid. No wonder you avoid them back home!"

Nanaki let out a deep chuckle. "Sometimes they can be very short sighted, but I don't avoid them because of their past mistakes."

"Why then?"

The large red beast tightened his jaw. Because they die too soon, and one group that were close enough to call family was enough, he thought. "It's for the best. I ask you not to be disdainful of humans, however."

Khlali tripped when she charged too quickly on the pillar, and bounced on her side as she fell the few inches to the ground. She shook her head and stood up again. "Is it because they stopped being stupid?"

"Yes, they aren't..." Nanaki sniffed again and frowned. That wasn't a phantom smell. He brought his nose low to the ground and studied the scent...no, scents. He knew these scents, but where were they from? They were human, but they were familiar humans.

"What do you smell, Grandfather?" Reki asked. He mimicked Nanaki. "I smell humans." While the cubs may not have had much contact with the humans who lived in Cosmo Canyon, they learned the scent at an early age.

"It is humans..." He continued to sniff as Khlali joined them. It was comforting, but also disconcerting; something in his mind was screaming out at him, a deep memory from centuries past. Nanaki lifted his head and trotted towards the back wall. The smell was here by the mound, too.

"Grandfather, what's wrong?" Khlali asked as she followed him with Reki not far behind. "Are they bad human scents?"

Nanaki looked around, his breath growing quicker and his ears pulled back. He knew these scents, who did they belong to? "No...no, it's not bad. Just familiar." He tried to calm himself after swallowing heavily. Why was he on the verge of panic?

"Is it the man you wished us to meet? Vinseent?" Khlali cocked her head.

Reki rolled his eyes. "Not Vinseent, Veencent!"

"My name is pronounced Vincent."

The three looked to the side to observe a man wrapped in black and red slowly walking towards them. His long raven hair cascaded down his shoulders and onto his pale face. Despite the change in outfit over the centuries, the mysterious man always wore red and black. Black leather clothing, a bronze gauntlet he never got rid of, and a red mantle that almost matched the color of his eyes. His boots were no longer pointed with metal, but rounded and black.

The two cubs walked behind Nanaki and pulled their ears back. This human looked and smelled strange to them.

"Long time no see, Vincent," Nanaki said as he tried to calm down.

Vincent nodded, took a few steps closer and knelt down next to the red beast. "Paying your respects without me?" he gently chided. He raised a brow as he began to notice the concern on Nanaki's face.

"No, I..." He bent down to sniff again. It was all mingling together and all that was missing was the scent of a campfire to complete it. "I smell something, Vincent."

Vincent cocked his head. "What is it?"

"It...it smells like humans and mako, and...like the mahogany of the pagodas of Wutai. It smells like youth and..." It started to hit him then, it clicked in his head who those scents belonged to. But that was impossible, their bones were turning to dust! "It smells like them, Vincent."

"...Them?" Vincent gave him a piercing stare.

Reki and Khlali inched away from Nanaki's backside to peer at his face. They looked back and forth between the two. "Who?" Reki asked.

Nanaki stood up. "Friends. Old friends. I-I think it's..." He began to follow the trail into the forest. "I will find them. If it is them."

The two cubs looked back at Vincent warily as he stood up. Nanaki looked back at them. "It's alright, you two. I trust Vincent with my life. I have done so many times in the past. I trust him with you, too."

"If you say so, Grandfather," Khlali replied back as they began to follow Nanaki. As Vincent followed them it put a spring in their step. They had heard that Vincent was a little scary when one first met him, but to the cubs he was downright intimidating.

"Nanaki, are you sure it is their scents? It's been so long."

Nanaki continued to follow the haphazard trail that led towards the ruins of Edge. "Unless I am finally going senile, yes, I am sure."

Vincent snorted. "Let's hope you aren't."

Nanaki looked back, stared at Vincent for a good long moment, then smiled before turning around to sniff some more.

It was late afternoon when the trail became stronger, moving this way and that way as it zigzagged from ruin to rubble, then turned towards the coast and a few wisps of smoke that raised from the canopy of trees. "I suppose you two will meet some villagers today after all."

He quickened his pace as a human foot made path created an area for easy travel. "Cloud...Yuffie...We're coming," he whispered as the cicadas and birds sang in the trees.