BOOK ONE: MIDGAR

SEVEN

— You alright? Can you hear me? —

It was the voice from the first reactor, speaking to me again. All I knew was blackness. It was everywhere. What was going on? Was this a dream? I didn't know. It didn't seem like it, but I wasn't entirely awake, either. The last thing I remembered was falling, watching Reactor 5 go up in flames as I tumbled down through the mist and the mako fumes. Then the sounds of wood splintering and breaking beneath me, bursts of pain as I smashed through it and landed on something strangely soft before losing consciousness. And now that strange voice, calling to me here in the dark. I didn't know who it was, but it was no hallucination, either. I decided I might as well answer it.

Yeah…

— Back then, you only scraped your knees… —

What do you mean by "back then"?

Scraped knees? I didn't know what the voice was talking about. All I did know was that the pain was everywhere. It seemed like every part of me ached, and I wasn't entirely sure if I could move at all. The voice seemed to sense my thoughts, though, and I wondered once again who it belonged to. I didn't think I was going crazy, but I didn't really know what to make of it either.

— What about now? Can you get up? —

Alright, I'll try.

I tried to concentrate, to focus my thoughts on what I was going to do. I decided to start small, and so with every bit of will I could muster, I willed my leg to move. It seemed to take forever, here in the dark as I was, but after a while, I felt myself starting to move a little. Then a little more. I was starting to get there, but I didn't want to go too fast, either. That might just end up making me hurt even worse than I already was, and I knew that wouldn't help. So I just contented myself with bending my knee a little bit for now.

"Oh! He moved!"

Who was that? Another voice, but this one was different. A waking voice. A woman's voice, by the sound of it. Who was she? This must be her place, wherever this was, although I couldn't see much of anything yet. Just the darkness everywhere, and I realized that it was because my eyes were closed. They were still heavy, though, and it was hard for me to open them. Maybe in a minute or so. I decided to work on my hand and go on from there. The voice seemed to agree with me.

— Take it slow now. Little by little… —

I know.

Gathering my will, I thought about what I wanted to do next, and a moment later, I could feel myself flexing my fingers bit by bit. Then I moved my arm a little. It was getting a little easier now, but I still had to be careful. There was still pain everywhere. I could feel my strength starting to return, though, and I knew that it wouldn't be much longer. I was rising back toward wakefulness the way a scuba diver eventually returns to the surface.

"Hello? Hello?"

Hey… who are you?

But the voice didn't answer me. It was silent now, and I wondered when I would hear it again. I didn't doubt that I would, sooner or later. But who was it? It was a young voice, I realized now. A boy's voice, and oddly familiar. I almost knew that voice.

Its identity hung just out of my mental reach no matter how hard I tried to remember it. My mind remained stubbornly and infuriatingly blank, so I gave up for now and decided to concentrate on waking up instead. Slowly, I opened my eyes.

And saw her.

"Where's Cloud!?"

Jess looked at us, her unbelieving eyes darting frantically back and forth between Barret and I while we stood with her inside the Seventh Heaven. We had gotten back not long ago, and while I was relieved that she and the guys had made it home without incident, I worried about what Shinra might do next. And I worried about Cloud. Where was he now? I was absolutely sure he was alive, but I knew that until I saw him for myself, I wouldn't be able to truly relax.

I opened my mouth, but for a moment, nothing came out. I wasn't sure how to answer her question, though. I knew well enough how she felt about him. It was easy enough for me to see it whenever she looked at him, how her eyes always seemed to linger on him now whenever he was around. She must have been that way ever since their first mission together yesterday, and even more so after their return from the Sector 4 plate last night. I knew I felt exactly the same about him, though, so I understood all too well what Jessie was going through. I was still trying to deal with it myself.

When Barret and I had walked up to her outside just a few minutes ago, she had been so busy polishing that rusty old motorcycle of hers, a contented smile on her face as she worked, that she hadn't even noticed us at first. After she had finally realized we were there, she had turned around to see us, but her smile had fallen off her face after she realized Cloud wasn't there with us. Worry and disbelief had quickly replaced it as Barret had motioned for her to follow us inside.

"He… he fell when Reactor 5 went up," Barret sighed. "Shinra was there waitin' for us."

Jess's face paled until it was almost white as Biggs and Wedge drew closer, their expressions just as tense and anxious as ours were. We told them what had happened during our disastrous mission, from the time we first entered the reactor to planting the bomb and Shinra's trap, the president's unexpected appearance, all he told us, our battle against Air Buster, and how its subsequent destruction and that of the reactor had caused Cloud to fall into the Sector 5 slums far below us. And when we finished, I found myself coming to a decision.

I looked at Barret. "I'm going after him, Barret. I have to find him."

"I know how you feel, Tifa. But Shinra's watchin' us right now. Best thing to do is to jus' lay low for now. He's strong, I can't deny that. He'll find a way to get back ta us."

"I can't just sit here and do nothing!" I argued.

Jessie nodded. "That's right, Barret! He might be in trouble! Let me go with you to look for him, Tifa, please. Cloud, he… he's always been there for me. I want to be there for him, too."

Although I wasn't sure how comfortable I was with the way Jess felt about him, considering my own feelings, I couldn't deny she was right. We both wanted to find Cloud and help him if we could. And with two of us working together, we might have better luck than if I went alone. I understood Barret's concerns, but I also couldn't sit here not knowing where Cloud was or what was happening to him. Neither could Jessie, I knew. I was just about to tell her she could come with me when Barret shook his head at both of us.

"No!" he ordered. And it was an order, there was no doubt about it. "It's too dangerous!"

"What!?" Jessie and I said at the same time.

He folded his arms in front of him. "You heard me! We can't jus' go out there an—"

"Daddy!" Marlene's voice trembled and cut him off as she suddenly burst through the doors and ran inside. "There's a creepy man hanging around outside! He's asking everyone about you. He tried to talk to me too, but I didn't say anything. He… he scared me…"

Barret and I shared a worried glance as he held Marlene close with one muscled arm. There was no doubt that Shinra was involved in this somehow, but what was going on? I shivered, remembering how much they already knew about us and afraid of what might be coming next. But we had to know. We had to find out somehow. Gently letting go of Marlene, Barret motioned for her to stay inside the bar while he turned and pushed his way through the saloon doors.

With dread and unease filling my heart, I followed him outside.

It was the girl in the pink dress.

For just a moment, I found myself at a loss for words, so stunned at seeing her again that rational thought seemed to have escaped me. She seemed even brighter here, in this place, than when I had first met her on the street corner in Sector 8 selling flowers, as though the light was coming from her and not from the thin rays of late afternoon sunshine peeking here and there through the broken roof from a few gaps in the upper plate far above us.

She looked at me, concern in her emerald eyes. "You okay?"

"Yeah," I nodded, blinking as I sat up. "I think so. What happened? And where am I?"

"This is an old church in the Sector 5 slums," the girl replied. "You crashed through the roof and almost landed right on top of me. It gave me quite a scare."

I looked around, taking in my surroundings for the first time. Like the girl had said, this was a church, and it didn't look to have been used in a long time. Rows of wooden pews sat empty amidst a collection of round stone columns lining the sides of this strange yet peaceful place. Light shone in bright streamers through the stained glass windows that spanned the walls, and a few unlit chandeliers hung from the ceiling at regular intervals. Behind me, a small platform rose up a few steps from the floor, and on it stood a plain altar with a high stone arch rising over it from the back wall and a large pair of worn, faded tapestries hanging down on either side. At the front of the church, a set of wooden double doors stood slightly open.

I glanced up at the broken ceiling and the gaping hole above me. "I came crashing down?"

She nodded. "The roof and the flower bed must have broken your fall. You're lucky to be in one piece."

"Flower bed?" I blinked, looking around again. "Is this yours?"

Now I noticed the strangest part of this place. I was sitting in front of the dais with the altar, but where the floor should have been here in this area of the sanctuary, the old wooden planks had been pulled away and lay scattered nearby in a haphazard collection of splintered pieces. Within the bare, exposed earth grew a wide patch of flowers, rising up in a bright collection of white and yellow blossoms. I stared at them in genuine wonder as I realized that this was the first real color I had seen in this dank, dismal city.

"Sorry about that," I apologized, standing up.

The girl smiled. "That's alright. The flowers here are quite resilient because this is a sacred place. Everyone says that grass and flowers just won't grow in Midgar. But for some reason, they don't have any trouble blooming here."

I could see that, and I was impressed with what she had done here. That strange familiarity was there too, though I still couldn't explain it. But that feeling that I knew her somehow was undeniable even though I hadn't the slightest clue why or even what her name was. It was all so strange, but I found I couldn't dismiss what I knew and what I felt. The girl gazed around her at the empty church, slid her eyes closed for just a moment, and sighed contentedly. "I love it here."

"It's a nice place," I agreed.

She laughed, opening her eyes to look at me. "Yes, it is. Thank you. So… we meet again. Do you remember me?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I remember. You were selling flowers."

"Oh, that makes me so happy!" the girl exclaimed. "Thank you for buying one of my flowers."

"You're welcome," I smiled.

Returning it with one of her own, the girl knelt down to check her flowers. She looked like she was in her early twenties, around my own age or maybe a little bit older, and her long brown hair hung down past her waist in a thick braid still fastened with a pair of pink ribbons. But looking at her again, I noticed something else in there too, something I hadn't seen during the first time we met. She caught me staring before I could ask about it and stood up, brushing herself off as she looked at me with a knowing glint in her eyes.

"Say, do you have any materia?" she asked.

Was that it? Was that what it was? "Yeah, some. Nowadays, you can find materia anywhere."

"But mine is special," she chuckled, taking it out from her hair and showing it to me. "It's good for absolutely nothing."

I seriously doubted that. But at the same time, I had never seen any materia like hers before. It was very different, a milky white with just a hint of pale green swirling inside, and it was barely larger than a child's marble. Where had she gotten it? What did it do? I was curious in spite of myself. After a moment, the girl slipped it back into her hair, nestled in between the two ribbons at the top of her braid. I had the feeling she knew much more than she was letting on, but I didn't blame her for it. We had only just met, after all. So I figured I'd just play along and let it go for now. She would tell me more if she wanted to.

I shrugged. "Good for nothing? You just don't know how to use it."

"No, I do. It just doesn't do anything. But I feel safe just having it, though. It was my mother's," she said. She smiled again. "Say, I feel like talking. Do you feel up to it? After all, here we are meeting again."

"I don't mind," I told her.

She clasped her hands together. "Wait here, okay? I've got to check my flowers. It'll just be a minute."

Humming contentedly to herself, the girl in the pink dress walked around her little garden, bending over her and there to check her white and yellow blossoms, inspecting some petals and pruning stems with a tiny pair of shears she took from her pocket. It was then that I realized that the air was actually clean here. The fragrant aroma of the flowers was everywhere in this place, and I breathed it in deeply, glad to be free of that terrible mako smell at least for a little while.

"Oh!" the girl looked up at me. "Now that you mention it, we don't even know each other's names, do we? I'm Aerith, the flower girl. Nice to meet you! And you are…?"

"The name's Cloud. Me? I do a little bit of everything."

Aerith grinned. "Oh… a jack of all trades."

"Yeah, I do whatever's needed," I explained.

No sooner had the words left my mouth than she started laughing so hard it took her a moment to compose herself. I blinked. "What's so funny? What are you laughing at?"

"Sorry, I just…"

Aerith's voice trailed off as she looked past me toward the entrance of the church, and as I followed her gaze, I saw that we were no longer alone. A lean, lanky man stood a short distance inside the open double doors, his bright red hair pulled back into a thin ponytail underneath a pair of dark sunglasses perched on his forehead. His navy blue suit and white button-down shirt were both badly wrinkled and disheveled, and he watched us with a pair of chilly blue eyes that held all the warmth of a glacier. With him was a trio of helmeted Shinra soldiers, assault rifles in their hands but not yet pointed at us. What was going on? What did they want with Aerith?

She glanced at me and stepped a little closer. "Say, Cloud. Have you ever been a bodyguard? You can do anything, right?"

"Yeah, that's right." I answered.

"Then get me out of here. Take me home."

I nodded, having already decided to do whatever I could to protect her. I didn't know why Shinra was so interested in a simple flower girl, but there had to be some reason. I was sure Aerith knew exactly what it was, but now wasn't the time to ask her about it. I couldn't resist a little joke, though, as I thought of how I wanted to respond to her request. I was a mercenary, after all and didn't do anything for free. I flashed her a wry grin. "Sure, but it'll cost you…"

"Okay, then, let's see…" Aerith smirked impishly at me, her green eyes twinkling. "How about if I go out with you once?"

At first I wasn't sure if I had heard her right. I just stood there with my mouth hanging open, looking like a landed fish and wondering just what I had gotten myself into. I hadn't actually meant for Aerith to take me seriously, but I didn't see how I could refuse her. She had taken my little jibe and turned it right back at me, and I couldn't help but admire her quick wit and ingenuity. I genuinely liked her and I wanted to help her if I could, and if a date was the fee she wanted to offer me to be her bodyguard, then I figured that it was a small and pleasant enough price to pay to keep her safe.

I didn't have any idea how I was going to explain this to Jessie, but I still had every intention of taking her on that motorcycle ride that I'd promised her. As I thought of her, I remembered the kiss she had given me just before I had gone into Reactor 5. It had held the possibility of more, I had no doubt, and I felt my heartbeat quicken at the thought. I hoped Jessie was alright and had made it safely back to the slums along with Tifa and the others. But the only way for me to know for sure was to get back to Sector 7 myself. Before I could do that, though, I had to help Aerith and see her home.

"You've got yourself a deal," I told her.

Barret slammed the man against the side of the wall. "Alright, start talkin', punk!"

He was definitely creepy, just as Marlene had told us. Tousled black hair framed a pale, narrow face, and a pair of dark sunglasses sat above his small, beady gray eyes. His outfit—a green silk shirt, black slacks, and a polished brown leather belt with a solid gold buckle—was much too expensive for the slums. And despite being pushed against the wall by Barret's massive fist, he leered at Jessie and I with a lewd grin. "Hiya, ladies. Lookin' for a good time?"

"Shut up, you friggin' shitstain!" Barret snarled and brought up his gun-arm. "You gimme some answers now an' leave them girls alone, or the only way you'll be gettin' outta here is fulla holes!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" the seedy man's eyes widened. "No need for that. I-I'll talk!"

Barret didn't budge. "So talk. Why are you askin' everyone all 'bout me? Who are ya an' who sent ya?"

"The name's Scotch. My boss sent me to find out where you were and where your base was. I dunno why. Just said he had his orders. He wouldn't tell me whose they were, so don't bother askin' me!"

"An' who's your boss?" Barret demanded.

Scotch gulped and swallowed hard, his face suddenly sweaty. "I-It's the Don. Don Corneo of Wall Market!"

My face paled. What did that vicious crime lord want with Barret? Corneo held Sector 6 and Wall Market in an iron grip with his lackeys everywhere enforcing his will. Everyone in that part of the slums lived in constant fear of him, especially the women. His lust for them was as well known as his cruelty and his fondness for strange, monstrous pets. Was he trying to expand his influence here to Sector 7? I shuddered at the thought but couldn't quite believe it.

Barret slammed him against the wall again. "Anythin' else?"

"Yeah," Scotch answered. "The Don said the heat's comin' for ya, all of ya. Whatever that means."

Jessie and I shared an uneasy glance as Barret tightened his grip on Scotch. What was really going on here? Why would a man as powerful as Corneo act on orders for someone else? Who in this city could have that kind of power over him? An ugly suspicion began growing in my mind, but I had no way to be sure my instincts were right. I wasn't sure that I wanted them to be right, to be honest. It was just too frightening to think about if they were.

With a disgusted sigh, Barret shoved Scotch away. "Get your sorry ass outta here!"

"It's too bad I didn't get to play with that little daughter of yours," Scotch snickered. "She's real pretty, and I know how to get girls to open up to me. She'd have told me all about ya if she hadn't ru—"

Before he get in another word, he was flying into the mud as Barret punched him right in the face, his good hand clenched so tightly into a fist that I thought his nails would cut into his palm. Scotch staggered to his knees, touching a hand to his bleeding mouth, but before he could get to his feet, I ran toward him, my eyes blazing and my blood boiling like lava in my veins, and slammed my knee into his gut. As he howled and doubled over, I grabbed him by the front of his shirt, spun around, and threw him back into the mud. Then I seized his nose between two of my fingers and started to twist it just a little.

He bellowed, and I knelt next to him, looking him right in the eye as I spoke. "Listen up, you sick, twisted son of a bitch. You stay the hell away from her! And don't come back. Or you'll have a pretzel between your legs. Got it?"

I twisted once more, and he nodded frantically, getting the picture at last. As I finally let him go, he got up and stumbled away, a stream of bullets stinging the ground behind his feet as Barret drove him off. For moment I just stood there, staring after him as the rage swirled within me like some hellish vortex. When Scotch was gone, Barret lowered his arm, and I finally began to relax and calm down a little. Marlene came dashing outside, and as soon as she did, I swept her into my arms and hugged her tight. She always seemed to know just when we needed her, and I loved that about her.

"Is the bad man gone now, Tifa?" she asked, looking up at me.

I smiled, ruffling her hair. "Yeah, sweetie, he's gone. We scared him away. He won't bother us again."

Although Marlene's presence comforted me as much as mine did her, I couldn't dismiss the sense of unease that still lingered within me. I had to find out what was going on, and much as I despised the idea of getting anywhere near that crime lord Corneo and his thugs, I knew it was the only way to discover the truth. And there was only one way to get close enough to the man to make him talk and give me the answers I so desperately needed.

I had to go to Wall Market and be his girl for the night.