Cloud signed on to the network once again, this time with his friends still around. Many of them were skeptical reviving Aeris at first, and they were proved right. Cloud took another look at the website that said he could revive Aeris. Sure enough, it was still there, but now it had some more possible ways that Aeris could be brought back to life.

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1. Get 35 1/35 Shinra soldiers from Gold Saucer.

2. Mkae sure you've beat Diamond and Emrald W.E.A.P.O.N. S. Talk to the travler in Calm Town and trade him the soldiers for the Earth Harp back.

3. Play the Earth Harp in Icicle Inn. The ghost of Dr. Gast will call you spoony and throw a rock at you.

4. Take the rock to Bugenhagen. If you have all the Maester Materia, hel'l revive Aeris.

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"The *$@# ?" Cid spat out. "That's a load."

"Spoony?" repeated Yuffie, scratching her head. "This doesn't look like it'll work."

Cloud stood up. "I know the last one didn't work, but it might this time. What if this is the truth? Who's coming with me?"

The woman working at Speed Square in Gold Saucer had seen some nutcases in her time, but these three took the cake. All day the spiky-haired blond guy, the girl who needed to wear a shirt, and the weird talking lion/tiger/wolf/whatever rode the roller coaster over and over, pocketing the 1/35 Solders being given away as prizes for high scores. One would think even an eccentric collector would stop after getting all twelve, or even getting two of each, but not these three.

The train pulled into the station yet again, and three dizzy and slightly green people stumbled off. The girl eagerly took the 1/35 soldier in the hand of the assistant. "That's thirty-four," said the girl wearily. "One more to go."

The red whatever-it-was mumbled as it moped to the ticket booth. "Flashing lights... bright colors... I think I'm starting to hallucinate."

The blond lad nodded. "The Lifestream wasn't this bad."

Later, the three sat aboard the Highwind as they made for Kalm Town. The Speed Square ordeal made Cloud's motion sickness return with a vengeance, Tifa poured Eye Drops into her bloodshot eyes to counteract her hopefully temporary vision problems, and Red wondered aloud why Holy didn't destroy that ride. This was a pain, but it would all be worth it if they could have Aeris back.

The bald-headed man smiled as the people who helped make his life complete walked in. "Well, hello there. Nice seein' you again. What can I do you for?"

Cloud pulled out the bag of soldiers. "We'll trade you all these for the Earth Harp back."

"Hmm..." the man scratched his head. "Don't see much use for these, but then again I don't need the Earth Harp anymore either... Wait, there's that odd fellow I met at the bar who collects these things. He'd give his left arm for all of these, not that I'd have any use for that either, mind you..."

Cloud sighed. "So do we have a deal?"

"Sure thing." The man picked up the harp, which was beginning to gather dust, and handed it Cloud. Cloud sat the bag of miniature soldiers down, and turned to leave.

"Is it just me," the man mused, "or does an underwater weapon of mass destruction creating by an ancient civilization carrying a musical instrument strike you as a bit odd?"

Red XIII shook his head. "Compared to why we want the harp back, it seems very logical indeed."

Disembarking off the Highwind, Cloud, Tifa, and Red XIII made their way into the cold, snowy village of Icicle Inn. Aeris was born here, and hopefully, if this plan wasn't a farce like the last one, she would soon be reborn. Cloud stood by the former home of Professor Gast, and began to softly strum on the Earth Harp.

Cloud played away for what seemed like hours. Soon, the cold started playing tricks on mind. At times, he thought he saw a man in a labcoat walking toward him. Other times, he thought he heard the word "spoony." Finally, his fingers numb with cold, he sat down in the snow.

"No! Not again! This... this can't be..."

Tifa put her hand on Cloud's shoulder. "Come on Cloud, let's go home."