Here's the Second Chapter…and we're getting rolling and figuring out some form of a plot here…

…

The Plot Thickens…

…

The Bastion was going through the beginning of something that other countries would later call an "Industrial Revolution". For centuries, the ruling class had kept power over the millions because they had power in the form of sorcery. It was a well-accepted fact that magic made things happen, that to get anything done, you needed magic, or you needed someone who had magic.

All of that began to change about fifty years previous to the reign of the Prince Regent Ansem. People began to explore machinery, making things happen without the use of magic. Philosophers hoped that these new innovations would begin to give power to the lower class, and the optimistic even dared to believe that democracy could come into being, if the social caste system were eradicated. People began to believe that they could have power. It was an uneasy air in the city, one that smelled of revolution.

Cid Highwind cared nothing for any of that. Cid Highwind built things. It was what he did. He had been thinking up little machines and inventions since he was a child, and when he came of age, he signed up for the Guard, like every young man from his part of town. It paid steadily, and provided three meals a day, which was a step up from the slums of Lower Bastion. However, Ansem himself had noticed the blond youth's quick mind and skill with weapons and machinery, and had assigned him to the newly formed Royal Engineering Department. Within three years, Cid was head of the department, and, at age 18, was given his own workshop and quarters away from the place barracks, an honor reserved for officers. Cid was not the youngest Captain in the history of the Bastion, but he had moved abnormally quickly through the ranks.

And promptly stopped. He was content being a Captain, and was making no attempt to level up again. It had been seven years, and Cid spent more time in his workshop than at the palace. Rarely did he ever see anybody anymore, except-

"Good morning, Captain!"

Cid poked his head out from under the machine he was working on to see a young woman in a blue dress, holding a basket. Of course.

"Miss Leonhart," he said, "Yer late."

The girl blushed under her delicate spectacles. "So sorry, Captain. I ran into Lucrecia at the bakery and we chatted a bit. But I brought you some lunch. A- and that tea you like."

She held up a bottle filled with tea. Cid smiled. For all that that girl couldn't walk without tripping over her own feet, she could be pretty thoughtful when she wanted to be.

"Well," he drawled, "Why don't we have ourselves a little picnic and ya can tell me all about how Lu and the baby are."

Shera grinned, and settled herself on the floor, smoothing out her skirts. She pulled out a sheet and, spreading it over the floor, put the tea bottle, several cups, and some sandwiches on it. Cid wiped his hands on a rag and sat down next to her, raising an eyebrow. Shera blushed again.

"Something wrong, Captain?"

"Nothin' really, Miss Leonhart, just wonderin' why you're always comin' down here…"

Shera looked at her lap. "I've been visiting you every day for two years, Captain. You mean you still can't call me by my first name?"

Cid just looked at her. She had to be the dumbest smart person he had ever met. No, she wasn't dumb, he corrected himself, just naïve. She still didn't realize that Baron Leonhart would have a fit if he knew his precious daughter was even on speaking terms with some streetrat from Lower Bastion, Captain or no. Cid still allowed her to come every day and bring him lunch, but that was a tradition she started, and he knew better than to try to convince her to stop, but there was no way he was going to put his neck on the line by trying to have any sort of relationship with a noble's daughter.

Shera was still concentrating on the pattern of her skirt, afraid she'd said something wrong, so Cid changed the subject. "So, eh, how'er Lu and the baby?"

Shera immediately brightened. "Oh, the baby's good, but Lu's getting absolutely huge, I mean, she's enormous!"

Cid smirked. "Well, that's pregnancy for ya, ain't it?" he asked gruffly. Shera giggled a bit. "I suppose it is."

Cid took a bite of his sandwich, washing it down with a sip of tea. "Mmmm…I swear you might make the best tea in this whole damn city…So, anyway, why was Lu in the bakery? Doesn't Vinny have people for that?"

Shera smiled at the compliment. "Yes, he does, but you know how Lucrecia is. She's very picky about bread."

Cid snorted. "Ain't all she's picky about." It constantly amazed him that his old Guard buddy, Count Vincent, had married such a high-maintenance woman.

The next half-hour was spend in silence, which is usually what happens when you put two typically untalkative people in a room alone. Or, at least, it's what happens when you put those two untalkative people in a room alone.

Shera packed up her basket after they had finished their lunch. She left the tea out, because she knew how much he loved tea, and looked at the machine Cid had been working on.

"What is it, Captain?"

"What? Oh, that," Cid said, reclining on the floor so that he was looking up at the ceiling, hands behind his head. "It's a gummi ship. 'Cept I haven't put the gummi on there yet."

"A what ship?"

"Gummi, Sher- Miss Leonhart, gummi," Cid said, almost slipping in his impatience. "It's the stuff that came out of that meteor shower we had last month. It's damn strong, stronger than any metal we have, and it's lightweight. Easy to build with too. Now, I figure I can build a ship out of it. A f-ing space ship."

He went on, describing the specifications he would need and the way he would put the ship together to maximize engine efficiency. Shera just watched him. She loved it when he got into one of his ideas. He was so intense and focused, and she felt lucky to be in the presence of genius. He had taken out a cigarette and was waving it around to emphasize his words.

"And there'll be these solar panels on the top to help out with the energy, and- are you all right?"

Shera suddenly realized that she was sitting there, staring at him with an enormously dopey expression on her face. She stood up so suddenly she almost fell over. "I, I have some errands to run," she stuttered, dipping a curtsey. "Go- good day, Captain."

With that she turned on her heel and strode from the workshop, clutching her basket in one hand. Cid got up off the floor, holding the bottle of tea. He scratched the side of his head.

What the hell? Can never understand a thing that girl does.

He took a swig from the bottle.

But she does make damn good tea.

…

"Have a nice day," said fourteen-year-old Tifa Lockhart to the loving couple as they paid for their meals and exited, the woman holding their redheaded toddler over one shoulder. The tiny girl waved to Tifa with one chubby hand. She waved back, as the next patrons entered her mother's café. Her heart stopped. Her best friend and longtime crush, Cloud Strife, walked in with that flower girl on his arm. He was obviously trying very hard to impress her, by taking her out, like they were a couple or something. Tifa felt vaguely sick.

Then, to add insult to injury, Cloud caught her eye and waved at her. "Yo, Teef!" Aerith giggled, like Cloud was some kind of conversational genius, and offered a tiny, ladylike wave.

Tifa waved nonchalantly at them, and, face red, turned to her friend Quistis. "Quis, take these two."

"Wait," Quistis called as Tifa walked to the back of the café. "Where are you going?"

"To be sick."

…

Tifa was angrily stomping her way home through the dust and mud when she tripped on a stone, falling flat on her face.

"Well, well," boomed a big voice, "Lookee what we have here."

A large dark hand helped Tifa off the ground. Barrett Wallace grinned down at her, folding his arms across his barrel chest. He frowned when he saw her expression.

"Why so upset, lil' pal?" he asked. Tifa sighed, sitting back down on the ground. Barrett plopped down next to her. He was a friend of her parents, almost a favorite uncle to most of the young people of the town.

"It's Cloud."

Barrett snorted. "Ahhh, youn' love. Glad I ain't young no more. So, what he'd do dis time?"

"Oh, nothing. I mean, it's not really his fault. So what if he likes Aerith, I mean, who wouldn't?"

Barrett grumbled. Kids these days…he put a massive hand on Tifa's shoulder, patting it.

"C'mon, kid, I'll walk ya home. Everything'll work itself out."

…

That night…

"His Royal Highness, Crown Prince Rufus! His Royal Highness, the Prince Regent Ansem!"

The man in fancy livery finished his pronouncement, and the prince and price regent sat down to face their subjects, Rufus in a large golden throne and Ansem in a smaller chair made of obsidian. The king's austere white throne remained empty.

"My people," Ansem announced, waving his arms to encompass the small crowd of courtiers who had gathered for a rather exclusive soiree to celebrate the anniversary of some obscure law being written. Basically, it was an excuse for the lords and ladies of the royal court to throw a party and dress to the nines.

Yuffie squirmed uncomfortably, tugging at the high-collared dress she had been forced into earlier that evening. It wasn't easy being a six-year-old courtier. She stomped her foot on the floor, liking the sound her patent-leather shoe made on the marble. She stomped her other foot. A hand tapped on her shoulder.

"Now, now, Lady Yuffie," murmured her bodyguard, a tall man named Tseng, "It would not be good to show disrespect to Lord Ansem, would it?"

Yuffie pouted, and looked over to where Squall was standing with his family and girlfriend, Rinoa. Ansem was still talking.

"And now, my good friends, enjoy this feast, for tonight, we make merry!"

Yuffie stuck her tongue out at Rinoa. She didn't particularly like the girl. She wore too much perfume and giggled too much. Squall saw it, and shot Yuffie a glare. His sister, however, smiled at Yuffie. Shera was no fonder of these sorts of get-together than Yuffie herself. Yuffie figured she would rather be with the angry man who built stuff.

The nobles began to mix, schmoozing with each other like very rich and very powerful people do, talking about nothing, of course. Shera could be seen deep in conversation with the Count of Valentine and his wife, who had a baby in her tummy, Yuffie had been told. Yuffie thought that all the women looked very pretty, even Rinoa, although her dress was a little bit too purple and frilly. Shera looked nice in yellow, with a big flower in her curls, behind one ear. Yuffie had seen many of the young rich boys mooning over her friend (Shera was one of the only older girls who seemed to like Yuffie's antics), but she didn't seem to notice.

What she did notice was the grumpy man, striding purposely into the throne room, looking very out of place in his work clothes. He saw Shera, and his eyes traveled awkwardly up her figure before he broke his gaze and gruffly approached the dais. The nobles were shocked. This commoner was just walking up to Ansem, no bow or anything. He whispered something in the Regent's ear, and Ansem thanked him. Cid nodded and marched back through the room, nodding to Vincent, his friend despite their differences. He looked at Shera one last time, as if he almost didn't recognize her with her hair loose and wanted to commit the image to memory. Her cheeks were flushed, and she was shaking a little bit. Then Cid exited the double doors.

Ansem stood. "My friends, I have pressing business to attend to. I pray you, do not let my absence keep you from your enjoyment. Do, continue."

He strode majestically out the doors. The courtiers began to chatter about what they thought was happening. Some of them were just surprised at the appearance of the Engineering Captain. Rinoa turned up her dainty nose.

"Can you believe that? He could have at least changed his shirt, don't you think, Shera?"

Shera made no response. Rinoa waved her hand in front of Shera's face. "Hello? Are you listening to me?"

Shera started. "Hmm?"

"That engineer, just striding in here and interrupting the party. Just think of it!"

Shera smiled a little bit, thinking of the way he looked at her. "Yes, just think of it…"

…

Cid led Ansem through the Waterways, torch in one hand and spear in the other.

"Careful, sir, I found this when I was picking up gummi in the lower level. It's – it's not pretty."

They turned a corner and Cid had to look away. Lying there was a body. A woman's body, half-covered by water. Her face was sickly and pale, her eyes open and pitch black. Ansem studied the scene with an odd, closed expression.

"I fetched you, sir, because I couldn't see how she died. No blood, no bruises even. Sir…it looks like she died of fright."

…

A/N: Oooo look, cliffhanger. Review! I did stick some Kairi in there- did you catch her? Just to let you know, this is going to be a Cid/Shera and Cloud/Aerith. Because there are like, three other Cid/Sheras in this section…not unusual considering she wasn't in KH, but yeah. Review Review. And if there are some FF7 characters you just love that I haven't included yet, let me know, I'll find a way to stick them in. And yes, my Cid is a bit less gruff and more respectful than the one in FF7, but he's younger, so lets give him time.