"Please tell me we aren't crossing that…" Ivan mumbled. Her hands trembled as she held Zeus' reins with a death grip. Standing in front of AVALANCHE was a long and rickety, wooden bridge. It's obvious weakness was well pronounced as it swayed dangerously from side to side in the wind. The ropes that held the rotten wood were frayed and looked as if they were about to snap.

"I don't see any other way across." Tifa said, leaning forward to view the deep ravine that prevented the group from moving any further. The rocky chasm stood great and wide. It was a deep rift on Mt Corel, with the only connection across being a near broken, wooden bridge.
"It IS the only way." Regret stated, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "Unless you feel like jumping over and obviously falling to your death, feel free to. I'm not stopping you." Regret said, pushing Tifa out of the way.

"Fighting won't solve anything you know…" Aerith said, placing a hand on Regret's shoulder.

"I will go first." Red said, pushing past the women gently. He turned his head to glance behind him, his headdress charms jingling in the process. He sent a small smile towards Ivan, then turned back to the bridge. Placing a small paw forward, Red began to make his way across the bridge slowly, well aware and cautious of where he placed each paw. Each step earned a long and loud creak from the wood.

"He's almost there!" Ivan's eyes were wide with anticipation as she watched him reach the end of the bridge safely. She breathed a sigh of relief and turned to the rest, sinking back onto Zeus' back.

"Who's next?" She asked, afraid of the oncoming answer.

"Why don't you go?" Regret smirked, ignoring Cloud's angry glares. Ivan let her head fall forward causing her hair to shield her sullen face from the group.

"O…okay." She said, her voice cracking as she spoke.

"Wait!" Cloud ran up beside Ivan, his voice full of concern. "I'm going with you." He grunted and pulled himself up onto Zeus' back, sitting comfortably behind Ivan. He reached forward and grabbed the reins from Ivan's hands, taking control of Zeus.

"Hey." Cloud and Ivan both turned to look behind them, eyebrows raised with similar facial expressions. At that exact moment, they could have actually looked like blood siblings. Yuffie ran forward and laughed, sending the two awkward glances.

"Just…be careful." She began to walk backwards, waving her hand dismissively. Ivan merely waved, her fear becoming her only emotion.

"An' what was that about?" Barrett asked, glancing sideways at the small ninja. She simply shrugged.

"I don't know. Ivan just…she worries me. I feel…weirdly protective of her. Like she's my little sister or something."

"I know what you mean." Aerith stepped forward, her eyes settled intensely on the back of Ivan's head.

"I feel a connection to her. What do you think Regret?" The pink flower girl turned to look at Regret, who was staring at Cloud and Ivan with interest.

"I guess she just has the effect on everyone. She brings a sort of warmth to everyone. She's always smiling. Kind of like you Aerith, she's just…more annoying." Regret let her arm fall around Aerith's shoulder in a sideways hug.

"Should I be offended?" Aerith whispered as she leaned towards Barrett, who in turn leaned towards her. "Dunno. Should I be scared? I swear, that's the longest sentence I've ever heard Regret say." Regret scoffed, and smacked Barrett with her free hand.

"You do know I can hear you…"

"You ready to cross?" Cloud asked, leaning his on Ivan's shoulder carefully. She nodded and kicked Zeus into a sprint. He warked loudly and began to run forward. As they neared the bridge, Zeus spread his large black wings outwards and launched himself off of the cliff, warking happily.

"AAHHH! NO ZEUS!" Ivan screamed, squirming around in Cloud's arms. She began to breath heavily and clenched her eyes tightly shut, her hands gripping onto Clouds forearms with all the energy she could muster. With a thud, Zeus landed on the other side, shaking his feathers in content.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Barrett yelled opposite the bridge, shaking his hands in the air wildly.

"Oh right…I forgot. Black Chocobo's can fly…" Ivan stated, taking in long and deep breaths to calm herself.

"How do you forget something like that?" Regret asked, appearing behind Ivan soundlessly.

"WHAT- AAAH!" In shock, Ivan fell back off of Zeus and onto the ground, her eyes wide with fear. She furrowed her eyebrows and planting her hands firmly on the ground below her, pushing herself upwards into a sitting position.

"HOW DID YOU GET THERE?" She demanded, pointing at the ground Regret was standing on.

"I walked?" Ivan glanced back over to where Barrett, Yuffie, Tifa and Aerith were, opposite the bridge.

"DON'T DO THAT AGAIN!" She screamed, swiping her tail at Regret's leg angrily.

"Do what? Walk?"

"No! Argh, SHUTUP!"

"Don't shutup?" Regret smirked and let out a chuckle at Ivan's frustration.

"No! Just…just…hey…" Ivan's attention dropped and her eyes began to travel behind Regret, her eyes wide with curiosity. She pointed her index finger in the direction she was staring and hummed in interest.

"There's a town here…" Sure enough, Ivan was right. Regret spun on her heel, only to see a variety of tents and poorly built 'houses' littering the barren land. Indeed, there was a town here.

Barrett had taken the lead and was walking ahead of the group. Although he showed initiative and held a brave face, his posture showed otherwise. Barrett hunched over slightly and walked with his head low, his hands lost in the pockets of his pants. Regret noticed his sudden change in mood and eyed him suspiciously. It was like he had been to this rubble cluttered town before. AVALANCHE remained quiet as they ventured closer to the town, as if Barrett's sudden decline in cussing and booming words had taken a large toll on them.

"Does anybody know where we are?" Tifa asked, her voice snapping everybody out of their reverie. Barrett grunted and stopped walking, folding his arms with a scowl on his face.

"We just travelled across Mount Corel and now…we in' the village of Corel." Barrett shifted his weight to his other foot and sighed. "This is where I used ta' live."

"You! You're…Hey! He's back!" A citizen of Corel shouted out towards Barrett and fellow townspeople, waving everyone over with quick hand movements.

"Wait here." He said, quickly glancing over his shoulder at AVALANCHE. He shuffled over to the citizen that had called him out and extended his hand in greeting only to receive a punch in the face. The citizen withdrew his fist and rubbed it, a disgusted look painted across his features.

"Well, lookey' here. Never thought I'd see your face again. Those people over there…" The citizen said, pointing over Barrett's shoulder. "They with you? Well, I feel sorry for em'! They're hangin' around a walking death sentence like you, Barrett." Another citizen of Corel came up and stood next to the other, a snide smirk on his face.

"You got a lot of balls comin' back here. Look at this place! It's all your fault North Corel turned into a garbage heap."

"Sorry…" Barrett grumbled. The word seemed to lack meaning coming from his mouth.

"You ain't even worth the effort. I'm not gonna waste my time talking to a techno-freak like you." With that said, the two citizens walked off, their heads held high. Ivan slowly walked forward and placed a hand on Barrett's back comfortingly, her eyebrows raised with worry.

"Barrett…" She began, her furry, red, dog-like ears retracting to lay flat against her head.

"No. Don't say anything. It's fine…I'm fine." Barrett shrugged Ivan's hand off of his shoulder and walked away, out of sight.

"What was that about?" Regret questioned, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

"WHOA! What is that thing?" Yuffie shouted, pointing at a large train-like contraption that was hanging by long metal wires.

"That's our transport, The Ropeway Liner." Regret said. "This place is called the Ropeway Station. It's the only way to get to the Gold Saucer…which is an amusement park." Yuffie's eyes brightened and she squealed, jumping up and down in excitement.

"We're going to an amusement park?" She grinned and ran forward, disappearing into the Ropeway Liner. Regret rolled her eyes than turned to Barrett.

"What happened back there?" She asked.

Barrett let out a long and deep sigh and coughed uncomfortably.

"My hometown got buried here four years ago. It's all my fault…" He looked down, finding sudden interest on the concrete ground beneath him. "ShinRa wanted to replace our coal energy with Mako energy. It was their revolution. My best friend Dyne…he was completely against it. He would rather stick to the traditional ways than use ShinRa technology. It didn't matter though, ShinRa built the Mako Reactor in our village anyway. They also burnt our village."
"ShinRa burnt it down?" Ivan asked, shocked and appalled.

"ShinRa always seems to be involved in everything bad…" Aerith said, looking away. Barrett nodded and continued. "An explosion at the reactor caused the fire. ShinRa blamed the accident on the people. They said it was the doings of a rebel faction. I can't forgive myself for what I did then…I went along with the building of the reactor."

"It's not your fault. Everybody used to believe ShinRa's lies." Regret stated.

"That's why I get so pissed off! Not only did they take advantage of me…I lost my wife, Myrna and my best friend Dyne too…"

"Hey everyone! If you want to go to the Gold Saucer, then hurry and get on the Ropeway Liner!" The man behind the booth cut in and waved the group over to the Liner.

"We'd better get on…" Cloud said, ushering everyone aboard.

"Wow…" Ivan exclaimed, her eyes were wide as she stared out the window of the Ropeway Liner in absolute amazement.

"She's never seen anything like this before." Red whispered to Cloud. Cloud chuckled at Ivan's childish wonderment. "She's so cute."

Fireworks lit up the night sky and the lights illuminated the actual building, which lived true to it's name. The Gold Saucer was truly a Gold Saucer. It was a wide and large circular shape, and the fireworks set the gold colouring ablaze. A roller coaster railway wound around the huge building, twisting in all directions and balloons littered the air in all sizes, colours and shapes. Ivan's ears perked up as she heard faint, lively music emitting from inside.

"Let's go play some games! C'mon Barrett, you play too! Cheer up!" Yuffie shouted, punching the air enthusiastically.

"I ain't in no cheery mood. Just leave me alone." Barrett folded his arms stubbornly and huffed. Regret shot Yuffie a quick glare. She knew better than to provoke Barrett at such a time.

"Fine! Well, I'm gonna play games." Yuffie stuck her tongue out at Barrett, and 'humphed' triumphantly.

"So PLAY! Have fun stuffing around even though Sephiroth is out there killing people as we speak!" Barrett said snidely. He grunted then pushed the door to the Ropeway Liner open and ran out.

"Poor Barrett…" Ivan murmured, her eyes filled with worry as she watched Barrett's retreating figure with concern. Yuffie slapped Ivan lightly on the back and laughed.

"He'll be fine. Now! Let's play!" And before you could say Sephiroth, Yuffie was gone in a flash.