It was strange to her to be greeted by the sight of the blond headed male that was kneeling next to her.

As she went to sit up, she winced as she felt a large throbbing in her head. She could see the man was staring with some confusion within his eyes, however, as she sat up and tried to take in her surroundings, she could only make out blurry blobs of color.

When she moved her right hand, she could feel the cold touch of thin metal, looking down she noticed a pair of glasses and quickly put them on. The world around her quickly became clearer as she took in the large forest that she appeared to be in.

"Where-" She began, but as she tried to leaf through her memories all she received back was pain.

The man that was still kneeling next to her didn't say anything, only watched her with a small hint of worry. Instantly she took notice of the way he was looking at her and went to stand up. However, as soon as she got to her feet, her knees instantly buckled causing the man to instinctively catch her.

"Apologies. I guess it's been a while since I used my legs. May I know your name?" She asked timidly as she looked up into his eyes as she stepped back trying to get her bearings.

He looked away slightly as if debating if he should give it or not, however, it was decided for him. The sound of something large was heard rustling within the bushes; quickly he turned and maneuvered his body so he was standing in front of her.

"Stay behind me."

She watched as he withdrew the large sword from his back just as a large grey worm-like monster emerged. She could see all kinds of eyes running down the sides as well as its mouth splitting open revealing a large amount of teeth.

Just as the one in front of them emerged, she could see that another had emerged quietly to their right and charged at the man. Reacting upon instinct, she quickly shifted her body to his side and raised her left hand allowing the energy to emerge from her palm, forming a shield and her back was against his.

The monster ran head first into the shield causing it to become paralyzed. The blonde quickly used the momentary stun to his advantage. He shifted away from the first worm, quickly shifted so his body was once again in front of her and slashed the worm in half horizontally. Just as soon as he did the other worm charged at him once more.

She instantly noticed, once more she placed her back against his once more and placed up another shield. Just as soon as the worm hit the shield, he quickly dispatched it just as he did to the other one. Both of them kept their guard up, waiting for more to arrive.

When there was no sign of any more creatures to attack them, she watched the blond sheath his large sword and she allowed her hands to return to her sides. She then began to look around the area when she noticed a single staff that was impaled into the ground. She walked over to the long blue and golden staff, when suddenly she was hit with a broken memory:

"Xi...a... " A male voice brokenly called out.

Her hands were stained red even as the rain poured down.

It was then she felt a hand land upon her left shoulder causing her jump slightly at the feeling. She turned to face the blond haired man, who was staring at her with concern littered in his eyes.

"I.. I'm fine. Apologies." She stated as she walked away from him and toward the staff, unaware, of his eyes following her closely as if waiting for her to fall.

When she removed the staff from the ground, she heard the man behind her take a breath before speaking quietly, "Cloud Strife."

Blinking she turns to face and notices that his back is to her. Cloud must have felt her confused gaze on his back before he continued, "My name."

She could feel her lips twitch upward into a small smile as she responds with a bit of hesitance, "I am… Xia."

Cloud simply hummed out that he heard her as he walked forward; Xia glanced behind her once more before turning around and ran after him. As the two were walking, Xia looked around as they walked before turning to him.

"May I ask where we are?" She wondered with a perplexed expression.

"Just outside the Slums of Sector 2," Cloud responded bluntly as he continued to walk onward.

Xia frowned as confusion set in causing her to stop and look down at her black boots. Cloud stopped when he noticed that Xia had stopped walking, turning to see what caused her to stop. Xia had her right hand upon her head, and her left hand gripped the staff tightly until her knuckles turned white.

However, Xia eventually relaxed as the pain went away and she gave Cloud a weak smile. "Apologies I am sure you are in a hurry."

Cloud didn't say anything as he nodded his head before turning to begin walking away again. He glanced over his right shoulder to make sure that Xia was still following; thankfully, she had begun to quickly follow after him. She didn't know how long they walked, but they eventually came to a small little town.

Xia stared in awe as they entered the small town, as they passed by small shops until they eventually came to a store that read 'Dragon's Lair' on the sign. She stared at it with a bit of confusion, but followed Cloud inside; standing behind the counter was an older man standing behind the counter.

Xia watched as Cloud approached him and with a slightly bored tone speak, "We got rid of those worms."

This caused the older man to turn to face Cloud and spoke out with a kind voice, "I appreciate it, young man. Here is the payment I promised."

The older man handed Cloud a bag of money, Cloud accepted it, nodding to the store owner before turning to leave. Xia stood off to the side allowing Cloud to pass by her once more, just as she was about to leave the older man called out to her,

"Young lady, I assume you are an acquaintance to that young merc? If you plan on following him then you will need something more than a simple staff to assist him. Here you can have this free of charge."

Xia looked over at Cloud who also had stopped simply looking at Xia before he spoke calmly, "I'll wait for you outside."

Xia watched as he left the shop before turning to look at the elderly man, who simply smiled at her before turning and vanishing behind a door. She stood in the quiet shop, feeling extremely awkward; her staff was clutched tight against her chest as she waited.

Eventually the elderly man emerged, with a long silver case, placing it on the counter with a grunt, he signaled for Xia to come over to where he was. Hesitantly she did so as soon as she was close enough; the man opened the suitcase revealing a long black sword.

Xia instantly felt another massive amount of pain enter her head as she stared at the screaming face. Its eyes glowed a deep purple, near where the hilt met the blade there was a slightly raised section that would glow a deep purple.

Xia picked it up, holding it in her right and she instantly felt the connection between herself and the sword. The weight felt familiar as she held the black blade, it was then she noticed that in the center of the forehead appeared to be a small groove as if it was meant to hold a round circular object there.

"This sword has been with us for many years. I think now is the time for it to finally have an owner. You take care out there and make sure that young man takes care." The elderly man stated as he handed her a black sheath along with a belt that was attached.

Xia took the items, placing the sword within its sheath before buckling it up around her waist. Xia looked at the old man who was looking at her with knowing dark blue eyes,

"Thank you. I better get going. Have a good day sir."

Xia gave him a small smile as she turned to leave the shop as the shopkeeper watched her leave. Once Xia had gone through the door that went back outside, she looked over to her right to see Cloud leaning against the wall with his eyes closed.

"Cloud? May I make a request of you?" Xia asked quietly as she approached him, which caused him to open his eyes and look at her quietly.

Taking this as a sign to continue she spoke once more," I… Don't know who I am other than the name Xia and that I can do magic. Will you help me find my memories?"

Cloud straightened himself from the wall, and turned to her. Her eyes met with his as he spoke to her calmly, "I'll help you. For the right price."

Cloud watched as her eyes lit up with a fire that seemed familiar to him as she responded back confidently, "Name your price."

Something about that sentence had stirred something within him and he said, "Fifteen thousand gil."

Cloud watched as the lit in her eyes began to brighten as she responded back with a determined tone, "Alright. I'll get that amount. In exchange I'll be your personal healer and you'll help me with my memories." She held out her right hand for him to shake it, Cloud stared at her for a moment realizing she meant it and walked over to where she was standing and shook her hand.

"You got a deal. I'll be around town for a bit longer." He stated as they separated from the hand shake.

Xia nodded before saying," If you will give me until this evening I'll have your gil."

Cloud let out a hum of understanding before turning and walking away as Xia watched him walk away. When he was out of sight, Xia let out a small sigh as she turned and began to walk out around to see if there were any jobs that she could do.

It was then that she heard a male voice yelling out. "Come one! Come all! Want to test your might!? Come try and win the grand prize of thirty thousand gil!"

This caught Xia's attention, as she began to make her way over to the man that was yelling out the announcement. She could see that he was wearing ripped jeans and was wearing a weird kind of vest.

"What kind of contest is it?" Xia asked as she stepped forward from the small crowd that had gathered around.

The man turned to her, before saying with a chuckle, "It's a simple test of strength. You have to survive 4 rounds of fighting. The winner of the matches gets the prize money."

"Where do I sign up?" Xia asked, tilting her head in confusion.

The man smirked slightly before jumping down from his perch and looked at Xia with judging dark green eyes and spoke once more with a slightly cocky tone, "You looking to sign up, sweetie?"

Xia narrowed her eyes, before she reached up and pushed up her glasses and responded sternly, "Yes and please don't call me sweetie."

The man let out a small cackle, as he moved out of the way to and pointed to a door to a nearby building and said, "Well, Kitty Kat, go right through that door and go to the bar, tell the bartender that, Mac sent ya."

Xia could feel a bit anxious at the thought of entering an unfamiliar building, but despite that Xia knew that she needed the gil so she could get Cloud to help her. She nodded her head toward the guy before walking over to the metal door and opened it to reveal a large room with a crowd of people dancing as well as loud music playing.

Xia then proceeded to head toward the bartender that was near the back of the bar. In the back of the bar she could see a tall bulky man cleaning the cups with an almost tender like. More than likely so he didn't break them due to his size.

The man noticed her approaching; as he looked up, his hazel eyes met hers and he asked her kindly, "You need something?"

Xia clenched her staff in her left hand before she quietly said, "Mac sent me."

The man nodded his head as he set down his glass and signaled her to follow him. She watches as he lifts up the counters to allow her inside before leading her to a door and opening it to reveal a red velvet lavish hallway.

He then proceeded down it, opened the only door revealing her a flight of stairs that seemed to lead down stairs. Eventually they came to a small room that had a few tables and chairs and seemed to be well equipped with dealing with injuries as well as offering up drinks. Xia turned to the man with a confused look, noticing it, he chuckled and said,

"This is the resting room where we escort the beginning contestants before the underground matches begin. In about thirty minutes the first round of the fights will begin and you'll be called to fight. These fights are similar to the ones hosted in the Wall Market, however, since we aren't as big as that area we don't offer too much in prize money."

"I see. May I ask your name?" Xia asked as she sat down at one of the tables the man offered her.

"The names Jamerson. I gotta feeling you aren't from around here. So where are you from, little lady?" He asked as he went behind the bar and began to make her a drink.

She noticed that upon his mocha colored skin was a tattoo of what appeared to be a panther. Jamerson must have noticed her looking at his arm, and he simply rolled up his sleeve more to show her.

"It's a family tattoo. I got this to show loyalty to my ancestors and to the gods that reside over us." He explained softly before he brought her over a simple red drink.

"That's nice. As for your question, I am afraid I don't know. All I remember is my name and that I was discovered in the forest by a man. I need this money to pay him for helping me find my memories." Xia explained as she stared into the red drink before taking a small sip of it.

The drink was a burning one that tasted like very spice yet sweet drink and before she turned to look at Jamerson. He seemed to be lost in thought that caused him to frown.

"Are you alright?" She asked and it was then he snapped out of his thoughts however, before he could say anything there was suddenly a loud screech from what appeared to speakers from the corners of the room.

"Kitty Kat. You are up!" She heard the familiar voice of Mac echoing through the room.

Xia frowned at the title as she stood up from the table and she looked over at Jamerson who said, "Good luck, Little Lady."

Xia smiled and said, "Thank you for the drink."

She followed him to the nearby door which revealed to be an elevator and got into it and allowed herself to go down. As the doors opened she began to walk to her fight, mentally she prayed that her body would remember how she would be able to fight as she gripped her staff.

Eventually she came to two large red double doors that held two tigers embedded into the doors, standing before them she took up a deep breath and watched as the door opened and prepared herself for her first real fight.

(Hope you enjoyed Chapter 2! Apologies if Cloud seems OOC.)