Chapter 3: A Surprise Visit

Reno stared up at Avalanche's former headquarters. So this was it. He had been expecting… more. He strolled up the steps, and pushed the door open, Rude following him.

Happy cries and shouts greeted him. About fifteen little children were running around a large room playing.

Marlene had been busy making a clay pot when a shadow fell over her. She looked up, and gasped. A red haired man and a bald man stood over her. They looked familiar. She remembered them. They were the bad people. She got to her feet.

Reno stuck out his tongue at her.

"TIFA!!!" Marlene screamed.

Tifa looked up. She had been tying three kids shoes at once, and evidentially didn't hear someone come in. Her brown eyes looked onto Reno's blue, and her heart began to beat fast. The Turks had come after them. "Everyone downstairs now!" She shouted.

Reno held up his hands defensively as all the children scurried down the stairs. "Hey, I'm not here to fight."

Tifa was already in her fighting stance.

Reno crossed his arms and stared at her. "You can either fight me or hear what I have to say."

"Nothing good ever comes from a Turk!"

"The Turks," Reno said with the shake of his head, "The Turks are no more."

Tifa lowered her fists and arched a brow. "That still doesn't explain why you're here."

Barret came charging up the steps. "Tifa…" He saw Reno and Rude and aimed his arm at them.

"Barret!" Tifa shouted, lowering his arm. "Wait."

"Can I speak now?" Reno asked. "I'm sure you're going to want to hear what I have to say."

Cloud was under his bike when he heard his phone ringing. He didn't even realize it until the little boy next to him practically shouted, "Cloud, the phone's ringing!"

"What?" He asked, sliding out on the dolly, and wiping his grease-stained hands on a rag. Who the hell was calling him? He had his number unlisted, the only reasons he had the phone was because of the kids always hanging around him and… go on, say it.

By some chance, it'd ring and she'd be on the other end, saying her death was all a big mistake, and she was alive. He turned to the little boy talking into the phone. His name was Danny, and he and his sister Maria lived next door. They were over his apartment practically every day unless their rich parents took them on lavish vacations, of which they told Cloud every single detail. Other than the two kids, Cloud was alone, and it was the way he wanted it. Ever since Aeris's death, he felt responsible for everyone, and he just didn't want to feel that way anymore. He missed Aeris more than life itself, and if he was away from everyone, there was no one to miss.

Danny put his hand over the receiver, "It's for you, some lady named Tifa."

Cloud froze. Ah, Tifa Lockhart his "childhood friend". That's what she had led him to believe, anyway. Truth was, he was never cool enough to hang around with her. That night at the water tower, she made him promise to come rescue her from a boring life only if he became a great member of SOLDIER. If the planet hadn't been dying, would she have looked twice at him? Aeris had told him he reminded her of Zack, but she wanted to get past Zack. She wanted to meet him. But, Tifa had been with him when they destroyed Sephiroth and Meteor, so did that mean she had his back now?

He was getting a headache.

Cloud reached for the phone, and put it against his ear. "Hello?" Could it actually be her?

"Cloud? It's me."

It was. How the hell did she find him?

"Tifa?" He asked.

"It's me." She repeated.

Cloud was silent. What could he possibly say?

"Look," She sighed, "I know you don't want to be found, but I had your number sitting by my phone for the last two years. I wanted to call, I just never knew what to say."

"You don't have to say anything." He said, "That part of my life is over, I've moved on."

There was a pause, and then, "Cloud, I'm sorry."

"What do you want, Tifa?" He said, and ran his hand through his golden spiked hair.

"I really think you should come back to Midgar."

"Midgar? Why should I come back?"

There was a pause, and then she whispered, "Because Barret and I have just had a talk with Reno and Rude."

"The Turks?" Cloud jumped up and smacked his head against a low beam in the garage, causing Danny and Maria to erupt into giggles.

"They're not the Turks anymore…" She paused, "There's going to be trouble, Cloud. Big trouble, and they want to help us."

What the hell was she talking about? Help? Us? Why couldn't everyone just leave him alone?

"Tifa, there is no us. I'm done. Retired, whatever."

There was a silence. He was sure he heard a sniffle. Great.

"But," He sighed, "I want you to stay away from them."

"Cloud, you don't understand. It's Sephiroth." She whispered.

Cloud's world seemed to freeze again. Sephiroth alive? "What do you mean?"

Then she muttered the two words that made him want to snap the phone in half. "He's back."