Ron: But what about Quidditch?

Ron, not everyone is as obsessed with Quidditch as you are.

Ron: Bollocks!

Hermione: It's true, Ron. Just look at me. If Quidditch dropped off the face of the earth, I couldn't care less.

Ron: *splutters*

*Cor looks around* Hey, where'd Sirius and Harry go?

Hermione: Sirius said something about pranks and Remus. As for Harry...

Ron: Harry ran off to get supplies from Fred and George.

Oh...


Cid landed the Highwind on the southern-most continent, not far from the sole town on the relatively small island. Tifa, Harry, and Barret disembarked and headed into town. They were greeted by an old man sitting in a chair by the gates.

"Ahoy! Hey, ain't you a beaut!" he called, speaking mainly to Tifa. "This here's Mideel. It's a quiet little Hot Springs town. Just the perfect place for old folks like me to live out our lives. I hear that things ain't so peaceful on the outside. But here, it's still nice and quiet."

The trio went into town. "Well, I'll go scrounge up some supplies," Barret volunteered.

"Harry and I will look at equipment and Materia," Tifa nodded. Harry shrugged.

"Alrigh'. Don't wonda too far off now, ya hear?"

So, Harry found himself gazing blankly at a row of the Crystal series of weapons. Gloves, swords, spears, and headdresses. There was even a Crystal gun-arm attachment. Harry frowned. "Wouldn't these break when you smashed them into some bloke's skull?" he asked.

"Nope!" The clerk explained in obvious excitement. "These weapons are carbon-poly steel alloy, and the edges are coated with a diamond-dust polish. I can personally garuantee their effectiveness and sturdiness!"

"Right," Harry said slowly, not believing a word out of the guy's mouth. "Let me see your Materia bangles."

"Right over here!" The clerk led him and Tifa, who was holding a pair of Crystal combat gloves, over to the opposite wall. "Six linked Materia slots at normal growth! Only four thousand eight hundred gil a piece!"

Tifa and Harry looked at each other. "Right..." They ended up purchasing one for Cid, Barret, Red, the two of them, and Cloud, and left the store after paying for everything.

They met up with Barret in the middle of the small town. A soft bark caught Tifa's attention while Harry was handing their purchases to Barret. She knelt down as a small dog came out and sniffed her hand. "What's the matter? Are you all alone?" she said softly in a high, talking-to-animals voice. The dog whimpered. She patted him on the head. "You got lost, didn't you? Separated from someone you love? Silly thing..."

The sound of two men talking reached their ears. Harry didn't pay too much attention until one of them said, "...guess it's been about a week now since he washed up here on the shore...Poor pokey-headed young thing."

"It was really sad," the other agreed, "but weird. He was holding this really big sword. I dunno, the whole thing feels unlucky to me. But the amazing thing was those weird blue eyes..."

"Wha...?" Harry whirled around and ran up to them, leaving a startled Barret and Tifa behind. "Er...excuse me! What did you say? That young person you were talking about?" he asked.

If the old men thought Harry was touched in the head, they didn't show it. "Yeah, a villager found him a little ways down the coast...it was about a week ago, I think," the first answered. "Yeah, poor kid...He must've drifted from somewhere pretty far away."

Harry turned to Tifa. "Could it be...Cloud?"

Barret straightened up as Tifa gasped. "You sure!?"

Tifa turned to the second man. "So where is he? Is he safe!? Where is he now!?"

"Geez, slow down, Tifa!" Harry said in alarm.

The man pointed up at a small building with a red cross on the front, above the door. "Yeah, up ahead there, At the, uh, clinic..."

Tifa breathed a sigh of relief. "He's alive! Cloud...Cloud's alive! Cloud!" She didn't wait for Harry and Barret as she took off toward the clinic.

"Uh...? Yo, Tifa!" Barret's call fell on deaf ears as he ran after her.

Harry sighed, then smiled softly at the men. "Thanks for telling us about Cloud. Uh...I think Tifa has had feelings for him for a long time, but she's never told him..."

"Ah, say no more, lad!" the old blokes chuckled. "We're getting on in years, but we can still remember being young and in love, once upon a time..."

Harry entered the clinic a minute later. "Here now, lass," a doctor said, holding an over-excited Tifa by the shoulder. "The way you're running around here, you'd think Meteor finally fell or something."

Tifa took a shuddering breath. "I'm sorry, but I heard that a friend of mine was being taken care of here..."

The doctor crossed his arms. "A friend..." He nodded in understanding. "Oh yeah! That young fellow!? Don't worry, he's through that door." He pointed at a small, curtained off opening. "But I'm afraid his condition is-"

"Here?" Tifa cut him off, nodded. "Over here." She didn't wait for an explanation before entering the room. Harry went in after her.

A nurse was taking care of someone in a wheelchair, hidden behind her. "Cloud?" Tifa called. The nurse jumped up and turned to look at them, then smiled sadly and stepped aside. The person in the wheelchair was indeed Cloud. His head bobbed back and forth in a daze, his eyes glazed over. "Oh, Cloud!" Tifa cried. "I'm so glad you're safe!" She embraced him. Then she pulled back and took a good look at him. Harry could see her frowning from behind. "Cloud...?"

As Cloud continued to drool like a druggie, Tifa's worry shot up again. "Wha...what's wrong....? Cloud...?" She shook her head. "Cloud! What happened to you?"

"Tifa..." Harry put a hand on her shoulder, only to be shrugged away. The doctor stepped in, arms crossed.

"Mako poisoning," he explained. "Quite an advanced case. It appears this young man's been exposed to a high level of Mako energy for a protracted period of time. He probably has no idea who or where he is now..." He shook his head sadly. "Poor fellow, his voice doesn't even work. He is literally miles away from us. Some place far away where no one's ever been...all alone..."

"Doctor!" Tifa cried.

"Damn...that's pretty evil," Harry whispered.

"That's bad," Barret agreed.

Tifa knelt down. "Cloud..."

"Ahem! Let us excuse ourselves..." the doctor beckoned to the nurse and to Harry and Barret. "Listen, would you two mind...waiting outside?" Harry and Barret followed him outside.

"So, what about him? You know...Cloud?" Barret asked the doctor once they left the clinic.

The doctor crossed his arms thoughtfully. "I'll say it again, he's got Mako poisoning. I've never seen a case this bad..." He paused. "An immense amount of Mako-drenched knowledge was put into his brain all at once...No normal human could have survived it...It's a miracle he did!"

"No wonder...After falling into the Lifestream and washing up here," Harry mused.

"But remember, the light of hope can be found anywhere," the doctor remarked. "Listen! If you give up hope...What will happen to him?" He turned away.

"Hope..." Barret repeated. "Hey, but honestly, man...Do I really want him to come back?" He shook his head. "What did he do for this world? What can he do for us from here on out? He may be nothing more than Sephiroth's shadow fer all we know..."

"Barret!" Harry cried.

"Is something wrong?" the doctor asked.

"No, nothin'," Barret denied. "Nothin' at all, doc."

Tifa stepped out of the clinic, silent, with tear-tracks showing clearly on her face. "You okay?" Harry asked softly.

Tifa nodded slowly. "Yes...I'm sorry I had you all worried...And, I have something I want to tell you all..." She paused, taking a ragged breath. "I don't care about anything else, only Cloud..." She looked at Harry and Barret with a steady gaze. "I...want to be by his side..."

"Right," Harry nodded encouraginly. "Hang in there, Tifa."

"Yeah," Barret agreed. "That's probably best. For Cloud...an' for you."

Tifa looked down at the floor nervously. "I'm sorry, everyone...At a time like this.."

"Don't worry about it," Harry cut her off. "We'll stop by sometime to check up on you and Cloud."

"You take care now, Tifa. And take care of Cloud," Barret added.

Tifa nodded. "Right..."

Barret turned to leave, but looked back over his shoulder. "Oh, and uh, Tifa...I don't like askin' this but...Is he really your childhood firend? And not Sephiroth's shadow?"

Tifa glanced back at the clinic in surprise. "Huh!? Well, that is..." she shook her head. "No, I'm sure of it!"

Barret nodded. "Yeah? Okay then...Sorry fer askin' that."

Harry sighed. "Now, we'll head back to the Highwind and let everyone know. Take it easy, Tifa." He cracked what was an attempt at a playful grin, and added, "I don't want to come back and find you so depressed that you start cutting yourself."

Tifa's short giggle was cut off by a single tear. "Right. Be careful, you guys."


Harry, Cait Sith, Barret, Cid, and Red XIII were gathered on the bridge of the Highwind. "Just us blokes, now," Harry mused softly with a sardonic grin.

"What're we gonna do now?" Barret asked. "What can we do?" He turned and gazed out of the window as the Highwind soared above the sea. "Huh? Ain't there nothin' we can do? An' don' go tellin' us to wait for Cloud to get better!"

Cait Sith suddenly straightened up. "Oh, I've got some news!"

"Yeah, what? That you a spy!?" Barret growled.

"Yeah, I've already told you I was," Cait Sith remarked, ignoring Barret's jab. "Both Gya ha ha and Kya ha ha are up to something. Wanna eavesdrop?"

Cait's radio crackled to life. Rufus' voice spoke. "Now then, we're faced with two issues: One, destroy Meteor. Two, remove the barrier around the Northern Cave and defeat Sephiroth. Any ideas?"

"We've already solved the first problem!" Heidegger laughed. "Meteor will soon be smashed to bits! The paln has already been put in motion. Namely, to collect Huge Materia from each region."

"Well..." Rufus thought.

"Huge Materia is a high density, special type of Materia, made through a special compression process in Mako reactors," Scarlet explained. "The energy extracted from it is three hundred thiry times the strength of normal Materia." She cackled. "How about that? We will gather all the Huge Materia together and ram it into Meteor." She paused. "That will cause a huge explosion! Reducing Meteor literally into bits."

"You're going to ram them into Meteor?" Rufus questioned. "Do you think we have the technology to do it?"

"Don't worry about that!" Scarlet snapped. "More importantly, we've got to collect Huge Materia from each area."

"We've already collected Materia from Nibelheim," Heidegger announced. "All that's left is Corel and Fort Condor. I've already dispatched troops to Corel." With that, Cait Sith shut off the radio.

"Corel!" Barret exploded. "What else can they do to Corel!?"

"And the Huge Materia," Red XIII mused. "You mean the Huge Materia, don't you? I've heard about it. When our small Materia hears the larger one, something should happen. I'm certain of it. That's why we're using the power of Materia in our fight..."

"Can't let Shinra get hold of the Huge Materia," Harry nodded.

"Besides, when Cloud gets back, I wanna show him this Huge Materia," Barret agreed. "He's gonna be shocked."

"So what are you saying, Barret?" Cait Sith asked. "Even though you're always knocking him, you really want Cloud to return?"

"I ain't sayin' nothin' 'bout nothin'. You just...shut yer face!" Barret growled at the cat. "Every group's gotta have a leader." He thumped his chest. "An' that's me! Or, at least, I wanna be...But I ain't cut out to be no leader. I never knew that till lately." Cait hopped away in surprise.

Cid's soft snoring suddenly stopped as he stood up. "Wha? What's going on?"

Barret nodded. "You been chosen to be the new leader."

"Pain in the ass," Cid protested. "Forget it."

"But for us to fight, we gotta have the Highwind, and you," Barret countered. He swept his gun arm around the bridge. "We need it to save the Planet. An' who's runnin' this ship? You! That's why you're out new leader. Ain't no one else can."

Cid wasn't having any of it. "No. I might be the Captain of this ship, but I ain't no goddamn General! The kid would be a better leader than I would!"

Harry blinked. "What?"

Nanaki glanced at his closest friend in the group, grinning. "You know, Barret, Cid has a point. Harry does have a similar charisma to Cloud's. He would be a good leader while he's ill."

Harry shook his head. "Uh-huh. No way! I'm the least qualified for this. I'm not native to this world! I know the least about it!"

"Isn't that what advisors are for?" Cait Sith asked. "Red XIII can be your assistant."

"It would be fun," Nanaki agreed. "C'mon, Harry."

"I'll stand behind ya all the way," Cid encouraged. "And where I go, the Highwind goes, too!"

Barret grunted, "Yer a smart kid."

Harry looked at them all. "Bloody hell. Fine. Yeah, whatever. Follow me."

"Awright!" Barret nodded. "Now, here's the first job. The Operation Room's waiting for you. We'll meet you there."

As they filed out of the bridge and into the War Room, Harry sighed and pinched the bridge of his noise. "This won't be good. I just know it."


Harry: *walks back in with Sirius* So, what'd I miss?

Hermione: You've been elected to lead in Cloud's absence.

Harry: *eyes widened* Oh bloody hell.

Sirius: Don't you mean, 'Oh holy hell'?

Ron: It's all you, mate!

Harry: This won't be good. I just know it.