By a Fraction of a Degree

A FFVII Fanfiction work by findthetiger129

Rated T for Violence and Language.

I do not own Final Fantasy VII, or any of the characters, trademarks or likenesses from Final Fantasy VII or its spinoffs. That honor goes to Square-Enix.

Part II: Reunion

Chapter 18, Operation Grunt

December 18th [ ν ] – εуλ 0007

The van rolled along the city streets on the third tier of Junon's upper city at a fairly smooth pace now that Yuffie had the option of looking ahead of her to help rectify her motion sickness. It was a different experience riding in this area in the daytime, Zack reflected. The last time they'd come this way, it had been night, and the most he'd been able to see were the occasional glow of streetlamps on the street where they'd eventually gotten out. This time, as he leaned over the passenger seat to get a better view, he could see row after row of town houses, much like the one to which they were driving. Like on Midgar's upper plate there was absolutely no sign of trees or earth around here. Though the tier above them was still angled back so it was structurally in line with the rising terrain on which the city was built, they were still far enough away from the edge of the overhead tier that he couldn't see the sky very well.

When the van approached their destination, Allen pulled it into a garage before letting everyone out. Even though they were well away from Midgar, they were still known fugitives, with the possible exception of Yuffie and even her status was questionable.

As everyone climbed out, Allen beckoned that they follow him through a door and they found themselves inside a kitchen. Valerie was waiting for them and she walked over and offered Freya a hug. "It's good to see you made it safely," she said.

"Well of course we did." Freya answered. "But right now, I need to know, have you guys seen anything since I called?"

Valerie shrugged. "Yes and no. I've heard rumors that there's a guy running around in black, but we haven't confirmed or denied that it's him. We have yet to see him ourselves. Still, it seems what he's been looking for is transportation to the Western Continent."

"How do you know that?" Zack asked.

"Because yesterday, he was spotted by the docks and no ship leaves until tomorrow when Rufus has his ceremony for taking office as Shinra's president. It might not be a bad idea to try the airfields too."

The dark haired SOLDIER nodded. "We can look into it."

Barret had been listening to the conversation for a bit and now he spoke up. "Rufus Shinra, huh? I might want to pay my respects."

"I believe the plan was to not be seen if we could help it." Zack reminded him.

"Whatever." Barret moved past them so the others could get inside.

"Is there anything else we ought to know about tomorrow?" Freya asked, as the others came inside.

Valerie thought for a moment. "Well, we've already hunted up some disguises for those of you who don't have them, so getting access won't be a big issue…" She looked down at Nanaki. "What about this… um…"

Nanaki rose up on his hind legs and Zack was impressed to see he was maintaining his balance incredibly well. As he did so, he spoke "I can adapt if necessary."

"Good to know, because when Freya told me about you, I thought we might just have to keep you here." Valerie said, apparently taking the talking quadruped very well, considering it seemed like she'd never seen one of his kind before.

As Nanaki dropped back down to all fours, Allen walked ahead of them, towards the room where they had contacted Veld when they had come here to fight Jade WEAPON. "I think we'll be a little more comfortable talking in here," he commented.

Freya, Cloud, and Tifa fell in step behind Zack as he followed the renegade Turk into the room. As they entered, Zack heard Yuffie exclaim from the rear "Wow, it's like you've got a secret spy room!"

"Well, these guys did use to be Turks," Kunsel explained patiently.

"You mean, they used to be Shinra too?" Yuffie looked at their hosts suspiciously.

Kunsel didn't dignify that with a response as he took a seat near the door. Nanaki took an alert position nearby as the others filed in. Once everyone was situated, Allen spoke up again. "I was thinking I should go out with you to help scout the docks. I know the layout there pretty well since I was working there undercover on one of my last missions before Zirconiaide. Considering what's going on, we'll need to know our way around."

"Sounds good," Zack agreed. "So who wants to go where?"

"It doesn't seem a probable choice, but I'll check the airport," Freya volunteered.

"All right." Zack looked around at the rest of the group. "How likely is it he'll leave by land?"

"Not very. You come to Junon to cross the ocean," Allen commented. "Besides, we've got a piggybacked channel on all the security feeds for most of the major land routes out of the city that'll tell us if he does. Val's gonna stay here to monitor that just in case, and to make sure no one spots it."

"So land's covered," Valerie confirmed.

"Why are you doing this?" Tifa had been very quiet for a while, but now she was regarding the former Turks with caution, as she asked her question.

"Because Freya's a Turk," Valerie said.

Zack leaned back in his seat with a smirk. "This is nothing. You should have seen them when their former Director got in trouble."

After plans had been finalized, most of the group had dispersed about the house, to rest or find something to do. So it was that Cloud found himself looking out over the sea from a small balcony on the second floor. It was very different from the quiet protection of the woods in Mideel. Here, he had no barrier from the wind as it blew salty air off the water. It was much higher up too, providing the illusion that beyond the descending slope with tier after tier of streetlamps, stood a vast and endless void, broken only by a glimmering line of ripples from the moon, as waves churned invisibly from below. The giant cannon stood overhead, far off to his left, and as the guide lights along the barrel faded in and out in a rhythmic blink to alert incoming aircraft to its presence, it hung across the lighted gap of the streets below as a bridge into the dark.

He leaned on the guardrail, not really looking for anything in particular but just taking in the view. That was when he heard a door open behind him. He spared a glance to see that Tifa had joined him. "There you are, I was wondering where you got off to." She walked to the edge of the balcony and stood a respectful distance to his right. The last time they'd been properly alone together had been during the rescue, and that had not been a particularly good time to talk. Before that, the last time he remembered talking to her, if it could be called that (more like nonverbal communication), he'd been hiding under his helmet as he prevented her from following Zack into the reactor while Sephiroth was still sane. Just thinking about that made him want to gather her up into a hug and tell her how glad he was that she was okay, but somehow that idea was far more terrifying than anything he'd ever thought of. They'd never been that close before, why should he presume they had that now?

He resigned himself to continue looking out at the water, only daring a nod of acknowledgement and a small smile. "Just wanted some fresh air."

"It is nice out here, isn't it?"

Cloud nodded. "It's better than Midgar."

Tifa was quiet for a bit. "It wasn't so bad there. We were in the slums, but the bar I was running did okay, and I could definitely hold my own if the customers got too rowdy."

"Jessie said it was called Seventh Heaven."

Tifa nodded. "It's a shame we had to leave it. We were kind of a family there."

"Sounds nice. If a little crazy. Why did you decide to blow up reactors?"

"Because I was angry," Tifa looked out over the water. "Shinra took everything from me, and I guess trying to take something back seemed like the answer. You should be able to understand."

Cloud nodded. "I do. I may not remember what happened to us in the lab, but if I find that guy Hojo before Zack does, it won't be pretty."

"The more I hear about him, the less convinced I am he's even human," Tifa commented.

Cloud sighed. "I don't know. Zack doesn't like to talk about it."

"You sound very close."

"We were friends before but… He saved my life when all I was able to do was slow him down. If I could make it up to him, even a little..."

Tifa smiled gently. "I'm sure you'll get the chance one day. I mean, you kept the promise, right?"

Cloud looked away from her, also smiling sheepishly. "I had help."

"But you still came."

"I did…"

"And, how did Zack put it? Oh yeah, you were better than Wutai ninjas." Tifa finished. The two of them shared a laugh before it died into a warm silence, in which they continued to look out over the ocean for a while. Eventually, Tifa stretched her arms and yawned. "I'm going to head back in. If we're going to find Sephiroth tomorrow, we need to be ready for him."

Cloud nodded. "I'll come back in soon."

There you are…

He gritted his teeth and brought a hand up to his face as a stabbing pain ran through the inside of his skull. He remained standing, but as his senses reoriented themselves he heard Tifa next to him. "Cloud?"

"It's nothing…" he said softly, willing it to be true as the pain slowly faded before disappearing entirely. He looked up to give her a reassuring smile which she returned before walking back inside. He took stock of himself, assessing if anything had changed. He felt okay aside from the attack having caught him completely unawares. Still, where had that voice come from?

In a small backyard behind the townhouse, obscured by a high fence, Nanaki had laid down by himself, taking in the ambient noise. Even the unnatural sounds of vehicles on the street sounded welcome to him when for almost a year, the only thing he'd heard were the sounds of Hojo's other specimens. Of course there was the ocean a ways off, but down where he was, close to the street, it wasn't as easy to hear over the echo of cars passing over and under the nearby levels. If it were up to him, he'd have climbed to the roof, but his flaming tail would have set off alarm bells for anyone who noticed him. Considering he was lying on the metal plate that supported this tier of the city, it wasn't really much better than when they were in Midgar.

He heard a sound from the back door and cracked open his good eye to see Freya walk out with her shotgun and a black leather case. She sat down on the step and opened it, preparing the tools it contained before proceeding to clean the weapon with meticulous care. She had turned that gun on him when she and the other Turk sent to catch him had taken him back to Midgar. He knew how dangerous it could be.

The faint mako glow in her eyes caught his attention as she looked up from her work and noticed him there. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were trying to sleep out here."

He lifted his head from his paws. "Maintaining weapons is important too, and I wasn't asleep per se." She may have captured him before, but she had made it clear she wasn't his enemy now. There was no sense causing disharmony in the group and he didn't expect to be with them for long. She shrugged and went back to cleaning her shotgun. Nanaki watched her as she worked, using a brush to clean out the barrel, oiling the various mechanisms and shining the wood finish.

"What made you change your mind?" he asked.

Freya stood and experimentally aimed the gun before pulling back on the forend with a click, chambering out shells she hadn't yet loaded. "A lot of things."

"You had misgivings even then, if I remember correctly. Yet that didn't stop you."

"It's funny, isn't it?" The huntress knelt down to put away her tools. "They tell you that you finish the job no matter what. I did, even though I didn't always like it. I was convinced it was for the greater benefit of Shinra and the world as a whole. We all were. It took actually seeing what had happened to… the results of what we had done… before I was even willing to admit I was wrong. It took way longer than it should have for me to realize the cost." Her eyes went to the one that Hojo had scarred closed again, and she bit her lip nervously. "I'll make no excuses for what I did to you. That was what I was ordered to do. I did it, and I don't expect forgiveness for it. But I intend to correct what I can."

Nanaki thought over her words, flicking his tail as he considered them. "I suppose that's all you can do," he said at last.

Dr. Rayleigh was sitting in the small office she'd acquired at the clinic near the lodge, looking over some notes on a file for one of the patients assigned to her when her PHS beeped. Upon checking it, her eyes widened. The title of the message read "Partial Decryption." After checking the address, she recognized it as belonging to Shalua Rui. Cissnei had slipped the mail address to her, telling her that Freya had apparently made contact with the woman in Midgar. She carefully shut the door to the office, locking it and pulling the blinds before checking the message in full.

The Turk told me you had an interest in Sephiroth's information. This is what I've managed to decrypt so far. I've checked it for viruses. I'll send more when I have it.

Thank Gaia she was still working with Turks. Freya and Cissnei had managed to rig the entire group's PHS's so they would be secure from tampering, but if anyone had seen this message and its contents, there might have been trouble. She searched her drawer for a connector wire and hooked the PHS into her computer. After accessing the file, she loaded it up onto the screen and started searching the contents. There wasn't a lot that wasn't gibberish, but she was able to make out the Silver General's age, blood type, and some of his relevant data. There were a few other things that were fairly mundane, such as his date of birth and… hello…

She peered closer at the document in surprise. Hojo was his father? She hadn't known that, and in the place where his mother was supposed to be listed… odd. It was blank. The story was that Jenova had been the name of Sephiroth's mother, but having actually seen Jenova once, and having heard the story Zack and Cloud had told her about Nibelheim, she was fairly certain that was not the case. Never mind that a body frozen in the Northern Crater shouldn't be capable of producing normal human offspring, just a visual assessment of the body's anatomy could tell anyone that the placement of all those collection tubes would have prevented any offspring from surviving even if the body possessed a viable womb. Still, it was something to file away for later, she supposed. She looked at the other notes in the file, and found her vision blurring as she realized most of them were still gibberish. There were a number of words that stood out in several places though; the recurring themes being 'S-cells','Jenova', and much later, 'Reunion.'

What did that mean?...

She stared at the file a little longer before realizing she needed more information in order to make heads or tails of the thing. After disconnecting her PHS from the computer, she keyed a short reply to Shalua's message, and prepared to leave for the night.

December 19th [ ν ] – εуλ 0007

The next morning was a bustle of activity as everyone scrambled to make sure they were ready for the search. Zack and Cloud had both hoped they would never have to wear trooper uniforms again, but unfortunately, this was not to be. At least they were not alone this time. The entire group was wearing them, with the exception of Yuffie and Barret, who instead had been given sailor suits since they would be going with the group headed for the docks. The trooper uniforms didn't come in their sizes it seemed. Cloud sighed as he pulled himself back into the uniform. He could hear Zack fidgeting with his own across the room, and off in the distance, they could hear the sounds of music playing. At the very least, the noise and activity would make it easier for them to hide.

As he hitched up the rifle next to his sword, he heard Zack swearing. "How did you ever manage Cloud? The fabric on this thing is so weird; it's like wearing sack-cloth."

"It's probably the same stuff," Cloud replied. "But you did all right last time."

"I guess, but it's still awful." He turned around. "Do I look convincing?" he asked.

"Sure." Cloud finished with his own disguise and then the two of them walked downstairs to join the others. The others appeared to be in various states of readiness. Allen was already wearing a deckhand's uniform made up of a set of coveralls and his hair was secured neatly under a hat. Tifa joined them along with Freya and Aerith.

"We're like a small platoon aren't we?" Kunsel commented coming up behind them.

"It's either this or sticking out like a sore thumb," Zack replied. "So, is everyone ready?"

Freya nodded. "Let's move out."

Zack and Cloud went out first. It had been decided they would hang around the main street, just in case. That way they would be within running distance of both groups. Allen had directed them to the correct elevator, and soon they were riding down to the main street. Zack stretched, as he looked around. "This sure brings back memories, doesn't it?"

"Not many I care to think about," Cloud admitted. He remembered being stationed in Junon a couple of times during his stint as a trooper, but the memories that stood out the most were the ones of applying at the SOLDIER recruiting office and then waiting for the evaluations to be finished followed by the disappointment of getting sent into the army. That, and getting forced into missions that required travel… oh the agony…

"I guess you have a point. Whenever I ran into you here, you never did seem to feel all that great. Though you seem to be doing better with the motion sickness these days."

Cloud raised an eyebrow, though Zack couldn't see it under the helmet. Come to think of it, aside from Yuffie getting sick he didn't remember needing the medicine at all in the van. Either that, or he'd been more worried about Yuffie and hadn't noticed. As the elevator stopped and they stepped out on the main street he saw that the crowds had not quite yet assembled for the parade. It wouldn't be long before they did though, so they walked along hoping to get to a good vantage point that had easy access in both directions they wanted open. A lively marching tune was being played off in the distance and it was hard to ignore the celebratory atmosphere as people started coming out on the streets.

They were nearing the end of the road on which the elevator down to lower Junon was located when suddenly they heard a voice behind them. "Hey you two, didn't I tell you not to wander off before the parade?" The two of them stopped and glanced behind them to see a trooper captain walking up to them.

"Oh crap," Zack muttered.

The captain caught up with them and pointed them to a door. "We gotta get ready for the ceremony. You idiots get in here!" Ignoring their assertions that they weren't assigned to ceremonial duties, he hurried them into a nearby building and soon they found themselves in a locker room.

"All right, you two stay put until everyone gets here! That's an order!" Zack and Cloud looked at each other under their helmets as the captain glanced out the door.

"What do we do now?" Cloud asked in a whisper.

"Stay cool. If we run for it, he'll know something's wrong. We'll sneak out once we're sure he's left…" Zack trailed off as he noticed the sergeant looking back at them with a critical eye.

"Ten hut!"

Cloud remembered that order. He stood at attention with the butt of his rifle in his right hand, the barrel resting on his shoulder. Next to him, Zack followed along. Thankfully he still somewhat remembered what it was like to be a cadet.

The captain was apparently not impressed. "I hope you at least remember the greeting procedure, right?"

Cloud's thoughts echoed Zack. Oh crap.

As the two of them struggled for an answer, the captain gave them a look of further exasperation. "So you really did forget. All right, I'll show you again!"

A couple of other troopers walked into the locker room, and stood at attention on the other side. "We'll help too!"

"This is how you do it!" the other one said.

"And we'll sing too!" the first one finished.

How by the planet had they gotten themselves into this? Cloud's wondering was cut short when the captain spoke again. "Now this is the welcoming march!"

The two troopers demonstrated the march for a little while and then they heard something neither of them wanted to hear. "Rufus has arrived! Preparation completed!"

The captain clapped his hands together. "All right, show time! Don't disgrace yourselves!" Before either of them knew what was going on, the captain had pushed them out the door, and they were caught up in the platoon of troopers headed towards the parade route.

They hurried along the street for a while before the captain called out "Oh no! No one's here!" he muttered a few things to himself as he tried to make sense of the situation.

"Should we try to go now?" Cloud whispered.

Zack shook his head. "Too many of them, they'd spot us in a heartbeat. Just be patient."

"Captain! We'll take a short cut!" one of the other troopers called out.

"Right! Good idea. Get over here!" He directed them to a side street and as they walked past the buildings they soon found themselves approaching the main parade route. It wasn't that hard to find really. Families hung out of apartment building windows, children strained to see and people lined the crowded streets, if the rain of confetti had not been enough. And then there was the marching soldiers. That was a pretty obvious giveaway too.

"All right, just try to sneak into the back when you see an opening," the captain ordered. Several of the troopers jumped into line as one particular rank of them passed by, however, when it came time and Zack and Cloud were ready to make the dash, the captain seemed to want to complain at them some more. "Now listen up, this is going to be broadcast live on Shinra TV all over the world! If you look bad, the whole Junon army will look bad. Remember that and don't screw up! Go when I give you the sign to go. Sneak in from the back, and don't mess up the row! And whatever you do, don't go in from the front!"

We get it already! Just let us go so we can get out of here! Cloud silently pleaded. He could already see Zack fidgeting, and he'd seen about two perfectly good ranks of troopers to hide in pass them by now.

"Start Marching!" the captain finished. Well, there was nothing for it. They did as ordered and waited for the next available line. Fortunately there were two spots in the ranks that looked almost perfect, so they went for it. Good thing he remembered how to handle his gun from back in those days. As the troopers held their rifles in the air, he followed suit. He'd done this in drill so many times it was almost second nature, even after more than five years. Unfortunately, Zack seemed to be having trouble. Whenever the troopers brought their guns up, his went down. They brought out their left feet he went with his right. Eventually, he seemed to get the rhythm down, but by then, they were almost to the end of the parade route. Why someone tossed them a grenade, he could never figure out.

At the end of the parade they took formation in the back and Cloud saw a young blonde man about their age standing with a fat guy in a green military suit with a beard observing the spectacle. "Good, we made it!" The captain whispered loudly behind them and then his eyes landed on the younger man. "Oh! President Rufus!"

There was a higher ranking officer at the front and when he noticed the captain he yelled "Hey! Line up and shut up!"

Cloud chuckled a little under his helmet. It seemed their 'captain' had gotten in a little trouble all his own. "Don't make a move!" The other officer boomed.

The troopers around them finished their performance and Zack and Cloud did their best to look like they belonged as Rufus spoke up. "What happened to the airships?"

The man with the beard rubbed at his hair uncomfortably. "The long range airships are still being prepared. They should be ready in about three more days. Gya ha ha." What was with that laugh?

"Even the Air Force's Gelnika?" Rufus asked.

Why was this guy still laughing?

Rufus seemed to have the same opinion because he walked up to the man and Cloud could feel the tension in his voice as he calmly spoke. "Stop that stupid horse laugh. Things are different from when father was in charge." The man in green seemed at a loss for words as Rufus walked away from him, though as he reached the elevator again, he spared a few more words for him. "Is the ship ready?"

"We'll have it ready quickly," He answered.

With a dramatic brush of his smooth blonde hair, Rufus turned his back on the man and climbed into the elevator. Cloud's eyes promptly bugged out as the man in green started slugging the troopers remaining. He missed getting knocked about by a hair's breadth as Zack pulled him out of the line of fire. After tiring himself out, the man in green followed Rufus into the elevator.

"Who was that?" Cloud whispered as Zack let go of him.

"I think it was Heidegger," Zack said. "Kunsel told me he's in charge of the whole military now that SOLDIER's been brought under his control."

"What a disaster," one of the other troopers said.

"Heidegger was really irritated..." another one said.

"The man in the black cape's been spotted roaming the city, but we can't find him." At that, both Zack and Cloud stopped, alert for further information.

"A guy in a black cape?" Zack asked after a moment.

The trooper who'd spoken nodded. "He showed up two or three days ago, and killed a few of our soldiers. He disappeared right after that. There's a rumor going around that it was Sephiroth."

At that point, the higher ranked officer called out "Attention! Dismissed!"

As Zack and Cloud were about to try and beat a hasty retreat, their 'captain' called out. "Oh no, no break for you. Get over here!" Cloud could hear the groan under Zack's helmet, and he wanted to do the same. But they couldn't break cover. Not with so many troopers around. The captain led them back to the locker room and continued to act like they actually were soldiers from his platoon. "This is the military, soldiers! Your orders for today are to send off President Rufus at the dock! And we're gonna keep drilling until it's time!"

By now, Cloud wanted to laugh. Hysterically. It was a good thing no one could see his face under the helmet. This had to be a dream. The situation was far too silly to be real. Yet here he was, drilling in a locker room while Sephiroth was stalking the streets of Junon, and Zack was right here with him, continuing to do terribly at handling his rifle. How could a guy so adept with one weapon be so clumsy with another one? It had to be the weight, he decided. The Buster Sword was so much heavier than a rifle, his over-compensation for it must have been throwing him off.

Finally, the drilling stopped and one of the other troopers asked "Commander, what's today's special pose?"

The captain thought for a moment. "Huh… I haven't decided yet." After thinking for a bit, he turned to Cloud. "All right rookie! I'll let you decide! Show me your best move!"

Cloud and Zack exchanged glances and he shrugged. Finally, he took the rifle, raised it up in the air, and swung it in a circle, the way Zack liked to do with the Buster Sword when he was victorious after a fight, before bringing himself back to attention.

"Wow!"

"That was awesome!"

He felt oddly self-conscious about it, and he could feel Zack's eyes on him as the other troopers praised his pose, but allowed himself a nervous chuckle as the captain spoke again. "All right! We'll go with that as today's special! Practice it!"

"Yes sir!" the other troopers assented.

The captain turned back to Zack and Cloud. "Well then, meet at the dock! Don't be late! Dismissed!"

As everyone left the locker room, Zack let out a relieved sigh. "Close one. Still…That was pretty awesome Cloud." He clapped him on the back. "Nice going."

"Thanks. So, we're leaving now?"

"Yeah, now."

They were about to head out of the locker room when suddenly Cloud's PHS rang. He was a little surprised at first. Why would anyone be calling him after all? But after a moment, he reached into his pocket and saw that it was Tifa. He lifted up the helmet so he could answer it. "Hello?"

"Cloud? I think we've found him. There's a man with a black cape down here and he looks like he's heading for a ship. You and Zack might want to get moving."

He looked up at Zack. Thanks to SOLDIER hearing he'd understood the whole thing, so he nodded and gestured that Cloud follow him. Cloud drew his attention back to the PHS as they hurried out of the building. "Hang on, we're coming." He put away his PHS as the helmet dropped back over his face and they were halfway down the street before he realized with a sinking feeling that they were headed right to where the troopers would be sending off Rufus. This could be trouble.

Activity in the harbor had mostly been centered around a single ship getting ready to depart for Costa Del Sol. Tifa and the others had been in and out, pretending to be deckhands and guards. Fortunately no one had called attention to their presence. They had all been keeping an eye out though, just in case. Tifa had been observing the docks from a catwalk a short ways away from the ship when she'd noticed the man in a black cloak approaching. She'd been uncertain at first, but then she'd seen a lock of silver-grey hair fall from the man's hood, and that was when she dialed Cloud.

Down on the dock, she saw that Allen had also noticed the man, and was trailing him at a distance. Barret and Yuffie had also spotted him. He wasn't close to the crowd of people near the ship yet, but they couldn't let him get there. She lowered herself from the catwalk in a practiced motion and as she tamped down on her fear and hatred of the man, she walked purposefully towards him. Nanaki was nowhere in sight, but she could only assume he'd find somewhere to ditch his disguise before coming out to help.

The music from the parade continued off in the distance as she walked quickly along the dock. They still had at least a couple hundred feet before he got within range of the crowd and the soldiers. Behind her stood a wall of girders where her catwalk had been arrayed with cranes and scaffolding. Ahead of her, the long dock, lining the water's edge with the ship behind it. The water stank of pollution even as gulls flew around overhead and rested on bulkheads and pier supports. She was about thirty feet in front of him when she stopped in his path, her face set in anger. She felt Barret come to a halt behind her still in his sailor suit as she pulled off her helmet. Yuffie and Allen had set up a perimeter to either side of the man, and she finally saw Nanaki slink up behind him, completing the circle. The man stopped at that point, pulling back the cloak to reveal the long black coat and flowing silver hair. It caught the wind as he played with Masamune at his side, but seemed to be waiting for something as he gazed, slightly bored, in her direction. The message was easy to understand. You aren't the ones I'm interested in.

She didn't look away but wordlessly returned his gaze, the fiery hatred in her wine-colored eyes reflecting in the light bouncing off of them from the water's surface in the midday sun. They stared each other down for less than half a minute, before she heard the sound of two sets of boots running their way.

Cloud was at her side and Zack was right next to him as they too laid eyes on the man standing before them. They both tore off their helmets to take a better look, the shock etched on their faces.

Finally, Zack reached for his sword and drew it in a defensive position. "Sephiroth!"

The former General looked back at him with hungry green eyes. "After a long sleep… the time… has come…"

"Time for what?" Cloud demanded.

Sephiroth's eyes landed on him with a venomous smile. "Who are you?..."

Cloud blinked in surprise. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Without warning, the general suddenly started laughing, before a brilliant flash lit up the dock.

I was really worried that I overdid the comedy this chapter, as evidenced by the fact that the current version of the parade is actually somewhat toned down from the rough draft. The biggest problem being that Rufus's welcoming ceremony was already really silly without my help.

Still, I tried. Until next time folks! Hope you enjoyed it!