It was almost dark when Tifa, Lindsay, and Megan arrived in Midgar. They'd traveled almost entirely without incident, save for the few remaining monsters around Midgar.
Tifa knew by heart the way to get to Sector 7 and hurriedly guided her companions to its remains. The immediate area was so cluttered with the plate's rubble that it was almost impossible to travel through it. Not much of a change, Tifa thought giddily as she hopped down off of her chocobo and motioned for Lindsay and Megan to do the same.
"It's not much further, and I don't want to take the risk of one of the chocos getting injured," Tifa explained when they protested.
"Sure, so you don't care if we get injured, is that it?" Megan complained as they tramped through the cracked cement and remains of like on the plate.
"Hey, if you get hurt, you still have a chocobo to carry you back to Nibelheim. On the other hand, if the choco gets hurt, you'll be the one carrying him back to town," Tifa laughed.
"Tif," Lindsay said, looking around at the remnant homes and other buildings. "I thought you said that the Sector 7 plate fell on the slums. This looks quite a bit clearer than I would have imagined."
"Tifa!" a faraway voice shouted.
Tifa squinted to see the figure frantically waving its hands standing next to her 7th Heaven. She took of running to it, not bothering to make sure her friends were with her.
"Reeve!" She ran to him and flung herself into his arms joyously.
He smiled. "Wow. Nice to see you too, Tifa," he laughed.
"Tifa...
"Oh, stop complaining, you baby." Lindsay smacked Megan's arm, nearly causing her fall over from her exhaustion.
As they began quarreling like five year olds, Reeve, bewildered, looked at Tifa who was busy rolling her eyes at their behavior, and she smiled up at him. "Reeve...my roommates, Lindsay and Megan. Lindz...Megs, this is Reeve."
"Oh yeah. Tifa told us you were that Cait Sith character," Megan supplied.
"Yes, that's true. Pleased to meet you both. Now, on to business." He led them inside a slightly tidied up 7th Heaven and seated himself at one of the two remaining tables.
"Now, I contemplated calling the others for this, but I figured I might only need your help, Tifa." She nodded and he continued. "I was wandering through Midgar, maybe hoping to find survivors living amongst the wreckage, and happened upon this place - and your old spy base."
Tifa's eyebrows shot up at this. "How on earth could you have just stumbled on something like that?"
He shrugged and grinned. "Pure luck. Anyway, I did, and in the center of the room is a small crack in the earth leaking mako. Pretty much the whole floor is covered with the stuff. But you'll never believe what I found."
"What?" She sat forward eagerly in her unstable chair, causing it to lean severely to the right.
Reeve laughed. "You might think that I've lost my mind, but this is true. I would swear upon the Planet that Aeris' spirit was there in the mako. I saw her eyes right there in the center. And right there along with them was this."
He pulled the materia orb out of his jacket and held it up in the dim light shining in from outside. Tifa's eyes widened and she leaned forward cautiously to take it from his hand. She examined the orange and scarlet sphere, turning it this way and that in the light. Wide eyed and speechless, she looked up at him again.
"What is this? It looks nothing like what I've ever seen!"
"Okay, that answers question one: 'Have you ever seen this before?' I have no idea myself. I've never seen any materia like this."
Despite her efforts to remain serious, Tifa commented offhandedly, "Maybe you should have called Yuffie in for this." She rolled the orb around in her hand and admiring its marble-like appearance. She handed it back reluctantly.
Reeve grinned and plucked the offered orb from Tifa's upturned palm, pocketing it. "As a matter of fact, I considered that for a moment, but I assumed that maybe you'd know something about it. But your reaction proves me wrong."
She nodded and carefully leaned back in her unruly chair, sparing a quick smile at her addled comrades. "It confuses me, though," she commented after a few moments of silent thoughts, a slight frown marring her usually cheery countenance. "I know that there is materia growing in the mako fountain in Mt. Nibel, but I thought that it was otherwise produced only in Mako reactors. I just assumed it couldn't grow elsewhere."
He nodded and replied, " I was wondering about the same thing. If materia grows in Mt. Nibel, then why haven't we heard of it growing in Mideel? Mideel is much larger, after all."
They fell silent again, pondering the possibilities, as well as the impossibilities, when Lindsay spoke up for the first time. "Maybe the Lifestream in Nibelheim is more condensed than Mideel's," she remarked, surprising Tifa. She shrugged, noticing the shocked looks on Tifa's and Reeve's faces, and suddenly feeling very self-conscious in the presence of who she considered to be the "experts." "I don't know. It's just a guess."
"No, it's a good suggestion," Reeve assured. "We're open to everything."
"Well, " Tifa mused aloud, "Lindsay's major is Planet Science, and Megan's is the study of the Lifestream..." She trailed off, considering the options. "Would you two mind if we dropped you off in Cosmo Canyon to study this materia with Nanaki and the elders?"
"Sure, why not?" Megan replied.
"I'd love to do whatever I can to help out!" Lindsay smiled.
"What are you thinking, Tifa?" Reeve asked of his brunette comrade, who was lost in thought.
"Well, I believe that the elders might be able to provide us with some information on materia growth. Nanaki had appropriated many of the books from the ShinRa mansion shortly after Meteor had been destroyed. And now that I think about it, Yuffie might prove to be useful working there as well."
He laughed and warned jokingly, "Nanaki will have to guard that materia with his life from Yuffie's kleptomaniac tendencies."
Tifa laughed with him and imagined poor Nanaki having to sleep on it to keep it out of the reach of the sneaky ninja's grubby grasp. She continued, "I also want to make use of the Highwind and go to the Forgotten Capitol. There's something I need to do there. But we should stop by Nibelheim for a few days to gather provisions. We might also find more information in the mansion."
"Well, that takes care of Nanaki, Yuffie, Cid, you, and me. What about Barrett, Vincent, and Cloud?" Reeve questioned. The diminutive brunette looked down at the table thoughtfully. "Barrett has his hands full with Corel and Marlene, and I haven't heard from Vincent since Northern Crater. I'm not sure whether he has his PHS any longer. As for Cloud..."
She paused as a lump in her throat formed and her chest tightened. She cleared her throat and finished. "I haven't heard from him in months." She looked away, blinking back the tears that threatened to come forth.
Reeve gave a slight nod and looked at her curiously, but didn't venture to ask her anything.
Breaking the strange silence, Megan queried, "What are you going to call it, by the way.? You can't just keep calling it 'that materia' or whatever." Her voice sounded strange in the dead silence.
Thankful for the aversion, Tifa shrugged, and for several minutes suggestions were volleyed across the table in four directions. Among the dozens of prospects, none seemed suitable for the glowing orb. It couldn't be a specific name, for they had no idea of the materia's purpose, which made the task much more difficult than expected.
Tifa closed her eyes and leaned back, as if to help her concentrate, and a ghostly pair of sparkling emerald eyes flashed before her mind's eye, followed by the painful image of Cloud holding Aeris' lifeless body. Her eyes snapped open as the word struck her like bolt spell.
"What about Cetra?"
"Cetra..." Reeve looked down at the shimmering globe and nodded.
End of Chapter 5