Chapter One:

A/N: I'm a big fan of long exposition and slow development for characters. I swear this story is going somewhere, but I want to actually build a plot here and make this crossover work. In fact I have a plot line, so I do know where this is going basically.

Not all of the pairings in this story are my personal OTPs, but they seemed to be the ones that would work. Not that I have anything against Cloud/Tifa, it's just not my normal choice. So my writing of it may be a bit off. Any OOC-ness of the characters from FF:VII I'm choosing to explain as character growth. Vincent won't be as broody, Yuffie won't be as hyper, Cloud is less emo and all the characters will probably have changed a bit… but hey, it's been a few years for them. Everyone grows up eventually.

Somewhere on the outer edge of the city of Midgar there is a bar that serves better than average beer and food that doesn't taste like it's made from reprocessed monster parts, which is definitely a step up from many of the bars in the city. It's a popular place, people travel from the other side of the city just to spend an evening with their friends in the quiet atmosphere of the bar. Its name is 7th Heaven and the peaceful quality has sometimes been attributed, jokingly, to protection from a higher power. When someone made that joke to the proprietor of the place, she got a sort of strange look on her face and just said that maybe there was some truth to that. Of course unless this higher power has hair like a chocobo and a sword as tall as he is, then those patrons would be wrong. In the last 7 years the regular patrons can only remember one major fight ever breaking out and they have a love for repeating the story to every new-comer, the story gets wilder every time, but at least it keeps angry words and fighting down inside the establishment.

The tale goes that about 5 years ago, right after the GeoStigma was cured. There was a group of guys that came in looking to celebrate their good fortune at the miraculous cure of 3 of them. One of the more belligerent drinkers told them that they were full of shit and this whole "cure" was just another Shinra lie, that Shinra was just paying off people to lie about the Stigma. Of course the 5 men took offense at being called liars and having more than a little alcohol coursing through their systems, they decided to teach the old man a thing or two about manners. Unfortunately for them, this particular guy had friends…several of them in fact and when they kicked the guy out he found them and brought them back to the bar. The five idiots who had started it were outnumbered 2 to 1 and neither group was thinking rationally. Just as the fight started heating up and they actually began to do some damage to themselves and the furniture the barkeep, a beautiful young women with long black hair, hopped over the bar and kicked one of the rabble-rousers right in the head. He was drunk enough that he crumpled to the ground and suddenly his buddies were turning on her. Now she was good, but 9 to 1 aren't good odds for anyone and the 5 guys who had started this whole problem were sneaking out the back. At least they were before a man carrying the biggest sword they had ever seen came walking down the stairs at the back of the room. He gave them an indifferent look and told them to get out and if they ever came back they'd be breathing through a brand new hole in the neck. They took him seriously and were out the door so fast it seemed someone had cast haste on them. He told the other group that they should probably do the same. These weren't some young punks though and they figured they could take one pretty boy and his girlfriend too with no problem. 6 of the guys rushed him, while 3 continued to fight the barkeep. The swordsman dispatched all 6 of the guys, using the flat of his blade, in about 15 seconds and the other 3 didn't do any better at all. By the end of the fight there were 10 unconscious men lying in the gutter outside 7th Heaven, all looking the worse for wear. If it were possible for statuary to look smug, the angel looking down from its perch above the street would have been doing just that.

There hadn't been a fight in or near the bar since the incident. Most of that had to do with the tale of the bars new "bouncer", but some of it might have to do with the rumor spread by those same five guys that swore up and down that the man that had tossed them out was the same one who had defeated that summoned monster in Midgar and that the barkeep and their various other friends had been involved too. Most people told them that they were full of shit, but the possibility was enough to keep people from starting anything in 7th Heaven. After all, who wants to tangle with people who could bring down a monster that size?

Of course the pure and simple truth was that, unless you were enhanced with Mako energy or the by-product of terribly genetic experimentation, there was no way you'd be a challenge for Cloud Strife or Tifa Lockhart. Unfortunately there are only a few select people that are aware of the part they played in stopping Meteor 7 years prior or stopping the destruction of the world once again 5 years later in a battle that destroyed most of what was still standing in the ruins of Sector 7 and the only people in that group were the others who had participated. Saving the world can be kind of frustrating, as their friend Yuffie put it. You do all that work and save everyone and then they never even realize it happened. Marlene, the adopted daughter of Barret Wallace former AVALANCHE leader and co-saver of the world, told Yuffie that saving the world was kind of its own reward and besides doing nice things for people made you feel good. Yuffie had just laughed and said she would rather have reward in the form of expensive gifts. Marlene had just frowned at her disapprovingly and gone to play with Denzel, Tifa and Cloud's unofficial adopted child. That had been 5 years ago, right after the attempted resurrection of Sephiroth and Aerith's intervention in curing GeoStigma.

Since that battle things had been relatively peaceful on Gaia, though relative to the world almost being destroyed by a raving mad man created through experiments with alien life leaves a pretty wide margin for what is considered peaceful. Most of the group had gone their separate ways, but there was nearly constant contact between them. Saving the world a couple of times really creates a bond between people.

Cloud groaned and rolled over, reaching over to the other side of the bed he searched for the person that he had gone to bed with the night before. He grudgingly opened his eyes when he found no trace of her. This made no sense whatsoever to his sleep addled brain. Last night, being their 2nd anniversary, had been a rather late and tiring night. Both Marlene and Denzel had left last week with Cid to be dropped off in Wutai with Yuffie for a 2 week vacation, which was really more of a vacation for Cloud and Tifa than it was for them. With them both gone there couldn't be anything that Tifa needed to handle for them.

Lying still in the bed, he could not here any noise from the bathroom so he surmised that she had left the room and was probably downstairs. Grumbling, Cloud dragged himself out of bed and headed for the bathroom to take a shower.

It was hard to believe that he and Tifa had been married for 2 years already. After his near death in the battle at Sector 7 with Kadaj and Sephiroth and his subsequent "Dilly-Dallying", as Aerith had put it, his relationship with Tifa began to grow. He was no longer tied to his guilt. He would always remember Aerith and always love her, but he had managed to put away that memory and begin to live for his friends, his family. After 2 years of cautious "dating" on his part and definite encouragement on the behalf of everyone, Marlene and Denzel especially, there was a definite spark. For nearly a year Tifa dropped hint after hint about marriage, each one less subtle than the last. However, for all that Cloud was an amazing swordsman, he was still incredibly dense and after nearly a year of this particular song and dance everyone was groaning in frustration and Cid, (CID!), had taken pity on him and sat him down to talk about the dreaded 'C' word. That is commitment. Cloud finally got the picture and began planning an entirely over the top romantic evening, of course that just ruined the surprise and half way through the date (during which he was incredibly nervous) Tifa finally just broke down and said "Just ask the damn question, Chocobo head. I'm going to say yes." Cloud had nearly collapsed in shock.

"Was I that obvious?" He asked, surprised.

"Well yeah, once you started going on about reservations and bringing me flowers and pulling out my chair for me it was pretty much an open/shut case."

And that was that. He'd asked and she'd said yes and less than 2 months later they'd been married. The whole thing was sort of surreal even now, not to mention then. If anyone had told him 7 years ago if he was going to marry Tifa Lockhart he would have found it exceedingly funny…well as funny as he found anything back then anyway. People really did change as they got older he mused. He exited the shower and dressed quickly, his hair remained un-gelled and hanging down around his head. He had once contemplated getting rid of his tall gelled locks, but Tifa had stopped that idea quickly. Saying that while he may look like a chocobo, she still liked it and besides if he got rid of it Barret would have to find a new nickname for him. Spiky wouldn't make any sense if his hair was normal after all.

Cloud walked down the stairs from his and Tifa's room and wandered into the room of the bar. He spotted Tifa easily enough standing behind the bar with a phone tucked between her shoulder and ear and going through the accounts from last night. Because of their anniversary she had been forced to find someone to cover the bar for her. Cloud honestly didn't want to know what sort of blackmail she had on Rude and Reno that would make them take a turn playing bar keep and bouncer for the night, but he had to admit it had been rather amusing when Reno ended up playing the latter and Rude the former. It was definitely not the stereotypical set up for those two. However, Tifa did not trust Reno to make anything for human ingestion. Rude had confided in her that on their last anniversary Reno had decided to make a romantic gesture and cook dinner for Rude and the night had regrettably ended in the ER. On the other hand, Rude could make a great meal out of just about everything and as for acting as a bar keep, he could mix at least a dozen drinks from memory. How he had learned to do that while being a Turk was a mystery that no one had yet solved.

Tifa smiled at Cloud as she continued talking on the phone.

"Really, Marlene? That was very nice of Yuffie to teach you knife throwing, but I have a feeling that you shouldn't mention it to your father. How are you and Denzel doing Wutai?" There was a pause as she listened to the teen's answer. "I'm glad you're having fun then. You can stay for as long as Yuffie will let you, but come home whenever you want." Another pause "Bye Marlene, can you put Yuffie on? Thanks." Cloud walked up behind Tifa and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"What's up? I didn't expect you to be gone when I got up."

"Vincent phoned early this morning. What were we thinking getting him a cell phone? He is a menace with that thing now. Anyway, once I was up I couldn't get back to sleep and I decided to check the books and then Marlene called."

"Vincent called, what did he need?" Vincent did call fairly often since he had gotten a cell phone as a gift from the rest of the gang, but he never called when he knew it would inconvenience others. He kept track of dates like anniversaries and birthdays and Cloud doubted he would have called this morning unless it was important.

"He wanted to talk to you about something he found at the Temple. I'll tell you what he said after I talk to Yuffie about her extracurricular activities for Marlene and Denzel." She paused and pulled the phone up to her mouth. "Yuffie? Yeah, it's Tifa. Look I don't care if you teach Marlene self-defense and I'm not particular about what sort of weapons you use, but if Barrett finds out you've been teaching her to throw knives, I will not be responsible for the situation you find yourself in." She paused to listen to Yuffie's response "Okay then, it's on your head. How are you doing? Has Nanaki been around recently?" Cloud left her to catch up on news, knowing she would fill him in later. He left through the back door into the small parking lot behind the bar. Even only 5 years after the world had stopped using Mako energy for fuel there was still a remarkable amount of vehicles on the streets of Midgar. The automobile companies had been the first people to offer jobs to people like Barrett, who were finding alternate fuel sources. The parking lot behind the bar was tiny, but luckily the majority of their costumers were local enough that they walked to the bar from their office or home. The shed at the back of the bar contained one of Cloud's most prized possessions, his motorcycle Fenrir.

At least two hours passed unnoticed as he worked on the bike. At one time he would have spent hours training to clear his head, but since he had let go of the past he found it more stressful to spend his hours feeling like a member of SOLDIER. His hobbies had changed and he found himself with a knack for car repair and his hobby had soon branched out into a small business that supplemented what Tifa made running the bar.

Just as Cloud was beginning to get hungry for lunch there was a knock on the door of the workshop and Tifa stuck her head in the door. "I made some lunch if you're hungry."

"Yeah, I was just getting ready to come in." Cloud followed her in and began washing up in the kitchen. "So what's new in Wutai?"

"Well Nanaki is there at the moment, but he still disappears every now and again. He's still searching for the others of his kind. Yuffie keeps telling him that if we didn't find them while we were crisscrossing Gaia before Meteor that he's never going to find them, but he's so stubborn." Tifa shook her head with a sad look.

Cloud grinned "Maybe they built a spaceship and flew away."

"Don't start on that around Cid, he'll start spouting off about rockets and space exploration again. Vincent is the most patient man in the world; I would probably start throwing things if I had to put up with Cid for a boyfriend."

"If Cid heard you call him Vincent's 'boyfriend' he'd blow a gasket you know; and what about my obsession with car parts and swords? You've never even gotten close to throwing things at me…"

"That's 'cause you're just so darn cute." Tifa said and reached to ruffle Cloud's un-spiked hair. He dodged and glared at her.

"Not funny, I'm not five you know."

"I would hope not. That would mean I married a three year old." Tifa teased him.

"Ugh, Tif, I was speaking metaphorically." Cloud rolled his eyes at her and sat down at the table where a plate of sandwiches sat in the middle along with a pot of soup.

"Ooh, that was a mighty big word for an ex-soldier*" Tifa sat in the chair directly across from him and they began to eat.

"Hush you" Cloud responded to her teasing in an equally teasing manner. "So what was Vince calling about this morning that was so important?"

"'Vince'? You do realize that he would disembowel you if you ever called him that to his face right?"

"Cid calls him that all the time!"

"Cid is sleeping with him, which garners special privileges you know." Tifa said matter of factly. "So unless there is something else going on between you two that I should know about, I'm pretty sure you don't get to call him 'Vince'."

"You are so juvenile Tifa, sometimes I wonder if you really are 27."

"That's because I'm not. I started aging backwards as soon as I hit 25. I'm surprised you didn't notice."

Cloud snorted "So what did Vincent call about?"

"He didn't want to discuss it over the phone, but he apparently found some really odd journals at the Temple and he thinks that you would be interested in seeing them. Something related to Jenova and the Ancients. He didn't say much, but you know he's paranoid about what he says over phone lines."

"Old habits die hard, Tif. During the days of SOLDIER and Shinra, phone calls made by both SOLDIERs and Turks were listened to by security agents. You mentioned the wrong thing to the wrong person and you probably would disappear before you could report for duty the next day." Cloud shook his head sorrowfully. "There was a boy in my class as a 2nd year cadet, his name was Ortiz on the paperwork, but his real name was Xien Zhi, his mother was from Wu Tai and was involved in the resistance. He heard a rumor about a raid that was going to occur in her village and he called to warn her. No one saw him again after that."

Tifa grimaced; it was obvious what had happened to the boy. Anyone who went against Shinra met a swift end and rarely escaped. Cloud shook himself out of his memories of the past.

"Sorry, Tif, I shouldn't bring up such morbid things at lunch. I'll head out the Temple tomorrow morning, if Vincent thinks I need to see something it's probably pretty important. He's too level headed to get worried about something unimportant."

"You could head over there after lunch if you think it's important" Tifa told him while finishing off her sandwich. Cloud protested quickly.

"I can't do that, yesterday was our anniversary!"

"yes, yes it was. And today is not our anniversary. I have quite a bit to do before I open tonight. I'll be fine; this is Vincent we are talking about. If he says it's important then it's really important." Tifa began to clear up her dishes and snatched Cloud's away as soon as he'd finished his food.

"What if there's a fight? You won't have a bouncer."

"When was the last time there was fight here Cloud?" Cloud puzzled over that for a moment, not being able to remember any recent outbreaks of violence in the bar. "Anything that happens I'll be able to handle and Natasha Miller's daughter, Emily, is coming in to waitress tonight. We'll be fine without you for a couple of days while you visit Vincent."

"Okay, you've convince me. I'll head out soon I suppose, I'll call Vincent before I leave, let him know I'm coming." Cloud got up from the table and gave Tifa a kiss before going upstairs to retrieve his cell phone and to change into something more appropriate for the drive to the Cetra Temple. Vincent had been spending quite a bit of time there since he had found that Khaos gave him the ability to read the Ancient's language. It was a poor trade for all the trouble the seemingly demonic creature had caused him over the years, but Vincent used to his advantage. He believed that the knowledge he could gain from the Cetra would be useful. The Temple had been used as a repository for the knowledge of the Ancients of Gaia and most of it had remained intact for hundreds of years since the Cetra fell.

Cloud came back down stairs to find Tifa looking over inventory and Emily washing dishes. He nodded and said good afternoon to Emily, which got him a blush and a giggle response that could have been "good afternoon" as well. He shook his head at that and walked over to Tifa.

"If you're absolutely sure you won't be needing me…"

"Leave" Tifa said with a laugh and then shoved him toward the back door. "We will be fine, call me when you get there and let me know what Vincent needed to see you about. I'm just as interested as you are." She made shooing motions with her hands until he finally winked at her and left through the back door. Fenrir was brought out of the shed with no trouble and within 20 minutes Cloud had left the sprawling metropolis of Midgar behind him as he headed south toward the Temple of the ancients.

*A/N: I'm using the small case soldier in this case. As we all know Cloud was never actually in SOLDIER, but he did fight in a military.