All Things New

Chapter Three: One Step Forward

No one mentioned Cloud's absence during breakfast, but they didn't have to. She could tell by the look on the children's faces that they were disappointed, and Cid and Barret kept glancing at her with their clear disapproval of the mako-eyed hero's abrupt departure. All she could do was scoot the bits of egg and toast around on her plate listlessly in an attempt to pretend like she was eating, or even hungry. Her appetite had left with the last sound of Fenrir's engine as it faded into the distance.

Thankfully, Reeve decided to make a surprise appearance before they'd even finished clearing away the dishes. Polite, as usual, he immediately offered to return later when they'd had a chance to finish, which met three resounding 'no's from the adults and a perplexed look shared by the two kids.

"Mr. Reeve, where's Cait?" Denzel had developed something of a fascination for the automaton when Marlene tried to explain to him what exactly it was.

"I'm sure he's safe, Denzel," Tifa interjected, sparing their guest an apologetic smile before her attention returned to the boy. "Why don't you and Marlene play upstairs, okay? I'll take you to the park later."

They didn't hesitate to scamper off with a clatter of their dishes in the sink, the sound of fighting over which puzzle they'd put together echoing down the hall after them, leaving her free to offer another apology and collect the rest from the table.

The men had made themselves comfortable by the time she was through. Barret took up the entire couch and half the living room with his legs crossed in front of him, Cid had his arms folded over the back of the chair he was sitting in backward, and Reeve had one hand on the mantle of the fireplace. It left little but a shabby-looking armchair for her to perch on, which she reluctantly did, leaning to avoid the bigger lumps in the cushion.

"I'd hoped Cloud would be here also, but I suppose there's no helping that fact now," Reeve began, reading from all of their faces that much discussion on that farewell wasn't quite welcome. "You see, I'm beginning to suspect the Shin-Ra Corporation is up to something again."

"What?"

The clunk of Barret's barrel arm hitting the arm of the sofa jarred Tifa into action again with a quick, "You'd better explain what you mean by up to something, Reeve…"

Reeve laughed nervously, a polite chuckle more than anything, and smoothed his slacks over his knees. "Well, I'm not exactly sure what to make of it. Word is, Shin-Ra is planning to rebuild. That's no surprise. With the Geostigma gone, everyone is planning to rebuild. What troubles me is what they plan on rebuilding."

Everyone instantly thought of the worst. More mako reactors. More devastation. More… When Barret's arm clicked, Cid saw fit to step in. "Goddamnit, stop keeping us in suspense and have out with it."

"I saw blueprints for another laboratory, in Midgar this time."

"What kind of laboratory?" Surprisingly enough, Barret seemed rather calm in asking the question. It would be the answer he received that would determine his reaction, and Tifa could only hope her living room would be spared.

Reeve shook his head, gaze wandering anywhere but meeting those of his friends. "I'm not entirely sure. I do know there's apparently a scientist already waiting to begin his research once it's complete. A Dr. Stevens, who received a lot of acclaim with his research on Geostigma. Since the epidemic's been resolved, I can only imagine he intends to continue his work in the field of genetics."

Genetics. It was like a stone fell and dragged all their hopes for peace down with it.

"We're gonna have another apocalypse on our hands!" came Barret's angry protest, and Tifa had to place a hand on his arm to calm him, quite a feat from her precarious seat in the armchair beside him.

"Now, let's not jump to any conclusions. I need more information before we start assuming that anything even remotely dangerous is going on. The president seems to have turned a new leaf, after all," was Reeve's attempt at keeping the peace, obviously falling on deaf ears.

"When will you know for sure what Shin-Ra is up to, Reeve?" Tifa was intent on keeping the peace as well.

"Well…since I'm no longer with the company, I'm not privy to all the information, but I have sources. At the very least, I'll be able to discover more once the laboratory is complete and work resumes there. I know that's not much, but there's plenty to do in the meantime that should keep all of us busy."

"Not me," Cid chimed in, unfolding his arms to push himself into a stand, dusting off his palms. "Figure I've already stayed long enough. Someone's gonna have my ass if I get into any more trouble."

"She already has your ass," Barret retorted, getting to his own feet to tower over the rest. Everyone knew Shera was probably the only reason Cid was still alive at this point, and sane—if he could be considered that. "You can't just turn a blind eye if something's goin' down."

"Watch me."

Tifa joined all the rest when she stood, a fist clenching at her side as she offered a terse, "Arguing won't get us anywhere, and it won't stop whatever's happening either. Calm down. Reeve, what else needs to be done?"

"Corel, first and foremost. I've been talking to you about that, Barret. Maybe you want to head back there…?" Gaia, but she was thankful at least someone else in the room had a level head on their shoulders.

At mention of his hometown, Barret quieted enough to shrug and fold his arms, sparing Cid another glare. He had a soft spot in his heart for the town and its people, no one could dispute that.

"Maybe Denzel and Marlene and I could go along with you, Barret. It'd be good for Marlene to see your home, and there's nothing keeping us here." Not since Cloud left.

Cid had a change of heart – or he decided he didn't want to be staring down the barrel of a gun for long – and piped up with a nonchalant, "And I suppose I could drop y'all off on my way back to Rocket Town. It's on the way and all. Just don't expect me to stick around. I've got things to do."

"Then it's settled," Tifa replied with a nod. "We'll head there by the end of the week. Tomorrow, even, if you have a schedule to keep, Cid."

But Barret still looked unsure. Reeve noticed, as did Tifa, though Cid was already on his way out the back door with a hollered, "I'll be fixing things up to leave," over his shoulder.

"Barret, I assure you, I'll keep an eye on things and let you and Tifa know the moment anything starts looking truly suspicious. Right now it's just speculation, and after the last few days' events, we all deserve a break from unfounded fears, don't you think?"

That cued Reeve to take his leave, promising again to contact them at the very first hint of anything problematic, placing the burden of convincing the environmentalist on her shoulders.

"I just don't like the idea of running off when something might be up," he admitted as he fell back to a seat, fisting his metal hand into the sofa's cushions. Her furniture needed a vacation, if nothing else.

There was nothing she could really offer as further reassurance. She knew when he thought of Shin-Ra's dealings he thought of Corel, just like she thought of Nibelheim. Where they came from doesn't exist anymore. That's something that will never change, and the worst that could happen would be for it to be done to others.

"Reeve will keep an eye on it. He's good at that sort of thing. He kept an eye on all of us, remember?" Maybe that lame attempt at lightening things might help.

"I wanna go back to Corel!"

Marlene and Denzel peeked their heads into the room first after the girl's exclamation, before both appeared in full while Marlene ran and pounced her adoptive father where he still sat. "I wanna go back home."

Denzel, on the other hand, took his time joining the small group. He was wearing a smile but Tifa knew better than anyone what one looked like when it was half-forced, and as he neared, she placed a hand gently on the boy's shoulder. His home had been destroyed, and all he had left was here with her and Cloud. It must be hard for him watching Barret be Marlene's father when his own father figure saw fit to abandon him again.

There was no way Barret could refuse Marlene, however, and after a moment of overly dramatic – feigned – thought on the matter, he parted with a reluctant, "I s'pose we can head back. I've got some work to do anyway. Gotta make sure the others have been gettin' everything done while I've been saving all of you."

Marlene had giggled and ran upstairs already "to pack," she'd said, while Tifa managed a smile despite the sudden tension she could feel in Denzel's form beneath her palm. Barret hadn't spent enough time with the boy to know anything was amiss, but she was spared informing him when he rose to his feet, stretched, and casually mentioned he'd go tell their pilot they'd be ready to head out the next morning.

It left Tifa and Denzel alone in the living room, and the boy finally felt free to voice what he was thinking. "Cloud saved us. All of us."

So that's what this was about. He still adored him, no matter how many times he left and possibly never came back.

"That's right, he did. But we helped him, Denzel. Even Cloud needs help sometimes, but he usually doesn't like to admit it or ask for it, so we give it to him without that because we care about him." If there was anything he needed to learn about Cloud, that was it.

"You mean, like still being here even though he leaves all the time?"

She smiled faintly. How many times had she been there through the years? "Yeah, just like that."

He'd nodded, some of his good spirits restored. After all, he was taking a trip to a place he'd never been before. Tifa wasn't sure he'd ever even left the outskirts of Midgar.

But just as quickly his face fell again, and he said, "But we won't be here, we'll be in Corel! What if he thinks we left?"

"I'll call him, don't worry. That's what he has his cell phone for." Or it was supposed to be the reason for the mobile.

"Okay!" His smile was once again in place, one she realized now she loved seeing, especially now that the Geostigma was gone and he could enjoy life like the kid he still was. "I'll go help Marlene pack her things," he added before running to the doorway.

"Hey, wait, what about packing your own things?"

"Marlene will want to take so much stuff she'll need my help putting it into bags!" was all she received, shouted in response down the hall before she heard his steps creaking up the stairs.

With a soft chuckle she shook her head, agreeing with Denzel's logic despite the load it would mean they'd have to all haul onto the ship when the time came. Speaking of, a peek out the window revealed Barret and Cid in the backyard arguing about something, which probably meant everything was perfectly fine.

Now she just had a phone call to make

Leave your message after the tone.

The automated voice was one she'd heard too many times before to count, and it grated on her nerves. If he was never going to answer the phone, the least he could do is record some kind of personal message for the voicemail.

Beep!

"Hey, it's me. Just wanted to give you a heads-up that the kids and I are heading to Corel with Barret for a little while." She didn't really think he'd be back by the time they would, but stranger things had happened. "We should be back pretty soon. If plans change, I'll let you know."

Should she tell him about what Reeve said? Somehow that didn't seem like a conversation to be having with a message machine. "Reeve's keeping an eye on Shin-Ra. Apparently some things have been suspicious lately…" There, at least she'd warned him, in part. "I'll keep you posted about that, too."

A momentary pause as she debated saying anything else, finally opting for a simple, "Be careful, Cloud." It was code for telling him he better come back in one piece, and that he better come back like he promised sooner rather than later, if possible.

She hung up the phone and replaced it in its cradle, her fingers idly falling to drum a rhythm across the top of the desk, landing before the picture of the group. They looked so happy, right after the trio had been vanquished and Sephiroth was sent back into nothing but memory. If she had anything to say about it, they would be happy again.

In the meantime, the clatter coming from Marlene's room reminded her that she needed to pack, and probably avert disaster by helping them pack, too. It would be a good distraction for all of them.

Maybe, it could be the stepping-stone toward happiness for the children, at least.

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update. Also, over the next few chapters you'll see a lot more development of the actual plotline of the story, with Shin-Ra plotting something new, and the WRO's efforts, and all of it. Hopefully I'll be able to do the story in my head justice when it's translated onto the page. Or screen. Thank you for reading! All reviews are highly welcome and encouraged. :)