The train screeched to a stop and the small rebel band exited. Barett rallied his group to the rear of the station, "Yo!! Get over here, all' ya!!" Within a few seconds, the original group and the added mercenary had gathered around him. "This mission was a success. But don't get lazy now. The hard part's still to come! Don't y'all be scared of that explosion! Cause the next one's gonna be bigger than that! Meet back at the hideout!! Move out!"

They left, once again splitting up in different directions. Cloud ran along the twisting alleyways, the dank air invading his senses. As he passed the gargantuan support pillar that held up a part of the upper plate, he stopped and looked all the way up. The support was sturdy, but if something were to ever happen, and the pillar failed, everything in Sector 7 would be obliterated. Wondering where the intruding thought had come from, her made his way to the bar where the mission had originally began.

Suddenly, Barett's obnoxscious voice cut through the night air. "Yo. Cloud! Over here, now!" Cloud saw him on the deck of a rickity little building. It was the Seventh Heaven, a bar run by his childhood friend, Tifa Lockheart. Barett ran in, and chased all the patrons out. Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie went inside nodding to him.

"Ok! Go on ahead." He shouted to Cloud.

As the hired mercenary opened the door, a girl of about six jumped up. "Papa!" She shouted. Realizing that she had mistaken Cloud for her father, she ran and hid in the corner, sad and embarassed. The owner of the bar, Tifa, went and consoled the girl.

"Marlene! Aren't you going to say anything to Cloud?"

Tifa smiled, sadly and walked over to her friend. "Welcome home, Cloud. Looks like everything went well. Did you fight with Barret?"

Cloud nodded a bit sheepishly, "Yeah."

Tifa nodded, smirking a bit knowingly, "I should have known. He's always pushing people around, and you've always been in fights ever since you were little. I was worried." She glanced down and noticed the orange flower poking out of his pocket. "Flowers? How nice... You almost never see them here in the slums. But... A flower for me? Oh Cloud, you shouldn't have..."

"No big." He shrugged, not wanting to seem to eager

"Thank you, Cloud. It smells wonderful." She turned and looked at the rest of the shabby bar. "Maybe I should fill the store with flowers."

As he turned to exit, Barret nearly brought the little shop down when he crashed inside.

"Papa, welcome home!" The little girl shouted, the large man softened considerably and lifted her up onto his broad shoulders.

Tifa looked over to him questioningly,"You all right, Barret?"

"Great!!" He emphazied his statement by pumping his thick fist into the air. He walked to a dusty pinball machine in the corner and brought his hand crashing down on it. It whirred noisily and the platform it was resting on began to descend. "Get in here, fools!!" He shouted to Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie. "We're startin' the meetin'!!"

Soon, Cloud and Tifa were left alone, as the rebel faction discussed today's mission. She beckoned to him, "Sit down." He offered her a tight smile and sat down at a bar stool. "How about ...something to drink?" she smiled, yet again.

Cloud thought a moment before responding, half jokingly, "Give me something hard."

"Just a minute. I'll make one for you." After a few seconds, she handed him a drink, and he took a small sip, and decided he liked it.

"You know, I'm relieved you made it back safely."

He looked up at her, a mixture of concern and slight annoyance on his face, "What's with you all of a sudden? That wasn't even a tough job."

She looked down at her feet awkwardly, "I guess not...You were in SOLDIER." She paused a moment before adding, "Make sure you get your pay from Barett."

He glared morosely at the spotless countertop, "Don't worry. Once I get that money, I'm outta here."

He stood up and streched for a second before making his way toward the pinball machine.

"Cloud, are you feeling all right?" She pressed again.

"...Yeah... Why?"

"No reason. You just look a little tired I guess. You'd better go down below."

He smacked the rusty game, like Barett had, and sure enough, the elevator began to descend. Apparently the meeting was over, since they had begun to do their own work. Barett was wailing away at a punching bag; Marlene watching intently from a nearby stack of crates. Jessie was working on a computer, while Biggs and Wedge carried on a conversation.

As he passed Jessie, she squealed in surprise, "Hey, look at the news... What a blast. Think it was all because of my bomb? But all I really did was just make it like the computer told me."

As he walked over to his employer in hopes for his pay, the other man turned to him first. "Yo. Cloud! There's somethin' I wanna ask ya...Was there anyone from SOLDIER fighting us today?"

He shook his head. "None. I'm positive."

"You sound pretty sure." Barett eyed him suspiciously.

"If there was anyone from SOLDIER you wouldn't be standing here now."

"Don't go thinkin' you so bad jes cuz you was in SOLDIER." He immeadiatly sensed the slight raise of annoyance and attitude in the younger man's voice and got deffensive.

The other was silent for a minute, as was everyone else in the room. Barett continued his verbal onslaught "Yeah, you're strong." He began smugly, "Probably all them guys in SOLDIER are, but don't forget your skinny ass's working for AVALANCHE now! Don't get no ideas 'bout hangin' on to Shinra."

Cloud looked up, furious at the bigger man's last comment. "Staying with ShinRa?" he yelled, "You asked me a question and I answered it... that's all." He thought of the one subject that would anger Barett the most right now, "I'm going upstairs. I want to talk about my money."

"Shit!! ...money...."

Marlene smiled from her perch on the crates, "Papa. you're so great!"

Cloud got on the elevator was about to leave when Tifa approached him. He was startled momentarily, and began to walking toward the door anyway.

"Wait, Cloud!" She called softly.

Barett came up the elevator as well, "Tifa! Let him go!" he barked, crossing his arms. "Looks like he still misses the Shinra!"

Cloud whirled around "Shut up! I don't care about either Shinra or SOLDIER! But don't get me wrong! I don't care about AVALANCHE or the Planet for that matter!"

Barett threw his hands up in frustration, and went back downstairs. Tifa looked at him worriedly. "Straighten things up with everyone for me." She knew it was pointless, but she felt she needed to say something. She was about to continue when a news flash came up on the TV in the back of the room, showing none other than the overweight President ShinRa himself.

"......today the No.1 Reactor was bombed. The terrorist group AVALANCHE has claimed responsibility for the bombing. It is expected that AVALANCHE will continue its reign of terror. But citizens of Midgar.... there is no need to fear. I have immediately mobilized SOLDIER to protect our citizenry against this senseless violence. Thank you and good night."
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Cloud rode up the rickety pinball machine to the bar on top. He made it to the door, but the creaking of the elevator prompted him to turn around. It was Tifa. He felt his anger and resolve soften as he looked on her. He loved her very much, but in his heart he knew that she deserved much better than him. He was lucky enough that he was her best friend, he reminded himself yet again.

She looked at him pleadingly. "Listen, Cloud. I'm asking you, please join us."

He shook his head, "Sorry, Tifa..."

"The Planet is dying. Slowly but surely it's dying. Someone has to do something." She wanted him to stay so badly, but it wasn't looking good.

He turned his back to her, "So let Barett and his buddies do something about it." He grumbled, "It's got nothin' to do with me." He reached for the doorknob.

"So!" Tifa huffed, "You're really leaving!? You're just going to walk right out, ignoring your childhood friend!?"

Cloud turned toward her again, stung by her words. "What..." He stammered, his mind gone blank. "...Sorry."

"...You forgot the promise, too." She added, almost inaudible.

He searched his memory for a minute, and couldn't seem to recall what she was talking about. "Promise?" He asked, hating how stupid he sounded.

She looked down at her feet, either disappointed or embarrassed, he couldn't tell which. "So you DID forget." He suddenly felt awful for letting her down. "Remember...Cloud. It was seven years ago."

A rush of memories came flooding his mind. Why couldn't he recall it a moment ago? He remembered the well and the starlit sky that night.

"Do you remember the well?"

"Yeah... back then." He murmured distantly, "I thought you would never come, and I was getting a little cold."

He vividly recalled sitting on the old well in the middle of the town square. He remembered waiting for Tifa, and the brisk autumn air. He was only fourteen then, before his involvement with the ShinRa and now AVALANCHE.

He went over every detail of that night. How it had taken her a while to reach him. "Sorry I'm late." She had said to him. "You wanted to talk to me about something?" He remembered the long and awkward pause between them.

He also recalled searching for the perfect words to tell her of his plan. "Come this spring..." He had begun, "I'm leaving this town for Midgar."

She had nodded sadly and paused again before she responded. "... All boys are leaving town."

"But I'm different from all of them." He had almost yelled. "I'm not just going to find a job." Then he remembered blurting out his idea to her; the one he could trust. "I want to join SOLDIER. I want to be the best there is, just like Sephiroth."

Cloud's blood boiled even at the slightest thought of that man's name. Suppressing his anger, he continued searching through his memories.

"Sephiroth.... The Great Sephiroth." Tifa had murmured in quiet awe. He remembered standing up and climbing to the top of the well and gazing up at the star-filled sky. Tifa continued with her previous thought. "Isn't it hard to join SOLDIER."

He recalled avoiding a direct answer. "...I probably won't be able to come back to this town for a while." He had heard Tifa moving and thought for a second that she might leave. "...huh?"

She didn't get up and he couldn't exactly recall her words but it was something along the lines of: "Will you be in the newspapers if you do well?"

He had nodded, mostly to reassure himself. "I'll try."

She had looked up at him with shy amber eyes, "Hey, why don't we make a promise? If you get really famous and I'm ever in a bind..." She paused for a moment. "you come save me, all right?"

He recalled his disbelief. "What?"

"Come on--! Promise me----!" She had pressed.

Cloud nodded, "All right... I promise."

That was it. He remembered with a frown how naïve he had been then and what a loser he was now. Tifa looked up at him curiously. "You remember now? Our promise?"

Cloud felt like a complete failure. He didn't understand why she wanted to rely on him so much. It made his stomach twist.. "I'm not a hero and I'm famous. I can't keep... the promise."

"But you got your childhood dream didn't you? You joined SOLDIER..." Cloud looked down at his booted feet, he wasn't sure what to do. "So come on! You've got to keep your promise."

Suddenly a strange noise came from the elevator. Barett was clambering up the side of it. "Wait a sec, big-time SOLDIER." He snorted, "A promise is a promise! Here." He tossed a small bag to Cloud that contained his pay. "Fifteen hundred Gil."

Cloud caught the small bag and frowned. "This is my pay? Don't make me laugh."

Tifa looked at him in shock. "What? Then you'll...!!"

He tried to act as cocky as he could as he looked smugly to Barett. "You got the next mission lined up? I'll do it for three-thousand."

Barett looked stunned, "What...!?"

She dragged him to the corner of the room before he had a chance to explode at the younger man. "It's ok. It's ok." She whispered, "We're really hurting for help, right?"

"Uh...ugh...That's money for Marlene's schoolin!" He hissed back. He thought for a moment before he turned back to the annoying brat. "Two thousand!"

Cloud nodded as Tifa came to his side and grinned brightly. "Thanks, Cloud."

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