Disclaimer: I own nothing in this fic. Even the OCs aren't mine.

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(In Edge)

Skye had pulled her bike over in front of a large building with a sign that read 'Seventh Heaven'. It hadn't taken her long to find the place, as it seemed fairly popular and practically stood out. Glancing to the sky, she knew it was about 7 in the evening so it should be open by now for the early customers.

Walking slowly to the front door, she jumped back when it swung open and two women came rushing out.

"Cloud! Where the hell have...Oh. I'm sorry." A brunette stopped in the middle of her sentence when she realized the person in front of her wasn't her childhood friend. "I thought I heard his bike." she explained, seeing the confused look she got.

Cloud? She knows him? Then she remembered. Oh, that's right. Cloud had a lot of friends on his journey. I remember seeing her in the background from Aeris' vision. "It's alright. It was an easy mistake. It must have been my bike you heard." Looking at the woman in front of her, she noticed she had long black hair and wine colored eyes. She was wearing an apron, so she must have worked here.

The other girl stepped forward then. "Wow, nice bike!" she chirped cheerily.

Taking in her appearance, Skye was startled to see that it was an old friend of her's. Yuffie Kisaragi. Hiding a groan of exhaustion, she noticed that the girl didn't seem to recognize her and wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. On one hand, it would be nice to have an old friend in the area, but on the other, Yuffie was always so cheerful, and Skye was in no shape to deal with her bouncing around and asking a million questions a minute at the moment.

"Thank you." she said quietly, nodding and turning to cast a quick glance at Raider who's laid down beside Shiva.

Looking at the unusual blonde, Yuffie furrowed her eyebrows in thought a moment. She looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place how. Shaking her head a bit, she offered a big grin and held out her hand. "I'm the great ninja Yuffie Kisaragi."

Shaking her hand politely, Skye nodded back and sighed mentally, not sure if giving her name would give her away or not. Shaking off her hesitation, she smiled back. "Skye Carehart."

Pursing her lips in thought, Yuffie was sure now that she knew this girl from some place. Still though, she couldn't place it.

The taller brunette smiled at the blonde and offered her hand next. "My name is Tifa Lockheart."

Nodding to her, Skye's eyes went wide. "Oh! Then your the one I'm looking for."

This startled the bar owner. She was looking for me? "Um, can I help you with something?" she hesitantly asked. Not many people came looking for her unless there was some sort of trouble, and she really just wanted to lay low and live peacefully for a while.

Looking at Raider to help her, he slowly got up and walked over. "My name is Raider and I am Skye's companion. We are looking for information on her family and were told you could help us." he explained clearly.

Skye nodded and looked down sadly. "My brother. We were forcefully separated when we were young, but I know he's still alive."

Now Yuffie couldn't ignore it. It was just bugging her too much. Somehow she knew this girl, and hearing the wolf's name being Raider only made that feeling stronger. "Do I know you?" she questioned with narrowed eyes and a tilted head.

Looking up in startlement, she didn't know what to say or do.

Tifa shook her head. "It can wait Yuffie." She felt really bad to hear about Skye's sad history, and something about the girl DID seem familiar. "Who told you I could help you though?"

Exchanging looks, Skye sighed. She won't believe me, I know it. "This is going to be hard to believe, but just a few hours ago, my friend Aeris told me."

Both brunettes gasped in shock and their eyes widened.

Tifa recovered first, thought she looked like she'd seen a ghost. That did explain why Skye seemed so familiar. She had the same gentle spirit that Aeris had. "Somehow, I believe you." she muttered in confusion. Still, she didn't understand what linked these two girls together. She saw the hesitant look on Skye's face and shook her head, managing a small smile to hopefully comfort her. "It's ok. Tell me, who's your brother?"

Yuffie had gone as pale as a ghost. It all came together now. The sensation of being familiar, the black wolf and strange eyes, the quest for her family. But...I thought she disappeared a long time ago. "Skye? Skye Carehart? From Mideel?" She knew her eyes must have been as wide as saucers.

Looking at Yuffie, she slowly nodded. "Lived in Nibelheim until I was taken from my family and put on the island of Mideel. I lived with a really bad family, but also met Raider." She gave a soft smile. "Hey Yuff. It's been a long time. How have you-ACK!"

Before she could even finish the last sentence, she was enveloped into a tight hug, and had to struggle to breathe.

"OhmygodSkye!" Yuffie excitedly spit out. "It's sooooooooooooooo good to see you!"

Laughing a little and coughing from the lack of air, Skye nodded and pat her friend's back. "It's good to see you too Yuff, but I kind of need to breathe."

Managing to somehow contain her excitement, Yuffie pulled back and looked her over carefully. "Wow, you've changed so much! When I last saw you, you were tiny. Skinny from being underfed and were covered with bruises!" She looked into her old friend's eyes. "Did you finally manage to get away from those bastards in Mideel?"

Giving a quick glance at Tifa, Skye smiled weakly. "She's referring to the family I was made to stay with after I was kidnapped and my family..." She gulped nervously. "...Killed." Murdered. She just couldn't bring herself to say the word.

Gasping from the news, Tifa put a hand over her mouth in horror. "Killed?" she questioned softly.

Yuffie turned to look at her and a fierce glare covered her normally cheerful face. "Murdered. By Shinra's Turks."

Shaking her head, Tifa felt tears running down her cheeks. "Oh my god! That's horrible!" She suddenly realized they were still outside and ushered everyone, including Raider, inside, before shutting the door and flipping the sign to closed. It was just a good thing no one had come in yet.

Skye looked at them both, and for Tifa's benefit, she explained a little more. "They were my adopted family, but were really nice and the closest thing to biological as I could get." She looked around the bar as she slowly made her way to a table and took a seat. "I had an older brother who was kidnapped too and I never saw him again, but I know he's still out there. About a year ago, I met Aeris in the promised Land and she told me I should find him. She's the one who led me to you."

Furrowing her eyes and frowning a bit, Tifa crossed her arms in thought. "But Aeris is dead. How could you meet her?"

Now Skye sighed. She knew she could tell them, but she was nervous. What if they didn't believe her? What if they called Shinra? Sure, his company was no more, but he himself still lived and he still had Turks.

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes. "Because I'm an ancient."

The shatter of a glass and two gasps made her eyes fly open and she turned to find Tifa standing with the shards of a broken glass at her feet, and her and Yuffie were staring at her in shock.

Yuffie shook her head and narrowed her eyes a bit. "Aeris told us she was the last ancient."

Raider walked up beside Skye and nodded. "That is because she did not know until just recently. Skye is a pure blood ancient."

Slowly walking to get a broom, Tifa seemed to think about that for a while in silence. Yuffie nodded in understanding and took a seat opposite of Skye. "Ok, we'll just leave that for now. So who's your brother?"

Looking between the two brunettes, Skye pursed her lips in thought. "My full name is Skye Carehart Valentine."

Hearing a dull thud, they both turned to find Tifa sitting on the ground, cross legged with the broom at her side, with wide eyes as she rubbed her temples.

"Ok, this is just a bit too much. First you say you know Aeris, which I believe by the way..." she said before Skye could state that she DID know Aeris. "And then you turn out to know Yuffie, and your an ancient, and now your Vincent Valentine's sister?" Rubbing her temples again, she groaned a bit. "I've got a headache."

"One surprise after the other. Wow Skye. This is a lot to take in right now." Yuffie too looked a little overwhelmed.

Nodding her head in understanding, Skye slowly got up. "Then I'll give you some time to think about it. Please consider what I've said and think about helping me find my brother Vincent."

Shaking her head, Tifa slowly got up. "It's alright. It IS overwhelming, but your welcome to stay here. I'll help you contact Vincent. He just got himself a phone..." She shook her head and muttered to herself, "finally." Looking at the blonde, she tilted her head a bit. "But Vincent's never mentioned having a sister."

"When has Vincent EVER told us anything about himself?" Yuffie put in dryly. "He could be a transexual homosexual for all we know." Then she looked at Skye who'd raised her eyebrows at that and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

Shaking her head with a big grin, Skye had to laugh a bit at that. "As far as I remember, but brother is a guy and he's as straight as an arrow."

Tifa giggled and Yuffie grinned at that. Then Yuffie's grin turned evil. "Saaaaay, you wouldn't happen to have any dirt on him would ya?" Feeling for comfortable around her old friend, she slipped back into her usual perky self.

"Tons." she answered with a giggle. "But I don't want him hunting me down for telling you."

Raider stood at this point an stretched a bit. "Skye, did you not want to ask about how he was now, since the last time you saw him you were both children?"

Pursing her lips in thought, she nodded. "It's been so long." Turning to the two women in the bar, she tilted her head slightly. "How HAS my big brother been?"

Tifa paused a moment in putting the broom away before sighing and gesturing to everyone to make themselves comfortable. "It's a long story."

Once they were all seated with drinks, Tifa took a deep breath and began. "Well, the first time we met him, he was sleeping in a coffin under Nibelheim..."

Yuffie shuddered. "Creepy vampire." she muttered to herself, and blushed when the others looked at her a moment.

Shaking her head, Tifa continued. "We explained to him about how we were after Sephiroth, Aeris was still with us at that time. Hesitating, he soon joined us, and we learned that he had fallen in love with a scientist named Lucrecia. They had a baby together, but she chose to use it in an experiment and when he tried to stop it, he was shot."

Skye gasped at this. Coffin? Shot? She thought SHE had it bad, but Vincent's life sounded so much worse and she knew it was only the beginning.

"He was experimented on and became a vampire with demon souls in him. He could shift his shape in a battle and was a master gunman. The child turned out to be Sephiroth, but he helped us kill him. We never heard of him having any family, if anything, the most he would tell us was that they were dead." Giving a sypathetic smile, she looked at the table. "He was never much for making friends, but always appeared to help us out."

"When the Geostigma appeared, it was him who saved Cloud and he helped us fight the Remnant brothers. Then he just went back to he Forgotten City where he'd been staying."

"Forgotten City? I know where that is. I can go find him." Skye looked shocked at everything she was told, but also slightly excited to go find her brother.

Tifa shook her head. "No. He's not always there. He moves all over. Sometimes there, sometimes in Nibelheim, but most often, in Lucrecia's hidden cave."

Yuffie pouted pursed her hips in thought. It looked like she had a comment, but amazingly seemed able to withhold it for once.

The sound of a motor cut in and everyone turned to look at the door. A moment later, and Cloud walked in, stopping still when he saw their guests.

Feeling her heart pounding at the sight of him, Skye didn't know why. Somehow she felt happy to see him, but at the same time, nervous. She didn't know him or what to expect from him.

"We meet again." His voice held surprise, but his eyes held suspicion.

Yuffie grinned cheerily and jumped up, waving at the blonde. "Hiya Cloud! This is my old friend Skye."

Nodding to the ninja, Cloud turned his gaze back on the blonde. "We've met."

Skye suddenly found counting the marks in the wooden table rather interesting as she lowered her gaze. Something about his piercing blue eyes on her made her want to shiver, but strangely enough, not in dread or fear. "Yeah." It was so quiet, she almost thought no one had heard her. Absently, she pulled the end of her tail into her hand and began playing with it, a usual tactic when she felt nervous.

Tifa looked at her in surprise and saw how shy she'd suddenly become. She didn't know why but suspected it had something to do with Cloud's unannounced arrival. "You didn't tell us you met Cloud." Her tone wasn't accusing, just curious.

"I didn't think of it. Besides, I don't even know him." She looked into Tifa's eyes.

Yuffie kept looking at Cloud. "You won't believe half the things we found out about her!" she said excitedly. Then she sat down and groaned. "I've got a massive headache!"

Tifa giggled. "I had one a short while ago. I think it's going around."

"My fault. Sorry guys." Skye looked a little sheepish.

Shaking her head, Tifa smiled warmly at her. "It's ok. It was just a lot to take in."

Listening to them, Cloud crossed to the bar and grabbed a bottle of water before leaning against the counter and taking a drink.

Nodding, Yuffie looked at the blonde swordsman. "Ya. Not only does she know Aeris, but she's an ancient and she's Vinnie's little sister too!"

Spitting out his water in shock, Cloud coughed for a few moments. Looking at the girl with wide blue eyes, he shook his head. "She doesn't look anything like him."

Raising her eyebrow, she grinned a little. "That's because I'm adopted. Skye Carehart Valentine, at your service."

His eyes widened even more at this. The ancient thing explained her familiar aura, but she knew Aeris? Was related to Vincent? He felt a migrane coming on and went in search of some aspirin. "I've got a headache." he muttered quietly, mostly to himself.

All three girls burst out laughing at this and Cloud peered over the top of the bar to glare at them, only serving to make them laugh harder.

Suddenly remembering something, Skye stopped laughing and looked closely at Cloud who was staring right back at her over the top of the bar. He raised an eyebrow and she grinned.

"Aeris and Zack were right. He DOES look like a chocobo!"

Raider grinned and covered his face with his paws and Yuffie fell out of her chair laughing. Tifa had taken a drink and began choking on it as she hit her chest to make it go down. Cloud's other eyebrow raised and joined it's partner just below his hair line.

"Nice to know." he muttered quietly as he bent back down and continued looking for the aspirin. Something told him he'd need the whole bottle to get rid of the migrane he now had.

Tifa finally got over her choking. Looking at Skye, she nodded with a big grin. "True. None of us have ever said that to his face, but we've all thought it."

Yuffie grinned and got back into her seat. "You should have seen this one time when he was wrestling with a chocobo in the mud. By the time he was done, we couldn't tell which of them was which."

Picturing it, Skye giggled. "Awww! Cute! I wish I could have seen that!" She could just see the mud covered blondes looking at her with confusion in their big blue eyes. One human and the other a giant chicken.

All the girls began laughing once more and even Raider joined them this time.

Cloud felt his face heating up. So that's what they were discussing and laughing about that time. he thought to himself. He unconsciously patted his hair, knowing the bar would keep them from seeing it and considered doing as Rude did and shaving his head. Picturing it, he groaned a little in disgust. Then he shook his head. Nah. That's not me.

Standing back up with a couple of aspirin, he took them and put down his bottle of water. "I stopped by to see Rufus and he said something about having a mission for me."

All the girls got quiet at this and Tifa and Yuffie looked at Skye in worry.

Skye glared at the table top with rage. "Rufus." she muttered to herself. "Rufus Shinra. Leader of the Turks." Raising her blood chilling glare to Cloud who was looking at her in pure confusion, she slowly got up. "You're working for Shinra?" Her voice was deadly quiet, but the hatred was evident.

Narrowing his eyes at the blonde in confusion, he nodded his head before shaking it. "Kind of. I do deliveries for him as well as protecting people."

Now Skye laughed, but it was a mocking laugh. "As if I believe that!" Looking at him, her glare never faded in intensity. "Rufus Shinra, helping people? What, when he's not killing them?" Her tone held mock innocence, but her glare spoke of pain and anger beyond any he had ever seen before.

Cloud's eyes narrowed even more until they were almost tiny slits. "Killing people? You must be thinking of the old Shinra."

Now Aeris' words came back to haunt her. People change you know.

"I don't know what your talking about." Cloud had picked up his bottle again and taken another drink.

That's when Raider stood up, almost growling as he glared at the warrior in front of him. "Shinra killed Skye's family and forced her to live with an abusive family."

The water bottle paused at Cloud's mouth and his eyes flew open. He looked at the girl in front of him and saw he look of utter sorrow in her eyes, confirming the story. He felt his heart clench, sympathy for her making it's way to the top of everything else as he lowered the bottle.

Pursing his lips in thought, he asked the one question he wanted to ask since he first saw her. "What are you doing here?" Was she here to kill Shinra? Was it something else entirely?

Looking him in the eyes, she saw no malice or anger. "To find my brother Vincent." Then she took a deep breath. And kill Shinra and the Turks when I can.

He knew there was more to it than that. He'd felt the same hatred she seemed to hold and knew that if he was in her place, he would want to kill them, meaning that was also likely part of her mission. Shaking his head, he suddenly remembered something important. Something he figured he better warn the girls about. "You all might want to leave then. Rufus is coming here with the Turks. All of them."

Letting her glare grow in size, Skye grabbed the handle of her gunblade before remembering her promise to Aeris. I'll look for my brother first. Nodding, she turned to Raider. "We should go."

Tifa stood up quickly along with Yuffie. "What about Vincent?"

Shaking her head, she answered. "I'll just have to go look for him myself."

Exchanging looks, Tifa shook her head. "Come back tomorrow and I'll call him to come meet you."

Giving a faint nod, Skye walked to the door. She put he hand on the handle but paused for a moment. "I don't want to kill them, but at the same time, I don't think I could control my anger if I meet them." Looking over her shoulder, she looked at Cloud who seemed sympathetic. "Thank you for warning me." Turning her back to them, she opened the door. "I'll come back tomorrow."

Hearing the chorus of 'bye's, she walked out and hopped onto her bike and sped off.

Back inside, Cloud turned and went upstairs. Something about this girl had gotten to him. She'd suffered so much in her past and her anger reminded him of his. He remembered back when he too wanted to kill Shinra, and how he'd eventually accepted that they'd changed.

There was also the fact that she was an ancient. Somehow that struck him as a chance to make up for failing to protect Aeris. He'd gotten over his guilt but always wanted a change to make up for it, and now he felt he had the chance. If he could find and protect this girl, maybe he could fogive himself completely.

Shaking his head, he berated himself for thinking of her as a mission. It's not just that I want to protect her. Something else is drawing me to her. I just want to be around her. I don't know why...it's just something that's been on my mind since I first saw her.

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Ok, this chappie's quite a bit longer. The lengths might very, soz if that bothers anyone.

Why does Cloud feel drawn to Skye? Is it the fact she's an ancient? What about Vincent? What happens next?

Hey Billybob. Hope you like this, and sorry I didn't mention before, but I hope your friend likes this too. (Waves) Hiya!

Ok, chappie 2 done, still got lots (and I mean LOTS) to go!

R+R, let me knwo what you think.

Tenshi