A/N: Hey guys. Done this in one night. Woohoo. If you are kinda new to FF7 and want to learn about the planet and the Cetra, read on. You may be able to skip this chapter, I dunno. R & R as usual please. Biggest chapter so far.

Info – New summary added to profile of upcoming fic. Oh and after this chapter the plot with deepen, trust me.

Summary – Vincent and Yuffie arrive on the scene and Squall gets a pleasant introduction of them. He's rescued by Cloud and Tifa. They're now heading to Cosmo Canyon

Chapter 14 – Life Of The Planet

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If you where anywhere near the mountains, you would have seen a large airship flying overhead. Accompanied by several large dragons and birds. The three dragons were flying in a group, one almost twice the size of the others. The birds flew next to each other. One was a bird of lightning; the other was a Phoenix, a bird of fire.

On the deck of the Sentinel was Squall. The wind swept through his brown hair and stung his eyes slightly. He was thinking, as usual.

He had now been attacked twice, both times by a member of AVALANCHE. Cloud had humiliated him, in front of his friends, with an easy defeat. And Vincent had been very close to killing him, if it weren't for Cloud. Squall could have spat in disgust. The thought of Cloud saving him again was sickening; the guy always played the hero. He was even more irritating than Seifer, who was Squall's long time rival.

Squall sighed. He shouldn't think as much. Besides, they finally had a chance to relax and learn about the past. He watched the Bahamuts fly together. He was amazed by the fact that there was a dragon even more powerful than Bahamut. It's 'big brother,' as Cloud called it. He began to wonder if there was other summons that Squall would recognise.

He was dragged out his thinking by footsteps at the entrance to the deck. It was Cloud. Squall scowled and looked away. Great, just what he needed.

Cloud stood at the railing a few feet away from Squall. His golden spikes flowing with the wind. He climbed over the railing and sat on the edge, his feet dangling off the ship. If he fell, he would probably fall to his death.

'Fall! Please fall, it would make me feel a lot better.' Squall's mind screamed.

Cloud studied Squall for a spilt second before speaking.

"Something on your mind?" he asked

"What do you care?" Squall snapped back.

Cloud sighed.

"Vincent asked me to tell you that he is sorry for attacking you," he said calmly, "Yuffie too. I've explained everything to them and they understand."

"Funny," Squall scoffed, "Your group has a liking of attacking people don't they."

Cloud frowned at him.

"You just never listen to reason do you!?" he said loudly. Squall looked round at him in surprise. He had never really seen Cloud angry before. "I've told you already, that I attacked you for a reason. It was to protect Kalm and Tifa. It was the same for Vincent. He wanted to protect Yuffie. Our friends mean more to us than anything. We went through the worst year of our lives together, and we'd do anything for each other. If it were you in my position with Garden, you would have done the same thing."

Squall lowered his head in shame. He hadn't realised how close Cloud and his friends were. He had been blinded by anger and loathing to see it.

"You're very strong Squall," he continued, "Both me and Vincent saw that. If we had a fair fight, I would definitely have my hands full."

Squall looked at Cloud in surprise, again. That was the last thing he had expected Cloud to admit.

Cloud head snapped round in the opposite direction. Squall looked the same way. A large collection or crimson mountains were drawing closer. He saw Cloud smile. Cloud looked at him again.

"I think it's about time you learnt more about the planet, and our little adventure." He said before climbing over the railing and heading towards the bridge. Squall followed.

The Sentinel landed softly on the ground, about a mile away from a small mountain, and everyone disembarked. Squall and his friends looked at a small village on the mountain in awe.

"Welcome to Cosmo Canyon!" Cid said.

* * * * *

The group of 14 people, and a dog, walked through the large metal gates of Cosmo Canyon. The SeeD's looked around the village. There were several cave-like openings that led inside the mountain. Some had signs overhead indicating they were shops, and some had a ladder or steps leading up to them. At the top of the mountain was an observatory. The large telescope poked out of the top towards the sky. In the centre of the village was a bright fire. The flame rose up high and sparks flew from it.

One of the villagers spotted them.

"Nanaki, we have visitors here." He shouted at the mountain.

Out of one of the entrances to the mountain, came a lion-type animal. The beast had a red coat and a headdress. The flame on the tip of its tail burned brightly like the fire in the village. It ran down the stairs towards the group. As it got closer, Squall could see tattoos and scars on its body. It was also blind in its left eye because of the scar that crossed over it.

The beast stopped and Angelo ran up to it. She sniffed at it and growled. She pawed his face and bounced back. The beast suddenly let out a loud bark and snapped at her. She whined and ran to hide behind Squall's legs.

"Yo Red" Barret greeted him happily.

"It is good to see you again over such a long period." It said back.

Rinoa and Selphie gasped.

"It spoke." Selphie said quietly.

"My name is Nanaki but in AVALANCHE I am referred to as Red. It is a pleasure to meet you all." Red said to the SeeD's. He spoke to everyone. "Why don't we go to Grandpa's observatory for refreshments?"

"Soonds braw!" Cid exclaimed, "Ah need a gid beer or twa."

With that they headed to the observatory.

* * * * *

The large group had been talking for almost an hour. Everyone had broken off the group conversations and talked quietly to each other. Cloud decided to ask Red something.

"Hey Red?" he said as he kneeled down beside the beast, "Can I show Squall and the others the display?"

Red nodded and told him how to work it.

"Thanks Red."

Cloud got up and walked over to Rinoa. He bent down and whispered to her.

"Rinoa, could you get your friends to meet me in that room tonight?" he said pointing to the almost impossible to see door. "There's something I need to show you."

"Okay Cloud, I'll do that." She replied and started to gather her friends.

Cloud went in the small room and started up the machine. It had to warm up before it could work properly.

'It's time they knew what happened to the planet.' He thought.

* * * * *

"Squally babe. Wake up!" Rinoa whispered that night. They were in their room. Rinoa had gotten fully dressed and was trying to wake Squall up.

Squall wearily opened his eyes. He frowned at her and muttered something before closing his eyes again. Rinoa put her hands on her hips.

"Get your lazy ass up right now!" she said in a motherly tone. She got the reply of two fingers. She growled and stomped her foot down.

Squall ignored her. He suddenly felt a heavy object land on his stomach, totally winding him. Rinoa lay on top off him and kissed his cheek.

"You gonna get up?" she asked innocently.

"Okay, okay." Squall gasped. "You need to get off me first." He tried to push her off, but she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Do you want me to get up or not?" he moaned. She giggled and held on tighter as he tried to sit up. She screamed slightly as he rolled over and lay on top of her. He kissed her neck then got up. "What's the deal?"

"Cloud wants us to meet him at the observatory. He has something to show us."

* * * * *

Cloud sat patiently in the display room. They were late. What he had to show them was important. They should at least learn about their own planet.

Suddenly the door opened and Zell stepped in. The rest of the group stepped in and walked up to Cloud. He pointed to the platform on the floor. They all stepped on it.

"What is it you want to show us Cloud?" Quistis asked

He pulled a lever and stepped onto it himself. "You'll see."

The platform started to rise to the top of the room. It stopped and everything went black.

*Insert 'LIFESTREAM' music-

Cloud pushed a button and the area light up. Apart from Cloud, they all gasped. Around them was their solar system. The sun was surrounded by large rings which carried the planets. Meteorites, comets and stars surrounded them.

"It's soooo beautiful!" Selphie whispered excitedly.

"Sure is." Irvine replied.

"This is our Solar System." Cloud explained, "Every planet is shown here. This is what is happening in space right now."

"Wow." Quistis gasped.

Cloud walked up to the third ring from the sun. "This is our planet." He said as it went past. "All planets in the universe are the different, but they all share one thing. They're life source."

"Eventually…all humans die. When you die, your body decomposes and returns to the planet. This is one thing everyone knows. But what about your soul, your consciousness. They too return to the planet. They become the planets life source, spiritual energy. The spiritual energy exists inside the planet. It's what keeps it intact. It becomes a stream of life energy, known as the Lifestream. When children are born, they receive a part of the spiritual energy. They grow and eventually return to the planet once again. There are exceptions though."

"What's so important about the planet keeping the Lifestream?" Squall asked.

"Watch this."

The lights dimmed and everything but their planet vanished. There was a small human on top. He wandered around before stopping. His body broke apart and went into the planet, as did the trees around him. A green light spiralled round the planet and shone brightly.

"As you can see, your spirit returns to the planet and gives it energy. When that's taken away…" He held out his hand, all the green light left the planet and collected on it. The edges of the planet started to break and fall of. Suddenly it split into pieces.

Everyone else gasped.

"Oh my goodness." Rinoa said with her hands over her mouth.

Cloud looked at them.

"That's what would have happened if we hadn't saved the planet. A company called Shinra Inc. used Mako Reactors to suck out the Lifestream and compress it. It turned into Mako and was used for electricity. When I first joined AVALANCHE that was their goal. To stop Shinra from killing the planet. But it soon turned worse than that."

"A man named Sephiroth, who was long presumed dead, killed President Shinra and devised his own plan to destroy the planet."

On cue, a large meteorite came through a black hole and headed straight towards the planet but stopped. It shone bright red and was almost the size of the planet.

"This is Meteor." Cloud continued, "Sephiroth called this with the magic from the Black materia. He used this to kill the planet so he could become a god."

"Thousands of years ago, this planet was home to the Cetra or the Ancients. They were an advanced species and looked after the planet. They lived their lives, searching for a place called the Promised Lands. A place where there was eternal happiness and no suffering. They lived out their lives and died. That was when they arrived at the Promised Lands. They would merge with the Planet and be eternally happy."

"Over 2000 years ago, a strange organism landed on this planet called J-E-N-O-V-A. No one knows why it was here but it was dangerous. The cells in J-E-N-O-V-A's body effects yours. It came as a friend, disguised as a human. But it went around infecting the Cetra with its cells, turning them into monsters and destroying their bodies. Almost all of the Centra died, for there was no cure. A few dozen of them survived and trapped J-E-N-O-V-A in a stone prison. They went their ways and evolved into the humans that live on this planet today. Until there was only one left. Her name was Aeris Gainsborough."

"I met Aeris in Midgar. She told me of her strange abilities and after a few incidents and rescue attempts, she became a member of AVALANCHE. We journeyed around the world, me, Tifa, Barret, Aeris and Red, who we saved from Shinra's testing labs. We met all the others and we then travelled together. That's how we became so close. We found out was Sephiroth was up to. And Aeris was the only one who could stop him. She learned of the White materia to summon Holy. Holy was created by the Cetra to destroy Meteor, if it ever came to our Planet." He paused, "She left us, to protect us from getting hurt. She went to the City of the Ancients, where she prayed. She prayed for Holy. But it cost her, her life. Sephiroth found her and killed her. I watched the whole scene."

"Wait," Zell interrupted, "If Aeris prayed for Holy, how was Sephiroth able to call Meteor?"

"Sephiroth had clones created." Cloud answered, "One of his clones gave him the Black materia, and he summoned it. When the Northern Cave collapsed, he plummeted into the Lifestream, stopping Holy from reaching out of the Planet. I killed him and that let Holy escape from the Planet, but it was too late. Meteor had already come into the Planets atmosphere."

"So how did you stop it?" Irvine asked.

"We didn't. It was Aeris who stopped it. She was the last remaining Cetra. She summoned the Lifestream from the planet, it combined with Holy and destroyed Meteor. It was thanks to her, that you guys are here. That we're all here. I've began to realise that her sacrifice wasn't in vain. It saved us. It saved the Planet."

* * * * *

That night, Squall lay restless in bed, with Rinoa curling up next to him. She slept peacefully, while he stayed awake. He was thinking too much about the display.

When Tifa said that Cloud blamed himself for Aeris' death, he saw what she meant. Sort of. He had been there. Probably helpless to stop it. But why would he blame himself in particular.

And the clone. Sephiroth's clone. What had happened to him? Cloud hadn't said. Had he been killed when Northern Cave collapsed, or was he still alive, mourning over the loss of his master?

And why had Cloud told them this? Was something going to happen? Or was he just teaching them something?

Squall didn't know, and after an hour of thinking hard, he drifted off to a peaceful sleep.

Hope you liked it.

A/N: Here's a first – Shout outs.

I thought of doing this because I want to thank my reviewers and this is just soooo much easier ;D Review and you'll probably get a shout out. The bigger the review, the bigger the shout out.

Zyte – Sorry if I've gave Squall a bit of a beating too much. No more unprovoked attacks, except by monsters but plenty of the others with be getting attacked too.

Jessica Holmes – Thanks. I'm not usually good with describing things but I'm trying to improve. My next fic may have better descriptions, though I doubt it LOL. And good luck with your fics.

Mako-Magic – I've been thinking over and over how to introduce Vincent. Make him jump off a tree and scare them to death or just make him appear out of no where like the mysterious person he is. So I thought, he's kinda a vampire, vampires live in caves…you know where I'm going don't you.

Cloudude55 – I'm glad you're enjoying my fic, and mind and send me your next chapter to edit. If you still want me to.