CHAPTER I (A): THE MYSTERIOUS WARNING
Zack, Cloud and Tifa reached the town after a while of walking. The town was mostly of houses that stood pleasantly in circular pattern. An old water tower stood in the center of the town. There was a big, but beautiful mansion further inside of the town, too. Strangely, decorations were everywhere around town. Zack, Cloud and Tifa stood at the entrance of the town.
"Um, sir. May I ask something?" Zack asked Cloud, "Is this Nibelheim?"
"Yes, it is and you don't have to call me 'sir'. Just call me Cloud," Cloud answered with a warm smile.
"Okay," Zack replied as he looked around the town once again.
"I can't believe this. This looks EXACTLY like Nibelheim in the game, besides all those decorations." Zack thought to himself.
"What's going on? Why are there decorations around the town?" Zack asked in curiosity.
"Cloud, do you think we can invite Zack?" Tifa asked Cloud.
"Huh?" Zack, surprised.
"Sure," Cloud answered. Looking at Zack, he continued, "Zack, would you like to come to our wedding?"
"Wedding!?" Zack was completely surprised.
"Yes, within two days, we'll be getting married," said Tifa as she hugged Cloud.
"Sure! Of course I would like to!" Zack answers excitingly, "So that's why there are some much decorations."
Hearing that, Tifa nodded while smiling cheerfully.
"That's great!" Cloud exclaimed.
"See you again in two days then!" Tifa continued.
Just as Cloud and Tifa were about to leave Zack alone, Cloud remembered something that he wanted to ask Zack.
"Oh, do you live around here, Zack?" Cloud questioned Zack.
"No, uh, I'm from another town," lied Zack.
"Oh, which one?" asked Tifa curiously.
"Um. Cosmo Canyon," lied Zack again after thinking for a while.
"Oh, what a coincidence. Two of our friends are from Cosmo Canyon," Cloud said.
"Two? Isn't it only RedXIII?" Zack thought to himself.
"Oh, really? May I ask, who?" Zack asked curiously.
"Well, there's RedXIII and Cinna," Tifa answered Zack, "But they're not humans as you might think most of our friends would be. They both look like wolves and they're a rare species of an ancient race."
"Oh, I see," Zack muttered.
"Cinna?" Zack thought, "There wasn't any character in the game with that name."
"Well, enough talk already. We've got to help you find a place to stay. Um. should you stay in the inn or maybe, at our place?" Cloud suggested while thinking.
"Your place? Sure! If it isn't too much trouble," Zack answered excitingly.
"Sure. for a fee," said Tifa.
"What?" that surprised Zack.
"Just kidding!" Tifa laughed, "You can stay with us for as long as you want!"
"Then I guess that settles everything. That's where we live," Cloud said as he pointed towards the big mansion.
"That's where you live?" asked the surprised Zack.
"Yup, for over three years now," Tifa answered.
"Three years." Zack thought, "After the end of the game?"
"It's getting dark. I think we better get inside. Let's go, Zack," Cloud urged as he and Tifa started walking towards the mansion, side-by-side.
"Okay!" Zack shouted as he ran after Cloud and Tifa.
*********
It was already morning when Zack finally woke up. Getting off the bed, he stretched himself while yawning.
"It's morning. Maybe I've already woken up from that strange dream," Zack thought to himself.
"Have you woken up yet, Zack?" suddenly Tifa's voice broke through his thought.
"Nope, guess not," Zack uttered, a little surprised at first.
"Yeah!" Zack answered back.
"Good, then come down and have breakfast, okay?" shouted Tifa again.
"Okay!" Zack answered.
Zack went down the stairs and then to the right from the staircase to a big room where there was some windows, which stretched from the floor to almost the ceiling.
"When I first entered this mansion, I was surprised that they had changed the rooms in the mansion a lot," Zack thought as he entered the dining room.
"This room, in the game, had a piano in it, but they had moved the piano to a room at the other side of the mansion, where they had turned into a small piano room, as they called it. Now this room, which is now both, a dining room and a kitchen," Zack thought some more as he sat at the rectangle- shaped dining table.
Tifa, who was wearing a cute, red apron, was busy cooking breakfast, while Cloud was staring blankly out the window. Besides Tifa's apron, she and Cloud were still wearing their usual clothing.
"Tifa, when do you think they will arrive?" Cloud asked while turning his head towards her.
"I'm not sure, too, Cloud," Tifa answered Cloud while she continued cooking.
"They? Could it be?" Zack thought about the possibility that 'they' might be the other characters from the game.
"Who's coming?" Zack asked, pretending to not know.
"Oh, our friends who will be coming for our wedding," Tifa answered with her happy smile.
"Um, who might they be?" Zack asked again, still unsure.
"Oh, don't worry about that. We'll introduce you to them when they arrive," Cloud turned towards him, assuring Zack as he walked away from the window to the table.
"Okay, breakfast's ready! Cloud, please call Vincent to come out from the library and eat breakfast," Tifa told Cloud as she turned off the kitchen stove.
"Sure," Cloud answered and left the room.
"Vincent?" Zack muttered out.
"Oh, he's a friend of ours. He stays with us in this mansion," Tifa explained to Zack.
"Oh, I see. But, where was he yesterday, then?" Zack asked, "I didn't see him yesterday when I came here."
"Oh, he was in the library yesterday," Tifa answered while busy preparing the breakfast.
"The library? What was he doing in there?" Zack asked again.
"Nothing, actually," Tifa answered. As she placed a dish in front of Zack, she continued, "You see, Vincent was once in love with a woman named Lucrecia several years ago. Even though he'd admitted his love to her once, she married another man, a mad professor named Hojo. When she gave birth to a boy named Sephiroth, she died. Vincent never forgave Hojo because if it wasn't for Hojo's research, she might've still be alive."
When she was done serving the dishes, she slowly took off her apron as she continued again, "But over three years ago, Hojo went completely mad and tried to destroy a whole city. We went to confront him. Despite turning himself into a monster with a formula from his research, we were still able to defeat him."
She hung her apron on the wall and walked over to the table as she continued some more, "Now, more than three years has passed, but just a few days ago, Vincent told Cloud and I that he saw Lucrecia appeared in front of this mansion and she warned him of another danger, worst than the last one we've once experienced. She said that it is soon to happen but not only to our world. Now he stays in the library, trying to figure out what she meant by 'not to our world only'. But he still haven't found anything in the library."
Just as she finished, Cloud and another man, Vincent Valentine, entered the room. Looking at Vincent, Zack noticed that he still looked the same. He still had his long, dark hair. He was still wearing his crimson band around his forehead and his crimson cape. He was wearing a shirt and pants that was like Cloud's, only that they were black.
Everyone sat down. Cloud and Tifa sat beside each other while Vincent sat beside Zack. Sitting beside Vincent actually made Zack a little nervous. Vincent had a solemn look on his face as if he was an evil person. Besides that, Vincent was also Zack's favorite character from Final Fantasy VII.
"Let's eat, everyone!" Cloud announced. Hearing that, everyone started to chow down on their meals.
"Wow, Tifa, these are really good," Zack praised.
"Thanks, Zack," giggled Tifa.
However, Vincent was eating slowly. Stealing glimpses of him, Vincent looked to be in a very deep thought to Zack.
"What could the danger be?" Vincent muttered softly to himself.
"Vincent, don't think too much about that until you can't even finish your food," Tifa said to Vincent as she took another bite of her scrambled eggs.
"It can't be helped," Vincent answered. He then stood up, "Sorry, Tifa, but I must find out what this danger is."
He walked away from the table but stopped at the doorway.
"Don't get me wrong. Your meals are delicious."
With that, Vincent exited the room.
"Thanks, Vincent," Tifa mumbled softly after a short pause.
Zack watched all this without saying a word.
"I wonder what is going to happen," thought Zack as he took another bite of his bacon.
==========
CHAPTER I (B): THE CHARACTER REUNION
A few hours had passed. Zack is now wandering around Nibelheim, looking around while thinking, "I wonder." Looking around as he continues, "How did I get here? Here. inside the world of Final Fantasy VII? I wonder how am I going to get back. to my world?"
As he looked around the town, he saw Tifa staring happily at the nicely decorated water tower with her back to him. He walked over towards her. As he approached her, she laughed softly to herself.
"What is it?" Zack asked in curiosity.
Surprised, Tifa turned around, facing Zack. Her face turned red a little, "Nothing."
"Nothing? It didn't seem nothing to me. What is it? Did something funny happen here before?" Zack asked as he looked up at the tower.
"Yes, there have been a lot of things that happened here before," she said, face still a little red. Looking up at the tower, she continued, "But I will never forget the one that happened a few months ago, during a beautifully bright and starry night."
"What was it?" Zack asked, curious.
"As I've said, it was a beautifully bright and starry night.
~~~~~~~~~
FLASHBACK: TYING THE KNOT
Cloud and Tifa are looking at the stars. Tifa is cuddled in Cloud's arm, her head resting on his right shoulder and her hands resting peacefully on his hands.
"The stars are so beautiful tonight," Tifa, breaking the quiet night.
"Yeah, just like it was that night," agreed Cloud.
"Yes, the night when you made that promise to me that you will be my hero to rescue me when I was in trouble," Tifa recalls, "And you kept your promise. You rescued me when I was in trouble, but you didn't just stop there. After you rescued me, you took care of me until I got better."
She pushes her head softly to his shoulder as she holds tightly on Cloud's hands, "And you were so worried about me." A drop of tear runs down from her eye, "Thank you, Cloud. Thank you."
Cloud pushes her away softly. Looking into her eyes for a moment, he kisses her. It was a short kiss, but a heartfelt one. After the kiss, Cloud and Tifa look at each other, face-to-face, eye-to-eye.
He wipes her tear away, "It's all right, because I want to make you another promise."
Cloud stands up as Tifa watches in wonder. He pulls her up, carefully. Tifa is still wondering what was Cloud doing. Looking into her face, Cloud suddenly kneels on one knee, surprising Tifa.
"Tifa, I promise to cherish you forever as my one and only love. Would you marry me?"
As he asked the question, he reveals to her a diamond ring. She is completely surprised. She stares at the ring and then looks at Cloud. Tears start to form in her already teary eyes as a joyful smile spread on her face.
"Oh, you didn't need a ring to ask me that!" she said before hugging him.
They both stood up. Looking into each other's eyes, they lock themselves together with a kiss that would have worth more than any treasure in the world. Their kiss seemed to have stopped in time as a shooting star appeared above them in the star-filled night sky.
~~~~~~~~~
.and that was what happened," said Tifa, finishing her story.
"Wow, that was. very romantic," admired Zack.
"Yes, it was," she answered as she looked up at the tower again.
Then, they heard a sound. At first, quite faint, then it slowly got louder and louder. As it got louder, Zack was able to determine the sound to be the sound of some huge rocket engines. He and Tifa looked towards where the sound was coming from, at the horizon. At first, they can't make out the thing that was heading towards where they were. As it got closer, Tifa smiled widely.
"It's the Highwind! They're coming! Come on, Zack! Let's go and greet them!"
Grabbing Zack's hand, Tifa pulled him to the entrance of Nibelheim. At the entrance, Zack and Tifa could see the Highwind hovering high above the open field in front of Nibelheim. Slowly, it hovered closer and closer to the ground. As it landed, a rope ladder was dropped from the deck of the airship. Then, some people started to climb down the ladder. It was hard for Zack to see who were they but he could tell who they were by how they looked.
The first to reach the floor was a man with very short, blonde hair who wore a blue jacket, a pair of goggles above his forehead and had a cigarette butt in his mouth. Zack knew it was Cid Highwind.
The second was a slim girl who had short, black hair and had some kind of wear on her left hand. She wore a green shirt that revealed her slim belly and shorts that were rolled up at the ends. Zack knew she could only be Yuffie Kisaragi.
The third was a big Negro whose right hand was a gun. The sleeves of his ragged shirt were torn off. He was carefully carrying a little girl, in a bright purple dress, on his shoulder. Zack immediately recognized them to be Barret and Marlene Wallace, his daughter.
The next one was a dog-like or wolf-like creature, with crimson mane and a small fire at the tip of its tail. It had a little difficulty climbing down the ladder. Zack had no doubt that it was RedXIII. But then, another creature that looked exactly like RedXIII started to climb down the ladder. This one had a pinkish-red mane though, but it also had difficulty climbing down the ladder. Zack guessed that it might be Cinna that he'd heard from Tifa yesterday.
The last one to climb down the ladder was a big, white creature, which had purple wings on its back. On its head was a black cat that was wearing a small crown on its head and a little red cape. Zack smiled, knowing it was definitely Cait Sith.
After everyone had climbed down the ladder, they ran over to where Zack and Tifa were standing.
"Hey, long time no see, Tifa!" Cid greeted.
Tifa greeted back, "It sure has been".
"Who's the kid?" Barret asked, Marlene still enjoying herself on his shoulder.
"Oh, I forgot!" Tifa put her hands on Zack's shoulders as she announced, "Guys, meet Zack Nurvana!"
Everyone greets Zack, as if in a chorus.
"Hi," Zack greeted, a little excited.
Tifa slowly introduced Zack to every one of them, not knowing that Zack already know who they were. Sure enough, the creature with the pinkish mane was Cinna, who was RedXIII's girlfriend. She was found living in a forest near Cosmo Canyon.
"Now that you all know our new friend, Zack, let's go surprise Cloud!" Tifa announced to everyone.
"I doubt that we can still surprise Cloud, especially since the Highwind was, kind of, loud," Cid said aloud.
Everyone left for the mansion, following Zack and Tifa. When they reached the entrance of the mansion, Cloud was already waiting for them.
"Hi, everyone! I see that you all already know Zack."
"See, what I told ya," Cid said.
Tifa walked towards Cloud.
"Ow, this wasn't fun," she frowned at him, playfully.
Cloud just laughed as he gave her a peck on the cheek.
"Come on in, guys!" Cloud announced, waves to invite them in.
"Hey, where's Vincent?" Barret asked, Marlene joyfully kicking both her legs back and forth on his shoulder.
"Still trying to find out what that danger is?" Cait Sith guessed as it slowly hopped to the mansion gate behind everyone else.
"Yeah, but still nothing," Cloud answered as he looked at Cait Sith who had stopped in front of him.
"I hope he doesn't overwork himself," Yuffie said in concern.
"Don't worry about Vincent. We all know well enough that he is a strong fellow," Cid assured while standing at the mansion door.
One after the other, everyone entered the mansion.
*********
After hours of catching up and dinner, night arrived. Zack is wandering around town again. RedXIII and Cinna were talking with each other, while looking at the stars on the water tower. Cid was sitting on one of the windows at the floor level of the mansion. With one leg dangling, he was smoking a cigarette while talking with Cloud and Tifa, who were sitting together on the ground with their backs on the wall. Barret, however, could be seen, telling a bedtime story to Marlene, through a window of the bedroom where Marlene was sleeping in. Yuffie was watching them from the rooftop of one of the houses.
Zack watched RedXIII and Cinna from a short distance.
"Man, this is. this is the first time in my whole life that I feel so. so happy and excited."
He stares up to the stars in the sky.
"I am now experiencing the life after the end of Final Fantasy VII. Everybody knows what happened 500 years after the end of the game, but I might be, no. I am the only person from the real world that knows what happened to Cloud and his friends a few years after that."
He started wandering around town again, around the water tower.
"I wonder. if I get a chance to go back to my world, my real home. will I take it?"
He walked around some more before looking up at a girl, who had long, black hair, looking up at the stars from a window on the second floor of a house. The girl looked down and spotted Zack staring at her. She closed the window but her shadow could still be seen through the window, walking away. Zack looked at the house that she was in. He realized that it was the same house that Tifa once lived in, in the game. Looking at the window again, he thought.
"I wonder who that girl is?"
Zack, Cloud and Tifa reached the town after a while of walking. The town was mostly of houses that stood pleasantly in circular pattern. An old water tower stood in the center of the town. There was a big, but beautiful mansion further inside of the town, too. Strangely, decorations were everywhere around town. Zack, Cloud and Tifa stood at the entrance of the town.
"Um, sir. May I ask something?" Zack asked Cloud, "Is this Nibelheim?"
"Yes, it is and you don't have to call me 'sir'. Just call me Cloud," Cloud answered with a warm smile.
"Okay," Zack replied as he looked around the town once again.
"I can't believe this. This looks EXACTLY like Nibelheim in the game, besides all those decorations." Zack thought to himself.
"What's going on? Why are there decorations around the town?" Zack asked in curiosity.
"Cloud, do you think we can invite Zack?" Tifa asked Cloud.
"Huh?" Zack, surprised.
"Sure," Cloud answered. Looking at Zack, he continued, "Zack, would you like to come to our wedding?"
"Wedding!?" Zack was completely surprised.
"Yes, within two days, we'll be getting married," said Tifa as she hugged Cloud.
"Sure! Of course I would like to!" Zack answers excitingly, "So that's why there are some much decorations."
Hearing that, Tifa nodded while smiling cheerfully.
"That's great!" Cloud exclaimed.
"See you again in two days then!" Tifa continued.
Just as Cloud and Tifa were about to leave Zack alone, Cloud remembered something that he wanted to ask Zack.
"Oh, do you live around here, Zack?" Cloud questioned Zack.
"No, uh, I'm from another town," lied Zack.
"Oh, which one?" asked Tifa curiously.
"Um. Cosmo Canyon," lied Zack again after thinking for a while.
"Oh, what a coincidence. Two of our friends are from Cosmo Canyon," Cloud said.
"Two? Isn't it only RedXIII?" Zack thought to himself.
"Oh, really? May I ask, who?" Zack asked curiously.
"Well, there's RedXIII and Cinna," Tifa answered Zack, "But they're not humans as you might think most of our friends would be. They both look like wolves and they're a rare species of an ancient race."
"Oh, I see," Zack muttered.
"Cinna?" Zack thought, "There wasn't any character in the game with that name."
"Well, enough talk already. We've got to help you find a place to stay. Um. should you stay in the inn or maybe, at our place?" Cloud suggested while thinking.
"Your place? Sure! If it isn't too much trouble," Zack answered excitingly.
"Sure. for a fee," said Tifa.
"What?" that surprised Zack.
"Just kidding!" Tifa laughed, "You can stay with us for as long as you want!"
"Then I guess that settles everything. That's where we live," Cloud said as he pointed towards the big mansion.
"That's where you live?" asked the surprised Zack.
"Yup, for over three years now," Tifa answered.
"Three years." Zack thought, "After the end of the game?"
"It's getting dark. I think we better get inside. Let's go, Zack," Cloud urged as he and Tifa started walking towards the mansion, side-by-side.
"Okay!" Zack shouted as he ran after Cloud and Tifa.
*********
It was already morning when Zack finally woke up. Getting off the bed, he stretched himself while yawning.
"It's morning. Maybe I've already woken up from that strange dream," Zack thought to himself.
"Have you woken up yet, Zack?" suddenly Tifa's voice broke through his thought.
"Nope, guess not," Zack uttered, a little surprised at first.
"Yeah!" Zack answered back.
"Good, then come down and have breakfast, okay?" shouted Tifa again.
"Okay!" Zack answered.
Zack went down the stairs and then to the right from the staircase to a big room where there was some windows, which stretched from the floor to almost the ceiling.
"When I first entered this mansion, I was surprised that they had changed the rooms in the mansion a lot," Zack thought as he entered the dining room.
"This room, in the game, had a piano in it, but they had moved the piano to a room at the other side of the mansion, where they had turned into a small piano room, as they called it. Now this room, which is now both, a dining room and a kitchen," Zack thought some more as he sat at the rectangle- shaped dining table.
Tifa, who was wearing a cute, red apron, was busy cooking breakfast, while Cloud was staring blankly out the window. Besides Tifa's apron, she and Cloud were still wearing their usual clothing.
"Tifa, when do you think they will arrive?" Cloud asked while turning his head towards her.
"I'm not sure, too, Cloud," Tifa answered Cloud while she continued cooking.
"They? Could it be?" Zack thought about the possibility that 'they' might be the other characters from the game.
"Who's coming?" Zack asked, pretending to not know.
"Oh, our friends who will be coming for our wedding," Tifa answered with her happy smile.
"Um, who might they be?" Zack asked again, still unsure.
"Oh, don't worry about that. We'll introduce you to them when they arrive," Cloud turned towards him, assuring Zack as he walked away from the window to the table.
"Okay, breakfast's ready! Cloud, please call Vincent to come out from the library and eat breakfast," Tifa told Cloud as she turned off the kitchen stove.
"Sure," Cloud answered and left the room.
"Vincent?" Zack muttered out.
"Oh, he's a friend of ours. He stays with us in this mansion," Tifa explained to Zack.
"Oh, I see. But, where was he yesterday, then?" Zack asked, "I didn't see him yesterday when I came here."
"Oh, he was in the library yesterday," Tifa answered while busy preparing the breakfast.
"The library? What was he doing in there?" Zack asked again.
"Nothing, actually," Tifa answered. As she placed a dish in front of Zack, she continued, "You see, Vincent was once in love with a woman named Lucrecia several years ago. Even though he'd admitted his love to her once, she married another man, a mad professor named Hojo. When she gave birth to a boy named Sephiroth, she died. Vincent never forgave Hojo because if it wasn't for Hojo's research, she might've still be alive."
When she was done serving the dishes, she slowly took off her apron as she continued again, "But over three years ago, Hojo went completely mad and tried to destroy a whole city. We went to confront him. Despite turning himself into a monster with a formula from his research, we were still able to defeat him."
She hung her apron on the wall and walked over to the table as she continued some more, "Now, more than three years has passed, but just a few days ago, Vincent told Cloud and I that he saw Lucrecia appeared in front of this mansion and she warned him of another danger, worst than the last one we've once experienced. She said that it is soon to happen but not only to our world. Now he stays in the library, trying to figure out what she meant by 'not to our world only'. But he still haven't found anything in the library."
Just as she finished, Cloud and another man, Vincent Valentine, entered the room. Looking at Vincent, Zack noticed that he still looked the same. He still had his long, dark hair. He was still wearing his crimson band around his forehead and his crimson cape. He was wearing a shirt and pants that was like Cloud's, only that they were black.
Everyone sat down. Cloud and Tifa sat beside each other while Vincent sat beside Zack. Sitting beside Vincent actually made Zack a little nervous. Vincent had a solemn look on his face as if he was an evil person. Besides that, Vincent was also Zack's favorite character from Final Fantasy VII.
"Let's eat, everyone!" Cloud announced. Hearing that, everyone started to chow down on their meals.
"Wow, Tifa, these are really good," Zack praised.
"Thanks, Zack," giggled Tifa.
However, Vincent was eating slowly. Stealing glimpses of him, Vincent looked to be in a very deep thought to Zack.
"What could the danger be?" Vincent muttered softly to himself.
"Vincent, don't think too much about that until you can't even finish your food," Tifa said to Vincent as she took another bite of her scrambled eggs.
"It can't be helped," Vincent answered. He then stood up, "Sorry, Tifa, but I must find out what this danger is."
He walked away from the table but stopped at the doorway.
"Don't get me wrong. Your meals are delicious."
With that, Vincent exited the room.
"Thanks, Vincent," Tifa mumbled softly after a short pause.
Zack watched all this without saying a word.
"I wonder what is going to happen," thought Zack as he took another bite of his bacon.
==========
CHAPTER I (B): THE CHARACTER REUNION
A few hours had passed. Zack is now wandering around Nibelheim, looking around while thinking, "I wonder." Looking around as he continues, "How did I get here? Here. inside the world of Final Fantasy VII? I wonder how am I going to get back. to my world?"
As he looked around the town, he saw Tifa staring happily at the nicely decorated water tower with her back to him. He walked over towards her. As he approached her, she laughed softly to herself.
"What is it?" Zack asked in curiosity.
Surprised, Tifa turned around, facing Zack. Her face turned red a little, "Nothing."
"Nothing? It didn't seem nothing to me. What is it? Did something funny happen here before?" Zack asked as he looked up at the tower.
"Yes, there have been a lot of things that happened here before," she said, face still a little red. Looking up at the tower, she continued, "But I will never forget the one that happened a few months ago, during a beautifully bright and starry night."
"What was it?" Zack asked, curious.
"As I've said, it was a beautifully bright and starry night.
~~~~~~~~~
FLASHBACK: TYING THE KNOT
Cloud and Tifa are looking at the stars. Tifa is cuddled in Cloud's arm, her head resting on his right shoulder and her hands resting peacefully on his hands.
"The stars are so beautiful tonight," Tifa, breaking the quiet night.
"Yeah, just like it was that night," agreed Cloud.
"Yes, the night when you made that promise to me that you will be my hero to rescue me when I was in trouble," Tifa recalls, "And you kept your promise. You rescued me when I was in trouble, but you didn't just stop there. After you rescued me, you took care of me until I got better."
She pushes her head softly to his shoulder as she holds tightly on Cloud's hands, "And you were so worried about me." A drop of tear runs down from her eye, "Thank you, Cloud. Thank you."
Cloud pushes her away softly. Looking into her eyes for a moment, he kisses her. It was a short kiss, but a heartfelt one. After the kiss, Cloud and Tifa look at each other, face-to-face, eye-to-eye.
He wipes her tear away, "It's all right, because I want to make you another promise."
Cloud stands up as Tifa watches in wonder. He pulls her up, carefully. Tifa is still wondering what was Cloud doing. Looking into her face, Cloud suddenly kneels on one knee, surprising Tifa.
"Tifa, I promise to cherish you forever as my one and only love. Would you marry me?"
As he asked the question, he reveals to her a diamond ring. She is completely surprised. She stares at the ring and then looks at Cloud. Tears start to form in her already teary eyes as a joyful smile spread on her face.
"Oh, you didn't need a ring to ask me that!" she said before hugging him.
They both stood up. Looking into each other's eyes, they lock themselves together with a kiss that would have worth more than any treasure in the world. Their kiss seemed to have stopped in time as a shooting star appeared above them in the star-filled night sky.
~~~~~~~~~
.and that was what happened," said Tifa, finishing her story.
"Wow, that was. very romantic," admired Zack.
"Yes, it was," she answered as she looked up at the tower again.
Then, they heard a sound. At first, quite faint, then it slowly got louder and louder. As it got louder, Zack was able to determine the sound to be the sound of some huge rocket engines. He and Tifa looked towards where the sound was coming from, at the horizon. At first, they can't make out the thing that was heading towards where they were. As it got closer, Tifa smiled widely.
"It's the Highwind! They're coming! Come on, Zack! Let's go and greet them!"
Grabbing Zack's hand, Tifa pulled him to the entrance of Nibelheim. At the entrance, Zack and Tifa could see the Highwind hovering high above the open field in front of Nibelheim. Slowly, it hovered closer and closer to the ground. As it landed, a rope ladder was dropped from the deck of the airship. Then, some people started to climb down the ladder. It was hard for Zack to see who were they but he could tell who they were by how they looked.
The first to reach the floor was a man with very short, blonde hair who wore a blue jacket, a pair of goggles above his forehead and had a cigarette butt in his mouth. Zack knew it was Cid Highwind.
The second was a slim girl who had short, black hair and had some kind of wear on her left hand. She wore a green shirt that revealed her slim belly and shorts that were rolled up at the ends. Zack knew she could only be Yuffie Kisaragi.
The third was a big Negro whose right hand was a gun. The sleeves of his ragged shirt were torn off. He was carefully carrying a little girl, in a bright purple dress, on his shoulder. Zack immediately recognized them to be Barret and Marlene Wallace, his daughter.
The next one was a dog-like or wolf-like creature, with crimson mane and a small fire at the tip of its tail. It had a little difficulty climbing down the ladder. Zack had no doubt that it was RedXIII. But then, another creature that looked exactly like RedXIII started to climb down the ladder. This one had a pinkish-red mane though, but it also had difficulty climbing down the ladder. Zack guessed that it might be Cinna that he'd heard from Tifa yesterday.
The last one to climb down the ladder was a big, white creature, which had purple wings on its back. On its head was a black cat that was wearing a small crown on its head and a little red cape. Zack smiled, knowing it was definitely Cait Sith.
After everyone had climbed down the ladder, they ran over to where Zack and Tifa were standing.
"Hey, long time no see, Tifa!" Cid greeted.
Tifa greeted back, "It sure has been".
"Who's the kid?" Barret asked, Marlene still enjoying herself on his shoulder.
"Oh, I forgot!" Tifa put her hands on Zack's shoulders as she announced, "Guys, meet Zack Nurvana!"
Everyone greets Zack, as if in a chorus.
"Hi," Zack greeted, a little excited.
Tifa slowly introduced Zack to every one of them, not knowing that Zack already know who they were. Sure enough, the creature with the pinkish mane was Cinna, who was RedXIII's girlfriend. She was found living in a forest near Cosmo Canyon.
"Now that you all know our new friend, Zack, let's go surprise Cloud!" Tifa announced to everyone.
"I doubt that we can still surprise Cloud, especially since the Highwind was, kind of, loud," Cid said aloud.
Everyone left for the mansion, following Zack and Tifa. When they reached the entrance of the mansion, Cloud was already waiting for them.
"Hi, everyone! I see that you all already know Zack."
"See, what I told ya," Cid said.
Tifa walked towards Cloud.
"Ow, this wasn't fun," she frowned at him, playfully.
Cloud just laughed as he gave her a peck on the cheek.
"Come on in, guys!" Cloud announced, waves to invite them in.
"Hey, where's Vincent?" Barret asked, Marlene joyfully kicking both her legs back and forth on his shoulder.
"Still trying to find out what that danger is?" Cait Sith guessed as it slowly hopped to the mansion gate behind everyone else.
"Yeah, but still nothing," Cloud answered as he looked at Cait Sith who had stopped in front of him.
"I hope he doesn't overwork himself," Yuffie said in concern.
"Don't worry about Vincent. We all know well enough that he is a strong fellow," Cid assured while standing at the mansion door.
One after the other, everyone entered the mansion.
*********
After hours of catching up and dinner, night arrived. Zack is wandering around town again. RedXIII and Cinna were talking with each other, while looking at the stars on the water tower. Cid was sitting on one of the windows at the floor level of the mansion. With one leg dangling, he was smoking a cigarette while talking with Cloud and Tifa, who were sitting together on the ground with their backs on the wall. Barret, however, could be seen, telling a bedtime story to Marlene, through a window of the bedroom where Marlene was sleeping in. Yuffie was watching them from the rooftop of one of the houses.
Zack watched RedXIII and Cinna from a short distance.
"Man, this is. this is the first time in my whole life that I feel so. so happy and excited."
He stares up to the stars in the sky.
"I am now experiencing the life after the end of Final Fantasy VII. Everybody knows what happened 500 years after the end of the game, but I might be, no. I am the only person from the real world that knows what happened to Cloud and his friends a few years after that."
He started wandering around town again, around the water tower.
"I wonder. if I get a chance to go back to my world, my real home. will I take it?"
He walked around some more before looking up at a girl, who had long, black hair, looking up at the stars from a window on the second floor of a house. The girl looked down and spotted Zack staring at her. She closed the window but her shadow could still be seen through the window, walking away. Zack looked at the house that she was in. He realized that it was the same house that Tifa once lived in, in the game. Looking at the window again, he thought.
"I wonder who that girl is?"