Final Fantasy VII

Memories Not Forgotten

Chapter 2

Crossing the Glacier

Several hours later, the sun had begun to peak over the horizon, attempting to burn off the snow clouds, which covered the entire sky. Much of the sky was a ballet of gray and white, and the combined rays of the sun sent colors of orange and pink to mix the plain colors. Despite the fact that the sun was slowly rising more and more, casting more light upon the hovering Highwind, it was still cold inside. Apparently Cid hadn't got around to installing a heater in the thing yet.

As always, Cloud was the first one to wake up. No one was quite sure why, but the second person to awake always found Cloud lounging about somewhere. Currently, Cloud was standing on the bridge, in front of the large glass windows, which overlooked the front of the ship. Occasionally, he would adjust his feet, making soft clanking noises with his boots.

It was not often that the 'ex-SOLDIER' could spend much time by himself. Always he was around someone, even when he had tried to be alone. So he chose to use this time wisely, and review the events which had happened thus far. His head tilted back, staring into the distant sunrise.

"Aerith… I'm sorry." He said aloud, barely above a whisper. "I couldn't save you. So you can't be here to admire the land you helped save."

Indeed, Cloud blamed himself for the flower girl's death. He recalled the event over and over in his mind, each time becoming more and more upset. He was standing right there, not three feet from the knelt Aerith, as Sephiroth appeared, and murdered her. And he could do nothing to prevent it!

Why?

In a sense, he had avenged their deceased friend, by defeating the Great General, and destroying Meteor. The Planet was safe for a time. But there was still a crisis at hand.

How would the people use energy to survive?

Since the days of President Shin-Ra, the people of Midgar relied on Mako energy as their power source. Now that much of the city was in ruins, what could be done? There was no more Mako energy to power anything, such as lights and other basic things people need. He eventually made up his mind to talk to the others about this problem. Until then, all he could do was wait. Wait for the party, as well the crewmen to awaken.

So what would he do until then?

It turns out Cloud wasn't alone. The soft thumping of footsteps caught his attention, and he looked over his shoulder to see the giant moogle bouncing toward him.

"Mornin', Cloud." The cat atop spoke.

The blonde nodded toward him, "Morning, Cait."

The mog positioned itself next to Cloud, and stared out at the fluffy powder which covered the entire area.

"So where are we?"

"The Great Glacier. Not too far from the Icicle Inn."

Cait thought to quickly change the subject, like he always did. "Cloud, do you really mean for us all to go our separate ways after we arrive in Rocket Town?"

The other sighed, "Sephiroth and Meteor are gone, Cait. There is no more worldwide crisis anymore. What reason is there for everyone to be together?"

The toy body couldn't help but agree. "That's true…"

Cloud went on, "Its not like I want everyone to split off, but I know that each of them has their own lives to return to."

At that last bit, Cid came to mind. He always dreamt of going to outer space, and only experienced that once. Now that there was no more Meteor, Cid would likely begin work on a brand new rocket. Maybe something smaller, however. Less complex, even.

Once again, Cait switched topics, though to something more serious. "Do you all really forgive me for bein' a spy for Shin-Ra? I know the company's been destroyed an' all, but…"

"It's fine, Cait." Was all he replied with, before returning his blue-green hues back to the sunrise.

Again the cat nodded, then suddenly jumped. "Gotta shut down for a bit. Need to have some breakfast. Be back soon!"

Before Cloud could respond, there was a faint clicking noise, and the mog lightly slumped forward. Shaking his head, Cloud moved the toy off to one side.

Never once did Cloud notice the pair of eyes, which had been watching him the entire time, from beneath a blanket in the corner.

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"So what's the plain, Reno?"

It was bad enough he had half the damn troops come up and ask that, now Elena had to go off and ask.

"Go ask one of the troops, and leave me alone." Reno said in a dismissive manner.

Scowling, Elena drew back a fist, and bashed him across the top of the skull. "Stuck up asshole…"

Now clutching his head, Reno turned to snap at her, but found that she was already gone.

Now that the sun had come up, the snow cleared up, though it didn't help the temperature. Several fires were set loosely around the camp, as were many tents. Many of the soldiers had been woken up, and the ones who weren't trying to keep warm, were cleaning the hand-me-down guns they were given.

"Boss, are we honestly going to use these old weapons?" A soldier had asked Rude.

Rude merely shrugged, "… it would seem so."

"I can't believe whoever it was that hired us would give us such crappy equipment!" Elena complained.

"Why are you bitching?" Reno turned back to Elena, "You're the one wearing the huge fur coat."

It was true. Apparently Elena had learned they were coming to a decollate place, and brought the largest fur coat she could find. It was pleasantly warm.

"Well, I'm a lady!" Elena shot back, pointing a frozen index finger at the redhead. "I shouldn't even be here! It's freezing!"

"….." Rude again said nothing, only adjusted his shades.

"If you wanted to be paid, you would have come either way." Reno retorted, bringing a bone-chilling iron flask up to his lips, to pour a hot liquid down his throat. His body warmed up for several seconds, before the cold came back over him.

Elena was about to shout back, when a gunshot stopped her. The three Turks turned to see a small group of red-armored soldiers practicing shooting their rifles with mounds of snow.

Reno shot up, and shouted as loud as his frozen lungs would allow. "Don't waste your damn bullets, fools! We need all the ammo we can get!"

"Exactly WHAT are we supposed to do, Reno? You still haven't told me!" Again, Elena's voice made Reno's mind buzz. But he attempted to calm down and explain it flatly.

"That Highwind ship is supposed to come through here any time now, carrying Cloud and all his little buddies. When they do come by, we're supposed to shoot the ship down. But I don't see how our employer thinks we're to do that, with these weak single-shot rifles."

"And the pay?"

"Two-million gil, if we bring the ship down."

Elena's heart stopped at the amount. Never had she even been offered for a job for that amount. Hell, she never even DREAMED it.

"… You still haven't told us who our employer is, Reno." It was Rude.

Thinking there was no point in dodging it any longer, Reno decided to come out with it. It's not like he knew much about the guy anyway. "Some weirdo who called himself 'Narak'. It looked like he can telaport, or something. He had really long cyan hair. He offered each of us two million gil apiece. He said he did have that much, but I don't see how he could."

Next to speak was Elena, "Do you think he works for Shin-Ra?"

"I doubt it. If he did, we would have known about him." Rude answered lowly.

Reno nodded, "True. Plus, it seems like most of Shin-Ra's workers and employees are dead. Including the President."

Before another word could be spoken, every soldier in the encampment was lined up in three individual formations, some not even holding weapons yet.

"Sir! Something on the horizon approaches!"

All eyes turned to the northeastern mountain range, where there was indeed an aircraft, lazily floating towards their general area. Immediately, the Turks called for the soldiers to get their weapons ready.

"It's the Highwind! Move your asses! And get in formation! Move!"

Soldiers were running every which way, retrieving rocket launchers, pistols, rifles, and grenades from the weapon cache. Reno himself got his hands on a rather large grenade launcher.

"Two million gil's in the sack, you guys. Let's not mess this up."

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By now, everyone was woken up, and had gathered on the bridge. After a small breakfast (excluding Cait, of course,) they were slowly heading towards Rocket Town. The crew had taken their individual positions, wherever they needed to be, and were moving the ship as slow as possible, as ordered by Cid.

Even Yuffie was sitting in the corner, now quite used to flying around in the Highwind; she was no longer easily airsick.

"Cid," Cloud looked away from the glass, to look back at the dragoon. "How far away are we from Rocket Town?"

Once distracted by watching the main pilot, Cid turned to face the blonde, but didn't answer right away. He pressed a gloved palm to his temple, and thought for a moment. "Eh… I'd say about four hours away at this current speed."

Red padded up a small railing off to the side, and took a seat next to Cid. "If you're in such a hurry to get away from us, Cloud, why don't you ask Cid to speed up?" It wasn't hard to spot the playfulness in his voice, and there were mixed giggling and chuckles throughout the bridge.

When all fell silent once again, Barret slowly leaned against the railing in front of the large glass. "So this is it, eh? The last time we're all goin' to be together.."

Before the sad mood could sink in, Cloud looked towards the former AVALANCE leader, "Save it for when we get there, Barret. If you cry now, you may break my young heart."

Another fit if laughter filled the closed bridge as Barret made a face. Even Vincent hid a smile behind his raised collar.

"So be it then!" Cid threw a hand into the air while he spoke, "Pilots, take your time! Let's all enjoy these last few hours together!"

"That's the spirit, Cid!" Tifa called from the side, clasping her hands together.

"Hey, sounds exciting!" Cait Sith bounced about in circles a few times.

"Just don't go too fast," Yuffie muttered from the corner, but nonetheless kept a perky, upbeat tone.

"Awright!" Barret bellowed out, punching his gun arm forward.

Even the pilots were somewhat celebrating, though concentrated on their tasks. Though they played a very small role, they still had gotten to know the entire party, and would hate to see them all, or the fact they may never see them again.

But if they were never going to see any of them again, they were all going to enjoy the last hours of them all being together.

As a family.

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"Ready your weapons!"

Reno stood upon a small rock formation, with Rude and Elena flanking him. Each of them had grenade-launching devices, and the single-shot rifles for when they ran out of grenades.

Just below, the three formations of troops all raised their weapons into the air. The multiple clicking of guns filled the cold air, as the troops loaded the magazines into the weapons.

"Two million, Reno?" Elena said, silently.

"Two million." Reno confirmed, and pointed the tip of the weapon into the air.

The ship was sauntering by in the air, not one hundred yards away from where they were set up. And it was moving so slow.

"Fire!"

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