All rights to names and locations used in this story are owned by Squaresoft or Square Enix, whatever it is now. The only thing in this story that belongs to me is the concept. Please do not sue me.

Chapter 1:

Tifa woke up groggily as the first rays of morning sunlight streamed peacefully through the partially-closed blinds of her window. She registered this fact with mild interest; she was still tired and wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep.

Naturally, she was not allowed such a luxury, for her alarm clock went off a few seconds later. She grimaced and flung her arm out from under the covers in an attempt to shut off the infernal machine. Eventually, she found the correct button and the repetitive beeping subsided.

Tifa sighed tiredly. If she wasn't wide awake before, she was now. The young woman yawned and stretched underneath her silk sheets. She would have to make breakfast for Marlene and open up the shop in about an hour and a half, so she didn't really have time to spend lounging about in bed.

The former fighter put her hands behind her head and stared up at the ceiling for a few moments, allowing her mind to wander as she often did ever since Cloud and the others left on their quest to find the Materia. She sighed again, wishing for perhaps the thousandth time that she had not allowed Cloud to convince her to stay behind. At times like this, when the responsibilities of leading the simple life of a shop keeper in Midgar began to weigh on her, she wished she could return to a time when she, Cloud, and all the others traveled the world over in a search for Sephiroth. Those times were difficult and, at times, extremely dangerous, but she cherished those memories as some of the best experiences of her life. Now, stuck as she was to lead a simple, uneventful life, she realized just how much she yearned for the adventure of those bygone days.

Just then, the door to her room burst opened and in ran Marlene, her bare feet padding against the wooden floor as she scampered into the room with her long hair and nightgown trailing after her, "Auntie Tifa! Wake up, wake up! You told me not to let you sleep too late, remember?"

Tifa sat up in bed, clutching the covers to her chest, as Marlene jumped up on the mattress and fixed her guardian with a playful smile. Tifa responded, "Oh, you got me, Marlene. It's a good thing you were here to wake me up, or else I might've just slept the entire day away."

Marlene giggled and bounced up and down on the bed excitedly, "Yeah, you can't be a sleepy-head today, Auntie Tifa! You promised you'd make omelets for breakfast. Remember?"

Tifa laughed, "Of course. Thanks for reminding me, Marly. Why don't you go get dressed and I'll be right down to fix breakfast, okay?"

"Okay," Marlene said as she scooted off the bed, "Just don't go back to sleep as soon as I leave, okay?"

"I won't. I promise," Tifa chuckled as the little girl ran out of the room, making sure to close the door behind her.

The young woman smiled affectionately. Marlene was such a sweet little girl, and it was at times like this that Tifa was glad she had this time to spend with her. She sighed, torn between her feelings to explore the world like she used to and staying here in Midgar to care for Marlene. Sometimes she had difficulty deciding which alternative she yearned more.

Knowing that Marlene would probably be back to pester her if she waited any longer, Tifa threw back the covers and stepped out onto the chill wooden floor. She shivered as the cold wind from the open window blew over her naked flesh, and she reminded herself that winter would be approaching soon. A trip to Costa del Sol sounded like a good idea right about now. Marlene had never been, Tifa recalled, so maybe she would be able to take the girl there some time in the coming months. That is, if she had enough money in savings.

But that was rarely a problem, Tifa reflected as she stepped over to her mirror and ran a brush through her silky black hair. Cloud and the others regularly sent money home from their adventures, so she knew that a trip for two to Costa del Sol was not entirely out of the question.

With a sudden feeling of contentment, Tifa slipped on a silk robe, tied it up, and headed downstairs to the kitchen. Marlene was already down in the living room watching cartoons on the television. She looked up as Tifa passed by and smiled that impish little grin of hers. Tifa smiled back and got to work in the kitchen.

She never was a really good cook, but she picked up a few tips from her time spent with Aeris. Tifa's smile disappeared at the sad memory. Contrary to what some of her other friends seemed to think, Aeris was never really considered competition; true, both women were attracted to Cloud, but Tifa could see that the relationship between Cloud and Aeris was more akin to one of a brother and sister. In the short time they knew each other, they cared for each other very much, but that was pretty much the extent of their feelings.

Tifa viewed Aeris as a very close friend. As they traveled together, the two women got to know each other in a mutually beneficial friendship: Tifa taught Aeris how to fight, while Aeris taught Tifa how to cook and act more like a lady. In the end, they learned a great deal from each other, even though they had barely spent a few months together.

And now, with Aeris' death, Tifa felt a void in her heart that she doubted would ever be filled. She knew that all the rest of her friends felt the same way; Aeris was just one of those people who seemed to touch a sensitive spot in whoever she encountered.

Once the whole matter with Sephiroth had been taken care of, Cloud had opted to construct a lovely grave for their departed friend in the middle of the graveyard in Sector 3, where Cloud and Tifa had decided to build a house and settle down. Every now and then, Tifa would head over to the church where Cloud and Aeris had first met and pick some of the flowers from her friend's garden to place on the grave. She knew how much Aeris loved her garden, so Tifa took great pride in maintaining the health of the flowers growing out of the floorboards of that church.

Whenever Cloud and the others happened to be in the area, they, too, would stop by the grave of their friend and pay their respects. Tifa glanced up from the vegetables she was chopping and gazed at the small framed picture she kept hanging on the wall next to the doorway. It was a photograph of the group she had traveled with during her adventures to stop Sephiroth. Cloud stood in the middle with his arms folded and a slight smile tugging at his lips. Tifa stood at his left with her arm around his shoulder. Barret stood to his right with a big goofy grin on his otherwise gruff face. Cid, Red XIII, Vincent, Yuffie, and Cait Sith were also in the picture, each with their own respective poses and demeanors. The only missing face was Aeris.

The young woman smiled as she recalled all the good times she had spent with her friends. After they had defeated Sephiroth three years ago, the group had more or less split up and gone back to their lives. Reeve had been appointed as an advisor to the president of Midgar, and had played a key role in bringing order back to the chaotic metropolis. Yuffie left to do her own thing, but not before stealing a considerable amount of Materia from Cloud. She was off searching for more, no doubt. Red XIII had left to bring peace back to his tribe and follow in his father's footsteps. Cid took up a job with the space program in Midgar in the hopes of one day being the first man to set foot on the moon. Vincent left for parts unknown, and neither Tifa nor any of the others had heard a thing from him since. Cloud and Tifa had built the house she now lived in, while Barret took a job as a researcher of Materia.

For a while, everything had been fine and everyone tried to pick up the pieces of their respective lives. Cloud had even proposed to Tifa, an offer to which she happily agreed. However, everything changed when Tifa found Cloud unconscious in the yard several months ago. He was out of it for a few days, and just when Tifa was finally ready to take him to the hospital, he woke up, delirious. When he finally got his wits back, he told Tifa of how he had received a vision of destruction that was so disturbing that he could only equate it to the end of the world.

Naturally, Tifa was curious, but she trusted Cloud's judgment. He was not the kind of man to take things like this lightly. He went to visit the sages of Red's tribe, and they informed him that what he saw was indeed a vision of immense destruction and death. According to the sages, the doom of the planet was to be brought about by the misuse of an incredibly powerful Materia, one that was hidden away centuries ago. However, they informed him that this vision was merely a possibility, and that it could be avoided if the appropriate actions were taken to prevent the discovery of this Materia. Once again, it seemed that Cloud was being forced to assume the role of the planet's guardian.

At about the same time, Barret had discovered a rather startling discovery throughout the course of his research: it seemed that in the years following the arrival of the Meteor Materia and its subsequent destruction, all the Materia on the planet had been acting strangely. Now, it seemed that every piece of Materia in existence was beginning to acquire the uses and functions of all the other Materia. Barret's team of researchers hypothesized that in a matter of years, all the Materia on the entire planet would eventually converge and meld into one giant interconnected network of elemental energy.

At this point, Cloud was able to put two and two together and realize that the homogenization of the Materia would be the cause of the planet's destruction. Without wasting a moment, he gathered together what members of the old group he could find -- himself, Barret, Cid, and Red XIII -- and the four of them embarked on a journey to collect every last piece of Materia left on the planet. He put his wedding with Tifa on hold, fixed up the Highwind, and left for a voyage that Tifa desperately wished she could have been a part of.

The young woman sighed as she watched the eggs bubble and pop in the frying pan. She had begged Cloud to let her go, but he convinced her that somebody needed to stay in Midgar to take care of Marlene. Some days, she just couldn't stand the fact that the entire world was in danger and she couldn't do anything about it.

Not couldn't, she reminded herself as she slid the finished omelets onto a plate, Nothing is keeping me here. It would be so easy to just find somebody else to look after Marlene. There's no reason for me to be stuck here while everyone else fights for peace without me.

But such a thought remained just that -- a thought. She knew of no one who could watch after Marlene in her absence, and she dare not place her in a foster home in the care of some stranger. No, it was much better that Marlene was given the chance to grow up in a normal household; she was not going to deny the girl a good upbringing just so she could fulfill her own dreams, no matter how tempting they may be.

A slight gust of wind blew through the house, cutting through the thin silk of Tifa's robe and chilling her to the bone. The house was still fairly new, and it lacked many of the luxuries enjoyed by those who lived in older houses -- such as insulation. Tifa smiled ruefully; installing insulation was going to be Cloud's next project, but since he was gone, the former fighter decided that she would just have to do it herself.

Just then, Marlene's excited yelling reached Tifa's ears from the next room, "Yay! Auntie Tifa! Auntie Tifa! Look who's here!"

Then, much to Tifa's surprise, a familiar voice responded, "Heya kiddo! You sure have grown! Why, you're gonna be taller than me in no time at all!"

Not quite believing her ears, Tifa set the plate of omelets down on the dining room table and walked briskly over to the living room. There, leaning down on her knees to reach eye level with Marlene, was a face that the young woman had not seen in a very long time.

"Hey, Tiff. Good to see ya again," Yuffie greeted her old comrade in a cheerful voice, "Do I smell omelets?"

"Yuffie.....I.....well, this is quite a surprise," the young woman stuttered, completely taken off balance by the arrival of a person that she never thought she would see again, "How long has it been? Wait.....I didn't hear the front door opening. Did you come in through the window?"

"I'd say it's been three years, at least. And yeah, I did. Sorry. Windows are more my style," the ninja answered as she stood up straight, "I was in the neighborhood, so I decided to stop by and see what you were up to."

Tifa could tell by the look in the younger woman's eyes that there was more to it than that, but she realized that Yuffie was not going to say any more than that while Marlene was present.

"Where have you been all this time, Auntie Yuffie?" the little girl inquired, "Did you bring me anything?"

"You bet I did!" Yuffie said as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small golf ball-sized green stone, "Here. Do you know what this is?"

"It's Materia, right?" Marlene asked with a look of childlike pleasure in her eyes.

"That's right. Smart girl. Here, you can have it. Just be sure to keep it in a safe place," Yuffie instructed as she handed the stone to the girl.

Marlene accepted it eagerly and held it in her small hands, "Wow, thanks Auntie Yuffie! I promise I'll keep it somewhere safe!"

Tifa, of course, was leery of allowing Marlene to handle Materia; she would have a word with Yuffie about it later. Instead, she cleared her throat and said, "Well, Marlene and I were just sitting down to breakfast. Would you care to join us?"

"Would I?" Yuffie said with a smile, "You bet I would. The smell was what led me here in the first place!"

Tifa divided the two omelets up into three equal portions and sat down at the head of the table. Yuffie dug into the meal with a passion, and when Marlene tried to imitate the ninja, Yuffie toyed with the girl and challenged her to see who could finish their breakfast first. Tifa couldn't help but smile at the antics of the two; Yuffie would always be a child at heart.

After breakfast, Tifa deposited the dirty dishes into the sink while Yuffie tried to teach Marlene how to snap her fingers at the dining room table. The young woman smiled happily. Yuffie had always been somewhat distant from the rest of the group, but Tifa felt better knowing that she was here. In a way, the ninja's presence was enough to bring back the memories of her past adventures with all the others. It would be good to catch up on old times with the bubbly young lady.

When Tifa walked back into the dining room, she found Yuffie sitting on the floor snapping her fingers with a giggling Marlene trying unsuccessfully to do likewise. The former fighter spoke up, "Marlene, sweetie, why don't you go watch some more cartoons while Auntie Yuffie and I talk?"

"Okay," the girl agreed as she continued to try to get her fingers to snap, "But when you're done, can I show Auntie Yuffie my toys?"

Tifa nodded, and Marlene ran off into the living room. Yuffie watched her leave for a second before picking herself up off the floor with a bemused smile on her face, "She's quite a kid, isn't she? Reminds me of myself when I was younger."

"Oh, now there's a comforting thought," Tifa teased as she took a seat at the table.

Yuffie did likewise and folded her arms across the tabletop, "Oh, now what is that supposed to mean? I turned out alright, didn't I?"

Tifa could only chuckle at the comment.

When her companion didn't answer, Yuffie sighed and said, "Well, you're probably wondering what I'm doing here, aren't you?"

Tifa nodded, "Yeah, actually. I mean, you didn't exactly leave on good terms, so I had given up all hope of seeing you again. Rather, I had given up all hope of seeing you alive again."

Yuffie chuckled, "I'll bet Cloud was pretty pissed. Not that I blame him; I got some pretty good Materia off of him. But anyway, that's all in the past. I'm here for a different reason."

Yuffie leaned forward on the table and spoke in an uncharacteristically business-like voice, "I've been keeping track of what you and the rest of the crew has been up to. I heard about Cloud's little incident with the prophecy, and his subsequent journey to collect all the rest of the Materia in the world. I've been meaning to visit you for some time, but I knew that if I even attempted to get within a hundred feet of this house, Cloud would kill me and cut me up into a thousand little pieces."

"Understandably so," Tifa pointed out.

Yuffie assumed a sheepish look, "Yeah, I'm inclined to agree with you there. But whatever. The point is that he's gone and I can finally talk with you one-on-one. You see, um, I was wondering......." she trailed off.

Tifa sighed, "You need my help with something, don't you?"

"Actually, it's the other way around," Yuffie said earnestly, "I want to help you guys. You see, after we whipped Sephiroth, I figured that the world was all better and we'd never have to worry about such a large threat again. At least, not in our lifetimes, anyway. But then I heard about this matter with Cloud and the Materia and the destruction of the world and I couldn't just sit here and do nothing about it. I want to help you guys collect the Materia, and I figured that you would probably be the only one who would even listen to me."

"Well, I don't mean to judge you based on your past actions, but naturally I'm suspicious," Tifa fixed the younger woman with a penetrating stare, "This sounds like just another one of your tricks to get all of our Materia. You'll forgive me if I sound skeptical, but you have to admit that my concerns are perfectly justified."

"Of course they are," Yuffie agreed as she held up her hands defensively, "But I've decided to take measures to prove to you that I'm sincere. For example, you know that Materia I just gave Marlene?" she continued when Tifa nodded, "Well, it's a new type of Protection Materia. As long as Marlene keeps it close to her, no physical harm will befall her. I wouldn't give up such a precious Materia if I wasn't sincere, now would I?"

"What do you mean, 'a new type'?" Tifa asked.

Yuffie smiled and explained with a glint in her eye, "Don't you see, Tiff? With all of the Materia becoming normalized, all the old stuff we used in our battle against Sephiroth is changing, evolving, getting better. Every single piece of Materia is beginning to assume the characteristics of its counterparts. Now a simple Fire Materia also has the attributes of Cure, Morph, Steal, Ice, and a whole bunch of others all rolled up into one! Within a matter of years, one single piece of Materia will be able to achieve the same affects of twenty separate pieces!"

"Exactly. And that's why Cloud and the others are trying to find them all; they don't want this newfound power to be abused by people like you," Tifa said accusingly.

"Whoa now, hold the phone," Yuffie said quickly, "Do you think I want to bring about the destruction of the world? Trust me, I would love to be as powerful as I possibly can be, but if the cost of that is the end of the planet, then I'm afraid I'm going to have to pass on that. Come on, Tifa. You know I take prophecies very seriously. I consider it my responsibility as a Materia Hunter to help bring about peace in the world. And if it means the destruction of all my precious Materia, so be it. Hell, with all the technological advancements Midgar has had since Sephiroth bit the big one, it wouldn't surprise me if a new form of power was discovered sometime soon to replace Materia. I can live without it as long as I keep that thought in my mind."

Tifa sighed and looked the younger woman in the eye for a good long time. Yuffie stared back, her face showing all signs of sincerity, "Come on, Tiff. I'm sorry about what I did in the past, and I don't blame you one bit for being skeptical, but you know that you can trust me. We've fought alongside each other more times than I can recall, and a bond born on the battlefield is one that will never be broken. You can trust me."

The former fighter rubbed her temples as a million thoughts ran through her head. After a while, common sense prevailed and she concluded, "Yuffie, you know that I trust you with my life. I wouldn't trade the experiences we've had in the past for anything. And as tempting as your offer sounds, I just can't help you out right now. Someone has to look after Marlene, and I'm the only one who can do so right now."

Yuffie smiled proudly, "Already taken care of! You don't need to worry a bit about Marlene. I've already worked out a solution to that."

Tifa raised an eyebrow, "Oh? And what might that be?"

Yuffie glanced at the clock on the wall, "Oh, you'll find out soon enough. Don't worry. Marlene's safety isn't even a concern at this point. With that worry out of your head, I need to know: will you let me help you look for Materia?"

Tifa folded her arms across her chest, "I wish you wouldn't play these games. I can't answer you until my question about Marlene has been answered first."

Yuffie shrugged and stood up, "Very well, but I'm not about to ruin the surprise. Like I said, you'll find out soon enough. But after that, I'll need an answer. Deal?"

Tifa stood up as well and answered, "We'll see."

Yuffie nodded tersely, "Fair enough. Do you, uh, do you need help with the dishes or anything?"

Tifa held back a laugh; she certainly hadn't expected such an offer from Yuffie. She regained her composure and answered, "Um......no. Thank you. I'll take care of it. Why don't you let Marlene show you her toys now?"

"Sounds like a plan to me," Yuffie said happily and skipped off to the living room to play with Marlene. Tifa watched her go with mixed emotions before heading into the kitchen.

As the young woman scrubbed the dishes absently, she couldn't help but let her mind wander. So much had already happened today, she didn't quite know how to cope with it all.

After the menial task had been completed and Tifa went to place the dishes back in their respective drawers and cupboards, the doorbell rang unexpectedly. Curious, Tifa made sure her robe was tightly closed and made her way to the door. As she passed through the dining room, she spotted Yuffie playing with Marlene in the other room. In the split second that the two women met each other's eyes, Tifa detected a glint of mischief in the ninja's gaze. Could this have anything to do with the younger woman's solution about who would care for Marlene should Tifa decide to leave?

Well, there's only one way to find out, Tifa reasoned as she opened up the front door.