Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII in any way ^.^

Once again, Read and Review everyone! ^.^


Cloud slowly forced himself up and took in his surroundings. They had landed in the middle of the children's playground where he and Aeris had stopped before. The once cheerful park was now littered with steaming piles of rubble and debris. Ash covered the moogle-shaped equipment and smoke still hung in the air.

The three remaining members of AVALANCHE walked over to the metal gate that led to the now demolished Sector 7. The doors were gone and the entrance was piled to the top with pieces of the plate.

"Marlene! MARLENE!!" Barret yelled and ran up to the gate.

"MAR---LE---NE!!" He cried. "Biggs! Wedge!! Jessie!!" he yelled out to his companions even though he knew they were long gone. "Goddamn it!!!" He punched a piece of the metal that covered the entrance. "Dammit!" He punched it again. "DAMMIT ALL TO HELL!!!! What the hell's it all for!? ARGGHHHH!!!"

"Hey, Barret!" Cloud yelled out to the distraught man but got no response.

"Barret!" Tifa tried to get his attention.

"ARGGHHHH!!!"

"Hey!" Cloud put a hand on the larger mans shoulder.

"Barret, stop… Please stop, Barret," Tifa pleaded.

"URGHHHH!!!" Barret unleashed hundreds of rounds at the metal pile in front of him. He fell to his knees and hung his head in defeat. "God damn…"

After some convincing they finally got Barret to come back to the park so they could discuss their next plan of action.

"Marlene…," Barret whispered.

"………Barret……?" Tifa attempted to get his attention again. "Marlene is… I think Marlene is safe."

Barret suddenly perked up and stared wide-eyed at Tifa. "……huh?"

"Right before they took Aeris, she said, "Don't worry, she's all right." She was probably talking about Marlene." Tifa explained.

"R, really!?"

"But…"

"Biggs…… Wedge… Jessie……"

"All three of them were in the pillar," Cloud informed him.

Barret glared at the ex-SOLDIER. "Think I don't know that? But…we, all of us fought together." Barret hung his head again. "I don't wanna think of them as dead!"

"…and the other people in Sector 7," Tifa added.

"This is all screwed up! They destroyed an entire village just to get to us! They killed so many people…"

"…are you saying it's our fault? Because AVALANCHE was here? Innocent people lost their lives because of us?" Tifa asked him, a solemn look in her eyes.

Barret shook his head. "No, Tifa! That ain't it! Hell no!! It ain't us! It's the damn Shinra! It's never been nobody but the Shinra! They're evil and destroyin' our planet just to… build their power and line their own damn pockets with gold! If we don't get rid of them, they're gonna kill this planet! Our fight ain't never gonna be over until we get rid of them!!"

"………I don't know."

Barret raised an arm in the air. "What don't you know!? You don't believe me?"

"It's not that. I'm not sure about…me. My feelings."

"An' what about you?" Barret turned to the blonde.

Cloud had his arms crossed and back turned to the other two. He looked up at the sky and then walked off.

"Yo! Where's he think he's goin'?"

"Oh! Aeris!" Tifa suddenly remembered.

"Oh yeah, that girl. What's up with her?"

Tifa shrugged. "…I don't really know… But she's the one I left Marlene with."

"Damn! Marlene!!" Barret sped towards the exit to the park. "Tifa. There ain't no turnin' back now."

Tifa took one last look at the park and ran after Barret.

Cloud made it halfway through the broken road in Sector 6 when Barret and Tifa caught up.

"Cloud!"

"Take me to Marlene!" Barret yelled over to Cloud.

"You're going to help Aeris?" Tifa asked the blonde.

"Yeah… But before that, there's something I want to know."

"What's that?"

"…it's about the Ancients," he said looking very troubled.

Cloud's vision flashed before him.

'In my veins courses the blood of the Ancients. I am one of the rightful heirs to this planet!'

"Sephiroth…?" Cloud whispered to himself. He fell down to his knees.

"Are you all right?" Tifa knelt down next to Cloud.

"Pull it together, man!" Barret stared at the ex-SOLDIER worriedly.

They both helped Cloud up and waited for him to get back to normal. Cloud led them through Sector 6 and through the slums to Aeris's house. They knocked on the door and were greeted by Elmyra.

"Cloud……wasn't it?" she asked quietly. "It's about Aeris, isn't it?"

"…Sorry. The Shinra have her," Cloud apologized.

"I know. They took her from here."

"They were here?"

Elmrya looked heartbroken, "That's what Aeris wanted…"

"Why is Shinra after Aeris?"

Elmyra sighed and turned away. "Aeris is an Ancient. The sole survivor."

Barret knitted his brows together in confusion. "…What did you say? But, aren't you her mother?"

"…Not her real mother. Oh…it must have been 15 years ago… during the war. My husband was sent to the front. Some far away place called Wutai."

Flashback

"One day, I went to the station because I got a letter saying he was coming home on leave."

Elmyra stood by the train station as passengers piled out of the train. The train doors closed after everyone was out. Elmyra approached the guard who shook his head and told her there was no one else.

"My husband never came back. I wonder if something happened to him? No, I'm sure his leave was just canceled. I went to the station everyday. Then, one day……"

Elmyra headed to the station like she always did, but this time she found a woman lying on the ground with her young daughter. The little girl ran to Elmyra and cried as her mother took her last breathes.

"You used to see this sort of thing a lot during the war. Her last words were, "Please take Aeris somewhere safe." My husband never came back. I had no child. I was probably lonely. So I decided to take her home with me. Aeris and I became close very quickly. That child loved to talk. She used to talk to me about everything."

Aeris ran down the stairs as fast as she could and tripped at the bottom.

"She told me she escaped from some kind of research laboratory somewhere. And that her mother had already returned to the planet, so she wasn't lonely… and many other things."

End of flashback

"Returned to the planet?" Barret asked.

"I didn't know what she meant. I asked if she meant a star in the sky, but she said it was this planet… She was a mysterious child in many ways."

Flashback

"Mom. Please don't cry." Aeris looked up at her mom with a strange expression.

"Aeris just blurted that out all of a sudden. When I asked her if something happened…"

"Someone dear to you has just died," she told her mom quietly. "His spirit was coming to see you, but he already returned to the planet."

"At that time I didn't believe her. But… Several days later… We received a notice saying my husband died…and that's how it was. A lot had happened, but we were happy. Until one day…"

Aeris hid behind her mom. A tall man with black hair and a blue suit stood in the entrance of the house. "We want you to return Aeris to us. We've been searching for her for a long time."

Aeris' eyes were filled anger. "No! Never!"

"Aeris, you're a very special child. You are of special blood." Tseng explained to the girl. "Your real mother was an 'Ancient'."

"Of course I heard it. That she was an Ancient."

"The Ancients will lead us to a land of supreme happiness," he continued. "Aeris will be able to bring happiness to all those in the slums. That is why Shinra would like Aeris's cooperation……"

Aeris shook her head madly. "He's wrong! I'm not an Ancient! I'm not!"

"But Aeris, surely you hear voices sometimes when you're all alone?"

"No, I don't!" she yelled back and ran outside.

End flash back

"But I knew. I knew about her mysterious powers… She tried so hard to hide it, so I acted as though I never noticed."

"It's amazing how she's avoided the Shinra for all these years…" Cloud said.

"The Shinra needed her, So I guess they wouldn't harm her," Elmyra answered.

"But why now……," Tifa asked quietly.

"She brought a little girl here with her. On the way here, Tseng found them. She probably couldn't get away fast enough. She decided to go to the Shinra in exchange for the little girl's safety."

"Must be Marlene," Cloud concluded.

"Marlene!! Aeris was caught because of Marlene!?" Barret walked over to Elmyra and bowed. "I'm sorry. Marlene's my daughter I'm …really…sorry…"

Elmyra took a step back and her face held a stern expression. "You're her father!? How in the world could you ever leave a child alone like that!?"

Barret hung his head. "…please don't start with that. I think about it all the time. What would happen to Marlene, If I… But you gotta understand somethin'……I don't got an answer. I wanna be with Marlene… But I gotta fight. 'Cause if I don't… the planet's gonna die. So I'm gonna keep fightin'! But, I'm worried 'bout Marlene. I really just wanna be with her…always." Barret held his arms up and shook his head. "See? I'm goin' in circles, now."

Elmyra nodded, "…I think I understand what you're saying. She's upstairs asleep, Why don't you go and see her."

Barret walked up the stairs as quickly as he could.

"It's my fault… I was the one who got Aeris involved in this," Tifa said sadly.

"Don't say that. Aeris doesn't think that," Elmyra assured the bar tender.

Cloud headed up the stairs after Barret and opened the door to Aeris's bedroom.

"I'm so glad…… I'm so glad you're all right…," Barret said hugging Marlene tightly.

"Daddy, don't cry. Your whiskers hurt!" Marlene giggled.

Cloud was about to exit the room when Barret noticed him.

"Cloud! You gonna go help Aeris, right? She's done so much for me… If it's the Shinra you're dealin' with, I can't just sit here! I'm comin', too!"

Marlene skipped over to Cloud. "Guess what? Guess what? Aeris was asking me lots of questions. Like what kind of person Cloud is. I bet she likes you, Cloud!"

"Let's hope so," Cloud said with a strange half smile.

"I won't tell Tifa," the small girl whispered to him and giggled.

Cloud nodded and padded down the stairs. He started toward the door when Tifa stopped him. "You're going after Aeris, right?"

"Yeah."

"I'm coming with you."

"We're going right into Shinra Headquarters… You gotta be prepared for the worst."

"I know," she said confidently. "Right now, I feel I have to push myself to the limit. If I stayed here… I'll go crazy."

Barret stomped down the stairs and skidded to a halt in front of Elmyra. "Sorry, but can you take care of Marlene a bit longer?"

"Yes, I don't mind," she answered.

"This place is dangerous now. You better go somewhere else," Barret told Elmyra.

The old woman smiled. "…You're right. But promise me that you'll come back to her. Don't get yourself killed."

Barret, Cloud, and Tifa all nodded to each other and rushed out of the house.