Tears of Immortality: Part 1
A fanfic based on Final Fantasy VII by MelMel

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* is a character's thoughts
/.../ is a sound effect or mind conversation
(...) is the Planet speaking

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Final Fantasy VII is © ® and TM to SquareSoft, 1997-2000, 2001-2002. There are spoilers, so in case you haven't finished the game, you may want to go back and complete it. Come on, though, it's been six years. Finish it already. :P ToI is about life after the game has finished and everyone has gone their separate ways. Do enjoy! ^_^

By the way, I wrote this initially a year or two ago, so don't flame me for being stupid too much. *blushes*

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Preface
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The planet was so quiet. After so much suffering, it could travel on the path to recovery. JENOVA was gone, the Cetra were dead, and the Weapons were destroyed. Finally, there could be peace.

*****

Cloud stared off the cliff, high above the plains, to a place far in the distance. The smoldering reddish spot on the Earth that was Midgar only a few days ago was now a jumbled pile of metal and still-burning once-MAKO reactors.

*It seems like such a long time ago.*

Cloud sighed and turned away to climb down the mountain where the solemn faces of Tifa Lockheart, Red XIII, Vincent Valentine, and Cait Sith awaited him. They were all that was left of the original party of 8, no, 9. Cloud swallowed a tear at the thought of his late lover, Aerith Gainsborough. She had died so quickly...

Everyone else had lives to return to. Barret Wallace, the large, foul-mouthed black man with a gun-arm, went back to North Corel with his young daughter, Marlene, and Elmyra, Aerith's caretaker, to rebuild the community and start up the coal mines again. Cid Highwind had returned to Rocket Town, to attempt to create his own rocket fueled by an alternative energy source that he liked to call 'biomass energy.' Not to mention he had to patch up his relationship with a certain Shera. And yes, after much pestering from Yuffie, he did muster up enough courage to "pop the question" to her. They would be married in five or six months. The bratty teenager from Wutai, Yuffie Kisaragi, had gone home to take her father's mantle as leader and high priestess of the small tourist attraction town. Godo Kisaragi had happened to be in Midgar buying a few new concubines to play with when Meteor hit it. Ah, what a game fate plays...

Cloud reached the bottom of the mountain and nodded at his companions. Tifa and Vincent had no life to return to. Tifa, who's bar had been blown up when Meteor hit, didn't have a gil to her name, or a place to call home, since Midgar had exploded. And Vincent... well... he didn't have a life to begin with. Red XIII wanted to become more mature and older to become the efficient leader of Cosmo Canyon. Ever since his "grandfather" had died, Nanaki had strived to be his absolute best. Cait Sith, on the other hand, was different. He was Reeve, best described as the good side of Shin-Ra Inc., only in Kalm, and without the MAKO, weapons, or funding. His 'puppet', Cait Sith, stayed with Cloud to give him updates and news on the political situation in Kalm, and anything else he might need.

Cloud mounted his black chocobo, Abyss, and reined himself over to talk to his party.

"We should travel to the Midgar ruins. To help out, and try to find any survivors. We could salvage too. There might be some materia lost in what's left of the city."

Tifa smiled slightly and got on her gold chocobo, Tilly.

*Was it really only a year ago that Cloud would have turned up his nose at helping anyone other than himself?*

They all began to ride over the mountain to Midgar, where, only a little while ago, there was a great struggle between good and evil. Good prevailed by destroying two of the greatest evils the Planet had ever seen: Meteor and man. Plus one especially evil man, who had wanted to be a god.

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Oh, please don't flame me too much... I'll upload part two on Sunday (1/20) for all ya'll who care, okay? ~*~MelMel~*~