Cloud found himself in front of the most meaningful place in Midgar again. Yuffie was still navigating over the rubble, making sure that the less agile Cait Sith made it in one piece. Cloud saw something black moving in the corner of his eye, but dismissed it as nothing. With the ninja and the puppet flanking him, he started towards the old building. Cloud opened the door with the tip of his sword, uncertain of what he might find. The others had their weapons drawn; Yuffie's knees were knocking as she readied her shuriken, and the cat was holding his megaphone.

            To Yuffie's relief, the door was closed again, but the keyhole still remained.

            "Hmm…" Cait Sith said. "Fascinating. It's a pity we don't have any Shinra scientists left," he mused.

            Cloud walked up to the door, overwhelmed by memories. He could barely make out the outline of his body from when he fell into the flowerbed, and marveled at how they were all alive and healthy, despite not receiving any care in months. He put his hand up to the keyhole as Yuffie had instructed, and the door opened just as it had for the young ninja. Behind it was the same swirling mass of energy. Cloud was in awe.

            "Wow…" Cait Sith was recording the image for Reeve to watch later. "Could this be related to the Planet somehow?"

            "I doubt it…" Cloud said. "It doesn't feel like Mako or Lifestream energy." He timidly outstretched his left hand towards the energy, feeling an increase in heat as he did so.

            "I don't know if that's such a good idea!" Yuffie squeaked.

            Ignoring her, Cloud found his hand wracked by spasms of pain, which quickly spread to the rest of his body. Lightning jumped between him and the door, which closed quickly as Cloud was blown backwards onto the flowerbed. His body was smoking, and a faint glow of energy could still be seen around his body. The ex-SOLDIER was trying his best to keep from screaming, but was failing fast. Yuffie ran up to him and tried to touch him, but was met with a strong static shock.

            "Reeve!" she called to the puppet. "Get a medical team down here now!" The young ninja glimpsed Cloud's hand for a moment, and screamed. Despite his will, Cloud passed out from the pain.

            He awoke to find himself lying on an operating table. The first thing he saw was a girl with green eyes, but they quickly became crimson. Tifa was standing over him, a worried expression on her face.

            "He's awake." she spoke to someone to his left.

            "Good. I'm just about finished." Cloud recognized that cold voice.

            "Tifa…" Cloud croaked. "What happened to me?"

            She looked down on him and smiled. "Well, Cait Sith carried you back here after you passed out. The medical teams couldn't touch you with all that energy. Your… um… hand… is…"

            "Let him see for himself." Cloud could see Vincent standing to his left, working with something mechanical near his hand. The gunman picked his arm up and brought Cloud's bionic, clawed hand into view.

            Cloud's head swam. "What did you do to me?" he demanded.

            "Your hand had been withered and desiccated by some unknown energy." Vincent replied coolly. "Either you could have gotten a gun-arm attachment like Barret, or receive a mechanical hand like mine."

            "Why can't I move it?"

            "Your neurons haven't bonded successfully with the bionic matrix. This will help speed the process." Vincent readied a syringe filled with a light green fluid, and Cloud could feel the familiar prick in his arm. Slowly feeling started to return in his "hand." "Now we have more in common than our hate of Shinra."

            He tried to sit up using his arms, but quickly finding that he couldn't, asked Tifa to help him the rest of the way. He held up the mass of metal that was to serve as his hand and studied it. Unlike Vincent's claw hand, his contained the same bone structure and number of a normal hand, only composed of a shiny golden metal. His fingers were tapered into sharp claws, and below his wrist were the two studded bangles he usually wore. The seam started above the bangles, and seemed to run through the middle of them. Vincent had done a good job, at least.

            "Be careful with it," the gunman warned. "Don't try to hug Tifa and end up impaling her." Cloud was surprised at the dark man's attempt at humor.

            "I think I'll be noticing this for a while." Vincent packed up his tools and walked towards the door quietly. Tifa stopped the gunman and whispered thanks before he left, leaving Cloud and Tifa alone in the room.

            "So what does it feel like?" she ventured.

            "It feels like my hand's asleep," he said, shaking his hand. "I can't fully move it yet, but it feels strangely... familiar."

            "I'm sorry this happened to you," she said, dejected. "I feel like I should have been there to protect you."

            "It wasn't your fault," he reassured her. "There was nothing you could have done anyway."

            Tifa suddenly wrapped her arms around his torso and hugged him. Cloud was assailed with the sweet smell of her hair and the softness of her skin. He was frozen in position for a moment, before lightly resting his arms on her back.

            With her head buried in his chest, she murmured: "I love you Cloud Strife…"