Sitting with Jessie and Wedge in the lot that would one day become Seventh Heaven, Aerith watches with sad eyes as Biggs walks circles in front of them, a deep frown on his face. They had searched all night for Cloud the day before, but had to turn in when it got late. It was morning now, and they were unfortunately no closer to finding their friend.

"Where could he have gone?!" Biggs asks dejectedly as he continues his nervous pacing, Wedge petting the cats next to him miserably.

Jessie sighs, elbows resting on her crossed legs. "Biggs, calm down. You're going to wear a hole in the ground."

"How can I calm down?" Biggs sounds distressed as he comes to a stop in front of them, eyes wild. "Cloud is missing and we have no idea where he is! We shouldn't have stopped the search last night! What if he's hurt?"

"Ok. That's exactly what you're not going to do." Jessie says with a roll of her eyes, pushing herself to her feet and poking a finger into Biggs's chest, her other hand on her hip. "We're all worried about Cloud. But overthinking things and freaking out won't help."

Biggs's strangled "But…" goes ignored as Aerith gets up, tutting at the teen. "No buts, Biggs. We would have been no use to Cloud last night in the dark while exhausted. If he had been hurt, we probably would have found him by now. It's far more likely that he just doesn't want to be found." Which was understandable after what had happened.

Wedge stands with a little more difficulty than the rest of them, surrounded by cats as he is. "It's ok, Toast, Marshmallow, Wasabi. I'll be back later." Brushing the fur off his clothes, he turns to Biggs. "We'll find him, dude. Cloud's a fighter, he'll be fine." Going from the pinched look on the kid's face, though, Aerith gets the feeling that he might just be saying that to reassure his friend… and possibly himself.

"Ok! We need a plan!" Aerith says, clapping her hands together and trying to remain upbeat for the rest of them. Jessie was right – no matter how concerned they were for their mutual friend, they couldn't lose hope. Poking Biggs in an exact imitation of Jessie, Aerith winks at the teen. "So, what's it going to be, Mr. Plan-Maker?"

Jessie whistles approvingly before Biggs can answer, flashing a grin Aerith's way. "I like you. It is a real shame we never knew each other the first time around."

"We have plenty of time to make up for that!"

Nodding his head slowly, the deep crease on Biggs's forehead lessens as he offers them a weak smile. "You're right. We're no help to Cloud like this." Slapping his cheeks, he seems to pull himself out of whatever rut he was in. "Alright. Plan's the same as yesterday. We'll take the sectors one-by-one. We know Cloud remembers some things subconsciously at least. So, while we're looking, pay special attention to the places where he would have spent the most time the first time around…"

Aerith swears she tries to listen, but her attention is drawn away by a group of miserable-looking kids kicking up dirt in front of them. She idly wonders why they aren't playing, like kids are wont to, when the subject of their conversation reaches her ears.

"What are we supposed to do? We can't play in the playground with that blond kid there."

Casting a subtle glance at the others, she sees that they too had heard, eyes shining with hope at the children across the way. It's not much to go on, just the kid's hair color, but they don't have any other leads. She really hopes it is Cloud – from the few calls she's shared with Zack, she knows he won't be able to sleep until they find their friend.

"One of us could wake him up?"

A snort. "Not it. He might not be as tall as your dad, but he's still bigger than the four of us."

"And he had a twooper outfit!"

Bingo.

A sigh. "It's trooper, Alexis."

"Yeah, and it's called a 'uniform'."

Before Wedge can barrel the kids over for more information like he looks like he's about to, Aerith holds up a hand. "I've got this." Stepping up to the children, she kneels and smiles sweetly. "Hello. That kid you were just talking about sounds an awful lot like my friend. He's been missing and we're all really worried about him." She gestures to the rest of Avalanche behind her. "Do you think you could show us where he is?"

One Day Earlier

Cloud tears through the hallway and rips open the stairwell door – no time to wait for the elevator, not with his body yelling 'Run. Run. Run.' As he starts darting down the stairs, he almost spares brain cells to the thought that that door should have flown off its hinges from how much force he put into opening it, but he needs to get out there. Now. The building wasn't safe. Shinra wasn't safe.

Logic having taken a firm backseat to the all-consuming panic coursing throughout his body, he doesn't notice that he's missed a step until he's tumbled down the rest of the flight, lying in a heap of bruised limbs and ego. Not bothering to even catalogue his injuries – as long as he can stand, that's all that matters – he scrambles back to his feet and shoots off down the stairs again, focusing on the way his injuries sting and ache. At least the pain gives him something else to think about.

Agonizing seconds turn to minutes as he continues, not looking back, not daring to stop for even a single breath. When he at long last reaches the bottom of the stairwell, he throws himself out the door, down the remaining two flights to the lobby, and finally – finally – makes it outside. The warm air proves to be a nice contrast to the cold in his chest, drying the tears he hadn't even noticed falling down his cheeks.

He hurtles through the domed pedestrian bridge leading to the station and jumps onto the first train he sees, slipping through the doors just before they shut. As the train pulls out of the station, shocked eyes meet his own frantic ones and he makes the bone-chilling realization that he's not alone. The train car he chose is completely full and everybody is staring at him. Not even bothering to mask his shaking, he chokes out a weak "E-excuse me" and hurries through the door behind him to the next car and away from all those people.

As the door closes behind him, he almost lets out an undignified screech when he finds the next train car just as full. Was he being punished for something? Was his dad leaving and nobody liking him not enough? Eyes glued to the floor and arms wrapped protectively around him, he barrels through crowded car after crowded car until he comes to what appears to be a freight car. There is no seating, but it's miraculously devoid of people and the large crates could prove to be a wonderful hiding spot. Situating himself behind one such crate, out of view of the door, he tries to calm his frayed nerves. Breathe in, count to 10, release. Breathe in, count to 10 –

You can have the leftovers when I'm finished!

Letting out a strangled whine, he curls into a ball and presses his hands to his ears, hoping beyond hope that that will be enough to block out the bully's voice. Go away. Go away. Go away. He almost wishes that Zack was there, but he can't bear the thought of having to explain what had happened, to see the light fade from the teen's eyes, replaced instead with disgust at the knowledge that Cloud was damaged, was unfit to be his friend.

Even if for some inexplicable reason Zack didn't abandon him, Cloud couldn't drag him into his problems, couldn't rely on him for help. "Got him killed once. Can't do it again," he mumbles to himself, unhearing, focused instead on where he should go next. He couldn't stay on the train forever, he needed to find a safe haven.

When the train stops in the slums, he gets off without thinking. Still trying to figure out a good place to claim sanctuary, his feet lead him, unbidden, down a back road and away from the slums. Before he realizes it, he finds himself in an abandoned part of town, if the crumbling buildings are anything to go by. Surprisingly enough, there is still one building relatively intact. In the center of all the rubble, apparently untouched by time, stands a massive church. A church that looks strikingly familiar and that almost makes him want to cry again. He knows he's never been here before, but he can't shake the feeling that he's finally home.

Entering the building, he closes the doors behind him – it would give him more time to get away if somebody had followed him – before walking hesitantly down the wooden floor. He can't quite rid himself of the sensation that he knows this place, that he's lived here before, as his eyes rove the sanctum, half expecting to see a bedroll and a chest of… something lying in the corner. There's absolutely nothing there, though, so he has no idea what's going on. Maybe this was just a reaction to the trauma – his mind conjuring up a much-needed sense of safety and security.

As he approaches the dais, he notices a bed of flowers – flowers that look a lot like Aerith's. Did she come here, too? Before he puts too much thought into whether he should leave – he can't get her involved, either – he notices something in the middle of the flowerbed. Something lying in the flowerbed. Squinting, he notices black clothes and black hair. Eyes going wide, he gasps and then he's racing towards the prone figure – panic momentarily forgotten. "Tifa!"

Except the flowerbed was empty. Tifa wasn't there. Nobody was. Gazing around widely, he tries to get the thumping of his heart back under control. What was wrong with him? First he was too weak to protect himself and now he's seeing things? Some impressive cadet he is. Forget proving everyone in Nibelheim wrong or showing that he is worthy of Tifa's attention if he can't. keep. it. together.

Huffing out a sigh, he straightens back up and turns to survey the church again. He's just thinking that those pews could work as a makeshift cot of sorts, when the creaking of the church door alerts him to the fact that he's no longer alone. Dread back full force, he tries to convince his feet to run, to do something actually productive, but he remains frozen in place. Had he actually been followed? He hadn't been paying attention since getting off of the train, what with the state of hypnosis he was practically under. If that was more of Johnson's friends, he was in major trouble. The hallway was bad enough, but now he isn't even on Shinra property. There's no one to come to his defense. He really needs to hide, but all he's capable of is staring, heart thumping, as the front door starts to slowly open inwards.

"Hey! Wait up!"

Whatever petrified spell he was under breaks at the sound of the loud voice and he flees through the door leading to the back of the church as the front one swings shut again. Ducking into a room off the right, he takes the stairs within as high as they go, crawling over a set of crates in the middle of the second flight – honestly, why would anybody put that there? Racing down the hallway to the back of the church, he doesn't even bother to wonder why his feet seem to know where they're going, instead focusing on a ladder that may very well be his ticket to freedom.

As he clambers up the ladder to what can only be the attic, he gets the strangest sense that he's done this before. But who was he running from – Johnson, the other cadets, Turks? Scoffing, he shakes his head at that last one. Why would he even consider the Turks as the bad guys? Yes, their actions were entirely confusing and maybe even mildly headache-inducing, but they had never done anything wrong to Cloud. Heck, one had even protected him.

So lost in his Turkish thoughts, he doesn't notice the broken piece of floorboard until it connects with his foot and is sent skidding several feet in front of him. Freezing in place again, he hopes beyond hope that his pursuers aren't in the church yet.

He isn't that lucky.

"Did you hear that?"

Please say no. Please say no.

"Uh, no?"

Cloud breathes out a silent sigh of relief. He's still safe.

"Where's Cloud? I thought you said he would be here?"

Fighting the urge to cry or throw up – why him? – Cloud makes the distressing realization that he actually isn't safe yet. And even worse, he has confirmation that he is, in fact, being followed. So much for claiming sanctuary in an actual sanctuary. He needs to leave – and fast. Even more importantly, he needs to do so without being discovered, otherwise he'll just have to go through this whole stomach-churning ordeal all over again.

By some major turn of luck – perhaps he noticed when he first came in – he knows for an absolute fact that there's a hole in the roof leading outside. That would be a good, discreet way of escaping. Except it's back through the main sanctum – the only thing that his stalkers would have to do would be look up and he would be discovered. But it's his only way out right now. He'll have to be very careful – he can't fail.

Creeping forward, Cloud seems to miraculously know exactly where to place his feet and how to distribute his weight to remain completely, utterly, and surprisingly silent. This might work. He comes to a stop right before reentering the main sanctum and hides, out of sight, behind some crates and the unbroken portion of wall until he hears the inner door open and close, his followers now in the back of the church. As if trained by a Turk himself, Cloud sneaks, entirely soundless, through the broken wall, across the ceiling joists, and out through the hole in the roof.

He's never traveled by rooftop before, but it seems to come naturally. Crossing from building to building without a single moment of hesitation, he seems to know exactly where he's going, as if he'd taken this exact same path before. When he comes to a rusted ladder leading to the top of some pillar, he climbs it carefully, afraid it will break at any second.

"You worry too much. I'm not some princess who needs to be coddled."

Startled by the unexpected voice, Cloud loses his footing and dangles in the air for a few heart-stopping moments, before finally regaining his bearings and clinging to the ladder like some sort of terrified, baby monkey. Looking around fearfully, he realizes that he's still alone and that the voice must have been another one of the ones in his head. Groaning – when will it stop? – he manages to untangle himself from the thankfully still-intact ladder and make it to the top on somewhat trembling legs.

Once he's sure his legs won't give out on him, he takes the stairs down from the pillar two at a time, crosses carefully over a pipe to the next building, then slides down a much larger, deteriorating one to the rooftops across the way, uncertain why he thinks Aerith would find this particularly enjoyable. When he reaches the bottom, he realizes that he's come to the end of the rooftops and, without thinking, he jumps easily to the ground below. It's only when he's safely on the ground and chances a look back, that he realizes, jaw dropping open in shock, that the building he had just jumped from is easily twice as tall as he is. How in all of Gaia had he managed that? He never would have had the confidence or the courage to do that normally.

Shaking himself out of his shock, he realizes, with no small amount of rising dread, that he's still technically escaping. If he doesn't hurry, his pursuers will catch up – no time to dwell on his sudden competence now. Racing up the path, he soon finds himself back at the train station. A train station that is far too crowded for his liking. No way is he going to ask for help – nobody would take his side over Johnson's. Other than that Turk, of course, but he's a plate away now.

Ducking down a back road, he's pleasantly surprised to find that it is devoid not only of people but monsters as well. He makes short work of it, as if once more knowing exactly where to go. When he makes it to the end, he finds himself in the heart of the Sector 5 slums. Which is bad – this is where Aerith lives. He can't… he can't get her involved. He already had to bury her once, he wouldn't be able to live through that again.

Cloud comes to an abrupt stop, realizing with a growing sense of confused horror the turn of his rather concerning thoughts. Aerith was still alive, so why did he think that he had buried her at one point? And what are these visions of a white orb of materia falling into a lake? Chalking it up to just another unwanted side-effect of all the trauma – he really doesn't have time to psychoanalyze himself right now – he rubs away the confounding tears and ignores the sharp pang in his chest. Continuing his flight, he keeps his head down, not making eye contact, as he hurries through Sector 5, unfortunately unable to take some trafficless back road this time.

When he sees Wall Market in the distance, he panics. Going through just that small, populated section of Sector 5 had been bad enough. Having to wade his way through the normally packed entertainment district with the sun starting to set would be an absolute nightmare. Nope, definitely not doing that. Instead, he turns down a side road and finds himself in what appears to be an abandoned expressway. This would work well enough.

Thankfully deserted, too, by the time he makes it through the expressway, it's dark out. He finds himself in an empty playground, which he figures must be the one outside Wall Market that Zack had mentioned. The thought of the other teen leaves him staring at the cat slide, a painfully bittersweet feeling in his chest. What he wouldn't give to be able to rewind time and just go back to gazing up at the smog-covered sky, Zack telling him ridiculous stories at his side. But he can't rewind time and he can't see the other teen ever again – not after failing so spectacularly.

Turning away from the slide, his memories too much, he heads to the other end of the playground and a climbing structure in the shape of a cat or maybe a bear. As he walks around the side and peers through the opening to see if there really is a sewer grate underneath like he feels there should be, he hears an aggravated shout that chills him to the bone.

"Dammit! Where could he be!?"

His pursuers had caught up.

Not sparing any thought to his newly and hastily formed plan, he scrambles underneath the cat-bear-thing and huddles up against the inner wall, knees pulled to his chest. Maybe if he's really quiet, they won't find him. Several agonizing seconds pass before Cloud hears footsteps – a telltale sign that his followers had entered the playground.

He hears a frustrated sigh. "He's not here either."

"It's ok. The others are looking for him, too. We'll find him."

Cloud doesn't have to worry about keeping quiet anymore since he had totally stopped breathing at that admission. Those two weren't the only ones looking for him. He was seriously screwed. He tightens the grip around his knees, trying his best not to cry from all the emotions roiling inside of him, the sheer panic keeping him from even attempting to determine if the voices on the other side sound familiar.

"It's getting late, we should probably turn in soon."

"Let's check Wall Market first."

When he can no longer hear the sound of their footsteps, Cloud sucks in a ragged breath. They were searching everywhere for him. Was Johnson really that popular? Even when the bully is out of the picture, the rest of the cadets will still drop everything to search for him, to show him a lesson? He needs to leave Midgar. But the gates are closed this late at night, not to mention that he's already exhausted from all the running. …Ok, wait 'til morning, then flee the city.

He gets the feeling that sleeping would be futile – there's far too much built-up stress, frustration, and terror for his mind to take a break – so he stares blindly in front of him, arms wrapped tightly around his knees, willing the hours to pass quickly. He doesn't register when he starts to slowly rock back and forth in a subconscious attempt to calm himself. And he certainly doesn't notice when his eyes slip shut, exhaustion finally taking over, and he falls into a mercifully Johnson-less slumber.

"Hey! Wait up!"

Aerith turns at the sound of the voice, the door she had been opening swinging shut behind her. When she had heard the news from Zack, she hadn't even bothered waiting, she had run straight to the church – Cloud had to be there. She just didn't realize that Biggs had followed her. Or that she had even passed him on her single-minded mission to find her missing friend.

Coming to a stop just before the steps, Biggs gazes up at the church in awe for a second, before turning a pinched look towards her. So, he had already heard. "You really think he's here?"

Aerith nods. "This is where we first met. Well, really met." Her smile is sad as she continues, "He may not remember, but I think he would feel a pull to this place. I think he would feel safe here."

When they enter the church, it's very easily apparent that Cloud is not in the main sanctum. Aerith is just wondering if perhaps she was only projecting onto Cloud – she may feel safe here, but that doesn't mean he would, too – when she hears something scraping from above them. "Did you hear that?"

Biggs turns confused eyes on her. "Uh, no?"

Hopes now dashed, she guesses the sound must have been ghosts of the past… or rather future. She sighs to herself as they walk past the pews. She had been certain that they would find him here. Half expected to see him in the flower bed again.

"Where's Cloud? I thought you said he would be here?" Biggs asks, looking all over as if afraid that he'll miss something, even though the room is very obviously empty aside from them.

"I thought he would be… Let's check the back."

The back seems just as empty, but they look anyway. Aerith heads straight for the attic while Biggs checks the rest of the church, but they still come up Cloud-less. Leaving the church behind, when they get back to the train station, Aerith suggests they split up again – she takes the back roads while Biggs sticks with the main one. But, while Aerith checks every nook and cranny and trusts that Biggs had done the same on his end, when they meet up outside of Sector 5, they both have nothing to show for it.

Their search in the heart of Sector 5 proves slightly more fruitful when an older man they question claims to have seen somebody fitting Cloud's description hurrying off in the direction of Wall Market. Something about that not sitting right with her, though – Cloud wouldn't have willingly gone to Wall Market by himself in the traumatized state that he's in – Aerith suggests they check the abandoned expressway first. Unfortunately, when they reach the end, they're still no closer to finding their friend, having found no sign of Cloud anywhere.

"Dammit! Where could he be!?" Biggs yells to the sky, clearly frustrated with their lack of results.

"I'm sorry, Biggs. I thought he would be there." Aerith knows she has to remain strong for everybody – Zack has been getting more and more upset with each passing hour – but she just wants to cry for her hurting friend or scream the pain away like Biggs.

The teen turns a guilty look her way, perhaps realizing the upset turn her thoughts had taken. "Hey, it's ok. None of this is your fault. The church and the expressway were both good places to check. Cloud would have definitely not been comfortable going to Wall Market with how worked-up he is." He smiles apologetically as he continues, "Besides, you said that the two of you had visited both before. Those are the places we should be focusing on, since Cloud might be drawn to them due to a sense of familiarity."

She almost giggles at the apprehensive look on his face. She had forgotten that he was technically older. He no doubt felt the need to look out for everybody. Maybe she doesn't have to pretend to be strong, they could just lean on each other. "The playground up ahead is another place we visited. Wanna check it out?"

"After you," Biggs says, holding out a hand.

Aerith does giggle at that. "What a gentleman."

The playground is unfortunately empty as well, no Cloud in sight, and Biggs lets out a sigh. "He's not here either."

Aerith places a hand on his arm – it was her turn to console him, her turn to return the favor. "It's ok. The others are looking for him, too. We'll find him." Or at least she hopes so. They hadn't had much luck so far.

"Yeah, you're right," Biggs mumbles, though it sounds like it's more for himself than anything, and let's his eyes rove the playground one last time, making sure he hadn't missed anything.

"It's getting late, we should probably turn in soon." She doesn't want to stop looking, but it'll be too dark to be of any help to anybody, especially Cloud.

Biggs hesitates, face the picture of reluctance. "Let's check Wall Market first."

Unfortunately, Wall Market proves to be another let down and they return home tired and depressed. They promise to meet again first thing in the morning at Sector 7 since that was where the other three spent most of their time. Aerith doesn't mind making the trip, though Biggs did try to insist on meeting in Sector 5 instead.

"Cloud!"

He turns at the startled voice of his companion, one hand still holding the ladder in front of him. The walkway underneath them shakes and he watches alarmed as a company of Sahagins shoot from the murky, green-tinted water with a growl.

"-d."

Gasping, his companions back up uneasily as the monsters advance on them, tridents brandished and tongues hanging limp from their mouths. Who was he traveling with? And why were they in the sewers? The two in front of him look feminine, but their features are hazy. One wields a staff and the other appears to be a martial artist, but he doesn't know anybody who meets that description. Definitely no time to focus on that, though – it would be insulting to even try given their current situation. Finally releasing the ladder, Cloud rushes forward, taking point and drawing his sword, more than ready to protect his friends.

"Looks like they're hungry for more," the one from before says, fists raised in front of her, stance apprehensive.

The worried voice of their other companion pipes up from behind them. "We're not delicious! Not even a little bit!"

Ignoring her warning, the Sahagins snarl as they continue their steady approach, their numbers seeming to grow with every step. This was bad, really bad, there were far too many of them for Cloud and his friends to handle by themselves. Jerking his head in the direction of the ladder, he keeps the monsters in his periphery as he commands, "Get going." Not dwelling on the fact that his voice sounds deeper for some reason, he slashes at an attacking monster as the martial artist makes short work of another.

His words had been directed at the both of them, but while he hears the retreating footsteps of the staff wielder – was she their healer? – the martial artist stays behind, coming to stand back-to-back with him, attention never leaving the ever-approaching Sahagins. He won't let her get hurt, though. Can't see her get hurt. "You too!" He urges the warrior, eyes still trained on the monsters in front of them.

"But there's too many of them!" She counters, refusing to move from her spot guarding his back.

"Not for me." Dang. Since when did he sound so cool? If only Tifa was there to see him. To hear him.

She hesitates a moment more before finally taking a step back. "Hurry," she begs before running for the ladder.

The walkway shakes once more as another Sahagin charges, but a single swipe of Cloud's sword sends it soaring over the railing and back into the sewer water below.

"-ud."

"Last warning! Back off, or die!" He keeps his posture straight as he slowly backs up, trying to appear as threatening as possible. Wow. He really needs to take notes – he never sounds, or acts, this confident. The kids back in Nibelheim would totally take him seriously if he did.

Cutting down another Sahagin, he almost spares a thought to the fact that he is wielding Commander Hewley's sword – when did that happen? – but instead takes the opportunity to start his own retreat. Before long, though, he hears the slapping of webbed feet behind him. Turning at the top of the stairs, he takes a quick swipe at the nearest monster – enough to stun, but not kill – before kicking it straight into the rest behind, bowling over the lot of them. Starting his escape anew, when he's finally to the ladder, he spares a single glance back before beginning his hasty ascent. Halfway up, he has to tighten his grip around the rungs when the ladder itself starts to shake.

"-oud."

Nearly leaping the rest of the way – it would be bad if the monsters were following them out of the sewer – he vaults out of the manhole and hastily secures the cover over the opening. He's just thinking that that should do it, when the shaking intensifies.

"-loud."

Crap. Were they trying to dislodge the manhole cover? That was really bad. Throwing himself down over the cover without a second thought, he tries to keep it in place as the entire world seems to quake around him.

"Cloud."

The world fades to black and it takes him several long moments to realize that he was dreaming, and several more to notice that the shaking he's feeling is not some horde of Sahagins trying to force open the sewer grate, but rather somebody trying to wake him.

"Cloud."

Eyes flying open, he sits up in a blind panic – he had been found. When his eyes focus, though, he stops and blinks at the person sitting in front of him, not entirely comprehending this turn of events. Aerith, of all people, kneels in front of him, happy smile on her face and a single tear running down her cheek. Reaching forward slowly, she taps him on the nose.

"Found you."