--- - 3 - ---


The air was full of the fragrance of flowers, bringing thoughts of Aeris to mind. Wind drifted across him, ruffling his hair and cooling his skin. He could feel the sun on his face, and the song of birds wafted through the air to his ears.

Birds, the crash of distant waves--and the sound of someone crying.

Shaking his head to clear it, Cloud sat up. He had no idea where he was, but it seemed like a pleasant enough place. The source of the weeping was sitting a small distance away--a blue-clad girl, facing away from him. Awkwardly, putting aside his own confusion for the moment, he cleared his throat.

The girl looked up sharply, then scrambled to her feet and turned to face him. Her face was streaked with tears that she didn't even try to conceal. She stared at him as if she had seen a ghost.

Cloud glanced around. There was an old stone house nearby, but no one seemed to be around. "...are you all right?' he asked the girl gingerly.

The girl collapsed, and her arms went to encircle a big cream-and-brown dog that Cloud hadn't noticed before. "Who... who are you?" she asked.

"Cloud Strife, Ex--" he paused. "--Member of Avalanche," he finished softly. "You?"

The dog let out a yip and a whine, and the girl began to stroke her companion's fur. "...Rinoa,' she answered. "Rinoa Heartilly."

"Are you all right?' Cloud asked.

Rinoa looked away, not answering. There was a voice from the direction of the house, calling her name, and she buried her face in the dog's fur, huddling down into a small ball. "I don't want to go back yet," she whimpered. "I don't want to talk to them again yet."

Cloud sighed. "I'm sorry," he said, and started for the building.

As if it had been scripted, a woman emerged from the door as he approached. Dressed in a long but plain black dress, she moved with a grace that was undeniable. She looked very sad--something bad must have happened recently, Cloud reasoned. she gave him a quizzical look, but said nothing.

Excuse me," Cloud said as politely as he could. "Can you tell me where I am?"

If the woman was surprised by either his presence or his inquiry, she didn't show it. "Centra," she said. "The Cape of Good Hope. Do you need help?"

Cloud thought for a moment. "Where, again?" he asked. He had been all over the world, but he had never heard of this place.

"The Orphanage at the Cape of Good Hope, Lower Centra," the woman explained. "My name is Edea--Edea Kramer. Are you lost?"

Cloud was unsure how to respond. Yes, he was most definitely lost, but--

"My name is Cloud," he said, brain still trying to wrap itself around this latest issue. "Do you have a map I could see?"

"Yes," Edea said. "But first--was there a girl out there when you came through?"

"Rinoa?' Cloud asked. "She said she didn't want to come back inside." There was something wrong, he knew; but he could tell that this wasn't the right time to ask about it.

Edea sighed, motioning Cloud into the house and offering him a seat. "Please, wait here," she said. Without another word, she glided into the next room.

Cloud glanced around the surroundings. They were shabby, true; but they had the look of someplace fashioned with a lot of love and a lot of time. It was the style that bothered him--he couldn't place the style as being from any region of the world. The closest he could come would be the Nibel mountains, but there was nowhere around Mt. Nibel that was nearly as fertile as the flower field outside. And the word "Centra...." it was a word that was entirely unfamiliar, but the woman had spouted it out as if it was common knowledge.

Cloud was confused.

The woman came in, a rolled up paper in her hands. Spreading it out on the table, she pointed to the west side of a continent near the southern end of the world. "This is the Cape of Good Hope," she said. "These are the ruins of the Good Hope Orphanage."

Cloud stared. There were similarities, but... this wasn't a world map. He had never seen these continents before in his life.

"Are you all right?" the woman asked, noticing his confusion.

Cloud sat back. He thought for a moment. "...I must be more lost than I thought," was all he said.

"I'm sorry," the woman said, re-rolling the map. "Do you need help?"

"...no," Cloud answered. "But I could use a job. Do you want to hire a mercenary, by any chance?"

Edea was giving him an odd look--like some of the ones Tifa used to give him when he said things he shouldn't have known. Then, she glanced away.

"Are you a SeeD?" she asked.

"...SeeD...?"

Now Edea was staring at him, bewildered. "What mercenary group do you work for?" she asked.

"Freelance. Ex-Soldier."

"Soldier? For what country?" Edea leaned forward.

Cloud's heart rate was accellerating. Whatever was going on, it wasn't right. "Soldier. I was in Soldier. I used to work for Shinra, but... events happened, and I left. I worked with Avalanche for a while, and when the Meteor threat was over and Shinra collapsed, I was out of a job. I don't know how I ended up here, but--"

"Slow down. Please," Edea said. "Tell me about this Meteor."

Cloud would have gibbered, if he could remember how to speak. As it was, he just set his head down and moaned.

The woman sighed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pried. I don't have a job for a mercenary right now, but you're welcome to stay here. Only, please do not tell the girl outside that you're a mercenary. She might... take it badly."

"...thank you," Cloud said weakly.

"It's no trouble."

"I'm sure I'm not insane." He didn't know what made him say it. And he had the urge to tack the words this time onto the end of the sentence.

"Hmm," the woman acknowledged, and left the room.

And Cloud felt the irrational impulse to cry.