BOOK ONE: MIDGAR

THREE

The Sector 7 slums were a collection of ramshackle buildings made with discarded sheets of metal, plywood and whatever else people here could find amidst all the junk and debris that eventually found its way down here from the plate.

It was mostly a scattering of tiny makeshift houses sitting forlornly in the dirt that always covered the ground everywhere you looked, but there were two exceptions that caught my eye almost immediately. The first was the combined inn and weapon shop, a short three-story tower of mismatched metal with ladders and stairs and filled with the sounds of heavy machinery and people coming and going.

The second was my destination, Tifa's Seventh Heaven. The bar was easily the largest building in the slums, with several floors and a bright yellow neon light curving above the door. It was also the only building with a porch. The wooden deck with its high railing almost completely encircled the building, and a set of short wooden stairs led up from the muddy ground up to the porch, where a pair of swinging saloon doors marked the main entrance. A sign just above them showed the name of the bar in bright, bold letters.

Barret and the rest jogged ahead of me through the slums until we reached the bar. When we got there, he told us to wait, then he went in alone. A moment later, the sound of gunfire ripped through the air and a small cluster of disgruntled customers poured out the doors and into the dirt, almost falling over each other to get away from Barret and the bar as fast as they could.

They scattered across the slums like mice, muttering to themselves as they ran, Barret waving his arms after them and scowling until they were all well out of sight.

"What was that for?" I asked as Biggs and the others went inside.

"We got some plannin' to do, SOLDIER boy, an' we don't need no one eavesdroppin' on us. Go on inside."

I did, pushing open the saloon doors. Tifa's place, unlike the slums outside, was clean and well-kept, the aromas of hot food filling the air. A small collection of wooden tables and chairs stood in the front of the main room, and the bar itself stretched most of the way along the back wall with a row of stools lined up against it, all of which were empty at the moment thanks to Barret.

In the back corner of the room was the kitchen, and drinks, mixes, and various fruits, vegetables, and other foods were all lined up along a series of shelves behind the bar. At the time, I didn't know what half of them were even called. Laugh all you want, I don't mind. Back in those days, I didn't even know the difference between a carrot and cucumber. Tifa's taught me a lot over the years, though.

As soon as I stepped into the bar, there was an excited squeal from the back. "Daddy!"

Before I knew it, a little girl about four years old was racing toward me, her arms open wide and a smile on her face. She stopped short just as soon as she got a good look at me, though, apparently realizing that I wasn't who she had thought I was.

She stood there for a moment, looking at me with a pair of curious brown eyes and nibbling on one of her fingers, then turned and dashed right back the way she'd come, her short auburn hair flying out behind her. Tifa was already there, though, slipping out from behind the bar to kneel down next to her.

"Marlene, aren't you going to say anything to Cloud?" she asked.

She didn't. Tifa whispered to her for a moment, then came over to me, Marlene following close behind her. Tifa smiled at her, then turned to me. "Sorry, Cloud. Looks like Marlene's a little shy."

"It's alright. She's a cute kid."

"Yeah, she is, isn't she?," Tifa chuckled. "So, welcome home, Cloud. Looks like everything went well. Did you fight with Barret?"

Tifa folded her arms underneath her rather considerable chest, her eyes—which were an exotic and alluring blend of dark red and a deep, chocolate brown—already knowing the answer. She was an old friend, we'd grown up together as kids but hadn't seen each other in years until recently. Time had certainly been good to her, though. Very good. She had a lot more curves beneath her sleeveless gray shirt now than she'd had back then, and below the black leather miniskirt she wore, her legs were long and shapely. Her dark brown hair was tied into a neat fishtail where it hung down past her waist, and pair of small teardrop earrings dangled from her ears.

I nodded. "Yeah…"

"I figured as much," Tifa said. "That's so typical of him. He's always pushing people around, and you've been getting into fights ever since you were little. I was worried."

It was true that I'd been a bit of a brawler when I was kid, though I didn't remember those days well enough then to know why I acted the way I did. But Tifa needn't have worried.

While I'll admit there was a certain amount of fun in setting Barret off, I wasn't interested in turning things into a fistfight. I wasn't all that sure sure what to think about the man just yet, not that I was planning to be around long enough for it to matter in any case.

I shrugged. "I'm not gonna start punching him, if that's what you're afraid of."

"Good," she laughed. "But you know, he's not that bad once you get to know him, Cloud. The others, too."

"Maybe. But I don't intend to stick around to find out."

She sighed. We'd had this talk before. But I knew she was still going to keep trying to convince me to stay anyway. Tifa's not the type to give up easily. Ever since we had first run into each other at the train station about a month ago, she'd been doing just about everything she could to keep me around, even offering me a job with her little resistance group here. But that was all over now, and Tifa knew it as well as I did. There wasn't anything she could say or do that would change my mind.

Her eyes found something tucked into my belt. "A flower? They're so hard to find these days. You almost never see them down here in the slums. Where did you get it?"

"Bought it on the way back here," I replied.

"Oh, I see. So… is there anyone special you'd like to give it to?"

Although she had asked the question jokingly enough, I still hadn't missed the hopeful glint shining within Tifa's eyes as she had looked at me. I'd almost forgotten about the flower until she mentioned it, and it hadn't occurred to me before to give it to someone. But that's what they were for, right? And I knew she'd like it. It would make her happy, and I figured I owed it to her for being so adamant about leaving. Tifa meant a lot to me, after all. Still does.

I pulled the flower out of my belt and held it out to her. "Here, Tif. Take care of it for me."

"I will. Thank you, Cloud," she smiled at me as she took the yellow blossom. "It smells wonderful. Maybe I should fill the whole place with flowers, don't you think?"

I nodded and turned away as she and Marlene walked back behind the bar. Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie were all sitting together at one of the nearby tables, talking with each other and eating ravenously from the steaming platters of hot food Tifa must have brought over to them just before I came in. She was a damn good cook, so good in fact that it had become something of a local legend around the slums. As I drew closer to the others, I reminded myself to ask Tifa later on if she could set me up with something to eat.

"Hey, Cloud!" Biggs waved to me. "Sit down and join us! Care for a drink? There's no better way to relax after a mission!"

Barret was still busy outside, so I figured I might as well. It was as good a way to pass the time as any. I pulled up a chair—well, they were more like bar stools, only shorter—and sat down opposite Wedge, who was eating everything he could get his hands on while ignoring Jessie's pleas to stop making such a mess.

He grinned. "Oh, Cloud! Tifa really knows how to cook, let me tell you! She always lets me taste her cooking, you know? And just look at me now, I'm rolly-polly. Don't know whether I should be happy or sad. But it's the good food and drinks that make this place famous."

Biggs slid a glass toward me. When I took it, he nodded and leaned back in his seat with a smile that wasn't quite sober. "Hah! That's more like it! Even if you were with SOLDIER, you're still just a rookie here, Cloud. So you'd better do whatever I say! Uh... you might want to keep that from Barret, though, know what I mean?"

"He won't hear it from me," I promised, taking a sip.

On my right, Jessie pushed her plate away and leaned back in her chair. "Well, that was really good. Have you had anything yet, Cloud?"

"Not yet. How's the ankle?"

She smiled, reaching down to show me. I noticed that the swelling had already gone down quite a bit. "It feels much better now. Tifa gave me another potion to help it heal a little faster, too. I should be just fine for tomorrow's mission."

"Sounds good," I replied. "How's my ID coming along?"

"You remembered!" Jessie's eyes lit up, and she ran a hand through her hair, not quite able to meet my gaze. "That… that makes me really happy, you know? Barret wants to have a meeting when he gets here, so I haven't started yet, but I'll get to work on it right away as soon as he's done! You'll get the best one I can make, I promise!"

I didn't doubt it. "Thanks. So how'd you learn how to make bombs and fake ID's, anyway?"

"Well, I told you that I'm into that sort of thing, right? Gadgets and computers and things like that have always interested me, even before I joined AVALANCHE. I've been good with them ever since I was little. And I also worked up on the plate as a computer maintenance tech for a few years before coming down here."

"What company?" I asked, curious in spite of myself.

She glanced away for a moment before answering. "It doesn't really matter now. And as for how I made the bomb for today's mission, I just followed the instructions on my computer downstairs. It wasn't as hard as you'd think. Actually, it made a bigger blast than I thought it would. I'm really proud of it! It was my first bomb, you know?"

I raised an eyebrow, amused by how happy she was about it despite the fact that she'd nearly been killed by her own bomb. It didn't seem to have done anything to dampen her enthusiasm for explosives, anyway. Just then, Barret finally stomped inside the bar, and no sooner had he done so than Marlene raced across the room and leaped into his arms. His face splitting into a wide grin, he scooped her up and gently set her on top of his broad shoulders, holding her there with one burly arm as she hugged him tight. "Daddy, welcome home!"

He gazed at her fondly. "Thanks, sweetie, Daddy's home now. Have you been a good girl?"

"Yeah! I helped Tifa!"

"That's my girl!" he said. Then he turned and glanced at us. "Guys! Time to start the meetin'!"

We all got up as Barret to the pinball machine and flipped a switch hidden under the right side. He and Marlene rode the hidden elevator down to the basement, and after it came back up, the others all did the same, leaving me alone with Tifa. She walked over and started clearing off the table. I followed her back to the bar, where she beckoned to me after depositing her armful of dishes into the sink. "Cloud, come over here and take a seat."

I did so, sliding onto one of the stools in front of the bar. She came over to me. "How about a drink?"

"Sure," I nodded. "Make it strong, Tif."

She turned around, grabbed a bottle and a few mixers and then got to work. While she was busy, I let my gaze wander to the TV mounted in the corner. It was showing live coverage of our bombing of Reactor 1 with footage of the smoldering wreckage that was all that was left of it. The surrounding areas weren't any better off. Then the picture changed to show President Shinra standing in front of the mammoth tower that was Shinra Headquarters, an imposing structure located in the middle of the city, as he made his statement, cameras clicking and flashing all around him as he did so.

"The terrorist group called AVALANCHE has claimed responsibility for today's bombing of Mako Reactor 1. According to this, AVALANCHE intends to continue its reign of terror with further destruction. However, citizens of Midgar, do not be alarmed. Shinra has immediately mobilized SOLDIER to protect you from any other acts of violence. Thank you for your time, and goodnight."

Tifa came over and handed me my drink. "You know, I'm relieved you made it back safely."

"What's with you all of a sudden?" I frowned, bringing the glass to my lips and taking a sip. "That job wasn't even tough."

"No, I guess not. You were in SOLDIER."

After making herself a drink, Tifa sat down next to me. Neither of us spoke at first. We just sat nursing our drinks for a while and mulling over our thoughts. What was she so worried about? And why did she seem bothered about me having been in SOLDIER? It didn't make any sense. Or maybe it wasn't just about me, come to think of it. Was there something else on her mind as well?

I looked at her. "Are you having second thoughts about all this?"

"We've got to think big if we want to make a difference," she said, not meeting my gaze yet. "I know that. But… not like this, Cloud. I… I just don't know if this is right."

"Have you told Barret?"

She nodded. "Yeah. He just tells me not to worry. But I can't help it. I just… I feel trapped…"

"You could come with me," I offered.

I wouldn't mind the company, and she wouldn't be stuck having to babysit Barret's little resistance group, either. Tifa was damn good in a fight with those powerful fists and feet of hers, and in my line of work, that would definitely be useful. I had never thought of having a partner before, but the more I turned it over in my mind, the more I liked the idea, at least if it was her. If you're looking for someone to fight at your side and watch your back, you need someone you can trust. And there was no one I trusted more than Tifa.

She smiled but shook her head.. "I really appreciate it, Cloud, but my place is here. Oh, by the way, don't forget to see Barret about your pay before you leave. I really wish you'd stay, though."

"Sorry, Tifa. Once I get my money, I'm outta here."

"I know," she sighed. "Hey, Cloud. Are you feeling alright?"

I glanced over my shoulder at her as I stood up and moved toward the pinball machine. "Yeah, why?"

She looked down at her glass again, holding it carefully in both her gloved hands. "It's nothing. You just looked a little tired, I guess. You'd better go downstairs, though. Barret's waiting."

I nodded as I walked to the pinball machine, hit the hidden switch, and rode the elevator to the basement.

I was downstairs doin' some boxin' with Biggs an' the big punching bag we had down there while Jessie was busy workin' on her computer an' Wedge was sittin' at the table lookin' at the blueprints for Reactor 5 while munchin' on some snacks. Marlene sat nearby, watchin' me with them big brown eyes of hers an' swingin' her short lil' legs around. She jus' melts me every time, ya know? She's older now, but she knows she's always gonna be my baby girl no matter what.

Anyway, I'd already gone over everythin' with Biggs an' the others. I was jus' waitin' for Cloud to drag his skinny ass down here. There was somethin' on my mind, somethin' I'd been wonderin' about since I saw that damn TV report on the big screen in the corner here not long ago. I'd already had my message sent over to Shinra before we ever got back to Sector 7 so they'd know what we was about, but them damn bastards twisted it to make us look like the bad guys. I'd wanted to shoot that fat son of a bitch President Shinra through that goddamn screen when he started talkin' shit about us like that.

Finally, Cloud showed up, ridin' our secret elevator down here and steppin' off it when it got to the bottom. Jessie had put it together, an' it was her idea to use that old pinball machine to disguise it. It rode back upstairs as Cloud walked over to me and stopped, his hands folded in front of him as he stared at me with those weird blue mako eyes of his. I quit boxin' an' turned 'round to face him. "Yo, Cloud! I got somethin' I wanna ask you. Was there anyone from SOLDIER fightin' us today? Were any of those bots we trashed made by SOLDIER?"

He shook his head. "None. I'm positive."

"How can you be so damn sure?"

"If you'd fought against SOLDIER, you wouldn't be standing here now," he said.

Goddamn kid didn't know who he was talkin' to. I wasn't gonna go down easy, whether we fought against SOLDIER or not. That kid had a lot of lip, an' I was gettin' pretty damn tired of it. He was gonna have to learn his place if he was gonna stick around, not that I really expected him to, though. Kid loved his money too much.

I snorted. "Don't gimme that bullshit, Cloud! Just 'cause you used to be in SOLDIER don't mean squat. Yeah, you're strong, I give ya that. I bet all of them guys in SOLDIER are. But don't forget your skinny ass belongs to AVALANCHE now, so don't get no bright ideas 'bout stayin' with Shinra!"

"Stayin' with Shinra?" he said, his eyes narrowin'. "You asked me a question and I answered it. That's all."

He walked up to me 'til he was standin' right in my face, scowlin' at me. The kid was pissed, not that I cared. Jus' had to make sure he knew his place, an' apparently he wasn't likin' that. But if he wasn't gonna tow the line, he could just see himself out right now. I wasn't gonna tolerate no bullshit from him.

He leaned in close, his voice low. "I'm going upstairs. I want to talk about my money."

"Shit! Money… That really all you care about?"

Turnin' away, he started to head back upstairs, but before he could reach the elevator, it already started comin' down with Tifa ridin' on it. She got off an' hurried over to him. The damn girl didn't know when to quit. "Cloud, wait!"

I waved her off an' shook my head. "Let him go, Tifa. Looks like he still misses the Shinra!"

"Just shut the hell up, Barret!" he snapped, whirlin' on me. "I don't give a damn about Shinra or SOLDIER! But I don't care one bit about AVALANCHE or the planet either!"

With that, Cloud stormed past Tifa without another word an' rode up the elevator out of sight.

My heart swirling with a jumble of confused emotions, I followed Cloud upstairs. I wasn't at all surprised Barret had set him off like that. He still didn't trust Cloud, and Cloud didn't seem to like him, either. It would almost have been easier to just let Cloud go and be done with it all. But I couldn't.

It wasn't just because he was my friend, although that was certainly part of it. But there was also something else, something not quite right about him, something I had to figure out. He wasn't quite himself, and yet he was. It bothered me and even scared me a little, and it was why I had offered him the AVALANCHE job in the first place. If I could just convince him to stay, I knew I could find out the truth.

He stood with his arms folded in front of him in the middle of the room, fuming. I hurried to him. "Cloud, I'm asking you. Please join us. We need you."

"Sorry, Tifa..." he said without turning around.

"The planet's dying, Cloud. Slowly but surely, it's dying. Someone has to do something before it's too late."

Cloud shook his head and just walked across the room, every step thudding like a nail driving into my heart. He paused a moment before reaching the doors. "So let Barret and his buddies do something about it. It's got nothing to do with me."

I clenched my fists at my sides, suddenly angry, my blood running hot in my veins. Just who the hell did he think he was? This wasn't like the Cloud I knew, the Cloud I remembered. He had gotten into plenty of fights when he was a kid, but he had never been uncaring. What had gotten into him? I just couldn't believe that he was really going to leave, after everything we'd been through together.

"So, you're really leaving!?" I argued. "You're just going to walk out on your childhood friend!?"

Now Cloud did turn around to look at me, the fury in his eyes and face draining away. "How can you say that!?"

And there was something else as well, something precious to both of us. "You forgot the promise, too…"

"Promise?" He stared blankly at me.

I wasn't surprised, but disappointment filled me nevertheless. How could he have forgotten about that? It didn't make sense. It had been a wonderful moment for us back when we were just kids, a special night I had always cherished, and I was sure it meant as much to him, too. If I could just get him to remember it, then maybe, just maybe, he would stay. It was the only thing left I could think of to try.

I moved closer to him. "So… you did forget. Don't you remember, Cloud? It was seven years ago…"

"Yeah… I do now. I thought you'd never come, and I was getting a little cold..."

"Sorry I'm late!"

I turned to see Tifa leaning out from behind the broad wooden basin of the old village water tower, the wind ruffling the edges of her light blue dress. She looked really pretty in it, but I didn't have the nerve to tell her. I was fourteen, my blond hair pulled back into a ponytail as I sat on one side of water tower's ledge and she sat down around the corner from me. Our legs dangled out over the air, and I tried to relax as high above us, a thousand stars glittered in the night sky.

Tifa turned to look at me. "You said you wanted to talk to me about something?"

"Come this spring, I'm leaving town for Midgar."

"All the boys are leaving," Tifa said, gazing down at the ground about twenty feet or so beneath us. An old pickup truck was parked in its usual spot over by the gate, and the lights from our houses shone brightly in the dark. Towards the back of the town, the old Shinra mansion stood alone in the night, and beyond it rose the Nibel mountains like the broken teeth of some immeasurably huge beast. I had always wondered what was past them, and someday I intended to find out. Maybe with Tifa at my side, if I was lucky and she wanted to go.

I got up and walked over to where Tifa was sitting. "But I'm different from them."

"How so?" she asked.

"I'm not just looking for a job," I told her, hoping that she would be really impressed. "I want to join SOLDIER. I'm going to be the best there is, just like Sephiroth!"

Tifa's eyes widened. "Sephiroth? You mean that Sephiroth?"

I nodded. There wasn't anyone in the world who didn't know about Sephiroth, Shinra's greatest warrior. He was young but incredibly strong, much more powerful than anyone else in SOLDIER. No one knew where he came from, except maybe for Shinra, and there was no one who could stand against him.

Sephiroth was also a famous and highly-decorated war hero, having defeated hundreds of Wutai's best troops single-handedly during Shinra's long war against them, and it was my dream to be just like him.

"Isn't it hard to join SOLDIER?" she went on.

I nodded, climbing to the top of the water tower. "I probably won't be able to come back home for a while."

"Will you be in the newspapers if you make it?"

I grinned at her. "I'll try."

She glanced up at me, her face beautiful in the moonlight. "Hey, let's make a promise. Umm… if you get really famous and I'm ever in a bind, you'll come save me, alright?"

"What?"

"If I'm ever in trouble," she repeated, "my hero will come and rescue me. I'd just like to experience that at least once. Wouldn't you? Come on, Cloud! Promise me!"

I smiled again. "Alright… I promise."

We both looked up then as a shooting star suddenly raced across the sky far above us. I kept smiling while Tifa gasped with delight, and as the chilly autumn wind whispered around us, I climbed back down onto the ledge, wanting to be near her again. We sat there for a little while longer, just watching the stars and being together. We didn't say much more, but we didn't need to, either. I didn't want this night to ever end, and I hoped that neither did she.

"You remember now, don't you?" I said, prodding him gently. "Our promise?"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah. But I'm not a hero, and I'm not famous. So I can't keep our promise."

That was a weak excuse, and he knew it as well as I did. A flicker of hope rose up within me at that thought. Cloud had never been the sort to go back on his word, and he didn't give it lightly, either.

Would he… would he decide to stay? I realized that I wanted more than just to keep an eye on him and unravel the puzzle he had become, but I wasn't sure I wanted to think just yet about why, or where those feelings were coming from.

"But you got your childhood dream, didn't you?" I argued, refusing to give up on him. "You joined SOLDIER, just like you said you would. So come on, Cloud! You've got to keep your promise."

"Wait a sec, big-time SOLDIER!" Barret called out, stepping off the elevator. "A promise is a promise! Here!"

With his good hand, he tossed him a small bag of gil. Cloud caught it easily and opened it, glanced inside for just a moment, then pulled it shut and slipped it inside his pocket. He glared at Barret. "You call this my pay? Don't make me laugh."

My eyes widened. "What? Then you'll…"

"You got the next job ready? Three thousand and I'm in."

"What!?" Barret exploded.

I rushed over to reassure him. "It's okay, Barret. Don't worry about it. We need all the help we can get, right?"

"But that money's for Marlene's schoolin'," he argued. When he saw my eyes narrow, though, he sighed in defeat and looked back at Cloud. "Two thousand!"

He nodded, and I finally relaxed, letting out a breath I hadn't even realized I'd been holding until now. He was really going to stay with us. Supposedly it was only for the next job, but I knew better. That was just his way of giving himself permission to stay. And I could live with that. As long as he was here, it didn't matter.

I couldn't help smiling at him. "Thank you, Cloud..."