Chapter One

"There's nothing left."

Tifa was right; Cloud could see that from the first glance. They'd arrived too late.

The building itself was completely demolished. There was only one wall that remained standing, and it didn't look steady. The rest was charred, twisted remains. Small fires still burned here and there, lighting up a landscape that would normally be lit by large, florescent lights.

"We have to look for survivors," Cloud said, trying to put on an air of confidence as he started down the hill. Someone had to have made it, Reno, Rude, Tseng, the President, even. Anyone.

Cloud had been uncertain about them rebuilding Shinra for any reason after the brand new incident with Sephiroth. But Rufus Shinra was insistent, and his Turks were loyal. So construction began on a new headquarters, bigger, better, but more conscious of the planet than the one before it. After eight months of nonstop work, construction had just finished yesterday. Today was the first day for employees to work in the new building. Tomorrow was meant to be the grand opening, the day it opened to the public for tours.

Ashes and charred remains crunched beneath Cloud's feet as he walked. The smell of human bodies burning away was nearly unbearable. He scanned the ground, his fury growing with each body he saw, most of which were burned or beaten beyond recognition.

Those who hadn't been killed with a sword or a gun were destroyed by fire. As often as Cloud disagreed with Shinra, no one deserved this massacre.

"There was strong magic here. Holy magic," Vincent said, and Cloud nodded.

Barrett growled. "Who did this?"

Cloud didn't answer him. He had an idea that he knew, but he didn't want to say it out loud. Not yet.

"Someone must have tried to use holy protective magic. I can feel it too," he said to Vincent.

"Or holy attacks," Vincent said darkly.

"Cloud! Over here!"

Both Cloud and Vincent turned to head to where Tifa was, climbing over a good sized pile of rubble to get there. About fifty feet past that they came upon Tifa, who was kneeling beside two bodies. One of them Cloud immediately recognized as Reno's partner, Rude, and then he rolled over the other one. His stomach dropped into his feet as he realized that it was Rufus Shinra.

Both of them were dead.

"What do we do now?" Tifa asked, looking up to Cloud.

Where Rude and Rufus are, Reno's never far, Cloud thought, looking at his disheartened team. Tifa, Barrett, Vincent, and Yuffie, all here to help, all experiencing the same carnage. He had to give them some kind of hope to go on when everything else looked hopeless.

"Look for Reno. I'll be damned if someone managed to kill him," he said, beginning to scan the area for the familiar red hair. "He has to be around here."

Vincent frowned. "Cloud…"

"Just look."

Cloud knew why Vincent was reluctant; they probably wouldn't like what they found. Whatever, or whoever could kill off an entire army plus the Turks stationed here would've had no trouble with Reno. Knowing Reno, he would've thrown himself right into the middle of it, too. The redhead could be reckless in battle, and never backed down when the Turks were threatened.

Reno would've died to protect his president. He probably did, too.

After a few minutes of looking, Cloud was beginning to lose hope. One of the cooked bodies he was stepping past could be Reno; there was no way of knowing. Reno might've been sent out of town when this happened; unlikely, but possible. Vincent was right to be skeptical.

What are you so devastated about? Cloud thought, stopping for a moment. If Shinra had ordered it, he would have killed you, no questions asked. It shouldn't surprise you if he dies young.

"Hey! Hey, I found 'im!" Yuffie suddenly yelled across the smoking landscape. Cloud ran to her, fearing the absolute worst.

Reno was dead. He had to be. He was trapped under a fallen crossbeam, a wound from a sword pouring blood from his right shoulder. Cloud stepped past Yuffie, grabbing onto the crossbeam.

"Someone help me lift this," he asked, and at once he had four sets of hands helping him lift the crossbeam and move it off to the side. As soon as the beam was off, he dropped to his knees next to Reno.

There were no signs of life. Blood was all over Reno's clothes and the ground he lay upon, and his white shirt and red hair were splotched with gray ashes. Cloud reached out, pressing his fingers against the Turk's neck.

"I don't believe it," he muttered. Below his fingers a pulse fluttered, faint and weak.

"He's alive?" Tifa asked in disbelief.

"Keep looking for survivors," Cloud said, inspecting the wound on Reno's shoulder. The Turk made a small sound, moving his arm slightly. "I'm going to take him back into town."

Spurred on by the prospect of more survivors, the others began to search again. Cloud cast cure on Reno, though he knew that it wouldn't be nearly enough. Reno needed a healer. He spotted Reno's baton lying on the ground near him, and immediately decided to bring it with him; he couldn't imagine the chaos that would ensue if Reno woke up in a strange place injured and unarmed.

Cloud lifted Reno in his arms and began to walk, getting a groan from the unconscious Turk. Reno shifted, and then his eyes opened, though they were unfocused and kept falling shut.

"Cloud…"

"Relax. I've got you," Cloud said softly.

Reno looked confused. "Rude. P-President…"

Cloud's grip tightened. "They…didn't make it."

Reno stared at him as if he were joking. Cloud tried to ignore it, tried to allow Reno to work through that one on his own. By now, though, Reno was already fading again.

"Reno…who did this?"

It was no use. The Turk was already unconscious again, his head leaned against Cloud's shoulder.

Cloud learned mere minutes later, when Tifa called his cell phone, that no other survivors had been found as of yet. Reno was, right now, the only living witness to the massacre, and even his life was uncertain.

Cloud already knew who did it. The holy magic was the only variable in the equation, but everything else fit. Still, he simply refused to believe it until he'd heard it straight from Reno.

Even a healer could do very little for Reno. The blade he'd been stabbed with had magical qualities that baffled even the most talented healer within a hundred miles.

So, in all honesty, Cloud wasn't expecting to see those blue eyes open again. Nobody seemed to expect anything. They continued the search for answers on the outside and came up empty; even the people who'd tipped them off to the battle had been killed.

Everything was depending on the loud-mouthed red-headed Turk who'd been comatose in Cloud's house for the last four days.

So Cloud held out when everyone else was prepared for yet another funeral. He wanted to know what had happened, and he didn't want to watch Reno die. It seemed impossible to believe that the vibrant redhead could lose his grip on life so soon, when he'd pulled through so much already.

Cloud pressed his hand to Reno's forehead for a moment; his fever still hadn't broken. Four days, and no improvement.

"Is he any better?"

Cloud shook his head. Tifa walked up behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I didn't realize you cared this much about him."

"I care about what happened to all those people. He's the only one that knows."

"Sitting by him for four days straight wouldn't bring the answer any faster. Admit it, you do care."

Cloud paused. "We owe him for his help with Kadaj. And after what happened to his partner, I don't feel like holding old grudges against him," he said, reaching for an excuse now. He didn't want to care.

Tifa looked as if she was about to speak, but the conversation was interrupted by a quite pitiful groan from the bed. Tifa's eyes widened as Reno slowly opened his eyes, blinking groggily in the dim light.

"What the…" he muttered, his words slightly slurred.

"Welcome back," Cloud said, relief washing over him. "We were wondering if you'd ever come to."

"How long…I been out?"

"Four days," Tifa said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "Reno…what happened?"

Reno was still dazed. "Don't you know already?"

Tifa and Cloud glanced at each other. Cloud was the first to speak.

"You're the only one who knows, Reno."

Reno frowned. "No one else awake yet?"

"…No one else survived."

Reno froze, and then he looked from Cloud, to Tifa, and back to Cloud. "You're lying."

"You were lucky, Reno," Tifa said softly. "Everyone else we found…they were all dead when we got there."

Reno, despite being in obvious pain and exhaustion, tensed like a wire. "Rude. President Shinra. They escaped, didn't they? I mean, Rude took him to safety."

Cloud's and Tifa's expressions were answer enough. Reno's face fell.

"No. They aren't dead," he said stubbornly, trying to sit up. He fell back to the bed with a cry of pain, clutching his shoulder.

"Don't try to move yet," Cloud insisted. "You may have been lucky, but you're still injured."

"What about Elena? And Tseng?" Reno asked, a tone of desperation to his voice. "Did you find them?"

"Reno," Tifa said. "Please believe us when we say that non one survived. We searched for hours."

Reno dropped his head back on the pillow, squeezing his eyes shut and pressing his hand to his forehead. Then, abruptly, he leaned over the side of the bed and threw up.

Tifa reached forward and held his hair back from his face, rubbing gentle circles on his back. Cloud stood up, trying to think of a way to approach this without sounding like a complete asshole. They had to know what happened, and they had to know as soon as possible.

"I'll go get you some soup and water. See what you can keep down," Tifa said, standing and leaving the room. Reno was laying back on the bed now, his expression betraying the pain he was in.

"Why couldn't…someone cure me?" he asked difficultly.

"The sword you were stabbed with was cursed," Cloud explained, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "None of the healers we brought in had ever encountered that kind of magic. They did try."

That answer seemed to satisfy Reno. Cloud hesitated, and then he cleared his throat. "Reno…we need to know what happened. Who did all that."

Reno hesitated. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Was it Sephiroth?"

"No."

Cloud was taken aback. He'd been absolutely certain it was Sephiroth, so certain that he'd considered not even putting Reno through having to say it.

"It wasn't Sephiroth?"

Reno winced and gasped in pain. "Damnit, Cloud, I said it once."

"Then who was it?" Cloud asked, but the question was met with silence. "Reno, you have to tell me. This has to be dealt with."

"I would like to remain alive, thanks."

"I'm not going to kill you."

"Yes you are."

"Just tell me his name, Reno…"

"Her."

"…Her?"

"Cloud…it was Aeris."