A/N: I love you all, did you know that? Thanks for sticking with me through this crazy adventure of a first fanfic! Your kind words are my motivation to keep going. Thank you all!

The Sorrowful Deity, Astrea Erushia, Miss Taarna, Warrick24, Okikun, Lumina, Firaga (welcome to the party!), Monking II, and Wolf777….you all rock! Thanks for all of your support.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything here other than my imagination. Sqaure-Enix owns the rest.

Beware of typos and errors. You know how I am with longer chapters.


Chapter 08 – To Keep You Safe

The bar had remained closed that day, which was a welcomed relief to Cloud. He knew that Tifa could have probably used the money, but he was always glad to have a little peace and quiet. As much as he appreciated the silence tonight, he couldn't help but wonder why Tifa had changed her mind about opening in the first place. She had been acting really strange all day, and he couldn't help but feel like he had upset her in some way. Maybe she was still angry about his behavior last night and his argument with Barret? She had seemed rather upset when he had stormed out of Barret's meeting, and afterwards, she seemed downright hurt that he had forgotten about the promise he had made when they were kids.

The promise he had made to his friend had been childish, to say the least. It was all too easy to recall his last night in Nibelheim as the two of them sat side by side next to the well. Joining SOLDIER had always been Cloud's dream, and that night he had only meant to say goodbye to his childhood friend, but instead found himself making a promise to the girl. He had promised that if she were ever in trouble that he would come to save her. Tifa had wanted a hero, but he was no hero…not then, and definitely not now. Tifa had always been special to him though. They were neighbors, they had grown up together, and they had been through many hardships together. Back then, he thought that Tifa was the one he would spend the rest of his life with. Everything he did was ultimately to impress her, even his decision to join SOLDIER had been fueled by this desire. But something had changed along the way. During his time away from Nibelheim, he never forgot about Tifa, but her place in his heart seemed to evolve into something else. He began to see her as more of a sisterly figure than a love interest, and it was hard to determine if this was merely a consequence of growing up and tossing aside his childish fantasies, or if something else had happened during his time in SOLDIER that had distorted his vision. As far as he knew, Tifa had never shared his feelings anyway, so losing them didn't seem to alter their relationship at all.

The brunette in question now stood behind the bar scrubbing its surface for what seemed like the hundredth time today. He knew Tifa well enough to know that she only cleaned obsessively when she had something heavy weighing on her mind. More than anything, he wanted her to just spit it out already - whatever she was angry about, but he also knew that Tifa wasn't that type of person. Whenever something was on her mind, she nearly always kept it to herself. As far as he could remember, she had always been that way…at least she had with him. She had never seemed to have any problems opening up to her friends back in Nibelheim, but when it came to Cloud, she kept everything to herself…almost as if she didn't want him to know.

Suddenly, the front door swung open and two AVALANCHE members filed in. He had already forgotten their names, but the tall man and the short porky man immediately strode over to the bar and began talking with Tifa. She seemed happy enough to see them, so this only reinforced his conclusion that she was upset with him. Barret suddenly appeared from the basement with his daughter trailing behind him and made his way over to the table and sat down. It was nearly 22:00, and their pre-mission meeting would soon be beginning, but they were still missing two members. Lightning and her friend still weren't there. Lightning didn't strike him as the type to be tardy for anything. She seemed like the type that would rather be an hour early than a minute late. He supposed that it must've had something to do with her military background. Those who had ever served usually had this type of mentality.

Speaking of…

The question had arisen yesterday on the train when he first spot her uniform and her military issued pauldron, and that same question had been nagging at him all day today. The opportunity to ask this burning question had presented itself earlier in the day. It had even seemed like she had wanted him to ask it, but for some reason, he hadn't. There was only one military force on Gaia that he knew of, and that was Shinra. The only area within Shinra that allowed women in their ranks was the Turks, and Lightning was no Turk. The only other military faction that he could think of was the Wutai military, but they had been driven into extinction after the war several years ago. Although, she was an ex-soldier, she was much too young to have served in Wutai. Plus, she didn't look like a Wutaian. In fact, Lightning didn't look like she fit in anywhere on Gaia.

He wanted so badly just to ask the question, to ask where she was really from, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to do it. Perhaps, it was because he already knew the answer. His travels had taken him all over the planet and he had never seen anyone like her in his life. She was unique…From her signature pink hair and her foreign clothes to the strange things she said…no, there was no one on Gaia quite like her. The possibility that she had been making it all up had crossed his mind, but that idea didn't seem very plausible. She claimed to have a military background, and all of her mannerisms and fighting techniques strongly supported it. Was it possible that she had somehow actually been in Shinra's military, and they had exposed her to a bit too much mako? No, that wasn't possible either. Even a small syringe of that stuff would be enough to give her eyes the trademark glow, and Lightning's eyes were still her own. She had most definitely never been exposed to mako before. Hell, last night she had looked as if she had never even seen mako before. There was no question about it, Lightning wasn't a part of this world, but confirming this thought with her almost seemed almost as bizarre as the prospect itself. How would she react if he were to bring up these suspicions? He wouldn't appreciate someone digging into his personal affairs, and he could only assume that Lightning felt the same, so he had chosen to remain silent. It was a much better idea to let her come to him on this one…assuming that would ever happen. They didn't know each other very well, and Lightning didn't seem like someone who would let just anyone close enough to get to know her. Suddenly, the subject of this thoughts burst through the front door followed by her brunette friend, whose name he had also managed to forget. The two of them were out of breath and sweaty as if they had been running, and Lightning's weapon was covered in blood as she held it extended at her side, so it was easy to assume they had ran into some trouble on the way.

"Sorry…sorry, we're late!" the brunette panted as she hastily made her way through the room to sit next to Barret who was looking irritably between the pair as if demanding an explanation. "W-We ran into some of Shinra's weird dogs on our way here. There's a lot more of them lurking around tonight. Good thing Light was with me, or I probably wouldn't have made it." She finished as she turned to smile at her pink haired comrade who still stood by the door wiping blood from her weapon.

"Okay, glad y'all are okay." Barret began, excusing their tardiness. "Now that we're all here, let's talk about the strategy. Things are gonna be pretty similar to last night. The plan is pretty much the same…Biggs, Wedge, and Jess have our access codes to get us into the damn place. Only difference is: once they get us in, they're gonna head out and high tail it back to Sector 7.."

"But," Jessie began, but immediately stopped talking as Barret raised a hand to silence her.

"No buts. We had too many damn people in that reactor when that bomb went off last night. You all get us in, and then get your asses out. No need for all of us to be in there if we don' have to be. Me, Spiky, and Pinky will go down and handle the bomb. Speakin' of…Jessie rigged us together a new bomb that'll be set to a detonator, meanin' we won't be dealin' with none of that shit like we did last night. We barely got outta there alive, so this time we aint takin' no chances. We'll activate it after we out. Any questions?" he finished as he surveyed the group.

"I'm going this time," Tifa spoke up from behind the bar causing everyone to turn and look in her direction.

"The hell you are!" Barret responded. "If you go, then who's gonna watch after Marlene?"

"I asked Mrs. Jones next door to keep an eye on her. That's why I didn't open the bar today." Tifa explained as she made her way from behind the bar and walked over to the table to join the group. "Don't worry, it's all worked out. I'll drop her off next door when we head out." she added as she pulled a pair of black gloves from her back pocket and slid them onto her small hands. Barret sat in silence studying the woman before finally relenting.

"Awright," he receded. "It's almost time, so let's move! We'll discuss the rest of the plan on the train." He added as the group got to their feet and began to head toward the exit. Cloud, however, remained behind and waited for the rest of the group to file through the door before speaking up.

"Tifa," he called just as the brunette had reached the door.

"Hmm?" she hummed as she turned to face him.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" he began carefully not wishing to offend her. "Why do you want to go along?"

"I'm just as capable as everyone else," she began defensively. "Besides, I want to go. I'm worried about you, Cloud. I just want to make sure everything goes okay this time. I'm also going to make sure you and Barret don't kill each other!" she added playfully as she turned to face the door again. "It's decided, so come on before we miss the train!"

Cloud didn't dare question Tifa again as he watched her disappear from the room. While he hated the thought of putting his oldest and closest friend in danger, he knew that there was no use arguing with her once her mind was set on something. Tifa was more than capable of taking care of herself. She was an experienced martial artist, and they could probably use her fighting skills once they reached the reactor. Who knows what would be waiting for them once they reached the core, but if it was anything like what they had encountered last night, they could use all the help they could get. Sighing heavily, Cloud realized that logic outweighed his personal desires to keep his sister figure safe. It was decided; there was no point in trying to argue now.


The 23:00 train departed as usual that night as the members of AVALANCHE made themselves comfortable throughout the compartment they had chosen. They had not reserved a private car this time, but the passengers that had previously occupied the space had fled at the very sight of them. Somehow Barret had even managed to scare the attendant away. Cloud had missed most of the altercation, but he had caught something about the attendant referring to them as "hoodlums" and of course, Barret had snapped. They were lucky the attendant hadn't called security on them. They had been traveling for nearly fifteen minutes now, so the odds of a security check were becoming smaller and smaller. Barret seemed overly pleased with himself as he reclined in his seat staring out the window behind him. Lightning, however, looked absolutely furious as she sat rigidly in the seat across from the man frequently shooting daggers at him with her eyes. It sure was easy to upset her, but honestly, she had a right to be angry. He could have blown the mission and gotten them all arrested.

"So…what's the plan?" Cloud spoke up, breaking the uncomfortable silence. Barret's amused eyes shot over to him and he let out a loud chuckle.

"Hah! Listen to Mr. Serious-about-his-work!" the man laughed. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Lightning tense at the man's words. Was he trying to make her mad, or was he really that oblivious? Cloud knew he needed to do something before the pinkette exploded, and wouldn't blame her if she did. Barret had behaved recklessly tonight.

"You said there was more to the plan," Cloud countered coldly. "Don't you think you should fill us in on it?" Barret looked around at the group before finally noticing the scowl plastered to Lightning's face. His cheerful attitude seemed to die immediately as he scratched his head stupidly.

"Awright.." he began carefully making a point to avoid Lightning's gaze. "Jessie may have already told you, but there's a security check point at the top of the plate. It's an ID scan system checkin' all the trains."

"Which Shinra is very proud of," Tifa inserted from the front of the car.

"We can't use our fake ID's anymore," Barret added nodding at the brunette. "Not after last night, at least. If we pass through that check point, it'll read our real ID's and Shinra'll know we were here, and they'll be lookin' for us tomorrow. We've only gotta few minutes 'til we reach the check, so we'll be jumpin' off the train. Got it?" Lightning opened her mouth as if to say something, but was suddenly cut off by a blaring alarm and a blinding red flashing light that pulsated throughout the car.

Shit. The security alarm!

"That's odd," Tifa remarked looking around. The ID checkpoint was supposed to be further down." It looked like their real ID's were going to be read after all. So much for going in undetected.

"TYPE A SECURITY ALERT!" An automated voice screeched through the intercom. "UNIDENTIFIED PASSENGER CONFIRMED…A SEARCH OF ALL CARS WILL BE CONDUCTED! REPEAT! TYPE A SECURITY ALERT! UNIDENTIFIED PASSENGER CONFIRMED…A SEARCH OF ALL CARS WILL BE CONDUCTED!"

Unidentified passenger? Shit! It must be Lightning!

"What's happening?" Tifa panicked as the alarm began to sound even louder.

"We're in trouble," Jessie stated she frantically rushed into the car. "I'll explain later. Hurry! Get to the next car!" She added as she grabbed a very confused Lightning and pulled her from the car. It seemed as if Jessie had also reached the same conclusion as Cloud had: Lightning was the unidentified passenger.

"Fuck!" Barret roared as the group ran into the next car. "Someone blew it…"

"UNIDENTIFIED PASSENGER LOCATED IN CAR # 1. PREPARING FOR LOCKDOWN!"

"We need to keep moving up the train," Jessie called to the group as they sprinted from car to car. "Once we reach the front, we'll need to jump or we'll get caught in the net. We need to hurry!"

"UNIDENTIFIED PASSENGER MOVING TO THE FRONT OF THE TRAIN. CURRENTLY TRACKING LOCATION. CAR # 4 LOCKED DOWN. UPGRADING TO MAXIMUM SECURITY!"

"They're locking the door!" the chunky man called Wedge shouted from the front of the train.

"Let's go! We're gonna dive outta here!" Barret roared as he herded the group towards the door. "It's now, or never! Biggs, Wedge, Jessie…get movin'!" he instructed as they each hesitantly jumped from the train. "Pinky, go!" he commanded and Lightning stepped forward and fearlessly leapt through the door. "You're up Tifa," he continued as the brunette slowly approached the door.

"Scary, huh," she remarked as she turned to Cloud as if searching for support.

"It's too late for that now," Cloud responded. "Why'd you come along anyway?" He hadn't been trying to hurt her feelings with his comments, but it appeared that he had because her expression seemed to sadden.

"Because…" she began nervously.

"Hey you two!" Barret snapped impatiently. "There aint no time for that!"

"Okay," Tifa nodded before turning and carefully jumping from the train.

"Awright," Barret nodded as he ushered Cloud to the door.

"You don't care if I go first?" Cloud asked.

"A leader always stays til the end. Don't worry 'bout me, just go!" he instructed. "Yo! Don't go getting' your spiky ass hurt! It's only the beginnin' of the mission." Cloud nodded at the man before fearlessly taking the leap himself.


"You okay?" Tifa called just as Cloud came out of a landing roll and regained his balance.

"Yeah," Cloud responded as he shook the dirt from his spiky locks. "How about you all?" he asked as he looked around to inspect the others. Aside from being a little dirty, they all seemed to be fine and their nods were added confirmation.

"Good!" Barret shouted as he landed a little further down the track. "So far everything's going as planned." He stood up and dusted off his clothes. "Don't let your guard down till we get to the Sector 5 Reactor. The reactor's just down the tunnel, so MOVE IT!" he commanded as the group set off and began to make their way through the deserted tunnel toward the reactor. They didn't get very far before they ran into a very serious obstacle. Right in their path to the reactor were the green laser beams that signaled nothing other than a Shinra security check point. It seemed odd that two of them would be positioned so close together, so that could only mean that Shinra was pulling out all the stops tonight in their attempt to catch the culprits behind Reactor no. 1.

"Those light beams are the Shinra's security sensors," Cloud informed the group. "We can't go any further…" This mission was a bust, and after the security issue on the train, that was probably a good thing.

"Hey, what about this?" Lightning called from the side of the tunnel. Cloud looked in her direction and noticed that she was crouched over a small hatch on the ground that most likely led to the sewers.

"That's one damn tiny hole," Barret commented as he approached from behind her. "You tellin' me to squeeze into that to get under the plate? No way!" He resolved as he backed up and crossed his arms stubbornly. Cloud opened his mouth to respond, but Lightning beat him to the punch.

"Do you have a better alternative?" She hissed in frustration. "This is our only way in. Take it, or leave it." Barret seemed to engage in the worlds longest staring contest with the pinkette before finally giving in and uncrossing his arms.

"Okay…" he receded. "But, damn. That thing gives me the chills." Lightning took the lead and descended into the tight space, followed closely by Jessie, and then the others with Barret bring up the rear. They crawled through the cramped space until they emerged in what looked to be a large underground warehouse. This was definitely not the sewers, so it was safe to assume that they must be somewhere near the reactor. They proceeded through the maze before they were stopped at a tightly closed door, which Cloud assumed would give them access to the reactor. Biggs and Wedge made their way forward to begin bypassing security on the door, while the rest of the group remained behind to keep an eye out for the enemy.

"The ID scan problem was my fault," Cloud heard Jessie whisper to Lightning. "I meant to hack into Shinra's databases and create your ID, but I forgot." So his assumptions were true: that incident aboard the train had been caused by Lightning's presence. He found it odd that every citizen on Gaia had some form of identification, but Lightning did not. The evidence seemed to keep stacking in support of his theory.

"It's okay," Lightning whispered back. "We didn't get caught, so no harm done."

"No, it's not!" Jessie pressed on. "I failed…I'm sorry."

"Don't-" Lightning began, but was cut off by the electric hum of the door coming to life.

"This'll give you access to the reactor." Biggs informed them. "According to the map, this path should come out somewhere near the core."

"Here are the access codes for the doors up top," Wedge stated as he placed a folded piece of paper in Barret's hand.

"We're gonna pull out now," Biggs continued. "We'll meet at the hideout…c'mon Jessie," he added as he gently tugged on Jessie's arm. Jessie, however, remained rooted to the spot as she stared at the pinkette. It was obvious she didn't like the idea of leaving her friend behind, especially after the incident the previous night.

"Go on," Lightning smiled slightly as she nudged her friend toward the others. "We'll be okay. I'll see you back at the bar, okay?"

"Light…" Jessie began as her eyes glistened with tears.

"Here," Lightning interrupted as she pulled a small survival knife from her pocket and held it out to her friend. "To keep you safe." Jessie took the knife and looked at her friend uncertainly. "I'll want it back," Lightning added with a smile as she ruffled the girl's hair. This small gesture seemed to throw Jessie overboard as the tears finally spilled from her eyes, and she rushed in to crush Lightning in a tight embrace.

"You too…" Jessie's muffled voice could be heard from Lightning's shoulder. "You stay safe too." She said as she pulled tearfully away from Lightning and shot Cloud a pleading look before allowing herself to be pulled away by the others.

Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to her. I promise. Cloud had wanted to vocalize those words to calm Jessie's fears, but somehow he felt that they wouldn't be well received by Lightning. He already felt like he had offended her earlier with his gift. He had only wanted to give her something she could use to protect herself, but she had seemed offended when he told her so. It was almost as if she had mentally drawn the conclusion that he didn't think she were capable of taking care of herself, which was completely absurd. He has seen her fight, and that woman was more than capable of protecting herself.


Biggs had been accurate in his estimates: they had indeed entered the reactor near the core. Reactor no. 5 was eerily familiar to the one they had destroyed the previous night. The group of four made their way through the facility room by room, before finally arriving at the ladder that would take them into the heart of the reactor. As they descended into the depths, Cloud couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen. Perhaps it had something to do with the shockingly similar layout of the reactor, but Cloud couldn't seem to shake off the sense of déjà vu.

As they reached the bottom of the ladder and stepped onto the platform below, they saw the device that controlled the flow of mako further down the catwalk. Everything about this place seemed to be identical to Reactor no. 1. Cloud silently prayed that this place was only identical in appearance, and that they wouldn't encounter the same nasty surprises they had the previous night. Tifa had walked ahead of the group and was silently studying her surroundings. It was obvious that she hadn't seen a reactor since...Nibelheim. With this realization, the image of Tifa standing before him now somehow reminded him of that fateful night many years ago when…Sephiroth murdered her father in a reactor identical to this one.

Papa! Tifa's voice echoed through his mind as he recalled the image of her kneeling over her dying father. Sephiroth?! Did Sephiroth do this? Sephiroth…SOLDIER…Mako reactors…Shinra…I hate them all! Cloud felt his knees painfully hit the ground and in an instant, Lightning was at his side.

"You all right?" Lightning asked as she knelt down beside him. Cloud didn't seem to hear her as he searched for Tifa. He needed to say something to her…anything. If that memory was painful for him, he couldn't imagine the damage it could be doing to her.

"Tifa…" he called, unsure what he was going to say to his oldest friend.

"Mmm?" Tifa had materialized at his side in an instant, and as hard as she was trying, Cloud could see the pain that was evident behind her crimson eyes. Surely she knew what had set him off, and now her eyes seemed to be begging him not to talk about it in front of the others.

"No…forget…come on, let's hurry." He stuttered out as he allowed the two women to help him to his feet.

"Damn man, get a hold of yourself," Barret huffed in annoyance as he pulled the explosive from his pocket and began fidgeting with the wires. He secured the bomb to the mako device, and they all let out an audible sigh of relief when the alarm didn't sound. At least they wouldn't have to deal with any of Shinra's toys tonight. "Let's get outta here," Barret commanded as he led the way back down the catwalk and up the ladder.

Since they had not set off the alarm, the trip back to the surface was pretty uneventful. The quartet made their way from room to room entering the security codes along the way. They had remained undetected throughout their entire mission, and now it appeared they were home free. They had finally reached the T-shaped catwalk leading to the exit when the feeling of déjà vu struck again.

"This way!" Barret called as he led the group to the left side only to be suddenly cut off by a swarm of soldiers. "Shinra soldiers!?" he exclaimed in shock as the group turned to run in the opposite direction only to be cut off once again by the soldiers flanking them on the right. "What the hell's going on?" They were trapped, with no way to go except back into the reactor. Cloud heard the unmistakable sound of Lightning's gunblade being unsheathed behind him signaling that she was ready for a fight…and a fight it would most certainly be. Cloud had just wrapped his fingers around the hilt of his buster sword when he heard someone's voice ring out from behind him.

"Well, well, well…" The small group turned to see the smug face of non-other than President Shinra standing behind them on the catwalk.

It was a trap. They knew we were coming.

"Pres…President Shinra?" Barret gasped in disbelief as he looked the blonde haired man up and down.

"Why is the president here?" Tifa whispered nearly inaudibly from behind him.

"Hmm…So you all must be…What was it?" President Shinra asked as he straightened his red tie and walked toward them.

"AVALANCHE! And don't you forget it!" Barret roared angrily.

"Long time no see, sir." Cloud said mockingly as he took a challenging step forward.

"…Long time no see?" the president asked in confusion as he ran fingers over his blonde mustache and studied Cloud's face. "Oh…you. You're the one who quit SOLDIER and joined AVALANCHE. I knew you'd been exposed to mako from the look in your eyes…Tell me, traitor…" he continued as he took a step toward Cloud, "What was your name?"

"Cloud." Cloud responded through gritted teeth.

I'm no traitor.

"Forgive me for asking, but I can't be expected to remember everyone's name…unless you become another Sephiroth. Aah…Sephiroth…He was brilliant. Perhaps too brilliant." The president rambled on before finally adding. "You are no concern of mine anymore, however, I am rather interested in your friend there. What is your name dear?" Cloud could only think of one person in the group that would pique the president's interests.

"Lightning," she spat as she raised her gunlade and took aim.

"Oh no, my dear." The president laughed. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"This place is going up with a big bang soon!" Barret cut in. "Serves y'all right!"

"And such a waste of good fireworks, just to get rid of vermin like you…" the president responded smugly.

"Vermin!?" Barret roared. "That's all you can say? Vermin? Shinra're the VERMIN for killing the planet! Guess that'd make you King VERMIN! So shu'up jackass!"

"…You are beginning to bore me." The president sighed as he lazily looked at his watch. "I'm a very busy man, so if you'll excuse me…I have a dinner I must attend."

"Dinner!? Don't gimme that! I aint even started wit' you yet!" Barret yelled threateningly at the man.

"But…I have made arrangements for a playmate for you all." The president added clearly unfazed by Barret's threats. Suddenly, the catwalk began to rattle and a loud grinding noise could be heard in the distance.

"What's that sound?" Lightning asked curiously as she extended her gunblade into sword mode and began surveying the area.

"The hell is that!?" Barret exclaimed just as large green robot appeared from the left path and charged directly at the group. Barret managed to grab Tifa by the arm and pulled her to the side, just as Lightning and Cloud dived to the opposite side of the catwalk. The robot came to a halt between the four of them on the platform and its motors rumbled loudly as it awaited further instruction.

"Meet 'Airbuster', a techno-soldier. Our Weapon Development Department created him," the president laughed arrogantly. "I'm sure the data he'll extract from your dead bodies will be of great use to us in future experiments."

"Techno-soldier?" Cloud inquired as he examined the war machine in front of him.

"Now then, if you'll excuse me." He added before retreating to the helicopter that was now hovering over the catwalk. "Oh, and I look forward to see you again real soon," he turned slightly and winked at Lightning causing her to walk challengingly toward him. Cloud gripped her arm tightly and slightly shook his head.

It's not worth it.

"Yo! Cloud, Pinky! We've gotta do somethin' 'bout him!" Barret shouted as the Airbuster began to furiously rev the engine on its back before charging at Barret and Tifa.

"Help, Cloud!" Tifa cried as the robot nearly knocked her from the high platform. "This is from SOLDIER!?" she gasped as she regained her balance and took a defensive stance.

"No way!" Cloud answered. "It's just a machine."

"I don't care what it is!" Barret exclaimed as he raised his arm and unleashed a round of bullets onto the robot. "I'm gonna bust him up!"

"You ready?" Cloud asked Lightning as he retrieved the buster sword from his back and prepared to attack.

"Thing'll never know what hit it!" Lightning declared bravely as she extended her gunblade and readied her attack. Cloud couldn't help but admire the woman's courage. She definitely wasn't afraid of a fight…that much, he was sure of.

At first, the fight with the Airbuster seemed to be easier than Cloud had anticipated. Although it had been a highly advanced techno-soldier, the fact that the four of them had the machine sandwiched between them seemed to work to their advantage. The constant chain of asaults that came from both sides seemed to confuse the robot and he didn't seem to know which direction to aim his attacks. However, after about fifteen minutes of giving it their all, the group realized that they hadn't even put a scratch on the thing.

"This isn't working," Lightning huffed angrily as she came out a backflip and landed at his side. She had executed what seemed to be her hundredth strike on the machine's body and had successfully evaded yet another poorly aimed counter attack sent in her direction. "Any luck over there?" she shouted to the other two.

"Nah!" Barret called back. "My bullets aint even dentin' the damn thing and Tifa's fists are doin' even less."

"I've got an idea!" Cloud shouted. "Barret…Tifa…get back! We're gonna try materia on it." He added as he turned his head to Lightning who was already fishing her materia from her thigh pouch.

"But.." Tifa objected as she was pulled backward by Barret.

"We'll jus' be in the way," Barret explained. "Okay. We out, jus' don't get your dumbasses hurt!"

"These machines are weak against lightning, so aim for its head to disable it. I'll use ice against its limbs to prevent it from countering. Just stay focused…you can do this." He added as the pinkette nodded and sheathed her gunblade behind her.

"Got it!" she acknowledged as she placed the green orb over her right forearm and watched vanished. No sooner had the materia disappeared beneath her skin, Lightning began to furiously wave her arm through the air, expertly sending bolt after bolt of electricity at the war machine. He had to admit, the woman was a natural with materia. She looked almost too comfortable using it, as if she had really been using it her entire life. The spell seemed almost too weak for her, and she looked as if she'd be more than capable of wielding a fully maxed lightning materia. There was no way that this could be her first experience with magic, he was sure of that. Cloud began his own onslaught of ice attacks at the creature's arms and legs, which seemed to immediately disable it.

"We've got it!" Cloud called as he stopped attacking and proceeded to stand right next to Lightning. "Keep going" he added as she sent one last bolt of electricity at the robot causing its head to begin smoking. The electricity seemed to course throughout the robot's body and it began to shake violently. "Get back!" he shouted as he grabbed her wrist and began to pull her backwards just as the robot exploded. The floor seemed to vanish beneath them and he felt the brief sensation of free-falling before he felt a sudden jerk on his right arm that immediately stopped his fall. Looking up, he realized that he was still holding onto Lightning's wrist and she had somehow managed to grab hold of the side of the catwalk and now clung on for dear life with one hand. He could see the obvious pain on her face as she tried to maintain her grip on the ledge while also supporting both of their weights.

"Let go," Cloud begged as he looked up to meet her panic filled eyes. "No use in both of us falling. You've still got a chance."

"No…just…hold…on!" Lightning gasped as she tightened her hold on his wrist.

"Yo! The detonator fell in the explosion!" Barret shouted from the opposite side of the catwalk. "Once it hits the ground, the reactor's gonna blow! We gotta get outta here, Tifa!"

"Barret, can't you do something?" Tifa cried as she crouched over the hole in the catwalk and stretched out her arm. The hole was just too large, and since she was on the opposite side, there was no possible way she could reach them.

"Not a damn thing," Barret sighed as he shook his head. "Lightnin' can you pull yourselves up?"

"No…" she replied through gritted teeth. "Too…much…weight."

"Cloud!" Tifa sobbed as tears began streaming down her face. "Please, don't die! You can't die! There's still so much I want to tell you!"

"I know Tifa," Cloud grunted as his hold on Lightning's wrist seemed to slip slightly. "You worry about yourselves! We'll be alright. Barret, take care of Tifa!"

"…Alright. Sorry about all this," the man apologized.

"Stop talkin' like this is the-" Cloud began just as an explosion from the reactor rattled the catwalk causing Lightning to lose her grip. Tifa nearly leapt off the edge in an attempt to catch them as the two began to fall to their deaths.

"Stay together," Lightning called over the rushing wind as she tightened her grip on his arm and pulled him closer. "I have a plan," she added as she fumbled around in her pocket, removing a small device and throwing it ahead of them. The device seemed to soar ahead at light speed and stuck to the roof of a building directly below them before covering the area in a bright blue light.

"What is that thing?" Cloud called out in shock.

"That thing's gonna save our lives!" Lightning answered. "Get ready to land and do not let go! I have the other unit, so if you let go of it won't work for you!" she added as she snapped the fingers on her right hand causing them to slow significantly. It had seemed that whatever technology she had used had worked, until the blue light below suddenly began to flicker and vanished altogether.

"What the fuck?" he heard Lightning curse as she snapped her fingers again and again but to no avail.

"We're going in too fast!" Cloud shouted as he quickly pulled Lightning into a tight embrace to shield her from impact just as they crashed through the roof of the building. As they collided with the structure, he felt Lightning go limp in his arms and he was consumed by intense pain. It felt as if every bone in his body had shattered, but he continued to cling to the unconscious woman in his arms. There was no way he was letting her go. He had made an unspoken promise to keep her safe, and he wasn't backing down on that promise. The two of them continued to fall through the building as the colorful ground jumped up to meet them. They landed with a loud, sickening thud and Cloud's world was suddenly turned to darkness.


A/N: So…this chapter was totally ready to go last night, but I was a little too wrapped up in the season premiere of The Walking Dead to post it. Sorry, not sorry. Seriously though…that episode. Totally called that…been saying it since last year, but it still hurt to see it. No spoilers here, but those of you who watched it know exactly what I'm talking about.

What did you all think of the chapter? Good? Bad? Very bad? Horrible? Lady A, you suck at life and should feed yourself to a zombie? It's okay..I can take it lol. I really hope you all liked it though because I worked really hard on it. This chapter was a monster…20 pages in word, so it is the longest to date. Please excuse any typos and errors you may have found. Like I said in a previous post, once I pass about 12ish pages, editing becomes a real biiiiatch and I just don't like to do it. I'll give it a once over, but that's about it lol. What did you all think about the chapter coming from Cloud's perspective? So far, everything I've written has come from Lightning, and Cloud has been sprinkled in once or twice. I felt like I owed him a chapter. Should I do more like this, or does it matter? Lightning is easier for me, but I had a lot of fun with this one.

So, I've got some good news and I've got some bad news for you all. The bad news: this is probably my last post before I leave for vacation. The good news: I bought a car charger for my laptop, so the likelihood that I'll work on a chapter on my way to Florida is very high. 15 hours is a very long time to spend in a car, so yeah, it'll probably happen.

Please make sure to feed the review monster! I actually rely quite heavily on them for motivation. If you're new to the story, please take a few minutes to follow / favorite the story and / or drop me a review. I'd love to hear from you. I'm always open to suggestions, so if you can think of anything that you'd really like to see, please let me know!

I'm heading off to work now, but I look forward to hearing from you all soon! Once again…I love you all!

-Lady A