Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, the greatest game ever made.

A/N: I know I'm working on another fic, but this idea just wouldn't leave my head so here it is. You should know what its about from the summary. For everyone who reads my other fic, this one will be serious, so don't look for much humor here. The opeining is written from Cloud's POV.

Chapter One: At the gates...

Raining. It was raining outside of the truck, driving to the last place I wanted to go back to. I looked around and notice the other people in the truck. There was the great Sephiroth. I should be honored that they allowed a lowly grunt like me to be in his presence. Then there's my friend Zack. He was jumping around, happy because they gave him a new materia. He had been so happy back at the base, he had given me one of his items, saying he wouldn't need it. I was still holding on to the X-Potion, which was now in the pocket of my uniform. I suddenly found myself thinking of my home. I'm going back, I thought, not very pleased with the idea. I'm going back a failure. I told them all I'd make it into SOLIDER. I told them all that I would be great like Sephiroth. Now, I was riding in a truck with the legend himself, my friend Zack, and some other guy who was just like me, a nobody. The worse part was, I felt horrible, the motion sickness getting to me yet again. I wish I was strong, like Zack and Sephiroth. I'm so pathetic. I failed all of them. Especially Tifa, she wanted me to come back and be her hero, her knight in shining armor. hah.

Look at me, I'm a joke. I failed to get into SOLIDER and now I'm just gonna wind up as some pathetic grunt for the rest of my life. I'm so weak. Why can't I be strong like them, why can't I come back as some great hero and get everyone to notice me, even Tifa. She'd see how strong I'd becomce and really notice me. Then I could be her hero, just like she made me promise. Yet, I'm not some strong hero, I'm just a nobody. I can't be her hero. Hell I don't even want to face any of them. I can already her the old bullies laughing at what I'd become, after all that bragging I did about becoming a great SOLIDER. I can alredy hear Tifa's dad calling me worthless, just like he did after Tifa got hurt. The only one who wouldn't laugh at me was mom, and maybe Tifa. No she definatly wouldn't laugh at me. She never laughed when the other kids made fun of me. No she wouldn't laugh, but she'd be disappointed. She would see that I had failed and that I couldn't be what I promised to be. How can I tell all of them that I failed. I can't see any of them. If they see what I've become, then they will all think they were right about me. They'll think I'm just a worthless loser who couldn't make it. I can't let anyone find out its me. Not even mom or Tifa.

Cloud was shaken from his thoghts by the sound of Zack's voice. "You know Cloud, if your felling sick, you could take off your helmet" Zack said with his commanding tone of voice. 'Everything Zack does and can do is what I dreamed about, being strong and getting respect from everyone' Cloud thought, while taking off his helmet, 'He's strong, he's a good leader, he's become friends with Sephiroth or at least as close to a friend as you can be to Sephiroth. He is everything that I want to be. He is strong and I am weak. He's this great SOLIDER First Class, while I'm just a loser' Cloud thought, then started to focus on not throwing up all over Zack or Sephiroth.

Zack gave him a sympathetic look and was about to say something when the truck came to a sudden halt. Cloud heard the driver yell something about a monster, and Zack and Sephiroth started to rush outside. Cloud started to pick up his gun, when Zack turned around and said "Don't worry about it Cloud, me and Sephiroth can take care of this" and then he left. 'Of course they wouldn't want my help' Cloud thought, as he heard the sounds of the battle, the metal clashing on scales as Sephiroth struck the dragon, Zack's scream as he fell to its firey breath and then they both came back into the truck, Zack looking a little beat up, but he was fine. 'They didn't want my help because I'm weak' Cloud thought.

A few hours later, they arrived at the gates to the town. Cloud was standing there, looking around without his helmet when he noticed her. There was Tifa, in a miniskirt with a white T-shirt, a vest and a cowboy hat. Recognizing her, he was about to yell to her, when he remembered he wasn't that famous SOLIDER he set out to be. Once again embarrassed by his failure, Cloud ran off and put his helmet on. When he got back, Tifa was looking the group over. She looked at Sephiroth and unlike most people, she didn't seem impressed or awe struck. The she looked at Zack and the other guard. Finally, her gaze fell on him.

He stiffened, but she didn't notice and ran off. 'Why'd she run off' Cloud thought, before his thoughts were interupted by Sephiroth asking him something. "So hows does it feel?" he asked, and when Cloud didn't answear he added "This your first time back in your hometown in a long time isn't it? I wouldn't know, I don't have a hometown" Cloud decided to speak up "What about your parents?" he asked. Sephiroth got a strange look in his eye and said "My mother was Jenova. She died giving birth to me. and my father..." he paused then started to chuckle "What does it matter?" and he walked into the town, with Zack and the other grunt following him, while Cloud slowly followed behind.

A/N: How did everyone like the first chapter. As you can see, I'm trying to use the in-game script as much as possible. If you notice anything wrong, please notify me. Also, since a large part of this story is taking place in scenes they didn't show in the game, any suggestions would be appreciated. Just to let you know, I'll try to follow the in-game script, but some scenes I'm adding on to. Well I'll try to update soon.