"We've been hit! Repeat, the engines have been hit!" the voice crackled over the loudspeaker as the standard military helicopter began tipping to the side. Tifa clung to Zack, fear in her eyes. Cloud was holding onto one of the safety rails, staring at Tifa and wishing she would cling to him.

"Well kids, this is our stop!" Sephiroth said, standing up.

"What? You're crazy!" Tifa objected. "Why are we being shot at anyway? You said there were no dangers!"

"Sorry." Zack said, standing up. Tifa let go of him and stared, a questioning look appearing in her eyes.

"We're going to have to jump." Sephiroth said, pulling out some parachutes.

"What about the pilot?" Tifa asked, glancing towards the cockpit.

"As soon as we jump he'll be safe. They're shooting at us, not him." Zack said, already strapping his parachute on.

"Why are they shooting at us?" Tifa almost screamed. She was fighting tears and they could all tell.

"Look, we'll answer your questions once we've landed," Zack said. "Come here." he reached out to her and pulled her close, wrapping her arms around his waist and going over to the side door, opening it. Wind rushed in and swirled around the cabin.

"You're joking.." Tifa whispered, looking out at the height they were about to drop. A few gunshots were heard and Zack gritted his teeth.

"Hold on!" he said, and jumped. Sephiroth shoved the trainees forward as they had each been equipped with their own parachutes and they each jumped, leaving Sephiroth to bring up the rear.

As soon as they touched the ground, Zack whipped off the parachute and grabbed Tifa's hand, running. She could hear the spray of bullets behind them digging up the ground and had to fight to stop herself from trembling too much in case she stumbled and fell.

Thankfully, it wasn't long before everyone was behind some large boulders sheltered by long vines.

"This is insane, I never should have agreed." Tifa mumbled to herself. "Is this the kind of stuff Cloud will have to do?" she asked, fear in her eyes as she thought of her childhood friend.

"Uh, you could say that." Zack said, a slight glint in his eyes. "In fact, you could say it's almost identical to what Cloud has to do." he chuckled.

"It's not funny, Zack." Tifa said. "As soon as I find him I'm going to tell him to come home. He doesn't belong here with people like you!" she argued.

"Why not?" Zack asked curiously.

"Because! You're all so tough!" Tifa said. "Cloud couldn't even stand up to the kids back in Nibelhiem, how is he supposed to be a SOLDIER?" she felt tears beginning to slip from her eyes and wiped the back of her hand over them.

"What kids in Nibelhiem? Was Cloud teased?" Zack asked, knowing full well that he probably shouldn't have been asking Tifa when Cloud himself was right there. Though he figured if Cloud had a big problem with him talking about this, he'd say something himself.

"All the time." Tifa mumbled. "Everyone else hated him. I don't know why, because he's such a great guy! But I guess they had their reasons."

"I can't believe anyone would be able to hate Cloud." Zack said quietly.

"Yeah well, they managed to find things they didn't like about him. They told me they hated how he always tried to prove himself because he just kept showing how stupid he was. But I don't think that!" Tifa folded her arms, looking down at the ground. "I don't think he should try and prove himself, because I like him as he is."

"Wow, you two should totally get together." Zack said, staring at her.

"What!?" Tifa yelled, looking up at Zack with wide eyes. She had spoken so loudly that she hadn't heard the small squeak from one of the trainee's. Zack laughed and shook his head.

"You're so amusing." he said.

"Come on, we should keep moving." Sephiroth said. They headed off again, and after a while Cloud realised that Peter kept glancing over at him with a smirk on his face. Obviously he had clued in.

"Hey, Tifa is it?" Peter asked. Tifa glanced back and nodded. "Did you know that-" Peter gasped and fell to his knees, eyes bulging. Cloud kept walking, acting as if he hadn't just whacked a fellow trainee in the stomach.

"Watch it, Strife." Sephiroth said angrily. "I could get you kicked out for that." Tifa had stopped walking and was staring at Cloud. Sephiroth had called him Strife. She couldn't believe it. There was absolutely no possible way.

"Cloud?" she asked, putting a hand to her mouth.

"Yeah, I guess you finally noticed." he grunted, slowly pulling off his helmet.

"Why didn't you tell me!?" Tifa screamed, narrowing her eyes as she took a rushed step closer to him. "You never wrote! And you didn't answer my call!"

"I was busy!" Cloud snapped.

"Stop lying to me! You know I've always been able to tell when you lie to me!" Tifa yelled angrily. "I've had enough of you! If you don't like me so much why don't you just tell me?" To conclude her outburst, her arm shot out and connected with his nose. He stumbled back, falling to the ground.

"Not again!" he yelled, grabbing his nose and tilting his head back to try and ease the blood flow.

"That wasn't very smart." Sephiroth said. "However, it was a good punch."

"What's he mean, again?" Tifa asked, panting slightly from the sudden exertion of energy.

"Some of the other trainees broke his nose the other day when they shoved him in the locker." Zack said, shrugging.

"They shoved him in a locker?" Tifa asked, disbelief in her voice.

"Yeah, looks like I really am the loser everyone says I am." Cloud said, pushing himself up again.

"I didn't say that!" Tifa objected.

"Look it doesn't matter, we need to keep going or we're going to get shot at again." Cloud snapped, spinning around and walking ahead. Tifa folded her arms, a bit upset but also slightly annoyed. The group continued on.

Nibelheim was quiet. Cloud could tell instantly that something was wrong from that information only. Sephiroth didn't hesitate, entering the small town instantly and glancing around. Zack was following close behind him.

"Something's wrong." Tifa said, narrowing her eyes as she tried to figure out what it was. Sephiroth and Zack stopped and turned back to her.

"What is it?" Zack asked.

"It's quiet." Cloud said.

"Yeah, it's not usually this quiet." Tifa agreed. "What's this mission for anyway?" Sephiroth sighed, folding his arms and remaining silent.

"I'm so glad you could make it." The five of them spun around and stared at where Genesis was standing, his black wing outstretched. "I was hoping that Sephiroth, at least, would get here." he continued.

"What do you want, Genesis?" Sephiroth asked.

"But Sephiroth, weren't you looking for me?" Genesis asked, chuckling. "I would like your help Sephiroth, but I have no need for the others."

"He's not going to help you!" Zack said angrily. Genesis turned to him with an amused smile.

"You're not still upset that Angeal betrayed you, are you?" he asked tauntingly. Zack didn't reply, but stood there glaring. "Sephiroth, old friend, come join me."

"I'm sorry, I won't do that." Sephiroth said.

"Oh? That's too bad." Genesis shrugged, lifting up a hand casually and looking at it as if he was studying his palm. A small glowing orb appeared and he glanced up. "I'm getting bored, so now I'm going to amuse myself."

The next few moments went so fast it was almost impossible to tell what happened. Though somehow, Cloud reacted in a split second and yelled out, shoving Tifa roughly with both hands so that she stumbled sideways and fell to the ground, grazing her knees. The blast from the glowing orb that Genesis had thrown hit him square in the chest and he flew backwards, slamming back onto the ground and lying still.

"Cloud!" Tifa screamed, pulling herself to her feet and running over to him.

"Hmm, this is more interesting than it would have been if I simply hit the girl." Genesis said.

"What was that for?" Zack shouted. Peter Reynolds was standing slightly to the side, shocked at what had just happened. Then he acted, trying to show that he was good for SOLDIER. He ran at Genesis, raising his sword and letting out a battle cry.