"If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him." (Genesis 4:7)


He was standing in a field of flowers. Nothing else was around him except for the flowers and grass growing around him. Nothing. There wasn't even a sky or an end in sight where he was but he wasn't scared at all. He had been in that place many times before, when he wanted to talk to her, the maiden.

Gentle hands gently touched his arms from behind him.

"You're here again," a sweet voice said, amused. "Don't you ever stay at home, Cloud? I thought you didn't need to be here anymore. Or is it because of me?"

He paused, unsure of his answer. "I just want… to find redemption."

"Redemption?" She repeated. "The same as forgiveness… You want to be forgiven, right? By who? You didn't do anything to anybody that wasn't deserved; only to yourself." She sighed exasperatedly. "We already went through this, Cloud."

"No, not for me. For someone else. How do you find redemption for someone else?"

"Trying to find redemption for someone else," she said softly. She giggled, "Always have to be the nice one underneath that SOLDIER façade, don't you? Sorry, but I can't tell you how to do that. You have to find that out yourself."

Cloud looked over his shoulder to her and saw a glimpse of her braid. "Am I able to?"

"Do you really have to ask?" She said playfully and gave him a gentle push out of the meadow.

He fell out of the bright meadow of flowers into darkness, where the shadows pressed in around him. It felt cold and a bitter wind whirled around him as he fell through the air. Shrieks and wails of pain that seemed neither human nor bestial echoed through his ears.

Crimson black hands encrusted with infections and wounds reached out to grab him. He moved and dodged them all as he fell but the sight and smell of the hands and the bodies that came at him were disturbing him greatly.

He turned his sight down to where he was falling and saw a sea of dark red blood that stretched out as far as he could see rushing up to meet him.

"No…!" He cried out as the blood continued to come closer and closer.

Faces and bodies were seen under the surface, not quite dead and yet not alive. Twisted and contorted, some looked to be stuck forever in a state of anguish in their own blood.

Two faces rose up from the sea, scarred and disfigured. Under the wounds, he could barely tell out their figures but saw that they were mere children who got caught in the turmoil. Their faces were wrought with pain and desperation as they reached up to grab and pull him into their world.

"Help us! Save us!"

Cloud struggled to escape this nightmare but he continued to fall.

"Come give us our redemption, Cloud!" The voices rang within his head. "Please, Cloud!"

His hand came within an inch of the children's hands when everything dissolved into a warm shadow that suddenly turned into a bright light.

"Cloud! Wake up!"

Gasping, he turned his head and saw an innocent, if not worried, face of the young girl who he knew so well. "Marlene! What are you…?"

Her small hands were still gripping his shirt at the shoulder, where she was shaking him awake from his sleep. Her eyes were wide with fear and worry when she asked, "Are you okay, Cloud? You wouldn't wake up for the longest time."

"Yeah," he managed to say, "yeah, Marlene. I'm fine. It was just a bad dream."

"Are you sure?"

He gave her a small smile and nodded. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he realized that he was drenched in a cold sweat and quickly wondered where that dream could have come from.

"Tifa asked me to come up here and wake you up," Marlene chirped after being satisfied that he would be okay. "The sun's been up for a pretty long time and you weren't up and she had to open up the bar so I came up here and found you tossing and turning. That must've been a really bad dream!"

"It was…" He sat up in his bed and ran a hand through his bedraggled hair. His plain gray shirt that he preferred to go to sleep in was moist with sweat as well. He couldn't wait to get in the shower to wash away the lingering feelings of his nightmare.

Marlene climbed up onto his bed and sat on his legs. She looked at him sternly and vaguely reminded him of Tifa when she wanted something done. "Tifa also told me to make sure that you'd be downstairs for breakfast! So rise and shine, silly Cloud! We have to have breakfast together!"

"I'm getting up!" He took her under the arms and lifted her down off his bed before slipping out and getting out himself.

"Ew, Cloud! You need to shower first!" Marlene wrinkled her nose when she got close to him. "You smell!"

Startled, he looked at her and hung his head. "Okay, okay. But you have to tell Tifa that I'll be a little late for breakfast because I have to shower."

Marlene nodded and went downstairs to relay the message. But, halfway down, he heard her call down the stairs, "Tifa! Cloud has to shower first before he comes downstairs because he stinks!"

Denzel had just come out of the washroom when she said that and Cloud dragged himself to the shower. He asked with a small laugh, "You stink, Cloud?"

"Apparently," Cloud replied and passed Denzel to get into the washroom.

"Ugh!" Denzel exclaimed exaggeratedly and hopped out into the hallway holding his nose, laughing. "You smell worse than a Chocobo left out in the rain too long!"

"You're one to talk," Cloud shot back as he started to close the door.

"Uh... Cloud!" Denzel looked at him, a little dejectedly. "We… We're not going to be able to go and get a haircut, are we? That's why Tifa kept me and Marlene outside, right? Because you had another job offer?"

He held the door open a bit, looked at the boy and nodded, "Yeah. It's urgent, too."

"Oh," he said, failing to hide his disappointment and his eyes traveling to the floor.

Cloud stepped out into the hallway in front of him and gently ruffled Denzel's hair. "Hey. Once I get back, we'll go, okay? We'll even see if we can get Marlene to cut hers, too."

Denzel chuckled and moved Cloud's hand away from him, "All right. As long as you promise!"

"Yeah, I promise. Now get downstairs and help Tifa out with breakfast. I'll be down in a while." He patted Denzel's shoulder to send him on his way. "And make sure to leave some for me!"

Cloud quickly washed away all the sweat and the vividness of his nightmares in the shower and changed out of his baggy cotton pajamas into his usual attire reminiscent of a SOLDIER's uniform. Ungloved, unarmored and barefooted, he took some time fixing his hair to be its usual spiky self before heading down to the bar.

Denzel and Marlene were already halfway through their breakfasts at the bar when Cloud came downstairs. Seventh Heaven was quiet as usual in the morning with a few loyal patrons sitting closer to the windows and sunlight rather than under the fans and the vague shadows of the bar. Tifa was busy wiping down tables.

"Cloud!" Marlene jumped off her seat and ran to him. "You're up!" Instead of hugging him, she just stood in front of him and glared again. "You were supposed to spend the day with us!"

"I know, I'm sorry."

"Marlene," Tifa said as she looked up, "you know Cloud has a very spontaneous schedule with his delivery service so nothing's guaranteed."

"I'll at least eat breakfast with you." Cloud took Marlene's hand and took her back to her seat. "Hey, Tifa! You're not joining us?"

Smiling, Tifa came and sat on the other side of Cloud after bringing their breakfasts. "Just waiting for you, Cloud."

It was shortly after breakfast when Cloud had sent the children to their studies and came back down to the dining area of Seventh Heaven in full gear, complete with armor and gloves. He also came back to Tifa continuing to wipe down the tables in complete silence.

"I'm going now," he said, walking closer to her and the door. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"You know, you didn't have to take that job," she said abruptly.

Almost reaching the door, he stopped. After spending this much time with her, he knew she was a little upset, especially since she had never objected to any of his previous jobs before this.

"You know it's dangerous and you might not come back. What are you looking for? It's them, for crying out loud! You really think that they're up to any good? For all we know, what happened with Kadaj and Sephiroth was just a mask to gain your trust for whatever they have planned now." She had stopped wiping the tables and was talking to his back, knowing that he'd listen, even if he was going to be late.

"He said something about looking for redemption, forgiveness. I don't think I can refuse someone looking for that."

They ignored the remaining patrons in the bar, which was a bad habit of Tifa's whenever she got upset.

"If they want to find forgiveness, let them find it on their own! There's no reason for you to go and do it for them. It wouldn't be right for them to be forgiven like that… Wouldn't it? It is them and whatever they ask you to do always ends up with you hurt or near death! Barret's coming today and he's going to want to talk to you, anyway!"

Cloud said nothing and an awkward silence fell in the bar. Tifa just looked at him, holding back her tears, knowing that she couldn't possibly summon the courage to tell him her feelings.

"Tifa…"

"Just go." She turned away from him, crossing her arms.

He turned and looked at her. "Tifa, I'll come back. I promised Denzel I'd go get his haircut with him and Marlene. So tell Barret not to do that while he's here."

"Right," she said, still not looking at him.

"Call me if you need me, okay?" He called over his shoulder as he left the bar, leaving Tifa alone with the kids and the patrons pretending not to have been eavesdropping on their conversation.

He slid onto Fenrir, quickly taking out his base sword and sliding it into the holster on his back. He would most likely need it, where he was going. He put on his new goggles, geared his motorcycle into life and rode off out of Edge.

The side roads of Edge were narrow but he had plenty of room to maneuver as he traveled into the ruins of what was now Midgar. The buildings that lined the roads grew steadily worse in disrepair and habitability. Some buildings had been pilfered through and a familiar path to a church was well worn.

Once the slums of Midgar, what was once Section Five now housed the most important thing in all the city's ruins: the church of the Lifestream.

Cloud briefly questioned the reason why Rufus wanted to meet him here as he approached the church as he did many times before when he saw that a small pack of Cuahls gathered around the entrance of the church. Some of them were attacking the barricaded doors while a couple of them crept around to enter through the wreckage.

Fenrir roared and reared up as Cloud commanded it to tear down the road. He quickly pulled out the base sword from behind and slashed down a Cuahl while crashing down the doors of the cathedral with Fenrir.

"Hey, hey!" Reno yelled at him, stumbling back a bit to keep from getting run over by Cloud. "Watch where you're going, at least!"

Cloud pulled Fenrir to a stop, parallel to the doors. All the Turks were situated on the ground, careful to stay away from the water.

Reno was in front with his electric rod in his hand and standing rather cockily. Rude was next to him, fists out and ready for the Cuahls. Behind Cloud were Tseng and Elena, both wielding their own shotguns aimed at the doors.

"Time to get some action, eh, Rude?" Reno chuckled.

"Keep your mind on the job, Reno!" Elena called from the back.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…"

The Cuahls burst inside, leaping through the air with claws outstretched from their incredibly long forearms. Their yowls screeched through the church as they pounced on their prey, temporarily shocking Cloud and the Turks.

Quick to recover, Cloud swung his base sword and slammed a Cuahl into the wall. His other hand plunged into Fenrir's compartments and yanked out the Collision Blade just before jumping off Fenrir to avoid another Cuahl's attack.

The church was filled with the snarls of the cat-like monsters and the gunfire of Tseng and Elena.

Reno had rushed straight into battle with his electric rod and dealt severe damage to the Cuahls and finished them off with the brute force of Rude. He had just given out a lethal zap when he heard a deep growling right behind him.

"Oh, shit!" He exclaimed as his blue eyes widened and the Cuahl's jaws came closer and closer, the tentacles that protruded from behind its ears stiffened for balance and for extra stored energy to absorb the shock of landing on him.

A gunshot cracked and the monster was sent sprawling onto the ground, yowling.

"You're welcome, Reno," Tseng's deep, cool voice carried effortlessly over the battle to him before he went back to slaying the monsters.

"Yup, thanks, buddy!" Reno called back to him.

After jumping off of Fenrir, Cloud landed on one of the fallen pillars that were strewn around the nave to have two Cuahls chasing him, fangs bared. One was coming from the ledge that opened to the outside while the other was chasing him from his motorcycle up the pillar, both rapidly closing the gaps between him and them.

He leaped straight up into the air from the slanted pillar towards the tip of the pillar, Cuahls leaping up after him. He twisted in the air, with his blades out and flipped backwards, catching the two monsters in the ribs with his swords. Coming down and righting himself, he performed a powerful cross-slash, causing the monsters to go hurtling through the air and crashing into the opposite side of the church.

Cloud landed on the ledge of the crumbled wall, creating a silhouette of him into the nave as the remaining Cuahls were defeated and chased off by the Turks. Slightly hidden in the corner, he saw a familiar blanketed man sitting in a chair.

Without warning, a particularly scarred Cuahl suddenly jumped out from the debris behind Cloud, yowling and fangs bared. Given a direct blow of its Blaster attack, he couldn't move and could only watch the gaping maw come closer.

A flurry of movement came from within the nave. A blur of white. A shotgun cocked and its shot blasted and echoed throughout the church. The Cuahl flew back and landed outside the building, dead.

Rufus was walking around the pool of Lifestream-infused water, his smoking shotgun still raised. "My, my, Cloud. Those battle skills of yours are getting a tad rusty, aren't they?"

Cloud just glared and jumped down from the ledge. "I notice you're walking and moving. What's with the blanket and wheelchair? Too hard to nurse off?"

"Funny," Rufus replied dryly. He hid his shotgun within his wheelchair again, brushing his sleek blond hair out of his eyes.

"Gotta keep hidden from the public eye, man," Reno said, retracting his metallic rod. "Shinra isn't exactly the most popular name to pass around these days, what with mako almost destroying the world through Sephiroth's hands and everybody thinking that Boss is dead."

"President Rufus needs his anonymity at the moment," Tseng said sternly. He quickly neatened his dark hair and put away his gun. "It isn't quite time to reveal himself again to the public even though everything within the company is being arranged."

"Whatever," Cloud said casually, "I'm just here to make a delivery as long as all the pay is due." He disassembled his First Tsurugi and put both swords in his holster. "You didn't tell me what I was delivering and where when we met last night."

Elena brought out a small case of vials that would normally be used in a large injection gun or in the battlefield as heal items.

"This is what you're delivering," Rufus said and motioned to the crate. He put a hand in one of the pockets of his impeccably white suit. "We just need to fill them up with the water from this church before you deliver them."

Stepping forward to the edge of the pool, Cloud said, "This is an incredibly potent elixir… You're not thinking of…"

"Selling it? No. This spring needs to be kept in secret right now. We need you to deliver this to Gongaga. I'm pretty sure you know where that is." Rufus forced himself to hide a smirk but failed to hide his sarcasm.

Cloud said nothing, also being civil in light of changing times, and began to bottle the water from the spring. I hope you don't mind, he thought in his mind.

Rude and Elena helped him fill the remaining canisters and a couple of regular water bottles and packed them into Fenrir neatly with him. He held the last one in his hand and looked at it carefully.

"You're calling it REdemption, huh?" Cloud turned the canister over in his hands.

Rufus nodded. "There are some people out near Gongaga who need it. You don't have to stay and distribute them, but you're free to do it. But knowing you, you'd probably stay to make sure they're given out neatly and completely anyway, ex-SOLDIER Cloud."

"Being an ex-SOLDIER doesn't make a difference, Rufus." He hid that last canister into his shoulder armor pad. "It's about being a good man."

Rufus merely smiled dryly.

"Make sure you enjoy the sights up there," Reno said, patting Cloud's back and smiling as Cloud revved up Fenrir.

Cloud just scowled at him, making him back away.

"As always, be careful," Tseng warned. "Things aren't all what they seem up near Gongaga. Especially what goes on where you're heading."

"… I'll keep that in mind," Cloud said and rode Fenrir out of the church and into the wild.


A/N: I thought I'd add in a little quote from the bible since it's pretty relevant. Anyway… I don't think I have anything else to comment at the moment. REVIEW, please! Anything to help me would be great!